Ahmadinejad Hangs Himself In Columbia Speech

I truly believe in the old saying, “Give a man enough rope and he’ll hang himself with it.” And that’s what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did today at Columbia University.

When I first heard of Ahmadinejad’s visit to America, I was outraged, as were many Americans. However, after reading about his rants to audience members at Columbia University, he showed the world what an uninformed, hypocritical and dangerous dictator he really is.

In fact, he made so many outrageous statements it’s hard to decide where to start. How about the 9/11 attacks?

“If the root causes of 9/11 are examined properly -- why it happened, what caused it, what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved, who was really involved …” Ahmadinejad said, as reported by CNN.

“Who was really involved.” Interesting choice of words. Ahmadinejad, who in the past claimed that Iran has plenty of freedoms, needs to give more of these elusive freedoms to his country’s state-controlled media.

If he did, Ahmadinejad would know that two weeks ago Osama bin Laden again claimed responsibility for the 9/11 terror attacks and presented a video will made by one of the terrorists on that fateful day. And that’s not even including al-Qaeda members, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who have confessed to planning the attacks.

Then Ahmadinejad made a statement that Iran has no gays. Considering that the punishment for either consenting man or woman homosexuality is either whippings or death, it’s a safe bet no one is going to come out of the closet any time soon.

Next, Ahmadinejad came to his favorite subject, Israel. In the past, he said that the Jewish State should be wiped off the map. Today, he wouldn’t give a “yes” or “no” answer when asked if he wanted to see the destruction of Israel. Although, it doesn’t take a genius to know what he would like to see.

But instead, the Iranian President said that “people of Palestine” should be the ones to vote on Israel’s status. Besides the fact that this flies in the face of nearly 60 years of established history that Israel is a country, many Palestinians have been “voting” on the Jewish State’s status by use of suicide bombs as ballots.

So in the end, Ahmadinejad hanged himself by saying he is misunderstood but did show that he is a dangerous man that needs to be taken seriously.

The Media’s Love Affair With Celebrities

There’s just no getting around the fact that the media loves celebrities, especially when they’re at their worst.

Media networks such as FOX News, CNN and others are falling over themselves with coverage of Britney Spears’ divorce and whether or not she did drugs in front of her children.

Meanwhile, these same crusaders of the Freedom of the Press are wetting themselves with excitement over O.J. Simpson’s alleged armed robbery.

And while all this is going on, many Americans aren’t even aware of the fact that Israel allegedly destroyed nuclear weapons in Syria. In fact, CNN didn’t report this important news item on its Web site when the story first broke.

So, why are drunken, armed celebrities getting more media attention than other important news items? Well, for the sake of space and time, let’s keep it short and sweet:

1. Our society deems it more important.
2. Media networks know they can get more ratings because that’s what people want.
3. It needs to be reported.

Numbers 1 and 2 are pretty much self-explanatory but let’s look at number 3. It needs to be reported. Does it? Does Lindsay Lohan’s drunken activities need to be reported?

Sadly, yes. One of the first things that are taught to journalists are the three reasons why stories get reported on:

People want to know. People need to know. And people have the right to know.

So, if a celebrity decides to do something stupid, such as getting drunk in public and flashing their privates to innocent bystanders, that incident will fit in one of those three categories. Just because you don’t think it’s newsworthy doesn’t mean the person sitting next to you, who can’t name at least three presidential candidates, feels the same way.

However, just because a celebrity incident needs to be reported, it doesn’t mean it should lead a news cast or be on the front page.

Although, those who are following Simpson’s latest escapade should be spared of a bit of criticism. Many feel that Simpson got away with murder and now are hoping he will get what’s coming to him.

While the media reports on people who are destroying their own lives, let us hope they inform the rest of us of people who want to destroy ours.

Israel’s Silence And Syria’s Quiet Rage

Hard to give an opinion when the facts aren’t fully reported as of yet or ever.

