POLITICS

What do you do if one publication does something which offends a particular religion? Simple - you just get even more insulting about someone else's religion:

The University of Oregon was home this spring to a vicious attack on Jesus. Almost as obscene as the cartoon was the incredibly weak response by the university's president, Dave Frohnmayer.

The March edition of the Insurgent, a University of Oregon student newspaper, contained a large graphic cartoon depicting a naked Jesus on the Cross with an erection; there was also a graphic titled "Resurrection," which showed a naked Jesus kissing another naked man, both sporting erections.

The pictures were only one small part of the March edition. Indeed, the entire issue was replete with the most egregious examples of hate speech targeted at Christians. For example, there were several cartoons of Jesus—including Jesus crucified—that were so gratuitously offensive that only the most depraved would defend them. That all of this occurred during Lent, at a state institution, is all the more disturbing.

This explosion of hate speech was a response to a decision reached by one of the Insurgent's rivals, the Commentator, to publish the 12 Danish cartoons that recently so inflamed the Muslim world. An Insurgent editorial said that because the Commentator published depictions of Muhammad so as to "provoke dialogue," they had a right to trash Christians as a way of provoking dialogue.

Someone explain the logic here for me - I really don't get this "two wrongs make a right" mentality.

As I recall, of the Danish cartoons which caused such an uproar, only one was really insulting - that of Muhammad depicted with a bomb for a turban; other than that, they were pretty mild, and nothing like what is described in the liniked article about Jesus. It should be kept in mind, also, that Jesus is, to two billion Christians worldwide, the only begotten Son of God and the Saviour of mankind - this is not, as it were, just drawing an unflattering charicature of a politician - this is a direct and egregious insult to Christians and only in the weird world of higher education could this be considered a good response to a non-Christian drawing cartoons about some other non-Christian.

If the people at Insurgent really wanted to do something interesting and revoutionary, they should have written an article about how religion can be a good thing - that would be something most secular publications never do.

Lost in all the Zarqawi hoopla was this interesting story:

UNITED NATIONS -- Washington's dispute with the United Nations hit new heights Friday as U.S. lawmakers threatened to step up efforts to withhold funding of the world body following a top UN official's comments about ordinary Americans.

Canada too is among Western countries that have told the UN they will continue to demand spending caps on the organization's budget unless developing countries allow sweeping reform.

"On June 30, the money runs out," warned Allan Rock, Canada's ambassador to the UN. "We have to get a deal before then. But many countries say there has to be reform before we can lift the cap."

The growing "north-south" row got personal this week when Mark Malloch Brown, UN deputy secretary-general, accused Washington of not educating "Middle America" about the UN's good deeds.

"Much of the public discourse (about the UN)that reaches the U.S. heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News," said Malloch Brown in a rare instance of a senior UN official criticizing a member state.

The bureaucrat stunned many in Washington not only for what he said, but for his timing just ahead of the June 30 spending cut-off.

"It's a novel diplomatic (tactic) to bite our hand before we feed him," Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican member of the House International Relations Committee, said in an interview.

My, my - they are getting testy at the UN, aren't they? The great unwashed are demanding reforms, while UN bureaucrats sniff about Americans not knowing what the UN does - get real; we know what it does:

The UN spends a lot of money - and a huge chunk of it American money - in efforts which mostly insult the United States and its allies. Sometimes, just to pass the time, the UN will send some peacekeepers to watch a genocide or two - and rape a few girls into the bargain, as its rather boring to just watch inhuman slaughter.

The UN is morally bankrupt and as long as Russia, China and France have veto power in it, it is an organization which can't be reformed. Get us out of it - start again from scratch; this time, not allowing tyrants to have a seat at the table.

Interesting poll from Rasmussen:

Two-out-of-three Americans (68%) rate their own life as good or excellent. A Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,204 Adults conducted May 18, 2006 found that 22% rate their own life as fair while 9% say poor.

As per usual, I still hold that watching what people do rather than what they say is the proper rule of thumb - but with people buying houses, buying cars, going on vacation, I'd say we have a combination of do and say indicating happy people.

This is important for the political prospects - the Democrats, lacking any agenda supported by the American people, are counting entirely on discontent to raise them to political power this November; this poll, plus the actions of the people in their daily lives, do not indicate any strong discontent among the general population. Contented people tend to keep things as they are.

