Christmas Tree Bomber - Is There a Pattern?

The American Thinker asks Christmas Tree Bomber was Young Male Muslim. Could There Be a Pattern?

Mr. Wilson points out the facts, that the terrorist and would-be bomber is a young muslim (Somali) male named Mohamed Osman Mohamud. Her then goes on to make a further point. Referring to Derrick Jackson's piece in the Boston Globe defending the use of full-body scanner and aggressive "pat downs" (gropes). First a quote from Mr. Jackson and then the comment by Mr. Wilson

[T]hose today who are not willing to be scanned or complain about pat-downs, are in a fantasy world of personal entitlement. Call it the "Do-I-look-like-a-terrorist?'' syndrome. It has somehow escaped the critics that you cannot judge a terrorist by last name, skin color, or gender.

Who's in the fantasy world here? Only the willfully blind can ignore that nearly every terror threat in the last forty years has come from young males with names like Mohammad Massalha (Munich massacre), Abdelbaset al-Megrahi (Lockerbie), Mohammed Atta, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and Faisal Shahzad. The argument of people like Jackson is that once we start profiling 20-year old Somali men named Mohamed, al-Qaeda will recruit Swedish grandmothers. Maybe so, but to date this theory is not supported by any reality-based evidence.

Our incompetent government, having adopted the willful blindness of the Left™ would rather subvert the Constitution and destroy the Bill of Rights (4th amendment anyone?) than observe and act on the obvious. Unless we are doing intelligent profiling the TSA's efforts in our airports are not only a complete waste of time and money, but dangerous to our liberty and that which makes America exceptional; a Constitutionally limited government, a society with no "built-in" or otherwise established caste system, the freedom to our property and run a business, the freedom to succeed or fail on your own merits, etc. These are things that, all together, no other country has. We are now seeing our own government first, not understanding this and secondly, destroying it.

It is time to open our eyes and find the enemy so that we can destroy him. No more politically correct (does anyone besides me sense the tyrannical nature of that phrase?) blindness.

BTW: The 4th Amendment to the Constitution reads;

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Quaint.

Our Incompetent Government - North Korea Wins Again

When will our "leadership" learn to stop playing into the Murderer Freak-boy's hand?

It is true that our "leaders" have wised up enough (finally!) to avoid being cowed into giving Kim the direct talks or the six-way talks that he wants. So, a little good news there.

US envoy Bosworth rules out resumption of 6-party talks

Bosworth said the six-nation talks won’t resume while Pyongyang works on a new uranium facility.

“Needless to say, we regard this development with great seriousness,” he told reporters. “We do not contemplate resuming negotiations while active programs are under way or while there is a possibility that North Koreans will test another nuclear device or test a missile.”

The multilateral talks, stalled since late 2008, include the two Koreas, China, the U.S., Japan and Russia. North Korea has called for an early resumption, while South Korea and the U.S. maintain that Pyongyang must first apologize for the sinking of a South Korean warship last March and show sincerity on denuclearization.

Washington made it clear on Monday that it would not reward North Korea for its bad behavior, saying it must take steps toward denuclearization.

“We will not be drawn into rewarding North Korea for bad behavior,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. “They frequently anticipate doing something outrageous or provocative, and forcing us to jump through hoops as a result. We’re not going to buy into this cycle.”

But, there is more, and Kim still has our number.

This from The World Tribune. Regarding the recent shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, U.S. missed North Korea peace signal, delivers weak response

“The United States strongly condemns this attack and calls on North Korea to halt its belligerent action and to fully abide by the terms of the Armistice Agreement. The United States is firmly committed to the defense of our ally, the Republic of Korea, and to the maintenance of regional peace and stability,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. “We are in close and continuing contact with our Korean allies.” NSC Chief Tom Donilon added that President Obama was “outraged” by the attack, and that he was planning to call President Lee “to express American solidarity”.

In the absence of a swift and overwhelming military reaction by the US and its allies, the DPRK’s gambit worked once again, just as it did with the sinking of the RoKN corvette Cheonan on March 26, 2010.

