The Blame Game
A member of parliament belonging to the British Labour Party has accused the West of holding "Muslim blood" cheap. But Shuggy's Blog argues that the MP has it backwards: the moral value of life depends not on whose blood is shed but upon who is doing the shedding.
According to Kitty Ussher MP the Muslim community in Burnley have been asking why it seems the blood of Muslims seems cheaper than that of Jews and Christians? An honest answer to this rhetorical question would have to include the observation that 'Muslim blood' has no fixed price but varies according to who is shedding it.
Christians shedding Muslim blood provokes outrage, although this too can vary. It is a much more serious matter, for example, if the 'Christians' in question are American rather than Serbian. But of course this is nothing like as grevious than the most serious of all - this being the context of the article - when it is Muslim lives being taken by Jews. On the other hand, Muslim lives being taken by other Muslims isn't anything like as serious. The pro-Nasrallah 'left', for example, are not only a little less than - how to put this delicately? - forthcoming in their condemnation of Jewish civilian casualties; they seem unpeturbed by the fact that Arab Israelis were also amongst the victims of Hizbollah's rocket attacks.
Is there any truth to this cynical assertion? Some perhaps. Recently, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense described the conflict between two "communities", who in terms of "toughness" are a matchup comparable to Alien vs. Predator: Muslims and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) of Sri Lanka. In this clash, who gets blamed? In particular who is at fault when Tamil Tigers kill Muslims?
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem is an angry man. He is angry with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for driving the Muslims out of Muttur and killing large numbers of them.
"What the LTTE has done to Muslims is absolutely horrendous. Tigers are to be blamed for making incursions into Muttur. We have been subjected to torture just because the Tigers think we are collaborating with the Army," he told this correspondent on Thursday, at the end of his visit to New Delhi where he briefed politicians and security officials about the plight of the Muslims in Sri Lanka.
Hakeem, who appeared particularly miffed with the LTTE, maintained that over 100 Muslim civilians, including women and children, were slaughtered by the Tigers in the recent conflict. The Muslim-Tamil relationship took a serious turn in 1990, when the LTTE expelled 90,000 Muslims from Jaffna overnight and killed 140 Muslims in the Kaathankudy mosque in Batticaloa district.
But later, the LTTE apologised to the Muslims.But Hakeem has little faith in the LTTE. It is worthless even to speak to them, he says. "The LTTE leadership has a funny attitude. No one can contact them. What they have done this time is simply unforgettable. The LTTE broke our trust. I was assured by Prabhakaran that our people will be protected when I signed a pact with him," Hakeem said.
Hakeem opined that constant international pressure could arrest the situation in Sri Lanka. And India, he said, could play a proactive part in this.
This incident contains all the stock elements of outrage. There is a mass expulsion of Muslims: ethnic cleansing. Women and children are slaughtered. But no Green Helmeted humanitarians come forward to display their bodies to an eager press. Promises are obtained by the pitiful victims which are immediately and treacherously broken by their killers. The Sri Lankan Muslims remained largely peaceful. Perfidy on perfidy. Had these acts been done by Americans, or worse yet, Jews, there would be calls for a War Crimes Tribunal. But none are heard, and what follows varies from the pattern in practically every respect. No outcry is heard from the UN Human Rights bureaucrats, nor from the Organization of Islamic Conference. No boycott is organized against the LTTE by Muslim countries. Even the European Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission composed of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland -- there to assist with keeping the peace -- has kept quiet. None of the usual champions of Muslim rights have come forward. So much so that the victimized Muslims themselves have appealed to India -- yes, India the archenemy of Pakistan -- for protection. How very, very strange. What is going on here?
Commentary
What's going is a demonstration of the principle that complaints are rarely lodged against those who are feared. Feared not for their power but for their brutality: such as the LTTE. Suicide bombs do not scare them: Tigers were suicide bombing before Islamic militants copied the tactic. In fact, the Tigers killed the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi with a prototype suicide vest carried by a woman in 1991. The Tigers are impervious to op-eds in the New York Times and speeches at the UN. Law does not affect them. The International Criminal Court would not dare to serve a summons on them. Therefore the LTTE will remain blameless, whatever outrages it may commit against Muslims. In contrast the Danes cannot even publish a caricature of Mohammed in a Danish newspaper without bringing down the wrath of the entire Muslim world and half the flagship newspapers of the West upon them. The difference between the Tigers and the Danes is you fear the one and buy canned ham from the other. The difference between correctness and political correctness is that the former blames who it must and the latter blames who it can.
This is completely perverse. And it means that modern political correctness will be exercised relentlessly against law-abiding nations because they are the only ones on who it works. The lawless will be given wide berth: the more lawless the wider the berth. The result will be split level morality where a few countries will be held to an impossibly high standard while the most brutal will be treated with kid gloves, even fawned upon. Now let's examine the question again: who holds Muslim blood cheap?
posted by wretchardthecat at 8/30/2006 05:51:00 AM
332 Comments:
"The difference between correctness and political correctness is that the former blames who it must and the latter blames who it can."
The latter also blames who it most hates and envies: its most powerful 'betters'--ie. Americans, Jews and the liberal democratic traditions they embody. They refrain from condemning the Tigers not only because they fear them but because they don't much care about them, and they don't much care about them in part because they don't feel so completely inferior to them--which is to say they don't REALLY fear them so much after all (at least not as much as they fear 'the great and little Satans,' the US and Israel.) Or do I psycho-babble?
Teresita looks a little like Lucy Lawless, doesn't she? Anyway, I'm not sure that "fear" is the critical independent variable. I'm sure Arabs "fear" what the US and what could do... and sometimes actually do. The issue is they have same some tactical or strategic effect on what that might be, by virtue of these appeals. They know they have a constituency within these states who "don't want trouble", so they make trouble.
Trouble, at least of that socio-political variety, has little tactical or strategic value with the Tigers. And that's what matters.
God, that's awful. I should have proofread. Let me try again.
I'm not sure that "fear" is the critical independent variable. I'm sure Arabs "fear" what the US and Israel could do... and sometimes actually do. The issue is they can have some tactical or strategic effect on what that might be, by virtue of these appeals. They know they have a constituency within these states who "don't want trouble", so they make trouble.
Trouble, at least of that socio-political variety, has little tactical or strategic value with the Tigers. And that's what matters. There's no utility in it.
shep barbash said:
They refrain from condemning the Tigers not only because they fear them but because they don't much care about them
Good point. We see this tendency too when Democrats practice the "soft bigotry of low expectations" with their black constituency, condemning Bush for "not giving money to Katrina" because Washington DC is supposed to be the solution to every problem, but refusing to condemn Ray "Chocolate City" Nagin for letting that fleet of buses get flooded out when people needed to be evacuated.
Saw Lucy with blonde hair, yesterday, singing her heart out.
Life is not fair
The Jews of Europe and the Chinese, both killed in the millions in WWII.
The killers of the Jews still "offically" rebuked.
The killers of the Chinese paroled by US and venerated by the current leaders of Japan.
Some folk are just more equal than others, just the way it is, sometimes.
teresita latte grande . 3 for 7. you are covering posts like starbucks coffee shops.
The moral environment Wretchard describes teaches future generations one thing -- do evil. You will only be condemned if you appear to have a conscience.
In terms of the worth of blood, I've always wondered how the tens of thousands of palestinians killed and displaced in the 1947 war have become the ultimate victims of the 20th century. If memory serves me correctly weren't quite a few more folks killed or displaced from their homelands never to return around the world in the 1940s too? The online historical atlas of the 20th century (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm) gives a little perspective that might educate the PC purveyors of victimotology(sp?). Check out
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstats.htm
a nice summary of death tolls attributed to the various wars and tyrants of the last 100 years.
Wretchard, in answer to your excellent essay yesterday at Pajamasmedia, the sustaining faith of the West will be Christianity and Judiasm. A little anticlimatic, but there you have it.
Hugs to the circular firing squad members, try not to clog up the comments section too much today.
XXX000, Lord Acton
Funny: many Muslims say they love death and, surely, many more admire those who say this. Yet, when they are killed (at least by the wrong peoples), they are the ones who complain the most and loudest. Can someone smell a contradiction here?
It sure seems like a global religious war. More and more war will find itself in proximity of the loudest mouth piece, and that means the West's MSM attracts terrorism. Let them be heard?
As goes Sri Lanka, so goes Sudan and so went Lebanon. The Israelis just had the audacity to brush past the UN to strike those who struck them, political correctness be damned.
The Israelis are lucky enough to have their own army and borders to delineate and control - outside of the UN peacekeeping arena. Too bad they had second thoughts. Pity those poor bastards who have to rely on the UN to do what is correct, not politically correct.
