A GRIM REMINDER

Wretchard in a rather grim post reminds us of something we must not forget:

Personally, I think the bombings in Russia and Israel, plus the kidnappings of aid workers in Darfur are timed to coincide with the RNC convention. It could be coincidental, but that that is less likely than to assume the enemy, who is commanded, is working to a plan. That means the enemy will attempt an attack in the USA. We already know that, but it bears remembering that if they can kill 12 in two Israeli buses, they can do it in America.
(Emphasis mine)

Our country has been terror-free for 3 years. But we are not perfect and I think it is inevitable that we will be attacked. May the bastards who are planning it even as I write this die a horrible, painful death and may they rot in hell for 1000 eternities. And, may all their planning come to naught.

The Face of The Democratic Party

This face, even more than John Kerry's, is the face of the Democratic Party of today. It represents the depths to which they have sunk; and the denial they choose to indulge in. Guess what the "L" stands for?

Michael Moore gestures towards John McCain during McCain's speech last night at the RNC

Not A Clue

Check out Terrorism Unveiled. Athena has a letter from Antiwar protestors apologizing to Iraqis, and she links to a response from Ali of Iraq the Model. VERY NICE! They haven't a clue, do they?

The Socially Acceptable Prejudice

I can really relate to this article in the NY Daily News (via Allah). It's like that here in Ann Arbor, too. You will see demonstrators out marching and damning those with prejudices against blacks, muslims, transvestites, etc.; but they think nothing of insulting you or condescening to you if you happen to even lean Republican. I am not a registered Republican--I'm one of those "Swing Voter" both parties wanted in their camp. But I have supported Bush since he ran against Gore, and I certainly support him now against Kerry. I am a single issue voter and I think the War on Terror is the most important issue in this campaign. In my humble opinion, Kerry would be a complete disaster for this country.

Ann Arborites from the Left (a completely redundant distinction, I assure you) assume I must be a Republican since I support Bush. Those who know me are puzzled, and not a little miffed at my position. One of my friends even said in a tone of complete sincerity, "you're so nice--how could you vote for Bush?" Someone at work even gasped when I announced that I was not voting for Kerry, "You're not a....Republican, are you?" She asked with complete horror in her voice.

I hear in New York, people renting apartments have put out signs saying "No Republicans Need Apply". Just imagine if the word "Black" or "Muslim" -- or even "Democrat" were substituted for the word "Republican". But you see, this prejudice is socially acceptable--even socially desirable and considered "in". After all, hollywood celebrities can eviscerate Republicans with impunity; they can sexualize their names and make suggestive comments about their behavior; and even suggest that they are worse than mass murderers like Hitler.

This, after all, is hardly a reasonable criticism of Bush Administration's policies, made by a well-intentioned member of the American public. It is rather, a remarkably virulent form of prejudice, called delusional paranoia in my profession. I have met patients suffering from this type of paranoia, who believe in their heart and soul that Blacks are responsible for the decline of America; that Jews are in a secret cabal to take control over the world; that homosexuals are secretly trying to abolish heterosexuality. It is telling, I think, that I've never heard a schizophrenic claim that Republicans are the spawns of Satan. Only the Left and Democrats do that.

So, if there is an honorary chapter for Republicans, I would be proud to join. I don't always agree with all your positions, but I have watched the Democratic Party sink into the gutter of denial, self-parody and soul-less victimhood. They have allied themselves with those whose only goal is the destruction of the country I love. They don't even know what they stand for anymore.

Yes, Virginia--in 2004 at least-- I am a Republican.

In The Navy...

This week's cover of National Review (thanks, Jim O for sending it to me!

UPDATE: Surely this is deserving of another verse to the famous Village People song?

Ordinary Psychopaths

While listening to NPR this morning, I was reminded of Ayn Rand's definition of Art:

"Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgements. By means of a selective re-creation, an artist isolates and integrates those aspects of reality which represent his fundamental view of man and of existence. " (from, "What is Romanticism?")

So, what does it say about the artist's view of man and existence that he would choose to make this ? Or that NPR would give it tacit approval by positively reviewing it? The movie is called "Hamburg Cell" and it attempts to portray the "real human side" of the 9/11 terrorists. The writers claim that it is based on facts and documents; and interviews of the terrorists' family and friends. They state that, "you have to try to understand your enemy....and not simply discount them as psychopaths...." and "What is exceptional about these guys is that they are very 'ordinary'....they were not psychopaths." Matt Cowen, the NPR reporter, describes the terrorist who piloted the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania in the movie as "peaceful and resigned."

At this moment there are no plans for this movie to be shown in the U.S. (the producers don't want to "offend" anyone, they say). It is being shown on British TV tonight.

Why is this being dramatized in the first place? Why is the first movie art about September 11th a FICTIONAL DRAMA and not a DOCUMENTARY (granted that Michael Moore has blurred the distinction; as well as the distinction between PROPAGANDA and DOCUMENTARY) ?

WHY THIS BLATANT ATTEMPT TO HUMANIZE THOSE PSYCHOPATHS?

Yes, I said psychopaths. These were not "ordinary" people. Ordinary people do not devote their lives to planning and then killing thousands of people. The 9/11 terrorists and all of al Qaeda ARE MASS-MURDERERING PSYCHOPATHS--nothing more, nothing less. Even psychopaths have families who frequently say in retrospect that they have no idea why the psychopath did what they did. Even psychopaths have mothers who weep for them. So what. These were concious individuals with free will. They CHOSE to do what they did. They CHOSE death and murder and destruction. Perhaps they chose it "peacefully" and "resignedly". I could care less how they "felt". Their behavior has condemned them for all time as MASS-MURDERING PSYCHOPATHS.

And how nice it must be for future Islamic mass-murderers --who at this very moment are planning to destroy millions of Americans-- that they can count on artists, producers and actors, probably even psychiatrists and psychologists--you know, all those sensitive people out there-- to portray their lives in a fictional drama so...humanely and commpassionately. And that the survivors of their moral outrages should be made to feel morally obligated to understand their behavior and even support their grievances.

But here is what I think: because of their actions, the 9/11 terrorists--and all that supported or nurtured or approved of them-- should be immediately expelled ex-post facto from the human race and given the complete oblivion and non-remembrance they so richly deserve. Consign them to the trash bin of history like all the other garbage.

UPDATE: Purveyors of Truth is a blog in Scotland and they have updates on the "Hamburg Cell" story.

The Religion of Delusion

This article just came to my attention (hat tip: Jim O) and it discusses an Islamic essay that permits the killing of 4 million Americans--men, women, and children:

This essay, "The Truth about the New Crusade: A Ruling on the Killing of Women and Children of the Non-Believers," is written by Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who worked with Khalid Sheikh Muhammad in organizing those attacks. It argues that "the sanctity of women, children, and the elderly is not absolute" and concludes that "in killing Americans who are ordinarily off limits, Muslims should not exceed four million non-combatants, or render more than ten million of them homeless."

This is not the only time that al Qaeda has announced a target of four million. In June 2002, its spokesman, Suleiman Abu Gheith, published an article on the alneda website that claimed: "We have the right to kill four million Americans — 2 million of them children — and to exile twice as many and wound and cripple hundreds of thousands."

