I’m in complete agreement with Charles Krauthammer’s column on Friday at RealClearPolitics.

What other country, when attacked in an unprovoked aggression across a recognized international frontier, is then put on a countdown clock by the world, given a limited time window in which to fight back, regardless of whether it has restored its own security?

What other country sustains 1,500 indiscriminate rocket attacks into its cities — every one designed to kill, maim and terrorize civilians — and is then vilified by the world when it tries to destroy the enemy’s infrastructure and strongholds with precision-guided munitions that sometimes have the unintended but unavoidable consequence of collateral civilian death and suffering?

Hearing the world pass judgment on the Israel-Hezbollah war as it unfolds is to live in an Orwellian moral universe. With a few significant exceptions (the leadership of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and a very few others), the world — governments, the media, U.N. bureaucrats — has completely lost its moral bearings.

The word that obviates all thinking and magically inverts victim into aggressor is “disproportionate,” as in the universally decried “disproportionate Israeli response.” 

When the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, it did not respond with a parallel “proportionate” attack on a Japanese naval base. It launched a four-year campaign that killed millions of Japanese, reduced Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to a cinder, and turned the Japanese home islands to rubble and ruin. Disproportionate? No. When one is wantonly attacked by an aggressor, one has every right — legal and moral — to carry the fight until the aggressor is disarmed and so disabled that it cannot threaten one’s security again. That’s what it took with Japan.

Britain was never invaded by Germany in World War II. Did it respond to the blitz and V-1 and V-2 rockets with “proportionate” aerial bombardment of Germany? Of course not. Churchill orchestrated the greatest land invasion in history that flattened and utterly destroyed Germany, killing untold innocent German women and children in the process.

The perversity of today’s international outcry lies in the fact that there is indeed a disproportion in this war, a radical moral asymmetry between Hezbollah and Israel: Hezbollah is deliberately trying to create civilian casualties on both sides while Israel is deliberately trying to minimize civilian casualties, also on both sides.

What on earth has happened since the moral resolve and clarity of the “Greatest Generation” that America is viewed as moral equivalents to beheaders, dictators and rapists.  There are many (some GP readers) who still think that 9/11 was America’s Fault and not another battle in a World War declared on the West by Islamic fascists.

Of course the results of this survey speaks volumes, doesn’t it?

A plurality of 46% say protecting Israel’s right to exist is more important than securing an immediate ceasefire. Again, men (55%) and Republicans (62%) are more likely than women (37%) and Democrats (36%) to say protecting Israel should be the priority.

It is time for a war to be waged on all fronts in World War III.  A war where there is nothing demanded of our enemies (nations and their terror-backed groups alike) except total and unconditional surrender.

**UPDATE** – Jules Crittenden at the Boston Herald weighs in with “this war must not end.“

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

LittleGreenFootballs hits the nail on the head. 

You can almost see Reuters writer Daisuke Wakabayashi sweating over every line of this report on the terror attack on the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle: Fatal Seattle Jewish center shooting a ‘hate crime’.

Here’s the text of the Reuters’ story:

SEATTLE (Reuters) – A lone gunman burst into a Jewish organization in downtown Seattle on Friday, killing one woman and wounding five others in what authorities were calling a hate crime.

Police said the gunman had been arrested without a struggle inside the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, where the shooting took place, and was being questioned by police.

The gunman is a U.S. citizen, and police said initial contacts with him by phone while he was inside the building indicated that he was a Muslim.

Amy Wasser-Simpson, the federation’s vice president, told the Seattle Times in a story on its Web site that the man got past security at the building and shouted, “I’m a Muslim American; I’m angry at Israel,” before he began shooting. [They couldn't avoid this admission, since the Seattle Times already broke the story. —ed.]

“This was a purposeful, hateful act as far as we know, by an individual acting alone,” said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels at a news conference, adding “This is a crime of hate.”

Or in another version of the Lone Gunman Hate Crime (against Jews and Americans), there is this explanation:  Sudden Jihad Syndrome (h/t: Michelle Malkin)

Individual Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered potential killers.  I wrote those words days after 9/11 and have been criticized for them ever since.

This is what I have dubbed the “Sudden Jihad Syndrome,” whereby normal-appearing Muslims abruptly become violent. It has the awful but legitimate consequence of casting suspicion on all Muslims. Who knows whence the next jihadi? How can one be confident a law-abiding Muslim will not suddenly erupt in a homicidal rage? Yes, of course, their numbers are very small, but they are disproportionately much higher than among non-Muslims.

