The Intellectual Dishonesty of the American Left

After Saddam Hussein was executed, there was the usual wailing and lamentations by the American Left. Not so much because they supported Hussein, but because they fear that his execution will reflect positively on George Bush, the Republican Party or the Iraq war.

Gateway Pundit had an article about the Left mourning the death of Saddam Hussein. This was an overstatement. The Left mourns his death only for the reasons cited above, not because they supported his rule or agreed with his murderous ways. However, Gateway Pundit is accurate in saying that much of the Left was unhinged at the execution. They cite, among others, this ridiculous post by Martin Lewis of the Huffington Post, claiming that Hussein was executed so George W. Bush could prove that his penis was larger than that of his father.

Oh Martin Lewis, what depth of analysis, what profound intellectualism, what incisive exposition! Lewis makes the following claims:

It only cost $354 billion (and counting) and the lives of 3,000 very expendable US military to enable the President to demonstrate to his dad that he has a bigger Dick. Or is one...

My response: The investment of lives and money in Iraq was not to hang Saddam Hussein, it was to produce a stable Iraq and eventually, a stable Middle East, one that would not support or fund terrorism against the West. Bush's plan was to produce a democratic Iraq, governed by the rule of law, because democratic nations don't generally commit unprovoked aggression against other nations. The possible flaw in Bush's reasoning was that an Islamic society can be made democratic. Whether it can or not remains to be seen.

As for dicks, Martin Lewis seems awfully obsessed with them, particularly large ones, but then, his sexual preferences are not the issue here. He continues:

To Ronald Reagan. For unilaterally deciding in 1983 to end the 16-year
international isolation of Iraq for its barbarity - and sending Donald Rumsfeld
as his personal goodwill ambassador to befriend Saddam Hussein - during the
exact same time when Hussein was committing the very crimes for which he was
hung. Crimes that were publicized worldwide at the time by Amnesty International and others - and thus fully known about by Reagan, George W. Bush and their entire administration.

Other moonbat posters at Lewis's site and also at Gateway Pundit try to argue the same thing, that Hussein was an American ally. "TrueAmerican" argues that "Saddam Hussein was one of Ronald Reagan's 'Freedom Fighters.' " A poster named Kathy claims Hussein was executed before any of his other, greater crimes could be tried, since in a court of law it would come out that the United States was "complicit" in those crimes.

My response to all of them: Horse manure. This diplomatic initiative did not occur in a vaccum and must be analyzed in the context of its time and the events surrounding it. According to Wikipedia:

Iraq successfully gained some military and financial aid, as well as
diplomatic and moral support, from the United States, the Soviet Union, and
France, which together feared the prospects of the expansion of
revolutionary Iran's influence in the region. The Iranians, claiming that
the international community should force Iraq to pay war reparations to
Iran, refused any suggestions for a cease-fire. They continued the war until
1988, hoping to bring down Saddam's secular regime and instigate a Shi'ite
rebellion in Iraq.

Donald Rumsfeld did indeed have a diplomatic mission to Iraq where he shook hands with Hussein - in 1983. That was 23 years ago, during the Iraq-Iran war, and there were strategic reasons for his visit. He was not a "goodwill ambassador" as the dishonest Mr. Lewis asserts.

This time period was soon after Iran seized the American Embasssy in Tehran and imprisoned 52 Americans for 444 days. Iran's deed was an act of war. Reagan saw, correctly, that Iran was the common enemy of both the United States and Iraq and it was in our best interests to contain the radical Muslim government of Iran.

Any U.S. aid provided to Iraq was temporary and tactical in nature and intended to prevent the takeover of Iraq by Iran during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). I don't know the dollar volume of this aid, but I suspect it was fairly small. In any case, this aid wouldn't have been necessary had Reagan's predecessor, Democrat Jimmy Carter, not undermined the pro-West Shah of Iran so that the radical muslims, led by the Ayatollah Khomeini, could take over.

Donald Rumsfeld was sent over to discuss these matters with Hussein and shook his hand. That means absolutely nothing. Neville Chamberlain shook Hitler's hand while trying to negotiate peace. Does that mean England "supported Hitler"? Madeleine Albright, Clinton's Secretary of State, shook hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and in fact there is a picture of her toasting him with a champagne glass (see pic above right). I believe that was right before Clinton supplied North Korea with nuclear reactors. Was Clinton pro Communist? Is Clinton "complicit" in that terror state's decision to build nuclear weapons and, in all probability, supply them to other terror states? Of course not, though Clinton's strategy was dangerously reckless and naive.

The point is, sometimes American administrations have to meet with despots and make deals with them that hopefully will benefit the United States. The Left's argument that Rumsfeld and Reagan supported Hussein's terrorism or atrocities because of a diplomatic handshake is therefore both frivolous and asinine.

Likewise, the argument that we should have had no diplomatic contact with Iraq or provided them with a small amount of tactical aid to affect the balance of power in the Middle East is also frivolous. We gave lots of aid to Joseph Stalin during World War II, and not because we supported his previous mass murder of Russians and Ukrainians, but because of strategic necessity in time of war while confronting a common enemy. Oh yes, and that was when we had FDR as president, a Democrat. Was FDR therefore "complicit" in the subsequent Soviet annexation of Eastern Europe?

Further, the genocide that Hussein committed against the Kurds did not happen until 1988, five years after Rumsfeld's visit, so any attempt by Moonbat Martin to imply a connection is pretty farfetched. At the time of the genocide, Hussein claimed the attack on the Kurds was launched by Iran and we were unable to determine otherwise for some years afterwards.

