More Surge Success

Yesterday, Michael O'Hanlon (Brookings Institution) and Kenneth M. Pollack (Saban Center for Middle East Policy) wrote an Op-ed for the New York Times praising the surge. They both recently returned from an eight day trip to Iraq.

They pointed out several things to be optimistic about.

1. The morale of American soldiers there has increased.

They write: "Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference."

2. Decreased loss of innocent life.

They write: "[C]ivilian fatality rates are down roughly a third since the surge began."

3. Bad Iraqi partners have been rooted out

They write: "American advisors told us that many of the corrupt and sectarian Iraqi commanders who once infested the force have been removed. The American high command assesses that more than three-quarters of the Iraqi Army battalion commanders in Baghdad are now reliable partners."

4. Increased ethnic participation and cooperation

They write: "The Iraqi Army's highly effective Third Infantry Division started out as overwhelming Kurdish in 2005. Today, it is 45 percent Shiite, 28 percent Kurdish, and 27 percent Sunni Arab."

5. Iraqi population is fighting back against Al-Qaeda

The Iraqi population is getting fed up with Al-Qaeda's Sharia Law, violence, and stealing of their women. The people are fighting back.

They write: "The most important and best-known example of this is in Anbar Province, which in less than six months has gone from the worst part of Iraq to the best (outside the Kurdish areas). Today the Sunni sheiks there are close to crippling Al Qaeda and its Salafist allies."



( Quotes from "A War We Just Might Win" by Michael E. O'Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack published in the New York Times on July 30, 2007)

Alex Jones sounds like Iranian leaders

(From the website of Alex Jones)

Recently a Radio Talk Show host named Alex Jones caught my attention. He is based in Texas and calls himself a "conservative."He is also the leader of the "9/11 Truth" movement and contends that the Bush administration and members of the United States government caused the 9/11 attacks.

Coincidentally, his notions have an eerie similarity to those espoused by Hossein Sheikholeslam, the former Iranian Ambassador to Syria and member of the Foreign Policy and National Security Council in the Iranian Parliament. Please see transcript below.

http://memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1512

Just like Sheikholeslam, Jones's theory is complete bunk and should be discarded from American political debate. I am all for the First Amendment but these 9/11 Conspiracy theories of the attack being an "inside job" are so untruthful, so bizarre, and so malignant, that they should be given no attention. Sure, Alex Jones has every right to say this rubbish, but people also have the right not to listen.

Although he calls himself a conservative and supports Ron Paul for President in 2008, I strongly believe he is a liberal in disguise trying to downplay the terrorist threat.

Stay tuned for more on this.

Reasons to Vote for Giuliani

Although Mitt Romney is the current favorite of this blog, Rudy Giuliani is giving us reason to look more favorably upon him. First, he is a strong advocate of the King Amendment, a law designed to protect citizens from lawsuits for reporting suspicious activity. This stems from the lawsuit filed by imams who were kicked off a United Airlines flight.
http://www.joinrudy2008.com/news/missed/508

Good Presidents have good people behind them. Giuliani has recently picked some good advisors concerning the Middle East. Among this select group are several neoconservatives including Norman Podhoretz.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/7/26/155618.shtml?s=ic

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

(Picture from the AP)

The phrase above is very familiar to comic fans. It was coined by the creator of Spider-Man, Stan Lee.

It's truth also applies to foreign policy though, especially in today's dangerous world. After Peter Parker was bitten by an irradiated spider and acquired super-human strength, but before he dedicated his life to fighting crime, he was a wrestler. One day, a man that was being chased by police passed Peter. Peter could have easily stopped the man. He didn't. "Why should I care?" He thought to himself.

Later on, Peter found out that the criminal whom he let escape killed his Uncle Ben. His life was forever changed and he always tried to use his power to fight crime and make the world a better place.

This comic book lesson should be taken seriously by the United States, specifically Democrats like Senator Barack Hussein Obama.

Recently Barack Obama stated that preventing genocide was not reason enough to stay in Iraq. Bad things happen when genocide takes place. Just take a look at Hitler and Germany. Hitler first started his genocide of Jews in Germany and then expanded it to the rest of Europe. Genocide quickly becomes everyone's problem. And since the United States is still the superpower in the world (Thank God we are), we should do what we can to prevent that before genocide comes knocking on our doorsteps.

