President Obama is scheduled to address the nation in about an hour about the security failures leading to the crotch bomber's attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day.it will be interesting to see how he attempts to pick up the pieces.
Obama's National Security Advisor James Jones went public, promising the public that they would feel 'a certain shock'when they read the unclassified report of what went on.
I personally doubt there will be much meat there, because actually identifying the problem with an eye towards solving it in the future would be inconvenient and put the Obama Administration and its policies in a particularly bad light.
For instance, the headlong rush to mirandize Abdulmutallab and allow him to lawyer up so quickly probably squandered an opportunity to gain more intelligence from him about al Qaeda, and about his network in Yemen in particular. Obama Administration spokesmouths are trying to spin this, saying Abdulmutallab provided intelligence before he stopped cooperating with the FBI interrogation team after a few hours, but they're obviously trying to cover themselves in a difficult situation.First of all, anyone who followed this situation live knows that there was very little real interrogation time, and certainly not enough to garner anything much of value. And given the Obama Administration's policy and treatment of those charged with the responsibility of interrogating terrorists, do you really think any of those FBI agents were going to risk their jobs doing anything but going through the motions?
One thing I had to shake my head over was the factoid that US security officials apparently discovered the intel that Abdulmutallab was a possible security risk while he was on the plane, en route to Detroit. Yet they did not alert the personnel on the aircraft, preferring to wait until the plane landed to subject Abdulmutallab to 'secondary inspection', whatever that quaint phrase means.
Chew over that a minute. For the sake of political correctness and to avoid any appearance of profiling or violating a potential terrorist's 'rights', the men charged with America's security were prepared to let all 300 passengers and crew on Flight 253 die horribly, as well as an untold amount on the ground from the debris, as my friend Gerard points out.
If that had been an El Al flight. I guarantee you Abdulmutallab would have been restrained or otherwise rendered harmless by the security personnel on the aircraft before his hands got anywhere near his underwear.And that's assuming he managed to get on the plane in the first place.
Speaking of El Al, the US Department of Homeland Security went where it frequently goes for assistance on these matters... they asked our ally Israel for help, which is definitely a step in the right direction.
What the Israelis will undoubtedly tell them is that airport security is dependent not on technology, but on highly motivated and trained personnel committed to keeping passengers safe no matter what.
As a commenter on this blog put it, they will tell the DHS to stop looking for bombs and start looking for terrorists.
I have some doubts about whether the Obama Administration is willing to do what it would take to implement that policy, but we'll see.
For one thing, it would mean phasing out most of the current TSA personnel, let alone allowing them to unionize and fester. It would also require profiling and a much more practical attitude towards inconveniencing security risks as opposed to concentrating equally on everybody to keep organizations like CAIR happy.
Doing that would go against the political grain of the Obama Administration, but it would go a long way towards making sure that American air travel is not targeted by jihad terrorism.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Ah-nold Angry Over Not Receiving Bribe From Obama
This is getting ridiculous.
California's own Gubenator Arnold Schwarzenegger has always been a major cheerleader for President Obama even though Ah-nold's nominally a Republican.
But Schwarzenegger made the news yesterday, savaging ObamaCare as "health care to nowhere" that's infected with "bribes, deals and loopholes":
"While I enthusiastically support health care reform, it is not reform to push more costs onto states that are already struggling while other states get sweetheart deals," Schwarzenegger said before a joint session of the California State Legislature.
"Health care reform, which started as noble and needed legislation, has become a trough of bribes, deals and loopholes. You've heard of the bridge to nowhere. This is health care to nowhere. California's congressional delegation should either vote against this bill that is a disaster for California or get in there and fight for the same sweetheart deal Senator Nelson of Nebraska got for the Cornhusker State. He got the corn; we got the husk."
The back story on this is that the Democrat ruled, very blue California is flat busted, with a $21 billion budget deficit it has no conceivable way of meeting. You can only tax people so much for so long before it backfires on you.
Apparently Governor Schwarzenegger had been actively lobbying for bailout money from Obama in DC to fill the gap.
Based on what the Gubenator had to say, it appears that the answer from Chicago-on-the-Potomac was 'sorry Ah-nold, you're on your own' .
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Andrew Sullivan's Jew Hatred Bubbles To The Surface Again
I've remarked before about the Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan and his disgusting anti-Semitism in print.
With his latest screed, in response to this item,he's gotten even more blatant:
Sully's first paragraph reveals he knows absolutely nothing almost the Middle East or its history, but embraces the typical leftard attitude that Jews and Jews alone have no right to build houses in their own country and that bullying Israel to stop breeding Jewish children, stop building anything in any part of Israel including Jerusalem that the Arabs want for themselves and not take any steps to defend themselves is a 'peace process'.There is not a single iota of truth in the entire paragraph, and I defy him to try and defend any of it to me.
While Israel is certainly not beyond criticism, when you make rules and agitate for applying policies that apply to Israel and no other nation, it is simply racism and Jew hatred...whether you're aware of it or not, and no matter how pleasantly you say good morning to the local Jewish mailman or storekeeper every morning. And I'm sick of seeing it coming out of Sullivan and his getting a pass on it.
And oh yes.... he wants to send US troops to invade our ally Israel, create half a million Jewish refugees by throwing them out of their homes and forcibly create yet another judenrein area in the Middle East 'for peace'.
Picture it...American troops rousting Jews out of their homes at gunpoint.
Gee, Sully..how 'bout we set up some camps in Judea and Samaria...you know, just to concentrate those Jews so they can be dealt with properly?
Only problem is, this a time the Jews are armed, and they won't go quietly.Trust me on that. Nor is President Obama likely to try, considering how pro-Israel the average American he claims to speak for is...not to mention Congress.
Actually, Sully's blatant racism deserves nothing but contempt, and fortunately most of those Americans would give it what exactly it deserves.
Oh, and one more thing...that bit about America's alliance with Israel providing no real benefit to the US? That might fly in the sort of circles Sully frequents, but its utter horse manure...once again proving that he's simply an ignorant bigot with a byline who knows about as much about Israel and the Middle East as he does about Sarah Palin's uterus.
Now, Charles over at Little Green Footballs used to rip into stuff like this back in the old days, but lately things have changed and he's been cozying up to the likes of creatures like Andrew Sullivan.
How 'bout it Chuckie? You with Sully on this one, or is there at least some crap you won't eat?
UPDATE: Carl at Israel Matsav weighs in with an additional question for Sully and the rest of the 'two-state' fantasists:
Of course, with people like Sullivan, just like with the 'Palestinians' it's not about two states,and it never has been. It's about the Jews.
With his latest screed, in response to this item,he's gotten even more blatant:
Ben Rhodes has denied that Rahm said this to the Israelis. Well, it sure sounds like Rahm.
More to the point, who wouldn't be sick of the Israelis and the Palestinians at this point?
