Dang
Well, it looks like my tossed-off hope that the Spanish people wouldn't hold the Madrid atrocities against the Popular Party was in vain. The Socialists are set to take power there again and there's not much more to make of it but that it strengthens al-Qaeda's hand. If 3-11 is not the real reason for their displeasure, the perception is that Spain has paid the price for siding with the Great Satan, which is bad enough.

The Spanish are overwhelmingly opposed to Asnar's involvement in Iraq and even in Afghanistan. I don't know what accounts for that except the fact that much of Western Europe is deep into a period of decadent pacifism, Spain being no exception. They tolerate the Basques' violence and basically treat it as a law enforcement matter, much as Clinton did with al-Qaeda and as Kerry would do, too, were he in charge.

But, now that the Socialists are back in the saddle, what will they do to respond to what al-Qaeda did to Spain? Sit on their thumbs and continue to blame Asnar and Bush and Blair? Remember: it was al-Qaeda that committed those crimes. Are the Spanish such sorry losers that they would let such a moment pass because, somehow, they think that they, as a society, had it coming to them? Desgraciada!

Watch and learn, folks. If the Spanish don't look to kicking someone's ass over this (besides their courageous prime minister's), then all I can say is that they deserve their fate.

When?
When is John Kerry going to explain why he voted for the invasion of Iraq, but against the funding that secures the future of that new democracy? It was obviously nothing more than a political decision intended to appeal to the anti-war crowd. Is that supposed to give us confidence in his leadership? All it really does is make him into a flip-flopping sack of it.

And what about the numerous weapons systems and intelligence programs Kerry has routinely voted to cut for the past 20 years? Without those arrows in our quiver, we'd have no shot at defending ourselves and bringing al-Qaeda to justice. Does this guy have any sense of what our military needs now that Viet Nam is 30 years behind us? No.

Face it: Kerry is weak on defense and on intelligence. If our country had followed his lead in the past, we would be a far less secure place. There's really no question about that.

We can't afford to let him be elected.

Remember: a vote for Kerry is a vote for those who hate America. Already, Kim Jong-Il has indicated that he will drag out any talks about his nuclear weapons programs until he gets a better partner to "deal with" come next January. Iran, too, is bridling a little bit at the IAEA's and the UN's interest in their nuclear capabilities. The mullahs know that if they can keep the "international community" at arm's length, it will delay Uncle Sam's inevitable entry into their situation since we're going to have to fight those stupid fucks, too, just to get across the street. If we put Kerry in office, Korean totalitarianism and Islamofascism will perceive it as a victory. Don't let that happen.

Fresh Garbage from The Guardian
Mood:  don't ask
Check out this digusting pile of Leftist crap from The Guardian.

Are you confused yet at why the Left, comprised of those who are theoretically in favor of human liberty and dignity, are becoming more anti-American and Jew-hating by the hour? Who is the world's guarantor of freedom and democracy and economic self-determination? The United States of America. And who is our greatest friend in a sea of ignorant and death-wishing submitters? Israel. These rectal thermometers at the Guardian and elsewhere know that it is always America that stands up for the individual, whether it's been against human bondage or fascism or communism; in the end, no matter how fitfully or violently, we represent and demonstrate what is best in human beings.

This touchy-feely bullshit about conferences for the poor, oppressed Mohammedan (or, his "separatist" counterparts in Spain or Northern Ireland or Sri Lanka or wherever else) to come and emote or grandstand is utterly absurd!

Read that fucking editorial! There's no more perfect an example of what's wrong with the degenerate European Left than what you'll find in their criminally irresponsible "ideas."

Saving Face
When the G-8 Summit is held this June at Sea Island, Georgia, the President will not be presenting the Greater Middle East Initiative that he should be, which explicitly advocates democratic, financial, and cultural changes; instead, he'll be obligated to merely pass out some platitudes about his approval of reforms in that depressed and devastated region.

The reason being is that the leaders of the Arab world, who have either taken their power at the point of a gun or by the divine right of kings or both, do not want to be perceived by their oppressed masses as taking orders from the Great Satan. Thus, George W. Bush will have to play along if he wants to keep these dictatorial regimes placated.

It's understandable that these Arab countries don't want to be seen sitting bitch, but that's what it's going to come to, whether or not they wish to acknowledge it. It is their regressive and oppressive societies that have given rise to these suicidal and homicidal death-cults. There is something terribly wrong with their cultures that keeps the moderating influence of a healthy secularism at bay.

