Archive of November 2006
Glen Beck did a special this past week on the hostility of radical Islam toward the West, especially Israel and America. It depicted Muslims teaching their children from the cradle up the glories of martyrdom for the cause of our destruction.
What makes Muslim rhetoric so chilling are the incidents now spread over more than a decade demonstrating that it is not mere rhetoric. We can expect that their indoctrination will eventually result in the deaths of more American human beings.
The reality is that these Muslims not only have the desire to destroy us but also the resolve.
The variable that correlates most consistently with victory is resolve. The old cliché exhibits a high degree of validity: “Where there is a will, there is a way.” Islam demonstrates enormous resolve in its commitment to annihilate us.
How widespread is this desire and resolve to destroy us?
We are assured that it is restricted to radical Islam. However, we err in our assessment of what proportion of Islam is radical.
Would we call Al Jazeera friendly and reasoned? Can we contend with a straight face that it only represents only a small, radical element of Islam? On 9/11, was it only a few radical Muslims dancing in Palestinian streets and elsewhere in the Islamic world?
The reality is that a substantial segment of the Islamic world is committed to our destruction and has the resolve to carry out that commitment.
Striking in contrast is the apathy and cowardice of the West.
Europe certainly shows itself to be a weak sister. Consider how quickly Spain caved in when the terrorists struck. The reality is that most of Europe and England lacks the resolve to resist the infiltration and inevitable takeover of their countries by Islam.
The last bastions of resistance are the United States and Israel. Israel left to its own devices displays the will to fight. However, their resolve is constantly restrained by American politicians.
And what about our resolve?
As noted in the previous post, it is common knowledge, especially within the Muslim world, that the Democrats lack the courage to defend our country. Do you feel secure thinking about Nancy Pelosi as defender of the West? This is no Joan of Arc we are talking about. Do Harry Reid or Ted Kennedy manifest any resemblance to Sergeant York?
This leaves us with the Republicans to stand against the hostility and resolve of the Islamic world. How do they stack up?
A President lacking the resolve to defend our own southern border inspires little confidence. During the past six years the House has occasionally given us glimmers of hope. However, the reality is that they need the support of the Senate, and the Republican Senate has historically been weak, dousing any embers of House courage.
One might hope that the devastation of the midterm elections might have arrested the attention of the Republican Senate, motivating it to manifest some strength.
The choice by the Senate this past Wednesday of Trent Lott as the Minority Whip takes all the air out of that balloon. Though I am sure that Senator Lott in many respects is a fine person, one quality for which he has not been noted is resolve. We don’t find much of Sergeant York here either.
The selection of Trent Lott as Majority Whip demonstrates that the Republican Party is not equal to the challenge of standing against the resolve of Islam. The last best hope of the West humanly speaking has shown itself to be inadequate to the task.
With the survival of the West at stake, our greatest concern has become the acquisition of PlayStation 3. If the Battle of Tours were fought today, we would all be bowing toward Mecca.
Now, our only hope is a spiritual revival that will produce leaders with sufficient fortitude for the fight. Pray that God will send it and them.
This conviction explains the mid-term election results and exposes one of the greatest problems with America.
We are largely a nation of naiveté, assuming that our tremendously privileged lifestyle is a birthright, guaranteed to Americans forever. When I wake up tomorrow morning, life will be just like this morning, only a little better. That’s the way it has been for over two hundred years. It certainly will not stop now.
We are sure of that because it would not be right if things were otherwise, and therefore someone would step in and put straight whoever might interfere with our privileged existence—the government, the United Nations, somebody.
We tend to think that if the Chinese took over America they would be made to follow the Geneva Convention, Robert’s Rules of Order, and Hoyle’s Rules, assuring us that the only change might be the language.
What we know for sure is that the kind of carnage experienced by people in Sudan or North Korea or China could never happen here. Actually, since our news media are far more focused on the Duke lacrosse team than the millions of people who perish through genocide and starvation, most Americans are not even aware of those occurrences, but those who are are sure that it could never happen here. Our old people would not be murdered, our young men would not be enslaved, and our young women would not be raped and sold into a cruel life of prostitution. Not here. That would be illegal and inhumane.
Though 9/11 should have taught us otherwise, we did not learn. The American psyche has partitioned off that event as an anomaly that will not recur. We have banned its showing on television so as not to worry ourselves about the prospect.
