Ann Althouse blogged the Democrat debates last night, (to the tune of  “Mrs. Robinson”), which is a good thing because I personally could not bear to sit through that level of insanity for a full hour and a half… From what Althouse writes, however the debate was tired, scripted, and (my own opinion) an excellent argument for the Gingrich Debate Proposal:

Gingrich, in fact, has issued a broad proposal to the current crop of presidential candidates, Republicans and Democrats alike, to engage in a series of one-on-one faceoffs that would be lengthier and more challenging than the “cattle call” candidate forums generally staged on the campaign trail.

He has challenged each presidential candidate to participate in a total of nine 90-minute debates. The debates would take place over nine weeks before party nominations and involve only two candidates at a time.

…

Russert said he will ask “each and every” presidential candidate to participate in the nine debates.At the 1996, 2000 and 2004 presidential debates, candidates agreed to 53 pages of debating rules, Gingrich said. The campaign process “is decaying at a level that is bizarre,” he added, blaming the candidates, their consultants and the media.

The eight Democratic candidates who participated in the 2008 campaign’s first televised forum in Carson City, Nev., Feb 21, spoke for a lot less time than Gingrich envisions. Democrats appeared on stage separately, each giving a two-minute opening statement, followed by three questions, then a one-minute closing statement. They interacted with their host and the audience but not with each other.

Gingrich’s proposed debates “would change the entire tenor” of the elections, he said.The length of the debates would force in-depth discussion rather than soundbites, he said. He also said, “Nothing will take more poison out of the system than requiring the candidates to be in the same room,” because they will be less likely to verbally attack each other.

The reason this idea resonates so much for me is that it would turn our current yawners into real dialogue, which would not allow for the same tired scripted answers which never seem to actually answer the question asked. Why not just have the moderator say: “OK, 90-minutes, the topic is ‘the War’, GO…” and then let the dialogue begin?

This makes so much sense: It would give the electorate a dramatically better sense of who can lead and who are the pretenders; of and who can really think for themselves–using actual ideas rather than in sound bytes–and of who we would not want within a hundred miles of the Oval Office.

The Presidency is the most high-pressure job on Earth: if a candidate can’t handle the pressure of articulating his/her ideas in a REAL debate of issues–rather than in scripted sound-bytes–why in the world would I want them to be my President? These are serious and consequential times, and our Presidency deserves a serious and consequential debate of what really matters. It appears that we have a long way to go.

Cross-posted at The Discerning Texan

Said Discerning Texan @ 12:43 pm Comments (2) | Permalink   

Cross-posted at Faultline U.S.A.

The left has been successfully mining the gullibility of American Christians for years. To prove just how successful the left has been in the infiltration of America’s Christian churches, take this little test.

Would you knowingly join, attend, support, or allow your children to be indoctrinated in a Christian church that . . .

* Promotes the moral equivalency of all forms of global spirituality
* Focuses on the creation of an earthly Utopia as opposed to “outmoded” notions of the Kingdom of Heaven
* Stresses “consensus” Christianity over sound theological foundations and Biblical authority.
* Teaches that all war is contrary to God’s will
* Is critical of capitalism and democracy
* Fosters the notion that American patriotism and sovereignty is akin to racism
* Accuses the U.S. of being the source of international poverty and unjust warfare
* Promotes a revolutionary leftist/Marxist social agenda often referred to as Liberation Theology
* Promotes multilateralism through international institutions where the UN and the International Court would overrule the U.S. Constitution
* Is actively working towards the implementation of a Global church and Global government overseen by the UN

Of course you wouldn’t knowingly be part of such a church unless you are a card-carrying leftist.

I hate to break it to you, but if you are an active member of any Christian church in America, it’s a strong probability that this is exactly what you are unknowingly supporting!

There are over 100,000 local congregations and 45 million Christians supporting the above goals – and most of these Christians don’t even know what they are supporting or that much of their money is going to tax-exempt leftist foundations!!!

Few Americans have any idea of how deeply entrenched the United Nations is within many Christian denominations. Fewer Americans understand the connections between the World Council of Churches (WCC), the National Council of Churches (NCC), the United Nations, and the inner workings of their own cherished denominations.

If most American Christians actually realized what was happening right beneath their collective noses, we might witness the 2nd Protestant Reformation!!!

Leftist/socialist agendas such as the UN document, Millennium Development Goals, are currently being implemented in many Christian denominations and some evangelical churches across America.

How could any good Christian object to these lofty sounding goals?

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

But there are those few and far between dissenting voices that have are openly criticized these UN goals:

Read “Conforming Humanity to Socialist Solidarity” by Berit Kjos. Here’s an excerpt:

This Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual leaders would supposedly thrust humanity toward a utopian oneness and peace on earth. But for those who doubt the noble rhetoric, this meeting of minds raised some sobering questions:
· What kind of unity did these religious leaders envision?
· What would the UN require of its spiritual leaders?
· What did they have in common?

Read what Concerned Women for America have to say about the NCC’s (UN’s) Millennium Project.

