Dr. Jack Wheeler
YOU PREDICT
In reading the profusion of predictions for 2007 so many of you were kind enough to send in this past week, what became most obvious is the individuality of To The Point members. TTPers think for themselves. Thus it has been such an enjoyable experience to read them all. I want to thank you so much for every one. I hope you'll understand that there are too many to discuss, that I have to pick and choose. I also won't quote anyone with their full name - with one exception. Bill Gregory informs me that his wife Carole, after a wee dram or two of 18 year-old single malt, predicts that Hillary Clinton will remove herself from the 2008 presidential race after discovering she has testicular cancer. So seriously, folks.... All the rest were in fact serious. Some were so pessimistic that, should they prove true, we'll need to be heavily fortified with single malt ourselves just to get through the year. Yet others are equally optimistic. Here's a compendium of what you predict for 2007.
THE AUDACITY OF APOSTASY
One of the most entertaining opportunities that will emerge in 2007 will be using Barack Obama to fight Islamofascism. He is the product of a black Moslem from Kenya, Barrack Hussein Obama, and a white atheist from Kansas, Shirley Ann Dunham, who met at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. That is why his middle name is the same as Saddam's: Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. His first name is taken from the Islamic term in Arabic for "blessed," baraka, used in the Koran. His father deserted the family when Barack Jr. was two and returned to Kenya. His mother then married another Moslem studying at UH, Lolo Soetoro from Indonesia. He moved with his mother and stepfather to Jakarta when he was six, where he attended a Moslem medressa (religious school). That makes him a Moslem. That he denies that he ever was and is a Christian instead makes him, in Moslem eyes, also something much worse: an apostate. Apostasy in Islam is punishable by death.
A DIFFICULT YEAR
2006 is coming to an end much as it began: with war, terrorism, bloodshed and moral confusion. From Afghanistan to Iraq to Somalia in the Horn of Africa, warfare continues between regular military establishments and irregular radical Islamist forces - which range from straight-out terrorist groups to private militias, death squads, war lords and criminal elements. On Christmas Eve the Associated Press reported from London that: "Islamic militants want to attack the Channel Tunnel between England and France during the holiday season, a British newspaper said Sunday, citing French and U.S. security sources. The Observer said the French foreign intelligence service, DGSE, warned the French government of the threat in a Dec. 19 report after a tip-off from the CIA." Of course, rumors of terrorist attacks have become the background noise of our times -- to such an extent that they are largely discounted by most of the public. Also in that background noise of civic life is the growing assertiveness of many Moslems in the West.
LIBERAL VERBAL TRICKERY
In a mildly interesting exchange in The New Republic, between one of the magazine's senior editors, Jonathan Chait and Cato Institute scholar Brink Lindsay, the idea of a possible alliance between liberals (like Chait) and libertarians (like Lindsay) was recently debated. No one, I think, really believed in a serious prospect for this alliance but my own attention was piqued when Chait responded to Lindsay's suggestion that Social Security ought to be (somewhat) privatized as this could appeal to "younger liberals." (I must admit it always irritates me to call these folks "liberals" when they have no interest in human liberty whatsoever any longer!) Chait asks, "And why would we force retirees into the individual medical insurance market?" Focus on his use of the word "force."
CIVILIZATIONAL CONFIDENCE
Here's a tip for all of you younger folks in your 20s and 30s. If you think the world is strange now, wait ‘till you get older. For the older you get, the weirder the world looks. For me, one of the world's weirdest places is an airport. Specifically, being at an airport waiting to board an incredibly complex machine that will lift me and hundreds of other people thousands of feet into the air, and land us safely on the ground thousands of miles away in a few hours - a simply astounding achievement of reason and civilization - while a few minutes before I had to take off my shoes and had a tube of toothpaste confiscated because of fear of proto-hominid barbarians chanting Allahu akhbar who want to destroy such achievements. What is stone cold weird is that the civilization capable of such achievements tolerates the proto-hominids for a picosecond. So we come to what will emerge this new year of 2007 as the key fundamental issue of our day, the outcome of which will determine our future: civilizational confidence.
