Politics-American

Mailbag

Mulder

The following was sent to me by a friend and I just felt obligated to share.

    “Inconvenient Truth”, interesting we don’t see this on the evening news programs and the major newspapers .

    LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU CAN TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

    HOUSE # 1:

    A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern “snow belt,” either. It’s in the South.

    HOUSE # 2:

    Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university, this house incorporates every “green” feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.

    HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It is the abode of that renowned environmentalist (and filmmaker) Al Gore.

    HOUSE # 2 (model eco-friendly house) is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas. Also known as “the Texas White House,” it is the private residence of the President of the United States , George W. Bush.

H/T to Frank C. in Ottawa for sharing this one.

US Departure From Iraq Needs The Robson Plan (A or B)

Mulder

Whenever I think of the way the US left Viet Nam, I imagine the scene from the beginning of Raiders of The Lost Ark when Indiana Jones is running through the jungle to his waiting pontoon plane, being chased by local natives, scrambling across the beach yelling “Start the plane! Start the plane!”, swinging on a vine and landing in the lagoon, swimming up to the pontoon and grabbing hold while the plane starts off down it’s watery runway for takeoff as spears and arrows land all around.

I get a similar emotion when I think of the Blackhawk Down situation in Mogadishu.

And I am starting to get the feeling that the situation in Iraq will be the same now that the Democrats are taking over.

It may not be politically correct, but I hope the US takes advice from John Robson.

What would Caesar do in Iraq? I ask not only because it was in that region that Julius Caesar came, saw and conquered. I ask because Imperial Romans habitually thought clearly and acted decisively on geopolitical questions.

As democratic politicians too often do the opposite, let me offer a simple, Caesarean solution to cut through the trouble and deliver Western security interests alive and well.

…

My plan A that won’t happen is the coalition troops grab their stuff and leave … through Syria. About 200,000 heavily armed, highly trained, really annoyed U. S. and other coalition troops stomp Bashir Assad’s regime flat, hang a left through Lebanon to demolish Hezbollah, then sail home from Haifa waving a sign saying: “Don’t make us come back and do that again.” I call this plan Caesarean because it’s the sort of thing Imperial Rome would have done to extricate itself from Iraq while inspiring salutary caution in its enemies, especially following the provocative assassination of Pierre Gemayel in Lebanon. But you know it’s not going to happen and you know why.

Far from being the ogre of Michael Moore’s fantasies, the U. S. lacks even the hard-headed sang-froid of imperial Britain, let alone Rome.

To expand Robson’s point, I think the Democrats lack the sang-froid of Scooby Doo and Shaggy when their box is out of Scooby Snacks.

Robson goes on with a plan B that makes a lot of sense to me.

…devise a Plan B that could happen. Namely that the U. S partitions Iraq into Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite countries and leaves at least the latter two.

This plan is also Caesarean, and not just because Iraq est omnis divisa in partes tres. Yes, I realize it would require some people to relocate, but moving beats dying in a bloody civil war. Meanwhile my proposal has three decisive geopolitical virtues for the coalition (beyond the PR plus that if sectarian violence persists it will be clear who’s to blame).

First, whatever the various domestic and foreign insurgents in Iraq want, it clearly isn’t partition. Second, once done it would be extremely hard to undo. Third, it lets the coalition depart without fleeing, leaving in splendid Roman fashion at least one client state very keen on U. S. support.

John Robson writes for the Ottawa Citizen and can be heard every Friday morning with Steve Madely on CFRA between 8am and 9am. He also has a new book out that Mark Steyn has given a strong endorsement for.

Peace Moonbeam Sums Up The Democrats View On Iraq Best

Mulder

I really have to commend my left leaning, ultra sarcastic, flower child Americano friend Peace Moonbeam. She has a couple of new posts up that just have me in stitches. Below are a couple of quotes. Like these gems with regards to Nancy Pelosi and the Dems taking control of both houses and their plans on Iraq.

First and foremost, I asked her how quickly the Democrats were going to press their plan for victory in Iraq. Nancy said as soon as they think up a plan, they were going to ram it through. When questioned further, she said she was pretty sure their strategy would probably involve some sort of rapid retreat as soon as possible. “Our goal will most likely be an orderly and dignified exit like we did in Vietnam, only hopefully without the millions of people being slaughtered after we leave,” she said

You have to love her toungue in cheek style.

By far the most urgent need is to achieve victory in Iraq. As we discussed earlier, the only way to achieve this victory is to leave as soon as possible. Some prominent Democratic leaders have called for pullouts within four to six months.

