The Plug Pullers

The "death panels" are real and you or someone you love will be their victim. An article on the promotion of "end-of-life talks" appears in The New York Times written by Pam Belluck on August 30. A talk on how the chronically-ill and/or elderly people will be killed is in order. Make no mistake- these vulnerable people will be killed and it will seldom be by pulling the plug on a ventilator. It will be by the deliberate withholding of food and water as the world saw with Terri Schiavo and my mother and I witnessed with the brutal death Vanderbilt University Medical Center inflicted on my father. Death by dehydration is slow and agonizing and would be deemed cruel and unusual punishment if the state inflicted it on a convicted murderer, but will be just fine if that is how the hospital finishes off granny. A slow, agonizing death induced by dehydration is the ultimate outcome of many of the coming "end-of-life" discussions. I want a doctor fighting to save my life and return me to as robust a life as I am capable of living. I do not want my doctor conspiring with bean counting government bureaucrats to save future medical costs (and incidentally, Social Security payments) by truncating my life.

The Bottom Feeders

Journalism is not journalism anymore when it comes to mainstream media. For the most part, the mainstream media are no more than political partisans in disguise. They generally pretend objectivity but only a fool would say that the Right is not held to a greater degree of press scrutiny than the political Left. It is long passed the time for American conservatives to stop asking the dinosaur press to play fair. The old line media never will. The answer is not to expect better of ABC, CBS, NBC, or CNN because the are simply the media arm of the Democrat Party, and more generally liberalism and the progressives. It is time to refuse to participate in the charade where you are interrogated by Leftist hacks and only appear on the network that truly is down the middle. If you are on the right and want your case heard fairly, take to the airwaves on talk radio and FOX.

The "Top Stories"

Was the public manipulated by Facebook? I always had my news feed set to "most recent". The feed would mystically keep going back to "top stories". The "top stories" appearing constantly disputed my world view. Facebook must have known with "likes" of Rush Limbaugh and Allen West and favorite book being Atlas Shrugged that I am a conservative, but stories with a Leftist bent dominated the news feed and I was frequently asked to "like" a progressive cause or liberal politician. I would switch my feed back to "most recent" trying to avoid the propaganda but lo and behold, within hours, the news feed was switched back to "top stories" which were almost all liberal claptrap. Also, people I hardly know but who support the Leftist agenda and post accordingly seemed to monopolize posts from "friends". My fellow right wingers apparently seldom or never posted or what they posted mysteriously never was "shared" on Facebook feeds. Could it be that the powers that be at Facebook might have had an agenda at variance from America's conservatives?

What You Earn

Do you want the fruit of your labor going to strangers? Do you want what you have sweat blood to earn being used to fund benefits for criminal aliens? Do you think it is fair that a family that has tilled the soil of a farm for generations has to sell it because of the death tax? Do you want to work harder so those with less of a work ethic can thrive off the dole? Do you like buying cigarettes, narcotics, and alcohol for other people who are actually able to work but find it easier to dwell on the dole? I do not want my dime or dollar to subsidize addiction, to pay for illegal aliens, or to pay for "Obama phones"? Our hard earned cash is buying clunkers in more ways than one. It is time we vote out the politicians who want to reach in our pockets to continue buying votes from others with our money.

Israel Beaten Back

The only way a ceasefire in Gaza could last would have been if Hamas was thrashed. If Hamas had been damaged so much that they could not claim victory, there might be a lasting cessation of hostilities. If Hamas terrorists were waving white flags at the IDF juggernaut in hopes of surviving, there might be peace. The situation that prevails instead is that Hamas is still standing with fighting ability intact. Hamas has not lost its capability to go on the offensive. In fact, in the last hours before fire ceased (to whatever extent and however long Hamas deems fit), a mortar barrage killed two Israeli civilians in as bad a single event for Jewish civilians as any in the fifty day war. Hamas has the initiative with Israel almost universally vilified for Palestinian civilian "carnage" while Hamas which in fact caused that suffering, was able to survive and paint Israel as guilty of war crimes. As sad as it is to say, Israel lost the Gaza conflict and the Netanyahu government should be brought down by a vote of "no confidence".

