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I am on the road, but I did want to take a quick note of the dems celebration of hurricane Gustave as a political advantage. There is simply no shame.
Of course, Sara Palin has run a business, has run a small town, has run an entire State. Obama on the other hand hasn't even run a lemonade stand. Palin, who is on the bottom of the ticket, has far more executive experience than Obama who sits at the top of his party's ticket. And..ah... did I mention that Palin looks great?
More Experience than Obama
Holy smokes! I think me likes this pick. Of course, the bio is a little more important so here goes:
Palin was born Sarah Louise Heath in Sandpoint, Idaho, the daughter of Sarah (née Sheeran), a school secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science teacher and track coach. She has English, Irish, and German ancestry. Her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant. The Heaths were avid outdoors enthusiasts; Sarah and her father would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school, and the family regularly ran 5 km and 10 km races. At Wasilla High School in Wasilla, Alaska, Palin was the head of the school Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She was the point guard and captain for the basketball team. She helped the team win the Alaska small-school championship in 1982, hitting a critical free throw in the last seconds, despite a stress fracture in her ankle. She earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" because of her intense play, and was the leader of team prayer before games. In 1984, after winning the Miss Wasilla contest earlier that year, Palin finished second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant which won her a scholarship to help pay her way through college. In the Wasilla pageant, she played the flute and also won Miss Congeniality. Palin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho where she also minored in politics. She married her high school sweetheart, Todd Palin, on August 29, 1988, and briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations while also working as a commercial fisherman with her husband.
Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, she challenged and defeated the incumbent mayor, criticizing wasteful spending and high taxes. The ex-mayor and sheriff tried to organize a recall campaign, but failed. Palin kept her campaign promises by reducing her own salary, as well as reducing property taxes by 60%. She ran for reelection against the former mayor in 1999, winning by an even larger margin. Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. In 2002, Palin made an unsuccessful bid for Lieutenant Governor, coming in second to Loren Leman in a four-way race. After Frank Murkowski resigned from his long-held U.S. Senate seat in mid-term to become governor, Palin interviewed to be his possible successor. Instead, Murkowski appointed his daughter, then-Alaska State Representative Lisa Murkowski. Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, where she served from 2003 to 2004 until resigning in protest over what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders, who ignored her whistleblowing complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest. After she resigned, she exposed the state Republican Party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners, who was accused of doing work for the party on public time, and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail. Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who both resigned; Ruedrich paid a record $12,000 fine.
In 2006, Palin, running on a clean-government campaign, executed an upset victory over then-Gov. Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Despite the lack of support from party leaders and being outspent by her Democratic opponent, she went on to win the general election in November 2006, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles. Palin said in 2006 that education, public safety, and transportation would be three cornerstones of her administration.
When elected, Palin became the first woman to be Alaska's governor, and the youngest governor in Alaskan history at 42 years of age upon taking office. Palin was also the first Alaskan governor born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood. She was also the first Alaskan governor not to be inaugurated in Juneau, instead choosing to hold her inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. She took office on December 4, 2006. Highlights of Governor Palin's tenure include a successful push for an ethics bill, and also shelving pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans. After federal funding for the Gravina Island Bridge project that had become a nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending was lost, Palin decided against filling the over $200 million gap with state money.[13][14] "Alaska needs to be self-sufficient, she says, instead of relying heavily on 'federal dollars,' as the state does today." She has challenged the state's Republican leaders, helping to launch a campaign by Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell to unseat U.S. Congressman Don Young[16] and publicly challenging Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the federal investigation into his financial dealings. In 2007, Palin had an approval rating often in the 90s. A poll published by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 showed Palin's approval rating at 80%.
John M. Murtagh is a practicing attorney, an adjunct professor of public policy at the Fordham University College of Liberal Studies, and a member of the city council in Yonkers, New York, where he resides with his wife and two sons. As a child, his house was bombed by William Ayres and friends: "Though never a supporter of Obama, I admired him for a time for his ability to engage our imaginations, and especially for his ability to inspire the young once again to embrace the political system. Yet his myopia in the last few months has cast a new light on his “politics of change.” Nobody should hold the junior senator from Illinois responsible for his friends’ and supporters’ violent terrorist acts. But it is fair to hold him
responsible for a startling lack of judgment in his choice of mentors, associates, and friends, and for showing a callous disregard for the lives they damaged and the hatred they have demonstrated for this country. It is fair, too, to ask what those choices say about Obama’s own beliefs, his philosophy, and the direction he would take our nation."
