Tony Blankley
THE ACCIDENT OF MCCAIN
Assuming John McCain gets the Republican nomination, it will show how whimsical history can be. It would be the first time in living memory that a Republican presidential nomination went to a candidate who was not merely opposed by a majority of the party, but was actively despised by about a half of its rank-and-file voters across the country -and by many if not most of its congressional officeholders. After all, the McCain electoral surge was barely able to deliver a plurality of one-third of the Republican vote in a three-, four- or five-way split field. He has won fair and square - but he has driven the nomination process askew. This result reminds me of the nursery rhyme:
TTP AND HISTORY
At the Winter Rendezvous this weekend in Sarasota, one topic of discussion will be how to make improvements in To The Point, making it even better. We're jumping the gun this week, and making one many of you have been requesting for a while. That is to provide a side bar for categories of articles. Over the next few weeks, we'll be adding categories with links to all the TTP articles on say, Islam, or Mexico, Russia, China, Democrat Fascism, Global Warming, Science, Health, etc. The first one, however, is history. In the TTP Article Category side bar will be a link to all the articles on the history of various countries and regions of the world. It's the one many of you have wanted most of all. Here's the list. There will be more lists to come.
WARS ON THE WAY
While attention is fixated on Iraq and Afghanistan, the possibility of a number of other wars clearly emerged in the past few days, three in particular. Starting January 30, a total of five undersea telecom cables have been mysteriously cut in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East area. This is no accident, comrades. Someone has been slicing them. Someone with submarines to do the slicing. Who could that be? And what would be their target? That's a prelude to war in the Middle East. How about a war in Europe? One being promoted by Condi Rice and our State Department in support of Moslem narco-terrorists taking over a Christian country? That would be a region of Serbia called Kosovo. Close to home is a third war on the horizon, between Venezuela and Colombia.
DOUBTING MCCAIN
Whoa... what a firestorm. At the insistence of many TTPers, last week's How the Clintons Will Destroy John McCain was made a free access article and promptly went viral over the Internet, becoming explosively controversial. As you can see from the comments on the Member User Forum (201, a TTP record), the response from TTPers was overwhelmingly positive. I also received a number of responses from personal friends. Most were very supportive, a few were vehemently upset, with most of the latter assuring me that I remained their friend nonetheless. I cannot adequately express how much this meant to me. Then there were those among the latter whose friendship I have lost. I am most regretful of losing that of Jim Warner's. Jim had been a dear friend of many years. I know of no finer man than Jim Warner, a man of unquestionable character and integrity. As a captured POW held by the Communist Vietnamese for over five years, and a cell mate in the Hanoi Hilton of John McCain's for over a year, Jim felt it necessary to write a rebuttal to my article - without mentioning either my name or the article - in FrontPage Magazine.com. It is easy to understand Jim's desire to defend his cellmate with whom he suffered indescribable horrors at the hand of the communists. Thus the excruciating irony of Jim's article - for John McCain possesses a fraction of the integrity and decency of character of Jim Warner. I would trust my life to Jim Warner without a moment's hesitation. I would not trust my life to John McCain for a moment.
THE END OF DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE
Democracy died in Europe at the end of 2007. Last December, governments leaders of the 27 European Union member states convened in Lisbon to sign the EU Reform Treaty. This treaty of 76,250 words is a rewrite of the EU Constitutional Treaty, which was rejected in 2005 by referendums in major European countries. European leaders carefully avoid to call the reform treaty a "constitution," however, because they do not want to submit it to their peoples in a referendum. French President Nicolas Sarkozy conceded in November that the treaty would be rejected "in all member states if they have a referendum." Politicians like Mr. Sarkozy and Germany's Mrs. Merkel are the driving forces of this process because it enhances their powers. Today's EU's governmental bodies - the European Commission and the European Council - are unelected; they are appointed by the national governments. As the British author John Laughland explains: "The EU is a cartel of governments, engaged in a permanent conspiracy against their own electorates and parliaments."
AFTER FLORIDA, ON THE EVE OF SUPER TUESDAY
This is an endless a campaign of "what ifs." That is, a campaign prepares a strategy that presupposes a scenario which apparently will occur with 100 percent probability. Then, when things don't quite go as planned, the campaign strategists have an alibi. Somehow, externalities undercut a supposedly thoughtful and well conceived plan. The only problem with all this self-serving Monday morning quarter-backing? Events with a reasonable probability were assigned zero probability, because the strategy was ineptly created. It often assumed an optimum or best case scenario. Or it sharply or entirely discounted reasonably foreseeable events. Let's go through the what-ifs of the candidates in the wake of Florida and on the eve of Super Tuesday.
