The Rant

__________________________________________ Iranian President-Elect Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad: "Is There Art that Is More Beautiful, More Divine, and More Eternal than the Art of Martyrdom?" The following are excerpts from a speech by Iranian President-Elect Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, which aired on Iranian Channel 1 on July 25, 2005. ( Transcript ) Ahmadi-Nejad: We want art that is on the offensive. Art on the offensive exalts and defends the noble principles, and attacks principles that are corrupt, vulgar, ungodly, and inhuman. Art reaches perfection when it portrays the best life and best death. After all, art tells you how to live. That is the essence of art. Is there art that is more beautiful, more divine, and more eternal than the art of martyrdom? A nation with martyrdom knows no captivity. Those who wish to undermine this principle undermine the foundations of our independence and national security. They undermine the foundation of our eternity. The message of the (Islamic) Re...

This is good ole Ben Stein trying to defend Karl Rove: In connection with his recent attack on Bob woodward, Stein said Nixon didn't do anything warranting impeachment. It was just politics. So now he defends Rove. STEIN: Dear President Bush, may I presume upon our friendship and my longtime support to offer you some thoughts about Karl Rove? First of all, I just had a very thorough exam of my prostate by a Democrat doctor, so I have a good idea of what you both are going through, and it's not fun. But I worked for a president named Richard Nixon who was an extraordinary genius but who handled this kind of thing totally wrong, so maybe we can learn from him. Let's begin with the obvious: Karl Rove did nothing wrong in the Valerie Plame case. He did not "knowingly" out her as a CIA secret overseas undercover agent because, among other things, she was not a secret overseas agent. She worked at a desk at Langley, Virginia, at the CIA headquarters. That ain't se...

Meet John Roberts A first-class lawyer with a sense of humor. Too bad he’s a threat to women’s rights -- and the Constitution. By Adele M. StanWeb Exclusive: 07.20.05 It is hard to know what’s more disturbing about President George W. Bush’s nomination of Judge John Roberts for a seat on the Supreme Court: the man’s sparse paper trail or the loose leaves he’s scattered along the way. Either way, the nomination should give pause, not just to women or African Americans but to all Americans who hold dear the Bill of Rights.Let’s begin with Roberts’ women problem. As deputy solicitor general for George Bush Senior, Roberts presented two troubling briefs on matters having to do with abortion. In 1991, he served up the government’s case before the Supreme Court in Rust v. Sullivan, arguing for the right to restrict the speech rights of family-planning organizations that receive public funding. The result of that decision upheld a gag rule on such organizations, denying them the right to ment...

What the world owes Palestinians and the Left by Dennis Prager July 26, 2005 In the last few weeks, innocent men, women and children have been blown up, paralyzed, brain damaged and otherwise had their lives ruined by Muslim suicide bombers in Britain, Egypt and Iraq. Who can we thank for this man-made plague? Palestinians and the Left. We need to thank Palestinians for their major contribution to humanity -- religiously sanctioned mass murder of innocents through suicide. Prior to the Palestinians, this did not exist. It is true that Tamil suicide bombers in Sri Lanka have murdered many thousands and they are not Muslims. But the Tamil rationale for suicide terror -- though utterly immoral -- is confined to a (secular) nationalist movement in Sri Lanka. Palestinian Muslims -- no Palestinian Christians have committed a suicide bombing -- have created a religious and moral basis for mass murder and did so within a worldwide religion with a billion adherents. When the Palestinians sen...