Lewis becomes even more unhinged as responders try to reason with him. He finally descends into hysterical ranting, claiming the United States "supported and funded" Saddam Hussein. He points out that Donald Rumsfeld went to Iraq and shook hands with Hussein and they even have a picture to prove it. So in the minds of demented moonbats, that means Donald Rumsfeld was "Saddam's buddy."

It is typical of the Left, who have so little in the way of facts or logic to support their positions, to hurl unfounded charges and gross generalities that they can't begin to prove.
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Update: Dan Collins over at Protein Wisdom describes the same Leftist bullshit, this time excreted by Moonbat Robert Fisk. Take a look.
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The Saddam Hanging: Post-Mortem Thoughts

I have always felt ambivalent about the death penalty. When we were in high school Bro wrote a term paper on the death penalty and read a book called "Agent of Death." It was written by an executioner who had put many people to death in the electric chair, including some famous criminals. At the end of his book the author repudiated the death penalty, stating that he hoped someday it would no longer be used.

I understand. Putting another human to death is a sobering and serious undertaking. I always go through the thought process again when someone is executed. In the end, I usually wind up supporting the decision to execute. The main reason for this is that those executed usually committed some grievous act of villainy. They didn't care about the fear or pain of those they killed, and so their own fear and pain in the face of death deserves little sympathy. In a few cases I had no qualms at all - the execution of Ted Bundy for example. I would have been happy to pull the switch myself on that S.O.B. Bundy killed around 100 women, raping many of them first, but sometimes just bashing their heads in for the fun of it. Sweet dreams, Ted.

After viewing the crime scene pictures of the people he murdered, I didn't have much sympathy for Tookie Williams either. He killed people for fun, not out of any necessity. His robberies netted him small amounts of money and the people he robbed were not a threat to him. He blasted a family of three with a shotgun to steal $10 from them. The picture of the daughter's face, peppered with hundreds of small pellet holes, was memorable. Screw you, Tookie, and sayonara.

Nevertheless, it's natural to put yourself in the shoes of the person being executed. The grim execution chamber, the steps leading up to the gallows (traditionally, thirteen steps), the fixing of the noose, or the buckles on the chair, or the needles in the vein, are pretty gruesome. In the case of Saddam, I had to wonder what it must be like once they have affixed the noose and pushed the prisoner onto the trap. Those few seconds before they spring the trap must seem an eternity.

They say Saddam was trembling with fear on the scaffold and had tears in his eyes just before they sprung the trap. I wonder if he thought about the many people who went before him to the same trap, people he had ordered executed for trivial reasons? Hundreds, if not thousands of people were hanged on his orders. I'm sure he didn't spend five minutes thinking about their fear of death or wondering what it was like to hang, or what their families felt about their deaths. Killing people made him a tough guy, someone to be feared. It fed his ego to have the power of life and death, and it was a power he wielded ruthlessly. Saddam once had one of his generals hanged for criticizing him in public, but had his tongue cut out first.

So Saddam was scared and trembling and had tears in his eyes when they killed him. Now ain't that just too damned bad.

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After Hanging Saddam - Who's Next?

The eve of Saddam's hanging for crimes against humanity is a good time for introspection and meditation.

For the remaining tyrants and despots of the Middle East and elsewhere, we offer this inspiring photo to assist in that effort.

It's just our humble effort to help secure World Peace.

Dhimmi Derangement Syndrome: Why Tony Blair Is Nuts

Yesterday Tony Blair had an article that appeared in Foreign Affairs in which he praised Islam and the Koran. His comments were patently ridiculous and transparently false. If you missed it at Little Green Footballs or elsewhere, Blair said:

To me, the most remarkable thing about the Koran is how progressive it is.
I write with great humility as a member of another faith. As an outsider, the
Koran strikes me as a reforming book, trying to return Judaism and Christianity
to their origins, much as reformers attempted to do with the Christian church
centuries later. The Koran is inclusive. It extols science and knowledge and
abhors superstition. It is practical and far ahead of its time in attitudes
toward marriage, women, and governance.

Under its guidance, the spread of Islam and its dominance over
previously Christian or pagan lands were breathtaking. Over centuries, Islam
founded an empire and led the world in discovery, art, and culture. The
standard-bearers of tolerance in the early Middle Ages were far more likely to
be found in Muslim lands than in Christian ones.

Here is a short rebuttal by someone (me) who is well-read on the Koran and the history, beliefs and practices of Islam:

The Koran is filled with ignorance and superstition. It expresses the beliefs that a big chariot moves the moon around in the sky and that the sun sets into a muddy pond at night. Shooting stars are arrows fired by the hosts of Heaven at demons attempting to spy on them. A child resembles the parent who had his or her orgasm first during the copulation that produced him. At no place in the Koran is science and knowledge extolled. Blair's comments are idiotic and ludicrous.

The Koran is far ahead of its time in attitudes toward marriage, women and governance? What a load of happy horseshit. Before Islam women in Arabia were far more equal to men than after. Mohammed's first wife was a successful and well-off merchant. She hired Mohammed and was his boss! She married him later - after she proposed to him! She was Mohammed's only wife until she died - he took no other wives beside her - he didn't dare!

After Islam was established, women's status fell precipitously. Women were valued at one-half that of men, in inheritance rights, in testimony before a court. As for marriage, under Islam a woman has little or no rights. Her husband can divorce her at will but she does not have the same right. A man can have four wives and any number of concubines, including those captured in war.

