[Wall Street Journal] The Paul campaign has also drawn support from antigovernment fringe groups and 9/11 conspiracy theorists. Since mid-September, a large "Ron Paul for President" banner has flashed at the bottom of white-supremacist Internet forum Stormfront.org. "Really, we haven't seen a candidate like Ron Paul in some time. The closest would have been Pat Buchanan" in 2000, says Don Black of West Palm Beach, Fla., the group's founder and a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, who donated $500 to Mr. Paul's campaign.

The Paul campaign has a hands-off approach when it comes to supporters' activities and political backgrounds. While grateful for the money, aides insist they aren't responsible for what supporters do online. "We don't know who a lot of these people are," says Jesse Benton, a campaign spokesman.

Mr. Benton declined to make Dr. Paul available to comment. "Sometimes, Ron Paul supporters get a little overpassionate and maybe a little more shrill than what some might like," Mr. Benton says. "For the most part, our supporters are polite and mannerly." He has his own conspiracy theory: Some other candidates' supporters may be masquerading as Ron Paul supporters to hurt his campaign.
That's an interesting theory. Here's another: Neo-Nazis, 9-11 "Truthers" and other such nutball fanatics are indeed supporting Ron Paul.

There's a lot of things I like about libertarians, and at a different time I might be inclined to vote for one, but I've got a real problem with the Paul campaign legitimately deriding the expansion of pork barrel politics while accepting money from anyone - and clearly ANYONE. That's the epitome of hypocrisy, and totally irresponsible.

Those who live in glass houses...

Labels: 9-11, antiwar loonies, Moonbats, Ron Paul

At first glance, it's shocking that Columbia University is going to allow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at their campus -- thus, Columbia U will give the Iranian president speech and assembly freedoms he denies to his own people on a daily basis.

At second glance, however, we shouldn't be surprised that academics and officials at our one of our nation's top universities is so hypocritically backwards in their priorities, as noted by Bill Kristol:

As Columbia welcomes Ahmadinejad to campus, Columbia students who want to serve their country cannot enroll in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) at Columbia. Columbia students who want to enroll in ROTC must travel to other universities to fulfill their obligations. ROTC has been banned from the Columbia campus since 1969. In 2003, a majority of polled Columbia students supported reinstating ROTC on campus. But in 2005, when the Columbia faculty senate debated the issue, President Bollinger joined the opponents in defeating the effort to invite ROTC back on campus.

A perfect synecdoche for too much of American higher education: they are friendlier to Ahmadinejad than to the U.S. military.

Labels: academic bias, antiwar loonies, Iran, Moonbats

Once more, a Western liberal is blinded by their concepts of diversity and multiculturalism and thus assume that all cultures are motivated by the same rewards...

ATLANTA (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday that it was almost inconceivable that Iran would "commit suicide" by launching missiles at Israel.
Speaking at Emory University, Carter, who brokered the 1979 Camp David peace accord between Israel and Egypt, said Israel's superior military power and distance from Iran likely are enough to discourage an actual attack.

"Iran is quite distant from Israel," said Carter, 83. "I think it would be almost inconceivable that Iran would commit suicide by launching one or two missiles of any kind against the nation of Israel."
Carter speaks of "suicide" as though Islamic fundamentalists consider it a bad thing. But this is horribly basic misunderstanding of Islamic fundamentalists -- the very opposite is true!

For the Islamic radical there is no greater glory then giving one's life to destroy one's enemy. That which Carter terms "suicide" the Islamic fundamentalist calls "shaheed." Shaheed for the individual means personal glory in heaven, with 72 virgins and the gift of salvation for up to 70 family members (see the Shoebat quote below).

The belief of martyrdom through suicide killings is both powerful and deep, taught to the offspring when they are very young. Islamic fundamentalist rulers champion it, the parents and educators teach it, the television and media constantly propagate it.

Even if just one percent of one billion muslims are fundamentalists, and the remaining 99 percent moderate, you're still talking about 10 million Islamic radicals who believe in suicide-murder as a means to acheive eternal paradise -- and just around 25 of them killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11 using ingeniuity and deception as their weapons. Imagine what they will accomplish should they attain more tangible weapons, like nuclear power.

