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Heavy-Handed Politics

"€œGod willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world
without the United States and Zionism."€ -- Iran President Ahmadi-Nejad

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Place your bets on the grown-ups

"This is it. The final days, the home stretch. We head into the weekend and then to the polls on Tuesday for what might just be one of the most important elections of our lifetime.

I don’t ever remember feeling so tired.

I’m tired of hearing people try to make excuses for people like John Kerry. I’m tired of hearing pollsters and pundits project a big victory for Democrats this Tuesday. I’m tired of hearing the vicious, bitter attacks on our President’s character by the likes of people like Keith Olbermann, a pseudo-intellectual Manhattan elitist who appears to be having the sort of on-air meltdown that the fictitious movie newsman Howard Beale of ‘Network’ had. I’m tired of the mainstream press relishing every bit of bad news out of Iraq or about the economy, while virtually ignoring all the positive stuff.

Most of all, I’m just tired of fighting.

But I’m not close to stopping. The stakes are too high. There might just be enough people on the fence that could be persuaded into doing the right thing on November 7th. And so I’m going to try." Read the rest of the article written by Mike Gallagher.

Bush mocks Democrats' 'lack of plan'

"President Bush yesterday said Republicans nationwide are running on a strong record of accomplishment as he ridiculed Democrats seeking to take control of the House and Senate, asking: 'What's your plan?' "

Democrat House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Bin Laden

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Bin Laden: “And even to capture him now, I don't think, makes us any safer."

MEET THE DEMS' CHOICE FOR SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

Is this want you want? Because this is what you'll get:


If Democrats Won Control Of House In November, Rep. Pelosi Would Be Speaker Of The House. And:

Rep. Pelosi Doesn't "Really Consider Ourselves At War"

Rep. Pelosi Does Not Believe National Security Should Be A Campaign Issue In 2006

Rep. Pelosi Sees No Benefit In Catching Bin Laden: Says Capturing Bin Laden Doesn't Make U.S. Any Safer

Rep. Pelosi Opposed The Patriot Act

Pelosi Was One Of Only 33 Members To Vote Against Prohibiting "U.S. Citizens And Companies From Conducting Any Financial Transaction With Countries That Have Been Identified By The State Department As Active Sponsors Of Terrorism."

Rep. Pelosi Voted Against Creation Of Homeland Security Department: Rep. Pelosi Opposed To Terrorist Surveillance Program

Rep. Pelosi Voted Against Resolution That Condemned The New York Times Disclosure Of Classified Information

Rep. Pelosi Has Repeatedly Voted To Cut Intelligence Funding Both Before And After 9/11

Rep. Pelosi Supports Immediate Withdrawal From Iraq

Rep. Pelosi Supported Rep. John Murtha's (D-PA) Plan For U.S. To Cut-And-Run From Iraq

The Dem's Choice For Speaker Would Increase Taxes: Tax Cuts Would Not Be Extended, Resulting In A $2.4 Trillion Tax Increase

Rep. Pelosi Has A Long Tax & Spend Liberal Record: In 1993, Rep. Pelosi Voted For Almost $241 Billion In Additional Taxes, The Largest Tax Hike In American History

Rep. Pelosi, The Dem's Choice For Speaker, Is Out Of Touch On Social Issues: Rep. Pelosi Has A 96 Percent Liberal Rating On Social Issues From The Nonpartisan National Journal, Making Her The 17th Most Liberal Representative On Social Issues

Rep. Pelosi Is Wrong On Welfare Reform: In 1996, She Voted Against The Welfare Overhaul Bill, Which Ended Guaranteed Welfare Benefits Ans In 2003, Rep. Pelosi Voted Against The Welfare Reauthorization

Rep. Pelosi Is An Extreme Abortion Supporter: She Received A 100 Percent Rating From NARAL Pro-Choice America In 2005
  • Rep. Pelosi Voted At Least Three Times Against Unborn Victims Of Violence Act (Laci's Law)
  • Rep. Pelosi Voted At Least Three Times In Favor Of Allowing FDA To Use Federal Funds To Test, Develop And/Or Approve Drugs That Chemically Induce Abortion
The Dems' Choice For Speaker Focused On Launching Bitter Partisan Investigations

Rep. Pelosi Is A "Hyperpartisan" Obstructionist:
  • "[D]emocrats Finally Have A Legislative Leader ... Who Understands That ... The Business Of The Democrats Is To Oppose."
  • "Pelosi Has ... Ordered Democrats Not To Work On Bills Or Even Hold Press Conferences With Republicans Whom The Party Is Trying To Defeat In November."

Rep. Pelosi Would Push An Agenda Laden With Impeachment Hearings And Endless Investigations On Energy Prices And The War On Terror

She Would Increase Energy Costs: Left Up To Her, American Families Would Be Spending An Additional $930 On Gasoline Each Year From Various Petro Taxes

In 2005, Rep. Pelosi Voted Against The Energy Bill, Which Encouraged Expansion Of Nuclear Energy, Encouraged Greater Use Of Ethanol, Reauthorized The Energy Savings Performance Contract Program, Which Allows Private Contractors To Help Federal Agencies Improve The Energy Efficiency Of Their Facilities, And Provided Tax Credits For Energy Efficient Hybrid, Clean-Diesel, And Fuel-Cell Vehicles

In 2004, Rep. Pelosi Voted Against A Bill To Streamline The Process For Approval Of Alternative Energy Projects On Federal Lands.

Rep. Pelosi Has An Extremely Liberal Record: Rep. Pelosi Says She Has "Pride" In Being A "Liberal."

  • Rep. Pelosi Has A 90 Percent Liberal Rating From The Nonpartisan National Journal.
  • Rep. Pelosi Has Voted With The Democrat Party 97 Percent Of The Time.
  • Rep. Pelosi Has A 96 Percent Lifetime Rating From Americans For Democratic Action, "A Prominent Liberal Organization."
  • Rep. Pelosi Has A 3 Percent Lifetime Rating From The American Conservative Union.
SOURCE.

Putting them in charge is putting us in danger.

