Entertaining Considerations

This is a title of the article written by Russ Vaughn of Old War Dogs.  Although I read this article already on the Old War Dogs site earlier today, since Russ was kind enough to e-mail it to me, I am posting it here, including his update.  It looks like Russ will be contributing to this site on the regular basis.  I certainly hope that this will be the case.  So, here is Russ Vaughn:

I am troubled by tonight’s primary results, especially troubled by the prospect that I may be forced to vote for an unprincipled political chameleon like McCain in order to save our country from two politicians, Bill and Hillary Clinton, who are even more unprincipled, even to the point of felonious criminality. I wrote this piece this morning and tonight stand by it even more. Hillary just slapped my face and that of many other honorable veterans with her sneering, gratuitous reference to swift boating in her gloating victory speech. It just demonstrates how twisted their leftist thinking is when they use this term of honor as a pejorative.

I will follow the dictates of my old regimental motto: Honor and Country,

Russ Vaughn

Entertaining Considerations

I was afraid this was going to happen when McCain started coming on stronger in the primaries. To an even greater extent than John Kerry, John McCain possesses the ability to politically divide American veterans more than any other presidential candidate. With Kerry, a key determinant of which way veterans’ loyalties fell was party affiliation. I’m sure there were many liberal Democrat veterans, particularly Vietnam veterans, who held their noses and supported a man they viscerally disliked because he was their party’s candidate and represented their overall liberal positions. It was easy for those of us who were politically conservative Vietnam vets to take a hard, unrelenting stand against the man we knew had smeared us because he was the candidate of the party whose positions we opposed.

Today, this division among veterans in general and Vietnam veterans in particular has been turned by McCain’s candidacy into a family fight among Republican veterans that threatens our already diminished prospects for victory in November. While virtually all of us admire and respect McCain’s military service and POW sacrifice, there are millions of us who feel that is simply not enough for him to be able to command our political loyalties four decades later. Setting aside the fact that McCain sided with John Kerry in 2004 and denounced those of us who dared to question Kerry’s very questionable war record, there are many reasons why we do not see John McCain as being someone we can trust to represent the mainstream views of the Republican party. I will spare you a Sean Hannity, rapid-fire recitation of the litany of McCain’s transgressions against his own party because I think there is a single issue far more compelling.

Go ahead and Google “McCain switching parties?” and look at the pages of hits which take you to articles from every sector of the media examining whether or not John McCain was preparing to switch parties as far back as 2001 and continuing into the 2004 campaign. The most chilling of all these reports is one from the Boston Herald in which McCain is quoted as responding to ABC’s Charles Gibson’s question as to whether he would even entertain the idea of running as John Kerry’s VP if Kerry extended such an offer,

“John Kerry is a very close friend of mine. We’ve been friends for years. Obviously I would entertain it.”
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/.../2408_briefing_-_kerry-mccain.pdf

That is a very telling quote. In his own words, to further his political ambitions, John McCain would have considered abandoning his party and his supposedly conservative principles to serve on the ticket with one of the most liberal candidates ever to run as a Democrat presidential candidate. Even worse, reading down, one reads that Kerry now claims it was McCain’s people who initiated such a proposal, not that we’d be inclined to lend too much credibility to that particular source. Some very close friends, huh? No wonder then that McCain was able to denounce his fellow Navy Vietnam veterans as “dishonest and dishonorable” when they dared to attack Kerry’s self-promoting war record. McCain was selfishly attempting to curry favor with the man and the party which could do the most for his personal political future.
http://dir.salon.com/.../2004/08/06/mccain_on_swift_boat_veterans/

Now I ask you, just who was being dishonest and dishonorable here? Was it the sailors who served in combat with Kerry and raised issues with his war record that Kerry never successfully refuted and refused to release the Navy records which he claimed would do so? Or was it the self-serving maverick politician who was entertaining the possibility of forsaking his Republican party to fill the number two position on the Democrat ticket?

A good friend and fellow Old War Dog, Bill Faith, cites Mitt Romney’s contradictory and self-serving statements about not serving in Vietnam as proving Romney unworthy of his vote. To that I would respond that talking out of both sides of one’s mouth is congenital in politicians and that perhaps Romney might have gone AWOL on the issue. But Romney’s transgression completely pales against John McCain’s admitted willingness to “entertain” the possibility of full-fledged desertion to the enemy in the midst of political combat.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want a commander-in-chief who even entertains such considerations.

Russ Vaughn

My own comment to this is that it appears from Russ's update above the article itself that he will vote for John McCain, if McCain wins the nomination.  I wholeheartedly agree with that position.  Whatever McCain's transgressions might be, he is infinitely better than any Democratic nominee.

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Second choice

It is sad, but Rudy Giuliani has dropped out of Presidential Campaign.  My second choice is Mitt Romney.  Just like Rudy, he showed that he can be blunt and not politically correct when he denied state escort to the former Iranian President and when he suggested that mosques suspected of terrorist ties should be bugged by FBI.  Here is what he has to say on the issues of keeping America safe, confronting radical jihad and nuclear terrorism from Iran.  These are the most important issues in my opinion.  Plus, Romney's business experience should help strengthen our economy as well.  But what if John McCain gets the nomination?  Well on the most important issue of our time - the war against Islamo-Fascism - he is almost as good as Romney.  In fact, Rudy Giuliani, who of all candidates was the best on this issue, seems to think that he is even better than Romney.  So, should he get the nomination, I will vote for him in the general election without a slightest hesitation.  I urge those who are concerned about the threat of Islamo-Fascism to our civilization to do the same.  Please don't sit the election out because you disagree with McCain on immigration.  As bad as McCain might be on any issue, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will be much worse.  After all, McCain does apparently have 80% conservative voting rating.  So, please don't let the Democrats win.

