Day After Thoughts on the Midterm Elections

In life, you’ll have your back up against the wall many times. You might as well get used to it. Just remember, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

-- Paul “Bear” Bryant

Well the election results were bad, as we expected them to be. The Democrats took back the House by winning around 20 seats and they may still take the Senate, as the two seats they need are dead heats in Virginia and Montana. I suspect they will take Virginia at the very least, giving them an even vote in the Senate.

Even so, this election is not a disaster by any means. The party out of power normally gains seats in both houses in the 6th year, as voters get tired of the same party and imagine that a new crop of fresh faces will somehow be better for the country. The tide rolls out but will roll back in again too. Politics, like the seasons, is cyclical. There will always be days when the sun shines but also days when it rains or even snows. If you don’t like the weather, be patient. Sooner or later it will change.

In any case, in two years we Republicans will have another shot at control with the 2008 Presidential and Congressional elections. If we don’t come up with a candidate a lot better than the lackluster George Bush, we’ll lose that too.

A sad note is that Tom McClintock was not elected as Lt. Governor of California, even though he was ahead in the polls. McClintock is a highly competent, knowledgeable, honest gentleman who would have been wonderful for the State. But he didn’t have a “D” after his name so they elected instead an uninspired, lackluster Democrat apparatchik in John Garamandi.

To hell with it all, I voted and the chips can fall where they may. I did everything I could and I am going to let go of the frustration and anger and focus on my bass practice, helping my son and enjoying the coming holidays.

UPDATE: The Democrats have taken Montana and it appears they will win Virginia too. They are ahead by 8,000 votes in Virginia but the results have not yet been certified. In any case, Democrat control of the Senate appears a certainty.

The Dems win, but not by a blowout and not by a mandate. The new political boundaries are close enough that they may quite possibly be regained in two years. Let’s hope that this election result scares the shit out of the remaining Republicans and forces them to get their act together.

Why did the Republicans lose? By way of analogy, it’s as if the Republican candidates were elected on a platform of sobriety and morality and then threw a drunken orgy to celebrate. No that really doesn’t work, fellas. Getting elected is one thing, staying elected is another. You’re never safe. You have to earn your office every day by honest, principled service.

GOP politicians cannot win without the support of their conservative base, so if they want to stay in office they had better return to the basic principles that got them there in the first place. Guess what, politicians: you do need us rank and file members after all.

Democrats, UGH!

It seems the Democrats have won control of the House and may yet win control of the Senate before the night is over. So we will have Nancy Pelosi's detestable mug grinning out of all major newspapers in the morning. It will be interesting to see what mischief the Party of Treason will conjure up for America in the next couple of years. Hope all of you are really intent on higher taxes, less spending for defense, a forced evacuation of Iraq, and a thrilled and jubilant Jihadist movement planning and carrying out bigger and better terrorist attacks.

On the other hand, I will shed no tears for Rino Republicans like Lincoln Chafee and Mike DeWine, Republicans in name only, though I would have preferred them to Democrats, only because they could help the GOP retain control of the Senate.

There are certain truths that have to be acknowledged, one of which is that the American people have insufficient patience, will and moral clarity to put up with any war that extends beyond their rather short attention span. People who like their pizza delivered in half an hour or they don't have to pay, also like their wars wrapped up in a similar time frame and hopefully before prime time when the really good shows air. Bush should have known this before he invaded Iraq, but it is not the only thing he has badly misjudged. We should have bombed Iraq into ruins and then gotten out, and never tried to imagine that barbarians would embrace democracy or Democrats would side with their own country in a fight.

Apart from the war, there is another good reason we lost the House tonight. Luke-warm, tentative "conservatives" who shed their principles at the first sign of a pork barrel are not likely to keep voter loyalty for long. Republicans who came to Washington to drain the swamp learned that the swamp makes a pretty good sauna, so they ordered champagne and jumped in.

If we are going to be just a bad imitation of Democrats, why not go for the real thing?

Well, we got 'em. Enjoy.

I'm going to bed.

The Looming Tower and Other Worthy Books

I cast my vote this morning in California, using one of the new electronic voting machines. It was my second time to use one, and once again it was easy, easier than those old paper ballots that had to be manipulated into machinery so they could be punched. I have no idea why everyone else in the country is so confused about electronic ballots. My experience was entirely positive.

