op ed review 11/15

THIS WEEK’S NEWS

The Obama administration has made a decision to try the soldiers of al-Qaeda as civilians – Rep Pete King (R-NY) says it “may be the worst decision by a U.S. president in history.” - It sends a signal to terrorists everywhere to attack civilians. The decision to try the jihadists in a civilian court is also a decision which will divulge America’s security secrets to the enemy since civilian courts afford defendants the right of discovery. It is also a propaganda gift to Islamic murderers who will turn the courtroom into a media circus to promote their hatred against the Great Satan.

http://frontpagemag.com/2009/11/13/the-worst-decision-by-a-us-president-in-history-by-david-horowitz/

President Obama's victory dance for the House-passed health-care bill came as Senate foes pronounced the measure mortally wounded, if not outright DOA.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/obamacare_legislation_in_trouble_n12JvzOZLO36ngE5VaFVmI

Senator Joe Lieberman said he has "no other choice" but to filibuster a health care bill that contains a government-run health insurance option.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/56948

The official $1.1 trillion price tag for the health care bill excludes dozens of unfunded programs that could drive up costs when future congresses look to fund them. Republicans said the health care bill includes two dozen programs whose funding is listed as "such sums as may be necessary." That amounts to legislative jargon, they said, for "We'll bill you later."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/10/fuzzy-math-could-boost-health-care-bills-hefty-cos/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_headlines

Republicans have moved ahead of Democrats by 48% to 44% among registered voters in the latest update on Gallup's generic congressional ballot for the 2010 House elections, after trailing by six points in July and two points last month.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/124226/Republicans-Edge-Ahead-Democrats-2010-Vote.aspx

The victories by Republicans in two Governors races appear to have lifted the party's prospects in 2010 and in 2012 in the minds of voters with 58% of those surveyed by Rasmussen now believe the next President will be Republican

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/11/sinking_numbers_for_obama_demo.html

Though Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman conceded and Democrat Bill Owens was sworn into Congress last week, the routine recanvassing of votes shows Owens' lead has narrowed to 3,026 votes, with about 5,800 absentee ballots received so far that have yet to be counted. The special election last week for the 23rd Congressional District seat in New York may not be over after all.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/12/democrats-winning-margin-upstate-new-york-house-race-doubt/

President Obama's first federal court nominee was Judge David Hamilton of Indiana. Among Hamilton's "qualifications" is the fact that he is a former fund raiser for ACORN.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/ACORN-fund-raiser-gets-Obama-judicia-nomination-Yes-you-read-that-right-69962232.html

In the next few weeks we'll be relentlessly scrubbed with eyewash, brainwash and hogwash, all designed to cleanse us of any doubts that global warming is a proven menace to mother Earth.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped1110byrnenov10,0,3012538.column

British spies have foiled a terrorist plot by a suspected al Qaeda operative to blow up the New York subway. The plan, which reportedly would have been the biggest attack on America since 9/11, was uncovered after Scotland Yard intercepted an email.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6529436/British-spies-help-prevent-al-Qaeda-inspired-attack-on-New-York-subway.html

“There was one world leader absent for today’s commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Surprisingly enough, it’s President Barack Obama, who found time last year to give a campaign speech there last year, which Der Spiegel summed up as “People of the World, Look at Me”.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100016207/not-enough-about-him-barack-obama-skips-berlin-wall-ceremonies/

The FBI failed to intercede against Fort Hood terrorist Maj. Hasan as a result of its politically correct strategy of reaching out to suspect Islamic groups and clerics instead of combating head-on the Muslim radicalization movement in the United States. Hasan grew more radical -- and devout -- this decade, attending a Mosque where an al Qaeda-friendly cleric preached, posting extremist blogs and spreading anti-Americanism.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34345

Maj. Hasan attended a Virginia mosque at the same time as two of the 9/11 hijackers.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/link_in_ft_hood_slay_spree_DxTQPcEWvdr8WBocxSgNUI

Maj. Hasan called himself a "soldier of Allah" on business cards found in his apartment.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,574546,00.html

Seattle Times editors are now experts on The Religion of Peace: “Do not slander Islam after Fort Hood: There is a rush to link Maj. Hasan with Islamic extremists and generally defame his faith by association….Little time was spent exploring Timothy McVeigh's Catholic and Republican connections after he slaughtered 168 men, women and children and wounded hundreds more with a truck bomb.” Huh??

