Communism is an abject failure.  It cannot succeed because it is based on the belief that human beings are inherently weak, incompetent, and unable to succeed without government control.  Communism has never proven successful and never will.

Communism is a political system based upon Marxist ideology.  It has never proven successful and never will. Socialism, the economic foundation of communism has also proven to be a failure. 

Look at Europe.  France and Germany are outraged that they do not impact the global “community” in the way that they belief they deserve.   They have added very little to the global economy or to global intelligence. 

Iceland purports to be the “original” democracy.  According to their state website, their national defense is based solely upon a security treaty with the United States.  What has Iceland ever contributed to the global economy?  That very strange singer with her own island in Iceland…Bjork?

Communism bestialized the concept of socialism.  It placed the welfare of the elite above the welfare of the masses.  Socialism purports to elevate the welfare of the masses above the welfare of the individual.  But, individuals make up the masses.  Individuals are each individually responsible for their own welfare as well as for the welfare of the larger society.  If individuals are not allowed to gain reward for their initiative, the masses will fall.  The elite will rule and take all the rewards.  The end result of socialism is communism.

The prime example of the failure of communism is Vietnam.  In an Associated Press article (Tini Tran, April 30, 2005) it was noted that “Vietnam celebrated the communist victory over a U.S.-backed government, parading its troops down the same boulevard along which tanks rolled to smash into the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam 30 years ago. Watched by the country's top leaders and legendary figures like Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, soldiers, government workers and performers marched with red flags waving toward the palace gates. Hundreds of aging veterans, their chests dripping with medals, watched from the sidelines.

“Giant billboards of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam's revolutionary leader, dominated the parade ground and adjoining streets which had been blocked off to the public because of security concerns.

“On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese tanks barreled through the gates of the palace, the heart of the U.S.-backed Saigon government. The fall of Saigon marked the official end to the Vietnam War, and the U.S.'s decade-long involvement in Southeast Asia. The war claimed some 58,000 American lives and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese. ‘I was listening to the radio with my family and heard that Saigon had been liberated. I was very happy because for many years we weren't free. After 30 years we have rebuilt our country. Our land is safe and secure and I think the future will be better for my children,’ said To Thanh Nghia, 51, a government worker marching in the parade.

“But the atmosphere in the country three decades later has been mostly festive, focusing on Vietnam's economic rejuvenation in recent years. Memories of the war and its aftermath are little more than anecdotes in history books for the majority of the country's population who were born after it ended. ‘My father and grandfather fought in the war but I was too young. I think my future will be good because they created opportunities for my generation,'’ said Nguyen Thanh Tung, an 18-year-old student. Taking part in the parade, he wore a drab olive uniform and wielded a wooden gun.

“Down the grand boulevard where Communist tanks once rolled in, capitalism has taken solid root. Many of the parade floats were sponsored by American companies including VISA and American Express. One float featured women pushing shopping carts loaded with supermarket goods.

“These days, Le Duan Street is home to Diamond Plaza, a glittering, upscale department store where French perfumes and Italian shoes are sold to an emerging urban, middle class. Along the same strip, a French-owned five-star hotel sits across the street from the U.S. consulate, rebuilt after the former U.S. Embassy was razed in the late 1990s.

“While Vietnam proudly recalled its victories over both the United States and colonial France, the focus was clearly on the future.  ‘Through our two resistance (wars) against foreign aggressors the historical clashes in Saigon will always be in the forefront,’ said President Tran Duc Luong to cheers from the crowd. He called Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, the country's ‘economic locomotive. Over the past 30 years the city's people ... have overcome the challenges and difficulties of war. The city has recorded huge achievements in all fields,’ he said.

“With the president on the giant reviewing platform was a guest of honor, Raul Castro, the brother and successor to Cuba's longtime leader Fidel Castro who stood by Vietnam's communist regime for decades. Also flanking the leader was Giap, the military mastermind who defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu and ousted the Americans.

“Despite Vietnam's remarkable recovery from the devastation of war, most of Vietnam's largely agrarian population of 82 million remains poor with per capita income hovering around $550 a year.  Once among the most desperate nations in the world, Vietnam is now on the crest of an economic wave that saw annual growth of 7.7 percent last year — second only to China in Asia.

“Though the country's reunification of North and South occurred 30 years ago, the task of reconciliation still looms large.  …Prime Minister Phan Van Khai sent out a message reaching out to Vietnam's former enemies, as well as to those who fought on the side of the former South Vietnam, urging all sides to ‘close the past, look to the future.’

“At least with the United States, Hanoi's ties have become increasingly strong as America became Vietnam's single largest trading partner. But relations with overseas Vietnamese, who sent back nearly $4 billion in remittances last year, remain more sensitive.”