A SIGHT THAT WOULD MAKE MARTIN LUTHER KING CRY
Martin Luther King Day parade, Monday January 21, 2008, Corpus Christi, Texas, Channel 3 News: 
Brought to you by the National Education Association and America's Teacher Unions
HOW THE CLINTONS WILL DESTROY JOHN MCCAIN
The number of fellow Senators who think John McCain is psychologically unstable is large. Some will admit it publicly, like Thad Cochran who says, "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine." Others relate times when McCain screamed four-letter obscenities right in their faces in the Senate cloak room, like Dick Shelby, Rick Santorum, or Jim Inhofe. "The man is unhinged," one Senator told me. "He is frighteningly unfit to be Commander-in-Chief." That John McCain is clinically nuts is scary enough. What worries a small group of GOP Senators and Congressmen even more is a deep and dark skeletal secret in McCain's glorified past to which they are privy, and which the Clintons will use to blackmail him. They have been having discussions with a Russian whom we'll call "T" for Translator. T's father was the Soviet military intelligence officer who ran the "Hanoi Hilton" prison holding captured Americans during the Vietnam War. One of those prisoners was John McCain.
DEM DISASTER IN DENVER
All the smart talk seems to be about a "brokered" Republican convention, with the GOP in a confused mess all through the summer until somebody is finally chosen in Minneapolis in early September. Yet the odds for that are decreasing, and may drastically do so if Romney takes Florida away from McCain next Tuesday. Huckabee will be history, Giuliani wounded perhaps mortally, all the big conservative guns like Limbaugh will put McCain in the crosshairs, and Mitt Is It for the GOP. The big difference between the GOP and Dem primaries, particularly those of Super Tuesday (2/5) is that most of the former's are winner-take-all, while the latter's are proportional. Thus Hillary could "win" all the primaries from now to June and still not get a majority of delegates. In fact, with the vicious catfight going on between her and Obama Hussein, that's the likely outcome. It's the Dems who face a brokered convention, and it is going to be a disaster.
THE GOP RACE BEFORE FLORIDA
A good man has withdrawn from the campaign. Fred Thompson, as I predicted, withdrew from the campaign after his predictably disappointing performance in South Carolina. But he has surprised me by not endorsing John McCain...yet. Thompson hinted days earlier that South Carolina would be conclusive for him, but it was emotionally taxing on his wife. One thing at a time. He may yet endorse, although in a conference call to his maxed-out donors yesterday (1/24), he said he would not. Perhaps he is waiting to see whether McCain or Romney wins the very competitive Florida primary on Tuesday. Indeed, the winner of that primary has a real leg up on Super Tuesday. And for one candidate, Rudy Giuliani, it could be a life line, or the last gasp.
A STRANGE AND ORDINARY WASHINGTON DINNER PARTY
A couple of nights ago, I attended a dinner party at the Capitol Hill home of a friend of mine. There was good wine, good food, and good conversation. Every night there are dinners like this held all over Washington, the normal rationale for which is a guest of honor. In this case, the guest of honor was the leader of a political party in Pakistan, Imran Khan. This resulted in a quite strange yet equally ordinary evening in DC. The charismatic and strikingly handsome Imran Khan is one of Pakistan's greatest celebrities. While other countries go crazy over soccer, Pakistan's sport is cricket - so the entire country went delirious with joy when its national team won the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Imran Khan captained the team and almost singlehandedly won the final game. The Oxford-educated cricketer then married, in 1995, the daughter of one of England's richest men, billionaire Sir James Goldsmith - Jemima Goldsmith converting to Islam beforehand. The following year, with $8 million of Sir James' money, he founded his own political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice). As he spoke to us and fielded questions, attired in a Saville Row suit and with an accent of impeccable Oxbridge English, he was urbane, witty, charming, and articulate. He is also an airhead.
