"From the River to the Sea" Hate From Coast to Coast

The above video was produced by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Org and shows pro-Hamas protests conducted in numerous North American cities during the fighting in Gaza.

I have written extensively on these rallies and the words spoken about Jews, so there is no need to write about it again here. It's all on the YouTube video tape. I encourage everyone, regardless of their position on the Israel-Palestinian issue, to watch and listen to the words.....













and make your own comparisons.

British News Report-The Terror Threat in the UK

The above video is from PressTV and provides a news update on the terror threat in the UK.

Newspaper Bailout? No Way!

(For you University of California at Santa Cruz graduates, Truman defeated Dewey.)


Even crazier than the bailouts of the auto industry, banks and Wall Street is this latest idea being floated around of Government stepping in to bail out the newspaper industry. Representative Frank Nicastro (D-CT) has spoken out in favor of government action. Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) has just introduced the so-called "Newspaper Revitalization Act", which would allow newspapers to file as non-profits. All this has implications that go far beyond the question of whether failing newspapers ought to be saved or allowed to die.

First of all, let's examine the reason newspapers are dying out (The San Francisco Chronicle and Seattle Post Intelligencer are the latest big papers to fold). One reason is the revolution in news reporting and coverage. It is difficult for newspapers to compete with 24-hour news coverage offered first by cable channels such as CNN and Fox. In addition, news can be obtained instantly via the Internet from a myriad of sources. By the time you receive your daily paper, you already know the news that's in there. While I still subscribe to the Orange County Register, my main focus is the editorial page and the sports page in that order. I basically skim the front pages.

In short, newspapers are becoming more and more obsolete.

Another reason the newspapers are failing is that the public realizes that much of what they are getting is opinion rather than fact. The editorial page is 80-90% slanted to the liberal point of view while even front page writing is often written in such a manner as to slant the news in the liberal direction without the reader seeing between the lines.

The problem is (not a problem, really) the readers are increasingly reading between the lines, and they don't like the bias they are seeing.

Rightfully or wrongfully, many followers of the news are increasingly going to news sources they are comfortable with, whether it be Public Radio, CNN, Fox News or MSNBC. It is the same with the Internet and blogs. People go to the sites they tend to agree with and occasionally check opposing views on other sites.

It doesn't leave a lot of room for newspapers.

Now come various figures who say that government should step in and save the newspapers, either by bailout, takeover or giving them tax breaks on things like advertising revenue. If government can step in and save failing enterprises that are so important to the country, why not newspapers? Are they not crucial to the American Way of Life?

Well, not really for the reasons I listed above. When something becomes obsolete, it naturally dies out in the free market. (Should the government have stepped in and saved elevator operators a few decades ago?)

But even more serious a consideration is the idea of government being involved in newspapers in any form. We are already seeing the effects of government bailouts of GM and Chrysler. Now, President Obama is deciding who should or should not be the CEO of GM. Now, President Obama is telling Chrysler they should merge with Fiat.

Fiat??? When I was living in Italy, I owned a used Fiat. Fiat stands for:

Fix
It
Again,
Tony.

I know, I am digressing. Back on track.

The point is that once government steps in and bails out newspapers or gives them any financial breaks that allow them to keep operating, they have a voice in the editorial content of that paper-whether they ask for it or not. What newspaper is going to bite the hand that feeds it? If we are sceptical of the political agenda of our newspapers now, how trusting can we be if they owe their continued financial well-being and very existence to the government?

I say no. I know what it is like to live in a country at a time they didn't have a free press (Thailand in the 1970s). As much as we complain about the biased coverage of most of our newspapers, we haven't seen anything yet if government steps in to save those that are failing. In fact, I suspect that most of the folks in Washington who are clamoring for government assistance are Democrats who recognize that they may lose a valuable ally.

I say let the newspapers go the way of the elevator operator if they have become obsolete or the customers are rejecting them. The government should have no role whatsoever in the operation of a newspaper-even in a financing role. This would set too dangerous a precedent in a nation like America.

Tolerating Intolerance- the Trailer

The above video is a trailer for the documentary produced by Stand With Us-an organization that is a fighting against anti-Semitism on college campuses. It is even more poignant for me personally because much of the film shot was at UC-Irvine, where I teach part-time. The speakers you will see and hear were brought to UCI by the Muslim Student Union.

I urge everyone to see the entire film.

Bill Maher : "(American Troops) Are Going to Have to Learn to Rape Themselves"

I have nothing but contempt for Bill Maher, that smug comedian who delights in insulting every great American tradition we have left in the hope that it will die out. Maher, an atheist, takes delight in insulting people of faith. He has impugned George W Bush's reserve military service-even though he himself (Maher) never served a day of his life in uniform. He has also implied that our military were cowards in the manner in which they fought. Now, Maher, (in questioning why we have troops in Germany and Japan) has used our troops as the butt of a joke, in which the punch line implies that our troops in German and Japan are rapists.

See for yourself:



"At some point, these people are going to have to learn to rape themselves."

There is nothing funny about this joke-though obviously some of Maher's fans think there is. As a veteran who served in Germany back in the 1960s, I would like to tell Mr Maher that I never raped anyone. Were there cases of rape in Germany (and Japan)? Yes, unfortunately, there were. As an MP, I had occasion to respond to a couple of sexual assault incidents. But to imply there was or is an epidemic of rapes committed overseas by American troops is just plain wrong.

Maher prides himself on attacking "sacred cows" in American society. He has the freedom to do that. But to make accusations (or imply though the use of a tasteless joke) that our troops are rapists is unconscionable. One wonders how Maher will explain this one away in the coming days.

Ten Bill Mahers could not make one American soldier, airman, sailor or Marine.

Celebrity Endorsements-Keith Olbermann for Johnson & Johnson

"Good night and good luck-Oh,...wrong line.

Hi, I'm Keith Olbermann, and I'm here to talk to you about Geor...., I mean the good folks at Johnson & Johnson. When you're a news commentator always on the go like me, you need to make sure you are always at the top of your game. That's why I rely on Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals. They have something for my every need.

Take for example when I go on the air every night. Just before the show begins, I take this little white pill here to make sure I don't have a heart attack during air time. And boy, every time I mention the name George Bush, I can feel the big one coming on.

Then, I take this red one here to combat fatigue cause virtually every night, I can feel myself getting "bushed"-if you know what I mean.

I also drink a glass of this purple liquid here for memory loss because I always seem to forget that George Bush isn't president any more.

And don't forget anger management medicine. Just before air time, I pop this big green pill here so's I don't wind up on top of the NBC Studio building with a high-powered rifle, or sometimes, just throwing papers around the set or breaking windows.

Johnson & Johnson also makes a great anti-delusional pill, like this brown capsule here, which I take every time I start thinking George Bush is going to be indicted for war crimes.

A great commentator (like me) also needs to be clearly focused-so he can make a clear decision-like who's gonna be the Worst Person in the World. Johnson & Johnson also has the answer for that as well-that's this little round yellow pill right here, see?

I also recommend Johnson & Johnson to my friends. For example, I got Chris Matthews to start taking these little blue pills for his restless leg syndrome, which he gets every time he sees Barack Obama. He also takes these orange thingies to treat nausea, like when he sees Bobby Jindal.

