I am not sure I have laughed this hard in quite some time…

Lieberman Invites Kerry on Hunting Trip – ScrappleFace.com

(2006-08-21) — Just a day after Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, implied that Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-CT, is the new Dick Cheney, the amiable Sen. Lieberman offered to “patch things up” by taking Mr. Kerry on a hunting trip in his native state.

The junior senator from Massachusetts told ABC News This Week with George Stephanopoulos that Mr. Lieberman was “adopting the rhetoric of [Vice President] Dick Cheney” regarding Iraq, and that the three-term Connecticut senator is “out of step with the people of Connecticut.”

“I know Sen. Kerry is a big sportsman,” said Mr. Lieberman, “So heading out to the fields with a couple of shotguns is just my way of getting some face time with John away from the news media.”

Sen. Kerry welcomed the invitation, and reportedly asked Sen. Lieberman, “Where can I get me a hunting license in Connecticut?”

Too funny.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Another brilliant piece by Ben Stein…

Looking for the Will Beyond the Battlefield – NY Times.com (Aug. 20)

Terrorists are still hatching plots against the air traffic system of the West, and this time bigger and worse than before. Obviously, Al-Qaeda is far from dead. We have much to fear from it still. The fact that the suspects were almost all home-grown Britons makes the situation that much more frightening and unpredictable. How long will it be until American-born terrorists strike against American targets? We are a big country and we have a lot of unhappy people. How long until they organize themselves to kill? Not long, I am afraid.

While we’re at it, yes, it’s miraculous and wonderful that the plot was foiled, if it was. But now the whole Western world will be seriously inconvenienced in its travel for years, maybe decades. Isn’t this already a victory for our enemies? Isn’t this already a blow against world business? Might it be enough to push our already slowed growth into a recession?

Now, who’s fighting for us in the fight of our lives? Brave, idealistic Southerners. Hispanics from New Mexico. Rural men and women from upstate New York. Small-town boys and girls from the Midwest. Do the children of the powers on Wall Street resign to go off and fight? Fight for the system that made them rich? Fight for the way of life that made them princes? Surely, you jest.

And that’s the essence. The other side considers it a privilege to fight and die for its beliefs. Those on the other side cannot wait to line up to blow themselves up for their vision of heaven. On our side, it’s: “Let the other poor sap do it. I’ve got to make money.” How can we fight this fight with the brightest and best educated rushing off and working night and day to do private equity deals and derivatives trading? How can we fight this fight with the ruling class absent by its own sweet leave?

I keep thinking, again, that if Israel, with its back to the sea, cannot muster the will to fight in a big way, then the fat, faraway U.S.A. will never be able to do it. I keep saying this and it terrifies me.

We’re in a war with people who want to kill us all and wreck our civilization. They’re taking it very seriously. We, on the other hand, are worrying about leveraged buyouts and special dividends and how much junk debt the newly formed private entity can support before we sell it to the ultimate sucker, the public shareholder.

We’re worrying whether Hollywood will forgive Mel Gibson and what the next move is for big homes in East Hampton. We’re rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The terrorists are the iceberg.

What stands between us and the iceberg are the miraculously brave men and women of the armed forces. They’re heroes and saints as far as I’m concerned. But can they do it without the rest of us? Can they do it while we’re all working on our tans and trying to have our taxes lowered again? How can we leave them out there all alone to die for us when we treat the war to save civilization as something we can just wish away?

If we don’t win this war against the terrorists, there’s not going to be business as usual ever again. If the terrorists get to their goal, there’s not going to be a stock exchange or hedge funds or Bain Capital or the Carlyle Group or even Goldman Sachs. If the terrorists get their way — and so far, they’re getting their way — there’s not going to be business, period. 

I echoed similar sentiments last week.  I am starting to fear for my nation and those that cherish freedom and democracy throughout the world.  We have governments and peoples increasingly unwilling to forceably stand up to the spread of Islamic fascism in the same way we confronted German fascism over 60 years ago. 

These are indeed troubling times….

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

If it weren’t for this blog, I would long since have cancelled my subscription to The Advocate. I have found its reporting increasingly biased with its coverage of conservatives frequently dishonest. The magazine doesn’t have a single conservative columnist (though it has from time to time included conservative views on its website).

