Sheehan Arrested Before State of the Union (Updated)

Prospective California Senate candidate Cindy Sheehan was removed just before the President began his address. MSNBC reports that Sheehan was wearing a protest T-shirt under her clothing and had been advised beforehand by police that she would not be allowed to display it. Sheehan was reportedly charged with unlawful conduct, which is a misdemeanor.

Sheehan was attending the address at the invitation of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif, who had this to say about his guest, prior to her being dragged off in handcuffs.

“I’m proud that Cindy’s my guest tonight,” Woolsey said in an interview before the speech. “She has made a difference in the debate to bring our troops home from Iraq.”

Way to go, Brainiac.

Speculation is brewing that Sheehan is, in fact, part of a plot by Karl Rove, a.k.a., The Architect, to discredit Democrats and peace activists.

Update: Dr. Rusty Shackleford calls Woolsey to task at The Jawa Report.

Vinnie at Vince Aut Morire points out that Rex, the bomb-sniffing dog was better behaved than Cindy.

Newslinker notes that the wife of Republican congressman C.W. Bill Young was asked to leave for wearing a pro-troops T-shirt. Whoops, guess Sheehan can't claim ideological discrimination.

Iowa Voice Could Use Your Help

Jay at Stop the ACLU writes to tell of a blogger in sore financial need. Click here to help IowaVoice by hitting the tip jar or taking out an ad.

Blood Money

How much weregild has the voice of choice for Islamic terrorists, al-Jazeera, taken in? More to the point, why are US media outlets paying?

From Human Events:

Having gotten their scoop, Al-Jazeera will then sell rights to the video to other networks, including American news channels. This generates income for the money-losing network and provides a measure of cover: If everyone else is airing them, why single them out?

The problem with these hostage videos is two-fold. First, they provide aid and comfort to our enemies in time of war. While a 30-second tape by a random terror groups may lack the propaganda punch of a rambling Osama tape, it will be followed by another almost exactly like it, and then another, dampening resolve and eroding morale.

Second, the publicity these tapes provide teaches aspiring terrorists that the price of admission for an airing of their grievances is not joining the political process, but simply grabbing a foreign hostage. This endangers every foreigner in Iraq, not just those seen as occupiers.

So, while there is an embargo on images of the 9/11 atrocities because the mainstream media think that they excite too much emotion [translation: they remind people why we're fighting, and who is leading us], these same folks are willing to pay for terrorist propaganda.

Via The Jawa Report.

With "Journalists" Like These, Who Needs Goebbels?

CNN's Pose of Objectivity Blown To Smithereens By Amanpour
Speaking on Larry King Live yesterday, CNN international correspondent Christiane Amanpour let the cat out of the bag on one of the worst-kept secrets in the world of journalism: Amanpour is grossly biased against US efforts in the war in Iraq.

Newsbusters has a transcript:

“But as Peter Arnett said, and I think that the others have said, that number one it's our responsibility. Number two, if we don't do it, who does it? We have had so -- we have to have an independent eye on these conflicts. The war in Iraq has basically turned out to be a disaster. And journalists have paid for it, paid for the privilege of witnessing and reporting that. And so have many, many other people who have been there. And I think that's terribly, terribly difficult for us. And unfortunately, for some reason which I can't fathom, the kind of awful thing that's going on there now on a daily basis has almost become humdrum. So when something happens to people that we identify, like Bob and like Doug, we wake up again and realize, no, this is not acceptable, what's going on there. And it's a terrible situation.”

Bonus point made by Amanpour: she doesn't really care when "little people" get killed or injured, "little people" being defined as the common rabble in Iraq and members of the military.

Amanpour's comments are a disgraceful abuse of her position, and, of course, an unintentional view into the cluelessness and stupidity that infests so very many of the mainstream media's talking heads. For CNN to have any small hope of being considered an objective news organization, they need to fire Amanpour immediately.

Via The Drudge Report.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Alito Confirmed, 58-42

Samuel Alito has been confirmed by the Senate to sit on the Supreme Court.

Our friends way, way, way out on the Left are bitterly disappointed. They could use a laugh, and what's funnier than South Park? Feel free to console them with the Cartman quote from this post:

Cartman: Yes! Yesss!! Oh, let me taste your tears, Libs! Mm, your tears are so yummy and sweet.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Playing the Nazi Card

John Hinderaker at Powerline reports that so-called FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley, campaigning for a Minnesota congressional seat, dressed her opponent up in Nazi garb on her website. John Kline, Rowley's opponent, is a twenty-five year Marine veteran and took offense.

Rowley has now removed the image, but has yet to issue an apology.

Others: The Jawa Report, Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt, Minnesota Democrats Exposed.

Iran Will Face UN Security Council

The five permanent Security Council members have directed the International Atomic Energy Agency to remand Iran's case to them. From Reuters:

The foreign ministers from China, Russia, the United States, France and Britain as well as Germany and the European Union, said after a dinner in London that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must decide to bring Iran's case before the Council when the agency meets on Thursday in Vienna.

A senior U.S. official said the statement meant Russia and China were now on board with the United States and the European powers that there must be strong action taken by the IAEA in Vienna to discourage Tehran from pursuing atomic research which could enable the country to build a nuclear bomb.

"This is the most powerful message we could have hoped for," said a senior U.S. official, who said the discussions over dinner had been animated.

Not, of course, that anything's going to happen right away:

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the ministers shared serious concerns about Iran's nuclear programs and agreed that an extensive period of "confidence-building" was required from Iran.

The Council could ultimately impose sanctions against Iran but there are many steps before this could happen.

The question is, how will Ahmanidejad and the mullahs react? And will the UN be any better at enforcing its edicts than it was with Saddam Hussein?

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Alito Filibuster Defeated, 72-25

Despite semi-coherent bluster from Senator Teddy Kennedy (how can anyone from Massachusetts stand the embarrassment of being represented by this blivit?), the vote for cloture on debate of the Alito nomination has passed. Certainly, this will be much to the consternation of the Left's lunatic fringe, which spent the weekend harrassing Senators in an attempt to garner support for a filibuster.

I'll let Cartman express my feelings to the moonbats.

Cartman: Yes! Yesss!! Oh, let me taste your tears, Libs! Mm, your tears are so yummy and sweet.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Danes Under Attack By Islamofascists

Dr. Rusty Shackleford at The Jawa Report is tracking Islamist provocations against Denmark, ostensibly resulting from a series of cartoons published by the Danish newpaper Jyllands-Posten lampooning the violent aspects of Islam.

Muslim fanatics are calling for a UN resolution against Denmark and threatening suicide attacks and a boycott if their demands are not met.

Rusty points out that Denmark currently chairs the UN Security Council and speculates that the supposedly spontaneous outrage is intended to pressure Denmark regarding sanctions against Iran.

The latest development is cyberattacks against Danish newspapers and counterattacks from Danish hackers.

More at:
Viking Observer
Enough!
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

Zawahiri Video Released

A new videotaped message has apparently been delivered to Islamist terrorist voice-of-choice al Jazeera:

Zawahiri says he escaped US raid: video
Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri said he escaped a US raid targeting him in Pakistan, according to a video broadcast on the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera.

"US planes launched a raid against the village of Damadola... under the pretext of wanting to kill my frail self and four of my companions," Zawahiri said, wearing a white turban and shirt.

"The entire world has discovered the extent of the American lies," he said.

4 Iraqis Trying To Enter US Detained By Mexicans

Fox News is reporting that 4 Iraqis have been detained by Mexican authorities after being apprehended while trying to cross the border into the US.

A similar incident occurred in March of 2005. US authorities were not able to find a connection to terrorist activity in the case of 4 Iraqis and one Iraqi-American arrested at Mexicali airport with fake passports.

