Deep Throat, John Dean and worthless predictions

"Deep Throat" revealed his identity today. I won't join the chorus of discussion over this revelation, except to add that John Dean appears to be worthless as a political commentator. Dean is the man who, just in time for the 2004 elections, wrote that the George W. Bush "scandals" are worse than Watergate.

In February, he wrote that Deep Throat's death was imminent. Almost four months later, an apparently alive and well deep throat has come forward to take credit for the leaks that supposedly brought down the Nixon White House. I would write that Dean's career as a commentator is over now that Deep Throat has revealed himself, but the MSM/DNC will never let Watergate die. Dean will have plenty of opportunities to revel in the glory days.

As I wrote in February:

The MSM/DNC needs Watergate. If Watergate did not occur, MSM/DNC would have had to invent it. [Come to think of it, isn't that how the Bush national guard story got started?] Recent elections (both at home and abroad) have left very little for MSM/DNC to celebrate. So it rehashes past victories and revels in the glory days. Watergate and Vietnam. These two events will be served, re-served, salivated over, chewed on, swallowed and digested over and over again in the pages of the MSM/DNC newspapers ad nauseam until the rest of us throw up our hands and let the MSM/DNC run the government again.

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

In October 2001 Faizal Aqtub Siddiqi, president-general of the International Muslims Organization, warned that the bombing of Afghanistan would create 1,000 Osama bin Ladens. In April 2003, Egypt's President Mubarak warned that the bombing of Iraq would create 100 bin Ladens. So right there you got a 90 percent reduction in the bin Laden creation program -- just by bombing a second country!

Mark Steyn

The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House - John F. Harris

John F. Harris' new book apparantly contains a lot of interesting and embarrassing information, but I cannot believe that any book written by a Washington Post correspondent would be ultimately unfavorable to Clinton. They use the juicy tidbits to draw in the audience, and then hit us with the standard MSM/DNC line on all of the issues. Don't be surprised if the book also slams Ken Starr, Gingrich and other Republicans. And don't be surprised if the book praises and whitewashes (invents?) Clinton's "efforts" to fight Al Qaeda. The Post will splash large excerpts in the newspaper this week.



Is it just me, or is Bill Clinton looking really old lately?


59 years old?

Joan of Arc - an ironic anniversary

Today is the anniversary of the martyrdom of Joan of Arc in 1431. Read more here.

574 years ago today

Had yesterday's vote in France gone the other way, Joan's death would have been rendered meaningless:

Perhaps one of the most distinguished, and most often forgotten, creative contributions of Joan of Arc was Joan's patriotism. Before Joan, there was no sense of "France" or "English." To the people of her time, those words meant only the actual land of France and England, not the nations. Joan was the first leader to consider those two countries separate. Even the dauphin and future king of France, Charles VII, felt uneasy about his claim to be the King since Henry VI also claimed the same position. Until Joan, the possibility that there might be two kings was not seriously considered. Either Henry VI was the King of France and England, or Charles VII was. With Joan came the sense of nationalism for the French.

Joan drove home her viewpoint with the English during her trial. She was often asked whether God loved France more than England. Joan prudently responded that God wanted the English to stay in their own lands.

Quote of the day - Ayn Rand

A government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.

Ayn Rand

The perfect Memorial Day tribute

We won't see a better Memorial Day tribute than this one from across the Atlantic. As we all know, tens of thousands of American soldiers died in WWII, partially for the purpose of keeping France independent and free. Today, millions of Frenchmen voted to stay that way.




I am sure my elation will prove overly optimistic in the long run, but at least the UN-ification of Europe will be delayed by a few more years. Mark Steyn has more:

And it's the willingness to subordinate individual liberty to what Hutton calls "the primacy of society" that has blighted the continent for over a century: Statism -- or "the primacy of society" -- is what fascism, Nazism, communism and now European Union all have in common. In fairness, after the first three, European Union seems a comparatively benign strain of the disease -- not a Blitzkrieg, just a Bitzkrieg, an accumulation of fluffy trivial pan-European laws that nevertheless takes for granted that the natural order is a world in which every itsy-bitsy activity is licensed and regulated and constitutionally defined by government.

emphasis added

In other words, French voters rejected the American left's lifelong vision of utopia. In a week where our most insufferable war hero redefined the concept of selling out, none other than the French provide a demonstration of backbone and resolution. I now retract almost half of the bad things I ever said about the French.

This vote is also a blow to our very own MSM/DNC. It will be much harder in 2008 for the MSM/DNC Presidential candidate to invoke "our European allies" as a handbag to swing at the Republican candidate. Today's vote insures that "our European allies" are farther than ever from speaking with one voice - especially the voice of defeat and surrender.
--------------------------
Update - May 30, 2005

This story is accompanied today by an ironic anniversary.

Memorial Day

I really don't have a unique way to celebrate Memorial Day here, so I won't dishonor our military personnel by posting an inferior tribute.

Many blogs have posted excellent Memorial Day tributes. Check out Blonde Sagacity, who honors our soldiers daily and who has posted awesome photos from this weekend's air show in the Philadelphia area.

Also, check out Mark Steyn's column from Memorial Day last year:

In my local cemetery, there's a monument over three graves, forebears of my hardworking assistant, though I didn't know that the time I first came across them. Turner Grant, his cousin John Gilbert and his sister's fiance Charles Lovejoy had been friends since boyhood and all three enlisted on the same day. Charles died on March 5, 1863, Turner on March 6, and John on March 11. Nothing splendid or heroic. They were tentmates in Virginia, and there was an outbreak of measles in the camp.

For some reason, there was a bureaucratic mixup and the army neglected to inform the families. Then, on their final journey home, the bodies were taken off the train at the wrong town. It was a Saturday afternoon and the stationmaster didn't want the caskets sitting there all weekend. So a man who knew where the Grants lived offered to take them up to the next town and drop them off on Sunday morning.
When he arrived, the family was at church, so he unloaded the coffins from his buggy and left without a word or a note to anyone. Imagine coming home from Sunday worship and finding three caskets waiting on the porch. Imagine being young Caroline Grant, and those caskets contain the bodies of your brother, your cousin and the man to whom you're betrothed.

That's a hell of a story behind the bald dates on three tombstones. If it happened today, maybe Caroline would be on Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric demanding proper compensation, and the truth about what happened, and why the politicians were covering it up. Maybe she'd form a group of victims' families. Maybe she'd call for a special commission to establish whether the government did everything it could to prevent disease outbreaks at army camps. Maybe, when they got around to forming the commission, she'd be booing and chanting during the officials' testimony, as several of the 9/11 families did during Mayor Rudy Giuliani's testimony.

The whole column is worth reading.

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

The difference between a politician and a pickpocket is that the pickpocket doesn't get indignant when you tell him to keep his hands to himself.

Joe Sobran

A marketing test. Hugh Hewitt, John Arquilla, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Madsen

I am trying to play around with the Amazon purchasing program. Placing the buttons here makes it easier to buy the books that I want. Pay no attention - unless you see something that you like.

Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith; Marlon Brando; Garet Garrett

A commenter recently asked for my opinion on Star Wars: ROTS. I haven't seen the movie, but I would like to comment on the politicization of the Star Wars series. [BTW, the commenter is a new blogger with the beginnings of a very good blog.] I have seen only two of the six movies in Lucas' series so I can't comment very specifically on ROTS. I am aware of the general theme of Republic vs. Empire that permeates the series. This writer's take on the Republic/Empire struggle is interesting, even though I disagree with it.

