Profiles in Shame: Progressive Democrats of America

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) is a wing of the US Democratic party that is committed to pulling the party as far left as possible. I don't discuss political parties very often on this site, but this is an exception. I consider myself a centrist and I wouldn't want anything to do with any of these goons.

Right now they are pushing for universal health care. By itself, that would not be so surprising. But they don't just want it for all Americans; they want it for everyone in America, including the estimated 12 million illegal aliens. This is not an exaggeration. Lou Dobbs called them out on his show, and interestingly, while they loudly complain, they don't dispute the charge.

Not only would this be rewarding lawbreaking, and is an outright attack on US sovereignty, but any adult knows it is not feasible. You simply cannot have open borders and a welfare state at the same time. But that matters little to folks who want to destroy the US and let the international community all take a slice.

All of them want to impeach everyone in the executive branch, and have written many books and articles to that effect. But they go farther than that. Some of it's members, such as Rep. Raul Grijalva, advocate Mexican reclamation of US lands, and others, such as Rep. John Conyers, have asked for UN monitoring of US elections.

Their other contributors read like a rogues gallery of the radical left: Jodie Evans, Tom Hayden, Rep. Barbara Lee, Medea Benjamin, and many, many other notorious figures.

Their plans don't have a chance in hell of succeeding, but it's frightening to know that people like this have substantial positions of leadership in the government.

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Weekend terrorism

If you are an American (or a German) you might want to know that there are major stories going on in the world this weekend, other than Obama's trip to Europe.

Terrorist blast in Yemen killed 10 people, two blasts in Istanbul, Turkey killed 15, while bombs in Ahmedabad, India kill 49. Meanwhile, just for a bit of perspective, each and every miniscule detail of Barack Obama's life is reported in full.

Meanwhile, a survey in the UK reveals that almost a third of all Muslims think that killing people in the name of Islam is justifiable, compared to 94 percent on non-Muslims. Some other disturbing results:

- 40 per cent support the introduction of sharia into British law for Muslims
- a third back the notion of a worldwide Islamic caliphate (state) based on sharia law
- 40 per feel it is unacceptable for Muslim men and women to mix freely
- 24 per cent do not think men and women are equal in the eyes of Allah

But, back on the subject of terrorism, I'll give you just one guess as to what religious group was responsible for all these attacks...

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One more roundup

San Francisco, by NZ Dave

OK, I shouldn't do so many of these, but I am busy these days and they are fun:

CALIFORNIA: Three people are dead, killed by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. What's makes it additionally tragic is that this is a direct result of mayor Gavin Newsom's sanctuary city policy in San Francisco (where the city helps shield illegal aliens from deportation). ICE dropped the ball as well. Extensive coverage at Michelle Malkin's site. Under massive political heat, Mayor Newsom announced some changes to their policy, but the city is still running TV advertisements reminding illegal aliens that they are safe there!

NEW YORK: Not surprisingly, the NY Times decides to run a campaign op-ed from Barack Obama, but not John McCain. They give some lame excuses, but as LGF points out, the NYT hasn't had a problem running pieces written by groups such as Hamas, and vigorously defended that too. Incidentally, this is at the same time that the key anchormen from every major news outlet in America is joining Obama for his Middle East trip. Does anyone really think there is no media bias?

IRAN: Nine sentenced to death for adultery. The sentence will be carried out by burying them up to their waists and pelting their heads with small stones until they are dead. A few human rights groups show rather weak outrage, but overall the media ignores it - probably because the United States isn't at fault here.

SERBIA: Former Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted men, is finally captured in Belgrade. He is accused of ordering the torture and slaughter of thousands of Muslims in Bosnia in the 1990s. This woman's story, of repeated rapes at the hand of Serbian soldiers, is all too typical.

UK/ISRAEL: Prime Minister Gordon Brown demands an end to "illegal" Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Strange that he doesn't speak so firmly against illegal settlers (illegal immigrants) in his own country...

UK: "Last year I killed a man". A subway conductor speaks about people who commit suicide by throwing themselves in front of the trains. It's a reminder of how people who selfishly kill themselves also leave an emotional toll from the bystanders of the event.

SWITZERLAND: News reports that a team of astronomers may have found "another Earth" are greatly exaggerated. Still, the science is quite compelling.

EGYPT: Two-thirds of Egyptian men admit to sexually harassing women. A majority claim that the women themselves are to blame! Remember, that this comes from a country where women are hardly free to walk around half-dressed, as in the West. Another in a long number or reasons why Egypt, once a jewel of world civilizations, has fallen woefully behind.