In its December 7, 2004 symposium on the previous month’s elections, it failed to include a single person who had supported the winner in the presidential contest despite the fact that just under one in four gay men and lesbians voted for George W. Bush.

That said, it often provides news of interest to gay people and occasionally has interesting features. Its left-wing rants often provide material for my posts. And sometimes it offers food for thought. In the latest issue, for example, its editorial “Is lying about HIV a crime?” considers an issue particularly important to our community.

The editors believe that prosecuting a sexually promiscuous Australian man “who told partners he was HIV-negative when he knew he wasn’t,” persuading some to “have unprotected sex with him . . ., would set a perilous precedent.” They believe:

it’s wrong to fabricate a story about your HIV status, much less to knowingly expose people to the virus. But it’s also wrong to criminalize people for doing either.

I agree with their contention that “Protecting yourself from HIV is a matter of personal responsibility,” but I’m not sure I share their conclusion.

I have yet to meet a gay man who doesn’t know the risks of unprotected intercourse. And yet some continue to “play unsafe” even with partners about whose status they are uncertain. While they may be taking great risks with their health, it is their responsibility to take precautions, not the government’s.

(more…)

***UPDATE: If it’s up to Kofi, then it looks like 1701 is doomed to fail. The Secretary General says the operation (mentioned below) violated the cease-fire. I guess Annan just wants a cessation of hostilities rather than respect for the terms of the agreement.

That’s the bad news. The good news is the Administration’s resolve to enforce UN mandates:

The White House declined to criticize the Israeli operation, noting that Israel said it acted in reaction to arms smuggling into Lebanon and that the U.N. resolution calls for the prevention of any weapons resupply for Hezbollah.

***

It looks like the test of the West’s resolve and Kofi Annan’s commitment to the principles of the United Nations (UN) and the mandates of its resolutions on the disarming of militias in Lebanon has come sooner than I anticipated. Israel launched a commando raid into the Lebanese town of Baalbek to “prevent the smuggling of arms to Hizbullah” (link via Pajamas). As rearmament of Hezbollah is a violation of UN Resolution 1701, such smuggling means that terror group — and those responsible for providing arms to it — has breached the agreement.

Now that “Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora phoned UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to protest“, the Secretary General has the chance to show his stuff by making clear that the resolution calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament and condemning attempts to resupply the terror group. And recognizing Israel’s right to self-defense if the resolution is breached.

That Israel continues to take defensive actions indicates that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recognizes that 1701 does not call for an unconditional cease-fire. And confirms my view that the resolution is not entirely bad. As Captain Ed wrote, “If [Hezbollah Chief] Nasrallah balks, then Israel will have a green light and a wide window to finish the job, and they will have lost very little in the hours it will take for the gambit to play to its conclusion.”

And it’s not just Hezbollah’s leaders who appears to be balking. Another man not known for keeping his word, French President Jacques Chirac, has pledged only 400 French troops to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. “France had been widely expected to increase its contribution to UNIFIL after the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution drafted by France and the U.S. last Friday.” The UN “is disappointed with the French contribution” (link via Captain Ed).

(more…)

This is the kind of email that makes me get up in the morning and blog….

Hey man. I’m Mike, 32, living in the upper Midwest. I have my masters in social work and am a case manager and therapist at an AIDS resource center. I wanted to let you know that I really appreciate the tenor and class you bring to the table. I am a liberal and I have some conservative friends, both gay and straight. I think the only way we solve things is by talking to each other in a respectful way. I fully agree with the idea that we cannot marginalize anyone that does not follow a party line. Keep doing what your doing. We can disagree about things forever and still respect and care for each other.

Thanks Mike.  We are here to bring new ideas and new perspectives to the blogosphere and try to do it with thought, humor and class.   We don’t always succeed, but we do always try.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

It seems that while our writing styles are different, on almost every major issue, Bruce and I agree. Sometimes I will consider a news item or interesting quotation as the subject of potential blog and then, before I have started to write the post, will find that he has already blogged on the topic. In just the past month, he “scooped” me on Ben Stein’s praise of the president, Lanny Davis’s thoughts on Liberal McCarthyism and Tony Snow’s “Smackdown” of Cindy Sheehan.

We differ, however, on UN Resolution 1701 which Bruce calls “our version of ‘Peace in Our Time’.” And it seems our differences reflect those of conservatives pundits and bloggers. While a majority share Bruce’s view of this flawed resolution, a handful share my view, including Captain Ed and Jeff Goldstein of Protein Wisdom.

