Rebane's Ruminations
August 2011
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                        Ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny.  R. Clay Reynolds

George Rebane

As these pages long attest, for me the answer to the title question is a resounding YES.  And our western governments aid and abet that as being the reasonable response.  The progressive tsunami of proscribing anyone who evinces fear of Islam ranges from Mayor Bloomberg banning any and all inclusion of religion in the upcoming commemoration of 9/11 at Ground Zero, to Canadian police giving Muslims a pass on physically assaulting non-Muslims in public.  (Read this piece in the 2aug11 Toronto Sun by David Menzies)

Hijab A more compelling and terrible look into the mind of Islam is the tragic story of a young Palestinian woman who lived in Gaza.  She was severely burned in a propane cooking accident about a year ago.  Requiring more treatment than available in Gaza, she and her care givers pleaded with Israeli officials at the border checkpoint to be allowed to seek help at a nearby Israeli hospital.  She was given a compassionate pass, proceeded to the hospital where she received treatment for her burns, and after recuperating she was released to return home.

A year later, she arrives with three small children at the same checkpoint in hijab (nearby picture), looking obviously pregnant, and requesting to revisit the hospital to be checked for how her healing has progressed.  The Israeli border guards sensed that something didn’t add up, and took her into custody.  She was placed into a now standard interrogation/isolation compound nearby and asked to disrobe.  Thereupon and in great distress, she confessed that she was a suicide bomber with a mission to go into the same crowded ward where she received her treatment, and then, surrounded by medical personnel and patients, she would detonate herself.

The Israeli video here shows the last moments of her interrogation and her detonating the twenty pounds of high explosive she had strapped to her belly.  It is a devastating record of a dedicated and determined servant of Allah willing to kill without mercy the very people who showed her kindness and compassion, and all for the sole purpose that they were the most proximal infidels that in her zeal she could reach.  That consideration overarched everything else in her life.


As recorded here many times, I have the most genuine respect for Islam’s stated and demonstrated objective to become the one-world theocracy commissioned in the Quran.  Their willingness to die and wantonly kill by the thousands in an ongoing daily round is beyond my comprehension.  And since they purpose themselves to destroy everything that I hold dear, and have demonstrated palpable success in that enterprise, I fear them.

My fear is amplified by those simple souls among whom I live, those who do not share any of my Islamophobic concerns, and instead, view me and those like me as unreasonable and unreasoning ‘racists’.  These same people issue a constant stream of pabulum about how such terrorists make up an insignificant fraction of Islam, a culture which seeks nothing but to live in peace with its non-Islamic neighbors.  Anyone who does not believe this message of sweetness and light is asked to go to the nearest Islamic center (an ever more easier task today than yesterday, and even easier tomorrow), and just sit down for a conversation with our Muslim neighbors.

I don’t know how to approach such a visit to the nearest Islamic center.  If I believe them to be devout in their religion, I know that they are taught the practice of taqqiya (religious dissimulation).  I have witnessed their worldwide silence and their overseas mass celebrations in response to the atrocities performed by their brothers and sisters.  What are we to believe when exposed to a regular stream of blatantly acceptable wholesale murders by Muslims who moments ago were our accepted countrymen in Europe and America?

Our own government dares not make the obvious connection.  The lame excuses given for the avalanche of evidence range all the way from attempting to argue symmetry with examples like McVey and Breivik, to pointing out that the majority of Muslims among us will reject the call when it comes, and throw in with western values when choose they must between these civilizations.

But then we recall that one of the most cultured of peoples, those who gave us Goethe, Schiller, Beethoven, Einstein, … , were silent and compliant when a minority band of brown shirts took over the Reichstag, and started their murderous genocides leading to the greatest of all wars.  And these same people remained silent and compliant right into the eve of the Götterdämmerung in 1945; I saw it with my own eyes, I was there.

And we in the west are to believe that Muslims lack such cultural loyalty and adhesion, qualities that they daily demonstrate across the world?  Dear reader, I don’t claim to have a solution, but only the considered viewpoint that if we do continue hiding the truth from ourselves, as also witnessed by the examples I give above, we will not save western civilization as we know it.  As a child, student, and defender of that civilization, I worry for my children, grandchildren, and, already, great-grandchildren.

