THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER ON-LINE       

                                 ISSUES, PEOPLE, OBJECTS & POLICIES- CLOSE UP                           

                                    Vol. 06                                     Issue 03                          Start APRIL 01, 20

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:

05/29/06 Illegal immigration amnesty Senate passage of S. 2611       Those who last week voted for and against.

YEAs ---62
Akaka (D-HI)     Baucus (D-MT)     Bayh (D-IN)     Bennett (R-UT)     Biden (D-DE)     Bingaman (D-NM)     Boxer (D-CA)     Brownback (R-KS)
Cantwell (D-WA)     Carper (D-DE)   Chafee (R-RI)     Clinton (D-NY)     Coleman (R-MN)     Collins (R-ME)      Conrad (D-ND)     Craig (R-ID)
Dayton (D-MN)     DeWine (R-OH)     Dodd (D-CT)     Domenici (R-NM)     Durbin (D-IL)     Feingold (D-WI)     Feinstein (D-CA)     Frist (R-TN)         Graham (R-SC)     Gregg (R-NH)     Hagel (R-NE)     Harkin (D-IA)     Inouye (D-HI)     Jeffords (I-VT)     Johnson (D-SD)     Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)     Kohl (D-WI)     Landrieu (D-LA)     Lautenberg (D-NJ)     Leahy (D-VT)     Levin (D-MI)     Lieberman (D-CT)     Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)     Martinez (R-FL)     McCain (R-AZ)     McConnell (R-KY)     Menendez (D-NJ)     Mikulski (D-MD)     Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)     Nelson (D-FL)     Obama (D-IL)     Pryor (D-AR)     Reed (D-RI)     Reid (D-NV)     Sarbanes (D-MD)     Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)     Snowe (R-ME)     Specter (R-PA)     Stevens (R-AK)     Voinovich (R-OH)     Warner (R-VA)     Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---36
Alexander (R-TN)     Allard (R-CO)     Allen (R-VA)     Bond (R-MO)     Bunning (R-KY)     Burns (R-MT)     Burr (R-NC)     Byrd (D-WV)
Chambliss (R-GA)     Coburn (R-OK)     Cochran (R-MS)     Cornyn (R-TX)     Crapo (R-ID)     DeMint (R-SC)     Dole (R-NC)     Dorgan (D-ND)
Ensign (R-NV)     Enzi (R-WY)     Grassley (R-IA)     Hatch (R-UT)     Hutchison (R-TX)     Inhofe (R-OK)     Isakson (R-GA)     Kyl (R-AZ)     Lott (R-MS)     Nelson (D-NE)     Roberts (R-KS)     Santorum (R-PA)     Sessions (R-AL)     Shelby (R-AL)     Stabenow (D-MI)     Sununu (R-NH)     Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)     Thune (R-SD)     Vitter (R-LA)                                Source www.alipac.us

05/29/06  a bureaucrat with the Veteran's Administration walks home, apparently on a regular basis, with a laptop and an external hard drive, which happen to be loaded with lots of stuff about 26.5 million veterans.  So much for Federal security, and another demonstration of the problem with huge central government.  With luck, the thief either doesn't understand what he's got, or can't get past a password, or both.  For once, let's get past the excuse making for the errant bureaucrat, and fire his sorry ass.  Perhaps also Jim Nicholson, Secretary of Veteran Affairs, sort of an example for other bureaucratic "heads of state" to ponder on.  JES.

05/29/06  Ah, yes.  We are back to one U.S. Representative William Jefferson D-LA of Katrina fame.  I did not specifically address his questionable behavior at the time out of a concern of seeming to be over piling on the local politicians, and sounding petty, at a time of great stress.   Go to Katrina.    It seems, however, in an age of scandal, campaign funding abuse and super heated congressional hypocrisy over the cause of much of it, that Rep. Jefferson caught the eye of the FBI.   This lead to an FBI raid, with warrant, on Rep. Jefferson's place of business in search of certain specific evidence.  So now congressmen of all shapes, sizes, sexual orientations and political persuasions have joined on a course of concern about "separation of powers".  This is absolutely pathetic.  The argument would have it that if one of their own were to commit murder and stuff the body in their office closet, they would be immune from investigation.   I have no way of knowing whether or not Rep. Jefferson is guilty of anything, but I expect the same system, designed and funded by Congress, which can come after me as instructed by laws, designed and funded by Congress, to due its assigned duties, designed and funded by Congress, with respect to Congressmen, and Senators too.  It is curious to many in the heartland that Congressmen and Senators need to have this explained to them.   JES