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My thoughts on Obama winning Iowa

Many of my fellow Republicans are now gloating at Hillary's loss in Iowa.  Hillary finished 3rd, after Obama and Edwards.  But for those of my fellow Republicans who are happy to see Hillary defeated in the Democratic Primaries I have this to say: consider President Obama or President Edwards.  As bad as Hillary is, all of her Democratic opponents are much worse, every single one of them.  Hillary Clinton is an embodiment of all the worst characteristics of a politician.  She is ruthless and unprincipled, and her only motivation in life is the hunger for power.  But if I were voting in the Democratic Primary, I would have voted for her.  Why?  Because she is the sanest of them all.  Because of her hunger for power she can at least be controlled by public opinion, Congress etc.  It is pretty sad that one of the major political parties in this country can do no better than Hillary Clinton.  But that is the reality we live in.  I do not think she would the easiest to defeat in the General Election.  In fact, I think she might be the hardest to defeat.  But as much as I hope that Republican Party will hold on to the White House, I have to consider the possibility that the Democrats might win.  And in that case I would much rather prefer to have a ruthless and unprincipled power-hungry politician as President than a naive appeaser or someone who just ponders to everybody in the world.

Oh, and one more thing.  Despite sharing many of Ron Paul's libertarian views, if I am given a choice between Ron Paul and Hillary Clinton, I would vote for Hillary Clinton.  You see, I cannot vote for anyone who would appease Islamo-Fascists, whether on the Left or on the Right.

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The Roosevelts...

..., both Franklin and Teddy, might soon join tearful Churchill.  This is also via LGF:

Inside the Ring

January 4, 2008

By Bill Gertz - Coughlin sacked

Stephen Coughlin, the Pentagon specialist on Islamic law and Islamist extremism, has been fired from his position on the military's Joint Staff. The action followed a report in this space last week revealing opposition to his work for the military by pro-Muslim officials within the office of Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England.

Mr. Coughlin was notified this week that his contract with the Joint Staff will end in March, effectively halting the career of one of the U.S. government's most important figures in analyzing the nature of extremism and ultimately preparing to wage ideological war against it.

He had run afoul of a key aide to Mr. England, Hasham Islam, who confronted Mr. Coughlin during a meeting several weeks ago when Mr. Islam sought to have Mr. Coughlin soften his views on Islamist extremism.

Mr. Coughlin was accused directly by Mr. Islam of being a Christian zealot or extremist "with a pen," according to defense officials. Mr. Coughlin appears to have become one of the first casualties in the war of ideas with Islamism.

The officials said Mr. Coughlin was let go because he had become "too hot" or controversial within the Pentagon.

Misguided Pentagon officials, including Mr. Islam and Mr. England, have initiated an aggressive "outreach" program to U.S. Muslim groups that critics say is lending credibility to what has been identified as a budding support network for Islamist extremists, including front groups for the radical Muslim Brotherhood.

Read it and weep.

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Churchill is crying - again

This is via LGF:

Scores of soldiers flying home from Afghanistan on Christmas leave were ordered to change out of their uniforms on a freezing runway before being allowed into a civilian airport terminal.

Troops were told not to be seen in public in their uniforms - which they had worn with pride while risking their lives during months of intense fighting against the Taliban.

Scroll down for more...

Fighting man: A British soldier in action in Afghanistan

Last night the Ministry of Defence and bosses at Birmingham International Airport blamed each other for the indignity suffered by the soldiers - which comes amid mounting anger over the treatment of British troops returning from war.

One soldier, who was ordered to undress for "security reasons", said: "It is an insult to the entire Army to force guys who've been fighting in Afghanistan to obey some jobsworth rule when all they want to do is get home to their families.

"So much for a nation proud of its servicemen. The temperature was Baltic on the runway but most of just wanted to get home so we cracked on."

I'll try to imitate British accent: "This is a horrible disgrace!"  So, once again I must post this picture from FreedomDogs.com:

What else can I say?

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I am back

It's been a month since my last post.  I've been very busy at work and had to work weekends.  I am still busy, but have a little bit of time to post here.  So, to start with, here is a great article by Judith Klinghoffer:

WORLD WATCHING AMERICAN ELECTION

Yes. The whole world is watching, frustratedly watching, the American election campaign. Many believe that they should have had the right to participate as the decision is bound to affect their own lives as well as American ones. Some living in democracies believe the Americans are too uncouth to be entrusted with such an important decision while those living in dictatorship are filled with hopeless wonder. Too many in the under developed world believe that America stands between them and an opportunity to made a similar choice. For in these difficult times the presidential candidates do offer Americans a real choice and it is a choice which will be understood by both friend and foe alike.

Read it all.

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Good article by Atlas

Pamela of Atlas Shrugs wrote this:

I once had a boyfriend who liked me more than I liked him. He was a musician - with me so far? Good. I thought it best to end things rather than lead him on. He would not take no for an answer. No matter how firm and definite - he pursued with singular determination. He did not hear a word I said. No matter how many times. And so I refused to see him or talk to him. He would wait outside my building .......... until one day the cops had to be called because he had a rifle.

Fast forward Annapolis.

What part of NO don't we understand?

The Palis, the Islamazis, the Arab world has been unequivocal in their refusal to recognize Israel. Every year, every decade, every war, every intifada .......... it has always been the same. Always. The Saudis would not even shake hands with Israel at Annapolis.  Wishing and hoping and dreaming and praying and land givebacks and billions  in aid and arms and food and medicine and all those delicious carrots the West is so good at handing over has made no difference. None. Today the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran calls for Death to Israel and Death to America.

And still we stalk. No matter what. We suspend our disbelief. We stalk for peace. We won't fight for peace.  We will beg, cajole, buy off,  sleep with evil men, fund terror, ignore everything the enemy is insisting on ........ we will do everything, except what must be done to create a real peace - fight. Self defend.

The only time Israel had a modicum of peace  was after she beat back the invasion of five Arab countries during the six day war and crushed the enemy. That's the fact. And the international communitay has been punishing Israel ever since.

