70 Comments

1. ROA:

Its encouraging to know that Fallujah is more free than Los Angeles, where fast food resaurants have been outlawed in certain portions of the city.

Jul 31, 2008 - 5:42 pm 2. dla:

Wow! The liberal kiddie-intellectual-wannabes are going to be in lather over your prose. It is very daring of you to say something good about America.

Funny how the left tries to make normal people believe that they should hate all things “Bush” while standing in the midst of Bush success. I keep thinking back to Pelosi’s trip to Iraq and how she’s been strangely silent. And of course who can ignore Obama’s slight of hand to get the focus on Afghanistan. Oh well, I don’t think any of this is new in America.

Jul 31, 2008 - 5:45 pm 3. Boghie:

We should recommend to the Iraqis that they replace Saddam’s crossed swords

with

Crossed Drumsticks…

Jul 31, 2008 - 5:51 pm 4. NahnCee:

Yep, cancer from cigarettes and clogged arteries from french fries. The quiet genocide of the Middle East continues apace. Now, if we could just introduce them to the concepts of drug addiction and alcoholism. Maybe rum balls for Ramadan.

Jul 31, 2008 - 5:56 pm 5. Chuck Simmins:

Thanks for the link. Based on what I’ve heard, the Iraqis have always loved fried chicken. KFC is a natural.

It’s big in Pakistan, too. Every so often they riot and burn down the local KFC and McDonalds.

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:00 pm 6. RWE:

Back when the film Red Dawn came out one of the promotional pictures for it featured a group of Soviet troops and a BMP APC parked in front of the Golden Arches. It was an effective way to summarize the invasion of the USA in one picture.

But a few years later in the Pentagon I opened a copy of Defense News and found a two page spread inside. It was again a picture of Soviet troops in front of a McDonalds’s. But it was the McDonald’s in Moscow. American fast food had invaded the USSR - and shortly thereafter the hammer and sickle was hauled down from the flagpole over the Kremlin for the last time.

And ironically, I later read that the last abortive attempt at salvaging the USSR, the August 1991 coup attempt, was planned by men who used that same McDonald’s for their meetings. That choice of meeting place should have told those conspirators something, right there.

I read that the director of the Australian film commission said that a country that could make a film like Star Wars deserved to rule the world. The Russians might say the same thing about the Big Mac.

P.S. Try the country fried steak special at KFC on Tuesdays. It ain’t bad for the price.

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:00 pm 7. onesimus:

“It is my purpose, as one who lived and acted in these days, first to show how easily the tragedy of the Second World War could have been prevented; how the malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous; how the structure and habits of democratic states, unless they are welded into larger organisms, lack those elements of persistence and conviction which alone can give security to humble masses; how even in matters of self-preservation, no policy is pursued for even ten or fifteen years at a time. We shall see how the counsels of prudence and restraint may become the prime agents mortal danger; how the middle course adopted from desires for safety and a quiet life may be found to lead direct to the bull’s-eye of disaster…” Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm, © 1948, Houghton Mifflin Company, pp. 17-18

I first read these words over 40 years ago. By quoting them I do not mean to imply virtue to those counseling us to talk to the animals today. I’d use a different “v” word, venality.

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:12 pm 8. Teresita:

ROA: Its encouraging to know that Fallujah is more free than Los Angeles, where fast food resaurants have been outlawed in certain portions of the city.

We all love a good chuckle. But now let’s turn aside from the funny human interest stories and see what’s really going in in “free” Fallujia:

Jul 23, 2008

Fallujah braces for another assault
By Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail

FALLUJAH - United States and Iraqi forces are preparing another siege of Fallujah under the pretext of combating “terror”, residents and officials say.

Located 69 kilometers west of Baghdad, the city that suffered two devastating US attacks in 2004 has watched security degrade over recent months.

In the face of US military claims of improved security, violence has been rising by the day this month. The city has now been placed under tight curfew while US and Iraqi military forces prepare for a new offensive, according to the local Azzaman daily. Iraqi security forces have established new checkpoints around the city and are forbidding movement of people and traffic.

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:14 pm 9. onesimus:

Sorry for the off topic, I was inspired by your Colin Powell quote.

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:16 pm 10. starling:

Chuck said: Thanks for the link. Based on what I’ve heard, the Iraqis have always loved fried chicken. KFC is a natural. It’s big in Pakistan, too. Every so often they riot and burn down the local KFC and McDonalds.

Yes, Chuck, as I wrote last year, they do like to burn down KFC’s in Karachi
…and not only because of its association with America.

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:37 pm 11. dla:

Teresita, quoting the Arab-equivalent of the National EnquirorLocated 69 kilometers west of Baghdad, the city that suffered two devastating US attacks in 2004 has watched security degrade over recent months.