In fact, all my friends at MSNBC are big customers of Johnson & Johnson.

Well, I gotta go now. Show time is in 5 minutes. That means It's time to take my clear-thinking pill so I can decide who will be the Worst Person in the World.

Gulp.

There, that's better. Now let's see........hmmmm.....

I got it! Bill O'Reilly!!"

Maxine Waters & Goldman Sachs- What is Your Point, Ms Waters?

Sadly, there is a certain amount of poison going around the Internet about "The Jews on Wall Street who are behind" this whole financial catastrophe. Certain elements in the Middle East are also pushing this theory for their own obvious purposes. The Wall Street Financial firm of Goldman-Sachs (with a strong Jewish history)is the target of a lot of these anti-Semitic accusations. It appears that Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) may be buying into this stuff as well. Last Tuesday, Waters was grilling Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner-specifically about Goldman Sachs. In her questioning,......well, as Jeno Leno would say, "here, take a look at the tape."




First of all, Waters has two absolute defenses in that:

1 She never mentioned the word, "Jews".

2 She is basically an ignorant woman.

But she is a congresswoman and wields a certain amount of power, which she has not hesitated to abuse over and over again. She also has a reputation for playing racial politics, so I think it is fair to ask, just what is it you are getting at Ms Waters?

Did you note the manner of how she formulated the questions? First of all, it is clear that Goldman Sachs was the focus of her questioning. Waters was obviously fixated on Goldman Sachs. Without naming names and sources, she referred vaguely to "linkages" and "connections" and "a small group of Wall Street types" making decisions. She referred to "the talk underneath", "people are thinking", and "you hear a lot....".

Ms Waters, who is talking "underneath"? Underneath what? What people are thinking about "the small group of people" on Wall Street? What linkages and connections are you talking about? Why are you so fixated on Goldman Sachs?

Is it "those damn Jews" again, Ms Waters?

If Maxine Waters is prepared to make charges of illegality on the part of Goldman Sachs and its officers, she should do so. But for a congresswoman to sit up there and talk vaguely about "linkages", "connections" and "you hear a lot about" is pretty irresponsible, in my view. She is feeding into a dark undercurrent because she knows that her viewers and supporters are making inferences. She knows the game because that type of talk has been historically used to imply negative thoughts about blacks.

But what can one expect from Maxine Waters?

The Wagoner "Resignation" and Abuse of Power in Washington

Rick Wagoner, ex-CEO of GM (a private company) fired by the President of the United States


Let me say at the outset that I have no idea whether Rick Wagoner was or wasn't an effective CEO at General Motors. Maybe he deserved to be canned from the top position in a company for which he had worked for 32 years. For all I know, he may be the biggest villain in the whole auto industry mess. However, I am bothered greatly by the manner he was forced out. Doesn't it bother anybody in America that a CEO of a private company was fired by the Federal Government, specifically, the Treasury Department and the White House? This points out a much greater problem than the future of the auto industry. This goes right to the future of our democratic and capitalistic system.

Of course, one might argue that when a private enterprise accepts government bailout money, the government has a right to make decisions and call the shots. That's what government does when it hands out money. It sets rules.

I won't waste a lot of time pointing out that no one in the federal government knows the first thing about making automobiles, and darn few know how to run a business, let alone a major corporation. That's common sense. As a retired government employee, I know first-hand how inefficient government is, at least when you get into the depths of Washington DC HQs. Now that the government has taken over GM and Chrysler, they can only run them further into the ground. Does anybody seriously think that Chris Dodd (who recently called on Wagoner to resign) has the answers? Speaking of resigning, Dodd probably has too many questions of his own to answer these days without having to worry about the auto industry.

But let's get to the crux of the problem: Since when does a president of the United States and his cronies in the Treasury Department have the legal or constitutional right to fire a CEO of a private company? That is precisely what happened here. One wonders what discussions went on between the White House and Treasury Department with the United Auto Workers. The UAW has spent decades building job protection rules for its members that have greatly led to the auto-industry's financial problems. Do they care that Wagoner was fired by the President of the United States?

Of course they don't. They know that this administration is on their team and will make them and other unions stronger with their card check legislation that is in the works.

But back to the point: In this headlong rush toward socialism, we are seeing the creation of a system whereby the US Government can come in and seize any company or industry it wants-even if no bailouts are involved. What they are designing is the acquisition by the government of any business entity whose failure would impact the US economy. Who in the government will decide which companies are in danger of failing? Who decides if the company's failure represents damage to the US economy?

And once this idea takes effect, make no mistake- corruption is on the way. Right now, these people are thinking about saving the US economy or instituting socialism. How long will it be before members of Congress start taking advantage of their "oversight" powers to start padding their own wallets?

This is scary stuff, indeed.

Celebrity Endorsements- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Bud Lite

"Let's have a cool one"

Hi beer-drinkers! This is yer old buddy Mahmoud for my pals at Bud Lite. You know, at the end of a long hard day of carryin' out my official duties, like you know, attendin' the mass hangings and such, I like to relax and unwind with a few ice-cold Bud Lites. Since I like to maintain my skinny body, I drink Bud Lite cause it never fills me up.

And since I'm not supposed to drink alcohol, Bud Lite is the perfect choice for me cause it's brewed under the strict Iranian Reinheitsgebot (purity law) of 1979 (water only-no other ingredients added).

So take it from Mahmoud. Try an ice-cold, frosty Bud Lite-or drink it warm-what's the difference? Then you'll be fresh and rarin' to go for the next day's mass hangings.

Bud Lite- Drink several gallons tonight!

Norman Finklestein Posting on a Terror Attack in Israel

Norman Finklestein


Of all the controversial professors who infest American universities, few can match ex-DePaul University Professor of Middle East Studies Norman Finklestein. I say ex-professor because Finklestein lost his position at DePaul (after a nasty fight)when they refused to give him tenure. He is one of those many professors who detest the state of Israel and deny its right to exist. Since losing his job at DePaul, Finklestein, now going under the label "independent scholar", has joined the lecture circuit traveling around the country and appearing at one university after another where he accuses the Israelis of every crime imaginable while also pouring insults on his own country-especially the previous administration. Finklestein's main thesis is that the Jews and Israel are using the Holocaust to drive their own agenda in favor of the Jewish state at the expense of the Palestinians. Interestingly, he is the son of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Whatever his motives, Finklestein is one of many Jewish academics who allow themselves to be used as "Jewish voices" in opposition to Israel.

As we speak, more universities around the nation are extending invitations for this character to speak:

4/04/09 – Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis
4/07/09 - University of Connecticut
4/08/09 – University of Maryland
4/09/09 – University of Massachusettes, Lowell
4/13/09 - California State Universty, Chico (Political Science
Department, Middle East Studies Program)


In at least one(California State University at Chico), his appearances are being sponsored by academic departments, a testament to their "dedication" to bringing a fair debate to the issues for the benefit of their students.