PREDICTING 2007
I am expecting a lot of things to happen in 2007. Things that I won't be surprised by if they do happen. 2007 will be a wonderful year for the death of dictators - Castro croaking at last, Saddam hung at last, and with any luck Hugo Chavez will get himself assassinated. Iran's Ahmadinutjob is not a dictator, as he serves at the whim of the ayatollahs. Their whim seems to be now that he is no longer useful, so we may soon be rid of him. With any luck, that will not prevent the Israelis from taking out Iran's nuclear facilities. With even more luck, the Israelis will be smart enough to accomplish this via sabotage rather than airstrikes. China should be on its best behavior for 2007 with no saber-rattling at Taiwan. The Chicoms don't want anything to spoil their coming-out party at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. However... I'm going to stop now and turn the tables. What I want is to ask you for your predictions. What do you think will happen in the world and in America in 2007?
LONE STAR AMERICA
I'm in a small town called St. Francisville in an obscure part of Louisiana. Visitors who come here stop briefly to gaze at the nicely preserved 19th century homes on its main street before hurrying off to the area's principal attractions nearby - magnificent ante-bellum plantation mansions like Rosewood, the Myrtles, or Oakley where Audubon stayed and painted many of his birds. Almost no tourists pay any attention to a flag that flies in front of the courthouse along with the stars and stripes and the state flag, nor have any idea what it symbolizes: 
It's the Bonnie Blue flag of the Republic of West Florida, the capital of which was here. In 1810, St. Francisville was the capital of an independent country. How it got to be, and what it may mean for America's future, is a story that goes from Spanish explorers to American rebels, from Napoleon to the Alamo, from the "Halls of Montezuma" of the Marine Hymn to the invasion of America by illegal aliens from Mexico. So curl up and get cozy in your favorite chair during a winter weekend evening, and let me tell you the story. It starts with a man named Hernando de Soto.
THE GIFT OF TO THE POINT
We've just made it really easy to give a friend the enlightening gift of a subscription to To The Point. There's a new option on our subscription page: a one month only non-recurring gift subscription for $9.99. Now what could you give a friend that could more open his or her eyes to the world and give them more insight upon it than this - and for less than ten bucks? It's also the way to bring a currently non-member friend to the To The Point Rendezvous in Las Vegas next month (see Rendezvous at Mandalay). Here's how it works.
A CHRISTMAS LETTER TO ANTI-CHRISTIANS: 2006
A version of this was first written for Christmas 2004. It is addressed to members of the ACLU and other Anti-Christian Liberals. It is obviously not addressed to TTP members! But feel free to send this to any ACLU member should you happen to know one. Merry Christmas. If that offends you, why should I care? It's your problem, not mine. Let me explain your problem a little more fully. America is a Christian country. It's your job to deal with that, because you're not going to change this fact. America has always been a Christian country, and - open wide now, because you're going to have to swallow this - it will continue to be. It will continue to be because most Americans aren't Euroweenies. They haven't lost the moral courage to be proud of their country and their civilization. Notice the "most" - which you are not a part of. You are anti-Christian because you are anti-American. You are anti-American because you are anti-Western Civilization. You are anti-Western Civilization because you are afraid of and intimidated by the envy of the world's impotent. Fear of being envied defines your liberal soul.
HOW CONSERVATIVES ARE GOING TO GET IN BED WITH NANCY PELOSI
How many times have you heard that old adage, "politics makes for strange bedfellows"? But no matter how many times that's been, you're not going to believe how many conservative Republican Members of Congress are about to jump in bed with Speaker Pelosi. One of the things that most drives these folks around the bend is the sell-out of their party's principles to Country Club Corporate America. They can't stand Big Business's addiction to cheap labor. It's an addiction that blocks effective attempts to stem the flood of illegal alien immigration from Mexico, or to stem the flood of trade deficit dollars to China. The list of issues that conservatives in the House will oppose Pelosi on seems endless, and amnesty for illegals plus refusing to fence them out is certainly one of them. But there is one issue not on that list, an issue of the gravest national security on which they are sure cooperation with her is possible. That issue is...
