THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER ON-LINE       

                               ISSUES, PEOPLE, OBJECTS & POLICIES- CLOSE UP                           

                           Vol. 05                                        Issue 08                         Start December 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.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

Serious Considerations:

12/31/05  Happy New Year.  JES

12/31/05  Expect sometime during this new year that an attack will finally be made against Iranian nuclear facilities.   It will most likely be accomplished by some combination of United States and Israeli assets.  There is no way the stripped pants set can fix this problem; it is time for people to grow up.  JES

12/31/05  My biggest complaint about our President has always been that he is a nice guy, sort of self sacrificial in a sea of political piranhas.

So in recent weeks it is good to see some evidence that it has finally occurred to him who his friends are, but more importantly who his enemies are.  He has begun to defend himself, as he should have started to do months ago, from inane attacks about "lying" to the American people concerning a whole list of things, including WMD's and Iraq.  So it is that I am more than pleased that he has finally gotten the Justice Department (He will typically deny personal intervention, and knowing him as I think I do, such a denial may be accurate) to open a probe on the question about who has been leaking classified information, on a series of issues, to the New York Times.  For many years, reaching as far back as into the 60's, presidents, especially Republicans, have had serious problems with Left Wing moles in the State Department.  (A certain old tail gunner would have argued that the problem was older.)   During the 90's, this problem migrated further, particularly in to the FBI, the CIA and the Department of Defense.  The most recent general Left Wing War On Bush, coupled with the fact of his generally successful re-direction of foreign policy, and the rise of "blue state" political power, is causing the termites to come out from under their rocks.  Yes, time has come for a special prosecutor to get on to the matter of these leaks, after, of course, an institutionally mandated Justice Department probe into what we all know is really going on.  There was a time in our history when traitors were shot, or otherwise terminated.  JES

12/27/05  I am remiss in failing to acknowledge in a timely manner, the 50th anniversary of National Review magazine on October 6.

For many years it has been a standard for myself against which to calibrate my thoughts on many matters, even when some disagreement was apparent.   I first stumbled across William F. Buckley, Jr. in the 1970's, and began to pay attention to his wisdom.  He is unlikely to ever know his own success in breaking an old mule.   Thank you, Mr. Buckley, from the bottom of my heart.   JES 

Wall Street & Main St:                                                                                  

12/27/05  Concerning Ben Bernanke, newly appointed successor to Allen Greenspan.  On 10/28 I said "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."   On the first point, before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Mr. Bernanke, among other things, is quoted as saying, that as Federal Reserve Chairman, "I will be strictly independent of all political influences and will be guided solely by the Federal Reserve mandate from Congress and the public interest."   My friends, these are the words of a liar, or one attempting to pose as Jesus Christ.  No man, with a straight face, can make such claims about himself.  It has been my experience in life that people who claim to be "non-political", at best, are fooling themselves; at worst declaring you to be a dunce.   (And, incidentally, so it goes with Bill O'Reilly and his "no spin zone".)   So it is that right out of the gate, I distrust this guy, and suspect that what we have is a Manipulator in Chief of an organization, the Federal Reserve Banking System that is chartered to manipulate above our heads.  He is further quoted as saying "I'm going to begin now, I think, the practice of not making recommendations (as Greenspan frequently did) on specific tax or spending proposals".   How does one consider silence from this high platform to be constructive or engaging in the ongoing government institutional efforts to coordinate fiscal and monetary policy?  A self confessed manipulator working in the shadows bears close watching.  Expect a crowd of Bernankeologists to form.    JES

Serious Considerations:

12/25/05  Fellow Christians: are you running on cultural autopilot, or have you really thought it out?  There is a convenience in reasoning that there is no time to reason, and remember that the error is not reason, but reason alone.  JES

12/21/05  Not so many years ago it was the conventional wisdom, in those days tending to be defined by the mass media, that conspiracy theories and kookism were the monopoly of the "far right".  More recently it has become obvious that the American Left has a problem of this sort, of its own.   There is a difference between thinking, or wishing, something is true, or untrue, and knowing so as a matter of documented fact.  So it is that the "mainstream" Democrat Party is more and more falling off the Left Wing edge, while all those wild eyed Republicans, more comfortable playing golf, are soaking up the political "middle".  Ironically, a dilemma is created for Conservatives (e.g. The Mountain Observer) by all this, who love the new votes, but who are more into red meat than bean sprouts.   In-so-far as this web site goes, we have studiously attempted to stay true to verifiable facts, and will continue to do so; otherwise all credibility is lost.  Meanwhile, it is breathtaking to watch the leadership of the Democrat Party devolve into sophistry and intellectual hooliganism, not in behalf of the country, or even their own constituents, but of themselves.   It all brings new meaning to the word kamikaze.   JES

