When Sheer Obviousness Kicks In

I've had conversations with fellow students who try to justify any and all actions undertaken by FARC, presumably because they've been taught by the ministries of truth that FARC ain't no terrorist organization. Wrong. This terrorist group attempted as recently as six years ago to assassinate Uribe.

Even while Muslim leaders in Britain literally call for "jihad" to transform the nation into a Sharia state, our Defense Department is explicitly forbidden from recognizing this explicitly communicated goal. Perhaps they should listen to guys who understand the complexities of 21st-century counter terrorism, as opposed to those clueless Europeans.

Victor Comras lays the blame for high oil prices at the feet of speculators, and Bill West foresees a conflict in the near future between gov't and the airline industry.

Why is justice in such short supply these days? Ray Dirks got his just in time, Paul Wolfowitz' came only after his resignation, and prosecutorial abuse in the Enron case is only now coming to light.

Retired Idaho state senator Larrey Anderson calls out Anthropogenic Climate Change for what is really is - "redefining Western economics and culture." He's not wrong - Earth Day is all about destroying capitalism - even Al Qaeda is joining the party!

And Miss Malkin brings news: we're winning, they're losing.

Some Post-Penn Postulating

Wow. Just when one mighta been thinking Pelosi's said and done it all, out she comes with something else! This has made enough rounds that even Rush decries the Ministries of Truths' "misquote" excuse, saying quite plainly that barring the fact she made it up, "she's got a new religion that she hasn't told us about and she's just calling it Christianity." Indeed. Jim Hoft notes this is the eighth time she's used that made-up Biblical verse in the past four years. Unless she'd been a scribe at some point in her life, what's up with this?:

"To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us"?

Paul Mirengoff takes down a WaPo hit piece on McCain's tax rate cut stances, arguing that:

John McCain may not be a whiz on economics (neither is Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton) but he's intelligent enough to understand that the following two decisions -- (1) whether to support legislation that will lower tax rates in 2001 and (2) whether to support legislation that will raise tax rates in 2008 -- are independent ones. In other words, raising tax rates is not the same thing as lowering them, and the economic environment in 2008 is not the same as the economic environment in 2001.
Some politicians favor virtually every tax cut; others always oppose cuts, at least for people who are economically well off. McCain, as is typical, falls in neither camp. Throughout his time in public life, he has supported some tax cuts and opposed others. Even Weisman acknowledges as much, though you need to read a long way to see it. And the minute one recognizes these simple matters of fact, logic, and economics, the Post's claim that "McCain offers tax policies he once opposed" becomes vacuous, and Weisman's anti-McCain hit piece loses its force.

An Obama campaign slogan was "Judgment to Lead." But don't question his judgment! That's just a "distraction." Right. Because bad judgments are distractions from good judgments. And when the bad outweighs the good, count on a good four years of a distracted President. On that note here's a nice article from Human Events featuring all of Obama's socialist supporters.

Miss Malkin's got commentary on the latest outrageous enviro-nitwitism.

Ace has an interesting reaction to the concept of Vulgar Marxism. But I think he underestimates Obama, and the Christian community should be wary of the Dem party trying to latch on to its vote, much as it has done in the past with the blacks, white-collars and anti-semites (note to DNC: ain't gonna happen this time around!).

Newt's Newest Tune a Noggin-Scratcher

Some of y'all might have seen this:
Michelle's reaction:

I thought the Robertson/Sharpton pairing was going to be bad, but it’s nothing compared to these two stiffs on a couch peddling eco-alarmism. There was a time when Newt Gingrich and the Beltway GOP establishment could be counted on to defend free market environmentalism, property rights, and rational cost-benefit analyses. No more.

Allapundit differs:

He’s been all for market solutions in his most high-profile statements on this subject in the past and, judging from his website
, still is. Watch this snippet from his debate with Kerry last year to see what he prescribes for inducing developing nations towards conservation. Al Gore clutching Hu Jintao’s sleeve and whimpering “please?” with tears in his eyes doesn’t factor in.