Friends with Hamas

There is little difference between Hamas and ISIS. There objectives largely coincide. Either terror group should be considered as a logical inheritor of the legacy of Nazism. ISIS to this point has killed less Jews, but only because Jews are almost, if not completely, absent from areas where ISIS is operating. They have deliberately killed more Christians though as there continues to be a ready availability of religious minorities to slaughter in Iraq and Syria. Hamas has made life hard on Christians in Gaza, forcing most to flee, but has not attempted outright genocide on the followers of Christ yet. Either Hamas or ISIS would gladly wipe religious minorities from their midst, and neither has any compunction about using civilians as human shields or murdering noncombatants to advance the cause of jihad. Hamas and ISIS are both triumphalist terror groups who will never compromise for peace and insist on victory or death while seeing martyrdom as the highest virtue. The world would be a safer place if both Hamas and ISIS ceased to exist.

Peace with Shia

Could America and the West make common cause with implacable foe Iran to defeat ISIS and other Wahhab fanatics? Is Iran willing to give up the quest for nuclear weapons to rejoin the family of nations and finally vanquish the ideology of Sunni supremacy? Can the enemy of my enemy really be a friend? Even an alliance of convenience to counter terrorists in Iraq and Syria could start a lasting rapprochement. The ball is in Iran's court. The Islamic Republic of Iran must prove though that they are no longer sponsoring terror themselves and that the desire to "wipe Israel off the map" is no longer national policy. A great step forward would be openness about the atomic project which should be forthcoming if the enterprise is for "peaceful purposes" as Iran has continually contended.

Victims and Villains

Millions of lives are at risk not due to drought or disease, famine or flood, but intentional human action sparked by religious intolerance. There is no rational basis for this bloodletting. A certain portion of the Sunnis feel that they must kill those who worship differently. These jihadists certainly do not constitute a majority of Muslims or even Sunni Muslims, but there is no mass protest of their murderous actions by the Muslim majority. In part, this silence is sparked by fear. If only a few Muslims speak out against Islamist outrages, they make themselves targets of those Islamists. What is needed is a critical mass of decent Muslims to rise up in unison to demand ISIS and similar nihilist organizations using Islam as a cover for wanton slaughter stop killing innocents in the name of faith. The shared faith of two billion people can not be represented by Nazis who abuse the Koran to justify mass murder.

Heroes and Icons

The Islamists who are extolling their warriors and venerating their martyrs need to be taught that America has a fighting tradition unmatched in the last three hundred years. Who defeated the British Empire when they were the Colossus that bestrode the world? America did not only beat them once but twice. Who conquered the empire of Spain from Cuba all the way to the Philippines? What nation beat the Kaiser into submission? Who saved the world from fascism by vanquishing Nazi Germany, Japan, and Italy? Who stopped the Reds in their tracks in Korea? Who has a greater warrior legacy than Washington, Andrew Jackson, Lee and Grant, Pershing, Patton, and Eisenhower? What culture has churned out tougher men than Boone and Crockett, Kit Carson and Jim Bridger, Wild Bill Hickok and Wyatt Earp, Alvin C. York and Audie Murphy? If jihadists think they make us cower by butchering the defenseless, they know nothing of the essential goodness, character, and courage of the American people. We will stand until the terrorists fall!

A Fundamental Misapprehension

Natan Sharansky wrote The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror wherein he and coauthor Ron Dermer contend that democracies do not make war on each other. The book suggested peace would come to the Middle East as tyrants were replaced by democracy. Despots have indeed fallen since the publication of the book, but democracy did not replace tyranny. Sharansky did not take into account that if Wahhab fanatics were given the vote that they would elect leaders who strictly enforce Sharia which is absolutely incompatible with pluralistic, tolerant democracy. Under the new (dis)order gripping the Arab world, there is no possibility of advancing peace. While Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi were evil to the core, they at least kept Sunni fanatics from wantonly slaughtering those who believed differently. Now, Wahhab madmen murder wantonly where these dictators before kept some degree of order. There would have to be a reformation of Islam for Sharansky's notions to become practical. An Islamic version of George Washington would have to arise. Neither of these events is on the horizon.

