March 29, 2006

Aztlan

One curious thing about all those Mexicans demonstrating in Los Angeles was that American flags were outnumbered by Mexican flags. It is curious, because the media claim that all these illegal immigrants---what they call in their Orwellian fashion 'undocumented workers'---only want to become law-abiding citizens of the US, to pay taxes and raise their families. As Demarche notes,

It would seem to me that if you are trying to make the point that you want to stay in America and celebrate all that America is and means that you would pick up the Stars and Stripes, and maybe chant the pledge of allegiance as you march in your thousands.

There were indeed pledges made, but not to America. There was plenty of "Viva Mexico!" to be heard, an odd thing to say as Mexico was certainly the one place where those marchers did not want to be. And some future loyal, law abiding and tax paying American citizens displayed their patriotism by raising both flags in a rather odd way.

(Hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

Try to imagine such a thing being tried at, say, a high school football game in West Texas on a Friday night. Do such a thing in front of me and I swear to God you had better have dental insurance. You get the idea. Such obvious treason could only be done among hundreds of thousands of traitors and illegals---criminals, to call such by their proper name.

Here is another photo from the same demonstration:

Let us translate the scribbling of these patriotic and loyal future Americans.

If you think I'm "illegal" because I'm Mexican learn the true history because I'm in my homeland.

No one thinks the writer is 'illegal' because he is Mexican but because he broke US law in crossing our border illegally. If a criminal does not enjoy the appellation of criminal, well too damn bad.

But the second part of the sign deserves attention. The writer claims that he is in his 'homeland.' He is referring to the fact that California was once part of Mexico. And indeed it was. (But before that it was Spanish. Before that it was populated with Indians.) The US under President James K. Polk (1845-49) cooked up a war with Mexico and at its end the US Marines were at the Halls of Montezuma. Besotted with Manifest Destiny, we forced Mexico to give up what now are the US states of California, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and parts of Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming. We had already taken Texas in 1845. A few years later we bought from Mexico what was known as the Gadsden Purchase for $10 million, filling out New Mexico and Arizona. One-half of what had been Mexican territory became by force of arms and money American soil.

Now comes the important part: The marchers do not want the southwestern US to stay American soil. They want a new nation called Aztlan. It is to be taken from the US by mass illegal immigration. After a few more years these loyal and patriotic future Americans will outnumber native-born Americans and will secede from the Union. That is their plan at any rate. Here is a map of this future nation that they call 'Aztlan.'

For a more refined map of this fantasy click here.

Is this possible? Of course. History does not cease functioning because we are ignorant of it. Or because we believe we are simply too powerful and rich to be defeated by a bunch of ignorant rabble. And how ironic would it be if America smashed radical Islam to pieces overseas only to be defeated by illegal immigration here at home. If Americans want to keep the Southwest they had better be ready to fight for it.

But do not believe me. Read what ex-president of Mexico Lopez Portillo said:

I have proudly affirmed that the Mexican nation extends beyond the territory enclosed by its borders.

And here is what Mario Obledo baldly states. He was once the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under California Governor  Jerry Brown. What he writes is manifestly treasonous.

California is going to be a Hispanic state. Anyone who doesn't like it should leave. Every constitutional office in California is going to be held by Hispanics in the next 20 years. People who don't like such demographic changes should go back to Europe.

Want more? Here is professor Charles Truxillo from the University of New Mexico.

I may not live to see the Hispanic homeland, but by the end of the century my students' kids will live in it, sovereign and free.

It is a waste of time to remind those above and all who agree with them that what they want cannot be fulfilled without an ocean of Latin American blood. It is only through war that Aztlan can come into being. Of course, war is exactly what the sovereign state of Mexico has been waging against us for a generation. War is exactly how America got its own Southwest. War has been and will be the way nations are born. War defines the history of Mexico itself: From Olmec to Zapotec to Maya to Teotihuacan to Chichimec to Toltec to Aztec to Spaniard to Mexican to American. Each making war upon the other, each being subsumed by the victor. Until now. Now the vanquished are themselves claiming victory. This:

is becoming this:

A further irony: Mexicans flee their own nation but work to implant to worst aspects of it in the US. Take a look at Los Angeles where all those marchers demonstrated. It is more violent, dirty and poorly educated than it was 30 years ago. To state the matter plainly: The barbarians are bringing barbarism to America. Los Angeles is coming to resemble nothing else but Mexico itself: violent, dirty and poorly educated. And if Aztlan ever comes into being it will be just the same.

(To be continued...)

March 28, 2006

Angels or Visigoths?

