Some Thoughts On Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama is an attractive, stylish, very accomplished woman by any account and obviously loves her family very much so should she be beyond criticism as the Obama campaign suggests?

I mean here’s somebody who’s done everything right. She grew up in modest means. She grew up in a nuclear family. Her parents looked after her. She went to college on a scholarship. She’s worked hard for everything that she has.
She is the best mother I know. She has made repeated sacrifices on behalf of her family and has said that her children and her husband are her number one priority…
I think families are off limits. I would never consider making Cindy McCain a campaign issue, and if I saw people doing that - I would speak out against it. And the fact that I haven’t seen that from John McCain I think is a deep disappointment

I think what she says while on the trail campaigning for her husband is fair game for analysis and critique as a fair look into how the couple interacts and a glimpse into what role she would play as first lady should Barack be elected. Anything beyond that I would say absolutely not unless she takes on a major role like Hillary did and then she is fair game.
I think Laura Bush has been an exemplary first lady, classy, behind the scenes and involved in her own projects well apart from the White House and the inner workings of the administration. I see Cindy McCain doing much the same as she already has several philanthropic organizations that she heads up and works hard for. Yet somehow I doubt that Michelle will ever be out of the picture in that way since she appears to wear the pants in the Obama household and would have major input on Barack's policy initiatives. She is not one to be quiet and sit on the sidelines as her fiery speeches on behalf of her husband have shown.
That said I believe we in the GOP need to be very delicate on how we approach that critique by focusing on her words and them alone, let them speak for themselves while offering very little in analysis of what they mean, they say enough. I grew up in Condoleeza Rice's Alabama so I have an idea what it might have been like to grow up black in that environment since I am about the same age as they are and can empathize with the struggle they must have faced but America has come a very long ways since then.
To wrap it up, the Barnyard will not go after Michelle Obama, her husband gives us plenty of ammunition to go after him without tearing down his bitter half.

A Pre9/11 Mindset In Winnie The Pooh's Hundred Acres Wood

Unbelievable, Obama's national security advisor, Richard Danzig, thinks we should be looking to the pages of a Winnie the Pooh story book for foreign policy advice and Obama wants to return to the law enforcement model to fight terrorism. That worked real well didn't it since it gave us 9/11 and quite few more attacks before that and Bush's policies of taking the fight to them have brought zero more.

Richard Danzig, who served as Navy Secretary under President Clinton and is tipped to become National Security Adviser in an Obama White House, told a major foreign policy conference in Washington that the future of US strategy in the war on terrorism should follow a lesson from the pages of Winnie the Pooh, which can be shortened to: if it is causing you too much pain, try something else...

Danzig spelt out the need to change by reading a paragraph from chapter one of the children’s classic, which says: “Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump on the back of his head behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming down stairs. But sometimes he thinks there really is another way if only he could stop bumping a minute and think about it.”

Obama also agreed with the idiotic SCOTUS ruling that terrorist combatants captured on the battlefield overseas trying to kill our soldiers should be given the same rights as a shoplifter in US courts.

What we know is that, in previous terrorist attacks — for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center, we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated.

And the fact that the administration has not tried to do that has created a situation where not only have we never actually put many of these folks on trial, but we have destroyed our credibility when it comes to rule of law all around the world, and given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, “Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims.”

So that, I think, is an example of something that was unnecessary. We could have done the exact same thing, but done it in a way that was consistent with our laws

I have read Lawrence Wright's book on the run up to 9/11 "The Looming Tower" and enough of Andrew McCarthy's, linked above, writings to know that is an insane policy sure to get more innocent people killed. McCarthy was involved in the prosecution of the first Trade Center bombers in '93 and knows a thing or two about it.
One thing is for sure is that we cannot let Barack Obama and his fluffy stuffing Winnie the Pooh foreign policy anywhere near the Oval Office this November.

Deal With the Devil

Amid rocket fire, continued attacks on Sderot schools and homes, and ever hateful rhetoric, Hamas and Israel have declared a ceasefire for the umpteenth time. Before we go and pat ourselves on the back and sing kumbaya for "giving peace a chance", we should examine the truth behind the Islamic term hudna, which is the word Hamas uses for its ceasefire.

Muhammad is considered by Muslims to be a perfect being and an exemplary role model. Jihadists often invoke his actions to support their attacks. As such, it is of crucial importance for the West to enlighten itself as to the less savoury aspects of this Islamic holy figure's life. In 628 CE, a group of 1400 Muslims pilgrims approached Mecca to perform an Islamic ritual, where they were met by a much larger force of Quraysh tribesmen. Muhammad originally intended to attack the city but he soon realized that his band of holy warrior were no match for the vastly superior Quraysh. Muhammad drew up a treaty with the Quraysh which guaranteed peace and non-belligerence for 10 years. This became known as the treaty of Hudaybiyyah. Two years later, when Muhammad commanded a band of 10 000 Muslims, as opposed to the meagre 1400 that he had 2 years prior, he dissolved his treaty with the Quraysh and conquered Mecca. From this, Islamic scholars and judges derive that it is permissible to declare a hudna with non-Muslims for a maximum of ten years when Muslims are at a disadvantage, and to violate it when Muslims are strong enough. According to the traditional Islamic view, the natural state of relations between Islam and non-Muslims is war. In fact, the world is divided into Dar al-Islam, the House of Islam, and Dar al-Harb. Muhammad declared that he had been sent "to fight until all declare that there is no god but Allah" ie. until Islam rules to world. Therefore, the reason for a ceasefire between the House of Islam and the House of War is to further to cause of jihad and Islam conquest. The medieval summar of Shafi'i jurisprudence makes the intention of the hudna clear. "If Muslims are weak, a truce may be made for ten years if necessary, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce with the Quraysh for that long, as is related by Abu Dawud." ('Umdat as-Salik, o9.16). It also quotes this Qur'anic verse: "So do not be fainthearted and call for peace, when it is you who are the uppermost" (47:35). Hamas does not even recognize Israel's right to exist, let alone want to lay down its arms and make peace. It has violated its past hudnas numerous times and attacked Israel when it had the chance. In January 2004, senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year hudna in return for complete withdrawal from all territories captured in the Six Day War, and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Rantissi said the hudna was limited to ten years and represented a decision by the movement because it was "difficult to liberate all our land at this stage; the hudna would however not signal a recognition of the state of Israel." This is the strategy of those who claim to want a Palestinian state: that state will be used as a launch pad for the eventual destruction of all of Israel. Clearly, Hamas feels that it is not in a position of strength to continue its campaign of murder and terror. Instead of finishing the job, Israel is giving Hamas the chance to regroup and reorganize.

Hamas is not a "resistance" movement, nor does it represent the legitimate political will of the "Palestinians". It is an anti-semitic terrorist movement with the genocide of the Jewish people and the destruction of Israel at its core. The Hamas Covenant spells out its goal quite clearly: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." With such an enemy, there can be no real peace. Hamas is using the excuse of a ceasefire, which it has no intention of respecting, to prepare for more deadly attacks against Israeli citizens. The Covenant quotes the hadith of the Sahi Bukari and Sahi Moslem, making its plans for the Final Solution known. "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." This is an organization that sponsors and carries out murderous attacks on Israeli cafes, restaurants, schools and public buildings. When an Arab gunman massacred Jewish students studying in a yeshiva, in cold blood, Hamas organized parties in the streets, gave out candies, danced and celebrated. These are not people but animals, pure and evil. With them there can be no compromise. Israel must not be in the habit of negotiating and dealing with Jew-murdering thugs. They deserve no sympathy and should not be given any legitimacy by making deals with them. According to Israeli law, it is forbidden to aid Nazis and anyone guilty of "crime against the Jewish people", defined as killing Jews, causing serious bodily or mental harm to Jews or inciting hatred against Jews, among other things, is subject to the death penalty. (Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law (Amendment) 5723-1963). Hamas's goal is the eradication of the Jewish people, young and old, religious and secular, Zionist and non-Zionist. It seeks to wipe the Jewish nation off the face of the Earth and has tried to do so through suicide bombings, shootings and other terrorist attacks.