Last August, the country’s largest public policy organization for women, Concerned Women for America, warned the National Council of Churches (NCC) not to become an advocate for the United Nations. The caution came after the NCC announced its plan to work with the U.N. in what Concerned Women for America calls “misguided attempts to eradicate global poverty,” and “typical leftist agenda.”

“The Concerned Women for America (CWA) criticism is in response to an NCC report entitled “Eradicating Global Poverty,” released in February when the organization endorsed the eight U.N. Millennium Development goals. The study guide outlines ways in which NCC plans to work with the U.N. on its Millennium Project to reduce poverty. . .

CWA released a report critical of the NCC’s program Tuesday. Crouse called the NCC’s guide “a political document with a naïve view of the U.N. and a critical view of the United States. . .

Indeed, it is critical of capitalism and democracy. It is especially critical of the U.S. government as [an alleged] source of international poverty,” Crouse continued. “The study guide is riddled with inaccuracies, overstatement and utopian rhetoric. . .”

Here’s an excerpt from “The Emerging Global Church, ” a criticism of the UN and the Millenium goals.

Of course, there’s more to this list than nice-sounding words. The motivational vision of a worldwide welfare system may have captured hearts around the world, but it actually serves the grandiose aims of socialist change agents who have little concern for human suffering. (Just look how government leaders are treating the victims of hurricane Katrina!) Yet, no other program has more effectively linked the evangelical church to the UN management system, which, from its birth, declared war on Biblical truth and values.[9] And no other program has more effectively drawn Christians into a process designed to manipulate the masses, undermine traditional values, silence resisters, synthesize beliefs, trade individual thinking for collective thinking, and train global citizens to serve the “greater whole.”[10]

Evangelicals should read “Treason in the Church”

“Various churches and denominations claim to be undergoing ‘transformation.’ This word no longer refers to the humble sanctification of the individual believer. Rather, it now refers to an orchestrated, systemic and revolutionary overhaul of the global church, including the ‘transformation’ of cities, societies, cultures, marketplaces, and more. . .”

Meanwhile numerous mainline Protestant denominations and some evangelical churches are actively implementing the NCC’s: For the Peace of the World: A Christian Curriculum on International Relations
The left wants controversy to occur . . .

Based on a curriculum created by the Presbyterian Church (USA), the National Council of Churches of Christ (MCC’s national equivalent) has published a six-session study guide entitled For the Peace of the World that aims to answer some of the above questions.

“I’d like a million copies of this out in the hands of adult Sunday school classes and youth groups,” said NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar, a Methodist minister and former U.S. Congressman. “I’d like a controversy to occur … inside those churches about what our place is in the world. I’d like curiosity to begin to say, ‘What is the faith community’s worldview today?’”

Here’s a sample of this leftist agenda from the For the Peace of the World study guide:

The post 9/11 world has changed America’s self-image and its image around the world, Kireopoulos writes.

This situation has caused Christian leaders … to ask questions about where we are going as a nation,” Kireopoulos says. “Have we allowed fear to manipulate us? What is the role of our country as a global citizen? What does our Christian faith teach us about individual and collective actions in the world?

The curriculum offers six study sessions on the following topics:
Is America Number One?
Fear, Security and Love
Is America God’s Favorite Nation?
Poverty in a Rich World
Self-Interest and World Citizenship
Preventing War With Peace.

Here’s a review of this study guide by Krista Shaffer, a research associate with Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal.

For the Peace of the World: A Christian Curriculum on International Relations offers a similar idea that an America pumped up by the idea of having God’s favor causes conflict. The authors leave Christianity intact, but put forward multilateralism through international institutions as a way to rein America in – and as the only real Christian option . . .

While the Quakers, among many other mainline denominations, are promoting this study guide as appropriate for younger and older adults, what about it’s editor, Antonious Kirepoulous, NCC associate general secretary for International Affairs and Peace??? Do you think he just might have an agenda? Well, just take a look at what he promotes in the quote from him below.

“The United States government has offered a series of justifications for the war in Iraq, including the need to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, the desirability of planting a new democracy in the Middle East, and the need to destroy a major base for terrorism, all of which have been proved false or ill considered as events unfolded.”

The NCC point of view of this war in Iraq is informed by our belief that all war, though sometime used to overcome a greater evil, is contrary to the will of God, and an affront to God’s creation. If scripture is our guide, then we are called to seek peace (Matthew 5:9) and to turn our swords into plowshares (Micah 4:3-4.) . . .”

Is there an Unholy trinity working behind the scenes within America’s Christian Churches?

The UN, working through the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches, is no longer shy about implementing a leftist global political agenda:

According to the World Council of Churches (WCC) web site . . .

For over 50 years, the World Council of Churches (WCC), through the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), has maintained a constant and active presence at the United Nations. “In the early years there were offices in New York (UN Headquarters), London, Geneva (UNHCR and ILO), Paris (UNESCO), and close liaison with Rome (FAO). Today only the Geneva and New York UN Headquarters Liaison Offices remain, though consultative relations have further been established with virtually the whole family of UN-related agencies (UNEP, UNDP, UNCTAD, WHO, etc.) . . .

