The Rant

Well, I must concede that J.D. is more knowledgeable about political history than I am, in the sense of being able to quote various scholars.  However, after reading his entry, I am, if anything, yet more confused as to a clear definition of Fascism.  I still seem to sense that it is totalitarianism: a faith in the state to set things right, and also a choice to use force to eliminate the opposition.   Hopefully, such ideas represent a minority in the United States in both major political parties.  The libertarian response to arguments about the left and the right is to throw out these categories as vague and unhelpful and instead look at the basic political division as between statists and individualists.   By this way of thinking, leftists and rightists (fascists) are both statists and on the opposite scale to lovers of freedom.   I also prefer arguments based upon reason, evidence and science, and so hope to find some agreement with J.D. on this subject.  In addition, I prefer poli...

Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning by Jonah Goldberg (Doubleday, 496 pages) * * * The public understanding of World War II history and its precedents has suffered in recent years from the depredations of revisionist historians -- the David Irvings and David Bowmans of the field who have attempted to recast the meaning of, respectively, the Holocaust and the Japanese American internment. Their reach, however, has been somewhat limited to fringe audiences. It might be tempting to throw Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning into those same cloacal backwaters, but there is an essential difference that goes well beyond the likely much broader reach of Goldberg's book, which was inexplicably published by a mainstream house (Doubleday). Most revisionists are actually historians with some credentials, and their theses often hinge on nuances and ...

I used to get enraged when lefties accused Republicans of being fascists or Nazis.  There seemed to me little in common between American conservatism:  limited government, rule of law, strong national defense, "family values" and Hitler's rascist and imperialist dream to conquer the world in the name of White German Teutonic superiority.        Jonah Goldberg has proven that both political parties can play this Fascist name calling game and written a book in which he argues that Fascism is really a phenomenon of the left, not the right . "Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning."  I have just started the book but one of his observations seems true enough to me; that lefties use "fascism" as a very vague adjective to label any phenomenon they do not like. It means nothing more specific to them than bad, which sounds about right to me.   In general, I have always felt that Communism and Fasci...

Why does the west have such a hard time understanding the doctrine of Jihad? All Moslems (except a few radicals who have hijacked the religion for political purposes)  know that it is a spiritual doctrine that has nothing to do with terrorism, don't they? It is sort of like our War on Poverty in the west.   It is the interior, spiritual struggle against evil.  But wasn't the Prophet a general?   Didn't he conquer Arabia ? Didn't his immediate followers sweep out of Arabia in a war of conquest which extended Islam from Spain to India, a domain as large as the Roman empire, conquered in a far shorter time?   By comparison, Jesus and Buddha were practically pacifists and held no political power. 

    Well the Democrat Nominating Process is anything but dull this year.  I can't even understand the rules for selecting delegates in Texas, let alone for the entire party.  It probably doesn't help that I have been enduring the slow, somewhat boring process with a couple Jack Daniels.   What happens if it is a draw?   Well, we will find out in a few months I guess, unless the lawyers get involved.  Perhaps the Supreme Court will decide the Democratic nominee this year, sometime in 2010?  

     The Islamic Conference, comprised of 57 Islamic member states, suggests that the West must replace notions of free speech with different principles fundamentally based upon Sharia law which prohibits any insult to Mohammad.  They previously called upon the U.N. to pass rules prohibiting any negative reference to the Prophet.  This is another example that we do have a war of ideas, a culture war, between Islam and the West, and also that Islam is very willing to make it a fighting war, as reflected in the fact that the author of the Cartoons was the victim of a conspiracy to murder him in retaliation for his silly little cartoon.   Meanwhile, his hotel is so afraid of violent reprisal against him that they threw him out, and the 73 year old cartoonist is now homeless because the brave Danes do not want to face the risk of ending up like the Director Theo Van Gogh (who was butchered on the street by a Moslem for directing a movie about how Islam treats women that the Moslem did not...

     Baghdad, Iraq - -  A suicide bomber killed at least 40 Moslem pilgrims and wounded 60 others Sunday as the pilgrims made their way to the Holy city of Karbala on one of the holiest days of the Shiite Calendar.  Women and children were among the casualties.   The suicide bomber was likely a member of a different sect of Islam, the Sunnis, and probably felt that Allah would reward him by giving him 72 virgins in exchange for his murdering other Moslems of slightly different theology, including women, children and those on a holy pilgrimage.   Not really news in the World of Islam; not man bites dog, but just another typical headline from the so called religion of peace. 