THE RON PAUL MOVIE CONTEST
I had my say about Ron Paul in No Paulista. Yet the good gynecologist from Lake Jackson, Texas, has a devoted following among TTPers, and it is in their honor that To The Point is holding a contest. And that is for the greatest Libertarian Motion Picture. What movie ever made, in your opinion, best celebrates individual freedom, private property, the loathing and ridicule of government tyranny, the glory of the individual human being, and which has the most fun doing so? There are a lot of choices. We think of Hollywood as an anti-American cesspool of liberal lunacy. But once you begin to look around, there's a wealth of pro-freedom entertainment.
THE GRAVE SCANDAL OF ISLAMIST INFLUENCE IN THE PENTAGON
A scandal is emerging in the Pentagon that may be the most strategically ominous case of official misconduct since the Clinton administration's China-gate. It began with the firing last month of Stephen Coughlin, a major in the Army Reserves working as a civilian contractor for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when he ran afoul of Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England's point-man on Moslem community outreach, Hashem Islam. Mr. Islam is an admirer of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an organization designated by the Justice Department as a front for the Moslem Brotherhood (Ikhwan Muslimi).
TIMEOUT FOR STORYTIME
It's time to take a break from the wearisome incessancy of politics and presidential campaigns 24/7. So gather around, boys n' girls, and let me tell you a story about moral debauchery during the greatest age of intellectuality mankind has ever known, about kings and concubines, dukes and adulterers, heroism and war, with an ending that will change the way you look at the most mundane everyday thing.
RED HERRING SCAPEGOAT?
Topping my personal list of mondo bizarro stories this week was the headline in papers all over the country, Ex-Congressman Charged in Terror Case. The story reveals that:
Former congressman from Michigan Mark Siljander was indicted Wednesday (1/16) as being part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaeda and Taliban supporter. He's accused of lying about lobbying on behalf of an Islamic charity (The Islamic American Relief Agency or IARA) that was accused of sending funds to terrorists... The government accuses IARA of sending approximately $130,000 to help Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the United States has designated a global terrorist..I knew Mark quite well when he was in Congress (1981-86), and know he despised Gulbuddin. Although I haven't seen him in some time, for Mark to be caught in a scam not just with a terrorist fundraising ring, but the terrorist being Gulbuddin, is just off the wall. So one question to ask is: where did the IARA get the $130,000 to send to Gulbuddin? Turns out the Islamic charity got the money from the US government: USAID, the US Agency for International Development.
THE GOP RACE BEFORE SOUTH CAROLINA
I've done perhaps 1700 surveys and focus groups. Generally, I've maintained that published polls affect pundits, insiders, and donors - not voters. But I've been saying for awhile that this year (the way the primaries are clustered and with the hyper-media coverage) would be different, and it is. What happens in each primary is affecting national numbers. And national numbers are affecting what happens in each primary. There is a momentum effect, and people are looking for validation. That's why I have long predicted Rudy's collapse, and how national polling numbers would change, and even when they would change. Yet I find it easier, at this point, to count out winner Huckabee than no-show Rudy. Anything is possible in this volatile environment, including a brokered convention. So here are a few thoughts on where the main candidates are on the eve of the South Carolina primary (1/19), and where I am, and why I continue my view from last year that McCain has the inside track.
SHARIA LAW AND MAFIA RULE IN FRANCE
Last May, French voters elected Mr. Sarkozy as president because he had promised to restore the authority of the Republic over France's 751 no-go areas, the so-called zones urbaines sensibles (ZUS, sensitive urban areas), where 5 million people live - 8 percent of the population, almost all Moslem immigrants or their children. Eight months later, the situation in the ZUS has remained as "sensitive" as before. People get mugged, even murdered, in the ZUS, but the media prefer not to write about it. When large-scale rioting erupts and officers and firemen are attacked, the behavior of the thugs is condoned with references to their "poverty" and to the "racism" of the indigenous French. The French media never devote their attention to the bleak situation of intimidation and lawlessness in which 8 percent of the population, including many poor indigenous French, are forced to live. Moslem racism towards the "infidels" is never mentioned. Xavier Raufer, a former French intelligence officer who heads the department on organized crime and terrorism at the Institute of Criminology of the University of Paris, thinks that bribes from organized crime has a lot to do with the indifference of the French establishment.
WANT A REAL FREE LUNCH FROM THE GOVERNMENT?
