The Right State

If there was any doubt about the various terrorist groups supporting each other, al-Qaeda’s number two man, behind Osama bin Ladden, put it to rest in his support of Hezbollah’s fight against Israel.

“The al Qaeda organization will not stay silent regarding what the Muslims in Palestine and Lebanon are facing,” Zawahiri said.

He called on those he described as victimized by the Western world to unite with al Qaeda and rise up as Israel battles Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon and Palestinian militants in Gaza.

“The oppressed people of the world, victims of the tyrannical Western civilization, led by America, stand by us so people will regain their rights, and the symbol of injustice falls,” he said in the new tape.

This reminds me of Japan’s sneak attack on the naval port of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  Afterwards, Germany declared war on the United States allowing this country to focus on removing the threat of Adolph Hitler in Europe before concentrating on Japan even though we had not been attacked by his country.  By claiming solidarity with Hezbollah, Zawahiri may have just condemned all of these terrorist groups.  So far, President Bush has not focused much attention on Hezbollah, but with Zawhiri’s linkage, that may change.

So far the US has blocked any attempt by the world community at condemning Israel for both attacking into Lebanon and for an immediate cease-fire.

The United States has resisted demands for an immediate cease-fire, insisting that a cessation of hostilities must be part of a wider plan to permanently disarm Hezbollah. Arab and European leaders say the violence must stop first.

Meanwhile, Israel, which was not invited to participate in the talks, said it hoped “the international community will act immediately to strengthen the Lebanese army” so the army can take charge of southern Lebanon after the talks.

This one statement by Israel says what their intentions are, disarming Hezbollah and allowing the Lebanese army to control the lawless region of southern Lebanon.  Zawahiri’s support of Hezbollah may have just doomed both terrorist groups.  America still has not forgotten al-Qaeda’s sneak attack on New York and now they have a new friend in Hezbollah.  Claiming new friends like these may just put these terrorist groups in the crosshairs of US anger.

Tags: War by Chuck
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Democrats say they have a new for the plan for the upcoming midterm elections which would focus on establishing a new minimum wage, a renewed focus on national security, the rejection of ‘partisan’ politics, and other mainstay Democratic issues.

Democrats plan to press for a minimum wage increase and “tough, smart” national security in their final push to wrest power from the Republicans in the November elections.

House and Senate Democrats will hold a joint meeting on Thursday to discuss events planned for the 100 days leading up to midterm congressional elections and lay out their party agenda, called “A New Direction for America.”

It’s a compilation of positions the party has staked out over the past few months on income, national security, energy, education, health care and retirement accounts.

“We’re going across the country to make our case,” Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said. “We’re going to reject the divisive politics of the last six years, and unite America behind an agenda that works for all.” (emphasis added by TRS)

Harry Reid apparently does not know just how foolish his statement sounds.  He is engaging in pure partisan politics; otherwise the Democrats would stop their divisiveness now instead of waiting until after the elections.  So Harry Reid is admitting to being divisive for the last six years while this nation has been at war with terrorism.  To him, nothing trumps partisanship.

Other than Reid’s comment, the Democrats are supporting other Democratic mainstays, namely the minimum wage and ‘tough, smart’ national security push.  A higher minimum wage hurts small businesses who have a hard enough time surviving as it is.  And who owns small businesses: the middle class, the same people Democrats claim to want to help.  Most businesses use market forces to determine what to pay their employees.  The smaller the worker pool, the more money a business needs to pay to attract more workers.  And the good thing is this works in a market economy like ours.

The Democrats are finally beginning to realize that the American people view Democrats as being weak on national security.  They as a party have never had a war they were not ready to run from.  This statement is just lip service to the hawks in their party and moderates in general who support the war against terror.  Coming out of the Democratic Party, the statement of supporting ‘tough, smart’ national security sounds fake, much like a prostitute asking her “Johns” to go to church.

The Democrats need to take off the new dress they are wearing, it does not fit.  The new plan, except for window dressing, sounds much like the old plan: higher taxes, higher minimum wages, a cut-and-run military under a new name, and to stop divisiveness when it suits them.  Another words, it is more of the same.

