Category: Politics

A utopia?

According to John Kowalski and to Michael Moore, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was an idyllic paradise where everyone was happy, healthy, and well-fed, where nobody had any complaints. The trains ran on time, the government was sovereign and legitimate, no government employees worked with banned weapons, and terrorists were the enemy of the state. I wonder … Continue reading “A utopia?”

According to John Kowalski and to Michael Moore, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was an idyllic paradise where everyone was happy, healthy, and well-fed, where nobody had any complaints. The trains ran on time, the government was sovereign and legitimate, no government employees worked with banned weapons, and terrorists were the enemy of the state.

I wonder what these boys are smoking.

Moore’s the Pity

If you haven’t made up your mind about just how vile Michael Moore really is, go read Jonathon Foreman’s review: But you certainly don’t have to be a fan of Bush or his policies to be offended by “Fahrenheit 9/11” lies, half-lies and distortions, or by Moore’s shockingly low expectations of his audience: Moore’s favorite … Continue reading “Moore’s the Pity”

If you haven’t made up your mind about just how vile Michael Moore really is, go read Jonathon Foreman’s review:

But you certainly don’t have to be a fan of Bush or his policies to be offended by “Fahrenheit 9/11” lies, half-lies and distortions, or by Moore’s shockingly low expectations of his audience:

  • Moore’s favorite anti-administration interviewee is former National Security Council aide Richard Clarke. Yet the film never mentions that it was Clarke who gave the order to spirit the bin Laden family out of America immediately after 9/11. Moore makes much of this mystery; why didn’t he ask Clarke about it ?
  • At one point of the film, he portrays GIs as moronic savages who work themselves up with music before setting out to kill. Later, he depicts them as proletarian victims of a cynical ruling class, who deserve sympathy and honor for their sacrifice.
  • The film’s amusing (if bordering on racist) Saudi-bashing sequences rely for their effect on the audience having forgotten that President Bill Clinton was every bit as friendly with Prince Bandar (or “Bandar Bush,” as Moore calls him) and the Saudi monarchy as his successor. In general, the movie is packed with points that Moore assumes his audience will never check, or are either lies or cleverly hedged half-lies:
  • Moore says that the Saudis have paid the Bush family $1.4 billion. But wait ?the Bushes aren’t billionaires. If you watch the film a second time you’ll note Moore saying that they paid $1.4 billion to the Bush family and (added very quietly and quickly) its friends and associates.
  • Moore asserts that the Afghan war was fought only to enable the Unocal company to build a pipeline. In fact, Unocal dropped that idea back in August 1998. Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan are looking at the idea now, but nothing has come of it so far, and in any case Unocal has nothing to do with it.
  • In a “congressmen with no kids at war” stunt, Moore claims that no one in Congress has a son or daughter fighting in America’s armed services, then approaches several congressmen in the street and asks them to sign up and send their kids to Iraq. His claim would certainly surprise Sgt. Brooks Johnson of the 101st Airborne, the son of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). And for that matter the active-duty sons of Sen. Joseph Biden and Attorney General John Ashcroft, among others.

    • The most offensive sequence in “Fahrenheit 9/11″‘s long two hours lasts only a few minutes. It’s Moore’s file-footage depiction of happy Iraq before the Americans began their supposedly pointless invasion. You see men sitting in cafes, kids flying kites, women shopping. Cut to bombs exploding at night.

    What Moore presumably doesn’t know, or simply doesn’t care about, is that the building you see being blown up is the Iraqi Ministry of Defense in Baghdad. Not many children flew kites there. It was in a part of the city that ordinary Iraqis weren’t allowed to visit ? on pain of death.

    The most offensive — and most blatantly false — part of the movie is the depiction of life under Saddam. Had Saddam been a Republican, Moore would have painted a very different picture.

    Support for the working man

    Lefties never tire of telling us of the depth of their compassion for the poor and downtrodden; it’s probably their favorite mantra. But so often, when the tire hits the road we find that this pretension is bullshit and they’re really the party of hate: Think about the Seattle area — Bainbridge Island to be … Continue reading “Support for the working man”

    Lefties never tire of telling us of the depth of their compassion for the poor and downtrodden; it’s probably their favorite mantra. But so often, when the tire hits the road we find that this pretension is bullshit and they’re really the party of hate:

    Think about the Seattle area — Bainbridge Island to be exact — and you think scenic views and liberal-minded tolerance.

