Mount Virtus

Joshua has a very disturbing report that took me by surprise:

The Republicans in State House District 6 in Denver are about to make a terrible mistake.

At their Assembly on March 1, they nominated a terror apologist, and an avowed enemy of Israel, with no credible conservative credentials as their candidate to succeed Rep. Andrew Romanoff. Her name is Rima Barakat Sinclair.

Joshua has all the details and the links to make his case. It’s not the religion, but the Leftist affiliations, the moral equivalence, the deceptive behavior, and the dissembling rhetoric that Ms. Barakat Sinclair should have to answer clearly for.

Rather than rehashing it all, I would say that if there is any truth and substance in this report, that Joshua’s conclusion is absolutely correct. The Party needs to find another candidate to rally around in District 6:

Fortunately, the nomination is not yet set in stone, and there is still a chance to petition a more appropriate candidate onto the ballot.

Such a candidate would be able to help build party strength, keep it viable in a difficult season, promote ideas and philosophies we all care about, and perhaps even help in some small way the candidates for statewide and national office.

It would be an almost sure defeat in the general election, but the cost to petition on the ballot would be well worth saving any honor the Party has.

Over at the Corner, Mark Steyn highlights the Left’s illogical “Sharia creep” in its latest manifestations in the United States:

Forty years ago, advocating separate drinking fountains made you a racist. Today, advocating separate taxi cabs or separate swimming sessions makes you a multiculturalist.

No one has a keener eye for this stuff than Mark Steyn. If you’re not reading him regularly, you should be. After all, he has been fighting the good fight for free speech against Canada’s Human Rights Commission. (More on this story from Michelle Malkin.)

A little solidarity today from south of the 48th parallel.

A letter in today’s Raleigh-Durham News & Observer:

In the Feb. 15 N&O, an article’s headline said, “Study’s look at oceans is sobering.” It described research showing negative human influences on nearly every corner of Earth’s oceans and seas.

This is just one of many worrisome phenomena that we read and hear about daily: severe water shortage, global warming, overcrowded schools, power plant pollution, deforestation, endangered species, gang crime and so on. But they all have something in common that never seems to get mentioned: There are too many humans on this planet! Further, I understand that we are increasing by 70 million a year!

We can reduce our littering, change our consumption habits, find better ways to generate electricity, limit the number of new homes, try to protect endangered species and so on, but those solutions only ameliorate the problem until further population expansion and increased human demands overtake them. To add to the problem, having large families is apparently becoming popular again.

Do no political leaders — or, for that matter, news reporters — recognize that the reason behind so many of our more serious problems is simply overpopulation? Do none of them see the urgent need for more and better family planning?

Robert P. Hawkins, Ph.D.
Cary

Letters like this make me thankful for two things: 1) The First Amendment forbids radical ecosocialist neo-pagans from imposing the genocidal implications of their views on the rest of us; and 2) That I opted not to pursue an academic career.

Where else but the modern nihilistic academy could such naive, amoral, and ill-informed views not only emerge but also thrive and flourish? This helped to serve as a reminder today of the great need to work to preserve America’s Founding vision and to keep her from heading down the track of Euro-Socialism. There’s a lot at stake.

Mr. Bob (via the amazing Michael Yon) points us to “The Last Major Battle in Iraq?” It is to my discredit that I don’t keep up with events in the Middle East as well as I should. With the success of the “Surge” strategy, events in Iraq largely have fallen off the MSM radar and out of the Presidential campaign debate. But it was interesting to read this news today.

After you check out this post, remember also to stop by the Victory Caucus website, which is loaded with tons of information and commentary.

From an email received this morning:

The David Horowitz Freedom Center announced that it will distribute a Declaration Against Genocide and ask individuals and groups, particularly those on American college campuses, to sign it. The Declaration notes that the Sudanese and other Africans have been victims of a slow motion genocide, and that Islamo fascists in the Middle East are preparing a new genocide against the Jews and can be found here.

