Dan Darling has a pretty depressing report on the aftereffects of this incident. More on Iraq here.

Posted by John Climacus at 12:33 | Permalink

What a great piece of journalism - in the New Yorker - a document for history:

When Khomeini let her return, his son Ahmed gave Fallaci some advice: his father was still very angry, so she’d better not even mention the word “chador.” Fallaci turned the tape recorder back on and immediately revisited the subject. “First he looked at me in astonishment,” she said. “Total astonishment. Then his lips moved in a shadow of a smile. Then the shadow of a smile became a real smile. And finally it became a laugh. He laughed, yes. And, when the interview was over, Ahmed whispered to me, ‘Believe me, I never saw my father laugh. I think you are the only person in this world who made him laugh.’ ”

Be still my heart; if only I was thirty years older...

Posted by John Climacus at 11:35 | Permalink | Comments (5)

Sucks.

The good thing about Verizon DSL is it does not always work so it forces you to appreciate the times you are able to access the Internet. Smelling the roses and such. If you could just log on and stay logged on I guess you would get complacent.

But in our neck of the woods Verizon DSL cuts off frequently, especially late at night.

You can't complain to Verizon - they have institutional safeguards preventing you from ever being able to express your dissatisfaction to a Verizon employee. You can fill out a Web form, which I did about two weeks ago, and of course no one at Verizon gives a crap so you get no response.

So we are stuck here with 'Verizon High Speed DSL' which is marginally faster than dial up and often does not work.

I would PAY for consistent Internet access. Anyone out there interested in providing it?

Too bad DirecTV could not make their ISP service work. Satellite was once our savior; satellite is dead. Long Live Cable.

Though I grew up hating cable, I think that's the direction I'll be going. Adelphia is the only other company with a wire to my house. Is that pathetic or what?

Posted by John Climacus at 10:30 | Permalink | Comments (4)

With Jack Bauer on a slow boat to China, the NFL on hiatus, C-SPAN mostly PISSING ME OFF and the Sopranos about to conclude another short season, I can say without hesitation Glenn Beck's new program on CNN Headline News is the Best Show on Television.

I discovered Glenn Beck last year on the radio; like most of the talk radio guys he's on when most of us have to work but I occasionally heard him while driving out for lunch.

His radio show is extremely entertaining because he is intelligent (i.e. conservative) but also very funny in a snarky and often self-mocking sort of way.

A conservative who does not take himself too seriously? I swear, they DO exist.

(Actually, though you'd never guess it from his television program, Hannity has this quality on radio - where he's really at his best.)

I was traveling a few weeks ago and switched on Headline News and what do you know, CNN gave Beck his own show! And it's GREAT! Highly irreverent, cool, semi-avant-garde production values, and one of his first 'expert' guests was the 'Ask a Mexican' guy.

Right away, I knew this show was going places.

Now, CNN has done a really smart thing and they repeat the show three times in the evening, I think at 7:00, 9:00 and midnight.

Evidence of why this is so smart was the other night while the immigration debate in the Senate was going full blast. I switched on Hannity and Colmes and they were discussing the Duke rape case.

This, even though you can be certain O'Reilly had discussed it the previous hour, and you know damn well Greta would be Beatin' it to Death (TM) the next hour. So what the hell are Hannity and Colmes doing?

That, my friends, is what I call "formulaic programming" and that had me lurching for the TV remote and switching over to Glenn Beck. I predict many, many of my fellow Americans will be doing the same thing.

Here's an example of why I love this guy, from the transcript to Friday's show (and, yes, the transcripts are easily accessible on the CNN site - another example of the "we try harder guys" going the extra yard).

This was a mini-documentary of Glenn at home, with him doing this deadpan tour of his house:

BECK: Hi. Welcome to my house. This is just kind of a place that I can get away from it all. Just, you know, leave the television behind. Leave the radio after three hours on the radio every day and then an hour on television. It`s a place where I can come and just, you know, not be the TV guy. Just relax and leave it all behind. Leave it at the office.

So this is -- this is our kitchen. And you can really never have enough counter space.

[Wife appears in rear of picture]

Dani, this is about me.

[Moves to empty room]

We needed a room where we would just keep carpet remnants and so we just keep carpet remnants in here. And it`s working out pretty well for us here.

Just to keep those -- in case we ever need the carpet pieces, we have them here.

[Moves to rec room]

This is where, you know, we would have friends over to play pool and just kind of hang out. Unfortunately, I don`t know how to play pool, and you know, we don`t really have any friends. So, but, if I -- I come up here and I imagine having fun with friends and stuff like that.

[Touches pool table]

Do you even know what this thing is? It`s kind of cool.

Yes, I think the premise on this -- I think it comes with balls and...

[Looks in pockets around the table]

...no, surprisingly enough, it doesn`t.

[Moves to closet]

So these are the four tuxedos that I have. And it`s not -- it`s not that it`s, you know, excessive.

It`s that I have such great weight fluctuations: This one is really fat. This one is semi-fat. This one is REALLY fat. And this one is my current weight.

And so every time I have to go give a speech -- you know, there should be a place where you can just go and borrow them for an event.

Glenn Beck was born for this job.

Anyway - BRAVO, CNN! Great job in landing this guy.

I strongly encourage you to check out the Glenn Beck show on CNN Headline News whenever Fox News Channel is resting on its laurels and feeding us the same WAY OVERCOVERED stories over and over, i.e. most nights.

Posted by John Climacus at 01:20 | Permalink

I've been remiss about posting here the past week because of other commitments and not following the news too closely. I've got no issues or interests at the moment, I'm sorry to say. If I tried to write about the current events of my personal life, I guarantee you would be checking your watch right from the word "The."

