The Pendragon's Hall

OK, I've about had it with UK Christians telling me how our economy is stupid when people over here can't even afford to buy a house because of all the taxes levied by their leftist government. I'm also continually frustrated by their references to they're placing importance on justice rather than "private" moral issues like abortion or gay marriage.

First of all, I'm not sure there's any such thing as "private" moral issues. That's not a Biblical idea. According to the Bible, the private morals of a people determine the morality of a nation. Individual idol-worshipers brought down the nation of Israel; one group's homosexuality sparked a disastrous civil war. Nor is it true that we cannot "legislate" morality--morality is the only thing you can legislate! How is it right to force people to give money to someone they couldn't care less about? But you can set down a law regarding abortion or gay marriage and thus force people to be moral, if that's what it takes. In an ideal world, people would do this stuff naturally, but as no less a person than John Jay said, "It will be either the Bible or the bayonet." Thanks to the whole separation of church and state crowd, it's not the Bible, so it will have to be the bayonet. According to Romans 13, the whole purpose of government is "to do good and punish evil." If it ever starts doing evil and punishing good, it has ceased to be a legitimate government and change is called for, whether through the bullet or the ballot-box. Jacques Chirac must be getting nervous about now.

And tell me, UK Christians, how is it "justice" to ignore the plight of millions of enslaved people and continue to fund the regime that enslaves them? This is what France has done. Bush did make a mistake in the whole Iraq debacle--he went to the UN a second time. This only delayed matters and got us nowhere. The French dug their heels in like an unmannerly colt and nothing was going to satisfy them. They got millions of dollars worth of oil, while aiding Saddam to build an illegal arsenal and starve his people. Is this justice? Would it not be more just to end the regime and liberate the people? How is this less just than the alternative? No, Europe has a perverted view of justice based on a very simple principle: Europe is weak and feeling the strain. So they have to pretend it's better to be weak and that those who are actually capable of dealing with evil should not. Does this sound Nietszchan? If so, then Nietszche was right, not about Jewry throughout history but about modern Europe. It has nothing to do with being morally superior, European Christian; it has to do with the Enlightenment ideal that nothing is really good and evil and the Marxist ideal that economic interest is all that should motivate anyone to vote. Neither is Biblical and both should be rejected. Your ridiculous carping and whining has not earned you respect in the eyes of the world--Americans (rightly) think you're weaklings and so do the people you're trying to appease. At least they can respect the armed might of international law, you they can't even respect, much less embrace. Most ignorant people at least keep it to themselves without flaunting it to the world. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Every once in awhile you get a touching sports story regarding an athlete and his wife. It's just rare that it's actually reported. Apparently Yankees slugger Gary Sheffield and his wife are at the center of a scandal regarding a previous relationship the wife had. The baseball star is sticking with it manfully, declaring that he "knew about" the relationship before and "is sticking to his wife through good and bad." Of course the news media must be disappointed about not being able to break up a marriage, their favorite thing after taking down conservative politicians. But sorry, people: some of us still pick ourselves up after mistakes and thus do not hold it over the heads of others. Thank you, Mr. Sheffield.

And so, having ignited the scandal of a lifetime, the media's most liberal disk jockey (er, news anchor) has stepped down. It's right about time. For over two decades, Dan Rather has been deceiving the American people, making them believe he represents truth-telling and honesty rather than partisan sniping. What they have gotten instead is a deliberate lie to discredit a sitting president and an attempt twice to sway the outcome of an election by publishing partial reports and inaccurate exit polls to convince people that the winner was chosen without them. Neither time did it work but it might have in the past. Were the man in question's name Richard Nixon instead of Dan Rather, the media would be hailing this as the triumph of free press as opposed to censorship but as it is, I suspect they will be complaining about the "right-wing" nuts that supposedly run this country and intimidate free-speakers. It's funny, it's contradictory, and until the Left realizes that they need to have a program that makes sense, ridiculous thugs like this is all they will have.

I'd like to address this to the New York Giants football team: STICK WITH WARNER! Manning will be good someday but it is not this day. He's just not ready. And buck up that offensive line for pity's sake. It's always been your trouble. You can have the best quarterback in the world but if you don't protect them it doesn't mean squat! You've got a good team otherwise: Make use of it.