Another way to frame one's views of the UN and its role in disputes such as these is to recognize that it is a political institution and any resolution it engenders will be political, no matter how heavy the trappings of military involvement might be. It has set itself up to be, or has become, the avatar of that 'higher' level of morality that speaks ill of none and proclaims fealty to the 'proper' principles, yet avoids any effective censure of or action against the brutal. After all, it is so much easier (and photo friendly) to show those self-proclaimed 'higher' moralists that you are not buying Danish ham than it is to get to the meat of the matter in Darfur.
What truly needs to enter the collective conscious of the US and/or the West, is that boycotting a country that has transgressed the boundaries of political correctness, is at best merely a transitory pleasure for believers of the 'higher' morality, which papers over the evil acts of the brutal non-adherents and sows only killing fields, fertilized with the bones of the helpless.
It is no wonder that the French (and European) perfume industry is so large. The neighborhood stinks.
Now, This is just Plain Stupid.
The Beautiful People have already effectively ignored the war (and large numbers of deaths) in the Congo, and Darfur. Why not ignore Sri Lanka too?
This reminds me of that case in England a few years ago, where a farmer whose home had repeatedly been burgled shot the next punk who broke into his house. Farmer went to jail. Punk got restitution.
Perhaps the "liberal" mindset literally is unable to recognize certain things. Maybe they are not being hypocritical when they apply double standards -- they simply don't see events which do not fit their mental template.
No cause for alarm. Darwinism will win out in the end. Organisms which are incapable of recognizing threats in their environment will eventually fall prey to those threats, and be eliminated from the gene pool. Messy, but ultimately totally effective.
I think i can answer this...
For a Moslem to die by a Jew is like a warrior being killed by a flea.
go back to your school days as a child... on that playground, look at the bullies... that angry leather clad italian, that mean looking black gang banger, that tough drinking fighting irish guy, that tough mexican wearing colors and yes that tough skinny big nosed book reading jew.
Yes my friends no one likes the shit kicked out of them by jews. the historic wimp of all! those book reading, torah studing jews... it's simple when a jew kills a moslem, it is unfair, not proper, the universe is backwards, so it actually causes humiliation beyond repair.
yep the geeky, skinny, big nosed, weak jews fight back and the moslems are really afraid. too bad...
This is substantially off topic, but I thought it might be of interest to BC readers.
We had in Fremont and San Francisco yesterday an incident of what may have been "Sudden Jihad Syndrome," where an (apparently Muslim) Afghani-American male in a black Honda Pilot mowed down multiple pedestrians, killing at least one and critically injuring a number of others.
Here is the San Francisco Chronicle account of the incident, which is very detailed but somehow fails to identify the driver or use his name (which was well known to the writers by the time the story came out), instead repeatedly referring to the "Pilot" as though it were some autonomous agent killing and wounding all these innocent people. (Somehow the "Pilot" made its way to the Jewish Community center on California Street and seriously wounded two there, but that was probably unintentional.)
If Pilots are outlawed only outlaws will have Pilots, I guess.
Jamie Irons
WiO, you are a scream. Demented, yes, but delightful to read.
Rumsfled, ever the straight-talker, talks to the American Legion about the war and its challenges (link at RCP). Well, not really 'war', at least not on our part, since like a lot of other folks he insists it's the 1930's, not the 1940's. It's always the 1930's. You know, the era of appeasement. The Phony War.
He mentions "fascists". He mentions "extremists". He mentions "terrorists".
That is all he mentions.
And isn't that interesting - instructive, even?
YEP FOLKS, FRONT AND CENTER THIS MORNING THE QUEEN OF THE BLOG
Known in blogsphere as pimping.
**** PIMPS *******
IN FACT SHE RISES EARLY TO GET FIRST OR SECOND PLACE. GIRL YOU HAVE YOU OWN BLOG.....USE IT,OK?
If your juju is strong enough you'll gather a huge following, kinda like AMWAY.
3 out of the first 10 comments are by Teresita 30%....that's PIMPING
What would Lucy Lawless do,
If she were here right now?
I'm sure she'd kick an ass or two,
That's what Lucy Lawless'd do!
Lucy actually dates a chubby big nosed balding older jewish man... who loves to read
Habu, she's gonna rope-a-dope you to where you're gonna punch yosef out and fall over in the 14th like George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle. Better let her off the ropes and box a few rounds. Little squirt can take a punch.
Lucy in the Sky with Hebrews?
buddy larsen wrote:
Habu, she's gonna rope-a-dope you to where you're gonna punch yosef out and fall over in the 14th like George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle. Better let her off the ropes and box a few rounds. Little squirt can take a punch.
I don't know what "pimping a blog" means, I'm just responding to wretchard and others as normal participation in a forum. And it's amazing how sweet I can be when someone offers a real apology that isn't retracted three or four posts later.
I also have a blog.
My blog has been visited by approximately 7 people in two years.
Perhaps this is somehow related to the fact that it is protected by a moat filled with alligators, surrounded by a killing field of land mines, and a perimeter of claymore mines and trained killer bees.
Well, also maybe it's because my writing is inflated, wordy, run-on, whiny, bigoted, pissy, self-indulgent, and opaque.
I mainly use it as a place to try to organize my thoughts and logic around issues that really really really really really hijack my attention. Not because I'm trying to force my opinions on a prostrate reading audience.
When I want to do that, I come over here to the BC and jump in the continuing fistfight.
Seems like it's become a lot more like figure-8 stock car racing lately.
No, seriously. I come here and post when I actually think I have some tiny little contribution to make to the conversation.
We now return to that conversation, already in progress...
Trish,
Perhaps you missed this yesterday. It is too apropos in your situation not to repeat.
A woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.
Samual Johnson
Buddy,
Teresita is a very bright woman with some excellent thoughts.
When you pretty much one-note-Johnny as I do it's hard to rope a dope me. It's just the idea that she is using another persons intellectual property to gain higher visibility in hopes of establishing a successful following. In the sphere this is known as pimping.
I mean isn't even her image a fraud? I don't box anymore anyway...Dim Mak instead.
Wretchard, re: your essay.
First, to build your thesis:
According to Kierkegaard, faith cannot be attained by approximation, or by an effort to quantify deliberation into a higher degree of certainty. Faith can only be attained by an appropriation or acceptance of the condition of uncertainty. Thus, faith requires a leap from disbelief to belief. Faith is a state of objective uncertainty in which the individual affirms his or her own subjectivity.
And more:
Faith, for Kierkegaard, is not a matter of learning dogma by rote. It is a matter of the individual repeatedly renewing h/er passionate subjective relationship to an object which can never be known, but only believed in. This belief is offensive to reason, since it only exists in the face of the absurd.
Kierkegaard also anticipated the secular aesthete:
That is, the aesthete uses artifice, arbitrariness, irony, and wilful imagination to recreate the world in his own image. The prime motivation for the aesthete is the transformation of the boring into the interesting.
This type of aestheticism is criticized from the point of view of ethics. It is seen to be emptily self-serving and escapist. It is a despairing means of avoiding commitment and responsibility. It fails to acknowledge one's social debt and communal existence. And it is self-deceiving insofar as it substitutes fantasies for actual states of affairs.
Kierkegaard writes:
Faith does not result from straightforward scholarly deliberation, nor does it come directly; on the contrary, in this objectivity one loses that infinite, personal, impassioned interestedness, which is the condition of faith.
Losing faith is losing any belief in the infinite--God, good and evil, moral truth, etc. Because finite thinking cannot understand the infinite, the infinite can only be believed in, can only be taken on faith.
Of course, as you point out, this definition of faith can be stretched to cover statism, Marxism, and liberalism; the self-elected Marxist, for instance, takes, on faith, a great many things that are repugnant to reason.
And secular faiths are by no means confined to these. As you mentioned, Churchill appealed to the secular faith of Britain's Glory and Worth when steeling his people for the onslaught of the Luftwaffe. Lincoln, it may be said, refounded America not as a social contract, but as a political theology -- affirming and appealing to the belief that America was "last best hope of earth."
In fact, if it is true that faith is necessary to survive when threatened by the faithful--or even further, if some collective faith is necessary to survive in general--our "last best hope" is a socio-political theology. Dogmatic religion is fatally weak; it consists of truth, but is itself untruth. The worth of religion flows from its ability to synthesize these truths into a coherent whole, but when the 'whole' disintegrates as absurd, its embedded truths are dispersed like a thrown deck of cards. And like cards, thrown truths, once disaggregated, are tedious to pick up and reorganize.
America will last so long as Americans believe in an 'Infinite American Truth.' In this context, then, it makes sense to fear those who want to render America ugly, finite, and equivalent. But it is also worth noting that many who are feared should not be, for when they criticize, they still use the unitary language of the Founders to do so--thereby enshrining the infinite in their ideological paradigm as something firm and real but not yet reached. Most secular Americans fall into the latter category. Only a few really believe a world without "liberty and justice for all" would be a more attractive place.