There is a dead cat on the table and the American News Media chooses to ignore it.  Patterico illustrates this perfectly in his hilarious investigation into the Los Angeles’ Times “mystery” about the shooting.

Yes, if you ask the editors of the Los Angeles Times, it’s an utter mystery why the shootings occurred.

Then he repeated his name and gave his Social Security number, adding: “I just want us to get out of Iraq. I’m an American too, but I want our people out of Iraq.”

By Jove, Watson! I do believe we are getting closer to the solution of this indecipherable enigma!

The AP gives us further leads in this story:

Seattle police said Haq picked up the two handguns and spare ammunition just days earlier, and appeared to have targeted the federation after a cursory Internet search for Jewish organizations.

Remember that, Watson! “Jewish organizations.” Why, I do believe that was the very type of organization that ended up being targeted! Yes, I believe we may be onto something here.

The game’s afoot!

We’ll examine what the paper may have really meant using the paper’s own style of burying context: by placing it below the fold.

The American News Media and their comrades in the MadLibsDemocrat Party are beginning to treat Islamism as they did Communism when there was a similar threat to the USA — ignore it, apologize for it, condone it, assist it.Can we really afford to have this group governing our nation?  After all, “Clinton Slept While Al-Qaeda Planned 9/11.”

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Again, more information that you won’t hear on the evening news since their reporters are too scared to go out with our American heroes….

Iraqi Forces Divert Mission To Aid Kidnapped Citizen – CentCom

BALAD – During a pre-dawn raid in Baghdad on July 26 to capture a ‘death squad’ member, Iraqi forces diverted their mission to free an Iraqi citizen who was abducted and being beaten by two unknown assailants.  

As the Iraqi forces moved toward their original objective in the Abu Ghurayb area of Baghdad, they discovered an Iraqi citizen who was bound and being beaten by two men while he lay on the ground. 

The Iraqi assault force surprised the kidnappers and an exchange of gunfire ensued.  During the gun fight, one of the kidnappers and the hostage were wounded while the second kidnapper fled the scene.  Both were treated on the scene by a U.S. Army Special Forces medic who was with the Iraqi forces in an advisory capacity.

The hostage and the kidnapper were evacuated immediately to a nearby U.S. military medical facility for emergency treatment.  Both are expected to recover.  The hostage was abducted at approximately 10 p.m. on July 25 as he returned home from work.

No Iraqi or coalition forces were injured during this operation.

This news item didn’t exist for the MSM because there’s no video.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I’ve taken inspiration from James at OutsideTheBeltway after reading this posting (h/t: Instapundit).  He has a great set of commenting policies that as of today I’m going to enforce here at GayPatriot.

Commenting and Trackbacks: Commenting and trackback/pingback capability is provided to encourage thoughtful discussion of the ideas posted on this site. We welcome open debate and viewpoints that differ from those of the post authors. That said, we wish to keep the conversation civil and the following policies, subject to change without notice, apply:

• Remember that the people under discussion are human beings. Comments that contain personal attacks about the post author or other commenters will be deleted. Repeated violators will be banned. Challenge the ideas of those with whom you disagree, not their patriotism, decency, or integrity.
• The use of profanity stronger than that normally permitted on network television is prohibited. A substantial number of people read this site from an office or in a family environment.

And, for good measure, it is probably time to again reference the “About GayPatriot” page so everyone can review our full disclosure statements. 

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

As I work on an essay for my grad program on some of the mythological elements in The Lord of the Rings, Hugh Hewitt is running a contest asking “which American blogger is which LOTR character.” I’ve had fun playing with this for the past few days and here are my answers:

Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs as Merry. Jovial, but also a tenacious fighter for what is right. (Gateway Pundit also qualifies as Merry figure.)

Roger Simon is King Théoden of Rohan, a wise elder, whom reality (9/11 for Roger as Saruman’s attacks for the King) knocked out of his stupor. (Roger voted for Gore in 2000.)

Instapundit as Elrond, wise about so many things.

Captain Ed of Captain’s Quarter’s as Gimli, the dwarf of the book, not the movie. Full of common sense and eager to fight for what is right.

Victor Davis Hanson as Gandalf, possessing the wisdom of the ages.

Michelle Malkin and Tammy Bruce as Éowyn, a courageous woman who championed those she loved.

Such mibloggers as Austin Bay, Belmont Club, Black Five and Mudville Gazette embody the qualities of Eomer, Erkenbrand and Prince Imrahil, warriors of Rohan and Gondor, who boldly lead their troops against the forces of the enemy. And Uncle Jimbo of Military Matters as Faramir.