[update]  Two Black Americans were elected to congress this cycle, and both are Republican. Col. West is from southern Florida. He won in a walk.  Below you can see why.  H/T to RR reader.

[1sep2011]  These kinds of interviews and news items flood the Islam streets daily.  They are invisible to our multikulti progressives who bend over backwards in the attempt to show that orther cultures – especially Christianity – are just as rapacious.  Here is a typical one from the Middle East Media Research Institute that never makes our lamestream outlets.  H/T to RR reader.

Posted in , , , ,

164 responses to “Islamophobia – a rational response? (updated 1sep2011)”

  1. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    With the mosque at ground zero back and not a concern for Americans who think it is wrong, we get to see the real mental state of these folks (Bloomberg too, what a nut). Yes, there are people who are certainly racists, and Islamophobes, but other than a deaf, dumb and blind person, if we don’t fear the harbingers of death we are fools. When I saw the Palestinians dancing in the streets celebrating the Twin Towers being destroyed and the dancing in Tripoli when the Lockerbie bomber/murderer deplaned, that simply reinforced things for me. The left tries to impose guilt on us who have a genuine fear of the assassins. It isn’t working now because people see the results of the fallacy of the religion of “peace” every day in the press and the news shows. I don’t care anymore if a liberal calls me names (they do it anyway) because I have fear and concerns about the Muslim’s and the future for my family. The liberal will be the first people stood up against the walls just as the SS did to dissenters in Germany and the KGB did in Russia. The evil of murder and those that practice it must be confronted and we cannot let the PC crowd have their way any longer.

    Like

  2. Ellen Avatar
    Ellen

    I agree with your accurately stated views. If Americans ignore all the blatant signals that are frequently being sent, it will do so at its peril. Hindsight is one thing, but turning a blind eye is unforgivable. Especially when so much is at stake. Must we live in a world of fear? Perpetrated by those who care not for their future, but who give up their lives for the chance to harm and destroy others.

    Like

  3. Russ Steele Avatar

    I am having a hard time getting my western mind around the idea that a young woman with children could do what she did. Mothers around the world are willing die to save their children, but to die for Islam in a terror attack on the very doctors and nurses that showed her compassion and treat her wounds is unthinkable. Yet, that was the plan. Now every time I see a muslim woman in a black burka, with a bulging tummy, I will run the other way.
    In the Sudan they are recruiting muslim women to have explosive surgically planted in their beasts, so they can get past the screeners and then blow themselves up on aircraft.
    If we continue to ignore the signals, we will continue to live in fear. In fear of women in bulging black robes, in fear of muslim women on the same airplane, in fear for our children, our grandchildren and their children, if we do not address this threat to our very existence. I support your concerns, to remain silent is to capitulate.

    Like

  4. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    George
    The first link you provide goes to some Toronto newspaper that has nothing to do with this story. Check it out

    Like

  5. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    What I meant to say is do you have a link with more information about the story you cite? You Tube doesn’t work here for some reason.

    Like

  6. RL Crabb Avatar

    A truly horrific video, and sadly only one among many others available on the internet. Still, I’m not ready to indict the entire population of Islam for the acts of a few, and it is a few.
    My question now, as it has been before in these conversations, is what exactly is your solution, George? Deportation by religion? Concentration camps? Genocide? I’m all ears…

    Like

  7. George Rebane Avatar

    Israeli video also at –
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9qy4y-Y5zs&feature=player_embedded
    The “some” Toronto newspaper The Toronto Sun, it is its leading print medium. The link takes you directly to the Menzies report.
    Both links work.

    Like

  8. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    First of all the Menzies report is a commentary not a news piece. I’m sure you can recognize the difference.
    I don’t get You Tube so that link is useless to me.
    Crabb asks the essential question of you. Believing as you, do what do you propose as a solution?

    Like

  9. George Rebane Avatar

    “… Dear reader, I don’t claim to have a solution, but only the considered viewpoint that if we do continue hiding the truth from ourselves, as also witnessed by the examples I give above, we will not save western civilization as we know it. …”
    Wiser heads than mine should start working on a solution – right now no one is. The longer we put off addressing this problem as a western nation (or civilization), the more limited become the obvious options.