I learned today that while not cautiously optimistic about the resolution as is Goldstein*, one of my favorite columnists pretty much echoes my views, though expresses his thoughts far better than I have mine. In his column today, Charles Krauthammer contends that Israel will be able to “take care of itself.” He fears, however, that Lebanese democracy, “the high point . . . of the Bush doctrine” will be lost.”

Like me, Krauthammer believes that in this war, the sudden end to hostilities deprived Israel of victory:

The first Israel-Hezbollah war ended in a tie, and in this kind of warfare, tie goes to the terrorist. Yet there is no doubt that had Israel been permitted to proceed with the expanded offensive it began two days before the cease-fire, Israel would eventually have destroyed Hezbollah in the south, albeit at great cost to itself, Lebanon and Israel’s patron, the United States. Which is why the war was called off.

Fortunately, the Israel army learns from its mistakes and adapts its tactics and equipment to address problems in past engagements. The army is already investigating problems in the war and will not be caught flat-footed in the next battle as they were in the most recent one.

(more…)

It never ceases to amaze me how some of our critics have to remind us how much they hate President Bush in the comments section to the blog, even in posts where we don’t even mention him. Yet, they’re not the only ones to bring up their animosities at the drop of a hat.

Certain social conservatives seem so obsessed with homosexuality than any time sexual perversion comes up, they relate it to homosexuality. Even when such sexual perversion involves one individual’s fascination with an individual (or group) of the opposite sex.

With the media all abuzz over the arrest of a suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, a young girl, The Malcontent‘s Robbie notes that LaShawn Barber, a conservative blogger, commented that he looked like “a homosexual pedophie.” I’m not quite sure what a homosexual pedophile looks like, but what we do know about the suspect’s behavior (at least what he claims is his behavior) is that he prefers young girls.

LaShawn certainly has the right to say whatever she thinks, but her assumption causes me to question her judgment. That she would assume a pervert who preys on little girls looks “homosexual” says a lot about her attitude toward gay people.

Well, the American Libs are now only about one half-step away from not only condoning and supporting appeasement of Islamic fascism, but actually executing the same tactics to the same end:  terror in America.  (Via Best of the Web.)

Security Scare at Logan – Boston Globe

A 59-year-old Vermont woman’s behavior aboard a trans-Atlantic flight triggered a massive security response yesterday, with Air Force F-15 jets escorting the plane to Logan Airport, where federal agents seized the woman, authorities interrogated passengers, and police dogs sniffed through luggage for explosives.

The woman, identified by two local security officials as Catherine C. Mayo, will probably be charged today with interfering with a flight crew, authorities said. Mayo’s former husband said she had “emotional issues” and had been on her way home from vacationing in Pakistan.

Best of the Web reports on what Mayo’s emotional issues really are…. she is a MadLiberal.

“She showed a lighter and was like, ‘They let me bring this on the plane. I’m a journalist, and I’m going to try to sneak stuff on the plane,’ ” passenger Matthew Bolton said.

That account was unconfirmed by authorities, but NewsCenter 5 learned there was a Catherine Mayo from Vermont who wrote for the Daily Times of Pakistan in 2003. The woman who was arrested is a U.S. citizen, authorities said.

Here’s a sample of her writing……

I think the US people have forgotten that President Bush didn’t win the election. He only got the job because they couldn’t decide what to do with pregnant chads in Florida. . . . When President Bush announced that God was telling him to bomb Iraq, my stomach turned over. He has no right to include God in his State of the Union address. It is forbidden by law; the church and state are completely separate in the United States. No politically elected person can use religion for his own ends.

The government of the US has changed in the last few months, and the citizens of the country haven’t noticed yet. It has become an oligarchy. Its leaders rule with a wave of their hands, laughing into their sleeves. They can create any truth they want, and then create proof that it is real. They are accountable to no one. . . .

The people of the US don’t have power anymore. That’s what the Muslim world needs to understand. When President Bush says that he is God, the ordinary people go out and shovel the snow out of their driveways. There is nothing else they can do.

From what we see on some of the blogs, some of the email we get, and even the work of some major newspaper columnists, we’d say quite a few people these days have “emotional issues” that center on politics. Thank goodness most of them manage to control themselves while on airplanes.

