Republicans: Leading America's 2nd Emancipation

From RagingElephants.org, "Urgent: “MLK, Jr. Billboard Project”":

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard good conservatives and Republicans ask the question, “How can we begin sharing with the African-American community the true history of the GOP? We’re the party that freed the slaves!” For many, maybe even you, it’s a concern that so many in the Black community don’t know the history of the party and we’re always looking for a way to get the truth to them. The party that always wanted to keep them down was the Democratic Party. The party that really shares their values is the Republican Party.

We suffer from frustration because it appears that many of our party leaders are at a loss for how to get the message to the communities of color that we have always been the party of equality, prosperity, and individual liberty. Sometimes it appears we are just feeling around in the dark trying to grasp for an answer and we keep coming up empty handed.

The team of RagingElephants.org feels we have a plan that will be effective. Our mission is to focus on “messaging”, to engage the communities of colors with truth, and compel them to learn more about the party of Lincoln and reassess their political affiliations.

Our messaging has to rely heavily on “old media” — radio, TV, periodicals, and billboards. Although the rise of new media has been fast and furious, the facts are it’s still a relatively small number of people that enjoy Facebook, Twitter, and all the other social networking sites. Everyone has a radio, a TV, or passes by billboards most everyday.

Our next big messaging project is a massive billboard in the African-American neighborhood of 3rd Ward/Sunnyside, in Houston.

A few weeks ago when this revelation came to me, this billboard was not available and was being leased. Just a few weeks later, on my way to my church that’s in this neighborhood, what do I notice? — it’s available. I think this is divine intervention and we have to take advantage of this opportunity, NOW!

What’s so special about this billboard? It sits at the Martin Luther King, Jr. exit of the 610 South Loop in Houston. And we want to lease the billboard with the phase, “Martin Luther King, Jr. Was a Republican” to greet everyone that intends to travel on MLK, Jr. Blvd.

We think this is the type of messaging — psychological warfare, if you will — that will go a long way to achieving our goal of compelling voters from minority communities to become aware of the political history of their community, and take a fresh look at the GOP and conservative principles.

See also, KRIV FOX 26 Houston, "MLK Billboard SparksHeated Debate":

Also, see Common Sense Political Thought, "What would Dr King say?"

The Definitive Peggy Noonan Takedown...

From Doctor Zero at Hot Air, "A Seemingly Very Nice Middle-Class Girl":

Peggy Noonan used her Friday column in the Wall Street Journal to throw some dirt on Sarah Palin’s grave. It’s vintage Noonan: airheaded, dripping with condescension, and completely missing the point. No serious conservative needs to hear anything from Noonan except her groveling apology for being so horribly wrong about Barack Obama, who she energetically supported for president. However, it’s worth picking through the flotsam and jetsam of this embarrassing column, to appreciate the kind of intellectual fat that conservatives need to trim from the Republican Party.

The whole thing is here, via Memeorandum.

See also, Robert Stacy McCain, "Doctor Zero vs. Peggy Noonan."

My leftist friend, Tim Gaskill, actually e-mailed me the Noonan piece, saying: "This is a very nuanced article written by a Republican. Go figure. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please, no knee-jerk response though."

Anything that confirms the left's Palin derangement syndrome is good, "nuanced" even.

In response, I simply quoted the "by a Republican" portion (i.e., not a conservative) and clicked "send."

But I'll forward the Dr. Zero piece to Tim now ...

I'm testing out the theory in "Ten Commandments For Liberals Who Want to Argue About Politics."

Only Liberals Can Present 'Facts' Without Becoming Evil

It's probably too early to be laughing, but check out Right Wing News, "Ten Commandments For Liberals Who Want to Argue About Politics." This piece is actually a follow-up to an earlier essay at House of Eratosthenes, so let's start at the beginning:

It’s a dicey, personal subject and I don’t like to vent about such a thing on the innerwebs…even on my own, personal pages, which as we’ve said many-a-time before — altogether now — nobody reads anyway. But this time, the aggrieved party was sufficiently gracious to explain her feelings very early on. Not so early that she behaved with consistency. But early enough that it’s pretty simple to retrace what happened here.