The story of a Republic turning in to an Empire is as old as Rome and as new as 20th century America. Those who missed that analogy through the first five movies know little of history. For Lucas to try to force feed the audience a clumsy analogy of Bush-as-emperor in the final movie is worse than superficial and silly.

For those interested in a true Republic/Empire saga, there is nothing better than Garet Garrett's "People's Pottage" a/k/a Ex America. Garrett writes the story of Roosevelt's New Deal in terms of an Empire replacing a Republic. The book is composed of three essays, the third of which is entitled, "The Rise of Empire." These essays were composed between 1938 and 1954. "People's Pottage" is essentially the Star Wars saga without the light sabers.



For the Roman version of the Republic/Empire saga, rent or buy Shakespeare's Julius Caesar:



[There are many versions of Julius Caesar, but the Brando version is the only one I have seen.] Brando's speech [as Marc Antony], in which he stirs the mob to violence through emotion, largesse and other cynical manipulation, is a masterpiece worthy of today's Democrats. These are the real methods by which would-be tyrants enslave free people. Today's movies pale in comparison.
--------------------------
update - Click here and here for detailed analysis of ROTS in the Republic v. Empire context. I think they miss the point, as does any attempt to argue history through fiction. This is especially true when nonfiction analysis of actual Republic/Empire sagas is available. Lucas' conception of a Republic is flawed and does not reflect the characteristics of a real Republic or the reasons for preserving or restoring it. A real Republic is always worth fighting for.

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter - Treason

"Liberals don't mind discussing who is more patriotic if patriotism is defined as redistributing income and vetoing the Pledge of Allegiance. Only if patriotism is defined as supporting America do they get testy and drone on about 'McCarthyism.'" -- Ann Coulter, P. 6 - "Treason"

The real reason that campaign finance reform will never work - David Rosen [Hillary Clinton] acquittal

Hillary Clinton's fundraiser, David Rosen, was acquitted today. H/T Drudge and Michelle Malkin. MSM/DNC's article on the story fails to note the nature of the charges and grossly understates the amount of money raised at the fundraising event in question.

Dick Morris provides the context:

Here's why he would have done it: If the real cost of the event were $1.2 million instead of $400,000, the campaign would have had to use hard money to make up the difference. The Hillary Clinton campaign would have had $800,000 less of hard money to spend running TV ads and funding get-out-the-vote operations.

And, at the time of that fund-raiser, Rick Lazio, the GOP candidate, had challenged Hillary to refuse to accept soft money. He found himself awash in hard money — small checks from Hillary haters across the country. But First Lady Hillary Clinton was heavily dependent on large checks from fat-cat donors whom she and the president wined, dined, photographed, and hosted at the White House. And these folks gave a lot more than $1,000 each.

Hillary temporized and delayed, but the handwriting was on the wall. On Sept. 24, the candidates agreed on a soft-money ban. Now she had to pay for it all with hard money. And she was hard up for hard money.

So if Rosen had owned up to the full cost of the fundraiser, the campaign would have had to cough up $800,000 of hard money at exactly the time that it needed the funds the most.

Did Hillary know? Paul and Tonken say she did, and it seems obvious that she must have: Hillary followed every dime in her campaign, personally calling donors for most of it. How could she possibly not have known of a decision that saved her $800,000?

emphasis added

MSM/DNC's article made no mention of this context, but vaguely stated that conservatives had hoped to use the prosecution as a weapon against Hillary. From reading only MSM/DNC's version, one could not help but conclude that the "Clinton-haters" were at it again. Is it any wonder that Hillary has gotten away with so much illegality when her cohort at the MSM/DNC has done so much to protect her? MSM/DNC's article also left out this evidence:

The federal brief says that Rosen "became increasingly panicked as the costs began to spiral out of control. On some occasions, when news of yet another cost was revealed to him, the defendant literally threw up his hands and announced that 'I did not just hear that,' 'Don't tell me that again' and that he did not want the subject discussed around him again."

The feds also say Rosen directed one witness to "take thousands of dollars of line items" off a campaign report about the event's costs and told a "confidante" that there was "no way" he could accurately report the cost of the fund-raiser."

Had Republicans committed these acts in violation of federal election laws, they would receive the "Delay" treatment at the hands of the MSM/DNC. Democrats, or at least Hillary, can violate campaign laws with impunity because she believes no jury will ever touch her or her allies. So far, she has been right. This particular violation allowed Hillary to make a meaningless deal with Rick Lazio that hamstrung Lazio's campaign without affecting Hillary's at all. Because Hillary need not report contributions or expenses accurately (like everyone else), any campaign finance reform will create a giant loophole for Hillary to walk through. Hillary is like the "Survivor" competitor that wins immunity, while everyone else must compete to avoid being thrown off the island. She is free to raise funds however she pleases, while everyone else must obey the law or face prosecution and MSM/DNC retribution. There will be no limit to the amounts that Hillary can raise and conceal. There will be no limit to the election violations that Hillary can commit.

If we could at least repeal the campaign finance laws and their (1) silly distinctions between "hard" and "soft" money and (2) the ridiculous contribution limits that apply only to those that might get convicted for lying [instead of Hillary], the playing field would be level. But John McCain is not about to let that happen.

If you thought election 2004 was nasty, wait until you see election 2008.

Quote of the day - Ronald Reagan

How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.

Ronald Reagan

Quote of the day - Barry Goldwater

The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government.

Barry M. Goldwater

Is Newsweek aware of this?

Found this at nerdwallet in honor of last month's one year anniversary of the Abu Graib hijinks.

click to enlarge

Payback for John McCain - Clean Sports Act

Oppose this bill, if for no other reason than that it is sponsored by John McCain (although there are plenty of other reasons to oppose the bill).

Debbie Schlussel, Oprah Winfrey and Islamist whitewashing

Debbie Schlussel provides an excellent summary of Oprah Winfrey's history of whitewashing Islamist terror, even to the point of setting out to "understand the hearts and minds of the men behind the photos...." The photos in this case being the photos of the 9/11 hijackers. Oprah depicts these animals as “lonely, exiled [??!!] young men" instead of the wealthy terrorists that they were. Oprah's exploits also include:

A post-9/11 “Islam 101” show —a pandering presentation featuring Jordanian Queen Rania Al-Abdullah. Rania claimed she doesn’t have to wear a hijab head-covering and that honor-killings of raped women doesn’t really happen in her country. Of course it doesn’t, since “her country” is a swanky Fifth Avenue New York apartment in the US, where she mostly lives.

A September 2004 show, discussing the terrorist massacre of children in Beslan, Russia, on which Oprah banned the use of the word Islamic, saying the terrorists “came from the mountains.” (Okay, so they were Mountainese terrorists, not Islamic ones.) Oprah stated that the Beslan massacre was “a watershed because terrorists never before killed children.” Remember those murdered Jewish kids in Ma’alot (and throughout Israel) by the DFLP? I’m sure they’d disagree with the “Queen of Daytime Talk.” If they were still around.

