Some Good Decisions

Five members of the United States Supreme Court showed today that the nation is not yet completely in the grip of the Left. Four "justices" (and I use that term advisedly, not descriptively because these four leftists do not dispense justice) voted against the Constitution, religious liberty, and common sense. These four are not judges but political partisans cloaked in judicial robes. Of course, the Left would argue the five on the other side are pawns of the "Right". American jurisprudence can not be based on the whim of a sitting President but must be based on the Constitution as the Founding document of our Republic. The change the rules as you go along mentality because the Constitution is a "living document" was dealt a blow today. The Constitution is to be interpreted, not rewritten according to the caprice of judges or even Presidents. Sanity won in the nation's highest court today.

The Front Line

Is the front line in the war on terror Iraq? Is the front line in Syria? Is the front Israel? If you can not pin down the front line, you are not alone. The front line and all of us are moving targets. Do you recall when the war front was New York City?

A Fool's Errand

For years now, I have spoken of a process with no peace, and no real prospect of ending Muslim and Palestinian determination to wipe the Jewish State from the map. The latest interlocutor to give up the charade is Martin Indyk, who I am sure as a "court Jew" will dutifully blame his coreligionists and absolve the Palestinians for the stagnant "peace process". Arab and Muslim hatred and incitement to perpetrate a genocide against the Jews will never be mentioned in Obama administration and State Department circles. International diplomats and the main stream media will agree with Team Obama and Foggy Bottom that blame lies solely with Netanyahu and Israel's recalcitrant Right Wing. What these meddlers will never admit is the only compromise Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the vast majority of Muslims will accept is no two state solution, no one state for two peoples, but the eradication of every breathing Jew wherever they may reside in the Holy Land. Until the last Jew bleeds out, is decapitated, perhaps crucified, or crawls as a subhuman dhimmi, enough fanatic Muslims will remain to perpetuate constant war against Jews. If the Jews are wiped out, then Sunni and Shia fanatics will merrily continue slaughtering one another, meaning the only peace that will ever come to the Middle East will be the quiet embrace of death.

Time for Video?

A video has emerged from New Jersey of a mother being beaten to a pulp by another woman in a McDonald's uniform while only the two year old son of the victim tries to intervene. My questions are: Why did the person taking the video not step in to protect the victim? Why did the witnesses not shout at the perp to stop the attack? Why did those who sat on their hands at least not yell for the attacker to run because "the cops are on the way"? Those observing the assault could easily have stopped it with little personal risk. By not attempting to break up the altercation, those watching and filming it showed that they lack citizenship, decency, and even humanity. When you can stop an attack that could lead to horrible injuries, permanent disability, or even death but opt only to record it, you show yourself to be something less than a human being.

Starting an Avalanche

Voices of "gravitas" have claimed that Barack Hussein Obama has striven for a "managed decline". I would contend that Obama is not that subtle and is content to push us over an economic cliff. Obama wants to damage the US economy so much that it is unrecoverable. He wants to inflict terminal damage on American capitalism. Obama has sapped the strength of main street enterprise, only supporting crony capitalism and corporate welfare at the expense of new competitors, the so called mom and pops, and small business. These start-ups and local stores were formerly the drivers of new employment. With successful rent-seeking by big business and a huge regulatory regime stifling job creation, it is no wonder that ninety million able-bodied, working age Americans are unemployed and that the economy contracted 2.9 percent in the last quarter.

An Acting Legend

Eli Wallach, one of the great character actors, has died. Wallach had acted credibly and incredibly acted in eight decades. He had lived ninety-eight years and been on screen or stage more than many better-known performers. Wallach could play anything and over his long career, he did. Those close to Wallach will miss him, but he will be long remembered. In fact, as long as the screen exists, Eli Wallach's image will be enduring.

