So Lefties are suddenly all for religous freedom?

Why all of a sudden do we hear a cacophonous clamour from the Left for religious tolerance regarding the hated proposed Ground Zero mosque? They are now calling all of those who oppose this ill advised project 'intolerant.' When did this happen? It came straight out of the blue: the Left is now all in favor of freedom of religion? It seems to me that the Left has for most if not all of my life (and I'm OLD) have made fun of Christians, Jews and about every other form of religion out there. Lefties and pinkos of every shape and size were particularly and rabidly fond of bashing Catholicism, and more currently Mormonism. Recall their adulation and adoration of that crucifix sealed in a jar of the 'artist's' urine, a proud result of the program that is called the National Endowment for the Arts. As I recall the 'artist' who created that slap in the face to all Christians named this loathsome piece 'The Piss Christ.' These pinkos, who have sought to remove God from every public square for generations now, suddenly have been 'tetched by the Spirit?' Now, and only now, do they see the light? 'Let Muslims worship whenever and wherever they wish,' these newly enlightened Lefties proclaim, 'it is intolerant to think otherwise.' We have news for you Lefties: for all of you Marxists, Socialists, Communists, Statists, Anarchists and Democrats, speaking for the majority of the people in this country who oppose building this victory mosque as a slap in the face for those who perished on 9/11, we want you to know that we all did not just fall off of the turnip truck yesterday. We are aware that you don't give a lick about religious freedom. You just want to cheer those who hate America the way it was founded, just like you all hate America. These Muslims want to build this mosque as a victory memorial for their triumph on 9/11. In time, they want to establish sharia law over the land, and for most of you lefties, you are OK with sharia law; it has much in common with your values. Sharia severely restricts freedoms just like you lefties like to restrict freedom. Where do you Lefties get off calling the rest of us 'intolerant?' That is like Rosie O'Donnell telling fashion model Kate Moss to 'lose some weight, tubby.'

'Moderate Muslims' and other ficticious characters

The now somewhat dated joke goes like this: The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, an al-Qaeda terrorist and a Moderate Muslim were all seated at a poker table, and were betting like dutch uncles on what turned out to be identical hands: Royal Flushes. The Easter Bunny had a Royal Flush in spades (Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten), the Tooth Fairy had the same hand, but in hearts, the al-Qaeda terrorist had a royal flush in clubs, and the Moderate Muslim had his royal flush in diamonds. Who raked in the huge pot? The al-Qaeda terrorist, of course. The other three are just fictional characters. Essentially, there is no such thing as a 'moderate Muslim.' Historically speaking, from a non-theologian's perspective, the story of Islam started with the prophet Mohammad receiving the verses of what became the Koran directly from Allah, beginning in 610 A.D. Within these verses, directly from Allah, are instructions for all obedient loyal followers to convert the rest of the world to Islam, and if conversion does not take place, then enslave or kill non-believers ('infidels'). Many Muslims today look the other way when this fact is presented to them. According to the Koran, these Muslims are not true believers, and are not adhering to the words of the Prophet and the wishes of Allah. Perhaps this is just a technicality, and many religious scholars would argue that the ancient verses were figurative, and not literal. Still, they are there in the Koran to this day for anyone to see. And these words are not ambiguous. Calling Islam a religion of peace is just not what Mohammad and Allah had in mind for Muslims. The cartoon above more accurately portrays the views of 'moderate Muslims:' they will watch as the fanatic beheads an infidel, but will rarely (if ever) condemn the fanatic for his actions. After all, this is specifically and literally called for in the Koran, the book by which ALL Muslims live, not just some Muslims. Imam Rauf, the spokeman for the proposed Ground Zero mosque, is reported to be just such a 'moderate Muslim.' When he speaks to Arab speaking listeners, his message is very different than that he tells his English speaking audience. Imam Rauf is not a 'moderate Muslim.' He is a Muslim, period. Accordingly, a 'moderate Muslim' belongs at that poker table every bit as much as the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa: there ain't no such thing.

Pakistan: when you bite that hand that feeds you

Perhaps as many (or more) than twenty million (that's 20,000,000) Pakistanis are now homeless and destitute owing to the annual flooding that occurs at this time every year. This year, the flooding is greater than normal, and estimates place about 20% of the country under water.

So far, no significant global effort is underway to help these suffering multitudes, other than a pitiful (yet typcial) effort on the part of the United Nations. Yes, some mention of their plight has made the news, but the focus on this naturual disaster is nowhere near other recent disasters such as has befallen the earthquake victims of Haiti, or the sunami victims of Thailand a few years ago.

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Former U.S. presidents (Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush) have teamed up to spearhead relief efforts on behalf of both of those stricken populations. Why the indifference to the suffering multitudes in Pakistan? Are these unfortunate souls in Pakistan less deserving of a global response than others whom have suffered catastrophies meted out by Mother Nature recently?