I too am sick of the Israelis for their contempt for the interests of their most important ally, their continuation of brutalizing colonization of the West Bank, their shameless ethnic engineering in East Jerusalem, their pulverization of Gaza, the direct manipulation of domestic American politics by their ambassador, and on and on. And, yes, I'm also sick of the war crimes and theocratic insanity of Hamas, and the lame passive-aggression of the PA, and the inability of the Palestinian leadership to prepare for actual governance as opposed to the victimized preening and theatrics and violence they prefer to the difficult compromises required if we are to move forward.
And if Rahm Emanuel is sick of them all, one can imagine how the average American feels. My own view is moving toward supporting a direct American military imposition of a two-state solution, with NATO troops on the borders of the new states of Palestine and Israel. I'm sick of having a great power like the US being dictated to in the conduct of its own foreign policy by an ally that provides almost no real benefit to the US, and more and more costs.
Sully's first paragraph reveals he knows absolutely nothing almost the Middle East or its history, but embraces the typical leftard attitude that Jews and Jews alone have no right to build houses in their own country and that bullying Israel to stop breeding Jewish children, stop building anything in any part of Israel including Jerusalem that the Arabs want for themselves and not take any steps to defend themselves is a 'peace process'.There is not a single iota of truth in the entire paragraph, and I defy him to try and defend any of it to me.
While Israel is certainly not beyond criticism, when you make rules and agitate for applying policies that apply to Israel and no other nation, it is simply racism and Jew hatred...whether you're aware of it or not, and no matter how pleasantly you say good morning to the local Jewish mailman or storekeeper every morning. And I'm sick of seeing it coming out of Sullivan and his getting a pass on it.
And oh yes.... he wants to send US troops to invade our ally Israel, create half a million Jewish refugees by throwing them out of their homes and forcibly create yet another judenrein area in the Middle East 'for peace'.
Picture it...American troops rousting Jews out of their homes at gunpoint.
Gee, Sully..how 'bout we set up some camps in Judea and Samaria...you know, just to concentrate those Jews so they can be dealt with properly?
Only problem is, this a time the Jews are armed, and they won't go quietly.Trust me on that. Nor is President Obama likely to try, considering how pro-Israel the average American he claims to speak for is...not to mention Congress.
Actually, Sully's blatant racism deserves nothing but contempt, and fortunately most of those Americans would give it what exactly it deserves.
Oh, and one more thing...that bit about America's alliance with Israel providing no real benefit to the US? That might fly in the sort of circles Sully frequents, but its utter horse manure...once again proving that he's simply an ignorant bigot with a byline who knows about as much about Israel and the Middle East as he does about Sarah Palin's uterus.
Now, Charles over at Little Green Footballs used to rip into stuff like this back in the old days, but lately things have changed and he's been cozying up to the likes of creatures like Andrew Sullivan.
How 'bout it Chuckie? You with Sully on this one, or is there at least some crap you won't eat?
UPDATE: Carl at Israel Matsav weighs in with an additional question for Sully and the rest of the 'two-state' fantasists:
..what does he think will happen once the Marines are finished expelling all those Jews from Judea and Samaria and 'east' Jerusalem and going house-to-house in Gaza City and Jenin and Nablus and host of other cities to try to disarm all the terror organizations? Does Sullivan believe that the 'Palestinians' - raised on the glorification of suicide bombers and hatred for Jews - are suddenly going to morph into North Dakotans? How long does Sullivan think this will take? Is he ready to commit US troops for five years or ten years or twenty years to carry out his (and Samantha Power's) decree? What is he going to tell Mrs. Jones from Idaho when her son is murdered by a suicide bomber driving a truck as happened in Lebanon in 1983?
Of course, with people like Sullivan, just like with the 'Palestinians' it's not about two states,and it never has been. It's about the Jews.
Today's Must Reads - The Opening Salvo For 2010
Welcome to today's must reads in news, politics and opinion, hand picked by Natasha.
Feel free to send anything you find that you feel is worthy of a look to me at rmill2k@msn.com and I'll review it. This includes stuff you write yourself. Or if you prefer, you can send it attention Natasha, our official must reads Avatar..she loves mail.
Bloomberg :Iran Prosecutor Threatens to Try Opposition Leaders
The Illegal-Settlements Myth
Rahm Emanuel: "U.S. is fed up with Israel, Palestinians"
 |  |
| |
At least that's what Israel's Army Radio is reporting:
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recently told the Israeli consul in Los Angeles that the Obama administration is fed up with both Israel and the Palestinians, Army Radio reported on Wednesday.
Emanuel met with Jacob Dayan, consul general of Israel in Los Angeles, about two weeks ago, after which Dayan briefed the Foreign Ministry.
Emanuel told Dayan the U.S. is sick of the Israelis, who adopt suitable ideas months too late, when they are no longer effective, according to Army Radio.
The U.S. is also sick of the Palestinians who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, Emanuel reportedly said.
Emanuel added that if there is no progress in the peace process, the Obama administration will reduce its involvement in the conflict, because, as he reportedly said, the U.S. has other matters to deal with.
For the US, I think we can substitute the words 'the Obama administration'. They're the ones, after all, who insisted that Jews and Jews alone had no right to build houses in their own country and essentially told Israel to stop breeding Jewish children, don't build anything in any part of Israel including Jerusalem that the Arabs want for themselves and don't take any steps to defend yourselves against Iran.
It's the Obama administration who've been selling advanced armaments to surrounding Arab countries while selling no substantial arms to Israel. It was Obama who completely endorsed the Arab narrative denying Israel's legitimacy as a nation in his Cairo speech, and who endorsed the Saudi peace ultimatum in violation of the Road Map while conveniently denying the agreement with the Bush Administration with Israel that was the basis under which Israel signed on.
And after all this hostility to a long-time,valued ally, Rahm Emanuel and his boss are peeved because the Israelis don't jump fast enough to dance to their tune? And they're threatening to reduce their 'involvement'? What unbelievable arrogance.
I think the Israelis would welcome a lot less of what Emanuel calls 'involvement'.
Sarah Palin: "It's A War, Not A Crime Spree"
From her facebook page:
President Obama’s meeting with his top national security advisers does nothing to change the fact that his fundamental approach to terrorism is fatally flawed. We are at war with radical Islamic extremists and treating this threat as a law enforcement issue is dangerous for our nation’s security. That’s what happened in the 1990s and we saw the result on September 11, 2001. This is a war on terror not an “overseas contingency operation.” Acts of terrorism are just that, not “man caused disasters.” The system did not work. Abdulmutallab was a child of privilege radicalized and trained by organized jihadists, not an “isolated extremist” who traveled to a land of “crushing poverty.” He is an enemy of the United States, not just another criminal defendant.
