Subject: GOODBYE 41
[A senior moment: I try and avoid leaving the house because of my plumbing problems. Pajama-clad and steps from a lavatory is my favored state. Imagine my consternation – panic would be more accurate – when we learned of a death in Kiryat Arba, in a family to whom we are very close. But Rachel was insistent that we make a condolence call, so off we went.
Though we got there without mishap, as we approached the house the pressure built until I thought I would either explode or delouse my clothes. Entering the apartment Rachel made her way through the crowd while I knocked people aside getting to the bathroom. Emerging at last I put on the somber face appropriate to the setting and made the requisite mumbling sounds as I worked the room.
Each somber mumble was met with a grin, a laugh, a smirk. Very disconcerting. When I finally reached Rachel at the other end of the room she gave me the ‘you pathetic bastard’ look and directed my gaze downward. Not only had I failed to zipper up after relieving myself, but my ritual fringes had emerged for air and were swinging to and fro.
Getting old sucks.]
[You know my penchant for sitting outside large swaths of night, smoking and listening to classical music on the radio. For some reason the programmers have started playing Greatest Hits discs, wholly inappropriate for the music geeks like myself listening at those hours. It’s like having eight aural orgasms in an hour. Don’t they realize that, in music as in most other things, getting there is half the fun?]
[A modest proposal: I have been told that the producers of pork products, alarmed over dwindling sales, are pushing the media to drop the term ‘swine flu’ and limit descriptions to H1N1 only. This will never work as Americans demand something catchy and colorful and descriptive, even on a horrible subject, and H1N1 is simply too technical.
Might I suggest that ‘swine flu’ be renamed ‘JewFlu’. Jews, as we all know too well, are blamed for every problem in the world these days, even for bovine gaseous emissions that supposedly cause Global Warming. [Or is it now Climate Change? I get so confused…]
Most American Jews would love the name, accept the blame, embrace the shame and revel in the opportunity to grovel and beg forgiveness of their fellow citizens.
Perhaps when the present wave of Rabbis Fast for Gaza, Gay Jews for Palestine, Holistic Hebes for Hijabs, Genuflecting Jews for Jihad and Peripatetic Jewish Pussies for Peace have become passé, all can unite in a campaign whose motto is I’m A Jew Who Hates The JewFlu.]
[So many of you were inspired by Rachel’s description of our visit to Lachish for the ground-breaking ceremonies. A few minor details were left out, which I hasten to include so as to rekindle the inspiration.
First, there were a substantial number of speakers representing governmental bodies who had, without exception, worked to sabotage the Lachish project. Now they expressed satisfaction that the project was going forward, and modestly claimed credit for the progress.
Second, much to my disappointment one scheduled speaker could not attend. He was a local Peace Partner from a village over the Green Line. I have it on good authority he wanted to thank the authorities for repopulating a desolate area with Jews. Local Peace Partners are faring poorly economically. With the return of Jews and their many possessions the locals will be able to feed their families in the time-honored way of ‘liberating’ Jewish property.
Third, not only was a Raptor Sanctuary being created, but even the most esoteric of their needs would be looked after. Knowing that the flying rats would be affected by the new residents raging religiosity, crafts shops would be created for raptor-friendly black yarmulkes and shtreimlach.]
GOODBYE 41
NIGHTMARE ON CHELM STREET
or
ONWARD AND DOWNWARD!
In our first year in Israel I was filled with trepidation at the approach of Rosh Hashana and the Ten Days of Awe culminating in Yom Kippur. I was the same overweight charmer I had been in the States, yet never before had such strong premonitions that I would not be inscribed in the Book of Life for the coming year.
Much of the fear came from a newly discovered sense of mortality. I had completed three months of basic training as the High Holidays approached and that experience had shown me how fragile is my hold on life. Being obese, obtuse and exceedingly clumsy, not to mention my cinema-generated determination to be a hero, repeatedly put me into situations from which I was lucky to escape serious injury or death. Annual reserve duty only reinforced my sense of imminent doom.
[aside: Typical Moshe dramatization or exaggeration, you say, smiling disdainfully? Try this:
One year our reserve duty was devoted to preparing for a division-size exercise that was to last several days. Tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, everything except air power. Most of the ground troops were regular army, and our aging reservists seemed to be there for window dressing.
My unit’s task was to charge up a hill and ‘capture’ enemy-held bunkers at the top. To make the exercise as realistic as possible live fire was mandated. No running around pointing a weapon and yelling ‘fire’. Given the real danger that we might accidentally shoot each other, every precaution was taken, such as insuring we didn’t cross each others paths during the ascent.
So far, so good. But I was trained as a rifleman, and picked up some competence as a machine gunner, and I was given an Uzi. I hate the Uzi. The short barrel makes it a midget rifle, or a pistol with elephantiasis. A mammoth like me needs a big gun. Still, orders are orders and I charged up the hill.
I hadn’t gotten thirty or forty feet when I stumbled on a rock and involuntarily pressed the trigger. Naturally, this being a live fire exercise, the safety was off.
Two bullets were fired. They passed between the inside of the helmet and my scalp, exiting through the helmet. Those of you who know me for my swelled head will find it impossible to believe there was room enough for the bullets to pass through without blowing my cranium off. I am at a loss for a logical explanation, other than that the Lord was warming me up for future adventures.
Too stupid to be frightened, I just stood there bemusedly staring at the holes in my helmet. Two trickles of blood meandered down my left cheek, losing themselves in my beard. My CO ran up to me. He was gasping for breath, his face a panorama of apoplectic anger and concern. He really was a good guy, and I know his concern outweighed anything else.
“I’ll have to report this” he said, still breathing hard. “You’ll be court-martialed, and maybe you’ll… Maybe they’ll let you go with a reprimand because you’re a new immigrant.” Then, after a long pause, “Don’t you have anything to say?”
“I told you I didn’t want the damned Uzi.”
As it was, there was no court-martial and no notoriety. While I was giving myself a shave and haircut an artillery unit that was supposed to fire on Hill X inadvertently fired on Hill Y, killing three observers and wounding eight others. This happy event caused so much noise that my contretemps was forgotten.]
The purpose of the above was to explain why I was filled with dread as the High Holidays approached. But despite the dread the thought of all those hours in shul had me in a panic. I see we are at the edge of the abyss yet those around me are blissfully unaware of what’s coming. It’s all smiles and “Thank G-d things are improving every day.” But they aren’t improving, and I seem to occupy a different world than those around me.
When a good friend, someone I respect and admire, said “Now I understand why we had to leave Gush Katif. We have to teach the rest of Israel how to live as joyously as we lived there!”, I completely lost it.
“Don’t you see what’s ahead?” I shouted. Every day, in the weeks before the expulsion, he and I had hugged each other after morning prayers and said “He won’t let it happen.” Now he smiled: “He won’t let it happen.”
I turned away and said under my breath “I can’t be with these people anymore.”
Be careful what you wish for, the saying goes. Your wish might just come true. If no other human heard me whisper, He certainly did.
Okay, smart guy, I imagine Him saying, let’s see how you enjoy a shul-free holiday season. Within days I was coughing, feverish, and diagnosed as having flu. Further tests confirmed it was H1N1.
I was flabbergasted. “I’ve been an orthodox Jew all my life” I said to a (now former) friend. “I’ve never so much as sniffed pork.”
“Have you looked in a mirror?” he replied. “You eat like a pig. You look like a pig. So why shouldn’t you get pig flu?”
The long and the short of it is that I spent most of the holidays at home, and even now am largely homebound. Even after I was officially over the flu, my plumbing was messed up beyond imagining. The worst was Yom Kippur. I’ve always fasted, and though two doctors and a rabbi told me I was required to drink, I knew better. It went reasonably well until 2am when I awoke with the need to empty my bladder. But instead of what usually comes out there was dried blood and a few drops of the wet variety. And the pain was excruciating.
Panic stricken, I started to drink but the damage was done. Every five or six minutes the need recurred and each time it was wet and dry blood. And pain. I could taste blood in my mouth from biting my lips to keep from screaming.
I didn’t want to wake Rachel who had fallen asleep about 1am, totally exhausted from caring for me and running the household. This was not gallantry on my part. I knew that if I woke her she would insist on calling an ambulance to take us to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Where we would sit for hours surrounded by drunken Russians and elderly heart attack victims, to finally be seen by Peace Partner doctors and nurses covering for the regular Jewish staff. Not for me.
Three hours, three hellish hours, and I finally was able to sleep. An unforgettable Yom Kippur, and one I completely deserved.
Several of you keep sending me texts and videos of Netanyahu’s appearances. Why? Nobody denies that he is an excellent speaker. As is Obama. One major difference is that Obama has beliefs while the invertebrate Netanyahu has none. Obama’s beliefs – a One World Socialist New Order – are repugnant to me. They are leading to the imminent dissolution of Israel, and the eventual disintegration of the United States. Netanyahu, on the other hand, knows what is right and invariably does what is wrong. His sole concern is his own survival.
Immediately after the closed ninety-minute meeting between Obama and Netanyahu I was inundated with requests for my take on what went on. Not that anyone thought I actually knew what had transpired, but because “Moshe, you’re always good for a tasteless joke”.
As I told a visiting AFSI group – they are among the shrinking circle of people I adore, and with whom I feel utterly comfortable – “Obama said Israel was to be castrated, but the ever-persuasive Netanyahu convinced him that we first be anaesthetized.”
Surely about as tasteless a joke as I could manage, and more accurate than I imagined.
Many sensed something was amiss given the secretive nature of the meeting, and all my tendrils began vibrating in panic when Leftist Labor party ideologue Daniel Ben-Simone said “We must not attack Netanyahu. When the extent of his concessions to Obama become known the Right will abandon him and we will have to rescue him”.
Then everything seemed to change. There was the brouhaha over Gilo. People went wild over Netanyahu, Defender of the Faith, Defender of Jerusalem. I begged those who had gone from distrustful to starry-eyed to realize that Gilo was considered even by the Left as part of Jerusalem, and the emphasis on Jerusalem meant the abandonment of Judea and Samaria. To no avail. Gilo was Netanyahu’s kashrut certificate.
Basking in his new-found upright stature, Netanyahu quickly reverted to form and announced the “ten month freeze on all settlement building”. His sycophants on the Right reacted with shock. Even the estimable Caroline Glick in the Jerusalem Post [Friday, November 27] wrote a scathing column, “Bibi’s Bad Week”. Long a supporter and apologist for Netanyahu, Glick now sees him as a person with size 2 feet trying to fill size 9 shoes, or a minnow surrounded by sharks.
My own view is much less sympathetic. I believe Netanyahu is complicit in everything that has happened. I believe the Gilo affair was created to establish his bona fides and deflect criticism from the settlement freeze to come.
Whether Glick is correct and Netanyahu is merely pitiable, or I am correct and Netanyahu is contemptible, the result is the same: Doom and gloom for us.
On that happy note…
moshe
Monday, November 30, 2009
FBI Turns Up Heat On CAIR
HOMELAND INSECURITY
FBI swoops in to halt return of 'Muslim Mafia' documents
New subpoena in conflict with judge's order on papers captured in undercover investigation
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=117102
WASHINGTON – While attorneys representing the co-author of "Muslim Mafia" were preparing late today to honor a federal court order to return documents obtained from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in an independent undercover operation, FBI agents served a warrant on a Washington, D.C., law office for the same documents.
The FBI agents entered the capital law offices of Cozen O'Connor tonight and issued a warrant for thousands of pages of documents as well as audio and video recordings gathered by P. David Gaubatz and his son Chris in a daring and lengthy undercover penetration of CAIR in which the younger Gaubatz served as an unpaid intern for the group that was labeled an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator in last year's Holy Land Foundation trial.
CAIR claimed in a lawsuit that Gaubatz removed its papers and made recordings of employees "without any consent or authorization and in violation of his contractual fiduciary and other legal obligations." A federal judge in Washington issued a restraining order Nov. 3 barring the Gaubatzes from further use or publication of the material – 12,000 pages of documents along with audio and video recordings – and demanding that they return it to the Muslim group's lawyers.
However, last night the FBI stepped in with a warrant, suggesting the agency wants to see the papers and examine the recordings as part of its interest in CAIR and its Hamas terrorist links, including those involving its founding chairman and acting executive director.
Joseph Farah, chief executive officer of WND and its subsidiary, WND Books, who has been raising money for the defense of his author and son, welcomed the FBI's interest in the papers.
"Obviously, we were prepared to honor the court order from Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly," he said.
Kollar-Kotelly – who as head of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court made several controversial decisions against the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies – was criticized recently by many security experts for ruling against the military's designation of a Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant, allowing the Obama administration to send him home.
"Now," said Farah, "we will have to confer with the attorneys to determine what happens next. Which takes precedence – a federal court order or an FBI warrant? I trust this will be sorted out in the days to come. Personally, I would like to see these papers in the hands of trained FBI investigators. The revelations raised about CAIR in 'Muslim Mafia' have clearly piqued the agency's interest."
In fact, adds Farah, "I would say the nature of this warrant and the way it was served strongly suggests the FBI doesn't want these documents returned to CAIR – where they were destined to be destroyed in the first place. We have always believed, as the Gaubatzes did, that there is valuable evidence here vital to the nation's security."
The FBI's grand-jury subpoena is intended to preserve the status quo and not intended to require the Gaubatzes' legal counsel to turn over the documents immediately – or before notifying Judge Kollar-Kotelly.
CAIR contends the documents were stolen. David Gaubatz insists the research described in his book, including securing the documents, "was conducted professionally and legally" in cooperation with law enforcement officials. Much of the relevant material is already in the hands of the FBI, he said.
The Gaubatzes are being represented by high-profile First Amendment specialist Martin Garbus, most famous for representing Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case. Garbus is teamed with Bernard Grimm of Cozen O'Connor in Washington and Daniel Horowitz in the San Francisco Bay area. Horowitz, a frequent TV legal analyst, represented talk-radio host Michael Savage in his lawsuit against CAIR. Grimm also is a regular commentator on the Fox News Channel, CNN and Court TV.
In Gaubatz's book, "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," he and co-author Paul Sperry present firsthand evidence CAIR is acting as a front for a well-funded conspiracy of the Muslim Brotherhood – the parent of al-Qaida and Hamas – to infiltrate the U.S. and help pave the way for Saudi-style Islamic law to rule the nation.
In the lawsuit, however, CAIR, a self-described Muslim civil-rights group, does not defend itself against the book's claims.
The FBI cut off ties to CAIR in January after the group was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case in Texas, the largest terrorism-finance case in U.S. history. Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and other senators have called for a government-wide ban on CAIR.
Garbus told WND he believes Americans have an interest in exposure of the CAIR documents, because they are relevant to federal law enforcement officials' concerns about the group's ties to terrorist operatives that threaten the nation's security.
"The more information you have, the better able you are to form a judgment about the organization," he said.
Garbus said the Gaubatz lawsuit has similarities to his defense of legal author and CNN commentator Jeffrey Toobin, who allegedly violated a confidentiality agreement with Iran-Contra investigator Lawrence E. Walsh in the early 1990s when he published a book about his experience as a member of the prosecution team. Garbus won the case on First Amendment grounds.
CAIR alleges Chris Gaubatz signed a confidentiality agreement when he worked as an intern for six months, but Gaubatz denies it, and CAIR reportedly says it has no copy of any agreement.
In any event, Horowitz says CAIR has bigger things to worry about: "If a grand jury hears even half of what is in the 'Muslim Mafia,' CAIR will be destroyed and its leaders could face massive prison terms."
FBI swoops in to halt return of 'Muslim Mafia' documents
New subpoena in conflict with judge's order on papers captured in undercover investigation
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=117102
WASHINGTON – While attorneys representing the co-author of "Muslim Mafia" were preparing late today to honor a federal court order to return documents obtained from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in an independent undercover operation, FBI agents served a warrant on a Washington, D.C., law office for the same documents.