An episode on which a guest claimed Jews practice ritual sacrifices of babies. Oprah: “I want to make it clear that this is one Jewish person, so don’t go around now, saying to people, you know, ‘Those Jewish people, they’re worshipping . . . .’ This is the first time I heard of any Jewish people sacrificing babies, but anyway – so you witnessed the sacrifice?”

Ignoring the mass-murder, rape, torture, and slavery of Black Christians by Sudan’s Arab Muslim government, despite repeatedly teasing a group of Colorado children (who bought some Black Christian slaves’ freedom) that they’d be on her show. She told them the issue was “too complicated.”

Read the whole article.

Quote of the day - M. Stanton Evans

"Liberals don't care what people do, as long as it's compulsory."

M. Stanton Evans

More Koran riots and a new compromise

Brokennewz provides breaking news on the latest Koran atrocity:

A California man accidentally used the Koran as a coaster yesterday, sparking riots that led to the deaths of over 400 people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Indonesia.

Reaction from Moslem "clergy" has been swift:

"Allah specifically states...O.K., I don't know exactly where...but it's probably official policy that infidels putting a drink on a Koran deserves a nice, big fatwa."

This incident bears striking resemblance to Newsweek's Koran-flushing "story":

Last week, it was discovered that a Koran wasn't flushed down a toilet on an American military base. About 20 died in the Muslim world as a result.

In related news, Islamic extremists found out the toilet story was untrue, got incensed about the "deceiving, treacherous Jew-controlled U.S. media," and killed about 20 more people.

There is cause for optimism. The latest word from Washington is that John McCain has proposed a compromise that would establish quotas on the number of deaths resulting from bloody Islamic riots while permitting fake MSM/DNC Koran desecration stories only under "extraordinary circumstances."

Patty Hearst, the Symbionese Liberation Army and today's left

Yesterday I watched PBS' documentary on the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the SLA. It was typical of PBS - probably biased in ways of which I am not aware due to my unfamiliarity with the events in question. One item struck me - the language of the SLA. The Symbionese Liberation Army was a violent group of marxist terrorists who murdered public officials and innocent bystanders as part of their revolution. They were well armed, well trained and ruthless.

SLA would make tapes and deliver them to the media for public distribution. In these tapes, they would promise to liberate the "concentration camps in fascist America." Their sentences would string together pejorative references to corporations, media, government, the rich, etc.

After hearing this, I was struck by the similarity to today's moonbats, with their run-on sentence accusations of "fascism", "Halliburton", "Fox News" etc., strung together with little coherence or logic.

That one SLA member was named "Mizmoon" only adds to the irony.

Can Howard Dean account for his whereabouts on the day Patty Hearst was kidnapped?

That the SLA could turn a previously apolitical 19 year old heiress into a violent moonbat in less than 60 days indicates that most parents of college students are wasting their money by paying for the final 3.5 years of "study."

John McCain - a history of sellouts

During the 1996 Presidential election, Bill Clinton raised tremendous amounts of illegal cash from China funneled through Chinese individuals in this country. In return, Clinton authorized the transfer of advanced ICBM technology to China. Someday, the entire country will pay for this sellout.

Following the election, campaign finance abuse became a major issue. With congressional investigation, including the Cox committee, Clinton's sellout threatened to become a major scandal. All of the talk of John Huang, Johnny Chung, the White House coffee fundraisers, etc. were the tip of the iceberg for this scandal, the core of which was the sale of technology in exchange for the campaign contributions that saved the Clinton presidency.

In the midst of this investigation, none other than John McCain came riding to Clinton's rescue. McCain helped Clinton change the subject. Clinton's line was - "we followed the law, but the law needs to be changed." McCain was eager to oblige. McCain would spend the next few years talking about "soft money" and the need to "get money out of politics." McCain proposed his unconstitutional finance reform bill, whose effect was to muzzle and restrict American citizens. The Chinese sellout was forgotten. McCain provided Clinton with the cover he needed to change the subject and get away with the crime.

Last night, John McCain did it again.

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

A reader wrote that Terri Schiavo's biggest mistake was that she did not kill anyone. If she were a murderer, she would not be allowed to be killed the way she is. Many of those who want her to die would be demanding that she live and many of those who want her to live would be demanding that she die.

Thomas Sowell

Filibuster cave-in

I won't write much about this because it is redundant of the rest of the blogosphere and it is too aggravating. I join in Patterico's pledge. Powerline has more.

In retrospect, our blogging prior to the cave-in was not as strong as it could have been. I did not discuss this issue much at all. Those who did mention it would have been better off focusing on one message - "NO DEAL!" - and aiming that message directly at the Republican "moderates." Hindsight is always 20/20. All I can do is apologize for my own failures and resolve to be more focused in future battles. We should always choose a simple message and aim it at the most important audience. [Easier said than done.]

A final thought: I wouldn't blame the Republican leadership or Bill Frist. He was probably hamstrung by the moderates in his own party. He probably didn't have the votes to end the filibuster. Blame McCain et al. The Republican leadership will be as victimized by this mess as the rest of us are.

Barbara Simpson on terrorist flag burning

Barbara Simpson asks some good questions today:

. . . . how is it that as soon as "spontaneous" riots break out for any anti-American pretext anywhere in the world, there are always multitudes of American flags available for stomping, spitting and burning? Who supplies them? Where are they stored? How do they get to the location of the riot? Who pays for them?

In the crazy world of MSM/DNC, riots and other anti-American activities are always "spontaneous". We are not supposed to ask where the flags come from.

Quote of the day - Charles Johnson

"Suppose that American media were really funded and supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, and openly opposed to the United States. How would the coverage differ?

Answer: not at all."

Charles Johnson

Linda Foley - MSM/DNC Lie #30.

I will shortly add lie #30 to the list of MSM/DNC Lies of 2005. As most of you know, Linda Foley of the Newspaper Guild has repeated Eason Jordan's lie. She has accused American soldiers of targeting journalists for death in Iraq. Click here for commentary and La Shawn Barber for details and additional links.

This episode becomes far more egregious when you realize that the Islamic terrorists have done exactly what Jordan/Foley MSM/DNC have accused U.S. soldiers of doing. The online terrorist training manual for islamists in Iraq teaches the terrorists to place a high priority on killing journalists. H/T LGF.

Has MSM/DNC warned its reporters about this piece of Islamist instruction? Has MSM/DNC taken any precautions to protect its employees?

No.

The MSM/DNC's only response is to accuse the American military of doing the same thing. Warning journalists on the ground in Iraq of the real danger might accidentally support/justify the American cause in the Middle East. MSM/DNC would rather see its own people die than take the chance of indirectly supporting the American cause.

I realize that is a harsh thing to say, but MSM/DNC's second attempt to float this lie in four months [despite disastrous consequences for itself the first time], MSM/DNC's desparate and ridiculous attempt to rescue Newsweek's credibility in the wake of the Newsweek riots and many other examples too numerous to mention [here is one H/T Michelle Malkin] lead to no other conclusion.

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

In a way, both the U.S. media and those wacky rioters in the Afghan-Pakistani hinterlands are very similar, two highly parochial and monumentally self-absorbed tribes living in isolation from the rest of the world and prone to fanatical irrational indestructible beliefs -- not least the notion that you can flush a 950-page book down one of Al Gore's eco-crazed federally mandated low-flush toilets, a claim no editorial bigfoot thought to test for himself in Newsweek's executive washroom.