Gingrinch responds to the many complaints in "Why I Took Part":

Many of you have written to me to ask why I recently taped an advertisement with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for The Alliance for Climate Protection, a group founded by former Vice President Al Gore.
I completely understand why many of you would have questions about this, so I want to take this opportunity to explain my reasons. First of all, I want to be clear: I don't think that we have conclusive proof of global warming. And I don't think we have conclusive proof that humans are at the center of it.
But here's what we do know. There is an important debate going on right now over the right energy policy, the right environmental policy, and making sure we do the right things for our future and the future of our children and grandchildren. Conservatives are missing from this debate, and I think that's a mistake. When it comes to preserving our environment for future generations, we can't have a slogan of "Just yell no!"
I have a different view. I think it's important to be on the stage, to engage in the debate, and to communicate our position clearly. There is a big difference between left-wing environmentalism that wants higher taxes, bigger government, more bureaucracy, more regulation, more red tape, and more litigation and a Green Conservatism that wants to use science, technology, innovation, entrepreneurs, and prizes to find a way to creatively invent the kind of environmental future we all want to live in. Unless we start making the case for the latter, we're going to get the former. That's why I took part in the ad.

Okay, so do I have a beef? It sounds like Gingrich is trying to pass off his ad as "good intentions." I'm not sure how Limbaugh would respond to that (I guess we'll find out soon), but that just might not cut it with the rest of us conservatives. In the ad he explicitly asks us to "demand action from our leaders." I believe it was Ronald Reagan who said (in his first inaugural address) who asked us to not look to our government for all the solutions. It is in this that I think Newt gravely erred in this ad since his actual intentions as he claims them to be are not presented sufficiently.

I believe Mr. Gingrich is making one other mistake as well. He is of the mind that rejecting the Anthropogenic Climate Change movement is akin to Barry voting "no" on Civil Rights, arguably causing conservatism to miss that bandwagon for at least a decade, if not ever since. However, ACG may be a mere fad. If Newt really believes there is a powerful "conservative" way to address catastrophic human-induced climate change, there are better ways of communicating that perspective than through this ad.

And finally, the number one reason not to do the climate change cult...AQ is a dues-paying member.

Throwing Caution to the Winds of Time and Change

From Cathy Glick's "Fear of Democracy" we should gather that hate speech is still free speech. Incitement is entirely another thing altogether, and the worrisome part here are the UN-HRC members who get to decide it. The UN worked well in the Cold War era, but it has long overstayed its welcome.

Great - the Barbary wars are back!

You stay classy, Bill Cope!

D'you know what? I've decided John Yoo's one of my heroes.

Military Affairs Associate Director Sean Osborne of the Northeast Intelligence Network explains the crux of the Long War on Terror.

My dear, good friend Yoni, you were a good roommate and a good man, but on a crucial issue you are so, so very wrong:

"I expect the Jihadi influence to spread after the Americans’ exit from Iraq, and to move towards Jerusalem." - Zawahiri

I'm pretty sure this is just ho-hum to the high-mighty UN-HRC.

In light of the FISA fiasco, this is a pleasure to read:

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee head Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., charged that "the Bush Administration is violating the law" because the Interior Department missed a deadline on whether to add polar bears to the endangered species list.

One of Charles Johnson's lizards notes an sfgate article in which the "AP tries desperately to stir up some kind of scandal about McCain's wife's finances, but flops spectacularly":

AP really scrapes the bottom of the barrel in trying to come up with something scandalous involving McCain and his wife Cindy; but, sadly for AP, there's nothing really there worth getting worked up about. The best they can do is dredge up a 1982 investigation (when he first started politics) in which he was exonerated of any conflict-of-interest.

I can almost feel the frustration on the part of these moonbat journalists. They so want McCain to have skeletons in his closet, but they can't seem to find a single one. So -- McCain's wife is rich. Is that news? Most Senators in the US (including most Democrats) are fabulously wealthy. And because of a pre-nuptial agreement, McCain himself has no connection to or ownership of any of his wife's finances. On his own, not counting her assets, he's actually one of the poorest Senators.

Sorry, AP, you're biting on granite here.

Introducing Howard Zinn, all-American arsehole.

A cell phone projector? Okay, I'll admit, I'm impressed!

Does Islam give the ok to adultery? Haji Murad says yes.

Walid Shoebat recounts the indoctrination in his youth.