The FBI agents entered the capital law offices of Cozen O'Connor tonight and issued a warrant for thousands of pages of documents as well as audio and video recordings gathered by P. David Gaubatz and his son Chris in a daring and lengthy undercover penetration of CAIR in which the younger Gaubatz served as an unpaid intern for the group that was labeled an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator in last year's Holy Land Foundation trial.
CAIR claimed in a lawsuit that Gaubatz removed its papers and made recordings of employees "without any consent or authorization and in violation of his contractual fiduciary and other legal obligations." A federal judge in Washington issued a restraining order Nov. 3 barring the Gaubatzes from further use or publication of the material – 12,000 pages of documents along with audio and video recordings – and demanding that they return it to the Muslim group's lawyers.
However, last night the FBI stepped in with a warrant, suggesting the agency wants to see the papers and examine the recordings as part of its interest in CAIR and its Hamas terrorist links, including those involving its founding chairman and acting executive director.
Joseph Farah, chief executive officer of WND and its subsidiary, WND Books, who has been raising money for the defense of his author and son, welcomed the FBI's interest in the papers.
"Obviously, we were prepared to honor the court order from Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly," he said.
Kollar-Kotelly – who as head of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court made several controversial decisions against the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies – was criticized recently by many security experts for ruling against the military's designation of a Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant, allowing the Obama administration to send him home.
"Now," said Farah, "we will have to confer with the attorneys to determine what happens next. Which takes precedence – a federal court order or an FBI warrant? I trust this will be sorted out in the days to come. Personally, I would like to see these papers in the hands of trained FBI investigators. The revelations raised about CAIR in 'Muslim Mafia' have clearly piqued the agency's interest."
In fact, adds Farah, "I would say the nature of this warrant and the way it was served strongly suggests the FBI doesn't want these documents returned to CAIR – where they were destined to be destroyed in the first place. We have always believed, as the Gaubatzes did, that there is valuable evidence here vital to the nation's security."
The FBI's grand-jury subpoena is intended to preserve the status quo and not intended to require the Gaubatzes' legal counsel to turn over the documents immediately – or before notifying Judge Kollar-Kotelly.
CAIR contends the documents were stolen. David Gaubatz insists the research described in his book, including securing the documents, "was conducted professionally and legally" in cooperation with law enforcement officials. Much of the relevant material is already in the hands of the FBI, he said.
The Gaubatzes are being represented by high-profile First Amendment specialist Martin Garbus, most famous for representing Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case. Garbus is teamed with Bernard Grimm of Cozen O'Connor in Washington and Daniel Horowitz in the San Francisco Bay area. Horowitz, a frequent TV legal analyst, represented talk-radio host Michael Savage in his lawsuit against CAIR. Grimm also is a regular commentator on the Fox News Channel, CNN and Court TV.
In Gaubatz's book, "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," he and co-author Paul Sperry present firsthand evidence CAIR is acting as a front for a well-funded conspiracy of the Muslim Brotherhood – the parent of al-Qaida and Hamas – to infiltrate the U.S. and help pave the way for Saudi-style Islamic law to rule the nation.
In the lawsuit, however, CAIR, a self-described Muslim civil-rights group, does not defend itself against the book's claims.
The FBI cut off ties to CAIR in January after the group was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case in Texas, the largest terrorism-finance case in U.S. history. Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and other senators have called for a government-wide ban on CAIR.
Garbus told WND he believes Americans have an interest in exposure of the CAIR documents, because they are relevant to federal law enforcement officials' concerns about the group's ties to terrorist operatives that threaten the nation's security.
"The more information you have, the better able you are to form a judgment about the organization," he said.
Garbus said the Gaubatz lawsuit has similarities to his defense of legal author and CNN commentator Jeffrey Toobin, who allegedly violated a confidentiality agreement with Iran-Contra investigator Lawrence E. Walsh in the early 1990s when he published a book about his experience as a member of the prosecution team. Garbus won the case on First Amendment grounds.
CAIR alleges Chris Gaubatz signed a confidentiality agreement when he worked as an intern for six months, but Gaubatz denies it, and CAIR reportedly says it has no copy of any agreement.
In any event, Horowitz says CAIR has bigger things to worry about: "If a grand jury hears even half of what is in the 'Muslim Mafia,' CAIR will be destroyed and its leaders could face massive prison terms."
Thursday, November 26, 2009
The Truth About Thanksgiving
The TRUTH about Thanksgiving
And so, as beefy gladiators chase a pigskin down the field in Miami or Detroit, we settle into our living rooms, loosen our belts, wave off a second helping of pie, and remind the little ones this is the day we echo the thanks of the Pilgrims, who gathered in the autumn of 1621 to celebrate the first bountiful harvest in a land of plenty.
That first winter in the New World had been a harsh one, of course. Half the colonists had died. But the survivors were hard-working and tenacious, and - with the aid of a little agricultural expertise graciously on loan from the Wampanoag, the Narragansett, and the Mohegan - were able to thank the Creator for an abundant harvest, that second autumn in a new land.
The only problem with the tale, unfortunately, is that it's not true.
Oh, the part about the Indians graciously showing the new settlers how to raise beans and corn is right enough. But in a November, 1985 article in "The Free Market," monthly publication of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, author and historian Richard J. Marbury pointed out: "This official story is ... a fairy tale, a whitewashed and sanitized collection of half-truths which divert attention away from Thanksgiving's real meaning."
The problem with the official story, Mr. Marbury points out, is that "The harvest of 1621 was not bountiful, nor were the colonists hardworking or tenacious. 1621 was a famine year and many of the colonists were lazy thieves."
In his "History of Plymouth Plantation," the governor of the colony, William Bradford, reported that the colonists went hungry for years because they refused to work in the fields, preferring instead to steal. Bradford recalled for posterity that the colony was riddled with "corruption and discontent." The crops were small because "much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable."
Although in the harvest feasts of 1621 and 1622 "all had their hungry bellies filled," that relief was short-lived, and deaths from illness due to malnutrition continued.
Then, Mr. Marbury points out, "something changed." By harvest time, 1623, Gov. Bradford was reporting that "Instead of famine now God gave them plenty, and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God." Thereafter, the first governor wrote, "Any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day." Why, by 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists actually began (start ital)exporting(end ital) corn.
What on earth had happened?
After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, "they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop." And what solution was decided upon? It turned out to be simple enough. In 1623 Gov. Bradford simply "gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit."
What? Wasn't that the American way from the start?
Not at all. The Mayflower Compact had required that "all profits & benefits that are got by trade, working, fishing, or any other means" were to be placed in the common stock of the colony, and that, "all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock."
A person was to put into the common stock all he could, and take out only what he needed - a concept so attractive on its surface that it would be adopted as the equally disastrous ruling philosophy for all of Eastern Europe, some 300 years later.
"This 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his need' was an early form of socialism, and it is why the Pilgrims were starving," Marbury explains.
Gov. Bradford writes that during those terrible first three years "Young men that are most able and fit for labor and service" complained about being forced to "spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children." Since "the strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes, than he that was weak," the strong men simply refused to work, and the amount of food produced was never adequate.
In historian Marbury's words, Gov. Bradford "abolished socialism" in the colony, "replacing it with a free market, and that was the end of famines."
In fact, this lesson had to be learned over and over again in early America. "Many early groups of colonists set up socialist states, all with the same terrible results," Marbury notes. "At Jamestown, established in 1607, out of every shipload of settlers that arrived, less than half would survive their first 12 months in America. Most of the work was being done by only one-fifth of the men, the other four-fifths choosing to be parasites. In the winter of 1609-10, called 'The Starving Time,' the population fell from 500 to 60.
"Then the Jamestown colony was converted to a free market, and the results were every bit as dramatic as those at Plymouth. In 1614, Colony Secretary Ralph Hamor wrote that after the switch there was 'plenty of food, which every man by his own industry may easily and doth procure.' He said that when the socialist system had prevailed, 'we reaped not so much corn from the labors of 30 men as three men have done for themselves now.' "
They say those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Sadly this was a lesson the people of Russia had to learn all over again - at the pain of equally devastating starvation and penury - in our own century. By the 1980s, when the discredited and bloodstained rulers of Russia finally threw up their hands and allowed farmers to raise private crops and sell them for profit on a mere 10 percent of their lands, once again more crops were produced on that 10 percent of the land than on the 90 percent devoted to "collective agriculture," the system under which - as the bitter Russian joke would have it - "We pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us."
Yes, America is a bounteous land. But the source of that bounty - and the good fortune for which we annually gather to give thanks - lies not merely in the fertility of the soil or the frequency of the rains - for there is hardly a more fertile breadbasket on the face of the earth than the Soviet Ukraine.
No, the source of our bounty was the discovery made by the Pilgrims in 1623, that when men are allowed to hold their own land as private property, to eat what they raise and keep the profits from any surplus they sell, the entire community becomes one of prosperity and plenty.
Whereas, an economic system which grants the lazy and the shiftless some "right" to prosper off the looted fruits of another man's labor, under the guise of enforced "compassion," will inevitably descend into envy, theft, squalor, and starvation.
Though many would still incrementally impose on us some new variant of the "noble socialist experiment," this is still at heart a free country with a bedrock respect for the sanctity of private property - and a land bounteous precisely because it's free. It's for that we give thanks - the corn and beans and turkey serving as mere symbols of that true and underlying blessing - on the fourth Thursday of each November.
God bless America - land of the free.
And so, as beefy gladiators chase a pigskin down the field in Miami or Detroit, we settle into our living rooms, loosen our belts, wave off a second helping of pie, and remind the little ones this is the day we echo the thanks of the Pilgrims, who gathered in the autumn of 1621 to celebrate the first bountiful harvest in a land of plenty.
That first winter in the New World had been a harsh one, of course. Half the colonists had died. But the survivors were hard-working and tenacious, and - with the aid of a little agricultural expertise graciously on loan from the Wampanoag, the Narragansett, and the Mohegan - were able to thank the Creator for an abundant harvest, that second autumn in a new land.
The only problem with the tale, unfortunately, is that it's not true.
Oh, the part about the Indians graciously showing the new settlers how to raise beans and corn is right enough. But in a November, 1985 article in "The Free Market," monthly publication of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, author and historian Richard J. Marbury pointed out: "This official story is ... a fairy tale, a whitewashed and sanitized collection of half-truths which divert attention away from Thanksgiving's real meaning."
The problem with the official story, Mr. Marbury points out, is that "The harvest of 1621 was not bountiful, nor were the colonists hardworking or tenacious. 1621 was a famine year and many of the colonists were lazy thieves."
In his "History of Plymouth Plantation," the governor of the colony, William Bradford, reported that the colonists went hungry for years because they refused to work in the fields, preferring instead to steal. Bradford recalled for posterity that the colony was riddled with "corruption and discontent." The crops were small because "much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable."
Although in the harvest feasts of 1621 and 1622 "all had their hungry bellies filled," that relief was short-lived, and deaths from illness due to malnutrition continued.
Then, Mr. Marbury points out, "something changed." By harvest time, 1623, Gov. Bradford was reporting that "Instead of famine now God gave them plenty, and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God." Thereafter, the first governor wrote, "Any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day." Why, by 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists actually began (start ital)exporting(end ital) corn.
What on earth had happened?
After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, "they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop." And what solution was decided upon? It turned out to be simple enough. In 1623 Gov. Bradford simply "gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit."
What? Wasn't that the American way from the start?
Not at all. The Mayflower Compact had required that "all profits & benefits that are got by trade, working, fishing, or any other means" were to be placed in the common stock of the colony, and that, "all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock."
A person was to put into the common stock all he could, and take out only what he needed - a concept so attractive on its surface that it would be adopted as the equally disastrous ruling philosophy for all of Eastern Europe, some 300 years later.
"This 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his need' was an early form of socialism, and it is why the Pilgrims were starving," Marbury explains.
Gov. Bradford writes that during those terrible first three years "Young men that are most able and fit for labor and service" complained about being forced to "spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children." Since "the strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes, than he that was weak," the strong men simply refused to work, and the amount of food produced was never adequate.
In historian Marbury's words, Gov. Bradford "abolished socialism" in the colony, "replacing it with a free market, and that was the end of famines."
In fact, this lesson had to be learned over and over again in early America. "Many early groups of colonists set up socialist states, all with the same terrible results," Marbury notes. "At Jamestown, established in 1607, out of every shipload of settlers that arrived, less than half would survive their first 12 months in America. Most of the work was being done by only one-fifth of the men, the other four-fifths choosing to be parasites. In the winter of 1609-10, called 'The Starving Time,' the population fell from 500 to 60.
"Then the Jamestown colony was converted to a free market, and the results were every bit as dramatic as those at Plymouth. In 1614, Colony Secretary Ralph Hamor wrote that after the switch there was 'plenty of food, which every man by his own industry may easily and doth procure.' He said that when the socialist system had prevailed, 'we reaped not so much corn from the labors of 30 men as three men have done for themselves now.' "
They say those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Sadly this was a lesson the people of Russia had to learn all over again - at the pain of equally devastating starvation and penury - in our own century. By the 1980s, when the discredited and bloodstained rulers of Russia finally threw up their hands and allowed farmers to raise private crops and sell them for profit on a mere 10 percent of their lands, once again more crops were produced on that 10 percent of the land than on the 90 percent devoted to "collective agriculture," the system under which - as the bitter Russian joke would have it - "We pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us."
Yes, America is a bounteous land. But the source of that bounty - and the good fortune for which we annually gather to give thanks - lies not merely in the fertility of the soil or the frequency of the rains - for there is hardly a more fertile breadbasket on the face of the earth than the Soviet Ukraine.
No, the source of our bounty was the discovery made by the Pilgrims in 1623, that when men are allowed to hold their own land as private property, to eat what they raise and keep the profits from any surplus they sell, the entire community becomes one of prosperity and plenty.
Whereas, an economic system which grants the lazy and the shiftless some "right" to prosper off the looted fruits of another man's labor, under the guise of enforced "compassion," will inevitably descend into envy, theft, squalor, and starvation.
Though many would still incrementally impose on us some new variant of the "noble socialist experiment," this is still at heart a free country with a bedrock respect for the sanctity of private property - and a land bounteous precisely because it's free. It's for that we give thanks - the corn and beans and turkey serving as mere symbols of that true and underlying blessing - on the fourth Thursday of each November.
God bless America - land of the free.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Unbelievable
Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
By Rowan Scarborough
AP
March 31, 2004: Iraqis chant anti-American slogans as the charred and mutilated bodies of U.S. contractors hang from a bridge over the Euphrates River in Fallujah, Iraq.
Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.
The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral's mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.
Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.
Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.
Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.
Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.
Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.
The three SEALs will be arraigned separately on Dec. 7. Another three SEALs — two officers and an enlisted sailor — have been identified by investigators as witnesses but have not been charged.
FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.
The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.
"I gave the detainee a glance over and then left," the SEAL wrote. "I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health."
Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, spokeswoman for the special operations component of U.S. Central Command, confirmed Tuesday to FoxNews.com that three SEALs have been charged in connection with the capture of a detainee. She said their court martial is scheduled for January.
United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.
The source said intelligence briefings provided to the SEALs stated that "Objective Amber" planned the 2004 Fallujah ambush, and "they had been tracking this guy for some time."
The Fallujah atrocity came to symbolize the brutality of the enemy in Iraq and the degree to which a homegrown insurgency was extending its grip over Iraq.
The four Blackwater agents were transporting supplies for a catering company when they were ambushed and killed by gunfire and grenades. Insurgents burned the bodies and dragged them through the city. They hanged two of the bodies on a bridge over the Euphrates River for the world press to photograph.
Intelligence sources identified Abed as the ringleader, but he had evaded capture until September.
The military is sensitive to charges of detainee abuse highlighted in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The Navy charged four SEALs with abuse in 2004 in connection with detainee treatment.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
By Rowan Scarborough
AP
March 31, 2004: Iraqis chant anti-American slogans as the charred and mutilated bodies of U.S. contractors hang from a bridge over the Euphrates River in Fallujah, Iraq.
Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.
The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral's mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.
Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.
Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.
Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.
Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.
Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.
The three SEALs will be arraigned separately on Dec. 7. Another three SEALs — two officers and an enlisted sailor — have been identified by investigators as witnesses but have not been charged.
FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.
The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.
"I gave the detainee a glance over and then left," the SEAL wrote. "I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health."
Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, spokeswoman for the special operations component of U.S. Central Command, confirmed Tuesday to FoxNews.com that three SEALs have been charged in connection with the capture of a detainee. She said their court martial is scheduled for January.
United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.
The source said intelligence briefings provided to the SEALs stated that "Objective Amber" planned the 2004 Fallujah ambush, and "they had been tracking this guy for some time."
The Fallujah atrocity came to symbolize the brutality of the enemy in Iraq and the degree to which a homegrown insurgency was extending its grip over Iraq.
The four Blackwater agents were transporting supplies for a catering company when they were ambushed and killed by gunfire and grenades. Insurgents burned the bodies and dragged them through the city. They hanged two of the bodies on a bridge over the Euphrates River for the world press to photograph.
Intelligence sources identified Abed as the ringleader, but he had evaded capture until September.
The military is sensitive to charges of detainee abuse highlighted in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The Navy charged four SEALs with abuse in 2004 in connection with detainee treatment.
I Told You So ...
Re: Barack Hussein Obama: I Told You So – Yes I Did
By Howard Galganov
Montreal, Quebec , Canada
23 July 2009
When Obama won the Presidency with the help of the LEFTIST Media, Hollywood And Entertainment Liberals, Ethnic Socialists (ACORN), Stupid Non-Business Professionals and Bush Haters, I wrote: It won't take six months until the People figure this guy out and realize how horrible a mistake they've made. And when they come to that realization, the damage to the United States of America will be so great it will take a generation or more to repair - IF EVER.
The IDIOTS who not only voted for the Messiah, but also worked [hard] to promote his Lordship, are now left holding the bag.
Here are two things they will NEVER do: They will NEVER admit to making a Blunder out of all proportion by electing a snake-oil
salesman with no Positive social history or management experience of any kind. They will NEVER take responsibility for the curse they've imposed upon the immediate and long-term future of their country.
In essence, the people responsible for putting this horror show in
power are themselves responsible for every cataclysmic decision he makes and the Consequences thereof.
In just six months, the Messiah's polls are showing the following: On Healthcare Reform - He's going under for the third time with polling well Under 50 percent, even within his own Party. Even though he might be able to Muscle a Healthcare Reform Bill by using Chicago BULLY tactics against his Fellow Democrats, it will just make things worse. On Cap and Trade (Cap and Tax) - The Fat-Lady is already singing. On the Stimulus Package (Tax and Spend) - His popularity is in FREE-FALL. On the TARP package he took and ran With from President Bush -It's all but Good-Night Irene. On the closing of GITMO and "HIS" war on what he no longer wants called the War On Terrorism - He's standing in quicksand with his head just about to go under. On a Comparison between himself and George W Bush at the same six months into Their respective first term Presidencies - Bush is ahead of him in the Polls. On a comparison between He Who Walks On Water and the 12 preceding Presidents between WW II and now - Obama ranks 10th. On a Poll just Conducted, that asks who would you vote for today between Obama and Mitt Romney - It's a dead heat. Between Obama and Palin - Obama's ONLY ahead by 8 Points and she hasn't even begun to campaign. It seems to me that Obama Wants to be everywhere where he shouldn't be.
He's personally invested in [totally insulting] America 's ONLY REAL Middle Eastern ally ( Israel ) in favor of Palestinian Despots and Murderers. He's traveling the world apologizing for the USA while lecturing others on how to do it right, when in fact and truth he has no experience at doing anything other than getting elected.
He went to the Moslem world in Egypt to declare that America IS NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION while he heaped praises on Islam, where he compared the "plight" of the Palestinians to the Holocaust.
The Russians think he's a putz, The French think he's rude.
The Germans want him to stop spending.
The Indians want him to mix his nose out of their environmental business.
The North Koreans think he's a joke, The Iranians won't acknowledge his calls.
And the British can't even come up with a comprehensive opinion of him.
As for the Chinese, he's too frightened to even glance their way. [After All, China now owns a large portion of the United States .]
Maybe if America 's first Emperor would stay home more, travel less, and work A little bit instead of being on television just about
everyday (or forget About his Wednesday Date Nights with his Amazon Wife) or stop running to "papered" Town Hall Meetings, perhaps he would have a little bit of time to Do the work of the nation.
In all fairness, it wasn't HARD to be RIGHT in my prediction concerning Obama's presidency, even in its first six months, so I'm going to make yet another prediction:
OBAMA WILL PROBABLY NOT FINISH HIS 4-YEAR TERM, at least not in a Conventional way.
He is such a political HORROR SHOW, and so detrimental to the USA and his Own Democratic Party, that the Democrats themselves will either FORCE him to Resign or figure out a way to have him thrown out.
Who knows, maybe he really isn't a BORN US Citizen and that's a way the Democrats will be able to get rid of him. [He is a citizen, but not a naturalized citizen with both mother and father being US citizens.]
Or - MORE LIKELY THAN NOT, the Democrats will make Obama THEIR OWN LAME DUCK PRESIDENT.
I don't believe the Democrats have nearly as much love for their country as they do for their own political fortunes. And with Obama, their fortunes are rapidly becoming toast.
The Democrats can keep on blaming Bush for EVERYTHING, but that game's already begun to wear real thin.
Their mantra was "WE DON'T WANT 4 MORE YEARS," which the STUPID people bought, since McCain was nothing at all like George W Bush.
The new mantra will soon become: "WE DON'T WANT 6 MORE MONTHS."
And remember folks, he wrote this several months ago . . ...
By Howard Galganov
Montreal, Quebec , Canada
23 July 2009
When Obama won the Presidency with the help of the LEFTIST Media, Hollywood And Entertainment Liberals, Ethnic Socialists (ACORN), Stupid Non-Business Professionals and Bush Haters, I wrote: It won't take six months until the People figure this guy out and realize how horrible a mistake they've made. And when they come to that realization, the damage to the United States of America will be so great it will take a generation or more to repair - IF EVER.
The IDIOTS who not only voted for the Messiah, but also worked [hard] to promote his Lordship, are now left holding the bag.
Here are two things they will NEVER do: They will NEVER admit to making a Blunder out of all proportion by electing a snake-oil
salesman with no Positive social history or management experience of any kind. They will NEVER take responsibility for the curse they've imposed upon the immediate and long-term future of their country.
In essence, the people responsible for putting this horror show in
power are themselves responsible for every cataclysmic decision he makes and the Consequences thereof.
In just six months, the Messiah's polls are showing the following: On Healthcare Reform - He's going under for the third time with polling well Under 50 percent, even within his own Party. Even though he might be able to Muscle a Healthcare Reform Bill by using Chicago BULLY tactics against his Fellow Democrats, it will just make things worse. On Cap and Trade (Cap and Tax) - The Fat-Lady is already singing. On the Stimulus Package (Tax and Spend) - His popularity is in FREE-FALL. On the TARP package he took and ran With from President Bush -It's all but Good-Night Irene. On the closing of GITMO and "HIS" war on what he no longer wants called the War On Terrorism - He's standing in quicksand with his head just about to go under. On a Comparison between himself and George W Bush at the same six months into Their respective first term Presidencies - Bush is ahead of him in the Polls. On a comparison between He Who Walks On Water and the 12 preceding Presidents between WW II and now - Obama ranks 10th. On a Poll just Conducted, that asks who would you vote for today between Obama and Mitt Romney - It's a dead heat. Between Obama and Palin - Obama's ONLY ahead by 8 Points and she hasn't even begun to campaign. It seems to me that Obama Wants to be everywhere where he shouldn't be.
He's personally invested in [totally insulting] America 's ONLY REAL Middle Eastern ally ( Israel ) in favor of Palestinian Despots and Murderers. He's traveling the world apologizing for the USA while lecturing others on how to do it right, when in fact and truth he has no experience at doing anything other than getting elected.
He went to the Moslem world in Egypt to declare that America IS NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION while he heaped praises on Islam, where he compared the "plight" of the Palestinians to the Holocaust.
The Russians think he's a putz, The French think he's rude.
The Germans want him to stop spending.
The Indians want him to mix his nose out of their environmental business.
The North Koreans think he's a joke, The Iranians won't acknowledge his calls.
And the British can't even come up with a comprehensive opinion of him.
As for the Chinese, he's too frightened to even glance their way. [After All, China now owns a large portion of the United States .]
Maybe if America 's first Emperor would stay home more, travel less, and work A little bit instead of being on television just about
everyday (or forget About his Wednesday Date Nights with his Amazon Wife) or stop running to "papered" Town Hall Meetings, perhaps he would have a little bit of time to Do the work of the nation.
In all fairness, it wasn't HARD to be RIGHT in my prediction concerning Obama's presidency, even in its first six months, so I'm going to make yet another prediction:
OBAMA WILL PROBABLY NOT FINISH HIS 4-YEAR TERM, at least not in a Conventional way.
He is such a political HORROR SHOW, and so detrimental to the USA and his Own Democratic Party, that the Democrats themselves will either FORCE him to Resign or figure out a way to have him thrown out.
Who knows, maybe he really isn't a BORN US Citizen and that's a way the Democrats will be able to get rid of him. [He is a citizen, but not a naturalized citizen with both mother and father being US citizens.]
Or - MORE LIKELY THAN NOT, the Democrats will make Obama THEIR OWN LAME DUCK PRESIDENT.
I don't believe the Democrats have nearly as much love for their country as they do for their own political fortunes. And with Obama, their fortunes are rapidly becoming toast.
The Democrats can keep on blaming Bush for EVERYTHING, but that game's already begun to wear real thin.
Their mantra was "WE DON'T WANT 4 MORE YEARS," which the STUPID people bought, since McCain was nothing at all like George W Bush.
The new mantra will soon become: "WE DON'T WANT 6 MORE MONTHS."
And remember folks, he wrote this several months ago . . ...
Sunday, November 22, 2009
They Said It Didn't Matter
The Fundamental Transformation of America
When Obama wrote a book and said he was mentored as a youth by Frank, (Frank Marshall Davis) an avowed Communist, people said it didn't matter.
When it was discovered that his grandparents, were strong socialists, sent Obama's mother to a socialist school, introduced Frank Marshall Davis to young Obama, people said it didn't matter.
When people found out that he was enrolled as a Muslim child in school and his father and step father were both Muslims, people said it didn't matter.
When he wrote in another book he authored “I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.” people said it didn't matter.
When he admittedly, in his book, said he chose Marxist friends and professors in college, people said it didn't matter.
When he traveled to Pakistan, after college on an unknown national passport, people said it didn't matter.
When he sought the endorsement of the Marxist party in 1996 as he ran for the Illinois Senate, people said it doesn't matter.
When he sat in a Chicago Church for twenty years and listened to a preacher spew hatred for America and preach black liberation theology, people said it didn't matter.
When an independent Washington organization that tracks senate voting records gave him the distinctive title as the "most liberal senator", people said it didn't matter.
When the Palestinians in Gaza, set up a fund raising telethon to raise money for his election campaign, people said it didn't matter.
When his voting record supported gun control, people said it didn't matter.
When he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn't matter.
When he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan and Mummar Qadaffi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.
When it was pointed out that he was a total newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn't matter.
When he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals who had planted bombs in public buildings that killed people, and still say they wish they had done more, people said it didn't matter.
When his voting record in the Illinois senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn't matter.
When he refused to wear a flag, lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn't matter..
When people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn't matter.
When he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn't matter.
When he surrounded himself in the White House with advisors who wanted to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition people said it didn't matter.
When he aired his views on abortion, homosexuality, wealth redistribution, and a host of other issues, people said it didn't matter.
When he said he favors sex education in Kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn't matter.
When his background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn't matter.
When the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn't matter.
When he had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezco, a man of questionable character, who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home, people said it didn't matter.
When it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn't matter.
When he started appointing "czars" that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist/Communists, people said it didn't matter.
When he stood before the nation and told us that his intentions were to "fundamentally transform this nation" into something else, people said it didn't matter.
When it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed cabinet members and several advisors who were tax cheats and socialists, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed a science czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations, and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Cass Sunstein as regulatory czar who believes in "Explicit Consent", harvesting human organs without family consent, and to allow animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual, and organizer of a group called gay, lesbian, straight, Education network, as safe school czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Mark Lloyd as diversity czar and he believed in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth and admires Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.
When Valerie Jarrett was selected as Obama's senior White House advisor and she is an avowed Socialist, people said it didn't matter.
When Anita Dunn, White House Communications director said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration,
people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Carol Browner as global warming czar, and she is a well known socialist, a directing member of the Socialist International, working on Cap and trade as the nations largest tax, people said it doesn't matter.
When he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as green energy czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn't matter.
When Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for health and human services secretary could not be confirmed, because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn't matter.
When as president of the United States, he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn't matter.
When he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn't matter.
When his actions concerning the middle-east seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time friend, people said it doesn't matter.
When he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it doesn't matter.
When he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it doesn't matter.
When he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops the Field Commanders said we had to have to win, people said it didn't matter.
When he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, people said it didn't matter.
When he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn't matter.
When he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc. people said it didn't matter.
When he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, people said it didn't matter.
When he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn't matter.
When he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn't matter.
When he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State, people finally woke up........ but it was too late.
Any one of these things, in and of themselves does not really matter. But.... when you add them up one by one you get a phenomenal score that points to the fact that our Obama is determined to make America over into a Marxist/Socialist society. All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily. Before you disavow this, do an internet search. The last paragraph alone is not yet cast in stone. You and I will write that paragraph. Will it read as above or will it be a more happy ending for most of America ? Personally, I like happy endings.
If you are an Obama Supporter, please do not be angry with me because I think the President of your choice is a socialist, but there are too many facts supporting this. If you seek the truth you will be richer for it. Don't just belittle the opposition. Search for the truth. I did. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Constitutionalist, Libertarians and what have you, we all need to pull together. We all must pull together or watch the demise of a society that we all love and cherish. If you are a religious person, pray for our nation.
Never before in the history of America have we been confronted with problems so huge that the very existence of our country is in jeopardy. Don't rely on most television news and what you read in the newspapers for the truth. Search the internet. Yes, there is a lot of bad information, lies and distortions there too but you are smart enough to spot the fallacies. Newspapers are a dying breed. They are currently seeking a bailout from the government. Do you really think they are about to print the truth? Obama praises all the television news networks except Fox who he has waged war against. There must be a reason. He does not call them down on any specifics, just a general battle against them. If they lie, he should call them out on it but he doesn't. Please, find the truth, it will set you free.
Our biggest enemy is not China, Russia, Iran; no, our biggest enemy is a contingent of politicians in Washington DC .
When Obama wrote a book and said he was mentored as a youth by Frank, (Frank Marshall Davis) an avowed Communist, people said it didn't matter.
When it was discovered that his grandparents, were strong socialists, sent Obama's mother to a socialist school, introduced Frank Marshall Davis to young Obama, people said it didn't matter.
When people found out that he was enrolled as a Muslim child in school and his father and step father were both Muslims, people said it didn't matter.
When he wrote in another book he authored “I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.” people said it didn't matter.
When he admittedly, in his book, said he chose Marxist friends and professors in college, people said it didn't matter.
When he traveled to Pakistan, after college on an unknown national passport, people said it didn't matter.
When he sought the endorsement of the Marxist party in 1996 as he ran for the Illinois Senate, people said it doesn't matter.
When he sat in a Chicago Church for twenty years and listened to a preacher spew hatred for America and preach black liberation theology, people said it didn't matter.
