Mommy Party

In the last post (Patriotism, 11/29) I noted that anti-war activists insist they are supporting the troops by opposing the war and that most of these so called patriots belong to the mommy party. I appreciate the comments received thus far and will address them here.

From good friend Vic:

Hey, didn’t we protest Viet Nam and Ford pulled the troops? Hmmmmm, a mommy president I guess. I don't buy this missive.

Hmmmmm, whatever you might think to call Gerald Ford, mommy would not spring to mind. Let’s see if we can remember the Vietnam war history. It was a Democrat president who got us into the war, another Democrat who made a mess of it, but a Republican president who ended it on honorable terms (All parties to the Paris Peace Accord pledged to respect the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Vietnam as recognized by the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Vietnam.) Then in 1974 the Democrat controlled Senate, over the entreaties of President Ford, withdrew economic support for our South Vietnam allies dooming the people of that country to Communist takeover and mass murder.

John Kennedy was the last daddy president from the Democratic Party. One of the tragedies of Kennedy’s assassination was that Johnson took over the war lacking the courage to win it. The mommys captured the Democratic Party, produced presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and are threatening us with Hillary Clinton. It’s truly amazing that the first president of the modern Democratic Party was Andrew Jackson, “Old Hickory” who killed a man in a dual for insulting his wife. Today's Democrats are more nuanced.

Then there is this from an anonymous reader.

It now looks like a strong bipartisan consensus is building in Washington on two basic issues, namely: (1) Both sides now seem to accept that Bush made a huge mistake in dragging us into Iraq, and also (2) Both sides are now trying to put this immense screw-up behind us and are planning a phased withdrawal from Iraq based on some (real ?) milestones over the next couple of years.

Sorry fella, but your theory holds no water, at least within the daddy party.

In his speech at the Naval Academy today, President Bush reminded the country of the stakes in this war.

“This is an enemy without conscience -- and they cannot be appeased. If we were not fighting and destroying this enemy in Iraq, they would not be idle. They would be plotting and killing Americans across the world and within our own borders. By fighting these terrorists in Iraq, Americans in uniform are defeating a direct threat to the American people. Against this adversary, there is only one effective response: We will never back down. We will never give in. And we will never accept anything less than complete victory.”

The Republican side understands this and regards the Iraq war as essential to America’s security. Some Democrats (Lieberman for one) do too.

Bush also clarified the sentiment in the country about your second point.

"Most Americans want two things in Iraq: They want to see our troops win and they want to see our troops come home as soon as possible. Setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would vindicate the terrorist tactics of beheadings and suicide bombings and mass murder and invite new attacks on America."

The mommy party is heading for the ash heap of history unless they find some guts. The American people trust and respect leaders:

To all who wear the uniform, I make you this pledge: America will not run in the face of car bombers and assassins so long as I am your commander-in-chief.

Patriotism

Anti-war activists like Cindy Sheehan and defeatists like John Kerry insist they are supporting the troops by opposing the war. Soldiers die in war and, in their view, anything is justified to end it. Call the president a liar and a traitor, abandon other peoples to mass murder, whatever…. just get out now.

You will notice that most of these so called patriots belong to the mommy party. It reminds me of the kid who wants to play football but his mom thinks football is a brutal sport, wants her kid off the team and definitely not in a game. Chauncy might get hurt. Everyone knows that mom does not support what her son is doing, but she maintains that she supports her son. Poor sod.

I’m happy to report that the American people have finally awakened and spoken up. In a new poll 70 percent of people surveyed said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale.

Just 30 percent of adults accept that Democrats are leveling criticism because they believe this will help U.S. efforts in Iraq. A majority believes the motive is really to "gain a partisan political advantage." (Chris Cillizza and Peter Slevin, Washington Post, 11/27)

But to be fair, there is at least one patriotic Democrat in the senate. Senator Joe Lieberman just returned from his fourth trip to Iraq and reports that “the Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood--unless the great American military that has given them and us this unexpected opportunity is prematurely withdrawn.”

“People in Iraq are working their way toward a functioning society and economy in the midst of a very brutal, inhumane, sustained terrorist war against the civilian population and the Iraqi and American military there to protect it. It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern.”

Lieberman understands the stakes. “We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority.”

Opinion polls conducted by Iraqis show increasing optimism. “Two-thirds say they are better off than they were under Saddam, and a resounding 82% are confident their lives in Iraq will be better a year from now than they are today. What a colossal mistake it would be for America's bipartisan political leadership to choose this moment in history to lose its will and, in the famous phrase, to seize defeat from the jaws of the coming victory.”

Joe Lieberman has profound respect for the American military. “They are courageous, smart, effective, innovative, very honorable and very proud. After a Thanksgiving meal with a great group of Marines at Camp Fallujah, I asked their commander whether the morale of his troops had been hurt by the growing public dissent in America over the war in Iraq. His answer was insightful, instructive and inspirational: I would guess that if the opposition and division at home go on a lot longer and get a lot deeper it might have some effect, but, Senator, my Marines are motivated by their devotion to each other and the cause, not by political debates.” (Wall Street Journal, 11/29)

Thank you, General and thank you, Senator. Semper Fi, patriots.

GodBlogs

The Advent Calendar is from the largest of the religious internet sites Beliefnet.com. It is a one-stop-shopping portal for religion and GodBlogs.

Hugh Hewitt links to several of the best GodBlogs: Adrian Warnock, Al Mohler, Better Living, Ethos, Evangelical Outpost, It Takes A Church, John Mark Reynolds, La Shawn Barber, Mark D. Roberts, Normal Rockstar, Rhett Smith, Roman Catholic Blog, Stand to Reason, Stones Cry Out, Summa Aesthetica, The Anchoress.

Hugh is also the moderator at OneTrueGodBlog where he asks five excellent minds to ponder questions from a layman that would be of interest to the general public.

Hewitt is host of a nationally syndicated radio show on 870AM in LA and a Professor of Constitutional Law at Chapman University Law School. He is also the author of Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World and If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat.

