HILLARY HAS BEEN PLANNING FOR A WHILE

According to Schumer's new book, as reported on the Fox News web site:

...In his book, he suggests that Hillary Rodham Clinton first got a twinkle in her eye about running for Senate in New York in 1998, when she came up four times to campaign for him during his contest against Al D'Amato. That puts the beginnings of her interest in a Senate run earlier than many people thought....

Not a surprise, really. Plans for the road to the White House are often carefully laid.

LIEBERMAN CALLS DEM DOVES IN CONGRESS PUSSIES

WELL, NOT EXACTLY PUSSIES - JUST CONGRESSIONAL FELINES; WSJ - (hat tip Memeorandum):

The war in Iraq brings to Joe Lieberman's mind an old Mark Twain story.

"When a cat jumps on a hot stove, the cat never jumps on the stove again because the cat always assumes the stove is hot," says the senator from Connecticut.

"But we are smarter than that. OK, so Vietnam didn't work out. But there are times when you've got to use force, to protect your security and to protect your principles."

Try telling that to the nuisance of congressional felines now prowling around the Iraq debate, eyeing it like a cooker on high boil.

Next week will witness a Senate vote on a resolution condemning President Bush's new plan to quell growing sectarian violence and terrorism in Iraq by increasing the number of troops. While that vote may be largely symbolic, it comes amid far more ominous congressional calls to cut off war funding, to leave the Iraqis to settle their differences, to bring the troops home. If ever the Iraq political debate was at a crossroads, it's now.

At the center of this fray is Sen. Lieberman, a sort of Horatio at the congressional bridge--spiritedly trying to hold back a bipartisan stampede out of Iraq that he believes will result in devastating consequences for that country, the region and, most importantly, U.S. national security.

Iraq is very winnable, and we will win if the Democrats don't force us to abandon them the way they forced us to abandon the South Vietnamese people and the Contras; (many of the doves then are the very same doves now: Kennedy; Kerry; Levin, et al: WRONG THEN AND WRONG NOW!). Which is to say that Joe is flat out WRONG about "Vietnam not working out", (or under a misconception as to why):

• FACT: the last US combat troop left Vietnam on March 31, 1973.
• FACT: South Vietnam didn't fall until TWO YEARS LATER.
• FACT: the North Vietnamese didn't violate the terms of the Paris Peace treaty and invade the South, and South Vietnam didn't fall until the Democrat inn Congress pulled the plug on financing them and abandoned them to the socialists of North Vietnam.
• FACT: millions fled Vietnam AFTER the socialist takeover; millions did not get in boat to enter Vietnam.
• FACT: socialist Pol Pot promptly took over Cambodia and murdered MILLIONS, and Laos promptly fell too - THE DOMINO THEORY WAS CORRECT. 100 million people in the region suffered under socialism for decades ever since - 65 million in Vietnam alone!
• A similar regional bloodbath and descent into jihadist tyranny in the Middle East would follow the collapse of the nascent democracy in Iraq. That's why we mustn't act like pussies and abandon the Iraqis or the region.

Bottom-line: If we want to transform Iraq into a democracy and an ally in the GWOT, then we mustn't abandon them - CERTAINLY NOT NOW.

ASIDE: For the truth about Vietnam, and how the MSM and the Dem doves of Congress turned real victory into seeming defeat read these two books - (1) A Better War - and this one - (2) Failing to Win.]

MEXICO EXTRADITES DRUG CARTEL BOSS TO US

It looks like Felipe Calderon is improving more and more over his predeccessor, Vicente Fox. He's handed over a drug runner to the US:

Mexico has extradited a purported drug cartel boss and three other alleged major traffickers to the United States, a move that Washington on Saturday called "unprecedented" in the cross-border fight against organized crime.

Osiel Cardenas, the alleged Gulf cartel leader who was believed to still be running his gang from jail in Mexico, was sent north Friday along with 13 others wanted by U.S. authorities after their appeals against extradition ran out, the office of Mexico's attorney general said.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales praised Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Saturday for the extradition, saying the U.S. had never before received from Mexico such a large number of drug suspects and others wanted for prosecution in the United States.

"The actions overnight by the Mexican government are unprecedented in their scope and importance," Gonzales said in a statement released Saturday.

There's still a lot more that Calderon needs to do to prove that he's bettering his predecessor. But for now, this is certainly a good step.

WHO'S THE MOST POWERFUL WOMAN NAMED HILLARY?

IT AIN'T RODHAM CLINTON. It's Hilary Pennington - who has $60 BILLION to give away!

(YEAH, she spells it with one "l"!)

I pledge to do whatever I can to make sure Pennington STAYS the most powerful Hillary in the world, too!

HOW TO PREVENT ANY AND ALL PHONIES FROM BEING ELECTED PRESIDENT

I propose a constitutional amendment banning any and all persons otherwise qualified to become president from running or serving if they have ever had cosmetic surgery to their face. Like Kerry and Edwards and Hillary. And Pelosi.

I feel that if someone won't show their real face - its wrinkles and sags and warts - to the electorate, that then they don't have the basic honesty or guts to be a good president. (Coloring hair is okay, though.)

GREAT ANALYSIS OF: "the political opportunistic hysterics of today's Democratic Party "

Dr. Pat Santy on the doves who control the Leftist Democrat:

... they continue to intellectually approach the complete moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the leftist base they pander to, [so] we will have the continuing pleasure of watching these moral pygmies, currently even more intoxicated with power because they have a majority in Congress, as they actively undermine (all with the help of their media propaganda wing) any and all American interests around the world; impede and vilify US military actions (while saying they "support" the troops), and generally behave as prototypical leftists are wont to do--all, of course, in the name of "peace".

She quotes extensively from VDH and the Democrats themselves. RTWT.

BARRY HUSSEIN OBAMA

VIA PJM.

More on Barry Hussein Obama's lack of character HERE,

and HERE,

and HERE.

NASRALLAH'S LATEST RANT PROVES ANY SIGN OF WEAKNESS OR DIVISION AIDS THE ENEMY

BBC:

Hezbollah head Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has welcomed the resignation of Israeli army chief Lt-Gen Dan Halutz in the wake of the two sides' summer conflict. Sheikh Nasrallah told his movement's al-Manar TV in Lebanon: "Any of them that don't resign will be forced out."

Gen Halutz said he was taking responsibility for the failures of the Israeli military campaign. Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers in July, and killing of eight others, sparked 34 days of fighting. A UN-brokered truce ended the conflict, in which more than 1,200 people died. ...n a three-hour interview broadcast live, Sheikh Nasrallah told al-Manar he had been "happy" when he heard of Gen Halutz' resignation.

By any rational measure Israel won the war; sure, it did not attain all of its goals, but it thrashed the enemy - who attained NONE of its goals... except perhaps a weird emotional edge, one which only suicidally inclined genocidal maniacs like jihadists can attain - as if they glory in defeat. (ASIDE: Egypt still celebrates the Yom Kippur War as a great victory even though the FACT is they lost!) BOTTOM LINE: Hizballah has not lost its resolve, yet. And wars only end when the enemy does lose their resolve.

This is why the UN shouldn't have intervened on behalf of Hizballah; the world would be safer if it let Israel do WHATEVER it takes, and lets Israel do it for as long as it takes - n order to CRUSH the maniacs of Hizballah.

