THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

Last month I had the pleasure of attending a brilliant foreign policy discussion in Las Vegas. It was put on by the Jewish Policy Center, which is run by Jonathan Schanzer.

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/

Before getting to this fabulous event, a couple quick housekeeping notes are in order.

Yesterday my blog reached 200,000 hits. I am pleased about this because the first 100,000 hits took 320 days, or 10 1/2 months. The next hundred thousand hits took only 9 months, or 273 days to be precise. While that comes to just over 366 hits per day, the numbers are actually much higher since I lost virtually all my traffic when I came to this independent platform. In 3 months, it has been built back up, and better than ever. In short, 17.2% growth is healthy, and I hope I can keep it going. I thank every reader that has ever stopped by.

The blog has been given several enhancements recently, from a news ticker to a rating system to the all powerful donation button that I hope people utilize in abundance.

In the coming days I will be offering political endorsements. I expect my words to have more of an impact than the Jayson Blair Times, but less than or equal impact to reliable sources. Also, for those who like risky investments, Jayson Blair Times bonds have now reached junk status. Then again, they are so elitist that they spell theirs as junque bonds, because they are the cream of the cr@p.

I did not cover the Colin Powell endorsement because it is not news. President Bush fired Powell, and this is payback. Powell had a distinguished career, but he is not the first disgruntled ex-employee to lash out. He is uncomfortable with the “direction” of the Republican Party because that direction excludes him.

Barack Obama has no substance, so covering him is pointless. He was truthful when he told Ellen Degeneres that he dances better than John McCain. He dances on every issue, and wants to glide to the White House. The day that the View ever enters intelligent public discourse is the day society has ended.

So for those that want actual intelligent information should visit UCLA Hillel tonight at 8:15pm PST. I will be debating UCLA Law Professor Jonathan Z. He will be making the case for Barack Obama, and I will be making the case for John McCain.

I want to elevate the level of discussion and show people that there are serious issues that need to be dealt with, and only the conservatives have any clue how to deal with them. Democrats should replace the donkey, and make the ostrich their official mascot. While liberals will sticking their heads in the sand, conservatives were getting together in Las Vegas to have a serious discussion on the various threats that put our lives at stake.

Michael Medved was the moderator. The panelists were John Podhoretz, David Horowitz, and Steve Emerson. They are worthy of lengthy introductions, but I will cut straight to the meat of their discussion.

MM: “Being a former New Yorker is like being an ex-marine. One is always a New Yorker. This week in New York we had the markets opening to turmoil, and a visit by Ahmadinewackjob. I say people should visit New York, New York, in Las Vegas, not New York City. Anyway, is this market meltdown changing everything?”

JP: “No. The other panelists still say bupkus about me. Freedom and free markets has led to the greatest growth in history the last 30 years. This crisis has been funded by government policies. The monopolies of Fannie and Freddie got us into this. The CRA passed by Clinton to expand home ownership to poor people hurt. The failure to regulate Fannie and Freddie caused this problem. The answer is not more regulation. Government intrusion caused this.”

DH: “Barney Frank and Charles Rangel …it’s no surprise this happened. Podhoretz’s new book will be on my nightstand for the next 8 years.”

JP: “The Glass-Steagal repeal is not the cause. It will save this problem. Breaking down Chinese Walls is needed. Merrill Lynch was bought by Bank of America. This is because of Phil Gramm’s repeal of Glass-Steagal. We’d be dead without it.”

MM: “Are optimists right that we’re safe now?”

SE: “I would have said something nice about John Podhoretz but he took 2 minutes of my time. Jihadist groups think they can infiltrate America and the American media. They have. Michael Chertoff has announced that the DHS will not use the ter, “Islamic Militants.” They just call them militants. The State Department has given 40 million dollars in the last decade to radical Islamic groups.”

DH: “Jewish organizations are very skittish to take on Islamofacism. It is President Bush that protected the American people. His greatest success is keeping us safe.”

SE: “Radical Islamic groups label anyone who criticizes them as racist.”

MM: “Armageddonijad just wanted a dinner with Rabbis…a Persian feast. Some Rabbis agreed to it. They chant ‘Death to America.’ What’s to talk about over dinner? Is Iran like Russia, where nuclear power is offset?”

DH: “Hitler hid the Final Solution from the German people, believing that they were too civilized. Iran shouts it from the rooftop. Europe will let Israel be incinerated. Sheik Yassin went to Penn State and Ohio State. We went after the MSA. Hillel embraced them.”

SE: “As for why deterrence won’t work, Russia was rational. Armageddonijad wants to be attacked. He has a suicidal martyr complex. 5 Secretaries of State said we should engage Iran. We will be negotiating what type of death we will face. People are either too stupid or idealistic to see it.”

JP: “Iran has 70 million people, and Israel has 6 million. There is no MAD. The USSR was large, and could have survived a nuclear attack. Iran would trade 1/5 of each population since Israel would not survive, nor would the Jewish people.”

SE: “Iran is acquiring the bomb. Israel is living under a black cloud they can’t maneuver any more. Divestment will occur. Israel needs to strike. They have a one year window. Does Israel have the cojones? Does the U.S. give the green, or at least the orange, light?”

MM: “Should the new Israeli and U.S. administrations move toward a 2 state solution in Israel?”

JP: “That is as realistic as a friendly dinner between Vladimir Putin and Shalishkavili. Israel has no interlocutor. Abbas claims the window is rapidly closing because Israel in the last 2 years is worse than the previous 40 years. There is no possibility for the framework of a discussion. Negotiation is inevitable, but the present circumstances make it impossible.”

SE: “In Gaza, they found 500 tons of plastic explosives. This is the second most concentrated area behind Afghanistan. It is naive to believe that the Palestinians want peace.”

DH: “There is a War on Terror. We succeeded in Iraq, but a pair of terrorist states exist in Lebanon and Gaza. There are some good Palestinians, but they don’t make a d@mn bit of difference. It’s not about territory. It’s about destroying Israel. The only way to negotiate with Palestinians is to crush them.”

MM: “Mormons are phenomenally Pro-Israel, as are other Christians. Is this negative?”

JP: “Jesus is not returning. Just let him try. Christians go to Israel 10 times more than we do. 50% of Christians go, but only 18% of Jews go. Christians love Israel, while Jews worry about checkpoints.”

SE: “Unlike Radical Islamists, at least Christians wait until we are gone to convert us.”

DH: “Christians are not burning us at the stake. They defend me.”

JP: “U.S. Jews have been shameful towards Christians. There have been no bad experiences. We just live in enclaves.”

MM: “What do we do about young Americans who are ungrateful towards America?”

DH: “For 55 years, the left has lied about the Rosenbergs. The judge and the prosecutor were Jewish. Many leftists simply hate this country.”

JP: “To what do leftists swear allegiance to? Canadian single-payer? What false God? If Michele Obama was not proud of the USA, what nation did she feel proud of? This explains the leftist blogosphere. There is just no idealism in hating the USA.”

MM: “Stephen, would you like to add anything?”

SE: “No.”

MM: “There should be a patriot requirement in our schools. There should also be a service requirement. Students should have to visit Independence Hall and Valley Forge. It is community service to learn about this country and what it has meant to this world.”

Whenever I worry that it is too late to save society, I remind myself that in small pockets of the country, if one plays close attention, the voices of reason and crystal clear logic can be found. I am glad to know them.

eric

This entry was posted on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 12:00 pm and is filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.