I wanted to know if we had a wager in effect about the 2010 midterms. Or if our first upcoming bet was about the President being re-elected.

She presented a chart showing the public debt (as a proportion of GDP) has been going up when Republicans were office, and down when democrats were in office, from Truman onward anyway.

I questioned which party had Congress during those times, and sent her the chart exploring where the debt is projected to go from here-on-out.

She sent back a soothingly scolding retort observing that she “must have hit a nerve,” counseling me that her husband likes to argue but she does not.

How else do I put this? I’m tired of pretending it’s my problem. I understand good manners involve one side acting completely guilty and the other side acting completely innocent. I understand the protocol expected is for the righty-tighty to leap, chest-downward, on the grenade. I understand the expectation is to repeat the scene where Tom Sawyer gets the whipping so Becky whats-her-name’s glorious butt cheeks remain unscathed. I get all that.

I’m just tired of doing it. It comes down to something very simple. ONLY LIBERALS CAN PRESENT “FACTS” WITHOUT BECOMING EVIL ....

**********

I remember years ago I sent a certain family member a particularly well written, fact-supported article that I recall being published by The Heritage Foundation. This family member had always presented herself as proud of being pragmatic and open minded, not left or right, but her pragmatic reasoning just happened lead her to fall squarely to the left side of the divide.

Her reply to the article was something like, well, I see that came from the Heritage Foundation and they are well known for being conservative

That was it. It was an argument for dismissal based upon the fact that it came from conservatives and presented the conservative viewpoint. No rebuttal of facts. Merely being conservative was enough to dismiss it. To say “I don’t believe this.” To say “don’t read this”.

In other words ...

Shut Up.

Now, when you finish that, go back to Right Wing News. The first "rule" of arguing with liberals? "IN, or OUT. Your preference is to argue politics, or not to ..."

Can Community Colleges Save the U.S. Economy?

Here's a little follow-up to my recent post on community college teaching, "Can Community Colleges Save the U.S. Economy?":

Many politicians and their well-heeled constituents may be under the impression that a community college — as described in a promo for NBC's upcoming comedy Community — is a "loser college for remedial teens, 20-something dropouts, middle-aged divorcées and old people keeping their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity." But there's at least one Ivy Leaguer who is trying to help Americans get past the stereotypes and start thinking about community college not as a dumping ground but as one of the best tools the U.S. has to dig itself out of the current economic hole. His name: Barack Obama.

**********

Only 31% of community-college students who set out to get a degree complete it within six years, whereas 58% of students at four-year schools graduate within that time frame. Students from middle-class or wealthy families are nearly five times more likely to earn a college degree as their poorer peers are. In 2007, 66% of white Americans ages 25 to 29 had completed at least some college, compared with 50% of African Americans and 34% of Hispanics.

The whole essay is here.

See my commentary, "Political Science at LBCC: Training the Next Generation of Leaders."

'United States = Culprit': Obama Frees Iranian Terror Masters

From Andrew McCarthy, "Obama Frees Iranian Terror Masters":

You may not have wanted to addle your brain over his tutelage in Hawaii by the Communist Frank Marshall Davis, nor his tracing of Davis’s career steps to Chicago, where he seamlessly eased into the orbit of Arafat apologist Rashid Khalidi, anti-American terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, and Maoist “educator” Michael Klonsky — all while imbibing 20 years’ worth of Jeremiah Wright’s Marxist “black liberation theology.” But this neo-Communist well from which Obama drew holds that the world order is a maze of injustice, racism, and repression. Its unified theory for navigating the maze is: “United States = culprit.” Its default position is that tyrants are preferable as long as they are anti-American, and that while terrorist methods may be regrettable, their root cause is always American provocation — that is, the terrorists have a point.

See also my earlier essay, "Obama's Apology Tour, Sub-Saharan (Black) African Edition."

Hat Tip: Memeorandum.

Also Blogging: Pat in Shreveport and Power Line.