In the same radio appearance Nasrallah said this - an OVERT THREAT against the democratically elected government of Lebanon:

In a separate development, Nasrallah promised Friday evening that his opposition alliance would intensify its campaign to bring down the government, pledging to mount an "effective" action in the coming days. Nasrallah told al-Manar that Hizbullah's consultations with its allies were drawing to a close and they would release a statement shortly that spelled out the steps to be taken. "I believe this action will be effective, very important and very big," he said. He would not divulge the plan but urged all Lebanese to support it.

I also believe WE should take an effective and very important and very big action: we should assassinate Nasrallah.

PELOSI AND THE SOCIALISTS

MUST READ COLUMN (RMN/via RCP). EXCERPT:

With the Democrats back in power in Congress and with the 2008 election campaign already upon us, you'll be hearing much more about "income inequality." This is a major issue for "progressives" (when you hear that word, think "socialists") like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. ...

Individual incomes are determined objectively in the marketplace. When politicians or labor unions don't like the results, they meddle in people's lives and businesses in pursuit of power while invoking the name of "social justice," today's name for egalitarianism. ...[But] redistribution of income and wealth - without regard for talent and productivity - can destroy a society economically.

They tell you that they're gonna tax the other guy and give it to you. In fact they're gonna just muck up the whole dang economy.

UPDATE: Today, we're headed in the RIGHT dirction; a new direction - (one that takes us to the LEFT) will - as Pastorius posted last week, and as LMC said in the comments - take us right down the tubes!

EVIDENCE MOUNTING: THAI NEW YEAR'S BOMBINGS WERE WORK OF JIHADISTS

THE AGE (OZ): Bangkok bombings the work of JI

THAI intelligence agencies say operatives of the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah were directly involved in the New Year's Eve bombings in the Thai capital that left three dead and 40wounded. In reports seen by The Weekend Australian, the agencies say a key JI leader in Thailand's southern Narathiwat province was directly involved in the planning of the operation. The link contradicts earlier comments by military-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont who said the bombings appeared to be unrelated to the violence in the south, which has claimed more than 1800 lives since early 2004.

The junta was led by a MUSLIM, who immediately began to appease the jihadists in Thailand's south. In return they got bombed and have suffered from a continuous terror spree in the South. (NO SURPRISE HERE: APPEASEMENT ONLY REWARDS/ENCOURAGES THE ENEMY!)

And then, the junta had the freakin' audacity to blame the bombings on the man they overthrew. WHAT SCUM. Stupid, cowardly Leftist scum. (YEAH LEFTIST: another idiotic thing the junta did after seizing power was to try to control the markets - which immediately plunged as a result - forcing them to back track).

I think the Thai people should take to the streets and stage a little REVOLUTION, and OUST the junta and then re-install their popularly elected PM.

POLITICAL SATIRE FROM THE RIGHT: "HALF HOUR NEWS HOUR" STARTS TAPING THIS WEEKEND

Via Robert J. Avrech at Seraphic Secret:

Have you ever wished that there was a conservative version of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on TV? Now, There is. Are you ready for some hip, edgy political satire on late night TV that comes from a conservative perspective? Joel Surnow (creator/executive producer, 24) has created a right-of-center alternative to The Daily Show called "The Half Hour News Hour."

On Saturday, January 20th (early evening) we will be filming two episodes of "The Half Hour News Hour" back to back. The episodes will be taped in front of a live studio audience at the FOX lot on Pico Blvd in West Los Angeles. The shows are scheduled to air on the FOX News Channel in early February, and if well received, will continue to air on a weekly basis.

"The Half Hour News Hour" is all comedy and will feature guest appearances by high-profile stars of the conservative movement. What's needed is a studio audience of hip Republicans to boost the energy and make these shows something special. We want real republicans, not a hired audience! That's US!

The taping will start at about 5:00 PM and will take about two hours. You will be added to the drive on list @ FOX and should plan on arriving to the lot no later than 4:00 PM. If you'd like to be part of the studio audience for this important and highly entertaining event: Please RSVP as soon as possible to: hhnh2007@gmail.com -- Make sure to mention in the email that you are with the Hollywood Republicans. Once we receive your RSVP you will be forwarded more detailed information including the exact time and directions. These free tickets will go fast.

If you're in L.A., go see it and report back to us here at TAB! [Reliapundit adds: More on this HERE and HERE.]

Update: WATCH A CLIP!

GENOCIDAL IMAM ONCE PREACHED IN PEORIA

Remember this story, "Undercover at the Mosques," and these videos? I posted the story here in "Not To Worry. It Can't Be Happening Here." Now comes on January 18, 2007, this report from Fox News, via Jihad Watch. Excerpt:

NEW YORK — A New Jersey-born Muslim cleric with links to a suspected Al Qaeda operative who surfaced at a college not far from the cleric's Peoria, Ill., mosque the day before the Sept. 11 attacks has found a new home.

The imam now is spewing his message of hate to a growing group of followers at a mosque in Birmingham, England. His target: the United States, the United Kingdom, Christians and Jews.

Abu Usamah at-Thahabi, who preached at the Islamic Center of Peoria in 2001, is the subject of a British news documentary that revealed Monday how he regularly exhorts worshippers at the Green Lane Masjid, or mosque, in Birmingham to hate Westerners...

Read more about Abu Usamah at the above links.

ORCHESTRATED FUSS, INTENDED TO DEMONIZE HEBRON'S JEWISH COMMUNITY

The spokesman for the Hebron Jewish community talks about some orchestrated fuss that's come up, that may be intended to divert attention from Olmert and Peretz's woes, but is certainly the concoction of a vicious left-wing media intent on demonization.

NEGEV POLICE NEGLECTING DUTIES, ENABLING BEDUIN THIEVES TO STEAL

According to this Jerusalem Post editorial, which relates to the case of Shai Dromi:

No Negev farmer is exempt from the reign of terror imposed by Beduin gangs. The police do little, and rarely arrive even when summoned. Insurance companies will have nothing to do with the beleaguered farmers. Their only alternative is to pay exorbitant "protection" money to Beduin "guards" to prevent them from absconding with equipment, livestock and produce. This situation, as The Jerusalem Post warned in these very columns last week, is plainly untenable.

Dromi's case was a disaster waiting to happen, as noted in that same prescient editorial on January 10 - several days before the incident at Dromi's ranch. We titled that article "The Wild South" - the prevalent appellation for the lawless Negev, where no entrepreneur, homeowner or driver is safe from Beduin gangs.

Now I see. This is what happens when you have incompetants in charge. A call for a more responsible police chief, to say nothing of a new staff shuffle, is what's needed now.

SOME EVANGELICALS EMBRACE GLOBAL WARMING

I can't begin to tell you how irritated I was when I came across this article, "Scientists, Evangelicals Battling Global Warming". It seems that a bunch of supposed Evangelical Leaders want to join with Scientists in fighting global warming. My problem with that is you would have to believe in global warming first in order to agree to work on fighting it.

Even though the Drive By Media would like you to believe that everyone believes in global warming many logical people (mostly conservatives) don't buy into the Global Warming Myth. So it was a huge disappointment to see some of my fellow Evangelicals jumping on the global warming bandwagon.

