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July 2007 Stats for The Big Picture.
Few others have credentials as impeccable as those of Daniel Pipes when reporting on developments in the Middle East. This is even more the case when favorable developments are reported. From his bio:
Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum, a member of the presidentially-appointed board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, and a prize-winning columnist for the New York Sun and The Jerusalem Post. His most recent book, Miniatures: Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics (Transaction Publishers) appeared in late 2003. His website, DanielPipes.org, the single most accessed source of information specifically on the Middle East and Islam, offers an archive and a chance to sign-up to receive his new materials as they appear.
Mr. Pipes was one of the few analysts who understood the threat of militant Islam (“Unnoticed by most Westerners,” he wrote in 1995, “war has been unilaterally declared on Europe and the United States”). The Boston Globe writes that “If Pipes’s admonitions had been heeded, there might never have been a 9/11.” The Wall Street Journal has called him “an authoritative commentator on the Middle East.” MSNBC describes him as one of the best-known “Mideast policy luminaries.”
So it is particlarly interesting that he reports what he terms “stunning” and “very hopeful” news:
Finally the Voice of Moderate, Anti-Islamist Muslims Is Heard
In a stunning, unprecedented, and very hopeful sign, reports the Saudi newspaper Arab News, over 2,500 Muslim intellectuals from 23 countries sent a petition to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and the chairman and members of the Security Council. The organizers hope to have tens of thousands of signatories shortly. Most of the signatories are from Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf states, Iraq, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
In the petition, they call for an international treaty banning the use of religion for incitement to violence….
...”We cannot let such dangerous nonsense to pass as Islam,” Nablusi says. ...
Comment: Are the moderate, anti-Islamist voices in the Muslim world beginning to organize? If so, I cannot think of more cheering news.
Read the whole thing.
From the SwiftVets message forum:
Okay, folks.
We got it finally. We have the Former Secretary of the Navy who stated, “Yes, Kerry did receive an Other Than Honorable Discharge”.
Stay tuned for more…
Now to MAKE THE MEDIA AND CONGRESS LISTEN!
Go my brothers and sisters—spread the news to everyone!!!!
– Chief
(Hat Tip to Andrew Breitbart .)
Here we go, ladies and gentlement—the home stretch of the election. This is what so many hopes and strivings have been leading up to. Get ready to rock—and if we win, be generous to our fellow-Americans who were misled by their leadership into supporting a candidate, Kerry, who would have been a disaster for all of us.
The rank and file on the Left does not yet know that they’ve been misled. They believe every silly position the Democratic leadership has been feeding them for years.
They don’t know that “unilateral” doesn’t mean “us and 30 allies.”
They don’t know that “Hussein had no contact with terrorists” is an absurd attempt to ignore the known facts as established by a Bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee.
They don’t know that the UN reported that Hussein had busted up giant factories capable of building WMDs and shipped them out of Iraq before and during the war. Due to the collusion of mainstream media with the Left via the suppression of stories such as that, the Democratic rank and file is in a state of woeful ignorance.
They have been misled by their leadership. But I believe the rank and file on the Left loves this country and wants what’s good for all of us.
Let’s use the post-election time for building bridges to our fellow Americans. Let’s be generous and caring in victory.
Click here for more info.
Photo by Moxie.
The biggest newspaper in Europe—and one based in Germany, no less—has just endorsed G.W. Bush for US President.
Bild Backs Bush
Bild believes Bush will be better for Germany
Europe’s top-selling newspaper, the German tabloid Bild, endorsed George W. Bush for US president Tuesday, saying he would do a better job fighting terror and wouldn’t ask Berlin to send troops to Iraq.
Germany’s Bild Zeitung deemed Bush a known quantity in Europe, and said he had a better sense than Democratic challenger John Kerry of what Washington could expect from its transatlantic partners.
“Bush knows that Europe and Germany do not have the military capacity for a significantly larger commitment of troops beyond their current deployments abroad,” Bild journalist Hugo Mller-Vogg said in the editorial, echoing sentiments expressed by others as well.
“Thus he will not request a contribution,” the former publisher of the respected Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung continued. “But Kerry would do just that—and add a further burden to the already damaged German-American relationship,” he addedin what a spokesman said was likely the first US election endorsement in Bild’s 51-year history.
