Laugh at Liberals

Laugh at Liberals Archive for February, 2005

HISTORY WILL PROVE BUSH RIGHT

Walid Jumblatt is a political activist and populist leader in Lebanon. He is one of the people poised to bring that country out from under the last vestigage of Bathist dictatorial rule in the Middle East. He is also, more than likely, on a hit list from Syria’s death squads, the same people who recently assisnated another popular opposition leader.

In doing some on-line reading at the National Review web site, one of my favorite, I came across the following entry by Jay Nordlinger. It is absolutely fantastic.

NORDLINGER
I wanted to be sure you saw the statement from Walid Jumblatt, reported in a David Ignatius column. I’ll provide a few paragraphs, leading up to the statement:

I dined Monday night with Jumblatt in his mountain fortress in Moukhtara, southeast of Beirut. He moved there for safety last weekend because of worries that he would be the next target of whoever killed Hariri. We sat under a portrait of Jumblatt’s father, Kamal, who was assassinated in 1976 after he opposed the initial entry of Syrian troops into Lebanon. With me was Jamil Mroue, a Lebanese Shiite journalist whose own father was assassinated by Arab radicals in the 1960s. It was an evening when the ghosts of the past mingled with hopes for the future.
Jumblatt dresses like an ex-hippie, in jeans and loafers, but he maintains the exquisite manners of a Lebanese aristocrat. Over the years, I’ve often heard him denouncing the United States and Israel, but these days, in the aftermath of Hariri’s death, he’s sounding almost like a neoconservative. He says he’s determined to defy the Syrians until their troops leave Lebanon and the Lahoud government is replaced.

“It’s strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq,” explains Jumblatt. “I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world.” Jumblatt says this spark of democratic revolt is spreading. “The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it.”

The hated George W. Bush did this. He won’t get the credit — but that’s okay. He did it, and the unblinkered will know it.

The path to real world peace requires commitment, patience, sacrifice and boldness. History will remember theses days, and the great president George W. Bush, who set the wheels of Arab democratic reform in motion.

A LIGHT BEGINS TO SHINE

Suzanne is a regular blogger on this site and I wanted to begin this article by saying how much I appreciate her. Suzanne, your honesty and thoughtfullness come through in all of your posts and I sincerely hope you realize how much I respect that, and how much I respect you. Thank you for bringing such integrity and effort to this site.

Now let me continue our discussion about religion and the constitution. You rightly point out the the First Amendment states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” You are also correct in putting that into historical context as it relates to the Church of England. Many of the early American colonist came to this land from England to escape real religious persecution. The Quakers, among others, wanted to freely practice their religious beliefs. The Church of England, was the “official relgion” of the English government and it had taxing authority and legal authority over any and all citizens of England.

The words, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion” were written to ensure that our Federal government stayed out of religion, period. In 1778, the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia, PA and the addressed three main religious controversies: They decided that there would be no religious test, oath or other requirement for any federal elected office. They voted to allow Quakers and others to affirm (rather than swear) their oaths of office and they voted to refrain from recognizing the religion of Christianity, or one of its denominations, as an established, state church.

Here are some early drafts of the first amendment:

James Madison, 1789-JUN-7 “The Civil Rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, nor on any pretext infringed. No state shall violate the equal rights of conscience or the freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases.”

House Select Committee, JUL-28 “No religion shall be established by law, nor shall the equal rights of conscience be infringed,”

Samuel Livermore, AUG-15 “Congress shall make no laws touching religion, or infringing the rights of conscience.”

House version, AUG-20 “Congress shall make no law establishing religion, or to prevent the free exercise thereof, or to infringe the rights of conscience.” (Moved by Fisher Ames)

Initial Senate version, SEP-3 “Congress shall make no law establishing religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Final Senate version, SEP-9 “Congress shall make no law establishing articles of faith or a mode of worship, or prohibiting the free exercise of religion.”

