Well you guessed it, Daily Kos in their infinite wisdom has decided that once again, even in success, Iraq really is Vietnam. These people are so desperate that they are wishing for anything to vindicate them, even the death of thousands of us soldiers and iraqi innocents. I just hope Howard Dean takes more cues from these politically clueless idiots… keep on insulting US troops. That will win you lots of votes.

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote (NYT 9/4/1967)
by patachon
Mon Jan 31st, 2005 at 08:30:16 PST

(From the diaries — kos)

[in case you haven't been keeping up with developments in Vietnam from 40 years ago...]

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :
Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3– United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam’s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.

All during the election, while the liberals viciously attacked the Iraq war they also paid lip service to the troops. With the resounding victory of the Iraqi elections just a day ago, the liberal establishment is in shock. “Success… success… they can’t actually succeed!” thinks the liberal mind, and one of these minds actually got print in today’s edition of the liberal college rag, the GW Hatchet. His article on the troops asked whether we all really should support the troops, and it meandered from point to ill made point, but all pretty much summed it up with this point.

Where is our support for them? It could be argued that support for both the troops and the citizens of Iraq is not mutually exclusive, but in the wake of Abu Ghraib and the recent Human Rights Watch report, this argument is made with ever increasing difficulty.

Yes, embarrassing and harassing terrorists is the same as killing innocent men, women, and children. What an intellectual embarrassment and a moral atrocity.

For those of you who said that President Bush was going to keep his election promises, I hope you are right, but here is more discouraging news that he is far from a true conservative.

The President allowed the RNC to select Jo Ann Davidson of Ohio to be RNC Co-Chair. Rumor has it that she promised not to push her pro-abortion views, but Republicans for Choice (of which she is a board member) is very excited over the move hoping it is the begining of their groups ability to break into the GOP establishment.

Congratulations to JoAnn Davidson (OH), one of our RFC Advisory Board Members, who was named as the Co Chair of the Republican Party on January 19th at the 2005 Winter Meeting of the GOP.

JoAnn Davidson has been a member of the Republicans for Choice Advisory Board since our founding in 1990. She has proven to be a tireless campaigner and brillant political strategist so it is no wonder Ken Mehlman and the Bush operation have tapped her to be the Party’s new national co-chair. We look forward to working with her to help make sure the concerns of pro-choice and moderate Republicans are heard within the Republican National Committee Headquarters…

They are even upset at Ken Mehlman for attending a reception honoring the pro-life marchers, of which I attended (see post here).

I have a sinking feeling this is just the begining, the rumors of pro-choice judicial nominees have been floating around Washington since election day and we, as a movement, better be ready to fight Bush if that’s what it comes to.

(Hat tip Bates Line)

Mad props to Jonah Goldberg again, for his insightful article on the Iraq elections. In it, he refutes two devastating accusations, arguing that Islamic fundamentalism is not a competitor with democracy but an oppoenent, and that there is no need for the Iraqis to strike victory against the U.S. because the Iraqi national conscioiusness is now swelling with victory over the Islamofascists.

The second point really is crucial. When you get into theories on national liberation and revolution, you realize that no outside power can “give” or “install” democracy, it must be seized by the people themselves for it to work. Cases like Japan and Germany post WWII fall outside the realm of this idea because they respectively had their will broken by a long and bloody war of attrition. The three-week war in Iraq, which targeted military installations and communications specifically, did not give the Iraqi people a sense of victory over Saddam, nor did it create a sense of total U.S. victory and obligatory submission to our commands.

But after the elections, one can see that the U.S. military broke the shackles which bound the Iraqi people. With their hands free, it’s clear that the Iraqi people are more than willing to fight for their freedom.

Slightly off-topic, but I wanted to make sure as many people read this as possible, I only found it by accident. The new mayor of Baghdad is going to erect a statue of Bush. This is the sort of fearless man who can make the improbable, probable.

What’s the word on Rep. Rohrabacher from California? I was curious about who on this blog supports and opposes him because I must admit, other than this troublesome article in Front Page Magazine, I know too little about him to make a sound judgment. Is he in bed with Islamists and if so why? Is he a RINO or is he just a guy who doesn’t trust Israel (which for the record I don’t trust either)? I am sure some of you know the real deal on him, so is he with the home team or not?

GOP needs to be bracing for an onslaught according to Fred Barnes writing in the Weekly Standard. RINOs will be spared of course, but only for a while. If the GOP sticks to its guns this latest tactic of the Democrats will be seen as pure hatred in the eyes of the voters.