Barack has shown an immaturity on the campaign trail. His positions such as Iraq withdrawal show a childish tendency to leave difficult situations merely because they are difficult and because they are unpopular.

That's not how mature adults act. Thankfully President George W. Bush is steadfast and has the resolve to maintain our efforts in Iraq.

Barack, go back to the State Senate in Illinois. You were much better there than on the national stage.

I also love how Barack's call for "age appropriate" sex education for kindergartners is being spun by his press people. His press people are now saying that he meant kindergartners should be taught about what kind of touching is appropriate so that they will be better protected against child predators. Why didn't he just say that at first if that's what he meant? Also, why would you describe that as sex education? I would call that self-preservation and safety talk. It's obviously not what he meant at first.

I think Barack really meant he wanted to start sex eduction at that tender young age. Obviously, its a horrible idea and it would be unpopular. Barack didn't realize that until after he made the comment. Now his press people are trying to clean up the mess.

Kudos to Governor Mitt Romney for hammering Barack on this issue.

Steam Explosion

(Picture from Fox News)

New York City got a wake up call on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 when a steam pipe exploded beneath the street near 41st and Lexington Avenue. It occured around 6 pm and sent many people scurrying away from the area. The first thought to pop into people's minds was terrorism.

The picture above almost looks like a shot from 9/11. Luckily it was not terrorism but just a steam pipe bursting. Probably a combination of the humid weather, massive amounts of steam circulating below the streets of Manhattan, and the rain on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, over 20 people were hurt and one person died. The response by NYC officials was pretty fast. It can be noted though that members of the media arrived before any firefighters or police. That sort of troubles me.

The city blames the age of the pipe, which was over 80 years old. Since many of the city's pipes are that old, I am surprised this doesn't happen more often. Hopefully, Con Ed and the City will look into this more carefully.

Another Success: Capture of Khaled al-Mashhadani

(Picture from Fox News)

Today it was reported that one of al-Qaeda's key Iraqi operatives, Khaled al-Mashhadani, was arrested. He is considered the "highest ranking" Iraqi member of the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda. He is a close friend of Abu Ayub al-Masri, an Egyptian by birth, who serves as the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

al-Mashhadani acted as a channel between Osama bin Laden, Masri, and Zawahiri.

Catching al-Mashhadani is a success and should be treated as such by the media. Now that we have him, we need to find out what he knows by whatever means necessary, whether it be waterboarding, sleep deprivation, or drastic climate changes.

This success is similar to last summer, June 2006, when Al-Zarqawi was killed. This strike was an important rebound after we failed to kill Zawahiri with an air-strike in Pakistan (Jan 2006).

Oil Could Up the Ante in Iraq

(Map from Fox News)

So it is believed that Iraq might have more oil than we initially thought.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2007/me_oil_07_18.asp

This could certainly up the ante and importance of Iraq. Do we want terrorists to seize a nation with such a valuable resource? They could use the oil to bribe other countries. This could threaten the global economy. They could also use profits from selling oil to purchase weapons of mass destruction.

At the same time, this information could compel Iran to interfere more with Iraq. Iran doesn't want a stable, democratic Iraq next door to compete in the oil business. Currently, Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world, following by Iran.


If Iraq has as much oil as they estimate in this article, Iraq would take the number two spot and bump Iran to third. Iran's oil won't be as important to the world and their regional power could be diminished.

Let's keep a close eye on this revelation. It could affect the War In Iraq.

Abortion on Demand

(Picture Courtesy of the Edwards campaign website)

The Democratic Presidential candidates are once again expressing their views on abortion.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dems18jul18,1,639458.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=3&cset=true

Standing before the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Elizabeth Edwards praised her husband's universal health care plan because it included "pregnancy termination."

Wow! I have never heard abortion be described in such sterile terms before: "Pregnancy termination." There is no mention of killing a human being. There is no mention of the mental trauma that abortion can inflict on a woman. It is as easy as turning off a light switch.

