Everyone's two favorite "allies" are at it again. CBC tells us what America's mohawk thinks about the motivation for the 9/11 terrorist attacks:

A majority of Canadians believe U.S. foreign policy was one of the root causes that led to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and Quebecers are quicker to criticize the U.S. administration for its international actions than other Canadians, a recent poll suggests.

The poll suggests that 77 per cent of Quebecers polled primarily blame American foreign policy for the Sept. 11 attacks. The results suggest 57 per cent in Ontario hold a similar view.

And of course, Canada's uncle France weighs in with this, via Reuters:

France issued an implicit criticism of U.S. foreign policy on Thursday, rejecting talk of a "war on terror".

"Let us not forget that these crises play into the hands of all extremists," the prime minister said in a debate on the Middle East. "We can see this with terrorism, whether it tries to strike inside or outside our frontiers," he added.

Don't read the next part with any liquids in your mouth, I can't afford to buy you a new keyboard:

"Against terrorism, what's needed is not a war. It is, as France has done for many years, a determined fight based on vigilance at all times and effective cooperation with our partners.

"But we will only end this curse if we also fight against injustice, violence and these crises," he said.

Yeah, let's model ourselves after France. That way we can rapidly be invaded by Muslims and within decades, have a Muslim majority. Of course we can start by having tens of thousands of rioting Muslims, most of whom are unemployed, causing chaos in our streets torching the cars of thousands of innocent people. Thanks for the tips Dumbinique.

"It is the duty of France and Europe to show that the clash of civilizations is not inevitable," he said. "No one retains this wisdom, inherited from our history, as we, French and Europeans, do," he said.

You would think so wouldn't you Dom? You may be claiming to retain that wisdom, but clearly you haven't. Don't worry, no American president could politically let France burn. So in the near future when al-France is totally screwed, Uncle Sam will bail you out once again. Sleep tight.

 

More information from Omeed Aziz Popal's family has continued to trickle out, and thus far no indication that his rampage was terrorism related. I'm still not ready to outrule it, because I don't think "terrorism" is defined only by associates of Al Qaeda. I think all that is required for something to be Islamic terrorism would be if the criminal believed his actions were the will of Allah. Again, no indication of that so far other than one report that he said "I'm a terrorist". But I'm still not ruling anything out sense we aren't supposed to consider the Muslim who shot up a Jewish Federation, killing and injuring Jewish Women and others terrorists, even though they obvious are. Interestingly, Omeed's family is playing the "mentally ill" card (just like the Seattle terrorist). At least with Omeed, there seems to be some substantiation, but obviously it doesn't excuse his behavior and I'd still like to know what he claims his motivation was.

Here's the latest via the SF Chronicle:

Omeed Aziz Popal's family, worried about his recent mental breakdowns and erratic behavior, tried to keep an eye on him all the time.

"These crimes evidence a blatant disregard for human life and caused terror on our city's streets," said District Attorney Kamala Harris.

Careful with the "T word" Kamala, CAIR will be all over your ass quicker than you can say Allahhuakbar.

Family members said Popal could be rational and calm. But he had also been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and had been hospitalized at least twice in recent months after suffering breakdowns, relatives said.

Well, this is the word of relatives, we'll see if that is true or not. But again, obviously that won't excuse anything, but they mean to use this as a reason other than terror. I'm not saying it's not, but I'm not buying it yet either.

At 29, Popal still lived with his parents in Fremont. His mother was especially sheltering, seeing the world as filled with "evil people" and trying to keep Popal from being harmed, said his cousin, Hamid Nekrawesh.

"Since he was a little kid, they had been overly controlling of him," he said. "They tried to keep him away from evil situations, in their mind, and that had a negative effect on him. He just didn't have any friend or anyone to talk to except Mom and Dad."

Big deal, so he was a Star Wars fan? What does that have to do with his rampage?

Last spring, Popal was voluntary committed to Kaiser Medical Center in Fremont after a breakdown on brought by a dream of "the devil taking him to a graveyard and trying to kill him," Nekrawesh said.

Not long after, Popal went to his native Afghanistan for a marriage his family had arranged.

"He was supposed to be taking medication," Nekrawesh said. "From what I heard from his mom and dad, when he was in Afghanistan, he was perfectly fine. When he came back, all these problems occurred."

This might not mean anything, but it is interesting that he came back from Afghanistan and went nuts.

In July, Popal confessed to a slaying in San Francisco, saying he had stabbed someone, said Majeed Samara, an attorney who represented Popal until Wednesday. Police concluded there was nothing to the story and took him to Washington Hospital in Fremont for psychiatric evaluation. The hospital concluded he posed no risk to himself or others and released him.

I think I may understand his motive now. Perhaps he just lost it after hearing about how another false confessor, John Karr got a luxury flight complete with a gourmet meal, champagne, wine, and beer, and couldn't believe that he didn't get the same treatment.

Popal's last stop was an employment agency that arranged temporary jobs for him, Benchmark Specialized Production Staffing at Mowry Avenue and Fremont Boulevard. His mother and another sister went inside with him just before noon. Popal bolted back to his car and drove away, Nekrawesh said.

"My personal feeling is that he felt they were overprotective of him and he had to get rid of them," the cousin said. "He tricked them to get rid of them."

There's a lot more in the article, but that's the gist. Red the rest here.

*UPDATE*
Allah is now posting on the new developments.

 

Remember Naveed Haq, Seattle's lone gunman terrorist in chief? He's plead not guilty to the murder and attempted murder charges against him, as well as kidnapping charges stemming from the fact that he held a gun to a 13-year-old girl's head to gain access to his shooting gallery.

