"Banner year for Democracy" - except in U.S.

Powerline reports a "banner year for democracy" around the world. Powerline is right, but it seems that the U.S. may head in the opposite direction if the DNC/MSM get their way. What does it say when major institutions in this country would lead us in the opposite direction of those countries that now fight to discover freedom?

Free Will makes a similar comparison.

Top outrages of election 2004

This post may seem a little late, but I have been working on it for a while. It is important for us to review this information periodically, especially when the next election comes around.

There is no new information in this post, but it is important to summarize the outrages of the 2004 election so that we have them in one place (in no particular order).

(1) The 911 commission.

(2) The media blackout/smear campaign against the Swift Boat Vets.

(3) CBS forgery gate - for Powerline's coverage of this story, click here, here, here, here - referring to "the mainstream media's frantic effort to drag John Kerry over the finish line", here, here, here, here - [Democrat attempts to benefit from the forged documents], here - [evidence of Kerry campaign involvement], here, here - "the race is over", here - reward offered, here, here, here, here, here, here, here - CBS and suicide bombers, here, here, here, here

for Little Green Football's coverage - click here, here, here - 12 hour scandal, here - Killian's son, here, here, here, here, here, here, here - alternating GIF, here, here- another experiment, here - nonexistent campaign?, here - LA Times - blogs are major players, here, here - another expert, here - index, here - reward update, here - DNC video link, here - Frank Abagnale, here - left wing finger pointing, here - Fake, But Accurate, here, here - Europe, here - a real memo, here - NYT smear, here - Kinko's, here - Burkett/Cleland, and here

Mark Steyn's column - here

(4) AP false claims of booing at Bush rally in response to Bush' well wishes for Bill Clinton.

(5) The October Surprise(s)

part 1 - Al Qaqaa. Check also Drudge here and here.

part 2 - Osama tape - leftists attempt to capitalize. The Batman Effect prevented it from working. See Powerline also.

part 3 - phony exit polls. Click here also.

(6) election/vote fraud, including continuing fraud in Washington State.

In summary, we should ignore polls, anticipate last minute DNC/MSM surprises, expect smear campaigns against those who tell the truth, expect outright fraud from the MSM, expect continued vote fraud and remain wary of anything labeled "bipartisan."

Merry Christmas

Rumsfeld and satire

I still haven't stopped laughing from Ann Coulter's column today.

As president, Clinton sold burial plots in Arlington Cemetery and liberals shrugged it off. What really gets their goat is the autopen. Evidently, the important thing was that every one of those pardons Clinton sold for cash on his last day in office was signed by Bill Clinton personally.

Gleeson has posted Ten More Reasons to Hate Rumsfeld, including:

Instead of dialing his telephone by pressing all the digits, he makes use of a "speed dial" device for frequently called numbers

Note to leftists - that was a joke.

Scrappleface has posted another instant classic.

The trouble is, it is hard to distinguish serious news from parody after listening to the MSM for a day.

Bernard Goetz anniversary

Today is the 20 year anniversary of the Bernard Goetz subway shootings. I would not have known if I hadn't been listening to the Hannity show on the way home from work.

Goetz was a guest on today's Hannity program (I forget the name of the guest host). He commented on how drastically the crime problem has been reduced in New York in the last 15 years. He credited the backlash against the Central Park rape with helping to clean up the mess. He also commented that one reason politicians at the time were so outraged against him was the negative publicity New York City received worldwide. Photos of the subway were transmitted around the world - graffiti, garbage and all. The subway is much cleaner today. I never would have thought it possible.

Goetz, his "incident" and the resulting publicity were big parts of the anti-crime backlash that helped sweep Rudy Giuliani into office.


20 year anniversary

One small theft for the Democrats, one giant loss for the democratic process

It appears that the Democrats are poised to steal the Washington state governor's election. Powerline calls it "stealing in plain sight and in slow motion."

In case you have forgotten or are a lefty that can't remember what happened yesterday, check Digital Brown Pajamas for numerous detailed posts regarding this election. Click on Wizbang also.

More importantly, this story highlights the real danger that the entire election process faces as a result of this scandal. Democrats don't want merely to win one governor's seat. This race was relatively minor in the big picture. The left wants to undermine the entire concept of elections, free institutions and the democratic process. Here is my prediction from October 19:

(3) The fact that someone with wealth and sophistication is willing to lose money and risk prosecution for the sake of hurting Bush should tell us something of the nature of the opposition. We are facing more than simply election year politics. We are facing nothing less than a coordinated attack on all of our institutions. The financial markets, the election process, the courts, the free press, etc. If the Democrats win this year, it will be nothing less than a coup d'etat. If the Democrats win, our election process will never be the same again.