Yet, I am compelled to blog.

In the interest of blogging about something without the added burdens of expertise or even knowledge, I have devised a new Alpaca Burger Forum continuing series: Me commenting, blind, on whatever happens to be the top story at Lucianne.com at a given moment. This could be really good or, more likely, really bad.

Hold it a second, I need to run to the kitchen first...

Ok, that's better. Now, it is 11:40 pm on Saturday, May 27, 2006, and the top-listed story at Lucianne.com is:

'Reconquistador' claims of MEChA bashers laughable
Our view: Secessionist myth obscures student group's work for Hispanic learning

Well, this is not so bad. We can do this. Mr. Idiot says:

First, a quote from the article:

Santa Cruz said MEChA members support the humane treatment of illegal immigrants. Mechistas took part in the big marches of April 10 and were part of the human chain that formed around flag burners at Armory Park, trying to keep the peace.
MEChA wants to make a difference in the United States, not Mexico. The group's critics are simply fear-mongering by suggesting a secessionist movement. Such an event is as unlikely as the claim is laughable.

You'll want to visit this Web site for a little background on why some people might think the Aztlan secessionist movement is not so 'laughable.'

I'll gladly stipulate most activists protesting in favor of illegal immigration are as rationally grounded as those who take to the streets whenever the WTO meets or, frankly, whenever ANYTHING provides an excuse for the terminally bored to paint signs and march in the great outdoors. The professional protesters. The loud, pointless minority.

What the MEChA movement and allied organizations represent is the hard edge and ideological underpinning of the bad-guy side of the current conflict over illegal immigration in America. They're bound to lose - make no mistake. Most Americans watched the protests in April and May and said, Whoa Nellie! We got us a problem! The Mexican flags and upside-down American flags were the wake-up call this country's silent majority needed to stir, to get motivated, and take an active interest in immigration reform.

For that, we need to say, Thank you, MEChA!

But the knife-in-the-neck from the pro-illegals has been the revelation that non-citizens are availing themselves of social services in this country to a very large degree. Many have no intention of assimilating. A news report from Arizona the other day showed that many Mexicans are straddling the border - the kids dress up for school each day and attend American schools, and the families receive social welfare, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. And then they go home to Mexico each night.

They are not on a 'path to citizenship.' They have no intention of leaving Mexico, in fact. They are just taking what they can get.

This corresponds with what is happening in Northern Virginia. The illegal aliens for the most part are not 'troublemakers.' They simply arrive here, sign up for benefits, and create an outpost of Mexico. They shift the school priorities to English As A Second Language and Special Needs, they receive government benefits, they invite many more illegals to settle here with them in their homes, they do not speak English at home, they are no more becoming Americans than they are becoming Martians, and quietly they take what they can get.

At the same time they drive down wages for all kinds of blue-collar jobs, and quash property values by overcrowding houses and hampering the effectiveness of local schools.

Sure, these humble workers may not be ideological. But they are the foot soldiers of the movement the MEChA, Mexica, and Aztlan philosophers promote and attempt to mainstream as economic or social justice.

Do they want to take territory back for Mexico? We can't prove it, so who knows. Who cares if that is their stated intention?

What we do know is they have planted the Mexican flag on U.S. soil. The ideologists provide a reason for radicals to hit the streets in support of the migration and parasitic settlements.

Posted by John Climacus at 11:20 | Permalink

Sounds like a holy crap moment in DC:

The following is the e-mail that went out to All House Staff

Subject: An Emergency Exists for the Rayburn HOB - Shelter in Place Importance: High

This is a message from the U.S. Capitol Police

1. If you are in the Rayburn HOB then Shelter in Place. Quickly move into the nearest interior office space or interior hallway and away from windows. The Capitol Police are investigating reports of gunfire in the Rayburn HOB.
2. If nearby, grab Go-Kits and personal belongings.
3. Close doors behind you, but do not lock.
4. Remain calm.
5. Await further instructions. Do not leave the building.

Subject: Update - Report of Gunfire in Rayburn

The US Capitol Police are continuing to investigate the report of gunfire in the Rayburn House Office Building. The Capitol Building is open and accessible, but the Rayburn HOB continues to be closed.

All staff and other personnel are directed to avoid the Rayburn HOB until further notice.

UPDATE II: That same WTOP report has been updated and it looks like this could have been some guy dropping his toolbox at a construction site in the parking garage.

UPDATE III: I was listening to WTOP a moment ago and there is absolutely NO INFORMATION available beyond the above. One person was carried out on a gurney as a result of a panic attack. Everyone in the Rayburn Building remains confined to whatever room they were in when the alarm sounded. It sounds like the ongoing search is going to be everyone and everywhere in that building and parking garage, which could take a while.

If the dropped toolbox theory is true, I think it will be revealed relatively soon because why would the poor guy cover it up?

UPDATE IV: Heh.

Posted by John Climacus at 11:27 | Permalink

History will record the following individuals tried to write the closing chapter of Republican dominance of the U.S. Congress.

These Republican senators all voted for S.2611; and the White House is now lobbying House Republicans to roll over in conference and vote against their constituents' wishes. Because, as we all know, every incumbent lawmaker is bulletproof.

