The Glass - Half Full or Half Empty

The other day a Democrat pundante was desperately trying to make a claim of his party’s leadership in the now commencing withdrawal of American Troops from Iraq. Fred Barnes, of the “Weekly Standard” gave the perfect retort. “The Democrats wanted to leave Iraq because, as they claimed, “America is losing”. Bush is now ordering withdrawals because America is winning.” This Democrat insistence on seeing only the empty portion of the glass has led the Democrats to endanger their country and make a joke of their politics.

A month ago the Democrats were eager for the United States to lose the War in Iraq. Murtha demanded some sort of withdrawal beyond the horizon. A foolish strategy, that has never won a war. It cost the Nationalists, China and the Spanish, the New World. Had it been put forward by anyone but the “hand picked veteran darling of the left”, it would have been laughed out of the conversation. At the first of December, Pelosi and Kennedy were openly saying the war was lost, the glass had been tipped over, and all that was left for America to do was cut and run.

Then came Presidents Bush’s speeches explaining to the American people the strategy and success in Iraq. Americans saw the “good stuff” in the glass and fixation on the empty portion was washed away as support for the war and the President rebounded.

To those that savor the sweetness of America, it was amusing that even as Kennedy’s empty rhetoric once centered on complaints that Bush was wasting time in Iraq and not concentrating hard enough on the War on Terror that; now, taking their cue from their media masters at the NY Times, the Democrats are indignant that President Bush is doing too much on that front. The entire anti-Bush strategy clings to the hope that the American people will fixate on their empty arguments and ignore the full half of the glass of American accomplishment. It only takes one sip of the truth to bring Americans around to the recognition that below the empty bubbles of Democrat propaganda is a sweet draft of success.

Desperate at the revelation of the hollowness of their dissent, the New York Times has taken over the lead of the “offer nothing party”. Together, the anti-war media and the anti-Bush Democrats are trying to poison the victory cup. Four propaganda blasts in the media followed by frothing gusts or bubbles from the Democrat leadership, attempted to dilute Bush’s success. But, in each case these attack stories in the press have flowed into Bush’s cup. Charges of domestic spying have proven false; a NY Times story on intentional spying on domestic communications proved to be unfounded; an article on the vast trove of intelligence garnered on terrorists by the NSA “mining” of international-to-international calls has proved a support to the successes of the Bush plan; and finally indignation that the government, in an attempt to do its job and seek out nuclear weapons, has been testing the air around suspicious sites, turned to support for a President who is willing to act in the nation’s defense. Thus the gaseous garbage from the left has quickly risen to the surface and popped; leaving nothing in the upper half of the glass.

A friend recently put me on to two articles in the Weekly Standard. They and the daily flow of news clarify the good stuff in the glass. My thanks to her for leading me to answers and helping me to see that our glass is indeed half full.

I have been casting about for a lawyer to explain the Constitutional questions related to President Bush’s efforts to combat terror by listening to the phone conversations of terrorists plotting to attack America. Mackubin Thomas Owens, professor of national security at the Naval War College, provides arguments from no less a lawyer than Abraham Lincoln. (“War and Peace, Lincoln and Bush on Vigilance and Responsibility”, the Weekly Standard, 12/21/2005)

The Albany Democratic convention censured Lincoln for what it called unconstitutional acts. Lincoln replies that certain actions that are unconstitutional in the absence of rebellion or invasion become constitutional when those conditions exist. Let me quote Lincoln’s Corning letter as Owens provided it.

“I can no more be persuaded that the Government can constitutionally take no strong measures in time of rebellion, because it can be shown that the same could not lawfully be taken in time of peace, that I can be persuaded that a particular drug is not good medicine for a sick man, because it can be shown not to be good for a well one. Nor am I able to appreciated the danger apprehended by the meeting [of the New York Democrats] that the American people will, by means of military arrest during the Rebellion, lose the right of Public Discussion, the Liberty of Speech and the press, the Law of Evidence Trial by Jury, and Habeas Corpus, throughout the indefinite peaceful future, which I trust lies before them, any more that I am able to believe that a man could contract so strong an appetite or emetics during temporary illness as to persist in feeding upon them during the remainder of his healthful life.”

Owens then argues that, “IN TAKING THE STEPS he believes to be necessary to preserve republican government, it is important to note that the president possesses his own inherent constitutional powers. The presidency is not, as one commentator suggested, merely “a kind of independent agency under the ultimate control of Congress.” The president is the commander-in-chief, which directly bestows upon him powers in times of military crisis that are not derivative of any congressional power.”

Owens not only provides us with a “heavy weight” in the legal arena, he also presents a philosopher of some punch to support the President’s “prerogative”. None less than John Lock argues that “the prerogative is ‘the power [of the executive] to act according to discretion for the public good, without the prescription of the law and sometimes even against it.’ Since the fundamental law that the executive ultimately must implement is to preserve society, it is ‘fit that the laws themselves should in some cases give way to the executive power, or rather to this fundamental law of nature and government, viz. that as much as may be, all members of society are to be preserved.”

If these arguments from legal and philosophical minds are not enough to revel the emptiness of the anti-Bush portion of the glass, consider the following statutory support from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, quoted from an article by Edward Morrissely from the December 21 2005 issue of Weekly Standard:

“However, FISA gives wide latitude to the government when such communication does not involve a “U.S. person.” FISA authorizes warrantless surveillance in its opening chapter: (1) Notwithstanding any other law, the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this subchapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year if the Attorney General certifies in writhing under oath that - -

(A) the electronic surveillance is solely directed at - -

(i) the acquisition of the contents of communications transmitted by means of communications used exclusively between or among foreign powers, as defined in section1802 (a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title; or (ii) the acquisition of technical intelligence, other than the spoken communications of individuals, from property or premises under the open and exclusive control of a foreign power, as defined in sections 1801 (a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title;

(B) there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party; and

(C) the proposed minimization procedures with respect to such surveillance meet the definition of minimization procedures under section 1802 (h) of this title; and if the Attorney General reports such minimization procedures and any changes thereto to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at least thirty days prior to their effective date, unless the Attorney General determines immediate action is required and notifies the committees immediately of such minimization procedures and the reason for their becoming effective immediately.


The core of the issue is this: the NSA and the administration defined international communications as including those where one end – and one end only -- occurs in the United States."

Further support came from no less a statesman than former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” Powell said that a major controversy could have been avoided had Bush gone to the FISA court, but he sees “absolutely nothing wrong with the president authorizing these kinds of actions” to protect the nation. Powell did add that “My own judgment is that it didn’t seem to me, anyway , that it would have been hard to go get the warrants. And even in the case of emergency, you go and do it.” But although Powell’s equivocation over method explains why we are in a controversy, it does not lessen his support for the legality and necessity of the President’s actions. He adds, “Of course it should continue, and nobody is suggesting that the president shouldn’t do this.”

Anyone who is claiming that the Administration’s efforts are aimed at anything but terrorism is blowing bubbles. There has not been any evidence that the Administration has done anything but seek for legitimate foreign communications that relate directly to national security. There is probably no stronger support for the need of the President’s order than the FACT that, although the Democrat Leadership condemns the President’s actions, they have not called for him to desist from the surveillance he insists he will continue. I imagine Democrats are justly concerned at how it will look if they add their demand that the President stop doing all he can to protect American to Hairy Reid’s recent jubilance at “killing the Patriot Act”. The question, “Whose side are these guys on?” is coming into the minds of more and more citizens. What is important to citizens contemplating the content of the glass is where the substance is; and Bush’s actions are brimful of substance. In his Weekly Standard column, Morrissey continues:

“AND THE PROGRAM PAYED OFF. Information developed during the NSA effort kept al Qaeda from destroying the Brooklyn Bridge in 2003 when Iyman Faris was captured before he could initiate the attack. He pled guilty to terror-related charges and is now serving a long prison sentence.”

Two important points to note: First, by fixation on the empty glass the Times and its lackeys in the Democrat Party leadership are endangering America’s defense against terrorist attack, and secondly, by harping on the empty part of the glass, the Democrats are in dangerous political territory. Their efforts to destroy Bush in order to garner seats in the 2006 election has left them fighting for a position that consists of exactly nothing. In the glass that contains the heady brew that is American Success and its challenge in the war on terror, Democrats are fixated on the nothing that floats above. The Democrats have offered nothing to replace either the sweet taste of victory or the bitter dregs of disaster. The cup the President holds is not all sweetness and buzz, but the portion the Democrats offer is the nothing at all.

The Questions in Question:

Should President George W. Bush II have directed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop in America?

My first purely “emotional” response is NO!

Right now it seems that there were specific rules in place to block domestic “eves Dropping” by the NSA if there was no involvement of an independent judge. I even understand that there is a special court to expedite and keep secret the issuance of such permission. I think I am for changing those rules in the cases as specific as President Bush has described, or perhaps granting some kind of extraordinary power to fight new enemies in the age of new technologies, however it dose not seem to me that the President has the prerogative to sidestep rules specifically in place.

More Questions to consider:

1. The President claims he is within his legal and constitutional power to make this directive. What are the legal and constitutional powers he is claiming?

2. Members of the U.S. Congress, including Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leader on the House Intelligence Committee, knew about and obviously sanctioned the President’s actions. Why did Congress feel the President was within the law then and why have some changed their minds now?

3. The New York Times has had this story for a year and has held in back until this time. What is the newspaper's motive in holding the story, and in releasing it now?

4. What benefits have come to our nation because of the President’s action? What harm has this action done to our enemies, what harm has it done to our Constitution?

5. If there are legitimate constitutional questions, how can our country continue to take advantage of the NSA’s abilities to protect our security and at the same time protect our freedoms?

