The Violence Worker!

Anwar al-Awlaki

Today, it was announced that Anwar al-Awlaki, an American born radical Muslim terrorist leader was splattered over a portion of the Yemeni desert by a couple of Hellfire missiles launched from a drone overhead.  Now comes the controversy.  Since he was a "citizen", was he denied his rights to due process?  CAIR, Ron Paul , Dennis Kook-cinich and few "civil liberties" organizations seem to think so.

Should we have waited to capture him and try him in some federal court?  Did he deserve to be arrested and read his rights?  Did the Government over-step its bounds by summarily executing him by remote control?

I say no!  And not just no, but a resounding HELL NO!!!

Anwar al-Awlaki was no longer a citizen as far as I am concerned .  I don't know about the law, but if there is not a provision that states that if you take up arms against this country, you have forfeited any and all rights you once had as a citizen, then there damn sure should be one.

Suppose al-Awlaki wasn't a leader in Al Qaida.  Suppose he was a just another radical jihadi and he and a group of his buddies decided to attack an embassy.  Suppose the Marine guards repelled the attack and in so, doing waxed al-Awlaki.  Would there be an outcry about a fair trial?  Probably not.

Anwar al-Awlaki was more like a high ranking officer instead of a low-level bullet catcher.  Al-Awlaki recruited and directed others to attack the United States in some way, shape or form.  What is the difference between him actually pulling the trigger, or getting others to do his dirty work?  To me, it's no difference.

Al-Awlaki was a traitor.  He chose to denounce the United States and swore to cause us harm.  At that point, he was done.  He might have been born here, but he spent his formative years in Yemen.  He came back here for college on a student visa and a Yemeni passport.  He has done nothing but preach hate and violence since then.

Al-Awlaki got what was long overdue.  Obama made the right decision.  One of the few, but he did the right thing.

Welcome to hell, Anwar!

VW

The On Going Saga Of The Underwear Bomber

Remember the so-called "Underwear Bomber"?  Back on Christmas Day in 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (I'll call him Umar)  attempted to become a eunuch by igniting some explosives sewn into his underwear while riding on an Airbus A330 bound for Detroit.  Fortunately for his fellow passengers, Allah was not with him that day (He might have been distracted by helping out the Taliban or something) and aside from some third degree burns on his thighs and second degree burns on his holy junk, he survived the experience.

Which places our boy Umar in a federal jail cell in Milan, MI about 45 miles SW of Detroit.  He's in a pretrial holding cell, scheduled  to go on trial on Oct 4th for his crimes.  He is acting as his own lawyer.  Presumably, since he was so brilliant at blowing up his junk, he thinks that qualifies him to defend himself. 

His legal strategy is brilliant!  First, during Ramadan, he assaulted some guards in the defense of Mohammad. From the Detroit Free Press:

In a separate, handwritten court filing, the Nigerian national also wrote that "excessive force" was used to restrain him on Wednesday while he was in his closed cell, during the "holy month of Ramadan." He wrote that between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., "in defense of Muhammad," he assaulted several officers from his cell, and that as a result, "excessive force" was used to restrain him.

A brilliant strategy!  Attack the guards then complain that they had to use force to restrain you and it's all OK because you were defending Mohammad. 

But the best is yet to come.  Our boy Umar has decided that he is not subject to US laws.  That's right, folks.  He, from the Brotherhood of the Blistered Bits, is above our man made laws.

In a handwritten court document filed today, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, asked the court to release him from prison, arguing that "all Muslims should only be ruled by the law of the Quran."

"The defendant is being unjustly detained in the Unites States of American, and subjected to the Rule of Man," wrote Abdulmutallab, adding he should "only be judged and ruled by the law of the Quran."

I'm presuming that since bombing airplanes full of people is not specifically banned, plus killing infidels is a sure ticket to those promised 72 virgins, he would be freed to pursue other Jihadi endeavors.

I'll agree that his petitions will in all likelihood, not go much further than the nearest trash can, but in todays politically correct judicial system, there is a sliver of doubt.  All he needs is some whack job federal judge to agree and he is home free to try and get it right the next time.  I'm not saying it will happen, but could it happen some day?  I'll bet it could.

Umar will most likely spend the rest of his days in some Federal Pen, getting three hots and a cot on our dime.  That's probably way more than he deserves, but that's our man made laws for ya.

VW

Who Really Wants To Bring The Country Down

For the last couple of months, the left has accused the Tea Party Republicans as being criminals, bent on bringing our government down and destroying our economy.  We are extortionists! We are terrorists!  If the country couldn't continue to borrow, our whole economic system would grind to a halt.  People would die from various privations if the debt limit wasn't lifted.  Grannie would not get her Social Security check and even Christmas was set to be canceled if we Grinches didn't step up to the plate and give Obama the authority to borrow more money.

Somewhere, someone decided we were working to bring down the government so somewhere, within in their fevered little brains, Tea Partiers became terrorists and extortionists. 

Let's look at what really is going on and what is at stake.  Let's see who really wants to bring the country to it's knees.

When the Democrats were elected en masse in 2008, their battle cry was to drain the swamp and get the profligate spending caused by the Republicans under control.  They were right.  The Republicans had spent too much and we did need to get the spending under control.  So what happened?

The Democrats in Congress never submitted a budget.  The only budget that was ever even submitted was so badly put together, it was laughed out of Congress.  The Republicans have submitted a budget since they took control of the house, but the Senate has refused to look at it and has yet to submit a budget.  All we are running on is a series of continuing resolutions that are not only the last budget of the Bush Administration, they've added a slew of increases in those two years PLUS the so-called stimulus package that was supposed bring down unemployment and jump start our economy.  We all know how that turned out.

And now, we are bleeding red ink like a punctured aorta.  For every dollar we spend, 40 cents of it is borrowed money. 

Fortunately, it was the Tea Party Republicans in Congress that saw this.  They decided they had to act and since the Democrats were not inclined to get the budget under control, something drastic had to be done.  They decided to push for some kind of spending cuts to try and get a handle on the out of control spending by the Democrats since they refused to pass a budget.

One of the complaints I heard was Why now?  Why do we have to hold the debt ceiling hostage?  My answer has been. "If not now, when?"

Throughout this whole process, there was never a serious plan put out by the Democrats.  All Obama wanted to do was raise taxes and essentially threatened to hold his breath until the Republicans caved.  He offered no other solution beyond a demand to tax the evil rich.  The Senate Democrats offered a plan so bad that even Reid wanted to filibuster it.

Essentially, what Obama wanted was just to kick the can down the road until after the election.  The result would be no change in spending and no responsibility.  We would just keep borrowing and spending until the next debt ceiling hit and presumably would just demand another "clean" raise in the ceiling.

At what point would the Democrats start to understand that we can't keep borrowing and borrowing?  Would it be when the whole damned economic system  fell down around us and we are left with nothing but anarchy?  Is that the goal? 

The real challenge to America are those who think we can just keep spending.  The real problem we face is politicians that refuse to pass a budget.  The real criminals are those that want to bankrupt us.

VW

Letters, I Get Letters...

and sometimes there are a few words interspersed! 

Today I got a comment on my blog on this post: The Ethics Of Journalism.

Here, unedited, is his epistle:

But u r terrorists. U r covered in the blood of violence. You have a goal and tactics much similar to that of Germany in the 1930's thru WWII. Why be hypocritical and hide from the truth.

It was signed "Bob" and Bob's IP addy is out of the San Fransisco Bay area.  His email addy is peacekid69@yahoo.com and he searched for "tea party violence examples".  Go ahead, type that into Google and follow the first link that pops up. 

Given that it is from the center of the Idiot Universe and the email addy, I figure it's legitimate.

Bob may not be all that bright, but Bob is listening and he is listening to people like Biden who calls people like me "terrorists". There is no evidence of any violence from the Tea Party, but the numerous Goebbels on the left keep firing a constant barrage of accusations and they are using terms such as "terrorist" to describe us.  I guess it's only a matter of time until some Tea Party member gets violent and tries to pick a fight with a bullet fired from some patriotic leftist's gun.

VW

I Am A Conservative Christiian And I Am Not A Terrorist!

By all accounts so far, Anders Behring Breivik acted alone.  There appears to be no underlying organization or cell.  There's no indication that there is another group ready to step in and take up his call to arms.

Breivik posted his "manifesto" on line just before he committed his crimes.  I didn't read it, but I did see the video that he is said to have posted. 

I would be less than honest if I said he is completely wrong. Unfortunately, where he is right, he goes way overboard.  His assertions that there is some underlying grand conspiracy by Muslims is indeed paranoid.  His idea that there is some Marxist cadre out there pulling even more strings is also out there in paranoia land.  That said, the western world seems to be increasingly leaning leftward as we seek to find some kind of way to level the playing field.  As Muslim populations grow in some areas, there are some who seek to impose their own system of cultural laws over our established ideas of justice and liberty.  It is indeed a clash of cultures at times.

I do worry about our government and the slow march toward some kind of liberal paradise.  The fundamental difference between what I believe and much of the left is the idea that government is the granter of rights.  I believe that man inherently has rights, whether by God (as I believe) or because it is human need (as I understand Conservative Atheists view it).  Either way, government should be responsible to the citizens, not the other way around.

In addressing a joint session of Congress in 1974, President Gerald Ford said perhaps the profoundest thing in his life: "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."

Government is, in fact, something to be feared.

That does not, however, give anyone the right to blow up government buildings, then go to a youth camp and shoot teenagers like fish in a barrel.  There might come a time when we may have to throw off an overly oppressive government when we have no other recourse, but Norway is hardly a dictatorship - yet.  While the government is certainly left leaning, opposition parties are legal and do operate.  Even in the worst case scenario, shooting innocent kids is not an acceptable action.  It's murder.

I am a conservative.  I make no bones about it.  I am proud to say it.  I come by my opinions and understanding honestly through study and through reason.  I am also a Christian.  I am not of the fundamentalist variety, but I doubt you would even find many of them who would follow the likes of Breivik.  As much as I dislike them, not even Fred Phelps' idiotic brand of Baptists would do something like that. 

I would also venture to say that in tens of thousands of Christian churches across this great land this Sunday morning, the type of actions and thinking of Breivik were condemned and prayers were offered for the families of his victims.

Christianity does not teach people to go out and harm others.  No where in the New Testament is the idea of genocide taught.  We are taught to spread the Gospel, but not at the point of a gun.

As citizens of a free nation, we have a responsibility to keep our freedoms and our way of life.  We have a responsibility and a right to defend our country, our homes and our family.  As long as their is political recourse, we do not have the right to armed defiance against our government.

Breivik is a psychopath.  Whatever function in the brain that enables a conscience and remorse for wrong doing is somehow irrevocably short circuited.  He is not a Christian Knight nor does the Masonic order of Knights Templar espouse such thinking.  My father was a Mason and a member of the Knights Templar.  I hardly think he would have had anything to do with an organization that would teach or even condone such action.

Breivik is not Christian and he is not a terrorist,  He is a pschopathic criminal that should forever be removed from the society that gave him so much.  Unfortunately, Norway does not have a death penalty and according to the UK Telegraph, he will get a maximum of 21 years.  Yes you read that correctly, 21 years.  In contrast, Dominick Sergio Maldonado, the young man who shot up the Tacoma Mall and only ended up wounding (severely) one person, received a 263 year sentence.

To say that Christians pose some huge terrorist threat is flawed and even dishonest.  No group is free of its bad seeds.  We can't be responsible for every nutbag that pops up.  All we can do is continue to teach our truth and denounce those who would harm others without cause.