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This is the first part of a series of writings concerning all those illegal Mexicans here, there and everywhere in the US. First, my credentials (such as they are) as a writer on things Latin American. My father was a Mexican who himself probably crossed the border into El Norte illegally. (Yeah, he was both a bastard and a bastard maker, but that is beside the point.) Second, I have spent 14 years traveling, working and backpacking in Latin America and visiting every single nation there. Third, I have a number of ex-wives and ex-girlfriends, all of them Latinas---and all very pretty, thank you very much. Fourth, like all of those teeming hordes of Mexicans I am Catholic. Fifth, like all those teeming hordes of Mexicans I love the land of Mexico. There is something about sitting around a plaza in Oaxaca, nursing a Tecate while recovering from a walking tour of Monte Alban. Do this and you just might see God.

____________________

On Sunday 500,000 Mexicans and sundry Latin Americans demonstrated in Los Angeles. Other teeming thousands did the same in various cities from sea to shining sea. Much fear and loathing has emerged in the reporting on all of this. Some truth has emerged too. So what gives? Should Americans worry about this mass of humanity? Or should we relax and welcome each and every one into our nation?

OK, so let us begin looking at this political, economic, cultural and demographic mess one thing at a time and in no particular order of importance.

Mexico is almost what political scientists call a 'failed state.' It can by no means provide the minimum requirements---clean water, education, employment, security---to its population of over 110,000,000. The corruption in Mexico is near Nigerian proportions and second only to absurd little Paraguay in all of Latin America. Mexico is a financial dead beat and a wastrel bankrupt. It is violent, lawless and impoverished, and its political class is widely despised---obviously for good reason. The grossly corrupt leaders of Mexico have long used the US as a safety valve to relieve all sorts of political, economic and social pressures. Because El Norte exists no Mexican politician has had to deal with those forces inside Mexico that would otherwise tear the place apart. Thus real reform has been rendered unnecessary as any problems can be pushed onto the plate of Americans.

Mexicans would simply have to tolerate such oppressive political incompetence just as every other Latin American has to tolerate his own nation's political incompetence. But Mexico has a bit of luck in being 'so far from God but so close to the United States.' With a little spunk and initiative just about any Mexican can get up to the border of the United States and cross into the land of the gringos---illegally of course. In fact an entire industry has emerged to enable Mexicans to do just that. Transportation to the border, falsified documents, connections inside the US---all can be arranged in Mexico for a fee. The Mexican government itself is party to such economic activity and no doubt takes a healthy cut of every peso that crosses from one hand to another.

That such an industry exists proves Say's Law. This supply of such ready and willing Mexicans creates a demand to get them to the US. You should know that 10 percent of all citizens of Mexico are living in the US illegally. They have no plans to return to Mexico. They are here to stay. That is the issue. We have to deal with it. How we deal with it will define our nation forever. So let us do the right and honorable thing---as soon as we find out just what the right and honorable thing is.

So be prepared for a bit of work to inform yourselves. Let us not go off half-cocked as so many did about the ports deal with the United Arab Emirates. Do yourself and our country a favor and pick up a book on Mexican history. You might start with Mexico: A Biography of Power. It is by Enrique Krauze, himself a Mexican, and so it can escape the charge of being gringo propaganda. If you are curious about the inner workings of the Mexican mind you must read The Labyrinth of Solitude by the Mexican writer Octavio Paz. He took a great deal of heat for exposing the Mexican psyche to gringo readers. Much of what Paz writes is not at all flattering to his Mexican brothers. Read Paz so that you can understand exactly what we as Americans are up against. To be forewarned is to be well-armed.

(To be continued...)

March 27, 2006

Showing the Flag

From a Christian point of view easily the most wicked city in the US is San Francisco. This is no secret to any sentient American of about any age. One can see all sorts of perversions practiced there openly. So-called 'Gay Pride' parades are particular in their public display of naked homosexual sex. A preacher man some years back took a tour of the city. Upon his return he was asked what he thought of the place. "Well, if God does not destroy San Francisco then He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology." For those of a monotheistic bent, San Francisco has been for some time occupied territory.

But the soldiers of God have taken the fight to the enemy.

More than 25,000 evangelical Christian youth landed Friday in San Francisco for a two-day rally at AT&T Park against "the virtue terrorism" of popular culture...

The leaders of the city responded to this invasion of its hallowed ground

by an official city condemnation and a clutch of protesters who said their event amounted to a "fascist mega-pep rally."

An elected public servant, one Mark Leno---a Democrat, of course---said of these young Christian soldiers that

they're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco.

Nice to hear the voice of tolerance in oh-so-tolerant San Francisco. A counter protest was made up of the usual suspects and could almost be said to represent the different voting blocks of the Democrat Party. They condemned the various Christian groups who had joined up for the rally in the city by the bay.

