Global War of Terror @ 15

The Global War of Terror is fifteen years old today.   On February 26, 1993 Islamists attempted to destroy  the World Trade Center.    Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review:

On the morning of February 26, 1993, Islamic militants steered a nondescript Ryder van through the winding darkness of the parking garage under the World Trade Center. They had spent years planning this moment in secret meetings at mosques and jailhouses, in rural outposts that served as paramilitary camps, and in safehouses where explosive compounds were mixed in makeshift labs.

The Islamists will not surrender until either  they are killed or we surrender.  Two American presidents have adopted two different strategies to fight the Global War.    President Clinton let our enemy bring the war to us.   In contrast, President Bush has brought the war to our enemy.  

So the question for our next president is:  Will you fight the Islamists here or continue to take the fight to them?   

Hat tip photo:  Michelle Malkn.

Ya know, I have to say it; I’m disappinted with Captain Ed’s move to Hot Air.

Oh, don’t misunderstand; I’m happy for the guy. I’m happy for Hot Air, as well… Michelle’s getting a hell of a writer.

But, ya see,  CQ was one of the first blogs to link Bitsblog, years ago, and Ed has always been a friend of the blog. And I guess I just rather got used to the idea of CQ being there.

(Shrug)

OK, I’ve said it.

Yes, America… it’s all about Bill… (Video)

Chris Cillizza at the WaPo Politics Blog:

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) said Monday that the media’s pro-Obama (or anti-Clinton) bias explains in part why Barack Obama is portrayed as running away with the Democratic presidential nomination (instead of being locked in a close fight with Hillary Rodham Clinton).

“The media does not like the Clintons for whatever reason,” Rendell, a Clinton supporter, said in an interview with The Fix. “Maybe some of it’s [the Clintons’] fault, but the media does not like the Clintons.”

Maybe because he’s winning, Ed?

 Rendell insisted that the “media has relished this fall with glee that I have never seen in any other candidate in the thirty years I have been in the business.” As a result, “Right now the senator can do no wrong,” Rendell said of Obama.

You have apparently forgotten Bush 41, and the dance the press did on THAT political grave?  Face it Ed… first of all, she’s toasted bread. Secondly, if the press were touting Clinton instead of Obama, would you be complaining? We both know you wouldn’t.

Shut up.

Weather Whooper, 13-WHAM-TV:

(Rochester, N.Y.) — A winter storm warning is in effect for Western New York beginning Tuesday morning and going into Wednesday.

13WHAM Meteorologists expect snow on and off for the two days. Snow will begin Tuesday morning and then become steady by the afternoon. 

The good news, is so far this season, the storms have only been about half the size projected.   The bad news, if we even half the predicted snowfall, it will be the biggest storm of the year. 

License revoked James,  Sunday Times(UK):

It must have come as something of a surprise to him last week, then, to learn that MI6 hasn’t killed anyone for years. Sir Richard Dearlove, the former MI6 chief, told the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales that, contrary to claims from two separate whistleblowers – David Shayler, who said the service had drawn up a plan to kill Colonel Gadaffi, and Richard Tomlinson, who described a plot to kill Slobodan Milosevic – the service had not carried out any assassinations since he joined it in 1966.

Stop the Global Warming Cooling, National Post:

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January “was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average.”

Dan Rather endores Bill Keller, New Busters:

If you’re the New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg or Bill Keller the last person you probably want in your corner is Dan “National Guard Forgery Story” Rather. Yet on the syndicated “Chris Matthews Show,” Rather jumped to their defense, on last week’s McCain hit piece, by declaring them “outstanding journalists.”

B.J. Clinton admits the truth, Brietbart:

Mrs. Clinton:  Too Little, Too Late, RCP:

Patrick Healy and Julie Bosman lay out Hillary Clinton’s last ditch, five pronged, “kitchen sink” strategy against Obama. The key graf in the piece is a quote from Democratic strategist Steve McMahon:

“There’s a general rule in politics: A legitimate distinction which could be effective when drawn early in the campaign often backfires and could seem desperate when it happens in the final hours of a campaign,” said Steve McMahon, a Democratic strategist working for neither candidate.