Uh-huh, sure, you betcha.

The left is sooooo funny sometimes.

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:38 pm 12. OneDayAtATime:

Teresita, I was intrigued by your posting.

I did a rudimentary search on one of the listed authors. Based on what I found, reading some of his works and references, I’m not sure that I would consider him an unbiased source. Kind of like interviewing the sniper who shot Randy Weaver’s wife about what kind of mother she was.

Do you have anything a bit less biased?

Thanks,

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:45 pm 13. Zim:

I worked at KFC for 2 years in high school, very greasy work and no way to avoid daily grease/fryer burns, but I could eat all the free chicken I wanted.

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:47 pm 14. Cannoneer No. 4:

Who Still Takes Dahr Jamail Seriously?

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:53 pm 15. trangbang68:

Had some spicy Popeye’ chicken the other day. It was purchased at an Alabama store where you didn’t get hired without major street cred and a minor in ebonics.
Maybe they could open a franchise in Fallujah and only hire out of work jihadis.

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:59 pm 16. fred:

Love KFC chicken breasts, extra crispy. Yum. Artery clogging, but I don’t eat it very often so it’s a treat when I do. Great that the Iraqis are prospering enough to indulge themselves once in a while.

Jul 31, 2008 - 7:29 pm 17. Lifeofthemind:

When there is a Home Depot turning a profit in Basra we will know we have turned a corner. Building is key. The inculcation of employability skills is what fast food and retail trade brings to developing areas. Hope the US Embassy is supporting an active and fiscally sound small business loan policy. Iraq is not the same as the places in Africa where micro-loans can transform communities but weaning people off the oil welfare culture is a big step forward. Now if we can get Americans to stop thinking of Uncle Sugar as the answer.

Jul 31, 2008 - 7:37 pm 18. Chuck Simmins:

So many of the major industries are govt controlled in Iraq, it’s the service industries that are booming. The various ministries cannot open a concrete plant but they don’t care about auto repair shops or KFC’s.

And, remember that in Jan of this year 9 million pilgrims came to Karbala and Babil in one week. Lots of opportunity there for food and lodging.

An American general told me he interviewed an Iranian family coming over for the festival. Why come? “I heard it was safe” said the dad.

Jul 31, 2008 - 7:58 pm 19. LazP:

KFC not Arugula?
Where is Obama when we need him. That’s just proves that Bush is war criminal feeding KFC to the Iraqis.

Jul 31, 2008 - 8:27 pm 20. Dave:

All of us Belmonters—–even Teresita although she will not admit it——-are cheered by stories such as these. They are indicators that a favorable cultural transformation is underway. We just hope and pray that the good news is well-founded and durable.

Our problem here at home consists of those who deny cultural transformation is possible or even desirable. The Pat Buchanans along with many of the Ron Paul devotees have a zero-sum mentality: They think we will suffer if others behave more like us and less like they traditionally have. They believe (correctly) that our more ethical standards are what has enabled us to prosper. But they also fear that if others behave ethically, they will take our prosperity from us. A preposterous notion but irrationalities like this are common enough, darn it.

While those adhering to this line of thought are not very numerous, they do provide essential cover/enablements for the outright treasonous. That 5% of Republicans and 19% of Democrats who want the US to lose so their
visions of propriety can be forced upon all.
This latter group would have no legal capabilities of of advancing their agenda were it not for the soi disant patriotism of the former.

I think we shall prevail in the end, but we are going to have to do away with a lot of governmental “security blankets” domestically.

But for the moment, donchaluvit when a plan comes together?

Jul 31, 2008 - 9:39 pm 21. Doug:

Starling,
We now know quite a bit more about Pakistans operations and intentions in Karachi and Kabul:
—
- Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say -

WASHINGTON — American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan’s powerful spy service helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government officials.

The conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack, the officials said, providing the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region.

The American officials also said there was new information showing that members of the Pakistani intelligence service were increasingly providing militants with details about the American campaign against them, in some cases allowing militants to avoid American missile strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
—-
American officials said that the communications were intercepted before the July 7 bombing, and that the C.I.A. emissary, Stephen R. Kappes, the agency’s deputy director, had been ordered to Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, even before the attack. The intercepts were not detailed enough to warn of any specific attack.

The government officials were guarded in describing the new evidence and would not say specifically what kind of assistance the ISI officers provided to the militants. They said that the ISI officers had not been renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorized by superiors.

“It confirmed some suspicions that I think were widely held,” one State Department official with knowledge of Afghanistan issues said of the intercepted communications. “It was sort of this ‘aha’ moment. There was a sense that there was finally direct proof.”

Jul 31, 2008 - 10:08 pm 22. NahnCee:

I want the Marlboro franchise in Baghdad. Or Fallujah. I’m not greedy.

