The Pendragon's Hall

Greetings from London, where they think they should dictate to the US who should be president but the US shouldn't dictate terms of a future they gave to the Iraqi people. It is a wonderful city nonetheless and its founders should not be held responsible for the current state of the city. (The same is true of Washington, come to think of it.)

Yes, the Pendragon is here in Great Britain, getting ready to have the time of his life. I may not have as much time to blog as I normally do but I will try to update once in awhile. The latest from the nation that gave us Neville Chamberlain: BBC news giving Kofi Annan, who purposely withheld food from the starving in order to pad his own pocket, a sympathetic interview on his new claim that the Iraq War was illegal. To all this I have but one thing to say: Jolly good show, chaps, wot, wot?

Does anybody even listen to this guy rant? I find it hard to believe. Considering his eighteen or so supporters are probably getting tired of the same old gas every time they get trucked in to provide some semblance of reception for the Kerry tirade (and what happened to ol' insurance raiser from NC? He's tied up and gagged in the back room right next to Theresa.). Campaigning today in Toledo, Ohio, a state he needs to win but currently trails the President by eight points in, John Kerry announced that he believes Michael Moore-on's ludicrous claim that the war in Iraq has made things worse, not better. Displaying the same disingenuous reasoning that has made this ticket the most absurd since McGovern and a clinically insane man ran in 1972, Kerry claimed that today's Iraq "is full of insurgents, which it never was before." No kidding, Jack. The reason prewar Iraq wasn't full of insurgents and terrorists as opposed to now is because...(you ready for this?) before the war, the "terrorists and insurgents" were in power! It's hard to even maintain politeness when discussing the Kerry candidacy because when they chose Kerry as their nominee and he picked Edwards to run with him, ignoring the fact that Edwards brings exactly nothing to the ticket, they proved they really think the American people are that stupid. Frankly, I don't know that I can even dumb myself down enough to talk back to them and this has nothing to do with any claim to brilliance on my part. I think the average American is vastly smarter than Kerry/Edwards wants to think. They'd have to be, to have rejected the pathetic nominees the Democratic Party has sent down the line several times in recent years. At least Clinton was smart. Kerry/Edwards is the latest addition to a line of dumbos stretching back through Al Gore, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale and Jimmy Carter. The last intelligent candidate the Democrats ran was in 1968--Hubert Humphrey. I'm not sure but I think that also may have been the last time a Democratic presidential candidate got as much as 50% of the popular vote. Look for more of the same this year.

The headline on MSN.com declares, "Slime Time for Bush and Kerry: Why politics is as negative as ever." Big time media just can't help themselves. On the rare occasion that they actually call Democratic candidates on the carpet, they just must smear the Republican as well. I can tell them quite easily why it is, in their words, "as negative as ever": John Kerry's tactics. John Kerry's campaign has descended into a maelstrom of screaming and name-calling, stooping even lower than Howard Dean. While President Bush has refused to question John Kerry's service in Vietnam and has instead focused on drawing distinctions between himself and his opponent, others have been drawn to question Kerry based not on a real concern for what really happened thirty years ago, but based on the candidate's incessant whining about how we ought to elect him president based on something that happened during the Vietnam War. Personally I think if any president deserves credit for what he did during Vietnam, it's Richard Nixon, who actually won the war. The Left has never forgiven him, which is why they destroyed him with an inconsequential break-in that they turned into a scandal. But if John Kerry is going to keep attention focused on his service in Vietnam, then he is going to have to deal with any dirt people dig up on what really did happen back then. Maybe the whole Swift Boat thing will convince him to drop the war-hero image already and try to run as himself. Somehow I doubt it. That would be looking for strategic sense and basic intelligence in a campaign that has shown itself incapable of either.

I wonder...how much should the common belief in a president's intelligence influence the vote? Consider the following.

"The President is a well meaning baboon. He lacks the strength to govern the country."

If you took this to be an indicator of which presidential candidate to vote for in an election...you just chose General George B. McClellan, the general who squandered all his opportunities, for president. The President he attacked for stupidity? Abraham Lincoln, who led the country out of four years of Civil War and held us together all that time. He was no rocket scientist but I think most would agree, with 20-20 hindsight, that he was the better president.

