FOUR ALGERIANS IN BUSH CABINET?!

Okay... NOT Algerian: Algeresque - as in "Bush nominees exemplify Horatio Alger heros," but it did get your attention, didn't it!?

That's what so amazed me about Bush's latest cabinet picks: their individual stories're so Horatio Algeresque - each PROVES that (1) the American Dream is alive and well, and that (2) the elusive qualities which make some people rise to the top from unbelieveably humble origins are qualities that our President admires in people, that (3) he seeks out these kind of people - and depends on them. YUP: these picks say a lot about America, and a lot about Bush, too.

Here're some thumbnails on the four Algerians:

Al Gonzales - the child of migrant workers and the product of public elementary and secondary schools; attended the Air Force Academy then Rice, and Harvard. (Read more HERE and HERE and HERE.)

Condoleeza Rice - the daughter of a minister who grew up in segregated Birmingham. A graduate of college at age 19. A concert pianist, fluent in Russian - and NFL-ese. First black female provost of a major university - Stanford. NSC member under Bush 41, before becoming the Bush 43's National Security Advisor - and soon to be Secretary of State; the first black female to hold that job. More details HERE and HERE and HERE.

Carlos Gutierrez - is a Cuban emigre whose impoverished family came here to escape Castro's totalitarian tyranny when Carlos was just 6 years old. A Bell Hop taught him English. His first job was driving a delivery truck in Mexico - for Kellogg, where he rose to become CEO. More HERE and HERE.

Bernard Kerik - well, beginnings do NOT get any more humble than his: he is the son of a prostitute - who abandoned him; he was then adopted by the Keriks. He grew up on the tough streets of Paterson, NJ and was a high school drop out. He became an army MP in South Korea, a prison warden in NJ - got his GED, then a New York City street-cop on the beat, and then a fearless undercover narcotics detective, and then became one of the most highly decorated cops in NYC history, then the Commisoner of Corrections in NYC, and then NYC Police Commissioner - as Bush said: the same job once held by Teddy Roosevelt. More HERE and HERE.

These are the kind of people that make us all proud to be Americans - and they should make all American proud of their president, too. He has chosen well.

UPDATE: WELCOME POLIPUNDIT READERS and fans of Lorie Byrd (and her blog Byrd Droppings)! Thanks for coming by! Please check out the Dec. & Nov. archives - there's some interesting stuff here you won't read anywhere else. Much of it recently linked to by Roger L. Simon, and Powerline, and Instapundit, and My Pet Jawa, and Dissecting Leftism, and Ace Pilots/Friends of Saddam and The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid and Man Without Qualities and Outside the Beltway. Thanks to all and Cheers!

TIME FOR "HELMS-BIDEN" REDUX

UPDATE: (originally posted 11/24, but it's more relevant than ever, so I just bumped it up!)

In the 1990's, Congress passed a bipartisan bill - the Helms-Biden Act - which forced the federal government to withhold UN dues until the UN reformed. It worked. It's time to use that tactic again - to get UN cooperation with the Congressional committee investigating recent UN abuses - namely the OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL.

Here's a letter I sent to the Chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee - Senators Lugar and Biden. I also sent a few to a couple of other senators on the FR committee and one to Senator Norm Coleman - chairman of the Government Affairs committee - (which is the lead committee investigating the UN's Oil for Food scandal in the Senate), and to a few members of that committee, too.

Read it. If you agree, copy it and send it to your senator. If a few Senators threatened to introduce the Bill, it might turn up the heat on the UN and get the Congress more cooperation. HERE'S THE LETTER:

Dear Senator;

In the 1990's Congress passed the Helms-Biden act - withholding dues fro the UN until they reformed. It worked.

It's time to at least threaten the same thing now: Either the UN starts cooperating with the Congressional investigations in the "Oil for Food Scandal" or we will withhold dues.

This is all about accountability. The American people expect the UN to be accountable. Your committee should demand it on behalf of the American people - and Iraqis. The embezzled monies - maybe as much as $27 billion - must be found and returned to the Iraqi people. A Congressional investigation could help accomplish this - if the UN cooperated. IF YOU PASS A NEW BILL WITHHOLDING DUES UNTIL THEY COOPERATE! THEY WILL THEN COOPERATE!

Thanks for your time.
Sincerely,

UN'S ADVISORY COUNCIL REPORT NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT'S WRITTEN ON

This UN Advisory Panel Report is just plain ol' CRAP; which should surprise no one considering that the USA's rep on this unelected non-representative panel was "General don't rock the boat" Scowcroft!