At the risk of sounding bold, I'd like to make a prediction on the Super Bowl. New England is good and will continue to be a tough customer. But I think the Super Bowl will be settled in Pennsylvania...Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia. Although I'm supposed to feel New York is the center of the universe my heart has been going Pennsylvania way for awhile. My girlfriend will be happy. She likes Pennsylvania. And on a completely off-topic note: I have the greatest girlfriend in the world. :-)

President Bush has not even been inaugurated and already Republicans are fretting about 2008. Since Hillary has been the most talked about Democrat candidate we're apparently supposed to measure our chances against her. Dick Morris, who makes living predicting doom and gloom for Republicans (he said that Kerry would win Ohio and Missouri), is saying only three Republicans can defeat her: McCain, Giuliani and Condi Rice. Since two of the three are Republicans in name only, I suppose that leaves Condi. Frankly, I don't see what the hysteria is about. Bush just won convincingly an election the naysayers said he could never win, at least without sacrificing Congress or the governorships. He has set an historic precedent in everything he has done. Bush will go down in history, not along the "forgotten ones" like LBJ and Jimmy Carter but in the same breath with Abraham Lincoln and FDR. He is, quite honestly, one of the greatest presidents of all time. Not even the supposedly astute Clinton managed to hold onto party supremacy despite a booming economy. Bush has done all that and more. There have been no more terror attacks. The economy is recovering rapidly. If a Democrat did that, they'd sing his praises. We've got four more years of this amazing man leading this country. Let's not worry just yet about who will replace him. We'll deal with that when the time comes. Frankly, however, I think the naysayers are wrong again. Whether or not Hillary wins in 2008, there are many, many Republicans who can beat her. Giuliani at least cannot.

London's Metro paper's headline declared today: "Executed Because She Cared." The story was that of the death of aid worker Margaret Hanson in Iraq. What follows is a blistering rebuff of the whole mindset of Europe so brace yourselves.

What is wrong with you people? Margaret was not executed...she was murdered!!!! Say it: murdered! Butchered might also be a good word. Slaughtered works well. She was not executed. That implies a civilized nation with procedure, grievances and a legal way of doing things. This does not fit Iraqi terrorists. What is the matter with Europe? Why has a formerly great nation fallen into this habit? Why is that Great Britain is now full of women who mourn the dead with no men to avenge them? In times gone past, people would have trembled to commit the outrages the terrorists commit on a regular basis. But no more! Every crime increases the wringing of hands, not the seizure of arms. If all the West were western Europe, the West would be no more. Enough weeping and gnashing of teeth. The wretches who did this awful thing are within your grasp. The US military and your Black Watch are ready and able and willing to do the job and do it right. For pity's sake, let them do it and stand behind them! These are not people, they are subhuman savages who must be exterminated, not placated.

So far, so good. The President is displaying common sense in selecting his second term cabinet. Condi Rice is being moved from National Security to State. That should be very interesting. Of course a leftist press is trying to drum up support and sympathy for Powell, talking of his "unblemished reputation" (meaning Bush doesn't have one, of course) and how they believe he was "nudged out the door" because "he expected to stay." They don't even remember their own headlines. This summer the headline on AIM.com declared that Powell would not be remaining for the second term.

Bush has also bypassed Rudy Giuliani in favor of Albert Gonzales for attorney general. Well done, that. Gonzales has been a firm legal advisor for the administration and will perform quite capably I am sure. This second administration will be in every way the equal if not the superior of the first term. I look forward to the next four years with great anticipation.

The other big news is the death of terrorist mastermind Yasir Arafat at 75. I've tried and tried to feel sorry, if for nothing else than the torment for all eternity he's undergoing now. But I just can't. It's like if Saddam Hussein died. Who would really feel sorry? I think the Palestinian people will be better off. I hope, like President Bush, that they will reject terrorism now and actively seek peace with Israel. Perhaps there can still be hope for peace in the region, although I sincerely doubt it. But the chances are much better without Yasir Arafat.

Politics continues to feature great amusement for me. Personally I think the worst thing Bush could do at this point in time is to put Rudy Giuliani in as attorney general of the United States. John Ashcroft left some hard shoes to fill but putting an ultra-liberal "Republican" with designs on the presidency in would be a huge mistake.

I also find it amusing that John Kerry is floating the possibility of a 2008 presidential bid. I half hope he does. Can you imagine the scenario? The Democrats have a clean shot at the presidency because the popular incumbent is gone and the candidate is unlikely to be an administration member and along comes ol' Gray Locks and he really thinks the Party is going to squander their chances with him. Even cheating and with the backing of multi-millionaires and the establishment press he couldn't unseat the president everyone thought was vulnerable. Does he really think he'll have a chance even in 2008 with his own party remembering how he let them down last time? If Kerry enters at all, he'll be a dead duck before the end of the New Hampshire primary if not earlier. This contest will be between Hillary Clinton and John Edwards and for the latter to win the former will have to die. On the Republican side, I'm not so sure what to look for. I'm holding out hope that either Rick Santorum or Bill Frist (or better yet Jeb Bush) will throw their hat into the ring. Rudy vs. Hillary for New York Senate was bad enough; Rudy vs. Hillary for US President would be far, far worse.

