VDH Post

Sorry for the absence, I’ve just had no inclination to blog. I’m finding most of life inane, especially politics. From Alito to ‘Domestic Spying’, all is just gak and I just don’t care…

Yet, I do feel the Indignation felt by printing of cartoons in Europe is hypocritical. It’s the old ‘do as I say, not as I do’ mentality. They can dish it out, but not take it . . .

Victor Hanson has yet again posted an insightful piece on the lunacy of the Middle East. I do feel the next focus of American ingenuity should be on Alternate Energy. It is vital for the survival of the Western beliefs. Otherwise, we will be consumed…

From VDH:
     Public relations between the so-called West and the Islamic Middle East have reached a level of abject absurdity. Hamas, whose charter pledges the very destruction of Israel, comes to power only through American-inspired pressures to hold Western-style free elections on the West Bank. No one expected the elders of a New England township, but they were nevertheless somewhat amused that the result was right out of a Quentin Tarantino movie.
Almost immediately, Hamas's newly elected, self-proclaimed officials issued a series of demands: Israel should change its flag; the Europeans and the Americans must continue to give its terrorists hundreds of millions of dollars in aid; there will be no retraction of its promises to destroy Israel.
Apparently, the West and Israel are not only to give to Hamas some breathing space ("a truce"), but also to subsidize it while it gets its second wind to renew the struggle to annihilate the Jewish state.
All this lunacy is understood only in a larger surreal landscape. Tibet is swallowed by China. Much of Greek Cyprus is gobbled up by Turkish forces. Germany is 10% smaller today than in 1945. Yet only in the Middle East is there even a term "occupied land," one that derived from the military defeat of an aggressive power.
Over a half-million Jews were forcibly cleansed from Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, and other Arab cities after the 1967 war; but only on the West Bank are there still refugees who lost their homes. Over a million people were butchered in Rwanda; thousands die each month in Darfur. The world snoozes. Yet less than 60 are killed in a running battle in Jenin, and suddenly the 1.5 million lost in Stalingrad and Leningrad are evoked as the moral objects of comparison, as the globe is lectured about "Jeningrad."
[…]
The architects of September 11, by general consent, hide somewhere on the Pakistani border. A recent American missile strike that killed a few of them was roundly condemned by the Pakistani government. Although a recipient of billions of dollars in American aid and debt relief, and admittedly harboring those responsible for 9/11, it castigates the U.S. for violating borders in pursuit of our deadly enemies who, while on Pakistani soil, boast of planning yet another mass murder of Americans.
Pakistan demands that America will cease such incursions — or else. The "else" apparently entails the threat either to give even greater latitude to terrorists, or to allow them to return to Afghanistan to destroy the nascent democracy in Kabul. American diplomats understandably would shudder at the thought of threatening nuclear Pakistan should there be another 9/11, this time organized by the very al Qaedists they now harbor.
The list of hypocrisies could be expanded. The locus classicus, of course, is bin Laden's fanciful fatwas. Oil pumped for $5 a barrel and sold for $70 is called stealing resources. Tens of millions of Muslims emigrating to the United States and Europe, while very few Westerners reside in the Middle East, is deemed "occupying our lands." Israel, the biblical home of the Jews, and subsequently claimed for centuries by Persians, Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, Ottomans, and English is "occupied by crusader infidels" — as if the entire world is to accept that world history began only in the seventh century A.D.
[..]

