The Stout Republican

Browsing the websites, and reading the blogs, news, etc addictively enough to get the eye rolling from the wife…just a reminder for anyone out there who feels that networks like CNN are in it to be informative…

CNN Iraq Coverup

H/T Michelle Malkin for the reminder.

Here’s another interesting post for all you conspriacy nuts out there…yes yes, I know the west is the great Satan, and everything is a neocon cover up to try to exploit Israel, Wolfowitz, World Bank…”my Pet Goat” …controlled..d..e..m…..o..l.i.ti….o.n….Carlylse Group….we’re the real terrorists…

There’s a video out there that the Palestinian groups are actually using movie production staging to fabricate videos where people are being slaughtered. Don’t just read the article…see the video. Of course the interpretation is up to the viewer…but I’ve just been watching it slack jawed. I never would have considered such a possibility, but…well…watch it.

Israel, Palestine

The clock might be ticking for Castro…

The man who was supposed to live far beyond 100 might be having complications…I don’t like the man, but Babalu Blog has a little more history. One of the last struggling communist states hopefully will fall by the wayside, giving hundreds of thousand the chance to provide something their parents weren’t able to provide them in Cuba…hope.

Castro

From AP Story (Linked):

Moazamm Begg, 38, a prisoner for more than two years at Guantanamo before being released to Great Britain, said he was suspicious of the Pentagon’s description of incidents, especially allegations that Muslim men tore their Qurans or used sperm in attacks. The Pentagon continues to publicly question Begg’s claim of innocence.

“This just doesn’t make sense _ especially since for Muslims this would be something that was disgusting, something that just wouldn’t be done,” he said. He added that some detainees told him they had mixed toothpaste and spit in the cocktails to make it look like semen.

Begg, who has written a book and spoken frequently about his experience, said most incidents he witnessed were spontaneous reactions “when word spread” among prisoners that a guard had done something wrong.

“I rarely saw lone prisoners acting out on their own for no reason except if they had some sort of mental illness or if they were on medication,” he said.

Making something look like sperm to fling at guards…ok.  Using actual sperm…not ok.  I think it’s amusing that he said that they would only act out if they had some sort of mental illness.  I know the press would like you to believe that 99% of the people being detained have done nothing wrong (exaggeration for dramatic effect, keep your panties on), but many of these people are terrorist…terrorists don’t strike me as mentally sound…mentally disturbed people sometimes throw body fluids at their guards.  See Clarice.

Easier still to believe, based on their religion and the area of the world that many have been apprehended in, was their treatment of female guards:

Though all detainees are foreigners, many are clearly Americanized when it comes to their insults and gestures. Male guards are frequently derided as “donkeys” while female guards are routinely called “bitches” or harassed by references to their breasts or genitalia, the reports said.

In all, nearly a quarter of incidents involved female guards, the reports show.

“They absolutely target female guards,” Nicolucci said. “They have a lot of cultural biases about females, and we let them know in our culture that females do everything males do in a professional job environment, and we just hold firm.”

Just a reminder that the victims in Guantanamo aren’t always the prisoners.  Many in the press and political arena are so quick to step up in favor of those detained that they forget the hell that those doing the detaining endure every day.

Michelle Malkin has posted several stories about such “reverse abuse”, and has a full history of incidents going back years, that have all but been ignored as the argument revolves around whether or not “waterboarding” is torture (cocktails of feces, spit, and urine are not in case you were wondering).

As a side note…we ran into a Navy man at the San Diego Comic Convention when we were having lunch.  He asked one of my friends for a light for his cigarette, and then we proceeded to talk to him about what he was doing, what he was up to…on leave, etc.   In the middle conversation, he thanked us, because many of the people that he had come into contact with had called him names yelled at him that somehow the war in Iraq was his fault…and in general treated him like shit, and we talked to him as a human being.  He said that agree or disagree with the war, he was doing his job, and he didn’t understand why people attacked him, without knowing him…just goes along the lines of remembering that there are people under those uniforms…and they deserve to be treated with some civility.  I’m not saying like them, I’m not even saying respect them, but afford them a little common courtesy when you meet them, them flame them all you want on the chat boards…tearing into the individual soldier acheives nothing.

And Kids…remember, Liberals only respect the uniform if you agree with them…think contrary?  Look up Murtha or Kerry in comparison to Pantano or even Rumsfeld (who served in the US Navy from 1954 to 1975 as active duty and reservist).  The argument is “Rumsfeld never saw battle”, even though he’s been involved with policy and national defense for over 20 years…apparently, you need to blow yourself up to have credibility. (Tasteless…I know…truly tasteless…but I have to be consistent)

Blogs and Alternative Media, Guantanamo

Women and children are casualties of war. In the current conflict between Hizbollah and Israel, the Media has been covering the loss of civilian life very closely. Many blogs are commenting on the details who are far more eloquent and educated than I am on this issue…so I won’t get into it too much…this weekend has been far too busy for me to follow it as closely as Euphoric Reality. My point is this…in a war, we know there are going to be civilian casualties, and we lament them when they happen. To the credit of Israel, they have done as much as possible to alert all those in the danger areas of possible strikes, and sincerely regret the loss of civilian life. The problem lies in the fact that you’re dealing with an enemy who has no problem hiding behind woman and children. How do you reconcile such a thing militarily? I’m reminded of a picture I once saw on Protest Warrior the was a leaflet that has been circulated throughout the Middle East and Afghanistan:

As sad as the loss of life is…what are our options when presented with an enemy who shoots rockets from behind a human shield?