And that brings us to your distinction between 'faith as ideology' and 'faith as visionary and disciplined'--in your terms, 'faith as fighting faith.'
There is a difference between faith in the finite and faith in the infinite. Only faith in the infinite imparts the courage necessary to qualify as a fighting faith--courage in the face of uncertainty, courage in the face of the absurd. Faith that your plane won't fall out of the sky, for instance, will never motivate you to turn towards a volley of fire and charge. Only faith in an absolute will do that.
(Interestingly, our military cultivates a 'fighting faith' that can be separated from America's political theology, and from religion. It is the faith in the man next to you, and his faith in you--a faith for which both you and he would die before disappointing. You hear it many times: when the shooting starts, all that extra stuff is sheared away. It's just you, your buddies, and the enemy that is trying to kill you. It's a faith that motivates the religious and the atheist alike.)
The lesson, then, is that one can be taught a 'fighting faith' even if one starts as an agnostic aesthete. A better way of saying it is that faith can be forged. Training camp can forge it by creating an unbreakable covalency between you and your platoon-mates. The mosque can forge it by encapsulating the same type of brotherhood in a global religious cause.
The question, then, boils down to this: what can forge a fighting faith in America as a whole? Tigerhawk addressed this a week or so ago, in his question, "What can Militarize America?"
The answer is, in part, what we believe about "us." Are we worth fighting for, is there something true in an infinite sense about the value and values of America?
Perhaps even more importantly is what we believe about "them." It may be true that our ennui will, eventually, ruin us. A nation of aesthete's may very well crumble if it ever fights an attractive foe.
But that day is not today. Radical Islam is not an attractive foe; it is despicable and horrifying. If all else fails, its ugliness will be our battle cry. If things become urgent, our anger will become righteous, and we will destroy, destroy, destroy.
America is still the last best hope on earth. Most of us still believe it.
For now, that is enough.
Well, also maybe it's because my writing is inflated, wordy, run-on, whiny, bigoted, pissy, self-indulgent, and opaque
Hey, fiddler, that wasn't opaque at ALL!
Now, I shall follow henceforth the Lord Acton Dictum ("boy. he dicked 'em good!") and shut up further off-thread classroom hijinkery.
Lord Acton said (in part)
Hugs to the circular firing squad members, try not to clog up the comments section too much today.
Is that an intimation that we should all be in lockstep firing at the same target? Or is it too much to have ones own opinion for you to tolerate?
Teresita mentioned the neo-nazis from Hayden Lake, Idaho--to stick up for my good state, I want people to know we got rid of them years ago(they never amounted to squat really, anyway), and that they were all out-of-staters--Richard Butler roamed up here from somewhere in California, where many things nasty seem to have a birth.
Wretchard wrote:
The difference between correctness and political correctness is that the former blames who it must and the latter blames who it can.
This is completely perverse. And it means that modern political correctness will be exercised relentlessly against law-abiding nations because they are the only ones on who it works. The lawless will be given wide berth: the more lawless the wider the berth. The result will be split level morality where a few countries will be held to an impossibly high standard while the most brutal will be treated with kid gloves, even fawned upon.
The problem is that the war we’re fighting is a war of concurrency—a war in which multiple processes occur in parallel. Let’s think about two processes:
Process #1: war fighting in a military sense
Process #2: war observing by the MSM, left-leaning NGOs and the like
If we do what we must and react brutally to some Islamofascist provocation, without regard to proportionality or PC, we will achieve a successful outcome for process #1.
However, process #2 is occurring at the same time.
If we do what we must and react brutally to some Islamofascist provocation, without regard to proportionality or PC, we will achieve a unsuccessful outcome for process #2.
The MSM and left-leaning NGOs will castigate us, using an “impossibly high standard,” world opinion will turn against us, and Islamofascists win a propaganda victory which, more often than not, erodes the success of process #1.
Since each of the processes has equal weight (at least in a liberal democracy), we tend to try to execute each for a successful outcome. In the process (no pun intented), we fail at both.
I wonder if Sunnis have killed more Shias in Iraq or if Shias have killed more Sunnis in Iraq?
Perhaps the reason Muslim blood is so easily shed is that they are "thin skinned"...
They cloak themslrves in thin rituals, policies, principles, and capabilities - which includes going in harm's way a great deal - because they so often create the harm.
What is but an unoticeable nick to a grown man while shaving is a fatal blootletting to a small baby.
Muslims are babies ... running with scissors.
Trish,
You take an easy shot at SECDEF in his address to the American Legion.
Yet somehow you fail to mention that he listed a litany of MSM coverage that was basicall"Blame America First"
He provided stats on the amount of coverage of undies on the heads of Islamic terrorists vs. the coverage give to a Medal of Honor winner..it was greviously unbalance. 100,200 to 1, something on that order.
He mentioned the fact that CNN purposefully with held bad press on Saddam so they could remain his primary outlet..this CNN has admittted! It's reminisent of Walter J Duranty's coverage of Stalin and similar to your comments on Rummy's speech.
Your "Blame America First" attitude is as diaphanous as Duranty's was and Teresitas image on this blog is.
Rumsfeld's speech does not bother me.
I find it greatly encouraging.
To avoid the "circular firing squad" that has been mentioned not only today but in previous threads by contributors I propose the following:
From 6:00AM until noon all who agree post away.
From noon until 6:00PM all those who agree post away.
Continue until exhaustion.
See how simple that was to solve.
Trish said (in part)
He mentions "fascists". He mentions "extremists". He mentions "terrorists".
That is all he mentions.
Hmmm..agreed with him?
workout. later.
soflauthor,
I dispute that the two processes you mention are of equal weight. I would say the latter has no weight at all. Not on my scales; and more and more, not in the scales of others. The chattering classes are known as such to a larger slice of the population with each passing day.
Solutions are what matter. Results matter. The military gets results; and the "media" and NGO's do not (in their own sphere or in the spheres they interfere in). Americans, being the industrious sort, understand this.
I think one of the long term trends which favors the decline of terrorism is the rise of China. Say what else you will of the Chinese, but they understand the power of effective solutions. There is a reason the Tamil Tigers are in Sri Lanka, not Pudong.
As for the complaints of certain British MP's and other men of little merit, I believe that Darwinism will win out here too. Luckily, thanks to the 1st Amendment and the Internet, Darwinism can procede at the meme / software level without having to procede at the slower and messier wetware level.
The problem soflauthor dissects is that early-identified problem of democracy; the ballot box makes perception more important than fact.
This is a bitch of a problem, as the fix can be nothing else but to inform, inform, inform, relentlessly, without surcease, forever.
Cardozo Bozo wrote:
I dispute that the two processes you mention are of equal weight. I would say the latter has no weight at all. Not on my scales; and more and more, not in the scales of others. The chattering classes are known as such to a larger slice of the population with each passing day.
Although I agree that process #2 -- war observing should have no weight, the events of the past few years indicate that it certainly does. Look at the broad-based left-leaning MSM condemnation (process #2) of Israel for lack of “proportionality” in Lebanon. It can be argued that fear of the outcome of process #2 caused Israeli’s political leadership to be tentative in its execution of process #1 -- war fighting.
Same holds in the US. Our political leadership is acutely aware that process #2 matters – in the polls, in the administration’s ability to lead effectively, and in our own process #1 endeavors.
Both of us may not like it, but process # 2 does matter. The real question is: how do we win a war of concurrency?
The entire argument for political correctness starts in the words "All men are created equal", which can lead to the fallacy that all men are equal, as well as all human institutions. We quickly arrive at moral equivalency. However, if we return to, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.", we end up with something quite different. The end is more limiting defining the specified inalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.. The inalienable rights are positive aspirations shared by most of humanity. They are there to be pursued by those so inclined and deserve the help of others in that pursuit. The abridged, "All men are created equal", is simply incorrect and the derived political correctness leads us to the absurdity of much our present discourse.
Why is He Still Alive?
Last Updated: Wednesday, 30 August 2006, 15:09 GMT 16:09 UK, BBC
Chavez supports Syria against US
Hugo Chavez wants to show solidarity with Syria
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has pledged to stand by Syria in opposition to what he said was US "imperialist aggression" in the Middle East.
He said he and Syria would strive to build a world free of US domination.
to buttress soflauthor's thesis:
Battle of Wadi Saluki.
(ht Mika)
the mad fiddler said:
I mainly use it as a place to try to organize my thoughts and logic around issues that really really really really really hijack my attention. Not because I'm trying to force my opinions on a prostrate reading audience. When I want to do that, I come over here to the BC and jump in the continuing fistfight.
Awesome. Me too. I've only been using a blog for about a month, and it's helping me overcome writer's block. I've been reading Belmont Club for about a year, and I thought I'd start making my own contributions.