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Arguably, the affects of this flooding have devastated the lives of many times the population of other disasters that have made the news of late. Maybe the population of Pakistan is less sympathetic than others of similar fates. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. by Islamic fanatics, we all watched scenes of Pakistanis and Palestinians dancing in the streets in celebration of the nearly 3,000 dead Americans. Recall recent polls of Pakistanis recording their overwhelming hatred of the West and the U.S. in particular lately. Pakistan is the home of countless terrorists and their support groups. Pakistan is reportedly the current refuge of Osama bin Laden, the world's most dispicable, hated and notorious terrorist.

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Pakistan is one of the most unliked and unsympathetic countries in the world today. They are the recipients of countless millions/billions in foreign aid (one of their primary sources of GDP), and yet they hate everyone and harbor terrorists who plot death and destruction for Western and Indian targets even as I write this. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. This failed nation and society is a blight on civilization.

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Pakistan should not count on Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush putting together an aid package for them. This country has always been a disaster, is currently a disaster, and always will be a disaster.

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There is no hope for a prosperous Pakistan in the future. There never will be.

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May God have mercy on Pakistan. But, alas, I suspect that Pakistan is God forsaken.

Poll indicates most Americans think securing the border impossible

A recent poll indicated that 61% of those polled thought that securing the southern U.S. border was impossible.

Unbelievable.

The current border is simply a dotted line drawn on a map. Less than 2% of the border has fencing or other physical barriers that prevent illegal entry from Mexico. It is true that all an intruder must do to enter the United States currently is to walk across an unprotected area in any of the border states (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas). No need to buy and airline ticket, or board a boat or submarine. Just walk across. That's it.

The same is true in China. Just walk across. There's no fence there, either. But there is one big, BIG difference: in the People's Republic of China, it is a crime to enter their country, and those who do so without permission from the Chinese government do so at great risk to their lives, if not their freedom.

China has borders between themselves and Russia, North Korea, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Laos and Vietnam. Thousands and thousands of miles. Thousands and thousands. And along those thousands of miles of border there is not a foot of fencing, zilch, zero, nothing to prevent anyone from walking right into China. Nothing except the fear of breaking Chinese law, and ending up disappearing without a trace, or winding up in a Chinese prison for years if not decades (if not life).

Nobody enters China. Nobody. Or at least nobody enters China without permission. And if they do, they pay dearly.

What's the difference? China enforces its borders with stiff penalties, including death. The U.S. lays down the welcome mat, and provides all comers (read: invaders) with social security benefits, health care benefits, free public education, access to public transportation systems, public parks, and free public (enter the freebie of your choice here).

And we think its impossible to secure our borders? Nothing to it. Position a few machine gun turrets here and there, detect an invader or two and gun them down, and eliminate their threat to our border security. It wouldn't be long before our border is rock, solid secure. Without fences.

Piece o' cake. Works like a charm in China. It would work here, too.

Our culture is in trouble if we have to advertise values

I am confident you have seen many of the commercials that are being produced these days by 'The Foundation for a Better Life.' This one below, the young guy giving the older lady his seat on the bus, is typical. Each time I see these, I am amazed at how low our culture has sunk: we no longer as a nation teach our children respect for their elders, or anything else anymore.

Many more of these clips are put out by this group, encouraging us to not be jerks and assholes. Apparently, unless we see an ad on TV (over and over and over and over.....), we will behave in ways that are completely outrageous, antisocial and rude. The clips that The Foundation for a Better Life are currently running incessantly on nearly every channel around the clock (even Food Network) include:

1) a Downs Syndrome girl getting picked as Home Coming Queen at a high school prom.

2) after a new high school girl gets the cold shoulder in the cafeteria from the popular girls, a considerate girl comes over and has lunch with the jilted gal.

3) the newly wed guy sits down in a bar after a squabble with the missus, and the barkeep bolsters his spirits as to the 'good stuff' of life.

4) the jerk in high school knock the books out of the nerd's hands onto the floor, and the jock comes over and helps the nerd pick them up.

And on and on and on.....

Most of these ads target young people, in their teens and twenty's. I guess that is why I am amazed at the lengths and enormous advertising cost that this group goes through to convey the basic message: don't be an asshole. The parents of these high schoolers depicted in these ads must be in their early 40's, and accordingly are Generation X'ers. I, being a Baby Boomer, seem to have missed how poorly they must have raised their Generation Y kids, so that these antisocial miscreants crap on all of our notions of polite society. These Gen X parents completely fell down on the job of socializing their children, and now its up to the Foundation For A Better Life to pick up the slack. Or, perhaps worse yet, it's the Boomer's fault for raising such derelict kids that grew up to allow their children to behave like animals.

In my day ('by crackee'), if some jerk knocks the books out of somebody's grasp in high in front of the jocks in my early 1970's high school hallway, the jerk would have his face imprinted onto a locker door by the nearest jock faster than a case of 12-year old Scotch would disappear on the Kennedy compound (and believe me, that's fast). Of course, I was raised by 'The Greatest Generation' parents, and garbage like that shown in those commercials would simply not get tolerated for even a second.

Now we have to advertise on television to make our kids aware that it is not OK to be an asshole?

