All of us at Shayneblog wish you a happy and healthy new year!

Terrific article in today's New York Post:

O's Dangerous Pals
Stanley Kurtz

WHAT exactly does a "community organizer" do? Barack Obama's rise has left many Americans asking themselves that question. Here's a big part of the answer: Community organizers intimidate banks into making high-risk loans to customers with poor credit.

In the name of fairness to minorities, community organizers occupy private offices, chant inside bank lobbies, and confront executives at their homes - and thereby force financial institutions to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgages to low-credit customers.

In other words, community organizers help to undermine the US economy by pushing the banking system into a sinkhole of bad loans. And Obama has spent years training and funding the organizers who do it.

THE seeds of today's financial meltdown lie in the Commu nity Reinvestment Act - a law passed in 1977 and made riskier by unwise amendments and regulatory rulings in later decades.

CRA was meant to encourage banks to make loans to high-risk borrowers, often minorities living in unstable neighborhoods. That has provided an opening to radical groups like ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) to abuse the law by forcing banks to make hundreds of millions of dollars in "subprime" loans to often uncreditworthy poor and minority customers.

Any bank that wants to expand or merge with another has to show it has complied with CRA - and approval can be held up by complaints filed by groups like ACORN.

In fact, intimidation tactics, public charges of racism and threats to use CRA to block business expansion have enabled ACORN to extract hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and contributions from America's financial institutions.

Banks already overexposed by these shaky loans were pushed still further in the wrong direction when government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began buying up their bad loans and offering them for sale on world markets.

Fannie and Freddie acted in response to Clinton administration pressure to boost homeownership rates among minorities and the poor. However compassionate the motive, the result of this systematic disregard for normal credit standards has been financial disaster.

ONE key pioneer of ACORN's subprime-loan shakedown racket was Madeline Talbott - an activist with extensive ties to Barack Obama. She was also in on the ground floor of the disastrous turn in Fannie Mae's mortgage policies.

Long the director of Chicago ACORN, Talbott is a specialist in "direct action" - organizers' term for their militant tactics of intimidation and disruption. Perhaps her most famous stunt was leading a group of ACORN protesters breaking into a meeting of the Chicago City Council to push for a "living wage" law, shouting in defiance as she was arrested for mob action and disorderly conduct. But her real legacy may be her drive to push banks into making risky mortgage loans.

In February 1990, Illinois regulators held what was believed to be the first-ever state hearing to consider blocking a thrift merger for lack of compliance with CRA. The challenge was filed by ACORN, led by Talbott. Officials of Bell Federal Savings and Loan Association, her target, complained that ACORN pressure was undermining its ability to meet strict financial requirements it was obligated to uphold and protested being boxed into an "affirmative-action lending policy." The following years saw Talbott featured in dozens of news stories about pressuring banks into higher-risk minority loans.

IN April 1992, Talbott filed an other precedent-setting com plaint using the "community support requirements" of the 1989 savings-and-loan bailout, this time against Avondale Federal Bank for Savings. Within a month, Chicago ACORN had organized its first "bank fair" at Malcolm X College and found 16 Chicago-area financial institutions willing to participate.

Two months later, aided by ACORN organizer Sandra Maxwell, Talbott announced plans to conduct demonstrations in the lobbies of area banks that refused to attend an ACORN-sponsored national bank "summit" in New York. She insisted that banks show a commitment to minority lending by lowering their standards on downpayments and underwriting - for example, by overlooking bad credit histories.

By September 1992, The Chicago Tribune was describing Talbott's program as "affirma- tive-action lending" and ACORN was issuing fact sheets bragging about relaxations of credit standards that it had won on behalf of minorities.

And Talbott continued her effort to, as she put it, drag banks "kicking and screaming" into high-risk loans. A September 1993 story in The Chicago Sun-Times presents her as the leader of an initiative in which five area financial institutions (including two of her former targets, now plainly cowed - Bell Federal Savings and Avondale Federal Savings) were "participating in a $55 million national pilot program with affordable-housing group ACORN to make mortgages for low- and moderate-income people with troubled credit histories."

What made this program different from others, the paper added, was the participation of Fannie Mae - which had agreed to buy up the loans. "If this pilot program works," crowed Talbott, "it will send a message to the lending community that it's OK to make these kind of loans."

Well, the pilot program "worked," and Fannie Mae's message that risky loans to minorities were "OK" was sent. The rest is financial-meltdown history.

IT would be tough to find an "on the ground" community organizer more closely tied to the subprime-mortgage fiasco than Madeline Talbott. And no one has been more supportive of Madeline Talbott than Barack Obama.

When Obama was just a budding community organizer in Chicago, Talbott was so impressed that she asked him to train her personal staff.

He returned to Chicago in the early '90s, just as Talbott was starting her pressure campaign on local banks. Chicago ACORN sought out Obama's legal services for a "motor voter" case and partnered with him on his 1992 "Project VOTE" registration drive.

In those years, he also conducted leadership-training seminars for ACORN's up-and-coming organizers. That is, Obama was training the army of ACORN organizers who participated in Madeline Talbott's drive against Chicago's banks.

More than that, Obama was funding them. As he rose to a leadership role at Chicago's Woods Fund, he became the most powerful voice on the foundation's board for supporting ACORN and other community organizers. In 1995, the Woods Fund substantially expanded its funding of community organizers - and Obama chaired the committee that urged and managed the shift.

That committee's report on strategies for funding groups like ACORN features all the key names in Obama's organizer network. The report quotes Talbott more than any other figure; Sandra Maxwell, Talbott's ACORN ally in the bank battle, was also among the organizers consulted.

MORE, the Obama-supervised Woods Fund report ac knowledges the problem of getting donors and foundations to contribute to radical groups like ACORN - whose confrontational tactics often scare off even liberal donors and foundations.

Indeed, the report brags about pulling the wool over the public's eye. The Woods Fund's claim to be "nonideological," it says, has "enabled the Trustees to make grants to organizations that use confrontational tactics against the business and government 'establishments' without undue risk of being criticized for partisanship."

Hmm. Radicalism disguised by a claim to be postideological. Sound familiar?

The Woods Fund report makes it clear Obama was fully aware of the intimidation tactics used by ACORN's Madeline Talbott in her pioneering efforts to force banks to suspend their usual credit standards. Yet he supported Talbott in every conceivable way. He trained her personal staff and other aspiring ACORN leaders, he consulted with her extensively, and he arranged a major boost in foundation funding for her efforts.

And, as the leader of another charity, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Obama channeled more funding Talbott's way - ostensibly for education projects but surely supportive of ACORN's overall efforts.

In return, Talbott proudly announced her support of Obama's first campaign for state Senate, saying, "We accept and respect him as a kindred spirit, a fellow organizer."