05/28/06  On this Memorial Day weekend while most of us will be enjoying the usual holiday entertainments, we cannot forget that thousands of fellow Americans in our armed forces are doing their duty overseas under frequently unpleasant and challenging conditions, and the many thousands more who have made the supreme sacrifice for their country.  May God bless you all, and may your families take comfort in knowing the honor of your service.   JES

05/27/06   Excellent.   Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden gets the Senate's green light as CIA director.  JES

05/26/06  If you want to know what real Mexicans, and American Mexicans, think about us and the border issue, go to http://www.americanpatrol.com/MECHA/MEChAindex.html   or  http://www.azteca.net/aztec/mecha/   or  http://www.panam.edu/orgs/MEChA/nat.html    or   http://www.calstatela.edu/orgs/mecha/planphilmecha.htm 

05/26/06  On the subject of the current illegal immigration debate, you are encouraged to visit a new web page on this website.  

Go to THE USCCB ON IMMIGRATION          

05/26/06  House Conservatives, it's high noon at the OK Corral.  If you can't fix this mess in conference, then you must kill the whole thing.  You will be slandered and cursed by the East Coast GOP, Liberals, the President and the MLP, but you will be loved by Heartland America.  If you cannot stop this, the face of the nation will be changed for decades, and this struggle for the soul of the country will disintegrate into something very nasty.  Stand up, or it will be all over for you this Fall.

05/25/06  So it is that the Republican Party has finally come to the Great Divide, the Divide, that is, between its two fundamental constituencies: business oriented libertarians, and social / culturally oriented conservatives.  The Mountain Observer has, for years, identified with both, but at points of conflict deferring to the social / culturally oriented conservative analysis as to what constitutes true Conservatism.   I have loudly objected to libertarian attempts (too frequently successful) to highjack the conservative label for their own "free market" agenda.  Mountain Observer letters are littered with this discussion, and a quik summary can be had by going to POLITICS 101 .   What is the point?   The point is the very real and practical disagreement among Republicans in the Senate over how to handle the various issues poised by current immigration / illegal immigration laws, policies and defacto activities.  The most acute point of separation has to do with the issue of "amnesty", what is and isn't "amnesty" and, in any event, what to do about millions of illegals ("wetbacks") running around loose.  The Mainstream Liberal Press, which has a politically vested interest in adding obfuscation on top of obfuscation, is not much help to the "ordinary" citizen trying to understand the subtleties of the discussion.   However "ordinary" Americans have two things in their corner: The internet and common sense.  As I have pointed out recently elsewhere on the same subject, "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it is a duck".   So it is with "amnesty", and an overwhelming percentage of the American people will never buy what Republican Senators, President Bush, Nebraska meat packing interests and California tulip pluckers are trying to push upon us.  JES

05/25/06  The truth is that many Conservatives have been nervous about George W. Bush from the beginning, including the Mountain Observer, as a review of the very first M O letter will document.  Throughout this presidency we have been on a rollercoaster ride; at our heights with the President's general response to terrorism after 09/11, and support of our national defense establishment, and at our lowest on issues relating to spending and the growth of government.  Lurking in the background has always been the irritant of the President's dismissive attitude toward Mexican border issues, and his relationship with Vicente Fox.  For reasons of national security, most Conservatives have often held their fire, not wishing to subvert the matter of national defense and the "War on Terror" by inadvertently giving aid and comfort to Liberal Democrats.  However, the discussion has always been running in the background, subtly understood by those with a well developed Conservative nose.  Most of us were inclined to hold our noses, at least through the 2006 elections, but now it is too late.  The border issue has blown up in the context of various other serious mis-steps by the President, and the GOP in general.  The implications for the 2006 elections are serious, although the impact is not obvious.  However, events on the ground have forced a rapid rearrangement of priorities for Conservatives, and George W. Bush and the GOP are in a lot of trouble.  The disconnect between Washington DC and the Heartland has never been wider in recent years, and the fundamental problem is that George W. Bush is no Ronald Reagan.  The Conservative movement is clearly leaderless, the GOP is clueless, and Democrats are just plain nuts and a danger to the Republic.  2006 is going to be a very rough year; the cat's out of the bag.   JES

05/21/06  Iraq's first real post Saddam government is launched, with Nouri al-Maliki , a Shi'ite, as Prime Minister.   Now all this may, or may not, hold together and work, however any decent person, anywhere, whatever your politics or religious orientation, should offer at least a silent prayer for the success of this effort.   It is a beginning, however tentative and delicate.  So it also was in Philadelphia in 1789, and it could have also gone either way right here.  With Iraq there is so much at stake; much much larger than Iraq itself.  There are certain moments in history that shape the direction of centuries, and I would submit to you that this is one such moment, however it goes.  Steady as she goes.   JES.    

