Politico.com today reports that in yesterday’s primary elections, being endorsed by Sarah Palin was a definite asset.  Ms. Palin endorsed four candidates; of those four, three won or moved on to a runoff election.

Nikki Haley, running in the primary for Governor of South Carolina, was the victim of a serious smear campaign with very little evidence to back it up.  Sarah Palin endorsed her and she carried about 49 per cent of the vote.  Because Ms. Haley did not receive 50 per cent of the vote, there will be a runoff election on June 22.

In endorsing Carly Fiorina, Sarah Palin went against the Tea Party, which supported Chuck DeVore.  Sarah Palin, in endorseing Ms. Fiorina, cited her pro-life stand and her 100 per cent NRA rating.   Carly Fiorina will run against Barbara Boxer in November.

Sarah Palin supported Terry Branstad in the Iowa gubernatorial primary.  Again, this was not the obvious choice, but Terry Branstad won.

The forth candidate Ms. Palin endorsed, Cecile Bledsoe, was defeated (52% to 48%).  Ms. Bledsoe was running for Congress in the Republican primary for the Arkansas 3rd Congressional District.

The point being illustrated here is that regardless of how you feel about Sarah Palin, she has the ability to pick candidates successfully.  Her backing probably made the difference in the South Carolina gubernatorial primary and in the California Senate primary.  I don’t know whether or not Sarah Palin is planning to run for President in 2012, but at any rate, she is no longer a newcomer who can be ignored.  She has shown herself to be a very able politician. 

One of the things that has happened in this country over the past fifteen years or so is the growing influence of the SEIU (Service Employees International Union).  Their past president, Andy Stern, was the most frequent visitor to the White House during President Obama’s first year in office.  They are aligned with ACORN and generally have a lot of influence on elections.  However, people are beginning to wake up and see that this influence is not always positive.  Chris Christie is taking them on in New Jersey on the issue of salaries and pensions of public employees and will probably win, but I can guarantee that it will be an uphill climb. 

The SEIU supported Bill Halter in a Democrat Primary for Senate in Arkansas.  Former President Clinton and President Obama both supported Blanche Lincoln. 

Politico.com reported yesterday:

“A senior White House official just called me with a very pointed message for the administration’s sometime allies in organized labor, who invested heavily in beating Blanche Lincoln, Obama’s candidate, in Arkansas.

“”Organized labor just flushed $10 million of their members’ money down the toilet on a pointless exercise,” the official said. “If even half that total had been well-targeted and applied in key House races across this country, that could have made a real difference in November.””

The victory by Blanche LIncoln is this preimary is interesting.  Even the Democrats in Arkansas are not as liberal as the SEIU–Bill Halter challenged Blanche LIncoln from the left–he was more liberal than she was!  Ms. Lincoln voted for Obamacare, but for the unions that was not enough.  If I were a union member, I think I would be more than a little upset about how my union dues were being used.  Unions were started to help their members receive fair wages and to make sure workers were treated fairly–not to control elections.

Ed Morrissey posted an article at Hot Air today about the Virginia firm nHealth, which announced that it will close its doors at the end of the year.  The company stated that the uncentainties created by the Democrats’ health care overhaul are the reason for the closing. 

According to the article:

“The firm, nHealth, appears to be the first to claim that the new law has driven it out of business. “We don’t know what the rules are going to be, and, as a start-up, our investors need certainty,” nHealth CEO and President Paul Kitchen told POLITICO. “The law created so much uncertainty that is beyond our control.””

This is what the healthcare reform bill will do–it will drive private insurers out of business so that the government can take over health care.  The nHealth company issued the kind of health insurance that saves subscribers money–high-deductible, HSA-driven plans that put patients in charge of routine care and leave insurance to cover the crises instead.  That type of company is actually part of the solution to the high cost of health insurance–not part of the problem–and Obamacare has driven them out of business.

“Repeal and Replace” needs to be the goal of the House of Representatives and Senate after the 2010 elections.  Even if we can’t repeal Obamacare, the House of Representatives can refuse to fund it.  That is why we need Republicans and fiscally conservative people elected to the House of Representatives.  Support whatever local candidate fits that description.