IN short, to understand the roots of the subprime-mort gage crisis, look to ACORN's Madeline Talbott. And to see how Talbott was able to work her mischief, look to Barack Obama.

Then you'll truly know what community organizers do.

10 Great Songs from One Great Year

1969

Every decade seems to be ultimately defined by the culmination of events in its final year. When we consider the 70’s, we see the end of a decade of malaise, fueled by disco and cocaine. The 80’s by greed and boy bands.

The 1960’s were perhaps the most challenging time in modern American history. The decade was ushered in with tremendous anticipation with a view of optimism and excitement. What started out with such promise, with the election of John Kennedy and the race for the moon, ended with Woodstock, riots and Richard Nixon. Although we succeeded in the race to the moon, the country was shattered by the Vietnam War and perhaps even more disturbing, the loss of innocence.

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – Fifth Dimension

"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", sometimes incorrectly known as "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In", is a medley of two songs from the musical Hair ("Aquarius" and "The Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In)") written by James Rado, Gerome Ragni and Galt MacDermot, and released as a single. The song held the number one position on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and was certified Platinum. The song was based on the astrological belief that the world would be entering the Age of Aquarius, an age of love, light and humanity, unlike the then current Age of Pisces. This change was presumed to occur at the end of the 20th century.

Crystal Blue Persuasion – Tommy James/Shondells

It has been suggested that this song was also inspired by a book Tommy James had read called “The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life” by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses). The book gives information about the future of mankind based on bible scripture. However, in an interview in 1985, James claims that it was based on Book of Revelations, from the Bible.

In The Year 2525 – Zager & Evans

Fueled by the space race, a number of science-fiction based themes hit the mainstream during the year, including David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and the film, “Planet of the Apes.” The song describes a nightmarish vision of the future as man's technological inventions gradually dehumanize him. It includes a colloquial reference to the Second Coming (In the year 7510, if God's a' coming, He ought to make it by then.), which echoed the zeitgeist of the Jesus Movement. The song also references examples of technologies that were not fully developed but were known to the public in 1969, such as robots, as well as future technology that would come into existence long after being prophesied in the song, the science of test tube babies and genetic selection by parents of their future children.

Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations

This was written by Mike D'Abo and Tony Macaulay. D'Abo was lead singer of Manfred Mann, and Macaulay was a successful songwriter who also wrote The Foundations hit "Baby Now That I've Found You" as well as songs by The Hollies, Andy Williams and The New Seekers. This was featured in the 1998 film There's Something About Mary. The Foundations were the first visibly multi-racial group to have a number 1 hit in the UK in the 1960s.

Jean – Oliver

This was the theme song to the motion picture The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The song was an enormous success, and along with "Good Morning Starshine," briefly put Oliver (William Oliver Swofford) at the top of the business. Unfortunately, his singing career trailed off, and he eventually left the entertainment industry. The lyrics were written by poet Rod McKuen.

My Cherie Amour – Stevie Wonder

Wonder wrote this for his girlfriend at the time, Marcia. It was originally titled "Oh My Marcia.” The title is French for "My Dearest Love.” This was released as the B-side of "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)." Disc Jockeys flipped the record and played this as the single.

Traces – Classics IV

One of my absolute favorite songs when I was just a little kid, the lyrics to this song are simple - a man looks back on a love he lost and still longs for. It points out how even simple things can bring back vivid, even painful memories. One of two mega hits written by Dennis Yost (the other being “Stormy”). The Classics IV eventually broke up and formed the foundation of the Atlanta Rythym Section (“So Into You”, “Imaginary Lovers” and “Spooky”). Members of the band were also featured on the first two Lynard Skynyrd albums as well.

Smile a Little Smile for Me – The Flying Machine

This was a British studio rock band not to be confused with the American folk-rock group “The Flying Machine” with James Taylor that was also formed in the 1960’s. The members were Stewart Coleman on bass, Steve Jones on lead guitar and vocals, Samuel Kemp on autoharp and vocals, Anthony Newman on rhythm guitar and vocals and Paul Wilkinson on drums. Jones was not the same Steve Jones who later would be a member of “The Sex Pistols”. The Flying Machine formed by Pye records producer/songwriter Tony Macaulay and producer/songwriter Geoff Stevens. Macaulay was the co-writer of The Foundations biggest US hit “Build Me up Buttercup.”

More Today that Yesterday – Spiral Staircase

This song tells of a love so deep, that it grows each and every day. Every day seems brand new when the singer is with the object of his affection. The Spiral Starecase released one album and a couple more singles before poor management and squabbles over finances caused the group to splinter by 1969. They were a classic one-hit-wonder.

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down – The Band

The lyrics tell of the last days of the American Civil War and its aftermath. Confederate soldier Virgil Caine "serves on the Danville train," the main supply line into the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia is holding the line at the Siege of Petersburg. As part of the offensive campaign, Union Army General George Stoneman's forces "tore up the track again". The siege lasted from June 1864 to April 1865, when both Petersburg and Richmond fell, and Lee's troops were starving at the end ("We were hungry / Just barely alive"). Virgil relates and mourns the loss of his brother: "He was just eighteen, proud and brave / But a Yankee laid him in his grave." Robbie Robertson wrote this song but has said it is not related to his heritage, as Robertson is half-Mohawk Indian, half-Jewish Canadian. Robertson came up with the music for this song, and then got the idea for the lyrics when he thought about the saying "The South will rise again," which he heard the first time he visited the American South. This led him to research the Civil War.

Here is a brilliant, must-read article by Caroline Glick, the deputy managing editor of the Jerusalem Post:

Our World: Your Abortions or Your Lives

American Jews have good reason to be ashamed and angry today. As Iran moves into the final stages of its nuclear weapons development program - nuclear weapons which it will use to destroy the State of Israel, endanger Jews around the world and cow the United States of America - Democratic American Jewish leaders decided that putting Sen. Barack Obama in the White House is more important than protecting the lives of the Jewish people in Israel and around the world.

On Monday, the New York Sun published the speech that Republican vice presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would have delivered at that day's rally outside UN headquarters in New York against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and against Iran's plan to destroy Israel. She would have delivered it, if she hadn't been disinvited.

The rally was co-sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the National Coalition to Stop Iran Now, The Israel Project, United Jewish Communities, the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Its purpose was to present a united American Jewish front against Iran's genocidal leader and against its genocidal regime which is developing nuclear weapons with the stated intention of committing the second Holocaust in 80 years.

Palin's speech is an extraordinary document. In its opening paragraph she made clear that Iran presents a danger not just to Israel, but to the US. And not just to some Americans, but to all Americans. Her speech was a warning to Iran - and anyone else who was listening - that Americans are not indifferent to its behavior, its genocidal ideology and the barbarity of its regime. Rather, they are outraged.

