Warning: Graphic Images here.
This is what we are facing unless we get them before they get us.

While I protested against his policies, I now realize that I was sometimes wrong (and right about a few things too - like gay rights). However, I’m sorry to see him go nevertheless…

There are times when the Bush Administration drives me absolutely insane. And then there are times like these, when that goofy frat-boy from Texas drives me to tears with his vision of the world that matches my own. The speech is here. Money quote: “In all these threats, we hear the echoes of other enemies in other times — that same swagger and demented logic of the fanatic. Like their kind in the past, these murderers have left scars and suffering. And like their kind in the past, they will flame and fail and suffer defeat by free men and women.”

I don’t know who wrote this speech. All I know is that it lays out a progressive vision of the world that proves that the true conservatives - the “haters of change” or recidivists - are on the Left: the Michael Moores, Amnesty Internationals and MoveOns of the world that have become the sycophants of the tyrants they once demonized.

Read the speech. The entire thing. It’s long but one of the best in oh, 45 years.

Source: Chrenkoff

Marek Edelman is the last surviving military leader of the heroic Jewish Uprising
in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943. He recently spoke to a Polish television channel
TVN24, and the interview has been re-published in a Polish weekly "Przekroj".
It’s not available anywhere else in English (or for that matter electronically),
so I take this opportunity to translate and publish extensive excerpts from
the interview. Edelman experienced evil many times in his long and distinguished
life; he has also faced it and fought it bravely. What he has to say bears listening

You don’t have to be dead to appreciate my thanks for serving your country. You have protected me and my family. You have sacrificed so that I and mine won’t have to. You have given up your freedom and in many cases your lives so that I can live free.

Thank you.

As strident as this site has been against terror and radical Islam, it has also been supportive of the gay community. That said, I have often wondered why I often found the mainstream gay groups allied against the war on terror. It simply didn’t make sense to me. We were fighting hatred & bigotry. The Taliban collapsed walls on homosexuals for christ sake. Then there’s this story. Money quote: “Sheikh Sharkhawy, a cleric at the prestigious London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park, compares homosexuality to a “cancer tumour.” He argues “we must burn all gays to prevent paedophilia and the spread of AIDS.”

We must burn all gays? Excuse me, but the Middle Ages passed a thousand years ago. This guy is clearly a psycho, yet where are the Act-Up crowds? Where is GLAAD? Gay groups in the UK should be screaming for this guy’s deportation.

Instead we get silence.

Silence = Death

You don’t have to be gay to understand that.

Here’s an article
on the latest report by Amnesty International. If you can figure out what Amnesty
International would do if it had the power, let me know. I haven’t a clue.

As an active member of Amnesty International, I wrote letters to Saddam Hussein
begging him to free prisoners of conscience in Iraq. He never did - until the
Marines chased him from power.

I am an advocate of non-violence, but only when your enemy has a conscience.
Non-violence would work in the Palestinian Territories against Israel. It worked
against the British in India, and the US in the 1950s and 1960s. It has failed
to drive China out of Tibet - and it failed to drive Saddam from power. The
Taliban never worried about Amnesty reports when they sowed Afghan women up
in burkas and machine gunned them in public, nor when they collapsed walls on
alleged homosexuals.

Amnesty is gripped by knee-jerk anti-Americanism and has lost all sense of
its mission.

It’s a shame.

Oh for a Howard Dean right now…
John Kerry is calling for more support from our “allies” in Iraq.
What, does he think that’s going to convince me to vote for him? “You know honey, I think the way to solve the Iraq problem is to bring in the French.”

WTF is he on? Does he honestly believe that message is going to “sell” in the Midwest and South? It might fly with Limousine Liberals who actually eat French food (when’s the last time you did? I mean come on, when I think of the great cuisines of the world - Chinese, Indian, Italian, Mexican - I don’t think of the French) but it isn’t going to work with the NASCAR and Office Dad crowds.