It recommends enlarging the UNSC. With an expanded UNSC, there could NEVER ever be any authorized war/attack/counter-attack.

Kerry would've acceded to this crap - it's his "global test."

No GOP prez ever will. No patriot could.

BTW: where's the frickin UNSC now that Congo and Rwanda are back at war - one that has killed 3MILLION people in the last 8 years while the UN has its peace-keeping forces RIGHT EFFIN THERE!

The UN: it'd be a bad joke... if it wasn't a counter-productive nightmare.

It's time to pull the plug on our financing them. It's time for HELMS BIDEN REDUX!

Check out this article on the panel's recommendations.

HAT TIP ACE PILOTS AND FRIENDS OF SADDAM.

BUSH IMPLIES SUPPORT FOR WITHHOLDING U.N. DUES IF THE U.N. WON'T COOPERATE WITH THE SENATE'S INVESTIGATION INTO THE OIL-FOR-FOOD SCANDAL

From "Reuters":

Bush, asked if Annan should resign, would not say.

"I look forward to the full disclosure of the facts, get an honest appraisal of that which went on. And it's important for the integrity of the organization to have a full and open disclosure of all that took place with the oil-for-food program," Bush said. "On this issue, it's very important for the United Nations to understand that there ought to be a full and fair and open accounting of the oil-for-food program," he said. "In order for the taxpayers of the United States to feel comfortable about supporting the United Nations, there has to be an open accounting," he said.

IOW: if there is not cooperation, then the US taxpayers won't support the UN...

IOW: it may soon become time for Helms-Biden Redux! (More HERE. And HERE.)

Bush gets it!

GERMAN UNEMPLOYMENT UP FOR TENTH STRAIGHT MONTH!

FROM THE BBC:

The number of people out of work in Europe's largest economy has risen for the tenth straight month as growth remains stubbornly slow. German unemployment rose 7,000 in November to 4.464 million people, or 10.8% of the workforce. [...] Among the new initiatives are the so-called "one-euro jobs" which top up unemployment benefit. The scheme's formal launch is January, but hirings for these positions are already taking place and affecting the unemployment statistics, economists said. "The deterioration of the labour market does not come as a surprise," said Isabelle Kronawitter at Hypovereinsbank. "Job creation measures probably prevented a stronger increase in the seasonally adjusted numbers."

"New initiatives"!?!? Just more of the same old Left-wing, top-down, elitist, non-market-driven drivel! You'd think that seeing how Reaganism/Thatcherism worked so well in the US and the UK, more Europeans would begin to accept the truth that socialism just doesn't work, wouldn't you!?

What works? CUTTING TAXES - TO ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT; RELAXING LABOR LAWS - TO MAKE IT EASIER TO HIRE AND FIRE. For starters. Sheesh...

KOFI WON'T RESIGN

FOX: "Russia, Britain, Chile, Spain and other nations on the U.N. Security Council strongly backed Annan in recent days, as did non-council members. The 54 African nations sent a letter of support. 'He has heard no calls for resignation from any member state,' U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters when asked whether he envisioned Annan's stepping down. 'If there's some agitation on this issue on the sidelines ... that's healthy debate. But he is intent on continuing his substantive work for the remaining two years and one month of his term.'"

So, if Kofi won't resign, and naturally: he has the support of all those scummy nations who were sucking at the teat of the Oil-For-Food Program!

Well, then there's only one way to force the UN into greater cooperation with the Congressional investigation into the Oil-For-Food Scandal, aka "UNSCAM:" Pass an act that withholds ALL UN dues until we get cooperation - Helms-Biden Redux.

As I discussed here and here and here.

UKRAINE UPDATE

New Ukraine poll looks likely
By Ron Popeski

KIEV ("Reuters") - A new Ukrainian poll of some sort looks increasingly likely as parliament and the Supreme Court press ahead with efforts to resolve a national crisis over a disputed presidential election. ... No more talks were scheduled pending a ruling by the Supreme Court on Yushchenko's complaint of electoral fraud in the November 21 run-off for the presidency. ... Parliament meets on Thursday to begin drafting changes to legislation necessary to implement reforms. Yushchenko said he believed agreement would take 24 hours, but EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, one of the international mediators, said a month was needed for amendments.

There's more - so use the link, AND STAY TUNED...