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2010244799_edit11labels.html

After the attack, Army Chief of Staff General Casey said on Meet The Press, "Our diversity….is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse (than the massacre)."

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/11/general_caseys_diverse_army.html

The Taliban declares Maj. Hasan a "hero".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6541177/Taliban-promises-repeat-of-Fort-Hood-massacre-report.html

Why wasn’t Maj. Hasan neutralized sooner? Apparently soldiers on military bases within the United States generally are not allowed to carry guns.

http://reason.com/archives/2009/11/11/the-folly-of-unilateral-disarm

After the Fort Hood shooting, the mainstream media were reluctant to report on the Islam connection but did see one part of the story they liked. Unfortunately, they got it wrong. “The confusion over what happened and the quickness of the military to label someone a hero seemed reminiscent of the case of Pfc. Jessica Lynch in 2003, when the Army initially reported Private Lynch had been captured in Iraq after a Rambo-like performance in which she emptied her weapon and was wounded in battle. It was later learned she had been badly hurt in a vehicle accident during an ambush and was being well cared for by the Iraqis.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/us/12hood.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1258038454-aWXloV95QTWdA44g2BK85g

Supporters of R-71 told us it wasn’t about gay marriage. That was then, this is now. “This morning marked the beginning of the next stage of the fight. "We cannot stop working until we achieve full marriage equality for gays and lesbians in this great nation," State Senator Ed Murray declared to a victory breakfast which included Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, Rep. Jim McDermott, several state legislators, King County Executive-elect Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor-elect Mike McGinn.”

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/11/gays_to_conservatives_okay_you.php

When asked where specifically the Constitution authorized Congress to mandate that individuals buy health insurance, Sen. Jack Reed (D.-R.I.) said that he “would have to check the specific sections” but said that it was like making people “sign up for the draft.”

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/56971

______________________________________________________________________________________

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN(S)

Daniel Henninger WSJ 11/12

Why Fort Hood Really Happened

The only good news out of the Fort Hood massacre is that U.S. electronic surveillance technology was able to pick up Major Hasan's phone calls to an al Qaeda-loving imam in Yemen. The bad news is the people and agencies listening to Hasan didn't know what to do about it. Other than nothing.

Next week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) will convene the Homeland Security Committee to find out if someone in the Army or FBI dropped the ball on Hasan. At Ford Hood itself, grief has been turning to anger as news of possible dropped balls has emerged….

The problem is confusion. The combatants at each end of the spectrum in the war over the war on terror know exactly what they think about surveilling suspected terrorists. But if you are an intel officer or FBI agent tasked with providing the protection, what are you supposed to make of all this bitter public argument? What you make of it is that when you get a judgment call, like Maj. Hasan, you hesitate. You blink.

Now everyone thinks the call was obvious. But it wasn't so obvious before the tragedy. Not if for years you have watched a country and its political class in rancorous confusion about the enemy, the legal standing of the enemy, or the legal status and scope of the methods it wants to use to fight the enemy.

In war, uncertainty gets you killed. It just did.

Everyone has seen the pictures of inconsolable grief amid the coffins of Fort Hood. Only one person can resolve the confusion that let this happen: the president.

This is the president who told his attorney general to decide if the CIA officers who water-boarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should be held criminally liable.

But two weeks ago, Mr. Obama met 18 coffins returned from Afghanistan. Whatever he decides about the Afghan troop deployment, what won't change is that over there or here at home, they will keep trying to kill us.