The American Plan

The United States until recently was the bastion of liberty for the world. America was the heart of the free enterprise system that fed the rest of the world. Thrift and industry were rewarded in the country that became the manufacturing center for goods that were coveted by the rest of the world. Now, almost everything on America's retail shelves is made abroad. Saving is punished because Federal Reserve easy money policies mean savers earn virtually no interest. Our corporate taxes and capital gains tax are among the highest in the world. America still has some very wealthy individuals, but government policies make it increasingly difficult to rise into wealth from the middle class. The US has retreated from being the lone global superpower and that has allowed Red China and Russia to assert primacy over their neighbors. The ideals that made America great still exist. We just need to elect a political leadership that returns to those ideals.

Same Old Menu

Jihad yesterday, jihad today, jihad tomorrow, jihad forever- these sentiments resound across the Middle East- and were seen in the barbaric beheading video. I demur from President Barack Hussein Obama in his contention that the murder had nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with nihilism. The motivation of ISIS matters. The reason they murder is their sense of religious obligation. This fanatical devotion, this bloodthirsty fervor is performed because these terrorists believe they are doing Allah's bidding. Whatever other Koranic authorities contend, these jihadists do not think they are doing evil, but doing good by fulfilling a sacred duty. This murderous mentality can not be negotiated with but must be defeated militarily by the West. If the West lacks the will to fight, the battle is left to America. If the US will not stand, only Israel is left to uphold Western values and try to thwart international jihad, Islamism, and the creation of the Caliphate.

The New Menu

On the menu today, we have an entree of socialism. We have a side of Marxism. There is plenty of progressive sauce thrown on almost every dish. We have race-baiting and Jew-hating tossed in for good measure. On the continental side of the menu, the fascism sure looks tasty. Nationalism and jingoism continue to be big sellers, Everything is sweeter after a dessert of lies served to us by politicians of all sorts. For an after dinner mint, you can not beat religious war, pestilence (including yummy Ebola), and a market crash of never seen before proportions. After a meal like that, I could stand an antacid.

Wolf Guarding Sheep

The United Nations Human Rights Council has convicted Israel of gross human rights violations. Now, after declaring the Jewish State guilty, the UN intends to investigate. The UN inquisitors will surely give Israel a fair shake. Israel will not be held to any standard of conduct that is not applied to every other country. If you think Israel will have an unbiased hearing, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. The UNHRC has predetermined that the IDF and political leadership of Israel is guilty. It would be a farce for Israel to participate in the proceedings as they are being directed by a body that is as determined an opponent of Zionism as Hamas is.

A Rainy Sunday

The dogs are not happy. The rain, the lightning, the crash of thunder make the four-legs miserable. None of the five want to walk in the downpour. All have to go out nonetheless. A Keeshond does not look (or smell) good soaked in rain. Dogs look generally ridiculous in "pet rain gear", but somehow, clever marketers manage to sell it. We need the rain after a dry summer, but I imagine the dogs would not mind living in the driest desert. Well, I am off to get soaked now.

Expressing Their Indignation

The rioters near St. Louis may have real grievances against the government and the police, but destroying the area you live in will not make their lives better. In fact, if you run the merchants out of your neighborhood, you will find your lives are just that much harder. Some residents of Ferguson do not have cars, meaning that they will have to rely on public transportation to ride far from home just to shop. If you are already barely getting by, the added expense of travelling to shop is yet another obstacle to getting back on your feet. There are cooler heads trying to calm the situation. There are also agitators coming in from the outside to keep the situation stirred up. Al Sharpton's presence does not seem to be calming matters. Justice is not advanced by treating innocent people unjustly, whether those people are citizens victimized by police, or whether they are businessmen who have their stores destroyed by looters.