Apparently, Israel has made a nice little hole in Syria. According to the Times of London, Israel allegedly launched an air strike that destroyed weapons for the terrorist group Hezbollah or destroyed a cache of nuclear materials shipped from North Korea.

At the moment, Israel isn’t saying anything and all Syria is saying is that its “looking into a series of responses” to the attack, according to The Times of London.

There are many questions and speculations as to why Syria would have nuclear materials for weapons, assuming that’s what the destroyed items were.

Either weapons for Hezbollah or nuclear ones for either Syria or Iran, as it has been speculated, it can’t be denied that Israel made a wise move.

None of these countries or terrorist group should have any form of weapons, especially if it’s the nuclear kind.

While diplomacy has wonderful merits, it does have its limitations. In a world where weapons are being shipped to bring death to innocent lives, decisive action has merits of its own.

Bush Is Riding High After Iraq Report

Democrats, especially those running for the White House, will have a hard time selling their agenda that President Bush isn’t doing a good job in Iraq.

Just this past week Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker told Congress that the President’s troop increased had a huge positive effect in Iraq: Sectarian killings are down more than 50 percent in Iraq and more than 80 percent in Baghdad, as reported by CNN.

And if that isn’t enough to get the Democrats, and the few Republicans who are against the war, red in the face, President Bush announced Thursday evening that he will take Petraeus’ recommendations and start troop reductions in December of this year.

So, what did we learn? Well, despite the number of Bush critics who say the president is too stubborn to listen to anyone; his stubbornness seems to have paid off.

But more importantly, the president didn’t bend to political pressure or drastic drops in the polls. He did what any good Commander-In-Chief does: Listen to those who know war best.

He took Petraeus’ recommendations and said that he would proceed with more troop reductions if things continue to go well in Iraq. While the war in Iraq is very unpopular with many Americans and with many whole-heartedly disagreeing with the president’s stance on the war, Bush is standing his ground.

While this is a victory for Bush at the moment and a huge blow to Democratic presidential candidates, it’s not wise to get hopes up. Anything can happen between now and December or later on.

The best thing we can hope for is that the Iraqi government and people can come together and continue to build their new way of life without the military assistance of the U.S. Once that is established, as well as major reduction in terrorists/insurgent activity, then we can celebrate. Because the war in Iraq isn’t over by a long shot.

Never Forget, Always Remember

This is a day we must remember that nearly 3,000 of our countrymen died in an attack by a group of people who want to see our destruction.

This is a group of people who don’t know the meaning of mercy, tolerance or acceptance. These terrorists have only given us one choice: Either convert to their perverted version of the Koran or be murdered.

You cannot make peace treaties with animals like this. There can be no forgive and forget if they are still actively trying to bring down our country and our freedoms.

We can’t forget the fear, shock or courage that was in our hearts or the acts of human kindness by rescue workers and regular citizens that flashed across our television screens six years ago today.

Never forget and always remember that the freedoms that make our America so great come with a heavy price.

What The Iraq Report Means

Poor Democrats and liberals. Even though they started their own war to discredit Gen. David Petraeus and Iraq Ambassador Ryan Crocker before the two could present their report to Capital Hill yesterday and today, it seems it was a losing battle.

MoveOn.org placed an ad in The New York Times to discredit the general and his report. But that didn’t change the facts of what the report said.

According to the General, the troop surge that President Bush ordered back in January is actually working. The terrorists and insurgents are taking a beating. And Petraeus has also suggested significant troop pull outs in 2008.

Now Petraeus didn’t paint an entirely rosy picture, however. The Iraqi government is still “dysfunctional” and there are still problems between the Sunni and the Shiites, he said, as reported on CNN. He does say that these matters are being corrected, however.

Yet, what isn’t being touched on enough is what Crocker said about Iran.

“I think you see a collision in Iran between their long- term strategic interests and their narrow tactical desires. Their narrow tactical desires I would define as trying to administer a defeat to the U.S. in Iraq,” Crocker said, reported by FOX News. “The problem they've got is that, if they are able to create circumstances that cause us to reconsider our commitment, the result is going to be a chaotic Iraq that, over the long run, could potentially be dangerous for them, as well.”

