Why I Miss the Cold War

I’ve heard quite a bit about “Why don’t they like us?”…Ron Paul (I think he’s a senator or congressman) says it’s our fault that the rest of the world doesn’t like us. He says, “They don’t hate in a vacuum. It’s our policy.”

Something someone said to me the other day kinda stuck with me. I was describing an initiative that my company took in Iraq to ensure acceptable living conditions for the workers of a company that had been contracted by the US for some sanitation work on a military base.

Let me clarify that. My company (at the time), the dreaded Halliburton, whom everyone seems to hate these days, sent me to another company’s labor camp, to ensure that this other company’s bosses were taking good care of their people. They weren’t, so we “greedy” Halliburton folks grouped together and worked toward the improvement of their living conditions. Our actions eventually got that other company (who was a subcontractor of ours) to clean up their act.

“And somehow, we’re the bad guys,” he said.

Yeah. We’re the bad guys. Even within our own country.

Well, it seems to me like, if you want to know why they hate us, you have to know which “they” you’re talking about. So, toward that end, here’s a short list:

The Mexicans don’t like us because we invaded Iraq. They showed us that by roundly booing Miss USA – in fact, they chanted, “Osama! Osama!” while she was on stage. They also evidently don’t like us because we provide work for more than 20 million of their countrymen, without requiring anything from them – not even taxes.

The French never did like us. If you doubt that, spend a weekend in Orly and then you tell me. But they really don’t like us right now because we put a stop to their corrupt Oil-for-Food program.

The Canadians think we’re stupid. Check in with David Suzuki on that one (evidently, Canadians are smart because they have his television show about environmentalism, and we’re not, because we don’t).

The Nigerians really, really don’t like us. The most popular bumper sticker in Nigeria is the likeness of Osama Bin Laden, “because he stands up to the Americans.” But they sure don't mind coming here and working in our factories and shops.

The Somalis don’t like us, because we went into Somalia. Also because we pulled out of Somalia.

The Sudanese don’t like us, because we both went into and pulled out of Somalia. They also don’t like us because some people are talking about taking action against the Sudan – and also because we’re not taking action in the Sudan.

The Rwandans don’t like us because we didn’t go into Rwanda and Burundi. I wonder if they'd like us if we had?

The Angolans don’t like us because we didn’t go into Angola. They also don’t like us because we’re in Angola.

The Serbs don’t like us because we went into Kosovo.

The Kosovars don’t like us because we struck a deal with the Serbs. The Kosovars also don’t like us because we struck a deal with the Kosovars – which is also why the Serbs don‘t like us.

The Iraqis hated us for invading Iraq in 1991, then hated us for pulling out of Iraq in 1991, then loved us for invading Iraq in 2003, but now they hate us for invading Iraq in 2003.

The Iranians didn’t like us because of our support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, and they don’t like us now because of our military action against Iraq.

The Kuwaitis loved us for invading Iraq in 1991, but don’t like us for invading Iraq in 2003. They loved us for staying in Kuwait after the Gulf War, but don’t like us staying in Kuwait now.

The Saudis don’t like us because – well, because we’re not Saudis. Also, they don’t like us for stationing troops on their land, except when they’re being invaded by neighboring powers. And because we “allow” the women in our country to be seen in public.

The Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese, Egyptians, Saudis, Iraqis, Kuwaitis, Omanis, Yemenis, Qataris, Libyans, Algerians, Tunisians, Somalis, Sudanese, Eritreans, Djiboutians, Iranians, Afghans and Pakistanis don’t like us because we support Israel.

The Israelis don’t like us because we support the Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese, Egyptians, Saudis, Iraqis, Kuwaitis, Omanis, Yemenis, Qataris, Libyans, Algerians, Tunisians, Somalis, Sudanese, Eritreans, Djiboutians, Iranians, Afghans and Pakistanis.

The Afghans loved us for invading Afghanistan and deposing the Taliban in 2001, but now they don’t like us for invading Afghanistan and deposing the Taliban in 2001.

The Nicaraguans don’t like us because we opposed the Sandinistas in the 1980s, while supporting Honduran-based Contra insurgents.

The Hondurans don’t like us because we secured their border with Nicaragua and stifled the illicit drug trade during that crisis. They also don’t like us because we removed most of our troops from that region, and allowed the illicit drug trade to flourish again.

The Panamanians don’t like us because we invaded Panama to depose Noriega. They also don’t like us because it took so long to invade Panama and depose Noriega.

The Chinese don’t like us because we support Taiwan, condemning our military might while we park our warships in Taiwanese harbors to protect the Taiwanese from the Chinese.

The Taiwanese don’t like us because of our economic ties to the Chinese, and because we invaded Iraq.

The North Koreans don’t like us because we’re worried that they’ll nuke South Korea.