Read the rest.  She is absolutely correct.  They tell us to our face that they want to kill us, and we still ask: "Why can't we get along?"  Enough already.

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Shameful

It has been several days since I saw this (via Atlas):

Jewish York students flee from mob

Posted On 11/27/07
By: Atara Beck

TORONTO  – York University saw the worst antisemitic display ever on that campus last week, said Ben Feferman, senior campus coordinator for the Canadian region of Hasbara Fellowships, an Israel advocacy organization spearheaded by Aish Hatorah.

The Betar-supported Campus Coalition of Zionists (CCZ), together with Hasbarah, manned a table in Vari Hall, with permission from the university, with pamphlets and brochures about the danger emanating from Iran.

However, the situation became very difficult for the students who participated. They were vastly outnumbered by pro-Arab students who surrounded them, and eventually the pro-Israel activists fled. As they left, there was cheering by the pro-Arab mob.

According to Feferman, “I’ve never seen anything like this at York. We weren’t even discussing the issues anymore. It was pure Jew hatred. That’s what it’s come to.”
In fact, Feferman noticed an acquaintance there and said hello, but received no acknowledgement. She emailed him later that day to apologize, explaining that she didn’t want everyone to know she was Jewish. To Feferman, this episode is a red light. “We know there’s a crisis when a student on campus is afraid to reveal she’s Jewish and feels unsafe,” he said.

Another disturbing issue that day, according to Feferman, was that a Hillel executive was standing nearby, watching. Feferman can’t understand why he didn’t take action or get his students to help out.

When asked why they didn’t offer to support Hasbarah and CCZ, Tilly Shames, associate director, Hillel of Greater Toronto, did not answer the question directly referencing a program Hillel had held previously that experienced no protest.

They fled?!  What the hell is that?!  What were they afraid of?  A confrontation?  A fistfight?  Only those who flee can be sent to the gas chambers.  And this headline is adding insult to injury.  I just want to hang my head in shame.

Someone might ask me: "What would you do?"  Well, this is one of few instances when I know exactly what I would do: I've been in situations like this one.  Suffice it to say, I would not "flee", and neither would my friends.

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About that phone call...

OK, last Monday morning I did call the White House, the Israeli Embassy and the State Department.  There was nobody, not even a machine, answering at the White House.  After saying "hello" several times I heard a beep.  I attempted to leave a message, but I think that that beep was the phone disconnecting.  The Israeli Embassy did not call me back: for some reason the system on that web site did not work for the Israeli Embassy.  The State Department call came through successfully, and I was able to leave my message.  I did not get a chance to try this again.  Of course, all 3 places can be contacted via e-mail, but the phone calls are usually more effective.

Now, some people are skeptical about making these phone calls, especially those who are originally from the former Soviet Union, like myself.  They don't believe that they can influence the Government.  So I'd like to tell a story about people influencing their government in a very unlikely place.

Back in 1987 I was still living in Odessa, Ukraine.  One of the historic streets in Odessa is Primorsky Boulevard (Seashore Boulevard).  It has beautiful historic buildings on one side and a slope leading to the Black Sea shore and Odessa Sea Port on the other side.

 

Between these beautiful buildings and slopes are old trees and benches.  Essentially, it's a park.  Well, in 1987 a Chief Architect of Ukraine decided that these trees block the view of the buildings from the see.  So, he gave orders to dig the trees up and replace them with some bushes.  The work had begun.  But the people of Odessa protested and demonstrated against it.  People even organized patrols to guard the trees during the night.  One evening I also went there and confronted the representatives of the authorities.  In the end the people won.  The trees were left alone.  Some bureaucrat from Kiev was not going to dig up our trees.  So, if it was possible for the people to have influence in the old Soviet Union, don't you think it is much more likely for the people to have influence in this country?

Returning to the subject at hand, here is an update from Jewish Russian Telegraph:

We Jammed State Department's Lines

Thank you to all activists who responded to our and other groups appeal and made a call.
We jammed the lines and sent a message.

Coordinating Council for Jerusalem:

COORDINATING COUNCIL ON JERUSALEM FILLS STATE DEPARTMENT VOICEMAIL BOXES TO CAPACITY

Innovative Grassroots phone calling campaign overwhelms State Department

 New York, NY/Washington, D.C. – November 28^th, 2007 – The Coordinating Council on Jerusalem (www.ccjer.org) is proud to announce the phenomenal success of their revolutionary Internet activated grassroots phone calling system. Calls facilitated by the CCJ’s system are overwhelming operators at the White House, State Department and Israeli Embassy.

By visiting the website http://callsForJerusalem.org, and taking 90 seconds out of the day, anyone who opposes U.S. pressure on Israel and believes in the significance of maintaining a unified Jerusalem, will be connected directly and free of charge to the various agencies to send a simple message expressing their opinion to the U.S. and Israeli leadership participating in Annapolis. The website has been up for less than 48 hours and has already proven to be a vastly effective grassroots technique; over 10,000 calls have been made already.

“The results are very gratifying and the turnout is incredible for a virally marketed campaign.” says Jeff Ballabon, the political consultant coordinating the strategy of the Coordinating Council on Jerusalem. “We have created a new way literally to give a voice to the Pro-Israel community’s thoughts and the calling volume is growing every hour.”

Even groups not officially affiliated with CCJ have jumped on the bandwagon. “Everyone from the Rabbinical Council of America to G Gordon Liddy are utilizing and promoting our callsForJerusalem.org  system to their bases,” says Ballabon. “We welcome them and encourage others to join.” In response to reports that the State Department has begun to advise callers that their mailbox servers have been filled, the Coordinating Council on Jerusalem will be requesting that the State Department increase the space in the voicemail boxes in order to accommodate the increasing number of Americans who want to petition their government against pressuring Israel.

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Urgent call

I just got back home from out of town.  I found this urgent e-mail from Jewish Russian Telegraph:

...Our children will ask us -- what did you do to defend Israel in Annapolis?