On January 31, I attended a completely one-sided forum on Israel/Palestine at UC Irvine. Finklestein was one of several left-wing academics who sat on a couple of panels and poured abuse on the Jewish state. According to Finklestein et al, Israel committed a massacre in the recent fighting in Gaza, deliberately targeting innocent Palestinians and using bombs given by dear old Uncle Sam. According to Finklestein, the reason Israel has fought virtually all of its wars was to instill fear in the Arab world and put a halt to any peace efforts when cute little groups like Hamas got too "moderate" and desirous of peace. These are all statements that Finklestein made in my presence and are included in the two reports I wrote both for Campus Watch/Frontpage and my own blog.

Finklestein is a character who oozes arrogance and condescension. In a previous appearance at UCI, he angrily berated a young student who had the temerity to ask him about his invitation to attend a Holocaust denial conference in Iran. Once he has the podium, you need to send in the Army to get him to relinquish it. The man can literally drone on forever. Yet, college audiences love him-especially at UC Irvine where deans and above gather at his feet, laugh at his nasty quips and applaud his insulting statements. Finklestein has few words of praise for anyone and plenty of insults for those he doesn't like-which is just about everybody. At UCI in the space of a few hours, he called Israeli historian Benny Morris, who has produced many works on the Middle East conflict, a "part-time historian and full-time propagandist", George W Bush "an idiot" and Dick Cheney a "thug and a murderer".

At that same event, I sent up a written question to the panel which was selected and directed to Finklestein. I asked if he and his colleagues would condemn recent comments and chants heard at anti-Israel rallies around North America in the wake of the Gaza fighting, such as "Long live Hitler", "Jews go back to the ovens", etc (all of which are readily available on YouTube and can be seen on this blog). Finklestein's answer was that he had not heard of such statements, suspected they were wildly exaggerated, made up, or committed by "Zionists" masquerading as Jews. (That answer caused the audience to erupt in cheers when he closed by making a reference to people who should pull themselves out of their navels.)

This, ladies and gentleman, is an academic-a professor!! This is what I want to be when I grow up.

Enough of the background on Finklestein. I would like to make a comment here about something that has appeared on his website (normanfinklestein.com):


On March 6, 2008, an Israeli-Arab terrorist entered a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem (Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav) and opened fire on the occupants. By the time it was over, eight Jewish students, seven of whom were teenagers, were dead, senselessly murdered for no other reason than they were Jewish.

Victims of the terror attack at Yeshiva Mercaz HaRov


While the reaction in Israel was one of shock and horror, many Palestinians in Gaza, Lebanon and other places took to the streets to celebrate in joy. Some imams in mosques praised the killer as a hero. Below are photos of Palestinians celebrating this incident.




Finkelstein's website features a statement written by the board of the Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) in March 2008 condemning the horrific terrorist attack. The statement is posted without comment but appears under the title (apparently added by Finklestein): NAZI PHDs FOR PEAXE mourn death of ubermenschen.

Uebermenschen is a term originally associated with Friedrich Nietzsche, which is roughly translated as "superman" or "overman" and later became related to the old Nazi term Untermenschen-"sub-humans", which was used to refer to Jews and other groups not deemed worthy by the Nazis.

(See: http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=1553).

First of all, let me state that the SPME is a national organization made up largely of Jewish professors, current or retired. They support Israel and are concerned about the situation on US campuses where anti-Israel voices have made many campuses unpleasant for Jewish students. For Finklestein to label this organization as Nazi is outrageous. They are not anti-Muslim or anti-anything else. What Finklestein has done is take a moderate organization that defends Israel and label it as made up of Nazis. Also, why does Finklestein label the innocent, young, Jewish victims as "Uebermenschen? What kind of hateful message is he trying to send by implying a Nazi connection here? He should be ashamed of himself, but I suspect Mr Finklestein is beyond shame.

I don't know what drives this man, nor do I particularly care. Perhaps, he is just a product of the 1960s college generation (that I survived). What I do believe is that Norman Finklestein-along with others such as Ward Churchill-represent the very worst in American academia. Finklestein has the constitutional right to spout his venom and twisted version of history, but we have the same right to comment on it and shine the public spotlight on the ravings of this character.

He should take great care before he goes around calling people Nazis. (I have just recently called certain people Nazis, but I am prepared to back that up.) He should especially remember that it was the very people he champions who cheered and celebrated the massacre of March 2008.

The Oakland Murders

Last Saturday, four Oakland police officers were shot and killed by a man identified as Lovelle Mixon, who was a suspect in a rape case. Two officers were gunned down as they made a vehicle stop on Mixon, and two others were killed by Mixon as he was barricaded in a relative's apartment. Mixon was also killed in the final exchange of gunfire.

Police deaths always strike close to home for me because of my own law enforcement background with US Customs and DEA. Many years ago, I worked a case with the OPD in Oakland, and two of my former DEA colleagues were also ex-OPD officers. In addition, one of my fellow former Military Police colleagues from Germany was in the Oakland PD. Undoubtedly, they are grieving even if they didn't know the dead officers.

From most news accounts, it is heartening to read that the community is supporting the Oakland PD in numerous ways. Don't forget that Oakland is still trying to recover from a very questionable shooting by a BART transit officer of an unruly passenger. (That officer has since been fired and indicted.)

In spite of the massive support from the Oakland public, there was an unfortunate incident Wednesday, when a crowd of about 60 yahoos marched against the police and in support of Mixon. Even more unfortunately, the San Francisco media, no friend of the Oakland police, gave them wide publicity. CNN has also been accused of accentuating the negative in reporting the relations between the police and community in the wake of this tragedy. It is disgusting, but that should not be allowed to mar the otherwise impressive outpouring of support coming from the good people of Oakland.

The New Politically Correct Language

Illegal alien gang member




Nazis in London




Nazis in Iran hanging gays




Nazi in New York City



War on Terror


I thought the British couldn't be outdone when they recently began referring to Islamic terrorism as "anti-Islamic activity". Now comes the Obama Administration declaring that the war on terror will now be called "Overseas Contingency Operations"!!?? It looks like we are entering a new world of Orwellianism with the liberals running this country.

Already, schoolchildren in many American schools are coming back from school and informing their parents that St Patrick's Day is being called, "Potato Day" or Shamrock Day", as it was just labeled at the White House celebration.

For a few years now, many of us have been called to task for using the term, "Islamofascist" to describe terror carried out in the name of Islam, as well as everyday incidents of intimidation and calls for imposition of Shariah law in the West. Actually, radio talk-show host Michael Medved has it right; what we are experiencing around the world is not fascism (a rather difficult term to define), but more like Nazism-very easy to define and containing anti-Semitism at its core-as does militant Islam. I have no problem referring to Islamic terrorists and other radicals (such as we see on the streets of London damning everything about British society)as Nazis. Yes, those Muslims who are assaulting and intimidating Jews on the streets of European cities are acting like Nazis. Those who carry placards on British streets calling for the beheading of those who "insult" Islam are acting like Nazis. Those who recently demonstrated against Israel on American streets and campuses and shouted out, "Long Live Hitler" and "Jews go back to the ovens" are acting like Nazis.

Similarly, a person who is in this country illegally-or in any country illegally- is an illegal alien-not an "undocumented worker". (MS-13 gang members are not workers to begin with).