Associate Press

SEATTLE - A man accused of storming Seattle's Jewish Federation offices, killing one woman and wounding five others in a fit of rage over U.S. foreign policy, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges.

Haq faces either life in prison or execution if convicted in the death of Pamela Waechter, 58, director of the Jewish charity's annual fundraising campaign. King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng has not yet announced whether he will seek the death penalty.

Haq pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted first-degree murder in the July 28 shooting at the federation's downtown offices.

Read on...

The article leaves me a bit confused. Apparently Haq had indicated that he wanted to plead guilty at one point. The judge allowed the arraignment to go on and during that time lawyers met with Haq to determine if he could defend himself, and it seems he must have been advised to plead not guilty. It's not clear exactly what happened, but that's the best I can make of it.

 

A quick update on the American Muslims who are swimming in TracFones (North to South)...

Michelle Malkin updates on the Dearbornistan 2, and the media's obsession with the phrase "All-American". (see Marietta Times and Charleston Daily Mail)

Right on schedule are the queestions of racial profiling from headlines (Racial profiling?) to legal defense:

Holding up newspaper clippings depicting their clients during their high school football days, defense attorneys of two Michigan men charged with aiding in terrorism called them “All-American kids” who were arrested because of a rush to judgment based on their names and race.

Why can't we just leave all these poor Muslims alone!? If we were to just read the Quran to understand these people, and locate the passages that command that the people hord hundreds of TracFones, maybe we could all live together in harmony.

Not to be outdone by the Dearborn Team's 600 total prepaid cell phone purchase, the Texas Muslims Tracfone Enthusiasts sprung in to action with a whopping 1,000 phones! The Texas squad was surprisingly able to score their season high 1,000 phones, while playing an away game. They were arrested in Caro, MI. What's with Michigan anyway?

These poor profiled individuals who were simply giving praise to Allah buy trucking 1,000 phones around, were arraigned in Caro today. I'm a little confused on whether or not we know what they were intending to do because this article states that "investigators" have an idea, but "officials" don't know. Withholding judgement for now, here's what the article said:

Investigators believe the men were targeting the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas. But one of the men said they were only trying to buy and sell phones to make money.

and

Officials have not said what they believe the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones. But Caro's police chief said cell phones can be used as detonators, and prosecutors in a similar case in Ohio have said that TracFones are often used by terrorists because they are not traceable.

"All we did is buy the phones to sell and make money," Louai Abdelhamied Othman told the magistrate. He said it wasn't the first time the group had been questioned.

"We've been checked by the FBI before," he said. "They even gave us their card and everything."

Well maybe they needed to "check" harder. By the way, regardless of terrorism, wouldn't it be wrong to be doing what they're doing anyway? To be buying from a retail store and selling on the black market? I wonder if we can throw in some tax charges as well.

Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene told The Saginaw News that investigators believe the men were targeting the Mackinac Bridge. He declined to say what led investigators to that belief.

Hmm... Anyway, ladies and gentleman, your All-Americans:

Othman and Maruan Awad Muhareb, both of Mesquite, Texas, and Adham Abdelhamid Othman, of Dallas, were stopped before dawn Friday after they purchased 80 cell phones from a Wal-Mart in Caro. Police said they found about 1,000 cell phones in their minivan.

Malkin has coverage of the intial bust plus a bit on another TracFone fanatic busted in Pennsylvania.

 

***SCROLL FOR UPDATES***

I could throw together a link round-up of all the updates on the UK terror bust, but folks like Michelle Malkin have done that here, and HotAir's AllahPundit here, here, here, and here. All of those are definite must reads, that I couldn't even begin to catch up with. Instead, this post will focus more on the reactions to the terror bust, of Democrats and liberal bloggers.

Let's start with my favorite Piñata, and DNC chairman, Howard Dean. The venomous and hateful (by his own admission) Dr. who recently had the balls to call for end to divisiveness, set the tone for what became the standard reaction from the left, with this press release. Here's a taste:

"Today's events are a troubling reminder that we are living in dangerous and trying times. These are times that call for real leadership. Not posturing, or name calling."

For Howard Dean, of all people to ask that there be no name calling is about the most hypocritical thing I can imagine. Idiot! Whoops, that's a name isn't it. Seriously though, he obviously is referring to political opponents, and I can't say that I recall hearing any name calling from any Republican pols over this. Unless he's upset over Bush saying "Islamic Fascists" (video at HotAir), when (for once) properly labeling the terrorists, I don't know what name calling he could be referring to. While I don't think he was referring to Bush's comment, it wouldn't surprise me at all.

Most of the rest of the press release was just the same old talking points we've heard for the past few years, including the one broken record line that I will repeatedly translate as "we have no plan other than to get elected":

We need a new direction in our national defense policies that's tough and smart.

New direction! Time for change! Smart and tough on terror! Don't know how, but elect us and we'll show you!

Now the next part I'd like to excerpt, that followed more talking points, is priceless:

"It also means we have to be honest about the failures of our current foreign policies, which have let Iraq slip into civil war, enabled Iran to increase its nuclear capabilities, failed to address the growing threat posed by North Korea, and Afghanistan has seen a resurgence of the Taliban. Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda's mastermind, is still on the loose, and the Middle East is deep in crisis.