After that opening, Palin's speech set out clearly how Iran is advancing its nuclear project, why it must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons and why and how the regime itself must be opposed by all right thinking people - not just Israelis and Americans - but by all people who value human freedom.

PALIN'S SPEECH was a message of national - rather than simply Republican - resolve against Iran's nuclear weapons program and its active involvement in global and regional terrorism. She made this point by quoting statements that Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton has made against the Iranian regime.

The speech detailed Iran's past and current attacks against the US, beginning with its bombing of US servicemen in Lebanon in 1983 and continuing with Iran's proxy war against US forces in Iraq and against Iraqis who oppose its intention of taking control of their country.

By discussing Iran's role in Iraq she not only made a convincing case for why an American victory there is essential for defeating Iran. She also made clear that Iran is actively making war against the US, not just Israel.

From Iran's war against Israel, the US, and freedom loving peoples worldwide, Palin's speech turned to the regime's war against its own people. She attacked the regime for its systematic repression of Iranian women. She applauded the extraordinary bravery of women like Delaram Ali who risked their lives and their families to demand basic rights for Iranian women. Ali, she noted, was sentenced to 10 lashes and three years in prison for having the courage to speak out. An international outcry has temporarily suspended her sentence.

Then Palin returned to Iran's nuclear weapons program and its support for terrorist groups pledged to Israel's destruction and to the destruction of the US. She returned to Ahmadinejad's calls for Israel's annihilation. She reiterated Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's solemn promise to work with Israel to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and she joined her name to his promise to stand side by side with Israel to prevent another Holocaust.

IF PALIN had been allowed to deliver this speech at Monday's rally, she would done just what the organizers of the rally, and what the Jewish people in Israel, America and worldwide need to have done. She would have elevated the imperative of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and the implicit moral and strategic imperative of overthrowing the regime in Teheran to the top of America's national security agenda. Given the massive media attention she garners at all of her public appearances, Palin's participation in the rally would have done more to steel Americans - across the political spectrum - to the cause of opposing Iran than 10 UN Security Council sanctions resolutions could do.

It was a remarkable speech, prepared by a remarkable woman. But it was not heard. It was not heard because the Democratic Party and Jewish Democrats believe that their partisan interest in demonizing Palin and making Americans generally and American Jews in particular hate and fear her to secure their votes for Obama and his running-mate Sen. Joseph Biden in the November election is more important than allowing Palin to elevate the necessity of preventing a second Holocaust to the top of the US's national security agenda.

The rally's organizers invited both Clinton and Palin to speak. It was a wise move. In light of Iran's monstrous oppression of Iranian women, had the two most powerful women in American politics joined forces in opposing the regime and its war against human freedom, their appearance would have sent a message of American unity and resolve that would have reverberated not just throughout the US and in the US presidential race, but throughout the world and into Iran itself. But it was not to be.

The moment that Clinton found out that she was to share a stage with Palin, she cancelled her appearance. By cancelling, she signaled to Jewish Democrats - and Democrats in general - that opposing Palin and the Republican Party is more important than opposing Ahmadinejad and the genocidal regime he represents.

THE JEWISH Democrats on the rally's organizing committee got the message loud and clear. Two of the rally's co-sponsors - the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the UJA Federation of New York demanded that the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations disinvite Palin.

The JCPA is led by Steven Gutow. Before joining the JCPA, he served as the founding executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, which is the Jewish support arm of the Democratic Party. The UJA Federation of New York is led by John Ruskay, who began his Jewish communal career as an anti-Israel "peace" activist in the radical CONAME and Breira organizations. Among their other endeavors, CONAME and Breira opposed US military assistance to Israel during the Yom Kippur War and called for US recognition of the PLO after the group massacred 26 children in Ma'alot in 1974.

Gutow and Ruskay were supported in their demand to disinvite Palin by the National Jewish Democratic Council and by the new Jewish pro-Palestinian lobbying group J-Street.

In an attempt to assuage Gutow and Ruskay, the rally organizers invited Biden to speak. But he had a scheduling conflict. So the organizers contacted the Obama campaign and asked it to send a representative. The campaign offered Congressman Robert Wexler.

But the Democrats knew that Wexler would be no match for Palin. So they continued on the warpath, absurdly claiming that by inviting Palin (and Clinton, Biden and Wexler), the organizers were endangering the sponsoring organizations' tax-exempt status. That is, through Ruskay and Gutow, in their bid to prevent Palin from appearing at the rally, the Democrats threatened to bring down the organized Jewish community.

Never mind that the threat is absurd. The likelihood that the Internal Revenue Service would open an investigation against every major American Jewish organization for daring to invite Palin to a rally opposing Ahmadinejad's appearance at the UN and Iran's stated intention of annihilating Israel is just slightly smaller than the prospect of Ahmadinejad wrapping himself in an Israeli flag and singing "Hatikva" on the UN rostrum.

But no matter. The fear that these Democratic Jews would openly split the Jewish community on the need to confront Iran frightened the organizers. The notion that the Democratic Party, and its Jewish supporters would openly turn their backs on the need to confront Iran to advance the political fortunes of their party and their party's presidential slate was too much to take. Palin was disinvited.

LIBERAL AMERICAN Jews, like liberal Americans in general, and indeed like their fellow leftists in Israel and throughout the West, uphold themselves as champions of human rights. They claim that they care about the underdog, the wretched of the earth. They care about the environment. They care about securing American women's unfettered access to abortions. They care about keeping Christianity and God out of the public sphere. They care about offering peace to those who are actively seeking their destruction so that they can applaud themselves for their open-mindedness and tell themselves how much better they are than savage conservatives.

Those horrible, war-mongering, Bambi killing, unborn baby defending, God-believing conservatives, who think that there are things worth going to war to protect, must be defeated at all costs. They must intimidate, attack, demonize and defeat those conservatives who think that the free women of the West should be standing shoulder to shoulder not with Planned Parenthood, but with the women of the Islamic world who are enslaved by a misogynist Shari'a legal code that treats them as slaves and deprives them of control not simply of their wombs, but of their faces, their hair, their arms, their legs, their minds and their hearts.

The lives of 6 million Jews in Israel are today tied to the fortunes of those women, to the fortunes of American forces in Iraq, to the willingness of Americans across the political and ideological spectrum to recognize that there is more that unifies them than divides them and to act on that knowledge to defeat the forces of genocide, oppression, hatred and destruction that are led today by the Iranian regime and personified in the brutal personality of Ahmadinejad. But Jewish Democrats chose to ignore this basic truth in order to silence Palin.

They should be ashamed. The Democratic Party should be ashamed. And Jewish American voters should consider carefully whether opposing a woman who opposes the abortion of fetuses is really more important than standing up for the right of already born Jews to continue to live and for the Jewish state to continue to exist. Because this week it came to that.