SYRIAN MOSQUES AID IRAQI INSURGENCY

News-Telegraph: Mosques sending fighters to Iraq

By Jack Fairweather

(AMMAN) A network of Syrian mosques is sending men, money and weapons to Iraq, fuelling the insurgency. An investigation by the Telegraph has shown that Arab volunteers are streaming across the border despite Damascus government claims that it is curbing cross-border terrorism. [...] Several hundred Syrians are recruited, equipped and sent to Iraq every month. Iraqi exiles say that members of Saddam's former Ba'athist regime pay £1,600 a month to the families of the fighters. A senior American official said: "Most of what is bad that comes into Iraq comes from Syria and I have seen little to change my mind about that." The US military says there may be as many as 2,000 foreign fighters in Iraq, many from Syria.

This must simply be brought to a halt.

"WE'LL KEEP THEM ON THE RUN!"

FILE THIS UNDER: "You can run, but you can't hide!"

(AFIS): Coalition Plans to Keep Insurgents on Run, Commander Says

By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2004 -- Successful military operations in Fallujah, Iraq, have put insurgents and foreign fighters on the run, and the military commander of coalition forces in Iraq said today the city is "no longer held hostage to terror."

"We now intend to keep the heat on the terrorists by pursuing them into the new locations that they've gone into and to continue the disruption of their efforts while we have them on the run," he added. ... In the aftermath of Fallujah, Casey said, the coalition hopes to focus efforts on providing better security in Ramadi, capital of the Anbar province, as well as in Mosul and Baghdad. ... "So what you'll see in the next 60 days is a series of operations to enhance security in those three critical regions," he said.

Here's a link to the Multi-National Force Iraq website.

An Astute Political Strategist Agrees: USE OUR U.N. DUES AS WEDGE

In THE HILL: Dick Morris agrees - the Congress should use dues as wedge to get the UN to cooperate fully with the CONGRESSIONAL FOOD FOR OIL SCANDAL INVESTIGATION ... as I suggested here and here and here...

More Proof the Bush Doctrine is Working...

From JANES:

"Damascus under pressure: The Syrian leadership, worried over the possibility of being the next target of the US administration's policy of 'regime change' in the Middle East, has finally started sending out some conciliatory signals. JID's regional correspondent asks whether this will prove too little, too late to save the country's Ba'ath Party regime. [Jane's Intelligence Digest - first posted to http://jid.janes.com – 1 December 2004]"

Syria has recently admitted it has much of Saddam's money (though not as much as we say), and they have made overtures to Israel - as if sincere about seeking to re-open negotiations over the Golan. They may soon even tighten their borders with Iraq. All good signs - to be monitored.

This proves that the Bush Doctrine and the Bush Middle East policies work - and that they've actually struck fear into the heart of the enemy, and have thereby reduced the likelihood of war, terror - and have also therefore already made us all safer.

More from the CSM here.

More Proof That Jihadoterrorism is Global

Here's a news item about a Chechen killed in SW Pakistan today. This is further proof that Jihadoterrorism is global, non-national and not directly related to so-called USA hegemony. The Jihadoterrorists have a global agenda and everyone who opposes it is the enemy: the USA, Israel, Pakistan; the House of Saud; Indians; Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, athiests - EVERYONE who is not Salafist/Baathist Jihadoterrorist.

I wish our side was as united as theirs.... (After 9/11, I shudder to think of what it might take to make the Left come to their senses!)

PENTAGON TO INCREASE TROOP LEVEL IN IRAQ TO 150,000

Click here for a complete GOOGLE NEWS round up.

IMHO: this increase is needed to ensure that the Iraqi elections occur - an occurance which the Jihadoterrorists are deperately trying to prevent. As I wrote earlier: Between Fallujah and February expect non-stop mayhem by the Jihadoterrorists in Iraq.

UKRAINE: DEAL ENDS CRISIS... for now

From the Clog-fella:

"Breaking News - Agreement Signed -- From the press conference at Marinskiy Palace. From what I'm hearing, President Kuchma announced:

1. All parties have signed an agreement. It was a "genuine compromise." There is going to be a revote, though I don't think the type has been decided yet.
2. There is going to be an expert working group to look at the legal issues of the election. They will follow the recommendations of the Supreme Court.
3. All sides are renouncing violence.
4. The protesters are going to stop blocking government buildings.
5. There will be constitutional reform during the upcoming period."

MORE HERE , and HERE.

RATHER REPLACEMENT RACE HEATS UP

DRUDGE linked to a piece in the NY OBSERVER which revealed that Scott Pelley (the number two "in-house" prospect) is actively dissing John Roberts - the number one in-house prospect.

