Saturday, July 29, 2006
Just a Poem...
'Plenty of stuff to write about but, ultimately, too much to write about. Same old shiiii....., stuff so here's a stupid poem already written and ready to post:
I'm smarter than some and more foolish than others.
I'm faster, cleaner, neater, and energized more than many I've met -- and slower, dirtier, messier, and lazier than many others.
I probably look okay but next to others I'm probably downright ugly.
I'm richer than many and show it with finer clothing, more "toys," and occasional trips to nice restaurants; but I'm poor as well and will never own a mansion, plane or yacht.
I'm witty, precise, and entertaining and often in the company of others to whom I am dull, vague, and boring…
Like everyone else, I'm an equal to no one. Like every simple rock, my angles and those of other's vary, and like every simple plant my design and growth is unique.
No one is equal -- or should be -- in a world that prizes the majesty of genuine diversity and the progress of differences in play.
"Equality" is the perennial call made by those who merely seek submission to a template of equal bondage. To "live amongst equals" is to be a servile robot – and an insincere one at that.
I am me and you are "we" and never the twain shall meet. To those who demand "equality," do it – with yourself and those equally as foolish – and live in barren waste as others live among the dynamic color and progress bestowed amongst those who retain individual identity and a human soul.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Some Scholarly Insights Into the Current Jihad and Those of Days Past
I was fortunate enough to have had a very insightful professor in college. Dr. Robert Pois at the University of Colorado in Boulder was (I only recently found out that this great teacher had passed away) brilliant. Although he described himself as "liberal" and was most definitely anti-war, he wasn't "politically correct" and never used his classroom as a soapbox for preaching idealistic notions regarding human history.
Dr. Pois, who studied under George Mosse at the University of Wisconsin, was an expert on Nazi Germany and the Weimar period. He had written a -- now out of print -- book called; "National Socialism and the Religion of Nature." It was a rare and insightful look into the psychology of Nazism and it's preoccupation with romantic ideals and "nature." Greens and other assorted socialists would not have liked the observations made in Dr. Pois's book.
Nazism, as most strains of socialism, was driven by intellectual, romantic idealism. It was certainly no coincidence that Jews, and their association with urban culture, modernity, and capitalism, were the target of bitter hatred by the Nazis -- as they are today by a host of assorted leftist totalitarians.
I am reminded of Dr. Pois's appraisals and style whenever I read works by Ian Buruma, particularly in his overview of, "The Origins of Occidentalism."
"...Calculation -- the accounting of money, interests, scientific evidence, and so on -- is regarded as soulless. Authenticity lies in poetry, intuition, and blind faith. The Occidentalist view of the West is of a bourgeois society, addicted to creature comforts, animal lusts, self-interest, and security. It is by definition a society of cowards, who prize life above death. As a Taliban fighter once put it during the war in Afghanistan, the Americans would never win, because they love Pepsi-Cola, whereas the holy warriors love death. This was also the language of Spanish fascists during the civil war, and of Nazi ideologues, and Japanese kamikaze pilots..."
"...The worship of false gods is the worst religious sin in Islam as well as in ancient Judaism. The West, as conceived by Islamists, worships the false gods of money, sex, and other animal lusts. In this barbarous world the thoughts and laws and desires of Man have replaced the kingdom of God. The word for this state of affairs is jahiliyya, which can mean idolatry, religious ignorance, or barbarism. Applied to the pre-Islamic Arabs, it means ignorance: People worshiped other gods because they did not know better. But the new jahiliyya, in the sense of barbarism, is everywhere, from Las Vegas and Wall Street to the palaces of Riyadh. To an Islamist, anything that is not pure, that does not belong to the kingdom of God, is by definition barbarous and must be destroyed.
Just as the main enemies of Russian Slavophiles were Russian Westernizers, the most immediate targets of Islamists are the liberals, reformists, and secular rulers in their own societies. They are the savage stains that have to be cleansed with blood. But the source of the barbarism that has seduced Saudi princes and Algerian intellectuals as much as the whores and pimps of New York (and in a sense all infidels are whores and pimps) is the West. And that is why holy war has been declared against the West..."
As with National socialism, communism, and a host of other radical isms, the contemporary Islamic Jihad is just another branch of Romantic Idealism. A dreaming child -- with a gun. Their gripe is ultimately not with sin, excess, or imperialism, it is with modernity itself.
Anyone who truly understands the mind of the romantic idealist can appreciate their "work" on canvas, in prose, or in music -- but shudder in fear at their purpose and actions in the practical world of politics.
The "cowboy fool" from Texas has more insight than most when he compares the current "war on terror" (which we should now admit is a war with radical Islam) with previous conflicts with other strains of totalitarianism.