Note: The headquarters of the WCC is: WCC/CCIA United Nations Headquarters Liaison Office, 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017

What impact does the WCC have on the National Council of Churches? Short answer:

“It would seem that the only difference between the American churches attending the WCC and the NCC itself is the letterhead. . .”

The National Council of Churches USA is composed of 35 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historic African American and peace communions representing 45 million Christians in 100,000 local congregations in the United States.

Read the following from BlogCritics:

Given, however, the fact that the US/American churches attending the WCC are virtually identical to the churches that are members of the NCC the position adopted by them this past week obviously reflects the position of member churches in the NCC although not serving as an official position of the latter. An example of this can be found here, where the President of the NCC has initiated a letter (now signed by over 13,000 people) in support of the UNs call for the US to close the prison facility at Guantanamo. It would seem that the only difference between the American churches attending the WCC and the NCC itself is the letterhead. . .

Further Note: According to the WCC website there are 33 member churches from North America (including Canada). The NCC website shows 35 member churches, 21 of which are WCC members.

Here are just a few political issues the NCC (UN)supports:

The NCC and the UN’s “Interfaith ministry a model for diplomacy” is calling for restoring diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S.

On April 16, 2007 the National Council of Churches Called for Gun Legislation

Here are some excerpts from articles concerning the NCC’s leftist origins and agenda:

“. . .Like most of the religious Left, the National Council of Churches (NCC) never has much to say about religious freedom issues affecting Christians. But any implied criticism of Islam sends the NCC ladder team flying out the door in a frenzy!”

” . . .in 1968, alone, the National Council of Churches expended over $19 million on a worldwide network of

According to a FrontPage article, the NCC is supported by such well-known “Christian” activists as Michael MooreFounded in 1950, the New York City-based NCC has, for more than half a century, remained faithful to the legacy of its forerunner, the Communist front-group known as the Federal Council of Churches. At one time an unabashed apostle of the Communist cause, the NCC has today recast itself as a leading representative of the so-called religious Left. Adhering to what it has described as “liberation theology”—that is, Marxist ideology disguised as Christianity—the NCC lays claim to a membership of 36 Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox Christian denominations, and some 50 million members in over 140,000 congregations. . .

. . .The NCC’s November 1 event in Miami did little to dispel these charges. Under the banner of “Let Justice Roll: Faith and Community Voices Against Poverty,” the pre-election gathering became a makeshift rally for the John Kerry campaign, with Democratic Senator Bob Graham serving as the Democratic candidate’s personal envoy. But it was the presence of another activist that revealed volumes about the NCC’s controversial position within the religious community, and indicated just how, as Robert Edgar puts it, the organization interprets God’s will. That activist? None other than Michael Moore. . .

NCC Watch has this to say about the NCC and the WCC:

The Marxist tendencies of the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches have never been a carefully guarded secret. Today, as it did in the past, the NCC has existed as a political, religious, philanthropic, or humanitarian organization that unfortunately has succumbed to the infiltration of the fringe left. Actually, it never really shifted to the left - it was designed in mind as a front group from the very beginning! What better way to bring revolution to the world than by using religion with it’s message of equality and the meek inheriting the earth! . . .

In attempting to create a good summary of the new UN sponsored Christian indoctrination, I discovered that Crossroad had already summarized the crisis in the Christian church and how the crisis has been orchestrated by the U.N.

We hope to provide vital facts and Biblical encouragement that will help you prepare for a global society that shows little tolerance for the Christian world view. You will find resources that demonstrate and document –

The cultural shift from a Christian to a global paradigm.
The classroom shift from truth, fact and logic to myth, feeling, and imagination.
The growing acceptance of an earth-centered spirituality and code of ethics that rules out biblical truth.
How movies, television and schools promote this global spirituality.
Why the “group thinking” or “consensus process” taught in schools and workplaces around the world turn young and old against absolute truth.
Why many Christians are conforming to this consensus process.

Is your church under the Big Brother thumb of the UN as a member of the NCC? Find out here!

Other bloggers discussing this issue:

Thoughts of a Conservative Christian

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Said maggie @ 12:09 pm Comments (2) | Permalink   

There are plenty of blogthreads and articles floating around about how us Brits view the Americans in cultural terms. Usually they are either lambasting the US for its supposed crudity in terms that are themselves so crude that they end up creating an unintentional caricature of the author rather than the society he/she is attempting to portray. Occasionally a brighter commentator will suddenly realise that, hey, without these guys we would quite possibly be wearing brown boiler suits and be reading Das Kapital rather than the Sun with our breakfasts and will give a nod to the awesome debt that is owed the American people, and as matters progress in the slowly crumbling monolith that is Europe I suspect will be renewed afresh.

But only, and I stress the word, if one of the most fascinating battles in American political history has the right outcome.

The battle I refer to is not that for the Presidency, unusual though it is in that neither the incumbent President or VP is running for office. The battle is the one for, from this outsider’s POV, nothing less than the heart and soul of the Republican Party.

