Tuesday, December 05, 2006

The Mighty Wurlitzer

Despite all the talk about how conservatives are pulling ideologically even with the Left, the "activism" infrastructure gap between them is immense. Perhaps the gap is even growing. Here's how it looks from the Philippines, which I am currently passing through. Item: a US Marine Lance Corporal named Daniel Smith was convicted of rape by a Philippine judge, and three of his co-accused acquitted under a status of forces agreement. The judge himself seemed fair, though idiosyncratic, but the entire trial was attended by race baiting by the Philippine Left, which bayed for the "blood of the Americans". If Smith were under the protection of the Left, he would be a "martyr" by now -- there would be "Free Smith" t-shirts everywhere -- and the entire trial invalidated under charges of racism. The reason it is not going to happen is because conservatives lack the infrastructure: the legal aid groups, sympathetic UN institutions and tribunals which can bring charges of "prejudice" or "bias" against any court in any country.


Item: a cursory survey of the local high-end newspapers reveal an almost exclusive reliance upon syndicated New York Times op-ed writers like Paul Krugman. Readers are told by those op-ed writers that George Bush will soon be talking to the walls, just like Richard Nixon because Iraq is just like Vietnam and both are Republicans. Why do newspapers feature NYT op-ed writers and why do members of the local elite prefer to read them? For the same reason that the children of Third World millionaires are sent to Harvard. Both the NYT and Harvard are status institutions in societies which crave status. And in later life, when these graduates return to run local TV networks and newspapers, they cling to some vestige of their college habits, and that usually includes wearing boxer shorts, reading the Boston Globe and worshipping the New York Times.

Item: In my anecdotal experience the local "intelligensia" get a far larger proportion of their information from books and TV news than the Internet, at least in comparison to Americans. Many upper-crust Filipinos will have no trouble following a reference to a Bob Woodward book but will be absolutely ignorant about Rathergate, fauxtography or "Captain Jamil Hussein". Again, this advantage is due to the immense logistical superiority of the Left in the book publishing industry. Many conservatives congratulate themselves on matching the Left post for post on the blogs. But in books there is no contest. It takes from one to six years to write a first-rate book. And the only institutions which can commission them are publishers and academic institutions, who can support faculty while they write. Conservatives have no equivalent. And when Mark Steyn writes a book, many bookstores simply don't stock him. The result is that the Left gradually comes to own the contents of a bookstore and by extension, history. Churchill once said, "history will be kind to me because I intend to write it". He was speaking for himself. As for the rest of us, the Left which will write our -- and Corporal Smith's -- epitaph.

One of the saddest of today's news stories comes from the New York Times. It describes the belated efforts of the Israeli defense force to shop around satellite imagery, photos and intelligence reports to prove that Hezbollah used Lebanese neighborhoods as human shields.

Jerusalem, Dec. 4 — Israel’s military, which has been accused of abuses in its war against Hezbollah this summer, has declassified photographs, video images and prisoner interrogations to buttress its accusation that Hezbollah systematically fired from civilian neighborhoods in southern Lebanon and took cover in those areas to shield itself from attack. Lebanon and international human rights groups have accused Israel of war crimes in the 34 days of fighting in July and August, saying that Israel fired into populated areas and that civilians accounted for a vast majority of the more than 1,000 Lebanese killed. ...

In a new report, an Israeli research group says Hezbollah stored weapons in mosques, battled Israelis from inside empty schools, flew white flags while transporting missiles and launched rockets near United Nations monitoring posts. The detailed report on the war was produced by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies, a private research group headed by Reuven Erlich, a retired colonel in military intelligence, who worked closely with the Israeli military.

It's a story of too little and too late. The Left had no difficulty in painting a portrait of a New Guernica with digitally altered pictures, fake sources, unsupported accusations, racist charges and whatever else they could think up even as the bombs were falling. Now Israel produces the grainy, real pictures to show that it was the Hezbollah which committed the war crimes. That's a serious accusation supported by serious proof. But how can these low-resolution UAV images compete with the full color, staged photographs of New York Times cameraman Tyler Hicks? No, the IDF has been beaten in the propaganda war and it will be beaten again in the next few months if Lebanon turns hot. Beaten because it did not have the infrastructure -- the "concerned" committees, speakers bureaus, media houses, legal aid shops, international organizations and an army of writers -- to compete with the lie.

54 Comments:

Blogger Keith said...

If Smith were under the protection of the Left, he would be a "martyr" by now -- there would be "Free Smith" t-shirts everywhere -- and the entire trial invalidated under charges of racism. The reason it is not going to happen is because conservatives lack the infrastructure: the legal aid groups,....

No, I do not believe that your statement is valid. Primarily, comparing political activism here with what going over there is definitely an apples to squash analysis.