Notice how Bild ju-jitsus Kerry’s supposed strength and uses it against him. It’s precisely because Kerry has the mistaken notion that the US can demand more troops from Europe, that Bild opposes his candidacy.
(Hat Tip to Andrew Breitbart. )
Readers of my friend, National Review Online columnist Cathy Siepp’s weblog have seen this:
I went to see Ann Coulter speak at a Wednesday Morning Club dinner Friday night at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. It was fun because I ran into friends I don’t normally see at these things, including Andrew and Susie Breitbart, and bloggers Vik Rubenfeld and Moxie, who came with blog constant commenter Robert "Handsome Bob" Light. ( A friend, calling up the next morning to hear how the dinner was but who always gets annoyed when I talk about bloggers, yelled, "Moxie and Handsome Bob? Who are these people? Professional wrestlers?" ) Andrew and Vik and Moxie are shooting a short documentary called "I Am a Liberal," a parody of those "I Am an American" commercials.
We shot this over the past few days, and it was just a blast.
More info to follow
This is the kind of thing that makes us proud of our court system in America:
CINCINNATI (AP) – A federal appeals court ruled Saturday that provisional ballots Ohio voters cast outside their own precincts should not be counted, throwing out a lower-court decision that said such ballots are valid as long as they are cast in the correct county.
As you may recall, a district court judge in Ohio had recently ruled that voters could vote in precincts other than those in which they were registered:
In a victory for the Democrats, a federal judge ruled Thursday that Ohio voters who show up at the wrong polling place on Election Day can still cast ballots as long as they are in the county where they are registered.
This absurdity would invite voter fraud by voting more than one time per individual, in multiple precincts. It’s nonsensical on the face of it. And god bless the federal appeals court in Cincinnati for reasonably so noting.
In few other nations would such things be so responsibly reviewed and corrected. We really deserve to be proud of ourselves in this country.
And I want to praise the Democrats for their responsible behavior here as well. They have chosen not to appeal the decision of the federal appeals court:
Ohio Democrats on Saturday night decided not to file an appeal in the case, one of the first major tests of how such ballots will be handled in a close election.
It would be a great good to this country for both parties to continue to exercise restraint in involving the courts in such matters.
This morning the California College Republicans protested against false statements being made about the draft, outside MTV offices in Santa Monica.
The protest in front of MTV offices this morning.
This lone audio interviewer (affiliation not yet identified) was the only person remotely resembling a reporter on the scene.
The protesters were energized by lots of horn-honking support from passing cars and trucks.
From the CCR Press Release:
MTV/Rock the Vote called CCR Chairman Michael P. Davidson to deny any association with Rock the Votes draft scare tactics. When asked who the person calling was, they would not give a name. The number from which they called (212-846-2609) is a non functioning number in the Viacom system. The anonymous MTV caller repeatedly tried to deny any connection between MTV and Rock the Vote, but the evidence proves otherwise.
Through just cursory research, CCR discovered numerous connections between MTV, Rock the Vote, and the DNC. Judy McGrath, President of MTV, has maxed out her donation to the Kerry campaign. She donated at least $1,000 to the failed candidacy of the Gore campaign, and shes donated over $5,000 to other extreme liberal PACs, such as America Coming Together.
Connect the dots to Rock the Vote: In February of 2001, Jeff Ayerhoff, Co-Founder of Rock the Vote, said: There are 5-6 pillars sustaining the foundation of the Rock the Vote organization—and Judy McGrath is one of those pillars. Without Judy McGrath, there would be no Rock the Vote Incidentally, Rock the Vote, including its draft scare tactics and Democrat bias, has been given over $10,000,000 of free air time on the so-called independent-from-Rock the Vote MTV.
Mainstream media, as usual, was notable by its absence.
As has been well-documented, it was the Democrats, not the Republicans, who recently introduced pro-draft legislation. This legislation was overwhelmingly rejected by the House, with only 2 votes in favor—both from Democrats.
From a great new article by Max Boot:
Just recall what antiwar advocates said:
Sen. John Kerry: “I do not believe our nation is prepared for war. If we do go to war, for years people will ask why Congress gave in. They will ask why there was such a rush to so much death and destruction when it did not have to happen.”
Columnist Robert Novak: “It is probable that after Bush orders the first shot fired, anything that looks American throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe could come into the cross hairs of a rifle sight or be blown up by a car bomb.”