Tags: Democrats, National Elections, Politics by Chuck
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Hillary Clinton in ’08.  If that does not scare the b’Jesus out of you nothing will.  The midterms have not even arrived and her she is spouting the same old mantra from Bill in ’92.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible White House contender in 2008, said Monday the Bush administration had hurt working Americans, and Democrats must offer new ideas to strengthen the middle class.

“Americans are earning less while the costs of a middle-class life have soared,” Clinton told the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, a group that aided her husband Bill Clinton’s rise to the presidency in 1992 but has clashed in recent years with the party’s more liberal wing.

I don’t why the liberals do not like her.  She is a liberal.  The only reason she has supported the war or some conservative judges is because she wants to portray herself as a moderate in order to win the White House.

Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz rejected the Democratic claims about the economy.

“Only liberal Democrats like Hillary Clinton could attack an economy that has produced 5.4 million jobs in the last three years, grew 5.6 percent in the first quarter, increased payroll employment in 47 states and is the envy of the industrialized world,” he said.

Slogans do not replace reality.  The economy is doing great and people are making more money.  The only problem is the high oil prices.  Liberals like to show the size of the national debt when showing how the economy is failing.  President Reagan had a fairly large national debt and the economy grew by nearly four trillion dollars in his eight years in office.  President Bush on the other hand has turned around an economy already on the downturn because of Bill Clinton’s policies, the 9/11 attacks, and a war.

If Hillary is elected expect more of the same when Bill was in office: high taxes and scandal.

Tags: Democrats, National Elections, Politics by Chuck
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This op-ed from the Jerusalem Post very articulately nails down why the UN and some in the west see the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in different way.  The difference can be likened to whether each side is playing by a particular set of previously agreed upon rules, or if the conflict is a matter of life or death with the rules thrown out the window.

Strategic interactions are of two main types. They either resemble a “game,” with each side making moves according to tacitly agreed evolving rules, or constitute a life-or-death “kill or be killed” conflict.

Thus, the cold war evolved rapidly into a “game,” with the exception of the Cuba missile crisis, when extreme American measures were necessary to reestablish relatively stable rules of interaction.

In contrast, the confrontation with Hitler was of the life-or-death type. The Western misreading of Hitler as a rule-following player - or at least as amenable to becoming such a player after “reasonable demands” were satisfied - resulted in very high costs. (snip)

Contemporary Western values, culture, economies, and politics are dense with factors that distort reality, making this critical task more difficult. Among these are the ill-founded beliefs that human beings are sure to prefer liberal democracy given a real choice, and that material interests necessarily reduce fanaticism.

Other Western handicaps are the lack of readiness to kill and be killed, even when doing so will likely to save many lives in the future; an unwarranted trust in partly outdated rules of international law; striving for so wide a consensus as to make effective action impossible; and worrying about energy sources and markets.

Some learning from mistakes does take place, especially in the US and England, though it happens the hard way - being hit by terrorism and facing obviously “evil” states. Still, the dominant trend, especially in Europe, is to cling to optimistic images of reality approximating the game model, despite stubborn facts to the contrary.

So when Hezbollah attacked, the Israeli response was considered an over-reaction and not proportionate.  The same things were said when the US entered Afghanistan, after all, we only lost 3000 people.  The US and Great Britain are just about the only countries to know civilization is in a life or death struggle with radical Islam.

ISRAEL, however, cannot permit itself such a short-sighted path of action. Hizbullah and Hamas, as supported by Syria and Iran, are life-or-death enemies likely, with time, to become more dangerous rather than to lose their fanatical nature. Therefore, Israeli counteraction must achieve the destructive capacity necessary to drastically reduce the growing threat; and to motivate bystanders to act against the fanatics and deter their supporters.

In particular, in view of the declared nature of the present Iranian regime as a total enemy and its growing power, including emerging nuclear capabilities, Israel must build (to be more exact, rebuild) credible deterrence, based in part on “rationality irrationality.” This requires a partial image of willingness and capacity to react unpredictably and with extreme violence to life-and-death dangers, even at high costs to itself. (emphasis added by TRS)

Harsh measures against Hizbullah and Hamas are a way to build such an image, in addition to being justified in themselves - all the more so as Hizbullah’s initial attack was probably designed to test Israeli determination.