Mark Steyn

This week in the blogosphere

1754 Blog writes of a Saudi Muslim who defends the U.S. and compares religious freedom in the U.S. with the lack thereof in Saudi Arabia.

Air Force Blog lists some unanswered questions.

The Rottweiler comments on Cuba and what is being done for its liberation.

James Hudnall talks about global warming . . . . or is it global cooling? [We resemble his remark about "alarmists Cassandra-like predictions" . . . although I don't think he means me.]

Doug Ross discusses Richard Posner's new book and further exposes the shortcomings of last year's 911 commission.

Will describes the MSM/DNC's latest misuse of polling data.

Michelle Malkin provides the latest on some atheist's legal battle to desecrate a war memorial in San Diego.

Quote of the day - Ragnar Danneskjold

"When robbery is done in open daylight by sanction of the law, as it is done today, then any act of honor or restitution has to be hidden underground."

Ragnar Danneskjold [from Atlas Shrugged]

Encirclement from without - demoralization from within

Debbie Schlussel's comments yesterday point out the real nature of the war in which the U.S. is engaged:

Non-Muslim Bibles, houses of worship, and other religious icons are destroyed in the Muslim world every day—all without a wimper from us in the West and without an Isikoff story as purported impetus.

Remember Joseph’s Tomb, destroyed by Palestinians? How about the Al Aqsa Mosque—desecratingly built on top of the holiest site in Judaism, the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem? Remember the Omayyad Masjid—the Damascus, Syria mosque where Pope John Paul II famously took his shoes off and kneeled? Forcibly “upgraded” from a church.

In “response” to Isikoff’s article, HAMAS rioted and protested in Gaza. Because everyone knows that, but for a Michael Isikoff article, HAMAS has always been a peaceful ladies’ afternoon tea-fest. They never engage in violent activity. Puh-leeze. Instead of self-flagellating about “why ‘they’ hate us,” it’s time we ask why we tolerate and pander to them.

emphasis added

The Islamists are determined to destroy the West no matter what. We have known this fact since 9/11. [The more astute among us knew this fact long before 9/11, but that is not important right now.] Even though we face a determined, vicious enemy outside the gate, our very own MSM/DNC is doing its best to undermine our defenses and provoke the enemy into committing even more acts of barbarity. MSM/DNC is as much "the enemy" as the Islamists. Blonde Sagacity provided these comments yesterday:

My God, is their hatred for Dubya so strong that they don't see what they're doing? . . . . . Folks, in 50 years this generation of progressive politicians and journalists are going to be judged by either free Americans who live beyond the threat of jihad because of what's being done right now, or else they'll be judged by America's new islamofascist dictators.

I can't explain why MSM/DNC focuses on weakening our defenses at the moment of our greatest peril. But we better start talking about this problem now if we don't want to lose this war.

LGF asks a pertinent question:

Suppose that American media were really funded and supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, and openly opposed to the United States. How would the coverage differ?

Answer: not at all.

In 1980, Barry Goldwater addressed the Republican National Convention by referring to the Soviet Union's recent gains and the leftist culture that had so weakened our military and our morale over the previous decades. He referred to the trend as "encirclement from without and demoralization from within." I have never seen that speech or any reference to it in the past 25 years. We need that message now more than ever if we are to throw off the yoke of the MSM/DNC.

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

One sign of the Democrats' desperation is that some of them continue to try to tar the Bush administration with innuendoes of racism, even though its Cabinet members have included people of Hispanic, Japanese American, Jewish, and Chinese American ancestry, as well as two consecutive black Secretaries of State.

Thomas Sowell

Linda Foley - Eason Jordan - The Newspaper Guild

The blogosphere is working on the next "Eason Jordan" story. Linda Foley, President of the Newspaper Guild, has accused American soldiers of targeting journalists for death. Sound familiar?

MSM/DNC knows that this accusation is false. MSM/DNC knows what happened to CNN and Eason Jordan when they told the same lie four months ago. Yet here they are doing it again.

Is MSM/DNC entering its kamikaze phase? Will it knowingly go down in flames just for the sake of repeating a lie?

La Shawn Barber is on the case with multiple links. Check it out and raise hell!

Classics of Conservatism - Part VII - Fahrenheit 451

Click here for previous "Classics of Conservatism."

Today's classic book recommendation is Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." Although I would bet that Bradbury would not call himself a conservative, he contributed greatly to conservative thought with his vision of future tyranny. The plot describes a world in which the firemen are required to start fires instead of put them out. The fires they must start are intended to consume whatever books are reported or found in private hands.

Fahrenheit 451 stands against modern PC culture, which turns every controversial thought into something bland and innocuous. To me, "451" shouts a loud "no" in the face of every self-proclaimed "moderate."

The MSM/DNC is many things, but one of its main functions is to act as a giant censor against dissenting opinions. Most of our discussions of MSM/DNC bias involve some attempt by the MSM/DNC to silence or ignore and distract attention from some dissenting viewpoint.

McCain-Feingold, attempts by the MSM/DNC to stifle the blogosphere, and long-running attempts by MSM/DNC to silence all competing and dissenting voices appear chilling in the context of "451."

As Bradbury writes, "There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches."

First published book length in 1950


[I don't remember where I read this, but Bradbury was quite critical of that propagandist that produced Fahrenheit 911 last year.]

"451" was one of several "negative utopia" books that were published in the wake of the worldwide socialist revolution in the middle of the 20th century. Books like 451, Brave New World, 1984 and Anthem projected the world of the future where creativity was stifled, all economic decisions were made by the government and the concept of self was completely eradicated. Taken together, they provide a powerful indictment of the direction in which MSM/DNC has taken and would continue to take America.

Debbie Schlussel, the Detroit News, Mitch Abolm and Michael Isikoff

Last week, Debbie Schlussel exposed a lie of the Detroit News related to the News' attempts to gin up sympathy for a soon to be deported terrorist. Debbie's column brought to light numerous additional MSM/DNC scandals related to terrorist prosecutions in the Detroit area. Today, Debbie follows up with a description of the Detroit News' "response."

She also provides some perspective on Michael Isikoff:

Then, there is Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff, whose source on alleged Koran toilet-flushing at Guantanamo Bay suddenly retracted—after publication. I know Isikoff. Full disclosure: about a month ago, he bought me dinner. But the underwhelming salmon didn’t buy my high opinion of him. Isikoff is a skilled, conscientious journalist, whose devotion to getting the story right is matched by few. I know of big-time stories he wanted to write but didn’t for that reason. Others, like his Monica Lewinsky story, were iced by Clintonista editors.

To blame Isikoff for the reaction of the Muslim world to the now-false story is absurd. Non-Muslim Bibles, houses of worship, and other religious icons are destroyed in the Muslim world every day—all without a wimper from us in the West and without an Isikoff story as purported impetus.

Remember Joseph’s Tomb, destroyed by Palestinians? How about the Al Aqsa Mosque—desecratingly built on top of the holiest site in Judaism, the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem? Remember the Omayyad Masjid—the Damascus, Syria mosque where Pope John Paul II famously took his shoes off and kneeled? Forcibly “upgraded” from a church.

In “response” to Isikoff’s article, HAMAS rioted and protested in Gaza. Because everyone knows that, but for a Michael Isikoff article, HAMAS has always been a peaceful ladies’ afternoon tea-fest. They never engage in violent activity. Puh-leeze. Instead of self-flagellating about “why ‘they’ hate us,” it’s time we ask why we tolerate and pander to them.