Missouri Is Burning

A young black man was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and all hell broke loose. The youth was unarmed but according to the officer, tried to take his gun. Precisely what happened is unclear at this point, but with a black President and black US Attorney General Eric Holder, who is an activist on matters of race, it is sure the incident will be investigated rigorously. The most unhelpful event that could befall a community like Ferguson, that is already teetering with high crime rates and high unemployment, is rioting. Civil unrest is sadly exactly what has ensued in an area that was in dire times before the officer-involved shooting. Do the people breaking windows, looting, and burning a business think their actions will somehow make the community a better place? How does rioting make relations between police and the community that they are supposed to be serving any less tense? Finally, if you destroy businesses in your neighborhood, how can you expect any other business to locate where you have just destroyed the local economy with riotous pillage?

Feel Our Steel

Western diplomats and the US State Department are trying to force concessions by Israel that would reward jihad. Hamas has not offered compromise and never will, as they remain committed to the destruction of the Jewish State. With Hamas, we see an absolutist mentality. Hamas is hoping the world weakens Israel. Hamas celebrated when Israel expelled the so-called "settlers" from Gush Katif and the rest of Gaza because Hamas understood that Israel diminished her capacity for self-defense and furthered the cause of jihad by uprooting the Jews. Hamas cynically exploits the Arab populace as human shields, hoping that Israel inflicts maximum carnage as the IDF tries to stop Hamas rocket fire. Hamas is no different than ISIS in their desire to destroy those who believe differently from them. If Hamas had their way, they would cut the throats of every Jew in Israel. The diplomats pressuring the Jewish State are doing the bidding of terrorists.

The Chattering Crass

The main stream media coverage of the suicide of comedic actor Robin Williams has been over the top. Some of the questions directed from the media to investigators were stupid. Some of the queries were lurid as the media tried to brush this tragedy with sensationalism. One reporter at the press conference asked if Williams had been found naked. The press must have been confusing Mork with Marilyn Monroe. I worry that the seemingly constant coverage might inspire some unbalanced people to attempt to kill themselves as well because though they lack Williams's talent, they want some of the attention that they see his death generating. Williams was a great performer who had battled addiction. In the wake of his suicide, it is apparent that Williams fought depression as well. Williams presented the image of a funny man to the world, but on the inside, his clown heart was breaking.

Stoning and Beheading

Reports have emerged that Wahhab madmen from abroad are stoning women to death in Syria. In Syria and Iraq, hundreds, if not thousands, of people had their heads chopped off in recent months. There are even photos of crucifixions being committed by these fanatics. This barbarism is not a return to the Middle Ages. This blood lust goes back to the time of Jesus, who stopped a stoning with the admonition, "Let he who is without sin ... throw the first stone." A murder spree is being committed in the name of Allah by atavists. These jihadists are not animals or even butchers, but demons in human form. They have no regard for the sanctity of life, even their own lives. The US and the civilized world must oppose and defeat them militarily now. If we in the West do not stop the carnage now, it will visit our streets and we will be the ones losing our heads- literally.

The Ukraine Hostilities

The double standard in media coverage of the Gaza war and the Ukraine conflict is telling. The US-backed gang that calls itself a "government" in Kiev has used bombing and heavy weapons without advance warning to indiscriminately kill women and children in the restive areas near Russia. World bodies like the UN that rush to castigate Israel for its much more careful campaign in Gaza are not condemning the Kiev cabal for "disproportionate" use of force. International media is not keeping a running tally of ethnic Russian civilians blown apart by Kiev's shells, rockets, and bombs the way we hear constantly about Israeli-inflicted carnage on Arab non-combatants. There are no marches demanding that ethnic Russians be freed from Ukrainian oppression as we see marches around the world demanding a "free Palestine". These facts lead me to conclude that the world does not love ethnic Russians but really hates Jews.