12/20/05  President George W. Bush is at his best when he gets mad.   JES

 Current Christmas Recommendation:  

 HELP MOM! THERE ARE LIBERALS UNDER MY BED     (2005)   

 KATHARINE DEBRECHT        

 BIBLIO DISTRIBUTION                                                           XXX                                                      $15.95

Serious Considerations:

12/19/05  For those of you actually interested in the President's legal authority regarding domestic intelligence, you might begin by roaming around http://www.llrx.com/features/military.htm.  But like myself, you will need to hire competent legal council to actually understand it.  JES

Current Reading Recommendations:                                                                                                                                                                      

THE POWERS OF WAR AND PEACE: THE CONSTITUTION AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS AFTER 9/11

 JOHN YOO                                                                                                                                  

UNIV. OF CHICAGO                                                               378 PGS                                               $29.00     

FORTRESS AMERICA: ON THE FRONTLINES OF HOMELAND SECURITY- AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE COMING SURVEILLANCE STATE

 MATTHEW BRZEZINSKI                                                                                                                                                                     

 BANTAM                                                                                 272 PGS                                               $25.00

  FIXING INTELLIGENCE: FOR A MORE SECURE AMERICA

  WILLIAM E. ODOM                                                                                                                         

  YALE UNIV.                                                                            230 PGS                                               $25.95

 ALLIES: WHY THE WEST HAD TO REMOVE SADDAM                                            

 WILLIAM SHAWCROSS                                                                                                                    

  PUBLIC AFFAIRS BOOKS                                                     329 PGS                                               $13.50 PB

Wall Street & Main St:                                                                                  

12/17/05  The economy continues to boil along forward; some are winning and some are losing.  Remember that the only thing the politicians can do to keep things going in the right direction is to make tax cuts permanent, cut taxes more, make some serious slashes in government spending, regain control of immigration and the borders, and get the hell out of the way.  The fact of the matter is that the churning in the economy that is hurting a lot of folks is technology driven; nothing to do with the politicians at all.  So you can sit there and rant and rave all you want; it won't do any good.  If you have been hurt, you need to make some personal adjustments in your lifestyle, how you support yourself, and perhaps where you live and what you do.  Don't expect the government (politicians), or any union to come to your aid.  They are all liars and frauds; promise everything and deliver nothing.  Keep your own money in your own pocket, and be a Man; join the winners.  JES

Serious Considerations:

12/17/05   A lot of fellow Conservatives seem to be piling on the band wagon for Senator George Allen R-VA for President in 2008.  I do not share their enthusiasm; I have been watching this develop for some time now, and something here seems to be missing.   I can't quite put my finger on it.  There is more to this job than playing football.  I would like to know more about Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina.   We shall see. JES

12/17/05  The Patriot Act expires on December 31.   Yesterday the Senate stumbled, and voted re-authorization down.  As an American Nationalist Conservative, I share the concerns of those honestly troubled about the future of freedom for American citizens, as originally understood.  I have made that abundantly clear throughout the history of the Mountain Observer, including previous references to the Patriot Act.  So I do not question the motivations of those who are honestly troubled by the implications of the Patriot Act for the future of freedom in this country.  I share those concerns.   What I question is their judgment in the context of the current situation that we, as a nation, face with respect to the challenge of IslamicFascism.  The Patriot Act is not about George W. Bush.  It is about the defense of this nation.   Earlier this past week I had been led to believe that a compromise had been worked out on certain key details (12/11/05 below) which collectively made great sense to me, originating with the premise that, as a matter of fact, the President does need these tools to responsibly discharge his duty to defend this nation.  We need to face up to a real priority of immediacy, partially a price to be paid for a sometimes willful disregard for reality over, at least, the last 15 years.  To not re-authorize the Patriot Act immediately is on the same level of irresponsibility as our national inability, shared by both national parties, to get control of our borders and immigration.  In fact it is largely due to our border and immigration problems that the Patriot Act provisions have become necessary.  Don't be fooled by Democrats or Liberal Republicans mouthing concern about the Constitution; they don't give a flip about it as evidenced by the rubber interpretations of their judges over too many decades.  This nation needs to wake up, or the winds of hell will sooner or later be upon us.  JES