Israel

• Quick link to a post a Little Green Footballs…odd that the press didn’t run with this story.

• The Associated Press prints this little story about McCain and Clinton being involved in a vodka drinking contest some years back…take it or leave it…I’ve had my fair share of drinking contests back in the day (all of which I’ve lost…horribly). What get’s me is this quote:
  

  McCain and Clinton have built a close working relationship in the Senate. They both serve on the Armed Services Committee and share interests in subjects such as climate change. Both have cultivated bipartisan images, working across party lines on common interests.

  What? Who? I know they’re journalists, but I want to find the Republican who thinks Hillary is cultivating a bipartisan image…and punch him in his undescended testicles.

• And finally, Seattle Times prints this letter, where a reader states “We need to weed out these neocons and their globalist conspirators!”…eh…not so bad, until you add the headline printed by the editorial staff. “Eradicate those who have put us in the Middle East“. I guess some people are looking for a final solution to the neocon problem? Great follow up here at Sound Politics…

Blogs and Alternative Media, Link

Al Qaeda issued a Jihad on Israel earlier this week. Stating:

“The shells and rockets ripping apart Muslim bodies in Gaza and Lebanon are not only Israeli (weapons), but are supplied by all the countries of the crusader coalition. Therefore, every participant in the crime will pay the price,”

Just a reminder that the Al Qaida network isn’t exclusive to Afghanistan, they’re worldwide, and have their fingers in everything, from Hezbollah, to Iran, to Iraq….as al-Zawahiri himself says:

“It is a Jihad for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails … from Spain to Iraq…We will attack everywhere.”

I take him seriously…and do not believe that he can be negotiated with.

Al Qaeda, Iraq, Israel

I think I’ve noticed that Law & Order characters are recycled. The villain one week is the lawyer the next…and this isn’t exclusive to the Law & Order original series only…oh no. This extends to Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent.

…and on pops the news. News is business, and anyone who thinks it’s there strictly to inform (instead of sell ad time), never really paid attention to how well produced the cinematic bumpers and orchestrated music are as the numbers of deaths “directly related” to the heat fades into the screen. More dramatic, more death, more destruction…what was that…global warming…how is George Bush responsible this time. Where are the positives?

In case you’ve been sleeping through the news, there was an attack in a Jewish Synagogue in Seattle this afternoon by a self proclaimed Muslim upset with “the Jews” (*must be said in whispered tone*). Michelle Malkin has done a really good job of recapping it, and she just released the identity of the shooter, Naveed Haj:

[Seattle Times] Witnesses say the gunman shot one receptionist, then ordered her to dial 911. He then took the phone from her.

“He told the police that it was a hostage situation and he wanted us to get our weapons out of Israel,” said one woman who heard the account from the wounded co-worker.

Oh yeah…that’s his High School yearbook photo saying “Peace Be Unto You”…I guess that’s just a suggestion at this point. Michelle’s site quotes the article and states that two weeks ago Naveed moved out of his apt and was “heading to Pakistan”…learned here, directed to visit over there…or learned there, directed to come back here.

Yoni the blogger’s site is up and running and he’s actively posting on this and other stories concerning Israel. As a fan of the talk radio, it was when I tuned in to Hugh Hewitt’s show (KRLA 870) this afternoon that I heard Yoni explaining the events. You always cut in at the exact wrong time, all I heard was “Seattle” and “possible terrorist attack”. I felt almost guilty for being relieved when the next update was that there was only one confirmed dead.

The interesting thing is going to be to see how this affects the current domestic dynamic with regard to immigration, social policy, etc. Was this a person born in bred in the US (a la Adam Gadahn), or was it someone who slipped through our highly porous borders. It makes you wonder what it will take to get some sort of border security to our south. I’m not saying kick immigrants out of the US, stop accepting new applicants and all that jazz, but what I am saying is that Political Correctness aside, there needs to be real security on our border…I don’t want to hear about it 5 years later when some commision is telling us “Well, if we had these checkpoints in place, or this kind of ID and tracking, something like this could have been avoided.”