But, for the positive good of democratic government and free markets and basic civil liberties to take root in the greater Middle East, the potential (and, finally, the reality) of American power to effect that development must be made palpable. Nothing gets done without us. Nothing. Nothing the goddamned UN or NATO or any other of our alliances does means anything unless we bring the sound and the fury.

This is why Bush the Younger's place in History is assured: he and his Administration have torn the old world apart ---and the force of events will reconstitute the pieces. The process will not always go smoothly, but it will go, and in such a way that will prove to be a benefit to all who love liberty.

I find the resistance and criticisms of the anti-war Left absolutely incomprehensible. Do these ostriches not know that every great civilization must fight for its freedoms? Haven't the great democracies shown what must be sacrificed in the short-term for the benefit of our future welfare? What difference does it make what immediate causes and pretexts of war are used when the ultimate goal is the liberation of men and women everywhere? Do human and civil rights belong only to certain societies and not others?

The most dishonorable thing a Democratic voter can do is vote against Bush because of how he's conducted the war against Islamofascism. I will respect the votes of those Democrats who, like myself, disagree with the President and the Republicans about cutting taxes on the super-wealthy and granting amnesty to illegal aliens for the sake of cheap labor and proposing to make gay marriage unConstitutional and intimidating the broadcasters and any number of other things. But, this war? No way. The war against the Mohammedan menace is right.

What the Hell Does This Even Mean?
Now Playing: "Negro Observer" by the Butthole Surfers
John Kerry recently said:

"President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I wouldn't be upset if I could earn the right to be the second."

What? What the hell is he talking about? Seriously. That's got to be the dumbest shit to ever come out of this guy's pie-hole and practically no one is talking about it. It's not just pandering; it's condescending nonsense.

Kerry sure is getting a lot of free passes from the liberal media and his party's base. Is there any question that if Bush had said something analogous to that, he'd be reamed 24-7?

Wake up, Dumbocrats! You've got the most vacillating and out-of-touch dumbass of a Presidential nominee since 2000. Everything Kerry says is contrived crapola.

Never Mind My Ignorance of Spanish Government, Thanks
Mood:  d'oh
Okay, so I messed up by not knowing that Jose Aznar is not, in fact, running for a third term, but I made up for that by calling him a President. (Turns out that Aznar is actually the Prime Minister of his country.)

However, Aznar's conservative Popular Party looks like it has a better than even chance of retaining power. I sure hope so. Spain has been a valuable ally to our country in the war against terrorists, and it would be a real shame to allow the Socialists in Spain to take their country backwards into the posture of placating and coddling the vermin who would do them in.

Remember: a vote for John Kerry is a vote for those who hate America.

Dirty Dhimmicrat and Traitor
Mood:  on fire
I'm ready to start burning some traitors. Looks like we got one this morning in Maryland: Susan Lindauer, a former Congressional aide to Ron Wyden and Carol Moseley-Braun (a couple of commie rats, the latter being a crook), has been busted for spying for Saddam. Go here for a view of the 14-page indictment against this donkey-lover and peace activist sell-out.

I'm disgusted with the anti-war left. They're a bunch of goddamned hypocrites who refuse to support our troops in delivering the world from tyranny and terrorism. Shouldn't that also be a goal of the Left? To help win the liberation of oppressed peoples and to see them through to their full civil and human rights? No, of course not! They don't want to give any credit to a conservative President. They would rather express their feelings and talk things over, preferably at the UN or The Hague where they feel more at home among other self-hating losers who don't know how much contempt the Muslim has for them.

Who the fuck do people like Lindauer think they are, selling out their country to murdering fascists for their 30 pieces of silver? I'd like to see this sack of shit pay heavily for her crimes.

But, here's an important test if you have any doubts about whether the so-called mainstream media is a tool of the Left: see how the networks and the papers describe Lindauer. It happens that she is a second cousin of Bush's Chief of Staff Andy Card. Notice how prominently that fact gets mentioned in relation to the far more relevant fact that she was an aide to a couple of ultra-liberal politicians, as well as being a spread-eagled peacenik who has now been arrested for spying for Saddam-fucking-Hussein! That is to ask, how much responsibility do you wish to bear for the political persuasion of your grandparents' siblings' grandchildren? Oh, yes! Somehow, this will all come back on Mr. Card! What a goddamned joke!

Happy Belated Birthday, Miss Elizabeth!
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: that annoying song by the Beatles
Oops! I completely forgot that last Saturday was my favorite one year-old's birthday. Just goes to show that time flies faster for old folks. To a year-old baby, though, time crawls, which is a blessing. Even though they don't think so. If they're even aware of it.