Buddy, if, instead of sending their Generals to "France" for training, they had sent them just a little bit further over to Germany, to train with the American Forces there, they might have had better results.
Rufus 08:10:16 AM,
Reminds me of the ROE's that allowed one sniper in a Minaret to pin down a platoon of Marines all day long, resulting in needless death and injury, rather than "defiling" this sacred explosives filled mosque with a single pinpoint accuracy helicopter fired missile to take out the sniper.
I complained loud and long here, and got argument after argument, including even from the host.
Wonder if a few more people are now willing to concede the FOOLISHNESS AND IMMORALITY of such stupidity?
The likehood that MANY lives could have been saved with rational use of force post OIF becomes more obvious daily, but of course that's just my opinion.
Now get this. In the middle of a war, with troops falling left and right, the Israeli's get intelligence that a certain Mosque is definitely being used by the Hezbollah as headquarters, storage depot, etc.
They, also, expect that the Mosque will be rigged with explosives; so, do they send in the explosive-sniffing dogs?
Hell, no; they risk the lives of their own troops, because dogs in Mosques might offend the sensitivities of "Muslims."
Having a 17 year old son that planned on suiting up after 9-11, I was constantly thinking how I would feel had he been asked to become such "Nobel Sacrifice"
A Pox on them!
rufus, I hesitate to critique from afar, with small info to boot, but it does seem that holding an armored column at an ambush-gorge jump-off point for several days while the enemy is known to be concentrating his anti-tank units, with your infantry scattered in the gorge sufficient only to negate use of your air, sounds pretty roughly-planned.
OTOH, the casualty ratios were all in IDF favor, and IDF did take the ground.
In the ROP, explosives make Mosques MORE sacred, Rufus:
We must respect that K?
Don't tell me you are STILL going to defend our ridiculous ROE's Larsen!
Make that immoral.
Doug, we didn't have the troops to accomplish the rotations if we sent more. It's just that simple. And, the "draft" just wasn't an option.
As for the PC rules of engagement, well, of course, you're right. Anyone who argues otherwise just doesn't get it. Anyone who was going to bitch about us damaging a mosque from which we were taking fire, was just going to bitch at us about something else, anyway.
Rufus,
Right.
Not sure who you are refering to about the troop numbers:
Twasn't me.
I think we had plenty had we used them as if we had real men in DC in charge.
Unfortunately DC has a fatal Case of PC Cowardice.
doug, I was commenting on the Jerusalem Post article. calm down, tap your CapsLock--the topic may be huge, but the commentary ain't.
Make that Political Cowardice.
Savage's new definition of PC.
doug,
You may recall my having written during the late war my criticism of the wording given by the Olmert government in answering the question of how would Israel proceed, i.e. "for the moment we have ordered our troops to attack" (close enough, I think).
I responded to the effect, "For the moment General Pickett has been ordered to attack Seminary Ridge." A rather stupid, if not criminal formulation, any rational person would have to agree.
The strange thing about process #1 and process #2 is how readily resolved they are by victory. Victory just seems to cleanse the air and set things to right. However, just like those IDF tankers, if you sit around long enough with your butt exposed, someone will whack it.
Of course with guys like Mr. Armitage (just come out of the closet) attempting to sabotage his government's foreign policy, victory has to come very swiftly indeed.
Source of C.I.A. Leak Admits Role, Lawyer Says
The New York Times, by Neil A. Lewis
c/o http://lucianne.com/threads2.asp?artnum=293308
trish,
Isn’t odd that Mr. Rumsfeld did not mention Mr. Armitage’s betrayal during his enumeration of high crimes and misdemeanors? Wouldn’t be good form I guess.
I'm still fuming about the Marines and how it relates to present situation in Iraq.
...and I do remember all the STUPID arguments I got here.
(covering Admins ass imo)
sorry
Buddy, that was the most incoherent, disorganized, child-like war fighting I have ever seen or known about in my live.
Soldiers don't care about kill ratios; soldiers just don't want idiot officers to get them killed for no good reason.
Allen,
All my feelings about Powell have been confirmed.
The man is scum imo.
Armitage and Wilkerson his hit men.
It's a forum, right? At some point, as Allen says, situations clarify on outcomes. The Fallujah I argument has I admit swung back and forth unto madness. There's plenty who still say it was the right thing to do. no need to re-type all the arguments--I'd rather concede to you, since it's all just conjecture anyway, on the grounds that there's your health to consider.
Buddy, if I only had a dollar for every time a lance corporal has slid into the front seat of a humvee, turned to the two PFC's and a Private and said, "Okay, does anyone have any ideas how we can do This Hare-Brained, POS, FUBAH Idea, "Without Getting Killed?"
Let's face it; in a "peacetime" Army (which is what we have had for a long time) most of your brighter guys don't hang around to become O-4's.
rufus, good point--I knew that sounded like crap as soon as I typed it. I was pointing to the fact that on the metrics, as bad as it sounds, IDF still clobbered the enemy in the wadi. You've read plenty of slanted articles--JPost may've been gilding an admittedly ugly-looking lily.
rufus; 10:57 AM
re: mosques
In my entire life, I have yet to meet a Jewish mother who would be willing to sacrifice her son to preserve the "sanctity" of a mosque. But, I have met hundreds of lawyers and politicians who would be more than willing to sacrifice my son to preserve their good PR!
A man's gotta vent when a man's gotta vent!
Seriously, tho:
How would YOU feel if it was YOUR son sacrificed on that alter to cowardice and stupidity?
Belmont Club as a place to organize thoughts, to avoid writer's block.
Gosh and all this time I thought one used a tablet and pencil or WORD or some other form to "organize their thoughts"
Well, Wrethchard has plenty of space so why not, no harm no foul.
"Hmmm..agreed with him?"
Absolutely.
Not sure Podhoretz and Kristol and Krauthammer do.
They'll catch up, though.
Sorry, Doug; I was looking at your 10:54, and misread "force" for "forces." My Mistake. I gotta get those glasses.
11:23:24 AM Allen,
Each day I feel less guilty about consuling our then 16 year old on 9-11 to remember he could wait, and also serve in other ways.
Wish others could see that EVERY soldier is some mother's son.
doug; 11:15 AM
re: Armitage and Wilkerson his hit men.
And this is precisely why the Franco-American UN Resolution 1701 is such a cluster. The names change at State, but the game remains the same: get the President.
No wonder the guy has aged ten years during the last two!
If the President does not take a flame thrower to that den of iniquity after this, he deserves all the lumps he gets. This was nothing short of a coup by Powell and associates.
alexis said;
The moral environment Wretchard describes teaches future generations one thing -- do evil. You will only be condemned if you appear to have a conscience.
It is evil to accept the condemnation of those who call the good evil and the evil good.
It's funny, Allen. Each Republican President puts "His" man at State; and, the first thing "His" man does when he gets there is stab the boss right in the back.
The over/under for "going native" when you get to State is approx. 45 minutes.
Aristides (9:39)
I throughly enjoyed your post.
In part do you feel that the ennui Americans seems to have is a result of the lack of integration inot our culture of those who immigrate here?
We have all observed how in the past score years American history is no longer a "core" requirement in high schools. We've also observed an increasing trend in that same period, to come here, enjoy the fruits, but never integrate via the language or customs.
How does a nation hold an identity under such conditions, and what would motivate an itenerant immigrant from simply moving to greener pastures once things got hot?
Thx
Check this re Armitage et al.
doug, you're absolutely right--an offspring's life lost on a screwed up deal is about the worst thing a parent can have land on him/her. All the more reason to be circumspect on judging while in possession of less than complete information.
I've noticed that aging thing ever since LBJ.
Wonder how much HST aged?
Could not disagree more Larsen:
POS ROE's are POS ROE's!
Case Closed.
Denial already has cost too many lives.
Better to be impolitic than immoral.
Hey, 54 to 60 is a long trip no matter what the heck you're doing.
wait a minute--there's always more than one opinion on any ops. If a commander using his best decision turns out to have been wrong--he's "immoral"?
If you're gonna throw that word re the fog of war, what word are you going to use for deliberate treachery?
I look better now than then:
I got a nice mirror you might be interested in too.
During Nixon's troubled times, I was talking to our best friend, the wise old man next door neighbor with the small Jersey Dairy.
Apropos Nixon:
"He's got himself a job."
