Wednesday, December 22, 2004
 WORTH THE PRICE?
Yesterday we had a caller, I think his name was Hayden, who wanted to know if I thought that 1000 lost American lives was a price worth paying for deposing Saddam Hussein. Good question. Fair question. And it's a question that many people would try to finesse. I didn't. The answer was "yes." We've covered this before, but it bears repeating. Sometimes you make a decision based on the consequences of failure to act. Various types of insurance are an example. You don't buy car insurance because you expect to be in an accident. You buy car insurance because the consequences of getting in an accident without that insurance are something you don't want to deal with. Certainly Saddam Hussein could have been left in the seat of power in Iraq. One could say that the odds might have been pretty strong that no great calamity would have befallen the United States if Saddam had been left alone. We already know the cost of removing Saddam; over 1000 American lives and the deaths of many Iraqis. What, though, could have been the potential worst-case cost of leaving him in power? We know that Saddam had chemical weapons. He used them to kills tens of thousands of Iranians and his own people. We know that Saddam had biological weapons. We also know that Saddam was working on developing a nuclear weapon. People have conveniently forgotten that Iraqi nuclear scientist who stepped forward and led coalition officials to the equipment Saddam had ordered buried in his back yard ... equipment used to develop weapons-grade uranium. So let's say we leave Saddam alone. We're just not willing to pay the price to depose him. Almost certainly Iraqis would continue to die at his hands by the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. Saddam's grave diggers would have genuine job security. And, once Saddam figured out that the United States was not going to act against him, he most certainly would have cranked up his weapons programs again. How long would it have been before Saddam managed to build his first nuclear devise? Oh, you say we could have prevented that with UN inspectors and a policy of containment? Containment, you say? Like the oil-for-food program? Yeah, that worked, didn't it? And how many times did Saddam kick inspectors out of Iraq? The only time inspectors were allowed any freedom of operation in Iraq at all was during those periods when Saddam genuinely feared a US military strike. Remove that threat and inspectors are gone. What might be the price we pay for failing remove Hussein? The 9/11 Commission made it clear that there were contacts between Saddam and Al Qaeda. We also know that Saddam openly financed and rewarded terrorist attacks against Israel. Saddam showed every willingness to support terrorist causes, who's to say that he wouldn't have placed some of his chemical, biological or nuclear materials with Islamic terrorists? Could one of Saddam's bombs make it into a container on a ship bound for New York? Can you see that container being loaded on a truck bound for midtown Manhattan? What price would we pay then? What price would our 20-20 hindsight tell us was too much to pay to prevent the 100,000 dead that would result from a terrorist nuclear attack in New York? Saddam wasn't deposed just to avoid the negative consequences of his continuing in power. There were positive benefits to pursue also. Like it or not, admit it or not, but the world is experiencing yet another world war. This is the war against radical Islam. Islam was once the dominant cultural, military and political force in the world. Islam's slide to degenerate obscurity was partially brought about by its continued denial of even the most basic freedoms to its people. Today a powerful and capable Islamic fundamentalist movement is determined to reinstate Islam to what they believe its God-ordained role as the world's dominant and ruling religion. These Islamic radicals will use any tool, including murder on a scale unimaginatively massive, to achieve that goal. In the short term the greatest weapon that can be brought to bear against Islamic terrorism is brute, unrelenting force. In the long term the greatest weapon would be freedom. If the United States and its coalition succeeds in Iraq -- and it must succeed -- in taking the largest and potentially wealthiest country in the Middle East and converting it into a showcase of freedom with a government freely elected by its people, the United States would have dealt a devastating blow to the cause of Taliban-type Islamic fundamentalism. The desire to be free is universal (except, perhaps, in the United States). Show the virtually enslaved people of the Middle East that freedom can be theirs and they'll do their part to defeat the cause of the Islamic terrorists who vow to attack and kill us. If ... hopefully when ... the United States and its coalition partners succeed in creating in Iraq a government freely elected by the people and a government that recognizes and upholds the rights of those people history will show it to be one of the greatest accomplishments for the cause of true world peace and freedom ever achieved by any nation. Many of the men and women who have given their lives in Iraq recognized this. Too bad more American's don't. OK -- SO YOU DON'T WANT US TO BE THE "WORLD'S POLICEMAN" Emotions ran strong after that attack on the mess tent