I went to this link to see who all was on the list. My biggest shock and disappointment was to see Bill Hybels name on there. I used to love Bill Hybels but he seems to have gone the Rick Warren way. Rick Warren's name was on there too but that did not surprise me. This is the 3rd issue in recent months to send up red flags with me. I posted about both the Syria trip and having Obama speak at his AIDS conference here. It saddens me when people who should know better buy into the politically correct agenda of the day.

CHAVEZ HAS LEGALLY BECOME A DICTATOR

BBC:

Venezuela's National Assembly has given initial approval to a bill granting President Hugo Chavez the power to rule by decree for 18 months. Mr Chavez said he wants to approve "revolutionary laws" to enact sweeping political, economic and social changes.

He has said he wants to nationalise key sectors of the economy and scrap limits on the terms a president can serve.

CHAVEZ IS A DANGEROUS TYRANT.
NOT JUST FOR VENEZUELANS, NOT JUST REGIONALLY, EITHER.

1/20/07 UPDATE: More here at MEMEORANDUM.

AND NOTE THIS: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS WAS 48 HOURS AHEAD OF EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE ON THIS STORY.

YET AGAIN PROVING THAT TAB IS THE PLACE TO BE FOR THE BEST, MOST CURRENT, HARDEST HITTING NEWS, NEWS ANALYSIS, AND COMMENTARY.

PAKISTAN HUNTING WOUNDED AL QAEDA

TURKISH PRESS/AFP:

Pakistani security forces on Wednesday hunted for 10 injured militants including a senior Al-Qaeda member after an army air strike destroyed a training camp near the Afghan border.

I think they're on the trail of a BIG ONE! More HERE.

SARKO SURGING; SEGO TANKING

INTERESTING NEWS ABOUT THE FRENCH ELECTION. Check this out HERE, TOO. AND THIS! And then there's this item. Why is this happening: the Segolene honeymoon is over; now truth is coming out.

(BTW: The same thing will happen to Hillary and Barack Hussein Obama, too.)

DOMESTIC SLAVERY IN MCLEAN, VIRGINIA?

See this from the Washington Post and this from the ACLU's web site for information about a civil lawsuit filed against a Kuwaiti diplomat and his wife.

A local channel here used to have the video report at the channel's web site, but as far as I can now tell, the video is no longer available just a day later--even though I saw the video on the news last night.

REPUBLICAN OPTIONS FOR 2008

I did an extensive post at my blog on why I vehemently despise John McCain and don't want him to get the Republican nomination in 2008. So who would I support?

First of all, I wish we had better choices. I am a pro-life, conservative Christian and I wish we had someone more Reaganesque. We don't, so here is my take. Brownback and Huckabee are conservative enough for me but not presidential IMHO. Brownback proved my point recently by not supporting Bush's troop surge. Mitt Romney is trying to cater to conservatives but I have a contact in Massachusetts that knows Romney's true colors and they aren't those of a genuine conservative.

So who does that leave? If forced to pick right now my 2 choices would come down to Newt and Giuliani. I'm concerned about some of Newt's baggage but he is a genuine conservative and I think he has what it takes to be president. As for Giuliani, I love this man. If he was more conservative on social issues he would be my first choice by a long shot. He is still an option for me though because it boils down to 2 issues, the War on Terror and Supreme Court Justices. I think he would be stellar on both of these.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out but my mantra as always is, "Anyone but McCain!!!"

NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS LIVE LONGER

I am not sure of the logic in the report below. Have they REALLY ruled out the possibility that people who are brighter also tend to be healthier? Evidence that they are goes back to the 1920s -- with the studies by Terman & Oden. And there has been plenty of recent evidence to that effect as well. See for instance findings by Martin, Fitzmaurice, Kindlon & Buka in "The Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health" of 2004, vol. 58, pp. 674-679. The full report is here (PDF) and a summary is here. The reason for such findings would be obvious if it were not for politics: High IQ signifies good brain function but the brain is part of the body so good brain function tends to go with good body functioning generally. Note that I say TENDS. There are exceptions to every rule.

"British researchers have found that winning a Nobel Prize can add nearly two years to your life because the award boosts social status. Scientists at Warwick University in central Britain studied the lifespans of 524 chemists and physicists who either won a Nobel Prize or had been nominated for the honour between 1901 and 1950. While nominees were found to live to an average age of 75.8 years, the 135 scientists who actually won a Nobel Prize survived for another 1.4 years on top of that.

The researchers found that the prize money won by Nobel laureates had no effect on how long they lived, suggesting that the extra years were solely due to boosted social status.

The research was part of an investigation into the way social position affects well being and lifespan. Economist Professor Andrew Oswald, who led the team, said: "Status seems to work a kind of health-giving magic. Once we do the statistical corrections, walking across that platform in Stockholm apparently adds about two years to a scientist's lifespan. How status does this, we just don't know."

Source

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

ANOTHER MISLEADING ANALYSIS OF CONSERVATISM BY LEFTIST PSYCHOLOGISTS

Psychology Today has just put out a big article on the psychology of politics. It purports to explain why people hew to the Left or the Right.

It bases its conclusions, however, on research that has no scholarly worth whatsoever. The two main pieces of research it relies on to support the differentiations it proposes are by Jost et al and Block et al. Both pieces of research are within my area of academic specialization so the gaping flaws in both are more evident to me than they might be to others. I have previously pointed out how intellectually discreditable both studies are. See here and here. I was actually one of the authors whose research the Jost et al. article purported to summarize!

Jost et al. showed vividly the usual Leftist talent for ignoring large bodies of evidence that did not suit their preconceptions. Their article must in fact rate as one of the most dishonest meta-analyses ever reported. They were very clearly guilty of "motivated cognition" -- exactly what they accused conservatives of. Leftist projection and leftist denial do usually go hand in hand.

Michelle Malkin and Jim Lindgren note the absurd "sampling" in the Block study. It seems unlikely that there were any actual conservatives among the individuals studied! That is not the first time Leftist psychologists have perpetrated such an absurdity in their mendacious claims to "explain" conservatism, however. See, for instance, here.

Given the very dubious basis of the generalizations offered in the Psychology Today article, the generalizations offered by the article should detain no-one. Whether any of the statements made are true is simply unknown.

Sadly, many in the blogosphere have assumed that there is some respectable evidential basis for the article. Cinnamon Stillwell and Fausta sum up some of the blogospheric reactions.

For an account of the psychology of conservatism based on the actual history of conservatism, see here

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

"SISSY" NOW A WICKED WORD

The Leftist attack-site Media Matters is targeting conservative radio personality Michael Smerconish because he uses the word "sissy" (short for "sister") to describe various policies he disagrees with. The term is of course derogatory and implies a lack of manliness so I guess you are not now allowed to question anyone's manliness.

That seems rather strange given the feminist claim that sex-roles are all obsolete anyway. Shouldn't it be a compliment to be a "sissy" among todays's androgynous Leftists? Feminists have been proclaiming androgyny as the ideal for many years now. (See here.)

The attack-site gives various addresses that you can use to protest against Smercoinsh. It might be rather fun if readers here used the same addresses to support him!

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, DISSECTING LEFTISM and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

Reliapundit adds: When you use the above featured derogatory word correctly it's a SISSY FIT.

THE INFIDEL BLOGGERS ALLIANCE RADIO SHOW

And now, coming to you live from a Stealth Bomber circling above Mecca, it's the Infidel Bloggers Alliance Radio Show...