Just as the terrorists in Iraq are content to kill a few people at a time for the sake of preventing an election, the leftists are content to undermine such elections as they can in this country for the sake of undermining the entire democratic process. Once the voters are thoroughly demoralized, the left can go back to ruling the nation through unelected leftist judges, bureaucrats and the back rooms of the New York Times.

The Iraqi attacks are not surprises

The attacks in Iraq this week should not come as surprises. We should be preparing our readers for more of the same. Many of us have already done this. Here is a quote of mine from October 25th 2004 (in the context of the Dems' October surprise):

One scenario is more than a mere possibility, it is nearly certain to occur. The terrorists will step up their attacks in Iraq this week. We should prepare for simultaneous, massive car bombs, suicide bombs and other similar attacks throughout Iraq. We must prepare for many U.S. casualties, and massive Iraqi military losses. We should warn of this now, so that we will not be viewed as having presented too rosy a picture. The Dems will accuse us of having been asleep, overly optimistic, etc. Only if we come out with warnings, will we diffuse this attack.

The context is a little different, but the point is still the same. The Iraqi terrorists are stepping up their attacks to disrupt their own election instead of ours. We predicted a very similar scenario and we should remind everyone of these predictions so that the left cannot now paint us as optimists or worse.

Remember also this post from October 30, 2004. As we read of more American casualties in advance of next month's Iraqi elections, remember that the terrorists supported John Kerry.
---------------------------------------
Wednesday update

Powerline has the right idea of how to respond and what is really at stake.

Rumsfeld and blogosphere

Traffic is down for bloggers since the election, even among the largest and most popular blogs. Posting is down also. I think all of us are a little exhausted after the frantic pace that we set for ourselves in the final days of the campaign. The tough part occurs now. The left won't let up. They will continue to create crises and attack in every area. It will seem to us that we will never enjoy a time in which we don't have to spread the word about some MSM falsehood or sound the alarm to prevent some catastrophe from happening. The pressure will be constant. So be it.

We have to keep up the pressure on so many issues, we can't let ourselves get tired or discouraged or, worse, complacent.

Numerous issues, like the secularization of Christmas, the Washington State election, Iraq, Specter, etc. have merited our attention at a fever pitch in the month-and-a-half since the election.

And now, the MSM thinks it has Donald Rumsfeld in the cross-hairs. This one merits our full attention for as long as it takes to prevent the MSM and the left from succeeding in their latest attempt to undo the results of last month's election. We need to support Rumsfeld and remind everyone that while the MSM attacks in their own special way, the terrorist attacks in Iraq are just another front in that same war. Both attacks achieve the same goals [but only if they succeed].

See also Powerline and Scrappleface for more details and fresh approaches on this issue. There is plenty of material for us to use and spread around the internet. Let's get to work.

MSM and the blogosphere - part II

It turns out my predictions for the MSM treatment of rightwing bloggers were not far from the mark. Despite Time magazine naming Powerline "blog of the year," other MSM outlets have done their best to focus on left wing bloggers or ignore/malign the whole blogosphere.

This cartoon from Day by Day is self-explanatory. [I originally inserted the actual cartoon, but it was too large and screwed up my sidebar. Check the 12/21 edition of Powerline for the actual cartoon if the day-by-day link stops working.] Although it does show progress when the MSM's failure to acknowledge some fact (a Powerline award, anti-John Kerry news, pro-W news, etc.) is itself the story.

LGF also notes Newsweek's response to the Time award, which is to quote Wonkette (the quote is a completely forgettable rehash of the "fake but accurate" line.) LGF has more, including many hilarious comments.



The NYT magazine cover appeared immediately before the election and served as further proof of my point. The NYT decided to cover the "blog" story and they focused on some left wing hack who made no real contribution, while most likely ignoring Powerline and LGF.

Michelle Malkin weighs in here.

I think Time's award for Powerline was not some sign of actual fairness on Time's part. Time merely caved to the pressure that the new media has brought to the entire political spectrum. Time has grudgingly recognized reality. We must make sure that they don't forget what they have learned.

------------------------
Wednesday update 12-22-04

James Lileks posted an interesting take on Time Magazine today (do you think I am devoting way too much time to Time Magazine?):

Time's choice [Powerline for blog of the year] sounds a little defensive, as if it has discovered that the best way to deal with barbarians inside the gate is to grant them citizenship and hope they behave.

More gun control legislation

IMAO warns of a new gun ban that has been proposed in Florida. The bill proposes not merely to outlaw certain types of semi-automatic weapons and magazines, but to confiscate those that already exist and are already in the hands of private citizens. The penalty for failure to turn in your weapons would be 15 years in prison.

The bill has been proposed by Florida state Senator Gwen Margolis. Write to her at this address:

margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov

Also, check out John Lott's book, More Guns, Less Crime.

Also, check out this column by Ann Coulter. This one too.

IMAO suggests that a very public smackdown of this bill's sponsor might discourage others from trying to enact this legislation state-by-state.