Well while almost everyone else in the world, except pockets of bitter bitter liberals, is celebrating the resounding success that was the Iraqi elections. (Some sources report 72% turnout) The guys over at Daily Kos are trying to turn it in to a disaster for their own political purposes, just if you were wondering if they have any souls, they don’t.

The Iraq Election: Defining Success
by Armando
Sun Jan 30th, 2005 at 08:23:02 PST

Is the Iraq Election a success? The early reporting is that there is good turnout among the Shia and Kurds. Does this qualify as success?:

Iraqis voted in their first democratic election in nearly half a century Sunday with many observers saying the day appeared to have yielded higher turnout than expected and less violence than feared. Insurgents killed about two dozen people, including a U.S. Marine. But the level of mayhem by forces striving to disrupt the process was less than predicted, especially in Baghdad where turnout surged during the day amid signs of enthusiasm for voting even in some Sunni areas.

Success?

As expected, turnout appeared to be very uneven around the country, with the majority Shiite community and Kurdish areas participating in the election to a much greater degree than the minority Sunnis. Voting continued in early evening in some places even after polls officially were to have closed. Carlos Valenzuela, the United Nations’ chief election adviser in Iraq, told CNN that he believed that overall turnout was considerably “better than expected.” That assessment was echoed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said, “Every indication is that the election in Iraq is going better than expected.” Rice conceded, however, speaking on ABC’s “This Week, that “it’s not a perfect election” and added, “there are going to be many, many difficult days ahead.”

The days ahead. Precisely. This Election is simply, in my estimation, an exercise in pretty pictures. Why? Because Elections are to choose governments, not to celebrate the day. Are the people elected capable of governing Iraq at this time? Without 150,000 U.S. soldiers? Or even with them? I have been accused of gloating by people right HERE because of my focus on the continuing violence. But my focus has been on the realities of governing a land in chaos, in the midst of civil war, with 150,000 U.S. soldiers the only force with the ability to provide security. And this is 2 years after the invasion.

I hope I’m wrong on this. I think I am not.

Godspeed for the Iraqis, and God’s mercy for the fools at Daily Kos.

Carthago Delenda Est!

Last night at a dinner, State Rep. Diven (R-Pittsburgh) announced he was leaving the Democratic Party to join the Republicans. Both the Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review covered the story in depth. This is a story I’ve been covering as it develops, but Rep. Diven has now officially joined the Republican Party giving it, the first seat it has had in the city of Pittsburgh in several decades and the GOPs first chance to win a State Senate seat in the district in recent memory. Hooray!

Carthago Delenda Est!

Let us all offer prayers and well wishings for the people of Iraq as they are now voting. Roger L. Simon did some liveblogging on it worth following.
Click on more for some more pics…

Click to continue »

Well it looks like the school choice is about to get a little more interesting. According to a story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, several Atlanta residents are suing the state saying that the inequity in the state education plan is inherently unfair and unconstitutional. But they are offering not more money for inner-city schools as a solution, but rather vouchers, an expansion of the charter school program, and the right to send a child to any public school.

“If they prevail, this would eclipse Brown v. Board,” the landmark desegregation case, said Herbert Walberg, an education and psychology professor who is now a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. “It’s more sweeping than Brown. That’s why I think this is such an extraordinary case.”

Walberg, who has agreed to testify on behalf of the Atlanta parents, says his research shows children benefit from greater educational options.

Now, I do not favor this type of approach because I think this is so clearly a legislative issue as opposed to a judicial one, but it will be interesting to watch nonetheless.

Today was a hard one seeing as most of the day on Daily Kos was spent rooting for the terrorists to mess up the elections in Iraq, but that’s not so much stupidity as sheer lack of any morality. So without further ado…

The World Social Forum opened on Wednesday in Porto Alegre, Brazil. While there’s not been much coverage of this–the fifth WSF–in the mainstream media, there’s also been very little mention of it here at dKos. Odd, given the claims we have here of supporting grassroots, progressive politics. The WSF is a venue where those folks actually doing grassroots, progressive, anti-corporate, anti-militarist, anti-imperialist politics in the day-to-day come together. It is also a display of the power of civil society– a social sector progressive Democrats would do well to strike up a renewed acquaintance with.

Yes, that’s what the Democrats need… more anti-corporate, anti-militarist, anit-imperialists. They still don’t realize people in America don’t believe in the failed socialist dogmas.

This is what I call a good work day.

