Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

"If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career, or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq," Mr. Rangel, a Democrat representing Manhattan and Queens, said on "Fox News Sunday."

"If there's anyone who believes these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No bright young individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment," the congressman said.

"Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives, rather than as a devout expression of gratitude grounded in the tradition of both the Old and New Testaments. Here is the part [of Thanksgiving] that has been omitted: The original contract the Pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share.

"All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belong to the community as well. They were going to distribute it equally. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community as well. Nobody owned anything. They just had a share in it. It was a commune, folks. It was the forerunner to the communes we saw in the '60s and '70s out in California – and it was complete with organic vegetables, by the way. Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that this form of collectivism was as costly and destructive to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter, which had taken so many lives. He decided to take bold action. Bradford assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage, thus turning loose the power of the marketplace.

"That's right. Long before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism. And what happened? It didn't work! Surprise, surprise, huh? What Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personal motivation! But while most of the rest of the world has been experimenting with socialism for well over a hundred years – trying to refine it, perfect it, and re-invent it – the Pilgrims decided early on to scrap it permanently. What Bradford wrote about this social experiment should be in every schoolchild's history lesson. If it were, we might prevent much needless suffering in the future.


"'The experience that we had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years...that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing – as if they were wiser than God,' Bradford wrote. 'For this community [so far as it was] was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense...that was thought injustice.' Why should you work for other people when you can't work for yourself? What's the point?

"Do you hear what he was saying, ladies and gentlemen? The Pilgrims found that people could not be expected to do their best work without incentive. So what did Bradford's community try next? They unharnessed the power of good old free enterprise by invoking the undergirding capitalistic principle of private property. Every family was assigned its own plot of land to work and permitted to market its own crops and products. And what was the result? 'This had very good success,' wrote Bradford, 'for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been.' Bradford doesn't sound like much of a..." I wrote "Clintonite" then. He doesn't sound much like a liberal Democrat, "does he? Is it possible that supply-side economics could have existed before the 1980s? Yes.

"Read the story of Joseph and Pharaoh in Genesis 41. Following Joseph's suggestion (Gen 41:34), Pharaoh reduced the tax on Egyptians to 20% during the 'seven years of plenty' and the 'Earth brought forth in heaps.' (Gen. 41:47) In no time, the Pilgrims found they had more food than they could eat themselves.... So they set up trading posts and exchanged goods with the Indians. The profits allowed them to pay off their debts to the merchants in London. And the success and prosperity of the Plymouth settlement attracted more Europeans and began what came to be known as the 'Great Puritan Migration.'" Now, other than on this program every year, have you heard this story before? Is this lesson being taught to your kids today -- and if it isn't, why not?

The assumption is that America will cut and run.

Salafist groups linked to al Qaeda believe that this will mean a stampede of those Iraqis who worked with the Americans. Iraq's Shiite leaders would flee to Iran, where most had been in exile before Saddam Hussein's fall. Kurdish political and business elites will flee to the three provinces they have held since 1991. This would enable the Salafists, in alliance with the remnants of Saddam Hussein's Presidential Guards, to enter Baghdad and seize power.

Absent in that calculation is the role Iran might play: Will the mullahs sit back as Salafists and Saddamites lay the foundations of a new Arab regime that would turn against Shiite-dominated Iran?

Radical Shiites have their own vision of Iraq after the Americans have fled. They believe that, backed by Iran, they'll be able to move into the four Arab Sunni provinces that have been restive since 2004 - and crush the Saddamites and al Qaeda. This ignores the certainty that any Iranian intervention in Iraq will provoke a massive Arab reaction - with Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and even Syria (now an Iranian ally) forced to back Sunni Arabs in Iraq.

In other words, any hasty American withdrawal from Iraq could lead to either a long and bloody civil war or an even longer and bloodier regional conflict.

Radical circles are unanimous in their belief that Iran can now proceed with its nuclear program without fear of U.S. and allied retaliation. They expect Democrats to revert to Clinton-era policy and seek a "Grand Bargain" with the Islamic Republic - acknowledging Iran as the major regional power and recognizing its right to the full cycle of nuclear technology.

Radical Islamists in both Iran and the Arab countries believe that the Democrats' victory indicates "growing American lassitude." They believe that, once it becomes clear that Americans don't want to fight for the Middle East, many in Israel would emigrate to America and Europe to escape the constant daily pressure from Islamist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.