12/15/05  It's been a tough day for Democrats in the United States.  It seems that the Iraqi elections have been very successful in terms of turnout.   Early reports indicate a 70% turnout of registered voters indicating a level of enthusiasm rarely seen in Chicago, or even Boston; a lot of purple fingers held aloft.  The American "mainstream" Leftwing press is already nitpicking, and drawing absurd conclusions: just pick up any edition of the New York or Los Angeles Times for all the gloom and doom.  History will write that American Conservatives brought the idea of liberal democracy to the Middle East, as American Liberals worked feverishly to sabotage the effort.  Now, of course, it is too early to predict where this experiment will wind up leading.  Democrats have become emotionally invested in defeat, while Conservatives are intellectually invested in success.  More on Iraq later as details of the story unfold.  JES

12/13/04  Note to the Massachusetts KKK (Kennedy Kerry Klan): One of the most cherished American freedoms is your right to leave.  JES

12/13/05  Incidentally, see what your neighbor Senator Joe Lieberman has to say on Iraq.  JES

Wall Street & Main St:                                                                                  

12/13/05  Today, driving all day across Indiana and Ohio, was one of those occasions that I had an opportunity to listen to Rush Limbaugh, except that Rush was off, and his substitute was Paul W. Smith from WJR 760 in Detroit, who proceeded to establish himself as a GM toady.  At least 2 of the 3 hours was taken up with an unapologetic promotion of the cause of saving General Motors from itself, including a half hour interview with the Chairman & CEO.   Now of course, you cannot find any greater champion of American manufacturing than myself, but I had a couple of serious problems with what I heard, and didn't hear.    First, there was the repeated plea for American consumers to take a good look at GM's current product line up, as compared to the foreign competition.  The implication was that GM was not getting a fair shake in this regard.   Secondly, there was a failure to address at all what I consider to be the basic flaw of the entire industry over several decades: incremental concessions to labor unions to buy immediate labor peace in the short run at the expense of sound long run obligations.  The simple fact of the matter is that the product has come to cost too much, and historically has had too many quality and design problems.  The plea I heard today for customers to "take a look", was insulting.  Car customers are not stupid.  Rather than insulting the customers, GM management needs to look in the mirror and regain control of its own company.  The labor force has been totally spoiled by years coddling, perhaps beyond redemption.  It could come down to the need to declare bankruptcy and the outright cancellation of all the contracts.  It certainly comes down to both management and labor discovering that the consumer, in the end, is the real boss.   From what I heard today, that lesson remains elusive.   JES

Current Reading Recommendation:                    

MY FBI: BRINGING DOWN THE MAFIA, INVESTIGATING (OJ BILLYBOY) AND WAGING WAR ON TERROR

 LOUIS FREEH                                                                                                                                     

ST. MARTIN'S PRESS                                                        336 PGS                                                  $21.00      

12/13/05  Upon further investigation it turns out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger does not have it right.  He made the right decision for the wrong reasons.  Turns out I learn that Stanley Tookie Williams never confessed, indeed proclaimed his innocence.   On this basis, the Gov. proclaims there can be no redemption, and he is correct.  Here the confusion sets in, the Gov. seeming to imply that with the proper contrition on William's part, he, the Gov. might have considered extending redemption.  I would hope that is not the case, but so it seems.  If so the Gov. has himself confused with God, a common Liberal error, and giving the Gov. the benefit of the doubt, unintended hubris.  The correct basis of the Gov's decision is that under the processes of American law, properly applied, Stanley Tookie Williams was found guilty of 4 counts of cold blooded murder, California law calling for capital punishment.  There were, of course, victims of his depredations who deserved a measure of justice, an expense to the state, and the need to ensure the public's future safety.  I would trust God to have the final say concerning redemption.  JES

12/12/05  The clock runs out on Stanley Tookie Williams, as it ought to.  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has it right.  Williams will shortly answer to the Big Guy in the Sky.  JES

12/12/05  There is a point to be made about the matter of Stanley Tookie Williams, convicted killer, and Crips street gang founder, that, to the best of my knowledge, no one else will make.  It has to do with the collision between Secular political correctness, and Christianity.  William's supporters, consciously or unconsciously, are attempting to use what they falsely believe are Christian arguments for mercy and forgiveness on William's behalf to save him from execution tomorrow morning.  They say he has reformed himself, at least partially evidenced by a new jailhouse (San Quentin) career authoring children's books.  Maybe he has and maybe he hasn't; as a matter of fact, nobody can really know.  With the failure of the California Supreme Court late Sunday to grant a stay of execution, the only remaining option appears to be an appeal of clemency to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.  On the premise that all legal avenues have been properly exercised, Williams and his defenders are left only with arguments of his personal reformation.  Presumably, the Courts have ruled properly on issues of secular law, as they should.

