Free In Idaho!

Have you seen much about the speech French President Sarkozy delivered to Congress last week?  No?  I thought not.  Neither have I.  But After watching the miserable performance of the Democratic Presidential wannabes last night, and hearing the whiney, nanny state drivel they were spouting, I wanted to be one of the people reminding you what a truly great county America is, and what it sounds like to hear a politician say it out loud.  Certainly, most of the politicians today (regretably on both sides of the aisle) can’t muster a speech like this, even if they believe it, and for more than half of them I doubt that they do.  But that little weasel from Iran got more press from his appearance than President Sarkozy has gotten from this.  Listen to this, it is wonderful!

..From the very beginning, the American dream meant proving to all mankind that freedom, justice, human rights and democracy were no utopia but were rather the most realistic policy there is and the most likely to improve the fate of each and every person.

America did not tell the millions of men and women who came from every country in the world and who—with their hands, their intelligence and their heart—built the greatest nation in the world: “Come, and everything will be given to you.” She said: “Come, and the only limits to what you’ll be able to achieve will be your own courage and your own talent.” America embodies this extraordinary ability to grant each and every person a second chance.

Here, both the humblest and most illustrious citizens alike know that nothing is owed to them and that everything has to be earned. That’s what constitutes the moral value of America. America did not teach men the idea of freedom; she taught them how to practice it.

What a contrast to Mrs Clinton, who has believed in $5000 Baby Bonds, IRAs for everybody, Hillary Care, licenses for illegals, and a host of other big nanny government ideas.  “You can’t afford me” she bragged.  You’re right lady, but not in the way you think.  Here’s another good passage from the speech

..America’s strength is not only a material strength, it is first and foremost a spiritual and moral strength. No one expressed this better than a black pastor who asked just one thing of America: that she be true to the ideal in whose name he—the grandson of a slave—felt so deeply American. His name was Martin Luther King. He made America a universal role model.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”  Do you think that THIS is the root of the spiritual and moral strength that Sarkozy refers to, and that Martin Luther King was dreaming about?  Instead, we get as much, if not more, press about a candidate’s gender, color, sexual preferences, and religious beliefs (or lack of).  “Content of character”, not so much.  Like Samson, our strength is not in ourselves or our possessions, and it can be lost.  Sarkozy seems to get it, but why don’t we?

Do I agree with everything he said in his speech?  Not at all.  For one thing, I don’t have the same degree of , er, respect (?) that he seems to have for the United Nations and “new world order”.  But I am so struck that such a speech, with so much pro-American sentinent, comes from the French President, and not one of our own politicians.  And it reminds me that Ronald Reagan’s greatness (which wasn’t perfect) came as much from his ability to convey to the American people just this kind of patriotic, can-do vision as it did from his conservatism and faith. 

Watching Mrs Clinton tap dance at the last debate, and Obama’s two step last night, I’m bowled over by the difference between what they say and by what those Sarkozy quotes say.  The Republicans are no better.  But America is still a wonderful country, with a great future.  The candidate who can articulate BOTH of those things, in a way that appeals to more than just a handful of folks in a focus group, will find he or she has a big audience willing to listen.  And if that candidate is also willing to hew tightly to both of our most famous sentences, “we the People” and “We hold these truths”, and the documents they are found in, it is my belief that that candidate wouldn’t have to dance, or lie, or make up his record, or cackle, or smear his opponents, or play the race card, or the gender card.  That candidate would easily be the next President of the United States. 

But I don’t see that candidate yet… and time grows short. Leave it to a Frenchman to point that out.

A couple days ago, I was sitting in a group that was given the opportunity to adopt a platoon of young Marines in Iraq for Christmas.  It was explained to us the kinds of things we should think about getting for them as gifts and to meet some needs they might have beyond what the military provides.  You know, things like current CDs, magazines, DVDs and video games, and various snacky-type things.  And we were warned “no pork products!  That’s highly offensive to Muslims”.  And I have to say I was surprised that most of the people in that room had never heard such a thing before. 