I imagine nationalism and memories our war against the Philippines energizes the left and de-energizes the right over there. Again, I doubt that it is reasonable to generalize from what is going on in that rather chaotic witches brew.

12/05/2006 12:38:00 PM  
Blogger Pierre said...

Vicar Self-Immolates himself to warn of Islamization in Europe

We don't even get press when we pour gasoline over our heads and die to make a point. Is the left suicidal? Do we have to follow them to the grave?

I am sorry to be spamming this marvelous comment board but I am terribly worried about our future.

12/05/2006 12:39:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since the 1920's the Left has slowly taken over the publishing and communications industries. The fact that control shifted from the right to the left is matter of history. The advent of the Internet allows a shift at least toward the center since the means of production are no longer exclusively in the hands of the Left. What was done over decades cannot be reversed overnight.

12/05/2006 01:43:00 PM  
Blogger demosophist said...

And the "light side" of media is no better. Who is most responsible for the fact that young voters voted overwhelmingly Democrat in the recent election, when polls taken as recently as 2004 showed young voters leaning right? Try Jon Stewart, as the tip of that iceberg.

Even the Japanese actor in the Heroes series was educated at Brown University, the site of recent leftist activism and speech code travesties. The series following it on Mondays is "Studio 60", whose creators thought nothing of depicting the religious right censors as incensed by a reporter yelling "phuque" as an RPG hit behind him, as though the Left are realists about this sort of thing while all the Right irresponsible prudes. And they still get away with a pseudo-sympathetic portrayal of an evangelistic love interest for Matthew Perry, with all the edges set at just the right angles to cast flattering highlights on all the right politically correct "truths".

And conservatives have got Dennis Miller, Colin Quinn, Carlos Mencia, and South Park, sorta.

The wonder is that they've ever lost an election.

12/05/2006 01:45:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

Keith,

For many people, the Philippine American war was a long time ago. And there are a large number of Filipinos who want the status of forces agreement to be impartial, because in the words of one pundit I was talking to the night Smith was sentenced, they want it to govern a "normal" relationship. In other words, many informed Filipinos who wanted Smith to be judged fairly -- guilty if guilty and innocent if innocent -- because they felt that was what a really dignified nation did.

Some insiders, who have actually spoken or know people close to case, think Smith is innocent. I'm not at liberty to repeat what I have heard, since it is hearsay anyway, but I'll say that much.

Others have advanced the opinion that the machinations of the Left have actually made it inevitable that Smith will be acquitted on appeal, whatever his guilt because it distorted the charges initially filed against him. He was accused of participating in a gang rape, largely on the strength of sensational, leftist fueled testimony that they had all taken turns raping the woman. Now as it happens, three of the men were completely exonerated. The reason? They had nothing to do with it. And the judge goes and says that since Smith was the only person who had sex with the woman and since she was dead drunk, she had sex under diminished capacity, and therefore Smith was morally guilty. Well alright, but some lawyer may argue that's not what he was charged with.

In sum, there are many Filipinos who, for reasons of authentic dignity, fairness or simple legal strategem, resent what the Left has done to the Smith case. And their attitude is simply that Smith deserves to be found guilty or innocent under a trial unattended by the dirty publicity of the Left. It's a fair desire and a nationalist desire. And I think Smith deserves it too.

12/05/2006 02:05:00 PM  
Blogger Ash said...

wretchard, what's with this great left right chasm you continually refer to? Does our knowledge, our approach to things, really fit the dicotomy of left vs right? Naw...heck, what do you mean by conservative? The Nation building anti-stem cell research god lovin' conservatism spouted by dubya? It strikes me as a much to simplistic approach toward categorizing the world we experience.

12/05/2006 02:22:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've enjoyed reading this blog for too long without posting a comment, and your description of the NY Times religion is one that I used to worship also.

However, although I think you're correct that the left has the publishing houses and academics, I also think you're selling the internet's influence short.

There truly was a balance shift when blogs brought down Dan Rather, and I think a lot more people do not hold journalism in the same opinion that they used to.

Therefore, even though the IDF couldn't produce this evidence of malfeasance until now, bloggers were the first ones to notice the doctored photographs and bring Reuters to task.

12/05/2006 02:24:00 PM  
Blogger CorporateCog said...

Wretchard,

I have been living in Europe for 20 years, and I concur. Everyone here thinks Clinton was the greatest president, and the reason the right was after him was soley because the puritans were after him for having an affair.

This ignorance permeates throughout their perceptions of every event where the US is involved.

To me it has long been clear the the left has no ideas what the international repercussions of their incessent Bush and military bashing are.

12/05/2006 02:47:00 PM  
Blogger Kinuachdrach said...

Thought-provoking post, Wretchard!

