Author: VD

JOINT RESOLUTION Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial Government of Japan and the Government and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same.

Whereas the Imperial Government of Japan has committed unprovoked acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial Government of Japan which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial Government of Japan; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.

Approved, December 8, 1941

That’s it. No nine pages, so section (z)1q, just a straightforward declaration of war against an enemy that has committed acts of war. So, what could Congress be hiding in the current documentation? Hmmmm….”defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq.” So, there is no state of war, nor has Iraq done anything except pose a “continuing threat”. What’s troublesome about this is that there are a number of extant “continuing threats” to the national security of the United States which have been officially declared by the Congress, something like 13, among them the fact that martial law was declared in Myanmar. By the reasoning presented here, the administration could launch an invasion of Burma tomorrow.

Did you happen to note anything about a termination, by the way? Although I must say, I’m not keen on the bit about “all the resources of the country” being pledged by the Congress either. But then, we already knew that war is the health of the state.

Ted Rall, (also syndicated by UPS), has covered himself with slime in impugning the reputation and memory of Pat Tillman. Even if all the points that Rall conjectures were true, this does not mean that the acting man should not be judged for the reasons he, and he alone, assigned to them. Ted Rall may not believe that Pat Tillman was defending his country against terrorism, but Pat Tillman did, and so he died a hero.

I myself question the wisdom of the WWII tactic of island hopping – once naval superiority was established, why not bypass the garrisons and starve them out? But this in no way lessens the incredible bravery of the US Marines, my grandfather among them, who stormed the beaches of Tarawa, Saipan and Iwo Jima.

Rall has always been an idiot sans talent. He has now revealed himself to be a talentless and tasteless idiot, and one lacking in human decency.

From the Star Tribune: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry swooped into the Twin Cities Monday evening, drew more than 3,500 people to fundraisers at the Minneapolis Convention Center and picked up nearly $1 million for his campaign and the national Democratic Party.

This illustrates another problem for Jean-Francois. It can’t be a good sign when he raises less than half as much as George Delano did in their respective single-day sweeps through one of the most left-liberal states in the country.

Paul Jacobs writes on Townhall: Popular government is failing. Citizens are losing control. We see it in politicians all across the country suing the voters — successfully and unsuccessfully — to overturn term-limit laws. We see it in politicians who promise to bring government under control when seeking office, only to join the big government party once safely ensconced in office with all the advantages of incumbency. We see it in reforms supposed to help stop corruption of public officials or the appearance of corruption which only regulate and silence criticism of those same public officials. In all these cases, what we are witnessing is a constant erosion of democracy’s most important feature: the peaceful removal of office-holders.

This is a matter where both Left and Right should be able to see eye to eye. Incumbent protection is in no one’s interest – not even the incumbents, eventually. People denied the right to effect peaceful change will eventually turn to other, less peaceful measures. Even if unsuccessful, those efforts don’t tend to be pleasant for anyone.

Furthermore, if democracy is the point, then why not work towards universal democracy? The technology is there. If the Constitution is just a relic, then so is the Congress. Let everything become a referendum. If we are not going to limit government, then let’s at least give people precisely the government they want. You want democracy? I’ll give you democracy!

Able writes: Kerry’s opponent is 1.) A proven liar; 2.) Lost much of his conservative base; 3.) Continues to unify the center and the left against himself; 4.) Has us in a war that he wasn’t prepared for, and which he sold to the American people through deception; 5.) Has watched as jobless figures continue to rise (even if you consider the b.s. numbers of March); 6.) Has seriously undermined progress on the environment; 7.) And much much more. Kerry may be a “waffler” (every Senator is, if you look closely enough at his or her voting record) and he may come off as cold, but his opponent has much more going against him, such that even with the things he has going for him, he can’t poll ahead of Kerry.

1. Bush and Kerry are both liars. Bush is a competent one, Kerry is an incompetent one. Being a liar has never prevented a politician from winning an election. Being a bad one does.

2. Much to my disappointment, Bush hasn’t lost most of his conservative base. He should have, but he hasn’t yet.

3. That’s ridiculous. The center loves Bush as much as the left hates him. It is interesting to see that the left continues to hate him even though he is governing to the left of every post-WWII Republican president except Richard Nixon. Bush is the most widely popular Republican president since Reagan, even though the right despises him.

4. Agreed. But Kerry has not exploited this. In fact, his own problems relating to his Vietnam and voting flip-flops make the war-related issues a comparative strength for Bush when they should be a weakness. This would have been Howard Dean’s issue; the Democratic party elders chose the wrong pony if this was going to be THE campaign issue.

5. The job numbers are not even close to a critical point. The managers of the economy have successfully modified the statistical measures sufficiently in order to make things look good. With the stock market near all-time highs, the economic issue is a slight positive for Bush. It’s not just the March jobs stat that is BS, they are ALL BS. If you want to see serious stat-monkeying, look at the CPI then compare it to housing, gas and food prices.

6. No one cares about the environment in an electoral except for a tiny minority, mostly college students who don’t vote anyhow. Total non-issue.

7. Yes, many senators are wafflers. This is one reason why they very seldom get elected president. How do you think that’s a pro-Kerry argument? It doesn’t have anything to do with him personally, but it is a serious weakness nonetheless.

A major stock market crash combined with an interest rate hike in excess of 50 basis points is the only thing that is likely to spur a Kerry win. Given that the Fed is making noises about moving them up “in the future” I’m guessing they won’t do anything until after the election. Kerry’s public persona is so bad that he may be the first candidate to drop in the polls after his party’s convention.