Republican officialdom (what we in the UK often refer to as the Party Hierarchy) is at a crossroads at this moment. The relentless Leftist bias of the US media is beginning to succeed in the final stages of its mission to achieve a tectonic, permanent shift in the perceived location of ‘centreground’ of multiple issues in US Politics. But it can only complete that mission if senior Republicans (including the Commander-in-Chief himself) allow themselves to heed the seductive call of that perceived middleground.

Because its easy, you see. Really easy, in fact. Easy to accept the consensus on a multiplicity of issues, and narrow down the things that a politician really needs to actually have a position on. So much easier to let their be bipartisan agreement to, you know, not really discuss certain things because the decision about what people think has already been made. And the leading contenders in the Republican primary race are already starting to show signs of this consensus forming, without drawing anyone’s attention to the fact.

Take immigration, for example. Well if there’s one thing which could bury McCain with the Republican Party, its the so-called Guest Worker Program, which it is painfully obvious is nothing more than an amnesty for illegal immigrants. But Giuliani supports it with very little reservation. Mitt Romney on his own website gives the issue of immigration a huge seven lines, showing the obvious depth of his feelings on the matter. Whilst decrying illegal immigration (but not, it should be noted, calling for the removal of illegal immigrants or even stating a policy position on that issue) he says quite openly that he wants to see even more ‘legal’ immigration into the US, as if the only part of the immigration issue worth mentioning is whether or not a person entered the country illegally or not.

Even Gingrich, the still unannounced not-so-dark horse in this race, broadly supports it, though he at least is clear as to the issue’s immense importance for America’s future. However, having spent an amount of time making it clear that he understands that America’s cultural integrity and demographic is being destroyed by mass immigration, he then begins to do his best impression of that seductive voice from the centreground, which has only the best interests of those who have entered America to leech from its body politic…

“Note that none of the above requires direct action against people who are here illegally. None of these steps will break up families or cause undue hardship.”

Unlike the hardship felt by Americans who have had to support the enormous burden of healthcare, ever-rising crime, falling wages due to cheap labour…

“As we transform our immigration system from a dishonest to an honest one, it is understandable that those living and working here illegally — especially those who have lived and worked here illegally for a long period of time — would be anxious and fearful about the future. While our two-decade-long failure does not mean that we are required to maintain a dishonest system, it does mean that must have a humanitarian period of transition as we replace an illegal channel of immigration with a legal one.”

Oh, the humanity. This, remember, is the current top ‘Real Conservative’ candidate for the Presidency folks, unannounced or not. Warms the heart that he has such concern for people who have been enjoying his country’s benefits at the working man’s expense for ‘a long period of time’.

Gingrich says this ‘isnt an amnesty’. I cannot imagine what else allowing a huge mass of illegal immigrants to stay in his own country is if it isnt an amnesty.

But there it is, folks. Probably the single most important issue facing America today (and I include the War on Terror in that - fighting Jihad abroad is pointless while a nation rots from within) and well lookee here - there’s that handy consensus from the Big Four of the Republican Party. Mass Immigration is good - as long as its legal, and hey presto, we can make it so by spending your tax dollars on turning the people who have been driving down your wages, hoovering up your Healthcare, into new ‘legal’ immigrants.

I’m sure some American readers are blinking slightly in the face of this onslaught on what must be in some cases their favoured candidates. Where does this uppity Brit get off telling us what’s wrong with our candidates? Where does he get this great insight into where our beloved GOP is stumbling toward?

The answer, ladies and gents, is simple experience. Here in my own country, we’ve had this ‘handy consensus’ thing going on for a very, very long time now - and on far more issues than Immigration. Our opposition ‘Conservative’ Party sold its soul to a smooth-talking, photogenic liberal Devil called David Cameron in an act of political calculation which set the seal on our media’s campaign to shift the centreground firmly to the Left.

Immigration is the issue which must not be named unless it is to celebrate the increased Diversity (for which read destruction) of our culture. Those small Parties that do are decried as racists, neo-nazis, fascists etc - by our supposed ‘conservatives’ as well as the Left.

EU Membership? Well once again, our ‘Eurosceptic’ opposition now has a leader who states quite clearly that he would never have a ‘Eurosceptic’ in his Cabinet.

The Taxation debate? What Taxation Debate? Again, the three main Parties have decided that Britain should be and must remain a High-Tax, High-Spend, High-Debt economy.

Yet still desperate members of the Conservative opposition continue to campaign for a Party which no longer even vaguely represents their views on the important issues, with a leader who is so far removed from the reality of their lives that his most (in)famous speech to date was a call to understand ‘hoodie’ criminals (as opposed to jailing them) by giving them a hug.

Any of this sounding familiar to any of you ‘lifelong Republicans’? Because if it isnt sounding familiar yet, its going to very shortly.

The GOP is your Party, boys and girls. Its not McCain’s, Giuliani’s, Romney’s, Gingrich’s or even ultimately George Bush’s Party. And if you settle for a compromise candidate now who isn’t prepared to represent your views, who is prepared to kowtow to the ‘handy consensus’, then if you get him elected you’ll very quickly find that you won the Presidential battle just fine…

…but lost the War to save America.