"I had the sense he had completely no idea what I was talking about."

New York Times reporter on Dwight D. Eisenhower. The 50s when Eisenhower inhabited the White House was the one of the biggest economic booms of the last century. Now, people are beginning to understand that Eisenhower was actually a very capable leader. He was also elected in two landslides.

"He couldn't tie his shoes if his life depended on it. His library burned down sadly with both books in it. Unfortunately, he hadn't finished coloring the books."

This is a nice one. The man in question was Ronald Reagan, who singlehandedly slashed inflation from the hyper-levels of the 1970s and ended the Cold War without a nuclear exchange and with the United States the firm victor.

"A lot of people are asking me if he is smart enough to be president. And one of the people asking me was Dan Quayle."

Senator John F. Kerry on George W. Bush.

Makes you wonder.

Today marks the three-year anniversary since Muslim extremists slaughtered three thousand Americans in suicide attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. There would have been an assault on the White House or Capitol as well, had the "cowardly" passengers on the Pennsylvania jet (cowardly, at least according to Michael Moore) not taken matters into their own hands. On such an anniversary it is human and normal to ask, why? Why the death? It seems so pointless.

But on further reflection not pointless at all. The people who were murdered three years ago today died for a very simple reason: evil exists in this world and is not content until it has rubbed all trace of goodness from this planet. The extremists who committed these acts are not human beings who deserve to have civilized people consider their complaints...they are subhuman trash who deserve only the front end of American missiles. It is not the supposed "crimes of the West" that prompted these attacks...the sins "devout" Muslims supposedly abhor were committed wholesale by these hijackers, figuring Allah wouldn't keep them away from their seventy virgins, because at least they died, murdering the infidel. Drinking, whoring, gambling, the whole shebang. No, they hate America because it represents freedom. They hate us because we are free to pursue our own lives without the dictates of some nutcase who thinks he's got God's ear. People have railed at the US and at our President for believing, as Zell Miller masterfully put it, "that God is not indifferent to the United States", but these Muslims believe that they, and they alone, are the recipients of God's favor. Why doesn't the politically correct Left get on their case? They would, but that would mean siding with their least favorite country in the world: the United States. Anything but do that.

Those who were killed must be avenged and they are being. Afghanistan and Iraq have been huge successes. Entire pockets of terrorists are being wiped out and two Arab countries, of all things, are on the fast track to becoming peaceful, democratic bastions of freedom in a tyrannized area. But it is not enough. We must remain on the offensive. We must seek out, and then wipe out, these hellspawn who threaten the stability of the world. We must give them no quarter, nor any reason to expect any. If that means invading Syria and Iran, so be it. If that means arming our old enemies, the Russians, to destroy Chechnya, let it be done. The war they ignited must prove the adage: they have roused a sleeping giant, and now they will pay.

The Kerry campaign continues to disintegrate. Suddenly realizing it was overblown rhetoric that convinced him he could win in the south, Kerry is suspending all campaigning in Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas and North Carolina. Only he ever thought he really could win there but apparently now he is realizing that he wasted millions of dollars on states he's going to lose and lose big. Come to think of it, he's wasted that much on this whole campaign. Seems a shame to spend that much, but think of it this way, it'll boost the economy he talks about so much. His attempt to create a presidential scandal has also backfired as he continues to slump in the polls and is now being investigated by CBS for possible forgery of the supposed documentation that proved Bush AWOL. Bush has done the right thing throughout; he has reasoned that empty barrels make the loudest noise and ignored the charges, releasing his records for all to see. And we have four years of presidential record for Bush and twenty years of a senatorial record for John Kerry. These factors all going into building up a landslide for Bush on November 2.

The latest flip-flop from the champion of flip-flops is: You can't talk about Vietnam; yes, you can. It's almost like he says it in one breath. Under increasing pressure to release his records, which are beginning to look suspiciously like forgery, Senator John Kerry lashes back, trying to pin on Bush the old charge of AWOL and incompetence. Make up your mind, Senator. Does it matter what happened thirty years ago or doesn't it? If it does, you have a heck of a lot more explaining to do than the President does. How come the assistant secretary of the navy, whose signature appears on one of your citations, can't remember ever seeing it, much less signing it? How come the citation forms you received were either (a) unnecessary, seeing as they cited you for what the medal was given for, that is valor, or (b) different from normal citations given to others at the same time. You are learning now that you can't have it both ways.

