THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER ON-LINE       

                                  ISSUES, PEOPLE, OBJECTS & POLICIES- CLOSE UP                           

                          Vol. 05                                         Issue 07                     Start September 01, 2005

A FREEWHEELING CONSERVATIVE COMMENTARY DEDICATED TO THE DEFENSE OF FREEDOM, THE NEXT GENERATION, AND THE WAY THINGS OUGHT TO BE.   TO UNDERSTAND THIS NEWSLETTER, IT IS NECESSARY THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO READ AND TO THINK.

Updated occasionally on this website when I decide to do it.                               

 J. E. Sohmer   Jefferson, CO  Flyover country, where the air is thin, the heavens bright, and the hunting and fishing are good.  

Serious Considerations:

11/30/05  The President continues to fight back against his critics, as he should, and should have done from the beginning.   Today he spoke to midshipmen at the Naval Academy.    Go to BUSH 43 2ND TERM NOTES-SPEECHES.  JES

Current Reading Recommendation:  

THE VITAL CENTER: THE POLITICS OF FREEDOM (1949)   (BETRAYED THE FATAL VIRUS OF LIBERAL ELITISM  THAT INFECTED A FUTURE CAMELOT, AND THE FRAMEWORK FROM WHICH LIBERALS  HAVE CONTINUED TO OPERATE SINCE THE NEW DEAL, SHORT OF HOWARD DEAN.)

  ARTHUR M. SCHLESINGER JR   

  TRANSACTION                                                                        274 PGS                                                 $24.95

Serious Considerations:

11/24/05   Happy Thanksgiving America, with a special word of thanks to those deployed in our defense around the world, and may God bless America, the world's torch of freedom.  JES

11/24/05   In the wake (pun intended) of Katrina, and reflecting back to the history of the formation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), I think the time is right to re-consider the whole proposition of responding to homeland threats with clouds of bureaucracy.   Aside from the imbedded corrections to border agency organization, long overdue, the rest of it was nuts.  The problem was never a lack of federal resources.  The problem was one of responsiveness and coordination, and additional bureaucratic empires are counterproductive to that end.  Dissolve the DHS, and if we must have a FEMA, we must end it's role as a political candy store.  Return most of the captured pieces of DHS to where they came from, retaining the border agency restructuring.  Create a sub-cabinet position reportable directly to the President, with the authority to order and direct all other agencies of the federal government, or appropriate parts thereof, to respond as directed, to homeland emergencies as declared by the President.  By law, on an ongoing day-to-day basis, this post should be restricted to a staff of 5, including the club wielder, who should be a United States Marine TDY, located in the White House.   How is this different from what we have now?   Leaner, faster, cheaper, non-political, accountable, and disciplined.  Of course, this will not happen because it makes too much sense.  JES

11/22/05  The very fact that the Administration, Conservatives in general, and this website, have been forced to defend the truthfulness and intentions of the Administration's pre-war assessments, prerequisite to the on the "War on Terror", is itself corrosive to the effort.  It hurts us to be forced to do so, and will never forget or forgive those who have forced the discussion in the midst of war.  To those of you deployed, and who are actually witnessing our progress while being stabbed in the back by the Left, be advised that you have a further assignment.  When you return stateside and eventually return to civilian life, we need all the help we can get at purging the body politic of shaky politicians, "cut and run" fakers, and outright traitors.  You are especially qualified to this end.  Meanwhile, we will continue to make the case for the unconditional surrender of  Iraqi insurgents, foreign terrorists, and our domestic Left.  Go to DISSEMBLERS.   JES

11/22/05  The political seismograph in Israel has shaken hard as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon chooses to opt for early elections, abandoning Likud and setting up a new party in the middle between Labor and Likud.  Benjamin Netanyahu most likely will inherit Likud.  Basically, the question to be posed to the voters is whether or not to continue a policy of appeasement, or to demand performance on the part of Palestinians.  With a system of proportional representation, the issue may become further confused than it already is.  JES  

11/22/05  I guess it still needs to be pointed out that the WMD's remain unaccounted for.  The available evidence points to Syria, if not by now far beyond, or both, perhaps with the complicity of Russian resources.  Clear photographic evidence of the truck convoys in the last 30 days prior to our attack is on hand.  The puzzle is not complete without understanding the linkage of motives and behavior of those with a stake in covering up their participation in the Oil for Food scandal.   Follow the WMD's; follow the money.   Analysts are still plowing through mountains of captured documentation in a warehouse in Iraq.  For security reasons there is much that is known that has either not been released, or has been withheld over concern of mis-representation by those with hostile intentions toward our efforts.  Such is the price of the civil war here at home.  In spite of the best efforts  of the New York Times, eventually the truth will surface; we hope not too late.  JES

11/21/05   Our problem with Iraq is not in Iraq, it is here at home.  It appears that decades of wear and tear on the culture may be finally catching up with our traditional ability to stand together through adversity and challenge.  The American people appear to be losing their backbones, and good judgment, and the price that will be paid in the end may be the country itself.   After witnessing the nineties, I am neither surprised or shocked; just profoundly sad.  At some point we will need to pick up the pieces, of what is left.  Our President, George W. Bush, has had the matter of international terrorism, and Iraq's place in it, generally well diagnosed from the beginning.  We can quibble about details and tactics, but the pre-emptive response against Iraq was absolutely correct, and the WMD issue is beside the point.   If they have their way, the critics will have oceans of blood on their hands, and no, it will not be Bush's fault.  It will be the fault of those who press today for us to cut and run, and the consequences will dominate the Century ahead.  Who will be the next Pol Pot?  Yes, our own Civil War is back on the table.  At stake is the very future and existence of our country and civilization.  So it appears from the mountain top. JES

11/18/05   To drive home the point, and to clarify the issue with our enemies both at home and abroad, the House today voted 403-3 to reject a non-binding resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of our troops.  This was an absolutely necessary move by Republicans to re-assure our deployed troops and our friends abroad, and to signal to our enemies at home and abroad that all this talk of "cut and run" was not in the cards.  Clarification of this point, by forcing individual politicians to either put up or shut up was a fundamental issue of national security.  The Republicans finally do something right.  JES

