The Curse of Cassandra

"I think all Americans were quite taken with the fact that we were able, after the long history we've been through, that initial birth defect of slavery, that we've elected an African-American ... And that's enormously heartening for people in the country, but also people worldwide who still have trouble with differences." ~ Dr. Condoleeza Rice

Dr. Condoleeza Rice was opining shortly after the election of Barack Hussein Obama that his election "encouraged" people in the United States and around the world. It was an interesting choice of words from Dr. Rice, but perhaps a more fitting word would have been "emboldened".

Back in August of 2008 I wrote...

"...Like Barack Obama, I've lived in Southeast Asia, albeit a long longer than Obama did. But unlike Barack Obama I've never been subscriber to cultural or moral equivalency nor have I felt compelled to deride my own country in a a pathetic effort to establish that equivalency. I know that deriding my own country overseas only emboldens those who deny freedom and liberty to others. As an advocate of American exceptionalism, I've always felt myself compelled to spread the message of what is good about America rather than what is bad and for me that normally starts with steaming bowl of chili con carne and a plate of tacos."

One of only a few refuseniks I found myself overwhelmed and dumbfouned as I watched so many of my fellow Americans feverishly licking the Kool Aid straight from the sachet. The reality is though that throughout our world's history the message of hope and change has always trumped the ominous warnings of gloom and doom that I seemed to be purveying. For this I would suffer the curse of Cassandra.

Throughout history in times of frustration and turmoil people have found themselves drawn to either men of destiny or to the false prophets of hope and change.

So here we are now, a year later and despite having elected a prophet of hope and change, the reality is that we are still at war. Worse we have become as Bernard Lewis warned "harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend". Our enemies around the world have been emboldened by America's bumbling "Apologist in Chief" and our allies who have stood by us have been left abandoned and confounded.

After Barack Hussein Obama's speech at the United Nations, allies of ours here in Southeast Asia see Obama not only as "idealistic" and "weak" but now as an unreliable partner in the war on terrorism.

Captain Nathan Brittles would have had some advise for Barack Hussein Obama- "Never apologize Mister, it's a sign of weakness."

Islam's Battle for the White House

The Crossing of the Rubicon

Nothing New Under The Sun

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."

~ Douglas Adams

Click on the image to enlarge

H/T P.U.M.A

Damn You All To Hell !!

In more ways than one, this is the end.

"A Time for Choosing"

Forty-four years ago today, Ronald Reagan gave a speech entitled "A Time For Choosing", a speech that is as pertinent and timely today as it was back then. Listen to the speech and then replace Johnson's "Great Society" with Barack Obama's mindless mantra of "Hope" and Change" and Senator Fullbright's remarks that "the Constitution is outmoded" with Obama's claim that the Constitution of our nation is "fundamentally flawed".

For those of us who love our nation and who value property above fraternity and liberty above equality, there is but one thing we ultimately expect from someone who aspires to lead our nation... and that is that he will solemnly affirm to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States".

Very soon all of us will face our own time of choosing and the the only question we need ask ourselves is how we can expect someone to preserve, protect and defend a document that they believe is "fundamentally flawed"?

"You and I are told increasingly that we have to choose between a left or right, but I would like to suggest that there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down--up to a man's age-old dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order--or down to the ant heap totalitarianism, and regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course."

In this vote-harvesting time, they use terms like the "Great Society," or as we were told a few days ago by the President, we must accept a "greater government activity in the affairs of the people." But they have been a little more explicit in the past and among themselves--and all of the things that I now will quote have appeared in print. These are not Republican accusations.