Rezko's lawyer attempts to help him by exposing more corruption in Chicago. But I don't get how a corrupt witness testifying against a corrupt defendant is supposed to help the latter. Seriously, is anyone surprised that Chicago brims with financial cock-ups? Not so much a city of Robin Hoods as Robbing 'Hoods.

Vestiges of a decomposing Cold War from a Canadian perspective.

Another "work accident" in the territories. Exit question: "mysterious" or "ambiguous?"

Well, I think Osborne (mentioned above) would have a field day with this election report from France.

See, I told you so: Kevin Rudd puts earwax in mouth, gets elected. Same Rudd playfully salutes the POTUS, gets bad press. The "I told you so" part involves the fact that Rudd like his predecessor, is still unabashedly pro-American, and in all likelihood'll be a real pal of the next POTUS, John McCain.

Today, Hamas attempted (and failed) to assassinate a Israeli state official
. In the meantime, Hiz B'Allah is making air traffic nervous. And given recent events, Israel has begun to install automated machine guns along the Gaza border. This opens up a whole new dimension to the dilemma. In the meantime, elite unit 669 gets its first Arab female recruit.

The Washington Post has chosen to embed with the enemy. Never before in history has our media presented a bigger threat to our national security. Is it just me or is journalistic negligence utterly rampant?

Quote of the Day: "Let's be friends, guys>" - Vladimir Putin.

In the hypocrisy of the day, the U.S. is sending aid to Egypt to monitor the Gaza border.

Historically, the FRB has thrown itself behind Democrat candidates. This year will be no different.

Gee, I guess the first amendment doesn't apply to states.

Y'know, I'm not a greenie, but I appreciate a good thing when I see it. ;-)

In related hypocrisy, Zawahiri opines that civilian massacres and collateral are okay when AQ does it - but not Hamas!

Looks like Israel's starting to know what it's like when the fourth estate becomes the fifth column.

Hillary pulls a Goolsbee with Columbia. Neither Democrat candidate, it is apparent, can be trusted with economic trade. They tell constituents they're anti-free trade, and go around secretly doing the opposite. That's just wrong.

Here's a hoodie that Obama certainly will never wear.

Here's the latest NIE that'll not be in the NYT tomorrow!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember the last time an American was jailed for flag-waving.

Probably the best measure of how Palis and Israelis treat each other can be discerned from their respective treatment of sea turtles.

Violence occurs at the much-publicized anti-violence student rally in Chicago.

"Zero-Tolerance" is a disastrous policy.

NoKo, all ready suffering from a meth problem and a food shortage, faced a women's right rally. Speaking of which, the artificial ethanol craze is hurting the commodities market, which, given the U.S.'s strong share of agribusiness, could spill over into a global dilemma.

Trinity of the Righteous Times

I hope my previous post was a good summation to keep y'all in the know concerning the plight of territory-based Palestinians. But I've decided I'm all but about ready to give up on eliminating antisemitism from the elite college campus. You heard me right - and if Buckley can knock anti-Semites out of the Republican party through a magazine, why can't the left half of the political spectrum shove Jew-hatred out of Case Western and Harvard?

Chertoff is suddenly tough on border enforcement.

Dr. Farish A. Noor writes of growing dissatisfaction of sharia in Malaysia.

Debbie Schlussel uncovers something that should worry everyone.

Deroy Murdock makes the case against Sharia-Compliant Financing.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has its latest press release on the building of Fallujah’s first central sewage treatment facility. You see, people who put down their morning papers are far more attuned to the realities in Iraq than are those who stick their noses in the daily Pinch garbage dispenser.

Here's a retch-worthy CNN puff-piece.

How's this for a humor filler: Obama buys more votes.

This just in: terror blast at bus station in Nepal for election run-up. Something we just don't get here.

Dinesh D'souza continues to impress.

Obama just said he's not in favor of concealed weapons. Okay - so I guess security detail for our next President is out the window. Won't do much good when a radical assassinates the apostate after Friday services.

Next: NASA astronauts to start using zero-gravity pencils!

Amir Peretz should have learned that from the moment his binocular lenses were covered, so should too his mouth.

As of this point, Democrat really have to stop whining about GOP 527s.

Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey needs to be reviewed to be believed.

In all our zeal over Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, let us not forget the battle against political Islamist forces being waged in India and central Asia.