CALIFORNIA: DNA may be a wonderful crime-fighting tool, but it's also not quite as infallible as we might think. Some grist for the mill.

UK: More PC madness: A 64 year-old man is told he was breaking the law by photographing hoodlums hanging around in front of his house.



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Still here

But work demands are impossible to ignore. A load of updates coming soon.

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Another roundup

The woman at right is actress Helen Mirren, who still looks fantastic at 63 years old. Wow! More here

Still very, very busy these days, so here's an attempt at catchup:

AFGHANISTAN: An AP photographer, Rahmatullah Naikzad, stands by and watches, doing nothing (except making photos and video), while two women are executed by the Taliban, accused of prostitution. Doesn't that make him an accomplice? Many more details at Jawa Report.

AFGHANISTAN/ITALY: An Afghani female athlete, who was supposed to be a poster child for woman's right and freedom in her country, has now run away from her training came in Italy and is claiming asylum. I understand her situation, but still, how is change ever going to come to countries like Afghanistan when all the reformers flee?

NEVADA: The tide is turning. An owner of a chain of McDonald's restaurants in the Las Vegas area is fined one million dollars for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. Maybe that will get someone's attention.

MISSOURI: A new law mandates English driving tests and forbids "sanctuary cities" (cities that are circumventing federal law). I would think this was only common sense, but look for someone to find an excuse to fight it in court.

DUBAI: After years of laxity, undercover police are arresting foreign tourists/residents for "indecent behavior" on the beaches. Just one more reason why the popular destination is not really such a good deal. 17 were apprehended just today. Also, see here for more.

UK: In a horrible event, a man's head is cut off with a chainsaw. Incredibly, police are very quick to announce they think the man did it to himself, and "are not treating his death as suspicious". Hmmmm. Aren't there any skeptics at all?

ARIZONA: Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a hero to some, a villain to others, all because he dares to take action against illegal immigration. Many Arizona officials have publicly tried to undermine him, but rarely so blatantly as this. A local official from the Pima County legal defender’s office joins in a protest where an effigy of him (piñata style, of course) is beaten and decapitated. Absolutely disgusting. If he was Hispanic, you can bet the media would have been all over it. Lots of coverage and video at Michelle Malkin's site.

ISRAEL: In one of the most bizarre capitulations anywhere, Israel trades four prisoners to cheering Hizbollah supporters in exchange for two Israelis in Lebanon. Personally, I don't think terrorists should be bargained with at all, but that's not the biggest problem. You see, the two Israelis were already dead, and traded for four live terrorists, including one who brutally killed a four year-old girl. Is this supposed to be an equitable exchange? Moreover, it shows what kind of people run Hizbollah, when they spitefully won't even release a person's remains. In an apt description, Stern magazine says: "Israel trauert, die Hisbollah feiert" ("Israel cries, Hizbollah celebrates"). Not surprisingly, Hizbollah defenders like Juan Cole have nothing to say.

UK: However you feel about abortion, stories like this just don't get enough attention. A career working woman in the UK has had seven abortions (not as uncommon as you might think), and is paying a huge emotional price. Worth reading.

UK: The UK is soon going to require that employers offer a woman a full one-year paid vacation for every woman after she has a child. One feminist is not happy and explains how that would bankrupt her farming business. If government mandates benefits, then the government should pay them. I don't see this lasting very long.



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"Generation Kill"

I just saw the first episode of HBO's miniseries "Generation Kill" tonight. It follows the story of a Marine reconnaissance unit during the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

All I can say is...holy crap!!!

Every other attempt I've seen to dramatize the war was a dismal failure, and so full of absurdities that I lost count. This one is different. I don't know how they did it. Every uniform, every weapon, every tent, every piece of equipment is authentic to the Spring of 2003 when the events took place. I really, really, looked for mistakes and couldn't find a single one. There was even a blue force tracker in the lead character's Humvee!! I couldn't believe it! (The blue force tracker is a device with many uses, but primarily shows where other friendly forces are on the ground). The marines passed around their dip (chewing tobacco) cans inside the vehicles and spit out the window. 100% authentic.

The show seemed relatively even handed as well, simply showing what the marines were doing, rather than giving us some heavy Hollywood preaching over how evil the war is (or just as bad, going the other way - exaggerating and glorifying each and every thing that they do). The soldiers who fought in the war are/were human beings; some good, some bad, some stupid, some thoughtful. They complained, they whined, they hurt, they felt fear, and they did some incredibly heroic things.