I cast my vote, now let the chads fall where they may. I did my duty. Did you?

It will be good to stop worrying about the vote, whatever the outcome. I plan to practice my upright string bass (I love the twangy resonance and my command of the instrument grows daily), visit with my oldest son Stogie Jr. who is coming to visit from Washington State. Finally, I plan to continue reading my latest book purchase, "The Looming Tower."

In the past month I read David Limbaugh's "Bankrupt," a book title but also his (accurate) description of the moral state of the Democratic Party, as well as "The Truth About Mohammed" by David Spencer. The latter contained little new information for me, and if anything, Spencer was kinder to Mohammed than other writers, like Craig Winn, the author of "Prophet of Doom" who covers the same material in his book.

Now I'm reading "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright and it is very well written! It reads like a novel and describes the history of Al Qaeda and the events leading up to 9/11.

Lawrence Wright, I understand, is a liberal but his political affiliation does not seem to overly influence his opinions or attitudes. He seems like a scholar who is sincerely seeking the objective truth. Nevertheless, he does make a few mistakes in his text. He describes the Islamic hatred of Jews as being born of Nazi propaganda in the years before World War II, which he says infected Muslims with this "ancient Western prejudice." That's probably the dumbest thing I've read in the book so far. Muslims have hated Jews since the 7th century and have persecuted, enslaved and massacred them in great numbers since that time. See Walid Shoebat's book for many examples. Prejudice towards Jews is ancient all right, but it is an ancient Middle Eastern prejudice more than it is a Western one.

Another mistake he makes is to quote the Qur'an surah which states that murder is evil, and that to murder one person is the same (morally) as murdering all humankind. Wright naively believes this admonition was meant to include the murder of infidels, which it does not, of course. Infidels are always open season for Jihadis. I wonder if Wright has read about the millions of Infidels killed by Muslims over the centuries? If so, why would he make such a patently stupid remark?

His third mistake (so far) is that he gives credence to the apocryphal story of Mohammed talking about the "inner struggle for righteousness" as the "Greater Jihad," whereas fighting in battle is only the "Lesser Jihad." My readings indicate this tale comes from less reliable sources (it does not appear in the Quran or the most trusted Hadiths) and that it is rejected as true by many (or maybe most) Muslims. But it sounds great for gullible Westerners.

I don't want to over emphasize Wright's mistakes, however, as the book strikes me as excellent. Wright does not sugar coat or rationalize the extremist, murderous views of Bin Laden or his followers, or the Muslim Brotherhood or other bloodthirsty groups that preceded them. He could, however, have put them into a more accurate context within Muslim history and doctrines.

Nevertheless, the book gives details of the life of Osama Bin Laden, his father and other prominent Jihadis and describes the culture and experiences that shaped their radical vision.

I highly recommend it.

Not Voting? Explain That to American War Dead!

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE

If you're one of the Americans who aren't going to vote to "protest" the Republicans' tepid defense of conservative principles, think again.

Approximately 1.3 million American soldiers, sailors and pilots didn't die in America's wars so you could sit on your butt and pout. They didn't fight and die at Bunker's Hill, Gettysburg, Belleau Wood, Pork Chop Hill, Khe Sahn or Fallujah so you could act like a spoiled dick or one of those pretentious asses who think that not voting makes them somehow morally superior.

Tens of thousands of anonymous Americans who went in harm's way and who now lie under the sod or the sea gave their lives and their futures so America might survive tyranny and Americans might continue to enjoy freedom. You know, freedom, as in the right to worship as you please, associate with whom you please, pursue happiness and seek your own destiny free from the dictates of tyrants. And yes, to vote for whom you please.

So if you're protesting by not voting, as soon as the radical Left Democrats seize control of the country, go visit your local cemetery. Find the military section, walk among the headstones and say, "Thanks for your sacrifice! Thanks for NOTHING!"

Because if you sit at home and pout on election day, that's exactly what you are saying to our war dead.

