The Violence Worker!

The Norway Massacre

I've been trying to wrap my head around this since it happened and as I watched the death toll steadily rise.  As of this moment at 7:10 AM PDT, it stands at 91.  I'll admit my first thought was Muslim Terrorists and indeed, some group claiming Al Qaida affiliation took initial credit for this heinous act.  I'd started to write something yesterday, but decided to hold off until more was actually known.  I like to call it the 24 hour rule of blogging.  It's easier than saying I screwed up.

What we know now is that it wasn't some wild-eyed Al Qaida cell or some local Jihadi.  It was a home grown Norwegian Timothy McVeigh type.  His name is Anders Behring Breivik and he is described as a "conservative Christian".  What he is , is a complete whack job and what he did was neither conservative nor Christian.  Our thoughts prayers go out to the survivors and the families of those who were lost.  This was a horrific act perpetrated by a mad man.

Another victim in this horrible tragedy will be Christianity.  Many liberals, atheists and others will point to this  and try to make the case that Christianity is more dangerous than the mythical (in their eyes) Al Qaida.  They will gleefully point out that all religions are dangerous and all of us who believe in a God are powder kegs just waiting for someone to walk by and throw a match on us.

Never mind that Muslim terrorists have killed way more than this one man.  Never mind that almost the whole of Christianity abhors and denounces such acts nor do they encourage anyone to do such heinous things, the Religion/Christian haters act like we all are wannabe Breiviks.

I understand more than most that not all Muslims are gun-toting, explosive-laden Jihadis bent on mass murder.  I've had the privilege of working with some really good and honorable men who are Muslim over the paste several years.

That said, the radical wing of Islam is far more dangerous than  a few whacked out "Christians".  Not only that, Almost the entirety of Christianity will condemn this heinous, evil act.

It will be open season Christianity and the radicals of the left and Islam will be ignored.  It's like when Loughner went bonkers and shot Representative Giffords.  It didn't matter that he was a just a nutbag or that his politics were more left than right, it was somehow all of us violence loving Conservatives who actually pulled the trigger.

Sorry religion haters, but this was not the act of a Christian.  It was the act of a deranged madman who no longer deserves to breathe free, let alone breathe at all.  His actions are not of any kind of Christianity that I know or would be associated with.

VW

The Tuscon Shooting

If you are reading this, then you know that a shooting took place in Tuscon in which a Congresswoman was critically wounded and and several others, including a child and a federal judge, were killed by a gunman.  Thankfully, Representative Gabrielle Giffords is expected to recover.  Every true American is outraged. We pray for the victims and their families. 

It's a tragic event. and one that is thankfully extremely rare in American politics. 

As tragic as this was, it was interesting for me to watch the comments at various news and left-wing sites.  Instead of waiting for the full story to emerge, many of the more rabidly insane lefties were already blaming the likes of Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh and people like me who considers themselves part of the Tea party Movement..

Over at the fever swamp, otherwise known as the Democratic Underground, the denizens there tried and convicted all of them, (especially Palin).  Almost ALL of the over 400 comments so far blame them and people like me.  A few people advised that we need to know the whole story or suggested it wasn't the Right-Wing, but most were posted before we even knew the shooter's name!  Want a sample:

AnnieBW wrote:  The Freepers must be happy today. Not only was Rep. Giffords shot, but the shooter assassinated a Federal Judge, too. Sarah Palin has blood on her hands, and it's not caribou blood.

JenniferJuniper wrote:   Palin and Fox cannot be allowed to get away with this.

DinahMoeHum wrote:  G*D HELP SARAH PALIN AND THE TEABAGGERS if Giffords dies. It will be open season on them AFAIC.

RoccoR5955 wrote: TEABAGGERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS... HOLD THEM RESPONSIBLE!  Caribou Barbie, and the rest of her buddies belong in jail for collusion!

Lest you think it's just the kiddies at DU, Even Paul Krugman accused us!  He's supposed to be a grown-up!