When I started this site over 2.5 years ago, I did so with the hope that the world would unite against the intolerance of the Islamo-fascists. I felt that it was only a matter of time before Muslims in the West spoke with one voice against the terror committed in the name of their God and in doing so, make it harder for the terrorists to operate.

Unfortunately, the silence of the Muslim groups in the West is deafening. Groups like CAIR are more concerned with whinging about every perceived slight against a Muslim then they are about the hijacking of their own religion by people who behead others on camera.

By the looks of things, it’s on its way.
As one commentator has stated, it’s like rhinos mating; while I don’t care to watch it, I don’t like the idea of barring them from doing it. And as Dennis Miller has said: “My problem isn’t with the two guys who want to get married; my problem is with the nutjobs who want to blow up the building they’re doing it in.”

Looks like some from
are trying to attack us. What’s sad is that it evidently has nothing to do with
our content; it’s only because they can.

They can’t overthrow their government or reform their religion. They can’t
control their own lives or live in freedom. But they can run scripts.

Pathetic.

Bush has apologized. Rumsfeld has apologized. So who hasn’t apologized?

September 11 - The Muslim community.
Atrocities in Iraq - Saddam Hussein and the Bath Party
The kidnapping of people in Iraq - The Muslim community.
The execution of an Italian soldier - The Muslim community.
Taliban atrocities in Afghanistan - The Muslim community.
The murder of Daniel Pearl - The Muslim community.
The car bombs targeting Shi’a in Iraq - The Muslim community.
The slaughter of 4 American contractors and the defiling of their bodies - The
Muslim community.

Islam is a religion of peace? It’s sure one of silence.

If the American soldiers in Iraq are all torturers, then the Muslims of the world are all homicide bombers.

The 9-11 Commission should be looking at structural reform - not finger pointing.
So far I see Rice focussing on the former, the Commission the latter. It kind
of reminds me of the disgraceful
treatment of Admiral Kimmel over Pearl Harbor. As one comedian has said:
"I don’t blame the Clinton administration (for the attack) or the Bush
Administration. I blame the Bin Laden Administration."

MSNBC is running the headline “New Hamas Leader Takes Harder Line“. I’m not sure what a harder line he could take, since the previous leader advocated an Islamic state and the execution of all Jews in the Middle East. Call me a softy, but that sounds like a pretty damned hard line to me. After all, it’s not like there was ever a line that Hamas refused to cross. They killed children in a pizza restaurant, families sitting down to Seder, teenagers at a disco. They sent out a mother to blow herself up and leave behind orphans. In fact the one group that they rarely attacked were the soldiers and police who could fight back.

So the Hamas founder gets himself splattered in Gaza, and the new leader wants to take a harder line. Killing innocent children is the hardest line you can take in my opinion, and there is nowhere left to go. The Israelis know this, and that’s why they aren’t afraid of Hamas anymore. Hamas has played all of its cards - there is nothing left. Now Israel holds the cards and are the ones to decide what line to cross. And there is nothing - absolutely nothing that Hamas can do about it but run or die. For the sake of the murdered innocents, I hope that it is the latter.

Will Saletan’s Case Against Bush. Excellent and highly recommended read. Money quote: “Bush’s overconfidence” reflected in a series of exaggerations wholly unnecessary to the punishment of Saddam for his noncompliance with U.N. inspections” has trashed our credibility and cost us vital help with other terrorist and WMD-related threats.”

http://www.thunderinghooves.net/
MSNBC had a story on this farmer. If you live in the Northwest, you might want to check him out for your meat needs. We’re all for it – considering Ronald McDonald tried poisoning me the other day (won’t let the kids eat his crap but it’s near the office). It will be nice when more farmers go back to the future and do the same.

Why We Fight - By Steven Den Beste. Proof once again that this retired engineer is Bernard Lewis in disguise. A must read for all.

There is nothing like the reasoned perspective of an outsider to give you a window on yourself. For 58 years, Alistair Cooke did that for Americans in his weekly “Letter from America”. For those of you who haven’t experienced listening to his insights on the BBC Worldservice, you have missed out on something wonderful and sublime. For me, “This is London” and Alistair Cooke will forever represent Civilization no matter what uncivilized place I find myself in, be it the African Bush or the Suburban Shopping Mall (yes, I consider malls uncivilized).