Friday, November 03, 2006

“[I]t is not religion but atheism that requires a Darwinian explanation. It seems perplexing why nature would breed a group of people who see no purpose to life or the universe, indeed whose only moral drive seems to be sneering at their fellow human beings who do have a sense of purpose.”

— Dinesh D’Souza

“The Democrats are more radically liberal and irresponsible than they have been at any time since 1933. The damage they will do to every aspect of federal action over the next two, four or six years will be substantial—perhaps grave. For me, defeating that danger is the highest priority. After the election, beating up backsliding Republicans will be a task I will return to with relish.”

— Tony Blankley

“It isn’t actually our ‘system’ of government that is broken. The Constitution established an excellent system from which contemporary leaders regularly seem to depart. The Founders gave us the parchment equivalent of a GPS system that, if followed, gets us where we ought to go, but if ignored, causes us to become lost.”

— Cal Thomas

“The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience.”

— Albert Camus

“If you do not specify and confront real issues, what you will do will surely obscure them. If you do not alarm anyone morally, you will yourself remain morally asleep. If you do not embody controversy, what you say will be an acceptance of the drift to the coming human hell.”

— C. Wright Mills

Kerry Sought Out Families at Soldiers' Funerals, Authors Say

"Sen. John Kerry, whose 'botched joke' on education and the war in Iraq has sparked a national controversy, approached the families of fallen soldiers at their sons' funerals to seek their help in undermining the war on terror during his 2004 presidential campaign, according to the authors of a new book.

Catherine Moy and Melanie Morgan, authors of 'American Mourning' - which examines how the death of two U.S. soldiers in Iraq affected their families - told Cybercast News Service that they consider the Massachusetts Democrat's treatment of American troops 'disgusting.'

Morgan said that while doing research for their book, she and Moy discovered that Kerry and liberal activist Michael Moore personally recruited family members within days of their son's deaths - and sometimes even at the funerals - to come and work for the campaign in order to undermine Bush.

'It was shocking and really offensive behavior, and that's exactly what happened to Cindy Sheehan, who we tracked down,' Morgan said. 'She went on the payroll of John Kerry's campaign within days after her son's death, as well as her daughter, Carly.' " Read more.

Mum’s the Word on Radical Democrat Social Agenda

"Is Congress really planning to force employers to provide special civil rights protections to transsexuals? That's what Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank and San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi have in mind – but don't hold your breath waiting to hear about it on the TV news.

With most pollsters and pundits predicting the Democrats will take Congress in the upcoming election, you'd think the media would report on what Democrats plan to do if they regain power. Instead, they're avoiding certain issues like the plague.

Nexis searches of news stories for the past month reveal that the media have produced literally thousands of stories about Virginia Republican Senator George Allen's 'macaca' quip and Florida Republican Congressman Mark Foley's sex scandal, but only a handful of stories about Democratic policy plans.

Only two stories, both published by the homosexual paper The Washington (D.C.) Blade, actually focus on Democrats' plans on social issues. Those articles reveal that Rep. Barney Frank, who would likely become chairman of the powerful Financial Services Committee in a Democrat-controlled House, plans to introduce a new version of the Employment Non - Discrimination Act (ENDA) that would add sweeping 'sexual orientation' mandates for employers that include 'transgender' rights." Continue.

Stem cells: Where the real hope lies

By Rebecca Hagelin:

"In the two weeks since I first wrote about the human-cloning amendment on the ballot in Missouri, the debate has really heated up.............

...............Considering that the embryos are, in fact, human beings, their destruction is, indeed, a monumental problem. But in an age of legalized abortion, many people are unwilling to stand up for them. Even if the embryos are human, they say, look at the cures we’ll be getting. How can we turn our backs on scientific progress?

To which we must respond: What “progress”?

As a trip to the Web site of the National Institutes of Health confirms, there is none. Oh, advocates have lots of “hope,” all right. But they have nothing -- that’s right, nothing -- to show for it. Ask Dr. Hwang Woo-suk, the South Korean scientist who resigned last December from his post at the Seoul National University when it was revealed that he had faked his alleged breakthroughs." Continue reading.

Roh Defies Bush on North Korea Policy

The Korea Times
"President Roh Moo-hyun’s appointment of 'doves' on North Korea in his Nov. 1 Cabinet reshuffle is an apparent move to reject the Bush administration’s hard-line policy toward the North, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

The report said the recent reshuffle 'seemed to highlight his determination to keep trying to moderate North Korean behavior through engagement' despite the North’s nuclear test and the widening diplomatic friction between the allies on how to deal with the Stalinist regime.

In particular, the appointment of chief presidential security adviser Song Min-soon as minister of foreign affairs and trade has stirred up controversy. He publicly expressed objections to sanctions against Pyongyang by the international community.

'Our people acknowledge that North Korea cannot be an enemy forever. We will try to maintain amicable relations with North Korea for our freedom and stability,' Roh said." Full story.

What Mr. Roh doesn't seem to understand, and is the simple thinking which defies logic and that the left here and elsewhere fall victim to, which is wishing someone is not your enemy will not make it so; unless you, of course, are willing and prepared to become the victim of subjugation.

Ortega poised to take helm in Nicaragua

insider.washingtontimes.com

"MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Months of campaigning for Nicaragua's presidency has ended in a flurry of fireworks and flowery rhetoric from supporters of Daniel Ortega, the one-time Sandinista leader and Washington headache who appears poised for a comeback on Sunday.

Thousands of Ortega supporters paraded through the streets of Managua this week, waving banners for his Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and sporting his 'pink tide' hats espousing a return to the party's leftist ideals.

But the modern-day Mr. Ortega -- a balding, pudgier version of the young firebrand who led the overthrow of the Somoza family dictatorship in 1979 -- appears to have mellowed a bit, and in doing so, has garnered just about enough support to win Sunday's election without a runoff.

Aged 60, the FSLN leader who during the 1980s presided over the Sandinista fight against the U.S.-funded Contra rebels now preaches 'unity for a triumphant Nicaragua' and has embraced his one-time rivals." Full story.