6. Will the New York Times be forced to tell the name of the leaker?

7. Will this “leaker” be forced to face a Grand Jury and indictment for his or her criminal behavior?

8. What advantage has the leaker and the NY Times given to the enemies of America?

9. How angry should we be with President Bush if he, in good faith, thought he was legally acting in the defense of our nation and the Constitution?

10. If the President has broken a law, what should be the consequence for his crime?

Meeting the Challenge: George Bush Casts His Shadow on History

My school is trying to “re-discover” its heritage; develop some traditions related to our mascot – the Roman Lancer. My “part” is to present a lecture at each assembly. Rather a let down for most of the students, they escape class for a few minuets to hear a lecture from “old man ____.” The theme of this assembly was overcoming challenges. The most powerful presentation was the Downs syndrome student who stood alone in front of the 1,700 students and sang The Star Spangled Banner. The applause was deafening. Quite an act to follow, I did my best.

Scipio Afracanus: Citius, Altius, Fortuius

Excellence comes from meeting and overcoming challenges; the greater the challenge we overcome; the faster, higher, and stronger we become.

Among the greatest Roman Lancers produced in 1200 years of challenges was Scipio Afracanus.

On the Battle field at Zama where “the two most famous generals and two mightiest armies of the two wealthiest nations in the world advanced to battle, doomed either to crown or to destroy the many triumphs each had won in the past.” (Livy, pg.659) Scipio met his greatest challenge and proved himself faster, higher, and stronger. Defeating Hannibal to save Rome was not Scipio’s first challenge.

At age seventeen Scipio had saved his father’s life. The stricken general had been deserted on the battle field by allies who cut and ran at the approach of Hannibal. Scipio rushed into the chaos to carry his father to safety.

Two years later, when he was too young to officially stand in the ranks, Scipio saw the largest Roman Army ever assembled under one commander destroyed by Hannibal’s genius and the Fortune’s malice. Fifty thousand Roman soldiers were killed in a single day. Many of the patrician leaders, fearing Rome was lost, planned to flee Italy and abandon their city to Hannibal.

When word of their leaders’ desertion reached the desperate survivors they turned to Scipio, a boy of nineteen, and voted him commander by universal consent.

Scipio drew his sword and ran to the house were the mutineers were assembled. He cried “I swear with all the passion of my heart that I will never desert our country, or permit any other citizen of Rome to leave her in a lurch.” (pg. 153) These men of great power and influence, Generals, and Senators, were shamed by Scipio’s courage and determination. Taking him as their leader, they organized the retreat of the survivors. Their arrival at the city preempted surrender and saved Rome from destruction.

In twelve years of war there were few successes for Rome but Scipio’s reputation for leadership grew as he faced every challenge. At last he presented a daring plan to lead a Roman army to Africa and draw Hannibal from Italy. The Senate agreed.

But many Senators were jealous of Scipio. These men were willing to endanger Rome for political gain. They accused Scipio of looting the temple of Persephone in the city of Locri. As Scipio raised his armies, his Roman enemies brought ten Locrain envoys, to “make their appearance . . . dressed in filthy rags . . . they prostrated themselves before the consuls’ tribunal with pitiful cries and floods of tears.” Scipio’s enemies “accused him of having all the qualities which inevitably lead to the ruin of military discipline. . . So strong was party feeling for and against Scipio that there was not time that day for every senator to be given a chance to speak . . . much was said against the commander-in-chief himself – his dress and bearing were un-Roman, and not even soldierly; he strolled about the gymnasium in a Greek mantle and sandals, and wasted his time over books and physical exercise; his staff and friends were enjoying amenities . . . The discipline of the whole army had gone to the dogs . . . so that it was more of a menace to its friends than its enemies.” (pg.592)

The Senate sent officers to Sicily to relieve Scipio of command, but the officers went to Locri first and found that the accusations against Scipio were false. They went to his camp to see, “about Scipio’s dress and idleness and the lax discipline of his troops. The day after their arrival Scipio put both his land and naval forces though their paces . . . and such was their admiration for every detail in the grand total of what they saw that the officers were convinced that, if Scipio and his army could not defeat Carthage, assuredly nobody else could.” (pg 595)

Crossing the sea was difficult, beset by fog and storm. Scipio arrived to find that
his most powerful ally had betrayed him; his only supporter defeated in battle.

Two years of challenges followed. Scipio’s envoys to Carthage were rejected and
humiliated, his ships destroyed, and Hannibal returned to Africa. At last the battle was
joined. On that morning, Hannibal brought forth his powerful army supported with
eighty war elephants. “Factors which seemed trivial to recall . . . proved of great
importance at the time of action. The Roman war-cry was louder and more terrifying
because it was in unison, the Roman attack gained solidity as the men pressed on,” (pgs
661-662) and the discipline of the Roman legions allowed them to work together on the
battle field. Scipio was victorious.

At age 32, Scipio had become great by overcoming a multitude of challenges. He was
able to save his country and founded Roman greatness for hundreds of years.

It is easy to see the challenges of our lives as defeats, to be discouraged by the attacks of
Enemies, and lose faith. When challenges come, remember the example of that Great
Lancer, Scipio Afracanus, Citius, Altius, Fortuius.

***References are from Livy, The War With Hannibal, Penguin Books, 1972.

The parallels between Scipio and Bush II are obvious. It was rather enjoyable
for me to go beyond my usual 200 student reach to the full 1700 of our student body
with a message so important, and which so many of them got. George Bush’s greatness
will have far reaching consequences on the world; George Bush has stood against the
most difficult of challenges, foreign and domestic, and has done so well. His greatness
will be revealed in time. I just wanted to go on record.

In Defense of Saddam Hussein

In his thirty years as dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein murdered hundred of thousands of innocent people without justice or mercy. NOW HE IS INNOCENT.

Under Roman Law, under American Law, and, now that freedom and justice rule in Iraq, under Iraqi Law; a man who tortured men and boys to death for the entertainment and “education” of his sons; will be innocent UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.

There should be no difficulty in attaining this conviction. Like a tourist in Hell, Saddam made films and videotapes of his atrocities. But for now he shelters under the shield of justice. He basks in the rights he so long denied his people and for which so much precious blood has been shed!

The irony is bitter sweet. The man who denied the most basic of human rights to his people, now demands them for himself. While questioning the legitimacy of the government and the court where he seeks mercy, he sits smug and secure, protected by the very law he would destroy. But for Her blindfold, Justice would weep!

I have great respect for the officers of this Iraqi court; for the judges and lawyers, both prosecution and defense, who take up the heavy burden of this trial. I stand in awe of the guards and soldiers who risk their lives, and the lives of their families, that a tyrant might find justice.

I have no respect for Ramsey Clark, a joy riding opportunist, seeking one more whiff of adoration, one more chance to attack the country that gives him, and the world, the freedom to savage it. As far as I can tell the Iraqi defense team, who are risking their lives – two have already been murdered – to see justice done, have not accepted this grandstanding interloper into their ranks. How such a publicity stunt would sully their sacrifice!

Now the world will wait while the “wheels of justice” grind out the atrocities of Saddam; both slow and fine. And we can have faith, that while justice is blind, she also wields a sword.

Personal note: I am against capital punishment under any circumstance. Death, the fate and right of all men, is too good for Saddam. Let him spend his days, and may they be long, in the life he designed for his fellows; in a world without freedom or hope, where mercy deepens the weight of justice.

Note #2: Chapter 2 Article 5 of the Iraqi Constitution reads:

The accused is innocent until proven guilty pursuant to law, and he likewise has the right to engage independent and competent counsel, to remain silent in response to questions addressed to him with no compulsion to testify for any reason, to participate in preparing his defense, and to summon and examine witnesses or to ask the judge to do so. At the time a person is arrested, he must be notified of these rights.”

Two Ways of Rewriting History

In the midst of the Great Civil War, the war to determine if a Nation conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, could long endure; President Abraham Lincoln faced the bitter attack of the Democrat Party. The Democrats put forward General George Brinton McClellan to run against Lincoln, and built their platform around a plank demanding an end to the war; a war which Democrats labeled a failure. Let’s talk about rewriting history. What if the Democrats had won that election? Where would the world be today if this nation, under God . . . a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, had perished from the earth?

The Democrats of 1864 were far more interested in gaining control of the White House and the Congress than they were in ending slavery and preserving the United States of America. It seems that party’s motivations and practices have changed little in the past one and a half centuries.

In the midst of so much rewriting of history, I thought it appropriate to take a journey back to the un-rewritten pages of history to seek perspective and truth. On February 26, 2003 – less than a month before a Coalition of thirty-five nations, lead by the United States, launched Operation Iraqi Freedom; President Bush outlined the reasons for removing Saddam Hessian from power in Iraq. He not only dealt with the reasons for going to war but clearly outlined the difficulty of the task ahead. The selective memory of those who now claim that the President lied about the reasons for and difficulty of the war requires us to deal with the truths in this call to action.

Reasons for War:

1. Because 9/11 has made the United States a battlefield in the Great War of the 21st Century.

2. Because the greatest danger is an outlaw regime arming with Weapons of Mass Destruction. (I point out that the Doffer report has clearly stated that Saddam had in place monies, technologies, and desires to reconstitute the weapons he had used in the past and to develop nuclear weapons.)

3. Because the Iraqi dictator was building Weapons of Mass Destruction. (This was a position held by the UN, all nations with established intelligence organizations, the Democrats and Republicans in congress, the military, the CIA, and even Joe Wilson.)

