Santiago's blog
Posted at 2:30am on Dec. 18, 2006 Chomsky, Seriously
By Santiago
I have long been vaguely aware that Noam Chomsky has been prominent for his leftist political views, and is known as a distinguished scholar of linguistics. I do not have much formal contact or interest in linguistics, and am generally opposed to leftist political views. But I have been recently engaged in a couple of fierce arguments with leftists on the web, and this has prompted me to look into Chomsky's positions.
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Posted at 1:29am on Dec. 17, 2006 Russian History and Recent Developments
By Santiago
The Soviet Union was founded as a criminal enterprise. The Bolsheviks financed their operations by robbing banks, among other things. Stalin caught Lenin's attention as a bank robber and thug, and went on to become a member of the ruling circle, from which he liquidated his way to supreme power.
Now the Russians are again actively criminal, assaulting and murdering opponents and critics, and involved in criminal activities, drugs, and expropriations. I am sure they were no less criminal in Soviet times, but the leaden communist bureaucracy seems to have had a dampening effect on overt, visible effects.
Some months ago, there was a marvelous little site called www.newtimes.ru that had English translations of Russian newspapers, including articles from the early Twentieth Century that contained informative articles about the bank robberies and hold-ups perpetrated by the Bolsheviks. Now this site cannot be accessed; I don't know if this is temporary or permanent. It occurs to me that, with the Russ restricting press freedoms, perhaps the site has been removed.
Does anyone have any information on this site?
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Posted at 12:39am on Dec. 9, 2006 Redefining War and Redefining the Enemy
By Santiago
In WWII, the Allies adopted a policy of "unconditional surrender" against the Axis Powers. This was the result of the ambiguous conclusion of WWI, when an Armistice halted hostilities, rather than a Peace Treaty. This left open the argument that Germany had not been defeated, but that it had been "betrayed", and this was a powerful factor in the rise of Hitler.
But the Allies also adopted a seemingly contradictory policy of avoiding attacks on the Axis political leadership, namely the Japanese royal family. Tens of thousands of people died in fire bombing attacks on Tokyo and other cities, but the Imperial Palace grounds were purposely avoided. It seems that destroying the Japanese royal establishment could have emphatically made the point of unconditional surrender much more rapidly and much more cheaply than bombing dozens of cities, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But that was not the thinking, probably because the Emperor represented the State, and the State was to be preseved, after surrendering, of course.
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Posted at 3:10pm on Nov. 1, 2006 Spin Kerry
By Santiago
Jonah Goldberg (and at least several other commenters) quote John Kerry's latest pronouncement as follows:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
But Kos has what appears to be the same quote as follows:
"I can't overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq."
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Posted at 2:09pm on Oct. 28, 2006 November Surprise
By Santiago
Everyone is familiar with the biennial October Surprise in American politics: DUI, Rathergate, Foley, etc. Equally common, but largely unrecognized by the very people most responsible for the October Surprises, are the November Surprises.
The context for the various October Surprises takes one of two forms. True incident surprises (DUI) are ferreted out, verified, preserved, and closely held for the magic moment when they will have the most impact on an election campaign; it appears likely that a single DUI conviction from decades before cost George Bush a significant number of votes in the year 2000 election during a very tight Presidential campaign.
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Posted at 1:56am on Jul. 13, 2006 Vote Ned Lamont
By Santiago
Joe Lieberman is a fine fellow, who happens to have supported the Iraq War throughout: Iraq Liberation Act 1998, letter to President Bush in December 2001 (with other Senators and Representatives) urging overthrow of Saddam, Iraq War Resolution 2002, various war budgets, etc. In this, Lieberman closely follows Hubert Humphrey and Scoop Jackson in working for a vigorous defense of American values and priorities. And in this he is joined, off and on, by other Dimocrat stalwarts: Kerry, Kennedy, Biden, all the usual suspects.
Other than that, Senator Lieberman has not much to recommend him, following the dreary Dimocrat party line on all things social and fiscal. But he does have a very strong following among like-minded Liberals.
Read on ...
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Posted at 3:45am on Jul. 9, 2006 At War
By Santiago
The recent Dales post, She Still Doesn't Get It-- And The Left Says Nothing, includes a long sub-thread right up front on whether the left is at war with us, or if we are, or should be, at war with the left.
I take it as a given that the left is the biggest existential threat to the peace, stability, and well-being of the world, and has been since 1918. Leftist ideology is a far greater threat than Islamist terror ideology, which, if necessary, could be eliminated in short order. The left is among us, and is us, as Pogo might have said.