11/18/05   Rep. John P. Murtha D-PA, a retired Marine Corps colonel, calls for a pullout from Iraq, saying our military mission is over, that our forces have become the prime target (wrong), and that our continued presence is counterproductive (wrong).  With all sincerely due respect to the colonel for his service to our country, he is wrong on several counts.  Given that in the most narrow sense of traditional definition, our military purpose has been completed, today we are fighting a different enemy and a different kind of war.  This is not Korea, misnamed a "police action", or Vietnam, purpose never clearly defined.   The problem in Iraq, as we knew going in, was initially military in the narrow sense of the word, but always political, from stem to stern.  In the current phase, the term "police action" would be partially correct, and our defense preparedness efforts have been, and are, making rapid adjustments to a challenge unprecedented in our history.  Our military has done, and is continuing to do, one hell of a good job as a necessary part of a much larger equation.  There are a lot of excellently credentialed military people, active and retired, who will disagree sharply with Rep. Murtha.  Perhaps the world has moved beyond his personal frame of reference, which, to take it even a step further, may have even gotten in the way.  There is an old truism that says that generals are prone to prepare for yesterday's wars, which is one reason they are under civilian leadership.  The fact of the matter is that Rep. John P. Murtha D-PA is playing directly into the hands of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.   Time to retire.   JES

11/17/05  Old Washington Post investigative reporter Bob Woodward throws his friends on the Left under the bus and destroys Special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald’s case against Vice president Richard Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr.   Personal ambition, or belated contrition, whatever the case may be, makes great theater.  The circles of rage on the Left against Bush (and don't be fooled- all Conservatives) will now be kicked to a still higher level.  Those of good character will stand tall; weenies will jump ship.  Thank you Vice president Richard Cheney.   In any event, Woodward's disclosures allow us to ask questions about the motivations of Patrick J. Fitzgerald's course of investigation.  The fundamental question was whether or not Valerie Plame was covert, or not, at the time of the incidents in question.  Did the Special prosecutor ever think to pick up the phone and call the CIA?  The answer is that she was not, according to the law, (ask Victoria Toensing, author of the Intelligence Identity Protection Act) one of the worst kept secrets in DC for years.  But that's too simple, and would have spoiled the opportunity for, I repeat, great theater.  JES

11/17/05  Intelligent Design.  Nothing strikes fear into the minds of the Great Secular Rational Liberal Elite more than to contemplate the real possibility of the return of a Judeo-Christian God to the public square.  This is really what is at the bottom of the debate over the respectability, shall we say, of a consideration of the implications of intelligent design.  The problem with intelligent design, however, is that what falls under this label does not arise out of a little white church in Alabama, or a schoolhouse in Tennessee.  It is the product of scientific considerations by scientists, and its implications are dividing the scientific community with about the same level of reasoning and rhetoric as to whether Clarence Thomas is a Black Man.  The wayward scientists are not starting out by proposing creation; that is not their purpose.   They are proposing a closer examination of the theories of random selection, which underlies evolution, as they puzzle over a lot of numbers that don't appear to add up.  These people do not have a religious purpose, whatever the implications.  These people are attempting to pursue good science, in the tradition of good science, whatever the implications.  That the Rational among us quake with fear mirrors the history of those in the past who could not cope with the meaning of the fact that a ship at sea gradually disappears over the horizon; with similar hysterical reaction.  Given the political opportunities for exploitation on all sides, of a "debate" that will be less Rational than Emotive, and in the spirit of supporting true science, and rational consideration, it will be necessary to create o new web page.  Go to Intelligent Design.  JES

Current Reading Recommendation:  

BUSH vs. THE BELTWAY: HOW THE CIA AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT TRIED TO STOP THE WAR ON TERROR

 LAURIE MYLROIE                                                                                                                                  

 HARPERCOLLINS                                                                    272 PGS                                                 $25.95

 RISING FROM THE MUCK: THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM IN EUROPE

  PIERRE-ANDRE TAGUIEFF                                                                                                   

  IVAN R. DEE                                                                            206 PGS                                                $26.00

Serious Considerations:

11/14/05   Exactly 10 days ago (11/04- go check) the Mountain Observer pointed out that after several days of French rioting, no one in the politically correct mainstream press had dared to mention the name of Jean-Marie Le Pen.   Well that has changed, unwillingly for the defenders of the Massachusetts KKK and their French brethren on the Left.  Jean-Marie Le Pen, who in the opinion of the Mountain Observer falls a bit over the statist line on the right, is gaining rapidly accelerating support among ordinary Frenchmen, suddenly alarmed by the implications of an obvious IslamicFascist invasion of their country.   Similar trends can be seen throughout Europe, an ugliness entirely predictable.  One thing is very clear: the accommodationist policies of a President Jocko Shearock and his sidekick Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin are history.  Here in America, the Massachusetts KKK really needs to think through to a logical conclusion the implications of their continued pursuit of a politically correct multicultural "diversity" at the expense of defending a more traditional values oriented American culture.   If you continue to hate America, aka George W. Bush, perhaps you should relocate to France and kiss your enemies.  JES

11/14/05  Whether by accident or design, 35 year old Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi failed to detonate her belt of high explosives in Amman Jordan, while her husband and 2 others succeeded with their mayhem.   We must be slow to judge her; the possible scenarios are multiple.  al-Qaeda’s public relations problems seem to be growing.   You see, Amman Jordan is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s home town, and the home town crowd became upset with this turn of events.   Israelis and Americans are always fair targets, but fellow Arabs and Palestinians?  (Jordan is 70% Palestinian, the actual defacto Palestinian state were the King to dare have an election, but I digress).  So it is that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Osama bin Laden’s heir apparent in Iraq, has some explaining to do to the hometown crowd, certainly not impressed with his zealotry in behalf of Allah.  JES

11/13/05  Following in Condoleezza Rice's footsteps, Kofi Klatch Annan visits Iraqi to urge participation in the upcoming (December) elections.  Well, Kofi, this is the third round of elections that you and your UN pals did everything in your power to prevent from ever happening in the first place, convenient little oil deals with Saddam interrupted by American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.  If things are going as badly in Iraq as your pals on the American Left claim, why are you now wiggling onto the scene to insert yourself in behalf of decent people?  You worthless sniveling sorry sack of buffalo dung; you should go back to Ghana and count cocoa beans.   You are a totally disgusting person.   JES