05/21/06  On the issue of the border with Mexico, Ann Coulter is always a good contributor.  Make a point of visiting her at www.anncoulter.com/ whenever you can.   I would only point out that "Native Americans" also are immigrants, albeit a few thousand years ago, most probably across the Alaskan land bridge.  Let's see, in modern reference American "Indians" (term inherited from mistaken Columbian premises) should more correctly be known as Siberian Americans.  As for the modern crop of invaders from south of the border, I would suggest the term American Mexicans, as opposed to Mexican Americans, legal or illegal, for in the hearts and minds of many, if not most, is the dream of Reconquista.  It is really bad that we can no longer know who can be trusted.  When European Americans started showing up about 500 years ago, the Siberian Americans made the mistake of not issuing green cards, setting a very bad precedent.  Guess we are all slow learners.  Now we need to step back, take a deep breath, build a high steel fence from Brownsville to San Diego, throw some American employers (and politicians) in jail, and calm down.  My premise, of course, is that Mexicans are really not so stupid that they can't fix Mexico, or are they?  No, it's a question of moral turpitude, and an apparent preference for a non stop national siesta.   Just rambling.  JES

05/21/06  On the subject of the current illegal immigration debate, you are encouraged to visit a new web page on this website.  

Go to THE USCCB ON IMMIGRATION          

05/19/06   Let me get this straight.   Social Security is going broke.   So the U.S. Senate, lead by that "Conservative" pretender Senator John McCain, R-AZ, votes to extend benefits to illegals on the pretext that they have a "right" to their past "contributions", illegally obtained?   I am going to go nuts!!!!!!!  Am, I the only one going crazy, or what?  JES

05/18/06  Portal to the plight of Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin, U.S. Army MIA, Iraq. www.yellowribbonsupportcenter.com/

05/18/06  ANN COULTER for President

05/17/06  Save on gas.  Go to www.ethanolstill.com/

05/17/06   Getting more into the details of what the Administration has in mind for the National Guard on the border, the insincerity of the effort becomes more apparent.  Rotating units on their annual 2 week obligation in and out of the border theater is about the most inefficient, and expensive, plan I can imagine.  It reflects a desperation for ideas and a rapid cobbling of resources under pressure for the appearance of action in response to a decades old problem ignored by Democrats and Republicans alike.  What exactly is the National Guard supposed to do, realistically? First, Republicans, and the Administration, need to come to grips with reality about the true nature of this problem.  So long Vicente Fox, ADM and Nebraska meat packing interests.  Welcome, American law, even as it exists today, and some concern about our national security.  Drop the obsession with the issue of attempting to resolve the legal status of those illegally present now, aka amnesty. They are illegal, and any political gymnastics will be seen for its own phoniness, and only serve to draw more over, as after 1986.   First, let's get control of the border, and a sincere effort to do so will require a lot of new fencing, and armed personal with orders to shoot when shot at.  Nothing short of this is serious.  JES 

05/17/06   SECURE THE BORDER FIRST    

05/16/06  The President's speech on immigration last night did not disappoint because we expected nothing new going in.   Clearly the President has been dragged to the table by events not of his choosing.  Conservatives must rely on Conservatives in the House of Representatives to hang tough.  A comprehensive solution to this overall problem is neither possible, nor wise, at this time.  The number one priority is securing the border, whether with fences, technology and/or increased deployment of personnel.  The second priority is to enforce even existing laws against hiring illegal immigrants and send a few a these employers to jail.  Following serious enforcement of border and hiring violations, a better understanding of the next steps required will emerge.  Hard action on real problems is necessary now, not cosmetic fixes framed on emotion and political opportunism.  The biggest problem I saw with the President's speech, and the legislation being debated in the Senate, is a lack of seriousness about achieving actual results.   Same old problem: Republicans like cheap labor and Democrats like cheap votes.  The law, and national security, seem to be of secondary concern.  That's a lot for serious Conservatives to overcome.  JES

05/15/06  On the subject of the current illegal immigration debate, you are encouraged to visit a new web page on this website.  

Go to THE USCCB ON IMMIGRATION          

Wall Street & Main St: 

05/15/06  Hang on folks.  The system has hit heavy turbulence.  Fasten your safety belts.  JES

Current Reading Recommendation:   

THE PUEBLO REVOLT: THE SECRET REBELLION THAT DROVE THE SPANIARDS OUT OF

THE SOUTHWEST

 DAVID ROBERTS                                                                                                                                  

 SIMON & SCHUSTER                                                279 PGS                                 $25.00

Serious Considerations:

05/11/06  Rep. John Murtha D-PA, who served in Vietnam, say the troops will be home in 2007.  Well, John, I predict that next winter it will snow somewhere, and no, there was no error in going into Iraq in the first place.   You, and people like you, have made yourself disgraceful.  JES

