May
26
2004
Tony Blankley recalls the days of the nation’s pubescence:
War weariness was spreading, and demands for negotiations to end the killing were becoming strident. In the Middle West the Copperhead movement was strong, and there were rumors of an insurrection intended to bring about an independent Northwest Confederation. The Democrats were organizing for their national convention to be held in Chicago at the end of August, and they were likely to adopt a peace platform. The Republicans were badly divided, and Lincoln was whipsawed between those who thought him too lenient toward the South and those who thought him too severe. Worst of all, the Union armies appeared stalemated. Sherman at the head of the Western Armies was approaching Atlanta but was not, apparently, nearer victory over Joseph E. Johnson. In the East, the Army of the Potomac was bogged down in a siege of Petersburg.And like any adolescent, America was mad at its father-figure, who insisted on telling the child to grow up:
By August of 1864, Lincoln wrote to a friend; “You think I don’t know I am going to be beaten. But I do and unless some great change takes place badly beatenMay
25
2004
Moving Day
Filed Under Internet and Blogging | Comments Off
Sorry for the abrupt disruption in the blog, and any mess you may find around here. We’ve changed to Movable Type software for the blog structure, and it’s proving to be difficult wrestling the old data out of the previous incarnations. Over the coming days, you may notice archives and comments backfilling as I migrate data. With apologies to ESPN, I’ll just say, “Pardon the Interruption”.
UPDATE: I’ve corrected most of the import errors, and now just have to go back and publish all the entries. Since this will take looking at each one (from over the course of almost two years) looking for information in the archives may require patience as I filter through them.
Incidentally, in the process of fixing the bugs, I found I can edit the guts of any entry or comment much more easily with the SQL database Movable Type uses than I ever could with Pivot (as I found out to my regret one day). This came in handy when I found there were comments posted after I’d created the backup that I used to migrate the data. I ended up having to post the comments myself, and though I could enter the poster’s name and email without a problem, the IP and timestamp were wrong. Using myPHPAdmin, correcting that information was a snap.
May
21
2004
Political Prejudice
Filed Under Politics, Race and Prejudice | 2 Comments
It seems that these days the liberal mind control machine can no longer tolerate having a Republican teaching our young people. In this example a college professor is fired on the weakest of reasons.
May
21
2004
Quick civics test
Filed Under Education | 6 Comments
What’s wrong with this clip art?
This was part of an announcement for a Memorial Day observation where I work. Gotta love that patriotic spirit, dontcha?
May
20
2004
Weeds And Seeds
Filed Under Race and Prejudice | 2 Comments
Sean Hannity says this is race-baiting. I disagree. Mr. Hannity sees a black face and assumes that the intent is to inflame the passions of blacks. But, if we are going to promote a color-blind society don’t we have to reject an argument based solely on skin color? The individual pictured is not only a black, but also a male, and an adult. Why then does he not claim gender-baiting? Or, Ageism? On his Fox News show, Hannity and Colmes, this evening Mr. Hannity cited past racially offensive advertisements by the Missouri Democratic Party as proof of the intent in this work, but, his reach exceeds his grasp. The past behavior is reprehensible, and inspires an emotional response, but it does not logically prove the present intent!
The real crime associated with this billboard (and the five others planned to follow) would be for someone to recognize themselves in the people pictured and then based solely on that similarity come to believe that they are being disadvantaged. My counsel is; appraise the premise, ignore the symbolism. When the premise does not stand up to scrutiny, don’t be swayed by a picture. Think, don’t go all Michael Moore on me folks!
Bill Cosby has another lesson he wants
May
19
2004
Wictory Wednesday
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Earlier today, James Taranto posted a link to a news article: “Kerry-Nader Meeting Unlikely to Alter Race”. After his usual fashion, Taranto “reinterpreted” the meaning of the headline with a pithy quip as the linked text. “Sure Enough, They’re Both Still White”.
Well, sure enough – so are we! But it’s our neverending hope at the Black Republican that our “meetings” here will alter American attitides, despite the neverending drumbeat from the left that we have no right to comment on the subject of race and prejudice. With that in mind, I’ve been working hard recently to improve the blogging utilities we use to bring you The Black Republican. With the improvements, I hope it will be both easier for us to bring you the view from the balcony of the political theatre, as well as more engaging and enlightening how our readers are feeling. Within a week or so, I hope to have the renovations complete, but until then, I may continue to post as sparsely as I have been lately. I apologize for that, but know that even when I’m not so prolific my devotion to the causes we discuss does not waver.
And foremost among those causes at the moment is the reelection of our Commander-in-Chief.
Every Wednesday I ask my readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush campaign if they haven’t done so already. And if you have volunteered and donated, then get a friend to join you.