When an independent Washington organization that tracks senate voting records gave him the distinctive title as the "most liberal senator", people said it didn't matter.
When the Palestinians in Gaza, set up a fund raising telethon to raise money for his election campaign, people said it didn't matter.
When his voting record supported gun control, people said it didn't matter.
When he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn't matter.
When he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan and Mummar Qadaffi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.
When it was pointed out that he was a total newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn't matter.
When he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals who had planted bombs in public buildings that killed people, and still say they wish they had done more, people said it didn't matter.
When his voting record in the Illinois senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn't matter.
When he refused to wear a flag, lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn't matter..
When people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn't matter.
When he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn't matter.
When he surrounded himself in the White House with advisors who wanted to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition people said it didn't matter.
When he aired his views on abortion, homosexuality, wealth redistribution, and a host of other issues, people said it didn't matter.
When he said he favors sex education in Kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn't matter.
When his background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn't matter.
When the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn't matter.
When he had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezco, a man of questionable character, who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home, people said it didn't matter.
When it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn't matter.
When he started appointing "czars" that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist/Communists, people said it didn't matter.
When he stood before the nation and told us that his intentions were to "fundamentally transform this nation" into something else, people said it didn't matter.
When it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed cabinet members and several advisors who were tax cheats and socialists, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed a science czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations, and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Cass Sunstein as regulatory czar who believes in "Explicit Consent", harvesting human organs without family consent, and to allow animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual, and organizer of a group called gay, lesbian, straight, Education network, as safe school czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Mark Lloyd as diversity czar and he believed in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth and admires Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.
When Valerie Jarrett was selected as Obama's senior White House advisor and she is an avowed Socialist, people said it didn't matter.
When Anita Dunn, White House Communications director said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration,
people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Carol Browner as global warming czar, and she is a well known socialist, a directing member of the Socialist International, working on Cap and trade as the nations largest tax, people said it doesn't matter.
When he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as green energy czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn't matter.
When Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for health and human services secretary could not be confirmed, because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn't matter.
When as president of the United States, he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn't matter.
When he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn't matter.
When his actions concerning the middle-east seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time friend, people said it doesn't matter.
When he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it doesn't matter.
When he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it doesn't matter.
When he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops the Field Commanders said we had to have to win, people said it didn't matter.
When he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, people said it didn't matter.
When he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn't matter.
When he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc. people said it didn't matter.
When he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, people said it didn't matter.
When he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn't matter.
When he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn't matter.
When he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State, people finally woke up........ but it was too late.
Any one of these things, in and of themselves does not really matter. But.... when you add them up one by one you get a phenomenal score that points to the fact that our Obama is determined to make America over into a Marxist/Socialist society. All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily. Before you disavow this, do an internet search. The last paragraph alone is not yet cast in stone. You and I will write that paragraph. Will it read as above or will it be a more happy ending for most of America ? Personally, I like happy endings.
If you are an Obama Supporter, please do not be angry with me because I think the President of your choice is a socialist, but there are too many facts supporting this. If you seek the truth you will be richer for it. Don't just belittle the opposition. Search for the truth. I did. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Constitutionalist, Libertarians and what have you, we all need to pull together. We all must pull together or watch the demise of a society that we all love and cherish. If you are a religious person, pray for our nation.
Never before in the history of America have we been confronted with problems so huge that the very existence of our country is in jeopardy. Don't rely on most television news and what you read in the newspapers for the truth. Search the internet. Yes, there is a lot of bad information, lies and distortions there too but you are smart enough to spot the fallacies. Newspapers are a dying breed. They are currently seeking a bailout from the government. Do you really think they are about to print the truth? Obama praises all the television news networks except Fox who he has waged war against. There must be a reason. He does not call them down on any specifics, just a general battle against them. If they lie, he should call them out on it but he doesn't. Please, find the truth, it will set you free.
Our biggest enemy is not China, Russia, Iran; no, our biggest enemy is a contingent of politicians in Washington DC .
Friday, November 20, 2009
Media Still Promoting CAIR
'Moderate' terror pals
Media still promoting CAIR
By PAUL SPERRY
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/moderate_terror_pals_1ptTXHB1
ndiDYn9li2RJrL
Just as security officials overlooked Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's links to al Qaeda cleric Anwar Aulaqi, who exhorts American Muslims to kill US soldiers, so did our leaders long turn a blind eye to a "mainstream" Muslim group's ties to this same 9/11-tied imam and other Islamic extremists.
For years, our media and government routinely accepted and even promoted the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations as a legitimate voice of Muslim Americans, buying into its claim to be the Muslim ACLU.
In fact, CAIR is a radical Saudi-funded front group founded by leaders of the terror-supporting Muslim Brotherhood to infiltrate Washington and defend extremists. More than a dozen of CAIR's leaders have been jailed or otherwise implicated in support of terrorism -- yet its spokesmen until recently were welcomed in the highest corridors of power. They still boast of meeting with then-President George W. Bush after 9/11.
"From its founding by Muslim Brotherhood leaders, CAIR conspired with other affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood to support terrorists," Assistant US Attorney Gordon Kromberg stated in a recent court filing…
…Meanwhile, the media's courtship with CAIR continues apace. In the wake of the Fort Hood killings CNN, PBS, Fox, MSNBC and other networks immediately put CAIR's leaders on the air -- where they predictably insisted the attack had nothing to do with Islam and warned that any "Islamophobes" who make that obvious connection are inviting violent "backlash" against Muslims.
Ironically, a top CAIR official was a member of a terror cell linked to Aulaqi, who also counted some of the 9/11 terrorists and Maj. Hasan in his flock. Aulaqi met with members of the Virginia Jihad Network, which trained to kill our soldiers in Afghanistan.
The group's ringleader, Ismail Royer, worked out of CAIR's national headquarters.
The terrorists were later convicted, and one of their confederates, an al Qaeda sleeper, was busted plotting to assassinate President Bush. Royer himself cut a deal, pleading to a lesser, related weapons charge in exchange for his cooperation. But he's not cooperating: Frustrated prosecutors recently branded him an "inveterate liar" in one filing.
Yet CAIR national spokesman Ibrahim Hooper is heading efforts to spring Royer, his protégé, from prison, where he's serving 20 years.
Federal prosecutors now agree that, far from being a benign nonprofit, CAIR is the spearhead of an anti-American conspiracy to support terrorism and institutionalize Saudi-style rule in America. And they warn in court filings that its participation in that conspiracy is "ongoing."
The media elite are now expressing shock that the military and government officials turned a blind eye to Hasan and his extremist connections. The real shock is that this elite continues to legitimize a group that has similar ties.
Paul Sperry, a Hoover Institution media fellow, is author of "Infiltration" and the new book, "Muslim Mafia." sperry@sperryfiles.com
Media still promoting CAIR
By PAUL SPERRY
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/moderate_terror_pals_1ptTXHB1
ndiDYn9li2RJrL
Just as security officials overlooked Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's links to al Qaeda cleric Anwar Aulaqi, who exhorts American Muslims to kill US soldiers, so did our leaders long turn a blind eye to a "mainstream" Muslim group's ties to this same 9/11-tied imam and other Islamic extremists.
For years, our media and government routinely accepted and even promoted the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations as a legitimate voice of Muslim Americans, buying into its claim to be the Muslim ACLU.
In fact, CAIR is a radical Saudi-funded front group founded by leaders of the terror-supporting Muslim Brotherhood to infiltrate Washington and defend extremists. More than a dozen of CAIR's leaders have been jailed or otherwise implicated in support of terrorism -- yet its spokesmen until recently were welcomed in the highest corridors of power. They still boast of meeting with then-President George W. Bush after 9/11.
"From its founding by Muslim Brotherhood leaders, CAIR conspired with other affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood to support terrorists," Assistant US Attorney Gordon Kromberg stated in a recent court filing…
…Meanwhile, the media's courtship with CAIR continues apace. In the wake of the Fort Hood killings CNN, PBS, Fox, MSNBC and other networks immediately put CAIR's leaders on the air -- where they predictably insisted the attack had nothing to do with Islam and warned that any "Islamophobes" who make that obvious connection are inviting violent "backlash" against Muslims.
Ironically, a top CAIR official was a member of a terror cell linked to Aulaqi, who also counted some of the 9/11 terrorists and Maj. Hasan in his flock. Aulaqi met with members of the Virginia Jihad Network, which trained to kill our soldiers in Afghanistan.
The group's ringleader, Ismail Royer, worked out of CAIR's national headquarters.
The terrorists were later convicted, and one of their confederates, an al Qaeda sleeper, was busted plotting to assassinate President Bush. Royer himself cut a deal, pleading to a lesser, related weapons charge in exchange for his cooperation. But he's not cooperating: Frustrated prosecutors recently branded him an "inveterate liar" in one filing.
Yet CAIR national spokesman Ibrahim Hooper is heading efforts to spring Royer, his protégé, from prison, where he's serving 20 years.
Federal prosecutors now agree that, far from being a benign nonprofit, CAIR is the spearhead of an anti-American conspiracy to support terrorism and institutionalize Saudi-style rule in America. And they warn in court filings that its participation in that conspiracy is "ongoing."
The media elite are now expressing shock that the military and government officials turned a blind eye to Hasan and his extremist connections. The real shock is that this elite continues to legitimize a group that has similar ties.
Paul Sperry, a Hoover Institution media fellow, is author of "Infiltration" and the new book, "Muslim Mafia." sperry@sperryfiles.com
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Brits Offended
IMMIGRANTS. NOT BRITONS, MUST ADAPT.
From a British Op-Ed
Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on London , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Brits.
However, the dust from the attacks has barely settled and the 'politically correct' crowd begin complaining about the possibility that our patriotism is offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Britain . However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.
This idea of England being a multicultural centre for community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Britons, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of wars, struggles, trials and victories fought by the untold masses of men and women who laid down their lives and of the millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!
If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture... If St.George's cross offends you, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.
We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this.
But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our National Motto, or Our Way of Life, I encourage you take advantage of one other great British freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.
We didn't force you to come here. If you don't like it GO HOME!!
You asked to be here.. So accept the country that acceptedYOU. Pretty easy really, when you think about it..
If we all keep passing this to our friends (and enemies) it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, lets all try, please.
From a British Op-Ed
Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on London , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Brits.
However, the dust from the attacks has barely settled and the 'politically correct' crowd begin complaining about the possibility that our patriotism is offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Britain . However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.
This idea of England being a multicultural centre for community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Britons, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of wars, struggles, trials and victories fought by the untold masses of men and women who laid down their lives and of the millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!
If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture... If St.George's cross offends you, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.
We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this.
But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our National Motto, or Our Way of Life, I encourage you take advantage of one other great British freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.
We didn't force you to come here. If you don't like it GO HOME!!
You asked to be here.. So accept the country that acceptedYOU. Pretty easy really, when you think about it..
If we all keep passing this to our friends (and enemies) it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, lets all try, please.
Holder's al-Qaeda Incentive Plan
Holder’s al Qaeda Incentive Plan
By William McGurn
Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2009
When it comes to terrorists, you would think that an al Qaeda operative who targets an American mom sitting in her office or a child on a flight back home is many degrees worse than a Taliban soldier picked up after a firefight with U.S. Army troops.
Your instinct would be correct, because at the heart of terrorism is the monstrous idea that the former is as legitimate a target as the latter. Unfortunately, by dispatching Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other al Qaeda leaders to federal criminal court for trial, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will be undermining this distinction. And the perverse message that decision will send to terrorists all over this dangerous world is this: If you kill civilians on American soil you will have greater protections than if you attack our military overseas.
"A fundamental purpose of rules such as the Geneva Conventions is to give those at war an incentive for more civilized behavior—and not targeting civilians is arguably the most sacred of these principles," says William Burck, a former federal prosecutor and Bush White House lawyer who dealt with national security issues. "It demolishes this principle to give Khalid Sheikh Mohammed even more legal protections than the Geneva Conventions provide a uniformed soldier fighting in a recognized war zone."
We don't often speak of incentives in war. That's a loss, because the whole idea of, say, Geneva rights is based on the idea of providing combatants with incentives to do things that help limit the bloodiness of battle. These include wearing a uniform, carrying arms openly, not targeting civilians, and so on.
Terrorists recognize none of these things. They are best understood as associations of people plotting and carrying out war crimes, whether that means sowing fear with direct and indiscriminate attacks on marketplaces, offices and airlines—or by engaging enemy troops without distinguishing uniforms, so that the surrounding civilians essentially become used as human shields. Terrorists reject both the laws of war and the laws of American civil society. To put it another way, they reject both the authority and the obligations their legal rights imply.
None of this seems to bother Mr. Holder. Since he dropped his bombshell on Friday, much commentary has focused on the possibility that KSM might be found not guilty. That, however, is unlikely: Mr. Holder is not a fool, and everyone in the Obama administration appreciates the backlash that would occur if a KSM trial results in an acquittal. Thus, the men he will send for trial will be those against whom he has the most evidence.
The perversity here is that the overwhelming evidence of their war crimes gain them protections denied a soldier fighting in accord with the rules of war.
It even gains them more protections than their associates who attack military targets. This double standard means that the perpetrators of the USS Cole bombing are sent to military tribunals while the perpetrators of 9/11 are sent to federal court.
Andrew McCarthy has a unique perspective on the move to criminal trials. As an assistant U.S. attorney in 1993, he successfully prosecuted Omar Abdel Rahman (the "blind sheikh") for the first bombing of the World Trade Center. Even though the cases were somewhat different—that plot was conceived, plotted and carried out on U.S. soil—Mr. McCarthy says the experience persuaded him that federal trials are a bad way of handling terror.
"At first, I was of the mind that a criminal prosecution would uphold all our high-falutin' rhetoric about the constitution and majesty of the law," says Mr. McCarthy. "But when you get down to the nitty gritty of a trial, you see one huge problem: The criminal justice system imposes limits on the government and gives the defendant all sorts of access to information, because we'd rather have the government lose than unfairly convict a man. You can't take that position with an enemy who is at war with you and trying to bring that government down."
By going down this line, says Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Holder has invited any number of dangers: making the Manhattan courtroom a target for terrorist attack, inviting the disclosure of sensitive intelligence, opening the possibility that some al Qaeda operative will be acquitted and released within the U.S., etc.
Worst of all, he says, is turning the laws of war upside down: Why fight the Marines and risk getting killed yourself or locked up in Bagram forever when you can blow up American citizens on their own streets and gain the legal protections that give you a chance to go free? With this one step, Mr. Holder is giving al Qaeda a ghastly incentive: to focus more of their attacks on American civilians on American home soil.
"It is foolish to think that al Qaeda does not train to our system and look for our vulnerabilities," says Mr. McCarthy. "Remember what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told his captors when we got him, 'I'll see you in New York with my lawyer.' It seems he knows our weaknesses better than our government does."
By William McGurn
Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2009
When it comes to terrorists, you would think that an al Qaeda operative who targets an American mom sitting in her office or a child on a flight back home is many degrees worse than a Taliban soldier picked up after a firefight with U.S. Army troops.
Your instinct would be correct, because at the heart of terrorism is the monstrous idea that the former is as legitimate a target as the latter. Unfortunately, by dispatching Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other al Qaeda leaders to federal criminal court for trial, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will be undermining this distinction. And the perverse message that decision will send to terrorists all over this dangerous world is this: If you kill civilians on American soil you will have greater protections than if you attack our military overseas.
"A fundamental purpose of rules such as the Geneva Conventions is to give those at war an incentive for more civilized behavior—and not targeting civilians is arguably the most sacred of these principles," says William Burck, a former federal prosecutor and Bush White House lawyer who dealt with national security issues. "It demolishes this principle to give Khalid Sheikh Mohammed even more legal protections than the Geneva Conventions provide a uniformed soldier fighting in a recognized war zone."
