The American Thinker has another excellent article up regarding President Bush’s Inaugural Address. I can’t say I agree with everything he writes here, but he does help me make some other points that I have previously advocated.
Props to the American Thinker for this great piece on Russia and its people’s rising discontent. Freedom wins out, but it must be deeply desired by the people who will posses it, otherwise it will die on the vine, look at that miserable failure the French Revolution. The people of France wanted food and royal bloodshed, not freedom. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime. The same applies to the gift of freedom.
I love Jonah Goldberg, he is hands down my favorite political writer at NRO/NRODT, which pretty much makes him my favorite overall (With my main man Derb a close second and that wit Nordlinger coming in third by a nose). I will respond to his main point from his previously posted article that they hate us for our democracy. I am going to take quotes that appear hostile to my original statements and then I am going to proceed to savagely batter them to a small, soft pulp. Observe. Click to continue »
Alex do you remember just the other day, I was mentioning that the slippery slope of neo-conseravtism would have us charging off all over the world to fight dictators, in Africa (I used the example of the Congo, but Nigeria would be just as bad) and Burma? Gary assured me that no, no we would constrict ourselves to the Middle East. Now we have a major intellectual thinktank putting forward the position of Nigeria as a potential target in the worldwide war on terror.
It sure didn’t take long to slide down the slope did it?
Novak in the Chicago Suntimes offers his views on the impending situation with Iran. He thinks it probable that a strike will not happen. I disagree, we will strike and we will do so this year. Time is against us, the Europeans can only appease the mullahs for so long after all.
Thomas Sowell, one of the finest economists living or dead, writes on the role of the media in war in Iraq here at Townhall. I particularly like this bit because it so beautifully counters the panicked cry from our cowardly leftist “countrymen” that, “Iraq is now a magnet for terrorists from all over the world!” Sowell responds with intellect here:
Since terrorists are pouring into Iraq in response to calls from international terrorist networks, the number of those who are killed is especially important, for these are people who will no longer be around to launch more attacks on American soil. Iraq has become a magnet for enemies of the United States, a place where they can be killed wholesale, thousands of miles away.
This of course was the plan, to create a battlefield of our choosing. We fight our enemies in Iraq, not in New York or in airliners above the Pennsylvania skies. Let these fools flood into Iraq, we have killed more Islamic warriors in the last two years in Iraq than we ever did in the entire 8 years of Clinton’s presidency, when it was just as vital to do so.
Now they are trying to tax plastic surgery. I for one am strongly opposed to any new tax that reduces the average bust size of the American electorate.
I am going to ignite a firestorm I fear, but I have to tell you this, because it must be said. Al-Qaeda does not hate us “for our freedom”. That is simply not true. They don’t say it, they don’t insinuate it, and they could care less what 300 million infidels across the ocean do with their own government. The reason they fight us is quite simple, they cannot restore a united Islamic Caliphate across the Middle East with the United States supporting the totalitarian governments in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Oman, Yemen, and Egypt among others. To a vast majority of Muslims there is no separation of church and state, there is only God and His law. For this reason they find it impossible for the Ummah and a democratic government to co-exist. What if the people sinned and voted against God’s laws? To many a devout Muslim this cannot be allowed. This does not mean that Islam and freedom cannot stand side-by-side, but it would take a redefining of faith for many in the Islamic world.
I am going to ignite an even worse firestorm by urging you to read Imperial Hubris by Michael Scheuer. The misleading title aside the only reason this book has been seized upon by the left is because it criticizes the government and the Bush administration (in some cases rightly so). For the most part this man is a war hawk who wants us to mercilessly hunt down and slaughter our enemies. His analysis of the situation is not perfect, he is wrong about Iraq being a diversion, but his commentary on the nature of our foes is not flawed. They are human beings like us, they love their God and believe that they are serving him by killing his enemies. If we fail to understand what motivates these people our ability to slaughter them will be greatly reduced.
I am starting a new feature for the blog called the Daily Kos Stupidity of The Day, that will highlight the most innane and stupid thing said by the uber-liberal blog the Daily Kos. For our first entry we have their talk concerning the “breasts of the lady of justice.”
Will the boobs come back?
by kos
Wed Jan 26th, 2005 at 22:37:16 PSTOkay. Quick question. Now that Ashcroft is gone, will the boobs still be covered up?
Well Daily Kos, in its usual rage of politically insane advice for the Democratic party, wants Joe Lieberman’s head on a platter. Some comparing this possible primary from a leftist as akin to the Toomey challenge of Specter, though they forget several key points.
1. Joe Lieberman is loved by his constiuents his Republican approval rating is at 73% and Democratic approval at 72%, which makes him one of the most popular Senators among his constiuency in the country. Arlen Specter’s approval ratings hovered in the mid-to-low fifties.
2. The Democratic Party just got schlacked across the country for looking too weak on defense, so is throwing out their best defense advocate going to solve anything? Wheras, Specter offered no such real national benefit to any party constiuency.
Republicans love him for the same reason that Democrats love McCain — because they both spend a great deal of the time beating up publicly on their own party.