The Protocols of Zircon

My friends, a document has just come into my hands that calls into question everything I have believed in. It is my sad duty as a blogger citizen journalist to publish this damning portion of a memorandum, the source of which I may not reveal. It details the despicable plans of a worldwide conspiracy, an apparent splinter group of the Illuminati, dedicated to the total subjugation and corruption of the United States of America. The Zionist-Inspired Republican Conspiracy Of Neocons traces its lineage to worshippers of the ancient personification of Ba'al. And now, their diabolical plot approaches its awful culmination.

Behold!
This is obviously a to-do list. Some missing portions have been extrapolated:

98112. Instruct Supreme Court Androids (SCAs) to fix 2000 American election to ensure installation of Bush Simulacrum (BS). Accomplished.
98113. Incite the rabble with "terrorist" attack on United States, providing pretext to invade the Middle Eastern oilfields, begin restriction of civil rights, weaken the Democrat foe. Accomplished.
98114. Install Diebold voting machines in key areas for 2004 election. Accomplished.
98115. BS to install two additional SCAs. Pending.
98116. Declare 1978 FISA law unconstitutional. Pending.
98117. Declare Roe v. Wade unconstitutional. Pending.
98118. Declare 22nd Amendment (limiting President to two terms) unconstitutional. Pending.
98119. Declare Emancipation Proclamation unconstitutional. Pending.
98120. Activate minority babyfarms to provide Human Growth Hormone (HGH) to elders. Pending.

My friends, I cannot conceive of such evil; the Left was...are...right!

Black helicopters are circling the house...I don't know how much more time I have to communicate with you...will flee with laptop...VOTE DEMOCRATIC!!!

Smooth Operator

Wow. Look at Venezuelan Socialist strongman and number one fan of Fidel Castro put the moves on newly-back-on-the-market anti-war shrillster Cindy Sheehan. I haven't seen Latin suave done so well since Ricardo Montalban.

And it looks like they plan to become a "power couple": ABC News:

CARACAS, Venezuela Jan 29, 2006 — Cindy Sheehan, the peace activist who set up camp near President Bush's Texas ranch last summer, said Saturday she is considering running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein to protest what she called the California lawmaker's support for the war in Iraq.

Via Stop the ACLU.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

ACLU Having Another Cow

Jay at Stop the ACLU is covering the latest hissy fit and innuendo campaign from the champions of brave jihadi babyhunters everywhere, cross-posted from ACLU Watch/Republican Voices.

It seems that in one or two cases, the wives of terrorist insurgents were taken in for questioning as possible accomplices and/or material witnesses. The ACLU is trying to conflate this into some sort of organized campaign to kidnap innocent Iraqi women, and has managed to plant a story in that other bastion of objectivity and patriotism, the LA Times:

WASHINGTON — U.S. forces in at least two cases have detained wives of suspected insurgents in Iraq in an attempt to pressure the men into surrendering, documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union confirm.

"This is not an acceptable tactic," ACLU lawyer Amrit Singh said Friday.

In one instance, members of a military task force seized a mother of three young children "in order to leverage" her husband's surrender, according to an account by a civilian Defense Intelligence Agency officer.

"I certainly had no idea what Mahmoud was doing with those batteries, wires, digital watches, and 155mm artillery shells. He's always loved to putter around in his workshop. And he said that the AK-47s and SAMs were for duck hunting."

The ACLU's attempt to portray these women as innocent lambs being roughed up by the Coalition would be laughable, if the consequences of failure weren't so grave.

The only thing that the military has done wrong is to release these terrorists and terrorist enablers prematurely.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Obama and Biden See Alito Filibuster As Lost Cause

From the Associated Press:

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., predicted on Sunday that an effort to try to block a final vote on Alito would fail on Monday. That would clear the way for Senate approval Tuesday of the federal appeals court judge picked to succeed the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

"We need to recognize, because Judge Alito will be confirmed, that, if we're going to oppose a nominee that we've got to persuade the American people that, in fact, their values are at stake," Obama said.

"There is an over-reliance on the part of Democrats for procedural maneuvers," he told ABC's "This Week."

"I think a filibuster makes sense when you have a prospect of actually succeeding," Biden said on CNN's "Late Edition." "I will vote one time to say to continue the debate. but the truth of the matter" is that Alito will be confirmed, he said.

These remarks beg the question: if you know you can't filibuster before you vote, why not just go to a straight up and down vote, and quit jerking everyone around?

Answer: the Democrats have veered so far to the Left that they have to pander to the tantrums of these nutcases.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Sunday Funny

From the Dry Bones Blog.

(Political) Circus Coming To Town

Radical eLeft Pushing For Filibuster

The mainstream media are missing, or ignoring, the pressure on Senate Democrats organized by lunatic fringe, diehard Leftists ("netroots") in the blogosphere. These are folks who despise the idea of Constructionist judges who (horrors!) actually use the Constitution as the basis of their rulings. This is not just blog rhetoric, but an organized campaign of pressure on Democratic Senators.

A few snatches of the hysterical blather coming in over the ether:

Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake says she was on a conference call with "Ted Kennedy and others":

Kennedy says the press have been able to convince people that the Dems are obstructionist; they have been successful in spreading the perception that Daschle was an obstructionist, and look what happened to him. This is something the Democrats have seemed to internalize. They believe that voting their conscience on this matter is "obstructionist," and they think they will pay a fearsome price back home if they are perceived thusly, so PLEASE let them know that just the opposite is true.

From Democrats.com:

WE CAN STOP ALITO THIS WEEKEND
Early Thursday afternoon, we broke the news that Senator John Kerry would lead a filibuster against Judge Sam Alito if he could get 41 Senators to sustain the filibuster. Three hours later, CNN confirmed our story.

[Here comes the really funny part-Bluto]

Then the White House called its media whores at the NY Times (David Kirkpatrick), AP (Jesse Holland), Pentagon [Washington] Post (Charles Babington), CNN (Miles O'Brien), and MSNBC (Chris Matthews) and told them to trash John Kerry for daring to challenge the will of Emperor Bush, and to repeat over and over that Democrats did not have enough votes to stop Alito.

Meanwhile, one of the loons at DailyKos is maintaining a "warroom" of contact information on "vulnerable" or "wobbly" Senators:

Senators are freaking out! They've all turned off their DC phones and their voicemails are full. Let's try their state offices (details coming) and get ready to start calling DC again at 9:00 a.m. on Monday! In the meantime try their local offices and fax lines using this page.

Doubtless, this is the sort of pressure that got Hillary to support a filibuster. Even if, as seems likely, the Far Left can't muster enough votes for a filibuster, come Monday there will be an instant high pressure area over DC as the ethically challenged seek to bloviate enough to satisfy their less mentally stable constituents.

Now, personally, I'd like to see a filibuster trigger the so-called "nuclear option" - a rule change threatened by Republicans to outlaw the filibuster. Filibusters are an anti-democratic "tradition" that sidesteps the Constitution and denies the People their right to representation in Congress.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Hillary Sucking Up To Her Deranged Base

Hillary Clinton has joined John Kerry, Teddy Kennedy, and Dick Durbin in seeking to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

From Newsday:

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday announced she'll join potential 2008 presidential rival John Kerry in voting to filibuster against Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, just as top Democratic leaders predicted the effort is likely doomed.

With three Democratic senators pledging support for Alito, the New Jersey conservative seems virtually assured of being confirmed by the full Senate Monday or Tuesday, party leaders predicted Friday. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters in Washington that "everyone knows" Senate Democrats couldn't muster the 40 votes needed to support a last-ditch filibuster.

Newday speculates that Clinton can't afford to have Kerry, a potential primary opponent in 2008, undercut her support with the radical Left.

With President Bush's State of the Union address and the Alito confirmation vote both scheduled for Tuesday, I won't be the least bit shocked if there is some sort of publicity stunt from the Democrats. Disgusted yes, shocked, no.

Via Stop the ACLU.

