President Dazzles In Des Moines

The questions were short, the answers were long.

President Barack Obama, traveling to Des Moines, Iowa, was out doing his best to rally support for his flailing party as Americans continued to voice their discontent with his short sighted policies.

In the Wednesday session, a small businessman pressed the president to extend tax cuts for households and small businesses that earn more than $250,000.

"As the government gets more and more involved in business and more involved in taxes to pay for an awful lot of programs...you're sort of strangling the engine that does create the jobs," he said.

Reasonable.  And you can tell the guy was kinda cringing to say it.

One woman questioned whether the Obama health-care plan would send the U.S. health-care system into a British-style system of rationing and delays. A man asked when the president would end costly wars abroad. Criticized over illegal immigrants getting health care.

The president said, "It is very important that we have compassion as part of our national character."

He doesn't sound too worried about the cost and access questions.  

The president was pushed on the defensive, and said, Americans don't want tax increases totaling $700 billion but also complain that the country's budget deficit is too high.

Voters "say, 'cut government spending,' " Mr. Obama responded.  "Well most spending is for veterans, for education, for defense.

Right.   Just another long night sifting through the baloney of the Obama campaign trail.

Palin Asks For Protection

Sarah Palin has asked for and obtained a retraining order against an eighteen year old Pennsylvania man who has traveled to Alaska to contact the former governor.  Prior to his arrival Shawn Christy had sent numerous e-mails and phone calls to Ms. Palin and her long time friend Kristan Cole.  Mr. Christy had recently sent his receipts from a gun purchase he had made, along with a letter saying “he tried to follow the Bible but had evil and wickedness in him.”

Cole said she became concerned about Christy’s letters and e-mails for months, but it ended up in court yesterday after the man called her to say his plane had landed in Alaska.

“When someone sends you proof that they’ve purchased weapons. Proof that they know where you live. And said that they are looking into purchasing a one-way plane ticket to Alaska and then calls from a cell phone with a 907 number, it’s over the line and we need protecting.”

Very reasonable.

Cole testified that Christy sent a letter in August 2010 saying that “he tried to follow the bible but had evil and wickedness in him.” She said Mr. Christy told her that he is convinced she is evil and must be punished.

And he has felt that he is the man for the job.  It is very disappointing that it is this hard for a person to become a political figure in this  country.

Christy also claims to have had a sexual relationship with Gov. Palin, the documents say. “Petitioner testified that respondent has told her that he has had an affair with Gov. Palin and that petitioner needs to tell the FBI the truth about the affair.”

This guy would fit right in down in South Carolina.

Democrats Strategize With A Winner?

Just when it looked like the bottom had fallen out, with Joe Biden telling the Democrats to stop whining and Jimmy Carter speaking at length about the superiority of his post-presidency, into the ring steps Democrat stalwart...Michael Dukakis?

"Former Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis, the failed 1988 presidential nominee, recently visited the White House and delivered his strategy for the midterm elections: pound key precincts across the country with the message that Republicans want to implement the same policies that led to the Great Recession."

Republican policies will bring on the Great Depression.
Holy cripes.   Take a look around, Mike.

Coco Rico Breaks Bad

Coco Rico and his Coconut Cowboys are riding roughshod over the West.   They're a surly bunch. Coco's rounded up a gang over there, and they're getting ready to ride in and make off with the herd.

Not to worry. It's good fun, and that Coco can write.

Obama Flogging Horse

"A horse...a horse...my kingdom for a horse!"

So cries Richard III in Shakespeare's play by the same name.

The AP is out reporting upon a similarly desperate and out of touch Barack Obama, attempting to rally his flagging troops.

"Admonishing his own party, President Barack Obama says it would be "inexcusable" and "irresponsible" for unenthusiastic Democratic voters to sit out the midterm elections, warning that the consequences could be a squandered agenda for years.

"People need to shake off this lethargy. People need to buck up," Obama told Rolling Stone."

I guess we don't realize how great Barry's got things going.

He said the glass-half-empty view among many progressive voters can be a debilitating force that distracts them from the real worry: Republicans.

Yeah. That's the real worry. Not the crumbling economy. Not nuclear Iranian wack jobs looking to usher in the twelfth Imam. Republicans like that Sarah Palin and Nikki Haley.

"The president has been telling Democrats to "wake up" and recognize that he and the Democratic-run Congress have delivered on promises, from a new health care law to tougher rules for Wall Street to more aid for college students. Obama wants disenchanted supporters to see that Republican wins in November would undermine the ability of Democrats to get the unfinished business done, from climate change legislation to allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

What emerges in the magazine story is a stern, lecturing tone from Obama."

Yeah, well maybe that's the problem Bare? Maybe when they were voting you in they had no idea the crazy ideas that you had about running up the Federal deficit and paying back your union cronies?

"The idea that we've got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible," he said

What's irresponsible is blowing 1.5 trillion dollars in eighteen months. Who does that kinda crap?!

The president said he keeps a checklist of his campaign promises and that he has met, by his account, about 70 percent of them.

He keeps a checklist.

"As for the rest: "Well, that's what the next two years is for, or maybe the next six."

Obama would need to win re-election in 2012 for that latter time frame to occur."

Nice touch with the little civics reminder.

AP...

Update  9/28/10

Vice President Joe Biden, never fearful of the microphone, has taken another head first dive into the mosh pit:

Campaigning for Democratic candidates in New Hampshire, Vice President Joe Biden said Monday the party's base should "stop whining. 

"Biden criticized its lack of specifics and offered his opinion on what would happen if the plan was implemented. 

"If they did everything the pledge calls for, it will add a trillion dollars to the debt and that would require them under their program to eliminate every program in the government from the FBI to highways and a whole bunch of other things to meet the goals they state," he said.

That sounds good to me.  Shut it down. 

And why is this fool so worried about how we are going to pay for it all? Why is that never a consideration when he is getting set to loan billions to Brazilian and Mexican oil companies, or spend hundreds of billions on a hapless works program that did no meaningful work? What was your payment plan for that, Joe?

The piker.