Powerline as the Dúnedain, great scholars and the leaders of the Men of the West.

The Anchoress as Galadriel, a wise woman with a wisdom more spiritual than martial. (If Peggy were a blogger, she would also be a fitting Galadriel.)

While other bloggers suggested Andrew Sullivan as Denethor, I believe the more appropriate comparison would be to Saruman. Coming to Middle-Earth in the early centuries of the Third Age, this wise wizard was head of once head of his order, the Istari, dispatched form the Undying Lands to endure, as Tolkien wrote in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth, “of free will the pangs of exile and the deceits of Sauron they might redress the evils of that time.”

For much of the time (many centuries) after his arrival in Middle-Earth, Saruman waged the good fight against the Dark Lord just as Andrew once stood strongly against the evils of our time. It was only the decades immediately preceding the narrative (i.e., the time in which the Lord of the Rings took place) that Saruman began to turn.

Saruman’s Elvish name Curunír means “Man of Skill.” Andrew has great skill as a writer and debater. And just as Saruman fell because he became obsessed with the Ring, so Andrew fell because of a similar obsession.

UPDATE: The Anchoress, who, I believe, embodies Galadriel’s feminine wisdom, weighs in with her own selectons and links to the Lord of the Rings Character Test. I ended up as Celeborn, spouse to Galadriel who, the movie notwithstanding, remains behind in Middle-Earth into the Fourth Age. He would be the Last of the Eldar to depart for the Undying Lands.

UP-UPDATE: The Malcontent’s Robbie is clearly Pippin. Those who read his blog will understand.

UP-UP-UPDATE: In the comments, some have criticized my choice of Andrew as Saruman. As I acknowledge in Comment #14, they raise some valuable points. While both are wise and suffer from an obsession, Andrew certainly has not gone as far over to the dark side as had Saruman. It seems those who compare Sullivan to Denethor may be closer to the mark.

It is about friggin time that our Justice Department starts cracking down on the Traitors of Our Time (liberal career bureaucrats). 

On Wednesday, July 26, Russell Tice, former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence analyst and a member of National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), was approached outside his home by two FBI agents who served him with a subpoena to testify in front of a federal grand jury. NSWBC has obtained a copy of the subpoena issued for Mr. Tice’s testimony and is releasing it to the public for the first time. The subpoena directs Mr. Tice to appear before the jury on August 2, 2006 at 1:00 p.m. in the Eastern District of Virginia. Mr. Tice “will be asked to testify and answer questions concerning possible violations of federal criminal law.”

Now if only Congress would have the balls to conduct serious and week-long televised investigation hearings into all of the recent leaks by Federal employees who side with al-Qaeda and against you and I.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Via Oakleaf @ Polipundit:

Senator Rick Santorum on Sean Hannity today [Thurs July 27] (5:00 PM EST) has announced a document ( ISGQ-2005-00022470 Title: “Information from a source about the transfer of weapons of mass destruction to Syria prior to the attack of the Coalition Forces on Iraq”) has been released by the “US Army Foreign Military Studies Office” that convoys consisting of 50 trucks carried an unknown cargo to Syria from Baghdad before the American invasion. The trucks were accompanied by Iraqi Intelligence. Upon arrivial at the Syria border, Syrian Inteligence took the trucks and emptied the cargo.

But I suppose if Jesus himself came down with Holy Videotape showing the WMDs being handed over to the Syrians by Iraqi intel…. the MadLibs would still scream “Bush Lied, My Brain Is Fried!”   Or something like that….

By the way, whatever became of those mysterious floating ships that left Iraqi ports as the Coalition Invasion began?  I don’t suppose any of the major networks would actually do some reporting on that missing WMD link, either?  Luckily we have the blogosphere:

In addition to the truck convoys, which carried Iraqi WMD to Syria and Lebanon in February and March 2003 “two Russian ships set sail from the (Iraqi) port of Umm Qasr headed for the Indian Ocean,” where Shaw believes they “deep-sixed” additional stockpiles of Iraqi WMD from flooded bunkers in southern Iraq that were later discovered by U.S. military intelligence personnel.

It would be nice if the Mainstream Media and their comrades in the MadLibDemocrat Party actually cared anymore about finding the truth about any subject.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Why “of the Month“?  ‘Cuz I’m too damn busy and lazy to do “of the day” or “of the week“.

Here’s a big GayPatriot shout-out to Brandon and the Yahoo Group: Gay and Conservative.