    Like

  10. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    In your opinion what are the “obvious options” if this problem is not addressed?

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  11. George Rebane Avatar

    PaulE, I would much rather learn of what my readers consider such obvious options to be before weighing in with my views. I have posted my piece – it stands and invites discussion from those who seriously share or oppose my concerns. And I do understand if such invitation is declined.

    Like

  12. stevenfrisch Avatar
    stevenfrisch

    Touche, Paul.
    There is no ‘obvious option’, the world is not a simple place, we cannot condemn 1.3 billion people for the actions of a relative few ideologues bent on murder, and to do so is to whip up fear, and deny individual responsibility, knowing the consequences of fear are often the very actions described above as a colorful part of George’s past.
    How can one simultaneously condemn the actions of a minority few whipping up fear against a perceived threat, then engage in the very same thing in the same breathe?

    Like

  13. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Since I don’t agree with the premise of this post obviously I have no ideas for a solution. What I do know is that since 9-11 nearly 300,000 Americans have died from firearms. If preservation of life is a priority then addressing this problem effectively seems to be a better cause for concern. This is from the Violence Policy Center
    http://www.vpc.org/nrainfo/phil.html
    “Firearms are the second leading cause of traumatic death related to a consumer product in the United States and are the second most frequent cause of death overall for Americans ages 15 to 24. Since 1960, more than a million Americans have died in firearm suicides, homicides, and unintentional injuries. In 2003 alone, 30,136 Americans died by gunfire: 16,907 in firearm suicides, 11,920 in firearm homicides, 730 in unintentional shootings, and 232 in firearm deaths of unknown intent, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Nearly three times that number are treated in emergency rooms each year for nonfatal firearm injuries.”

    Like

  14. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Yep those suicides by firearms are the firearms fault. The rope is the nooses fault. The stabbing the knives fault. Yep, right.

    Like

  15. Douglas Keachie Avatar
    Douglas Keachie

    One of the things not discussed here is why wouldn’t she have simply told the Israeli’s what had been placed on her?
    One, she had probably also been told there was no way it could be removed without triggering it, and this was probably true. In addition to trip lines it was probably also set up for radio detonation and with a max life timer, so that if she didn’t make it to the hospital, it would most like go off wherever she was.
    She may have spared the lives of Israeli bomb techs by exploding it herself, and also, saved the lives of her children, who would have been caught up in the blast, if she made the hospital. She may have deliberately sacrificed her own life to save her children. In which case she was far far more courageous than most of the posters here.
    Two, there may have been threats of reprisal against eher husband, parents, friends, etc., if she did not go through with it. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.
    Three, when are some of you going to get it straight?
    there is no such things as:
    all blacks blah blah blah
    all Muslims blah blah blah
    all Nevada County contractors blah blah blah
    all systems engineers blah blah blah
    all lefties blah blah blah
    and so on.

    Like

  16. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Your right Todd. However, addressing the cause of suicide obviously needs to be part of a remedy.

    Like

  17. Ben Emery Avatar

    George,
    Do you put any responsibility on western culture for the plight of people oppressed by puppet dictators or those who impose immoral policies? Prior to our endless illegal war on terror(an emotion) a vast majority of madrassas(promoters of Wahhabism) were in Saudi Arabia or funded by the power brokers of the nation. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/analyses/madrassas.html
    Tell me when does the war on terror end? Who surrenders? What do the enemies look like? What flag to they fight under? Does this need to be a genocidal offensive or will the people of the nations that are being occupied/ bombed just forget about their loved ones being killed and the country being destroyed?
    To condemn an entire faith for the actions of very small minority is throwing fuel on the fire. How many innocent civilians have to die before you can admit invading nations that had nothing to do with 9/11 was a bad idea? Every time an innocent civilian is killed by an NATO backed bomb it creates 10 generational enemies.

    Like

  18. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    I have had distant relatives die by their own hand and it is usually those that feel there is nothing left for them on the planet. The device they use was your point. My point is what is in their mind.