Read on ...
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Posted at 2:09pm on Jul. 2, 2006 The Bill of Rights
By Santiago
Constitution of the United States, Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
So, Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell can rob a bank and they are immune from prosecution, because "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof", and part of their religious beliefs include their right to rob banks, which would otherwise be in violation of the law. Do you accept this argument?
So, Pinch Sulzberger and Bill Keller can print stolen classified documents, and they are immune from prosecution, because "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom ... of the press", and part of their journalistic beliefs include their right to print stolen classified documents, which would otherwise be in violation of the law. Do you accept this argument?
Is the freedom of religion argument above valid? Is the freedom of the press argument above valid? What is the difference between the two arguments?
The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, gives rights to the people of the United States equally. "Freedom of religion" is not given to religious organizations or leaders any more than any other person. "Freedom of the press" is not given to editors or newspapers any more than any other person.
Other sections of the Constitution give people the right to vote, and give the elected representatives of the people the authority to enact laws, which may then be signed by the President. The elective process and the legislative process are not negated by some preacher man or some editor claiming that he is not bound by laws developed by the electorate's Legislature, and the Executive.
Elite illiberals will be the death of us, if they get their way.
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Posted at 3:32pm on Jun. 21, 2006 Epiphany
By Santiago
There is a sharp consensus that leftists are wrong, but vague and shadowy perceptions of why they should persist in their wrongness over the decades. Is leftism really an emotional disorder, and is that sufficient explanation for current political realities? And, if so, what is to be done about it?
Simon Heffner has an article, Wrong, defeated, humiliated: why the Left still hates Lady Thatcher, in today's Telegraph. The article brings startling clarity to the uncertain motivations of the left, and suggests necessary remedies.
Read on .....
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Posted at 11:26am on Apr. 15, 2006 The Generals and John Boyd
By Santiago
A number of retired Generals have recently criticized SecDef Rumsfeld and demanded his departure. Big Lizards has a very interesting take on these ex-military types, including their Clintonoid backgrounds, plodding lack of originality in military matters, inefficiency, and outright dishonesty when comparing their statements before the Iraq War began and more recent statements on the situation in the Middle East.
http://biglizards.net/blog/archives/2006/04/grumbles_from_t.html
See also General Zinni and the Pre-War Intelligence:
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5415
There is a story developing in these and related articles, but the big story, involving one of the world's premier military thinkers, is largely unknown and unremarked.
John Boyd was a fighter pilot and instructor, a developer of tactics, an aircraft designer, a military strategist, and a military and organizational philosopher who has been compared favorably with Sun Tzu, Musashi, and von Clausewitz. Some Generals and politicians admired Boyd's contributions greatly, and others hated Boyd with a passion.
Read on .....
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Posted at 12:52am on Mar. 2, 2006 A New Declaration of Freedom and Independence
By Santiago
Belmont Club reprints a Manifesto, Together facing the new totalitarianism, declaring opposition to religious totalitarianism, just as other forms of totalitarianism were opposed and defeated during the last century.
The signatories are primarily Muslim or from Muslim countries, but their lucidity and courage are worthy of our Founding Fathers and the Enlightment.
The authors' stand is in stark contrast to the cowardice and fear demonstrated by most of the antique media in Europe and in the USA. The New York Times has no shame when printing pictures of the "Piss Christ" or the "Dung Madonna". With a brave example before them, NYT might find a little courage to print a copy of the Manifesto, even if they are too terrified to publish the cartoons of Mohammed.
http://www.fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/ March 1, 2006.
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Posted at 1:10pm on Feb. 23, 2006 Reasoned, Seasoned Bipartisan Convergence
By Santiago
Alan M. Dershowitz and William J. Bennett are political stalwarts representing opposite sides of the political spectrum. So it is noteworthy that they have come to a common position on a matter of some importance: the role and performance of media in our democracy.
The antique media has generated a lot of comment for years for its uneven (depending on whom you are talking with) coverage of "news". The political stresses of current times have resulted in increased comment and controversy.
M. Bennett and M. Dershowitz recognize and express dismay over the media's extremely critical attitude toward the Administration, as in the Abu Ghraib coverage and the release of classified documents. But their main concern now is over the media's failure to treat important news, in this instance the publishing of the cartoons:
When we were attacked on Sept. 11, we knew the main reason for the attack was that Islamists hated our way of life, our virtues, our freedoms. What we never imagined was that the free press -- an institution at the heart of those virtues and freedoms -- would be among the first to surrender.