11/13/05   Conservatives, including the Mountain Observer, will continue a healthy dialog among ourselves, including the President, as to the best course of several actions we should pursue in behalf of the United States of America at home and abroad.   In the heat of political battle it is important to remember that those who bash Bush are really bashing all of Conservatism.  Bush may be the spoken target, but all Conservatives, and what we stand for, are the real targets.  So, fellow Conservatives, be very careful with your words about the President, and keep it constructive for our cause.  Our political enemies, and they are our enemies, will spare no effort to co-opt us and subvert our true purposes.  Be careful out there.  JES

Current Reading Recommendations:  

COMMIES: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE OLD LEFT, THE NEW LEFT, AND THE LEFTOVER LEFT                           

  RONALD RADOSH                                                                                                               

  ENCOUNTER                                                                           216 PGS                                                 $24.95

 FROM DARWIN TO HITLER: EVOLUTIONARY ETHICS, EUGENICS, AND RACISM IN GERMANY

  RICHARD WEIKART                                                                                                                               

   PALGRAVE MACMILLAN                                                       324 PGS                                                  $59.95   

  SHADOW WAR: THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW BUSH IS WINNING THE WAR ON TERROR

   RICHARD MINITER                                                                                                                               

   REGNERY                                                                               256 PGS                                                 $27.95

Serious Considerations:

11/11/05  For more detailed comment and information on the 2005 elections (11/08/05) go to 2005.  Discuss it further? e-mail me.  JES

11/11/05  President's Veterans Day Speech 11/11/05.  He takes on those "who would redefine history"  Go to Speeches.  JES

11/11/05    Actually Belly Laugh Considerations on this one.  Today the Massachusetts KKK is in a snit and outraged toward state Governor Mitt Romney for chuckling yesterday, in Washington DC, at remarks made in an introductory in his behalf before the Federalist Society.  Some reference was made to the Massachusetts KKK: Kennedy, Kerry Klan, actually pretty creative in the opinion of the Mountain Observer, and a fairly accurate and economical reference to the political species.  JES

                Veterans Day Message:

                Express your thanks to wounded veterans of the War on Terror by making a a contribution  to a General Tommy Franks

                USA (Ret) project.    Make checks payable to Salute America's Heroes.  Send to  P O Box 96002  Washington, DC 20090

                For more information, go to www.saluteheroes.org.  Help Hospitalized Veterans.

Serious Considerations:

11/10/05   Regarding my comments 11/09/05 concerning the need for a new Special prosecutor on intelligence leaks.  Perhaps his attention should be focused on Congress itself, and the consequences of acts of sabotage against the relevant Agencies and Departments, harboring their own fifth column provocateurs.  JES

11/10/05   In a great burst of populist nonsense and hypocrisy, the DC politicians pile on the oil industry's "excess profits".  This is supposed to be a a free market economy.  Gross distortions of the free market in the energy sector have been imposed by the politicians themselves for decades, with consequent vulnerability to shortages, high prices and dependence on foreign sources.  We do not need new laws and restrictions.  We need to repeal old laws and restrictions.  But that would not play well to the crowd, would it.  Those of you who do not understand this are economic illiterates.   JES

11/10/05  United States Marine Corps 230 years old today.  Semper Fi    JES

11/09/05  Election returns today are being hoisted about by some as a big defeat for Conservatives, Republicans, Bush and Rove.  This is complete balderdash.   I've hauled in a lot of data and will follow up with some detailed comments shortly, not to worry.  Steady as she goes.  JES

11/09/05   Let us see:  Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. was indicted 10/28, not for any violation of the Intelligence Identity Protection Act, but for lying to investigators regarding dates, times and places, and among the savvy attention is re-focused on Valerie Plame, her ubiquitous husband and the CIA.  Days later (could it be a coincidence?), another leak surfaces from the CIA concerning detention centers for terrorists in out of the way places (I hope this is true, but that is not the point here).  Months ago the Mountain Observer raised the point, several times, about political dysfunction in the CIA, the State Department and the FBI, meaning agencies out-of-control and off on their own agendas.  This is not a new development under George W. Bush, but a malignancy the has been building for decades.  By all means, a Special prosecutor is called for, this time pointed in the Left direction.   His charter should also include the Department of Defense (Able Danger) and relevant congressional staffs, past and present.   JES

11/09/05    France, and the Gods of Diversity, burn.  Wide open borders, hordes of cultural hostiles, and a national culture systematically stripped of the Church.  Sound vaguely familiar?   Who in the United States is willing to take responsibility for standing down against a similar process here?  Howard Dean?   John McCain?  George W. Bush?   The Mountain Observer has been shouting for some time that the European Union is Dead on Arrival..  It has arrived and it is dead, and possibly dangerous.   Normandy?  Never again.  JES

11/09/05  Seems that the One Worlder America Bashers are at it again, this time over American (and private) control over the administration of the Internet.  We created it, and it is in our own national security interests that we maintain control of the administration of the thing.  No Jimmy Carter Panama Canal giveaways are in order.  Watch for developments at a World Summit of the Information Society (read United Nations) meeting in Tunisia coming up shortly.  Watch for a plan, endorsed by the European Union (read France and Germany)  to "take over" the net.  The Statists want desperately to do this, one ramification of which will be the subversion of the American 1st Amendment guidelines regarding access and use.  The Chinese Communist Party fears nothing so much as a free internet, as do the Wahhabi.  Same game, different day.  JES

Current Reading Recommendations:  

THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED NATIONS: UNDERSTANDING THE PAST TO CHART A WAY FORWARD

 JOSHUA MURAVCHIK                                                                                                                          

 AEI                                                                                         175 PGS                                                 $20.00

 INSIDE THE ASYLUM: WHY THE UNITED NATIONS AND OLD EUROPE ARE WORSE THAN YOU THINK

 JED BABBIN                                                                                                                                        

 REGNERY                                                                               196 PGS                                                $27.95

THE NEW THOUGHT POLICE: INSIDE THE LEFT'S ASSAULT ON FREE SPEECH AND FREE MINDS

 TAMMY BRUCE   

 PRIMA                                                                                     300 PGS                                                $23.95

Serious Considerations:

11/06/05  The commencement of hearings on the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr appears to have been stalled off until January.  The locus of political dickering is, of course, among members of the "gang of 14", pretending "moderation", in fact flaunting their own individual political feathers.  As a matter of fact, in the long run, nothing would be healthier than to confront the filibuster issue now, regarding judges, and get the Senate's rules back into line with the originalist concept of the Constitution, which calls for a simple majority vote.  Pending actual support of Alito with a vote of approval, which currently seems likely, we will be witnessing a tug-of-war on the part of individual members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as to Constitutional purity v. political advantage.  What is likely to carry Judge Alito through are his own impeccable qualifications as a Judge.  What is less clear now is resolution of the judicial filibuster issue.  Perhaps too many on the Committee have a personal vested interest in the survival of the judicial filibuster power of the current rules to confront the issue, including the opportunity of personal grandstanding, ducking the matter, while still allowing a full Senate vote on the Judge.   JES

11/06/05  With the passage of Referendum C, Colorado voters have been snookered into believing that this does not set up the ultimate dismembering of the Tabor Amendment, death by a thousand cuts.  The Mountain Observer lays the blame on this development squarely on the shoulders of Colorado Republican Governor Bill Owens, who had a perfect opportunity to follow a different path.  The gutlessness of the Republican Party continues to astound.   JES

11/05/05   Mithal al-Alusi   Follow him.  He, and his Iraqi Nation party, is the right guy and party to lead Iraq.  We will be watching closely on December 15th.   JES

11/04/05  To see what lies at the end of the road for national policies of "diversity", one need not look any further than France, with its streets afire in what amounts to a civil war.   In the United States we need to re-capture the original idea of the "melting pot" really fast.  American Conservatives have understood this for a long time.  Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, and President Jocko Shearock, might ponder the fact that while most Muslims are not terrorists, virtually all terrorists are Muslims.  Some sort of wide awake sorting out (profiling) is necessary.  Notice that in the mainstream press, on both sides of the Atlantic, nobody has yet dared visit the name of Jean-Marie Le Pen.  American Liberals, take note.   JES

11/04/05  Rosa Parks is understandably honored for her role in advancing the civil rights of Black Americans.  However, some proportion and perspective are called for.  Given the nature of the times (1960's), her simple act of dignity had to happen, sooner or later by someone.  As it turned out, Rosa Parks came to claim that moment in history.  However, the size and length of her funeral begs a question: at what point does adulation cross the line into false idol worship, and to what length will OJ Billyboy go to promote his own "legacy"?  What she did deserves honor and respect; not false idol worship.   JES 

11/03/05  My single most serious complaint about George W. Bush from the beginning is that he is a nice guy, too quickly inclined to defer, out of a sense of gentlemanliness, to those who are his real enemies.   It has been apparent for some time now that a similar complaint could be lodged against Senator Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader.  It is, of course, difficult to complain about people being nice guys, and one would do quite the opposite on a personal level.   The problem here is that such personal habits do not always transfer appropriately to public responsibility and the demands of effective political leadership.  There is a time and place, occasionally, for the hardnosed SOB.  So it is that all too frequently, both of these fine gentlemen have allowed themselves to be snookered by more streetwise Democrats, failing to recognize that we are, in fact, in the midst of a genuine political civil war for the heart and soul of the country.  Liberals (and Democrats) are losing, because they are wrong, long noticed in the heartland, which is now enabled by the regulatory reforms (elimination of the so-called "fairness doctrine") that previously constrained radio, and by new technologies that make this web site possible.  Conservatives are winning because Americans are just being themselves, and are able to express themselves now, directly to each other, and to the distant pretending political and social elites.  In this new regulatory and technical environment, a Rush Limbaugh had to happen, articulating the long held beliefs and perspectives of millions, as documented by their votes.   However, Rush has been doing something in addition from 2000 forward which it should not be necessary for him to do.   In the absence of tough-minded streetwise Conservative leadership in office, he has frequently found it necessary to stand in, unofficially, as the heavy for the Conservative cause.  For this, Rush deserves our thanks and gratitude, and the Republican Party needs to look itself in the mirror.  Time to put away the croquet sets and get serious.   Rush has built his entire career on he simple fact that a lot of other folks in the press, and in politics, simply are not doing their own jobs.   Meanwhile, this web site provides many easy to access avenues of learning and information if you can't handle all the self-puffery.   JES

Special Notice:

11/03/05  Maintenance on the website resumes today after 2 months of struggle with both hardware and software (1 month each! ).   We are back up-to-speed with a new laptop on the truck.   So much has happened since 08/23.   I think for the same reason I maintain 2 generators here in Jefferson (yes- generators- no “street power”), I need to maintain 2 laptops.   In spite of the online difficulties I was able to maintain the Mountain Observer off line, so today what we have is a single upload of about 9 weeks of commentary. (Also catch the end of the 05-06 Letter).  So it is that things are back as they ought to be, and meanwhile, Conservatives are making great progress in Washington D.C.    JES

Serious Considerations:   

11/01/05  The President nominates a first class candidate for the high court, Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr of the 3rd Circuit, a near perfect selection, and Democrats are grinding their teeth.  Conservatives have hauled the President back on board, at least for now.   Once again, it's High Noon at the DC Corral.   JES

10/29/05  Regarding the CIA leak investigation into possible violations of the Intelligence Identity Protection Act.  Vice president Richard Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. was indicted yesterday, on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements with respect to the investigation.  None of these charges allege violation of the Intelligence Identity Protection Act itself, but rather, violation of other federal law designed to trip up potential witnesses with their own words in the course of an investigation, ala Martha Stuart.  If found guilty. Mr. Libby’s real error will have been not to employ the “memory loss” strategy used so successfully by O J Billyboy and Hillary Rodham.  The Mountain Observer does not defend Mr. Libby, if wrong doing under the law can be proven to have occurred.  What concerns the Mountain Observer is the long term effect on recruiting good people for sensitive positions in the future, knowing the liability of exposing themselves to genuine memory loss regarding past events.   (What, exactly, did you say to your wife 2 years ago, date, time and place?, etc, etc).   The “he said, she said” conundrum is being criminalized, and subject to political fishing expeditions under the skirts of the law.  It seems to be another manifestation of the criminalization of thought that the Mountain Observer pointedly discusses in the original Mission Statement of this website.