Cooke has now retired, at the age of 95 according to this article in The Guardian.

Thanks, Alistair for being a friend to all Americans and proving once again why our “special relationship” with the UK remains special.

Proof why people shouldn’t touch our Constitution unless freeing slaves. For the lazy, it’s a discussion on a proposed amendment in 1912 to ban “forever” marriages between negroes “and other people of color” with caucasians. For Libertarians and other lovers of freedom it’s hard to believe.

There were 12 amendments to the Constitution in the 20^th century. Of these only 2 have merit:
Amendment XIX - Women’s Right to Vote (1920)
Amendment XXIV - Poll Tax (1964)

The others, if you ask me, could have been decided by the legislature. Two of the amendments - prohibition and its repeal - are wastes, and proof why people should not be allowed to get their hands on the document while they are all hot and bothered about an issue.

What seems of utmost importance today may not be tomorrow. Think Flag Burning. Yeah, people had their panties in a twist over that at one time.

As millions of Americans consider whether Mel Gibson’s latest film, The Passion, is anti-Semitic for spreading the “blood libel” that the Jews are responsible for murdering Jesus, we believe that it may be time for the world’s Christian community to accept responsibility for the death of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust 60 years ago.

For example, consider the following evidence against the Catholic Church.

1. Although informed of the massive Nazi attacks of synagogues and Jewish business in on Kristallnacht 1938-NOV, Pope Pius XII issued no public criticism.

2. Although informed during 1940 to 1943 of Nazi atrocities in at least Austria, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, and the Ukraine, (including deportations to death camps) he made no public comments.

3. Pope Pius XII never explicitly spoke out against Hitler until the war was over, condemning Hitler in a speech to the College of Cardinals one month after the war ended.

4. He refused to join a resolution of the Allies condemning the Nazi crimes.

5. He never excommunicated any Nazi, although he did excommunicate some German Catholics who supported cremation as an alternative to burial.

6. He never declared it a sin for Catholics to participate in the slaughter.

7. In 1941 when asked about proposed anti-Jewish laws in Vichy France, Pius XII answered that the church condemned racism, but did not repudiate every rule against the Jews. (source)

The Protestant community can also be held accountable for the following reasons:

“Catholics and Protestants at first embraced the new German order. Germany was regaining international prestige, the economy improving thanks to growing overseas support.³⁶ Industrialists like Henry Ford invested heavily in the new Reich. German Christians also looked to the Nazis for a revival of “Christian” values to help counter the rise of nontheism. Most welcomed the Nazis’ elimination of chronic public strife by terrorizing, imprisoning, and killing the fast-shrinking German Left. The leftists had long been despised by traditionalists, who composed four fifths of the population. The state purged a far higher proportion of atheists than traditional Christians. In newspapers and newsreels the Nazis proudly publicized their new concentration camps. Reports sanitized the camps’ true nature, but no one could mistake that they were part of a new police state—to which most German followers of Jesus raised no objection. The very high rate of “legal” executions reported in the press also met with mass indifference or positive approval.

Far from being hapless victims, the great bulk of German Christians joined, eagerly supported, collaborated with, or accommodated to a greater or lesser degree, the new tyranny.” (source)

If Christian zealots are putting up signs that say this…

Maybe Jews should consider making a movie about Pope Pius XII.

We support the right of Mel Gibson to make his movie, but we also support the right of Jews to make a movie in response. For if Jews are indeed responsible for the Passion, then by that line of reasoning the Christians bear responsibility for the Holocaust.