We don't often speak of incentives in war. That's a loss, because the whole idea of, say, Geneva rights is based on the idea of providing combatants with incentives to do things that help limit the bloodiness of battle. These include wearing a uniform, carrying arms openly, not targeting civilians, and so on.
Terrorists recognize none of these things. They are best understood as associations of people plotting and carrying out war crimes, whether that means sowing fear with direct and indiscriminate attacks on marketplaces, offices and airlines—or by engaging enemy troops without distinguishing uniforms, so that the surrounding civilians essentially become used as human shields. Terrorists reject both the laws of war and the laws of American civil society. To put it another way, they reject both the authority and the obligations their legal rights imply.
None of this seems to bother Mr. Holder. Since he dropped his bombshell on Friday, much commentary has focused on the possibility that KSM might be found not guilty. That, however, is unlikely: Mr. Holder is not a fool, and everyone in the Obama administration appreciates the backlash that would occur if a KSM trial results in an acquittal. Thus, the men he will send for trial will be those against whom he has the most evidence.
The perversity here is that the overwhelming evidence of their war crimes gain them protections denied a soldier fighting in accord with the rules of war.
It even gains them more protections than their associates who attack military targets. This double standard means that the perpetrators of the USS Cole bombing are sent to military tribunals while the perpetrators of 9/11 are sent to federal court.
Andrew McCarthy has a unique perspective on the move to criminal trials. As an assistant U.S. attorney in 1993, he successfully prosecuted Omar Abdel Rahman (the "blind sheikh") for the first bombing of the World Trade Center. Even though the cases were somewhat different—that plot was conceived, plotted and carried out on U.S. soil—Mr. McCarthy says the experience persuaded him that federal trials are a bad way of handling terror.
"At first, I was of the mind that a criminal prosecution would uphold all our high-falutin' rhetoric about the constitution and majesty of the law," says Mr. McCarthy. "But when you get down to the nitty gritty of a trial, you see one huge problem: The criminal justice system imposes limits on the government and gives the defendant all sorts of access to information, because we'd rather have the government lose than unfairly convict a man. You can't take that position with an enemy who is at war with you and trying to bring that government down."
By going down this line, says Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Holder has invited any number of dangers: making the Manhattan courtroom a target for terrorist attack, inviting the disclosure of sensitive intelligence, opening the possibility that some al Qaeda operative will be acquitted and released within the U.S., etc.
Worst of all, he says, is turning the laws of war upside down: Why fight the Marines and risk getting killed yourself or locked up in Bagram forever when you can blow up American citizens on their own streets and gain the legal protections that give you a chance to go free? With this one step, Mr. Holder is giving al Qaeda a ghastly incentive: to focus more of their attacks on American civilians on American home soil.
"It is foolish to think that al Qaeda does not train to our system and look for our vulnerabilities," says Mr. McCarthy. "Remember what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told his captors when we got him, 'I'll see you in New York with my lawyer.' It seems he knows our weaknesses better than our government does."
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Obama's Czars
OBAMA'S CZARS
CZAR
Czar Position
Summary
Richard Holbrooke
Afghanistan Czar
Ultra liberal anti gun former Gov. of New Mexico. Pro Abortion and legal drug use. Dissolve the 2nd Amendment
Ed Montgomery
Auto recovery Czar
Black radical anti business activist. Affirmative Action and Job Preference for blacks. Univ of Maryland Business School Dean teaches US business has caused world poverty. ACORN board member. Communist DuBois Club member.
Jeffrey Crowley
AIDS Czar
Radical Homosexual.. A Gay Rights activist. Believes in Gay Marriage and especially, a Special Status for homosexuals only, including complete free health care for gays.
Alan Bersin
Border Czar
The former failed superintendent of San Diego . Ultra Liberal friend of Hilary Clinton. Served as Border Czar under Janet Reno – to keep borders open to illegal’s without interference from US
David J. Hayes
California Water Czar
Sr. Fellow of radical environmentalist group, “Progress Policy”. No training or experience in water management whatsoever.
Ron Bloom
Car Czar
Auto Union worker. Anti business & anti nuclear. Has worked hard to force US auto makers out of business. Sits on the Board of Chrysler which is now Auto Union owned. How did this happen?
Dennis Ross
Central Region Czar
Believes US policy has caused Mid East wars. Obama apologist to the world. Anti gun and completely pro abortion.
Lynn Rosenthal
Domestic Violence Czar
Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Vicious anti male feminist. Supported male castration. Imagine?
Gil Kerlikowske
Drug Czar
devoted lobbyist for every restrictive gun law proposal, Former Chief of Police in Liberal Seattle. Believes no American should own a firearm. Supports legalization of all drugs
Paul Volcker
E conomic Czar
Head of Fed Reserve under Jimmy Carter when US economy nearly failed. Obama appointed head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board which engineered the Obama economic disaster to US economy.. Member of anti business “Progressive Policy” organization
Carol Brower
Energy and Environment Czar
Political Radical Former head of EPA - known for anti-business activism. Strong anti-gun ownership.
Joshua DuBois
Faith Based Czar
Political Black activist-Degree in Black Nationalism. Anti gun ownership lobbyist.
Cameron Davis
Great Lakes Czar
Chicago radical anti business environmentalist. Blames George Bush for “Poisoning the water that minorities have to drink.” No experience or training in water management. Former ACORN Board member (what does that tell us?)
Van Jones
Green Jobs Czar
(since resigned).. Black activist Member of American communist Party and San Francisco Communist Party who said Geo Bush caused the 911 attack and wanted Bush investigated by the World Court for war crimes. Black activist with strong anti-white views.
Daniel Fried
Guantanamo Closure Czar
Human Rights activist for Foreign Terrorists. Believes America has caused the war on terrorism. Believes terrorists have rights above and beyond Americans.
Nancy-Ann DeParle.
Health Czar
Former head of Medicare / Medicaid. Strong Health Care Rationing proponent. She is married to a reporter for The New York Times.
Vivek Kundra
Information Czar
Born in New Delhi , India . Controls all public information, including labels and news releases. Monitors all private Internet emails. (hello?)
Todd Stern
International Climate Czar
Anti business former White House chief of Staff- Strong supportrer of the Kyoto Accord. Pushing hard for Cap and Trade. Blames US business for Global warming. Anti- US business prosperity.
Dennis Blair
Intelligence Czar
Ret Navy. Stopped US guided missile program as “provocative”. Chair of ultra liberal “Council on Foreign Relations” which blames American organizations for regional wars.
George Mitchell
Mideast Peace Czar
Fmr. Sen from Maine Left wing radical. Has said Israel should be split up into “2 or 3 “ smaller more manageable plots”. (God forbid) A true Anti-nuclear anti-gun & pro homosexual "special rights" advocate
Kenneth Feinberg
Pay Czar
Chief of Staff to TED KENNEDY. Lawyer who got rich off the 911 victims payoffs. (horribly true)
Cass Sunstein
Regulatory Czar
Liberal activist judge believes free speech needs to be limited for the “common good”. Essentially against 1st amendment. Rules against personal freedoms many times –like private gun ownership and right to free speech.
John Holdren
Science Czar
Fierce ideological environmentalist, Sierra Club, Anti business activist. Claims US business has caused world poverty. No Science training.
Earl Devaney
Stimulus Accountability Czar
Spent career trying to take guns away from American citizens. Believes in Open Borders to Mexico . Author of statement blaming US gun stores for drug war in Mexico .
J. Scott Gration
Sudan Czar
Native of Democratic Republic of Congo. Believes US does little to help Third World countries. Council of foreign relations, asking for higher US taxes to support United Nations
Herb Allison
TARP Czar
Fannie May CEO responsible for the US recession by using real estate mortgages to back up the US stock market. Caused millions of people to lose their life savings.
John Brennan
Terrorism Czar
Anti CIA activist. No training in diplomatic or gov. affairs. Believes Open Borders to Mexico and a dialog with terrorists and has suggested Obama disband US military
Aneesh Chopra
Technology Czar
No Technology training. Worked for the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank for hospitals. Anti doctor activist. Supports Obama Health care Rationing and salaried doctors working exclusively for the Gov. health care plan
Adolfo Carrion Jr..
Urban Affairs Czar
Puerto Rican born Anti American activist and leftist group member in Latin America . Millionaire “slum lord” of the Bronx , NY. Owns many lavish homes and condos which he got from “sweetheart” deals with labor unions. Wants higher taxes on middle class to pay for minority housing and health care
Ashton Carter
Weapons Czar
Leftist. Wants all private weapons in US destroyed. Supports UN ban on firearms ownership in America .. No Other “policy”
Gary Samore
WMD Policy Czar
Former US Communist. Wants US to destroy all WMD unilaterally as a show of good faith. Has no other “policy”.
CZAR
Czar Position
Summary
Richard Holbrooke
Afghanistan Czar
Ultra liberal anti gun former Gov. of New Mexico. Pro Abortion and legal drug use. Dissolve the 2nd Amendment
Ed Montgomery
Auto recovery Czar
Black radical anti business activist. Affirmative Action and Job Preference for blacks. Univ of Maryland Business School Dean teaches US business has caused world poverty. ACORN board member. Communist DuBois Club member.
Jeffrey Crowley
AIDS Czar
Radical Homosexual.. A Gay Rights activist. Believes in Gay Marriage and especially, a Special Status for homosexuals only, including complete free health care for gays.
Alan Bersin
Border Czar
The former failed superintendent of San Diego . Ultra Liberal friend of Hilary Clinton. Served as Border Czar under Janet Reno – to keep borders open to illegal’s without interference from US
David J. Hayes
California Water Czar
Sr. Fellow of radical environmentalist group, “Progress Policy”. No training or experience in water management whatsoever.
Ron Bloom
Car Czar
Auto Union worker. Anti business & anti nuclear. Has worked hard to force US auto makers out of business. Sits on the Board of Chrysler which is now Auto Union owned. How did this happen?
Dennis Ross
Central Region Czar
Believes US policy has caused Mid East wars. Obama apologist to the world. Anti gun and completely pro abortion.
Lynn Rosenthal
Domestic Violence Czar
Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Vicious anti male feminist. Supported male castration. Imagine?
Gil Kerlikowske
Drug Czar
devoted lobbyist for every restrictive gun law proposal, Former Chief of Police in Liberal Seattle. Believes no American should own a firearm. Supports legalization of all drugs
Paul Volcker
E conomic Czar
Head of Fed Reserve under Jimmy Carter when US economy nearly failed. Obama appointed head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board which engineered the Obama economic disaster to US economy.. Member of anti business “Progressive Policy” organization
Carol Brower
Energy and Environment Czar
Political Radical Former head of EPA - known for anti-business activism. Strong anti-gun ownership.
Joshua DuBois
Faith Based Czar
Political Black activist-Degree in Black Nationalism. Anti gun ownership lobbyist.
Cameron Davis
Great Lakes Czar
Chicago radical anti business environmentalist. Blames George Bush for “Poisoning the water that minorities have to drink.” No experience or training in water management. Former ACORN Board member (what does that tell us?)
Van Jones
Green Jobs Czar
(since resigned).. Black activist Member of American communist Party and San Francisco Communist Party who said Geo Bush caused the 911 attack and wanted Bush investigated by the World Court for war crimes. Black activist with strong anti-white views.
Daniel Fried
Guantanamo Closure Czar
Human Rights activist for Foreign Terrorists. Believes America has caused the war on terrorism. Believes terrorists have rights above and beyond Americans.
Nancy-Ann DeParle.
Health Czar
Former head of Medicare / Medicaid. Strong Health Care Rationing proponent. She is married to a reporter for The New York Times.
Vivek Kundra
Information Czar
Born in New Delhi , India . Controls all public information, including labels and news releases. Monitors all private Internet emails. (hello?)
Todd Stern
International Climate Czar
Anti business former White House chief of Staff- Strong supportrer of the Kyoto Accord. Pushing hard for Cap and Trade. Blames US business for Global warming. Anti- US business prosperity.
Dennis Blair
Intelligence Czar
Ret Navy. Stopped US guided missile program as “provocative”. Chair of ultra liberal “Council on Foreign Relations” which blames American organizations for regional wars.
George Mitchell
Mideast Peace Czar
Fmr. Sen from Maine Left wing radical. Has said Israel should be split up into “2 or 3 “ smaller more manageable plots”. (God forbid) A true Anti-nuclear anti-gun & pro homosexual "special rights" advocate
Kenneth Feinberg
Pay Czar
Chief of Staff to TED KENNEDY. Lawyer who got rich off the 911 victims payoffs. (horribly true)
Cass Sunstein
Regulatory Czar
Liberal activist judge believes free speech needs to be limited for the “common good”. Essentially against 1st amendment. Rules against personal freedoms many times –like private gun ownership and right to free speech.
John Holdren
Science Czar
Fierce ideological environmentalist, Sierra Club, Anti business activist. Claims US business has caused world poverty. No Science training.
Earl Devaney
Stimulus Accountability Czar
Spent career trying to take guns away from American citizens. Believes in Open Borders to Mexico . Author of statement blaming US gun stores for drug war in Mexico .
J. Scott Gration
Sudan Czar
Native of Democratic Republic of Congo. Believes US does little to help Third World countries. Council of foreign relations, asking for higher US taxes to support United Nations
Herb Allison
TARP Czar
Fannie May CEO responsible for the US recession by using real estate mortgages to back up the US stock market. Caused millions of people to lose their life savings.
John Brennan
Terrorism Czar
Anti CIA activist. No training in diplomatic or gov. affairs. Believes Open Borders to Mexico and a dialog with terrorists and has suggested Obama disband US military
Aneesh Chopra
Technology Czar
No Technology training. Worked for the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank for hospitals. Anti doctor activist. Supports Obama Health care Rationing and salaried doctors working exclusively for the Gov. health care plan
Adolfo Carrion Jr..
Urban Affairs Czar
Puerto Rican born Anti American activist and leftist group member in Latin America . Millionaire “slum lord” of the Bronx , NY. Owns many lavish homes and condos which he got from “sweetheart” deals with labor unions. Wants higher taxes on middle class to pay for minority housing and health care
Ashton Carter
Weapons Czar
Leftist. Wants all private weapons in US destroyed. Supports UN ban on firearms ownership in America .. No Other “policy”
Gary Samore
WMD Policy Czar
Former US Communist. Wants US to destroy all WMD unilaterally as a show of good faith. Has no other “policy”.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Medicalized Mass Murder
Medicalizing Mass Murder
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, November 13, 2009
What a surprise -- that someone who shouts "Allahu Akbar" (the "God is great" jihadist battle cry) as he is shooting up a room of American soldiers might have Islamist motives. It certainly was a surprise to the mainstream media, which spent the weekend after the Fort Hood massacre playing down Nidal Hasan's religious beliefs.
"I cringe that he's a Muslim. . . . I think he's probably just a nut case," said Newsweek's Evan Thomas. Some were more adamant. Time's Joe Klein decried "odious attempts by Jewish extremists . . . to argue that the massacre perpetrated by Nidal Hasan was somehow a direct consequence of his Islamic beliefs." While none could match Klein's peculiar cherchez-le-juif motif, the popular story line was of an Army psychiatrist driven over the edge by terrible stories he had heard from soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
They suffered. He listened. He snapped.
Really? What about the doctors and nurses, the counselors and physical therapists at Walter Reed Army Medical Center who every day hear and live with the pain and the suffering of returning soldiers? How many of them then picked up a gun and shot 51 innocents?
And what about civilian psychiatrists -- not the Upper West Side therapist treating Woody Allen neurotics, but the thousands of doctors working with hospitalized psychotics -- who every day hear not just tales but cries of the most excruciating anguish, of the most unimaginable torment? How many of those doctors commit mass murder?
It's been decades since I practiced psychiatry. Perhaps I missed the epidemic.
But, of course, if the shooter is named Nidal Hasan, who National Public Radio reported had been trying to proselytize doctors and patients, then something must be found. Presto! Secondary post-traumatic stress disorder, a handy invention to allow one to ignore the obvious.