I think we can ALL agree that those are nothing but politically charged rhetoric. No big deal right? Especially because it's Dean. Well, it wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't immediately followed by this:

"We must put America's security ahead of politicking and come together as Americans. I urge President Bush, the Commander in Chief, to return to Washington to address the problems we face today."

So let me get this straight, you pile on a bunch of politically charged DNC talking points that you've been repeating for years, and then insist that we put security ahead of politicking? My initial reaction (as is my reaction everytime he opens his mouth) is that Dean must be crazy, playing politics with security, and then condeming such behavior. But then I remembered he's a liberal, and that he's playing to liberals who are either not bright enough to get what he just did, or are dishonest enough to pretend they didn't.

One more quick comment on Dean's comments. I put what he said about OBL in bold above. Notice what he said, which admittedly isn't anything that out of the ordinary to hear from anyone, about Bin Laden being the "mastermind". I just don't see how he's a mastermind. A figurehead/mascot? Yeah. But mastermind? I don't think so. Again, this is for anyone not just Dean, and it's just my personal opinion, but I think calling Bin Laden a mastermind puts him on a level where he doesn't belong.

Think Dean is the only one that can turn a successful terror bust in to a way to attack Bush and the GOP? Here's our favorite Democratic Senators from Massachusetts weighing in, Teddy first:

"Five years after 9-11, it is clear that our misguided policies are making America more hated in the world and making the war on terrorism harder to win," Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) of Massachusetts said.

Hmm... So intelligence sharing between the Brits, the United States, and Pakistan leading to the bust of a terror plot that would have rivalled or eclipsed 9/11 translates (for a Kennedy) in to we're more hated and the war on terror is harder to win? He's obviously referring to Iraq, but what the hell does that have to do with this?

Let me get the obligatory Iraq paragraph out of the way before I move on. Kennedy himself, along with all other leading Dems spent over a decade making a stronger WMDs in Iraq case than Bush ever did. Clinton made regime change in Iraq policy, before making eerily similar arguments to President Bush and then launching his own strikes on Iraq. We thought WMDs were there (and I still say they were), and if they had gotten in to the hands of Al Qaeda and made it to our shores, Bush would have been tossed out on his ass for not having attacked Iraq. By the way, we have countless people claiming they were moved to Syria (possibly with Russian help), we have satellite images of trucks moving across the border in the days before the war, we have Russian and Turkish scientists hiding from UN inspectors in the months before the war, etc. etc. We have even found hundreds of chemical weapons. Of course the Dems say it doesn't count because they're old... but doesn't it? Why weren't they disclosed to the UN if they are so unusable? And if they weren't disclosed, why are we so sure that the recent stuff wasn't there too, but more tightly guarded and then moved?

I guess what I'm trying to say is Kennedy's an ass. Let's see if Kerry does any better:

But Bush's foe in the 2004 election, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, said America was "not as safe as we can and must be" and in part blamed the president's focus on Iraq.

"This event exposes the misleading myth that we are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here. In fact, the war in Iraq has become a dangerous distraction and a profound drain on our financial and military resources," Kerry said.

Another Democrat who really knows how to celebrate a victory in the war on terror, eh? Again, wtf does Iraq have to do with this? This is a VICTORY dude. We haven't been attacked, and this shows that the intelligence network is currently working, though it would be better without all the NSA leaks, etc. and all you Dems playing politics with our intel gathering policies.

Yes this was primarily a British operation (because that's where the terrorists lived), but it actually was set in motion by arrests in Pakistan 8-10 days ago. But the investigation had been ongoing for months and Bush and Blair had discussed it numerous times. If liberals had their way, all intelligence gathering would be above the radar, tipping our hand to terrorists allowing them to go further underground to plan their attacks. Not many details yet, but apparently WE intercepted some calls that played a major part in this bust. I can't help but wonder if we would have intercepted these calls if liberals had had their way.

Before I get to the liberal blogs, Senate Democrat leader Harry Reid wanting to add his two cents:

"I commend British authorities for defusing this terror plot and apprehending the suspects. Their actions protected the lives of innocent civilians, including many American citizens. Today's events are an important reminder that we need to renew our focus on the war on terror and to continue to work with our allies to protect Americans from terrorism.

Renew our focus? When was our focus off of the war on terror? Oh you must be speaking just to your own party. Hit me with some talking points Senator, and round it out with some insanity!

"Terrorism remains the greatest threat to our security. As the five year anniversary of the September 11th attacks approaches, we should take this opportunity not just to remember, but to take stock of what progress has been made to protect Americans and what steps remain unfulfilled. As a result of mismanagement and the wrong funding priorities, we are not as safe as we should be and we still have not implemented the bipartisan 9-11 Commission's recommendations to secure our ports, airports, and chemical plants. The Iraq war has diverted our focus and more than $300 billion in resources from the war on terrorism and has created a rallying cry for international terrorists. This latest plot demonstrates the need for the Bush administration and the Congress to change course in Iraq and ensure that we are taking all the steps necessary to protect Americans at home and across the world."

Wow, your Iraq card playing is even lamer than the weak hands put up by your pals. How does this (foiled) plot, show that we need to "change course" (never heard that one before) in Iraq? At least Mr. Ed and the Kool-Aid guy were a little smoother when invoking the Iraq war in to a place it didn't belong, but they didn't go as far as to directly tie this event to it.

The odd thing about these comments from leading Democrats is the fact that they aren't that much more idiotic than the blogs this round. It seems the Dems keep going further left to the point where the insane lefty blogs are now becoming mainstream in the party.