So take the dependency on oil away from Europe and the United States, and the billions of petrodollars the world sends yearly to medieval regimes like Iran or Saudi Arabia, and the other five billion of us could, to be frank, fret little whether such self-pitying tribal and patriarchal societies wished to remain, well, tribal. There would be no money for Hezbollah, Wahhabi madrassas, Syrian assassination teams, or bought Western apologists.
The problem is not just a matter of the particular suppliers who happen to sell to the United States — after all, we get lots of our imported oil from Mexico, Canada, and Nigeria. Rather, we should worry about the insatiable American demand that results in tight global supply for everyone, leading to high prices and petrobillions in the hands of otherwise-failed societies who use this largess for nefarious activities from buying nukes to buying off deserved censure from the West, India, and China. If the Middle East gets a pass on its terrorist behavior from the rest of the world, ultimately that exemption can be traced back to the voracious American appetite for imported oil, and its effects on everything from global petroleum prices to the appeasement of Islamic fascism.
Without nuclear acquisition, a Pakistan or Iran would warrant little worry. It is no accident that top al Qaeda figures are either in Pakistan or Iran, assured that their immunity is won by reason that both of their hosts have vast oil reserves or nukes or both.
[…]
In the meantime, until we arrive at liberal and consensual governments that prove stable, there will be no real peace. And if an Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Syria obtains nuclear weapons, there will be eventually war on an unimaginable scale, predicated on the principle that the West will tolerate almost any imaginable horror to ensure that one of its cities is not nuked or made uninhabitable.
Yet if billions of petrodollars continue to pour into such traditional societies, as a result they will never do the hard political and economic work of building real societies. Instead their elites will obtain real nuclear weapons to threaten neighbors for even more concessions, as they buy support at home with the national prestige of an "Islamic bomb." Saddam almost grasped that: had he delayed his invasion of Kuwait five years until he resurrected his damaged nuclear program, Kuwait would now be an Iraqi province, and perhaps Saudi Arabia as well.
In the long-term, democratization in the framework of constitutional government has the best chance of bringing relief. But for the foreseeable future the United States and its allies must also ensure that Iran, and states like it, are not nuclear, and that we wean ourselves off a petroleum dependency — to save both ourselves, the addicts, and even our enemies, the dealers of the Middle East.

Left's Cross

As you can tell by the lack of blogging, I’ve lost much interest…apathy is a drag.

Even Bush’s domestic spying didn’t draw my ire…. But leave it to Robert Dreyfuss to bring me out of my funk.

I’ve often heard from the Right how the Left is nothing but negative in their out look of life in general. I’ve often thought that was not an untrue statement…but tonight, it became clear just how negative the Left is by Dreyfuss’ column.

They hope all fail…which brings them joy.

French Hypocrisy

France is getting a taste of what they’ve been fermenting. Moonbat Central leads to a New York Sun article nicely pointing out the hypocrisy of the French. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of folks.

One thing pointed out in the Sun article:

A number of observers of the French scene have looked at population trends and suggested that France is on its way to becoming a Muslim country (one that would, let it be noted, be armed with hydrogen bombs).

Nice thought, eh?

Sharia Justice

Now, I know the USA is not to be referenced when dealing with humane justice with juveniles. Although I may think 13 – 14 yr olds know right from wrong, I don’t think they should be tried as adults…

That being said, I surely don’t think Sharia law is the answer either…check out the justice for an eight yr old caught stealing bread.

Note: site was shut down due to traffic, but thanks to Orbusmax.

Sad from the land of zombies

Sad from the land of zombies…

Far Left are just as wacked as the Far Right.

Thanks to Orbusmax

Zionist forewarned

OK, so tell me again why we shouldn't defend Israel?

"Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury, (while) any (Islamic leader) who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world," Ahmadinejad said.

Talk about little penis syndrome . . .

Being the General

And here I like William Wallace...

King Edward I You scored 62 Wisdom, 73 Tactics, 52 Guts, and 50 Ruthlessness!

Or rather, King Edward the Longshanks if you've seen Braveheart. You, like Edward, are incredibly smart and shrewd, but you win at any costs.... William Wallace died at his hands after a fierce Scottish rebellion against his reign. Despite his reputation though, Longshanks had the best interests of his people at heart. But God help you if you got on his bad side.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 40% on Unorthodox You scored higher than 60% on Tactics You scored higher than 41% on Guts You scored higher than 61% on Ruthlessness

Link: The Which Historic General Are You Test written by dasnyds on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Coptic Troubles

Another fine entry from Wretchard on the West's perception of Christianity in Egypt.

Young Singers Spread Racist Hate

This is sad . . . once again, young minds fill with crap. But it’s no different than young rappers spewing sexist, gangsta garbage. This is the same mind set which punishes young bright minds, being ridiculed as Uncle Toms for using their minds.

