Not Staying This Course

Back in 2001, I supported our efforts to eradicate Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan.  Then we decided to conduct "nation-building" where no real nation-state existed before. 

Andrew McCarthy effectively advocates for not "staying the course" in this NRO article.

Mark Steyn tosses-in his "2 shillings" from The Corner.

And Philip Ewing paints this dismal picture of on-going "green on blue" attacks in this article of Military.com

One friend sent me this article from Thomas Friedman of the NYT, along with the following comments:

Good article. Here's another one from Friedman...I'm amused he has the temerity to build on VDH. As usual, Tom's conclusion is half-baked and demonstrably wrong -- eliminating poverty and illiteracy are not going to fix the Middle East.


This led to a short discussion:
My conclusion is that you’d just have more literate and articulate anti-semites/west haters.


Education and economics are not panaceae for their problems. For example, the 9/11 hijackers were almost universally wealthy (or at least middle class) and were quite educated - didn't seem to dissuade them. There are tons of studies that show that terrorism is NOT tied to poverty (otherwise, Africa would be a torrent of terrorism). Friedman seems to fall in the Fukuyama camp - if they only knew the fruits of Western-driven globalization, they would jump onboard and be happy members of the global village. Yeah, right. That thinking is going to get a lot more people killed as we cotinue down the happy path of history...


Yeah, definately time to bail on this God-forsaken country.

Obamacare in "Grave Danger"

Let's hope so!  Today's CNN Justice column discusses the opening rounds in the Obamacare hearing in the Supreme Court.

I love the opening line of this commentary from a friend:

Couldn't happen to a better law. If CNN is doubtful and calling it a "train wreck" for the administration, my hopes are kindled -- I'd been assuming it would survive the court challenge and was hoping for Obama to get the boot along with the Dems and the GOP repealing it next year. It would be awesome if it were stopped even before that, regardless of the Fall election. I don't see the Dems mustering the votes to reinstate it in a modified form if it loses (it was a close thing even when they overwhelmingly held both houses and POTUS).

The rest of the analysis is spot-on as well.

The hearing attracted protest/support groups from both sides of the issue.

My favorite Obamacare opponent...

Here's another image I like:

How We See...

...Obama and...

...ourselves.

No He Wasn't a Neo-Nazi

A few more stories have popped-up in the aftermath of the Toulouse shooting.

Like:

The teacher holding a moment of silence for Mohamed Merah, whom she thought of as a "victim." 

That French intelligence agencies are no suave than American ones and missed obvious clues they had a jihadist in their midst.

And finally, the fetish of the politically correct to hunt for Neo-Nazis, when all the evidence and historical facts, point to Islamist terrorism. 

Ve Vill Haf Order...

(Image: From the movie 1984)

...so we can save the planet.  Gary Stix writes in the Scientific American that an effective world government will be needed to stave off climate catastrophe.

Yeah, right. 

Comrade Karla wonders:

Uh oh, not again…and wasn’t there already a scientific report that showed the Himilayan glaciers are NOT, in fact receding? Didn’t this guy get the memo?  “World Government…” watch for these buzzwords…and in a “Scientific” journal of all places.

Well, Mr. Stix got this right: It’s the social engineering that’s the killer. 

Yeah, social engineering will be the death of all.

But there is hope.  The EPA just got smacked by the US Supreme Court.

French Jihadist Dies in Shootout

Earlier today, killer Mohamed Merah, died in a police shootout, in Toulouse, France.  The 23-year old jihadist claimed responsibility for killing 7 people, including 3 children and a rabbi (pictured above) in seperate shooting sprees. 

Yahoo News provided a photo gallery.

I wasn't following the initial reports of the first shooting against French soldiers, because I was vacationing out of town.  Mark Steyn points out there was the usual pussy-footing about blaming Islamic jihad.  Or as Comrade Karla says:

The incomparable Steyn maps the “liberal narrative” for how this story has been (and will continue to be) presented.


Mark's key comment:  A society that becomes more Muslim eventually becomes less everything else, continues to go un-heeded by the multi-cultural crowd.

Why Just Settle for Free Contraceptives?

Allysia Finley suggest other healthcare mandates the US Gov'mint should impose.  Her tongue & cheek article can be found in the Wall Street Journal.

On of the perks is--ahhhh!--coffee.