So it matters not that many or even most of the 71 million persons in Iran are not true believers. It only matters that the ones in charge - 12 mullahs lead by the Ayatollah, and a hand-picked "president" with military control - are.

Labels: antiwar loonies, Delusional Democrats, Iran, Islamic extremism, Israel, Moonbats, proliferation

And the emmy for most out of touch with reality goes to.... Sally Field!

[MRC] Using her Emmy acceptance comments on stage to praise mothers, Sally Field turned political Sunday night as she declared: "Let's face it, if the mothers ruled the world, there would be no Goddamned wars in the first place."
Oh, Reaaaally?



Well, there are countless mothers of suicide bombers whom disprove Field's naive theory. In fact, the culture of Islamic extremism fosters the concept that children are procreated especially for martyrdom.

Just a few examples:

A martyr is a sacrificial lamb, a sacrifice to obtain salvation, which is evident from the cultural term given to terrorists - Fida'e, which literally means 'the sacrifice.' The Islamic argument against blood atonement is somewhat contradicted when it comes to the concept of martyrdom in Islam. Blood atonement is hardly absent in Islam. In fact, blood atonement makes it possible to intercede on the behalf of others, since the Shaheed [suicide bomber] takes on Christ-like abilities, interceding for seventy members of his or her family, who would otherwise have entered hell's fire. So, in order to alleviate the suffering in hell, at least one family member is encouraged to be given as a sacrifice."
-- Walid Shoebat, author of Why We Want To Kill You: The Jihadist Mindset and How to Defeat it.

A new online magazine published by the 'Women's Information Office on the Arabian Peninsula' aims to teach women how to contribute to jihad, or holy war. "Our main mission: push our children to the battlefield, like Al-Khansaa," declares Umm Raad al-Tamimi in the magazine. The monthly publication champions the ideology of Al Qaeda terrorist chief Osama bin Laden: "Drive infidels from the Arabian Peninsula," or Saudi Arabia.
-- Agence France-Presse, Sep 4, 2004

"The mother of the Palestinian suicide bomber who blew himself up in Eilat three days ago also told Agence France-Presse that she was happy her son was martyred. She revealed that she had said goodbye [to him] before he left for his mission and had wished him success, and that she was happy that 'God had heard her prayers.'"
-- Al-Hayat, February 1, 2007

The mother of the first female Palestinian suicide bomber has said she is proud of her daughter and hopes more women will follow her example. ... Body parts found at the scene suggested that an attack on Sunday, which killed an 81-year-old Israeli man and left more than 100 injured, was the first of its kind by a woman. ... "She was happy when martyrdom attacks were carried out against the Israelis and told me she wished she would one day carry out such an attack," another relative, Manal Shaheen, said.

-- BBC, Female bomber's mother speaks out, 30 January, 2002

"Allah be praised, I am a Muslim and I believe in Jihad. Jihad is one of the elements of the faith and this is what encouraged me to sacrifice Muhammad in Jihad for the sake of Allah. My son was not destroyed, he is not dead; he is living a happier life than I. Had my thoughts been limited to this world, I would not sacrifice Muhammad. I am a compassionate mother to my children, and they are compassionate towards me and take care of me. Because I love my son, I encouraged him to die a martyr's death for the sake of Allah… Jihad is a religious obligation incumbent upon us, and we must carry it out. I sacrificed Muhammad as part of my obligation."
-- Umm Nidal, mother of suicide bomber Muhammad Farhat, in an interview with Dream 2 TV (Egypt), December 21, 2005

"I feel the martyr is lucky because the angels usher him to his wedding in heaven. I feel the earth moves under the occupiers' feet… There is no doubt that a child [martyr] suggests that the new generation will carry on the mission with determination. The younger the martyr - the greater and the more I respect him… They [mothers of martyrs] willingly sacrifice their offspring for the sake of freedom. It is a great display of the power of belief. The mother is participating in the great reward of the Jihad to liberate Al-Aqsa… I talked to a young man… [who] said: '… I want to marry the black-eyed [beautiful] women of heaven.' The next day he became a martyr. I am sure his mother was filled with joy about his heavenly marriage. Such a son must have such a mother."
-- Mufti Sheikh Ikrimeh Sabri, Al-Ahram Al-Arabi (Egypt), October 28, 2000