It was a bad dream, but now we have awakened to another day in suburban America where the biggest concern is the length of the line at Starbuck’s. This is real life as is meant to be—and will be.
Therefore, we need not defeat terrorists that would destroy us. We feel so secure that our greatest concern is that terrorists are guaranteed their “constitutional rights.”
We need not fear that millions of illegal immigrants stream across our borders, that homosexuality might corrupt our society as it has done to others, that we produce less but spend more, that Iran and North Korea are building nuclear weapons, and no one as the courage to stop them, that with their success other nations will follow suit, making ours a world of nuclear volatility far more dangerous than the cold war, that our educational level is lower than our enemies, that practically every nation on earth hates us and would see us conquered and pillaged.
Living without fear can stem from faith, courage, or ignorance. In the case of America, it is the latter.
It is reported by those tuned into terrorist commentary and opinion, that jihadist reaction to the mid-term election results is contempt and ridicule. They surmise that the Democrats lack the will to defend America. Therefore, they see their election as proof of the cowardice of the American people, our lack of the courage to fight, our inclination to cut and run.
Though I believe, as noted in my previous post, that other factors played a major role in the election outcome, it can’t be denied that the American people either voted for those soft on the war on terror or failed to vote against them. Whatever other issues guided our choices, we were willing to turn the nation over to those who ran on a platform of capitulation.
Never mind. Life will go on as usual—until it is too late.
About three days from now it will be over, or rather, about to begin. The choices made by the American people at the ballot box will take effect in January, and we will start reaping the fruit of our votes.
At this writing, it is difficult to predict the outcome. Most pollsters believe that the Democrats will make significant gains in the House and Senate, but whether those gains will be enough to take over either or both is to be seen.
Therefore, from all appearances, the Republicans will take a beating. It is only a question of how bad that beating will be. Their only hope would be if the Republican base is suddenly gripped with the urgency of the situation and votes early and often.
Why the beating? One major reason is shameless bias of the media, especially around election time.
Findings of one watchdog organization doing a study on a major media outlet revealed that about 77% of the “news” items regarding Democrats were positive and about 88% of the “news” items on Republicans were negative. I watched a little of MSNBC today, and they did a commendable job of supporting those findings.
For their part, the Republicans are trying hard to give the media plenty of ammunition—and succeeding. The media has gotten maximum mileage out of the Mark Foley scandal.
To help the media make the point that Republicans in general, and evangelicals in particular, are hypocritical on the values issue, Ted Haggard, President of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of New Life Church is contributing to the cause.
At this writing, the accusations of Mike Jones that Haggard had homosexual relations with him have not been verified. In fact, Jones failed the part of a lie detector test related to this accusation.
However, two aspects of this case seriously damage Haggard’s credibility. He first denied knowing Jones and later admitted that he did know him. He also admitted that he bought methamphetamines but denied using them. Imagine what a hostile media can do with that information.
However, Republicans have won against a hostile media before, even one armed with hurtful scandals. These are not the ultimate source of Republican woes. Nor is the war in Iraq, though the media are trying hard to make that the issue and everyone seems to be pretending that it is.
The eight hundred pound gorilla at the ballot box that no one wants to talk about is the illegal immigration issue.
Bill Bennett on his program, Morning in America, keeps asking why the Republicans aren’t making the border a campaign issue since it is such a hot item with the American people. He believes that Republicans can make the case that they would do better than the Democrats on the border issue.
However, there is no way Republicans could sell this position, because they have done nothing of substance to resolve the border problem in six years.
It is true that they have passed some election year legislation in a weak attempt to appease the voters, but most Americans realize that after the polls close, they might never get around to following through on that legislation. Lloyds of London should give odds on the chances of the seven hundred mile wall being built before Spanish is the official language of California. I’m betting on Spanish.
The Democrats don’t’ want to mention that eight hundred pound gorilla, because they have no intention stopping those millions of Democratic voter from crossing the border. Therefore, the pro-Democrat media do not want to make an issue of the border, either.
Therefore, millions of Americans will walk past that eight hundred pound gorilla as they cast their votes, and few will talk about him. However, when the votes are counted, the Republicans will discover that an eight hundred pound gorilla standing at the ballot box has quite a bit of influence.