Say Anything Blog

After reading the absolutely silly Owens article (reposted by Proof), this phrase, more than any other, stuck out:

But McCain is far superior to the Democratic contenders on the basis of character and virtue. For instance, once the North Vietnamese found out that McCain was the son of the U.S. military commander in the Pacific theater, which included Vietnam, they offered him the chance to go home before his POW comrades.

No one is denying McCain is a war hero, or a true American. This is not a sufficient reason to vote for him. Much of the article seems to read as a recount of his war record. But NO ONE is attacking this. If being a soldier was enough, we would’ve voted for Wesley Clark.

It is telling that Owens chooses to talk extensively about the past, and say absolutely nothing about McCain’s actual voting record…except to tell us that it’s no worse than Obama. That’s it? No worse?

So he’d be (maybe) a step above Obama or Clinton, or equal…BUT NO WORSE! Indeed, on immigration, taxes, abortion, class warfare, etc, he is no different. And on the war (one of the two areas he is claimed to be superior), he consistantly voted with Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama to close Gitmo, to offer terrorists access to our courts, and offered a non-binding resolution that demanded Iraqis make certain benchmarks or risk losing American support.

The idea that he’s a huge hawk is misleading at best.

Likewize, it is pure fantasy that McCain would appoint conservative judges. Much as when Guiliani was promising to appoint conservative judges, McCain’s promise flies in the face of reality that he has consistantly not only voted against conservative principals, but has taken great delight in pissing off the conservative base in doing so.

McCain may have character, and may vote on principal, but that principal is not anything remotely conservative. And his character is little more than a shield to deflect criticism of his abysmal record.

In short Owens is playing the military infallibility card that failed to get Kerry elected in 2004. Hopefully it’ll fail just as badly this time…but in the primaries.

From Michelle Malkin.com:

A leading al Qaeda member in Afghanistan, Abu Laith al-Libi, has been killed, a Web site often used by the group and other Islamists said on Thursday.

A banner on the Ekhlaas.org site said Libi had fallen as a martyr, without giving further details.

It was not immediately clear if Libi’s death was linked to a suspected U.S. missile strike that killed up to 13 foreign militants in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region this week.

The attack had targeted second or third tier al Qaeda leaders, according to residents in the tribal area.

Tribesmen in the area had said a deputy of Libi, a senior al Qaeda leader, had been staying there and was among the dead, according to an intelligence official.

Like most of us, I don’t care whether the US got him….or whether he tripped and happened to land on one of those IEDs that al Quida like to leave laying around for us…or little kids…to find. One more savage troglodyte gone, and the world is a little more safe.

I posted this once before. But with the recent influx of Ron Paul=Savior/Chuck Norris/Adam West Batman/Raptor Jesus, I felt it deserved another post.

The Ron Paul Record

Since the Paulistas always tout the nonsense rhetoric that Paul spouts, without actually telling people about his real record, I put this back up in case anyone was fooled.

After an 8 hour drive from St. Louis to Wichita, and then into the little podunk town called Mulvayne (10 miles south), I didn’t expect much from my trip to the treeless land they call Kansas.

But after spending a week with my sister and neices, I feel re-energized and centered. Despite the drive I feel almost like a new person, and starting a new job (hooray to more money) helps too!

But I’m happy to be back, and am ready to crank it back up a notch at SayAnything. It’s nice to take a step back from the world every now and again, get away from them thar Intarwebs, and go do something deeply personal to reinvigorate yourself.

And while I know this isn’t the standard fare for SayAnything…perhaps we all need to recharge the batteries every now and again and remember what’s important. Politics may piss us all off to no end (especially with the crap that we have in the primaries), but our lives go on pretty much untouched by the big stuff. And it’s nice to be reminded of all that every now and again.

A lengthy article I wrote about Paul with many footnotes,which has been submitted to IntellectualConservative.com

Here’s the current post of it.

http://insanereindeer.blogspot.com/2008/01/why-not-paul.html

I’m tired of the Paulistas who assure us that Ron Paul is JesusNorrisAdamWestBatmanHulkHoganMcGuyver… the answer to our every prayer, and have written a detailed essay about his problems.

