They say they were humiliated...as well they should have been

The Washington Times today takes a look at the Imam incident where the 6 Imams were removed from their flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix. As it turns out, the Imams, who are claiming that they were discriminated against based on their religion, were pretty much doing all that they could to act like terrorists! Not only were they praying in the terminal, which initially raised red flags among the gate agents, they didn't sit in their assigned seats. Two of the Imams had tried to upgrade to first class, but were told that there were no first class seats available...so they sat in the front-row of first class anyway. Two others sat in the exit aisles in the middle of the plane, and the remaining two sat in the back - the same configuration used by the 9/11 terrorists.

So, we have Muslim Imams praying in the terminal, and then refusing to sit in their assigned seats, instead copying a pattern known to have been used by the terrorists who perpetrated the worst terrorist attack in the history of America...and they say they're removal and interrogation is religious persecution? The behavior of these Imams was inflammatory, at best, and criminal, at worst. As former Air Marshall Robert MacLean was quoted in the Times article, "That's like shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater. You just can't do that anymore."

In my personal opinion, this case is an attempt by these Imams, in conjunction with CAIR and other Muslim organizations, to step up the politically correct treatment of Muslims. They are currently calling on Congress to pass a bill outlawing passenger profiling...but if security officials cannot remove Muslims from airplanes when they exhibit this kind of suspicious behavior, is there any time when officials will be allowed to remove Muslims from airplanes if new restrictions are put into place? There is no doubt that these Imams were acting suspiciously and that the airline was right to have them removed. These claims of religious discrimination are nothing but obfuscation in what, to all appearances, is an attempt to make it easier for Muslim terrorists to board planes...and we even have members of Congress buying into it.

This, more than anything else in American history, shows the danger of political correctness. If we allow these Imams and groups like CAIR (who have ties to Islamic terrorist organizations) to dictate US domestic security policy, we are only inviting further attacks.

The PC police are back

CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations) has been making a big stink about a recent incident where 6 imams were removed from a US Airways flight and questioned by authorities due to "suspicious activity". Apparently, the imams had been praying very loudly in the terminal, and some witnesses said they were making anti-American remarks.

CAIR immediately started bloviating about this incident, but what did they expect? Realistically, CAIR is falling into their stereotypical role as the Muslim PC police. For years, they've been jumping all over anyone guilty of committing the slightest perceived insult to Islam, and this case is no different. Their propaganda, though, especially in this case, is entirely wrong.

First off, let's be realistic: 3,000 Americans died on 9/11 at the hands of Muslim terrorists. How are we supposed to handle it when a bunch of men are being flamboyantly Muslim on an airplane? Getting them off of the plane and questioning them is not racial profiling, it's common sense. It is not discriminatory, it is a perfectly reasonable safety measure. If the 9/11 terrorists were redneck Christians, then I would have no objection to authorities pulling some redneck Christian men off of a plane for questioning if they had been praying loudly, because for them, too, it would be "suspicious behavior."

Groups like CAIR and anyone else who puts down supposed "racial profiling" seems to want people to subjugate common sense to political correctness in the name of being "tolerant" and "multicultural." But let's face it: Islamic terrorism is still a real threat to America. If these six men had been terrorists, and the authorities had done nothing, next thing we know, America would be mourning 3,000 more dead, and airport security would be sitting before some facsimile of the 9/11 committee being grilled about why they didn't do anything to stop the attack. We cannot afford this kind of double-standard when it comes to our national security. Every Muslim has the right to say his daily prayers, Muslims should exercise discretion, and realize that if you say your prayers loudly right before getting on a passenger jet, people will be suspicious.

"Tolerance" and "multiculturalism" are two-way streets. Being suspicious of Muslims who are acting suspiciously does not make any Americans racists or bigots. It is patently clear that these imams were trying to provoke a reaction, and one has to wonder why. The only conceivable reason I can think of is to make it easier for terrorists to pull off future attacks...and CAIR is complicit in helping these imams accomplish this by trying to make our security officials doubt their actions when they react to suspicious behavior. When is America going to get its act together and ban CAIR altogether? Multiculturalism is tearing Europe apart; we don't need any more of it here.

**Robert Spencer, scholar of Islamic history, theology & law, and founder of Jihad Watch sounds off here.

It's well worth reading.

Changing Times

From the message boards at lauraingraham.com:

Scenario: Johnny & Mark get into a fist fight
1973-Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends
2006-Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled

Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class
1973-Jeffrey sent to office & given a good paddling by Principal. Sits still in class
2006-Jeffrey given Ritalin; becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father's car & his Dad gives him a whipping
1973-Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college & becomes a successful businessman.
2006-Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care & joins a gang. Billy's sister is told by state psychologist that she remembers being abused herself & their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario: Mary turns up pregnant
1973-5 High School Boys leave town. Mary does her senior year at a special school for expectant mothers.
2006-Middle School Counselor calls Planned Parenthood, who notifies the ACLU. Mary is driven to the next state over & gets an abortion without her parent's consent or knowledge. Mary given condoms & told to be more careful next time.