Which is more obscene:
A) The Howard Stern Show - which you can choose not to listen to
B) Clear Channel - owning 1200 stations making the decision for you

Here’s two words to help you with your decision: satellite radio

The other day while looking for a parking spot at the local supermarket I saw a car with the Vietnam service bars bumpersticker and the license plate "Tet Vet". There’s a photo of me as a tot somewhere wearing a jacket with the slogan on the back that reads "Fighters by day, lovers by night, drunkards by choice, ready to fight. Cu-Chi". Vietnam vets hold special places in the hearts of the Machiavelli Clan, considering that we have a few of them still kicking up a fuss at the family gatherings.

We’ve added links to this website, WinterSoldier.com, because we believe that it raises some important issues about a man who wants to be the most important man in the world. Brought to you courtesy of the radicals at FreeRepublic.com.

Even though he never responds to our emails, we completely support Andrew Sullivan’s position on the Gay Marriage issue.

Even if you don’t, a conservative BY DEFINITION conserves, and that means:

Unless you are freeing slaves, Never EVER F*** with the Constitution.

Since announcing his support of an amendment to define marriage, the President has also stated his support for a constitutional amendment to define “built-to-order sandwiches filled with fresh meats and cheeses, as well as lettuce, tomatoes and onions, topped off with a dash of oregano on an Italian roll” as a “hoagie“.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClelland said the move was necessary after a recent study published by Harvard found that over 77% of Americans answered “sub” to the question: “What do you call the long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, and so on.”

“The President believes deeply in this issue,” McClelland stated after the speech, excerpted below:

“After more than two centuries of American jurisprudence and millennia of human experience, a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of the sandwich - the hoagie. Their actions have created confusion on an issue that requires clarity.

On a matter of such importance, the voice of the people must be heard. Activist courts have left the people with one recourse. If we’re to prevent the meaning of a long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, and so on from being changed forever, our nation must enact a constitutional amendment to protect “hoagies” in America. Decisive and democratic action is needed because attempts to call it anything else in a single state or city, such as “grinder”, “poorboy” and “bomber”, could have serious consequences throughout the country.”

Afterward, believing the microphone had been turned off, the President turned to his wife, Laura, and said, “And what (expletive deleted) bunch of nuts calls the thing a ‘baguette’ anyway?”

- Thanks to Scrappleface for the inspiration.

According to this Fox Story, President Bush has called for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage because the nation must defend “the most fundamental (sic) of civilization.”

Rest assured that should any of these instutitions need defense, we will not call for a constitutional amendment. A large caliber weapon maybe, but not a constitutional amendment…

They’re here, they’re queer, get over it.

Ko-an for the day:

American Express

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmm

This story about a Nazipalooza in Arizona is both funny and chilling. It starts with a story about a Hispanic kid who apparently doesn’t quite fully understand the message of hate. Money quote goes to Tommy Metzger, Fuhrer-in-Charge, or rather to the shirt he was wearing: “Some People Are Alive Simply Because It’s Illegal to Kill Them”. You got that right Tommy. Now stand still, my aim ain’t all that good!

I was part of the US punk scene during the early 1980s - before it merged with metal and then splintered off into hate-metal. My feelings can be summed up by this 1980s toe-tapping classic by the Dead Kennedys:

You still think swastikas look cool
The real nazis run your schools
Teachers, businessmen and cops
In a real fourth reich you’ll be the first to go

Nazi punks
Nazi punks
Nazi punks?Fuck Off!

Have you ever noticed that people like their Republican presidents old and patrician, and their Democratic presidents young and eager? I got to thinking about this while listening to Edwards’ victory speech in Wisconsin on Feb 17th and considering why he appeals to me and Kerry doesn’t. Kerry is old, and he comes across as William F Buckley jr. spouting populism - although WFB would be much more interesting and point the air with his pen a lot more. Kerry seems about as fake meeting average Americans as a white guy from Harvard trying to act street with his "homies". Kerry seems uncomfortable, and worse, he makes me feel uncomfortable watching him. It’s almost like his element is, for better or worse, the Senare and Martha’s Vineyard two enclaves that most Americans simply don’t relate to very well.