Evil cannot be tolerated or negotiated with. Evil can only be destroyed. Israel must hunt down and eliminate Hamas members and supporters. Now is the time, since Hamas is feeling weak and strained. Jew-haters can be shown no mercy or respite. The hudna is a sham and only serves to advance the cause of jihad and the ultimate destruction of Israel. Israel's leaders are fools indeed if they think that they can appease those who wish to murder us. We must follow the dictum of the rabbis: "If somebody comes to kill you, rise to kill him first."

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Tiger Wins Again

This was one of the Best US Opens I have ever watched and Tiger kept his streak alive but barely. He once again needed a birdie on the final hole of the playoff to send it to sudden death and he pulled it off. Playing through pain with gritted teeth in a rollercoaster round with a very steady and inspired Rocco Mediate he managed his 14th Major title in what in his own words was the finest of all of them. I agree and I was rooting for neither man just for a great game and it was delivered in spades with the lead changing hands several times, miraculous shots and clutch putting.
I learned long ago that the game of golf is one of the greatest tests of character there is, if you want to know what is in a person, go play a round of golf with them. It will tell you more about their character than any other test I know of as a game of honor.

Obama, The Incoherent Flip Flopper

Via Hotair, you have to watch this brief presser CNN had with Obama as he flip flops enough to make John Kerry look like he was wearing tight fitting loafers. His speaking is so stilted and broken with umms and uhhs it was hard to follow as he had to admitt undeniable progress in Iraq thanks to the surge and Gen. Petraeus' tactics. This won't go over well with the nutroot moonbats he courted through the primary. He also makes the noted gaffe of calling Prime Minister Maliki the president when Jalal Talabani is the President of Iraq, the MSM would be all over McCain if he had done that. If he is so darn hyper-intelligent why does he have to think about what he says so carefully and even then screw it up? He also said he is going to go to Iraq before November when he said not long ago when McCain challenged him to that it would just be a publicity stunt. The guy is a fish out of water without his teleprompter and adoring throng of cultist sycophants.

Yet Another Obama Connection To Middle East And Chicago Corruptocrats

Blech, it appears Obama's friend and housing financier, the convicted Tony Rezko, had a roommate in college now wanted by the Iraqi government for embezzling millions while he was Minister of Electricity and has donated the max to the Obama campaign. Ayham Al-Sammarae is now being sheltered in Jordan after escaping from an Iraqi prison and wants US troops killed, sounds like a Sadrist to me. Obama sure does attract some creepy sleazeballs doesn't he? They apparently did some partying together at Rezko's with a few other noted Chicago sleazy pols.
Gateway Pundit , Talisman Gate and Bill Baar have lots more on this developing story with pictures.

Democrat Primary Demographics, Not Race But Arugala

In one of the best examinations of the demographic breakdowns of the race between Hillary and Barack that I have seen Noemie Emery looks not at race but at acedmicians versus Jacksonians in this must read piece that I would say is a quite accurate portrayal. While I am sure there is a handful of whites that won't vote for Obama based purely on his skin color there are far more that are voting for him for precisely that reason despite his far left policies. This explains a lot of Obama's support by elitist academic whites in college towns and blacks in large cities and lack of it among the more rural or working class voters. Barack does come across as an aloof academic elitist that speaks in flowery abstract terms of hope and change while running from the press or tough questioning while Hillary did manage to come across as more down to earth and more willing to engage the average voter thus her overwhelming wins in West Virginia and Kentucky late in the process.
There are currently two schools of thought on this divide as Emery points out, one is the left wing MSM's narrative of racism and I expect them to stick by it for the rest of the campaign and beyond.

School number one thinks it reflects racial hostility that Obama's opponents--first Hillary Clinton and now John McCain and the Republican party--are doing their best to rub raw. This is a case that Democrats have been making for the past 30-plus years, and its most recent airing came in a long piece in the May 19 Newsweek by Evan Thomas and Richard Wolffe. "The real test is yet to come," they warned. "The Republican Party has been successfully scaring voters since 1968, when Richard Nixon built a Silent Majority out of lower-and-middle-class folks frightened or disturbed by hippies and student radicals and blacks rioting. The 2008 race may turn on which party will win the lower and middle-class whites in industrial and border states--the Democrats' base from
the New Deal to the 1960s, but 'Reagan Democrats' in most presidential elections since then. It is a sure bet that the GOP will try to paint Obama as 'the other'--as a haughty black intellectual who has Muslim roots."
In this view--let us call it the Newsweek Doctrine--race is the issue, and the big years in history were 1964 and 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson did the Right Thing, signing the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, and consigning his party to electoral darkness by losing the South for the next several eons. By these lights, bigotry and fear are the main factors, and all the others are thinly masked surrogates for them. If Obama loses, this will be the excuse of the campaign and of the press that supports it.

Then there is the view that I think is more accurate which Emery advances from Michael Barone's analysis of the exit polling data.
The second school of thought admits the presence of bias as a contributing factor, but not the most important one. The real cause, it thinks, is a cultural divide among whites that splits them on matters of worldview and attitude into hostile and competing camps. Let us call this rival approach the Barone Manifesto, after its author, political analyst Michael Barone, who crunched the poll numbers for Obama's primary battles with Hillary Clinton and discovered that while the former did exceedingly well with white voters in university towns and state capitals, he did poorly almost everywhere else. From this, Barone broke the electorate down into two large divisions--academics and state employees who live in these places, whom he calls Academicians, and Jacksonians, who live elsewhere, especially in the regions close to the Appalachian mountains.

This also explains why the expected huge jump in the polls after Obama sealed up the Democrat's nomination never came and why McCain still remains within the margin of error despite this being by all accounts a Democrat election year. Meanwhile the Democrat lead Congress of Pelosi and Reid is attempting to squander whatever other advantages the Democrats had this year by doing nothing but spend, obfuscate and garner the lowest approval rating in history.

US Open Sunday

Unreal, Tiger needed to roll in a fifteen foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate and did it so we go to 18 more tomorrow between this unlikely pairing. Rocco is a short hitting journeyman and Tiger is well,Tiger, the long hitting number 1 player in the world and one of the best to ever walk down the fairway of a major championship.
I know if my father was still here we would have played this morning and then settled in over BBQ and beer to watch with rapt attention. It was through the game of golf that we were able to repair our fractured relationship and to become father and son once again. Our love of the game would find us on the course when only devoted addicts would pick up the clubs and head to the links. I will always miss him but the lessons he tought me will always remain a part of me.
Pops, I know you are watching from on high so heres to you, Happy Father's Day!

Straight Talk About Jerusalem

Right Wingnuts Ready To Riot If Obama Wins

That is according to moonbats at Firedog Lake one of the rabid left wing blogs, I won't link to them but you can go here , where Nice Deb links them, if you want to read the paranoid ramblings of a psychotic idiot based on no evidence what so ever.

If there is a President Obama come next Jan. 20, normal folks better brace for what the right-wing crazies have in mind. Because it’s becoming clear that they are winding themselves up now for a fresh spate of violence if Obama wins.

Last I saw it was all the lefty groups that were planning all kinds of disruptions if Obama loses including major problems at both Party Conventions later this summer. I guess all us bitter Bible thumpin racist xenophobes that are clinging to our guns out of desperation because the government isn't doing enough to take care of us,according to Obama, are going to start a civil war, dang, nobody told me yet.

In any event, a pattern is already developing, ranging from the Klan fellows who promise that Obama will be shot to the white supremacists who are actually rooting for him to win because they’re certain he will fail. We’re hearing a lot of language from the racist and “Patriot” right indicating that they expect a Democratic president to enact policies (particularly regarding gun control) that will inspire “civil war.” Which means they are looking for excuses to act out.

