Cause and Effect?

The bias of the L.A. Times as it relates to the "conflict" in Lebanon is illustrated below. Here is something which might be related to their approach to news.

Anti-Israel Bias

The blog by the name of Patterico's Pontifications has a really good illustration of the daily bias exhibited by the L.A. Times against Israel. Read it here. Liberals seem to know exactly what they consider war crimes and abuses by the Bush administration as it relates to the Geneva Conventions. The media whine incessantly about our treatment of terrorists at Guantanamo, but they gloss over the fact that it is a war crime to target civilians with things like rockets lobbed indiscriminately into cities. It is a war crime to involve civilians in war activities by hiding among them and yet we read not a word about this on the part of Hezbollah in the L.A. Times and other liberal media. All we see is the result of inadvertant bombing by Israel. Keep in mind what Lebanon would look like if they INTENTIONALLY targeted non-military assets and individuals.

As I have said in a previous entry in this blog, if you are going to war, you need to pursue it to a point where one of the participants is utterly defeated and sues for peace via surrender.

Modern Warfare

Best View has opined on this subject before, but now is as good a time as any to repeat my theory of warfare. World War II ended when the Japanese were convinced by 2 atomic bombs that continuation of a war they started was not tenable. So, they surrendered and they are now an ally. Germany had cities like Dresden carpet bombed to oblivion and they too got the message. They also surrendered and now they too are allies of sorts. The thing to remember is civilians in both countries were killed in large numbers. There was no call to "play nice" and use proportionate measures and all the baloney we are hearing now. If you are going to war, go to war to win and to win quickly. We did not do that in Korea and it lingers as a problem 60 years later. We did not fight to win in Viet Nam and that is now widely viewed as a tragic experience. In Iraq, we are left with a festering mess because Bush I did not want to press Saddam to actually surrender. Now we are also just sitting there hoping all sides will play nice.
I think the reason for this is found in the widely expressed opinion of those on the left that if such and such happens the "world" opinion will turn negative and we must respect that. I say screw the opinion of those who will do nothing and are not affected by terrorism at the present. Until Israel eradicates those who have an expressed intention to wipe them off the map, there will be no peace and there might as well be an unpopular level of war by-product--civilian deaths and the destruction of infrastructure.

Congressional Silly Season

We are getting down to the end of the congressional session before our politicians take the month of August off for a well-needed vacation---with the French and Germans. Democrats are in full throat calling for a raise in the minimum wage and liberal Republicans don't want to be in an election race where they can be accused of not giving a man his full due for a day's work, so they want to at least be able to say they support a "living wage", also. In order to do this, the leaders of the Republican majority have devised a bill which would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 over 3 years, but it is combined with a decrease in the estate taxes which the democrats can't stand since this is a "tax break for the rich". Of course, there is no way you are going to take more from a rich man's estate than he wants to relinquish. A wealthy man can always find a way to protect his accumulated assets from being confiscated by the government. By the same token, you are never going to force an intelligent business man to pay more in wages than his circumstances will allow. Liberals seem incapable of understanding that if someone is being paid $6.00/hour in an environment like ours when there is essentially full employment, that is all that job or person is worth and all anyone will pay. Tell a businessman to pay more and a job is lost. The democrats in the senate now say they will kill the house-passed measure and not permit an increase in the minimum wage to prevent the estate tax from being lowered. This will leave the senate democrats in the position of denying a benefit to millions (in their rhetoric) in order to extract more in tax from almost nobody. The status quo is probably as good an outcome as we can expect. On to the beach.

Porn Radio???

KFYE-FM hasn't budged from the Fresno-area radio dial, but it's about as far as you can get from the Christian music, sermons and Bible stories it was broadcasting until about a week ago.

Now it calls itself "Porn Radio" — "all sex radio, all the time," with a suggestion that people under 21 not listen.

Songs with little in common except suggestive titles and lyrics fill the playlist, including "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" by the Beatles, "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye and "Nasty" by Janet Jackson. Tamer songs are heated up by adding recorded moans and groans.