So, now that the backlash over Islamo-fascism Awareness Week has died down, and the Saudi king’s photo op with the Pope has passed and been forgotten, it might be time to look at some current examples of just how an Islamic society conducts itself on a day to day basis.  Here is what Islamic sharia looks like in real life.  Pay attention all you supporters of womens rights, homosexuals, Christians… and you “liberty cultists” will just have to get over it.

..  A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

The 19-year-old woman — whose six armed attackers have been sentenced to jail terms — was initially ordered to undergo 90 lashes for “being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape,” the Arab News reported.

But in a new verdict issued after Saudi Arabia’s Higher Judicial Council ordered a retrial, the court in the eastern town of Al-Qatif more than doubled the number of lashes to 200.

A court source told the English-language Arab News that the judges had decided to punish the woman further for “her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media.”

Saudi Arabia enforces a strict Islamic doctrine known as Wahhabism and forbids unrelated men and women from associating with each other, bans women from driving and forces them to cover head-to-toe in public.

All you American college kids yapping about “hate”… hello?  How about womens’ health care? 

..BAGHDAD, 13 November 2007 (IRIN) - Male gynaecologists are being targeted by Islamic extremists in Iraq as they are accused of invading the privacy of women. Women’s NGOs have raised concerns as there are few women gynaecologists in the country and their male counterparts are scared to continue working.

“Because of the extremists’ religious views, doctors are scared to continue with their work and the number of women gynaecologists is very low and cannot meet the demand,” said Mayada Zuhair, spokeswoman for the Women’ Rights Association (WRA).

“Extremists say that [male] doctors are not allowed to see the private parts of women and two male doctors were reportedly killed last week after leaving their clinics. A message was left near their bodies saying that was the end for any doctor who insists in invading the privacy of Muslim women,” Mayada added.

What?  You think that’s only in Iraq?  How about an example from in Belgium?

..A Belgian anesthetist has filed a complaint against a Muslim who blocked him from entering the operating theatre where his wife was to undergo emergency surgery.

The woman was operated with the male doctor shouting instructions from a hallway to a female nurse

Doctor Philippe Becx from Bree, Belgium, was called to the hospital in the middle of the night because a woman had to undergo an emergeny caesarean section.
Unable to integrate

However, her husband blocked the door and demanded a female anesthetist. The latter was unavailable.

After a two-hour discussion proved fruitless, an imam was summoned. The imam permitted the doctor to apply an epidural injection, but only if the woman was fully covered with only a small area of skin showing.

During the surgery itself, performed by a female gynecologist, the anesthetist was to remain in the hallway. Through a door that was slightly ajar, he shouted instructions to a nurse who was monitoring the anesthesia.

Do you remember the laughter that greeted President Ahmadinejad’s statement that there were no homosexuals in Iran?  Take him seriously, he means it.

..Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learnt.

Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes in the death penalty for homosexuality after a spate of reports that gay youths were being hanged.

We frequently hear from “moderate Muslims” that Islam is tolerant of other religions.  This is tolerance in Indonesia

..JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BosNewsLife) — An Indonesian court has sentenced 41 Christian leaders to five years imprisonment on charges of blasphemy because they openly prayed that Muslims “come to know Christ,” local Christians and a well-informed human rights group told BosNewsLife Thursday, November 1.

Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM) Australia said the Christians, who are linked to the international mission group Campus Crusade for Christ, participated in a December, 2006, prayer gathering in the Indonesian province of East Java.

Of course, that’s about the same response they get for praying on American college campuses today too.  But the takeaway here is that all of these things, and so much more, are not outside of what the Koran teaches and what the guidance of sharia law requires.  I feel a little sorry for Congressman Bill Sali.  He got pounded for suggesting that Islam wasn’t what the Founders had in mind.  But he was right. And the so-called debate in America continues to be derailed by accusations of “hate” and “intolerance”. Take a look at Europe right now, and the troubles in England, France, and Belgium to name but a few of the countries that appear to be at critical mass. Deal with it now, or deal with it later, or be dealt with in the end… pay attention.