Iraq in Two

Iraqi Shiites are fleeing areas coming under ISIS control after reports of massacres. These internal refugees are seeking sanctuary within Iraq itself, but in areas controlled by Kurds, who are extending mercy and protection from the Sunni fanatics. A large swath of Iraq may indeed be incorporated into a rising Sunni caliphate, but perhaps part of that country will be retained as an independent Kurdistan that will be a haven for human rights, even for those who are not Kurdish. Sunni insurgents have also reportedly captured the largest refinery complex in that disintegrating nation, likely meaning world oil prices will skyrocket. I see no way for peace or stability to be rapidly returned to either Iraq or Syria, nor do I see a side between the Sunni al-Qaeda sympathizers and the Shiite extremists that America and the West can support. At least the Kurdish population seems to be somewhat capable of holding back the New Caliphate in areas already in Kurdish hands.

Shalit's Inevitable Consequence(s)

Israel ransomed a captive soldier named Gilad Shalit by freeing hundreds of convicted terrorists, including murderers with "blood on their hands". In so doing, the Jewish State provided compelling motivation for more abductions of Jews by Muslims who seek to end the existence of the Jewish State. By releasing unrepentant killers whose return was celebrated by the Palestinian public, Israel created a situation where those released from confinement would certainly try to harm Jews. One of those terrorists exchanged for Shalit has now been charged with murdering an off-duty Jewish policeman during attacks that also wounded three other Jews, namely the policeman's wife and child and a Jewish child in another car. This tragic shooting spree would not have happened if the terrorists freed in exchange for Shalit had been incarcerated for their full sentences, lawfully imposed by Israeli courts. A nation can never give in to terrorists because capitulating to their demands only invites more terror. Yes, Israel has brought Shalit safely back to his family, but an innocent Jew has paid for Shalit's return to freedom with his life. By rewarding kidnappers, the Jewish State caused untold future misery.

A Deterrent Posture

Weakness invites aggression. An individual who refuses to defend himself invites bullying. Someone projecting strength discourages attack. What is true for individuals applies just as much to nations. When a nation stands up and declares if our blood is spilled, we will no longer hold the lives of those who have spilled that blood as sacred, and enforces that stance with action, that nation is projecting strength. When a country proclaims deterrence but fails to act, enemies take advantage. At the moment, the United States and her allies are projecting weakness and in so doing, inviting aggression.

Old Ebbets Field

Is America's cultural ethos gravitating West as the Dodgers did, as they fled Brooklyn for Southern California? Is America about to be knocked as flat as Ebbets Field was in 1960? We were always mostly a nation of European immigrants landing on the East Coast, but now, it seems the Latin flavor is becoming dominant. If you do not think the WASP influence has faded in favor of a rising wave of Hispanic power, just look at Republican stalwarts like Raul Labrador, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz. The latter two, Rubio and Cruz, may well vie for the US Presidency. I have always been for rational, ordered immigration, but that means a secure border first, and America does not have a secure Southern border now. We are having an influx of unaccompanied minors and even obvious gang members now evidently, not originally from Mexico merely transiting through after originally hailing from Central America. The US needs regulated entry to ensure that felons and those with easily-transmittable diseases are not permitted into the country. What we do not need and no nation can afford is foreign criminals and those with illnesses that are easy to spread and difficult to treat demolishing the American edifice the way that wrecking balls took down Ebbets Field.

Specter of Inflation

If you do not think inflation is a problem, how about the nine and a half million dollar stamp? Thankfully, that was a one-off collectible and not from the United States Postal Service yet. All joking aside, the prices of comestibles and gasoline are shooting through the roof. The instability in Iraq and across the Middle East is spiking oil prices. That cost has driven the cost up to bring food from the field to the consumer. Bad weather and diseases affecting crops and livestock have pushed up what we pay as well. Our wages are relatively stagnant but our cost of living is surging. You can not live without food or go very far without fuel. These are simply costs that we must pay, and since our salaries or hourly wages have not kept up, we have less to save. There is no way left for the average person to build a nest egg. What most of our politicians offer is an increase in the minimum wage that ironically will only devalue the dollar further and spike inflation. What we need is less of a regulatory regime and more free market to bring prosperity back to the masses.

