Myth and Reality After 9/11

From Victor Davis Hanson, at National Review:

Why did radical Islamic terrorists kill almost 3,000 Americans a decade ago?

Few still believe the old myth that U.S. foreign policy or support for Israel logically earned us Osama bin Laden’s wrath. After all, the U.S. throughout the 1990s had saved Islamic peoples from Bosnia and Kosovo to Somalia and Kuwait. Russia and China, in contrast, had oppressed or killed tens of thousands of their own Muslims without much fear of provoking al-Qaeda.

Moreover, thousands of Arabs have been killed recently, but by their own Libyan and Syrian governments, not Israeli Defense Forces. Al-Qaeda still issues death threats to Americans even though its original pretexts for going to war — such as U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia — have long been irrelevant.

On this ten-year anniversary of 9/11, no one has yet refuted the general truth that bin Laden tried to hijack popular Arab discontent over endemic poverty and self-induced misery. In cynical Hitlerian fashion, al-Qaeda’s propagandists sought to blame the mess of the Arab Middle East on Jews and foreigners, rather than seeking to address homegrown corrupt kleptocracies, inefficient statism, indigenous tribalism, gender apartheid, and religious fundamentalism and intolerance ...

More at that link.

9/11 Tributes

From Bruce Kesler, at Maggie's Farm, "My Son, Age 11, Made This 9/11 Video For His 6th Grade Classmates."

RELATED: From Dana Loesch, at Big Journalism, "All Hail Salon, the 9/11 Tribute Police."

EXTRA: At Atlas Shrugs, "INFAMY."

MORE: From Glenn Reynolds, "SO HOW TO NOTE THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11?"

George W. Bush, National Geographic Interview: Remembering 9/11

I've been thinking about President Bush. I love him. Not a perfect president, especially on limiting the size of government, but he was the right president to lead the country in the war on terror. And for that he has my enduring gratitude.

This is a surprisingly comprehensive and fascinating interview. Watching the footage and photos from that day, I am reminded just how blessed our country was to have him during this time of tragedy and grief. It's difficult for some to admit, but his leadership and calm helped move us through one of the most difficult times in our country's history.

9/11 Media Overkill?

Thomas Ricks complains, "No 9/11 column here, but 2 questions: Where are the memorable 9/11 movies? And did we suffer a national panic?"

And following the links there, at Foreign Policy, "The 9/11 Anniversary Reader: Liberals vs. Neocons Edition."

Perhaps there's some sensationalism, but I learn more about what happened every year. The coverage this year's been especially fascinating precisely because of the ten-year marker.

More on this throughout the day.

RELATED: See Zilla of the Resistance, "I Will ALWAYS Be A New Yorker - My September 11, 2001 Story." And Yid With Lid, "The Horror of 9/11, I Remember... But Too Many Others Forget."

Negrophobia

I read but don't normally blog William Jacobson's Saturday Night Card Game. But last night's was something else: "Saturday Night Card Game (The “Negrophobia” card is played)." The "Negrophobia" card is played at Balloon Juice, "The Modern Negrophobists reaction to the President’s speech…" It's really disgusting, the cartoon and the ideas behind it in the contemporary context. But the commenters are running with it, for example:

The modern negrophobist would demand the would be rescuer bring him a large rock so he could sink more quickly.

That cartoon warms my heart. I especially like the way the artist depicted the bigot as some sort of weasel/human hybrid.

I don't even know what to say. These people are simply not my countrymen. The sentiment is analogous to the kind of anti-Semitism found in caricatured drawings of long-nosed money-grubbing Jews. In other words, it's eliminationist.

I haven't finished listening to it, but Dennis Prager, in a clip at Blazing Cat Fur, indicates that progressive ideology is so removed from the basic values of this country as to be functionally anti-American. See: "Dennis Prager's Top 10 Ways Liberalism Makes America Worse." Balloon Juice demonstrates the point 1000s of times over.

9/11 Remembered — Ezra Levant

Really astounding commemoration.

I enjoy Ezra Levant more each time I listen, via Blazing Cat Fur:

Remembering 9/11: Air Traffic Controller Final Call to Flight 77

I mentioned that I had a "Pentagon Attack Truther" in class last week. Perhaps my students might learn something at this video, from ABC News:

George W. Bush Speech at Shanksville Flight 93 Memorial

Watch President Bush in full at Gateway Pundit, "George W. Bush at Flight 93 Memorial: “One of the Lessons of 9-11 Is That Evil Is Real and So Is Courage” (Video)."

'Twin Tower Cameos'

At LAT, "Video montage: The twin towers immortalized in film."

Remembering 9/11

At PJTV:

Beyond Cairo Embassy Attack, Israel Senses Wider Siege

See New York Times, "Beyond Cairo, Israel Sensing a Wider Siege":

JERUSALEM — With its Cairo embassy ransacked, its ambassador to Turkey expelled and the Palestinians seeking statehood recognition at the United Nations, Israel found itself on Saturday increasingly isolated and grappling with a radically transformed Middle East where it believes its options are limited and poor.

The diplomatic crisis, in which winds unleashed by the Arab Spring are now casting a chill over the region, was crystallized by the scene of Israeli military jets sweeping into Cairo at dawn on Saturday to evacuate diplomats after the Israeli Embassy had been besieged by thousands of protesters.

It was an image that reminded some Israelis of Iran in 1979, when Israel evacuated its embassy in Tehran after the revolution there replaced an ally with an implacable foe.

“Seven months after the downfall of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, Egyptian protesters tore to shreds the Israeli flag, a symbol of peace between Egypt and its eastern neighbor, after 31 years,” Aluf Benn, the editor in chief of the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz, wrote Saturday. “It seems that the flag will not return to the flagstaff anytime soon.”

More at that link, and see also, Barry Rubin, "Ten Years After September 11: Who’s Really Winning the War On Terrorism." Rubin looks at the range of extremist terrorist groupings outside of al Qaeda --- Hamas, Hezbollah, Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt --- and suggests that terrorism is on the march. Israel is right smack-dab in the middle of it all. As a challenge for U.S. foreign policy, the war on terrorism is hardly won.

Democrats Openly Alarmed About Obama's Reelection Prospects

Well, they should be.

At NYT, "Democrats Fret Aloud Over Obama’s Re-election." (Via Memeorandum.)

Democrats are expressing growing alarm about President Obama’s re-election prospects and, in interviews, are openly acknowledging anxiety about the White House’s ability to strengthen the president’s standing over the next 14 months.

Elected officials and party leaders at all levels said their worries have intensified as the economy has displayed new signs of weakness. They said the likelihood of a highly competitive 2012 race is increasing as the Republican field, once dismissed by many Democrats as too inexperienced and conservative to pose a serious threat, has started narrowing to two leading candidates, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, who have executive experience and messages built around job creation.

And in a campaign cycle in which Democrats had entertained hopes of reversing losses from last year’s midterm elections, some in the party fear that Mr. Obama’s troubles could reverberate down the ballot into Congressional, state and local races.

More at that top link, but clearly, the Dems are going to be crushed.

And like Bill Whittle said, it's not going to matter who the GOP nominee is. Obambi's toast.

How the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks Unfolded

Via Telegraph UK on YouTube:

Also at Telegraph, "9/11: Voices from the doomed planes."

Pentagon Memorial September 10, 2011

At Marooned in Marin, "Visiting The Pentagon Memorial - September 10, 2011."

Very nice. Click over there to RTWT.

Ari Fleischer Remembers 9/11

This is an extremely fascinating discussion, from Alexis Garcia, at Pajamas Media, "PJTV: Ari Fleischer on 9/11 and the Fog of War." I'm struck by Fleischer's discussion of signalling to President Bush, upon first learning of the attacks, when he was still at the Florida elementary school, that he wasn't to go public with announcements or statements that the U.S. was under attack:

We Didn't Overreact to 9/11

At the video, an interesting clip featuring Ann Coulter and Matt Welch.