(BTW: Don't you think Lesley Stahl or Steve Kroft would be better in-house prospects, or are they in the in-house outhouse!? I dunno...)

BUT WHAT REALLY SHOCKED ME ABOUT THE ARTICLE is the fact that ANDREW HEYWARD - the president of CBS News - is very very involved in the selection process! WHY IS THIS SHOCKING?! Because Heyward is up to his eyeballs in Rathergate sh*t, that's why. SURE: we shouldn't pre-judge him (and yes: the Thornbrgh Investigation has yet to report), but at the very least, shouldn't Heyward wait until he's cleared before he puts his otherwise TAINTED FINGERPRINTS all over the new person they select!? Sheesh...

ISLAMIC MISOGYNY IN JORDAN

This is a must read. Here's a snippet: "Don’t believe it when people tell you how modern a lot of the people in Jordan are. It's one big facade."

RTWT and find out the shocking reasons why. HAT TIP POLIPUNDIT.

HAMAS TO BOYCOTT ELECTIONS

Hamas is nothing more than a Jihadoterrorist organization that wants to eradicate Israel - so this news is NOT surprising. But until they - and their genocidal cohorts and colleagues in all the other Jihadoterrorist organizations are destroyed there can be no state of Palestine and no peace.

UPDATE/BREAKING NEWS (h/t Guardian): Barghouti to enter race, after all! (AP):

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Associates of Marwan Barghouti said Wednesday the jailed Palestinian uprising leader has decided to run for president, reversing an earlier decision and throwing Palestinian politics into disarray. Barghouti's candidacy would undermine the prospects of interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the presidential candidate of the ruling Fatah movement. Fatah officials have warned that a bid by Barghouti, who is a leading Fatah member and more popular than the staid Abbas, could split the movement.

This does not bode well for the Palestinians...

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN FOR RATHER'S REPLACEMENT

UPDATED: THERE'S A LOT OF SPECULATION ABOUT WHO CBS WILL PICK TO REPLACE RATHER. (H/T Drudge.) I think my nominee could help CBS in the ratings and cure the Old Media of their allergy to bloggers, 'cause my nominee is GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS! The Professor is already sort of an anchorman to the blogosohere, isn't he? The Instapundit introduces his huge audience to posts from far-flung pajamioed bloggers from all over the blogosphere with pithy, erudite and funny repartee - much like a suave anchorman introducing a report from a correspondent in a suit. Instead of "AND THAT'S THE WAY IT IS..." or "Courage" (whatever the heck did THAT mean anyhow?!?) the Professor could sign off each night with "HEH" or "INDEED!" Heh...

IRAN and BUSH

CSM has a good commentary on the IAEE's deal with Iran, and why - perhaps - Bush is going along... for now.

TROUBLE IN FATAH-ISTAN?

BBC: "A student leader of the Palestinian Fatah movement has been shot dead by gunmen in the West Bank town of Nablus, Palestinian officials have said. The officials said they did not know who killed him, but said it may have been the result of internal unrest. Israel said it had no troops in the area, while Palestinian sources said they did not believe the shooting was the result of any activity by the Israeli army."

If this is how the post-Arafat Fatah party - the biggest of Palestinian parties (which Mamoud Abbas, the next president of the PA now controls) - deals with "internal unrest," then it does not bode well how they will (continue to) treat Israelis.

Has North Korea Reached the Tipping Point?

Here's a link to a thoughtful piece from the CSM on the current situation in North Korea - including further confirmations of the disappearing Kim Jong Il posters.

And here are two key graphs that make me think that North Korea has reached the tipping point:

"Refugees also indicate that opposition has become more open and daring. More and more pamphlets and banners are appearing calling for Kim's overthrow. Almost all refugees report seeing slogans such as "Down with Kim Jong Il" painted on walls, pylons, and railway carriages throughout the country. Statues and murals of the Kims have been defaced, and the halls erected for worship of the Kim family have been burnt down. Some officials have been found killed in their homes. Although the food crisis is easing, with the World Food Program reporting a good harvest for this year, the country remains on the brink of starvation."

If Kim can no longer payoff his Army or his cronies well enough to buy their loyalty and their willingness to punish dissenting Koreans - who are so bad off themselves that they no longer fear any further depredations if they get caught dissenting (IOW: courage is just another word for nothing left to lose) - then Kim has lost his carrot and his cudgel, and will soon topple. Good riddance.

(Other TAB posts on North Korea here and here.)

