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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (704873)	9/29/2005 3:32:04 PM
From: paret	Respond to of 769670

Suicidalism (aka "Political Correctness") Frontpagemag.com ^ \| 09/29/2005 \| Eric S. Raymond frontpagemag.com The most important weapons of al-Qaeda and the rest of the Islamist terror network are the suicide bomber and the suicide thinker. The suicide bomber is typically a Muslim fanatic whose mission it is to spread terror; the suicide thinker is typically a Western academic or journalist or politician whose mission it is to destroy the West's will to resist not just terrorism but any ideological challenge at all. But al-Qaeda didn't create the ugly streak of nihilism and self-loathing that afflicts too many Western intellectuals. Nor, I believe, is it a natural development. It was brought to us by Department V of the KGB, which was charged during the Cold War with conducting memetic warfare that would destroy the will of the West's intelligentsia to resist a Communist takeover. This they did with such magnificent effect that the infection outlasted the Soviet Union itself and remains a pervasive disease of contemporary Western intellectual life. Consider the following propositions: There is no truth, only competing agendas. All Western (and especially American) claims to moral superiority over Communism/Fascism/Islam are vitiated by the West's history of racism and colonialism. There are no objective standards by which we may judge one culture to be better than another. Anyone who claims that there are such standards is an evil oppressor. The prosperity of the West is built on ruthless exploitation of the Third World; therefore Westerners actually deserve to be impoverished and miserable. [the origin of the left's anti-white Nazism] Crime is the fault of society, not the individual criminal. Poor criminals are entitled to what they take. Submitting to criminal predation is more virtuous than resisting it. The poor are victims. Criminals are victims. And only victims are virtuous. Therefore only the poor and criminals are virtuous. (Rich people can borrow some virtue by identifying with poor people and criminals.) For a virtuous person, violence and war are never justified. It is always better to be a victim than to fight, or even to defend oneself. But "oppressed" people are allowed to use violence anyway; they are merely reflecting the evil of their oppressors. When confronted with terror, the only moral course for a Westerner is to apologize for past sins, understand the terrorist's point of view, and make concessions. These ideas travel under many labels: postmodernism, nihilism, multiculturalism, Third-World-ism, pacifism, "political correctness" to name just a few. It is time to recognize them for what they are, and call them by their right name: suicidalism. Trace any of these back far enough (e.g. to the period between 1930 and 1950 when Department V was at its most effective) and you'll find a Stalinist at the bottom. Among the more notorious examples were: Paul de Man - racist and Nazi propagandist turned Stalinist, and fonder of postmodernism; Jean-Paul Sartre, who described the effects of Stalinism as "humane terror" and helped invent existentialism; and Paul Baran, who developed the thesis that capitalism depended on the immiseration of the Third World after Marx's immiseration of the proletariat failed to materialize. Al-Qaeda didn't launch any of these memes into the noosphere, but it relies on them for political cover. They have another effect as well: when Islamists characterize the West as "decadent", and is waiting to collapse in on itself at the touch of jihad, they are describing quite correctly and accurately the effects of Western suicidalism. Stalinist agitprop created Western suicidalism by successfully building on the Christian idea that self-sacrifice (and even self-loathing) are the primary indicators of virtue. In this way of thinking, when we surrender our well-being to others we store up grace in Heaven that is far more important than the momentary discomfort of submitting to criminals, predatory governments, and terrorists. The Communist atheists of Department V understood that Christian self-abnegation tends to inculcate a cult of self-sacrifice even among Westerners who are themselves agnostics or atheists. All the propagandists had to do was make the case that the value of self-abnegation applies to culture as well as individuals. By doing so, they were able to entrench the idea that suicidalists are morally superior to non-suicidalists. They did this so successfully that at least one major form of Western self-abnegation seems to have developed as a secondary phenomenon: "deep environmentalism". I can't find any sign that this traces back to the usual Stalinist suspects, but it is rather obviously a result of generalizing suicidalism not just to culture but to species. I think it's important to understand that, although suicidalism builds on some pre-existing pathologies of Western culture, it is not a native or natural development. It is an infection that evildoers and their dupes created and then spread as part of a war against the West; their goal was totalitarian control, and part of their method was to talk the West into slitting its own throat. Al-Qaeda's goal is the restoration of the Caliphate and the imposition of shari'a law on the West so that the Dar al-Harb is abolished and absorbed into the Dar al-Islam. In other words, totalitarian theocracy. Western suicidalists have transferred their allegience from Communism to Islamofascism without a hitch. They're doing their best to see that we lose - and their best is rather more effective than any bombing campaign. Thus, to defeat al-Qaeda, stopping the suicide bombers is not sufficient. We must recognize, condemn, and reject the suicide thinkers as well. UPDATE: Readers who think I'm peddling mere conspiracy theory here should read Double Lives: Stalin, Willi Münzenberg and the Seduction of the Intellectuals for a description of the way KGB disinformation activity, espionage and memetic warfare fused in the 1930s.

