Hitler

I want to take issue with the currently fashionable assertion that Hitler was a leftist. If “left” and “right” were defined simply economically, that would be a fair characterisation. Social factors also come into play. Neither wing of politics has a monopoly on social authoritarianism. Left-wing social authoritarianism is also called political correctness, and is characterised by attacks on others for being judgemental about people - in the world of the far left, judgementalism is the only sin. Everyone is of equal merit and only those who say otherwise are evil.

It should come as no surprise, then, that right-wing social authoritarianism stems from the opposite extreme of excessive moral judgementalism. In this view of the world, people living a certain lifestyle, or of a certain racial or cultural group, are judged immoral or inferior. Crucially, not only is this judgement made, but the social rightist goes on to say “and something should be done” - by, for example, criminalising homosexual sex, or banning Asian immigration. Islamist terror attacks also fall under the heading of right-wing social doctrine. Such dogma cannot be categorised as left-wing, despite its interventionist tendencies, because it is directly opposed to the leftist religion of equality and relativism. This is not simply an argument about interventionism versus non-interventionism, or authoritarianism versus libertarianism. BOTH sides want intervention, the far left to establish the equality of minorities and the far right to force minorities to conform.

Hitler was the most ruthless proponent of right-wing social doctrine in world history. Stalin, Mao and others massacred people in the name of equality, the common good and socialist dogma (the engineered famines, for example) and were social leftists. Hitler massacred people because he thought they were vermin and was a social rightist. The characterisation of Hitler as right-wing is fair because his genocidal crimes were committed as a result of his right-wing social ideals. That he was economically leftist is true but irrelevant.

The base problem is that (and this is of course old news) left-wing and right-wing are not adequate to describe the full range of political opinion. Social and economic leftism, for example, are lumped together by correlation - a lot of people who believe in forced social equality also believe in forced economic equality, but the two are logically distinct. If Hitler must be described as one or the other, then right-wing is the correct choice.

Another History Lesson Lost in Iraq

WASHINGTON -
President Bush meets with British Prime Minister
Tony Blair at the White House today, a day after the release of the
Iraq study group's report.
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President Bush faces urgent pressure to find a fresh strategy in Iraq as a new defense secretary heads to the
Pentagon and a scathing bipartisan commission report says his war policies have failed and that "time is running out."

The Iraq Study Group's report said the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating" after nearly four years of bloodshed and more than 2,900 American deaths. The report gave weight to the president's talks on Thursday with Blair, his closest ally in the unpopular war.

Bush, possibly with counsel from Blair, could embrace some or all 79 of the Iraq Study Group's recommendations. The president also could ignore them and chart his own new course based on internal reviews being done at the Pentagon, State Department and the White House.

"It's clear that the present situation is not one that could be sustained or accepted," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Wednesday.

The panel's recommendations ranged from gradually withdrawing U.S. combat forces during the next year to ramping up the training of Iraqi security forces to enlisting diplomatic help from Iraq's neighbors — not only to resolve problems in Iraq but to find an end to the long-running conflict between
Israel and the Palestinians.

The White House was cautious not to specifically reject any of the group's ideas outright and vowed that Bush would entertain suggestions from all political circles before charting a new way forward.

But the president already has rejected the idea of direct talks with
Iran and
Syria. The administration continues to insist that Iran verifiably suspend uranium enrichment before the United States would start direct talks, although Snow left the door open for discussions through an outside group.

"There's some very good ideas in there," Bush said about the report after meeting Wednesday afternoon with lawmakers. "Not all of us around the table agree with every idea, but we do agree that it shows that bipartisan consensus on important issues is possible."

When a reporter asked whether Bush was capable of making dramatic changes in his war plan, Snow said: "Well, you're assuming that the president has to pull U-turns. I'm not sure I agree."

Democrats, meanwhile, clamored for change.

"I'm encouraged," said Rep. Jane Harman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., "and I feel the stay-the-course strategy is officially dead."

"The American people have spoken," said incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "The Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group has spoken. They have all demanded a change of course in Iraq, and the Bush administration must listen."

Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., said the key question was whether Bush was ready for a change of course.

"All eyes now are on this president," Schumer said.

Bush's national security adviser,
Stephen Hadley, has said Bush would make his decision within weeks.

"We believe that the situation in Iraq today is very, very serious," said James A. Baker III, the former Republican secretary of state who led the panel jointly with former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind. "We do not know if it can be turned around."

While the panel concluded that a stable, democratic Iraq was still possible, its pessimistic assessment of the situation contrasted with Bush's upbeat prediction that the U.S.-led coalition was on the road to victory.

"We're winning, and we will win, unless we leave before the job is done," Bush said at a White House news conference on Oct. 25.

The White House insists that Bush will not outsource his decision-making on Iraq, yet the changing political landscape would seem to make it difficult for him not to embrace or — at least seriously consider — opposing views.