Have you ever had a "free lunch?" A "free lunch" means the benefit you receive has no direct or indirect costs and is not a payment for a past act or a future obligation. When Hillary, in her Christmas video, showed all of the "gifts" she was going to give us (e.g., "national health insurance," "kiddy care," etc.), she was promising to saddle us with future tax obligations, which are only "gifts" in Washington political-speak - and certainly not a free lunch for the nation. The administration, members of Congress, and the presidential candidates are in the process of coming out with their "economic stimulus" plans to help avoid a recession or to mitigate the pain if one occurs. Rather than take this opportunity to offer a real "free lunch" by removing government obstacles to a proper functioning economy, some will propose more spending and regulation because they are more interested in power than doing what is best for the citizenry. Wouldn't you prefer to get a real free lunch from the government?
Chapter Thirty-Three: REAPING THE WHIRLWIND
[With a final chapter 34 and an Epilogue to go, The Jade Steps is nearing completion. So it's worth re-emphasizing again that The Jade Steps is a true story. Every principal event described actually happened, every named person really lived and had that name. It all happened almost 500 years ago, but it still remains the cause of the civil war within Mexico's soul. Mexico will never rise out of the Third World until this spiritual wound is healed. That is the purpose of this book.] The Jade Steps Chapter Thirty-Three: Reaping The Whirlwind "Doña Marina! Doña Marina!" Someone was screaming at her, shaking her violently. It was Doña Luisa. Dazed from fainting, Malinali stared at the woman in confusion. "You must not stay here! The Aztecs are attacking!" She heard the words with no understanding. She felt herself being pulled roughly to her feet and pushed into a run. They reached a set of trees. She looked around in bewilderment. There was this incredible noise, but it seemed so far away. She looked in the direction of the noise and saw the Tacuba causeway. It was filled with screaming Aztec warriors swinging their macuahuitl obsidian-edged wooden swords and racing towards Pedro de Alvarado and his men. Somehow the sight of it seemed as distant as the noise. Suddenly, like the wave of a storm, the full sight and the sound of the battle crashed upon her. She heard claps of thunder, but the sky was clear. Then she saw the brigantines in the lake on either side of the causeway, firing their canons into the Aztec mass. She recognized the captain of one of the ships, Juan Jaramillo, the officer who had protected her during La Noche Triste. She saw Pedro de Alvarado lead his horsemen into a charge straight into the Aztecs, as the musketmen and crossbowmen formed positions on the edges of the causeway to fire into them. So many Aztec warriors had filled the causeway in their fury and rage to get at the Spaniards that they couldn't move. They just became targets for the cannons and muskets and arrows and the hooves of war horses. They died in the hundreds, and still more hundreds, until they gave up the assault, retreating back into the city shouting insults and taunts that they had killed... Then the terrible sight that had caused her to faint appeared before her eyes, the bloody head of Cortez bouncing and rolling in the dust, and she screamed in horror. Doña Luisa embraced her and she clung to the Tlaxcalan princess, sobbing uncontrollably for "My Captain, my Captain..." She finally let go, and, whispering her thanks, she walked alone along the shoreline to stare vacantly out upon the waters of Lake Texcoco.
ROOTING FOR BLOOMIE
What is it with little guys with egos as big as their billionaire bank accounts who think they can get elected President of the United States as a third party independent? Beats me. But while it was horrifically destructive the last time - in 1992 - it may be marvelous today. Right now, I'm rootin' for Bloomie. Ross Perot was five-foot-six. Michael Bloomberg is maybe a half-inch taller. We owe the Clinton Presidency to Perot - the 19% of the vote he gained was mostly a protest against George H. W. Bush. If Perot had not run, Clinton would have lost. Thanks, Ross. Now Little Mikey thinks it's his turn to come to America's rescue. I can see the ad now, Bloomie strolling along a sun-kissed beach, looking straight into the camera, and saying: "Hi, America! I know what you're suffering from, causing you so much frustration and anxiety. You're a victim of Electile Dysfunction - the inability to become aroused over any of the choices for president put forth by either party in the 2008 election year. You want a cure for this terrible malady, America? Well, you're looking at it - me, Mike Bloomberg for President."