Jul 31, 2008 - 10:08 pm 23. wretchard:

I don’t know that happy endings last. There may come a time when the KFC in Fallujah is carbombed, or the whole country goes up in flames. The space of our peace is temporary. The Second World War ended in September ‘45. The Cold War began right afterward. History ended in 1989. September 11 followed on its heels. Tomorrow is a blank. Christ suggested that we pray “to give us this day our daily bread”; that we should never worry about tomorrow, “because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

We celebrate our children’s birthdays without knowing what the future brings. Our task is to bring joy into the present. Before Tony Snow died he wrote that he was upborne by the intuition that “that the gift of life, once given, cannot be taken away,” that life, once lived, was one space that the darkness could never invade. Tolkien was a great connoisseur of treasures which we tread underfoot, of the secret doors we pass by, too busy to notice. His world is full of drifting leaves, shifting airs, changing shades. Everything in it passes. And yet it all endures. In his universe only evil and malice are futile. Love, and the smile that simple fried chicken can bring, last forever in the mind of God.

Though all to ruin fell the world
and were dissolved and backward hurled
unmade into the old abyss,
yet were its making good, for this –
the dusk, the dawn, the earth, the sea –
that Lúthien for a time should be.

Jul 31, 2008 - 10:33 pm 24. Fletcher Christian:

Wretchard, thanks for the Tolkein quotation. How about this one, slightly altered:

One Stone to rule them all, One Stone to find them,
One Stone to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Saudi where the Shadows lie.

There are some that say Tolkein was allegorising about Nazi Germany. I disagree. I think he was talking about Islam. Which makes Allah Sauron, and Mohammed (hellfire and eternal damnation be upon him) his Mouth. And Saudi is Mordor. It fits.

The Stone ought to find the fate that the Ring did - destruction by fire. Not the fires at the heart of the world this time, but the fires that lie at the heart of the stars.

Jul 31, 2008 - 11:53 pm 25. L:

Wretchard, for goodness sake, if you’re going to quote the Bible, quote the BIBLE:

KJV Matthew 6:34
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Aug 1, 2008 - 1:10 am 26. Teresita:

Fletcher Christian: I think he was talking about Islam. Which makes Allah Sauron, and Mohammed (hellfire and eternal damnation be upon him) his Mouth. And Saudi is Mordor. It fits.

I agree that Mo was a false prophet, because Christ was God’s last word to us, delivered in person. And SA is a hellhole to be sure. But Arabic speakers of all faiths, including Christians and Jews, used the name “Allah” for the Creator long before Mo came along. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is acknowledged that all Abrahamic religions worship the same God by different names. So you just called the Supreme Being a demonic spirit.

Aug 1, 2008 - 4:24 am 27. Pseudo-Polymath » Blog Archive » Friday Highlights:

[...] Power, extra-crispy, or KFC in Fallujah. [...]

Aug 1, 2008 - 4:54 am 28. Stones Cry Out - If they keep silent… » Things Heard: e29v5:

[...] Power, extra-crispy, or KFC in Fallujah. [...]

Aug 1, 2008 - 4:56 am 29. Michael Hoskins:

Teresita,
I have heard other (equally anecdotal) that “Allah” is the name of an ancient moon goddess of the Arabian Dessert and that the Arabic language has another word (name?) for for God. (Since I am using my employers time, I leave it to others to verify)
ta

Aug 1, 2008 - 5:48 am 30. Joshua:

Re: hard vs. soft power - The real problem for America, of course, is that anti-Americanism doesn’t distinguish between our hard and soft power. There is only power, or lack of same. Denouncements of KFC as the latest manifestation of American imperialism in Iraq commence in 5… 4… 3…

Aug 1, 2008 - 5:49 am 31. Ben:

“In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is acknowledged that all Abrahamic religions worship the same God by different names. So you just called the Supreme Being a demonic spirit.”

This may be the oft repeated politically correct trope, but suggesting that they all worship the same God is like suggesting all the witnesses saw the same car, even though one swears it was a red convertible, another says grey sedan, and another says pale blue sedan. The last two *might* have seen the same car.

Ben

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:05 am 32. Doug:

Cabimas Journal - Sympathetic to Chávez, a New Church Draws Fire -

“I share the revolutionary project of President Chávez, since it is a socialist and humanist project for the masses,” said Enrique Albornoz, a former Lutheran minister who is principal bishop, the top leader, of the Reformed Catholic Church. The church says it has about 2,000 members in Cabimas and in other oil towns in Zulia, Venezuela’s most populous state.
—
What they want to do is put an end to the Catholic Church, but they have not succeeded,” Archbishop Roberto Luckert, one of Mr. Chávez’s most strident critics in Venezuela’s Roman Catholic hierarchy, said in a radio broadcast denouncing the new church.

