HALF-FULL REPORT 04/10/09

Ahh, Friday.  Here in the US, folks say TGIF.  Our British cousins, however, say THITWA – thank heavens it’s the weekend again.  Time to settle in to a quiet corner booth in the HFR Saloon with a pint of Theakston’s Old Peculier real ale, and enjoy reading a good British newspaper, the London Telegraph.

Particularly today (4/10), as the Brits simply unload on Zero, giving him a new nickname, President Pantywaist.  Calling him "the new surrender monkey" for his performance at the G20, they note his Europe trip is "the most successful foreign policy tour since Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow."

And you thought he was losing popularity on our side of the Pond.

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Let’s stay overseas for awhile. Some good things are happening. 

For once, there was an anti-communist riot and protest.  Thousands of people – mostly young – seized both the parliament and presidential buildings in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, on Tuesday (4/07) in response to the Communists winning Sunday’s elections.

Moldova used to be part of the Soviet Union.  Joel Wade and I have fond memories of the place, as we were there in 1989 when it was breaking free.  (We also happily discovered that the most beautiful women in Europe are Moldovan.  On every street corner in Chisinau, Joel and I stood transfixed, watching one spectacularly gorgeous woman after another walk by.) 

Now the Soviets – I mean Russians – are trying to reconquer it by rigging elections.  The young folks won’t let them get away with it.  And here’s a cool tidbit – guess how they organized their protests?  With Twitter.  So latest hi-tech are the Moldovan anti-communist youth that their movement is being called the Twitter Revolution.

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The biggest target of Russian re-colonialization is Georgia.  Having seized two regions of the country last year by military force (Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Putin has been pouring money into the hands of any Georgian willing to protest against the man who refuses to submit to Moscow’s rule, President Mikhail Saakashvili.

Russian money paid for 60,000 protestors in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, yesterday (4/09).  Putin was hoping for violence – but he didn’t get it.  Saakashvili has his police well trained – so well they were almost invisible.  Today (4/10) the crowd is down to 20,000 and is dwindling rapidly.  Putin will likely have KGB agents provocateurs commit violence – but it may not work, as more and more Georgians realize who is financing all their troubles.

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Now let’s hoist a tankard of Bir Bintang, the most popular beer in Indonesia.

What’s that?  Isn’t Indonesia the largest Moslem country in the world, with over 200 million Moslems?  Yes, it is.  But they drink beer?  Yes, lots.  But isn’t that forbidden?  Millions of Indonesian Moslems think it isn’t.  Pork dishes are popular too – like babi kecap, pork in sweet soy sauce (although any pork dish must be served separately away from others.) 

Islam in Indonesia is the sort of moderate, peaceful Islam with which the world can get along.  True, there are some Wahhabis, almost all descendents from Yemen immigrants.  But the great majority aren’t radical nor are they being radicalized.

They demonstrated that yesterday (4/09) by conducting a peaceful and honest democratic national election.  The non-Islamist secular parties won big time, with the PKS Islamist party getting only 8%.  President Susilo Bambang will be returned to power, and will form a coalition to continue a secular non-Islamist government.

(As an aside, Susilo Bambang retired from the military to run for office – which is unfortunate in that he had to give up one of the greatest military names ever:  General Bambang.)

It’s really amazing what Indonesia has achieved.  It’s an artificial colonial construction of the Dutch, who cobbled together a string of over 14,000 islands 3,000 miles long.  It’s as far from the western tip of Sumatra to the eastern border of Irian Jaya (adjoining Papua New Guinea) as it is from London to Tehran.

Yet somehow, 240 million disparate folks have created a real sense of nationhood, a real democracy.  Combine this with an enterprising culture and vast natural resources and you’ve got some real potential. 

Add to this that the spoken and written language of Indonesia, Bahasa (also called Riau) is very easy to learn. My son Jackson(age 16)  is studying it now, adding to his French, Spanish, and German – for he plans to be an international lawyer.  Smart kid.

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So there’s a lot out there to pay attention to in the world.  Let’s not get fixated on the Pantywaist-in-Chief.

If you want to see the bright side of where he’s taking us, it’s to New Jersey.  We can see that as it goes, so goes the nation in this wonderful news:  New Jersey faces historic tax revenue drop.  Recession and tax revolts are going to starve Leviathan.  Watch for it starting April 15:  IRS tax receipts are going to fall off a cliff.

Yes, the Great American Tea Party Tax Revolt starts April 15.  Be sure and participate.  To learn how, go to TaxDayTeaParty.com.  I’ll see you at the one in DC (Lafayette Park, 11am) if you’re there.  (Just sign "John Galt" to any petition of ACORN commie provocateurs.  Then laugh when they ask themselves, "Who is John Galt?")

There’s a song that’ll be played on the i-Pods of many tea party attendees.  The greatest blues singer of all time was Bessie Smith (1894-1937).  Bessie’s voice tugs at you like none other.  Especially when she sings The Black Mountain Blues.  Recorded in 1923, you can listen to it here.

What I wonder is how many of Zero’s adoring worshippers are going to be listening to Bessie when they realize how he has throwed them and America down:

Had a man in Black Mountain, sweetest man in town
Had a man in Black Mountain, the sweetest man in town
He met a city gal, and he throwed me down

Got the devil in my soul, and I’m full of bad booze
Got the devil in my soul, and I’m full of bad booze
I’m out here for trouble, I’ve got the Black Mountain blues

We have Providence in our soul and we don’t drink bad booze.  It’s not us Zero has to worry about.  It’s his worshippers.