The Governor will be asked to find it in his heart, in effect, to "forgive" a reformed man.  The fact of the matter is that it is beyond the Governor's ability to make such an assessment, and we hope he understands that.  We also hope that the Governor understands that if he folds to William's pleas, the Governor will have further encouraged a dynamic of phony reformation for future killers in human clothing.  It is predictable that a "how to" manual would be written.  It is beyond the Governor's charter in this life to offer forgiveness in the ecclesiastical sense, and like the Courts in this matter, he should discharge his duties under the state law of California.  If, in fact, Stanley Tookie Williams, is what he now says he is, he should have no fear of Judgment before the Lord, who will not be fooled, and seek his peace in heaven.  Here on earth, there are others sufficiently qualified to instruct aspiring gang members on the likely consequences of their chosen careers, by example.  JES

12/11/05  The tentative agreement between the Senate and the House on renewal of the Patriot Act is actually fairly sensible.  Certain minor adjustments have been made that improve Constitutional protections as well as clarify certain procedural guidelines for security enforcement.  If these provisions are passed intact, the Mountain Observer endorses the product.  JES

12/11/05  Evidence is accumulating that Israel's diplomatic position in the Middle East neighborhood is improving.  While Arab hate continues, perhaps there is growing recognition of the fact that, in terms of real politick, cooperation with Washington runs thru Tel Aviv.   While from the Arab perspective, this is not new, what is new is the fundamental change in American policy from one of accommodation with the status quo to a new priority of regional democratization.  All the old despots are suddenly nervous to discover that the old oil card is not worth what it used to be.  The world is shifting beneath their feet, and the long range strategic value of al Qaeda and terrorism has backfired on them.  For the Arab world, September 11, 2001, and George W. Bush have changed the whole picture.  The Jordanian response to fellow citizen Abu Musab al Zarqawi's bombing of a wedding in Amman is but a single illustration of the point.  Suddenly there is a recognition of the fact that only Washington, if it chooses to do so, can provide the security necessary to protect certain segments of the Arab crowd from others.  Now if only our own State Department bureaucracy, and the CIA, would catch on.  But perhaps they do: Witness the Wilson's.   It is an age when personal ambition and careers trump honor and national security.  There are moments in history when civilization itself swings on a narrow thread.  Stay tuned.  JES   

12/08/05  "It is not that liberals are stupid; it's just that they know so much that isn't true".   Ronald Reagan

12/07/05   The 09/11 Commission reconstitutes itself long enough to proclaim what everyone already knows: the country, in many ways, continues to have work to do to prepare for further terrorist attacks.  The old press picks up on it, and while the Commission was pointing fingers at both Congress and the Administration, the old press prefers to point more toward the Administration, everyone implying that Republicans aren't doing enough to protect the country.  Why the suggested partisan swipes, and why did the Commission decide it was necessary to state the obvious?   I think it has to do with the ghost of Able Danger, the ghost of Henry Cisneros, and, perhaps, the horror of purple fingers in the air on December 15th, in Iraq, AKA Mesopotamia, I believe.  In Washington, D.C., the local industry of passing the buck has never been more robust.   You see, in D.C., there are no mirrors.  JES

12/07/05  Most Americans alive today are too young to remember.  64 years ago today the Japanese attacked our fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  On December 8th, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, D-NY, and who smoked cigarettes, asked Congress to declare war on Germany, Italy and Japan, and our formal entrance into World War II began.  In August of 1945, President Harry S. Truman, D-MO, and who smoked cigars, ordered our forces to proceed with dropping the only 2 nuclear devices in our possession on Japan, shortly causing the unconditional surrender of the tattered remains of the Japanese Empire.   That's how it was back then.  Today, Democrats, and the Democrat Party, are a collection of sad sack wimps and cowards who are united only in their hatred of the United States.  You people are totally disgusting, too awash in self-absorption and a victimhood mentality to even be embarrassed, as you ought to be.  In Iraq, and the Middle East, we will win without you.  You are a disgrace to your nation, and your American heritage.  Today the discussion in Iraq is not whether Saddam Hussein is guilty or innocent, but rather how and when to send him to his rendezvous with 72 virgins.    And today, in America, there is widespread discussion in the Heartland about what to do with Traitors.  Yes, there are still some real Americans left.  JES