OPENING THE DOORS OF ISLAM
It has become a commonplace observation that Islam today requires a Reformation with an Islamic Martin Luther. This is the absolute last thing Islam needs now, the triumph of faith over reason with resultant bloodshed and sectarian slaughter lasting over a century (ca. 1520-1648) and costing the lives of millions. That horror was the Reformation. What Islam needs instead is an Enlightenment. It turns out there is a term in Arabic for enlightenment, for analysis and interpretation through reason, that has an honorable tradition in Islamic jurisprudence and thought. Get to know the word, for it is the salvation of Islam: Ijtihad.
For every verse in the Koran the moderates can cite, the Islamofascists can refute them with a dozen. There is no possibility of women’s rights in Islam or an end to Islamic terrorism, for example, until verses like Sura 4:34 that condone wife-beating, or those that condone slavery and killing infidels and spreading Islam with violence, on and on, are challenged as not being the true words of Allah.
That they are being challenged by a growing number of Moslem scholars, that there is an emerging Ijtihad Movement stirring within Islam, is the best hope for an Islamic Enlightenment.
PHILISTINES AND PALESTINIANS
Responding to Moses in Mecca, TTP member "Marco" has asked about the historical lineage of the ancient Philistines and their connection to modern-day Palestinians after whom they are named. OK, Marco, here goes. The origins of the Philistines are unclear. Genesis 10:14 lists the Pelishtim as among the sons of Ham, shorthand for the Hebrews' traditional enemies which also included Egyptians and Canaanites, while Amos 9:7 claims they come from "Caphtor." At least two things about them are clear. They are not aboriginal to the Levant (east coast of the Mediterranean) and they are not Semitic.
MOSES IN MECCA
Have you ever wondered why Arab Palestinians think Jerusalem is so important to them? Why they say there will never be Arab-Israeli peace until they control it? They say it's because of the "sacredness" of the Al Aqsa Mosque. So here's a thought experiment: What if it were discovered that Moses, of whom the Bible says, "no man knoweth of his grave site," was buried in Mecca? What would be the response of the Islamic world if millions of Jews began claiming that Mecca was sacred to them now just as it is sacred to the Moslems, and demanded that they had the right to build a Dome of Moses next to the Kaaba as a pilgrimage shrine honoring the Founding Patriarch of the Jewish People?
THE ANTI-ASSIMILATION MOVEMENT
Assimilation - defined as the act of becoming part of or more like something greater - is being opposed by increasing violence these days, from calls for a return of the American Southwest to Mexico by the Reconquista movement to the encroachment of radical Islam on the streets of Paris Members of immigrating minority groups are increasingly refusing to assimilate into the cultures of their resident countries. The lack of assimilation by immigrants to the United States - both legal and illegal - is culminating in an American identity crisis and poses a serious problem for the future of our country. This movement toward anti-assimilation stands in stark contrast to the very concept of our nation
RENDEZVOUS AT MANDALAY
The response we've gotten regarding our To The Point Rendezvous announced last month has really been gratifying. Here are the latest details. You know when and where: Las Vegas, Nevada - starting Friday evening, January 26th and ending Monday morning, January 29th. There is no conference fee and folks are free to stay where they want. Costs (meals, activities, etc.) are Dutch Treat. Yet we've been swamped by emails asking where am I staying and where will we congregate. The answer is Mandalay Bay.
FRENCH ANTI-ISLAMOFASCISTS? MON DIEU!
Among American conservative and hawkish political circles, it's an article of faith that much of Western Europe is anti-American. Whether it be dislike for President Bush, opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the American refusal to be governed by international institutions, the growing Eurabian alliance or simple resentment of U.S. military and economic superiority, many of our Western European allies seem often to be more like enemies. None more so than France, with whom our country has developed shared hostility in the post-9/11 world. So it was with great surprise that I found myself in the company last weekend of French people who are fervently pro-American. It was a dinner party held in the San Francisco Bay Area and given in honor of Philippe Manteau, the French founder and president of a think tank called the Euro-American Liberty Institute (EALI).