Said DSD @ 6:09 am Comments (2) | Permalink   

With each passing day, it seems we live in Superman’s Bizzaro World. Little snippets of thought populate my mind:

First:

Harry Reid declares the war in Iraq “lost” and refuses to talk with General Paterus, saying he’d be lying about progress. Thank you very much, Senate Majority leader, for having the extreme lack of respect for the man your body unanimously approved to lead the very same war And…you did it just a few months ago. I pray you will reap the political whirlwind for showing your trust in foreign media above the people you pay to do the job.

Next:

Is it just me, or would you find an employee of your company decide to take on another responsibility, use company funds to fly around the world, then comes back (all the while leaving assigned work undone) and proceeds to tell the CEO that he’s doing it wrong as completely out of bounds? In the actual, no kidding real world, that would be a person who got fired before they got on the plane. In Bizzaro World, we just call her Nancy.

Next:

How about if your company had an awful lot of things to get done, many requiring important, and to be honest, very difficult, decisions to be made, but you decided when the calendar clicks around to the date marked “HOLIDAY!” you walked out of your office, leaving people in harms way, and took off to jet home and about the Caribbean for “fact finding missions?” Yep, in the real world, there would be the phone message, followed by a registered letter saying “Don’t bother coming back, you’re FIRED!” In Bizzaro World, we call that “Congress.”

Next:

Jihad to the left of me,
Jihad to the right,
Suicide bombers blew themselves asunder!

We think Jihad is some incredibly new creation, only because of recent events at the end of the 20th Century, and because of America and it’s self-imposed arrogance. Nope…wrong answer.

I have been bumping across some history and last August, I found an article from a Soviet General, who was in fact one of those big shots with a “seat at the table,” describing how the Soviets, in the aftermath of the 6 Day War, knew they couldn’t beat us militarily. They realized that the concept of “Jihad” could be stimulated and used to not attack America, but her closest ally, Israel. That pushes it back to the mid-1900s (well, almost the middle, but before we attacked Iraq in even 1991).

BUT!!!! That’s NOT ALL!!! Stay tuned! Guess who else used this trick? The Kaiser. Go figure: Common enemy of the Germans pre-WWI and the Ottoman Empire was the Russians. The Kaiser and his peeps latched onto that. My reference: The History Channel’s show “The First World War: Jihad.” Not only did it factor into the First World War, it became the thorn in the side of the British Empire in the Middle East. There you have it, the dots from today are connected back into the end of the 19th Century.

And for the extra set of Ginzu knifes: Just why did the United States of America put a Navy of 6 frigates to sea? American commerce from the Middle East, through the Mediterranean was being raided and the ship’s crews were enslaved. The discussion between the Federalists and the Republicans was quite spirited, and in March 10th, 1794, the Act to Provide a Naval Armament was passed. It did have a clause requiring the dismantling of the Fleet when the “Algerian” situation was under control. Source “Six Frigates” by Ian Toll. Now we’re back to when America was but a small, mostly coastal Nation, only greatly invested in commerce, and in fact, had remained neutral after the Revolution, which war raged in Europe. Much profit was made like this, capitalism has a long, long history with this country! So now we are into the 18th Century with Jihad. Oh, yes, it was already happening when we became a nation.

Step back a little further before you get two for the price on one:

Answer this: Why did Columbus sail west? Yes, it was to find new trade routes to the “Far East.” Not a thorough enough answer, being merely superficial. Just think, it was like going to the Moon for us. Great adventure, great risk, but the opportunity for reward for the Spanish. Sometimes it’s what’s not said. Check the expanse of the Muslim Empire in the 1490s. Yes, it laid across the entire Middle Eastern trade routes. Columbus went west, not for the chance to get scurvy, but because the Islamofascists were doing what they do best: Stealing, killing, beheading and forcing conversion to Islam with a knife at your neck. So there: Back to the 15th Century, when Jihad was making life miserable.

Next:

Has Sheryl Crow managed to consult with the water conservation crowd? I dunno….I would suspect those of the “One Square Club” would be considerate enough to wash a little more throughly, in the interest of public health, let alone their own. The “precious” water may be used faster than expected when the TP Police (and you thought the PC Police were already too invasive in culture) begin ticketing the scoff laws…This could turn out like the case of the Wind Energy Crowd facing down the I Love the Migrating Birds Crowd, when green energy is being produced at the expense of Cusinarting our feathered friends enroute warmer climes…

Sorry, no gifts for you, I was just trying to keep your attention.

Final small point of consideration: Self-Esteem.

The Left is the champion of this concept. They play it as everyone has a right to feel good about themselves. I guess they never read the Declaration of Independence closely, but that’s a bone to pick with the NEA on another occasion.

So, if Self-Esteem is so important to the health of our society, why do they turn around in the academic arena and put leftist/marxist professors in front of the room to tell you your country is horrible in every aspect of life?

I’ll summarize what I’m believing they are making people think: Think well of yourself, but have deep guilt and shame about your country.

Sorry, I don’t see where that helps anyone. It just sucks, and the price to be paid will someday arrive with the butcher’s bill.