The Kossacks are havingh a conference here in Las Vegas - Kookfest '06, or some such thing. I may go down there to check it out, time permitting - but I bring it up because of this article by Ryan Sager over at The New York Sun. In it, Sager notes out the Kossacks were trying to spin the Zarqawi death. Yeah, you got that - spin it.

You see, rather than be pleased that a murderer has been stopped, or be pleased that, perhaps, Iraq will become less violent, our leftwing friends are worried that the killing of Zarqawi might reflect well on President Bush. To put it bluntly, most Kossacks would prefer that we didn't get Zarqawi until January 20th, 2009, just to be on the political safe side. The whole existence of the Kossacks is built around hatred of President Bush and a determination to beat him. This is unhealthy - this is, in clinical terms, a very disturbed mentality.

A lot of conservatives took exception to Clinton's hare-brained military adventures in Haiti and Kosovo - but when push came to shove, all conservatives were pleased that the military operations were successful and a couple tyrants were removed. And conservatives were ok with it helping Clinton - this is the nature of politics: sometimes, the other guy gets to come off smelling like a rose, even if you think he's a dung heap.

In President Bush, as in all leaders, there is plenty of things to take issue with - I won't go into them here because our leftwing friends wouldn't understand any of the legitimate reasons for being upset with this or that Bush decision - but when your whole worldview consists of the automatic gainsaying of anything a person does, then you're in need of professional psychiatric care.

Normally, a group of raving, lefting nutters wouldn't matter all that much - but it is becoming ever more clear that these Kossacks - a tiny, out of touch minority - are calling the shots in the Democratic Party. No Democratic leader dares cross the Kossacks, and all potential Democratic Presidential nominees feel the need to make obesience to the Daily Kos crowd. The problem for the Democrats is that while raving nutters sound ok to each other as they chit chat amongst themselves, the American people, as a whole, don't want anything to do with these leftwing fanatics. What we've got is a Democratic Party controlled by those most likely to ensure Democratic defeat - and that is a dismal future for our Democrats.

UPDATE: NRO's Byron York is at Kookfest; I may still be able to get down there, but after a week of vacation I'm finding a lot of things do get down 'round here.

As I always say, consult not what people say, but what they do:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army said Friday it surpassed its recruiting goal for May, marking the 12th consecutive month of meeting or exceeding its target.

With a booming economy, the only explanation for this must be continued patriotism and support for the overall War on Terrorism, including the liberation of Iraq element of it. Polls can say this, that and the other thing - but signing up when you know you're likely to be sent to a combat zone is a lot more substantial than answering a question over the phone. Anyone can say they are against the war - but these magnificent men and women are showing they support the war.

As I've also said, a lot of people will be surprised at the results this November, but I won't be.

This is just too sweet to pass up:

Before President Bush touched down in Pennsylvania Wednesday to promote his nuclear energy policy, the environmental group Greenpeace was mobilizing.

"This volatile and dangerous source of energy" is no answer to the country's energy needs, shouted a Greenpeace fact sheet decrying the "threat" posed by the Limerick reactors Bush visited.

But a factoid or two later, the Greenpeace authors were stumped while searching for the ideal menacing metaphor.

We present it here exactly as it was written, capital letters and all: "In the twenty years since the Chernobyl tragedy, the world's worst nuclear accident, there have been nearly [FILL IN ALARMIST AND ARMAGEDDONIST FACTOID HERE]."

Had Greenpeace been hacked by a nuke-loving Bush fan? Or was this proof of Greenpeace fear-mongering?

The aghast Greenpeace spokesman who issued the memo, Steve Smith, said a colleague was making a joke by inserting the language in a draft that was then mistakenly released.

"Given the seriousness of the issue at hand, I don't even think it's funny," Smith said.

The final version did not mention Armageddon. It just warned of plane crashes and reactor meltdowns.

I know they say this was just an error - but this is what they are all about: they don't care what the facts are, just find something alarming to say - or take out of context - and use it to fear-monger on the environmental issue.

Lies are the stock in trade of any leftwing group. This is because there is no rationality or even remote connection to common-sense in leftwing thinking. When you are as divorced from reality as a leftist, only a lie can carry your argument forward. If a lefty were to be honest about environmental matters, then they'd have to admit the world is not about to die - and that would cause a drop in donations, because while people are willing to shell out to save the world, they are less inclined to shell out for a marginal improvement in, say, water quality - on the other hand, a lie-less left would allow us to carefully work for cleaner air and water, etc, without misallocating resources due to whatever leftwing lie is being pushed at the moment.