Maybe Google Isn't That Evil

Google is being bashed for cooperating with Chinese communist authorities to restrict what Chinese citizens are allowed to search for on the web. I'm certainly no fan of the liberal establishment that runs Google, (and awards "newsite" status to obvious Islamist propaganda sites) but, fair is fair.

Junkyard Blog correctly points out the surreal tranquility of the images obtained by a Chicom Google search for "tiananmen".

However, if you click on the Chinese character at the left above the search window (which probably corresponds to "Web"), you find this link, which contains a number of violent images of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, including this one:


Of course, maybe the creator of this site is on his or her way to re-education right now, too.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Poll: 100% of Americans Want WaPo/ABC To Disclose Poll Details

The latest tool that the Washington Post and ABC News are using to campaign against the Bush administration is a new poll, touted here by ABC, and trumpeted here by the WaPo. Here's the Washington Post lead:

A strong bipartisan majority of the public believes that President Bush should disclose contacts between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and White House staff members despite administration assertions that media requests for details about those contacts amount to a "fishing expedition," according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Now, not being a particularly trusting individual, especially when it comes to agenda journalists affiliated with the Democratic party, I like to look at the poll itself - the methodology, questions, and the political makeup of the polling sample.

The WaPo doesn't provide any information outside of the number of people polled, and the alleged sampling error. No big surprise, most WaPo writers value the lumpen proletariat only for their political uses; readers are expected to accept what they're told and not ask questions about it.

ABC, supplies a link to what I want to see. Except they don't. The Adobe Acrobat page at the end of the link doesn't provide any more information.

Perhaps ABC and the WaPo don't want anyone examining their work because of the reaction to this tainted AP-Ipsos poll.

Suicide is Painless...

In a particularly lugubrious piece for the LA Times, breathlessly entitled, "Witch Hunt at UCLA", English professor Saree Makdisi whines:

My colleagues and I are being targeted for speaking out on the kinds of urgent social matters and universal principles that it has always — in every society and every age — been the task of intellectuals to address.

This sounds admirable and important.

What kind of "urgent social matters" and "universal principles" does Dr. Makdisi address? Many of them seem to be similar to this:

The usual self-congratulatory contrast between "our" civilization and "their" barbarism has set the stage for a cycle of moralistic inquiries into the motivations of suicide bombers and the supposed duty of "good" Muslims to restrain "bad" ones.

Few have noticed that suicide bombing is merely a tactic used by those who lack other means of delivering explosives. Fewer still seem to notice that what happened in London is what occurs every time a U.S. or British warplane unloads its bombs on an Iraqi village.

There you have it; a suicide bomber is just a delivery system to move the explosives from point A to the inside of the Israeli schoolbus. Jihadi babyhunter equals American soldier. Thanks for speaking out on that "urgent social matter", Dr. Makdisi.

By excusing past terrorist acts Dr. Makdisi becomes morally complicit in future ones. This creature is clearly unfit to be entrusted with the education of young people.

Saree Makdisi is one of the UCLA professors whose ultra-radical views have been outed by the controversial Bruin Alumni Association.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

This Is Just Wrong On So Many Levels

From the Associated Press:

An Italian judge heard arguments Friday on whether a small-town parish priest should stand trial for asserting that Jesus Christ existed.

The priest's atheist accuser, Luigi Cascioli, says the Roman Catholic Church has been deceiving people for 2,000 years with a fable that Christ existed, and that the Rev. Enrico Righi violated two Italian laws by reasserting the claim.

Okay, I know that Italy has become a cesspool of neo-communists, terrorist sympathizers and other assorted pinheads and kooks, but come on.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

ACLU: Tolerating Terrorists 'Welcomes Religious and Ethnic Diversity'

Perhaps it's time for someone to remind the ACLU that they're supposed to be the American Civil Liberties Union, not the Middle Eastern Brave Jihadi Babyhunter Civil Liberties Union.

From The Counterterrorism Blog:

The American Civil Liberties Union has sent a letter (Acrobat) to Department of Justice calling for the dismissal of the remaining charges against former University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian. Citing Al-Arian’s acquittal on 8 of the 17 charges against him, the ACLU claims that since “the two most serious charges” were thrown out, that al-Arian should be set free, and that such a move would demonstrate that the United States “welcomes religious and ethnic diversity.”

Stop the ACLU reminds us that the ACLU has a history of supporting terrorists:

PIJ is not the only Palestinian terrorist group to find its way onto the ACLU’s docket. There is more. Indeed, it seems that the ACLU is a terrorist best friend.

Just recently the ACLU filed a lawsuit defending someone accused of funding Hamas.

More at Hyscience and The Jawa Report.

Colombian Passport Forgers Supplied Al Qaeda, Hamas

From the Associated Press:

Colombia has dismantled a false passport ring with links to al-Qaida and Hamas militants, the acting attorney general said Thursday after authorities led dozens of simultaneous raids across five cities.

The gang allegedly supplied an unknown number of citizens from Pakistan, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and other countries with false passports and Colombian nationality without them ever stepping foot in the country.

An undisclosed number of those arrested are wanted for working with the al-Qaida terror network and the militant Palestinian group Hamas, said acting Attorney General Jorge Armando Otalora.

The counterfeit Colombian, Spanish, Portugese and German passports were used to enter the United States and Europe, he said.

Jimmy Carter Advocating Criminal Acts?

From The Jerusalem Post:

"The Palestinian Government is destitute, and in desperate financial straits. I hope that support for the new government will be forthcoming," Carter said at a Jerusalem press conference.

Carter, who has long supported the participation of Hamas in the Palestinian elections, voiced the hope that the Islamic terror group would act "responsibly" now that it had won the elections.

Isn't President Peanut just the soul of kindness, at least when it comes to coddling terrorists? Unfortunately, as I pointed out earlier here, it's illegal for Americans to provide "material support or resources" to designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. And Hamas is so designated by the State Department.

The Rabbit Terminator suggests a sneaky little ploy:

He added that if international law barred donor countries from directly funding a Hamas-led government than the US and the EU should bypass the Palestinian Authority and provide the "much-needed" money to the Palestinians via non-governmental channels such as UN agencies.

Uh-uh, Jimmy. Hamas is now the legally elected government of the Palestinians. That makes them all officially designated terrorists. And your little plot sounds an awful lot like conspiracy to deal unlawfully with a terrorist state. Dr. Rafil Dhafir went to prison for just the actions you are suggesting.

Thanks to Jay at Stop the ACLU. More from Misha at The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

We'd Like To Help You Out, But...

From The US Department of State:

It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide "material support or resources" to a designated FTO [Foreign Terrorist Organization].

Also from The US Department of State:



This means that continuing foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority once Hamas assumes power would be a criminal act on the part of the government.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Reactions to Hamas' Win From Middle Eastern Press

While most Middle Eastern news outlets still have stories posted projecting a Fatah victory based on exit polling, a few have reacted to the real story. These two, from opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian fence, offer similar Pollyanna takes:

al Jazeera sees a tiny ray of sunshine:

And in a first sign of pragmatism, Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas official, said the group would extend its year-old truce if Israel reciprocates. "If not, then I think we will have no option but to protect our people and our land," he said.

The Jerusalem Post looks on the bright side:

"Now that they are in power, Hamas will have to take responsibility for the future. They will have to become more moderate. Now they are part of the democratic game and they will have to play by the democratic rules," Siniora said.

Siniora, a 69-year-old east Jerusalemite Christian, is publisher of The Jerusalem Times and a co-CEO of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information. An early proponent of negotiations with Israel, he has long been involved in pro-peace activities. He was one of seven candidates contending for one of the two seats reserved for Christians in the Jerusalem district, but is unlikely to win the seat.

Unfortunately, the reality will probably be much grimmer, at least in the short run. For years, it's been obvious that Palestinian society has been undergoing a forced evolution. The smart Palestinians have found ways to escape their role as tools of Pan-Arabism, and gotten out.