And see Charles Krauthammer, at Washington Post, "The 9/11 ‘overreaction’? Nonsense":

9/11 was our Pearl Harbor. This time, however, the enemy had no home address. No Tokyo. Which is why today’s war could not be wrapped up in a mere four years. It was unconventional war by an unconventional enemy embedded within a worldwide religious community. Yet in a decade, we largely disarmed and defeated it, and developed the means to continue to pursue its remnants at rapidly decreasing cost. That is a historic achievement.

Our current difficulties and gloom are almost entirely economic in origin, the bitter fruit of misguided fiscal, regulatory and monetary policies that had nothing to do with 9/11. America’s current demoralization is not a result of the war on terror. On the contrary. The denigration of the war on terror is the result of our current demoralization, of retroactively reading today’s malaise into the real — and successful — history of our 9/11 response.

I love Krauthammer. Read it all.

Mayor Bloomberg and the Soul of American Politics

Here's yesterday's interview with Mayor Bloomberg, whose decision to exclude clergy from official events is stirring controversy:

And from Matthew Franck & William Simon, Jr., at National Review:

This Sunday is the tenth anniversary of the al-Qaeda attacks on our country that left nearly 3,000 dead, the great majority of them in the ashes and rubble of the World Trade Center in New York City. As Americans pause on September 11 in mournful remembrance of that dreadful day, many of them will mark the moment with a prayer for the dead, for the loved ones from whom they were taken, and for their country. And such praying would be a normal part of any such commemoration even if the anniversary were not on a Sunday. It’s just what countless Americans do.

But there won’t be any praying at the City of New York’s official anniversary ceremonies this Sunday. At least, there won’t be any voiced at the microphones by invited speakers. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided to invite no clergy to be speakers at the event. It turns out that this omission of clergy participants has been a normal pattern of annual commemorations of 9/11. But on this tenth anniversary, the decision has finally been noticed, and it has become hugely controversial. According to the Wall Street Journal, the mayor said this week on his radio show, “It’s a civil ceremony. There are plenty of opportunities for people to have their religious ceremonies. . . . Some people don’t want to go to a religious ceremony with another religion. And the number of different religions in this city are [sic] really quite amazing.” He went on to deny the explanation that his own aides had been using to defend his decision — that it would just be “too difficult” to choose among so many faiths for the limited number of clergy who could be invited to speak. No, the mayor said, “It isn’t that you can’t pick and choose, you shouldn’t pick and choose. . . . If you want to have a service for your religion, you can have it in your church or in a field, or whatever.”

I understand, and I only fault Bloomberg to the extent that he personifies this country's banishment of religion from the public square. Folks no doubt would be able to grieve, commemorate and pray at an inter-denominational event. The logistics could have been worked out. Most of all, the day calls for spirituality. It's too bad we've come to this.

Continue reading, "Mayor Bloomberg and the Soul of American Politics."

How Many Jobs Have Obama's Policies Destroyed?

This ad ran ahead of Obama's jobs speech:

And see Power Line, "WANT MORE JOBS? THE LOW-HANGING FRUIT IS ENERGY":

Everyone knows that Obama’s jobs program is a joke; but let’s assume that you actually do want to help create a million or more jobs, while simultaneously increasing government revenues by many billions of dollars. How would you do it? It’s actually easy: just stop the irrational antagonism to energy development that is America’s most glaring public policy failure.

Lot of interesting charts at the post (via Memeorandum).

America's Broken Unity After 9/11

ICYMI, be sure to read Daniel Henninger's, "Whatever Happened to 9/11?", from a couple of days ago. Henninger recalls where he was on the morning of the attacks, and what it was like for him. Then he begins discussing the American response to the terror, for example, with the USA Patriot Act. There's more like that, and then he writes:

Virtually every aspect of the Bush antiterror policies became a target for litigation from the ACLU, opposition in Congress and press exposures: the wiretaps, Guantanamo, the Swift program to track terrorist finances, military courts, the Bush Doctrine of pre-preemptive strikes, terrorist interrogations. Opposition to the Iraq war rose, too, but the effort to thwart the provisions of the Patriot Act was a separate front.

Policy disagreements are inevitable. But how does one account for the intense personal animosity directed toward George Bush and those who worked for him in the government? They were hated, reviled, mocked. Recall, for instance, the effort to disbar former Justice Department officials John Yoo and Jay Bybee for writing the legal opinions on aggressive interrogations. Opposition wasn't enough. The destruction of reputation became a policy goal.

This Sunday's 10th anniversary commemorations will evoke some semblance of the unity then in the face of an enemy attack on U.S. soil. But make no mistake: It's gone.

What happened?

Well, continue reading. But as noted above, political opposition wasn't enough for the left. The utter destruction of opponents is required, for according to progressive/socialist ideology, conservatives and Republicans are greater enemies to America than the terrorists. And the left's bloodlust demands for revenge and recrimination continue right into the 10th anniversary. I watched Rachel Maddow on MSNBC while working on this post. Her broadcast, "Day of Destruction, Decade of War," was one long repudiation of America's response to the terrorist attacks, from the decade-long war footing and military mobilization, to the interrogation techniques that helped generate actionable intelligence to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden. Plus, I'm reading David Cole, at New York Review, "After September 11: What We Still Don’t Know." Cole is a far-left activist professor of law at Georgetown University. He's repeatedly argued that the bigger threat to American security is the U.S. government and not the terrorists determined to decapitate it. At Cole's New York Review piece, he revives calls for war crimes prosecutions against Bush administration officials, taking President Obama to task for purportedly not standing up for constitutional values:

As President Obama entered office, he sought to make a clean break with his predecessor. But at the same time, he has insisted that we look forward, not back. His administration has refused to conduct the criminal investigation that the Convention Against Torture requires wherever there are credible allegations that a person within our jurisdiction has committed torture. His Justice Department vetoed the recommendation of its own Office of Professional Responsibility that lawyers John Yoo and Jay Bybee be referred to their bar associations for disciplinary action in view of their having failed to provide candid legal advice in drafting the “torture memos.” The administration has sought to derail efforts in Spain to investigate US responsibility for torture of Spanish citizens held at Guantánamo. And President Obama continues to oppose even a high-level commission to investigate and report on the nation’s departure from the rule of law and descent into torture, abduction, and disappearances.

Obama appears to believe that such an investigation would be divisive, and might undermine his efforts to portray himself as above partisan wrangling. But division is a fact of life in Washington these days. And being above the fray is not an unmitigated good; some things are worth fighting for. A legal and moral accounting of the wrongs we have done should be high on the list.

Cole goes on like that, and it's interesting that he picks out John Yoo for special condemnation, twice in fact, basically renewing the call that Yoo should have been disbarred for his work in the Bush administration, and by extension, tried as a war criminal.

Behold the mind of the progressive left on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the attacks. For radical progressives, it's America that's the problem, not the fanatical killers who continue to wage war against us.

Terrorist Threat Prompts Tighter Security on 9/11

See New York Post, "Cops flood NYC streets and transit hubs amid bomb threat."

And at Fox News, "New York, DC Beef Up Security in Face of ‘Credible’ Terror Threat":

The two cities that were at the heart of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are on high alert this weekend after the government received a “credible” tip that Al Qaeda plans to launch an attack on Washington or New York as the nation marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Extra security is clearly visible on subways in both cities as officials are taking seriously a joint FBI, Homeland Security Intelligence Bulletin, first obtained by Fox News that states the timing and method of the potential terror plot.

“Al Qaeda possibly planned to carry out attacks…including a possible car bomb attack,” the bulletin reads.