Time to call: Monday 11/26/07, during office hours
How to call: click http://jrtelegraph.callsforjerusalem.org/ for a completely automated calling system:

calls are free, courtesy of Coordinating Council for Jerusalem 

Again, here is the link.  It seems to be the same link that was posted on Little Green Footballs.  This link allows you to call the White House, the State Department and the Israeli Embassy.  I have just tried calling, but the offices are closed.  They will send an e-mail tomorrow to remind me to call during the business hours.  Please call also.

Also, here is Caroline Glick's article on the subject of this summit in Annapolis (via Jewish Russian Telegraph).  She nails it:

The mood is dark in the IDF's General Staff ahead of next week's "peace" conference in Annapolis. As one senior officer directly involved in the negotiations with the Palestinians and the Americans said, "As bad as it might look from the outside, the truth is 10 times worse. This is a nightmare. The Americans have never been so hostile."

On Thursday a draft of the joint statement that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are discussing ahead of the conference was leaked to the media. A reading of the document bears out the IDF's concerns.

The draft document shows that the Palestinians and the Israelis differ not only on every issue, but differ on the purpose of the document. It also shows that the US firmly backs the Palestinians against Israel.

As the draft document makes clear, Israel is trying to avoid committing itself to anything at Annapolis. For their part, the Palestinians are trying to force Israel's hand by tying it to diplomatic formulas that presuppose an Israeli withdrawal to the 1949 armistice lines and an Israeli acceptance of the so-called "right of return" or free immigration of foreign Arabs to Israel.

The Palestinians are also trying to take away Israel's right to determine for itself whether to trust the Palestinians and continue making diplomatic and security concessions or not by making it the responsibility of outside parties to decide the pace of the concessions and whether or not the Palestinians should be trusted.

As the leaked draft document shows, the Americans have sided with the Palestinians against Israel. Specifically, the Americans have taken for themselves the sole right to judge whether or not the Palestinians and the Israelis are abiding by their commitments and whether and at what pace the negotiations will proceed.

But the Americans have shown themselves to be unworthy of Israel's trust. By refusing to acknowledge Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party's direct involvement in terrorism and indeed the direct involvement of his official Fatah "security forces" in terrorism, the Americans have shown that their benchmarks for Palestinian compliance with their commitments to Israel are not necessarily based on the reality on the ground. Then too, the US demands for wide-ranging Israeli security concessions to the Palestinians even before the "peace" conference at Annapolis have shown that Israel's security is of little concern to the State Department.

IDF sources blame the shooting murder of Ido Zoldan on Monday night by Fatah terrorists on Israel's decision to bow to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's demand to take down 24 security roadblocks in Judea and Samaria. If it hadn't been for US pressure, they say, it is quite possible that the 29-year-old father of two small children would be alive today.

But this is of no concern for Washington. As Rice has made clear repeatedly, the US wants to see "signs of progress." Since the Palestinians are taking no action against terror and doing nothing to lessen their society's jihadist fervor, the only way to achieve "signs of progress" is by forcing Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians. And so that is exactly what Rice and her associates are doing.

It is really upsetting to me as an American to read this.  Unfortunately Caroline Glick is absolutely correct.  Read it for yourself.  And

please call.

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Talking about my favorite candidate, ...

...here is a couple of ads:

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One of my favorite authors...

...supports my favorite Presidential Candidate.  I am talking about Vince Flynn, the author of "Memorial Day" and numerous other novels about Mtch Rapp, an American counter-terrorism operative who knows what needs to be done in the current war.  His latest book, "Protect and Defend", deals with Iranian threat.  I have yet to read this book.  For now here is Vince Flynn's interview that he gave to "Washington Times" upon release of his new book:

A page from his book

November 16, 2007

By Audrey Hudson - Novelist Vince Flynn's hot new political thriller featuring CIA superspy Mitch Rapp hit the New York Times best-seller list at No. 1 this week.

In "Protect and Defend," Mr. Flynn pushes the political debate on the use of torture in the war on terror as he pits Rapp against master terrorist Imad Mukhtar.

The following are excerpts of a recent telephone interview with Mr. Flynn:

Question: In the real world, how effective do you think torture is with Islamic terrorists?

A: Far more effective than liberals would have you believe. Congress really upset me with how they treated Attorney General Michael Mukasey and how the media pushed this question. Why aren't reporters forcing senators and Congress to answer the same questions about torture? What do you think we should have done? Given them a lawyer, three square meals a day and let planes get hijacked?

I think it should be done in the rarest of situations. Anybody who says torture doesn't work hasn't studied the history of torture. Torture, or aggressive interrogation, is only as good as the interrogators. Take Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, for instance. He got waterboarded and he sang like a canary ... he ended up naming operatives and giving up a treasure trove of financial secrets as well as plans for future attacks. This was not Uday and Qusai Hussein at work. This was done with clinical precision, not brute force. There are multiple interrogators, lie detectors, doctors and a group of analysts in the next room connected to every friendly western intelligence agency to check everything the subject says.

That's a far cry from what Senator [John] McCain experienced, and he says that torture does not work. I have a lot of respect for the man, but when he was in the Hanoi Hilton, he was brutally tortured to give up names, so he gave them the starting lineup of the Green Bay Packers. Back then, it would have been difficult to verify; but today, it's called "Google."

I'm not talking about pulling people out of cafes in Baghdad, torture has to be reserved for high-value targets.

All of these men and some women who happen to participate in the program have to be waterboarded themselves, they've gone through it and they know how terrifying it is. I know Amnesty International would disagree with me, but every American needs to ask themselves, "If you could turn back the clock one week [before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks] would you want Zacarias Moussaoui to have been interrogated by waterboarding?"

Q: How can we win the war on terrorism when many cannot acknowledge who the enemy is?