05/11/06  The National Security Agency is checking your phone calls.  Folks, hate to tell you this, but this was old news 4 years ago; grow up.  Armed with banks of super computers, calls are automatically scanned for key buzz words, phrases and connection patterns as in looking for the needle in the haystack.   Technology makes this possible, and for the security of this nation, you best thank your lucky stars that this is so.  The current Congressional posturing on the matter is disingenuous in the extreme.  Everyone in Washington with a scintilla of awareness has known about this all along.  This Fall, vote for real Americans.   JES

05/11/06  Speaking of who are we fighting in the "War on Terror", President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran is at the top of today's list.   Short of an internal coup, and a major theological attitude adjustment on the part of Iranian mullahs, the Mountain Observer sees no alternative to the imperative of a hard surgical American air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.  Currently, the Administration is jumping through the diplomatic hoops and saying all the right things thought so necessary in an age of western blindness and amnesia.   The final chapter on George W. Bush's legacy as President of the United States must be to make this hard decision.  JES

05/10/06   Exactly what and who are we fighting in the "War on Terror"?  Over the months, the Mountain Observer has consistently maintained  that our problem is with a form of fascism arising out of extreme interpretations of Islam, i.e., IslamicFascism.  (I choose not to get bogged down in finding petty semantic distinctions between IslamicFascism v. IslamoFascism.)   At a glance, it would seem that every IslamicFascist is a muslim, which begs the question: who qualifies, or thinks they qualify, as a muslim?  We are not dealing here with black and white matters.  It might be more accurate to state that an IslamicFascist  is one who personally considers him/herself an inspired Muslim, while recognizing the fact that in reality this may not be the case.   Are there peaceful muslims; can muslims live in peace in a pluralistic society?  The premise of our policies in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and elsewhere in the Middle East, is that yes, this can be the case.  Such policies can make sense even if one rejects the sort of off-the-wall contention that "Islam is a religion of peace", a claim about which there is reasonable dispute.  Again, we are not dealing with black and white matters.   As with all cultures and human groupings, we are dealing with a broad spectrum of ideas and perspectives.   What we do know is that young middle eastern males should be of greater concern than elderly white grandmothers.

As Americans, our concern is our own national security, and in confronting terrorist threats there is great public confusion about the nature of the threats and how to deal with them.  We are paying a very heavy price for a decades old failure of our own education system, and our own ability to teach our emerging generations anything about the world they live in; indeed, how to think at all.  Logic and reason have collapsed in the face of deconstructionist absurdities and political correctness.  So it is that broad sections of the public are woefully unprepared to engage in understanding the subtleties of the threats before us.  Americans instinctively, and correctly, perceive the fact of genuine threats against us, without necessarily understanding the details of the threats.  However, borders are easy to understand, and strong public reaction to our problems at the border, and at ports-of-entry are signs no politician should miss.   As for the problems of dealing with IslamicFascism abroad, it gets more complicated.  I have dealt, and will continue to deal, with the details of those matters elsewhere.  However, the one point I wish to make here is that we cannot cut and run from the problems beyond our shores.  We cannot just "carpet bomb whole societies back into the stone age", or "kill them all and let God sort it out", and leave.   That is 60's trash talk, not the framework of useful policy in a truly dangerous age.  As Conservatives, we need to demand analysis framed on informed objective reality, and action based on securing our future, not fear.   JES

05/09/06  For those of you concerned about Ohio this Fall, take heart.  The other day, running through Findlay on US 224, I came upon a crew of utility workers busy at the side of the road.  The sign displayed said "MEN AT WORK".  When was the last time you've seen that?   JES

05/09/06  Among the ranks of Democrats, some dissatisfaction has been displayed with the Democrat House leadership of Nancy Pelosi (sic).  The Mountain Observer recommends that this dissatisfaction could be remedied by elevating Rep. Cynthia McKinney D-GA to the House leadership of her party.  A really excellent idea.   Any way we can help.  JES

05/07/06  Time for further change at the CIA, decades overdue.  Short time Director, Porter J. Goss, announced his resignation this past Friday, as the inside civilian (read Liberal/Leftist) resistance to another way of thinking continues to fight a guerilla war against reformers.   Porter Goss was a civilian outsider, brought in to fix things by President Bush, and who apparently has not had the horsepower to deal as effectively, as will be necessary, with the embedded resistance.   Next up comes an old hand at these issues who knows his way around the swamp: Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden.  This has got Democrats and the Left really spooked because here is a man who apparently understands the game from the inside.  The cry will be that civilians are out of the intelligence business and that the military has taken over, which says much about what the Left really thinks of the military.  The Left's real problem, however, is not civilian v. military, but Liberal v. Conservative, a focus adjustment on data analysis that will shift the product away from John Kerry style international kiss-ass and cover up,  and more toward a priority on actual American national security.   A CIA less concerned about hurting other people’s feelings and more concerned about hardnosed reality is long over-due.  This likely will include the need to engage in some grubby operations that need not be discussed.  An observer needs to understand all this to make sense of the debate about to ensue with the President's nomination of Gen. Michael Hayden.   The screaming and hollering you will hear, originating from within the CIA, is evidence that progress is being made against the problem.  The same problem is also resident, to a lesser degree, in the Department of Defense (check the political pedigree of all those complaining Generals).   Then, of course, we have that enormous edifice of occasional Americans, the Department of State.  However a President has to start somewhere, and even if he is five years late, certain of the President's failures are finally forcing him to act.   JES