It simply makes no sense to treat an al Qaeda-trained operative willing to die in the course of massacring hundreds of people as a common criminal. Reports indicate that Abdulmutallab stated there were many more like him in Yemen but that he stopped talking once he was read his Miranda rights. President Obama’s advisers lamely claim Abdulmutallab might be willing to agree to a plea bargain – pretty doubtful you can cut a deal with a suicide bomber. John Brennan, the President’s top counterterrorism adviser, bizarrely claimed “there are no downsides or upsides” to treating terrorists as enemy combatants. That is absurd. There is a very serious downside to treating them as criminals: terrorists invoke their “right” to remain silent and stop talking. Terrorists don’t tell us where they were trained, what they were trained in, who they were trained by, and who they were trained with. Giving foreign-born, foreign-trained terrorists the right to remain silent does nothing to keep Americans safe from terrorist threats. It only gives our enemies access to courtrooms where they can publicly grandstand, and to defense attorneys who can manipulate the legal process to gain access to classified information.
President Obama was right to change his policy and decide to send no more detainees to Yemen where they can be free to rejoin their war on America. Now he must back off his reckless plan to close Guantanamo, begin treating terrorists as wartime enemies not suspects alleged to have committed crimes, and recognize that the real nature of the terrorist threat requires a commander-in-chief, not a constitutional law professor.
Well said, Governor. Da Wizzard of O is in way over his head.
How The Government Payroll Replaced Goods-Producing Jobs
Here's a very nice representation of exactly why the US economy is in the condition it's in.
America used to be the country that manufactured and goods the whole world wanted. We've gone full circle from providing jobs in profit-making private industry to providing jobs in profit-eating, tax supported government bureaucracy.
And that doesn't even begin to factor in entitlements or wasteful government spending. That's why we owe the Chinese $800 billion.
We simply can't continue this way.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Aieee! Some More Rats Jump off The SS Obama!
Earlier today, it was Democrat Senator Kent Dorgan facing up to the inevitable and 'resigning'.
Now, in the same day,it's Connecticut's Chris Dodd ...the Senator from CountryWide:
Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans.
Dodd's retirement comes after months of speculation about his political future, and amid faltering polling numbers and a growing sense among the Democratic establishment that he could not win a sixth term. It also comes less than 24 hours after Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) announced he would not seek re-election.
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is widely expected to step into the void filled by Dodd and, at least at first blush, should drastically increase Democrats' chances of holding the seat.
Followed by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter...and the shoo-in for the governor's nomination in Michigan,Lt. Gov. John Cherry, who dropped out of the running.
The Fix's Chris Cillizza is likely right..Dodd leaving gives the Dems a much better chance of hanging on to the seat, although that also makes it good news for Joe Liebermen, who Blumenthal had already announced he was planning to run against.
Dodd may even have been pushed rather than jumping.
Dorgan, Ritter and Cherry,on the other hand, likely represent losses for the Dems.
And as the year progresses, I think we're going to see a lot more rats leaving the ship.
Watcher's Council Nominations - On To the Next Decade!
Welcome to the latest edition of the Watcher's Council nominations, some of the best writing from a group of the most incisive blogs in the`sphere. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The Council votes to pick the winners in each category and the results can be seen in this space on Friday morning.
COUNCIL NEWS:
This week, LawGambit got the drop on the competition and took advantage of our generous link whorage offer this week, earning an honorable mention. If you wish to have your blog earn an honorable mention and have a piece of yours appear on the Watcher's Council page next week, the opportunity is open and up for grabs.
Here's how you do it:
So, without further ado, let's see what we have this week....
Council Submissions
- Joshuapundit - 58% Of Americans Want The Crotch Bomber Waterboarded - And the Left Is Outraged!
- Wolf Howling - Knee JERK Reaction Of Progressives
- Soccer Dad - The Very Model Of A Modern UN Bureaucrat
- The Colossus of Rhodey - Is This 'Hypocrisy'?
- Bookworm Room- San Francisco: America's homegrown anarchic totalitarianism
- American Digest - Lowballing Death: Keeping the Northwest 253 Numbers Down
- The Razor - Firing Napolitano Not Enough to Make America Safer
- Right Truth - Jihad vs Terrorism Today
- The Glittering Eye - Facing Chinese Mercantilism
- The Provocateur - Inside the mind of Dr. Anna Chacko
- Rhymes With Right - Talk about Insincerity
- Mere Rhetoric - Iran To US: No Visa For Kerry, Please Consider Yourself Officially Humiliated
Honorable Mentions
- LawGambit - Just Another Wannabe Lawyer
Non-Council Submissions
- Submitted By: Wolf Howling – Jules Crittenden - Damn The Naughts
- Submitted By: Joshuapundit – Michael Yon Into Thine Hand I Commit My Spirit
- Submitted By: Soccer Dad – Media Backspin - 10 Significant Articles From the 'Noughties' Decade
- Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey – Powerline - John Brennan's disgraceful performance
- Submitted By: Bookworm Room – Big Hollywood - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Military Blogger Michael Yon Detained, Handcuffed by TSA in Seattle Airport
- Submitted By: American Digest– NeoNeoCon - Avatar: The War Against Humans
- Submitted By: The Razor – Radical Islam.Org - CAIR: Empowering Muslims to Ignore Terrorism
- Submitted By: Right Truth – Michelle Malkin - Airline security idiocy of the day: Milblogger Michael Yon handcuffed, Joan Rivers blocked
- Submitted By: The Glittering Eye – Villainous Company - The Official 2010 Villainous Company Banned Bloggers List
- Submitted By: The Provocateur – Bernard Goldberg - And What Exactly Is Wrong With Profiling
- Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric – Mudville Gazette - Taliban Kill 8 CIA Agents in Afghanistan
- Submitted By: Rhymes With Right – The Next Web - Google Blocking Negative Search Recommendations On Islam – Why?
Obama About Faces - No More Gitmo Detainees Released To Yemen
Ever since the Christmas bombing, the Obama Administration has been adamant about the fact that they would continue sending Gitmo detainees to Yemen, no matter what, dammit!
Apparently even Da Wizzard Of O thought about this a bit more, and decided it really maybe was a bad idea:
'Not a good idea'? I can't even imagine the agonized though processes that went into making that decision. Why, you'd almost think we were at war or something!
{sarcasm off/}
Apparently even Da Wizzard Of O thought about this a bit more, and decided it really maybe was a bad idea:
The U.S. will not transfer any detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Yemen right now, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.
Ninety detainees in Gitmo are from Yemen, which is combating a resurgent Al Qaeda. A delayed return could mean they will end up in a federal prison in Thomson, Illinois, Gibbs said.
"One of the very first things Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula used as a tool was Gitmo," Gibbs said. "We're not going to make transfers to a country like Yemen that they're not capable of handling (the detainees). While we remain committed to closing the detention facility, the determination has been made that right now any additional transfers to Yemen is not a good idea."
'Not a good idea'? I can't even imagine the agonized though processes that went into making that decision. Why, you'd almost think we were at war or something!
{sarcasm off/}
Another One Bites The Dust - Sen. Dorgan ( D-ND) To 'Retire'
In a surprise announcement, North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan is throwing in the towel:
Lessee...a Democrat in a solid Red State identified with the Obama Administration who voted for the bogus stimulus and for ObamaCare? With GOP North Dakota Governor John Hoeven outpolling him by twenty points in a head-to-head? Sure, Senator...you'd definitely be re-elected. Piece o' cake.