There are some thinking points from this end of my world. I don’t think I’m far from reality, but I obviously feel some have taken a long walk on a short pier and don’t even realize the water is up to their necks just yet.

Your right to discuss this freely in the comments section below is graciously brought to you by Cao, who pays for this site. Please take a moment and thank her for her decision to do so and to let us all come and banter about the issues we have passion for.

Said xformed @ 4:21 pm Comments (1) | Permalink   

The first time I ever saw one, I fell in love.

I was staying at a very expensive hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. - one of my more radical efforts at persuading some comely lass that she could do worse than bedding down with me for the night despite my less than impressive bank book. The fact that I lost the girl, ended up spending the night alone, and got charged $75 bucks for a bottle of flat champagne is one more reason I should write some kind of history detailing my many outrageously failed and sadly ironic amours. I can’t promise too many racy anecdotes but as a cautionary tale/tragedy, it could end up being a bestseller.

But back to the matter at, er…hand. I noticed when getting ready for my doomed from the start date that the bathroom seemed particularly well equipped. In fact, there appeared to be two toilets. “So this is how the rich live,” I thought. “Must be nice. One toilet to sit down on and another to piss standing up.”

But this second toilet appeared to contain enough differences that I felt a thorough investigation was called for. There appeared to be some kind of bizarre structure to the metal assembly at the bottom of the bowl. I didn’t think it was some kind of fancy drain but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out just what function the strange grouping of what appeared to be towers and bars might be for. It looked like a miniature from the set of Metropolis.

Kneeling in front of the contraption, I noticed a knob on the side. Recognizing that when twisted it would turn water on somewhere, I was thinking to myself “Jesus! Are the wealthy really able to control the flush of their own toilets? Now that’s what I call power.”

Not hardly. A face full of water disabused me of that notion right pronto. The metal assembly was a complex, elegant water disbursal system and the knob controlled the force of the water that shot from the metal assembly at the bottom of the bowl.

Now I will admit to being something of a rube about many things in life. I am a simple, dumb American when it comes to food, clothing, alcoholic beverages, and art. I like my sports violent and my sex hot, sweaty, and loud. And if someone disses my country or the flag I take it very personally.

Having said that, I confess that I pondered the utility of this nameless bathroom contraption for about 10 minutes before the light bulb went off. “Aha! What will those Europeans think of next.”

Notice that I automatically assumed a European ancestry for the beast. No self respecting American would squat like a Sumo wrestler over an open cave of porcelain even if the end result would be fewer pairs of undies needing an extra dab of Spray and Wash to get out those “stubborn stains.” But at the same time, a wave of jealousy washed over me and I envied our cousins across the sea. It means that European bathrooms are probably bigger than my kitchen. And any married couple in a hurry to get out the door in the morning can attest to the dire straits of American home design where closet sized bathrooms seem to be the norm and the fights that break out over premium space in front of the sink (and hence, the mirror) have been the cause of upping our country’s already astronomical divorce rate.

It was only later on that I connected the word “bidet” (pronounced “B-day”) with the gizmo I’d seen at the hotel. And proving once and for all that you can find anything on the internet, I dug up this little history of the contraption along with some surprising uses those marvelously clever Europeans put it to:

The bidet is certainly an invaluable aid to hygiene, and can be especially helpful among the elderly and those with handicaps. Another valuable feature of the dear bidet is its use as a “sitz bath” or “hip bath.” This is a type of bath in which only the hips and buttocks are soaked in a saline or salty water. “Sitzen” in German means “to sit”. Many diseases and discomforts are remedied in a sitz bath; patients of surgery, infections of the bladder or vagina, even to ease the pain of hemorrhoids. In the United States, the bidet has developed an aura of indelicacy, mostly for its principle use; to wash the private parts, but its funny, because its purpose can be extended - used even to wash lingerie and soak feet!

All of this becomes relevant when discussing Sheryl Crow’s idea that the government should build toilet paper dispensing machines that hand out one square of paper per customer. No more, no less. One square of toilet paper or you are branded “not very green at all” and are shunned by your neighbors, your brainwashed children, dogs, cats, and the rest of civilized society.

Of course, there are other things you can do to be green. Like giving up your private jets. Or even foreswearing electric guitars, amplifiers, microphones, synthesizers, and all other electronic means of making music which use carbon polluting electricity generated by dirty power plants. Also, the production of CD’s is among the most polluting activities known to man. (Ever see the leftover sludge from the metals contained in a CD?) And giving up concerts where tens of thousands of people make the pilgrimage to your appearance in not very eco-friendly automobiles would probably do more to stop global warming than 300 million people walking around smelling like a sewer because they were unable to properly attend to the hygienic necessities as a result of eating solid food.

Perhaps Ms. Crow doesn’t realize that her suggestion is a washout because when she takes a crap, something much different emerges to plop into the toilet than what normal humans may be used to seeing. Perhaps she is special in this regard and only the very best of stools - well formed, neat, symmetric, and smelling like a Texas yellow rose - are gifted to the world.