While Debbie may be right about Isikoff (and is definitely right about the Muslim world and the U.S.' shameless pandering), this incident shows that the MSM/DNC is bigger than any one reporter. MSM/DNC tactics for undermining the West go beyond the ability of any one reporter to remain conscientious. My own belief is that the personalities, the motives, etc. of individuals within the MSM/DNC make little difference. By remaining with the MSM/DNC after his earlier stories were spiked, and by remaining with MSM/DNC even now after MSM/DNC has used his story to wreak so much damage, Isikoff gives up any claim to innocence that he might possess.

Quote of the day - Joseph Sobran

For him [Supreme Court Justice William Brennan], as for many of his generation, the office of Supreme Court justice was an irresistible opportunity to wield power in the guise of interpreting the law.

Joseph Sobran

Scott Stantis - Birmingham News

A new category of MSM/DNC bias.

As a result of the aftermath of the Newsweek debacle, I will shortly add another category to the "categories of MSM/DNC bias".

Category #23 will focus on MSM/DNC phony cries of "censorship." Every time the MSM/DNC is caught in some lie or rightly accused of bias, the usual MSM/DNC suspects step forward and cry "censorship." Any disagreement with the MSM/DNC receives this label. Specifically, read Drudge's account of the reporter who took offense at the White House's suggestion that Newsweek help repair the damage that Newsweek has wrought .

Or check out this poll, in which the alternative responses apparently left individuals with a choice between believing the media or advocating censorship. Those who disbelieve the media were portrayed as unaware of the existence of the first amendment. I don't know how the questions were skewed to present these false alternatives, but clearly the poll attempts to pit the first amendment against those who are suspicious of the media.

Earth to MSM/DNC, we don't want to censor you or tell you what to say. We just want you to stop committing ## 1-22. Or at least tell the truth once in a while. Actually, we will soon stop caring what you do. The day of your complete obsolescence approaches.

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

Debbie Schlussel, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Bo Derek, Janine Turner, Monica Crowley, Peggy Noonan, Laura Ingraham, Laura Bush photos

click to enlarge




enlarged version.

Quote of the day

"Newsweek lied - people died."

The Blogosphere

Random thoughts on Newseek [Newsweek lied - people died]

1. The MSM/DNC has fed us our very own meme on a silver platter. We should never stop using it.

2. I gave Newsweek credit for acting better than CBS in the wake of the scandal. CBS stonewalled for 12 days and still has not acknowledged that the national guard documents were forged. Newsweek has issued a self-serving retraction without waiting for 12 days to pass. But I was hasty to give Newsweek credit. Newsweek had no choice. They saw that CBS' stonewalling did no good. Newsweek learned from CBS' example. Newsweek caved out of necessity, not ethics. The blogosphere deserves the credit, not Newsweek.

3. Three months ago, Cox and Forkum authored a cartoon that pictured bloggers congregating outside the gates of the MSM castle, while the establishment cowered inside. It was labeled "Pajamas at the Gate." Today, a new cartoon is in order. A better artist than I could draw a much more elaborate castle, with individual towers bearing the names of recently discredited MSM/DNC entities, such as CNN, CBS, Newsweek and NYT. Each tower bearing the label of a recently discredited MSM/DNC entity would be pictured burning or swarming with bloggers who have successfully scaled its walls. Towers labeled ABC, WaPo, Time, etc. would remain in establishment hands, while bloggers press the attack on ladders. As I said, it will take a better artist than I.

4. We must not let our anger at Newsweek blind us to the conduct of the Islamists. Islamists have rioted recently over the Miss Universe pageant and other nonevents. Islamists have been on the march against the infidel world for 1,400 years - long before MSM/DNC began using them as a handbag to swing at America.

5. Maybe if Christians would riot once in a while, Islamic terrorists would stop using the Bible for toilet paper.

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

Why is "diversity" the favorite word of monotonous people?

Joe Sobran

Lie # 29 ???? - Newsweek flushes the truth.

By now, the entire world is aware of Newsweek's false story in which Newsweek relied on a false account of American soldiers flushing the Koran at Guantanamo. At least 15 people have died in the predictable Islamic riots that followed. Drudge has referred to the riots as the "Newsweek riots." Michelle Malkin summed it up best with her title - "Newsweek lied, people died." Additional commentary is found at Anchoress:

What is at work here - why is Newsweek deliberately pouring fuel onto a fire?

I suspect it has to do with a general desire to make life very difficult for a president they hate, and perhaps an overzealous mindset determined to give aid, comfort and support to a faction who would love to put together a GITMO/ABU GHRAIB = IMPEACHMENT meme and bring it into sharp focus. The best way to help a party into the White House is by thoroughly scandalizing and demonizing the other party, non?

Is that suspicion of mine unfair? Some will probably say yes, but after Rathergate, after watching the press completely ignore or try to discredit the Swift Boat Vets rather than ask their preferred candidate a SINGLE QUESTION concerning his military records, after watching the AP report that Republicans cheered Bill Clinton’s heart attack, I no longer feel like I’m being unfair to question with a highly skeptical eye, any motivations of the mainstream press.

One may ask, "did Newsweek intentionally lie?" The answer does not really matter. The "sources" were dubious from the beginning. Newsweek has no new information now that it could not have easily gotten before the story ran. I give Newsweek more credit than I give to CBS for the CBS handling of the Rathergate affair, but that is not saying much.

We can no longer give MSM/DNC the benefit of the doubt. After stories like this and this, we can no longer treat MSM/DNC as simply "holding different opinions" than we do. We know that terrorists openly support the Democrats. Is it wrong to expect MSM/DNC to reciprocate? I think that is what we are seeing. Whether MSM/DNC desires simply to help the next Democrat presidential candidate or undermine America's long term security, it makes no difference. MSM/DNC's conduct will harm the U.S. at every opportunity. We must expect it and learn to deal with it.

Michelle Malkin has the best summary of news and opinion on this story.

Click here for the rest of the MSM/DNC lies this year.

New Clinton book - "Their Lives" - Candice E. Jackson

A new Clinton book is set to hit stores this summer. From this story, the books appears to set the record straight on some of Bill Clinton's scandals and details how Clinton used political power to harrass and intimidate his accusers.




The Book is available here:


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Only a few more days before my "Classics of Conservatism" book recomendation for this month.

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

When rent-a-quote senators claim to be pro-U.N. or multilateralist, the tsunami operation is what they have in mind -- that when something bad happens the United States should commit to working through the approved transnational bureaucracies and throw even more "resources" at them, even though nothing will happen (Sri Lanka), millions will be stolen (Oil for Food), children will get raped (U.N. peacekeeping operations) and hundreds of thousands will die (Sudan).

Mark Steyn

Notes from around the blogosphere

Among other items in the past week, the phrase "MSM/DNC" [or at least the concept that the Mainstream Media is really part of the Democratic political machine and dedicated to political goals instead of journalism] is catching on.

Scrappleface has posted a story about a fictionalized "DNC-New York Times" poll that "proves" that Americans have little interest in the Hillary Clinton fundraising trial.

Digital Brown-Pajamas asks [as part of an unrelated discussion]:

Why give the Democrats and the press (excuse the stutter) the opportunity to claim that the country has swung left?

emphasis added

DBP "gets it" when they state that references to "Democrats and the press" are redundant.