And the perfect moral finesse. Medicalizing mass murder not only exonerates. It turns the murderer into a victim, indeed a sympathetic one. After all, secondary PTSD, for those who believe in it (you won't find it in DSM-IV-TR, psychiatry's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), is known as "compassion fatigue." The poor man -- pushed over the edge by an excess of sensitivity.
Have we totally lost our moral bearings? Nidal Hasan (allegedly) cold-bloodedly killed 13 innocent people. His business card had his name, his profession, his medical degrees and his occupational identity. U.S. Army? No. "SoA" -- Soldier of Allah. In such cases, political correctness is not just an abomination. It's a danger, clear and present.
Consider the Army's treatment of Hasan's previous behavior. NPR's Daniel Zwerdling interviewed a Hasan colleague at Walter Reed about a hair-raising grand rounds that Hasan had apparently given. Grand rounds are the most serious academic event at a teaching hospital -- attending physicians, residents and students gather for a lecture on an instructive case history or therapeutic finding.
I've been to dozens of these. In fact, I gave one myself on post-traumatic retrograde amnesia -- as you can see, these lectures are fairly technical. Not Hasan's. His was an hour-long disquisition on what he called the Koranic view of military service, jihad and war. It included an allegedly authoritative elaboration of the punishments visited upon nonbelievers -- consignment to hell, decapitation, having hot oil poured down your throat. This "really freaked a lot of doctors out," reported NPR.
Nor was this the only incident. "The psychiatrist," reported Zwerdling, "said that he was the kind of guy who the staff actually stood around in the hallway saying: Do you think he's a terrorist, or is he just weird?"
Was anything done about this potential danger? Of course not. Who wants to be accused of Islamophobia and prejudice against a colleague's religion?
One must not speak of such things. Not even now. Not even after we know that Hasan was in communication with a notorious Yemen-based jihad propagandist. As late as Tuesday, The New York Times was running a story on how returning soldiers at Fort Hood had a high level of violence.
What does such violence have to do with Hasan? He was not a returning soldier. And the soldiers who returned home and shot their wives or fellow soldiers didn't cry "Allahu Akbar" as they squeezed the trigger.
The delicacy about the religion in question -- condescending, politically correct and deadly -- is nothing new. A week after the first (1993) World Trade Center attack, the same New York Times ran the following front-page headline about the arrest of one Mohammed Salameh: "Jersey City Man Is Charged in Bombing of Trade Center."
Ah yes, those Jersey men -- so resentful of New York, so prone to violence.
letters@charleskrauthammer.com
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, November 13, 2009
What a surprise -- that someone who shouts "Allahu Akbar" (the "God is great" jihadist battle cry) as he is shooting up a room of American soldiers might have Islamist motives. It certainly was a surprise to the mainstream media, which spent the weekend after the Fort Hood massacre playing down Nidal Hasan's religious beliefs.
"I cringe that he's a Muslim. . . . I think he's probably just a nut case," said Newsweek's Evan Thomas. Some were more adamant. Time's Joe Klein decried "odious attempts by Jewish extremists . . . to argue that the massacre perpetrated by Nidal Hasan was somehow a direct consequence of his Islamic beliefs." While none could match Klein's peculiar cherchez-le-juif motif, the popular story line was of an Army psychiatrist driven over the edge by terrible stories he had heard from soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
They suffered. He listened. He snapped.
Really? What about the doctors and nurses, the counselors and physical therapists at Walter Reed Army Medical Center who every day hear and live with the pain and the suffering of returning soldiers? How many of them then picked up a gun and shot 51 innocents?
And what about civilian psychiatrists -- not the Upper West Side therapist treating Woody Allen neurotics, but the thousands of doctors working with hospitalized psychotics -- who every day hear not just tales but cries of the most excruciating anguish, of the most unimaginable torment? How many of those doctors commit mass murder?
It's been decades since I practiced psychiatry. Perhaps I missed the epidemic.
But, of course, if the shooter is named Nidal Hasan, who National Public Radio reported had been trying to proselytize doctors and patients, then something must be found. Presto! Secondary post-traumatic stress disorder, a handy invention to allow one to ignore the obvious.
And the perfect moral finesse. Medicalizing mass murder not only exonerates. It turns the murderer into a victim, indeed a sympathetic one. After all, secondary PTSD, for those who believe in it (you won't find it in DSM-IV-TR, psychiatry's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), is known as "compassion fatigue." The poor man -- pushed over the edge by an excess of sensitivity.
Have we totally lost our moral bearings? Nidal Hasan (allegedly) cold-bloodedly killed 13 innocent people. His business card had his name, his profession, his medical degrees and his occupational identity. U.S. Army? No. "SoA" -- Soldier of Allah. In such cases, political correctness is not just an abomination. It's a danger, clear and present.
Consider the Army's treatment of Hasan's previous behavior. NPR's Daniel Zwerdling interviewed a Hasan colleague at Walter Reed about a hair-raising grand rounds that Hasan had apparently given. Grand rounds are the most serious academic event at a teaching hospital -- attending physicians, residents and students gather for a lecture on an instructive case history or therapeutic finding.
I've been to dozens of these. In fact, I gave one myself on post-traumatic retrograde amnesia -- as you can see, these lectures are fairly technical. Not Hasan's. His was an hour-long disquisition on what he called the Koranic view of military service, jihad and war. It included an allegedly authoritative elaboration of the punishments visited upon nonbelievers -- consignment to hell, decapitation, having hot oil poured down your throat. This "really freaked a lot of doctors out," reported NPR.
Nor was this the only incident. "The psychiatrist," reported Zwerdling, "said that he was the kind of guy who the staff actually stood around in the hallway saying: Do you think he's a terrorist, or is he just weird?"
Was anything done about this potential danger? Of course not. Who wants to be accused of Islamophobia and prejudice against a colleague's religion?
One must not speak of such things. Not even now. Not even after we know that Hasan was in communication with a notorious Yemen-based jihad propagandist. As late as Tuesday, The New York Times was running a story on how returning soldiers at Fort Hood had a high level of violence.
What does such violence have to do with Hasan? He was not a returning soldier. And the soldiers who returned home and shot their wives or fellow soldiers didn't cry "Allahu Akbar" as they squeezed the trigger.
The delicacy about the religion in question -- condescending, politically correct and deadly -- is nothing new. A week after the first (1993) World Trade Center attack, the same New York Times ran the following front-page headline about the arrest of one Mohammed Salameh: "Jersey City Man Is Charged in Bombing of Trade Center."
Ah yes, those Jersey men -- so resentful of New York, so prone to violence.
letters@charleskrauthammer.com
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Jihadists Playing US For Suckers
- November 10, 2009
Jihadists In Military Playing U.S. for Suckers
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/10/cal-thomas-hasan-muslims-military-political-correctness/
by Cal Thomas
By now, the script should be disturbingly familiar. Whether in the Middle East, or increasingly in America, a fanatical Muslim blows up or goes on a shooting spree, killing many. This is quickly followed by "condemnations" from "Muslim civil rights groups," like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). We are then warned by the president and some newspaper editorials not to jump to conclusions, or to stereotype. Yasser Arafat wrote this script, which he used with great success throughout his bloody career as a terrorist.
Suddenly, the issue of gays in the military doesn't seem as important as jihadists in the military. If you were an enemy of America, not only would you fight overseas and develop nuclear weapons (Iran), you would also engage in an even more effective strategy by striking at America's underbelly. This is our most vulnerable region because we now tolerate virtually everything, indulge in political correctness and subscribe to a bogus belief that if radical Islamists can see we mean them no harm, they will mean us no harm.
The federal government at all levels has hired and promoted Muslims to influential positions. It requires "sensitivity training" for federal employees, including those who work at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Last week, the House Judiciary Committee, dominated by liberal Democrats, defied the White House and removed from the USA Patriot Act a tool for tracking non-U.S. citizens in anti-terrorism investigations. As our enemies grow stronger and more emboldened, they see us becoming weaker and less committed.
No amount of evidence -- from Koran verses urging the killing of "infidels," to cries of "God is great," reportedly shouted by the alleged Ft. Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan -- will cure our self-deception. Sun Tzu famously wrote that all war is deception. But it takes two to deceive and the United States is behaving like a willing partner.
People claiming to know Hasan told interviewers he made frequent statements against the wars and the U.S. presence in Islamic countries. Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, told reporters after he was briefed on the shootings that Hasan "took a lot of advanced training in shooting." Why would a psychiatrist need advanced training in shooting unless he believed in murder as therapy? Shouldn't that, coupled with his statements about "the aggressor" and other actions -- including his preference for Muslim clothing -- have alerted someone in authority that he might be a time bomb waiting to go off? Yes, absolutely. But who wants to jeopardize a career by raising such questions and becoming the target of "civil rights groups" and politically correct dupes? Intimidating Americans into silence when they know better is also a very effective strategy when fighting a war.
Sound minds not brainwashed by our own "re-educators" should have seen this coming. Though born in America to Jordanian immigrant parents, Hasan described himself as a "Palestinian." He got into trouble by attempting to proselytize some of his patients.
Most top federal agencies, including the Pentagon and DHS, now have offices of "civil liberties," offices recommended by the 9/11 Commission to focus on "outreach" to the Muslim community. In this, they follow efforts by the Bush administration, which dispatched Karen Hughes to tell Muslim women in Saudi Arabia that American women are so free they can drive their own cars. The Saudi women were not impressed.
It's one thing to be suckered by others. It's quite another to sucker yourself.
How much longer will we tolerate fighting this war as if it were a minor crime wave? Our enemies are fighting to win and they are fighting everywhere, including within our borders. People trained to appear non-threatening, until the threat becomes obvious and it is too late to do anything about it, are infiltrating our government and society at every level.
It is irrelevant that some have put the number of radicalized Muslims worldwide at 10 percent. Even if that figure is accurate, one hundred million jihadists can cause a lot of damage, as they plot the destruction of Western democracies. Other wars have been won with far fewer soldiers and far fewer dupes.
Jihadists In Military Playing U.S. for Suckers
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/10/cal-thomas-hasan-muslims-military-political-correctness/
by Cal Thomas
By now, the script should be disturbingly familiar. Whether in the Middle East, or increasingly in America, a fanatical Muslim blows up or goes on a shooting spree, killing many. This is quickly followed by "condemnations" from "Muslim civil rights groups," like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). We are then warned by the president and some newspaper editorials not to jump to conclusions, or to stereotype. Yasser Arafat wrote this script, which he used with great success throughout his bloody career as a terrorist.
Suddenly, the issue of gays in the military doesn't seem as important as jihadists in the military. If you were an enemy of America, not only would you fight overseas and develop nuclear weapons (Iran), you would also engage in an even more effective strategy by striking at America's underbelly. This is our most vulnerable region because we now tolerate virtually everything, indulge in political correctness and subscribe to a bogus belief that if radical Islamists can see we mean them no harm, they will mean us no harm.
The federal government at all levels has hired and promoted Muslims to influential positions. It requires "sensitivity training" for federal employees, including those who work at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Last week, the House Judiciary Committee, dominated by liberal Democrats, defied the White House and removed from the USA Patriot Act a tool for tracking non-U.S. citizens in anti-terrorism investigations. As our enemies grow stronger and more emboldened, they see us becoming weaker and less committed.
No amount of evidence -- from Koran verses urging the killing of "infidels," to cries of "God is great," reportedly shouted by the alleged Ft. Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan -- will cure our self-deception. Sun Tzu famously wrote that all war is deception. But it takes two to deceive and the United States is behaving like a willing partner.
People claiming to know Hasan told interviewers he made frequent statements against the wars and the U.S. presence in Islamic countries. Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, told reporters after he was briefed on the shootings that Hasan "took a lot of advanced training in shooting." Why would a psychiatrist need advanced training in shooting unless he believed in murder as therapy? Shouldn't that, coupled with his statements about "the aggressor" and other actions -- including his preference for Muslim clothing -- have alerted someone in authority that he might be a time bomb waiting to go off? Yes, absolutely. But who wants to jeopardize a career by raising such questions and becoming the target of "civil rights groups" and politically correct dupes? Intimidating Americans into silence when they know better is also a very effective strategy when fighting a war.
Sound minds not brainwashed by our own "re-educators" should have seen this coming. Though born in America to Jordanian immigrant parents, Hasan described himself as a "Palestinian." He got into trouble by attempting to proselytize some of his patients.
Most top federal agencies, including the Pentagon and DHS, now have offices of "civil liberties," offices recommended by the 9/11 Commission to focus on "outreach" to the Muslim community. In this, they follow efforts by the Bush administration, which dispatched Karen Hughes to tell Muslim women in Saudi Arabia that American women are so free they can drive their own cars. The Saudi women were not impressed.
It's one thing to be suckered by others. It's quite another to sucker yourself.
How much longer will we tolerate fighting this war as if it were a minor crime wave? Our enemies are fighting to win and they are fighting everywhere, including within our borders. People trained to appear non-threatening, until the threat becomes obvious and it is too late to do anything about it, are infiltrating our government and society at every level.
It is irrelevant that some have put the number of radicalized Muslims worldwide at 10 percent. Even if that figure is accurate, one hundred million jihadists can cause a lot of damage, as they plot the destruction of Western democracies. Other wars have been won with far fewer soldiers and far fewer dupes.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Our Brain Dead Country
Our Brain Dead Country
By David Horowitz On November 9, 2009 @ 8:11 pm In FrontPage | 160 Comments
A Muslim fanatic with an Internet site [1] praising Islamic suicide bombers as defenders of their comrades is a Major in the U.S. Army with access to military intelligence and lethal weaponry. And it's not as though the army didn't know that he was a Muslim fanatic and supporter of the Islamic jihad [2] against the West. He was under investigation for six months because of his anti-American [3], jihadist rantings. He did not want to be deployed. He wanted to be discharged.
But despite his identification with America's enemies, the army kept him in its officer corps. How in God's name was this possible? But it was. And so, after calling America the "aggressor" in Afghanistan and Iraq, this Muslim jihadist traitor army officer picks up his semi-automatic weapons and heads for the center at Ft. Hood where soldiers are being deployed to fight the jihadists in Afghanistan to conduct his massacre. Yet this morning the Fox News Channel chiron says "Investigators search for a motive in the Ft. Hood killings." Is everybody out of their mind?
The Ft. Hood killings are the chickens of the left coming home to roost. Already the chief political correspondent of The Nation [4] has decried even mention of the fact that the jihadist killer Hasan is a Palestinian Muslim. [5]According to The Nation this is "Islamophobia." This fatuous attempt to protect America's enemies carries on The Nation's 60-year tradition as the leading fifth column collaborator with America's enemies [6] defender of the Rosenbergs, defender of Hiss [7], defender of their boss Stalin [8], defender of Mao [9], defender of Castro [10] and now defender of Islamic terrorists. But The Nation is only the tip of an iceberg. The fifth column formed out of the unholy alliance between radical Islam and the American left is now entrenched in the White House and throughout our government. And in matters like the Muslim jihadist Major Hasan our military is its captive.