In describing the objectives of this new initiative, David Horowitz, President of the Freedom Center, said: “We are asking all campus groups to repudiate the genocidal passage in the Islamic Hadith which reads: “The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: ‘The time [of judgment] will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews and kill them; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!’”

Read the rest of this entry »

Two weeks ago I wrote about Congressional candidate Jared Polis’ impending visit to Iraq:

Look, Polis’ trip to Iraq may turn out to be all for show. But then again he may be genuine, in which case I hope he takes time to meet with some of our enlisted troops, our young officers, as well as local Iraqi leaders and tribal chiefs.

Was the trip all for show? Blackfive has the answer:

So, here’s Mr. Richie Rich, scratching for Congress, looking for an ‘in’, and decides to fund a trip to Iraq; see the natives, bash the Bush, just to say ‘been there, seen that’. Unfortunately, about all HE saw was the inside of a hotel and the view from a car window. So, he’s ready to be ambassador, now?

So why do I care about this? Because I despise people showboating about the situation over there; needlessly putting themselves at risk, and saying their experts because they’ve seen 1/1,000th of what actually goes on over there. Its like going to the zoo for the afternoon and then claiming you’re an expert zoologist because you spent time in the chimp exhibit.

Two weeks ago I also wrote:

This could turn out to be an interesting race in Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District. But only if one or more of the candidates is willing to make a grown-up assessment of our Middle East foreign policy by going to really look for himself.

I may have been right, but looks like we’ll never know. Hoping for Democrat Congressional candidates - especially those wooing the votes of Boulderites - to have serious, grown-up, well-informed views of Iraq. Nothing more than misguided optimism, I guess.

Liberal Democrat and Colorado Congressional candidate Jared Polis, with whom I frequently disagree on this blog, is to be commended for deciding to take a look at what’s going on in Iraq himself:

Polis, former chairman of the state education board, is leaving today to spend a week with relief agencies, Iraqi civilians and two deployed Colorado lawmakers.

Polis said the point of the trip is to “get a broader picture of what’s going on” in Iraq, not “hold a large turkey for photo ops.”

Contrast Polis’ apparent open-minded with the self-blinding attitude of his chief Democrat primary opponent, who typify the Left’s talking points that dominate with their party in Congress:

Fitz-Gerald’s campaign said the trip isn’t necessary.

“The facts on Iraq are clear and have been,” she said. “We should end the war immediately and bring the troops home. When Jared gets back, I hope that he agrees [sic] me.”

Will the Party establishment and the Left in Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District rally enough to support another candidate with the blinders on? Another Democrat pol with her head in the sand? Maybe someone should subscribe Fitz-Gerald to the dispatches of Michael Yon or Michael Totten. Or how about a front-page glimpse (believe it or not, at last!) at today’s New York Times.

Look, Polis’ trip to Iraq may turn out to be all for show. But then again he may be genuine, in which case I hope he takes time to meet with some of our enlisted troops, our young officers, as well as local Iraqi leaders and tribal chiefs. Who knows? He might end up getting a taste of the Brian Baird treatment.

If Polis dares to talk about the progress taking place in Iraq before the primary election, he may incur the wrath of MoveOn.org and the other well-heeled doctrinaire defeatists who are fighting for the helm of the Democrat Party. Then again, Polis has plenty of his own cash, too.

This could turn out to be an interesting race in Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District. But only if one or more of the candidates is willing to make a grown-up assessment of our Middle East foreign policy by going to really look for himself.

Godspeed to Lt. Col. (and state representative) Joe Rice, who will be deployed to Baghdad for a three-month stint starting in October, as reported today in the Denver Post’s Politics West:

Rice, who has three young children, said he looks forward to getting the “feel of the street” in Baghdad.

“Unless you are out there on the street, you just don’t get it,” he said.

As an operations analyst, Rice will look for the best practices among reconstruction teams. He plans to spend a lot of time with the Iraqi police force.

