The McCain Myth Response

Democrats Won't Prevail

Mr. McCain kicked his presidential aspirations and probably his senatorial seat into the sewer when he worked to broker that deal with the Democratic "moderates." The Republican base is as angry as I have ever seen them, and it is making its anger felt.

I was called by a Republican fundraiser (a nice young woman) who told me that every last dependable giver laced into her because of the deal. Mr. McCain was mentioned prominently in every call.

The deal itself, mostly Bill Frist's fault, was the exact opposite of what the base wanted, but it was so revealing that it was a thing inevitable. It had to happen.

A few important revelations rose. One, Mr. McCain demonstrated his complete lack of perception into his other side colleagues. Does anyone want this guy staring down terrorists? Two, Mr. McCain edged himself into the "good old boys" clan where the art of the deal trumps the facts. Three, Mr. McCain showed exactly that he's been inside the club too long.

Even so, the liberals stand almost no chance of prevailing anytime soon. The electorate is ticked off. There's a war on, boys, and running heady exercises in politics won't cut it.

Mr. McCain and the rest better wise up, or they'll be looking for lobbyist jobs sooner than they expect. Recall worked in California, Arizona is right next door.

ICRC's Attitude Toward US

Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it, or so someone said. The same goes for those who do not remember it, or ignore it. The United States and its citizens should immediately withdraw all (and I mean all) support for not only the ICRC, but for its sister organizations. If the American Red Cross renounces its ties, it can stay, but it's time to exact civility in return for help.

Likewise, we should withdraw all support from countries who can't demonstrate a modicum of gratitude and respect for our largesse. They should be given 90 days to clean up their stables, or they should be shown the door. Think of what "foreign aid" money would do for border protection.

Our Insular Media response to Rossett

The bigger picture: which is all about why Muslims offended by an item in a U.S. magazine, true or false, would react with riots that end in the maiming and killing of their own, is more complex than most American journalists can handle in one sitting. The underdeveloped editors have no concept of penetrating insight, so they go for the tabloid scream banners and call it good reporting, whether substantiated or vetted or not.

Is it true the Newsweek reporters and editors were all graduates of People magazine?

As to the real issue, why did all these Muslims go bonkers over a book supposedly being tossed into a latrine? No one will say it, but the truth is that this form of Islam is mostly on the printed page, and if that's all it is, then they were right to get really mad and vent their rage on the nearest victim or property. These people have nothing but their anger because that's all their Allah is: angry, punishing, demanding. If this Allah is their paradigm, how can they be anything else?

In the Orient, saving face is very important, even crucial to the society because they have nothing else, there is nothing else, so respect and a graceful way out is the essential glue that holds it together. In Islam, or at least this form, there is nothing but anger because the "blessed men" of authority have sold their constituencies on the idea that the onus of blame is not on the individual, but on some faraway evil that corrupts the very air, and the suckers buy into it wholesale because personal responsibility is kind of dull and doesn't have the same panache of righteous indignation.

Allah must be very indignant if one sentence in one infidel rag could cause so much outpouring of emotion. Maybe one day Allah will really get indignant with His servants who fan the flames of indignation in very foolish people who think violence is a pleasing odor in His nostrils. That should be fun.

Wonder if they know who going to unknowingly offend Him next. Not to worry, there's probably a thirteen year old kid on some corner in Sana getting his hands around the throat of some new truth right this minute, and in a couple of years, his hands will change venue to some mosque leader who didn't quite have it right. But the kid'll have it right...right around the neck.

Strangleholds garrote truth as surely as strangleholds choke people. Maybe Newsweek and the Islamists could get together for a conference on widening viewpoints to include a modicum of humility and a soupcon of fact checking. Might do them equally well.

Y'know, it's amazing the similarities in the human-bomb fodder in Islamistan and the reporters and editors who keep throwing themselves over the media cliff in efforts to stop something they don't understand.

As Riley used to say "What a revoltin' development this turned out to be."

Separatist Movement in LA?

In response to the question as to whether a separatist movement brews on the left coast.

Warning the language on this one tints blue (as in language, not sentiment)

Glad you asked....

the little deal over the archway is just that....little.

the big deal, and it's really big...is the race war developing between the black and latin gangs....

seems that the black guys ripped off a s--tload of drugs from the latins, and the latins aregoing around popping the black guys in white tee shirts.... on or near the freeways....

since it is election time, the stupid white guy (Mayor Hahn) says there's no gang involvement because "crime has gone down under my leadership." on the other hand, the slimy latin schmuck (Tony "I led Macha for four years" Villaraogosa) is no way going to blame the latin base of his electorate.... and the prevaricator-deluxe cop from NY sits by looking for the best deal...he ain't sayin' nothin' cause his new wife is in the tourism PR agency.....

nobody has a reason to tell the truth....'cept maybe for "INTEGRITY."