Now consider Clinton. He was young and energetic - just like Kennedy (and we later learned WAY TOO MUCH like Kennedy) - but he was elected to two terms. Contrast that with Mondale and Dukakis - two older, barely "middle-aged" guys who looked more like furniture salesmen than presidents. Mondale made a pretty good ambassador to Japan, and Dukakis? I don’t know - but I do hope that it didn’t involve a tank.

On the other side of the aisle, there was Nixon. Let’s face this fact: Nixon is the true "Accidental President" - even more so than Bush. In 1968 Tricky Dick benefited from Johnson’s refusal to stand for office. Had the Vietnam War gone better, he would have run and most likely won. After that, Sirhan Sirhan made sure that another Kennedy wouldn’t make it to the Oval Office - insuring that Nixon would walk away with the presidency later that year. However Nixon was young for a Republican, especially compared Barry Goldwater and Dwight Eisenhower. People never trusted him in the same way had he been older.

Ford also was a bit of an accidental president - needing Nixon to become president, Spiro Agnew to resign and for a group of "plumbers" to be caught in the Watergate Hotel. Had any of these events not occurred, there would be no President Ford, and no Chevy Chase sketches from the 1970s.

Then of course, we have Reagan. Reagan was the ultimate personification of patrician. He was witty, self-assured yet self-deprecating, kind of like the grandfather that many Americans wish they always had.

Bush is no Reagan, and his ascent to the Presidency hasn’t been forgotten - especially by active Democrats. What the Dems need to do is to consider this:
In the event of Kerry v Bush, Bush will win. Kerry just doesn’t have the charm or charisma that is needed for people to view him as a winner. They will see him as another Mondale or Dukakis, and he will lose.

In the event of Edwards v Bush, Edwards will win. He is young, he is inexperienced, and he will become the screen for everyone’s fantasy for what a Democratic president should be. There will be positive comparisons to Clinton and Kennedy. His inexperience won’t be that big of an issue - look at Bush - and he will no doubt surround himself with wiser and steadier hands at the various helms of government offices.

Forget the issues. Forget the intellectual reasons to support Kerry. Given the opportunity, voters will go for their hearts and dreams. Edwards will win in Edwards v Bush - whether you want him to or not.

The Democrats should take notice. Given the opportunity, Edwards will win. Just remember that we at The Razor predicted it all along.

Evidently the Coast Guard nabbed them and will send them back to Cuba. Too bad Luis and Marciel didn’t tell them they were Java coders: the government would have issued them H-1b visas and IBM would have hired them at $1/day. Oh well. Excellent effort guys.

I’ve been contemplating Dean’s demise for several days now. I think that his candidacy will be replayed over and over in candidate war-rooms and in domestic politics classes for years to come. I have never seen a flameout as grand as Dean’s and for once in many months I am simply left speechless.

Here’s a website filled with articles on the Dean candidacy and its blazing trail across the Winter sky.

Andrew Sullivan expresses the way I feel about Dean. Money quote: (Dean)"I think the problem with the Democratic Party in general is that they’ve been so afraid to lose they’re willing to say whatever it takes to win. And once you’re willing to say whatever it takes to win, you lose."

Would I vote for Dean? At this point: No. However would a Dean v. Bush brawl be good for the country? Absolutely.

Here’s something that you don’t see very often.

Cubans Trying to Reach Florida in Floating Car
Money quote: “The car is very safe.”

For those of you who don’t know, if they touch the beach - they get asylum. If they are caught offshore, they get sent back.

I say “Go guys Go!” Anybody who is ingenius enough to do this deserves asylum. Hell, my guess is that they could get a job at Monster Garage.

This is an extremely disgusting article. You are warned.
We agree with the title: Serious consideration must be given to some kind of intervention in North Korea. We simply cannot stand by and let this happen. Would intervention be yet another example of US imperialism? According to Noam Chomsky, yes. Of course, notice how Noam is sitting in his warm flat in Boston - not in a glass gas chamber in NK. Also note that the source isn’t Donald Rumsfeld or Paul Wolfowitz - but the anti-American BBC.