Don't forget to pack the necessities when boarding a plane.  Benjamin Baines remembered to bring his copy of the Koran and "The Prophet's Prayer" along with a boxcutter hidden inside a cut out book.   The picture to the left is the book that Benjamin hid the Boxcutter in, a book titled "Fear Itself."   At least Mr. Baines has a sense of humor.   What was he going to use the boxcutter for?  Thanks to the TSA, we will never be sure.  bob cat

    If any of you have bought the latest kind of High Definition television lately and read the various technical specifications, you may be proud to tell your friends and family that you are now able to display content in "1080P" whatever that means.  After all, the television looked fantastic at Best Buy or Circuit City showing that little nature film.    It means that your picture has 1,080 lines and they are displayed in one pass every time. (compared to ordinary television which displays a screen at 480 lines in two passes, giving it that characteristic television flicker, which was the best they could do when television was invented.)  But where can you find such a splendid 1080P picture other than at the Electronics store that sold you the television?   Ordinary cable is not high definition. Even the so called "High Definition" signal you get from satellite or cable is not 1080P. It is usually 720P, a compromise designed to save precious bandwith for the cabl...

The "youths" are rioting  again, this time in Denmark.  They are hopping mad because fifteen Danish newspapers republished a cartoon depicting Mohammad with a bomb on his head, seeming to suggest that the religion of peace was in some way associated with violence. This predictably motivated said idealistic youths to plot the death of said cartoonist.  Imagine the gaul of any cartoonist suggesting that Mohammad might be associated with bombs.  This is the sixth night of rioting and vandalism that spread from Copenhagen to other Danish cities, further proof that the outdated concept of "Freedom of Speech" has reached the end of its tether with regard to Islam.   This sort of "hate speech" cannot be tolerated in a modern society like Denmark, unless it is about any religion other than Islam. 

  The Introduction of Shari'ah in Family law in England is unavoidable.  So says the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.   He says that we should not assume that all aspects of Islamic law are barbaric and that a "plural jurisdiction" would be acceptable.  (Speaking of "meekness and flabbiness" see article on Hitler below).  This reminds me of law during the middle ages in England, where you once had the secular and ecclesiastical courts.   Once you have granted the principle that Sharia law in England is to be considered acceptable and even inevitable, how do you prevent Moslems from stoning women for infidelity after they have been convicted in an Islamic court?   Or chopping off hands for theft?   Perhaps Islam will become the new "law and order" party for England.  After all, who are you, western snob, to stand in Judgment over the law of Islam, the word of Allah?  What makes you think you are better?  Not to mention that if you do c...

Albert Speer, who was Hitler's Minister of Armaments, in his memoir gave some insight into Hitler's thinking on religion:  "Hitler had been much impressed by a scrap of history he had learned from a delegation of distinguished arabs. When the Mohammedans attempted to penetrate beyond France into Central Europe during the eight century, his visitors had told him, they had been driven back at the Battle of Tours.  Had the Arabs won that battle, the world would be Mohammedan today.  For theirs was a religion that believed in spreading the faith by the sword and subjugating all nations to that faith. Such a creed was perfectly suited to the Germanic temperament. . . . Hitler usually concluded this historical speculation by remarking, "You see, it's been our misfortune to have the wrong religion. Why didn't we have the religion of the Japanese, who regard sacrifice fo the Fatherland as the highest good? The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compat...

White House Study Found 473 Days of Email Gone By Dan Eggen and Elizabeth Williamson The Washington Post Friday 18 January 2008 The White House possesses no archived e-mail messages for many of its component offices, including the Executive Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President, for hundreds of days between 2003 and 2005, according to the summary of an internal White House study that was disclosed yesterday by a congressional Democrat. The 2005 study - whose credibility the White House attacked this week - identified 473 separate days in which no electronic messages were stored for one or more White House offices, said House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.). Waxman said he decided to release the summary after White House spokesman Tony Fratto said yesterday that there is "no evidence" that any White House e-mails from those years are missing. Fratto's assertion "seems to be an u...

  Hillary demonstrated once again that you should not underestimate the power of the Dark Side.   I heard pundits yesterday arguing that she was ten and thirteen points behind in the polls; that she was history, and Obama had an unstoppable surge lifting him up to the Presidency.  Everyone was discussing why her run for the Presidency had collapsed.  Yet instead, Hillary wins?  Once again, the accuracy of these polls must be called into question.  Who do they poll?  Other journalists in the same room?   It does seem to me that Obama has the vote of the journalists, though.   I listened to the speech of Obama yesterday, with screaming hordes  hurraying at every sentence, but I must confess I am a little confused as to what Obama is going to do. He is for "change" which the crowd shouts over and over.  But what is he going to change?  And in what way?  I did not hear any specific proposals. The entire speech was a bunch of metaphors like "new road" without any ...