Associated Press Shills For Democrats

Read this brazenly partisan and biased reporting from the Associated (with terrorists) Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, campaigner in chief for a party in peril, set out on a rescue mission for embattled candidates in the unlikeliest of places Thursday as Republicans struggled to minimize their losses in next week's elections...
Five days before the election, Democratic strategists said none of their incumbents in either house of Congress was trailing - and Republicans did not disagree.

The GOP side of the political ledger was far less positive. Strategists already have
written off the re-election prospects of incumbent Sens. Rick Santorum in
Pennsylvania and Mike DeWine in Ohio, as well as six or more seats in GOP hands
in the House. Dozens more Republican lawmakers - powerbrokers and ackbenchers,
conservatives and moderates - struggled to survive in a campaign shadowed by the
war in Iraq and scandal at home.

The Democrat strategy is obviously to be optimistic and upbeat so Dems will go to the polls and vote pro-terrorist next week, because they are against the war in Iraq and because of "scandal at home."

The last bit about "scandal at home" is particularly dishonest and nothing more than a talking point, a manufactured "controversy" to influence the election. What scandals? You mean like the Democrat who hid $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer? No, they mean the "scandal" of the gay Republican who sent instant messages to former pages. That is a scandal of the particular Congressman, but not of the Republican Party. The Democrats and their cheerleaders in the mainstream press have been trying to create a false aura of "scandal" surrounding the Republican Party for several years now - they call it "the Party of Corruption," but it simply isn't true and they know it.

As for a "party in peril," it is clearly the Democrats who are in sharp decline. Traditionally, the party out of power picks ups something like 34 congressional seats in the sixth off-year elections and 6 seats in the Senate (see Ann Coulter's column today, linked at the right of the page). The Dems may pick up six seats in the House and a few in the Senate, but what they would normally pick up is way below par. Why?

Why is because, as Coulter so accurately nails it, is that the Democratic Party if a frivolous and dying party without any major causes that resonate with voters. Not surprisingly, their major propagandists in the mainstream media are also in sharp decline, laying off many workers amidst declining revenues and readers.

May the Dems and the MSM soon lay side by side in the graveyard of history. Personally, I will shed no tears for either one.

The Fatuous Wimpoid Known as John Kerry

Check out Michelle Malkin's blog today, Drudge Report or Little Green Footballs. They have a picture of a bunch of Marines holding up a sign that reads "Halp us Jon Carry - we r stuk hear in Irak."

John Kerry is a fatuous blowhard, a phony, an empty suit, a balloon filled with hot air and nothing else.

This coward served three months in Vietnam as the captain of a swift boat, recommended himself for three purple hearts, all of which were dubious, as well as a bronze star and a silver star for his daring exploits (he typed them up himself, describing valorous exploits that never happened or were greatly exaggerated). As soon as he got his last purple heart, he asked to be sent back to the states for his egregious wounds. Since the swift boats were running out of bandaids, they agreed.

When John F Coward returned to the States, he became a willing tool of the Marxist Communists, arranging false testimony of "Vietnam veterans" (actually, drugged out hippies who never served) before the Church Committee, alleging horrendous war crimes against the Vietnamese. Not satisfied with that, John F Coward tried to meet with North Vietnamese officials in Paris before the peace talks, an act of treason.

I suspect that if someone pricked this asshole in the butt with a pin, he would make a sound like a long, drawn-out fart and fly rapidly and haphazardly away into the sky.

Happy Hilloween

Shamelessly stolen from Confederate Yankee.

Boiling the Frog: the Slow Murder of the West

We've all heard that old analogy of the boiled frog. If you throw a frog into a pan of boiling water, he'll jump right out. He might be mad as hell, but he'll survive. But if you put a frog into a pan of cold water and slowly increase the heat, he won't notice the temperature and will boil to death before he knows something's wrong.

The Left has known of this analogy for some time and have been applying it to the West for years. The way to destroy the West is not by some frontal assault, which tends to wake the citizenry up, and makes them mad and willing to fight back. The way to destroy the West is by gradual degrees of subversion, e.g. poison them slowly with a little arsenic at a time.

