The Rant

Well, politics and religion are great for alienating friends and relatives, but sometimes, reality rears its ugly head and requires that we pay attention to more mundane matters. For me, that reality takes the form of open heart surgery tomorrow morning at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. While the odds are that I will end up stronger and healthier for the "procedure," there is always some risk that such a drastic invasion of one's body may have unintended consequences. If that should happen, I would like to tell all of you in the "loyal opposition" that I appreciate your patience and candor over the years and wish you all the best. The give and take of honest discussion is one of the many things that makes this country great. In the event everything goes well, I will be unable to "rant" for a while, until I am feeling a little better. I wish you all the best until I return, probably a week or so. Bob Clasen

Radical Islam is ready to roll. It has a huge population of angry, poor and disaffected young men anxious to be martyrs. It considers the West corrupt and evil, worthy of being destroyed What do modern secular humanists believe in? "Peace" at almost any price. The "environment." Global warming. Government health care. Welfare. Do such types, anxious to be taken care of by the Nanny state, have the will to stand up to religous fanatics willing to die for their crazy beliefs? Absolutely not. Being a warrior is simply silly to such types. Who does then? Only people with equally strong beliefs: religious conservatives. They also will die for their beliefs: for a God of Love instead of a death cult. For society that cherishes Freedom over slavery. The battle of civilizations remains a battle between Christianity and Islam. (and perhaps in India, between Hindus and Islam). Secular humanists have no will to fight, do not believe in any war, tend to be pacifis

October 24, 2006 The Bush goal: to bring democracy and a more secular government to Iraq. In the history of conflict between civilisations, this would be a remarkable accomplishment. It would plant the flag of freedom in the heart of the Mideast and give so called moderate Muslims a hope for something from their culture but dictatorship and a return to the dark ages of intolerance. The price is high, (but historically not high when compared with prior wars: Civil War, World Wars, Korean War or Vietnam War). I think it fair to criticize the tactics used in Iraq, IF you have some better suggestions. But I do not think the policy of simply abandoning Iraq to the forces of chaos and violent Jihad is the better choice. We would like to believe that what happens in Afghanistan or Iraq has no relevance to us in America. But this is increasingly untrue. We live in one world, and as the world's only Superpower, we cannot put our head in the sand, or put our hands over our eyes about the

Well here is a fresh perspective . . . thinking outside the box. If you are a supporter of civil war in Iraq, who should you vote for? This seems to be a politically incorrect, unmentionable point of view. __________________________________________________ A Vote For Civil War By Diana West October 20, 2006 The worst thing about the upcoming elections is, when it comes to war and peace, they turn on a deficient choice. Stay the course vs. cut and run. Keep up your dukes vs. cry "uncle." For anyone who wants to fight to win, the choice is clear enough, if also non-compelling. Sticking to offense is intuitively better than giving up, but it doesn't inspire stirring campaign slogans. As in: "Vote Republican — at least terrorists' overseas phone calls will continue to be intercepted." Then again, intercepting terrorists' overseas phone calls is considerably better than not. But, to what end? Here's where the deficiency shows up. What if "

posted by Bob Clasen Some in the United States think that Iraq has become a quagmire, with attacks on the police reaching epidemic proportions, with the result that maintaining simple law and order is becoming nearly impossible in the more dangerous neighborhoods. This may be true. But even if we withdraw from Iraq, what is to be done about Paris? Note that in the following article, the fact that the "immigrants" doing the violence and attacks by strange paradox happen to be members of the "Religion of Peace." ___________________________ Associated Press French Police Face 'Permanent Intifada' By JAMEY KEATEN , 10.22.2006, 06:15 PM On a routine call, three unwitting police officers fell into a trap. A car darted out to block their path, and dozens of hooded youths surged out of the darkness to attack them with stones, bats and tear gas before fleeing. One officer was hospitalized, and no arrests made. The recent ambush was emblematic of what some officers