Tonight, Fu2rman and I interviewed Craig Baker, the Texas man who responded to the new Mosque next door by staging a "Great American Pig Race and Pork Barbecue" every Friday night during prayer services. He's the man. A true American Infidel Hero. We also talked with Imam Ali Allah Akbar Bibi, who proclaimed death to the Infidels and Jews, condemned Lesbians, and made a general ass of himself. And finally, we spoke with Horst Scheinhaxe, the leader of the Council of American-Nazi Relations. (Check out that website. It is something else.) Horst told us about the plague of Naziphobia which is, according to him, sweeping the nation. Apparently, some evil right-winger threw a copy of Mein Kampf in the toilet at New York University. The horror.

WEATHER CHANNEL CLIMATE EXPERT CALLS FOR DECERTIFYING GLOBAL WARMING SKEPTICS

As if the renewed call for the Fairness Doctrine wasn't bad enough, we now have a Weather Channel climatologist calling for man-made global warming skeptics be stripped of their scientific certification if they continue to express such skepticism:

The Weather Channel’s (TWC) Heidi Cullen, who hosts the weekly global warming program "The Climate Code," is advocating that the American Meteorological Society (AMS) revoke their "Seal of Approval" for any television weatherman who expresses skepticism that human activity is creating a climate catastrophe.

"If a meteorologist can't speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn't give them a Seal of Approval. Clearly, the AMS doesn't agree that global warming can be blamed on cyclical weather patterns," Cullen wrote in her December 21 weblog on the Weather Channel Website.

How about we just send them to the gallows and save some time? Hmm?

*******10/18/07 - Update - JR:

The fluffy-brained "expert" making those statements just believes all she is told by the "authorities", of course. She shows no sign of critical thinking or evaluation of the evidence at all. In Galileo's day she would be trying to shut up Galileo for saying that the earth revolves around the sun. If she were a Muslim she would probably be strapping on a suicide belt.

Most amusingly, the fluffybrain says how ignorant it would be to say hurricanes rotate clockwise. But she is the ignorant one. In the Southern hemisphere, they DO rotate that way! Some "expert"!

Indeed.

BOLTON WANTS NORTH KOREAN REGIME TO COLLAPSE

John Bolton has stated that he believes it should be the objective of American foreign policy that North Korea should be pushed towards collapse:

TOKYO - The six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program have failed and the world should push the impoverished regime toward collapse, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday. John Bolton, who left the U.N. in December, said the United States and Japan should enlist China and South Korea in efforts to put further pressure on North Korea, which he said has no intention of verifiably giving up its nuclear weapons program.

"The only answer ... is the collapse of the North Korean regime and the hopefully peaceful reunification of Korea, and that should be our objective," Bolton, now a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, told reporters.

This man is my dark horse candidate for President in 2008. And, I will make this prediction; if the United States is hit by a terrorist attack, anytime between now and June/July of 2008, which kills more than 10,000 people, John Bolton will be elected President.

Reliapundit adds: only if he shaves off that mustache! Actually, the collapse of the Stalinist North Korea would be bad for South Korea, and that's the only reason we have been propping up Kim for the last decade. [ASIDE: There is no downside to the collapse of the Iranian regime.]

WHAT WINSTON CHURCHILL HAD TO SAY ABOUT WMD, DEBAATHIFICATION, TROOP LEVELS AND OTHER SUPPOSED IRAQI OCCUPATION ERRORS

WSC:

"... if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future."

AND YES, HE WAS CALLING FOR UNITY IN THE FACE OF A VICIOUS ENEMY WHICH DIRECTLY THREATENED TO DESTROY WESTERN CIVILIZATION.

Pity: the West seems less unified now than ever. I happen to feel that things are going comparatively well in Iraq, right now. After all, post WW2 Europe was a shambles from 1945 to 1950 - WHEN THE MARSHALL PLAN FIRST BEGAN. Transitions like these are tough; they take time. The Iraqi democracy is VERY young; their government is still MONTHS old, not years. It will take time. It will take time.

But even if you think that things are going badly - well then... ALL THE MORE REASON TO PULL TOGETHER!

Sadly, the Cut & Run Reds - (folks like Kennedy and Kerry and Chomsky and Moore who have made careers out of bashing the troops and the Pentagon and the USA and capitalism) - have now been joined by partisan egomaniacs running for president who believe their personal ambitions are more important than our successful handling of the great challenges we now face. We must not NOW weaken our efforts or become disunited: THIS CAN ONLY HELP OUR ENEMY AND A FEW SCHMUCKS RUNNING FOR HIGHER OFFICE.

FAIRNESS DOCTRINE BECOMES A HOT BUTTON ISSUE

As reported here first at TAB, Dennis Kucinich and many of his Democrat bretheran are making a push to bring back the Fairness Doctrine and silence any and all voices of opposition to Democratic Party and the Driveby Media. The top two titans of Conservative talk radio, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, both weighed in on the issue today. Here's a snippet from Rush:

As is typical with liberals -- in some instances you'd have to say that Kucinich is acting Stalinist in this -- they have given it their best shot to try to have an open-minded, open-ended debate in radio. They can't get coverage, they can't draw an audience; they can't draw an audience in the commercial field, at any rate. So what do they do? They attempt to silence the opposition, and this is an assault on the First Amendment, disguised under that word "fairness."

Sean Hannity had Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) on his radio show today (unfortunately, no audio link or text) [UPDATE: FULL AUDIO HERE.] and Accuracy in Media picked up on the story today as well:

Democrats in Congress are pushing for legislation that they say would bring more balance to the media, but critics say would muzzle conservative voices. The Fairness Doctrine, a federal regulation requiring broadcasters to present both sides of a controversial issue, was enforced by the Federal Communications Commission from 1949 to 1987, when it was dropped during the Reagan administration.

Many in the broadcast industry credit the dropping of the rule to the rise of conservative talk radio that became a booming industry, featuring personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. Bringing back the regulation will ensure more even-handed coverage of political issues, said Jeff Lieberson, spokesman for Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), who has proposed the "Media Ownership Reform Act."

"The political interests of media owners can have a direct and indirect effect on the way news is presented to the public, so it's important that all sides are heard," Lieberson told Cybercast News Service Tuesday. The Fairness Doctrine is a key component of Hinchey's bill, which also sets tighter limits on media ownership. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has proposed a companion bill in the Senate.

"This is not an attempt to muzzle them at all," Lieberson said of conservative talk show hosts who are opposed to the Fairness Doctrine. "They will still be heard. This will ensure that different views that are not theirs will also be heard."

Sweet sassy molassy! Are there any liberal points of view not being heard?!? What world are these people living in? No, never mind; I know the answer. They know they control 90% of the media...they want to eliminate the other 10%, and they trying to do it with lies.... This is scary stuff, folks.

TODAY'S CUT & RUN REDS WOULD'VE LOST WW2

The Cut & Run Reds want to PREVENT Bush from sending any more troops to Iraq; (more HERE). They want Bush to be chastised for what they see as his ethnocentric adventurism, and for America to lose in Iraq - even if it means that the nascent democracy there collapses and a genocidal bloodbath ensues --- (as it did when these SAME Cut & Run Reds abandoned South Vietnam).