Please do not follow this link unless you are prepared for graphic images.   Normally I would not post something this graphic, but unfortunately, that is part of the story.  Camera.org (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) has posted pictures showing how Reuters edited pictures of the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmari,  Two pictures of the activists on the ship were cropped in such a way that the knives in their hands did not show in the pictures.

There is an update on the story posted on the Camera.org site today that states:

“Reuters photo archive (pictures.Reuters.com) now includes both the earlier cropped version of the photos, as well as the original, uncropped version.   Reuters representatives continue  to justify the cropped pictures by insisting that cropping the edges of a photo is normal editing procedure for photographs.  Perhaps so, but the fact that the cropping was carefully limited to the specific evidence of  the “peace” activists’ weapons has prompted the Israeli government press office to weigh in on the matter with a letter to Reuters CEO Tom Glocer demanding a clarification of the apparent photo abuse  by Reuters.”

The battles in the Middle East always involve propaganda.  The question becomes, “Who can you trust as a news source when looking at news from that area of the world?”  Generally I have found that the press releases on the website of the Israeli Defense Force have the most reliable information.  Although they are a part of the Israeli government, they seem dedicated to telling the truth.  They are also a good source of information about the propaganda coming from the other side.

Today’s Boston Herald posted a story about a retired U.S. Marine who runs a high school ROTC program in Worcester.  Major Stephen L. Godin has been told that he will be fired if he does not pay union dues.  Major Godin is the senior naval science instructor at the Naval Junior ROTC Unit of North High School. 

According to the article:

“Major Godin, a 20-year Marine veteran until 1994, who flew F-4 Phantoms and was deployed five times, said he refuses to join the union because he receives all his benefits, including health insurance and half his salary, from the military. Unlike other teachers, he doesn’t earn a stipend for after-school activities, such as the hours he spends coaching the high school’s regional champion drill team. His salary is dictated by the U.S. Military, not labor negotiators, Godin said.”

I guess I just don’t understand.  Why should anyone be forced to join a union or pay union dues?  This is the battle that Governor Christie is fighting in New Jersey.  The unions have taken over the schools and state jobs, and their demands are such that New Jersey (and other states) are going bankrupt.  If the man is doing a good job, and his job is not paid by teh City of Worcester, someone needs to tell the unions to go away.

Yesterday, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is moving three deep-water drilling platforms from their current locations off the Louisiana Coast to foreign locations.  This is the result of President Barack Obama’s deepwater drilling moratorium. 

According to the article:

“In separate letters to top federal officials Monday, two major trade groups urged the federal government to protect what they claim are more than 100,000 jobs by reducing the six-month stoppage and by introducing new safety regulations more quickly.

“The Offshore Marine Service Association, the national trade group for U.S.-flagged vessels working in the energy sector, suggested to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that the safety measures Obama demands can be established by the federal Minerals Management Service in less than a month.”

Maybe it’s my imagination, but the impact of the Obama Administration on the private sector of the American economy is staggering.  The oil platforms that are being removed will not come back.  The removal will destroy an already struggling Louisiana economy.  The removal will also increase our dependency on foreign oil imports.  Meanwhile, the east coast fishing industry is being destroyed by new regulations (see rightwinggranny.com article of May 17, 2010).  The car industry has been partially taken over, the banking industry has been partially taken over, the healthcare insurance industry is being taken over, and unemployment nationwide is still almost 10 per cent.  The major job increases have been in government jobs.  We need to stop a minute and look at the whole picture–not just pieces of the puzzle.

If we want to stop this runaway train that has taken over our economy, we need to seriously consider how we vote in November.  Look at the voting records of your local, state, and national candidates.  If they support big government programs, vote them out.

The hope for Louisiana is Governor Bobby Jindal.  I have told this story before, but I will tell it again.  I met Governor Jindal at the New Orleans aquarium years ago when he was coming out of the elevator pushing one of his children in a stroller.  My daughter stopped him and said how much she appreciated his contributions to Louisiana.  I told him then that I was from Massachusetts and hoped that I would have the opportunity to vote for him for President some day.  I still feel that way.  He is a smart, able executive who is the best hope for Louisiana at this time.  I only wish he lived in Massachusetts!

