David Pryce-Jones on Islamization of Europe

I had a blog entry on this topic a while ago, referring to Bernard Lewis. Here is David Pryce-Jones on the same topic in Commentary Magazine.

Yet another one on the labels “liberal” and “conservative”

Jonah weighs in on the confusing labels “liberal” and “conservative”, of which I have written a little previously. He cites Samuel Huntingtun and F. A. Hayek’s point that

America might be the only place in the world where conservatives were the real defenders of liberty because they wanted to preserve our classical-liberal institutions.

Another electoral map

I’ve always wondered why the color for the Demos is blue, and that for the Republicans is red. Red is the color of Communism, and since Demos are quasi Communists, shouldn’t the colors be the other way round?

Here is another electoral map by David Leip, finally one who gets the colors right. (Hat tip: Jim Geraghty, aka Mr. KerrySpot of National Review Online.)

Phishing scam quiz

Washington Post has an interesting quiz (site is free, but registration is required) to test how good you are at spotting phishing scams. It reminds me of the Al Gore/Unabomber quiz, which I did poorly (Al Gore said more extreme things than Unabomber).

Anyway, I got a perfect score on the phishing quiz. It’s reassuring that I still have a little artificial intelligence.

Bush voters are stupid

only in the mind of arrogant Demos. They have the freedom of thought and I won’t mind the fact that they are self-deluded.

Cathy Young has an article in the Boston Globe debunking the widespread prejudice of calling Bush voters stupid. (Hat tip: Volokh Conspiracy)

Kerry’s green tea gap

Another gap that the Demos need to close. Hat tip: PoliPundit.

Lunch with a somewhat leftist former colleague

Well, one can be on reasonably friendly terms with others who do not share one’s political views. Living in an area where a majority of people are left-leaning (whether with good-will or will-to-power), it is hard not to have colleagues and associates who are in the opposite end of the political spectrum.

I had lunch yesterday with a former colleague, and I have known him to be left-leaning. He is a nice person, and I would think well of him by granting him the status of the good-will type not the will-to-power type. In our conversations I tried to stay away from political issues, but in this politically hypercharged year it is difficult not to talk a little about the presidential election. He told me that he knew whom I voted for, but he said he wanted to ask me why a thinking person would vote for W. I took a little offense at this, but then I thought to myself, I probably have the reciprocal attitude toward Kerry voters anyway. (Oh, he is not yet a citizen, but is thinking about becoming one. Rats! another Demo to dilute my vote ...)

So I got over the offense pretty quickly, and again since I thought of him as the good-will type I would say he really wanted to see what people on the opposite end think. We had a pleasant discussion overall, and I was happy to see some of my blind spots in argumentation and get some insight into the way he thought.

Still, the kind of hubris and contempt that the elitist leftists exhibit for us common men tick me off. At least by voting Republican (really as a not-very-good proxy for classical liberalism), I am showing respect for everyone else and really saying that everyone, regardless of his circumstance or social position, knows best how to run his life and business. The socialist elites think that they know how to run everyone else’s life and business, when in fact they don’t know jack. I think the American people deep in their heart know this and reject it, and they detest the condescension of the elites. Note to Demos and Euros: calling us stupid is not going to make us think you are smart and like you better. Get real.

Arnold Kling’s tax proposal

I’ve never seen something like this, but it is at least an interesting proposal that reduces incentives for government and special-interest groups to perpetrate mischief.

For All Debts, Public or Private

From today’s edition of the Evening Wrap (daily mailing from the Wall Street Journal online):

Prosecutors dropped charges against a woman who used a fake $200 bill to buy clothes at a Fashion Bug store this past August. Deborah L. Trautwine, 51 years old, shopping at a Fashion Bug store in Greensburg, Pa., paid with a bill that had President Bush's picture on the front and a serial number DUBYA4U2001. The back of the bill featured a picture of the White House, with signs on the lawn saying "We Like Broccoli" and "USA Deserves A Tax Cut." The clerk that handled her purchase gave Ms. Trautwine $100.58 in change. Ms. Trautwine's attorney said she wasn't aware that the bill wasn't legal tender, either. The charges against her were dropped after she paid the Fashion Bug in real money.