4. Because Saddam had close ties with terror. (Not 9/11 but with terror – Saddam was running terror training camps, giving money to families of suicide bombers, and providing refuge to al Queda terrorists escaping from Afghanistan.)

5. Because a free Iraq would help to insure the long term safety and security of the world.

6. Because it was necessary to stop Saddam’s regime from spreading discord and violence in the Middle East.

7. Because the liberation of Iraq will allow the power of freedom to transform a region – bringing hope and progress to millions.

8. Because a free and peaceful Iraq will provide the liberty Americans believe in and the security it needs.

9. Because Iraqis live in scarcity and fear in a police state maintained by secret police and torture chambers, and terror. The lives of Iraqis mean little to Saddam, but they do matter to the U.S.

10. Because free nations do not breed ideologies of murder.

11. Because the liberation of Iraq will serve as an inspiration to other peoples suffering under regimes maintained by murder and terror that if they fight they can do so with hope of success.

12. Because the Iraqi people desire to be safe from brutality and oppression.

13. Because the liberation of Iraq will begin a new stage of Middle East peace. (And it has – yesterday the new Palestinian government took over control of its own national border for the first time.)

14. Because ending Saddam’s regime will cut off a wealthy patron that pays for terrorist training and offers rewards to families of suicide bombers.

15. Because the liberation of Iraq will serve as a warning to others not to support terror.

16. Because the removal of Saddam will encourage Palestinians to abandon terror.

17. Because removal of the Saddam regime will enable support for a Palestinian state.

18. Because freedom in Iraq will break the old patterns of hate.

19. Because victory over terror, war, and murder will bring peace.

20. Because following through on the commitments of the UN will make the UN a viable organization. (Not one steeped in oil and blood money)

21. Because the defeat of a murderous dictator and outlaw regime will signal other out- laws that they cannot ignore the will of the civilized world.

22. Because only such a significant change can end Middle East violence and its world wide effects.

President Bush spoke of the difficulty of the war long before it began:

1. It will be difficult to bring stability and unity to that part of the world, but any future will be better than the present.

2. It will be difficult not to allow one Dictator to replace another.

3. It will be difficult to rebuild a nation devastated by a generation of brutalization by a dictator.

4. “It will be difficult to help freedom take hold in a country that has known three decades of dictatorship, secret police, internal divisions, and war.”

5. “It will be difficult to cultivate liberty and peace in the Middle East, after so many generations of strife."

President Bush invokes the memories of Lincoln’s battle against slavery, of Roosevelt’s and Truman’s battle against Fascism and Japanese Militarism, of Reagan’s battle against Communism when he ends his pre-war address by claiming, “Yet, the security of our nation and the hope of millions depend on us, and Americans do not turn away from duties because they are hard. We have met great tests in other times, and we will meet the tests of our time.”

The Democrat political party is now willing to ignore and jeopardize all these important reasons and valuable goals, to give up the difficult fight for a better future of the world, in their disingenuous screaming of “Bush Lied; People Died”. Their only goal is to damage President Bush and gain political power for themselves. In one hundred and forty-one years the goals of the Democrats have not changed.

If Lincoln’s enemies had had their way, two antagonistic nations, one slave and one free, would have battled out the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; warring for territory and power; destroying each other while the monsters in Europe gobbled up the world in Communism, Fascism, and genocide. Slavery would have dragged on into another century of injustice brewing “a fire in the night” that would have dwarfed the “first” civil war in its terror and destructive might.

Now, we must ask ourselves, what if Saddam Hussein’s power would have remained unchecked in ambition and hate. Even John Kerry, who was one of the leaders of the anti- war movement of the 60’s and 70’s that led to the murder and enslavement of millions in South East Asia, cannot bear to contemplate that terror. Yet, to gain power the Democrats are willing to endanger us all, and set the world back into the hand of terrorists and terror states. Let’s remember history – not rewrite it for the momentary expedience of the Democrat political party.

The Bird and the Box

It must have been a late spring up north because the golden plovers were all over town; not above the artic circle where they belonged. As a little boy growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, seeing wild life was nothing new, but this sea of birds that washed over our fields and forests was wonderful. Hunter instincts raged in the hearts of my buddy, Lawrence White and myself, and we set about to ‘catch us some birds’! The plan was to carefully balance a pasteboard box on a stick attached to a long string. A trail of bread bits would lead the unsuspecting plover into the trap, then a yank on the string and he would be ours. We sat in the bushes for hours watching the clouds of birds come down to cover the lawn around our box. They would come like falling rain, in squalls of tens and twelves, then explode into the air all at once like a hurricane of beating wings and erry calls; spooked by some too quick move or careless sound. Over and over again they churned between earth and sky, but not one paid the slightest attention to our box. There were so many birds that it seemed the mere force of the building mass would push one into our snare, but not a bird showed any interest in bread or box. At last I lost it and stood up. The plovers were gone in a roaring cloud. I kicked the box and headed home. Lawrence called bitterly after me; he cried warm tears. Why wouldn’t I stay? How could I abandon him? Surly, with so many plovers, one would be ours if we would just wait long enough. I went and got my 22 and shot a few. We didn’t speak for weeks.

For two years the media and their stoolies in the Democrat Party have crafted and tended the Valeri Plame trap. Now, after failing to coax in any birds and with nothing to show for their years of casting their bread upon the waters, Bob Woodward has kicked out the stick and left the Left with nothing but bitter tears.

Perusal of Fox News reports for Friday, November 18th (referenced here in my attempt to reach up to recent standards in the Agora) shows the falling out of media buddies.

Woodward, once the patron saint of investigative journalists, is now the subject of angry and pouting disappointment. Critics charge that Woodward has become too cozy with Sources. One wonders where such media wise-guys were when Woodward was wooing Deep Throat. Colleagues at the Washington Post sob that “people feel let down!” Why; because Woodward told the truth and crushed the carefully crafted snare the media had built for President Bush?

Close Woodward friend, Walter Pincus (I couldn’t have made up a more fitting name) insists he can’t remember that Woodward told him about Plame two weeks before Libby is alleged to have blown her cover. How convenient for media types, they need have no memory of the facts. Too bad the poor souls they ensnare aren’t given an equal latitude of tolerance. By the way, Pincus is already in contempt of Court for failing to disclose a leaker, but that is only a crime if you’re a bird slated for the box.

It seems Woodward is already in trouble for telling the truth about the Scooter (where do they get these names) witch hunt. Woodward has claimed that this tea pot tempest is a pretty crumby case and not at all significant. This degradation of the carefully crafted box trap; dropped Woodward from media hero to Bush flunky in a wing flick.

Woodward’s revelation has kicked the sticks out from under the box of Prosecutor Fitzgereld’s teetering trap. The prosecutor’s clam that “He [Libby] was at the beginning of the chain of phone calls, the first official to disclose this information outside the government to a reporter”, has not only fallen flat, it has been stepped on.

In his own defense, Woodward states, “People want reporters to use information as a political weapon. I won’t do that. I’m just trying to find out what happened and report it as accurately as possible.” Woodward’s memory is a little foggy. Those outside the media box have a better memory of the political ramifications of Watergate, or has all that Deep Throat stuff started stinging Woodward’s conscience. Let’s hope so!

Two Talks Tell Total Tale

On Veterans Day 2005, two men gave two speeches. The contrasts of these two agenda driven talks could not be more telling of the character of the two speakers and the causes they represent.

In a speech before a group of academics in Hempstead New York, Bill Clinton defended his presidency.

In a speech before assembled servicemen and the families of warriors and veterans at Tobyhanna Army Depot, President George Bush defended the fight for freedom.

Clinton’s speech centered around his impeachment, which he called an ‘egregious’ abuse of the Constitution and he challenged those who claim history will consider him a poor president because of his White House sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.

President Bush’s speech centered on the service of America’s military in the creation and preservation of freedom for America and the world and the danger presented by those who would rewrite history to serve political ends.

Clinton, whose presidency saw neither, claimed an economic turn around and Middle East peace initiatives as his accomplishments.

Bush, whose presidency has seen the turn around of the Clinton Recession and the establishment of a new Palestinian government and the withdrawal of Israel from Palestinian territory, outlined the five difficult steps he is leading America through the global war on Terror. 1) Preventing attacks of terrorist networks before they occur. 2) Denying weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes. 3) Denying radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes. 4) Denying militants control of any nation. 5) Denying the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope.

Clinton challenged his critics by using deceit; arguing that his impeachment was not about what he called his “misconduct.”

Bush challenged his critics by speaking the truth; “While it’s perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community’s judgments related to Iraq’s weapons program.”

Bush continues: “they also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein. They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction. And many of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this way: “When I voted to give the President of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat, and a grave threat, to our security.” [John Kerry] That’s why more than a hundred Democrats in the House and the Senate – who had access to the same intelligence – voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power.”

Bush adds: “The stakes in this global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges. These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America’s will.”

Thus we have two men giving speeches which reveal the goals and interests that drive them.

Clinton’s goal, as was the goal of his entire presidency, his own self aggrandizement. Thus he sets out to rewrite history to fit his ends. Clinton’s claims of greatness are laughable to the informed and are plausible only to the ignorant.

President Bush’s goal, as has been the goal of his entire presidency, to spread freedom and peace. He seeks to set the slanted record straight and does so by presenting the facts and asking thinking people to come to a just conclusion.

The Fisherman and the Genie

One of my favorite stories from the 1001 Nights Entertainment is the “Fisherman and the Genie”. In the story, a poor fisherman drags a great jug out of the sea. When he opens it, a genie appears and demands the fisherman choose how the poor fisherman wants to die. It seems the genie has been waiting so long to be released that he has grown angry with whoever will eventually release him. He has sworn to give his benefactor death as his reward. Of course the fisherman is taken aback – but he thinks to himself, “I MUST OUTWIT THE GENIE. SURELY I MUST BE SMARTER THAN HE; FOR EVIL SPIRITS WOULD NOT BE EVIL IF THEY WOULD USE THEIR HEADS.”