Conference Committee “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Our founding fathers worked at getting the language right. Thomas Jefferson didn’t want relgion imposed on people either and was not quite satisfied with the final language. That is where the concpet of “seperation of church and state” comes in. Jefferson even used those exact words, although not in the constitution. What the courts must decide is where to build the wall. What constitutes “imposition”? Do you feel imposed upon if the the 10 commandments is posted on the wall of a school? But is taking that poster down prohibiting the “free practice thereof”?

I think both of us agree that it would be wrong to teach a specific religion in public school. We, as Americans, could not allow Christianity to be “taught” in any public, state or government venue, as the definitive truth. That would infringe upon the rights of those who chose to worship differently. Shat I see as ridiculous is the” idea of religion”, as a viable part of American and world history, can’t be taught in public school. I remember when I was in the second grade, I sat next to a little girl who was a Jehovah’s Witness. They do not believe in paying allegiance to anything other than God, so they do not say the Pledge of Allegiance. The first day of class, I was shocked that this little girl did not stand up. A boy next to me raised his hand and told on her, but the teacher said she didn’t have to. From that day on the teacher let the girl remain outside the classroom, doing busy work for her, until after the pledge.

Now isn’t that the essence of religious tolerance? Religion is a personal thing and the state has no business promoting or preventing the practice of one religion over the other. Think about it in these terms. Let’s replace Christianity with nature worship. There are many people, some of whom are my friends, that actually worship nature. Without trying to discuss the philosphy of that religion, let’s just put it in the place of Christianity. Would it then follow that if the majority of the people were “Naturists” and the local elementary school put up pictures of beautiful nature scenes in the hallway, with sayings like, “you are one with the earth”, should I, as a Christian, have the right to sue and have those pictures removed? Does seeing that picture and reading those words prevent me from practicing my religion? Does it force the religion of “Naturism” upon me?

I see the light beginning to shine in you, Suzanne. You seem to be saying that the separation of church and state should be reasonable, for all, including Christians. However, you can’t separate a man from his religion just because he get’s elected to office. If George Bush prays, so what? If George Bush says pray, or I’ll send the National Guard to your door to force you to pray, then we have a problem.

On the issue of states rights verses federal rights, Oh, Lord don’t get me started.

THE RACE CARD: WE SHALL OVERCOME

Howard Dean, failed candidate for president and newly elected head of the Democratic National Committee said this at a recent meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus;

“Do you think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room?…Only if they had the hotel staff in here….(Ha, ha)”

Of course, as you can imagine the members of the Black Caucus were outraged…..OOPS Actually, according to eye witness accounts, the room erupted in laughter. Was there outrage? No. Was there accusations of insensitivity? No. Was Trent Lott shaking his head in wonder? Yes. It’s obvious that had a Republican actually said it, there would have been instant attacks, calls for resignations and the race card would have been played.

Keep in mind, this is the same Howard Dean who, during his campaign said,
“Those white folk riding around with Confederate flags in the back of their trucks ought to be voting for us.”

Keep in mind, this is the head of the Democratic Party. The same party that put together 12 “no” votes for selecting Condoleeza Rice as Secretary of State. That’s the most no votes for any Sec. of State, by any party, since 1825.

What is the message here? The Democratic party has held claim to being the party that champions the cause of African-Americans. Are they? Why then offer so much opposition to the first black female to be nominated to the fourth most powerful office in the land. Condaleeza Rice, is fouth in line from the presidency. Some are saying this appointment is grooming her for a presidential for vice presidential bid. Think about that.

As a Republican, I get so tired being called a racist and a bigot by people who actually oppose the “advancement of colored people” because of their politics. But, more and more, African American’s are waking up to realize that the monolithic support given to the Democratic party is not paying off and that the Republican party is worth a second look.

School vouchers, private Social Security investment accounts and putting black Americans in REAL positions of power and influence are ringing the bell.