However, this was only the first episode. I am rather guarded about what comes next. But it is an excellent start.

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Weekly roundup

Paul, a European red squirrel, das kleine Eichhörnchen, by Sven P

Very busy with classes and other obligations, so playing a little catch-up here:

AFGHANISTAN: Nine US soldiers die in the largest attack in several years. I am looking very closely for more information. Stay tuned. It still doesn't even get one-tenth of the attention of inane things like celebrity divorces.

GERMANY: While just about every other nation on Earth is taking a good look a expanding nuclear power, Germany has gone the opposite route. In 2000, Germany's leftist coalition government made a wildly optimistic prediction that renewable energy (wind, solar, etc) would rapidly grow in the next ten years, and passed a law mandating the closing of all Germany's nuclear plants by the year 2012. In turns out this was a very bad idea, and now they are facing a real power crisis in just a few years.

FRANCE: A Muslim woman has her application for citizenship rejected because her "radical practice of her religion is incompatible with French values". She has lived in France for several years, but has no concept of her rights, including the right to vote, and wears a full body garment when out in public. It's about time. Many will certainly protest the decision, but if a nation doesn't have the right to decide who will be citizens, then what can it ever decide? They aren't going to kick out the woman, just keep her from becoming a French citizen, with consequent right of residency, voting rights, etc. Since she doesn't resemble a Frenchwoman by any stretch of the imagination, this is only common sense. UPDATE: More complete coverage at Truth Be Known News.

SPAIN: Six African migrants die at sea attempting to reach the Canary Islands. This comes just a week after at least 14 Nigerians were lost at sea making the same attempt. The main problem is the asylum process; Spain will take most, if not all, of these asylum seekers to the mainland, where most of them will simply disappear. That's one hell of an incentive to risk their lives at sea - what really unfair is that the children are too young to make that decision for themselves, yet the boat people bring them anyway.

UK: Six people stabbed to death in just one day. Britain's "knife culture" is out of control. Strangely, the Daily Mail readily identifies the victims, but not the perpetrators. Can't help wondering - is that because they are immigrants? Certainly a booming drug culture and a ban on guns plays a part as well.

FRANCE: Palestinian and Israeli leaders claim they are on the verge of a breakthrough on a Middle East peace deal. But given the past track record, I'm not nearly as optimistic.

UNITED NATIONS: Unbelievably, Russia and China just vetoed sanctions against a murderous regime that recently held a sham election. Just what would qualify a nation for sanctions then?

UK: Al-Qaeda member and financier Abu Qatada is enjoying himself openly shopping in London. Also see here, for more about this lunatic.

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New kid on the block

A few dissident writers from Right Thinking, Left Coast have broken away to start their own brand new web site, with a great name: Victorious Opposition. I've been invited to become a contributor when I have more time. Go check it out.

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More media irresponsibility

AOL's web site posted this teaser:

See What We Sell to Iran
Cigarettes, Bras, Even Weapons Exports Surge During Bush Years

We've been selling weapons to Iran? Isn't that illegal? Read on in the actual article:

Sanctions are intended in part to frustrate Iran's efforts to build its military, but the U.S. government's own figures showed at least $148,000 worth of unspecified weapons and other military gear were exported from the United States to Iran during Bush's time in office. That included $106,635 in military rifles and $8,760 in rifle parts and accessories shipped in 2004.

Over $106,000 in rifles and accessories? Is this like another Iran Contra scandal? No, it turns out to be just an error:

The Bush administration looked into those shipments after AP questioned whether the U.S. really approved the export of military rifles to Iran. A review found the rifles and parts actually went to Iraq; the wrong country was entered on the shipping record, Treasury Department spokesman John Rankin said. The government will correct the data, he said.

So why did they go with the misleading headline? Geez, don't you think they might have read their own article before telling us that the USA was selling weapons to Iran?

Or, more likely, was this a deliberate bait and switch?

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Sins of media omission

Ret Colonel George E. "Bud" Day

I often think Michelle Malkin's columns go over the top, but sometimes she really hits the nail on the head.

This CNN article for example, was so blatantly partisan it might as well have been written by the Democratic National Committee:

(CNN) — One of the members of John McCain’s new Truth Squad — which his campaign says was launched to respond to unfair attacks on his record of military service –- was a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and appeared in an attack ad for the group in 2004.