Full Metal Saturday: Anna Faris

The House Bunny's been on Cinemax lately (or Showtime, or Starz ... I can't remember; we get 'em all). It's a funny movie, but I'm seriously in love with Anna Faris. If she's as nice in person as she is in the film, well, God bless her! So, please enjoy this wonderful woman for this week's Full Metal Saturday.

As always, Smitty's got a fabulous roundup of "Rule 5" bloggers, "Fortunately, My Jaw Rebounded Admirably."

And TrogloPundit's been laying down some impressive rounds of linkage back to this blog, for example, "Man Killed Running the Bulls in Pamplona." But Troglo's got some hot Rule 5 action as well. See, "Hayden Panettiere Was the Unpopular Kid in School." The dude's really generous on the Full Metal Reach-Around principle, and if you send it, he will link.

See also, Pat in Shreveport, "Cold Beer Full Metal Jacket Saturday," and No Sheeples Here!, "Full Metal Jacket Reach-Around For Saturday, July 11, 2009."

At Generation Patriot we have, "Sunday Linkage Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!" Also, at The Daley Gator, "Kinky Linky Saturday Reach Around!." Not to be outdone, check The Classical Liberal, "Ali Larter presents Rule 5 Saturday!" And Chris Wysocki, "Rule 5 Weekend: the girls of LBI."

And for some good ole' conservative blogging, see PA Pundits International, "The Bankrupt Party of Porkulus."

And please don't forget some additional friends of American Power:

Blazing Cat Fur, Robert Belvedere, Sono Annoiato, The Astute Blogger, Chris Wysocki, The Daley Gator, Just One Minute, Dave's World, The Oklahoma Patriot, Right Wing Sparkle, Conservatism With Heart, Dr. Helen, Laura Elizabeth Morales, Charles G. Hill , Blueshelled, The Nose on Your Face, All-American Blogger, Paco Enterprises, Nice Deb, Becky Brindle, Fishersville Mike, Monique Stuart, No Sheeples Here!, Dana at CSPT, Glenn Reynolds, Obi’s Sister, Right Truth, Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels, Chicago Ray, Ace of Spades HQ, Natalie's Blog. Ann Althouse, Pirate's Cove, Diminished Expectations,The Conservatives Who Say F*ck, Joust The Facts, Panhandle Poet, Steven Givler, Moonbattery, Sweating Through the Fog, Three Beers Later, PA Pundits, Sister Toldjah, Duck of Minerva, Wolf Howling, Right Wing Nation, Right Wing Nuthouse, Melissa Clouthier, Steve Bartin's Newsalert, The Western Experience, Jammie Wearing Fool, ShrinkWrapped, The Average American, Paco Enterprises, Ken Davenport, Doug Ross Journal, The Blog Prof, Fausta's Blog, Clueless Emma, Obob's World, Seymour Nuts, Red State, Dr. Sanity, The Desert Glows Green, Not One Red Cent, Vinegar and Honey, Dan Collins, Scott Kingsmore, The Astute Bloggers, The BoBo Files, Grant Jones, Tapline, New Testament News, Wizbang, William Jacobson, Phyllis Chesler, Right View from the Left Coast, Generation Patriot, Macsmind, Flopping Aces, Edge's Conservative Movies, Stop the ACLU, Snooper's Report, Grandpa John's, Cranky Conservative, Jimmie Bise, Little Miss Attila, Moe Lane, Private Pigg, Pundit & Pundette, The Rhetorican, R.S. McCain, Saber Point, Stephen Kruiser, Suzanna Logan, GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD, TrogloPundit, Villainous Company, PoliGazette, Prying 1, Paula in Israel, Pamela Geller, Vanessa's Blog, Pat's Daily Rants, Bob's Bar & Grill, Power Line, Melanie Morgan, Dave in Boca, Neo-Neocon, Right in a Left World, Flag Gazer, Stephen Green, The Tygrrrr Express, The News Factor, Israel Matsav, The Conservative Manifesto, Gates of Vienna, Sparks From the Anvil, Gateway Pundit, Political Pistachio, Liberty Pundit, Not One Red Cent, Right Truth, Dave's Notepad, The Red Hunter, Maggie's Farm, The Next Right, This Ain't Hell, Stop the ACLU, Politics and Critical Thinking, Riehl World View, Midnight Blue, Caroline Glick, The Griper, FouseSquawk, The Other McCain, Cheat Seeking Missiles, Roger Simon, Classical Values, Samantha Speaks, Grizzly Mama, The Capitol Tribune, The Patriot Room, The Real World, RADARSITE, Serr8d's Cutting Edge, Bloviating Zeppelin, Born Again Redneck The Educated Shoprat, St. Blogustine, Yid With Lid, Pondering Penguin, Betsy's Page, The Anchoress, Ace of Spades HQ, Right Wing Sparkle, Thunder Run, The Classic Liberal, Conservative Grapevine, Cassy Fiano, Jim Treacher, NetRightNation, Q and O, Urban Grounds, Ed Driscoll, Cold Fury, Michelle Malkin, Neptunus Lex, Neo-Neocon, The Liberty Papers, The Monkey Cage, Law and Order Teacher, Mike's America, AubreyJ, Dan Collins, Track-a-'Crat, The Jungle Hut, Wake Up America, Dan Riehl, Nikki's Blog, Big Girl Pants, Maggie's Notebook, Hummers & Cigarettes, Mark Goluskin, Jawa Report, The Skepticrats, Sarge Charlie, Thoughts With Attitude, Kim Priestap, Swedish Meatballs Confidential, Five Feet of Fury, Amy Proctor, Blonde Sagacity, Liberty Papers, TigerHawk, Point of a Gun, Right Wing News, And So it Goes in Shreveport, and Darleen Click.

