It would appear that the ambulance chasers in England are part of the Tory coalition???

Today's Scare Quotes

Notice that "free-slave" is in scare quotes. The BBC makes me want to puke a river.

It's where NorKorCom dhimmi Demick cribbed her trade from...

Strategy Page: The Price Is Right

Strategy Page strikes again:

March 5, 2005: American troops often get the feeling they are in the middle of the ultimate gang war. Most of the Iraqi gangs are strictly about crime. Often, the crime is extortion and kidnapping, two techniques also used by the terrorists trying to bring the government down. The terrorists demand that people not work for the government (including providing information), or else. The gangsters demand money, and not to call the police, or else. When foreigners are kidnapped, the first thing you have to figure out is whether the victim was grabbed for ransom, or for political reasons. Increasingly, it's always for money, with politics often used in an effort to throw off the police investigation. The criminal and political gangs frequently work together, and the gangsters will help out with the terrorism, if the price is right.

...

In the past, Americans would pick up everyone in the vicinity of a raid. But Iraqi cops conduct, or are along, on most raids now, and they are able to spot the innocents, and leave them alone. Arrested Iraqis are in despair if Americans haul them off to prison, because the American guards cannot be bribed, although there are constant attempts. American prison officials are wondering how long it will be until Iraqi corruption taints American soldiers.

Of course, it's well known that prison guards in the U.S. often develop myriad behavior problems if not corruption. The left would think you dim enough to use that as justification to free the thugs -- in both Iraq and the U.S. of course.

You, on the other hand, know you don't want your son or daughter killed and are willing to spend the money on the prison guards. And both you and the prison guards are willing to make the deal.

Nuff said.

Hugh has the definitive diss of dhimmi Demick. Definitely deserved.

Help the Captain! I will be later today. Time for Tea Party II, I'm afraid.

"After all, how do we know for sure this blog isn't written on a typewriter?" Ra^ther to Pyongyang -- I'll pay for the ticket.

Do not watch that hand!

Salamabit!

Imagine a 1938 Los Angeles Times piece, "Germany, Without the Rancor": "There is love among the Nazis. There is hate. There is fighting. There is charity....People marry. They divorce. They make blond children..." Yes. Definitely time to institute the Duranty prize. And no question as to the first recipient either...

UPDATE: And don't miss Power Line's fisk!

OK, HOW COULD I FORGET THIS?

"Duane,

Following up on our conversation earlier this afternoon, here's our position regarding today's North Korea article:

Today's article was not intended to be a comprehensive look at life in North Korea today, or a broad report on the history of the country. As the article said, it was the view of one person close to the government of North Korea -- a "rare insight into the view from the other side of the geopolitical divide." The man had been a diplomat. He was trying to solicit foreign investment, although he said it was his personal view.

The Times has published as well the perspectives on the history, the living conditions, the point of view of the U.S. government and general Western view of North Korea. However, for obvious reasons, reporters cannot get to North Korea and rarely speak with official or elite North Koreans. That's why today's story sought to capture a point of view for readers that The Times is not normally able to present in regular coverage.

Regards,
David

Director, Media Relations
Los Angeles Times "

This astonishing bit of clap-trap does not even attempt to answer why the paper would carry this piece without any context about the regime --context that is not debatable. It is as though Murrow or Shirer were reporting on German repression of the Jews in 1938, but only parroting Goebbels' line.

Here's Why Should Just Go To Glenn's Today

Nuttier than a Ku Klux Clock.

And did you know I'm headed for prison?

McCain and Feingold have managed to foster real bipartisanship -- they've gotten liberal and conservative bloggers alike to detest them. Jerome Armstrong at MyDD, Atrios, and DailyKos all agree -- this legislation has become a serious threat to political speech, and John McCain and Russ Feingold have become two of the most dangerous politicians to American liberty since Huey Long. Jerome makes the point that the problem at the moment are the three Democratic FEC commissioners who appear intent on enforcing the law as McCain and Feingold insist, but both parties had a hand in creating this fiasco.

And Kos and I will be cellmates in the new gulag? Who'd a thunk it???

"All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?" (Hat tip Glenn)

Hold that missile bacon, eh?

Ever Wonder?

Have you ever wondered why libs are still frothing at the mouth about how Saddam was "getting better" and was "no threat" to the world? Never mind gassing the Kurds and the Iranians. [Oops -- flush that reference to the Iranians down the memory hole pronto! Evil. Mullahs. Good. There. All gone.]

As I was saying, those Kurds were some nasty people and had it coming!



Anyway, since the libs don't believe in either grace or actually exerting themselves to achieve good works, they roll up a synthetic substitute of effortless rehabilitation.

Anyone can get better they tell you.



After all, they will need their own doctrine to forgive themselves for what they have been doing to the world lately...

This Could Be Unbelievable!

It's scary for Democrats, I have to say.

And then be absolutely sure to scroll down to read about Ted Kennedy's Klansman soulmate in the memory (hole) department. Makes me want to change my first name...

Never mind the Ten Commandments. Holy. Freakin. Sh*t.