Presidential Ratings

I don't really put much faith in polls these days since it seems America is so polarized these days, but I did find this article rather interesting.

Data from six polling organizations in October show an average of 39.5 percent job approval for Bush.

But according to the Gallup Organization, that's a higher mark than the low points for all commanders in chief dating back to Lyndon Johnson in the mid 1960s.

The low points for recent commanders in chief are as follows:

Bill Clinton: 37 percent George H. W. Bush: 29 percent Ronald Reagan: 35 percent Jimmy Carter: 28 percent Gerald Ford: 37 percent Richard Nixon: 24 percent Lyndon Johnson: 35 percent To find presidents with higher low-point approval ratings than Bush, one has to go back to John Kennedy at 56 percent, and Dwight Eisenhower at 48 percent.

UN controls the WWW

Sorry for my extended absence. I’ve been burnt on Politics, so I just haven’t had the heart to comment on all the BS.

But I stumbled on this tonight and felt compelled to comment.

[Dave] Hendon is the Department for Trade and Industry's director of business relations and was in Geneva representing the UK government and European Union at the third and final preparatory meeting for next month's World Summit on the Information Society. He had just announced a political coup over the running of the internet.

Old allies in world politics, representatives from the UK and US sat just feet away from each other, but all looked straight ahead as Hendon explained the EU had decided to end the US government's unilateral control of the internet and put in place a new body that would now run this revolutionary communications medium.

[…]

A number of countries represented in Geneva, including Brazil, China, Cuba, Iran and several African states, insisted the US give up control, but it refused. The meeting "was going nowhere", Hendon says, and so the EU took a bold step and proposed two stark changes: a new forum that would decide public policy, and a "cooperation model" comprising governments that would be in overall charge.
Much to the distress of the US, the idea proved popular. Its representative hit back, stating that it "can't in any way allow any changes" that went against the "historic role" of the US in controlling the top level of the internet.
But the refusal to budge only strengthened opposition, and now the world's governments are expected to agree a deal to award themselves ultimate control. It will be officially raised at a UN summit of world leaders next month and, faced with international consensus, there is little the US government can do but acquiesce.
While I find the ‘principle’ of the UN an altruistic ideal, it’s just like Communism.  It looks good on paper, but is unmanageable by humans. I cannot imagine the bureaucratic morass the Internet will be imbroiled in  if the UN is in control of the WWW.

Cindy's World

I don't have much use for Cindy Sheehan these days. She's become a cariacture of what she once was. Strata-Sphere has been able to pick up on the latest wackiness coming out of her mouth.

The people in LA who were displaced have nice, if modest homes that are perfectly fine. I wonder why the government made them leave at great expense and uproot families who have been living in their communities for generations.

To save them from the flood waters and storm surge??? Am I close?

After we arrived at Camp Casey III, we took the Veterans for Peace “Impeachment Tour Bus” into New Orleans after stopping at the distribution center to pick up some supplies in Covington.

Sheehan’s Impeach Bush gang took supplies supposedly for those in need in a disaster zone the size of Britain???

Even though Algiers came through Katrina relatively unscathed, our federal government tried to force (mostly successfully) the people out of the community.

Cindy, the Mayor and Governor ordered the evacuation. The Feds just supply the transportation and needed supplies. This women is dense.

They didn’t want to go to the Superdome, because their homes were pretty intact: they wanted to stay and have food and water brought to them.

They wanted door-to-door catering service??? I do too, come to think about it.

When I think of how many other poor neighborhoods are being decimated and made so desperate and hopeless by the failed policies of the Bush administration, it makes me so angry.

Cindy, you are aware a hurricane hit the place - not Bush’s policies???

One thing that truly troubled me about my visit to Louisiana was the level of the military presence there. I imagined before that if the military had to be used in a CONUS (Continental US) operations that they would be there to help the citizens: Clothe them, feed them, shelter them, and protect them. But what I saw was a city that is occupied. I saw soldiers walking around in patrols of 7 with their weapons slung on their backs. I wanted to ask one of them what it would take for one of them to shoot me. Sand bags were removed from private property to make machine gun nests.