The mullahs and al Qaeda may soon find out that their celebration of "the end of Bush" was premature. Some Democrats may have promised cut-and-run. But, once in power, the party as a whole may realize (to its horror) that, this time, those from whom Americans run away will come after them.

And here the news may be good: By many accounts, even where inequality is increasing, poverty is on the decline. The 2002 UNDP Human Development report notes that the proportion of the world's people living in extreme poverty dropped from 29 percent in 1990 to 23 percent in 1999. Says Friedman, "If it's inequality you're worried about, the world is becoming a less good place. But if it's poverty you're worried about, while we still have a ways to go, the world is becoming a better place."

In 1980 Friedman broadened his audience further with the publication of a book, "Free to Choose," and an accompanying PBS television series. Millions of people watched "Free to Choose" and came to understand how markets work. One viewer, a young actor named Arnold Schwarzenegger, said in 1994: "In Austria I noticed that people would worry about when they would get their pension. In America, they would worry if they were going to meet their potential. Friedman's books explained to me how a dynamic capitalist system allows people to fulfill their dreams."

Make health insurance more like other types of insurance; Foster competition; Reform Medicaid, using welfare reform as the template; Revisit Medicare; Address prescription drug prices by pruning the size and scope of the FDA.

Competition drives innovation.

That’s not just true of health care. It’s true for every sector of the economy. Think about the computer sitting on your desk – it’s much better than the computer you had just a few years ago. It’s faster and more powerful. It’s also cheaper. No wonder – hundreds of companies compete, trying to build a better computer for you (and others) for less money.

Health care doesn’t follow that general rule of thumb. Consider that health insurance premiums have doubled over the past 5 years. Would anyone argue that health insurance is twice as good? Part of the problem is that – with Americans overinsured – we haven’t seen a proper market for health care in the United States. People don’t demand better quality at lower prices.

It’s also true that much government regulation has stood in the way of competition. As I argue in The Cure, Congress has worked hard to reduce competition for, say, community hospitals from physician-owned surgery clinics, even though studies suggest that the latter tend to have better health outcomes at lower cost. The FDA has raised the regulatory bar so high that only a dozen companies in the world can bring a drug to the nation’s pharmacies. The end result: less innovation for pharmaceuticals.

Glenn Beck, interviewed on today's Rush Limbaugh Show

RUSH: Oh, by the way, Glenn, I read something today. You know, al-Jazeera, English version al-Jazeera starts today, and I read that they're going to make just a few editorial changes. For example, Palestinian suicide bombers are referred to over there as martyrs.

GLENN BECK: Yes.

RUSH: They will not be referred to as martyrs here.

GLENN BECK: Bad guys? Maybe we could call 'em bad guys.

RUSH: They're not even going to be referred that way, but they're not going to be referred to as martyrs. So what good is this network here?

GLENN BECK: Well, I tell you. There's a couple things. First of all, let's call a spade a spade: It's al-Jazeera. It is Osama's You Tube in the first place. The second place is if they decide to split that much, it's really kind of good for us in a way. First of all I'd cancel my subscription to any satellite company or cable company that carried it, but the other thing is, if they look like they are betraying the Islamic movement over here just to move some product, they will appear as if they are in bed with the great Satan, and that ain't going to be good for al-Jazeera.

RUSH: That's going to happen. What I'm looking forward to is for al-Jazeera to look just like NBC, CBS, ABC, and for people to not be able to draw a distinction. There's no difference between the all-Arab network and the big three here in the United States. There's a lot of potential here to do good. Anyway, Glenn Beck, in New York.

Related: Sen. Jon Kyl was on the Laura Ingraham show this morning--talking about a possible GOP filibuster of the Bush amnesty plan.

In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated her for Secretary of Labor, but the nomination was withdrawn after it was revealed that she had allegedly employed an illegal immigrant who lived in her home. Chavez contended that she had not actually employed the woman, but had merely provided her with emergency assistance. [Recalling from memory, she was fleeing an abusive husband - AKH] The woman Chavez allegedly employed (who is now a legal citizen of the United States) also insists she was not an employee of Chavez, and credits Chavez with helping her at a time when she needed it most. A subsequent investigation of the matter by the FBI found Chavez was not guilty of any wrongdoing.