Politico is reporting today that Helen Thomas is retiring–effective immediately.  She is months short of her ninetieth birthday.  Her statements regarding Israel were reprehensible, and I believe show that she cannot be expected to objectively report any news from the Middle East.  I wish Ms. Thomas well in the future and hope that at some point her views on Israel will change.

CBN News is reporting today on a protest of the building of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York.  More than five thousand people from across the country converged on New York City for the protest.  Many of them had lost family members on September 11, 2001.  The slap in the face is that the planned Mosque will open on September 11, 2011.  One of the comments made during the protest was that the building of a mosque represents victory to a Muslim.  This mosque would be a Muslim celebration of their destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11.

The man behind the mosque, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, has some questionable ties with radical Islam.  In his writings, he advocates Sharia law.  There are also questions as to where the $50 million to construct the mosque is coming from. 

The article points out:

“Many of the protestors were immigrants, including Russian Jews, Arab Christians and Indians who love American freedoms and who fear the growing Islamization of America is slowly eroding that liberty.

“”We are very happy. America has given us freedom of religion, but we do not want to destroy this country! Islam wants to destroy this country that’s the big difference between them and us,” said Narain Kataia, an Indian American.”  

A New York City community board has already approved the construction of this mosque.  The protesters hope that their protest might cause the city board to review that approval.  There are many places in New York City to build a mosque.  Ground Zero does not have to be one of them.

John Hinderaker at Power Line reported yesterday that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are ready to provide a military escort for ships attempting to break the blockade of Gaza by Israel. 

The article concludes:

“The prospect of a Revolutionary Guards escort tells you all you need to know about the “peace and freedom convoys.” If Iran follows through on this threat, it would seem that the prospect of war will become very real. One wonders what could have happened on the international scene over the last sixteen months to embolden Iran to threaten such a provocation.”

When America has a weak President (or a President who appears weak), the world is less safe.  I am not sure who said that, but it appears to be true.  A President who has not stood strong on America’s support for Israel also seems to be a problem.

Iran would love a war between Israel and anyone this summer.  As Iran completes its development of a nuclear bomb, it needs to divert the attention of the world from that program.  Anyone’s war with Israel will do.  Because world opinion (fed by Arab propaganda) tends to be against Israel (even when they defend themselves), this would be the perfect diversion.  Unfortunately, a lot of innocent people will be harmed in the process.

If you are a praying person reading this, please pray.

Today’s Washington Examiner posted an editorial about a Harvard Business School study of the effects of pork barrel projects on local businesses.  The researchers at Harvard studied forty years of data to see what effect kickbacks like the “Louisiana Purchase” and “Cornhusker Kickback” have on the businesses in their areas.  The study began with the assumption that when a senator was given a powerful committee assignment, he would begin the channel pork back to his state.   It was also assumed that the businesses in that state would benefit from this action.  Well, that’s not what they found out.

According to the article:

“In fact, the study found that in the years following a congressman acquiring a powerful committee assignment, the average company in his state cut back capital expenditures by 15 percent. In one prominent example, Alabama went from receiving $6 million less in annual earmark spending than other states to $90 million above the state average after Republican Sen. Richard Shelby assumed the chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee in 1997. Shelby earmarked $15 million for low-cost fabricated housing, but the study found that one of Alabama’s largest suppliers of this housing, Homes Inc., correspondingly reduced capital expenditures by 79.5 percent and downsized its work force by 30 percent.”

Essentially, the study found that federal spending distorts the free market and is not good for the economy.  This is not good news for Senators attempting to win re-election by ‘bringing home the bacon’, but if the word of this study gets out, it may be very good news for American taxpayers!

Yahoo News reported yesterday that a Cairo court has upheld a ruling that will strip Egyptian men married to Jewish Israeli women of their citizenship.  The court requires that each case be considered separately, with no appeal. 

According to the article:

“The court’s decision is taking into account Egypt’s national security,” the judge said.

Lawyer Nabil al-Wahsh said he originally brought the case to court in order to prevent the creation of a generation “disloyal to Egypt and the Arab world.”

Children of such marriages “should not be allowed to perform their military service,” he said.

The number of Egyptian men married to Israeli women is thought to be around 30,000, according to Wahsh. Only 10 percent of them are married to Arab Israelis.