Again, you are highlighting the "Enemy Within", and pointing out that this is not just a US problem. And this is happening on the same day that a clique in New York City has decided to outlaw certain fats in restaurant food. Why is it that the same kind of people who are so keen to keep government out of our bedrooms are insisting on inserting government into our kitchens?

In my more pessimistic moments, these trends end in Civil War, when enough people get sufficiently sick of Leftist interference.

In my more optimistic moments, I remember that the wheel keeps on turning. The young turks who once led the opposition to the old foggies of the Establishment are themselves now the kitchen-probing Establishment. The young person who wants to rebel against an illogical, intrusive, self-satisfied ruling clique today has to go to Church, join the military -- or sneak into Journalism School under deep cover.

12/05/2006 03:02:00 PM  
Blogger enscout said...

W:
Your description of the events surrounding Smith’s case reminds me of the recent Duke Lacrosse team's alleged rape of a hooker in Durham.

Since they were all white & she was black, it was a made-for-MSM frenzy that had them tried, convicted 7 sentenced before the local authorities had any evidence either way on the case. Yet how long did the MSM yammer about those evil rich white boys & that poor innocent night club stripper?

The only boys that went to trial were acquitted & the girls testimony didn't match statements gathered earlier (as I recall from the news that was unceremoniously swept under the rug when the facts didn't meet the template).

It was a grand example of race baiting, class hatred and the left serving as judge, jury & executioner in the court of public opinion.

Anyway, the coach resigned his job when the story broke instead of defending his players from the wolves. He was probably a lefty too.

12/05/2006 03:04:00 PM  
Blogger Cosmo said...

Wretchard:

A similar dynamic infested the Duke University La Crosse 'rape' case, where 'evidence' against white athletes accused of raping a black stripper has all but unravelled.

Some of the same folks who assumed the guilt of rich white fraternity boys -- the New York Times, in its slanted coverage, included -- are, perhaps, old enough to remember a time when a black man accused of rape could be similarly railroaded.

But, then again, my mother told me over the weekend that back home there now has to be two Santa Clauses -- one black, the other white -- thanks to activists who felt Santa's color should be important to a four-year-old dreaming about toys and candy.

The parents and grandparents of these same activists struggled so that no one would think twice about a four year old black child sitting on a white Sant's lap.

What have we wrought?

12/05/2006 03:04:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

It's really ironic how the Left assumes that "nationalist" for the Third World means "Leftist". For many nationalist means to be dignified and normal; to have money in your pocket and a justice system that works. A justice system they can be proud of and are deeply insulted, more deeply insulted than some people on the Left will ever understand, when it is turned into a carnival by the worst sort of people.

Fully 11% of the population of the Philippines is overseas. On the day Smith was convicted, a Filipino-American who died in Iraq was buried in a northern province. How do you think "jail the Americans", which is what the Leftoids were chanting, sounds to the relatives of that soldier? Guilt or innocence has nothing to do with race, or at least this is what some real nationalists believe.

12/05/2006 03:19:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wretchard: The Rathergate and Fauxtography incidents make interesting case studies about why one reached the "tipping point" while the other never made it out to the mainstream. Was it the simplicity of the Rathergate message? Or the speed with which it became a coherent message, vs the days or weeks required to evolve and communicate the fauxtography message? Or was the weak counter-argument ("fake but accurate") vs the more powerful "warmongering racist" argument?

12/05/2006 03:36:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

sanchmo,

It's an axiom among organizers that you must always personalize the enemy. The Left does this very well. They create personal hate objects like "Bush" or "Rumsfeld". It's hard to get the public worked up over an idea so they reduce it to hate icons. (See the two minutes hate sequences in 1984).

The Rathergate thing worked better than the fauxtography because it had a concrete set of villains. Real people. The Fauxtography thing was a crusade against the system, but that rarely works. You can hate the mayor. Hard to hate town hall.

The AP has played it well by cloaking their journalists in anonymity. This prevents people from spotting patterns in biased reporting. Occasionally they slip up, as in "Captain Jamil Hussein". BTW, where is this "well known police officer"? Anyone found him yet. But the real benefit of keeping their reporters anonymous is that we are always left spluttering against a faceless system. Not an individual whose face we can loathe or like. I'm sure there are other differences, but this is one.

12/05/2006 03:50:00 PM  
Blogger Cosmo said...

wretchard:

And while 'nationalist' might be a positive label for a Third World* activist, nationalism is considered chauvinist or imperialist coming from a Brit or and American.

* Gee, since the Second World is down to Cuba, North Korea and, perhaps, Berkeley, California and Western institutions of higher learning, maybe it's time to update those labels, too!

12/05/2006 04:18:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

Claudia Rosett at Pajamas Media illustrates how the book industry works at the United Nations.