What's left are the dregs, mentally damaged barbarians who have bred a sick, twisted culture based on celebrating terrorist acts. What else can you say about a society that deifies degenerates who deliberately seek out children to murder?

Are there enough intelligent, mentally healthy Palestinians left to build a civilized society? I don't think so, but I'd be very glad to be proved wrong.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Palestinians Elect Terrorist Group Hamas As Government

Hamas, recognized as a terrorist organization by the United Nations and the US State Department, won a majority of seats in the Palestinian election, defeating the ruling Fatah party. From Reuters:

"Today we woke up and the sky was a different color. We have entered a new era," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said after Hamas announced it had won more than 70 seats in the 132-member parliament in Wednesday's election.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington's view of Hamas as a terrorist group was unchanged after the poll. Hamas has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel since a Palestinian uprising began more than five years ago.

The Hamas win is the worst possible news for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Hamas is a major sponsor of terrorist attacks against Israel and has vowed to destroy the Jewish state.

Others:
Stop the ACLU
OneJerusalem
the Dry Bones Blog
Israellycool
Israpundit

A Tale of Two Lawsuits

Jay at Stop the ACLU sends word of two separate, and disgraceful, lawsuits.

First, ACLU lawyers are suing the government for barring Tariq Ramadan, a "scholar" from Switzerland, from entering the US. It might have something to do with Ramadan's ties to Islamist groups...and the fact that he was banned from entering France on suspicion of ties to Algerian terrorists. Read about this one here.

That's right. Not only does the ACLU not want the government intercepting terrorist communications to agents within the United States, now they want us to let the terrorists' recruiters in, too. ROTC should hire the ACLU.

For your further edification, Jay reports that psycopathic mass-murderer Saddam Hussein's lawyers are helping him file suit against the United States for "destroying Iraq". Read about this pathetic travesty here.

And don't you dare question their patriotism!

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

A Soldier Answers Joel Stein

The American Thinker has posted a reply to Joel Stein's LA Times column written by serving Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell. Stein, has admitted that he has absolutely no military expertise or knowledge, and thus would be completely incapable of performing LTC Russell's duties. Ironically, LTC Russell is a talented writer, and seems more capable than Stein at setting his thoughts down in a powerful way:

As an American, I no longer draw a distinction of who qualifies to be one or is best suited to appreciate democracy. After serving nine years overseas and on multiple continents, I do not see white or black or Hispanic or Indian or oriental or educated or simple-minded Americans. I only see Americans. Even the unfriendly kind. And when I am old, I will be able to look in the mirror and know that I acted on my convictions to preserve what others will not. Cannot. Do not. And what I will see is a man with a clear conscience and a moral sense of purpose.

I am thankful I do not have to look into Mr. Stein’s mirror.

Young Joel has just been bitchslapped. Again. Go read the whole thing.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Essential Liberties

Jay at Stop the ACLU points us to an important post by Michelle Malkin exposing the radical Left's hijacking of Benjamin Franklin's famous, and always mangled, quote:

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

In this photo, you see one of the most popular variations of Ben's words.


The missing word, "essential" is, well, essential to understanding Franklin's quote.

Others:
The Conservative Cat
Junkyard Blog
Rightwing Nuthouse
Newslinker

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Hitchens Hears the 'desperation in Osama's voice'

Writing in Slate, Christopher Hitchens (still a liberal apostate, despite his recent backsliding) puts forth the view that Osama and al Qaeda are on the ropes; desperate:

Now, Afghanistan is lost to Bin Laden and Pakistan has had, at least officially, to modify its behavior considerably. The A.Q. Khan network has been shut down. The Saudi ruling class identifies its state interest with a repudiation of al-Qaida, inside and outside its own borders. And the one remaining regime that openly preached holy war and helped train jihadist forces like the "Fedayeen Saddam"—the pseudo-secular terror state in Iraq—has been irretrievably smashed. Wherever Bin Laden is now, it cannot be where he wanted or hoped to be four and a half years ago.

All inarguable points, leading to the inevitable conclusion:

Given the utter discredit and isolation of its forces in Iraq, who would still say that the fighting there is a "distraction" from the hunt for al-Qaida? They have taken tremendous casualties, obviously in the hope that their atrocious tactics would swiftly dissipate coalition morale and coerce Iraqi support. And it seems as if they haven't learned from their mistake.

Who indeed? Well, pretty much anyone who hates President Bush. And Joel Stein, who hates himself.

Joel Stein: "...what do you mean by 'honor'?"

Radioblogger has posted a transcript and audio of Hugh Hewitt mercilessly (yet politely) bitchslapping Joel Stein over Stein's anti-troops column in the LA Times. Here is one of the many telling points in Hugh's interview:

HH: Do you honor the service that their son did?

JS: To honor the service their son...now this is a dumb question, but what do you mean by honor? That's a word you keep using. I'm not entirely...maybe that's my problem. But I'm not entirely sure what you're...

Yeah, big surprise that Stein has no concept of honor.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Joel Stein in LA Times: "I DON'T SUPPORT our troops"

The Left continues its disintegration. Joel Stein, writing in the LA Times, gives his reasons why American soldiers are unworthy of his support:

I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on.

The truth is that people who pull triggers are ultimately responsible, whether they're following orders or not. An army of people making individual moral choices may be inefficient, but an army of people ignoring their morality is horrifying.

I'm not advocating that we spit on returning veterans like they did after the Vietnam War, but we shouldn't be celebrating people for doing something we don't think was a good idea.

Stein says that pacifists who claim to support the troops are "wussy", but also mentions that pretty much any of the troops would be able to beat him up. Interesting stance, embracing wimphood as a virtue.

More at The Jawa Report, Michelle Malkin.

Thanks to Newslinker.

Also posted at Vince Aut Morire.

Nutbags On Parade At Ground Zero

Dr. Rusty Shackleford at The Jawa Report reports that:

The tinfoil brigades will march on President's Day to protest the 9/11 conspiracy. And by conspiracy, they mean that 9/11 was an American conspiracy. They will also attempt to arrest former mayor Rudy Giuliani for his part in the conspiracy.

Here's how DailyKos conspiracy lunatic theorist GNixon explains it:

If 9/11 was not a surprise terrorist attack, then who did it and why? The evidence is strongly pointing to rogue elements in the Bush/Cheney administration, primarily individuals associated with the NeoCon think tank, the P.N.A.C (Project For A New American Century: the authors wanting another Pearl Harbor), private military contractors and corporations, in addition to a few foreign governments and their intelligence networks. Author Webster Tarpley, in 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in the U.S.A (4). goes into great detail about the intricacies of these operations best described as "False Flag Terrorism." In other words, make it look like the people you want to attack or invade (Arabs) attacked us first.

This, coming from the most popular Leftist blog, is a clear signal of the utter derangement of the Left. These are the kooks that politicos like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are pandering to. Their base.

Also posted at Vince Aut Morire.

Council of Europe: US Media Being 'Pressured' To Cover Up Torture

It's not surprising that the France-based Council of Europe would issue a press release bashing the Bush administration and European governments that cooperate with the US. What is surprising is that the release would contain such blatant hogwash [emphasis added]:

[24/01/06 09:00:00] It is highly unlikely that European governments, or at least their intelligence services, were unaware of the ''rendition'' of more than a hundred persons affecting Europe, according to Council of Europe investigator Dick Marty, whose interim assessment was made public today in an information memorandum. Citing statements made by American officials and others, Mr Marty also said there was ''a great deal of coherent, convergent evidence pointing to the existence of a system of 'relocation' or 'outsourcing' of torture''. He welcomed the arrival yesterday of detailed information he had requested from Eurocontrol and the EU's Satellite Agency. At the opening of the debate this morning, Dick Marty expressed his concern at the pressure put on the media in the United States not to report on this affair. ''Our aim is to find out the truth that is being hidden from us today'', he said.