In an interview with Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nuzhah Ziyadeh, also known as Umm Souheil, a 55-year-old woman from the Jebaliya refugee camp who had "sacrificed two of her sons as Shahids for the sake of Allah," expressed "pride and a sense of honor that Allah had honored her with the martyrdom of her two sons Souheil and Muhammad, and made their wish come true." The paper called Umm Souheil " Al-Khansaa" – referring to the mother of Shahids in Islamic history. -- Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), June 7, 2003

The Palestinians are fighting against the Zionists with a lethal weapon - the weapon of the multi-birthing woman. If they kill ["The Engineer" Yahyah] 'Ayyash, or if a Mujaheed is Martyred, the wombs of the women pushed, push, and will continue to push thousands Ayyash's of Mujahideen who suckle with their mothers' milk, the education for Jihad... Ah, If only [former Israeli PM Ariel] Sharon and his angels of destruction knew that the mother of a Shahid [suicide bomber] receives the news of her son's Martyrdom with cries of joy... One of them, so it was reported, took an oath to send the four sons she had left to the battlefield so they would gain Martyrdom as well, just like their brother. We wish that just like the Zionist airports were filled with those vagabond homosexuals on their way in, they will be filled once again on their way out, without anyone feeling sorry for them..."
-- Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), June 5, 2001.

A large number of summer camps were named after Shahids [suicide bombers], without distinction between whether they were involved in attacks in the Palestinian territories or carried out suicide bombings within the Green Line [Israel]. The following is a partial roundup of some camps that were mentioned in the Palestinian media:

Two summer camps were named after the first female suicide bomber Wafaa Idris, in Qalqiliya and in the Al-Am'ari refugee camp; A summer camp in eastern Gaza, organized by the Fatah Shabiba, was named after female suicide bomber Ayat Al-Akhras ; A summer camp was named after commander of Fatah's military wing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Tulkarem, Ra'id Karmi; A summer camp in Gaza was named after Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Commander in Gaza, Jihad Al-'Amarin; A summer camp was named after the Shahid Mahmoud Al-Jamasi, who blew up an IDF boat in Gaza; A summer camp in the town of 'Azoun in the Qalqiliya district, organized by the National Guidance Administration and named after the Shahid Muhammad Salim, an activist in the Hamas military wing Iz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades who was killed while trying to blow up a tank; A boys' summer camp in Dir Ballah named after Shahids; A boys' summer camp named after "the Shahids of Surif"; The "Loyalty to the Blood of the Martyrs" summer camp; The "Loyalty and Love for Chairman Yasser Arafat" summer camp, which this year was named after Shahids from the Rafah district; The "Independence and [Refugee] Return" summer camp in Nablus; At an Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades summer camp in the Hebron district, the children held a closing ceremony which included a play called "The Shahid's Wedding" – that is, his wedding in Paradise to the 72 black-eyed virgins; The Charity Organization for Aid to Orphans and the Needy in Jericho, which is close to the Hamas movement, concluded its summer camps with an exhibit of handicrafts. The 230 children participating in these camps were divided into groups with names that have Islamic connotations. Some of the names were: Al-Khansaa, Al-Tayyar, and Paradise.
-- Middle East Media Research Institute special report.

Labels: antiwar loonies, Delusional Democrats, Hollywood bias, Islamic extremism, Moonbats, why they hate us

Columnist Mark Steyn reflects on the recent morally equivilant Kumbayah approach to counter-terrorism by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. On the sixth anniversary of 9-11, Patrick told a crowd that the attacks were "a failure of human beings to understand each other, to learn to love each other." Pass the sick bag.