During the last congressional session, her district received far more earmarks than a typical district, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog that tracks congressional spending.

Rangel was quoted in a Thursday article in The New York Times, saying: "Mississippi gets more than their fair share back in federal money, but who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?":

Elbert Garcia, Rangel's press secretary in New York, said Rangel had received calls Thursday about the Mississippi quote.

Garcia e-mailed The Associated Press a response from Rangel: "I certainly don't mean to offend anyone, I just love New York so much that I can't understand why everyone wouldn't want to live here."

Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the nation and gets back more from the federal government than it pays for many programs. For example, Mississippi has one of the highest federal matching rates for Medicaid, getting back nearly $3 in federal money for every $1 of state money in the program that helps pay for health care for the needy, aged, blind and disabled, and for low-income families with children.

Mississippi also has received billions of dollars in federal relief since Hurricane Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, destroying tens of thousands of homes and businesses and causing damage to more than 150 miles inland.

“From the Coast to the Delta to the Pinebelt to the Hills and across Mississippi, there is beauty in every city, charity in every heart, love in every church, and majesty in every countryside. When I travel this state I see it in the resolute handshakes, the hospitable smiles, and the sincere prayers of our neighbors: we love Mississippi and we are proud and happy to live here,” Pickering said.
Pickering concluded, “Last year, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Coast. We have been working hard not only to rebuild our own homes and communities, but also to repair and protect the network of refineries, pipelines, and transmission grids that supply energy, gas, and oil to the rest of the country, including New York. If Mr. Rangel believes those efforts required more than our fair share of federal money, he is welcome to send that energy back to our state and find an alternative supply...

Freeze a Yankee, drive seventy-five and freeze 'em alive
Freeze a Yankee, let your thermostat rise and give 'em a surprise
Governor Briscoe promised us that if any [darn] Yankee [raised] a fuss
We’d turn off the gas, cut off the oil and let 'em all freeze and boil

Now President Carter was a good ol’ boy, a Southerner through and through
But when he asked all Americans to sacrifice, he really meant you-know-who
He wants all our oil and our nuclear fuels
Now what does he take us for, silly fools?
The president wants us to pass our gas, now ain’t that a kick in the . . .

Freeze a Yankee, drive seventy-five and freeze 'em alive
Freeze a Yankee, let your thermostat rise and give 'em a surprise
Governor Briscoe promised us that if any [darn] Yankee [raised] a fuss
We’d turn off the gas, cut off the oil and let 'em all freeze and boil

They don’t want an oil rig around their seashore, Lord its a terrible sight
And don’t you try to drill in their dirty, old water, if you do you’re in for a fight
Senator Kennedy told me himself
That he wouldn’t let us drill on the Continental Shelf
So when they try to get Texans to drill another well, we can tell 'em all to go to . . .
Hyannis Port

Freeze a Yankee, drive seventy-five and freeze 'em alive
Freeze a Yankee, let your thermostat rise and give 'em a surprise
Governor Briscoe promised us that if any [darn] Yankee [raised] a fuss
We’d turn off the gas, cut off the oil and let 'em all freeze and boil

Cram them Yankees into little bitty cars while we drive around in limousines
There ain’t nothin’ in the world any more fun then pumpin’ gas in them big mo-chines
Us Texans love our Cadillacs, big Continentals and Pontiacs
We’re gonna keep all the oil that we can make, and let them Yankees shiver and shake

Freeze a Yankee, drive seventy-five and freeze 'em alive
Freeze a Yankee, let your thermostat rise and give 'em a surprise
Governor Briscoe promised us that if any [darn] Yankee [raised] a fuss
We’d turn off the gas, cut off the oil and let 'em all freeze and boil

Them Yankees say they need our oil and they gotta have gasoline
But don’t you put no refineries way up north, they wanna keep their air real clean
They only got enough lignite to last till midnight
Not enough fuel to keep their beer real cool
But we’ll send you lots of oil, now don’t you fear
If you promise not to move down here!

Freeze a Yankee, drive seventy-five and freeze 'em alive
Freeze a Yankee, let your thermostat rise and give 'em a surprise
Governor Briscoe promised us that if any [darn] Yankee [raised] a fuss
We’d turn off the gas, cut off the oil and let 'em all freeze and boil

Freeze a Yankee, Alleluia
Keep your Confederate credit cards, the South’s gonna rise again!