Special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald’s problem is that he can’t herd cats.  By his own admission, he cannot determine any violation of the Intelligence Identity Protection Act by anyone in the absence of the ability to determine who really said what to whom and when.  So what he has done here is to elevate the temperature on a target of interest, hoping to get some birds to sing louder, while correctly pointing out to the hyenas on the Left that it is an error to presume any guilt on anyone’s part regarding the issue of violations of the Intelligence Identity Protection Act.  There is a long list of documented facts that point the finger right straight back at the CIA, as an organization, on this entire matter.  As for the prosecutor’s efforts, again go to: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/index.html   JES

10/29/05  Regarding the United Nations Oil for Food Scandal, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker, appointed by the United Nations to investigate the matter,  has finally released a 623 page report.  It is not pretty: "there was a failure of diligence by U.N. officials", perhaps the kindest news contained.  Among the many fingered, we find DaimlerChrysler AG.  Perhaps some thought should be given next time you consider the purchase of a DaimlerChrysler, or Mercedes Benz product.  Such is the spider web of consequences of unqualified globalization.  In any event, the United Nations itself has been clearly documented as useless and dangerous to be around. The Mountain Observer’s longstanding recommendation has been to pack the entire outfit off to Iceland.  We should loan them 2 car float barges to do so, nothing jestful intended.  JES

10/29/05  With the withdrawal from contention by Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, Conservatives have won a major strategic victory, not withstanding a little intramural squabble between Roman Catholics and evangelicals, intellectually disciplined Conservatives and intellectually mis-directed populists.  It is now time to get behind the President with support for a properly qualified Conservative judge, or some so qualified.  No animus toward Harriet Miers; she was just out of her league, as are those who continued to support her.  Conservatives are now flexing their muscles, laying down political markers for the future, not only on the issue of the courts, but also on federal spending, immigration and the border, and on Republican Party discipline.  What is really at issue is re-directing the old Republican habit of defaulting to the Left.   JES

10/28/05  On 10/24 the President named Ben Bernanke, White House economic adviser to succeed Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve.  I don’t know the man, and so I have no opinions.  I continue to be troubled by the degree to which the Federal Reserve considers itself necessary to the functioning of a free economy.  I do not claim expertise; I do claim to have a good nose.   Meanwhile, the economy surged ahead in the 3^rd quarter, expanding 3.8% at an annual rate.  This, of course, before the hurricanes and the consequent spike in fuel prices have taken effect.  How will the Central Planners respond to this?  Keep your pants pulled up, and your hand on your wallet.  JES

10/27/05  The Iraqi Election Commission certifies the vote on the constitution and most Iraqis turn toward December 15, date of the National Assembly elections, including Sunni leaders trying so hard to keep their nose above water.  They have a problem with the federal structure of the constitution as just approved, and still wish to make some changes.  Given the results of the October vote, many Sunnis now recognize that their best interests lie with pursuing their concerns within the structure of the democratic process.  The October vote saw a 78% voter approval overall, with 21% against the constitution.  In the 3 critical Sunni provinces, 2 tallied over 2/3rds rejection, and 1 rejected by 55%, so under the rules the matter passed.  But the extremes were significant.  in Sunni Anbar, the vote to reject was 97%.  In Shiite and Kurdish provinces, approval ran as high as 99%.  Clearly this is a dangerous split that will require further attention.  But the fact of the matter is that Iraq has moved a long way in less than 3 years, made possible only by Americans, and Iraqis, of great vision.  JES

10/23/05  Dumarsais Simeus, owner of  the largest black-owned business in Texas, throws his hat in the ring to run for President of Haiti. "This is not about Dumas Simeus. This is about getting the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere out of poverty, giving people hope and taking away their misery."   The Mountain Observer wishes him well in his efforts.   Clearly this is a better idea than our previously announced suggestion of reconstructed French Imperialism.    JES

10/21/05  Regarding the Harriet Miers nomination for the Supreme Court.   I am now convinced that this time Ann Coulter has it right.  Hard evidence has emerged that Ms. Miers flirted with support for affirmative action as correct social policy, another Alberto R. Gonzales on the loose.  It’s time for the White House to start over, and begin by listening to its outside political base.  Now it needs that base to save itself.   I am getting sick and tired of advancing nominees first qualified by the political correctness of their victimhood status.  This is supposed to be a Conservative Administration.  On domestic matters it is not.  Mr. President, just what the hell is wrong with you?  I must be blunt.  Conservatives are less interested in “saving your Presidency” than we are in advancing Conservatism, and you are forcing our hand at making choices.  JES

10/21/05  Regarding the matter of CIA leaks and possible improper White House involvement, DOJ Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald has just launched a special website, apparently for the purpose of rumor control.  While the Mountain Observer certainly has thoughts on the matter, information on what is actually going on is in short supply.  Right or wrong, what Fitzgerald actually winds up doing is what is important.  One hopes he is able to do his job well.   Go to http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/index.html  .      JES

10/20/05  Manufacturers of all kinds, and defenders of private property rights, won a huge victory in Congress with the passage of legislation protecting the firearms industry from lawsuits brought by victims of the mis-use of their products by third parties.  The passage of this legislation adds major muscle to a more comprehensive effort by Conservatives to affect tort reform, and to re-construct the principle of actual personal responsibility as opposed to anybody in sight with deep pockets.

The immediate purpose of the legislation greatly strengthens the 2^nd Amendment rights of American citizens, law enforcement, and our national security apparatus, from politically inspired mis-use of the civil justice system by those who would otherwise seize any opportunity to tie up a legal industry in knots. The real purpose of gun opponents has been bankruptcy of the industry, another Liberal attempt to gain through Court procedures what they could not accomplish in Congress.  Their strategy was not a legal victory they knew they could not, in the end, win.  Their strategy was to drown the firearms industry with the legal costs of defense against outrageous claims.  Thank you, and congratulations to, the National Rifle Association, the nation’s only real civil rights organization.    JES

10/19/05  On the issue of the border, it appears that the policy turnaround may be nothing more that a repackaging of Bush’s original temporary-worker proposals.  The Administration still seems to be working under the allusion that current illegals are going to voluntarily identify themselves so as to work “legally” before being forced to return home to return again legally.  This is all upside down and absurd.  So we are back to square one, almost.  The victory for Conservatives is that, however pitifully, this Administration has suddenly discovered that on the American Right, their base is in the Heartland, not New York.  Mr. President: first you get control of the borders, as with a fence, and troops.  Then you flush out the illegals.  Then we can have a rational discussion about immigration policy, and the shape and scope of guest-worker programs framed for individuals, not entire families, and not inclusive of American Constitutional “rights” absent citizenship.   Finally you require that applicants for citizenship learn to speak English and swear off any prior citizenship allegiances, and then time-limit those who choose not to apply in the first place, tracking them every step of the way.    Real Americans are not hyphenated.  Mr. President, the current problem with your poll approval numbers is really on the Right.   Go see my earlier comments on 10/04/05.  JES