We should beware anyone who seeks to explain 9/11 by using the words "each other": They posit a grubby equivalence between the perpetrator and the victim – that the "failure to understand" derives from the culpability of both parties. The 9/11 killers were treated very well in the United States: They were ushered into the country on the high-speed visa express program the State Department felt was appropriate for young Saudi males. They were treated cordially everywhere they went. The lap-dancers at the clubs they frequented in the weeks before the Big Day gave them a good time – or good enough, considering what lousy tippers they were. Sept. 11 didn't happen because we were insufficient in our love to Mohamed Atta.

This isn't a theoretical proposition. At some point in the future, some of us will find ourselves on a flight with a chap like Richard Reid, the thwarted shoe-bomber. On that day we'd better hope the guy sitting next to him isn't Gov. Patrick, who sees him bending down to light his sock and responds with a chorus of "All You Need Is Love," but a fellow who "understands" enough to wallop the bejesus out of him before he can strike the match. It was the failure of one group of human beings to understand that the second group of human beings was determined to kill them that led the crew and passengers of those Boston flights to stick with the obsolescent 1970s hijack procedures until it was too late.

Labels: 9-11, antiwar loonies, Delusional Democrats, Islamic extremism, Moonbats, terrorism, war on terror

If I had said in late 2001, with bodies still being pulled from the wreckage, anthrax flying through the mail, pandemonium reigning at the airports, and bombs falling on Kabul, that by '07 leading Democrats [John Edwards] would be ridiculing the idea of the war on terror as a bumper sticker, I'd have been thought mad. If I'd predicted that a third of Democrats would be telling pollsters that Bush knew in advance about 9/11, and that the eleventh of September would become an innocuous date for parental get-togethers to talk about potty-training strategies and phonics for preschoolers, people would have thought I was crazy.

... There are a lot of reasons why the emotional half-life of 9/11 has been so short, many of them good, or at least understandable. We haven't been (successfully) attacked at home since 9/11, for example. But it's important to remember that from the outset, the media took it as their sworn duty to keep Americans from getting too riled up about 9/11. I wrote a column about it back in March of 2002. Back then the news networks especially saw it as imperative that we not let our outrage get out of hand. I can understand the sentiment, but it's worth noting that such sentiments vanished entirely during hurricane Katrina. After 9/11, the press withheld objectively accurate and factual images from the public, lest the rubes get too riled up. After Katrina, the press endlessly recycled inaccurate and exaggerated information in order to keep everyone upset. The difference speaks volumes.
-- Jonah Goldberg, NRO

Labels: 9-11, antiwar loonies, media bias, Moonbats

The amount of ignorance and stupidity in Hollywood is staggering when one considers how the industries of media and entertainment so often promote celebrities as thoughtful and intelligent.

The latest example of this comes from (what else) the HBO show "Real Time with Bill Maher."

This week it was "actor/activist" Mos Def promoting 9-11 conspiracy theories, Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories and, yes, even moon landing conspiracy theories.

MOS DEF: When the Revolutionary War was going on, George Washington and all them dudes was terrorists as far as the Queen was concerned. [The Queen? A King ruled Great Britain at that time.]

DEF: I don't believe it was bin Laden today, I don't believe it was never him. I think it's some dude just standing, I don't even, I can't even believe. I don't even, I'm sorry, I'm from the projects, I know danger. I don't feel no danger from that shit, those mother-fuckers.

BILL MAHER: But you don't think bin Laden knocked down the Word Trade Center?

DEF: Absolutely not.

MAHER: Come on.

DEF: I don't. I don't. You know what, I don't.

MAHER: That's where you lose me, my friend, and I'm so on your side, but you know what.

DEF: In any barbershop I am so not alone, I'm so not alone.

MAHER: That doesn't mean you're right.

DEF: That don't mean it is not valid neither. Highly-educated people in all areas of science have spoken on the fishiness around the whole 9/11 theory. It's like the magic-bullet and all that shit.

MAHER: Then what happened?

DEF: I don't believe these mother-fuckers have been to the moon either, but that's just me.
What an embarrassment.

I suppose it's almost not worth the effort to punch holes in Mr. Def's arguments, but I'll do it anyway.

Idiocy 1: 9/11 not Bin Laden.