Al Qaeda may have sent American terrorists or men carrying U.S. travel documents to launch the attack, government officials say.

And at ABC News, "Alleged 9/11 Anniversary Plot: Possible Suspect May Be ID'd" (via Memeorandum).

Protesters Attack Israel Embassy in Cairo

Well, if they're using Molotovs they're basically terrorists.

At NYT, "Israeli Ambassador Leaves Cairo After Protest Turns Violent":

CAIRO — Israel flew most of its diplomatic staff out of Egypt on Saturday after thousands of protesters the day before tore down a protective wall around the Israeli Embassy and broke into its offices the day before.

Prime Minister Essam Sharaf of Egypt called an emergency cabinet meeting to deal with the aftermath of the attack and the Egyptian government put its police on alert to guard against more violence.

The Egyptian Interior Ministry said Saturday that at least two people had died in the clashes, one from a bullet wound and the other from a heart attack, while as many as 1,200 had been injured in overnight clashes with the police, mostly around the Israeli Embassy. Protesters scaled the walls of the embassy to tear down its flag, broke into offices and tossed binders of documents into the streets.

The rioting began after large groups of protesters split off from what had been a peaceful protest in Tahrir Square. Thousands attacked the Israeli embassy while others converged on the Interior Ministry, defacing its headquarters. Dozens were also injured in clashes with the police there.

Israeli officials signaled Saturday that they considered the breach of their embassy’s security a significant blow to relations between the two allies. Israeli officials placed several calls to their American counterparts, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to President Obama, and from Defense Minister Ehud Barak to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, to try to apply pressure on Egypt to resolve the crisis, Israeli and American officials said.

A "significant blow to relations"?

You think?

Herman Cain 9/11 Tribute

Via The Other McCain, "Herman Cain Records Moving 9/11 Tribute, Alex Pareene Calls It ‘Tasteless’."

Michelle Malkin: 'All the wrong 9/11 lessons'

From Michelle's syndicated column:

...too many teachers refuse to show and tell who the perpetrators of 9/11 were and who their heirs are today. My own daughter was one year old when the Twin Towers collapsed, the Pentagon went up in flames and Shanksville, Pa., became hallowed ground for the brave passengers of United Flight 93. In second grade, her teachers read touchy-feely stories about peace and diversity to honor the 9/11 dead. They whitewashed Osama bin Laden, militant Islam and centuries-old jihad out of the curriculum. Apparently, the youngsters weren’t ready to learn even the most basic information about the evil masterminds of Islamic terrorism.

Mary Beth Hicks, author of the new book “Don’t Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid,” points to a recent review of 10 widely used textbooks in which the concepts of jihad and sharia were either watered down or absent. These childhood experts have determined that grade school is too early to delve into the specifics of the homicidal clash of Allah’s sharia-avenging soldiers with the freedom-loving Western world.

Yet, many of the same protectors of fragile elementary-school pupils can’t wait to teach them all the ins and outs of condoms, cross-dressers and crack addictions.

We pulled our daughter out of a cesspool of academic and moral relativism and found a reality-grounded, rigorous charter school where no-nonsense teachers refuse to sugarcoat inconvenient facts and history. Many of the students are children of soldiers and servicemen and women who — inspired by the heroes of 9/11 — have voluntarily deployed time and time again to kill the American Dream destroyers abroad before they kill us over here.

There’s no better way to hammer home the message that “freedom is not free” than to have your kids go to school with other kids whose dads and moms are gone for years at a time — missing births and birthday parties, recitals and soccer practice, Christmas pageants and Independence Day fireworks.

But instead of unfettered pride in our armed forces, social justice educators in high schools and colleges across the country indoctrinate American students into viewing our volunteer armed forces as victims, monsters and pawns in a leftist “social struggle.”

A decade after the 9/11 attacks, Blame America-ism still permeates classrooms and the culture. A special 9/11 curriculum distributed in New Jersey schools advises teachers to “avoid graphic details or dramatizing the destruction” wrought by the 9/11 hijackers, and instead focus elementary school students’ attention on broadly defined “intolerance” and “hurtful words.”

No surprise: Jihadist utterances such as “Kill the Jews,” “Allahu Akbar” and “Behead all those who insult Islam” are not among the “hurtful words” studied.

Middle-schoolers are directed to “analyze diversity and prejudice in U.S. history.” And high-school students are taught “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” – pop-psychology claptrap used to excuse jihadists’ behavior based on their purported low self-esteem and oppressed status caused by “European colonialism.”

It is no wonder that a new poll released this week showed that Americans today “are generally more willing to believe that U.S. policies in the Middle East might have motivated the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon,” according to Reuters.

To make matters worse, we have an appeaser-in-chief who wrote shortly after the jihadist attacks a decade ago that the “essence of this tragedy” derives “from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others.” A “climate of poverty and ignorance” caused the attacks, then-Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama preached. Never mind the Ivy League and Oxford educations, the oil wealth and the middle-class status of legions of al-Qaida plotters and operatives.

9/11 was a deliberate, carefully planned evil act of the long-waged war on the West by Koran-inspired soldiers of Allah around the world. They hated us before George W. Bush was in office. They hated us before Israel existed. And the avengers of the religion of perpetual outrage will keep hating us no matter how much we try to appease them.

The post-9/11 problem isn’t whether we’ll forget. The problem is: Will we ever learn?

That's not how I teach. I don't sugarcoat it, although I'm respectful of those who've been brainwashed by Noam Chomsky and 9/11 truthers and what not. Mostly, though, many students don't quite know exactly what happened on 9/11. A student stopped me last week during discussions, when I started taking about Flight 77 (the Pentagon) and Flight 93 (Shanksville). She didn't know there were four planes hijacked that morning. Ten years on, it's not only "never forget," it's educate the next generation on what happened, and don't pull punches.

VIDEO: 'Remembering 9/11 – Never Quit'

From the Hertiage Foundation:

Democrats Give New Meaning to the Phrase 'Attack Ad'

James Taranto notes that the Democrats can't be over September 11 soon enough. Indeed, the DSCC ran an advertisement in the NY-9 special election (to replace the disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner) that featured a jet swooping low over New York City. And here's the story, at NY Observer: "Anti-Bob Turner Ad Featuring Airplane Ominously Buzzing Manhattan: Slightly Terrorist-y?"

The ad without the New York skyline imaging:

Also from Jim Geraghty, "Why Do Stumbling Democrats Keep Tripping Up on 9/11 Images?"

F-16 Pilot Heather Penney Tasked to Take Down United Flight 93 on September 11

And the F-16 she piloted was not armed for combat, so she essentially was on a Kamikaze mission to take down the hijacked airliner if necessary.

See Washington Post, "F-16 pilot was ready to give her life on Sept. 11."

Also at Daily Mail, "I'd be a kamikaze pilot: Fighter pilot recalls her would-be 'suicide' mission to take down United 93 - and the heroes who did it for her."

Egyptian Protesters Tear Down Israeli Embassy Security Wall

This video c/o Ahram Online, "VIDEO: Protesters take down Israeli embassy flag."

And at Weasel Zippers, "Arab Spring: Hundreds of Rampaging Egyptians Tear Down Concrete Wall Protecting Israeli Embassy…"

RELATED: At Los Angeles Times, "EGYPT: Thousands in Tahrir Square angry at slow pace of reforms."

No doubt.

The Global Left's Anti-Israel Forum

See Anne Bayefsky, at Weekly Standard, "Durban III: An Anti-Israel Forum Takes Shape" (via Memeorandum).

Gender Equality Elusive at Top?

That was the headline at yesterday's Los Angeles Times business page, although I've added the question mark.

See: "Women on Wall Street: Small group at the top gets smaller."