Rice, who has been in the Army for 23 years, said he didn’t think about asking for a special deployment exemption because he is a state lawmaker.

I am honored to have met Rep. Rice in May 2006, before he was elected to his current position at the State Capitol. He joins Sen. Steve Ward, who deployed to Iraq in late August, and follows in the footsteps of Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who took leave from his State Treasurer’s job in 2005-2006 to serve in the war on terror’s central front.

As I pointed out earlier upon learning of Sen. Ward’s departure, seeing another state legislator deployed should remind us how important it is to support all our troops.

The last time our calendars turned to Tuesday, September 11, a day arrived that America will never forget. We reeled in shock and horror at the immense magnitude of human tragedy and the terrible spectacle of giant symbolic man-made structures toppled into dust. Soon, we would be moved by remarkable acts of heroism and sacrifice - firefighters racing into the stairwells of the Twin Towers, the nameless passengers and crew of United 93.

Six years have passed. Except for those whose lives or loved ones were touched directly by the evil al-Qaeda attack, the sting has largely worn off. Our resolve to defend Western Civilization and the American ideal against the Islamofascist ideology of mass murder has waned (look at what is taught in so many Colorado schools to commemorate today), yet thank God that many brave heroes remain to serve and to sacrifice. We are all truly indebted to them.

We do not know our nation’s future course, but on this Patriot Day we can be reminded to do our citizen duty: to do all in our power to defend American honor, to be firm “in the right as God gives us to see the right,” to cherish and to help preserve “the last best hope of earth.”

The last time our calendars turned to Tuesday, September 11, was a horrible, unforgettable day. May today be solemn and inspiring, but far, far less memorable.

If you haven’t contributed yet to Jim’s Project “Letters from Home,” let me encourage you again to participate. It’s easy to do, and a great opportunity to encourage our troops. Here’s Jim’s email update on the project:

I just wanted to take a minute and let everyone know how the project is going. Response has really fallen off the last week or so. After getting almost 400 emails over the first two weeks, I’ve only gotten 6 or 7 this week….

I can’t begin to tell you how important the success of this project is to me. I don’t want these men and women to have any doubt that we support them! Thank you so much for everything you’ve done so far to help. I truly couldn’t have gotten this far without your help.

Once again, the address to send the letters to is letters@thinking-right.com. We’re almost halfway there! Another 100 or so letters, and I can get the first batch in the mail to the Marines. Another 600 or so emails, and we’ll have the 1000 that we need to get one in the hands of every Marine and Sailor in the 1st battalion 1st Marine regiment.

What are you waiting for?

An irrelevant left wing “watchdog” group named Media Matters has reprinted the comments of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer on Greeley’s Amy Oliver Show. The key excerpt of Schaffer’s comments highlighted by Media Matters goes as follows:

“I think it’s foolish to behave the way you see people like Harry Reid and other, others who are leading the Senate right now, that I think are trying to, at the end, the analysis of their achievement and what they are effectively accomplishing is a deliberate loss and a surrender in Iraq for the sake of their political advantage at election time in 2008. I think they’re hoping America loses.”

The comments were reported and repeated uncritically, which can only lead an open-minded observer to believe that the comments are accepted as true and reliable. On this major point of foreign policy, it’s good to see Media Matters at least be frank and honest about its preferred political party’s leadership in Congress.

There’s no need to rehearse the long train of public statements and political behavior of Democrat Congressional leaders that indicates an unwillingness to achieve victory in Iraq. Media Matters must have finally started Googling its way around the Net and come to the same obvious conclusion that so many others have found for themselves: The Democratic Party is married to defeat. I’m glad to see we at least have the beginnings of a bipartisan recognition now - even if it originates from an irrelevant group.

In a story reminiscent of the Danish Mohammed cartoon protests, numerous American newspapers (at least 25, according to reports collected by Michelle Malkin) have refused to print this week’s edition of “Opus” because it’s potentially offensive to Muslims:

[Writers Group comics editor Amy] Lago said she flagged some of the syndicate’s newspaper clients for two reasons: because of the possibility that the jokes about Islam would be misconstrued and because of the sexual innuendo in the punchline.