Former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski: “The United States is likely to become estranged from many of its European allies.”
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy: “It’ll be brutal and ugly. The 45,000 body bags the Pentagon has sent to the region are all the evidence we need of the high price in lives and blood that we will have to [bear].”
Former President Jimmy Carter: “The devastating consequences will be [felt] for decades to come, in economic and political destabilization of the Middle East region.”
Many critics of the current conflict had no special insights into the dangers U.S. troops would face. They’ve been predicting disaster in virtually identical terms every time the United States has deployed forces anywhere since Vietnam.
Actually there’s a perfectly good reason why President George H.W. Bush didn’t listen to these Cassandras: They were wrong. You see, all these gloomy predictions weren’t made prior to the war of 2003. They were made before the war of 1991.
...They serve as a timely reminder that many critics of the current conflict had no special insights into the dangers U.S. troops would face. They’ve been predicting disaster in virtually identical terms every time the United States has deployed forces anywhere since Vietnam. One could dredge up equally apocalyptic predictions about U.S. interventions in Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo, Afghanistan: All were supposed to be the “next Vietnam.”
The president’s opponents, with perfect hindsight, now want him to apologize for his failure to foresee everything that would go wrong in Iraq. There is no question he made plenty of mistakes, some of them foreseeable. But what about the naysayers? When will they apologize for everything they’ve gotten wrong over the years?
Bingo.
This is the whole Liberal playbook: 1) Say something absurd that has no basis in fact and slams Republicans. 2) Repeat until rank and file Dems think you believe it. 3) Rank and file Dems then figure since their leaders believe it, it must be true.
This has the benefit of being easier than having to study facts and come up with something that actually makes a contribution and helps to make us stronger and safer. But it’s not a strategy that can work forever. Eventually people start to catch on to the mindless reuse of fact-free attacks that have been repeatedly disproved every single time they’ve been used.
The Drudge Report, with its famed nose for the money quote, unearths this gem about Kerry from Michael Moore:
Moore said Kerry may not be perfect, but is far superior to former Vice President Al Gore and this year’s other Democratic presidential hopefuls. “There’s a reason that they’re saying Kerry is the No. 1 liberal in the Senate,” said Moore. “It’s because he is the No. 1 liberal in the Senate.”
That’s what we like to see – Michael Moore, backing up the number one slam against Kerry currently being put forward by the Bush campaign, namely, that he’s a Liberal. Per Dick Morris:
...as Kerry moved to domestic policy and extolled his “plan” for job creation, health care, Social Security and Medicare, Bush shifted his attack much less calling Kerry a flip-flopper, much more accusing him of liberalism and tax-and-spend policies.
By declaring in the third debate that Kerry inhabits the far left bank of our politics, well away from the mainstream, Bush hit pay dirt.
Knowing that Kerry would seek to win the domestic issues by promising the moon, Bush, in great jujitsu style, used the Democrat’s strength against him, coming around his right flank adding up the cost of the promises and underscoring his adversary’s liberalism.
Some people will hear that and say, “Yeah! Being a Liberal is good. It’s good that Kerry’s the biggest Liberal in the country.” But some others will say, “Yeah… ah… waitaminnit… so Bush is right… even Moore is admitting it… ahhh… so maybe it’s all true—Kerry wants to tax us like crazy and cut the military… maybe Kerry’s not the right guy to be President right now.”
I’m glad to see Moore scoring points for the Right. And I don’t think it’s unintentional on Moore’s part. The guy’s inherently not a team player.
Kerry’s false statements about the draft have sparked a protest by college students planned for this Friday:
Last week, the House of Representatives voted against a Democrat-sponsored bill to reinstate the draft by a margin of 402 to 2, and both President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld are on record saying that a draft is unnecessary.
And yet MTVs Rock the Vote (www.rockthevote.com) posted a fake draft induction card signed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that says ‘this could be you.’ At the same time, John Kerry continues to use the draft as an issue in his campaign, saying that there is ‘great potential’ one will be reinstated if President Bush is reelected. Clearly, Rock the Vote has a bias toward John Kerry, which violates their non-partisan and non-profit status.
A protest is scheduled outside the MTV offices in Santa Monica from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, October 22. To get the flier, click here.