I need a day away from politics so I can recharge and refocus on the good things in life. Here's a song to get my day started.

On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime

She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolour in the rain
Don't bother asking for explanations
She'll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat

She doesn't give you time for questions
As she locks up your arm in hers
And you follow 'till your sense of which direction
Completely disappears

By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls
There's a hidden door she leads you to
These days, she says, I feel my life
Just like a river running through
The year of the cat

Well, she looks at you so cooly
And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea
She comes in incense and patchouli
So you take her, to find what's waiting inside
The year of the cat

Well, morning comes and you're still with her
And the bus and the tourists are gone
And you've thrown away the choice and lost your ticket
So you have to stay on

But the drum-beat strains of the night remain
In the rhythm of the new-born day
You know sometime you're bound to leave her
But for now you're going to stay
In the year of the cat

The question is, had Governor Palin not been invited originally to the anti-Ahmanejad rally, would Hillary Clinton attend? I bet any amount of money she would have been there and spoken without concerning herself with whether it was fair to the politics of the event.

To those who say she would have the right since she is the New York senator, I counter that she has no more right than a Governor of Alaska.

Regardless, here is the speech she was to make today (courtesy of the New York Sun). I, for one, believe that these are words that need to be heard and playing politics with threat of nuclear Iran is simply shameful and disgusting. But it does seem to prove McCain correct in his assessment of the Democrat Party. Instead of dis-inviting Palin, the Democrats should have put their own person up to show their solidarity with Israel.

But I suppose they take advantage of the Jewish vote. I'm telling you, we are our own worst enemy.

I am honored to be with you and with leaders from across this great country — leaders from different faiths and political parties united in a single voice of outrage.

Tomorrow, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will come to New York — to the heart of what he calls the Great Satan — and speak freely in this, a country whose demise he has called for.

Ahmadinejad may choose his words carefully, but underneath all of the rhetoric is an agenda that threatens all who seek a safer and freer world. We gather here today to highlight the Iranian dictator's intentions and to call for action to thwart him.

He must be stopped.

The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us. Ahmadinejad denies that the Holocaust ever took place. He dreams of being an agent in a "Final Solution" — the elimination of the Jewish people. He has called Israel a "stinking corpse" that is "on its way to annihilation." Such talk cannot be dismissed as the ravings of a madman — not when Iran just this summer tested long-range Shahab-3 missiles capable of striking Tel Aviv, not when the Iranian nuclear program is nearing completion, and not when Iran sponsors terrorists that threaten and kill innocent people around the world.

The Iranian government wants nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran is running at least 3,800 centrifuges and that its uranium enrichment capacity is rapidly improving. According to news reports, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the Iranians may have enough nuclear material to produce a bomb within a year.

The world has condemned these activities. The United Nations Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend its illegal nuclear enrichment activities. It has levied three rounds of sanctions. How has Ahmadinejad responded? With the declaration that the "Iranian nation would not retreat one iota" from its nuclear program.

So, what should we do about this growing threat? First, we must succeed in Iraq. If we fail there, it will jeopardize the democracy the Iraqis have worked so hard to build, and empower the extremists in neighboring Iran. Iran has armed and trained terrorists who have killed our soldiers in Iraq, and it is Iran that would benefit from an American defeat in Iraq.

If we retreat without leaving a stable Iraq, Iran's nuclear ambitions will be bolstered. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons — they could share them tomorrow with the terrorists they finance, arm, and train today. Iranian nuclear weapons would set off a dangerous regional nuclear arms race that would make all of us less safe.

But Iran is not only a regional threat; it threatens the entire world. It is the no. 1 state sponsor of terrorism. It sponsors the world's most vicious terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. Together, Iran and its terrorists are responsible for the deaths of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, and in Iraq today. They have murdered Iraqis, Lebanese, Palestinians, and other Muslims who have resisted Iran's desire to dominate the region. They have persecuted countless people simply because they are Jewish.

Iran is responsible for attacks not only on Israelis, but on Jews living as far away as Argentina. Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are part of Iran's official ideology and murder is part of its official policy. Not even Iranian citizens are safe from their government's threat to those who want to live, work, and worship in peace. Politically-motivated abductions, torture, death by stoning, flogging, and amputations are just some of its state-sanctioned punishments.

It is said that the measure of a country is the treatment of its most vulnerable citizens. By that standard, the Iranian government is both oppressive and barbaric. Under Ahmadinejad's rule, Iranian women are some of the most vulnerable citizens.

If an Iranian woman shows too much hair in public, she risks being beaten or killed.

If she walks down a public street in clothing that violates the state dress code, she could be arrested.

But in the face of this harsh regime, the Iranian women have shown courage. Despite threats to their lives and their families, Iranian women have sought better treatment through the "One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws." The authorities have reacted with predictable barbarism. Last year, women's rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 20 lashes and 10 months in prison for committing the crime of "propaganda against the system." After international protests, the judiciary reduced her sentence to "only" 10 lashes and 36 months in prison and then temporarily suspended her sentence. She still faces the threat of imprisonment.

Earlier this year, Senator Clinton said that "Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is in the forefront of that" effort. Senator Clinton argued that part of our response must include stronger sanctions, including the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. John McCain and I could not agree more.

Senator Clinton understands the nature of this threat and what we must do to confront it. This is an issue that should unite all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Period. And in a single voice, we must be loud enough for the whole world to hear: Stop Iran!

Only by working together, across national, religious, and political differences, can we alter this regime's dangerous behavior. Iran has many vulnerabilities, including a regime weakened by sanctions and a population eager to embrace opportunities with the West. We must increase economic pressure to change Iran's behavior.

Tomorrow, Ahmadinejad will come to New York. On our soil, he will exercise the right of freedom of speech — a right he denies his own people. He will share his hateful agenda with the world. Our task is to focus the world on what can be done to stop him.

We must rally the world to press for truly tough sanctions at the U.N. or with our allies if Iran's allies continue to block action in the U.N. We must start with restrictions on Iran's refined petroleum imports.

We must reduce our dependency on foreign oil to weaken Iran's economic influence.

We must target the regime's assets abroad; bank accounts, investments, and trading partners.

President Ahmadinejad should be held accountable for inciting genocide, a crime under international law.

We must sanction Iran's Central Bank and the Revolutionary Guard Corps — which no one should doubt is a terrorist organization.

Together, we can stop Iran's nuclear program.

Senator McCain has made a solemn commitment that I strongly endorse: Never again will we risk another Holocaust. And this is not a wish, a request, or a plea to Israel's enemies. This is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us. It is John McCain's promise and it is my promise.

Thank you.

Nancy Pelosi made it very clear the other day when she said that the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not the fault of the Democrats . She lied:

From Doug Ross:

The New York Times, September 11 2003 ("New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae"):

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.


Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

Why did the plan fail?


Democrats -- including Barney Frank and Chris Dodd -- strongly opposed any overhaul.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.'' ...Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed... ''I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,'' Mr. Watt said.

The Congressional Transcript Wire reports that during the hearing on the regulation of Fannie and Freddie, Frank's statement included a variety of assertions:

...the two government-sponsored enterprises that we're talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis... I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the treasury... Some of the critics of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say that the problem is is the federal government is obligated to bail-out people who might lose money in connection with them... I do not believe that we have any such obligation... ...nobody who invested in them should come looking to me for a nickel, nor anybody else in the federal government.


The more people, in my judgment, exaggerate a threat of safety and soundness, the more people conjure up the possibility of serious financial losses to the treasury, which I do not see. I think we see entities that are fundamentally sound financially and withstand some of the disaster scenarios.

I think we now see pressure on it that's generated in part by exaggerated fears of a financial crisis.

According to the Hartford Courant, Democrat Chris Dodd actually stopped the Bush administration's attempts at reining in Fannie and Freddie:

Taxpayers face a tab of as much as $200 billion for a government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the formerly semi-autonomous mortgage finance clearinghouses. And Sen. Christopher Dodd, the Democratic chairman of the Senate banking committee, has the gall to say in a Bloomberg Television interview: "I have a lot of questions about where was the administration over the last eight years."

We will save the senator some trouble. Here is what we saw firsthand at the White House from late 2002 through 2007: Starting in 2002, White House and Treasury Department economic policy staffers, with support from then-Chief of Staff Andy Card, began to press for meaningful reforms of Fannie, Freddie and other government-sponsored enterprises, known [as] GSEs...


How did Fannie and Freddie counter such efforts? They flooded Washington with lobbying dollars, doled out tens of thousands in political contributions and put offices in key congressional districts. Not surprisingly, these efforts worked. Leaders in Congress did not just balk at proposals to rein in Fannie and Freddie. They mocked the proposals as unserious and unnecessary.

As recently as last summer, when housing prices had clearly peaked and the mortgage market had started to seize up, Dodd called on Bush to "immediately reconsider his ill-advised" reform proposals. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said that the president's suggestion for a strong, independent regulator of Fannie and Freddie was "inane."

Sen. Dodd wonders what the Bush administration did to address the risks of Fannie and Freddie. Now, he knows. The real question is: Where was he?

Perhaps Dodd's actions were related to the favorable loan deals he allegedly secured through Fannie's Countrywide distribution channel:

Senators Christopher Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Banking Committee, and Kent Conrad, Democrat from North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, refinanced properties through Countrywide’s “V.I.P.” program in 2003 and 2004...

...James Johnson, who had been advising presidential candidate Barack Obama on the selection of a running mate, resigned from the Obama campaign Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that he received Countrywide loans at below-market rates...

Obama adviser Johnson also pulled down $21 million in compensation from Fannie before the implosion.


Or maybe the Democrats' reluctant to reform Fannie traces back to the fact that Dodd, Obama and Kerry were the top three recipients of Fannie Mae's money.

These jamokes deserve to be frog-marched out of Congress and directly into a holding cell. Someone needs to clean up Washington; McCain and Palin are better prepared to do so than anyone else.

And especially better prepared than a questionable pol straight out of the Chicago machine, brought to you by the likes of Tony Rezko and Bill Ayers.

10 Great Songs from One Great Year

1978

Disco was king, Roman Polansky skips bail and Jimmy Carter gives back the Panama Canal. These were the top stories in 1978. The Bee Gees, featuring oldest brother Barry, was large and in charge of the pop charts where at one time he occupied 6 of the top 10 spots - something unseen since the Beatles.

This was the year gambling came to Atlantic City, the year the Son of Sam was sentenced to life behind bars and the year that Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin to forge peace.

This was the year of the Bronx Zoo, the year of the San Francisco political assassinations and the year Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple cult in a mass murder-suicide.

One of those best of times, worst of times years.

Paradise By The Dashboard Light – Meatloaf

This song is about a teenage boy trying to convince a girl to have sex with him in a car. Sex would be the "Paradise" for him, but she holds out until he says he loves her and will stay with her forever. Overcome by passion, he does, and honors his word to spend the rest of his life with her even though he can't stand her. The woman's voice on the record is Ellen Foley, but she was replaced on tour with Karla DeVito. Their performances were sexually charged, but it was an act, as Meat Loaf was happily married. Foley has been in various movies, including Fatal Attraction, Married To The Mob, and Cocktail. She was also on the TV show Night Court until she was replaced by Markie Post

Home at Last – Steely Dan

Home at Last was the fourth and final single released on their Grammy-winning album Aja. It is inspired by the epic poem The Odyssey, reflecting the feelings associated with a long-awaited homecoming. In 2003, the album was ranked number 145 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Werewolves Of London – Warren Zevon

Zevon wrote this with guitarist Robert "Waddy" Wachtel. When Zevon was working with The Everly Brothers, he hired Wachtel to play in their backing band. At one point, Phil Everly asked them to write a dance song for the Everly Brothers called "Werewolves Of London." Wachtel and Zevon were good friends and were strumming guitars together when someone asked what they were playing. Zevon replied, "Werewolves Of London," and Wachtel started howling. Zevon came up with the line "I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand," and they traded lyrics back and forth until they had their song. Zevon died of lung cancer in 2003.

Surrender – Cheap Trick

Though this was not a big chart hit, this teen anthem is one of Cheap Trick's best known songs. The singer thinks of his parents as a bit overprotective and kind of weird, but he gains a new respect for them at the end of the song when he wakes up and they are rolling around on the couch listening to his KISS records. Cheap Trick guitarist-songwriter Rick Nielsen recalls in Rolling Stone's Top 500 songs magazine that when he wrote it, he had to "go back and put myself in the head of a 14-year-old.”

Right Down The Line – Gerry Rafferty

This was the follow up to Rafferty's mega-hit "Baker Street" from the same album, City to City. It's one of his more conventional songs, about how his woman stuck with him. Originally a member of the Scottish band, Stealers Wheel, which spawned the hit “Stuck in the Middle with You.”

Sentimental Lady – Bob Welch

Welch joined Fleetwood Mac in 1971, and they recorded this song on their 1972 album Bare Trees. It became a hit when Welch recorded it on his first solo album in 1977. Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac sang backup on Welch's solo version. According to Welch, the song was written as a poem to his wife (now divorced). It was the second single from the album French Kiss, his first solo effort after the song “Ebony Eyes.”