"While the ouster of a number of top Wall Street women cannot necessarily be tied directly to the glass ceiling or sexism per se, the numbers aren't good," said Deborah Ancona, a professor of organization studies at the MIT's Sloan School of Management. "Women fill a minority of top leadership positions in corporate America."

But RTWT.

Actually, I don't think we'll ever have exact equality in that department, and I don't know if it was God's plan to do so, in any case. As James Taranto has written:

Men and women are intrinsically unequal in ways that are ultimately beyond the power of government to remediate. That is because nature is unfair. Sexual reproduction is far more demanding, both physically and temporally, for women than for men. Men simply do not face the sort of children-or-career conundrums that vex women in an era of workplace equality.

That said, see Patricia Sellers, at Fortune, "Carol Bartz exclusive: Yahoo "f---ed me over..." (At Memeorandum.)

'Time'

Heard this on the way home from "The Undefeated" the other night. And come to think of it, The Sound has been playing a lot of Pink Floyd:



P.S. I'll try to post my thoughts on The Undefeated later today.

The Return of Elitism?

An interesting piece, at Telegraph UK, "David Cameron: we need elitism in schools":

David Cameron will signal a return to “elitism” in schools in an attempt to mend Britain’s “broken” society and secure the economic future.

The Prime Minister will attack the “prizes for all” culture in which competitiveness is frowned upon and winners are shunned.

In a significant speech, he will outline Coalition plans to ensure teaching is based on “excellence”, saying that controversial reforms are needed to “bring back the values of a good education”.

Failure to do so would be “fatal to prosperity”, he will say.

The comments mark the latest in a series of attempts to focus on education in response to the riots that shocked London and other English cities last month.

Actually, we could use less elitism on this side of the Atlantic, and more back to basics, common sense, values-based instruction.

Can We Forgive the September 11 Terrorists?

Well, no. Seem strange to even consider it. The acts perpetrated on September 11 weren't a one off event, but a key moment on Islamism's long-term agenda. We're still fighting the forces that gave rise to this terrorism, and collective responsibility is required before any kind of forgiveness would even be possible. And we're not seeing any of that. In fact, it's just as much anti-Americanism as ever.

But this is an interesting essay, in any case, from Tim Townsend, at WSJ, "Can We Forgive?":

Forgiveness is central to the Christian faith. Christ's death represents the forgiveness of man's sin. All men. All sin. And Christians are expected to try to imitate it. "If Jesus could forgive the people who murdered him, there's something in that model that should apply to all of us," Fr. Ryan said. "I don't understand it all, but I'm willing to follow that model based on everything else I know and believe."

Jewish tradition teaches that since God forgives, so must his creation. Forgiveness is at the heart of the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. But victims are obligated to forgive only when the perpetrator has gone through a process of repentance, called teshuvah. Similarly, in Islam, forgiveness is tied closely to repentance.

Some see moral value in not forgiving. When a dying SS soldier in a concentration camp hospital asked Simon Wiesenthal for his forgiveness for the soldier's part in a massacre of Jews, Wiesenthal remained silent and walked away. A devout friend in the camp told Wiesenthal he had done the right thing: "You would have had no right to do this in the name of people who had not authorized you to do so. What people have done to you yourself, you can, if you like, forgive and forget. That is your own affair. But it would have been a terrible sin to burden your conscience with other people's sufferings."

When the aggrieved have been murdered, and the murderers are gone, too, do those who survived or the families of those who died have the moral standing to forgive? Maybe, Fr. Ryan told me, the answer is simply to stand for the opposite of the evil that was done. "I don't know if I see the devil dressed in red with a pitchfork and hooves," he said. "But evil is a force in the world, and if we don't consciously counteract it, the consequences are tragic."

"I looked up and I saw people jumping," he told me, his eyes glassy. "I saw several of them holding hands." Fr. Ryan paused. "I'm sorry. I don't talk about this a lot."

Yvonne Strahovski at Maxim (VIDEO)

Some Rule 5 action:

And see: "The 23 Hottest Women of Fall TV."

Obama Proposes 'American Jobs Act' (VIDEO)

The main story's at New York Times, "Obama Exhorts Congress on Jobs Plan":

WASHINGTON — Faced with a stalling economy, a hostile Congress and a disenchanted public, President Obama challenged lawmakers in a blunt address Thursday evening to enact a sweeping package of tax cuts and new spending designed to revive the stagnant job market.

Speaking to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Obama ticked off a list of measures he said would put money in people’s pockets, encourage companies to begin hiring again, and jolt an American economy at risk of relapsing into recession. And he all but ordered Congress to pass the legislation.

“You should pass this jobs plan right away,” the president declared.

With Republicans already lining up to condemn the plan, Mr. Obama said, “The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.”

Though Mr. Obama’s proposals were widely expected — an extension and expansion of the cut in payroll taxes; new spending on schools and public works projects; and an overhaul of unemployment insurance — the overall package was considerably larger than expected, with an estimated $447 billion in stimulus money.

Also at Los Angeles Times, "Obama to Congress: Americans want action now on jobs." The text is available via Memorandum.

All the "pass this jobs bill" agitation is Obama begging the Congress to act. What's interesting is how this sounds like just one more big porkulus, despite Obambi's denials and claims that "everything in this bill is paid for." Amazingly, he still announces that we need higher taxes!!

Jennifer Rubin has more, "Obama: Pay it now, pay for it later":

What was remarkable was the whiff of desperation conveyed by Obama, and the utter lack of interest by the Republicans. The speaker of the House looked bored. The Republicans neither booed nor applauded. No one thinks this grab bag, a mini son of the Stimulus Plan, is going to work. But Republicans must be relieved: Obama said nothing that would either win over independents or exert any pressure on them to pass it.

And back over to LAT, "Republicans' reaction to Obama speech is lukewarm -- and that's a start," and "Economists give Obama's jobs plan mixed reviews.

Added: See what I mean? From Associated Press, "FACT CHECK: Obama's jobs plan paid for? Seems not."

'Hard to Handle'

It took an hour to get to work yesterday. I don't mind, as long as I'm not running late (ha!). I get to listen to the radio. The Sound's playlist is below. The Black Crowes came up just as I got rolling with a cup of coffee:

8:05 - Hard To Handle by Black Crowes

8:16 - Bodhisattva by Steely Dan

8:21 - White Room by Cream

8:27 - Come Together by Aerosmith

8:30 - Jane by Jefferson Starship

8:34 - Magic Man by Heart

8:40 - More Cowbell by Christopher Walken

8:40 - Mississippi Queen by Mountain

8:49 - In The Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett

8:51 - Move It On Over by George Thorogood

8:56 - White Wedding by Billy Idol

9:00 - Space Oddity by David Bowie

9:05 - We Just Disagree by Dave Mason

9:08 - You Really Got Me by Kinks

More blogging tonight!

Cato Institute: 'Government Spending Doesn't Create Jobs'

Good timing:

'The Undefeated' — Lido Theatre in Newport Beach!

My meetup group has organized a showing of Stephen Bannon's "The Undefeated." It's part of the Liberatore Lecture Series. We'll see how it goes. I'm heading out right now and will post an update later tonight:

Wall Street Journal Not Thrilled With Romney's Jobs Plan

See, "Mitt Romney's 59 Economic Flavors." After the praise, some criticism:

On taxes, Mr. Romney would immediately cut the top corporate income-tax rate to 25% from 35%. His advisers say there's already a bipartisan consensus that the U.S. rate hurts American companies, and they're right. Even Mr. Obama agrees.

But on other taxes, Mr. Romney shrinks from a fight. He says he favors tax reform with lower individual tax rates but only "in the long run." His advisers say that means in the first two years of his Presidency, but then why not sketch out more details?

