QotD

"This is all passing strange. First our tutors lecture us that Islam is a religion of peace, that only bigots think otherwise. Now they're telling us that the faith of red-state Christians is so vile that it can only be compared to the beliefs of Muslims in Saudi Arabia and Iraq — that red-state Christians are as bad as the red-hots of al Qaeda in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, where only yesterday we were told there was no al Qaeda."

-- Columnist Wes Pruden

Justice

Sorry for the long blog-break. I think the entire blogosphere has post-election fatigue.

Big news from Friday besides the takeback of Fallujah ... it seems that finally, justice has come home for Laci Peterson and her baby boy, Conner.

I wasn't surprised that the jury took so long to convict, and I wouldn't have been surprised if there'd been a hung jury. Besides a paucity of direct evidence, this was the crime that no one wanted to believe could happen.

Why did the media focus on Laci and not other, equally valuable young mothers who met horrible deaths? Why was Scott's apparent guilt so hard to swallow? Answer: The Scott and Laci tragedy smacks the fairytale princess stories square in the face.

Scott and Laci -- young, tanned and beautiful -- were the golden couple. The ugliness of the world isn't supposed to touch people like that. If I understand my toothpaste and deodorant ads correctly, I'm supposed to enjoy fabulous wealth, plenty of good sex, loads of entertainment and a happy and abundant life if I'm just beautiful. How could anyone ... anywhere ... destroy a creature that gorgeous.

That's the sad news, folks. It ain't that simple. If anything, maybe our culture has elevated beauty and youth to a point so that those who possess it really believe they create their own make-believe world where everything belongs to them. They become God, and if history teaches us anything, we make really lousy Gods.

Baby got back

While I'm not a fan of the super-low rider jeans, I'm glad to see that fashion designers are realizing that women come in more sizes than "popsicle stick."

Big-Bottomed Mannequins Boost Profile in New York

QotD

"If Mr. Savage and others imagine that one can somehow 'overcome' the German army by lying on one's back, let them go on imagining it, but let them also wonder occasionally whether this is not an illusion due to security, too much money, and a simple ignorance of the way in which things actually happen...

"What I object to is the intellectual cowardice of people who are objectively and to some extent emotionally pro-Fascist, but who don't care to say so and take refuge behind the formula 'I am just as anti-Fascist as anyone, but--'. The result of that so-called peace propaganda is just as dishonest and intellectually disgusting as war propaganda. Like war propaganda, it concentrates on putting forward a 'case', obscuring the opponent's point of view and avoiding awkward questions."

- George Orwell

Get it while it's hot

Why "W" Won:

Small World, an editorial cartoon strip

QotD

" ... nobody who campaigns with Ben Affleck at his side has the right to call anybody an idiot."

Columnist Mark Steyn

We interrupt this blog ...

Your humble correspondent shall henceforth resolve to generate light, not heat, after someone rather close to me expressed surprise that I'd used some salty language in two recent posts about Osama bin Laden.

Granted, OBL could make the angels swear, but I shall endeavor to keep things PG from here on out.

Now, back to the blog ...

Now that's dedication for ya

Seeking a Cabinet position, maybe?

Yahoo! News - Doctor Gives Birth, Then Votes

Factor this

After five hours of sleep and multiple hits of caffeine, I’m rather punchy this afternoon and unable to say much more beyond what’s already been blogged about this amazing, historic, outrageously satisfying election. I’d particularly recommend MartiniPundit’s take on this election’s winners and losers.