Has Dick Marty been in a coma for the past couple of months? Surely, everyone in the world is aware of the New York Time's traitorous publication of secret US countermeasures in the War on Terror?

Putting "pressure" on US mainstream media not to publish something damaging to the Bush administration is like trying to beat off a shark with a severed limb.

Few Americans are naive enough to buy the idea of American reporters bowing to government "pressure". This statement is a clear indication that the Council's press release was aimed at a European audience, which begs the question, why does the Council feel it necessary to shade the truth for Europeans? In other words, what is the Council of Europe up to?

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Conservatives Projected To Win In Canada

From MSNBC:

OTTAWA - Canada’s major media predicted victory for Conservative leader Stephen Harper in national elections Monday night, an outcome that was expected to push Canada to the right on social and economic issues and lead to improved ties with the United States.

Maybe the new Conservative government will mean less of this sort of ignorant political pandering:

TORONTO, Ontario (AP) -- Canadian officials, seeking to make sense of another fatal shooting in what has been a record year for gun-related deaths, said Tuesday that along with a host of social ills, part of the problem stemmed from what they said was the United States exporting its violence.

Canadian Liberals have a tendency to jerk their knees and kick Uncle Sam in the ass to posture for their constituents. There should be a bit less of that, now.

Perhaps the change in government to the north will also mean a more willing partner to help keep al Qaeda terrorists out of North America - and root out the ones who have already settled in.

The New Know-Nothings

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters exposes the antics of Leftist virtual bookburners afflicting Amazon.com. Conservative titles have been systematically targeted for "egraffiti" including phony cover pictures and scurrilous "reviews". Captain Ed sums it up in his own inimitable fashion:

That's not the actions of people who have confidence in themselves. Those are the actions of a fearful, small-minded, vulgar group of Neanderthals who have suddenly seen Homo sapiens and realized that their days are numbered. These mouthbreathers cannot offer any new ideas, so instead of trying to compete with conservatives, they're busy with the electronic equivalent of sticking their fingers into their ears and shouting, "LA-LA-LA-LA, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU!!" as loudly as possible.

Michelle Malkin is on the case, as well.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Osama Tape Forces Dems Into Tactical Retreat

It's just bad political karma for your political philosophy to be linked to the world's most notorious and evil terrorist.

This story in the Washington Post explains how and why anti-Bush politicos are changing tactics:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. surveillance laws should be reviewed and possibly rewritten to allow the type of eavesdropping that U.S. President George W. Bush has been criticized for authorizing, lawmakers from both parties said on Sunday.

What? No impeachment? What accounts for this (literally) overnight change in tune?

An audio tape by Osama bin Laden that emerged last week threatening new attacks on the United States has heightened security concerns. Neither party can afford to be seen as failing to protect the country, particularly as corruption scandals and public questioning of the Iraq war loom over November's congressional elections.

And this led to the funniest quote of the week, from John Kerry:

"We're prepared to eavesdrop wherever and whenever necessary in order to make America safer."

Got that? The eavesdropping gap is closed.

Of course, the original NSA leak and resulting posturing from Democratic politicians has already done its damage:

But his Senate counterpart Intelligence Committee chairman Pat Roberts of Kansas said he worried that the public debate about what the NSA can or cannot do would harm its intelligence gathering.

"Al Qaeda are not stupid," he said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I really worry about losing that capability and seeing a diminished capacity for the president to act and detect a possible attack on the homeland, then do something about it."

More at Stop The ACLU and Flopping Aces.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Wanna See Something Really Scary?

This goes well beyond anti-semitic rhetoric and nuclear saber-rattling:

"On the last day when I was speaking, one of our group told me that when I started to say 'Bismillah Muhammad', he saw a green light come from around me, and I was placed inside this aura," he says. "I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn't move an eyelid, I'm not exaggerating. They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes - Alhamdulillah!"

The speaker is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Carroll Kidnapping Delays Release of Iraqi Female Detainees

A Reuters story about conflicting messages from US and Iraqi officials implies that six female detainees were scheduled for release before the Jill Carroll kidnapping:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Justice Ministry said on Sunday it still expects U.S. forces to release six Iraqi women prisoners this week, despite U.S. comments to the contrary.

The confusion seems to stem from plans made prior to the terrorists' demands to release the women:

"We talked to the Americans and they agreed to put them before the review board. On January 17 we reached an agreement that they will be released," the official said.

January 17 was also the day that terrorists released a video of Carroll, demanding the release of the Iraqi women in exchange for Carroll's life. The US does not negotiate with terrorists. Releasing the women now would be seen as caving in to the kidnappers' demands, and would encourage more such acts.

Thus, the kidnappers have effectively ensured that the women detainees will spend more time behind bars.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Pirate Ship Captured On The High Seas

From the Associated Press:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The U.S. Navy boarded an apparent pirate ship in the Indian Ocean and detained 26 men for questioning, the Navy said Sunday. The 16 Indians and 10 Somali men were aboard a traditional dhow that was chased and seized Saturday by the U.S. guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, said Lt. Leslie Hull-Ryde of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.

The dhow stopped fleeing after the Churchill twice fired warning shots during the chase, which ended 87 kilometers (54 miles) off the coast of Somalia, the Navy said. U.S. sailors boarded the dhow and seized a cache of small arms.

The dhow's crew and passengers were being questioned Sunday aboard the Churchill to determine which were pirates and which were legitimate crew members, Hull-Ryde said.

Sailors aboard the dhow told Navy investigators that pirates hijacked the vessel six days ago near Mogadishu and thereafter used it to stage pirate attacks on merchant ships.

Yarr.

Sunday Funny

From the Dry Bones Blog.

Israel To Iran: Dump The Nutjob, Or Else

Israel's Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz issued a stern warning to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the people of Iran. From Reuters:

"Ahmedinejad, his hallucinatory statements, his criminal actions and his extreme views will bring disaster upon you. Do what you understand needs to be done in order to prevent this."

Mofaz also had some advice for Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and suggested that Israeli Jews should emigrate to Europe:

"You, who are leading your country in an ideology of hatred, terror and antisemitism. You had better take a glance at history and see what became of tyrants like you who tried to annihilate the Jewish people. They only brought destruction upon their own people."

Mofaz also mentioned Iranian sponsorship of terrorist organizations, and Iran's nuclear ambitions. From the Jersusalem Post:

"Money is like fuel for terrorism," the defense minister said. "Iran provides the Hizbullah with $100 million annually some of which reaches Palestinian terror groups. Iran is also the primary supporter for the Islamic Jihad which has carried out most of the suicide bombings in Israel over the past year including the one on Thursday near the old Tel Aviv central bus station."

"Thwarting Iran's nuclear aspirations will for now be done by passing this hot potato to the [United Nations] Security Council," Mofaz said in his speech at the sixth annual Herziliya Conference session on the balance of Israel's national security. "At the same time however Israel is committed to protecting itself and that is what it plans to do."

How will the maniac Ahmadinejad react? Most likely with more bluster and a continuation of Iran's nuclear program.

Portrait Of The Author As A Literary Whore

As I previously noted in this post, Allah at Link Mecca discovered that Osama's newly released audiotape contains a recommendation for William Blum's book Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower.

Of course, as a loyal American, Blum was shocked and disgusted to have his work cited by the world's most evil living human - not. Newhouse News Service reports that Blum is pretty much delighted with the publicity for his book:

"I was amazed and amused," Blum said. "It's good publicity for the book."

Blum explained that Osama had actually confused Rogue State with another in his anti-America collection: Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire.

Here's Blum's Ward Churchill impression:

"He [Osama] sees anti-American terrorist attacks as under the category of retaliation," Blum said. "In previous tapes he's used that word -- retaliation. I don't like what they do, but it's understandable intellectually."