The justification for this argument is that Americans have killed as many Muslims; and because we elect our officials who make our policy, therefore we are all guilty. It calls on all men and women of Islam to kill Americans as their holy duty.

What can be said about such madness? It is a fast-growing, conscious, and psychotic malignancy that threatens the very existence of the world. It is the rantings of an Evil so malevolent, so lethal, that it destroys those who embrace it, as well as those in its path. It is a virulent infection, for which a cure has not been found yet. Surgery is the only option we have--to excise at the source, and then to destroy all nodes of its existence wherever they are found.

This is a war we MUST win. The consequences of indecision; of a failure to act and destroy this Evil are so serious that we cannot be diverted from the task that lies before us. This essay is a grim reminder of what we are up against in this war. Those who wish to pretend that September 11 never happened; who can pretend that this essay was never written and that there aren't people out there who are actively trying to implement it, are living in a fantasy.

Even worse are those who agree with the Evil --that WE are the root cause of all that is bad in the world; that AMERICA is the bane of civilized behavior; that George Bush is the Hitler of our times--they are people living the Big Lie. People whose intellects are too lazy to analyze their own motives and emotions; too frightened to look inward to understand the envy, hatred, and murderous rage that originates from their own souls. They are the true kindred spirits of the Evil, because within them are the real roots of what we are fighting today. They call themselves by many names (see my previous post), but they can count on sympathy from the those in the denial fantasyland, who readily join with them claiming to be for "peace" and "justice".

It is all a delusion. For Peace and Justice to have a chance, these poor, deluded individuals must first cleanse their own souls of the emotions they always loudly accuse others of having.

Who Do These People Speak For?

How many of these people will vote for Bush, I wonder? I wonder where their money comes from? Because it has to come from somewhere. I doubt that they earned it (you know, the old-fashioned way?). I'll just bet there is a shadowy web of connections that could be drawn up between an awful lot of them and the Kerry campaign.....who wants to take me up on that? Anyone in the media? Anyone?

Here's a list of all the the members of United for Peace and Justice. They include the Communist Party, the Socialist Party, an interesting group called Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane ( and hundreds more, just as bizarre!!). There are even a few that you wonder if they got lost and didn't want to hurt the wierdos' feelings by not signing onto their group list? All these guys and gals are demonstrating right now in NYC.

Isn't Free Speech grand?

And at least two of the three groups I mentioned above (maybe all three for all I know) would instantly deny free speech to anyone who disagreed with them if they had their way. But I guess that logic has little to do with their behavior, just as freedom has little to do with their goals.

Speechless

I have to admit that this just leaves me speechless with rage. On the Left, this is considered "humor". And they DARE to accuse Bush of "smearing" Kerry???(via LGF)

Publicity Hounds

Some people will hang out with just about anyone for publicity.


Moore and Jackson with protesters in NYC

UPDATE: LGF also has the photo and this comment on the "Moronic Convergence":

Director Michael Moore, left, is joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the start of a protest march leading up to the Republican National Convention sponsored by the group United for Peace and Justice in New York, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2004. The Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin Monday. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta)
United for Peace and Justice is a moonbat umbrella group, comprised of every lunatic far-left organization and terror-supporting Islamist facade in the United States; here’s the mind-boggling list of Member Groups of United for Peace and Justice. Only three years after September 11—when New York and the entire US were grievously wounded by the ideological brethren of these America-hating freaks—they’re marching by the thousands through the streets of Manhattan.

Psychiatry 101- Defense Mechanisms

In reading back over my posts, I notice that I talk frequently about "psychological defense mechanisms". I thought it might be a good idea to review that topic--both for my own clarity and to make sure everyone understands what I mean. My own thinking about defense mechanisms has been heavily influenced by two books I read at the beginning of my psychiatric career many years ago: George Vaillant's "Adaptation to Life"; and Anna Freud's "The Ego and Mechanisms of Defense". You will have to forgive me: I am a professor, and I like to lecture-- as if you haven't been able to tell that from reading my posts!

What are psychological defense mechanisms?
They are psychological strategies used individuals (and by extension--groups of indidivuals and even entire nations at times) to cope with reality and to maintain his/her self -image intact.

A healthy person will use many different defenses throughout life. A defense mechanism becomes pathological when it is used persistantly and leads to maladaptive behavior that will eventually threaten the physical and/or mental health of the individual. Having said that, there are psychological defenses that are:
1) almost always pathological - when they prevent the individual from being able to cope with a real threat and obscure his/her ability to perceive reality;
2) immature - used in childhood and adolescence, but mostly abandoned by adulthood, since they lead to socially unacceptable behavior and/or prevent the adult from optimal coping with reality;
3) neurotic - common in everyone, but clearly not optimal for coping with reality since they lead to problems in relationships; work; and problems in enjoying life; and finally,
4) mature defense mechanisms - used by "healthy" adults, they optimize one's ability to have normal relationships; enjoy work, and to take pleasure in life.

Let's look at these different types of defense mechanisms, which as you see above I have listed in a heirarchy from least effective to most effective. The defenses I have selected to discuss are the most typical, and are frequently discussed in the psychiatric and psychological literature.

Level 1 Defense Mechanisms - Almost always pathological; for the user these three defenses permit someone to rearrange external reality (and therefore not have to cope with reality); for the beholder, the users of these mechanisms frequently appear crazy or insane. These are the "psychotic" defenses, common in overt psychosis, in dreams, and throughout childhood. They include:

Denial - a refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening. There are examples of denial being adaptive (for example, it might be adaptive for a person who is dying to have some denial (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE )
Distortion - a gross reshaping of external reality to meet internal needs (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE)
Delusional Projection - frank delusions about external reality, usually of a persecutory nature (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE)

Level 2 Defense Mechanisms are seen frequently in adults and are common in adolescents. For the user these mechanism alter distress and anxiety caused by reality or other people; while for the beholder, people who use such defenses are seen as socially undesirable, immature, difficult and out of touch. They are considered "immature" defenses and almost always lead to serious problems in a person's ability to cope with the world. These defenses are seen in severe depression, personality disorders, and adolescence. They include:

Fantasy - tendency to retreat into fantasy in order to resolve inner and outer conflicts (EXAMPLE)
Projection - attributing one's own unacknowledged feelings to others; includes severe prejudice, severe jealousy, hypervigilance to external danger, and "injustice collecting". (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE , EXAMPLE (remember that projection is a primitive form of paranoia, so it is common in today's world)
Hypochondriasis - the transformation of negative feelings towards others into negative feelings toward self, pain, illness and anxiety (EXAMPLE)
Passive Agressive Behavior - aggression towards others expressed indirectly or passively (EXAMPLE)
Acting Out Behavior - direct expression of an unconscious wish or impulse to avoid being conscious of the emotion that accompanies it (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE)

Level 3 Defense Mechanisms are often considered "neurotic" but are fairly common in adults. They can have short-term advantages in coping, but they often cause long-term problems in relationships, work, and enjoyment of life for people who primarily use them as their basic style of coping with the world. They include:

Intellectualization - separation of emotion from ideas; thinking about wishes in formal, affectively bland terms and not acting on them (EXAMPLE)
Repression - seemingly inexplicable naivete, memory lapse, or lack of awareness of physical status; the emotion is conscious, but the idea behind it is absent (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE, and, of course, Scarlet "I won't think about that today" O'Hara from Gone With The Wind)
Reaction Formation - behavior that is completely the opposite of what one really wants or feels (e.g, taking care of someone when what one really wants is to be taken care of; studying to be a pilot to cover-up being afraid to fly). Note - this can work in the short term as an effective strategy to cope, but will eventually break down. (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE)
Displacement - separation of emotion from its real object and redirection of the intense emotion toward someone or something that is less offensive or threatening in order to avoid dealing directly with what is frightening or threatening (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE)
Dissociation - temporary and drastic modification of one's personal identity or character to avoid emotional distress (EXAMPLE)

Level 4 Defense Mechanisms are common among most "healthy" adults and are considered the most "mature". Many of them have their origins in the "immature" level, but have been honed by the individual to optimize his/her success in life and relationships. Use of these defenses gives the user pleasure and feelings of mastery. For the user, these defenses help them to integrate many conflicting emotions and thoughts and still be effective; and for the beholder their use by someone is viewed as a virtue. They include:

Sublimation - transformation of negative emotions or instincts into positive actions, behavior, or emotion (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLES, art, sports, hobbies, or even one's choice of profession)
Altruism - constructive service to others that brings pleasure and personal satisfaction (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE)
Suppression - the conscious decision to delay paying attention to an emotion or need in order to cope with the present reality; able to later access the emotion and accept it. (EXAMPLE)
Anticipation - realistic planning for future discomfort (EXAMPLE)
Humor - overt expression of ideas and feelings (especially those that are unpleasant to focus on or too terrible to talk about) that gives pleasure to others; (humor lets you call a spade a spade, while "wit" is actually a form of displacement) (EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE)

Since all of these defense mechanisms can be used by adults to adapt to life, the question is:
When is a defense mechanism considered really "adaptive" and when is it considered "pathological"? What we call "mental illness" is actually a manifestation of an individual's pathological adaptive resposne to events in his/her life. Here is what makes a defense "pathological":

• the defense is used in a rigid, inflexible, and exclusive manner
• the motivation for using the defense comes more from past needs than present or future reality
• the defense severely distorts the present situation
• use of the defense leads to significant problems in relationships, functioning, and enjoyment of life
• use of the defense impedes or distorts emotions and feelings, instead of rechanneling them effectively

Research has shown (see Adaptation to Life) that use of the "mature defenses" (Level 4) I listed is related to:

1) excellent adjustment as an adult, 2) happiness(by self-report), 3) job satisfaction, 4) rich friendships, 5) fewer hospitalizations over life, 6) better overall health, 7) a lower incidence of mental illness.

Use of the "immature Defenses" (Levels 1, 2, 3) is related to:

1) poor adjustment as an adult; 2) higher divorce rates and marital discord, 3) poor friendship patterns, 4) higher incidence of mental illness, 5) greater number of sick leave days taken, 6) poorer health generally.

You can see from some of the examples of these defenses I have chosen that defense mechanisms are not limited to individuals. Societies also sometimes need to protect their self-images and cope with events in the world. They need to explain why their society is failing; why they are not as important in the world as they feel they should be, etc. etc. Why the ideologies they embrace aren't successful.

Societies, like individuals, can adopt mature defenses and deal with reality; or they can deny reality and look elsewhere for the source of their problems. Many countries, like individuals, prefer to put the blame for their own failures onto an outside source, since that is safer for the self-image. A "healthy" country, like a healthy individual will evaluate the facts and utilize mature defenses to cope with and change the situation they find themselves in. They are not afraid of their aggressive impulses because those impulses are reigned in by reason and not indulged in lightly. When necessary, healthy societies look inward. When necessary, they focus outward.

By the way, if you don't like my examples and claim that they reflect my conservative bias, well too bad. They also reflect the defense mechanisms I describe.

A Beautiful Mind

THIS sort of reminds me of mathmatician John Nash in the movie "A Beautiful Mind", where he has papered his office and home with all his intricate, obsessive, deeply delusional and psychotic formulae; connections and codes; just prior to his complete schizophrenic breakdown and hospitalization.

Being Dragged Kicking and Screaming into the 21st Century

I wonder which century the Arabs would prefer to live in?

To Shill or Not To Shill

President Bush must just agonize over who he should be listening to.....

Political Pawns?

Who are the Political Pawns?

"V" For "Very Suspicious"

Finally, the mainstream media decides to check the records. (hat tip: Cooky)

Also, this is what Senator Kerry opined, when Admiral Jeremy Boorda took his own life after questions about the "V" on his Bronze Star were raised by the media (via Captain's Quarters):

"Is it wrong? Yes, it is very wrong. Sufficient to question his leadership position? The answer is yes, which he clearly understood," said Sen. John Kerry, a Navy combat veteran who served in Vietnam. - Boston Herald, May 18, 1996

"The military is a rigorous culture that places a high premium on battlefield accomplishment," said Sen. John F. Kerry, who received numerous decorations, including a Bronze Star with a "V" pin, as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam.

"In a sense, there's nothing that says more about your career than when you fought, where you fought and how you fought," Kerry said.

"If you wind up being less than what you're pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value and self-esteem and your sense of how others view you."

Of Boorda and his apparent violation, Kerry said: "When you are the chief of them all, it has to weigh even more heavily." - Boston Globe, May 18, 1996

Really, Mr. Kerry?

A Proven Strategy

Now, it is not my intent to vote for Kerry (you may have noticed that) but since I am feeling sorry for him at the moment, I have come up with a TERRIFIC scenario for his campaign!

I recommend that he call a press conference and, with his adoring wife by his side, he announce that the reason he said all those nasty things about the military back in 1971 was because he was in agony and struggling with his sexuality. That this intense internal conflict separated him from others and made him do and say terrible things; but that now--33 years later--he has finally looked deep into the mirror of his soul found his own unique truth in the world. (He doesn't actually have to give details about which direction the unique truth has been resolved, so that he could in future go either way if he had to). Then he could plead for understanding and support for having finally made this difficult decision to publically reveal his "unique truth". If absolutely necessary, he could resign from the Senate to demonstrate his remorse at hurting hundreds of thousands of veterans with his indiscrete and shameful behavior in 1971 and beyond.

Of course, this would not hurt his current status as Democratic Presidential Candidate. On the contrary, it might actually enhance it(among his political base), because by his public announcement he would be enrolled in the ranks of official victimhood, and should be able to indefinitely postpone having to deal with the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth accusations! He could ascribe any and all inconsistencies in speech and behavior to his terrible internal anguish at the betrayal of his unique truth.

Hell, he could ascribe his entire behavior since 1971 (at least anything anyone had questions about) to the same psychological torment he was going through!

After all, this is a proven strategy!

More on Kerry's New Soldier

The book cover comes from this site, which also has the pdf files for the entire book which Senator Kerry would like to pretend never existed. They comment:

"The picture below is the ORIGINAL cover of John Kerry's book THE NEW SOLDIER. John Kerry's friends, the so called Vietnam Veterans Against the War were mocking this scene photographed during the Second World War. 6,825 American soldiers died in the battle to take Iwo Jima before they planted that flag.

My father fought and was wounded on Iwo Jima, and it was one of the proudest moments of his life. When he died earlier this year, the U.S. Marines performed a formal flag ceremony at his funeral. I am the proud recipient of the flag they used. It sits on my fireplace mantel, a constant reminder to me and my family that he fought bravely for his country all those years ago. Look at the picture below in that context.


