Haditha, John Murtha, John Kerry, Ramadi

I found a post of mine from November 7, 2004, which reported (quoting several blogs) that the Islamic terrorists were planning to booby trap schools in Ramadi so that the coalition would be blamed for the death of children:

Dave at Cold Beverage has posted a centcom link that reveals the muslim insurgents' plans to rig schools with explosives and detonate them once the Coalition's final assault begins. One school in Ramadi was rigged with explosives with the detonation wire running to a nearby mosque.

The left and their allies in the MSM will see to it that the U.S. gets the blame. Hat tip also to Digital Brown Pajamas.

The left seems to follow the same script every time. The Ramadi booby traps never materialized, but the left, the MSM/DNC and the terrorists kept their scripts and their ammunition ready until another opportunity presented itself.

Down the memory hole will go Ramadi and Beslan as the MSM/DNC will hasten to label our troops "baby killers" while ignoring the possibility that the muslims killed their own people in order to provide propoganda ammunitition to their allies in the MSM/DNC.

It is no longer surprising that Congressman Murtha will hasten to condemn the Marines as liars and murderers, even though he undoubtedly accepted John Kerry's version of events from Vietnam without questioning how a soldier could earn 3 purple hearts without shedding a drop of blood. The left no longer makes a pretense at consistency. Murtha can count on the MSM/DNC to protect his own status as the "Democratic-hawk" and "war hero" no matter how badly he smears our troops.

Michelle Malkin provides more information on Islamic terrorist policy of using their own children as cannon fodder.

Quote of the day - Pat Buchanan

The Senate, by opening the door to U.S. citizenship for millions of illegal aliens, has cheapened something Americans used to consider priceless. That the Senate would put on a path to U.S. citizenship people who, only a month ago, were marching under Mexican flags is a manifestation of national decline.

Pat Buchanon

Quote of the day - Diana West

. . . the end of America as a national idea is being promulgated by forces greater than any one man. From the anti-American left to bottom-line Big Business, from global elites to media elites, there is less and less any notion of a nation. Such amnesia may be fine for them. But then there's the rest of us. Is America something we can just forget?

Diana West

h/t Michelle Malkin

Quote of the day - Hamas

“Adolf Hitler, while exciting the Germans of the Sudetenland - the Sudetenland is a German province that the Allies had annexed to Czechoslovakia after the First World War - told them in his broadcasts: Look at what the Palestinian revolutionaries are doing to Great Britain!!”

[Al-Rissala (Hamas Weekly), May 18, 2006]

H/T Little Green Footballs

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

Playing by Gore-Kennedy rules, the Union would have lost the Civil War, the rebels the Revolutionary War, and the colonists the French and Indian Wars. There would, in other words, be no America. Even in its grief, my part of New Hampshire understood that 141 years ago. We should, too.

Mark Steyn
The Chicago Sun-Times, May 30th 2004

Bismarck - 65 year anniversary

Today is the 65th anniversary of the sinking of the Bismarck during WWII. This event received a great deal of attention at the time. The sinking of the Bismarck has been the subject of a movie, various books and documentaries over the years. The sinking has been viewed as a turning point in the war.


65 years ago today









The wreckage lay undiscovered at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean until 1989.

From the Amazon.com review

With a new introduction by the author. First published in 1974, this work remains in the forefront of the many books, movies, and television programs about the epic World War II drama played out in the stormy Atlantic. It is a thrilling firsthand account of the hunting down and sinking of the battleship Bismarck, pride of the German Fleet, told by a member of the Royal Navy's destroyer force who participated in the pursuit. The author's own experiences add fire and immediacy to the account that has come to be considered a classic by critic and general reader alike. The world's largest warship when she first sailed into the Atlantic in May 1941, the Bismarck was a serious threat to Britain's survival and her sinking of the beloved battle cruiser HMS Hood with nearly fifteen hundred aboard sent shock waves throughout Britain.
Determined to track her down, the Royal Navy engaged in pursuit, finding the mammoth warship just hours from her safe harbor. The chess-like plotting, the horror and heroism on both sides, the final apocalyptic action have never been portrayed more vividly and objectively--and never with the benefit of such detailed documentation from both British and German sources. A measure of the book's epic qualities is that knowledge of the outcome in no way lessens the tension. When she was sunk just days after her own victorious action with the Hood, the Bismarck took more than two thousand German sailors to the bottom of the ocean and with them the dreams of the German naval high command. For sheer suspense, this book can hardly be equaled. For carefully researched history, it is an admirable example of fine writing. Ludovic Kennedy's introduction to this new edition places the event in perspective for today's audiences.

