Tet revisited

Only after many, many years went by did it become known that the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War, though characterised by most in the media (especially by Walter Cronkite) as having been a disastrous loss for U.S. forces, was actually a huge military victory. But because of the media's attempts to hold it up as an example of why America couldn't win in Vietnam, popular opinion for the war took a nosedive leading to the eventual withdrawal of American troops in a less than victorious ending.

Ann Coulter has a great article here that asks whether the media's coverage of Iraq hasn't veered towards Tet like coverage.

Nail on the head

James Lileks is a wonderful writer and is a master of showing just how absurd certain things in this world are. This article is a prime example of that mastery.

Not since Reagan....

Thanks to the guys at Powerline pointing the way, this wonderful speech by President Bush to an AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) gathering was found to be a most insightful read.

Please note the entirety of the speech addresses one issue; freedom. Freedom in terms of politics, freedom in terms of religion, freedom in terms of economics, simply the issues of freedom and all it is good for.

As the title of this post probably gives away, I haven't felt this way about a president before; well, not since Reagan.

Why we fight

Bill Bennett gave a speech at the Claremont Institute last week (Victor Davis Hanson was a speaker as well; wish I could've been there).

Here's the transcript of what Bennet had to say. My only reaction is, "Exactly."

Dodgers slide

The Dodgers have now lost 5 in a row. In the series against Cincinnati, they couldn't hit themselves out of a paper bag. Yesterday's game was one of those flukes, what with back-to-back-to-back homeruns for the Phillies coming at a not so good time. Even with this recent skid, the Dodgers are still ahead in the west by 1.5 games over the Padres, so no reason to get nervous just yet.

He's still no Jerry Lewis

You know what really bugs me about Michael Moore? It's not that he's a buffoonish, leftist, publicity seeking twit; it's that he could be insanely funny and moving if he weren't so psychologically damaged.

Despite being wrong approximately 95% of the time (and no, I can't think of the 5% of things he's right on at the moment), he is a gifted documentarian in a purely technical sense. What I mean is that he makes documentaries that are not only watchable but enjoyable to watch (of course, remember this was a heavily French audience who believe, in great numbers, that a plane that blew up in mid-air due to mechanical failures was actually shot down by the U.S. military).

Where the problem comes in is that he doesn't really document anything; there are several reports of Moore basically making things up in "Bowling for Columbine" (this being my favorite report as it originated on an NPR station; that's right, even National Public Radio has a problem with "Bowling for Columbine"). If you don't believe me, just do a Google search for Bowling for Columbine discrepancies; there's too many links to click in this lifetime.

If Moore weren't so unbalanced, he could be a comic genius in the mold of Eddie Izzard (a lefty with a brain and my personal favorite stand up comic right now) or even Chris Rock, with the obvious differences in style being set aside for the time being.

Instead, he's left with standing ovations from French audiences...at least Jerry Lewis is trying to do something positive with his telethons; Moore simply wants more ovations.

But they don't count because...

Hugh Hewitt guides us to this article regarding the recent discovery of an artillery shell containing sarin nerve gas.

It also mentions another homemade bomb that used mustard gas that was found 10 days ago; I don't know about you, but I didn't hear anything about that finding from anyone in the media.

I'm sure we'll be told how this doesn't count as a finding of WMD's because...well, I can't think of any excuse worth using, but I'm sure we'll hear them at some point.

Taking a political look at this, which is not something I usually like to do with items such as WMD but feel a need to do at this time, why isn't the administration holding this evidence up for all the world to see? I don't care how "little" we found (sarin can kill in very small doses), we found evidence of illegal WMD's in Iraq. Not only were they found, they were in the process of being used against our troops! That's not a story worth getting out?

Sadr will fall soon

I find this to be a very good development in our battle with Sadr's forces and a sort of light version on what I explained I thought we should be doing in my post just previous to this one. After weeks of taking mortar fire from a supposed sacred cemetary which includes the Imam Ali shrine. The shrine is the reason Najaf is so revered as Ali was basically the reason the Shi'ite form of Islam came to be.

Like I stated earlier, we need to be less worried about why something in the past is so significant to our enemies and instead worry about what we need to take the bad guys down. If it is possible to take them down without pounding the shrine to pebbles, great. But if the insurgents want to kill Americans from the shrine and make it impossible to stop their lawlessness without taking the shrine, the shrine must fall and we must make it clear that it is on the heads of the insurgents that it had to fall.

They'll like us when we win

I don't know about you, but I like the TV show "The West Wing." Yes, I know it has ultra liberal Martin Sheen as the President (which does send shivers down my spine if I think about that too long), but the show is very finely crafted and Aaron Sorkin, before quitting the show, is an unbelievably gifted writer, even if he's almost always wrong politically.