I hear that Kerry has lawyers waiting to sue anyone who posts this picture of the cover of his book "The New Soldier". I have three words to say: BRING IT ON

And speaking of Elite, Arrogant, Intellectuals

To paraphrase Captain Kirk, speaking to Khan: "I'm laughing at the superior intellect..."

Meanwhile, Back in Academia....

(Click to Enlarge)


Meanwhile, back in the Academic World....

Baseball is Life

I have been a baseball nut (and a Yankee fan) my entire life. My earliest memories are of playing baseball with my father, until my brother was old enough to replace me in his dreams of a family sports dynasty (I swear I was better than my brother !). My dad was a professional and played/managed a minor league team in New Jersey in my youth. Growing up in this kind of environment and being Italian (remember DiMaggio?) you might say it was both nature and nurture. I truly believe that Baseball is Life., even today. So, you know something serious has happened when the Democrats start getting compared to the Red Sox in the mainstream media....and who do you suppose gets to be the Yankees?

Hypocrisy

From the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary Online:

hy·poc·ri·sy- Pronunciation: hi-'pä-kr&-sE ; Function: noun; a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially : the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion.

See HERE for a discussion of a perfect example.

Quite Unhinged

Charles Krauthammer has an interesting discussion of Bush Loathing today in his Townhall. com column. What you may not know is that Krauthammer is actually a trained psychiatrist. Read the entire article, but here is a taste:

The loathing goes far beyond the politicians. Liberals as a body have gone quite around the twist. I count one all-star rock tour, three movies, four current theatrical productions and five best sellers (a full one-third of the New York Times list) variously devoted to ridiculing, denigrating, attacking and devaluing this president, this presidency and all who might, God knows why, support it.
How to explain? With apologies to Dr. Freud, I propose the Pressure Cooker Theory of Hydraulic Release.
The hostility, resentment, envy and disdain, all superheated in Florida, were not permitted their natural discharge. Came 9/11 and a lid was forced down. How can you seek revenge for a stolen election by a nitwit usurper when all of a sudden we are at war and the people, bless them, are rallying around the flag and hailing the commander in chief? With Bush riding high in the polls, with flags flying from pickup trucks (many of the flags, according to Howard Dean, Confederate), the president was untouchable.
The Democrats fell unnaturally silent. For two long, agonizing years, they had to stifle and suppress. It was the most serious case of repression since Freud's Anna O. went limp. The forced deference nearly killed them. And then, providentially, they were saved. The clouds parted and bad news rained down like manna: WMDs, Abu Ghraib, Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neill, Joe Wilson and, most important, continued fighting in Iraq.
Stripped of his halo, the president's ratings went down. The spell was broken. He was finally once again human and vulnerable. With immense relief, the critics let loose.
The result has been volcanic. The subject of one prominent new novel is whether George W. Bush should be assassinated. This is all quite unhinged. Good God. What if Bush is re-elected? If they lose to him again, Democrats will need more than just consolation. They'll need therapy.

My only quibble with Krauthammer is that I think the Democrats need therapy NOW. In their gleeful delight at denigrating the president and accusing him of all sorts of crimes and atrocities; they have caused a considerable amount of collateral damage to their own country. They seem so unhinged as to prefer the demise and destruction of the U.S. rather than examine their own motivations and conflicted souls.

There is much for honorable men and women to debate about how best to respond to the war thrust upon us by the events of 9/11. George Bush has been both bold and determined, but he has made mistakes in both strategy and tactics. If the Democrats could get over their childish pouting about the 2000 election, and stop pretending that our country and its values are not in mortal danger from a homicidal maniac who rose to power during their watch, they might have a chance this November. As it is, without some Anger Management Therapy, they will continue to act quite unhinged.

Looking Forward

All right, All right. I promise not to write about the John Kerry -Swift Boat Veteran controversy any more for a while. On my honor. Even I'm getting bored with it. What I am looking forward to is the Republican Convention next week. I would like to see President Bush come forward and outline what he will do in the next four years, particularly about the War on Terror. I am particularly interested in what our strategy will be toward:

• continued support for Iraq
• dealing with Iran and Korea (the rest of the Axis of Evil)
• dealing with Saudi Arabia and the US dependence on oil
• re-evaluating our international alliances and restructuring our policy from pre-9/11 to post 9/11 thinking
• Homeland Security issues, particularly the Patriot Act
• Border protection

I am not particularly interested in Gay marriage (I don't see why they don't invent a different word for it; I don't care much about the economy, but would like there to be LESS government intervention in it than Bush has done so far. My philosophy is that anything the government can do, a private company can do much better. I'd like to see that concept reflected in Bush's "ownership society".

John Kerry --The New Soldier

This quote if from John Kerry's book The New Soldier (via Betsy's Page) which is out of print and Kerry will not allow to be republlished (I wonder why???)

Though Kerry would later retrieve the medals he pretended to throw at the White House, he emphasized in The New Soldier that the Vietnam veteran should not be honored. Purple hearts and bronze stars mean nothing to the new soldier, for he knows they are just a sham: "We will not quickly join those who march on Veterans' Day waving small flags, calling to memory those thousands who died for the ‘greater glory of the United States.' We will not accept the rhetoric. We will not readily join the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars…We will not take solace from the creation of monuments or the naming of parks after a select few of the thousands of dead Americans and Vietnamese. We will not uphold traditions which decorously memorialize that which was base and grim."

If, after reading this passage, you can with a straight face say that Kerry's four months in Vietnam have prepared him to lead the U.S. in the War on Terror (or any other war for that matter) then you are beyond hope.

Therapeutic Breakthrough

Sigh..my therapy failed, so here's the new ad from the Swifties! Let's see what the response to this one is.

Blogger Psychotherapy

DON'T PANIC! HELP IS ON THE WAY!

Read this if you think you are totally obsessed by the current election hysteria about Kerry in Vietnam and Bush "AWOL". And while you're at it, read this, too. I just did and I feel much more psychologically healthy! Maybe I should stop blogging....

(Thanks to Instapundit for the first article referral)

A Combat Surgeon Speaks

This piece is by a Vietnam combat surgeon, Dr. Martin Fackler. I admit that I wondered how John Kerry could get 3 purple hearts within 100 days and never once be hospitalized. Dr. Fackler talks about his experience with soldiers trying to get purple hearts with the most minor of wounds so they could get out of Vietnam. He points out:

"Is there any way we can determine who was telling the truth about this first Purple Heart? Yes, there is. The type of wound can reveal much about the weapon that caused it. The tiny sliver of metal and its very superficial penetration is typical of fragments from explosive devices — like grenades. It would not have resulted from the most likely gunfire from shore — small arms rifle fire. The AK 47 rifle, used by the enemy, fires a 30-caliber bullet, which is 50 times or more as heavy as the sliver of metal sticking in Lt. Kerry's skin. Such a bullet would have passed through any part of his body it struck, and certainly no part of it would have remained sticking in his skin.