Also:



[DVD - originally produced in 1960]




[a survivor's story]

and


[the version I read when I was 10]




[National Geographic account of Bismarck's discovery in 1989 (along with historical WWII footage and info re: search for PT 109 and other WWII ships)]

If the terrorists possesssed a similar ship today, and U.S. forces sunk it, headlines would focus on the fact that we sunk the ship without convicting the enemy sailors in a court of law first.
-----------------------------------------------------------
another update -

The Bismarck, as noted above, was missing at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean from 1941 until 1989. If the MSM/DNC had been true to form during that time period, it would have denied that the Bismarck ever existed in the first place.

------------

Michelle Malkin, Wizbang, LaShawn Barber and Debbie Schlussel post their thoughts on Memorial Day.

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

For decades Democrats have been trying to raise the price of gasoline so that the working class will stop their infernal car-driving and start riding on buses where they belong, while liberals ride in Gulfstream jets.

Ann Coulter

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

From Canada's natural resources to California's ports to Iran's oil, the [Chinese] politburo is hoovering up strategic assets around the world.

Mark Steyn

Quote of the day - Ayn Rand

Individual rights are the means of subordinating society to moral law.

Ayn Rand

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

Helen Thomas has been called "the dean of White House correspondents." After some of her recent remarks, someone suggested that she should be called the Howard Dean of White House correspondents.

Thomas Sowell

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

Whites have invented many things, but slavery isn't one of them. We imported that -- from Africa. Slavery is the most important "multicultural" institution this country ever adopted.

Joe Sobran

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

"On the other other hand, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had added earmarks to the bill proposing that the family of Mohamed Atta should be entitled to receive survivor benefits plus an American Airlines pilot's pension based on past illegal employment flying jets over the northeast corridor on Tuesday mornings in late 2001."

Mark Steyn - May 21, 2006 - commenting on Senate proposals to provide social security benefits to illegal immigrants.

Quote of the day - Will Durant

The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.

Will Durant

Fallout from the Pennsylvania primary elections; Eileen Melvin

There is more fallout to report from this week's primary election in Pennsylvania, according to an e-mail being circulated by local party leaders.

Eileen Melvin, the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee Chairwoman, has announced that she will not seek reelection to the Chairwoman position in June at the regularly scheduled State Committee organizational meeting. The announcement comes in the wake of Tuesday's primary which cost a number of Republican incumbents, including 2 members of the Republican Senate leadership, their jobs.

The election is widely seen as a victory for conservatives, who rebelled against incumbent Republican leadership in the wake of the pay raise scandal last year.

The Republican State Committee had refused, last fall, to denounce the pay raise, issuing, instead, a weakly worded statement expressing concern. It apparantly does not pay to play it safe when the voters are outraged.

Melvin


Previous - Pennsylvania Primary election coverage.

Quote of the day - C.S. Lewis

Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.

C. S. Lewis

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

Imposing punitive taxation on gasoline to force people to ride bicycles has been one of the left's main policy goals for years.

Ann Coulter

Pennsylvania election coverage; Catherine Baker Knoll; Valerie McDonald Roberts; pay raise issues

I intend to live-blog the election coverage from the Pennsylvania primary this evening. Check this post for updates.

There are two issues of interest in today's primary:



(1) Last July, I predicted that the Democrats would trot out a leftist replacement to oppose incumbent Democrat Catherine Baker Knoll in the race for Lieutenant Governor. Knoll received much deserved scorn for crashing a military funeral and speaking out against the war while in attendance. Leftists oppose Knoll (and allowed this story to see the light of day) because Knoll also happens to be pro-life - and not because of her myriad faults. As I wrote in July:

Look for the Dems to trot out a new, more reliably leftist candidate next spring for Lt. Governor. Assuming that Rendell wins in the fall, that new candidate will then be groomed to replace Rendell or Arlen Specter in 2010.

It appears that the Democrats now have several choices opposing Knoll:

Many point to Valerie McDonald Roberts, 50, Allegheny County's recorder of deeds, as Knoll's biggest challenger in the Democratic primary.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the League of Young Voters, Philly for Change and Planned Parenthood all have endorsed Roberts over Knoll.

source - Harrisburg "Patriot"-News, May 11, 2006

Of course, the Harrisburg "Patriot"-News, in true MSM/DNC fashion, mistates one of the key reasons for disatisfaction with Knoll:

Knoll's missteps include showing up, uninvited, at a Marine reservist's funeral last summer, to the dismay of some family members.