    At least the killer views are still there.

    The bucolic island’s deep reputation for civility got a gut check this week during the annual Grand Old Fourth of July celebration.

    That’s when Jason Gilson, a 23-year-old military veteran who served in Iraq, marched in the local event. He wore his medals with pride and carried a sign that said “Veterans for Bush.”
    Walking the parade route with his mom, younger siblings and politically conservative friends, Jason heard words from the crowd that felt like a thousand daggers to the heart.

    “Baby killer!”

    “Murderer!”

    “Boooo!”

    To understand why the reaction of strangers hurt so much, you must read what the young man had written in a letter from Iraq before he was disabled in an ambush:

    “I really miss being in the states. Some of the American public have no idea how much freedom costs and who the people are that pay that awful price. I think sometimes people just see us as nameless and faceless and not really as humans. … A good portion of us are actually scared that when we come home, for those of us who make it back, that there will be protesters waiting for us and that is scary.”

    This much of the Liberation of Iraq is just like Vietnam.

    All flounce, no bounce

    Illustrious politico John Ellis lays Mopsy low: Voter reaction to the selection of Senator John Edwards as the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee-designate has been tepid, to say the least. If you average out the public polls taken since Tuesday’s announcement, you find almost no “bounce.” This has been the talk of the political community for … Continue reading “All flounce, no bounce”

    Illustrious politico John Ellis lays Mopsy low:

    Voter reaction to the selection of Senator John Edwards as the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee-designate has been tepid, to say the least. If you average out the public polls taken since Tuesday’s announcement, you find almost no “bounce.” This has been the talk of the political community for the last two days.

    When you make the safe choice, you often get burned. Does Kerry plan to dump Edwards for a richer candidate before November?

    Why Bush will win

    It’s becoming increasingly apparent that President Bush will win re-election this November. The polls show him widening his lead over Flopsy and Mopsy, despite the bounce Dems expected with the announcement of the safe choice VP. The reason for the eventual success of the President is actually quite simple: he’s running unopposed. Not in the … Continue reading “Why Bush will win”

    It’s becoming increasingly apparent that President Bush will win re-election this November. The polls show him widening his lead over Flopsy and Mopsy, despite the bounce Dems expected with the announcement of the safe choice VP.

    The reason for the eventual success of the President is actually quite simple: he’s running unopposed. Not in the literal sense, of course; the Dems will place a nominal candidate against him, and many will vote for him simply because they hate Bush. But the Dems aren’t going to run a real candidate until 2008 when the country will be ripe for a split government and to take a break from the arduous work of fighting the terror networks and their state sponsors (like Saddam.)

    The cipher candidate has announced contradictory positions on every important issue, and most recently has fallen back into the traditional Democratic Party platform of giveaways and fanciful foreign policies. Kerry wants to give us free medical care, free college, lower corporate taxes, more police and fireman, higher teacher salaries, and a completely green environment. And he’s going to do all this by taxing foreign corporations and the upper 3% of citizens. All of that, with so little pain.

    As if that weren’t silly enough, the invisible man proposes to solve the Iraq problem by turning it over to the UN and to NATO, in some unspecific power-sharing arrangement that won’t relieve the US of the need to pay the bills for more and better Iraqi security forces. Unfortunately, the UN and NATO aren’t willing to take orders from Mr. Kerry, any more than foreign corporations are going to pay him taxes on their activities outside the US. But the Easter Bunny will apparently join the Kerry Administration as Chief of Staff and make it all work.

    Like I said, Bush is running unopposed.

    France opposes UN Sudan sanctions

    Once again we find the government of France up to its old tricks, opposing international action to stop genocide in Sudan in order to protect its oil deals: Some one million people have fled their homes and at least 10,000 have been killed in what the UN calls “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” A rebellion … Continue reading “France opposes UN Sudan sanctions”

    Once again we find the government of France up to its old tricks, opposing international action to stop genocide in Sudan in order to protect its oil deals:

    Some one million people have fled their homes and at least 10,000 have been killed in what the UN calls “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”

    A rebellion broke out in Darfur early last year, when two groups took up arms, accusing the government of ignoring the region.

