Peter King Blames George Bush for 911

I know you think it was Trump, but I don’t read this in Trump’s statements:

"When you talk about George Bush, I mean — say what you want — the World Trade Center came down during his time," Trump said.

Was Bush not president at the time?

“He was president, okay?" Trump responded. "Blame him or don’t blame him, but he was president. The World Trade Center came down during his reign.”

Bush was president – is there something controversial in this?  Blame him or don’t blame him – the listener can decide.  Of course, this is blasphemy in the land of spoon-fed narrative.

And the most truth in the entire statement: referring to the president’s term as a “reign.”

But what does this have to do with Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee?

"Anyone who has any real knowledge of that — you can get all the CIA people, all of the career people — no one saw the attack of 9/11 coming. And to blame George Bush for what happened on September 11...shows a lack of knowledge and is too much of a cheap shot at the president."

No one saw it coming?  Whose fault is that?  Trump’s?

There you have it: Peter King blames George Bush for 9/11.  Of course, there are those who believe Bush deserves blame for different reasons.

Say What?

No, it isn’t a headline from The Onion:

Germany presses Iran to use sway over Assad to end war in Syria

"My wish is that Iran uses its influence in the government and on Assad and his entourage so that we take the first steps towards a de-escalation in Syria," [German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier] said in Tehran on the first official visit to Iran by a German foreign minister in more than 10 years.

Islamic Victory in Europe

I was intending to write a fiction account.  From the perspective of some future date, perhaps 50 or 100 years from now, the telling of the tale of the Muslim conquest of Europe.  As opposed to the methods employed a thousand years ago, this conquest was accomplished relatively peacefully.  In fact, the victors were invited, housed, fed, and clothed by the earlier residents of the land.

As an aside: It is not my place to cheer or boo these events.  Politicians make choices, people choose to ignore or otherwise live with the choices made by their so-called leaders – and the potential consequences of these choices.

Of course, I will boo the causes behind the events: the west turned the Middle East and North Africa into a living hell for those who lived (or continue to live) in the region.

To the extent that the migrants are refugees, it is quite understandable that they would flee in search of peace – flee, in fact, to the very countries that contributed to the chaos from which they fled (another interesting twist that I would have woven into the fiction account that I was going to write). 

I was going to write this fiction account.  Now I am not.  While poking around for some background material I found the following:

We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe—without swords, without guns, without conquest—will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.

Muammar Gaddafi, 10 April 2006

What could I write to follow this?

Other than…the West has been actively self-inflicting wounds for one-hundred years now.  That western culture has survived (to one degree or another) this long is a testament to the extensive and rich cultural heritage built on 1700 years.

Neocons Against Foreign Military Interventions

No, this isn’t a new support group for recovering warmongers….

Neocons are coming out strongly against foreign military intervention.  You say you haven’t noticed?  I suggest you just haven’t looked in the right places; perhaps thinking a little too parochially.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Russia on Friday that its bombing campaign against Syrian rebels will suck Moscow into a "quagmire," after a third straight day of air raids in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

"An attempt by Russia and Iran to prop up Assad and try to pacify the population is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire and it won't work," Obama said.

Russia Is Repeating Cold War Mistakes in Syria: In 1957, the Soviet Union’s ally Egypt intervened in Syria’s messy politics. It didn’t go well. Why does Putin think this time will be different?

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin's decision to take military action in Syria to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was a "terrible mistake".

Turkey and Saudi Arabia on Thursday warned Russia over the consequences of its intervention in Syria, with Ankara telling Moscow its bombing campaign in support of the regime was a "big mistake".

…as Jeremy Shapiro, a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution's Project on International Order and Strategy, explained to me, the truth is far different. If Russia did manage to "blindside" the Obama administration, he argues, that's only because the Russian intervention is so incredibly stupid that it took the US by surprise that Putin would actually do it.

"I have said before that we believe that Russia has the wrong strategy," [U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter] explained. "They continue to hit targets that are not ISIL. We believe this is a fundamental mistake."

"Despite what the Russians say, we have not agreed to cooperate with Russia so long as they continue to pursue a mistaken strategy and hit these targets," he said.

Open Borders Meet Open Marriage

Not in the way you think. 

From the bowels of left-libertarianism: Animals Aren’t Property: Circus Edition

Usually, it’s upsetting to see a person’s livelihood attacked and destroyed by government bureaucrats. In the case of Thomas Chipperfield, it’s not so bad.

What livelihood destroying action is being lauded by the communist faction of libertarians (yeah, I know)?

Thomas Chipperfield’s own specialty within his family’s business is the taming of big cats. That may all be coming to an end soon, as circuses are more and more seen for precisely what they are — the subjugation and exploitation of animals.

…the important underlying assumptions in animal issues: Captivity, confinement and ownership. It’s not that the conditions of animal confinement need improvement; it’s that animal confinement must come to an end. When the boundaries of animal debate stay within the cozy confines of whether captive animals are being treated and fed well, the barbaric institution of human domination over animals is allowed to thrive.

Open borders for animals.  Captivity and confinement of animals must come to an end.

That’s why the animal welfarist’s position, while sometimes accomplishing good and important ends, will never be sufficient. It fails to address the underlying evil — that of animals’ status as nothing more than human property.

Animals must not be confined to the status of property.  Perhaps a cow could run for president (actually not a bad idea).

Contrary to the animal welfarist position, the more radical, abolitionist approach seeks to smash the allowable window of debate and free animals from their confines.

This will go over well in much of Africa, Asia, North America and South America.  Open borders for lions and tigers and bears…oh my!

Next, animal-human marriage:

They require recognition as sentient beings with their own complex lives, relationships, wants and needs.

The less I say the better.