Let's quickly get Michael Moore, the only man who defies all odds by being both full of crap, and full of cheetos at the same time, out of the way. He's the easiest to disect, because he simply didn't say anything. His news section is all about Sheehan and friends. I know, I know Mikey, if you've told us once, you've told us a thousand times:

"There is no terrorist threat," Moore insists. "Yes, there have been horrific acts of terrorism and, yes, there will be acts of terrorism again. But that doesn't mean that there's some kind of massive terrorist threat."

Moving along... How many DailyKos readers does it take to unscrew their brains and call this a Bush conspiracy? Well, out of 1414, it takes 689 or 48%. So almost half of Kosers don't believe this was real. I also (without proof) suspect some poll manipulation when the Kosers realized how insane they were looking, they tried to even it out a bit, because when LGF looked at it earlier 75% were calling it a conspiracy.

Perhaps the lefties are right this time though. I mean, everytime anything terror related happens they always say it's just Rove trying to bring up Bush's poll numbers. If it's an attack, many will say Bush Co. was behind it. But check this out, Dan Riehl has intercepted a call between Rove and Bin Laden that seems to prove that 689 Kos Kids can't be wrong.

While the Kos Kids were late to the game yesterday, they did eventually comment. A comment at 2:18 pm by "Hunter" is such a steaming pile I don't even really want to excerpt any of it. Basically he goes on to rant about how America sucks and talk about how great it is that the Brits could wrap up this terror plot while staying withing the "rule of law" while completely ignoring the differences in their laws and society. He offers this one paragraph that I have to quote because it's so stupidly hilarious:

That seems to be one big difference between U.S. and U.K. efforts in the War on Terror. Despite the obvious political and strategic bungles of the Blair government, the U.K. is beginning to show a history of wrapping up terror plots and arresting those involved, and seems even to have managed to have done so within the context of law.

Can you please name a successful terror plot in the United States since 9/11? I don't use that argument the way a lot of conservatives do to say "look, we haven't been attacked in 5 years", I use it to ask you what your point is. If there hasn't been a plot to bust, how do we bust it? I think the more likely scenario is that we've busted plenty in the early planning stages, with the few dozen arrests around the country spread out over a number of years, plus whatever has been kept quiet by the government. By the way, you must not have read the part about us intercepting calls and playing a role in this. I suggest you do so now, and then slowly explain to me again, why we shouldn't be intercepting calls.

I actually don't recommend reading the rest of the crap in that post, but it's funny to see Hunter get all upset about Bush saying "Islamic Fascists". He claims that this is a phrase used by "every significant racist and hate group in America"(without an example by the way), while ignoring that IT'S A PROPER LABEL of these people!

Hours after all of Hunters politicization, the Kos himself comes out to attack an unnamed GOPer for playing politics with this. Where would the left be without their unnamed sources? Even if it is true, I don't see what the big deal is about this:

"Weeks before September 11th, this is going to play big," said another White House official, who also spoke on condition of not being named, adding that some Democratic candidates won't "look as appealing" under the circumstances.

It seems pretty clear that it was in response to a question, but either way, what is the problem with pointing out the obvious? Dems have been trying to downplay the threat, and this doesn't work for them.

When I bookmarked a lot of stuff I wanted to include in this blog last night, the only mention of the terror plot from Tbogg was this. Boring.

Josh Marshall of Talking Points memo, like all the other lefties, questions the timing (yup, Rove did it). Also like all the rest he invokes Iraq to say it's wrong and we should be doing what the Brits did. (See response to Hunter and Senate Dems above). We had to go to Iraq, and this is a multi-front war on terror. Later Josh threw up a pointless BDS one line post:

Bush: Failed terror plot a reminder that everybody should stop complaining about how bad I screwed up Iraq.

More of the same at Crooks & Liars.

HotAir has video of Tom Delay and Ann Coulter giving it to the left on Cavuto yesterday. Delay's best line:

You have to go get these terrorists and either put 'em in a cell, or a cemetary. That's all they know.

Mike Gallagher piles on the left as well.

Ian at HotAir busts NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams comparing Army Rangers, Navy Seals, Special Forces, and 9/11 first responders to terrorists. You probably think that's an exaggeration, or the way I'm spinning it. No, that's what Williams did on Hardball with Chrissy Matthews, and I hope some of the big dogs at Fox pick up on this one, but I doubt it. WATCH THE VIDEO! I've got to steal this part of the transcript from Ian to make reel you in, and force you to watch it:

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: But, here we have maybe 24 people who have lived in London and England and the free world for all these years that become citizens, subjects of the Crown, and yet, after having gotten to know us, they want to kill themselves to hurt us. Isn’t that an even deeper conundrum here than the chemicals being used in these attacks.

BRIAN WILLIAMS: And that, Chris, that last aspect, the willingness to take one’s own life. I always tell people there are guys on our team like that, too. They’re called Army Rangers and Navy Seals and the Special Forces folks and the first responders on 9/11 who went into those buildings knowing, by the way, they weren’t going to come out. So we have players like that on our team.

Screw you Williams. Sadly word won't get out about this causing deserved boycotts that cost you your job. I think my comment at HotAir about says it all:

What an ass.

First of all, the obvious… He just compared Army Rangers, Navy Seals, Special Forces, and 9/11 First responders to terrorists. No spinning on this one, that’s what he did.

Not that anyone here is stupid enough to need this explanation, but here it is anyway… The members of “our” team that he lists don’t commit suicide in an effort to kill innocent people. Even if you were to give moral equivelency to terrorist and say that none of us are innocent civilians, our guys don’t pyschotically go out to kill themselves to accomplish their mission. Are they willing to die doing what they believe is right? Yes, but they aren’t hoping too.