THE ILLEGAL ELEPHANT IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM
The Washington Post, flagship of the liberal elite in our nation's capital, ran the most marvelously revealing story this week (1/15). In typical heart-tugging WaPo style, Emergency Care Waits Found To Be On Rise described the growing nationwide "deadly" crisis of hyper-crowded hospital emergency rooms. After providing examples and stats showing how much longer it takes to see a physician in an emergency room, the article listed the causes of this "frightening trend." Guess what they don't mention. The idiom "elephant in the room" refers to ignoring something overwhelmingly obvious, pretending it doesn't exist. Liberals take this one step further - they really don't see the elephant, they willfully blind themselves to the elephant's existence, in this case taking up most of the space in the emergency room of most of the hospitals in the country. Any of you who have been in an ER recently know exactly what I am talking about: they are overflowing with illegal aliens speaking a torrent of Spanish demanding free medical care. It's another example of why the issue of illegal immigration is such an Achilles Heel for Democrats in November.
A YEAR OF THRILLING SUCCESS, A YEAR OF DEMOCRAT HATRED OF IT
As you read these lines on January 11, 2008, our troops are in the midst of Operation Phantom Phoenix, a "mini-surge" to squeeze al Qaeda and its fast-dwindling band of allies out of their few remaining safe havens in Iraq. Iraqi troops fight beside us against a common enemy. Vast swaths of the country enjoy a newborn peace. Commerce thrives again. At the provincial and local levels, the political progress has been remarkable. As for Operation Phantom Phoenix, our commanders expected terrorist dead-enders to put up a fight. Instead, they ran, leaving behind only booby traps and disgust among the Iraqis they tormented far too long. The headlines at home? "Nine American Soldiers Killed." No mention of progress or a fleeing enemy on the front pages. Just dead soldiers. Determined to elect a Democrat president, the "mainstream" media simply won't accept our success.
NO PAULISTA
I might as well confess upfront - I have misgivings about writing this. It's because a good number of TTPers, several of whom I've come to know and like personally via our Rendezvous, are passionate "Paulistas," or advocates of Ron Paul (R-TX) and his campaign for the presidency. My misgivings come not from fear of offending them but my regard and respect for them. They are decent, sincere folks who truly love their country. They are also smart and not easily conned, politically or otherwise. So there has to be a lot in Paul's message that's worth their passion. That said, I'm no Paulista, and it's about time I explained why.
HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER?
Which presidential contenders would be best for the economy and which ones worse? Unfortunately, much of the campaign has revolved around a series of largely meaningless sound bites and words like "change." Some candidates find they can get away with policy prescriptions totally disconnected from their stated goals and empty platitudes, because many in the press demand nothing more, even in the "debates." I suspect that there are millions of other such voters who haven't a clue about various candidates' positions, let alone understand the actual implications of their declared policies. So let's discuss them, one by one, and see if that helps us answer the question.
THE GOP RACE AFTER NEW HAMPSHIRE
As I edited this column while watching the South Carolina debate last night (1/10), I was struck by the sparse coverage of President Bush traveling abroad. It is surreal that an American President can visit Israel and coverage is relegated beyond the first page. Yet if we can escape a recession, foreign policy and defense could be back in the national debate. Regardless, we remain in a situation where results in states like Iowa and New Hampshire set in motion events that can profoundly affect Super Tuesday (2/5). This is such a volatile year that the unthinkable could happen: a virtual two-way race among Democrats could end up divisively, and a multi-candidate Republican primary could end up unified. In my last column two weeks ago, The GOP Race One Week Before Iowa, I explained why a win by Huckabee in Iowa would help assure, via downward momentum for Romney, a McCain victory in New Hampshire. Further, I predicted the media spin off New Hampshire would enable McCain to pass Rudy in the national polls, and I still feel that way. Let's quickly summarize the candidates, from the beginning to now.
THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE
"Right on track, Jack." That's what one of the main campaign managers of The Man Who Wasn't There told me today. He and his colleagues are happy, happy guys n' gals. "This is going exactly as expected," they exude. "And it's a strategy that has never been tried before. If it works like we think it's going to, the world will think we're bloody geniuses." Pause, after a bemused glance is directed at them. "Yeah, well, right, it's the boss's strategy, so, okay, he's actually the genius." "The boss," the man who wasn't there in Iowa, Wyoming, and New Hampshire, the man who won't be there in Michigan, Nevada, or South Carolina, is, of course...
DID NEW HAMPSHIRE SAVE OBAMA’S LIFE?
If you Google "Obama" and "assassination" you will get 384,000 hits. All over the world, the media is speculating on the possibility. Typical is the January 8 (the day of the New Hampshire primary) headline in one of Australia's major newspapers, The Australian: Obama Must Be Wary of the Assassin's Gun. The "news angle" of thousands of such stories is the same. The first line of The Australian story is: "Barrack Obama is crazy brave. His victory in Iowa puts him in the crosshairs of many a gun-toting racist for whom the thought of a black president is an abomination." It's the drumbeat theme echoing around the globe: evil racist-fascist right-wing war-mongering child-eating nazi conservatives will always destroy America's hopes of being a peaceful humanitarian nation. After all, it was just such a fascist-nazi right-winger that murdered JFK and killed Camelot, right? What's that? Lee Harvey Oswald was a Communist? Oh... Please ignore that impossibly embarrassing fact. Especially since it brings up the real question that no liberal dares to think, much less ask: Will Hillary find an Oswald of her own to take out Obama?
CELEBRATING BLUE, CO2, AND THE RENDEZVOUS
Hear that wonderfully melodious sound? It's the crack-up of Global Warming, the Left's crazed attempt to seize global power after the failure of Marxism crashing and burning. 2008 is starting off just right. A tip off that it's over for the eco-wackos was the announcement of the Pantone color mavens that green is passé for 2008, that the hip color is blue - as in blue skies, no clouds, no rain, just sunshine and deep blue sky. Then on New Years Day, the liberal bastion itself, the New York Times, scandalously ridiculed glowarmers, calling them "availability entrepreneurs," sneering at them as "the activists, journalists and publicity-savvy scientists who selectively monitor the globe looking for newsworthy evidence of a new form of sinfulness, burning fossil fuels." When the New York Times laughs at glowarmers - well, it's like Global Warming is so over. So it's time to start celebrating CO2. I have a really good suggestion on how to do so.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM MEN IN BLACK ABOUT 2008
Nope, this is not an alien joke like Alien Al, much less one regarding the PIAPS, who was born only 3½ months after Roswell. It is about the history lesson taught so arrestingly by Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K in Men In Black. 2008 is going to be a stressful year for a lot of folks. The fate of America, the fate of Western Civilization, the fate of mankind, will be decided this year - as far as folks who enjoy being Drama Queens are concerned. As we plunge forward into the fateful unknown of 2008, let us, then, take a deep, calming breath and listen to the soothing words of Agent K. His partner, Agent J played by Will Smith, is freaking out as a newbie man-in-black, unglued over the alien threat that will destroy the Earth in the next half-hour. Agent J: Man, we ain't got time for this... I don't know whether or not you've forgotten, but there's an Arquillian Battle Cruiser that's about to... Agent K: Kid, there's always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Corillian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this little planet, and the only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they... do... not... know about it! Welcome to the history of the world.
EXPLAINING THE PURPOSE OF VICTORY
In Iraq, as military and security conditions continue to improve, American war politics enters one of its stranger moments in our history. Certainly it is historically odd for war reporting to diminish almost to the point of public invisibility -- just as our troops are starting to gain the upper hand. Typical of recent polling is the Pew Research Center poll from Dec. 27, which shows that about half the country thinks the military effort is going very or fairly well (up from 30 percent). Despite such optimism, by 54 percent to 41 percent (virtually unchanged from February's 53 percent to 42 percent), the public wants our troops to come home rather than stay! This polling data suggests that if the Democrats don't see the war as a winning issue, neither can President Bush - for the public now tends to think we are succeeding, but it doesn't think it is worth the effort and would like us to leave pretty soon, anyway. There would seem to be no higher communications task for the president and his supporters during the coming months than to make a better case that the success that may well be within our grasp is not only worth persisting over now but also that, even knowing what we know now, the war was worth the effort from the beginning.
THE BIGGEST GLOBAL STORY SINCE 9/11: THE DEFEAT OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM
As 2007 drew to a close, embarrassed journalists sought to play down American military successes and avoided questioning Democrat presidential contenders about their predictions of inevitable failure in Iraq. Magically, Iraq disappeared from the headlines - except on those rare occasions when a problem could be reported. At the close of a year of stunning progress, media stories on New Year's Eve leapt to report that 2007 had been the deadliest year for US troops. You had to read deep into the columns to learn that those casualties occurred in the first half of 2007, as we battled and defeated the terrorists and militias - or that, in recent months, American and Iraqi casualties have plummeted as a relative peace broke out. The greatest media story of 2007 was the one you never read (unless you read To The Point): 2007 was a strategic catastrophe for Islamist terrorists - and possibly a historic turning point in the struggle against al Qaeda and its affiliates.
A BAD NEWS QUIZ
How much did the federal budget deficit rise in 2007? Answer: It did not rise, it got much smaller. The deficit has been declining rapidly for the last three years and is now only about 1 percent of gross domestic product, which is far lower than the average deficit for the last half-century. Left-wing ideologues, such as Paul Krugman of the New York Times, have been predicting for years that the Bush tax cuts would lead to ever-growing deficits. Wrong again. When did the recession of 2007 begin? Answer: It never started. CNN and other news media are quoting polls showing many Americans think the economy has been in a recession. But the economy has grown in every quarter of 2007, and employment is at a record high, despite the subprime mortgage problem and the rise in oil prices. Economic growth in 2007 will be more than 2 percent - not great, but not a disaster or a recession. The reason so many think the U.S. is in a recession is the unbalanced reporting about the economy from many in the left-leaning media who overly report the comments of Bush-hating politicians and the bad, but not the good, numbers.
OBAMA IN KENYA
Barrack Hussein Obama Junior will not win or lose the Democrat Party's presidential nomination in Iowa or New Hampshire or elsewhere in the US. He'll win or lose it in Kenya. That he'll lose it there is the fear of his campaign advisors who wear green eye-shades. That he'll win there is the hope of his campaign advisors who have both brains and cojones. Last week in The 2008 Carpe Diem Filter, we noted that an ideal presidential candidate would be someone who knows how to carpe diem - who looks at problems as opportunities, who would best be able to recognize and maximize the opportunity in a crisis. Fate has just given Obama such a make-or-break opportunity. Will he confidently use it, or will he wimp out, showing the world he's not the hero of his believers' mythology, but the Obambi phony his detractors claim?
THE GOP RACE ONE WEEK BEFORE IOWA
[We welcome legendary political strategist Arnie Steinberg to TTP, whom we hope to have as a regular columnist advising us throughout the 2008 campaign. I have known Arnie since 1966 when he helped me lead Youth for Reagan during Ronald Reagan's triumphant campaign for governor. Arnie has created or advised hundreds of political campaigns at all levels, written two graduate texts on politics and media, and is an expert in every phase of campaigns, especially free/earned and paid/advertising media. He has produced, written and directed television and radio commercials for many candidates, ballot measures and issues. He has conducted more than 1700 surveys and focus groups. I asked him to set the Republican parameters as we go into Iowa and New Hampshire. We are privileged to have him be a part of To The Point. ---JW] Once the Republican nominee is chosen, we will be told what the turning point was in his campaign. And history then will be rewritten about how inspired it was. The reality is there are few brilliant campaigns; typically, the winning campaign is the least bumbling. So let's handicap the GOP aspirants a week before Iowa - Paul, Huckabee, Romney, Thompson, Giuliani, and McCain - from a campaign standpoint. I can tell you there'll be some surprises.
IS SPAIN BREAKING APART?
Madrid, Spain. Spain has been one of the great democratic and economic success stories of the last three decades. But there is now some reason to fear for its future. The Spaniards have moved in two generations from conservative church-going Catholics to some of the most socially liberal people on the planet (the Californians of Europe). Recent surveys have shown the Spaniards to be among the happiest people on Earth. In sum, Spain seems to have everything going for it. There are problems, however, big problems in paradise.
CHARLIE WILSON AND RONALD REAGAN’S WAR
This picture was taken during my wedding on May 25, 1986. The ceremony took place at the villa of a friend of mine in St. Tropez, France. My bride was a gorgeous California redhead named Rebel Holiday (yes, her born name). The dapper gentleman you see between us was serving as my best man. The reason he doesn't look like Tom Hanks is because he's the real Charlie Wilson. So it was a strange experience for me to see the movie Charley Wilson's War, a movie portraying events I participated in, to see how it was both true and not true at the same time. Hanks portrays Charlie as the hero he really was. A larger-than-life America-loving Communist-hating true blue patriot who used his power and influence to the max to stick it to the Soviets big time. That Hollywood would make a major motion picture about a genuine Anti-Communist hero, about a noble Anti-Communist triumph over the Evil Communist Empire of the Soviet Union is morally thrilling. The movie is magnificent. Not taking anything away from the magnificence, it is also ludicrous. http://www.rebelholiday.com/
THE 2008 CARPE DIEM FILTER
I personally believe that neither The PIAPS, Obambi Hussein, nor the Breck Boy have any reasonable chance of getting elected. And I cannot take seriously a Preacher Boy candidacy by another Arkansas populist con man. Yet when I think how America dodged a bullet from the likes of Algore and another from F'n Kerry, it's also hard to believe that Providence will push us aside from still another. Fortunately, Providence has always watched over America in spite of itself. For that to continue, the most minimal requirement for a president is to resist the liberal compulsion to apologize for America's existence in the world. We can upgrade the requirement to a determination to defend America's national security. The ideal requirement would be a president who knows how to carpe diem - who looks at problems as opportunities to pro-actively advance America's security and interests in the world. There will be plenty of such opportunities in 2008 and the following years of the next presidency. Let's judge our choice of candidates on who would best be able to not just defend in a crisis, but to recognize and maximize the opportunity in a crisis to America's benefit. One such crisis has just presented itself in Pakistan. Here are three more examples headed down the 2008 pike:
2007 IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR
2007. What a ride. What a finish. Just this week, a guy I once beat in arm-wrestling makes Time Magazine Man of the Year (I told the story way back in October of 2003 in Arm Wrestling With Russia - and I sure agree with Mitt Romney that the award was "disgusting."). It's just too delicious that up on Drudge right now (10am 12/21) is the British Guardian story about Putin's $40 Billion fortune. You learned about that last February in The World's Richest and Most Dangerous Gangster, which was updated a month ago in Pro-Communist Conservatives. A country I said back in April of 2005 was going to break apart (Bye Bye Bolivia) is now right on the brink of it. CNN is reporting Four Bolivian regions declare autonomy from government. Right on schedule this week, the fellow I said last April who would get elected president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, in Regime Change in Korea did so in a total landslide. I expect all of what I predicted in that article to come to pass next year: And on the domestic front, I hope you're all reveling in the marvelous John Edwards Love Child Scandal detailed in this week's National Enquirer. Particularly since you learned those details last October in The Breck Boy Is Cleared From The Presidential Field. Little Johnny is toast, just as predicted. Yet for all of the above, this week was just getting warmed up.
THE YEAR OF GLOBAL COOLING
Al Gore says global warming is a planetary emergency. It is difficult to see how this can be so when record low temperatures are being set all over the world. In 2007, hundreds of people died, not from global warming, but from cold weather hazards. Antarctica is getting colder. Unexpected bitter cold swept the entire Southern Hemisphere in 2007. Johannesburg, South Africa, had the first significant snowfall in 26 years. Australia experienced the coldest June ever. South America this year experienced one of its coldest winters in decades. Last January, $1.42 billion worth of California produce was lost to a devastating five-day freeze. In April, a killing freeze destroyed 95 percent of South Carolina's peach crop, and 90 percent of North Carolina's apple harvest. Extreme cold weather is occurring worldwide. On Dec. 4, in Seoul, Korea, the temperature was a record minus 5 degrees Celsius. If you think any of the preceding facts can falsify global warming, you're hopelessly naïve.
BLUENOSES ON STEROIDS
I suppose it's possible that there are things I could care less about than Barry Bonds taking steroids. The latest antics of Britney Spears or the fate of contestants on one of those Survivor television shows, maybe. But the whole Bonds "scandal," the whole Mitchell Report bloviation about "rampant performance-enhancing drug use" in professional sports, baseball in particular, ranks near the top of my list of news items in the So What? category. Except there's something about it that really bugs me. Nanny-state ninnies sticking their bluenoses into none of their business. Fascist prosecutors trying to put people in jail for lying about something that's no crime. Increasingly louder demands for more intrusion into athletes' lives, for wrecking their careers, for their unending investigation, for their punishment. Someone needs to tell the bluenoses, from George Mitchell to George Will, from every insufferably puritanical sportswriter to every self-important airhead sportscaster to shut up. Or else the real fascists, the ones in Congress who have the capacity to shove government guns in our faces, will use the "scandal" - as they do with every other such opportunity - as an excuse to restrict the freedom of us all.