The South Koreans don’t like us because we’re worried North Korea will nuke them. They also don't like that we invaded Iraq. Nor do they like that we keep reminding them that they also invaded Iraq.

The Japanese don’t like us because we’re worried North Korea will nuke South Korea. And because we invaded Iraq. They also don’t like us because we keep reminding them that they’re also worried North Korea will nuke South Korea, and that they also invaded Iraq.

The Spanish don’t like us because we invaded Iraq. They feel we’re too zealous in our fight against terrorism. They also don’t like us because we remind them that they also invaded Iraq, and that the difference is that we didn’t cut and run when the war became difficult.

The Germans don’t like us because we invaded Iraq. And no one knows about invading other countries like the Germans.

The Russians don’t like us because we want to build a missile defense system, which would make their #1 export, old Soviet-era ICBMs, obsolete. And because we invaded Iraq, which showed the world that their #2 export, crappy old Soviet-era tanks, are also obsolete.

Let’s see…did I miss anyone? Obviously the Columbians don’t like us because their cocaine cartels suffer when our cops seize shipments, but I don’t know if that counts for much any more.

NOW…YOU TELL ME…Is there anyone on this list who has not, in the past fifty years, who hasn’t directly benefited from US foreign aid of some kind? And how many of those countries have returned that favor? One? Two? The Nigerians, for example, who proudly sport pictures of Osama on their cars, can’t get enough of our oil money.

It’s enough to make a fella miss the good old days of the Cold War, isn't it?

A REAL Message of Hope

A message of hope...

After all is said and done, what does Obama have to do with his preacher's comments? Everything.

See, there are those who will curse their own country when they see things happening with which they disagree. These are people who specialize in building division wherever convenient (racial division, economic division, etc etc).

By contrast, see the next post down. Ronald Reagan taught me that my future prosperity (the prosperity I enjoy today) was related directly to the exercise of my own freedom. And I used that freedom from that day to this, in order to ensure my own prosperity. Rather than damn my country (or sit in a pew and say "Yes Lawd" when someone else does), I get up at four in the morning and drag my fat butt to work. Reverend Jeremiah Wright has made far more money than I probably ever will, standing in front of a congregation of ingrates and cursing my country. But all is not lost. I have message of hope for you. And here it is:

Your prosperity is not linked to the government. Your well-being isn't tied up in gas prices. Regardless of what the CEO of Exxon does, or how much he makes, or really who the president or vice-president is, your livelihood - your prosperity - is up to you. It's your responsibility. No amount of cursing America is going to change that. So there's your hope. It's not in Barack Obama's "progressive" social programs, or in Hillary's war stories, or even in McCain's policy problems. It's nestled neatly in your own freedom.

Reagan Quotes

Thanks to Dan Souza http://www.dansouza.org/Articles/Reagan/Early%20Life/early_life_of_ronald_reagan.htm for these quotes from Ronald Reagan.

We could sure use Mr. Reagan right about now.

To sit back hoping that some day, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last. But eat you he will.

Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence. (Jan. 7, 1970)

We who live in free market societies believe that growth, prosperity and ultimately human fulfillment are created from the bottom up, not the government down. Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefiting from their success - only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive and free. Trust the people. This is the one irrefutable lesson of the entire postwar period, contradicting the notion that rigid government controls are essential to economic development. (Sept. 29, 1981)

How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell and anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin. (Sept. 25, 1987)

Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, "What greater service we could render if we only had a little more money and a little more power." But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector. (Oct. 27, 1964)

The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing. (Oct. 27, 1964)

You and I are told we must choose between a left or right. But I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream - the maximum of individual freedom, consistent with order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits." (Oct. 27, 1964)

The Couric Conspiracy

Why won't they take me seriously?!!!!!

Recently, CBS announced that Katie Couric will step down as their anchor person. Or, their anchor. They also released a statement blaming America's not being "ready for a woman anchor" or some such nonsense.

So here's a news flash for CBS News. No one cares that she's a woman. Your ratings have fallen lately because of media bias. And your statement is a beautiful example.

I don't watch a lot of news on television. Years ago, I'm told, newscasters and their stations actively supported American troops in the field. I've seen old Life Magazine issues and have seen old newsreels slapped together by CBS and other companies, highlighting the bravery of American soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen. I have yet to see a single story, put together by CBS or any other major network (other than Fox), on any television broadcast, website or any other media, highlighting the bravery, fighting character and love of country of the American fighting soldier that I saw with my own two eyes in Iraq. I've seen a lot of why-we-shouldn't-be-there stories, though. Lots of those. And lots and lots (and LOTS) of coverage of bombs going off, casualties and blown-apart American military vehicles.

I've even seen the Evening News run footage that was put together by al-Qaeda as anti-American propaganda. Footage featuring my friends' dead bodies, thank you very much.