As for the 9/11 first responders specifically… What an idiot you are Williams. Do you actually believe they went in knowing they wouldn’t come out? For what purpose? They were going in to get people out… if they didn’t come out, neither did the civilians. Are you saying that these first responders didn’t feel like they had a right to live while others died so they just joined the death party?

If any of you reading this, and you're one of those who Williams just compared to terrorist, let him know how you feel here:

Nightly@NBC.com or visit this NBC page for all other contact options.

***UPDATE*** - Williams responds, and I'm not buying it. Misunderstood? No, you were very clear. Bryan at HotAir didn't hear an apology.

Malkin's is all over the reluctance of people to call these terrorists Muslims, instead opting to call them "British-born Asians".

I actually just noticed Allah's post on Dem reactions which he uses a Lamont image for on the home page. I totally ignored the link because I'm so bored with Lamont talk that I didn't realize until now what the post was about.

***UPDATE***
Beyond abusing their children by parading their dead bodies around repeatedly for cameras in orchestrated propaganda movies, they brainwash them to hate jews from when they're babies. You probably already knew that right? Well so did I, but I just found this video on YouTube that's personally saddening because I have a niece the same age as this girl, and I can't imagine that they make "True Muslims" (you'll see) out of their babies. This girl has learned that in the Koran, "their God" told them that Jews are "apes and pigs".

***UPDATE***
After all the politic playing from the Dems they dare to come out and attack Republicans?

***UPDATE***
Bryan at HotAir catches Richard Clarke repeating the same matra of the Senate Dems. Bryan sums up well what I've been trying to say in translating the Democrats' comments: Success is failure.

 

(h/t Drudge)

As if having Howard Dean as DNC chairman wasn't evidence enough of how far the Democratic Party has gone, the good doctor has scheduled a (for the people) $10,000/plate fund raiser at the estate of none other than extreme leftist George Soros:

This year's Hamptons political schedule is unusually hectic for a nonpresidential election year. Last weekend, Attorney General and gubernatorial front-runner Eliot Spitzer held a trio of fundraisers in the Hamptons. On Aug. 19, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean hosts a $10,000-per-guest fundraiser at the Southampton estate of financier George Soros.

At least they kept it at an affordable level. You know, because Democrats are all about the little guys, right? But Soros!?

All of us on the right and even some moderate Democrats have hammered the Democratic Party for going so far left in recent years, yet many elected Democrats insist that this is not the case. We often say that the party has been "hijacked" and that the party's control now belongs to the most extreme of liberals. Again, Democrats deny this. But WTF do you say when your extreme left party chairman hosts a $10,000 a plate dinner at Soros's?

I doubt we'll ever see any elected Democrats asked about this, but I suspect they'll respond the way the do everytime they're asked about insane rantings of Dean: "He doesn't speak for the party" (while ignoring that HE DOES SPEAK FOR THE PARTY, that's why he's the fricken chairman!)

Anyway, for all the Dems out there. This is what your party has become. A party of haters and obstructors who don't have a single plan for anything but to attack you if you don't hate George Bush with every bone in your body. You've certainly seen what happened to Joe Lieberman, simply because he has the balls to stand behind his previous statements and position on the war, and not change his mind with each opinion poll that comes out. By the way, the number of idiots in America has grown, and now a third of the country believes in 9/11 conspiracy theories. A few more points on these polls, and I predict we'll see many Democratic politicians jump on board.

 

***SCROLL FOR UPDATES***

This is disgusting (via Local 6):

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An Iraq war veteran who lost an arm and leg in a roadside bombing was mugged during a night out from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, according to an Associated Press report.

Lance Cpl. Mark Beyers, 27, and his wife were attacked and robbed as they left a restaurant in Bethesda, Md. on July 22.

The Marine from western New York was dining out while finishing up rehabilitation at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

As they left the restaurant, five men approached them and asked for a cigarette.

Denise Beyers told The Buffalo News they gave the men a cigarette -- but then the men grabbed her purse, kicked her and knocked the couple to the ground.

The thieves made off with $500 just wired to them by a relative.

Mark Beyers expects to be back home in the Buffalo area this weekend.

His family is planning a fundraiser for him on Aug. 12.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

I felt including the entire text of the story was necessary, as it was such a short story anyway. So here's an extra link to Local 6, thanks.

Message to the muggers: First of all, you're douches for robbing anyone in the first place. Second, you're (insert something worse than douches) for robbing a handicapped person. Now you may not have known he was a Marine who was severely injured defending our country while you were back here robbing people, but I hope you all feel like sh** for what you've done if you ever find out who you robbed. It's just a matter of time before you're gunned down by someone worse than you or caught doing something, and I hope your rot the rest of your life in jail you POSs.

***UPDATE***
Michelle Malkin is now on this story, and directs our attention to this Stars and Stripes piece that provides information for those who would like to donate to Lance Cpl. Beyers:

She said the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Akron, N.Y., is planning to hold a fundraiser for the couple.

Donations can be made by calling the Alden State Bank at 716-937-3381.

 

While the clowns who attacked this Sydney synagogue may not rise to the level of "lone gunman" terrorist, like the murdererMr. Haq in Seattle, they certainly serve as yet another perfect example of the "Religion of Peace" in action:

An attack on a Sydney synagogue may have been fueled by anger over the Middle East conflict and the spiraling civilian death toll in Lebanon, a rabbi said Monday.