The superior minds belong to:

Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Mohler has been recognized by Time and Christianity Today as a leader among American evangelicals.

John Mark Reynolds is the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Biola University. Dr. Reynolds' books include Maker of Heaven and Earth: Three Views on the Creation and Evolution Debate.

Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, speaker and blogger. Since 1991 he has been the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California. Mark has written several books, including Dare to Be True and Jesus Revealed.

Amy Welborn is a freelance writer and the author of many books including The Catholic Woman's Book of Days and De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code.

Dr. David Allen White is professor of World Literature at the Naval Academy. His recorded seminars at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary help Catholics to make the right connection between their Faith and the world around them, and can be obtained via www.aquinastapes.com.

Here is a sample of the questions that Hugh asks:

Please recommend the five books you would have a Christian college student read who was interested in deepening his or her faith but who also had all the time constraints and background education of most college kids today.

And here is a sampling of the answers:

With almost unbelievable access to the works of the greatest minds of all times, more and more people watch reality TV or browse the internet than read books. The following recommendations, therefore, are for college students with the faith who do still love books.

1) Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, one of the best introductions to and defenses of the Christian faith ever written.

2) Thomas a Kempis's Imitation of Christ, a Christian classic.

3) Shakespeare's King Lear, the most astounding product of the mind of man. All the mystery of suffering, sacrifice and penance in an astounding tragedy. Everyone should read it regularly.

4) Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. The great Russian novelist presents the crisis of faith in the modern world. He unleashes serious and profound arguments against the Christian faith as well as the most sublime response. Plus, it's one of the best murder mysteries ever written.

5) St. Augustine's City of God tells what to do when the world around you is falling to pieces.

And a bonus pick:

6) Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, the greatest work of the 20th century.

How many of these classics have you read? How about your children? They would make excellent Christmas presents.

So here is my recommendation. Go to the Palos Verdes Library District web site, click on the Amazon.com button and spend to your heart's delight.

And visit the GodBlogs.

First Things

I recently received my first copy of First Things magazine published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life, "an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education institute whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society." What wonderful reading it is!

And then I found that some of First Things is available for free on the internet at the First Things web site. Please, do yourself a favor and add it to your favorites list and visit every day, right after reading palosverdesblog.

When you go to the First Things home page, you will encounter On the Square - Observations and Contentions where the editors write every day. Following is a sampling from this week.

Richard John Neuhaus writes:

“It’s nothing new.” That’s the judgment widely expressed in response to the instruction from Rome excluding from the seminary and priesthood men who engage in, or are deemed likely to engage in, homosexual acts. It is nothing new. The teaching is as old as the Church herself, but the sense of urgency and the context is new. The instruction might be paraphrased as saying, “And this time we mean it!”
--------------
William F. Buckley, Jr., turned 80 on Thanksgiving Day. George Will concludes his encomium with this: “Buckley, so young at 80, was severely precocious at 7 when he wrote a starchy letter to the king of England demanding payment of Britain’s war debts. Seventy-three years on, Buckley’s country is significantly different, and better, because of him.”

Last week there was a big and fancy bash for Bill’s birthday at the Pierre Hotel. Father George Rutler was in fine form, delivering what eventually turned out to be something like an invocation. (His remarks are on the National Review website.) I was seated beside Priscilla Buckley, who is my candidate for the most charmingly hard-nosed woman in the world. She has recently published a memoir, Living It Up With National Review , which is aptly described as “revels with a cause.” She concluded her remarks by describing Bill as “my lifelong boss and best friend.”

Joseph Bottum writes:

Can poetry matter? The problem with most poetry these days is low ambitions. Oh, I know, Shelley once explained that poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world, but what many of them want is to be the world’s acknowledged legislators. And so a huge amount of political verse is poured out these days to try to change the world. But it still has low ambitions, as poetry ...

So maybe it’s worth mentioning that the poet and translator Charles Martin has just published in the Hudson Review what seems, on first reading, the poem of the year—and it has, precisely, such high ambitions. Called “After 9/11,” the poem can be read online at the Hudson Review.

We lived in an apartment on the ridge
Running along Manhattan’s northwest side,
On a street between the Cloisters and the Bridge,
On a hill George Washington once fortified….

But then,
. . . without warning,
Twin towers that rose up a quarter mile
Into a cloudless sky were, early one morning,
Wreathed in the smoke from interrupted flight,
When they and what burst into them were burning ...

WOW. And here's some more from Joseph Bottum:

Liberté, égalité, fraternité is the motto of the French Republic, but the fraternité seems to have gone up in the smoke of burning cars over the last few weeks. And so the French government has appointed a commission to see whether another distinctive mark of modern France shouldn’t also be set aside: laïcité, the official and nationally enforced secularism of the state.

And here is a sample of the featured article in the current issue of First Things magazine.

God on the Internet
by Jonathan V. Last (online editor of the Weekly Standard.)

According to a 2004 Pew survey, 64% of Internet-using Americans—82 million people—say they use the web for religious purposes. They are more likely to be female, white, middle aged, and college educated. Catholics and Jews tend to use the Internet slightly more heavily than Protestants. Half of these users report that they attend church at least once a week.

The virtual religious universe is wide-ranging. The largest site is Beliefnet.com, a one-stop-shopping portal which serves evangelicals, Catholics, Scientologists, and everyone in between. Founded in 1999, Beliefnet attracts more than 20 million page-views a month and sends out 9 million free email newsletters a day to subscribers. Only a handful of other sites, such as Catholic Online, Christianity Today, and Crosswalk can claim readerships even close.

Meanwhile, there are all the endlessly proliferating weblogs. The first blogs appeared in 1999. By 2004 there were estimated to be some 4 million of them. Today the number is closer to 8 million. John Mark Reynolds, a philosophy professor at Biola University who organized, this past October, the first religious blogger convention, GodblogCon, says that there are “literally millions” of religious bloggers.

See what I mean about the writing?

Tomorrow I’ll discuss one of the new God Blogs.

I reached for the top

On this Saturday after Thanksgiving I'd like to thank all the readers who responded with comments and emails to the Thanksgiving post (I am thankful for...). I feel so very lucky to count you as friends.