The answer may lie in his proposal to eliminate the capital gains tax—but only for those who earn less than $200,000 a year. This eviscerates most of the tax cut's economic impact and also suggests that he's afraid of Mr. Obama's class warfare rhetoric. He even picked Mr. Obama's trademark income threshold for the capital gains cut-off.

If Mr. Romney thinks this will let him dodge a class warfare debate, he's fooling himself. Democrats will hit him anyway for opposing Mr. Obama's proposal to raise taxes on higher incomes, dividends and capital gains in 2013. Perhaps Mr. Romney feels that his wealth and background make him especially vulnerable to the class charge, but if he won't openly make the economic case for lower tax rates he'll never get Congress to go along.

On spending, Mr. Romney joins the GOP's "cut, cap and balance" parade, setting a cap on spending over time at 20% of GDP. What Mr. Romney doesn't do is provide even a general map for how to get there, beyond cutting spending on nonsecurity domestic programs by 5% upon taking office.

That does sound a bit timid.

RTWT.

Erick Erickson: Dude Picks Fight With Sarah Palin Supporters, Loses Badly

Erick Erickson goes after Sarah Palin by attacking her supporters as "The Palin Fan Cult," and tops it off with a few juicy digs against the Governor herself. To bolster his case he cites Ann Coulter's comments with Laura Ingraham on Fox News.

The Fox hotties are not my concern, as they're supposed to be critiquing the candidates and pumping the ratings. Erick Erickson's purportedly about building a movement. And it seems to me the last person you'd want to bash in that regard is Sarah Palin. Has she held out too long? Probably. I wish she would've announced early this year so she could've been amassing a war chest to rival Barack Obama's expected $1 billion haul. And that's not counting the possibility that Palin could lose the nomination despite being the ultimate conservative rock star. Fact is, Palin's more in tune with the values of more conservatives than anyone else out there. Frankly, it doesn't matter when she announces, except as a matter of strategy. No doubt the waiting is hard, but it'd still be worth it if she came out in November or December with a major policy speech declaring her candidacy. I'd be behind her in a second. I've said all along that as much as I like and support Michele Bachmann, I throw my support to Palin without batting an eye. (Now, thinking about it, a Palin/Bachmann dream team would put me over the top.) But at this point we don't know, so faulting her for "teasing" only arms Palin's divisions of enemies on the progressive left. And Erick Erickson should know better, but then again, he's obviously not too bright.

In any case, see William Jacobson, "Erick Erickson: “moving on from Sarah Palin is like leaving Scientology”, and Linkmaster Smith, "Not Enough." And more commentary at Memeorandum.

Oh, and don't forget Dan Riehl, "Erick Erickson All Wee Weed Up Over Palin," and "For All The Brave Whiners On Palin."

Encore, 'Reelin' in the Years': Steely Dan with Elliott Randall

I've got some real musical connoisseurs reading this blog. At last night's video, commenter Harkin writes:

Ack - find the original with Elliot Randall. We loves Skunk Baxter but he butchers the solos on this.

Hey, your wish is my command:

That's a raw clip. Here's studio:

And the song's Wikipedia entry has this:

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has reportedly said that Elliott Randall's guitar solo on "Reelin' In the Years" is his favorite solo of all time.

I can dig it.

United Nations Anti-Semitism

Another devastating video, via Anne Bayefsky, at Big Peace, "The UN’s Anti-Semitism Agenda on Display in ‘Durban III’":

PREVIOUSLY: "United Nations Bias Against Israel."

Ten Years Without an Attack

From John Yoo, at Wall Street Journal (alternative link). Discussing President George W. Bush's leadership, Yoo writes:

Looking back over the decade, the first clear lesson is the critical importance of Mr. Bush’s decision to consider the struggle with al Qaeda a war. Unlike past administrations, his chose not to view al Qaeda as a Middle Eastern version of the mafia, if on a grander scale. The 9/11 attacks constituted an act of war—they were a decapitation strike, an effort to eliminate our nation’s leadership in a single blow. If the Soviet Union had carried out the same attacks, no one would have doubted that the United States was at war.

Al Qaeda’s independence from any nation state would not shield it from the American military and leave it solely to the more tender mercies of the FBI and the courts.

Choosing war opened the arsenal that has decimated al Qaeda’s leadership and blunted its plan of attack. A nation at war need not wait for a suicide bombing to arrest the “suspects” who remain. Instead, it can fire missiles or send in covert teams to pre-emptively capture or kill the enemy. Our government doesn’t need a judge’s permission before tapping an al Qaeda operative’s phones, intercepting his emails, or arresting him.

We need not provide terrorists with Miranda warnings, lawyers and jury trials. A nation at war can detain the enemy without lawyers or civilian trials and interrogate them for information to prevent future attacks.

In its second critical decision, the Bush administration pushed to translate knowledge into action. Winning the war requires, above all, the gathering, analysis and exploitation of intelligence. Before 9/11 our national security bureaucracies, prodded by the civil liberties worries of the courts and Congress, had deliberately handicapped their ability to pull all intelligence into a single mosaic. Passage of the Patriot Act, the expanded interception of international terrorist emails and phone calls, and the tough interrogation of a few high-ranking al Qaeda leaders broadened and deepened the pool of information on our enemy.

At the same time, the intelligence community and the U.S. Armed Forces have honed the integration of tactical intelligence and operations to a deadly knife’s-edge. Bin Laden’s killing this summer was not a one-off lucky shot, but the culmination of a decade of work combining intelligence-gathering, analysis and rapid strike teams. American presidents did not have such reliable options in the past—witness Jimmy Carter’s disastrous attempt to rescue the Iranian hostages or Bill Clinton’s failure to kill or capture bin Laden.

RELATED: "John Yoo at David Horowitz's West Coast Retreat, April 3, 2011."

'It's Civility Week!'

Mandy Nagy is cracking me up!

See, "New Tone: Twitter Users Want Republicans Dead."

Yeah, that is a lot of "new tone" this week, and it's only Wednesday!

Stay classy, progs!

Sarah Palin: Don’t Be Taken In by Union Thugs Like James Hoffa

On Facebook, "Welcome, Union Brothers and Sisters":

In my speech on Saturday in Iowa, I said: “Between bailouts for Wall Street cronies and stimulus projects for union bosses’ security and ‘green energy’ giveaways, [Barack Obama] took care of his friends. And now they’re on course to raise a billion dollars for his re-election bid so that they can do it all over again.” This was shamefully on display yesterday at President Obama’s taxpayer-funded campaign rally in Detroit. In introducing the President, Teamsters President James Hoffa represented precisely what I was talking about as he declared war on concerned independent Americans and on the freshman members we sent to Congress last November by saying, “Let’s take these son-of-a-bitches out!”

What I say now, I say as a proud former union member and the wife, daughter, and sister of union members. So, as a former card-carrying IBEW sister married to a proud former Laborers, IBEW, and later USW member, please hear me out. What I have to say is for the hard working, patriotic, selfless union brothers and sisters in Michigan and throughout our country: Please don’t be taken in by union bosses’ thuggery like Jim Hoffa represented yesterday. Union bosses like this do not have your best interests at heart. What they care about is their own power and re-electing their friend Barack Obama so he will take care of them to the detriment of everyone else.

Read it all...

The Myth of Conservative Purity

From Peter Berkowitz, at Wall Street Journal (and Google):

With the opening of the fall political season and tonight's Republican candidate debate, expect influential conservative voices to clamor for fellow conservatives to set aside half-measures, eschew conciliation, and adhere to conservative principle in its pristine purity. But what does fidelity to conservatism's core convictions mean?