And governance? Do as Islam says or be beheaded. I fail to see how this is an improvement over what went before Islam. As for Islam's "tolerance," it never existed. Islam's intolerance was the fuel that propelled its conquests of much of the civilized world and its subsequent execution of millions of "infidels," its looting, savagery and enslavement.

The truth is that Tony Blair is of that liberal persuasion where reality can be molded like wet clay to anything you like. Wishful thinking, urban myths, wild-eyed Pollyanna optimism take the place of actual historical facts.

However, it seems that Blair style dementia is not uncommon with regard to Islam and Mohammed. Last week I saw a PBS television documentary on how Islam influenced Christian reformation and lent spiritual color and inspiration to the Christian faith. The documentary also claimed that Islam and Judaism are so similar as to be almost indistinguishable. I turned off the TV set in disgust. Who writes such garbage and why?

A few weeks ago I was reading the book "Why I Am Not a Muslim" by Ibn Warraq. Warraq described one university textbook on Islam that claimed Mohammed was such a fervent practitioner of non-violence that his attitudes closely resembled those of Gandhi. Once again, the exact opposite is true - Mohammed was a very violent man, ordering critics assassinated, beheading 800 captured Jews, launching attacks on caravans and ordering the killing of any Jew that his followers encountered. These facts are documented in Muslim writings (the Haddiths), as opposed to the cotton-candy dreams of demented liberals.

Indeed, Mohammed was probably even more sadistic and cruel than the surviving Haddiths and Surahs tell us. Centuries ago a Muslim historian destroyed documents of Mohammed's life that he considered too controversial.

I suspect that non-Muslim apologists for the Koran and Mohammed suffer from a variation of Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm Syndrome is the name given to the phenomenon of hostages who come to identify with their terrorist-captors. This identification is some sort of coping mechanism. Hostages adopt this attitude hoping to win favor with their captors and so be spared. Hostages apparently wish to tell the terrorists, "Don't kill me, I'm on your side." A possible example of this is heiress Patty Hearst, who was kidnapped in the 1970's by the radical Symbonese Liberation Army, and who later helped them rob a bank.

Muslim-apologists probably don't see it that way. They think that "if you give someone a good reputation, they will do their best to live up to it." That slogan may work in western societies, but it is absurdly simplistic as a way to deal with the problem of centuries-old Islamic violence and malevolence.

Tony Blair should grow up and try living in the real world for a change.

The New CAIR Billboard (Photoshopped)

Pim's Ghost over at Infidel Blogger's Alliance has asked for Photoshopped versions of CAIR's new billboard, "Explore the Life of Prophet Muhammad."

Here's my version. Hope you like it. (Click on the pic to see the larger version.) I'm sure those crazy guys over at CAIR are just rolling in the aisles over this - they are so light-hearted and willing to laugh at themselves.

Yes, do explore the "Life of Prophet Muhammad," especially as described by Robert Spencer's latest book.

Muhammad's life was one of murder, robbery, rape and treachery. A more evil man never lived. How anyone in their right mind could make a "messenger of God" out of Muhammad is truly shocking. Why not make a prophet out of Blackbeard the Pirate or Billy the Kid? But then if Muslims weren't outrageous they wouldn't be Muslims.

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P.S. The figures in the pic are actual Iranian citizens hanged for violating Islamic law. I thought they would make a nice touch, don't you agree?

My Memory of Gerald Ford

I have only seen the White House one time, but it was early November and just a week before the Presidential election of Ford versus Jimmuh Carter. I was working for a big national CPA firm that was doing a contract audit of the HUD Section 8 Housing Program, and I was in Washington, D.C. for a meeting on how to proceed. After the meeting, I and a couple of other beancounters decided to see what we could see of D.C. We had no idea where we were in the city, as we had flown into Dulles and were driven to the hotel late in the day of our arrival.

We left the office building and looked around. I spied an obelisk on the horizon and exclaimed, "That looks like the Washington Monument! Let's walk in that direction." So we did. In a few minutes we came to a big intersection and I looked at the street sign - "Pennsylvania Avenue." "Hey," says I, "Isn't that where the White House is?" Then I looked across the street and there it was right in front of me - the White House. There was a black iron fence around it, but we could see the porch quite easily. We then trekked all over Washington Square, visiting the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. I got to see these things while a Republican sat in the White House - Gerald R. Ford. When we flew back to the Bay Area I cast my vote for Gerald R. Ford.

A few days later my colleague and I were in a commercial jet on the way to Salt Lake City when we heard the news from the captain: Jimmuh Carter had won the Presidential election. It was a downer for sure.

Gerald Ford was punished for pardoning Nixon, but he did the right thing. He probably wouldn't have been elected even if he had refrained from the pardon. Ford wasn't a great man, just a well-meaning, competent one who did the best he could under difficult circumstances.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

Merry Christmas to you and yours, and Happy Hannukah too. At my house the presents have been opened, breakfast eaten, coffee drank and we are on the second or third replay of "A Christmas Story." I love that movie starring Darren McGavin. McGavin was one of my favorite stars; he portrayed characters that were kind of gruff and no-nonsense at times, always a bit funny, having to deal with strange problems that were usually of his own making. He died in 2006, I'm sorry to say.

"A Christmas Story" evokes memories of my own childhood and Christmases past, as it is set in the 1940's (my memories start about 1948) and so much is familiar. We didn't have a TV set because they weren't commercially available yet. Our Christmases in Clovis, New Mexico and Joplin, Missouri were white ones. It was always exciting when the first snowflakes began to fall. I used to sit in front of the living room window and watch the delicate flakes come down.