"Thanks to persistent questioning by Matthew Russell Lee of the Inner City Press, we now learn that two years ago, while heading the UN Development Program, Malloch Brown launched a project in which a historian was hired by the UNDP to produce a book, recently published, that is basically a paean to the UNDP: “The United Nations Development Programme: A Better Way?”

Total cost, out of funds one might have supposed the UNDP was spending on helping the poor? $567,000, which included $252,000 paid to the author, Wellesley College professor Craig Murphy; $91,559 for research and editing, and $55,452 paid by the UNDP to buy copies of the book from the publisher.

12/05/2006 05:03:00 PM  
Blogger Marcus Aurelius said...

Keith,

Even your example contains much apples to apples. The left grants to groups who can claim historical injustice all sorts of indulgences. What you pose as not typical is actually all too typical.

For example, a Philadelphia punk who gets historical indulgences (for even cheaper than what the Pope sold 'em for) can pump a police officer full of bullets and when he is sentenced to death for the crime he becomes an international leftist cause celebre. Kinda the opposite with the Marine rape case, the left in the Philippines relying on some of the animus you describe, and relying on typical leftist animus don't care so much about the truth but just about getting the Kano.

12/05/2006 05:05:00 PM  
Blogger Annoy Mouse said...

"Total cost, out of funds one might have supposed the UNDP was spending on helping the poor? $567,000, which included $252,000 paid to the author, Wellesley College professor Craig Murphy; $91,559 for research and editing, and $55,452 paid by the UNDP to buy copies of the book from the publisher."

Sounds like the self licking icecream cone!

12/05/2006 05:07:00 PM  
Blogger 3Case said...

This is the reason I find those "Challenge the Dominant Paradigm" bumper stickers on the Subarus and Priuses of moonbats so ironic. It is also the reason they rail so at talk radio, Fox News and certain portions of the blogosphere.

12/05/2006 06:15:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wretchard wrote, "It's an axiom among organizers that you must always personalize the enemy. The Left does this very well. They create personal hate objects like 'Bush' or 'Rumsfeld'."

To be fair, the Dittohead Nation does this very well too. They create personal hate objects like the 'Hildebeast' or 'Feminazis' with the result that American politics is more bitter and divided than at any time since Reconstruction.

12/05/2006 07:34:00 PM  
Blogger Marcus Aurelius said...

Ed Nutter,

Not really. The point isn't so much what is the truth, but how the truth is actually irrelevant in some eyes, just as long as the Kano gets it.

Lets visit my example in my previous comment. It matters not a whit to the left if Mumia really did do what he is convicted of, they will still regard him a victim of "The Man". So, there can be a protest against WalMart in some obscure town in the States and the Free Mumia crowd will be out just as sure as those wearing Che t-shirts will be out.

12/05/2006 07:39:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

ed nutter,

The Lance Cpl claimed it was consensual. Both had been drinking and dancing the night away. The judge decided, based upon the evidence of her hard drinking and other testimony, that she was too intoxicated to give consent. There are uncertainties about how far gone, intoxication-wise, the woman was. He claimed she was speaking to him the whole time.

Ultimately it came down to he said-she said. It is not inconceivable that the judge decided correctly. Certain individuals who have met both parties have formed different opinions as to the credibility of the disputing parties and feel it is a miscarriage of justice. But that's neither here nor there. Both the accused and the accuser had a right to a trial uninfected by racist sensationalism. And as I pointed out in an earlier comment, the publicity may ultimately poison the case because it caused the initial charges to specified wrongly. It became clear as the trial proceeded, that there was no gang rape. That may be used on appeal to throw out the case. So whether you take the part of the accused or the accuser it may not come out right.

12/05/2006 07:42:00 PM  
Blogger Marcus Aurelius said...

WC,

Hildebeast I give you, but feminazi is not a personalization but a generalization. Hildebeast is the mayor, feminazi is the city hall.

I also laugh at the notion Rush is responsible for America's divided politics. Division by 1 is still unity in order to have something less than unity it takes a dividend greater than 1.

Kate O'Beirne has an article in the upcoming issue of NRODT (National Review on Dead Tree) about the falling apart of 'bipartisanship'. Bipartisanship & the unity you refer to is actually domination by the left and rolling over by the right.

12/05/2006 07:45:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Marcus Aurelius said, "Bipartisanship & the unity you refer to is actually domination by the left and rolling over by the right."

My definition of bipartisanship is the first and second Patriot Acts:

First one passed in the Senate by a vote of 98 to 1, and in the House by a vote of 357 to 66

Renewed on March 2, 2006 with a vote
of 89 to 11 in the Senate and on March 7 280 to 138 in the House.

12/05/2006 08:06:00 PM  
Blogger Matt said...

As a former Marine, I can say that this behavior doesn't surprise me. However, the thought of someone who put on the uniform spending the rest of their life in a foreign jail doesn't go over too well with me.