Current Reading Recommendations:   

THE HERITAGE GUIDE TO THE CONSTITUTION

 EDWIN MEESE III, MATTHEW SPALDING & DAVID FORTE, EDS                                               

 REGNERY                                                              475 PGS                                  $35.00

EARTHLY POWERS: THE CLASH OF RELIGION AND POLITICS IN EUROPE FROM THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO THE GREAT WAR

MICHAEL BURLEIGH                                                                                      

HARPERCOLLINS                                            544 PGS                                   $29.95

 AMERICA'S RIGHT TURN: HOW CONSERVATIVES USED NEW AND ALTERNATIVE MEDIA TO TAKE POWER

 RICHARD VIGUERIE & DAVID FRANKE                                                                                       

 BONUS BOOKS                                                375 PGS                                   $26.95

THE CONTENT OF OUR CHARACTER: A NEW VISION OF RACE IN AMERICA

 SHELBY STEELE                                                                                                                            

 HARPERCOLLINS                                                    192 PGS                                   $12.95 PB

 ELIA KAZAN: A BIOGRAPHY

 RICHARD SCHICKEL                                                                                                                        

 HARPERCOLLINS                                                    544 PGS                                   $29.95

 THE LEGACY OF JIHAD: ISLAMIC HOLY WAR AND THE FATE OF NON-MUSLIMS

 ANDREW G. BOSTOM                                                                                                                         

   PROMETHEUS                                                         759 PGS                                   $28.00

 Serious Considerations:

05/02/06  The Liberal / Left revives the international Communist holiday of May First to loudly obfuscate the discussion concerning illegal immigration vs. immigration.  Apparently there are a lot of people who are unable to recognize the distinction, and most of the mainstream press, which really knows better, are willing to encourage the confusion.   With the complicity of the Government of Mexico, and thousands of American employers, there are now millions of illegal immigrants embedded in our economy depressing wages and mocking those who suffered through the process of coming in right.  Few ever ask why it is that Mexico cannot accommodate it's own population with a growing and health domestic economy.  The answer is that it could, but is unwilling to do so.  It is easier and cheaper for a corrupt ruling class to force the poor north and on to the backs of the American taxpayer.  However, there is a larger agenda: Purging the hurt honor of defeat in 1846 and the re-taking of the American Southwest.  This is really at the bottom of what is really going on here.  It is not an accident that the American Left sees opportunity in all this beyond the cheap votes earned through accommodation: an America severed of the Southwest would be far easier for the Northeast to own and control.  Watch for this convergence of interests to unfold.  Conservatives may learn too late that their waltz with Libertarians on the issue of "free trade" has backfired on themselves, and America.   First, we need the fence, and control of the border.  Second we need aggressive prosecution of employers who have been hiring illegals, ignorance is not an excuse.   Amnesty No; that issue will correct itself by vigorous pursuit of steps one and two.  Legal American labor (citizens) will appear to do much of the work as free market (legal) labor rates unfold, supplemented by the inventiveness of free markets to adjust, and, invent new processes and technology.  Certain prices will rise, and huge public costs will be cut.  Then an intelligent discussion of legal immigration and trade (read NAFTA) policy can occur, and be determined on the basis of American national interests.   JES

05/02/06  Rush Limbaugh seems to have settled his battle with south Florida persecutors over the issue of "doctor shopping" for pain killing medicine prescriptions.   At the time this story originally broke in the Fall of 2003. I made comments here in the Mountain Observer that I would revisit the issue ( MO 125 03-08) point future, after matters had settled out.  Today I am as skeptical of Rush on a personal level as ever, but it is now clear that for all these months he has been pursued, not as a legal target, but a political target.  In context, this entire story is much more about the pursuers, than Rush, in the same category as a Dan Rather de-ja vue.   JES

04/24/06  Breaking story.  Treason, or so it might appear.    The CIA dismisses Mary O. McCarthy, a highly placed intelligence officer.   Perhaps the infection of decades in various security sensitive federal agencies is about to burst.  The Mountain Observer prays for the soul of an old B-25 tail gunner  who we believe was right all along.  The names have not changed to protect the guilty.   JES 