10/18/05  At last, Saddam Hussein is about to enter an Iraqi court room, on trial, as it ought to be.  This is an Iraqi thing, among Iraqis, as it ought to be.  Expect Iraqi justice; they need to purge themselves of years of burden to be truly free.  JES

10/18/05  As further evidence that George W. is not a candidate in 2008, today it has been announced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that illegal aliens will be rounded up and sent home, no exceptions.  This is very welcome news, and a huge adjustment of policy for this Administration, and for what was true of virtually all preceding Administrations.  The political handwriting was on the wall; national security bigger than any partisan political issue.   For years Democrats saw easy votes, and Republicans (and Libertarians) saw cheap labor, so the matter festered, unattended.  Although the Mountain Observer will continue to maintain that a high steel electrified fence from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean is a necessary prerequisite to re-gain control of the border in the first place, if this new policy of zero toleration of illegals is, in fact, successfully and thoroughly implemented, a rational discussion on general immigration policy can proceed, long overdue.  Meanwhile, the Border Patriots, and their successful initiatives, (see 10/09/05) can take a lot of credit for this reversal of direction.  Laws, policies and procedures regarding Cuban refugees may need to be reviewed.  JES

10/18/05  The Palestinian Authority Interior Ministry has made it official.   More Palestinians have been killed so far this year by Palestinians than by Israeli soldiers.  Go see my comments on 09/12/05   JES.

10/17/05  Let me begin by saying that the Mountain Observer owes Former FBI Director Louis Freeh an apology.   In past letters I have been rather harsh, mistaking his determination to stay on with OJ Billyboy to protect the integrity of the FBI Director’s office, rather, for a willingness to protect his own future within the constellation of the Northeast Liberal establishment.  It now seems that I may have been wrong.  So it is that Louis Freeh is throwing himself before the same lions of the Northeast in an act of personal sacrifice and integrity.  One wonders if he knew what he was getting himself into.  It was only a matter of time before this background battle between himself and OJ Billyboy broke into the open.  Am I now being too kind, or are the ghosts of Able Danger, and issues related to the still open investigation by the old Independent Counsel’s office of Henry Cisneros, still lurking in the Background?    Re: Able Danger, I refer you back to my comments 09/09/05.  The entire September 11 Commission has the same problem.  JES

10/16/05  Iraqi voters appear to have approved the new constitution, although cross checking and verification procedures may take several days.

Expect charges of fraud and other claims of calumny, much like Chicago.  The violence will also continue, only to be expected in a region of the world without cultural and institutional precedents for democracy.   Of course, that is the issue at test.  What is important here is that another milestone has been successfully achieved, in spite of the best efforts of our own Liberal Establishment at sabotage.   Stay tuned.  JES

10/15/05  Tom Delay is the victim of legal problems that it would appear he does not deserve.  As a consequence, under House Rules, he has stepped down from his post of Majority Leader.  However, another very disturbing thing has happened in the wake of his legal problems, and Katrina, with his announced opinion that there is no room in the budget to cut spending.   Something must be wrong here, because this is not the Tom Delay I thought I knew.   This is on the order of Edward Muskie crying in New Hampshire.   With his new spending statements Tom Delay is now political toast among his Conservative colleagues insofar as a return to any position of leadership.  Perhaps the right guy for the job is Mike Pence of Indiana.  The Mountain Observer has no time or patience with House rules or traditions that might stand in the way of considering this young man.  Mike Pence, an articulate and determined spending hawk, I think, is the right guy for the job.     http://mikepence.house.gov/    JES

10/13/05  The Iraqi National Assembly buys into some last minute changes to the draft constitution that better structure an amendment process intended to allay Sunni fears about the federal structure.  I am reminded of the post Constitutional Convention struggle in 1789 when certain of our own states made ratification contingent upon adoption of what came to be known as a Bill of Rights.  Yes, politics can be a rough business, especially in lands that have no precedent.   JES

10/12/05  What seems to be unfolding in the battle over the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court is a contest within the Republican Party.  The struggle by Conservatives to wrest control of the Party away from Liberal Republicans, aka RINOs, or coastal country club types, has been ongoing since 1964, with gradual accumulating success, a long story.  It has nothing to do with Harriet Miers.  It has to do with the application of the raw political power of a Conservative Heartland to prevail over the comfortable Coastal hypocrisy of a polite discomfort with the Left.  The Mountain Observer has previously referred to George W. Bush as “tending Conservative”, which is to say that on certain issues he has it right, and on others he is too quick too sell out, either out of conviction, or expediency.  It is largely over the question of conviction, or expediency that has always tended to make Conservatives nervous about the Bush family.  George W Bush is no Ronald Reagan.  Conservatives have generally supported him because neither is he Jimmy Carter, OJ Billyboy, John Kerry or Hillary Rodham, regarding issues of national security.   So it is that the civil war for control of the Republican Party machinery has bubbled just below the surface, over the years, with occasional eruptions.  In this protracted political war, Conservatives have won some battles and lost some battles, but in the long haul, Conservatives are winning, within the Republican Party, and with the American people.

So in the matter of Harriet Miers, it appears that a broad consensus of Conservatives have determined the need, and the political ability, to face down the President on the issue of her nomination.  (Conservatives have lost patience on a list of issues.)   Conservatives would prefer to take on the “gang of 14”, and all congressional Liberals, with a more judicially experienced and hardened Conservative, and the Mountain Observer certainly agrees and supports this effort.   From this perspective, Conservatives view themselves as representing most Americans concerning the shape of the Court to come.  At stake is the political set up going into 2006 and 2008, with George W. not a candidate.  It is High Noon at the DC Corral.   The Mountain Observer can make no predictions, at this time, about how this dust up over the Miers nomination will resolve itself specifically, but I do agree that Conservatives are correct in aggressively laying down their markers looking forward.  In the strategic sense, Conservatives will win, what ever happens, and Liberals in both Parties, and the Press, will lose.  JES

10/12/05  It now seems that Angela Merkel will become Chancellor of Germany, and that Gearhard Showturd is out.  The catch here will be a most awkwardly divided coalition between the Christian Democrat Union (conservative, mainly Catholic CDU) (Merkel is Protestant) and the Social Democratic Party (socialist SPD).   If the new Chancellor can get anything done, it will likely be by force of personality.  Don’t expect much.  JES

10/10/05  The clock keeps ticking on the issue of Iranian nukes, possibly the biggest foreign policy issue of 2006.   JES

10/09/05  In the long view of things, which is really what this website is more generally about, an election is coming up in Iraq on 10/15 which is likely to prove to be a major milestone in our own history, as well as theirs.  At stake is the acceptance or rejection of the draft constitution by the Iraqi electorate at large.  With a major investment in blood and treasure, we are interested sideline spectators.  It would appear that the results will be a “yes”, but it remains to be determined by how much, and by whom.  It matters.  Perhaps it would be well, at this point, to engage in a review of certain features of our involvement.