Robert Bennett (UT): (202) 224-5444
Sam Brownback (KS): (202) 224-6521
Lincoln Chafee (RI): (202) 224-2921
Norm Coleman (MN): (202) 224-5641
Susan Collins (ME) (202) 224-2523
Larry Craig (ID): (202) 224-2752
Mike DeWine (OH): (202) 224-2315
Pete Domenici (NM): (202) 224-6621
Bill Frist (TN): (202) 224-3344
Lindsay Graham (SC): (202) 224-5972
Judd Gregg (NH): (202) 224-3324
Chuck Hagel (NE): (202) 224-4224
Richard Lugar (IN): (202) 224-4814
Mel Martinez (FL): (202) 224-3041
John McCain (AZ): (202) 224-2235
Mitch McConnell (KY): (202) 224-2541
Lisa Murkowski (AK): (202) 224-6665
Gordon Smith (OR): (202) 224-3753
Olympia Snowe (ME): 202) 224-5344
Arlen Specter (PA): (202) 224-4254
Ted Stevens (AK): (202) 224-3004
George Voinovich (OH): (202) 224-3353
John Warner (VA): (202) 224-2023
George W. Bush: (202) 456-1111

Contact information is provided for general interest purposes only. They obviously did not get the message from our phone calls, e-mails and faxes over the past couple weeks, so the only useful thing to say now is AMF.

Posted by John Climacus at 09:35 | Permalink

Allah, now blogging over at Hot Air, makes the case for why it's pretty effing dumb for anyone who cares about national security to not support GOP candidates in November 2006:

...the stakes are simply too high for a protest vote (or non-vote), I think. I hate to say it — especially when the Senate is on the verge of passing that awful immigration bill — but they’ve got us by the shorthairs. When push comes to shove, better that we have pro-amnesty politicians who support taking out terror camps than pro-amnesty politicians who can “see it from both sides.”

Regrettably, quite a few people are probably going to elect to be colored "effing dumb" in November 2006, without any hesitation. Here's where the Bush administration's tremendous success in keeping the fighting "over there" can turn out to be a political negative. For some people, the distant military threat from Islamic radicals now pales before the immediate economic and social threat from illegal immigrants. It's really a shame the Republican leadership cannot see the latter threat as significant to their constituents as the former.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:05 | Permalink

Oh boy, I am in full Ralph Kramden mode right now.

If no one has started an anti-incumbent "groundswell" already, can we please stipulate that this is it? So, prairie fires, get burning; popular revolts, get ignited; and political earthquakes, begin to tremble. Those idiots in the Senate are about to pass an amnesty bill for illegal aliens, despite all historic documentation that such measures greatly INCREASE the influx of illegal immigrants across the border, which is exactly what most Americans don't want.

They are not "selling our birthright" - we need to assume the birthright was bartered a long time ago. That's why these idiots are calling the shots. What they're selling is our home. Business interests can make so much money off cheap, dumb laborers that they don't really care if U.S. society turns inside out and disappears. Toobad for all of us who live here, the big money has spoken.

Here's my prediction: Big money is in for a surprise. Those bozos behind the curtain can be swept out like a hot knife through butter. Maybe not in 2006, but watch your butt in 2008. If you grant amnesty now, the mobs will be storming the gates in 2 years.

For more details please review the series of "Symposium" posts at NOVA TownHall (scroll down).

Amnesty is a terrible idea, but NOT acting immediately to secure the borders and create a huge disincentive for hiring illegal workers is an even worse idea. Most pro-illegal people are simply not aware of the numbers involved, and as Steven Camarota notes in that symposium, very few have any idea of the fiscal impact.

How much are you willing to have your taxes raised over the next 20 years to fund the massive expansion of the welfare state that the Senate bill would require? I bet - and I'm just guessing here - you are not willing to hand over a huge chunk to people who are not even U.S. citizens yet. But guess what, the Senators are preparing to have you do just that, with their vote tomorrow.

It's a bad, bad thing. Vote 'em out, vote 'em ALL out.

Top to bottom, America needs to clean house.

In the meantime, here are some typically puckish observations about what Americans might accomplish if THEY decided to migrate north, from Tony Blankley:

After all, Canada is virtually empty. Less than 30 million Canadians in over 3.9 million square miles. It's bigger than the United States and largely undeveloped. Plus, Osama bin Laden doesn't seem to care about Canada. We will no longer be in the bull's eye. Let the Mexican/New Americans deal with him.

We Americans could build the malls, golf courses and high tech corridors that Canadians refuse to build. No civilized people care about technical borders anymore. It's so possessive and stingy. Only fussy Canadian nativists and xenophobes will complain that Canada is theirs. Yea? You and what National Guard? There are 300 million of us and only 30 million of you.

Posted by John Climacus at 05:40 | Permalink

It is up now at Frontpage Mag.

This business of labels is maddening. In Stealing Jesus I criticized Christian fundamentalism and liberals loved it; in While Europe Slept, I criticize Islamic fundamentalism, which is by any measure a lot worse than Christian fundamentalism, and some of the same people who loved Stealing Jesus are appalled and think I’ve totally changed my politics, when in fact I’m being totally consistent. Anyway, as I explain in While Europe Slept, I moved to Europe in 1998, not long after Stealing Jesus came out, I looked forward to living in what I thought was a secular society. What I found, however, was a society governed according to what I gradually came to recognize as another kind of fundamentalism – namely, big-government, welfare-state social democracy.

Bawer is the the author of While Europe Slept, one of the most important books of the past year.

Posted by John Climacus at 11:00 | Permalink

A man after my own heart, commenter PJ notes in regard to the president's latest huge policy failure:

Rather than putting "up to" 6,000 (legal parsing) National Guard troops to protect the border from illegal aliens - Bush might well consider deploying troops to defend the White House and Republicans from an onslaught of outraged legal citizens - Democrat and Republican alike!

About the only election promise Bush has been able to deliver on is the one about “uniting all Americans”. Indeed, the effect of Bush’s “amnesty is not amnesty speech” has been to unite most everyone in the country against him and the Republican Party, including the voters that put Bush in office.