It is one of the remarkable features of the War for Iraqi Liberation that the press feels called upon to "mark" the occasion of the US death toll rising past 1,000. Many are calling today "historic." This malicious pleasure in the death of US soldiers to try and make a political point is just sickening. One wonders how these people would have survived a World War where tens of thousands died every day. One US soldier in Iraq remarked scornfully, "I have one word to say to these people: Gettysburg." She's right. At Gettysburg, over 60,000 soldiers died in a single day in a contest that could well have been avoided. The good news on this day of mourning is that soldiers in Iraq are ignoring the hoopla about the thousand of them that have died, choosing to remember that three years ago this Saturday we passed the thousand death mark three times in one day.

Warning to all who may be visiting Europe soon: Stay away from the Eiffel Tower. It will soon become the target of the terrorist world. With the United States and Great Britain ripping out terrorist organizations by the roots, and Russia the latest roused giant, France will soon be the only western country that will endure terrorist attacks without attempting reprisal. Make no mistake: the terrorists hate France and Canada and Germany with the same passion they hate the United States...in fact, perhaps more, since in those countries the sins they call "the decadence of the West" are even more prevalent than they are here. Soon the civilized world will learn...all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims.

In the latest indication that John Kerry has forgotten the lessons of Howard "Yargh!!!" Dean is that he has taken over Dean's line concerning the Iraq War. When Dean announced that Saddam's capture "has not made the US safer"--that is, we'd be better off with him in power. John Kerry was quick to respond that anyone who felt that Saddam's removal was unjustified had no business running for president. Howard Dean opposed a war that enough people even in Democratic primaries found justified and went down in flames. Kerry was chosen as a less extreme candidate who was "electable". Now he turns and cuts his own throat.

Note to the Russian government: Women weep for the dead. Men avenge them.

Correction to last blog: Make that over three hundred. These terrorists are crying out to be killed.

What in God's name are they waiting for? A Russian school has become a scene of great carnage with the death toll at well over a hundred because of Islamic fundamentalists from Chechnya (and Islamic is the slam word here, not fundamentalist, Amish fundamentalists rarely do these sorts of things, so don't try to confuse the issue). They are not rebels--they are terrorists, human trash. Like Al-Qaida they do not have grievances the civilized world need respect. When they said they'd kill fifty children for every one of their men who died, Putin should have ordered full-scale bombing of Chechnya. The reasoning? Fine. Kill the kids. For every one of them who dies, one hundred of your own children will die. What has this finesse gotten Russia? The kids are dead anyway and the problem persists. This is what we have to look forward to under a Kerry presidency or a Congress controlled by the Treason Party because under them the US will react exactly the same way: negotiation. And more Americans will die. These people are terrorists. Don't try to win them over. Kill them all. If you end up exterminating the Chechnyans before these terrorists give in: good riddance to bad rubbish.

Without resorting to negative campaigning, President Bush last night drew a very distinct line between himself and Senator Kerry. He simply told the people to examine the records. "One thing about me," he commented. "Even when we don't agree, you know where I stand." It's true. While I have not agreed with Bush on every issue over the last four years I must say it's refreshing to at least know what he believes and that isn't going to change. Kerry flip flops on every issue. Now, with the desperation of a man who knows he is beaten, Kerry launches incessant personal attacks against the President and anyone who dares to question him on his record. In Ohio last night, before the speech was even over, he declared, "I am not going to defend myself to those who didn't serve when they might have, and who have misled this country into Iraq." So much for "doing the exact same thing" when it comes to Iraq. I think the Democratic Party should be renamed to the Psychological Disorders Party, as all of their top men seem to be affected with Narcissism...quite shortly, they think they are God and anyone who dares to suggest otherwise is a subhuman beast.

Oh and by the way, the AOL straw poll is showing a huge gain for Bush...they have him winning every state. With Bush clearly laying out his plans and Kerry/Edwards simply name-calling, I wouldn't be surprised. You need something more than wild hair and pretty-appearance (or a really rich hag as your wife) to impress the American people. Kerry has forgotten the lessons of Howard Dean and he is headed for the same fate: a seat on the ashheap of history right next to McGovern and Mondale and Dukakis. Bush will govern this country for the next four years and he will do so with a mandate from the people that cannot be denied. The only question that really remains is, how much will John Kerry lose by?