"We've done Britney's sets and a whole bunch of rock shows, but this was far more elaborate and complicated and we had to do it in far less time," said Allen, of RDA Entertainment. "The biggest challenge has been making sure we don't damage the playing field underneath." Asked who is harder to satisfy - the Democrats or Britney - Allen replied: "I better not answer that."
Spike Lee: Forget BC (Before Christ) or AD (Anno Domini). The new thing is BB (Before Barack, and AB (After Barack). All praise to the new lord and savior Barack Obama.
And the Messiah shall gather the faithful on the mountain of Denver and he shall construct a giant temple. And the faithful shall flock to the temple and the Messiah shall deliver his message of hope and change, and he shall command the faithful to spread his message to the hopeless and the change-less.
Why would Dr. Khalid al Mansour be soliciting high-powered letters in favor of Barack Obama’s acceptance to Harvard?
Good lord! does the media ever intend to do it's job? Why is it that blogs are digging this stuff up, but the media have no clue? Townhall posted this jaw-dropping series of videos of the man said to be linked to Obama in a way that should raise serious eye-brows. Does Obama owe his acceptance to Harvard and his career to this man? Who is Khalid al Mansour and how did he know Barack Obama? A cursory search on Youtube turns up several controversial clips, in the vein of Obama's longtime friend and former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.... and much worse.
Civil rights activist Percy Sutton said he was solicited by a man named Dr. Khalid al Mansour to send a letter of reccomendation on behalf of Barack Obama to help him gain acceptance to Harvard many years ago.
From Belmont Club: Dr. Khalid Abdullah Tario Al-Mansour is an internationally acknowledged advisor to Heads of State and business leaders in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North America. He has been actively involved in structuring investments and joint ventures worldwide for over 35 years. Dr. Al-Mansour was also responsible for the Africa investment activities of Kingdom Holdings, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal’s investment company. During his distinguished career, Dr. Al-Mansour has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University, Bombay University, Columbia University, UCLA, University of Kenya, London School of Economics and the University of Ghana.
In addition to Africa Venture Partners, Dr. Al-Mansour sits on the Boards of: Saudi African Bank; Kingdom Holdings, Africa; Multimedia Super Corridor (Malaysia); Space Tech Inc.; AmNet Corp. International; New Avenues Fund Ltd; United Bank for Africa; United Networks; and Landmark Entertainment.
Dr. Al-Mansour has authored 24 books and is listed in Who’s Who in the World; International Who’s Who in the Arab World; Two Thousand Men of Achievement; Royal Blue Book of London; World’s Who’s Who of Intellectuals and American Hall of Fame. Dr. Khalid Al-Mansour has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University (Phi Beta Kappa) and Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of California at Berkeley.
This Mansour of Africa Ventures looks too good to be true. His accomplishments are so great and fame so limited that he appears to be the human equivalent of a Nigerian email scam? Yet he is apparently real. Another al-Mansour who may fit the bill is “Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al-Mansour of San Antonio, a black lawyer and orthodox Islamic lecturer”. Sutton mentioned that Al-Mansour was from Texas. This profile of the lawyer, said to be from 1996 AP piece suggestively coincides with Sutton’s recollection that Mansour was from Texas.
Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary-general of the Indiana-based Islamic Society of North America, cites higher numbers. He estimates blacks comprise half of the nation’s 8 million Muslims, with members of the vocal and controversial Nation of Islam — perhaps the best-known group of Muslim blacks — constituting a small minority. It’s growing. There’s no question it’s growing,” says Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al-Mansour of San Antonio, a black lawyer and orthodox Islamic lecturer. More and more inner-city Islamic centers are emerging,” Syeed says. “That’s a new phenomenon.”