Is it a liberal-vs-conservative issue? I think so, and here's why.

Politically speaking, I came of age during the Clinton years. I specifically remember how damaging Bill Clinton's lies were to the American fighting man, as I was in the military at the time. In fact, before Clinton I wanted to make the Army my career, and by the end of his second term I was out of the Army with no intention of ever going back. My beloved Army had become a pawn in his perverted political game, from the Loathing Letter to the whole Don't Ask Don't Tell circus - and it had a serious effect of the morale of the American soldier.

I remember also while Bill Clinton was running for President, Bryant Gumble interviewing George H. W. Bush, the sitting President of the United States, and arguing with his answers like some kind of protestor. It was so painfully obvious who the reporter supported for the office, and that he was going to say whatever he had to say to discredit the most powerful man in the world. I felt like trying to call the President personally and assure him that most Americans did not feel as Gumble did. This was on the Today Show, I think. And the whole event opened my eyes to just how far out there a bunch of liberal reporters can be - and just how much they can get away with.

Just how disrespectful they can be.

I came away from that wondering just who these people thought they were. In his grandest dreams, Bryant Gumble could never do half as much for this country as George H. W. Bush (that's the elder George Bush, for those of you who don't know) has done. But he was never, so far as I could see, called on the carpet for his actions, and nor were any of the show's producers, directors, or writers. No one, nothing. Never. So I started wondering, just how far gone are these people?

Of course, these days, I have my answer. For example, not a day goes by in which I don't hear (read, etc) someone in the media saying "It's now five years since President Bush gave his famous 'Mission Accomplished' speech". Never mind that President Bush never said the words "Mission Accomplished." They were printed on a banner that had been raised by US Navy personnel on board the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Also, never mind that those words referred specifically to the military routing of the Iraqi army, the capture of Baghdad, and the removal of Saddam Hussein and his murderous regime of Hitleresque henchmen. It was never intended to refer to subsequent counter-insurgency operations in Iraq.

But that's just one example. I've referred to the whole media-bias phenomenon as the Couric Conspiracy, because Katie Couric came from the same source of bias that we saw with the Gumble incident, which cemented my opinion of the newsmedia back in the early 90s. Same band of conceited, we-know-better-than-you, puffed-up reporters who will stop at nothing to put their own political views at the forefront of every story - even if it means criticizing a banner put up by sailors to celebrate a military victory.

And it falls right in line with the typical media big-headedness that they're now saying it's because she's a woman. Or, more accurately, that the rest of us rubes aren't ready to get our news from a woman. According to them, we're all just that shallow. We're too stupid to see through their bias, and we're too oafish to watch a female news anchor.

It's not only typical media conceit, it's typical liberal conceit, in a typically right-of-center country. It couldn't be more obvious - evidently, that is, to everyone but the media.

Jon Stewart is an Ass

Look at me!!! It's all about what I think!!!

OK, here's the deal. I was gonna leave this guy alone, but I've finally had enough. I would rather pull out my own eyes than watch his show, but the other night I couldn't avoid seeing him. I saw a clip on one of the news programs that featured Jon Stewart being his usual smart-ass self, saying something to the effect of, "... a prominent politican [meaning Obama] spoke to the American people about race as if they were adults."

Jon Stewart is an ass. And I'm being polite here.

Barack Obama's race-baiting speech most certainly did not speak to people like they're adults. It spoke to people like they need their hand held. It spoke to people as if they don't already know that racism exists, or that there is animosity between some members of some minority groups and the mainstream American society.

But that's the problem. Mainstream American society doesn't give a crap about you, Jon. And there's no reason they should (they don't give a crap about me either, and likewise, they shouldn't).

They also don't give a crap about racial division. You know why? Because gulping down the Kool-Aid about the politics of race isn't going to put food on my table, Jon. I'm 37 years old. All my life, I've been told by well-meaning liberals all about how unfair this country is. All about how a Black man can't get a fair shake here. Minorities are systematically kept down by the man.

So here's me. And here's you, Jon. White guy, not old, not especially young, decent education (poor education, in my case). You're pretty successful. I understand you've picked up a few awards, etc. I'm comfortable, myself, in a down-to-earth way. I'm not rich by any means, but I can go out to eat when I want. My bills get paid on time (mostly), and I own a small house. My Jeep is paid for.

So I guess that, according to the liberal, Jon Stewart definition, all this is ill-gotten gains, simply given to me by The Man, because I'm white. Is that it, Jon? Because that's the impression I get from Senator Obama: If you ain't Black, you don't know what it means to struggle.
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I'm sick to death of all the "racial divide" bullshit in this country. All people living in this country, whether they're of this race or that, speak this language or that, or are from this country or that, have exactly the same opportunity. The only thing that sets people apart is the work ethic they bring to the table.