Girls Just Want To Have Fun

Boy, do they ever.  And few of 'em have more fun than Sissy Willis, whose blog SISU is about as fun as it gets here in blog land.  Her latest post is a "once more into the breach" attempt to communicate with Ms. Peggy Noonan, and by my stars, she and candidate Marsha Blackburn of Tenessee seem to have succeeded.

"This election is more and more shaping up into a contest between the Exhausted and the Enraged," writes Northeast Corridor Conservative Peggy Noonan, once again almost grasping the spirit that animates this Army of Davids. As we wrote last summer, "Tea Party to Peggy Noonan: It's not rage, but disgust!" This time, the former Reagan speechwriter and author of the transcendent "thousand points of light" decided to listen"

Happy ending?  Better read the whole thing here.

'My Man Godfrey' Open Thread

What did you think?

Charles Barkley Gives It To Us Straight

Charles Barkley from his days at Auburn.   Go, War Eagles!

Recently the University of Southern California was sanctioned because a sports agent admitted that he had given former college star athlete Reggie Bush some funds while he was still at the school.  In response, the University has distanced itself from Mr. Bush, removing all photos and awards that would tie the school to the young athlete.

Charles Barkley was asked to comment on it, and not surprisingly he had a number of thoughts to share:

"These college programs are making so much money that I think it’s a travesty that USC is trying wipe Bush’s legacy away. How much money did they make when he was there? With all the money they made during that three-year period when they won 34 straight games, its ridiculous what they are doing."

Charles Barkley is a rare commodity.  Like it or not, he'll give it to you straight.

“Players make these colleges money.  We here at Turner just bought the NCAA tournament for $11 billion.  Let’s stop joking like this is amateur stuff.  These schools are raiding powerful conferences for TV contacts.  When I played it was amateur athletics.  But if your school is raiding conferences to get TV marketing and revenue, there’s no integrity. NCAA sports [are] bona fide big business.”

Bona fide big business is right.  He's talking about conferences going to other conferences and trying to steal away schools so that there own conference will be able to get a better TV deal.  That's why conferences like The Big Ten doesn't have ten schools in it anymore.  They have eleven.  Come July of 2011 they will add the University of Nebraska and have twelve.  Now does that sound like the work of enthusiasts of amateur athletics?

In my own opinion, Reggie Bush was an extremely talented college athlete who brought great recognition and excitement to USC.   The university made a ton of money off his talents.  He is one of thousands of college athletes who compete before thousands and whose athleticism and commitment make it possible for these schools to pay for all kinds of other activities, not the least of which are the Title IX unfunded mandates for women's athletics.  USC wants to distance itself from Reggie Bush?  Get real.  It's Bush that should be happy to distance himself from the NCAA, and its member schools that so shamelessly take advantage of their athletes.

Hey, USC, how about distancing yourself from shyster agents and overly interested big-shot boosters?   Not likely, huh?

Barack Don't Know Didley

President Obama

Speaking in a radio address Friday, President Barack Hussein Obama offered a few insights:

"The Republicans who want to take over Congress offered their own ideas the other day. Many were the very same policies that led to the economic crisis in the first place, which isn't surprising, since many of their leaders were among the architects of that failed policy 

The current recession is a result of the collapse of the financial industry in 2007-2008, which resulted from the government's intrusions into the banking industry by their pressuring banks into making high risk loans and then backing those low to no collateral, unsupportable loans with guarantees from Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac.  It was a financial disaster brewed in the minds of Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd.  The republicans in government attempted to ward off the disaster, but were unable to break through the dense fog in Barney Frank's head.  It cost the nation billions and destabilized the world economy.  


Tax policies had nothing to do with it.

"It is grounded in same worn-out philosophy: cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires; cut the rules for Wall Street and the special interests; and cut the middle class loose to fend for itself. That's not a prescription for a better future."

What would you know about plans for a better future?  What did the government take over of GM and Chrysler have to say about a better future?  How did strong arming those that had invested in those companies and handing control over to the auto-unions work toward creating a better future?

Republicans responded:

"The new agenda embodies Americans' rejection of the notion that we can simply tax, borrow and spend our way to prosperity," said one of its authors, California Rep. Kevin McCarthy. "It offers a new way forward that hasn't been tried in Washington — an approach focused on cutting spending — which is sadly a new idea for a Congress accustomed to always accelerating it."

Damn straight.

Then the AP author ventured into the deep end of the pool:

"Perhaps the biggest difference was on taxes, where Republicans want to extend all of George W. Bush's income tax cuts permanently — at a cost of some $4 trillion over 10 years."

Taxes are not a cost to the government, professor.  

Taxes are best described as a cost to the taxpayers.  President Obama would like taxes to go up in January, at a cost of so many billions to taxpayers.  Taxes are imposed upon a citizenry.  The funds are the earnings of the citizens.  Taxes, whether they rise or fall, are never a cost to the government.

Equal Treatment Under The Law

Christopher Coates

After a year of efforts to obstruct his testimony by our own Department of Justice, Christopher Coates, former voting chief for the department's Civil Rights Division, spoke under oath Friday morning before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.  His testimony backed up the testimony of former Justice official J. Christian Adams, whose testimony in July we had earlier discussed.  Both officers have testified that the Justice Department is ignoring civil rights cases that involve white victims and wrongly abandoned a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party.


Mr. Coates discussed in depth the DOJ's decision to dismiss intimidation charges against New Black Panther members who were videotaped outside a Philadelphia polling place in 2008.

"In lengthy and detailed testimony, Mr. Coates testified that the department cultivates a "hostile atmosphere" against "race-neutral enforcement" of the Voting Rights Act.  He said civil rights attorneys stick to cases that involve minority victims, and he said the Black Panther case was dismissed following "pressure" by the NAACP and "anger" at the case within the Justice Department itself.