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English
1973-Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2006-Pedro's cause is taken up by state democratic party, ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he can't speak English.

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by Mary, his teacher. Mary, hugs him to comfort him
1973-Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2006-Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job, 3 years

Need I say more?

Planned Child Abuse

I just found this today, and it is disturbing, to say the least.

When Enron energy traders were caught on tape taking perverse joy in a natural disaster that caused energy prices to go up. The tapes were all over the media. The public was outraged. Eventually, Enron was brought down for its unscroupulous business practices. But is it all about the money? What about protecting children?


In 2002, a pro-life lobbying group launched an "undercover sting" aimed at abortion clinics across America. The plan: an actress called over 800 abortion clinics claiming to be a 13 year old girl who was having sex with a 22 year old man. It is important to note: this is illegal in every one of the 50 states in the US. Yet although it is illegal for a 22 year old to have sex with a 13 year old and reporting this crime is mandatory, none of the clinics reported it to the authorities, and many of them told her what information she would have to withhold when getting an abortion in order to keep them from having to report. Some also informed her on how to get around parental notification laws.

This is how evil the abortion industry has become: Planned Parenthood is using our tax dollars to protect child abusers. The fact that this story was buried by the media is telling, and the story it tells is not good.

Listen to the tapes for yourself here. (ADULTS ONLY!)

An election lost, but not won

There are several points I'd like to cover about yesterday's election, so I'll try to be as concise as I can...

• On the issue of voter fraud, the Democrats are surprisingly silent. Prior to the election we found that, despite their rhetoric about the Iraq war, the Democrats are in favor of the pre-emptive strike. Democratic pundits and politicians were setting the stage to dispute election results in the event that they lost the elections. Now that they've won, there is no talk about election fraud from the Democrats, despite the fact that Acorn, a liberal activist group is currently under investigation for committing voter fraud in several states. As radio talk-show host Michael Graham so eloquently put it, the Democratic position on voter fraud is, "either we win, or you cheated."

• My honest analysis of this election is that while the Republicans lost, the Democrats didn't win. I know how emptily partisan that sounds, but let me explain. Conservatives have been upset with the Republican party for some time due to their refusal to stand strongly for conservative issues and values. Liberals are trying to spin this election as a referendum on the Iraq war, but if you look at the Democrats who took seats from Republicans in Congress, it's easy to see that this just isn't true. The Democrats who won have more in common with Joe Liberman or Zel Miller than with Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer. They are moderate Democrats who won because of their conservative values. They may not be totally conservative, but they're not flaming liberals, either. If this truly were a referendum on Iraq, Cindy Sheehan would be the new Speaker of the House.

• Much of the campaign was run on the basis of lies and half-truth, whether it be the Michael J. Fox stem-cell adds, Missouri's Amendment 2, or even the Democrats' attempts to run against George W. Bush (despite the fact that Bush wasn't running). Some of the worst political adds I heard came from an incumbent candidate for the State Assembly here in California, where she basically lied about her opponent and said that he could not be trusted. Other examples were shenanigans like this shameful add, again running against Bush, this time telling people to vote against two ballot measures that had nothing to do with President Bush.

• All in all, while the Republian party lost, this election is not a loss for the conservative movement. Conservative ballot measures showed great success across America - not so much here in California, but so much of politics here is controlled by liberal unions and liberal population centers like San Francisco and Los Angeles that it's no surprise. The Democratic candidates that won were conservative Democrats, and the margins in Congress are so slim that this is hardly the "mandate" that Nancy Pelosi was hoping for.

• For years now, the Democrats have been running a "tabula raza" campaign - a blank slate. Time after time after time the Democrats have been challenged to define a platform, whether it be a strategy to win the war in Iraq (the best we've gotten is "strategic redeployment"), a strategy to get health care to those who don't have it (to which they reply "it needs to be done), a strategy to secure the border (race card, anyone?), or a strategy to fix social security ("There's no problem! I don't care what I said under Clinton, it's fine!"). Meanwhile, they continually hammered the Republicans with lies, accusations, and scandals. All in all, a good strategy to win one election, but it won't help the Democrats to sustain power

All in all, this is not the end of the world for Republicans, and it is especially not the end for conservatives. The Democrats have won the majority in the House; they will likely win the majority in the Senate by a very slim margin. My prediction is that in the next two years the Democrats will show their true nature to the American people, and it will be roundly rejected in 2008. This is also a monumental opportunity for Republicans to stand up for conservative values and show the people of America that conservative values are infinitely superior to liberalism. If the Republican party uses this event wisely, they will in 2008 win the mandate that the Democrats were hoping for in this election.