Superstar radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has, with characteristic bravado, championed a take-no-prisoners approach. In late July, as the debt-ceiling debate built to its climax, he understandably exhorted House Speaker John Boehner to stand strong and rightly praised the tea party for "putting country before party." But then Mr. Limbaugh went further. "Winners do not compromise," he declared on air. "Winners do not compromise with themselves. The winners who do compromise are winners who still don't believe in themselves as winners, who still think of themselves as losers."

We saw the results of such thinking in November 2010, when Christine O'Donnell was defeated by Chris Coons in Delaware in the race for Vice President Joe Biden's vacated Senate seat. In Nevada Sharron Angle was defeated by Harry Reid, who was returned to Washington to reclaim his position as Senate majority leader. In both cases, the Republican senatorial candidate was a tea party favorite who lost a very winnable election.

The notion of conservative purity is a myth. The great mission of American conservatism—securing the conditions under which liberty flourishes—has always depended on the weaving together of imperfectly compatible principles and applying them to an evolving and elusive political landscape.

William F. Buckley Jr.'s 1955 Mission Statement announcing the launch of National Review welcomed traditionalists, libertarians and anticommunists. His enterprise provides a model of a big-tent conservatism supported by multiple and competing principles: limited government, free markets, traditional morality and strong national defense.

That's a long time ago. I don't know if we've got big tentyness these days. Besides, I have a hunch Republicans will may well nominate Romney. Perry's giving Romney a run for his money, and I'm not discounting Bachmann. But I'd be surprised if a purity candidate got the nod. That said, maybe purity is what the voters want, or at least in California? We'll know in due time.

RELATED: At LAT, "The real Ronald Reagan may not meet today's GOP standards."

Awaiting Obama's Jobs Speech: The 'Invisible Americans'

From the letters to the editor, at New York Times:

To the Editor:

Re “The Fatal Distraction,” by Paul Krugman (column, Sept. 5):

I am a small-business owner and will never receive money from big giveaway programs to state and local governments. My profits are not at record levels: whom are you talking to?

I am the foundation of the American Dream. I put my house on the line and worry about making the payroll. There is no support from banks or government. I do not have defined benefits or job security because of seniority.

Certainly, our educational system needs help and support to compete in this global economy, but so does my small business. We have no union, no lobbyists in Congress and no time to rally. We go to work every day. Truly, we are the invisible Americans.

BRENDA BEDRICK
East Greenwich, R.I., Sept. 5, 2011

Bob Iritano and the Politics of Health Care

An excellent set of letters to the editor yesterday, at Los Angeles Times, "On health insurers rationing care...." And the last one:

Please. Everyone who hasn't lived under a rock all their lives knows the bad stories about national health coverage.

We have a friend who lived in Britain for many years. It took her two years to get a hysterectomy that would have taken her two weeks at an HMO here — two days if her condition were life-threatening. The numbers don't coincide with your version of reality.

This death is a sad thing. But his extra year and a half of life was won by a successful struggle that he and his family could not have waged against the bureaucracy of, say, Britain's healthcare system.

Your argument is driven by political hope, not reality.

Joan Moon

Burbank

And the initial article to which readers were responding: "Putting a price on prolonging a doomed life."

Tea Party Zombies Must Die

Verum Serum has the story: "New Tone Video Game: Kill Fox News “Zombies”…Who Paid for This?" Seriously. The "Koch Whore Lobbyist Zombie"? These people are beyond the pale. But check that link to watch the clip.

At Linkmaster Smith, at The Other McCain, "Raaaaacist Tea Parties: The Frankenstein Vampire Werewolf Zombie Argument."

BONUS: From Daniel Foster, at National Review, "Tea Party Zombies Must Die":

Hey kids, hear about the latest rage? It’s “Tea Party Zombies Must Die” an exciting new first-person shooter “Advergame.” Here’s how it’s described:

DON’T GET TEA-BAGGED! The Tea Party zombies are walking the streets of America. Grab your weapons and bash their rotten brains to bits! Destroy zombie Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, the Koch Brothers, and many more!

Don’t believe the hype? I took the game for a whirl and managed to snag some choice screenshots...

Via Memeorandum.

Bachmann Campaign Shake-Up

Ed Rollins is out. (Good thing too.)

See Los Angeles Times, "Michele Bachmann's campaign sees major shake-up."

And from Chris Cillizza, at Washington Post, "Michele Bachmann’s rise and fall in the 2012 Republican primary":

In politics, things change fast.

Less than a month ago, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann sat atop the political world fresh off her win at the Ames Straw Poll.

Today, two new polls show Bachmann’s support badly eroding — a finding that when coupled with a Labor Day staff shakeup raise serious questions about her ability to recapture the momentum that shot her into the top tier over the summer.

In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, Bachmann now stands at six percent in a hypothetical 2012 Republican primary ballot, well short of the 13 percent she took in a mid-July Post/ABC survey of registered voters

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows a similar decline with Bachmann now winning 8 percent — half of the 16 percent she received in July.

There appear to be a few reasons for Bachmann’s slippage.

Keep reading.

Rick Perry's surge came primarily at Michele Bachmann's expense. That said, Cillizza sounds a bit too bearish on Bachmann. She needs to stay focused on Iowa. Obviously her Ames victory got buried in the sensation of Rick Perry, but we've got a debate tomorrow and lots more retail politics before Iowa, where Bachmann remains the favorite daughter.

TSA Agent Threatens Amy Alkon with Defamation Suit!

Oh my goodness, this is lovely.

From Kash Hill, "Female Blogger Threatened With Defamation Suit For Writing About TSA 'Rape'." (Via Instapundit.)

Go read it all.

And at Amy's blog: "Breaking News: The TSA Agent Who Visited My Vagina."

RELATED: I was searching for Amy's post on Google, and punching in "Amy Alkon Libel Suit" you never know who's name will pop up in the results. Man, that's gotta be a bitch.

Polls Find 3 of 4 Americans Saying Country's On Wrong Track

People keep talking about how dissatisfaction hasn't been this high since 2008 and the Wall Street bailout. But I'm thinking back to 1991, when President George H.W. Bush went from almost 90 percent approval on the Persian Gulf War to being defeated by Bill Clinton in 1992. At the Los Angeles Times a whopping 60 percent disapprove of President Obama's handling of the economy. There is no doubt that economic issues will be the number one priority for voters next year, so in California, a reliably blue state, those are horrible numbers for the Democrats. See: "Poll illustrates California voters' anger." Especially noteworthy about the Times' poll is that partisans on both sides are digging in their heels against compromise, with 57 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of Republicans backing a stand-firm position for their party's priorities. That's the anger factor right there. There's speculation that the summer's budget battle in Washington --- which Democrats lost --- has helped create a hardening of positions. This seems to go against suggestions that we should all just get along and work for the common good.

And today's Wall Street Journal poll is a keeper. See, "Voter Discontent Deepens Ahead of Obama Jobs Plan." (At Google as well.) Seventy-three percent say the country's headed in the wrong direction. But picking up on my discussion from yesterday on the Electoral College, this bit on Ohio is devastating for the White House:

Voters appear to be looking for a new direction. By 44% to 40%, Americans now say they are more likely to vote Republican next year than for Mr. Obama's re-election. In June, the president held the edge, 45% to 40%. The president is losing support from key groups including political independents, women and Hispanics.

In the Mahoning Valley of Northeast Ohio, a Democratic stronghold that Mr. Obama must win handily next year, the president can find all the hurdles that will impede his path: 10% unemployment, collapsing incomes, private-sector payrolls that have begun creeping back from the depths of early 2010 but which remain roughly 19,000 jobs down from a decade ago for the metropolitan area here.

The lukewarm support Mr. Obama finds here not only endangers his hopes in Ohio, one of the country's key swing states, but shows the erosion in enthusiasm for the president even among voters he should be able to reach and who he will need badly next year.