Another point, why do we care what Elizabeth Edwards says? She isn't running for President, John is. I realize that in terms of public relations, it makes sense to have a woman speak about reproductive rights since liberals consider women to be the sole authority on that issue even though the babies being killed are both women and men. Unfortunately, I only have so much time in a day to pay attention to politics. I frankly don't want to listen to the wives of Presidential candidates. Hearing the Presidential candidates themselves is painful enough.

I must say though, it's disheartening to see leaders in our country de-value life the way pro-abortion advocates like John Edwards do.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama also expressed an interest in formulating a health plan that includes greater access to abortion.

Barack, if I were you, I would examine abortion's impact on African Americans. You might change your mind after doing some reading.

According to Day Gardner, the President of the National Black Pro-Life Union, "Since 1973, MORE THAN 44 million unborn children have been legally killed in this country--of those killed almost 15 million of them where black."

The number of illegal abortions that killed African Americans cannot even be counted. But I am sure that number is also fairly large.

http://www.christiannewswire.com/index.php?module=releases&task=view&releaseID=2374

Barry Bonds

(Picture from MSNBC)

Barry Bonds is so close to breaking Hank Aaron's career home run record. He is four shy of matching Aaron's record of 755 career home runs.

Even if he breaks the record, Barry's legacy will be tainted with accusations (most likely true) of steroid use.

Here are some interesting statistics from his career:

In 2001, he hit 73 home runs!

In 1990, he stole 52 bases. This is surprising since he rarely even runs to first nowadays.

In 2002, his batting average was a whopping .370.

Growing up, I watched Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unfortunately, they were never really a good team. Their jerseys were cool though and their team name "Pirates" sounded intimidating.

His relationship with the press has always been turbulent as well.

I haven't really formulated an opinion concerning Bonds. On one side, I hate cheaters and I think only people who play by the rules deserve to win. At the same time, this isn't a wrestling match. He still has to make contact with the ball and swing the bat a certain way to crank the ball out of the park. Hitting a pitch thrown by a major league pitcher is no easy task. So Bonds does deserve some credit.

I wonder if he was a nicer person, if that would affect his standing with both the fans and baseball concerning this controversy.

Well written summation re: weak Republicans

You can always expect eloquent and accurate writing from the Weekly Standard. Personally, I look forward all week long to Bill Kristol's latest editorial. Check out his latest for a great summation of the situation concerning Republicans who have abandoned the President on the issue of Iraq.

"Lugar, Voinovich, Domenici, and Warner are not the future leaders of the Republican party, or of the country. Now is the time for those who wish to be leaders to step forward. Now is the time for them to stand against the defeatism of the pre-9/11 Republicans and to stand with Capt. Ben Richards and the 9/11 generation, who understand why we fight, and how we can win."
-William Kristol

Ellison should resign immediately

(Picture Courtesy of Keith Ellison's Congressional website)

We knew the minute that Keith Ellison was elected to Congress that he would cause trouble. Lo and behold, Ellison has now made an unforgiveable remark: a comparison between Hitler and President George W. Bush.

A good Muslim, if there are any left, would certainly blame the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on Islamic fanatics. 19 Islamists killed over 3,000 Americans and destroyed the Twin Towers. There should be no factual dispute there.

To even imply that President George W. Bush might have played a role in the attacks is utterly absurd. In the words of Elizabeth Edwards, comments like that have no place in American political discourse.

Just like Don Imus was forced to leave his radio post, now Keith Ellison should be forced to resign as a United States Congressman. We cannot trust a man who says and believes such utter bunk to be a leader in our Country.

According to the UK's telegram, here is part of what Ellison said. Please see link for full article:

Addressing a gathering of atheists in his home state of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, a Democrat, compared the 9/11 atrocities to the destruction of the Reichstag, the German parliament, in 1933. This was probably burned down by the Nazis in order to justify Hitler's later seizure of emergency powers.
"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that," Mr Ellison said. "After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted."

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/14/wbush114.xml)

Please write letters to Mr. Ellison demanding that he step down from his office.

The Surge: Some Success

Is the surge working? Should we ask Pete Domenici for the answer to that?

No. Here is what the commander of coalition forces in central Iraq, Major General Rick Lynch, has said according to the Agence France-Presse.