In fact, the outrage over the funeral stems from Knoll's anti-war statements, not her mere attendance.

Governor of Pennsylvania??






I also learned from the "Patriot"-News article about another Knoll gaffe, in which she publicly (and presumably mistakenly) referred to Governor Ed Rendell as "Edward G. Robinson."



We will learn tonight whether Knoll will remain in office, while the reasons for the outcome will remain in more doubt the longer the MSM/DNC mouthpieces keep talking.

(2) Last summer, the Pennsylvania legislature enacted a large surprise pay raise for itself as a hidden part of an unrelated bill in the middle of the night. The pay raise created a furor on talk radio throughout Pennsylvania, and it was repealed in the fall. I wrote about the effects of the pay raise on last fall's judicial races:

Democrat Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro has last lost his bid for retention. This is the first time a Supreme Court Justice has lost a retention vote in Pennsylvania. Credit for the defeat is widely attributed to the legislative pay raise that also included appellate judges.

[edited for typo]

Today is the first time that legislative candidates will be up for reelection since the pay raise was enacted. Organized groups are attempting to oppose all or many incumbents on the basis of this issue.

If we can endure and ignore the MSM/DNC spin, tonight's results may tell us much about the voters' memories in this new media age.
------------------------
update - Blonde Sagacity provides her own perspective on the pay raise issue and her own coverage. Turnout appears to be light in the Philadelphia area.
----------------------------
Update - 10:20 P.M.

Senator Brightbill from Lebanon County has conceded defeat in the Republican primary. Brightbill is a Senate leader who backed the notorious pay raise. Brightbill apparently has lost despite a bitter primary battle in which advertising focused on other issues. The pay raise apparently is trumping other issues.

-----------------------------------------------
11:00 P.M. Update

The Brightbill race was not close.

WHTM is reporting that Senator Jubilirer of Altoona has conceded his race also. Jubilirer and Brightbill were the top Republicans in the PA Senate. This primary election is the equivalent of an earthquake in Pennsylvania politics.

-----------------------------

11:15 P.M.

Catherine Baker Knoll is apparently coasting to reelection as Democratic Lieutenant Governor, despite opposition from more liberal opponents.
-------------------------------

The Republican primary results indicate that grassroots conservatism is energized. If this primary is indicative of a national trend, Republican moderates should be wary. Maybe these moderates in particular . . . .

Quote of the day - Ayn Rand

Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).

Ayn Rand

The Da Vinci Deception; Erwin Lutzer; The Da Vinci Code

I have not read this book, but it comes highly recommended from various sources.



I have read several short items exposing the falsehoods and myths in the Da Vinci Code. My prediction is that those who believed that Bill Clinton "did not have sexual relations with that woman" will similarly have their opinion of Christianity shaped by the "Da Vinci Code."



- Previous - Mark Steyn

- Joe Sobran:

Brown's human Jesus interests us only because the
divine Jesus of the Gospels interests us. If Brown's were
the real Jesus, there would be no such religion as
Christianity; his early death would have been a merely
unfortunate interruption of a promising career, like
Mozart's, rather than the event that gave his whole life
its point -- the culmination of all his works, words,
miracles, teachings, parables, and predictions. Why would
anyone have bothered crucifying such an ordinary,
inoffensive man? Why would his message -- reduced to "Be
nice to other people" -- have upset either Roman or
Jewish authorities? Why would martyrs have died to bear
witness to him?

New Orleans gangs, crime statistics and future catastrophes

Time magazine contains an article with some value regarding the results of Hurricane Katrina's dispersion of New Orleans' street gangs:

For the first time in modern history, we now know what criminals will do after a mass exodus: just like everyone else, they will spend a couple of months getting their bearings. They will apply for aid and call people they care about on their cell phones. Then they will find one another and start killing one another again. They will go where the housing and the drug users are. Perhaps most important of all, they will carry with them the petty disputes of the past, along with their assumptions about the consequences.

This article and its conclusions can help predict some of the results of the next terrorist attack in the United States. After the RoP nukes Manhattan (depending on the severity of the blast) we may have many more gang members preying on neighboring cities, murdering their former neighbors and stealing each others' FEMA money than we did in the aftermath of Katrina.

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

Some people think they have bad luck when the real problem is that they took bad chances.