12/06/05  Incidentally, for anyone who is interested, go to the most recent manifestation of Paul Volcker's UN investigation: a work in progress: www.iic-offp.org , the Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme.  The only difficulty here is that, by training and education, Volcker is a bean counter, not a persecutor, opps, sorry, prosecutor.  JES

Current Reading Recommendations:  

AMERICA'S SECRET WAR: INSIDE THE HIDDEN WORLDWIDE STRUGGLE BETWEEN AMERICA AND ITS ENEMIES

GEORGE FRIEDMAN                                                                                                                             

 DOUBLEDAY                                                                           353 PGS                                                $24.95

 THE WEST'S LAST CHANCE: WILL WE WIN THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS?

  TONY BLANKLEY                                                                                                                                  

   REGNERY                                                                               256 PGS                                                $27.95

THE UN GANG: A MEMOIR OF INCOMPETENCE, CORRUPTION, ESPIONAGE, ANTI-SEMITISM AND ISLAMIC EXTREMISM AT THE UN SECRETARIAT

 PEDRO SANJUAN                                                                                                                             

 DOUBLEDAY                                                                          208 PGS                                                $24.95

 GOD'S CHOICE: POPE BENEDICT XVI AND THE FUTURE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

   GEORGE WEIGEL                                                                                                                                

   HARPERCOLLINS                                                                  296 PGS                                                 $26.95

Serious Considerations:

12/06/05  Democrats are absolutely obsessed with making an analogy between Vietnam and Iraq, and they could not be more wrong.  Yesterday, Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted that the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong.  I've seen this before in my life. This is the same situation we had in Vietnam."   Well it absolutely is not.

1).  In the case of Vietnam, the North Vietnamese were never guilty of a direct attack on the United States, the disputed facts surrounding the incident in the Gulf of Tonkin notwithstanding.  On September 11, 2001, a whole series of attacks on the United States by IslamicFascists over a number of years, culminated in the deaths of 3000 American civilians on American soil.  Iraq, at least so far, has never been linked directly to the execution, or specific pre-knowledge, of the 09/11 event, and no one in the Administration has ever claimed so.  However, what had been clearly established is the direct and ongoing linkage between the Saddam regime and al-Qaeda through-out the nineties in a marriage of convenience and collaboration against us.  Details indisputable, widely available, and still being un-earthed.  That Democrats are so obsessed on re-writing history on this point betrays their recognition of its significance.

2}.  Our decision to engage Iraq was endorsed by today's very same Democrat "leadership" in 1998, and earlier, when George W. Bush was still in Texas, OJ Billyboy was otherwise distracted in the Oval Office, and the United Nations was presiding over the greatest fraud in history, otherwise known as the Oil for Food program, France and Germany complicit.  In Vietnam, which was started by JFK, D-MA, and escalated by Lyndon Johnson, D-TX, who otherwise kept his pecker in his pants, there was no United Nations program of subterfuge of any kind.   At its best, the United Nations has always been useless; today it is worse.

3)  We are about to see our 3rd election this year in Iraq, and we are being praised by an overwhelming number of Iraqi's for making this possible, as the polling over there, such as it is, consistently reveals.  Do they look forward to the day when we are gone?  Of course.  Do we look forward to the day when we no longer need to be there?  Of course, and that has been the plan all along.   Howard Dean also proposes that all our forces need to be withdrawn "within two years", conveniently consistent with Administration efforts.

4).  Unlike Vietnam, under the draft, our military today is an all volunteer force, with a generally very different attitude about what they have been asked to do, are doing and why.  In Vietnam we had deployed upwards of 500,000 personnel, and suffered over 50,000 casualties.  In Iraq we have deployed up to 160,000 personnel, and so far have suffered 2100 casualties.

5).  Vietnam took place in the context of the Cold War against international Communism, and was physically contiguous with Communist suppliers of material and various sorts of support.   Iraq is contiguous with Syria and Iran, not to be compared to Communist China and the USSR, yet.   Syria and Iran can be dealt with.

6).  Our direct national security interests in Vietnam were always subject to debate.  Our national security interests in the outcome of the current struggle are beyond discussion.