It turns out that the group with which McGovern is meeting is "the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a 62-member group led by Reps. Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee." Rep. Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against authorizing military action against al Qaeda in 2001.

Still, 62 Democrats are enough to make up slightly over one-fourth of the new congressional majority, and it's mildly unsettling to consider that such a significant faction would agree with nonsense such as this:

McGovern must have a really short memory. For his information, here's a timeline:

• Dec. 29, 1992: Al Qaeda bombs a hotel in Aden, Yemen, and attempts to bomb a second one, unsuccessfully targeting U.S. Marines staying there.
  
• Feb. 26, 1993: Al Qaeda bombs World Trade Center, killing six adults and an unborn child.
  
• Feb. 22, 1998: Osama bin Laden issues a fatwa declaring war on the U.S.
  
• Aug. 7, 1998: Al Qaeda bombs U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing more than 220.
  
• Oct. 12, 2000: Al Qaeda attacks USS Cole in Aden, killing 17 sailors.
  
• Sept. 11, 2001: Al Qaeda attacks World Trade Center and Pentagon with hijacked planes, killing some 3,000 people, mostly civilians.
  
• December 2002: George McGovern, in an essay for Harper's, blames America for terrorism.
  
• March 20, 2003: Operation Iraqi Freedom begins.

To quote [the English boarder] in Ulysses, it seems history is to blame. As far as I can tell, it is virtually unheard of for a president to go 4-0. To accomplish this, a president must be elected twice in a row and his party must avoid defeat in both off-year congressional elections. I don't know whether Andrew Jackson did it, but I don't believe it's been done since. Even 3-0 is rare. If a president is fortunate enough to be re-elected, odds are that the voters will punish him (and his party) in an off-year election.

In fact, as Kinsley notes, the Democrats have no plans for anything other than their normal asset redistributions to special-interest groups and selected victim classes. They want small businesses to shoulder the cost of a 50% health-care tax, which they think will solve the health-care crisis. It's more likely to start a small-business crisis as firms collapse under the weight of the new costs. Since the engine of economic growth lies in small businesses and start-ups, the effect will be to start a recession and to drive people into larger corporations for their investments. Instead of building a more robust middle class, the Democrats will remove competition and escalate centralization of economic power.

Also, Kinsley also discovers that for all of the talk about fiscal discipline and responsibility in this election cycle, the Democrats did not specify a single new revenue source for all of their new programs. They rail about the profligate Republicans, in an attempt to convince fiscal conservatives to consider the Democrats as their own "new direction", and talk a lot about "pay as you go" as the principle for budgeting. However, they leave the reader with no clue as to how the Democrats will find the money for all of their giveaways and redistributions ... which means that they have some tax increases that they don't want to mention.

The Democrats offer defeat, retreat, and an economic collapse darned near complete. Even Kinsley can't put a good face on this fiasco. No wonder Nancy Pelosi has been hiding for the last week.

Theres a man in Iraqi that's world-renowned
(Alley Oop, oop, oop-oop)
He's stationed way out back in Karbala town
(Alley Oop, oop, oop-oop)
He dont eat nothin' but a MRE stew
(Alley Oop, oop, oop-oop)
Well this cat's name is-a Alley Oop
(Alley Oop, oop, oop-oop)

He got a armored Humvee instead of dinosaw-ah
(Alley Oop, oop, oop-oop)
And he can shoot off your head before you count to faw-ah
(Alley Oop, oop, oop-oop)
He got M-16 rifle and a big ugly mort-ah
(Alley Oop, oop, oop-oop)
He go hunt for Baathist rebels and-a al-Qaeda
(Alley Oop, oop, oop-oop)

(Alley Oop)
He's the toughest GI there is alive
(Alley Oop)
Wearin' clothes from a wildcat's hide
(Alley Oop)
He's the king of the desert jive
Look at that cave man go!

If you read the Duelfer Report, it claims that he was planning to reconstitute his nuclear program as soon as sanctions were lifted and the heat was off. This (among other things) was the purpose of all the bribes to the French and Russians.