If you’re a blogger, you can join Wictory Wednesday simply by putting up a post like this every Wednesday, asking your readers to volunteer and/or donate to the president’s re-election campaign. And don’t forget to e-mail PoliPundit so that you can be added to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, which is part of the Wictory Wednesday post on all participating blogs:
May
17
2004
News Flash – Sarin Gas in Iraq
Filed Under War and Terrorism | 1 Comment
Today it was announced that American forces discovered an artillery shell containing Sarin gas and rigged as an IED. It exploded before they could reach it and defuse it. The shell contained a two part solution designed to mix when the shell was fired from a cannon, the explosive attached to the shell did not cause the parts to mix, it is reported that little Sarin escaped.
Former UN Weapons inspector David Kay calls the discovery insignificant.
However, it was deemed important enough for even CNN to report the news.
May
17
2004
Mr. Doonesbury
Filed Under Lies, Corruption and Scandals, Politics | 7 Comments
OK… this is turning in to quite a kerfuffle! But what is really telling is what Mr. Doonesbury had to say on the matter:
I regret the poor timing, and apologize to anyone who was offended by an image that is now clearly inappropriate.“Now clearly inappropriate?”Only now is such a thing “clearly inappropriate”!
As impossible as it is, let’s just for argument’s sake imagine that Nick Berg had not been brutally butchered by the same enemy that killed over 3000 Americans on 9-11. Would this “cartoon” be any less “inappropriate” to the friends and family of Daniel Pearl? And what about the Iraqi families who had their loved ones (mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, brother and sisters… and children) raped and murdered, or worse (and yes… there is worse) right before their eyes, at the hands of Saddam and his demon sons? What of them? And if I’m not mistaken, four Americans were burned to death and had their bodies defiled – what of them? In Gary Trudeau’s view, their families must not rate any consideration at all – after all, those guys were just working for Haliburton, right? And Daniel Pearl was working for Mosad of course… must have been, right? And the Iraqis… well they just needed to stand up for themselves – RIGHT GARY???
The fact is that Mr. Trudeau is only troubled by the timing of this editorial cartoon – not the content. I don’t believe he would have had an ounce of regret were Nick Berg killed six months or a year ago. For all his elitist, feel-good rhetoric about how he cares about freedom of speech – he retains that caring only for himself and his ilk. For all his liberal compassion, he reserves that only for those who suffer and die for a cause he supports. As evidence, where is his cartoon depicting someone crushed by a bulldozer?
Just a word of advice to Gary Trudeau, Ted Rall, Al Franken, et al: I wouldn’t suggest travel to Iraq any time soon… or anywhere in the Middle East for that matter! I don’t think the fact that you hate President Bush will obfuscate the fact that you support same-sex marrage, abortion, and the abolition of religion… nor will it protect your necks from the hatred and cold steel of OUR common enemy!
May
16
2004
Claiming Victory
Filed Under Race and Prejudice | Comments Off
I have long contended that Americans have become too focused on the wrongs in our country, and have taken too few opportunites to claim victory for the progress that has been achieved. Not that I am opposed to identifying and tackling the next challenge, just that it is important to pat ourselves on the back for the hard won achievements of this great experiment.
So, it was with both pride and curiosity that I read the headline in today’s paper:
Brown v. Board of EducationI am certain that every paper in the nation will have similar articles commemorating the landmark civil rights decision (I hope yours is heavier on identifying the next step than was mine). The work begun with the birth of the Republican Party has seen many victories, Emancipation and desgregation among them, even that your newspaper will prominently report the victory of Brown is a victory in itself.
A rocky road to equality
Ruling integrating schools didn’t solve racial issuesThese words from Terence Roberts, one of the “Little Rock Nine” are the epitome of hope and self-determination: “The Brown decision offers up a blueprint for real change, and it’s up to us to now build a structure that the blueprint suggests,” and here fatalism:
May
14
2004
The right to know
Filed Under War and Terrorism | Comments Off
Leave it to Marvin Olasky to say the one pithy thing that’s eluded every commentary yet on the dueling news stories of Abu Ghraib (championed by the traditional press) and Nick Berg (which continues to resonate around the blogosphere).
The photo of an Iraqi man with a leash around his neck showed shameful perversity, but at least the man still had a neck.The same cannot be said of the Leftists in America’s newsrooms, who continue to lose their heads over the Abu Ghraib story while ignoring the Nick Berg video, despite America’s preference for the latter (from OTB, hat tip: Ramblings’ Journal).Despite liberal talk radio and internet gossip (some of which I was willing to give some credence to), the Truth Teller has a good analysis of the editing of the Nick Berg video, showing that there was no discernible gap between the statement read and the final acts. Apparrently, I’ve posted a copy of an abbreviated version of the video, and there’s more to it than I’ve seen. How wonderful. I’ve looked for the full version, but someone seems intent on hiding it (check the UPDATE).