What keeps me from going into the full version of the Geek Girl Happy Dance is the realization that this election should not have been this close, although Bush won by a more comfortable margin that I would have predicted. G.W. ran against a generally unappealing duo with scant accomplishments and off-the-charts liberal voting records. Minus the following factors, I might have been swigging Pepto Bismol rather than shiraz last night:

The Massachusetts Factor – As someone once pointed out, no Yankee Democrat has occupied the White House since JFK. New England/Ivy League culture is about as far away as you can get from the culture of middle-class America, and it saddled Kerry with an unbearable snoot factor that 10,000 John Edwardses could not counteract, which brings me to …

The John Edwards Factor – Ugh. Did anyone see Edwards’ little appearance before the Boston faithful early this morning? Someone call Disney World … I think the John Edwards Audio Animatronic® prototype for the "Hall of Presidents" escaped. That’s the only explanation for that robotic arm-pumping thing he was doing. Anyway … their attempt to draw Southern and female voters with a smarmy Ken doll tanked utterly.

The Vietnam Factor – Kerry had two problems here: those who didn’t give a rat’s butt about Vietnam and were unimpressed with his war-hero posturing … and those who still do give a rat’s butt about Vietnam and would like to have a word or two with Mr. Kerry.

The Flip-flop Factor – Excuse me, Mr. Kerry? Have you heard about this new invention called the Internet? It’s a vast storehouse of information where people not only can read what you’ve already said about an issue, they also can compare that to what you said today and then e-mail their friends about it. It’s an amazing thing, that Internet. You might want to check it out.

The Michael Moore Factor – Does anyone really like this guy? I mean, does he have friends? Just what was Jimmy Carter thinking in that sky box at the DNC? If I were Jimmy, I’d worry that Michael Moore would start flatulating uncontrollably and I’d be asphyxiated in five seconds flat.

The Teresa Factor – ‘Nuf said.

A conversation with a Kerry supporter

Sorry for the degeneration into gutter language in my Oct. 29 and Nov. 1 posts. OBL makes me madder than a wet cat.

Anyway ... had an Election Eve conversation with a coworker who is supporting Kerry. If I lived in a battleground state (Alabama is solidly Bush Country), I might have given her my best pro-GOP sell.

However, in the spirit of charity, I listened to her concerns about Bush's handling of Iraq and shared my own. It all comes down to your presuppositions about the nature of war, geopolitics, the threat of Islamofascism and the lessons of history. Based on her presuppositions, she's correct to support Kerry, and ditto for my support for Bush.

I also noticed a distinct generational and life-phase gap: She's a Boomer mother of two teenaged boys and fears a draft; I'm a Generation X-er who came of age in the Reagan era and watched us handily win the Persian Gulf War with Bush 41.

I'm not arguing relativism here. I'm just saying that there are Kerry supporters who are not unhinged, rabid agitators like Michael Moore -- they're our friends, family and colleagues who have legitimate concerns about the future of our nation.

But like I said ... if this were Ohio or Florida, I would have given it my best shot. :)

Let God and history judge us now.

Osama to US states: "Elect Kerry and we'll leave you alone"

Proof positive that Osama bin Laden has no idea who he's screwing with:

The Truth Laid Bear: Bin Laden or Alaa?

So, Osama is going after the Red States next, eh?

Hey, Osama! If you thought the response was harsh when you beat up on New York City, just wait until you pick on the good ol' boys, dimwit. Why else do you think you've had it so bad with a Texan in the White House?

WTF???

Osama bin Laden is starting to sound as disconnected from reality as Jimmy Carter. A few excerpts from a tape that has surfaced and aired on Al Jazeera television:

"It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the country (Bush) would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone ... because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important."

Oh, how stupid of us. You're right -- Mr. Bush should have repealed the laws of physics or something and not let those towers fall down after your 19 goons flew jumbo jets full of fuel into them. How utterly demented of us to blame you for the unfortunate deaths of 3,000 people. (NOT 50,000 people, dipshit.)

... bin Laden also said the U.S. administration resembled "corrupt" Arab governments.

As opposed to the "non-corrupt" Arab governments of .................?????

Oh, gawd ... is anyone else as bored as I am of this asshole? Of him and every other dipshit with a camcorder and warmed-over jihadi rhetoric?

I'm not saying Islamofascism shouldn't be taken seriously or that these people aren't dead serious about their campaign of terror and death.