A liberal's view of democrats

Peter Beinart is a liberal editor of the New Republic who concludes a recent essay as follows:

The Democratic Party's single biggest foreign policy liability is not that Americans think Democrats are soft. It is that Americans think Democrats stand for nothing, that they have no principles beyond political expedience. And given the party's behavior over the past several months, it is not hard to understand why.

Read it all here.

More on "How True"

A reader is finally setting me straight on the letter referenced below and I now have a link to the original. I am not sure where I got the erroneous version, but you can read the letter posted by David Bogner here. Sorry about the failure to attribute it correctly in the first instance.

Friedman's Mid-east musings

Thomas Friedman thinks we should either go to war with Syria or start talking to it. He says this attempt to isolate them is not working and we are missing a chance, however slim, to separate Hezbolla from Iran. Read the whole thing here.

"How True" may be apocryphal

One of the readers of Best View sent a note to the effect that he had checked with the newspaper and the letter reprinted in the entry entitled "How True" did not appear there. I regret that, but I still agree with the message. Now I don't have to feel so sorry for the poor Marine.

Troops????

From the Opinion Journal.


Support is building quickly for an international military force to be placed in southern Lebanon," the New York Times reports:

But there remains a small problem: where will the troops come from?

The United States has ruled out its soldiers' participating, NATO says it is overstretched, Britain feels its troops are overcommitted and Germany says it is willing to participate only if Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia that it would police, agrees to it, a highly unlikely development.

"All the politicians are saying, 'Great, great' to the idea of a force, but no one is saying whose soldiers will be on the ground," said one senior European official. "Everyone will volunteer to be in charge of the logistics in Cyprus."

So let's see if we have this straight. The U.N. passes a resolution calling on Hezbollah to disarm. Then nothing much happens until Hezbollah enters Israeli territory to kill and kidnap Israeli soldiers, whereupon Jerusalem takes it upon itself to enforce that resolution.

Now the "international community" is calling on Israel to exercise "restraint" as rockets rain on Israeli cities and urging an "international military force" to impose a "cease-fire" without thinking through where that force would come from.

How True!