Then there are the others. On an open blog like this one you get all kinds. An irritating occurrence is when anonymous readers cut and past entire articles in the comments section. They usually say something like "Bush aided illegal abortion..." and are similar to the trash one finds on the moveon.org site. So, I take the time to delete them one by one.

Then I receive feedback like the following:

How to Lose the War (11/22)

Hmmm. Let's see if this post survives your censorship process.....
You clearly have a passionate desire to sustain the war in Iraq. You obviously don't believe that enough people have been killed in it yet, and have some expectation that a victory for the "good guys" can somehow be achieved. However, "victory" is becoming almost impossible to envisage and the Iraqi consensus is now that foreign troops should be withdrawn in a phased manner from their country. Given those facts, how many US and Iraqi deaths and the expenditure of how many billions of dollars will be enough for you? We have witnessed the single biggest foreign policy mistake by our country in its history. The least we can do is to be honest about it.

At least the anonymous comments are his own words...so they survive the ruthless censor. But note the invective: "You obviously don't believe that enough people have been killed in it yet..." and that he has difficulty seeing the US as the "good guys." OK.

Then there is this perhaps from the same reader:


I am thankful for... (11/24)

I'd like to add tolerance and inclusiveness to the list of things we're thankful for. They both have strong traditions based on Jesus' own words ("Turn the other cheek" and "Love thy neighbor"). They don't get exhibited on this blog much. Happy Thanksgiving

Hmmm.... could this be the same guy who wrote ...

One Nation Under God (11/5)

God Bless you too Tex! Finally someone has acknowledged the fact that thanks to Bill and his blog we might at last get a must needed chapter of the Klan on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. I have lurked on this website for many months....

"Lurked" indeed... Mr. Tolerance likens palosverdesblog to the KKK. Nice!

Well he does spice up the place. But I wish Mr. Anonymous would be brave enough to sign his name.

Anyway, I cannot stay peeved for long ... I'm a conservative after all. So I'll close with these comments from a real friend Judy Floyd from the great state of Texas:

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling off and getting hurt.

Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

I reached for the top ... and the rest is herstory.

I'm NOT thankful for ...

Liberalism, secularism, Islamism and Communism: the most dangerous threats to world security and the American way of life.

Liberalism has become a dirty word in American politics and society. While conservatives proudly wear their label, liberals hide behind code words like “progressive” or call themselves “moderates.” The courageous and patriotic liberalism of President Kennedy (“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price,……” and “Ask not what your country can do for you….” ) has become the weakling liberalism of President Carter (who believed that “America had passed its apogee” ) and the valueless liberalism of President Clinton (who denied understanding the meaning of the word “is” and that oral sex is really sex.)

Liberal icon and MIT Professor Noam Chomsky, recently voted the world’s number one intellectual, believes that America is “the world’s leading terror state” and calls the Pentagon the “most hideous institution on earth.” It is the fault of discredited liberal policies that our schools are failing to educate minorities and that most black families are led by single mothers. How can one be thankful?

I’m not thankful for radical Secularism, the sect of liberalism that aims to create the “naked public square” denuded of any religious principles. For example, The War On Christmas by John Gibson demonstrates that a thorough and virulent anti-Christmas campaign is being waged today by liberal activists, ACLU fanatics, craven politicians, sinister agenda-driven educators, and witless media mavens.

But the war on Christmas is just one battle in the war on Christianity that has been waged by radical secularists with the help of the activist Supreme Court since the 1940s. It’s so bad that cases are now decided on the basis of an “Endorsement Test” that asks whether a public action may be construed as holding that religion is a “good thing.” Enforced government neutrality has been interpreted as “respect for the beliefs of self, unencumbered by tradition or morality.” Just do what feels good. No judgments allowed.

The ACLU is the panzer division of the secular movement. Did you know that the ACLU is defending the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), saying that although the organization champions the criminal rape of children, it has a right to do that under the free expression clause? Did you know that the ACLU endorses virtual child pornography and has defended the right of people to obtain real child porn? Or that the ACLU opposed the Minutemen protests at the border, obviously, a legitimate form of expression? (Bill O’Reilly)

I’m surely not thankful for Islamism (“fascism with the face of Islam”) or for Communism. Just like the Communists and the Nazis, the Islamists goal is world domination. In Tony Blankley’s thought-provoking new book, The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? "The danger," he says, "is more than just bombs, it's also the cultural assertiveness of Islam."

Blankley poses the central question:

So what does the West do with a growing population of Islamists who have no desire to integrate into Western civilization - especially when some of these Muslims are true jihadists, when many Muslims would protect jihadists, and when many Muslims say they want to take over Europe by expanding Muslim population and culture?

Blankley argues the fate of Europe now hangs in the balance. "The threat of radical Islamists taking over Europe," he writes, "is every bit as great to the United States as was the threat of the Nazis taking over Europe in the 1940's."

And we dare not forget the persistent dangers posed by the Communist regimes in China and North Korea. In addition to their nuclear weapons and massive armies, these regimes are oppressors of basic human rights. For example, David Hawk, author of "Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea's Prison Camps" and his South Korean researchers obtained dozens of eyewitness accounts of persecutions of Christians. China is officially and aggressively atheist. Worship is allowed "only in government-controlled churches,… and Catholic Chinese who meet outside sanctioned churches are frequently harassed, fined, and sometimes sent to labor camps."

Americans have much for which to be thankful, and much to beware.

I am thankful for ...

Lee, my lovely and indomitable wife who continues her 44 year project to fashion a silk purse from a sow’s ear; for our children John and Carolynne, son-in-law Ray and grandkids Christy and Johnnie (our soldier); for our moms and sisters, brothers, and the rest of our extended families.