A quote from the show has stayed with me for many, many years.

"They'll like us when we win."

It was a line used by one of the show's characters to explain why it was okay to say some pretty harsh words about some Middle Eastern countries who would, of course, take offense to the harsh words.

It seems almost prescient now.

I believe this should be the driving idea behind our efforts in Iraq.

Taking Fallujah will upset the populace - Tough, they'll like us when we win.

If we get too close to their holy shrines, they'll get upset - Tough, they'll like us when we win.

If we crack down too hard, international reaction will be firmly against us - Tough, they'll like us when we win.

We should not appease, in any degree, large or small, any insurgents or their apologists. I'll know we are doing our job right when the French and German governments start condemning us. When talks of reprisals against we "infidels" begin to flow through the Arab media en masse, I'll know we are on the right track.

This belief did not come about easily. I am not a huge fan of iron fisted justice, not because those on the receiving end may be upset, but because that use of force can sometimes lead to a worse problem; a military too strong to be stopped from taking control. The world over, there are many examples of the military staging coups and seizing power from the citizens (which is what happens when the military runs a country; the people's voice is no longer heard).

I have no such fears with our forces in Iraq. They have shown a measure of discipline and self-control that one cannot dismiss. The prison guards let their discipline slip with predictably horrible results, but Fallujah could have easily been removed from the world's maps if we decided that was necessary. Yet there it sits, awaiting the first joint patrols of American Marines and Iraqi forces. Unfortunately, I do not believe these joint patrols will solve anything. We do need to get the Iraqi forces involved, but I feel this is the wrong time.

Now is the time, especially after being re-awakened to the vile nature of our foe, to unleash the strength and fury of the U.S. military against those that would harm us. Allow the Marines to do their job; if a shrine is being used as a bunker, destroy the shrine. I don't care if it was built by Allah himself in whatever year, at this moment in time it is a tool of war being hidden in by cowards who feel we are too weak to come and get them in such a structure. Let us prove them wrong. If Sadr will not willingly come forward and turn himself in, it is our obligation to allow our forces to conduct operations and bring him in, dead or alive.

We can allow our forces this type of leeway because we know once the fighting is over, there will be no power grab by the military, no subjugation of the populace, no atrocities committed simply because they can be committed. As proof of this reality, I simply point to the vast U.S. nuclear warhead stockpiles...all present and accounted for.

The cacophony of condemnations, grievances, and calls for revenge will eventually cease once it is shown that all of these things do not bring about a cessation in our efforts, but an even swifter justice to those deserving of it.

And, at some time years from now, they'll like us because we won.

Go Dodger Blue!

I'm sure there's going to be sometime during the season that the Dodgers aren't spanking everyone they play, but that time is not now!

They took another one from the Cubbies yesterday and are looking for the sweep this afternoon.

Man I love baseball...especially when the Dodgers are actually fielding a good team.

And I want this, and I want that...

This is what happens when you have socialism run amok. When I first read this article, I thought it was a prank, after all whoever heard of out of work actors complaining that there's not enough unemployment benefits; get a job as a waiter like all the other actors out there.

Then I actually read the headline mentioning Cannes. "Ahh," I thought to myself, "they're French actors!"

That's how bad the socialist society is in France; a bunch of freakin' actors (actors for crying out loud!) are able to threaten the biggest film festival on the planet because no one will hire them.

And this money quote just ices the cake for me.

"Daily Variety quoted a spokesman for one group of workers as saying that it planned to 'denounce the system and its treatment of cinema as merchandise.'"

Its treatment of cinema as merchandise? You mean movies making money, right? How else do you expect to get the employment you're whining about if they're not allowed to treat cinema as merchandise, Pierre?!

This is the extended, logical conclusion that awaits any society that wishes to extend ridiculous amounts of entitlements to its citizenry instead of setting up a system in which that citizenry has the opportunities necessary to make a go of it themselves.

As if that's a bad thing...

The French would make me laugh if their decisions weren't so costly to real live human beings. The Foreign Minister of France, as presented in this article, proclaims his worry about all the bad things happening in Iraq...ya know, death and all that other stuff that happens when people go to war.

This has been a growing problem among most of the Western European countries for some time; they don't see the good guys and the bad guys, they just see "a total loss of bearings" in the whole sordid affair.

A loss of bearings...yeah that's it, it has nothing to do with a group of people wishing the Dark Ages back upon all of us, who use children as weapons, who cheer and proclaim martyrdom for a couple of monsters that slaughter a pregnant woman and her four small children; none of that is reason for concern, it's just the overall not niceness of it all, on both sides, that has the French Foreign Minister worried.

