The Stout Republican

…and I’m feeling chipper. My belly is full of gummy bears, and I’ve satiated my OCD by sorting a couple of thousand baseball cards a friend of mine gave me, since he is departing to North Carolina to pursue his Masters Degree. I don’t even like sports…but something about the act of collecting, organizing, and saving calms me.

So word has it the World is supposed to end on August 22nd. Bernard Lewis, a Middle Eastern historian doesn’t say that exactly, but…..

What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to “the farthest mosque,” usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.

Bernard Lewis had been getting some flak from some of his “neocon” hating critics, but they fail to understand that this is not his theory. It’s not something that he made up to scare people, but is just relaying what the written and recorded beliefs of Ahmadinejad are:

This sort of quasi-religious scaremongering always finds a receptive audience in the United States, especially among Christians of the jihadist persuasion. At 90 years old, Professor Lewis may have completely lost his marbles, but he is still feted by the White House (vice-president Dick Cheney was guest of honour at his birthday party in April), and the Wall Street Journal describes him as “a sage”. He is credited with coining the phrase “clash of civilisations” back in 1990 and now seems intent on making it a reality.

Bold words from a man who the following day had a gaggle of future jihadists arrested in his country, all identified and arrested due to aggressive surveillance (civil rights violations I say…civil rights violations) and I don’t see anywhere that they were Christian…hmmmm….

As convenient as it might be for critics to shift the focus away from the subject (he’s friends with…Dick Cheney?!?!)…it’s not a good argumentative tactic. If I were to say…”Michael Moore believes that George Bush is the devil and therefore plans on eating a pig whole on November 13th”, and it’s recorded as a note in his diary that he would do so, does that make me crazy? No…it just makes Mr. Moore crazy…and fat. The act of eating the pig isn’t my act…but, as a scholar of the eating habits of Michael Moore, I can say with relative certainty that he does believe in eating the pig, and eating it in one setting.

Go analogy!

Hot Air has been covering the most recent details of the foiled plot in the UK…the suspects have been named as well.

Hey…but some kooks believe that our reaction is unnecessary (enter Loose Change)…it wouldn’t be so if we were allowed to target those that are actually going to attack us…

I think even in terms of the “War on Terror”, you have to draw the line at a senior citizen with lip balm.

First…I don’t get why you are still putting “quotes” around War on Terror after the developments of today, but that aside, I think we’d love to let old people with lip balm through, but if they just grabbed the people with “kh” and “abu” placed in their last name, then you’d be suing us for profiling…so shut up dick…this is your bed, you made it, now deal with it.

UPDATE: Late fix for the trackback and link to Woman Honor Thyself.

Europe, Terrorism