Though I'm not all gung-ho for alternative fuels, I do take pride when Boeing flies a hydrogen-powered plane, and when efficiently practical methods devised to power hydrogen cars are explored But I digress on the issue of true nutballs.

I linked to Qadaffi's schpiel in my previous post, and now I present rebuttal from Khudayr Taher.

For those strongly against revisionism, here's the low-down on 1850s Jerusalem Jewry.

Also in my previous post, I referenced the anti-Christianity prevalent in Sudan and the Palestinian territories. Now I bring forth Pakistan and, wouldya believe it, our own US of A.

Eh...not a sure-fire way to attract a large atheist population, but Obama and Gore minions might find comfort in Austria.

Some words from a writer in Iran on the Mullah's two faves: Carter and Obama.

The one city more corrupt that Chicago is finally exposed.

Oh, I'm sorry, did you want an illegal wiretap scandal. Okay then - I'll give you one.

Howard Veit explains why the mainstream press is losing ad revenue and why Europe is getting its balls back.

And here's Howard on "market reform":

The Democrats will kill the new Treasury Proposals and an ignorant public and a media that hates Republicans will support them. The Democrats are literally in the pocket with CFTC regulated markets (commodities) and will tolerate nothing that might stop their gravy train, meaning the farm states continue to be the recipients of the biggest welfare handouts on the books (Iowa is virtually a client state). The Democrats are also for more regulation, meaning the government will oversee markets so much that we are liable to lose our place as the financial capital of the world. This is an election year and look for the biggest two bums in the Democratic Party: Charles Schumer (NY) and John Dingell (IL) to be spouting off on TV this AM. Dingell in particular is a pretentious menace. He is either stupid (very unlikely) or just one more bribe taking politician. This will be all about turf and corporate (agribusiness manufacturing, etc.) interests getting more and more government "help." This along with almost forcing companies to accept unionization, compulsory dues to unions, and new taxes.

BTW: the BS regarding capital gains is just that: BS. The truth is that the imposition of the Alternate Minimum Tax (ATM) rules on cap gains mean that most taxes on capital gains hover around 23%. The Republicans sat on their asses in Congress and did nothing (what?) for eight years and cap gains inertia and failure to reform the odious ATM are simply another couple of reasons that they are being thrown out on their asses. When history is writ you will find that Republicans killed capitalism. They are just plain bums.

More on the Democrat love affair with commodities, and Dr. Sanity throws the media into the mix with its "economic hallucinosis."

Burning midnight oil in NY: Once again, the state legislature is going to be passing budget bills in the middle of the night, and taxpayers will feel the burn once the new taxes and fees hit home.

Indeed - compare, for example Los Angeles and Japan. I recommend readers read Geoff Colvin's take on taxes. And Mike Volpe schools Barney Frank and the Dem POTUS candidates.

Coulter arguably flattens the Obama candidancy with this book review, while Nina May smacks down his Philly speech. And slowly, but surely, the Rezko trial is slowly creeping ever closer to Obama.

Today's slowly evolving revolt against Blagojevich is highly amusing. Cellini and Peters and Levine slowly cave while the Rezko connection magnifies. Blagojevich is facing a downfall. This whole thing is bigger than most realize. This extends to voter fraud in MO and the NYC Council Speaker.

Rush asks listeners to focus on liberal ignorance of historical American economic liberties.

Julian Krasta talks foreign policy, Tom Blumer delivers a blow to social security, and Newt Gingrich displays traditional conservatism.

Gore's antidepressant is expiring.

Did you hear that? Taxation doesn't lead to Kyoto. But even with the discovery of Bakken (#4), and the Wyoming governor is endorsing Obama (#6) because neither wants to drill for the portion of the formation in that state.

Moreover, Rush deciphers the reality of Obama, as does Rove:

Have you gotten to know Hillary or Barack to any degree?
Yes, I have.

What have been your dealings with them?
Well, you know, I used to have her office at the White House. And I got to know [Obama] because we have a mutual friend, Ken Mehlman, who was his law-school classmate at Harvard. And so as a result, whenever in the last three years he's been around at the White House, I've gotten to see him, and we sort of would hang around and chitchat about things. I'm actually in his book. He wrote that "people like Newt Gingrich, Tom Delay, Ralph Reed, and Karl Rove say we are a Christian nation." And I did not say that. I confronted him about it. At the White House.