We don’t have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was. She’s been the target of violence before. And for those wondering why a Blue Dog Democrat, the kind Republicans might be able to work with, might be a target, the answer is that she’s a Democrat who survived what was otherwise a GOP sweep in Arizona, precisely because the Republicans nominated a Tea Party activist. (Her father says that “the whole Tea Party” was her enemy.) And yes, she was on Sarah Palin’s infamous “crosshairs” list.

The truth is, this was not a Right-Winger or a Palinista and no evidence that he listened to Limbaugh, Hannity or Beck.  I've heard (unsubstantiated) that he was mostly left-leaning.  What he is, is a nut-burger.  He was not driven by the likes of Sarah Palin, he was driven by a really bad case of brain chemicals gone wild.  It probably wasn't even ideological.  His rantings on YouTube were more paranoid than anything else.

There seems to be more than a few on the left that hopes and dreams that the Tea Party or some prominent Conservative will someday do something violent so they can finally have some kind of twisted confirmation that we are violent people. 

They scare me.

VW

A War By Any Other Name

We are at war.  We are at war with militant Islam.  Not all Muslims, not all of Islam, just those who choose radicalism over moderation.  Just those who choose to kill over those who seek peace.

I've heard some folks lately try and make the case that we are not at war because Congress has never "declared" war.  No where in the Constitution does it say exactly how Congress is to do that or what words they should use.  All it says under Section 8 of Article I is that the Congress has the power "to declare war".  That's it.  No recommended verbiage, no procedure, nothing.  It doesn't say whether it is to do so formally or informally.

People have tried to argue that the war in Iraq is illegal because Congress never "declared" war.  The plain fact of the matter is that the Congress has tacitly declared war in both cases.  By agreeing to fund the operations, Congress gives it's implicit declaration.  

Despite that obvious truth, we are going to try enemy combatants in a United States Federal Court with all the protections and representation that we offer citizens who break the law.  It's ludicrous, but that is how this administration sees the problem.  To them, it's not a military problem, it's a criminal problem.

Five of the people we are at war with will be on trial.  It will be a circus and the defense has signaled they intend to make it a circus.

A lawyer for one of five men facing trial for the Sept. 11 attacks says the men plan to plead not guilty and use the trial to express their political views.

As you read down the article further, you see where their intent is tio essentially put US foreign policy on trial.

First of all, I will be wholly surprised if the judge doesn't dismiss the whole thing before it even gets that far.   I'm sure that such things as "enhanced interrogation" will be much discussed and decided upo.

Many folks have taken the position that this is just one way they can put the Bush administration on trial.  It's a possibility.  There's no real good reason to do this and Holder couldn't give one when pressured in Congressional hearings.  The current administration does not seem to be concerned with the possibility that classified information may fall in to the wrong hands as it did during the first WTC bombing trials so this could just be their way of taking a shot at Bush.  The problem is that in trying to keep Bush Hatred alive, they will weaken the President's ability to keep us safe.  It will not just weaken Obama's own Presidency, it could potentially hamstring future Presidents as well.

It's just another sign that this administration is run by amateurs and another reason this asshat should never been elected to be President.

VW

A Terrorist Is A Terrorist

I've been saying since about September that the only difference between William Ayers and Timothy McVeigh is the body count.  Both were anti-government and both bombed government buildings.  Had John McCain had some kind of friendly connection with McVeigh, no matter how far removed, he would never have made it through the primaries.

Today, in an op-ed piece for the increasingly imploding New York Times, Mr. Ayers tries to sugarcoat his dastardly deeds:

I never killed or injured anyone. I did join the civil rights movement in the mid-1960s, and later resisted the draft and was arrested in nonviolent demonstrations. I became a full-time antiwar organizer for Students for a Democratic Society. In 1970, I co-founded the Weather Underground, an organization that was created after an accidental explosion that claimed the lives of three of our comrades in Greenwich Village. The Weather Underground went on to take responsibility for placing several small bombs in empty offices — the ones at the Pentagon and the United States Capitol were the most notorious — as an illegal and unpopular war consumed the nation.

How nice!  He never killed anyone.  He lucked out. Somehow I feel if he had managed to kill somebody, especially at the Pentagon, I doubt he would be even remotely repentant.  However, the point is not the body count, it's the fact that he actually bombed government buildings in an attempt to sway public policy.  He may not have killed anyone, but using violence and fear in order to force policy is terrorism.  From Dictionary.com:

"the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes."