As always with these folks, there’s a lot of projection going on here. Because even if a President Obama follows only the most moderate of liberal agendas, the far right will look upon those policies as cause for “civil war.” That was how they responded to Bill Clinton, after all — a white male Southerner with generally conservative leanings. One can only imagine how a liberal black man from Illinois would fare.

Again the only folks in America I see currently burning things are left wing terrorist groups like the Earth Liberation Front and their cronies the Animal Liberation Front not to mention all the gangs in Democrat run cities. Heck they even burn up their own areas when their sports team wins. I am more concerned about the violence from the left should Obama lose by those that think Che, Castro and Chavez are heros of some sort. I swear those folks are seriously disturbed from the noise in their echo chamber and have no idea what conservatism is all about.
Ack, I have to stop now before I work myself into a lather and go on a hobo hunting rampage and ruin an otherwise decent cheap beer buzz.

Saturday At The US Open

Torrey Pines is one of the toughest and most beautiful challenges on the PGA circuit and it proved it again today by keeping the score near par for the best in the world. Watching Tiger Woods gut it out down the stretch on an obviously very painful knee to pull into the lead was a testament to just how good the guy is while he did get some help by the leaders stumbling he still managed two eagles and a birdie on the last six holes for a roaring finish. Tomorrow will be interesting for sure as he has never lost a major tournament when he held the 54 hole lead but will his recently operated on knee hold up? We will see.

RIP Tim Russert

He collapsed doing what he loved and will be missed as the anchor of Meet The Press. He was one of the last journalists in the MSM that worked hard, knew his stuff and delivered a fair but tough objective show. My prayers go out to his family for this sudden loss.

Interesting Rasmussen Report On Immigration

Hmm, folks are angry at the government for not doing its job and securing the border and not at the illegal immigrants themselves. I could have told you that since I don't blame them for wanting to come here from their shithole countries for a better way of life. It totally blows holes in the typical trope from the moonbats that conservatives are xenophobic bigots. Heck I like my Mexican neighbors far more than some of my white trash ones and am far more likely to go to the local taco stand, killer carnitas burritos, than the greasy spoon diner, no chain eateries in this little town.
We just want them to come here legally, learn English when they do and for the government to get its freakin' act together. Go read the report, lots of interesting figures there that largely reflect what Newt Gingrich's American Solutions also report that Americans are not anti immigrant but anti illegal immigrant and just want law enforcement to do the job that we pay them for.

Green Socialists Block Expansion Of Oil Refineries: Updated

This is getting ridiculous as fuel prices soar, the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council blocked the expansion of a Conoco-Philips refinery in Illinois that processes Canadian crude and are greenmailing/blackmailing a Chevron expansion of a refinery here in California.

The Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, successfully pressured the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to block ConocoPhillips’ expansion of its Roxana, Ill., gasoline refinery, which processes heavy crude oil from Canada, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The project would have expanded the volume of Canadian crude processed from 60,000 barrels per day to more than 500,000 barrels a day by 2015. After the Illinois EPA had approved the expansion, the green groups petitioned the federal EPA to block it, alleging ConocoPhillips wasn’t using the best available technology for reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

Apparently, the plant’s planned 95 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions and 25 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides wasn’t green enough. NRDC’s opposition is quite ironic since ConocoPhillips and the activist group actually are teammates in the global warming game. Both belong to the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of eco-activist groups and large companies that is lobbying for global warming regulation

I am embarrassed to admit that I was once a member of the Sierra Club, I thought it was more a social networking group that liked to hike and climb mountains but boy was I mistaken. They are moonbat socialists and I left as soon as I realized that.
This appears to be the second level of the greenbats efforts to prevent gas prices from being reduced through the expansion of domestic oil production, after all raw crude is of little use without refining it. So they want us to drive electric cars, fine, but what about the evironmental concerns about all those batteries and the mining of the materials that make them like nickel and cadmium or what goes into producing those batteries? Where will the power to recharge those batteries come from since they also block the expansion of nuclear power plants? I guess they really want us to get around in Flintstones style pedal cars, live in caves and eat nuts. When are Americans with a modicum of common horse sense left going to stand up to the greeno pinkos and just say no more?
Update: Newt lays it out.

Why Do The Democrats Like High Fuel Prices?

Well it is really fairly simple since the Democrat party has largely been taken over by socialists that believe in controlling where people live , work and how they get there. They need to force people to use the public transit systems they have spent billions of taxpayer dollars on in order to justify the expense and have long used higher fuel prices to do just that. They have long opposed the expansion into suburbs and want people all jammed into the collective of the big city socialist structure where it is easier to dictate how we live our lives even to the point of controlling what we eat.
I live in California and this has been obvious for some time and I am sure some of my readers from New York would agree with the trans fat ban and all. They don't like individualism and the power of the individual to control his own life since they know better that living as a collective where everyone is equally poor and enslaved to government bureaucracy is the way it should be. The easiest way to do this is to control access to the energy that runs our economy and gives the individual the ability to grow and possibly become rich with hard work. If you want to see what liberal socialist Democrat policies do to a state just take a look at Michigan or my state where business and brains are fleeing to less oppressive states and if those policies were enacted on a nationwide scale expect them to head to less restrictive countries. Democrats are about power and control not about the little people they "claim" to represent, that is a major reason I became a Republican.

The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge

With the price of oil and gas going through the roof drilling in ANWR is again the topic of heated debate so just what does this pristene wilderness look like? The picture above is typical of this mosquito infested bog except in winter when it is just a big white icy sheet of nothing where nothing lives. Jonah Goldberg has more pictures of the area around Prudhoe where they want to drill on just 2,000 acres of this vast wasteland of 19 million acres. Those are not fish filled lakes they are mosquito infested melt water puddles left when the winter ice melts. There are a few caribou that roam around up there but somehow I doubt they would be bothered by a few oil derricks. Don't let the environuts fool you this is not some national treasure like the Grand Canyon, the Everglades or Yellowstone so let's get that oil and natural gas out of the ground and into the system.

In further news on energy production the Democrats in Congress have blocked tapping the Green River oil shale formation and drilling on the continental shelves off our three coasts containing enough oil and natural gas to once again make the US the number one producer in the world and get us off foreign oil with enough to last till next century. Domestic oil production would keep hundreds of billions of dollars in the US economy and create many thousands of new high paying jobs. That would be a very good thing right?

Higher CO2 Levels And Warmer Temperatures Are good For The Biosphere

Anybody that actually paid attention in biology or science classes in grade school would know that CO2 is vital to vegetation's photosynthesis process as plants use the carbon as its vital building blocks and in return releases the oxygen. A vibrant flora then contributes to a vibrant fauna with better food stocks and more drought resistant plants plus an increase in a few degrees lengthens the growing season in cooler climates while remaining relatively static around the equatorial regions. A new report shows that the biosphere has responded accordingly to increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere with resounding growth, you would think the greeny tree huggers would rejoice at that news. I have posted many times that the new green warming movement has nothing to do with the actual environment but is simply a backdoor approach to socialism through the control of energy resources and thus control over how people live.
The Canadian press for some reason has not drank Al Gore's kool-aid and actually does some honest reporting on the subject, from the above link with a hattip to Newsbusters.

Planet Earth is on a roll! GPP is way up. NPP is way up. To the surprise of those who have been bearish on the planet, the data shows global production has been steadily climbing to record levels, ones not seen since these measurements began.

GPP is Gross Primary Production, a measure of the daily output of the global biosphere -- the amount of new plant matter on land. NPP is Net Primary Production, an annual tally of the globe's production. Biomass is booming. The planet is the greenest it's been in decades, perhaps in centuries.

