HT - RWV noted this in a comment about Kerry dissing our ally Allawi - here's the whole thing
Before John Kerry, the only alumni of Swiss finishing schools I'd ever met (in my younger days) were a certain type of lively English girl, a couple of minor princesses from Gulf emirates and a charming young Iranian lady whose family had been forced to flee after the shah fell. Collectively, they all fell into the category the British call ''posh totty.'' And, although they were way out of my league, the one thing I noticed was their impeccable carriage -- they'd done all the walking-around-with-books-on-your-head stuff -- and how exquisitely well-mannered they were. Even when giving you the brush for being a broke loser, they were very nice about it.
In this respect, John Kerry isn't exactly the best advertisement for his Swiss finishing school. Forget the impeccable carriage -- if you imagine you're watching streaming video on a slow dial-up connection, his gait seems perfectly natural. But the manners thing seems to have passed him by entirely. His decision to break the time-honored tradition of keeping out of the way during the other guy's convention by rushing on the air within an hour of President Bush's speech to give an instant response was boorish and petty. But, given that his ''midnight rambler'' routine in Ohio was a disaster, there didn't seem much point dwelling on it.
But last week he did it again. Ayad Allawi, the first prime minister of post-Saddam Iraq, was in Washington to give a joint address to Congress. A tough, stocky, bullet-headed optimist, Iraq's interim leader delivered a simple, elegant and moving speech, which made three basic points:
''First, we are succeeding in Iraq. [Applause] It's a tough struggle with setbacks, but we are succeeding . . .
''The second message is quite simple and one that I would like to deliver directly from my people to yours: Thank you, America [Applause] . . .
''Third, I stand here today as the prime minister of a country emerging finally from dark ages of violence, aggression, corruption and greed . . . Well over a million Iraqis were murdered or are missing . . .''
Kerry didn't show up for Allawi's visit to Washington -- he was in Ohio again, which is evidently becoming the proverbial Vietnam-type quagmire for him. Nonetheless, barely had the prime minister finished than the absentee senator did a daytime version of his midnight ramble and barged his way onto the air to insist that he knew better than Iraq's head of government what was going on in the country. One question from his accompanying press corps was especially choice:
''Prime Minister Allawi told Congress today that democracy was taking hold in Iraq and that the terrorists there were on the defensive. Is he living in the same fantasyland as the president?''
It would be nice to think this was a somewhat crude attempt at irony, but given America's Ratherized media this seems unlikely. Just for the record, Allawi is not living in a fantasyland. He's living in Iraq, and he begins his day with a dangerous commute across Baghdad's ''Green Zone.'' John Kerry's regular commute, by contrast, is from his wife's beach compound at Nantucket to his wife's 15th century English barn reconstructed as a ski lodge in Idaho. Nonetheless, he's the expert on Iraq and the guy living there 24/7 is the fantasist, and he's happy to assure us the prime minister doesn't know what he's talking about. It's all going to hell, forget about those January elections, etc.
What a small, graceless man Kerry is. The nature of adversarial politics in a democratic society makes George W. Bush his opponent. But it was entirely Kerry's choice to expand the field, to put himself on the other side of Allawi and the Iraqi people. Given his frequent boasts that he knows how to reach out to America's allies, it's remarkable how often he feels the need to insult them: Britain, Australia, and now free Iraq. But, because this pampered cipher has floundered for 18 months to find any rationale for his candidacy other than his indestructible belief in his own indispensability, Kerry finds himself a month before the election with no platform to run on other than American defeat. He has decided to co-opt the jihadist death-cult, the Baathist dead-enders, the suicide bombers and other misfits and run as the candidate of American failure. This would be shameful if he weren't so laughably inept at it.
Still, you can understand why, inside the Democrat-media cocoon, the senator's bet on the collapse of a free Iraq doesn't sound quite as revolting as it does to the average Iraqi. On Thursday, President Bush held a press conference at the Rose Garden with Allawi. You know the way these things go. The Norwegian prime minister happens to be visiting Washington and they hold a joint press conference and Norwegian issues aren't terribly pressing at the moment so the press guys ask Bush about prescription drug plans for seniors and increased education funding while the visitor from Oslo stands there like a wallflower at the prom. But Iraq's the No. 1 issue in American right now, and they've got the go-to guy right in front of them, and what do the blow-dried poseurs of the networks ask:
''Mr. President, John Kerry is accusing you of colossal failures of judgment in Iraq . . .''
NBC guy: ''A central theme of your campaign is that America is safer because of the invasion of Iraq. Can you understand why Americans may not believe you?''
CNN: ''Sir, I'd like you to answer Senator Kerry and other critics who accuse you of hypocrisy or opportunism . . .''