Anyhow, happy birthday, Miss Elizabeth. I hope to see you soon.

Viva la Reconquista!
If the Madrid atrocities were actually the work of al-Qaeda, and not that of the Basque terrorists/separatists, as was originally supposed, then I hope that President Aznar takes the memory of this act of war and uses it as a tool to motivate the Spanish against the Mohammedan menace. One hundred and eighty dead, plus maybe a thousand physically injured? Outrageous.

There aren't too many Christian cultures I can think of who have less truck with these filthy submitters than the Spanish. After all, where do you think Spaniards got their training for all the New World genocide they committed? In their own back yard, kicking out their debased and decadent Muslim overlords.

al-Qaeda and the regressive culture they represent have got Europe in full test mode. Secular France has aggravated the Mohammedans with their anti-head cover laws and these medieval immigrants are exploding over the whole lousy issue. Schroeder and Berlusconi have plenty of such tensions on their own hands, as do the Dutch and the British.

Europe asked for it and now they've got it: a huge underclass of unassimilable five-times-a-day knee-takers who breed like rats and who are sucking the EU welfare state dry. Enjoy it, you stupid fucks. Enjoy your post-colonial guilt-trip policies that are turning a once proud Continent and Great Britain into vast expanses of fundamentalist, anti-democratic, anti-women, anti-modern alien nations.

Remember: a vote for John Kerry is a vote for those who hate America and the principles and human rights we stand for.

More About Frank's Killer
Mood:  don't ask
There is much more information here about the piece of shit who killed Frank Meziere, a friend of my family. (You may have to scroll down a little.) One of my brothers and I are considering going to Huntsville to show our support and to applaud the extermination of this filthy insect.

There used to be some debate, long after the period of public executions had passed, about whether the administration of such justice should be televised. I used to say that it should, accompanied by an appropriate narrative of the crimes involved and some biographical treatment of the innocent lives taken.

Yet, I don't think so anymore. If these vermin were given a last chance to cause pain or make some mockery of the moment before a wide audience, it would be unacceptable. There's enough prurience on our televisions now as it is. Better to render the final judgement in a dispassionate and anonymous way and be done with the deed.

I'm not going to mention the name of the piece of shit who murdered Frank Meziere, but I will be very happy to know that he is dead. That is all any of us should finally require. Put him down. Put them all down.

John Kerry Is a Treasonous Fuck
Mood:  don't ask
But, don't take my word for it: take his. Apparently, Senator Flip-Flop has taken it upon himself to communicate with foreign leaders who are encouraged by the possibility of his victory this November. Now, which leaders would those be? Kim Jong-Il? Castro? Chiraq? The mullahs in Iran?

A vote for John Kerry is a vote for those who hate America.

Another Story the America-haters Won't Tell You
Here's a very interesting piece about our treatment of one of the teenaged prisoners we captured in Afghanistan and took to Gitmo. The kid probably wasn't guilty of much, after all, but his opinions, and those of some of the others imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, are quite pro-American.

Which goes to show you that our culture is superior to any other on Earth, however vulgar and materialistic we are.

My Secret Roommate
Now Playing: The B-side of Lizard by King Crimson
Until I helped him out the door last night, I had been rooming with a gecko for at least two days that I knew of. As best I can tell, he is a green anole. They're the kind that change from dark green to light brown to lime green, depending on their mood. He's a sweetheart as far as lizards go, but a bit of a dumbass. I sat there and watched him try for a spot on the pole of a torchiere lamp in my living room four or five times, on each occasion dropping onto the floor with an audible thud. He just couldn't figure out why his wonderfully-evolved hands and feet were failing him.

Anyhow, I enjoy having geckos around because they're great to watch and they eat bugs. (I haven't had any bugs to speak of for several months now, but maybe he's been the reason.) My only problem, though, besides my fear of stepping on him unawares and, thus, being obligated to go ahead and crush him if he were injured, is the fact that I sleep in the nude. Now, I know this isn't an appealing prospect for those who have seen me in person, but it is the way it's going to be. Just like I refuse to wear anything on my feet in my own home. I just won't do it.

Well, the point I'm trying to make is that I was seized with an irrational fear that my roommate might, out of idle curiosity, come looking to crawl into bed with me and see what's cooking, as it were. And I didn't want to wake up in a scene from The Godfather with dead animal parts mingled with my sheets.