Blackwell, Steele, Swann? The trio that may bring three high level elected African Americans to the GOP. Democrats may not like to admit it but their stranglehold on the African American segment of the vote may be quickly slipping. Ken Blackwell (OH) and Lynn Swann (PA) are both rumored to have strong gubernatorial ambitions, and would be considered at or near the front of their packs in the respective primaries. Blackwell would likely be a shoe-in, while Swann would face a tougher fight versus two RINOs (Picola and Scranton).

Michael Steele of Maryland, the current Lt. Governor, is also rumored to have higher ambitions and if Sarbanes retires, is likely to run for the Senate seat in Maryland.

Well Christine Todd Whitman has launched basically what you could describe as the “anti-Save The GOP ” site. Humorously called “My Party Too.” For an idea of really what they are talking about look at their allied groups. Well I guess Whitman is now officially outing herself as a giant RINO.

Let the race for 2008 begin, and may they not win.

And for today…

Ted speaks. Bush should listen.

The United States should start to withdraw militarily and politically from Iraq and aim to pull out all troops as early as possible next year, Sen. Edward Kennedy said on Thursday.

After Sunday’s Iraqi elections, Kennedy said President Bush should state he intends to negotiate a timetable with the new Iraqi government to draw down U.S. forces.

At least 12,000 U.S. troops should leave at once, Kennedy said, “to send a stronger signal about our intentions to ease the pervasive sense of occupation.”

The Massachusetts Democrat, who opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, became the first senator to lay out a plan for Bush to start withdrawing troops a day after the Pentagon (news - web sites) warned lawmakers that strikes by insurgents may increase after Sunday’s elections [...]

“We now have no choice but to make the best we can of the disaster we have created in Iraq,” Kennedy in a speech to the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “The current course is only making the crisis worse.”

He said the indefinite presence of U.S. troops is “fanning the flames of conflict” in what has become “a war against the U.S. occupation.”

How many more people will die due to Bush’s stubborness?

Enough said…

Does moderate Islam exist? This question is at the heart of the matter. And thus the avoidance of this issue is directly proportional to its importance.

People need to stop saying: “well democracy didn’t work in other authoritarian cultures, why can’t it work in the middle east?”

The key word is “culture.” Islam is not a “culture” but rather a “religion.” And not some religion that gives broad guidlines, but one that claims to be the divine, direct, literal word of God. It is also made explicitly clear that the state and religion must be one in the umma. The Quran is the highest source of law, followed by Hadith and Sunnah (sayings and tradition of Muhammad), and then finally by analogy and consensus.

The thing is, there is a theological argument that Islam and democratic government can work, but its long and winding, and may end up looking like a Muslim can be pro-democracy like a Catholic can be pro-choice on abortion.

If there are devout Muslim scholars who believe democracy and Islam to be compatible, then where are they? Many have moved to America for freedom and a new chance, but why do they not advocate that their brothers and sisters back home have the same opportunity?

At any rate, democracy has the best chance to flourish in Iraq, where a secular maniac (despite his delusions of being Salah al-Din) has brutalized his people for decades.

Rep. Judson Dexter, R-Swanzey is a obviously a RINO, the proof is in the Union Leader. What happened to the Granite State? I used to love our utopia of conservatism in the far northeast.

The largest computer maker in China, Lenovo has bought IBM’s PC division. So what? This is old news. Recently however certain members of the GOP, namely Ducan Hunter, Henry Hyde, and Don Manzullo (both from IL Alex) have blocked the proposed deal on the grounds that it would expose an American company that deals in government contracts to the Chinese government.

This is quite possible and the review should go forward, but I have serious doubts that IBM deals in any serious military technologies with it PC division. These people make and manufacture commercial use PCs, not military hardware. I fear the real reason this is being blocked is because it looks bad when China is buying the American company that virtually began the Information Age. What does it say when China owns IBM?

Well I can tell you, it’s absolutely awesome, because we are laughing all the way to the bank on this deal and most Chinese don’t even know why. Lenovo is paying way too much for an under performing division that can’t compete with Dell anyway. They are going to lose a pile of money on this deal. IBM meanwhile has acquired (along with a considerable amount of cash) a large stake in Lenovo which they will use to profit from the current China Boom. Make no mistake, it looks bad in the news headlines: “China Buys Symbol of American Capitalism!” But it is ever so sweet if you are in the know: “China Pays too Much for Crappy Company, American Profits Soar!”

If there is a security concern, then it can easily be corrected, but to kill this deal out of China-phobia would hurt America more than it would China.

NRO provides an update on the current situation vis-à-vis Taiwan. Worth reading if this part of the world is your cup of tea. Excuse the pun.