The behaviors of many evil doers in the world today seem to bear out the Fisherman’s pronouncement:

1. I think of the rioters in Toledo, Ohio a week or so ago. Enraged that a group of Nazis were about to march through a portion of their city, a bunch of “civil rights demonstrators” proceeded to attack their own community. Claiming that the Nazis supported violence, a mob of idiots proceeded to commit the most gratuitous acts of violence. Eager to grab headlines, many Ohio blacks behaved exactly as the Nazi hate mongers predicted they would. Talk about playing into the hand of your enemy in order to prove their point!

2. I think of the “peaceful and sophisticated” citizens of France who for approaching two weeks now have been rioting and burning down their own communities. Overcome by boredom, impotence, and raciest bigotry they have turned upon themselves. We are reminded that these are the descendants of the same people who turned a Revolution for Freedom into a Reign of Terror. Now the French (need I really come up with a pejorative more telling) grope for attention on the world stage by committing national suicide. How like them!

3. Think of protestors in Argentina during the meeting of the leaders of the nations of North and South America. In a ridiculous, if not laughable, attempt to get the attention of the world media, anarchist protestors destroy and burn; providing proof that their way must be avoided by thinking people at all costs.

4. Democrats, seeking to gin up some press for their anti Bush agenda, - the only agenda the Democrats in office in this country seem to possess - burst into flames last week. The obligatory crash which followed was spectacular. Failing to get any significant indictments against the “movers and shakers” in the Bush administration for the non crime of outing the non covert agent wife of a non reliable Joe Wilson, the Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid, proposed to kill the nation that gives him freedom. In a publicity stunt that was all hot air, Reid dragged the U.S. Senate in to an unnecessary closed session to demand things which have already been done be done again. He was forced later to recognize, if not admit, that the “re-do” was already scheduled before his tantrum. Thus the Democrats blocked the business of the nation in order to grandstand for the political points the media rushes provide. Meanwhile the fishermen, and farmers, the workers and owners, the simple minded citizens of American, realize that politicians who thus refuse to use their heads must surely be evil.

The fisherman in Scheherazade’s tale at last convinces the evil genie to go back into his bottle. The Fisherman does this with a simple appeal to the genie’s ego. He asks the “wonderful genie” to prove that someone as great as he could actually fit into the jug. Determined to prove himself possessed of the greatness the fisherman implies, the evil genie turns himself into smoke and reenters the bottle. The fisherman replaces the stopper. The media has given full reign to the monsters of the moment, and their egos are swollen with hot air to the bursting point. I wonder if now the media has pulled the cork, the simple citizens of this nation will be able to get the genie back in the bottle. Perhaps their first step is realizing just how stupid the evil doers really are.

News Stories?

I would like to contrast four news stories: two that should be footnotes but are dominating our national conversation, and two that should be all over the front pages, screaming on the radio, and pouring off the television into every home, but are all but ignored.

Stories one and two: Two administration officials MAY be indicted – after which they will still be innocent until proven guilty – for some non-crime sharked up by the media and their party. This has been the tag line and the front page story in all the media for days now. Any further listening or further reading of these “news stories” always shows this to be a tiny tempest in a tiny tea pot. Meanwhile thousands of companies joined the roles of shame. Paul Volcher’s report reveals that not only did UN big bugs, French, German, Russian political leaders, and British MPs profit from the bribes of Saddam, but that 2,200 of the companies we support with our purchases were paying Saddam for illegal privileges; thus financing Saddam’s abuses of his own people and his dreams of world conquest and domination.

Stories three and four: The 2,000th American was killed in the war in Iraq. Now don’t take me wrong here, every American, EVERY AMERICAN, that dies in the war for our freedom should be reported and recognized, and honored as the heroes they are. But to ghoulishly wait for some number, to set off protests and TV commercials and a flood of news stories and talking heads yammering, is exploitation. These great men and women have given the ultimate sacrifice that we might live in peace and safety, while enjoying our freedoms and sharing those freedoms with the future and the world. Meanwhile close to 3,000 Americans a day are being killed for convenience sake. And their deaths are not even mentioned. 2,740 AMERICANS WERE KILLED TODAY IN AMERICA. If you divide the million babies that will be aborted this year by 365 you get that number. These murdered children are not mentioned in newspapers, on radio, on TV, or in the churches, schools, or web logs of the nation.

Am I the only one that sees injustice here?

Al-Zawahiri's Struggle: The Little Bloody Book

It has always been interesting to me that Hitler, and Marx, and Mao carefully wrote down the course their ambition would follow, and no one took them seriously until they were well on their way to accomplishing their design.

Like a hurricane projecting its own course and land fall, Terrorist Murder Leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri has laid out a step by step plan for world wide domination. To ignore his threats would place world leaders once more in denial and appeasement mode. As the disaster in Louisiana should have taught us – we ignore such threats at our own peril.

I’ve spent the afternoon reading al-Zawahiri’s demented letter to al-Zarqawi. Like Mein Kompf and the Communist Manifesto, Zawahiri’s letter is full of silly leaps beyond reason and down right falsehoods. But it is also like them in displaying a determined, albeit twisted, mania to exercise control over the human soul by seizing military and political power and establishing a super state to propagate a malicious dogma and impose it on the world.

I offer here some quotes and commentary:

Al-Zawahiri links his cause to the will of God and outlines the violent establishment and subsequent goals of a super state under the control of his ideology.

1. “. . . what is now the place of the greatest battle of Islam in this era and what will happen, according to what appeared in the Hadiths of the Messenger of God about the epic battles between Islam and atheism. It has always been my belief that the victory of Islam will never take place until a Muslim state is established . . .”

2. “. . . the battles that are going on in the far-flung regions of the Islamic world. . . are just the groundwork and the vanguard of the major battles which have begun in the heart of the Islamic world.”

3. “. . . our goal in this age is the establishment of a caliphate in the manner of the Prophet and if we expect to establish its state predominantly- according to how it appears in us-in the heart of the Islamic world. . .”

Zawahiri then lays out a series of steps to accomplish the enslavement of man:

4. “The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq.”

5. “The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or amirate, then develop it and support it until it achieves the level of a caliphate – over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraq, i.e., in Sunni areas, is in order to fill the void stemming from the departure of the Americans. . . “

6. “The third stage: Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries neighboring Iraq.”

7. “Fourth Stage: It may coincide with what came before; the clash with Israel, because Israel was established only to challenge any new Islamic entity.”

Zawahiri then goes on to explain how to exploit the masses – many of whom he intends to slaughter after they have served their purpose. Like the monsters that followed Marx – the masses are only the tools for assent into power.

8. “The Muslim masses-for many reasons. . . do not rally except against an outside occupying enemy, especially if the enemy is firstly Jewish, and secondly American.”

9. “If we look at the two short-term goals, which are removing the Americans and establishing an Islamic amirate in Iraq, or a caliphate if possible, then we will see that the strongest weapon which the Mujahedeen enjoy – after the help and granting of success by God – is popular support from the Muslim masses in Iraq, and the surrounding Muslim countries.”

10. “The collision between any state based on the model of prophecy with the Shia is a matter that will happen sooner or later, This is the judgment of history, and these are the fruits to be expected from the rejectionist Shia sect and their opinion of the Sunnies.”

11. “Indeed, questions will circulate among Mujahedeen circles and their opinion makers about the correctness of this conflict with the Shia AT THIS TIME (emphasis added).”

12. “. . . questions will circulate among Mujahedeen circles and their opinion makers about the correctness of this conflict with the Shia at this time.

a. Is it something that is unavoidable?”

b. Or, is it something [that] can be CAN BE PUT OFF (emphasis mine) until the force of the Mujahed movement in Iraq gets stronger?”

c. . . . is the opening of another front now in addition to the front against the Americans and the government a wise decision?”

d. And can the Mujahedeen kill all of the Shia in Iraq? Has any Islamic state in history ever tried that?”

e. “and do the brothers forget that both we and the Iranians need to refrain from harming each other AT THIS TIME (my emphasis) in which the Americans are targeting us?”

Al-Zawahiri is confident that America will soon desert the Iraqi people; a hope buoyed by many Democrat politicians and the mainstream media. He is confident that the terrorists will then be able to impose their will on Iraq and thence the world. He makes reference to the communist successes in Vietnam. Success which equaled the murder of millions and the perpetuation of slavery!

13. “The Americans will exit soon, God willing, and the establishment of a governing authority as soon as the country is freed from the Americans – does not depend on force alone.”

14. Things may develop faster then we imagine. The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam – and how they ran and left their agents – is noteworthy.”

15. “. . . despite all this, I say to you: that we are in a battle, and that more than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media. And that we are in a media battle in a race for the hearts and minds of our Umma.”

These last words about the “hearts and minds” of the masses outline the same strategy followed by all the tyrants and mass murders of the past. Seize the people in their ignorance; by the power of fear and hate, color them with prejudice, and imbue them with fanaticism, and when all else fails, kill, kill kill.

It is against this great evil, self declared and mapped out by its mad leaders, that we are called upon to contend. Let us learn from history – apply reason and the light of truth – and stand in defense of freedom.

Defending the War on Terror

On Thursday, October 6th, President Bush delivered the speech we have all been waiting for. I have it before me and have listened to all forty minuets of it five times. I didn't play it for my Art History Class – but all the rest of my classes got it beginning to end – then commentary.
Here are some highlights. I have divided the speech with my own headings, but the numbered quotes are the President’s words.