Unmanned Fighter Aircraft: A Reader Responds to Robert Farley

Robert Farley sent out this tweet today:

I think Donald Douglas is trying to make me cry ... http://bit.ly/RXl5h

The link goes to my recent essay, "Unmanned Fighter Aircraft (And the Left)." That piece takes down Farley's childishness at his post, "F-35: The Last Manned Fighter Aircraft?"

I have received an e-mail from a reader just in time to add to the debate. I'm publishing it anonymously by permission (and note that I have nowhere this kind of operational expertise, just in case folks might think I'm pulling a Sullivan):

Hi Donald,

There's no doubt that we can do more than ever with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and that we should, when possible, continue in that direction. They are cheaper and can get the job done with considerably less risk to our personnel. (I say this having spent over 300 hours above hostile territory in an unarmed surveillance jet. We were once chased by an Iraqi MiG-25, which reached Mach 3 in its attempt to get within weapon range of us before our F-15s could get within range of it.)

The RMA crowd, however, unable as it is to distinguish between science fiction and the cold hard facts of warfare, is only acting true to form when they say we can do everything we need to do using UAVs. The fact is we can't, and we probably never will be able to.

The data infrastructure required to control UAVs and to benefit from the information gathered by their sensors is exactly the sort of center of gravity that will be targeted in the information warfare discussed by Eliot Cohen. He's exactly right when he says that this will be an opening salvo in what will rapidly become a conventional war against a nation with a less-technologically advanced military. There is a reason that China is so heavily invested in anti satellite technology, after all. A nation that can put a million men under arms will realize an advantage very quickly if they can reduce the struggle to a matter of who can field the greatest number of men with weapons in their hands.

And this is what war always comes down to, despite what the RMA folks would like us to believe. Our remote sensing abilities, our celebrated (justly so) capacity for finding, tracking, and destroying targets from afar, our ability to guide a 2,000 pound bomb through a tiny window - all these abilities may revolutionize battles, and the kinds of quick-strike engagements that have characterized warfare in this young century, but in a long-term war, those capabilities will most likely be degraded or neutralized early on. The very things that gave us such an advantage will become a liability if we allow the siren call of the RMA to convince us that war is anything more or less than men with weapons in their hands doing their damndest to kill each other.

