There’s little doubt that the surge in Iraq has worked. For example, this datum as reported by USA Today:
The number of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq is headed for the lowest level in more than a year and a half and the fifth consecutive monthly decline.
Good news, of a sort. But it masks [...]
Archive for October, 2007
Good news; not so good news
Posted in Iraq, War and Peace on October 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
“a teeny minority”
Posted in Islam, Politics, Terrorism on October 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
This is how those Muslims who support violent jihad are described by a Columbia University prof. Columbia, which was the home of late and unlamented apologist for terror, Edward Said. Columbia, which provided a philosophically compatible home away from home for the nutjob president of Iran. But one mustn’t assume things, just [...]
God not welcome in D.C.
Posted in Christianity, Liberty on October 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Washington D.C. is two cities: our nation’s capital, and home to some of the most liberal folks on the planet. Especially in Northwest, where there are a lot of Volvo-driving-Birkenstock-wearing people, who are famous for chiding the rest of us for not doing our part to support public education or the environment. And who routinely [...]
Slots sluts
Posted in Americana, Culture on October 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
It should come as little surprise that a politician would snap at a chance (pun intended) to make an easy million or two off of the rubes in his state. This politician is a supposed man of the people, as many Democrats wish to be pictured: Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) of Maryland, who [...]
Pork by any other name
Posted in Americana, Politics on October 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
John McCain rightly chided Hillary for trying to get some pork for upstate New York. In this case, an earmark for a museum in Sullivan Country that commemorates the Woodstock festival and hippiedom in general. The proponents of the museum are making the usual arguments that pork recipients do: we need this [...]
tolerance and faith…
Posted in Christianity, Culture on October 26, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
…in the mainstream media. In this instance, an interesting column by Michael Gerson, “Harry Potter’s Secret..” The thesis is that Potterworld is one of tolerance, where the “other” is treated with love and dignity.
Fair enough, given the recent outing of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore by author J.K. Rowling. Mr. Gerson notes that [...]
Blaming the victim
Posted in United Nations, War and Peace on October 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
This is (almost) beyond satire. The head of the See-No-Evil International Atomic Energy Agency, one of the United Nations’ many sinkholes for our dollars, blames everyone for the Israeli bombing of a North Korean-Syrian nuclear project in Syria. The goal of the project? Hmm, let’s see if we can hazard a guess…
Here’s [...]
“moderate Islam”
Posted in Iraq, Islam on October 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
A little Spengler, if you please. From this sharp critique of our policy and attitude towards Turkey, Spengler pours some ice-cold reality. The current posturing of Congress as the savior of the Armenians, and the attacks on Turkish soldiers and others by Kurdish terrorists, soon to result in some Turkish cross-border nastiness in [...]
Better David than Goliath
Posted in Politics, Religion on October 23, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
From the only Baptist minister now running for president, Mike Huckabee, in his appearance this past weekend at the . Values Voters Summit (as reported by Byron York at NRO):
We ought not to see things like the world does because most of you, probably like me, grew up being tutored in Sunday school. And I [...]
global warming, war and sexism
Posted in Idiotarians on October 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
This isn’t as catchy as “lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!” but it’ll do for the kids today. A group of idiots-in-training gathered this morning in the nation’s capitol to protest, among other things according to this WaPo account, “global warming, war and sexism.”
One may get some sense of these unemployed, and likely unemployable [...]
“first Indian-American governor”
Posted in Politics on October 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
This is part of the headline for the continuing Bobby Jindal phenomenon. Governor-elect Jindal happens to be on Indian ethnicity. As in, South Asian Indian, not those native to the Americas. Oh, wait. Wasn’t Jindal born in the Americas? No matter; he is still painted as being a brown-skin [...]
Selective memory
Posted in War and Peace on October 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Pitchfork Pat Buchanan is at it again: oversimplifying; finding villains in the wrong places. The latest broadside blames the United States for any renewed antagonism between us and Russia. As usual, Pat has grasped a central truth and then built a Potemkin village around that truth. From his article at [...]
“pandering”
Posted in Politics, Uncategorized on October 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
The Washington Post is a left-leaning part of the mainstream media. Their writers, editorial and news, may be expected to be “safe” on typical lefty issues: abortion on demand; higher taxes for all; more government control and interference in our lives. All gussied up and presented as “good government” or “accountability” [...]
Live and let die
Posted in Iraq, Kurdistan, War and Peace on October 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Here’s a must-read column by Spengler in the Asia Times. Concerning our “friends” the Turks, and, more generally, Iraq and the entire Middle East. There’s a lot in this column, but let’s start with the Turkish fit in response to a non-binding resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives:
News accounts link Turkey’s [...]
Got Life?
Posted in Abortion on October 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I’m what might be called pro-life, but not because of any certainty as to whether a fetus is a human person under law. I also have no firm grasp on when “ensoulment” might occur. My knowledge of biology may be weak, but it includes this: a baby in the womb, from the instant of conception, [...]