George W. Bush won the presidential election in 2000, fair, square and legally, a fact still not yet absorbed by the American Left.  The context of his victory included the fact that over a period of years, and several presidents of both parties, a certain rage has been building in the Middle East towards all things Western, or Islam perceived to have been corrupted by the West, by a disaffected segment of Islamic culture.  Again, in context, the election of 2000 also occurred at a time of unappreciated and growing domestic division within our own country concerning the direction of our own heart and soul as a nation.  So it came to pass that on September 11, 2001 our nation was attacked with great loss of life and treasure by Middle Eastern elements grown convinced of the weaknesses, and vulnerabilities of our culture, as it appeared to them, and smug in the righteousness of their complaints.

Now our President has a Constitutional responsibility, as most Presidents of the Republic have also understood, until recently, which is to defend the nation from attack and to respond appropriately if attack occurs.   This was not understood in 1993 or on certain subsequent occasions.   It was understood in 2001, as it was in 1941.

The disaffected segment of Islamic culture, upon examination, turns out to be remarkably Fascist in mindset, a Western Statist political tool of Secular intimidation grafted on to a religious perspective always ambivalent about itself and how to proceed in a world of others.  But our President is not concerned about the excuses of cause, but rather about the fact of attack, and the needs of our current and future security.  It was not a time to appreciate “diversity”, but rather, a time to pull the plug on IslamicFascist terrorism.

The problem with Iraq was it’s centrality to the developing IslamicFascist network of terrorism in terms of funding, training, arming and using its own oil resources, also, to hold a willing Europe, and others, hostage.  Much was made at the time of the secularity of a Baathist regime in contrast to the alleged theological fuel of Al-Qaeda, supposedly rendering cooperation impossible.  This was a cute intellectual cop out that failed close examination from the beginning.  The error in this thesis is two-fold: It would appear that Al-Qaeda, and its many copy-cat manifestations, fail to inspire theologically the Muslim world (however defined) as a whole, and secondly, in their world the worldly clash of Islamic based culture with the West trumps arguments over God.  There is no moral equivalency between thugs and true men of God.  Furthermore, an on-the-ground examination of the facts of close cooperation and coordination were abundant, and eventually confirmed by the Duelfer Report, (Able Danger waits in the wings).    In this IslamicFascist kettle of soup, Iraq, specifically Saddam Hussein, stood tall and vulnerable.   Like the single log in a river log jam that has got a mountain of logs plugged up, our President imagined the consequences across the entire Middle East, and beyond, if this single log got yanked to be replaced, not by Uday and Qusay Saddam, but by western democracy, in the Burkean republican sense of the word.  A long shot; daring and audacious?  Absolutely.  Wilsonian?  Hardly.  Wilson was an internationalist, and Bush acted preemptively and unilaterally from the perspective of American national interest.  A so-called “realist”, in the fashionable East Coast academic sense of the day?  Hardly.  The President has acted in the Heartland sense of realism; action, not “stability”, East Coast code for passivism.  We are at war over these issues, and ought to be.  You do not negotiate with an enemy of this type.  You kill them.  As this may inspire further hatred, one constructively draws out the infection as if with a poultice, and drains the swamp, over there, rather than in Central Park.

Thankfully, Americans have never liked war on foreign shores.  But neither do Real Americans like to be pushed around, or see others so abused.  Politically it becomes a discussion of national interest and national security.  The President has played his cards, so far, correctly, in the opinion of the Mountain Observer.  It is perhaps an error by the President to fail to stress more than he does the necessary republican dimension of the democracy he wishes to promote, an important distinction lost in the complaints of some of his critics, and supporters.  In the overall “War on Terror”, what is at stake is the very survival of Western culture in its traditional dimensions, or its collapse before Wahhabi inspired thugs and short sighted Left Wing American appeasement.    Curiously, it appears too frequently that numerous domestic Left Wing critics fall into the category of aiding and giving comfort to this enemy for reasons, it seems, of a mutual hatred of Western (American) Tradition.  They need to be reminded, especially in time of war, that our Constitution does address the issue of aiding and giving comfort in Article III, Section 3, and that more caution is advised.  There is plenty of room for reasoned discussion about the best way to proceed in these matters, within the context of defense of our national security.  However, one would be wise to recognize that attacks on the President, and his Administration, are frequently politically motivated complaints disguising the domestic tensions between Modernist Secularist Elites, and a more traditional American culture that respects Founding Principles, separate from foreign challenges.   The domestic Balkanization continues apace.    JES

NOTE: It would be useful for the reader to open BUSH 43 2ND TERM NOTES-SPEECHES and read the President’s speech before the National Endowment for Democracy on 10/06/05.

10/09/05  Perhaps the Border Patriots are only the beginning of a new day in re-ordering the Republic.  When things really come apart, the Heartland will take care of itself.  Meanwhile, Congress has just approved hiring 1000 new Border Patrol agents, in addition to 500 approved somewhat earlier.  All of this is to say that concerned citizens are pushing a wet noodle, but then nothing could be more American.  The Mountain Observer continues to maintain, that at least in the case of our southern border, it will remain impossible to regain control and discipline of the issue absent the construction of a high steel electrified fence from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean.  Then it will be possible to sit down and talk about guest workers, as guests, and immigration as consistent with our own national interest, perhaps.  Meanwhile, hats off to the Border Patriots.  These are good people.   JES