“If Democrats win, the incoming Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Representative John Conyers, has said he wants to impeach both President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney. I have my differences with President Bush, but do we really want our President dragged through an impeachment process in front of the world when we have a worldwide enemy, Islamofascists, whose devotion is to death? Will the impeachment of our President help us defeat this deadly enemy?” — Paul Weyrich

“The Democrats offer no hope. It’s that simple. The belief system of the Democratic Party is predicated on the assumption that there is no hope. There is no hope that the poor and aged will ever be able to live financially independent of government aid. There is no hope that we can still create a lasting peaceful democracy in Iraq. There is no hope that we can guard our borders and remain the beacon of light on the hill... It is the Achilles-esque flaw of the Democrats to assume that Americans want everything handed to them. This misguided notion has subsumed their entire ideology and become the platter upon which they would serve us our gilded final meal, a slice of apple pie from the Tree of Knowledge. So on Election Day, remember: the Republicans cannot give you an easy life free from worry and work. But they can offer you hope. And that is more than the Democrats ever could.” — Doug Patton

“Conservatives of conscience must focus on the stakes of the upcoming elections... Republican defeat isn’t inevitable in 2006 if conservatives realize the costs of surrendering the political battlefield to the irresponsible left.” — Michael Medved

Syria, Iran, Hizballah Trying to Topple Lebanon, US Says

Jerusalem - "The governments of Syria and Iran as well as the Hizballah terrorist organization are working to bring down the government of Lebanon, says the Bush administration.

Iran and Syria have used Hizballah as a proxy to threaten and attack Israel and to build a virtual Islamic mini-state inside Lebanon."
Full story.

Palestinian Civil War Likely, Expert Says -- 11/03/2006

Jerusalem - "The Palestinians aren't just fighting Israel, they're fighting each other and appear to be heading for all-out civil war, an Israeli expert said here on Thursday." Full story>>

Iran's 'Breast-Beating' Intended to Discourage US Attack

"Iran is test-firing long-range missiles as a show of strength, hoping to encourage its own people by discouraging the West, an Israeli missile expert said here on Friday.

Iran on Friday announced it had tested three new types of land-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles on the second day of its 'Great Prophet' military exercises in and around the Persian Gulf.

On Thursday, Iranian state television showed dozens of missiles being launched from warships and from the desert." Full story>>

Hamas Urges Women, Children to Shield Gunmen in Mosque

Jerusalem - "At least a dozen Palestinian gunmen eluded Israeli capture in the Gaza Strip on Friday, first by taking refuge in a mosque and then by calling on women and children to shield them so they could escape." Full story>>

North Korea urges Japan to stay away from six-party talks

Channelnewsasia.com

"North Korea on Saturday said Japan should not attend six-party nuclear disarmament talks after Japanese officials reportedly said Tokyo would not recognise the communist country as a nuclear-armed state."
Full Story »

'JIMMAH CAWTA' LOSES IT

"Former President Jimmy Carter probably never understood the Korean Peninsula. While he was president he decided to withdrawal all of USFK against the good advice of – no exaggeration – every single member of his cabinet and key official in the administration. Obviously he was eventually persuaded not to, but not before it prompted, predictably, a (second) short-lived South Korean nuclear program (that died with Pak Chung-hee in 1979)." Read the rest at DPRK STUDIES.

SFADA

"If they were honest, liberal scientists who fanatically believe in the religion of anti-missile defense should band together and call themselves SFADA: Scientists For A Defenseless America.

No matter what breakthroughs are achieved by the Pentagon in missile defense, you can depend on these guys to lie about them and claim they won't work.

Last week, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency reached an extraordinary milestone: putting a 'death-ray' high-energy laser aboard an airplane that can destroy at the speed of light an enemy nuclear missile aimed at the Unites States shortly after its launch.

It was immediately denounced by liberal scientists being paid to lie for the left -- yet another example of liberal masochism that doesn't want America to be defended." -- Dr. Jack Wheeler

Mideast terror leaders to U.S.: Vote Democrat

"JERUSALEM – Everybody has an opinion about next Tuesday's midterm congressional election in the U.S. – including senior terrorist leaders interviewed by WND who say they hope Americans sweep the Democrats into power because of the party's position on withdrawing from Iraq, a move, as they see it, that ensures victory for the worldwide Islamic resistance.

The terrorists told WorldNetDaily an electoral win for the Democrats would prove to them Americans are 'tired.' " Read it at WorldNetDaily.

WHO SAID IT ?

Take a guess.
"The bad news is that there are 816 days left in the reign of King George II of America.

The good news? 'When we wake up tomorrow morning, there will be one less day. . . .

If Americans knew the full extent of U.S. criminal conduct, they would receive returning Iraqi veterans as they did Vietnam veterans.

In Vietnam, our soldiers came back and they were reviled as baby killers, in shame and humiliation. It isn't happening now, but I will tell you--there has never been an [American] army as violent and murderous as our army has been in Iraq."

If you said John Kerry, you would be wrong. But it would have been one helluva' guess. Who could fault for your effort in that one? If you said the bloviating senior senator from Massachusetts, Teddy "The Swimmer" Kennedy, again you would be wrong, but an equally fine guess.

Nope, not Dick "The Turbin" Durban. Not "Howlin Howie" Dean. Fine guesses both. No. No. Not Mr. "Redeploy to Okinawa" Murtha. All fine guesses. Trouble is, the list is too long. There are too many Dems one could have chosen for the answer, and they all would have been reasonable guesses. And they all would have been wrong.

In this case, it was not a Democrat politician. It was the ever compliant and faithful Democratic mouth piece ..... old stream media .... specifically writer and "investigative reporter," Seymour Hersch of The New Yorker. Seymour was giving a speech recently at a university in Montreal when he smeared our troops. Disgusting piece of trash-talking from our anti-military media. Read it here.

UPDATE: Ray Robison, over at the American Thinker, takes on Mr. Hersch.

COMPUTER PROBLEMS

Sorry folks. Had some computer equipment problems. Seem to be up and running again. I'll be posting more again later this afternoon. Thanks for your patience and viewership!