While Democrats, and even a number of Republicans, are calling for an earlier deadline for troop withdraw, not many seem to be concerned about the threats that are in Iraq. No one seems to be that concerned over Iran and what would happened if the U.S. pulled out of Iraq without insuring they could properly defend themselves.

And al-Qaeda, according to Petraeus, seems to be focused in Iraq. For an enemy with no real country to call home and is spread out across the globe, strategically speaking, it’s great having them in one place.

We have to remind ourselves that while we all want the troops home, if we don’t handle our enemies in Iraq now, since we have the troops and support to do it, we would give them a country of their own if we pull out. And we would have to fight them eventually.

It’s important that we don’t give our enemies the chance to catch their breaths and regroup.

G.I. Joe Is A POW To PC

He has faced the Nazis, Japanese and terrorist organization COBRA and won every time. But apparently only politically correct Hollywood has done something that none of his enemies were able to do: Kill G.I. Joe.

According to rumors, the new G.I. Joe movie is taking the “American” out of a “Real American Hero.” Paramount has said that in the movie, “G.I. Joe” will not stand for (U.S.) “government-issued,” but will now become an acronym for “Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity.”

It has been said that an American soldier hero movie might not do well overseas. It almost makes me want to toss my old G.I. Joe toys in the BBQ grill and set them on fire.

But if G.I. Joe can be a target for the evils of political correctness, what other heroes are next? I guess Superman would be the next on the hit list. After all, standing for the “American Way,” can now become as deadly for the Man of Steel as Kryptonite.

But G.I. Joe gave something that Superman couldn’t give to young boys: That with hard work and the love of your country, you too can be a great American hero. Sure, Superman is great but no amount of hard work is going to make a kid fly through the air.

G.I. Joe is a believable hero that anyone can be. And once more, his enemies were also believable. His enemies belonged to tyranny, dictatorships and terrorist organizations: Real threats that America has faced in some form during its long history.

And like real American soldiers, G.I. Joe has faced many enemies in different countries, freeing many from oppression at the hands of bloody rulers. But I guess that is something Hollywood doesn’t want to remind moviegoers, and thus stripping G.I. Joe into a United Nations military force, which is a sad thing to be.

I’m not sure what type of lessons this pale imitation of G.I. Joe is going to teach our children, but it already taught them one valuable lesson: Don’t allow Hollywood to discharge our heroes!

Is Freddy Ready?

Just like Hillary Clinton’s announcement, no one can really say it came as a shock that Fred Thompson made his bid for the White House. Sure, he made his announcement on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, but hey, it worked well for fellow Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But Thompson’s revelation couldn’t have come at a more heated time for the Republicans. In addition to the resignations of two controversial Bush stars, Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales, but there is Sen. Larry Craig, who can’t seem to decide to go gently into that good night.

But Thompson seems to be bringing his own bit of controversy to the political table. He’s against Roe vs. Wade, calling it a “bad law and bad medical science” and would like to overturn it. Sure, most conservative Republicans are against the abortion law but Thompson said this almost a month ago. It’s certainly a bold statement to make right before announcing his candidacy.

And gay rights is another issue that many will have against Thompson.

“I don’t think that one state ought to be able to pass a law requiring gay marriage or allowing gay marriage and have another state be required to follow along,” Thompson told CNN back in August.

Some are calling Thompson too conservative, especially in the wake of President George Bush. With many are tired of Bush, even from his own party, this can severely hurt Thompson’s chances.

But so far, it hasn’t. Yet. However, he does have strong support from grassroots organizations, such as Friends of Fred. And there is no denying that Thompson has a lot of charisma and his role in the Law & Order series as District Attorney Arthur Branch will certainly help him.

But with his background, Thompson should be able to weather the political battle that is ahead of him. But it’s not his political background as a former senator of Tennessee that will help him but his acting in dramas that will certainly prepare him for life in the political arena.