The Frenchies and the Russians were pushing hard to get ALL sanctions lifted, starting with deauthorizing the no fly zones. When that happened the Kurds and Shiites would have been in deep Shiite. Then with all sanctions lifted and a huge resevoir of good well built up through billions of dollars worth of bribes, does ANYONE seriously think, especially with the Iranian ramp up in nuclear ambitions (remember Saddam was more scared of them than us) , that Saddam, in the face of complete impotence from the west in dealing with Iran, not restarted his program?

"Of course Americans should vote Democrat," Jihad Jaara, a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, told WND.

"This is why American Muslims will support the Democrats, because there is an atmosphere in America that encourages those who want to withdraw from Iraq. It is time that the American people support those who want to take them out of this Iraqi mud," said Jaara, speaking to WND from exile in Ireland, where he was sent as part of an internationally brokered deal that ended the church siege.

Muhammad Saadi, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, said the Democrats' talk of withdrawal from Iraq makes him feel "proud."

"As Arabs and Muslims we feel proud of this talk," he told WND. "Very proud from the great successes of the Iraqi resistance. This success that brought the big superpower of the world to discuss a possible withdrawal.

Abu Ayman, an Islamic Jihad leader in Jenin, said he is "emboldened" by those in America who compare the war in Iraq to Vietnam.

"[The mujahedeen fighters] brought the Americans to speak for the first time seriously and sincerely that Iraq is becoming a new Vietnam and that they should fix a schedule for their withdrawal from Iraq," boasted Abu Ayman.

Many Democratic politicians and some from the Republican Party have stated a withdrawal from Iraq would end the insurgency there.

In a recent interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, stated, "The jihadists (are) in Iraq. But that doesn't mean we stay there. They'll stay there as long as we're there."

Islamic Jihad's Saadi, laughing, stated, "There is no chance that the resistance will stop."

He said an American withdrawal from Iraq would "prove the resistance is the most important tool and that this tool works. The victory of the Iraqi revolution will mark an important step in the history of the region and in the attitude regarding the United States."

Jihad Jaara said an American withdrawal would "mark the beginning of the collapse of this tyrant empire (America)."

"Therefore, a victory in Iraq would be a greater defeat for America than in Vietnam."

Jaara said vacating Iraq would also "reinforce Palestinian resistance organizations, especially from the moral point of view. But we also learn from these (insurgency) movements militarily. We look and learn from them."

Hamas' Abu Abdullah argued a withdrawal from Iraq would "convince those among the Palestinians who still have doubts in the efficiency of the resistance."

"The victory of the resistance in Iraq would prove once more that when the will and the faith are applied victory is not only a slogan. We saw that in Lebanon (during Israel's confrontation against Hezbollah there in July and August); we saw it in Gaza (after Israel withdrew from the territory last summer) and we will see it everywhere there is occupation," Abdullah said.

Saadi stated, "Unfortunately I think those who are speaking about a withdrawal will not do so when they are in power and these promises will remain electoral slogans. It is not enough to withdraw from Iraq. They must withdraw from Afghanistan and from every Arab and Muslim land they occupy or have bases."

He called both Democrats and Republicans "agents of the Zionist lobby in the U.S."

Abu Abdullah commented once Democrats are in power "the question is whether such a courageous leadership can [withdraw]. I am afraid that even after the American people will elect those who promise to leave Iraq, the U.S. will not do so. I tell the American people vote for withdrawal. Abandon Israel if you want to save America. Now will this Happen? I do not believe it."

Still Jihad Jaara said the alternative is better than Bush's party.

"Bush is a sick person, an alcoholic person that has no control of what is going on around him. He calls to send more troops but will very soon get to the conviction that the violence and terror that his war machine is using in Iraq will never impose policies and political regimes in the Arab world."

Guy Fawkes has been banned by council bosses in east London - and replaced with a Bengali folk tale. Tower Hamlets said it wanted to provide an "alternative" theme to celebrate November 5 and the attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament...

One third of Tower Hamlets' population of 196,000 is Bengali - about 65,000. But Bengalis dominate the council and its cabinet with 31 of the 51 councillors. Tower Hamlets council insisted they were neither being politically correct nor forgetting the Gunpowder Plot.

Officials said: "We did Guy Fawkes last year" and insisted it was their tradition to have a different theme each year. In a statement, a spokesman said: "And this differentiates our celebrations from other boroughs and our events are proving to be extremely popular.