Wednesday, November 30, 2005

More Flip-Flopping

Hillary Clinton is now saying that vote to authorize the Iraq war was a mistake. “…based on what we know now, we never would have agreed," she said, in an email sent to her supporters on Tuesday.

John Kerry did the same thing. So did many others.

What is this? Politics?

People can have differing opinions about the war, and there is no reason they can’t change over time, with new information. Many who voted for the war are now basing their anti-war stance on the supposed lack of WMD evidence. But there’s one little problem: this is a bogus argument because WMD have been found, as has evidence that Saddam took great pains to hide his WMD program, and because WMD was never listed as the only, or even the main, reason for regime change in Iraq.

This can only mean that those who changed their minds (sometimes more than once) and are now against the war are playing politics at its worst. What a bunch of finger-in-the-wind hypocrites!

They are banking on an American defeat and are depending on the so-called mainstream media to carry their distorted message to what they think of as ignorant Americans. What a position to be in! To win, you have to hope your country loses. How pathetic is that?

If we lose, and Iraq reverts back to a tyrannical dictatorship the strategy the Anti crowd is using could work for them. But what if it doesn’t? What if Iraq turns out to be a big victory, as it still easily can? Will they try to say they supported it all along? What if it turns out that the WMD really were evacuated to Syria? Will they try to claim they never said “Bush lied”? What if this is the beginning of a democratic revolution in the Middle East that frees millions of people from political and religious tyranny? How will they explain that? Well, we already know… just look at what they’re doing now.

To power-hungry people like Hillary Rodham, the only important thing is getting elected. If that means they have to change their position on any issue, or equivocate or dissimulate, even to the point of endangering our soldiers and putting our national security at risk, they will do it.

But it would be better if instead of changing positions and making bogus claims about the events leading up to the war, these people would explain what they would have done, and what they would do now, and try to persuade people to agree with them. But I guess in order to do that they would have to actually have an idea of their own. They apparently don't.

-Matt

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

The Real Story Behind Thanksgiving (Re-post)

Did you know that the first [Plymouth Colony Pilgrim's] Thanksgiving was a celebration of the triumph of private property and individual initiative?

William Bradford was the governor of the original Pilgrim colony, founded at Plymouth in 1621. The colony was first organized on a communal basis, as their financiers required. Land was owned in common. The Pilgrims farmed communally, too, following the "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" precept.

The results were disastrous. Communism didn't work any better 400 years ago than it does today. By 1623, the colony had suffered serious losses. Starvation was imminent.

Bradford realized that the communal system encouraged and rewarded waste and laziness and inefficiency, and destroyed individual initiative. Desperate, he abolished it. He distributed private plots of land among the surviving Pilgrims, encouraging them to plant early and farm as individuals, not collectively.

The results: a bountiful early harvest that saved the colonies. After the harvest, the Pilgrims celebrated with a day of Thanksgiving -- on August 9th.

Unfortunately, William Bradford's diaries -- in which he recorded the failure of the collectivist system and the triumph of private enterprise -- were lost for many years. When Thanksgiving was later made a national holiday, the present November date was chosen. And the lesson the Pilgrims so painfully learned was, alas, not made a part of the holiday.

Happily, Bradford's diaries were later rediscovered. They're available today in paperback. They tell the real story of Thanksgiving -- how private property and individual initiative saved the Pilgrims.

This Thanksgiving season, one of the many things I'm thankful for is our free market system (imperfectly realized as it is). And I'm also grateful that there are increasing numbers of Americans who are learning the importance of free markets, and who are working to replace government coercion with marketplace cooperation here in America and around the world.

Paul Schmidt

PS: A special thanks to long-time Advocate volunteer Cris Everett, who told us about this neglected bit of history several years ago, and who celebrates Thanksgiving on -- you guessed it -- August 9th.