I recently wrote a piece on that insane university, the University of California at Santa Cruz, where the word "queer" has been injected into a myriad of courses and departments. Have you ever heard of "Queer Theory"? Don't take my word for it. Go to the UCSC course catalog. It's online. When I was growing up, the word "queer" was a pejorative-just like the word, "fag". Now it's in at UCSC.

Similarly, universities still use that silly term, "Chicano" to refer to Mexican-Americans. When I was growing up in Los Angeles, the word implied a young tough, not a self-respecting adult person of Mexican or Latin descent. Somehow, in the 1960s, universities fell in love with the term, and it is still used today.

In yet another example, when I was a child, polite terms for blacks were "Negroes" or "colored people". The term "Negro" has been out of favor for years now, as is "colored people". But "people of color" is in. Go figure. It is also frustrating to a lot of people of all races that as hard as we have tried to rid ourselves of the N-word, which should be dying out from simple disuse, so many young blacks are embracing the word among themselves.

What we see in the US, Canada and Europe is political correctness gone wild. First it was speech codes on our university campuses. Now it is the twisting of the English language to the point where it loses its meaning and becomes laughable. Certainly, any form of ethnic or religious epithet is unacceptable, but we should never lose the ability to call something what it is.

What to Do About Mexico

As much as has been written about the situation in Mexico, at this point, it appears that the crisis is reaching critical mass. The cartel drug wars along the Mexico-US border have escalated dramatically and are spilling over across the border. Phoenix is now the kidnapping capital of the US as Mexican drug gangs kidnap other Mexicans-mostly over unpaid drug debts. Over 6,000 people have been murdered in Mexico in the past year, either by shooting or in some cases, by beheading. Some voices are even saying the country is in danger of collapsing. Police officials are also being gunned down in northern Mexican cities. As I write this, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Mexico City conferring with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who, to his credit, has sent the Mexican Army north to fight the cartels along the border. Clinton is pledging more financial aid to Mexico and laying much of the blame on the US for furnishing weapons in cross-border smuggling as well as our insatiable drug habit. She is correct in both those respects (though Mexico has always been awash in weapons), but both countries now have reached the point where drastic action is necessary. As a retired DEA agent, here is what I think needs to be done.

First of all, I don't think more money is the answer. We have pumped billions into Mexico in trying to help them fight the drug war. Much of it has been wasted due to corruption. Yes, we should step up our efforts to stop the weapon smuggling. Yes, we should try to decrease our demand for drugs-an effort that has failed to now to our national embarrassment.

What Mexico must do-in its own defense-is make the drug traffickers disappear, and I don't much care how they do it. At the point when any segment of society is threatened with death if they stand up to the traffickers-as the police are-then I say let them do what they have to do and ignore the human rights crowd. At the same time, they need to be told that the US will no longer be a safety valve for their impoverished citizens to find a way to make a living. Mexico needs to clean up its corruption and provide a decent education and employment opportunities for their citizens or they can face the wrath of their own people.

What we must do is:

First, the State Departmnent has to take the (for them) drastic step of issuing a full-scale travel advisory. Travel to Mexico is dangerous to your health. Don't go.

Then we must:

Secure the border-and the interior. This is way beyond the question of illegal immigration. As I have said before, we can't possibly round up and deport 12-15 million persons, and there are valid arguments for treating them in a humane manner. We can, however, go after the criminal element among them. That means that the federal government has to make it clear to sanctuary cities that their federal funding will be cut off if they persist in not cooperating with ICE. If we don't now have the laws to prosecute local officials who ignore federal immigration laws, then we need to pass laws and start locking up these officials. City and state police must work with ICE-in the jails, on the streets and in their file rooms to exchange information, identify criminal illegal aliens and go get them. Once they are in custody, they should be quickly deported and turned over to their own governments (I am talking specifically about Mexico and El Salvador.) It may take some changes in immigration laws or policies, but there is no constitutional protection for another citizen to be in this country illegally.

When I say secure the border, I am not talking about sending another 500 agents to the border along with more technology. Certainly, the government in Washington needs to stop treating the Border Patrol like bastard step-children and start supporting them. But that is not sufficient. What is needed is a double fence and a large military presence along the whole 2,000 mile border with Mexico. We could start by using the National Guard troops from the four border states. By doing that, we can put a serious crimp in the number of illegal aliens getting across the border as well as drugs. It could also help cut down on the weapons smuggling-though what may be needed is expanded Customs export search authority-which many nations have. We use it to enforce laws against smuggling of currency out of the country; we can use it for weapons as well. We can also tell all these banks that the Government wants to dictate to that they must stop giving mortgages to people who present nothing more than a Matricular Consular card (furnished by Mexican consulates) as ID.

The US-Mexican border is now probably the biggest crime area in the world. From Matamoros to Tijuana, people are dying every day. What is happening to the decent population of Mexico is an atrocity. We cannot allow this to continue to spill over onto our side. By allowing this situation to continue we do no favor to the Mexican people. It is a national security issue for both countries at this point. It should be treated as such.

March in Luton (UK)

The below posting is crossed posted from Maggie's Notebook (blog) and concerns a scheduled march in Luton (UK) on March 28 to support British troops, as well as stand up to Islamic thuggery going on in the UK. It is also concerns the British blogger, Lionheart, who puts his life and freedom on the line to speak out on the outrageous behavior of radical Muslims in the UK, who are trying to take that country over.

"The Pentagon, under the direction of Barack Obama, has banned the use of "The Global War on Terror." But we all know where the terror is, and it is global, and all of it is perpetrated by Islam. Our friends in England are fighting a battle that is being denied by those in the media and Parliament. Brits are running scared. They are afraid to speak out or show-up...with some brave exceptions.

Lionheart is a frequent contributor here and other blogs passionately concerned about terrorism. If you do not know his story - and a story that is evolving and very serious to his life and liberty, and that of his family - then visit him at Lionheart. Don't stop at the homepage. Dig into his archives. Americans need to know what is going on in Britain, because we are the next stepping stone.

On March 28th, this Saturday at 12:25 p.m., there will be a protest in Luton, England, Lionheart's hometown and where his saga began. Here's what the march is all about:

After watching our soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment being aboused by the British wing of Al Qaeda on the streets of Luton, the wider community are now going to march in demonstration against them and in support of our troops.
Here's a message for Lionheart:

The threat to the life of the nation has never been greater since the Second World War, and it is happening now in our generation.

The militant wing of the Islamic religion is hell bent on causing mass murder and mayhem against the British people as they seek to force us to bend and bow in submission to their religious ideology – This cannot be doubted!

7/7, the Glasgow airport car bombing, the ‘Tiger Tiger’ nightclub failed car bombing and all other thwarted attempts are proof enough of their intent towards us. It might only be a small minority who carry out these acts, but that does not mean that they are not supported by the vast majority (a debatable issue).

The Home Secretary has now stated, after being given a new report on tackling Islamic extremism in Britain, that there is an increased threat of a dirty bomb attack being carried out against us.

The threat is not new, so as the report states regarding the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical substances, it is only a matter of time until there is a successful terrorist attack that outweighs in gravity the attacks that have already been perpetrated against us by Al Qaeda.

It’s not ‘if’. It is ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘how big’?

The Home Secretary has said that it is the responsibility of not just the Government to tackle the threat now posed to our national security, but also that of the wider community.

