"We pray for you."

Yesterday the magnificent Iraqi people stood up to their monsters. The jihadi terrorists and remnants of the brutal Baath regime threatened any citizen who dared to vote with death, their children too. The terrorist leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, issued a statement before polling day threatening: “We shall kill anyone associated with elections: candidates, monitors, and voters.” The terrorists vowed to search out and kill anyone who bore the mark of democracy, the painted index finger signifying a vote cast for freedom.

Despite the threats, the brave people of Iraq, over 8 million of them, voted and emerged from the polling places singing, crying and waving the symbolic purple fingers. Some said they would never wash off the ink. A group of women waved to the brave American troops guarding the polling place: “We pray for you” they exclaimed.

An Iraqi named Fadhil offered a defiant message: “I walked forward to my station, cast my vote and then I moved to mark my finger with ink, I dipped it deep as if I was poking the eyes of all the world's tyrants.”

Rashid Majid, an 80-year-old voter spoke to the insurgents: "We have freedom now, we have human rights, we have democracy. We will invite the insurgents to take part in our system. If they do, we will welcome them. If they don't, we will kill them."

The Iraqi election will be remembered as an historic event in the quest for democracy. "The world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East," said President Bush.

The Iraqi people felt a profound sense of gratitude. "Now I feel that Saddam is really gone," said Fatima Ibrahim, smiling as she headed home after voting in Irbil. Fatima was a bride of just three months when her husband, father and brother were rounded up in a campaign of ethnic cleansing under Saddam. They have never been found.

Another young woman gave birth in the polling place and named her baby “Election.”

The election is also a testament to the universal appeal of freedom and the fundamental validity of the Bush doctrine. One recalls the democratic sentiments expressed by Archibald Macleish, a fervent supporter of American involvement in the Second World War: "How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always, and in the final act, by determination and faith."

The Iraqi capital's new mayor (terrorists assassinated his predecessor) proclaimed: "We will build a statue for Bush. He is the symbol of freedom."

Blogs, Books and Budgets

Blogs: Your humble blogger has been slogging away for nearly a month and enjoying every minute of it. But something is missing. Intellectually, I know that when a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, it still makes a sound. But who cares? Maybe the chipmunks do. So, too, I thought that the writing and posting would be enough for me; but it’s not. I want readers!!!

Back in the business world we used both push and pull marketing. Push is like door-to-door sales and direct mail. Pull came with the internet. The idea is that a company like Xerox could list products on their web site and people would go there to buy them. It actually worked with toner and paper, but not so well with DocuTechs. Blogs work primarily in the pull mode. But like the product-positioning-hit rate measure of marketing success, you need to be known (positioning) before you make any sales. So if you are wondering why I sometimes send my blog posts via email, it’s because I’m falling back on the tried and true push mode. I promise to stop when more people are reading and commenting at PVBlog.
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Books: How do you choose what to read? An avid reader might finish 1 or 2 books per week, say 100 per year at the outside. But a typical library might contain a million books and buy a few thousand new ones every year. So what’s a person to do? Well, you can go to the New York Times top 10 lists of fiction and non-fiction books, but, as with movie reviews, I’m disappointed more often than not. For a higher class of book review you can turn to the New Yorker or to the N.Y. or L.A. Times Review of Books. There you will be faced with phrases such as “Los Angeles can be described as a postmodern mystery of the highest order… and an unabashed homage to the noir genre.” Pulleezze!!!

My approach: Take recommendations from someone you trust. For movie reviews I go to Michael Medved (www.michaelmedved.com). For serious books, I consult The Claremont Review of Books published quarterly by the Claremont Institute (www.claremont.org). Just for you, my dear readers, I plan to begin reviewing books that I found to be worthwhile. The list of books that I have read recently, or am reading, and think that you may enjoy include the following:

American Exceptionalism by Seymour Martin Lipsett, Blog by Hugh Hewitt, Born Fighting by James Webb, Darwin’s Black Box by Michael Behe, The European Dream by Jeremy Rifkin, Hard America, Soft America by Michael Barone, I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, Love and Honor by Randall Wallace, State of Fear by Michael Crichton, Uncle Sam’s Plantation by Star Parker, Why Globalization Works by Martin Wolf. I’ll try to do one review every two weeks. Any suggestions?
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Budget: I just downloaded the California budget analysis from the Claremont Institute, Golden State Center for Policy Studies. The report contains recommendations on K-12 schools, welfare and business for the CA budget. The information is interesting and likely to influence the Governor.

For example, the school proposal calls for ZERO cuts to the number of teachers, instructional aides, librarians, guidance counselors, physical and mental health workers, maintenance, food service and bus drivers. But it does propose cuts to state level bureaucrats, district administration and support staff, curriculum coordinators and general staff. A 30% cut of the latter bureaucracy would save $1.2B/year while enabling increases in teacher pay by 10.7% and books/supplies by 92%. I will be reviewing the three sections of the report during this week.

A Beautiful Day in SoCal

What a glorious day in this, “the greatest country on God’s green earth!” After an evening of too much good wine with a few too-good friends, I slept until 9AM and woke to a 65 degree, sunny, crystal clear day. On the way to the ritual Starbucks visit, I was struck, as I am so often, by the sparkling blue beauty of the Santa Monica Bay. As it was rather late, the regular ‘bucks crowd had thinned to only a handful: Steve, telling a funny story about the Budapest Opera; Jill, whose daughter had departed for Mammoth in her “Exploder” SUV; Tom, a bit sore from his work at Habitat For Humanity; John and Rosie, glad to be over the flu and off for a brisk walk.