    Like

  19. Russ Avatar
    Russ

    Paul,
    There were 401,601 auto deaths since 9-11, so what is your point. You seen to trying to change the subject under discussion.
    Since there were more deaths from cars than guns, lets ban cars. Now back to the issue.

    Like

  20. Ben Emery Avatar

    Todd,
    Possibly if they had somebody promising them that their families would be taken care of if they would join a religious group they might have taken the offer. Over the next few months and years they would have been brainwashed to hate a specific segment of the global population and agree to become a terrorist to fulfill their misguided delusional teachings.
    Wahhabism is a cult that promotes criminal immoral behavior in the guise of being gods will. This is exactly why the separation of church and state is so important, so we don’t oppress people that don’t subscribe to those in power specific brand of faith and enter into holy wars domestically or internationally.

    Like

  21. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    I was expanding the discussion to include greater threats to human health and welfare. Yes, cars are the main cause of traumatic death. I didn’t advocate banning guns or cars. I was putting into perspective the scope of what George considers to be a serious problem by comparing the Islamic threat with domestic realities. I feel more threatened by Meth addicts with guns or knives or bare hands than people of Islamic faith.

    Like

  22. RL Crabb Avatar

    I saw John Bolton on Fox earlier, and while he joins the chorus of Obama bashers, he also noted that many muslims are fed up with the violence that is foisted on them by their own. It remains to be seen how this factors into the fledgling democracy movement spreading across the mideast. Could be many of them are more interested in feeding their families than joining a holy war.

    Like

  23. D. King Avatar
    D. King

    Ben said:
    “Every time an innocent civilian is killed by an NATO backed bomb it creates 10 generational enemies.”
    Where did that come from?

    Like

  24. Ben Emery Avatar

    DK,
    It came from me. For those of us who have been opposing illegal military actions from both (D) and (R) administrations it is a number we have heard for years. It was also said by General McChrystal in the Rolling Stone Article “The Runaway General” on page four.
    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-runaway-general-20100622?page=4

    Despite the tragedies and miscues, McChrystal has issued some of the strictest directives to avoid civilian casualties that the U.S. military has ever encountered in a war zone. It’s “insurgent math,” as he calls it – for every innocent person you kill, you create 10 new enemies. He has ordered convoys to curtail their reckless driving, put restrictions on the use of air power and severely limited night raids. He regularly apologizes to Hamid Karzai when civilians are killed, and berates commanders responsible for civilian deaths. “For a while,” says one U.S. official, “the most dangerous place to be in Afghanistan was in front of McChrystal after a ‘civ cas’ incident.” “

    Like

  25. Ben Emery Avatar

    Then you put this on top of it and we are fueling and amplifying and already bad situation
    http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/12-5
    “WASHINGTON – During his intensive initial round of media interviews as commander in Afghanistan in August 2010, Gen. David Petraeus released figures to the news media that claimed spectacular success for raids by Special Operations Forces: in a 90-day period from May through July, SOF units had captured 1,355 rank and file Taliban, killed another 1,031, and killed or captured 365 middle or high-ranking Taliban.”
    It goes on to say
    “But it turns out that more than 80 percent of those called captured Taliban fighters were released within days of having been picked up, because they were found to have been innocent civilians, according to official U.S. military data.
    Even more were later released from the main U.S. detention facility at Bagram airbase called the Detention Facility in Parwan after having their files reviewed by a panel of military officers.”
    Bagram
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8621973.stm

    Like

  26. D. King Avatar
    D. King

    Ben,
    My problem is with this term…I don’t understand it.
    “…creates 10 generational enemies.”
    This I understand.
    “…for every innocent person you kill, you create 10 new enemies.”