Are they the same man? This link from Par Excellance, suggests that Al-Mansour and the preacher shown on the Townhall video unlikely as it may seem, may be the same person. The Mansour described in Par Excellance matches the profile in Africa Ventures and has the same face as the Muslim preacher in the video. If so, then this list of his lectures, distributed from the Halalco Supermarket at Falls Church, VA, is a strange one indeed. This would raise almost as many questions as it answers. This video bio of Mansour leaves no doubt that he claims to be a lawyer is the preacher and the man described in the Africa Ventures site.
I wonder if the readers can shed any additional light on this matter. Knowing someone at the right hand of very rich men is a great thing when you’re looking for entry into law school. Sutton took Mansour’s advice, whoever he was, and wrote Harvard saying there was a “genius” who would soon be available to them. And the rest is nearly history.
The Muslim Brotherhood is engaged, in its own words, in "a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”
Yesterday, the DNC gave the Leader of a Muslim Brotherhood-linked organization a standing ovation. My guess is more out of willful ignorance and naivete than ideological identification.
I have decided to contact a few of my friends and see if we can't get a fundraiser going to help lift the Messiah's brother, George Obama, out of his miserable situation. George Obama, Brack Obama's brother lives in a poverty stricken shanty town in a little hut, on a dollar a month. Since his multi-millionaire brother Barack is...ahhh...too busy to worry about little things like this, I thought it would be appropriate to see if I can raise a few dollars to help George Obama out. Stay tuned.
Obama to the Department of Justice: Block ad tying me to William Ayers. He hasn't won the Presidency and already the suppression of free speech has commenced.
Obama: Let me make it clear that it was Michelle and I who were tested for AIDS, not Senator Biden and I. Now Biden may have been tested as he says, but that has noting to do with our close, personal relationship.
I don't know what's funnier, Biden's insensitivity or Obama’s Homophobia
Debbie Schlussel points to the fantastic head of hair that Joe Biden has "grown" in the last 20 years:
Black Republicans slam the leftist Senator by pointing out some basic facts: Democrats were the party of slavery, Democrats were the party of Jim Crow, Democrats were the party of the KKK. While Republicans fought slavery, fought Jim Crow, fought for civil rights and against the KKK. Indeed, Martin Luther King was a Republican while every major segregationist was a Democrat. This is basic history 101. As always, democrats depend heavily on public ignorance for electoral success.
The Texas GOP has picked up on my question about Obama's "concerns" for average Americans while seriously lacking concern for his own brother. This is about as hard hitting as it gets in politics:
Of course, I agree with the facts and the polling data. CNN is the Democrat network... while MSNBC is the whack-job Code Pink network. FNC is certainly more balanced politically, but I do find Fox News' emphasis on trailer-park tabloid trash distasteful but I guess it sells.
Jacob Weisberg over at Slate has a disgusting little piece proclaiming that if Obama loses, only racism will explain his lose. In Weisberg's world it couldn't possibly be because Obama is the most left-wing nominee since George McGovern. Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry... all lost because they were unacceptably left-wing to the American public. Bill Clinton won because he ran as a new kind of Democrat moderate, a DLC type. Obama is far to the left of all of them.
On the other hand, Obama himself will benefit from a racist vote, and that will be from those who will be voting FOR him and against McCain, not because of policies but because of race. How else to explain his well over 90% polling numbers among African Americans? Over 90% is Saddam Hussein territory. But it's not just African Americans, there are many white liberals who will vote for the far left Obama over the moderate McCain also out of racial considerations.
If we are to do the math, my guess is that Obama will "benefit" from racist votes far more than McCain. My guess is that if Obama were white, he wouldn't even be the Democratic nominee at all. My guess is that if Obama was white, he would be down 15% in the polls right now, in McGovern territory, simply because of his far left policies and record. My guess is that any white candidate that hung out at a racist church for 20 years and listened to "God damn America" speeches from a crazy Pastor, wouldn't be elected dog catcher in Alabama, let alone be the nominee for a major American Party for the Presidency of the United States.
But that's just me. I must be a "racist".
