War Statistics: Iraq vs. Afghanistan

Max Boot "If we could turn around the situation in Iraq, there is no reason we can’t turn around Afghanistan as well. But that will involve hard fighting and, in the short-term at least, a further uptick in both American and Afghan casualties. While this is going on, it’s imperative that Americans not panic and assume that the situation is hopeless. It isn’t."

Salvatore A. Giunta, Living Recipient of the Medal of Honor "...Granted, most Medal of Honor recipients in previous wars were not exactly household names either, but the anonymity of today’s heroes is striking. We still revel in great deeds of heroism — as long as they’re performed by celluloid fakes like Sylvester Stallone or Tom Cruise. We no longer seem to have much interest in the real thing."
Photo from Wikipedia

http://townhall.com/cartoons/cartoonist/MichaelRamirez

Jennifer Rubin: Obama Unplugged — and Unintelligible

Jennifer Rubin "Despite control of both the White House and Congress, Obama whines that our problems are traceable to the Republican minority. He won’t concede that there is any connection between the massive burdens heaped on businesses and the paralysis on hiring by shell-shocked employers. And his underlying philosophy is that he knows best how to spend your money. No wonder Democrats don’t want to be seen campaigning with him."

Obama on 9/11: Get Over It  "Unfortunately, we have a president who is not wise and who is terribly out of sync with the ethos of the American people. It is most troubling that the leader of the Free World has a zeal for bad causes. Not even the electoral wipe-out of his party, I fear, will change that."

Obama Is Borrrring! "Obama was in essence the latest trend, equivalent to this season’s fashion or the newest cell phone, which they had to have. But trends by definition come and go, and surface impressions and infatuation don’t last long."

Photo from Big Government

Turning Off the (Incandescent) Light of Liberty

Alan Caruba  "In a nation where the Medicare “reform” requires Americans to purchase health insurance they may not want and may not be able to afford, was rammed through Congress, what can stop the government from dictating just about any choice you have regarding any purchase you make? The answer? Nothing.
"Only it would no longer be a Constitutional government, a nation of laws that reflect anything resembling the truth. The ban on incandescent light bulbs turns off the light of liberty throughout America." Mr. Caruba blogs at Warning Signs .

How to Properly Dispose of Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs "One man has an easier suggestion for proper CFL disposal than the usual 87-step process: Simply mail them to your congressman."

Not Buying What They Are Selling

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion "...Three generations of leftist education have resulted in a substantial minority of the population who accept that we should be like Europe, but still a minority.
"The notion that everything we have and are devolves from the state is not natural to this country, but the modern Democratic Party can't comprehend why that is so. It is inconceivable to them that people would not want their form of health care system; it must be that we don't understand how good it will be for us.
"Our failure to understand how good their handouts are for us really is their failure to understand that we want to take our own fate into our own hands."

'Like a Dog’; The Origins of Barack Obama’s Petulance

Victor Davis Hanson "Obama in just twenty months has developed a reputation for being petulant, unusually sensitive to the normal run-of-the-mill criticism. His latest pushback was his strangest so far: “And they’re not always happy with me. They talk about me like a dog. That’s not in my prepared remarks, it’s just — but it’s true.”"....
"We sense only that those authoritarian sorts seem so far to like the idea that Obama speaks ambiguously about his country’s past and future, and appears more comfortable in pondering alternatives than making decisions.
"Given all that, it is understandable both why America is very worried about what it has wrought — and why Barack Obama is miffed and lashes out.
"You would too if both accountability and criticism were novel experiences at 49."
 
"Petulant"; a word that shows up more and more in columns about President Obama. Learn about it here:
"...moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, esp. over some trifling annoyance: a petulant toss of the head.
—Synonyms
irritable, peevish, fretful, pettish, touchy. (Emphasis added)
From Dictionary.com

Too Cool For School  " “Maybe we fell in love too fast,” my friend said. “You know, we might have zipped right past the road signs.”
"Several of us were sitting around over the holiday weekend, enjoying a lovely bottle of wine at sunset ... and discussing the condition of our country. Which led us to the president. Which led us to our mutually shared disappointment in him." Patti Davis

The Audacity of Smoke

Prof. Mike Adams "But the attention-craving pastor in Florida – whose name I refuse to mention – has no self-respect. He has to burn books in order to get attention from the national press. So I would suggest that the pastor satisfy the president by refraining from burning the Koran. In order to satisfy his book-burning desires, I would suggest that he simply burn another book, The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama.
"If that doesn’t satisfy the unhinged pastor’s desire for fame then, by all means, let him burn the Koran. But just make sure he does it at the groundbreaking ceremony of the mosque at Ground Zero. Maybe then, lunatics on both sides could save us some trouble by killing one another before the mosque is actually built."

Hallowed Ground

Glen Meakem "Throughout history, conquerors have torn down the most important symbols of a culture and society and built their new monuments of religious and political domination right on top of the ruins of the old. This is a universal, cross cultural way of instilling fear and communicating domination. This is basic to human nature. Do our enemies as well as our own soft, out-of-touch leaders really believe that average Americans do not understand these truths and will allow Cordoba House at Ground Zero to happen?
"There may be some moderate Muslims who see the proposed Cordoba House mosque as a positive, bridge building facility, but the voices of our enemies in radical Islam confirm our worst fears about this mosque's more aggressive nature. "
I agree with this latter point of view, but have much trouble with the "sacred ground" aspect. That has caused the entire site to remain a vacant hole and a symbol of continuing victory for al Qaeda, unlike the immediately restored Pentagon. The message given by the pentagon's restoration was that the terrorist's deaths meant nothing; the building looks as it did before.