    Like

  27. Douglas Keachie Avatar
    Douglas Keachie

    I’ve followed the Traubmans for years, here’s a sample:
    Virtual Bridge Allows Strangers in Mideast to Seem Less Strange
    The New York Times — Saturday, 09 July 9 2011
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/world/middleeast/10mideast.html
    YaLa Young Leaders — https://www.facebook.com/yalaYL — is a new Facebook site surprising and attracting Israelis and Palestinians and other Arabs.
    They are talking about everything at once — music, soccer, photography, and what their new future might look like.
    “I joined immediately,” said a young Palestinian, “because right now, without a peace process and with Israelis and Palestinians physically separated, it is really important for us to be interacting without barriers.”
    This enthusiasm is suggesting that the Facebook-driven revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt may have instructed and inspired coexistence efforts as well.
    Called Facebook.com/yalaYL, the site, created by a former Israeli diplomat and unambiguous about its links to Israel,
    Of 22,500 active users, 60 percent are Arabs — mostly Palestinians, followed by Egyptians, Jordanians, Tunisians, Moroccans, Lebanese and Saudis.
    “All communication today is on the Internet — sex, war, business — why not peace?” asked Uri Savir, the president of the Peres Center for Peace and the founder of the new site.
    Savir was Chief Negotiator of the Oslo Accords for Israel in the 1990s as well as director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry and a member of Knesset.
    But Savir says he has never been more excited about a project and this place where the next generation of regional innovators can meet.
    At a time when Arabs generally shun contact with Israelis, those on the site speak openly about their desire to learn more about one another.
    “This is my first contact with Israelis,” said Lyth Sharif, an 18-year-old Palestinian student at Birzeit University in the West Bank, who comes from Dura, a town near Hebron.
    “A friend of mine told me about it, and I think it’s cool.”
    Salah al-Ayan, a Palestinian Authority official and a friend of Savir, is helping with the site.
    He says that the lack of interaction today between Israelis and Palestinians about ordinary things is alarming.
    “Believe me, they don’t know each other at all,” he said in his Ramallah office.
    Nimrod, an Israeli participant added:“But what is great is that the discussions are unmediated — people aged 15 to 30 talking among ourselves.
    “We don’t talk about a two-state solution or a one-state solution but about being a young person in Israel or Palestine.
    “Our experiences are obviously very different, but we share a frustration about greater powers restricting us.
    “That is very mutual.”
    Uri Savir’s vision is clear.
    “My goal is to have 100,000 people working on YaLa on joint projects that will lock our leaders into making peace.”

    These and hundreds of other success stories are preserved at http://traubman.igc.org/messages.htm

    Like

  28. D. King Avatar
    D. King

    O.T. a little.
    Seen this?
    ‘Gaddafi’s daughter-in-law threw boiling water over my head after I refused to beat her child’: Horrific burns of nanny abandoned in dictator’s mansion
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2031390/Aline-Skaf-Gaddafis-daughter-law-threw-boiling-water-nanny-Shweyga-Mullah.html#ixzz1WaOUZ5VP
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2031390/Aline-Skaf-Gaddafis-daughter-law-threw-boiling-water-nanny-Shweyga-Mullah.html

    Like

  29. Larry Wirth Avatar
    Larry Wirth

    No problem, George. After two readings of the Koran (one translated by an Englishman the other by an Egyptian Muslim) and a handful of Muhammed bios, I have no problem with “deportation by religion.” Better yet, don’t let Muslims into the United States.
    The rap about the Middle East is largely beside the point, George is talking about what we do here.
    This is a hate-filled so-called religion that has no place in Western Civilization and, like a lot of other people, I’m not interested in dragging these cave apes into the 21st Century. L

    Like

  30. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    BenE is certainly one naive person. The facts are there are always a number of people within almost any religion who do their darnedest to get their way. In Christianity it is usually to get you to join a church and practice love and peace. In Islam it is to take over the planet and kill the infidels. Us. I like to remember with fondness the Polish people led by Lech who stood in front of the guns and the police and transformed their country, then the continent, fighting for freedom. It started small and with the help of Reagan and especially the Pope, the small group grew and eventually prevailed. Their actions brought down the commies and the USSR within a few short years. The Islamic believers are the opposite. They have a small (in percentage) of activists (terrorists) who wish to enslave the world. They are all taught from the same book and their little chillin are brainwashed into hating Jews and everyone else. Well, it is going to take some sparks which the terrorists keep trying to ignite but will someday take off and with a short period of time the planet will be embroiled. BenE and his ilk want to play nicey-nice with the head choppers. We don’t. We know they will be coming to do their deeds because they have told us they will. I believe them, BenE doesn’t.