RIDGE RESIGNATION PRESSER

I just watched the Ridge resignation presser on C-SPAN. He was very impressive. He seemed much more relaxed than he has when making those DHS security announcements (increasing the threat levels) - as would be expected. He handled all the questions with grace and enormous confidence, and was very informative and seemed absolutely totally informed..

In a word, he appeared... "PRESIDENTIAL." YUP - he looked and sounded like he'd make a GREAT president. And it brings to mind an absolutely UNBEATABLE GOP ticket in '08:

Ridge-Bush (Jeb, that is!). With PA and FA in the bag - so too would be the White House!

[ I know; I know: Many pundits post that the right-wing of the GOP would never accept or allow a candidate with Ridge's "pro-choiceness" to get the nomination, and that they would mobilize to deny him the nomination.

Perhaps. But perhaps Ridge can find a way to prove to the anti-abortion activists that he would use federal polices to diminish abortions (with the goal of making them virtually non-existent) without changing Roe v Wade, and without using the courts? After all: it is the fact that so many abortions occur, and not their legal status which is so troubling to so many of us all - isn't it?!

And it seems to me, that there might be a politically feasible way to accomplish this - and circumvent the activists. HOW? By finding and promoting ways to radically decrease the numbers of unwanted pregnancies and to radically increase the numbers of domestic adoptions - or (should science catch up to society, on this issue) find ways for "unwanted embryos" to be transplanted into the wombs of the women that want them, (but cannot produce them naturally or with IVF). This procedure is, as-of-now, science-fiction, but if researched, tested, and made feasible one day, it would transform this hot-button issue into a win-win-win-win: A win for Moderate GOP'ers, a win for the anti-abortion activists, a win for all the embryos, and a win for all the women who want to be moms (but cannot).

After all (as Bush understands): to eliminate abortion from the world we need to create a "A Culture of Life." And this cannot be brought into being by judicial fiat, nor by legislation, right now - without creating a very divisive battle at a time when we need to be coming together, and on an issue that we need to come together on. ]

Thanks for the L I N K S ! ! !

In the last week or so I have gotten linked to by Roger L. Simon, and Powerline, and Instapundit, and My Pet Jawa, and Dissecting Leftism, and Ace Pilots/Friends of Saddam and The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid and Man Without Qualities and Outside the Beltway! Thank you all very much!

(In the preceding week (or so), others may have linked, too - but my referral-tracking function was down so I missed'em. So if I missed you: a belated and apologetic Thanks!)

I especially want to thank to everyone who stops by to read something! I try to link tostuff others aren't linking to, or to take an angle on things that others may be missing. So I hope you always find something different here - maybe even thought provoking...

Thanks again!

TRIPPI OFF BASE

Trippi wrote an interesting op-ed in today's WSJ. He analyzes the results of the 2004 race, and makes some recommendations.

He gets the awful performance of the party pretty much right, but his prescription is lousy. He wants the party to become more of a grassroots organization - in structure and in policy.

I disagree: The Dems should not move away from the DLC center of the party (the southern moderates who have brought them their only presidential wins since WW2) and get back to their base - those wacky Lefties who turn out for the primaries.

Trippi blames the steady Democrat losses in the Congress on the DLC-center - committing a logical fallacy: he is ascribing causation to a coincidence. NEED PROOF!? Well, in EVERY CASE the Democrat who lost a seat in Congress lost it to someone more to the right than he. SO... if Democrats nominate more candidates who are also more to the Left (to satisfy their base) they will only do EVEN WORSE!

As far as the presidential races are concerned: The Democrats must undo the McGovern era "reforms" to the nominating process and un-frontload the primaries (a stupid thing done by moneyman McAuliffe). IOW: they have to take the party away from the Left and give it back to the adults in the middle. They should maybe even go to OPEN PRIMARIES.

They must do these things because America will never EVER elect a Leftist. And any process which increases the likelihood that the Democrats will nominate a Leftist will only hasten the demise of the party. As Zell Miller has so clearly been saying since he nominated Bill Clinton in 1992 - and as he wrote in his GREAT BOOK: A NATIONAL PARTY NO MORE!

There's also a great post and thread up at the GREAT SITE POLIPUNDIT on this.

The core problem is that the Democrat Party is historically merely a coalition of disparate interest groups (each seeking to suck at the federal teat), and not a cohesive party of ideas and values, (as the GOP has been since the Civil War). And all that is left of this once great Democrat coalition is the vestigial urban machine. This will never be enough to win nationally. So the Democrats must BROADEN their appeal. That means expand BEYOND THE BASE!