I dare say that there are some GayPatriot commenters suffering the same “emotional issues” and had better maintain control of themselves at least if you are flying on a plane with me.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Gerard Baker has a hard-hitting and “about time” column today on the increasing failure of Bush Administration to live up to its promises of strong, resolute leadership in World War III.  (h/t – The Corner at NRO) 

Let’s see. You invaded Iraq because you argued you would be able to bring about a peaceful, democratic society in the heart of the Arab world, a step vital to the eradication of modern terrorism. Many of us supported the project because we believed the stakes were so high that you would not stint in committing the resources necessary to achieve it.

But you tried to do it on the cheap. If many of us miscalculated the scale of the threat Iraq posed, there was no excuse for the woeful lack of preparation by your Administration for the task of pacifying the country.

The outcome? A broken nation on the verge of civil war, prey to the avarice of tyrannical regional neighbours, violently immolating itself and nurturing new generations of terrorists.

Well, you supported and perhaps even encouraged Israel to invade Lebanon last month, after repeated provocations by terrorists. The aim — a good one in principle — was to crush Hezbollah, weaken its Syrian and Iranian sponsors and put Lebanon on a path to long-term, terror-free stability. But when the largely aerial campaign predictably failed and equally predictably led to the world’s media reaching their one-sided conclusion about Israel’s “aggression” , you quickly backtracked. You encouraged Israel to accept a ceasefire that amounts to the country’s most serious defeat in its 57-year history.

The result? A strengthened Hezbollah and a new Arab hero, Sheikh Hassan Nasrullah; a reprieve for the beleaguered Assad regime in Damascus and a further fillip to Iranian ambitions; a strategic setback for Israel and the condemnation of Lebanon tragically to replay the turmoil of the 1980s.

How’m I doin’? You rightly identified Iran as the gravest threat to the West’s long-term security and you pledged to bend US policy to ensure that it did not gain the regional hegemony that would allow it to blackmail the world into acquiescence of its hateful ideology. Above all, Iran would be stopped from getting the bomb.

The result? The despised regime in Tehran has emerged as the true hegemonic power in the region, leeching on the battered bodies politic of Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, elevating its brand of Shia fundamentalism into position as the dominant force in the Islamic world and continuing on its path towards nuclear status.

The events of September 11, taken together with the other, steadily escalating acts of terrorism committed against the West in the past 30 years, required a radical new departure for the international system. Preventing the lunatics from blowing us all to the hereafter was going to require that the US, the only country with the power to stop it, break a bit of crockery.

But the US could take the risk of alienating the world and discarding international law only if its leadership was going to be effective. Instead its leadership has been desultory and uncertain and tragically ineffective.

But I don’t truly see how the failings in the Middle East could have been avoided by Washington’s being nicer to foreigners. What’s been missing is resolute leadership.  It is hard for me to recall a time when the world was such a scary place. No one should rejoice at America’s weakness. The world is scarier still because of it. 

Glenn Beck made similar statements yesterday when discussing the ridiculous UN/Israel/US appeasement of Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah with the recent “ceasefire.”  As Glenn said, “Israel has had the wishy-washy American spine implanted into it and that has made the world a scarier place.”  He’s right — we cannot fight World War III by being concerned about political correctness niceities.  Our enemies are not, but they are fighting to win.

Our slide to the policies of appeasement and delay, instead of crushing force and demands of unconditional surrender, are actually making the world a much more dangerous place.  UN Resolution 1701 is our version of “Peace In Our Time”, circa 1938.  The only question is who plays Chamberlain this time:  Bush, Rice, Ohlmert or Annan?   All of the above is my guess.

But here is the real scary part.  There is a good possibility that the Party of Islamic Appeasement will gain control of one or two Houses of the US Congress in November.  As Newt said to Sean Hannity yesterday, this is not a political election…. this is an historic election for America. 

We could be facing a complete collapse of American resolve and a party dedicated to defending America after it is attacked, not protecting America by taking the fight to the enemies of freedom.  Folks, in World War III and that would truly be a major victory for the forces of evil who want to spread Islamic fascism throughout the globe.

These are truly scary times.  It could have been a lot different if America and Americans had a stiff spine.  We are letting down the Greatest Generation as well as those who come after us.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Great post by Dan on the brave Hollywood types actually standing up for freedom and against fascist tyranny.  They are making Ronald Reagan proud.