I’m thankful for old friends Jim, Chuck, Tina and Eric, Tom and Nancy, Shari and Matt; and for a host of new friends Bob and Barb, Angela and Dean, Lorie and Mike, Glen and Becky, Dave and Lizzie, John and Rosemarie, Angelo, Melanie, Sue, Fred, Tom, Jill, Mark, Rori, Merna, Dori, Julie, Steve, Bob and Judy, Cathryn, Tom, Minas, David (our Marine Colonel), Karen and Wick, Marc and Helen, Denise, Robert, Beebe, Rose, Ken, Marie, Pat, Anthony, Betty and Ken, Joan and Bob, Vic and Sil, Greg and Carolyn, Henry and Sarah, Patt and Dan, Lorna, Brian (our new Marine)…

I’m thankful for the officials and volunteers who help make Palos Verdes such a wonderful place to live: Jane, Ted, Bob, Nancy, Connie, Norma, Fran, Pat, Gene, Joyce, Shirley, John and Lorrie, Tom, Doug, Larry, Peter, Steve, Malcolm, Erin, Joe, John, Judy, Jon, Lois, Prim,…; for my blogger friends Ralph, Jeff, Carol, Moxie, … and for Zone bridge friends Judy, Marianne, Doc, Millie, Mary Jo, Nancy Jo, Pam.

I want to thank the crusaders who are fighting the noble battle against the ACLU, the secular left and those who would hurt our children: Benedict XVI, Dobson, Scalia, Gingrich, Prager, Medved, Hewitt, Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, … I thank President Bush, Cheney, Condi, Rummy and all the soldier heroes who are fighting to keep us safe.

I’m especially grateful to live in America, without a doubt the very best country on God’s green earth. Never forget the exceptionalism of America, the nation with the “soul of a church.” The most remarkable thing about our country, what makes us so different from other countries, is the force of progressive conservatism that drives our policies and actions.

We prefer to strictly limit the power of the state; we favor liberty over equality; we are deeply patriotic; we value rugged individualists and entrepreneurs; despise elitism; and have “an enthusiasm for the future that can be positively exhausting.”

We are Americans, and we thank God for our good fortune.

Happy Thanksgiving Friends

Thanksgiving is a public opportunity for Americans to bring the sacred into our lives. Our two greatest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, understood this connection between the public and the private in their proclamations of Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

This article by the Claremont Institute explains.

They were proclaiming a holy day, a day for prayer and recognition of Almighty God's authority over man. Religious liberty is one of the blessings of constitutional government we must be thankful for. In this spirit, presidents, with the approval of Congress, have provided a public occasion for prayer—which is of course what a thanks-giving is.

We forget too easily the meaning of this national holiday as it was first established by George Washington on October 3, 1789 and reaffirmed as we know it today by Abraham Lincoln on October 3, 1863, exactly 74 years later. A glance at their Thanksgiving proclamations reminds us of the noblest purposes of government, including its greatest endeavors—fighting war and educating its citizens.

Washington urged prayer "to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed...." Prayer should also lead this nation of "civil and religious liberty" to "promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among [other nations] and us...." God and the human mind are in alliance.

Lincoln first paints a picture of a prosperous, free, and indeed flourishing land. These are the "gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People." At the end of the proclamation, Lincoln asks for prayers of thanks but also with expressions of "humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience." Thus do we "commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers" in the war.

As our soldiers fight and die in Iraq and around the world, we should remember the wisdom of Lincoln and Washington on Thanksgiving Day. Guided by prayer, we should recall our higher purposes. We enjoy the fruits of our leisure this Thursday on account of the wisdom and sacrifices of others present and past.

God Bless our Troops.

Happy Thanksgiving friends. Click for a smile.

How to Lose the War

Ralph Peters in today's NY Post has the answer: QUIT. It's that simple. Increasingly, quitting looks like the new American Way of War. That's precisely what the Democratic Party wants America to do in Iraq. The Dems are looking to throw the game just to embarrass the Bush administration.

Forget about our dead soldiers, whose sacrifice is nothing but a political club for Democrats to wave in front of the media. Forget that our combat veterans are re-enlisting at remarkable rates — knowing they'll have to leave their families and go back to war again.

Just set a time-table for our troops to come home and show the world that America is an unreliable ally with no stomach for a fight, no matter the stakes involved. Tell the world that deserting the South Vietnamese and fleeing from Somalia weren't anomalies — that's what Americans do.

The irresponsibility of the Democrats on Capitol Hill is breathtaking.

They need us to fail, and they're going to make us fail, no matter the cost. They need to declare defeat before the 2006 mid-term elections and ensure a real debacle before 2008 — a bloody mess they'll blame on Bush, even though they made it themselves. (Thanks to Ted for the lead to Peters' story.)

And the lefty media are in cahoots with the Democrats. In a speech at the University of Toronto yesterday, Chris Matthews, host of the CNBC Hardball, said that Americans have still not learned to know their enemies instead of just hating them. "If we stop trying to figure out the other side, we've given up. The person on the other side is not evil -- they just have a different perspective."

Matthews said the U.S. decided to invade Iraq due to a combination of factors. "I think the father-son relationship with the Bushes is part of it. I think the oil thing is part of it. Our friendship with Israel is part of it and 9-11 created a kind of crazy Zeitgeist in the country."

The coalition of anti-war media types and liberal Democrats is following a familiar playbook.

North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap wrote in his memoirs that "We were not strong enough to drive out a half-million American troops, but that wasn't our aim. Our intention was to break the will of the American government to continue the war."

The Islamo-fascists know their history. A letter from al Qaeda leadership to Abu Musab Zarqawi the leader of the Iraqi terrorists said “The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam, and how they ran and left their agents, is noteworthy.” Al Qaeda’s belief is that the United States is irresolute and weak and that the Americans will take the first opportunity to "run."

Though we may run, we can never hide. Vice President Cheney said today that "It is a dangerous illusion to suppose that another retreat by the civilized world would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone."

The only way we can lose this war is if the media and the Democrats convince us to quit. God help us if we do.

Michael Medved is a Mensch

Mensch (or mensh): A person having admirable characteristics, such as fortitude and firmness of purpose, a particularly good person, like a stand-up guy, a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague.