Don't let them take away Sarah's guns.


or Ann's.

Democrats and symbols

Peg Noonan wrote an excellent column last week on the Democrats' idea that President Bush is using some sort of secret code by referring to T.S. Eliot or the Bible in his speeches.

She suggested that the Democrats start using symbols of their own, particularly Christmas. Noonan believes that the Democrats would score points with the American people if they publicly opposed efforts to secularize Christmas. Ms. Noonan is correct and I am not doing justice to her opinion piece, but she misses the point.

The secularization of Christmas did not occur by accident and without the blessing of Democrat leaders and leftists throughout the U.S. For the DNC to suddenly oppose secularization would be the same as cutting out their own heart. The DNC would have no reason to exist if they could not oppose Christianity in all of its forms and symbols.

Analyze the various Democrat positions on many issues. They all start to fall like dominoes if the anti-Christian blood is removed from the leftwing body.

This analysis does not even consider the immediate angry reaction from all of the moonbats who constitute the heart of the party. Those who would be most angry at the DNC for endorsing the concept of "Christmas" are the same folks who supplied most of the financial support for John Kerry and most of the goon muscle during the election campaign.

It is good for Noonan to point out the option for the DNC, because her column makes the rest of us realize how dependant the DNC is on hatred and Christian persecution in order to function. Maybe Ms. Noonan gets the point after all.

How the MSM will deal with the blogosphere

Now that the blogosphere has forced its way into the mainstream by exposing Dan Rather (among other accomplishments), the MSM must do more than merely ignore us or slander us. Their new strategy will be to co-opt the blogosphere. The MSM will talk about blogs and bloggers, but they will focus on leftist blogs to the exclusion of those who did the heavy lifting of establishing the new media as a legitimate source of news and information.

Case in point, Time magazine is planning some sort of story on Jessica Cutler. You may have heard of her. If not, check out Michelle Malkin's links. It doesn't really matter who she is except that she enjoyed 15 minutes of fame earlier this year as a result of a sex scandal related to her blogging activity (and Wonkette was mixed up in the whole thing somehow). [I am not concealing information - I really don't remember.]

By focusing on Cutler and Wonkette, the MSM can pretend to acknowledge the blogosphere while redirecting attention to the left side of the sphere and ignoring the truly historic aspects of the new media. It is a safe bet that Cutler and Wonkette will receive equal or greater MSM year-end-wrap-up attention than Powerline or Little Green Footballs, despite the truly historic contributions of Powerline and LGF.

This story reminds me of the Jeopardy episode where the blogosphere appeared as a category, even though every answer related either to a left wing website (Howard Dean, etc.) or something totally innocuous.

The blogosphere has made historic contributions to politics, media, etc. in the past few months, but the significance of those contributions will be lost on anyone who reads Time Maganize's year-end-review issue.

And that is just the way the MSM wants it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday update.
It appears that Time Magazine may be a little more even handed than I have given them credit for. Powerline will apparently be named blog of the year by Time.

I still don't know that Time fully appreciates or will faithfully report the historic nature of the "60 minutes" affair on which Powerline and LGF reported.

Anything more than a footnote for the left-wing bloggers like Wonkette will be more attention than they deserve and will be diluting the historic accomplishment of the right wing bloggers. Left wing bloggers really add nothing to the process except an extension of the MSM onto the blogosphere. There is little one can get on a left wing blog that is not available on ABCCBSNBCNYTWaPoTimeNewsweekAP.

Powerline, LGF and others have truly changed the media landscape. There is no comparison and no basis to discuss those bloggers in the same conversation that one discusses leftist bloggers.

Christmas, Islam and terrorism

We have been inundated with news items regarding the secularization of Christmas. Each year, the real meaning of Christmas becomes more obscure behind a barrage of pagan rituals. "Happy Hollidays" and "Season's Greetings" have become almost rallying cries for the secular forces in our country.

This trend reflects more than mere multicultural sensitivity. Hollywood and other MSM outlets are anti-Christian instead of merely religion-neutral. LaShawn Barber laments the overall cultural decline and its relation to Hollywood:

Our country is so corrupted by libertinism, multicultural mishmash, suicidal tendencies (keeping the southern border open for Middle Eastern Muslims to cross, for example) and so many other things, a Republican majority in Congress, the White House and in state legislatures is virtually meaningless. If anyone believes that George Bush’s re-election means America will become more “moral,” you’re deluded.

I weep for an ideal that will never be, that is, until Christ returns. Living in a fallen world means just that…a fallen world, filled with corruption.

Hollywood's corruption is not the only evidence of this anti-Christian bias in the MSM. The failure of the MSM to harp on Islamic terror acts in this country and Canada speaks volumes. A case in point is the Muslim firebombing of a Jewish school in Montreal earlier this year. Had Christians been responsible for this act, we can imagine the MSM response. Scott Peterson would be a mere footnote in the MSM by comparison.