My question is, where is Barbra Streisand on this?  Alec Baldwin…. are you there?  Norman Lear?  Sean Penn…. hello?

I think there is much to glean by seeing who is NOT on the list as much as those brave enough to stand up for America in Hollywood.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

It seemed an unusual coincidence that yesterday, the day a former schoolteacher was arrested for the murder of “6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey,” I would see Little Miss Sunshine, a movie about a family’s adventure as it makes a cross-country trip to get their young daughter to a beauty pageant.

Going into the film, I had no clue what it was about. I only went because people kept telling me how wonderful it was. And they were right. It is a pretty amazing movie, certain to touch you, particularly if you are devoted to your daughters or nieces.

The juxtaposition of these two events made me wonder yet again about the whole phenomenon of beauty pageants for pre-teen girls. In the movie, the serious contestants looked less like girls than like miniature fashion models. It was as if someone had taken their childhood away.

That’s certainly what I thought when I first read about JonBenet’s murder, now nearly a decade ago. On the news, they showed clips of such pageants. In the movie, Olive, the young girl, wants to win her contest, just as most little kids want to win something, to be recognized as special.

I have five pretty amazing nieces, none of whom dress up like beauty queens. Still, they are the most beautiful girls in the world. And maybe they don’t need such competitions because their parents and grandparents as well as their aunts and uncles let them know how wonderful they are.

Childhood is so short. We should let kids be kids and do whatever it is kids do, whether it’s playing with dolls or toy trains, climbing trees, reading books or eating ice cream or whatever else a particular child might enjoy. And not let them grow up too quickly. If we encourage them in their passions and even their silliness as children, they will likely grow up to be more responsible adults.

Kids do have so much to give. And they can better give if they’re allowed to be kids, rather than expected to become miniature adults. That seems to be the message of this wonderful movie. One of the many reasons which I recommend it so highly — and may even see it again even before I buy the DVD.

-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com

For over four years, I have been organizing dinners for my alma mater’s alumni entertainment group. And while I have (generally) delighted in my responsibilities, one aspect of the job never ceases to irritate me.

Whenever we decide to try a new restaurant, I will solicit suggestions, then start calling dining establishments in the area chosen for our next dinner. And while this is a service industry, the rudeness of many of restaurant’s staff never ceases to amaze me. It would seem that restaurant workers would want to be friendly as that would encourage business and larger tips. (I make sure not to call during the lunch or dinner hour when the staff are less harried.)

This is not to say that the staff of all LA restaurants are rude. At a number of places, we’ve had great service, even when our party is as large as 30, with many of the guests joining us after we have already eaten.

I sometimes wonder if the rude ones are those who are only working for a restaurant until they get their first big break in the biz, i.e, until they get discovered by Hollywood. They don’t think they need make any effort to welcome patrons because they don’t really belong there.

But, these people don’t always know whether or not someone eating at their place could help them fulfill their career goals. If they were more courteous, they might draw the attention of someone, who may not yet have clout, but be on his (or her) way up in the industry. Their rudeness could well be compromising their chances for professional success.

It’s a sad commentary on these Angelenos that they adopt such a cold attitude in an industry where kindness could increase their remuneration and perhaps even open doors.

That said, there are a number of places where the staff treats us well. And it’s to those places we return, often tipping very generously.

Over at Democracy Project, Bruce Kesler links a piece he found in an Australian paper reporting that a number of Hollywood stars, directors, studio bosses and media moguls took out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times expressing their concern about the devastation “caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas.“

These high-profile individuals in the entertainment industry urge us to “to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs.” I might have noticed this had I not let my Times subscription lapse due to its bias. These terror-opponents of the silver screen had to buy an ad for the paper to take notice of their stand.

Bruce observes that he had to “get this news from an Australian newspaper” as his google search yielded no other stories “on this out there.“

Actors signing the letter include Nicole Kidman, Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton and William Hurt. And the directors signing on included Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Dick Donner and Sam Raimi.

Looks like there is some hope for Hollywood.

UPDATE: Well, at least one American paper has picked up the story. About the letter, today’s Boston Herald asks, “Whatever will the crowd at Spago think?” and notes that “this alternate A-List appeared to steal some of President Bush’s “A” material.”