He was scathing in his criticism of the church. “They get dressed up as priests, conduct baptisms and confirmations — all paid for by the government — while the people go hungry,” he said.

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:14 am 33. programmer:

I was in Baumholder, Germany, with my family, for some time during the late ’70s. A McDonald’s was opened in a neighboring city (Bad Kreuznach, as I remember). It was not the first in Germany, but it certainly was the first within easy driving distance of Baumholder. It rapidly became a weekly visit for us as a welcome taste of home. But the surprising thing to me was the positive response from the local residents. They voted with their money. It always seemed to be crowded and there always seemed to be a lot of laughter and joviality in the restaurant. I thought at the time that this is one of the things America does well. Tasty, cost effective nutrition as a commodity. Walk in, plunk down your money, and walk out with 1500 to 2000 calories (a daily minimum requirement for an average person) that has a reasonable balance of protein, carbs, and fats. I believe that a lot of the resistance to America’s fast food industry by “food nazi’s” is basic resentment that communist and socialist societies cannot seem to emulate the ease with which Americans produce food. (I realize my predjudices are showing in the phrase, “food nazi”, but if you disagree, help me come up with a better term).

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:15 am 34. Teresita:

Ben: This may be the oft repeated politically correct trope, but suggesting that they all worship the same God is like suggesting all the witnesses saw the same car, even though one swears it was a red convertible, another says grey sedan, and another says pale blue sedan. The last two *might* have seen the same car.

Okay, if you don’t accept the Catholic teaching that Allah and Yahweh and the Father of Jesus Christ are the same God, then I guess we’ll have to fall back on the infallible George W. Bush: “Well, first of all, I believe in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That’s what I believe. I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace.”

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:19 am 35. Doug:

Leadership Retreats

“Al-Qaeda losing the Sunni population is like a human being losing the ability to drink water,” he said.
“Because of Masri’s weak personality and leadership, al-Qaeda in Iraq was weakened and split and lost the Sunni population.”

Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader May Be in Afghanistan

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:22 am 36. fred:

It is not so much the name that matters when uttering the Creator’s name. Rather, it is what we mean by that name and the qualities we assign and are revealed by that supernatural being. The “Allah” of Muhammad (his sock puppet deity)and of Islam in no way resembles those qualities of Yahweh, or Jesus of Nazareth, or the Father of Jesus. They are simply not related.

One is a despoiler, a murderer, a pedophiliac fiend, a rapist, a thief, and a liar.

The other breathes life, is a joyful Creator, seeks our happiness, will run out to greet us after we’ve gone off the rails and disowned him, and will put his finest clothes on us and lay a feast to celebrate our return. Has limitless compassion for us.

The one opens and closes many verses of surahs with “most merciful, compassionate” and then goes on to completely contradict that, uttering all manner of invective and bilious pronouncement. Simply, is a Deceiver. A liar. The product of an evil personality. Is an embodiment of Satan.

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:23 am 37. fred:

Bill Warner, who sometimes is interviewed over at frontpagemag.com, has often elaborated on the dualism of the Qur’an and of its deity, “Allah.” But overall, when I read the Qur’an I found it full of violence and feelings that were not divine at all. Muhammad made it all up. I thought so at the time I read it. And then recently I read Ali Sina’s book, “Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography” and it all fell into place.

Just because a cult describes itself as radical monotheism, and claims to be the fulfillment of Judaism and Christianity (while distorting them and having erroneous understanding of them) does not mean it is related at all. The people in religious studies programs of major universities in Europe and the United States have incorrectly called it an “Abrahamic faith.” Just because Muhammad claimed to have Abraham as a father does not make it so. And by the logic of these cretins, anyone can go out and cut and paste aspects of Judaism and Christianity and meld it into one’s narcissistic aspirations… and call it a prophetic tradition and an “Abrahamic faith” ?????

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:39 am 38. programmer:

Wretchard,
Your prose about the light of joyous life pushing back the darkness triggered a flashback for me. I was in Pleiku in ‘68 driving through the city enroute to the artillery base camp there. It was morning, not too hot, sunny but pleasant. There was a lot of people going to and fro on the thoroughfare, doing people things. As I drove along, I saw a man on a bicycle approaching. He was an ARVN captain in war gear and he had a small boy, about 4 or 5 on the handlebars of the bicycle in front of him. They were talking together and laughing at something. They passed me, the captain briefly looking up and nodding at the American driving by. That fleeting moment has stayed with me over the years as other, more dark memories have faded beyond recall. In the midst of war, strife, and darkness, life and love continue to sparkle and shine.

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:46 am 39. Rick:

“Allah” is a common noun, meaning “The God”. It is not a name of a particular deity, any more than the English word “God” is. It is just a word.