The use of terror in the pursuit of a political purpose is patently un-American and if the prosecutors hadn't screwed up, he would be a convicted felon today, not a "celebrated" professor in Chicago.

The bottom line is that William Ayers is a terrorist that should be behind bars, not a lectern.  He can claim he's not a terrorist but that doesn't change the fact that he is one.  If you call a dog's tail a leg, the dog still has four legs. Calling the tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.  Or to paraphrase the immortal Bard:  garbage, by any other name, would still stink.

What he is, is  an unrepentant,  anti-American, Marxist terrorist dedicated to ending America as we know her.

VW

Rethinking Posse Comitatus

All of us are concerned (or should be) about national security.  If you didn't get the lessons of Mumbai, you weren't paying attention.  Can you imagine the damage a small group of well armed terrorists could do in a major US city?  None of us even want to contemplate such a tragedy but it is something that we should unfortunately plan for and defend against.

That said, the Pentagon announced a plan to deploy up to 20,000 federal troops for Homeland Security.

The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.

First, I think we need to rethink defense just a little.  For the better part of the 20th century -especially post WWII - our military was trained to fight enemies everywhere but here.  We have a lot of military bases here in the US, but their missions were not built around defending our borders per se.  When I was in Bomber Wings, we trained to bomb Russia and China.  When I was in Fighter Wings, we trained to deploy to predetermined hot spots such as Korea or the defense of Europe.  Most Army troops garrisoned here were actually slated to deploy to Korea, Europe, or wherever.  Few trained to fight on US soil except some fighter interceptor units, but most of those weren't large enough to stave off a large attack.  Certainly training for overseas would translate to homeland defense, but by and large, we were trained for foreign theaters. 

I'm thinking homeland security was mostly an after thought.  After all, we didn't figure a land army would even attempt an invasion and it was not a mistaken assumption.  No one in their right mind would attempt to invade the US.  

And that still holds true.  However, the world has changed and so has warfare.  It's no longer solely a symmetrical endeavor with front lines and generals hovering over huge maps moving toy tanks and soldiers around like Las Vegas Craps croupiers.  To be sure, we still need that kind of training, but with the advent of Islamic terrorism, we also need to rework our defense strategy to deal with the threat today and to anticipate future threats.

The article mentions the Posse Comitatus act of 1878 that limits how federal troops can be used.  From Wikipedia: 

The statute generally prohibits federal military personnel and units of the National Guard under federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The Coast Guard is exempt from the Act.

In general, the Posse Comitatus act is a good idea.  It has served us well and there are some that are worried about using Federal troops for homeland defense.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the libertarian Cato Institute are troubled by what they consider an expansion of executive authority.

Domestic emergency deployment may be "just the first example of a series of expansions in presidential and military authority," or even an increase in domestic surveillance, said Anna Christensen of the ACLU's National Security Project. And Cato Vice President Gene Healy warned of "a creeping militarization" of homeland security.

While I think there is reason to be cautious, this is not the America of 1878.  We face threats no one would have even imagined back 130 years ago.  The article also points out that this will possibly stretch our military too far.  If that's the case, I think we need to expand it. 

Warfare and threats are ever changing and in many cases, ever increasing.  Today, we even have a headline telling us some rather chilling news: 

Study Reports U.S. Can Expect Nuclear Terrorist Attack Before 2013

We need to rethink Posse Comitatus and work on building or national defenses.  The continued military draw down since the Reagan years leaves us vulnerable and our enemies know it.

VW

The Lesson Of Mumbai

The war on terror is not about being nice to people nor is it about us being involved in the Middle East. It's not a traditional symmetrical war where you have men in uniforms opposing each other on opposing fronts fighting for territory. What has replaced it is something more terrifying and brutal.

We often speak of a culture war or clash, but we do so figuratively, not literally. Usually it's a collision of ideas and philosophy, not an out right bullet swap. The attack on Mumbai was an all out, live-fire attack on culture.