    Like

  31. Ben Emery Avatar

    Todd,
    Scared little man. It must be tough to live in a world of fear all the time.

    Like

  32. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    No, being prepared is the point. I am not scared I am informed. Your naivete is breathtaking in a world of so much information. Besides, You liberals always go personal. Little man, sheesh!

    Like

  33. Ben Emery Avatar

    Todd,
    You gave me your reasoning for you hatred of an entire religion and I came to the conclusion from you reasoning that you are a terrified human being. There is nothing personal about it. You calling me naive is the same as me calling you a scared, sheesh.
    I didn’t realize love and peace came at the tip of a bomb, isn’t that your solution to Islam.

    Like

  34. Ben Emery Avatar

    I will ask again
    When does the war on terror end? Who surrenders? What do the enemies look like? What flag to they fight under? Does this need to be a genocidal offensive or will the people of the nations that are being occupied/ bombed just forget about their loved ones being killed and the country being destroyed?

    Like

  35. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    BenE you are delusional, it is no wonder you are relegated to an obscure political belief system and party. You are naive and simply in denial. The war on terror will continue as long as the terrorist want it to, Why is that so difficult for you to understand? Oh, i did read your fantasy about helping some fellow out by throwing punches. Now there is a brave dude. Yeah right.

    Like

  36. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    So according to some scribes here the Islam world will do to us what we already did to them, conquer and donate their homelands through military force and terror.

    Like

  37. Ben Emery Avatar

    Todd,
    That wasn’t a fantasy but reality. Here is another one. Many of my friends are of color) and in High School a white boyfriend of girl came to fight someone (non friend person of color) on campus. As the boyfriend was about to finish the fight with one last punch to the slumping opponent my friends jumped him. I ended up fighting my friends and yanking them off of the guy. Was it because he was white? No. It was he was unfairly jumped. Doing the correct thing isn’t always pretty, easy, or safe. You see Todd, there is a big difference in being for non violence and being a coward. A coward sees something wrong and is afraid to insert themselves into the situation, I am not a coward. I encourage you to watch this film about bravery.
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/

    Like

  38. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    BenE, you have a fantasy we call the John Wayne syndrome. You are a story teller and I get that. Living your stories as if they happened is simply delusional. You don’t need me to watch your bravery video, you need to watch it. I can take take care of myself as I have done all my life and though I am 61 I can defend righteousness just as the next guy. You have to realize we hear these stories from liberals all the time and when push comes to shove, the liberal runs and the conservatives stays and fights. Not many liberals in the military is there?

    Like

  39. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    What would you know about the military Todd? You never served.

    Like

  40. Ben Emery Avatar

    Todd,
    I don’t subscribe that republicans are conservatives and democrats are liberals but I know you do so here is the military service records of our elected officials and political pundits. George sorry for its length but the point is lost unless the whole list is posted.
    Here is the list