Maybe someone will slip Ms. Crow a little Ex Lax. Serve her right for meddling with the primal forces of nature, trying to come between an American citizen and his Charmin. And I’d love to be there when she’s forced to use that one square of TP after the explosion of “reality” that the Ex Lax supplies.

Of course, there’s always the B-Day.

UPDATE

This BBC story is self explanatory. And unintentionally funny.

Said Rick Moran @ 11:16 am Comments (19) | Permalink   

We’ve known for some time that this was afoot, but Mark Fitzgibbons just sent out an email that characterized clearly what is going on, which to me is simply horrifying:

Revised grassroots “lobbying” language was “leaked” to lawyers and lobbyists who have professional ties to key congressional sponsors of the legislation.

Yet this legislation, which is well known to be targeted at rights of speech, the press, association and petitioning the government, is being withheld intentionally from the public to prevent a debate.

Democrats who have objected to violations of First Amendment, civil and privacy rights under The Patriot Act would create a government database of politically active citizen-advocates of civil and religious rights and causes.

The grassroots legislation is not only unconstitutional on its face, it will certainly lead to further governmental abuses of rights of citizens.

This leak to privileged insider lawyers and lobbyists differs from most other legislative leaks because it appears to be done with knowing and willful intent to cause verifiable harm to the rights of citizens, i.e., it was done with apparent “scienter.”

Read this letter to Congressman Marty Meehan, the chief congressional sponsor of the grassroots legislation, which shows how this “leak” to favored insider lobbyists harms the rights of citizens.

Click here

There needs to be an investigation of what appears to be unlawful or unethical behavior.

Call or email Speaker Pelosi today and demand an investigation. Remind her that she pledged to “break the link between lobbyists and legislation,” yet some Democrats are violating that pledge on lobbying reform itself!

(Suggested text below.)

Some in Congress are secretly trying to violate the First Amendment rights of citizen-critics of Washington, while protecting wealthy special interests.

It’s not mere hypocrisy. It’s unconstitutional – or worse since it gives the strong appearance of wrongdoing, and it must be stopped!

Speaker Pelosi: (202) 225-0100

or email her by clicking to: http://www.speaker.gov/contact/

Forward this email to friends, family and colleagues, and go to GrassrootsFreedom.com for updates.

Regards,

Mark Fitzgibbons

GrassrootsFreedom.com

————————————-

Dear Speaker Pelosi:

I demand a formal investigation into the leak of grassroots legislative language to privileged, insider lobbyists, but the refusal to disclose that language to the public, whose rights would be violated.

Since it is clear that the grassroots legislation would violate constitutional rights, withholding the revised language appears to be covering up attempt by some with vested interests to violate the First Amendment rights of citizens.

You pledged to break the link between lobbyists and legislation, yet some are trying to legislate away rights of citizens under darkness.

I not only oppose attempts to violate the First Amendment rights of Americans who make up the “grassroots,” but the way that is being done in “secret” gives the appearance of wrongdoing.

Sincerely,

Said Cao @ 6:01 pm Comments (0) | Permalink   

When you’re at war, the enemy should die. In today’s world, people think it’s a videogame or a cartoon, and that people who are killed will get up and walk away to fight another battle. In the real world, that isn’t true. In the real world, 3,000 people who died in the world trade center by Bin Laden’s minions, are still dead. And we went to war with Al Qaeda to not only avenge them, but to protect ourselves. People have forgotten those people jumping out of the towers that horrible day.

Now this is an unusual situation which the leftists are complaining about ad infinitum; we are not at war with an enemy that represents a country, wears a uniform, or carries their arms in the open. We are at war with a lying, conniving enemy which is aiming at the destruction of Western Civilization, that wants sharia law to rule our land, and the flag of their moongod flying over the Whitehouse.

In my world, this is simply unacceptable.

But as a result of their not representing a country, we can’t ‘declare war’ on them. Because we’ve never faced an enemy like this before, the legal jargon hasn’t caught up. We should change the legal jargon and declare war on them. After all, they declared war on us, numerous times since 1968 when they first starting attacking.

These demented Islamists represent the Islamofascist ideology that would see us with our heads sawed off unless we bow down to allah and convert, die or pay the jizyah, I see this as something worth fighting until we win. There is no appeasing, hand holding or “understanding” that will stop them. They’ve been raising their children since they were in diapers to hate the jews and America, you can see it on their childrens’ indoctrination programs like “jihad for kids”.

Now how are we going to fight this if people don’t even recognize that it’s happening? They’ve been doing this over generations. I don’t see this as something we can change our minds about part of the way through. And I don’t see the enemy as someone we should try to ‘understand’. They’ve been attacking us since 1968; they’re not going to stop. This is like the terminator coming at us through time; the only way to stop them is to STOP THEM. At that means kill them relentlessly until they submit. Negotiations and diplomacy will do nothing but have them declare a ceasefire until the next cartoon, or the next flight where imams from Syria are yelling allah akbar and dare anyone to voice that their terrorist intentions seem to be showing. Are you a man or a mouse?