Thomas Sowell

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn - MSM/DNC template

So there are now two basic templates in terrorism media coverage:

Template A (note to editors: to be used after every terrorist atrocity): "Angry family members, experts and opposition politicians demand to know why complacent government didn't connect the dots."

Template B (note to editors: to be used in the run-up to the next terrorist atrocity): "Shocking new report leaked to New York Times for Pulitzer Prize Leak Of The Year Award nomination reveals that paranoid government officials are trying to connect the dots! See pages 3,4,6,7,8, 13-37."

Mark Steyn - Chicago Sun Times - May 14, 2006

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

In the good old days -- and they were -- you had to master a craft before you could pass for an artist. The word most conspicuously absent from discussions of modern art is "skill."


Joe Sobran

Quote of the day - C.S. Lewis

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

C. S. Lewis

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

Democrats have declared war against Republicans, and Republicans are wandering around like a bunch of ninny Neville Chamberlains, congratulating themselves on their excellent behavior. They'll have some terrific stories about their Gandhi-like passivity to share while sitting in cells at Guantanamo after Hillary is elected.

Ann Coulter

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn (the Da Vinci Code)

Referring to "Leonardo da Vinci" as "da Vinci" is like listing Lawrence of Arabia in the phone book as "Of Arabia, Mr. L," or those computer-generated letters that write to the Duke of Wellington as "Dear Mr. Duke, you may already have won!"

Mark Steyn

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

Whenever a liberal begins a statement with 'I don't know which is more frightening,' you know the answer is going to be pretty clear.

Ann Coulter

Quote of the day - Bill Bonner, Addison Wiggin - Empire of Debt

In 2004, alone, wealth equivalent to 1 percent of the value of all the assets in the United States passed out of Americans' hands.

Bill Bonner, Addison Wiggin - Empire of Debt, p. 78

Los Rangers; Texas Rangers; Cinco de Mayo; Who is assimilating who?

Michelle Malkin posts the story of last night's Yankees-Rangers baseball game, for which the Rangers changed their uniforms to read "Los Rangers" in honor of Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican holiday.

May 5, 1862 was the day that the Mexican Army defeated a joint French-Mexican army 100 miles from Mexico City. Modern writers, in an effort to gain acceptance of this holiday here in the United States, assert that this battle somehow helped ensure the Union victory in our own civil war.

The Rangers now sell Cinco de Mayo "Los Rangers" gear on the team website.


One of Michelle's readers proclaims, "The hell with the MLB, I'm not watching another game."

I agree with that sentiment, but I think it is long overdue. The watering down of the record books by steroid use, the subsidization of millionaire salaries by taxpayer supported stadii, the complete destruction of team loyalty by the free agency system, etc. should have been enough to chase away all of the fans long ago.

Major league baseball (and all professional sports) have become part of the state sponsored "bread and circuses" package that sap our national strength and distract us from taking steps necessary to save our civilization. While we cheer for professional athletes, our government continues to strangle our productivity with taxes and regulations. While we gamble on sports outcomes, play fantasy football and trade in useless memorabilia, runaway immigration continues to erode our sovereignty.

With the Rangers' use of Cinco de Mayo symbolism, the circle becomes complete. Not only is major league baseball a distraction and a drain, but it has now joined the chorus of those attacking and eroding our foundation.

I have heard far more references to Cinco de Mayo over the past several years than I used to. People who have no knowledge of history, borders, language or culture are beginning to make references to this term every May 5th. It has become another excuse for drinking and carousing, like St. Patrick's day. If this has not happened already, we will shortly hear of Cinco de Mayo parades in major cities every year. Gays will protest because they are being excluded from the Cinco de Mayo parade in New York.

America's assimilation into Hispanic culture continues.

Quote of the day - Ayn Rand

If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose... the fact that they were the people who created the phrase "to make money." No other language or nation had ever used these words before... Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created.

Ayn Rand

Quote of the day - Bill Quick - Daily Pundit - Moussaoui

Well, while Moussaoui parades around prison as a hero to many of the inmates, we'll get a real-world education in how important he actually was to the 9/11 massacre, after the first round of hostages are taken in the middle east in order to demand his release.

Bill Quick - Daily Pundit

Quote of the day - ABC

"Our goal is not to document actual events, but to create characters and compelling stories for our viewers."

ABC, apologizing for an episode of "Commander-in-Chief," in a statement that could apply equally well to the news division.

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

Someone once said that a fool can put on his coat better than a wise man can put it on for him. The implications of that undermine most of the agenda of the political left.

Thomas Sowell