For example, they have voices that say "the cold war will end through acceptance of a not undemocratic socialism." Another voice says that the profit motive has become outmoded, it must be replaced by the incentives of the welfare state; or our traditional system of individual freedom is incapable of solving the complex problems of the 20th century. Senator Fullbright has said at Stanford University that the Constitution is outmoded. He referred to the president as our moral teacher and our leader, and he said he is hobbled in his task by the restrictions in power imposed on him by this antiquated document. He must be freed so that he can do for us what he knows is best. And Senator Clark of Pennsylvania, another articulate spokesman, defines liberalism as "meeting the material needs of the masses through the full power of centralized government." Well, I for one resent it when a representative of the people refers to you and me--the free man and woman of this country--as "the masses." This is a term we haven't applied to ourselves in America. But beyond that, "the full power of centralized government"--this was the very thing the Founding Fathers sought to minimize. They knew that governments don't control things. A government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they know when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose.

Obama-Jugend

There is a reason why Barack Obama's mantra of "change" is so appealing to the youth of America. It's because they are too young to remember.

Never to forgive... Never to forget...

NEVER AGAIN !

Burn Baby Burn

No Bailout!

You don't PRIVATIZE profits and SOCIALIZE losses.

Obama: Throwing Papua Under the Bus

In an article entitled "A Forgotten Cause", Peter Tatchell sheds light on the plight of the West Papuans, many of whom are Christians and have suffered under Indonesia's brutal policy of ethnic and religious persecution. The untold story though is how the Obama campaign would sell out the West Papuans in a desperate attempt to protect Obama's presidential bid.

On the 3rd of July 2007, U.S. Congressman Eni Faleomavaega would touch down in Jakarta, Indonesia. A staunch outspoken critic of Jakarta's rule over West Papua, New Guinea and a crusader for West Papua’s right to self-determination, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia, The Pacific and the Global Enviroment, Faleomavaega promised to be a force to be reckoned with.

Having been barred from visiting Papau by the Indonesian government, Faleomavaega would instead settle for a private meeting in Jakarta with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Barnabas Suebu the governor for the Indonesian province of Papau. The Papuan issue though wasn't the only thing on Faleomavaega's mind, being one of Barack Obama's most devoted disciples, Faleomavaega would be seeking the Indonesian government's assistance in supporting Barack Obama's presidential campaign as well as making the requisite pilgrimage to Barack Obama's childhood school.

According to our Indonesian sources, "officials" who accompanied Faleomavaega were interested in acquiring any and all documentation or photographs of a young Barry Soetoro for America's "national archives" and they were offering cash, lots of it. In a show of faith, Barack Obama's childhood school would be one of the very first beneficiaries of this outpouring receiving thousands of dollars to upgrade the school and for the purchase of computer equipment, thanks in part to the benevolence of this visiting junket.

The challenge of course was securing Indonesian goverment records potentially damaging to Barack Obama's candidacy for the US presidency as well as other records pertaining to a young Barry Soetoro and his family wouldn't be so easy to acquire and secure, and for this, the visitors would need the assistance and cooperation of the Indonesian government.

It's not that getting Indonesian government help is difficult, it's not. It's no secret that Indonesia is one of the most corrupt countries on the planet, but we're not talking about the challenge of dealing with corrupt government officials here, but rather, dealing with the "true believers of change". Convincing the Indonesian government that an Obama presidency will be able to deliver that "change" and that it was in the interest of both countries to see that Barack Obama was elected was nothing more than a fait accompli for Faleomavaega's entourage.

For West Papau's governor in attendance, having been pacified at the prospect that an Obama presidency would enable him to make zillions trading carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange, Barnabas Suebu would sit quietly as the fate of West Papau was decided.

The only issue of contention Faleomavaega would face from the Indonesian government would be the issue of West Papau. In the end, it was simply a give and take situation. The Obama campaign needed assistance from the Indonesian government and the Indonesian government wanted a free hand in Papau.

Later concerning Faleomavaega's meeting, Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal would have this to say: "One thing that is sure is that Faleomevaega's visit here has changed his views about Indonesia. It has made him realize this country is so vast and complex it cannot be reduced by the Papua issue..." Dino said Faleomavaega was known as a US Congress member who often commented on the Papuan issue but now he had changed his views. "He now sees that Papua is inalienable part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia."

