Today's Nuze: March 24, 2004

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

OH .. HE WAS JUST AN ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS LEADER

You've heard of CAIR, haven't you? That's the Council on American-Islamic Relations. This is a group that spends most of its time trying its best to ignore Islamic terrorism while searching for any incidents of insensitivity shown toward Muslims by weary Americans.

CAIR has now made its feelings known on the death of Hamas terrorist Ahmed Yassin. CAIR, of course, condemns Israel for the killing of Yassin, and calls Yassin an "Islamic religious leader." Wait ... it gets more ridiculous than that. CAIR says that the international community has to "take concrete steps to help protect the Palestinian people against such wanton Israeli violence."

Thanks to James Taranto's Opinion Journal column, we can now take a look at the Covenant of the Hamas. This document was issued on August 18, 1988. It is the founding document of Hamas. CAIR calls Yassin an "Islamic religious leader?" Yeah .. the leader of Hamas.

Let's take a look at a few excerpts from the Covenant of the Hamas

Article 7: "The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him."

Article 13: "So-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement ... There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad [holy war]."

Now just what was it that CAIR said in their statement on the death of Ahmed Yassin? Oh yeah ... "The international community must now take concrete steps to help protect the Palestinian people against such wanton Israeli violence." Read those bits from the founding document of Hamas ... and then spend a few of your precious moments thinking about how idiotic it is for CAIR to be imploring the international community to talk about "wanton Israeli violence." Didn't we read something about "fight Jews and kill them" and "there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him"? And the world needs to protect these goons from those bad, bad Israelis?

CAIR is a joke. When will the media start treating it as such?

WASN'T A CRIME COMMITTED HERE?

And I'm talking about a crime committed by John Kerry. A serious crime.

We haven't mentioned this before ... but there was a meeting of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War in in Kansas City in November of 1971. At that meeting there was a plan discussed to assassinate members of Congress. Now ... let's emphasize this point. These anti-war Vietnam veterans were sitting there and discussing murder .. they were discussing the idea of murdering certain members of the Congress of the United States who were in favor of the Vietnam war. Well ... the idea was discussed, and the idea was rejected.

The reports of that Kansas City meeting are disturbing enough. It gets more disturbing when you consider the fact that our not-yet-crowned Democratic candidate for president was a member of that organization. Things get even more interesting when you learn that Kerry was present and a participant in that meeting. Yes ... John Kerry was there while his leftist anti-war colleagues were discussing murdering members of congress.

Now when these reports first came out the sKerry campaign was quick to respond by saying that sKerry "never ever" attended that meeting of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and that he had resigned the organization months earlier. Uh oh ... big oops. It seems that the FBI was interested in the activities of these veterans at that time, and they were being watched. More particularly, sKerry was being watched. The FBI records of that Kansas City meeting show that our presumptive Democratic nominee was at that meeting. No wiggle room ... he was there. Now it seems that the sKerry campaign lied when they said he wasn't.

Time to backtrack. Since the FBI has surveillance records showing Kerry present at that meeting, the Kerry folks need to conjure up a new statement. So now his campaign is releasing a statement saying that sKerry " .. had no personal recollection of this meeting .... [but] if there are valid FBI surveillance reports .... we accept that historical footnote in the account of his work to end the difficult and divisive war."

"Historical footnote?" The participation by a presidential candidate in a discussion about murdering U.S. Senators and Congressmen is a "historical footnote?" John Kerry's presence at and participation in this meeting is an "account of his work to end the difficult and divisive war?"

We're supposed to be satisfied with the revelation that Kerry wasn't particularly fond of the assassination proposals, and that resigned from the Vietnam Veterans against the war soon after that meeting. That's it? He resigned? Well big whoop! You're sitting there at a meeting listening to your colleagues plan the murder of elected officials ... and you merely resign? Hey! How about going to the police? How about telling the FBI that you just heard some people discussing a plot to murder members of Congress? Isn't it a crime to become aware of such a discussion and fail to report it to authorities?

I know ... we've been through this before ... but what if we were reading stories about a Republican presidential candidate who was present at a meeting where the murder of liberal Supreme Court Justices was discussed. Would we be satisfied to learn that the Republican candidate rejected the idea and then disassociated himself from the group having the discussion? Come on. We all know what would be happening now. The Democrats and their loyal media myrmidons would be howling in outrage. There would be demands for investigations ... criminal investigations ... and suggestions that the Republican candidate be charged with aiding and abetting an assassination plot. Believe me, it would be a major story.

With Kerry and his anti-war pals ... no media outrage. No demands for investigations into that Kansas City meeting and any role that sKerry played. Nothing. You might hear about it on Fox News, and you might read about it in the Drudge Report --- but that's pretty much it.

This story won't get any traction in the mainstream DC and New York press corps because it doesn't serve the personal aims of the people who would carry it to the forefront. Well over 90% of the people who are in a position to ask these questions about Kerry's involvement in that Kansas City meeting, and his actions (or lack thereof) afterwards, want Kerry to beat George Bush in November. If someone else pushes this story into the limelight, they'll groan a bit and give it a degree of due diligence. They're just as happy, though, to see it just go away.

So here's what you have to ask yourself. Do you want a president who once overheard a discussion about assassinating members of Congress ... and then did nothing about it?

Think about it. November is getting closer.

MORE ON RICHARD Clarke

Richard Clarke will be testifying before that 9-11 commission in Washington today. The media will swarm and report every Clarke word with breathless urgency. Before you listen to these praise-filled accounts of Clarke's testimony, maybe you should read this column by Mansoor Ijaz. I'll go into the details on the air, but if you will read this column you will learn that Richard Clarke, the same man who is now accusing George Bush of ignoring Osama bin Laden has quite a history in the Clinton Administration. Time after time Richard Clarke took steps to prevent the gathering of intelligence information on Al Qaeda, and even took steps that may have prevented American authorities from taking bin Laden into custody.

And as for Clarke's condemnation of Bush's efforts? What was it he wrote in his resignation letter to Bush? Oh, I remember ... Clarke wrote: "It has been an enormous privilege to serve you these last 24 months," said the Jan. 20, 2003, letter from Clarke to Bush. "I will always remember the courage, determination, calm, and leadership you demonstrated on September 11th."

STAND BY FOR THE MOST RIDICULOUS STORY OF THE YEAR ... SO FAR

This comes to us from a maximum security prison in Canada. Corrections Canada, the government outfit that runs Canada's prisons, has ruled that corrections officers -- a fancy name for prison guards -- will not be allowed to wear protective guards at work in this maximum security prison. More specifically, the guards won't be allowed to wear stab-proof vests. Tim Krause, the regional spokesman for Corrections Canada, says that these stab-proof vests interfere with the real job of these prison guards, which is something called "dynamic security." Corrections Canada wants these guards to talk to prisoners, to establish some sort of a personal relationship, to see how the prisoners are doing. Krause says ""If you have that kind of presence symbolized by (a stab-proof vest), you're sending a signal to the prisoner that you consider him to be a dangerous person,"

What in the hell is this government employee talking about? This is a MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON, for goodness sake, and they're afraid that the prisoners will think that the guards believe them to be dangerous? How in the hell did these prisoners get to a maximum security prison? By failing to return library books?

Government sickness is spreading. Only government could develop a policy which says that letting the most dangerous prisoners in your prison system think that you think that they are dangerous would be a bad thing.

OH THOSE TERRIBLE GAS PRICES

I was amazed this morning to see CNN actually treat this subject fairly. To begin with, CNN reported that in 1980 gas cost about $2.40 a gallon in 2004 dollars. Well, so much for that "record gas price" nonsense. Any legitimate record has to take inflation into effect. CNN is the first news outlet I've heard do so.

CNN also pointed out that America lacks in refining capacity. So true. There hasn't been a new oil refinery built in the United States since 1976 ... that's 28 years. Year after year the demand for gasoline goes up ... and no new refineries built. Who to blame? Talk to your local environmental activist. The real truth is even worse. In 1980 there were 300 refineries in the US. Today there are less than half that. This makes it tough to meet demand. When supply can't meet demand guess what happens? Oh, I forgot. You went to a government school. Well ... when demand exceeds supply prices go up. The increased prices help the suppliers to spend more to meet the demand. The problem in this case is that the anti-capitalistic environmental types get in the way.

Then we have the special blends. Another legacy to the environmentalists. We have increased demand, reduced supply, reduced reserves, and here come the environmentalist-mandated special blends. These oil refineries have to shut down at this critical time of the year and change their refining processes in order to start cranking out the dozen or so special blends that are required in different parts of the country. This further interferes with the supply and demand scenario. Denver requires a special blend. Let's say that supplies of gas in Denver reach the critical point, and prices soar. Other Midwest cities might have a surplus --- but they can't ship any of there excess to Denver. Wrong blend. The environmentalists wouldn't like it.

But hey ... I know it's so much easier for you to just blame George Bush, right? If something goes wrong in your life -- like having to pay a bit more (though not a record) for gasoline -- then it must be the president's fault. Yeah ... life is really that simple.

9/11 COMMISSION SO FAR: CLINTON DID NOTHING ABOUT TERRORISM

The televised hearings of the "National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States" continued yesterday, and other than being dreadfully boring, the testimony revealed nothing new. It is common knowledge that during their 8 years in office, the Clinton administration did nothing about terrorism, and nothing about Al-Qaeda, despite the United States being attacked on several occasions. As a matter of fact, the Clinton administration turned down the handover of Osama Bin Laden outright, saying there wasn't "probable cause" to hold him. That fits in nicely with their treatment of terrorism as a law enforcement problem.

One of the more colorful exchanges occurred between commission member and former Democratic Senator from Nebraska Bob Kerrey who was questioning former Secretary of State Madeline Albright. She was saying something about how the use of military force would have made our lives in the Muslim world more difficult. In other words, we didn't strike back at the terrorists because we didn't want to make them mad. Kerrey's response: "I keep hearing the excuse, we didn't have actionable intelligence. Well, what the hell does that say to Al-Qaeda? I mean basically they knew, beginning in 1993 it seems to me, that there was going to be limited, if any, use of military, and that they were also going to be free to do whatever they wanted." Exactly. Osama Bin Laden knew after the '93 World Trade Center bombing, the African embassy bombings, the bombings in Saudi Arabia and the U.S.S Cole that nothing would happen. That was the appeasement message the Clinton administration was sending time and time again.

Facts are facts: the Clinton administration did nothing about terrorism for 8 years, and the Bush administration has. The liberals just can't stand it.

REPORT SAYS MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY GOING BROKE

This will rattle the gimme generation to their core. A report out yesterday says what we have known for years....that Medicare and Social Security are going broke. I've got news for you folks, they're already broke. The government spends more than it takes in, so that meets the very definition of being broke. Forget about all this lock box nonsense....the bucks ain't there. Everyone on Medicare and Social Security right now is relying on the current working class to pay their bills. Period.

And you'll hear a lot in the media talking about the trust funds for these government spending programs. Doesn't it sound so nice? Why there's a trust fund, right there waiting for me to pay my bills when I retire! Do you know what is in that trust fund? You guessed it; government I.O.Us. Not a penny. Of course, the president and the Congress will never do anything about these programs, because people are expecting the government to take care of them when they retire. All that will happen is that the government will confiscate more and more wealth from the productive members of society to pay for people who aren't.

The answer is to privatize these programs and get the government's grubby hands out of our retirement and our healthcare.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Listeners have heard me singing the praises of Monsoor Ijaz. Ijaz, you may remember, was the man who brokered the offer by Sudan to turn Osama bin Laden over to the Clinton Administration. In short .. Monsoor Ijaz is brilliant. Here's an article Monsoor Ijaz wrote yesterday for The Washington Times.

Richard Clarke is the latest hero for the Democrats. John Podhoretz sees it a little differently.

Georgia Tech ... quickly sliding into the abyss of liberal academic indoctrination.

After 9-11 there was plenty of opportunity for George Bush to point fingers of blame toward Bill Clinton. He made a conscious decision not to do so. Too bad former Clinton staffers don't have the same class as the Bush Administration.

Thomas Sowell talks about the movement for slavery reparations, and how "race hustling" at Brown University is fueling the drive to cash in.

So what exactly is price gouging? Walter E. Williams gives the lowdown, and explains why a just-passed bill in Virginia is not going to fix anything.

Michelle Malkin on Courtney Love. This one ought to be good.

Linda Chavez compares Sheikh Ahmed Yassin to Osama Bin Laden, and asks just how many Israelis are expected to die before they are allowed to defend themselves?

So what does the current debate on the war on terrorism have to do with other wars throughout history? Just about everything, says Tony Blankley...read on.

Cal Thomas says that the killing of the Hamas founder by Israel was neither an "assassination" nor "an unlawful killing," but rather a justified act of self-defense.

In case you missed it, here is a transcript of yesterday's hearings at the 9/11 commission.

John Podhoretz says it all in his latest column: "Richard Clarke is a self-regarding buffoon." We need more columns like this one.

The Israeli Army says Yasser Arafat may be the next Palestinian terrorist targeted for a premature dirt nap. Maybe they could put it on pay-per-view, and use the proceeds to help pay for their security fence. Just an idea.

After the Teamsters ran them out of town for using non-union labor, it looks like MTV's 'The Real World' will be shot in Philadelphia after all. Finally, a little common sense from the unions and government. The world may not be doomed after all.

AAA says gas prices are at an all-time high. How about we start drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, so we can rely less on foreign oil and bring the price down? Oh, you don't like that? Well then, you're going to just have to shut up and keep paying whatever OPEC charges then.

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