Alan Woody links to a disturbing story:

A woman who was scheduled to have her 22-week-along pregnancy ended at a Florida abortion clinic instead delivered the baby alive in a restroom and says her pleading for help from medical staff went unheeded, even when an employee saw that the tiny boy was moving. FULL ARTICLE (includes photographs, not gory at all but terribly sad)

Daily Pundit writes of a Maryland talk radio host that got arrested for protesting against illegal alien protesters. The illegal aliens remain free.

Sue Bob writes of Venezuela's program of providing oil to Cuba in exchange for secret police disguised as doctors. The secret police protect Chavez' illegitimate government and foment revolution in the rest of Latin America. Why haven't we heard more about this, even within the blogosphere?

PoliPundit provides blogosphere news.

Michelle Malkin comments on the Larry Franklin/AIPAC scandal.

The Captain comments about new revelations in the widening Annan/UN oil-for-food scandal.

Quote of the day - Ronald Reagan

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Ronald Reagan

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

"McCarthyism" means pointing out positions taken by liberals that are unpopular with the American people. As former President Bush said, "Liberals do not like me talking about liberals." The reason they sob about the dark night of fascism under McCarthy is to prevent Americans from ever noticing that liberals consistently attack their own country. -- Ann Coulter, P. 4, Treason

MSM/DNC lie #28.

The Sacramento Bee has obtained the resignation of a columnist that apparently fabricated the existence of various individuals that were the subjects of her leftwing columns. The columnist, Diana Griego Erwin, uses personal stories to promote the "causes" of illegal immigrants and vagrants. She denies wrongdoing in much the same way that Dan Rather denies wrongdoing. Observe how the Bee describes the story:

During our inquiry we found we could not authenticate the existence of several people even though they were identified by name, age and sometimes by the neighborhoods in which they were reported to have lived. We used extensive online database searches as well as old-fashioned shoe-leather work in our investigation over the past 2 1/2 weeks.

Griego Erwin has said throughout the inquiry that there was no fabrication of sources. When asked to provide confirmation, however, she was unable to do so to our satisfaction. She resigned citing personal reasons while still maintaining that her sources ultimately will be proved authentic.

(emphasis added); H/T Michelle Malkin

The only harm the Bee seems willing to admit is the "failure to authenticate." "Failure to authenticate" stands on a par with "fake, but accurate" in the MSM/DNC arsenal of excuses, euphemisms and spin that MSM/DNC throws out everytime MSM/DNC is caught red handed.

H/T also to Brian Maloney. Maloney was the Seattle radio talk show host who was fired in 2004 because he criticized Dan Rather over Rathergate. If I remember correctly, Maloney was fired during the 12-day period that CBS continued to defend Rather's forged documents. Maloney's firing was part of the CBS coverup. I could verify the dates by checking some of the blogs from the time, but I am feeling my own sense of CBS-hubris right now, and I am just going to wing it. If I am proven wrong, I suppose I can bury my own comments down the "memory hole."

Maloney questions how much of Diana Griego Erwin's long career has been based on such fabrications:

It casts doubt on many years of work, usually featuring heartbreaking interviews with unfortunate people, victims of a mean-spirited, right-wing society.

Newsflash - all of that @!#$* was already in doubt, as is anything that oozes out of the pages of the MSM/DNC. The final nail in Diana Griego Erwin's career is that she once received the Pulitzer Prize, just like Walter Duranty and the New York Times.

CBS, AP & Ken Starr - MSM/DNC lie # 27.

I will shortly add lie # 27 to the list of MSM/DNC lies of 2005. CBS, AP and others have falsely represented that Ken Starr opposes any attempt to stop the filibuster. In fact, Ken Starr opposes the Democrats' practice of fighting judicial nominees on the basis of the nominees' philosophical beliefs. Ken Starr also "made clear that the 'filibuster' represents an entirely new use (and misuse) of a venerable tradition. . . ."

From these snippets, CBS somehow concluded that Ken Starr opposes any rule change that would allow an up or down vote. CBS reported that Ken Starr believes such a rule change would be a "radical, radical departure from our history and our traditions, and it amounts to an assault on the judicial branch of government." H/T The Corner.

I had not taken a position on the filibuster rule until now. The fact that MSM/DNC would go so far as to lie about Ken Starr's opinion - and that MSM/DNC would even invoke his opinion in the first place - indicates to me that MSM/DNC is desparate to prevent the rule change. When MSM/DNC is this desparate about any issue, the stakes are high and we must take the opposite view.
H/T also to Michelle Malkin.

Jenny McCarthy, Walter O'Malley, the Brooklyn Dodgers, Joe Sobran and Bill Clinton.

Last week, commenters wrote about the changes in language that occurred during the 1990's as Bill Clinton and the baby boomers began to exert greater influence over the culture. One such commenter noted Clinton's use of the term "reinvent." I discovered an early reference to this word in a Joseph Sobran column from November, 1997. Sobran drew a connection between the use of the term "reinvent", the loss of traditions throughout society and the ruination of the national pastime:

Jenny McCarthy -- and I don't know exactly who she is, but she's famous -- recalls in her autobiography that when she got breast implants as a teen-ager, she was able to pay for them on the installment plan. And she makes a pertinent observation: "Isn't that the American dream? To purchase new breasts on credit?"

What I mean to say, and I know that some readers will find it a forced analogy, is that in a country where you can get new breasts on credit (regardless of your sex, I might add), it should be no surprise that baseball has become what it has. I don't think it's a long analogical leap from breast implants to expansion teams. One needn't be a metaphysician to perceive that these are two aspects of the same phenomenon.

In better times, decent girls were content with the chests God had given them, and baseball was content with the eight teams He had put in each league. Certain things just weren't meddled with. Even Walter O'Malley, the man who kidnapped the Brooklyn Dodgers, would never have countenanced a monstrosity like the DH. Baseball was a game of constants, founded on the principle that, as one friend of mine put it, in his salty but eloquent way (edited here for family reading), "You don't bleep with tradition."

Nowadays everyone bleeps with tradition. We call it "reinventing." You can reinvent yourself, government, or even baseball, depending on the amount of your credit line. At least O'Malley only moved the Dodgers to L.A. He didn't "reinvent" them.

Sobran is correct to connect the concept of "reinventing" with the size of one's "credit line." But Sobran does not go far enough with the analogy. "Reinvention" might be another word for artificial inflation. The government has been "reinventing" the money supply for almost a century, with disastrous results both economically and for society as a whole (of which Sobran's column only hints). If you don't know what I mean, check out my neglected Garet Garrett blog. [Of course, you may have to wait until I quit procrastinating and place more posts there.]

Here are the obligatory photos designed to generate repeat traffic:


Brooklyn Dodgers


Jenny McCarthy

P.S. I suspect that Joe Sobran knows darn well who Jenny McCarthy is. But as I contemplate the number of her photos that I had to scroll through just to find one that is acceptable for a family friendly blog, I can forgive him for not wanting to admit it.

Quote of the day - Matt Drudge

I do most of my business on that dirty Internet that you were just talking about, where I find there is a lot of freedom to report exactly what I want.

Matt Drudge

Another WWII anniversary - Kamikaze attack on USS New Mexico

sixty years ago today

Quote of the day - Milton Friedman

Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.