Yad Vashem calls for UN intervention in N. Korea
Source: Haaretz Daily
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies

Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Authority on Tuesday called for an immediate United Nations investigation into reports that North Korea is using gas chambers to kill political dissidents.

According to a BBC report aired Sunday, the North Korean government is also testing new chemical weapons on women and children.

According to the report, the detainees are being held in 12 camps, and the largest of them, Prison Camp No. 22, is holding some 50,000 people. The total number of detainees is unknown, but according to estimates, their number could be as high as 200,000.

The BBC report quoted a former North Korean army intelligence officer who defected to South Korea in 1999, as saying that Prison Camp No. 22 had a gas chamber made of glass so scientists could observe inmates as they were gassed. "I witnessed a whole family being tested on suffocating gas and dying in the gas chamber," he told the BBC. "The parents, son and a daughter."

In a Letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev called for a full investigation of the reports, saying that ‘the chilling image of the murderers coolly watching their victims’ death agonies is all too reminiscent of Nazi barbarism."

Shalev’s letter also reminded Annan of his speech on January 26 at the Stockholm International Forum, in which Annan said the world must do more to prevent genocide from ever taking place again, and raised the possibility of having Genocide Convention states set up a Committee to Prevent Genocide. Shalev urged the UN to fulfill its obligation to protect human rights.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, A U.S.-based Jewish human rights group, also urged the UN on Tuesday to establish an international tribunal to investigate the allegations.

"This brings to mind the imagery of Nazi gas chambers and the horrific experiments at Auschwitz and Imperial Japan’s Unit 731," the center’s associate dean, Abraham Cooper, said in a statement.

"The crimes of the Nazi era are a stark reminder that silence is admittance and such state-sanctioned barbarities demand action," Cooper said. "The civilized community must put the perpetrators of such crimes against humanity on notice that they will be held accountable."

Top Saudi Cleric Decries Terrorism in Hajj Sermon
Don’t get all excited, because there are more qualifiers than a car ad. Money quote: "Is it holy war to shed Muslim blood? Is it holy war to shed the blood of non-Muslims given sanctuary in Muslim lands? Is it holy war to destroy the possession of Muslims," he said.

Note the three groups he mentioned: Muslims, non-Muslims in Muslim lands, and the property of Muslims.

Nowhere does he demand a halt to attacks on non-Muslims, or non-Muslims outside of Saudi Arabia, or the property of non-Muslims. That’s quite intentional. He’s not pissed about terror attacks like 9-11; he’s upset about recent attacks WITHIN Saudi Arabia. He’s angry with the terrorists for breaking the agreement between the Saudi ruling family the likes of al-Qaeda - a "gentlemen’s agreement" that prohibit attacks in Saudi Arabia in exchange for financing.

We’ve come to expect such sophistry from Muslim clerics - none of whom have stated flat out that killing non-Muslims is wrong in the eyes of Islam - possibly because it is not.

Gore Endorses Dean for President.

+

Bradley Endorses Dean for President

+

N.J. Gov. McGreevey Endorses Dean

+

Braun Drops Out, Supports Dean

=

Dean May Be Done

Spalding Gray is probably dead. Here’s a friend’s eulogy for him. Money quote: "I try to imagine him actually attempting a swim to Cambodia. I see him swan-diving from the rail of the Staten Island Ferry late Saturday night when he disappeared, rounding Sandy Hook by dawn, and turning south for Cape Horn. He’d be well past the mouth of the Delaware by now, strong swimmer that he is. What a great monologue this is going to make."

Another good one goes. Where have all the good story tellers gone? Where are the Homers of our era? Where are those who weave with their words what Hollywood struggles to do with computers?

Just a note that I’ve deactivated the Bush-Rice ad on the right. Here’s why:

1. Budget Deficit Headed for New Dollar High - As a fiscal conservative, Bush has presided over one of the largest explosions of the budget deficit in history. I have no problem with the expense of fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanstan. What I do have a problem with is Bush’s corporate welfare policies in which large businesses are subsidized by the federal government.