The group was created to attack 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry’s military service record.

The article crudely tries to dismiss Col Day's endorsement of McCain by painting him as a "swift boat member", a term that has been so distorted by the media that it's considered an indelible stain on anyone it touches.

Problem is, Col Day appeared in a Swift Boat ad, but he wasn't a member of the group (see here). But the more troubling part is that no background of Col Day is mentioned whatsoever, except that he was a POW with McCain in Vietnam, as if he's only supporting McCain because they used to be roommates or something.

They don't have to go over his bio in full detail, but they might have mentioned just a little more. Like that he's a Medal of Honor recipient (although does appear in fuzzy text in the picture). Or that he's one of the most decorated veterans ever. Or that he has more than 35 years of military service in the Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force, seeing combat in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. In Vietnam, he survived imprisonment as a POW for more than five years, even though he was shot during an escape attempt, and tortured afterward. And that's only a small part of his story. He is, quite literally, a living legend.

One big clue that something is wrong is that John Cole thinks the article is just fine.

Incidentally, the piece was written by Rebecca Sinderbrand, who used to write for the left-leaning Washington Monthly, with articles such as "Rove 2.0: Dick Wadhams is the next Republican maestro of cutthroat campaigning. Can Democrats figure out how to stop him?" and "Unsettling: How self-delusion led Israel and America to disastrous occupations of Arab lands".

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The ransom rumor

If you've been watching the news at all, certainly you heard all about the dramatic release of 15 hostages (including 3 Americans, and Ingrid Betancourt, a former Columbian Presidential candidate) that were held for many years by FARC, a communist rebel group that is also involved in drug trafficking.

The Columbians claim that the hostages were freed by infiltrating the group and tricking the kidnappers that they were being moved to a new location. They boarded a helicopter and flew to freedom.

But something doesn't quite sound right with that. If the Columbians knew where the hostages were, why not raid the compound? Freeing the hostages is only half the victory. The other half is capturing/killing the kidnappers. Also, wasn't using a helicopter rather suspicious? FARC doesn't operate aircraft.

There are rumors that they were actually freed by paying ransom demands, which does sound a bit more credible. So what's the difference? Either way they were freed, right? Betancourt's reaction:

a report by a Swiss radio station that a ransom of US$20 million had been paid has prompted reporters to ask Betancourt what she thinks.

She dismisses the suggestion. However, her first reaction Saturday was: "If it were true, so much the better. Why not?"..."I suffered terribly,"

The "why not" is that $20 million rewards the kidnappers for the crime. It also gives them millions of dollars for weapons and equipment so they can plan their next kidnapping or terrorist act. Paying ransoms only fuels more kidnappings, which is why they are abhorrent and should be banned by international law. The world needs to unite to demonstrate that the paying ransoms is counterproductive and immoral.

For more info on this topic, read here.

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Another "wedding party" bombing

Cries of "wedding party" come up so often whenever the coalition bombs anyone in Iraq or Afghanistan, that it's becoming a cliché. Here is another one:

At least 20 people have been killed in a missile strike by coalition forces in Afghan's eastern Nangarhar province.

Local people say that the group was a wedding party and that most of the dead were women and children.

But the US has denied this, saying those killed were militants involved in previous mortar attacks on a Nato base.

The link above has accompanying video (sound doesn't seem to work). It does show a couple of younger boys, around 13-14 years old, but no women or small children. Pardon me for being skeptical; there were also previous claims of "wedding party massacres" in Iraq 2004, and Afghanistan in 2002. The former is highly suspect for many reasons, the latter was, at worst, anti-aircraft fire, and at best, a genuine wedding party but whose participants fired their weapons into the air in celebration (not a smart thing to do, particularly in wartime). There have also been other accusations by rumor.

Good commentary at Blackfive.net

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Happy 4th - Some not so happy

If you are an American, then you already know exactly what the 4th of July is. If you are not, go ahead and click on the photo above and read the document.

It's ironic that a nation that we fought such a bitter war against 232 years ago, is now the closest ally we have on the planet. There are even British Army instructors in my military course here in Arizona, brought here on a regular exchange program. Just one small illustration of how deep our alliance goes.

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the day. Unfortunately, as always, there are a few that are not enjoying it so much (warning - foul language):

Juan Cole writes an open poem/letter (presumably to President Bush). Here is a sample:

Your Fourth of July is blood for oil.