Faleomevaega's and meeting with Indonesia's president regarding West Papau and his subsequent flipflop on supporting West Papau's right to self-determination is something that you might think would warrant at least a press release on the congressman's website, but there is nothing, nor is there any mention on the House Subcommittee's site. No press release, nothing, not even a mere mention of his trip to Indonesia.

In the end, everyone got what they wanted, all to the detriment of the West Papuans.

The is no denying the fact that the prospects of an Obama presidency has emboldened the Indonesian government's brutal repression in Papau. In an earlier article, we would explain in detail how an Obama presidency would stoke ethnic and religious chauvinism in Indonesia and how Indonesia's Islamic fundamentalists will use an Obama presidency to radicalize a new contingent of militants from the ranks of Islam's moderates. Individuals who are mesmerized by the phantasmagorical image of one of their own now inhabiting the White House and who will see it as a sign of America's impending submission and our nation's acquiescence to the superiority of Islam. Tee-shirts blazoned with messianic images of Barack Hussein Obama are already starting to replace the Osama Bin Laden tee-shirts that have been so popular in Indonesia. In Indonesia Barack Obama is fast becoming the "Che Guevara" of Indonesia's young wannabe Islamists.

The Indonesian government is not only failing to protect the West Papuans from the violence of militant Islam, the government is actively stoking the fires of ethnic and religious chauvinism and supporting intimidation againstWest Papuans with many in recent days taking to the streets protesting the introduction of Islamic law.

For Indonesia's national news agency to refer to the US government as the "George Bush administration" highlights the dichotomy of opposing foreign policy positions that are being both presented and exploited by the left. That Indonesia would feel it was safe to renew their campaign of brutal repression in Papau, in the last few months of the current administration, the diplomatic sabotage conducted by the Obama campaign is partially if not wholly responsible.

Larry Martin Vs. Time Magazine

I sent Ms. Claire Suddath with Time magazine an email immediately after I read the interview with myself entitled "The Blogger Behind the Obama Hit Job". My email to Claire simply said "There were a few minor errors in your article." For a brief moment I guess I was expecting to hear back from Time magazine acknowledging the error and perhaps printing an apology and retraction, but as I hit the send button on my email I came to the bitter realization that Time magazine had accomplished exactly what they had initially set out to do and that was to damage and discredit both Dr. Corsi and myself.

In their zeal to discredit Corsi, Time Magazine takes on one of Dr. Corsi's main sources for his book "The Obama Nation", that being myself. Superciliously dismissive of both my blog and myself, Time magazine goes on to describe me as being a "less-than-authoritative source" and then proceeds with the character assassination.

"Corsi repeatedly relies on Martin's accounts of Indonesian news reports to bolster his case for Obama's connections to Islam. For example, in a translated article about a secular school that Obama later attended, Martin writes: "Each Friday, all the school childen [sic] must wear Muslim clothes and that also includes children who are non-muslim [sic]." But that line does not appear in the original news report. What was Martin's source for his repeated insistence that Obama's former school requires students to dress in traditional Muslim attire on Fridays?"

Oh, but that line does appear in the original news report and here it is in the complete context. The following line below is from the original Indonesian news report used as a source. Kaltim Post - 27 January 2007

"Itu sekolah Islam? Bukan, itu sekolah umum berstatus negeri sejak 1970. Tiap Jumat, anak sekolah mengenakan pakaian Muslimah, termasuk yang beragama non-Muslim."

It is an Islamic school? No, it has been a State school since 1970. But every Friday, the children are required to wear Muslim clothes, and that includes the non-Muslim children.

Unusual? Hardly, a US State Department report on religious freedom in Indonesia clearly states that elementary and secondary students in Indonesia are at times forced to undergo religious instruction in a religion other than their own and recently there have been reports of female Catholic students being forced to wear the Islamic veil.

Its one thing for the biased Time magazine to be superciliously dismissive of both myself and my blog. It's another to defame and libel me.


To be continued...