Those degenerates in San Francisco are damned but they are not stupid. They recognize the Enemy when He shows up in their midst. As well they should, for if Christianity is true then the souls of San Francisco's public sodomites are destined for Hell. No doubt they hope beyond hope in what is left of their heart of hearts, that the whole Bible is a mess of lies and the God presented therein is dead. If not, then at the moment of their death they will have a whole lot of explaining to do. Not that it would matter much then.

March 23, 2006

Smart Aleck Quips

The next time some anti-American type berates this nation, ask him this: "Sir, if you had to serve time in a prison, would you rather that prison be in the US or, say, in the Palestinian Territories?" This question in a slightly different form might well be this: "Sir, were Iraqi prisons better under Saddam than they are today?"  Of course, you might ask an Iraqi.

____________________

The mainstream media have a bizarre fetish. They see American defeat wherever they look in Iraq in particular and in the War on Terror in general. They positively relish such unlikely events. Do they ever wonder what would happen to them if al-Qaeda emerged triumphant in the US? The first to be executed would be New York Times editors. Of course, they could convert to Islam and save their hides. They would have to write articles in favor of jihad and Islam. But then, they already do.

This is the thing about treason that is seldom mentioned: Traitors---the Murthas and Kerrys and Clintons and Gores and Kennedys and Durbins---really have no allegiance. If the US were ever conquered by Islam those fine creatures above would begin to spout the glories of the Koran. Listen closely, and you can hear some of them doing it now.

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Here is one foreigner who is becoming a Moslem but does not quite know it.

I love a guy who speaks his mind and is eloquent about it. I wish I had written this Kobayashi Maru quip:

I found Ayn Rand after college, and Jesus Christ after 9-11. The latter trumps the former.

And this:

What we do not do is provide one faith and kill anyone who does not believe it. That is medieval. That is in our past. To win this war, we must somehow bring a brutal culture up through five hundred years of development in a fraction of the time it took us. For all the nicey-nice rhetoric that the diplomats like to coat it with, this is and always has been a clash of civilizations.

Or this from Macsmind:

For those who find my 'overt" Christianity upsetting, I do not apologize. Contrary to the opinions of some, Christianity is a exclusive faith founded on the person of Jesus Christ who was NOT a prophet, nor simply a good teacher or good man, but as he claimed to be "God in the Flesh", therefore greater than all others as God is subservient to no one. "There is NO OTHER name under heaven by which we may be saved - PERIOD."

And this from Matt May:

The more these idiots from the media who make no bones about their pure hate for the President, the more it helps his cause and the more it reveals his who is on the correct side of history and who is attempting to cover up the truth.

These are the type of guys you want on your side in a bar fight.

____________________

A bunch of Muslim scholars (what do they teach, anyway?) still have their turbans in a tizzy over those Mohammed cartoons.

How strong must this prophet fellow be if he is thrown into peril by cartoons? And what exactly is this 'Islamic nation' that scholar speaks of? I can't find the damn thing anywhere.

March 21, 2006

Busy, Busy, Busy and Alas

No, that is not the name of a law firm. It is a description of my workload until Saturday. A teacher's work sometimes is light and so goes down with ease. At other times it comes in floods that threaten to overwhelm. Now it is coming in floods---as in papers, quizzes, projects, test preparation and grades. No respite until Saturday.

Of course, these days being Lent there is no respite at all from the noisome minions of the Prince of Darkness. The monster is always about, a roaring lion with jaws agape. He seeks me, evidently considering this teacher quite the morsel. He will lose but there will be blood on the ground. Just once---just once---I would like to kick his a** and be done with it: Be done with all the temptations, all the weaknesses, all the backsliding.

But His Mercy is what really comes in floods during these 40 days and 40 nights. With out this absolutely undeserved Blessing I would be damned. So would you. So would the world.

March 18, 2006

Rush is Wrong

Now that is a sentence one cannot write very often. I have listened to Limbaugh since his first year in radio. The thoughts I had when I first heard the guy were shared with many. At long last here was someone who said things straight. At long last here was someone who was not enslaved to the drivel offered by the mainstream media. At long last here was someone who spoke for us.

And do not get me wrong. I still think exactly the same. It was Rush Limbaugh who broke the monopoly of the media and forced it to compete for the minds of Americans. After Rush came all the rest---Sean Hannity, Tony Snow, Glen Beck, Lars Larson. It was Rush who showed the way and by doing so became the most popular talk show host in American history.

I have heard many critics of Rush, most of them convulsed by hatred of him. I have yet to hear a critic who had actually listened to him. I have read his books, read his newsletter, seen his TV show and I listen to him every day. I even listened to the show while traveling in Central and South America when I could get to an Internet cafe. So let us say that I am an unapologetic Limbaugh fan. And I agree with him most of the time.