Proof that what comes out of a Democrats mouth means nothing:
Clinton Supporter Sues to remove Barack Obama from the Ballot. I have read the lawsuit and don't think it stands a chance in hell.
6:28 PM:
10:10 PM Update: Hours later, the major networks are now confirming what every blog in the country has been reporting.
Drudge is reporting that a Kansas City printer specializing in political literature is busy printing up large quantities of "Obama-Bayh 08" campaign material. Somebody is paying for it. It would be an expensive head fake. Evan Bayh is the most bland, unremarkable person in US politics with virtually no achievements to his name. Words like "empty suite" and "Chauncey Gardner" come to mind.
Update: False alarm
UPDATE: Birth Certificate Issue laid to Rest: The truth about Obama's birth certificate at FactCheckers.org
Once again, the Messiah slams America by comparing our actions to that of the Russian invasion of Georgia."We’ve got to send a clear message to Russia and unify our allies. They can’t charge into other countries. Of course it helps if we are leading by example on that point."
Of course, the fact the Saddam Hussein initiated multiple wars against its neighbors leading to the deaths of well over one million people, the fact the Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons on his own people destroying entire villages; the fact that Saddam Hussein was a direct sponsor of terrorists including direct incentive payments to the families of suicide bombers is all irrelevant to Obama. As is the fact that while the US is trying to build democracy and freedom in Iraq, Russia is doing the exact opposite by trying to tare down a free democracy in Georgia. The US effort to rid the world of a madman is the moral equivalent of the Russian rape of Georgia in Obama's world. There are simply no words.
Stunning words straight from Obama's mouth arguing for infanticide; in opposition to a bill that would mandate medical care for babies who survive abortion procedures and are actually born alive:
I don't think one has to be "pro life" to find this disgusting in the extreme. Even Barbra Boxer supported medical care for children born alive following a botched abortion. His words show a stunning callousness and casual disregard for human life.
The man who loves to call Israel an "Apartheid State" has been picked by Obama for a high-profile speaking spot at the Democratic National Convention. For a lot of folks, that's all they need to know. 
Oh my: DNC Mention that Rep. Eric Cantor is Jewish... five times! Just in case you missed it.
In response to the Georgian crisis and the placement of a US missile defense system in Poland, new Cold War maneuvers are in the making. Syrian President Assad rushes off to Moscow to invite a Russian military presence in Syria, including offensive missile bases and Naval bases in the Mediterranean, as Russia contemplates joining the Syrian-Iranian axes.
“Our position is that we are ready to co-operate with Russia in any project that can strengthen its security,” the Syrian leader told Russian newspapers at the start of his two-day trip. “I think Russia really has to think of the response it will make when it finds itself closed in a circle.”
Mr al-Assad said that he would be discussing the deployment of Russian missiles on Syrian territory, possibly the Iskander system. Syrians is also interested in buying Russian anti-aircraft and tanks missiles.
In return, Moscow is expected to propose a revival of its Cold War era naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean. Some Russian reports even suggest that Moscow is deepening the port it to accommodate a fleet of warships. Russia may have similar ambitions for Latakia. Either port would give the Russian Navy its foothold in the Mediterranean for two decades.
Let's hope that Senator Obama does a better job taking care of our country (if elected God forbid) than he does taking care of his immediate family:
Mr. George Hussein Onyango Obama, 26, the youngest of the presidential candidate's half-brothers, spoke for the first time about his life, which could not be more different than that of the Democratic contender. "I live here on less than a dollar a month... Huruma [his neighborhood] is a tough place, last January during the elections there was rioting and six people were hacked to death. The police don't even arrest you they just shoot you. I have seen two of my friends killed. I have scars from defending myself with my fists. I am good with my fists."
He has only met his famous older brother twice - once when he was just five and the last time in 2006 when Senator Obama was on a tour of East Africa and visited Nairobi. The Illinois senator mentions his brother in his autobiography, describing him in just one passing paragraph as a "beautiful boy with a rounded head". Of their second meeting, George Obama said: "It was very brief, we spoke for just a few minutes. It was like meeting a complete stranger."