Rabbi Wernick, who cited religious reasons in declining to give his first name, and his young family were inside a house attached to a synagogue in suburban Parramatta when it was attacked Sunday evening.

Concrete blocks smashed the windows of two cars, and other projectiles were hurled at the synagogue roof. Shortly after the incident, witnesses told police they saw a group of about 10 Middle Eastern men laughing and running down a nearby street.

read the rest...

 

For months and years we've heard the media, the left, and our European "allies" crowing about the outrageous abuses taking place at the enemy combatant detention center, Guantanamo Bay Prison (GITMO) in Cuba. These claims of abuses have almost always turned out to be completely false or totally blown out of proportion. We all remember when Newsweek ran the false story about a Gitmo guard flushing one of the detainee's Korans down the toilet. Newsweek was eventually forced to make a retraction, but not before over a dozen were killed and many more injured in riots in Afghanistan in reaction to the story.

The majority of other cases of "abuse" turned out to be not much more than humiliation, despite attempts by the media and "human rights" insistence that they are tantamount to torture. Things like making a detainee wear a bra, dance with a man, or act like a dog. How could we treat people with such unspeakable cruelty!? (sarcasm)

Of course there were the 5 famous substantiated cases of "mishandling" of the Koran or the time urine came in contact with the Koran. Of course the media ran wild with these stories and other unsubstantiated allegations, while virtually ignoring all the cases of detainees destroying their own Korans and throwing them in the toilets.

All of these horrific abuses, according to top Senate Democrat Dick Durbin, rose the level of what some of the most evil men the planet has ever see did to their victims. Durbin famously said:

"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings,"

You can't repeat that quote enough, because it shows exactly what the modern Democratic Party is all about. What's sad is that his Dem pals in the House even had to admit that after personally visiting Gitmo, they saw nothing to support the abuse allegations. Of course they treated is as progress, rather than a continuance of how it always was. Other reports have come back showing the same thing - that Gitmo is nothing like it's portrayed in the media.

I suppose Durbin was on solid ground when comparing our military men and women to Nazis though. He must have just gotten the advanced report that the detainees are tortured daily by being fed gourmet Islam compliant meals, cooled with air conditioning, having their own personal bathrooms, and enduring the pain of tasty treats like ice cream and cookies! Man we Americans are evil!

Screw all this reality though, we should probably take the word of human rights activists who put on a play in the UK's House of Commons to show us all what Gitmo is really like. I guess I must have missed their other performances reliving the abuses of Saddam Hussein.

Now after months of bogus liberal media reports, lies of "human rights" groups about abuse/torture that came only from the mouths of detainees, and a court ruling that forced Bush to cave in and give Geneva Convention rights to these people, which is essentially the treatment they got anyway, we learn that the abuse seems to be coming more from the detainees and not directed at them.

It seems that beyond destroying their own Korans, the detainees have violently and/or disgustingly attacked the guards on hundreds of occassions just between Dec. 2002 and July 2005. And of course we all remember the attempted (and thankfully failed) ambush attempt by detainees when one faked a suicide attempt in May of this year. Just what have the detainees been up to you ask? Well...

WASHINGTON - The prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay during the war on terror have attacked their military guards hundreds of times, turning broken toilet parts, utensils, radios and even a bloody lizard tail into makeshift weapons.

Pentagon incident reports reviewed by The Associated Press show Military Police guards are routinely head-butted, spat upon and doused by "cocktails" of feces, urine, vomit and sperm collected in meal cups by the prisoners.

If the rest of this wasn't so disgusting, the attack with a lizard tail is actually pretty funny. All I can think of is the asian guy in Austin Powers who's weapon of choice is to throw is shoe, and when Austin encounters him and says, "Honestly man, who throws a shoe?". "Honestly Jihadi, who stabs with a lizard tail?"

The detainee "reached under the face mask of an IRF (Initial Reaction Force) team member's helmet and scratched his face, attempting to gouge his eyes," states a May 27, 2005, report on an effort to remove a recalcitrant prisoner from his cell.

"The IRF team member received scratches to his face and eye socket area," the report said.

Of course the AP (always fair and balanced, right?) decided to get the other side of the story, and ask a detainee (you know, because we should trust anything they say).

Moazamm Begg, 38, a prisoner for more than two years at Guantanamo before being released to Great Britain, said he was suspicious of the Pentagon's description of incidents, especially allegations that Muslim men tore their Qurans or used sperm in attacks. The Pentagon continues to publicly question Begg's claim of innocence.

"This just doesn't make sense — especially since for Muslims this would be something that was disgusting, something that just wouldn't be done," he said. He added that some detainees told him they had mixed toothpaste and spit in the cocktails to make it look like semen.

Hold on, hold on... I'm trying to take notes on this, because I'm studying for my Islam admissions test... So that I'm clear - Muslims wouldn't throw man juice at prison guards... But they're not averse to flying planes in to buildings to kill thousands of innocent people, straping bombs on themselves and getting on buses to kill women and children, or hiding in civilian populations, mosques and schools? Allah-hu-Akbar!

The reports detail more than 440 incidents between guards and prisoners from December 2002 through summer 2005 that resulted in recommendations of discipline, an average of about three per week. The names of guards and prisoners as well as the final discipline were blacked out by the Pentagon.

Not enough for ya?

"Detainee stabbed the MP guard ... in the hand with his spork from chow meal," the report said, adding the prisoner later "made a slicing motion across his neck" and vowed to kill the guard.