Boston Herald City Editor Jules Crittenden finds that one of the chief signatories of the ad, Nicole Kidman, “is hot.” Now, instead of having me summarize his piece for you, just read the whole thing.

And I’ll just wonder if Nicole’s name on this list is going to make me to enjoy Moulin Rouge! even more.

Alternate Universe Reuters is now reporting that top US officials confirm there was a near simultaneous terror attack on ten US-bound airplanes.  All flights were lost within 20 minutes of each other on their path from the United Kingdom to the United States.

AUReuters reports President Kerry will address the nation in a couple hours once he returns to Washington from the ”White House On The Cape” in Nantucket.  In a statement hurriedly released by the White House, Kerry says “if this was a terror attack, I will hunt down and kill the terrorists where ever they are.” 

He also expressed shock at the attack since he has personally been in constant UN-mediated negotiations on the “terror problem” with Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, North Korea, Sunni Iraq, and Syria.

In the wake of these first reports, AUBlogger Andrew Sullivan has sharply criticized President Kerry’s reponse to the War on Terrorists, as it is commonly known in the media.  On his blog, Sullivan posted …..

Kerry made a fundamental mistake after his withdrawal from Iraq in February 2005.   He became obsessed with Bin Laden.  But any fool knows that the terror problem is more than this one man.  Kerry has diverted all of the resources to hunt Bin Laden in caves, while thousands of other terror cells have been formed after the Iraqi withdrawal and civil war. 

All Kerry has done is cut and run out of Iraq and throw money at “First Responders.”  Last I checked, there were no “First Responders” at 35,000 feet!

More as this story develops…..

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I just heard this news on the Alternate Universe Cable News Network…. I’m not sure what’s happened….

But there are reports coming from multiple airports across the United States this afternoon that several US-bound flights from the United Kingdom have not arrived at their expected times of landing.   Many frightened family members are now flooding United, American and Continental desks at airports in Los Angeles, Boston and New York City.

AUCNN reports that President John Kerry has been escorted away from his summer vacation on Nantucket and will have a statement shortly.  Mrs. Kerry is said to be safe in Paris where she is in the midst of her fifth tour of the French capital this year.

AUCNN also reports that American intelligence officials say that air controllers lost contact around noon today with at least 10 flights originating in Britain this morning bound for US cities.

Developing…..

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

As a man who delights in expressing himself when he has an opinion, I’ve found it difficult to do a follow-up to my initial piece on United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1701 as I have such mixed feelings about this new UN mandate. While I doubt, given the track record of the United Nations, it will succeed, I see some hope in the Security Council’s unity in wanting to see Hezbollah disarmed, its recognition that Hezbollah is responsible for the war.

My biggest concerns about the resolution are that it failed to demand the release of the two Israeli soldiers whom Hezbollah kidnapped and that it failed to give the United Nations peacekeepers Chapter Seven powers to use force to enforce its demands that the terror organization disarm.

That said, I do not agree with those who see this resolution as an unmitigated disaster. It does build on Resolution 1559 in insisting that Hezbollah be disarmed. And while the previous resolution passed with only 9 votes (the minimum needed for passage of a Security Council resolution), all 15 Council members supported 1701. Every member-nation of the Council is now on record in support of disarming Hezbollah within Lebanon.

If a resolution were such a disaster for Israel, Lebanon would not be balking at its terms. According to the latest reports, the Lebanese army will not be asking the terror organization “to hand over its weapons.” Opponents of the resolution understood that this might happen, fearing the Lebanese government would not succeed in fulfilling the Resolution’s mandate to disarm Hezbollah.

Captain Ed believes Israel must make “sure that Beirut can take control of their own territory before they withdraw back across the Blue Line.” I agree. Unless Hezbollah is disarmed, the Lebanese government has not met it obligations under 1701 and Israel can maintain its forces in Lebanon.

(more…)

Our critics — and other Bush-haters on the gay left (and even a handful of self-described gay Republicans) refuse to acknowledge the president’s mixed record on gay issues. As I have said repeatedly on this blog, while he’s wrong on a constitutional amendment defining marriage, he’s far from the anti-gay demon (many of) his critics have made him out to be.

