President Bush goes to Iraq, kills terrorists, has a cheesesteak

Okay, not really...but it's the only way I could link these three stories. The big story is that President Bush has made a surprise trip to Iraq to see the troops and evaluate how the new Iraqi government is coming along. Of course, the big news yesterday was that the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda named a successor to Abu-Mussab Al-Zarqawi, the terrorist scum that was killed in a bombing raid last Thursday. The news there that has not been as highly reported is that US and Iraqi troops took out many of the higher-ranking Iraqi terrorists at the same time that Zarqawi was getting his little present. Thursday was a great day of success, greatly downplayed by the press. And, of course, the mainstream press continues to be totally blind to the fact that, as much as they accuse FOXNews of being a shill for the Bush administration, they themselves have become shills for the terrorists by only reporting the tragedy, and abstaining on reporting good news until they absolutely have to, such as when we get a high-profile target such as Zarqawi. But that aside, we apparently have a new #1 terrorist on our hit list...or, as President Bush put it, "I think the successor to Zarqawi is going to be on our list to bring to justice."



The final story I want to talk about today has nothing to do with President Bush or Iraq. Frankly, why this story is out there is beyond me; not that it's in the press, but that it's controversial. There is a cheesesteak restaurant in Philladelphia called Geno's Steaks that has come under fire this past week for having a sign that says, "This is America. When ordering, speak English." Personally, I have no problem with that. The owner of Geno's, Joseph Vento, said in an interview with Laura Ingraham yesterday that they are not refusing to serve anyone, only insisting that they order in English...and if it's not too busy, they coach people in their ordering (if they are busy, you may not get exactly what you wanted, but you'll still get a cheesesteak). The impression that I got from the interview was that it doesn't take all that much to order at Geno's anyway - after all, how hard is it to say, "cheesesteak with whiz" (that's Cheeze Whiz for those of you who don't know), or "cheesesteak with American" (American cheese), or "cheesesteak with provolone" (you get the idea). According to Joe Vento, Hispanics have been their main hang-up when it comes to ordering. Geno's is in a community heavily populated with immigrants, but Joe said that they have yet to have problems with a Japanese, Chinese, German, Italian, or any other Asian or European immigrant. The problem is with immigrants from Latin nations insisting on speaking Spanish. Joe Vento said that they should not have to learn a new language just so that Hispanic customers could order in Spanish - after all, if he went to Italy (the nation his grandparents immigrated to America from) and couldn't speak Italian, he'd have some trouble ordering, because the Italians aren't going to go out of their way to learn English just so that American tourists have an easier time ordering food. According to Joe, the sign was up for six months before someone complained, and once that happened, it became a huge controversy. People are calling Joe Vento a racist, and the restaurant is facing the possibility of sanctions if the sign is not removed...because they want people to speak English...in America.

It just gives you the warm fuzzies, doesn't it? Frankly, it makes me want to hop on a plane to Philly for a Geno's cheesesteak.

Coulter ruffles more than a few feathers...yet again.

Ann Coulter's new book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, was released yesterday (6/6/06), and all of the liberals must have stayed up all night reading, because already they are all over Coulter for her usual inflamatory remarks. I've read Coulter before: I read her books Slander and Treason, and enjoyed them both immensely. I enjoyed Treason in particular, because Coulter gave the other side of the story of Senator Joseph McCarthy - the side of the story that you won't hear in any of the United States' National Institutes of Brainwashing (aka. public schools).

Well, now she's making waves again, this time talking about what faith liberals have in abortion, evolution, and welfare, among other things. She criticized a group of 9/11 widows who have been very vocal in their opposition and criticism of President Bush. As someone who has read and enjoyed Coulter's work in the past, both her books and her column (linked on the right), it is plain to me that this is just Ann being Ann - she is using pointed sarcasm to make a finer point (the point being that the widows' intentions are less than pure: several were liberal activists before 9/11 took place, and, despite their tragedy, 9/11 and their subsequent victim status has benefitted their activism greatly). Hilary Clinton even took a swing at Coulter, calling her remarks a "viscious, mean-spirited attack." Now, I'm not going to excuse Coulter's remarks. They are at the extreme edge of political incorrectness. But if there is anything that Ann Coulter is known for, it's her refusal to bow to, and over-willingness to spit in the face of political correctness. And there is ample evidence out there to show that there is more than a grain of truth to what she said.

But despite all of that, Coulter has put out another book, meriting another trip to the bookstore for me. That she's made waves doesn't surprise me in the least - I believe that her reasoning is sound, though I do disagree with her methods at times. Godless promisses to be an interesting read.

Hostage Situation & A Little Slight of Hand

Iran is now trying to hold America hostage, threatening the United States: if we "misbehave", they will disrupt the flow of oil out of the Middle East. Who couldn't see this one coming a mile away? After all, without oil, Iran would be an irrelevant backwater. This is another reason why we need to fire the current politicians in Washington and replace them with right-thinking people: if we were drilling for oil in ANWR, this threat from Iran, while not totally empty, would be much less significant.

As the election is nearing, we're hearing more and more about the same old election-year topics: illegal immigration and gay marriage. Here's news for you: illegal immigration will not be solved by the current political machine. It'll only be held over for twenty or so more years, until we'll be having the same debate all over again. The gay marriage amendment will be argued and debated, and then fade away just like it did last election.

The problem: the issues surrounding this debacle with Iran (and any other Middle Eastern nation) require drastic changes in US energy policy that will not be enacted due to petty partisan bickering and the environmentalist lobby. ANWR is change one. Reinstating drilling along our coastlines is change two. Increasing our refining capacity is change three. But this is just a short term solution. In the long term, we need (buzzword alert!) alternative forms of energy. Get away from dependance on Middle Eastern oil, and nations like Iran become the irrelevant backwaters that they should be...and they will no longer be able to hold US foreign policy hostage by threatening to withhold the mainstay of our economy.



On another note, the press has recently been hammering the White House over the alleged massacre in Haditha...and we'd also like to welcome back to the forefront the Vietnam comparisons. The so-called 'massacre' is now being compared to the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, in which hundreds of civilians were killed.

Despite the obvious break-down of the My Lai parallel in that we're talking about 24 people as opposed to an entire village, the ecstasy the press seems to be going through over this incident is disgusting. If these troops committed the crime, they will and should be punished to the full extent of the law. But the press, especially here in America, seems to be pre-judging this case before the verdict is in...even before all of the evidence is collected (you can say 'allegedly' all you want...we can still tell). After all, there was another recent investigation into an 'alleged' massacre, in which the US soldiers involved were cleared of any wrongdoing. Already as a response to the Haditha story, the Administration is making all US troops go through ethics training...training which any and all officers in the military already go through. If these troops did commit this massacre, it wasn't due to a lack of training. Stop treating the American people like children (but, then, that's what political correctness is all about, isn't it?).

I go into all of this for a very specific reason: while the press is having such a field day over whatever happened in Haditha, they are relatively ignoring stories like this one: Iraqi militants dragged 21 students off of a convoy busses and murdered them. Ironically enough, the number of students massacred was almost as many as were 'allegedly' massacred in Haditha...and this is just one of many instances where the 'insurgents' have wantonly killed Iraqis in what the press called 'sectarian violence.' Is that how it works? If you're a US soldier and kill someone, it's a horrible, awful thing, but if you're an insurgent and kill someone it's 'sectarian violence'? Is that how this little game goes?

Let's get real here. If one murder is horrible, so is the other. You can't justifiably crucify US soldiers with no proof and, at the same time, explain away the enemy's actions as just being the usual thing. That's not how real life works.