But not on the UAE port deal. No, I still have no idea if the deal itself was a great and cool thing for the US. Rush certainly thought so. His reasoning went thus: He had been to the UAE. He saw it in the middle of a massive program of modernization. He saw Arabs in the UAE using Internet, wearing Western clothes---no, not Stetsons and cowboy boots (now that would be a sight!)---driving Western cars and so on. He concluded that the Arabs there wanted to be "like us." Therefore, they would actually become "like us" one day. The port deal would hasten that moment.

Rush is wrong. He confuses 'modernization' with 'westernization.' These are not the same things at all. This was the main point of Bernard Lewis' What Went Wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response. Simply stated, modernization is the acquisition of modern gadgetry: electronics, cars, fashions, weaponry, TV and so on. Westernization is the acquisition of western ideas: democracy, capitalism, a free press and speech, bills of rights, the equality of the sexes and so on. One can have the first and still be your enemy unto death. As a matter of fact, one can have both and still be your enemy, but such conflicts between westernized nations are waged in the realm of diplomacy rather than upon the field of battle.

It is not clothing and parliaments but mutual interests that push nations to act in common. As I have written before, it is entirely irrelevant what the UAE thinks about Americans. And it is entirely irrelevant that they might dress in Brooks Brothers, have satellite dishes and welcome Rush Limbaugh to their shores. What matters is that they fear Iran. And so they need us. Right now America and the UAE have common interests.

Now take a look at these fellows:

These guys are Palestinian suicide bombers. Like me they wear Levis and Timberlands. Like me they occasionally carry AK-47s. Like me they are handsome and photogenic. If Rush saw these male, Middle Eastern, Islamic Arab speakers walking the streets of Dubai (of course without the guns, which are themselves modern in conception and manufacture and far more modern than the killers that hold them) he might conclude that they were 'becoming like us.'

Actually, these guys are thoroughly modern killers. They are most certainly not westernized in any meaningful sense. No democracy or women's liberation for them! Their desire is simply to kill westerners wherever they can be found. They have no desire to become western themselves. No debate or negotiation with them can possibly occur. If they caught up to Rush Limbaugh they would kill him. And kill me too.

What prevents both Rush and me from being killed by radical Moslems like those above is America's military---a most modern and western thing to be sure. It is also the thing that protects the UAE from Iran. It is also the thing that will force Middle Eastern nations to become western in all the essentials. This is exactly the reason Bush is bringing democracy to Iraq. That state under Hussein already had modern things---guns, electricity, radio---but had no western ideas. The fighting is ferocious because the holdouts over there do not want western ideas. Tough break for them. They will never live to enjoy the benefits of really being western.

Tojo's Japan and Hitler's Germany were certainly modern, but neither wanted western ideas. We had to invade both of these states and force them to become western---to adopt all that democracy and human rights stuff. We succeeded, and we will succeed in Iraq. When the Middle East really becomes western in outlook will it become stable and peaceful. It is not quite the same as Ann Coulter's plan to "invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity," but simply substitute 'westernization' for 'Christianity' and you will get the point.

Rush would too.

March 15, 2006

Get Real

We are not yet serious about this war. Sure, our military performs beautifully but where else in the social, economic, political and cultural fabric of our nation can one see that a war is on? It does not matter---yet---if one believes this 'war on terror' is a world-wide conflagration, a 'clash of civilizations' or simply a police action on a huge scale. One could drive from San Francisco to New York, from Miami to Chicago and see no evidence that the US is fighting a determined enemy on four continents.

This war has become little more than background noise, a minor annoyance in the daily lives of Americans. So far the consequences of our insouciance have been minimal. It must really be as Bismarck said, that

A special Providence protects fools, drunkards, small children and the United States of America.

Our 'special Providence' surely expects us to do some of the heavy lifting ourselves. Such would include (in no particular order of importance):

1.  Declaring War. Although the US has been involved in over 200 military conflicts since 1787 only five have been declared: The War of 1812 (1812-15), The War with Mexico (1846-48), the Spanish-American War (1898), World War I (1917-18) and World War II (1941-45). A declaration of war would send a message to Americans and their enemies that this war will be waged in the grand old Jacksonian Military Tradition: totally and decisively until our enemies surrender unconditionally---the Japanese---or are exterminated---Nazi Germany. War should have been declared against the Taliban and against Hussein's Iraq. It should be declared against Iran and Syria.