“The strip came in and I knew we would have to send out an alert to all the newspapers,” Lago said. “I do that fairly regularly with materials that might pose issues for local areas. … We knew that because it was a sex joke, it could raise issues.

And there is another client that has issues with any Muslim depiction whatsoever.

A remarkable piece of self-censorship, especially when you consider the “Opus” cartoon that appeared exactly one week before:

The Aug. 19 “Opus” ended with a joke about the late Jerry Falwell. In that strip, Lola, fresh from a quest to become an Amish nudist, is doing yoga and talking to the penguin character Opus about who goes to heaven.

“Liberals? Evolutionists? Feminists? ACLU lawyers?” Opus asks incredulously. “Yep,” replies Lola.

“Kennedy Democrats? French people? Manly women who don’t shave … they’re all up there?” Opus wonders. “Yep,” Lola repeats.

“With Jerry Falwell?” asks Opus. “Yep,” Lola says again.

Opus looks up in an aha! sort of moment. “Goodness, must HE be annoyed!” the penguin exclaims.

“Eternally,” Lola replies.

Here’s the key section of the story:

Lago said she didn’t flag newspapers about that strip because she didn’t think readers would misunderstand the humor.“They’re not going to take it seriously,” she said.

But she did alert newspapers about the Muslim-themed cartoon because there was a question about whether Muslim readers would be offended.

Huh? There are a lot of things you could read into this double standard. Does she think Muslims are less intelligent and sophisticated? Does she think conservative Christians have a higher tolerance level? Or most likely, there is fear of potential violent repercussions from one group but not the other. This episode will make great fodder for the sequel to Mark Steyn’s America Alone.

For the record, I am opposed to government-imposed censorship - and in this case the need for censorship at all. (Tastelessness alone is not sufficient grounds for removal. As for “Opus,” I lost interest in its content & flavor years ago.) But such “dhimm” judgment and pathetic rationalization only helps to clarify why MSM newspapers are in demise. I just hope the application can’t be extended to all of Western Civilization.

Ed Morrissey at Captain’s Quarters tackles the MSM’s eerie silence over a major development of political progress in Iraq:

Let’s say we’re at war, and we’re waiting for some specific action to take place to show us that our efforts are succeeding. Add in that the war itself would be rather controversial and that our political class is split as to whether we will ever see that specific action take place. Imagine that Congress and the White House have scheduled a showdown in the next couple of weeks to determine how much longer we will wait for that development.

Now imagine that the specific action for which we’ve waited actually occurs. Where would you think that story appear in Washington’s biggest newspaper?

Read the whole piece at CQ: It’s truly breathtaking. In the past couple weeks, many Democrats in Congress grudgingly admitted that General Petraeus’ surge strategy was yielding military progress, but that the political situation was disastrous. Few have stopped to reason that the dynamic of central government in Iraq is a lagging indicator. Now the Iraq unity government is meeting some of their precious benchmarks: will they be able to ignore it for long? How will the liberal spin machine downplay this development?

We await responses from the offices of Sens. Carl Levin, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, and John Warner, among others.

Wow, this punishing expose by Pajamas Media’ Richard Miniter really lifts the lid on some serious problems at The New Republic. Things don’t look good for Franklin Foer & crew. Scott Thomas Beauchamp looks to be more of a millstone around the bi-weekly liberal publication than was the devastating Stephen Glass saga of 1998 - primarily because its leadership wasted no time in dealing with the perpetrator of fraud.