IN MORAL terms, Israel confronts the tragic choice of either engaging now in a large-scale action, despite significant human costs, or wait until a much more costly war becomes unavoidable.

You can bet if Israel does not confront Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, and Syria now, they will have to do so later at a much higher cost in terms of lives lost.  Israel understands the dangers of radical Islam, for the most part the US understands too.  Most of Europe does not understand.  Of course they come by this honestly.  Even with the dangers of WWII looming, the leaders sought to appease Hitler.  It was not until he had conquered a good portion of Europe that they finally understood the danger this madman represented.  Europe has a history of appeasement, and in WWII it almost cost them their freedom.  And now they do not understand the danger radical Islam represents to a free world.  In the end it may be the United States who pulls the world’s chestnuts out of the fire once again.

Tags: Democracy, Iran, President Bush, War by Chuck
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I do not know how the US could handle the situation in Lebanon any better.  Rice has flown to Beirut in support of the fledgling government and has been encouraging Syria to stop supporting Hezbollah through the influence of moderate Muslim states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Beirut on Monday in a show of support for that country’s weakened democracy, which is struggling to contain the fighting between the Hezbollah militia and Israel.

Rice planned to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Faud Saniora, other leaders of his government and members of parliament about the surge in fighting along the southern border in the last two weeks.

Her visit is intended to make a show of support and concern for both the Saniora government and the Lebanese people, administration officials said. She also plans to talk with Lebanese leaders about how the central government can gain control of the entire country.

And that is the real problem; the government of Lebanon is too weak to exert control over their entire country allowing terrorist groups like Hezbollah to operate as a quasi-autonomous government in the southern region.  Exploiting this weakness, Hezbollah, until recently, has attacked Israel with impunity.

With the IDF attacking into Lebanon to go after the terrorists, Condoleezza Rice is reluctant to call a halt to hostilities.  After all, for the last couple of years the US and Great Britain have been the only countries to really go after the terrorists.  So Rice has to play a balancing act of allowing Israel to proceed as long as they do not undermine the pro-west government of Lebanon.

At the same time the Bush administration is working to detach Syria from its ally Iran.  I am not sure if this is more of a move to separate and conquer or if its main purpose is to further isolate Iran.  Either way, we have some of the more moderate Muslim countries helping us out.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are working to entice Syria to end support for Hezbollah, a move that is central to resolving the conflict in Lebanon and unhitching Damascus from its alliance with Iran, the Shiite Muslim guerrillas’ other main backer.

Arab diplomats in Cairo said the United States had signaled a willingness to re-engage Syria through Washington’s encouragement of the Egyptians and Saudis to lean on Damascus to stop backing Hezbollah.

With Jordan, Egypt, and Israel all confirming the existence of Iranian troops in southern Lebanon, it seems likely Washington is trying to isolate the Islamic regime, probably saving them to deal with later. 

The bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers who were killed by the Israeli army in Lebanon have been transported to Syria and flown to Tehran, senior Lebanese political sources told WorldNetDaily.

The information was confirmed by Israeli and Egyptian security officials. It follows scores of reports the past few days Iranian soldiers have been aiding Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon in their attacks against Israel, including help with the firing of rockets into Israeli population centers.  (snip)

Jordanian officials told WND they are “100 percent sure” Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit soldiers have fired rockets into Israel. They also said the Syrian army has provided Hezbollah with intelligence information on the locations of strategic Israeli targets to aid in Hezbollah rocket fire.

Any evidence of foreign interference by Iran and Syria should be displayed for all to see.  Syria could possibly come clean by ending their relationship with Iran.  As the smaller partner, President Bashar al-Assad can claim he sent help to Hezbollah at the request of Iran.  Iran on the other hand is a different matter.  The ruling mullahs believe they are supposed to export the Islamic Revolution.  Until the people of Iran rise up against the autocracy, not much will change.  The country will continue to support Hezbollah and other terrorist groups until a regime change occurs.

By sending Sec. Rice to Lebanon now, President Bush can exploit this window of opportunity to show the US wants peace in the region while giving Israel enough time to wipe out as many of the terrorists as they can.  Furthermore the trip can demonstrate to the Lebanese government that we still support them.  Either way, I see this trip as a win-win for the US.