There was a year when Bro and I got BB guns for Christmas. We were outside in the front yard of our Missouri apartment house shooting a milk bottle into shards when a police car pulled up. The old goat across the street claimed he had been hit by a ricochet. The liar. That was no ricochet. (We were just testing the range of the BB guns, who would have guessed they could shoot that far?) The cops talked to our parents and were soon gone and we were soon back to ambushing milk bottles.

Yes, people often warned us that we "would shoot your eye out," and frankly, it's a miracle we didn't. Bro did shoot me in the eye once with a bow and arrow, but the arrow had a suction cup where an arrowhead would normally go, so I escaped the assault with only a shiner. Our father broke the bows and arrows over his knee so we were soon forced to deal with mandatory disarmament. There's a lesson in there someplace for modern Iran, I think.

In those days kids like us hoped for cap guns, cowboy hats, watches, pocket knives, a new bike, BB guns, bows and arrows, toy cars made out of cast iron, sling shots and other weapons of mass destruction. It was a pretty dangerous time, completely politically incorrect and loads of fun. There was little about those gifts that could be called electronic. No high-tech stuff at all.

Looking back, my favorite Christmas gifts of childhood were my first bike (it had training wheels) and 3 or 4 years later, a Jerry Mahoney ventriloquist dummy. It's hard to imagine the kind of joy I felt then when I received those gifts. There is nothing I want that dearly today. Well, a new dual core laptop with wide screen would be nice and a carved string bass to replace my laminate would be nice. I still have my toys, they are just more expensive.

God's Waiting Room

My mother is 85 and lives in a convalescent home near San Jose, California. She isn't long for this world and is now receiving hospice care. I drive over every Saturday to feed her lunch, since she can't feed herself anymore. My brother and sister go at different times to feed her. Only a week ago she was alert and smiling but this week her face was in her lap and I had to physically hold her up to feed her. She could go at any time and indeed, it is her time.

If you want to count your blessings, visit one of these places - God's "Waiting Room" where aged and disabled people are warehoused to await their visit from the dark angel. A small minority of the patients are young, suffering from cerebral palsy or some other debilitating condition. Most are aged, senile, bound to a wheelchair and totally dependent on the nursing staff for everything.

My mother's roommate Wilma is kind and friendly. She has an oxygen tube affixed to her nose. She has pure white hair and sits in her wheelchair. However, she is one of the few who still have their full mental faculties. She speaks to me in an elegant, cultured tone as the refined and educated woman that she still is, accepting her situation with class and dignity. She is kind and friendly.

In the hospice dining room, my mom sits at a table with three other patients, two of whom are assisted in eating by nurses. One patient is Mildred who will be 103 next month. Mildred can still speak and occasionally she even sings a song. Another is Joyce, who eats well but cannot speak and seems to be only dimly aware of her surroundings. I always say hi to her and smile and she smiles back with a puzzled look on her face, as if wondering who I am.

The fourth patient is Eleanor, who is the only one eating whole food. She can still feed herself and can hold a conversation, though her grip on reality is slippery. She tells me that the management of the nursing home is so screwed up that her children can't find her, so can't come to visit. I chat with her after putting my mom to bed, telling her to take care of herself. She says she will.

As I walk about the halls, I see a young woman of maybe 25 years of age, strapped into a wheel chair, her arms and legs supported with straps. She can't speak and looks at me with haunting blue eyes. I always say hi and wave to her and she stares back at me with a surprised look. Today, however, she smiles in recognition and seems to want to catch my eye. I say hello and wave to her as I walk past.

Before I leave the home, I always go by the main dining room to say hello to Hasan. Hasan is a young Arabic man of maybe 35. He has severe cerebral palsy and has little control over his motor functions. He is also deaf. He is always happy to see me and smiles broadly and tries to speak, but can only utter indecipherable sounds. He was friends with my mom while she was still part of the pre-hospice patients, while she still took her meals unassisted in the main dining room. He would keep her company, sitting in his wheelchair beside hers in the corridors of the home. I could not visit my mother without visiting him too and so we became friends. Our only means of communication is smiling and waving at one another, and an occasional high five.

I have often thought how the nursery of a hospital seems to be some sort of train station where new arrivals enter this world. Nursing homes like my mom's are the part of the same station. But in this section souls wait patiently for the next train out.

Danny Bonaduce: A Helluva Guy

This week Danny Bonaduce, a Los Angeles radio personality, was approached while eating lunch by John Conner, a "Truther," one of the kooks who believe that 9/11 was a conspiracy of the Bush administration. Little Green Footballs has the YouTube video of the confrontation that followed. With an aid videotaping it, Conner stuck a microphone in Danny's face and tried to get him to buy into the big conspiracy theory. Basically, Bonaduce informed Conner that he was a kook and to piss off. Incredibly, Conner posted his own videotaped ass-kicking on YouTube where it received raves from conservatives and spitballs from the Kooky Left.

Leftwingers at HotAir.com did what Lefties always do when they can't refute you, they insult you and try to censor you. Some of them called Bonaduce a "failed child star and reformed drug addict" among other things. That's true, but Bonaduce need not apologize to anyone about his past, because his redemption is an inspiring story.

I happen to be a fan of Danny Bonaduce. I know more about him than most people, because I read his autobiographical book Random Acts of Badness. Let me tell you a few things about Danny.