While you may not know this from reading the gay press, the president has shown a strong commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS. Even Patrick Guerriero, president of Log Cabin, a frequent critic of the president, acknowledged as much. Noting in February that his 2007 budget included “$70 million increase for lifesaving medications and $90 million in new money to provide testing for three million Americans” the Log Cabin leader praised “the President for providing more resources to meet the challenges in treating people with HIV/AIDS.” Guerriero also took note of the President’s plea in his State of the Union address this year for the reauthorization and renewal of the Ryan White CARE Act.

It’s not just the president’s gay critics who acknowledge his record on AIDS. Even a prominent Democrat has praised his efforts to combat this disease. Peter Hughes, one of our readers, e-mailed an article reporting that former President Clinton, speaking at the 16th International Conference on AIDS in Toronto “joined Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in praising the “President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief.”

Clinton said “the United States is spending more to fight HIV than any other government.” And we’re spending that amount when Republicans, holding majorities in both House of Congress and the White House, have power over the federal purse. As long AIDS is a threat to public health remains, this is one area where Congress should not be cutting spending.

The former president said something else with which I strongly agree when he “joined the majority of experts who say abstinence-only programs do not work. Better, he said, are programs that include abstinence counseling as part of a range of options.” Including abstinence counseling, but not making it the be-all and end-all of AIDS prevention, seems the way to approach this touchy subject in our sexually charged culture. When we bring abstinence into a conversation on sexuality, we can better see sexuality as more than a mere longing for pleasure and perhaps begin to get at its deeper meaning.

“Gates, whose Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave $500 million last week to the Global Fund to fight AIDS,” said, “The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has done a great deal of good, and President Bush and his team deserve a lot of credit for it.”

It’s too bad more Democrats and those on the gay left are not more like one of their heroes, having the good sense to acknowledge President Bush’s accomplishments, particularly on issues of concern to our community.

The Clintonistas allowed young Islamic male terrorists into our country for two years before 9/11 due to the “political backlash” of profiling and/or making illegal immigration harder…..  They stood by while these young Islamic males trained at flight schools……  Clinton golfed while Osama was in the sites of American missles, but Clinton blinked…..

And now this!

Raul Castro:  Cocaine Connection? – ABC News (h/t: Instapundit)

Federal prosecutors in Miami were prepared to indict Raul Castro as the head of a major cocaine smuggling conspiracy in 1993, but the Clinton Administration Justice Department overruled them,  current and former Justice Department officials tell ABC News.

“It was a major investigation involving numerous witnesses that was killed at the highest levels in Washington,” said a former Justice Department official with direct knowledge of the case.

So apparently, it was okay to seize a Cuban child at gunpoint and force him back to a Communist-run nation, but it wasn’t okay to press on with charges against the Dictator For Life’s Brother…. who now runs Cuba on behalf of Fidel.

Maybe Sandy Berger was on the Cuban payroll at the time?   The Clinton Era Mistakes are so numerous that future Presidents will have to dig out our nation for years to come.

Simply mindboggling.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

The two speakers who most impressed me at the Log Cabin Convention in Dallas in 1998 are two individuals whom commenters to this blog often link as one. Back then, Andrew Sullivan and Arianna Huffington struck me as independent voices on the right, bright individuals offering a unique perspective on politics. Today, both are better known for their obsessive hatred of President Bush.

In transforming herself from a thoughtful conservative to darling of the anti-Bush left, Huffington seemed more interested in pleasing the liberals in her Westside (LA) neighborhood than in making serious arguments.

It all begin during the 2000 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination when she was a staunch supporter of John McCain. Probably noticing how some of her neighbors, who had previously shunned her due to her conservative views, started to embrace her when she criticized McCain’s rival, George W. Bush, she realized that attacking the eventual Republican nominee improved her social standing with her West LA peers.

She thus became a Bush critic for social reasons and so defined a condition which I have defined as Huffingtonitis, when one defines his political views and makes public statements in order to win social approval and/or acceptance. Over a year ago, Roger Simon, without naming it, wrote about this phenomenon:

people’s politics, like beauty, is only skin deep (a scary thought, actually). Many people have no real politics at all other than social “self-description.” They hypnotize themselves into sets of beliefs they feel are in keeping with club or team membership.