Ken Sax and I attended Michael's talk last night at the Beach Cities Chabad in Redondo Beach. Mike's presentation was a serious one about a deadly dangerous problem: anti-Americanism. He sees it as related to but even more dangerous than anti-Semitism, and the talk explored six common characteristics of both pathologies.

1. Ubiquity: Anti-Americanism is everywhere, astoundingly so in countries that owe us the most such as France and the Phillipines, just like anti-Semitism is rampant in France, where Jews are loyal citizens, and Japan, where there are few Jews.

2. Irrational: America is the cause of every evil, AIDS in Africa, the tsunami in the South Pacific, environmental damage in China, just like the Jews were blamed for the bubonic plague.

3. Envious: Hatred of America is based on envy of our success and on the assumption that prosperity is a zero-sum-game. Somehow, US prosperity produces 3rd world poverty, when it is actually just the opposite. Remember that the Jews were faulted for being the bankers of Europe, when in fact most Jews were desperately poor. Mike's own grandparents lost several children to starvation and sickness.

4. Power: Those who hate us assume we are all powerful, and that we use that power for evil purposes. They deny that America has done massive good for the world.

5. Anti-Virtue: The America-haters object to our virtues, our religiousity and our patriotism. This is also true of leftists in America.

6. No Escape: Like Hitler targeted all the Jews, Bin Laden and Zarqawi target all Americans, not just soldiers, not just adults, not just Republicans.

This should bring Americans together, but the American left refuse to support America, as in the Vietnam War. In his book Unholy Alliance, David Horowitz explained that the Islamo-fascists and the American left have only one thing in common: hatred of America.

So what are we to do? Mike says we must fight this evil with force in the war and spirituality at home. Let us begin with unwavering support of our brave military and gratitude for all we have in America. Happy Thanksgiving!

After the talk, Michael signed my copy of his book Right Turns: "To Palos Verdes Bill, with best wishes for the continued growth of your blog!" Michael Medved.

Medved's a mensch all right.

Anti-Americanism

Has Anti-Amercanism Become The World's Most Dangerous Hate?

An evening with Michael Medved

Sunday, November 20 2005- Lecture 6:30PM, $20



Mike Medved is one of our favorite talk radio gurus (AM870, daily noon to 3:00). He is presenting a lecture tomorrow night at the Jewish community center Chabad of the South Bay Cities in Redondo Beach. Anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism have become popular pathologies in much of the world, surprisingly so in Europe. Mike will explain why.

Medved is also a principal contributor to a new web site called Beyond the News. Othe contributors include Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager,and Bill Bennett. Medved's latest piece in Beyond the News is On France and Immigration. Following is an excerpt:

In both the United States and France, about 10 percent of the population is foreign born, and many of these immigrants are economically disadvantaged. In France, tens of thousands of these newcomers have rioted for more than two weeks in 300 French cities, but America remains blessedly free of violent immigrant unrest. This contrast stems in part from the religious outlook of the foreign born: nearly all immigrants to the U.S. identify themselves as Christian and are able to connect with the majority faith in the nation at large, while newcomers in France are overwhelmingly Muslim--afflicted with the fanatical sense of grudge that afflicts many Muslims everywhere, and deeply alienated from secular France.

The French riots also reflect the abject failure of the welfare state: the high taxes and intrusive regulation produce a less dynamic and less entrepreneurial economy--with far less opportunity for newcomers who seek to work their way into the middle class.

Mike's latest book is Right Turns: Unconventional Lessons from a Controversial Life. It's a fascinating account of his conversion from a 60's anti-war liberal to a right wing conservative. Sound familiar?

Dem's on the Run

If you’ve never seen the House and Senate debate on C-SPAN you are missing a real treat. Yesterday, Representative John Murtha (D-PA), a well-respected Vietnam veteran, said American forces should "immediately redeploy" from Iraq in order to help Iraqis take control of their country.

"The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is impeding this progress. Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. They are united against U.S. forces, and we have become a catalyst for violence. The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion" said the congressman.

It is worth noting that Murtha had “flaked out” on the liberation of Iraq even before Congress approved it. In 2002, before the congressional authorization, Murtha was "questioning a war-powers resolution that even most Democratic leaders seem reluctant to oppose." Murtha ended up voting for the war.

Then in 2004 he called for more troops: "We cannot prevail in this war as it is going today. We either have to mobilize or we have to get out," Murtha said. In October 2004 he was one of only two members of Congress to vote for a bill that would have reinstated the draft--a bill opposed even by its sponsor, grandstanding Charlie Rangel.

Today House Republicans called the Democrat’s bluff by forcing a vote on a proposal to end the U.S. deployment of troops in Iraq. "We'll let the members debate it and then let them vote on it," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. The House move comes just days after the GOP-controlled Senate defeated a Democratic push for Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal.

Speaking before the House vote at the weekly briefing to Pentagon reporters, U.S. field commander Col. James Brown countered the Democratic position: "We have to finish the job that we began here. It's important for the security of this nation," said the commander of the 56th Brigade Combat Team, when asked about Murtha's comments.

Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, a 29-year Air Force veteran who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for nearly seven years, called Murtha's position unconscionable and irresponsible. "We've got to support our troops to the hilt and see this mission through," he said.

“We want to make sure that we support our troops that are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will not retreat,” Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said as the Republican leadership pushed the issue to a vote over the protest of Democrats.

After a lengthy and heated debate, the House tonight overwhelmingly rejected calls for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq by a vote of 403-3. Even Murtha voted against the measure. Only three Democrats, Jose Serrano of New York, Robert Wexler of Florida and Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, voted for withdrawal.

At one point in the emotional debate, Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, told of a phone call she received from a Marine colonel.

“He asked me to send Congress a message — stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message — that cowards cut and run, Marines never do,” Schmidt said.

Democrats booed and shouted her down — causing the House to come to a standstill.

“I won’t stand for the swift-boating of Jack Murtha,” said Sen. John Kerry, who still seems to be running.

Bye, Bye Starbucks Gal

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the Music Died

Tomorrow at the Marmalade Café, our Guest of Honor for lunch will be Michelle Caruthers, our long time favorite Starbucks Manager. Michelle is commencing a new phase in her life away from our coffee hole and we will miss her lots.