To give us better odds of protection than we had last week, President Obama should do two things: Call off the CIA investigation. Then call in the guys who didn't make the right call on Hasan and ask why not. Then, whatever set the bar too high, lower it. His "base" won't like it. So what? What he saw in Texas was worse.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574529844037896738.html

Investor’s Business Daily

Suicide by PC

War On Terror: The No. 1 lesson of the Fort Hood massacre is that political correctness kills. But instead of learning this lesson, the Pentagon is repeating the mistake, putting more soldiers at risk. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey warns that making the connection between Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's terrorist act and his Islamic faith could "cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers."

Yet ignoring that connection, despite one red flag after another, is what allowed Hasan allegedly to carry out his own violent backlash against non-Muslim soldiers.

Just a few months ago, Hasan was promoted to major. He passed a security clearance despite evidence he openly engaged in anti-American rants, and even discussed cutting the throats of infidels during a PowerPoint presentation. Now there are reports that U.S. intelligence intercepted contacts between Hasan and al-Qaida.

But shhh! This isn't about Islam. Close your eyes. Look the other way. Do not make the connection.

The prize for digging up the most imaginative excuse for Hasan's actions goes to ABC News. The network speculated he may have suffered from "second-hand trauma" — "like second-hand smoke" — from counseling soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder.

You see, Hasan had never actually been deployed, never seen combat, as first assumed. So the initial spin that he suffered PTSD no longer worked. Unless he suffered combat stress by proxy. So now it's "second-hand trauma." Anything but jihad.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=511805

___________________________________________________________________________________________

FROM OTHER COLUMNS

"Does the U.S. Constitution stand for anything in an era of government excess? Can that founding document, which is supposed to restrain the power and reach of a centralized federal government, slow down the juggernaut of czars, health insurance overhaul and anything else this administration and Congress wish to do that is not in the Constitution? The Framers created a limited government, thus ensuring individuals would have the opportunity to become all that their talents and persistence would allow. The Left has put aside the original Constitution in favor of a 'living document' that they believe allows them to do whatever they want and demand more tax dollars with which to do it. Can they be stopped? Some constitutional scholars think the Tenth Amendment offers the best opportunity…….Americans who believe their government should not be a giant ATM, dispensing money and benefits to people who have not earned them, and who want their country returned to its founding principles, must now exercise that power before it is taken from them. The Tenth Amendment is one place to begin."

-Cal Thomas

"One of the strongest talking points of those who want a government-run medical care system is that we simply cannot afford the high and rising costs of medical care under the current system. First of all, what we can afford has absolutely nothing to do with the cost of producing anything. We will either pay those costs or not get the benefits. Moreover, if we cannot afford the quantity and quality of medical care that we want now, the government has no miraculous way of enabling us to afford it in the future. If you think the government can lower medical costs by eliminating 'waste, fraud and abuse,' as some Washington politicians claim, the logical question is: Why haven't they done that already? Over the years, scandal after scandal has shown waste, fraud and abuse to be rampant in Medicare and Medicaid. Why would anyone imagine that a new government medical program will do what existing government medical programs have clearly failed to do? If we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical drugs now, how can we afford to pay for doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical drugs, in addition to a new federal bureaucracy to administer a government-run medical system.”

-Thomas Sowell

_________________________________________________________________________________________

GLOBALONEY

The World Council of Churches called on churches around the world to ring their bells 350 times during the Copenhagen climate change summit on December 13 as “a call to action on global warming.”

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.5c89ef2b65e54705267dd3c67d9f1199.121&show_article=1

So where’s this going? “If the United Nations has its way, Jesus won’t be found in church anymore. With the approval of pious priests and ministers, Jesus is being squeezed out of the House of God to make way for global warming/climate change proselytizing..”