Having read about it extensively, I thought I knew all about Barack Obama's background, many elements of which are troubling (Rev. Wright, etc...). From Indonesia to his Muslim family in Kenya most of his background has been explored. However recently I came across a few pieces of the puzzle that have been mostly unknown to the public:
While at Occidental college he became close friends with two Pakistanis, Mohammed Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid. In 1981 he traveled with Mohammad Hasan Chandoo to Pakistan and stayed there for about three weeks. It is rather unusual for a less-than-wealthy college kid to choose far-away Pakistan as a summer break destination, but not necessarily suspicious. For some reason however, Obama has never publicly cited these relationships or his time in Pakistan. Why not?
In his book "Dreams from My Father," Obama does talk of having a different Pakistani roommate when he later moved to New York, a man he calls Sadik who "had overstayed his tourist visa and now made a living in New York’s high-turnover, illegal immigrant work force, waiting on tables." Strangely, Mr. Obama, the campaign and his publisher have not provided any details about the identity of Sadik.
All of this new info probably just represents Innocent gaps in an otherwise extensively researched background. However, why all the secrecy about his travel to Pakistan in 1981? Why no mention of it before in public or in his two books about himself? Why the mystery about "Sadik"?
Many of us in America have tended to ridicule the French for years. When France finally elected a President who is not anti-American we celebrated. Today France has sacrificed lives in our common struggle. We honor these brave men, pay our respect and send our sincere condolences. Viv la France!
Code Pink co-founder and Brack Obama campaign fundraiser Jodi Evans attended a mock war crimes trial in Istanbul Turkey, which ended in a declaration that The Iraqi Insurgency "Deserved The Support Of People Everywhere Who Care For Justice And Freedom."
In addition to expressing Code Pink's support for the insurgency, Evans personally published a statement from Istanbul endorsing the insurgency that has killed thousands of American troops and free Iraqis.
Evans has a close relationship with the Obama campaign. She hosted Obama's first Hollywood fundraiser in February 2007 and is listed on the Obama website as having bundled between $50,000 and $100,000. She has also contributed the maximum $2300 to his primary campaign, according to FEC records.
In addition to supporting the insurgency in Iraq, Evans recently expressed her agreement with Osama bin Laden's reasons for attacking America on September 11, 2001 in an interview broadcast June 3, 2008:
Jodie Evans:..."We were attacked because we were in Saudi Arabia, that was the message of Osama, was that because we had our bases in the Middle East, he attacked the United States."
Paul A. Ibbetson: "Do you think that's a valid argument?"
Evans: "Sure. Why do we have bases in the Middle East? We totally violated the rights of that country. Why do we get to have bases in the Middle East?"
Not from some anti-Muslim blogger, but straight from the horses mouth on Saudi TV:
When is it appropriate to marry in Islam? As explained on Saudi TV by a leading Saudi cleric. Arranged marriages from birth is perfectly appropriate. When is it appropriate to begin sexual relations with your wife? Well, the example comes straight from the Prophet Mohammad himself, the cleric clarifies, who married one of his wives, Aisha, at age six, but dutifully abstained from having sex with her until age NINE. We report, you decide.
Book Based on Prophet Muhammad's Child Bride Yanked At 11th Hour
Apparently, President Bush isn't Obama's President, or the President of all Americans, he's just "John McCain's President". I would call that a little disrespectful to the office of the Presidency that he seeks, and a little disrespectful to the Democratic process and the ideals of a Constitutional Republic. But hey, who are we to question the living Messiah?
He's on top of the world today, but it wasn't that long ago... Raised by a struggling single mom, far from privilege, Michael Phelps was diagnosed as a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He was relentlessly teased by classmates for his hyperactivity, his big ears and his speech impediment (a lisp). Now those who teased him as a child eagerly sign up to his My Space page as his “friend,” desperately seeking to associate themselves with him. What a difference a few gold medals make.
Three cheers for Michael Phelps, not for his gold medals but for his iron will; the man who gets the last laugh; a roll model for every kid who has been teased or bullied; the man that every man wouldn't mind being, at least for a day; the man any parent can point to, to encourage a child that comes home heartbroken or humiliated.