Like I said you would think the environmentalists would be thrilled and promoting the production of CO2 after all during the age of the dinosaurs the CO2 levels and temperatures were much higher than today and supported massive animal and plant life. Now I am all for reducing pollution in all its forms but CO2 is not pollution, it is a vital natural gas that is imperative to the health of the biosphere and that includes us humans.
On a side note the GOP managed to block economy killing bills put forth by the Democrats to enact cap and trade laws to limit CO2 releases and today to block efforts to impose additional taxes on the oil industry. That is good news but Hugh Hewitt reports that the green nuts are preparing lawsuits to block oil and gas production in Alaska based on the polar bear's listing as threatened.
Meanwhile Newt Gingrich's petition to Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less has over 450,000 signees, if you have not signed on yet go here and add your name. He also reports from Norway on how this can be done responsibly as to environmental concerns.
As always in these posts I encourage folks to vist Icecap's site and peruse what real scientists have to say not politicians seeking to make a buck or raise taxes like Al Gore and his ilk in the Democrat party.

The Second Coming Of Jimmy Carter

McCain knocks it out of the park. This should resonate with those of us old enough to remember how lousy Carter was as POTUS and will probably be an attack point for McCain throughout the campaign. Obama's supporters are either too young to know or think Jimmy is the best thing since sliced bread for his support of palestine and draconian regulatory regime that lead to gas lines, high taxation, 18% mortgage rates, 12% inflation, the hostage crisis in Iran and the worst economy since the depression.
Video via Hotair.

Link: sevenload.com

Democrats try to blame the high price of gas on Bush but in reality it is they that have blocked domestic sources of energy that would help. The economy has experienced over six years of expansion and appears to weathering the housing and oil bubbles fairly well. Yeah we had a spike in unemployment last cycle but that is due to hundreds of thousands of college and high school students newly entering the workforce and with the increased minimum wage and higher fuel costs employers are less likely to higher inexperienced workers even for short term part time positions. These are Democrat policies that have put us in this position not Republican ones since the downturn started the day Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid assumed the chairs of leadership in Congress aided by the drumbeat of fake negative reporting in the MSM. The last thing we need in an economic slowdown is for the socialistic democrats to gain control of the economy by putting them in power. Obama is nothing new just a pretty retread of failed policies.

Obama The Ideologue

Obama is supposed to be the one to get us beyond partisanship in Washington if you listen to the MSM but what they really mean and want is for conservatives and Republicans to cave to the demands of liberal Democrats. I am all for partisanship when one side is standing up against higher taxes, losing the war or appointing activist judges that believe in a living Constitution. Obama has voted a very straight far left line and is the most liberal member of the Senate and does not reach across party lines on any legislation so how is he post partisan?
The always brilliant Jennifer Rubin has a must read piece posted at Pajamas Media that examines just how ideological Obama is and how the MSM villifies Bush by projecting their faults onto him.

It is a common complaint from George W. Bush’s critics that he is an “ideologue” or even the “most ideological president in history.” His critics, including the Democratic presidential contenders, often have argued that he ignores empirical evidence, whether about foreign policy or science, in order to maintain his devotion to predetermined and deeply held philosophical beliefs.

So shouldn’t pundits be wary of and be on the lookout for politicians who disregard the facts, overlook inconvenient evidence, and plunge ahead with their philosophically fixed plans, impervious to the real world? Well so far they seem utterly unconcerned that Barack Obama has racked up a fairly consistent record of doing just that.

Let’s take free trade. Obama’s own advisors and the overwhelming majority of economists agree that free trade agreements have created millions of jobs and benefited us both economically and diplomatically. Yet Obama advocates a new era of protectionism. He falsely tells crowds in the Rust Belt that NAFTA has cost us jobs (actually we have gained 26 million jobs since it was signed) and is responsible for untold economic distress. Ah, but you say, he doesn’t really mean that — this is not really ideology run amok, but pandering. Perhaps.

She also looks at taxation, the war and how to deal with Iran so read the whole thing. Obama is a far left radical ideologue and as Carol Platt Liebau, a conservative writer and radio personality, noted about her time working with him at the Harvard Law Review, he is polite and listens but always does what he thinks and wants.

Peace: Is it all that we are saying?

Update: This is my most hit upon post so I figured I would repost it, it is written by my brilliant coblogger Bar Kochba from September of last year. It ain't about lefty peace, it is about the defense of Israel.

The prophet Jeremiah spoke of those who claim 'Peace, peace', when there is no peace. (6:14). How fitting those words are today! The cry of the left and the self-haters is 'peace, peace' and yet there is no peace.

A group of prominent Israeli intellectuals such as AB Yehoshua, Amoz Oz amd David Grossman called on PM Olmert to negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas.

"We believe an opportunity to promote the peace process ahead of the international conference in November has been created. We urge the prime minister to make the greatest effort to reach substantial agreements with the PLO head and not miss this opportunity.

The continued Qassam attacks from the Gaza Strip are intolerable. Israel has in the past negotiated with its toughest enemies, and also now it is negotiating, and rightfully so, with Hamas in order to bring home Gilad Shalit.

These talks must include an attempt to reach a complete ceasefire, without preconditions. An end to the mutual attacks would give the residents of the western Negev a sense of security, would spare the Gaza vicinity residents any further suffering, and would increase the political process' chances of succeeding."

Why must Israel constantly rush to the negotiating table? The Left cannot understand that not everyone is saying 'give peace a chance', that not everyone wants to co-existence in love and harmony. After over 100 years of Arab violence and opposition (from the time of the First Aliyah) and 1500 years of jihad and Islamic expansion, it is clear to all but the most deluded that the Muslims are not interested in living side-by-side with Israel but rather living in the place of Israel.

Islam divided the world between the Dar al-Islam, the House of Islam, and the Dar al-Harb, the House of War, which must be subjugated under Allah's banner. There is no sort of compromise between the House of Islam and the House of War. Infidels can only co-exist with Islam if they are subjugated and pay the jizyah tax. Islam, subjugation or death- those are the three choices. On that list, there is no 'live in a multicultural, pluralistic society' or 'live and let live'- only those three.

If somebody wants you dead, there can be no compromise with them. There was no compromise with Hitler, no compromise with Stalin, and there can be no compromise with Islam. Islam cannot tolerate a sovereign Infidel presence, especially the Jewish 'sons of pigs and monkeys', living unbowed and unsubjugated in the heart of the Muslim world. It is an insult that Muslims will never accept. One does not negotiate with terrorists; one kills terrorists. Plain and simple. Those who support terror must not be lauded and spoken to; they must be crushed and terrorized themselves, measure for measure. The rocket launch sites in Gaza must be turned to glass and carpet bombed.


"Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20). A Palestinian state, G-d forbid, would not solve any of Israel's problems. The Arabs have never shown any interest in genuine peace but rather, in what Arafat, may his name be accursed, suggested: a 'Trojan Horse' state that would be declared on a part of Israeli soil and then eventually 'liberate' the rest of 'Palestine'. Any 'Palestinian' state would undoubtably become an Islamic theocracy, opress Christians and Jews (except of course those five 'Jews' who appeared at Ahmadinejad's Holocaust Denial conference- those guys are great!), become a center for terror and jihad and destabilize the relatively moderate Arab states. And this is what the US is pushing for?

Regardless of all of this, if the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish People, why must Israel continue to negotiate and carve it up? When Israel shows that it is willing to sell its birthright, it gives the anti-semites and leftists liscence to stand up and say that Israel has no real connection to the land; if they did, why would they be giving it up? If Israel were to firmly state that the land is the eternal heritage of the Jewish People and proudly point to G-d's covenant with Abraham, there would be no more arguments. If it is not our land, Israel is simply a colonial occupier and therefore spend billions of dollars on security, guards at every door, put itself behind fences, build bunkers... But if Israel is our land, we need not be ashamed to defend it. We must destroy those who wish to remove it from us, with no regards to modern, politically-correct sensibilities.
"You are crossing the Jordan to come to the land which G-d is giving you, you must settle the land and live there..." Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 11:31

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Mark Steyn On Obama As Political Viagra

Obama in delivering his victory speech last week seemed to buy into the image the MSM is attempting to paint him as some sort of messiah. Good grief the guy is a talented speaker when delivering prepared remarks to his adoring throng of cult worshippers but he is hardly the saviour of mankind. Here is what he had to say towards the end of his message of hope and change we should not believe in.