But in the same way C.S. Lewis portrayed the devil in Perelandra, the self-appointed luminaries of Islamist lunacy are ultimately unoriginal and tiresome, their threats and harangues ringing more and more hollow as Truth and Light close in on them.

Post-dramatic stress disorder

Yes, you read correctly: post-dramatic stress disorder.

2004 has been an intense year for your humble correspondent, and the spectre of lawyers swarming the peaceful countryside like locusts on Nov. 3 just raises the drama quotient that much higher.

Is it just me, or is everyone about ready to crawl into a hole with a six-pack and a pillow and not emerge until St. Patrick's Day?

Thank goodness for the guys at JibJab.

"W" stands for "weather"

Our local weather service is predicting a the possibility of a potential outbreak of severe weather on Election Day. If George Bush wins, do you think the Dems will somehow blame him for manipulating the weather to suppress the Democratic vote? Maybe he has a secret weather manipulator machine in the White House basement?

"I'm John Kerry, and I've always been in favor of sunny skies and balmy temperatures. If you vote for me, it will never rain on your parade, and every cloud will have a silver lining, paid for by the rich people who've had more than their fair share of good weather. Meanwhile, my opponent says he never promised you a rose garden, that along with the sunshine there's gotta be a little rain sometime. And I say that's the rhetoric of the past! In my administration, we'll have no more hurricanes, no more tornadoes, and Mt. St. Helen's will sleep like a baby."

Vacuum cleaners, candy corn and Ol' Scratch himself

It’s almost Halloween again, time for much weeping and gnashing of teeth among some of the bretheren about the pagan origins of this holiday.

I’m not going to dispute the fact that bobbing for apples, trick-or-treating, dressing in costumes and jack o’ lanterns all have pagan origins. What gets me cranky is the idea that Ashley in her princess costume or Dylan with his bag of candy corn is invoking the Prince of Darkness himself. To start off my rant, let me ask you a question:

If a guy sits down at a restaurant, orders a glass of merlot and nibbles on a crusty baguette, is he having the Lord’s Supper?

Of course not, you’d say. Why not? After all, he’s drinking wine and eating bread. Isn’t that what the Lord’s Supper is all about?

You know where I’m going with this: He’s not taking the Lord’s Supper because the bread and wine are being consumed completely outside of any religious context or intent.

So … if context and intent give meaning to external actions, then what – if there is no occultic intent – is inherently wrong with putting on a costume, gutting a pumpkin and putting a candle in it, or sticking your head into a barrel of water to retrieve an apple with your teeth? Answer: NOTHING.

And don’t give me this hooey about someone “accidentally” invoking the powers of darkness through innocent words or actions. A lot of people will quote Exodus 23:13, which warns against even speaking the names of pagan gods. Well, if that meant any mention of a pagan god, how 'bout those two men named Apollos and Hermes (both named after pagan gods), who are identified in the New Testament as Christians?

And while I’m at it, let me give you a few more common names and words that are derived from pagan mythology:
- the names of the days of the week (e.g., Thursday is “Thor’s Day”)
- morphine (from Morpheus, god of sleep)
- cereal (from Ceres, goddess of grain)
- jovial (from Jove, the supreme god)
- hermeneutic (from Hermes, god who became associated with the Egyptian god Thoth)

(I know someone who took Exodus 23:13 to an absurd extreme. She refused to own a Dirt Devil™ vacuum cleaner, and she called her deviled eggs “angeled” eggs. Gack. Funny, though, I’m sure she felt jovial on Thursdays.)

Betcha didn't know that some of our favorite activities once had pagan associations. Surfing had sacred aspects for the ancient Hawaiians. The ancient Chinese believed that fireworks would scare away evil spirits. Where’s the uproar about surfing and fireworks?

When I was a kid, Halloween was simply about dressing up in fun costumes, playing with my friends and eating candy. Now we have “fall festivals” (or the goofier appellation "Holyween") so that kids can focus on – guess what – dressing up in fun costumes, playing with friends and eating candy. (And don't even get me started on "judgment houses.")