This Left-wing attack on our war effort, on our resolve, on our troop levels can ONLY benefit the enemy. It is beyond unconscionable. It's BEYOND LUDICROUS. It is traitorous. And it runs counter to our nation's recent history:

Did Congress force FDR to get reauthorization each time he sent more troops overseas to the Pacific or Europe or Africa?

NO.

Did Congress require a new authorization each time FDR decided to attack another nation in Africa or Europe or another island in the Pacific?

NO.

BUT NOW, the Cut & Run Reds - like Biden and Dodd and Kennedy and Murtha and Pelosi and Clinton and Hagel - seem to think the POTUS, who is after all the CinC - needs THEIR PRIOR approval before he sends another 21,000 troops to Iraq, EVEN THOUGH INCREASING IT TO 150,000 would still be less than we had there earlier in the conflict.

It is wrong for a POTUS as CinC to micromanage a war; it is WORSE if Congress tries - ESPECIALLY A CONGRESS DOMINATED BY CUT & RUN REDS PREDISPOSED TO RETREAT, WITHDRAWAL, APPEASEMENT IF NOT SURRENDER.

Cancer Death Rates Down Despite Climbing Elderly Population - Make Way For The Next Health Scare

YAHOO: CANCER RATES DECLINE -

Don't get me wrong, I love that scientists make it their life's mission to stamp out this or that killer disease, but I have always been amused by the ninnies on the sidelines shouting about how "cancer is on the increase" which they invariably blamed on this or that aspect of the Capitalist system, whether it was pollution, or chemicals in foods, or soft drinks, or whatever.

Here, I'm gonna let you all in on a little secret: WE ALL DIE OF SOMETHING!!!

Now that the rate of cancer deaths is declining, the rate of deaths from other diseases will inevitably increase. Likely, more people will die of strokes, and we will be treated to article after article produced by the Instant Crisis Generator at the Foundation for the Vast Liberal Conspiracy (which, from what I hear, is headquartered somewhere deep beneath the Humanities building on the campus of UC Berkeley).

It used to be that people would keel over of a heart attack at 59 years of age, but science and medicine have brought us to a place where heart disease is not the threat it used to be. Then, it was cancer. Next, stroke, or whatever.

As Rosanne Rosanna Danna used to say, "If it ain't one thing, it's something else."

COLD, NOT HEAT, SHUTS DOWN TEXAS HIGHWAYS AND KILLS 54

CNN reports that a huge winter storm has left 54 dead and thousands shivering across 9 southwestern states:

Subfreezing temperatures were expected to continue in the state Wednesday, with little sunshine to aid in melting the ice until Thursday or Friday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Brown.

Al-G'ore would attribute this severe cold weather to global warming, wouldn't he?

CANCER DEATHS DROP FOR 2ND YEAR AND AT AN ACCELERATING RATE

CNN reports that cancer deaths have dropped in the USA for the second year in a row:

After a decline of 369 deaths from 2002 to 2003, the decrease from 2003 to 2004 was 3,014 -- or more than eight times greater, according to a review of U.S. death certificates by the American Cancer Society.

The drop from 2002 to 2003 was the first annual decrease in total cancer deaths since 1930. But the decline was slight, and experts were hesitant to say whether it was a cause for celebration or just a statistical fluke.

The trend seems to be real, Cancer Society officials said. "It's not only continuing. The decrease in the second year is much larger," said Ahmedin Jemal, a researcher at the organization.

I blame Bush.

IDF CHIEF DAN HALUTZ RESIGNS

And with good reason. Ynetnews has a whole page of coverage on him, starting with the official news of his announcement:

Since the end of the second Lebanon war, many voices called for the Chief of General Staff to leave his post. Among them were senior politicians and a movement of reservists. The sword of the Winograd commission, which was investigating the war, was also swinging over Halutz's head, although he did not wait for them to issue their intermediate report before resigning. IDF sources explained that the general made his decision once investigations of the war came to an end, and after the 2007 annual military schedule was approved.

His official letter of resignation. Then, as told over here:

Halutz quits after realizing he was unable to regain public's trust

That's something which Olmert and Peretz will have to come to terms with as well, as they are now unable to regain the public trust either.

Whites Must Suffer Racial Abuse Without Retort

At a cricket match in South Africa recently, Pakistani (Muslim) spectators were hurling racial abuse at white members of the South African team. One of the white players, Herschelle Gibbs, uttered some racial abuse in return. He did not shout it but spoke it just loudly enough for his team-mates only to hear. For such wickedness, he has now been punished by a ban from the game for two matches. Details here.

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

"SMOKESCREEN: HEZBOLLAH IN AMERICA"

Saturday, January 20, at 8:00 P.M., EST, on Fox News Channel. Read more HERE.

SPORTS REPORTERS ARE MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN WAR REPORTERS

In a brilliant summary refuting the doom & gloom of lame-stream media reporting of national opinion polling after the President's speech, the indispensable Jules Crittenden points out that although:

• 29% said the president does have a "clear plan" for handling the situation in Iraq, vs. 25% who said that before the speech.

• 69% said the president does not have a "clear plan," vs. 72% who said that before the speech

with respect to the disloyal opposition:

• 21% said Democrats in Congress have a "clear plan" for Iraq, vs. 25% who said that before the speech.

• 75% said Democrats in Congress do not have a "clear plan" for Iraq, vs. 66% who said that before the speech

So the President is still doing better in the polls than the Democrats in Congress.

Even more interesting is Crittenden's link to a ChicagoBoyz post by James McCormick, who notes that:

Part of the “good guys” winning requires that the media play it straight. They can read between the lines all they want. They can dream up whatever schemes, plans, and strategies they think will prevail. They can interpret the slightest facial twitch or player limp in whatever way they want. But they cannot, must not, seek to betray confidences that would benefit the opposing team. A reporter who consistently attempted to sabotage the local team’s game plans would quickly be looking for work in a different discipline. Fans have too much invested in their teams to let that kind of behaviour continue.

Thus my broader view for the day — America will get the MSM it wants when America takes its national security as seriously as its football.

Football fans are evidently more invested in their favorite teams than we Americans are invested in our own Country, and in our own freedoms. McCormick closes his insightful essay with this:

Thank goodness the media in the Pats’ world are actually required to love football more than themselves. Football fans can still dictate how the game is played. maybe America needs a few more fans.

Well I for one am a fan of America. I am not ashamed to be a fan of America, and I am rooting for America to win, and win big. Whatever it takes.

Americans should expect the same professionalism in reporting of a war fought for and by the Country they love that they demand in reporting of the national sports they love.

OIL-FOR-FOOD PROFITEER INDICTED

Benon Sevan, one of the biggest names involved in the notorious oil-for-food scandal, has been indicted in New York. From FOX News (via Hot Air):

Former U.N. Oil-for-Food chief Benon Sevan has been indicted in New York federal court for allegedly taking bribes under the program from Saddam Hussein's regime, U.S. authorities announced Tuesday.

The charges, detailed in a joint press release by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's office and the Manhattan district attorney, came over a year after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker completed an investigation for the United Nations into the massively corrupted Oil-for-Food program that operated in Saddam's Iraq between 1996 and 2003.

According to the press release, Sevan allegedly received $160,000 generated from the sale of Iraqi oil under the program from one Ephraim Nadler, an associate who was also indicted, on behalf of the government of Iraq. The money was allegedly used to pay off overdue credit cards and bills.