Driving down the hill to 24 Hour Fitness, I was awed by the splendor of the majestic snow-capped mountains surrounding Los Angeles. If the scenery and weather in Palos Verdes don’t convince you of the existence of an almighty Creator, then the spandexed bodies at the gym are sure to make you a believer in Intelligent Design. This is an aerobics day, so I began on the LifeFitness elliptical trainer, listening to KZLA since Bill, Dennis and Rush are off on Saturday. After 500 calories and 2.75 miles, I retired to the weight room where moderation is the key; I surely don’t want to get huge and, even worse, muscles weigh more than fat. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

Back home, I picked half a dozen lemons off the tree and sat down to a light lunch of Lee’s fab pea soup, cornbread and lemonade. (Anyone who has tasted Lee’s cooking will understand my weight problem.) I then downloaded the wonderful Ahn Trio (their songs, actually) to my IPod and set about my daily blog (that you see right here). I began by checking the stories on some favorite web sites: Real Clear Politics (www.realclearpolitics.com), Town Hall (www.townhall.com) and Tech Central Station (www.techcentralstation.com).

An inspiring story is about an Iraqi-American young man who yesterday voted for his mom, who had returned to Iraq to run for the governing council. He was so upbeat and grateful to America. Listen up Senator Kennedy!

That enthusiasm was continued in the David Brooks piece in the New York Times. (Brooks is now the lone conservative voice on the Times editorial staff with the retirement of the amazing William Safire.) In “The Bushies New Groove” Brooks notes that “the Bush administration has started its second act, and it is striking how different this one feels. When you ask senior officials to remember the first term, they remember it as a time of war. There was the attack of Sept. 11. There were invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. There was the political war of the 2004 campaign. That was a time when pieces of things were cast asunder. Senior Bush officials talk about this term as a time when pieces of things will be put back together. There's almost a spring-like, postwar mood. The campaign is over. Afghanistan had its election. Even in Iraq, there will probably not be any more big military assaults like the one in Falluja. Now the Iraqis will be making most of the key decisions, and Americans will, with any luck, do more training and less fighting.” Turning to the Palestine issue, Brooks notes that “Mahmoud Abbas is doing a great job, everybody says. There might be a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians next month.” It seems like freedom is breaking out everywhere you look.

Another huge piece of good news is contained in an L.A. Times article by Brian Anderson entitled “The Left Loses College Kids.” Anderson notes that “the left’s long dominion over the university … is showing its first signs of weakening.” Of course we’re not talking about the professoriat, that is overwhelmingly liberal and Democrat; we are talking instead about the students. In just six years, the number of college Republican clubs has tripled to 1148 with more than 120,000 members, for the first time eclipsing the college Democrats with just 900 chapters and 100,000 members. A Harvard study has found that “college students had moved to the right of the overall population, with 31% identifying themselves as Republicans, 27% as Democrats and the rest independent or unaffiliated.” (The general public is 37%, 37%, 26% respectively).

This is a very positive trend, especially when you consider that conservatism grows with maturity and responsibility. Churchill once said that “if you are not liberal at 20 then you have no soul, but if you are not conservative at 50 then you have no brain.” It looks like these kids are growing up fast.

World Economic Nonsense

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week provides a stage for delusional bloviating by the likes of Jacques Chirac and Bill Clinton. Chirac called for political leaders to take drastic action against poverty and global warming. What action you might ask. Would you believe "international taxes" that Americans would be required to pay on top of federal taxes, state taxes, property taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, taxes taxes? Chirac proferred that these taxes would "soften the damage done by the aggressive, U.S.-driven economic globalization." Just gotta love those French. Free trade drives the economic boom in China, India and other developing countries and contributes to the huge U.S. trade deficit, but is viewed by France as a bad thing. See what I mean by delusional.

On second thought, perhaps there is some selfish logic in the European viewpoint. The weak U.S. dollar and trade deficit seem to be problems for our European friends. The Euro at $1.30 is near it's "economically tenable limit for Europe" contributing to their anemic GDP growth. Notice that the Euro elites never think of their repressive tax rates and oppressive business regulations as root causes of their problems. Noooo, the problem is globalization and their solution is even more taxes and even more regulations. Just clamp down on that free trade and everyone will be better off; at least the Europeans.

But we should return to the main topic, helping the third world. Ask the Chinese or Africans what their most serious problem is and you can be assured of their answer: global warming!! Forget about starvation and malaria and oppression, it's that abrupt climate change that has their attention. Sad to say, even our good friend Tony Blair seems to be out to lunch on this subject.

Then there was Slick Willie being interviewed by Charlie Rose and rewriting history as only a Clinton can. Asked about the Iran problem, Clinton paused, lowered his voice and finally admitted that it all goes back to bad U.S. foreign policy. If only we had not supported the Shah, the Islamic theocracy would not have gained power. Of course, Willie forgets about Jimmy Carter's support of Khomeni, the madman, who immediately repaid us by taking hundreds of Americans hostage. (They were released the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.) Perhaps tomorrow Clinton will give us the benefit of his ecomomic expertise. I for one can't wait.

I Blog Therefore I Am

You know the bad feeling you can get after missing a couple of days working out? I get testy if I miss two consecutive days at 24 Hour Fitness. (By the way, it really is open 24 hours, as I can attest from the time I was on a west coast trip still on east coast time and got to the gym at 3AM thinking it was 6AM, and there were a dozen nurses working out. Need to do that again some time.) Well, blogging has become like that for me. I had an excess of Library business (interesting first ammendment stuff) and duplicate bridge (it was ugly) the last two days and am suffering from severe blog withdrawal. This small post is like a quickie workout to get the blood and seratonin pumping. There, I feel better already.

Does Ramsey Clark defend dictators pro bono?

If you want an example of the contempt for America that motivates the radical left, one only needs to read Ramsey Clark’s rationalization of his offer to defend Saddam Hussain. The former Atty. Gen. under President Johnson contends that Hussain will not receive a “fair” trial and that the United States is to blame. “The United States has already destroyed any hope of legitimacy, fairness or even decency by its treatment and isolation of the former president and its creation of the Iraqi Special Tribunal to try him.” Clark believes that the U.S. has a vested interest in railroading the bloody dictator of atrocities against his own people. "The United States, and the Bush administration in particular, engineered the demonization of Hussein, and it has a clear political interest in his conviction." Like all good leftists Clark believes in the supremacy of “international law” over Iraqi law. “International law requires that every criminal court be competent, independent and impartial. The Iraqi Special Tribunal lacks all of these essential qualities.” And Clark wants to make sure that all the guilty are held accountable, most especially the United States. “Finally, any court that considers criminal charges against Saddam Hussein must have the power and the mandate to consider charges against leaders and military personnel of the U.S., Britain and the other nations that participated in the aggression against Iraq, if equal justice under law is to have meaning.” There you have it, the contorted, America-bashing rant of a prominent liberal lawyer. One wonders whether Clark has offered his services pro bono or does he expect to share in the oil-for-food money? In a few days the Iraqi’s will hold their election and it will be up to them to deal with their mass murderer. I am confident that justice will be done.