One o' them Dorian Grey models?
lord acton said:
In terms of the worth of blood, I've always wondered how the tens of thousands of palestinians killed and displaced in the 1947 war have become the ultimate victims of the 20th century
There is no such thing as a "Palestinian". After the 1948 war many Arabs stayed in the land given to Israel in the UN Partition Plan or the lands conquered by Israel in the war and accepted, in the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel the "full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions" About 700,000 Arabs rejected citizenship in Israel and fled to Jordan or Egypt. Egypt never accepted Gaza as their territory and denied Egyptian citizenship to Gaza Arabs. King Hussein cut ties to the West Bank part of Jordan in 1988. "Palestine" has been a figment since the partition.
lord acton said:
In terms of the worth of blood, I've always wondered how the tens of thousands of palestinians killed and displaced in the 1947 war have become the ultimate victims of the 20th century
There is no such thing as a "Palestinian". After the 1948 war many Arabs stayed in the land given to Israel in the UN Partition Plan or the lands conquered by Israel in the war and accepted, in the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel the "full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions" About 700,000 Arabs rejected citizenship in Israel and fled to Jordan or Egypt. Egypt never accepted Gaza as their territory and denied Egyptian citizenship to Gaza Arabs. King Hussein cut ties to the West Bank part of Jordan in 1988. "Palestine" has been a figment since the partition.
Starting with Fallujah I,
it became apparent that the military was not always calling the shots.
To keep practices that don't work in place for years qualifies as something pretty sad and unnecessary whether "immoral" is appropriate or not.
Remember Lt Col Kurilla?
What we probably need at the State Dept is a bunch of faceless bureaucrats, to issue passports, visas and such, the important work. Policy is better done by a National Security Advisor. Anyone who thinks Condi Rice improved her chances for nomination in 08 by that "promotion" is nuts. If she really wanted a nomination she was probably smart enough to see that, I think she took it out of loyalty to GWB. She had ten times the effectiveness as Adviser.
Hey, politics ain't beanbag, I admit. But, this semi-successful quasi-coup by Powell and Armitage cannot go unpunished. This is right out of Rome or Constantinople. Call out the Praetorian Guard.
An honorable man would make is way into a tub of steaming water, with whetted razor in hand. That's not going to happen, though.
Thumbs down! “Strike a king, kill a king.”
I know I feel all better now.
dave h said:
Policy is better done by a National Security Advisor. Anyone who thinks Condi Rice improved her chances for nomination in 08 by that "promotion" is nuts.
Much as I would love to see Condi get the GOP nod in '08, she don't even have a husband for "cover" like Hillary does, so the rumors fly and the religious right won't go for it on Romans 1:26 grounds, if you catch my meaning.
Doug,
(Sorry this is so late!) Yesterday you wondered where you heard Ferrigno's interview on "Prayers for the Assassin." You might try Hugh Hewitt. I saw his transcript of his radio interview. Wish I could give you more detail than that.
OK Allen:
Now fix the Media Blackout on Muzzie Terror against Jews in Amerika!
more on the Armitage deal
doug, okay, you're right--if Fallujah I was due to the coming elections, then that's a valid criticism.
But, how much do you know about what didn't happen?
What if Fallujah I had been what you wanted, and the guys who thought it would lose the election had been right, and Kerry had gotten into the White House? Would he have pulled us outta the mideast? If so, would that have set up a huge war with perhaps millions of deaths in the future?
What, no way to know, right?
Point is, when you back someone, you put the monkey on their back, and for carrying that monkey for you, you ought to give back the benefit of the doubt.
At least unless and until the POS ROE is acclaimed by most all, and not just a point of contention among many.
If the whole country defined "morality" as "perfection", who the hell but the likes of Gore and Kerry would ever even bother to run for office?
The Fifth Column's Return to Iraq
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24153
Earlier this month a contingent of infamous American radicals including Cindy Sheehan, Tom Hayden, and Medea Benjamin traveled to Jordan to meet with eleven members of the Iraqi parliament. According to Benjamin, the parliamentarians invited the group Code Pink for Peace
Leaving on August 2, this was something of a return trip for the Hate America Left. In December 2004, Code Pink distributed $600,000 in cash and supplies to “the other side” in the terrorist stronghold of Fallujah, recently the site of a fierce battle between the United States and a milita loyal to Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. (Rep. Henry Waxman, D-CA, signed the letter to get them to the recent battlfield.) That followed its previous direct intervention on the behalf of America’s enemies in July 2003, when Medea Benjamin and longtime Communist Party USA member Leslie Cagan established International Occupation Watch in an effort to convince U.S. GIs to become conscientious objectors and get sent home.
The 12-person U.S. delegation included:
Cindy Sheehan, who has referred to foreign jihadists as “freedom fighters”;
Tom Hayden, the ‘60s radical who once collaborated with the North Vietnamese;
Medea Benjamin, who founded of Code Pink, Global Exchange, and Iraq Occupation Watch, and coordinated the Seattle World Trade Center riots;
Jodie Evans, a Code Pink co-founder;
Gael Murphy, another Code Pink official;
Jeeni Criscenzo, “a Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress California District 49, Advisor Board of Progressive Democrats of America” and a blogger for DailyKos;
Judith LeBlanc, national co-chair of United For Peace and Justice (UFPJ), headed by longtime Communist Party USA member Leslie Cagan;
Dal LaManga, “founder of Progressive Government, a member of the Dean's Council for the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard…He is a partner of the Huffington Post and Air America. He is the Co-Chairman of Maria Cantwell's campaign for 2006 Re-election”;
Iraqi-American, Raed Jarrar, of Global Exchange and author of the blog, “Raed in the Middle”
Speaking of "Presidents," is anyone else having a hard time finding an 08' Candidate?
Giuliani - anti gun - combined with a domocratic congress we could lose our means of self-defense.
McCain - anti free speech, RINO, old, cranky, not to be trusted.
Allen - obviously lacks common sense, grounding
Romney - ?? gun control? taxes??
Gengrich - seems like a "show pony?"
Gerry:
Thanks! Robert Ferrigno Interview
Also, LGF
teresita, are you in possession of (*ahem*) certain knowledges about the jr. senator from NY?
doug,
re: Muzzie Terror against Jews in Amerika!
There is little to say at the moment except the perp is a Muslim. For those benighted souls, that would be a practitioner of Islam, which is to say, a churlish goatherd with a hard-on for the world and no place to put it.
By tomorrow, the real news pros of the blogosphere will have found enough details on sheik Popal to make rational commentary possible concerning Jew hatred.
Viscerally, however, to Popal I would say, "A length of rope, a convenient tree, a flask of wine, and surely thee."
Perhaps, I have said too much. Oh well, I will never be a SCOTUS nominee, so what to hell.
McCain's got Mckinnon, GWB's promo guy,
POWELL AND ARMITAGE!
God I'm scared!
McCain Powell vs Hillary Kucinich!
Thar's a bunch mor of dat article. i juz edit sum.read et all iff'in you care
Gingrich. Historian, patriot, DC-savvy.
"At least unless and until the POS ROE is acclaimed by most all, and not just a point of contention among many."
---
Kurilla's on the ground judgement, plus my common sense, leads me to a different conclusion.
The issue was settled long ago.
Since then it has been hammered home over and over.
Blind loyalty does not qualify as common sense.
Kurilla, Yon, on and on.
There's is the ring of truth.
DC mush rings hollow.
Fine, elect Code Pink, enjoy being 'right'.
Pay no attention to the president, the SecDef, the JCS, Tommy Franks, any of 95% of the command echelon. They're not trustworthy, they're "DC mush".
Not the point.
Cheap shot.
The truth is known by many, arguments can be more effective when it is openly recognized.
I think the general populace often feels the truth, even when absent details.
That can win elections.
We agree to disagree:
Let's move on!
You argue with Ash, I'll beg Teresita to take down that nauseating picture!
Great. You're off CapsLock and speaking rationally. Thanks.
Hey Teresita,
Let two other posters post first, that way I don't have to see that thing while composing these works of art/devastating arguments.
Compromise, OK?
I'm with you, Rufus, my friends and myself around here can't see anybody out there, except maybe Tancredo, who probably doesn't stand a chance, even if it were sure he were running.
By the way, a male pessimist is a guy who wears both a belt, and suspenders. A normal guy wears one or the other. An optimist like yourself--well, you better hold on to your pants! :)
"You're off CapsLock"
---
Don't bet on it!
I'm well fueled and ready to fire.
(sposed to be working on them cascading sheets before the morning high goes away. Wish me luck.)
12:49:47 PM ;-)
More wisdom from the farm!
Oh,well, like the guy fighting a bear in the bushes, and hollering for his friend to shoot--friend says "but i can't see where to shoot", guy hollers back "just shoot in here amongst us, one of us GOTTA get some relief!"
bobalharb
The difference between an optimist and a pessimist is EXPERIENCE.
the difference between an oviparous and a possumist is eggs-parentus.
Aristides,
That was an excellent post. It does seem that people can and do fight for country or the man next to them all the time. Yes, I would put this in the same category as fighting for God -- they are all irrational demonstrations of faith in the face of danger and uncertainty. And they are all noble.