In ordering the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, Kim Jong-Il had two major objectives:

1. Demonstrate the weakness and indecisiveness of the U.S., thus assuring Pyongyang there is no reason to fear retaliation or U.S. guarantees to the RoK, as Pyongyang would be pursuing its ascent and confrontation.

2. Coerce Washington into Iran-style direct negotiations with the DPRK as two nuclear powers if only because failing to placate Pyongyang would lead to more military incidents and further political embarrassment for the U.S.

This process is intended to guarantee that the Kim dynasty would not be threatened by the U.S. and its allies even if the DPRK was tottering due to economic crises. The ultimate objective of Kim Jong-Il is to bequeath this strategic posture to Kim Jong-Un.

As always, read the whole thing.

Delusions of the Left

This is a slightly older piece that I have intended to post, but with events current in my life, just didn't get around to. It is, however, still good.

Vietnam, Israel and the Left’s Delusional Narratives

The comparisons between the views held by the left on Vietnam and their views on the contemporary conflict surrounding Israel are obvious.

As with Vietnam, leftists today claim that Israel acts out of imperialism, racism and colonialism. As with Vietnam leftists today completely ignore the nature or intentions of the regimes and groups attacking Israel. Most leftists have no clue about the Nazi history and ideology of the Baathist regimes of Syria, Jordan, Egypt and (formally) Iraq. They know nothing of the regimes’ need to maintain Israel as an external enemy in order to maintain their own rule. As with Vietnam, they view the nature and intentions of the opposing actors as irrelevant because the primary driver for the conflict is the internal failings of Israel.

As with Vietnam, leftists accuse Israel of routinely and intentionally committing war crimes, while the immediately obvious and overt routine and intentional war crimes — e.g., suicide bombings aimed at civilians — of Israel’s attackers are relentlessly downplayed into insignificance. As with Vietnam, all claims of war crimes made by Israel’s enemies are taken as true without independent confirmation. As with Vietnam, all accidental deaths, even those clearly orchestrated by Israel’s enemies, are blamed on Israel’s disdain for human life. As with Vietnam, any real Israeli war crimes brought to light, even those brought to light by the Israelis themselves, are proclaimed to be merely the tip of an aiceberg instead of outliers.

As with Vietnam, the delusional narrative used by the left originates primarily from the propaganda of the non-democratic actors. All the delusions of the “peace” movement in Vietnam came first from communists, usually transmitted via Europe and then mindlessly accepted by leftists in America. The left in America swallowed communist propaganda as mechanically as a python engulfing a pig. Likewise, the left today will swallow any accusation against Israel.

and

Why leftists in mass repeatedly fall into the same pattern of delusional narratives goes beyond the scope of this post. What is important is the fact that they do, and that therefore you can’t actually argue with them using facts or concepts that leftists don’t believe fit within the narrative. Doing so is as jarring to them as would be writing a cowboy character into Hamlet. They just put down the “book” in disgust and leave the conversation.

Instead of arguing with leftists about Israel, using facts they will ignore or transmogrify to fit the narrative, instead argue against their use of the narrative itself. Drive home the point that leftists keep to a “script” that just has the names changed in order to fit any particular circumstance. Hammer on the parallels between the Vietnam narrative, which we now can prove was delusional, and the narrative about Israel or other conflicts.

Every time you find yourself in a discussion or debate with leftists about Israel, bring up the obvious parallels between the current narrative and the failed narrative of Vietnam. Point out that the same people who fell for communist propaganda then, fall for similar propaganda now. Point out that the evils assigned to America then, such as war crimes, are the same as the evils assigned to Israel today. Point out that the poor quality of the evidence accepted against America then is the same quality of evidence accepted against Israel now. Point out that just as the left ignored the internal natures and dangers of the communists back then, the left ignores the internal natures and dangers of the groups and regimes opposing Israel now.

Most importantly, remind them that their “victory” back then lead to incredible bloodshed and oppression. Then pray to all gods and fates that this time, even though we have started with the same delusional narrative, we can “write” a different ending.

Go read the whole thing. Shannon Love spells out the Left's™ delusions about Vietnam and discusses how they are being repeated with respect to Israel. History will reveal the truth as it has with Vietnam. Sadly, not only do we already know the truth, as anyone with open eyes does, but the delusional Left™ will forever continue to deny it.