Matt Menster
Affiliate Marketing

12/05/2006 08:49:00 PM  
Blogger Charles said...

A good idea would be to crowdsource the purchase of the NY Times.

12/05/2006 09:07:00 PM  
Blogger Charles said...

ummm maybe not so good....

New York Times November advertising revenue falls
Marketwatch.com ^ | December 5, 2006 | Ruth Mantell

Posted on 12/05/2006 5:03:34 PM PST by abb

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- New York Times Co. (NYT) Tuesday evening said November advertising revenue from continuing operations decreased 3.8% to $189.9 million from $197.4 million during the same period in the prior year. The media company said total November revenue from continuing operations fell 1.7% to $278.5 million from $283.3 million in the prior year. Monthly advertising revenue fell 4.2% for the New York Times Media Group, fell 10.7% for the New England Media Group, and fell 1.3% for the Regional Media Group. The company added that circulation revenue for November fell 0.4% -- with revenue gaining at the New York Times Media Group and declining at the New England and Regional Media Groups.

12/06/2006 12:20:00 AM  
Blogger summignumi said...

Israel suffers from the same symptoms and has some of the same defective cells but the deadly disease has not altered its core yet though the symptoms are getting stronger, proof being the 35 day fiasco of this summer. Israel is an infant in size to the adult US so it does not require the core to have a deadly disease to kill it.
As I have said the disease controls the controllers and one of the controls, the loudest trumpet played during Americas birth and history, Short is the life left if the Disease is not treated, Newyt Gingrich spoke of some of the medicine it will take to control and fight the disease that can turn good into bad, spread bad as if it was good and install evil into the seat of good, It is time for a strong man, a second George Washington, to correct the old and twisted, the water of life is needed to return the tree of liberty to its season of spring. The outlook is darker then in the beginning when time was on truths side, the diseases bubbles is creating a fever near the same heat of 1861, the clouds of intervention are black and stacked against good the warrior forced from the field in 1990 without defeat is ready and has allies, waiting for the sickness to open the armor for the thrust that will kill the tree of freedom and it will fall back to the earth becoming very similar to 999 and the disease will have gotten what they want.

12/06/2006 01:31:00 AM  
Blogger Herr Wu Wei said...

> Beaten because it did not have the infrastructure ... to compete with the lie.

Exactly. At least in the US, the Left seems to want it the most, so they continually out play the Right in every aspect of politics. The Left (Soros) pays professional protesters to go on TV when it benefits their cause, but that is rarely seen on the Right, only on a few issues like right to life. The Left has almost all the infrastructure, with the Right only fairly recently responding with talk radio and Fox.

The Republican politicians are especially bad. Most seem to have the attitude that they hate the mechanics of politics, so they ignore it and let the Democrats run over them. Frist is a good example, the way he let democratic senate leader Reid run over him. As one conservative columnist said after Frist dropped out of the president race, his heart never really seemed to be in politics.

Democratic pols have the attitude that they're going to slash Republicans throats and do whatever it takes to get the job done, while Republican pols talk about their "ideas" and the importance of being good losers.

This was the attitude Newt Gingrich faced from the prior Republican leader, the one who passively watched as Republicans were the House minority for 40 years:

When Gingrich arrived in the House in 1979, he could see that the Republicans were a sorry lot, sorely in need of inspiration if they were ever to find their way out of the wilderness. The old minority leader, the sweetly irrelevant Bob Michel of Illinois, would greet freshly elected G.O.P. members with the revelation that "every day I wake up and look in the mirror and say to myself, 'Today you're going to be a loser.' And after you're here a while, you'll start to feel the same way. But don't let it bother you. You'll get used to it."

12/06/2006 05:00:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

WC, the "bipartisanship" O'Beirne decrys is the kind exemplified by the rejection of John Bolton, whose fault, according to Sen. Chris Dodd (who led the fight against him), was that Mr. Bolton "lacks bipartisan support".

IOW, he "lacks bipartisan support" because he lacks bipartisan support.

IOW, "let us rule or we will ruin us", says Sen Dodd and so many like him, so often, and in so many ways.

But, Sen Dodd dresses well, is hygienic, and has been elected, so, what can anyone do but defer to him, whether he has any sort of sense of what USA needs in the UN, or whether he has no idea nor any concern about that, at all?

The 'right' is not exempt from this will-to-power, but--unlike with the 'left'--it's more the exception and less the rule.

12/06/2006 05:19:00 AM  
Blogger RWE said...

Another aspect that should be disturbing to the Left themselves most of all is the extent which they themsleves go to control the information flow.

One of the terms of the Tobacco Settlement was that the companies quit funding an institute designed to challenge anti-tobacco research as well as find new uses for the product.

Then there was McCain-Feingold, which limited free speech by redefining it as anything the MSM is not doing.