The Messiah's parade of presumptuousness continues as Obama loudly declared to a gathering of the faithful: "I will win. Don’t worry about that." But the day really belonged to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who went a step further by declaring that the Messiah is "a leader that God has blessed us with at this time." That's right, we have all been blessed by God almighty himself to have Obama as our leader and Democratic nominee. Praise the Lord and hallelujah, for the Messiah himself has been brought forth by the party of abortion-on-demand and appeasement of mass murdering dictators to deliver us from our misguided selves.
The JP has an extraordinary article on the audacious resume-padding by the Messiah. They break many of his claims down with mathematical precision and prove how none of it adds up. A small sample:
Or take one of Obama's standard lines: his claim of "twenty years of public service." As pundit Michael Medved has pointed out, the numbers don't add up. Shall we count? Three years in the US Senate (two of which he's spent running for President), plus seven years in the Illinois State Senate (a part-time gig, during which time he also served as a law professor) equals, at most, ten. Even if we generously throw in his three years as a "community organizer" (whatever that means, let's count it as public service), that still adds up to just thirteen.Normally resume-padding is a sign of low character. Yet as usual, 'The One' is held to a different standard than the rest of us.
Obama's other activities since 1985 have included Harvard Law School, writing two autobiographies (including several months writing in Bali), prestigious summer law firm jobs, three years as an associate at a Chicago law firm, and twelve years part-time on the University of Chicago Law School faculty. As Medved notes, it takes quite the ego to consider any of those stints "public service." Which of them is Obama including?
Obama did well on style but what emerged was the great gravitas gap. Simply put, McCain brought the kind of depth and life story that Obama can't possibly hope to compete with. It was a little embarrassing. For example when asked questions like what was the most gut-wrenching decision in your life? McCain referred to his decision to refuse a Viet-Cong offer to release him from captivity and further torture ahead of fellow prisoners who had been there longer than himself. Obama said it was his vote against the Iraq war (in the Illinois State Senate! He was not a US Senator at the time). On adoption of orphans? Obama mentioned the importance of adoption, but McCain simply mentioned that he has actually adopted a child from poverty from Mother Teressa's convent in Bangladesh...and on and on. It was like a rookie from the Minor Leagues going up against a long-time superstar. Yeah, the rookie was young, good looking, smooth... but on substance, there was simply no comparison. The resume is thin in the extreme.
How McCain Won Saddleback
Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Munajid Slams Beijing Olympics: Nothing Makes Satan Happier Than The 'Bikini' Olympics
Saudi Arabia has 17 athletes participating in the Beijing Olympic Games. But Saudi Arabia openly prohibits women from participating in the Olympics. In fact, it does not permit girls to do sporty things at all, from drawing an arrow to wielding a racket. Officially, even physical education classes in state-run schools are banned. Women can't drive, participate in most professions and they must be covered from head to toe and "escorted" by a male family member in public.
What's intolerable about all of this is that the IOC tolerates open gender discrimination even more than the way they tolerated German discrimination against Jewish athletes in the 1936 games. The IOC needs to stand up to Saudi Arabia and lay down the law. Permit access to females, or don't come to the Olympics at all; You and your primitive, medieval attitudes are an embarrassment to yourselves and to the entire world.
This reporter is the Anti-Katie-Couric. As Russia continues to rape the tiny nation of Gerogia.
h/t: Gateway Pundit
Just Imagine If McCain was resisting the release of this basic information:
1. Occidental College records—Not released
2. Columbia College records—Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper—“not available”
4. Harvard College records—Not released
5. Selective Service Registration—Not released
6. Medical records—Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule—“not available”
8. Law practice client list—Not released
9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate—Not released
10. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth—Not released
11. Harvard Law Review articles published—None
12. University of Chicago scholarly articles—None
h/t: Say Anything
My good friend Si Frumkin is a little older and a little wiser than I. I therefore yield to his wisdom on all matters Russian.