So, I figured it was best if he could get some fresh air and do his bug hunting outside where he might actually have some success. I really do like him, but I got to thinking that he was trapped inside, and didn't want to keep him from enjoying his life on the outside.

Long live the reptile!

The Editorial Staff at the Statesman Are a Bunch of Idiots
Mood:  irritated
Our local daily rag here in Austin printed a letter of mine in today's edition but, as always, butchered it beyond recognition, thus proving to me the wisdom of not writing letters to the editor there anymore. I hadn't sent them anything in years for that very reason, but the subject is of very great interest to me and I wanted to sound off.

Below is the letter as they printed it:

Certification unnecessary

The American-Statesman's opposition to relaxing certification standards for Texas schoolteachers is misguided (Feb. 26 editorial, "Students deserve qualified teachers"). From the tone of the editorial, one might think that we are about to condemn our state's students to the most ignorant and depraved horde of baby-sitters ever imagined.

Texas schools stand to gain immensely from drawing on a pool of talented, content-competent professionals who can bring different perspectives to the classroom. These are people who have earned their degrees in a variety of disciplines with every bit as much effort as those who took their courses in colleges of education. Does my history bachelor's degree make me less qualified to teach that subject than a person who earned an education degree, who also happens to teach history?

There is no degree field more shot with politically correct nonsense than education course work. Ask any good teacher what the only training that matters is, and he or she will tell you: being in the classroom and doing the work.

TOBY PETZOLD

Austin

All I can say is, "What ham-handed crap!"

Below is the letter I actually wrote, with the stuff they cut out in boldface (never mind the smaller changes). You can tell what a bunch of conflict-free ninnies they are by the good stuff they excised:

This newspaper's opposition to relaxing certification standards for Texas schoolteachers is misguided. From the tone of your editorials (and that of the alarmist ranting of the various educators' groups), one might think that we are about to condemn our state's students to the most abjectly ignorant and depraved horde of babysitters ever imagined.

In fact, Texas schools stand to gain immensely from drawing on a pool of talented, content-competent professionals who can bring different experiences and perspectives to the classroom. These are people who have earned their degrees in a variety of disciplines with every bit as much effort as those who took theirs in colleges of education. Do you really think that the B.A. I earned in History makes me LESS qualified to teach that subject than a person who earned a degree in education, who also happens to teach History?

If so, then you really should educate yourselves on the subject of certification coursework. With the exception of stuff like Women's Studies, there is no degree field MORE shot through with politically correct nonsense and impracticable applicability than education (and certification) coursework. Fetishizing the value of such preparation is a delusion. Ask any good teacher what the only training that matters is and he or she will tell you: being in the classroom and doing the work. All else is commentary.

TOBY PETZOLD

As you can see, the original letter is far better, both logically and stylistically. In it, I call them and the teachers' groups they echo a bunch of ignorant and poltically-motivated hacks. Plus, I get in a great dig at the crypto-dyke crowd. But, of course, they can't have any personality in their correspondents cropping up (nor do they consistently publish the e-mail addresses with the letters, despite offering to do so).

By the way, you swine, the phrase "shot through" means riddled and eaten alive, not unlike what was left of the excellent pearl I cast before you.

A Bunch of Incompetents
Mood:  happy
Some Palestinian car-bombers got blown up and blown away today at a crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip before they could do any damage. I think at least five of them died, no evil Jews among them. What a bunch of incompetents. One of them lost his water and detonated himself before he could get anywhere. The others got made and then got wet. My favorite part, though, is that every asshole organization in the book claimed responsibility. Heh, heh. Now, why do that? Spread the humiliation of their ineptitude all around so as to save some face? That's very sweet of them.

Islamofascism, if not the entirety of Mohammedan culture, is a virulent disease. Give the mostly secularized Judaeo-Christian world its occasional outbursts of bloodlust and weirdness (e.g., Mel Gibson's new snuff film); it's just a little venting from some otherwise recognizably modern human beings. But, these five-times-a-day submitters? Nah. As George Carlin once said in another context, step on that fuck before it gets to the children.

Reprieve for a Sack of Shit
Mood:  don't ask
Several years ago, a friend of my little brother's (who was also a student of my mother's, as well as their neighbor) was murdered by a sack of shit carjacker. That sack of shit got a stay of execution yesterday from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals because its defense attorneys argued that their sack of shit client may be mentally retarded. Pathetic.

I knew Frank Meziere. I knew his mom and dad and little brother Matthew. They are the very best kind of people. No guy ever loved his kid brother better than Frank did. I remember him as a good-looking and respectful kid who made his family and his community proud.