Tags: Democracy, Iran, President Bush, Politics, War by Chuck
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The people of Iran sometimes act like someone who just bought a car from a used car salesman.  When they wake up in the morning to view the new car and it turns out they had not bought was what they were promised.  During the 1979 Iranian revolution which overthrew the Shah of Iran, the people wanted and demanded more rights and a democratically elected government.  Since then, the run of the mill people of Iran are not very satisfied with what was become of those promises.  For the last few years, the mullahs have kept an ever watchful eye on everyday Iranians and with good reason.  The people still want more rights, not a more restrictive theocracy.

With the turmoil in Lebanon, you would think the Iranians would want to do anything they can to help their Islamic brethren.  Not so.  It turns out most of the Iranian people want their money to stay in Iran to take care of Iranian problems.

There is a huge amount of anger here about what is happening in Lebanon, but it is not all the result of Israeli bombs, missiles and artillery.

“Of course I am angry,’’ said Hamid Akbari, 30, a deliveryman. “All our income is going to Palestine and Hezbollah.”

For decades, Iran has been Hezbollah’s prime patron, helping create it as a Shiite Muslim militia and then nurture it with money, expertise and weapons. But now that Hezbollah is in the midst of full-blown fighting with Israel, Iranian officials have been adamant in insisting that they had nothing to do with the events that set off the crisis. (snip)

In interviews in central Tehran Saturday, person after person said the same thing: Iran should worry about Iran’s problems and not be dragged down by others’ battles.

“We Iranians have a saying,” said Ali Reza Moradi, 35, a portrait artist who works in a small booth downtown. “We should save our own house first and then save the mosque. A lot of people think this way. The government should help its people first, and then help the people in Lebanon.”

Maybe some of the anger in Iran will be directed not at Israel, but on the ruling mullahs who continuously defy the west with its nuclear program and its support of terrorist groups.  Iran can not hope to match the US dollar for dollar in this crisis.  As Iran sends more of their hard earned money into this conflict, the anger towards the Iranian government will likely grow.  I hope this is the beginning of the end for the Islamic theocracy in Iran.

Tags: Democracy, Iran, War by Chuck
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You can always count on Syria to act in its own best interests.  The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a now say they are willing to participate in a cease-fire arrangement only if other issues are included, things which Israel is unlikely to find acceptable.

Syria, one of Hezbollah’s main backers, said it will press for a cease-fire to end the fighting - but only in the framework of a broader Middle East peace initiative that would include the return of the Golan Heights. Israel was unlikely to accept such terms but the remarks were the first indication of Syria’s willingness to be involved in international efforts to defuse the Lebanese crisis.

Ashad might as well accept the fact that the Golan Heights are gone.  If he really wants to join the peace process (which he does not), he needs to reign in Hezbollah.

One surprising step taken was Israel’s early acceptance of an international peacekeeping force on their border, especially considering there was already a UN peacekeeping force only three hundred yards from where Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured.  Since then two more soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were also captured.

Since then Israel has been in a semi-declared state of war with Hezbollah and by extention Iran and Syria.  Leave it to UN Ambassador John Bolton to put the entire Syrian offer in perspective.

“Syria doesn’t need dialogue to know what they need to do,” Bolton told “Fox News Sunday.” “They need to lean on Hezbollah to get them to release the two captured Israeli soldiers and stop the launch of rockets against innocent Israeli civilians.

That is the bottom line.  If Syria really wants to be an accepted member of the community of nations, they need to stop supporting terrorists.

In this article the writer, Sam F. Ghattas, makes no distinction between the actions of Hezbollah and Israel.  He makes no distinction between Israeli missiles and bombs and Hezbollah’s rocket attacks.  Israeli missiles are directed towards a specific target.  Israeli bombs are dropped by F-16s and are precision guided.  The IDF has gone out of its way to avoid civilian casualties.  Hezbollah, on the other hand, is intentionally using a weapon of terror, an unguided rocket.  While there have been more civilian causualties in Lebanon than is Israel, it is not for a lack of trying on the part of the terrorist group.  Hezbollah has launched hundreds of unguided rockets into Israel for the single purpose of terror.