My Fourth of July is the pure sunbeam of peace.

It doesn't really improve from there. I am curious though - where is there any evidence that the current wars are for oil? I wish we were stealing oil - might be a bit cheaper for us then. I like his "sunbeam for peace" lyric. although I'm finding it hard to understand how a sunbeam has anything to do with it other than some neo-1960s LSD imagery; a true relic from the Woodstock era.

The People's Voice writes a "declaration of independence from the United States of America", complete with a doctored photo of dead children in front of Capitol Hill. Is it OK for me to question their patriotism?

Ken Layne at Wonkette shows his classy side:

We interrupt your Fourth of July with some Breaking News: Jesse Helms was apparently still alive, and now he’s dead, hooray! He was a sour troll and a bigot, and it’s a testament to every rotten thing about this country that for a quarter century, he was one of the most powerful people in American politics.

The tags for this post include "motherfuckers", "see you in hell", "sack of shit", and "trash".

Note: I wasn't a fan of Republican Jesse Helms either, but he was a US Senator, and this kind of language is despicable. Especially when you consider that Wonkette (like most liberal bloggers) didn't react this way even at the death of truly evil men like Saddam Hussein, and even joked about mourning for him.



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"How Conservatism Came To Copy Communism" [Updated]

No joke - more dishonest hyperbole by Andrew Sullivan (featuring the same Abu Gharaib photo he's posted about 100 times now) and Scott Shane at the New York Times.

Sullivan even dares any "right of center" blogger to write about it. How could I resist another chance to prove him wrong?

If you take their headlines at face value, the shocker is supposed to be that there's a document that proves that at Gitmo prison, the US used torture techniques taken directly from Communist China's instruction book in the 1950s. They include sleep-deprivation, restraints, and exposure.

There are so many things wrong with these assertions that I hardly know where to start. There isn't even a copy or a photo of the "infamous" publication provided, but for the moment I'll assume it exists.

1) The paper wasn't written by the Chinese, but in 1957 by an American sociologist who drew it from his interviews with POWs returning from the Korean War.

2) The techniques were hardly invented by China - making prisoners uncomfortable is a well-known method that goes back centuries. Does Sullivan and Shane really think we needed the Chinese to figure this out?

3) It was used by the military's SERE school (survival, evasion, resistance, escape), in order to help prepare servicemembers to resist enemy interrogations during times of capture. In other words, we are allowed to use these techniques on our own soldiers, but not on the enemy. A great irony - but that's another subject.

4) There is no evidence that it was actually used as a blueprint for techniques at Guantanomo anyway.

Make no mistake; I don't condone torture of any kind whatsoever. But Sullivan's additional assertion that "if China did it, it must be bad" is also rather childish. China used iron bars to hold it's prisoners too - should we get rid of those as well?

Finally, one line in the article is an outright lie:

The C.I.A. is still authorized by President Bush to use a number of secret “alternative” interrogation methods.

Wrong. The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 limits all agencies, including the CIA, to using only the interrogation techniques listed in the US Army field manual. And there is nothing secret about it, since anyone can download and read a copy. I don't support that law, since it shoehorns the Army's techniques on everyone else; the Army field manual was intended for enemy prisoners of war during conventional warfare, not for civilian combatants in the current war on terror. But whether you support it or not, it is the law.

Incidentally, this isn't the first time Sullivan has dishonestly tried to link Americans to Communists.

In the NYT's article comments section, I also find it amusing (and a little sad) that most of those who object to the article, do so because it's offensive to China! For example, Billy from New York:

You have got to be kidding me. I can't believe how low the New York times has gotten. It's anti-China bias can not be ever more obvious. Every day there are articles about how bad China is, how China kills babies, deers, dogs, etc etc. C'mon. NYTimes has got to back to 1950s to dig up dirt on china now?

Poor, misunderstood China! Hey, how about someone at the NYT defending their own country for a change? Or is that just not cool enough anymore?

UPDATE 08/07/2008 04:36:00 PM:
Apparently I was partially wrong about one thing above. Section 1002 of the The Detainee Treatment Act does limit only military services to using the Army's field manual, so the CIA may have a loophole. However, section 1003 limits what all other government agencies, including the CIA can do. In other words, the CIA still can't interrogate however they want. The specific wording:

No individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
...
In this section, the term `cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment' means the cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, as defined in the United States Reservations, Declarations and Understandings to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment done at New York, December 10, 1984.

How much more complete can you get?



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