But for that reason, especially given our minority status (when the party needs to stick together for survival), Lieberman must go. I don’t want another six years of him bashing Democrats on Fox News next to a fawning Sean Hannity.
-Daily Kos
Well I for one wish the Democratic Party would listen to him about the need for unity during war, and I know this is an obvious one as I am close to Lieberman in my views than Kos is, but still. I, unlike many Republicans, would like a vibrant Democratic Party, because one-party rule leads to nepotism and poor policy (ie, major cities in America).
Carthago delenda est!
I have to admit, I have an addiction to NRO and NRODT. Jonah Goldberg wrote a pretty schnazzy piece yesterday about the fact that the Osamaphiles DO in fact hate democracy. And here is the invaluable, eternal, and highly addictive Victor Davis Hanson. Gary, this is specifically up here for you. I think if you read a “neocon” (ugghh i hate these words) like Victor Davis Hanson, you’ll see more of the cautious optimism that we should be thinking with rather than having our minds drunk on democracy. Mark can we get a link to VDH on the side?
After today’s announcment by Jordan’s King Abdullah II that democratic reforms will take place in his own country, Syria will be surrounded by democratic or reforming governments (excluding Lebanon) as Iran is now surrounded by democratic or reforming governments (excluding Pakistan). Can we be optimistic?
Here is the 2005-2006 fiscal year budget for the greaaaaaaaaat state of Indiana. Click to continue »
The gov. of Indiana is forgetting where he came from. Check out this depressing story courtesy of Foxnews. Mitch Daniels wants to raise taxes of those who make over $100,000 per year, 1% for one year only. He says that is reasonable. When the federal income tax began it was also 1% for a brief time period on only the wealthiest citizens.
I am going to explain to Mitch “the Blade” Daniels what he needs to do instead of taking money from the most productive people in his state. CUT SPENDING. That’s right, cut spending. It’s not only the rich who will be hammered by this, but the middle class guy who is trying to start his own business or the fellow who just broke into the tax bracket with a good year at his C store. I bet I can go through the state budget and find enough pork to give half the state of Indiana a heart attack. In fact I might just do that, if I can find it online I am going to post the proposed budget for the state of Indiana and we are going to see if raising taxes is the only option left to ‘ole Mitch.
“Hold your ground, hold your ground. Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!”
-Lord of the Rings : Return of the King, Aragorn
After seeing In The Face of Evil last night, I spent most of today thinking about the grand battle in which we are now engaged. Now as many of our readers will know, I am in no way a neo-conservative. In fact, I don’t even believe in the term. That being said, the battle between Western society and islamic extremism in which we are now engaged is one that for conservations sake must be fought, and fought hard.
Please read on…
Click to continue »
A great article from the National Post (a canadian paper) on the gay marriage debate that is raging up in Canada , with a new push from polygamists to be able to marry in the People’s Republic of Canada.
Polygamists have not challenged the ban for the same reason people walk by an apparently abandoned car for days on end — until someone breaks one of its windows. The car is then vandalized and stripped within hours. Gay marriage is that broken window. Continuing vandalism will see marriage abolished altogether, exactly what radical gays, feminists and family law theorists wanted in the first place, and the reason why feminists disparage heterosexual, but support gay, marriage.
The entire article is available here and is a must read for people interested in the future of the gay marriage debate.
In the UK, one can have little doubt that the State is God, after a ruling several months ago that a baby born prematurely would be put on DNR (Do Nor Resuscitate) orders against the wish of her parents. The parents wanted to do everything they could to keep the baby alive but the doctors and the state decided it “was not in the baby’s best interest.”
For those people who say the slippery slope argument when it comes to abortion is non-sense, well here’s proof you are wrong. Now the state determines your right to live event after you are born.
More information here.
The reigning graybeard of American foreign policy weighs in on the impending elections in Iraq in the Washington Post (registration required). Along with George P. Schultz he makes some interesting, worthwhile points. A sample of the wisdom:
An exit strategy based on performance, not artificial time limits, will judge progress by the ability to produce positive answers to these questions. In the immediate future, a significant portion of the anti-insurrection effort will have to be carried out by the United States. A premature shift from combat operations to training missions might create a gap that permits the insurrection to rally its potential. But as Iraqi forces increase in number and capability, and as the political construction proceeds after the election, a realistic exit strategy will emerge.
There is no magic formula for a quick, non-catastrophic exit. But there is an obligation to do our utmost to bring about an outcome that will mark a major step forward in the war against terrorism, in the transformation of the Middle East and toward a more peaceful and democratic world order.
This is what’s killing baseball… idiots!
In The Face of Evil : Reagan’s War in Word and Deed
Wow. That about sums up this terreific film about Reagan’s battle with communism. It is a fantastic documentary that covers his early years at the Screen Actors Guild all the way through the end of his second term. It really is quite moving and I think an excellent look into the way Reagan viewed the fight.
I think it fills in a lot of the gaps that we forget about, such as Reagan’s fight with the radicals at Berkely and the way he looked at some of the other conflicts abroad. It was obviously a very very pro-Reagan film, but I thought it did bring up some of the down sides concerning Iran Contra and Afgahnistan. Overall an excellent film that all should see.