Since the founding of The National Endowment for Democracy by President Reagan American sacrifice has spread freedom and peace to much of the world.

1. ". . . all the cost and sacrifice of that struggle has been worth it, because, from Latin America to Europe to Asia, we've gained the peace that freedom brings."

The world now faces a new world wide enemy set on destroying peace and freedom – and we must sacrifice again.

2. ". . . freedom is once again assaulted by enemies determined to roll back generations of democratic progress. Once again, we're responding to a global campaign of fear with a global campaign of freedom."

3. "Recently our country observed the fourth anniversary of a great evil, and looked back on a turning point in our history. We still remember a proud city covered in smoke and ashes, a fire across the Potomac, and passengers who spent their final moments on Earth fighting the enemy. We still remember the men who rejoiced in every death and Americans in uniform rising to duty. . . We will confront this mortal danger to all humanity. We will not tire, or rest, until the war on terror is won."

President Bush then listed many other places were terrorists have attacked and the innocent nature of their victims. This is a world wide war, a real war against a real and determined enemy. The President described this enemy which he calls ISLAMIC RADICALISM.

4. 'Yet while the killers choose their victims indiscriminately, their attacks serve a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs and goals that are evil, but not insane."

5. "This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision; the establishment, by terrorism and subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom."

6. "Many . . . are part of global, borderless terrorist organizations like al Qaeda . . . Other militants are found in regional groups, often associated with al Qaeda . . . insurgencies and separatist movements . . . Still others spring up in local cells, inspired by Islamic radicalism. . . Yet . . . [all] . . . share a similar ideology and vision for our world."

President Bush then presents that ideology and vision.

7. "We know the vision of the radicals because they've openly stated it. . . First . . . to end American and Western influence in the broader Middle East, because we stand for democracy and peace, and stand in the way of their ambitions. . . . Osama bin Laden, has called on Muslims to dedicate, quote, their "resources, sons and money to driving the infidels out of their lands." . . . They hit us and expect us to run. They want us to repeat the sad history of Beirut in 1983, and Mogadishu in 1993 – only this time on a larger scale, with greater consequences."

8. "Second, the militant network wants to use the vacuum created by an American retreat to gain control of a country, a base from which to launch attacks and conduct their war against non-radical Muslim governments. . . . They achieved their goal, for a time, in Afghanistan. Now they've set their sights on Iraq. . . . The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity. And we must recognize Iraq as the central front in our war on terror."

9. Third, the militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia. With greater economic and military and political power, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda; to [1] develop weapons of mass destruction, [2] to destroy Israel, [3] to intimidate Europe, [4] to assault the American people, [5] and to blackmail our government into isolation."

10. ". . . Zarquwi has vowed. "We will either achieve victory over the human race or we will pass to the eternal life."

The past teaches the clear lesson of why we must fight:

11. ". . . the civilized world knows very well that other fanatics in history, from Hitler to Stalin to Pol Pot, consumed whole nations in war and genocide . . . Evil men, obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience, must be taken very seriously – and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply."

President Bush then goes on to explain how the radicals plan to and can grow in power.

12. ". . . it thrives, like a parasite, on the suffering and frustration of others. The radicals exploit local conflict to build a culture of victimization, in which someone else is always to blame and violence is always the solution. They exploit resentful and disillusioned young men and women, recruiting them through radical mosques as pawns of terror. . . . Islamic Radicalism is also magnified by helpers and enablers. They have been sheltered by authoritarian regimes, allies of convenience like Syria and Iran. That share the goal of hurting American and moderate Muslim governments, and use terrorist propaganda to blame their own failures on the West and American and on the Jews. These radicals depend on front operations, such as corrupted charities, which direct money to terrorist activity.
They're strengthened by those who . . . fund the spread of radical, intolerant . . . Islam . . . aided . . . by elements of the Arab news media that incite hatred and anti-Semitism, that feed conspiracy theories and speak of a so-called American "war on Islam"."

President Bush then deals decisively and brilliantly with those in the blame America crowd, showing the folly of appeasement.

13. "Some have also argued that extremism has been strengthened by the
actions of our coalition in Iraq. . . . I would remind them that we
were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001 – and al Qaeda attacked us anyway. The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an issue, and it will exist after Iraq is no longer an excuse. . . .
Over the years these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence – the Israeli presence on the West Bank, or the U. S.
military presence in Saudi Arabia, or the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand years ago. In fact, we're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with inalterable objectives; to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world. No act of ours invited the rage of the killers – and no concession, bribe, or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans for murder.

14. "They target nations whose behavior they believe they can change through violence. Against such an enemy, there is only one effective
response: We will never back down, never give in, and never accept anything less than complete victory."

President Bush then aptly applies the lessons of History to the War on Terror. The perilous battle we must now win is eerie in its resemblance to the fight against the monster murder mania that was world wide communism.

15. "Like the ideology of communism, Islamic radicalism:

a) . . . is elitist, led by a self-appointed vanguard that presumes to speak for the Muslim masses. Bin Laden says his own role is to tell Muslims, quote, "what is good for them and what is not."

b) "Like . . . communism, our new enemy teaches that innocent individuals can be sacrificed to serve a political vision. And this explains their cold-blooded contempt for human life."

c) ". . . in spite of this veneer of religious rhetoric, most of the victims claimed by the militants are fellow Muslims. When 25 Iraqi children are killed in a bombing, or Iraqi teachers are executed at their school, or hospital workers are killed caring for the wounded, this is murder pure and simple – the total rejection of justice and honor and morality and religion. These militants are not just the enemies of America, or the enemies of Iraq, they are the enemies of Islam and the enemies of humanity. We have seen this kind of shameless cruelty before, in the heartless zealotry that led to the gulags, and the Cultural Revolution, and the killing fields."

d) ". . . our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be an aggrieved party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies. In truth they have endless ambitions of imperial domination . . ."

e) "Under their rule, they have banned books, and desecrated historical monuments, and brutalized women. They seek to end dissent in every form, and to control every aspect of life, and to rule the soul, itself. While promising a future of justice and holiness, they terrorists are preparing for a future of oppression and misery."

f) our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples, claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent. . . . But let us be
clear: It is cowardice that seeks to kill children and d the elderly with car bombs, and cuts the throat of a bound captive, and targets worshipers leaving a mosque. It is courage that liberated more that 50 million people. It is courage that keeps an untiring vigil against the enemies of a rising democracy. And it is courage in the cause of freedom that one again will destroy the enemies of freedom."

g) . . . like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom – by distrusting human creativity, and punishing change, and limiting the contributions of half the population - - this ideology undermines the very qualities that make human progress possible and human societies successful."

h) Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation, decline, and collapse. Because free people believe in the future, free peoples will own the future."

President Bush then sets out three goals and describes five strategies that we are now and must continue to use in the fight against Islamic radicalism.

16. "Defeating a broad and adaptive network requires patience, constant pressure, and strong partners in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia and beyond.

17. "First . . . prevent the attacks of terrorist networks before they occur. . . . Together, we've killed or captured nearly all of those directly responsible for the September the 11th attacks; . . . the United states and our partners have disrupted at least ten serious al Qaeda terrorist plots since September the 11th, including three al Qaeda plots to attack inside the United States. We've stopped at least five more al Qaeda efforts to case targets in the United States, or infiltrate operatives into our country."

18. "Second, we're determined to deny weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes, and to their terrorist alls who would use them without hesitation."

19. "Third, we're determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes. . . The united States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor them, because they're equally as guilty of murder."

20. "Forth, we're determined to deny the militants control of any nation . . . and so we will defeat the enemy in Iraq."

President Bush then contrasts the efforts of our troops and our allies with those consumed by pessimism.

21. "Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving forward with a comprehensive, specific military plan. [1] Area by area, city by city, we're conducting offensive operations to clear out the enemy forces, [2] and leaving behind Iraqi units to prevent the enemy for returning. . . . [3] we're working for tangible improvements in the lives of Iraqi citizens. [4] And we're aiding the rise of an elected government that unites the Iraqi people against extremism and violence."

22. "Some observers look at the job ahead and adopt a self-defeating pessimism. It is not justified. With every random bombing and with every funeral of a child, it becomes more clear that the extremists are not patriots, or resistance fighters – they are murderers at war with the Iraqi people . . ."

23 ". . . elected leaders of Iraq are proving to be strong and steadfast. By any standard or precedent of history, Iraq has made incredible political progress – from tyranny, to liberation, to national elections, to the writing of a constitution, in the space of two-and-a-half years. . . . the Iraqi military is gaining new capabilities and new confidence with every passing month. . . . no fair minded person should ignore, deny, or dismiss the achievements of the Iraqi people.”

President Bush then goes on to challenge those who doubt the commitment to democracy and freedom of Iraq and its people.

24. “We’ve heard it suggested that Iraq’s democracy must be on shaky ground because Iraqis are arguing with each other. But that’s the essence of democracy. . . “

25. “As Americans, we believe that people -- everywhere – prefer freedom to slavery, and that liberty, once chosen, improves the lives of all.”

President Bush next deals with those who would cut and run!

26. Some observers also claim that America would be better off by cutting our losses and leaving Iraq now. This is a dangerous illusion, refuted with a simple question: Would the Untied Stats and other free nations be more safe, or less safe, with Zarquwi and bin Laden [or Saddam] in control of Iraq, its people and its resources?

27. “There’s always a temptation, in the middle of a long struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the word, and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder. This would be a pleasant world, but it’s not the world we live in. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday’s brutality. This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace without victory. We will keep our verve and we will win that victory.