Viktor vs Z-Man

The Sunday papers are filled with more opinion pieces on the Bush Inaugural address. Here are a few of the best paragraphs, both pro and con.


For Bush

“Indians Say 'Thumbs Up' To Second Bush Term, and no, that doesn't mean something rude in Indian culture.'' (Christian Science Monitor)

Bush asserts that "America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one." But in his inaugural address he has taken a step beyond that. The goal of American foreign policy is now to spread democracy, for its own sake, for reasons that transcend specific threats. In short, Bush has unmoored his foreign policy from the war on terrorism. I believe Bush understands the implications of his universalist rhetoric. In Ukraine, Bush chose democracy over his relationship with Russia’s Putin -- a first example of a paradigm beyond the war on terrorism. (Robert Kagan)

Today one of Europe's largest nations will make the transition from corrupt police state to fledgling democracy. In a ceremony in Kiev, Viktor Yushchenko is due to be inaugurated as president of Ukraine, just under a month after his decisive victory in a free and fair election -- and two months after a Russian-sponsored attempt to install a new authoritarian regime by fraud backfired. (Washington Post editorial)

Yushchenko addressed thousands of Ukrainians at Kiev's main Independence Square, the focal point for last year's protests. "Standing day and night in the frost ... the heart of Ukraine was beating in this square. Free people all over the world were supporting us." Shortly before taking the oath, Yushchenko held talks with the U.S. secretary of state. "I want to assure you that you will continue to enjoy the full support of the American government and the American people as you move forward to undertake the efforts that the Ukrainian people are expecting," Powell told Yushchenko. Yushchenko replied in kind: "This would not have happened if we didn't have partners that are advocating democratic principles and shared democratic values. And I certainly include in this list the United States of America and your personal contribution." (CNN)

"By our efforts, we have lit a fire," said George W. Bush at the West Front of the Capitol, "a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corner of the world." The phrase comes from Dostoyevsky's The Possessed, a novel about a provincial town inspired by new revolutionary ideas. Bush set out a breathtakingly ambitious goal: to bring democracy to the entire world. One would like to know the reaction of Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar, or the Iranian mullahs, or Vladimir Putin in Moscow, or China's rulers. Bush is not the first president to liken liberty to fire. George Washington in 1789 said, "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered . . . . staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." America's revolutionary presidents have changed the nation and the world before. Will this latest revolutionary president do so again? (Michael Barone)

An Oxford student who had just returned from research in Iran told me that young Iranians were “loving anything their government hates (freedom) and hating anything their government loves.” (despotism) Iran, he said, is the ultimate “red state.” They love Bush. (Thomas Friedman)


Against Bush

''The Eve of Destruction: George W. Bush's Four-Year Plan to Wreck the World.'' (Village Voice) Note that "Eve Of Destruction" is a 40-year-old hippie dirge.

It is puzzling that if you add X (no exit strategy) to Y (why are we there?) you get W squared: George Bush’s second inauguration. (Maureen Dowd, a lady who needs a date, bad!!)

Iraq's most feared terrorist declared a "fierce war" on democracy and repeated an earlier threat to disrupt historic national elections scheduled for a week from today. Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born militant whose al Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for some of the most deadly insurgent attacks in postwar Iraq, called candidates running in the Jan. 30 elections "demi-idols" and the people who plan to vote for them "infidels." (Jackie Spinner and Bassam Sebti)

Z-Man’s been suckered. Z-Man is the troops’ nickname for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al Qaeda’s jefe in Iraq. Z-Man has declared a “fierce war” on democracy. Z’s taken Bush’s bait– except the President's “bait” of promoting democracy and declaring war on tyranny and 0ppression isn’t mere bait, it is essential American values. Yup– a week before the Iraqi election Zarqawi has come out in public for imperialism, in his case Islamo-fascist imperialism. (Austin Bay)

What's up with Peggy?

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for?" (Robert Browning)

In the aftermath of the President's Inaugural address, it is instructive to see what our friends are saying.

True Friends

The modern United States is the inheritor not only of Greece’s glory but of Rome’s reach. President Bush’s second inaugural address professed anew this self-confidence of a nation tirelessly willing and uniquely empowered to take on the responsibilities of global leadership. But more important even than America’s dynamism and economic resilience is the durability of its central ethos: the power of freedom. The genius of the founding fathers, which was celebrated again yesterday, has created the world ’s most stable, successful, and, for all the current phobias, still the most appealing model of society for humankind. (Gerard Baker, London Times)

For Bush, it seems, man's direction is set by the way he is, by the hope of liberty within--a hope that is planted by none other than the Author of Liberty. Ecclesiastes says that eternity is set in the hearts of men. So, too, Bush says, is liberty. The key point is that Bush believes in providence. Few national Democrats share that same belief, though until recent decades most adhered to it. To many Democrats, the idea that God is actively at work in the world, and that He works through nations including the United States, indeed centrally through the United States, to bring about his will--all of that seems a bit old-fashioned, not to say hopelessly naive. Here is a difference between Bush and most Democrats. It's a difference as sharp as any other, and it's not likely to disappear anytime soon. (Terry Eastland, The Weekly Standard)