Danny Bonaduce was first brought to the public's attention in the early 1970's when, as a young boy, he made a television ad for Underwoood Deviled Ham. He extolled the ham's virtues by saying "It's a borgasmord," corrupting the intended word "smorgasbord." He was red headed, chubby-cheeked and freckle faced and the public loved him. From there he was picked up by the television sitcom "The Partridge Family," where he played the bass guitar player for the Partridge Family Band. He was always getting into trouble in the series and was one of its funniest and most popular characters.

The Partridge Family show lasted four years. Then one day when Danny's mom drove him to the studio for work, the guard at the gate told them "The Partridge Family doesn't live here anymore." The show had been canceled. Overnight Danny went from fame and fortune to anonymity and no income. Like many former child stars, the transition from celebrity back to normal life was traumatizing. Danny auditioned for other TV roles but none were forthcoming. He was older and no longer the chubby cheeked cherub once desired for juvenile roles. He became a "poster boy for failed child stars." There are few things so depressing in life as to see your biggest accomplishment in the rear view mirror and feeling that it is "all downhill from here."

Bonaduce lived off of a trust fund for several years, using it to buy alcohol and drugs. He became addicted to crack cocaine and sought out pushers in dangerous neighborhoods to get his drugs. Finally the trust fund ran out and he became homeless. Danny hit his lowest point when he had to live out of his car, selling autographs outside of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood just to buy food.

Somehow Danny managed to begin the arduous journey back to a normal life. He met Gretchen and married her on the first date. He was drunk, but when he sobered up he noticed that she was cute, they were in bed and she was naked. So he decided to hang around for awhile and is still with her today. She provided the guidance and the occasional ball-busting he needed to get straight, with a few mishaps along the way (there was that incident in Phoenix when he picked up a transvestite and, upon learning of his mistake, beat the crap out of the transvestite). He was arrested for that and also a few times for drugs. One day he climbed into his car intending to go buy drugs, but Gretchen stopped him. She lay down under the wheels of his car and told him he would have to drive over her to do it. She wouldn't budge until he threw in the towel. He turned off the ignition. Danny eventually got straight and stayed that way.

After a few weird jobs Danny got a break and became a popular radio show host in Los Angeles. Along the bumpy road of life he learned to care for other people. He talked one of his listeners out of his plan to commit suicide. He bought and delivered a wheel chair to some poor crippled kid he heard about on television. While delivering it he inadvertantly broke parole. An asshole of a police commissioner heard about it, had him arrested in handcuffs and humilated him in front of the precinct's police officers.

What I like about Danny Bonaduce is the fact that he never quit. He fell from celebrity and public acclaim to the gutter and was one seriously fucked-up dude. By all the laws of probability, he should have died of an overdose in some flop house or back alley. But he sobered up, kicked his habit and reinvented himself. That takes a lot of balls. No matter how far you've fallen in life, look at Danny Bonaduce and see what's possible.

Dan, you're the Man.

Islamic Misogyny or Women As Tents

American Thinker has a nice piece on "Islam's Apartheid" today: how Muslims treat women. How do they treat women? Like shit, actually.

Islamic culture and Islamic law are insane in many ways, and their treatment of women is a glaring example. In Islam the genders have to be scrupulously segregated. No mixing of men and women in social situations. President Imadinnerplate of Iran even plans to have different sidewalks, one for men and one for women.

Islam is so unnatural and extreme. Sexual desire, which is a natural phenomenon that is designed to propagate the species, is the worse kind of sin in Islam. All sexual desire must be ruthlessly suppressed. Horrors, to think that men might accidentally be attracted to women. So to prevent it they cover women from head to foot with their ugly chadors, hijabs and burqas. No man should be allowed to view a female face lest he begin to think natural thoughts of love, romance and yes, sex.

In order to more fully suppress the possibility of consensual sex, women are "circumcised," that is, they have their clitorises cut off. It is really a form of female castration. Get rid of the sex organ that God and nature provided; it was a mistake; women are not supposed to get turned on or to enjoy sex, not even with their husbands. To ensure their virginity and chastity, their vaginas are then sewn shut like a Christmas turkey. Barbaric? Yes, but then what aspect of Islam is not? On the plus side, at least they don't stuff them with bread crumbs.

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Finally, if all else fails and a woman is seduced without the benefit of marriage, they simply stone her to death. That's one of the reasons we say Muslims are still living in "the Stone Age." We mean that quite literally. Remember that old Bob Dylan tune, "Everyone Must Get Stoned"? That's now the national anthem of Iran. .

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Because unapproved sex is a capital offense in Islam (at least for women), men often have to turn to desperate measures for relief. Men having sex with young boys is permissible, but men having sex with other men is not. You see, the former is non-consensual sex with an innocent party, and in Islam everything is inverted. Non-consensual sex (we call it rape) of boys is okay, but men doing it with other men is a capital offense. They hang the men for doing that. When they say Iranian men are well hung they mean it in a totally different context than what you might think. (Actually the correct term is "well-hanged.")

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Okay, say an unmarried man is horny and there are no young boys available. In Islam he might pay a visit to the barn and pick out a lovely goat. Or he might practice "thighing" on an infant daughter or niece. This is also okay. Remember, sex with boys, goats and infants is okay. Just don't try it with a woman. (How unnatural! What on earth were you thinking??)

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Of course, there are rules; if you get it on with your goat you can't eat the goat (i.e. as in cooking) but must sell it outside the city walls to strangers. You don't have to tell them the goat isn't a virgin, apparently. Hmm, kind of reminds me of that Gene Wilder movie where he falls in love with a sheep. There's a scene in a motel where the sheep is walking around in the bed in black net stockings and lipstick. That one must have driven Muslim men nuts. (Do order the video "barnyard critters gone wild" for your next Muslim bachelor party.) I have often heard it said that Muslim men treat their women like livestock. Apparently, the opposite is also true. Who knew?