Habu's question is one that I worry about too. How do you get people to fight for country when they don't believe in country anymore?
Americans are still generally patriotic. But our country's overall sense of self is being weakened by mass immigration of illegals, multiculturalism, lack of historical knowledge, reduction of faith in our electoral system and leaders, and outright denigration of our culture by authority figures.
It almost seems like a perfect storm of forces aligned against our patriotism. Is this due to design? Some cold war plot come to fruition? Or is this just a byproduct of the integration of the world economy?
If the latter, where does that leave us? Can our nation's values become a "religion?" Can they survive the nation?
epictetus said:
It almost seems like a perfect storm of forces aligned against our patriotism. Is this due to design? Some cold war plot come to fruition? Or is this just a byproduct of the integration of the world economy?
Patriotism comes from within, like faith; it can never be destroyed by force. The barrel of a kidnapper's AK-47 can make your mouth say all kinds of things but can never move your heart.
Posters may want to read this from the Washington Post: "Monitors blame Sri Lanka forces for aid massacre".
Harvard Will Host Iranian Mullah
When he visits the United States on a mission to spread Islamist propaganda,
Iranian mullah Mohammad Khatami will be feted at Harvard University in an event titled:
Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence: Mohammad Khatami. Orwell would be envious.
(Hat tip: Daniel Freedman.)
This celebration of tolerance will take place on September 10th.
---LGF
Speaking of blame, Powell and company: I posted this over at my place in Nov 2005.
From the Guardian UK Guardian UK
Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to secretary of state Colin Powell from 2002 to 2005, singled out Mr Cheney in a wide-ranging political assault on the BBC's Today programme.
Mr Wilkerson said that in an internal administration debate over whether to abide by the Geneva conventions in the treatment of detainees, Mr Cheney led the argument "that essentially wanted to do away with all restrictions".
Asked whether the vice-president was guilty of a war crime, Mr Wilkerson replied: "Well, that's an interesting question - it was certainly a domestic crime to advocate terror and I would suspect that it is ... an international crime as well."
Colin Powell's Chief of Staff at the State Department has said that Vice-President is a war criminal; a terrorist. For good measure he throws in the following smear:
Mr Wilkerson, a former army colonel, also said he had seen increasing evidence that the White House had manipulated pre-war intelligence on Iraq to make its case for the invasion. He said: "You begin to wonder was this intelligence spun? Was it politicised? Was it cherry-picked? Did, in fact, the American people get fooled? I am beginning to have my concerns."
But wait, here is the coup-de-gras:
Mr Cheney has been under fire for his role in assembling evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Mr Wilkerson told the Associated Press that the vice-president must have sincerely believed Iraq could be a spawning ground for terrorism because "otherwise I have to declare him a moron, an idiot or a nefarious bastard".
Where has Mr. Powell been lately? I would certainly like to know what he thinks of his bud, Mr. Wilkerson? It's way past time to clean out the State Department.
"Americans are still generally patriotic. But our country's overall sense of self is being weakened by mass immigration of illegals, multiculturalism, lack of historical knowledge, reduction of faith in our electoral system and leaders, and outright denigration of our culture by authority figures."
---
epictetus,
Agreed, and add NEA, MSM, and other bad actors.
---
Well, it's an improvement size wise at least!
I tired of the vacant stare.
Thanks.
(Teresita Picture)
You oughta be thankful whit.
Powell delivered an identifiable crock of shit at the UN when it counted. Brought many of the fence-sitters here at home over to our side. Not a bad job at all.
Buddy Larsen said...
Gingrich. Historian, patriot, DC-savvy.
8/30/2006 12:31:39 PM
I woold like to agree with you Buddy, you ar correct on all those points. But. I think the man's age is against him, in 94 he seemed like a mature individual to me, I can't think that 12 years, divorce and endless rubber chickens have done him much good. Physical condition matters, especially in that race for that office.
Buddy Larsen said...
Gingrich. Historian, patriot, DC-savvy.
Gingrich knows his stuff, diplomatically, historically, and doesn't fall for the leftists one bit.
His VP ..Rush Limbaugh
State...Marc Racicot
trish said:
Powell delivered an identifiable crock of shit at the UN when it counted. Brought many of the fence-sitters here at home over to our side. Not a bad job at all.
I'm not too proud of being on the side that needed to deliver a crock of shit to get approval to go to war. I like it better when they ask us politely to put our young men and women on the thin camouflage line.
Well Trish, it seems he's certainly given some payback since.
*********************************
Re: Blame and Muslims. A Malaysian offered the following comment in a post on debunking the Arab Ambulance Propaganda:
Pejabat Kesihatan Kinta, Batu Gajah said...
Again try to deny the Israel creulty? What about killing of chidrens in the town of canaa? Yes, they attemted (sic) to deny that massacre incident whereby some 40 - 50 children died of Israeli bombing, news spread all over the world, still the UN failed to show us the proper punishment taken on Israel. Why? they are all the same shit but different faces.
We are living in the sickning (sic)world with leaders beating around the BUSH .
Of course I answered him with Muslim killing more Muslims than anyone else and cited the soccerfield bombings etc. but he was a one time driveby.
Sprayed the house down and sped off into the night.
Fortunately, no casualties.
Trish and Teresita:
You two can drink that kool-aid. I'm not having any.
OK Allen:
Now fix the Media Blackout on Muzzie Terror against Jews in Amerika
It's denial, pure and simple. To admit that there are muslims in America who can at any momment lose their self control and run amok would force people to recognize the breadth of the threat we face.
Denial is easier. Living in a comfortably numb world where a "pilot" commits murder and no one has to worry is far easier that confronting the fact that the Muslim world is about to lose it's grip and come for us.
the most frightening aspect of this is the truth that our gracious host pointed out quite a while ago: the shakedown scheme only works if it is kept below a certain level. The tipping point of "pay or fight" is meaningless when muslims are so wound up that they can no longer display any discipline at all.
The Gaza situation is simple lawlessness. splinter factions upon splinter factions and fighting rages on. Whatever mob boss might have had control there lost it long, long ago.
for us in America we face a difficult choice: do we start listening to the preachings in the mosques? Or do we wait while a few more muslim men lose it and kill us?
It's way past time to clean out the State Department.
Incredibly, State has been a refuge for anti-Administration, anti-American activity since at least the 30's. During the Roosevelt war years Presidential instruction to overseas diplomats were deliberately ignored or altered to fit the personal agenda of that generation of State Department rats. It's the real Aegean Stables of the US Govt. and no Hercules has been found that is able to clean it up.
My impression of Gengrich is that he's "light'ern a straw hat," but, he is the only certifiable "Conservative" in the race.
Does anyone have a clue about Romney? Second Amndment? Taxes? Trade? Missile Defense?
whit,
to quote the Guardian on anything is to shout to the heavens, "I am a leftist,socialist and have no regard for anything resembling the truth"
i thought you knew that ..it's a commie rag akin to Ramparts in the 60's.
Habu:
I know the Guardian is a rag but the quote served the purpose of showing that Powell and Company have been out to get Bush and Company. To me, it shows what kind of people Powell surrounded himself with.
I don't have any respect for Colin Powell.
"Well Trish, it seems he's certainly given some payback since."
Since his great error in judgement?
He feels bad about it, whit.
But probably not that great.
Skipsailing
I'm more worried about that SUV cult than anything else. I've been reading about SUV mayhem for years. A 200 lb jihadi is one thing but a 4,000 lb crazed SUV is quite another.
But probably not that BAD.
teresita said
"Patriotism comes from within, like faith; it can never be destroyed by force. The barrel of a kidnapper's AK-47 can make your mouth say all kinds of things but can never move your heart."
Teresita you don't "learn" either through osmosis. They are both taught, then perhaps they come from within, until one attends a Berkeley or Harvard where education has been replaced with propaganda and deviation from the BC can get you thrown out.
wretchard
The difference between correctness and political correctness is that the former blames who it must and the latter blames who it can.
I don't believe that the PC crowd fails to condemn the Tamil Tigers based on the latter's strength and ruthlessness. Rather, it is because the Tigers don't fit neatly into the Oppressor/Victim paradigm which is the single organizing principle for value judgements made by the illiberal left. For them, the defining moments in American history werethe massacre at Wounded Knee and the civil rights movements of the 1960s. The former proves (to them) that the US is little more than an Imperialist oppressor state which builds its success on the backs of non-white victims. The civil rights movement provides the notion that the way to redress the grievance of the victims is to give them special status by making them more equal than everyone else. (LBJ's idea IIRC). For these reasons, the blood of Hizbollah is worth more than that of the Israeli Jews, who are little more than an extension of the American state. Whem muslims spill muslim blood, it's victim against victim and no complaint is required. By the same logic, Ramsey Clark goes to Iraq to defend Saddam Hussein against the American Imperialists, Jesse Jackson goes to hobnob with Baby Doc, the illiberals support the Palestinians against the successful and Imperialistic Israeli's and so on.