Coates dismissed as weak the department's rationale for abandoning the case, saying the department let one of the Black Panther members off the hook because a local police officer had determined he was a Democratic Party poll watcher. Coates called it "extraordinarily strange" for the department to rely on this and urged the commission to consider what the legal backlash would have been if the Panthers had been members of the Ku Klux Klan. "To understand the rationale of these articulated reasons for gutting this case ... one only has to state the facts in the racial reverse," he said. Coates said that with the United States becoming increasingly diverse, it is "absolutely essential" that the law be enforced equally.

"As important as the mandate in the Voting Rights Act is to protect minority voters, white voters also have an interest in being able to go to the polls without having race-haters such as Black Panther King Samir Shabazz, whose public rhetoric includes such statements as 'kill cracker babies' ... standing at the entrance of the polling place with a billy club in his hand hurling racial slurs at voters," he said.

"Given this outrageous conduct, it was a travesty of justice for the Department of Justice not to allow attorneys in the voting section to obtain nationwide injunctive relief against" the defendants, he said. "

Since last year, Coates has been transferred to the U.S. attorney's office in South Carolina. He said Friday that the Justice Department told him not to testify before the commission after he was first subpoenaed in December 2009.


Read the rest here.

Trash Talking Libs Getting No Play

The word is out, and we are supposed to withdraw in horror because someone wants to cut back on the massive expansion of government.


Nah.

I'd rather laugh at these clowns with their false outrage and bogus concerns.

Here's a fun little ditti that expresses it perfectly.

Kinda Diggin That O'Donnell Character

As the anvil of liberal thought applies the weight of its collective pressure upon young Ms. O'Donnell, two things have become clear: she is a person who has been willing to voice opinions that are not accepted by the liberal culture that we are obliged to wade through every day, and she is a person of significant moral courage.

Stacy McCain is on his game with O'Donnell Right Again, and what is striking when reading Hillary Kelly and other liberal's who are writing these tomes of O'Donnell malfeasance is that they are completely unaware that it is they, not O'Donnell, who are lacking in insight into the state of affairs in our society. It follows that they are equally off base in their differences with O'Donnell on the state of affairs in the policies of our nation.


Update
Stacy has a little fun in his update. Quoting Moe Lane at Red State:

"I’ll start caring about her social attitudes when she starts introducing them as legislation, thanks. Until then, I’m much more concerned about the Democrats’ social attitudes, which are frankly already starting to raid my wallet."

Right. But Stacy goes on:

But Moe, don’t you think that social issues and economic issues are related? Christine O’Donnell tried to warn that excessive masturbation could lead to premature baldness and tax increases, but Chris Coons obviously didn’t listen:











Too funny!

Steyn Drops By

Back from his tour of the Scandinavian countries, blog fav Mark Steyn dropped by to leave us a few remarks at his website. Commenting on the disappearance of Molly Norris, the Seattle area cartoonist who proposed the Draw Mohammad Day cartoon fest, then backed out of her own event when she discovered that Islamists do not hold the same views about freedom of speech as we do. On the advice of the FBI, she now has gone into hiding and changed her identity.

If you want to measure the decline in western civilization's sense of self-preservation, go back to Valentine's Day 1989, get out the Fleet Street reports on the Salman Rushdie fatwa, and read the outrage of his fellow London literati at what was being done to one of the mainstays of the Hampstead dinner-party circuit. Then compare it with the feeble passivity of Molly Norris' own colleagues at an American cartoonist being forced to abandon her life: "There is no more Molly"? That's all the gutless pussies of The Seattle Weekly can say?"

Love that guy. Read the rest here.

Hope Springs Eternal: Jimmy Carter

Just when you thought that no man could possibly beat out Barack Obama for the title of worst president ever, up pops Jimmy Carter!

Here is how Brett Michael Dykes started out his blog post for the Yahoo News Upshot Team:

"Since leaving the White House some 30 years ago, former President Jimmy Carter has, for the most part, steered clear of controversy. He's won a fair amount of attention for building houses with Habitat for Humanity, and for the occasional foray into post-presidential diplomacy."

Are you kidding me? This is the clown who took it upon himself to go to North Korea during the nuclear crisis of 1994, which resulted in the US transferring nuclear reactor technology and equipment to the North Korean's in exchange for their very valuable 'commitment' to dismantle their nuclear program. In fact he announced a treaty agreement on CNN without prior permission from the Clinton administration, and he did this to intentionally force the hand of the sitting president and congress. Now the Korean's clearly have a number of nuclear devices, and are sending their own nuclear reactor experts to Syria and Iran, and firing test missiles over Japan and out to Hawaii. Worked out pretty sweet, didn't it Jimmy? You see Jim, this is why you didn't win re-election.

"No longer. With a new book, "White House Diary," hitting the shelves, Carter seems to be everywhere, waging a full-scale media blitz."

Oh yes, it's another round of inane commentary by the worst president in living memory.

Carter made news for remarks during an interview with Brian Williams that aired Monday on the "NBC Nightly News." Carter told Williams that the humanitarian work he's performed through his foundation means that his post-presidency career has been "superior" to that of other former presidents.

Far superior to other presidents. Jimmy is also by far our most humble of presidents.

"I feel that my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents'," Carter said. "Primarily because of the activism and the -- and the injection of working at the Carter Center and in international affairs, and to some degree, domestic affairs, on energy conservation, on -- on environment, and things of that kind. We're right in the midst of the -- of the constant daily debate."

Should you be? You are no longer president, Mr. Carter. Should you not allow the current president to exercise his duly elected office without you looking over his shoulder?

And what is it with Democrat presidents? Not only can you not get rid of this Carter guy, but Clinton as well. Everytime you turn around one of these guys is pushing his mug onto camera. Sheesh.

Asked by Jon Stewart whether the direction the country's headed in gives him hope, Carter replied flatly, "No."

What a peach.

"Things have gone downhill, I think, in the last few years with the polarization of our country," Carter said. "With the evolution of a new kind of politics, with the birth of Fox News, which now distorts everything rather than telling the truth."

Fox News? You look at Fox News and find that is the source of polarization? Fox News is a news source. But today there are lots of news sources. News sources are not polarizing the country, Mr. Carter. The fact that we have sources other than Walter Cronkite and the boys of the NYT and the big three, that's a good thing, Mr. President.