But because a Muslim committed the act, not only is the story ignored, but the MSM passes up an opportunity to follow through on another mile marker in the war on terror. One of the real dangers in this war is the potential for western Muslims to take the initiative and commit their own terrorist acts without orders or consultation with the major foreign terror networks. John Allen Muhommed (sp?) is one case in point. These "wildcat" Muslim terror acts can be just as deadly as the organized acts. [John Allen Muhommed paralyzed the D.C. area for three weeks.]

Despite the danger from these acts, the MSM anti-Christian bias leads to a situation where Scott Peterson gets more coverage than the D.C. sniper and the Montreal school bomber gets almost no coverage at all. Nor does the rally commemorating Ayatollah Khomeini.

We may not always remember the connection between secularization and MSM tolerance for terrorists, but the connection is real. We have the power in this country to expose the terrorists in our midst and raise awareness of this problem. But our own media's fixation with destroying the majority religion has paralyzed us.

The next time you hear "Season's Greetings", think about whether you want the promoters of secularization to determine how and when we will fight back in the war on terror.

Battle of the Bulge

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.


60 years ago today.

1/2 million German soldiers burst through Allied lines in the Ardennes forest. The Germans held much of the territory they gained for more than a month. Some details are posted here and at Powerline.

You can also rent or buy Patton.

Notes from around the blogosphere

The truth is, I am posting a summary of notes from other blogs only as an excuse to brag about being put on trial by the Commissar.

Little Green Footballs posts the story of how terrorists can be put on the defensive by those who show the will to fight. Now lets finish the job.

Sherri has been running a "Victim or Victory" series this week. Her posts bring global issues down to a personal level. Check it out.

Sue Bob shows that it pays to be consistent when dealing with philanderers.

The Captain laments continued Democrat fixation on creating an election fraud myth for Ohio. See also yesterday's post here.

Michelle Malkin laments the dress code for air marshalls that lets terrorists know who to kill first.

I guess the point is, dealing with terrorists is much like dealing with personal issues and Democrats.

Ukraine and U.S. - Dick Morris interview

I heard Dick Morris on Hannity's radio program this evening. He spoke about his role in the Ukrainian election. Morris worked for Yuschenko (the good guy).

One of his techniques was to publish exit polls showing a huge lead for Yuschenko as the polls closed. This brought Yuschenko's supporters into the streets in celebration. The celebrations made it easier to organize protests when the government tried to rig the election in favor of Yuschenko's opponent.

Morris asserts that his exit polls were legitimate as opposed to the phony exit polls in this country. But Morris' story brings to mind another explanation for the phony exit polls. The exit polls created an expectation in the minds of the left. When that expectation was not met, the left immediately cried foul. Even today, moonbat theories circulate regarding imaginary fraud and cheating. The left's base remains energized and ready to fight. Republican charges of fraud and tampering are lost in the noise.

Compare this explanation with the explanation I volunteered shortly after election day.

Keep this in mind also as we observe the conclusion of the Washington gubernatorial recount. The left will stop at nothing to steal an election. Phony exit polls won't help them in this situation, but they have plenty of other tactics. Hat tip to the Captain and Digital Brown Pajamas on the Washington story.

8th place!

It is official. I placed 8th out of 15 in my category in the Weblog awards.

Complete results are available here.

Congratulations to all of the winners. [insert obligatory recount/Al Gore/John Kerry joke here.]

Classics of Conservatism - Book of the Month - part II - The People's Pottage

Today's book recommendation comes a little early in the month so as to allow time for Christmas.

We all know that the modern conservatives are great. Books by Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity have much to teach us. But as I said in my first "Book of the Month" post:

While I don't want to slight today's bestsellers, we have much to learn from the books that provided the roots and backbone of the modern conservative movement. Ronald Reagan and Rush Limbaugh didn't become conservative by listening to talk radio and surfing the internet. Their conservatism ran and runs deeper. Talk radio and the blogosphere are great, but the programs that appear in those media constitute only "entry level" conservatism.

Today's book influenced many years of conservative thinkers. The People's Pottage was published as three separate essays by Garet Garrett over 15 years. These essays were compiled into one book in 1954.

Garrett's thesis was that the New Deal constituted a revolution in the worst sense of the word. The New Deal forever changed government and a created a European style system where government was no longer bound by its original constraints. The consequences for our liberties and the soundness of our economics would be profound and long-lasting. We live with those consequences today.

Today, we take for granted the government's oppressive role in all of our lives, both economically and otherwise. Time has robbed us of our perspective. Reading Garrett will return that perspective to us so that we may understand where we came from and to where we are headed. Here is a typical passage:

There are those who still think they are holding the pass against a revolution that may be coming up the road. But they are gazing in the wrong direction. The revolution is behind them. It went by in the Night of Depression, singing songs to freedom.