Specifically, the two were charged with wire fraud, based on their depriving the United Nations of its right to Sevan's honest services; bribery concerning an organization — the United Nations that receives more than $10,000 annually from the federal government; and conspiracy to commit these offenses.

Well now, this is certainly big news. It's time that the oil-for-food scandal returned to the headlines again; Kofi Annan should be tried and charged for his own role in the scandal.

THE EMOTIONAL JOYS OF LEFTISM - Part Two - CONTROLLING OTHERS

In a previous post, I gave an example of how expropriating the private property earned by others is one of the major emotional bases of modern leftism.

Another joy in which leftists revel is controlling other people.

Rather than improve the world by modifying their own behavior, leftists seek to "improve" the world by controlling the behavior of other people.

For ongoing discussions of this sort of psychology, I recommend regularly reading the weblogs of several thoughtful psychiatrists: Dr. Sanity and Sigmund, Carl & Alfred.

The theme is also regularly discussed in my fellow Astute Blogger JR's weblog, Dissecting Leftism.

Today, I want to offer one example.

In his book, "Who Really Cares,"Arthur Brooks shows that leftists are much less likely to donate to charity than so-called "conservatives."

In his review of the book Professor Wilfred McClay describes his own experience:

Back in my misspent youth, I helped manage a political campaign. My candidate was, like myself, an energetic liberal Democrat, and we ran a summer-long door-to-door campaign throughout the sprawling district. I accompanied the candidate on his daily outings, recording data about each visit on 3 x 5 cards that had been prepared in advance. They included the party registration of the voters, as gathered from Board of Elections printouts.

After a number of weeks of this ceaseless contact with our would-be constituents, both of us noticed something disturbing. There was a consistent disparity between what we expected and what we found in the people we met. Self-labeled liberals would, at most, dutifully proclaim their support for our candidacy, but they were often curt and ungenerous with their time and money. Conservatives, who looked upon our ideas with suspicion, nevertheless were quite willing to talk with us about them, not to mention offering us glasses of water, inviting us onto their porches and into their homes, and otherwise treating us with courtesy and respect.

The candidate himself mused to me one day, as we sat on a curb together, "If I'm ever hit by a car, I sure as hell hope that the next guy to come along will be a conservative." I asked him why. "Simple. A liberal will blame the unsafe conditions of the highways, blame budget cuts and keep driving. A conservative will get out of his car and help."

These observations highlight, I think, one of the most important psychological differences between leftists and conservatives: conservatives expect to address the world's problems by acting themselves, and adjusting their actions and behavior, whereas leftists expect to solve the world's problems by controlling the behavior of other people.

In other words, conservatives want to help the poor by donating their own money and time to the effort, leftists claim to help the poor by taxing other people and using other people's money to fund programs.

As Jonathan Rosenblum noted in his review of the book:

My youthful equation of liberal politics and good character has long since been consigned to the dustbin. When the tax return of Al Gore Jr., multimillionaire avatar of the common man, revealed an annual charitable contribution of $250, I was not surprised. Every poor kollel student I know gives many times that to tzedaka in a year. Indeed I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the average charitable contributions of kollel students exceed those of our enlightened Supreme Court justices, despite the latter’s vastly greater wealth.

THOSE SUSPICIONS find confirmation in a recent book by Syracuse University Prof. Albert Brooks, Who Really Gives: America’s Charity Divide. Brooks set out expecting to confirm the “children of light” hypothesis, and came away after 10 years of research proving the opposite. For example, 24 of the 25 states with above average rates of charitable giving were red states in 2004. In states in which President George W. Bush won more than 60 percent of the vote in 2004, the average family gave 3.5% of its income to charity; in states where John Kerry took more than 60% of the vote, the comparable figure was 1.9%.

Brooks found that such factors as political conservatism and having children are positively correlated with generosity and volunteerism. And interestingly, wealth does not predict generosity. Brooks discovered that the working poor are the most generous class. They give far more than middle-class people, and even give 30% more than the rich as a percentage of their income.

Thus the leftists take money away from other people to fund programs that keep the poor in a state of helpless dependency, while failing to do anything themselves to ameliorate the conditions in which the poor actually live.

The emotional joy for leftists lies not in actually helping other people, but in forcing other people to obey leftist dictates.

COLD - NOT HEAT - WIPES OUT CALIFORNIA CITRUS CROP

Several days of freezing temperatures have just about wiped out the entire California citrus crop, worth more than one billion dollars. Guess "global warming" is neither global nor warming. PROOF:

"This is one of those freezes that, unfortunately, we'll all remember," said A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The latest freeze will likely surpass the damage done by a three-day cold snap in December 1998 that destroyed 85 percent of California's citrus crop, a loss valued at $700 million, Kawamura said.

We wish California's farmers a quick recovery from this disaster.

IS THERE A SECRET PEACE DEAL BETWEEN ISRAEL AND SYRIA? NO: IT'S ANOTHER OSLO AT BEST!

HAARETZ IS REPORTING IT, AND LGF IS LINKING TO IT.

I am skeptical that there is a deal. WHY?! Well, Haaretz has been reporting a PALESTINIAN UNITY GOVERNMENT DEAL between Hamas and Fatah every weeks for months -and been wrong every time. In fact today, Fatah discovered tunnels dug by Hamas to use in an assassination attempt against Abbas. (SURE Fatah disovered them: AFTER the Mossad informed them, I bet!)

And maybe the story is based on a leak of a wished-for agreement which is being explored by Kadima's Olmert and Livni in a desperate attempt to shore up their party as Olmert will probably soon be indicted on several corruption charges. Both the deal and the leak might be partisan PR moves which are not in Israel's interest. Or maybe the leak is an effort to harass Assad and strain his relationship with his boss - Iran? But that's all speculation.

The basic reason the deal is BULLSHIT is the deal's OPENING LINE:

An agreement of principles will be signed between the two countries, and following the fulfillment of all commitments, a peace agreement will be signed.

Get that!? There will only be a peace agreement -- meaning a cessation of hostilities and formal mutual recognition -- AFTER all the other provisions have been fulfilled - like maybe in 5-15 YEARS. Well, if the Syrians are like the Palestinians, then they will just never live up to their end of the bargain. Nothing Assad has ever done leads me to think he is trustworthy. SHIT: He assassinated the Lebanese PM and supports Hizballah. Assad needs to be dealt with extreme prejudice. Like we should have Arafat.

SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT OF "VILIFICATION" LAWS

The Australian State of Victoria has "anti-vilification" laws designed to punish "offensive" speech about other races and religions. The best-known application of them was a prosecution of two Christian pastors who dared to quote some of the more ludicrous passges from the Koran. That conviction was just recently thrown out by a higher court, however -- as the implication of saying that you could vilify Muslims simply by quoting their holy book was thought-provoking, to say the least.

Recently, however, a case came up where a Jew was most clearly subjected to racial abuse. This should have been an open and shut case for a vilification prosecution. But what has happened? No mention by the police or any other authority of a vilification prosecution. Only a prosecution for the assault that happened at the same time is being mentioned. The vilification laws must only be for protecting Muslims! The latest details of the case below:

"A senior officer investigating the attack last October on Melbourne resident Menachem Vorchheimer said police are close to pressing charges over the incident. Detective Superintendent Rod Wilson, who is heading the Ethical Standards Department's (ESD's) investigation into the conduct of an off-duty officer who was present during the alleged antisemitic assault, told the AJN he was "pretty confident" that criminal charges would be laid against at least two men over the October 14 attack.