GET BACK, MOHAMMED: TONY BLAIR DOES THE BEATLES
One of the most all-time famous songs of the Beatles is Get Back. It was first performed publicly on the rooftop of their Apple Studios in London on January 30, 1969. Not until that April was it released as a single recording. It's solid fun golden rock n' roll, which you can enjoy by watching the rooftop performance of Get Back. As you do, listen carefully to the melody and the words of the first verse. For it seems that British Prime Minister Tony Blair performed what musicians call a "cover" of the Beatles' song, when he delivered a speech last Friday (12/08) to an invited audience at Downing Street (the British White House). Blair declared he expected Moslem immigrants to conform to the common values of British culture: "Conform to it, or don't come here. We don't want the hate-mongers." He was in effect singing Get Back with these revised lyrics: Momo was a Moose-limb and a true believer Thought he'd kill some infidel scum Momo left his home in Quetta, Pakistana For a Lon-donistan slum Get back, get back. Get back to where you once belonged Get back, get back. Get back to where you once belonged. Get back, Momo. Go home. Get on home, Mohammed. Your momma's waiting for you....
Chapter Twenty-Nine: THE NIGHT OF TEARS
The Jade Steps Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Night of Tears Malinali looked at each of the men standing silently around her. Several of them were weeping. She caught Bernal's eye. "We mourn for him, Doña Marina," he said quietly to her, "and not just those of us who were unable to protect him from his own people today. All of us are in sorrow, for he showed such kindness to us." That she would be holding the hand of an Aztec Emperor as he died, that the Aztecs themselves would murder their King, that these mysterious men from another world who had come to conquer his kingdom would weep openly over his death - these were thoughts she found overwhelming. She crossed herself and prayed silently to the Virgin Mary for comfort and understanding. It was Cortez who broke the silence. "Doña Marina, please select a noble from Montezuma's entourage and have him deliver a message to the people of this city: He is to tell them that their Lord is dead at their hands, that they have killed their king. They must now give him the funeral and burial rites he deserves, and after that they must allow us to leave the city in peace."
THE SCANDAL OF STUPIDITY
If you've seen the story all over the media about incoming Democrat Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Silvestre Reyes botching basic questions about Middle East politics, you've probably asked yourself - are these guys really that dumb? Here's one way to answer the question. Until he was tapped by President Bush to run the Security & Exchange Commission, Chris Cox (R-CA 1989-2005) was acknowledged for years to possess the most formidable brains on Capitol Hill. There is absolutely no doubt - he is breathtakingly bright. But when I tweaked him once about his reputation (I've known Chris since 1986 when he joined the legal counsel's office in the Reagan White House), he gave me a bemused smile and said, "Jack, being the smartest man in Congress is like being the tallest building in Topeka."
DO WE HAVE A PRO-TERRORIST IMMIGRATION SERVICE?
Have you ever heard of a religious visa petitioner? Any recognized religious organization may file a R-1 visa request for a foreign national to come to the US and work for them. Since September 11, 2001, more than 5,000 petitioners have applied to sponsor foreign religious workers. The majority of them are Moslems. The majority were granted visas and immigration benefits without proper background checks. Is the US Citizenship and Immigration Service pro-terrorist, trying to get Moslem terrorists into our country? No - but it might as well be.
GLOBAL WARMING AND ORIGINAL SIN
It takes a brave politician to stand up alone against a tidal wave of religious hysteria. Such a man is Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma. He has publicly denounced man-made global warming as a "hoax" and held a hearing in Congress yesterday (12/06) to expose it as such. Jim Inhofe is waging a valiant struggle, and it would have been helped had he someone to testify about how "global warming" is an issue of religious fanaticism, rather than just misguided science. "Global warming" (or more specifically man-made or "anthropogenic" global warming) is a secular religion believed in by people who have abandoned Christianity. The vast majority of global warming fanatics are from Western cultures. Not a lot of Chinese or Hindus or Moslems are in a tizzy about it. These fanatics are almost all ex-Christians, born and raised in a Christian culture which they grew up to reject.