Even Vicente Fox didn’t like Bush's speech and is considering filing a lawsuit. Fox was hoping Bush was going to cede the southwestern states back to Mexico. More or less that is what Bush is proposing.

I for one have renounced my affiliation with the Republican Party and have re-registered as an independent. I am now a man without a party – and if Bush keeps offering illegals a “pathway to citizenship” and social security benefits - I may be a man without a country.

If President Bush is unable and/or unwilling (the latter is the case) to secure the borders of our country – how can we expect his administration to win the war in Iraq or the war on terror? Answer: we can’t.

Posted by John Climacus at 07:41 | Permalink

You know in your heart, HE'LL watch the border.

(And don't you go wobbly on me now, Conyers!)

Posted by John Climacus at 03:43 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Lovely. We appear to be looking at another confluence of events which could signify the Bush administration's final credibility collapsing nail-in-the-coffin moment, all pretenses lifted and all sharks jumped.

I have a bad premonition about the next six months.

Item #1: Negotiations on a peace treaty with North Korea.

Or, "Operation Say Uncle." If I'm not mistaken, this approach did not work out too well for the previous regime. In fact, it resulted in a nuclear-armed North Korea. Well...how could this end up worse? What's the next incrementally bad thing that could happen?

Aww, heck, I'm just a silly goose for even asking the question. That Korean Elvis dude is probably someone you could tip a few brewskies with.

Item #2: "On the streets of major cities, crowds have rallied in support of those in our country illegally."

This was the president talking, apparently attempting to make the emotional case that such "rallying" in itself constituted a rational moral obligation for American citizens to approve a widespread amnesty for illegal occupants. Well, it is a sweet emotion, so I'll leave it at that. If they rally, we must heed them.

Item #3: President Bush is predicting victory for Republicans in November congressional elections based on a record of promoting freedom and opportunity at home and abroad.

That's a nice thought, I have to admit. I want to believe it just like I want ponies and puppies for all of my sweet little nieces.

But back here in dirty reality, I really have to fear: There is a rebellion underway. (And even as a resident of one of the areas mentioned, I think Rush may be a little too optimistic about the immediate future).

Because this is a family-friendly forum, we cannot speculate.

Posted by John Climacus at 02:17 | Permalink | Comments (2)

...and I don't mean on vacation to Acapulco; I mean, permanently. Exiled. Stripped of their U.S. citizenship because of what they tried to do here.

This study has received a good bit of attention since Monday; here's to help ensure the widest circulation possible:

If enacted, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, S.2611) would be the most dramatic change in immigration law in 80 years, allowing an estimated 103 million persons to legally immigrate to the U.S. over the next 20 years—fully one-third of the current population of the United States.

Much attention has been given to the fact that the bill grants amnesty to some 10 million illegal immigrants. Little or no attention has been given to the fact that the bill would quintuple the rate of legal immigration into the United States, raising, over time, the inflow of legal immigrants from around one million per year to over five million per year. The impact of this increase in legal immigration dwarfs the magnitude of the amnesty provisions.

In contrast to the 103 million immigrants permitted under CIRA, current law allows 19 million legal immigrants over the next twenty years. Relative to current law, then, CIRA would add an extra 84 million legal immigrants to the nation’s population.

Senators both for and against the immigration measure expressed confidence that the bill will be passed by the end of next week. But the Senate's progress appeared only to entrench Republican opposition in the House. Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) pronounced Bush's speech "unconvincing." Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) pronounced himself "annoyed." And Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) declared that Bush had "insulted a lot of people" and "made the situation worse."

At least 73 House Republicans have signed a letter saying they will never accept any plan that offers legal work and citizenship to undocumented workers, and House Republican leadership aides said that number is likely to climb.

Posted by John Climacus at 10:43 | Permalink

UPDATE: More, here.

UPDATE II: Liveblogging of the speech was done at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace and the NOVA TownHall Blog.

UDATE III: The Aarons cc: guy did this and it is BRILLIANT. We need to start a "coalition of the politically homeless" or "ex-Republicans" or "third party" or something like that.

This post by White Trash Republican is beautiful as a piece of writing, depressing as a metaphor.

Posted by John Climacus at 12:17 | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

Interesting confluence of events:

1). Over at Hot Air, the esteemed Allah notes that President George W. Bush appears to be backing off the thus far only rumored initiative to secure the U.S. southern border with military support for the border patrol. Not much revealed in the Reuters story rises to the level of official policy statement, so it's probably best not to get too worked up about it just yet.

2). The president is giving a speech on immigration tomorrow night.

3). This just came in via e-mail from a listserv comprised of core members of the anti-illegal-immigrant conservative base - folks who are literally in the physical fray as well as the political one, and winning both, in the effort to reform policies on illegal immigration.

We need to get the word out to our elected officals.

We are watching you, and are not happy with what we see. November is a few short months away.

Your political future is in our hands, the choices you make now decide your fate.

What Bush fails to see at the border

TODAY'S COLUMNIST
By Ronald F. Maxwell
April 6, 2006

Dear President Bush, Perhaps you know me from my work. I wrote and directed the movies "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals." Walking Civil War battlefields, soaking up the letters and diaries of that generation, re-creating the world of our ancestors -- all this has given me a deep appreciation for our country. My dad was with the Army Air Corps in North Africa while your dad was in the Pacific. My French mother was liberated in Tunisia and became a lawful immigrant to the United States. For an American, my story is unique and typical at the same time...

What is happening on the southern border is unprecedented. Not only in our own history, but in the history of the world. No country at any time anywhere has sustained the influx of tens of millions of foreigners across its borders. A wave of anti-American leftism is sweeping Latin America. A socialist radical may soon be elected as the president of Mexico, a country which officially encourages its emigrants to vote in Mexican elections, urging them to think of themselves as Mexican first and perhaps only. The eventual outcome is plain for anyone with eyes to see. This is invasion masquerading as immigration...