And what did he say?
Well, first he denied that I was in the book! And then he denied that it said that I said that it was a Christian nation. And then when I pulled out the thing [he had a copy of the offensive page with him] and showed it to him, he sort of blah-blah-blah-blah-blah- blah-blah. And I thought, That's who he is. I mean, look, he may claim that he's for a different kind of politics, but that was a cheap shot. And I'm not certain if any of the four said it either. But it was like, you know, Let's just strap it in there and see if it goes someplace. Another example: Him saying, "We honor John McCain for his fifty years of service" was a cheap shot. He was going out of his way to say John McCain's old.

Certain Reservations, Bar None

Planned Parenthood has accepted money to abort Black babies. Don't read too much into this. It's exactly as it sounds, euthanasia with a smiley face and a side dose of racism. And a terror gang plotted to blow up transatlantic airlines with liquid bombs, as heard in court. No, this is not gov't making up a case to crack down on our individual liberties. This is terrorism that would have rivaled previous acts if successful. Qaddhafi’s version of the origin of America, NATO, Iran and the Ummah. They say a fool is a man who cannot shet his trap. He's a smug fit for that description. The plight of terrorized Sudan Christians is ignored. Two million Sudanese Christians died as a result of the 05 war. Yes – that’s two with six zeros. Meanwhile, a Christian cemetery in Shechem (Hebron) was desecrated. Well, lives in Sudan, property in territories – par for the course.

Muslims are converting from Islam in droves, and
the decline in Palestinian Arab fertility should matter, particularly as Jewish refugees’ assets are double their counterparts’ and Arab nations are being stingy with their pledges to PA.

In true Pallywood style, a German news agency pays Arabs to riot. After Condi forced the IDF to loosen some checkpoint security, the latter encountered and eliminated six armed militants. Hamas is hiding weapons under UNRWA schools, and its new Iranian mortars are more deadly than the Qassams.

In the meantime, Czechs support Israel joining NATO, and Australia to Continue to Support Israel at UN.

The Midnight Train

Democrat voters must be very happy. The guy who's currently winning the popular vote (largely due to Cook County and the absence of Florida and Michigan) also might get more superdelegates. The catch that goes with "change we can believe in": Because he can dish out more money.

Looks like the Supreme Court doesn't want to get involved in the Legislative-Executive tug of war, even when doing so endangers foul play. Here's a memo to the Supremes: a lower court decided it could have a say in federal affairs by striking down an even lower court's decision to limit corruption. You guys can do the right thing. Meantime, you just sent Legislators a message that they can get away with shit without much apprehension. Great job.

A lot of people are starting to notice the Arrogance of Obama. He'd previously described Wright as "mentor," "spiritual adviser," "moral compass" and "sounding board." But on The View:

"I feel badly that he has been characterized in just this one way. But he was my pastor. I think people overstate this idea of mentor or spiritual adviser. He was my pastor."

An AT contributor writes:

The real question is, why do major NATO powers such as Germany oppose NATO expansion into Tbilisi and Kyiv? The answer is simple and extremely short sighted. Several West European powers have sold their souls to Russia to make sure that they can get a steady supply of oil.

While Russia may have a different mindset from European democracies, and the Russian people whom I have met overseas do not really want a Western style democracy, the fact of the matter is that Russia should not be allowed to interfere in NATO decisions. And Gazprom, the Russian State oil company, has proven itself to be an unreliable trading partner. Gazprom has threatened to shut off supplies to not only The Ukraine and West Europe, but has also threatened the same with its own allies like Belarus. With friends like Putin and Gazprom, who needs enemies?

As many of you know, a storm of controversy has been ignited by Obama calling unplanned teen pregnancies "punishments." Even the Washington Post has dug through Obama's past. Of course, at issue on this is the next couple of Supreme Court Justices, and the fact that every child born after the mid-70s can look their parent in the eye and know that they could have been that constitutionally aborted fetus, which might explain the possible upsurge in pro-lifers.

We can still take advantage of Germany acting the hypocrite.

Not Saying That I Agree With This, But...

Read this doc on Scribd: WWMD? 50 Things Muslims DON'T Want You To Know