-- copied from http://FreedomKeys.com/thanksgiving.htm which was copied from the Nov. 20, 1997 issue of THE LIBERATOR ONLINE at http://www.theadvocates.org/liberator/vol-02-num-21.htm

for more detailed accounts see The Great Thanksgiving Hoax at http://snipurl.com/apur The Pilgrims’ Real Thanksgiving Lesson at http://snipurl.com/av27 How Capitalism Saved America at http://snipurl.com/hrtp Thanksgiving: The Producers' Holiday at http://snipurl.com/apuv and How Private Property Saved the Pilgrims at http://snipurl.com/apuw Find general commentaries, Creating Our Own Blessings at http://snipurl.com/apuyand Whom Should We Thank? at http://snipurl.com/av9x ALSO SEE: Giving Thanks for the Big Tent HERE: http://snipurl.com/apv0 And finally, for those of you unfortunate enough to have to deal with primitive, fanatical self-righteous altruists, check out this page: http://FreedomKeys.com/paradox.htm#pcdt

Monday, November 21, 2005

The Slick One does it again


It's a classic example of Bill Clinton's slickness:
Newsmax reports: "Bill Clinton Waffles On Iraq: 'It Could Still Work'
Having declared last Wednesday that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a "big mistake," former President Bill Clinton now thinks the Bush Administration policy may succeed."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/11/21/141015.shtml

Newsmax calls it a waffle, I think it's just Bill being Bill. It all depends on the meaning of "It" and "Could" etc. It's a Clinton classic and is very illustrative of how he got the title "Slick Willie."

But my question is why is he apparently waffling now? Is it because of the recent 400 to 3 vote NOT to immediately pull out of Iraq? Maybe he sees the tide turning on the "Bush-Lied" liars and doesn't want to be damaged (he wants Hillary in the White House in 2008) by associating with a bunch of losers.

Of course, he's not completely going over to the other side, he's positioning himself in such a way as to incur as little embarrassment and assume as much credit as possible. But the fact that he apparently feels the need to do this could be an indication that things aren't exactly as the Left claims and that the Bush policy will eventually succeed, or at least that's what Clinton seems to think.

However, if events or perceptions change again, or appear to change, you can bet Billy will too.

-Matt

Friday, November 18, 2005

Have a nice weekend

"You can observe a lot by watching." - Yogi Berra

"Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac." - George Carlin

"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made." - Al Gore

A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.
~Fred Allen

"It's not that I dislike many people. It's just that I don't like many people."- Bryant Gumbel

“I’m for a stronger death penalty.” - George Bush

"Ronald McDonald is a scary, scary clown" –PETA

"I've not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work" - Thomas Edison

"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?" - Abe Lincoln

"The last time I checked, the Constitution said, 'of the people, by the people and for the people.' That's what the Declaration of Independence says." - Bill Clinton (Actually that statement is from the Gettysburg Address.)

"Ending a sentence in a preposition is something up with which I will not put." - Winston Churchill

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

Thursday, November 17, 2005

SEDITION




Sedition refers to a legal designation of non-overt conduct that is deemed by a legal authority as being acts of treason, and hence deserving of legal punishment.

The U.S. Sedition Act

SECTION 3. Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements, . . . or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct . . . the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or . . . shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States . . . or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully . . . urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production . . . or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both....

-matt

Good article: http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=5693

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill

Monday, November 14, 2005

President's Vet's Day Speech

President Commemorates Veterans Day, Discusses War on Terror Tobyhanna Army DepotTobyhanna, Pennsylvania

11:45 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thank you all for coming, please be seated. Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm glad to be back in Pennsylvania and I'm proud to be the first sitting President to visit Monroe County. (Applause.) I'm especially pleased to see so many military veterans with us today. Those who have risked their lives for our freedom have the respect and gratitude of our nation on Veterans Day and on every day. (Applause.)

Read entire speech: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051111-1.html

Teddy Chappaquiddick replied by doing what too many of his party always do: accusing members of the other party of what you yourself are doing. "It's deeply regrettable that the President is using Veterans Day as a campaign-like attempt to rebuild his own credibility..."
As if he isn't using the opportunity of Veterans Day to continue the politically motivated "campaign-like attempt" to hurt the president's credibility. Typical. It obviously shows, to anyone who heard or read the speech, that Teddy wasn't listening.

He should read Todd Manzi's excellent piece in Human Events: http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=10263

Here's a good Tribute to Vets: http://mnvoters.org/Tribute.htm

-Matt

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

PBS and NOVA: Hitler had no WMD!

According to the PBS NOVA program "Hitler's Sunken Secret" it turns out the Nazi's weren't in a race to develop a nuclear weapon. They did have a research program ongoing, but by the end of the war they were nowhere near completing an atomic weapon. They weren't even close to having a working reactor.

