Cartoon: Wesley Clark’s Patriot Act
From Cox and Forkum:
From Slate: Wesley Clark's Patriot Act by Chris Suellentrop.
From FoxNews: Democrats Battle for Heart of Clark Campaign.
Niger Uranium: Bush Was Apparently Right All Along
From the UK Telegraph:The French secret service is believed to have refused to allow MI6 to give the Americans "credible" intelligence showing that Iraq was trying to buy uranium ore from Niger, US intelligence sources said yesterday.
MI6 had more than one "different and credible" piece of intelligence to show that Iraq was attempting to buy the ore, known as yellowcake, British officials insisted. But it was given to them by at least one and possibly two intelligence services and, under the rules governing cooperation, it could not be shared with anyone else without the originator's permission....
British officials admitted that the country was Niger but insisted that the intelligence behind it was genuine and had nothing to do with the fake documents. It was convincing and they were sticking with it, the officials said.
They dismissed a report from a former US diplomat who was sent to Niger to investigate the claims and rejected them. "He seems to have asked a few people if it was true and when they said 'no' he accepted it all," one official said. "We see no reason at all to change our assessment."
The fake documents were not behind that assessment and were not seen by MI6 until after they were denounced by the IAEA. If MI6 had seen them earlier, it would have immediately advised the Americans that they were fakes.
Smearing Schwarzenegger
OK, so I should let the Schwarzenegger thing drop, but Mark Steyn's always so much fun when he's poking at the hypocrisies of the left:On the CNN Web site, even after Gray Davis had conceded, they were sticking to the loser's talking-points:
''Schwarzenegger, who, like Hitler, is a native of Austria . . .''
CNN? Oh, that's that network with Larry King, who, like the Son of Sam, is a native of Brooklyn. Used to be owned by Ted Turner, who, like the Cincinnati Strangler, is a native of Cincinnati. Now part of Time Warner, founded by the Warner Brothers, the oldest of whom, Harry Warner, like many Auschwitz guards, was a native of Poland....
Before Election Day, the official line was that the recall was part of a pattern of hardline Republican subversion of the democratic process, going back through the Florida recount to the Clinton impeachment. In an about-turn so fast poor old DNC honcho Terry McAuliffe must have gotten whiplash, the new line was that the recall reflected a voter anger against incumbents that would spell disaster for Bush next year....
The two Republican candidates -- Schwarzenegger and Tom McClintock -- pulled 62 percent of the vote between them; the Democrat, Cruz Bustamante, got 31.7 percent.... Just to recap: Republicans 62 percent, Democrats 31.7 percent -- in the most liberal state in the nation. As long as all those angry voters keep expressing their anger by voting for Republicans over Democrats by two to one, I think I can live with it.
There's also amazing article by Jill Stewart relating how the LA Times warped the news to try to defeat Schwarzenegger-- to the point that the Times apparently leaked its "groping" story to the Democrats before publication. 24 reporters devoted to digging up dirt on Schwarzenegger, and no interest whatever in investigating the rumors of Gray Davis' violent fits.
Iran Shelters Bin Laden’s Son
From the UK Telegraph:Traditionalist clerics in Iran are blocking the extradition of senior al-Qa'eda members, including one of Osama bin Laden's sons, amid growing evidence that they are masterminding terrorism in other countries. Western and Arab intelligence sources quoted in The Washington Post said up to 400 al-Qa'eda terrorists were being sheltered in eastern Iran close to the Afghan border by an elite religious militia, the Jerusalem Force.
Stupidity from the Archbishop of Canterbury
From the UK Telegraph:The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, yesterday urged America to recognize that terrorists can "have serious moral goals". He said that while terrorism must always be condemned, it was wrong to assume its perpetrators were devoid of political rationality. "It is possible to use unspeakably wicked means to pursue an aim that is shared by those who would not dream of acting in the same way, an aim that is intelligible or desirable." He said that in ignoring this, in its criticism of al-Qa'eda, America "loses the power of self-criticism and becomes trapped in a self-referential morality."
I.e., "everybody is right, by his own standards." Whether the standards are based in reality or not, whether they are honest or not, is irrelevant to people like the Archbishop--who by the fact that they don't care about reality, condemn themselves as dishonest. And what are these goals that Al Qaeda shares with "those who would not dream of acting in the same way"? The imposition of a theocracy and the subjugation of the Jews, perhaps?
Why the Bureaucrats Hate Charter Schools
Quite a commotion has erupted at Michigan this month as the mayor of Detroit and governor turned their noses up at a $200 million gift offered to the public school system by philanthropist Robert Thompson. A retired asphalt magnate, Mr. Thompson offered to give the money to set up 15 new high schools.The catch was that the new schools would be charter schools....
"Every time a kid leaves the Detroit system that's $7,000 walking out the door," [Detroit mayor Kwame] Kilpatrick told the Detroit News.... [Daily Sun]
Get that? They don't want to save the taxpayer money. They just want bigger budgets to play with. Ride them out of town on a rail.