Start the Strafing

As Wahhab murderers advance and take more of Iraq, America should use air power to destroy concentrations of terrorists before they seize Baghdad. The Sunni fanatics have already consolidated power in much of Iraq. Their weakness though is columns moving without air cover. They would be easy pickings for US A-10 ground attack aircraft. America could repeat the "Highway of Death" that we saw as Saddam Hussein's forces tried to retreat from Kuwait. Even carrier-based American aircraft could ravage the Sunni jihadists with little risk. For America to break the back of those who are propagating the same beliefs as al-Qaeda, Barack Obama must unleash our forces from the air. This use of firepower would demonstrate the will to thwart the rise of a new caliphate, which is exactly why Obama will not do it. Obama is ensuring the chaos by permitting the destruction of the Old Order. We end up not with a New World Order but with wildfire Islamism and nihilist anarchy.

A Grand Imposter

Barack Hussein Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize before he spent a day in the office of the US Presidency. Does it now appear that Obama's rise to leader of the free world has made the world more safe? Obama abdicated the role so many former American Presidents had cherished of spreading freedom across the globe. Instead, he went from country to country apologizing for American intrusions. By haphazardly removing US troops from the field in Iraq, did Obama add to that country's stability? Is America safer with a Sunni caliphate rising in Iraq and Syria? Is the globe more or less free than it was when the widely despised W ruled the roost? If Obama has a conscience, he will return the Peace Prize.

Trail Gone Cold

The three Jewish boys abducted by terrorists are still in evil hands. How do you ask for mercy in hearts that have no mercy? Do you ask the Lord to soften the hearts of implacable Jew-haters? Do you implore G-d that killers not be killers? You do not send lambs into the lion's den, but a stronger, tougher lion. Israel needs its hardest men to do all that is necessary so that Israelis may live in peace. Defeatist ideas have taken hold of the Jewish nation. Notions like the defense from rockets known as Iron Dome, where million dollar missiles are sent to intercept $70 rockets (and only manage to bring down half of them at that) are not demonstrating the will to overcome the adversary. The "cover up and take it" mentality shows a weakening will among the Jews practicing it to even survive. It should not be Jewish children quivering in bomb shelters and young Jews afraid to even leave their homes, but jihadists ducking into caves in fear of their lives as the brightest and boldest the IDF has to offer pursue them until the last terrorist who could hurt an innocent rots in his grave.

Assessing the Camera

Surveillance cameras may record everything within their range, but they prevent nothing. How many videos have been broadcast of convenience store clerks being murdered in full view of "security cameras"? How often have closed-circuit television cameras recorded acts of violence, yet the perpetrators are never caught? If the government is doing the watching, are we more or less secure? If Big Brother is watching, are we not inherently less free? Under the glare of the unblinking eye, we are neither safe nor free.

A Bestial Abduction

Three Jewish boys have been abducted by bloodthirsty Islamists. One of the taken is an American citizen. Some Jew-haters have reported "three settlers" were kidnapped. The terrorists would have been just as glad to drag Jews away from Tel Aviv, or Brooklyn, or Belgium as Judea and Samaria. Let us pray that the hostages are uninjured and safely reunited with their families. Let us also pray that the criminals who abducted these boys win no concessions for their release. And let us pray further that Israel takes a strong enough security posture to dissuade future kidnapping attempts.

Plotting America's Collapse

Allowing a flood of illegal aliens in from the South including unaccompanied children, with the intention declared by the Obama administration to facilitate family reunification is a disaster in the making. This initiative is not kindness opening a door of opportunity into the United States. This ploy is not even folly. What this effort is is actually child abuse of the worst order. The US government is endangering the lives of thousands of vulnerable children, exposing them to trafficking, rape, murder, or death by dehydration in areas where it is not safe for adults to travel, much less minor children. If they arrive here safely, they will have brought with them disease, and if they come in sufficient numbers, the far-left will have imported the foot soldiers of America's Balkanization along ethnic lines where those coming in from Latin America will never adapt to traditional American cultural norms or, all too often, even become proficient in our language. Only those who despise our Founding Ethos could find any good in risking the lives of foreign children to affect a political end that makes America less American and in so doing, brings America closer to destruction.