The Air Force does some of its best work when it keeps the skies clear of enemy aircraft, so our ground troops can do what they need to do. This is why we need the F-22. The Joint Strike Fighter may do a better job of ground support (I say "may" because I don't know one way or the other.) but we definitely need an air superiority fighter to keep the skies clear of the enemy fighters and bombers that would attack our troops on the ground. Many of my brothers and sisters in blue uniforms will think me a heretic for saying it, but air power is not an end in and of itself. It is most effective when it is used jointly to complement the efforts of the other services, all of which comes down to supporting the man with the rifle. Yes, air power can reap huge strategic effects, and may even, as Col John Warden, the architect of the air campaign in the first Gulf War said, cause "strategic paralysis" all of which is very much in keeping with RMA lines of thinking. What we can't do from the air though, is capture and hold territory; nor can we interact directly with people in a way that turns a foe into a conquored people, into an ally. All of that will always come down to ground forces doing what they have done ever since the long bow represented the greatest revolution in military affairs.

As for the twerp who picked a picture of a toy to represent one of the most fearsome killing machines ever invented, I continue to live seven thousand miles away from my wife and children to safeguard his naivete. May he, and all my countrymen, forever be able to be so ignorant, if they choose. It is my hope, however, that enough fine young Americans will continue to chose otherwise that we will be able to defend those who wish to remain ignorant.

For more on this from the "twerp," see "What are We Saving this Capability For?":

With due respect, I don't really get this ...

Farley is responding to The Progressive Realist, "Pilots vs. Drones."

See Also, Neptunus Lex, "Stuck in the Past," who says we need more F-22s:

Tremendous maneuver advantages accrue to those that can sweep the air above a battlefield, and the F-22 does so better than any other design. One hundred and eighty seven is, however, too few to do so persistently in an away game.

Related: Thomas L. Day, "Debate on F-22s Nearing Climax."

Robert Spencer Smeared as 'Islam Basher' in ALA Panel Controversy

Atlas Shrugs has the main story, "CAIR'S Jihad on the West: Robert Spencer Silenced."

Spencer's report is here, "ALA, Panelists Cave to Pressure from Terror-Linked Group, Panel with Spencer Canceled."

Spencer's participation at the American Library Association's annual meeting was attacked by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). The group has long been under investigation as providing material support to international terrorist organizations. See, "The CAIR-Terror Connection", "CAIR and Islamic Jihad", and "CAIR Served in Federal Fraud and Racketeering Case."

Note something interesting: I'm seeing some articles from the Library Journal identifying Spencer as an "Islam Basher." Notice the slur against Spencer in this piece, "ALA Conference 2009: Panelists Quit Session Featuring 'Islam Basher'." And note especially the complete dishonesty at the Library Journal's follow-up report, "ALA Conference 2009: Organization Behind Islam Panel Issues Statement."

Myra Appel, chair of the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Roundtable (EMIERT), has released a public statement (below) regarding the recent cancellation of the ALA panel "Perspectives on Islam."

Neither Appel’s statement nor the earlier response from ALA President Jim Rettig address the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR-Chicago) claim that none of the panelists were informed of Spencer’s participation. But on his Jihad Watch web site, the man at the heart of this controversy, Robert Spencer, contests CAIR’s claim, publishing as evidence a month-old email from Appel informing the panelists of his involvement.

The link to Spencer's "Jihad Watch web site" goes to the homepage, but not to the URL at the post with the published evidence ("ALA, Panelists Cave to Pressure from Terror-Linked Group, Panel with Spencer Canceled").

Of course, Spencer's essay publishes all the pertinent information, which fully reveals both CAIR and the ALA as bureaucratic ayatollahs of intolerance.

Also, check out Dave Gaubatz's report on CAIR's activities at the recent meeting of the Islamic Society of North America (www.isna.net/home.aspx):

On my first day at the conference I had noticed an ISNA security officer following me wielding an extended ‘Billy Club'. I stopped and took a picture of him and he scurried off. A couple hours later I observed two clean shaven and well dressed people following me throughout the convention. I continued my shopping for Islamic terrorist manuals.