Teresita has become a simple contrarian. Perhaps she feels the need to be a “devil’s advocate”, but her persistent “nyeh-nyeh” is tiresome. She must be a very unhappy person.

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:52 am 40. wretchard:

There’s a sense in which we use the biggest words to convey the importance of the littlest things. Eric Hoffer argued in the True Believer that revolutionary movements could only be sustained by perpetrating a mass swindle. Only by promising an impossibly glorious future, a worker’s paradise, a literal heaven on earth to cadres could one convince them to work for and sacrifice on behalf of their smelly neighbors. They would never do it for their neighbors themselves. That were too mean and uninspiring a task.

But what about those who didn’t want to become true believers? They had to find another faith; something that allowed them to make a complete commitment for imperfect ends. To risk everything on a well intentioned, yet still human enterprise. To stake it all on the turn of a card. And believe that somehow it is all worthwhile. Back in the underground days I had long debates with members of the Communist Party over this very subject. “Why are you organizing this strike?” they would ask. “For a higher wage,” was my answer. “Is that all?” they would ask incredulously. “That’s all.”

Here I think, is where democracies have it over totalitarianisms. There are no kings, emperors, Locomotives of History, Great Helmsmen or The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For in democratic polity. There’s only just us and there’s mostly only the present. So maybe it isn’t so surprising that the monuments to American century have been fried chicken outlets, personal computers, consumer appliances and the right to the pursuit of happiness. They are but the little things which the great have scorned.

Aug 1, 2008 - 6:58 am 41. Faeroe:

Quick Arabic lesson: “Allah” translates as “the god” literally or “God” in normal English usage. The Old Testament uses the term “Yahweh” and “Elohim” somewhat interchangeably (depending on the source texts from which the OT was assembled). Elohim and Allah share the same Semitic root trilateral root - ALH. I studied biblical literature with Father Walsh, S.J., at Georgetown, who was a Semitic languages phd. I cannot rember why the OT uses the plural Elohim over the singular Eloh, but I did ask him specifically if the Catholic Church viewed the God of Christianity, Judaism and Islam as the same and the answer was yes.

There are lots of words for god in most languages - Islam explicitly recognizes 99 names of God, but they, like “Creator,” are simply linguistic constructs to focus thought and convey meaning. The concept of a single god is the idea expressed through all of them.

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:05 am 42. programmer:

Wretchard says:

So maybe it isn’t so surprising that the monuments to American century have been fried chicken outlets, personal computers, consumer appliances and the right to the pursuit of happiness. They are but the little things which the great have scorned.

Programmer responds:

I will use up my remaining bandwidth to quote a most Zen person, my wife. She says, “Treasure the small joys in life. There are so many more of them.”

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:18 am 43. fred:

“but I did ask him specifically if the Catholic Church viewed the God of Christianity, Judaism and Islam as the same and the answer was yes.”

Father Walsh was wrong. What? A layman who is not a priest criticizing the views of an educated cleric??? Outrageous. And yet I am convinced that one who utters what he pronounced could not have read the Qur’an and ahadith, or learned about the deeds and life of Muhammad. If he did, there is absolutely no way that Fr. Walsh could then say that “Allah” is the same Father of Jesus and Yahweh of the Jews. I just know if he did his homework he would agree with me. What his statement is indicative of is the state of the art, so to speak, in religious studies until fairly recently. As an undergraduate I took a couple of religious studies courses and the part about Islam was superficial. No dept at all, yet full of the same kind of pronouncements about it being one of the Abrahamic faiths.

“Allah” is NOT the same deity as ours. And so I plead with you to first get to know your Christian theology, the Bible, and some Jewish theology to boot - get some depth of understanding and then juxtapose that, along with (hopefully) some acquired spiritual wisdom and maturity, to what Muhammad’s sock puppet deity says, demands, sanctions, and allows. The contrast is STARK. They are not related.

No disrespect intended towards Fr. Walsh. Plus, I still have a soft spot for the Society of Jesus, since I did spend three years of my life after college aspiring to be one of them.

“Allah” is not related to the Christian God at all. No resemblance, not even familial. Everything “Allah” does and demands contradicts everything in our traditions. But the bottom line: “Allah” is a detestable hater, a scoundrel, and a wanton murderer.

Today, at frontpagemag.com, there is a well-written piece by Robert Spencer rebutting his insulting nemesis, Grover Norquist. Mr. Norquist never wastes an opportunity to label Robert a “hater of Muslims.”

And neither am I a hater of Muslims. I just tell the truth about the cult that enslaves them.

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:22 am 44. socialism_is_error:

programmer, I did radio flight-following for the Army (125th ATC) in Pleiku AUG-OCT68. I was pleasantly surprised that the climate, due to the elevation I suppose, was not much different from that which I had recently left in Maryland. Salute, sir.