Rush Limbaugh in the Spotlight
"I approach my audience with enormous respect...These are the people whose most heartfelt convictions have been dismissed, scorned, and made fun of by the mainstream media. I do not make fun of them."-- Rush LimbaughRelated Articles:
Rush Limbaugh's "Offended" Critics are Wrong by Harry Binswanger
Racism is judging a person's character or actions by his race instead of by his individual merits. That's the sin Limbaugh was accusing the media of committing; he wasn't doing it.Racial Censorship and the Witch-Hunt Against Rush Limbaugh by Walter Williams
Limbaugh's statement is opinion that can be characterized as correct or incorrect -- but racist, no.
An Open Letter to ESPN on Rush Limbaugh by Joseph Kellard
ESPN was uncomfortable with Limbaugh's comment because it's true. It is just as racist to hope a man will succeed because he is black.
Rush Limbaugh and Racial Censorship by Thomas Sowell
It is one of the sad signs of our times that a furor was created because Rush Limbaugh expressed an opinion as to why a particular quarterback seemed to him to be over-rated.
Rush Limbaugh: Hearing the American Sound by Edwin Feulner
Rush Limbaugh doesn't just talk about the values Americans hold dear, he puts them into action.A Rush Limbaugh For the Left? by Thomas Sowell
The liberal vision of Rush Limbaugh is that he is some guy who appeals to ignorant rednecks and Joe Sixpacks. As with so many things that liberals believe, they feel no need to test their notions against reality. Actual research on Rush Limbaugh's audience has shown that they are above average in both education and income.
A Tribute to Rush Limbaugh by Jeff Jacoby
"I approach my audience with enormous respect," Limbaugh wrote in a 1994 article for Policy Review, the journal of the Heritage Foundation. "These are the people whose most heartfelt convictions have been dismissed, scorned, and made fun of by the mainstream media. I do not make fun of them."
Media Bias on Media Bias by Thomas Sowell
Anyone listening to Rush Limbaugh knows that what he is saying is his own opinion. But people who listen to the news on ABC, CBS, or NBC may imagine that they are getting the facts, not just those facts which fit the ideology of the media, with the media's spin.
Senator Daschle vs. Rush Limbaugh: Who is Promoting Violence? by Thomas Sowell
Liberals can be very "understanding" about violence -- provided it is violence from the left.
Gaza Strip Blast Kills Three Americans
From Cox and Forkum:
From YahooNews (AP): Gaza Strip Blast Kills Three Americans. This story from Wednesday was displaced within hours by the "Defense Drops Bombshell" in the Kobe Bryant hearing story (words from an actual FoxNews headline). When news this relevant to the War on Terrorism is so easily shoved aside for celebrity sex scandal news, it's unlikely that telling tid-bits like the following will ever make headlines:
A team of U.S. investigators who photographed the charred sports utility vehicle was pelted with rocks by about a dozen Palestinian youths as about 200 Palestinians looked on. As the angry crowd chanted "Allahu Akbar" -- "God is great" -- the Americans rushed back into their cars, surrounded by nervous Palestinian security officers with rifles raised. Palestinian police beat some people in the crowd while pushing the spectators back, and the cars sped away under a hail of stones.
The Palestinian Authorities have arrested three over U.S. convoy attack. But Little Green Footballs featured a Palestinian Authority cartoon that places blame for the blast on Jews.
Khomeini’s Grandson Wants US to Invade Iran
From Christopher Hitchens' Slate column Monday:Young Khomeini is convinced that the coming upheaval will depend principally on those who once supported his grandfather and have now become disillusioned. I asked him what he would like to see happen, and his reply this time was very terse and did not require any Quranic scriptural authority or explication. The best outcome, he thought, would be a very swift and immediate American invasion of Iran.
It hurt me somewhat to have to tell him that there was scant chance of deliverance coming by this means. He took the news pretty stoically (and I hardly think I was telling him anything he did not know). But I was thinking, wow, this is what happens if you live long enough. You'll hear the ayatollah's grandson saying, not even "Send in the Marines" but "Bring in the 82nd Airborne." I think it was the matter-of-factness of the reply that impressed me the most: He spoke as if talking of the obvious and the uncontroversial.
Underdog-ism and the Weak Dollar
Amity Shlaes on the connection between altruism and a weak dollar policy:[A weakening of the dollar] does not come out of the Bush administration's typical culture of strength and growth. Rather, it represents a surrender to what we can call the tyranny of the weak.
Consider the logic inherent in the communique's 'flexibility' section, and in the minds of many of its supporters. America is growing faster than Europe. It is growing faster than Japan. It is growing intemperately. America's greed has generated a current account deficit with a single country, China, that is the largest such gap ever. What's more, America is too productive. And that productivity is, at least right now, causing the American economy to generate too few jobs at home.