"They'll take the smallest things, be it a piece of rust," he said. "They told us they are going to take that piece of rust and they are going for the jugular, they are going for the eye. They know what our vulnerabilities are, anatomically speaking."

Meal plates, shower flip-flops, cleaning brushes and other items deemed harmless in civilian life also are commonly turned into weapons, the reports said. For instance:

_"Detainee in cell (redacted) grabbed the radio from an MP and then threw the radio at the MP. The detainee then threw rocks at the MP," a Dec. 23, 2003, incident report stated.

_A detainee "reached out of his bean hole and attacked MP (name redacted) with a piece of metal foot pad from toilet striking him on the left hip area," a July 15, 2005, report said.

_"Detainee broke off the top of his sink, subsequently broke out the window then began throwing the sink and pieces of pipes at the Block Guard," a March 25, 2005, report said.

One of the most unusual incidents detailed in the four-inch stack of incident reports occurred when a detainee in the prison recreation yard assaulted a guard with a bloody tail torn from a lizard.

The detainee "caught the iguana by the tail at which time the tail detached," the May 2005 report described. When the guard turned to talk to a commanding officer, "he felt something strike him in the lower right back" and then "saw the tail on the ground at his feet and blood was in the same area of his uniform." The detainee said he was "just playing."

Nicolucci said one of the most serious incidents occurred this May, too recent to be recorded in the Pentagon's released reports. A prisoner staged an apparent suicide attempt while his inmates slicked the floors with human waste, seeking to overpower guards when they slipped, he said.

Nothing to see here mainstream media!!! Ignore these 440 documented incidents, and just keep reporting the handful of "abuses" based on nothing more than detainee testimony. I mean, reporting on what sick bastards these detainees are doesn't make the United States military look bad, and it doesn't stand to hurt the President politcally, so there's really no need to report the REAL story here.

Michelle Malkin, as digusted as I, adds more to the story with a personal letter from a father of one of the female troops serving at Gitmo. Here's just a paragraph (read on an empty stomach):

I just watched you on FOX. My daughter was in Gitmo for a year as a Master-at- Arms, E4. (10/04-10/05) She was injured several times by the inmates assaulting her physically. In addition, she knew that when she was doing her job by enforcing the rules, she was threatened by the prisoners if she had to touch them. They would get her. They mixed a cocktail of urine, feces, and semen, and let it fester for days until the right moment. They warned her that she was a target and then they got her, she was assaulted several times by loads of crap thrown at her.

BUT BUT... BUT the Americans made a detainee bark like a dog! That's the real crime, cant you see!?

How do we fight a war when we have to worry about so much little BS from the left, the media, and our "allies", essentially fighting against us every chance they get? Malkin sums it up:

Do you find yourself muttering "we're screwed" under your breath 10 times a day, too?

Sadly, yes. Can you guys even imagine what would happen to a prisoner in a civilian prison in the United States if they behaved like this?

More:
Stop the ACLU, Old War Dogs, Blogofascists, Dave Lucas, Kevin Aylward, Wizbang, Webloggin, ThoughtsOnline, Expose the Left, The Uncooperative Blogger, PoliPundit

 

(h/t Drudge)

I suppose the positive side of this is that the Oklahoma legislator did the right thing here, but it doesn't really seem like it matters because this rectum lives in Arizona and says he's going to keep selling this garbage. I think he should add to the shirts, so that they read: Bush lied, people died, and I cashed in!"

OKLAHOMA CITY - A woman whose Marine son died while serving in Iraq is fighting to keep his name off anti-war T-shirts.

Judy Vincent learned last year that Cpl. Scott Vincent's name is among about 1,700 included on a T-shirt being sold by an Arizona man over the Internet. The front of the shirt reads "Bush Lied" and the back reads "They Died."

The woman, whose son was killed in April 2004, pushed for Oklahoma legislators to pass a law that makes it a misdemeanor to use a soldier's name or likeness for advertising purposes without consent. The law goes into effect this November.

The shirt vendor, Dan Frazier of Flagstaff, Ariz., issued an open letter to family members praising the soldiers' bravery and sacrifice, but said he would not stop selling the merchandise.

Don't you love the "compassionate left"? Not to be overshadowed the ACLU decided to defend the indefensible (should be a DNC slogan) by taking up the side of the pyscho church that shows up at the funerals of our troops with signs and shouts about how they are dying because they are fighting for "gay" America. Don't get me wrong, you know I don't approve of "homosexuality" (or even using that word that seems to legitimize it as a real thing), but I don't "hate" them, but I do hate these pieces of trash that show up to dishonor these brave men and women at their funerals. And I really hate the ACLU who does everything they can to attack Christianity, then waits until some group of idiots claiming to be Christians comes out to dishonor fallen soldiers to take up their side. (h/t Expose the Left, who extends an h/t to Stop the ACLU)

*UPDATE*
I in my talk about the "left" above, as it pertains to the funeral protests, I was specifically talking about the ACLU, but as I learned from a commenter at Expose the Left and quickly confirmed with a seach, these nutjobs ARE DEMOCRATS TOO, have ties to Al Gore, and their leader has even made numerous failed attempts to run for Governor of Kansas..... AS A DEMOCRAT! So when busting your liberal buddies for all of the hate that comes out of their side and they try to throw the Westboro Baptist Church in your face as some extreme right organization... set them straight.