Opposition to school vouchers is designed to make sure the Teacher's Union has no competition.

And most recently there were threats from some Democratic senators that Exxon must stop funding research that challenges the global warming theory.

They don't just want to get their message out - they want to make very sure that no one else does. They insist on not just winning, but winning easily.

12/06/2006 05:27:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Papa Bear is correct, that the bureaucrat is 'of the left', whether he picks up a few rightist tics or not.

The pure rightist has no affinity for politics, and has only the voting booth with which to protect his own.

Sorta sux, when the info flow into that voting booth is coming mostly out of the pipes of the mighty Wurlitzer.

That's why so many folks gone fishin' are conservatives.

12/06/2006 05:46:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

The Mighty Wurlitzer's melody reverses Mark Twain's famous observation on the music of Richard Wagner, that it's "not as bad as it sounds".

12/06/2006 06:20:00 AM  
Blogger Herr Wu Wei said...

The Democrats know which Republicans are the biggest threat to them. That's why the Dems worked so hard to knock out Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, Republican leaders who loved brass knuckle politics. Those are the kind that scare Democrats. Conservative members of congress who just give speeches but don't play politics mostly get left alone by the Left. They may get targeted during the election, but they aren't demonized and made the subjects of national smear campaigns like Gingrich.

12/06/2006 06:20:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Buddy Larsen wrote, "WC, the 'bipartisanship' O'Beirne decrys is the kind exemplified by the rejection of John Bolton, whose fault, according to Sen. Chris Dodd (who led the fight against him), was that Mr. Bolton 'lacks bipartisan support'."

Rumsfled, too, lacked 'bipartisan support', and his successor is about to sail through the Senate on a bipartisan vote. Why? Because he dares to contradict the President on the question of whether we, a third party interloper, are winning a civil war between the Shi'a and Sunnis. Imagine if troops from Great Britain were riding around Virginia on trains in 1864 while Lee and Grant were fighting at Cold Harbor and the Wilderness, and Queen Victoria kept insisting the UK was "winning" the war in America.

12/06/2006 06:48:00 AM  
Blogger Pierre said...

Reading a local copy of a terrific speech given in Australia by Mark Steyn over at the New Sisyphus and in the comments came across this quote by Victor Davis Hanson. This struck me as being one of most perceptive quotes regarding the West’s war with Islam that I have come across.

“The anti-Americans often invoke Rome as a warning and as a model, both of our imperialism and of our foreordained collapse. But the threats to Rome’s predominance were more dreadful in 220 B.C.E. than in 400 C.E. The difference over six centuries, the dissimilarity that led to the end, was a result not of imperial overstretch on the outside but of something happening within that was not unlike what we ourselves are now witnessing. Earlier Romans knew what it was to be Roman, why it was at least better than the alternative, and why their culture had to be defended. Later in ignorance they forgot what they knew, in pride mocked who they were, and in consequence disappeared.”

Both Victor Davis Hanson and Mark Steyn make a point that the multicultural morass we have waded into will be the death of us not the attacks of Islamic fanatics. We can survive a lot of punishing attacks if we know who we are. But if we are left defenseless by our inability to defend our way of life then just like the Romans we are destined for the trashpile.

Here is a terrific quote from Mark Steyn speech for the entire speech please see the New Sisyphus.

At the heart of multiculturalism is a lie: that all cultures are equally valid. And to accept that proposition means denying reality; the reality of any objective measure of human freedom, societal health, global population movement. And multiculturalism isn’t the first ideology founded on the denial of truth. You recall Herman Goering’s memorable assertion that ‘two plus two makes five, if the Fuhrer wills it’. Likewise we’re asked to accept that the United States’ constitution was modelled on the principles of the Iroquois Confederation. If a generation of multi-culti theorists in American universities, if the ethnic grievance lobby, and even if a ludicrous resolution of the United States congress so wills it, that’s what happened. The United States Congress passed a resolution hailing the Iroquois Confederation as the inspiration for the US Constitution, which would have been news to the dead white euro-centric males who wrote it. Harmless, harmless isn’t it!

Our battle is primarily ideological and since the left controls so much of the primary methods of fighting ideological battles (movies, radio, internet, universities) we are at a disadvantage. The task facing those of us who would defend Western Civilization is how to regain our ability to defend our culture when we do not have access to the primary means of dissemination. We need to find ways of reaching the public.

Here is another link to the Mark Steyn speech with a question and answer period

Original Post

12/06/2006 06:57:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

That was great, Pierre.

WC, great imagery, but wrt to the "we", Queen Victoria could've meant it several different ways, not all of them so wrong.

What if the USA had been mounting an overt subversion against England, and so the Queen had sent the army to put a stop to it, and the 'stop to it' led to Fort Sumter?

12/06/2006 07:33:00 AM  
Blogger Karridine said...