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/16809

Meanwhile, it was the third coolest October on record.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/?report=national&year=2009&month=10&submitted=Get+Report

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a natural phenomenon caused by volcanoes and is not responsible for climate change, one scientist says..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6553592/Climate-change-sceptic-Ian-Plimer-argues-CO2-is-not-causing-global-warming.html

Environmental bureaucrats in the UK say everyone in Britain should have an annual carbon ration and be penalized if they use too much fuel. “….some have criticized the move as "Orwellian" and say it will have a detrimental impact on business.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/carbon/6527970/Everyone-in-Britain-could-be-given-a-personal-carbon-allowance.html

The Dutch government said it wants to introduce a "green" road tax. "Each vehicle will be equipped with a GPS device that tracks how many kilometres are driven and when and where. This data will be then be sent to a collection agency that will send out the bill," the transport ministry said in a statement. (They’ll also keep track where you’ve been driving.)

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.244057bd1b30448115575c2187e68681.141&show_article=1

The cap-and-trade energy bill just okayed by Sen. Barbara Boxer’s Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s Democrats (Republicans boycotted the vote) contains an obscure but nasty bureaucratic provision that gives President Obama dictatorial powers in the case of a “climate emergency”.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Climate-bills-emergency-provision-gives-Obama-strong-man-powers--69646037.html

NBC gives new meaning to the phrase "green screen" next week, spreading a pro-environmental message across five of its prime-time entertainment programs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_green_nbc

Latest environmental concern: lost golf balls are contaminating the planet; they take 100s of years to biodegrade; “humanity’s signature litter”

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/11/04/littering.golf.balls/index.html

_______________________________________________________________________________

BOOKS

“Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law” by Nonie Darwish. “…. presents an insider's look at Sharia and examines how radical Muslim laws are destroying the Western world from within.’

http://www.amazon.com/Cruel-Usual-Punishment-Terrifying-Implications/dp/1595551611/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258140603&sr=8-1

Mark Steyn reports on her book tour: “In Toronto this week, the brave ex-Muslim Nonie Darwish mentioned en passant that, on flying from the US to Canada, she was questioned at length about the purpose of her visit by an apparently Muslim border official. When she revealed that she was giving a speech about Islamic law, he rebuked her: “We are not to question Sharia.” That’s the guy manning the airport security desk…….”

http://dakotabeacon.com/entry/mark_steyn_multicultural_illusions_kill_-_no_strategy_to_defend_against_ide/

“United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror” by Jamie Glazov. “Both the radical Left and radical Islam possess a profound hatred for Western culture, for a capitalist economic structure that recognizes individual achievement, and for the Judeo-Christian heritage of the United States. Both seek to establish a new world order: leftists in the form of a classless communist society, and Islamists in the form of a caliphate ruled by sharia law. To achieve these goals, both are willing to "wipe the slate clean" by means of limitless carnage, with the ultimate goal of erecting their utopia upon the ruins of the system they have destroyed.”

http://www.amazon.com/United-Hate-Romance-Tyranny-Terror/dp/1935071602/ref=pd_sim_b_6

Are the upcoming Copenhagen climate talks really about nothing more than hammering out a world-wide agreement about carbon emissions to curb warming? Not according to martial arts professional and actor Chuck Norris. Norris appeared on the Fox News Channel to promote his new book, "The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book: 101 of Chuck's Favorite Facts and Stories."

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/11/12/chuck-norris-obama-wants-create-one-world-order-copenhagen-climate-talks

Matt Drudge sidekick-turned-media-entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart has signed a deal to write a how-to book for "non-leftists" who want to better represent themselves in the media. Breitbart, who owns the conservative Web sites Big Hollywood and Big Government, says he plans to offer a mixture of "memoirish" elements and perspective on how conservatives can challenge what he calls the "Democrat media complex.”