President Bush next describes how free people can deny the militants future recruits; gain the support of the Muslim world. He give evidence that this process is in progress.

28. “The fifth element of our strategy . . . is to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East. . . . If the peoples of that region are permitted to choose their own destiny, and advance by their own energy and by their participation as free men and women, then the extremists will b marginalized . . .”

29. “Many Muslim scholars have already publicly condemned terrorism, often citing Chapter 5, Verse 32 of the Koran, which states that killing an innocent human being is like killing all humanity, and saving the life of one person is like saving all of humanity. After the attacks in London . . . an imam in the United Arab Emirates declared, “Whoever does such a thing is not a Muslim . . .”

30. Many people of the Muslim faith are proving their commitment at great personal risk. . . . Afghan troops are in combat against Taliban remnants. Iraqi soldiers are sacrificing to defeat al Qaeda . . . “

President Bush unites the War on Terror with the “ancient” struggle.

31. “. . . the fight we have joined is also the current expression of an ancient struggle between those who put their faith in dictators, and those who put their faith is the people. Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision – and they end up alienating decent people across the globe. Tyrants . . . have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure – until those societies collapse in corruption and decay. Tyrants . . . have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent – until the day that free men and women defeat them.

**** Well I hope you have read and considered the President’s words. I am eager to add commentary in any discussion on the justice of the war or the importance of the President’s words.

Cindy Shewho? Misguided Matron Makes Massive Miss

Cindy Sheehan was bitter last week. Having sharked up some thousands of 60’s retreads, professional protestors, and one mentally unbalanced congressperson; “Ms Smarty” gave a party and nobody came to play. Bitterly berating the media – and not just Fox News – for spending their collective attention on Hurricanes, wars, the conformation of the Chief Justice, and other such trivia; she marched off to the White House to get her self arrested. The image of queen Sheehan, grinning with pleasure, as she was haled off – as if in a sedan chair – by officers of the D.C. police, left me cold. This is the “Mother Inferior’s” attempt to link her sinking, and stinking, cause to the noble tradition of civil disobedience? Her failure would be laughable if it weren’t for the bitter consequences that even a minuet of fame for this gorgon gets, brings upon those who risk their lives to defend freedom throughout the world.

Sheehan has totally missed the formula for actually performing an act of civil disobedience. Three elements and one condition are key to invoking the power by which Gandhi drove the British from Empire and M. L. King lead our nation out of racial segregation. These three important elements and condition are: 1) an unjust law, 2) nonviolent disobeying of that law, and 3) taking the consequences for disobedience to that law. The one condition is that these actions must take place in a nation that accepts the rule of Law (justice). Gandhi and King would have vanished, along with millions of others, had protested the injustices of Nazism or Communism.

Sheehan’s protest doesn’t pass the smell test. Were is her suffering in Birmingham Jail; where her beating at the hands of apartheid driven jack troops? Instead Sheehan is gently carried off into the evening’s news cycle.

Where is the great injustice against which she fights? Where the enforced poverty, the inequality of opportunity, the oppressive brutality against a race or group? The law Sheehan chooses to break is nothing more than jay walking. How are laws against blocking public access unjust? Of course they are not. She does not even have the grace of protesting in the name of one brought down by oppression like the mothers of the disappeared n Peru. Her mock protests degrade the sacrifice of her son, who was not sent to war by any mother, but who freely gave his life in the battle to bring hope and freedom to millions.

Modern relativists cannot discern these concepts. Thus, eco-terrorists endanger lives and destroy property from secret web-cells and never gain one ounce of sympathy for there unjust causes, thus PETA attacks the livelihoods of honest farmers and ranchers, and cannot understand why the masses do not embrace their agenda, thus terrorists must murder to get attention but garner only righteous wrath.

Not all mothers are loving care givers, some are abusive monsters, Sheehan continues to abused her son, his memory, and the just cause for which he gave the ultimate gift of love. You’ve missed it Ms Sheehan. Your moment of fame may be fanned by those who seek to use you – but you have only harmed the cause justice.

Perception Is Everything - NOT!!!!

Last Friday I had the privilege of participating in my second “Late Start Day” of the school year. Our most excellent Principal arranged a very informative training for the first part of our extra two hours without students. This training culminated in a discussion on the fact that my school had failed the “No Child Left Behind” standards for last year. The presentation soon degenerated into a lot of excuses and complaints about the entire testing program. Finally one of my most respected colleagues, with a pointed stare in my direction, suggested that our only salvation was to elect a new President. At this point I put in my two bits worth. “What does it matter that we got a “No” on the level of success of our Hispanic students? Isn’t the purpose of the standard test to help us find students that need help? Perhaps we would be better off with a President who allow us to continue to sweep our failures under the rug – but wouldn’t it be much better if we were to work together to make these students more successful and quit worrying about whether we beat Davis High or not!!” At this point another dear friend and fellow teacher said loudly and pointedly, “Perception is everything!” Then my Principal intervened to explain that I was stealing his final remarks.

But I was deeply troubled at Mr. Brimhall’s comment. It is at the foundation of what I call Relativism. Reality does not matter – it is what one chooses to believe that matters.

Please consider these examples:

1) I spent many hours last week watching the “questioning” of Judge John Roberts. (Thank goodness for CSPAN) It soon became obvious that many of the questioners were far more interested in perception than in Judge Roberts. For those of you who have listened and watched, I am sure you are aware of a thousand examples, but the most blatant, to me, was Ted Kennedy EEOC attack. Toward the end of his second set of questions, the twenty minute round, Kennedy started reading a lengthy description of the EEOC and its great value to America and to the civil rights of all those who Kennedy pretends to champion. He then read one phrase from a memo that Roberts had written while advising President Reagan some twenty years ago. Kennedy read from Roberts’ memo: “. . . we should ignore the assertion that the “EEOC is un-American”, the truth of the matter not withstanding.” Kennedy’s hope was that the perception would be that Roberts was implying that it was true that the EEOC was un-American and that Reagan should just ignore that fact. Kennedy wanted to propagate the perception that Judge Roberts truly believed the EEOC to be un-American. When Kennedy pompously demanded an explanation of this abhorrent claim, Roberts promptly provided one – the TRUTH!!! He pointed out that Senator Kennedy was only reading the last half of a sentence. The first half of that sentence referred to a person who had written to President Reagan demanding that he fulfill an alleged campaign promise to abolish the EEOC. Roberts explained that he had been unable to prove or disprove that Reagan had made any such promise – but was advising the President to ignore such a claim – the truth of the matter of whether Reagan had made such a promise or not, “not withstanding”. It then became obvious that Roberts was defending the EEOC to Reagan not disparaging it. Kennedy was left gasping like a great fish out of water. He tried to obfuscate and to withhold the memo from the record and from Judge Roberts, but fortunately Chairman Specter provided the Judge a chance to prove the truth by providing him the memo and time to explain.

Now an observation, which I hope my many friends who were most successful policy debaters in high school and college, will not consider in any way a slight on the merits of that activity. In Kennedy’s folly I see all the trappings of the card quoting and brief building of certain high school debaters. What Kennedy had done was set loose his army of aids and interns to scour the 100,000 or so pages of documents provided from John Robert’s paper trail. One of these eager beavers had found this little treasure and wrote page after page of brief for Kennedy to read in the hearing. The entire purpose of the charade? – To try to create a pernicious perception. This CARD was to carry the day for the relativists and sully the reputation of a great man, because, to them, perception is all that matters. What Roberts’ brilliance and Specter’s fairness proved was that it is the TRUTH that matters!!!!

2) The endless yammering about the “failed” policy in Iraq. Now I hear that George McGovern and Bill Clinton have joined the chorus calling on America to desert democracy in Iraq.

3) The constantly inflated casualty numbers, the lies about dikes being blown up, the constantly casting of the “race card”, the endless blame game, of the hurricane disaster.

4) The endless griping about the costs for wars and disaster clean ups.

It would be nice to consider some facts for a change:

Consider the fact that both Iraq and Afghanistan have had more successful elections than Germany.

Realize the fact that leaving Saddam to grow in power and brashness would have inevitably brought upon the world far greater costs in lives and treasure. Saddam demonstrated his brashness and earned his destruction by ignoring multiple UN resolutions.

Understand that leaving Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama in ruins, will do this nation far more damage than spending enough money to revitalize and rebuild them. I would point out that the deficit spending of FDR together with the Marshal Plan and the rebuilding of Japan, at great expense to Americans; enunciated the second great economic boom of the twentieth century. By the way, the roaring fifties far surpassed the roaring twenties. I would add that Ronald Reagan’s deficit spending and tax cuts allow the US to spend the USSR out of existence without nuclear war, and lay the foundation for an economic prosperity that it took Bill Clinton seven years of mismanagement to deflate.

The truth is out there – but I fear it will have little effect on those to whom Perception Is Everything.

The Cannibals Are Choking

Last week a media personality, and enemy of President Bush, claimed that poor people in New Orleans were eating the bodies of the dead. This nameless blip on the media screen later retracted his pernicious and deliberate lie, but the damage had already been done. The flood of misinformation flows from the enemies within our country to buoy up and embolden our enemies without. Americans eat themselves up to the cheers and delight of Alkada murders, South American dictators, French snobs, and German politicians.

Now for some facts:

1. Thousands of Americans were NOT KILLED by the most devastating storm to hit our country in many years. Previous storms have been just as powerful but there was far less to devastate. The devastation was not what our enemies had hoped for, but that did not deter them. Without a real failure of America, its enemies set about sharking up corpses in order to dismember our county.