2.  Drilling for Oil Everywhere and Anywhere. Why should the economy of the world's greatest nation be tied to the attitudes of 60s era environmentalist wackos who worship 'mother earth,' hug trees and subsist on vegetables? The laws against drilling for oil and  against nuclear power sprung right from their marijuana-addled brains. All of their environmental fantasies of over population, disappearing rain forests, resource depletion and global warming are twaddle, nothing but scary stories for children. Such nonsense is unworthy of a great nation. If we were sensible about our energy needs in 18 months we would have no need for Middle East oil. That miserable place of course would remain violent, murderous, unstable and broke---like Africa---but no one in the US would need to care much.

3.  Building a Fence Across Every Inch of Our Southern Border. What is the mystery about this? Along with impoverished Mexicans and other sundry Latin Americans come gang members, drug dealers and Islamic terrorists across our border. It is a wild place, full of violence and incursions by the Mexican police and army on a regular basis. In reality our southern border is a war zone and should be treated as such. No where else on earth is there such a place where a modern nation shares a border with a 3rd World nation. One reason Mexico is so unstable is because her politicians have relied upon the safety valve of unimpeded immigration to El Norte. Removing this will force the Mexicans to at last become a nation that deals with its own problems rather than exporting them to the US. The Romans under the emperor Hadrian (117-138) built a wall across all of England to keep out the barbarians. The Chinese began their Great Wall to keep out the barbarians 2600 years ago. The Indians and Israelis are building walls today to keep out the barbarians. So should we.

4.  Executing Terrorists. Get what information we need from these turbaned ghouls and then hang them. There is no conflict with the Geneva Convention. Terrorists wear no uniform, represent no nation and have signed no treaties. They behead, maim, murder and bomb all whom they can. If they do not deserve death then no one does. Treat these creatures as Joshua treated the Canaanites. While awaiting their fates such prisoners should be treated as criminals: no special food, no beards, no Korans---but Bibles of course---and only allowed to wear prison garb. How we treat these international killers is scandalous. Imagine Nazi killers in an American prison during World War II being allowed bratwurst, swastikas, pictures of Hitler on the walls of their cells and copies of Mein Kampf.

5.  Profiling At Airports. Searching senior citizens and inspecting the shoes of children are silly and laughable things. They make us look ridiculous. All know the policy is ridiculous. Who has been going around the world blowing up planes, slicing the throats of stewardesses, killing Americans and Jews when they can and bombing embassies? Why, Middle Eastern Islamic males who mostly speak Arabic or Persian. Profile such men---and search anyone named Mohammed no matter what nation's passport he holds.

6.  Expelling Potential Fifth Columnists. One of our enemies in this war is Wahabi Islamism. Its birthplace is Saudi Arabia. This nation has been ferocious in exporting this fanatically intolerant creed all around the world---including to the US. Mohammed Atta and Osama bin-Laden are some of its illustrious followers. Why then do we allow Saudi 'students' in our nation? There are thousands of these. What are they really up to here?

7.  Treating Treason as Treason and Traitors as Traitors. Treason is specifically mentioned (Article III, Section III) in our Constitution.

March 14, 2006

Wheelchair Man

Several lifetimes ago I lived in Portland. It calls itself a city but is really just a village that huddles around its downtown along the Willamette River. Its culture looks south to San Francisco and north to Seattle. It presents the usual tribal underclass of the pierced, the tattooed, the sexually degraded, and a steady supply of vacant-eyed homeless. The cool and hip tribes are there as well, all REI clad and Birkenstock booted.

On one fine and early Spring day I took my usual seat at a breakfast joint that boasted huge windows on two sides. One could sit and smoke and wade into a ham and cheese omelet while looking out onto Broadway, the main street that sliced through downtown. From such a perch one could see the lifeblood of the city walk on by as it rushed here and there for work or for play or while en route to some act of moral turpitude.

I saw him again. I never got his name but I knew him. He lived so it seemed in his wheelchair. Every morning he sat in his chair at that corner. He was stricken with multiple sclerosis or cystic fibrosis or other such curse. He was always clean and reasonably dressed in the uniform of Portland, jeans and tennis shoes. He wore a long sleeved shirt with a sort of bib attached to it. Wheelchair man drooled a bit, and that bib caught most of it. His too-thin legs and hands were turned at impossible angles, while his body arched away from the back of the chair. He looked for all the world like some crazy form of the letter 'L' with a bizarre set of limbs attached.

Wheelchair man could not really speak outside of a few rote sentences. But he could laugh. I know this because I joked with him. Or rather, he laughed at my jokes. I would stand with him at times on that corner and just look upon the passing scene of Portland. When an unusually disturbed piece of humanity shambled by I would look at wheelchair man and both of us would grin. He was always in on the joke, though his sense of humor was imprisoned in a shattered wreck of a body.