With that speech, President Bush's foreign policy doctrine transcended the war on terror. He laid down a standard against which everything he and his successors do will be judged. When he goes to China, he will not be able to ignore the political prisoners there, because he called them the future leaders of their free nation. When he meets with dictators around the world, as in this flawed world he must, he will not be able to have warm relations with them, because he said no relations with tyrants can be successful. Bush's inaugural ideals will also be real in the way they motivate our troops in Iraq. Military Times magazine asked its readers if they think the war in Iraq is worth it. Over 60 percent - and two-thirds of Iraq combat vets - said it was. While many back home have lost faith, our troops fight because their efforts are aligned with the core ideals of this country, articulated by Jefferson, Walt Whitman, Lincoln, F.D.R., Truman, J.F.K., Reagan and now Bush. (David Brooks, New York Times)


False friends

In a speech certain to alarm Iran, North Korea and Saudi Arabia - and discomfort Europeans uneasy about the unbridled exercise of American power - the re-elected president said he would no longer "pretend" that intolerant regimes were acceptable. (The Scotsman, Editorial)

Although President Bush's uncompromising second inaugural address does not so much as mention the words Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror, he and his supporters continue to engage in a planned reordering of the world. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are but one part of a supposedly universal effort to create world order by "spreading democracy". This idea is not merely quixotic - it is dangerous. The rhetoric implies that democracy is applicable in a standardised (western) form, that it can succeed everywhere, that it can remedy today's transnational dilemmas, and that it can bring peace, rather than sow disorder. It cannot. (Eric Hobsbawm, The Guardian)

America’s need for brute force as a substitute for moral suasion may be increasing. Mr. Bush said “freedom” 27 times in his speech. John F. Kennedy could be more sparing with the word because the idea behind it shone so brightly for America then, and for the world. Arguments are cheap, and America had the best arguments, the best visions, and the best tunes. Deservedly or undeservedly, America has lost the tune. America’s modesty in 1945 understated its muscle, just as Bushite vanity overstates it today. He has over-reached. His country is overstretched, losing economic momentum, losing world leadership, and losing the philosophical plot. America is running into the sand. (Matthew Parris, London Times)

So what do you think? Is America uniquely empowered to take on the responsibilities of world leadership....and the most appealing model of society for mankind, or is she running into the sand?

One Confused Lady

Laura Bush's beauty has grown more obvious; she was chic in shades of white, and smiled warmly. As for the President...

Ending tyranny in the world? Well that's an ambition, and if you're going to have an ambition it might as well be a big one. But this declaration, which is not wrong by any means, seemed to me to land somewhere between dreamy and disturbing. Tyranny is a very bad thing and quite wicked, but one doesn't expect we're going to eradicate it any time soon. Again, this is not heaven, it's earth. (Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal)

So the lovely Peggy, who has been called "a bride of George W. Bush" and Bush's "attack poodle par excellence," has struck a discordant note that has all her admirers, most especially moi, in a deep funk. What's up with you Peggy? Lost your idealism?

Ahn Amazing Trio

Blogging a bit late tonight. Lee and I just returned from a concert by the amazing Ahn Trio. The Korean born sisters are virtuosos on the piano, violin and cello.
Their music is lively, original and absolutely wonderful.

The concert was kicked off by the David Benoit Trio (piano, bass and drums) and then the Ahn sisters captivated the audience with their eclectic mixture of classical, jazz, bluegrass and rock. The Benoit Trio joined the lovely ladies for the last three songs that included a raucus rendition of "Riders on the Storm" by the Doors. We hated to see the concert end.

Check out the Ahn Trio web site www.ahntrio.com for their tour schedule and music. I bought a CD at the concert and will download it to my iPod tomorrow.

Will close now since I have an early meeting in the morning. I've been collecting a wide range of responses on the inspirational Bush Inaugural speech and will offer some thoughts in the next post.

The Torch of Liberty Shines

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge—and more."

All senior citizens remember those stirring words from the inaugural address of President John F. Kennedy. In those days Democrats and liberals were sturdy advocates of America's responsibility to promote freedom around the world. Kennedy followed in the tradition of President Harry Truman who recognized the threat to freedom posed by communism and started the five decades long Cold War struggle with the Soviets. After the Vietnam debacle, the mantle of liberty passed to the Republicans and it was conservative President Ronald Reagan who drove the Soviet evil empire onto the "ash heap of history."

After the 9/11/01 attack on America, President George W. Bush picked up the torch of liberty and ran with it.

"Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time. So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

With these inspirational words from his second inaugural address, George Walker Bush reaffirmed our committment to universal liberty. Once again there is a confluence of America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs.

"The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."

Now is the time for all Americans to unite with our President in support of our cherished and fundamental belief in freedom for all mankind.

Dumb as a box of bricks

"The President had no choice but to act. Anyone who questions the timing of his decision ignores the fact that we committed a month ago to act if [chief U.N. weapons inspector] Richard Butler reported that Saddam was not cooperating. Those critics are blinded by political considerations."

So said Barbara Boxer in 1998 about President Clinton's air strikes against Iraq's WMD targets. Sad to say, Boxer seems to have amnesia as she continued her attacks today on Secretary of State-designate Condi Rice. Barbara Brick accused Dr. Rice of using "falsehoods" about WMD to justify attacking Iraq, of "selling the war." She also implied that Condi is insensitive to the tragedy of dead and wounded American soldiers, the "direct result" of Bush administration rigidness and misinformation.

The senator is clearly dumb as a box of bricks. Californians are embarrased. At the end of the day the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmed Dr. Rice by a vote of 16-2, the 2 naysayers being, of course, Batty Barbi and John Kerry. What a pair! Imagine a Bricks-Kerry ticket in 2008. We should be so lucky.

Tidbits 1/18/05

A new feature on pvblog will be a Tidbits post, around once a week, that will offer several observations on current topics. Any topic may be expanded in a later posting. Please let me know your preferences.

Bye Bye Indonesa The Indonesian government announced that it wants American and other foreign troops that are providing critical disaster relief to the tsunami victims out of the country by March 1. US Ambasador Pascoe felt that the directive is "a perfectively reasonable position." (Condi has some serious butt kickin to do over at the State Department.) Syndicated columnist Mona Charen noted that the Arab Doctors Association is providing medical care to jihadist fighters in Chechnya ( you remember the guys who killed the Russian school kids) but the docs refuse to assist Muslim tsunami victims because the disaster is seen as "punishment from Allah."