Watching Iraq Collapse

Seeing Iraq fall to nihilist Sunni Islamists is like watching a slow-motion replay of the fall of Saigon but with more bloodshed and more dire consequence to the world. Barack Hussein Obama has demonstrated that Jimmy Carter's failed policy can be matched or even surpassed in degree of incompetence. Carter abandoned the Shah and that led to the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that nation being run by radical Shiites remains a threat to this day. The Obama administration seems content to permit a Wahhab superstate to rise, stretching across Iraq and Syria. It did not seem possible that such blunders in foreign policy could be made, especially after the deaths of more than four thousand Americans in the quest to return stability to Iraq, but Obama has given back all that the American treasure spent and blood sacrificed bought us. The Middle East is at its most perilous point in history, with Iran on the precipice of a arming itself with nuclear weapons and with the Sunni fanaticism practiced by al-Qaeda about to conquer the nation we liberated from Saddam Hussein. It is amazing to say, but Syria's brutal dictator Assad looks preferable to al-Qaeda sympathizers seizing Damascus. The West has the firepower but lacks the will to thwart the seventh century atavists who are conquering the Middle East. Only Israel stands between the West and total catastrophe.

The Party Crashers

The horde flooding in from the South are not gatecrashers because sadly both major political parties have invited them into the United States. Neither the Democrats nor the GOP establishment give a rip about preserving what heretofore has been essentially American. Even supposed conservative firebrand US Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul has now purportedly embraced amnesty. If you want to finish off our Founding Ethos, a great way to do it is to import tens of millions of low-skill, low-wage, poor English speakers (or non-English speakers) who have no desire to assimilate and cling to the Third World culture they just fled from, only coming up here to compete for menial jobs or suck "benefits" from the taxpayer teat known as the Federal government. America does not need millions coming from abroad to depress wages and steal jobs from native-born low skill workers or millions more dependent on the dole who have crept in from south of the border. What we need is sovereignty that means a border with real impediments to entry, not a virtual border with cameras and sensors allowing almost everyone through who attempts entry from Mexico.

Good Riddance Cantor

Eric Cantor lost his primary last night. This startling upset is shaking the Republican establishment to its core. Even the main stream media mouthpieces seem taken aback that the People still have a voice, and the power of the vote and are able to use that power to throw a bum out. Cantor pretended conservatism in his campaign but in his governance was a big-government, pro-illegal immigrant progressive who needed to be turned out of office. The people of Virginia spoke and the echo that resounds is that Americans demand a secure Southern border. Illegal immigration is a huge issue that galvanizes real conservatives like nothing else.

The Great Deception

The Republican establishment is pushing for an amnesty for illegal aliens with just as much fervor as the Democrat Party. The Democrats want the votes of aliens when they become instant citizens. The Republicans want the cheap labor. The Democrat Party pushed Obama Care through without Republican support in Congress, but the Republicans are not eager to dismantle the Affordable Care Act because the GOP elite want the power too. The public is fed a line about the vast difference that exists between the Democrat and Republican Party, but both major US political parties are essentially socialist now, with the GOP being lesser socialists and the Democrats being greater socialists. Neither the Democrat nor Republican rose smells so sweet today.

The Airport Attack

The Pakistani Taliban attacked the Karachi airport killing more than a dozen people. The Taliban, in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, profess to be believing Muslims, yet they do not hesitate to attack and murder other believing Muslims. This wanton slaughter should be incredibly frightening because if the Taliban kill their brethren without hesitation, think what they would do to those of us that they consider "infidels". That is why releasing the five Afghan Taliban in the exchange for Bergdahl is so reprehensible. You have rewarded nihilist murderers by the trade. The Obama administration has provided a grand incentive for the Taliban to capture more troops and even to kidnap Westerners wherever they may find them, and has given the Taliban what they can rightly herald as a victory. While they are separate events, the Taliban will claim success (with some degree of validity) in both the airport assault and the prisoner exchange.

Life with Gusto

Celebrate the precious gift, the sacred gift, the one truly irreplaceable gift that we are given. I met the eighty-six year old who travels the world. I watched the ninety-two year old cutting the rug just a week ago at my wedding reception. I like Walt Whitman before me marvel at the "body electric". I revel that those who have enjoyed many years still pursue the life ahead with vigor. I only wish he who was so precious to me could have been at the wedding in more than spirit.