I am a Conservative.  I am a Christian.  I am not a threat to my community or country.  I'm not ashamed and neither should anyone else who claims the same.

VW

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

It's About Respect.

This morning, on my way to work, I was listening to KVI and the Brian Suites Show.  He usually has some "journalist" from ABC 5:40 AM.  This particular journalist was trying to sell the notion that those who oppose the Mosque at Ground Zero are nothing more that xenophobic racists.  We somehow oppose the Mosque for the same reason we [allegedly] hate the Latinos that are illegally crossing our border.  In a word, this guy was an idiot.  He might believe what he says, but his circle of associates and friends is in rarified atmospheres.  They don't include people like me.

I don't oppose this mosque because I hate Muslims.  I have nothing against the vast majority of Muslims.  Those that I have met in my travels are fine people.  People I would like as neighbors. The guys I worked with when I was in the Middle East last year were top notch.  We parted as friends - honestly hoping to meet again.

I'm also not anti-hispanic or immigrant.  If you come legally, I don't care who or what you worship or what color you perceive yourself to be.  I just don't care, but I want you here LEGALLY.

The Mosque is not about freedom of worship or religion.  They can build a mosque anywhere they want, I just don't want them building one there for the same reason I don't want the Japanese building a Shinto shrine two blocks from the USS Arizona.  This mosque is meant nothing more than to be "in your face."  It is not about tolerance.

To be clear, the structure that is to be built is not solely a mosque.  It is a 13 story building that will house a mosque.  It is an "Islamic Community Center".  The imam in charge of this project, Feisal Abdul Rauf, has said in the past that the US is partially responsible for 9-11.  He's does not denounce such organizations as Hamas which supports terrorism as a way to reachtheir goals.  Hamas, by the way, endorses the building of the mosque and center.

This is about respect.  Obviously all of Islam did not support the 9-11 terrorist aggression, but it was a radical Islamists that blew the place up.  There does not need to be a mosque, and Islamic center there. Let them build it elsewhere in Manhatten.

If they want peace, let them act like it.

The Times Square Bomber

Despite my rather malicious sounding nomme de blog, I am not prone to causing mayhem or inflicting damage upon people and/or animals.  The "Violence Worker" appellation is nothing more than a tongue in cheek nod to some idiot liberal who once said that those who work for the American war machine should be shamed by calling them "violence workers" (something I read back in the 90s).  Since I spent 20 years in the USAF and now work for a major defense contractor, it seemed to fit.  Bottom line, I'm not violent.  My sister will attest that my only real claim to domestication is that I live in a house, but other than that, I'm fairly harmless.

However, if you listen to the left wing press, I should probably be on a terrorist watch list because A: I don't like Obama and B: I support the goals of the Tea Party Movement.  When the Times Square News Broke, I should have been at the top of the suspect list.  (I have an airtight alibi, just so you know.)

The press and idiots that inhabit the fever swamp known as the Democratic Underground (Go find it yourself) were all convinced it was a guy like me. Instead, it was a guy named Faisal from Pakistan. 

Never mind that there is not one shred of evidence that anyone in the Tea Party movement is planning some terrorist act, we are at the top of the list.  Young Muslim males, however, seem to be at the bottom of their list of possible suspects whenever something like this happens.

Go figure that.

VW

Abdulhakim Muhammad Deserves Death

Two of America's finest were gunned down in cold blood by a man not fit to lick dog excrement off of their boots.  Abdulhakim Muhammad killed William Long and wounded Quinton Ezeagwula because he was "mad at the US Military because of what they had done to Muslims in the past."

I'm not trying to excuse this slimebag's action one iota, but I can't help but think he was played.  I'm certain that his head was filled with all kinds of hate and crap by some nut job Jihadis and when he returned, he acted out of conditioning..  Who knows?

I hope this guy gets the needle and becomes an example to any other would be instant Jihadis out there contemplating some sort of stupidity.

My prayers and condolences to the Long family and my prayers for a speedy recovery for Private Ezeagwula and comfort for his family.  

VW