Look, even Bin Laden says Bin Laden did it. Popular Mechanics wrote an entire book debunking 9-11 conspiracy theories. Theories, by the way, of which not a single expert in aviation, engineering or building construction is ever offered. It's always some damned Humanities professor, juvenile college kids (like the creators of Loose Change) or the like offering their crackpot expertise. Anyway, read the book.

Idiocy 2: The Brits considered George Washington a terrorist.

Putting aside that there wasn't a queen of England at that time this is just an ignorant misunderstanding and grouping of all revolutionary characters. It's true that the British considered some American revolutionaries as criminals. But Washington was a respected general by both sides. He was a former officer in the British military and renowned hero for fighting the French during the French & Indian war. King George was amazed that the leader of any country would so willingly give up their power. Upon Washington's retirement from politics after two terms as president George stated "if Washington went back to his farm after his public career he would be the greatest character of the age."

Idiocy 3: Magic bullet theory?

There is no magic bullet theory, as the recent documentary "The Kennedy Assassination - Beyond Conspiracy" shows (often replayed on Discovery and History channels). In short, conspiracy theorists neglect to mention that Kennedy and Connally were sitting at different heights. Their analysis always assumes they were at the same heights, which is how they conclude the crazy zigs and zags of the bullet. Meanwhile Vincent Bugliosi (hardly a conservative) has just produced a 1600-page volume debunking the JFK conspiracy theories.

Perhaps when Mr. Def next visits a book store he can pick it up, along with a biography on Washington or a the Revolutionary War.

Idiocy 4: No moon landing.

Too stupid a conspiracy to comment further.

Labels: antiwar loonies, Hollywood bias, Moonbats

Great take on the latest Bin Laden rant by the Brookings Institute and New York Times' David Brooks.

Labels: al qaeda, antiwar loonies, bin Laden, Moonbats

To repeat: In the Internet/Dan Rathergate era, you'd think that a magazine formerly discredited by the Stephen Glass fiasco would never again allow themselves to be duped by fictional reporting.

Think again:

Washington Post - New Republic Iraq Stories Questioned

New York Times - Army Says Soldier's Articles for Magazine Were False

Associated Press - Army Concludes Baghdad Diarist Accounts Untrue

USA Today - Military: Soldier-essayist's allegations of misconduct in Iraq 'are false'

"The investigation is complete and the allegations from PVT Beauchamp are false," Maj. Steven Lamb, a spokesman for Multi National Division-Baghdad, says in an e-mail to On Deadline [USA Today blog].
Indeed!

It gets worse for The New Republic. Apparently these guys are flat out liars whose audacity in fabrication is only matched by their commitment to the half-truth.

According to Bob Owens, via this Weekly Standard report, the anonymous spokesperson of the manufacturer of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle System - whom TNR quoted as confirming that a Bradley could be driven in a manner in which Private Beauchamp described - has today informed the public that his statements to TNR actually contradicted Beauchamp's story!

The spokesman - Doug Coffey, head of Communications, Land & Armaments, for BAE Systems - instead reported what other experts have previously stated:

I can't pretend to know what may or may not have happened in Iraq but the impression the writer leaves is that a "driver" can go on joy rides with a 35 ton vehicle at will. The vehicle has a crew and a commander of the vehicle who is in charge. In order for the scenario described to have taken place, there would have to have been collaboration by the entire crew.

The driver's vision, even if sitting in an open hatch is severely restricted along the sides. He sits forward on the left side of the vehicle. His vision is significantly impaired along the right side of the vehicle which makes the account to "suddenly swerve to the right" and actually catch an animal suspect. If you were to attempt the same feat in your car, it would be very difficult and you have the benefit of side mirrors.

Anyone familiar with tracked vehicles knows that turning sharply requires the road wheels on the side of the turn to either stop or reverse as the road wheels on the opposite side accelerates. What may not be obvious is that the track once on the ground, doesn't move. The road wheels roll across it but the track itself is stationary until it is pushed forward by the road wheels.

The width of the track makes it highly unlikely that running over a dog would leave two intact parts. One half of the dog would have to be completely crushed.