A SOCIO-POLITICAL GROUP FOR GLBT PERSONS WHO ARE “CONSERVATIVE.” AND/OR PATRIOTIC. DISCUSSIONS OF TOPICS RANGING FROM LIFE IN THE USA TO POLITICS AND NEWS, GAY LIFE, AND DOMESTIC ISSUES.

***WARNING!***  WIT, BANTER, HUMOR AND AN EDUCATED-OPEN MIND ARE REQUIRED AND ENCOURAGED.

It sounds like the perfect place for GayPatriots!  I joined this week and hope you all will check it out too.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

I’ve been trying to resist posting on this, but I just can’t… my apologies.

I guess my “gaydar” is bad when it comes to “boy bands” because I was personally surprised to hear Lance Bass is gay.  And it sounds like one of the “worst kept secret” in Hollywood.  

Of course I was even more shocked to hear that his boyfriend is Reichen Lehmkuhl.  (Way to go, Lance!  Thumbs up!)

Anyway, I think is is pretty cool that Lance came out — in a place and time of his choosing.  I’m glad to see his network of friends are supporting him…

Justin Timberlake says his former ‘N Sync bandmate Lance Bass, who has revealed that he’s gay, has his support.

“Lance is one of my great friends,” Timberlake said in a statement issued by his rep, Ken Sunshine, and reported Thursday by People.com. “I support him and wish him all the happiness in the world.”

Another former ‘N Sync-er, Joey Fatone, told People: “He took years to really think about how he was going to tell everyone. I back him up 100 percent.” Bass and Fatone are developing a sitcom pilot inspired by “The Odd Couple.”

I’m also glad to see that Lance didn’t see a need to get all political with his coming out and that overall this doesn’t seem to be a big deal.

And now, I guess he can publicly be one of Kathy Griffin’s “Gays”.

Access Hollywood reported Thursday that Lance’s announcement was, obviously, old news to friend Kathy Griffin.

“I’ve known that Lance was gay forever, it’s no big deal,” Griffin said. “He had really been hounded quite a bit and, you know, he’s in a relationship and he wanted to be able to go hang out with this person and not be running from bloggers.”

How about that….. there were bloggers threatening to out Lance because he is gay and they had no regard for his privacy or impact they would have on his friends and family.  Why does this sound sooooooo familiar?

I guess I’m really most shocked about Lance because, as Vera Charles might say, “Gays don’t do outer space.”

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

If Dale Carpenter had not specified in the text of his thorough (and thoughtful) piece on the Washington State gay marriage decision that in calling July the “cruelest month” he meant that it was particularly cruel for “gay-marriage litigants,” I might disagree with him. While gay marriage advocates experienced many setbacks in state and federal courts in the past few weeks, it was not entirely a dismal month for gay marriage. For in these judicial defeats, there seems to be a new resolve among gay activists to press this issue in more appropriate fora — state legislatures.

I am delighted to note that, in the immediate aftermath of the state Supreme Court’s decision, Ed Murray (D-Seattle), “the state’s only openly gay legislator announced he will introduce a bill to legalize same-sex nuptials.” And he’s not alone. Even Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solomonese vows to push for gay marriage in the state legislature.

While I commend Solomonese for recognizing that importance of moving the debate to a more appropriate body, I wonder at his understanding of America. In his release on the Washington State marriage decision, he said, “America is built on the values of fairness and equality.” Perhaps were he more familiar with our founding documents, Solomonese would realize that our nation is built on a number of ideals, primarily, freedom (or liberty).

While The Declaration of Independence notes that “all men are created equal,” it makes clear that our “unalienable Rights” include “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Similarly, the Constitution indicates that it was ordained and established in order to, among other things “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

It’s unfortunate that Log Cabin’s release borrowed heavily from the rhetoric of the national gay groups in its release on the decision. That said, there were two things which pleased me about the release. First, like the other gay groups, Log Cabin recognizes the importance of turning to legislatures.

I particularly liked this line from Ken Nielsen, President of Log Cabin’s Washington State chapter (the only person quoted in the release), “Sharing our stories and explaining why all families deserve basic protections and responsibilities will help move more citizens and lawmakers to our side.” With these words, he provides a succinct statement of what needs to be done.

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Back before I found myself writing scripts, if a friend dissected the plot of a movie that I enjoyed, I would reply, “But, it’s a movie.” While I have since cast a more critical eye on screen stories, I still delight in movies which entertain without offering much substance. Yet, sometimes now, I still have to remind myself that it’s just a movie and that if it entertains, it doesn’t have to make perfect sense.