04/24/06  How many times do we have to repeat ourselves?   Oil is a commodity, and the price of oil is subject to free market laws as tinkered with by politicians.   Let's get off the old populist chestnut of "price gouging".  Actual "price gouging" would require monopoly conditions, which do not exist.  There are hundreds of producers.  The proximate current run-up in pump prices has a lot to do with congressional insistence on the substitution of ethanol (corn-good) as an additive for MTBE (bad).   Ethanol is in short supply, with a current price of about $115 per barrel, and also comes with other issues of viability in a truly free market context.  Refineries, far too few consequent to the disincentives of ongoing regulatory meddling, are now busy converting to the mandated production of more ethanol based gasoline irrespective of the absence of the ethanol.  So it is that this socialist experiment in government designed gasoline has produced shortages.    Congress has done this at our insistence.  We deserve the consequences.  JES

04/24/06  The formation of a government in Iraq moves forward.  The Shiite Alliance's original candidate, interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari withdraws, apparently at virtually everyone else's request as being too weak and ineffective.  The new man in charge as Prime Minister will be Shiite Jawad al-Maliki, apparently acceptable to both Sunni Arabs and the Kurds, as well as Shiite Muslims.   Mr. al-Maliki is quoted as saying  "Arms should be in the hands of the government. There is a law that calls for the merging of militias with the armed forces.", and virtually everyone apparently agrees.     Mr. Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, will remain as President.   There are two vice-presidential spots which will go to Sunni Arab Tariq al-Hashimi and Shiite Adil Abdul-Mahdi.    Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, will be Speaker of the Parliament.   Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, and Aref Tayfour, a Kurd, will be his deputies.   Can all this rise above the sectarian tensions?  They must, or Iraq has no future, and the Arab world will once again collapse upon itself.  That would not be in the best interests of the United States, which has been the point all along.   JES

 04/24/06  The Mountain Observer could not care less about what Francis Fukuyama has to say about the current state of American foreign policy.   This was the same man who in 1989 declared the arrival of "the end of history".    He is a wacko, and his current speculations on the state of "Wilsonianism", whatever that means these days, and internationalism, that isn't quite, reflects the intellectual ramblings of a chickenhawk that isn't.   There; get it?  Neither do I.  JES

04/19/06   Before the perky Katie Couric even starts her new assignment at CBS, the "Shirts" are running away from her as a solo act.   It has now been revealed that they want Katie paired with anchorman Bob Schieffer.   JES 

04/18/06  Update on Iraq.   Since the first of 2006, the failure of Iraqis to form a new central government appears to be the first hard line run up against the President's polices for post Saddam Iraq.  The eventual outcome of this effort remains up in the air, however it is looking very tenuous.   The root of the difficulty is the generations old tensions between the Shiite and Sunni, in reality a theological civil war, worldwide, and of the ages.  The republican "democratization" of Iraq has been a calculated risk from the beginning.   The Mountain Observer has been concerned for some time about the mission creep that has grown into our effort.  The original policy decision of preemptively striking Saddam's Iraq to remove him and WMD, was correct.  In the "War on Terror" the pre- 09/11 complicity of Saddam with al Qaeda has been well documented, with further evidence continuing to accumulate.   As for the WMD, the issue is still open.  The WMD did exist.  Where is it?  Most informed analysts suspect Syria, and further understanding of Russian complicity in removal efforts just prior to our attack remains to be developed.  The effort to re-build the nation, well intended, but more spacious.  We have supported the President, without regrets, through this entire effort,  But now the problems faced by Iraq must be confronted by Iraqis.    This does not mean cut and run.  Our broader long term interests in the region, including foremost the maintenance of a reputation for sticking by friends, and we have many in the region, is of capital concern.  What the President needs to do is to restructure our priorities more specifically around our own national defense and policy interests, which is what characterized our original preemptive strike.  The nation building thing is a bridge too far beyond what I have always had in mind.  At the same time, to accuse the President of being too Wilsonian attempts an analogy that doesn't work.  That is an analogy deeply flawed by Presentism.   Wilson was an internationalist, while Bush overall has been focused on American interests, however sometimes seeking international support and cooperation where it did not and could not exist.  The real problem here, as I have said all along, is that our President is genuinely a nice guy, and by default, expecting reciprocity.  He has been sometimes vulnerable to the subterfuge and disingenuousness of others.  However, as for Iraq, we have other priorities to move on to, and it is time for Iraq to assume responsibility for themselves.