in Mosul yesterday. One listener emailed his opinion that the United States just "cannot be the world's policeman." OK ... fine. Let's go with that. We just have to stop being the world's policeman. Your next job is to pick a replacement. Like it or not, some nation or some entity is going to assume the role of enforcing its version of a world view on the rest of us. Nature abhors a vacuum, and the intensity with which political nature abhors a power vacuum is something to behold. There has never in the history of civilization been any society where someone or something did not dominate and rule, sometimes benignly, often not, over the others. Where this is true for societies and cultural enclaves, it is doubly true for the community of nations. Throughout the history of the world there has always been one nation-state that dominated world affairs. Again, sometimes benignly, sometimes not. This world has been blessed for the past 100+ years by the fact that the dominate nation, the big dog, the 800-pound gorilla has been the United States. There were options. Nazi Germany comes to mind, or the Japanese Empire. Then, of course, there was Soviet Union and its determination to bring about one world living under communism. Think about this. In almost every war, save two*, in which the United States has been involved, the country we were at war with was rebuilt following the conflict and its people were left to chose and elect their own government. Can you name another powerful nation with such a history? Following World War II the Soviet Union robbed the people of how many nations of their freedom? I lost count somewhere. Some of those nations are still fighting to this day to regain their independence. There are people, Americans included, who hate the United States for its strength. These people harbor the naive world view that no nation should be stronger than another, and that no one nation should ever be allowed to dominate world affairs. Somehow, in their convoluted logic-starved minds, these people have forgotten that someone, somewhere, is going to be the top dog. Or, in the alternative, they fully realize that every wolf pack has its dominant male, and they just want that dominant male to be someone else. And just who would that be? The United Nations? Is that what they're after? They recognize that someone is inevitably going to fill the role of "the world's policeman," and they want that someone to be the hopelessly corrupt and blatantly anti-American United Nations? There has never been any nation in this history of man's time on earth that has done so much good for so many people as has the United States. There has never been any nation that has done so much to spread the cause of freedom and self-government then has the United States. These accomplishments have come about because the United States is both benevolent and powerful. Take away either element and the positive influence of the United States on the affairs of the world and the lives of people everywhere will be all but gone. So, for those of you who believe that the United States cannot be the world's policeman, fine. You pick the replacement, because a replacement there will be. Let me know who you think can do a better job. *The two exceptions are what is commonly called the "Civil War," and the Vietnam War. Some people despised the fact that in Vietnam Americans were killed in a war that the politicians were not dedicated to winning. Today people despise the fact that we're in a war that our leaders are determined to win. You just can't please everyone. ISLAMIC TERRORISTS MURDER 14 SOLDIERS
 The death toll has been revised downward from yesterday's Islamic terrorist attack in Mosul. Among the dead were 14 American soldiers, 4 U.S. contractors and 3 Iraqi security personnel. Another 72 people were wounded, including 51 soldiers. So what happened?
At about Noon local time (4am Eastern time,) the GIs sat down to lunch in their mess tent at Forward Operating Base Marez. It was at that time that bloodthirsty, hate-filled, jihadist Muslims (or as the media prefers, "insurgents") raised their rocket launchers onto their shoulders and fired four rockets at the mess tent. One rocket hit its intended target, one exploded outside, and two missed the target entirely. Supposedly they recorded video of the attack on the mess tent. If that's the case, you can bet Al-Jazeera will be showing it over and over again.
The Islamic terrorist group Jaish Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility on a website for the murders. These are same vicious bastards that have also taken responsibility for other attacks, including the beheadings of a Turkish truck driver, a Kurdish official and the killings of 12 Nepalese hostages. This group advocates rule by an strict Islamic theocracy, like the Taliban. In short, they hate freedom and liberty. That's what this is about....and what's it's always been about. The terrorists hate us because of our freedom.
Some will look at this terrorist attack and call for the United States to leave Iraq. On the contrary, it's time to dig in and annihilate these S.O.B.'s once and for all. We've been too nice, and we're paying for it with American lives. These Islamo-fascist thugs won't stop attacking our troops until they start to fear retribution. It's about time we provide it.
Still worried about "torture" at Gitmo? I didn't think so.