To be sure, I find the better movies are those which entertain us and remind us of those things which matter most or whose very stories — or elements of the stories — spur us to serious thought and conversation. Those are the types of screenplay ideas which most readily come to my mind, those which I have written and still strive to write.

Last night I saw a movie which, to quote a friend who saw it before I, had “plot holes you could drive a truck through,” found myself thoroughly entertained. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest will certainly not rank with Star Wars as a movie which entertains and enlightens, but it certainly did entertain. In many ways, it was like its inspiration — a theme park ride. While theme park rides don’t provide much spiritual sustenance, they tend to be a lot of fun.

I saw the flick last night with a straight friend from my Arlington Republican days. And fortunately, after the flick, we had enough catching up today that we didn’t talk too much about the movie, except to say that we enjoyed it despite its story flaws. After seeing War of the Worlds last summer with another friend, we went to dinner and started talking about the flick. And while I had enjoyed the film, the conversation caused me to focus on its flaws. I guess we appreciate some movies more if we just enjoy them — and don’t think too much about them after.

Another setback today for the gay marriage folks from a liberal state court.   (Andersen vs. King County)

Wash. Court Upholds Gay Marriage Ban – Washington Post

The Washington Supreme Court upheld the state’s ban on gay marriage Wednesday, dealing the gay rights movement its second major defeat in less than a month in another liberal-leaning state that had been regarded as a promising battleground.

Massachusetts is still the only state that allows same-sex couples to wed.

In a 5-4 decision, the court said lawmakers have the power to restrict marriage to a man and a woman, and it left intact the state’s 1998 Defense of Marriage Act.

Earlier this month, New York’s high court dealt gay couples a similar blow when it upheld a state law against gay marriage.

Some initial reaction from GayOrbit….

Marriage is about child-rearing and pro-creation. 

Personally, I think judges are getting squeamish about ruling in favor of the gays.

And thoughts from Dale Carpenter over at The Volokh Conspiracy…

For gay-marriage litigants, July has been the cruelest month. Prior to today’s 5-4 Washington Supreme Court decision in Andersen v. King County, there were two substantive state marriage decisions against them (New York and Connecticut), one quasi-substantive federal decision against them (the 8th Circuit, whose broad dicta went beyond the state constitutional ban at issue), and three procedural decisions against them upholding the propriety of ballot initiatives (Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Georgia). 

But this may turn out to be the hardest day of all. Andersen is the most careful, closely reasoned, and comprehensive judicial opinion to date rejecting constitutional claims to gay marriage. It is much better, as a matter of conventional legal analysis and craftsmanship, than the New York Court of Appeals decision in Hernandez v. Robles rejecting gay-marriage claims a couple of weeks ago. Since the principles and arguments on this issue from state-to-state, and even in the federal courts, are not that different, the Washington decision will deserve close attention from other courts.

And finally this from Log Cabin Republicans in Washington State…

“Log Cabin Republicans of Washington are committed to educating citizens and lawmakers about the importance of enacting civil marriage equality in this state,” said Ken Nielsen, the President of Log Cabin’s Washington State chapter.

“Log Cabin will work with other organizations in the years ahead to educate and lobby lawmakers about why civil marriage equality should be enacted.  Sharing our stories and explaining why all families deserve basic protections and responsibilities will help move more citizens and lawmakers to our side.  Civil marriage equality for gay or lesbian couples is truly a conservative goal that will improve the lives of all Americans,” said Nielsen.

“Civil marriage equality”??  When did this phrase start being used by the Gay Lobby? Or is Nielsen onto something that the Human Rights Campaign, Log Cabin National and Natl. Gay & Lesbian Task Force have missed for years?  Perhaps they should have been pursuing “civil marriage equality” instead of alienating 70% of America with their tactics of “marriage only.”

All I know is…. I’m just glad Dale Carpenter does the reading and thinking for me.  *grin*

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Just over five months ago after United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan said that the U.S. should close down the detention facility for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, I wondered if he had “asked China, Cuba, Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe and other nations which incarcerate and torture political opponents to close down their detention facilities.” Although that post was linked by a number of blogs, not a single person wrote in with evidence that Kofi had asked any of these tyrannies to shut down prisons where there are actual documented cases of torture.