Unfortunately, Reid and others are mice. Our soldiers, however, are men, just like Jeff Foxworthy said the other day at the CMA. He said country music “…celebrates the brave men and women who go to fight ‘em, the price they pay to do it and the longin’ we have for them to return home to the ones that they love.”

I understand enough to know and observe the unholy alliance between leftists and terrorists. Hell, we see it in journalist reports just about every day when they have the sat phone numbers of Taliban and Al Qaeda terrrorists and are virtually reporting their side of it, and helping them spread their propaganda complete with completely staged photographs and videotape. We see it every day when guys like Senator Reid are talking as though we’re losing this thing, but turning around acting as though they’re the president and meeting with foreign state sponsors of terrorism.

At the Gathering of Eagles there is a letter written by the fellow who heads the project the Appeal for Courage, a group of American active duty personnel who are appealing to Congress to have the balls to stay, finish and win the war. It’s written to Senator Reid, but I think we can safely assume it’s written to each and every leftist who’s taking a stand against the war and is talking about ‘bringing the troops home’. They want to bring them home in defeat, a nostalgia for the days of Vietnam, right down to the desire to impeach President Bush. Senator Reid, YOU ARE KILLING US.

Senator Reid:

When you say we’ve lost in Iraq, I don’t think you understand the effect of your words. The Iraqis I speak with are the good guys here, fighting to build a stable government. They hear what you say, but they don’t understand it. They don’t know about the political game, they don’t know about a Presidential veto, and they don’t know about party politics.

But they do know that if they help us, they are noticed by terrorists and extremists. They decide to help us if they think we can protect them from those terrorists. They tell us where caches of weapons are hidden. They call and report small groups of men who are strangers to the neighborhood, men that look the same to us, but are obvious to them as a foreign suicide cell. To be brief, your words are killing us. Your statements make the Iraqis afraid to help us for fear we’ll leave them unprotected in the future. They don’t report a cache, and its weapons blow up my friends in a convoy. They don’t report a foreign fighter, and that fighter sends a mortar onto my base. Your statements are noticed, and they have an effect. Finally, you are mistaken when you say we are losing. We are winning, I see it every day. However, we will win with fewer casualties if you help us. Will you?

LT Jason Nichols, USN MNF-I, Baghdad

Senator Reid and others are in such a hurry to raise the white flag in retreat, that they’re not even listening to our troops on the ground. And then there are the leftists caterwauling about our marines and other personnel, who are trying to do the right thing by KILLING THE ENEMY. Speaking specifically, I guess, in reference to the Haditha incident. In June of 2008, Newsmax had an article up about the Haditha incident, which gives a detailed accounting of what happened that day:

It is clear that the entire incident was planned and carried out by insurgents who detonated the IED, and then, in a familiar tactic, attacked the Marines responding to the blast – deliberately putting civilians at risk.

That is precisely what happened, as Sweetness and Light points out in this slip of the finger by Reuters. Let’s call things by their real names; in this conflict someone who the media rushes in to depict as an ‘innocent civilian’ is probably anything BUT an ‘innocent civilian’. Because they don’t wear uniforms, because they don’t represent a country, and because they believe that war = deceit, and that lying for the sake of Islam is commanded by the Koran, why is it that so many people, including our government officials and even their appointed legal representation are in such a hurry to believe them when our men have gone through the best training there is in ANY military force on earth?

The attempt to depict our men as criminals when they’re educated boys from towns across the country is a horrible act of sedition and treason, in my estimation. To believe the enemy over our own people and to trust the enemy and the stories they tell and use their posed terrorist photo ops to prop false stories is what’s criminal.

The behavior of the men at Haditha was honorable. Any loss of life is tragic. But if someone is putting himself in harm’s way for allah, the least we can do is give them their final wish; their passage to paradise. They might find out when they get there, that it’s hot and there are no 72 virgins. And if Reid has his way with his white flag strategy, one day I hope he’ll be joining them there.

Said Cao @ 3:13 pm Comments (9) | Permalink   

Via Gail at Rubicon3 who received this in an E-Mail.

My Stand

By Philip C. Selz

In the darkest times we’ve seen, I was sent into the camps
As I smelled the stench of burning flesh, I knew my kin were gone
Survival was my only thought, I knew I must come through
But I didn’t know the reason that my living must go on

And when the war had ended, liberation finally came
And I grew to be a man and shortly after took a wife
And we raised our kids in Israel and we did the best we could
And we lived for those who died and worked to make a useful life

Then a teaching job came to me in America one day
And I thought that building new young minds was destiny for me
So I traveled to Virginia and I made a brand new start
And I taught engineering in this homeland of the free

Now I hear the hallways screaming as shots are fired there
And I hear the terror in the screams and understand their plight
So I bar the door from danger and I tell my students “Run!”
And as the bullets breach the door I know that I must fight

And in these final moments as my life is seeping out
I think back over 60 years and finally understand
My own salvation now makes sense as children flee and live
I was saved that day to save this day, I’ve finally made my stand.

Thank you Professor Librescu, you have taught us the meaning of Heroism!

Cross Posted at GM’s Corner

Said GM @ 9:17 am Comments (0) | Permalink