Iraq, global warming, and the new ‘Brown Shirts’ …

In 1920 Munich, Germany, a young and politically aspiring Adolf Hitler created a group of ex-soldiers and beer hall brawlers to stifle any opposition to his own expressed and favored views.

This group became known as the Brown Shirts, because of their brown uniforms, and because of the hallmark strong-arm tactics they used to stifle debate and opposition. One of their maxims was that “all opposition must be stamped into the ground.”

Whether the modern-day topic equivalent is skepticism regarding anthropogenic global warming, or support for the troops and their strategic mission on but one front of a now-global effort to counter and combat direct and explicit threats posed by Islamist jihadists and advocates of an Islamo-fascist world order – it is interesting to note that the credo of the Brown Shirts appears to be alive and well in the halls of American academia, as well as it seems in the editorial offices of our own “free press”.

Big oil’s crystal ball …

With gasoline prices spiking to new highs, the critics of “big oil” are pointing to the profits of oil companies, accusing them of deliberately not building new refining capacity in order to restrict supplies,  force an increase in gasoline prices – and therefore increase corporate profits at the “expense” of consumers. 

After 30 or more years of being regulated and litigated out of the refinery-building business by environmentalists and the anti-oil crowd, it would seem that the companies who do the business of extracting oil from the ground and refining it into a form that we all can use – from plastics to automotive fuel – are looking once again into their crystal balls and are becoming increasingly reluctant to invest billions in new refining capacity for a product that (environmentalists and glowarmers tell us) society is increasingly ready to abandon as a fuel source.

Since refineries take up to 10 years to plan and build, and once built, have an expected amortized life of 30 to 40 years, plus maintenance, upgrades, and the increasingly onerous and expensive requirements for environmental “protection” and remediation – why should companies rush now to build refining capacity that we are all telling them will be un-necessary (and un-welcome) by the time they were ready to go on-line?

Dogs of surrender …

The post-Saddam “mission” is what it always has been, however much clouded by those who disagree with it or it’s chief sponsor:

“… to support and assist the creation of a stable, self-sustaining, self-governing neutral or friendly Iraq that is not a continuing threat to American security in the region or globally, and which is not a safe-haven or sponsor for terrorists.”

While the perception that President Bush is “clueless” and a “bumbling moron” has been perpetrated since the 2000 election cycle, it is one of those canards that has been so endlessly repeated as to be accepted as truth, almost without question.

At a time also when the media is falling all over itself to publish statements and articles from past and current military officers, highlighting the failures and mistakes made in Iraq, an interesting “take” was recently given by General Tommy Franks, that challenges some of the most commonly accepted notions regarding President Bush and the Iraq war

Reinstating the draft …

Interestingly, many of Rep Rangles stated reasons for reinstating a military draft are the very same reasons that were advanced for doing away with it in the first place – specifically, that “blacks and minorities” (Rangle is color-blind, and clearly not a racist) were disproportionatly being drafted, and were thus disproportionately bearing the burden of war on the front lines.

Aside from an obvious political desire to fan the flames of domestic discontent Vietnam-style by placing the young-and-restless at increased risk of being forced to serve in a manner which they can now easily avoid by choice, a closer look at the Rangle proposal reveals a more fundamental desire to further socialize American society by creating a “requirement” that everyone serve the government in some respect, either militarily, or as an option, in civilian service.

Democrat’s “peace in our time” …

All of President Bush’s detractors, including sadly some on his own side of the aisle, are buying into the canard that he single-handedly fabricated an excuse to invade Iraq, by (they say) falsly saying that there were connections between Saddam Hussein, al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and that Saddam had and was developing weapons of mass destruction.

Conveniently, all of the people shouting “liar”, avoid an unpleasant reality – that Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Joe Biden et al, our own intelligence departments, the British, Sadaam’s own generals, and indeed almost all of the responsible leaders in the free world, also believed and said the same things.

A woman such as she …

Standby writes:
“Did Margaret Thatcher make Great Britain look like less of a force? ”

Not at all. We – and the Brits – would be well-served by the leadership of a woman such as Margaret Thatcher today.

Ms. Clinton, however, is “no Margaret Thatcher”.

Wigger Don and the “nappy-headed ho’s”

Many of the same people rushing to join the mob eager to engage in the virtual equivalent of hanging Don Imus professionally from the nearest tree, are also somewhat lamely attempting to draw distinctions between what Mr Imus said in passing, and what hundreds of idolized athletes, rappers, and hip-hop musicians are doing and saying every day – specifically, repeatedly, and in graphic, demeaning detail.

Their defense? In the words of rap impresario Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam and the unofficial “Dean of Hip-Hop”, it’s because rappers are really “poets” and “artists”, who merely “reflect the realities” of what they see every day on the streets of their neighborhoods.

Nappy-headed ho’s ….

Peter writes:
“Radio personality Don Imus is the latest “celebrity” to be branded a bigot after calling a mostly-black women’s college basketball team a bunch of “nappy headed hos.”

Is it an inherently racist comment, or only racist because it was spoken by an individual with light-colored skin?

As colloquial and slang references go, it really was quite benign, and pales compared to the sort language often used by members of that community in referring to each other, and in referring to other ethnic groups, including on tv, radio, and public speeches by visible and respected figures.

Iraq – To WMD … or not to WMD?

‘Petie’ (or ‘Peter’) writes (regarding the search for WMD in Iraq):
“Breckie … Right now in my basement I have nails. I have some steel pipe. I have a bunch of blackpowder. [...] Better call the cops, Breckie. By your definition, I’m in possession of a pipe bomb.”

Actually (and Peter knows this, as a respected and well-connected member of the journalistic profession, who has on occasion covered law enforcement issues), if you had previously used or been suspected of using an explosive device on your neighbors or perhaps on members of your own family, you would indeed be eligable for arrest, detention, and criminal (and possibly civil) prosecution, your house searched (and possibly civilly forfeited), and your steel pipe, and black powder, and nails confiscated – as you are indeed in possession of “bomb-making materials”.

Pelosi – Kowtowing to the Enemy … Peace in our time

Peter writes (regarding Speaker Pelosi’s recent excursion to Syria):
“And for the record, Pelosi went to Syria as part of a bipartisan commission of Congress members. Republicans also went – as they have been for some time.”

The Republicans who went (to Syria, et al), against the advice and request of the President, are no more correct in their actions than Ms Pelosi, even though their trips are similarly cloaked as legal “fact-finding tours”, and not, ostensibly, as illegal diplomatic missions.

There is also a distinction to be made between such excursions made by rank-and-file members of the legislative bodies who are not occupying responsible positions of senior leadership, and those who are.