In short, the challenge is not to make the other countries grow faster. It is to slow America to a pace that puts it in step with its weaker peers, Europe and Japan. You start by putting pressure on the dollar with a few remarks about the acceptability of flexible rates.You also press the Chinese to strengthen their currency. A weaker dollar then makes shopping abroad more expensive; the economy slows nicely. [NY Sun]
One More on The Schwarzenegger Double-Standard
R. Emmett Tyrell in Thursday's New York Sun:When the Los Angeles Times got its groping story, the editors ran it on the front page. When they had a story involving rape charges against Mr. Clinton, they buried the story in the back of the paper. Of course, the rape charge against Mr. Clinton was different from most of the groping charges against Mr. Schwarzenegger. It had a source willing to be identified. Her name was Juanita Broaddrick, and unlike Mr. Schwarzenegger, Mr. Clinton has neither apologized nor admitted.
Yet Another War in Chechnya
The Kremlin's support for the certain victor in Chechnya's presidential elections held yesterday has brought the blood-stained republic to the brink of a new civil war, according to Russian intelligence officers. The poll, which has been widely described as a sham, was showcased by President Vladimir Putin as evidence to the outside world that life in the war-torn republic is returning to normal under Moscow's stewardship....
[Kadyrov's] two leading rivals were forced out of the race. Aslanbek Aslakhanov, a deputy in the Russian parliament, said he pulled out to take a job in the Kremlin. Malik Saidullayev, a millionaire businessman, was disqualified by the electoral commission. He said the Kremlin had resorted to cancelling his candidature after efforts to cajole him into stepping aside voluntarily failed....
One Russian commander said: "He's using us as his pocket army to settle scores with rivals. I don't want to be a mercenary for that thug." If the Russians are unhappy with the man expected to be the new president, most Chechen civilians are doubly so. Human rights groups have documented cases of his men carrying out murder, torture and kidnapping. [Telegraph]
California Scheming
From Cox and Forkum:
Related Reading:
California's Recall Election: Dangerous Democracy at Work by John Lewis (September 24, 2003)
The California recall election is an example of democracy at work, and that is precisely its danger.
California's Real Problem by Thomas Sowell (September 18, 2003)
California demonstrates liberal fundamentalism at its purest: Protect parasites and law-breakers -- and attack those who are producing.
Vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger by Thomas Sowell (September 7, 2003)
There is no need to try to compare Arnold Schwarzenegger with the founding fathers. The California voters' choice will be between him and a couple of hack politicians like Governor Gray Davis and Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante.
One Way to Skew a Survey
Here's James Taranto Tuesday:"Heavy viewers of the Fox News Channel are nearly four times as likely to hold demonstrably untrue positions about the war in Iraq as media consumers who rely on National Public Radio or the Public Broadcasting System, according to a study released this week by a research center affiliated with the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs," reports the Baltimore Sun.
This "study," however, turns out to be pure propaganda.... The "untrue positions" the survey measured are these: "Saddam Hussein has been directly linked with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks." "Weapons of mass destruction have already been found in Iraq." "World opinion favored the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq."
Here are some demonstrable untruths the survey didn't ask its subjects about: President Bush said Iraq posed an "imminent" threat. Bush claimed Iraq had bought uranium from Niger. America's intervention in Iraq was unilateral.
Would not a fair survey have included examples of the misperceptions on both sides?
Reform Tax Code, Expand Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs)
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA -- Amid rising medical costs, changing health care benefits and renewed claims that the number of so-called uninsured Americans is increasing, Americans would be much better off if they were left alone to cover their own health care. That's what Richard Ralston, executive director of a California-based organization recently wrote in an op-ed. Though it's hardly a typical argument -- most health care policy analysts widely accept the notion of government intervention in medicine -- Ralston's viewpoint is rooted in the facts and the law."The wealthiest government employees or corporate executives who receive health care insurance as a part of their compensation package receive this benefit on a tax-free basis," Ralston, who runs Americans for Free Choice in Medicine (AFCM), explained in a recent op-ed. "Anyone who pays their own health insurance premiums or medical bills must struggle to wring these payments from income that is fully taxed. This practice is unfair and it inflates the cost of health care for everyone," Ralston wrote. His op-eds have been published in the Orange County (Calif.) Register and the Washington Times.
The proper solution, he argued, is an idea whose time has come -- and is unfortunately, set to expire: expand unrestricted tax-free medical savings accounts (MSAs). "MSAs cover most routine medical expenses and make health care affordable. Were MSAs made available to every American, the tax burden of supporting huge government health care expenditures would be alleviated," Ralston concluded. He noted: "Very restricted MSA's exist today, but the legislation creating them will expire at the end of 2003."
Americans for Free Choice in Medicine, (AFCM), founded in 1993, publishes a consumer's guide and tutorial to MSAs on its Web site and it is the nation's only educational organization based on individual rights, personal responsibility and free market ideas in medicine.
The New Iraq
From Cox and Forkum:
Cartoon: Lost in Sharia
From Cox and Forkum:
Lecture: Why We Are Still Losing the War on Terrorism
This is an utterly amazing lecture. If you are a few hundred miles within the area, don't miss it.! Be sure to stay for the Q&A, as Dr. Brook is excellent speaking 'off the cuff.'--PublisherGeorge Mason University, VA
"Why We Are Still Losing the War on Terrorism" by Yaron Brook
Thursday, October 2, 7:30pm; Johnson Center, Rm C
More information: Email Ben Rathbone