Quote: She cited the example of the Muslim activists who recently protested at a homecoming parade in Luton for British forces returning from Iraq.

She said: "The civil challenge means that, if people feel it appropriate to demonstrate against our troops coming home from defending this country abroad, we - as Government and others - will say in turn that we think that that's wrong.

"Not that they've broken the law - one of the things we're defending in this country is the right to free speech, but that isn't free speech that will go unhindered or unchallenged by either Government or, I think, the broader community."

After watching our soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment being abused by the British wing of Al Qaeda on the streets of Luton, the wider community are now going to march in demonstration against them and in support of our troops.

The organiser of the official event pulled out of leading this through fear of controversy, and has rearranged for London in April. We the people, are so incensed at what took place on March 10th that we will be meeting in Luton on Saturday with or without Luton Council’s permission. That is just the common consensus amongst the people.

If we the people cannot stand up to this abhorrent behaviour by this civil enemy, then who is going to?

As the Home Secretary has said: “but that isn't free speech that will go unhindered or unchallenged by either Government or, I think, the broader community."

The broader community will be meeting in Luton on Saturday March 28th at 12.25 to demonstrate and challenge those extremists living in our country.

Each and every person working within the mainstream media have a responsibility to your country too. Are we not all in this together? What if it is you or one of your relatives caught up in a mass ‘dirty bomb’ attack in London at some point in the future?

We the people need your help to tell the country that we will be meeting in Luton on Saturday.

The BBC and ITV give Anjem Choudry, the Osama Bin Laden of British militant Islam a platform to promote his vile ideology, yet they refuse to help those seeking to challenge that.

Isn’t it about time, for the sake of the future life of the nation, that those in power start to help the common people with their aims and objectives?

Now is that time, and it concerns Luton, which has been the scene of so much Al Qaeda terrorist activity, including Al Qaeda’s deceleration of war against us on the morning of 7/7.

We can do what we do through the internet, and arouse the few, but with mainstream media coverage we can arouse the many from amongst the broader community to come out in support.

Now is the time for you to do what the Home Secretary has said, or go back to sleep and remember this message when you are reporting the next Al Qaeda terrorist attack to hit our shores.

Those on the Left within the Establishment should not refuse what the Home Secretary herself, has said because this is their country too. If they do, it proves the point that they are just as much our enemy as militant Islam itself. No Moslems in positions of influence should refuse either because if they are true to their words about there being moderates from amongst them, then they should welcome a demonstration against the militants from within their own religion particularly as they have never demonstrated against this element themselves.

We will be in Luton on Saturday at 12.25pm whether it is just one elderly man with a sandwich board protesting against this disgusting behaviour on our streets, or 10,000demonstrators.

Once again Al Qaeda in Britain has started this and this will be our response.

Help us or hang your heads in shame!!!

This is not a political march; this is a demonstration of the people."

Fousesquawk comment: Here is hoping that March 28 marks the beginning of the British resolve to stand up to terrorists and their supporters in the UK. The outrageous and seditious behavior over there has gone on long enough.

A Portrait of Hate in Malmo, Sweden

British Plan March in Luton to Support Troops March 28

Remembering Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller


Last year, my wife and I were taking a city tour of Acapulco. During the bus ride, the tour guide pointed out a heavily vegetated location on the fringes of the town where at least one Tarzan movie had been filmed when Johnny Weissmuller was playing the role of Tarzan. She also pointed out Weissmuller's former home and the fact that he was buried in Acapulco. It reminded me of a time when I was a child that Weissmuller visited our home.

Johnny Weissmuller, for you younger readers, was an Olympic swimmimg champion in the 1920s, winning five gold medals. He then went on to become the most famous of the Tarzan actors in the 1930s and 1940s. After a wild and tumultuous life and five wives, he retired to Acapulco in poor health where he died in 1984 at the age of 79.

During the 1950s, our family was living on Corinth Avenue in the Mar Vista section of West Los Angeles. My father was a golfing (and drinking) buddy of a certain Ward Gates, a local golf pro/gambler. Gates was also a noted drinker, spending a lot of time on the 19th hole of the Fox Hills Country Club(often with my Dad). Gates and his wife were also social friends of our family. I believe her name was Martha.

At any rate, Ward Gates daughter, Allene, herself a golfer, became the 4th wife of Johnny Weissmuller, who was living in LA and acting in various movies. They were married from 1948-1962, when they were divorced. I remember at least one occasion when our family joined the Gateses at Weissmuller's home and I swam in his pool. (He was not there at that time.) If I recall correctly, the house was located in Baldwin Hills though I could be in error.

I also recall one occasion in the 1950s when Weissmuller dropped by our house in Mar Vista with his father-in-law. I was about 10 at that time, but I knew who he was and recall him as being extremely gregarious. He told us of a story when he was in a hospital and restricted from getting out of bed, but rather than use the bedpan, he would pull the tubes out, jump out of bed and use the bathroom instead. I don't recall the details, but he told it as a funny story. My impression of Weismuller that day was that he was a wild and crazy guy, which his biographies pretty much corroborate.

At any rate, if anybody who lives at 3261 Corinth Avenue in Mar Vista happens to read this, Johnny Weissmuller was in your house over 50 years ago.

Death of a Cub Fan

Somewhere on the north side of Chicago an old man well into his 90s lies dying surrounded by four generations of his offspring, many with tears in their eyes.

"Don't cry for me", the old man says. "I have lived a long and full life. I have done everything I wanted to do. I have achieved all of my dreams. I have seen everything......."

At that moment, a TV can be heard in the next room:


"WGN brings you Cubs baseball....."

"Damn", says the old man with his last breath as his head drops onto the pillow.

"Papaaa!".

Barney Frank Attacks Justice Antonin Scalia

Antonin Scalia





Barney Frank


I know I have been writing a lot lately about Barney Frank, but that's because every time I look around, the man sinks to a new low. Not only is this man doing more than any other person in Congress to destroy the American economy, now he makes a completely gratuitous attack against Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia-calling him a "homophobe" without any reason or proof.

In an interview with a Gay media outlet, Frank spoke about the possibility of the question of gay marriage going to the Supreme Court. Frank spoke pessimistically about the prospect because "that homophobe Scalia" was on the court and went on to say that he (Scalia) controlled other votes.

What a disgusting attack on a decent man like Antonin Scalia. One may not agree with Justice Scalia's legal opinions or legal philosophy (I do), but that is no reason to label him a homophobe or anything else without solid proof. Frank should remember the old adage about people living in glass houses before he goes around name-calling. Antonin Scalia has never been involved in the questionable controversies that Frank has been involved in over his long years in Congress.

In fact, Frank's entire Congressional career has been marked by one example of conflict of interest, poor behavior or poor judgement after another. This is the guy whose Washington residence was once used as a male-escort service HQs by his live-in boyfriend while Barney was on Capitol Hill. Later, Barney's significant-other was a Fannie Mae executive while Barney was on the Congressional Banking Committee.