They're six feet from Iraq's head of government and they've got not a question for him. They've got no interest in Iraq except insofar as they can use the issue to depress sufficient numbers of swing voters in Florida and Ohio.
Who's living in the fantasyland here? Huge forces are at play in a world of rapid change. As the prime minister said, ''We Iraqis will stand by you, America, in a war larger than either of our nations.'' But the gentlemen of the press can barely stifle their ennui. Say what you like about the old left, but at least they were outward-looking and internationalist. This new crowd -- Democrats and media alike -- are stunted and parochial, their horizons shriveling more every day.
So for Kerry the new world war is just a wedge issue. After their schooling in Switzerland, those well-mannered English gels used to describe themselves as ''finished.'' If he wasn't ''finished'' after graduating from the Institut Montana in Zug in 1955, this week John Kerry is looking finished in a far more American sense
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/25/2004 4:47:17 PM ||
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Steyn has Kerry's number. Kerry has spent a lifetime packaging himself. The whining left is morally bankrupt. They worship "political correctness." Somewhere the soul went out of the Democratic Party and abandoned folks like the old marine, Zell Miller who spoke at the Republican Convention.
I can remember when there was such a thing as a conservative Democrat--people that were principled and stood for something. They have all been run out of the party. I guess some of them have ended up in the Republican Party.
Kerry is worse than Clinton in trying to determine what people want to hear. God help our Country if Kerry gets elected! We will all get "porked."
#2
But it was entirely Kerryâs choice to expand the field, to put himself on the other side of Allawi and the Iraqi people.
This is the best, most concise statement of why Democrats and anyone who doesn't care for Bush but still has a sense of destiny must not allow Kerry to win in November.
Kerry's statements are f---ing outrageous. I'm a Democrat, a liberal-moderate hawk, and I am infuriated by Kerry's remarks. Shame on this jackass. He deserves to be horsewhipped and surely will be, in political terms at least, in November.
#3
correction to above: anyone who still has a sense of decency. Difficult to type clearly when one of your country's major candidates is mouthing the same vile trash as Zarqawi. Shameful, horrific.
#4
"I can remember when there was such a thing as a conservative Democrat--people that were principled and stood for something. They have all been run out of the party. I guess some of them have ended up in the Republican Party."
I was a Democrat for 31 years, until last March. Now, thanks to people like Clinton, Gore, McAuliffe, and Kerry, I'm a Republican.
And I expect I'll stay one, too: I cannot imagine the Democratic Party ever again producing a candidate for public office, at ANY level of government, that I could fully trust.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/25/2004 18:47 Comments ||
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By Bill SamiiRadio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 9-24-04
"Now YOU can have a degree from a PRESTIGIOUS NON-ACCREDITED UNIVERSITY without attending classes, without cracking a book! Masters, Doctorates, even PhD's — we have them all!"
President Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami marked the 22 September beginning of the Iranian academic year with a speech in which he said his administration has done everything within its power to improve the state of the education sector, state radio reported. Yet recent reports about the activities of a foreign university's Iranian branch reflect several problems that have not been resolved.
First, this reflects the hope that a university education will make it easier to get a job in a country with double-digit unemployment. Second, this reflects the tremendous demand for a limited number of university places -- young Iranians surveyed recently described their greatest problem after employment as the university entrance exam, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported on 1 May. Third, it reflects a corrupt system in which state officials use fake academic credentials to receive higher salaries.
Tehran Province Justice Department spokesman Abbasali Alizadeh said on 14 September that the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology does not recognize degrees from the American University of Hawaii, the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network reported. The university, which utilizes distance learning and has its worldwide headquarters in Hawaii, has offices in Tehran (see the institution's website at http://www.auhiran.com). A few days earlier, Alizadeh said the institution's chancellor, Ardeshir Qassemlu, is banned from leaving Iran and his accounts have been frozen, "Resalat" reported on 9 September.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
09/25/2004 3:55:30 AM ||
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Maui based diploma mill bilks Iranians... Who would have thunk it. Judging by the street address listed at www.auh.edu, this esteemed institution of higher learning is wedged between a gas station and a marine repair shop where I used to get my boat serviced. Guess I never noticed the "campus". Something tells me this might actually be the outboard repair guys having some fun and profit at Iranian expense.
#3
Prior to the Mullahcracy, Iran had a well-educated western-oriented society. Theocracy and the dumbing-down inherent in Islamic societies will be their downfall as a society. Those Iranians who remember the Shah's days, I'm sure, do it with sadness. The Shah's secret police, SAVAK, rarely encroached on other than the same assholes we battle today; Theocrats, Islamists, and Communists
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/25/2004 17:43 Comments ||
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#4
Can you imagine the poor sap that shows up for his freshman year lugging a surf board to Tehran.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/25/2004 18:04 Comments ||
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#5
or a bible
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/25/2004 18:07 Comments ||
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By Tariq A. Al-Maeena, close_encounters@gawab.com What a schmuck!