The final report card on President George W. Bush remains in the future, and may well turn on how we handle Iran as much if not more than Iraq.  The man has nearly 3 years to go as President.   JES

04/13/06   Join the fight against illegal immigration and amnesty.  Go to  www.alipac.us .   JES

 05/18/06    NOTE: I am embarrassed. Go to comments about Tancredo ELECTIONS 2008

04/11/06   Tom Tancredo for President.  Enough of Vicente Fox!  JES  GO TO AMER SOU BORDER-MEXICO

04/11/06  Those of us who complain about illegal immigrants, including wetbacks, are concerned about a legal issue, an economic issue, and a cultural issue, as in what happens ultimately to any civilization that disrespects its own legal framework.   It is not an issue exclusively concerned with Hispanics, nor are Hispanics, or any other ethnic group, our targets.   On the southern border, wetbacks, by definition, have entered the country illegally, and that is the problem.  The Mountain Observer does not deny for a moment that there is an economic demand for entry level labor that could be partially satisfied by temporary Mexican labor, and that major surgery must be accomplished on our entry procedures for such traffic.  What many employers fear is that a reformed and legal process will necessarily raise their costs of doing business, and they are right.   That is why the demand for illegally imported labor has been so high.   "But Americans won't do the work"; of course not, at compensation levels depressed by fear of revelation .   Free trade must be legal, and voila!, Americans will appear, willing to work at fair (free) market prices, reducing the need to turn to foreign sources.    Half of the political problem is the political power of employers who don't give a flip about the law, or the political implications of the status quo.  The other half of the political problem is the interest of the political Left in subverting the nation, and they are right that continuation of the status quo will do exactly that.   Finally, folks, it is simply the truth that amnesty in any form, which is all that has been proposed, defers the issue, solves nothing, indeed will make things worse.  Redux 1996 Kennedy "reforms".  Identified illegals must be sent home, and re-entered legally.   We recognize that may be tough, but that's just the way it is; there are no other effective options.  Flip side, some employers need to go to jail.   We recognize that may be tough, but that's just the way it is; there are no other effective options.   We need to be very clear here; those who are demonstrating in the streets today against genuine reform as I have outlined it here, are not real Americans, and neither are those who support them.    JES

 Current Reading Recommendations:   

 POLITICS AND PASSION: TOWARD A MORE EGALITARIAN LIBERALISM

 MICHAEL WALZER        AGAIN, THE COMMUNIST CREDENTIALS OF LIBERALISM  

 YALE UNIV                                             208 PGS                                                     $25.00

Serious Considerations:

04/09/06   The perky Katie Couric takes over at CBS.   Watch their numbers continue to plunge.  JES

04/08/06  It is obvious at this point, to the Mountain Observer, that the centrifugal politics of Iraq will be too much to overcome, and American policies must be adjusted accordingly.  (Ref. previous comments in AMERICAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS and 241 LETTER 05-07 ).  Again, there was no error in our pre-emptive intervention in the first place; for our own security it had to be done.  What has become apparent over time is that the experiment in nation building simply will not go anywhere in the face of regional nationalist  priorities long papered over by past western colonial experiments.  Call it Balkanization, Islamic style.  The root problem here is Islam itself; we cannot fix jihad inherent, but rather defend ourselves against the intended consequences.   The fact of the matter is that in the world of Islam, there are forces determined to wreck the West, and the United States in particular, regardless of the existential costs.  In the case of Iraq, this does not mean "cut and run".   It means let them do as they will so long as the result does not configure a threat against us, or Israel.  We need to stand by to assure that.  Yes Israel, the canary in the coal mine of middle eastern politics and the survival of western civilization matters huge.   The real freight train coming straight at us is the nuclear threat of Iran, and it must be dealt with, perhaps with nuclear weapons.  The United Nations, Europe, judges or Democrats won't save us; our Soldiers will.   A nuclear capable Iran simply must not be allowed to manifest itself, and that is the bottom line.   JES.

Current Reading Recommendations:                                                                                                                                                                     

MILITANT ISLAM REACHES AMERICA

DANIEL PIPES 

                                                                                                                                    NORTON                                                                                   256 PGS                                                $25.95

RIGHT TO EXIST:  A MORAL DEFENSE OF ISRAEL’S WARS

YAACOV LOZOWICK

DOUBLEDAY                                                                            336 PGS                                                $26.00

CONFRONTING JIHAD: ISRAEL’S STRUGGLE AND THE WORLD AFTER 9/11

SAUL SINGER

COLD SPRING                                                                         296 PGS                                                $14.95

THE FINAL INSPECTION 

The soldier stood and faced God,        Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining,        Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, you soldier,            How shall I deal with you ?

Have you always turned the other cheek ?

To My Church have you been true?"

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,   "No, Lord, I guess I ain't.