"The United States Congress passed a resolution hailing the Iroquois Confederation as the inspiration for the US Constitution, which would have been news to the dead white euro-centric males who wrote it."

Even worse, the multi-cultis insist that "All cultures are equal!", but the Plain Amerindians BECAME 'Plains' Indians BECAUSE of the Iroquois and Hurons, whose voracious appetite for and excellence at TORTURE drove several tribes FROM the rich, Great Lakes regions to the more difficult lifestyle demanded by the Great Plains...

More difficult, but when the murderous Hurons didn't follow, they at least had a chance for their children and themselves!

In a similar manner, Baha'u'llah doesn't lift up all the cultures of humankind and say "Rejoice, they're all as good as any other..."

Rather, He calls humankind to a World Community, based on Justice, courtesy, rationality, reason, equality of men and women, respect for minorities even with majority decision-making...

And remember: 'Abdu-l Baha, the son of the Glory of God, when released from prison by the Young Turk revolution, came to America and for 9 solid months, praised the American ideals and taught of the advent of Baha'u'llah! He also warned us against the rise of the left!

12/06/2006 07:41:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

Pierre Legrand,

re: Your 6:57 AM

Consider, the spendthrift Baby Boomers of today are the grandchildren of the Great Depression generation. Also worth consideration is the situation of Israel, where Mr. Olmert et al. are of an age to be the children and grandchildren of the European Shoah.

Time may heal all wounds, but it seems to inflict some existential ones as well.

Thanks.

12/06/2006 08:43:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

the existential question is, will time wound all heels?

12/06/2006 08:46:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

Karridine,

re: Noble Savages (not to be confused with the Nobel Savage Yasser Arafat)

Upwards of 30% of mortality among noble savages can be attributed to homicide. Even the two murder centers of the US, St. Louis and Detroit, don't remotely approach that level of violence. Why, just yesterday, a report was published acknowledging, at long last, that Neanderthals practiced cannibalism. Eventually, though very reluctantly, it will have to be acknowledged that cannibalism was widely practiced by Amerindians as well.

The left's definition of "noble" is liberal, indeed.

12/06/2006 09:00:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

buddy larsen,

re: the existential question is, will time wound all heels?

Recent studies suggest not.
;-)

12/06/2006 09:02:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Iraq Study Group Report says make noises like we're gonna cut & run and maybe that will get the Iraqis' attention.

12/06/2006 10:10:00 AM  
Blogger Herr Wu Wei said...

The coverage of the Iran Study Group report is a good example of the MSM bias. The media reports make it sounds like the ISG took the Democrat's side. Yet the report itself includes recommendations from both sides, including specifically saying that we shouldn't set a time table.

Ultimately a big part of the blame falls on the commander in chief, for letting the anti-war crowd, the MSM, and the ISG control the debate. This article says it well:

So, no, says the president. We are staying in Iraq until we win. Great. But what is winning? What is the “victory” we are seeking?

On this, there is no consensus. That is why Americans have soured on Iraq. History proves that the American people have plenty of stomach for a hard fight, however long it takes, if they understand and believe in what we are fighting for. And this, consequently, is where history will condemn the Bush administration....

On Iraq, the president decided his reelection meant he had already won the argument. But when you’re at war, and you’re the president, you’ve got to win the argument every day. If you’re not winning it, you’re losing it … and with it the public support essential to war-fighting.


Link

12/06/2006 10:18:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wu Wei said, "Yet the report itself includes recommendations from both sides, including specifically saying that we shouldn't set a time table."

Sure, it gives the President the cover to say, "There's no troop pull-back timetable" but it says "Gradually pull back the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq, starting next year and ending by the first quarter of 2008"...which is a timetable.

12/06/2006 11:41:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

WC,

re: 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq

Recall, the brigades are being reconstituted, i.e. made smaller but more lethal. Consequently, it is possible to retain 15 brigades in Iraq while simultaneously reducing the absolute number of troops in country.

12/06/2006 12:36:00 PM  
Blogger Herr Wu Wei said...

Here is the direct quote from the report:

By the first quarter
of 2008, subject to unexpected developments in the security
situation on the ground, all combat brigades not necessary for
force protection could be out of Iraq.


Unlike what the MSM says, it says "could be out of Iraq", and says "subject to unexpected developments in the security
situation on the ground".

Also the ISG appears to have copied this from a General:

RECOMMENDATION 42: We should seek to complete the
training and equipping mission by the first quarter of 2008,
as stated by General George Casey on October 24, 2006.