Russia's Lavrov To Discuss Iran, North Korea With EU

"Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov holds talks on global flashpoints, including Iran and North Korea, with key European Union officials in Brussels on Friday. Lavrov will meet Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the current EU presidency, as well as the bloc's chief diplomat Javier Solana.

EU diplomats said discussions will also focus on the situation in the Middle East following Solana's recent visit to the region. Georgia and Kosovo are also on the agenda of the day-long talks.

Russia, as a veto-wielding member of the United Nations Security Council, is under pressure from the EU and the US to take a stronger stance on the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

Moscow, however, has so far been loath to apply tough sanctions on either country and is currently building a light-water nuclear reactor in Bushehr, south-west Iran.

The meeting will also focus on preparations for an EU-Russia Summit in Helsinki on November 24.

EU governments are anxious to upgrade energy links with Russia, currently the leading supplier of natural gas and oil to the 25-nation bloc.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear at a meeting with EU leaders in Finland last month that he had no intention of changing Moscow's tough rules on foreign access to energy markets."

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Nobody Asked

Another contribution from Anotmo. An exclusive at Heavy-Handed Politics from a man who nefariously pens at night somewhere in Eastern USA, in the dark of night, by candlelight, so as not to draw attention, as he trys to exist in a sea of blue.

Nobody Asked

"Throughout the execution of the War in Iraq, President Bush has been questioned, criticized, second guessed and confronted by the MSM every step of the way on every conceivable aspect of what he has done, what he has not done, what has occurred and what has not occurred. His motives, integrity, intelligence, leadership, morality and ethics have all been challenged continuously with an amazing assortment of nefarious and even criminal scenarios postulated to explain his actions. He has been blamed for every negative out come and sorry turn of events in his efforts to conduct a totally new kind of warfare against a fanatically religious and determined enemy using previously unacceptable tactics that deliberately place civilians life’s in jeopardy.

Fair enough, perhaps. The professional MSM is just doing its job the responsibilities of which, they have told us, they hold higher than they do their responsibilities to their own citizenship in the country from which comes the very freedom their vaunted profession enjoys. (How else to interpret Mike Wallace’s response of ‘No, you are a reporter!’ when asked if he would warn U.S. forces of an impending enemy ambush?)

On the other hand, the Democrats position on the War in Iraq has evolved from initial support for its declaration and funding to now constant calls for our imminent withdrawal. This while, strangely, continuing to vote for its funding despite opportunities to do otherwise. Yet, not once has any proponent of withdrawal had to articulate what they believe would be the consequences of that action. We seem to accept by default the ridicules implied presumption that since everything bad in Iraq is George Bush’s fault then if we stop George Bush from continuing to do what it is he is doing in Iraq all the bad things will go away. Instead, we play obfuscating word games and question whether or not it is ‘fair’ for President Bush to characterize ’withdrawal’ as ‘cut and run’.

The irony is that this is not the Democrats fault. If confronted with it, their perfectly reasonable response could well be ‘nobody asked’. Therein lays the problem. Nobody in our highly professional objective MSM ever posed the question. And don’t give me some Lexus/Nexus nonsense about some reporters, somewhere sometimes having asked some Helen Thomas inspired softball version of that question with the above presumption inherent within it. If the MSM were doing its job professionally, then the question of what is likely to happen should the U.S. withdraw from Iraq would be as prominent in the public discourse as is the war itself.

That it is not is more than just a transparent and obvious example of political bias on the part of the MSM. It is also a transparent and obvious example of a lack of the very professionalism on which the MSM so prides itself. Take away all of the politics and emotion surrounding the issue and one is still left with one side of a political debate being excoriated to explain its actions and defend any and all untoward events presumed to be a consequence of those actions while the other side of that same political debate is never required to even speculate on the likely consequences of the course of action it proposes.

Every time I perceive something of this sort, I wonder why nobody has brought it up before and am amazed at the extent to which the MSM’s ‘template’, as Rush Limbaugh calls it, effects us all. To be sure, Republicans and the occasional far right bigoted commentator, by association, on Fox have voiced their views over the consequences of the various Democratic withdrawal plans but that is always allowed to fall dead on the studio set floor as though it is nothing more than the expected Republican talking point with no follow-up or response required

Just the other night I watched Bill O’Reilly do that very thing on his Factor show interviewing some Democrat operative. To her proposal that we withdraw from Iraq, Bill voiced his opinion that if we were we to do that now, Iran would quickly move in. But even he did not require the interviewee to then respond. He just threw the point out there in a sotto voiced aside as though knowing nobody was listening. I do not know why he did not require his guest to even express much less defend what she believed would happen as a result of our withdrawal except that we all seem confined by the MSM’s template. Democrat positions are presumed to be correct; they are the good guys, their hearts are pure and their intentions are above reproach. Their plans may be argued against by Republicans but they and even their results, when implemented, need never be defended by their proponents.

It is precisely to avoid this very sort of thing that we have a free press and why it is so important that it conduct itself professionally. The one thing a ‘professional’ journalist should never accept is the possibility that regarding a story that journalist has covered some participant in it could later truthfully respond ‘nobody asked’."

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

How Government Destroys Moral Character

By Robert Higgs

“Thou shalt not steal” is a rule as old as human society itself. It must have been, else no complex human society would have proved viable.

We are all taught very early to respect what belongs to others: “Don’t take your sister’s toy away from her,” your mother admonished, punishing you if you persisted in your toddler’s larceny. By the time you were three years old, you understood the difference between mine and thine. If you didn’t take the lesson to heart and persisted beyond your childhood years in treating everybody’s property as something for you to take, so long as you could get away with it, then you were viewed as a sociopath, an enemy of decency and of civilization itself.

Government as we know it, however, rests entirely on this kind of sociopathy. Rulers take what does not belong to them and dispose of it to suit themselves.

When the government has only recently placed itself in a position of domination over a group of people, the people recognize full well that the government’s taking amounts to looting. They pony up only because they are given the stark choice of “your money or your life,” and they want to go on living." Continue.