We've Got Tonite – Bob Seger

The third single from the very successful Stranger in Town LP (other hits from that LP included “Still the Same”, ”Hollywood Nights”and “Old Time Rock and Roll”), We’ve Got Tonite is one of the few songs that charted well for more than one artist. Aside from hitting #13 with this original version, this song also reached #6 (#1 country) for Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton in 1983 under the title “We’ve Got Tonight” (different spelling). Regardless, it was one of the most beautiful and most requested love songs ever recorded.

Love Is Like Oxygen – Sweet

While hugely popular in Europe, Sweet remained relatively unknown in the States. In 2002, songwriter Andy Scott told the Slovakian Box Network: "We had finished with our first record company and had begun on a project for another. At that time the era of the Sex Pistols had started, and how people thought of music reached new dimensions. No one knew what was coming next. We were already a part rock, part metal band. Therefore in the area which was most touched by the changes. That is when I wrote the song 'Love is Like Oxygen,' and then the idea came along to compose it in a style which at that time was totally new, yet one that suited us. I think it worked out well.

Falling - LeBlanc and Carr

With much success as a background musician and singer, Lenny LeBlanc embarked on a solo career. In 1975, he recorded a demo and producer Pete Carr sent a copy to Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records. A few months later Lenny's first solo LP was released. Atlantic saw great potential in Lenny and teamed him with Pete Carr. The result was three chart singles, including the top 10 hit "Falling". The single peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for an amazing 27 week run. In 1980, LeBlanc became a born-again Christian and began recording Christian-themed music.

Fool (If You Think It's Over) - Chris Rea

Hugely successful in his native Britain, Chris Rea had only this one charting American hit. "Fool (if You Think It's Over)" was nominated for a "Song of the Year" Grammy (losing out to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are"). Unlike most of Rea's other singles, "Fool..." was not a great success on the UK Singles Chart, failing to chart on its first release and only reaching #30 when re-released in late 1978 to capitalize on its U.S. success. U.K. singer, Elkie Brooks enjoyed greater success with 'Fool..' in 1981 when she charted a single at #17.

Mr. Blue Sky – ELO

This song closed the side of the Out of the Blue album known as "Concerto For A Rainy Day." The lyrics are uplifting, and follow the concept of a rainy day that comes to an end. On a BBC Radio interview, Jeff Lynne talked about how he came up with this after he locked himself away in a Swiss chalet attempting to write ELO's follow-up to A New World Record. "It was dark and misty for 2 weeks, and I didn't come up with a thing. Suddenly the sun shone and it was, 'Wow, look at those beautiful Alps.' I wrote Mr. Blue Sky and 13 other songs in the next 2 weeks."

One thing conservatives worry about is what is called the "slippery-slope." This is often used in describing why we are against any number of "progressive" ideas infiltrating modern society.

Some time, it's simply hyperbolic. For example, no one (of any rational thought) really believes that if we allow gay couples to marry that it will eventually lead to allowing someone to marry their pet goat. According the the "slippery-slope" theory, once we allow the definition of marriage to be anything other than between a man and a woman, it will just be a matter of time before we also allow any and everything under the sun.

That is simply fearmongering and foolish.

However, there is validity in this theory and this has been expressed dramatically by influential British medical ethics expert Baroness Warnock.

In remarks published today in the Telegraph, Warnock a former headmistress who went on to become Britain's leading moral philosopher, stated that people mental decline are "wasting people's lives" because of the care they require and should be allowed to opt for euthanasia even if they are not in pain. She insisted there was "nothing wrong" with people being helped to die for the sake of their loved ones or society. The 84-year-old added that she hoped people will soon be "licensed to put others down" if they are unable to look after themselves.

Now of course, there are many in Britain who are aghast at the woman said. However, the question remains whether this is just the one opinion of a crazy old lady, or if there is an element of the population who truly agree with her point of view.

From Van Helsing:

Warnock is allegedly Britain's "leading moral philosopher." She wants dementia sufferers to consider "ending their lives through euthanasia." Needless to say, dementia sufferers are not in a position to make decisions, any more than unborn babies are; others make the potentially lethal decisions for them. What this moral philosopher is talking about is having people put to death for having Alzheimer's disease.

Look for other expensive illnesses to follow. When progressives attained total control of Germany, they killed 6,000,000 Jews. The next time they consolidate that kind of power, they'll be going after anyone with costly and/or chronic diseases.

Maybe that's fearmongering as well. But we are living in a disposable society where abortion at will is no longer a fantasy. Warnock is not some left-wing crack pot, but a highly respected member of Britain's healthcare society.

Following one's personal belief structure is Utopian, but the World doesn't work that way. Human nature demands that there be a sense of checks and balances in order for true morality to flourish. Left to our own devices and our own moral codes, we find justification in killing unborn babies, or euthanasia for the elderly, or the less than desirable.

This is a classic example of the slippery-slope theory and a clear indication of a breakdown in society. It is no wonder to me why fundamental Islam is sweeping through Europe. The vacuum left by the fall of religious practice and belief has left a huge void that is being fed by Islamization.

If this is the true face of Progressive society, then we have much to be fearful of.

How about a little Thursday musical interlude from one of my favorite '80s songs...

So long, I've been looking too hard, I've been waiting too long
Sometimes I don't know what I will find, I only know it's a matter of time
When you love someone, when you love someone
It feels so right, so warm and true, I need to know if you feel it too

Maybe I'm wrong, won't you tell me if I'm coming on too strong
This heart of mine has been hurt before, this time I wanna be sure

I've been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life
I've been waiting for a girl like you, your loving will survive
I've been waiting for someone new to make me feel alive
Yeah, waiting for a girl like you to come into my life

You're so good, when we make love it's understood
It's more than a touch or a word can say
Only in dreams could it be this way
When you love someone, yeah, really love someone

Now I know it's right, from the moment I wake up till deep in the night
There's nowhere on earth that I'd rather be than holding you tenderly

I've been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life
I've been waiting for a girl like you, your loving will survive
I've been waiting for someone new to make me feel alive
Yeah, waiting for a girl like you to come into my life

I've been waiting, waiting for you, ooh, I've been waiting
I've been waiting
(I've been waiting for a girl like you, I've been waiting)
Won't you come into my life?

Welcome back to my circus, HV!

From JoshuaPundit:

Dear Mr. Obama...Economics 101

Wow, what a great game last night between the Cowboys and Eagles. From the get-go, it seemed both teams were in playoff-type mode. Because I have Direct TV's NFL Sunday Ticket, I have the opportunity to watch parts of every game. I came out of watching this game feeling I was watching the best two teams in the league. The play calling by both coaching staffs and the brilliant execution of those plans showed last night that these are not just run-of-the-mill teams.

Add the Super Bowl champion New York Giants to the mix and you see why the NFC East is once again the cream of the crop.