Apocalypse MSM: NYeT.

Why The Left Hates The Military: A Comment

Found on MJT's blog:

The left hates the military because it is made up of young people, many of whom are women and minorites, that for the most part come from lower income families. That's their demographic! But these people are different. They have the nerve to take responsibility for their lives, rather than rail against "the man", wrap themselves in vicim-hood status and sue for equality through watever legislation that can be packaged as "levelling the playing field" or "giving a leg up".

What's even more perplexing to the left is that many in the military really love their country. I'm talking about real pride here, not the "I support the troops, but" category that is the best most on the left can do. Benjamin from yesterday illustrates this. MJT posts some nice pictures from PR, and all Ben can do is run off to dig up whatever dirt he thinks casts America in a bad light. Typical and disgusting.

Yessum massa lefties...

W's trust is working...

Sleeping Too Many Times

Just caught Richard Miniter on Hannity and Colmes saying a congress-critter had told him the FBI said it had broken up / interrupted 106(!!!) sleeper terror cells in the U.S. in the last 3 years!!!

Can you say nearly one a week?

I thought you couldn't.

Wait. I have an idea! Let's spend all our energy making sure that we don't introduce any uncertainty in terrorists about whether we'll be nice to them. Why hasn't anyone thought of that yet?

I love the ACLU. Not.

199 Cuckoo clocks on the wall...

A Comment On "Democracy At The Point Of A Gun"

Comment caught on CQ:

Those same people that made "democracy at the point of a gun" statement always overlooked the fact that the dictators were keeping democracy out at gunpoint. I doubt they didn't realize it, they just didn't want to mention it because it showed how much they truly hate the freedom we have. They know that free people will never willingly give in to the socialism they crave and firmly believe that they will be part of the ruling elite of if they can ever force it on us. It has to really bother them when they realize the only way they'll ever impose it on us is at that proverbial gunpoint., not that it will ever stop them if they think they have a chance of getting by with it.

Well, yeah.

Preview: The Paranoid Roots Of The Apocalypse

Deacon and Dr. Sanity (see here also) have some comments on paranoia today. Sound familiar?

Dr. Sanity has the better of the scrimmage:

The Paranoid solution to unacceptable thoughts or feelings is to say, "If I am having these bad thoughts or feeling or behaviors, then someone else must be to blame and is making me do it." The Paranoid person does not take responsibility for his own thoughts or feelings or behaviors.

The healthy individual's solution is to take responsibility for his or her thoughts,feelings, and behaviors. Even if it is painful to acknowledge. But by owning his or her feelings, the healthy individual is able to exert control over inappropriate behavior that might spring from those feelings.

Another way of saying this is that you cannot choose the feelings that you experience- emotions are not generally under conscious control; but you can choose how to act on those feelings, because behavior is under conscious control.

Paranoia strikes deep. It will creep into your heart when you are afraid of your own feelings and try to disown them by blaming the "Jews", the "Blacks", or "Gays" or even President Bush. History has been littered with millions of dead bodies resulting from the denial, distortion and projection of paranoid leaders like Hitler,Stalin, Hussein, and Bin Laden. But those people had followers who believed just as they did, and did most of their dirty work.

You have to stop, look and see what's going down in your own heart if you want to understand how such evil can exist.

[My emphasis in red, bolding in the original by Dr. Sanity.]

Here my friends is food for thought that strikes at the heart of the apocalypse. Ponder it for I will have more to say -- but you should be able to put the pieces together for yourself in advance now...

Leo Circles Ward ...

... like this:

For a stark vision of what cultural liberalism has come to, consider the breakdown of the universities, the fortresses of the 1960s cultural liberals and their progeny. Students are taught that objective judgments are impossible. All knowledge is compromised by issues of power and bias. Therefore, there is no way to come to judgment about anything, since judgment itself rests on quicksand. This principle, however, is suspended when the United States and western culture are discussed, because the West is essentially evil and guilty of endless crimes. Better to declare a vague transnational identity and admiration for the United Nations.

Churchill would not be the least but surprising to me if not for the long list of "bonus" atrocities like outright incitement to violence caught on tape, bogus claims to minority status, and blatant copyright theft of artwork.

But now that I think of it I'm amazed this isn't more pervasive.

For I believe that large parts of our university system have become the replacement for our now-dismantled mental hospitals.

That Karl Rove is one smart dude I tell you...

Comment Of The Day

Goes to LizardAbroad on the Austin Bay blog re the Steyn / Bay debate on the Eurabian (lack of) future:

A couple points from an American who lives in Germany:

1. The politicians here don’t have any silent plans to deal with problems either. They’re not that bright. Education here has very little to do with the development of critical thinking skills and everything to do with reinforcing the dominant ideas. It is a rationalist intellectual tradition….empiricism takes too much time and effort. Furthermore, the paternalist Staat ensures that citizens are shielded from the vicissitudes of the real world (with the help of the American military shield). The result is a nation of whose adults think as do college sophomores. They don’t have so much to learn as to unlearn.