This and other books will provide the deep philosophical basis for our conservatism and our opposition to the very government programs that will destroy our freedoms.

Despite being a deep and thoughtful work, The People's Pottage is an easy read, containing beautiful prose, concise history and thoughtful analogies. It will make you think without making you work.

The original edition hardback and later reprint paperbacks can be found here.

The 50 year anniversary edition is linked on the right.

My Garet Garret blog is here.


1954 edition


50 year anniversary edition

Posts from around the web

The following are some highlights from around the web today:

Little Green Footballs writes about the latest Palestinian election campaigning as well as the islamic view of non-muslims. The muslim leadership views non-muslims as the enemy. We are all apostates who must be persecuted or killed, according to the muslim purists. Thus, the continued bombings and killings.

California Yankee reminds us of some history regarding past PLO support for Saddam Hussein - (no terrorist connection there!).

Belmont Club posts advice for gun control victims in England regarding how they should deal with home invaders - "active passivity." It sounds eerily similar to the way in which leftists would like the U.S. to deal with Islamic terror.

Speaking of gun control, Ayn Clouter provides an alternative reason for Kerik's withdrawal from consideration.

Speaking of the next presidential election (see Ayn Clouter's link) Cold Beveridge comments on Peg Noonan's analysis of Hillary Clinton's strategy for the next four years.

Speaking of communism, The Commissar posts another show trial.

Right Wing Sparkle posts her analysis of what really motivates the left.

Michele from New York posts her thoughts on dealing with Christmas the past few years while the memories of loved ones lost in the Towers is still fresh.
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On a very frivolous note, please vote for me in the Weblog awards. I am running neck-in-neck for 8th place in my category. Voting ends today. Thanks.

Impeach Mineta

Look here for ordering details.

Michelle Malkin has posted an excellent summary of posts and commentary from those who want to see Norman Mineta gone.

There is one additional commentary of note from an early 2002 Ann Coulter column.

Let the record reflect that among President George Bush's dazzling team of advisers, the only stink-bomb is the one Democratic holdover from the Clinton administration. It is absolutely contemptible that Bush will not rid us of this scourge.

Coulter quotes from a Sixty Minutes interview with Mineta and Steve Kroft:

Kroft noted that of 22 people on the most-wanted list right now: "(A)ll but one of them has complexion listed as olive. They all have dark hair and brown eyes. And more than half of them have the name Mohammed." (They are also all males in their 20s and 30s.) Thus, he asked Mineta if such people should be subjected to a little extra scrutiny. "No," Mineta responded, "not just on that basis alone."

Other more important factors, Mineta explained, included asking "things like, 'Did you pay cash for this ticket or charge it on a credit card? Do you have a one-way ticket or a round-trip?'"

Inasmuch as this was Steve Kroft and not Diane Sawyer conducting the interview, there was a relevant follow-up question: "Did the terrorists who flew into the World Trade Center have one-way tickets?" No, Mineta admitted, the Sept. 11 hijackers all had round-trip tickets they bought with credit cards.

Ann's conclusion is excellent also.

Lives are at stake. Spread this one around. If we create enough stink over the next few months, maybe we can be rid of Mineta or, at least, create a record that will allow us to lay the blame for the next terrorist attack at the feet of PC politics.

---------------------
Swanky Conservative agrees and has offered dinner to Michelle Malkin if she wears the bumper sticker on her forehead on her next TV appearance.

BlogoSFERICS, House of the Dog, Kellipundit and Wuzzadem agree. Wuzzadem includes a transcript of his "conversation" with Mineta.

Netherlands Exodus

An article today from the Telegraph tells us nearly all we need to know about the future of Europe:

The new wave of educated migrants are quietly voting with their feet against a multicultural experiment long touted as a model for the world, but increasingly a warning of how good intentions can go wrong.

The illusion that all was well in the Netherlands died in May 2002 when Pim Fortuyn, the shaven-headed, gay populist, was shot by a Left-wing activist in the country's first political assassination since 1584.

Fulminating home truths than nobody else dared utter, Fortuyn swept on to the political stage protesting that Europe's most densely-populated country was full to bursting point, and that Muslim immigration, leavened with Salafist extremism, had reached a level where it was starting to destabilise Dutch society itself. His movement won more seats than the ruling Labour party in the 2002 elections.

Theo van Gogh, his friend and disciple, was next. The mischievous film-maker had his throat cut by an Islamic fanatic last month as he bicycled to work through the heart of Amsterdam, punished for a film about repression of women in the Muslim world.

But his ritual execution, apparently by an Islamist hit squad, has shocked the country. Two leading MPs known to be targets are in hiding. The political class has been chilled to the bone, while white gangs have firebombed or attacked around 20 mosques and Islamic centres. "This was our 9/11. It was the moment the Netherlands lost its naivety. We always thought that we were the country of multicultural tolerance that could do no wrong," said Prof Han Entzinger of Rotterdam University.