Egypt deploying thousands of troops near Gaza

"CAIRO — In the first such deployment in more than 25 years, Egypt has sent thousands of troops to its western border with the Palestinian Authority." More.

Iran, Syria are Russia's top military clients

"WASHINGTON — Iran and Syria are the leading defense
clients of Russia in the Middle East, according to a new report." Read on.

Report: Insurgents stock missiles in their Gaza homes

GAZA CITY — Insurgents are storing missiles in the homes of operatives in the Gaza Strip, according to a Palestinian human rights group.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said insurgents keep Kassam-class, short-range missiles in homes in the northern Gaza Strip.

Northern Gaza has been the launching pad for nearly daily missile strikes against Israel.

The center reported Palestinian casualties from failed launches as well as missile explosions inside Gaza homes. On Aug. 28, a Palestinian youngster was killed and his brother was injured when they played with a Kassam missile near their home in Beit Hanoun. More.

Disturbing signs of discontent in Hu's China

WorldTribune.com:

"The following excerpt is from the new book by veteran China-watcher Willy Wo-Lap Lam, Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era: New Leaders, New Challenges."
"Things are not looking rosy for President Hu’s pledges about being 'close to the masses' and 'running the administration for the sake of the masses.'

Despite the Hu-Wen team’s reassurances about doing more for society’s underclasses, there are growing signs of disaffection among disadvantaged sectors."

Read more of the book's excerpts at World Tribune.

PRICELESS. SIMPLY PRICELESS.

The Election and Investigatory Powers of Congress

"If the Democrats take control of the House from the Republicans, the most important change will not be that Nancy Pelosi becomes House Speaker, but that the leadership of House committees will shift -- and even more significant, that there will be upheaval of committee staffs. Republicans will shift to minority staff positions -- and have to let go of a lot of staffers -- while the Democrats will get to hire a lot of new ones. These staffers serve two functions. The first is preparing legislation, the second is managing investigations. Given the likelihood of political gridlock, there will be precious little opportunity for legislation to be signed into law during the next two years -- but there likely will be ample opportunity and motivation for congressional investigations.

Should the Democrats use this power to their advantage, there will be long-term implications for both the next presidential election and foreign policy options in the interim."

--Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report

"Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint." -- Alexander Hamilton

Diversity adulation

By Walter E. Williams: "There are some ideas so ludicrous and mischievous that only an academic would take them seriously. One of them is diversity. Think about it. Are you for or against diversity? When's the last time you said to yourself, 'I'd better have a little more diversity in my life'? What would you think if you heard a Microsoft director tell his fellow board members that the company should have more diversity and manufacture kitchenware, children's clothing and shoes? You'd probably think the director was smoking something illegal." Continue.

Why Kerry's crack matters

By Michael Medved: "Yes, it’s the political silly season, when media experts hyperventilate over oddly assorted, often trivial controversies (George Allen’s “Macaca”-gate; the allegedly racist Harold-Ford-at-the-Playboy-Party ad; Rush Limbaugh’s “insensitive” mockery of Michael J. Fox) that loom large in the run-up to a major election but stand little chance of qualifying for long term historical significance. The explosive dispute over John Kerry’s dismissive, insulting comments about our troops in Iraq may, however, constitute an important exception and could mark a notable turning point in the vicious, decades-long battle between Democratic and Republican image-makers.

For several reasons, Kerry’s crack matters. Those reasons are:"

More Medved.

France's obsolete Foreign Legion faces uncertainty

Heh, heh. You couldn't make this stuff up. Only in France.
The Foreign Legion isn't what it used to be. Killers on the lam are no longer welcome, and unhappy recruits have a year to back out without being branded deserters.
I need not comment any further. To read the rest of the story about France's "never mind", "ollie -ollie-oxen free", one year window to wave the white flag, go here.

Specter of tax man haunts Democrats

Repealing President Bush's tax cuts and boosting social-welfare spending have been the meat and potatoes of the Democrats' campaigns since the 2002 election, and they would be in a position to attempt both if they win control of Congress next week.

Continue reading.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

The American Churchill

By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: "It is not every day that a politician chooses to use the closing days of a hotly contested, and exceedingly high-stakes, election to give voters bad news. Yet, in Pennsylvania, the incumbent Senator, Rick Santorum, is courageously doing just that.

Specifically, Sen. Santorum is stumping across his state telling constituents about the most important issue with which the man they elect next week will have to contend: a world in which America's people and vital interests are in grievous danger. With pages literally ripped from Winston Churchill's memoir about the run-up to World War II, the Senator is providing an unvarnished assessment of the 'Gathering Storm' that threatens our generation – and those of our children and grandchildren – unless addressed in creative and effective ways." More.

As I said in an earlier post, Sen. Santorum gets it. I'm hoping Pennsylvania voters "get it" as well. We need more Santorum like-minded leaders elected. Re-elect him. C'mon Keystoners, you can do it. Pull him through. -- HH

The cast of characters

By Thomas Sowell: "Perhaps nothing so captures the superficial, frivolous and irresponsible spirit of our times like the sudden boomlet for Barack Obama as a candidate for President of the United States.

He is a bright, personable and articulate young man but what has he ever actually accomplished that would qualify him for the highest office in the nation and the leadership of the free world?"

[snip]

"Contrary to what you might think from the way the media cover politics, elections are not about the careers of politicians but about the fate of the country. That fate is definitely on the line now with a nuclear Iran and a nuclear North Korea looming over our children's future.

The time is long overdue to get serious about the caliber of people to whom power and responsibility are to be entrusted. That is especially important if and when the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives after this election."

Dr. Sowell's complete article can be read here.

Vote: Against an unethical media

By Douglas MacKinnon: "To my fellow conservatives, Republicans, and even independents, who are so frustrated with some in the GOP for abandoning the principles of our party, that you plan to sit out this election, I implore you to change your mind. While I share your anger and disappointment, I am still eagerly going to vote on November 7th for one simple reason. To stop those in the mainstream media trying to hijack this election.