Poll-driven John Kerry

Senator Kerry’s opinions and understandings on any particular day have known to be poll-driven. James Taranto today points to Ryan Lizza’s article on the New Republic, which shows how ridiculously religiously the Kerry campaign followed the polls.

Polls are unreliable and subjective by their very nature, though they can be useful when taken in the broader context of more objective measures. Numbers don’t lie (well, sometimes they do, especially after having been crunched by statisticians). For example, one can measure the effectiveness of welfare reform by hard numbers: government payout, number of recipients, people going back to the workforce, etc. It is a sign of intellectual weakness to rely heavily on fickle polls for understanding a particular issue, that John Kerry seemed to have that failing.

Scott Peterson found guilty

of first-degree murder of his wife Laci and second-degree murder of their unborn son Conner. I’m waiting for the pro-abortion camp to denounce the second conviction.

Arafat’s murderous career

Andrew McCarthy has an article on National Review chronicling the murderous career of Arafat, who has finally been pronounced dead. Former President Jimmy Carter should read this article. Of course, he has been so blinded by his own hubris that he can no longer discern white from black, and it is doubtful whether he will ever recant.

Carter and Arafat

Jimmy Carter is a disgrace to the world. Of course, he is in the same league as archterrorist Yasser Arafat; what does one expect?

UPDATE (16:15): James Taranto has a list of Nobel peace prize winners praising Arafat in the Best of the Web Today. Taranto also points to an article by Jeff Jacoby (on Boston Globe no less!) who gets it exactly right. It’s very troubling that the so-called world leaders can’t see terrorism for what it is.

Arlen Specter

There is a huge debate between the anti-Specter conservatives (e.g., the folks at National Review, Marvin Olasky, et al.) and the anti-anti-Specter conservatives (most notably Hugh Hewitt). The issue is ostensibly over Specter’s past record for opposing so-called prolife judges. Andrew McCarthy digs deeper into this issue, noting that the underlying problem is more profound (in terms of constitution law) that the narrower and more visible issue of abortion.

As shown by his article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Specter’s record is mixed. I haven’s studied this controversy in detail, but my tentative position is similar to that of Hugh Hewitt. For me, the guiding principle is to recognize that the state has a different sphere of authority than the church, and its sphere is limited to the realm of common grace, although, of course, the ultimate purpose of the common grace is to preserve the church. With our political system, where nonbelievers are granted political rights, it is often impossible to enact and enforce laws that are strictly in conformance to Christian ideals. That is not to say that Christians do not have the responsibility to vote conscientiously and for the candidates whose positions come closest to the revealed will of God. But politics is not a one-dimensional space; there are way too many variables and factors so that often trade-offs need to be made, and reasonable people can differ on how to evalute these trade-offs. In many circumstances, the best candidate may not get enough support from others (remember they too get to have a say in our political system), and at the end we advance nothing rather than something for our agendas.

I had to struggle with this last year when Gray Davis was being recalled and there were about 300 candidates for replacing him. (No, I didn’t need to go through the pain of giving consideration to all of them.) The polls showed that the top candidates were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cruz Bustamante, and Tom McClintock. Obviously Tom was the best candidate, and I even contributed to his campaign. But in the end I voted for Arnold, because if the Republican votes were split too much between Arnold and Tom, Bustamante might have won and (to use a phrase the leftists often employ in their rhetoric) the clocked would have been turned back. Bustamente was Davis light (or heavy, depending on what aspect), and was wrong on essentially every issue. Arnold’s social views are deplorable, but could I really expect Tom to be able to correct the social ills that so pervade California? No, he would not have the power to do that even though he wanted to. There were many things wrong with California, and the financial mess was a huge problem. So it was better to have this problem alleviated, than to vote for the best candidate who probably could not have won and to risk defeat to an even worse candidate.

Was I happy with my vote? No. I told my friends that I reluctantly voted for Arnold, and to this day I am not happy about it, especially since he was instrumental in pushing for that stupid stem-cell research spending initiative. But I would have been even more unhappy if Bustamante had become governor.