2. The Bush Amnesty program - No, not forgiving Prescott Bush for his Nazi sympathies, but the 8th illegal immigrant amnesty since 1986. We believe that it is bad for the economy and hurts lower income and middle income people the most. Why is it that Republicans favor laissez-faire policies in goods but not in labor? Government needs to keep its nose out of labor by allowing wages to rise when people don’t want to do a job for any reason. That’s the way the market is supposed to function: salaries rise, increasing the supply of the labor until a balance is reached. If strawberries cost a nickle more a pint, consumers can deal with it. It’s capitalism pure and simple.

3. No WMDs, and the admin’s stalling on spanking US Intel. If the spooks screwed up, find out why and fix it. It’s not just the body count in Iraq - it’s the body count on 9-11. Our intel cannot be trusted at this time, making it impossible for us as citizens to support anything the administration advocates in the future.

4. 3,000,000 jobs lost. I’ve lost two of them - and am damned tired of collecting unemployment benefits instead of paying for them.

5. Collapsing health care system. I’m sorry, but the administration has to invade America and make it a safe place to be sick or injured in. Health care is just as much a right to every American as national defense.

Does this mean that I will now vote for Dean? Don’t count on it. I still haven’t ruled Bush out - but at this point my vote is up for grabs.

Good news. A murderer is smiling! Lionel Tate Bond Hearing Set for Today - He’s the 12 year old who was convicted of first degree murder in the killing of his 6 year old "playmate". Money quote: "I’m getting smiles now and then," Rosenbaum (his pro bono - free - attorney) said. "Along with 10 years of probation, Tate will be sentenced to one year of house arrest and 1,000 hours of community service. He will receive mandatory counseling and will continue his education with the support of his mother, mentors and community and church groups."

Here’s Tiffany Eunick.

She’s still dead. Do yourself a favor and do a search on Lionel Tate and Tiffany Eunick. You’ll find that Lionel has many more defenders such as Amnesty International USA - my old group. Tiffany has only her parents and scattered columnists, but no organizations. Even the sentencing judge noticed the fact that no one spoke about Tiffany. No one cared about the victim except her poor distraught parents, enduring the nightmare that every loving parent dreads most. Writer Myles Kantor called this the "inversion of compassion" - something that the left has gotten good at.

As a parent and former 12 year old, I know some things about kids. First and foremost, 12 year old boys do NOT play with 6 year old girls, and if they do, they do so with care and compassion. Lionel shown none of these, and now will be set free.

I challenge those who worked so hard for his release to allow him to babysit their kindergarten age children. Leave him alone with your kids for a few hours. Test the depths of your conviction - even after he serves the 1000 hours of community service. And if you won’t, explain to me why not - tell me I am wrong while you carry that nagging doubt in the back of your mind.

There is no justice for Tiffany. None - and the emptiness of that should give pause to those who are "celebrating" Tate’s freedom.

What the hell happened to Howard Dean?

I mean come on, writers like me love Dean. He inspires us in ways that Kerry cannot. While I do not like Dean, I do not want to see Kerry take his place. Why? Because Kerry is simply Dukakis all over again. Dean is much more energetic. Just look at his picture:

He is INTERESTING. He is spirited. He has fire in his belly. He is a joy to write about and even bash around a bit. Kerry looks as stiff as his hair in contrast.

Come on Howard! Make a comeback you weasel!

I finally fixed the links to the old Razor. As I go through the old site which lasted just about 2 years, I’m finding things that I had forgotten about. Since my readership is now about 1000x bigger today than it was when many of these were written, and because it’s almost the weekend, why not kick back and enjoy some of The Razor’s Deepest Cuts?

Creators & Destroyers - a tribute to Daniel Pearl
Your conscience is their cover - why Total War is the only war to fight.
Rohrschach Test for the Left - The Razor’s first post in cyberspace.
Get Carter - Why we haven’t joined the Carter-Lovefest aka Carterpalooza
Moral Relativism - Believe in the equality of Women? How about in Saudi Arabia?
Bonus Post:
Queer Allies - The Razor supports gay rights. Surprised? You shouldnt’ be.