Bill Hiznay—a registered Democrat who voted for John McCain in 2008 and says he's currently undecided—says the president inherited the terrible U.S. economy, "But we're still going to blame Obama for our misfortunes." Mr. Hiznay, a 58-year-old pipe-mill worker, added: "He's in trouble, no question about it."

Among blue-collar workers nationally, the president's disapproval rating reached 56% last month. Some 49% of union members and union households disapprove of the job Mr. Obama is doing, vs. 45% who approve.

Blue collar America is turning against this administration. Not even three years after Barack Obama was elected as a man who could virtually walk on water, he's being repudiated viciously among voters from left to right. This helps explain why Democrats and union leaders are so combative. It's all slipping away. The mask of "hope and change" is falling off. The electorate's rose colored glasses are off too. I'm getting really excited for next year, no matter who wins the GOP nomination.

Suspect in IHOP Shooting Identified as 32-Year-Old Eduardo Sencion

The alleged shooter's motives are still unclear, and reports say the guy's a U.S. citizen.

See, This Ain't Hell, "Carson City shooter was NOT military."

Also at The Blaze, "UPDATE: MAN WHO SHOT 5 NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY PRIOR TO SHOOTING."

Background at Reno Gazette-Journal, "Update: Carson City IHOP shooting gunman had 2 more guns but did not fire them," and ABC News, "National Guard Members Among Four Dead in Carson City Nevada IHOP Shooting Rampage."

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Fox & Friends: Won't Comment on Teamsters Leader's Violent Rhetoric

Nice Deb has the big roundup: "Video: Debbie Wasserman Schultz Also Not Interested In Condemning Violent Anti-Teaparty Rhetoric":

Not only is she out of her league as DNC Chair, she's really nasty woman.

See also at Althouse, "'We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers'."

I realize "let's take these sons of bitches out" can be interpreted to mean let's vote these terrible people out of office. But "take them out" is not an idiomatic expression that corresponds to "vote them out." Take them out? Maybe that's not the phrase he intended to use, but if it was unintended, it was still a gaffe. A revealing gaffe. Unless you're speaking in a positive way — referring to taking someone out on a date, for example — "take them out" is a violent command. With "sons of bitches" right there, it's unmistakably violent. Now, you can say it's only metaphorical, and all Hoffa really wants is to oust these people from office.

But it was only last January that Obama and many other Democrats were saying that violent metaphors, including a simple target on a map, were dangerous incitements for the unstable irrational folk out there.

Also, "Jimmy Hoffa's "Let’s take these sons of bitches out" speech — take 2."

Michael Coren Loves Zionism!

Via Blazing Cat Fur:

2012 Race For the Presidency: Doing the Electoral College Math

This is why I basically ignored the new poll out at Los Angeles Times, showing that President Obama leads "Romney by 19 points, Perry by 24 points and Bachmann by 26 points" in California.

See Larry Sabato, at Wall Street Journal, "The 2012 Election Will Come Down to Seven States":

Straw polls, real polls, debates, caucuses, primaries—that's the public side of presidential campaigns 14 months before Election Day. But behind the scenes, strategists for President Obama and his major Republican opponents are already focused like a laser on the Electoral College.

The emerging general election contest gives every sign of being highly competitive, unlike 2008. Of course, things can change: Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were both in trouble at this point in their first terms, and George H.W. Bush still looked safe. Unexpectedly strong economic growth could make Mr. Obama's re-election path much easier than it currently looks, as could the nomination of a damaged Republican candidate. But a few more weeks like the past couple, and Mr. Obama's re-election trajectory will resemble Jimmy Carter's.

Both parties are sensibly planning for a close election. For all the talk about how Hispanics or young people will vote, the private chatter is about a few vital swing states. It's always the Electoral College math that matters most.

Go read it all at the link above.

Republicans have no shot at winning California, but Pennsylvania's in play, and Sabato identifies 7 states that are totally up for grabs, including Florida and Ohio. Sounds kinda familiar, since those two states have been battlegrounds in recent presidential elections. I'm on record for President Obama as a one-termer. It's the economy, stupid. Sure, we'll have to pay more attention to trends across the states, but it's only 14 months until the election. Unemployment's still going to be excruciatingly high. I can't see how the Democrats can cobble together an Electoral College victory in this environment. Stay tuned.

Oh, and William Jacobson has some commentary on Obama's speech yesterday: "Is this the fight Democrats really want to have?"

Tolerance of Islam

I'm telling you, this lady's good, via Blazing Cat Fur, "'Overall, there is substantial evidence which indicates that 9/11 was perpetrated by American neoconservatives'":

She had me fooled last time I posted her stuff. Shoot, I thought she was serious about "Millionaires and Billionaires." Well, that's okay. We all make mistakes. My bad. Good satire fools people. And speaking of neoconservatives, a long while back I wrote a hilarious but preposterously absurd essay, "A Neoconservative Hate Crimes Prevention Act."

I'm busting up just reading this again! I wrote:

Congress must act now to pass a Neoconservative Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Such legislation should give federal authorities increased capabilities to engage in hate crimes investigations against those motivated by left-wing hatred who intend to cause injury or death to neoconservatives. Such legislation should give the FBI power to gather data on progressive-leftists who excoriate neoconservative activists, writers, and organizations. Additional provisions could include federal grants to local agencies to investigate groups fomenting hate crimes against neoconservatives. Additionally, such legislation should include a concealed-carry provision allowing neoconservatives to carry handguns for self-protection; and the legislation should allow for the interstate transfer of weapons from one state to another in accordance with concealed carry laws. Recent proposed amendments to the Matthew Shepard Act may serve as a model.

Such legislation is now necessitated by evidence from yesterday's tragic Holocaust Memorial shooting that William Kristol's Weekly Standard may have been a target of suspected killer James von Brunn...

Pretty good, eh?

Jonathan Swift can't touch that!

So good, in fact, that the my deranged far-left progressive hate-blogger stalker W. James "Costanza" Casper = RACIST = Repsac3 actually fell for it, writing a self-douche "gotcha" post at his hell-hole of hate, American Nihilist: "'AmericanNeoCon; Donald Douglas envisions himself the real victim, here... Gimme a friggin' break..."

It was a joke, idiot W. James "Costanza" Casper = RACIST = Repsac3. You fell for it, hard. So STFU. Loser. And I've warned you a million times, stay the f*** away from my comment threads, creepy freak ass stalking criminal!

New Video of Flight 93 Crash Aftermath

At Daily Mail, "Seen for the first time: New footage shows smoke cloud from Flight 93 crash":

There's more video at CBS if this one gets pulled: "Earliest video of Flight 93 crash on 9/11."

'Climate Justice'

Climate justice?

That's a scam right? There's no such thing as "climate justice," right?

Think again, at Pirate's Cove, "Apparently, 4.5 Billion Years Of Changing Climate Threatens “Human Rights”." Follow the links to the discussion of "restorative justice" for "those countries worst affected by the issue..." And "those countries" would be the LCDs, in the latest round of the global left's developmental shakedown regime.

RELATED: From Zombie, "Justice Justice."

Jimmie Bise, Jr., on Operation Fast and Furious

I've been meaning to blog this, but I keep getting distracted by my favorite topics (not to mention Rule 5).

So, check Sundries Shack, "Soon, It Will Be Time for Operation Witness Immunity."

BONUS: At Michelle's, "Fast and Furious update: Yes, the White House got e-mails."

Charles Moore at Telegraph UK: '9/11: what have we learnt?'

A great essay:

On a lazy summer’s day in 2002, it came home to me. I was mink-hunting (then a legal activity) by a river on the Kent/Sussex border, and a cockney foundry worker called Vince was there with his terrier.