Here's the way it sits:

race relations here are a powder keg, but not the way you'd expect.

the local blacks have shot the community to hell with smarmy crap and ignorance and shirking,
the latins are too interested in drug money to piss off or piss away the clientele,
the whites have just about had it with all the b.s.
and the asians will shoot to kill if anybody messes with their liquor stores

we do this kind of thing every forty years or so (you can look it up, or watch L.A. Confidential, or Mulholland Falls or Chinatown...you get the idea.)

East LA might get testy, but there's enough firepower out there and enough willing VNV's to single file the bad boys into the drydock we call the LA River.... plus there's enough pissed off cops who would be happy to help out.... don't, BTW, ask the deputy sheriffs to get involved, they give new meaning to the "gang who couldn't shoot straight."

If it did blow up, Arnie would not hesitate to call out the Cal Natl Guard with orders to fire at anything that moved, and he would not be kidding.

It's show biz, kids, but it bears watching because it would turn the liberals inside out, and when they fear loss of their power, they'll insist on closing the border, ousting illegals and other various forms of intercultural mayhem. I cite Howard Dean's outbursts as proof.

Here's the big deal: if everybody's mad, there will be too many unsolved crimes to prosecute, so a lot of upstanding types will skate...if you get my drift.

You can catch this piece....not as slick as I usually write.... and others on my blog:
http://rethinker.blogspot.com/

come visit me.

Bush in Georgia: Not So Far Over There

Diogenes said that hope was the dream of a waking man. Is there not some parallel to be found in the spirit of the awakening nations? Is it not good that the United States is the paradigm to which the stirring nations aspire?

Is it not better that it is our plain spoken representative is welcomed in emerging countries? And is it not best that we take away from their welcome a remembrance that we were like them and have reawakened with their example and with our own reflection in their eyes?

Mr. Bush once again demonstrates that plain speech has great value, or as Solomon put it, "An honest answer is like a kiss on the mouth."

Much has been made of Arabic islands of democracy because of the fighting, but consider the serenic islands where diplomacy and good comradeship develops in places like Georgia, Ukraine, Latvia. The former SSRs will be the carriers of freedom and democracy in eastern Europe.

Texans know about down home politics. Our history is rife with it. Who better than Mr. Bush, a Texan, to convey it?

The Chavez Ravine

Nothing is what it appears to be, it is always something else.

Chavez' unionization gambit is nothing more than an attempt to gather a census of his potential enemies, the middle class households of Venezuela. When he finishes, he will have every name he needs to clamp down harder and to solidify his reach into the homes of those who can turn on him.

Chavez is clever. He has used a more enticing approach than gun registration, and he has played to the insecurities of his countryfolk.

This guy is one evil and greedy despot whose every move is calculated to gain power by whatever subterfuge.

Surprises me that you didn't see immediately that Chavez is a long range thinker, and this idea of his is brilliant, not to mention devious.

Immediate future plans probably include a long runway airbase and an alliance with Castro for an air threat in the southern gulf plus a sub rosa contract with the drug lords of northern South America.

Just like in Grenada, it's all about hang time and money, and we'd better get hip to it sooner rather than later.

Why Hitchens Rooting Against the Religious Right is an Error

This essayist, much esteemed by me personally, is quite wrong if he sees a large and growing Religious Right as a threat. It is none of the above. What he sees is merely a perception much ballyhooed by a fearful elite press, of which he is a member, so he should certainly know better than to believe the hype. The fringe always gets the ink.

As a practicing Christian, I disagree with any law regarding such personal issues as abortion or homosexuality. These are personal choices, and so what if I think they are sins? They are matters best settled between the individuals and their deity. It is, however, galling to be asked to pay taxes for the action or result of these personal matters. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

The "crusading right" is a marketing device exactly like any protest, and it's as American as apple pie. There is much to be said for the supreme wisdom of the American people. We eventually get it right. If the Christians have a say, it won't come from a monolithic construction of a few noisy hardliners, it'll come from decent, thoughtful folks who go to work every day, bring home a paycheck, watch their world, and vote for what they want.

True republican democracy is designed so that the will of the people is done by their representatives. Sometimes it takes a while to get it right. The good of our people depends on all kinds of opinions being aired, the religious as well as the secularists. Don't worry, Christopher, this is not Salem. You face more danger from the liberals than from the Christians. We like you. Good thinking is hard to find...on either side.