.

I'm willing to bet that Jon Stewart's success is due to years of Jon Stewart working his ass off. It has nothing to do with his race, nothing to do with his religion, and nothing to do with Barack Obama's proposed government programs to "give" more economic opportunity to Black people.

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Because those same Black people, when they were infants, lying in a bassinet at some hospital somewhere, were at exactly the same starting line as Jon Stewart was, as I was, and as you were. We all started at the same place.

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It's only when we grow up that we can become asses like Jon Stewart.

Today's Cartoon

Ha ha - A new campaign slogan for the Surrender Society...

Beautiful Words...

...from a beautiful person. Michelle Malkin, my fellow lefty (left-handed person, that is), is a prolific columnist and blogger for our GLORIOUS CONSERVATIVE CAUSE. She has visited Iraq and actually reported the TRUTH about what's going on there, not the every-day self-loathing drivel that we're so accustomed to hearing from the Couric Conspiracy.

Here's what she had to say about Michelle Obama's not proud of America rant:

2 MICHELLES, 2 AMERICAS & SHAME vs. PRIDE

by Michelle Malkin

Like Michelle Obama, I am a "woman of color." Like Michelle Obama, I am a working mother of two young children. Like Michelle Obama, I am a member of the 13th generation of Americans born since the founding of our great nation.

Unlike Michelle Obama, I can't keep track of the number of times I've been proud - really proud - of my country since I was born and privileged to live in it. At a recent speech in Milwaukee on behalf of her husband's Democratic presidential campaign, Mrs. Obama remarked, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

Mrs. Obama's statement was met with warm applause from other Barack supporters who have also apparently been devoid of pride in their country during their adult lifetimes. Or maybe it was just a Pavlovian response to the word "change." What a sad, empty, narcissistic, ungrateful, unthinking lot.

I'm just seven years younger than Mrs. Obama. We've grown up and lived in the same era. And yet, her self-absorbed attitude is completely foreign to me. What planet is she living on? Since when was now the only time the American people have ever been "hungry for change"?

Michelle, ma belle, Barack is not the center of the universe. Newsflash: The Obamas did not invent "change" any more than Hillary invented "leadership" or John McCain invented "straight talk." We were both adults when the Berlin Wall fell, Michelle. That was earth-shattering change. We've lived through two decades' worth of peaceful, if contentious, election cycles under the rule of law, which have brought about "change" and upheaval, both good and bad. We were adults through several launches of the space shuttle, in case you were snoozing. And as adults, we've witnessed and benefited from dizzyingly rapid advances in technology, communications, science, and medicine pioneered by American entrepreneurs who yearned to change the world and succeeded. You want "change"? Go ask the patients whose lives have been improved and extended by American pharmaceutical companies that have flourished under the best economic system in the world.

If American ingenuity, a robust constitutional republic, and the fall of communism don't do it for you, hon, then how about American heroism and sacrifice? How about every Memorial Day? Every Veterans Day? Every Independence Day? Every Medal of Honor ceremony? Has she never attended a welcome-home ceremony for the troops? For me, there's the thrill of the Blue Angels roaring over cloudless skies. And the somber awe felt amid the hallowed waters that surround the sunken U.S.S. Arizona at the Pearl Harbor memorial.

Every naturalization ceremony I've attended, where hundred s of new Americans raised their hands to swear an oath of allegiance to this land of liberty, has been a moment of pride for me. So have the awesome displays of American compassion at home and around the world. When millions of Americans rallied to help victims of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia - including members of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group that sped from Hong Kong to assist survivors - my heart filled with pride. It did again when the citizens of Houston opened their arms to Hurricane Katrina victims and folks across the country rushed to their churches and offices of the Salvation Army and Red Cross to volunteer.

How about American resilience? Does that not make you proud? Only a heart of stone could be unmoved by the strength, valor, and determination displayed in New York , Washington , D.C., and Shanksville, Pa. , on September 11, 2001.

I believe it was Michael Kinsley who quipped that a gaffe is when a politician tells the truth. In this case, it's what happens when an elite Democratic politician's wife says what a significant portion of the party's base really believes to be the truth: America is more a source of shame than pride.

Michelle Obama has achieved enormous professional success, poli tical influence, and personal acclaim in America . Ivy League educated, she's been lauded by Essence magazine as one of the 25 World's Most Inspiring Women; by Vanity Fair as one of the ten World's Best-Dressed Women; and named one of "The Harvard 100" most influential alumni. She has had an amazingly blessed life. But you wouldn't know it from her campaign rhetoric and her griping about her and her husband's student loans.

For years, we've heard liberals get offended at any challenge to their patriotism. And so they are again aggrieved and rising to explain away Mrs. Obama's remarks.

Lady Michelle and her defenders protest too much.