Carter also slipped in a couple of barbs aimed at the GOP's controversial candidate to fill Vice President Joe Biden's former Senate seat, Christine O'Donnell. He noted that even though he launched his national profile as an anti-Washington politician, he probably wouldn't be welcome within the tea party movement, since unlike O'Donnell, he has never "been involved with witchcraft," and added that as a young man he "was not 100 percent against" a certain act that O'Donnell is famous for targeting in her past political career. We'll leave the rest to your imagination.

Didn't this guy do an interview with Playboy magazine? What was it he was quoted as saying?

"I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times.... This is something that God recognizes, that I will do and have done, and God forgives me for it."

That's great Jimmy.

"But that doesn't mean that I condemn someone who not only looks on a woman with lust but who leaves his wife and shacks up with somebody out of wedlock."

Well, don't condemn him, but recognize that it's wrong. However, let a young woman mention that lusting is a sinful thing to do, which is correct and supported by the Bible, well now that is a person you condemn out of hand and at whose expense you get a laugh. Please. Back to your Playboys, Jimmy.

Honestly, the guy gives me the creeps.

Obama Flim Flams On The Great Revolutionary Recession

"President Barack Obama said Monday he doesn't care that the Great Recession has been declared over by a group of economists."

Now on that point I whole heartedly agree with the president. Whichever nit-wit economists concluded we are out of the recession as of last June are probably the same guys that are surprised to discover housing starts for the second quarter were at an all time low. Inconceivable? Hardly. Try getting yourselves grounded in the reality of our every day life experiences. But as usual it is a series of half truths we are treated to by the leader of the free world. Between the usual denials of his anti-business and anti-Wall Street actions and economic proposals, he offered a mixed verdict on the growing tea party:

"The challenge for the tea party movement is to identify specifically 'What would... you do?'"

Well now, proposing legislation and providing leadership to the nation in troubled times has long been held to be the role of the president, Mr. President. What the Tea Party should be doing is just what they are doing: letting their views about your administration and its policies be known and influencing elections to affect change.

The question now is how you will respond to their voice. Thus far the response from the White House has been to castigate, impugn and ignore the common people that make up the Tea Party movement.

"It's not enough just to say, 'Get control of government.' I think it's important for you to say, 'You know, I'm willing to cut veterans' benefits or Social Security benefits or I'm willing to see these taxes go up.'" The government can't simply cut taxes on the nation's wealthiest people "and magically think things are going to work out," he said.

More importantly, the government can't keep spending money out the wazoo and keep thinking things will magically work out. That 1.5 trillion - that's you , Mr. President. You asked for all that spending, told us all how we had to spend spend spend - sped money we didn't have, spend money we had to borrrow, spend money our children would have to be responsible enough to deal with, all so you could spread the wealth around a little. Well, we've seen what a disaster your policies haveso we could save the economy. You own it.

Focusing on the poor economic conditions that existed when he took office..."

Why is he always focusing on poor economic conditions that existed when he took office? And while we are at it, who exactly was responsible for those poor economic conditions?

"The hole was so deep that a lot of people out there are still hurting."

Yes, we are. How about lifting that boot now? Fat chance, huh?

Okay. We'll see you in November.


Cool poster art courtesy of the Mind Numbed Robot.

O'Donnell Admits To Appearance On Maher Show

Christine O'Donnell, who won the GOP Senatorial primary in Delaware, admitted to having committed the gaff of appearing on Bill Maher's talk show in the late 1990's.

The judgement lapse is seen as potentially damaging to the young Senate hopeful. Guests on the Maher show typically are either well past their sell by date, or are yet to have been recognized as having any significant merit for the viewing market.

The disquieting revelation of an event from eleven years back is seen by some as placing in question O'Donnell's taste and judgment. Maher, known throughout the industry as a pathetic windbag, attempts to pass his snarky comments off as witty and intellectually interesting. Politically Incorrect, as the show was disingenuously titled, was anything but. Listeners were nightly treated to his recantation of left leaning politics and societal psycho-babble. His show had been cancelled after he thought to correct President Bush following the 9/11 attacks.  This is the same Bill Maher who today believes Christine O'Donnell has shown questionable judgment... as a teenager.

For his part, Bill Maher has committed to continue showing re-runs of his 1999 shows in an attempt to flag his flailing ratings. The playboy mansion frequenter and Hugh Hefner want-a-be has pledged to flog this horse till it drops.

O'Donnell has passed off the appearance as a youthful indiscretion.

- 'Dear Frankie' Open Thread

England Terror Plot: Could They Be Protestants?

So ponders the AP News Service.

Hmm.

"The pope's visit has divided opinion in officially Protestant, highly secular Britain. The trip has been overshadowed by disgust over the Catholic Church's clerical abuse scandal and opposition from secularists and those opposed to the pope's stances against homosexuality and using condoms to fight the virus that leads to AIDS.

The detained suspects worked for a contractor on behalf of Westminster Council, the authority responsible for much of central London. Benedict spent much of the afternoon in Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey; the depot were the men were arrested is responsible for cleaning another part of London that the pope is not due to visit, however, police said."

Officially Protestant, highly secular Britain is disgusted by clerical abuse and oppostion to homosexuality and condoms? What must one conclude? These British garbage guys are pretty ticked about the whole AIDS debate. Enough so to take the poor blighter out.

Oh wait, what is this that follows toward the end of the story:

"Police confirmed that some of the suspects were thought to be from outside Britain but declined to comment on media reports they were of Algerian origin. One street sweeper at the depot, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said at least one of those arrested was Algerian, and that he believed all five arrested in the morning were from North Africa."

It could be an African contingent? Hmm. One never has to search long to get to the botttom of things with the AP News Service.

African forsooth.


Update 9/20/10

The six terror suspects arrested over an alleged plot to attack the Pope Benedict XVI have been released. According to the Daily Mail, counter-terrorism officers in London released the men after police failed to gather any hard evidence to support their suspicions.

"The men, of North African origin, were reportedly jokingly discussing how to harm the Pope in a work canteen, which was overheard by one of their colleagues who informed counter-terrorism officers, leading to their arrest."