I did a variety of google searches to see if I could come up with any example of Kofi asking these tyrannies to shut down their prisons, focusing on Iran. I could not find any. Although Annan did ask Iran to release a political prisoner from Evin Prison, Annan did not ask the Islamicist regime to shut that notorious facility down. Unlike Guantanamo where the U.S. detains terrorist suspects, at Evin, Iran detains political prisoners whose crime is not taking up arms, but merely speaking out. The left-leaning Human Rights Watch found that “abuse and torture of dissidents have increased in Evin Prison’s solitary cells and secret detention centers. “

Asking that the U.S. shut down Guantanamo while remaining silent about a far worse facility in Iran, Kofi Annan seems ever eager to attack the West for alleged human rights’ violations while remaining silent when tyrannies and terrorist organizations commit far worse atrocities. We saw this attitude again this week when Kofi Annan assumed the worst when Israeli fire hit a United Nations outpost near Khiyam in southern Lebanon. Almost immediately, Annan accused “Israeli Defense Forces” of “apparently deliberate targeting” of the post.

Perhaps had Mr. Annan insisted that UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) fulfill its mandate to “restore the international peace and security, and help the Lebanese Government restore its effective authority in the area,” the UN outpost might have escaped damage. For while the United Nations certified that Israel complied with its obligations to leave Lebanon in 2000, it did nothing to disband and disarm the militias operating there, as mandated by Security Council Resolution 1559.

It wasn’t just that the UN did nothing to disarm Hezbollah, that terrorist organization also took of the world body’s complaisance, launching rockets and setting up terror operations from spots close to UN outposts. Indeed, the Canadian soldier from the UN force who was killed by the Israeli strike had complained that:

Hizbullah fighters were all over his position and the IDF were (sic) targeting them and that’s a favorite trick by people who don’t have representation in the UN. They use the UN as shields knowing that they can’t be punished for it.

(Via Captain’s Quarters.) It’s thus clear that Israel did not deliberately attack the outpost as the Secretary General suggested. The real question is that why the United Nations did nothing to prevent terrorists from setting up camp near their outposts — and using the cover of these outposts to launch attacks on the civilian population of a sovereign nation.

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When it comes to criticizing the president, it seems some people just can’t help themselves. I’ll do a post on some topic or another without mentioning the president and one of our critics will rant against the president or rail against “Bushco” whatever that is. And it’s not just on this blog. No matter how short my drive is in West Hollywood or Hollywood, I am certain to catch sight of a number of cars sporting anti-Bush bumper stickers.

This weekend at the pro-Israel rally in Los Angeles was no different. The two primary partisan speaker’s, the Golden State’s Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the City of Angels’ Democratic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, stuck to the theme of the event, delivering strong speeches supporting the Jewish State’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah terrorists. Neither man attacked his political adversaries, nor even directed asides against them.

Democratic Congressman Howard Berman, however, felt it incumbent upon himself to attack the Administration and congressional leadership. He was trying to make the point that despite the deep partisan divisions in Washington today, both parties were united around their support for Israel. He could have said all that without attacking the Administration.

I don’t how many times I have heard people, for no apparent reason, launch into broadsides against the president — even in a conversation which has nothing to do with politics. While people should speak up and voice their concerns when they disagree with a political leader’s actions or words, I wonder why these people are so obsessed with their hatred of the president that they blame him for everything that goes wrong in the world — and sometimes even in their own personal lives.

No wonder John Kerry recently said in Michigan that if he were president the current crisis in the Middle East would not have happened. He knew that his liberal audience would warm to any notion which lay the blame for the latest world crisis on George W. Bush.

Our adversaries falsely accuse us of taking issue with anyone who utters the slightest criticism of the president. Some claim we — and other conservatives — worship him as some Great Leader who could do no wrong. Yet, they seem to think he’s quite the opposite, a demon who can do no right. So obsessed are they with their demon that they attack him at any given moment, just so they can make clear how much they hate him.

But, their obsession makes me wonder not so much about the president’s faults, but why they hate so much — and so readily express their animosity.

-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com

Here’s an item you won’t see tonight on the evening news or in the al-New York Times (thanks for that one, NDT!).

Death Squad Cell in Baghdad Taken Down – CentCom email

BALAD – Iraqi Army forces conducted a pre-dawn raid in Baghdad on July 25, capturing six targeted insurgents, all of whom are believed to be involved in ‘death squad’ activities. 

As coalition force advisers looked on, Iraqi forces raided an objective in southwest Baghdad consisting of four separate buildings and captured the cell leader and five other key members of an insurgent “punishment committee.”  

Iraqi forces also seized two AK-47 assault rifles, one pistol, and one set of body armor.    The operation occurred without incident; there were no Iraqi or coalition force casualties.