The “batten down the hatches” plan in action now, as highlighted by Miniter, is doing nothing to rescue their credibility. In fact, the ship of print may be quickly crashing in flames - reminiscent of a real disaster some 70 years past:

Quite sad, really, because so much was avoidable on the part of TNR’s leadership. So easy to accept slander of America’s brave men and women in uniform, so sloppy in its apparently nepotistic system of fact-checking, so quick to heap falsehoods atop fabrications, so steadfast in its denial of countervailing facts, so self-insulating from outside inquiry, so flummoxed and frazzled, so befuddled and bemused, so blithe in its casual dismissal of all remaining credibility … What will be left of the 93-year-old liberal standard after the last ash of this debacle is swept away?

In the wake of Rathergate, another big notch may be added to the belt of some hardworking conservative blogs - led by Dean Barnett, the Weekly Standard’s Michael Goldfarb, Little Green Footballs, Ace of Spades, and Confederate Yankee, among others. But you must read Miniter’s piece … wow, simply wow.

Pierre Rehov’s new documentary “Suicide Killers” may be too politically incorrect to receive an Academy Award nomination, but that fact should recommend the film to more American viewers.

And certainly, there were more viewers at last night’s screening at the Colorado History Museum than event organizers anticipated. The modest size of the screen in the large hall forced the rows to be tightly-packed, but most guests eagerly pressed in to get a closer look. Reading the frequent subtitles - absolutely essential to absorbing the film’s startling content - presented a minor challenge of tilting heads and craning necks.

I was drawn in to the disturbing images, largely appropriate in their context and level of graphic detail, as well as the powerful interviews. Specifically, the matter-of-fact words of Palestinian jihadists, would-be jihadists, and jihadist sympathizers steeped in their state-sponsored culture of “shaheed” (martyrdom) acted like a jolt to modern and postmodern Western sensibilities.

The religious, political, and social motivations to destroy innocent life for the perceived glory of rewards in the afterlife are, as one Israeli scholar observed, not the creation of despair (the popular depiction in most media). There is something more deeply sinister at work through the systematic indoctrination of a narrow interpretation of Islamic texts.

That being said, moderate Muslims are also given a prominent voice in Rehov’s film. They provide a balance: A well-educated Iranian-born Frenchwoman who recalled the descriptions of Paradise offered by childhood religious teachers as sounding a lot like America; An Arab Israeli citizen who was not once, but twice, nearly a fatal victim of Palestinian suicide bombers - he held a dying woman in his arms; the Palestinian women’s rights activist who chronicles the subjugation so common to her culture; and the young Palestinian man who pleaded in broken English for an end to his culture’s continuing fixation on violent revenge.

Yet the culture is so steeped in hatred and violence, as demonstrated in clips shown from radical Arab television, including a fictional depiction of Jewish rabbis as bloodthirsty child-killers and a CNN-style debate between leading men regarding whether women should stay out of sight in the home or take part in the jihad of suicide bombing like their male counterparts.

And indeed they have. Rehov’s interviews with four Palestinian women imprisoned in Israel for their roles in planning or promoting suicide attacks left me dumbfounded and disturbed. One woman talked most passionately about the ultimate goal to destroy every non-Muslim in the world (I wonder what she thinks of the “two-state solution,” eh?). Equally as disturbing, the interviews with imprisoned men young and old, pledging their commitment to complete a suicide bombing if ever released. They were to a person cold, calculating, calloused, and thoroughly imbued with dogmatic bloodlust in their internal wiring. A screenwriter or novelist looking to sculpt an archetypal villain could find plenty of material.

All in all, the documentary offered a chilling look at Palestinian culture that is largely missed by international reporters in the mainstream media outlets. Americans engaged in a generations-long war with radical Islamofascism cannot afford to be ignorant about what motivates the enemy. Though the film’s conclusion was a bit ambiguous and some of the contrast between Israeli and Palestinian society seemed a little exaggerated, “Suicide Killers” (you can view the trailer and order online here) remains an important film to see.

The presence of the Algerian-born, French-Israeli filmmaker at last night’s screening was positively inspirational. Given current political realities, Pierre Rehov’s courage can scarcely be doubted.