"Do Gooders : How liberals hurt those they claim to help - and the rest of us" Mona Charen's new book is a must read. It is a guide to know-it-alls in politics, the media, education and Hollywood who believe they know what is best for the rest of us. One example is education do-gooders who deny poor children a better education through voucher programs while sending their own kids to private schools. You all know who they are. I just ordered a copy of Mona's book from Amazon. If you live in the Palos Verdes area, the correct way to make such purchases is to go first to the Library web site (www.pvld.org). Then click on the Amazon button (upper left hand corner) the Amazon web page appears and when you buy stuff, the Library gets a small cut.

Daddy Truck, Baby Truck Harvard President Larry Summers got into serious trouble with feminists at an economics conference with his suggestion that "innate differences between the sexes could help explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers." Summers cited as an example one of his daughters, who as a child was given two trucks in an effort at gender neutral upbringing. She named them "daddy truck" and "baby truck" as if they were dolls. MIT biologist Nancy Hopkins fled the room, later noting, "I had to leave or risk passing out or throwing up." Just like a man??? Interesting sidebar: President Summers was Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton.

Condi takes on Batty Barbi Speaking of kicking butt: At the senate confirmation hearings today, California's own Barbi Boxer addressed Secretary of State-designate Condi Rice with an accusation: "You sent them in there because of weapons of mass destruction. Later the mission changed when there were none. Let's not rewrite history, it's too soon for that." Rice took measure of the Marin County brainiac and responded as follows. "We can have this discussion any way that you would like, but I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integrity." Round one to Condi.

He's baaak Senator Kerry told Rice, at length, how he admired her courageous life story... and how he had just returned from Iraq where "soldiers" asked him "How are we gonna get out of here." (Or was that Christmas in Cambodia; so many stories, so little truth.) Kerry then provided the answer: "We have to rescue our policy from ourselves." Imagine, that guy could have been president.

"So what's wrong with the public schools" (1/8/05) is receiving the most spirited comments. Many thanks to Ralph, Anonymous, and new pvblog friend (long time Zone bridge friend) Nan Cameron. Their comments are well worth the reading.

Liberal Laura's latest response about America: It could be a country where the American Dream is a genuine possibility ..... where education and healthcare are available to all people. Wonder where Laura lives? Can't be the USA. And war is still wrong; "we should never enter into war easily and with glee." Funny ideas these liberals have.

The Frog Who Farted

A woman approached the children's librarian and asked for a book called "The Frog Who Farted." The librarian could not find it in the catalog. When the woman asked the librarian to order it, she replied that it would be inappropriate; that the library chooses children's books that are uplifting as well as entertaining. The patron was outraged. How could the library make such a value judgement? Don't they believe in the first ammendment? Is the librarian an evangelical bigot?

The wonderful Dennis Prager related this story on his radio show today as an example of "secular fundamendalism." The secular left bastardizes the Constitution for their own radical purposes. Prager's show today was dedicated to defending the cross on the seal of LA county in honor of the great Martin Luther King. The leftist ACLU had demanded that Los Angeles remove the tiny cross as it violates the "wall between church and state." Such is their bizzare interpretation of the establishment clause. Like the library patron, the ACLU misuses the Constitution's first ammendment in its never ending campaign to transform America into a European clone.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin praised Pragger, a Jew, for defending the Christian cross. Dennis replied that his action is purely selfish, that maintaining the symbols of our Judeo-Christian heritage is good for America and good for Americans. We Judeo-Christians need to stand together against the forces of darkness.

Rabbi Lapin heads an organization Toward Tradition ( www.towardtradition.org) that is "a national coalition of Jews and Christians seeking to advance the nation toward traditional, faith based, American principles."

Go to the web site www.ourfirstammendment.org to join in the fight to save the cross. We have only another month to gather the required number of signatures on the petition that will stop the County from removing the cross. History matters. So do symbols. And our Judeo-Christian creed must be defended against the secular anti-American left.

What Liberal Laura Thinks

I want to thank blog reader Laura for her interesting comments about my post on 1/15/05 ("What Liberals Think: Part 1"). Laura's feedback is both revealing and pleasantly confirming.

Laura first assumes I believe that liberals have no opinions of their own, when the exact opposite is true. I fear that liberals have very harmful opinions and that most political liberals hide those opinions. But Laura is no politician, she states her opinions quite clearly.

1. America is a wonderful country that could be better.

Laura begins with a platitude, then hides her real belief. Is America the very best of countries or is America inferior to Europe as Jeremy Rifkin contends? That was the question. What does Laura believe?

2. The Constitution is a fabulous document that has been bastardized and abused to further the needs of conservatives.

Again, Laura starts with a platitude, followed immediately by an adhominem attack supported by zero facts. How, exactly, has the Constitution been "reduced from a higher to a lower state or condition?" And what conservative has done the dastardly deed? Perhaps there is some confusion with liberal activist judges.

3. War is wrong. ........... We as human beings do not have the right to take the lives of other human beings regardless of what actions other human beings have committed.

Well, gollleeee! Guess we should have ignored those Nazis, and turned the other cheek on Pearl Harbor, and never mind the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon. War is wrong. See why I said liberals are dangerous!!!

What Liberals Think About America

Have you noticed that liberals don't really want us to know what they think? Of course I'm talking about substantive issues and policy matters. It is quite clear that they think George Bush is the devil, and they hate the neocons and the Iraq war. But contrast the behavior of the two parties in the past presidential campaign. It was consistently crystal clear what President Bush believed about the war on terror, Iraq, taxes, freedom, social security, education and marriage. He was so consistent that the liberals accused him of being simplistic, not nuanced like they are.

So what did the Democrats and John Kerry truly believe? I can guess, but they did their best to conceal it from the public. Kerry voted for the war, and for the $87B, before he voted against it, but he believed it was the wrong war at the wrong time, but he would vote for it again, but not for actually going to war, only to give Bush the option, and we didn't find the WMD so it was a mistake, but he was glad Sadaam was out of power, but it was not worth offending our allies, but we don't have enough troops, so we need a draft, but ....... It was enough to make your head hurt. And it was nearly the same on every substantive issue.