Piece of Religion

In yesterday's column, I in no way suggested all Muslims were fanatical or violent in the profession of their faith. Clearly though, a substantial number of Muslims are willing to murder. They feel by killing those who believe differently from them they are serving a divine obligation. If only ten percent of Muslims are violent Islamists, that still means that there are one hundred and fifty million people out there in this world who are eager to murder people who do not believe precisely as they do. That would amount to a death cult equal in numbers to half the population of the USA, and that many fanatics can do unfathomable damage. The most disturbing aspect of Islam is the silence of Muslims who do not adhere to the death cult. Perhaps they are (justifiably) afraid, but I hear little of good Muslims denouncing the murder of religious minorities and almost nothing of tolerant Muslims taking up arms to defend the lives of neighbors who believe differently.

Religion of Peace

George W. Bush and Barack Hussein Obama have consistently characterized Islam as a "religion of peace". While individual Muslims may indeed be peaceful, it is hard to see now how that characterization holds much validity. With Sunni Muslims in Iraq massacring religious and ethnic minorities and in a war to the death with more numerous Iraqi Shiites, it is hard to discern any quest for coexistence in that faith in Iraq. The same must be said for Syria, now in the third year of a sectarian bloodletting that has killed more than one hundred and seventy thousand. The inter-religious fighting has spilled into Lebanon as well from Syria. The current war in Israel was not sparked by Jews, but by Hamas members of that "religion of peace". Even Red China has been rocked by violence in the restive Xinjiang region by Muslim Uyghur terrorists. The world will not long survive the continuing expansion of that faith should Islamists successfully form their caliphate, which would be the doorway to the hell of worldwide jihad.

Voice in Wilderness

Sean Hannity is the only big-name commentator that is on the ground in Israel. While almost all the world media pretending objectivity have lined up against the Jewish State, Hannity has put himself at risk to give Israel a fair shake. With whole networks devoting airtime only to Palestinian civilians suffering, Hannity has proven that what Israel is doing is a measured act of self-defense. He has put Dore Gold on FOX to give the historic perspective. Hannity even managed to interview the harried Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. With so many voices proclaiming justice as belonging exclusively to the Palestinian side, it was good to see Hannity countering them by presenting the truth. Hannity is a strong voice for right, but it is hard, no matter how eloquent one man is, to counter thousands shouting lies from the other side.

Election Day Tennessee

My fellow Tennesseans, you have a chance today to make Tennessee and the nation a better place. The first step is to vote out Lamar Alexander, who does not reflect Tennessee values, and replace him in the US Senate with someone who adheres to the same principles you hold dear. Joe Carr would be the candidate who does not try to burnish conservative credentials only at election time or pretend to be one of us. Another glorious opportunity awaits you today in the voting booth, that is to vote to replace the three liberal justices on the Tennessee Supreme Court. If you seek smaller, less intrusive government and just courts, vote in Joe Carr and vote out our Warren Burger Tennessee Supreme Court contingent. Perform a civic good and vote the right way today.

Netanyahu's Desultory Reign

Benjamin Netanyahu is certainly not expending his energies to protect Jewish lives. He either attacked Gaza without a victory plan or gave up on the plan when the going got tough. Netanyahu's ham-handed botching of the Gaza campaign did not defeat Hamas. What it did do was stoke the fires of Jew-hatred all over the world. In Europe, in particular, Jews have not been subjected to this much widespread animus since the end of World War II. What does Netanyahu have to show for the Gaza invasion? Netanyahu has no victory over the jihadists to claim credibly. Netanyahu has lost almost ten times as many dead as in the last Gaza incursion where seven IDF personnel died. Israeli communities near Gaza are certainly still not safe. Around two thousand Palestinians are dead and they seem to be mostly noncombatants, generating terrible public relations and possibly war crimes persecutions for Israel's political and military leaders. Gaza has become a lose-lose situation for the Jewish State, and Netanyahu has displayed terrible judgement and lousy leadership in the conduct of the Gaza assault.

No Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander is Tennessee's version of Lindsey Graham. Alexander campaigns in Tennessee like he is Ronald Reagan and votes in Washington like he is Nelson Rockefeller. In the past, Alexander would have been called a Republican in name only (RINO), but he perfectly fits the mainstream of GOP elites now, who can no longer be categorized as moderate having become outright progressives while hiding that fact from their conservative voting base back home. There are a few old-line conservatives like Jeff Sessions, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz, but the bulk of the GOP are now perfectly content to gripe occasionally about Obama while voting with Obama and Democrats more often than not. Every six years, Lamar Alexander pretends to be a conservative to lure our votes. Joe Carr is always an authentic conservative, not just at election time. If you want real opposition to Obama, vote out Lamar, elect Joe Carr.

Know Lamar Alexander?

What is the difference between Senator Lamar Alexander and a skunk? A skunk always shows his stripes. Lamar Alexander hides his at election time. In Alexander's campaign ads, Fred Thompson brags how Alexander balanced Tennessee's budget eight times as Governor. Big deal, so has every other Tennessee governor because a balanced budget is mandated by Tennessee's State Constitution. The same ad puffs that Alexander brought the automotive industry to Tennessee. That must have been a surprise to the Ford glass people who had come here long before Alexander played the "rent-seeking" game with Nissan. Thompson must never have heard that they were making Marathon automobiles in Nashville before the First World War either. Mike Huckabee also endorses "conservative" Lamar Alexander in an ad. Huckabee should remain forever notorious for granting clemency to Maurice Clemmons, who left Arkansas to slaughter four police in Washington State. If you live in Tennessee and want an establishment US senator who can work with Barack Hussein Obama, then Lamar Alexander is your man. If you want a Senator who will try to thwart Obama, your vote should go to Joe Carr.

Israel Declaring Victory

It seems that Netanyahu is pulling up short yet again. Israel is winding down the operation in Gaza long before Hamas is eradicated, with Hamas not even sensing that they have been beaten. Israel has destroyed many tunnels, but it seems some tunnels, even infiltration tunnels into Israel, may remain unscathed. It is possible that some tunnels might remain undetected for months, and Israel can evidently not sustain the criticism that it is already receiving for that long. The duration of the Gaza campaign has been tied to international public opinion, and Israel has already lost in that arena, even in the minds of Israel's leadership, who have been abandoned by the Obama administration and subjected to almost universal criticism. With threats of war crimes trials and a mounting toll of IDF dead, Netanyahu is not pressing on but pulling back. I had hoped steel will and resolve would guide Israel to victory, but apparently, Israel now lacks that, while evil, genocidal Hamas has that determination to prevail in spades.

Still Ransoming Shalit

Gilad Shalit is the trump card for Jihadists fighting to destroy Israel. The exorbitant price Israel gave for him motivates all future hostage-taking by Hamas and the other like-minded terror groups. If Israel had considered Shalit a "dead hero" and gone on to punish his kidnappers by obliterating them, Israel would likely never have faced the threat of abduction again. By rewarding terror by giving in to the demands of terrorists to secure Shalit's release, Israel guaranteed more attempts to capture IDF personnel and Israeli civilians. By allowing the terror organizations to survive and show off their trophies of murderers released in exchange for a soldier who by all accounts did nothing to protect his comrades or even defend himself, Israel permitted terrorists to shout "victory" with absolute validity. The IDF officer "captured" in Gaza is a bargaining chip whether he is dead or alive, and we have Gilad Shalit and his supporters who coerced the Israeli government to make so many concessions to terrorists to secure his release to thank for this and future abductions.

Handshake with Snake

Can you negotiate with a cobra? Can you trust a crocodile to live up to his end of any deal? Can you trust terrorists whose very raison d'etre is murdering the Jews of the world to uphold ceasefires or so-called "peace agreements"? If jihad is the most sacred goal of your existence, why would you abandon it until a caliphate is achieved or the Twelfth Imam returns from the well? The IDF is expected to stop defending Israel because the world gives Hamas, which is a genocidal band of murderers, equal standing as Israel, which is a pluralistic democratic nation. Until Hamas is obliterated, Netanyahu should not agree to any more ceasefires for any reason.