The AFP reported that Lynch “said the addition of thousands more ‘surge’ troops in recent weeks had enabled him to clear 70 percent of his territory south of Baghdad of insurgents.” (AFP, July 6, 2007, “US exit from Iraq would be a ‘mess’;general”)

Also, the AFP reported that “Under the surge, Lynch said his forces had killed about 50 insurgents and detained about 200 more, including ‘high value’ ones, while uncovering more than 40 weapons caches.”

This is the kind of success that should be reported more often

Happy Birthday Mr. President

Happy Birthday President Bush! You are our hero. We salute you. Keep up the good work.

(Picture from whitehouse.gov)

Defeat John Kerry in 2008 Election for Senate

(Picture from John Kerry's Senate website)

After hearing about Domenici being up for re-election in New Mexico, my thoughts turned toward the greatest of liberal bastions: Massachusetts. Republicans have a huge chance to oust John Kerry. He has made blunder after blunder and it seems like he is vulnerable enough to beat.

This blog is committed to seeing a Republican take his seat. Or worst case scenario, see another Democrat challenge him in the Democratic primary and win.

For the next couple of weeks and months, this blog will re-cap John Kerry's career and make the argument against his re-election.

All Massachusetts residents please stay tuned.

Republican Weakness

(picture from Domenici's Senate website)

It's becoming extremely popular for Republicans to turn their back on the President. Some say it's a sign of an independent mind. Others say it's brave to dissent from the party. In the case of the most recent example, Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, it's a sign of weakness. He is simply afraid of losing his seat and doesn't want to do the right thing.

The right thing of course is to stay in Iraq. Yes, it's a horrible situation. All War is. At the same time though, if we pull out, the terrorists will take over Iraq and will have a complete nation to use at their disposal. They will be able to train and build operations there. How convenient, especially with Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia so close to help fund, supply, and train them.

The surge hasn't been giving a fair chance yet and the mainstream media does not have the journalistic integrity to report both the positive and negative developments. They prefer to dwell on the negative stories.

Domenici's sudden reversal from staunch supporter of Bush to abandonment is curiously timed. In a New York Times article by Carl Hulse, "G.O.P. Support for Iraq Policy Erodes Further," it is noted that Domenici is up for re-election next year.

Another Republican Senator Susan Collins (of Maine) hinted at similar feelings. She is quoted in the Times as saying, "It is very troubling to many of us that the Iraq government appears to be making little or no progress toward political reconciliation." Coincidentally she is also up for re-election in 2008.

Let's look at other Republicans who have dropped support for the President and the War in Iraq.

-Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana

-Senator George V. Voinovich of Ohio

-Senator John W. Warner of Virginia- up for re-election in 2008

Hope in Our Time

(picture from whitehouse.gov)


"Greatness comes not when things go always good for you, but the greatness comes when you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes, because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain."
-President Richard M. Nixon

$1250 haircut helps the War on Poverty

More damaging information is revealed concerning the spending habits of John Edwards. Everyone thought $400 was a lot for a haircut. Now his hair stylist, Joseph Torrenueva, has said that Edwards paid $1,250 for a haircut during the 2004 Presidential campaign.

Edwards had Torrenueva fly from California to Atlanta just for this pricey endeavor. Torrenueva missed two days of work.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401258_pf.html

No offense to Edwards or Torrenueva, but Edwards's hair doesn't look that impressive nor does his style appear that hard to maintain.

Just think of how many poor people could be fed by that $1250. If about 30 dollars was spent on each person for a day, about 40 people could have been fed.

My barber from home could have given Edwards the same haircut for 15 bucks.

What are your priorities?

(Picture from AP, courtesy of Fox News)

Son of former Vice-President Al Gore was arrested on Wednesday for driving 100 mph and possessing marijuana and several prescription drugs for which he had no prescription.

Al Gore III, the son of privilege, was also arrested during his days at Harvard University for marijuana possession.

This incident begs the question: Was Al Gore spending enough time raising his son? Maybe he gave too much attention to his politics and his issue of global warming to keep his son on the straight and narrow path.

Go back to school Jesse Jackson Jr.

http://cbs2chicago.com/homepage/local_story_183225657.html

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has called President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence, a "crime against the Constitution."

Either Jackson doesn't know how to read or he never read the Constitution. Please see Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution.