May
13
2004
Wictory Wednesday… and a half
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
I was interrupted yesterday in the middle of my Wictory Wednesday post, and never got back to it. Rather than let it slip by (as I’ve done on occasion), I thought I’d throw something up despite the lateness.
This week, in honor of my lateness, I’d like to point out that it’s not too late to support the President. Heck, this has barely begun, but I’ve heard some doubters and grumbling from some who look at poll numbers and get discouraged. Don’t. The numbers are wrong. As James Taranto pointed out yesterday in quotes from several of his readers, the right track/wrong track and job performance numbers are terribly misleading because many Republicans are giving a conservative negative spin to many of the questions, while still supporting the war and the President 100%. (I should state I’ve been saying this for months because I’m one of those who would answer negatively.)
The polls are also skewed by the strange nature of today’s electorate. Pollsters have never been exposed to these kinds of reactions from people quite like this. Modern polling techniques have only been around since the 1950’s, which means we have no data to explain what people say and think about during a popularly conducted war for our survival. I also predict that this war will also bring many new voters to the polls, shattering all concepts of what a “likely voter” is. In some cases, like some of the New Jersey polls, registered voters may better reflect the mood of the voters who will eventually turn up at the polls.
If all of this doesn’t cheer you up, know that liberalism is very close to its death throes, and sad and disgusting stories like the tale of the suicides of the Reimer twins proves it. The buzz on Fox News last night was concern among the press corps that they had, in effect, killed Nick Berg themselves. Congratulations, guys, you’re starting to get the hint. You can add millions to that list from the former communist bloc, Vietnam, and more recently Iraq. And now you can add Bruce and Brian Reimer, too.
But there’s one sure way to speed up this process: Wictory!
Every Wednesday I ask my readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush campaign if they haven’t done so already. And if you have volunteered and donated, then get a friend to join you in opposition to the liberal media and its inhumane bias.
If you’re a blogger, you can join Wictory Wednesday simply by putting up a post like this every Wednesday, asking your readers to volunteer and/or donate to the president’s re-election campaign. And don’t forget to e-mail PoliPundit so that you can be added to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, which is part of the Wictory Wednesday post on all participating blogs:
May
11
2004
I’ll see your humiliating peep show and raise you a torturous beheading.I was going to say, “I hate to do this…” but frankly I’m beyond that point. This war has been a silly rollercoaster ride, with brief portions of days or weeks when the liberals devolve into partisan, pre-war-style sniping, and we Republicans cower in fear that the American people might actually listen to them. But then they are again humiliated by the utter barbarity of their partners in anti-Americanism, the islamofascists. Each time this lull occurs, something new and even more disgusting, revolting, upsetting, or just plain scary happens to remind us that we have to eradicate these alien vermin from the face of the earth.
Sean Hannity said the video of an American being murdered by the al Qaeda pigs needed to be seen, and he posted it at his website. Like so many times before, I said to myself, “I don’t need to see this to know how much they need to die.” But the demoralization I’ve been trying to fend off from the Abu Ghraib affair was gnawing at me, and something told me this would help, in some bizarre and despicable way.
I was right. My dinner nearly came up, but I was right. This is no made-for-TV movie, ladies and gents. This is no R or even NC-17 rated horror flick at the movie house. This isn’t the face of an NFL hero that we hear third-hand got sniped in a firefight for some otherwise-meaningless mud hovel half a world away. This isn’t the somber and stately procession of flag-draped coffins at Dover that the DoD don’t want sullied by the exploitation of the Leftist press. It’s not even a still picture in the Washington Post of my cousin-in-law kissing the coffin of her husband – a coffin that barely has a uniform in it, nevermind what’s left of his charred corpse. And this certainly isn’t a few pictures of butcherous madmen being made fun of by a bunch of over-stressed kids trying to pry the information out of them that will save the lives of fellow Americans, or maybe even their own.
This is real blood, in real time. And those screams are the last thing you’ll hear tonight before you fall away to sleep in your warm, comfy bed with your sweetheart safely next to you. This is what the fell bastards are going to do to her in your dreams, and in your dreams it won’t be on a tiny Windows Media Player screen. They’re going to do it to her in front of you, then those will be your screams as they do it to you. As Mort Kondrake said on Fox News, “they cut the guy’s head off, they sawed his head off, shouting God is great.”