A: That's a tough question. I'll waffle on this. As a society, we need to start demanding a few things. We have embraced liberty, equality in the sexes and religion — we believe in all of this. If you want to come to this country and you are Muslim, you had better agree and be fine with the Christian and Jewish faith. But if you are going to come over here and preach hatred and raise money for Hamas and Hezbollah, we're going to kick you out of the country.

As an Irish-Catholic kid in the 1980s, I remember being disgusted with the thugs and the terrorists in the [Irish Republican Army] and I don't remember anyone who was Irish-American saying to [novelist] Tom Clancy after "Patriot Games": "How dare you portray people in the IRA for what they were, a bunch of thugs and terrorists?" What drives me nuts is people like [the Council on American-Islamic Relations] who, any time somebody in fiction or on TV has a villain who happens to portray what is going on in the world today — Islamic radicals who embrace a cult of death and are running around killing innocent women and children — they get upset about it. CAIR would better serve American Muslims if they spent more time criticizing these Islamic terrorist groups.

Q: If Americans are so opposed to torturing our enemies, how do you explain the popularity of Mitch Rapp?

A: They're not opposed to torturing men like Sheikh Mohammed, but they don't want to run around and talk about it in public. Look at Hollywood. They all detest President Bush because their friends will think they are smarter by hating him. They wear it as a badge of honor. They try to prove to people they are smart and compassionate and enlightened, so people will like them. But instead, they make these movies the American people don't want to see, because deep down inside, the American public does not want to see a movie that bashes America. People like Rosie O'Donnell say they love America, but they have a funny way of showing it.

People want a guy like Mitch Rapp looking out for them. People want to believe there are guys like this out there protecting us.

Q: This year has seen a surge of antiwar films, which are flopping like dominoes, while "Protect and Defend" is the No. 1 book this week. Is Hollywood ready for Mitch Rapp yet?

A: I don't think we are quite there. Hollywood is now saying people don't want to watch movies about war. No, Americans don't want to watch [bad] anti-American movies about war. Americans would love to watch a great movie where Mitch Rapp is meting out punishment to these crazy zealots, but I don't know if Hollywood has the guts to do it. If Democrats take the White House, Hollywood will make a movie like that in a heartbeat.

Mitch Rapp has taken on a cult following, but Hollywood doesn't get it for the same reasons they don't understand talk radio, Wal-Mart or NASCAR.

Q: Who are you backing for president?

A: Rudy [Giuliani]. He's a bit of a moderate and can unite the country and get the country focused on the war against terrorists. He symbolizes the gravity of the situation, and I don't think the guy will back off for a moment having witnessed September 11. I don't think the man will waiver. If he gets ahold of Osama bin Laden, he will throw everything he can at the guy.

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Heil Putin?

In light of the current war against Islamo-Fascist ideology I was willing to give Russian President Putin a benefit of a doubt, despite his clearly dictatorial tendencies.  I was willing to view him as a Russian version of Spain's Franco or Chile's Pinochet, a dictator whose goal is to prepare his country for true constitutional democracy.  Unfortunately it looks more and more like I have been wrong.  A friend e-mailed me this disturbing article:

Russia: 'National Leader' Idea Gains Strength

By Brian Whitmore

Russia -- Members of the Vladimir Putin Fan Club participate in a rally in Moscow, 25 Oct 2007
Recent rally supporting Putin
(AFP)
November 18, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Russia has a hot new catchphrase that is obsessing the political elite and is being chanted like a mantra by the media: National Leader.

More than 700 delegates from across the country turned up for a well-orchestrated pep rally in the city of Tver on November 15 to pledge allegiance to President Vladimir Putin and implore him to remain in power after his term ends next year.

Since Putin is constitutionally forbidden from seeking a third consecutive term as president, the event's organizers are proposing to grant him a sort of elevated mythological status as Russia's supreme ruler who would lord over any future president or prime minister -- unburdened by troublesome term limits and pesky constitutional restrictions.

The meeting, held in a local theater adorned with Russian tricolor flags and banners reading "For Putin!," followed a wave of demonstrations in support of the president in numerous Russian regions. It resulted in forming an organization called the "All-Russian Council of Initiative Groups to Support Putin."

"We are gathering not for a third term," Pavel Astakhov, a prominent attorney who was elected the organization's leader, told RFE/RL's Russian Service. "We respect the president's word and we believe him when he says he will not change the constitution. And since he will not change the constitution, we need to find a new configuration of authority."

Astrakhov later told reporters that his group has gathered 30 million signatures in support of Putin remaining in power as Russia's "national leader." (emphasis mine - Eric-Odessit)

He insists that that the recent groundswell of pro-Putin demonstrations is a genuine grassroots movement and is not being orchestrated by the Kremlin. Press reports and critics of the Kremlin, however, have alleged that students and state employees have been pressured to attend the rallies.

Read the whole thing.  So, it looks like Russia is moving from a Communist dictatorship to a nationalist totalitarian dictatorship.  I don't call it "Nazi" only because there seems to be no "socialist" part of it.  A country that is looking for some national idea and finding only nationalism, but lacking any moral foundation and failing economically and demographically, may blame others for its failings and lash out to prove its greatness.  That is very dangerous.  We might still find Russia allied with our enemies, even though it does not make any sense at this point.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I am re-posting my Thanksgiving post from last year.  There is one notable addition to those whom I should give my thanks.  That group of people I most definitely meant to thank last year, but forgot to mention them by name.  I am talking about members of the American Armed Forces, past and present.  Thanks to them, we all have the lives we have.  So, thank you, American Military.

Thanksgiving is a quintessentially American holiday.  So, what am I thankful for?  I am thankful for my family, for my wonderful wife and 2 beautiful girls.  I am also thankful for the generally pretty good life I have.  But who should thank for all this?  The religious people thank G-d for all their blessings.  But I am not religious enough in order to do that.  And then it dawned on me.  I should thank this wonderful country called United States of America and its wonderful people.