Finally after an extended time one of the gentlemen stopped me and asked if I was "Dave Gaubatz". I said "Yes". He introduced himself as an FBI Agent and the other person as a local Detective. I shook hands with them and asked them how I might help. They appeared embarrassed, but said CAIR and ISNA officials had asked for me to be followed because I may be a threat.

I asked why. They had no answer, aside from saying they know I support law enforcement and often speak to law enforcement groups. I remarked, "Yes I do." They again appeared embarrassed and said they knew of my background in Iraq. I nodded. We exchanged cards, and as they were beginning to walk away, I handed the FBI agent a stack of violent Islamic manuals calling the FBI racist and other names and calling for Muslims to commit crimes against law enforcement. The FBI Agent turned red.

Swim Club Pres. Denies Racism in Pool Controversy (VIDEO): PA Human Relations Comm. to Investigate; Leftists Still Silent (Mostly)!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Tuesday's Special Election for the 32nd Congressional District

From the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, "32nd Congressional District Candidates Gear Up for Election":

Democratic congressional candidate Judy Chu says one of her greatest challenges is reminding voters the race to represent a portion of the San Gabriel Valley in Congress isn't over yet.

On Tuesday voters from the 32nd Congressional District will go back to the polls to select from among Judy Chu, Republican Betty Chu and Libertarian Christopher Agrella - the three victors who emerged from the May primary.

"Most voters are surprised that the election is still going on. They thought it was over May 19," Judy Chu said.

Her opponents think she believes it's all over too.

"She acts like she is the incumbent already ... But it ain't over until you know who sings," Libertarian Christopher Agrella said before a candidates' forum Thursday.

It's easy to see how some voters would think the election had been decided.

Most analysts considered the primary the main event because Democrats dominate the district, which stretches from East Los Angeles through Monterey Park, Rosemead, South El Monte, El Monte, Baldwin Park, West Covina, Azusa, Duarte and Covina.

"Judy Chu will be elected, and she will have the seat as long as she wants baring death or scandal," said political analyst Allan Hoffenblum.

Video Hat Tip: CQ Politics.

2001: A Bloggers Odyssey

Or, how to blog, from The Blog Prof, "2001: A Bloggers Odyssey - Or How to Start a Successful Blog":

Since starting this blog back in January (something I should have done much, much earlier), this will be my 2001st post, thus the quasi-clever initial title for which I expect a golf clap. Or not. In any case, starting a blog and writing posts has surely helped focus my thinking on many topics. Before blogging myself, I was an avid blog reader, spending hours each day keeping up on current events. But it is the difference between being a student and being the teacher. When I made the shift to teaching, I had little idea of how much more of a challenge it was, and how much I would learn every time I taught a class, even those that I have already taught many times. That is one aspect that I simply love about my job - learning as I am teaching. I get some of that same benefit from blogging, and would encourage anyone out there to do the same. To this end, this post will serve to be a reference to those that want to start a blog. I will myself lean heavily on the following contributors as they have written many tips:

Stacy McCain at The Other McCain: "How to Get a Million Hits on Your Blog in Less Than a Year."

Donald Douglas at American Power: "How to Become a Successful Conservative Blogger."

Nick De Leeuw at RightMichigan: "Building a Better Blogosphere -or- Where to Start!"

More at the link (lots more!).

Congratulations Blog Prof!

Obama's Apology Tour, Sub-Saharan (Black) African Edition

President Obama's tour of Sub-Sarahan Africa (Black Africa) is receiving mainstream analysis as signifying a historic opportunity for the United States to address Africa's hardest problems. Obama, a black American, gains extra credibility for his family ties to Kenya and his personal knowledge of the region's history. As it turns out, though, Obama's choice of Ghana as a presidential backdrop has been poorly received in some quarters. The selection of Ghana could be a missed chance to showcase the continent's extremism, poverty, and health crises.

From Peter Wallsten, at the Los Angeles Times, "Obama in Africa: A Unique Presidential Visit." Wallsten argues that the president sees Ghana as a model democracy, representing a developmental path worth emulation for the larger conflict ridden society, but the administration's critics aren't pleased:

They cite the brief, in-and-out nature of his visit today to Ghana, and what they say is a slow-to-form policy toward troubled zones such as Somalia, Zimbabwe and Sudan.