So why the obfuscation? As Rush says, Democrats can't afford to let the voters know the truth. As the campaign moved on and the voters came to know Kerry better, his liberalism became apparent; of course, he was soundly defeated. This in spite of the fact that a majority of Americans were discouraged about the war and the economy.

The upshot is that while Americans generally know what conservatives think, since we tell them, they are most often confused about what the liberals think. In order to maintain and grow our Republican political dominance, it is important to reveal to the moderate voters just what the liberals really think. Thus I will devote several blog posts to that expose'.

In this post I'll expose the liberal attitude about our country. Do you think that liberals love America? If you ask liberal politicians what they think about America, you will wind up with a plateful of platitudes. That is why I have chosen to quote a prominent liberal academic, and not a kook like Noam Chomsky. In his recent book "The European Dream" Wharton School Fellow Jeremy Rifkin explains how "Europe's vision of the future is quietly eclipsing the American dream." Wow! Sounds bad! According to Rifkin:

"The American dream is far too centered on personal material advancement and too little concerned with the broader human welfare to be relevant in a world of increasing risk, diversity and interdependence."

Well darn! Maybe we are selfish cheapskates like that UN guy from Norway said. And irrelevant to boot. By contrast Rifkin says of the Europeans:

"The European dream emphasizes community relationships over individual autonomy, cultural diversity over assimilation, quality of life over accumulation of wealth, sustainable development over unlimitted material growth, deep play over unrelenting toil, universal rights and the rights of nature over property rights, and global cooperation over the unilateral exercise of power."

Now, that's the ticket, don't you think? Down with individual rights, "e pluribus unum," material growth, work, property rights and self defense. But I just report, you decide.

PVBlog mentioned on the Michael Medved show

I was delighted to hear the PVblog mentioned by Michael Medved the day after I plugged his new book (Right Turns). I even received an email from Brian in Phoenix whose wife heard Michael discuss my post. Today Michael reviewed the new movie "In Good Company." It sounded great.

Medved is a movie reviewer who I trust. Check out the reviews at his web site www.michaelmedved.com. Following are exerpts from his archives.


In “Million Dollar Baby” Hillary Swank plays an ambitious boxer who wants to recruit a new trainer.

Clint Eastwood acted and also directed this critically acclaimed film that focuses on a cluster of hard luck characters, including Morgan Freeman getting one last shot at the big time. But Warner Brothers never tells you the truth about a key plot twist that turns this pedestrian boxing movie into an insufferable manipulative right to die movie. With one of the characters horribly handicapped begging for assisted suicide. While the movie kills itself with lots of kooky narration. Rated PG-13 but totally unsuitable for kids. 1 1/2 Stars for the shamelessly overrated, misleadingly marketed “Million Dollar Baby.”


Two pals participate in a pre wedding adventure in the quirky independent hit “Sideways”.

So a frustrated novelist and a struggling actor go off on a golf and wine tasting expedition but in the process encounter some unexpected involvements. Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church are both legitimate Oscar contenders in an unconventional movie that is simultaneously very funny and very sad. Some moviegoers will dislike the company of characters who are for the most part humiliating losers. And there is a strong R rating for intense sexual content and nudity. 3 Stars for the adults only but expertly eloquent “Sideways”.



Nicolas Cage chases a secret map on the back of the Declaration of Independence in “National Treasure”.

And there’s lots of entertainment value in this smart rollicking romp, which comes to a temporary halt when Cage is arrested by FBI man Harvey Keitel. And everyone’s got to see this movie. Because with its family friendly PG rating it’s one of the most enjoyable releases of the year. In the tradition of Indiana Jones the adventures put together complex clues of an elaborate mystery that actually teaches something about the early history of our country. 3 1/2 Stars for “National Treasure” which is a natural pleasure.



The British Oscar contender “Vera Drake” focuses on an illegal abortionist in 1950.

Imelda Staunton has be heavily touted for a best actress nomination for her one dimensional saintly role as a middle aged working class woman who gets in trouble with the law for unpaid efforts at terminating pregnancies. “Vera Drake” has been outrageously over praised because of its pro-abortion messages. But it’s actually a dreary monochromatic exercise that drags out a small amount of dramatic material into almost insufferable length. Rated R for its graphic and affectionate portrayal of abortions. 2 Stars for the appallingly over rated “Vera Drake”.


In the “Aviator” Leonardo DiCaprio plays a legendary airplane designer and Hollywood producer.

After their disappointing collaboration on “Gangs of New York” DiCaprio and Director Martin Scorsese team this time in a stirring account of the romantic movie making, industrial and political adventures of an all together amazing life. A great supporting cast lead by Cate Blanchett as Howard Hughes lover, Katherine Hepburn lends depth to a story that features both intense moment of heroism and insanity. Rated PG-13 for sex references and truly horrifying air crash sequences. 4 Stars for the soaring “Aviator”

How the Left Harms America

"It is always unfortunate when political litmus tests are put before what is in the best interest of our children." So spoke Margita Thompson, spokesperson for Governor Schwarzenegger in reference to the Democrats' rejection of the reappointment of Reed Hastings to the California Board of Education. One would think that Hastings must be a Republican, probably a tax cutter, in favor of school vouchers and "No Child Left Behind." It is a surprise to find that Hastings is a Democrat, appointed to the Board by Democrat Grey Davis, and a major doner to Democrat campaigns and causes. So what was Hastings' sin?

As Board of Education chairman, Hastings favored English reading instruction of immigrant children and opposed "bilingual" education. But this seems like a reasonable viewpoint when one considers that the state's experiment in bilingual education has been a dismal failure; that every study shows that immersion in English is the best route to educational success; that the majority of foreign born parents want their children to be educated in English.