In the absence of the medical records that Mr. Kerry apparently declines to make public, the only details we have about his second and third Purple Hearts are that he also based them on wounds too minor to require hospitalization. My reason for refusing to verify insignificant wounds as the basis for a Purple Heart was the regulation covering Purple Heart awards. In Part B, Paragraph 2, of the Army Purple Heart Regulation (600-8-22 of 25 February 1995), we find "the wound for which the award is made must have required treatment by a medical officer."

Dr. Louis Letson was entirely correct in turning down Lt. Kerry's first Purple Heart — even if the wound had been the result of enemy action. Can there be any doubt that the tiny metal sliver could have been removed easily, and safely, by a Navy corpsman? It certainly did not "require" treatment by a medical officer (an MD). " (Emphasis mine)

Senator Kerry MUST sign form 180 and release his medical records--if he wants to put an end to this controversy. The fact that he continues to refuse to do so only gives more credence to Dr. Fackler's analysis.

Band of Brothers

From Jessica's Well (via Instapundit).


Kerry's Real Band of Brothers!

The Holiest Shrine in the U.S.

Ladies and gentleman, did you know that there is a holy shrine in the U.S.? That it is ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN that anyone defile this shrine by attacking it? That any hint of attack; or question that doesn't want to be answered by the keepers of this shrine will lead to a MASSIVE UPRISING of believers?

This Shrine, this holy of holies, is JOHN KERRY'S VIETNAM RECORD. Like the insane situation in Najaf; a bunch of thugs has holed themselves up in the shrine and appealed to the people of the U.S. to back them in maintaining that there is nothing more sacred than John Kerry's stories of his exploits in Vietnam; that there is nothing more holy than John Kerry's medals (even though he lost his way once and threw them away in a moment of disbelief). That this Sacred Shrine is more important than Truth, Integrity, or even Freedom of Speech?

Let's stop worshipping John Kerry's Vietnam War and John Kerry's Vietnam medals. Over 2 million men and women served in the U.S. Military during that war, and it is their war also. It is not a Holy War now, and it wasn't then. It has clearly never been resolved in the national consciousness and now is as good a time as any to complete the catharsis. That it is an election year is too f***ing bad. It is John Kerry who brought the subject up in the first place. Let us not be fearful of attacking this"holy shrine", because it represents the the two sides of that era in our history. Who do we believe? A man who, though decorated, came back from the war and dishonored over 2 million men and women by his opportunistic and self-serving behavior? A man who now "reports for duty" by claiming that his honor and his truth are the only ones that count? Or other veterans from that war who want to reclaim their own honor and truth. Who remember the war differently from John Kerry?

You can disagree that these issues should not be discussed now, but I will leave it to the men and women who want to discuss it. It is their right. This is not Najaf, nor is John Kerry's Vietnam record the Imam al Ali Shrine. Let Kerry worship there if he chooses, I am more interested in the Truth.

Balanced?

Now that the press is clamoring (along with Kerry) for the story to go away because it has been going on for "too long", Donald Sensing at One Hand Clapping does a comparison:

"Google:
Bush+National+Guard: Results 1 - 10 of about 703,000
Bush + National + Guard + Records: Results 1 - 10 of about 278,000
Bush + AWOL: Results 1 - 10 of about 101,000
Bush + Deserter: Results 1 - 10 of about 38,100
I tried to get Lexis-Nexis results, but it keeps freezing because there are too many documents to retrieve.John didn't do equivalent-type searches, so I did:

Results 1 - 10 of about 127,000 for kerry swift boat veterans truth.
Results 1 - 10 of about 7,730 for kerry bronze star controversy
Results 1 - 10 of about 12,600 for kerry cambodia controversy
Results 1 - 10 of about 84,600 for kerry "unfit for command".

You can do the math, but the comparitive coverage didn't stop the Washington Post's E.J. Dione from claiming that coverage of Kerry's controversies need to be "balanced by serious scrutiny of Bush in the Vietnam years."

Yeah. Right.

Hard-Hitting Journalism

NOT

The Ultimate Kerry Hypocrisy

The Ultimate Kerry Hypocrisy

How To Read The New York Times

How is the NY Times like Pravda? Go here to find out; and also to get useful instructions on how to figure out the news when reading the Times (Hint: it is not by them actually printing the news).

Damage Control

There are several reports out now that John Kerry is attempting damage control by appealing directly to Bob Dole and to the Swifties. He seems genuinely hurt and confused by their attitudes toward his past behavior. But what about his current behavior? Here, reportedly, is what he said to Robert "Friar Tuck" Brant Cdr., USN (RET), skipper of the #96 and # 36 boat who spent time with Kerry in An Thoi:

"When we dedicated swift boat one in '92, I said to all the swift guys that I wasn't talking about the swifties, I was talking about all the rest of the veterans."

ALL THE REST OF THE VETERANS? (more than 2 million military men and women served in Vietnam)

What a jerk.

Ha Ha

John Kerry is full of laughs:

"When John Kerry decided it was time to do his first national TV interview since the Swift boaters for Bush launched their attack on the senator's Vietnam War record, he did not choose CBS's "60 Minutes," ABC's "Nightline" or "NBC Nightly News."
Kerry picked Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," where he will appear tonight in an extended interview."

Comedy Central? Maybe the Democratic Party has decided to change its name--to one more appropriate?

Oh I REALLY Like This !

William F. Buckley comes through again, this time with a parable about tax cuts and the Democratic proposition that they "favor the rich": (via Blogs for Bush)

"Every night, ten men met at a restaurant for dinner. At the end of the meal, the bill would arrive. They owed $100 for the food that they shared. Every night they lined up in the same order at the cash register. The first four men paid nothing at all. The fifth, though he grumbled about the unfairness of the situation, paid $1. The sixth man, feeling generous, paid $3. The next three men paid $7, $12, and $18, respectively. The last man was required to pay the remaining balance of $59.

The ten men were quite settled into their routine when the restaurant threw them into chaos. It announced that it was cutting its prices: Now it would charge only $80 for dinner for the ten men. This reduction wouldn't affect the first four men — they would continue to eat for free. The fifth person decided to forgo his $1 contribution to the pool, and the sixth contributed $2. The seventh man deducted $2 from his usual payment and now paid $5. The eighth man paid $9, the ninth, $12, leaving the last man with a bill of $52. Outside of the restaurant, the men compared their savings, and angry outbursts began to erupt. The sixth man yelled, "I got only $1 out of the total reduction of $20, and he" — pointing to the last man — "got $7." The fifth man joined in the protest. "Yeah! I got only $1 too. It is unfair that he got seven times more than me." The seventh man cried, "Why should he get a $7 reduction when I got only $2?" The first four men followed the lead of the others: "We didn't get any of the $20 reduction. Where is our share?"

The nine men formed an outraged mob, surrounding the tenth man. The nine angry men carried the tenth man up to the top of a hill and lynched him. The next night, the nine remaining men met at the restaurant for dinner. But when the bill came, there was no one to pay it. "

The Leftist elite, who continue to push this idiotic class warfare--despite the complete collapse of Marxist stupidity-- have no understanding of where real wealth comes from. In the 20th century, we saw socialist and communist countries do exactly what the nine men at the restaurant did--kill the source of their wealth and by doing so destroy any prospect of prosperity and progress they might have had. People who support a regime whose policies kill the most productive deserve to fall into economic and social decline.

Another Example of Women's Rights in Iran

THIS is Justice??? It makes me sick. To quote from an Eminem song: "I hope you fuckin' burn in Hell for this shit."