As for IQ, you should keep in mind that highly intelligent people equipped with bad data and lousy analytical models are capable of making tremendously stupid decisions. Since most high-IQ people have been educated in America’s elite universities in the past 30 years, their vastly inadequate analytical models are an actual handicap in understanding how the world works and making logical decisions. IQ is not wisdom, common sense or understanding. You can have the biggest gun in the world, but it’s not going to work as well as a .22 popgun if you load the ammunition backwards.

From the Washington Times: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry has a serious likability problem, with many voters seeing him as cold, aloof and distant, according to focus groups, recent polls and election analysts. The complaint has dogged the Massachusetts senator throughout his political career, but it has gotten more attention in recent weeks as he undergoes deeper scrutiny in the press and from political pundits. Pollsters say when compared with President Bush on a likability scale, the president leads, often by large margins.

He’s a Senator – strike one. He’s unlikeable – strike two. He an incompetent liar – strike three. I don’t see any chance whatsoever. Even if there is a terrorist strike before November, what’s he going to do, tell everyone that we should go to the UN again? Bush at least can carry off the resolve thing, even if he’s simply going to leave everything up to the State Department and the neocons to spar over. Remember, it’s hard to unseat a sitting president, even one who has pissed off his base as much as George Delano has. Definitely like father, like son in this way. But he didn’t raise taxes – actually cut them – so he’ll be fine.

There is the height and hair factor, but even those should-be benefits simply make Kerry look like a sallow Lurch. Even the muted Democratic enthusiasm seems forced, what little there is of it.

JP writes: I understand, and agree, with what you are saying about the Republican party in your WND column for Monday, May 3, 2004. And in a finite microcosm this would prove absolute. However, this embraces, to some degree, the notion that our fearless leaders are AMERICANs. Simply put, they are merely Americans in name only. With globalization, politically, economically and socially the heartbeat of so many of our elected and non-elected officials, the broad strokes of their actions become much more clear. It is not so much a suicide pact with the devil that is in process, but a whole new regime in the birthing. With activist judges, declared and undeclared communists in congress, fracturing of the educational system, social norms postured as phobic-based bigotry, pandering to the enemies of a free world, and destroying the roots (as well as the seeds) of the greatest nation known in the history of mankind, is just par-for-the-course as the new world order comes into being. The elitists are already in place. The pacifying government dole has been operating for decades. We will see the last elected president of the US in our lifetimes and probably much sooner than anticipated – if such could be said to be anticipated. It is with forethought and malice the machinations of the elitists has been painstakingly implemented. It is not suicide, but birthing pangs.

Now, there’s one abortion I’d favor! This is what I consider to be the worse-case scenario. Unfortunately, I have numerous reasons for believing that the odds lay with JP’s predictions. Once I realized that NAFTA was likely the first step in the AU (American Union), it put everything on an easily conceivable timetable. The EU was 50 years from conception to political unity, so the clock’s been ticking since 1992. That would put us at a Canamex merger in 2042. Spanish lessons would seem to be in order.

Worst case, of course, is Cthulhu rising. But he’s been slumbering so long, what are the odds he’ll wake up now?

From Drudge: Hundreds of former commanders and military colleagues of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry are set to declare in a signed letter that he is “unfit to be commander-in-chief.”

It’s worth mentioning that for all that I won’t be supporting Mr. Bush this November, I certainly won’t be supporting Mr. Kerry either. I’m quite happy with either Mr. Nolan or Mr. Russo, although the Libertarian delegate count appears to be favoring Mr. Russo right now. Two candidates who actually support upholding the Constitution, will wonders never cease!

Wesley Clark was a prodiguous ass, no doubt about it, but there was a kernel of wisdom in that incident when he got snippy and pulled rank on Lt. Kerry. Someone who’s never had executive experience will probably make a worse commander-in-chief than one who has, even if that executive experience comes from outside the military. Add to that the fact that hundreds of his former military colleagues don’t trust him with the responsibility, well, I suppose it doesn’t really matter. He’s planning on handing the whole thing over to Koffi and friends anyhow.

If I subscribed to the lesser of two evils argument, I’d certainly prefer Bush over Kerry. But since both of them are promising to further molest the Constitution, I see no reason to support either.

Michael Rubin writes on NRO: The situation in Iraq is deteriorating. The reasons are simple. Instead of promoting Iraqi sovereignty, Foggy Bottom has for more than a year sought to limit it. Rather than put an Iraqi face on Iraq’s liberation, Bremer’s team has worked to marginalize Iraqi voices. The “Who We Are” section of the CPA website is illustrative. Rather than promote Iraqi self-governance, the CPA dedicates more than half the space to Bremer’s biography and photograph. The State Department, CENTCOM, and CIA argument that only a strongman or benign autocrat can govern Iraq creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Opposed as I am to the concept of nation-building, I’m very open to the idea that part of the growing problems with the Iraqi people lie at the hands of the quasi-traitorous State Department and other bureaucratic agencies. But so what? If you’re not wise enough to can an undependable employee, you can’t exactly wash your hands of their incompetence – or worse – later. Who put that joker Bremer in charge anyhow? MacArthur he clearly isn’t.

Mark Steyn asks: If Muslims are thought to be incapable of democracy, what does that portend for democracy in Europe, where Muslims form an increasingly important and active minority?

Deportations. What does he think the EU is for, anyway? The very notion that democracy is going to survive the vote-until-you-get-it-right organization in anything but show trial form is absurd anyhow. I would have thought that Steyn was aware that the Euro constitution is going to be imposed without the consent of the governed in most EU countries. Of course, they joined without consent in the first place, so this is hardly a surprise.