I would submit that never in the history of modern American campaigning, has the media displayed such an unethical, unprofessional, and gleeful bias, as they have with this midterm election. Many members of the left-of-center mainstream media are deliberately trying to dictate, manipulate, and deliver the vote of the American electorate to the Democratic column, and for them to say otherwise is to deny the obvious."

GOP can't have it both ways on Iraq

"Does the Republican Party truly believe Iraq is part of the war on terror and that the war on terror is the most important issue facing voters next week? If so, I wish its operatives and candidates would start acting like it instead of running from Iraq and President Bush.

Too many GOP candidates and spokesmen are playing into the Democrats' hands by virtually conceding the Iraq issue -- an issue upon which the Democrats are extremely vulnerable themselves, if challenged.

I know, I know, many readers will think I'm way off base making such an assertion, having bought into the spoon-fed conventional wisdom that Iraq is a guaranteed loser. What is guaranteed is that America will be the loser if we abandon the president on Iraq and abandon the mission there." Read more of David Limbaugh

Note to angry Republicans: Stay angry, but vote Republican

"One repeatedly hears that some conservatives and Republicans will either vote Democrat or not vote at all -- out of anger at the Republican Party.

According to these Republican holdouts, the Republicans have governed as Democrats-lite by greatly increasing government spending and doing little about illegal immigration. Accordingly, it is better to have liberal government under liberals than liberal government under Republicans, and the Republicans need to be taught a lesson so that in the future they will govern as authentic Republicans.

Conservatives should file this thinking under the heading 'Cathartic,' but not under 'Smart.'

One of the great realizations one comes to as the years pass is how small a role reason plays in most people's decisions. From choosing products based on their packaging to deciding how to vote, passion and emotion usually eclipse reason." Read more of Dennis Prager.

The battle for the Middle East

Losing Is Not an Option
OpinionJournal

"You know what, maybe the world isn't going to harvest direct benefits from winning the battle of Iraq but the world still has to spare no effort to win this battle, again not because winning will bring direct benefits but because losing here will bring subsequent losses that would no doubt be great." -- OMAR FADHIL, Iraq The Model

Read more.

Decision Time on Iran

By Daniel Pipes

Where, one wonders, will the desultory, perpetual efforts to avert a crisis with Iran end? With a dramatic calling of the vote at the Security Council in New York? Around-the-clock negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna? A special envoy from the European Union hammering out a compromise in Tehran? None of the above, I predict, for all these scenarios presume that Tehran will ultimately forego its dream of nuclear weaponry. Recent evidence suggests otherwise… Continue reading Decision Time on Iran.

'US Only Answer for Middle East,' Says Saudi Envoy

"Voicing support for U.S. involvement in Iraq, the Saudi ambassador to the United States said the U.S. has a important role to play in the Middle East, 'whether it wants to or not.' 'It is of vital interest to us as well as the United States that Iraq would remain a unified country,' said Saudi Ambassador to the United States Prince Turki al-Faisal. If Iraq were to be divided on ethnic or sectarian lines, he warned, problems in the country would increase three-fold, and there would be ethnic cleansing on a massive scale. 'The United States is the only one who can do the right thing for everybody in the Middle East,' Faisal said." Full Story

Black Democrats Endorse Republican Senate Candidate
President Bush told African-Americans two years ago that the Democratic Party was taking them for granted, and this year, a growing number of African-Americans apparently are starting to believe it...

'US Only Answer for Middle East,' Says Saudi Envoy
Voicing support for U.S. involvement in Iraq, the Saudi ambassador to the United States said the U.S. has a important role to play in the Middle East, "whether it wants to or not." If Iraq were to be divided on ethnic or sectarian lines, he warned, problems in the country would increase three-fold, and there would be ethnic cleansing on a massive scale...

Lebanese arms smuggling continues

JTA

"The United Nations reported continued arms smuggling from Syria into Lebanon.

Terje Roed-Larson, a senior U.N. envoy in the Middle East, said Monday that Lebanon regularly reports illicit arms shipments from Syria but doesn’t crack down because of political instability in Beirut.

The smuggling has come under intense international scrutiny since Israel’s war with Hezbollah, which ended with a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the Lebanese militia to be disarmed.

Israel has violated the truce by continuing its air force patrols over Lebanon, but says this is necessary given the continued smuggling.

On Tuesday, eight Israeli jets staged a mock raid, flying low over a Hezbollah district in Beirut."

Risky Left Turn

THE CONSERVATIVE VOICE
By Peter Brookes

"90 percent of House Democrats voted against the NSA's Terrorist Surveillance Program; 80 percent voted against the terrorist interrogation bill. All these counterterror programs are at risk if House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi gets the speaker's gavel next year…"

[snip]

Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman hit the nail on the head: "America faces a critical question, will it elect leaders who recognize we're at war [Repubs] and want to use every tool to win it, or politicians [Dems] who would surrender important tools we need to win?"

THE KERRY FALLOUT

John Kerry: U.S. Soldiers 'Not Smart'

Arrogant Kerry: I Apologize to No One

Novak: Kerry Is Hysterical

American Legion: Kerry Must Apologize

LET'S CONTAIN OUR EXCITEMENT

TheSpec.com

BEIJING - "North Korea agreed today to rejoin six-country nuclear disarmament talks, the Chinese and U.S. governments said in a surprise diplomatic breakthrough that came just three weeks after the North conducted its first known atomic test blast.

The agreement was struck in three-way talks between the senior envoys from the United States, China and North Korea at an unpublicized meeting at a government guesthouse in Beijing.

The U.S. negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, said the six-country negotiations would likely resume in November or December.

'We took a step today toward getting this process back on track. This process has suffered a lot in recent weeks by the actions the DPRK has made,' Hill told reporters afterward, using the initials for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." Continue story.

I won't believe it until it happens, and even then, have little hope that anything of substance will come of it.

KERRY: THE VILLAGE IDIOT

He speaks.
Audio #1

Video #1













MORON!!!!