The fact of the matter is that the American Democrat Party has been taken over by cowards, so obsessed with themselves that they are willing to sacrifice everything, including their own country, to re-gain political power.   Some of us are willing to call it what it is: treason.  It has come to this.  The 1960's have a hold on these people that they will not let go; they must simply be defeated.   It is a matter of national security that Conservatives do so.   JES

12/05/05  So now it seems that the Democrat Party has actually joined the Saddam Hussein defense team.  After the 1970's and '80's, and the collapse of the Soviet Union, I could not understand how anyone with their heads screwed on straight could have ever voted for OJ Billyboy.  In 1996 I was flummoxed.  In 2000, surely something was amiss that the race was so close.  Now in 2005 we have a major national party actively engaged in treasonable activity.  There is no other way to put it.  Don't give me this crap about how Ramsey Clark is representing the principle of law in a Middle East distorted by Theocracy.   Ramsey Clark is inserting himself, and the American Left, into the business of an Iraqi people too long starved of law and civil decency, and it is the ultimate condescension to assert that Iraqis need instruction in justice.   For narrow partisan political gain, Democrat party leaders are running away from their own documented words uttered in 1998.   Will Saddam Hussein be their candidate in 2008?  Perhaps so, but it is more likely that by then he will be history, perhaps joining the Democrats, and Idi Amin.   JES

12/04/05  On this matter of getting the troops home from Iraq, I sense that the Democrat "leadership" may be setting up a little game.   It has always been the intention of the Administration to bring the troops home, as conditions in Iraq allow.  Those conditions are beginning to emerge, albeit later than we would have preferred.   So as that scenario begins to unfold, watch for Democrats to take "credit" for "pressuring" the Administration in its moves, and to continue to criticize the slowness of the process.  Unfortunately, this discussion will be interpreted by the IslamicFascist as an endorsement and encouragement of their own strategy of wearing us down, which is exactly why our domestic critics are dancing dangerously close to the "T" word.  I would suggest that one criteria that must be met prior to any significant American troop withdrawal would be the application of terminal justice to one Saddam Hussein.  JES

12/04/05  One of the positive developments forthcoming in the years ahead, as a consequence of events in the Middle East, will have been the incubation of a new generation of American political leadership forged in the fire of the military conflict.  This generation will be conversant, first hand, with the nature of our IslamicFascist antagonists.  Capital Hill today is very short of such experience.   JES

Current Reading Recommendation:                        

THE LIMITS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

JACK L. GOLDSMITH & ERIC A. POSNER                                                                                         

 OXFORD                                                                               262 PGS                                                $29.95

Wall Street & Main St:

12/03/05  The numbers are amazing, proving once again that tax cuts work, and supply side economics is what describes reality.  What is also true is that fiscal spending restraint and caution, public and private, is called for.  The extension of debt obligations today must continue to be held consistent with conservative fiscal guidelines.  Bankruptcy disciplines the private sector, and I see signs of borrowing on false values distorted by past political interventions in the free market.  Your Congressman, and you, discipline state and federal government spending, and therein lies the public problem; there is little or no discipline whatsoever.  So, of course, I am very happy about these positive developments with the economy, and George W. Bush should not only be standing up and taking credit for his tax cuts, but demanding more.  However, the problem remains on the spending side.  The Left is hooked on dependency, and supply siders, while the Laffer curve works, are satisfied with allowing the dependency to continue, George W. Bush included.  JES

Serious Considerations:

12/03/05  I want to repeat here, verbatim, what I said about John Murtha D-PA on November 18th in the 05-07 Letter:            

"Rep. John P. Murtha D-PA, a retired Marine Corps colonel, calls for a pull out 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."

It is sad to see raw partisanship overwhelm good judgment and a fine record of service to the country, and it is sad to see an entire national political party sink into complicity with our enemies.  At what point does the "T" word become relevant?  JES

12/02/05  We need to recognize the honesty and courage of king Abdullah II of Jordan for his recent initiative in coming before a gathering of American rabbis in Washington DC.  It took guts, and he was entirely candid about the regional problems relating to Israel and its neighbors.   I am not aware of any other Arab leader ever being so forthcoming, and honest, in extending a hand of reconciliation on these matters.  The king deserves our total support in his efforts.   JES

                                                                   God Bless America

                                                                   Jim                           

                                                                    American Nationalist Conservative

                                                                    Jefferson, CO 80456