2. Independent thought and action required considerably more moral courage here than in the States. There is just simply not the same individualism here. Don’t forget also, that the government here is party-based and within the parties they play for keeps. Vicious. Mavericks are dealt with, and so the only real chance would be a new party. The Greens were the last to really bridge the gap from fringe to influential, and there is no Reaganite party on the horizon.

3. Fischer is just as teflon-coated as before. He is in insufferable ass, but that falls under “he says what I wish I could bring myself to say” here. There is alternative.

4. Let’s not forget our basic economics here, shall we? Why has this massive influx of Moslem immigrants occured? Political persecution at home and economic opportunities in Europe. Thanks to W and friends, persecution is heading for a serious decline, and economic opportunities in the Middle East will improve. As Europe declines, the difference won’t be worth packing the U-Haul and filling out the paperwork. In fact, expect a goodly number to head back.

5. Radical Islam never developed the “vale of tears” idea of this world that Christianity did. Islamicism is supposed to be a recipe for earthly happiness as well. So who’s doing more for the earthly happiness of the Moslem world that all the venom-spewing imams put together? Expect that as information becomes freer that disinformation will be easier to spot.

6. With the birthrates I can’t help much, or at least not much that wouldn’t get me in a great deal of trouble with the wife. They must have a basic idea here of how it’s done, because it’s on TV constantly. The problem is, what you see there makes you want to yell “No, no, no, that’s not right! That isn’t how it’s done! I’ve seen it done better in a kennel!". Seriously, what they show has all the romance of a dog humping a chair leg.

Actually, refer back to my college sophomores point. One’s not ready to be a parent until one is ready to stop being a child. Another strike against paternalism. But I imagine that they’ll manage to figure out some sort of financial incentive.

All these need development, but it’s late and I’ve got to work to support those who can’t or won’t.

Comment by LizardAbroad — 2/27/2005 @ 6:31 pm

I refer back to Spock's thesis on residue. Europe is America's residue and the Middle East is theirs.

Bush has realized that the only hope is an end run around Europe directly at their residue. It may not work of course. But at least we'll be able to sleep at night when things get really ugly knowing that we tried.

I couldn't support the effort more.

But I still suspect things are going to get really ugly despite our best efforts. How I wish it weren't so...

"Hotel journalists" struggle to invoke the memory hole to avoid the circular firing squad.

Lost In The KGB MSM Paranoia Time Warp

Roger has a stunning catch on Putin via Newsweek:

When Bush confronted his Russian counterpart about the freedom of the press in Russia, Putin shot back with an attack of his own: "We didn't criticize you when you fired those reporters at CBS."

It's not clear how well Putin understands the controversy that led to the dismissal of four CBS journalists over the discredited report on Bush's National Guard service. Yet it's all too clear how Putin sees the relationship between Bush and the American media-just like his own. Bush's aides have long feared that former KGB officers in Putin's inner circle are painting a twisted picture of U.S. policy. So Bush explained how he had no power to fire American journalists. It made little difference. When the two presidents emerged for their joint press conference, one Russian reporter repeated Putin's language about journalists getting fired. Bush (already hot after an earlier question about his spying on U.S. citizens) asked the reporter if he felt free. "They obviously planted the question," said one of Bush's senior aides.

No doubt they did. This squares with my experiences in Russia pre and post Soviet Union. Paranoia, alas, is buried deep in the Russian soul, probably from the time of the Tsars or even before. It destroys their society. At least there's a funny part in this case. We all know something those "crafty" KGB-types would never believe - that Charles Johnson had more to do with the "firing" of Dan Rather and company than George Bush.

Now we know why Putin baldly claimed recently that Iran is not trying to build nukes! Mentally wrenched by paranoia or cynical equivocation designed to manipulate -- will it matter to the end result?

We do know that the Soviets were just rational enough to refrain from pressing the button in the MADness of WWIII. The question is whether it was from a morose, resigned, defeated paranoia or from one that has not actually surrendered -- and in fact only declared a hudna.

Unfortunately, my money is on BOTH.

The Primary Victims ...

will continue to be Muslim women, as Captain's Quarters notes:

The Germans have hate-speech regulations that deter criticism of Muslim practices, although not as strict as those in Sweden, but the political correctness has taken its toll on the protection of Muslim women. The Germans have allowed moral relativism to supplant the one-law construct that Western societies have gradually adopted since the sealing of the Magna Carta, creating a substructure of de facto shari'a to develop in its Muslim community with little pushback from the German government.

That PC instinct spells trouble for Germany in dealing with its Muslim population, and for any country that does not enforce its laws equally among its population -- as American history demonstrates more than adequately in its civil-rights struggles. Germany needs to decide whether it wants to remain a united social construct or allow itself to become balkanized internally, with various minority groups conducting their own law enforcement, legislative, and judicial functions independent of the elected German government. If they do not have the will to enforce German law in Muslim communities, they will have begun the process by which civil wars start. In the meantime, the primary victims of German PCism will continue to be Muslim women, at the hands of their own families.

Very sad yet very true...