He then felt it necessary to proclaim that "There will be no French soldiers in Iraq, not now and not later."

What's the old joke that can be applied to any conflict anywhere in the world?

How can you quickly end the war in Iraq?

Send in the French; they'll surrender the next day.

Hooray for the Red Sox

I love hearing about stories like this.

Finish what you start

Both President Bush and John Kerry have made statements echoing the sentiment that we must finish what we started in Iraq (Kerry wants the U.N. to come in and finish the job, which is like bringing in a gas can to put out a fire, but we'll put that point aside for now). What is to be made of a situation in which both parties are calling for the job in Iraq to be finished?

What we can undoubtedly infer is that whatever was started was a good thing; after all, why would you want to finish something bad?

With that point in mind, what can we make of some people's beliefs that the American public will react in much the same way as the Spanish or Italians, calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Iraq?

There are several reasons I don't believe that will happen; no matter how hard the left and their helpers in the media try to paint Iraq as another Vietnam, the American public is just not buying it. The left seems to forget that most people from the Vietnam decade are still around and can debunk most or all of the hysterical calls for labelling this "Another Vietnam."

But the main reason I don't believe the American public will call for us to abandon our cause in Iraq is because, put simply, we are not Spain or Italy. Italy and Spain were run by tyrannical dictators and outright fascists until the last half of the 20th century; America has had a functioning democracy for over 200 years. Because of our long, fruitful history under democracy, the American people have an almost genetic disposition to opposing tyranny...liberty good, fascism bad, freedom the ideal worth fighting for, tyranny a scourge which must be opposed and crushed.

Some will point out, correctly, that both Spain and Italy were finally able to push out the dictators and establish democracies of their own. That is, to simplify things, the equivalent of fighting for one's life. Well, anyone can fight their own life; it is a distinctly American trait to fight for someone else's liberty. From WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf I, etc. we have shown a willingness to stand up for the liberties of those that could not otherwise stand up for it themselves. With the exception of Pearl Harbor, none of those conflicts were the result of America's homeland being in immediate danger; yet we went, willingly, to fight against the enemies of our allies; to fight for our allies; to fight for freedom.

It is this belief in American's hatred of tyrannies that makes me believe we will not leave Iraq in turmoil, but will hunt down those that are opposed to peace and destroy them.

After all, we have to finish what we've started, right?

Who hijacked the dictionary?!

Suddenly, some frat hazing level abuse of Iraqi prisoners is being called torture. All this coming from Italy, the birthplace of fascism, of all places.

You want torture? Try this on for size. These animals have the audacity to declare that they performed this act of barbarism in retaliation for some photos of naked Iraqi men being piled on top of each other with hoods over their heads.

As has been said over and over, what the American Guardsman did was stupid and embarassing. To compare what they did with the treatment that so many hundreds of thousands of people suffered at the hands of Saddam Hussein is simply appalling.

And the most appalling of all those decrying the United States at this time is the American Left. Not only are the wrong in equating this latest "scandal" with torture, they are doing so in order to win political points. Putting our troops in harms way so they can grab some power is disgusting.

And the next target is....

Well, it appears this may be the first step towards making Syria accountable for it's longtime support of terrorism. The article mentions the fact that these sanctions were probably delayed because of the immediate intelligence help provided by Syria, but that should have been viewed as too little too late, even back then; it was the least they could do, in other words.

The boy king is a monster in the mold of his father and must be dealt with. For those people that say removing Saddam from power didn't really help against terrorism, ask yourself this; given all the reports of how much worse Saddam's sons were than Saddam, is it really a stretch to believe, once Saddam died and they took power, that they wouldn't want to collaborate with Al-Qaida or Hamas?

Cover your TV's, because I'm gonna be on it

I mentioned earlier being in "The Biz," i.e.. the entertainment industry, but not being famous as I'm a finance guy. I also happen to be a very large person with a very long goatee. How long, you ask? Think ZZ Top but only the goatee. There ya go.

Well, it turns out my boss thought my particular look would fit well in a new animated series we're starting...as a villain. Only my face will be used, and someone else is going to do the voice, but my mug will be all over the TV as early as later this year.

I'll keep everyone up to date on that.

The few, the proud...the downright studly

Hugh Hewitt brought this to all of our attention. An extraordinary tale of courage is presented here...and it just happens to be true.

Odd how we never hear these stories, isn't it?

