Last night, Michael Moore came to the campus of the University of Wisconsin, and gave a speech on the Student Union outside by the lake. It was packed. I went to it, not wanting to miss a spectacle, and to see with my own eyes what it is we're fighting. And I saw it. If anyone is still wondering whether the Left is actually rooting for our enemies, namely Islamic Fascists and their terrorist comrades, let me quote Michael Moore: "We cannot win this war! We can't. We SHOULDN'T win this war...I mean, who the hell are we!!!! The ARROGANCE!!!! We're like, 'Oh, we're going to come and invade your country, and force you to be free,' and then wooptie woo, f*** you!" This was met with loud cheers, applause and laughter by the audience.

Much of the speech consisted of the usual America-bashing, ridiculing the idea that America is such a great country; and of course there was tons of class warfare, charges of racism, sexism, etc.

He screamed out to the Bush supporters, who were yelling out "four more years" and such, "Why don't you go fight in the war. I have some enlistment papers right here; come up and sign them if you think you're so brave!" Then I walked over to this group to give them some support, and to see the inevitable confrontations.

One guy, who looked like a professor, said to me, "You're a bunch of Nazis. Why don't you shut the hell up." I gave him a word or two, in a semi-respectful way. Another guy tried to dump a pitcher of water or beer on us, but missed and hit two girls who were screeching at us to "shut up." He got pulled away by the police. It was pretty orderly. And the group that I joined was not obnoxious at all. I couldn't hear the speech while with them, but only because I was right in the middle of the "four more years" and "flip-flop" chants.

What I was most amazed at was how the crowd cheered with joyous rage at the most evil statements, by such an evil person. The cheers were the loudest when the speech was about how terrible America is, and how we don't have the right to defend ourselves militarily.

...Equipment and materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons are disappearing from Iraq but neither Baghdad nor Washington appears to have noticed, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency reported on Monday.

Satellite imagery shows that entire buildings in Iraq have been dismantled. They once housed high-precision equipment that could help a government or terror group make nuclear bombs, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report to the U.N. Security Council. Equipment and materials helpful in making bombs also have been removed from open storage areas in Iraq and disappeared without a trace, according to the satellite pictures, IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said.

While some military goods that disappeared from Iraq after the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion, including missile engines, later turned up in scrap yards in the Middle East and Europe, none of the equipment or material known to the IAEA as potentially useful in making nuclear bombs has turned up yet, ElBaradei said. The equipment -- including high-precision milling and turning machines and electron-beam welders -- and materials -- such as high-strength aluminum -- were tagged by the IAEA years ago, as part of the watchdog agency's shutdown of Iraq's nuclear program. U.N. inspectors then monitored the sites until their evacuation from Iraq just before the war. The United States barred the inspectors' return after the war, preventing the IAEA from keeping tabs on the equipment and materials up to the present day. Under anti-proliferation agreements, the U.S. occupation authorities who administered Iraq until June, and then the Iraqi interim government that took power at the end of June, would have to inform the IAEA if they moved or exported any of that material or equipment. But no such reports have been received since the invasion, officials of the watchdog agency said... ...A new CIA report last week by chief U.S. weapons investigator Charles Duelfer made clear, however, that Saddam had all but given up on his nuclear program after the first Gulf War in 1991. ElBaradei, whose agency dismantled Iraq's nuclear arms program over a decade ago, drew similar conclusions to the Duelfer report well before the March 2003 invasion.

[Americans] enjoy their luxuries and aren't shy about having them. They're mobile, changing jobs and cities as circumstances suit them. They move to warm sunny places. Some are adaptable in their goals and some are not, but the vast majority are sure that they control the course of their own lives. In America, every man can be his own king, a successful, independent, happy king. That's the American Dream. Because it's all around, we often don't stop to notice. Outside America, however, it is noticed. ...There is no where else on earth that quite has the 'feel' of America. The idea that it is okay to make money and to go out and get what you want -- the acceptance of egoism -- runs deeper here than anywhere on earth. The consequence -- a feeling shared by a majority of people that life is open to them, that anything is possible, and that they're in the middle of getting where they want to go -- is unique to America. This feeling -- an emotion some people call 'freedom,' but is actually happiness -- has captured the imagination of the rest of the world. Because they can see that there is a way to reach it, people throughout the world want to have it, too. ["The Empire of the Pursuit of Happiness", TIA Daily, Oct 11, 2004]

Probably the most passionate comment from presidential candidate Senator John Kerry came during the first debate

And part of that leadership is sending the right message to places like North Korea. Right now the president is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to research bunker-busting nuclear weapons. The United States is pursuing a new set of nuclear weapons. It doesn't make sense. You talk about mixed messages. We're telling other people, "You can't have nuclear weapons," but we're pursuing a new nuclear weapon that we might even contemplate using. Not this president. I'm going to shut that program down, and we're going to make it clear to the world we're serious about containing nuclear proliferation.

Morally equating America's possession of nuclear weapons with that of the dictatorships of Iran and North Korea was disgusting enough. But Kerry's announcement to the world -- including our enemies -- that he would act on that belief by disarming America is beyond the pale.