Politics is great. Anyone who wants a good laugh really ought to get involved in it. Well, on the conservative side anyway...liberals can only sneer. After Dick Cheney and Zell Miller, well described as "the conscience of the Democratic Party" (what would Jiminy Cricket do with Democrats? It'd be worse than Pinocchio, but I digress.), ripped into John Kerry last night, much the way every speaker at the DNC ripped into Bush, except for one thing (Miller and Cheney simply recalled the facts of Kerry's record), Democrats, beginning with John-Is-My-Hair-Combed-Right Edwards have been sniffing about how "mean" the Republicans were. It has never ceased to amaze me that Democrats can sneer and call Republicans names all they want and no one will call them on it. But the minute a Republican brings up something about a Democrat's record, it becomes nasty, partisan politics. One Democratic strategist (names withheld, so Joe Lockhart can't be chided for his femininity) complained that Cheney and Miller looked like "crabby old men" last night. That's as opposed to menopausal women. And no, I'm not going to tell you whether I'm referring to Theresa or John Kerry. You have to figure some things out for yourself.

I am starting to like Arnold Schwarzenegger more and more. I still wouldn't want him to be president or anything, and I do disagree pretty strongly with some of his policies, particularly concerning abortion and gay marriage, but I'm finding the Terminator a rather likable guy when all is said and done. He cemented this liking yesterday when he declared, that upon first coming to this country in 1968 he heard the two presidential candidates speaking, and one, then-VP Hubert Humphrey "sounded like socialism" (although to be fair Humphrey is conservative when compared to Al Gore or John Kerry) and Richard Nixon was "a breath of fresh air." This is apparently when he asked his friend, "What party is he (Nixon)?" Upon being informed that Nixon was a Republican, he exclaimed, "Then I am a Republican!" That's not something you hear every day. As a longtime Nixon admirer I must say it was heartwarming to hear this from a California Republican. I really think we will win California come November.

Dick Cheney is someone I am growing not to like, mostly for his advocacy of gay marriage. Nevertheless, I must say he is a very capable leader and speaker. I can't wait to watch him chew up that little panty-waist from North Carolina and spit him out in little pieces. My favorite sound-byte from last night: "He (John Kerry) says he will fight a 'more sensitive' war on terror. As if Al Qaida will be more impressed with our softer side." Go get 'em, Dick!

It's funny to think...there was a time when I would have probably been a Democrat. I consider myself something of a Lincolnite (at least a Lincoln admirer) but it is true that speaking idealogically, I probably would have been a Democrat around that time period, a Union Democrat yes, but a Democrat nonetheless. This is because the Democratic Party used to be the party of personal Liberty as opposed to government excess. It is certainly that no longer. The last Democratic candidate I could have voted for would be Grover Cleveland, the last Democrat to take a stand on principles and not mere political calculation. But as Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith lamented in 1932, "The Democratic Party is no longer the party of Jefferson, (Andrew) Jackson and (Grover) Cleveland. It has become the party of Marx, Lenin and Stalin." Or as the infamous Joe McCarthy reportedly said: "Patriotic Democrats no longer have a party." Nowadays, Democrats seek to undermine their very own nation, and have become a cesspool of all that is corrupt and all that is extreme. Hence, I am a Republican and for the first time since I can remember, proud to be one.

As a side note, I still find it entertaining to point out instances of media bias. The headline for the RNC last night declared: Bush Twins Raise Eyebrows. Of course, I had to see what that was all about. I thought maybe like the Kerry girl (I believe it was Vanessa, but I could be wrong) they had worn see-through dresses. But, no. All they did was introduce their father, who in turn introduced their mother. Sounds like they had a time of it too, joking about how they used to be "wild, irresponsible party girls" and saying their hamster "didn't make it", as opposed to John Kerry's attempts to resuscitate the dead hamster (it was a nice way of saying he kissed Theresa). As usual, the press tries to cast all things Republican in a less than complimentary light, but when you actually read the story it's not all that shocking.