The race card is getting harder to play, but I hope the Dems keep trying to play it….because we shall overcome.

OIL TRUTH: IT’S JUST BUSINESS

There have been several references in recent posts on this site to www.oiltruth.com. I decided to offer my opinion on the site and it’s creator, Mark Savinar.

Mr. Savinar is a lawyer by trade, but seems, in my opinion, to be a a businessman. His web site is designed to do two things. Present a theory, and sell you products on how to deal with it. It’s kind of like water purification systems. Your water is killing you and for only $39.99 per month, you can stop the madness. However, in Savinar’s case, he contends that the water IS going to kill you, but he can sell you some goodies to cope with your inevitable death.

The basic premise of Savinar’s theory is that the world as we know it is coming to an end because everything depends on oil and oil is going to get so expensive everything will collapse. Everything. After you read the 30 or so pages of text on his home page, you get to the end and find that he’s not offering any solution to the problem, because there isn’t one. The only thing he is offering is to sell you his book on how do deal with the looming collapse and the opportunity to hire him as speaker at your event.

” THE SKY IS FALLING!….AND BY THE WAY, FOR $39.95 I CAN SELL YOU A SKY-PROOF UMBRELLA!”

Here’s the opening statement from his web site.

Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon. This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsday cult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracy theory society. Rather, it is the scientific conclusion of the best paid, most widely-respected geologists, physicists, and investment bankers in the world. These are rational, professional, conservative individuals who are absolutely terrified by a phenomenon known as global “Peak Oil.”

I didn’t catch that in USA Today. Maybe if Fox & Friends covers it, the word will get out there. But seriously folks…

Savinar, like most people who propose these grand gloom-and-doom theories, is basing his thesis on some truth, a ton of conjecture and much disputed science. Savinar suggests that there is no science, technology or process now known, or that will ever be known, that can solve this luming crisis, SO BUY MY BOOK FOR $39.99 AND LEARN NOW HOW TO KISS YOUR ASS GOODBYE!

I wonder how he knows this? How does he know that there will NEVER be a solution to this problem? Isn’t it possible that there is a solution waiting to be discovered? Isnt’ it possible that some new technology, some new process or a combination of conservation and new technologies could, in fact, address the very issues he raises? It has to be possible, right? Not according to Savinar. It’s done, it’s over, buy his book and maybe, just maybe, you’ll survive.

You know, I love that email that circulates every year or so about what the new class of college freshmen have experienced in their lifetime. They’ve never known life without remote controls, microwaves, cable tv, home computers, etc. The point is, we don’t know what tomorrow may bring. What may seem like fantasy today, may be commonplace ten years from now. I remember when I first started getting into audio production, there was no such thing as digital editing. I had to use a razor blade and splicing tape to cut out part of commercial or add something in, or I had to do the entire thing over from scratch. Now what used to take an hour, now takes 10 seconds! What great possibilities are in our future?

Savinar’s response is yes, but oil is different. Everything depends on oil, even new discoveries to replace oil, depend on oil, therefore the looming “peak oil” crisis will cause the decline of civilization into….AACCK! THE SKY IS FALLING, WHERE IS MY UMBRELLA!

The industrialized world has been oil dependent for about 100 years. Is Savinar saying that’s never going to change? Yes, we do waste energy. Yes we do need more investment in alternative fuels, conservation and recycling. We need to do better, but I don’t believe for a second, as Savinar states very clearly, that there is no hope for mankind.

Oil Truth is not truth it all. It’s a snakeoil salesmans pitch to buy his line of survival gear and how to manuals. Remember the nuclear doomsday clock? It was the clock counting down the minutes until nuclear armageddon would destroy the earth. Remember it used to be only minutes away from midnight? What time is it now? Remember the back in the 70’s, the liberal junk science about the coming “ice age.” Now it’s global warming. Hey, who turned up the heat?