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Yes, Muslim men, if there are no goats, boys or infants available, wait until you are married. Your bride can then be taken when and where you want, following the dictums of Mohammed, even while riding a camel. Sounds less than romantic to me and perhaps even painful, but there were no motels or backseats in Mo's time. Yes, you can remove the sewed string on her vital parts and have at it. If she doesn't please you, you can beat the hell out of her. Mo says that's okay too.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Lately I have this inexplicable feeling of happiness and joy. Is it just Christmas? Yes, I love the Christmas music on the radio, I love the lights and decorations, I love the time off I get after Christmas (not returning to work until January 3rd). Lots of time to blog, nap, watch TV and play my bass.

I object to this. Being joyous is spoiling my legacy as a grumpy old man. I take this role very seriously. I once saw the movie "Grumpy Old Men" and took notes. I practice for hours in front of a mirror looking sour. My ideal is to be a real life version of Dana Carvey's comedy act as "the Grumpy Old Man." You know, sour look, wearing a plaid wool shirt buttoned up to the neck, saying things like "We didn't have no blow dryers in our time. If we wanted our hair blow-dried we had to stand outside in a hurricane, AND WE LIKED IT."

Is the joy from all the good Christmasy things to eat? No, actually I'm dieting and losing weight. Had to. A few weeks ago I was relaxing on a California beach when a team of Greenpeace volunteers showed up and attempted to roll me back into the surf. They thought I was a beached whale. When I protested that I was not, they demanded picture identification. Told me it was illegal to impersonate wildlife and let me off with a warning. I knew I was diet bound after that, and I don't mean one that is merely plankton-free.

In truth I think my goal of becoming a serious musician (bassist) is a large part of my new-found joy. I love having goals, of looking forward to wonderful things. I can become incredibly focused when I'm interested in something, and right now that is music, music theory, chords, scales, arpeggios and wailin' on my bass. I go around giving strangers on the street pop quizzes in music. Quick now, what are the notes in a Diminished 7th chord? If you answered a first, a flatted third, flatted fifth and a sixth, you got it right! The strangers mostly just give me wide-eyed looks ("Is he dangerous?") and walk quickly in the opposite direction.

Yes I love Christmas. Be joyful. Put your Grump act on hold for now. Save it for January, when the Democrats take over Congress. Now there's something to be grumpy about!

Denying the Hollow Head (Ahmadinejad)

The fuzzy-faced moron at the right keeps insisting that the Holocaust didn't really happen...yet. He insists that Israel will be wiped out and will cease to exist. The Religion of Piss and Vinegar has spoken.

This past week he sponsored a conference in Iran questioning the reality of the Holcaust. Well my Uncle Fred was with the US troops who liberated Dachau and he saw all those dead bodies. Worst case of the German flu he ever saw. To be sure they wouldn't be infected, the American soldiers rounded up the Nazi troops who ran the camp and promptly shot them.

Of course, Ahmadinejad is the true nasty historical occurrence that didn't really happen. I deny that he exists. It is all a clever ruse by the international worldwide conspiratorial cabal of Jews and Neocons. The man never existed at all. Look him up in the phone book. He's not there is he? Told ya.

The figure on TV was created by the same puppeteers who created Miss Piggy. They were paid well for it, I might add. Bags and bags of shekels. With this false Islamic nutcase allegedly in charge of an oil-producing nation, the cabal can then manipulate the price of oil. Every time "Ahmadinejad" threatens to blow up the world the price of oil goes up and the secret cabal just rakes in the dough.

I am an Ahmadinejad Denier. The man does not exist. However, if you see him, shoot him anyway.

A Christmas Questionnaire: Pass It Along

I received this questionnaire from my niece. She's sweet but likes to send all these non-essential emails to everyone she has known since the maternity ward (when she was born). I usually ignore them but decided to finally answer one and have some fun doing it.

Questions are in red, answers are in green. Feel free to torment your family and friends by sending it along.

Stogie

You know the drill. Highlight, copy, and paste (not forward or reply) and change my answers to your answers. Enjoy!! Everyone has time for a few moments of fun! And don't forget to send this back to me! ~Don't be a scrooge!!!~

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Both, but I like whisky in my egg nog and marshmallows in my hot chocolate. Or is it the other way around?

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Both. I've really got that old boy trained. No wrapping, no cookies and milk. He cries like a little sissy girl without those cookies. It's pathetic, really.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored - I'm not prejudiced. If I want white lights I'll buy a light bulb. Ha ha!!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nah, I get all the kisses I want. I just grab the little woman and plant one on her. The neighbors have learned to ignore the screams.

5. When do you put your decorations up? The first week after Thanksgiving; tree is up the first day, lights hung on house during the first week. By Christmas I too am all lit up.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Wild boar with an apple in his mouth; stewed Yak from Tibet. Will settle for turkey and dressing.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Snowy Christmases in Missouri; getting up on Christmas day and getting my first bike. The one Christmas when Bro and I caught Santa in a bear trap and made him give us new cap guns and cowboy hats before we would let him go. We used to tie our baby sitter to a stake, too. We pretended to be wild Indians and she was our captured pioneer. She was a good sport and thought it was great fun. Right up until we lit the firewood.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? You mean the fact that he doesn't really live at the North Pole but in a condo in Florida? I think I was about 50 when I learned this. I was shocked beyond belief. Is nothing sacred?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We did that when we were kids, but I don't allow it in my house now. Tradition! I insist upon it. Besides, I liked to torture my kids.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Point my wife at it and say, "Sic 'Em!"