The Fort Hood massacre is the first of the preventable atrocities we have been warning about on our [11] websites [12] since 9/11 the atrocities which are apparently necessary for Americans to wake up to the threat that confronts us. We have a vast internal threat in this country in the form of this unholy alliance between the anti-American Left and radical Islam [13]- whose Muslim Brotherhood [14]network extends through our universities [15], our government and our military. It is "politically incorrect" [16] to recognize this fact. You can be barred as I have been from speaking at universities for even talking about it. The embargo of discussion of the Islamo-fascist [17] threat puts every American (including the infidel collaborators) at risk. Hasan had semi-automatic weapons. But they weren't nuclear. That possibility is just around the corner unless we undergo a sea change in our attitudes and marshal the intelligence and the courage to recognize the threat.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from FrontPage Magazine: http://frontpagemag.com
URL to article: http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/09/our-brain-dead-country-by-david-horowitz/
URLs in this post:
[1] A Muslim fanatic with an Internet site: http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/05/to-msnbc-the-least-important-thing-about-killer-army-doctor-is-he-was-a-muslim-who-compared-suicide-bombers-to-soldiers-who-throw-themselves-on-grenades-to-protect-others-meltdown-with-keith-olberma/
[2] Islamic jihad: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catId=124&type=issuehttp://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catId=124&type=issue
[3] anti-American: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catid=94&type=issue
[4] The Nation: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6779
[5] has decried even mention of the fact that the jihadist killer Hasan is a Palestinian Muslim. : http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493148/horror_at_fort_hood_inspires_horribly_predictable_islamophobia
[6] fifth column collaborator with America's enemies: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catid=129&type=issue
[7] Hiss: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2278
[8] Stalin: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2042
[9] Mao: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2073
[10] Castro: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=912
[11] on our: http://frontpagemag.com../
[12] websites: http://www.jihadwatch.org/
[13] unholy alliance between the anti-American Left and radical Islam : http://www.amazon.com/Unholy-Alliance-Radical-Islam-American/dp/0895260263/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257520147&sr=8-2
[14] Muslim Brotherhood : http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6386
[15] extends through our universities: http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/03/the-islamic-war-on-freedom-at-usc/
[16] "politically incorrect": http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/1994%20May-June%20Vol%202,%20No.pdf
[17] Islamo-fascist: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catid=183&type=issue
[18] Image: http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffrontpagemag.com%2F2009%2F11%2F09%2Four-brain-dead-country-by-david-horowitz%2F&linkname=Our%20Brain%20Dead%20Country%20%26%238211%3B%20by%20David%20Horowitz
Copyright © 2009 FrontPage Magazine. All rights reserved.
By David Horowitz On November 9, 2009 @ 8:11 pm In FrontPage | 160 Comments
A Muslim fanatic with an Internet site [1] praising Islamic suicide bombers as defenders of their comrades is a Major in the U.S. Army with access to military intelligence and lethal weaponry. And it's not as though the army didn't know that he was a Muslim fanatic and supporter of the Islamic jihad [2] against the West. He was under investigation for six months because of his anti-American [3], jihadist rantings. He did not want to be deployed. He wanted to be discharged.
But despite his identification with America's enemies, the army kept him in its officer corps. How in God's name was this possible? But it was. And so, after calling America the "aggressor" in Afghanistan and Iraq, this Muslim jihadist traitor army officer picks up his semi-automatic weapons and heads for the center at Ft. Hood where soldiers are being deployed to fight the jihadists in Afghanistan to conduct his massacre. Yet this morning the Fox News Channel chiron says "Investigators search for a motive in the Ft. Hood killings." Is everybody out of their mind?
The Ft. Hood killings are the chickens of the left coming home to roost. Already the chief political correspondent of The Nation [4] has decried even mention of the fact that the jihadist killer Hasan is a Palestinian Muslim. [5]According to The Nation this is "Islamophobia." This fatuous attempt to protect America's enemies carries on The Nation's 60-year tradition as the leading fifth column collaborator with America's enemies [6] defender of the Rosenbergs, defender of Hiss [7], defender of their boss Stalin [8], defender of Mao [9], defender of Castro [10] and now defender of Islamic terrorists. But The Nation is only the tip of an iceberg. The fifth column formed out of the unholy alliance between radical Islam and the American left is now entrenched in the White House and throughout our government. And in matters like the Muslim jihadist Major Hasan our military is its captive.
The Fort Hood massacre is the first of the preventable atrocities we have been warning about on our [11] websites [12] since 9/11 the atrocities which are apparently necessary for Americans to wake up to the threat that confronts us. We have a vast internal threat in this country in the form of this unholy alliance between the anti-American Left and radical Islam [13]- whose Muslim Brotherhood [14]network extends through our universities [15], our government and our military. It is "politically incorrect" [16] to recognize this fact. You can be barred as I have been from speaking at universities for even talking about it. The embargo of discussion of the Islamo-fascist [17] threat puts every American (including the infidel collaborators) at risk. Hasan had semi-automatic weapons. But they weren't nuclear. That possibility is just around the corner unless we undergo a sea change in our attitudes and marshal the intelligence and the courage to recognize the threat.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from FrontPage Magazine: http://frontpagemag.com
URL to article: http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/09/our-brain-dead-country-by-david-horowitz/
URLs in this post:
[1] A Muslim fanatic with an Internet site: http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/05/to-msnbc-the-least-important-thing-about-killer-army-doctor-is-he-was-a-muslim-who-compared-suicide-bombers-to-soldiers-who-throw-themselves-on-grenades-to-protect-others-meltdown-with-keith-olberma/
[2] Islamic jihad: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catId=124&type=issuehttp://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catId=124&type=issue
[3] anti-American: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catid=94&type=issue
[4] The Nation: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6779
[5] has decried even mention of the fact that the jihadist killer Hasan is a Palestinian Muslim. : http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493148/horror_at_fort_hood_inspires_horribly_predictable_islamophobia
[6] fifth column collaborator with America's enemies: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catid=129&type=issue
[7] Hiss: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2278
[8] Stalin: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2042
[9] Mao: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2073
[10] Castro: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=912
[11] on our: http://frontpagemag.com../
[12] websites: http://www.jihadwatch.org/
[13] unholy alliance between the anti-American Left and radical Islam : http://www.amazon.com/Unholy-Alliance-Radical-Islam-American/dp/0895260263/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257520147&sr=8-2
[14] Muslim Brotherhood : http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6386
[15] extends through our universities: http://newsrealblog.com/2009/11/03/the-islamic-war-on-freedom-at-usc/
[16] "politically incorrect": http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/1994%20May-June%20Vol%202,%20No.pdf
[17] Islamo-fascist: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/guideDesc.asp?catid=183&type=issue
[18] Image: http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffrontpagemag.com%2F2009%2F11%2F09%2Four-brain-dead-country-by-david-horowitz%2F&linkname=Our%20Brain%20Dead%20Country%20%26%238211%3B%20by%20David%20Horowitz
Copyright © 2009 FrontPage Magazine. All rights reserved.
Tragedy At Fort Hood
Tragedy at Ft Hood
Lieutenant Colonel Allen B West (US Army, Ret)
This past Thursday 13 American Soldiers were killed and another 30 wounded at a horrific mass shooting at US Army installation, Ft Hood Texas. As I watched in horror and then anger I recalled my two years of final service in the Army as a Battalion Commander at Ft Hood, 2002-2004.
My wife and two daughters were stunned at the incident having lived on the post in family housing.
A military installation, whether it is Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, or Coast Guard, is supposed to be a safe sanctuary for our Warriors and their families. It is intended to provide a home whereby our “Band of Brothers and Sisters” can find solace and bond beyond just the foxhole but as family units.
A military installation is supposed to be a place where our Warriors train for war, to serve and protect our Nation.
On Thursday, 5 November 2009 Ft Hood became a part of the battlefield in the war against Islamic totalitarianism and state sponsored terrorism.
There may be those who feel threatened by my words and would even recommend they not be uttered. To those individuals I say step aside because now is not the time for cowardice. Our Country has become so paralyzed by political correctness that we have allowed a vile and determined enemy to breach what should be the safest place in America, an Army post.
We have become so politically correct that our media is more concerned about the stress of the shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The misplaced benevolence intending to portray him as a victim is despicable. The fact that there are some who have now created an entire new classification called; “pre-virtual vicarious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)” is unconscionable.
This is not a “man caused disaster”. It is what it is, an Islamic jihadist attack.
Read more here http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tragedy-at-fort-hood-texas-by
Harry Riley
Lieutenant Colonel Allen B West (US Army, Ret)
This past Thursday 13 American Soldiers were killed and another 30 wounded at a horrific mass shooting at US Army installation, Ft Hood Texas. As I watched in horror and then anger I recalled my two years of final service in the Army as a Battalion Commander at Ft Hood, 2002-2004.
My wife and two daughters were stunned at the incident having lived on the post in family housing.
A military installation, whether it is Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, or Coast Guard, is supposed to be a safe sanctuary for our Warriors and their families. It is intended to provide a home whereby our “Band of Brothers and Sisters” can find solace and bond beyond just the foxhole but as family units.
A military installation is supposed to be a place where our Warriors train for war, to serve and protect our Nation.
On Thursday, 5 November 2009 Ft Hood became a part of the battlefield in the war against Islamic totalitarianism and state sponsored terrorism.
There may be those who feel threatened by my words and would even recommend they not be uttered. To those individuals I say step aside because now is not the time for cowardice. Our Country has become so paralyzed by political correctness that we have allowed a vile and determined enemy to breach what should be the safest place in America, an Army post.
We have become so politically correct that our media is more concerned about the stress of the shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The misplaced benevolence intending to portray him as a victim is despicable. The fact that there are some who have now created an entire new classification called; “pre-virtual vicarious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)” is unconscionable.
This is not a “man caused disaster”. It is what it is, an Islamic jihadist attack.
Read more here http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tragedy-at-fort-hood-texas-by
Harry Riley
Monday, November 09, 2009
Gubmint
On November 2, 2009 Tex said:
Gubmint and How Gubmint Works
Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, ”Someone may steal from it at night.”
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job..
Then Congress said, ”How does the watchman do his job without
instruction?” So they created a planning department and hired two
people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do
time studies.
Then Congress said, ”How will we know the night watchman is doing the
tasks correctly?” So they created a Quality Control department and
hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.
Then Congress said, ”How are these people going to get paid?” So They
created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer,
Then hired two people.
Then Congress said, ”Who will be accountable for all of these people?”
So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an
Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal
Secretary.
Then Congress said, ”We have had this command in operation for one
Year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost.”
So they laid off the night watchman.
NOW slowly, let it sink in
Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.
Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of
the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY…. during the Carter Administration?
Anybody?
Anything?
No?
Didn’t think so!
Bottom line. We’ve spent several hundred billion dollars in support of
an agency…the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!
Ready??
It was very simple…and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted on 8-04-1977.
TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
Hey, pretty efficient, huh???
AND NOW IT’S 2009 — 32 YEARS LATER — AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS ”NECESSARY” DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR. THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE! THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, ”WHAT WAS I THINKING?”
Ah, yes — good ole bureaucracy.
AND, NOW, WE ARE GOING TO TURN THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY OVER TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?
HELLOOO! Anybody Home?
Gubmint and How Gubmint Works
Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, ”Someone may steal from it at night.”
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job..
Then Congress said, ”How does the watchman do his job without
instruction?” So they created a planning department and hired two
people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do
time studies.
Then Congress said, ”How will we know the night watchman is doing the
tasks correctly?” So they created a Quality Control department and
hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.
Then Congress said, ”How are these people going to get paid?” So They
created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer,
Then hired two people.
Then Congress said, ”Who will be accountable for all of these people?”
So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an
Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal
Secretary.
Then Congress said, ”We have had this command in operation for one
Year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost.”
So they laid off the night watchman.
NOW slowly, let it sink in
Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.
Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of
the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY…. during the Carter Administration?
Anybody?
Anything?
No?
Didn’t think so!
Bottom line. We’ve spent several hundred billion dollars in support of
an agency…the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!
Ready??
It was very simple…and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted on 8-04-1977.
TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
Hey, pretty efficient, huh???
AND NOW IT’S 2009 — 32 YEARS LATER — AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS ”NECESSARY” DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR. THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE! THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, ”WHAT WAS I THINKING?”
Ah, yes — good ole bureaucracy.
AND, NOW, WE ARE GOING TO TURN THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY OVER TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?
HELLOOO! Anybody Home?
Hasan's Red Flags
HOMELAND INSECURITY
Hasan counseled Fort Hood Muslims
Alleged Army terrorist substitute chaplain for 48
Posted: November 09, 2009
2:11 am Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
The suspected Fort Hood terrorist served as a lay Muslim leader running Islamic services on the base in the absence of the Muslim chaplain, WND has learned. He also mentored at least one young convert to Islam whose parents worked at the sprawling Texas post.
Hasan's religious activities raise the specter that others may have been radicalized, investigators worry. There are nearly 50 Muslim soldiers serving on the base.
Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly shot 46 fellow soldiers and security guards and murdered 13 in the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil since 9/11.
Witnesses say the devout Muslim officer jumped up on a desk and shouted, "Allahu akbar!" – Allah is greatest – before opening fire and spraying more than 100 bullets inside a crowded building where troops were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq.
"He was preparing for a martyrdom operation," a U.S. Army intelligence official said. "There is no evidence that this was an issue of an emotional aberration. It was well planned."
Not long after Hasan transferred to the base earlier this year, he sat down with Muslim chaplain Maj. Khalid Shabazz to discuss carrying out Shabazz's "vision" at the Fort Hood chapel when Shabazz was away. Shabazz helped lead Islamic services at the base's Ironhorse Chapel, which serves 48 Muslim soldiers.
"I found him to be very pleasant," Shabazz said of Hasan.
Shabazz, who recently left the base, met privately with Hasan several times.
Before his posting at Fort Hood, Shabazz ministered to Muslim inmates at the military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was known as a "sympathizer" among military police. Shabazz scolded MPs for making noise while al-Qaida detainees were praying.
"I would have to go down and chastise those guys," he recalled in a 2008 interview with NPR, "telling them, 'Hey man, those guys are praying. Have the decency not to play the national anthem and agitate them while they're praying.'"
The NPR interview was posted last year on the website of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which the FBI says is a front group for Hamas terrorists. (Following CAIR's blacklisting by the Justice Department as an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator, the FBI last year cut off formal ties to the group.)
Shabazz, who says it's tough trying to be a good Muslim and a good U.S. soldier, serves as a member of a chaplaincy steering committee for the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA.
Federal prosecutors recently named ISNA – a sister organization to CAIR – as an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator in the largest terror finance case in U.S. history. ISNA, they say, like CAIR is a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood, parent of Hamas and al-Qaida.
The Brotherhood, which supports violent jihad and Islamic rule, is the subject of the bestselling new book, "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America."
Federal investigators are looking into Hasan's use of his neighbor's computer, and a visitor he had the day before the Fort Hood attack. Reports say Hasan was "mentoring" on Islam that Muslims shouldn't be in the U.S. military, because Muslims shouldn't kill Muslims.
Hasan counseled on more than a dozen occasions recent Islamic convert Duane Reasoner, an 18-year-old whose parents worked on the base.
"He said he didn't want to go to Iraq or Afghanistan," said Reasoner, who was raised a Catholic. "He didn't want to be deployed. He said Muslims shouldn't be in the U.S. military, because obviously Muslims shouldn't kill Muslims."
Reasoner added: "In the Quran, you're not supposed to have alliances with Jews or Christians or others, and if you are killed in the military fighting against Muslims, you will go to hell."
An Army chaplain interviewed by McClatchy Newspapers on the condition of anonymity confirmed that there are other Muslim soldiers who are conflicted about honoring their duty while fighting other Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hasan told colleagues, "I'm a Muslim first and an American second." He clearly put the Islamic nation above the secular nation he took an oath to protect and defend.
He's not alone. At least a dozen other Muslim soldiers have been convicted of terrorism or espionage since 9/11. Here's a sampling:
"Muslim Mafia" co-author Paul Sperry says Hasan is just the tip of a jihadist Fifth Column operating inside the U.S. military – which is too blinded by political correctness to see the internal threat.
"If military command is too PC to protect its own troops from Islamic fanatics on its own soil, how can Americans be confident they can protect the rest of the country?" asked Sperry, also author of "Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington."
He says that each branch of the military operates a counterspying unit in charge of force protection.
"Why didn't the Army investigate Hasan with all the red flags waving around him?" Sperry said. "And what other radicalized soldiers – and I would include chaplains among them – are they failing to investigate now? What is the military doing to stop the next Maj. Nidal?"