Milton Friedman

Debbie Schlussel exposes another MSM/DNC lie.

Debbie Schlussel's column today exposes the Detroit News' fabrication of a story that a terrorist has been forced to leave the U.S. In fact, the terrorist - Ahmed Hannan - who plotted to blow up an Air Force base in Turkey, remains in the United States. Millions of Detroit News readers and subscribers to the Gannett network [to which the Detroit News belongs] now have the mistaken belief that this dangerous terrorist is no longer in our midst. For some reason, that appears to be just the way the MSM/DNC likes it.

Ms. Schlussel shows how Detroit News' coverage (or lack thereof) of terrorism is tremendously influential throughout the Gannett network. The Detroit News and the reporter responsible for this week's lie have received first place awards for investigative journalism from Gannett. These awards came despite the Detroit News ignoring terrorism related stories such as the following:

- Terrorist lawyers, Richard Helfrick and Miriam Siefer, stole official stationery of then-Chief Federal Judge Lawrence Zatkoff, forging his signature on an accusatory letter to another attorney;
- Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (former Michigan Attorney General), when she was Assistant U.S. Attorney, stole official stationery of terror trial Judge Gerald Rosen, forging his signature on a letter;
- Terror Judge Rosen recently allowed terror suspect Karim Koubriti, under indictment, free to attend a National Lawyers Guild dinner honoring his lawyer, Siefer.

Ms. Schlussel has confirmed these stories and their spiking both from Judge Rosen and from a third party to whom the Detroit News reporter spoke.

That Detroit has a large Muslim population has apparently influenced prosecutions in that region. Political considerations have contributed to the sabotaging of several high profile terrorist prosecutions. See Debbie's column for the details. She will provide more detailed columns to follow on this issue.

This week's lie regarding Ahmed Hannan is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the Detroit News and the Detroit area prosecutions are concerned. I have been concerned about the Detroit area since 9/11. [And Debbie was sounding the alarm even before then.] The large and growing muslim population wields greater influence with every election. Their large numbers make it easier for terrorists to remain inconspicuous. Detroit's proximity to Canada makes it an easily reachable haven for more terrorists who seek to enter the U.S. and remain hidden. The Hannan episode appears as Lie # 26.


Debbie Schlussel.
------------
Thursday update - The Detroit News has printed a slanted retraction, but still misses the point.

Axis Sally and Gary Trudeau

Previous Axis Sally posts:

here and
here and here.

Axis Sally was an American citizen who was prosecuted and spent 12 years in prison following WWII because she made radio broadcasts in favor of Nazi Germany:

Perhaps Sally's most famous broadcast, and the one that would eventually get her convicted of treason, was a play titled Vision of Invasion that went out over the airwaves on May 11, 1944. It was beamed to American troops in England awaiting the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as well as to the home folks in America. Gillars played the role of an American mother who dreamed that her soldier son, a member of the invasion forces, died aboard a burning ship in the attempt to cross the English Channel. The play had a realistic quality to it, sound effects simulating the moans and cries of the wounded as they were raked with gunfire from the beaches. Over the battle action sound effects, an announcer's voice intoned, "The D of D-Day stands for doom... disaster... death... defeat... Dunkerque or Dieppe." Adelbert Houben, a high official of the German Broadcasting Service, would testify at Axis Sally's trial that her broadcast was intended to prevent the invasion by frightening the Americans with grisly forecasts of staggering casualties.

H/T WWII Magazine

Compare the crime for which Sally spent years in prison with more recent cartoons of Gary Trudeau. Gary Trudeau ran a series of Doonesbury cartoons just prior to the start of the first Gulf war in January, 1991, in which he depicted American soldiers about to go into battle. In this series, the fictional soldiers discussed the upcoming battle scene and how our allies from other countries would turn and run at the first sign of gunfire, leaving the Americans alone on the battlefield. His prediction turned out to be false, but is there any doubt that his cartoon, like Sally's broadcast, "was intended to prevent the invasion by frightening the Americans with grisly forecasts of staggering casualties"?

Again, I am not suggesting that we actually prosecute the modern day Sally's, but we can at least properly categorize them. We have to change the way we think about them. They are not mere political opponents. They oppose not merely our viewpoints, but our very survival. But if we learn to think of them as they really are, as we thought of Axis Sally and Tokyo Rose, they will lose their ability to influence American political thought.

Quote of the day - Will Durant

"The family is the nucleus of civilization."

Will Durant

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

Great politicians, like great comedians, are always shameless. In both professions a normal capacity for embarrassment can be fatal to success.

Joe Sobran (writing about Bill Clinton)

Quote of the day - Frederic Bastiat

Each of us has a natural right, from God, to defend his person, his liberty, and his property.

Frederic Bastiat

VE day

60 years ago today.

Quote of the day - George Washington

Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.

George Washington

Random thoughts on the jihad movie - Debbie Schlussel, Hal Lindsey, Dan Rather, Saladin and some alternative movies.

Yesterday, I mentioned MSM/DNC's new jihad anti-crusade movie. I linked to Debbie Schlussel's review of that movie. Here is a detailed quote from Debbie's review:

Unlike his portrayal in “Kingdom,” Saladin (the Muslim general):

Personally beheaded many of the Crusaders living in and around Jerusalem, and watched while his soldiers cut the bodies to pieces to satisfy their lust for revenge;
Sent poisoned wine and flour to a Greek leader to distribute to Crusaders;
Fought violently with rival Shi’ite Muslims, dissecting one of their leaders, and keeping his hands and head as trophies (Saladin, a Kurd, was a Sunni);
Persecuted Jews and Christians, denying them even the basic dignity of riding on horses or mules, requiring they ride in humiliation on donkeys and painful pack saddles. “Kingdom” shows Saladin allowing them to ride on horses. But even his own physician, the scholar Maimonides (a Jew forcibly converted to Islam) was forced to ride a donkey to and from Saladin’s palace. (Saladin stoned and blinded a Jewish doctor for daring to ride a horse, according to “Saladin and the Jews,” by E. Ashtor-Strauss.)
Sowed the seeds for Muslim Crusades, resulting in the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews and Christians.

Other reviewers include Hal Lindsey, who reminds us of the words of historian Gibbon:

The historian Gibbon noted that, except for the Crusades, "the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet."

Saladin is particularly whitewashed in this movie. I first heard of Saladin from Late Night with David Letterman on September 17, 2001. Dan Rather was the guest. After crying (literally) about the events of September 11, Rather warned that Saddam Hussein (I am paraphrasing) constituted a major threat in the middle east. Rather spoke of Hussein's ambition to lead his armies into Jerusalem. Rather believed that Hussein fancied himself as another Saladin. [These comments were probably the only legitimate statement that Rather ever made. This Letterman/Rather interview will be forever buried down the memory hole - or at least until it is clear that Hussein is gone for good and there is no further point in attacking Bush over the Iraq invasion.] I immediately looked up Saladin in a history book and vowed to learn more about the Crusades. Meanwhile, moonbats everywhere redoubled their efforts to protect Saddam.

If you would enjoy a good (or at least non MSM/DNC approved) Islam related movie, see if you can rent The Castilian or El Cid.