Vorchheimer was walking on Balaclava Road, St Kilda East, on Simchat Torah with his two children, when at least one man on a minibus carrying 20 players from Ocean Grove Football Club shouted antisemitic taunts at him through an open window. Vorchheimer then approached the bus for an apology, but instead had his hat and kippa taken from his head by another player. Both men have admitted their part in the incident. However, a third man, who allegedly struck Vorchheimer across the face, has not come forward.

Detective Superintendent Wilson said that in the event that a suspect is not identified, the three men who witnesses have placed at the window at the time of the attack could be charged with aiding and abetting the assault. He said both the criminal and internal investigations into the matter were complete and awaiting review by the Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) and the Office of Police Integrity (OPI), respectively. Detective Superintendent Wilson told the AJN he also planned to contact both the OPP and OPI this week to "expedite the matter". "It's in the public's interest for this matter to go before the courts," he said".

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

SELF-DEFENSE AND GUNS: RANCHERS TO THE RESCUE IN ISRAEL

Israeli cattle ranch owners and managers are joining the protest to free the farmer Shai Dromi, who's been targeted for acting in self-defense:

Farmers from Israel’s cattle ranchers association, together with the Negev regional council are demonstrating in favor of ranch-owner Shai Dromi, who was arrested after shooting a Bedouin thief who was stealing from him.

The protesters are demanding the police defend them from the growing threats against their property and families in the Negev and allow residents to protect themselves as well. “We must understand that this is a nationwide problem that affects all Israelis,” Ranchers Association Chairman Chaim Dayan told Arutz-7. He says ranchers from all over the country have come out to show their support, some on horseback.

Very good!

"24" - reality TV?

Just got through watching Hours 3 and 4 of the new season of "24". I won't spoil the ending in case you've got it on the TiVo, but let's just say it was intense.

Yes, it's just a TV show, but I think it's also a scary reminder that it could very well become reality TV if we're not careful.

BBC: NUCLEAR KIDNAPPING IN PAKISTAN FOILED

GOOD THEY PREVENTED IT. SCARY IT'S HAPPENING. (Least credible claim in report: the perp's were criminals who ONLY DRESSED UP like Taliban. Sure.)

DON'T THINK THAT ISLAM WANTS TO TAKEOVER THE WORLD? GUESS AGAIN: THE UK'S CHANNEL 4 HAS VIDEO THAT PROVES THEY DO

VIA HOT AIR, VIDEO WHICH PROVES ISLAM IS AN EVIL, RACIST, MISOGYNISTIC, GENOCIDAL AND HEGEMONISTIC IDEOLOGY. SPONSORED BY THE HOUSE OF SAUD.

WATCH ALL THE PARTS THEY POST. AND SEND LINKS TO YOUR FRIENDS WHO DOUBT THAT THE ENEMY IS A REAL THREAT. (MORE HERE AND HERE.)

*******ALL THREE AT LGF.

"Reuters": Pakistan Launches Air Strike on Militant Camp

NYTIMES/"REUTERS":

The Pakistan army launched a strike on a militant camp in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing most of the 25-30 militants present, military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said on Tuesday. "The operation was carried out at around 1:55 a.m. British time in Zamzola in South Waziristan, based on information that 25 to 30 miscreants, including foreigners were present there,'' Sultan said. "I can't tell you the exact number of casualties, but most of them were killed,'' he added. Sultan said helicopters were used in the attack.

THIS IS HUGE AND GOOD NEWS. And I would argue that it proves that the deal Musharraf made with the tribal leaders in this area was good for the GWOT. It lets him go after the foreign fighters, aka al Qaeda.

KUCINICH: CONGRESS TO TAKE ON FCC

From FMQB:

Over the weekend, the National Conference for Media Reform was held in Memphis, TN, with a number of notable speakers on hand for the event. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) made an surprise appearance at the convention to announce that he would be heading up a new House subcommittee which will focus on issues surrounding the Federal Communications Commission.

The Presidential candidate said that the committee would be holding "hearings to push media reform right at the center of Washington.” The Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee was to be officially announced this week in Washington, D.C., but Kucinich opted to make the news public early.

In addition to media ownership, the committee is expected to focus its attention on issues such as net neutrality and major telecommunications mergers. Also in consideration is the "Fairness Doctrine," which required broadcasters to present controversial topics in a fair and honest manner. It was enforced until it was eliminated in 1987.

Kucinich said in his speech that "We know the media has become the servant of a very narrow corporate agenda" and added "we are now in a position to move a progressive agenda to where it is visible."

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps was also on hand at the conference and took broadcasters to task for their current content, speaking of "too little news, too much baloney passed off as news. Too little quality entertainment, too many people eating bugs on reality TV. Too little local and regional music, too much brain-numbing national play-lists." Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein also spoke at the event.

The Fairness Doctrine is an obsession of mine; a subject on which I will soon be writing my Master's Thesis. Even Fred Friendly (the producer behind Edward R. Murrow and no conservative) stated in his book The Good Guys, The Bad Guys and the First Amendment that the Fairness Doctrine was a tool used to suppress speech, not expand it.

This effort by Kucinich and others on the Left is Stalinism with a smiley face, and it has to be stopped.

Reliapundit adds: The Stalinist Left (that's redundant, no?!) is doing this because it wants to erase the advantage that the Right has in radio. Rush is the target - and his 3 million fans. Lookit: when your ideology can't stand the light of day you need to use the State to quash your opponents from speaking out and shining a light on it. That's why it's not enough for the Left that it utterly dominates the MSM - as Evan Thomas and others have honestly admitted. They want to silence the Right.

It's VERY interesting to note, that all Fox has done to become twice as popular as the other cable news-channels combined is offer BOTH sides.

If Americans were craving more LEFT-WING NEWS & VIEWS, then Air America radio would have succeeded. It didn't; CASED CLOSE.

*******10/16/07 - UPDATE: 24 HOURS LATER AND CAPTAIN'S QUARTER'S WEIGHS IN - PROVING ONCE AGAIN THAT TAB IS THE PLACE TO BE FOR THE BEST IN BLOGGING.

THE SECOND FRONT: HOW TO FIGHT AND DEFEAT THE CULTURE OF JIHADOTERROR WITHOUT BULLETS, BOMBS OR BAYONETS

Gateway posted on a recent court case in supposedly moderate Qatar related to so-called Muslim "honor-killing":

Honor Killer in Qatar Pardoned for Strangling Sister

The young man's sentence is suspended as long as he does not commit the same crime again within three years. The Gulf Times reports:

The Qatar Appeal Court has commuted the three-year imprisonment sentence awarded to a Jordanian teenager to "one suspended year" for "strangulating his sister to death" as the upper court said there was no clinching evidence to prove that it was a case of pre-meditated murder.

The upper court’s decision means that if the convict repeated the offence within the next three years, the judgement will be carried out. The crime took place on March 25, 2005, in what is supposed to be a case of "honour killing".

As long as he does not strangle another sister, he will be a free man.

(Gateway has more - RTWT.)

Any culture which sanctifies honor-killings -- which is after all simply murdering one's own female flesh-and-blood -- is of course a culture which will allow rampant inter-tribal warfare (Hamas v Fatah, or Shia v Sunni, etc.), and it will of course promote genocide against non-believers.