The ISG also says,

"The presence of U.S. forces in Iraq is a key topic of interest
in a national reconciliation dialogue. The point is not for the United States to set timetables or deadlines for withdrawal, an
approach that we oppose.
The point is for the United States
and Iraq to make clear their shared interest in the orderly departure
of U.S. forces as Iraqi forces take on the security mission.
A successful national reconciliation dialogue will advance
that departure date.
"

12/06/2006 12:51:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

bobalharb,

For those who have not yet read Westhawk's thread today, covering both Gates and the ISG, do so. When milbloggers such as Westhawk, PoliPundit, and Captain Ed are repulsed by the administration, it begins to look like the administration will be happy with nothing less than alienating every possible conservative.

Oh, the one thing that will come from the ISG will be a concerted effort to feed Israel to the dogs. See PoliPundit for a good rundown of that eventuality.

Hey, C4, there is a silver lining to every dark, Zionist cloud?

Two very bad days in Washington

Jimmy vs. the Jews - No, not Carter, BAKER

12/06/2006 05:17:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

bobalbarb,

In reporting facts, I make no value judgment. My point is to support Wretchard's contention that the left has and will continue to create myths to advance its agenda; that would include the myth of the "Noble Savage" and the struggle of the innocent creature of nature against the wicked West.

Aside from the extremely rare aberration, say perhaps the Amish, human beings on the whole are not especially noble. Again, as a personal opinion, I find myself noble to the extent of my capacity to sublimate my natural tendencies. That struggle for nobility can consume the time, 24-7-365. Admittedly, I am a hard case; others do far better, I am sure.

12/06/2006 06:11:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

bobalbarb,

For whatever it is worth, I have often defended Amerindians on the merits. Noble savagery has never been one of the merits.
;-)
Sometimes the left should listen to itself.

12/06/2006 07:01:00 PM  
Blogger john marzan said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

12/08/2006 12:48:00 AM  
Blogger john marzan said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

12/08/2006 12:58:00 AM  
Blogger john marzan said...

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2006/06/30/doctor.says.nicole.s.injuries.consistent.with.rape.html

12/08/2006 01:29:00 AM  
Blogger john marzan said...

Despite all the talk about how conservatives are pulling ideologically even with the Left, the "activism" infrastructure gap between them is immense. Perhaps the gap is even growing. Here's how it looks from the Philippines, which I am currently passing through. Item: a US Marine Lance Corporal named Daniel Smith was convicted of rape by a Philippine judge, and three of his co-accused acquitted under a status of forces agreement. The judge himself seemed fair, though idiosyncratic, but the entire trial was attended by race baiting by the Philippine Left, which bayed for the "blood of the Americans".

I thought the victim only got partial justice. How can the other 3 US servicemen not be found guilty too? They were inside the van just like Smith was and were chanting "go Smith, go Smith!" and "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!".

And the Dept. of Justice under Raul Gonzalez and the prosecutors did almost everything to screw up the case for Nicole. (Oh, you don't know about Mr. Noted Raul Gonzalez? He's a big joke. Google him up.)

If Smith were under the protection of the Left, he would be a "martyr" by now -- there would be "Free Smith" t-shirts everywhere -- and the entire trial invalidated under charges of racism. The reason it is not going to happen is because conservatives lack the infrastructure: the legal aid groups, sympathetic UN institutions and tribunals which can bring charges of "prejudice" or "bias" against any court in any country.

Who cares about the Left? If the guy is guilty of raping the woman, then he should be punished. Your fixation on the Left and blaming them for what happened to the US servicemen is BS and just plain excuse-making.

On the other hand, if women's groups like Gabriela did not come to the women's aid, the 4 would have been acquitted by now

which I suspect is what Wretchard really wanted all along.

Besides, spreading unsubstantiated rumors and conspiracy theories in your comments section, all I can say is, You're better than that.

And it's okay to lash out at the Left, the Commies, etc., but to root against the victim because of your hatred for everything Left is just absurd.

He was accused of participating in a gang rape, largely on the strength of sensational, leftist fueled testimony that they had all taken turns raping the woman. Now as it happens, three of the men were completely exonerated. The reason? They had nothing to do with it. And the judge goes and says that since Smith was the only person who had sex with the woman and since she was dead drunk, she had sex under diminished capacity, and therefore Smith was morally guilty. Well alright, but some lawyer may argue that's not what he was charged with.

There were enough evidence to find the 4 guilty (originally, there were 6 accused). Daniel's three other pals were egging, cheering, and applauding Smith to go "fuck, fuck, fuck!" the victim. Remember the movie "The Accused" with Jodie Foster. And you still think they're "not guilty"? They were there when it happned and did nothing to stop it.

Then after they were done with the woman, 2 US servicemen carried the woman like a pig out of the van and dumped her on the sidewalk.

Just because you got somebody drunk or the woman is wearing a tight skirt doesn't mean it's open season for date-rapes and gangbangs.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2006/06/30/doctor.says.nicole.s.injuries.consistent.with.rape.html

12/08/2006 04:10:00 AM  

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