One thing I think that will get overlooked though is the way the Cowboys' defense stiffened in the second half. For all the talk of the Cowboys disastrous first half (allowing 30 points by halftime), they only allowed 7 points the rest of the game. Statistically, while Donovan McNabb appeared to be unstoppable, he didn't reach 300 yards passing and Brian Westbrook was only held to 58 yards passing.

But the real key to me was the fact that even though the Cowboy defense had every reason to be gassed at the end, they made the big plays at the end (Ware and Ellis with huge sacks, Thomas and Jenkins with big pass defenses) that separate wins from losses.

I will give you that the officiating was brutal for both teams, although the call against Anthony Henry was especially egregious.

But no matter how you slice it, this was just game two of the season and should the Cowboys lose to Green Bay next week and the Eagles defeat Pittsburgh, these teams will once again be tied. It has not been lost on me, however, that the Eagles historically have had huge let-downs following Cowboy week. It will be interesting to see if Philadelphia (and McNabb) truly are in the Giants and Cowboys league. Last night did nothing to make anyone think they aren't.

On the other hand, for whatever you want to say about the Cowboys letting up so many points to the Eagles, keep in mind as well that at no time did Philadelphia - with their vaunted defense - show any ability to stop Dallas' offense. It seemed to me that the only way the Cowboys would lose last night is if they beat themselves, which they almost did.

Wow, what fun this season looks to be.

10 Great Songs from One Great Year

1983

The rock and roll era is ever evolving. It seems that every 3 years, the styles and tastes of the buying/listening public go through a metamorphosis and completely move from one style to another. Consider this, if you will, compare 1962 to 1965 or 1972 to 1975. Later on, compare 1989 to 1992. Rock and roll (or, whatever label you wish to present popular music by) appears to have a 3 year shelf life.

Clearly, not every one of those “change” years was what I would call positive changes. But each of them brought new ideas and new trends that have kept radio alive and well.

One of these “change” years was 1983. Three years earlier, disco had finally died and a new generation of artists burst into the scene and ushered in a “new wave.” Of course, that eventually led to the creation of MTV and popular music would never be the same.

At the height of this new medium, or at least at what has long been considered it’s glory days, MTV introduced us to groups and artists that may well have never seen the light of day in this country without it. New super groups emerged and once again, like clockwork, the musical scene changed. The songs I have chosen mostly reflect this change, although I have also included a couple of older, more established acts as well.

King of Pain – The Police

The second single from the wildly successful LP, Synchronicity, this is a very personal song written by Sting. He had recently separated from his first wife and was not getting along with the other 2 members of the band. The lyrics suggest just how dark his mood – “I have stood here before inside the pouring rain, with the world turning circles running 'round my brain, I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign, but it's my destiny to be the king of pain.” Sad, indeed.

Pancho and Lefty – Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

The song tells the story of a Mexican bandit named Pancho and a more enigmatic character, Lefty. The song tells of Pancho's death and implies that he was betrayed by his associate Lefty who was paid off by the Mexican federales. Although many people initially assume that the song is about the famous Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, The writer, Townes Van Zandt has denied this, and the lyrics are not easily reconciled with the historic details of Villa's life and death.

Lawyers in Love – Jackson Browne

Often mistaken for social satire (on '80s materialism), this was actually about nuclear détente and the way world leaders play games with the lives of innocent citizens. Lawyers in Love was Browne's most political album, and that says A LOT. Some analysts later saw "Lawyers in Love" as an evolving "bridge" between Browne's personal works and his 1980's political works. Others saw it as dry commentary on American social mores, something that had been present in Browne's work as far back as "Take It Easy".

She Blinded Me by Science – Thomas Dolby

This song is about a scientist who falls in love with his lab assistant. Dolby considers it the most meaningless song he ever wrote. The speaking voice parts were done by Magnus Pyke, a famous TV show host for a children's educational show in England. His trademark was yelling "Science!" throughout the show.

Saved By Zero – The Fixx

Considered by some to be anything from an ode to masturbation to just a song of triumph over tragedy, this song was the second release of their Shuttered Room LP. After hitting it big later that year with the hit, “One Thing Leads to Another,” the Fixx faded from view. Today however, they are very active in the reunion circuits.

Der Kommisar – Falco

While the English version, performed by After the Fire charted higher in the States, Falso’s original version was far more interesting (plus, there were no tarantulas). "Kommissar" is German for "Government Official." The song is about a couple on the run from the law. Every time they happen to be in public, "Der Kommissar" shows up. Hence the phrase, "Alles klar? Der Kommissar," which means "Everything OK, officer?

She-Bop – Cyndi Lauper

Another song on masturbation (what was wrong with this year?). Lauper said she wanted little kids to think it was about dancing, and to understand the real meaning as they got older. She never directly stated in the song what the meaning of the song was, so it could receive airplay.

Mirror Man – The Human League

The second single from the EP “Fascination,” Mirror Man was actually the second U.S. charting hit for the British band (following “Don’t You Want Me.” Great things were expected of the Human League as they were very popular in England. But after just 2 years, the band faded from the scene. They had a short comeback in 1986 with the song “Human,” but even though they continue to perform and record, they have not matched their earlier success.

Come on Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners

The poster child of one-hit wonders, Come on Eileen was an enormously popular song by a group that no one in the United States had ever heard of. According to lead singer Kevin Rowland, Eileen was a girl that he grew up with. Their relationship became romantic when the pair was 13. The song describes the thin line between love and lust. This was also Britain’s biggest hit of 1982.

This Night – Billy Joel

Taken from his 50’s-style LP, An Innocent Man, This Night blends the simple do-wop sounds of that long-ago era with a touch of classic Beethoven, weaving a beautiful story of love and longing. To me, this was the finest song on this LP and one of the most heartwarming he ever wrote.

The story is told of the
Power of gold
And its lure on the unsuspecting
It glitters and shines
It badgers and blinds
And constantly needs protecting.

Balance the cost of the soul you lost
With the dreams you lightly sold
Are you under
The power of gold?

The letters and calls
Got you climbing the walls
And everyone wants a favor
They beg to remind you
Of times left behind you
But you know the past is a loser.

The face you're wearing is different now
And the days run hot and cold
Are you under
The power of gold?

You're a creature of habit
Run like a rabbit
Scared of a fear you can't name
Your own paranoia
Is looming before you
But nobody thinks that
It's a game.

Balance the cost of the soul you lost
With the dreams you lightly sold
Then tell me
That you're free
Of the power of gold.

The women are lovely
The wine is superb
But there's something about the song
That disturbs you...

From the words of President Bush:

America has entered a great struggle that tests our strength, and even more our resolve. Our nation is patient and steadfast. We continue to pursue the terrorists in cities and camps and caves across the earth. We are joined by a great coalition of nations to rid the world of terror. And we will not allow any terrorist or tyrant to threaten civilization with weapons of mass murder. Now and in the future, Americans will live as free people, not in fear, and never at the mercy of any foreign plot or power.