Both of these movies focus on the liberation of Spain from its Muslim conquerers during the middle ages. The Castilian leaves much to be desired as a movie. The dialogue is poor (or at least poorly translated/dubbed from Spanish) and there were other qualities that gave it the appearance of being fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000. But the use of pigs as a military weapon was refreshing.

El Cid is better. Charlton Heston provides an excellent performance. The castle storming scene is comparable to the best scenes from Lord of the Rings (although without the special effects and modern filming techniques).

Remember that there were 8 Crusades over two centuries, all of which came in response to the Islamic conquest of such historically Christian countries as Syria and Egypt. Don't hold your breath waiting for MSM/DNC to make a movie about that.

Jihad in America

The war continues on the home front as:

A Dearborn man is arrested for financially supporting Hezbollah;

A Minnesota charter school that serves primarily Muslim immigrants honors the Islamic general who conquered Spain in the eighth century A.D.; and

The MSM/DNC does its part with an historically innaccurate anti-Crusade movie that has been approved by Hamas front groups. H/T Debbie Schlussel.

Few Americans will hear about the arrest of the Dearborn man. Even fewer know the true story of the Crusades. Probably almost none are aware that the forces of Islam at one point conquered Spain and now threaten to colonize all of Europe before this century ends. But the practitioners of the religion of peace know this last point all too well.

Random Google news - La Shawn Barber and Little Green Footballs

La Shawn Barber is undertaking an interesting experiment on how to attract Google traffic. La Shawn frequently provides insights on Google traffic.

My own accidental experience with inadvertant Google traffic is recounted here.

P.S. Google is evil.

Quote of the day - Edmund Burke

Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones.

Edmund Burke

Quote of the day - Barry Goldwater

I won't say that the papers misquote me, but I sometimes wonder where Christianity would be today if some of those reporters had been Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Barry M. Goldwater

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

Larry Franklin and Sandy Berger - Who benefits?

Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin has been arrested for passing classified information to Israel regarding the Iraq war. Michelle Malkin hopes that " . . . fellow conservatives will be as tough--if not tougher--on Franklin as they were on Sandy Berger."

Let's compare.

Espionage is bad no matter who does it. But we can learn a lot about the left by comparing the motives of Franklin vs. Berger. Franklin hoped, assuming he is convicted, to benefit Israel. That is no excuse, but at least there was an actual beneficiary of his espionage. He wasn't simply committing treason for treason's sake.

Who benefitted from Sandy Berger's espionage? You might say Bill Clinton benefitted because Clinton's malfeasance during his term in office was buried by Berger's destruction of government documents. Expand the question. Who benefitted from Bill Clinton's failure to confront the growing terrorist menace? Who benefitted from the Gorelick "wall of separation" that prevented law enforcement personnel from sharing information with intelligence personnel? Who benefits from the continuing MSM/DNC attempts to undermine our defenses, undermine the war effort, whitewash Islam as a religion of peace and undermine our borders? While Berger isn't personally responsible for all of those items, his espionage can be understood only in the context of the greater MSM/DNC goals. Berger would have had no need to destroy documents for Clinton had Clinton and the MSM/DNC not governed as if they had America in their crosshairs.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, there is no point to the left's anti-Americanism or to the left's destructive foreign policy. The Soviet Union, the chief beneficiary of the left's policies for so many decades, is gone. There remains no leftist ally for the MSM/DNC to aid. While it was plausible to imagine the left in bed with its Soviet co-idealogues during the cold war, the left has nothing in common with our current enemies, the Islamists. The left has nothing to gain from helping the Islamists except its own destruction alongside the rest of us.

I don't have the answer to this puzzle, but some clues may be found in the essay of Nelson Ascher, entitled the "Berlin Wall Orphans" and quoted here at length.

When we cannot definitively identify a reason for widespread destructive behavior, of which espionage is only a small part, we must remain focused on that behavior. Such behavior, including Sandy Berger's espionage necessary to hide the facts, should remain the focus of our inquiry.

Yes, we must prosecute Larry Franklin and assess his guilt, if any. But the Franklin and Berger cases are not comparable. We trivialize the MSM/DNC movement by comparing the work of its functionaries to isolated spy cases.

2005 Dishonor Awards - Media Research Center - The Home Run Strategy

On April 21, 2005, The Media Research Center hosted and presented the “2005 DisHonors Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters of 2004.” The awards were judged and voted on by a distinguished panel of conservatives. The presenters included Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and others.


Ann Coulter presents an award

The ceremonies included film clips of biased and dishonest "reporting", analysis and other MSM/DNC propaganda. Despite having itemized MSM/DNC's propaganda categories, I found myself surprised at the level of blatantness and dishonesty found in the examples presented at the awards. I didn't think that any level of MSM/DNC propaganda could surprise me after watching the MSM/DNC in action since the Reagan years. Here is one example, the winner of the "stupidest analysis" award:

“Veterans haven’t been a big force in past campaigns... but the Vietnam vets may feel bound together more strongly....It may be too early to know how influential they’ll be in Kerry’s campaign, but they have already done one thing: If the Republicans had any hope of casting Kerry as some Michael Dukakis-style effete Eastern liberal, that’s over. The band of brothers stands in its way.”

— CNN’s Bruce Morton on Inside Politics, January 30.

What makes this example worse is that the MSM/DNC spent the next 9+ months shouting down, screaming at and otherwise slandering this same "band of brothers" when the brothers actually opposed Kerry's candidacy.

At some later date, I will attempt to dissect and categorize each of the entries recognized at the Awards ceremony according to the bias categories. For now, I would like to speculate as to the direction in which the MSM/DNC is headed, based upon the entries from the Awards ceremony. Far from moderating its propaganda, MSM/DNC seems to be increasing its partisanship and bias. The advent of the new media has seemingly radicalized the MSM/DNC instead of moderating it. In the past, the MSM/DNC might have been content to stretch its propaganda campaigns out over the course of months or years, as was the case with the MSM/DNC war against Reagan. But now, MSM/DNC seems to need to hit a home run every time at bat.

The news cycle is constant and no longer confined to 6:30 P.M. on network television. There is less of an opportunity for drawn out propaganda campaigns. By the time MSM/DNC lays the groundwork for subsequent attacks, bloggers, cable, talk radio, etc. can step in and ruin the MSM/DNC's sequence. MSM/DNC can no longer score runs by letting singles follow singles. The new media has made the innings too short and brought in too many good pitchers. The MSM/DNC must "swing away" every time at bat. Each news report will contain examples of bias that are far more blatant than they used to be.

This theory is just that - a theory. [There are alternative explanations, such as our own tendency to notice the bias more so than before because we can use the new media to point it out for each other's benefit.] But if my MSM/DNC home run theory is correct, we will have to adjust our response accordingly. This theory might actually make our jobs easier. The MSM/DNC "home run" strategy might be a sign that the MSM/DNC is desperate and about to burn itself out - although I suspect we still have a long way to go.
-------------------------
update - The Washington Post, via Michelle Malkin, provides an account from a former NYT writer who says:

In more than 50 years of direct engagement in and observation of the major news media I have never encountered anything remotely like the fear and loathing lavished on us [evangelicals] by opinion mongers in these world-class newspapers in the past 40 days

emphasis added

Is the MSM/DNC turning up the heat? Is it going for home runs at every at bat? We are only 8 months into the post-Rathergate world. It is still too early to tell what effect the new media is having and will have on the MSM/DNC's daily coverage of events.