(She almost sounds as right wing as Mark Steyn…now you know why I like her!!)

I’ve done some figuring and with the Dems’ proposed “Forces Leaving Early Expeditiously” plan (FLEE), I calculate over 378.3 terrorists will not be created every week we are gone. These men and women will instead most likely become professors, doctors, and nurses.

And the last word on the Dems lack of a plan on what to do about Iraq?

Troops out, lawyers in, build water parks. All better.

The King Is Dead

Mulder

Who will stem the tide of minimum wage activists?

Who will stop the price ceiling and price floor socialists?

Who will stifle those who stifle ingenuity?

Who will step forward and explain to us why the free markets need to be truly free?

Who will we look to for sanity in an insane world of economics?

There is always the video. And this is one that is well worth the 30 minutes.

4 month old H/T.

My First (But Not Last) Experience With Mark Steyn

Mulder

Over the past few weeks I have seen and heard the name Mark Steyn several times. I heard about a new book he has coming out at the end of September. I heard about him filling in for Rush Limbaugh. I have heard that he submits work to the Western Standard but I must admit, I have never read a single copy of the Western Standard. A friend of mine with a subscription submitted me for a free copy which may entice me to get a subscription, but I am still waiting for that copy as of the time I write this.

Today, while surfing my usual haunts, there was a link at Dust My Broom to an hour long interview with Mr. Steyn which was done on C-SPAN a few days ago.

With today being a cloudy, lazy Labour Day, I decided to take the hour of time and watch … and boy am I glad I did. Mr. Steyn was mesmerizing to listen to. I quickly found his website and have added him to my pundits section and he made an instant fan. Not because of all the hype around him recently, but because an hour of listening to his frank views was enlightening.

If you have not had a chance to experience Mark Steyn yourself, I highly urge you to check out the hour long interview.

Robin Williams – Politically A Right Of Center Isolationist

Mulder

(via email from my sister)

I am trying to figure out if this email I received has info that is pre or post Robin Williams checking himself into rehab, but in any case this is worth the read. I am also still trying to figure out if his views are left of center or right of center. My feelings are that he is definately right of center and an isolationist, with a few left of center points tossed in to the mix.

Check this out.

His T-shirt says “I Love New York” in Arabic. Only Robin.

RobinWilliams

“I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here’s one plan.”

1) “The US will apologize to the world for our “interference” in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those “good ole boys”, we will never “interfere” again.

2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany , South Korea , the Middle East , and the Philippines. They don’t want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence.

3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We’ll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of whom or where they are. They’re illegal!!! France will welcome them.

4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don’t like it there, change it yourself and don’t hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don’t need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.

5) No foreign “students” over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don’t attend classes, they get a “D” and it’s back home baby.

6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while ..

7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don’t like it, we go someplace else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)

8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not “interfere.” They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.

9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island someplace. We don’t need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.

10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us “Ugly Americans” any longer. The Language we speak is ENGLISH…learn it.or LEAVE…Now, isn’t that a winner of a plan?

“The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.” She’s got a baseball bat and she’s yelling, ‘you want a piece of me?’ “

Could The $100 Bills Being Found In Lebanon Be Legitimate?

Mulder

Michelle Malkin has a few links to some website that are noting the quantity of US $100 bills showing up all over Lebanon. Speculation is that this money is counterfeit.

This also reminds me of Tim, a CIA intelligence officer that was buying up information from Iraqi militants on the locations of various Iraqi leaders during the recent Iraq war. Tim was a fake name used by Bob Woodward in his book on the Iraq war.
Below is a funny excerpt from Bob Woodward’s book Plan of Attack:

So rare, so mind-blowing were Tim’s informants that the CIA gave them the crypt or secret designation DB/ROCKSTARS. (DB was the designator for Iraq.) Tim was now paying the two brothers $1 million a month for ROCKSTAR intelligence. The brothers seemed to spend the money in about six days, so tim would offer several hundred thousand more if they provided really good intelligence.

Swimming in a sea of $100 bills, the ROCKSTARS were buying up weapons on the black market that the PUK was also trying to buy.

…

Tim was also doling out millions to the PUK to keep them happy and for the intelligence and security they provided. One day the PUK leader, Jalal Talabani, came to see him.

“Tim, I will need if you can bring me ones and fives and tens because now everything in Sulaymaniyah costs $100.” The $100 bills had caused extreme inflation. It seemed even a cup of coffee was going for $100 because no one could make small change.

At those prices, forget Kandahar, I say we open up a Tim Horton’s in Sulaymaniyah!!