Ukraine Inflicts Carnage

Earlier this week, the government in Kiev, which is supported by the West, unleashed violence against what it calls "terrorists" in Lugansk. The Ukrainian "authorities" permitted a ground attack aircraft to fire rockets on unarmed civilians, largely ethnic Russians but some ethnic Ukrainians as well, who were in or near the administration building in this breakaway area that wants closer ties to Moscow than Kiev. The people killed including women were defenseless and most had gone to the municipal building to ensure that no matter who claimed the territory during the strife, that essential services like water, natural gas, and electricity were maintained for all Lugansk residents regardless of ethnic background. The response of the butchers ruling Kiev was to obliterate civic-minded people who were only trying to keep their city functioning with air-launched rockets. This massacre from the air bears the hallmarks of a war crime. The shedding of innocent blood demands justice.

Commemorating Real Courage

The gallantry of the forces that landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944 can never be overstated. The airborne and glider forces sustained catastrophic losses with many paratroopers killed before they ever had a chance to fire a shot at the Germans. The landing beaches were raked with machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire. Omaha Beach was soaked in blood as US troops suffered epic carnage, and yet, the sons of democracy still pushed forward to engage and defeat the forces of darkness. The Nazis did not give up without a fight and the toll they extracted was a fearsome one, but in the end, the forces of good prevailed, and despite the casualties inflicted by the Nazis fighting with determined fanaticism, the Allies vanquished Hitlerism. Without great men willing to lay down the lives they should have had ahead of them, casting caution to the winds, Europe and the world would be far different today.

Understanding the Taliban

To understand the consternation many are expressing in regard to the Bergdahl exchange, it is necessary to delve deeper into the nature of the Taliban themselves. Whether Bergdahl voluntarily left his post or even became a turncoat, the nature of the terrorists released in the exchange must be explored. The Taliban are Wahhabi nihilists who want to destroy all who are not strict practitioners of Sunni Islam. The Taliban are misogynistic nihilists of the first order who enslave women and who gladly protected Osama bin Laden because they share his death cult fanaticism. I guarantee you that the five Taliban exchanged for the American would gladly kill American military personnel and any Afghan who might demur at the earliest opportunity. There can never be even an uneasy peace with the Taliban unless we all renounce our own faiths, abandon our tolerance, and act like seventh century throwbacks with modern weapons as they do. The Taliban are anti-civilization and can never be joined in negotiation. They simply must be destroyed.

Captive or Deserter?

Did Bowe Bergdahl abandon his post or did the Taliban capture him? Did Bergdahl suffer as a prisoner or actively collaborate with America's enemies? Was Bergdahl taken against his will? Did Bergdahl desert? If Bergdahl willingly left his post, that is bad enough, but if he left his post to work with the Taliban, that is unforgivable. If Bergdahl is proven a deserter or a traitor, he must face the full wrath of military justice. In any event, the truth must be ferreted out because US service personnel died trying to find Bergdahl.

Back to Focus

Now that the wedding is behind us, my focus is slowly shifting back to geopolitics and real world events. If someone launched a nuclear attack on the wedding weekend, I do not think that I would have known it. Who knew two people forming their perfect union could involve as much detailed effort as a movie production? Who would think in an event of such joy, so much hard effort would be necessary, not on the part of the bride and groom particularly but the angels in the families, notably the parents and sister Mindy who was always there, working harder than anyone else and really indispensable. Our heartfelt thanks goes out to all who helped, but there will always be a special place in our hearts for the dedicated and tireless Mindy.

The Married Man

I am now "We" and "We" are decidedly a couple. Yesterday, Tracy and I were hitched, and now we are pulling the wagon together. May you find as a happy a union as we have. With thanks to those who were there for us and supreme gratitude to Sonny and Elaine and Sherry.

This Very Day

I walk out the door single. I (Lord-willing) return a married man. We will have plenty of clergy to bless us along the way with three rabbis participating and a priest attending the ceremony as well. Maybe we could have included a native shaman but we could not find one in the Rolodex, or, we could announce our service as "three rabbis- no waiting". For most people, this June First is an ordinary day. To us, this day is monumental. I only wish there was a way that more people could share our joy.