Nebraska Alliance - Times Herald Lincoln, July 19, 2006 Why the world should stand back and let Israel do what it has to do Dave Wilson, Capt. retired, US Navy When I was in the Navy, I once witnessed a bar fight in downtown Olongapo (Philippines) that still haunts my dreams. The fight was between a big oafish Marine and a rather soft-spoken, medium sized Latino sailor from my ship. All evening the Marine had been trying to pick a fight with one of us and had finally set his sights on this diminutive shipmate of mine. . . figuring him for a safe target. When my friend refused to be goaded into a fight the Marine sucker punched him from behind on the side of the head so hard that blood instantly started to pour from this poor man's mutilated ear. Everyone present was horrified and was prepared to absolutely murder this Marine, but my shipmate quickly turned on him and began to single-handedly back him towards a corner with a series of stinging jabs and upper cuts that gave more than a hint to a youth spent boxing in a small gym in the Bronx. Each punch opened a cut on the Marine's startled face and by the time he had been backed completely into the corner he was blubbering for someone to stop the fight. He invoked his split lips and chipped teeth as reasons to stop the fight. He begged us to stop the fight because he could barely see through the river of blood that was pouring out of his split and swollen brows. Nobody moved. Not one person. The only sound in the bar was the sickening staccato sound of this sailor's lightning fast fists making contact with new areas of the Marine's head. The only sound I have heard since that was remotely similar was from the first Rocky film when Sylvester Stallone was punching sides of beef in the meat locker. Finally the Marine's pleading turned to screams. . .. a high, almost womanly shriek. And still the punches continued relentlessly. Several people in the bar took a few tentative steps as though they wanted to try to break it up at that point, but hands reached out from the crowd and held them tight. I'm not ashamed to say that mine were two of the hands that held someone back. You see, in between each blow the sailor had begun chanting a soft cadence: "Say [punch] you [punch] give [punch] up [punch]. . . say [punch] you [punch]were [punch] wrong [punch]". He had been repeating it to the Marine almost from the start but we only became aware of it when the typical barroom cheers had died down and we began to be sickened by the sight and sound of the carnage. This Marine stood there shrieking in the corner of the bar trying futilely to block the carefully timed punches that were cutting his head to tatters. . . right down to the skull in places. But he refused to say that he gave up. . . or that he was wrong. Even in the delirium of his beating he believed in his heart that someone would stop the fight before he had to admit defeat. I'm sure this strategy had served him well in the past and had allowed him to continue on his career as a barroom bully. Finally, in a wail of agony the Marine shrieked "I give up", and we gently backed the sailor away from him. I'm sure you can guess why I have shared this story today. I'm not particularly proud to have been witness to such a bloody spectacle, and the sound of that Marine's woman-like shrieks will haunt me to my grave. But I learned something that evening that Israel had better learn for itself if it is to finally be rid of at least one of its tormentors: This is one time an Arab aggressor must be allowed to be beaten so badly that every civilized nation will stand in horror, wanting desperately to step in and stop the carnage. . . but knowing that the fight will only truly be over when one side gives up and finally admits defeat. Just as every person who had ever rescued that bully from admitting defeat helped create the cowardly brute I saw that evening in the bar, every well-intentioned power that has ever stepped in and negotiated a ceasefire for an Arab aggressor has helped create the monsters we see around us today. President Lahoud of Lebanon, a big Hezbollah supporter and a close ally of Syria, has been shrieking non-stop to the UN Security Council for the past two days to get them to force Israel into a cease fire. Clearly he has been reading his autographed copy of 'Military Success for Dummies Arab Despots' by the late Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt. Ever since Nasser accidentally discovered the trick in '56, every subsequent Arab leader has stuck to his tried and true formula for military success: Instigate a war. Once the war is well underway and you are in the process of having your ass handed to you. . . get a few world powers to force your western opponent into a cease fire. Whatever you do, don't surrender or submit to any terms dictated by your enemy. That would ruin everything! All you have to do is wait it out and eventually the world will become sickened at what is being done to your soldiers and civilian population. . . and will force a truce. Once a truce has been called you can resume your intransigence (which probably caused the conflict in the first place), and even declare victory as your opponent leaves the field of battle. This tactic has never failed. Not once. In fact it worked so will for the Egyptians in 1973, that to this day they celebrate the Yom Kippur War - a crushing defeat at the hands of Israel - as a military victory! No kidding. . . it's a national holiday over there! President Lahoud has already begun to shriek like a school girl to the UN Security Council to "Stop the violence and arrange a cease-fire, and then after that we'll be ready to discuss all matters." Uh huh. Forgive me if I find that a tad hard to swallow. He allowed Hezbollah to take over his country. He allowed the regular Lebanese army to provide radar targeting data for the Hezbollah missile that struck the Israeli destroyer. He has turned a blind eye while Iranian and Syrian weapons, advisers and money have poured into his country. And now that his country is in ruins he wants to call it a draw. As much as it may sicken the world to stand by and watch it happen, strong hands need to hold back the weak-hearted and let the fight continue until one side finally admits unambiguous defeat

Hastert still doesn't get it

Dennis Hastert was on Fox yesterday and was asked about the FBI warrant to search the office of Congressman William Jefferson. House Speaker Dennie Hastert did not rule out getting involved in disgraced Congressman William Jefferson's latest lawsuit, though he indicated that he would not do it in defense of Jefferson; rather, he thinks Representatives have certain "prerogatives" written into the Constitution which demand a procedure for searching beyond, evidently, the standard warrant. So, in other words Hastert believes that if the Executive Branch goes to the Judicial Branch to get a warrant to search the offices of anyone else in the U.S. except a congressman it is O.K. That is nonsense as anyone who can read the Constitution will readily understand. It is sad to see the Republicans get to the belief they are entitled to things the others of us are not within just 12 years of getting a majority. It took the Democrats 40 years to get there and they were turned out in 1994.