The UN is true to form, making no distinction except for the loss of life.

U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland, meanwhile, inspected the destruction from Israeli air raids on south Beirut and he stressed need for a halt to the hostilities.

“It’s terrible, I see a lot of children wounded, homeless, suffering. This is a war where civilians pay a disproportionate price in Lebanon and northern Israel. I hadn’t believed it would be block by block leveled to the ground,” he said.

He said the “disproportionate response by Israel is a violation of international humanitarian law.’

Where was the UN outrage when Hezbollah lobed rockets and mortors into northern Israel?  Where was the UN outrage when Palestinians killed themselves and the innocents around them?  Where is the UN outrage when terrorists indiscriminately kill women and children, chop off the heads of civilians, and engage in acts all of which are violations of international law?  The UN urges Israel to use restraint when they are attacked, but utter not a word to Hezbollah.  Can you say anti-Semitism?  Is there any wonder Ehud Olmert will accept NATO forces to patrol the border, but not the UN?

Tags: Iran, Bias, War by Chuck
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My daughter found received this message from one of her friends. It was too good to pass up.

Tax his land, tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor, tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.

Tax his cow, tax his goat,
Tax his pants, tax his coat.
Tax his ties, tax his shirts,
Tax his work, tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco, tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his booze, tax his beers,
If he cries, tax his tears.

Tax his bills, tax his gas,
Tax his notes, tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers, tax him more,
Tax him until he’s good and sore.
Tax his coffin, tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.

Put these words upon his tomb,
“Taxes drove me to my doom!”
And when he’s gone, we won’t relax,
We’ll still be after the inheritance TAX,
Hey maybe you’ll get a refund!!

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel permit tax Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax Interest expense (tax on the money)
Inventory tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road usage taxes (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone federal excise tax
Telephone federal universal service fee tax
Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes
Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax
Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax
Telephone state and local tax
Telephone usage charge tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

COMMENTS:
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was the
most prosperous in the world, had absolutely no national debt, had the
largest middle class in the world and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?

Answer: Democrats.

Ouch! Funny, but true.

Tags: Democrats by Chuck
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I found this news from the Pew Research Center on blogs fascinating.  Among their findings:

8% of internet users keep a blog—12 million Americans
39% of internet users read blogs—57 million Americans

What are the majority of subject matter:
Personal experiences—37%
Politics—11%
News and current events—5%
Business—5%
Technology—4%
Religion—2%

Who are the bloggers:
54% of bloggers are under the age of thirty
30% are between the ages of 30 and 50
14% are between the ages of 50 and 64
2% are 65 or older
54% of bloggers are men
46% of bloggers are women
White—60%
Black—11%
Hispanic—19%
55% blog under a pseudonym
84% see their blog as a hobby

And the real kicker
59% of bloggers spend only one or two hours a week tending their blog. (Man, I need to get a life)
10% spend ten or more hours a week tending their blog.
57% include links to original sources.
56% spend extra time trying to verify facts in one of their posts

Miscellaneous information on blogging habits
95% of bloggers get their news from the internet.
87% of bloggers allow comments
41% of bloggers have a blogroll
18% offer RSS feeds of their blogs
84% of bloggers go on-line daily vs. 78% of other internet users
64% of bloggers go on-line from home several times a day vs. 27% of all users

How many blogs do bloggers maintain?
53% of blogger have only one blog
17% have two blogs
26% have three or more blogs!  Wow!

How often do bloggers post?
25% post 1 or two days a week
15% post 3-5 days a week
28% post every few weeks
19% post even less often
13% post daily or more

Education level of bloggers
37% of bloggers have a college degree vs. 27% of the general public
38% of bloggers are students vs. 16% of the general public
38% of bloggers are knowledge-based professional workers vs. 13% of general public

Hat tip: LaShawn Barber

Tags: Culture by Chuck
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This is good.  A man from Maryland writes to his Senator, Sarbanes, in the hopes of becoming an illegal alien to avoid paying income taxes for two years.  I like it!

Tags: Immigration by Chuck
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