3). In Human Events, Congressman Tom Tancredo writes:

President Bush will deliver a televised address to the nation tonight on immigration policy. It is his first address from the Oval Office on immigration, and if it not successful, it may be his last.

4). Finally, I say the following: President George W. Bush, as we noted over two years ago, this immigration issue is a big problem in the eyes of many Americans, and it is a big political problem for you.

The chickens took longer to come home to roost than we anticipated.

But now that they're here, it's a veritable chicken blizzard, sir.

And now, tomorrow night's speech stands as the defining moment of your presidency. You will either lose the base, or keep them. If the former, you will likely get impeached after the Democrats win the House in November.

Here's how to NOT lose the base: Understand that weasel words are fatal when visceral issues are the core of the debate. Ixnay on the est-gay orker-way. Forget "path to citizenship." In terms of language and debate, the people who are concerned about illegal immigration are akin to someone with a knife stuck in their shoulder. They don't give a crap what anyone argues - they want the problem solved NOW. The knife in the arm is America's unsecured border. There are other problems that need to be solved, but that's the gaping wound.

Without a wall along the border's entire length, that wound remains open.

Your best move would be to spend 10 minutes of the 20-minute speech describing the physical characteristics of the "Southern Wall" or "Southern Fence": how tall, roads, watchtowers, etc. And the fact construction begins immediately.

A lot of very interested people will be watching, Mr. President. Heck, spend 15 minutes on the construction topic.

UPDATE: This, for example, is what NOT to say tonight, Mr. President:

The immigration reform bill that the Senate takes up today would more than double the flow of legal immigration into the United States each year and dramatically lower the skill level of those immigrants.

The number of extended family members that U.S. citizens or legal residents can bring into this country would double. More dramatically, the number of workers and their immediate families could increase sevenfold if there are enough U.S. employers looking for cheap foreign labor. Another provision would grant humanitarian visas to any woman or orphaned child anywhere in the world "at risk of harm" because of age or sex.

The little-noticed provisions are part of legislation co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Mel Martinez of Florida, which overcame some early stumbles and now has bipartisan support in the Senate. The bill also has been praised by President Bush, and he is expected to endorse it as a starting point for negotiations in his prime-time address to the nation tonight

No, here's what the Hagel-Martinez bill is: a starting point for the Constitution Party.

Who are they? Well, let's just listen to the president's speech tonight, first. If he takes my recommendation, there's no need to bother. If he says anything remotely along the lines of Hagel-Martinez, we'll delve in, all right - it will be our number 2 topic of all time.

Posted by John Climacus at 12:16 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

PJ continues the discussion with more on the topic of presidential powers:

From what very little I know, the NSA surveillance appears to be legal and justifiable. The problem for Bush, as always, is “perception becomes reality". Bush and his inner circle of advisors do not seem to be in touch with the average person and have done a very bad job of selling their ideas. People won’t buy the best product in the world if it isn’t marketed properly.

The issue of presidential power becomes more important in a time of war, because out of necessity, a wartime president needs much more power than a peacetime one. All American presidents have expanded their powers in wartime. In the Civil War Lincoln was called a dictator for imposing martial law. In WWII FDR interned an entire population of Japanese American citizens based on their ethnicity (try that today). American's longest crisis was the Great Depression which lasted ten years. There is always the possibility the president won't give the power back once the crisis is over.

Moreover, no one knows when the War on Terror will be over. When will it be over? How will we know when it’s over? What troops will surrender and who will sign the final armistice agreement? In truth, the War on Terror may last for fifty years or longer. It might never end in our lifetimes. Chances are things will get much worse before they get better. Do we really want to give our president virtually limitless powers with no end point in sight?

In Federalist 51, Madison says, "But what is government itself but the greatest of reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal control on government would be necessary." Madison continues with, "In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself."

Democracies work best in peacetime. The problem with democracies is they tend to become less democratic in a national crisis. In a crisis the decision making process must be accelerated. Many decisions must be made on the spot. There is often little time for congressional debate and deliberation or for judicial review. The most effective wartime president is a monarch who can take immediate and decisive action.

In the event of an “extreme” national crisis, such as a terrorist nuclear attack on one of our major cities or a massive bio-chemical assault - the president is the only person in government with the authority to take immediate action. In an extreme emergency it would be the president and the president alone who would decide what to do. We should all keep this in mind as we vote in the next election.

I once toyed with the idea the Founding Fathers, when they wrote the Bill of Rights, simply might not have anticipated Islam. Maybe the answer could be as simple as adding a new Amendment along the lines of "About several of those other Amendments: Please insert the text 'except for Islam.'..." But they DID anticipate Islam (no links today, it is Mothers Day and I need to get off the computer real quick like), in fact they were in a heated battle fighting off pirates from Algeria or Morocco or wherever.

So the original question remains, how to balance the liberties we have become accustomed to with an enemy in our midst. It's a difficult question, as PJ has limned out in the posts. A good place to start might be separating the rights that mainly protect criminals from the ones that protect the innocent. Then we all might just have to take our chances under a President Hillary Clinton.

Posted by John Climacus at 12:05 | Permalink

To Paul J.'s criticism of executive branch overreaching, Jim of the excellent Parkway Rest Stop blog writes the response I would have written if I'd been thinking:

Although I disagree with his conclusion, PJ's is the first non-hysterical, reasoned criticism of the NSA flap that I have come across.

I believe that the program is completely lawful (and I don't believe PJ said otherwise).