Only Muslim cultures practice and permit this horrifying crime. It is simply the worst aspect of a radical MISOGYNY which pervades the contemporary Muslim world. This familial practice - and the attitudes which inform it - are the breeding ground of jihadoterror. These attitudes - and not poverty or a sense of injustice - are why the Muslims breed so many terrorists. As long as they raise male children who fervently believe they can GET AWAY WITH MURDERING THEIR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD (or wife-beating, etc), we non-Muslims will have a big problem on our hands.

This is why I believe that in addition to killing jihadists and to promoting democracy in Muslim states, we need to put pressure on Muslim states to accept and enforce the UN's Declaration of Universal Human Rights, and to extend full and equal status to women, and pressure them to: (a) ban forced marriage, and (b) ban polygamy, and (c) ban consanguineous marriage). If they fail to address these anti-humane practices they should be be expelled from the UN and banned from participation in any-and-all multi-lateral financial, international aid, and international trade groups - like UNICEF, UNESCO, the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO, etc.

I have previously posted several articles at this blog relating empirical evidence on the harmful nature of these pervasive practices. (Google it at this blog under "polygamy", "misogyny" and "endogamy".)

REPEAT: As long as their children are raised to accept terror within their own family, they will use certainly terror to settle all their differences with non-Muslims. And they will certainly condone genocide against infidels.

The pressure I suggest we use on this front would be non-military and diplomatic. And it would be applied universally so it would effect the entire ummah, every Muslim state, and every family. Therefore, liberals (even doves) have no reason - and therefore no excuse - not to support it fully.

I am not suggesting that this strategy be used against rogue nations for their militaristic and terroristic efforts - IOW: North Korea; Iran; and Syria. These rogue states deserve to be thrashed with the harshest means we have at our disposal - militarily if necessary. But applying this strategy to the rest of the Islamic world would separate the truly moderate Muslim states from the rogues and the phonies.

BOTTOM-LINE: We should no more tolerate the radical misogyny permitted in these nations, than tolerate SLAVERY.

SARKOZY RUNS FOR PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, AND HAS SOME WINNING ARGUMENTS FOR STARTERS

Here's something from the International Herald Tribune (Hat tip: Dawnsblood), and I think he's got something going here:

"My values are yours, those of the republican right," Sarkozy said. "These are the values of fairness, order, merit, work, responsibility. I accept them. But in these values in which I believe, there is also movement. I am not a conservative. I do not want an immobile France. I want innovation, creativity, the struggle against injustices."

Despite the French republican ideal that ignores religious and ethnic differences, for example, Sarkozy broke with tradition by referring to the French as the "heirs of 2000 years of Christianity." He said that Turkey "does not have its place" as a member of the European Union.

In a veiled reference to those Muslims and immigrants who resist the French model of integration, he said it was unacceptable to "want to live in France without respecting and loving France," and learning the French language. He added, "If you live in France then you respect the laws and values of the Republic." He said that as president he would enforce French laws against polygamy and female circumcision.

Whoa, now that's certainly something. Being reported by the IHT, the article is not without biases and distortions included, but it certainly does tell some very positive points that Sarkozy's made on the eve of his nomination as presidential candidate. I watched some of it on TV last night, and he did a very good job.

WHY A LE PEN VICTORY WOULD BE TERRIBLE

Hugh Fitzgerald makes a very good case about why, if Jean-MarieDhimmi Le Pen were to win any kind of a victory in the French election, it would only worsen things, not only for France, but for the rest of Europe as well. As he says here:

Le Pen is a crude racist and anti-Semite. Furthermore, he has shown that his antisemitism remains steady while his attitude toward Arabs and Islam wavers. [...] Think, after all, the way CAIR and others characterize this and other websites, as belonging to some mad-dog right-wingers. The charge is absurd. But in the case of Le Pen, the charge would not be absurd. He will only do damage. He has only done damage to the cause of those who are intelligently alarmed about the presence and spread of Islam and Islamic supremacism in the lands of the Bilad al-kufr, and especially in France.

[...] He has been the greatest obstacle to sensible and forthright discussion of what Islam is all about in theory and practice, and why "integration" will not work, and why there is no time to waste in learning about Islam and undoing the folly of the corrupt or self-assured but stupid promoters of the Euro-Arab Dialogue and all that it is doing to rewrite European history and the relation of Islam to Europe as to the rest of the world.

I've got a point to add to all this: has Le Pen ever studied and explained to anyone what verses the Koran and Hadith contain? Has he ever made any genuinely logical argument about why Muslims go on a rampage? If not, then that should show that he's not serious about opposing what he claims to oppose, if he claims to oppose Islam. And that's exactly why he's undermining the ability to combat Islamofascism effectively: his one-dimensionally racist rants clearly embarrass a lot of people who are afraid of being labeled fascists right alongside him. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if his whole approach is exactly why the so-called law courts in France have enabled him to otherwise continue about his undeserved career without being disqualified, and why his freedom of speech has never met any true opposition. It could also explain why the press, such as the AFP, have paid lip service to him. It's clear that they want him in power too, if you ask me.

That said, I must note that some conservative sources in the US have to shoulder blame for paying him lip service too - Cal Thomas did this in early 2006, and while I won't mention the other one now, I will say that I once blew my stack when I discovered a prominent(?) blogger in Europe, one who didn't even live in France but who did attend a conference with Le Pen in the mid-80s, going so far as to sugarcoat this awful, wretched jerk. Some leftists ask questions like if conservative parents would send their children to fight in a war; seeing what the Euroblogger I speak of is doing makes me want to ask an even better question: would you approve of your children attending a conference led by someone who espoused racist slogans?

There was even a blogger who, while I don't know where he lived, I will say that I once asked on his own blog if people in France were aware of Le Pen's shedding of the mask, and he started making up apologies and excuses for Le Pen! I never read his blog on even a monthly basis again, though I did spot him linking to an article from Le Monde, moonbat newspaper that they are, that was promoting Le Pen and claiming that opposition to him was down, one more thing that showed that he was, as I became aware, on Le Pen's side. Ick.

Le Pen's alliance with Dieudonne, who appears to have quite a Muslim audience, is one of the ways in which he's been actively campaigning in the suburbs of France where Muslims dominate. I certainly hope that people in France who are rightfully concerned about the Muslim threat realize what Le Pen's been doing and will avoid voting for him. If it's a third-party candidate you're interested in, Phillipe de Villiers appears to be the best choice. If it's a big candidate, Sarkozy, whom I'll be writing about next, is the best choice there too.

As Fitzgerald says here:

The sooner Le Pen dies, the more likely it is that in France those who are aware of the problem, but have been holding back because they do not want to appear to endorse Le Pen. Le Pen (who, by the way, visited Saddam Hussein to offer his support, and has every conceivable anti-American and of course anti-Semitic -- that is to say anti-Israel -- view of the European left). One hopes that the handful of sensible leaders -- Sarkozy comes about as close as, at this point, we can hope for -– will step into the breach.

I think Hugh may have left something out by accident, that being that people in France aware of the problem but are afraid to be smeared as fascists because of the damage Le Pen's done, will have the courage to step forward. Yes, I hope so too.

Reliapundit adds: Le Pen is so bad he makes Chirac look good.