Dan Drezner, who occasionally has been known to make a good point, makes one here:

Why does a man who received 0.38% of the vote in the last election merit valuable minutes on Meet The Press, not to mention hours of speculation about his candidacy and its effects on the 2008 campaign? Will Tim Russert bestow similar press time to the Libertarian Party candidate — who received a similar number of votes? Seriously, who gives a f***?…

I should think that much to be obvious; He’s preaching the anti-Bush, anti-War mantra. Sure, he’ll likely split the Democrat vote by however much he manages to pull, but the assumption here is that one cannot go against “The Template”, which of course is, if it attacks President Bush and the Republicans, it goes page one. If it SUPPORTS the president, it gets ignored.

By the way, Dan, get your tech people to check up on Apache. Not doing too well. Several 404’s in your comment section.

• No, Billy, she’s not done, yet, nor will she be. You of all people will understand that the woman is all about power, and the obtaining of it. As such, she’s not going to back off, even come next November. Ralph Nader’s the same way, and so is Ron Paul. The only explanation for their idiocy… all of them… is they are desperate for power.
• There is an over-riding concern in every election… For all the bitching I do about the whacko-left, it seems to me that there is always an undercurrent of such people, in any culture. It’s when they become a majority, or finally manage to harness government power, that concerns me. And here we return to the point about the importance of maintaining the culture, so that the wacked-out, drugged up, and mentally deficient undercurrent that every culture has, doesn’t get installed in the driver’s seat.  That’s going to be weighing heavy on my mind, now till November. It’s that factor alone, far as I can see which would prevent me from withholding support from the Republican line in November.
• Speaking of which, that is, my withholding support from the Republicans, because of McCain, some of you McCain supporters would I think be interested in a Roll Call story back in June of 01: (Sorry, link is long expired this is from my own archives, since I commented on the story at the time )
  

  McCain Hints At Reform Payback

  By Susan Crabtree and John Bresnahan

  With a battle royal over campaign finance reform set to begin when the
  House returns next week, a top adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
  hinted that the lawmaker might withhold support for House Republicans
  in 2002 if GOP leaders continue to block his reform measure.

  With McCain remaining one of the most popular Republicans in the
  nation, political adviser John Weaver warned that the Arizona Senator
  is growing increasingly frustrated with the House GOP hierarchy’s
  efforts to derail his bill and may stay home when Republican
  candidates come calling next year.

  “I’m not so sure that Senator McCain is going to be as enthusiastic
  about electing 90 to 100 Members as he did in 2000 if the Republican
  leadership and other Members cynically try to kill reform,” Weaver
  said.

  “But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

  The ‘Reform” of course was McCain/Finegold, the worst sin against American committed in my lifetime.. It’s as I said at the time… there are those who think the Republican party doesn’t have the right to respond to people who run afoul of it’s basic principles. Like McCain. Of course what they don’t mention (apparently hoping nobody notices) is that they approve of his aiding the Democrat party and IT’S principles. Like McCain has at every opportunity.

• Funny thing, Timing. As official word came in here about Raul Castro being the new President of Cuba, The Who were busy singing the last line from “Won’t Get Fooled Again”…. which runs “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” on my MP3 player. Couldn’t happen again in a million years. But there it is.
• Hey, Eric Alterman:
  

  Can a sane person really call George W. Bush a “middle of the road” President in domestic policy?

  Why, yes, they can. And that you can’t see it shows the world clearly how far left you’ve gone. I’ve said it here for years. Bush is no conservative; never has been. At best, Bush is a centrist. Oh, and Eric? It’s not MY sanity that’s in question. An example of this:

  Does Frum really believe it’s impossible to support both organized labor and the genuinely poor?

  Rrgardless of what Frum thinks, I do. And I think, so too, do most Americans. Tell me; what is the relationship between Union thugs, and the poor? The Unions keep the poor out of jobs so as to keep the pay of their members higher. And of course, to keep the gravy flowing for the Union bosses. And there again, that you can’t see this, tells me you’ve been kool-aid nipping to a degree from which your chances of recovery seem doubtful at best.