A CONSERVATIVE HAT TRICK
[This is the text of a speech I just gave at the Leadership Institute in Washington DC. Founded in 1979 by Morton Blackwell, the LI has trained tens of thousands of conservatives for leadership in politics, media, and academia. I encourage you to consider participating in and supporting its efforts. ---JW] A CONSERVATIVE HAT TRICK: Achieving Limited Government, Energy Independence, and Victory Over Islamofascism Leadership Institute - December 6, 2006 I've been a conservative all my life - even in high school and college. I never went through some juvenile left-wing trip, I always thought Che Guevara was a commie thug, always admired Barry Goldwater and of course, Ronald Reagan. Yes, I'm an Ayn Rand Objectivist, Ludwig Von Mises laissez faire capitalist type of conservative, yet I've always thought that the conservative political movement held the best actual hope in reality for solving many of America's most basic problems. In truth, though, I don't care about problems. I care about solutions. Problems are not important. Only solutions to them are. So this morning, we are not going to talk about problems - however easy and tempting it would be to do so in our post-November 7, Speaker Pelosi world. Instead we are going to talk about solutions, solutions to three of the largest problems we face today. How do we achieve genuinely limited government, end our dependence on foreign oil that subsidizes our enemies, and defeat a threat to our liberties greater than even Soviet Communism, that of Islamofascism?
THE IRAQ SENILE, STUPIDITY, AND SURRENDER GROUP
One hundred and forty years ago, British philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) wrote:
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war, is much worse... A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. (Dissertations and Discussions 1867 Vol.1 p. 26.)A perfect description of the Democrat Party leadership and the editors of the New York Times today. Which is why they are hyping the Iraq Study Group Report to the moon. They hope to use the hype to force President Bush to surrender in Iraq. They will not succeed. Yesterday (12/06), I and a small group of conservatives met with a top White House aide (whose comments were not for attribution so I can't name him). In so many words, he told us that President Bush's response to the Iraq Study Group Report and the media hysteria around it is: "Thank you for sharing."
ANTI-ISLAMOFASCISM MOVEMENT UPDATE
For all those who wish to participate in The Creation of an Anti-Islamofascism Movement described last week, here is how to start doing so. An umbrella organization is being formed called The Coalition to Preserve Civilization, which will help enable all those involved in the emerging Anti-Islamofascism Movement and keep them informed of everyone else's activities. The way to get involved in this right now is to join The 910 Forum. You'll notice in the left side bar a long list of blogs providing all kinds of info on Anti-Islamofascism. To subscribe to the Forum - called "910" for the day before 9/11, since if we had been adequately prepared, 9/11 would have been prevented - email [email protected] -- and include something brief about yourself. This is not a discussion forum, so your inbox will not be flooded. But it will keep you informed regarding who is doing what on the Anti-Islamofascism front. And you can contribute your own suggestions and information as well. We welcome your support and participation. Working together, we will dig Islamofascism's grave and bury it in the ash heap of history.
ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT IN THE SENATE
Over a beer earlier this week with a Republican Senator, I couldn't help but asking how he was doing. Had the GOP retained its majority, he would have been the chairman of one of the Senate's most powerful committees. Starting next month, he would be just another minority schmuck. "Sure, it's a disappointment," he said. "It's the dream of your life for a guy like me. So I have a choice. I can be bitter - or I can have fun. I choose fun." I frowned. "How are you going to have fun?" I asked skeptically. He smiled. "Come on, Jack, you know how the Senate works. It's not like the House, where the minority is lower than dirt, and treated like subhuman Moslem Dhimmis. Harry (Harry Reid, incoming Senate Majority Leader) has no majority at all. Hell, it's 51-49, with the 51st being Joe Lieberman and we've got Cheney as a tie-breaker. We can screw them any time we want and Harry knows it."