And here's Osama quoting Blum:

Bin Laden quoted Blum as writing: "If I were president, I would stop the attacks against the United States. First I would give an apology to all the widows and orphans and those who were tortured. Then I would announce that American interference in the nations of the world has ended once and for all."

Any writer possessed of even a rudimentary moral compass would be horrified to have his words on the lips of a mass murdering psycopath. Blum is overjoyed.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Nutso Iran Prez To Europe: 'Take Back Your Jews'

The Persian Hitler is at it again. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants Europe to allow Israeli Jews to immigrate. Every last one of them. From Haaretz:

Ahmadinejad delivered the challenge after arriving in Syria for a two-day visit on Thursday. Addressing Europe, he asked: "Would you open the doors of your own countries to these (Jewish) immigrants so that they could travel to any part of Europe they chose?"

"Would you offer the necessary guarantees that you would provide for their security when they came to your countries and not allow another anti-Semitic wave in Europe?" he added in an apparent reference to recent attacks on Jewish cemeteries and properties in European states.

Mahmoud predicts that he won't get an answer to his proposal and that world leaders will accuse him of threatening world peace. Ya think?

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Code Pink Fake Photo Scandal

Publius Pundit has caught the ultra radical, anti-war organization Code Pink red-handed, photoshopping Iranian women protesting the mad mullahs of Iran, and using their images for Code Pink recruiting materials. Fake signs were put in the women's hands.

Code Pink has taken down the picture, but Publius has a copy of the faked photo on his site.

Osama's Hiding Spot Revealed

Al Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden has been employing a unique method of camouflage to elude US and Coalition forces who have been searching for him since the fall of Afhganistan.

Combining the craftiness of the Bedouin desert hunter with cutting-edge genetic engineering and concepts pioneered by Robert Heinlein in the book Starship Troopers (not the movie, which, sadly, ignored Heinlein's Mobile Infantry suits) al Qaeda bioengineers have provided bin Laden with a mobile stealth device capable of covering level ground at up to 8 miles per hour.

It can also find truffles.

The Jawa Report Helps Nab A Would-Be Terrorist

Go here to read what part The Jawa Report (where I am a co-blogger) and its readers played in the capture and conviction of Mohammed Radwan Obeid, a Jordanian citizen living in Ohio. Obeid had ambitions to join the jihad against the Great Satan. Now he'll be spending some time in jail, before being deported.

And congratulations to Dr. Rusty Shackleford, the Sith Lord behind The Jawa Report on his Blogiversary, too!

Star Jones And The Talleywhacker War

From the New York Post:

Yesterday, the co-host of "The View" told viewers that the war on terror was nothing more than a clash of male egos between President Bush and Osama bin Laden.

"You know what? At some point, one of these men has to put it back in his pants and zip up the zipper," she said during a discussion of bin Laden's latest audio tape.

ABC's mouthy porkette has never been noted for deep thoughts, figuratively speaking, of course.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Has Chirac Grown A Pair?

He's certainly talking like a man who's had a testosterone injection. From the Washington Post:

PARIS, Jan. 19 -- President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France was prepared to launch a nuclear strike against any country that sponsors a terrorist attack against French interests. He said his country's nuclear arsenal had been reconfigured to include the ability to make a tactical strike in retaliation for terrorism.

"The leaders of states who would use terrorist means against us, as well as those who would envision using . . . weapons of mass destruction, must understand that they would lay themselves open to a firm and fitting response on our part," Chirac said during a visit to a nuclear submarine base in Brittany. "This response could be a conventional one. It could also be of a different kind."

Zut alors! Chirac is actually threatening to nuke rogue terrorist states? Iran's Ahmadinejad must be shaking like a French soldier. Sorry, conditioned response...

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Osama Says Tomato, Left Says Tom-ah-to

Tomato! Tom-ah-to! Let's call the whole thing off!

Fun with the purported Osama audiotape

Osama says:

But what triggered my desire to talk to you is the continuous deliberate misinformation given by your President [George] Bush, when it comes to polls made in your home country which reveal that the majority of your people are willing to withdraw US forces from Iraq.

Moveon.org says:

...a majority of Americans, want U.S. troops to leave Iraq. It’s time for Congress to insist on an exit plan.

Osama says:

There is no problem in this solution, but it will prevent hundreds of billions from going to influential people and war lords in America - those who supported Bush's electoral campaign - and from this, we can understand Bush and his gang's insistence on continuing the war.

Mother Jones says:

Since September 11, the Bush administration has awarded the world's second-largest oil-services company at least $2.2 billion in defense-generated business, mostly to support military operations overseas.

Osama says:

We are getting increasingly stronger while your situation is getting from bad to worse

John Murtha says:

"...[the Army] is "broken, worn out" [and] "living hand to mouth."

Update
Link Mecca reports that a full translation of the Osama tape includes a book recommendation for William Blum's The Rogue State. Congratulations to Mr. Blum on this odious important endorsement.

Newslinker has compiled quotes from the Democratic Underground and DailyKos insinuating that the Osama tape is all a Rovian GOP plot. Break out the tinfoil, folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Purported Osama Audiotape Agrees With US Left's Party Line

From al Jazeera, the voice of choice for Islamist terrorists:

We know that the majority of your people want this war to end and opinion polls show the Americans don't want to fight the Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their (US) land.

The new operations of al-Qaida has not happened not because we could not penetrate the security measures. It is being prepared and you'll see it in your homeland very soon.

But Bush does not want this and claims that it's better to fight his enemies on their land rather than on American land.

Bush tried to ignore the polls that demanded that he end the war in Iraq.

Is this tape really coming from Osama bin Laden? This sounds like any number of articles from Indymedia, or perhaps a fundraising letter to constituents from a Democratic Senator.

The speaker goes on to offer a "truce":

We are a nation that Allah banned from lying and stabbing others in the back, hence both parties of the truce will enjoy stability and security to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, which were destroyed by war.

Except, of course, when practicing taqqiyeh; lying in the service of Islam.

I would like to tell you that everything is going to our advantage and the number of your dead is increasing, according to Pentagon figures.

Does this guy maybe moonlight writing for Moveon.org?

Dr. Rusty Shackleford at The Jawa Report casts some doubt on the timeliness of the audiotape, even if it is actually bin Laden's voice.

The Antiwar Left might examine their souls and ask themselves why their rhetoric echoes the world's most notorious mass murdering terrorist.

Your Chance To Stand Up To The ACLU

Debbie Schlussel, a blogger and lawyer from Michgan, where the ACLU filed their lawsuit against NSA intercepts of al Qaeda suspects' communications with Americans, is leading a counterattack:

Since the lawsuit was filed in U.S. Federal Court in the Eastern District of Michigan, where I practice, I've already been contacted by concerned U.S. citizens who wish to intervene in the case as interested parties (whose interests and welfare are affected by this case) in support of the government's activities. And we may do so. You may feel free to contact me regarding this if you are interested in adding your name.

More from Michelle Malkin and Jay at Stop the ACLU.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Alumni Group Tagging Radical Profs At UCLA

From the LA Times:

A fledgling alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students payments of up to $100 per class to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies.

The year-old Bruin Alumni Assn. says its "Exposing UCLA's Radical Professors" initiative takes aim at faculty "actively proselytizing their extreme views in the classroom, whether or not the commentary is relevant to the class topic." Although the group says it is concerned about radical professors of any political stripe, it has named an initial "Dirty 30" of teachers it identifies with left-wing or liberal causes.

Some of the libby profs have accused the Bruin Alumni Association of a "witch hunt". I don't understand why they're upset. They act as if they're ashamed to have their classroom politics exposed to the light of day.

If you find yourself ashamed of your political views, it might be time to change them.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

French(!) News Agency Upstages Reuters At Objective Reporting

A Tale of Two Leads
The most effective agenda journalism (also known as propaganda) is the least obvious. As in most of the mainstream media, Reuters writers know this, and strive to slant their anti-Bush/anti-US articles subtly, to lull the reader into the illusion that they are reading straight reporting of the news, rather than cleverly crafted editorials.