“This ruling is for the benefit of Egypt, a nation of leadership, history and civilisation,” Wahsh said. “It is for the protection of Egypt and Egypt’s youth and its national security.”

.”The decision comes as Israel continues its assault on those who love peace. The latest example is the aggression against the aid boat which was heading towards the blockaded Gaza Strip,” he added.

 

As long as this kind of animosity toward Israel is acceptable in Arab countries and Arab courts, there will be no peace in the Middle East.

My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest — until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment — let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace — a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Franklin D. Roosevelt – June 6, 1944

Since the early 1990’s, there have been sources of news other than the three major networks, the New York Times, and National Public Radio.  First there was the rebirth of AM radio, then the internet, then FOX news.  These additional news outlets have had an impact on American politics.  The forged papers regarding George W. Bush’s National Guard service that CBS put forth would have been accepted by the American public if the blog LIttle Green Footballs had not pointed out that the font used in the documents did not exist at the time the documents were supposedly created.  The ‘blue dress’ that was revealed on the Drudge Report during the Clinton Administration impacted the view people had of President Clinton.  Alternative news sources are now an acceptable way for people to investigate a story on their own and draw their own conclusions.  That fact is not always appreciated by some of the people in power.  There is an expression “when you tax something, there will be less of it.”  Keep that in mind as you read the following.

Yesterday’s Washington Times reported that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the idea of taxing internet websites.  Aside from the fact that this will limit the free distribution of news, it is another example of the government stealing money from the people who earn it.  The government makes no contribution to internet websites, the people who author them do the work.  Why in the world should the government make money from them?

The article states:

“In other words, government policy would encourage a tax on websites like the Drudge Report, a must-read source for the news links of the day, so that the agency can redistribute the funds collected to various newspapers.”

Loosely translated, that means taking money from the websites that are profitable (advertisements, etc.–just for the record, this website is not profitable!) and giving to businesses that are not profitable, thus overriding free enterprise.  If newspapers were more balanced in their reporting, I believe they would be more successful.  The alternative media has arisen out of need–that is why it is successful.  The taxing of internet news is dangerous to our freedom as well as to our pocketbooks.

This is the text of the Balfour Declaration::

Foreign Office,
November 2nd, 1917.

Yours sincerely
Arthur James Balfour

The Balfour Declaration declared the intention of Great Britain to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.  In 1920, the League of Nations drew up the map to establish the Jewish state.    In 1920, at the League of Nations Conference of San Remo, the boundaries for the new state of Israel were drawn up.  That state included land extending west to the Mediterranean Sea and east through what is now known as Jordan.  At the same time, Arab statehodd was granted to Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.  That land was referred to as (Eastern) Palestine.  On January 4, 1919, Feisal ibn-Hussein, representing the Arab Kingdom of Hedjaz, and Chaim Weitzman, representing the Zionists, signed a formal agreement establishing the Jewish homeland.  Feisal ibn-Hussein agreed to abandon all claim of his father to (Western) Palestine if he secured Iraq and Eastern Palestine as Arab territories. 

In 1921, Britain reneged on the original agreement and give away 75 percent of the land it had promised to Israel.  The country of Transjordan was given to Abdullah, brother of Feisal ibn Hussein.  Abdullah, a Hashemite, was in Transjordan because the Wahabi Muslims had driven the Hasemites out of Mecca and Medina, where they had been custodians of the holy sites for centuries.  Transjordan was set up as a Palistinian-Arab state.

This short history lesson is in response to a statement by reporter Helen Thomas at the White House Jewish Heritage Celebration on May 27, 2010.  When asked to make a statement relative to the Jewish Heritage Celebration, Ms. Thomas stated, “Tell them (the Jews) to get the hell out of Palestine.” and went on the claim that the Jews were occupiers and needed to go home to Germany, Poland, and the United States.  It is really sad to see that kind of ignorance and bigotry in someone who is supposed to objectively report news.  If you would like to see the YouTube video of her statements, go to YouTube, put “Helen Thomas tells Jews to go back to Germany” in search, and you will find the entire statement.  I refuse to post the link here.

Historically, Israel is Jewish land.  Jerusalem was the capital of ancient Israel.  The Arabs are in charge of the vast majority of land in the Middle East, but for some reason, they want to destroy the Jewish state.  It makes no sense.  The amount of land in the state of Israel is the equivalent of a matchbook cover on a football field.