• The Sister notes Ralph Nader’s announcement yesterday with an even bigger yawn than I did.
  

  I don’t think this will have much of an effect on the presidential election, primarily because Democrats believe that Nader’s third party run in 2000 cost The Goracle the presidency (well, they believe that and also that the USSC “stole” the election for Bushitler). Nader’s just doing one of the things he does best, and that is stealing a little limelight for himself and creating a few waves, generating a buzz that will (I believe) be shortlived.

  In truth, I think so, too. I”d like to think he could play the role of the spoiler, splitting the left and handing the election to McCain, but in the end, I figure he’s not going to amount to much.But here again, we go back to my comments to Billy at the head end of this Ramble…. it’s about power… even the smallish power one gains by losing presidential elections by landslide proportions. Think I’m kidding? Check your George McGovern buttons at the door on the way out, OK?.

 I note with some amusement, our fellow SwampStomper, Gaius over at Blue Crab:

I have not bothered to comment on that picture of Barack Obama wearing the garb of a Somali elder that was circulated over the weekend. I’m glad I didn’t since Drudge is now reporting that the picture was circulated by Clinton staffers in what appears to be a really nasty – and completely ineffective – smear attempt.

With a week to go until the Texas and Ohio primaries, stressed Clinton staffers circulated a photo over the weekend of a “dressed” Barack Obama.

The photo, taken in 2006, shows the Democrat frontrunner fitted as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya.

The senator was on a five-country tour of Africa.

“Wouldn’t we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?” questioned one campaign staffer, in an email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe on the circulation of the Obama/Somali photo: “On the very day that Senator Clinton is giving a speech about restoring respect for America in the world, her campaign has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we’ve seen from either party in this election. This is part of a disturbing pattern that led her county chairs to resign in Iowa, her campaign chairman to resign in New Hampshire, and it’s exactly the kind of divisive politics that turns away Americans of all parties and diminishes respect for America in the world.” 

Politicians have a long history of dressing up in local garb for a photo opportunity. Obama is no different. But the sheer sleaze factor of where this picture appears to have come from should make people wonder. How much of the vast conspiracy that Hillary Clinton complains about traces back to her own operatives?

Well, of course the thing would be damaging to the Clinton camp… it’s a risky play. Then again, from HRC’s perspective, it’s time for risky plays.

However that may be, though, let’s examine the nature of what’s being implied by the picture’s release. What is to fear that is represented in this picture? Racial overtones? Most likely. But wait a tick; these are Democrats we’re talking about that Hillary Clinton is supposedly trying to frighten. They can’t be racist, can they?

Revealing as that is, what else is being implied, by this picture’s release? That he might have loyalties outside these United States? Certainly, that would be a claim worth examination, I’d think.

Look, gang, whatever else RC and her gang are, they’re not stupid. They woldn’t be playing this card, if they didn’t understand the effect it would have.  The picture’s release is also intended, it seems clear, to get an emotional response going.  certainly, emotion is a major part of fear.

The response of Obama nd his people, too, strikes me as one of fear-mongering, and emotional invocation. The entire campaign of both Obama and HRC is centered on emotion, rather than fact, as I have been saying here for a long time.  Obama’s people react the way they do because they understand that this photo will effect emotion if they don’t respond correctly, and in a lot of cases, even when they DO respond.

At the bottom line, here is that what we’re dealing with in both Clinton and Obama, is what I’ve been saying all along; these are both slick Chicago pols, who only care about obtaining power, and really don’t give a damn about the piles of monkey feces they keep hurling at each other.

I hasten to add that not all fears are unjustified. The voters who ahve been treated to repeated charges in both directions of “fear mongering” know this on an instinctive, if not a logical level. Certaily, the Dems have been tossing this charge out at President Bush over Iraq. At some point, however, the charge of ‘fear mongering’ loses it’s usefulness.