 

Partially cross-posted at Expose the Left

Only a week ago we were mocking Howard Dean for his claim that the current Middle East crisis wouldn't be taking place under Democratic leadership, but it seems the competition for idiot of the month isn't over yet. Former presidential candidate, and senator from Massachusetts John Kerry has named himself the Psychic of the Senate, and made the same odd and unverifiable hypothetical postdiction. I know that's a mouthful, but I can't think of another word, because to simply say "postdiction" would imply that he's pointing to vague claims he made in the past as a prediction of what we now see. So I'm sticking with "unverifiable hypothetical postdiction":

The Detroit News

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D- Mass., who was in town Sunday to help Gov. Jennifer Granholm campaign for her re-election bid, took time to take a jab at the Bush administration for its lack of leadership in the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.

"If I was president, this wouldn't have happened," said Kerry during a noon stop at Honest John's bar and grill in Detroit's Cass Corridor.

It actually appears that Kerry's claim goes further than even Dean's. Dean essentially just told us that if the party in power had a "D" next to their name that it wouldn't have happened, but superhero Kerry claims that if HE were President, the crisis could have been averted. I think you're getting a little bit big for your botox here Senator.

In my Dean post I said that I wasn't that upset at how over the line it was or even at the media shrugging their shoulders, or even the hypocrisy and selective outrage of Democrats and the media. I was more shocked that anyone (now add Kerry to the list) could make such an idiotic statement. Like I said then:

Why don't you also tell everyone that if Democrats were in power we'd all be millionaires to you clown!?

That may sound like a much wilder claim, but it's not. They are both stupid, as well as totally unverifiable. There is no way to know how much truth there is to either. Maybe I should go on record as saying that due to the "butterfly effect", if the Democrats had won power, some unknown series of events would have led to a comet destroying the planet. Considering the fact that we don't have some sort of Tivo in the real world, we aren't living in one of those lame old books where you choose your own destiny (if you disagree, turn to page Kos), and this isn't a game show where we can "show him what he would have won!", Kerry's actual words and my hypotheticals all reach a level of idiocy most Democrats can only dream of achieving.

I would also briefly like to touch on the media hypocrisy issue again, as I did in the Dean post. Do you all recall when Vice President Cheney (supposedly) Predicted terrorist attacks if John Kerry were elected? Do you recall the outrage from the left, as if Cheney had gone way over some line? Do you recall the media coverage of the latest (at the time) Bush/Cheney "scandal"? If you were alive you certainly caught all of that, but if you were truly paying attention you'd realize that all the outrage was unjustified, when what Cheney did was criticize John Kerry's policies, saying that he would have handled terrorism as a law enforcement issue which could leave us more prone to an attack.

Dr. Dean may be surgical when it comes to putting his foot in his mouth, but Kerry had a decent day when beyond making unprovable "if only" predictions, as Expose the Left tells us, the Senator thought it appropriate to pick on Rush Limbaugh's weight:

Rush Limbaugh needs to pick up a history book instead of a donut.

I suppose this type of discourse is to be expect from the left though, considering their base gets their news from the Daily Show. Some of you might recall that a spokesman for John Kerry actually used the same elementary school tactics when saying that Karl Rove looked like a pig:

"The closest Karl Rove ever came to combat," said Kerry spokesman David Wade, "was these last months spent worrying his cellmates might rough him up in prison. This porcine political operative can't cut and run from the truth any longer."

I guess the source is the strangest part of these attacks on personal appearance. Isn't this the same John Kerry that bears a striking resemblence to Frankenstein? The same Kerry that so clearly used (uses?) Botox? The same Kerry that showed up to a Presidential debate so fake tanned out that he looked like a friggin' carrot? The same man who whenever I see his face I expect him to say "Hello Wilbur"? Why the long face Senator (I know played out, but still good). Oh wait, am I a hyporcite for mocking his appearance after deriding him for doing the same? Sorry, but I'm not a sitting United States Senator. There is a different type of behavior to be expected from these people, and they should be above this sort of thing. But I'm not.

*UPDATE*
Others now blogging:
Assorted Babble, Below the Beltway, Blogs for Bush, Captain's Quarters, Conservative Outpost, Cranial Cavity, Don Surber, Expose the Left, GOP Bloggers, HotAir, Moonage Political Webdream, Outside the Beltway, Power Line, Protein Wisdom, Right Wing News, Right Wing Nut House, ScrappleFace, Sister Toldjah, Stop the ACLU, Suitably Flip, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Wide Awake Café, Wizbang

... and more:
4 The Little Guy, Atlas Shrugs, Big Dog's Weblog, bRight and Early, California Conservative, Dangerous Dan, Hang Right Politics, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Pirate's Cove, Publius Hamilton, Pundit Guy, Scribal Terror, Stix Blog, Texas Rainmaker, The Nose On Your Face, Theodore's World

 

While we all know that the political leanings of the media are to the far left, and I enjoy pointing them out, I don't know if this is actually an example of bias as much as it is of stupidity. Or I could be the dummy here, and just reading it improperly.

When I read the AFP headline: Oil prices retreat on hopes for swift Lebanon offensive (from a Yahoo! news search), my impression is that people are hoping for Lebanon to go on the offensive swiftly, and some how that would be good for oil prices. Am I just having comprehension problems? Because obviously that is ridiculous, and if you read the article you see that the article is talking about Israel's offensive on Lebanon ending swiftly.

So I don't think that this rises to liberal bias in this case, I just think that whoever wrote this headline just isn't the brightest cat. Please let me know if my comprehension is the issue here, or whether I'm letting AFP off the hook to easy here, or whatever.