The best quote I have heard on the problems the Arabs have with Israel is from Walid Shoebat, who said, “Why is it that on June 4th 1967 I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian?”

There was never even a concept of a Palestinian state until the Arabs lost the 1967 war.  At that time they began a propaganda war that there needed to be two states in Israel.  The goal has always been for the destruction of Israel.  Until that goal changes, there will never be a peaceful solution.

UPDATE:  Ms. Thomas evidently is having second thoughts.  Her website now has the following statement:

“I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.” 

No comment.

NOTE:  The maps above came from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

On June 2, the Canada-Israel Committee released the statistics on the amount of humanitarian aid that Israel routinely allows to go into the Gaza strip. 

According to the article:

“Over one million tons of humanitarian supplies were delivered by Israel to the people of Gaza in the past 18 months – that’s equal to nearly one ton of aid for every man, woman and child in Gaza. 

“In the first quarter of 2010 alone (January-March), Israel delivered 94,500 tons of supplies to Gaza. It’s very easy to miss what that actually means for the people of Gaza. The breakdown includes:

• 40,000 tons of wheat – which is equal to 53 million loaves of bread;
• 2,760 tons of rice – which equals 69 million servings;
• 1,987 tons of clothes and footwear – the equivalent weight of 3.6 million pairs of jeans; and
• 553 tons of milk powder and baby food – equivalent to over 3.1 million days of formula for an average six-month-old baby.

“This reflects a long-term effort on the part of Israel to deliver a massive and comprehensive supply of aid to Gaza’s civilians, while restricting the ability of Hamas to import missiles that have been launched at the cities of southern Israel. In 2009 alone:

• During the Muslim holy days of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha, Israel shipped some 11,000 head of cattle into Gaza – enough to provide 8.8 million meals of beef;
• More than 3,000 tons of hypochlorite were delivered by Israel to Gaza for water purification purposes – that’s 60 billion gallons of purified water; and
• Israel brought some 4,883 tons of medical equipment and medicine into Gaza – a weight equivalent to over 360,000 260-piece mobile trauma first aid kits.”

Before we get all sympathetic to the starving Gazans, we need to look at some of the above numbers.  Life in Gaza is probably not fun–the government is not really concerned with the needs of the people there–they are only concerned with destroying Israel.  The government is run by Hamas–a terrorist organization.  Terrorists have not historically turned out to be good government administrators.  I have no idea if the people of Gaza are happy with Hamas as their government.  Hamas defeated Fatah (another terrorist organization) to take over Gaza.  Until Gaza has a government that does not routinely lob rockets at civilian populations in Israel, they can expect to stay under an arms blockade.

Marty Lamb is running for Congress in the third Congressional District in Massachusetts.  His campaign released this today.

MARTY LAMB FOR CONGRESS

For more information on Marty’s candidacy, voters can visit his website www.MartyforCongress.com or follow him on twitter and facebook.

We need Congressmen with the courage to stand up for what is right.  I will be voting for Marty Lamb.

My best advice to anyone who is currently unemployed would be to apply for a government job–they seem to be the only ones hiring!  Bloomberg.com reported today that according to Labor Department figures payrolls rose by 431,000 last month, including a 411,000 jump in government hiring of temporary workers for the 2010 census.  Private payrolls increased 41,000.  The current jobless rate is 9.7 percent. 

Other statistics cited in the article:

“The so-called underemployment rate — which includes part- time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking — decreased to 16.6 percent from 17.1 percent.

“The number of temporary workers increased 31,000. Payrolls at temporary-help agencies often picks up before companies take on permanent staff.” 

Unless some move is made to cut taxes in the private sector and to legislate a tax structure that is stable and can be used in economic planning, we will continue to see little or no job growth in the private sector.  Another reason companies are hesitant to hire new employees right now is the confusion about how much government healthcare reform is going to cost.  Until a corporation has a definite idea of what its future spending is, it is going to be very cautious in its hiring practices. 

In the past six months, Massachusetts has undergone some major changes.  Scott Brown was elected to the United States Senate to fill Ted Kennedy’s term, and a Republican was elected to the Massachusetts legislature to replace Scott Brown.  There will be Republican primaries this summer to choose candidates for state, local, and national offices.  Something is brewing.