The difference can be as nuanced as the placement of quotation marks, as we see from the following two reports about the same story.

From Reuters:

US abuse undermines global rights drive: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration's attempts to defend inhumane interrogation methods and seek exemptions from planned anti-torture legislation compromised campaigns for human rights around the world in 2005, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

Notice how the Reuters story's headline states positively that "abuse" is going on, and backs it up with the authoritative-sounding word "report".

And it's followed up by the lead paragraph, which doesn't "allege" anything, but boldly states that "inhumane" interrogation methods are being used.

Reuters writer Paul Eckert has crafted an elegant piece of propaganda here, knowing that the vast majority of readers stop after reading the first paragraph. He has succeeded in getting his message out. Josef Goebbels would be proud.

Now let's see how the French news agency Agence France Presse reports the very same story:

Human Rights Watch slams US 'torture' in annual report

US counter-terrorism policies, with their deliberate use of "torture and mistreatment," put the global defense of human rights on the back foot in 2005, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report.

Well, what do you know? The AFP reporter uses quotation marks to make it very clear that the inflammatory rhetoric is coming from Human Rights Watch, and he or she is not taking a position on the issue. Just as my own journalism professor taught me to do when reporting a story.

Imagine, the Fwench showing Reuters how it should be done. Now that's what I call a "man bites dog" story.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Dem Senator Endorses Alito

From Reuters via Yahoo!News:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a moderate voice in the U.S. Congress, on Tuesday became the first Senate Democrat to announce his support for conservative Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, who is expected to be confirmed later this month by the full Republican-led Senate.

"I have decided to vote in favor of Judge Samuel Alito," Nelson said in a statement issued by his office.

"I came to this decision after careful consideration of his impeccable judicial credentials, the American Bar Association's strong recommendation and his pledge that he would not bring a political agenda to the court," Nelson said.

In an interview on Fox News Channel, Nelson said Alito made a commitment not to become a judicial activist.

Bad news for the 'Filibuster or Bust' crowd, though no doubt Teddy is still pawing desperately through Concerned Alumni of Princeton records. Wonder if The Bloviator has cancelled his Owl Club membership yet?

"Willy Nagin and the Chocolate Factory"

In 2002 I spent several weeks in New Orleans. Most of it was good, but there was racial tension just under the surface; much more raw than a born-and-bred Yankee was accustomed to seeing. The natural inclination is to blame unregenerate white Southern attitudes, and there was some evidence to support that view, but it's only half of the story.

Here's the other half:

On Monday, Nagin said God wanted New Orleans to be predominantly black and said he didn't care what the predominantly white Uptown section of the city had to say about it.

"I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day," he said. "This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be."

After the statement, he insisted he wasn't being divisive.

"How do you make chocolate? You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about," he said. "New Orleans was a chocolate city before Katrina. It is going to be a chocolate city after. How is that divisive? It is white and black working together, coming together and making something special."

Yeah, right. I've heard that kind of backpedaling from white bigots, too.

It's time for this clown to be shown the door.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

From Breitbart:

At least four foreign terrorists died in the purported U.S. airstrike aimed at al-Qaida's No. 2 leader in a Pakistani border village, the provincial government said Tuesday.

The statement issued by the administration of Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal regions bordering Afghanistan also said that between 10 and 12 foreign extremists had been invited to the dinner at the village hit in Friday's attack.

It was the first official confirmation by Pakistani authorities that foreign militants were killed in the attack on the village of Damadola. Women and children also died, triggering outrage in this Islamic nation.

"Four or five foreign terrorists have been killed in this missile attack whose dead bodies have been taken away by their companions to hide the real reason of the attack," the statement said.

"It is regrettable that 18 local people lost their lives in the attack, but this fact also cannot be denied, that 10-12 foreign extremists had been invited on a dinner," it said.

I'm not sure why everyone in the mainstream media is willing to take the tribesmen's word on the "innocents" killed. No one outside the area actually saw the bodies; all they photographed were purported fresh burial mounds. Given that the MSM's own local stringers have openly lied to them, the willingness to take the word of hostile Paki tribesmen who were hosting a terrorist dinner party is incredible.

Via The Jawa Report.

ACLU, Journalists To Sue NSA For Eavesdropping on Terrorists

In an early morning press release the ACLU has announced its intention to sue the National Security Agency for intercepting suspected terrorist international calls and emails. The lawsuit is obviously timed to take advantage of a New York Times article critical of NSA intercepts. The ACLU lawsuit also has as plaintiffs several "prominent journalists", raising the possibility of a conspiracy between leftwing journalists and activist groups.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a group of prominent journalists, scholars, attorneys, and national nonprofit organizations (including the ACLU) who frequently communicate by phone and e-mail with people in the Middle East. Because of the nature of their calls and e-mails, they believe their communications are being intercepted by the NSA under the spying program.

The arrogance of the ACLU/MSM lawsuit is breathtaking; that Americans should be put at risk because a few paranoid elitists believe without any evidence that some of their calls may have been monitored - and also, of course, that they're unhappy with the 2000 and 2004 elections and would like to stage a coup d'etat.

Thanks to Jay at Stop the ACLU for emailing me about the press release.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

An Exploitative Martin Luther King Day

ACLU Compares MLK To Terrorist Suspects
Jay at Stop The ACLU notes a new fullpage ad in the Washington Post taken out by the ACLU. The ad compares surveillance of terrorist suspects receiving overseas calls from known al Qaeda terrorists to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. MLK is morally equivalent to terrorists, nice message.

Al Gore Compares MLK To Terrorist Suspects
Speaking on Martin Luther King Day, the former Vice President took advantage of the opportunity to fly into one of his patented femmy snits and launch an attack on the President, again, comparing FBI wiretapping of Dr. King to NSA monitoring of al Qaeda terrorists. Wasn't the wiretapping of Dr. King carried out by Democratic administrations? Whoops.

New Orleans Mayor Compares Blacks To 'Chocolate'
And finally, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin used his MLK Day pulpit to say that "God is mad at America" and declare that New Orleans will once again be a "chocolate city". The mayor was speaking of the racial makeup of the city, which was 60% black prior to Hurricane Katrina. No crackers wanted - unless you're tourists with money.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Gray Lady's 30 Layers of Editors Screw Up Again

Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker points us to this photo (which can still be seen here).


This is the caption that ran with the photo originally:

“Pakistani men with the remains of a missile fired at a house in the Bajur tribal zone near the Afghan border.”

What the New York Time's editors failed to notice is that the object is not part of a missile, but an old artillery shell. In fact, the sort of thing that terrorists use to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The caption was corrected after its propaganda value had been exploited.

Isn't it odd that the NYT's 'errors' always seem to be on the side of America's enemies?

Via Michelle Malkin.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

A 'Gentle' Jihad?

Rhymes With Right reports on Muslim efforts to take over a Catholic primary school in Scotland:

AN ISLAMIC campaign group has called for a Catholic primary school to be based on the Muslim faith.

The Campaign for Muslim Schools said 90 per cent of pupils at St Albert's Primary, in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, are Muslim, yet children are having to take part in Catholic rituals like saying the Lord's Prayer and attending mass.

Osama Saeed, co-ordinator of the alliance of Glasgow's main mosques and Muslim organisations, said he could see no reason why the main faith of the school should not change.

Have the highlanders (many of whom still believe that Bonnie Prince Charlie is the rightful king of Scotland) been socialized to the point where they'll let this pass? Good question. Better question: why doesn't Osama start his own school?

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

A Year of Blogging

It's been a year now since I began this blog (actually, it's been a year and ten days, but there were ten days I didn't blog for one reason or another). Thanks to everyone who's visited and all the bloggers and MSMers who have cited The Dread Pundit Bluto.