Because those of us who carry guns,                Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,                And at times my talk was tough.

And sometimes I've been violent,            Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never ! took a penny,                That wasn't mine to keep...

Though I worked a lot of overtime,            When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,        Though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God, forgive me,            I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,            Among the people here.

They never wanted me around,                Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,        It needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,        But if you don't, I'll understand.



There was a silence all around the throne,        Where the saints had often trod.

As the soldier waited quietly,            For the judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, you soldier,        You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,        You've done your time in Hell." 

                                                                                    ~Author Unknown

It’s the Soldier, not the reporter
who has given us the freedom of the press. 
It's the Soldier, not the poet,
who has given us the freedom of speech. 
It's the Soldier, not the politicians
that ensures our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
It's the Soldier who salutes the flag,
who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag. 

Pray for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

Serious Considerations:

04/08/06  The Senate and House go on vacation, and let us hope that they all get an earful from the voters on amnesty for wetbacks.  The Senate had scrambled to come up with an answer, and thankfully failed with the amnesty proposals.  Folks, the hang up on this whole mess has to do with the fact that under the current arrangement, U.S. employers, by hiring wetbacks, not only can bottom feed on pay, but can also duck out on the costs of state and federally mandated administration of tax withholding, workman's comp., etc, etc.  The underground cash economy writ huge.  Employers, and the culture as a whole, have become drunk on this huge hypocrisy, and people of all kinds at the lower end of the pay scale have been ripped off for years.  Aside from ending the charade of pretending illegals are ok, we need a national examination of the legal burdens placed on employers in the first place for hiring casual labor.   Meanwhile, those who have entered illegally need to be sent back so as to properly re-enter, and employers in violation of hiring improperly documented folks need to be prosecuted.   Expect some price adjustments; that's OK, and cheaper in the long run than the burdens now being placed on border jurisdictions and private individuals.  JES

04/05/06  It has lately come to my attention that John Kerry does not eat tomatoes.  But does he not stay fed by the Heinz fortune?  Something like voting against tomatoes before voting for them.   Comment, please Maria Teresa Thierstein Simoes-Ferreira Heinz (redacted).  Anyway, I find it amusing.   JES

04/05/06  Michael Savage has been recognized by many Conservatives for a long time as a public embarrassment, for whatever he thinks he is, he is not a conservative, big C or small.  He is a loose cannon who never grew up.   Nothing better illustrates the point than his recent tirades against the Catholic Church concerning our national interests at the border and with Mexico.  What is most disturbing is the he has a market of listeners at all.   JES

04/05/06  In his decision to stand down from office Tom Delay has proven himself a true statesman be behalf of the Conservative cause.  I take him at his word supported by the Justice Department, and Jack Abramoff himself, that he is scandal free as regards that particular matter.   I have been critical of Delay for stating late last year that there was no further room to squeeze the federal budget, a notion patently absurd.   However, in context, I can imagine a brain addled condition caused by personal political and legal distractions and pressures in Houston.  Today he is right, that the top priority is the decisive defeat to the same Leftist forces that have been so focused on himself.  Tom has been a very aggressive and effective Conservative ally in Congress, which has been the source of Leftist irritation with him.  Today Conservatives need to rally around and continue to support Tom out of thanks for what he has done right, and for his selfless personal sacrifices in behalf of the Conservative cause.  Principled Conservatives do not run away from our own wounded on the field of battle.  Thank you Tom.  JES

04/02/06  Those unfamiliar with our problems on the southern border may not realize that the issue is far larger than the squabble about cheap labor and cheap votes.  Just as the Islamic world hungers for the destruction of Israel, so it is that Mexican culture, and the government of Mexico, are invested in the re-capture of the American southwest.  Denials aside, this is the truth, and they are serious.  The sting of 1846 has been alive ever since, and it is as racist as it can be.  MEChA  Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan. “For the race, everything.  For those outside the race, nothing”.   All the Mexican flags recently waved aloft were offered in sincere testimony, and every concession to the presence of illegals is a capitulation to this desired result.  In the opinion of the Mountain Observer, Mexicans, observing the political collapse of moral and intellectual integrity by the American Left concerning events in the Middle East, are only encouraged to step up their own agenda and assault on our territory and culture.   JES

Current Reading Recommendation:                                                                                                                                                                     

DO AS I SAY (NOT AS I DO)            (LIBERAL HYPOCRISY)

 PETER SCHWEIZER  

 DOUBLEDAY                                                                        272 PGS                                                   $22.95

Serious Considerations:

03/30/06  Tom Tancredo for President.  Enough of Vicente Fox!  JES

                                                                   God Bless America

                                                                    Jim                         

                                                                    American Nationalist Conservative

                                                                    Jefferson, CO 80456