I think there is a definite need to address our dependence on oil, but I don’t think that hope is lost, as does Mr. Savinar. The wonderous age of technology in which we live is not yet over and there have been to many instances when fantasy and fiction became reality, just because man chose to make it so. Oiltruth.com is not truth at all. It’s just retail sales, designed to look like truth.

(By the way, don’t forget stop by our laughatliberals store and buy something!……God I love this country!)

RELIGIOUS IGNORANCE GUIDES THE LEFT

I saw an interesting story the other day. It seems that the left, namely Bill Moyers, the on-line environtmental journal Grist, and a host of other liberal organizations are saying that the Christian right wants and even encourages environmental disasters because, as signs of the return of Jesus Christ, these will hasten the second coming.

No really…stop laughing…that’s what the these left-leaning wack-jobs really think, or at least that’s what they think they can use to scare supporters into writing checks.

The funny thing about all this is, it’s completely contrary to what the bible teaches. From Genesis, Numbers, Collossians and all throughout the bible, God’s direction to his followers is clear. The earth is God’s creation and it is perfect. God appointed man as his steward of the earth and we will be held accountable for any harm we cause the earth and the creatures on it. The bible says that a sparrow does not fall to the ground without God knowing about it.

Again, the left and elitist speak with disregard for the facts and hopes to use fear to intimidate those they want to govern.

A TALE OF TWO ELECTIONS

The official Iraqi Election Results are in! Democracy Wins! The DNC Election results are in…Democrats lose! Let’s take a look at what happened and postulate on what to expect down the road.

The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq announced that the Shiite-backed United Iraqi Alliance won 48% of the vote. That’s a plurality but well short of an outright majority. Turnout was 58 percent Of about 8.56 million votes cast in the election, the UIA received 4.08 million, the combined Kurdish parties garnered 2.17 million and the Iraqi list of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi got 1.17 million. Those numbers would give the UIA about 130 seats on Iraq’s 275-seat National Assembly, the Kurds about 70 seats, and the Iraqi list about 40 seats. Since its going to take at least 150 votes in the National Assembly to pass any policy legislation, it would appear as though real debate, deal making and coalition building is in the immediate future.

In the DNC election, Howard Dean was declared the winner and the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In a speech to supporters Dean said, ” YYEAHAGGRRRGGEEYAHAHEAAA!” I don’t think this is such a bad thing for the DNC (snicker, snicker) No, really! But only if Dean can bring his fund raising magic to the post. Essentially, all the DNC chairman does is raise money and let’s face it, American politics is about money. The more you’ve got, especially the grass roots variety, the more successful you can be. But that is also where the Dean factor can be a bad thing for the DNC. The grass roots that backed Dean financially are so out of step with main stream America, and reality, that their financial force may steer the party even further away from where it needs to be. I don’t think that is a good thing. Healthy debate is just that, healthy. It keeps idea’s sharp and keeps the players focused on winning, by improving their ideas and policies to meet the needs of the people. A weak Democratic party could create a complacent Republican party and agenda. Good ideas withstand debate. If there is no challenge to test an idea, how do you know it’s worth.

In Iraq, money doesn’t mean anything, right now. The election has opened the door to democracy and these newly elected leaders must set about the serious work of debating ideas, principles and law. Fortunatly for Howard Dean, money is the most important thing to the Democrats, right now. That’s the only reason he is the new head of the DNC. He can bring the bucks. It’s too bad that the Democrats are still ignoring the ideas. The next few years should be interesting.

I’ve said before that the Democratic party is going the way of the DoDo bird because of it’s own self-destruction. I still think that’s the case, but if Dean can raise enough money, they still might last through the 2008 elections. However, if they don’t bring some new ideas and fresh faces to the national stage, they’ll get trounced, again.

DON’T READ SPIN, READ FACTS

Julian, Karl… and all the rest of you cattle, stop getting your opinions from the liberal media and read! Go to www.cpa-iraq.org/governemnt/TAL.html and read the working administrative law for the interim authority. Here are some highlights.