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:35 am 45. Doug:

Fred’s buddy:

- The Friends Of (GOP Immigration Enthusiast) Grover Norquist
By Michelle Malkin

Alec “the Bloviator” Baldwin has a new bosom buddy:
Beltway Republican strategist [ arch-immigration enthusiast] Grover Norquist.

The Bush-bashing actor-turned-activist and the Muslim vote-courting political organizer joined together at a Washington, D.C.-area conference last weekend to perpetuate bald lies about the Patriot Act and to oppose the “repressive” War on Terror (repressing terrorist suspects apparently being a bad thing).

Baldwin and Norquist’s panel, titled “Strange Bedfellows,” was sponsored by the ultraliberal group, People for the American Way (PFAW).

When PFAW head and panel participant Ralph Neas ranted about the lack of judicial and Congressional oversight of the Justice Department’s terror investigations, the audience applauded passionately.

According to National Review Online reporter Byron York, Baldwin (the “moderator”) then turned to Norquist for comment. “Ditto,” Norquist replied. Never mind the flat-out falsity of Neas’ claim. The smarmy Baldwin looked at his panelists and proudly remarked: “Can’t you feel the love?”Blech.
Wasn’t he supposed to have left our country by now?

If Alec Baldwin ever does make good on his election-year promise, he should buy an extra Louis Vuitton suitcase and pack up Grover Norquist as a carry-on companion for the one-way trip to Tora Bora. Or Riyadh.
Or Paris.
Wherever.

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:38 am 46. El Jefe Maximo:

What a map: the KFC Empire…on which the sun never sets…

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:44 am 47. Roderick Reilly:

WIth KFC in Fallujah, it means we’ve won.

Alert Jay Leno.

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:46 am 48. Konyok:

I am reminded of the Macdonalds next to the bus station in Simferopol, Crimea. I watched as well scrubbed families eagerly trooped in for their expensive meal. A summer cloudburst drenched everything, and then, wearing their Macdonalds rainslickers, the workers came out and cleaned the patio. Palpably proud of their corporate livery, they were the most efficient and enthusiastic workers I had ever seen in Ukraine. Macdonalds is a virus spreading through a command and control economy - it overcomes the old “they pretend to pay us, we pretend to work” mentality, it teaches farmers to grow produce to standards, along with bakers, dairies, etc.
I imagine that KFC in Fallujah will be just such a kernel in Iraq.

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:48 am 49. Roderick Reilly:

Magnificent retort by Colin Powell. The best part is that it doesn’t even come across as a retort to the Archbishop’s challenge.

Powell is the “black” candidate “we’ve been waiting for,” NOT that apologetic wimp with the big “O” on his plane and the even bigger ego.

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:52 am 50. Whitehall:

One of Teddy Roosevelt’s sons fought and was wounded at or near Fallujah in WWI while in the British Army.

Some victories just take time.

Aug 1, 2008 - 8:55 am 51. Dave:

I think both fred (Fred?) and Fr Walsh have a point.

Spell symbols god/God and allah/Allah basically refer to one and same transcendent deity. Fr Walsh correct here.

However, the antrhomorphic deity fred rightfully calls “sock puppet” is a construct
of a con man who got folks to believe that he was THE Prophet, not one of the prophets.

And compounded the felony by saying that his scriptures were not inspired by the Almighty
but dictated to him and him alone and that he transcribed them without human error.

As believing all this provided justification for raiding and conquering instead of producing, we are at war and shall so remain until certain theo-cultural issues are resolved———-in our favor.

You see, these issues cannot be resolved in their favor as success on their part can only lead to continuing repression and violence.
To satisfactorily settle things: We win. They lose.

Aug 1, 2008 - 9:10 am 52. WSL:

At the burning bush, Moses asked what is the name of the one sending him to free the slaves in Egypt. God said, “I am who I am.” It was a name that expresses his dependability and faithfulness. The frequently used phrase, “I am with you,” or, “I will be with you,” thus becomes a personal commitment from God himself. Arguments about the name of God are essentially arguments about what attributes best describe who God is. Fred’s comment that God and Allah are not the same is saying that the characteristics attributed to God and to Allah are not the same, which is demonstrably true.

Nor can Mohammed validate his claims by saying Abraham was his father. Jesus rebuked such hubris when he said, “out of these stones God can raise up children of Abraham.” St. Paul affirms this when he says, “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” Appeals to biological genealogy are not efficacious in establishing authority.

Aug 1, 2008 - 10:28 am 53. J-Rog:

Any thread which can relate KFC in Iraq to Tolkien is enjoyable.