Some of the chief weapons the Left has used in its war of gradualism are multiculturalism and political correctness. Multiculturalism has slowly replaced the analogy of the melting pot, where immigrants to the West are assimilated, that is, they come to internalize the culture, traditions, laws and attitudes of their host country. With multiculturalism, the Left encourages immigrants not to assimilate, but to maintain their ethnic identity, traditions, language and attitudes. This creates a fragmented, not cohesive, citizenry, i.e. large groups of people with different visions and loyalties, who are less likely to come together (either electorally or militarily) to defend the nation against invasion or subversion.

Political correctness is the Leftist ideology that says you cannot criticize anyone of a different culture than yours, that any such criticism is automatically racism, xenophobia, bigotry or hate-mongering, with severe social ostracism for those who transgress. (In some places in Europe, Italy and France for example, political correctness is enforced by law and transgressors are jailed.)

Political correctness has a useful purpose for the Left, and that is to shut people up about the process of subversion that is slowly transforming their nations into Muslim tyrannies. (The Left desires to destroy the West and sees Muslims as natural allies in this regard.) If people don't know what's happening, they can't react. Just like the frog.

In Europe, and to a lesser exent in the United States, Muslims make the perfect agents of subversion. They don't even want to assimilate. They do not identify with their host country and have no loyalties to it. France is a perfect example of a patient very sick with the diseases of multiculturalism and political correctness.

Some of the signs of this ongoing subversion are readily available in the Holiday season. Useful idiots are changing the language, the basic premises and the cultural symbols (in other words, the culture and attitudes) of the West. Do you participate in this subversion, perhaps unknowingly?

• Do you say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hannukah"?
• Do you oppose manger scenes in the public square at Christmas?
• Do you refer to Christmas as "the Winter Holiday"?
• Do you self-censor at every opportunity, e.g., by not wearing a crucifix for fear of "offending" foreigners who are guests in our country?

Small issues, you say. But they will lead to the same strong currents now running through Europe:

• Piggy banks removed from stores and public view so as not to offend Muslim immigrants
• Discussions regarding the redesign of the British flag, to remove its "Crusader" Christian crosses so as not to offend Muslim immigrants
• Public funding of mosques with taxpayer dollars or Euros
• Advocacy of the vote for non-citizen Muslim immigrants
• Allowing some elements of Sharia law to replace European constitutions in Muslim enclaves
• Recognizing polygamy for Muslims and not prosecuting "honor killings" of daughters who marry someone not approved by her family
• Allowing Muslim women to wear the chador or the hijab (which cover the face and hide identity) in identification documents like driver's licenses

The subversion process in America is hastened along by such elements as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and CAIR who are quick to sue anyone or any organization that resists these processes.

Today in the news we learn that the College of William and Mary is going to remove the Christian cross from its Chapel's altar to make the Chapel "more welcoming" and "less faith specific" (see Michelle Malkin for details). Don't be fooled. This is just one more example of the giant eraser the Left is wielding against Western culture, to wipe it out so it can be replaced with something more to their liking. As the Left becomes "more welcoming" to others, they become less so to Western culture. Soon any expression of Western traditions, religions or culture becomes taboo, prohibited so as not to "offend" the hostile non-Westerners who are flooding in.

Think of a nation's culture (language, religions, traditions, customs, fokelore, laws, morals and attitudes) as being a kind of glue or mortar that holds all the disparate bricks together. The bricks are the people of many ethnic backgrounds, all held together by this common glue. As long as the bricks hold together, the wall (or nation) continues to stand. But the Left continually pounds on the wall, slowling weakening the mortar. Eventually, the wall will fall.

To better appreciate the frog boiling process, you should read about how advanced it is in Europe. You can do that by buying Oriana Fallaci's book, "The Force of Reason." It is truly frightening and eye-opening to see how far gone Europe really is.

And we're next.

Wake up, fellow frogs. This is not a sauna we find ourselves in.

Michael J. Fox and Stem Cell Research

Michael J. Fox is one of my favorite comedic actors. His acting in "Back to the Future" (the first one) made that picture one of my favorite films of all time. I studied fiction in college (in creative writing courses that I took just for fun) and that film had all the required elements of myth that are the foundation for successful fiction and have been for millenia. (See Campbell's book on the subject, Hero With a Thousand Faces for details.)

Because I like Fox so much, I really regret his diagnosis with Parkinson's disease. I profoundly hope that he may be cured of the disease or at least treated in such a way as to minimize its effects.