And so Arianna hypnotized herself to keep up with the attitudes of her wealthy neighbors. It’s not just liberals who are can be so hypnotized. Roger wrote that “All sides are ever open to this kind of emotionally stunted behavior.“

Katherine Harris, once a respected Florida politician elected to statewide office in 1998, seems to have become intoxicated by the praise she won in conservative circles over “her role overseeing the 2000 presidential recount as Florida’s secretary of state.” While she faced withering criticism from the Left, conservatives, notably Sean Hannity, fawned all over her. Delighted in such attention, she seemed to become increasingly detached from reality and starting making outlandish statements (and engaged in increasingly odd behavior) believing it might keep her in the limelight and draw accolades from her admirers on the right.

But, while Huffington’s statements (combined with her media savvy) helped her cement her position on the Left, Harris’s statements cost her the favor of her one-time conservative supporters. The Florida GOP can’t support her Senate bid against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. According to Friday’s OpinionJournal Political Diary (available by subscription):

Ed Rollins, a former Harris consultant who resigned earlier this year, says: “It’s the saddest thing I’ve even seen — a candidate whose ego and inability to recognize reality is hurting everything around her.”

Roger’s right. Individuals and both sides of the political aisle are open to being hypnotized into a political attitude which, they believe, will win them acceptanace, affection or accolades. That many on the left continue to embrace Huffington while most conservatives shun Harris suggests that contemporary conservatives are more skeptical of the self-serving zealots in our midst.

Still, it’s sad to see someone position him (or her) self politically not out of conviction, but out of desire for social acceptance. Not merely because it’s a sign of an individual’s hollowness, but also because, as we learn from the example of Katherine Harris, it doesn’t always work.

In the end, she’s left alone in the public square, a laughingstock to some, an embarrassment to others. And probably feeling empty inside, realizing that in losing touch with what first brought her into politics, she no longer has any cause to justify her presence in a public forum.

-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com

UPDATE: Writing about Ned Lamont, Roger Simon relates the Connecticut Democrat’s political conversion to Arianna’s:

We could call this kind of convenient political conversion a “Huffington,” but he is far less skilled than Arianna, who knows how to feign approval of the other side, when necessary, at the drop of the hat, as she did while complimenting Charles Johnson today on the Reliable Sources show.

Read the whole thing!

Given the track record of the United Nations (UN) in the MIddle East, I am not particularly optimistic that the Security Council Resolution 1701, unanimously passed yesterday, will lead to long-term solution to the conflict between the sovereign nation of Israel and the international scofflaws of Hezbollah. Conservative opinion seems divided on the issue with the normally pro-Bush Administration bloggers like Hugh Hewitt and Powerline, pessimistic (about the Administration-backed resolution) while Captain Ed is cautiously optimistic.

I’m somewhere between the two. For those of you who want to better understand what I mean by civil discourse, look at how Captain Ed and Powerline respond to each other’s points. First, Captain Ed weighs in, calling the Cease-Fire a Mixed Bag. Paul at Powerline responds to Captain Ed here, then the good Captain offers a response to Paul. Each addresses the other’s points and neither engages in backbiting or name-calling.

A great example of where the blogosphere can promote serious civil discourse of the topics of the day.

They both raise valid points and I strongly encourage you to follow their conversation. My heart is with the Captain because the resolution has passed — and I want the cease-fire to succeed and for Hezbollah to collapse — but my mind is with Paul, given the UN’s track record.

Even UN Secretary General Kofi Annan acknowledges that Hezbollah is responsible for the current conflict, saying:

Since 12 July, when Hezbollah launched an unprovoked attack on Israel, killing eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapping two, both Lebanon and Israel have been thrown back into the turmoil of war, death and destruction.

While delighted with passage of the resolution yesterday, Annan seems to blame the Security Council for the continuation of hostilities when he expressed his profound disappointment “that the Council did not reach this point much, much earlier.”

It is not Annan who should be disappointed with the Security Council, but rather the Council who should be disappointed with him for failing to enforce its resolution 1559, calling “for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.” The United Nations had two-and-one-half years to act upon this resolution. It had a force in southern Lebanon and yet Hezbollah continued to operate there in defiance of international law. It did nothing to stop them.

Had Resolution 1559 been implemented, Hezbollah would have been disarmed and thus unable to launch the “unprovoked attack” which even Kofi Annan acknowledged was the cause of this war. If the United Nations is to be a serious organization, it must take seriously the pronouncements of the Security Council, mandated by its charter to pass resolutions binding on member-states. The UN failed to fulfill the promise of 1559. We can only hope that it succeeds in implementing 1701.