Get out, America! So many Iraqis echo these words today, as images of death and destruction flash on our television screens. Innocent lives being taken out daily by the indiscriminate bombings by US forces of densely populated neighborhoods. Lives lost of men, women, and children who had been traded one tyranny by another. (Note, not one word about Islamic terrorists.)
And death by US forces is being meted out in all areas of Iraq. In the north, in the center, and in the south, and all in the name of fighting 'terrorists'. With the death toll rising every day, an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 civilians have lost their lives in Iraq since you began your adventure, America. A greater number have been crippled or maimed. Far more than those innocent victims gassed by Saddam. Not to mention the numbers of your own sons whose lives have been pitifully lost in this barbaric quest. ("barbaric quest"? this little dishrag must mean al-Qaida quest to bring death & chaos.)
This invasion was justified on three false pretexts. Failing to provide evidence that Saddam as an accomplice to the Sept. 11 events, you then brought forth the threat of weapons of mass destruction. And when the truth proving you wrong came out, you switched to another line. That you would restore democracy to Iraq. (Kerry must be able to use some of this.)
Saddam did not possess weapons that threatened you. (PLEASE)
And he could have been taken out eventually or covertly. But in defiance of international rules of law, and bolstered by the presence of stooges you shamelessly call a 'coalition', you chose instead to demonstrate your shock and awe prowess. Your pundits for this murderous adventure did all they could to create the atmosphere of fear and panic among your people, lying and deceiving them with false dossiers and data. And then there were tales. Tales of how welcome your conquering heroes would be. Greeted openly by a people living for so long under the brutality of a vicious dictator. "Garlands of flowers", if my memory serves me right. Instead, the world witnessed your brutality and your greed. The censorship of the free press by the Pentagon of your initial incursions was carefully tailored to keep your people in the dark. There were no scenes of mangled bodies of women and children in your media. Your Rumsfields', Wolfowitzes' and Rices' must have rubbed their hands in glee. And your people were led to believe you were doing the right thing.
It has been over a year and a half, and today you still continue the lie. That all is well in Iraq, and that the resistance is small and isolated to miniature bands of "terrorists". The Iraqi that you supposedly went in to free has suddenly turned into a terrorist makes me pause to wonder why? Is it because you took out his family when you bombed a market square? Or dropped bombs on schools and hospitals? Or how about the shelling of their places of worship? Or wiping out wedding parties out in their entirety? Or the heinous treatment of those you captured and threw in prison without due course of law? Parading the leader of the regime you propped up to lend you credence and justification may sit well with your electorate. And may help ease their conscience. But not with the people of Iraq. This leader will say all you want to hear. After all, you put him in power. The blood of the innocent today heavily taints your hands. You have shamed and made a mockery of the meaning of democracy. Do the right thing for a change, America. Listen to the words of the common Iraqi. Get out! a-HOLE!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
09/25/2004 7:11:49 PM ||
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"Be careful what you ask for"
I wonder what kind of column Tariq would write if we took his advise and left Zarqawi in charge?
Oh Yeah! He wouldn't be allowed to write what he thought...just like the good old days.
#3
Or what, It makes me laugh to see wimps like this make such loud threats. All that is left in Arab Arsenal is terrorism. And that can be easily cured by completely taking out one city.
#4
"Get out, America! So many Iraqis echo these words today..."
I'll venture that he has never heard an Iraqi say those words except on television. His e-mail name is "close_encounters", but the "gawab.com" is registered in Egypt and "ArabNews Online" is from Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Tom ||
09/25/2004 20:36 Comments ||
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That Arab populations are able to digest this sort of venomous pap without even a hiccough is a prime indicator that they are not yet out from under the danger of regional obliteration. So long as they can cheerfully deceive themselves on such a massive scale, they will represent a dire threat to global peace and prosperity.
That they are incapable of resolving their nearly congenital inability to accept personal responsibility for the Middle East's cultural stagnation and hearty endorsement of terrorism merely signifies how nuclear annihilation of the entire region remains a distinct possiblity.
#6
Just a reminder. We did not pick this fight, a dirt bag named Osama decided to cross a line. Take a look at history and see what happened to other drt bags who crossed the same line. We're still here and they're not.
So it's time for Tariq to chose a side and obviously he needs to pull his head out of the sand and figure it out.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
09/25/2004 22:49 Comments ||
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#7
I know this is supposed to be civil reasoned discourse but can we say "prick" here?
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