2. Realize that not one American has died of starvation or thirst due to Katrina. These important necessities were made available not only to the hundreds of thousands that followed the directions of their chosen leaders and fled the city to safety, but to the thousands who did not leave the city when they could have. Many still refuse to leave. They and are being fed and hydrated by their fellow citizens, at great cost and sacrifice to us all. America’s government and President, and the leaders of States and Cities, communities throughout this land, have and continue to do all that is possible to alleviate the danger and mitigate the suffering of our fellows smitten by an over whelming act of natural power. To seize upon that suffering; fabricating specifics which the facts do not support; as a way of increasing one’s own political power; to misrepresent the extent and causes of disaster in order to bludgeon ones opponents to get gain in the next election is to truly cannibalize the dead.

3. This hurricane and the devastation it has wrought is neither the result of the anger of Ala nor global warming. Storms like Katrina, and greater, have been boiling about the oceans of this planet since before our ancestors crawled out of them. When such storms come ashore were people are - they hurt those people. Environmental and Islamic fanatics have long abandoned reason; now they search for sustenance by feeding on the dead. To blame an act of nature on God or man is to devour the dead to strengthen one’s selfish ambition.

4. The resurrection of the areas affected by the storm and flood is progressing at a rate ahead of all predictions and at a level which promises to improve the standard of living for those affected. I listened to a German Reporter on the NPR gushing with pleasure that the “One Superpower” had been brought to its knees by the might of nature. What a pleasure to see this ghoul made a fool. America has not been brought to its knees; it stands taller than ever as we reach out to serve each other. Those who wishfully speak of the failure of America are devouring themselves. Trying to sharpen their teeth on the bones of our lost loved ones they are consumed by their own lies.

We have seen this all before. The cannibals counted the slaughter on 9/11 - predicting 50, 000 dead and America weakened beyond recovery; they choked on the truth. The cannibals predicted the utter defeat of the United States in Afghanistan, licking their chops as they predicted our nation would follow the USSR into the morgue of history; they choked on the truth. The feasters on human flesh predicted that 20,000 Americans would be killed in the first days of the charge up the Euphrates, and that that many more would fall before the walls of Baghdad; they choked on the truth. Still smelling blood the naysayer call for another Vietnam in Iraq. They will find the truth hard to swallow. And now, baying for blood, those who would devour their fellows for their own gain condemn the Bush administration and other selfless servants of our nation, who rushed into the storm to bring safety and support to our countrymen in danger. Of these cannibals I say, "Let them choke!!!"

Let's Play Nice Mr. Chocolate!

I spend all summer with bears – although I almost never see them. Each night before I retire to my room of heavy logs, three stories above the forest floor, I kick the crew out of the lodge and send them out to their tents and tepees. Then I make my daring dash to the generator shed. It’s at that time that I think most about bears. I know they are out there just beyond the circle of light, with slobbering jaws, big empty stomachs and long, long claws. I flip the breaker, and wait a couple of minuets for the oil to settle out of the engine. I pull the door shut – just in case. Then I switch off the generator and make a mad dash back to the safety of the kitchen door; the giant grizzly of my imagination lumbering behind me.

Now let’s talk about Timothy Treadwell. For thirteen years this “fellow” spent his summers sitting a few feet from some Alaskan grizzly bears. He claimed to be protecting them from poachers – though the park authorities who had charge of them say they were never in danger. And for five years he filmed the entire idiocy; a kind of Crocodile Hunter of the tundra. I have not seen the movie so I must quote from Louis Witting of the National Review Online’s article “Grizzly Love” Aug 24, 2005:

“He [Treadwell] crouches in the bushes as two behemoths tear each other apart, then creeps up on the loser, within easy range of a paw swat, and gives it his post-fight analysis. He crawls within whispering distance of the bears, calls them by their names – Mr. Chocolate, Aunt Melissa, Sergeant Brown – and tells them how much he loves them . . . At the end of his 13th summer among the bears, federal park rangers found the majority of Treadwell, and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard, in the gastrointestinal track of a male grizzly.”

Mr. Chocolate I believe – who had to be executed to retrieve the four garbage bags full of body parts.

I have four bears of my own, all dead. I love them – they make great decorations. Two are skulls; one at home the other on one of my classroom book shelves, and two are hides for hanging on the Lodge wall at camp. I also have a bear scalp, I souldn't forget that! I have eagerly contributed to the capture of two bears at Camp over the years. I enjoyed very much seeing them hauled off in traps made of chunks of culvert to parts of the forest where hunters would soon turn them into pot-roasts and wall hangings.

I spend a good deal of each summer keeping the bear attractants of 250 campers locked up in big steal boxes, and tamping bags of ash and rot into the bear resistant dumpsters a mile up the hill from my nice safe bed.

My point in all this – any eleven year old Boy Scout knows that bears are deadly dangerous – not cuddly friends for pet names and petting. Those who are dumb enough to make touchy-feely with grizzly bears will end up in garbage bags.

NOW THINK OF THIS – THERE ARE THOSE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO WOULD CONVINCE US THAT ISLAMIC FANATICISM IS SOMETHING WE COULD SNUGGL UP TO IF WE WOULD JUST BE NICE. GET OUT THE GARBAGE BAGS!!!!

Three Missiles That Missed

The radio reporter’s voice was tense with excitement. “Today,” he gushed, “the US Navy faced its most serious attack since the onset of hostilities. Three missiles were fired at American Navel vessels anchored in the Gulf of Aqaba.” Then in a recognizably disappointed undertone, “All missed!” He then went on to explain the gravity of this attack and described the horrific damage done to the empty warehouse and deserted street where the misguided missiles landed.

The inept, bumbling murders with which our military is now engaged are hardly worthy to be called enemy combatants. Their miserable attempt at war – while painful to those precious heroes who suffer - pale in comparison to the damage done to our countrymen by drunk drivers, slips down stairwells, or falls from kitchen stools. I don’t dismiss the danger of drunk drivers and celebrate the nationwide efforts to crack down on them this Labor Day holiday, but they hardly seem capable of bringing Western Civilization to its knees.

Consider these statistics from some wars in which we faced truly powerful opponents. At the battle of Verdun; the defense of the city lasted from February 21 – July of 1916. French casualties totaled about 315,000, while the Germans lost 280,000, killed or wounded. The city was all but destroyed. At the Battle of the Somme, between July and November of the same year; over 600,000 Germans, 400,000 Brits and 200,000 French became casualties. Total Casualties in WWI.

The Allies: Dead- Wounded

Belgium: 14,000 - 44,700
British Empire: 908,400 - 2,090,200
France: 1,384,000 - 4,266,000
Greece: 5,000 - 21,000
Italy: 650,000 - 947,000
Portugal: 7,200 - 13,800
Romania: 335,700 - 120,000
Russian: 1,700,000 - 4,950,000
Serbia and Montenegro: 48,000 - 143,000
United States: 116,516 - 234,428

The Central Powers

Austria-Hungary: 1,200,000 - 3,620,000
Bulgaria: 87,000 - 152,400
Germany: 1,773,000 - 4,216,000
Ottoman Empire: 325,000 - 400,000

Total Casualties in WWII

The Allies: Dead - Wounded

Australia: 23,365 - 39,803
Belgium: 7,760 - 14,500
Canada: 37,476 - 53,174
China: 2,200,000 - 1,762,000
France: 210,671 - 390,000
Great Britain: 329,208 - 348,403
Poland: 320,000 - 530,000
Soviet Union: 7,500,000 - 5,000,000
United States: 405,399 - 671,278

The Axis

Austria: 380,000 - 350,117
Bulgaria: 10,000 - 21,878
Finland: 82,000 - 50,000
Germany: 3,500,000 - 7,250,000
Hungary: 140,000 - 89,313
Italy: 77,494 - 120,000
Japan: 1,219,000 - 295,247
Romania: 300,000 - ?

These figures are all military casualties and are from The World Book Encyclopedia 1994. The encyclopedia also sites the following on Civilian casualties: “No one knows how many civilians died as a direct result of World War II. Bombing raids destroyed many of the records needed to estimate those deaths. In addition, millions of people died in fires, of diseases, and of other causes after such essential services as fire fighting and health care broke down in war-torn areas. The Soviet Union and China suffered the highest toll of civilian deaths during World War II. About 19 million Soviet civilians and as many as 10 million Chinese civilians died.”

On the first two days of the Normandy invasion there were 10,360 allied casualties, that’s 216 per hour. Of the 15, 500 American Airborne troopers whose sacrifice made the success of D-day possible 6,000 – that’s more than one in three – were killed or seriously wounded. On February 19th 1945, 250,000 American troops on 900 ships attacked the 23,000 Japanese defenders of Iwo Jima By the end of March 5,391 American Marines were dead and 17,400 were wounded. Only 216 of the Japanese survived the battle. In the battle for the tiny island of Okinawa, between April 1st and June 21st, 1945, kamikaze suicide bombers sank 30 ships and seriously damaged 350 others. By the end of the battle for Okinawa, 12,520 American troops had been killed 37,000 wounded and 110,000 Japanese were dead.

The World Book goes on to say that, “aerial bombing during WW II rained destruction on civilian as well as military targets. Many cities lay in ruins by the end of the war, especially in Germany and Japan. Bombs wrecked houses, factories, and transportation and communication systems. Land battles also spread destruction over vast areas. After the war, millions of starving and homeless people wandered among the ruins of Europe and Asia.” In other words, entire continents were laid waste by the monsters we fought and beat in WWII.

[I could point out that all this destruction was repaired by the generosity of the American People, but that should go without saying!]