I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people… I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal… This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation...

Wow does this guy have one massive arrogant ego or what? What he means of course is the federal government taking care of the sick with socialized medical care and government jobs in a revamped CCC. The real sticky part is about causing the oceans to recede when they aren't rising, is he going to deliver another Ice Age or return us to the Dark Ages?
Enough of my rant go see Steyn's piece for a real take down by a far better wordsmith than myself. Here is a little taste from the master.

It’s a good thing he’s facing it with “profound humility,” isn’t it? Because otherwise who knows what he’d be saying. But mark it in your calendars: June 3, 2008 — the long awaited day, after 232 years, that America began to provide care for the sick. Just a small test program: 47 attendees of the Obama speech were taken to hospital and treated for nausea. Everyone else came away thrilled that the Obamessiah was going to heal the planet and reverse the rise of the oceans: when Barack wants to walk on the water, he doesn’t want to have to use a step-ladder to get up on it.

As Steyn says, if America is such a great nation why do we need to turn it into Europe?

Celtics vs Lakers Game II

I don't follow basketball at all but will watch championship games since I can appreciate the best vs the best. I may live in California but I absolutely despise the Lakers and have had a soft spot for the Celtics since the days of Larry Bird so you know who I am rooting for. The Celtics won game one and are kicking Laker tail so far in game two.

Obama, The Walking Talking Gaffe Machine

Take away his teleprompter and prepared script and the guy is lost, he even appears to be looking for his handy screen in this video. He stumbles all over himself trying to explain how he will pay for socialist medical care by running from Iraq and cutting the defense budget as I pointed out last night.
Via Gateway Pundit who has more video and commentary.

I hope he takes McCain up on his Townhall format challenge as John excells in that format and Obama is clearly a fish out of water. Obama does well giving empty inspirational speeches to large audiences of adoring sycophants but quickly turns into a bumbling idiot when confronted with any tough questioning about his associations or actual policies. He has nothing new beyond a flashy smile and grand rhetorical eloquence, all his policies are far left wing policies that have been spewed by partisan democrat socialists for at least 60 years, as stale as the bread in soviet bread lines.

Sean Hannity On Another Obama Buddy, Rashid Khalidi

Lets see we have Auchi, Ayers, Dohrn, Pfleger, Rezko, Wright and now Khalidi a palestinian bagman for Yassar Arafat that secured megabuck from the Woods Fund while Obama and Ayers were on the board. The Obamas and Khalidis swapped dinner parties and Michelle Obama would babysit the Khalidi's kids, this was not some casual professional relationship they were good friends as Sean points out.

Via Atlas if the embed doesn't work go over to her site anyway for more.

Dear World

Dear World,

I see that you're in an uproar again. Israel is building homes in East Jerusalem and you are not happy about it. Its really amazing, given your reputation as being slow-moving and inefficient, at your speed if the Jews are the culprits. Nothing escapes your watchful eyes, does it? And yet, what brings about this new found rapidity and resolution with regards to Israel? You seemed to sit around on idly while thousands were being slaughtered in Rwanda and as thousands continue to die in Darfur. But no one will ever accuse you of ignoring the situation in Israel.

Dear World, why did you not jump and issue condemnations when Hitler marked the Jewish people for destruction? And where were you when the Jews of Europe were burnt and suffocated? Why did you shut your eyes to the cries and pleas of the oppressed and close your doors to them? When the St. Louis, bearing refugees escaping the Nazis, came to your shores, you could find no place for these Jews and delivered them into the hands of their tormentors, directly to the gas chambers. And when the Jews of Rome were deported right under the Pope's windows, why did you keep quiet? You flew bombers over Auschwitz but destroying the gas chambers in which 12 000 Jews a day were murdered never seemed to be a priority. You closed every avenue of escape and looked on apathetically as the Jews were rounded up from every corner and humiliated, tortured and massacred. A conspiracy of silence abandoned the Jews to their fate. But thankfully, 60 years later, you have regained your voice.

Dear World, why did you abandon the inhabitants of the fledgling State of Israel to the Arab onslaught, determined to drive its people into the sea? Could you not find one word of condemnation for their genocidal rhetoric and intentions? And when close to a million Sephardic Jews were expelled from lands in which they had lived for millenia, where were you? Could some of your sympathy focused on the "Palestinian" refugees, displaced by their own accord, have been directed towards the expelled Jews? Or did Jewish suffering not move you? When the Jordanians bombarded and besieged Jerusalem, you had nothing to say. For the first time in thousands of years, Jerusalem's Old City was empty of Jews. Jews were forbidden access to their holiest of sites. As the Jewish Quarter in the Old City was made judenrein, synagogues desecrated and Jewish gravestones used as latrines, you held your tongue. Luckily, you do not make the same mistake today.

Dear World, why, when Stalin and the Soviets, closed off the portals of escape from their Communist prison and tried to suppress Judaism, were you deathly silent? When the Iron Curtain fell, trapping millions of Jews, you did not stand up for their freedoms. You had your own problems and the troubles of a few Jewish dissidents in Siberia did not trouble you. You were unswayed by the cries of "Let My People Go!" coming from the Soviet Union and worldwide Jewry. Why should you care if some Jews were forbidden to go to Jewish school, lay tefillin or keep their holidays? And yet, these things disturb you greatly if performed in Judea and Samaria.

Dear World, when the Arabs tried to annihilate the people of Israel in '67, '73 and all the subsequent wars and terrorist attacks, could you not lend any support to the Jews? Not a helping hand, a smile, a kind word. You were too busy ranting and raving about the "Occupation", "apartheid", "the refugee crisis", "land-for-peace" and all the other code words for the Final Solution. World, you find in yourself the strength to protest whenever Israel's defense accidentally killed an Arab civilian. Strange that your voice seemed to disappear when Israeli teens were blown to smithereens in a discotheque in Tel-Aviv or when terrorists massacred families celebrating the Passover holiday in a Netanyah hotel. You were sure to denounce Israeli "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, but said nothing about the constant barrage of rockets falling on homes, schools and businesses in Sderot. When Israeli yeshiva students, aged 14-20, were gunned down in cold blood studying Judaism's sacred texts, there was no solidarity or sympathy. Instead, you issued cold rationalizations and understanding of the terrorist's motives. As Iran's president is publicly vowing to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, you lull us to sleep and complacency.

Dear World, you have proven too many times in the past not to have the best interests of the Jewish People at heart. In fact, some may say that you are downright hostile to us. It is odd that you perk up every time Israel defends herself, a Jew build a home in Judea and Samaria or wants to pray on the Temple Mount. Millions can be denied civil rights in China or Saudi Arabia, women condemned to death for being raped in Iran, blacks slaughtered in Darfur and crisis in Burma, but you can only blame the Jews. Dear World, we have learnt better than to listen to you. You will not be happy until we are wiped out, dead, destroyed.

Well world, that is not an option.

Sincerely,

A Proud Jew

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

ROFLMAO

By Nose on Your Face via Michelle Malkin, this is funny.

There are more fun videos at the link.

The Final Hamnation

Mary Katherine Ham is leaving Townhall to head up the Washington Examiner's online efforts but she left us with her best Hamnation yet mocking Obama. Hopefully she will keep blogging as one of the great young guns of the conservative movement.