Mumbai was a huge escalation in the this war. In the past, bombs would be planted, or suicide bombers would blow themselves up in a crowd. Terrifying, but usually with limited results. It was one or more coordinated explosions and over with in a few minutes. This was a direct attack on specific buildings with automatic weapons targeting unarmed civilians. News reports are saying that it was a band of 10-40 dedicated commando style terrorists.

It was evident that they were both well trained and their attack was well planned and orchestrated. They knew their targets and their layouts. I've even read that they might have been receiving coordination via Blackberry from some sort of command center

Radical Islam is not about borders. It's about spreading Islam. They don't care about their lives or how long it takes. They believe the world will be their Caliphate and we will eventually bow to Mecca.

Our next attack on our soil will not be a jet liner crashing into a skyscraper. Even if this attack was simply a continuation of the on-going Pakistani-Indian dispute, terrorists worldwide took notice. They saw what a small group of well trained fanatics can accomplish. Mumbai wasn't chosen just for it's tourist location, it was chosen because it is the financial hub of India. They know that by making people afraid to visit or do business in Mumbai, they would harm the Indian economy. Folks have been saying it was India's 9-11 and I would agree with that premise.

This is a war on the west. This is a war on anyone and anything that is not Islamic. This was not an isolated attack and it will happen again, somewhere soon - maybe in your city.

Police and the armed forces better start preparing for such an eventuality and fast!

VW

Mumbai - What It Is and Isn't

The cowardly attack on Mumbai by Islamic terrorists will go down in the annals of history as one of the most despicable and horrendous acts in the first decade of the 21st century.  It's a turning point in Islamic terrorism. Instead of suicide bombs or some sort of car bomb, this was a direct attack on a city upon unarmed citizens.This was meant to inflict major damage and instill terror in the population.

If you've been reading the news, you know how horrendous this attack was.  I expect things will escalate from here.  The next attack on a city, in India or somewhere else, will be bigger and deadlier.  It is a tragedy and I certainly wish the Indian Government and the citizens of Mumbai will recover quickly from this dastardly deed.

What it isn't is a test for Obama.  First of all, Obama is not in charge of anything more than his transition team and he can do nothing but issue a statement saying "Bad Terrorists" which is what he did.  He cannot direct aid, troops or anything else in support of the Indian government.  He isn't even a Senator now!.  Sorry O worshippers, but as a President elect, all he can direct is his press releases.

This attack will be over by almost two months by the time he gets in office.  Much can change in that time.  I'm sure that president Bush will do all that he can to support India in this crisis.  Obama will probably have his own test soon enough.

Our prayers go with the citizens of Mumbai and the Indian people.

VW

William Ayers In Perspective

Imagine, if you will, that at some point in John McCain's career, he had some sort of collaborative association with Timothy McVeigh.  It doesn't take much of an imagination to understand the political hay the Democrats would be making out of that.  McCain would never even be in the running to be President let alone be a Senator.  McVeigh was an anti-government political terrorist who bombed a federal office building in Oklahoma City killing 168 people.  It was a horrible crime for which McVeigh deservedly paid the ultimate price. 

Obama is an associate of William Ayers.  He can spin it, he can fold, spindle and mutilate it, but the irrefutable fact is that he had more than a passing relationship with William Ayers.  He worked for and with Ayers on several projects and Ayers helped launch his political career. 

William Ayers is an unrepentent anti-government terrorist.  Ayers planted and set off numerous bombs. He bombed the NYC Police Station, he bombed a statue twice and he planted bombs at the Pentagon and the Capitol building. 

The only difference between William Ayers and Timothy McVeigh is the body count!

Ayers and McVeigh may  differ in political philosphy, but it doesn't really matter.  Both are anti-government terrorists who used violence as a means to their respective ends.

Somehow, we give Obama a pass where we would crucify McCain.  Tell me what kind of sense that makes!

VW

Join Us Or Die!

If you are for open borders, this should make you rethink that idiotic notion!

From Fox News:

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico —  Drug cartels are sending a brutal message to police and soldiers in cities across Mexico: Join us or die.

The threat appears in recruiting banners hung across roadsides and in publicly posted death lists. Cops get warnings over their two-way radios. At least four high-ranking police officials were gunned down this month, including Mexico's acting federal police chief.