One night six years ago, Frank was out washing his brand new Mustang at an all-night carwash when this sack of shit (who, at the age of 19, already had a lengthy record of violent crime) came and forced Frank at gunpoint to drive them in his car to some secluded spot in South Oak Cliff where this sack of shit put ten bullets into Frank's head.

Ten bullets!

Now, I don't give a good goddamn if this sack of shit is a genius. The fact is that it murdered a good young man for nothing and went and bragged about it to the other chimps in its tribe. They say it's cruel and unusual punishment to execute the mentally retarded. I say it's cruel and unusual punishment to murder a man for a ride in his car and the watch on his wrist.

Enjoy your stay, you filthy monkey. After they stick a needle in your arm, you can go and discuss how mentally retarded you are with Satan.

Kerry Wants McAuliffe Out
I wonder if these stories about John Kerry looking to remove Terry McAuliffe are true. It seems like ingratitude to want to remove the guy whose strategy for front-loading the primaries this cycle has helped you to win the nomination so quickly and relatively cheaply.

The only reason I've heard for Kerry's wish is because McAuliffe came out too soon with the "Bush-as-AWOL" story. Kerry had hoped to save that one for later, but McAuliffe apparently pushed him into chickenshit too soon. But, that can't be the only reason, can it?

Anyway, you'll get your wish soon enough, Kerry. After you get beat this November, no one's going to hire that guy to do their windows.

Brother Parmer
Yesterday, my older brothers and I went back to the small town where we grew up (about five minutes north of the President's ranch) to attend a memorial service for Billy Ray Parmer, or, as we always called him, "Brother Parmer."

Brother Parmer was 76. He was killed in a car wreck up in the Panhandle last week on his way to a track meet for one of his granddaughters.

Mrs. Parmer was also in the vehicle and was badly injured. She is in intensive care.

The Parmers are an attractive and active family of God-fearing citizens of their community, wherever they are. I am very sorry for their loss.

Brother Parmer is an essential character in many of my very earliest memories of that little town. He was always there for our town's high school athletes, leading the prayers, taking care of the injured, and providing solace for all. He spoke at my PawPaw's and Grandma's funerals. And he spoke at my Daddy's. There is nothing more reassuring than a eulogy spoken by one who knew you, and I am grateful for his good words.

And, now, I return the favor, however much less my effort may be counted.

Thank you, Brother Parmer. I will not forget you or your good deeds.

"You see, something's going to happen. Something wonderful."
Mood:  special
Those words, spoken by David Bowman in the film 2010, have always sent chills up my spine. It is the peaceful, omniscient assurance of a man who has gone beyond the human. And that, my friends, is what we may be experiencing today when the men and woman of the JPL give a press conference this afternoon.

Please check out the excellent website space.com and see what I mean.

There may have once been water on Mars. There may be water on Mars today.

There may have once been life on Mars. There may be life on Mars today.

That is why we explore space, you luddites.

You see, something's going to happen. Something wonderful.

Brother, can you spare a new paradigm?

An Old Paleocon Croaks
My man Sluggo has sent me a link to Patrick Buchanan's review in the latest issue of The American Conservative of Richard Perle's and David Frum's book An End to Evil. Being what they call a paleocon (a "paleo-conservative" or, in other words, the isolationist kind of Republican they used to make), Buchanan makes some interesting arguments in favor of the old ways, but none of them are finally all that convincing. As a military and economic force for global improvement, we Americans are not where we were in the early 20th Century and we're never going to be there again. Buchanan doesn't realize this, of course, and that's one of the major reasons he never got very close to the Presidency.

One of Buchanan's worst qualities, though, is his tacit (and, sometimes, explicit) Anti-Semitism. He and those who agree with him always balk at this charge, but it manages to hang around, probably only because he says shit that makes you think, "Hey, Buchanan really doesn't like meddlesome Jews, does he?"

I haven't read An End to Evil yet, but I read Frum and Perle regularly, being the Zionist stooge that I am, and know enough of that book from their own analyses and amplifications of its contents. Their view of our responsibilities and opportunities as the world's Great Hegemon is the one I subscribe to, and Buchanan's is the one that has been permanently replaced. Whereas Frum and Perle recognize the threat of Islamofascism and its power to wreck civilization, Buchanan does not, instead preferring to follow too closely Washington's dictum that this country ought to avoid any foreign entanglements. Well, that's no longer an option. The best defense is an ass-kicking offense. Let's push on until every imam in the Middle East is munching on pork rinds.