The people of Iraq, striving to reclaim their freedom, which was usurped by the previous tyrannical regime, rejecting violence and coercion in all their forms, and particularly when used as instruments of governance, have determined that they shall hereafter remain a free people governed under the rule of law.

This Law is now established to govern the affairs of Iraq during the transitional period until a duly elected government, operating under a permanent and legitimate constitution achieving full democracy, shall come into being.

Did you know that every third candidate on the ballot had to be a woman, INCLUDING ALL SHIITE PARTIES. That’s right! Even Sistani’s party had to offer women candidates. DOES THAT SOUND LIKE A RADICAL MUSLIM PARTY TO YOU?

You should really reall take the time to read the document posted at the web site listed above. Instead of dealing in speculation, you will read how the people of Iraq have decided to begin solving their problems. One key element is the Presidency Council that will now be chosen. This three member council, which by law, will be made up of 1 Shiite, 1 Sunni and 1 Kurd, will have veto power over anything the Assembly decides, requiring a 2/3rds majority to override any veto.

Another important element of “balance” is constitutional radification. In America, a constitutional amendment is a big deal. It requires super-majority approval in both houses of congress, then it must be approved by a super-majority of the states. That requires a lot of concencus to alter the governing document of the nation.

In Iraq, the radification of their constituion will require the same kind of super-majority approval before it can become the law and constitution of the Iraq. That is the great equalizer to counter-balance majority rule. That means the Kurds and the Sunnis will have a voice, and the Shiites, the majority that used to be governed by the minority, will now have thier rightful mjority voice. READ ON, OH NON-BELEIVERS

Day-to-day operation of the Iraqi government is now in the hands of Iraqis. In addition to the Iraqi ministers at the national level, the majority of towns and cities in Iraq have functioning local governments.

Here is how local governemt is being put in place in Iraq. Again, I “plagarized” this from the CPA/TAL web site.

The Baghdad example is illustrative of how local government is being established. In each of Baghdad’s 88 neighborhoods, citizens have freely selected representatives for local governing councils. They, in turn, choose members of 9 District Councils and a 37-member City Council. All told, over 800 democratically selected Council Members are now hard at work serving their fellow citizens. They include Sunnis, Shias, and Christians, Arabs and Kurds— and more than 75 women

GOD BLESS AMERICA! You will NEVER convince me that a single soldier who died in Iraq, died in vain. You steal their honor by trying to do so. You should be celebrating, along with the Iraqi people, that the future is bright and there is no turning back.

IRAQ’S ELECTION A BUSH SUCCESS

I laughed out loud at Julian’s post characterizing the election results in Iraq as a Bush defeat. In the first place, even if the Shiite parties win every seat, the point was to allow a real election. Shiites are the majority in Iraq, so shouldn’t they have the largest number of seats.

But before you start jumping for joy, you should take into account the fact that the regions of Iraq that are majority Sunni and Kurdish ahve yet to be counted. You should also do some research into the brilliant plan for democracy being set forth in Iraq. The plan devised by the Bush administration. More on that later, first take a look at the real numbers below.

Iraq’s main Shiite Muslim coalition, The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) had more than two thirds of the 3.3 million votes counted so far. The rival list headed by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi came in second place with 17 percent, the election commission said.

The UIA, which has been blessed by Iraq’s Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is expected to form the biggest bloc in the new 275-member national assembly.

But the results announced so far do not take account of northern provinces, which will bolster the vote for Kurdish and Sunni parties.
The latest results came from 10 provinces which account for about 35 percent of the country’s polling stations.

Surprise third place went to the virtually unknown National Independent Cadres and Elites list which had 43,383 votes, or about 1.3 percent.

The communist People’s Union had 30,063 votes and the Shiite Islamic Action 24,247 votes.

