Politics Blog

Check this out:

“Bush nominee says [safety] laws ‘adequate’ at mines“

President Bush’s choice to oversee coal mines said Tuesday that safety laws are ‘adequate’ and that problems result from mine operators that ignore safety regulations.

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[Richard] Stickler’s comments drew criticism from Democrats and the United Mine Workers, which has long opposed his nomination.

Well, if Democrats and that old-line union oppose him that must mean he’s the right man for the job.

BTW, it’s good to know the Prez is nominating various people – e.g., John Roberts, Alito, Stickler, Chris Cox, Janice Rogers Brown, etc., etc., – who believe in not expanding unnecessarily the reach of federal laws.

Don’t you agree, Sullivan-Drezner?

— Jayson

The LA Times, unlikely as ever to show good discretion, invited an editorial from Khaled Meshaal, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, the brutal terrorist organization which has murdered countless thousands of innocents and which claimed victory in the Palestinan elections last week. While repugnant in its tone and completely false in its claims, the article does provide a useful look into the rationale of an unquestionably evil political party. It is very much like hearing from Hitler, or more precisely Goebbels, in a 21st Century context. And so the words from Hamas deserve attention, if only to warn of a murderer’s intentions.

Meshaal begins by stating that the Palestinians knew what they were getting:

“When they went to the polls Jan. 25, they were well aware of what was being offered, and those who voted for Hamas knew what it stood for. They chose Hamas because of its pledge never to give up the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and its promise to embark on a program of reform.

There were voices, locally and internationally, warning them not to vote for an organization branded by the U.S. and the European Union as terrorist because such a democratically exercised right would cost them the financial aid provided by foreign donors.”

So far, it must be admitted that Meshaal is correct. Hamas was freely elected, and there is no reason to think they did not know what they were getting. To my mind, this speaks to the problem of the Palestinian mind, that they believe their best hopes for the future lie in the decisions of what amounts to an international Jihadist version of the Crips, or a chilling renewal of the sort of desperation that led to Germany thinking the Nazis might have the right idea, but they were elected. And yes, the world at large saw this for the poor and reckless decision it is, essentially forfeiting the near future in an insane belief that pathological murderers can be relied upon to provide responsive government and judicious policies.

Meshaal, in keeping with so many other Hamas communiqués, cannot help but taunt the West: ”Rather than recognize the legitimacy of Hamas as a freely elected representative of the Palestinian people, seize the opportunity created by the result to support the development of good governance in Palestine and search for a means of ending the bloodshed, the U.S. and the EU threatened the Palestinian people with collective punishment.”

That is simply a lie, a perversion of Hamas’ stated intent and America’s clear warning not to cross that line. Hamas has a bloody history and a policy of pure hate towards Israel and America. If Hamas withdraws its old threats well and good, but they cannot expect to pursue their violent goals without a deadly response.

”We are being punished simply for resisting oppression and striving for justice.”

No, you are simply being warned that your history of kidnapping and murdering innocent people must stop. Hamas knows justice like Mike Moore knows bulimia.

” the Zionist occupiers of our land.”

Get used to hearing that phrase, folks. It’s the modern reference to the “Final Solution”. It also demonstrates the arrogance of Hamas. Israel belongs to the people who live there and no one else, not another nation and certainly not Hamas, which has paid nothing but claims what they never owned.

”Our people who gave thousands of martyrs, the millions of refugees who have waited for nearly 60 years to return home and our 9,000 prisoners in Israeli jails have not made those sacrifices in order to settle for close to nothing. Hamas has been elected mainly because of its immovable faith in the inevitability of victory”

History shows that Arab groups made deals with the Nazis during World War 2, in hopes of seizing the territory after the war. They also apparently learned the same propaganda tactics: People who murder innocent women and children are called “martyrs”, millions whonever set foot in Israel are called “refugees”, and as for the ‘inevitability of victory’, Hitler and Saddam said a lot of the same things, didn’t they? Got bunker, Meshaal? Or just a hole in the ground?

”Hamas is immune to bribery, intimidation and blackmail.”

The chutzpah of such a statement from a group so steeped in the bloody use of just such methods for so long is stunning.

The message is interesting, when we see how Meshall addresses the rest of the Arab and Muslim world:

”Our message to the Muslim and Arab nations is this: You have a responsibility to stand by your Palestinian brothers and sisters whose sacrifices are made on behalf of all of you.”

In other words, Meshaal is publicly admitting Hamas does not speak for the Muslim world in these matters, nor for the Arabs. Apparently, the people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, and many other nations in the Middle East are no more keen to have leaders on the order of Charles Manson in charge, than is the West. Therein lies hope.

”we demand you lift all restrictions on civil society institutions that wish to fundraise for our cause.”

Insh’Allah, of course. Seriously, what an opening. ‘Hi, we just got elected, so fork over the cash and maybe nobody gets hurt. Atleast not right now.’ Classy, huh?

”Having won the parliamentary elections, our medium-term objective is to reform the Palestine Liberation Organization in order to revive it as a true representative of all the Palestinian people, without exception or discrimination.”

In which case no member of Hamas could represent the PLO.

”Our message to the Israelis is this: We do not fight you because you belong to a certain faith or culture…Our conflict with you is not religious but political. We have no problem with Jews who have not attacked us”

‘Just ignore the thousands we have killed with bombs and shootings all these years. Those kids we blew to pieces in 2003, they had it coming, trust us. That 7-year old little girl we shot with a rifle during an agreed cease-fire, don’t you know she represented a threat to us?’