Those Algerian's and their crazy jokes!

'Children of Men' Open Thread

What did you think?

Ground Zero Super Victory Mosque - or Rabat?

No minaret for the proposed Rabat at ground zero.

Upon further inspection from the experts, the proposed Ground Zero Super Victory Mosque and Cultural Center, schedueled to begin construction September 11th, 2011, is not a mosque at all. The New York Post's own Amir Taheri has written to explain the cultural and historical background of the building project proposed:

"In Islam, every structure linked to the faith and its rituals has a precise function and character. A mosque is a one-story gallery built around an atrium with a mihrab (a niche pointing to Mecca) and one, or in the case of Shiites two, minarets.

Other Islamic structures, such as harams, zawiyyahs, husseinyiahs and takiyahs, also obey strict architectural rules. Yet the building used for spreading the faith is known as Dar al-Tabligh, or House of Proselytizing. This 13-story multifunctional structure couldn’t be any of the above.

In fact, the proposed structure is known in Islamic history as a rabat -- literally a connector. The first rabat appeared at the time of the Prophet.

The Prophet imposed his rule on parts of Arabia through a series of ghazvas, or razzias (the origin of the English word "raid"). The ghazva was designed to terrorize the infidels, convince them that their civilization was doomed and force them to submit to Islamic rule. Those who participated in the ghazva were known as the ghazis, or raiders.

After each ghazva, the Prophet ordered the creation of a rabat -- or a point of contact at the heart of the infidel territory raided. The rabat consisted of an area for prayer, a section for the raiders to eat and rest and facilities to train and prepare for future razzias. Later Muslim rulers used the tactic of ghazva to conquer territory in the Persian and Byzantine empires. After each raid, they built a rabat to prepare for the next razzia.

It is no coincidence that Islamists routinely use the term ghazva to describe the 9/11 attacks against New York and Washington. The terrorists who carried out the attack are referred to as ghazis or shahids (martyrs). Thus, building a rabat close to Ground Zero would be in accordance with a tradition started by the Prophet. To all those who believe and hope that the 9/11 ghazva would lead to the destruction of the American "Great Satan," this would be of great symbolic value."

Nice.

It's more like a boot on the neck than cultural outreach. No wonder Barack is so keen.

With major league hat tip to Bob Belvedere.

Are We But Dogs?

I really enjoy David Warren. He provides a steady supply of interesting, intelligently written pieces.

Speaking on our current political culture, he asks for a greater appreciation of the efforts to manage the public:

"Politicians wonder sometimes why the public are so cynical, but only because they don't know the meaning of the word "cynical." I have spent a measurable part of my life pleading for a deeper appreciation of it."

Read the rest here.

What the...?!

How about this bold statement for the men of tomorrow? Fall fashion for The Professor's Social Justice class? Nope. It's part of GQ's look at the "A-game", a what's "it" among today's young and happening crowd.

Is that a camisole he's wearing? Who knows. Love the red scarf though. A real fashion accent.

Men's fashion have reached a new peak in confusion. We get the run down from blog whiz Coco Rico, whose colorful conservative commentary is a life savor for such cultural confusion:

"For 21 slides, you see pictures of disheveled men: carrying male purses, strutting sockless in bright yellow penny loafers, traipsing in jackets and ties with cutoff jean shorts, or mixing camouflage with plaid and paisley.

What is the A-game exactly? Just forty flavors of thoughtless bizarreness, thrown into a salad bowl like dumpster trash and jiggled around to make a mix out of it"

Too funny. Read the rest here.

Immigrant Question Puzzling To Some

Jay Currie's recent post on 9/11 has been called into question by some of the Great North, who see his references to the Qur'an and cautious view of islamic immigrants as evidence of deep seated racism, and liken the current influx of muslims to Canada as just the latest version of immigration, just as Irish Catholics and Chinese immigrants that came before. This is a rather optimistic view of today's world, and a rather poor characterization of the past.

"And it’s not like we haven’t been here before. A hundred years ago when all those Chinese and Japanese immigrants started to arrive, some naively said they were just seeking a better life for their families, and now look at us—worshipping the ancestors, kowtowing to warlords and wagering our foot-bound daughters at mahjong!

What a bunch of filthy drivel."

Yes, well, it didn't quite work out like you suggest, but perhaps you are not quite making a valid analogy.

How many times did Chinese immigrant plans to blow up parliament get disrupted? With the most recent effort thwarted, that would make the score Islamic Jihaidists 2, Chinese Immigrants nil. As to assimilating with the host country culture, the recent group of Islamic terrorist bomber plotters boasted a member that was a Canadian Idol contestant. Sure, he can sing and dance, but were you aware of his hopes and dreams to blow innocent people to bits? And he's killer with a blade. Oh, wait, that was the Toronto-18 that hoped to behead the prime minister.

I'm sure it is all a reflection of inadequate educational opportunities. Either that or inadequate government support payments. Who wouldn't be spurred to detonate truck bombs, open fire in crowded areas, storm the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, the Canadian Parliament building, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service headquarters, and the parliamentary Peace Tower, take hostages and behead the Prime Minister and other leaders, under such unfair and oppressive national policies?

And how about those Catholics? How many times have they not hijacked airplanes and flown them into buildings, killing themselves, everyone on the planes and thousands more in the buildings? Does the pope not issue papal decrees where various critics of Catholicism are to be beheaded? No, huh?

To bring these points out is to be Islamo-phobic and racist in the eyes of some.

Call me what you like, I will not be issuing any fatwa calling for your beheading. The same cannot be said if you were a critic of Islam.

Lest We Forget

By J. Lileks , written September 11th, 2003.

Two years ago today I was convinced that every presumption I had about the future was wrong. This war, I feared, would be horrible, total, and long.