Rats and a sinking ship....I expect more swimmers before November.
"After a lot of thought I have made the very difficult decision that I will not be seeking reelection in 2010, " Dorgan wrote in a memo to staff distributed this afternoon. "This decision is not a reflection of any dissatisfaction with my work in the Senate, nor is it connected to a potential election contest next fall (frankly, I believe if I were to run for another term I would be reelected)."
Lessee...a Democrat in a solid Red State identified with the Obama Administration who voted for the bogus stimulus and for ObamaCare? With GOP North Dakota Governor John Hoeven outpolling him by twenty points in a head-to-head? Sure, Senator...you'd definitely be re-elected. Piece o' cake.
Rats and a sinking ship....I expect more swimmers before November.
58% Of Americans Want The Crotch Bomber Waterboarded - And the Left Is Outraged
Rasmussen just released a poll showing that the vast majority of Americans want the wanna-be Christmas bomber Abdulmuttalab waterboarded to gain intel:
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 30% oppose the use of such techniques, and another 12% are not sure.
As you can imagine, the Angry Left has its knickers in a major knot over this. Matt Yglesias over at Think Progress just can't for the life of him figure out how his fellow Americans could be so dumb and inhumane:
...what I really wanted to draw attention to was how different this discussion is from the debater’s gambit arguments we’re used to having about ticking time bombs and city-destroying nuclear weapons. The fact that Abdulmuttalab was on that plane, alone, with a not-very-impressive explosive stuffed down his pants is about the best proof you can think of that al-Qaeda doesn’t have a massive nuclear weapon hidden somewhere beneath Manhattan that they’re about to set off. The guy may or may not have some information that would be useful to intelligence officials, but he clearly doesn’t have specific information about imminent attacks. The idea being endorsed here is really just routinized use of torture as an investigatory technique.
At any rate, I would be interested to know how far the public—or how torture-loving conservative elites—would be willing to go on this. In a lot of ways terrorism cases strike me as unusually unpromising venues for torture. Something more banal like trying to get a low-level drug dealer to spill the beans on his supplier could really work. My view is that routinized deployment of brutality by government officials isn’t going to produce any systematic gains, so it doesn’t make sense to uncork this kind of treatment on Abdulmuttalab or Generic Drug Dealer X. But for torture enthusiasts is there anything special about terrorism suspects?
'Torture-loving conservative elites'? Spare me.
Mr. Yglesias and a lot of his left-bent commentors miss the boat on a large number of points here - situation normal.
First of all let's deal with some of Yglesias' suspect assumptions. That 'not-very impressive' explosive was more than enough to destroy the aircraft and everyone on it, and but for a faulty detonator and a very brave Dutchman, America would have spent Christmas Day looking at 300 charred corpses and grieving family members instead of the usual holiday fare on TV.
Second, Yglesias and his pals entire argument is based on the fact that this isn't a 'ticking bomb' scenario...as if they'd change their minds if they thought it was!
In fact there's no proof whatsoever for Yglesias' cavalier assumption that al-Qaeda or its fellow jihadis have no imminent attacks coming and that Abdulmuttalab has no knowledge of them. They're simply making stuff up, to quote the Rightwing Demon Goddess Sarah Palin.For instance, what if our friend the crotch bomber happened to let slip who his contact/trainer was in Yemen and where he could be found? What if that person was picked up interrogated and with a little persuasion clued us in to his particular cell, and so on? That, Mr. Yglesias, is how the pros roll up a terrorist network, in case you didn't know.
Let's look at another gem Yglesias tosses off: "My view is that routinized deployment of brutality by government officials isn’t going to produce any systematic gains, so it doesn’t make sense to uncork this kind of treatment on Abdulmuttalab or Generic Drug Dealer X. But for torture enthusiasts is there anything special about terrorism suspects?"
Were you born stupid, Matthew, or did you have to work at it? Here's what's special about jihad terrorists, and how they differ from narcotics salesmen. Drug dealers may come and go, but they have no specific ideology except survival. They're also not part of groups that are an existential threat to our society, or want to conquer us. Nor do they customarily have knowledge of such things. That's they're customarily dealt with by promises of immunity or leniency to compel their cooperation. They're interested in commerce and saving their own necks, not jihad suicide or creating the Worldwide Caliphate, and they don't murder whole airplanes full of innocent people or shoot up military bases as a religious activity while shrieking Allahu akbar...or destroy places like the World Trade Center, for that matter.
I'm frankly amazed I should even have to bother explain that to anyone with a fighting chance of an IQ over two digits.
One important point I can concede - torture per se ( and I do not consider water boarding 'torture') doesn't work so well much of the time.. it can be incredibly inefficient, and given an individual with a sufficiently strong will, it can take hours, days, months or even years to accomplish the desired end.
Combining the administration of drugs like sodium penathol, baradanga, and sodium amytal with a skilled interrogator is normally quicker, more efficient and easier on the basement janitorial crew afterwards, provided you have the time.
However, the way it stands, none of these non-torture interrogation techniques can be used to find out anything..because the Obama Administration quickly charged this jihadi with a criminal offense, mirandized him and allowed him to lawyer up and stay silent.
Because of the ridiculous way the Obama Administration decided to handle this, we'll never know what Abdulmuttalab knows.And it appears that's exactly how Matt Yglesias and his ideological comrades want it,including the current occupant of the White House.
And let's get something else on the table - this turd Abdulmuttalab is not a US citizen and is thus not entitled to Constitutional protections, except in the minds of Leftists who are prepared to stretch the Bill of Rights completely out of shape.
Nor do the Geneva Convention or other UN doctrines apply. Not only did al-Qaeda not sign it, ( nor did many of the jihad-supporting nation-states now ensconced on the UN Human Rights Council) but the entire idea of these provisions was to provide a quid-pro-quo to treat each others captives decently in wartime.It has never worked when dealing with totalitarian entities, and certainly hasn't with Islamist fascists.
There's absolutely no rational reason to extend the Constitutional rights of American citizens to jihadis caught in the act. It defies common sense and retards any legitimate effort to get the intelligence we need to protect the country in wartime.
The American people understand this, and that's why Rasmussen got the results he did..not because they're interested in 'routinizing torture' as our fine über-leftist puts it.
The Obama Administration is doing exactly what Dick Cheney accused them of - pretending not to be at war and repeating the error of making jihad a law enforcement matter. I would have thought that even most of our friends on the Left would realize how badly that worked the last time we tried it, but apparently not.
Monday, January 04, 2010
MA Senate Candidate Picks Up A 9th Inning Endorsement
Scott Brown just got the nod from this famous Red Sox.
Let's see what happens January 19th, when it's gametime....
Let's see what happens January 19th, when it's gametime....
Egyptian Government commandeers Cairo synagogue as office space.
Just imagine the self-righteous outcry if an Israeli government ministry had done this to a mosque...