IS PUTIN THE FALL GUY?
The Alexander Litvinenko murder by radiation in London is mysterious -- and important. Has Russia entirely left the Western orbit, reverting to its old Soviet era, Stalinist practices? Is Vladimir Putin, approaching the end of his two terms in office and thinking of a new career, interested in being seen worldwide as having blood on his hands? Or something else is afoot? I have met Mr. Putin four times in the last three years. He is tough and smart and ruthless, but he is not stupid. Does he understand the murders may make him look bloodthirsty and make Russia appear barbaric? And if he did not order these killings, they still make Russia look out-of-control, while Mr. Putin looks like he lost control. Are his secret police taking people out on his orders, or is he being framed by his own people? And if so, why?
SHARIA WATCH
Ufda. That's Swedish for "Wow" - or more colloquially, "Holy Anti-Islamofascism, Batman!" The worldwide response to our memo calling for The Creation of an Anti-Islamofascism Movement last week, patterned on the Anti-Communism Movement during the Cold War, has been truly astounding. The memo has gone "viral," with blogs reproducing it all over the Internet. Dozens of groups have contacted us wanting to cooperate and participate. My co-author Steve Baldwin and I have lost count of the number of supportive emails. Folks, we have a phenomenon here. It won't be long now before we have a movement with an organized infrastructure dedicated to identifying and targeting the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the Islamofascists. But as this is being built, people are impatient to start doing something now. So we are proposing an action program called Sharia Watch. There will be a Sharia Watch website up soon coordinating folks' participation across the country, but in the meantime, you can engage in a Sharia Watch on your own in your community.
THE TWO ROBIN HOODS
In our new post-11/7 world, it's important to understand that there are two Robin Hoods: the legend and the myth of the legend. The first is a conservative-libertarian. The second is a liberal thug. The legend was best played by Errol Flynn in the 1938 movie classic, The Adventures of Robin Hood, with Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marion, Alan Hale as Little John, Claude Rains as Prince John, Melville Cooper as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Basil Rathbone as the evil Sir Guy de Gisbourne. The myth of the legend is currently being played by Teddy Kennedy with Nancy Pelosi as his understudy in drag.
DENYING THE FUTURE TO ISLAM
I am a European. I was born and have lived my life in Europe. I am determined that Europe will not become "Eurabia," that it will not succumb to Islamification. We can deny Europe's future to Islam. Here is why I think so. Islam's historical high point was in the Middle Ages, when Islam was perfect for medieval warfare. Afterwards, it gradually lost out to the West, especially after the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, which could never have taken place in Islamic lands because of its lack of freedom and cult of authority. Ironically, history has now gone full circle. Moslems are still useless in developing anything new, but as a result of migration, modern communications, the presence of Moslems in infidel lands, and Arab oil revenues, they can more readily buy or expropriate technology from others. Yet pessimists, however much they point to Western weaknesses, overlook the fact that Islam has many weaknesses, too.
THE TERRIFYING INCOMPETENCE OF OUR IMMIGRATION SERVICE
Just how incompetent has our government become in preventing terrorist suspects from becoming American citizens? According to a Government Accountability Office report released this week, tens of thousands of foreign applicants were granted naturalized status in the United States in 2005 despite their background files being missing during the citizenship screening process. "It only takes one missing file for somebody with links to a terrorist organization to become an American citizen," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. "A terrorist can be unsuccessful thousands of times, but we have to be perfect all the time. We can't afford to be handing out citizenship with blinders on." The GAO report revels that 111,000 naturalization alien files (A-files) were missing at 14 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices. Nevertheless, about 30,000 of those foreign applicants were given citizenship.