”Hamas is extending a hand of peace to those who are truly interested in a peace based on justice.”

Hamas knows nothing of justice nor peace, and deserves only its destruction and consignment to hell forthwith. Make no mistake. These are evil men who lead Hamas, and in the end we shall have to deal with them as we did Hitler and other madmen and bloody tyrants.

– DJ Drummond

Courtesy of Drudge, John (”Davos”) Kerry this morning declared:

53% of America’s children do not graduate from high school.

Riiiiiight.

Yeah, sure, perhaps among those who get their news from DailyKos.

On the other hand, here are the actual numbers for the general population:

86% = High school graduates among the age 20-24 demographic.

87% = High school graduates among the age 25-30 demographic.

88% = Among 35-40 year olds.

Go figure.

Memo to John Kerry:

I’ll have what you’re smoking, Chomsky.

Hat tip: Politicalswami.

— Jayson

Democrats Say ‘There is a Better Way’

— Jayson

“Iran Leader Vows to Resist ‘Bully’ Nations“

Okay, fair enough.

Memo to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

There are JDAMs in your future.

There can be only one. And it can’t be you or your ilk.

— Jayson

From the Washington Times:

“Bush calls for an optimistic America“

On the other hand, and for a contrary slate ofviewpoints, here’s the librulz media:

Associated Depressed: “Bush: U.S. Must Get Free of Mideast Oil“

A politically weakened President Bush declared Tuesday night that America must break its long dependence on Mideast oil and rebuked critics of his stay-the-course strategy for the unpopular war in Iraq.

Gee, that wasn’t subtle, was it?

BTW, imagine how “politically weakened” Prez Bush will be after he seats the *next* SCOTUS Justice.

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From the Washington Post: “Lowered Expectations Reflect Political and Fiscal Realities“

Mmm, hmm.

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The Seattle P-I: “Bush skips complex realities in address“

Over to you, Paul Krugman.

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Boston Globe: “Bay State Democrats rip Bush“

Yep.

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Last but not least, and just for kicks, here’s the way in which John Dickerson of Slate projected his various mental disorders:

“Whose Addiction? Bush’s surprisingly partisan speech“

George Bush didn’t go through a recovery program when he quit drinking, but surely he knows that the first step to shucking any dependency is admitting the problem. In his big speech, he attempted to do just that when he delivered the evening’s most memorable line, ‘America is addicted to oil.’

{Glug, glug, glug, glug, glug}

On the bright side for the John Dickersons of the world, there are only, well, you know, three full years remaining in this presidency.

— Jayson

I felt the President gave an excellent speech - he did not engage in the typical mistake of reading a laundry list. The speech should provide something of a boost in his approval ratings.

— Alexander K. McClure

“Rare Allies in No Child Left Behind [Lawsuit]“

The NEA and reality?

Um, no.

The Bush administration and the NAACP.

Go figure.

— Jayson

Check this out:

“Younger gunmen spur jump in homicides“

Underlying the increase in homicides in 2005 appear to be two disturbing trends – high-crime neighborhoods awash in guns and gunmen who are younger and quicker to pull the trigger.

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[Police] reported that they responded to 315 shootings last year, a 21 percent jump over the 260 shootings logged in 2004.

Damn.

Who could have dreamed conditions would be so grisly over in

San Francisco?

Man, the next thing you’ll tell me is that big liberal cities controlled for decades by liberal Democrats almost always have high relative crime, murder, and poverty rates; along with the worst school systems and the most blight.

Oh, right.

In any event, what’s your take on San Francisco’s crime and homicide waves, Pelosi-Sullivan?

— Jayson

Various items with no chance of getting through the filters of the usual suspects:

“ICE Deports 63 Mexicans [from Chicago] on Weekly Government Flight“

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Speaking of illegals getting deported, check this out:

“47 [illegal] immigrants deported from [Orange County, New York]“

Forty-seven immigrants accused or convicted of crimes in Orange County have been returned to their own countries or face deportation as the result of a six-month-long investigation announced yesterday.

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Hmm, here’s another one:

“Immigration arrests made [in Iowa]“

Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and drug agents rounded up seven people on various charges over the weekend.

Uh, oh.

*Illegal aliens* getting pinched in connection with {gulp} a gummint drug raid. Will those who reflexively despise the GOP complain? Or not complain? Or both?

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“Three Criminals Arrested by ICE [Fugitive Operations Team]“

Read the whole thing.

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“Accident turns into human smuggling bust“

An overnight wreck on the northwest side [of Houston] led to a major human smuggling bust.

Tough luck, Riff-Raff.

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Last but certainly not least, here are links to cases handed down over the past few days in which various federal appeals courts meted out brass-knuckled justice to illegal aliens:

3rd Circuit (order of deportation upheld).

4th Circuit (deportation upheld).

5th Circuit (deportation affirmed).

10th Circuit (deportation upheld).

11th Circuit (deportation affirmed).

3rd Circuit (deportation upheld).

4th Circuit (deportation affirmed).

10th Circuit (nearly five years in prison for illegal reentry after prior deportation).

11th Circuit (deportation upheld).

3rd Circuit (deportation affirmed).

10th Circuit (sentence for illegal reentry upheld).

11th Circuit (multiple deportations upheld).

The 2nd Circuit also was quite busy over the past 72 hours smacking around illegal aliens.

Scroll around this web site to read all about it. Look for cases in which “Gonzales” or “Ashcroft” is listed as the named defendant.

– Jayson