Why The Israel-Palestine 'Two-State' Mirage Is Doomed To Failure
Ever since the Oslo Accords, three American presidents, numerous pundits and the leaders of the EU have devoted vast amounts of energy and cash to the idea that the magic solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict involved yet another partition of 'Palestine' to set up a second Arab Palestinian state. Needless to say, this territory and any other concessions were always supposed to come at the expense of Israel. To this day not a single Arab country has ever offered the Arab refugees of the 1948 Arab jihad against Israel a single square dunam of land for those refugees to call their own.
As I've frequently remarked, the conflict will never be solved in that way because the basic issue is not land, or borders, or Jerusalem but the Arab refusal to tolerate living with Jews in the Middle East under conditions of peace and equality unless they literally have no alternative, something that originated with the advent of Islam.That is particularly true of those who style themselves as 'Palestinians'.
A few recent stories from the Middle East serve to illustrate exactly what I'm talking about:
Are you beginning to see a pattern here?
What the Palestinians want is not a state of their own living next door to Israel, What they want is a Palestinian state instead of Israel, a Jew-free Arab Islamist Reich from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.It can be seen in how they educate their young, whom they honor as heroes and who leads them.
A matter of days after he signed the Oslo Accords, Yasir Arafat went on Jordanian TV and responded to criticism of his making an agreement with Israel by citing the account in the Islamic hadiths of the Peace of Hubidiyeh, which tells how Mohammed abided by a peace treaty with his enemies that was supposed to be permanent - until he was strong to overcome them and massacre them.
Arafat clearly stated that this was a tribal war, that 'either we will push the Jews into the sea or they will push us into the sea'.
His political commissar in Jerusalem, Fayad Husseini characterized Oslo in much the same way, famously referring to it as a 'trojan horse'.
Nothing has changed in the Palestinian mindset since then, and it's not a recipe for peace.
Even if the Israelis were somehow forced to cede a Palestinian state all the territory they're demanding ( and there's no chance of that unless Israel is conquered militarily, in which case the issue would become moot anyway), there is no way a 'Palestine' could survive economically or politically unless it was in close alliance with Israel, another impossibility at this point.
And aside from that, there's also the problem that the Palestinians themselves have little in common aside from a hatred for Israel and a manufactured feeling of victimization. They differ by clan, by national origin, by location, ( Arabs in Gaza have little in common with Arabs in Ramallah or Nablus)by affiliation with Hamas, Fatah or affilited groups like the Dugbush. If Israel were to disappear, or if a peace agreement ever recognized the official end of hostilities, the 'Palestinian' jumble would rapidly separate into its separate pieces.Gaza was a superb example of how that would work.
That was also one primary reason why Yasir Arafat was so reluctant to sign an agreement with Ehud Barak during the Clinton years that would have given him virtually everything he wanted.
This situation will continue to muddle on until Israel realizes the tribal war they're engaged in, the West gets tired of subsidizing the Palestinians and yes, even the Arab states get tired of it and decide to work together to solve it by dong something they should have done years ago - integrating the Palestinian refugees into their countries.
-selah-
As I've frequently remarked, the conflict will never be solved in that way because the basic issue is not land, or borders, or Jerusalem but the Arab refusal to tolerate living with Jews in the Middle East under conditions of peace and equality unless they literally have no alternative, something that originated with the advent of Islam.That is particularly true of those who style themselves as 'Palestinians'.
A few recent stories from the Middle East serve to illustrate exactly what I'm talking about:
- On Christmas Eve, December 24, Rabbi Meir Chai (HY"D), who left a wife and seven children including a two-month-old was brutally murdered by Palestinian terrorists as he driving along Route 57, between the Samaria communities of Shavei Shomron and Einav.The killing came a scant week after the IDF removed a security checkpoint in the area at the request of the Obama Administration as a gesture to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, even though the residents begged them not to.
Fatah's al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade took credit for murdering this unarmed Rabbi.
Three days later, the IDF found out who the actual killers were, and when the Palestinian security forces refused to arrest them the IDF went in and ended up killing all three of the murderers when they refused to surrender.
As it turned out, all three of the killers were long-time members of the Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade and thus on the Fatah payroll.
The Palestinian response to what happened was not even a pro-forma condemnation of the murder of Rabbi Chai, but to portray the killers as Palestinian heroes and Shahids- holy Martyrs - while describing Israel's response as "murder in cold blood" and "assassination."
- On January 1st, the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas once again honored the memory of terrorist Dalal Mughrabi by sponsoring a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of her birth.
Mughrabi's claim to fame was something the Israelis refer to as The Coastal Raod Massacre, the 1978 hijacking by a band of Palestinian terrorists of a bus filled with families on a day outing. it resulted in the murder of thirty five innocent people, thirteen of them children. The death toll included Gail Rubin, an American citizen.
According to al-Hayatt, many Palestinian dignitaries were present at the ceremony honoring Mughrabi, and a children's marching band was featured.
The PA further glorified Mughrabi on the date of her birth when the Governor of Ramallah announced the naming of the "Dalal Mughrabi Square", while an article by Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazal in the official PA daily defined the terrorist Mughrabi as "the heroine of Palestine's heroines."
Again, this is hardly the first time the Palestinian Authority has seen fit to glorify murderers, especially when it involves making them role models for Palestinian children.
- Salam Fayyad, the unelected prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority is what gullible westerners think of when they picture 'moderate Palestinians.'
With his tailored suits, American background cultured speech and perfect english, you could easily see him fitting in at a Washington soiree, and his western persona has been an important part in keeping Western aid money coming on to the Palestinian Authority.
Apparently that facade disappears when he's speaking to his own people in Arabic.
At a political meeting in Ramallah last night, Fayyad ginned up the crowd by calling for the ethnic cleansing of all Jews in Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem from the new 'Palestinian state'.
Are you beginning to see a pattern here?
What the Palestinians want is not a state of their own living next door to Israel, What they want is a Palestinian state instead of Israel, a Jew-free Arab Islamist Reich from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.It can be seen in how they educate their young, whom they honor as heroes and who leads them.
A matter of days after he signed the Oslo Accords, Yasir Arafat went on Jordanian TV and responded to criticism of his making an agreement with Israel by citing the account in the Islamic hadiths of the Peace of Hubidiyeh, which tells how Mohammed abided by a peace treaty with his enemies that was supposed to be permanent - until he was strong to overcome them and massacre them.
Arafat clearly stated that this was a tribal war, that 'either we will push the Jews into the sea or they will push us into the sea'.
His political commissar in Jerusalem, Fayad Husseini characterized Oslo in much the same way, famously referring to it as a 'trojan horse'.
Nothing has changed in the Palestinian mindset since then, and it's not a recipe for peace.
Even if the Israelis were somehow forced to cede a Palestinian state all the territory they're demanding ( and there's no chance of that unless Israel is conquered militarily, in which case the issue would become moot anyway), there is no way a 'Palestine' could survive economically or politically unless it was in close alliance with Israel, another impossibility at this point.