Islam controversies cast shadow over 9/11 events

Yahoo News "Family members gathering at observances in New York and Pennsylvania brought flowers, pictures of loved ones and American flags, but no signs of opposition or support for the mosque. Reading victims' names along with rebuilders at ground zero in New York, they urged a restrained tone.
""Let today never, ever be a national holiday. Let it not be a celebration," said Karen Carroll, who lost her brother, firefighter Thomas Kuveikis. "It's a day to be somber; it's a day to reflect on all those thousands of people that died for us in the United States.""

9/11: Emotional, Political Flashpoint Nine Years After Attacks "Tragedy"?

Remember 9/11- Islamists celebrate 9/11- Videos- World Trade Center "Let me ask you this, which is worst, burning a Koran or celebrating the murder of thousands?"

9-11-2001 – The Left Forgot "Is the threat overrated?…It depends on if you are willing to sacrifice another 3,000 innocent Americans or not.
"Top liberal reporter Ted Koppel added yesterday, America overreacted.
"Flashback 2007: Barack Obama, Joe Biden and democrats vote to defund the troops at war.
"Flashback 2007: Barack Obama says genocide is no reason to keep our troops fighting the terrorists in Iraq.
"You get the picture."
And this: Jumpers

Never Forget: 911 Call From 86th Floor of World Trade Center "1 Thess. 5:3 says: "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail on a woman with child; and they shall not escape."
"This scripture is of course referring to the end, or Armaggedon, but I always think of it when I hear our leaders and world leaders saying "peace! peace!," when there is no peace with Islam. Seems like every time peace is brokered in the Middle East, the Muslims attack and break that peace, not the Israelis or US."...  From the comments to this post.

Late Night’s Finest: Craig Ferguson Pays Tribute to 9/11 and America   "I think Craig Ferguson is the funniest, smartest most innovative host on any of the big three networks today. To me he has clearly been the star of Late Night talk for a number of years. What those of you with day jobs may not realize: he is also an unapologetic American."

 Never Forget: Remembering 9/11 for the Horror It Was "The toll of Americans killed by Radical Islamists has risen for decades. The attack on the Twin Towers in New York was a culmination; radical Islam’s D-Day on America. We’ve been in a war for 30 years and we’re losing – losing because of an idiotic, 1960s generated political correctness that has turned our nation into a blind patsy unable to see what is really happening; losing because our leaders care more for themselves than for those who elected them and fiddle while Rome burns; losing because we have a mainstream media that has no clue, and if it did, would suppress what it doesn’t agree with ."

Never Forget: Set to the music of Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei" from Adagio for Strings:

Your move, Mr. Abbas

Charles Krauthammer "Among the victims was the Israeli peace movement and its illusions about Palestinian acceptance of Israel. The Israeli left, mugged by reality, is now moribund. And the Israeli right is chastened. No serious player believes it can hang on forever to the West Bank.
"This has created a unique phenomenon in Israel -- a broad-based national consensus for giving nearly all the West Bank in return for peace. The moment is doubly unique because the only man who can deliver such a deal is Likud Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu -- and he is prepared to do it."

If you read nothing else in the Tunnel Wall, read this: 2 Muslims travel 13,000 miles across America, find an embracing nation

CNN Living   "... Ali and Tariq were embraced nearly everywhere they went, from a Confederate souvenir shop in Georgia to the streets of Las Vegas, Nevada, to the hills of North Dakota where the nation's first mosque was built in 1929.
"Like any road trip, there were strange moments along the way: A Mississippi police officer quizzed them about their beliefs on the ground zero mosque and they were asked to leave a mosque in Mobile, Alabama.
"They chuckle about those experiences now and emphasize it shouldn't overshadow the whole trip because, ultimately, they discovered that America still embraces immigrants and the nation is filled with welcoming and loving people."

The run-up to 9-11 as covered by Drudge

Thousands protest Koran burning plan in Afghan north ""The Koran is in the hearts and minds of all ... Muslims but the affront against the holy book is a humiliation to the people," Karzai told reporters at his palace after prayers.
"We are hopeful that he gives up this affront and should not even think about it.""
Springfield (Tennessee) Pastor Plans To Burn Quran ""To the Muslim church I would say the reason I am doing on Saturday because I believe they worship a false god. They have a false text, a false prophet and a false scripture," said Old. He said the other two reasons are to teach Americans about their constitutional rights and to make them better Christians."  Our Creator can handle His own business, thank you.
Westboro Baptist Church to burn Qurans if Dove doesn't "Westboro Baptist Church, the small Topeka, Kan., church that pickets funerals of American soldiers to spread its message that God is punishing the country for being tolerant of homosexuals, has vowed to hold a Quran burning if Gainesville's Dove World Outreach Center calls its off."  These people should get a pass from al Qaeda since they're kindred spirits.
Protester plans to burn Quran on Capitol steps "The founder of the Wyoming Tyranny Response Team plans to burn a copy of the Quran on the steps of the State Capitol on Saturday."
Christians in Gaza Fear for Their Lives as Muslims Burn Bibles and Destroy Crosses "Father Manuel Musallem, head of Gaza's Latin church, told the AP that Muslims have ransacked, burned and looted a school and convent that are part of the Gaza Strip's small Romany Catholic community. He told the AP that crosses were broken, damage was done to a statue of Jesus, and at the Rosary Sister School and nearby convent, prayer books were burned."
Imam Ignores Koran Burn Pastor's Deadline ""I want to be clear and confirm one hundred percent that there will not be Korans burning tomorrow (Saturday) at 6:00 pm as was planned," he said."
And so it goes...