So I thought it fitting to say something smart about ….. coffee. Every day I get these Knowledge News gizzies in the email and today’s piece hit the spot like a manly Turkish kahveh.

Coffee's story--like many good stories--begins with a goat. Legend has it that a herdsman in Ethiopia noticed that his goat was acting kind of funny. It was unusually alert, maybe even a little jittery.

Looking closer, the herdsman saw that the goat had been nibbling on the red berries of a certain bush. Being of a scientific temperament (much like moi), the herdsman experimented by eating a few of the berries himself, and soon he and the goat were capering around together. The rest, as they say, is history.

Of course, loopy Ethiopian goats are a long way from the dark and aromatic drink we have at the Bucks. For coffee to become a thoroughly human beverage, someone had to go beyond just eating coffee berries. Enter the Arabs. By the 14th century, the Arabs were roasting their beans, too, but it took a while longer before someone had the idea of filtering out the grounds.

Word of the "wine of Araby" spread. Today, about a quarter of daily American coffee drinkers--110 million strong--prefer fancy-pants espressos, cappuccinos, and lattes to a traditional cup of joe. (Thanks, Mark Diller)

That’s just about enough smarts for our attention-deficit-disordered crowd.
Tomorrow Lori, Angela, Judy, Chuck, Steve, Bill, Lee, Sue, Angelo, Rori, Mark, Glen and Becky (if no Court appearance) will wish adios to Michelle, our good bud.

So bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee, But the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die.

Ps: Guess how many cups of joe you can drink before croakin. Then go here to find out.

Peter Pan Kids

On May 1, 1960, Fidel Castro launched his slogan Cuba sí, Yankees no! and ordered the creation of communist indoctrination schools. In July, he began to confiscate properties owned by Americans, Spaniards and Jews. In October, he created the neighborhood spy committees fashioned after 1930s Nazi Germany.

The primary concern of Cuban parents was the prospect of losing the right to make the decisions about raising their children. The creation of the Young Communist Pioneers - replacing the Boy Scouts - added panic to the situation. Painful as it was, many parents decided it was time to get their children out of Cuba even if they had to leave unescorted.

From December, 1960 through October, 1962, over 14,000 unaccompanied children between 6 and 18 years old left Cuba for the US in a secret operation. It was coded: Operation Peter Pan.

Then the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted and the last commercial flight from Havana to Miami departed Cuba on October 22, 1962 with the last children of Operation Peter Pan. There were 50,000 more children with their visa waivers left stranded in Cuba.

Parents losing the right to make the decisions about raising their children: Of course, such a thing could never happen in America. Oh, no?

As shocking as it may seem, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that courts--not parents--have the final authority on when and what to teach children about sex education. The state -- in its far greater wisdom about what's right and wrong -- has ultimate power over your kids.

The ruling stems from a case filed by a group of Palmdale, Calif., parents whose elementary school children were given a sexually explicit questionnaire without the parents knowledge or consent. Kids ages 7 through 10 were asked, for example, to rate the following activities according to how often they experienced the thought or emotion:

Touching my private parts too much.
Thinking about touching other people's private parts.
Thinking about sex when I don't want to.
Washing myself because I feel dirty on the inside.
Not trusting people because they might want sex.
Getting upset when people talk about sex.

The parents argued that they were deprived of their fundamental right to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs.

But Judge Steven Reinhardt (married to ACLU officer Ramona Ripstein), writing for the Ninth Circuit panel, stated: We hold there is no free-standing fundamental right of parents 'to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs .... Another chilling piece of the ruling was this assertion: We further hold that a psychological survey is a reasonable state action pursuant to legitimate educational as well as health and welfare interests of the state.

The court has essentially told parents they have only one choice: to put their children in public school or not -- and once they make that choice they have lost their parental authority during the school hours.

"As the message sinks in that the state knows best and parents aren't to be trusted, advocates for private schools and voucher programs should have no trouble finding new recruits." (Kathleen Parker, Orlando Sentinel)

Thanks to Dori for the lead to this story.

Round Heeled Republicans

Nervous Republicans in the U.S. Senate today backed a nonbinding resolution that said, in part, next year "should be a period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty, with Iraqi security forces taking the lead for the security of a free and sovereign Iraq, thereby creating the conditions for the phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq."

Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner of Virginia said the Senate resolution was to declare to Iraqis, "We mean business, we have done our share, now the challenge is up to you."

Hugh Hewitt saw it as “an unmistakable vote-of-no-confidence in the Bush Administration, and the best gift the United States Senate could give Zarqawi and his terrorist ranks. Suddenly we are back where we were when the Congress turned on the Vietnam War.”

The weak-kneed Republicans who voted for the Warner amendment include several so-called leaders: Allen (VA), Brownback (KS), Coleman (MN), Cornyn (TX), Frist (TN), Hagel (NE), Hatch (UT), Lott (MS), McConnell (KY), Santorum (PA), Specter (PA), and Warner (VA).

Hugh suggests that we contact the following senators to demand that the resolution be withdrawn.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, (202) 224-3344, e-mail

Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, (202) 224-2541, e-mail

Armed Services Chairman John Warner, (202) 224-2023, e-mail

Or call any Republican Senator who abandoned the Commander-in-Chief in a time of war.

While our “electeds” are rolling on their round heels the real warriors are fighting the real battles in Iraq. And their families here at home are trying to celebrate the holiday season, while full of worry about their beloved soldiers. Hugh said today that many service families at Camp Pendleton are in need of basic Thanksgiving victuals. Let’s all call 760-725-4001 to help these American hero families.

Let the Battle Commence

"I am and always have been a conservative," wrote Judge Samuel Alito Jr., President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, on his 1985 application to become deputy assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese.

"I believe very strongly in limited government, federalism, free enterprise, the supremacy of the elected branches of government, the need for a strong defense and effective law enforcement, and the legitimacy of a government role in protecting traditional values," he wrote.

"In the field of law, I disagree strenuously with the usurpation by the judiciary of decision-making authority that should be exercised by the branches of government responsible to the electorate," he added.