And aside from that, there's also the problem that the Palestinians themselves have little in common aside from a hatred for Israel and a manufactured feeling of victimization. They differ by clan, by national origin, by location, ( Arabs in Gaza have little in common with Arabs in Ramallah or Nablus)by affiliation with Hamas, Fatah or affilited groups like the Dugbush. If Israel were to disappear, or if a peace agreement ever recognized the official end of hostilities, the 'Palestinian' jumble would rapidly separate into its separate pieces.Gaza was a superb example of how that would work.
That was also one primary reason why Yasir Arafat was so reluctant to sign an agreement with Ehud Barak during the Clinton years that would have given him virtually everything he wanted.
This situation will continue to muddle on until Israel realizes the tribal war they're engaged in, the West gets tired of subsidizing the Palestinians and yes, even the Arab states get tired of it and decide to work together to solve it by dong something they should have done years ago - integrating the Palestinian refugees into their countries.
-selah-
Sunday, January 03, 2010
The Massachusetts Senate Race: An Upset Brewing?
As I remarked previously. the Democrat nominee for Ted Kennedy's old seat, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is hardly distinguished even by Democrat standards.
Normally, any Democrat running for Senate in the Commonwealth has a pretty easy time of it, but disillusion with the coming wonders of Obamacare, the highly unpopular regime of Democrat Governor Deval Patrick and GOP candidate Scott Brown's astute campaign seems to have made this a bit of a horse race. At least lefty Martin Peretz at the New Republic seems to think so:
Here's the TV spot:
Brown is fighting hard for the seat, citing JFK as the first president to call for across the board tax cuts:
Coakley is doing what frontrunners sometimes do...running out the clock, avoiding mistakes and coasting to victory. That can backfire bigtime if the frontrunner is merely complacent and not as far ahead as they might have thought.
If Scott Brown merely gets close to Coakley, it's a major deal, and would send a shock wave through the Democrats as the midterms approach. If he wins, it would be a political tsunami, and an outlier for huge GOP gains in the 2010 elections. It would also be the crucial 41st Republican vote in the Senate against clothure, which could spell the end of Obamacare.
Could Brown win? I'm a bit reluctant to go that far, although he certainly has some momentum going. The NRO's Jim Geraghty slices things this way:
So we'll see, won't we?
UPDATE: More here on the race from William Jacobsen at Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
Normally, any Democrat running for Senate in the Commonwealth has a pretty easy time of it, but disillusion with the coming wonders of Obamacare, the highly unpopular regime of Democrat Governor Deval Patrick and GOP candidate Scott Brown's astute campaign seems to have made this a bit of a horse race. At least lefty Martin Peretz at the New Republic seems to think so:
There have been no recent "scientific" polls for the January 19 Massachusetts special election that will fill the Senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy's death. But there has been one kinda-sloppy telephone survey suggesting that Republican contender Scott Brown, a state senator in the Bay State legislature, might actually defeat Attorney General Martha Coakley, who won the early-December Democratic primary.
So let me tell you what my spitzfingergeful confides in me. That someone who is a reasonable conservative on economic matters and conveys reasonable character has a good chance to beat the anointed Democrat, who happens to be a run-of-the-mill Democrat.
Brown has already put himself out there as a tax cutter without really saying what spending cuts he would favor. This makes for a nonsense ledger. As it happens, I favor the Obama economic agenda, even something with a more egalitarian thrust. But I don't think Massachusetts does. The voters are scared.
Brown compares himself to John Kennedy in a just-released television spot. Well, the Dems have gone hysterical. This is a sign of their (incipient) panic. Maybe their panic is apt.
Here's the TV spot:
Brown is fighting hard for the seat, citing JFK as the first president to call for across the board tax cuts:
“President Kennedy actually was the first person who called for across-the-board tax cuts,’’ Brown said yesterday during a press conference at the Massachusetts GOP headquarters in Boston. “The theme is there’s two different people from two different parties, two different eras, who have the same message, which is across-the-board tax cuts.’’
He added, "Democrats recognize that this is no longer the party of JFK, that the fiscal policies especially, and the polices dealing with national security . . . they’re out of touch."
Brown got a boost yesterday from Mitt Romney, the former governor and presidential candidate, who sent out a fund-raising appeal on Brown’s behalf to his national list of supporters. Romney asserted that a Brown victory in the Jan. 19 election would represent the key 41st vote to block the Democrats’ health care plan in Washington.
“Scott’s election would shock the country and send a strong message that business-as-usual in Washington is coming to an end,’’ Romney wrote in an e-mail message. “Wouldn’t it be nice to elect a fiscal conservative to Ted Kennedy’s seat in the United States Senate?’’
In his press conference yesterday, Brown also assailed Coakley for her limited campaigning.
"Martha is on vacation," he said. "She clearly thinks she’s already won this race. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was actually picking out the drapes."
In addition, Brown filed legislation to reestablish the temporary sales tax holiday in Massachusetts, which he wants to be held on Presidents’ Day weekend, Feb. 13-15.
"Our government is out of touch with the people of Massachusetts," he said. "It taxes too much, spends too much, and believes there’s a taxpayer-funded solution for every fiscal problem that we actually have."
Coakley is doing what frontrunners sometimes do...running out the clock, avoiding mistakes and coasting to victory. That can backfire bigtime if the frontrunner is merely complacent and not as far ahead as they might have thought.
If Scott Brown merely gets close to Coakley, it's a major deal, and would send a shock wave through the Democrats as the midterms approach. If he wins, it would be a political tsunami, and an outlier for huge GOP gains in the 2010 elections. It would also be the crucial 41st Republican vote in the Senate against clothure, which could spell the end of Obamacare.
Could Brown win? I'm a bit reluctant to go that far, although he certainly has some momentum going. The NRO's Jim Geraghty slices things this way:
I remain wary about the chances of Republican Scott Brown in the special Senate election in Massachusetts, but a person working with Brown's campaign passes along this bit:
First, thank-you for covering this race as the lack of national attention on this race at this time in the Senate is genuinely vexing to many of Brown's supporters.
Secondly, at the ground level we have seen an incredibly unique phenomenon occurring here. Without the benefit of polls, I would say Brown is causing quite a groundswell of support from Republicans, unenrolleds and even Democrats. Now when registered Democrats are expressing an interest to volunteer, we know something is up.
In the end, it might be the lack of national attention that helps us towards victory here. For Coakley's supporters don't even believe a race is occurring. And the fiscal conservatives of Massachusetts are by far, hands down the most motivated group in our state during this special election.
Meanwhile RedMassGroup notes that Brown raised more than $600,000 in December. Coakley will still have the financial advantage, but that seems like a healthy sum for a challenger in a special election. Over at RealClearPolitics, Sean Trende does a bit of back-of-the-envelope math and concludes:
In any event, if we take a 38 percent Democrat, 19 percent Republican, 42 percent Independent electorate and have Coakley win 90 percent of the Democrats, 4 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of Independents, we come out with an exceedingly close 51.06 percent-48.9 percent Coakley win. I did not expect that.
So we'll see, won't we?