When I went to my local supermarket this morning, I was stopped by a very polite person who asked me if I was a registered voter.  He asked me if I was willing to sign a petition to put a question on the ballot in November to roll back the Massachusetts state sales tax to 3 percent.  Wow.  I signed.  To learn more about what this ballot question is about, please visit rollbacktaxes.com.  On August 1 of last year, the sales tax was raised from 5 per cent to 6.25 per cent.  Please visit the website to see the calculations on the impact of rolling back the state sales tax.

Yesterday, Breitbart.com posted an article about President Obama’s lastest speech regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  According to the article:

“Seeking opportunity in a crisis, Obama argued for action in Congress as crews struggled into a seventh week to contain BP’s mangled oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. He urged lawmakers to shift the tax-break money toward clean-energy research and approve a major energy bill, now stalled in the Senate, that would slap a price on carbon emissions. “

Meanwhile, marshlands in Louisiana are possibly permanently damaged, and the oil spill threatens the tourist industry in the Southeast.  This is pure opportunism.  This administration believes any crisis can be used to increase taxes or costs of living on every American.  Do they honestly believe that a tax hike on the oil companies will not be passed on to the consumer? 

The fact is that our economy runs on carbon fuel.  Since the environmentalists have closed down much of the easily accessible oil, we are forced to drill in places where drilling is difficult and not totally without risk.  Maybe it’s time to reconsider ANWR.

“None of the four wars in my lifetime came about because we were too strong.  It is weakness that invites adventurous adversaries to make mistaken judgments.  America is the most peaceful, least warlike nation in modern history.  We are not the cause of all the ills of the world.  We’re a patient and generous people.  But for the sake of our freedom and that of others, we cannot permit our reserve to be confused with a lack of resolve.”

                       Ronald Reagan

Yesterday, Power Line posted an article about Andrew McCarthy’s new book The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America.  Andrew McCarthy was the federal prosecutor who prosecuted the “Blind Sheikh,” Omar Abdel Rahman, after the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.

In responding to a request from the Power Line writers to provide something about his new book, Mr. McCarthy replied.  This paragraph was included in his write-up:

“The problem is that those who say Islam is the problem have the better case. I was first struck by this sad fact during our terrorism trial in 1995, when I had to get ready to cross-examine the “Blind Sheikh,” Omar Abdel Rahman. Though he ended up opting not to testify, I still had to prepare. Back then I thought that if what we were saying as a government were true – if these terrorists were lying about Islam and perverting its doctrine in order to justify mass-murder attacks – then surely I should be able to locate three or four places where the Blind Sheikh had misstated the Koran and the other species of Muslim scripture. I searched high and low, but there were none.”

Just as there are Christians who have no idea what the Bible says (or feel that it is not relevant to today’s world), there are Muslims who are quite comfortable ignoring many aspects of the Koran.  As long as those Muslims live in a country (or area of a country) that is not ruled by Sharia Law, that is not a problem–they can dress as they like, hold hands in public, and women have basic human rights.  However, if they live in a country with Sharia Law, the option of being a ‘moderate Muslim’ is not available.  The problem is that there is an element of Islam that seeks to make the entire world a caliphate ruled by Sharia Law.  The goal is to achieve this by both violent and non-violent means.  The non-violent means are already at work in America–that is what Andrew McCarthy’s book is about.

We ignore both the violent and non-violent attacks on our culture at our own risk.

Last week Big Journalism reported that President Obama and General McChrystal have asked Michael Yon to leave Afghanistan. 

The article reports:

“And yet nobody in the media seems to have much of a problem with Michael Yon being removed from the front lines by Obama/General McChrystal. Yon has openly stated the problems in Afghanistan right now and how we could lose this war, unless changes are made. He has been critical of the current rules of engagement that have put our troops in danger and could actually make this war like the Vietnam that the leftist media claimed it was early and often when Bush was president (it’s strange you don’t hear those comparisons from them anymore).