Kenyans Hacked to Death in Protest

Several people were beaten and hacked to death with machetes in a Nairobi slum Sunday in renewed ethnic fighting over Kenya’s disputed election, residents said.
The re-election of President Mwai Kibaki has tapped into a well of resentments that resurfaces regularly at election time in Kenya. But never before has it been so prolonged or taken so many lives.
A government commission says more than 600 people have been killed in violence that erupted after the Dec. 27 election, which opposition leader Raila Odinga accused Kibaki of stealing.

Everytime I hear how unfair our process is (Bush lied, kids died), I can’t help but think to stories like this. People around the world risk life and limb to try and make their lives better. And many end up maimed, or dead for their troubles. For those who carp endlessly about our process…this a sobering reminder.

CNN Defends Bin Ladin

In a mostly impossible to understand interview, CNN tries to stand up for Omar Bin Ladin as a peaceful man.

Omar bin Laden has a message for his father, Osama: “Find another way.”
“I try and say to my father: ‘Try to find another way to help or find your goal. This bomb, this weapons, it’s not good to use it for anybody,’ ” Omar said in English learned in recent months from his British wife.

This seems odd when compared to the only easily understandable question in the interview.

q: Is your father a terrorist?
Omar: No. I don’t think he’s a terrorist.

If he refuses to ackowledge what his father is doing…how can we trust him?

Bin Laden’s Son Wants to be Peace Activist

Of course, by the first paragraph, it already starts to smell a little fishy:

Omar Osama bin Laden bears a striking resemblance to his notorious father _ except for the dreadlocks that dangle halfway down his back. Then there’s the black leather biker jacket. The 26-year-old does not renounce his father, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, but in an interview with The Associated Press, he said there is better way to defend Islam than militancy: Omar wants to be an “ambassador for peace” between Muslims and the West.

It’s hard to buy the claims of a man who claims to want peace, but who will not renounce his own father’s terorism. That and he believes there’s a “better way than militancy to defend Islam”. Which, of course, implies that militancy is not a bad way…just not the best. Other passages in the article support this:

Omar lived with the al-Qaida leader in Sudan, then moved with him to Afghanistan in 1996.

There, Omar says he trained at an al-Qaida camp but in 2000 he decided there must be another way and he left his father, returning to his homeland of Saudi Arabia.

“I don’t want to be in that situation to just fight. I like to find another way and this other way may be like we do now, talking,” he said in English.

He suggested his father did not oppose his leaving _ and Alsabah interjected that Omar was courageous in breaking away, but neither elaborated.

No doubt they don’t wish to elaborate because the truth shall not, in this case, set them free. He’s trained in al Quida, under the guidance of his father for four years. Then suddenly he has an epiphany? And his father approves? If you’re not buying it, you’re not alone. His own words undermine his “messenger of peace” schtick.

Omar doesn’t criticize his father and says Osama bin Laden is just trying to defend the Islamic world.

“My father thinks he will be good for defending the Arab people and stop anyone from hurting the Arab or Muslim people any place in the world,” he said, noting that the West didn’t have a problem with his father when he was fighting the Russians in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Omar is convinced a truce between the West and al-Qaida is possible.

“My father is asking for a truce but I don’t think there is any government (that) respects him. At the same time they do not respect him, why everywhere in the world, they want to fight him? There is a contradiction,” he said.

Omar is not a man of peace. He is simply another jihadist trying a different tactic than his father. His rhetoric is no different from his father’s. If only the West would stop being so militaristic, peace could be possible with al Quida. It’s not that Osama is a bad guy…everyone is out to get him! al Quida is standing up for the little guy, while the West is out to crush innocent Muslims everywhere.

What Omar doesn’t mention is what peace with his father will entail. Standing by while Israel is destroyed. Withdrawing from Muslim lands. And converting to Islam.

Omar is a man in his father’s mold. Like the jihadist apologists of the West, he lays blame for the whole situation at America’s feet. And he lies about what peace will entail. It is not that he has renounced violence. It is that he has abandoned it in favor of a better, and more successful tactic. That he is pursuing the same goal, with a different tactic is why his father blessed him leaving the al Quida compund. Omar understands what his father does not. That that corrode of society from within, the slow creep of Sharia from groups like CAIR, that slowly breaks down a society’s resistance as they succumb to the message of a peaceful Islam (all while submitting to it), is more effective than suicide attacks and terrorism, which has proven, time and time again, to strengthen the resolve of America.

That makes Omar bin Ladin a more dangerous man than his father could ever dream of being.