UPDATE: More here on the race from William Jacobsen at Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
The 'Youths' Celebrate The New Year In France
Bonne année, courtesy of the 'youths' !
Al-Reuters would of course never mention it, but the 'youths' are almost entirely Muslim, who live in France's no-go suburbs where the police only venture in armed bands. Most non-Muslim French refer to these areas, especially in Paris as 'la Zone.'
The 'youths' celebrated the New Year in their own traditional way - the car-B-que.
They had a pretty good time with it too, coming up only ten shy of the record with a mere 1,137 cars burned. The 'youths' made up for it in arrests, which at 549 were almost double last year. Part of reason for the increased arrests is because the French mobilized an extra 10,000 police on the streets.
That's also probably why there were no major violent clashes between the 'youths' and police this year, and comparatively few problems with buildings being set on fire as compared to past occasions.
This sort of civil unrest in predominantly Muslim areas is now pretty much a tradition in France.The French are essentially being held hostage in their own country, and it will be interesting to see how they end up dealing with this.
Dems Rip Independent Pollster Rasmussen
When there's bad news, just shoot the messenger.
Or at least do your best to discredit him.
The chief 'argument' here is that Rasmussen uses likely voters instead of all voters, which the Dems say undercounts minority and young voters.
Anyone who's ever worked on a campaign knows that those two groups always undervote, as opposed to say, seniors or the military...which means Rasmussen's past track record has been pretty damn good.
As my eminent Watcher's Council colleague Wolf Howling points out, during the last election, Rasmussen was spot on in predicting 52% to 46% for Obama, making Scott Rasmussen the most accurate of all the pollsters.
You never heard a peep out of the Left over that prediction, now did you? But now, according to them he's supposedly taking marching orders from the GOP!
Watch what happens in 2010.
Or at least do your best to discredit him.
The chief 'argument' here is that Rasmussen uses likely voters instead of all voters, which the Dems say undercounts minority and young voters.
Anyone who's ever worked on a campaign knows that those two groups always undervote, as opposed to say, seniors or the military...which means Rasmussen's past track record has been pretty damn good.
As my eminent Watcher's Council colleague Wolf Howling points out, during the last election, Rasmussen was spot on in predicting 52% to 46% for Obama, making Scott Rasmussen the most accurate of all the pollsters.
You never heard a peep out of the Left over that prediction, now did you? But now, according to them he's supposedly taking marching orders from the GOP!
Watch what happens in 2010.
Obama Administration Still Sending Gitmo Detainees Back To Yemen
Catch and release indeed:
The United States still intends to send some Yemeni detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility back to Yemen despite a terrorist threat there, President Barack Obama's terrorism czar said Sunday.
John Brennan, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that the failed Christmas Day terror attack on a U.S. airliner doesn't change the plan to close the Guantanamo facility.
On Saturday, Obama linked the airline bombing suspect to an al Qaeda affiliate based in Yemen.
Brennan called the failed attack on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan a "unique incident" that won't affect the process of closing the Guantanamo facility.
Nothing to see here, just move along.....
Dick Cheney was exactly right. The Obama Administration is pretending we're not at war, and would prefer a series of 'incidents' like this and Fort Hood to avoid actually confronting that fact.
What Brennan doesn't mention is that that Yemen is such a toxic environment that we just closed our embassy there.
Brennan, by the way, is another of Obama's countless 'czars'. Given the recidivism rate of terrorist detainees who've been released and then returned to jihad,I can't imagine what the thinking is behind this.
The Latest Haveil Havelim Is Up...
Per my pal Jack, Haveil Havelim, the scintillating carnival specializing in the Jewish blogosphere is now up over at Tzedek-tzedek. Enjoy!
Friday, January 01, 2010
Obama TSA Nominee Caught Lying To Congress
A number of pundits on the Left tried to shift the fallout over the Obama Administration's failure over the Christmas bombing by blaming GOP senator Jim DeMint for putting a hold on the nomination of Erroll Southers, Obama's choice to head the TSA.
Turns out DeMint knew exactly what he was doing:
The White House nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration gave Congress misleading information about incidents in which he inappropriately accessed a federal database, possibly in violation of privacy laws, documents obtained by The Washington Post show.
The disclosure comes as pressure builds from Democrats on Capitol Hill for quick January confirmation of Erroll Southers, whose nomination has been held up by GOP opponents. In the aftermath of an attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day, calls have intensified for lawmakers to install permanent leadership at the TSA, a critical agency in enforcing airline security.
Southers, a former FBI agent, has described inconsistencies in his accounts to Congress as "inadvertent" and the result of poor memory of an incident that dates back 20 years. He said in a Nov. 20 letter to key senators obtained by The Post that he had accepted full responsibility long ago for a "grave error in judgment" in accessing confidential criminal records about his then-estranged wife's new boyfriend.
His letter to Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate homeland security committee, and Susan Collins (Maine), the ranking Republican on the panel, attempts to correct statements about the episode that were made in a sworn affidavit on Oct. 22 and have been reported.
Southers did not respond to a request for an interview.
Actually, this goes well beyond just using confidential records illegally, or s a violation of the federal Privacy Act. Given the clandestine nature of this White House, its enemies list and its targeting of opponents, this should make people wonder not only about what else Southers told Congress that wasn't true, but about his future conduct in office.
Among other things, Southers supports the unionization of TSA employees, which means that rather than spend money training superior personnel, we'll be stuck with another public employee union protecting incompetence and using its political clout for ever-increasing pay and benefits...and oh yes, campaign contributions to the Democrats.
That's not exactly a recipe for the best possible emphasis on transit security, believe me.
Colorado State Employee Faces Discipline For Obama-Insulting E-mail
For the record,This image is an unauthorized photoshop alternation of an original photograph by Ted Szukalski.The original is worth a look and can be seen at the link.
A Colorado State employee is facing discipline for sending the above photo to four of her colleagues at work:
The 73-year-old Colorado Department of Transportation worker forwarded the e-mail to at least four co-workers and others on Dec. 22 using her state e-mail account. One of the recipients outside the agency complained.
The original sender of the e-mail, who isn't a state employee, wrote "It appears he (Obama) has found his niche."
CDOT spokeswoman Mindy Crane says the worker could face discipline ranging from a written reprimand to suspension. Employment rules require that she meet with personnel officials first and have a chance to respond in writing. That meeting is scheduled for next week.
Whatever your feelings above the above photo,there's a huge precedent of cases involving employer ownership of e-mail and computer facilities at the office, and the perp is definitely going to get her hands whacked. Deservedly so.
That also applies to caricatures of Sarah Palin ( many of whom are borderline obscene)or of ex-President Bush sent through the same channels, as opposed to being sent via your own computer and your own e-mail account, or appearing on your own website.
As for Obama finding his niche, that's a decidedly ridiculous comment. Not only would he not have a clue how to run his own business,but as I've noted before, the Obamas got into politics and government to do good and ended up doing very well - for themselves.