I didn't know this

"I'd always thought marrying a blood relative as close as a cousin was immoral, and certainly risky if you plan to have kids. Conventional wisdom says only primitive people who live in isolated places marry cousins. It leads to stupid children. But that's a myth.
It's the sort of myth that leads to stupid laws. Half the states in America have banned cousin marriage, but there's no good reason for it. You can marry your cousin and have perfectly intelligent kids.
Take Albert Einstein -- was he intelligent enough for you? His parents were cousins, and he married his cousin. So did Charles Darwin and Queen Victoria. Worldwide, 20 percent of all married couples are cousins. "
From an essay by John Stossel.
Read the entire article here.

Congress at Work

For some reason, I just switched over to C-Span and our House of Representatives was voting on whether or not to make this School Bus Safety Week. All in favor vote Aye and all opposed vote Nay. This is a 5 minute vote. Next will be do we love Momma's fried chicken?

Outrageous!!

I don't have time this morning to comment on this article, but it is so mind-boggling that I probably couldn't do it justice.

Just Wondering

If there is anything really important to address, is there anything more worthless than the U.N.?

I am not exactly clear on what it is, but wouldn't soccer be a more exciting game if there was no such thing as "offside"?

Is there a country anywhere which doubts that if Israel feels its existence is threatened it would use the nuclear option?

Is there a more disgraceful example of political corruption in the history of the U.S. than the Big Dig in Massachusetts?

Feel free to comment if you disagree.

The French Reaction

This was entirely predictable, but is almost humorous in a way. Israel is invaded and some soldiers are killed and others are kidnapped. This is on one front. On this front (Lebenon) and another one (Gaza), rockets are lobbed into civilian populations from a territory handed over with no strings attached and no Israeliis were left behind. So how should Israel respond? Well, that response should be proportional.

"I find honestly -- as all Europeans do -- that the current reactions are totally disproportionate," he said in a live television interview on France's national Bastille Day. So spoke Jacques Chirac.

Who could have predicted that Israel would respond in a way that exceeded that which France would adopt? Some things never change.

Crime and Guns

Florida has no state law restricting assault weapons or rapid-fire ammunition magazines. Florida also does not require background checks at gun shows, does not require child-safety locks to be sold with guns, does not have any handgun safety standards to limit Saturday night specials and even forces police to let people carry hidden handguns in public."
Naturally, the anti-gun groups rushed to claim that tourists should not go there because they would most likely be shot by the lawlessness sure to result. Well, the Palm Beach Post just reported the crime rate in Florida is at an all-time low. Governor Bush attributed some of that to the gun laws.
Meanwhile, there is the report from Washington, D. C. that a crime emergency has been declared in that area and maybe it is not a coincidence that D.C. has the most strict gun laws in the nation. Of course, liberals find this concept impossible to comprehend and accept. It is the same phenomenon as lowering taxes raises revenues. They don't get it and evidently never will.

Gotta obey the law

This just in: Now let's hope the idiotic Republican leadership doesn't persist with the notion that Congressional Offices are sanctuaries for illegal activity.

Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan said members of Congress are not above the law. He rejected requests from lawmakers and Democratic Rep. William Jefferson to return material seized by the FBI in a May 20-21 search of Jefferson's office.

World Opinion

I was reading today that we need to close the detention facility at Guantanamo because of numerous calls internationally to close it. There must be something wrong with me since it would be hard for me to care less about the opionion of these other countries who would not hesitate to yell for us to come save their butts if military action was required. In addition, each of these countries have long lists of their citizens lined up to get into this country via the immigration route. I would tell them to go jump a stump. I am not even sure what that means, but we better keep this G-rated.

Liberals are so predictable

Last June 28 Bestview pointed out how the arrest of the home-grown terrorist in Miami would be challenged by those who would point out that they hadn't done anything wrong yet. Well, here is the New York Times first offering on this aspect of Bush's success which they can't abide.

The great Hollywood anti-war fast---Steyn

Here is some of Mark Steyn's take on the movie industries support for the Cindy Sheehan fast until the war is over. As mentioned in an earlier Bestview offering, some of our finest Hollywood stars will support her by not eating for an entire 24 hours. Read it all here.