I think the President looks clumsy only because someone leaked this classified program to the press. Intelligence operations often are not pretty, but they are necessary. I think we would all have been much better off if the NSA went about its business of tracking down people who have made it perfectly clear that they want to kill us, as many of us as possible.

Anyway, nicely done, PJ.

Paul's point is valid: In principle, presidential power must be limited. In this case, I don't think any reasonable limits have been exceeded.

Posted by John Climacus at 01:12 | Permalink | Comments (2)

WTR links to a page apparently serving as placeholder while Aarons cc: is recovering from Jihadi hacking. Absolutely highlarious.

Posted by John Climacus at 06:20 | Permalink

Reformist Author Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi predicts victory over Islamic radicals:

Yesterday, Al-Zarqawi emerged from his hiding place like an 'American Rambo' [...] making death threats against the (rafidite) Shi'ites, the (secular) Kurds and the (apostate) Sunnis [...] This reveals that the fragments of the terrorist fundamentalist religious army [are suffering from] bankruptcy, and that their defeat is near. Would Al-Zarqawi need to show his strong muscles on the satellite channels, like some highway robber, if victory were on his side? [...] Where has he been for the last three years? [...]

Posted by John Climacus at 06:01 | Permalink

To my assertion that President George W. Bush should be granted all the power his heart desires, Paul J. responds with a mild head slap:

I am fully aware that for the Dem’s the NSA phone log story is just another prime opportunity for more Bush bashing and to trump up some reason not to confirm CIA nominee General Hayden.

I am fully aware that this is another big chance for Boxer, Feinstein, Durban, Schumer, Kennedy and Pelosi to do their pathologic little media dance.

But Bush also is part of the problem here. In a government based upon checks and balances, no president should be given to think they have carte blanche authority to play fast and easy with the laws of the land, even in wartime. No president is above the law.

Under Article II of the Constitution the President’s wartime powers are to be “shared” with Congress. President Bush may be sincerely trying to protect national security. I believe this to be the case. But I think he has been clumsy about many of his actions, and certainly not very forthright. Bush has an obligation to work with Congress on these issues, not just inform Congress as to what he's done after the fact, or after they find out.

My concern is not so much about Bush, but with setting a precedent for future presidents who might not be so benevolent or well intended. For some reason the name Hillary Clinton springs to mind. America must continue to maintain its system of checks and balances over governmental power.

As much as I dislike the tactics of the Dem’s, I’m glad they are calling Bush out on this one. In this sense they are doing what the founding fathers wanted them to do which is to act as a check over the system.

The right of citizens to be secure in their "houses, papers, and effects" is one of our most fundamental civil rights - a right the courts have been gradually diminishing. In America we do not fear the “knock on the door” in the dead of night. Our government officials and the police are obligated to follow the law and are held accountable for any abuses.

Given free reign, the tendency is for law enforcement to overstep all bounds. For example, look at all the so called "sting" operations set up by law enforcement officials wherein they are permitted to "create" crimes that would not have otherwise existed without their involvement and then arrest the individuals they have entrapped.

We need to do everything possible and legal to fight the war on terror, this is a given. But we can’t throw out the entire Constitution in the process, circumvent our laws, or give any president unchecked power.

Posted by John Climacus at 05:14 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Democrats have declared war against Republicans, and Republicans are wandering around like a bunch of ninny Neville Chamberlains, congratulating themselves on their excellent behavior. They'll have some terrific stories about their Gandhi-like passivity to share while sitting in cells at Guantanamo after Hillary is elected...

Why hasn't the former spokesman for the Taliban matriculating at Yale been beaten even more senseless than he already is? According to Hollywood, this nation is a cauldron of ethnic hatreds positively brimming with violent skinheads. Where are the skinheads when you need them? What does a girl have to do to get an angry, club- and torch-wielding mob on its feet?

There is something sorely lacking in America these days, some aspect of the survival instinct that has been progressively sublimated to the point it barely even exists. But I'm not Ann Coulter and my free time is almost nonexistent, so I can't get any closer than that for now.

Posted by John Climacus at 12:06 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Like the proverbial forest and trees, and fish who never learn the concept of "water," sometimes nonsense is so evident we barely notice it:

While Hayden was running the super-secret National Security Agency, according to a report yesterday in USA Today, the NSA began collecting comprehensive records of telephone calls made by "tens of millions of Americans." If your service is provided by ATT, Verizon or BellSouth, according to the newspaper, this means your phone calls -- all the calls you've made since late 2001.

Worse still, this can happen under a Democratic administration! My local wiretaps during the Clinton years undoubtedly revealed I was a Republican. But also that I was a hasher in the habit of drinking beer and running around throwing white powdery substances all over Washington DC!!

Oh all right, maybe I'm being flippant. There certainly would have been those many deeply personal conversations in which young persons related to me by procreation attempted to talk their way out of domestic infractions possibly implicating other friends, and friends' parents, and emergency workers, and law enforcement personnel who together comprised the reason for a 4:00 am telephone call. Maybe I would not be totally comfortable if that conversation was being broadcast in real time in some basement office in Foggy Bottom.

Honestly, though, it's a trade off I'd be willing to make. If the Clinton-Reno administration did not see fit to send in the shock troops and torch us after all the things I said about them over the phone, I think I'll take my chances with future administrations listening in on my grocery-shopping conspiracies.