The Right Wing Media is taking over, including Tucker Carlson and Chris Matthews, those well known right wing nuts?  Ha Ha,  very funny.   I don't think so.  The Media is fighting over which liberal candidate it prefers.  And journalists are like sharks, when they sense blood in the water, they go into a frenzy and may injure their "friends" like Obama.   The only question this election is which Democrat will be nominated as the Republicans seem quite dead in the water this year, floating in a pool of blood and chum, driving the potential Democratic Presidents and their media adorers into a frenzy.   Or perhaps they are more like zombies, the Presidential Election of the Living Dead.  Democrats will be in charge, that is my prediction. The only question is which one?  Obama has a good chance, despite his lack of experience, as he is the best media candidate. Hillary is so harsh and unlikable.   What will Obama do when he is in charge?  Will Oprah be Vice President?   Ti...

If you want the full text go to Mediamatters.org MATTHEWS: Let me go to the question of tactics here. She is using things like having AFSCME, the union, the state and county employees, put out a letter that looked like it came from John Edwards, apparently, attacking Obama, so that she gets the knife into Obama without her fingerprints on it. That's exactly what has been happening on Hardball and Tucker for the past year. Matthews and Carlson have been making both Clinton and Obama look bad, while largely avoiding responsibility for their own actions. Matthews and Carlson first invoked Obama's middle name -- and now they yell nightly about a Clinton supporter doing it. Carlson brought up Obama's long-ago drug use more than a year ago; Matthews did everything he could to force Mark Penn to discuss it last week -- and now they yell nightly about how "sleazy" it is for people connected to Clinton to discuss the topic. And it isn't merely that Matthews and Carlson...

   Muslims are using British libel laws to limit what is said about Islam, terrorists and the people in Saudi Arabia.   In England, a person sued for libel has the burden of proving what is written is true, rather than the reverse as is true in the U.S.   Marc Steyn has been sued in Canada by Muslims in a "Human Rights" court that has so far granted 100% of the petitions filed.   The book that he is sued for "America Alone" pointed out that Muslim populations are growing faster than non-Muslims, and that if the trend continues, Muslims will be a majority in the near future.  In America, such lawsuits would be forbidden by the First Amendment. In Britain and Canada, this is not true.  As a consequence of such lawsuits, all American major publishers have refused to publish a book on the Muslim Brotherhood, for fear of such "libel" and "human rights" lawsuits.  So much for free speech in America. 

     Benazir Bhutto, the only female head of an Islamic country, educated at Oxford and Harvard, has been exploded by Islamic "extremists."   Pakistan is armed with nuclear weapons, and appears to be slipping down a path towards anarchy, as the military backed government seems to be losing the support of the people.  Thousands of Bhutto's supporters have taken to the streets, burning vehicles and attacking police stations in an explosion of violence against the government.       Hopefully, the "religion of peace" will step in and put out the fires of violence.  However, it has not been able to prevent her father being hanged by the military, nor her brothers to be killed, one poisoned, one shot. Her husband spent seven years in prison.   Pakistan is an Islamic country. Where are the forces of reason, of moderation, of justice, of peace?  Why does it seem that only violence rules this blood soaked land?  

  Pakistani opposition leader and former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack after a political rally in Rawalpindi.     New article .   At least nineteen people were killed in the attack.   Bhutto, like her Father, was educated at Oxford.   She was unusual as a woman serving as a political leader in a Muslim country.   Story of her life in words and pictures here . 

Muhammad is the second most popular boys name in Britain.  This fact "proves that Islam is becoming the majority in the UK and will one day enter every house in Europe," a senior terror leader told the World Net Daily news .   By what standard does a religion become the most popular?  How did Islam become one of the largest and fastest growing religion in the world?  Does violence and threats to competing ideologies work as a method of growing a religion?   Or is it the teachings of the religion about procreation and producing children, in a Darwinian analysis, that ultimately controls. The religion that produces the most babies wins.   So multiple wives and many children will ultimately prevail over progressive modern Protestants and agnostics, who hardly have any kids.   Darwinian selection doesn't care why the children are produced, it just wants as many as possible.