Will the U.S. wake up in time?

An apology to ventriloquists everywhere

My previous post accused the MSM of "ventriloquist journalism".

The comparison has offended a ventriloquist.

I hereby apologize to all ventriloquists for placing them in the same category as MSM journalists.

A good ventriloquist will never let you see his mouth move. But the MSM's ventriloquist act gets more obvious every day.

On a serious note, I don't disagree completely with the points made by the moderate voice. The armor may well need to be upgraded. But the MSM's approach is completely wrong. If the MSM really wanted to prevent the military from being degraded, it would have spoken up during the Clinton years when the military was being neglected. It is wrong for the MSM to enable Clinton and then snipe at W over items that Clinton neglected.

My goal here is to clean up the MSM and further the new media revolution. I will need to point out MSM hypocrisy and tactics in order to accomplish those goals.

We can survive as a nation longer with a fair and unbiased media and less armor than we can with an establishment-captive media and better armor in our Humvees.

Ventriloquist journalism

Drudge reports today that a soldier or soldiers in Iraq were fed question(s) from a reporter so that he could ask those questions of Rumsfeld. The MSM then reported that soldiers grilled Rumsfeld.

This bit of ventriloquism would be fine if those questions would be reported as coming from a reporter. Instead, they are reported as coming from a soldier so as to lend credibility to the MSM's attempt to undermine the war effort.

The MSM is very talented in the art of ventriloquist journalism. Get others to repeat the MSM line, while pretending that the MSM had nothing to do with it. Because no one trusts the MSM press, the MSM must find a soldier willing to repeat MSM lines.

Meanwhile, CBS reports that bloggers are really paid functionaries of the Republicans and must be regulated. CBS cites as proof of this allegation two bloggers in South Dakota that supported Senator Thune. While not mentioned by name, the real targets of this hit piece were the nationally known bloggers that destroyed Dan Rather and 60 minutes.

The irony of this hit piece was that CBS tried to enlist the services of left wing bloggers to publicize their show.

It is amazing that CBS would sink to new depths of shamelessness despite increased scrutiny from the new media. In the old days, this type of dishonesty would be understandable, as there was no one who could expose the truth. But for CBS to act so blatantly today under the microscope of the very blogosphere that it attacks speaks volumes.

I am not sure what to make of this new blatancy, but it is important to understand. If I were to speculate, I would guess that CBS and MSM know that they have lost a large portion of the country and are trying to rally and hold onto the remaining faithful. A misinformed, bitter and hateful minority can serve the MSM better than a well informed general population.

To those of us who can remember what happened yesterday and who are not willingly deluded, the MSM, every day, takes on more of the appearance of a homeless psychotic ranting on the street corner. They truly do not get it. They do not understand that they are one of the last bastions of a dying establishment. They will cling to a heroic self-image and their inflated egos until their dying day. Today's events reminded me of the obituary of Mary McGrory:

She did not mince words, and her clear-thinking prose was nigh-legendary. She was, former New York Times columnist Russell Baker told the Post, "a pioneering force in today's tell-it-like-it is, show-them-no-mercy journalism."

Tell-it-like-it-is !!!!!!???????

There are not enough drugs in the world to produce this hallucination. It often takes an obituary of one of their own for the rest of us to be reminded of how truly self-deluded the MSM is.

Where are the rest of them?

If Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction, then what are:


these


these


these


these


or these???

What country now holds the rest of Saddam's WMD? How soon before they turn up on the New York Subway or Yankee stadium?

Leftists have taken it as a matter of faith that no weapons of mass destruction exist or existed in Iraq. This faith may get us all killed.

News items and commentary appear regarding WMD every so often, which the left routinely ignores. Here is one such item from May of this year:

By "weapons of mass destruction," what liberals mean is: missiles pointed at Washington, D.C., with their "Ready to Fire" lights blinking ominously and their warhead payloads clearly marked "Weapons of Mass Destruction! Next Stop, The Great Satan America!" -- basically what you might see on an episode of the original Batman TV series. When we didn't find that, the "Bush lied, kids died!" screaming began.

David Kay's report said we hadn't found "stockpiles" of WMDs in Iraq, but we have found:

chemical and biological weapons systems, plans, "recipes" and equipment, all of which could have resumed production on a moment's notice with Saddam's approval;

reference strains of a wide variety of biological-weapons agents (found in the home of a prominent Iraqi biological warfare scientist);

new research on brucella and Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever, and continuing work on ricin and aflatoxin;

a prison laboratory complex for testing biological weapons on humans;

long-range missiles (prohibited by United Nations resolutions) suitable for delivering WMDs;

documents showing Saddam tried to obtain long-range ballistic missiles from North Korea;

facilities for manufacturing fuel propellant useful only for prohibited Scud-variant missiles.
Sorry to bore Fox News viewers with these facts. I'm doing it as a favor to readers of the Los Angeles Times.