Democrats Threaten Patriot Act

WASHINGTON -- "FBI agents and CIA officers will tell you that their single most important tool for hunting down terrorists and avoiding another 9/11 attack is the Patriot Act. Yet the Patriot Act will likely be the first law the Democrats will try to eviscerate if they gain control of Congress.

This year alone, the Democrats overwhelmingly voted five times to kill the Patriot Act. When that didn't work, they filibustered. Last December, after the vast majority of Senate Democrats voted against renewing the Patriot Act, their minority leader, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., boasted to a cheering crowd of political supporters, 'We killed the Patriot Act.' " Continue...

Monday, October 30, 2006

Homegrown DC Violence, Thanks to Amy

Source: Kennedy v. The Machine

"Remember the days when people used to joke about how dangerous Washingotn DC was? It was always pretty ironic that the Nation’s capital was one of the most dangerous cities in the country. Well not anymore. Thanks to Amy Klobuchar’s 8 years as the Chief Prosecutor of Hennepin County which encompasses Minneapolis.

Minneapolis is now more dangerous than New York and Washington DC. And the law enforcement communities have noticed. Kennedy picked up another law enforcement endorsement." Read on.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Act on green taxes now or the world will pay terrible price
Scotsman.com

"A RAFT of new green taxes on flights, cars and wasteful household appliances is being considered by ministers.

In a leaked letter to the Chancellor, David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, has proposed a package of environmental taxes meant to encourage people to use public transport, buy smaller cars and fly less. These include charges on petrol-guzzling cars, road pricing, a £5 levy on airline travel in Europe and £10 for longer-haul flights, and higher charges for dumping waste in landfills.

The proposals emerged on the eve of the publication of a 700-page report by the economist Sir Nicholas Stern, setting out the devastating economic impact of climate change.

Mr Miliband said the Stern report would show the country could no longer continue to pump carbon into the atmosphere without calculating the costs. 'It has an environmental price and, as we are learning from Sir Nicholas Stern, it has an economic price as well,' he said. 'And for the future, we have to recognise that environmental and economic price of carbon emissions in the way we live and work.'

Sir Nicholas's report will warn that Britain's economy will experience suffering on the scale of the 1930s Depression if the world's developed nations continue to resist the realities of climate change." CONTINUE.

This is smoke and mirrors. And to what end, you ask? Create hysteria through junk science, create job security for climate "scientists" collecting huge dollars through federal funding (your tax dollars "hard at work") and ultimately to derive (witness the above story) at a place and time where we will have a global tax. The UN as our master. Am I crazy? Some may argue so. But I think not.

“Sometimes it seems [the news media] are less interested in legitimate news than they are in proving their knowledge and wisdom is superior to ours. The most frustrating thing is when I have the facts to prove them wrong but cannot reveal those facts without endangering security or wrecking some plan we’re engaged in.”

—Ronald Reagan

US general expects another nuclear test from North Korea

Seoul - "The commander of US forces in South Korea General B B Bell said Monday he believes North Korea will conduct further nuclear weapon tests.

'I can only surmise that since they tested one, that we would see some time in the future yet again another test of a nuclear device,' he told a news conference at Yongsan Garrison, the main US base in Seoul.

Further nuclear or missile tests are part of North Korea's programme 'to develop these kinds of very provocative weapons,' he said, without giving any estimate to when the next test would be." Continue.

Arroyo calls North Korea ‘irrational’

Philippine News - Manila Standard Today

NANNING CITY, China (via PLDT/Smart)—"President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday described the North Korean government as “irrational” for conducting an underground nuclear test and refusing to return to Six-Party Talks.

The President raised Pyongyang’s refusal to give up its nuclear enrichment program during her meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the Li Yuan Hotel here.

“The President has informed Chinese Premier Wen that the Philippines will support fully the United Nations Security Council to address the irrational behavior of North Korea. She also said that China will play a key role in resolving the issue,” Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in an interview after the meeting." Continue.

Harold Ford says Republicans don’t love, but just fear God (Update: Corker responds)

"My friend Lincoln Davis who chairs our campaign says there are, there’s one big difference between us and misfortunate Republicans when it comes to our faith: he said that Republicans fear the Lord; he said Democrats fear AND love the Lord."

Video here.

There was a time, I had respect for this man. What a shame. I misjudged him. If he were running in my state, I could not vote for him, not even as dogcatcher. (HH)

Corker responds: “I believe it is divisive, offensive, inappropriate and wrong for Congressman Ford to state flatly that only Democrats love the Lord. Congressman Ford’s ill-considered comment is an affront to all people of faith, not just Republicans, and he should apologize.”

North Korea celebrates nuclear test while firing and selling more arms


AsiaNews.it

"Seoul (AsiaNews) – Defying international criticism, North Korea yesterday celebrated the success of its first nuclear test with “spontaneous” manifestations of joy by the people and the army. Anti-American sentiments were restated for the occasion.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, the official news agency of the Stalinist regime, “soldiers and citizens gathered to hail the successful historic nuclear test at 12 events across the country”.

The agency, the only legal communications media in the country, continued to say that “successive US administrations have pursued very hostile policies towards North Korea.” Washington “was brazen-faced enough to describe the nuclear test on 9 October as a threat to international peace and security.”

UN sanctions – approved shortly after the announcement of the atomic test – are therefore a “declaration of war” but the people and the army “through these rallies have firmly pledged themselves to defend our socialist country and bring about miracles in economic construction, true to the great Songun policy.” "

Fear of famine is creating North Korea refugee crisis

Independent - London,England,UK
As the international community struggles to cope with the political ramifications of a nuclear North Korea, a growing exodus of refugees into China is ...

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Poll: 60 Percent of Palestinians Back Hamas Policy of Not Recognizing Israel

"Strategy Page sums things up rather nicely. Palestinian opinion polls show that Hamas has lost some popular support since taking power in January, and is now about even with Fatah. However, some 60 percent of Palestinians still support the Hamas policy of not recognizing Israel's right to exist."