Missile Defense Scores Again, Some Heavy Metal Missile Porn

When we shot down that failed satellite a while back I figured we pretty much had the technology down and today we nailed a test on incoming missiles in the reentry stage, the most difficult stage. A long time friend of the Barnyard, Stan at Free Constitution has put together an excellent video using Obama's words against our success, it also uses the music of one of my favorite bands. Perfunction has more details and video of the successful hit.

Heck we can even shoot down mortars and short range missiles now let alone ICBMs.
For a reminder here is what Obama said in full.

Unproven even as we knock out satellites and test missiles, yeah right, Obama is a socialist fool and completely unfit to be POTUS

64 Years Ago Today D-Day Began

My uncle was part of Patton's 3rd Army and followed him from the beach to Berlin earning 3 Purple Hearts, Bronze and Silver Stars. The GIs called Patton Ole Blood and Guts, his guts our blood but they followed him as their leader. Here are Gen. Patton's words just before the invasion.

Be Seated."
"Men, this stuff we hear about America wanting to stay out of the war, not wanting to fight, is a lot of bullshit. Americans love to fight - traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble player; the fastest runner; the big league ball players; the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win - all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost, not ever will lose a war, for the very thought of losing is hateful to an American."

"You are not all going to die. Only two percent of you here today would die in a major battle. Death must not be feared. Every man is frightened at first in battle. If he says he isn't, he's a goddamn liar. Some men are cowards, yes! But they fight just the same, or get the hell shamed out of them watching men who do fight who are just as scared. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some get over their fright in a minute under fire, some take an hour. For some it takes days. But the real man never lets fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to this country and his innate manhood."

"All through your army career you men have bitched about "This chickenshit drilling." That is all for a purpose. Drilling and discipline must be maintained in any army if for only one reason -- INSTANT OBEDIENCE TO ORDERS AND TO CREATE CONSTANT ALERTNESS. I don't give a damn for a man who is not always on his toes. You men are veterans or you wouldn't be here. You are ready. A man to continue breathing must be alert at all times. If not, sometime a German son-of-a-bitch will sneak up behind him and beat him to death with a sock full of shit."

"There are 400 neatly marked graves somewhere in Sicily all because one man went to sleep on his job -- but they were German graves for we caught the bastard asleep before his officers did. An Army is a team. Lives, sleeps, eats, fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is a lot of crap. The bilious bastards who wrote that kind of stuff for the Saturday Evening Post don't know any more about real fighting, under fire, than they do about fucking. We have the best food, the finest equipment, the best spirit and the best fighting men in the world. Why, by God, I actually pity these poor sons-of-bitches we are going up against. By God, I do!"

"My men don't surrender. I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he is hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight. That's not just bullshit, either. The kind of man I want under me is like the lieutenant in Libya, who, with a Lugar against his chest, jerked off his helmet, swept the gun aside with one hand and busted hell out of the Boche with the helmet. Then he jumped on the gun and went out and killed another German: All this with a bullet through his lung. That's a man for you."

"All real heroes are not story book combat fighters either. Every man in the army plays a vital part. Every little job is essential. Don't ever let down, thinking your role is unimportant. Every man has a job to do. Every man is a link in the great chain. What if every truck driver decided that he didn't like the whine of the shells overhead, turned yellow and jumped headlong into the ditch? He could say to himself, "They won't miss me -- just one in thousands." What if every man said that? Where in hell would we be now? No, thank God, Americans don't say that! Every man does his job; every man serves the whole. Every department, every unit, is important to the vast scheme of things. The Ordnance men are needed to supply the guns, the Quartermaster to bring up the food and clothes to us -- for where we're going there isn't a hell of a lot to steal. Every last man in the mess hall, even the one who heats the water to keep us from getting the GI shits has a job to do. Even the chaplain is important, for if we get killed and if he is not there to bury us we'd all go to hell."

"Each man must not only think of himself, but of his buddy fighting beside him. We don't want yellow cowards in this army. They should all be killed off like flies. If not they will go back home after the war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed brave men. Kill off the goddamn cowards and we'll have a nation of brave men."

"One of the bravest men I ever saw in the African campaign was the fellow I saw on top of a telegraph pole in the midst of furious fire while we were plowing toward Tunis. I stopped and asked what the hell he was doing up there at that time. He answered, "Fixing the wire, sir." "Isn't it a little unhealthy right now?," I asked. "Yes sir, but this goddamn wire's got to be fixed." There was a real soldier. There was a man who devoted all he had to his duty, no matter how great the odds, no matter how seemingly insignificant his duty might appear at the time."

"You should have seen those trucks on the road to Gabes. The drivers were magnificent. All day and all night they rolled over those son-of-a-bitching roads, never stopping, never faltering from their course, with shells bursting around them all the time. We got through on good old American guts. Many of these men drove over forty consecutive hours. These weren't combat men. But they were soldiers with a job to do. They did it -- and in a whale of a way they did it. They were part of a team. Without them the fight would have been lost. All the links in the chain pulled together and that chain became unbreakable."

"Don't forget, you don't know I'm here. No word of the fact is to be mentioned in any letters. The world is not supposed to know what the hell became of me. I'm not supposed to be commanding this Army. I'm not even supposed to be in England. Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamn Germans. Someday I want them to raise up on their hind legs and howl, 'Jesus Christ, it's the goddamn Third Army and that son-of-a-bitch Patton again.'"

"We want to get the hell over there. We want to get over there and clear the goddamn thing up. You can't win a war lying down. The quicker we clean up this goddamn mess, the quicker we can take a jaunt against the purple pissing Japs an clean their nest out too, before the Marines get all the goddamn credit."

"Sure, we all want to be home. We want this thing over with. The quickest way to get it over is to get the bastards. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin. When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a Boche will get him eventually, and the hell with that idea. The hell with taking it. My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one. We'll win this war but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans we've got more guts than they have."

"There is one great thing you men will all be able to say when you go home. You may thank God for it. Thank God, that at least, thirty years from now, when you are sitting around the fireside with your grandson on your knees, and he asks you what you did in the great war, you won't have to cough and say, 'I shoveled shit in Louisiana.' No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, 'Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-Goddamned-Bitch named George Patton!'"

"That is all."

HT: Confederate Yankee

What did we do to deserve this?

The 'Why do the Hate us?' club has a new member. Rabbi Menachem Froman, chief rabbi of Tekoa, explains that since Hamas is a religious movement, rabbis can use their status to negotiate with them. You heard correctly. The basis of this claim is that Hamas hates secular Israel but will respect fellow religious leaders of another Abrahamitic faith. This claim has been repeated many times before. Dinesh D'Souza, in his book 'The Enemy At Home', he argues that "the cultural left in this country is responsible for causing 9/11 … the cultural left and its allies in Congress, the media, Hollywood, the non-profit sector and the universities are the primary cause of the volcano of anger toward America that is erupting from the Islamic world." The Islamic world views the West as a land of debauchery, immorality and sin and for that reason they must impose Islam's purity.

This is ludicrous. Islam does not hate the West because of its abortion on demand, MTV or premarital sex. Islam wants to subjugate the West because of its Judeo-Christian foundation. The Qur'an mandates Muslims to conquer non-Muslims not because they are immoral but because they are non-Muslims. Jihadist ired is focused equally on G-dless Hollywood, church-going Poland, Bible-thumping Texas or morally relativist Sweden. Rabbi Froman's argument misses the point. Hamas is not committed to Israel's destruction because its Jews break shabbat or eat pork. Islamic fundamentalists cannot accept an independent Infidel, especially Jewish Infidel, state in the heart of the Arab world. The Hamas charter relates the words of Muhammad as recorded by the Sahi Bukhari: "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." Nowhere in this verse does it say that religious Jews will be spared this longed-for genocide. As evident by the targets of terrorist attacks, Hamas and other terrorist groups attack secular and religious Jews. Teenagers studying in a yeshiva and worshippers in a Meah Shearim synagogue have been attacked just as teenagers in a discotheque erev shabbat. Islam's anger will not abate as long as we insist on being proud and free and refuse to submit to dhimmitude.