Bill Hobbs commented on the issue just after the debate: Kerry Opposes Another Vital Weapons System. As did Hugh Hewitt. From the latter:

Notice Kerry's dismissiveness of the prospect of even using nuclear bunker busters.  Does he prefer that a president of the future not have that option when confronted with a rogue nation threatening us or an ally but whose command and control facilities are buried deep in mountains or below a mile of concrete?  Kerry states simply that seriousness about containing nuclear proliferation begins with "shutting down" American weapons development. This is profoundly at odds with mainstream American defense thinking. It is a radical position, and Kerry is a radical candidate.  Kerry expresses amazement that anyone can believe that America can say nukes for us but not for others, but America has been saying that since the dawn of the nuclear era, and must continue to say so.  Follow Kerry's logic, and it is the iron logic of unilateral disarmament.

Kerry even mentioned the nuclear-bunker-busters in the second debate.

And the president is moving to the creation of our own bunker- busting nuclear weapon. It's very hard to get other countries to give up their weapons when you're busy developing a new one. I'm going to lead the world in the greatest counterproliferation effort. And if we have to get tough with Iran, believe me, we will get tough.

"Get tough" using what? U.N. resolutions?

Strauss purports to be a rational alternative to nihilism. This is a higher realm of pure thought, which is the source of ideas, principles and values. This is where conservatives who do not want to be publicly religious go. Straussians are famous for rejecting religion privately, while actively encouraging it in their students.

This follows their world-view, which sees the philosophers in touch with higher truths, which must be communicated in ways that the masses will accept.

If you support Bush because you think he shares your values, this is what you are sanctioning. A second Bush term will more solidly implant the Straussians into all levels of government. See my op-ed Opposing Platonic Conservatism: A Matter of Values. For an overview of Strauss's philosophy see this article by a Strauss admirer.

FoxNews reports:

"I've led our country with principle and resolve and that's how I'll lead our nation for four more years," Bush said to enthusiastic applause. [...] Bush's remarks Wednesday constituted the most extensive and direct attack he's made on Kerry. He said his rival has "a strategy of defeat" for Iraq [...] The president defended his prosecution of the war against Saddam Hussein and the bigger fight against terrorists. "There will be good days and bad days in the War on Terror ... we will stay in the fight until the fight is won," he said.

Sen. John Edwards, Kerry's vice presidential running mate, shot back Wednesday, saying that Bush was "completely out of touch with reality" about the Iraq war and the economy.

"He won't acknowledge the mess in Iraq. All you have to do is turn your television on," Edwards said at a rally in West Palm Beach, Fla.

IRVINE, CA--On Monday SpaceShipOne made its winning flight, destroying forever the myth that space exploration can be done only by the government.

Space exploration, as the grandest of man's technological advancements, requires the kind of bold innovation possible only to minds left free to face the vast universe directly. By placing the space program under government funding, we necessarily insert the corrupting barrier of bureaucratic whim between the reasoning mind and the facts of reality. The results are obvious: the space program is a political animal, mired in shifting, inconsistent, arbitrary and ill-defined goals.

SpaceShipOne has now taken the first free-market steps toward the stars. If the government, exercising its proper function, established a system of private property rights in space, free industry would have ample incentive to reach and exploit stellar bodies. Ahead of these bold space entrepreneurs lie enormous technical difficulties, the solution of which will require even more heroic determination than that which tamed the seas and the continents. To solve them, America must unleash its best minds--as only the free market can do.

Excerpt from the Vice Presidential debate, after Senator Edwards disputed Vice President Cheney's rebuttal about the cost of the war:

EDWARDS: [...] Not only that, 90 percent of the coalition casualties, Mr. Vice President, the coalition casualties, are American casualties. Ninety percent of the cost of this effort are being borne by American taxpayers. It is the direct result of the failures of this administration. IFILL: Mr. Vice President?

CHENEY: Classic example. He won't count the sacrifice and the contribution of Iraqi allies. It's their country. They're in the fight. They're increasingly the ones out there putting their necks on the line to take back their country from the terrorists and the old regime elements that are still left. They're doing a superb job. And for you to demean their sacrifices strikes me as...

EDWARDS: Oh, I'm not...

CHENEY: ... as beyond...

EDWARDS: I'm not demeaning...

CHENEY: It is indeed. You suggested...

EDWARDS: No, sir, I did not...

CHENEY: ... somehow they shouldn't count, because you want to be able to say that the Americans are taking 90 percent of the sacrifice. You cannot succeed in this effort if you're not willing to recognize the enormous contribution the Iraqis are increasingly making to their own future. We'll win when they take on responsibility for governance, which they're doing, and when they take on responsibility for their own security, which they increasingly are doing.

UPDATE: From CNN: Car bomb kills Iraqi national guard members.

This is the second of three new Michael Moore cartoons that we created for a companion book to the new DVD, FahrenHYPE 9/11. The DVD and book debut tomorrow, Oct. 5th, the same day that Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 appears on DVD. A trailer for FahrenHYPE 9/11 can be viewed on the Web site.

Like our most recent Moore cartoon, this one is based on my observations about Fahrenheit 9/11. In the film, Moore assaults the viewer with graphic images of maimed Iraqi children, dead Iraqi babies, wounded and dead American soldiers, and American soldiers killing Iraqi combatants. Yet Moore did not show a single image of the 9/11 attacks. No airplanes striking the WTC. No explosions. No jumping victims. Nothing but the sound of the attacks, some reaction shots and a few aftermath images. Such editing choices speak volumes about Moore's motives and lack of objectivity.