Beginning around 1989 or 90 I witnessed the profound changes that the computer revolution wrought on the printing and publishing industry. Whole professions were eliminated, seemingly overnight - the only "strippers" now work the pole; it used to be a legitimate job title in the printing business. I still remember setting type by hand and by eye, with a pasteup board and an exacto knife. The smart folks adapted and welcomed the changes.

And beginning right around the turn of the century, I've witnessed the Internet revolutionize journalism. No longer do a few talking heads and big city editors hold unquestioned monopoly on what the news is going to be. The smart ones are adapting and welcoming the changes.

Senators From Both Parties: Military Strike Against Iran Must Be An Option

Senators McCain and Bayh both said today that the US must not discard the possibilty of military action against Iran's nuclear program as a last resort. It's nice to know that at least two Senators recognize the danger of a nuclear-armed theocracy led by mad mullahs with Apocalyptic aspirations.

From Breitbart:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic senators said on Sunday the United States may ultimately have to undertake a military strike to deter Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but that should be the last resort.

"That is the last option. Everything else has to be exhausted. But to say under no circumstances would we exercise a military option, that would be crazy," Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there are sensitive elements of Iran's nuclear program, which, if attacked, "would dramatically delay its development."

The trouble will come, of course, in deciding when all other options have been exhausted.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

What The Post-Standard Didn't Tell Their Readers

Today's Syracuse Post-Standard opinion page featured results from an AP-Ipsos poll conducted January 3-5, showing that Republicans stand to lose Congress by 13% (the P-S is coy about their online presence; I can't find a link to the story). The P-S was careful to include everything anyone could want to know about the poll in order to judge its validity:

The Associated Press-Ipsos poll on public attitudes about President Bush and Congress, conducted Jan. 3-5, was based on telephone interviews with 1,001 adults from all states except Alaska and Hawaii. Results were weighted to represent the population by demographic factors such as age, sex, region, race and income. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Well, except for one small detail. The poll (available here in Adobe Acrobat format) respondents were 52% Democrats and only 40% Republicans.

This is part of the same tainted poll I discussed earlier here. There's no way to tell whether the editors simply trusted AP-Ipsos to get it right and got burned, or went with the poll "results" despite the grossly biased sample.

Sunday Funny

From the Dry Bones Blog.

Dem Surrender Monkey Murtha To Appear On 60 Minutes

Representative John Murtha (D, FRANCE) is to appear on CBS' 60 Minutes Sunday to do what he can to weaken the US war effort and get more troops killed. Murtha is the partisan Democrat who called for immediate withdrawal from Iraq (prior to the December vote) and was humiliated when Republicans called his bluff and put the proposal to a vote. It was overwhelmingly defeated.

From Breitbart:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Rep. John Murtha, an outspoken Democratic critic of the Iraq war, said in remarks to be aired on Sunday that voter pressure in the November congressional election could force President George W. Bush to pull U.S. forces from Iraq.

"I think the vast majority will be out by the end of the year and I'm hopeful it will be sooner than that," Murtha, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran who retired as a colonel after 37 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, told the CBS "60 Minutes" show.

The Bush administration has already announced plans to reduce troop levels throughout 2006. Murtha's interview is a transparent attempt to recharacterize any troop drawdowns for partisan purposes. Unfortunately, Murtha's party is invested in US defeat. More unfortunately, Murtha's partisan antics will most likely give false hope to our enemies, resulting in more soldiers being put at risk.

Past service does not excuse betraying your country later. Just ask Benedict Arnold.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.

The Zawahiri Attack in the Pakistan Press

These are excerpts from Pakistani accounts of the attack, which is now reported by Western news agencies to have resulted in the deaths of five senior al Qaeda members. Most of the Pakistani stories speculate that the attack was targeting Taliban fugitives, and carried out by Coalition aircraft based in Afghanistan.

There is some disagreement from supposed eyewitnesses as to whose houses were hit. Much of the information given to Pakistani news agencies came from a local politico, Haroon ur Rashid, who is a hardline Muslim unsympathetic to the West.

I've added emphasis to what may be indications that al Qaeda bodies were removed, though none of the accounts mention al Qaeda or Zawahiri. I've also highlighted what seem to be disagreements as to which houses were struck. Also, one of these stories contains the only report I've seen of live suspects being detained.

The Nation:

According to our correspondent, the incident happened when a village close to the Pak-Afghan border was mysteriously attacked with rockets and missiles. Tribesmen at the joint funeral of the victims said that several gunship US helicopters took part in the well-planned operation which was carried out a few days after Pakistan protested to the US military in Afghanistan over the deaths of another eight people in cross-border firing.
In Friday’s attack, the houses owned by Maulana Muhammad Ismael, Sher Afzal and Bakht Pur Jan were targeted and the Hujras (portions for guests) were badly damaged.
Meanwhile, NWFP Senior Minister Sirajul Haq said that 17 persons were killed and six injured. The minister, who hails from Lower Dir district adjacent to Bajaur Agency, has demanded of the federal government to take notice of the incident and lodge a protest with, what he called, United States forces camping across the border in Kunar province of Afghanistan.
The tribal elders from Khar who attended the joint funeral said that 18 victims had been laid to rest in the village graveyard.
Tribesmen said that a number of bodies had been airlifted from the area while a few persons were also detained and shifted to unknown place.
Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, a local religious figure, who was accused of providing shelter to alleged militants, also attended the funeral besides elders from the area. In May 2005, operations were conducted in Mamund tehsil for nabbing Maulvi Faqir Muhammad but he is still at large.

Pak Tribune:

The bombardment by the Allied forces, fell on Damadola Burkanday area of tehsil Mamoon in Bajaur agency at 3:00 am PST, completely flattening the homes of BakhtPur, Muhammad Rahim and Bacha Khan.

According to local eyewitnesses, fourteen members of BakhtPur family along with four others died, due to indiscriminate bombing. The dead included eight children, and four females. The dead included, 9-year old Nadia Bibi, 10-year old Sadiqa, 9-year old Tayyeb, 7 year old Zahid ullah, 5-year old Hussain Nawaz. Others included 20-year-old Ameer Muhammad, 25-year-old Nazir Muhammad, 50-year Noor Pari, 40-year old Shahi Badan, 30-year-old Qari Saeed, 30-year-old Tahira Bibi, and others. Some of the dead were unidentified.

Pakistan Times:

The eyewitnesses told Geo news that coalition airplanes allegedly flying over the areas since last four days and sound of planes also heard when the explosions occurred.

They suspected of missile strikes or bombardment by these fighter planes have hit the area and caused losses. The witnesses added that the explosions have killed at least 10 people whereas a house of local tribesman Gul Zaman was completely destroyed.

Also posted at The Jawa Report.

Zawahiri Targeted By Airstrike, Possibly Exterminated

Osama bin Laden's number two, Ayman al Zawahiri, may have been put down in an airstrike in Pakistan, near the Afghan border.

From Reuters via Breitbart:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. airstrike in Pakistan targeted al Qaeda's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri but it was unclear if he had been killed, CNN quoted U.S. sources as saying on Friday.

From CNN:

(CNN) -- A CIA airstrike on a building in Pakistan may have killed Osama bin Laden's most-trusted aide, sources said.

The building where Ayman al-Zawahiri was thought to be is in Damadola, a small village near the Afghan border.

From ABC News:

Jan. 13, 2006 — Today, according to Pakistani military sources, U.S. aircraft attacked a compound known to be frequented by high-level al Qaeda operatives. Pakistani officials tell ABC News that al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, may have been among them.

U.S. intelligence for the last few days indicated that Zawahiri might have been in the location or about to arrive, although there is still no confirmation from U.S. officials that he was among the victims.

According to ABC, Pakistani military officials say that five top-level al Qaeda terrorists were killed in the attack. At one point in the ABC News story, it is said that the five are undergoing identification, while further on, it is said that the bodies will be recovered at first light.

Keep your fingers crossed.