Dodgers still on a roll

Top of the 9th and the Dodgers up by a run, which means Eric Gagne time, which means game over. The Padres had already won today, so with this win, the Dodgers will stay in first place by 1 game, although it's a weird 1 game. The Padres and Dodgers will have both won 19 games, but the Padres have lost 12 while the Dodgers have lost 10. So the Dodgers have 2 games in hand on the Padres, which is a good thing. I'm liking this season more and more every day.

"Van Helsing" opens pretty well

I was just able to get on the computer and checked the Friday box office takes....$19 million for "Van Helsing." This will probably mean about $55 million for it's opening weekend. Not bad, but not an obscenely large opening either. As always, it will be interesting to see how it holds up in the weeks to come.

You're skeptical?!

According to this report, the Arab world is skeptical about America's reasons, namely freedom and liberty, for invading Iraq because of a bunch of numbskull Guardsman who humiliated and abused some Iraqi prisoners.

Is that right.

This from an area in the world in which the cold blooded, despicable murderers of a pregnant woman and her four children (all girls, ages 11, 9, 7, and 2) are celebrated as martyrs. Let me cite the children's ages again; 11, 9, 7, and 2. They were gunned down in their car and, just to make sure everyone was dead, were then shot in the head at close range. A 2 year old posed that much of a threat to these animals.

The treatment of the Iraqi prisoners in this case was unwarranted, stupid, and cruel, but why is that front page news while a 2 year old, her sisters, and her pregnant mother getting gunned down in cold blood for being Jewish (gasp!) is nothing more than a continuing event in the "struggle" of the Palestinian people?

And Arabs are supposed to be skeptical?

Get the bad guys and move on

Victor Davis Hanson, in this piece, puts an eloquence to an idea I've thought would further our cause in Iraq for quite some time. Basically, ignore world opinion (who wants to be liked by the French anyway?), obliterate the bad guys wherever they may seek cover by letting it be known a holy shrine is no longer holy when an element of terror is granted refuge within it's walls, give the new Iraqi government much of the accolades for doing so ("invaluable help," etc.), and move past this sort of self imposed drawing out of the conflicts; simply end the bad guys and move on.

If only I could articulate that in the way Hanson does; here's a snip:

We have to return to an audacious and entirely unpredictable combat mode; put on a happy, aw-shucks face while annihilating utterly the Baathist remnants and Sadr's killers; attribute this success to the new Iraqi government and its veneer of an army for its own 'miraculous' courage; ignore the incoming rounds of moral hypocrisy on Iraq from Europe (past French and German oil deals and arms sales), the Arab League (silence over Iraqi holocausts, cheating on sanctions), and the U.N. (Oil-for-Food debacle); explain to an exasperated American people why other people hate us for who we are rather than what we do; and apologize sincerely and forcefully once — not gratuitously and zillions of times — for the rare transgression.

Read the whole article; good stuff in there.

The measure of a man....

One of my favorite sayings is "To find out the true nature of a person, watch how they treat a waitress." It's the old notion that anyone can be a moral, righteous giant when everyone's watching, but their true character will be shown in those moments when the person has nothing to gain by being moral and righteous. This story, which comes from the Cincinnati Enquirer and is presented here by the Powerline guys, is one of many, many reasons I'm so impressed with our President. Remember, no reporters were around to see this; the picture was taken by the father of the girl in the picture.

Excellent Job Creation News

In this story, it would seem to indicate a permanent turnaround for the economic woes caused by 9/11 are slowly coming to fruition. Many people, especially Democrats, will still point to the 1.5 million net jobs that have been lost since Bush became president. What these people fail to bring up is the devastating effect 9/11 had on an economy that was already in a downturn. That's right, Clinton's luck was running out just at the right time for him to still be able to claim one of the greatest peace time economies ever. Well, is it just me, or did it just happen to be the time of the dot coms getting stock prices soaring despite huge losses on their books, the initial period after most of Eastern Europe was finally able to do business with the rest of the world, and the end of the Cold War that could have helped the economy along. Then, lo and behold, the dot com bubble didn't just burst, it exploded and took out more than just the dot com companies with it....computer makers, network infrastructure manufacturers, etc. were all hit hard by the explosion, not to mention the trickle down effects of all those dot com employees suddenly being without jobs (and yes, I am a proud adherent to the Reagan beliefs in trickle down economies).

Add on top of that 9/11, and it's a wonder that America didn't enter a depression; it may well have but for the quick action the Bush administration took in lowering taxes for EVERYONE, not just the rich as the Democrats would have you believe. The tax relief gained by everyone, including those nasty, large corporations we hear about, is what kept this country from suffering twice for 9/11; once in a physical way, and once in a fiscal way.

Eight straight months of jobs gains....sounds like something a campaign could use to it's favor.