Tangent tangent news tangent tangent

Environment, Israel, Rant

There’s a few key districts that are now in play for local elections, one of these is Rick O’Donnell for Colorado’s 7th district. One of the things that he’s currently addressing on his website is something that touches the lives and future of every one of the Generation X and Yers. Social Security. It’s a issue that has fallen to the side of the road due to the fact Bush couldn’t even get the support that he needed in his party, the AARP has legitimate concerns…and a powerful lobby.

Early initiatives to address the economic effects of the baby-boom retirements could smooth the transition to a new balance between workers and retirees. If we delay, the adjustments could be abrupt and painful.

Alan Greenspan
Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board
before the Special Committee on Aging,
February 27, 2003

It’s something I whole heartedly agree with. We have to be able to set up some sort of system where we can guarantee those who have paid into the system still receive those benefits guaranteed to them, however, it can’t go on forever. I would love to have control over my retirement to the extent I have control over my IRA accounts, or my 401k, but I really believe that I’m putting money into a system that I won’t get anything out of, and that may very well cripple our country. Here’s where the Republicans and Democrats have screwed up, and O’Donnell addresses this:

It is immoral and wrong for the government to be spending our Social Security dollars on anything other than our retirement. It is far past time to take the cookie jar away from Congress. I will fight to ensure that surplus Social Security funds are saved to pay for our retirement benefits, not siphoned off to pay for other things. We must protect our retirement by putting our Social Security where workers can watch it grow – in their own personal Social Security lockbox – and Congress can’t spend it.

Current and previous administration continue to “borrow” against social security, to fill in the holes in the budget, but social security should be used to pay social security. Maybe I’m crazy…but I think this is going to be the biggest issue that our generation is going to be facing in the future. I don’t think it should be politicized; I think it needs to be addressed now, because this is a landslide that’s ready to…well…slide.

Republican

Exposetheleft.com has the video run down by Fox news showing a quick exchange between Kerry and Bolton over Multilateral and Bilateral talks with regards to North Korea.  I feel a bit bad for the Democrats, as they seem somehow to keep the sock firmly out of Kerry’s mouth.

View the link here to see the video.

Here’s the quote:

SENATOR JOHN KERRY: This has been going on for five years, Mr. Ambassador.

AMBDASSADOR JOHN BOLTON: It’s the nature of multi-lateral negations, Senator.

KERRY: Why not engage in a bilateral one and get the job done? That’s what the Clinton administration did.

BOLTON: Very poorly, since the North Koreans violation the agreed framework almost from the time it was signed.

I think they have a problem with history and facts.  I’m relatively young compared to the people I see fighting it out on C-SPAN or in the evening recap, but even I wouldn’t invoke the Clinton name as some sort of positive with regards to any international policy…sure, people around the world liked us much more, but that’s because we didn’t do anything about their nuclear proliferations, their pursuit of weaponry, their local conflicts that led to genocide.  Most of that was deferred to the UN (credibility?) which somehow we viewed as an organization that had some sort of pull…right…

Look, like John Bolton or not, we need him to be part of the UN if we expect it to be salvageable at all…straight talk is far more important than “being liked”.  I don’t understand this “buddy buddy” mentality. 

UPDATE: This program has no spell check, and it’s driving me crazy…the first thing you have to check when making any points against the liberal status quo is your spelling, otherwise they’ll go off on a grammar tangent, an ad hominem attack, froth a little, and then pass out without ever addressing the substance of your argument.

North Korea, Senate

I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it…pretty much anyone who spends any time what-so-ever on the internet has seen it.  It’s the Double Standard of the loonies on the left.  The screaming about their “freedom of speech”, and then bitching when someone says something that they don’t like.  Deb Frisch is truly nuts.  She posted comments for weeks at Jeff Goldstein’s Protein Wisdom site, talking about “Jon Beneting” his child, and then saying it wasn’t a threat because Mr. Goldstein obviously didn’t feel threatened.  She then said that because he can edit comments (as all blog administrators can) that he lied about her comments, particularly the one about open mouth kissing his child, that it was fabricated or improperly assigned to her.  Regardless…at this point she is trying to sue him for libel.

What happened to freedom of speech Deb?  It seems that the standards that allow you to say such horrid things on a blog, not only don’t extend to your blog (where you have been stating you will be deleting comments you don’t like), but they also don’t extend into your personal life, where you feel suing over someone else’s speech is okay.  You began this shitstorm…and now you’re trying to play the victim, and then trying to get money out of it?  I supposed you need it since this whole affair (which of course is not your fault) prompted you to resign.  Your recourse seems to be to lie about the reality of an event to make it easier for you to cope with in retrospect.  I know your type…I saw them at every college party.  You were the one that the next day lied and said you didn’t want to, and he took advantage of you, thereby shirking all responsibilty. Problem is, everyone saw this unfold, and everyone knows what you are and what you did.  People like you ruin lives at just to save that little bit of integrity you think you have…

Victims.  I’m going to be contributing to Goldstein’s defense…

Blogs and Alternative Media, Moonbats