    The dirty little truth Republicans dont want America to notice. Anybody here see the pattern? For all thier blustering patriotism and warmongering almost NONE of them actually served our nation in the US military. Perhaps that is why they are all to ready to send young men to die in foreign wars. They have no idea what that actually means. Compare Republican service record in he military to Democrat service and it becomes all to clear what kind of people make up the Republican party: blustering moral cowards and bigots. (John McCain being the only one with real honor and integrity which is why he is the black sheep of the party)
    Republicans:
    * Dick Cheney: did not serve. 5 draft deferments (last one was for marriage)
    * Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
    * Tom Delay: did not serve.
    * Roy Blunt: did not serve.
    * Bill Frist: did not serve.
    * Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
    * Rick Santorum: did not serve.
    * Trent Lott: did not serve.
    * John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
    * Jeb Bush: did not serve.
    * Karl Rove: did not serve.
    * Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. “Bad knee.” The man who attacked Max
    Cleland’s patriotism.
    * Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
    * Vin Weber: did not serve.
    * Richard Perle: did not serve.
    * Douglas Feith: did not serve.
    * Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
    * Richard Shelby: did not serve.
    * Jon Kyl: did not serve.
    * Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
    * Christopher Cox: did not serve.
    * Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
    * Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
    * George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got
    assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S.
    Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from duty
    * Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role
    making movies.
    * B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
    * Phil Gramm: did not serve.
    * John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart
    and Distinguished Flying Cross.
    * John M. McHugh: did not serve.
    * JC Watts: did not serve.
    * Jack Kemp: did not serve. “Knee problem,” although continued
    in NFL for 8 years.
    * Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
    * Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
    * George Pataki: did not serve.
    * Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
    * John Engler: did not serve.
    * Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
    * Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
    Pundits &Preachers
    * Sean Hannity: did not serve.
    * Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a ‘pilonidal cyst.’)
    * Bill O’Reilly: did not serve.
    * Michael Savage: did not serve.
    * George Will: did not serve.
    * Chris Matthews: did not serve.
    * Paul Gigot: did not serve.
    * Bill Bennett: did not serve.
    * Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
    * John Wayne: did not serve.
    * Bill Kristol: did not serve.
    * Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
    * Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
    * Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
    * Ralph Reed: did not serve.
    * Michael Medved: did not serve.
    * Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
    * Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don’t shoot
    back.)
    Democrats:
    * Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
    * David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
    * Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
    * Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army
    journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
    * Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
    * Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
    * John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V,
    Purple Hearts.
    * Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
    * Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star &Bronze Star,
    Vietnam.
    * Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
    * Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
    * Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
    * Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven
    campaign ribbons.
    * Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze
    Stars, and Soldier’s Medal.
    * Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star
    and Legion of Merit.
    * Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
    * Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze
    Star with Combat V.
    * Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
    * Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
    * Chuck Robb: Vietnam
    * Howell Heflin: Silver Star
    * George McGovern: Silver Star &DFC during WWII.
    * Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but
    received #311.
    * Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
    * Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
    * John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18
    Clusters.
    * Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul
    Wallenberg.

    Like

  41. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Larry Wirth writes
    “I have no problem with “deportation by religion.” Better yet, don’t let Muslims into the United States.”
    Here’s a chance for the Tea Party and Librtarian types to chime in. Is Mr Wirth’s solution Constitutional and why or why not?

    Like

  42. D. King Avatar
    D. King

    Oh, peace and love, peace and love.
    “A rising leader in the radical Islamic movement in Egypt that has become a major political player since the demise of Hosni Mubarak’s regime says Christian churches may need to be blown up and Christians exterminated to allow the advance of Islamic law, or Shariah.”
    http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=339305
    Reminds me of this tolerant and respectful act.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ-oaUqvAS8

    Like

  43. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    D King
    Any comments on the constitutionality of Wirth’s solution?

    Like

  44. Douglas Keachie Avatar
    Douglas Keachie

    That’s a priceless list, Ben, is it on facebook?

    Like

  45. Mikey McD Avatar

    I reserve the right to protect my person and property; I expect others to reserve such a right as well.
    Education (anti-ignorance) would do wonders (pretending a problem does not exist only exacerbates the problem). Discrimination is a form of protection (I don’t include Islamic regions in my possible vacation destinations or social circles because I have grown fond of keeping my head attached to the rest of my body).

    Like

  46. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Mikey, from your Libertarian viewpoint is Mr Wirth’s solution constitutional?
    Larry Wirth writes
    “I have no problem with “deportation by religion.” Better yet, don’t let Muslims into the United States.”

    Like

  47. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    George
    The question I propose is quite simple. Do you believe deportation by religion is constitutional?

    Like

  48. Douglas Keachie Avatar
    Douglas Keachie

    I’ll take a crack at it, Paul.
    Negatory on that there proposition. No. Nein, Nyet.

    Like

  49. D. King Avatar
    D. King

    Paul,
    During the first Gulf war I worked with a Saudi Chief Warrant Officer; we became good friends.
    In fact, we are good friends to this day. We spent many hours having tea and shisha in the desert discussing these very topics. I may have a slightly different perspective than others, however, the Koran is clear on the subject.
    We are allowed freedom of religion here, not so in the Kingdom. However I do not believe our constitution states we must allow people who hate us to immigrate here. Right?
    The card I just sent my friend Saeid.
    http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv22/David-C-King/eid.jpg

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