THE CREATION OF AN ANTI-ISLAMOFASCISM MOVEMENT
[This memo is being sent to the leaders of every major conservative organization in America] TO: Conservative Leaders FR: Jack Wheeler & Steve Baldwin RE: The Creation of an Anti-Islamofascism Movement One cannot write the history of the Cold War without acknowledging the key role played by the American Anti-Communist Movement. It was a broad movement involving many different organizations that, for four decades, kept its focus on the defeat of the Soviet Empire. And it succeeded. Indeed, Anti-Communism was the defining issue that brought hundreds of thousands of people into the conservative movement from the 1950s through the 1980s. There was a sense that this movement had to be successful if not only America but Western Civilization itself were to survive. Today, the forces of Islamofascism have picked up where Communism left off, and have embarked upon a World War of global conquest that may last for decades if not longer. But we don't seem to be prepared for this war. Unlike the movement created during the Cold War, there doesn't seem to be much of an infrastructure to combat Islamofascism. If we truly care about our children and grandchildren, then we must create an Anti-Islamofascist Movement modeled after the Anti-Communist Movement. Here's a few areas that an Anti-Islamofascism Movement could be addressing:
THANKFUL WITH NO BUTS: A CONSERVATIVE THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving is the unique American holiday. We share Christmas and Easter with every other Christian nation. Most every country celebrates its Independence Day, and the birthdays of their founding heroes. Thanksgiving is ours, where we give our deepest thanks to Providence for the extraordinary gift of America to mankind. Other countries have their special times to celebrate their uniqueness, when their citizens take justifiable pride in their country's achievements, and all to the good. Thanksgiving is America's Day, the time when all Americans - all - get to celebrate the achievements of the most successful society in human history. Tragically, however, there are Americans who do not have the capacity to celebrate being American. They are called liberals. Especially those currently dominating the Democrat Party. The purpose of Thanksgiving is to be thankful for being American. Thankful with no buts. No whining and moaning about what happened to the Indians, or about slavery and poverty and racism. No buts. Think that Democrats can do this? Let's see.
THE AFRICAN CHRISTIAN CRUSADE
Three years ago (November 2003) in The Chinese Christian Crusades, I told you about the program of Chinese Christians to evangelize the world's Moslems. The program is called Back to Jerusalem -- referring to the lands between China and Jerusalem (Central Asia and the Middle East) which are overwhelmingly Moslem. Getting back to Jerusalem and the birthplace of Christianity means Chinese missionaries in these lands preaching the Gospel and saving Moslem souls for Christ. Now the largest Christian movement in Africa has decided to do the same. From the other direction: across the Moslem lands of North Africa and into Saudi Arabia itself. The Saudis are about to find themselves inside an African-Chinese Christian sandwich.
RANGEL TO THE RESCUE
Are the Democrats determined to give the House back to the Republicans in 2008? It sure seems that way with Nancy "The Shrew" Pelosi's petty vindictiveness on such national display that already there's Democrat talk of replacing her as Speaker. And now right on the heels of her Jack Murtha/Steny Hoyer, Jane Harman/Alcee Hastings debacles comes Charlie Rangel riding to the Republicans' rescue by advocating a return to the military draft. The extreme hate-America left-wing Democrat from Harlem will be Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in the 110th Congress, a position of extraordinary influence and power. His is one of the key public faces of the new Dem Majority. And he has handed the GOP Minority a diamond-studded opportunity to explain to every young voter in America the Democrat threat to their personal liberty.
TAKE IT TO COURT: The Enumerated Powers Solution for Limited Government
The Republican Congress is history. While I will work to restore Republicans in both the House and Senate, there are many worthwhile objectives which they failed to accomplish while in power. Further, there are many worthwhile objectives which they failed even to address. For example, they passed President Bush's "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," Pub. L. 107-110, although one may search in vain among the enumerated powers granted to Congress in Art. I, section 8 of the Constitution for the authority to legislate with respect to education. The question is, what may we do now, other than prepare for the 2008 elections, to advance a conservative agenda? The answer is go to court. Liberals have been doing this for a long time. To a great extent, they have succeeded in their objectives. I will explain how they did it. Then how we can do it too.