The elites of former European colonial powers take a similar self-loathing view, making it difficult, for example, for the French government to deal with the car burnings in the banalieus and for the Brits to deal with terrorists being recruited in the local mosques.
If Powell didn't like the game while he was playing he should have quit. That would have been the honorable thing to do. Backstabbing the boss and then hiding from it makes Powell a puke.
whit ,
certainly you don't have any respect for Powell if you're willing to use the Guardian as part of your argument.
The US and Powell let the UN fog them. His intel came from a dozen US and foreign sources. We know the Russians moved the stuff to Syria.
Why we would ever go back to the UN for any resolution that regards this countries security is so far beyond my comprehension as to believe that Bill Clinton didn't spunkify in the Oval Office sink.
"If Powell didn't like the game while he was playing he should have quit."
What did habu say, peter?
Play along.
Bobalharb:
In case you don’t know about this already,
Project Gutenberg
has over 19,000 free books online.
You won’t have to go to the library for a long time. And it makes quoting a breeze with the old cut and paste.
As for me, keeping up with BC leaves no time to read.
*******************************
Trish are you trying to get me bounced out of the club?
*******************************
PS - Is it just me or does anyelse have to reenter the word verification at least once?
skipsailing said:
for us in America we face a difficult choice: do we start listening to the preachings in the mosques? Or do we wait while a few more muslim men lose it and kill us?
Oh, we start listening to the preaching in the mosques all right. And we should get a warrant from a judge to do it, just like on The Sopranos, so everything is all legal-like. And if they talk about overthrowing the government we shut them down and run them out of the country like we did in the Red Scare.
Whit, I didn't know about Gutenberg; Thanks a lot.
You have to, sometimes, reenter the verification code? Really? Well, I'll never! I never heard of such a thing.
Amazin, simply amazin
What did habu say, peter?
I give up. What did habu say, trish?
whit sir,
you are not alone on the verification thing.....
plus i think i spoke out of the top of my hat about powell.my comments we're really germane to what was being discussed. :(
stoutfellow said:
The elites of former European colonial powers take a similar self-loathing view, making it difficult, for example, for the French government to deal with the car burnings in the banalieus and for the Brits to deal with terrorists being recruited in the local mosques.
I keep thinking this European self-loathing business is endemic with the generation that corresponds roughly with the baby boomers in America, who are currently having their last hurrah with Vietnam nostalgia before they go out to pasture and leave the stage for good. In fact, the Europeans should be leaving a few years earlier, since they don't believe in working too hard over there.
trish,
my "play along" comment. are you referring to the one I made yesterday about young people trying to "not buy into" whatever their company was doing ...to just play along until they found something better and then enjoy it...is that the one you're referring to?
It is, habu.
PeterBoston,
In light of Trishs' deceitful material misrepresentation of the context in which I use "play along", here is the post.
Habu_3 said...
db2m ..trangbang68,
I will say this. It is tremendously freeing to be out of the corporate or government world, or any institution that really requires one to be PC. If you're not, if you don't "buy into" the corporation or institution you're dead meat. Learned that several times.
But now at 58+ I've managed to say goodbye to all that and do what I want with no financial worries.
Best advice if you are young..live below your means,learn investments but be frugal, and as J.Paul Getty responded when asked how he accumulated his fortune he said,
"Get up early, work hard all day, and discover oil"
If you are in the corporate world don't buck it,you'll lose..play the game until you find the right niche, then enjoy what you do.
Best,
Habu
Peter, notice I never said what she quoted me as saying. So what we have here is a deliberate, deceitful,misrepresentation of a material fact. But, hey it's Trish.
PeterBoston,
For the salient point the advice was directed explicitedly to YOUNG people. Trish obviously knew this but chose to place it out of context. The salient.
"Best advice if you are young..live below your means,learn investments but be frugal, and as J.Paul Getty responded when asked how he accumulated his fortune he said,
"Get up early, work hard all day, and discover oil"
If you are in the corporate world don't buck it,you'll lose..play the game until you find the right niche, then enjoy what you do."
buddy larsen said:
What if Fallujah I had been what you wanted, and the guys who thought it would lose the election had been right, and Kerry had gotten into the White House? Would he have pulled us outta the mideast? If so, would that have set up a huge war with perhaps millions of deaths in the future?
War with who? Kerry would have pulled us out of the Middle East. The next Demo POTUS might still do it, especially if a Demo House impeaches Bush in '07 for actions related to getting us into the Middle East.
The Hunt bro's of Texas, inherited a HUGE fortune, then, after losing 90% of it speculating silver, wrote a book titled "How To Make A Small Fortune".
trish,
it just begs to be repeated as apropos to you.
A woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.
Samual Johnson
War with who?
teresita, if you think the jihad is well-heeled now, with one state sponsor inside OPEC, just wait 'til the jihad has a half dozen state sponsors inside OPEC. And OPEC will have lots of friends by then, too, that will aid & abet it, or else. Like, the Eurasian, African, and South American continents, for starters.
wretchard,
re: "Monitors blame Sri Lanka forces for aid massacre".
A volatile mix of the UN and ethnic Tamil UN affiliated workers operating in "enemy" territory leads to a massacre.
Is it possible that government troops found the aid workers to be as helpful to the Tigers as the Israelis found some UN personnel to Hezbollah? Sri Lankan soldiers may be less constrained than Israelis when faced with possible mortal treachery.
On the other hand, it could be just another unprovoked atrocity.
Hey, thanks, Whit, looks like I can use that. Again, thanks.
rufus,
Re: Who will be GOP 2008 Presidential candidate; Guilliani, McCain, Allen, Romney or Gingrich.
One question is, can any of them can win without the Christian Right? Guilliani does well with them in the polls now, but they may eventually have questions about him on abortion, guns and gay marriage. Romney looks good too, but they probably would not vote for a Mormon for President. Gingrich? It has been awhile since he was caught in a younger-woman affair while Clinton was being hammered for that. Then, it smelled wrong. Now, it may not matter.
McCain is all the things you said. Is he also Soro's mole/"useful idiot?" (See www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24073)
Allen is good on the issues, but what about character, persistence and toughness? Still a mystery. He is trying now to recover from his dumb "Macaca" goof, stumbling a bit. I'm watching.
Meantime, if the GOP big donnors suddenly start making pilgrimages to see Allen in Virginia, the way they flocked to Texas to see Gov. Bush in 1998-99, I may take an extra look. Those old boys don't like to lose a gamble. And they usually know more than the general public does.
Macaca was too dumb by far. Are we that desperate?
Re How to Make a Small Fortune and Even Smaller Legacy: I still tear up over all the antique silver services melted down on account of the Hunt brothers' manipulations.
Big, "Real World" Test of the SDI Interceptor, tomorrow. Rummy, and Bush really need for this one to work. They're already making excuses: well, if this works it will be a success; well, if that works it'll be a success. BS.
The Damned thing had better work.
Catherine ("I still tear up over all the antique silver services melted down on account of the Hunt brothers' manipulations.")
*******
Like to buy some Idaho silver mine stocks? Cheap.
Very cheap.
Allen may be a racist, but he's certainly a careless fool. Can't give him the "trigger."
I think Giuliani can win, but the 2 nd amendment issue bothers me a lot.
I'll vote for Hillary, before I'll vote for McCain.
Unless I find out he has a really bad gun control position I might be able to learn to live with Romney. I do think he's got some good ideas on healthcare.
I can't take Newt seriously.
allen:
Is it possible that government troops found the aid workers to be as helpful to the Tigers as the Israelis found some UN personnel to Hezbollah?
Good point. With regard to my previous post concerning the Oppressor/Victim analysis by the illiberal West, I would add this corollary when the conflict doesn't involve a former colonial power (or the US): When in doubt side with the insurgents, not the government.
In one of your posts you say:
"For the moment General Pickett has been ordered to attack Seminary Ridge."
I would just remind you that Pickett's Virginians attacked the Federal line on Cemetery Ridge. Seminary Ridge is a few miles to the west and was, I believe, the location from which the assault was martialed and begun.
teresita
I keep thinking this European self-loathing business is endemic with the generation that corresponds roughly with the baby boomers in America
I believe this is true. In order to be proportionate to their involvement as colonial masters, the Euros must adopt a high degree of self-loathing. Couple this with their socialist, statist and post modern views and you get a wicked mix. Can we hope that their children/grand children will reject these views, which are surely being transmitted to them in the schools/universities etc.
Re 'macaca', the guy was an oppo operative, dogging Allen's public appearances, and Allen just let hisself get tired and irritated. Not a great confidence builder. Newt's age, 63, puts him in office from 65 to 69, then to 73. Not great, but not proscriptive, either. He should drop 15 or 20 lbs, tho. For the stage, y'know.