So, thank you, America, for existing, for being a beacon of freedom in the world where freedom is far from being commonplace.  Thank you for making freedom your “national idea”, if you will.

Thank you, America, for accepting me as your own.  You welcomed me, my family and friends and made us all Americans, part of your great people.  You accept anybody who is willing to be accepted.  You made acceptance and tolerance part of your ideology too.

Finally, thank you, America, for defending “liberty and justice for all” all over the world.  Your young people volunteer to go and fight for what’s right and moral.  If I were 20 years younger I would have joined them (lame excuse really, but that’s the only one I have).  Winston Churchill once said: “The Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing, after they had exhausted all other possibilities”.  He knew what he was talking about.  It is only natural to try “all other possibilities”: people always look for easy solutions.  But in the end Americans do the right thing, no matter what the cost, for doing the right thing is a part of American ideology too.

Thank you, America.

This is a modified WW2 poster.  The modern American soldiers in Iraq were added to the original by the San Diego Chapter of Protest Warrior.

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Unraveling of a blood libel

Many people who follow the world events, especially the current war against Islamo-fascist ideology are familiar with the Muhammed Al-Dura controversy.  It was claimed that a 12 year old Palestinian boy was caught in a crossfire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian terrorists and killed.  The Islamists and their sympathizers in the West were quick to blame the Israelis for the death of the boy.  I personally thought that the poor boy and his father were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and were caught in the crossfire.  However, slowly but surely the evidence were beginning to emerge first that the boy could not possibly have been hit by the fire from the Israeli position, and then that the whole thing was likely staged and nobody died.  France 2 television channel that reported the alleged shooting showed a very small portion of the raw footage they had - only 59 seconds.  Only 3 minutes were distributed to other news organizations.  French journalist Philippe Karsenty attempted to expose France 2 and was sued by the TV channel.  In one of the most biased court decisions he was convicted of libeling France 2.  Karsenty appealed the court ruling, and was granted a hearing.  The supporters of Philippe Karsenty created a petition demanding the release of 27 minutes of raw footage shot by France 2 Palestinian cameraman.  At the hearing France 2 showed 18 minutes of raw footage, out of 27 minutes that were shot.  While the questions remain about the 9 minutes that were not shown, it has been proven that, at the very least, nobody can say for sure whether the poor boy had been shot at all, much less that he had been shot by the Israelis.  Thus, this modern blood libel has begun unraveling.  I hope that at some point the whole 27 minutes of the raw footage will be released to the public.  For now, here are some impressions of the people who were in the court room.

Here is what Richard Landes had to say on the subject.

Here is what Melanie Phillips had to say on the subject.

Here is Nidra Poller's account of the proceedings, with Richard Landes' comments.

I can't really add much to it.

Update 11/22/07:

Here is an essay on the subject by Yaacov Ben Moshe.  And, on second thought, here is what I can add to everything already said on this subject: unlike the previous blood libels against Jews, this one was perpetrated by Charles Enderlin, himself a  Jew.  When the realization of this finally dawns on him, he will have to live with that.

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Continued discussion of the book review

Sultan Knish, with whom I was having a friendly dispute over my recent book review responded to me several days ago.  So, here is my reply.  I'll try to keep it short because I don't want to keep dragging it along.

First of all, I strongly disagree that the Left was somehow less anti-Semitic than the Right.  The only place where it applied to a very limited extent was the early years of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War, mainly because the Jews were often major figures on the Left.  And even there the anti-Semitic atrocities committed by the Red 1st Cavalry Army were numerous and stopped only by the Army's commissar Voroshilov, whose wife was Jewish.  Later, during World War 2, according to some sources Soviet Partisan leader Ponomarenko issued orders not to accept Jews into partisan units (this varied from one instance to the next).  The treatment of the Jews by the Soviet partisans described in "Defiance: The Bielski Partisans" by Nechama Tec, a book that tells the story of the Bielski brothers' efforts to save as many Jews as they could.  In Poland, according to the book I reviewed, as well as Dan Kurzman's "The Bravest Battle", Polish Communist leader Gomulka also issued orders not to help Jews.  In fact, according to both books, explicit orders to help the Jews came from the Polish Government in London, which controlled the Home Army.  So, the amount of anti-Semitism was about equal on both Left and Right, as was the amount of help to the Jews.  I am just trying to avoid giving the Left an undeserved credit.

I don't think that Polish and Jewish nationalists found common ground in their respective nationalisms.  I think the fact that the members of the ZZW were officers of the Polish Army and fought together with the Polish officers back in 1939 was much more significant for their cooperation.  It is only natural: in an extreme situation, when survival is at stake, political considerations get replaced by the bond of combat, as they should.

Sultan's analogy of white nationalists being OK with Israel, but still wanting to rid their countries of Jews, might be a good explanation of why European white nationalists are friendly to Israel.  But I don't think it applies to America.  In this country white nationalists are aligned with Islamists.  By the way, Sultan has a great analysis of the recent dispute within the anti-Jihadist movement.

The NKVD conspiracy may or may not be true, especially in view of Sultan's recent revelation about the author of the article I mentioned in a private e-mail, but I don't see how, even if it is true, it excuses post-war pogroms in Poland.  After all, the fact that the pogroms in czarist Russia were often instigated by the government does not excuse the Russian anti-Semites.

Sultan mentions Russian military historians "claiming that Hitler was a Soviet agent".  He must be talking about Vladimir Rezun, better known under his pen name of Viktor Suvorov.  Suvorov indeed claims that Hitler was manipulated by the Soviets back in the 1920s, although I did not take this claim as meaning that he was consciously working for the Soviets.  I think in this Suvorov takes his argument too far.  But, for the record, I have to say that I subscribe to his theory that Stalin was getting ready to attack Hitler (this would not be necessarily bad).  Suvorov describes his theory in "Icebreaker".  In my opinion, this is the only theory that explains disastrous Soviet defeats in 1941 without portraying Soviet generals who eventually won the war in the East as complete idiots.  This theory is also supported by the circumstantial evidence that I read about in sources totally unrelated to Suvorov, as well as stories my grandpa told me.  But that is a subject of another discussion.