    “In Darfur, it would be better to help the Sudanese get over the crisis so their country is pacified rather than sanctions which would push them back to their misdeeds of old,” junior Foreign Minister Renaud Muselier told French radio.

    France led opposition to US moves at the UN over Iraq. As was the case in Iraq, France also has significant oil interests in Sudan.

    While the UN has agreed to send in a token force of 300, most agree that it will take at least 10,000 to stop the genocide. So it falls on President Bush and Prime Minister Blair to stand up for the human rights of the black Sudanese.

    And if they do, will the media report the story fully and accurately, or will we get a replay of the “quagmire” stories that seem to be the dominant sort of war reporting since Vietnam?

    The BBC report linked here surprised me, given that the Queen’s network reported the liberation of Iraq as if it were the English language service of Al Jazeera.

    Bush-Cheney widen lead over Flopsy-Mopsy

    The latest AP/Ipsos poll shows the President increasing his lead over Kerry to 4 percent, as voters are unimpressed with Edwards: The three-day survey began Monday, the day before Kerry tapped Edwards as his running mate, and asked registered voters about the newly minted ticket on Tuesday and Wednesday. Half supported the Republican tandem of … Continue reading “Bush-Cheney widen lead over Flopsy-Mopsy”

    The latest AP/Ipsos poll shows the President increasing his lead over Kerry to 4 percent, as voters are unimpressed with Edwards:

    The three-day survey began Monday, the day before Kerry tapped Edwards as his running mate, and asked registered voters about the newly minted ticket on Tuesday and Wednesday. Half supported the Republican tandem of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney (news – web sites) while 46 percent backed the Kerry-Edwards ticket, just within that question’s margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

    Voters said they were feeling better about the economy and no worse about Iraq (news – web sites), a sign that Bush may be regaining his political footing just as Democrats make a high-profile push toward their nominating convention in late July.

    “I want Bush in there, because the other guy is like sending a boy to do a man’s job,” said Glenn Foldessy, 45, of Streetsboro, Ohio, outside Cleveland. Foldessy, who usually votes Republican, said Edwards made the Democratic ticket stronger, but not strong enough.

    So much for bounce, eh?

    Link John Marfoe

    Let’s indict the real crooks

    So Ken Lay has been indicted for the stock swindles he perpetrated through the Enron Corporation, and much is made of his history as the largest contributor to the Republican Party, but what about the serious swindlers? I’m referring to the Dot Com Swindle, by far the largest illegal transfer of wealth in the history … Continue reading “Let’s indict the real crooks”

    So Ken Lay has been indicted for the stock swindles he perpetrated through the Enron Corporation, and much is made of his history as the largest contributor to the Republican Party, but what about the serious swindlers? I’m referring to the Dot Com Swindle, by far the largest illegal transfer of wealth in the history of business. The Democratic Party’s largest donor in the last election is a fellow named Steve Kirsch, the Dot Com swindler behind Infoseek.

    The Dot Com swindlers were so bold they make California energy profiteers blush, but where’s the accountability? If Kerry and Edwards will pledge to prosecute the Steve Kirsch’s of the world, they would win my vote in a heartbeat.

    But we all know they wouldn’t dare.

    Moveon’s bin Laden connection

    Everybody who’s seen or read about Michael Moore’s pseudo-documentary knows that the Bush family is connected to the bin Ladens through the shadowy Carlyle Group, but how many know about this connection: Liberal activist George Soros has a stake in the Carlyle Group–the organization Moore uses to make the Bush-Bin Laden link–that dwarves that of … Continue reading “Moveon’s bin Laden connection”

    Everybody who’s seen or read about Michael Moore’s pseudo-documentary knows that the Bush family is connected to the bin Ladens through the shadowy Carlyle Group, but how many know about this connection:

    Liberal activist George Soros has a stake in the Carlyle Group–the organization Moore uses to make the Bush-Bin Laden link–that dwarves that of the Bush family.

    Moveon.org is practically a wholly-owned activity of Soros, its biggest supporter, so here we see how the bin Ladens intend to run Bush from office, the better to carry out their nefarious plots against America.

    Why doesn’t the left want you to know this?