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

While folks like Raj and Ian think that there are concentration camps in Idaho and that Muslims/Palestinians are our friends, President Bush shows that being straight or gay has no bearing on his decisions to put qualified people into important roles.

Bush nominates gay man to head global AIDS office – Washington Blade

President Bush nominated gay physician Mark R. Dybul July 17 to be United States Global AIDS Coordinator, a post at the State Department that has the rank of ambassador. If the U.S. Senate ratifies his nomination, Dybul would replace pharmaceutical industry executive Randall Tobias as head of a $15 billion program initiated by Bush and approved by Congress to combat AIDS in developing countries, with a focus on Africa. Bush appointed Tobias to another administration post. “[Dybul] is widely recognized as someone highly qualified for this position,” said Carl Schmid, a gay Republican activist who serves as federal affairs director for the AIDS Institute, a national AIDS advocacy group. Dybul currently serves as acting U.S. global AIDS coordinator and chief medical officer at the State Department. He would become the third openly gay person to hold a U.S. ambassadorial position. President Clinton appointed businessman and philanthropist James Hormel as ambassador to Luxemburg. In his first term in office, Bush appointed gay career Foreign Service Officer Michael Guest as ambassador to Romania.

Um wait.. let me understand.  President Bush has nominated two gay men for ambassador roles for the United States and Gay Messiah Clinton (father of DOMA and DADT) only nominated one?  Oh and by the way, Romania is a key ally in the War on Terror (*cough* unlike France *cough*), so Michael Guest representing the United States is a very big deal.

Ah, more busting of myths!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Last week, many conservative pundits and bloggers criticized Pat Buchanan for calling Israel’s military actions against Hezbollah “un-Christian.” John Podhoretz called the one-time Nixon aide’s comments “anti-Semitism” while the more diplomatic Glenn Reynolds declined to say what he’d “call Pat Buchanan.”

Although Buchanan still styles himself a conservative, in the years since working for the greatest Republican president of the last century, has turned from nearly every cause his one-time boss championed, including the Gipper’s strong support for Israel.

While there was a time when a number of prominent American conservatives opposed U.S. support for Israel, today, nearly every sensible conservative stands with the Jewish State. And this not merely due to the decline of anti-Semitism on the Right. Today, serious conservatives recognize that, in fighting Hezbollah, Israel is defending Western Civilization against terrorism. These conservatives see Israel’s battle as one front in the War on Terror.

Perhaps, were Mr. Buchanan not obsessed with Jews (as he is with gays), he would understand that Lebanese Christians (many Catholic like he) are also eager to see Hezbollah defeated.

I would say that Pat Buchanan represents the last of the conservative anti-Semites. Except that in 1992, Pat Buchanan made clear that he was no longer a Reagan conservative. As you may recall, in his celebrated speech to the Republican National Convention that summer, not only did he make angry statements, but he spoke far longer than the time allotted to him, thus, delaying the speech of the man who was to speak later that evening, a man whose ideas Buchanan once claimed to have championed — Ronald Wilson Reagan.

By going over his time limit, Pat Buchanan bumped that great American’s speech out of prime time. It would be Ronald Reagan’s last address to a Republican National Convention. Any true Republican, knowing that he was speaking before Ronald Reagan, would, instead of extending his remarks (as Buchanan did), have cut them short, out of respect for the then-octogenarian Gipper. And acknowledged how humbled he was to be on the same platform as that great man.

But, apparently indifferent to delaying Reagan’s speech, Buchanan, in his arrogance, rambled on and on, his angry remarks hurting his party. On that day in 1992, Pat Buchanan, in deed if not in word, abandoned contemporary conservatism and cast his lot with those on the extreme fringe, his hateful words contrasting so clearly with Ronald Reagan’s optimistic vision.

So, this month, when Pat Buchanan criticizes Israel, he does so not as a representative of contemporary American conservatism, but of a conservatism long past, whose reactionary attitudes were melted away by the velveteen voice of Ronald Wilson Reagan — and that good man’s appeal to our best hopes and the noble ideals on which this great nation was built.

-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com

WELCOME INSTAPUNDIT READERS!!! And I don’t dispute Glenn’s apellation for Buchanan.

GayPatriot covered the Iranian hangings extensively last year when the news got out and, in fact, we were the avenue that brought the slaughter to the attention of the conservative blogosphere.

Due to returning from vacation and pressing matters at work last week, I was unable to mark the 1st Year anniversary of the Iranian gay youth hangings.  I did keep the emails I received from the British group, OutRage! 