TRYING TO STEAL ANOTHER ELECTION
There is still one unresolved election that's been too close to call since November 2nd: the Washington state governor's race. It's become quite the little drama, with the Democratic candidate taking a page from Al Gore's 2000 Florida. The story is the same: the Republican won the initial count and has won the recount. Now the Democrats are trying to steal the election.
Republican Dino Rossi won the first count by 261 votes. He won a machine recount by 42 votes. Refusing to concede, Democrat Christine Gregoire demanded a hand recount. That's right...a hand recount of 2.9 million votes. The results of that hand recount are in, and naturally, Gregoire won. Her margin of victory?
8 votes. That's right, 8 votes. But that's not all....once the latest recount was underway, election workers "found" another 700 ballots in (surprise!) heavily Democratic King County. Rossi didn't stand a chance....the left rigged the recount from the start.
The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear case involving the 700 "missing" ballots. It used to be that what liberals couldn't win at the ballot box, they tried to legislate from the bench. Now it seems they are resorting to cutting out the middle man and stuffing the ballot box.
So now the Democratic party is trying to steal the election for governor in Washington state. Keep an eye on this one. Meanwhile ... which Democrat do you believe is now in the dog house in Florida for failing to "find" the "missing" ballot box there?
SUING WAL-MART OVER SUICIDE
Last year, Shayla Stewart, a 24-year-old schizophrenic diagnosed with manic depression was arrested for attacking a customer at a Denton, Texas Wal-Mart store. This is the same Wal-Mart where she got her prescription for anti-psychotic medication filled. More on that in a minute.
Some time after that, Stewart went to another Wal-Mart seven miles away and bought a shotgun. You can pretty much guess the outcome: she used the shotgun to administer unto herself the proverbial eternal celestial dirt nap. Apparently prices weren't the only thing that were falling that day.
So anyway, now Momma wants to get paid. She's filed a $25 million lawsuit against the store for selling her daughter the gun. She claims that the store should have checked the prescription records and known what drugs she was on, or looked at their own security records. But the store did what was required: they ran a background check and the girl did not show up in the FBI database. Prescription records are confidential under federal law, so that doesn't even enter into it.
Besides, who's to say this girl wouldn't have killed herself with a gun from another store, or through some other means had the store turned her down? The idea that the store should have checked prescription records provoked this quote from the spokesman for the Gun Owners of America: "Does that mean mental illness prevents everyone on Prozac from owning a gun? Or women with PMS?"
Besides, judging by the looks of things, instead of suing Wal-Mart, somebody should congratulate them for doing society a favor. WHAT THE HELL, IT'S ONLY YOUR MONEY Remember those hurricanes in Florida? FEMA was Johnny-on-the-spot writing checks to people who had lost roofs, cars, businesses, homes ... whatever. There's a problem though. It seems that FEMA spent tens of millions of dollars writing checks to people who lived in areas not affected by the hurricanes! Almost $30 million was sent to people in Miami-Dade County for damage done by Hurricane Frances. Trouble is, Hurricane Frances struck 100 miles to the north. In North Carolina FEMA sent thousands of checks to residents of Bladen County for Hurricane Frances damage. The emergency director in that county says there was no damage. This goes on across the country. In 2003 FEMA handed out another $30 million of your money to people in Mobile County, Alabama for damage from flooding. These checks were written despite calls and letters from Paulette Williams, the emergency management director in Mobile County, to FEMA saying that there was no flood damage. Evidently with FEMA you can be 100 miles away from a hurricane or flood, send in a claim, and presto! The check's in the mail! Don't worry though. It's only your money. ANSWERS! WE NEED ANSWERS! Before I wrote all of these notes today I thought it might be fun just to consider a few imponderables on the air. Who knows, maybe we'll get bored and go to these questions anyway. So ... here you are. Come up with some good answers. Will the Imperial Federal Government of the United States ever actually cut spending or eliminate a spending program in our lives? Will liberals ever admit that America is great because of the dynamic of people living under economic and social freedom, and not because of its government? Will Royal ever settle down with some sweet young thing and have a few little Royals? Will sellers of cheap cars ever stop screaming at us in their car commercials? Why didn't that car dealer who was "Number two, gonna be number one" ever make it past number two? Will liberals ever admit that freedom is worth fighting for, and even dying for? Will Belinda