And the horror will be made even more manifest when you realize it’s not going to be just a dream if we don’t kill every last one of these blood-sucking devils. WATCH THIS and know that they’re coming for you. We are fighting ONE WAR for our very lives. (Link is a VERY graphic .EXE file. It has no virus I know of, but don’t trust me if you don’t have decent virus protection running, because I don’t want to be responsible.)
UPDATE: Charles Johnson posts something that sounds like I plagiarized him, but I honestly hadn’t read him yet. In deference to the example he set, I’ll give a warning I didn’t want to make. I WANT YOU TO WATCH THIS. But know that my description above isn’t mere rhetoric, and probably doesn’t even due proper justice to the gore. This will leave you awake for many a night to come. Fair warning given.
May
11
2004
Perhaps it was my Catholic faith and its devotion to penance to overcome the guilt of sin. Whatever the reason, my scant few days of having any sympathy for the butchers and madmen that were abused in the Abu Ghraib prison is over. And the Left can thank Evan Thomas for my final conversion.
As I’d indicated yesterday, my opinion was that the crimes committed against the prisoners were atrocious, and (though I thought there were too many of us saying so already) I thought America could only get past it by showing due remorse emblematic of our principles. But Newsweek has decided they won’t be satisfied until they fulfill the embodiment of Hillary Clinton’s “politics of personal destruction” with a full-on hit piece on Donald Rumsfeld.
No non-partisan, objective journalism here – Newsweek and MSNBC have apparently decided they can’t sit back and let Fox News do all the yellow journalism. “Donald Rumsfeld likes to be in total control,” it begins. The cover proclaims: “Is He To Blame?” A picture highlighting a video feed shows a snarling Rumsfeld frozen with a face only Saddam could love. One of the most awful pictures of the abuse – the one with the prisoner wired up and with a black cape and hood, looking for all the world like the negative image of a young Robert Byrd. The lead-ins to the following pages are “Rumsfeld’s Strengths Are His Weaknesses” and “Is Anyone Really in Charge?”
To be honest, I’ve only skimmed page one. But I’m so ready to retch, there’s no point in really giving it more than my passing phlegm.
May
11
2004
IQ And Voting
Filed Under Lies, Corruption and Scandals | 2 Comments
With a tip of the hat to the blog Begging To Differ, I bring this news, that the Democrats have been fooled for years by a survey that purportedly shows that the states which voted for Gore had a population with a higher average IQ than did the states that voted for Bush.
One might conclude that the Dems were too dumb to know that they aren’t as smart as they want to believe they are! Raise your hand if you have ever tried (unsucessfully) to help them understand their mental limits.
May
10
2004
Playing Rummy
Filed Under War and Terrorism | Comments Off
The exploitation of the Abu Ghraib issue is contained in so many news reports and commentaries today, it’s almost pointless to say it. “Feeding frenzy” doesn’t begin to describe it. I’m almost tempted to ignore the whole thing in protest, but I’ll make this point.
When you’re playing the card game rummy (famously recreated using domino-style tiles when I was a kid, and still the way I prefer to play today), the least hand you can match together has three cards – either three of a kind, or in a straight. People in the media today have been playing a new-fangled game of Rummy with three kinds of talkers, all intent on fighting amongst ourselves: the appeasers, the inquisitors, and the apologists.
The appeasers are that portion of the left that screams, “VIETNAM!” whenever American blood is spilled. They will stop at nothing to turn any military action (by a Republican president) into Vietnam. Abu Ghraib is a godsend for them, because it lets them tar the military for a change, and allows them to drop all pretense at “support the troops”. These people should be shot on principle.
Some commentators are performing an important function by wagging serious pro-military fingers at anyone who proposed, aided, or accomplished the heinous acts going on in the Iraq prison. By saying how horrible these crimes were, these inquisitors are proving to the world that we really believe in our values, and the perpetrators are just a disgusting aberration who were not properly supervised. There are way too many of these people in our society today for me to be comfortable – and I’m one of them.
The apologists are saying everything from, “We have to understand what they were going through,” to “Anything it takes to win.” There aren’t enough of these people. Why, and isn’t this hypocrisy? It sounds so much like what liberals say about criminals in the former case, and so much like the foreign enemy in the latter. Yes, those are both true. But this group of people is willing to be labelled “hypocrite” so the rest of us can continue to live under the Constitution. And because there are so few of them, we are like the pacifist who owns a gun, but won’t use it – we are in danger of letting our principles hamstring our efforts to defend ourselves. And contrary to the idealist who would have us reverse the concept, without our country to defend us our principles mean nothing.
War is hell, as one legend says. And as another goes: democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. Both are equally true, especially when they are used together to refer to the same society. Such are the sad ironies of an imperfect world.