Imagine? This woman should never ‘imagine ‘because it simply illustrates that there is a fairly simple mind at work.

When our fellow citizens are told to “shoot to kill” other fellow citizens because they want to stay alive, that is military and governmental fascism gone out of control.

This moonbat is over the edge. I guess she thinks police should not shoot people either - since the National Guard, in these kinds of situations, are being used as police resources. This woman is clueless.

Tens of thousands of families in our country have been devastated because of the incompetence and callousness of our so-called leadership.

Cindy wonders why no one waves the magic wand that puts it all right again, just like on TV. Cindy cannot understand how we could not have stopped the hurricane with our mighty force fields…..

George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power.

This women is nuts.

I couldn't agree more.

Katrina

I’ve been just amazed with all that Katrina has wrought. I’ve been reticent in responding to the devastation and assistance for several reasons. Foremost being, not all the facts were in.

First, I think the primary fault squarely fall on the shoulders of three people: New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and finally FEMA Director Michael D. Brown. All three should be held accountable.

Second, while I think Pres. Bush was 24hrs too slow in his response, I think that had to do with poor information not a ‘lack of compassion’ for the poor.

Finally, this was an absolute embarrassment, an entire breakdown of emergency management. We’ve know for decades the probability of the devastation awaiting New Orleans. So, this is not Bush’s fault. It’s the entire bureaucratic morass which is too be blamed. How can FEMA not have food and water ready? We knew for days the storm was coming.

From WaPo:
Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.
The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.
A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.
And this from FEMA Director Michael D. Brown:
Brown, a frequent target of New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin's wrath, said Saturday that "the mayor can order an evacuation and try to evacuate the city, but if the mayor does not have the resources to get the poor, elderly, the disabled, those who cannot, out, or if he does not even have police capacity to enforce the mandatory evacuation, to make people leave, then you end up with the kind of situation we have right now in New Orleans."
New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas acknowledged that the city was surprised by the number of refugees left behind, but he said FEMA should have been prepared to assist.
"Everybody shares the blame here," said Thomas. "But when you talk about the mightiest government in the world, that's a ludicrous and lame excuse. You're FEMA, and you're the big dog. And you weren't prepared either."
In Baton Rouge, Blanco acknowledged Saturday: "We did not have enough resources here to do it all. . . . The magnitude is overwhelming."
State officials had planned to turn to neighboring states for help with troops, transportation and equipment in a major hurricane. But in Katrina's case, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were also overwhelmed, said Denise Bottcher, a Blanco spokesman.
Eu Rota has a good response to some issues brought forth by the anti-Bushies.
The Left in the US seems determined to find any angle (ranging from the irrational to the psychotic) to pin the blame of the devastating Hurricane Katrina on President Bush. They have tried so far: the global warming caused it angle, strike one; not enough Louisiana National Guard troops due to the war in Iraq, strike two; now, Bush cut money earmarked for flood control due to the war in Iraq, hopefully strike three.
It think it boils down to FEMA’s Brown is political crony ill prepared to run this vital office. He must go.

Darfur

Darfur. What does that mean to you? Or better yet, DOES it mean anything to you?

Here’s an excellent article on what’s happening in Darfur. I was not sold on the Oil for Slaughter version before reading this. I’m still not sold 100%, but David Morse makes an excellent argument.

My belief of the inattentive concern for Darfur, as well as what happened in Rwanda, boils down to pure racism. It may not be an acknowledged racism, but it’s there none the less. Euro-centric folks have always had this paternalistic attitude toward Africa. It was one of the driving factors of the colonialism of Africa in the 19th century. Can you think of another reason for the First World’s lack of concern for the slaughter? Remember the horror of Bosnia? All the while, Rwanda was occurring.

Miscarriage of Justice

All I can say is Oh My God!!! What in the world just happened?? Two illegal aliens steal into this country, are apprehended by a militia group, and according to them:

The immigrants also said that the group gave them cookies, water and a blanket and let them go after an hour or so.

Of course, that was after they may have been roughed up a wee bit . . .

Mancia and Leiva were caught on a ranch in Hebbronville, Texas, in March 2003 by Nethercott and other members of Ranch Rescue. The two immigrants later accused Nethercott of threatening them and of hitting Mancia with a pistol.

But give them the manÂ’s property?!?!?

The immigrants said the ordeal had left them with post-traumatic stress.

Post-traumatic stress? How do they know it wasn't caused by the "coyotes"?

But still, give them the man's ranch???? They're ILLEGAL after all.

Now, I respect Morris Dees for what he did to the Aryan Nation up in Idaho, but to call this “poetic justice” after representing these ILLEGAL immigrants, is a miscarriage of justice

Ted Rall

I’ve NEVER been a Ted Rall fan. Some of his work is just revolting. However…..this article doesn’t leave me much to argue with and that’s disturbing. I still think he’s an ass.

Shame

As the few of you know, I’m in the Healthcare business and THIS is why I HATE insurance companies. I truly feel for these folks.

RU-486

I’ve always been a strong proponent of RU-486 and have NEVER understood Pro-Lifers opposition.  I’m not interested in their moral obligation to women; they’re never on good footing with me anyway. But INDC’s got a great (and lengthy) article rebuffing Michelle Malkin’s feeble attempt at demonizing RU-486 on a logical and statistical level. Well done, Bill.

Clintons Fantasy

I was doing the daily Daou crawl when I came upon this unbelievable nugget from Neal Boortz. I couldn’t believe it at first.

Now, I’ve never been a Clinton basher as I’ve indicated in previous posts. I thought he was alright, but just made some poor choices. Unfortunately, he wasn’t truthful when it came down to “it” and it caused us all grief. But this…

Ex-president Bill Clinton now says he would have taken out Osama bin Laden before the 9/11 attacks – if only the FBI and CIA had been able to prove the al-Qaida mastermind was behind the attack on the U.S.S. Cole.
"I desperately wish that I had been president when the FBI and CIA finally confirmed, officially, that bin Laden was responsible for the attack on the U.S.S. Cole," Clinton tells New York magazine this week. "Then we could have launched an attack on Afghanistan early."
"I don’t know if it would have prevented 9/11," he added. "But it certainly would have complicated it.”
Despite his failure to launch such an attack, Clinton said he saw the danger posed by bin Laden much more clearly than did President Bush.
"I always thought that bin Laden was a bigger threat than the Bush administration did," he told New York magazine.

Bush is renowned for neither apologizing nor acknowledging errors – Stubborn Ass!! But please read this and TELL ME Clinton is NOT living in a fantasy world!!! Where as Bush is a stubborn, principled fool, Clinton is an unprincipled and insecure fool. His credo is “someone like me, please. Anyone?!?”

Moral Vacancy?

Once again, sorry for the lack of posting. I'’m working from home now and having to fight the blahs.

I'’ve been checking out the Daou Report'’s daily stream as usual. Like quite a few, I''m not overly impressed with Mother Sheehan, but donÂ’t doubt her right to protest. I just think this is all rather tacky. She'’s become somewhat of a caricature of herself. I read the newspaper article often quoted by both sides and she did have some rather pleasant comments for Pres Bush which she now recants. But now sheÂ’s out to embarrass him. Tacky. . .

But what has left me aghast is an article on Leiter Reports from E.L. Doctorow. I'’m left almost speechless in its audacity. For Doctorow, profess to "‘know"’ what Bush thinks, feels and means in his actions (or inactions). I'’m not a big fan of Bush, but this is ridiculous . . .

I fault this president for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the death of our 21-year-olds who wanted to be what they could be. On the eve of D-Day in 1944 General Eisenhower prayed to God for the lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was. Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.

But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it. You see him joking with the press, peering under the table for the weapons of mass destruction he can't seem to find, you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving, triumphal, a he-man.

He does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. He is satisfied during the course of a speech written for him to look solemn for a moment and speak of the brave young Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

But you study him, you look into his eyes and know he dissembles an emotion which he does not feel in the depths of his being because he has no capacity for it. He does not feel a personal responsibility for the 1,000 dead young men and women who wanted to be what they could be.

There's more but I just can't... Discourse is lost in America today.