This of course sparked some other suggestions from my friends:

Instead of a gym membership, I think the government should pay for me to upgrade all of the equipment in my home gym (even though the stuff I have works just fine), to include renovations to the room itself as well as a new TV (even though the one in there works just fine).

And a personal trainer, on call 24/7.


Hmmm.  An on call personal trainer?  What did you have in mind Comrade?  Someone like this, maybe?

Despite the Good Comrade's base desires, one friend would rather have the gov'mint to "show him the money:"

No, I don't need a personal trainer, I can train on my own so in lieu of the personal trainer that the government owes me, I will take a tax credit instead.

Oh, well to each his (or her) own I guess.  It won't really matter.  At the rate we're going, we'll all be, as Allysia said, enjoying Cuban-style medical care anyway.

Maybe Its Time to Paint Over the Graffitti

Irish artist, Nicky Larkin was pro-Palestinian--until she actually visited Israel and the West Bank, for her upcoming film Forty Shades of Grey. 

Here's a short account of her travels and what made her have a change of heart, posted in the Independent.ie.

Even the WaPo Thinks This is Dumb

There's some folks at the Washington Post, which isn't known for it's convservative point of view, who see this "No Nukes for Food" deal with North Korea for what it is:  bribery.

A couple note-worthy comments from friends: 

This is a bit of a surprise, considering the source.

I see two possible reasons the Obamunists have gone this route.

1 - They're stupid.
2 - They feel that they have two many crises brewing and that they've not had a foreign policy victory in some time, and could use one before the election.
[3] Both are plausible, I think.

I'll go with "Option 3."

You Can't Board an Airplane Without One...

...but you can vote without proving your identity.  Our Dear Leader wants to ensure he's re-elected, so his administration is blocking Texas's voter ID law. 

This story garnered a couple comments:

It’s official—you no longer have to prove you are a resident, let alone a citizen. Just in time for the 2012 election, too.

Not really surprising, though. Just more of the same from a government creating/bending/breaking the rules for the benefit of some privileged class at the expense of the population as a whole.


No, you are right—not surprising but irritating and frustrating. 

Frustrating indeed Comrade.  We can expect a replay of the '08 voter shenanigans...

UPDATE 8:00 PM:

Comrade Karla found this incisive article in Real Clear Politics.

Things Just Got Worse in A-Stan

(Image of Taliban militants in a "Joining Ceremony")

The other day, a US soldier went on a shooting spree, as reported by the NY Times.  The soldier, who has yet to be identified came from Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), here in WA.  So the Seattle Times is carrying the local angle.  Other ST articles include:  A running update from various sources, details of the attack (as they're currently known) and that another war crime has been committed by a JBLM soldier.

A local "pro-soldier/anti-war" group known as "Coffee Strong," was planning on holding a vigil, but cancelled it for fear of giving the wrong impression.

My friends and I wondered why groups like this don't plan, or conduct vigils, when your enemies butcher their fellow Americans.

We've spent over 10 years in "A-stan" with nothing to show for it, but a hostile population ready to go on their own rampages when a few of their Korans accidently wind up in the burn pile--and despite the repeated grovellings by the President, on down the chain of command.

So what's a superpower to do?

Here's what Winston Churchill had to say about dealing with A-stan tribal troubles. 

A Fluke of a Controversy

On 16 February, Georgetown University lawstudent Sandra Fluke, addressed congressional Democrats about her plight about the lack of free contraceptives for students.

This didn't get too much attention until Rush Limbaugh's show on 29 February, where the radio talkshow host called her a slut and prostitute.  Thus putting our lamestream media into a frenzy over  Fluke-Limbaugh controversy.

While it may be un-gentlemanly to call a woman a slut or prostitute, Michelle Malkin points out all the slurs hurled at conservative women has gone unreported by the lamestream media.  (I've certainly never heard of the incidents Michelle documented). 

Many conservative-minded folks, like L. Brent Bozell III, see this as a smoke screen.  Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal has a few suggestions for Ms. Fluke (pronounced "Fluck"), along with pointing out the not-so hidden costs of "free contraceptives."

A-stan: Pederasts Welcome...

...infidels need not apply.

Despite grovelling apologies from our Apologizer-in-Chief, on down, the adherents to the "religion of peace" are still baying for blood over the inadvertant at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.  Apparently, 5 US military members, who will remain unidentified, will be reprimanded. 

The religion-of-peaceniks consider the burning of a Koran to be a serious desecration.  But of course, they're conveniently ignoring the fact that the books were desecrated by prisoners--Muslim prisoners.