HAT TIP: NRO's The Corner

Via Rep. Jack Kingston's blog...

As reported by the Washington Times, reacting to news that al-Zarqawi, known as Iraq’s “Prince of al-Qaeda” by Osama bin Laden, had been killed, several liberals in Washington called the death “insignificant” and that our troops and Americans are no safer today than they were yesterday.

The liberals in the ‘cut-and-run caucus’ are dead wrong.

The “Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party,” as DNC Chairman Howard Dean famously referred to his followers, is proving once again that they are more interested in dividing Americans at home with their angry, insensitive, fiery rhetoric than supporting our troops and the Global War on Terrorism.

As I said yesterday, "Democrats haven't learned that national security is not a political issue--no matter how much they pretend it is or try to make it one."

...but I'm glad Zarqawi wasn't killed instantly in the airstrike. He deserved to live the last seconds of his life in what must have been a lot of pain and agony...

Another work week concludes, and the weekend cometh... Lots happened this week, and I'm sure there's plenty to discuss still. Feel free to use this space to talk about anything you'd like, and/or revisit some other popular topics from the past week:

Woman Blames Bush For Her Abortion
The Democrats, Iraq, and 2008
Good News All Over The Place
Protecting Marriage Is Mainstream
On Protecting Marriage
Zarqawi Is Dead

Yesterday, the Bush Administration released an updated economic forecast "that shows continued robust economic growth and a strong labor market." Posted in the extended entry is from a joint press release of the Council of Economic Advisers, the Department of the Treasury, and the Office of Management and Budget, that was released yesterday.

“The forecast is a conservative analysis by three Federal agencies, and it shows the economy is strong,” said Edward P. Lazear, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

The Administration releases an economic forecast twice a year. This update – which will be used for the preparation of the Mid-Session Review of the Budget – forecasts similar economic numbers as the consensus of professional economic forecasters and the Administration’s previous forecast in December of 2005.

The updated forecast reflects faster than expected economic growth in the beginning of 2006, with growth projected to moderate somewhat in the future and then remain at a robust pace. Specifically, early indicators of activity suggest that growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) during the four quarters of 2006 will be about 3.6 percent, revised up 0.2 percentage point from the last forecast. Real GDP growth is forecasted to be about 3 percent or higher in each of the next five years – similar to the historical average over the last 20 years.

“The President’s successful pro-growth policies have helped to produce the sustained economic growth that has created almost 1.9 million jobs during the past 12 months and over 5.3 million since August 2003. That economic growth is also producing additional revenue that is essential to deficit reduction, and together with spending restraint it will allow us to stay on track to meet our goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009,” said Rob Portman, Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The unemployment rate has fallen 0.3 percentage point so far this year and the labor market is expected to remain strong in 2006. The updated forecast shows an average of 156,000 payroll jobs added each month, faster than the average of the last 20 years. It forecasts a 4.7 percent unemployment rate for the year, which is lower than the averages of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

"We continue to see signs that the U.S. economy is strong and on the right path to sustaining this trend. There can also be no question that well-timed tax relief, combined with responsible leadership from the Federal Reserve Board, has been a key reason for our current economic strength," said Treasury Secretary John W. Snow.

Overall inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) has increased thus far in 2006 more than forecasted by the Administration in December of 2005. Core inflation, excluding volatile and food prices, has remained lower than overall inflation. Therefore, the updated forecast for overall CPI has been revised up from 2.4 percent to 3.0 percent during the four quarters of 2006, but it remains unchanged at 2.4 percent for the next several years.

The Administration’s forecast of interest rates is consistent with market expectations and the consensus of professional economic forecasters. The updated forecast of short-term interest rates has been revised up slightly while the forecast of long-term interest rates has remained largely unchanged.

The long-run moderation of recent economic and job growth reflects solid economic growth coupled with underlying demographic trends, such as slower growth in the working-age population and the retirement of the baby-boom generation.

The forecast was developed by a team from the Council of Economic Advisers, the Department of the Treasury, and the Office of Management and Budget, with assistance from other agencies.

Click here to view the administration's forecast.