Led by Sen. Martha Escutia, the Left wing of the Democratic Party opposed Hastings because "he had not shown enough empathy for the concerns of Latino parents." Forget about what is best for the children. The Left cares more about their political power. And the Democratic Party ignores their majority and the California teachers, pandering, instead, to a Left wing special interest group. "I'm ashamed today to be a Democrat" said Steve Barr, president of a charter school group.

Liberals Think God is Dangerous

President Bush relies on his faith in God. And he is consistently attacked for it by liberal Democrats. On Michael Medved's radio show today (12:00 - 3:00 PM, 870AM, KRLA) listeners called to decry the President's humble statement: "I don't see how you can be President without a relationship with the Lord." One caller was offended that Bush was 'establishing a test for the presidency.' Another claimed that America was founded on the principle of separation of church and state. Liberals are so confused they would be funny, if they weren't so dangerous.

On Mike's show yesterday, callers were aghast that missionaries helping the tsunami victims were passing out Biblical passages with the food, medicine and clothing. How dare they think that giving the Lord's word is an act of charity.

In case you are thinking that all of Mike's callers are idiots, you are almost right! Michael is a theocratic conservative (a theocon) and he invites only those who disagree with him to call in. Sad for them, Mike is also very smart and well informed.

Medved's latest book Right Turns relates the story of his transformation from radical liberal to staunch conservative in 1980. It took me much longer to manuver the "right turn" but that is a story for another time. Michael is a Jew who believes that "The Passion of the Christ" is one of the best pictures of 2004 and is not at all anti-semetic.

Perhaps the most insidious liberal lie is the one about church and state. In the "establishment clause" of the 1st Ammendment to the Constitution the Founding Fathers wrote that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." They did not want a "Church of America" like the Church of England that they left behind. They wanted every American to have the right to the free exercise of religion, and that included those in education and the government. Every great president, from Washington to Lincoln to Reagan, has invoked the Lord's blessings on America. President Bush does the same and is viciously attacked.

Modern liberals do not honor the faith of FDR, their greatest president. They strive to abolish God from all public forums and from the American creed. Yet a strong case can be made that Americanism itself is the unique American religion. (See the article "Americanism-and Its Enemies" by David Gerlenter in the latest issue of Commentary magazine)

Americanism means the set of beliefs in freedom, equal opportunity and democracy, that are individual rights granted by the Creator. One needs to looks past the 'church' definition of religion to the philosophical definition: a set of attitudes, beliefs and practices held to be of utmost importance.

Then it becomes clear that Americanism, the embodiment of these beliefs, is the American religion. And it is this creed that "makes Americans positive that their nation is superior to all others - morally superior, closer to God."

Blogging is a Blast

On the radio today, Hugh Hewitt said that there are already 7 million bloggers! Guess that makes your humble pvblog (note the abbreviation) number 7,000,001 or so. Hugh says we are all journalists, and as such are protected by the codes shielding main stream media (MSM). Case in point: Hugh at www.hughhewitt.com links to a story about bloggers who are being coerced by Apple to reveal the names of insider sources to news of a future audio device code named "Asteroid." Let's hope the courts rule in favor of the journalist-bloggers.

A caller asked if Hugh worried about all the blogger journalists corrupting the integrity of the news. (Wonder if that was tongue in cheek - remember Rathergate). Hugh replied that the marketplace will weed out the charlatans and that the cream will rise to the top, as happens in a free market. It's survival of the fittest. The survivors will include only those blogs that are the most trusted.

Speaking of cream, in Blog Hugh lists the best blogs in several categories. Those new to the blogosphere should check out the following blogs that make Hugh's list and mine.

Best aggregators of other blog posts

Instapundit (www.instapundit.com)
Real Clear Politics (www.realclearpolitics.com)

Best analysts, who also provide pointers

Hugh Hewitt (www.hughhewitt.com) not listed by Hugh but one of the best.
PowerLine (www.powerlineblog.com)
The Belmont Club (www.belmontclub.blogspot.com)
Roger L. Simon (www.rogerlsimon.com)
Lileks (www.lileks.com)


Best who mix analysis with theology (God blogs)

Evangelical Outpost (www.evangelicaloutpost.com)
Mark D. Roberts (www.markdroberts.com)

Best humor, sarcasm, parody

Fraters Libertas (www.fraterslibertas.com)
Infinite Monkeys (www.infinitemonkeys.com)

Best blog in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (I hope)

pvblog (http://palosverdesblog.blogspot.com)

Continuing on a personal note, I want to thank Ralph of Palos Verdes for posting the very first substantive comment on pvblog. Give it a look. And check out the blogs above, and buy Hugh's book. And, have a nice day!

Two Good Guys

In the last post I talked about the brilliant and inspirational Dennis Prager. Well we are in luck. Dennis will be making another public appearance this week on Thursday, Jan. 13, 7:30PM, at the Jewish Community Center in Redondo Beach, 2108 Vail Ave. His talk is titled "Restoring American Values." Call (310) 214-4999 for information or visit www.jccmb.com. I have to chair a Library Board meeting that night or I would not miss seeing Dennis again.

Today I received the new book, Blog, by the equally brilliant and funny Hugh Hewitt. In my very first post I explained that Hugh inspired me to try this blogging thing and his book's subtitles explains why: "Understanding the information reformation that's changing your world. Why you must know how the BLOGOSPHERE is smashing the old media monopoly and giving individuals power in the marketplace of ideas." Being an individual, and sorely in need of power, how could I resist? I can't wait to start reading and promise a review when I finish.

America the Chosen Nation

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Dennis Prager in person at the Norris Theater in Palos Verdes. Dennis is the host of a splendid radio talk show that airs M-F from 9-11AM (Pacific) on 870AM (KRLA). Dennis spoke on "America the Chosen Nation" and it was a treat for the packed house that several times interrupted the talk with standing ovations. The talk was an extended version of the one that Dennis gave at the Republican convention last year.

Dennis drew many parallels between the chosenness of America and the Jews, the chosen people. I was surprised to learn that Jefferson wanted the seal of the US to depict the Jews leaving Egypt. He thought the parallel with the Americans leaving England was very powerful.