No news on Spalding Gray. Where the hell is he, and why doesn’t the media care?
Perhaps the loss of an intellectual simply isn’t as interesting as say the 5 hour marriage of Britney Spears, but then again, Ms. Spears would no doubt think Pol Pot is something you smoke. Nothing is out there but the original AP story.

In the meantime I am trying to catch up on his work. There’s a lot out there - even voice credits in a Laurie Anderson piece. Since I don’t have time to watch much besides Monster Garage and Yu-Gi-Oh (a game that is more complicated than AD&D on acid), it would be nice if his monologues were collected somewhere in a book. I’m done with John Adams and even slipped in a Night to Remember since the kids are on a Titanic binge.

Here’s a treatise on manhood that you won’t find written by Bill Moyers: "Wimps & Barbarians - the Sons of Murphy Brown" by Terence O. Moore, former active-duty Marine (ain’t no such thing as an ex-Marine), college professor and now charter school principal. As a male whose father died during adolescence and parent to boys I am keen to discover why society simply doesn’t know how to handle men. Freud believed that men struggled between visions of women as "madonnas and whores", but it is clear that our society has the same problem with men - shown here by the terms Wimps and Barbarians. Perhaps it is due to the apparent need by men to be "imprinted" or taught what it means to be a man, a need that women don’t seem to have.

Moore suggests that today’s boys must look to their grandfathers or even great-grandfathers. I don’t think it’s a bad idea for fathers to do the same since my generation of males seem to be clueless as to what being a man means as well. It is never to late to learn. No woman wants a weepy man, nor does she need an asshole on the couch whose idea of caring is to put the seat up.

So JP Morgan-Chase has purchased BankOne. We’re taking suggestions on new names and slogans for the bank. Hit the comments and add your thought for either or both. Here’s some to start you off:
Chase1 - Destroying shareholder wealth one merger at time.
First Illuminati - We’re everywhere
JPMorganChaseManhattanChemicalBankofNewYorkBankOneFirstUSA - We’re as big as our name.
ChaseBankOne - We own you
JP Morgan Bank1 - Bigger than God
BankOneChase - You’re fired

Get creative now…

It’s amazing how short people’s memories are. Many of those who argued against "unilateral action" in Iraq actually demanded "unilateral action" in Bosnia nine years ago.Dr. Dean might want to consult himself to a specialist on amnesia… Money quote: "Since it is clearly no longer possible to take action in conjunction with NATO and the United Nations, I have reluctantly concluded that we must take unilateral action." Dean 1995 sounds much like Bush 2003…

Howard Dean letter to President Clinton
Source: USA Today

City Journal is always an interesting read, so check them out when you get the chance. Here’s a must read: James Wilson’s "What Makes A Terrorist". Money quote: "Imagine what it would have been like to eliminate the Baader-Meinhof gang if most West Germans believed that democracy was evil and that Marxism was the wave of the future, if the Soviet Union paid a large sum to the family of every killed or captured gang member, if West German students attended schools that taught the evils of democracy and regarded terrorists as heroes, if several West German states were governed by the equivalent of al Fatah, and if there were a German version of Gaza, housing thousands of angry Germans who believed they had a right of return to some homeland."
Like France? Sorry, couldn’t resist…

Thanks to BlackFive:

Actor Spalding Gray is missing - and this article at Fox suggests that he may have committed suicide. If true, then the world has lost a master essayist and commentator. While the article mentioned the classic “Swimming to Cambodia” it failed to note the basis for masterpiece of monologue: the filming of The Killing Fields in which Gray acted. The Killing Fields documents what best could be described as a descent into hell by a Cambodian translator, Dith Pran. The Khmer Rouge atrocities committed in Cambodia aren’t mentioned much these days - yet they should be since they probably rank second only to the Holocaust when it comes to genocide.

We hope that Gray is indeed still around and offering his poignant commentary on world affairs. And if you don’t know much about Pran, follow the links above and learn more about one of the darkest periods in world history.