For our part, you and I, if we were to actually listen to them, both Obama and Clinton would leave us quite fearful indeed.. and this exchange of theirs is only part of the genesis of that fear.

I note Patrick Healy giving some notice to the building falling down around Hillary Clinton.

Morale is low. After 13 months of dawn-to-dark seven-day weeks, the staff is exhausted. Some have taken to going home early – 9 p.m. – turning off their BlackBerrys, and polishing off bottles of wine, several senior staff members said.Some advisers have been heard yelling at close friends and colleagues. In a much-reported incident, Mr. Penn and the campaign advertising chief, Mandy Grunwald, had a screaming match over strategy recently that prompted another senior aide, Guy Cecil, to leave the room. “I have work to do – you’re acting like kids,” Mr. Cecil said, according to three people in the room.

Others have taken several days off, despite it being crunch time. Some have grown depressed, be it over Mr. Obama’s momentum, the attacks on the campaign’s management from outside critics or their view that the news media has been much rougher on Mrs. Clinton than on Mr. Obama.

And some of her major fund-raisers have begun playing down their roles, asking reporters to refer to them simply as “donors,” to try to rein in their image as unfailingly loyal to the Clintons.

To which, Gabriel Malor over at Ace’s place notes:

One of the problems Clinton will have when this is all over is dealing with the disappointment of the truly devoted. The ones who have invested so much money, time, or heart in her candidacy that they hear her cackle and think how kind and genial she is. They think she won this week’s debate. And they think that she can still win the nomination without some kind of catastrophe at Obama HQ. The true believers.

Those are the folks most like to stay angry long enough to truly hurt her future in politics. Betrayal and heartache are powerful motivators in the short term and lots of these people are going to feel it. More than that, the frustration of defeat is going to be a long term deterrent. Clinton’s failure, and for a good portion of these people it will be seen as her failure and not just something that can be blamed on some mythical anti-Clinton media, will hang around her neck for a long time.

There’s no question of this in my mind… mostly, because as I’ve said here previously, liberalism is built mostly on emotionalism, and certainly what Malor describes here is an emotional response.  But there’s something deeper going on here that will I think affect the general election; How may of Clinton supporters will sit on their hands in the coming general election, after investing so much in the losing candidate?

Addendum:  (David L )

This comes down to myth meets reality,  Mrs. Clinton and her fanatics believe that Mrs. Clinton is tough, smart, strong and ready to lead.   The problem for Mrs. Clinton is that she has none of these attributes.   The truth be told, Mrs. Clinton is a weak and delusional women, with few accomplishments of her own, who just isn’t all that smart.   As they might say in Texas: all hat, no cattle.

Michelle Malkin announces major changes at Hot Air.  Byran Preston is out.  Ed Morrissey is in.   Laura Ingraham has a new producter and Captain’s Quarters is going TUDD.  

Ed Morrissey is a great writer.   However Michelle’s new line-up leaves a technical hole in Hot Air the size of Texas.  I hope it works

?

We have already said this before.  Great minds think alike and so do socialist minds.  Hugo Chavez, via Thomas Lifson, American Thinker:

On his regular Sunday television show “Hello, President” Hugo Chavez announced he is pushing forward with his plan to seize rural lands he considers “idle.” According to AP, he told Venezuelans that

… the government was “advancing quickly” with a concept of “social, or collective, property” to be included in forthcoming constitutional reforms.

Uncle Hugo sees property, wants property, takes property  That is what socialists do.   They take property for the greater good which means themselves.

Like Chavez, Mrs. Clinton, sees, wants, takes, again Thomas Lifson, American Thinker:

The Hillary Clinton campaign has blatantly disregarded the law on intellectual property and re-published an entire copyrighted article from the American Thinker website. The theft can be viewed at this URL: http://connect.hillaryclinton.com/blog-entry/Mypotuss-Blog/Obamas-Mentors-Mentor/400047104 

Thomas, just consider that your intellectual property has been collectivized for the greater good.

Hat tip photo:  Grandma is an Idiot.