“We are furious”
Posted in Communism, Tyranny on October 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Thus opines one Zhang Qingli, commie boss of Tibet, now under the Chinese boot since 1951. What this arrogant aparachnik is exercised about is that we dare to meet with and honor the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader in exile. From the New York Times, this interesting bit of wretched excess:
Tibet’s Communist [...]
sic semper tyrannis
Posted in Communism, Tyranny on October 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
The Dalai Lama is in town, to receive a well-deserved medal. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow, but Tibet’s occupying tyrants, the Communist Chinese, are in high dudgeon. And, according to this WaPo story, are using the occasion to do what they do best — use their [...]
Iraq and our liberties
Posted in Iraq, Liberty on October 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
It is not hard to find alleged libertarians who complain that we have, somehow, sacrificed essential civil liberties in our fight against terrorism and in our Iraq misadventure. I obviously now agree that the war in Iraq is a disaster, but don’t agree that we’ve given up our fundamental rights in the process.
One [...]
Make it stop, make it stop…
Posted in Islam on October 12, 2007 | 1 Comment »
The pain is starting to get to me, and, I pray, others who value truth. The following is taken from WorldNetDaily, and speaks volumes for the theological confusion that can come from a well-meaning man:
President George Bush has repeated his belief all religions, “whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to [...]
Loyalty
Posted in Politics on October 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Dilbert today faces one of the first problems of the Bush administration: the triumph of loyalty over competence. Harriet Miers; Alberto Gonzales. Need I say more?
Now please note, I don’t attack the Bushies from the left, but from the right. And, knowing what I know now, I’d still have voted [...]
Truth will out
Posted in Islam, Justice on October 11, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
The House of Representatives, ever busy, has weighed in on the Armenian genocide perpetrated by Muslim Turks on Christian Armenians. I’ve zero doubt that when the Young Turks attempted to cleanse Anatolia of Armenians, their principal rallying cry was “kill the infidel.” But, words have consequences. And the truth often hurts. [...]
D.A. Arthur Branch
Posted in Politics on October 10, 2007 | 9 Comments »
Fred Thompson, playing D.A. Arthur Branch on Law and Order, has moved his persona to the big-time. He’s now a serious contender for the Republican nomination, along with the three other top-tier candidates. At least Fred appeals to some conservatives of note. Here’s what Fred Barnes had to say:
First impressions are [...]
Mayor Koch
Posted in Politics on October 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
As usual, ex-Mayor Ed Koch writes with the sweet voice of reason — with a major exception. He states he is backing Hillary Clinton for president, and projects that Barack Hussein Obama will be her running mate (for what it’s worth, this is the same prediction made by ex-Mayor Guiliani). This [...]
Black monolith
Posted in America, race on October 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Eugene Robinson is one of the professional black writers who toil for the Washington Post. By “professional black writer” I mean a man who writes as a black about blacks. In short, Mr. Robinson has long been relegated to the WaPo’s ghetto, where he writes on what might euphemistically be called “urban affairs.”
Although [...]
John McCain
Posted in Politics on October 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
It is not often that one sees this kind of endorsement from these kinds of men. These are, to a man, men of gravitas, of deep experience in American public life. They can not be dismissed as cranks or political hacks by any means. And they make a strong case that John [...]
Red Mass
Posted in Christianity, Liberty on October 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
The Red Mass, while it sounds evil and full of spilled blood, is an ancient Roman Catholic tradition that dates back to 1245. From Wikipedia, it is simply a Mass that
requests guidance from the Holy Spirit for all who seek justice, and offers the opportunity to reflect on what Catholics believe is the God-given power [...]
Well, that’s a relief
Posted in Uncategorized on October 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Amendment XII to the Constitution ends with this:
no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
That seems straightforward. Amendment XXII is also direct and to the point:
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.
All of this is [...]
No kidding
Posted in Politics, War and Peace on October 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Obama has just had a flash — “Iraqis don’t distinguish” between private security contractors and U.S. troops. From Fox News, here’s the epiphany from Barack Hussein Obama:
White House hopeful Barack Obama on Saturday said private security contractors in Iraq are raising the risk for U.S. troops because Iraqis don’t distinguish between the forces.
You don’t [...]
Declaration of war
Posted in Politics, War and Peace on October 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Mario Cuomo, one of those guys who, when he speaks out in public, makes you say to yourself, “Gosh, I didn’t know he was still alive.”
Well, former governor of New York Super Mario is still alive, still to the left of almost everyone else, and has weighed in with some advice for Democratic presidential candidates. [...]
Flag sense
Posted in Americana, Politics on October 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Barack Hussein Obama (I’ll bet he just hates the use of his middle name) is right on at least one score: the image of patriotism that is meant to be conveyed by the all-but-universal display of an American flag. On the lapel, on your car, in front of your house, wherever. A [...]