To: Bill who wrote (704873)	9/29/2005 3:36:10 PM
From: paret	Respond to of 769670

The suicide thinker is typically a Western academic or journalist or politician whose mission it is to destroy the West's will to resist not just terrorism but any ideological challenge at all. Consider the following propositions: There is no truth, only competing agendas. All Western (and especially American) claims to moral superiority over Communism/Fascism/Islam are vitiated by the West's history of racism and colonialism. There are no objective standards by which we may judge one culture to be better than another. Anyone who claims that there are such standards is an evil oppressor. The prosperity of the West is built on ruthless exploitation of the Third World; therefore Westerners actually deserve to be impoverished and miserable. [the origin of the left's anti-white Nazism] Crime is the fault of society, not the individual criminal. Poor criminals are entitled to what they take. Submitting to criminal predation is more virtuous than resisting it. The poor are victims. Criminals are victims. And only victims are virtuous. Therefore only the poor and criminals are virtuous. (Rich people can borrow some virtue by identifying with poor people and criminals.) For a virtuous person, violence and war are never justified. It is always better to be a victim than to fight, or even to defend oneself. But "oppressed" people are allowed to use violence anyway; they are merely reflecting the evil of their oppressors. When confronted with terror, the only moral course for a Westerner is to apologize for past sins, understand the terrorist's point of view, and make concessions. These ideas travel under many labels: postmodernism, nihilism, multiculturalism, Third-World-ism, pacifism, "political correctness" to name just a few. It is time to recognize them for what they are, and call them by their right name: suicidalism. Trace any of these back far enough (e.g. to the period between 1930 and 1950 when Department V was at its most effective) and you'll find a Stalinist at the bottom. Suicidalism (aka "Political Correctness") Frontpagemag.com ^ \| 09/29/2005 \| Eric S. Raymond frontpagemag.com

To: Bill who wrote (704873)	9/29/2005 3:37:42 PM
From: paret	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

This article identifies the source of the "political correctness" that's sapping our will to prosecute the War on Islamofascism to victory in Iraq and elsewhere. Its roots lie in the Soviet Communist effort to undermine our society, and even though the USSR is long gone, its influence on our culture via the insanity of the political Left continues. We must not allow the ghosts of Stalin that pervade the halls of academia, the op-ed pages of the New York Times, the CBS Evening News newsroom, and the modern Democrat party to destroy our nation.

To: Bill who wrote (704873)	9/29/2005 3:49:40 PM
From: paret	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Money connected to Reid Las Vegas Review Journal ^ 09/29/2005 reviewjournal.com Senator arranged for grant now involved in indictment of pastors By TONY BATT >STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The money that led to the indictment this week of two Las Vegas pastors and the wife of one of them came from federal grants arranged by Sen. Harry Reid in September 2001, a Reid spokeswoman said Wednesday. Moving to distance Reid from a possible scandal, aide Tessa Hafen said the senator sought the money on behalf of a nonprofit social services agency and not for the churches or persons who have been accused of mishandling the money. "The money was administered by the Department of Justice, and it went to the agency in Nevada (Alliance Collegiums Association of Nevada)," Hafen said. The Rev. Willie Davis, the longtime pastor of Second Baptist Church, and his wife, Emma, were indicted Tuesday on fraud charges with an associate minister, the Rev. McTheron Jones. They are accused of spending $330,000 from federal grants on themselves although the money was intended for halfway houses for prison inmates in Southern Nevada. The indictment identifies Willie Davis as president of the Alliance Collegiums Association of Nevada board of directors. In late 2002, Emma Davis became executive director, and Jones was assistant director. According to the indictment, a grant of $423,000 was approved for the alliance in September 2002. The indictment charges the defendants of using the grant money to benefit themselves. A Reid relationship with the Second Baptist Church surfaced in 1997, when the senator donated $250 to the church where Davis was and still is pastor. The money came from John Huang, who was convicted of making illegal contributions to the 1996 re-election campaign of President Clinton. At about the same time, Reid donated another $250 from Huang to the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Las Vegas. Reid said he made the contributions to the churches instead of returning the money to Huang because he did not think Huang deserved it. Hafen said Reid has not made contributions to Davis or his church since 1997. Reid has attended services at the Second Baptist Church "about three or four times" since 1997, Hafen said. "He says hello to the pastor (Davis) when he goes to the church, but apart from that, the only other time he has seen him was in May when he met with about 30 or 40 ministers to organize a faith-based summit," Hafen said