I know also that U.S. and Polish forces found enough Sarin gas in Iraq to kill as many people as were killed on 9-11.

There is also speculation that Iraq's chemical weapons were hidden in Syria before the war started.

See Little Green Footballs for details on today's photos.

Pearl Harbor

Here are some lesser known items about Pearl Harbor that might be of interest.

Navsource.org provides many photos documenting U.S. naval history, including photos from Pearl Harbor. One such aerial photo was taken on October 10, 1941. The aircraft carrier in this photo, the Enterprise, sits where the U.S.S. California would later be stationed on the morning of December 7th. Battleship row is mostly empty.


Ford Island 2 months before attack. Click to enlarge.

All of the photos at that site are worth viewing.

Most of the historical presentations focus on the USS Arizona and the Arizona memorial. That attention is understandable in light of the tremendous loss of life on board the Arizona and the Arizona's continuing presence in the harbor.

Much less attention is paid to the USS Oklahoma. The Oklahoma's official website provides stirring eyewitness accounts from survivors as well as some of the chronology of individual crewmen's activities leading up to the attack. 429 sailors died on the Oklahoma, most of them drowning when the ship overturned in the first ten minutes of the attack. Some crewmen were rescued from inside the overturned hull after more than a day in the dark. Their stories are included.


USS Oklahoma in earlier peaceful times.

Michele Malkin wrote a fascinating historical piece about the events on a nearby island the day after the Pearl Harbor attack.

Her post today contains additional information, as does that of Powerline.

A guy to root for

Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been warned by the NFL to remove the PFJ ("Play for Jesus") initials from his shoe. He was also warned to remove the number 40 (in honor of Pat Tillman) from his shoe. He complied, but only after being threatened by the league with a $5,000 fine.

Maybe the MSM should focus as much on athletes like this as they do on the steroid freaks and the brawlers.

Bushitler

Distributed Press has posted a comparison of Bush and Hitler after the author "saw BUSHITLER for the 10,000th time".

There is nothing I can add.

School bus threat, GPS and unions

Today is as good a day as any to once again repeat my earlier warning about the possibility of terrorists hijacking school buses in the U.S.

Months ago, Mark Steyn wrote about a Chechen terrorist that applied for licenses to drive school buses and transport hazardous materials:

Could what happened in Beslan happen in the US? Two months ago, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported on a fellow called Mohamad Kamal Elzahabi, a suspected terrorist who'd fought with his fellow jihadi in Chechnya and somehow wound up in Minnesota, where he'd applied for licences to transport hazardous materials and drive school buses.

In my previous post, I connected this item to the 25 Chechen rebels that may have illegally crossed the Southern U.S. border recently.

I am reminded of all of this by Wizbang's post that describes union opposition to placing GPS locaters on school buses in Boston. Why do unions oppose measures that may help us deal with terrorist attacks on children? The Boston Herald reports one possible motive as a result of their own investigation:

They found buses parked for hours on end, drivers chatting in parking lots, drivers shopping, drivers driving around aimlessly, and in two memorable cases, sleeping on the bus.

Instead of placing blame on Congressmen whose only goal was to add immigration reform to the otherwise useless intel bill, we should remember the role of unions in preventing us from implementing measures that allow us to deal with potential hijacking of school buses as a prelude to a Beslan style massacre.

Intel bill sham

The Intel bill now being pushed by all of the usual suspects would do nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration. We must make clear that that is the reason for opposition by some Republicans. Hat tip to Michelle Malkin.

Powerline and the Washington Times report on the 9-11 families who oppose the bill based on the immigration failings of the bill.

"You allowed the murder of my son. I will not allow you to kill my daughters," said Joan Molinaro, mother of a New York City firefighter who died September 11, as she first held up a picture of her son and then a picture of her two daughters. "No bill should pass the Senate, the House, anywhere, unless it contains immigration reform — you secure our borders, you keep my girls alive."

Rich Lowry at National Review explains why the bill does nothing meaningful.

The Scrappleface parody hits the nail on the head, as usual.

They can't help themselves.

The leftists cannot stop themselves from committing vote fraud. They cannot even avoid the temptation to cheat on an internet poll of who has the best blog.

The awards page has the story and a partial remedy.

It seems that leftists posted a cheat code at DailyKos that caused thousands of votes to be registered from the same IP.

Apparantly this cheating resulted from an ingrate leftist's response to a good deed by Wizbang. No good deed goes unpunished.

For the most part, the leftists can't even admit that the concept of cheating is wrong. Check the awards page comments and you will see what I mean.

Thanks also to LGF for pointing this out.

It may seem trivial. After all, we are talking only about an internet poll. But it is very telling of the left's tactics. There is no election that they can leave uncorrupted. They cannot help themselves. That is why we must remain vigilant to protect the integrity of every real election in the future - as well as the Web Awards.

