21 January 2005

liberal losers and terrorists abound

So the libs are now moaning and whining in complaint that President Bush didn't specifically mention Iraq in his Inaugural speech. We Conservatives shouldn't let that get to us, however, because it's not really the libs' fault. After all, they do spend their entire life repeating the pre-approved buzzwords from on high, so how could they react with anything less than indignation when confronted with a person who actually thinks AND speaks for themself?

Oh, wait a sec-- even though they're libs, they do have the power of free will and are therefore conscious decision makers in their own right. So, regarding that part about their whining not being their own fault.... nix it. It is.

And the fact that they support terrorism is their fault, too.

Shabbat Shalom, y'all!

17 January 2005

SHH!! It's not all about Bush....

You know I'm a Bush fan. Since I've become politically active, I've become a heck of a lot more vocal on the things that matter to me the most; I'm not just nodding and smiling and hoping not to offend anyone anymore. Therefore even the guy who decided to start railing on G.W. in the middle of our first date knows I'm a Bush fan. (I was quite proud of myself, actually, for sticking up for what I believe in. Not that it was that challenging. It doesn't take many brain cells to give an educated response to "Well, I think judges, like, when the law is wrong, they like, have a right to change it any way they see fit and stuff." Socialist. But, I digress.) I'm glad G.W. was elected, and I'm glad they're spending a huge amount of money on this inauguration. I love free market capitalism at work.

But this isn't all about Bush, you know.

Conservatives and Republicans have demonstrated a tendency to toot their own horns lately. Sure, after the vicious election season we all have a right to take joy in our victory, but humility has its benefits. Just the other day Rush Limbaugh warned that if the Republican Party gets cocky a la the Kennedy left, they'll lose any ground they've won, and he's right (as he is 96% of the time). Part of this cockiness is this extreme, almost 1940s-esque patriotism that seems to exhibit itself in an overwhelming support of the President. Supporting the President is great (when he's the right guy for the job) but turning that support into a near-monarch mandate is not. Conservatives and Republicans must remember that President Bush may be our Commander-in-Cheif, but he isn't the sole warrior in the battle. He can't do it all, he can't save us all, he isn't America's Messiah.

Norman Podhoretz's current piece on World War IV and the Bush mandate in 'Commentary' illustrates this Messiah-like image that has been dropped onto Bush's shoulders by his supporters, as if they'd elected Atlas and not a fellowAmerican. It's great to preach support for the cause, but when shifting collective responsibility onto one individual's shoulders, the job suddenly becomes a yoke too heavy for any single person to bear, and we risk losing victory forever.

Bush voters were dubbed "The Silent Majority" after this year's election simply because after nearly a year of vicious anti-Bush attacks performed by the Kerry campaign, which resulted in what should have been a landslide victory being "too close to call" for many political analysts even days beforehand, President Bush was reelected through both the electoral college and the popular vote. So, where were all these Bush supporters during the wicked campaign season? Mostly doing the same thing they're doing now-- nothing. Living their lives like "ordinary Americans" (whatever that means, anymore) and waiting until election day to let their voice be heard.

Why?

Why weren't more people speaking up? Why, in an election where the two main candidates were, respectively, a Republican and a Socialist, didn't all those "average Americans" with that love for "G-d and country" and democracy and all that great flag-waving fervor speak up? The man Bush was running against was the modern-day Benedict Arnold with a distinctly French flavor (that derived from wayyy more than the escargot, but was nonetheless quite fishy) and the majority of 60 million Americans felt the need to say NOTHING about it? To do NOTHING about it, except wait and vote?

In case you didn't realise, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry didn't just wait for their turn to vote for independence. They didn't sit idly by and employ the "the less said, the better" and "don't encourage them" reasoning so common among, say, the European Jews circa 1933. They saw something desperately wrong, and they knew that if they didn't do something about it, both they and their ancestors would pay for their gross inactions.

Right now, thousands of Jewish Israelis are going door-to-door with petitions, sitting in peaceful protest for weeks on end, and marching across their country to demand their right to be heard by their own government before they are forced to lose their homes. Here in America, we are "living like ordinary Americans" and letting our dwindling academic minority toot an occassional horn of support while we let our President do all the work.

In case you haven't noticed, America, our nation is DYING from the inside. Do you think one man, no matter how much power he seemingly weilds, can revive us from our stupor? Do you think our problems are so miniscule in the scheme of things that we can work, eat, sleep, go to the occassional movie and think everything is going to be just O.K.? The War on Terror isn't a million miles away; there are radical Islamists in this country who want to kill us for what we believe-- suicide bombers and militants who want to do to us what their bretheren are doing to the people of Israel every single day. And until we follow the lead of a set of courageous Israelis, we have no hope for survival. Until we speak up, until we take action, until we take it upon ourselves to defend our rights, we have no right to blame others for the violence that falls upon us. We need to rely on more than the President, more than our military, more than the cops on the corner to keep us alive; we need to rely on ourselves.

One Israeli once said, "How do you deal with terror? When every driver looks to the driver on the left, to the driver on the right. You can see the fear in the eyes of someone about to commit a terrorist act. Security is the responsibility of everyone. Don't expect someone else to do it for you." Don't expect George W. Bush to do it for you, America. On November 2nd, you gave the mandate to the President, and at the same time, you gave a mandate to yourselves.

07 January 2005

American Newsmedia WIPEOUT!