The White House chose Ghana because it is an example of a successful African democracy. And Obama's defenders say the visit is one of several moves that emphasize the seriousness of his policy.

But critics see the West African countryas an overly simple backdrop. They hoped that Obama, based on his background and the depth of knowledge and concern he showed during an Africa tour as a senator in 2006, would dive headlong into vexing questions of extremism, poverty, AIDS and corruption in many parts of Africa.

Nicole Lee, executive director of TransAfrica Forum, a leading advocacy group, said there has been an "absolute passivity" in White House work so far on Africa's hardest problems.

"There was an assumption that this president, because of who he is, would lead us to a new policy," Lee said.

Obama spoke to Ghana's parliament in Accra. The New York Times has the report, "In Ghana, Obama Preaches Tough Love." In his address, the president spoke out against the region's wars, saying "These conflicts are a millstone around Africa's neck."

But the selection of Ghana holds a deeper significance: The larger reality is that Ghana served as the president's latest stop on his global apology tour. The president took his family to Cape Coast Castle on the West African coast. The visit at Cape Coast, a chief 17th-century headquarters for the European gold and slave trades, gave Obama another chance to mouth his anti-American apologism. The Hill captures the significance, "Obama Says Slave Prison Represents Sadness and Hope":

In somber remarks, President Obama said visiting a slave trading outpost in Ghana brought him both sadness and hope.

Obama remarks came after a tour of the Cape Coast Castle, which sits on Ghana's coastline with the Atlantic Ocean. The castle is almost 500 years old and served as a slave trading outpost for European nations.

The first African American president said he felt two emotions as he took the tour.

"As African Americans, there is a special sense that on the one hand, this place was a place of profound sadness," Obama said....

Obama also drew a parallel between the prison and Buchenwald, the Nazi concentration camp he visited in early June, because "it reminds of us of the capacity of human beings to commit great evil."

Obama spoke of the African American diaspora and the "portal" through which slaves were shipped around the globe.

In the tour, Obama saw the dark dungeons in the castle where men and woman slaves were held. When slaves were purchased, they were processed and passed through a "door of no return" when they boarded slave ships.

Obama said it was an "extraordinary tour" and, in particular, noted that right above the dungeon where male captives were held was a church.

"That reminds us that sometimes we can tolerate and stand by great evil even as we think we are doing good," Obama said.

Obama's words in Africa echo his comments on earlier legs of his world apology tour. See also, The Swamp, "Obama's African journey: 'Promise'."

And earlier from the world apology tour:

* "Barack Obama’s European Apology Tour."

* "The Obama Doctrine: Europe 1, America 0."

* "Rainbows and Unicorns and a World Without the J-Word."

* "The Apology Tour Continues in Latin America ."

Nuclear Realism: 'We Use Nuclear Weapons Every Day...'

From the Wall Street Journal, interview with former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, "Why We Don't Want a Nuclear-Free World":

"Nuclear weapons are used every day." So says former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, speaking last month at his office in a wooded enclave of Maclean, Va. It's a serene setting for Doomsday talk, and Mr. Schlesinger's matter-of-fact tone belies the enormity of the concepts he's explaining -- concepts that were seemingly ignored in this week's Moscow summit between Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev.

We use nuclear weapons every day, Mr. Schlesinger goes on to explain, "to deter our potential foes and provide reassurance to the allies to whom we offer protection."

Mr. Obama likes to talk about his vision of a nuclear-free world, and in Moscow he and Mr. Medvedev signed an agreement setting targets for sweeping reductions in the world's largest nuclear arsenals. Reflecting on the hour I spent with Mr. Schlesinger, I can't help but think: Do we really want to do this?