On the Tolkien rabbit trail though, allegorizing Middle Earth to anything in particular (Mordor as Saudi Arabia, Sauron as Allah) is selling the story short. Tolkien stated several times that he disliked allegory, and didn’t like his stories taken as such. His argument was that mythology should transcend a particular concrete time/place in human history. Rather than the Ring, Orcs, or Sauron corresponding to any particular evil (sin, industry, Nazi Germany), they should relate to all evil, at all times. The power of myth for Tolkien was to strip away all particular features that are accidental to human existence, use imagination to add in features of your own creation, and in so doing reveal the deeper fundamental truths underneath. Tolkien considered himself as a “sub-creator” when he wrote myth, creating a universe which was different from our own in every respect except for the most important ones, the great themes of the books.

That said, The Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings are distinctly Western myths, and there is an uncanny resemblance to Europe (the Shire has a distinctly English feel to it). Any human action must come from its particular context. But the myth functions not by starting out recognizing Sauron as partaking of Allah, but by recognizing Sauron as partaking of evil, and when you add incidental flesh to the core truth, you can more clearly see Allah as partaking of evil. While the result may be the same, the myth allows the reader to apply the truths of the story on a universal scale. Suddenly, to the Western mind, Ancient Persia, Islam, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, can all be Sauron.

And that is how KFC and Tolkien can go together. Wretchard’s point about enjoying the little things while we have them mirrors the changing/enduring nature of Middle Earth in Galadriel’s “long defeat.” Suddenly, KFC in Fallujah is the same thing as Samwise Gamgee enjoying his brace of conies in Ithilien.

Aug 1, 2008 - 11:22 am 54. Teresita:

Rick: Teresita has become a simple contrarian. Perhaps she feels the need to be a “devil’s advocate”, but her persistent “nyeh-nyeh” is tiresome. She must be a very unhappy person.

This is Wretchard’s blog. It’s a blog about history and current events. Its not about my happiness or what religion I believe, or where my father comes from or what gender makes me twitterpated. In fact, it’s not about me at all. I’ve got my own blog about me. This blog is about what has always worked and what is most likely to work in the future. Its about what is true and what serves to further freedom. Its about what honors America and preserves our liberty and above all its about who we protect and how we protect them.

J-Rog: Wretchard’s point about enjoying the little things while we have them mirrors the changing/enduring nature of Middle Earth in Galadriel’s “long defeat.”

This sentiment is expressed by Frodo in the first book:

“I should like to save the Shire, if I could - though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them. But I don’t feel like that now. I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again.”

(The Fellowship of the Ring: “The Shadow of the Past,” p. 71

Aug 1, 2008 - 11:38 am 55. Zim:

I guess to completly round this circle I should add that Tolkien’s God of middle earth’s name was Eru. Eru had “children” each had special powers over the earth. The most powerful of the children was Melkor (morgoth) the father of all evil.

Yeah, no allegory to be had there!

Aug 1, 2008 - 11:51 am 56. Charles:

OT:

There is incresing pressure on pakistan’s isi to stop playing two sides of the fence.

imho it may be that unlike iraq where the people were the center of gravity — in the afghan conflict it may be that the isi is the center of gravity. similiarly in latin america the generals considered themselves to be the true repositories of the people’s will. for a century or more the generals in south america would step in whenever the country got out of countrol.

Aug 1, 2008 - 12:05 pm 57. Charles:

OT: rumors al zawahiri is dead

Aug 1, 2008 - 12:17 pm 58. Eggplant:

News of al-Zawahiri’s death is too good to be true. We should give it the 48 hour rule before we believe it.

Totally off topic:

Please refer to the follow plot of US Debt corrected for inflation:

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/inflation.gif

From the end of World War II to 1982, the national debt (contrary to widely held belief) was actually quite stable. However in 1982 “something broke down” and the national debt began to go nuts.

We were in a bad recession in 1982. What did the US Federal government do in 1982 that broke down fiscal discipline. During the time of the Clinton administration while the Republicans (Newt Gingrich) still ran Congress there was an attempt to repair this malfunction but it broke down again after Clinton or Gingrich left office.

This is not a rhetorical question or an attempt at partisian politics. I’d like to understand the cause of this malfunction.

Aug 1, 2008 - 12:47 pm 59. fred:

I completely understand Wretchard’s point about enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Savor them and give thanks to God for them. There is enough pain, death, sorrow, and depression in this life for many lifetimes, and it is a grace and a blessing that simple people in Fallujah are able to afford that occasional treat of American fried chicken. It truly is the experience of simple pleasures that make life bearable and even worth celebrating. That is why, when he would eat with his friends and in strangers’ homes, Jesus would, as was customary in the Jewish culture, invoke a blessing and give thanks for the simple experience of eating and drinking with other people.