He liked to smoke. One day I was standing next to him and I pulled out a Marlboro. As I lit up his eyes looked at me with an odd longing. I got the hint and put the cigarette in his mouth and held it there. He took a long draw, keeping the smoke in his lungs awhile and savoring the nicotine as it rushed through his blood. As best he could he arched his neck so that he could blow rings of tobacco smoke. He almost succeeded.

Wheelchair man was in the retail business. He sold pencils at one dollar each. Stuck to an arm of his chair was a coffee can full of shiny new #2 pencils. Pinned to his shirt across from the bib was a carefully written note: 'PENCILS. ONE DOLLAR.' I never saw anyone buy a pencil from him but I knew that some did. The coffee can usually was empty by early afternoon.

On that day as I had my coffee and Marlboro while gazing at the street life of Portland I saw banners and tables being unloaded from a bunch of new vans. On the sides of these vehicles were magnetic signs that said: Run For Humanity! Broadway and been closed off to cars and tables were being set up in the street. Run For Humanity! banners were stretched across Broadway and a bunch of athletic types were scurrying about. It seemed that there was to be a 5-mile run 'for humanity' and it was being organized as I smoked and watched.

Then they began to appear, slowly at first but then in hordes: the runners of Portland. They always appeared at such events, all North Face clad and Nike shoed. Some lined up by the tables and forked over the $40 entry fee while others strew themselves on the ground and went into a painful series of stretches. The hard-core runners were whip-thin Calvinist-types who looked as if they survived on tofu and tea.

There must have been 1000 runners gathered about. Each got a number stuck to his chest. They lined up in several groups---first were the tofu eaters, then came the triathlon dreamers, then the mere joggers, then the occasional outdoor types, and last came the wide bottomed and spandex clad. All were there to give their all for humanity. Then they were off. The tofu eaters were soon out of sight. The other groups disappeared in their own time and at their own pace. The last of them---the wide bottomed---made a great show of it, all huffing and puffing for a good cause. Soon even they were lost out of sight down Broadway.

Curious onlookers stood at each side of the street. The media were there with cameras and microphones. Wheelchair man was there too. A true capitalist, his chair now sported two huge coffee cans full of pencils. For there was action on Broadway on that crisp and clear day. He might make a few extra bucks.

I sat in in the restaurant with my coffee and Marlboros. A newspaper had been left at the next table. I picked it up and read idly. Some 25 minutes later there was a great clamor in the street. The tofu eaters had finished the race first and the crowd was clapping. The runners were still all leg and arm movements as they pranced like Lipizzaner Stallions. The media swarmed about them. They all marveled at this display of fleetness of foot.

I could just make out wheelchair man through all the people. He may as well have been invisible. All the attention was on the runners as they finished. Each got an ovation as he hobbled in due course across the finish line. They were pleased at themselves for sure: They had got their exercise, they had got to hang out with their tribe and they had done their part for humanity. It was a day well spent.

Groups of runners came into the restaurant and filled it. Orders were made, coffee and tea were served, and soon hot plates of eggs and pancakes were being carried from kitchen to tables. The talk was of the run of course. I felt a bit odd smoking while these weekend athletes sat a few feet away. I tried to shrug it off but couldn't. I waited until these runners for humanity had all left before I reached for my pack of smokes. I paid up and wandered outside.

Wheelchair man saw me and so I crossed Broadway over to his corner. Most of the detritus of the run was gone now. The vans had been packed up and the banners were all gone---except for one stray that slowly blew down the street. It had been a good day for humanity, as the organizers of the run had cleared maybe $40,000 all told. I saw that wheelchair man's coffee cans were still stuffed with pencils. None had been sold on that fine Spring day.

We shared a cigarette without really looking at each other. When it was almost all ash I said goodbye and headed off down the street. A few blocks on I saw the stray banner. It had been flimsily made and so had torn in two. Each piece had a mind of its own. It had ripped between Run For and Humanity! One---the part that had Run For---had become snagged on a fence. The other blew with the wind in the direction I walked, following me almost to my doorstep. I stopped at my apartment building and turned to the door. The broken banner lingered for a bit before being carried off by the breeze on its journey to nowhere.

March 13, 2006

Sheikh Speaks

As predicted, one of the the Islamic, Middle Eastern, Arabic speaking males who run the United Arab Emirates has called Americans 'racist.'

Sheikh Mohammed, who heads up Bahrain's economic investment authority, and is a key member of the island's government, said Arab countries could do little if the negative attitude towards the area persisted in the US.

Asked whether it was fair that many were describing the US reaction as racist, he said: "Absolutely, but it's something we can't speak about..."