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/11/drudge-protege-andrew-breitbart-writing-media-how-to-book/

_________________________________________________________________________________________

LEFTIST WATCH

The American left is unparalleled at wriggling out of deadly cul-de-sacs of its own creation. Consider how many times since the Vietnam War this country's left has involved itself in activities that in saner epochs would have resulted in lengthy jail sentences. Support for the Sandinistas and the Salvadoran FMLN, the Nuclear Freeze movement (a KGB operation from start to finish), cooperation with Palestinian and related terrorist groups. In each case, the left continued its involvement until the bitter end; and in each case skipped off with no consequences. This offhand attitude toward sedition has its roots in the excesses of the witch-hunt era. The aura of martyrdom donned by the left since the early 50s has bought them a free pass for over half a century.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/the_left_and_terror.html

Three Cuban bloggers on their way to a peaceful march in Havana were forcibly detained and beaten last week by Cuban secret police.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iWLstLM2LcNBdVbx6EU7z5KgQFIA

It's come to this in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela: The president is pleading with people to save water by limiting their daily cleansing routine to a 3-minute ""communist shower.'' Really. This is just the latest indication of how badly Mr. Chávez continues to mismanage the economy of energy-rich Venezuela, which should be one of the most prosperous nations in the world to judge from its vast hydrocarbon reserves.

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/1330902.html

_____________________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVISM

Kirby Wilbur, a longtime conservative talk radio host in the Pacific Northwest, has had his show shut down by KVI-AM radio, sending his listeners to chat boards and other outlets to express their dismay. Wilbur has been a fixture in state Republican politics for two decades. He joined KVI back in the early 1990s, when conservative talk radio was just getting off the ground in the Seattle area and in other markets around the country. At Sound Politics, a blogger suggested listeners contact Fisher Broadcaster about their dissatisfaction with the decision. "I'd also encourage you all to call every local business that advertises on KVI. After all, they're the ones with the power of the purse," he suggested. The general manager is Jim Clayton. The program manager is Dennis Kelly. “As many people as possible need to call them and email them and let them know that we are not pleased. The email address and phone numbers they give on the website are listed below.” 570kvi@fisherradio.com 206-404-3010 206-404-4000 FAX: 206-404-3648 MAIL ADDRESS: KVI Talk Radio 570, 140 Fourth Ave. N., Suite 340, Seattle, WA 98109

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=116027

http://www.kvi.com/

_____________________________________________________________________________________

ARTICLES

Saturday's vote to create a massive government-run health-insurance program is to Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats what the Battle of Gettysburg was to the South. It will be remembered as the high point of their unswerving efforts to demand government solutions to every big problem. It was their most daring stab, deepest into enemy territory. And the creeks will fill with the political blood of the dead who charged blindly into the angry enemy fire.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/with_this_victory_dems_might_as_tGJPDn8DVfjGPNDklfi0YN

Last week was the trifecta that may have sealed health care's fate: 1) GOP wins Virginia and New Jersey (!) governor's races. 2) Business comes out swinging. 3) Unemployment over 10. To make matters worse, they force Blue Dogs and front-liners to walk the plank on the Pelosi Plan that exceeds the symbolically important $1 trillion mark, includes the public plan and a big tax increase on small business--all of which are dead-on-arrival in the Senate…The attack ads make themselves. Now Gallup finds a sudden and massive shift among Indies. And let's be honest, it's not that Indies have fallen in love with the GOP agenda, whatever that is. Far from it. They want to put a hard brake on the spending and the borrowing, and they don't want Washington messing with their health care at a time of intense economic anxiety….”

http://thepage.time.com/anonymous%E2%80%99s-take-on-what-happens-next-with-health-care/

It must have been just coincidence that the day before the Fort Hood shootings, an al-Qaeda leader on a website called for jihadists to conduct easy attacks on targets "at war with Islam." They were to use easily accessible weapons and explosives and to not "waste a lot of time finding the materials."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/a_more_likely_scenario_1.html

For the purposes of argument, let's accept the media's insistence that Major Hasan is a lone crazy. So who's nuttier? The guy who gives a lecture to other military doctors in which he says non-Muslims should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats? Or the guys who say "Hey, let's have this fellow counsel our traumatized veterans and then promote him to major and put him on a Homeland Security panel?”…..In a nutshell: The real enemy — in the sense of the most important enemy — isn’t a bunch of flea-bitten jihadis sitting in a cave somewhere. It’s Western civilization’s craziness. We are setting our hair on fire and putting it out with a hammer.”