To mark the first anniversary of Iran’s hanging of two gay teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, gay campaign groups OutRage! and IDAHO have declared 19 July 2006 an International Day of Action Against Homophobic Persecution in Iran (IDAAHOPI).

They are calling for worldwide protests against the “murderous homophobic Iranian regime” and “in commemoration of Asgari and Marhoni, the two gay teenagers executed in the city of Mashhad on 19 July last year.”

19 July protests are confirmed in five cities: Amsterdam, London, Provincetown, San Diego and San Francisco.

How come there is no mention of the Iranian hangings at America’s Leading Gay Rights Organization’s website — Human Rights Campaign?  Perhaps George Bush is too much of an enemy for them to battle and not Islamic fascist regimes actually murdering gays?

I don’t recall seeing much of this happening anywhere in the USA…

… of course I don’t live in the hateful and made-up world that the GayLeft Fundamentalists live in either… 

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Back in the early 1990s when I was coming out, a friend who had come out about the same time as I used to go to gay bars alone every weekend. He never really had a good time and never succeeded in finding a boy friend there. Despite his lack of success at these establishments, he kept returning, once telling me he did so, not because he enjoyed it but because he couldn’t think of any other way of meeting guys.

All of us, including yours truly, have repeated similar behaviors — continuing to do the one thing in the hopes it would achieve a certain objective, even as experience has taught us otherwise.

As my friend continually returned to gay bars in the hope of there finding a boyfriend so too do various pundits and world leaders demand we return to the United Nations (UN) to stop the current hostilities in the Middle East. And this despite the fact that in recent years, the United Nations has been ineffective in promoting peace, stopping violence and ending mass murder, particularly in the past few decades — and especially in the Middle East.

Perhaps the reason UN Secretary General Kofi Annan didn’t mention Security Council Resolution 1559 in his address last week to the Council was that that resolution, by calling for “the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias,” was supposed to have prevented the current hostilities from taking place. But, because the UN failed to enforce this resolution, Hezbollah, a militia operating in Lebanon, remained armed and was thus more easily able to violate Israel’s border and instigate this war.

Since the United Nations failed to enforce its own resolution, Israel, whose very existence is threatened by this terrorist militia, has had to act on its own to disarm it — and so help fulfill the UN’s mandate.

Just as Israel recognizes the failure of the United Nations to provide a solution to the threat of this terror organization, so has my friend learned of the failure of gay bars to serve as meeting places for a potential partner. He has long since stopped going there as he once did.

Despite the many failures of the United Nations, all too many pundits and world leaders have not been able to learn from experience. And while the UN has proven a grave disappointment to those who believe in the lofty ideals of its founding, those who don’t see gay bars as the ideal locale to meet a boyfriend, but instead as places for gay people to hang out with their friends, realize that these places aren’t so bad after all and aren’t nearly as disappointed. At least we can find a positive aspect to these imperfect establishments.

Shorn of our idealistic expectations of gay bars, we find them to be pleasant places to have a good time. But, without our idealistic vision of the United Nations, it is nothing more than an ineffective institution whose officials put their own delusions of superiority on display while exacerbating the problems of the world. Gay bars may have their faults and may provide environments spurring some individuals to bad behavior, but they also provide an environment where responsible individuals can enjoy themselves.

And in that sense, gay bars succeed far more frequently than does the United Nations.

-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com

UPDATE: To answer some of my critics, please note that France favors returned to the UN: “France has said a multinational force should be placed under United Nations authority.” (Via Captain’s Quarter’s).

**UPDATE** – After I wrote this post, I found out that the Gay Pride parade was cancelled due to the War On Terror conflict spreading to Israel/Lebanon** 

If you had any doubt as to who to back in the Isreali Theatre in the War on Terror/WWII, perhaps this will remind you of something:  Islamic Fundamentalists want gays eradicated from their society. (Hat tip: Efrat from Israel…. cool, or what?)

A ripple of laughter went through the meeting when MK Ibrahim Sarsur (United Arab List-Ta’al) said, “I have never had to participate in such a discussion, because in Muslim society we don’t have this problem.”

“As Muslims, we are obligated to religious law and it (homosexuality) is an unacceptable and condemned phenomenon, which should not be given any opportunities.”

This is truly World War III — Islamic Fascism versus Western Democracies.  The American Gay Left has made it pretty clear by their silence about Islamism and their anti-war promotion who they are against — The United States and our allies.

Whose side are you on?

-Bruce (GayPatriot)