Dodgers are rolling

I came into the season with very, very low expectations. The Angels just down the street (boo American League ball) were making move after move, and my Dodgers were stuck in the middle of a sale to a guy that nobody was certain had the cash necessary to buy the team.

Well, McCourt did buy the team, then fired just about everybody involved with the team in the past 8 years....not a bad move, I'd say, considering 8 years ago was the last time we were in the playoffs. The one firing I didn't like was that of GM Dan Evans. I thought the guy did well with what he had to work with, and he seemed nice enough. This DePodesta guy seems to have the magic touch, however, as my Dodgers are #1 in the west, albeit by .190 percentage points over the crummy Padres.

I'll take it.

$%(@!# Viruses

I don't know about you, but I have every piece of protection on my computer I can think of. I have ZoneAlarm, I have Norton System Works, I have Automatic Virus Detection turned on, I have AdAware, I update my virus definitions regularly...I think you get my point.

Then how in goodness name did I end up with a fleet of Adware viruses on my machine?!?!

Just spent the better part of 3 hours in pitched battle with the little buggers, and I think I have finally vanquished them. We'll see.

Links explanation

I figure I should put some kind of explanation for the links I've provided somewhere, so here at the beginning of my journey seems like a fine place for that....

Hugh Hewitt - A conservative with an all too rare quality; practicality. He calls it as it is, then explains how it's going to affect you. Great radio show as well. You can listen online from anywhere by visiting his site, clicking the "listen online" link, then head over to 870am KRLA; they provide 24 hour repeats of the previous day's show.

Victor Davis Hanson - The only way to describe the man is utterly brilliant. He combines an unbelievable grasp of the world and an uncanny ability to write about it in a way that keeps your interest. His writing is very often inspiring and always right on the money.

Dennis Prager - Dennis is obsessed with right and wrong; he wishes to praise right and condemn wrong at every possiblity. Less political than most radio hosts, he is always thoughtful and is constantly surprising me with a new take on the issues of the day. His radio show can also be heard through the KRLA 870am web site.

Mark Steyn - A real international writer, he writes for no less than 5 publications on an ongoing basis and covers America, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia. He brings a sharp, funny wit to his sharp, insightful commentary.

Powerline - A trio of bloggers whose takes on issues of the day are often the final word on said issues. They have an uncanny ability to look at polls and extract information from them that I have yet to see on any other site. They also bring a passion for their love of freedom and liberty that is infectious.

Showbiz Data - I know, I know, a bit of a curveball in the links starting with this one. I work in the entertainment industry (no, I'm not famous, I'm a finance guy), and as such like to keep up on the latest news. I chose to highlight this site because it's front page, every day, will have an article that illuminates an area of the industry. It is not filled with the gossip that Variety and Hollywood Reporter fill their pages with, and bring a business sense of presenting the news in this highly creative industry.

O Entertainment - Actually, this is who I work for....go ahead, take a look at the front page and come right back, I'll wait.....
I know, weird, huh? That is actually my boss' face on the front page (brain was borrowed from somewhere else). He's been an A-list writer/director for about 7 years now (Bruce Almighty, Patch Adams, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and much more); haven't heard of him? That's okay, not many people have. Just remember the name, because you will know it, whether you want to or not, in the years to come.

Day by Day Cartoon - This is a cartoon I found through Powerline, actually. I find it funny, and to find a political cartoon that isn't hard left made me happy, so I make sure to check it out.

Micro League Baseball Association - Forgive the indulgence, but I couldn't resist including a hobby of mine that is one of my favorite things ever. I've been involved for about 10 years now. We basically draft our own baseball team based on the player's stats from the previous season. We then load those teams into the Strat-O-Matic computer game and "play" a full 162 game schedule with our teams. Basically, every week a batch of 7 games is run automatically. What's fun about that? Well, every month all of us geek owners get together at one of our homes and play the games "live," meaning we act as the manager for every play of the games for that week. I've loved baseball since I can remember (where were you when Gibson hit his homerun, or Reuss threw his no-hitter?). It's great fun, and it's a great group of guys, so I had to share it with everyone out there.

That's my link rundown....for now. More to come when I post more links; seems logical.

Welcome to my blog

This blog will be an attempt to get out all those arguments worth arguing without talking the ear off of anyone that doesn't care. I believe what I believe and I am usually very passionate about those beliefs. We've all run into those folks that just want to talk about what they want to talk about because "that's what's REALLY important." Well, to some it is important, to others it's not. I've slowly come to realize this and, instead of talking my wife's ear off about things she couldn't possibly care less about, I figured I'd use a blog to vent.

Just FYI.....