Coming back to the question of Specter: I think Hugh Hewitt shows some wisdom on this issue. As for others who are against Specter, I do respect them and share many of their concerns. But we ought to remember that we are not choosing an elder or deacon of the church. (Would that we apply the same high standards to church leaders!) Specter may not be the best choice, but there are complex calculations and trade-offs. I suppose a little good may come out of this debate, and may at the end squeeze Specter enough that he will not obstruct President Bush’s fine nominees.

Washington Post: Losing by 335,000 in N.H., Nader Demands a Recount

I thought this was a ScrappleFace satire, until I realized that it’s the Washington Post reporting.

Being a conservative and a Republican

This article by Jonah Goldberg (more commonly known as just Jonah) pretty much echos my sentiments concerning being a conservative and a Republican, except I prefer to use another term than conservative.

Bush country

(Courtesy NewsMax.com)

Kerry to concede

It appears that Kerry will concede at 1pm EST. Good for him; that will at least restore some respectability. It will also restore the integrity and the people’s trust to the republic, which had been so much damaged by the Al Gore shenanigan. Sen. Kerry should also apologize for his anti-Vietnam-War activities, which, as many former POWs have testified, added to their afflictions and agonies, physical and spiritual.

W.’s lead widens in Ohio

With 99% precincts having reported, W.’s lead in Ohio widens to 144,000 votes. CNN still says “too close to call,” but Fox and NBC have already called it for W. It’s hard to see how Demos can pull it off. Please, Messrs. Kerry and Edwards, for the sake of the republic, do not pull another Al Gore.

Daschle appears to be toast

With 97% precincts having reported, Thune leads Daschle by more than 9,000 votes (2% margin). In all likelihood Daschle is unseated, and the Demos must be looking for their new Senate leader. Kerry maybe? Edwards will be gone.

This is the price Daschle paid for his obstructionist tactics in the Senate. The GOP still does not have a filibuster-proof majority, but if the Demos keep on abusing that power (as they did in holding up an up-or-down vote on several of W.’s well-qualified nominees), they will be losing more seats. With Rehnquist’s health in question (God bless him!), it is important that W. appoint constitutionalists, and I am hoping that W. in his second term will do precisely that (and more to move the country back toward its classical liberal ideals).

Legacy of Al Gore

(Or was that al Gore, with lower case al?)

John Kerry and John Edwards came out saying that they would not concede, and apparently it is understood as possible litigation in Ohio. W.’s lead in Ohio is about 125,000 votes, with 97% precincts reporting, and there are provisional ballots that have yet to be counted. This represents about a 2% margin. A reasonable statesman would graciously concede, but since al Gore broke the unspoken rule of statesmanship, the Democrat party has been damaged, and the damage affects the American republic system as well. I do hope that this damage is not permanent, and the Demos will learn someday to respect the republic. Until then, they will remain the minority party.

Oh yeah

Should I brace myself for a riot, as Mrs. John Edwards hinted?

On the other hand ...

The stem-cell research proposition passed in California. Sigh. Here is an email to K-Lo at National Review:

KJL, The stem cell initiative may well be the most wildly misunderstood piece of legislation in American history. I work in Hollywood (roughly the same job as Rob Long) and everyone I work with was wildly supportive of the measure, and no one actually knew what the measure did. They didn't know how much money would be raised, who would get it, and how it would be repaid. But somehow the mighty stem cell became the thing you had to support if you're enlightened.

Apparently some idiots voted for the initiative without knowing what it is about.

Looks like W. will win

What a day! First there were very distressing early exit polls that show Kerry way ahead. This sent the contracts on TradeSports plummeting (did Matt Drudge manipulate that market?). But soon thereafter Lorie Byrd (at PoliPundit) et al. dispelled the myth of these exit polls, and kept on encourage people to get out and vote. I was at my Hebrew class this evening, so I didn’t watch all the developments closely. But when I came back in the evening, W.’s contracts were trading back at 95. What a relief!

As of now, Ohio appears to be in W.’s column, with 20 electoral votes. If Ohio indeed goes to W. (as the GOP old hands seem to be confident of), W. will have 269 at this time, one short of the 270 required for getting re-elected. Iowa is close, as is Nevada. I hope that Ohio’s margin will be big enough so that Kerry’s army of lawyers will not have a basis for litigation and their fraudulent schemes will not be sufficient to overcome it.