One observation from my time on the Left many years ago: only occasionally did I meet fellow ideologues who were able to enjoy and give thanks for the simple things in life. And they tended to be fellow Christians, not the hard core Leftists, who were always intense and busy and going somewhere to organize something.

When we can occasionally live in the moment we are set free.

Aug 1, 2008 - 12:55 pm 60. Weary_G:

J-Rog is exactly right.

When I first read that Tolkien vehemently denied that LOTR was any sort of allegory for WWII, I was dubious, as odd as it seems to doubt the author at his word. LOTR seemed like it exactly fit that conflict in so many ways, no? Was Tolkien denying it for some alterior reason?

I eventually realized what J-Rog so neatly states. LOTR is an much deeper expression of the nature of human existence, the joys and darkness, good and evil it encompasses.

Sauron is not Hitler in drag, because Hitler was not the be all and end all of evil, as noxious an example as he was. Just look at his partner in crime/then mortal enemy Stalin to realize there are more Sauron walking the earth.

The War of the Ring has been played out many times in our world, writ small and large through the millennia. It expresses the perpetual struggle mankind has faced to battle the darkness within himself with the light that also dwells there.

The names of the warriors, kings, and dark princes change, and the nations and landscapes evolve over time, but it is the same struggle played over and over again.

I think the most powerful concept Tolkien expressed was the concept of the passing ages of Middle Earth, where an entire eras and entire races fade into history to be replaced by another. Even in victory with the Allied forces against Sauron, for example, the age of the Elves ends, to be replaced by the Age of Men.

It was THAT concept that had me so convinced that LOTR was WWII, in that Great Britain and perhaps Europe were the ancient Elves and other Fey, and America was the emerging nation of man.

Again, I think that DOES fit neatly for WWII, but it has been the same over the ages, and perhaps it will be again. Perhaps the United States as we know it will end, hopefully to leave behind something even in its stead. As Mark Steyn puts it, its what you leave behind that ultimately matters.

So, I would submit LOTR is allegory, but one meant to encompass the entire poignant, bittersweet experience of all mankind.

Aug 1, 2008 - 4:01 pm 61. onesimus:

The first volume of the Lord of the Rings, The FELLOWSHIP of the Ring. Contrast the banquets with Gollum’s solitary meals. There are countless Gollums in the world.

“Take the young burglar I saw in prison last week…He was thin and malnourished in the manner I have described. Five feet ten, he weighed just over a hundred pounds…
“I asked the young man if his mother ever cooked for him. “Not since my stepfather arrived.She would cook for him, like, but not for the children.” … So, you never sat around a table and ate a meal together?” “No.”
“In fact, he told me that he had never once eaten at a table with others in the last fifteen years. Eating for him was a solitary vice, something done almost furtively, with no pleasure attached to it and certainly not a social event.” Theodore Dalrymple, Our Culture, What’s Left of It,© 2005, Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, Chicago, IL, pp. 213-214

Aug 1, 2008 - 5:16 pm 62. Zim:

I think WWI impacted Tolkien more than WWII seeing as that was the war he was in, and the one that caused the deaths of many of his friends. Much of his history of middle earth was written before Hitler rose to power. However, the LOTR story does appear to be “tacked on” at the end of the second age and has no connection at all with the first age (aside from characters Galedriel, Sauron and Elrond)so maybe there was some reflection of current events to it.

Aug 1, 2008 - 5:41 pm 63. vnjagvet:

Tolkien never had KFC though. Pity. I wonder who had the balls to sign a franchise agreement with KFC. I also wonder if there is a personal guarantee.

KFC franchises ain’t cheap.

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:27 pm 64. Dave:

When Tolkien is mentioned, the postings become
Hobbit-forming. (ahem)

Aug 1, 2008 - 7:47 pm 65. Buck Smith:

I love the smell of fried chicken in the morning. Smells like … victory

Aug 1, 2008 - 9:01 pm 66. NahnCee:

*sigh*

I hate hobbits.

And the ensuing tedious dissections of a piece of fiction. At least “1984″ and “Animal Farm” were short.

Aug 1, 2008 - 10:13 pm 67. joyce:

Soon they will have some idiot do-gooders trying to tell them they are too fat and ban falafels.

Aug 2, 2008 - 2:02 am 68. Carl O. Witz:

Fallujah, 2023:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkdcYlOn5M

Aug 2, 2008 - 11:32 am 69. What is victory in Iraq? « American Elephants:

[...] Kentucky Fried Chicken has opened in Falluja. [...]

Aug 2, 2008 - 6:53 pm 70. Robert:

Ever since I read in 2003 how Iraqis love their ice cream, I wondered when we would see a Baskin Robbins open up in Iraq, or Dreyers or Breyers. A KFC works about as well for me.

Aug 6, 2008 - 9:56 am

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