No rest for the weary. I had hoped perhaps I might take some time off from politics to discuss sports or fun stuff like that but I find that to move to slowly in the political world is to be left behind. With the largest Republican majority in decades, one might think the hard work is behind us. But no! President Bush has returned to governing with scarcely a word about his stunning victory, while his opponents continue to malign him. That doesn't matter much. Empty barrels make the loudest noise. What will pose trouble for him in his upcoming term in office is the liberal vipers he has taken to his breast--namely Senators John McCain and Arlen Specter (AZ and PA respectively). These two are set on their liberal agendas and Specter is angling to be in a position to block Bush's nominees to Supreme Court. In other words, Specter wishes to replace Daschle. If true Republican senators allow this phony from my home state to take over the Judiciary Committee they will be scuttling their own President in his second term, at least on this issue. I have been involved in writing letters to Republican senators urging them not to do this and I can only hope that this ingrate who would not be in office if not for the President will be blocked from causing any more trouble than his mere re-election has.

In response to people's amazement at the New York Giants fairly spotty record this season--beating good teams like Green Bay and Minnesota while losing at home to cellar-dwellers like Chicago and Detroit, let me say: It's just the same old Giants. They've always been able to beat the good teams. It's the bad teams that give them trouble. I must say though--I am quite impressed by the showing they've given so far this season. I wouldn't have expected them to do so well. 5-3 isn't bad, considering this time last year they had won all they would win for the rest of the season and that was four games. I hope that trend doesn't re-establish itself. Come on, Big Blue!

Many people who were not either die-hard Yankees or Cardinals fans were rooting for the Boston Red Sox to win the ALCS and the World Series simply because the Yankees put tons of money into their team and people wanted to see a more old-fashioned team win.

That's fair enough and I think it's also why people turned out in record numbers to vote for George W. Bush. Both candidates far outspent their predecessors, but what Kerry did that Bush did not was attempt to cheat. He raised phony "concerns" about Bush's war record, lied about his own, tried to use illegal ballots to sway the election, had rock stars and movie people attempting to intimidate the general public and accepted illegal help from 5-27 groups. He did all this with a highly-entrenched liberal media guarding his back at every move, refusing to question him, accepting all his stories as solid fact. I think people just got fed up with all of his law-bending and breaking and decided to show him where to get off. I'm glad they did and I think the American people are about to see America renewed. Our hope is in God, but God's men are also called for such a time as this.

The people have spoken and, as usual, Democrats don't like what they have said. George W. Bush swept into victory yesterday with the largest popular vote in history while his party picked up huge gains in House, Senate and governorships. The only state not to go with him on this, not surprisingly, was Vermont. The feeling here could not be more marked. The Brits are stunned...and depressed. They thought Kerry could win for being so popular abroad (even to the point of having Al-Jazeera cover his campaign on election night), but they again underestimated the American people as leftist lunatics are often doing. Among the Americans at the base, however, the feeling is one of jubilation that only increased as election night wore on. And the footage of military bases around the world reflected it back--the soldiers broke into loud cheers when Bush was announced the winner. While the Pretty Boy fluttered his eyelashes and primped for the next presidential campaign, ol' Gray Locks stood by in depression. His time is over. Edwards is right about one thing: the battle rages on. Next time, though, the choir boy with no job now that the people of North Carolina have actually been asked about him, will be facing the wrath of the Clinton machine. For the sake of your pretty little face, I'd stay at home.

Meanwhile, the people have given their mandate. George Bush can, for once, push his program aggressively and get it done. That means more tax breaks, better security, a booming economy, and finally, federal judges who actually interpret the laws rather than make them. Thank God. And God bless America!

Michael Moore-on surfaces from the great deep of liberal lies again. The King of Schlockumentary has announced he will install movie cameras in certain voting places tomorrow in an attempt to supposedly determine that everyone has had a fair vote. Of course we all know that really means, that Kerry's supporters get to vote at least once and more than once would be even better.

This is not the first time stuff like this has happened. During the Revolutionary War, the British tried to enforce their will in the US by stationing troops in Boston. Bostonians today have forgotten this but hopefully Americans will remember. The only answer to tyranny is to refuse to be bowed. I think Moore and his terrorist allies will find that Americans are not Spaniards. We will not be intimidated.