"The politics have shifted so this report now becomes the default position for many in the public and many in political life," said Jon B. Alterman, a former State Department official who specialized in the Middle East.

"The president now isn't the one defining the terms of the debate. He's responding to a debate that others have framed, and a debate that others have framed on some terms that he has said are unacceptable.

"What I think is striking is that the president has said that defeat is not an option," said Alterman, now director of Mideast programs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "And what this report says is that defeat is a real possibility."

Leon Panetta, a Democratic member of the Iraq Study Group, said Bush needs to unify an America divided by the war.

"I think the president understands that he simply is not going to be able to proceed with whatever policy changes he wants to implement if we're divided," Panetta said. "That is the principal goal, in my mind, that he has to accomplish."
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If this doesn't reek of Viet Nam, nothing does. So blind to History's lessons. I am reminded of something the novelist George Sand said:

The truth is always simple, but usually we arrive at it by the most complicated way."

Amen to that.

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Sarah Takes On Mel Gibson

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Thank you, Sarah. This edition of The Daily English Show expresses my own feelings as well. While many of us have forgiven Mel Gibson; we also are wary of him. Many of the things he said regarding the Jewish People have been said before by the right. By Hitler. Just prior to WW2, Hitler said: "The Jews are responsible for all of the world's wars". Of course, this was basically an indictment of the Jewish Rothschilds family and their fortune, but it further stigmatized the Jews in the world's eye at that time. It is very disturbing to hear these same words come from Mel Gibson's mouth (even if he was drunk). Mel Gibson has condemned and ridiculed many minorities. I'd say that he really needs to put that bottle down for good. Everyone's good.

Lord Of THe Rings Parody

Lord of the Rings
Video sent by kympa

This is just soooo funny. Hilarious.

Candid Jerk

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I thought this was hilarious, and I want to lighten up on differing political opinions. Sorry if this offends anyone. It's funny, though.

Open And Fair List Of Demands From Michael Moore

This is what we demand:

1. Bring the troops home now. Not six months from now. NOW. Quit looking
for a way to win. We can't win. We've lost. Sometimes you lose. This is one
of those times. Be brave and admit it.

2. Apologize to our soldiers and make amends. Tell them we are sorry they
were used to fight a war that had NOTHING to do with our national security.
We must commit to taking care of them so that they suffer as little as
possible. The mentally and physically maimed must get the best care and
significant financial compensation. The families of the deceased deserve
the biggest apology and they must be taken care of for the rest of their
lives.

3. We must atone for the atrocity we have perpetuated on the people of
Iraq. There are few evils worse than waging a war based on a lie, invading
another country because you want what they have buried under the ground.
Now many more will die. Their blood is on our hands, regardless for whom we
voted. If you pay taxes, you have contributed to the three billion dollars
a week now being spent to drive Iraq into the hellhole it's become. When
the civil war is over, we will have to help rebuild Iraq. We can receive no
redemption until we have atoned.

In closing, there is one final thing I know. We Americans are better than
what has been done in our name. A majority of us were upset and angry after
9/11 and we lost our minds. We didn't think straight and we never looked at
a map. Because we are kept stupid through our pathetic education system and
our lazy media, we knew nothing of history. We didn't know that WE were the
ones funding and arming Saddam for many years, including those when he
massacred the Kurds. He was our guy. We didn't know what a Sunni or a
Shiite was, never even heard the words. Eighty percent of our young adults
(according to National Geographic) were not able to find Iraq on the map.
Our leaders played off our stupidity, manipulated us with lies, and scared
us to death.

But at our core we are a good people. We may be slow learners, but that
"Mission Accomplished" banner struck us as odd, and soon we began to ask
some questions. Then we began to get smart. By this past November 7th, we
got mad and tried to right our wrongs. The majority now know the truth. The
majority now feel a deep sadness and guilt and a hope that somehow we can
make make it all right again.

Unfortunately, we can't. So we will accept the consequences of our actions
and do our best to be there should the Iraqi people ever dare to seek our
help in the future. We ask for their forgiveness.

We demand the Democrats listen to us and get out of Iraq now.

Yours,

Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com

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Stats thus far:

US Military Deaths (Iraq) - 2,900
US Military Wounded (Iraq) - 21,778
Iraqui Civilian Deaths (Min) - 49, 235
"Excess" Iraqui Deaths - 655,000
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It's a fair and honest list. It's a fair and accurate assessment of who we are as the American people. It's an acccurate assessment of a dishonest war. It's fair to our troops and it's fair to the people in Iraq whom we have wronged.
Get us out of Iraq, now, Mr. Bush.

World AIDS Awareness

Someday - Alcazar (Gay anthem)
Video sent by jief75

It's World AIDS Awarness week and I'd like to bring this to everyone's attention. Please give to the AIDS charities and dig deep. This is a charity very dear to me and to so many. This video is the official Gay Pride Theme from the Sweden 2003 Gay Pride venue. Enjoy.