It is frequently said that Islam is a fellow Abrahamitic religion with Judaism and Christianity. That is really a misnomer. According to Islam, it is the only Abrahamitic religion. Abraham was a Muslim, thereby making Judaism and Christianity illegitimate. "Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christian but he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists. Most surely the nearest of people to Ibrahim are those who followed him and this Prophet and those who believe and Allah is the guardian of the believers." (Qur'an 3:66-67) All of these calls for universal love and brotherhood are completely silly. Islam has no such pretensions. It believes itself to be the only religion of Abraham and that all others are deviant. It does not view itself as one of three brother religions which share beliefs and values but rather as a ruler and conqueror over these false faiths. We cannot expect Hamas or al-Qaeda to accord a rabbi any sort of respect since he is following a corruption of Allah's original message. Islam holds that the Torah originally contained references to Muhammad's coming but that the Jews conspired to "extinguish the lights of Allah".

Rabbi Froman's suggestion is not only idiotic but dangerous. Think about the horror that the Jewish world felt as it saw Neturai Karta members clad in chassidic garb shaking hands with Iran's president at his Holocaust-denial hate-fest. Neturai Karta is a fringe group with several hundred supporters. Imagine the incredible amount of legitimacy that would be bestowed upon Hamas if well-respected rabbis met and discussed with them. It would be tantamount to negotiating with murderers. This suggestion perpetuates the theme of Western or Israeli guilt in terrorist attacks. Islam is responsible for terrorism, not its victims. Even if Israel became the most observant and moral country (speedily in our days, amen!), Arab and Muslim hatred would not be reduced one iota. It is not our secularism or immorality that is to blame but the very text of the Qur'an. Once they tear out the offending passages, I'm sure my rabbi would happy to give their imams a call.

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Where Was The Good Samaritan?!?

Ace has the video of an elderly man getting hit by a hit and run driver and noone stops to help or comes to his aid from the busy sidewalk, shameful and terribly sad. My neighborhood ain't the best by any means but when I saw an elderly man turn over on his scooter and fall in a shallow ditch I hit the brakes immediately and jumped out to help. I was beat to the scene by the residents of the house that the accident occured in front of and two passing bicyclists, eight people in 30 seconds ran to help that man. In the video the poor guy lays there in agony till a cop happens to drive by, shame, shame, shame and may the Lord deal with you awful people in good time.

Nut Climbs NYT Building To Hype Global Warming

Alain Robert is well known in climbing circles for his building ascents, crazy frenchy, and today he decided to scale the 52 story New York Times building to raise awareness over global warming, like we don't have enough nuts doing that already. He was followed a couple hours later by a presumed copycat, both were arrested when they reached the top. I love to climb and can climb a brick wall but that is a nutty dangerous stunt. There is video at the link.
Heck I was looking for an excuse to write about climbing again. I have spent many many happy weekends here and sent many of the boulder problems shown(sent means climbed successfully). I love Bishop California!!!!

That is one of my favorite nemesis problems of all times, the Iron Man Traverse, I have come so close so many times, the last couple moves are really hard.

New GOP Ad Hits Rezko Obama Ties

They moved quick on this one for sure and it hits pretty hard. I find it very hard to believe Obama didn't know about the seamy underbelly of Chicago politics that he was part of since Chicago ranks right up there with New Orleans for corruption. Well we know the Democrats aren't concerned about corruption in their ranks only in the Republicans.
HT: Hotair

Obama is not about a new kind of politics, he is the same old liberal politics in a shiny new package of hope and change. Heck even his soaring victory speech Tuesday was a knock off from Mario Cuomo's 1984 speech and full of empty words delivered very well.

Tony Rezko Verdict, Guilty:Updated

Barack Obama's long time friend, fundraiser and Chicago fixer, Tony Rezko, has been found guilty on 16 of 24 counts in his Federal corruption trial. If this guy had been associated with John McCain in any shape form or fashion it would be the top story for all the talking heads of the alphabet networks and yet I doubt it will get much of a mention since it was their golden boy Obama's friend. I have to wonder who else inside the Illinois political combine will be brought down in this far reaching scandal and how many Rezko is willing to take down with him.
It is amazing that the Democrats have nominated a neophyte with so many corrupt or extremely radical friends but then again they turn a blind eye to that sort of thing in their own party. Barack is simply the most far left radical ever nominated by a major party in this country, well he doesn't quite have the nomination yet but I would say it is pretty certain. He is a gun grabbing marxist that will give up American sovereignty to the UN and drastically raise taxes on all Americans and businesses while socializing healthcare and destroying the economy. How anybody could vote for him is beyond me to comprehend.
Those folks that say they will sit on their hands in November and not vote for McCain have every right to do that but I don't want to hear a damn word when Obama, Pelosi and Reid wreck the country.
Update: Don't miss this Hotair post about Obama's sleazy VP search team, ack.

Dumbocrats Construct Devious Plan

Via Gateway Pundit, the moonbats at Democratic Underground have devised a scheme to send out citizens arrest squads to arrest war criminals, Bush ,Cheney etal and have out put down guide lines on how to do it.

1. Don't announce that you're coming, because the war criminal will escape.

2. Pick your war criminal. Here are their names, where to find them, and some of the charges against them.

Note: War Criminals travel frequently. Watch http://convictbushcheney.org for notice of when they'll be appearing publicly near you. Below are their home locations.

3. Form a team. We need teams in California, Texas, New York, and Washington, D.C., among other places. Your mission is to locate a war criminal from the list above in a public place, detain them, handcuff them, phone the police, read the criminal their rights and the charges against them, ask them if they have anything to say in response, videotape the arrest and post it online. Your team should include one or more people who can produce an excellent video and be extremely fast in editing and posting it online. Your team should include people capable of physically detaining your war criminal. Your team should ideally include a lawyer. And, of course, people who can read the charges and question the suspect. Everyone on your team should be able to keep a secret while you're planning your arrest.

4. Prepare to follow this script.

Apprehend and handcuff the war criminal.

Read the war criminal their rights, rights they have denied others:

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you."
Read the war criminal the charges against them. See above.

Ask the war criminal if they would like to say anything.

Once you have good video footage, your top priority becomes immediately getting it edited (if necessary) and online.

Turn the war criminal over to the police.

Pass out flyers to passersby.

Send statement to the media.

5. Consult a lawyer to avoid unnecessary risks of violating laws while enforcing the law.

6. Be prepared to post your video online in multiple places: Youtube, Google, and convictbushcheney.org (for that last one, mailto:david@davidswanson.org ">contact us).

7. Aquire and learn to use handcuffs.

8. Prepare flyers to hand to passersby and a statement to send to the media.

This should be fun if they try it, LOL. I some how doubt the secret sevice would take kindly to some smelly hippies trying to handcuff Bush or Cheney. I would suggest we use the same tactics when we see the active seditionists of Code Pink and their ilk when they vandalize private property or obstruct private citizens from going about their daily routine. We should file hate crime charges when they slander our troops, turn the table on the hate mongers on the left and let them taste their own medicine.

The Climate Security Act Boondoggle: Updated

The Senate has started debate on the Lieberman-Warner bill that seeks to put a carbon cap and trade regime in place to supposedly combat anthropogenic global warming when in reality it will just be the most massive intrusion of government into our lives in our history. This is based on the new enviroreligion of doomsday hype spread by the likes of Al Gore and Barbara Boxer and simply a backdoor path to socialist control of the energy sector. There is no conclusive evidence that the earth is warming or that man has anything to do with it but it is based on faulty computer models that left out many factors that do control climate on earth like the sun and ocean currents. If you are interested in facts about the climate Icecap is one the best sites to find detailed information from real scientists not a failed politician or UN kleptocrats.
Sen. James Inhofe is leading the fight against this nightmare of a bill and has written an informative piece for the Wall Street Journal about the devastating impacts this will have on the American consumer and industry thus crippling our economy at the cost of trillions of dollars for negligable return.