THE DEMOCRATS’ QUAGMIRE IN IRAQ
The Democratic dog just caught the Iraqi firetruck it's been chasing for almost four years. Now what? Wetting the back tires won't be enough. The victorious party's hard-left wing (which provides much money and selects the candidates to run for top office) is anxious for an American humiliation. But that's not what the majority of Democrats want and it's a scenario that Dems on Capitol Hill, eyes on 2008, know they need to avoid. With just a few missteps, Iraq could become their debacle.
THE FRAUD OF DARFUR
The latest liberal cause célèbre is the "humanitarian crisis" of "genocide" in Darfur. It is very difficult to find on this earth a more remote wasteland having no connection whatever to American interests than this patch of the Sahara Desert in western Sudan. But of course, that is precisely why liberals are so hysterical about it. The first thing to understand is that there are no Christians in Darfur. They're in the south, Darfur is way over there in the west. The conflict, which started in 2003, is between camel-herding nomads and farmers in the desert - both of whom are Moslem. The Darfur Conflict is purely Moslem: Moslem versus Moslem. No Christians are involved. It is strictly Moslem tribal warfare. The infamous "Janjaweed" militias of nomadic Abbala tribesmen are all Moslem. The Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit farming tribes they are attacking are all Moslem. Moreover, there is not one side versus another. It's chaotic tribal warfare between dozens and dozens of tribes who are continuously switching sides - sometimes right in the middle of a battle. If there is anyplace in the world that America has no interest being involved in, this is it.
THE GATHERING STORM OF THE 21ST CENTURY
[Senator Rick Santorum delivered this speech on October 30, 2006. The Hate America Left was desperate to defeat him for re-election and they succeeded, more proof that they really are on the side of Osama Bin Laden. ---JW] I want to talk to you today about the unique challenges that confront the United States as we conduct a new world war, about the threat of Islamic Fascism, and how it is being joined by others, becoming a hydra. Are we willing to see the storm gathering around us and act before it is too late? Was 9-11 not enough? Have our memories faded? Or will it take something even more devastating? When Winston Churchill wrote his great history of the Second World War, he began the first volume-"The Gathering Storm"- with a short description: "How the English-speaking peoples through their unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature allowed the wicked to rearm." We were part of that moment of folly, and we paid a terrible price for it on the battlefields of that war. We are running the same risk today, and we are again acting carelessly, unwisely and we are permitting the wicked to grow stronger and stronger.
ENJOYING GLOBAL WARMING LIKE THE ROMANS AND VIKINGS
There is a wonderful new book, Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years, by distinguished climate physicist Fred Singer and award-winning environmental economist Dennis Avery. The conclusion of their book in a nutshell is that, yes, the world is getting a bit warmer, but this is just the natural cycle. They provide overwhelming evidence this warming would occur with or without mankind increasing CO2 emissions or doing anything else. The good news is that if we realize we cannot stop global warming, and concentrate on constructively dealing with the problems it causes -- which are all manageable at reasonable cost -- and then enjoy the benefits, mankind will do just fine. We have already had two cycles in recorded history; the Roman warming (200 B.C. to 600 A.D.) which was a very prosperous period, and the medieval warming (900 to 1300) during which farms were created in Greenland and Iceland. The modern warming period began about 1850, well before mankind was producing massive amounts of CO2.
GEORGE BUSH’S GEOPOLITICAL GENIUS
George W. Bush may be historically recorded as America's most frustratingly puzzling president. He is fundamentally a decent man, a genuine Christian with enormous moral courage. This is what infuriates the Left about him. It is his incomprehensible blind spots that drive conservatives around the bend. The one regarding illegal immigration is the worst, with many saying impeachably so. His refusal to destabilize Iran, which most likely will cause the Iraq War to be lost, is another. Yet with other geopolitical issues, he sees with astounding foresight and clarity. The best example is India. The first thing he asked Condi, when she became his National Security Advisor, was about India. She hadn't thought about it. "Biggest democracy in the world, only country in Asia capable of standing up to China," he explained. "I want a plan from you on how we develop a military, political, and economic alliance with India." Condi said she'd get right on it. "Oh, yes," he added, "make sure it includes support for military cooperation between India and Israel."