This then is the battle within the Democrat Party: between the DLC and the Left. The Left won the party and the nomination in 2004 - and lost everything else. Another election like that, and it's all over for them...

GOOD RIDDANCE.

MORE HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.

From one Blogger to another and another...

Here's a very good blog recommended to me by DISSECTING LEFTISM:

http://bussorah.blogspot.com Several good posts - go there and scroll...

RELIAPUNDIT GETS RESULTS... well 10%... SO FAR!

According to the NYPOST, a Congressman (Rep Flake from Arizona) is proposing that Congress cut the UN's funding by 10% until the Congress gets cooperation with their investigations. This is 90% less than they should be threatening to cut - but we'll take it as a start!

SEE: here and here and here for my earlier proposals - also linked to by the professor here.

Bush Adminstration Turns Up the Heat on Kofi

From VOA News:

Washington's ambassador to the United Nations has urged Secretary-General Kofi Annan to promptly release all information concerning the scandal-ridden Iraq oil-for-food program. The world body was rocked over the weekend by revelations that a key oil-for food contractor made regular payments to Mr. Annan's son. U.S. Ambassador John Danforth met privately with the secretary-general Monday to discuss the burgeoning investigation into alleged corruption in the oil for food program. [...] Ambassador Danforth called allegations of oil for food corruption "serious", and said he had advised the secretary-general to release all facts in the case promptly. "It is important to have the facts presented in a comprehensive way so the public, the international public but certainly the American public is convinced there has been no cover-up, nothing has been withheld, everything is out there, everything has been investigated, every lead has been run down, every relevant piece of paper examined," he said. "All the facts are out there, everything is known. I'm not for prejudging anything. I'm for the absolute laying out of all evidence." [...] But Ambassador Danforth Monday called on Mr. Annan to cooperate fully with U.S. congressional investigations. "Clearly it is within the right of Congress to conduct investigations on matters that pertain to national policy, the international affairs of the United States, the relationship between the U.S. and the U.N. All this is clearly within purview of the U.S. Congress," he said. "Congressional committees are going to insist on that right, they have that right."

There's a way for the Congress to make the UN more cooperative - see here. That's a link to an earlier post of mine called "Time for Helms Biden Redux." Basically: We withhold all dues until they cooperate. Works every time...

A Clean Election Should be the Goal

Instapundit linked to a post by the invaluable Clogman , who wrote, "this is about an entire system, not about an election..." - the Professor also linked to a skeptic who placed the current turmoil in the framework of EU versus Russian hegemony. With all due respect to Instapundit and the others, I think the supporters of Yanukovych are sincere Ukrainians and part of humanity, too. YES: Even the Russo-Ukrainians are human. And they cannot all be as corrupt as their leadership.

And yes: They may in fact be a minority, and their leadership may have tried to steal the election, but they are part of humanity, too. We should not dehumanize them. We should support a free and fair election, and all the efforts underway to make sure that they are free and fair which are non-violent - if possible. But that doesn’t include denigrating the other side, IMHO. Not now, and not after a proper election, either.

And whichever way a fair election takes Ukraine - whether to remain in the fold of Russian hegemony, or to bond more fully with the Europe and EU - this is their decision. If a fair election was actually won by the pro-EU opposition, then this should be the course that the Ukraine takes. If this leads them and Europe to other difficulties (as the skeptical blogger opined), well such is life. But the difficulties which arise from the result of a fair election will "owned" by the Ukrainian people, as such the Ukrainians will be more likely to surmount them.

GOODS NEWS FROM UKRAINE?

"KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said Monday he would support another vote if allegations of fraud are proven in last week's disputed presidential election, while Ukraine's Supreme Court said it will not come to a decision today on the political opposition's appeal challenging the validity of the vote. The nation's Central Election Commission declared Yanukovych the winner of the Nov. 21 vote, but opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko claimed the vote was rigged. Justice Anatoliy Yarema said the court would give Yanukovych's lawyers until 10 a.m. Tuesday to study additional evidence presented by Yushchenko's team, and Yanukovych subsequently said he would back another presidential vote if the fraud allegations were proven. Yushchenko's team is asking the court to throw out the results, cancel the election commission's decision and name Yushchenko the victor because he narrowly won the Oct. 31 first round."

It's in the court's hands, now. They can do one of two things: call for a new election; or declare a winner. Stay tuned....

WHY CONDI'S NOMINATION ANGERED THE LEFT

The Left's anger at Bush's nomination of Condi gets to

the very core of the political dichotomy in out nation.