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My response to a comment on my first book review

I recently wrote a review of a book I have read: "Two Flags: Return to the Warsaw Ghetto" by Marian Apfelbaum.  I submitted this review to the latest Jewish Blog Carnival.  That is probably how a commenter by the name of Sultan Knish found me.  His comment is 3rd there.  He is a typical Jewish Conservative, with views very similar to my own.  His blog is very good and nicely done.  So it was very strange to read in his comment assertions typically coming from leftist Jews, not unlike frequent accusations of Christian Right of anti-Semitism.  Although, I suppose I should not be surprised: I've heard many times from fellow Jews, including the ones from the former Soviet Union, who are usually on the Right, that anybody could potentially be an anti-Semite.  So I would like to respond to his comment on the front page of this blog.  I have to preface my response with this: Sultan Knish and I agree on more issues than we disagree on.  In fact, we probably agree on almost everything.  So this is a minor disagreement between friends (I am pretty sure we could be friends, had we met).

Sultan Knish begins his comment by asserting: "The Home Army was indeed anti-semitic".  What is the basis of this assertion?  Or, more to the point, what does it mean?  Does it mean that Polish Home Army was an anti-Semitic organization, conducting anti-Semitic policies?  Or does it mean that many its members were anti-Semites?  Well, I have no doubts that many members of the Polish Home Army were anti-Semites.  But so were many members of the US Army, and other Allied armies for that matter.  Patton was known to say anti-Semitic things.  But that does not make US Army anti-Semitic.  As for the Polish Home Army policy regarding the Jews, that was most definitely not anti-Semitic.  There is evidence that they did what they could under the circumstances.  That includes evidence presented in the book I reviewed.

Sultan Knish also says that much of Poland was anti-Semitic.  Again, it is true that anti-Semitism in Poland was rampant.  But it is not fair to single out Poles for that.  People often talk about Polish anti-Semitism, but forget about the Vichy French, who ran their own concentration cam in Drancy.  People forget about Latvians serving in Arajs Kommando, Estonian SS Division, Lithuanian Nazis and Ukrainian SS Division.  People forget about Dutch SS and Belgian SS.  I am deliberately listing Nazis from the Allied countries.  And those Nazis were quite numerous.  So, in light of this, singling our Poles does not seem fair.  Especially given the fact that among Righteous Gentiles Poles outnumber everybody else.  This is really not surprising, since the Jews comprised about 10% of Polish pre-war population and since most of the Holocaust happened on Polish territory.  But this also means that there were a lot of people willing to risk their lives to help the Jews, despite rampant anti-Semitism.

Finally, Sultan Knish brings up the notorious Kielce pogrom that happened after the war to prove general anti-Semitism of the Polish population.  But there is no need to prove this: I agree that anti-Semitism was rampant in Poland.  I mentioned that I read in a Russian-Jewish magazine an article that suggested that the Kielce pogrom was instigated by the Soviet intelligence (this is disputed in the Wikipedia link I referenced above).  Even if that pogrom was indeed instigated by the Soviets, it does not mean that there were no Poles perfectly willing to kill the Jews in Kielce.  Quite the opposite.  The name of the magazine I read that article in is Alef (sorry, the link is in Russian).  It is published by Chamah in New York.  The author of the article was Vilen Lulechnik, a Jewish military historian from Russia, living in the US (sorry again, the link is in Russian again).  But whether that pogrom was instigated by the Soviets or not, it is very hard to suspect the magazine and the author of the article in Polish nationalism.  Suggesting that NKVD was involved in the post-war pogroms does not whitewash or excuse the original crime, but merely adds another set of criminals to already existing ones.  Comparing my mention of an article in a Jewish magazine to Holocaust denial was a bit offensive (understatement here).  It certainly was not my intent to whitewash the crimes of Polish anti-Semites.  I am merely attempting to give credit where credit is due.  Besides, the times have changed.  After all, it was the Polish Members of the European Parliament who boycotted anti-Israeli anti-Semitic hatefest organized by UN.  So, while condemning Polish anti-Semites, we should be grateful to those Poles who helped the Jews, who were and are on the side freedom, decency and Western Civilization.

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I am back

I haven't posted for a while: between being very busy at work and San Diego wild fires I simply did not have time.  I still don't, but today a have a little bit of time for my blog.

If anyone is curious how my family faired during the fires, we did have to evacuate: it was pretty close to our house.  But we are OK, and our house is OK too.  Now it's all back to normal.

I added this link below to my sidebar.  Apparently Amazon now lets you rent or buy movies by simply downloading them to your computer.  Then you can either watch them on your computer screen or, if you have an S-Video output on your video card, hook it up to your TV and watch a movie normally on TV.  There is also a way to use TiVo in order to watch a movie on your TV.  This is a great idea.  For a very long time I was wondering when it would become available.  Now it is.  Check it out.  This certainly beats going to a video store or waiting for a DVD to arrive in the mail.

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Why I am angry at Ann Coulter

No, I don't think she is anti-Semitic.  But let me start from the beginning.  A couple of days ago I read Bookworm's post about Ann Coulter putting her foot in her mouth again.  I'd like to add my own comment on the subject.

I know some of my fellow Jews who look for anti-Semites under every rock.  They are not necessarily on the Left.  But they just suspect every non-Jew of anti-Semitism.  Somehow they think it's natural.  I often argue with them, saying that majority of American people consider anti-Semites simply as idiots.  Now in response to my argument they will undoubtedly bring up Ann Coulter's comment, undoubtedly distorted by the media.  Additionally, whenever I would point out that anti-Semitism is prevalent on the Left, the now would say: "Look at Ann Coulter".  It is much harder to counter a 20-second soundbyte with an exact quote of what Ann Coulter said and an explanation of why it is not anti-Semitic.  By just blubbering something without thinking she put me and people like me on the defensive unnecessarily, and that's why I am angry.