At adjoining tables, other celebrities rushed to show their support for the anti-war movement: ''I'll not have what she's not having." Winona Ryder is telling waiters, ''Hold the haunch of venison.'' Keira Knightley is saying, ''Hey, I'll just go with the short stack this morning. And the low-fat simulated-maple syrup substitute.'' Ice T has given up iced tea. Disgusted by the callousness of the Bush war machine, William Powell and Myrna Loy have decided to go without the olive in their fourth martini. Willie Nelson is said to be gaunt and sounding croaky. Michael Moore, hovering dangerously at 300 pounds, has told friends, ''You can never be too rich but you can be too thin.'' Molly Ringwald's press agent has announced his client is starving for publicity. Tom Cruise was reported as looking physically shrunken, but then put his elevator shoes back on. Demonstrating yet again his strong personal commitment to political activism, George Clooney has delegated his rolling fast to his stunt double for insurance reasons. Yoko Ono has released a new all-star charity single of ''Give Peas A Chance.'' In the forthcoming Bond movie, 007 is tossed into a tank of ravenous sharks, but they refuse to eat him and, in a savage indictment of Bush foreign policy, sip their mineral water in a desultory fashion for 20 minutes before calling for the check. America's greatest living war hero and simultaneous anti-war hero, John Kerry, pledged his own passionate support for the crusade of his celebrity friends: ''I ordered the banana cream pie before I sent it back.''

Georgia Votes Finally Count

ATLANTA, Jul. 6, 2006 (AP Online delivered by Newstex) -- The state Supreme Court reinstated Georgia's constitutional ban on gay marriage Thursday, just hours after New York's highest court upheld that state's gay-marriage ban.

The Georgia Supreme Court, reversing a lower court judge's ruling, decided unanimously that the ban did not violate the state's single-subject rule for ballot measures. Superior Court Judge Constance Russell of Fulton County had ruled that it did.

Seventy-six percent of Georgia voters approved the ban when it was on the ballot in 2004.

North Korea

We need to do something to get the attention of these psychopaths. First we need to get our troops out of South Korea and then our options open up considerably. Next we need to see that Japan has nuclear capability. That would get China's attention which is the best vehicle to get Korea's attention.

Starving for Peace

Cindy Sheehan vows to not eat until the troops in Iraq are brought home. Some of the Hollywood idiots are supporting her by not eating for 24 hours. Bestview predicts Cindy will find a reason to eat before she starves to death.

My kind of Democrat

Governor Richardson of New Mexico was elected in 2002 and since then has cut the state's income tax to 4.9% from 8.2% and cut the capital gains tax in half. This has resulted in a 1/2 billion surplus fueled by a 27% increase in revenues. He says the Democrats need to be a party of growth rather than one of redistribution. If he gets the Democrat nomination for President, I may vote for him if John McCain runs against him. That would be a first for me.

Exaggeration? I don't think so.

A cycle of violence in the mideast??

Of all the conflicts in the world, the one that seems the most tediously and hopelessly endless is the Arab-Israeli dispute, which has been going on in much the same way, it seems, for 60 years. Just about every story you'll see will characterize Israel's invasion of Gaza as a continuation of the cycle of violence.

What is so remarkable about the current wave of violence in Gaza is that the event at the origin of the "cycle" is not at all historical, but very contemporary. The event is not buried in the mists of history. It occurred less than one year ago. Before the eyes of the whole world, Israel left Gaza. Every Jew, every soldier, every military installation, every remnant of Israeli occupation was uprooted and taken away.

How do the Palestinians respond? What have they done with Gaza, the first Palestinian territory in history to be independent, something neither the Ottomans nor the British nor the Egyptians nor the Jordanians, all of whom ruled Palestinians before the Israelis, ever permitted? On the very day of Israel's final pullout, the Palestinians began firing rockets out of Gaza into Israeli towns on the other side of the border. And remember: those are attacks not on settlers but on civilians in Israel proper, the pre-1967 Israel that the international community recognizes as legitimately part of sovereign Israel, a member state of the U.N. A thousand rockets have fallen since.

Read the whole thing here.