It’s interesting, watching people avoiding the obvious about the NY Times, and the McCain smear. Roger Simon, for example:

Excuse me for going psychoanalytic, but there was something weirdly self-destructive in the newspaper’s behavior on this matter.

I cannot believe that an intelligent man like Bill Keller was entirely unaware that most people would be repelled by the thin gruel his paper published – even though he evinced astonishment at the huge number of negative comments, including many from Obama supporters, that appeared on their website. Others may say he and his fellow editors were just unconscious of the way people think, but I am not convinced. As evidence I offer the simple fact that they were for months reluctant to publish. Was the imminence of The New Republic story on the inside deliberations at The Times the trigger? Maybe partly. But again I suspect there was more to it. The New York Times is run by human beings, like everything else, who are subject to the same conflicting cocktail of motivations we all are.

Roger, it’s about time to come up for air. Unless and until one considers the political motivations of the leftist of today, nothing about the actions of the Times is going to make any sense at all.  They didn’t publish the story because they wanted McCain to win the nomination, at which point, they started using stuff like they published. They WANTED McCain winning the nomination because they saw him as the easier target in the General election.

 The Jayson Blair affair, of course, was damaging to the paper, but I suspect the fallout here will be worse, since we are in the midst of a presidential campaign to determine the leader of the Western World. I don’t think this necessarily means any kind of shakeup in editorial staff. It means something more serious – the continued degradation of the newspaper’s already weakening reputation.

The paper’s reputation was already on the skids before Jayson Blair was out of grade school. This stuff has been goiong on at the Times for generations, now. This is nothing new.

Sent by a freind:

The Americans With No Abilities Act (AWNAA)

WASHINGTON , DC
Congress is considering sweeping legislation which will provide new  benefits for many Americans. The Americans With No Abilities Act (AWNAA)  is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions  of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition.

“Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive  necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society,” said California Senator Barbara Boxer. “We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing.”

In a Capitol Hill press co nference, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi  and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing  opportunity without regard to performance. Approximately 74 percent of postal employees lack any job skills, making this agency the single  largest U.S. employer of Persons of Inability.

Private-sector industries with good records of nondiscrimination against the Inept include retail sales (72%), the airline industry (68%), and  home improvement “warehouse” stores (65%). At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has a great record of  hiring Persons of Inability (63%).

Under the Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million “middle man” positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance.

Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given, to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability into middle-management positions, and gives a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the AWNA Act contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the Nonabled–banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as “Do you have any skills or
experience which relate to this job?”

“As a Non-abled person, I can’t be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them,” said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Michigan, due to
her lack of any discernible job skills. “This new law should really help people like me.” With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Senator Ted Kennedy: “As a Senator With No Abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her adequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation.”

Well, it’s about time. I, for one, am sick n’ tired of ‘disabled’ as being narrowly defined as a physical or mental handicapping condition.  What about the lazy, the unmotivated, and those expecting the government to take care of them? They have rights, too!! Thank goodness we have caring and insightful political leaders like Boxer, Pelosi, Reid, and  Kennedy representing the needs & desires of the slackers in this country. What are the rest of our Congressional representatives doing in Washington – certainly not taking care of those citizens who represent the very reason why so many folks risk life and limb to illegally immigrate into this country?

Fortunately, we have 2 Presidential candidates who support and subscribe to this line of thinking – doing whatever is necessary to sufficiently (over) tax the middle class to ensure those who chose not to contribute can still benefit from our government’s generosity with the working man’s money.

And just think; With the liberals taking the White House, we can see this happen!

Another Big Burger story… and even Clara can’t say “Where’s the Beef?”

SOUTHGATE, Mich. -(AP)- A Detroit area restaurant owner believes he broke the Guiness World Record for “largest hamburger commercially available.”

After 12 hours of preparation and baking, the 134-pound burger emerged at Mallie’s Sports Bar and Grill on Saturday.

Price: $350 each

We grow again. This time, the BitsBlog Newsroom has added the feeds from the FBI.

It’s linked off the front page of BitsBlog  Newsroom.