On his radio show Dennis frequently states that clarity is more important than agreement. Clarity is one of the overarching virtues of his show and his speech. Dennis clarified what it means to be a country based on Judeo-Christian values. A primary J-C value is a belief in liberty, as opposed to the European belief in equality. That is why every US coin has "Liberty" and "In God We Trust" stamped on its face. Dennis worries that our J-C philosophy is under attack from the secular left and that public schools largely ignore it. (In my last post I called out for right-minded activism to urge school boards to renew the teaching of J-C philosophy.)

America's chosenness accounts for the Founding Father's belief that it is America's mission to spread liberty to the world. Largely ignored by Democrats after the Vietnam War, it is the mission that drove Ronald Reagan to confront the "evil empire" and George Bush to confront the "axis of evil."

Another J-C value is the belief in God and God's laws, a belief in a universal morality as opposed to secular relativism. Like the Jews who brought forth the Ten Commandments, America is hated by the secular Europeans and leftists everywhere who deny the existence of evil in the world.

So what's wrong with the public schools?

There are many fine public schools in America where students learn the 3R's and emerge well prepared for college. But still they are failing our children and our country. Then there are those mostly in poorer areas "serving" blacks and immigrants where failure is endemic. During the last 25 years nearly everything in America has improved while public schools have resisted reform. The average K-12 test scores in America more resemble the 3rd world than the developed nations. This at a time when our economy is robust and the expenditures on education are enormous (eg 40% of the California budget). So what the hell is wrong with this picture?

The problem begins with the teacher's unions, among the most reactionary institutions in America. Reforms such as pay for performance and vouchers are strenuously and expensively fought, while the blame is placed on politicians and voters who refuse to pay even more. When the issue is debated the two sides are accountability (Republicans) and money (Democrats). But the debate does not even address the most important problems.

Liberals say that more money will attract better teachers and reduce class size and the result will be better education. Seems obvious, right? But this only addresses a tiny part of the problem. Teachers and classroom learning account for a small fraction of the educational process, maybe 10% or less. Consider the following thought experiment. Imagine you have a fabuluous teacher, a small class of well behaved students and a luxurious facility. The pupils pay attention as they usually do, but then do no homework. The fab teacher is also nice, as she never demands homework, so nobody is stressed out. The semester flies by and final exams arrive. Still nobody studies and, of course, everybody flunks. The test scores range from 2 - 10% depending on intelligence. (If you don't agree, what do you think your score would be if you never studied?) I conclude that the teacher and classroom experience account for maybe 10% of the result. The rest comes from personal effort. And the students are 100% responsible for their achievement. What really matters is the behavior and effort of the students, and that is the responsibility of the students themselves and their parents. Good students are the product of good parents.

What about the fine schools where most of the families have dedicated mothers and fathers and the kids get into the best colleges? I maintain that those schools are still failing their students, parents and country. Because the schools of education, the teacher's and administrator's associations and the school boards have moved so far to the political left, they actually harm their students. They no longer teach about good and evil, our judeo-christian heritage, the true constitutional rights and responsibilities, patriotism and the exceptionalism of America. Instead, moral relativism, agressive secularism and anti-Americanism are force fed for 12 years.

Then these kids enter the elite colleges where 90% of the professors are political leftists. Every kind of diversity is celebrated on college campuses except intellectual diversity. Schools of law and journalism graduate leftists who wind up practicing judicial activitism and praising it in the mainstream media.

So what can we do about this dismal state of affairs? In poor districts we should enable parents who really care about education to send their kids to private schools where discipline will be maintained and standards upheld. Support school vouchers. We should applaud and support leaders like Bill Cosby who tell the black community that their kids are failing due to an appalling lack of parental control and involvement. In all school districts we must elect right- minded candidates to the school boards and hold them accountable for a curriculum that teaches moral values and celebrates our national heritage and American goodness. At the college level, search out institutions like Hillsdale college that "vigorously defends the classical liberal arts, individual rights, limited government and the free market." (Go to www.hillsdale.edu for a free subscription to their fine monthly letter "Imprimis.") Let your alma maters know that they need to change or your donations will cease. Support the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (www.cspc.org) that is promoting the "academic bill of rights" aimed at liberal bias in colleges. Just do something!

Are you interested in these topics?

In my initial post I listed conservative thought, politics and science as topics I would discuss. These are all very large subjects. Thus, allow me to better specify the categories. I am interested in the changes in American conservatism over the last 25 years ( neoconservativism, theoconservatism); the morphing and demise of liberalism; and application of conservative philosophy to the most important problems in public education, secularism, terrorism, poverty. The political subjects that interest me the most involve the growth of the national Republican Party; wresting the California government from Democratic control (reducing state spending in the meantime); and local government activism to push the conservative agenda. In the broad field of science I am intrigued by topics where the orthodoxy of the academic establishment is so strong that legitimate science has been squelched. Such topics include the origin of the universe (Big Bang model); the creation of life by chance (evolution vs Intelligent Design); the potential that we humans are unique; and the mythology of GLOBAL WARMING. That's a rough list of the subjects I'll discuss. The next post will better define the problem with American public education. Have a great conservative day.

About "palosverdesblog"

I first heard about blogging from Hugh Hewitt, the brilliant talk radio host on KRLA (AM870, Mon-Fri from 3:00 - 6:00PM, Pacific time). On his own blog (www.hughhewitt.com) Hugh mentioned that GraceHillMedia are offering free advance tickets to their new movie "In Good Company" to any blogger who agrees to blog about it after the viewing. All I needed to do was create a blog (free and easy on www.blogspot.com ) and then ask for tickets at info@gracehillmedia.com. How could I resist?

So I created palosverdesblog and now I'm obligated to write things that someone besides myself might find interesting. Presumptious? Definitely! But I'll give it a shot. As a safety precaution I'll invite only family and a few close friends to visit until I get the bugs out.

I'll concentrate on a few areas: conservative thought, politics, and science (the big bang, astrobiology, evolution, global warming). My views will be distinctly non-liberal and frequently iconoclastic. Bombs away!

Test

Palosverdesblog startup 1/6/05.