Kerry Unraveling

The Command Post reports:

"From the Boston Globe :
The Kerry campaign removed a 20-page batch of documents yesterday from its website after The Boston Globe quoted a Navy officer who said the documents wrongly portrayed Kerry’s service. Edward Peck had said he — not Kerry — was the skipper of Navy boat No. 94 at a time when the Kerry campaign website credited the senator with serving on the boat. The website had described Kerry’s boat as being hit by rockets and said a crewmate was injured in an attack. But Peck said those events happened when he was the skipper. The campaign did not respond to a request to explain why the .records were removed." (Emphasis mine)

And so, the story continues to unravel....
What do have when you get to the center of an unraveled candidate? NOTHING

Terrorist Ties !

Bert from Sesame Street was recently sighted with the world's Number 1 Terrorist in Bangladesh! (via Instapundit) A coincidence? I don't think so.......


Bert recently sighted with Bin Laden

Someone Is Lying

Economist, philosopher Thomas Sowell (one of my favorites) has an important column up on Townhall.com today:

"I don't know where John Kerry was on Christmas 1968. In fact, I'm not sure where I was that Christmas. Moreover, it shouldn't matter in a Presidential election in 2004.
Unfortunately, Senator Kerry himself has made it matter by incessantly parading his four months in combat long ago. There are men who served in combat for years, who have sustained devastating wounds in battle, and who have won the Congressional Medal of Honor, who don't talk about it as much as John Kerry does.
Now other decorated combat veterans who served in the same unit as Kerry have come forward to give a completely different account of the same events that Senator Kerry has described. Who are we to believe?
There are discrepancies admitted on both sides, as might be expected about events so long ago. By and large, however, the stories being told are too sharply different for mere lapses of memory to be responsible. Somebody is obviously lying.
Those of us who were not there might just let the matter rest, except for what is happening today, in the media. Instead of answering the charges themselves, those in the Kerry camp -- and this includes people in the media -- are distracting attention away from the charges with tangential attacks on the other Vietnam veterans.
Liberal columnist Albert Hunt, for example, has said that the efforts of the veterans are backed by a "fat cat" who is making their book -- "Unfit for Command" by John O'Neill -- and their television ads possible.
This charge is wholly circular. When people like billionaire George Soros back liberal causes they are never called "fat cats." So anything on the other side that requires money will be backed by "fat cats," as the liberal media will call them, even if these cats are a lot leaner than George Soros.
On "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer" columnist Tom Oliphant kept referring to the veterans' charges as a "tabloid" story that would not reach the high journalistic standards required to have it taken seriously.
Oliphant kept snidely repeating the "tabloid" line so often that eventually Jim Lehrer reminded him that the story was being covered on his program, which he obviously does not regard as tabloid. The Vietnam veterans have been on other programs that no one would call tabloid and whose journalistic standards are at least as high as Oliphant's.
These and other attempts at distracting from the Vietnam veterans' charges have to raise suspicions. Senator Kerry's demand that President Bush repudiate these charges against him ignores the fact that Bush was not there. Nor has Kerry repudiated gross insults against Bush, including those by Michael Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, and others."

Several facts need emphasis:
1. None of the statements coming from Kerry's campaign address the specific charges of the SBVT. Kerry's strategy has been simply to impugn the testimony of 250 of his fellow veterans.

2. Kerry has not released all of his Vietnam records. Estimates are that there are over 100 pages of documents that Kerry has never allowed to be released.

3. For months, Kerry-backing 527's have continuously smeared George Bush, one even comparing him to Hitler. Kerry-backing celebrities have made deceitful comments, jokes, and even documentaries attacking Bush. NOT ONCE has Kerry denounced those attacks. Instead, Democrats have gleefully supported the 527's (see this post) AND the celebrities have been honored guests at the Democratic National Convention.

and finally,

4. Mr. John "Bring it on!" Kerry is now screaming, "Make it go away!", and has enlisted his army of lawyers to try to stifle the free speech of his fellow Vietnam veterans.

If you are trying to determine who is telling the truth and who is lying here, you must keep these facts in mind.

Freedom of Speech

Who is trying to do their job, and who is trying to stifle free speech? You decide.

A Web of Connections - Indeed!

From Blogs For Bush : (click on the image to enlarge)


The Democrat's Web of Connections

Headlines I'd Like To See

Well, its time for me to discharge all my pent-up anger and hostility and rage! Beware!

IRAQI WOMEN SWEEP MEDALS IN GYMNASTICS AND BEACH VOLLEYBALL

OSAMA BIN LADEN FOUND DEAD AND ABANDONED IN AFGHANISTAN CAVE

MICHAEL MOORE, BROKE AND PENNILESS, NOW EKES OUT LIVING AS A JANITOR

MAUREEN DOWD, NOTED COLUMNIST, DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMERS

KERRY VIETNAM MEDICAL RECORDS PROVE HIS ENTIRE VIETNAM HISTORY A SHAM

HEINZ FORTUNE LOST IN BAD INVESTMENTS

KERRY SUES WIFE FOR DIVORCE, NOW DATING BILL GATES' DAUGHTER
"We're in love!" gushes former presidential candidate Kerry

EUROPEAN STANDARD OF LIVING DECLINES AS MORE PEOPLE CHOOSE NOT TO WORK AND LIVE OFF GOVERNMENT

NORTH KOREAN DICTATOR ASSASSINATED BY OWN TROOPS

U.N. DISBANDS AFTER ADMITTING LARGEST FINANCIAL SCANDAL IN HISTORY

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN FOUND TO BE KEY TO LONG LIFE AND GOOD HEALTH; ICE CREAM AND DONUTS A CLOSE SECOND!

and, of course:

BUSH WINS IN A LANDSLIDE!

There! I feel so much better!

A Matter of Priorities

Just when you thought the Muslim world had taken a step forward into (at least) the 20th century, you read something like this, and realize that they are still mired in the barbarity of the Middle Ages.

Where are the loud, angry international protests against a regime that hangs a 16 year old girl because a so-called "holy" man didn't like her spirit? Where is the sense of international outrage about a group of thugs who cloak themselves in the robes of religion to justify their thuggishness?

Why hasn't the women's movement expressed outrage and condemned this barbarism?

Clearly they have better things to do.

I'm John Kerry and I Approved This Cartoon....

It seems like Pat Oliphant thinks all Veterans--except of course John Kerry--are a bunch of ignorant, redneck slobs. Yet another example of how the media are rising to Kerry's Defense. (Note: Kerry STILL has not released all his Vietnam records).


By Oliphant

Sad, Sad, Sadr

(Via The Command Post):

Iraqi blogger Sarmad has posted the text of a message, issued via a press release, from Muqtada Al-Sadr to the American people. Excerpt:

"IN THE NAME OF GOD THE MOST GRACIOUS THE MOST MERCIFUL BUREAU OF THE MARTYR SAYED MOHAMMAD AL-SADUR (SACRED SOUL)A CALL OF ISLAMA CALL OF PEACE
What happened to you - the sopprters and the followers of the christ (peace be upon him). What happened to you - the followers who love peace, what happened to you -the followers of who recommended of the prophet Ahmed after him? What happened to you who are motives for like peace? Why do not you support peace, you, whose sacred book is gospel tou and we assemble to Humanity, you and we together believe in one GOD. You and we together believe in having prophets, Great god said,” there is no difference among prophets.” We believe in all the prophets not in some of them as others you are against the Honest the forgiving law (sharea) that calls peace and Best behavior and good treatment and sincere love and brotherhood to all that lead to the spread of peace in all the world. You and we are looking forwerd to peace and we need it and nothing else, the Muslim is peaceful otherwise he is not Muslim. And like you who require the peace. We are desired for peace but you are in our country occupants. Our land is taken and our houses entered and our independence is incomplete and our beliefs are insulted. Is this state satisfactory in your state? I say we do not accept this for us and for you and for all who wish for peace and Brother hood."