Hasan counseled Fort Hood Muslims
Alleged Army terrorist substitute chaplain for 48
Posted: November 09, 2009
2:11 am Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
The suspected Fort Hood terrorist served as a lay Muslim leader running Islamic services on the base in the absence of the Muslim chaplain, WND has learned. He also mentored at least one young convert to Islam whose parents worked at the sprawling Texas post.
Hasan's religious activities raise the specter that others may have been radicalized, investigators worry. There are nearly 50 Muslim soldiers serving on the base.
Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly shot 46 fellow soldiers and security guards and murdered 13 in the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil since 9/11.
Witnesses say the devout Muslim officer jumped up on a desk and shouted, "Allahu akbar!" – Allah is greatest – before opening fire and spraying more than 100 bullets inside a crowded building where troops were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq.
"He was preparing for a martyrdom operation," a U.S. Army intelligence official said. "There is no evidence that this was an issue of an emotional aberration. It was well planned."
Not long after Hasan transferred to the base earlier this year, he sat down with Muslim chaplain Maj. Khalid Shabazz to discuss carrying out Shabazz's "vision" at the Fort Hood chapel when Shabazz was away. Shabazz helped lead Islamic services at the base's Ironhorse Chapel, which serves 48 Muslim soldiers.
"I found him to be very pleasant," Shabazz said of Hasan.
Shabazz, who recently left the base, met privately with Hasan several times.
Before his posting at Fort Hood, Shabazz ministered to Muslim inmates at the military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was known as a "sympathizer" among military police. Shabazz scolded MPs for making noise while al-Qaida detainees were praying.
"I would have to go down and chastise those guys," he recalled in a 2008 interview with NPR, "telling them, 'Hey man, those guys are praying. Have the decency not to play the national anthem and agitate them while they're praying.'"
The NPR interview was posted last year on the website of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which the FBI says is a front group for Hamas terrorists. (Following CAIR's blacklisting by the Justice Department as an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator, the FBI last year cut off formal ties to the group.)
Shabazz, who says it's tough trying to be a good Muslim and a good U.S. soldier, serves as a member of a chaplaincy steering committee for the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA.
Federal prosecutors recently named ISNA – a sister organization to CAIR – as an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator in the largest terror finance case in U.S. history. ISNA, they say, like CAIR is a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood, parent of Hamas and al-Qaida.
The Brotherhood, which supports violent jihad and Islamic rule, is the subject of the bestselling new book, "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America."
Federal investigators are looking into Hasan's use of his neighbor's computer, and a visitor he had the day before the Fort Hood attack. Reports say Hasan was "mentoring" on Islam that Muslims shouldn't be in the U.S. military, because Muslims shouldn't kill Muslims.
Hasan counseled on more than a dozen occasions recent Islamic convert Duane Reasoner, an 18-year-old whose parents worked on the base.
"He said he didn't want to go to Iraq or Afghanistan," said Reasoner, who was raised a Catholic. "He didn't want to be deployed. He said Muslims shouldn't be in the U.S. military, because obviously Muslims shouldn't kill Muslims."
Reasoner added: "In the Quran, you're not supposed to have alliances with Jews or Christians or others, and if you are killed in the military fighting against Muslims, you will go to hell."
An Army chaplain interviewed by McClatchy Newspapers on the condition of anonymity confirmed that there are other Muslim soldiers who are conflicted about honoring their duty while fighting other Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hasan told colleagues, "I'm a Muslim first and an American second." He clearly put the Islamic nation above the secular nation he took an oath to protect and defend.
He's not alone. At least a dozen other Muslim soldiers have been convicted of terrorism or espionage since 9/11. Here's a sampling:
* NAVY SIGNALMAN HASSAN ABUJIHAAD last year was convicted of tipping off al-Qaida to battlegroup movements in the Persian Gulf, including disclosing classified documents detailing the group's vulnerability to terror attack
* ARMY RESERVIST JEFFREY LEON BATTLE in 2003 pleaded guilty to conspiring to wage war against the U.S., confessing he enlisted "to receive military training to use against America"
* ARMY RESERVIST SEMI OSMAN in 2002 was arrested for providing material support to al-Qaida and pleaded guilty to weapons charges after agreeing to testify against other terror suspects
* MARINE ABDUL RAHEEM AL-ARSHAD ALI trained at a suspected al-Qaida camp and was charged with selling a semiautomatic handgun to Osman
* ARMY SGT. ALI "THE AMERICAN" MOHAMED trained Green Berets at the elite Swick warfare school at Fort Bragg before stealing classified military secrets for al-Qaida and helping plan the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa
* ARMY SGT. HAMMAD ABDUR-RAHEEM in 2004 was convicted of terror-related charges
* ARMY SPC. RYAN G. ANDERSON in 2004 was convicted of leaking military intelligence to al-Qaida terrorists, including sensitive information about the vulnerabilities of armored Humvees
* ARMY SNIPER JOHN ALLEN MUHAMMAD was sentenced to death after fatally shooting 10 in the nation's capital a year after the 9/11 attacks
* FORMER ARMY LINGUIST AHMED FATHY MEHALBA in 2005 was convicted of stealing secret documents listing, among other things, the names of al-Qaida detainees from Gitmo
* SENIOR AIRMAN AHMAD AL-HALABI in 2004 was convicted of mishandling classified documents as an Arabic linguist at Gitmo
* ARMY CAPT. JAMES "YOUSEF" YEE in 2003 was formally charged with mishandling classified information – including maps of a new Gitmo facility – as a Muslim chaplain at Gitmo.
"Muslim Mafia" co-author Paul Sperry says Hasan is just the tip of a jihadist Fifth Column operating inside the U.S. military – which is too blinded by political correctness to see the internal threat.
"If military command is too PC to protect its own troops from Islamic fanatics on its own soil, how can Americans be confident they can protect the rest of the country?" asked Sperry, also author of "Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington."
He says that each branch of the military operates a counterspying unit in charge of force protection.
"Why didn't the Army investigate Hasan with all the red flags waving around him?" Sperry said. "And what other radicalized soldiers – and I would include chaplains among them – are they failing to investigate now? What is the military doing to stop the next Maj. Nidal?"
Political Correctness Going Too Far
A Culture of Political Correctness
by Guy Rodgers
www.actforamerica.org
The horrific massacre at Ft. Hood has exposed the degree to which political correctness impacts government and military action — and media coverage.
Fox News contributor Lt. Col. Ralph Peters (retired) exhibited a courage and clarity that has been lacking in most media coverage when, during two different interviews I saw, he angrily and indignantly denounced what he referred to as a “culture of political correctness” in the leadership of the military.
He pointedly asserted that this was an act of Islamist terrorism, and listed just some of the telltale signs to back up his position. For instance:
Col. Peters went on to blame the culture of political correctness for the failure of the Army to take any action against Hasan, in spite of an awareness that Hasan held these views.
Other evidence of Hasan’s beliefs include statements he made to colleagues that Muslims have the right to rise up against the U.S. military, and that they have the right to rise up against their “oppressors” — the United States.
A fellow student at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences complained about a presentation Hasan gave that “justified suicide bombings and spewed anti-American propaganda.”
Here’s the disturbing question that needs to be asked: Could this act of terrorism had been prevented had there not been such a politically correct reluctance to act on what was known about Hasan?
Imagine if the Army had acted. It’s easy to envision the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) indignantly blasting the Army with statements alleging “discrimination.”
Yet if the Army or law enforcement authorities had stepped in, taken action months ago, and brushed aside the typical and predictable rants from groups like CAIR, is it possible that twelve dead soldiers and one dead police officer would be alive today?
Why are so many in government and the military apparently afraid of “offending” a group like CAIR, which deserves to be investigated for its many questionable activities and ties to terrorists, not accommodated? (See our petition calling for such an investigation.)
But in the aftermath of this terrorist act, too few in the media or government have been willing to call it that. There has been a desperate search for another motive, the most common focusing on his mental state.
Edina Lekovic, communications director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), also appeared on Fox News. Lekovic was unequivocal in her remarks, claiming Hasan was “clearly disturbed” and comparing him to the killers at Virginia Tech and Columbine.
Remarkably, only a minute or so after making this unsubstantiated claim as if it were fact, when asked about any possible connection to Islam, she warned we must not “rush to judgment.”
But isn’t that precisely what Lekovic did when she asserted Hasan was “clearly disturbed?” Is she a psychiatrist? Did she examine him?
Of course not. What qualifies Lekovic to assert Hasan was like the Columbine killers? Nothing.
She did exactly what she is warning others not to. She “rushed to judgment.” And while anyone who is contending that this massacre has all the earmarks of a terrorist attack is challenged, no one on the Fox News program challenged Lekovic’s unverifiable claim falsely asserted as fact.
Why not? Political correctness?
More political correctness. Prior to killing 13 people on Thursday, Hasan gave away furniture and Korans, a telltale sign of a jihadist preparing for martyrdom.
So how does a Washington Post story characterize Hasan’s giving furniture away? As an act of kindness.
But the tide may be turning. Facts are stubborn things. There are just too many signs that Hasan was in fact a radical Muslim bent on jihad. Too many signs to be ignored.
ABC News last night ran a headline asking if the Army missed signs that Hasan was an Islamic extremist.
On Fox News Sunday, Bill Kristol referred to an AP story that quoted colleagues of Hasan at Walter Reed Hospital who admitted they did not report his suspicious actions due to fear of appearing to be discriminatory toward Muslims.
It may well be determined that Hasan had emotional problems. It may also turn out that he didn’t.
But as Brit Hume stated on Fox News Sunday, even if Hasan had emotional or psychological issues, the facts clearly point to the conclusion that Hasan was a radical Islamist who acted on his beliefs.
by Guy Rodgers
www.actforamerica.org
The horrific massacre at Ft. Hood has exposed the degree to which political correctness impacts government and military action — and media coverage.
Fox News contributor Lt. Col. Ralph Peters (retired) exhibited a courage and clarity that has been lacking in most media coverage when, during two different interviews I saw, he angrily and indignantly denounced what he referred to as a “culture of political correctness” in the leadership of the military.
He pointedly asserted that this was an act of Islamist terrorism, and listed just some of the telltale signs to back up his position. For instance:
* Nidal Hasan opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and would argue with his patients, vets returning from combat, against the justification for the wars.
* Hasan said the “war on terror” was in fact a war against Islam.
* There is evidence that Hasan believed “infidels” deserve beheading.
* Internet postings in Hasan’s name months earlier compared suicide bombers to heroic soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.
Col. Peters went on to blame the culture of political correctness for the failure of the Army to take any action against Hasan, in spite of an awareness that Hasan held these views.
Other evidence of Hasan’s beliefs include statements he made to colleagues that Muslims have the right to rise up against the U.S. military, and that they have the right to rise up against their “oppressors” — the United States.
A fellow student at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences complained about a presentation Hasan gave that “justified suicide bombings and spewed anti-American propaganda.”
Here’s the disturbing question that needs to be asked: Could this act of terrorism had been prevented had there not been such a politically correct reluctance to act on what was known about Hasan?
Imagine if the Army had acted. It’s easy to envision the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) indignantly blasting the Army with statements alleging “discrimination.”
Yet if the Army or law enforcement authorities had stepped in, taken action months ago, and brushed aside the typical and predictable rants from groups like CAIR, is it possible that twelve dead soldiers and one dead police officer would be alive today?
Why are so many in government and the military apparently afraid of “offending” a group like CAIR, which deserves to be investigated for its many questionable activities and ties to terrorists, not accommodated? (See our petition calling for such an investigation.)
But in the aftermath of this terrorist act, too few in the media or government have been willing to call it that. There has been a desperate search for another motive, the most common focusing on his mental state.
Edina Lekovic, communications director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), also appeared on Fox News. Lekovic was unequivocal in her remarks, claiming Hasan was “clearly disturbed” and comparing him to the killers at Virginia Tech and Columbine.
Remarkably, only a minute or so after making this unsubstantiated claim as if it were fact, when asked about any possible connection to Islam, she warned we must not “rush to judgment.”
But isn’t that precisely what Lekovic did when she asserted Hasan was “clearly disturbed?” Is she a psychiatrist? Did she examine him?
Of course not. What qualifies Lekovic to assert Hasan was like the Columbine killers? Nothing.
She did exactly what she is warning others not to. She “rushed to judgment.” And while anyone who is contending that this massacre has all the earmarks of a terrorist attack is challenged, no one on the Fox News program challenged Lekovic’s unverifiable claim falsely asserted as fact.
Why not? Political correctness?
More political correctness. Prior to killing 13 people on Thursday, Hasan gave away furniture and Korans, a telltale sign of a jihadist preparing for martyrdom.
So how does a Washington Post story characterize Hasan’s giving furniture away? As an act of kindness.
But the tide may be turning. Facts are stubborn things. There are just too many signs that Hasan was in fact a radical Muslim bent on jihad. Too many signs to be ignored.
ABC News last night ran a headline asking if the Army missed signs that Hasan was an Islamic extremist.
On Fox News Sunday, Bill Kristol referred to an AP story that quoted colleagues of Hasan at Walter Reed Hospital who admitted they did not report his suspicious actions due to fear of appearing to be discriminatory toward Muslims.
It may well be determined that Hasan had emotional problems. It may also turn out that he didn’t.
But as Brit Hume stated on Fox News Sunday, even if Hasan had emotional or psychological issues, the facts clearly point to the conclusion that Hasan was a radical Islamist who acted on his beliefs.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Enough Is Enough ...
Middle America Has Had Enough.
Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. Instead, we are burdened with Congressional Dukes and Duchesses who think they know better than the citizens they are supposed to represent.
There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now.
You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut-job am I? Well, these briefly are the views and issues for which I seek representation:
One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels.. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration.
Two, the STIMULUS bill. I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you No, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.
Three: Czars. I want the circumvention of our constitutional checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution, and honor it.
Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There are many conflicting opinions and it is too soon for this radical legislation. Quit throwing our nation into politically-correct quicksand.
Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision that will burden me, my children, and grandchildren. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night without even reading it. Slow down! Fix only what is broken -- we have the best health care system in the world -- and test any new program in one or two states first.
Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. More is not better! Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real [Constitutional] obligations. Why don't you start there.
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes -- how did they pull that one off? Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with any of our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.
Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs -- and that is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person! Why do you want me to hate my employers? And what do you have against shareholders making a profit?
Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.
Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Every company must sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. (Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid?) We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Slow down and get some input from nonpoliticians and experts on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed-reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not.
It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is needless urgency and recklessness in all of your recent spending of our tax dollars.
From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on bringing our concerns to Washington . Our president often knows all the right buzzwords like unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.
We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented.. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone... and we are now looking at you.
You have awakened us, the patriotic freedom spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office.
We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us who will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.
Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution, and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them.. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.
If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming."
Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. Instead, we are burdened with Congressional Dukes and Duchesses who think they know better than the citizens they are supposed to represent.
There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now.
You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut-job am I? Well, these briefly are the views and issues for which I seek representation:
One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels.. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration.
Two, the STIMULUS bill. I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you No, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.
Three: Czars. I want the circumvention of our constitutional checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution, and honor it.
Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There are many conflicting opinions and it is too soon for this radical legislation. Quit throwing our nation into politically-correct quicksand.
Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision that will burden me, my children, and grandchildren. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night without even reading it. Slow down! Fix only what is broken -- we have the best health care system in the world -- and test any new program in one or two states first.
Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. More is not better! Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real [Constitutional] obligations. Why don't you start there.
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes -- how did they pull that one off? Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with any of our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.
Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs -- and that is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person! Why do you want me to hate my employers? And what do you have against shareholders making a profit?
Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.
Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Every company must sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. (Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid?) We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Slow down and get some input from nonpoliticians and experts on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed-reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not.
It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is needless urgency and recklessness in all of your recent spending of our tax dollars.
From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on bringing our concerns to Washington . Our president often knows all the right buzzwords like unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.
We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented.. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone... and we are now looking at you.
You have awakened us, the patriotic freedom spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office.
We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us who will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.
Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution, and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them.. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.
If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming."
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