We chatted, and eventually it came out that his sister had been killed in the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. She had been helping to organise a conference there, Vince said. More British people were killed on September 11, 2001 than in any other terrorist incident ever, including 7/7 and the Lockerbie bombing.

Sixty-seven out of the 2,996 people who died in the attacks on the United States that day were British citizens.

The figure is relevant as the 10th anniversary approaches because it is a reminder that the argument that “it was nothing to do with us” was never, from the very first moment, true. We were in it from the start. The death toll of Americans was 40 times higher.

The sheer “lethality” of the event, as well as its spectacular, filmic quality, proved that terrorism works: it achieves the “propaganda of the deed” which it seeks.

More at that top link.

Deterring Enemies in a Shaken World

Daniel Byman reviews Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda, by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, at New York Times:

As they relate this new direction [in counter-terrorism after 9/11], Mr. Schmitt and Mr. Shanker put flesh on approaches and operations that in the past were largely in the realm of specialists. The book is sprinkled with small, vivid anecdotes that bring day-to-day counterterrorism work to life. Take the Horse Blanket, a “graduating series of contingencies that each federal agency could take in response to a potential or actual terrorist attack” beginning in 2007.

Much like a playbook, the Horse Blanket (whose intriguing name goes unexplained here) detailed the cost of each option, its level of disruption and its impact on foreign policy. A report of terrorist efforts to cross from Canada might lead to an increase in border security. Should intelligence agencies gather credible reports of the ultimate nightmare, a nuclear weapon being moved to attack an American city, the border would be shut. Policy makers can now ratchet counterterrorism up or down to match the perceived threat.

Technology has made a revolutionary difference. The authors explain how the contents of cellphones belonging to captured terrorists are cloned in seconds, with computers scanning the numbers to match those of other known terrorists. Such information can tie a suspect to an enemy network and its locations, which in turn helps interrogators ask smarter questions and enables them to direct military forces better. More bad guys die or are taken off the streets, and fewer innocents suffer.

Other efforts are aimed at the hearts and minds of those who have not yet taken sides. To discredit Al Qaeda with the Muslim public, officials sought “to create a constant drumbeat of anti-Al Qaeda information that was factual, directly quoted and heavily sourced,” as one White House official described it. So when the Taliban kill a schoolteacher or terrorists blind schoolgirls in an acid attack, the horrors are trumpeted in local and international media, countering Al Qaeda’s narrative that its fearless warriors fight only heavily armed United States soldiers.

Today, the authors write, American counterterrorism policy embraces “the new deterrence.” By imposing costs on terrorists’ reputations, chances for success, material assets — whatever they hold dear — you “alter the behavior and thinking of your adversary.” In contrast to deterrence strategies during the cold war, deterrence today does not involve a state actor, like the Soviet Union, with nuclear-tipped missiles but rather more nebulous networks that include not only fanatic suicide bombers but also more rational financiers, recruiters, arms runners and others who can be dissuaded by the threat of death or arrest. The new deterrence involves “kinetic” instruments, to use the military parlance for killing people, but also innovative information operations that might discredit a cause and scare away providers of funds.

Sounds like a great book.

International Cannabis and Hemp Expo

I guess they set up right in front of city hall, and fired up some doobies for the "medically impaired."

At Sacramento Bee, "Long lines as people attend Oakland marijuana fair":

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A marijuana street fair being held in downtown Oakland turned out to be a popular destination this weekend, with people waiting in long lines to attend the event.

The two-day International Cannabis and Hemp Expo was being held Saturday and Sunday over several blocks in the city's downtown, directly outside Oakland City Hall.

Besides vendors, speakers, music and other offerings, organizers say the event also includes a designated area in front of City Hall where those with a valid medical cannabis card will be able to smoke marijuana, organizers said.

It's basically a flower-power party downtown. If folks are so sick, you'd think they'd be home nursing their illnesses and taking their "medications." But of course, it's not really about "medical" marijuana. It's all about legalization, period.

Model Lara Stone Calvin Klein Naked Glamour Campaign

I'm a little late on this one, but hey, she's lovely.

At Telegraph UK, "Calvin Klein’s Naked Glamour campaign with Lara Stone unveiled."

RELATED: At Celeb Slam, "Dutch model Lara Stone is not happy with Playboy (NSFW)."

'Reelin' in the Years'

Some music for the evening:

I might post another one later. I'm in the mood.

President Zero SCOAMF

I was about to look up SCOAMF, but readers supplied encyclopedic linkage at the post.

See The Other McCain: "SCOAMF Nation."

And Dan Collins is looking good!

BONUS: At TOM, "SARAH PALIN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE."

PREVIOUSLY: "President Zero."

Image Credit.

Larry Powell, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, Retires for One Day in Salary Give Back to District

Not the kind of story you see very often.

At Los Angeles Times, "Fresno school official has a gift for giving":

Reporting from Fresno — It was supposed to be a quiet thing; no fanfare, no press releases.

Fresno County School Supt. Larry Powell and his wife, Dot, a retired principal, had figured out a way to help imperiled programs in their struggling school district.

He would retire for one day. Then come back to work at a pittance compared with his former salary — putting more than $800,000 of his salary and benefits back in the district's coffers.

But in tough economic times, when public trust has been repeatedly battered, word of an elected official giving back money quickly made its way from a Board of Education meeting to national headlines. Powell spent his "retirement" giving television and magazine interviews.

"We were trying to not create a big stir," said Armen Bacon, spokeswoman for the Fresno County Office of Education. "But we're living in a time of despair and people are so hungry for stories about the impact one person can make."

Powell officially retired Wednesday. The district was contracted to pay him $235,000 plus benefits a year through 2014. He went back to work Friday, rehired at a salary of $31,020 with no benefits, to run 35 school districts with 195,000 students.

Powell said he will give his new salary to charity. His former, heftier salary will go into the district's discretionary fund.

The Boston Globe has more:

Powell, a Baptist minister and lifelong educator who began his career as a high school civics teacher, was appalled by the revelations in Bell, the poor Southern California city where corrupt public officials secretly padded their paychecks by hundreds of thousands of dollars. “My wife and I asked ourselves, ‘What can we do that might restore confidence in government?’’’ he told the Associated Press. Their answer was to voluntarily forgo $800,000 in salary and benefits over the next 3½years. Powell chose to “retire’’ and then be hired back for just $31,000 a year - substantially less than what first-year teachers in California are paid. For that modest sum, he will continue to oversee 325 schools with 195,000 students.

He's not even keeping the $31 thousand.

But go back and check that Los Angeles Times piece. Powell can do this because his wife's a former principal and he'll be on her health care, and he's already earned at $200 thousand annual retirement from the state retirement system. Basically, the guy was raking the cash off taxpayer largesse and thought, "You know, I've had it good. Perhaps I might give some of this back so that others won't need for things." And that's the honorable thing right there.

Teamsters' James Hoffa Threatens Republicans at Democrat Labor Union Rally: 'Lets Take These Son of Bitches Out'

Stay classy union thugs:

Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa had some profane, combative words for Republicans while warming up the crowd for President Obama in Detroit, Michigan on Monday.

"We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They've got a war, they got a war with us and there's only going to be one winner. It's going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We're going to win that war," Jimmy Hoffa Jr. said to a heavily union crowd.

"President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," Hoffa added.

Commentary at Pat Austin's, "Hoffa: "Let's take these son of bitches out...!"

Plus, at Lonely Conservative, "Maxine Waters Wants $1 Trillion in New Stimulus, Teamsters Chief James Hoffa Wants Obama to Jawbone Businesses," and Weasel Zippers, "Obama Says He’s “Proud” of Hoffa After Teamsters Chief Declares “War” on Republicans And Threatens To “Take These Sons of Bitches Out”…" Figures.