I have decided that the Tsunami which hit Phuket (admit it, great title there) far outreached the precincts of Thailand and Indonesia and did, in fact, wipeout every single major American newsmedia outlet and reporter around the country. Still in shock, these media agencies (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, LA Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, NY Times) are unable to do anything but sit in a corner, rocking themselves back and forth, and blubbering something about financial aid.

Not one single major news source's website has any front page headlines regarding the Disengagement Protests going on in Israel right now. What are they talking about? In order of importance: tsunami, tsunami, tsunami, money for the tsunami, the tsunami, Andrea Yates, and the fact that Ashlee Simpson (or whatever blondeish pop star you want) was booed at the Orange Bowl.

Meanwhile, conservative talk radio on the whole is busy nailing the "stingy" remarks and the "torture memos" while convincing America that we're all great and fine and wonderful, and look! There's Ike now! Hey Sis, let's go to the weenie roast this weekend after the church bazaar!

Here's my idea of what we should be talking about right now:

1. Killing terrorists. Of course, this would mean coming up with an accurate, logical definition of who these terrorists are, which apparently we can't do. (We're still trying to draw the line between Muslims and Islamofascists, and by the way, the Muslim Student Association is a totally legitimate organization despite the fact that it bankrolls Hizbullah. Shhh.)

2. The Disengagement Plan. Now, this technically falls into topic #1, but it can be expounded on to include such topics as: kicking all "Palestinians" out of the Israeli land they're occupying and sending them back to Jordan and the other Arab countries from which they came after 1948; knocking down the security fence; increasing American funding to Israel, which is the only area in which America is "stingy" with their cash, IMHO.

3. Cutting off U.S. aid to all terrorist and terrorist-aiding countries around the world. This would help to increase funding to Israel. I'd say some of the extra money could also go to the Tsunami victims, but since all that cash is just being skimmed by the U.N. and the region's respective governments, why bother? Like most, those survivors who lived poor, will die poor. Don't like it? Blame the dictatorships that the U.N. invites to the bargaining table.

4. Come to terms with the fact that all liberals (knowingly or not) are communists or fellow travellers who appease and even support Islamic terrorists in this nation and worldwide. For what to do with them, see topic #1, or just boot them to France.

5. Getting the U.N. off of U.S. soil. No explanation needed.

01 January 2005

The Hilltop Youth

I've been following this phenomenon for a while now, and can't help but find it endlessly intriguing. A growing group of young Israelis known as the No'ar ha-gvaot, or Hilltop Youth, have moved into the hills of Shomron (Samaria) to protest the disengagement plan and to claim Jewish ownership of Israeli land. Supposedly there are 100-400 people in the group which has over 1,000 supporters.

According to one editorial in today's Arutz Sheva, titled The Angst of Apathy, the Hilltop Youth are the only Israelis left who are dedicated to fighting for the Jewish right to the land. According to their supporters they are nonviolent and primarily Orthodox; according to their detractors they are armed zealots, ready to attack anyone (including fellow Jews) who attempts to force them from their land. According to the inhabitants of these hilltop settlements, they just want to live in the land promised to them by G-d, peacefully.

Unlike most Israelis who are willing to compromise, who believe in "land for peace" and just want the fighting to be over, the Hilltop Youth have a faith that transcends the olam hazeh-- the world around them. Unlike the majority of their peers, Jewish or not, Israeli or not, they have ideals and convictions that are based in Torah and Rabbinic Orthodox Judaism instead of the political and cultural boundaries of this world. As I understand it, unlike most of the world around them, they believe that all Jews (Orthodox, secular, Israeli, Diaspora) must work together in order for Israel to survive; the catch is, survival means obeying G-d's Law, and establishing the current government of Israel in accordance with Torah principles and practices.

Logical? Well, yes. Biblical examples prove this so; every single time the Israelites in the Tanak disobeyed G-d's commands and strayed from Torah, a prophet popped up and acted as G-d's mouthpiece to forewarn of disaster if the people did not repent. Of course, the people dismissed the prophet as a loon and often tortured, if not killed him. Then, within a matter of years, they were attacked, exiled, or conquered by outsiders (Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, you name it) because they didn't heed G-d's warning and return to obeying the Torah. So, lesson in short? Disobey G-d, suffer the consequences. It can't get any clearer than that.

At the same time, would a Torah-based State be practical in today's world? Let's see... requiring every citizen to recognize G-d as the Supreme Authority and the One True Living G-d. Hm, well, you'd probably have quite a few Jews griping about that. Installing a system of absolutes based on the concept of Truth, the concept of Right and Wrong, versus the concept of law and justice or political correctness? Wow, even more people to bitch and moan at you.

No wonder these kids live on deserted hills in the wilderness. It doesn't mean they're wrong; in fact, I believe they're quite right in a lot of ways. The Land is ours, and we should live in it and care for it wherever we choose, instead of letting a bunch of pagan, bloodthirsty terrorists bent on our destruction and world domination push us around. We should recognize G-d as Supreme and Torah as law-- that's why it was written, and following it has ensured our survival for the past 5,000 or so years. (Really, we don't have secretive plans for world domination; we just know that to stay healthy you shouldn't eat ocean scavengers or animals that wallow in their own shit. Big surprise there!) So, on those basic principles I can't help but agree with the Hilltop Youth and pray for their success. In fact, good for them for getting out there and actually doing something to save Israel from complete destruction. Good for them for acting as an example to the world that we can stand up against Arab terrorism. Good for them for taking advantage of their inalienable human rights; we as Americans may have written about them, but they, as Israelites, are acting on them. For that alone they should be held up as a shining example in the growing darkness around us.