THIS DÉJÀ VU IS 68 YEARS OLD
By Si Frumkin,
At my elementary school in Lithuania we were taught that our city, Kaunas, was only the provisional capital. The presidential offices and all the ministries were located here, but that was temporary, our real capital was and forever would be Vilnius. It was taken away by the Poles in 1920 and they never gave it back. I believed that this was horrible; I could never understand why our heroic and brave Lithuanian army didn't take it back - we were strong, brave and valiant enough, all 3 million of us to take on, what, only 30 million or so Poles, right?
I was a Lithuanian patriot. And when Vilnius was returned to Lithuania in 1939, I celebrated with rest of country. The Soviet Union and Germany had attacked and divided Poland between them and the Soviets got (among other, much bigger, parts) the area with Vilnius which they then gave to Lithuania.
The only thing that Lithuania was supposed to do in return was to allow the Red Army to base some soldiers in the Lithuanian countryside - not in the larger cities. Frankly, I didn't mind. I was just nine years old and a fan of Soviet films; I knew that Red Army soldiers were heroic, friendly, handsome, and great fighters.
A couple of months later, after our government moved to the true historic capital that was liberated for us by the great Stalin, strange articles appeared in the official Soviet media.
On May 30, 1930, the major newspaper, "Izvestia" published an official report by the Peoples Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. It reported despicable crimes by the Lithuanian military who had kidnapped and tortured a number of Red Army soldiers to learn Soviet military secrets. Two weeks later, on June 13, this was followed up by a directive of the Political Administration of the Red Army which said that, "The Lithuanian government under the cloak of pursuing investigations and apprehension of criminals is engaged in the elimination of friends of the Soviet Union."
Then on June 14, at 11:30 at night, the foreign minister of Lithuania, who had already been in Moscow for two weeks, was called to the office of Soviet Foreign Minister, Molotov to accept a list of Soviet demands.
Lithuania was informed that the Soviet Union wanted the immediate arrest and trial of the Internal Affairs Minister and the chief of police of Lithuania; that a new government be immediately formed to truly carry out the spirit of the friendship and cooperation accords signed previously; that the frontiers be immediately opened for free transit of Red Army troops that would be based in the important areas of the country; and that the response to these demands should be transmitted to the Soviet government by 10:00AM on June
14 - in just 10 hours!
Analogous ultimatums were transmitted next day to Latvia and Estonia who had not even been accused of kidnapping and torture of Soviet soldiers. (These soldiers were never mentioned again. I can't help but wonder whether, 68 years later, the Russian peacekeepers who were supposedly assassinated by "Georgian criminal provocateurs" and were the alleged cause of Russian reaction against the Georgian "war criminals" will ever have their names and the circumstances of their demise revealed. Somehow, I don't think so.)
On June 16 and 17, 1940, the Red Army moved. There was no resistance. I was nine years old but I remember standing on the sidewalk of our main thoroughfare - the "Liberty Avenue", soon to be renamed "Stalin Avenue" - watching the horse drawn artillery, carts and trucks move. I was disappointed; the small, skinny horses were not at all like the heroic stallions that demolished the enemies of communism in the movies. In fact, the Red Army soldiers were not all that heroic either - they seemed to be undernourished, short, sloppy, not at all like cinematic Red Army warriors.
A few weeks later we were told that the Lithuanian people - as well as the Latvians and Estonians - had appealed to comrade Stalin to be admitted as full fledged members to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Shortly after that, we were told that our pleas were heard and just like that, we were Soviet citizens. Our president fled to the U.S. to live to a ripe old age, the U.S. and Britain never did recognize the annexation - they maintained Baltic embassies in Washington and London. Nothing was done that meant anything.
And what could be done? In June 1940, France, Holland and Belgium had surrendered to Germany. America was neutral and Germany and the Soviets were friends and allies in full support of each other's policies. There probably were quite a few in the countries that were not yet affected who sincerely believed that war wasn't an answer that there was another way to oppose evil. They still exist - look at all the cars with the incredibly asinine bumper stickers, "War Isn't The Answer".
Sixty eight years ago the Baltic nations were enslaved by one tyrant.
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia and many others were wiped off the map by another. The world allowed this to happen just as it is allowing it to happen now in Georgia. It took much blood to show that they were wrong, that evil has to be fought. History - past and present - is proof that if we believe that war is not the answer, the bad guys will win.
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