10/04/05  Yesterday, the President nominated Harriet Miers of Dallas, TX, to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court.  I don’t know quite what to make of this.  Perhaps, in the President’s judgment, he cannot trust Senate Republicans at this time to carry the political freight of approval in the Judiciary Committee of a well advertised Conservative.  It’s called the McCain factor.  This does not mean that Harriet Miers is not a Conservative.  It means that no one knows.   Even if one is to accept the premise that the President thinks so, there remains the question of her qualifications to execute a Conservative perspective on the Bench, which is to say that the role of judges is to rule on the law, not create it.   Now if one voted for the President, that vote implies trust in his judgment.  The difficulty here is that from a Conservative perspective his judgment has sometimes lapsed on domestic issues.  You see, it is the one major criticism of the President by the Mountain Observer is that he tends too often to be a nice guy.  So it is that he let Ted Kennedy write his education bill, he coddles OJ Billyboy, tolerates Congressional largess and is unwilling to confront his friend Vicente Fox.   So it is that Conservatives have never fully trusted him on domestic issues.  This nomination may cause a long simmering back room dispute to surface to public awareness.  On the political Right this is a frustration that will continue until there is a clear Senate majority of 60 dependable votes.   So who is Harriet Miers?  Has the ghost of Justice David H. Souter scared the President straight, or has the ghost of Newt Gingrich scared him silly?  Or has he made a brilliant move?  As of the moment, nobody knows.   JES

Serious Considerations:

09/25/05.  The future of Iraq is best understood by observing the process of negotiating the new constitution, and the Mountain Observer has alluded to this before.  A possible long-range outcome will be an independent Kurdistan, an attachment of Sunni Iraq to Syria and an attachment of Shiite Iraq to Iran.   Nationalism trumps ideology every time, and Iraqi nationalism may prove to be a stillborn idea.  The splintering would not necessarily be a negative for American foreign policy in the region, properly managed.  On the contrary, Iraqi Shia are Arab, Iranians are Persian, Iraqi Shia seem well instructed on the errors of the mullahs in Iran, and Iranian democrats will have their day.  Iraqi Kurds are not Arabs, and in the long view, Kurdistan in some form will happen.  Turkey has made its choices, and is now boxed in by the unfolding politics of Europe, and has no where else to go.  Baathist Syria is a house of cards inviting a nudge.  A new King in Saudi Arabia has already tipped his hand in the right direction of reform, subject to his physical survival among his brothers in the House of Saud.

The real objective of the Bush foreign policy all along has been the break-up of middle eastern autocracy and the promotion of middle eastern democracy as a way out of the swamp of IslamicFascism (my term- not his) and its consequences.  The choice to take on Iraq was not only good, but brilliant.  The pretext of 09/11, while valid, served as a catalyst unnecessary, and the pretext of a WMD threat, if somewhat premature, real and responsible.

Overall, the Bush policies have been excellent so far, but we are moving into a tricky period where it would be too easy to lose sight of what is really in our national interest, mistaking an obsession with the permanency of an Iraq that may wind up looking much different than we originally imagined.  Our real national interest lies with genuine peace in the region, and in his promotion of democratic ideals in a region obsessed with hate, the President has been right all along, whatever configurations emerge.  JES

Wall Street & Main St:

09/24/05  As reported yesterday in USA Today, British Airways Chief Rod Eddington criticizes American mis-use of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy law for protecting American air carriers from the consequences of free market discipline.   While Mr. Eddington has his own competitive axe to grind, he happens to be exactly right.  I could not agree more, and have been making the same point for years.  In the long run, protection of excessive capacity does no one any favors; the market must be allowed to work.  It seems that the Court’s priorities have to do with protecting various government agencies from exposure to growing liabilities consequent to private corporate bankruptcy settlements, e.g. pensions.  It is this private / public togetherness that I refer to as fascist economics.  So it is that Courts tend to stall resolution of matters best left to the marketplace, and certain charades continue.  The American automobile industry is next, or perhaps Fannie May, colossus of the federally subsidized housing mortgage industry.   JES

Current Reading Recommendation:  

COMMON-LAW LIBERTY: RETHINKING AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM

JAMES R. STONER, Jr                                                                                                                       

 UNIV OF KANSAS                                                                 212 PGS                                                 $29.95

Serious Considerations:

09/22/05  The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approves the nomination of federal Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to the post of chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Democrat’s base is enraged.   JES

09/21/05  In talks with North Korea over their future existence, between a kaleidoscope of parties with a variety of interests, motives and concerns, the North Koreans continue to bargain for freebies, as if in a position to do so.  Now there may well be merit in the idea of supplying electric power to North Korea in exchange for dismantling the North Korean nuclear program, but the wires should originate in the south, and the switch should be located in Seoul.  JES

09/21/05  The results of the German elections appear to have created a stall in German politics, a good example of what is wrong with proportional representation.  Conservative challenger Angela Merkel won a narrow plurality but failed to get the necessary majority required to avoid compromise arrangements with other parties.  The result is likely to be a government talking at cross purposes to itself, and everyone else, about what it is about.  Gerhard Schroeder can be counted on to remain somehow in the capacity of Official Nuisance.  JES

09/18/05  Millions of Afghans go to the polls to vote for a new Parliament, unafraid.   JES

09/12/05  Yesterday Israel lowered the flag in the Gaza Strip, ending a 38 year military presence.   Will this bring peace?  On the contrary; only the political bankruptcy of the Palestinian Authority will be totally exposed.   JES 

09/09/05  Yesterday, as Democrats, the Press and Travis County Persecutor Ronnie Earle continue to chase after Tom Delay, former National Security Advisor, (to OJ Billyboy) Samuel R. Burglar was fined $50,000 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson, in addition to other penalties and loss of clearance for 3 years.  This, of course, for routinely squirreling away classified documents in his pants and socks, apparently for review in anticipation of the need to defend his ex-boss.  Watch for possible developing connections to issues being raised in the Able Danger affair before Congress.  JES

09/06/05  Perhaps this hurricane Katrina deserves its own webpage.  Myself, caught in the middle of serious technical difficulties with this website, find maintenance of this situation difficult.  Let’s see: we will call the new page KATRINA, RITA and the WELFARE STATE.    Go there for updates and analysis.   JES 

09/06/05  Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist passed on at home 09/03/05, of thyroid cancer.   This development has propelled a switch of Judge John Roberts to the President’s choice for the top post, a good and timely move, and re-opening the post to be filled with the retirement of Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.  Perhaps time to roll out Janis Rogers Brown.   JES                     

                                                                   God Bless America

                                                                    Jim                          

                                                                    American Nationalist Conservative

                                                                    Jefferson, CO 80456