I Voted...

And I've gotta tell you, it was a bit disappointing. The voting station activation card worked as designed, all of the boxes were lined up properly, and the paper print-out of the ballot matched my choices exactly. It was kind of a disappointing experience, given all of the allegations of voter fraud and intimidation, or confusing voting machines. It was all very easy...perhaps too easy..................

But by far, the biggest and best thing about this day is:


NO MORE POLITICAL ADDS!!!!!!!























At least, not until the '08 elections, anyway.

If the Democrats win on Tuesday...

I hate voting against someone. I'd much rather have someone to vote for...which is why I'm glad I live here in Kern County, where Kevin McCarthy, an exceptional conservative Republican, is running for the House of Representatives.

It bothers me greatly that conservative pundits have been reduced to "vote Republican or Nancy Pelosi will be Speaker of the House." This is not the way to win elections, and this is why so many conservatives are right to be worried about the outcome of the elections. If the Republican party had a solid conservative platform to stand on, they would have much, much less to worry about, because their views and positions would be much more in line with the majority of the American people. Instead, we're offered empty politics and a sort of wishy-washy, watered down conservatism that only moves into the solid right in the months before an election.

If the Republican party wins the elections on Tuesday, or at the least, holds on to the majority by the skin of their fingernails, it will only be because conservatives understand that the GOP represents the lesser of two evils. And if the GOP has any illusions of holding on to their majority, much less the Presidency, in 2008, they had darn well better start pushing - strongly pushing through the conservative agenda, because "vote for us or you'll get stuck with them" may work for them this time around, but it isn't enough to sustain victory in the long-haul.

If the Republican party wants to stay in power, they need to:

1. Immediately push through a strong immigration policy, which includes real border enforcement, not some kind of "virtual fence" or "amnesty plus" program that conservative America will see through as being election year-appeasement or pandering to potential illegal immigrant voters. And until our border is secure through more conventional means, it should be militarized in order to ensure that drug smugglers or terrorists will not be able to enter our nation. And if Mexico has a problem with that, tell them that we will de-militarize our Southern border when they de-militarize their own.
2. Pass a Secure Elections Act to guarantee that our elections process can be trusted. This policy should include voter ID cards, regulations on registration, and strict penalties for any district that does not keep its voter roles up-to-date, as well as electronic voting machines that the American people can put their trust in (as opposed to voting machines programmed by a company with ties to the Venezuelan government). Our absentee voting system also needs to be secured. In the interests of preserving our democracy, we must do whatever is necessary to ensure that the results of our elections can be trusted.
   
3. Stop playing politically correct games with the War on Terror. Islamic fascism is the greatest enemy that America has ever seen, and it should be treated as such. We need to show those nations and peoples who wish our destruction that we are an enemy to be feared. Our military needs to take swift, decisive action to secure Iraq and keep foreign fighters from being allowed to enter that nation. America's pro-Israel stance needs to be backed up with more than just words - it is essential that these militant Muslims know that their anti-semetism and threats to exterminate an entire nation will not be tolerated.
4. Get in the public eye. From Nancy Pelosi to Harry Reid to Howard Dean to John Kerry, the Democrats have made innumerable fallacious accusations and insults not only to the President and Republican leaders, but to our military...and the response to these lies and distortions has been silence. Every Republican indiscretion is greeted with cries for numerous resignations, while Democrats are routinely given a pass for similar or worse misdeeds. Were it not for talk radio and, to a lesser extend, Fox News conservatism would have no voice in America. It is absolutely essential that Republican politicians get out and strongly proclaim their message - and stop taking crap from the liberals who have been allowed to define the issues for far too long now.
5. Stand up for a conservative judiciary. For far too long now, liberals have been allowed to use the judiciary to push through an agenda that looses when put before the voters. Liberals believe that a "conservative judiciary" means appointing judges that will legislate conservatism instead of liberalism, but what it really means is keeping judges accountable to their job description, and not allowing them to usurp power from the legislature or the people. This also means not being afraid to censure or impeach judges who step outside their Constitutionally-defined boundaries - even if they be Justices of the Supreme Court.

As I see it, the primary problem facing conservatives is that they have allowed the nation to move so far to the left that strong, decisive action must be taken to bring the nation back...action which is common-sense, but action that many on the far-left will consider and try to convey as extreme. It is essential that conservatives not allow the restoration of our nation to be cast as extreme, and a strong PR campaign will be needed to accompany these measures. If these steps are taken, though, we can secure a brighter future for America sooner, rather than later.