Two years later I take a certain grim comfort in some people’s disinterest in the war; if you’d told me two years ago that people would be piling on the President and bitching about slow progress in Iraq, I would have known in a second that the nation hadn’t suffered another attack. When the precise location of Madonna’s tongue is big news, you can bet the hospitals aren’t full of smallpox victims. Of course some people are impatient with those who still recall the shock of 9/11; the same people were crowding the message boards of internet sites on the afternoon of the attacks, eager to blame everyone but the hijackers. They hate this nation. In their hearts, they hate humanity. They would rather cheer the perfect devils than come to the aid of a compromised angel. They can talk for hours about how wrong it was to kill babies, busboys, businessmen, receptionists, janitors, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers - and then they lean towards you, eyes wide, and they say the fatal word:

But.

And then you realize that the eulogy is just a preface. All that concern for the dead is nothing more than the knuckle-cracking of an organist who’s going to play an E minor chord until we all agree we had it coming.

I’ve no doubt that if Seattle or Boston or Manhattan goes up in a bright white flash there will be those who blame it all on Bush. 'We squandered the world’s good will. We threw away the opportunity to atone, and lashed out.' Really? You want to see lashing out? Imagine Kabul and Mecca and Baghdad and Tehran on 9/14 crowned with mushroom clouds: that’s lashing out. Imagine the President in the National Cathedral castigating Islam instead of sitting next to an Imam who's giving a homily. Mosques burned, oil fields occupied, smart bombs slamming into Syrian palaces. We could have gone full Roman on anyone we wanted, but we didn’t. And we won’t.

Raw Hide!

"Rollin' Rollin' Rollin', Keep em' movin', movin',

Though they 're disapprovin', Rawhide!"

Tired and saddle weary, all you want to do is rollout your bedroll and grab some shut-eye. It was a tough ride, but you've come through with the best of em, and you've got the bow legs and saddle sores to prove it.

Dude ranch cattle drive?

Nope.

Just the latest Portland to Seattle shuttle flight.

If you can believe it, the airlines are looking to introduce a new seat to save on leg room, and doesn't it look comfortable? This will allow the already overcrowded flights to be even more...overcrowded.

Looks to me like Steven Slater picked the right time to bail out on JetBlu.

"They'd sit at an angle with no more than 23 inches between their perch and the seat in front of them — a design that could appeal"

Their perch? Are these guys kidding?! As if air travel hadn't already sunk to the lowest possible level of discomfort and inconvenience, this is what the boys upstairs have come up with for us. You're gonna sit on a horse saddle for a plane trip.

Come on fellas, even your model is looking pretty darn sceptical. Look at her! What's she thinking? I don't know, but it sure as hell isn't "I wish I could have used one of these." Twenty-three inches?! No way! That girl is doing her darnedest not to bust out laughing!

Put the pilot and co-pilot in these things. Then let's talk.

Krispy Q'u'r'a'ns? Que Sara

Here are just some tips about propriety. You can’t burn the book. In fact, you can’t even touch it. That is why our Gitmo boys and girls wear white gloves while providing the free copy to the new arrivals. Also, you can’t draw cartoons. You cannot criticize their practices. You cannot even accurately quote their Imams, lest you be considered to be inciting hatred, as the incomparable Mark Steyn was alleged to have done in Canada.

Look, burning Qu'rans is a disrespectful and unnecessarily stupid thing to do, like eating a ham sandwich in a synagogue. Far more effective to just read the thing outloud, or present quotes along with pictures of the happy Islamists busily at their daily activities, as Geert Wilders did in Fitna. Of course, such actions are also not to be taken lightly, as Imams have called for poor Geert to be beheaded, and free minded liberals have denounced his movie, but at least it tangibly brings the argument to the foreground, whereas burning Qu'rans does not.

The most embarrassing thing about this episode, in my opinion, is the manner in which our nation’s leaders responded. Just a few days ago, B. Obama and H. Clinton were all about defending our Constitutionally protected rights to property and religious expression, no matter how brazenly offensive the action taken. Now, they have abandoned those high sounding principles, completely reversing themselves over a church in Florida.

The one guy consistent – Michael Bloomberg?!!

Good grief.

Sowell Calls For Less, Predicts More

Thomas Sowell is a clear thinker. His recent column A Non-Prediction comments on the folly of government efforts to "fix" the economy. The tendency for politicians to seek to do something in difficult times has a categorically disastrous track record.

"What would probably get the economy recovering fastest and most completely would be for the President of the United States and Congressional leaders to shut up and stop meddling with the economy. But it is virtually impossible that they will do that."

Providing background humorous commentary, the glib father of communism adds a catch line for this piece:

"It was none other than Karl Marx who wrote to his colleague Engels that "crackbrained meddling by the authorities" can "aggravate an existing crisis."

'Crackbrained meddling by the authorities' - does that not describe our situation exactly?

Blog ace John Hayward of Doctor Zero fame thinks so. Using the Sowell article as a jump off point, he likens the government's presence in our economy to that of a Great White shark, with those of us survivors of the government's efforts as remora sucking and nibbling near the gaping mouth of the behemoth predator.

Both are worth a read.

Well... Another Fine Post

April Gavaza

Who Controls The Language?

I recently had the pleasure of reading the thoughts of an American Imam in Harlem on the national discussion regarding the building of the Ground Zero Victory Super Mosque and Cultural Center (GZVSMCS).

One Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, Imam at the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc. in Harlem had this to offer:

“The first thing we need to do is decode some of the language,” said Abdur-Rashid. “The first language that has to be decoded is “Americans.” That really means “white Americans.” That’s who’s uptight about this. It’s opposition that’s occurring in different parts of the country in reaction to the construction of mosques.

Sorry Al-Hajj, but you don't get to argue your side, and then tell me what the words mean on mine. If I oppose Islamists building a mosque, cultural outreach and fifteen story swimming pool at Ground Zero it is because of the shocking impropriety that such an action would be. It matters not at all what my racial heritage is, nor does it matter what the race of the people building the mosque is.

The effort to take over the argument by controlling the language, in this case in a rather awkward and clumsy manner, is typical of the left, and is the chief purpose of the political correctness movement.