Popular vote for W. at this time is at a good 51%-48%. Not that it matters formally, but it’s a useful thing to shut up those losers who try to use the irrelevant popular vote figure to falsely claim that W. did not have a mandate.

All in all, this is an amazing feat by the Bush-Cheney campaign, especially with the extremely hostile mainstream media (MSM). Evan Thomas of Newsweek admitted that the MSM wants Kerry to win, and that fact alone (through their bald-faced propaganda) accounts for as many as 15 points. If it were not for this, W. could well pull off a landslide. Still, the fact that the country would come so close to electing a leftist traitor is very disconcerting. I hope the Demos will spend some time in self-examination, and try in the future to distance from the ultraleftists among them.

Daschle v. Thune

Tom Daschle is one of my least favorite politicians in DC. He appears to be set to lose his re-election, and at the last minute filed a lawsuit to stop Republican poll challengers. What a dumb thing to do. I am glad that we will be soon rid of him.

Demos fraudulently claim Gen. Schwarzkopf’s endorsement

This is unbelievable. The fact the Kerry campaign would descend to such low points should instantly disqualify him from the office.

Update on prediction by costumes sales

The prediction at BuyCostumes.com currently has W. leading 53-47. But that may not be the whole story, because they have run out of W. masks. So, essentially W.’s number will not go any higher from here on (in fact, probably from a while ago when his lead was slightly wider 54-46).

Election addiction

I must admit that I have been addicted to watching the events pertaining to the election and to reading the commentaries from commentators (mostly conservatives and libertarians). Election is a weird thing, and the weeks leading to the election can be very stressful for those who are politically attuned. The uncertainties of the outcome, the all-but-random movements in the polls, and the pains inflicted on supporters by the turn of events, all contribute to the angst. For this election, the possibility that we might actually elect a treasonous Leftist makes life even more intolerable.

But I think a Christian ought to maintain a certain detachment from these events. This is not to say one should distance himself from the issues that affect life, but one’s hope must never rest on the winds and fortunes of politics. In a republican, representative-democratic body politic, we all to a small extent hold the “power of the sword,” the power of the civil magistrate that is given by God in order to maintain peace and order, to punish evil and to encourage good, and we ought to exercise that power according to God’s revealed will. This properly belongs to the realm of common grace, the ultimate purpose of which is of course to sustain God’s church (which is distinct from any political body). As Paul reminds us in 1 Tim 2:1–2,

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

one of the purposes of praying for kings and all who are in high positions is that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life. To that end, it is the Christian’s duty to vote for government officials who can, under the given circumstances and constraints, enact and enforce laws that are in keeping with Scripture. As I wrote in my previous post, this is not always possible, and in many circumstances trade-offs and compromises are unavoidable. However, in the present political landscape, it is often clear that the Demos’ creeds are patently anti-Christian, issue after issue. This is not to say that the Republicans are more godly, but with the limited influence that the Christians have, aligning with the Republicans in most political matters is probably the best we can do now. Though a registered Republican, I do not really care about the label. If the day should come when Demos are more aligned with my Christian beliefs, I would switch to that party without a second thought. But I will not hold my breath for that day to come.

McCain-Feingold

PoliPundit quite fairly criticizes the McCain-Feingold act which is supposed to restrict political contributions, etc., to reduce the appearance of corruption in politics. The unintended consequences of this act are the proliferation of groups such as 527s (think MoveOn.org and Swift Vets) and the increasing negativity of messages put out by these side campaigns as they cannot endorse particular candidates.

Jay Bryant, on the other hand, thinks that W.’s signing of this act was actually a calculated move to secure the support of John McCain, who is generally respected from both sides of the political spectrum (“I go both ways in DC.”—see JibJab’s parody It’s Good to Be in DC) and therefore appeals to many so-called moderate voters.

I think Bryant has a point. Given the diversity of the people to govern, it is impossible to satisfy a majority all the time on all issues, and I think often some trade-offs need to be made (unfortunately) to achieve more consequential goals. That’s a fact of life in politics.