Unfortunately, Michael has become a shill for Democratic candidates for office, because they support embryonic stem cell research, which he thinks may someday produce a cure for diseases like Parkinson's. I don't know why he or anyone else believes this, because as far as I know embryonic stem cell research hasn't produced any evidence that this is true. I have heard, however, that adult stem cell research has produced promising results.

Normally, a celebrity's public support of Democrats would be enough for me to lose respect and support for them and to avoid their performances. Such was the case with the Dixie Chicks. I will never buy another CD of their music in spite of the fact that they are very talented. I have a low opinion of George Clooney and when I see his handsome face onscreen I feel repugnance for him, because of his loony left politics. But I will give Michael J. Fox a pass, because I know he is probably desperate to find a cure for his disease.

That doesn't mean, however, that Fox should be exempt from criticism or disagreement. So I am glad to see other celebrities are making political ads to counter and to rebut those that Michael made.

Kevin Tillman: Grief Can Cause Mental Derangement

Update: See Confederate Yankee's excellent observations on Kevin Tillman's rant.

Grief over the loss of a loved one to Muslim terrorists has been known to cause temporary (we hope) insanity in some of his family. Cindy Sheehan really went off the deep end when her son Casey was killed in Iraq.

Today's news brings more evidence of this derangement syndrome. Kevin Tillman, younger brother to Pat Tillman (the football player who was killed in Afghanistan) is now loudly denouncing Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, calling the wars "illegal" among other things. When someone dies, those left behind need someone to blame. Kevin has decided to blame his own government rather than the Muslim fanatics who are at the source of almost all conflict in the world today. As I mentioned before, I actually knew Pat and Kevin's family, their mom and dad and youngest brother Richard. We lived in the same neighborhood. Pat's father wrote a recommendation for my son to attend Bellarmine College Preparatory. My son and Richard were teammates in Pony League baseball, 1993 and 1994. My wife and I often saw their mom Danny Tillman at the local Starbucks as well as at games. She was beautiful, elegant and very nice.

I chatted with her and with Mr. Tillman many times about all sorts of things. He once told us of how he escorted Kevin to college to begin classes - if I recall correctly, that was Rutgers. This, however, does not square with recent news reports that say he also attended Arizona State University. Perhaps he transferred there later on.

I suppose we should give Kevin a pass on his irrational outbursts, even if he is allowing himself to become a tool and spokesman for the far left. I have to wonder how he thinks he is honoring his brother Pat in stating that the cause for which Pat died, the cause that Pat believed in, was worthless. I wonder if Kevin realizes that his words hurt both the morale of his compatriots still serving in these wars, or how his words give aid and comfort to America's enemies.

UPDATE: Check out Fat Ass the Conqueror's blog. F.A. does a nice job of dissecting Kevin Tillman's anti-war article that was published on truthdig.com. My son Cohiba called about this post and told me that Sports Illustrated had an article on the Tillman brothers a couple of months ago. Cohiba told me that Pat and Kevin were atheists or leaning towards it, and even their little brother Richard expressed a belief that "there is no God" at Pat's memorial service. Cohiba, who is a practicing Christian, said he went to bed that night quite depressed, saddened by the Tillman brothers' lack of faith or hope for a hereafter.

Michelle Malkin links to another story today, the story of how more victim bones have been found at Ground Zero. See Conservative Propaganda blog for the story "Tell Maura I love her." It's the story of Matthew Horning, a 26 year old database administrator in the North Tower who was able to call friends after the first plane hit. He told them to relay his message to his fiancee, Maura Landry, minutes before the tower collapsed and Matthew died.

Conservative Propaganda blog tells how Matthew's father Kurt has since gone off the deep end, perhaps also a victim of Grief Derangement Syndrome. Conservative Propaganda blog writes:

Kurt has taken it further than that, falling in with the Truther movement
that promotes the theory that the US government was complicit in the Sep 11
attacks which killed his son. He has signed a "911 Truth Statement" from the 911Truth.org that claims that half of New York City thinks the government knew of the attack and sat on its hands. They want a Congressional investigation to get to the "truth."

The tragedy of good people being killed by or because of Muslim barbarism is bad enough. The derangement syndrome it causes in those left behind only makes the tragedy that much worse.