It explicitly says that the President "shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

In the case of Scooter Libby, Bush thought jail time was an unfitting and overly harsh punishment. He has full Constitutional authority to do what he did. Other Presidents have given similar reprieves and pardons.

Someone please teach Jesse Jackson Jr. how to read or show him a copy of the Constitution.

History Refresher

The Democrats are already complaining about President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's jail sentence. Just to remind readers, here is a list of all of former President Clinton's pardons:

http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/clintonpardon_grants.htm

Libby Free

In a bold move, it looks like George W. Bush has commuted the two and a half year prison sentence of Scooter Libby. This should be a very unpopular decision yet it was the right decision. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald failed to go after the real CIA leaker: Richard Armitage. Instead Fitzgerald went after Libby, a man who has served the public generously in many capacities. Good move Mr. President. We are proud of you.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287780,00.html

Great Composers

(virtual.finland.fi/finfo/images/ainola2.jpg, Picture from Virtual Finland website produced by Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland)

In an effort to edify readers and promote Western Civilization at the same time, this blog will focus on a number of artists and composers who impacted Western Civilization in a positive manner.

Today we will discuss the great Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius. Sibelius was born in 1865. The place pictured above, Ainola, was his home, where he spent most of his waking moments. At one point in his life, not only was he a national hero in Finland, but in America, he was being likened to Beethoven.

His music reflected the natural beauty of Finland: the trees, the fresh air, the climate, and the animals. In fact, the Fifth Symphony was called the "swan hymn" by Sibelius. This piece was about an experience of Sibelius in which he witnessed 16 swans soaring in the air. Sibelius writes how this was "One of my greatest experiences!" In many of his other works, he tried to use the sound of nature as a model for his music. He wanted to musically notate the sounds he heard in the forest near his house.

From a political perspective, his music promoted the independence of Finland. As the music critic for the New Yorker, Alex Ross, put it, Sibelius "played a symbolic but active role in the drive toward Finnish independence, which was finally achieved in 1917." Ross comments on how "Finns quickly appropriated the Second as an emblem of national liberation."

As a composer, he was very self critical. Never happy with his work, he would often create music and then quickly dispose of it and make changes. As Alex Ross writes, "As the revisions of the Fifth show, he looked at his own creations with a merciless eye, slashing away at them as if they were scribblings of an inept student."

To Sibelius, as with many musicians, music was a deeply personal venture. He described it as a "confession of faith."

He often felt alone and used alcohol to assuage the pain of his lonely profession. He was also plagued with health problems.

During his composition of the Fourth Symphony, he was undergoing surgery for a tumor in his throat. Facing the fear of death came the dark and forbidden sounds so characteristic of the Fourth.

Throughout his career, he wrote 7 symphonies.


Source:
Ross Alex, "Apparition in the Woods: Rescuing Sibelius from Silence," The New Yorker, July 9, 2007

The Deaf Press

For some reason, members of the liberal press including Chris Matthews are incapable of hearing every sentence that Ann Coulter writes or speaks. Instead, they have selective hearing:they hear what they want to hear and forget the rest.

In the case of Coulter, it's politically expedient to isolate sentences that alone sound really bad but when taken in context, they are reasonable and witty remarks.

To correct the record, Ann Coulter never said she wanted John Edwards assasinated. Here is what she did say:

"But about the same time, you know, Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack--so I've learned my lesson: If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."

She was basically saying that her previous comments about Edwards were not nearly as bad as Maher's comments and Maher faced little to no criticism. She is pointing out a huge double standard in political free speech.

I would tell those who interpreted Coulter's comments differently to go back to school and re-learn the English language and grammer, but unfortunately schools these days teach the way the mainstream media has learned.

Greatest of Liberal Standardized Tests: LSAT

Liberals struck at me again this weekend upon receipt of my sub-par LSAT score. They think they won. I have news for them. They haven't. Here's why: I am taking it again. Worst case scenario, I won't do better and I give LSAC more work to do. Best case scenario, I do much better and I still give LSAC more work to do. Either way, I want to make the lives of the liberals at LSAC worse off. Either way, I will accomplish my goal. :-)

JFK on the Fairness Doctrine

"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." -- John F. Kennedy