For nuclear strategists, Mr. Schlesinger is Yoda, the master of their universe. In addition to being a former defense secretary (Nixon and Ford), he is a former energy secretary (Carter) and former director of central intelligence (Nixon). He has been studying the U.S. nuclear posture since the early 1960s, when he was at the RAND Corporation, a California think tank that often does research for the U.S. government. He's the expert whom Defense Secretary Robert Gates called on last year to lead an investigation into the Air Force's mishandling of nuclear weapons after nuclear-armed cruise missiles were mistakenly flown across the country on a B-52 and nuclear fuses were accidently shipped to Taiwan. Most recently, he's vice chairman of a bipartisan congressional commission that in May issued an urgent warning about the need to maintain a strong U.S. deterrent.

But above all, Mr. Schlesinger is a nuclear realist. Are we heading toward a nuclear-free world anytime soon? He shoots back a one-word answer: "No." I keep silent, hoping he will go on. "We will need a strong deterrent," he finally says, "and that is measured at least in decades -- in my judgment, in fact, more or less in perpetuity. The notion that we can abolish nuclear weapons reflects on a combination of American utopianism and American parochialism. . . . It's like the [1929] Kellogg-Briand Pact renouncing war as an instrument of national policy . . . . It's not based upon an understanding of reality."

In other words: Go ahead and wish for a nuclear-free world, but pray that you don't get what you wish for. A world without nukes would be even more dangerous than a world with them, Mr. Schlesinger argues.

Read the whole thing (here). Then, compare Mr. Schleslinger's comments to my essay from the other day, "Obama U.S.-Russia Nuke Partnership Belies 'Realist' Foreign Policy Creds." Speaking of President Obama's recent address in Moscow, I said:

In both words and tone, the president's speech evinces the same Wilsonianism that led to the disastrous institutional paralysis of the interwar era. It is the same kind of happy talk that we might find in the text of the Kellogg-Briand Pact.

1979, The Most Important Year

I graduated from high school thirty years ago.

Hence, the year 1979 always seems to have a ring to it. Foreign Policy's got an interesting new article on the anniversary, "1979: The Great Backlash: What do Ayatollah Khomeini, Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II, and Deng Xiaoping All Have in Common?":

If you want to understand the surge of politicized religion, post-communist globalization, and laissez-faire economics that has defined our modern era, forget 1968. Forget even 1989. It's 1979 that's the most important year of all. A remarkable chapter in international affairs—and intellectual history—began that year, and it had the strangest group of authors imaginable.

It was in 1979 that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran and showed once and for all that "Islamic revolution" is not an oxymoron. The Soviet Union made the fateful decision to invade the poor backwater of Afghanistan, sparking a different kind of Islamic uprising that hammered the first nails into the coffin of the communist empire. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher blazed a conservative resurgence in Britain that not only changed the rules of politics in the West but also shaped the subsequent age of market-driven globalization. Pope John Paul II's first pilgrimage to his Polish homeland in the summer of 1979 emboldened freedom-loving peoples throughout Eastern and Central Europe and set events in motion that would culminate in the nonviolent revolutions of 1989. And throughout 1979, a stoic and unlikely visionary named Deng Xiaoping quietly took the first steps to prepare communist China for its long march toward the age of markets.

Check the link for more.

See also, John O'Sullivan, "Rebel With a Cause: Margaret Thatcher, Revolutionary" (via Memeorandum): " She matters because she is one of the very few strong leaders dedicated to freedom. And as long as freedom is a political issue, Margaret Thatcher will continue to matter."

Unmanned Fighter Aircraft (An Update)

Jason at The Western Experience has an essay on air power technology and the future of war, "The Future of America’s Military Power?":

Our struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan show beyond any comparison the need for a large, well trained and well equipped army. Newer unmanned aircraft can and will do the job more efficiently at lower costs, both economically and in terms of human capital, where it is possible. But, there will always be the highest demand for well trained men asked to do an impossible job in the name of national defense. Just as it has always been since the primitive age of Achilles day. To the Special Forces operator on a mountain in Afghanistan trained to speak two languages and make head shots 1,000 meters away . And to think otherwise is pure fantasy.

Check the link for the full essay. Jason's piece builds on my piece from last night, Unmanned Fighter Aircraft (And the Left)."

See also the Washington Post, "High-Priced F-22 Fighter Has Major Shortcomings" (via Memeorandum).