This brought to mind a recent article by long time free speech proponent and outspoken critic of political correctness, David Warren, who was writing about the value of parables, and the need to speak of things honestly, even offensively, free of the restraints of fearful fault finders:

"Now, "liveliness" is in itself the enemy of the politically correct Left. Any incautious propensity toward truth-telling subverts their whole agenda; which is among the reasons I am in favour of doing that whenever an opportunity is presented."

Love that.

Race may be an issue on the mind of Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, even when discussing the 100 million dollar, Saudi backed Ground Zero Victory Super Mosque and Cultural Center. However, it is not a part of the discussion for me, and Mr. Abdur-Rashid is not granted permission to make it so.

With a hat tip to Coco Rico.

'Midnight Run' Open Thread

How did you like the show?

Is The President Becoming Unhinged?

Wow.



"Some powerful interests who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time -- and they're not always happy with me -- they talk about me like a dog. That's not in my prepared remarks, but it's true,"

Barry, maybe you better stick with the prepared remarks.

Nobody wants his additional pre-election fifty billion dollar road, rail and runway stimulus. No one wants his two-hundred billion dollar pre-election slush fund 'stimulus', and he concludes that people talk about him like he is a dog? A power-crazed, irresponsible, socialist nut-job, maybe, but a dog?

What's Fifty Billion Between Friends

Barry's got another idea. Nervous? He says what we need right now to stimulate our flagging economy can be summed up in just two little words ... fifty billion.

That's right, you guessed it, if it wasn't good enough before why stop spending now. After all the trillions of spending and the expansion of the Federal government to bail out insolvent financial institutions, failed auto industries and of course a large number of insolvent government employee benefit plans, fifty billion dollars more is what we need to get the economy rolling. It sounds like your crazy uncle got into the whiskey again, but no, that's our president and he is as sober as a judge. And in his usual bipartiasan cross the isle manner, he has declared that anyone who doesn't want the Federal government to blow another fifty billion on roads and rails and runways just doesn't care about the American people. So says Barry the Wise.

"Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more!"

he cried out, with Henry V like zeal.

Of course, the next line,

"Or close the wall up with our English dead!"

is less well known, and not quite the thing when you are flogging the dead horse of the US treasury.

Meanwhile, lying dogs in Congress are trying to play party politics, blaming Republicans for not "helping" spend another fifty billion dollars.

"If we are going to get anything done, Republican cooperation, which has been all but non-existent recently, will be necessary." so said Jim Manley, spokesman for Harry the Reid, senate Majority Leader and candidate for re-election in Nevada.

Of course, they have control of the House, and a nine seat majority in the Senate. That plus the President makes for catastrophic spending plans that now even the Democrates are starting to back away from like lessor demons from the fires of Hell. This then gives rise to a little presidential wine and cheese party, hold the cheese.

"If I said fish live in the sea, they'd say no," Obama said.

If he said fish live in the sea, all of a sudden there'd be good reason to wonder.

"Obama said the proposal would be fully paid for."

Finally. A proposal that wouldn't drive us further into debt. Who knew you could blow another fifty billion and this time no one gets hurt. And how, Oh Barry, will you pay for it?

"In an earlier briefing for reporters, administration officials said Obama would pay for the program by asking lawmakers to close tax breaks for oil and gas companies and multinational corporations."

You heard that right, this fool of a president will 'pay for it' by raising costs for oil and gas companies, companies that produce products that we all use every day and that we need to run an industrial economy, the loss of which would plunge us into financial ruin. Sweet giblets!

What was that he was saying about fish?

Soros And Liberals Look To Disrupt And Discredit American Citizens

Writing over at Infowars.com, Kurt Nimmo has shed the light of truth on the latest George Soros effort to disrupt politics in America and tilt the field in favor of the liberal ne'er-do-wells he so favors.

For those wondering, Soros is a Hungarian born immigrant to the United States who has made a fortune in currency speculation. He is credited with breaking the Bank of England in 1992, making 1.1 Billion in the process. His enormous wealth has a nack for influencing the markets that he is speculating in, to his significant advantage. In the past ten years he has inserted himself into American politics. One wonders if it is another financial speculative effort.

"Soros and the foundation left have launched a website designed to go after the growing Tea Party movement. Teapartytracker.org will post video interviews and blog entries gathered by folks on the false left who never grow weary of demonstrating their outrage over the very idea of a grassroots political effort overthrowing establishment Democrats and Republicans in the district of corporate criminals."

Oh yeah, those guys.

"Tea Party hating liberals “couldn’t sell the transparently nonsensical idea that Tea Partiers are just a bunch of racists, homophobes and morons, so the Crash the Party agents on the Left are infiltrating the Tea Party in order to pose as a bunch of racists, homophobes and morons,” Mark Tapscott wrote for the Washington Examiner on April 11, 2010."

I like the cut of the jib on this Kurt Nimmo character.

Palin Author Joe McGinnis Moves Out, Just As Clueless As The Day He Moved In

It is truely remarkable that a man of McGinnis years has so little sense of propriety and basic good manners.

After spending a summer in Wasilla, Joe McGinnis has moved out to write his Palin piece in the comforts of his East coast home. His time there started off bad enough when he had the poor taste to park himself in the home directly next door to the Palin residence. Joe felt he was being unfairly criticised, which gave me opportunity to write this earlier piece about the woes of Joe.

On his way out, Joe had this to say:

"I've been very busy but on Lake Lucille it's been very quiet," he said. "As I told Todd back in May—he came over to get in my face about moving in there—I said, 'You're not even going to know I'm there."

I hate it when Irishmen act like clowns. Todd Palin came over to get in your face? McGinnis, you are there to pry into the private lives of his family. You've written about his wife in the past, critically. The national press has maliciously abused the man's entire family. And you? You arrive in his hometown to write another crap, hit piece, and where do you choose to live? In the house immediately next door to the Palin family? You are supposed to be writing with insight regarding the Palins, and yet you lack the ability to see what an intrusive and false step that is? You feel that you are the injured party because Todd came over to talk to you? That's pathetic. The Irish can write, Joe, and with feeling. We're not a bunch of dolts. You're making us look bad.