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it. Love it; I haven't had a White Christmas in 50 years. I mean, 40 years, since I'm really not that old, honest.

12. Can you ice skate? I tried it once while I was in high school. It wasn't pretty and I don't want to talk about it. I was in traction for a month.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My first bike. It had training wheels, which was strange since it was a Harley.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? The lights, Christmas music, the cold, rainy days, great naps, corny Christmas shows on TV where the old guy turns out to be the REAL Santa Claus (there is ALWAYS a child who knows his true identity and stands by him through thick and thin). Finally the child is proven right, the cynical adults are put in their place and everyone gets their every wish granted and they all live happily after. Gag!! I hate formulaic Christmas shows. On the other hand I always rewatch George C. Scott's performance as Scrooge in the 1984 TV production of A Christmas Carol. It is the best Scrooge portrayal ever and if you don't agree you're an idiot. Period.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Custard and a Filipino dish called Maya Blanca, which is a kind of corn pudding. Sounds terrible but it is delicious. The candied sheep eyeballs are another story.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? When wifey takes pictures of me and son opening Christmas presents and we both fake a great big amazed smile with our mouths wide open and our eyes bugging out, as if we just received the Hope Diamond as our gift.

17. What tops your tree? An angel, but we still have the fragile one made of paper and paste that son made with his grandma about 20 years ago. We don't use it anymore because it is too fragile.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving. I don't really care what people give me as long as it is very expensive. Ha ha!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Silent Night. I love the way Kenny G plays it on his clarinet. Also, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," first sung by Judy Garland in "Meet Me in St. Louis." I also love the Vince Guaraldi jazz trio who played the theme music to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" for the 1965 TV presentation of the same name. I have the CD and play it every Christmas in my car. I also love Earth Kitt's sexy rendition of "Santa Baby."

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yummy? Yummy. They make great swizzle sticks!

Don't Count on America

Melissa at Protein Wisdom posts a great article today: Iraq: A Vietnam-like Ending? Melissa, of course, is noting the parallels between Vietnam and the recommendations of the so-called Iraq Study Group that came out last week. The ISG essentially recommends appeasement and abandonment of the Iraqis who trusted us (the fools) and thought they could rely on us to see this war through. Melissa's post describes America's shameful betrayal of our South Vietnamese allies to their Communist invaders. The implication is that this shameful episode will most likely be repeated in Iraq, now that the Surrender Party is ascendant in Congress.

Vietnam is a good analogy for Iraq, as Osama Bin Laden has pointed out. The South Vietnamese were also betrayed by our Party of Treason, the Democratic Party. Nixon had pledged US support of the South Vietnamese government in the likely event of North Vietnam's breaking the Paris peace agreements and restarting the war.

Shortly thereafter the American people, in their deep ignorance and foolishness, elected a solid majority of new Democrats to the House and Senate. The Democrats then promptly cut off all financial aid to the South Vietnamese government, allowing it to be quickly overrun by the Democrats' spirtual bretheren, the Communists. The Communists then began the slaughter of 2.5 million indochinese peasants, a genocide worthy of the same shame and disgrace as that of the Armenians or the Christians of Darfur. The Democratic Party of the United States is responsible for that slaughter. The blood is on their hands.

In 1975 I watched it on television as the Communists entered Saigon. As I watched the Viet Cong waving their flag on the balcony of the South Vietnamese Capitol, I made a solemn vow that I would never vote for a Democrat under any circumstances. I have kept that promise.

When you think Democrat, think socialism, multiculturalism, open borders, self-loathing, death wish, appeasement, a weak military and weak intelligence agencies, a lack of resolve, weakness, a lack of will, ignorance, irresolution, posing and posturing, fad-following, short-term thinking and sell-out. In addition, the Democrats are a party that hates capitalism, Christianity, Jews and white people and would do away with all of them if it had the opportunity. They are hardly the ones to look to for the defense of Western Civilization.

Oh hell, just think treason and you have the Democrats in a nutshell.

Melissa quotes Dennis Byrne at Realclearpolitics.com, who writes:

U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin futilely pleaded for $700 million in
emergency aid, so on April 30, Saigon fell. Left behind were the shameful images
of our friends pleading for their lives at the gates of the U.S. embassy as the
last helicopter flew from its roof. A few days before, Thieu had resigned,
bitterly recalling the failed pledge of “severe retaliatory action” by the
U.S. With condemnation on his lips, he said “The United States has not
respected its promises. It is inhumane. It is untrustworthy. It is irresponsible.”

How memory fades in the face of such a dishonorable betrayal. Now to
call it an abandonment or betrayal, as I did in a Chicago Tribune column,
incites charges that I am re-writing history. To try to make what we did in Vietnam anything other than an abandonment is to dishonestly read history through a clouded ideological lens. The history of our disgrace couldn’t be clearer, but present-day attempts to turn the history of those infamous years into fantasy shouldn’t
be surprising in a country that deified men who ran to Canada to betray
their obligations of citizenship and denounced those who served honorably.

The nations of the world should take note. You cannot bank on America. You cannot depend on America to honor its commitments or assurances. We are weak, vacillating, irresolute and we will cut and run when the going gets tough.

Japan, South Korea, Germany, Israel and other nations: you should build your military, develop nuclear weapons, create a powerful Airforce and Navy. In light of the threat from Iran, North Korea and China you must remember that you are on your own. Defend yourselves or die.

Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona

Two days ago was the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the event that plunged the United States into World War II. That was a terrible day in our history, but one that would be fully avenged at Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

About ten years ago, my wife and I spent a week in Honolulu and visited the Arizona Memorial. Before they take you out in a boat to the memorial, they show you a film about what happened. A real survivor of Pearl Harbor was there to tell us about it. I was surprised to see how many Japanese faces were in the crowd of visitors, but then Hawaii is a favorite vacation spot for modern Japanese citizens.

The memorial itself is fairly simple, a white structure that straddles the sunken hull of the Arizona. Inside there is a marble wall with all the names of the Arizona dead. It is a sobering experience. The dead included brothers and even fathers and sons. Apparently, in 1941, close relatives could be assigned to the same ship. The practice was ended later in the war after the five Sullivan brothers all died together.

When we went outside to the rail, we could see the gray-green shape of the ship below us, visible through the water. There was a large, circular structure where a gun turret once stood, part of it above the water line. Then I saw it, the famous bleeding of the Arizona, the oil drops still seeping from the hull and rising to the surface. They looked like black marbles, perfect spheres of oil floating up from the murk to dissipate in rainbow colors on the surface. After sixty-five years she still bleeds.

Over 1,000 of the Arizona's sailors sleep within her hull. Their ship became their tomb. Today, as the Arizona survivors pass away, many of them are opting to be buried with their comrades. The urns holding their ashes are lowered into the hull as Navy sailors and officers salute them.

I salute them too, all of them, living and dead.

"Happy Holidays"

"HAPPY HOLIDAYS"

For my Democrat friends - Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting these greetings, you are accepting the aforementioned terms as stated. This greeting is not subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself/himself/others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

For My Republican Friends - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Sent by Larry Bovshow, GRI, CRS Broker Associate
Remax Beverly Hills Remax OTB Woodland Hills, CA

The Flying Imams - A Dry Run for the Next 9/11?

There were a number of interesting events this past week that are worthy of attention.

Number one was the story of a group of six flying imams (Muslim clerics) who apparently tried and succeeded in getting themselves arrested from a commercial airlines flight with provocative behavior.

The Flying Imams - What Happened:
Before boarding the flight the Imams prayed loudly in the airport and shouted "Allah" when passengers were called to board their flight, a US Airways flight from Minneapolis-St Paul to Phoenix. When on board, three of the six stood up and again prayed on board the plane. That was provocative enough, but not the least of the imams' suspicious behavior. The worst of it was that the imams left their assigned seats and sat in a pattern associated with terrorist takeovers of planes: two in the front row of first class (closest to the cockpit), two in the middle of the plane next to the exit doors, and two in the rear of the plane. An air marshall said that this would alarm him, as the seating pattern would allow the imams to control all entry and exit doors to the plane.

When passengers complained about the imams' behavior, the imams were asked to leave the plane. When they refused, they were arrested and led from the plane in handcuffs.

CAIR, a Muslim propaganda arm in the United States, immediately vowed to file suit against US Airways for ethnic profiling, violating the imams' civil rights, etc.

Analysis:
The imams seem to be following a strategy used by other Muslim groups on western air flights: be provocative for propaganda purposes; get yourself arrested and then shout discrimination. The goal is to dampen or suppress official action in regard to suspicious activity, i.e. to make it easier for a terrorist attack to be carried out via commercial airlines at some future date. Expect the Left to go along and join the chorus of false outrage over "discrimination" and "ethnic profiling." The net result (and goal) is a weakening of American will and resolve to respond to credible threats.

Another goal in these provocative actions is to probe airline security for weak spots. How much can a potential hijacker get away with? Prior to 9/11, the culprits staged dry runs on commercial airlines. Two Muslim college students were arrested in Tucson, prior to 9/11, for twice trying to open the door to a cockpit on an America West fight. The FBI believes their attempt was a dry run.

See also Cal Thomas's recent article, "If I Were a Terrorist."

Christmas Time Is Here

"Christmas Time Is Here" is one of the Christmas songs on Vince Guaraldi's "A Charlie Brown Christmas" music album. I put on the CD last night, took my upright bass off its stand and was mildly surprised at how easily I could find the chords. I am learning bass with a multifaceted approach: memorizing and practicing scales and arpeggios, listening to great music with strong bass lines, improvizing and experiementing, studying music theory. Music is an important part of my life. I am looking into the Santa Cruz jazz scene, where a thriving jazz community exists, offering many clubs and bands that provide the music. There's even a jam session on Sundays, but I'm not ready for that yet.

Today my son, Stogie Jr., returns to his home in Washington State and will be taking Prudence, the female Bullmastiff pup, with him. I bought her for him and his wife as a Christmas present, to take the place of their Bullmastiff that died earlier this year of cancer. Now I have grown attached to the little dog, whose playful, frisky ways have charmed everyone in the house. She barks at my older dog, taunts the cats, sleeps in weird positions and carries off shoes to chew on. She should enjoy herself, as her home in Washington State will be "boot camp for dogs" when my daughter-in-law gets hold of her. She will quickly learn that peeing anywhere is not an option. On the other hand, all of her meals will be home cooked. No more kibble for Prudence.

Funny to note that three things that I love are despised and forbidden by Islam: Christmas celebrations, music and dogs. Enjoy these things and do not take them for granted. Any day now Belgium is expected to issue an edict banning them to avoid offending Muslims. That's a joke, but it isn't funny.