Whatever the Bush administration has been doing since 9-11-2001 has worked pretty well so far preventing terrorist activity in America, so I say let them keep doing it.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:42 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Esteemed reader Paul J. sends the following. If 'liberals' are liberal, they'll take notice:

This is the Quran’s Vision for Our Mothers, Wives and Daughters …

"...As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, beat them..." Surah 4:34

"Your wives are as a tilth [a field to be ploughed] unto you, so approach your tilth
when or how ye will." Surah 2:223

Girls and Women Murdered by their Fathers in “Honor Killings”

Untold numbers of girls and women are murdered each year by their fathers or brothers in “honor killings”, often for trivial infractions of Islamic law (real or perceived) for such things as being seen talking to a boy, or for holding hands with a boy from another family. The boy is not punished, but the girl could be put to death. If a girl is molested or raped it is often thought to be “her fault” in that she must have encouraged or tempted the man in some way. Particularly beautiful girls are at the most risk under Islamic law.

There is but one penalty. DEATH! – to be carried out by the father or oldest brother who traditionally stabs the girl to death [in front of the mother and sisters for the deterrent effect] in order to restore the “honor” of the family.

Sometimes the women are doused with gasoline and set ablaze as was the case with Judith Souad.

Honor killing could provide an explanation for the many Palestinian suicide bombers who have been young girls even though there is no reward of virgins in heaven waiting for them. Many of these girls have become suicide bombers as a way to redeem themselves and their families after having been convicted by their fathers of some sexual misdeed. For the girl the choice is death or death.

For the families of these women becoming a suicide bomber is a win-win-win. Innocent Jews and their children are murdered and/or maimed, and family honor is not only restored but enhanced. Everyone is happy. Also when Saddam Hussein was alive, the girl’s family got a check for $10,000.00.

Allah Akbar

Posted by John Climacus at 08:49 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (1)

This is just perfect. Don't criticize them; they might get angry:

An effort by the American military to discredit the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi by showing video outtakes of him fumbling with a machine gun — suggesting that he lacks real fighting skill — was questioned yesterday by retired and active American military officers...

"I see a guy who is getting a lot of groceries and local support," said Nick Pratt, a Marine Corps veteran and professor of terrorism studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany. "You cannot say he is a bad operator." He added, "People should be careful who they poke fun at."

I'm guessing we could find pragmatic "retired officers" to recommend we sell our daughters, buy prayer rugs and start speaking Arabic.

"An effort to discredit" al-Zarqawi, the modern Che Guevara, is undoubtedly a major transgression in the progressive value system.

This is what I've gathered: Progressives think the answer to the problems of the day is to make sure we don't inflame the Muslims. Like a hornets nest on your front porch, which you cannot remove and dare not disturb, "Muslims" in modern society are an ever-present danger akin to a federally protected pack of wolves who must be allowed to roam the playground where our children live.

Oh - sorry!: I should have prefaced the word "Muslims" with the word "radical". It's only "radical" Muslims we need to be concerned about.

But you know what? I'm starting to realize that we at the Alpaca Burger Forum are probably a bit over-taxed in the typing department. Too many damn keystrokes. Almost inhumane conditions, in fact.

Therefore, I think the only humane solution is to allow our writers to avoid injury and save seven keystrokes: Henceforth, we will have to leave off "radical" and the new formulation will be simply "Muslims."

I hope everyone can be happy with that.

To continue, then: I propose the biggest problem in Western civilization today is the tendency of progressives to suck up to Muslims. The second biggest problem is the tendency of progressives to forget Western civilization and the fact there would be no progressives if not for Western civilization.

It's a conundrum, all right: The well-educated, turtleneck-clad, urban chic, mainstream-media-bottle-fed progressives live in constant fear that someone, somewhere, might be bothering the Muslim hornets nest. But the Muslim hornets are virulently anti-progressive!

AND THE PROGRESSIVES DON'T CARE! They will muffle their pro-abortion agenda and their pro-homosexual agenda and everything else they purport to stand for: They just want to suck up to the Muslims.

Here's my prediction: Remember those Deadheads and hippies? They're going to reappear in Muslim garb. The Left is going to become Muslim.

Why? Because the Muslims are willing to kill everyone who dissents. The Deadheads and other progressives are not. The motivating force behind political correctness is to get along. This means, sucking up to those who want to kill you.

I wonder how many of the major ideological problems of the day - so many of which are caused by the progressives who think the war against Islam (oh, sorry: radical Islam) is a farce - would be solved immediately if more progressives simply took a moment to read the Koran.

Really. Just read the damn book. Then tell me if you want to continue to suck up to them.

Posted by John Climacus at 11:52 | Permalink

Absolutely amazing. 400 words?! That in no way comports with my expectation based on what I've seen.

A child touches the female android named EveR-1 during an exhibition at the Seoul Education Culture Center, Thursday. /Yonhap

Korean Scientists Develop Female Android

Standing 1.6 meters tall and weighing about 50 kilograms, she can understand others, speak, blink with her eyes and makes several facial expressions.

But she is not human, rather an android developed by a team of South Korean scientists...

The human-sized robot can understand 400 words and make eye contact while talking via her lips that are synchronized with the pronunciation of words.

Fifteen tiny motors embedded into her silicon face enable her to make a total of four expressions in tune with as many sentiments _ joy, anger, sorrow and happiness.

Posted by John Climacus at 06:16 | Permalink

We are pleased to announce that our membership application has been approved, and the Alpaca Burger Forum is now a proud member of the Hillbilly Ecosystem.

As evidenced in the post prior to this one, we shall try always not to disappoint.

Posted by John Climacus at 12:04 | Permalink | Comments (4)

The current dilemma about Iran can really be reduced to a simple choice: Either drop a whole bunch of nuclear bombs on Iran, or don't drop a whole bunch of nuclear bombs on Iran.

A simple choice, but, sadly, not such an easy decision to make.

On the Iranian side, you've got the pro-uranium music videos, which are nothing to sneeze at:

Young men and crowd: "Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar."