This is now way beyond just a police action.  This is open warfare!  Can you imagine this happening on this side of the boarder?   

What this means that for those of you living along the border, your lives are in danger.  Your homes, your children and anything you hold dear is in dire jeopardy.

Once these guys get control of the police and army, these guys will not be afraid to take on the border patrol and if you think our own border patrol and border town cops won't be targeted next, you aren't thinking. 

Police are increasingly giving up. Last week, U.S. officials revealed that three Mexican police commanders have crossed into the United States to request asylum, saying they are unprotected and fear for their lives.

"It's almost like a military fight," said Jayson Ahern, the deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "I don't think that generally the American public has any sense of the level of violence that occurs on the border."

I'm thinking that if they don't somehow get a handle on this, we soon will know the level of violence and we'll know it first hand.

This is why we need to secure our borders NOW!!!!!!

VW

Cuban Election Shocker: Raul Voted President!

In what could be called a total shock, Raul Castro was elected by Cuba's Parliament to be President!

Never mind that that there wasn't anyone running against him.  Don't bring up that fact that if there was an opponent, he or she would either be dead or languishing in a Cuban jail.

The Press hails it as some sort of surprise. 

It isn't.

Over at the Commie News Network (CNN), they have have some interesting reader reactions.

This from a Matt Lozier of Fort Thomas, Kentucky:

While it must be said that dictatorship and socialism lend themselves to harsh political tactics and corrupt economic practices, and that Castro's government is certainly guilty of many human-rights abuses, it must also be said that many of his administration's policies have created compelling scenarios in the social arena. Castro's prioritization of education, public health, and the arts have seen success that is uncommon in a region of the world (Latin America and the Caribbean) whose economies and politics are so often marked by extreme polarization of rich and poor.

Again, while he has committed many wrongs against his people in the name of his socialist ideals, I think that pragmatists should accept that not every action of his government has been tyrannical or abusive.

NEWSFLASH for you, Genius!  You could say the same about Stalin or Hitler!  Only an idiot left-winger would make such a stupid statement!

In Cuba, most people are dirt poor.  The average monthly wage is only about 19 dollars a month. While Cubans have a high literacy rate, what does it matter when the government limits what you can read?  And anyone outside of Cuba that can read should know that the health care facilities for the peasantry isn't aything to write home about.  Even Castro flew in doctors from Europe!

Another gem from another genius, a Tom Praska of Minnetonka, Minnesota:

I hope the Cuban people can avoid becoming slaves to the corporations, as has happened here. Maybe they do have a better way! They all get health care and educations. We don't.

Trade away every civil liberty we have to get free health care and education!  And they say Bush wants to take away our rights and shred the Constitution!! 

And here is a real Einstein, a Robert Vadas of Potsdam, New York:

I only hope that Bush's calls for democracy in Cuba are not a mask for reintroducing multinational companies, inequality and the rise of another wealthy caste in that forsaken country.

Let's dissect this little nugget of liberal wisdom, shall we?

He calls Cuba a "forsaken country".  The definition of forsaken is abandoned, forgotten, and in this context, I would wager he also means rundown.  The place is a rat hole.  So if the Communism of Castro is what turned Cuba into a rat hole, why wouldn't a solution that has made this country the wealthiest on earth be the wrong one?

I'll leave you with this one positive comment (There are a few others, but this one was most poignant) left by a Cuban born US Citizen, Major Manny Dominguez, USAF of Charles Town, West Virginia:

My mother was able to escape Castro's government in 1967 when she was only 18 years old and I was 2 weeks old; my father was not allowed to leave with us. Since I was 18 years old, I have been repaying this/our country for the gift of freedom it gave my family. Today I am a major in the U.S. Air Force.

Although I see Castro's resignation as a first, good sign, it is not the time for us Cuban-Americans to celebrate yet. We should not lift the embargo until free elections are given and a democratic Cuban government is in place to work with the US. The Cubans who came in the '60s who helped build what Miami is today, are eager to lead and help restore Cuba to its pre-Castro glory and the largest middle class in the Caribbean.

Thank you, Major Dominguez!  And thank you for your service.

VW