“Yon’s reward? He’s lost his embed status, banished to Bangkok. Yon could return but his access might be limited and you can’t just pop in and out of that theater like it’s the neighborhood movie palace.  Mess with Yon enough and his resources wear thin, but his patience will not.  You will not stop this soldier. He is the ultimate warrior for those who fight and die for this country. His reports are honest, chilling, gripping and are as reflective of the battles they represent as anything I have ever read.  But this administration is making it as difficult for him to do his job. You can’t believe this is by accident. The most critical battle in Afghanistan is about to take place, the battle for Kandahar, and the voice of the American soldier is not allowed in.”

I don’t always like or agree with Michael Yon’s reports, but I respect his honesty and his experience.  He was the voice who spoke out against the current rules of engagement which will result in more American soldiers getting killed and more Taliban soldiers living to fight another day.  As someone with a family member currently serving in Afghanistan, I am disturbed by the current rules of engagement.  As a former green beret, Michael Yon understands the impact those rules have and had the courage to speak against them.  That may be why he is no longer there.

If we are truly to have freedom of the press in America, Michael Yon needs to be back in Afghanistan, embedded with the troops and reporting the truth.

Yesterday, Andrew McCarthy posted an article in the New York Post about the war to preserve western culture.  This is a war that America to a large extent is not fighting, but is being fought against us. 

In his article, Mr. McCarthy cites some of the evidence of the war:

“In 1991, Mohamed Akram, a US-based chieftain of the Brotherhood, penned a memo for the eyes of the central leadership in Egypt. Later seized by the FBI, this self-described “Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America” outlined the game-plan for what the organization regards as its “civilizational” war against the West:

“”The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.””

The goal is to bring the world (including America) under sharia law.  We need to understand what that means.  Sharia law includes all aspects of life–it is not simply limited to religion.  Sharia law controls economics–interest is not allowed on loans.  It controls social life–women must be completely covered–they may be arrested if their clothes are too tight or too revealing, holding hands in public by an unmarried couple is a crime, coverting to another religion from Islam is punishable by death.  Women may be stoned for adultery; homosexuals are hung.  This is not what we understand as freedom.

There are some problems with western culture.  I would love to turn the clock back fifty years in terms of culture–I think “Father Knows Best” was much better television than “The Simpsons”,  I’m not necessarily into bobby socks, but I do think skirts should be long enough to cover most of your thighs.  I am not sure clothes are manufactured in America for anyone over the age of eighteen.  I would like to see adolescence begin after age thrteen and be over by age twenty–I think western culture has turned it into a way of life!  But even with its faults, I think western civilization is the culture that most successfully allows people to achieve whatever goals they may have and reaping the approriate rewards.  The idea of a worldwide caliphate is unacceptable to me, and I suspect it would be unacceptable to any American who understands exactly what it means.  The cultural war against an Islamic society in America is one that we need to fight.

This picture is from the Israel Defense Force (IDF) Blog.  I think it says it all.

On May 21, Israel Today reported that the United States has joined the United Nations group the Alliance of Civilizations which began in 2006.  The stated goal of the group is to bridge the gap between Muslim and western civilizations.  However, that is not actually what they have done. 

The Jerusalem Post reported in May that George Bush had refused to join the organization because of its anti-Semitic tendencies.  The Jerusalem Post pointed out that the present administration feels these concerns have been addressed:

“The officials said earlier fears about the “imbalances” in the group, which was set up by Spain and Turkey, had been addressed after the US expressed “serious concerns” about the alliance’s 2006 report. That document focused on the Middle East and identified Israel’s “disproportionate retaliatory actions in Gaza and Lebanon” as a main cause of Muslim-Western tension.”

This is not an organization America needs to be a part of.  The group holds the United States and Israel responsible for all problems between the western culture and the Muslim culture.  We need to remember that the Muslim culture is not an ‘open, tolerant’ culture.  You can’t build a Christian church or a Jewish synagogue in Saudi Arabia.  How many mosques have been built in America?  We need to remember that part of the Muslim culture is the total subjugation of women.  They are not inclined to be flexible in that area either.  The purpose of this organization is the bring the west into Muslim ideas–not to bring harmony.  Sharia law dictates that anyone who converts from Islam to Christianity should be killed–that doesn’t sound like a desire to co-exist–that sounds like a desire to take over.  This is a bad decision–it will not promote peace, it will encourage more Muslim activity aimed at destroying western culture.