Of course, the whole banking mess, just like the OJ murder scene, has Barney's DNA all over it since he was the one who pressured lending institutions to give mortgage loans to folks who couldn't afford the homes they were buying. Barney also took the lead in securing a 12 million dollar bailout to OneUnited, a bank in Massachusetts, in spite of the fact they were under investigation by the SEC (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Maxine Waters' husband, Sidney Williams, had been on the board of directors and had a couple of hundred grand invested in the bank. Nah, just a coincidence, strictly legit).

Now comes Congressman Frank, who should be in total seclusion hiding from the world, accusing Justice Scalia of being a homophobe. Where does this guy get the chutzpah?

But there is good news. Barney Frank, as we speak, is in the process of redeeming himself. He is one of the guys charged with fixing the whole financial mess. Why just the other day, he was grilling AIG CEA Edward Lilly and demanding the names of the AIG execs who had received big bonus payouts.

"The names, Mr Liddy."

Someday, hopefully, if we ever get to the bottom of this bailout mess, someone will demand "The Names" and one of the first given will be:

Barney Frank.

Random Shots in the Dark (13)

I'll start off by announcing the winner of the Rachel Maddow look-alike contest, which is... Tim Geithner.









(Tim's the one with the tie.) That outta wake 'em up, eh boys?

If I get this straight, the Geithner-Obama plan is now for the government to buy up all the toxic assets of the banks (didn't they do that already?), and if that doesn't work-to nationalize the banks. I'm sure one of those two ideas will work (law of averages, you know). But if it doesn't, we can always blame Rush Limbaugh.

For a guy who a lot of folks think should be fired, Treasury Secretary and Rachel Maddow look-alike Tim (Turbo Tax) Geithner sure seems to be asking for a lot of power. Does he really want to seize big companies in danger of failing and regulate bonuses by companies not getting federal funds?

Meanwhile, out here in Der Demokratische Volksrepublik of Kalifornia, Governor Screwupernator is pushing a new proposition on the May ballot. It's called the "Spending Cap Initiative". What it really does is extend the newly-passed 2-year tax increases another two years. Slick packaging, eh? I remember about 5 years ago when a lot of Republicans wanted to change the law about presidents having to be born in the US so this boob could run for the White House someday. How many times do I have to point out that Austrians don't know to run other countries.

Have you heard about the California bonds we are now being asked to buy? I'm not making this up. I heard the first commercial a couple of days ago on the radio. And believe it or not, there has been talk about state tax refunds being replaced by IOUs!!

Tuesday night's Presidential press conference: zzzzzzzzzzz

Obama first reads his statement from the back wall screen (Look Ma! No teleprompter!) then takes 13 questions and dances around them with a bunch of mumbo-jumbo trying to justify a 3.6 trillion dollar budget while Helen Thomas sits there in the front row decomposing on national TV. But according to MSNBC cheerleaders, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, it was the Gettysburg Address.

Matthews: "'We can't wait.'" A great line! I love that line!"

Then the "analysis" continued with Olbermann interviewing Sr White House Advisor David Axelrod for his reaction to Obama's press conference!! After that, it was on to a mysteriously greying Howard Fineman talking about Obama's "great win-win" before Keith segued on to Countdown and the usual Bush/Cheney/O'Reilly bashing.

Fair and Balanced segment: Sean Hannity, seconds after calling Jud Gregg "Jed Grugg", takes Obama to task for mispronouncing the word "Orion". Wake up, Sean. Your show was better with Alan Colmes arguing with you.

Who in the House of Representatives is reading my posts on Barney Frank....hmmm?
(source: Site Meter)

Has anybody checked to see if Helen Thomas is still sitting in the East Room of the White House?

Fousesquawk's Form 1040

"Being a CEO ain't all it's cracked up to be."


Like the rest of you, I am doing my income taxes. This is the worst time of year. No football, no baseball-just income taxes-which means either I spend 3 days putting the info together for some tax accountant to charge me 160 bucks to tell me I owe more money to the US and California governments, or I spend 2 weeks trying to do it myself. This year, I thought I would do it in the simplified version. Here goes.

Name: Gary Fouse ssn 000-00-0001
Occupation- CEO blogger (Fousesquawk)
Wife's name: Mary Jo Stalin- ssn: 000-00-0002
Wife's occupation: ball breaker

Address: 0000 Dead End Rd
Bullsnuts, Calif. 90000

Annual income (from AdSense) $50.00
Taxable amount: $50.00
Deductions: None (Since last month)
Taxable rate: 90% (That's because I am a CEO)
Total tax owed: $45.00 (check attached)

There, that was easy. Now for my state form (California). This should be easy. What's 10% of $50.00?.......$5.00.

Got it. Check for $5.00 to California.....and I'm finished!

We're all finished!

Government Takes Over Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions-under new ownership


In a stunning development today, the United States Government has taken over control of the Detroit Lions football team that went 0-16 last season. In a press conference this morning, government officials promised Lions fans that better days were ahead.

When asked by reporters for specifics, the officials were quick to list the items on their agenda:

1 All players and coaches from last year are being retained and their salaries tripled.

2 Those players cut or traded during last season will receive "severance payouts" amounting to 10-45 million dollars per player.



3 The monies listed above will be taxed, however, at 90%.



4 Senator Chris Dodd will take over as President and CEO, while Representative Barney Frank will be the general manager.

"Losing is not an option!!"



5 The Lions team jet has been confiscated. Bus rides should make them tougher, according to one government official, who asked not to be named.

6 During next year's Super Bowl (in case the Lions aren't playing) all players, coaches and executives will spend a week at the Super Bowl in a first-class resort with parties, gourmet dinners, hookers, and seats on the 50 yerd line.



7 A new domed stadium



8 Finally, an exitiing new logo representing the team's bold new leadership.

(Order your Lions merchandise online at http:www.lionssuck.gov)



9 Oh yeah, ticket prices to Lions games will be tripled (first come, first served).

"Would you please rise and............."

Who Are the Real "Little Eichmanns"?

Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Amin al-Husseini,
aka "Little Eichmann", meets with Hitler in Berlin


My colleague Donald Douglas from American Power blog alerted me to the fact that the civil trial of Ward Churchill vs the University of Colorado is on-going in Denver. Perhaps, it is fitting that Churchill's current activities are passing without much notice. (While I hope he loses his lawsuit against CU, it is hard to sympathize with a university that hired Churchill in the first place.) Yet, his loony supporters, the usual collection of rag-tag "revolutionary organizations", are making a big production out of supporting Churchill-especially his infamous reference to 9-11 victims as "Little Eichmanns". It is not even worth my while to mention their names, yet it is worthwhile to take their defense of the "Little Eichmann" moniker and point out the obvious contradiction.

In browsing the words of these losers, I noted references to those who died on the top floors of the World Trade Center being "targeted because they made their living on the bodies of Arab children", thus justifying Churchill's sick description of those poor lost souls. I'll set aside the obvious link that has been established between Middle Eastern radicals and the far-left in America. The real point I want to make here is who are the real "Little Eichmanns?"

First, let us go back to when the real Adolf Eichmann was walking around in Europe during World War II. One of his allies was a certain Amin al-Husseini, the Jew-hating Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a vile man, who was the most powerful and influential religious leader of his time in the Middle East. During WW II, Husseini actually resided in Hitler's Berlin, made anti-Semitic radio broadcasts back to the Middle East urging pogroms against Jews and helped to organize a Muslim brigade in Bosnia that fought alongside the Germans and carried out massacres of Jews in their region. Oh yes, he himself also collaborated with the real Adolf Eichmann. Only post-war realpolitik prevented this monster from being prosecuted for war crimes and hanged. In other words, the victorious allies were afraid of angering the Arab world.