Or as Comrade Karla says:

1. The "major descration" was the Islamist tools writing in the books to begin with.

2. Any "investigation" into supposed wrongdoing will be a joke, particularly if we've already decided somebody needs to be punished.
3. The assorted clerics and Islamic Rage Boys(tm) can go eff themselves.

Well said, Comrade.  Especially #3.

I don't remember any article in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) dealing with Koran burning, so I'm wondering on what grounds would our hapless scapegoats be punished.  Another friend had this insight:

Gonna be hard to do anything to these guys, though the very idea of even pretending to do something is reprehensible. I suppose the only UCMJ articles they can be charged with is the general article and possibly failure to obey a lawful order, if there is such an order on the books. In any case, they will never be tried like the f-tards want them to be.

How does this whole fiasco shape "the big tapestry?"

I leave it to Mark Steyn and his artful comparisons of our Green Zones to Crusader Forts, to explain what's in store for America.

Book Review: After America--Get Ready for Armageddon

Reading Mark Steyn is the "...spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down..."  And the medicine--reigning in America's debt crisis--is a dose of bad medicine indeed. 

I've enjoyed Mark's columns for several years now.  In fact, he's the only columnist I read on my days off.  At least he makes me laugh when commenting on today's grim news.  I also admire the way he manages to tie seemingly unrelated facts together and present the reader with a tapestry of western decline and rising Islamic militancy.

The only potential blemish his latest book After America--Get Ready for Armageddon , is that if you've read Mark's columns regularly, then you'll be re-reading them here.  But then again, some things bear repeating, especially since we're still on-course with a, "damn the deficit and full-speed ahead" attitude, in following Western Europe "over the falls."

 I give this book, the "sequel" to America Alone, a 5-star rating.  Published in August of last year, apparently on the day the S&P downgraded America's Triple-A credit rating, 107 reviewers agree with my assessment.  Another 19 reviewers give this book a 4-star rating.  While 7 x 3-star raters thought they've "read this all before."

However, not everyone is happy with Mark's latest work.  He's earned the ire of 9 x 2-star and 17 x 1-star raters.  Reading some of their comments, it appears to me that most of these folks are not familiar with Mark's style and After America is the first thing they've read. 

What's Mark's vision of Armageddon?

He doesn't get into specific causes, but describes infrastructure and societal decay with vivid comparisons to H.G. Wells' The Time Machine.  Some critics contend that western civilization can continue the current spending spree and use the European Union (EU) bailout of Greece as an example of how to prevent countries from defaulting.

The problem is:  If America files for bankruptcy, who will bail us out?

China?

Now such an outcome, in and of itself, shouldn't plunge the world into a post-apacolyptic bloodbath.  However, it would put America in a compromising position and would put us on the receiving end of our own Suez-like Crisis.

That is, we'll be confronted with a situation--and get told to back down.  From this point on, its anyone's guess what the world will be like after America relinquishes it's dominant role.  When this occurs, us like-minded folks agree, the resulting "new world (dis)order" won't be a peaceful one.

Andrew Breitbart--Dead at 43

I was shocked to see the news that Andrew Breitbart died suddenly after midnight today.  I became aware of his work through FOX News, which is now posting a montage of Andrew's tussles with activists, politicians and liberal media personalities.  I've had several of his "Big" sites linked here for a couple years now. 

Big Journalism posted this memoriam to its founder, and SE Cupp, wrote a tribute, expressing everyones' shock, in the NY Daily News.

RIP Andrew.

Norks Say No to Nukes...

(Image from the UK's Guardian Online)

...and we believe them. 

Or at least, the Hopeandchange acolytes of the Obama administration believe yesterday's announcement that North Korea agreed to a moratorium on nuclear weapons development.

Christian Whiton doesn't believe this, especially when North Korea, or more likely, the Kim Regime, will get lavished with food aid.

Nor do my like-minded friends believe anything good will come of this deal:

DOS will champion this as a major genius triumph of talking…until the Norks get what they want and go off the reservation again.  What was the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different outcome?

I don’t see why you are so upset. This was indeed a victory. We wanted something very specific and we finally achieve it: a diplomatic agreement. Surely you were not under the deluded idea that the goal was to counter or roll back N. Korea’s nuclear weapons program?


I’m so foolish that way…I actually expect results.  Of course, this will be trumpeted any second now as yet another example of The One’s genius “Smart Diplomacy…”