Man of peace, indeed. He wonders what happened to us? My question is, when are they gonna get rid of this guy? Wasn't he going to fight until his last drop of blood? If he is holy, then I am St. Theresa.

Monster 527 Organizations

Q. How does John Kerry know that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- the one and only 527 organization that has come out with ads opposed to Kerry-- are funded by Republicans?

A. Because all the 527 organizations that support Kerry are funded by Democrats!

Let's take a look, shall we? (link: Blogs for Bush)

On the Republican Side:

• Bob Perry, who has given to given to multiple Republican causes and campaigns (including campaigns for Bush), is the Swift Boat Vet's largest donor, contributing $100,000.
  One Hundred Thousand... Big deal.

On The Democratic Side:

Looking at the top forty-nine 527 organizations, we find

• The Joint Victory Campaign. The sole purpose of this organization is to raise funds for the number two ranked Media Fund and number three ranked America Coming Together. Both organizations are dedicated to defeating George Bush. This organization sports no less than thirty-three individuals who have given more money than Bob Perry, twelve who have given at least one million dollars, with the largest contributor shelling out $7.75 million. George Soros has given more than $4.5 million to this organization.
  
• The Media Fund. This "Anybody but Bush" group has put together and paid for multiple TV ads that play in the battle-ground states. They are funded to the tune of over $28 million, almost half of which comes from the number one ranked Joint Victory Campaign. More than $5.5 million has come from employee unions.
  
• America Coming Together. Also against Bush, also helped by the Joint Victory Campaign, also a baby of George Soros ($5 million) and Peter Lewis (almost $3 million).
  #4 & #5: The Service Employees International Union and the American Federationn of State/County/Municiple Employees More than $16 and $13 million respectively. Both are unions and hence partisan Democratic fronts.
  
• Those are just the first five of the forty-nine. More staggering is when we step back and look at the forest, not the trees. Of the top forty-nine 527 organizations:
  -Forty one (84%) are supported by Democrats and push Democrat causes.
  -Only five are supported by Republicans and push Republican causes.
  -Three are issue or industry oriented (like Peter Lewis' Marijuana Policy Project).
  -The Democrat funding totals $176 million compared to the Republican funding of$10.8 million.
  By Kerry's measure, each of the organizations that support Democrat causes are Democratic Front groups, doing the dirty work that Kerry is too cowardly to do.

These 527 groups are one of the unintended consequences of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. Rather than improve the campaign financing situation in this country, this bill has created monsters in deadly combat with each other, pouring huge amounts of money into the campaign pot and battling for the public's attention (see graphic below).

527 Organizations have assumed monster proportions in the 2004 Election--part of an unintended consequence of campaign finance reform. 

The Invisible Man

Where is John Kerry? When is he going to allow the press to question him about the Swift Boat Veteran charges? His statements on the subject have not addressed the specific charges and have focused on personally attacking the 250 other Vietnam veterans who make up SBVT. He has already filed a lawsuit to try to keep their book Unfit for Command off the market (obviously he doesn't believe in free speech). He has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission charging the Bush Campaign with breaking the election laws by coordinating with the SBVT on their ads (the hypocrisy of this accusation by the Kerry Campaign is breathtaking).

BUT HE HAS NOT ADDRESSED THE ISSUES THAT THE VETS HAVE BROUGHT UP.

Over at Captain's Quarters, Ed Morrisey has put together a list of questions that he would like to ask Mr. Kerry at a press conference. Check it out. And, while you're at it, check out PowerLine and Little Green Footballs, for even more information on all this.

Kerry, the Invisible Man.

From my brother Paul and friends. For those of you too young to know, Gomer was a TV show in the 60's, about the same time John Kerry was in Cambodia..... 

If Only We Had Better PR !

Nobody should be suprised that the religious affairs department of the Saudi military has published an article, "Jews in the Modern Era", that states in part:

"The Fabricated Torah, Talmud, and Protocols of the Elders of Zion Command Destruction of All Non-Jews for World Domination"
and:
"The Majority of Revolutions, Coups D'etat, and Wars … are Almost Entirely the Handiwork of the Jews."

I cite this rather disgusting evidence of Muslim anti-Semitism for two reasons. The first is to show that this kind of thinking is mainstream in Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world. The people who write articles like this are not considered nutcases with paranoid delusions. They are noted historians; important public officials and even members of the Saudi and other counties' royal families. The entire Muslim world believes this bulls**t. No, let me rephrase that--they believe it fervently, since it explains their own inadequacies. The second reason is that like all those with paranoid delusions, the people who believe and spread this psychotic BS are not open to reasonable discourse on the subject.

So, with that in mind, let's turn to the second article that caught my attention: "US Struggles to Win Hearts and Minds in the Muslim World":

"But Middle East experts -- and some frustrated U.S. officials -- complain that the administration has provided only limited new direction in dealing with anti-American anger among the world's 1.2 billion Muslims and is spending far too little on such efforts, particularly in contrast with the billions spent on other pressing needs, such as homeland security and intelligence."

You see, the thrust of this article is that the Bush Administration is not doing enough public relations to win the hearts and minds of the people in the Muslim world.

Hello?? Anybody home? Why in heaven's name should we waste our money on trying to change the way the Muslim world feels about us? Personally, I could care less about their "hearts"--who cares if they love us or not? Their "minds" unfortunately, are a repository of complete mush--devoid of any ability for critical thinking since that faculty is crushed early by omnipresent and malignant religious schools. (It is possible that the women possess a shred of intelligence, since they are not allowed to get any schooling, but there is no way to know in most countries). Many of these people want to kill us as fervently as they want to kill all Jews. As long as the Jews and Americans are the source of all evil in the world, they never have to evaluate or question themselves or their own beliefs.

Without a free press; without an educational system that teaches reason; without rulers and government who support those two goals; any money we spend on PR is completely wasted. No, President Bush has it right. We now have a real opportunity in Afghanistan and Iraq to sow the seeds of freedom and reason. That is the most cost-effective way to the "hearts and minds" of the Middle East.

But if public relations is the way to go, then I guess the "Jewish World" should just hire a better PR firm to represent it in the Middle East. That should make everything all right.

New SBVT Advertisement

The new Swift Boat Veterans' ad is out and you can listen to it here. I wonder how Kerry et al will be able to counter it, when it has Kerry's own words. As I mentioned in this post--until Kerry completely repudiates his behavior after the Vietnam war, there is no reason for anyone, let alone any veteran, to believe anything he says now.

Listen to the ad, then read Kerry's words just this week at the VFW in Cincinatti:

"...today’s fighting men and women, deserve our prayers and support and then, when they come home, they deserve the respect and welcome of a grateful nation."