Various analyses show that Lieberman-Warner would result in higher prices at the gas pump, between 41 cents and $1 per gallon by 2030. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says Lieberman-Warner would effectively raise taxes on Americans by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. The federal Energy Information Administration says the bill would result in a 9.5% drop in manufacturing output and higher energy costs.
Carbon caps will have an especially harmful impact on low-income Americans and those with fixed incomes. A recent CBO report found: "Most of the cost of meeting a cap on CO2 emissions would be borne by consumers, who would face persistently higher prices for products such as electricity and gasoline. Those price increases would be regressive in that poorer households would bear a larger burden relative to their income than wealthier households."

Democrats claim to be for the poor folks and claim to be for keeping industry here in America when this bill will hurt poor people the most and drive industry to countries with less regulation. Contact your Senators and tell them to vote no on this massive boondoggle based on lies and faulty evidence. It does me no good to since Boxer is one of my two and is the nutbag leading the charge in the Senate and Feinstien is not much better. Boxer was even nutty enough to suggest that the economic downturn we are experiencing is the ideal time to cripple the economy further by enacting this bill because it would bring hope, yeah right.
To top it off I am not sure this is even constitutional since all bills dealing with revenue or taxation must originate in the House and not the Senate and this is nothing but a massive tax scheme.
Update: Join Newt Gingrich in rejecting this monstrosity of a pork bill and sign his petition to Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less petition, over 325,000 have signed it, join them now!

Senator Kennedy Has Brain Surgery Today

His doctors say it was successful at removing as much of the malignant glioma as possible and he will under go chemo and radiation therapy to combat what could not be removed. While I vehemently disagree with the liberal lion of the Senate's politics my prayers will go out to him and his family in this difficult time. I have been through the cancer thing with my late father and it is rough so I could never wish it on anybody.

John McCain At AIPAC

McCain delivered a real stemwinder today to the American Israeli Political Action Conference that shows he gets "it" especially in regards to the mad mullahs of Iran. The full text is here but this is a key excerpt.

European negotiators have proposed a peaceful endgame for Tehran, should it abandon its nuclear ambitions and comply with UN Security Council resolutions. The plan offers far-reaching economic incentives, external support for a civilian nuclear energy program, and integration into the international community. But Tehran has said no.

The Iranians have spent years working toward a nuclear program. And the idea that they now seek nuclear weapons because we refuse to engage in presidential-level talks is a serious misreading of history. In reality, a series of administrations have tried to talk to Iran, and none tried harder than the Clinton administration. In 1998, the secretary of state made a public overture to the Iranians, laid out a roadmap to normal relations, and for two years tried to engage. The Clinton administration even lifted some sanctions, and Secretary Albright apologized for American actions going back to the 1950s. But even under President Khatami -- a man by all accounts less radical than the current president -- Iran rejected these overtures.

Even so, we hear talk of a meeting with the Iranian leadership offered up as if it were some sudden inspiration, a bold new idea that somehow nobody has ever thought of before. Yet it's hard to see what such a summit with President Ahmadinejad would actually gain, except an earful of anti-Semitic rants, and a worldwide audience for a man who denies one Holocaust and talks before frenzied crowds about starting another. Such a spectacle would harm Iranian moderates and dissidents, as the radicals and hardliners strengthen their position and suddenly acquire the appearance of respectability.

Rather than sitting down unconditionally with the Iranian president or supreme leader in the hope that we can talk sense into them, we must create the real-world pressures that will peacefully but decisively change the path they are on. Essential to this strategy is the UN Security Council, which should impose progressively tougher political and economic sanctions. Should the Security Council continue to delay in this responsibility, the United States must lead like-minded countries in imposing multilateral sanctions outside the UN framework. I am proud to have been a leader on these issues for years, having coauthored the 1992 Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act. Over a year ago I proposed applying sanctions to restrict Iran's ability to import refined petroleum products, on which it is highly dependent, and the time has come for an international campaign to do just that. A severe limit on Iranian imports of gasoline would create immediate pressure on Khamenei and Ahmadinejad to change course, and to cease in the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Why Obama Joined Trinity United And Stayed For Two Decades

After the Obamas declared they were leaving Trinity one has to ask why they were there to begin with. Could it be that they really believed in what they were hearing from the pulpit or was it more politically motivated from the beginning? It appears to be both as more and more starts to come out about Obama's past work as a community organizer with the radical communist Saul Alinsky and his own words about being collective rather than individualistic in the pursuit of social justice. He seeks to unite the anger and energy of black churches like Wright's, Pfleger's and Meeks' with the secular community organizing of the communist movement to attain real change in the economics of America to a more marxist brand; from each according to ability to each according to need, to form a real political grassroots base to the left of even the Chicago Democrat Machine. He did this through his work for progressive groups like the Woods Fund, money, The Annenburg Challenge, education indoctrination with Bill Ayers and ACORN, get out the vote.
Stanley Kurtz has unraveled some of this tightly woven knot in a must read essay for National Review that digs deep and looks at some of Obama's older interviews and writings. There is much to quote in this essay so read the whole thing for a better understanding of Obama's far left views and how he was working to use Trinity and its Marx based Black Liberation Theology to advance his own political advancement.

Having now left Trinity United Church of Christ, can Barack Obama escape responsibility for his decades-long ties to Michael Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright? No, he cannot. Obama’s connections to the radical-left politics espoused by Pfleger and Wright are broad and deep. The real reason Obama bound himself to Wright and Pfleger in the first place is that he largely approved of their political-theological outlooks.
Obama shared Wright’s rejection of black “assimilation.” Obama also shared Wright’s suspicion of the traditional American ethos of individual self-improvement and the pursuit of “middle-classness.” In common with Wright, Obama had deep misgivings about America’s criminal justice system. And with the exception of their direct attacks on whites, Obama largely approved of his preacher-friends’ fiery rhetoric. Obama’s goal was not to repudiate religious radicalism but to channel its fervor into an effective and permanent activist organization. How do we know all this? We know it because Obama himself has told us.

and

So Obama’s political interest in Trinity went far beyond merely gaining a respectable public Christian identity. On his own account, Obama hoped to use the untapped power of the black church to supercharge hard-left politics in Chicago, creating a personal and institutional political base that would be free to part with conventional Democratic politics. By his own testimony, Obama would seem to have allied himself with Wright and Pfleger, not in spite of, but precisely because of their radical left-wing politics. It follows that Obama’s ties to Trinity reflect on far more than his judgment and character (although they certainly implicate that). Contrary to common wisdom, then, Obama’s religious history has everything to do with his political values and policy positions, since it confirms his affinity for leftist radicalism.

Obama is a uniter in that he wants us all to unite in a communist collective as he is fond of saying:"We are all in this together". He just fails to realize that communist socialism is a failed and discredited policy that history teaches leaves nothing but misery in its wake not the utopia of progressive liberals dreams. Obama may be a great charismatic orator but so were Hitler, Lenin and Mao and we all know how well that worked out.

Yep Time to Start Climbing Again

I really miss climbing and have spent the afternoon researching some local areas to get my fingers back in shape. They are sadly limited since I live in a big flat valley and I hate climbing gyms since they are what wrecked my tendons in the first place, I like real rock. I did find one place, an abandoned quarry with enough potential to rebuild my callouses and get my footwork back. I am in need of a partner since mine broke his heel last winter and won't be doing any climbing or even hiking for a long while still so if a stray reader in the Sarcamento area happens on this post that likes to climb let me know.

I am nowhere near this badass but it is inspiring and one of my all time favorite songs.