There was a real Little Eichmann!

(Looking at the Left blog has a good essay on al-Husseini in connection with Churchill and the "Little Eichmann" issue at the below site.)

http://www.lookingattheleft.com/2009/03/americans-are-not-little-eichmanns/

Bringing us back to the present-day, Churchill's admirers might want to consider why Hitler's Mein Kampf is, to this day, a top best-seller in the Middle East-translated in Arabic as Mein Jihad. Or why millions of people in the Middle East still admire the memory of Hitler.

Do you think there are some "Little Eichmanns" running around the Middle East today?

Note that above I said the Middle East. Yet, in recent pro-Palestinian protests in the United States and Canada in the wake of the fighting in Gaza, some Arab protesters were heard (and seen on YouTube) shouting, "Long live Hitler!", "Jews go back to the ovens!", "You need a bigger oven!" "Hitler rest in peace!", "Go Nazi Germany!", "Hitler didn't finish the job!", and on and on. These words were heard from Ft Lauderdale to Los Angeles to San Francisco to Toronto to who knows where else.

Do you think there are some "Little Eichmanns" among the US and Canadian Muslim communities today?

Churchill and his supporters, of course, would argue that the references to Eichmann have been made because Eichmann never shot or gassed anybody personally, but was a bureaucrat who signed orders and helped run the machinery of the death transports. Does Eichmann have his modern-day counterparts, and if so, who are the real "Little Eichmanns" of today?

Are they those who believe that Jews should be killed?

Are they those who shout, "Hitler didn't finish the job"?

Are they the imams who preach hatred in mosques and call for the destruction of Jews and Western Civilization-knowing that their words will incite murder-as they have certainly done?

Are they those who, like in the UK, carry banners calling for the beheading of anyone who "insults" Islam-including cartoonists?

Are they those who recruit and send out suicide bombers?

Are they those who organize phony Middle East charities, whose real purpose is to support world-wide terrorism?

Are they those who contribute to these charities in the full knowledge that they are funding terrorism?

Are they those radical leftists in the West who form ideological bonds with terrorists as a way of venting their opposition to their own societies?

Are they the supporters of people like Ward Churchill?

Who are the real "Little Eichmanns"?

Will Hillary Clinton Help Obtain Release of Israeli Captive?

Gilad Shilat



The above video concerns Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, who has been held captive in Gaza by Hamas for 1,000 days.

In light of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's announcement of several hundred million dollars in aid to Gaza, US Representative Shelley Berkley (D-NV) has written a letter to Secretary Clinton asking that the funds be held contingent on Hamas ceasing its rocket attacks into southern Israel and the release of Shalit.

Here is the text of the letter.

March 5, 2009

The Honorable Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Madam Secretary:

"I write to you today regarding the situation in the Middle East. In the wake of Hamas’ attacks on Israel, and Israel’s defensive operations, I understand the U.S. government has pledged to grant $900 million for the rebuilding of Gaza and for assisting the Palestinian Authority. I am concerned that this money will end up helping Hamas and hurting the very Palestinian people we intend to help.

For years, the U.S. has infused money into the Palestinian Authority (PA), with very little to show for it. Their leaders are no more ready to govern today than they were before we began our funding. After years of mismanagement, their basic institutions are in shambles and they have shown very little ability to govern in the West Bank without the presence of the Israeli Defense Forces. Instead of helping average Palestinians, our money has lined the pockets of the Arafats and other corrupt Palestinian leaders.

I also understand our funding will not be conditioned on any reciprocal actions by Hamas or the PA. Despite Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Hamas still refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, has not stopped raining rockets on Israeli territory and still holds captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. It is essential that we condition our funding on Hamas’ reciprocating with these basic demands. Without such links, Palestinians will see the U.S. as providing aid while Hamas continues to terrorize the Israeli people, with no consequences from the U.S. government.

I am also concerned that much of the funding will be directed through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Unfortunately, UNRWA has proven itself to be a biased agency, with very little oversight. During the most recent violence in Gaza, UNRWA issued numerous statements attacking Israel for their self-defense actions, while failing to criticize Hamas for launching missiles at innocent Israeli citizens. Much of UNWRA’s money and services end up in the hands of people who are wealthy enough not to need the assistance, or worse, with members of terrorist organizations. UNRWA officials have even admitted that they cannot guarantee their money does not go to Hamas. I believe helping UNRWA does not further the cause of peace."


To date, Berkley has not received a response from Clinton.

Kudos to Rep. Berkley for taking the initiative to write to Secretary of State Clinton on this matter. This seems to me to be a quite reasonable condition to place on the release of US funds to Gaza.

Mrs Clinton................?

RNC Video on AIG

The above video was sent to me by the RNC (who still think I'm a Republican). It shows White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Thomas Dodd and President Obama trying to answer questions about AIG. Of the three, I like Obama's answer the best.

As for Gibbs, this man is headed for immortality, but not in a way he would hope.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

On March 3, Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) of the House Ways and Means Committee asked Tim Geithner a question in which he referred to the AIG bonus payments and mentioned the specific sum of 162 million dollars due to be paid out in the coming weeks. (See above video of Geithner's testimony.) Geithner has now said he didn't know about the full scope of the bonuses until March 10.

Anybody got a pair of handcuffs?

"Free Speech" at DePaul University

DePaul University in Chicago


The below article was written by Brett Cohen of StandWithUs (a Jewish advocacy group) at DePaul University. It was published on the StandWithUs website. It concerns a speaking event at DePaul, in which a representative of the Israeli community of Sderot was invited to speak. Sderot is the town near the Gaza border which has been hit with barrages of rockets fired by Hamas. As you will see, opponents of Israel on American university campuses have no tolerance for differing opinions.


Brett Cohen - Campus Coordinator for StandWithUs


"On March 16th, I attended a DePaul University event that I helped to organize, which was meant to bring greater understanding about the recent Hamas-Israel War in Gaza to the campus. The goal of StandWithUs, Hillel, and the Political Science department, co-sponsors of the evening, was straightforward: After weeks of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) events filled with anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric and titles like “Gaza Under Fire,” Israel’s side of the story had yet to be heard. StandWithUs brought Jacob Shrybman from the Sderot Media Center to give personal, human accounts of the impact of incessant rocket attacks on the daily lives of Israeli men, women, and children living in Sderot. The hope was to show that Israelis also suffered from the conflict, and to foster more reasonable dialogue. Instead, the right to free speech was shattered.

From the moment planning began, SJP worked to derail the program and subvert its purpose. SJP had claimed that the Qassam rockets were as harmless as toys or firecrackers. SJP attacked the event’s Facebook page with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic diatribes such as,

“That’s right, continue whimpering and whining over the people who are committing genocide against [the] firing of a few rockets! You have really descended into psychotic, fascist racism, utterly unable to have any regrets over the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women, children, babies, and old people, many of them incinerated by white posphorus shells. Your group is a joke, a mouthpeice of a corrupt, colonialist state. You can burn in hell for what your beloved Israel did to the poor people of Gaza.”