It also seems suspicious that a driver could go on repeated joy rides or purposefully run into things. Less a risk to the track though that is certainly possible but there is sensitive equipment on the top of the vehicle, antennas, sights, TOW missile launcher, commander and if it was a newer vehicle, the commander's independent viewer, not to mention the main gun. Strange things are known to happen in a combat environment but I can't imagine that the vehicle commander or the unit commander would tolerate repeated misuse of the vehicle, especially any action that could damage its ability to engage.
As the Weekly Standard best summed up: "Yet the New Republic did not see fit to print Coffey's concerns. In fact, they didn't even see fit to show Coffey the original article."

This isn't shoddy journalism. It's deceptive. One would hope TNR subscriptions are being cancelled tonight.

Labels: antiwar loonies, Beauchamp, Journalism scandals, media bias, Moonbats

Back in the 1980s Secretary of Labor Ray Donovan, upon his acquittal of corruption charges, famously uttered, "Where do I go to get my reputation back?"

No doubt Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt feels the same:

[AFP] Murder charges against a US Marine accused of killing three Iraqi civilians during an alleged massacre in Haditha two years ago have been dropped, the military said on Thursday.
A statement released by the Marines at their Camp Pendleton base in southern California revealed that three charges of unpremeditated murder against Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt had been withdrawn.

The decision was announced in a written ruling from the commander Lieutenant General James Mattis and followed a recommendation from an investigator last month that the charges should be dropped.

"An independent Article 32 investigating officer has considered all the facts and determined that the evidence does not support a referral to court-martial for Lance Corporal Sharratt," Mattis wrote.

"Based on my review of all the evidence in this case and considering the recommendation of the Article 32 officer, I have dismissed the charges."

Sharratt was accused of shooting three Iraqi men execution-style in what prosecutors alleged was part of a rampage that left 24 civilians dead following the death of a Marine in a roadside bomb in November 2005.

Sharratt said the men were shot at close quarters as Marines cleared a house where insurgents were believed to be operating.

In a statement recommending the charges be dropped released last month, investigator Lieutenant Colonel Paul Ware said the prosecution charges were "unsupported by the independent evidence."

"To believe the government version of facts is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary," Ware added.

The Haditha killings are the most serious allegations of war crimes against US soldiers in Iraq.

Eight Marines were initially charged in connection with the case -- four with murder and four officers with failing to properly investigate the incident.

Sharratt is the second Marine to have murder charges dropped after allegations against Sergeant Sanick DeLa Cruz were withdrawn in April.
As many conservative voices have noted, Sharratt and his fellow soldiers had previously been frequently cited by antiwar critics such as Rep. John Murtha (D, PN) to justify their criticisms of the War in Iraq and the military in general.

The accusations hit prime time and page one. Where shall the retractions fall, if at all?

Pathetic.

I'll take this moment to plug the book of Lt. Ilario Pantano, Warlord. It's an account of his own battle to clear his name after falsely accused of atrocities in Iraq.

If only the Left spend as much time trying to destroy the real enemy instead of our soldiers.

Labels: antiwar loonies, capitulation, Iraq, Moonbats, quitters

I sent the following letter to National Review Online today. Just thought it was an interesting interview. This guy's analysis is spot on.

James Miller's interview with author James Piereson ("Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism") was fascinating.

I was struck with Piereson's answer to Miller's inquiry to compare the Lincoln and JFK assassinations.

Piereson responded, "Liberals at the time [of JFK's assassination] were convinced that the nation was threatened more by right-wing radicals like Sen. McCarthy or fundamentalist preachers than by Communists. Given their assumptions, they had great difficulty assimilating the fact that JFK was shot by a Communist — for this was exactly the kind of thing that the hated Sen. McCarthy had been warning against."

Now, replace the words "Communists" with "Islamic extremists," "Sen. McCarthy" with "Neo-Cons," and "JFK was shot by" with "September 11 was performed by," and one realizes that the same persons who couldn't come to grip with reality in 1963 likewise cannot do so today!

Labels: 9-11, JFK Assassination, Moonbats