I give a rousing Hear! Hear! to Porphy's post, regarding this Kerry statement:
And we were misled in very specific terms about the evidence that we were showed within those briefings to the Congress of the United States.
That bugged me when he said it. More vague claims of dishonesty on the part of the President and/or senior government officials.
Oh, really, Mr. Kerry? And exactly which "very specific terms" would those be?
I begin to believe that you make a habit of exaggerating, Sir. Considerably. And if you cannot speak the truth in matters of such import, in time of war, why would we trust you to mean what you say when you take the oath of office?
It's a rhetorical question, of course.
And I don't mean ashamed about the eleventy-million things you should be ashemd of.
I mean the fact that Howard Dean, and now John Kerry, are the best you can do for a candidate for President of the United States.
This is the best you can do?
Pathetic.
And in your heart of hearts, you know it's pathetic.
I came across a new writer today that I found very exciting.
He goes by the pseudonym (I assume) of Spengler, and writes pieces for the Asia Times. This has been going on for several years, so I'm late to the party.
It's some of the most stimulating stuff I've read in a while. It's the same flavor of reaction I had to James Burke's "Connections" when it first came out. Like Burke, Spengler manages to introduce a few facts I didn't know, and a whole lot of context and connections I didn't know, and the result is a whole new way of looking at history, both past and present. But in contrast to Burke, Spengler's topics are more in the line of history and culture, all related back to the present and the war of civilizations that is beginning.
Highly Recommended.
Just read it all.
Best of Spengler at the Asia Times.
I started this blog to talk about things I thought were Important. Not that my writings on them were important, just that these were things I felt really strongly about. "It was in 'im, and it got to come out!"
But I've found I can't write about that all the time. I can't even pay attention to it all the time. I get too wrapped up in it, and then it starts to have negative impacts on my life.
This is going to be a long war, a war of attrition. But an attrition of wills, not bodies.
So I've taken breaks when it was all "too much". But that leaves holes here. Plus, I'd sometimes like to write about the things I occupy myself with when I'm not paying attention to the war.
So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to start blogging about more kinds of things, some personal, some not. Just whatever comes.
See ya on the funway.
France, to her eternal disgrace (again), is helping a dictatorship, China, intimidate a democracy, Taiwan, during their election.
China, France begin naval exercises
Exactly what al Qaeda was just doing in Spain. Next door to France.
This is the Communist Chinese government we're talking about here, a dictatorship and keeper of gulags. A murderer of millions of their own people, and a practitioner of conquest and genocide.
Taiwan, on the other hand, is a fully "Western" democracy, and indeed the remnant of one of our major allies during WWII.
But France wants to have joint naval exercises with them, that just so happen to be the same week as Taiwan's elections.
And France has been lobbying fiercely to get the arms embargo against China lifted - so that France can sell them weapons, of course.
Do you think the two are connected, maybe? Perhaps the Chinese have slipped the French officials some funds, as Saddam did, in return for these "exercises"? Or is it merely that the French will be able to do their usual mega-skimming job on the arms sales, as they did with the UN Oil-for-Food program?
Has there ever been a more corrupt country, that yet trumpeted its supposed "morality" so loudly?
I read somewhere that the French language doesn't have very many words in it compared to English. Perhaps that accounts for the simplicity of their thoughts. Be that as it may, I know there's one word they don't have in French.
Shame.
The events in Spain have really shaken me up and made me reexamine things. I can now see that we should be campaigning for Kerry. After all, foreign leaders want you to vote for Kerry. I have some suggested slogans:
"Osama wants you to vote for Kerry!"
"Al Jazeera wants you to vote for Kerry!"
"The French want you to vote for Kerry!"
"The Germans want you to vote for Kerry!"
"Al Qaeda wants you to vote for Kerry!"
Remember who to vote for!
You gotta love these guys. If they had been on the coastline, instead of crushed between Russia and Germany, I bet they would have conquered half the world.
Here is an excerpt from a Washington Post piece that brings down lots of gloom and doom about fallout from the Spanish election cave-in. After all the whining and wailing, we get reaction of the Polish contingent in Iraq.
Poland, with 2,400 troops in Iraq, is in overall command of the European stabilization contingent in Iraq.Jerzy M. Nowak, Poland's ambassador to NATO, said today that Poland is willing to stay in command of a stabilization force in central-south Iraq if Spain, which had been due to take charge of the division on July 1, withdraws its troops, the Reuters news agency reported.
Nowak told Reuters that Poland, which took command of the 24-nation division last September, would be prepared to stay until the end of this year but would need NATO support to do so. "If it is necessary, we will continue leading the multinational division," Nowak said. "We are prepared for that even if Spain is not able to fulfill its promise."
(emphasis added)
No whining, no complaining. No blaming Devil Bush or calling for the UN.
Just "We are prepared for that even if Spain is not able to fulfill its promise."
Now that's a friend. That's an ally.
Salute!
We still have friends in Spain. There are still brave people there; about 37% of the country voted for Aznar's party, even in the loss. That's many millions of people.
We need to be sure we remember them, and encourage them. They, in turn, will do what they can to steel their countryman's hearts for the struggle ahead.
To all the steadfast and brave Spaniards, Salute! Thank you for all you have done so far, and all you will do in future. We've lsot a battle but this will be a long war.
To all those Spaniards not steadfast or brave, here's hoping you come to your senses soon.
Nobody looks good in a burqa. Or a prison. Or a grave.
Spain's Socialists Appear Poised to Win
Spain volunteers for Dhimmitude
France, my guess is you're next.
England, keep your powder dry.
As for us, expect higher oil prices as the Saudis try to throw our election. Also, I'm sad to say, expect major terrorist attacks here, timed to do the most election damage to President Bush.
People, there's a war on. You're either with the forces of civilization, or you're with the terrorists.
Choose.
The strongest impression I get from Kerry's recent campaign is that he's a whiner.
During 4+ months of Democratic primary campaigning, 3/4 of the statements made by ALL the candidates were, rather than being concerned with Democratic issues, basically just Bush-trashing. Now, finally, Bush runs some ads with relatively level-headed criticism of Kerry-espoused policies.
Kerry's response?
"That terrible George Bush! He's so negative! He disagreed with me! He said bad things about me!
WAAAHHHHHH!"
And this guy wants to be President?
Puh-leeze.
It's clear that the rulers of Saudi Arabia are actively engaged in a campaign to influence the American election.
You were wondering why gas is so high? Well, that's why. The Saudis are deliberately manipulating the oil market.
I don't know about you, but I'm outraged.
(hat tip to Emperor Misha)