He Gets It

Canadian Trodwell at RightThinkingPeople has got it right. He understands what George W. Bush was trying to get across to still befuddled Americans about the War on Terror during his recent speech at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. And he understands that Bush is fighting this war on two fronts.

The Western left is as much an enemy in this war as the terrorists, because although they do not detonate the bombs themselves, they provide solace and comfort to those who do; they force western democracies to fight with one foot in a bucket; they hyperbolize every minor error as equivalent to the worst atrocities in human history (more people have died at Chappaquiddick than at Camp Delta)...

Read it all.

Arafat : Really Most Sincerely Dead?

As I read the various stories and blogs regarding the confusion over Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's status, living or dead, I pictured a French doctor approaching the bank of microphones and uttering this declaration à la the Munchkin coroner in The Wizard of Oz movie:

As Coroner, I must aver,

I thoroughly examined him,

And he's not only MERELY dead,

He's really most SINCERELY dead.”

My apologies to Wizard of Oz purists for changing the pronouns.

Post Election Day Thoughts

President Bush was re-elected. I can breathe again! Actually, I was quite at peace with the world the night before the election. I had turned over all my worries to God. I figured that His will would be done. If Kedwards was elected it would signal that He was none too pleased with the U. S. of A. and, therefore, our destruction was assured, as in Old Testament times. Hey, I'm studying the prophets right now, so I know how many times the LORD tried to warn his people, to no avail. Sometimes I feel like we're just repeating those bad times: the people continued to do what was wrong according to the LORD -- over and over and over. Sound familiar?

Although I was at peace the night before the election, that didn't stop my anxiety during the evening vigil on the day itself. I was quite relieved when ABC's Peter Jennings announced that Fox News Channel had called Ohio for Bush. At that point I channel-surfed furiously among the networks (I don't have cable) and soon came to the conclusion that they all were stubbornly refusing to call the election for President Bush (they were in as much denial as the Kedwards team) rather than "showing extreme caution," as they claimed. I decided to call it a night around 2:30 a.m. EST. I wouldn't have stayed up that late, but I really thought at least one network would come to its senses and throw in the towel. Still, I went to bed fairly confident that it would be Bush-Cheney for FOUR MORE YEARS.

The treatment of Bush and his adminstration by the Dimmicrats and liberal MSM was simply appalling. I recall similar hostility toward President Reagan (God rest his soul) during my college years. Reagan always reminded me of my maternal grandmother with his sincere faith in God, so I always liked him. In my more politically naïve days I never understood why so many in our government and around the world thought he was Evil Incarnate. Yet, it seems like "déjà vu all over again." Bush is not evil, nor are the members of his administration. Their actions and words do not merit such vitriol. They have very tough jobs and they don't have the advantage of hindsight. Every decision they make has far-reaching implications. I am glad that the majority of Americans saw the importance of choosing a leader who is decisive. Wishy-washy, flippy-floppy, finger in the wind Kerryites would have led us to disaster. Electing John-John would have signalled to terrorists and the world our Spain-like unwillingness to confront evil in our time. Thank you, Lord, for affirming your faith in us. As during 2000, I believe our fate was in His hands on November 2 and, needless to say, we are in GOOD hands.

Now, I come from a divided political family. My parents and I are the sensible conservatives while my siblings are the graduate school-influenced libs. My sister, I'm sure, threw in her lot for Kedwards -- in the Buckeye State, no less. Thankfully there were enough born-again Christians to counteract her misguidedness. I smile when I read the rantings of those like Slate's clueless Jane Smiley who believes that we Bushies are simpletons and ignoramuses and that the Republican Party "cultivate(s) and exploit(s) ignorance in the citizenry." I have read more political punditry in the past four years, from both sides, than I care to recount. My decisions are hardly ill-informed or dangerously shallow. On the contrary. I just don't buy what the Dimmicrats/MSM are selling. It doesn't jive with my built-in antenna. And, no, Karl Rove didn't install that antenna. Ha, made you laugh!

The Left & Osama bin Laden: Like 2 Peas in a Pod

Jim Geraghty at The Kerry Spot had this observation about bin Laden's October Surprise videotape:

The far left hates George W. Bush with a raging fury. So does al-Qaeda. Was it really so shocking that the rhetoric of the former would eventually be taken up by the latter?

No, this tape should cause many on the left to stare into the mirror for a long time and ask, “What have I turned into? How did I become so reflexively partisan, so blinded by rage, so intemperate in my rhetoric that my own arguments are being echoed by a man who planned and enjoyed the mass murder of Americans?”

“How the hell did I reach the point where I agree with Osama bin Laden on Bush?”

Yep, that is what many on the Left have become. Their Bush-hating has grown so radical that even Osama has to be viewed as their ally. Scary, isn't it?

Will new voters tip the scale toward Kerry?

Freelance poltical writer Vincent Fiore thinks the Democrats are more likely in 2004 to lie, cheat and steal to get their man elected.

...in regards to the rule of law which we all live under--in this case voter registration law--vestiges of the Democratic devotee and the party machinery itself seem more than willing to flout these laws nationwide, and brazenly so.

Fiore points out possible voter fraud, intimidation and general liberal hijinks around the nation. One example involves Palm Beach County, Florida's Theresa LePore, who caved in and accepted late voter registration applications from the activist Muslim group Voting is Power (From my own experience as a poll worker, I know that election officials are loath to deprive voters of their constitutional right and will err on their behalf when possible).

Some conservatives are concerned that the record number of newly registered voters will favor the Dems. I'm not so sure -- for a number of reasons.

1. There are reports that many voter registration applications filled out by those Kerry-loving 527's were not filled out correctly, AND

2. If incomplete registration applications were turned in close to the deadline, there would not have been enough time for election officials to notify these applicants and receive their corrected applications.

3. Not every new voter is enthralled with Kerry. Much to my surprise, Ann Arbor's own liberal bastion, The University of Michigan, has a few conservative writers on its student newspaper this year.

4. First-time voters are more likely to spoil their ballots, not realize that it IS a spoiled ballot and that they should request another.

5. First-time voters are less knowledgeable about voting procedures in general and, perhaps out of embarrassment, less likely to ask for help, thus hurting their chances for casting a successful ballot.

6. Those who have never voted before are more likely to leave a polling place if there's a long line.

7. In general, first-time voters are more apathetic and will look for any excuse to renege on their constitutional duty (e.g., "the dog ate my map", "I overslept", "I was sick/hungover", "I had to work").

While there is much to worry about, there are also many hurdles that need to be overcome by a first-time voter. If the 2000 election is any indicator (butterfly ballot), potential Kerry voters will have a tough time getting into that voting booth and making their vote count.

Terror TV?

Michelle Malkin (one of my favorite bloggers) thinks Showtime is going too far with The Cell -- a new reality TV show that gets us thinking that those Islamic terrorists might be that guy or girl next door who just happens to have an ideological axe to grind. Read the NYPost article by Susan Karlin.

So, some people in Hollywood are outraged that Islamofascists aren't being portrayed realistically. About time, I say. Yet, I wish they'd have the guts to use Middle Eastern-looking terrorists, not European and American Caucasian converts (to top it off, an Israeli actor plays the cell's leader). I suppose that would defeat their goal of showing that WE are the real terrorists. Sheesh!