Alito went on to say that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion” and “I personally believe very strongly" in this legal position.

During his course of service in the office of the Solicitor General during President Reagan's administration he wrote: "I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion."

Republicans are relishing the opportunity to defend Judge Alito's support for judicial restraint, saying it puts him squarely in the majority of American public opinion. As evidence, they pointed to public outrage over a 2002 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco that said the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional. More recently, the Supreme Court has ruled that government can seize property and give it to a private party for the sake of the "public good." Other Supreme Court rulings have cited international law. (excerpts from Bill Sammon, The Washington Times, 11/14/05)

A coalition of liberal groups is preparing a national advertising campaign against the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Alito. The liberal group includes the Alliance for Justice that focuses on judicial nominations, the abortion rights groups Naral Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood, as well as People for the American Way, the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the NAACP and the Sierra Club.

An Alliance for Justice poll showed that a majority of Americans would oppose Judge Alito if they thought he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. His most controversial opinion on the subject was a dissent supporting provisions of a Pennsylvania law that required married women to notify their husbands before obtaining abortions, with some exceptions, a position favored by a majority of voters.

Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, said that the nomination process will be "an epic struggle between two competing and radically different judicial philosophies." (excerpts from David Kirkpatrick, New York Times, 11/13/05)

I say: Let the fight begin! That's a debate the Republican Party wins every time.

Generations

In one year, 1946, 3.4 million Americans were born and the Washington Post heralded the start of the baby boom, a "fruit of demobilization." Now, the generation that vowed to stay forever young is coming up on a major milestone. They've been hippies and yuppies; and now it's the time of the abbies: aging baby boomers.

There are now 77 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1960. The first are turning 60, including President and Laura Bush, Bill Clinton, and Mick Jagger. The annual spending power of boomers is estimated to be more than $2 trillion, but debt and worry about financial security could lead many (up to 50%) of the baby boomers to postpone their retirement beyond 65.

Still, the boomers tend to be an upbeat group — with nearly three quarters saying they are satisfied with the way things are going for them and their families. But many of the boomers who had rejected religious institutions when they were young are looking for something spiritual now.

Generation X was the name of a British Punk group in the 1970s featuring Billy Idol. A funny sociological book on American class structure (Class) named an "X" category of people who wanted to hop off the merry-go-round of status, money, and social climbing that so often frames modern existence.

Gen X describes the generation following the baby boom, especially Americans born in the 1960s and 1970s. The youth culture of those decades defied many of the socio-political institutions of the time, such as racial segregation, sexual discrimination and the Vietnam War.

Generation X is not synonymous with "slacker," but to many people these words have come to mean the same thing. Once, when the cast of Friends appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she asked the stars what they thought of the term. "I just hate the label in general," replied David Schwimmer (Ross) "because to me it connotes a kind of slacker and all my peers are aggressively pursuing either jobs, relationships, or just trying to come to grips with their identities."

Now we have Generation Y, a force of as many as 70 million in their teens and 20s, and the first wave is just now embarking on their careers. Unlike the generations that have gone before them, Gen Y has been pampered, nurtured and programmed with a slew of activities since they were toddlers, meaning they are both high-performance and high-maintenance.

Generation Y is much less likely to respond to the traditional command-and-control type of management still popular in much of today's workforce. Unlike previous generations who are accustomed to the annual review, Gen Yers have grown up getting constant feedback and recognition from teachers, parents and coaches and can resent it or feel lost if communication from bosses isn't more regular.

Generation Yers don't expect to stay in a job, or even a career, for too long - they've seen the scandals that imploded Enron and other mega-companies, and they're skeptical when it comes to such concepts as employee loyalty. Many may clash with older generations they see as competition or not as skilled. Says one Yer: We're surprised we have to work for our money. We want the corner office right away. It seems like our parents just groomed us. Anything is possible. We had karate class, soccer practice, everything. But they deprived us of social skills.

At my former company, Xerox is using the slogan "Express Yourself" as a way to describe its culture to recruits. The hope is that the slogan will appeal to Gen Y's desire to develop solutions and change. Recruiters also point out the importance of diversity at the company; Gen Y is one of the most diverse demographic groups - one out of three is a minority.

Lee and I belong to the group immediately preceding the baby boomers and our kids Carolynne and John (note the Kennedy names) are first decade Gen Xers born in the 60s. They are definitely NOT slackers. (Thanks to John for the lead to the Gen Y story). I worried a bit about the Gen Y grandkids until Johnny joined the army. Now Christy has started driving and I’m worrying again.

Thank You For Your Service

Thank

You

Veterans

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

Sir Winston Churchill

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.

General George Patton

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Father Dennis Edward O’Brian, USMC

Those of us who remain safe at home owe them our lives and our liberty.

Lee’s dad, Lieutenant Charles Struck, bomber pilot, died in the service of his country, in the Southwest Pacific Area in World war II.

Our grandson Johnny Walton, in Fort Bragg after his tour in Iraq, was just promoted to Sargeant. His 82nd Airborne unit is scheduled to return to Iraq in the new year.

Brian Weiss, our new Palos Verdes Marine writes: We will activate in January, and ship to Djibouti Africa in March. For reference it is located next to Somalia and across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen. The mission is humanitarian and security, but we should not be doing any fighting. We are mostly there to secure a base near the airport. The mission is part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

I would rather be deployed into the fight, but I'm looking forward to the mission.

It is the soldier....

Assimilation American Style

The mess in France has been interpreted as a failure of assimilation. French Muslims have believed in the French model of individual integration through citizenship but feel cheated because of their social and economic exclusion. They may become French citizens but they will never be “of French stock.”

My critical opinions (of France and many other entities) have been criticized by one of our anonymous readers (See comments about “Cognitive Dissonance” 11/4/05).

What I find disquieting in this and many of your other postings is their vitriolic tone. We would all be far better off with a greater measure of acceptance of, interest in and wonder at what makes us all so different from one another. May I suggest more time spent on more tolerant, constructive ideas rather than simply berating others.

I appreciate and seriously consider all the comments that I receive. The quick answer is that I enjoy the use of sharp speech rather than pussyfooting around.

Still, as a gesture of tolerance, I offer this piece about the assimilation of Finnegan the squirrel. (Thanks to Lee Lama)

















For about as long as she can remember, Debby Cantlon says, friends and strangers have brought her animals in need. So it wasn't much of a surprise when someone asked her if she'd care for a newborn squirrel found at the base of a tree.

Debby, who plans to release Finnegan the squirrel back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house. Cantlon, who has cancer, says rescuing injured animals is therapeutic for her.

When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him, she found herself with an unlikely nurse's aide: her pregnant Papillon, Mademoiselle Giselle.

Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle was due to deliver her puppies. Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel's cage - twice - to her own bedside before she gave birth. Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the squirrel out - and the inter-species bonding began.

Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Finnegan to nurse; family photos and a videotape show her encouraging him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups.

Now, Finnegan mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his "siblings" in a mosh pit of puppies, rolling atop their bodies and sinking in deeply for a nap. Finnegan and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies, get along together as if they were meant to.

Isn't that nice?

Has France Surrendered Yet?

OK, I realize that this is a rhetorical question with an obvious answer: France has made a fine art of surrendering. What about the latest crisis in France?

According to Prime Minister and poet Dominique de Villepin (actually a man), citizens of central Paris will be secure behind the new “Maginot Line” while he has devised a new “Marshall Plan” for dealing with the suburbs where the rioters reside.

The rioting by Muslim youth that began October 27 in France to calls of "Allahu Akbar" may be a turning point in European history. What started in Clichy-sous-Bois, on the outskirts of Paris, has spread to over 300 French cities and towns, as well as to Belgium and Germany. Across France, rioters have burned about 6,000 vehicles, injured 120 police and firefighters, beat an elderly man to death, and firebombed schools, hospitals, churches and police stations.

Witnesses describe the scene as "guerrilla warfare." Philosopher Jean-François Mattei spoke of "urban barbarity." Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, declared, "A civil war is unfolding in Clichy-sous-Bois.” Michel Gurfinkiel, editor of the news magazine Valeurs Actuelles, likens France today to the Weimar Republic just before the rise of Nazism. As writer Mark Steyn writes, this may be the outbreak we have all dreaded -- a civil war for the soul of Europe.

For more than a decade the immigrant suburbs around France's cities have been out of control. Crime rates have gone through the roof in 2005: 70,000 violent crimes include the torching of more than 28,000 cars and stoning 9,000 police cars.

A particularly fearsome firsthand account of life in a Muslim slum was a bestseller in 2002. “In Gang Rape Hell” recounts the life of a courageous French Muslim teenager, Samira Bellil, who was repeatedly gang-raped, and in order to survive became a "racaille" (hooligan), beating up other girls to get protection and respect.

If President Jacques (“Iraq”) Chirac thought he was going to gain peace with the Muslim community in France by taking an appeasement line in the Iraq war, it certainly looks like he miscalculated. Chirac led the opposition to the Iraq war partly out of fear of how his Muslim population would react. This fear is a big part of why France portrays itself as America's counterweight and why it criticizes Israel at every turn and coddled the terrorist Yasser Arafat right up to his death. France is on its way to becoming a Muslim country … one armed with hydrogen bombs.

Let us hope that the French government gets this crisis under control and then adopts an American-like policy for integrating immigrants and generating jobs.

(Excerpts from Reflections on the Revolution in France by Daniel Pipes; "Paris When It Sizzles" by Olivier Guitta; "Intifada in France" New York Sun Editorial.)

Red Fridays for the Troops

Red Fridays






Very soon, you will see many people wearing Red every Friday. The reason?

Americans who support our troops used to be the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record numbers. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect continues every Friday sending a deafening message that... every red-blooded American who supports our men and women at war, will wear something red.

It will not be long before the USA is covered in Red and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever. The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?" is...We need your support and your prayers.

You will feel better all day Friday when you wear Red! Let's get the word out and lead by example: wear RED on Fridays.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE.

Thanks to good friend Rose for the lead to Proud Infantry Wife another Rose

Vote for Clark, Gardner, LaMonte and Sharp

Some may have noticed that I am a Right Wing Republican (oooh... scary..). I regard George Bush as a hero and admire Arnold the Governator even more than the Arnold the Kindergarten Cop.

But when it comes to Palos Verdes, I completely ignore politics and just vote for the candidate with knowledge, vision and guts.

In previous Rancho Palos Verdes Council races I voted for Doug Stern and Tom Long (Democrats) and Steve Wolowicz (Republican). Joining Larry Clark and Peter Gardiner, this group comprise arguably the best Council ever to serve our fair City. Individually they are intelligent and well prepared and they work hard as a team to forge the best consensus decisions.

Now Mayor Clark and former Mayor Gardiner are up for re-election. Councilman Stern said it well: Both have demonstrated that they have the judgment, temperament, professionalism, background, analytical skills, and work ethic to constructively work through and solve the sometimes difficult and complex issues that are faced by the City Council.

Rancho Palos Verdes is fortunate to have such civic volunteers who are willing to serve our City so ably and with such dedication.

Although I have no children in the Palos Verdes school system, I have a keen interest in the School Board election. I am impressed with the PVUSD administration and teaching staff from Superintendent Ira Toibin to the kindergarten teachers.

It is important that this fine school system is supported by an equally fine Board.







Erin LaMonte











I am endorsing Erin LaMonte and Malcolm Sharp. Erin has extensive business experience, she has served as PTA president at every school level, and her enthusaism is contagious. Malcolm (in the middle, he says) has served with distinction as president of the Peninsula Education Foundation. Malcolm Sharp is a man of vision with a great sense of humor.

Finally, I urge a YES vote on School District Measures R and S. These bonds provide funding for much needed infrastructure repairs to our school facilities. While I am dismayed at sending our property taxes to Sacramento to be wasted by bureaucrats, these bond funds go directly to our Palos Verdes schools. It's money well invested.