Yes, they do, Senator Kerry.

Checking the Facts

Fortunately for those of us with little time, there exists a reputable organization that checks the facts, the Annenberg Political Factcheck (factcheck.org)

"A Bush-Cheney '04 ad released Aug. 13 accuses Kerry of being absent for 76% of the Senate Intelligence Committee's public hearings during the time he served there. The Kerry campaign calls the ad "misleading," so we checked, and Bush is right.
Official records show Kerry not present for at least 76% of public hearings held during his eight years on the panel, and possibly 78% (the record of one hearing is ambiguous).
Kerry points out that most meetings of the Intelligence Committee are closed and attendance records of those meetings aren't public, hinting that his attendance might have been better at the non-public proceedings. But Kerry could ask that his attendance records be made public, and hasn't.

Aides also claimed repeatedly that Kerry had been vice chairman of the intelligence committee, but that was Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, not John Kerry.

Kerry often touts his eight years on the Senate Intelligence Committee as a prime qualification for office. The Bush ad takes that on, describing Kerry as a no-show for most of the committee's public meetings. If anything, the ad understates Kerry's lack of attendance."

How could anyone mistake himself for someone else? Kerry's aides claimed that the "similarity in names" --Kerrey vs Kerry---confused them. Perhaps the similarity in geography confused Kerry about Cambodia; or the similarity between "under fire" and "not under fire" ? If Kerry would release ALL of his Vietnam records (including the medical records) then perhaps this non-partisan organization would evaluate some of the allegations made by the Swift Boat Veterans?

You Wouldn't Want To Live There

I learned a new word today over at Belmont Club ! The word is "antinomianism". Wretchard had called the Islamofascist terrorists "nihilists" and it turns out that "antinomianist" fits them better. Here's the definition:

"1. The doctrine or belief that the Gospel frees Christians from required obedience to any law, whether scriptural, civil, or moral, and that salvation is attained solely through faith and the gift of divine grace. 2. The belief that moral laws are relative in meaning and application as opposed to fixed or universal."

He goes on to say:
"In the current context, radical Islamists are better characterized as antinomians than nihilists. Having been anointed by Allah, they may perform any act, tell any lie, do anything and still regard themselves as being in the right. The Western Left on the other hand is philosophically much closer to nihilism. Nothing is inherently true and that makes it possible for a Leftist to believe two contradictory things simultaneously. Orwell gave this process a name: doublethink. In this mental universe one can burn the Flag and insist on its protection; work to destroy the Constitution and claim Constitutional liberty to do it; march in a Gay Pride parade in the morning and in a fundamentalist Islamic rally in the afternoon. Both are mentally wonderful places to be for those who wish to always be right; the first by definition and the second by virtue of the fact that wrong cannot exist. Personally, I wouldn't want to live there."

Neither would I. Read the entire post over at Belmont Club. But let me go one step further than Wretchard. I think that many Leftists are not only nihilists, they are ALSO antinomianists. Just like the Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, they have a deep-seated belief--religious fervor, if you will--in their state of grace. They see themselves, by virtue of their intellect, to be "the annointed" and the keepers of the holy vision of how things should be. The end justifies the means. They, too, can lie, distort reality, and commit atrocities (isn't that what communism did for most of the 20th century?) in the name of their "religion" because they know they are right.

It is my deep and heartfelt wish that all the self-annointed intellectual leaders of the Left would have the opportunity to live themselves in the world of their vision (I think Hell would be a great totalitarian utopia for them to dwell in). Because that world would be a nightmare of suffering and misery; a world where freedom and individual rights are shackled to the whim of the few--in short, a world like the old Soviet Union, or the more recent Taliban. Like Sadr, I hope they get their wish for martyrdom.

Hypothetical Job Interview

Does this sound familiar? (from John Hawkins via Betsy's Page)

"Let's say there's a guy who's trying to get a job with ABC company. We'll call him...let's say, John Terry. The boss of "Faceless Corporation, Inc." interviews John Terry, sees that he has requisite experience for the job, and asks why he should hire him. John Terry tells the boss,
"You should hire me because of the great job I did as an accountant at XYZ company. I'm telling you, I did the work of 5 people. I was the guy in charge of our budget, I did payroll, I did price quotes for sales, I'm telling ya, there was no better accountant in the company. Just ask my references, the guys in my department."
So, the boss checks with the guys in John Terry's department and they all have nothing but good things to say about him. So, he starts to seriously consider Terry for the job...then, something odd happens. He runs into a guy from sales at XYZ company and this guy says,
"Oh, Terry was the worst accountant we had. Not only was he a jerk, he was constantly late with the price quotes we gave to customers. I bet you his screw-ups cost us $100,000 last year".
Suddenly, the boss is confused. What the salesman is telling him is exactly the opposite of what all the guys in Terry's department were saying. So the boss checks around and he actually runs down every single boss Terry had at XYZ company and they all say the same thing,
"This Terry guy was a creep and he was terrible at his job. Hiring him would be the biggest mistake you ever made".
Well, the boss keeps checking around and he finds that for every guy in Terry's department who had good things to say about him, there are 20 guys from different departments at XYZ company who all say Terry was a walking disaster. He hears things like...
-- "Terry was constantly claiming to have done work that he really never completed."
-- "This guy has done nothing but talk down the company to anyone who'll listen since he left. I can't stand him."
-- "Don't even get me started on this Terry guy. I wouldn't hire him to help run my kid's lemonade stand."
Now, after hearing all of this, does John Terry get hired? My guess is that most people would say 'no'."

I know just what is going through the mind of that job interviewer. I have been in exactly the same position. All the letters of recommendation look pretty good, but there is something about the applicant.... So, you give the people who recommended him a call; or his former boss and ask them to speak "off the record", since nobody says what they really think in the letters of recommendation. Or, if they do, there's no way to tell, since every single one is a glowing accolade that leaves no room for possible litigation.

So, my advice is that you read Unfit for Command if you want to hear what every single superior officer of Kerry's has to say about his performance in Vietnam. Just like the job interview above, something just doesn't add up. The men in this book are not foaming at the mouth right wing nuts (although even if they were, in fairness you would still have to evaluate what they have to say). They are decorated Vietnam vets who are deserving of our consideration. Kerry must answer these charges with FACTS, not with attacks on his fellow veterans.

Grant Him His Wish

Muqtada al Sadr has apparently stated that he now wishes martyrdom. Please, Please can we be merciful and grant him his wish this time?

Abu Ghraib Update

The official report is coming out on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. From the NY Times:

A high-level Army inquiry has found that senior American commanders created conditions that allowed abuses to occur at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by failing to provide leadership and enough resources to run the jail, according to Pentagon and military officials.
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But the inquiry found no evidence of direct culpability above the colonel who commanded the military intelligence unit at the prison, these officials said.

Senior officers and Pentagon officials had no role in ordering these abuses. End of massive conspiracy theory. A few sadistic men and women whose behavior was unconscionable were responsible for the abuse and will be punished. The officer in command of the prison clearly demonstrated no leadership, discipline or authority and under her lax command the abuses and undisciplined behavior occurred. She should also be held to account. Her unwillingness to take responsibility for what happened under her watch is incomprehensible and rather disgusting.