So according to Sheikh Mohammed (why are these guys always called Mohammed?) Arabs can do little about public attitudes in the US. Really? Well, here are some ideas for that fellow: Stop killing. Stop rampaging. Stop blowing up things. Stop your threats. Stop your God-awful Jew bashing. Stop the hatred. Take baths. Get shaves and haircuts. Start producing things. Love your enemies. Practice random acts of kindness.

Sheikh, until you and your ilk do these things, why should Americans give a rat's rear-end what you say or think or do about anything? You and yours are a net drain on civilization. If you and yours disappeared tomorrow the world would be a better place. And no one would mourn.

And let us not wait for President Bush to lecture the UAE about this insult t o Americans. Bush only gets aggravated when Americans seem to insult Arabs.

Of course, this sheikh is a rather practical fellow. He understands well enough that the UAE needs the US far more than the US needs the UAE.

"We have by far the best relationship with the US of all the Gulf states," he said.

Correct. Now be a good little sheikh and make sure it stays that way.

Bad Prince John

Surprise, surprise: John McCain lost a straw poll among Republicans concerning the most likely and electable candidate for 2008. John-boy came in a distant 5th.

Well, it is payback time. McCain has never hid his disgust toward Evangelical and conservative Christians. He was against all of the Bush tax cuts. He sponsored the campaign finance bill. He sponsored the 'Gang of 14' against conservative Republican attempts to end the Democrat filibuster. McCain has played the media darling and enjoyed being what they called a 'Republican maverick.'

Well, have a good time John. You are not trustworthy and you despise the things most Republicans love. You were elected to the Senate in the first place because of your name recognition as a POW during Vietnam. If you ever run for POW you can have my vote for sure. But for president? Not likely.

Alas, knowing McCain he will run as a 3rd party candidate in 2008 and draw votes from the Republicans, almost insuring a Democrat victory. I am no Henry II and McCain is no Becket, but I ask: What to do with this meddlesome pest?

March 11, 2006

A Bunch of Racist, Ignorant, Imbecilic, Islamophobes

So the port deal with the United Arab Emirates is finished. I really have no idea whether it would have been to the benefit of the US or not. My areas of expertise---such as they are---reside in Ancient History, Catholic Theology and bartending. My gut instincts told me to trust Bush and also not to trust Arabs bearing gifts. This has nothing to do with Islamophobia or racism but is simply a logical reaction to the most common profile of those who have murdered my countrymen for 40-odd years now. The profile is this: male, Middle Eastern, Islamic, usually an Arabic speaker.

This is not a mystery. There are no tricks here. This is not a statement of emotion but of criminology. There is no getting around this fact. One can ignore it or pretend it does not exist but the fact itself remains. Americans certainly know this. They know the sort of fellow who is going around the world beheading them, murdering them, blowing them up and rampaging about cartoons.

So when some Arab nation that fits the profile perfectly seemed about to enter into a business arrangement with some US ports it was only natural that Americans wanted to know the details of this deal. Our Republic functioned just as it was meant to function. Free citizens reacted through their elected representatives to get some information about this port deal.

But little information was forthcoming. The deal was presented as a 'business a usual,' 'nothing to worry about,' 'now move along' sort of thing. Some members of the Bush administration even insinuated that there was the aroma of racism and ignorance in the actions of Americans.

So those Americans who had supported Bush and the Republicans were suddenly called 'racists' and 'idiots' by those they had put in office. And I am sure these sorts will want the votes of these racist idiots later this year and in 2008.

The administration treated Americans as subjects not as citizens. Now, exactly what sort of reaction did it expect?

President George W. Bush said on Friday he was concerned about the message being sent to Middle Eastern allies by the collapse of efforts by a Dubai company to manage major U.S. ports.

Question: Is President Bush likewise concerned about the message being sent by these 'allies' to the American people? How many Arab Islamic nations have gone before the American people and professed their friendship and aid in the War on Terror?

Question: If this deal was such a necessary part of the War on Terror then why did no one from the administration go before the public and explain it? The reaction of Bush was petulant anger, as when he threatened to use his veto.

Question: If this deal was such a necessary part of the War on Terror then why did no one from the United Arab Emirates do a speaking tour or radio interviews or meet before a session of Congress to answer the questions of Americans? Instead those male, Middle Eastern, Islamic Arabic speakers who run the UAE acted as petty tyrants. They threatened this and that, blustered about Islamophobia among Americans and sent dark hints about economic retaliation and not cooperating in the War on Terror.

Question: If the UAE is our friend and ally as Bush has stated, then how would it have reacted if it had been our enemy and antagonist?