If we keep on this current generational path of ambivalence towards our children's socialization, in a few generations we will turn into savages and cannibals, eating each other willy nilly since nobody taught us any better. And I am guessing that is the conclusion that the folks at The Foundation for a Better Life came to as well, and are doing their best to change the direction of things to come.

Still, it's pathetic that we have to shape good values by advertising them on TV. I have to wonder if these ads are having a positive effect.

Time will tell.

'American Independents:' Dumbest of the Dumb

And we all thought Republicans are pretty dumb. Well, they are. But at the top of the heap of stupid citizens, one would have to put the American Independent as the dumbest of the dumb. .

When Independents are tracked down and asked about an issue, any issue at all, they will tell whoever asks that they have yet to make a decision because all the facts are not in, or that they will make up their minds on election day. They must weigh all sides of the issue equally, you see, and then come to an informed and wise decision on the matter. They are moderate and tempered, you see, unlike radical conservatives and left wingers whose extreme views are unacceptable.

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That's just all garbage and hooey. Gobbledygook. Bunk. It's just not true that Independents weigh any facts, seek clarification or are indecisive because of incomplete information. The truth about Independents is that they are just plain idiots. Stupid cretins. Dolts. The dumbest of the dumb in American politics. And they lie about why they call themselves Independents: they tell you that they are 'middle of the road,' or 'moderate,' or better yet 'don't believe any one side.'

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Don't believe any of that . They are simply lazy, stupid slugs. The most common answer a moron Independent comes up with in response to any political poll or question the vast majority of the time is 'duh, I dunno.'

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They will not raise a finger to think about an issue, when the battle lines of conservative versus liberal policy views are right in front of their lazy eyes. 'Too much work,' they say to themselves. 'Tax and spend Socialist liberals?' 'Racist and mean spirited Republicans?' Ah, nuts to all of that work it takes to think about this stuff, they tell themselves. The Independent lazily believes that the truth must lie somewhere in the middle of all of this political blather in the ubiquitous commercials that they see on TV prior to elections. And of course they resent all of these commercials that interrupt 'American Idol' and 'Wipeout.' Can't these politicians understand that they have priorities in life? Enough with the commercials about taxes, immigration reform, national defense, blah blah blah. Just let us Independents get back to 'Jersey Shore,' and tell us how hammered Snooki got last night, and where she puked...this time.

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They are simply totally uninformed, and do not want to take the time to educate themselves on the issues. When (and if) they go to the polls to vote, they do not have the slightest clue as to whom to vote for. They will often pick the first name on the ballot. Or, more likely, they will pick the more attractive of the candidates; women Independents most often choose candidates in this manner. They will pick the candidate with better hair, the taller candidate, or the cute candidate with the cleft in his chin.

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And the Democrats know this. They understand the Independent. They actively market to the stupid, the dummies, the morons among us. That is why we consistently are ruled by Democrats year in and year out: they get it. Republicans don't. Republicans believe that people vote in elections after careful research into the positions and come to wise, balanced decisions.

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Republicans better get with the program and call a spade a spade: Independents are dumber than a bag of hammers, and yet hold the keys to most elections. 40% of all American voters polled claim to be Independent or Independent-leaning. That's a huge percentage, and the Democrats know how to communicate with these dunderheads.

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Suggestion: The GOP should start marketing to this stupid crowd effectively, using methods that resonate with the dumb: perhaps campaign literature written in crayon, and yard signs using finger paint; dumb things down to the Independent level. The Democrats already do this. The Republicans should take notes if they want to win the day in November.

Are Democrats smarter than Republicans?

I would argue that, given the political landscape and its makeup over the last 50 years or so, Democrats are indeed smarter than Republicans. Look around: polls indicate that around 40% of all voters consider themselves conservative or conservative leaning. 20% call themselves Progressives (liberals) or progressive leaning. That leaves the remaining 40% of squishy independent or independent leaning fence sitters.

All Republicans have to do to win an election is convince a measly 26% of the independents to join them at the ballot box, and the election is in the bag. Democrats, on the other hand, have to convince 76% of those squishy folks to vote their way each and every election, and yet election after election these days we see Democrats win the day.

How is this possible? The media, of course, is on their side, and that helps lots. In addition, the Democrats have inroads into academia and unionized activities, also helpful. Plus, all ACORN fraud and the dead folk vote pad the Democrat ballot.

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Republicans have lots to learn from Democrats, but they resist getting down and dirty. Republicans are playing by Marquis of Queensbury rules, while Democrats are swinging two-by-fours and chairs in the fight over control of public resources. If a Democrat is charged with an ethics violation, they drag the proceedings out for a few years (Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters come to mind currently), all the while keeping them around and count on their liberal votes each and every issue. Republicans, when a minor amount of dirt is charged against one of their own, immediately throw the wayward GOP scalawag under the bus. No ifs, ands or buts - they are gone.

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Who's smarter, politically speaking? Democrats, hands down. I wonder when Republicans are going to wise up?

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I am not holding my breath.