My point - The barbarians we are now combating are in no way comparable to the giants we have met and matched in the past. This “war on terror”, while tragic, does not compare to the earth shaking conflicts of our father’s. Bin Laden’s band is a miserable little spider, poisonous perhaps – but no Shelob. The only significance they have has been given them by America’s enemies within; media types seeking bygone “glory” and politicians trying to derail America’s rediscovery of values so they can regain their control over the electorate. The terrorists can’t hit their targets – their missiles go astray and it’s up to the NPR to give them virulence. Without the constant scream of the press these Al-quida insects would remain less significant than so many rickety stepping stools.

Thank You Justin

If you have not seen the stars in Lake of the Woods it will be hard for you to imagine how incredibly beautiful it is to be at the campfire bowl at my camp on a clear and moonless night. No wind, the lake turns from gold to black glass. Three weeks ago I was there. Beyond the glowing embers of the fading fires, two skies appeared; one above and one below, with Milky Way and friendly summer constellations, and all the stars I know. As the summer of 2005 wound down, I sat on the rocks and thought. My friends sang softly as the last scouts walked down the honor trail toward their tents in the pitch black forest, under hill. I had just watched a flag retired; listened as a perfect Boy Scout recited “The Ragged Old Flag” by Johnny Cash. Then I listened as my sweet friend, so young to be so wise, talked about the rights and privileges, the obligations and responsibilities of being an American. We had sung the national anthem “one last time to that ragged old flag”; the big guns had boomed and echoed. Softly, Taps came back to the bugler across the lower sky. In the tower of flame the scouts had blinked back tears.

I had been thinking about the wonder of being an American, of belonging to a nation so wise and wonderful that it set aside vast tracts of wilderness to be the playgrounds of generations yet unborn. I was in wonder of its citizens, men and women I knew, who with incredible goodness “give up a week of vacation away from their families” to teach boys to love God’s creations as He made them. I thought of the friendship that makes camp worth attending, life worth living. I considered all my great staff members, this year, and years gone past, stretching back to when I was a little boy, and there was a different war. I was filled with gratitude for the parents that wait at home with clean beds and good food and great dreams for their sons. This night I was thinking of the friends that would be leaving the next day. CIT’s back home after weeks of service, a great friend from your youth, now a BYU professor, who had selflessly served for weeks on end as a Camp Commissioner; parking cars and fixing KYBOs and planning great adventures of little boys. That night we had with us the parents of a past staff member. They had spent all the hours of their week’s visit rebuilding our broken fire place and shoring up the lodge’s battered rails against the winter snow. I tried to craft words to thank these people; something to say as we stood arm in arm between the fires and underneath the lights of heaven. Then I remembered Justin. It was Justin’s parents who had built the fireplace and rail. For five years Justin had been one of my guys. He had led scouts across that desert island and through forest cathedrals decorated beyond the dreams of Michelangelo. And then I recollected that in a month Justin would be in Iraq, a US Marine at war!

How do you thank people for service done with love and joy? What do you say to a mother who sends her son to war? There, surrounded by my friends and precious family, there safe and free in a world of beauty beyond the dreams of kings; beauty that belongs to you and me, I could only think to say this: “To you dear parents of my dear friend, to my dear friend, who for a year has learned to carry his SAW rifle and his 120 lbs of battle gear, THANK YOU!” To my new friends, realize that all this beauty, this friendship, this joy of service, the chance to teach the young and support the old, this beautiful wilderness we revere, this beautiful camp we love; would be absolutely nothing if we did not have our freedom. Jesus has said, “Greater love has no man than this - that he lays down his life for his friend.” But what everlasting charity must motivate the heart of a Hero that he would risk, even give his life, for those he does not know. 1800+ American Heroes and many more Iraqi ones have died so that we, who love the woods and mountains, the forest and the sea, and each other, can share in their wonder and be free.

Mother Inferior

"How about that woman in Texas?" my colleague demanded Tuesday morning. I have just returned from over two months in the wilderness were I had barely heard a rumor of the attacks by terrorists murderers on our British Allies and nothing of the bitter squabbles of political showmanship and fame grabbing grandstanding by those who exploit tragedy for power.
"I don't know anything about a woman in Texas," I replied.
"Well, she's sure embarrassing YOUR President!" he mocked.

Now I have heard something of the "woman from Texas". Her exploitation of her own son's death made me think of Meda's reply to Jason when he asked for the bodies of his murdered sons. "No," she says, "you would trade even their broken bodies for power, buy advantage with their little corpses."

I suppose it was inevitable that, as precious lives are spent in defense of our nation and the world, there would come a "Merchant in bones" to sell out the cause for which our heroes paid the ultimate price in order to buy the adulation of the mob.

How the ghouls that exploit the dead must delight to be joined in their repast by this made for media monster mother. How those who murdered her son must triumph in their victory over her spirit and the circus-like frenzy of the media coverage her betrayal of his sacrifice provides their propaganda machine.

It is a bitter irony that the same politicians that define and defend a "mothers right to kill" her own children, seek to promote and exploit this woman's misguided bitterness over her child's death. Isn't it amazing that the same people that will celebrate the deaths of the million children to be butchered in the abortion factories of America this year as an immutable right of a woman's free choice, mock the choice of a hero to die in defense of freedom?

Four Enemies for the Price of One

In the spring of 1971 I found myself at the Naval Training Center in San Diego. I was there for the one week of my military carrier, as the Commander of the NJROT unit from Box Elder High School. My senior year had been an exciting time for me. My dreams of military glory seemed to all be coming true – and now I had a week of training, leading, and fantasizing about a future were I would command "my" ships and save the world from Communism. It had been a year of turmoil as well. That Fall someone had thrown a gallon cider jug full of gasoline through the window of our ROTC building and burned it down. Then there was the May Lie massacre to deal with. For a supporter of the war in Viet Nam, especially one with aspirations of military glory, the humiliation Cowley and crew had brought on our nation was heart breaking. It was also dangerous. There were many in the “pro war” wing of American Politics who supported these murders – but my instructors in our NJROTC program had taught us the truth. At the end of the week in at the Training Center I found myself in an interview with the Base Commander and two other officers. I had been nominated as the outstanding cadet. The last question of the interview was, “What do you think about what happened at May Lie?” I knew the answer. “We are fighting Communism in Vietnam because Communists mass murder defenseless people to force their will upon the world; it is unjust to do the thing we have gone to stop." Achilles would agree! So did the review board. I was awarded the Top Cadet banner that week. In the months and years that followed, John Kerry and others enemies of the United States, used the atrocities at May Lie to give credibility to their fabrications against the entire US led efforts to maintain the freedom of South East Asia. In the end the credibility Cowley gave to Kerry and his ilk legitimized the disaster that was America's retreat from Vietnam.

In America’s “Global War on Terror” and particularly the battle being waged in Iraq, I see the defenders of the Right facing AT LEAST FOUR ENEMIES:

Enemy One: The Terrorists. We must never forget that we are fighting a determined enemy who is bent on our destruction and the total subjugation of humanity to its beliefs. Bin Laden and his cronies have stated their objectives, made their claims, and mapped out their plan of attack. Their “victory” leads directly over the lives and rights of the American people; their dream of power consumes the world. The naive fantasy held by the appeasers and pacifists – that, to use Gollum’s words from the Lord of the Ring, “We be nice to them if they be nice to us,” was and is a lie!

Enemy Two: Those in the American military and its “defense” infrastructure, (yes, our own soldiers and spies), who – like Lt. Cowley – commit atrocities which seem to validate the accusations of Bin Laden, Amnesty International, the ACLU, and News Week. If our own warriors commit the atrocities we are determined to prevent, the justice of our cause can be questioned by those who want that cause to fail. Those "sex perverts" that took pornography photos of defenseless, though criminal, detainees at Abu Grab are partially responsible for the death and suffering that continues in Iraq and the rest of the world. They have given a weapon into the hands of Islamic Terror as surly as those who supply the terrorists with explosives, guns, and bullets.

Enemy Three: The Pacifist and Appeasers. Those who, defended by the “Blanket of Freedom” our heroes provide, turn their hate to the propagation of lies and half truths that tear down and demoralize our efforts at self defense. The truth, including the painful revelations about “Enemy Two” above, should be presented; but to present the traitors at Abu Grab as if they were representative of America or its military is to carry water for Enemy One.

Enemy Four: The ignorant and uninformed. Those in America who are more interested in the “American Idol” TV show than in the Ideal of America. To be driven to and fro by the deceits and half truths of Enemy Three, the people of America must be so ill informed and so lacking in understanding of the nature of this conflict that they can be cowed by Enemy One, shamed by Enemy Two, and misled by Enemy Three. When the American people make the effort to know the truth, they will unite in the just defense of freedom and the rights of all men. If there is dangerous weakness in ignorance; there is power in knowledge of truth.

I have not attempted a complete catalog of examples or justifications for the claims I have made above. I invite all to discussion and discovery. History is full of examples of all the enemies above, of their defeat by great and just forces, and of their triumph over equally just causes that could not marshal the strength to defy them. May our nation be the former and not the latter.

Summer is upon us. In two weeks I will be leaving computer terminals and the internet links behind for over two months. I will also be away for newspapers, radios, and televisions. The world will go on without me, but I like to think that I will be doing my part to make it better. I am grateful that such places as the one to which I am going can still be found. I am humbled by the fact that for nine weeks I will be blessed to spend 24/7 in a place of peace and bliss; Heaven with challenges. My thoughts and prayers will always be with those who defend our precious peace and freedom. As I enjoy the privileges that my heroes purchase at such great cost, I will do my best to give to those I serve the joy that America offers to the world. See you in September!

As always,

Lysis