Well, we know this, Stoutfellow; kids can always be relied upon to totally Reject anything their Parents, or Teachers, tell them.
04:33:51 PM Just take the Katy Photoshop Instant Diet Treatment:
20 lbs in less than 20 min!
"I can't take Newt seriously."
---
That's a problem w/me,
if you get my drift.
re:
Silver Mines:
My wife Informs me Deadwood is filmed in Home of Homesteak Mining.
Pop 1,300.
04:22:03 PM Real World:
Little Kim's gonna Bomb Hawaii?
"Romney looks good too, but they probably would not vote for a Mormon for President."
---
Gerry,
I think that is a Meuth propagated by Liberals.
Don't know his stand on many critical issues though, better inform myself.
The guy is sharp and perfectly spoken.
stoutfellow,
re: Cemetary Ridge
You are most certainly correct. I have done that twice lately. Hmmm!?
The absurdity of Pickett's make-believe plight was not lost, I trust.
Bobal,
Did you used to be a real slick feller, workin' out of a storefront in Spokane? :-)
*******
Exciting inside hot tip for farmers: The new breeder reactors will be jumpstarted with ethanol.
Cornfused?
Papa Ray, West Texas,
How things over there today? Almost fall-like here today.
Db2m, East Texas
Actually, Allen seemed better as governor. Is there something about being in the Senate that works against the qualities needed in a President? A governor at least has been a Chief Executive. And gives us some advance idea of how well he functions as one.
Deadwood...
Wonder when they will graduate to 5-letter words?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
It's a problematic analogy, tho, Allen. For example, had Lee been a bit more Second Lebanon IDF-tentative, and had taken counsel of Gen'l Longstreet among others, he might've won the war. The effect you're after, I'd use Admiral Farragut @ Mobile Bay, "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead!". Which itself would sound much different in retrospect had he not won the battle.
Well, blogger did it to me too. Rejected my first attempt to copy all those letters. So I tried to type it all again from memory. Ended up with a double entry. Sorry.
That was happening to me last nite.
(double posts)
db2,
Haven't had TV in over 30 years!
Wife was reading an article someplace.
Actually, we had PBS for kid.
Then had to explain to him that there were indeed some black people that aren't very nice.
Propaganda can be as insidious and attractive as Sesame Street!
re:
Allen running for Prez.
Can America Elect a Jewish Marine?
Gerry,
Just click the little garbage can and your post disappears.
dear east & west Texans, today in central Texas was the nicest day since it last rained, back a looong time ago. still bone dry, but the haze blew out with the dry-line that came through.
Gerry,
How about a book like:
"Even if you haven't been to prison, you can still turn your life around!"
The "Religious Right" would vote for an anti-abortion Rostafarrian if he was running against a pro abortion democrat.
I don't know where the guy stands on gun control. McCain's already taken away our fourth amendment rights; I don't feel like losing my second amendment, too.
allen
The absurdity of Pickett's make-believe plight was not lost, I trust.
Not at all. The secular leftist members of the Israeli government must recognize that they are in a fight for the life of their State. They must not drink the PC koolaid offered by his highness Kofi and turn their military loose in the coming war against Iran and its proxy soul mates.
"In a meeting later with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Annan said Israel also must lift its closure of the Gaza Strip and open crossing points there. He called for an end to the bloodshed that has led to the deaths of more than 200 Palestinians since the end of June."
I didn't notice any comments by Annan regarding Palestinian rockets fired into Israel or Palestinian raids into Israel for kidnapping Israeli soldiers. Oh well, Jewish blood is not worth as much as Muslim blood.
Somebody REALLY ought to tell Lord Annan that the Pali death rate could be zero for the asking--all they gotta do is swear off the murder addiction.
Ex terror master president of Iran will speak at National Cathedral just before Sept 11!
Hope Hitchen's interview will be at Radioblogger.
doug:
Deadwood is the twin city to Lead (pronounced leed), SD, the former location of the western hemisphere's largest gold mine. It was shut down in the '90's by the owner - Homestake Mining Co, home office, San Francisco, CA.
i personally don't know or care where the Deadwood series is filmed. Never seen it.
doug,
re: Can America Elect a Jewish Marine?
If nominated, I will not run;
if elected, I will not serve.
To the more important question of America ever electing a Jewish Marine, it's only a possibility if Dr. Irons persists in refusing to harden potable water with massive doses of Li2CO3.
This isn’t meant to excuse terrorists or any of the other nasty manifestations of our adversaries... but i does help explain some.
In an The Chronicle of Higher Education dated 05 March 2004, titled “The Arab World's Scientific Desert” writer Daniel del Castillo assembled some estimates, findings, and descriptions that paint a sad picture of the Arab world. The article also quotes Farouk el-Baz, an American scientist you might recognize as someone who has been a very vocal chronicler of Arab culture’s shortcomings. Here’s an excerpt I found helpful, for putting things into a kind of perspective:
“Despite the perception that the Arab world is awash in petrodollars, at the end of the 20th century the gross domestic product per capita of all Arab countries combined was slightly more than that of Spain, which has only 15 percent of the population of the Arab world. Following the oil boom of the 1970s, most economies in the Arab world shrank or stagnated. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, has one of the highest birthrates in the world and a middle class that is becoming increasingly impoverished.”
By the way, if anyone can find a current link to the full text of the 2004 report by the UNDP on the Arab World, it would be a real service to share that. I was only able to find the Executive Summary.
(Actually, If you’re trying to find it... two organizations jointly produced the study: United Nations' Development Program and the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development were.)
stoutfellow says:
In a meeting later with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Annan said Israel also must lift its closure of the Gaza Strip and open crossing points there.
Egypt walls out the inhabitants of Gaza and not a word from Kofi about that. Any other bright ideas by Kofi? Like "America must lift its closure of the Gauntanamo fence and open crossing points there" ? Or maybe, "South Korea must lift its closure of the DMS and open crossing points there" ? This guy's ten years can't expire sooner?
The bacteria of stupidity
By Tony Blankley
August 30, 2006
Quite surprisingly, what may turn out to be the world's most fitting epigram in our time was uttered by none other than the official spokesman of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority, Ghazi Hamad.
According to the Jerusalem Post yesterday, Mr. Hamad told his fellow Palestinians to dismiss Israel's responsibility for the growing state of anarchy and lawlessness in the Gaza Strip. He said it was time for the Palestinians to embark on a soul-searching process to see where they erred.
"We're always afraid to talk about our mistakes. We're used to blaming our mistakes on others. What is the relationship between the chaos, anarchy, lawlessness, indiscriminate murders, theft of land, family rivalries, transgression on public lands and unorganized traffic and the occupation? We are still trapped by the mentality of conspiracy theories — one that has limited our capability to think." I pray for this man's safety after he said such a sensible thing in such a lunatic place. But what takes his comments beyond a brave, local wisdom to a shrewd global insight was his epigrammatic conclusion: "We have all been attacked by the bacteria of stupidity." "We have lost our sense of direction and we don't know where we're headed." That seems to sum the world up pretty well.
(click the link above where blankly talks about everyone else's stupid stuff)
So Lead's a four letr wrd?
Allen,
If the good Dr. approves lead, we'll all be dead.
pbuh takes on a whole new meaning!
I like it!
Preferably at very high velocity.
Buddy Larsen,8/30/2006 05:28:41 PM
..." the Pali death rate could be zero for the asking--all they gotta do is swear off the murder addiction."
I am starting to think that all the talk about Muslim extremism and terrorism is just being emphasized to cover up the real problem. Just because a few bad apples like John Allen Muhammad the Beltway sniper with his specially-made sniper car, Ahmed Ressam who wanted to bomb LA Airport, the gentleman who threw grenades in the tent in Kuwait and killed a few of his comrades, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar that used his Jeep trying to kill a few students in NC, the one who shot six women - one fatally - at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, and now Omeed A. Popal in SF hitting a few pedestrians with his car, are in the news is the way of the MSM to cover the real criminal intent of the Icelandic underground. If you do not hear about the Icelandic terror quads it is because there is an ever-expanding cover-up and a plot to libel poor innocent Muslims. ;)
stoutfellow said:
Can we hope that their children/grand children will reject these views, which are surely being transmitted to them in the schools/universities etc.
"Current World Problems" is the liberal indoctrination course required by all high school seniors in Washington State. My teacher, in 1983, was a classic mushy-headed liberal who thought we should learn to read and write in Russian to properly welcome our coming overlords. My dissertation was on the Soviet perfidy that lead to the coup and eventual invasion of Afghanistan. Needless to say I didn't get an "A". But my point is, kids do have their own mind and they know when they are being fed a line of crap.
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