In a post today, Donald Luskin of THE CONSPIRACY TO KEEP YOU POOR AND STUPID linked to an article by A Burgess Jackson. Burgess Jackson opined that the Left has been critical about Condi’s appointment because it violates their preconceptions of how people in certain groups should behave. In Condi's case she violates the principle that blacks are liberal Democrats.

Luskin expanded: Luskin argued that the Left don’t like Condi’s appointment because it's a form of poaching - Bush is encroaching on Liberal turf - as if blacks and women "belonged" to the Left and the Democrat Party.

I want to expand what on both proffered, and offer what I think is the underlying reason for the Left’s critique of Condi, and Bush’s other high profile appointments of blacks Hispanics and women (see this post for a dramatic description of the breadth and depth of Bush’s appointments) :

The Left’s core beliefs are dominated by a post-modernist moral relativism which holds that a person’s identity and agency is defined by which groups they belong to –not by the “illusion” of the individual volition or agency.

Central to the Left’s worldview is that we are who we are because of which classes or groups we belong to: our economic class, or race, our gender, our sexual identity, our educational status, our religion and degree of religiousness – all of these define not merely who we are, but how we should behave. The Left wants an activist government to enforce equal results based on measuring achievements according to groups; the Left wants each of to "get" whatever anybody else "gets" as determined by analyzing results by group. (The Right expects each person to have the opportunity to EARN whatever they can based on their own individual merits and efforts.)

The Left argues against individual agency and individual rights – they do not believe in Natural Rights or Natural Law. This is a prime reason why the Left has always argued that criminals are made by their bad socio-economic situations and that therefore we shouldn’t hold them personally accountable for their actions: street gangs are the result of poverty and bad public school systems, not a bad value system based on broken families and the lack of a good father figure in the home.

To the Left, people do what their race and gender and class tells them to do – if they are “authentic.” When people go against that – do whatever they want to do based on who they are as individuals - they’re “selfish” and they violate their membership status in their group; they are inauthentic – they are traitors.

In Condi’s case, the Left says she’s an Aunt Jemima; they said Powell was a “house-slave;” and maligned Paige, too – indeed, the Left maligned the rest of the conservative women, blacks, and Hispanics in Bush’s administration or in the GOP as inauthentic traitors. HECK: When AARP endorsed Bush’s Medicare Prescription Plan, many on the Left said they were traitors to old people!

The GOP, and Bush – and the Right believe in Natural Law and Natural Rights - arguing that we are each unique, and that our individual rights are "OURS" because we are each endowed them by the Creator at birth. The Right argues that our rights are not bestowed upon us by the government or by our membership in any earthly or man-made group. That’s why the Right is principally opposed to Affirmative Action based on one’s membership in any group, whether it be race, or gender, or ethnicity. The Right believes that persons should be judged on their own merits, (in this case, Condi simply merits the appointment).

The Left believes that people should only be judged based on their membership and status in various groups (which, by the way, are mostly merely heuristic/epistemological concepts or constructs which they inflate into ontological categories with determinative power; this is a logical fallcy that A.N. Whitehead termed "The Fallacy of the Misplaced Concreteness," and it pervades Lefist thinking on many many matters. The Left's philosophy is permeated with "is/as" conflation - which is why they so often argue by using false analogies, rather than logic).

To the Left, people behave in ways that are infoirmed by their race and gender and class – if they are “authentic.” When people go against that – do whatever they want to do based on who they are as individuals - they’re “selfish” and they violate their membership and status in their group(s); they are inauthentic traitors.

Most people who believe in Natural Law believe in God, are pro-Life, and are for small government - and are on the Right. Most people who believe in the French concept of the Social Contract (as first described by Rousseau) are on the Left; they are pro-choice, and they want big government.

This - IMHO - is the core dichotomy which divides our electorate.

On this - and on everything else that flows from it - the Left is wrong, and the Right is right.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIRAC!

Chirac is 72 tomorrow - which is today in France - so... we want to be the first to wish him ... a speedy retirement, and then - (once he no longer has immunity from prosecution) - a long stay in a prison.

To read a little bit about Chirac's long and utterly sleezy career start here and here and here and here and here! Then, go here and here and here.... and... oh you get the picture, don't you? Chirac's corruption makes Kojo Annan look like a piker! Heck, Chirac and his cronies - (like Juppe, a former PM convicted for corruption during the time Chirac was mayor of Paris) - probably out stole the ol' Tom Penderegast machine of the Prohibition Era K.C. .