Don't be discouraged by this. You can still go to the awards page and vote. The cheating affects only the main category. This blog is nominated only in the 3,500 to 5,000 rank category.

Oliver Stone and Angelina Jolie - "soft on terrorism"

Debbie Schlussel has posted a new column outlining the terrorist sympathies of Oliver Stone and Angelina Jolie.

Remember the 2002 Passover Massacre, when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up 29 innocent, elderly Israelis celebrating the important Jewish holiday?

Right after that, Oliver Stone paid homage to Yasser Arafat, visiting the now-deceased Palestinian terrorist-in-chief at his Ramallah compound. As if that weren’t enough, Stone had a friendly visit with Hamas Ramallah chief Hassan Yussef.

Then, Stone made a sympathetic “documentary” on Arafat for HBO (“Persona Non Grata”). It mimicks Stone’s “talent” for presenting fiction as fact—as he did in “JFK,” “Nixon,” and “Alexander”—and glorifying malefactors and the hate-America crowd, while denigrating American institutions—as he did in “Commandante” (exalts Fidel Castro), “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Natural Born Killers,” and “Platoon.”

Stone said he made the Arafat cellu-lie in a search for "long-term classical values: what your life was like, what the meaning of your suffering was, what regrets you have." In case you can’t tell, the “you” and “your” refers to Arafat. No Stone documentary on the classical values and suffering of any of Arafat’s victims, though. Instead, Stone’s 80 hours of footage include many interviews with Palestinian homicide bombers.

Debbie includes similar accounts of Jolie's activities:

Jolie claims, “I will always be a great supporter of children’s rights,” but she doesn’t seem to care much about the rights of the child victims of Palestinian terrorism, only the progeny of those who commit and support it. A much-heralded December 2003 visitor to the Ruweished Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, Jolie wrote diaries lamenting the treatment of Palestinians. While she doesn’t mention Israel by name or specifically endorse cold-blooded murder, you get the drift. She approvingly quotes the kids and a play they do about Jerusalem “about Arab children and how they live”:

“Palestine was sold by merchants. God knows we are injured and hurt. Be patient we will take our revenge [sic] we will take our homes back . . . . (Smiles, fists in the air) Palestine, your name is in our veins. . . .Their dream is to see their homeland. . . . It was very moving to hear them speak of the dream.”

We should celebrate Stone's and Jolie's failure in "Alexander".



Jolie and Queen Noor

Ukraine - more similarities with U.S. election fraud.

Wizbang points out that much of the election fraud in the Ukraine was accomplished through absentee ballots:

The cheating was mostly done via absentee ballots, which should worry the crap out of you if you are an American, since early, unsupervised absentee voting is one of the fastest growing election trends here.

Check my earlier post for the carousel voting similarity also.

Washington State synopsis.

Last week, Digital Brown Pajamas posted a synopsis of the Democrats' attempt to steal the Washington Gubernatorial election. That post is worth checking out for the day - to - day description of events. DBP has some good recent updates also.

My original post on this subject is here.

This one is important for all of us to follow through on, so that we can prevent the Democrats' from gaining encouragement from repeated election fraud in order to undermine the electoral process in this country.

The lighter side - Virtual Moonbat

Weeks ago, I promised to try to post something a little lighter on weekends. This link is a little old, but for those of you who haven't seen Sean Gleeson's Autorantic Virtual Moonbat, have a look.

opposition to UN grows

I can remember a time when it was thought that only "nuts" were opposed to the U.N.

Now, the U.N. itself is subject to parody:

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan today vigorously denied allegations that he has overseen a complex, fraudulent scheme to pilfer billions of dollars from 191 nations under the guise of providing "global peace services."

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-MN, said "this money-for-peace scam stinks even more than the oil-for-food scandal which funded Saddam Hussein's murderous regime."

While the state Senate in New York has tabled a measure to build another building for the UN. (See New York Post for entire article).

The United Nations "has evolved into an anti-Israel, anti-Semitic group of petty, sniping bigots who are pursuing an anti-freedom, anti-democratic, anti-American agenda," said state Sen. Serphin Maltese, a conservative Republican from Queens.

"To authorize an expansion of their headquarters would be a slap in the face of American citizens."

Meanwhile, GOP Reps. Vito Fossella, Peter King, and Sue Kelly called a press conference in front of U.N. headquarters, endorsing legislation calling for cutting 10 percent of U.S. funding for the United Nations unless it cooperates with investigators probing the oil-for-food scandal.

That would be a good start.

Senator Coleman of Minnesota demands Kofi Annan's resignation.

ABC News (!) reports on fugitive-Clinton pardon recipient-financier Marc Rich's role in the oil-for-food scandal.

While ABC News' report is a good start, I am not holding my breath waiting for the day when the oil-for-food scandal receives more MSM attention than "Haliburton."