Modernity, capitalism, and a diverse world of free people are what bugs the romantic totalitarian. If you haven't yet "taken a side" in the current conflict you'll no doubt soon have to. Many already have, as in past conflicts, taken the side of authoritarian statism, which in itself is just another fervent religion. If they can't see where that path ultimately leads they're utter fools -- but dangerous fools none the less.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Israel vs. Islamo-fascists
While media coverage has been a mixed bag regarding current events, the left's moonbats appear to be rather stumped as to how to deal with the issues taking place. Do they really want to show their genuine sympathy for Hezbollah and Hamas in the eyes of the world as they have done for Saddam Hussein, Al Queda, and a host of other authoritarian entities and personalities?
The most they can muster at this point is the usual lip service regarding civilian causalities and a "humanitarian crisis." History clearly demonstrates they could care less about civilian casualties when it's for the "cause" of imposing "revolutionary socialism" or Islamic theocracy (i.e. Iraq).
It's a poorly guarded secret that the left in general has a default position of hatred for the Jews that is typically circumvented by a narrower hatred for the state of Israel - one of the few civilized states in the Middle East. Like Hitler, Stalin, or any other authoritarian mind, the idea of a people noteworthy for worldly success and overcoming great odds through individual effort is too much to tolerate. Yes, I'm aware that there are and have been several Jews themselves who have been at the forefront of leftist causes (and mock self-loathing -- Karl Marx and Noam Chomsky being significant examples).
I might note that this writer is half Lebanese but knows the difference between an open democratic society and ruthless authoritarian sludge. Israel has my vote.
The current issue is well summed up by Dennis Prager in his current essay:
"...Think about Israel for one moment: Israel is one of the most advanced countries on earth in terms of culture (most books published, translated from other languages and read per capita; most orchestras per capita, etc.); major advances in medicine; technological breakthroughs; and decency as a society, as exemplified by its treatment of its women, gays and even its large Arab minority (particularly remarkable in light of the widespread Arab and Muslim anti-Semitism and desire to annihilate Israel). This is hardly a picture of some bloodthirsty, land-grabbing society. And Jews, whatever their flaws, have never been known to be a violent people. If anything, the stereotypical Jew has been depicted as particularly docile...."
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Bread and Circuses
More "bread and circuses" for people too inept to buy their own bread or too incapable of deciding on their own if they want to go to a circus or not.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Prisoners of War vs. Prisoners of Jihad
Guantanamo Bay prisoners must now be treated in accord with the Geneva conventions used in past wars to mutually safeguard the rights and health of soldiers on the battlefield when nations are at war.
Of course this long demanded legal etiquette now means that the passionate Jihadists fighting for the fascist cause of violent and coercive Islamic power will also be treating prisoners with equal restraint…
…doesn't it?
Don't count on the ACLU, Euro-socialist dreamland, or any other leftist institution to be pushing for Bin Laden or any other "commander" in the Jihad to abide by any rules or standards of decency.
Remember, with the left, the U.S. and associated free societies are always the bad guys. A political clique' can slaughter whole nations of civilians (even their own nation's citizens) and barely get a minor comment from leftland but when the "evil hegemon" actively defends itself against authoritarian scum, every Jacobin lawyer, teacher, entertainer, and journalist will be on hand to point their phony fingers.
My view of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay is the same as my view of (recently executed) Tookie Williams and (convicted beyond a reasonable doubt) cop killer, "Mumia;" pull the plug on their excess comfort and take them off the battlefield -- permanently.
By the way; why has tax money been wasted buying the thugs of Guantanamo Korans – the book that councils to kill all those who dare resist the imposition of totalitarian Islam?
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Mundane Crimes in Mundane Times
I passed a wealthy man on my left and a poor one on my right and realized that neither of them was of harm or help to me.
I passed a country club of leisure success stories and later a shanty town of broken sidewalks and destitution and realized that I had created neither (except within the fantasies of mock rebels who would blame the very weather on innocent bystanders).
I and my kind were accused of both crimes and lapses in morality for failing to obey the edicts of imposed guilt – but were later found guiltier still...for not feeling guilty (by those with less innocence than my own).
The world spun out its charms…and its fouler images, never reaching equilibrium ("equality") or the satisfaction that imposed order affords planners with mundane gripes against the hands that feed them.
The world remained quite normal and I collaborated with its non-existent scheme to side with no one while some well-paid philosopher kings demanded I hang my head in shame so they could pretend to occupy a moral throne above and beyond the simple things that have always been.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Hypocrisies of radical relativism:
"There are no 'good guys and bad guys,'
…but, Bush and America are the bad guys."
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Getting The Story Right
Most journalists are just frustrated novelists. Anyone could "report facts," but journalists "tell the story." That's why what they report bears more similarity to a fairy tale than a mere honest description of events.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Justice, Liberal Style
Read Ann Coulter's recent book for complete insight into how and why stuff like this happens.