Today - (it's still Sunday here in the USA) - Chirac just got pre-birthday slap in the face: his chief rival (and the only politican with a reasonable chance at saving France) Nicolas Sarkozy just became head of the UMP - the party that Chirac founded, and by a huge margin. Sark' - as he is known - has a huge approval rating, and destroys Chirac in head-to-head polls. So even if Chirac decided to run for the presidency again (so he could retain his immunity) - he won't get it! Chirac's days as a free man are numbered...

"SEVENTY-TWO years... that's about how many years Chirac should get in prison! That is if there was a real French judicial system, but - as we all know - French justice is about as good as French courage, French modesty, French gratitude, and (budda-bump-bump) French hygiene!" OUCH!

UPDATE: Reliable sources with a nose for news relate that French justice is like French cheese: IT STINKS!

IS ZARQAWI IN BASRA?

FWIW: A Bulgarian news service has reported that we are also hunting for Zarqawi down south in Basra - Shia territory...

MORE Ukraine updates... all more ominous....

Here and here and here... and here ... AND NOW TALK OF MARTIAL LAW?!?

AND NOW... PROTESTORS ARE BEGINNING TO SUCCUMB TO THE RIGORS OF CONTINUOUS OUTDOOR PROTESTS: ITAR/TASS REPORTS 38 HAVE BEEN HOSPITALIZED.... AND NOW: the opposition offers an ULTIMATUM: colaition government NOW, or else!

And the wooden clog fella is reporting - ominously - that special forces from eastern/Russian/Kuchma-Putin Ukraine are now in Kiev... (This a bad sign that things in Kiev may beginning to look more and more like Tiennamen... they bring in troops from the Russian part of the Ukraine because they hate Kiev-ites and won't mind shooting at them - like the Chinese bringing into Beijing army units made up of peasant-farmers to put down the urban student democrats... This is a very bad sign.)

Hopeful words from Abbas in Cairo

(HAA'ARETZ and Services):

"Abbas, who was in Cairo with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and interim Palestinian Authority Chairman Rauhi Fattouh, spoke to reporters after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other officials. Abbas said the talks with Mubarak and other officials focused on security in the territories, the Palestinian community, democracy and the election. Abbas also spoke Sunday about reining in various Palestinian organizations, saying the PA wants only its own security forces to be authorized to carry weapons, Israel Radio reported. 'We want only one legally armed Palestinian force,' the radio quoted Abbas as saying. Abbas has admitted, however, that the Palestinian Authority is not currently prepared to take security responsibility following an Israeli pullout. He said Egypt and the Palestinians would carry out previous agreements on security and training."

If Abbas is elected and does as he says - disarms the miltias and Jihadoterrorists - then there is hope. If he does not - then statehood is a sham.

As Shimon Peres said - some years ago, at the start of this 2nd Intifada (paraphrasing): "Israel is a state and only the state has an army. The parties do not have their own armies or militias; Labor has no army; Shinui has no army. Only Israel has an army. This is true of all states; no state allows the parties to be armed and independent of the elected goverment. The same must be true of a new state of Palestine; it is the bare minimum."

If and when he is elected: This will be the first test for Abbas.

BESLAN INVESTIGATOR: "foreign state involved"

From this morning's Jeruslaem Post (INTERFAX):

"Moscow - The head of a parliamentary commission investigating the September hostage seizure at a school in southern Russia said there is evidence pointing to involvement by a foreign intelligence agency, the Interfax news agency reported Saturday. The statement was the latest of several in which Russian officials and politicians have alleged that foreigners were involved in the Sept. 1-3 attack on a school in the southern town of Beslan, which ended in bloody chaos and left more than 330 people dead, many of them children. 'For the moment the evidence that we have of this involvement is indirect, so I consider it premature to name exactly which special service it is,' INTERFAX quoted commission head Alexander Torshin as saying. Russians refer to intelligence and security agencies as special services. Torshin, deputy speaker of the Federation Council, Russia's upper parliament house, said that 'when we gather enough convincing evidence, we won't hide it.' ... Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials have cast the hostage seizure as part of a war against Russia by international terrorists _ not a product of the Kremlin's military campaign in Chechnya, where officials said several of the attackers were from. "

They DO NOT mean Chechnya - because the Russians do NOT consider Chechnya a separate, foreign state! So they must mean Iran or some other Jihadoterrorist aiding-and-abetting state with an effective spy service. If and when they officially announce it, they may seek some form of international sanctions - and/or a make retaliatory military strike... stay tuned...