The list of interim President Ghazi al-Yawar came sixth with 23,349 votes.

Based on the prediction of an eight-million voter turnout, around 29,000 votes are needed to win a single parliamentary seat.

According to today’s partial results, the Sistani-backed list has secured 76 seats in the national assembly.

In Baghdad, with 45 percent of polling stations accounted for, the Sistani list had 610,014 votes compared to 257,366 for the tough-talking Allawi, who is popular in the capital.

ELECTION FACTS: HOW THE IRAQI ELECTION WORKS

In total, 18,900 candidates registered to compete in the elections. These candidates comprise the 256 political entities that appeared on the ballots - 196 parties, 33 coalitions of parties and 27 individuals. The election was conducted on a “closed list proportional representation system” with the entire country considered as a single electoral district. For approximately every 26 thousand votes received, your party or candidate receives one of the 275 seats available in the assembly. The actual candidate who takes the seat is determined by how they are ranked on the party list. The name at the top of the list gets a seat with the first 26,000 votes. The second name gets picked with the second 26,000 votes…and so on. READ ON…..

Under Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law, nominees to the National Assembly had to meet certain criteria. Candidates had to be Iraqi citizens and at least 30 years of age. They must have good reputations and at least secondary school diplomas. Former members of the abolished Ba’ath Party with the rank of Division Member or higher are not eligible. Anyone who held a lower rank must sign a document renouncing the Ba’ath Party and disavowing all past links with it. READ ON….IT GETS EVEN BETTER

Iraqi women played an important role in the 2005 election. The Transitional Administrative Law requires a 25 percent female membership in the Parliament. The U.S. Department of State awarded $10 million in grants to several non-governmental organizations to ensure that women in Iraq are full participants in building this new democracy. The Iraqi Women’s Democracy Initiative helped to fund and train women candidates to compete and lead in the new National Assembly…KEEP GOING…YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS STUFF….

When the votes are counted, the Iraqi people will have elected a 275-member Transitional National Assembly. The Assembly will:
1. Serve as Iraq’s national legislature.
2. Name a Presidency Council, consisting of a President and two Vice Presidents. (By unanimous agreement, the Presidency Council will appoint a Prime Minister and, on his recommendation, cabinet ministers.)
3. Draft Iraq’s new constitution, which will be presented to the Iraqi people for their approval in a national referendum in October 2005.
4. Under the new constitution, Iraq will elect a permanent government in December 2005.

There will be three elections this year. We’ve had the first, the vote for members of the 275-seat National Assembly, provincial governments, and a Kurdistan National Assembly. By Aug. 15, the National Assembly will draft a new constitution. By Oct. 15, Iraqis will vote on a draft of this constitution in a nationwide referendum. Here’s the key, the nationwide referendum vote allows the Sunni or Kurdish minorities to block passage of the constitution. THERE WILL BE NO IRANIAN STYLE MULLAHORCRACY IN IRAQ.

On Dec. 15, Iraqis will go to the polls one final time to elect a democratic government based on that constitution. Then finally, by Dec. 31, the democratic government will take control of Iraq.

When you begin to realize the eloquence of this system you just have to laugh at the Kennedy’s and Pelosi’s who constantly harp about the lack of a plan. Of course, there will be problems. There are problems in our contry, in every country, but the road map to democracy is set. The Shiite majority will, of course, steer the new government towards it’s platform. This will most certainly included some religious pretext for political rule, BUT, this new democracy recognizes that the needs of the few cannot, and will not, be ignored by the wants of the many.

Get a grip, Julian. Recognize that the real success of the Iraqi election was the fact that there was an election and millions of people risked death and murder so they could vote. Get over your Bush hatred and celebrate with them.

TAKE A MOMENT

Please take the time to look at this picture posted on our video and pictures page. This incredible moment captured on film should make us all pause and say a prayer of thanks to those who have, and are still, fighting and dying so we can live free.

THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS