We're all winners!

Here's a post from The Belmont Club that touches on the extremism in politics, and hints of it in Canada now that the liberal party has lost control of the government. Even thought the Liberals lost in a free and fair election, even though they lost due to incompetence and corruption, the extreme left is crying foul, and making doomsday predictions, and is vowing revenge. This poor sportsmanship reminds me of how kids are being raised today. This is the "You're all winners" mentality. No one can be a loser. Which is just not reality. There are winners and there are losers. And there are good sports and there are bad losers. "The ref made a bad call, that's why we lost." No. You lost because you didn't have enough points.

The game is played by the rules. Don't like the rules? Change them. But until they are changed, we all have to live by them.

Read the post and the referring posts. And don't miss the link at the bottom to some pictures of an abortion rally. Both sides are represented and both sides demonstrate their ability to be extreme.

France not Afraid to use it's Nukes

via. Clayton Cramer

"The leaders of states who would use terrorist means against us, as well as those who would consider using in one way or another weapons of mass destruction, must understand that they would lay themselves open to a firm and adapted response on our part," Chirac said during a visit to a nuclear submarine base in northwestern France.

Press, Terrorism and Bias

Instapundit notes Defense Tech Pam and Hess:

As the UPI's Pam Hess noted a while back, the press seems relatively unconcerned about being manipulated by the insurgency, but deeply afraid of anything that might slant its reporting in favor of the U.S. military; this is just another illustration of that phenomenon. But terrorism is, of course, information war disguised as military action, and manipulating the press is what the terrorists are all about. If the press were more resistant to such tactics, the terrorists would be less effective -- and, ironically, the press would be a less appealing target.

The press won't embed with the military for fear of being perceived as biased, yet they are lead around by the nose by the terrorists. They can't see this bias.

Iran

I've been quiet here at Geoffosphere. Mostly because I've been busy. But also because nothing has inspired me to comment. I'm still reading my regular sources (see links on the right). Most of the stories there are interesting, but they haven't been inspiring.

The subject I've heard mentioned lately is "Iran". I've heard pieces on the blogs, on FOX News and in the Alito hearings. We've known this was coming for some time. As a matter of fact, Bush told us it was coming in 2001 when he spoke of the Axis of Evil. Things have not changed in Iran since that statement was made. The Bush Administration appropriately identified Iran as a problem at that time. I'm sure the Clinton Administration had a similar position on Iran, but pre-9/11, there was no need for public accusation.

Now Iran has moved up on the priority list. Iraq is moving into history, and the American military will be redeployed. And Iran is moving into the future with its nuclear program. What does this mean to the world?

The Belmont Club has a short, concise piece on this matter. It's not the first you've heard about it, and it won't be last, I'm afraid.

More on the subject via. Instapundit

Abramoff: Looks Bad to the Republicans

Here are a few looks at this case involving a lobbyist who seems to have gotten favors that benefit his constituents. Now, I'm not really sure where the line is, but I thought this was the definition of a lobbyist. Basically, it looks like lobbyists cannot be connected to campaign contributions.

Here is Glenn Reynolds's take.
Ankle Biting Pundits says Throw the Republicans under the bus.
And don't miss this, Money, Mobsters, Murder by Matthew Continetti at the Weekly Standard. It's long, and I haven't finished it, but it's connecting Murder and the Mob to Congress.

If this is the case, this is going to a terrible story. The Republicans are going to take the brunt and rightfully so. As I think I heard Pat Buchanan on Imus this AM, "Of coarse it is going to be the Republicans. They are in power. Who else would the lobbyist be courting?"

Would it be so wrong if Bush was right?

Plant the seed, and Democracy will grow.

From the Strategy Page: Hard Times in the Heartland

In the two countries that Islamic terrorism was born in, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the terrorists are taking a beating. ... In Egypt, the majority of the population continues to be turned off by the seemingly random violence of Islamic terrorists. ... The main source of Islamic terrorism, Saudi Arabia, has turned on Islamic terrorism with a vengeance.

News Takes a Vacation

Is news on vacation? Seems like it's been awfully quiet over the last week or so. Makes me wonder how much of what I think about is governed by a single group. Tis the season when the main stream media goes on vacation. News papers, TV news, talk radio and TV news talk shows. O'Reilly, Hannity, etc. all quite. The discussion goes down to a whisper. Blogs have become a media for conversation as well as a source for information. But this time of year emphasizes the dependence that we all have on the main stream media.

The Belmont Club - Who is a Journalist?

Wretchard has a thought provoking post about reporting and the information war.

Who is a Journalist?

Believe the parts you want to believe

This is a response to a comment in a previous post. I meant to be short, but alas, I have run on and have decided that this will serve well as my post on this subject.

Anonymous,

Thank you for continuing to visit Geoffosphere!

I haven't had a chance to post about this subject, but I have seen many informative posts. I'm sure you know my answer to your question because this is the basis for the division between our political views. You don't think I believe or listen to your views, and I don't think you listen to my points of view. Yet we both know each other’s side.

But since you asked, I refer you to the posts below that will take you to many more posts on the subject. Not all of them in staunch defense of the President. But for the most part saying that these actions were in defense of the citizens of the United States. And that we don't have enough information to know the legality of these actions.

Instapundit (1)
Instapundit (2)

Unfortunately, the NYT is so horny to convict the President that they are willing to publish whatever part of a story serves their purpose. And people on the left eagerly follow the cue. There is more to this story than we know. It was to be a secret program, so we’re not going to get more of the story. The bigger story should be that national security secrets are being made public. This can only aid our enemy.

Finally, the President has done much to involve the balancing branches of the government so that there would not be an abuse of power. But that does not seem to matter to the hordes on the left. Believe the parts you want to believe in order to serve your purpose. I think we can both agree with this statement.

Winning

I've been quiet for a few days, now. I think it is because we are turning the corner on the War. Not the war in Iraq (we were never in danger of losing that war), but the war over here. The third elections in Iraq hours away, and the echoes of the Democratic party's failed, last-ditch effort to defeat Bush by losing the Iraq war are fading into oblivion. I believe the silent majority of Americans - the portion of the population stifled by a biased media - are proud of the decisions they made about going into war. I say "we" made the decision because a large majority of our representatives and a large majority of the polls said that Americans felt it necessary to remove Saddam Hussein in order to protect America. And today, we are feeling proud that there are clear signs that it was the right decision. It was a hard decision, and even harder to stick to the decision. But nothing has changed since we made the decision, and today we are marking a great milestone on the long road to securing our freedom. And the absence of defeatist rhetoric is a beautiful sound.

Read this post at The Belmont Club, On the eve of the Iraqi elections. Defeat is a bitter pill to swallow.