Source: Vital Perspective

Bush 'Stabbed in Back' By Iraqi Politicians

Watching America
Azzaman, Iraq

"There is no doubt that the United States has sacrificed a lot for Iraq's sake. It has had to accept the tarnished reputation that came with its invasion of the country, and the American people have as a result borne the pain of their government’s military adventure.

While many in Iraq remain, who don't doubt that President George W. Bush is still sincere and honest in his bid to help the country, at the same time they blame him in the immediate aftermath of the invasion for falling such easy prey to stray groups of politicians - whether in Iraq or elsewhere." Continue.

Primitive Anti-Americanism is Not in the Russian Interest

Watching America
Kommersant, Russia

“The divergence of U.S. and Russia interests ends when it comes to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. ... Hampering the U.S. in its struggle against nuclear proliferation is like shooting oneself in the foot, as the English like to say.” Continue.

World Enters a Dangerous Era of U.S. Impotence

Watching America

“Unfortunately for the West - and for world peace in general - by getting itself bogged down in Iraq, America has wrecked its deterrent power and its political credibility.” Continue.

On TV, Castro Scoffs at Death Rumors

BREITBART.COM

"The ailing Fidel Castro appeared on Cuban state television for the first time in more than a month Saturday, looking thin and tired but walking around and ridiculing recent rumors of his death." More.

Michael J. Fox admits he hasn't read cloning measure

'I'm not qualified to speak on the page-by-page content of the initiative,' says actor on Missouri Amendment 2

"Actor Michael J. Fox says he's against human cloning, against human egg farming and hasn't read a Missouri constitutional amendment measure he has championed in television ads that critics contend would promote both.

On ABC's 'This Week' with host George Stephanopoulos, formerly of the Clinton administration, Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, said today he got involved in the Missouri campaign because he supports Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, a proponent of Amendment 2." Continue.

3 Police Killed, 1 Decapitated in Mexico

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) - "The bodies of three state police officers, one of whom had been decapitated, were found Saturday in a sport utility vehicle abandoned outside the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, police said.

Acapulco has seen a wave of beheadings, shootings, stabbings and grenade attacks on police stations. Criminals have left the decapitated heads of at least six victims in front of government offices with threatening notes attached and authorities say the violence is part of a turf war between drug traffickers over shipment routes." Hat tip Texas Fred.

New Drug Policy Alliance/Zogby Poll Finds 45 Percent Support Making Cigarettes Illegal

Zogby International

“Drug Policy Alliance Warns that Criminalizing Cigarettes would have Disastrous Consequences: Including Black Market Violence, Filling Prisons with Millions of Smokers

Advocates Call for Sound Public Health over Criminal Justice Responses to Legitimate Harms from Cigarettes

A new Zogby Poll commissioned by the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) found that 45 percent of Americans polled would support a federal ban on cigarettes within the next five to ten years. Surprisingly, the strongest support for making cigarettes illegal is among 18 to 29-year-olds, with 57 percent in favor of criminalizing cigarette smokers.

'We were shocked to discover that close to half of those polled support making cigarettes illegal within five to ten years,' said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. 'While it is clearly imperative to reduce the number of people who die prematurely from cigarettes—and we certainly are not pro-tobacco—history has taught us that criminalizing people who use drugs through prohibition has disastrous consequences.' ”

Nuclear North Korea is a Threat, Say Russians
Angus Reid Global Scan - Vancouver,BC,Canada
- Many adults in Russia are concerned about recent developments in North Korea, according to a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation. ...

THE GATHERING STORM

Our National Security And Our National Energy Policy

The transcript of a speech that was prepared and delivered on October 26 and October 27 by Senator Santorum can be read here. It is pretty powerful. The few times I have heard Mr. Santorum speak, I have come away impressed with the breadth of his knowledge, and his grasp on the important issues of our day. He truly gets it.

I hope the people of Pennsylvania come to their senses and see what a gem he is, and see that he gets re-elected. He will serve them well ... as he has in the past.

THE CHOICE COULD NOT BE CLEARER

By Denny Hastert:

"To Republicans, the lessons of 9/11 are clear. We are at war with Islamist extremists and have been since at least as long ago as the first World Trade Center bombings in 1993. More to the point, they are at war with us. The goal of our enemies - global domination through murder, terror, and, at the earliest possible date, the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction - was stated long before 19 young men hijacked four planes five Septembers ago. They have no political agenda or list of grievances. Their perversion of a decent religion has left them with no incentive to pursue either peace or progress. They want, quite simply, to terror-bomb us and our values back to the Dark Ages. As far as we are concerned, our enemies present to us a choice not between war and peace but between war and chaos. They will fight us whether we choose to fight back or not. As far as Republicans are concerned we are in a fight for our freedom and even our lives.

The Democrats disagree.

At a fundamental, instinctive level, Democrats think that there must be something we're doing to exacerbate all this; that there must be something they could do that would make Islamist suicide bombers pack up their bomb vests and stop threatening us. If only, they say, Republicans could address the "root causes" of their troubled psychology - if only we could sit down and talk to them -- they wouldn't hate us so much. If only America would abandon its tough-talking, uncompromising stance, we could immediately spark the dawn of a kinder, gentler jihad.

They think, in short, that 9/11 was an aberration, not part of a pattern. This is nothing short of insane."

SOURCE

13 Reasons to vote Republican on Nov. 7

"I can understand why Democrats are jazzed about November's election. The polls combined with the fawning media ("Oh, please, Sen. Obama, let us kiss the hem of your garment!") are giving them goose bumps such as they have not experienced since "An Inconvenient Truth" debuted in theaters.

What I don't understand is the seeming tepidness of so many Republicans. Yes, the war in Iraq is a long, hard slog. The world is not Topeka, Kansas (would that it were). A journalist pointed out to President Bush at his most recent press conference that the Iraq war has now been going on as long as World War II did for the United States. Well, yes, but we lost 407,316 men in World War II. On Iwo Jima alone, we lost 6,800. This is not to say that the deaths of our people in Iraq should be trivialized. But comparisons with World War II -- in terms of sacrifice and terrible price paid -- are ridiculous."

Read the rest here.