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Two Flags: the untold story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and its relevance today

I wanted to add Book Reviews category to my blog for a while.  Finally I got around to doing so.  The book I have just finished reading and would like to review is "Two Flags: Return to the Warsaw Ghetto" by Marian Apfelbaum.

I learned about this book only recently when I was researching my post about the Polish Members of the European Parliament boycotting anti-Israeli anti-Semitic hatefest organized by UN.  The title of the book refers to the well documented episode during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, when the defenders of one of the fortified buildings in the Ghetto raised 2 flags: white-and-red Polish and white-and-blue Jewish.  This book tells the story of a less known resistance organization in the Warsaw Ghetto called Żydowski Związek Wojskowy, or ZZW, which is Polish for Jewish Military Union.  I first learned about ZZW when I read "The Bravest Battle" by Dan Kurzman.  It was an organization formed by the Jewish officers of the Polish Army.  They obviously had personal connections with the other Polish officers.  Politically members of the ZZW were followers of my fellow odessit Vladimir Jabotinsky, founder of Revisionist Zionism, an ideology similar to the modern Likud party in Israel.  Because of the personal links the ZZW members had with the Polish resistance and because they were not Communist, the ZZW received significantly more help from the Polish Home Army than the leftist-leaning ZOB.  Political views of the ZZW members are pretty close to my own political views.  So, I was very interested to read a book that tells their story.

So, what have I learned that I did not know before?  Well, first of all it turns out that ZZW was founded much earlier than ZOB: November of 1939 vs. July of 1942.  ZZW was not smaller than ZOB: about 500 core members, the same as ZOB.  Thus, since ZZW was much better armed than ZOB and had better military training, they had to be much more effective.  So, why did ZZW receive more help from the Polish Home Army than ZOB?  I mentioned personal contacts and pro-capitalist ideology.  But, as it turns out, it was more than that.  ZZW was in fact a part of the Polish Home Army, so much so, that ZZW members were getting rank promotions from the Home Army.  For example, the commander of ZZW, Dawid Apfelbaum, was a Porucznik (Lieutenant) in 1939.  But during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising he held the rank of Captain, and after the uprising he was posthumously promoted to Major.  By the way, to answer the obvious question, yes, the book author is related to the leader of ZZW.

Polish aid to ZZW was quite significant.  The Poles formed a special unit dedicated to helping the Jews.  It was ZOB whom they did not help much.  And it is very hard to blame the Home Army for that.  Besides ZOB pro-Soviet leaning, they were also viewed as political demagogues who would not be very effective soldiers.  Given relatively limited resources of the Home Army (remember, they were operating in a country occupied by a ruthless enemy), it is hard to blame them for allocating their resources to ZZW, whom they had often seen perform in combat back in 1939.

The charge that ZOB were to a large extent political demagogues does have merit.  ZOB was plagued by political in-fighting.  The talks between ZOB and ZZW about uniting their efforts failed because ZZW suggested that combat leadership should have some combat experience.  This suggestion seems very reasonable.  But since combat veterans were members of ZZW for the most part, ZOB viewed this idea as a power grab.  ZOB even went as far as calling their ZZW counterparts "fascists".  Now it seems eerily similar to the present-day Left.  The ZOB leaders were political leaders for the most part.  On the other hand "ZZW recruited on the sole basis of previous military training, physical fitness and courage, deliberately seeking an apoliticalism that the left always found extremely suspect if not downright diabolical" (page 259).  So, members of an armed resistance organization should have military training and courage and be physically fit?!  What a revolutionary concept!  ZZW in fact did not care much about political views of its members.  For example, one of the ZZW units during the uprising was commanded by someone named Moishe the Bolshevik.

After the war the Communists took over in Poland.  Thus, anybody associated with the non-Communist Home Army was a suspect.  Most of the ZZW leadership died during the uprising.  The fact that the leftist ZOB did not get enough attention from the Home Army suited the new rulers of Poland very well: now it was very convenient to accuse the Home Army of anti-Semitism.  True Polish heroes, like Henryk Iwanski, whos 2 sons and a brother died while fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Jews during the uprising, were even initially jailed by the Communists.  Many leftist Jewish historians in the West were happy to oblige the Communists.  The Poles were accused of mass anti-Semitism.  (As a sidenote, I read in a Russian-Jewish magazine that the post-war pogroms in Poland were in fact staged by the NKVD - the predecessor of KGB.)  But while anti-Semitism was rampant in Poland, please tell me where it was not present at that time.  Whenever someone like Henryk Iwanski would claim that they helped the Jews, these historians would dismiss such claim, saying that they are not confirmed by Jewish sources.  In fact, Iwansky for a while was not recognized in Israel as a Righteous Gentile (it has been fixed since).  And when people like Tadeusz Bednarczyk try to argue with such historians, they are accused of anti-Semitism.  But even if Bednarczyk said something anti-Semitic in nature, still, he risked his life to help the Jews in Warsaw.  As my favorite talk show host Dennis Prager often says, you know the man by his actions, not his words.

So, how is it all relevant today?  Well, both then and now the Left demonizes its political opponents, even in the face of a ruthless enemy that would kill us all.  Both then and now the Left is willing to lie in order to achieve some dubious political objective.  This finally has to stop.  Marian Apfelbaum says at the end of his book:

"Out of respect to the Warsaw ghetto uprising , the time has come to complete its history.  As imperfect and provisional as this book may be, it is an attempt to break the silence".

To this I would like to add 2 more things.  First, it is time to restore Poland's honor.  Second, it is time to finally realize that all the Left-Right political differences don't mater when a ruthless totalitarian enemy is ready to kill us all.

Finally, read the book.  I learned a lot from it and highly recommend it.

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