Speaker: "I'd like to invite the deputy supervisor of the Imam Reza Shrine, my honorable brother, Mr. Alavi, who proudly wears the uniform of the Imam Reza Shrine. I would like to call him to the stage. He will be presented with a container with the first nuclear product of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"Mr. Alavi, if you please. Please honor this occasion by reciting prayers to the Prophet and his family.

"With the permission of the supervisor of the Imam Reza Shrine... Deputy Supervisor of the Imam Reza Shrine, Mr. Alavi, will now come to the stage and receive a container with UF6, produced in the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Oh honorable people, and all who witness this occasion, remember that we have no mystery besides Allah Akbar, and we have no secret besides the greatness of God and this conviction. Mr. Alavi, if you please. Honor this occasion by saying Allah Akbar."

Everybody must get stoned.

Posted by John Climacus at 01:35 | Permalink

The Donkey Cons folks are reliable sources for excellent reporting: The latest is this article on an American worker who quit his job at TruGreen after the company attempted to change workers' hours in favor of the illegal immigrant 'boycott' on Monday:

Angered by demonstrations earlier this month in which Latinos and their supporters poured into the streets demanding amnesty for illegal workers, Mr. Collins, 32, had already written to his congressmen and senators. Watching the massive marches on television was "like driving a knife right through me," said the 10-year military veteran. "I couldn't believe people would stand for that. That is absolutely against every American principle that I fought for and believe in."

Posted by John Climacus at 12:32 | Permalink

My mom has a great deal of experience with the prison system (as a monitor, not a customer) and has these thoughts on the Moussaoui verdict of life without parole:

The death penalty would not have been a punishment for this man. He is a radical and to be sentenced to death would make him a hero in the eyes of other Muslims and he would die believing he was a martyr. The prison he will go to is the worst of the worst. He will spend the rest of his life in a 5 x 8 cell, alone, eating food that is not identifiable (if he is a vegetarian he will eat beans or peanut butter at every meal), sleeping on a concrete bunk. He will get to exercise for one hour a week; he will not have contact with other radicals; he will never have a slice of pizza or eat ice cream or hear a bird sing or see an ocean or a mountain; he will have no visitors; he will be forgotten and he will die a nobody.

The death penalty would have granted him 20 more years of publicity while his attorneys appealed his case; he would have visitors--although probably just the attorneys.

One cannot imagine the horror of a prison cell unless they see it. I cannot even imagine spending one night--it would drive me crazy. Moussaoui certainly is not functioning with a full deck--I would not be surprised if he took his own life. The families of those who lost their lives on 9/11 should spend an hour in a cell and try to eat a prison meal--they will rejoice at the justice for their loved ones.

Regarding that "dying a nobody" idea: Does anyone even remember the name of that guy who was president of Panama who the U.S. captured and who is locked down in a U.S. prison? Jail sort of took the wind out of his sails.

I've been half-watching the various talking heads bloviate about how the weak-kneed jury let us down and all I can think is, they apparently would have preferred the death penalty because it would make them feel better to "kill the bastard."

But they're not thinking of the reality of the situation. There are plenty of people on this Earth who, for whatever terrible reason, would prefer death to life. Some spend their entire life slowly killing themselves. This guy subscribes to a "religion" that glorifies death. Why give him the satisfaction?

I've been too busy to blog, so I just have to say "Thanks, Mom for bailing me out once again." Good post.

UPDATE: Paul J.'s line of thinking on this paralleled my own:

John you're mom is a wise woman!

I hadn't thought about it this way until I read your mom's comments. I believe it is true that Moussaoui wanted the death penalty. This was his goal from the beginning. This explains all of his over the top conduct and crazy outbursts throughout the trial. He wanted to be put to death. He wanted a soapbox to promote his cause. This was his raison d'etre. He wanted to be a martyr for Allah.

Now he will be a martyr for no one. Now, instead of dying in one glorious and painless moment, he will die a little each and every day, anonymously and utterly alone.

Moussaoui's worst nightmare has come true. The jury denied him the 'reward' of death (click for graphic of the "supermax" prison cell).

UPDATE II: Of course, if the Bush Administration even considers for one second allowing Moussaoui to serve out his sentence in France, then George W. Bush should probably just resign immediately and spare the nation the inconvenience of impeachment. Sending him to France would be the equivalent of sending him to Saudi Arabia and he'd likely be out on the street in under 20 years - or sooner if Europe falls under Sharia sooner.

Posted by John Climacus at 02:23 | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm a little late to the game, but anyway this is about the funniest thing I've seen in months.

"I want these (expletive) snakes off the (expletive) plane!"

Rohan said the title "sounds stupid, but that's what makes it brilliant" _ thus inspiring him to write and record the trailer while enlisting a friend to voice rough-and-tumble Jackson.

In another send-up, a video clip presents impersonations of Christopher Walken and Jack Nicholson.

"There are snakes," complains a faux Nicholson, with Joker-like exaggeration. "On the plane. And they're biting. And they're scaring people."

Much more, here.

And the studio actually went back and filmed a new scene with Samuel L. Jackson based on one of the Web spoofs. How cool is that?

It's like someone said, "Hey, they're making fun of our movie all over the Internet. Which means MAYBE our movie is kind of a dumb idea. Which also means maybe we'd better get on that bus before it leaves the station!"

It's shaping up as a Rocky Horror Picture Show concept for a film that otherwise might have been chortled straight to DVD in the first week.

The possibilities for bad movies and clever Web spin-offs are endless. Next up: "Waiter, There's a Finger in My Salad" and "Dingos Got Your Baby."

Posted by John Climacus at 03:42 | Permalink