And just in case it escaped you, you were in position to make it right. You could have easily gone to the Palins and said:

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm here to write and get some background interviews. I had no intention to impose or to make your family uncomfortable. Let me get another rental"

That would have been stand-up. Did you do that? Nope, you're just moving out now. Well, good riddance, Joe. You will not be missed.

The thickness of this guy. The utter lack of empathy.

Onto the piece:

"It's just a peculiar thing, but she does, as I found out in May, she presses a button and what comes back is hate,"

Maybe it's something you're doing, Joe. Did you ever consider that? That people were upset because of what you were doing? No, huh? Why does that not surprise me?

"That's the funny thing," he said. "They live in a place where anybody who wants to look onto their property, all they have to do is get a boat and park 10 yards off shore and they can sit there all day and look at the Palin's yard, if that's what they want to do."

Yeah. It's not like the Kennedy Compound. These are not the liberal ultra-rich that you write your Camelot stories about. These are people from a simple background. And they do represent the people.

But I don't know who would want to do that."

Well, you would, Joe. You moved in right next door while you were working on your book about her.

"People—I don't know if they're afraid of shadows or whether there's something real there—she's no longer in a position of governmental influence but there are people up there who are scared to death to talk because if Sarah ever found out they talked, oh, something terrible would happen to them," he said.

Maybe they're afraid of you, Joe. They don't know you very well. They don't know if they can trust you. Maybe they are afraid of being misquoted, or being taken advantage of, or being made the useful pawns in your effort to harm the Palin's, and they just don't want you to take advantage of them that way? Maybe they don't believe that what they say will come out in your book the way they said it. Did you offer any of them right of review prior to publishing, so they could be sure that their quotes were quoted correctly? Sheesh. Talk about thick.

Okay, look Joe, what you don't realize is that while you are out there trying to influence the world, we're forming an opinion about you. In short, you're an idiot, McGinnis. Now go back to the deep blue of Massachusetts and write your dumb book. I am sure we can rely on your judgment and character to write something worthy of your talents, such as they are. For my money, it's your actions and statements that inform me as to the value of your opinion.

Breath of Fresh Air

Mark Steyn came through town last week, spending a couple of days chatting with us all on the Rush Limbaugh show, and stopping off to speak with long time friend Hugh Hewitt.

It all came back like riding a bike ...

"They’re pointing out stupidities as well. I mean, the fact is yes, obviously, Constitutionally speaking, legally speaking, if a guy wants to buy a building and put a particular project in it, he’s entitled to do that. This pompous twerp, Bloomberg, who I think has come to embody the particular stupidity of the American ruling class, because it’s a very parochial kind of stupidity, presuming to lecture his knuckle-dragging, moronic constituents on how they don’t apparently understand the United States Constitution? It has nothing to do with that. There are all kinds of things that are Constitutional and are legal, but are not necessarily appropriate."

Exactly.

Thank you, professor.

Okay, we'll see you in a couple of weeks.

Sing A Song Of Islam

Let's take a closer look at the Reuters article April linked:

"Wilders is currently on trial in the Netherlands for inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims."

Like that is reasonable... that a member of their parliament should be on trial for speaking about the social and political climate the people of the Netherlands are living in. He is on trial for pointing out that Islam is not all that tolerant. An argument is being made that that is inciting hatred. Meanwhile, Mr. Wilders is on 24 hour guard to try and protect him from one of the followers of "the religion of peace" sticking him with a knife or cutting off his head.

Note also that he is not given the usual press courtesy of describing the accused as being alleged to have committed the crime he is on trial for. We read about Pakistani Terrorist Training camp graduates that are alleged to have plotted to blow up Time Square, but is the same standard courtesy extended to Mr. Wilders? Nope. He is convicted. In the press. Without trial.

"The Freedom Party leader made a film in 2008 which accused the Koran of inciting violence and mixed images of terrorist attacks with quotations from the Islamic holy book."

Technically, he didn't accuse them of anything. He just took quotes from the Koran and placed them side by side with images of Islam in the world today. People were to consider and make their own conclusions.

Muslims certainly had opportunity to make their own film depicting peaceful activities of Islam, and they could have placed those side by side with verses from the Koran that extolled peace with the free living peoples of the world.

Instead, they declared Wilders should be beheaded. Does that give one pause? Does that not make his point? No, apparently not if you are a journalist.

"Wilders was also charged because of outspoken remarks in the media, such as an opinion piece in a Dutch daily in which he compared Islam to fascism and the Koran to Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf."

The nerve of him, to openly speak out. Well, we certainly can't have that!

"But his views have also made him extremely popular with a segment of the country uneasy about the Netherlands' commitment to multiculturalism.""

His views reflect a growing concern among the people of the Netherlands that they are losing their culture, their freedom, their very country to an immigrant population that desires to change the Netherlands to a country of their own liking.

Journalists.

Hyacinth Girl Ripping It Up

Everybody's blog favorite, April Gavaza, has long been known to write intelligent, witty, thought provoking pieces. She recently had the rare double, knocking out two killer posts that had NRO types sitting up and grabbing links.

The first was Unenforcible, which described her heart break over the loss of the Arizona she knew growing up.

"All the way to Phoenix, I was angry. Not at the sheriff, who was overworked, understaffed and underfunded, or the Border Patrol that experiences the same problems, but at these open borders idiots who live north of the 33rd parallel and have had no exposure to the reality of life on the border. Even libtards that live in the border areas have very little understanding of just what their idealism has created. "

The second wondered where we were going as a culture, when feminists crow over non-issues while real threats to the freedom and health of women were being pushed forward by backward Islamists like Australian cleric Feiz Muhammad.

"Women’s rights leaders crowed about the demise of the sexually oppressive Victorian theocracy, a ’50′s era repression defeated by the likes of the sexually liberated Madonna and her clones. We could go out naked, drunk, and alone and not be at fault for the tragedies that befell us.

I can’t say that I’m totally on board with all of that, because I believe in personal responsibility, but I’m favorably disposed toward the idea that rape is not the fault of the victim."

You know you want to go read em.

Go on, get out of here!