According to NOVA, the Nazi's knew they needed to win the war fast, or they would lose. Because of this there was not enough time to develop their nuclear program, so they diverted their resources to the main war effort, relegating the nuclear program to low priority status.

What's the bottom line? HITLER HAD NO WMD!

Roosevelt lied!

I know FDR never said we were going to war to rid Hitler of WMD, but then again Bush never said the WMD issue was the sole reason for going after the Saddam Hussein regime!

The thing that makes me chuckle is that here's PBS, a big-time Leftist propaganda organ, unwittingly showing how far off base the wacko Left and their bogus "Bush Lied" propaganda campaign is. But, you have to be paying attention to notice it...

-Matt

Monday, November 07, 2005

France's Troubles are the reward for Pacifism



The Anti-War Left is seeing the results of their weakness in places all over the world, but most notably in France.

This column sums it all up better than I could ever do:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/steyn/cst-edt-steyn06.html

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Lying? Part II

The following are quotes of well known Democrats about the Iraq issue:

"Without question we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator leading an impressive regime. He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. And now he's miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction. So the threat of Saddam Hussein, with weapons of mass destruction, is real.” - John Kerry, January 23rd, 2003.

"If Saddam rejects peace, and we have to use force, our purpose is clear: We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." - Bill Clinton,
February 17th, 1998

"We must stop Saddam from ever again jeopardizing the stability and the security of his neighbors with weapons of mass destruction." - Madeleine Albright, February 1st, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again as he has ten times since 1983." - Sandy Berger, Clinton national security advisor, February 18th, 1998

"We urge you, after consulting with Congress and consistent with the US Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions, including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." - from a letter to President Clinton signed by Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, October 9th, 1998

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology, which is a threat to countries in the region, and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." - Nancy Pelosi, December 16th, 1998

"Hussein has chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." -Madeleine Albright, Clinton's secretary of state, November 10th, 1999
I -Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), September 19th, 2002

"We begin with a common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations, is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them." -Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), September 19th, 2002

"We know that he has stored nuclear supplies, secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." - Al Gore, September 23rd, 2002

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter, and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." - Al Gore, September 23rd, 2002

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." - Ted Kennedy, September 27th, 2002.

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of '98. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons." - Robert Byrd (D-WV) October 3rd, 2002.

If Bush lied, these Democrats lied too. If they were merely wrong, then Bush was merely wrong as well-NOT a liar.

These people apparently don't think they can argue that Saddam Hussein was not a threat (especially when for at least 3 years prior to Bush's presidency they had been publicly declaring otherwise) so they resort to diversionary smear tactics.

This is the modus operandi of people who, for whatever reason, want to avoid discussion of the merits of an issue.

- Matt

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

WHO’s REALLY LYING?

The Left claims that Bush lied about WMD’s in Iraq, even though;
(1) it was Clinton who first brought up the WMD issue, and
(2) WMD’s HAVE BEEN FOUND in Iraq!!!

WMD Found in Iraq to date:

· 1.77 metric tons of enriched uranium.
· 1,500 gallons of chemical weapons agents.
· 17 chemical warheads containing cyclosarin (a nerve agent 5 times more deadly than sarin).
· Over 1,000 radioactive materials in powdered form meant for dispersal over populated areas.
· Roadside bombs loaded with mustard and "conventional" sarin gas, assembled in binary chemical projectiles for maximum potency.

This is just a PARTIAL LIST of the WMD verified to have been recovered in Iraq so far.

Yet Americans overwhelmingly believe THE LIE that U.S. and coalition forces have found NO weapons of mass destruction. WHY????

The answer is simple. Leftists in government and in the Media have been waging a propaganda war for their own political purposes. They aren’t interested in the truth, they’re not even really interested in PEACE, all they want is to destroy The President and weaken America.

JOE WILSON LIED ABOUT HIS NIGERIA REPORT. PRESIDENT BUSH TOLD THE TRUTH!

BUT WE CAN’T EXPECT PEOPLE WHO WORSHIPPED THE CLINTONS TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE TRUTH! CAN WE?

- Matt

WMD info can be found in the book: Disinformation: 22 Media Myths That Undermine the War on Terror, by Richard Miniter