Last night’s screening was sponsored by the Claremont Institute, Action Israel, and Americans Against Terrorism. Many thanks to these groups for introducing Rehov’s work to a Denver audience and, in particular, to Mount Virtus. Please read a little different perspective on the film by Joshua at View from a Height.

Godspeed and Semper Fi to Marine Colonel (and state senator) Steve Ward, whom the Denver Post reports today is being deployed to Iraq for a short-term assignment:

Ward expects to be in Iraq - probably Anbar province in the western part of the country - by late August or early September. “I’m assuming Anbar,” Ward said when asked where he will be stationed. “I go where they send me.”

The short-term assignment to help Iraqis set up a democratic government is scheduled to end in time for Ward to fill his state Senate seat when the assembly reconvenes in January.

Ward was appointed to the state Senate to replace Sen. Jim Dyer, who resigned after he was elected in November to the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners.

I met Steve Ward last December, shortly before his appointment to the legislature. He struck me then as a man of conviction and character, not surprising at all when I also learned he was a Marine.

Ward follows in the footsteps of Colorado Secretary of State (then-Treasurer) Mike Coffman who took leave from his elected post in 2005-2006 to don the uniform and serve in Iraq.

Seeing that one of our state senators is set to be deployed should remind us of our need to support all the troops.

This week alone from Iraq, we see strong evidences of success in our fight against al-Qaeda (Sunni) and against the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army (Shi’a). Both developments provide encouraging news in our slow upward climb to victory.

Also encouraging is that our fellow countrymen may be beginning to take notice. Results of respected national polls taken before this week’s developments already show some noteworthy changes in American public opinion concerning Iraq. Far from the Left’s loudly-touted “mandate” to the new Democratic Congress to get our troops out of there right now, only 20 percent of Americans favor this approach. Fifty-four percent believe immediate withdrawal would leave Iraq in worse shape, and 71 percent recognize that it would open the door for an al-Qaeda takeover.

Just over half (51 percent) say the surge strategy is improving the situation, and considerably larger percentages of the American populace view the war as having been the right course of action and that things tend to be going well. Remarkably, 80 percent trust General David Petraeus’ judgment, and about 60 percent support waiting on his September report to decide on the next course of action. What a bummer for the Left-wing defeatist propaganda machine!

Of course, a little caution is in order: The American people well may be more satisfied with the way things are going in Iraq. This fact is important insofar as mustering domestic political will is essential to accomplishing the mission. Have we passed the ebb of American public opinion on the war? I’d like to hope so, but we certainly have no guarantee. Regardless of popular sentiment, though, this much is clear: Let’s give General Petraus’ new counterinsurgency strategy a chance to continue to work.

Don’t forget to keep visiting the Victory Caucus website.

Our republic needs more informed citizens, especially these days about our military operations in Iraq. Cut through the hype and the soundbites, and bookmark the new Victory Caucus website on your browser. Unlike in the MSM, you’ll easily find facts not only on coalition casualties but on measures of political stability, sectarian violence, and weapons caches found.

Moreover, you’ll find links to the latest reports from independent journalists (like Michael Yon and Bill Roggio), key military bloggers (like Blackfive and Mudville Gazette), and official U.S. sources. That’s only the beginning: you’ll find reports from military commanders on the ground, interactive regional maps, reviews of relevant books, and user forums.

Thanks to NZ Bear and the Victory Caucus board of governors for this important endeavor that will make it easier to connect relevant information directly with our fellow citizens. Sure, many still will be stuck on American Idol and Britney Spears, while the Nutroots will be tuned in to the military haters. But any thoughtful patriots who can be reached will help to make a difference in this long, global struggle with Islamic fascist fanatics in which we are engaged.

There are no easy fixes nor simple solutions. There is hard work cut out for us as a nation. And if not enough of us understand what’s going on, minus the filtered agenda of the media elites, not enough of us will have the will necessary to help our leaders see it through. Give it a try today. Make the Victory Caucus a regular stop on the Web.