To: Bill who wrote (704873)	9/29/2005 3:53:21 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

"Good, enough progress has been made there for everyone to withdraw. Time for the blue helmets to come in." I agree. We have knocked over the Dictator, and given the people of 'Iraq' an opportunity to forge their own future. (The founding of our own nation was certainly not free from pain or blood... with many on the losing side forced to take flight with their families, and head out to other parts of the British Empire.) Freedom must be earned. Nation building', in a place where significant numbers among the population don't necessarily want to be associated with others among their 'countrymen', is bound to be a risky, bloody, low-percentage business. The Kurds' long-term goal (despite what they will admit to in public...) is still an independent Kurdish homeland. After all, they ARE the largest irredentist movement in the world (the largest ethnic grouping, spread across several national borders, that is still without a country of their own. They still smart from the post WW I betrayal by the West that denied them self-rule. (It's not too difficult to understand why they are cautious in publicly expressing this... given that Turkey has promised to launch an invasion the moment the Kurds declare independence. Therefore, the Kurds will likely remain 'affiliated' with whatever remains of 'Iraq' for a while yet, and only gradually build their freedoms and strengths in preparation for nationhood.) They will also be a strong ally for the US (actually welcoming our bases), because they hope we can keep the Turks off of their backs. --- They can handle the Shia and Sunni on their own terms, but they need us for political support against the Turks. The Shiite southern half of 'Iraq' is large enough to stand on it's own as a nation... but is most likely to be heavily influenced by Iran, who is building their military up, and with whom they have already signed a defense pact. The Sunnis in the west and middle --- still smarting over their loss of 'top dog' status --- will most likely fight on until they are defeated. Because they have financial and (increasingly) military support from the Saudis, it will be a long and bloody conflict... but that especially argues that our US forces should not be prostrated in the middle between the warring parties, having both sides take pot shots at us and using the US as a scapegoat to blame all of their troubles and failings upon. Far better for the US to pull out, and let the locals get about the business of settling their own conflicts. Strategically, it seems that would even be in our best long-term interests... to see the fundamentalist Sunni extremists (& the Sunni Wh'abbist radicals like al Qaeda), pitted against the Shiite Iranian radicals and their terrorist sock puppets. An inter-Islamic war is much overdue. Islam has never had the opportunity for a Reformation, such as occurred in the West after the wars between Catholics and Protestants. It would keep them out of our hair, and (ultimately, I believe) see a 'pox' visited upon BOTH houses of the radicals. Just take a look at the amount of radical, Iranian-backed, groups that are rising to power among the Shiites in the South of Iraq. This is a story that has been much over-looked by the short-sighted American media: Message 21746052 Two years on, Iran is the only clear winner of war on Saddam September 23, 2005 timesonline.co.uk The Times By Richard Beeston CROSS-BORDER INFLUENCE Badr Brigades A Shia militia force of 12,000 trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and blamed for a spate of recent killings of Sunni Muslims. Thought to control several cities in southern Iraq Islamic Dawaa Party Shia party that has strong links to Iran. Its leader, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the present Prime Minister, has vowed to improve ties between the two neighbours Mahdi Army Received arms and volunteers from Iran during its battle against US and British troops last year. Ahmed al-Fartusi, its commander in Basra, was arrested by British forces last weekend Mujahidin for Islamic Revolution in Iraq Tehran-backed militia blamed for the murder of six British Royal Military Police soldiers in Majar el-Kabir in 2003 Thar Allah (Vengeance of God) Iranian-backed terror group blamed for killing former members of the ruling Baath party and enforcing strict Islamic law Jamaat al-Fudalah (Group of the Virtuous) Paramilitary group that imposes Islamic rules on Shia areas; attacks shops selling alcohol and music Al-Fadilah (Morality) Secret political movement financed by Iran. Thought to have many members among provincial officials Al-Quawaid al-Islamiya (Islamic Bases) Iranian-backed Islamic movement that uses force to impose Islamic law