ever get used to going to the bathroom indoors? Will coach passengers on an American airline ever get served another hot meal? Will Paris Hilton ever just go away and leave us alone? Will Americans ever realize that tax and Social Security reform is far more important to their lives than who is doing what to whom with what in Hollywood? Will we ever understand that Bill Clinton did a lot more than "lie about oral sex?" Will flight attendants finally get tired of being completely ignored during those insipid safety announcements and just sit down? Will Americans ever realize that public schools are government schools and are beyond salvaging? Will Americans ever realize that there is something basically dangerous about the concept of democracy? Will Americans ever understand the difference between racism and culturalism, and that some cultures, ours, for instance, are vastly superior to others? Will the TSA ever stop groping 80 year-old women and start actually looking for terrorists? Will the world ever realize that it is safer and better off without Saddam and will be even safer when freedom gains a real foothold in the Middle East? Will Americans come to the realization that Saudi Arabia is not our friend? Will the world ever realize that it is high time to start ignoring Jimmy Carter? Will we ever realize that any tax system that punishes achievement and rewards laziness is destined to fail? Will Clark Howard ever wear long pants to work? Will people ever learn that cell phones can pick up the normal human voice, and that you don't have to scream to be heard? Will we ever realize that for the most part speed limits are a revenue-raising measure and not a traffic safety measure?
OUR HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE ECONOMY! OH, THE HUMANITY! Let's see .. current unemployment figures would be described as "low" --- if there was a Democrat in the White House. We have record home ownership. Minority incomes are rising faster than the incomes of evil white folks. Home ownership is at a record high. More Americans are working right now than at any time in the entire history of our country, and now we read that the DOW is at a 3 1/2 year high. Why? Because American businesses are reporting better-then-expected earnings. The DOW closed yesterday at 10,737.70 ... the highest close since before 9/11. In spite of all of this you will still see talking heads on television talking about how bad the American economy is. I even heard the word "dismal" yesterday. These, my friends, are the people we rely on for news. Aren't you glad you have a hate-filled right-wing, neo-con, reactionary, pseudo-libertarian, bald-headed and overbearing talk show host like me to let you know what's really going on? DID YOU KNOW ...  ... that yesterday was National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day? Drat! Missed it! It would have been a good day to highlight the behaviors and decisions that put people in the position of being called "homeless." I could have also engaged in a few frothy arguments with OCCD* sufferers over whether or not "society" is to blame for the plight of these urban outdoorsmen.
Would someone please remind me next year so I don't miss this again? WEIGHT AND BALANCE LESSONS Lesson 5: 
Previous lessons READING ASSIGNMENTS With tax reform on the horizon in 2005, Walter Williams weighs in. Should we adopt the flat tax or the Fair Tax? Williams says there's one thing that shouldn't be overlooked in the whole debate: runaway government spending.
With his tenure as Defense Secretary increasingly under assault, USA Today offered Donald Rumsfeld a chance to respond. Read it here, straight from the horse's mouth.
As the political correctness police continue their assault on Christmas, Mark Steyn says you should wish people a "Merry Christmas" while you still can.
Ever wonder how liberals change their minds and become conservatives? Burt Prelutsky tells his story about how he saw the light. A good read.
So who really is trying to push Rumsfeld out the door? Frank Gaffney says it is the so-called "smart people." That would be the pointy-headed liberals, to use a more appropriate term.
It's interesting that the assault on Christmas isn't even coming from people who have never celebrated it: the Jewish faith. Jonah Goldberg says he even had a Christmas tree.
Jimmy Carter is going to be monitoring the Palestinian elections of 2005...and Ben Shapiro has decided to name an award after the former president. Check out some of the first nominees.
Kathleen Parker would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and doesn't care what anyone thinks. By the way, she chases down the attempts to ban the holiday.
President Bush has articulated a clear message for economic reform in his second term, and the media hates it. Larry Kudlow looks at the cause of the elites' disdain.
The Bush-haters are going to be out in force for the inauguration. They're reportedly going to turn their backs to the president on his parade route. The left should learn such bitterness isn't good for the soul. *Obsessive Compulsive Compassion Disorder. | 
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