Granted, some Halloween imagery is disturbing and morbid. I am fully aware that there are modern-day “witches,” Druids and assorted pagans who regard Oct. 31 as a sacred day. Super. They have their holiday, I have mine. I’m not about to mistake Santa Claus, mistletoe and Rudolph for authentic Christianity, and I can distinguish between real occultism and the cultural observance of Halloween as a day of general fun and innocent mischief.

Mull that over while I enjoy a refreshing, ice-cold Pitch Black soda in honor of the season.

Sunday reflections

As much as I love politics, I have to be reminded of the limited power of government, law and policymaking in the quest to change the human experience. Internet Monk shares some sorely-needed perspective on this very topic.

THK: Nothing's sacred

I know everyone's read by now what Teresa Heinz Kerry said about First Lady Laura Bush's never having had a "real job."

The blogosphere immediately dispatched the knuckle-rapping that THK so richly deserved, and one would hope that she got privately thwacked by the DNC for being such a dipstick.

But let's take a second look at this "job" analogy. Should defenders of truth, justice and the American way be talking about what a real "job" motherhood is? I don't think so.

Gloria Steinem and her ilk hijacked the debate when they said motherhood was basically the conjugal version of so many minimum-wage jobs. A mom was a cook, maid and nanny, and she didn't even get overtime pay! In other words, motherhood was purely an economic transaction but without the paycheck.

Baloney. And we're piling on the mustard for a big, fat baloney sandwich when we start talking about moms being "CEOs of the household."

Motherhood is not a job. It is a relationship. For the love of God, it is a sacred calling.

For a child, the woman is the first contact to reality. She is the first embodiment of what is love and what is truth. For the first few years, the universe is called "Mother" (and, if the child is lucky, "Father," too.) How well a woman handles that sacred calling will be a huge factor in how well that child handles the totality of his or her life.

This is so much bigger and more transcendent than just a "job." There is nothing like it in the world of commerce, and it cannot be outsourced.

This is why I find THK's comments so stunning. She is a mother herself, so she should be praising the fact that Laura Bush answered the sacred call along with having a real job as a teacher and librarian.

But I shouldn't be surprised. The Left has told women for years that motherhood should be outsourced while women follow the sacred call of Self.

Ack!

In searching for the Web site for DHC Skin Care, I almost typed "www.dnc.com" into my browser's address window.

:-0

While I don't recommend health care or national defense by the DNC, let alone skin care, I do recommend DHC's line of products. You can find them at www.dhccare.com. Otherwise, you might wind up looking like this guy.

It's gettin' ugly, folks

Rachel Lucas shares a thoughtful and reflective look on the upcoming election.

You go, girl. (Hat tip: Martini Pundit.)

Ground Control to Major Jimmy

It now can be confirmed that former prez Jimmy Carter is no longer on planet Earth.

In an Oct. 18 interview with Chris Matthews on Hardball, Carter offers his views on the "necessity" of the Revolutionary War. (Yes, that war from the 1700s that you might have read about in history class, provided they teach history nowadays.)

Read it for yourself. (Hat tip: Little Green Footballs.)

More Photoshop parody of the peacenik parade

Apologizing to Saddam is groovy

Damn, this is funny.

Another great reason to vote GOP

ABC News: 'Primetime Live' Poll: More Republicans Satisfied With Sex Lives Than Democrats

Heh ... heh ... heh ...

If you really need a laugh break today

Tim Blair: THE TERRIFYING FACE OF FORGIVENESS

I know these people are well-meaning, but after you've reviewed the snapshots of these peaceniks (and the accompanying hilarious captions), don't miss the "apology accepted" photo for some sorely needed perspective.

Hate to break it to ya, folks, but the people we're making war against are not the Iraqi people themselves but bloodthirsty apes who would think nothing of turning you into mulch if it suited their purposes. If you still think we should leave them alone after a quick review of how Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley lost their lives, you just go right ahead.

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