There is an indisputable fact about nations that all should keep very much in mind through all of this: Nations do not have friends, they have interests. These interests do not change though allies come and go. American interests are clear in this war, and we will enlist the aid even of grubby Arab regimes such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia to further our goals. Once those goals are achieved the aid of those regimes will no longer be necessary. We had to win World War II and so found an ally in the Soviet Union. Once victory was gained we entered into a cold war with the Soviets, which thankfully ended with their extinction.

This truism of political science about friends and interests applies to all nations of course. It applies to the UAE. Its interests can best be understood by simply looking at a map. (Click on it.)

The UAE sits across the Persian Gulf a few miles from Iran. Iran is a revolutionary and radical Islamic terror regime which seeks to militarily dominate the entire region. Most of Iran is Shiite while most of the UAE are Sunni. The UAE look just like a dagger pointing to the heart of Iran. It is in the interest of Iran to control all access to the UAE. The UAE cannot prevent this without an alliance with a dependable and powerful government---that is, with the US.

The point here is this: the UAE will not cease to allow the US military access to their ports no matter what they say about the now-dead port deal. They cannot because to do so will mean their extinction by the Iranians.

What the UAE tried to do with the port deal was to earn a couple of bucks on the side while engaged in a temporary alliance with the US. There was nothing particularly moral or immoral about this. While the business deal fell through the interests of all parties involved remain exactly as before.

President Bush might worry about the message being sent his pals in the UAE by his fellow Americans, but the reality of the thing is that such messages matter not at all. What matters is that the interests of the US and of the UAE are exactly the same concerning Iran. And these will not change until that regime's destruction at the hands of the American military.

And after that happy event the UAE can do whatever they damn well please.

(Hat tip: American Digest)

March 9, 2006

Bring It On

The spittle-flecked Iranian ayatollahs are beginning to sense that their time is nigh.

Iran’s former President Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Wednesday that the United States was faced with defeat in the Middle East.

This enlightened fellow went on with his fantasy.

Today, Iran is far stronger in the region and the world than it was before.

All this comes from fear. Such words are not meant for the West but for internal Iranian consumption. The ruling class in Tehran knows war is coming. The Iranian people---almost to the man pro-American---know it as well. Their wish is for the US to take out the mullahs, destroy their nuclear facilities and go home.

War is a superb clarifier. It restores reality. If Iran believes it can defeat the US the war will clear things up for her. Her illusions will be shattered. For Iran has been at war with America for 27 years. It has been non-stop, murderous and global. She has shot our airliners out of the sky, bombed our embassies, murdered our soldiers, sailors and marines, threatened and bombed and murdered our allies, sponsored terror cells around the world and financed the destruction of Jews everywhere. Her depredations have reached from Argentina to Kenya, from marine barracks in Lebanon to destroyers in the Persian Gulf.

The one purpose of the Iranian regime since its beginning has been to create terror. Its oil wealth procures nothing but murder. It serves no purpose other than to kill. It functions exactly as a cancer and has the same worth. As Michael Ledeen puts it,

Hardly a day goes by without chest-pounding speeches from the mullahs warning us about the wave of suicide bombers headed our way...the Islamic Republic has waged war against us for many years and is killing Americans every week. They would do that even if they had no chance of developing atomic bombs...The mullahs will do that because it is their essence. It is what they are.

All of this is coming to an end---at last. It should have been done in the 1980s, just as Hitler should have been taken out in 1934. Churchill tried to get his feckless countrymen to see things clearly then. He failed. Just as then, Europe today wallows in appeasement and cowardice---and these simpering poses are closely related. The Europeans are indeed Aristotle's 'natural slaves.'

March 6, 2006

Duty  Calls

The nerve! Life has impinged upon my writing and has forced me to concentrate on the mundane things---work, for example. Oh well. Stacks of papers to read and hundreds of grades to record. All fun of course. And I keep in mind that I have the best job and the best students possible in a fallen world. Whether these marvelous creatures have the best teacher is an arguable point. But I keep plugging away.

Besides, in a week comes Spring Break. Nine glorious days free: for running and biking and writing and reading. And for reminding myself that Lent is here with all its temptations and blessings. Old Beelzebub runs furiously about during this time of course. So I am pulled this way and that between the Son of Man and the Father of Lies. The Son will win of course, but there will be blood on the ground. The same Blood that spilled 2000 years ago for me. For you. I deserve nothing, though I receive everything.

I stopped complaining years ago that there was little justice in the world. I did this as soon as I understood that Mercy abounds, and it is infinitely greater than mere justice. In a truly just world I would have been sent to the gallows a long time ago. And I thank the Lord for giving me what I need and not want I want or deserve.

And I ask the Risen Christ to look upon my faith as weak as it is rather than my sins as great as they are. Like I said, Mercy abounds.