This nation has defeated tyrants and liberated death camps, raised this lamp of liberty to every captive land. We have no intention of ignoring or appeasing history's latest gang of fanatics trying to murder their way to power. They are discovering, as others before them, the resolve of a great country and a great democracy. In the ruins of two towers, under a flag unfurled at the Pentagon, at the funerals of the lost, we have made a sacred promise to ourselves and to the world: we will not relent until justice is done and our nation is secure. What our enemies have begun, we will finish.

Let us contrast this to the words of Senator Barack Obama, published in September 19, 2001 edition of the Hyde Park Herald and reprinted in the July 21, 2008 edition of the New Yorker Magazine:

Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we as a nation draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy. Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction.

We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, 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. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent. Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe—children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and within our own shores.

So, according to Obama, 9/11 was perpetrated by climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair?

Here are some facts for the anointed one:

Osama Bin Laden? Not poor.

Mohammed Atta? Not poor.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed? Not poor.

And the list goes on and on...

From Michelle Malkin:

And as I’ve reported before and must reiterate again for the hard of hearing in Washington, lowering academic standards at American colleges helped al Qaeda mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed further the jihadi cause. In the early 1980s, he enrolled at tiny Chowan College in Murfreesburo, N.C., which had dropped its English requirements to attract–ahem–wealthy Middle Easterners. At Chowan, Mohammed bonded with other Arab Muslim foreign students known as “The Mullahs” for their religious zeal. Mohammed then transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he earned his degree in mechanical engineering along with 30 other Muslims. Mohammed applied his Western learning to oversee the 1993 World Trade Center bombing plot (six Americans dead), the U.S.S. Cole attack (17 American soldiers dead), and the September 11 attacks (3,000 dead). He has also been linked to the 1998 African-embassy bombings (212 dead, including 12 Americans), the plot to kill the pope, the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, and the Bali nightclub bomb blast that killed nearly 200 tourists, including two more Americans.

Perhaps bleeding-heart Obama thinks a master’s degree in social work would have convinced poverty-stricken, helpless, ignorant, despairing Mohammed to change his mind?

Barack Obama? Let's see...

Wrong on 9/11
Wrong on the surge.
Wrong on taxes.
Wrong on energy.
Wrong on Sarah Palin.
Wrong on Joe Biden.
Wrong on Hillary Clinton.
Wrong on William Ayers.
Wrong on Reverend Wright.
Wrong about his ties to "Palestinians."
Wrong about Iran.
Wrong about Pakistan.
Wrong about Jerusalem.
Wrong about disrespecting the flag of the United States.

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Is THIS the change we are looking for?

Unless you are one of those who frequent the Huffington Post, or the DailyKos and who continue to keep their heads in the sand about the real threats against our country and our people, I beg you to consider who it is you are supporting for President. Barack Obama may well end up being the greatest thing since sliced bread, but his record so far has proven him to be someone who shouldn't be trusted with a nail clipper - much less the Presidency.

For those who want desperately against President Bush in this election, understand that Bush is not running in this election. If you think these last 8 years were so horrible, go out and buy a book about the Carter years. As "bad" as the economy is now, it was much, much worse then. As "bad" as unemployment is now, it was much, much worse then.

Barack Obama is running on a platform that mimics the Carter administration regarding taxes (more of them), spending (ditto) and wealth-distribution. He is promising universal health care similar to the European and Canadian models - which is why so many come to the US for serious ailments.

Like all Democrats, with maybe the exception of Joe Lieberman, he agrees with the European world view that Islamofacism is the fault of America, and not responsibility of those who have attacked us. He doesn't get it. And putting him in as President will only serve the desires of those who wish a weakened America.

Another day, another stupid, outrageous comment by a Democrat.

Do you ever notice that since at least the time Clinton became President, Democrats always justify putting their collective feet in their mouths by stating they apologize "if I offended someone."

They aren't apologizing for making horribly offensive comments. They are only "sorry" if someone was "offended."

Pretty much sums up why they are going to be blown out of the election they couldn't lose, doesn't it?

*******************

Here is an interesting post from Doug Ross:

What do the ten cities with the highest crime rates have in common?

Do you really need to ask?

*******************

Another great example of the Democrats misunderstanding of religion:

"Obama was a community organizer like Jesus."

From Michelle Malkin:

Bob Owens’ rejoinder deserves reprinting:

Charles Manson organized a community of his own, one that Bernadine Dorhn was certainly impressed with. You remember Bernie Dorhn, don’t you? She and her husband Bill Ayers had helped form yet another community, one called the Weather Underground. Years later, when they were done with their declared war against the United States, they helped community organizer and friend Barack Obama organize his first political fundraiser in their home.

If liberals want to play games about the meaning and definition of the words community organizer, then by all means, lets play.

It will be a lot more fun for us than them.

*******************

Once again, I am at a loss for words in regards to Shimon Peres. As the President of Israel (yes, it is a ceremonial position, but he is still an ambassador for the country), he continues to fail to recognize the existential threats surrounding him.

It seems the ever-so-senile Peres (could there be any other excuse?) stated "the world would be worse off without Islam."

I believe there are 1,473 men, women and children, all Israeli victims of Islamic terrorists, who would disagree if they had the ability. What a joke Peres has become over the years.

*******************

Senator Joseph Biden today inadvertently criticized the judgement of Barack Obama.

Folks, you just can't make this stuff up. Biden - I suppose he is still running for Vice-President, although no one sees to care anymore, do they? - said, in a speech today:

[MSNBC's] SEN. JOE BIDEN: Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. She is say close personal friend and qualified to be president of the United States of America. She is easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America and quite frankly it might have been a better pick than me, but she is first-rate. I mean that sincerely.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all. But even I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Obama campaign doesn't pull a Thomas Eagleton, and replace Biden with - oh, I don't know - Hillary Clinton???

As I said yesterday, the more Obama attacks Palin, the more inconsequential Biden becomes. The only one benefiting is John McCain, who has looked very Presidential lately, as opposed to Obama. The Junior Senator from Illinois is clearly now in full defense mode and the more he tries to stem the tide, the more he looks weak.

The obvious advice for Obama would be to go back to what set him apart from the pack to begin with. But his whole campaign seems to be unable to rise above the ugly rhetoric. Now, even if he were to somehow regain his composure, it may be too little too late.

It may be an inherent flaw in the Democrat playbook, but the more attacked they feel, the more unhinged they look. I would never have expected such a turn around in the election so quickly. McCain's picking Sarah Palin as his running mate may well turn out to be one of the most ingenious political decisions our lifetime has ever seen. That isn't a compliment on the Alaskan governor, but a sign that maybe Senator McCain is a whole lot more intelligent that anyone - even his own friends and supporters - imagined.