The ad can also be seen here.
A major TV ad buy has been made to show a TV commercial supporting GWB and showcasing his warmth, humanity and compassion.
The most expensive TV ad buy of the presidential campaign shows President Bush consoling a teenage girl whose mother died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.
The ad, created by the conservative Progress for America Voter Fund, will run until the election on cable stations and in nine key states at a cost of $14.2 million, said the group’s president, Brian McCabe.
The ad was inspired by a photo of Bush hugging Ashley Faulkner, who is now 16, while campaigning in Lebanon, Ohio, on May 4. The photo, taken by the girl’s father, Lynn Faulkner, was widely circulated on the Internet. As Bush shook hands in the crowd, the Faulkners’ neighbor told him that Ashley had lost her mom on 9/11. Bush enfolded Ashley in his arms and offered her comfort.
Regular readers of this weblog saw the photo, and read about the accompanying story, right here in a June 10th posting, A Private Citizen’s Photo of President Bush Circulates Across the Country.
Thanks again to Sal for forwarding that picture and story to me.
From the The Truth About Iraq:
You may not know:
- 80,000 Iraqi children are alive today because the Coalition Forces took Saddam Hussein from power.
- Polls show 75% of Iraqis want a democracy.
- 51% of Iraqis say their country is going in the right direction.
This is the truth about Iraq – the truth that people should know before they vote. We are airing commercials right now to get the truth out – see the commercial.
The site hosts a 30-second commercial (warning—it contains one graphic photo)—which states that:
The ad concludes:
Be proud America.
The site also has a page that debunks myths about Iraq, including:
Some of the debunking includes:
60% of Iraqis surveyed believe that the attacks are caused by people from outside Iraq to destabilize their country.
86% of Iraqis surveyed say that the attacks are an attempt to divide Iraq and incite civil war.
51% of Iraqis say Iraq is on the right track. In July of 2003, before the recall election, 24% of Californians thought California was on the right track.
It’s great stuff.
The site is run by a professional Market Researcher, who’s just spent a year on the ground in Iraq talking to the people in focus groups, and running opinion polls:
For most of the last year, California political consultant Steven Moore advised Ambassador Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority on Iraqi public opinion.
Mr. Moore helped develop Iraqi capacity for public opinion research. After conducting more than 70 focus groups in 13 Iraqi cities, and having a hand in writing and analyzing nearly a dozen public opinion polls, Mr. Moore is a leading expert on Iraqi public opinion.
In addition to his experience in Iraq, Mr. Moore was part of the team of American consultants that secretly advised Boris Yeltsin’s campaign in Russia, whose efforts were documented in a TIME Magazine covers story, featured and nightline and most recently portrayed in the award-winning Showtime movie “Spinning Boris,” starring Jeff Goldblum. He has worked with political leaders in five countries with Islamic extremist movements.
The site is excellent. Check it out.
39,300 people have already signed this petition organized by the Swift Boat Veterans, with more coming in every second as I am posting this.
The day John Kerry decided to apply for the commander-in-chief’s job backed by a war-hero rsum, we felt compelled to come forward to explain why he is unfit for command. We formed Swift Vets and POWs for Truth as a way to reach out to the others who served with us and who know the real John Kerry.
As more and more Americans discover the truth about John Kerry, weve decided to turn education into action. A petition has been drafted to demand that Senator Kerry to come clean about his war record and the irresponsible statements he made about U.S. soldiers and POWs.
With this in mind, we need your signature calling on Senator Kerry to correct the historical record. Were gathering as many signatures as possible to show Kerry and the media that the American people do not support this continuing injustice that has been perpetrated on their fathers, husbands and sons.
Please sign this petition and forward this email to 10 of your friends and acquaintances if youve already signed it, be sure to pass it along all the same. It is extremely important that we disseminate this petition out to as many people as possible and to do that we need your help!
Simply log on to https://www.swiftvets.com/swift/petition.php and sign today. It is time for conscientious citizens to demand an answer from the man running to be their president.
It is time for John Kerry to tell the truth.
Sincerely,
SwiftVets and POWs for Truth
Add your signature to the petition.
Update 10-19-04, 11:35 AM: Total signatures are now at 57,341.
Update 10-21-04, 12:47 AM: Total signatures are now at 80,529.