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTg2NjkyOGE1OTY2YjhhOTI0NWU3MjA5OWU0YTI4ZDg=

The very next paragraph is going to make the nut jobs on the far left excitable beyond belief. I am not referring to all Democrats or even a majority of liberals. I am singling out the "they've-lost-all-touch-with-reality" crowd. This includes Media Matters for America led by the admitted hit-and-run, drunk-driving serial liar. The group includes the unshaven, bathrobe-clad unemployed who live in their mother's basement and are devout followers of MoveOn.Org. It is also the bitter, aging spinster working at the New York Times, the morbidly obese documentary film maker, and cable TV news' resident drama queen who hosts MSNBC's Countdown. They are about to simultaneously suffer from brain aneurisms. So without further delay, I'll say it……

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/11/11/the-man-who-despises-america

The Misfits: Eight Politicians Who Really Ought to Switch

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/12/the-misfits-eight-politicians-who-really-ought-to-switch/

As the 2010 campaign cycle begins in earnest, the central question in the House of Representatives is how many seats will Republicans win? Few political observers or elected officials doubt that an energized GOP has a headwind at its back. Despite two Democratic special election victories last week, election night 2009 suggested that the Republican base is excited and independents are disenchanted with Democrats.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29353.html

10 Senate seats most likely to flip

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29343.html

John Lott: The administration's "job creation" programs will not only leave us with a massive debt, they will continue to increase unemployment and leave us much poorer as a country. This wasn't supposed to happen. At the end of February, after the $787 billion stimulus was approved, the Obama administration predicted that unemployment would average only 8.1 percent this year. Indeed, in February the unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent. Yet,

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/10/john-lott-obama-high-unemployment-economy/

__________________________________________________________________________________________

NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES

Must see: Trace Adkins and the West Point Glee club. You’ll watch this over and over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz-3BruPdEo&feature=related

And this one needs a Kleenex warning: The happy dog reunion.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40324

Sarah’s unofficial events calendar

http://www.usatoday.com/news/mapxmlfiles/palinbooktourstops.htm?loc=interstitialskip

How low will the new American president go for the world's royalty?. “Very low bows like this are a sign of great respect and deference to a superior.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/11/obama-emperor-akihito-japan.html

__________________________________________________________________________________________

HUMOR FROM SCRAPPLEFACE

“Journalists across the nation, moved by the plight of a troubled Muslim psychiatrist whose "understandable emotional turmoil" broke out in gunfire last week at Fort Hood, Texas, will hold a major fundraising event in the coming weeks in honor of the accused shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. News coverage of the tragedy sparked reporters and anchors in the mainstream media to "reach out to Hasan in love and brotherhood because his righteous indignation at the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan led him to express his outrage in the only avenue open to a non-journalist," according to an unnamed organizer of the upcoming charity event.”

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Journalists-raise-funds-for-troubled-Fort-Hood-shooter-8506842.html

___________________________________________________________________________________________

WISE WORDS

"Great nations which fail to meet their responsibilities are consigned to the dust bin of history. We grew from that small, weak republic which had as its assets spirit, optimism, faith in God and an unshakeable belief that free men and women could govern themselves wisely. We became the leader of the free world, an example for all those who cherish freedom. If we are to continue to be that example -- if we are to preserve our own freedom -- we must understand those who would dominate us and deal with them with determination."

-Ronald Reagan