Unlike a lot of his fellow Americans, Barack Obama is not going to have to worry about making ends meet, finding a job after he's out of office, dealing with dysfunctional schools for his kids or wondering where his next meal of $100 per pound wagu steak or greens fees are coming from.
And he did it all on other people's money.
Happy New Year From The Watcher's Council
The Council has spoken, choosing the first winners of 2010 in this week's competition. And there's some superb weekend reading in in store for you.
In the Council category, the overwhelming winner - I don't believe anyone's ever gotten a higher vote total - this week was Wolf Howling with his excellent essay on the unrest in Iran Ashura - A New Phase To The Revolution:
It cannot be stated often enough that Obama's lack of leadership and his lack of strategic vision in failing to decisively support revolution in Iran are mistakes of the highest order. While Obama plays golf in Hawaii, the people of Iran are fighting, bleeding and dying in the streets for freedom from the oppression of a regime that is every bit as much our and the world's enemy as it is the Iranian people's. While Obama's foreign policy acts of his first year have been one misstep after another, it is this misstep that is exponentially the worst. [Update: Obama has since made a reasonably strong statement in support of the protesters (see here), though he still does not condemn the regime as illegitimate. I applaud Obama's decision to finally speak up. That said, it remains to be seen whether this marks a months late decision by Obama to lend decisive support to the protesters (something which even WaPo, in an editorial, is calling upon him to do) or whether Obama has made merely a pro forma statement that he does not intend to follow up.]
By all accounts, the Iranian peoples' protests against the regime yesterday on the holy day of Ashura (see here) were the "largest," "bloodiest," and most wide spread of the protests to date. There are several things of significance about yesterday's protests that suggest Ashura marks a new phase to the revolution.
In the wake of the mid level cleric-cum-Supreme Guide Khameini's ever more brutal repression, the size of Iran's protests had been dwindling since June. The people of Iran, other than a hard core at the center, appeared to be cowed. That has been reversed. The size of the protests that began earlier this week with Grand Ayatollah Montazeri's funeral and culminated in yesterday's holy day of Ashura were back to, if not in excess of, June levels. Moreover, they involved new and different classes of protesters. The protests now included many religious Iranians outraged at the regime's lack of principals and many of the lower class. The protests show a very much revitalized opposition to the regime that is, as Michael Ledeen notes, "very broad based."
In the non-Council category the winner this week is the always fascinating Robert J. Averach at Seraphic Secret with
his take on th edifferences between airline security in israel as opposed to the rest of the West, Suicide In Slow Motion:
Flying is unbearable.
Not because we're jammed like sardines into a steel tube and frequently treated like cheap luggage by the obviously unhappy flight attendants.
No, air travel is a horror because radical Islam has terrorized the entire planet. If we did not have checkpoints in every airport, in every terminal, death would endlessly rain from the skies.
I'm always amused by those who decry the Israeli checkpoints that are maintained in order to thwart terrorist attacks.
Checkpoints in Israel are not restricted to the movement of Arab Muslims.
No, when you go to a mall in Israel you have to pass through a checkpoint. If you go to the movies, checkpoint. Restaurant, cafe, department store—everyone passes through a checkpoint.
In Israel, checkpoints are a way of life. The citizenry, right wing, left wing, Jew, Muslim, Mormon, Christian, Druze, Coptic, Catholic, Samaritan, Russian Orthodox, whatever, everyone submits because checkpoints are designed to protect, well, everyone.
The PLO pioneered airline terrorism—who says Islam isn't an innovator?—and ever since their reign of terror began in the 60's the world is held hostage by a growing number of caliphate Muslims, creatures who yearn for the 7th century even as they use the technology of the 21st century to bring about Armageddon.
When I move through our airports and observe the TSA workers, I do not feel safe. That's because the TSA workers seem more like the product of some dopey works program. They are interchangeable with the angry bureaucrats at the DMV or the U.S. Post Office.
This is a stark contrast to the intense and eagle-eyed El Al security agents who are actually trained in counter terrorism, and whose methods are mostly invisible and involve vetting passengers before they get to the airport.
Council Notes: If you want to see your blog piece listed on the Watcher’s Council page as an honorable mention, our generous offer of link whorage remains open. Here's how you take advantage of it:
Here's the complete rundown of this week's results. Only the Provocateur and Mere Rhetoric were unable to vote, but only Mere Rhetoric was affected by the mandatory 2/3 vote penalty.
I can't wait to see next week's exciting entries, and as always, congratulations not only to the winners but to all the participants.
Have a wonderful New Year, from all of us at the Watcher's Council!
Council Submissions
- First place with 4 1/3 points! – Wolf Howling - Ashura - A New Phase To The Revolution
- Second place with 2 points – The Razor - Hard Choices Needed to Stop Terrorism
- Third place with 1 point – (Tie*) – Bookworm Room - The Princess and the Frog -- Disney's Gift to American Blacks
- Third place with 1 point – (Tie*) –Right Truth - 300 terrorists in Yemen planning terror attacks: Bare your body and pay them money!
- Third place with 1 point – (Tie*) –Soccer Dad - What's There to Debate
- Fourth place with 2/3 point – (Tie*) – Joshuapundit - # The Christmas Crotch Bomber - How He Almost Succeeded And How To Stop Him In The Future
- Fourth place with 2/3 point – (Tie*) – Rhymes With Right - A Global Warming Observation
- Fifth place with 1/3 point –(Tie*) – American Digest - The Emperor's new speech impediment
- Fifth place with 1/3 point –(Tie*) – The Colossus of Rhodey - Liberal Trek
- Fifth place with 1/3 point –(Tie*) – Mere Rhetoric - Obligatory Post About New Organ Harvesting Story That Provides "No Evidence" For Organ Harvesting Libel
- Fifth place with 1/3 point –(Tie*) – The Provocateur - Sarah Palin: Crazy Like a Fox
Non-Council Submissions
- First place with 3 points! – Seraphic Secret - Suicide in Slow Motion
- Second place with 2 2/3 points – Rhymes with Cars & Girls - The Smart People Crowd
- Third place with 1 1/3 points– The Volokh Conspiracy - The Unorganized Militia Once Again is Needed
- Fourth place with 1 point – Serious Medicine Strategy - Surgery For Life: How Romanticism and Religion Are Working With Science To Improve Medicine
- Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – Doug Ross @ Journal - Judicial Watch Announces Most Corrupt Politicians of 2009 Awards
- Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – Dick Morris - Griffith's Switch Illustrates Death of Moderate Dems
- Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – The Volokh Conspiracy - Assessing Airport Security Measures
- Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – Hudson New York - Shhh…Mubarak is building a wall
- Fifth place with 2/3 point (Tie*) – Gates Of Vienna - The Death Bells of the Occident
- Sixth place with 1/3 point(Tie*) – Commentary/Jonathan Tobin - Comic Book Hate: a New Chapter in Anti-Israel Bias at the New York Times
- Sixth place with 1/3 point(Tie*) – Impeach Obama Campaign.com - Does The Left Want To Impeach Obama Too?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