The "free press", as Dershowitz and Bennett have so generously labeled it, has problems. Readership and revenues are in decline. Competing and less-biased sources of news are available. Now the press is being accused of cowardice in wartime. Being attacked from the left and from the right will not improve the media's reputation, but it might eventually improve their perceptions and performance.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/22/AR200602220
2010.html
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Posted at 10:47pm on Feb. 22, 2006 Chinese Puzzle
By Santiago
Energy
Much of the energy consumed in China comes from coal-fired plants, and the distinctive aroma of burning coal is common throughout the Middle Kingdom. The last time I was in Beijing, several years ago, I took a back-roads trip by taxi north toward the Great Wall. The road was a narrow, two-lane blacktop, and for the most part, there were limited shoulders and few places to stop.
What struck me was the number of coal carrying dump trucks on the road, all headed in the opposite direction, back toward Beijing; there were thousands of them. Their progress was slow and uneven, and any flat tire or mishap caused a major back-up. I think that the returning empty trucks must have all been routed elsewhere, and you would not care to be stuck behind such a mess, coming or going.
Until recently, China exported oil, but the tremendous growth of the Chinese economy has led to rapidly increasing oil consumption, which has become a major driver for the worldwide increase in energy prices. China has been aggressively locking up oil exploration, production, and purchasing contracts, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.
China's economic performance has given it the capital to exploit other economic and political opportunities in the wider world, and China is moving aggressively, particularly in troubled areas such as Zimbabwe and Venezuela, and also in any place it can gain political advantage, such as the Caribbean.
The sharp rise in oil prices has occasioned a number of related phenomena. Net consumers of energy, mainly Europe and the USA, are paying higher prices for oil and goods produced using energy (i.e., everything). The Middle East gains capital from the high oil prices, and predictably misuses it. Iran is building nukes and is cutting energy contracts with China. Russia seems to regard this windfall as permanent and is not only wasting much of it, but using it to gain political leverage in Europe and to expand its military production for sales and for its own uses. Venezuela is squandering its oil revenues, and destabilizing much of Latin America: Nicaragua, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Peru. All this within a context of expanded Muslim terrorist activity.
Read on ...
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Posted at 3:50pm on Feb. 22, 2006 Dershowitz, the Newest Neocon
By Santiago
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz has long been one of the most reliably leftist members of a reliably leftist academic institution, achieving somewhat of an institutional status himself after four decades on the Harvard faculty. So one might be justifiably intrigued by two recent developments.
Professor Dershowitz has a new book entitled Preemption, A Knife That Cuts Both Ways. In his book, the good Professor argues forcefully for "profiling, preventive detention, anticipatory mass inoculation, prior restraint of dangerous speech, targeted extrajudicial executions of terrorists and preemptive military action including full-scale preventive war", in Tony Blankley's words.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_22_06_TB.html
If that don't beat all, Professor Dershowitz also has an article in today's Boston Globe concerning Harvard President Lawrence Summer's resignation. Summers is no neocon himself, having served in the Clinton cabinet. But Summers is too smart to serve effectively in an institution that is basically a far left circle jerk. In fact, the coup d'etat against Summers (as Dershowitz labeled it) was engineered by a coven of the Faculty of Arts and Science, only one of many faculties and departments at Harvard. Most of the faculty, administration, and alumni supported Summers. Students overwhelmingly supported President Summers, but students don't count for much at Harvard.
There is growing awareness in America that we have this strong leftist current in our schools and in the antique media with which the majority of Americans do not agree. Professor Dershowitz speculates that the current imbroglio could damage the university. But by the time political thought becomes entrenched in our reactionary universities, it is hopelessly out of date. So, it is more likely that the left has, in their moment of triumph over President Summers, only served to highlight just how ridiculous are their self-serving, politically correct, diverse, multicultural, far left positions.
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Posted at 6:10pm on Feb. 21, 2006 Kelo Revisited
By Santiago
NYT has an article today about the furious reactions to the Kelo decision a few months ago. It seems that citizens, for some strange reason, do not want their private property taken away for the benefit of developers who can make money off of it and governments that can tax the profits from the development.
What the article does not mention is that the new NYT headquarters now abuilding was sited on private property that was taken through eminent domain and political theft, with NYC as a partner to the crime.
http://www.reis.com/insights/insights.cfm?id=4209
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