Islamism Series: What Are We Prepared to Do?

In the 1987 film 'The Untouchables', Kevin Costner plays famed lawman Elliot Ness, who is tasked to lead a fight against the violent empire of infamous crime boss Al Capone in Chicago during the Prohibition era.

In the beginning, Ness tries some of the usual law enforcement tactics of the day, but appears to be going nowhere in his efforts to defeat Capone.

Finally his right-hand man in the film, street cop 'Jim Malone' as played in an Oscar-winning performance by Sean Connery, turns to Ness and asks him a blunt question:

"What are you prepared to do?"

This is always the single most important question that needs to be asked, understood, and answered before committing to fight any war at any level.

Whether at the level of law enforcement fighting criminal groups to keep the public safe on the home front, or at the level of national armed forces fighting enemies from abroad with the same goal, this simple question cannot be avoided.

Decades ago a war was declared against the United States by the forces of radical Islam around the world. It was declared with public statements, and those statements were backed up with physical attacks against American troops, citizens, and interests abroad and eventually with attacks against the American homeland.

Where Will You Be When the Missiles Drop?

During his State of the Union address back in January of 2002, President George W. Bush famously called the nations of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea an "Axis of Evil", criticizing nations that sponsored terrorism and were seeking weapons of mass destruction.

Liberals everywhere, and especially their cheer leading media, called Bush a war monger and a liar, among other choice names.

Sitting here over seven years later, we understand far better that President Bush was in actuality simply a truth teller.

At the time of Bush's speech, former Iraqi leader Sadaam Hussein was still in power. He had already shown his propensity for evil and terror by using weapons of mass destruction on his own people.

He tortured political enemies, and his sons used 'rape rooms' to satisfy their own lusts and to further punish political enemies. Thankfully, the United States acted to rid the world of this evil power structure.

In Iran, a crazed President came to power under with the blessing of the Islamic religious leadership. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began to assail the United States with threats of destruction and domination by Islam and accelerated Iranian efforts to develop or otherwise obtain nuclear weapons. A nuclear weapon in the hands of a fundamentalist Islamic regime will mean devastating war at some point in the near future. They are simply that crazy.

One World, One Dream

There has been much wringing of hands and criticism across the blogosphere and in news print about the Beijing 2008 Olympics being a facade. So let me get right to the point here and state that in my opinion these Olympic Games, as is any Olympiad, were a huge success in all the important ways.

Is China a repressive communist nation that subjugates more than enhances the lives of its people? Yes.

Does the Chinese government commit human rights atrocities in order to remain in power? Absolutely.

Did the Chinese Olympic organizers commit a few slights of hand in order to make Beijing and the Olympic venues and ceremonies look better for the TV cameras than they actually were in person? Sure.

But it remains that the International Olympic Committee selected China for these games knowing that these things were and would be facts. They made the selection just as they made the choices of Los Angeles in 1984, Moscow in 1980, Berlin in 1938, and many other places around the world that have been controversial locations for some nations and political systems.

Islamism Series: The Beijing Olympics

The 2008 Beijing Olympics began yesterday with the Opening Ceremony, and will continue on through August 24th.

For the next two and a half weeks, the athletic dramas of this Olympiad will play out under it's theme "One World, One Dream".

But as we learned in previous installments of the 'Islamism Series', the radical Islamofascists have their own vision of 'One world, one dream' that runs counter to that on display this month in China.

The radical Islamists want the world united as one Caliphate under the banner of Islam, run by the Caliph, with everyone either believing in or subjecting themselves to the rule of the Islamists.

To this end, every major event held around the world becomes a tempting target for them to flex their muscles, to show that they can and will influence world events by inserting their violent vision into the proceedings if allowed.

Particularly since 9/11, every major public event has properly seen a dramatic increase in the scope and cost of the security surrounding those events. From the Super Bowl to political conventions, and everything in between, security is stepped up, and convenience and personal liberties are sacrificed thanks to the terrorists of Islamofascism.

Already there have been threats and plots against these Olympics. In an attack that the Washington Post described as being done only by the "ethnic Uighur minority", these terrorists killed 16 police officers and injured dozens of others this week by driving a dump truck into a group of officers who were out for a training jog, then tossing grenades into the police compound. This 'ethnic minority' is Islamic, by the way.

The mass media has once again buried this fact from your knowledge under their banner of political correctness.

Energy Answer: Drill, Refine, Alternate

As was stated in this week's edition of The Patriot Post: "...ours is an economy that relies on a stable energy supply, and this volatility in fuel prices is a reflection of the instability of our present supply."

Bottom line, there are more people that want the world's fuel then there is currently fuel available to give them.

Two decades ago when gas prices were cheap here in America, we were not competing against the rapidly emerging and gigantic economies of China and India.

These two nations alone are rapidly expanding and growing with enormous populations of people, and thus the energy needs involved in that expansion are tremendous. That need creates enormous demand from the world's limited supply, thus driving up prices.

Had we here in America been taking advantage of the vast oil resources right here in our own back yard over the past few decades, by both drilling for it and refining it, we would have a far greater advantage, a much stronger weapon with which to fight this volatility.

Gas Prices Up: Sky is Falling !

Gas prices are up...surprise! 

Despite what the liberal Dems across the U.S. would have you believe, it is not all some simplistic George W. Bush-led cash-grab by big oil. 

Supplies squeezed by the twin destructive actions of terrorists and hurricanes. Demand pushed by emerging economies such as the behemoth China. 

Our own stupidity in failing to simply ignore the environmental wackos by expanding our domestic resources with drilling at ANWR, among other efforts. All of these forces have ganged up on us at once. 

Now, Philly mayor John Street has said "We are facing a possible utility emergency...unlike anything anyone in this city has ever experienced!" as he pushes ever more lib-style plans to help the needy with their heating bills this winter. 

First, I'll be curious to see where he draws the line on who "needy" covers. 

Next, I'll be curious to see if more taxes or less services delivered come out of this. 

Yep, things will cost a bit more, and for libs like Street, that means, in the immortal words of Chicken Little, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"