SJP even circulated a letter condemning the event. It was signed by several campus organizations, including the College Democrats and Amnesty International. Shamefully, several of the signers have admitted that they never read the letter, and had no idea where Sderot was. SJP had inverted the facts, giving them the impression that Sderot was a city in Gaza, and that Israelis were the ones who had fired over 10,000 rockets at civilians over the past eight years.

After weeks of SJP generated conflict, the event took place. When we arrived, over ten people held signs that mocked the crisis in Sderot, denied that Qassams are dangerous, and claimed that Sderot’s residents deserved to live in terror because of the Israeli “occupation.”

The event began with a few dozen people, but by the end, SJP members and their sympathizers swelled the number to 100. They laughed and mocked at footage of Qassams smashing into playgrounds with kindergarteners running for their lives. More disgracefully, they attacked the speaker, screaming accusations of war crimes, hurling curses in Arabic and English, shouting down the speaker every time he attempted to answer their off-topic questions. One SJP member shouted, “If Hamas is not supposed to throw rockets on Sderot, then where should they throw them?” Apparently he and his peers had never considered the possibility that Hamas should end its violence.

When the angry mob began chanting for more terrorism against Sderot citizens, the speaker and the Hillel staff had to be escorted out by security.

The anti-Israel students claim to be pro-peace and pro-human rights but they exposed the fact that they are quite the opposite. They did not want to hear—and did not want others to hear—another side to the story. And they showed that they have no empathy for Israelis who are suffering from constant rocket attacks. The story of Sderot could not be told at DePaul. Freedom of speech died at DePaul on March 16th 2009."

Fousesquawk comment: Apparently the ghost of ex-professor Norman Finklestein is still wandering the halls of DePaul. I went to the DePaul website to see if there is any mention of this. All I could find was the usual happy-face stuff telling me what a great institution DePaul is. Similarly, no mention of the incident on the DePaul President's webpage-just the same puff. The campus paper, DePaulia, dated March 20, had no mention of the incident but did report on a panel discussion at DePaul on March 4 hosted by SJP and featuring three pro-Palestinian speakers. There was no such disruption at that event.

This is an embarrassment to DePaul that they would allow thugs to disrupt an event with which they don't agree. Of course, this tactic is typical of the left-especially on college campuses-when they don't want opposing voices to have their say. What I would like to know is the reaction of the university to this act of hooliganism and disruption of free speech.

I'll be looking for the university's reaction in the days ahead.

Bailout on the Orient Express

As the Orient Express rumbled through Eastern Europe between Istanbul and Paris, an American taxpayer was found dead in his sleeping cabin with a knife plunged into his back. Fortunately, Interpol Inspector Obama happened to be on board riding along in the engine compartment. After examining the body and determining that the victim had been dead for approximately 6 hours, he immediately launched an investigation.

The first thing Inspector Obama did was setup his TelePrompter, gather all the other passengers together in one car and express his shock and outrage. He then went around the room and asked each passenger where he or she had been the night before.

"I was right here on this train, of course", answered Barney Frank.

"Could you be a little more specific?", replied Obama.

"I was in the locomotive making sure the train was running smoothly.", answered Frank.

"Do you own a knife, Mr Frank?"

"Who me?" answered Frank. "I would never cut anything, you know that."

Inspector Obama then turned to the youngest on the train, Tim Geithner, who appeared too young to kill anybody.

"Mr Geithner, when did you last see the taxpayer alive?"

"Sometime last night", answered Tiny Tim. "I saw him about 10 o'clock with Mr Dodd. I remember because it was just before the porter tucked me into bed."

"That's a lie", shouted passenger Chris Dodd. The guy was just giving me change for a 5 dollar bill. In fact, I saw the taxpayer with Geithner around 11."

At this point, Inspector Obama asked Mr Dodd to empty his pockets. Reluctantly, Dodd stood up and turned out his pockets. Over $100,000 fell out onto the table.

"Where did this come from, Sir?" asked Obama?

"I won it playing cards with Barney last night", answered Dodd.

"Is that right, Mr Frank?" asked the inspector.

"Yeah, yeah, that's right", replied Frank.

"That's a lie," shouted another passenger. "They weren't playing cards last night. That money must belong to the taxpayer!"

At this point, Dodd and Frank looked at each other, shrugged and Dodd said, "Well, ok. There was no card game. We got the money from Freddie and Fannie. You can ask them. They're right here."

"What about it?" Obama asked the two passengers in the corner who hadn't muttered a sound up to this point.

"Yes, that's true," said Ms Mae.

"Mr Mac looked at his shoes and said, "Yeah, we gave 'em the money."

Obama then turned to passenger Maxine Waters.

"Ms. Waters, when did you last see the victim?"

Waters, replied, "I saw him about 5 hours ago. He was in perfect health."

"But I determined that he has been dead for 6 hours, how can that be?"

Waters looked back defiantly at Obama for a long moment then blurted out, "you can ask Franklin Raines. He was with me when I saw him. He can back up my story."

"Where is Mr Raines"? asked Obama.

"Why, we don't know", answered everyone in a chorus. "He must have gotten off the train in Budapest."

"He was an OUTSTANDING passenger," added Waters. "a good friend of my husband."

"Very confusing", mused Inspector Obama. He then turned to his partner, Vice-Inspector Joe Biden, and asked, "What do you think, Joe?"

"It was probably some Indian guy. We got any Indians on board?"

"No."


(Wrong train, Joe)


"Then beats the hell outta me," said Biden.

At this, a porter walked up to Inspector Obama and whispered in his ear, "Mr Leno is waiting for you in the club bar."

"OK, tell him I'll be right there. OK everybody, we'll meet back here in an hour."

"This is a tough nut to crack, eh Jay?"


An hour later, the group reassembled in the same location.

Obama began the session by informing the group that he had concluded that the taxpayer had been killed for his insurance money.

"I find it very strange that everybody on this train has the same insurance company including the taxpayer-AIG."


(A little suspense music, Maestro)



At this point, everybody began to squirm and look at each other.

Obama rose from his seat and slowly walked back and forth the length of the car-carrying his TelePrompter in front of him.

"That's right, AIG. Interesting also that we have both the past and current CEOs of AIG on board this train, isn't that right, Mr Greenberg? Isn't that right Mr Liddy?"

Hank Greenberg looked away and stated, "Hey, don't blame me. I ain't even CEO any more. I'm clean."

At which point, Edward Liddy jumped out of his seat and shouted, "you can't pin this rap on me. I just became CEO three hours ago. The taxpayer was dead before I even got the job."

Inspector Obama stooped pacing and patted Liddy on the arm, now talking smoothly, "I'm not blaming you, Ed, relax."

Obama then turned to Dodd, who was now sweating profusely. After what seemed an eternity of silence, Obama asked, "Mr Dodd, did you do it?"

Dodd was now crying silent tears as he looked down at the floor....

"They made me do it, he sobbed."

"Who made you do it?.............."

Just as Dodd was about to answer, the train ran off a cliff.





And suddenly, it didn't matter anymore.