Today, Vietnam celebrated the "victory" of communism over a U.S.-backed government.  Fifty-eight thousand Americans were killed.  Three million Vietnamese died.  On April 30, 2005, capitalism has taken solid root in Vietnam.  The cost was immense.  But capitalism, liberty, and individual freedom will ALWAYS prevail. 

The far left in America should learn from this.  They cannot win because they focus on (and try to take advantage of) human weakness instead of human strength.  Strength wins out every time. 

That is why America remains strong.

Lately we have been hearing a great many leftists talking about “nuance”.  They assert that conservatives do not have a “nuanced” understanding of politics.  They assert that conservatives do not have a “nuanced” understanding of democracy.  They assert that conservatives do not have a “nuanced” understanding of foreign policy.  And, of course, they assert that conservatives do not have a “nuanced” understanding of the legitimate role of the United Nations in bringing about…something. 

Nuance is defined as “a subtle shade of…expression” (Random House Dictionary).  Guess what?  The leftists are correct.  Conservatives do not view the world in subtle shades.  We do not view the world through a screen coated in Vaseline.  Conservatives see the world as it is.  We see that there is good and evil.  While those on the left (e.g., Neville Chamberlain, Ted Kennedy, and John Kerry) don’t even recognize evil as a fact, conservatives recognize evil and are willing to take it on and to beat it.  As noted by Dennis Prager, people on the left are scared by global warming but not by evil.  They will fight the non-enemy of climate change but will not fight the TRUE battle against evil. 

The left truly DOES have a “nuanced” view of the world.  Often, that “nuance” leads to a strange inconsistency in logic. One of many examples is the recent leftist idea that parents of the “stillborn” should be granted a certificate called a “stillbirth certificate” (Minneapolis StarTribune, 4/26/05). The premise is that the parents could have closure by having such a certificate.  Surely, no one would minimize the pain experienced by a family whose child is stillborn.  BUT, the issue here is one of consistency.  The left asserts that life does not begin until birth.  This is the only way they can maintain their belief in the right to abortion.  A baby is not being killed…just a fetus that is not really a baby.  At the same time the left calls for a certificate recognizing the stillBIRTH of a child.  That is what seeing the world in a “nuanced” way does.  It leads to illogical thinking.  It is all about how the person “feels” right now and not about reality.  In fact, reality, to the leftist, is relative; a shifting thing to be defined at the moment depending on...something.

Conservatives understand that reality is not relative and it is not nuanced.  Judgments can be made and should be made.  There is right and wrong and good and evil.  If the good are to survive, we must understand evil and we must be willing to conquer it. 

Those of us who work in human services try very hard to develop competency in the various cultures of those we serve.  Emphasis is always placed on being sensitive to the intricacies of their histories, religions, and traditions.  Heritage is of the greatest importance.  We can hope that this emphasis on understanding is mutual because it is what sets the groundwork for mutual communication that is mutually respectful of backgrounds and cultures. 

With most of our clients, the goal of learning effective ways to communicate with people from diverse cultures is to improve the ways in which services are delivered and received.  More broadly, however, effective communication with people from diverse backgrounds is just good sense.  Through good communication we learn people’s intent and they learn ours. In a diverse society we need to understand people and we need them to understand us. 

Dealing with terrorists is no different.  We need to understand their intent.  They need to understand ours.  We have learned that their intent is to kill anyone with whom they disagree.  We know that they will kill their own.  We know that they will kill civilians.  We know that they will do anything to destroy what they hate.  Most of all, we know that their overall goal is to destroy America.

Understanding must be a two way street. Islamic fascist/socialists have spoken with immense clarity.  Unfortunately, America has not been nearly as clear in communicating its intent as have the terrorists.  America has presented a divided voice.  This divided voice has not been lost on the terrorists.  They have come to see America as weak and as a nation that will no longer stand up for itself.  While we would hope that our willingness to enter into war in Iraq would counter this image of weakness, the constant anti-war, anti America voice coming from the left continues to convey weakness.  As during the Vietnam War, that voice has continued to lend hope to the enemy. 

America can end this if we develop cultural competency.  All Americans need to understand the terrorists and act appropriately.  It is time that our nation speaks with one voice in communicating its intent.  America must speak and act without hesitation.  Clarity must be met with clarity.  Force must be met with force.  This is what the Islamic fascist/socialists understand given their heritage.  Americans need to be culturally competent not only in delivering services to diverse peoples but in defending our nation.  Its only fair.

For four decades or more, feminists have urged women to speak their mind.   Ann Coulter is one of those women who took that advice.  She has spoken her mind clearly and concisely.  Feminists have always forwarded the view, correctly, that the victim should never be blamed for the victimization.  Abuse is wrong, period!  Coulter is now required to be protected by bodyguards because her outspokenness has led to her being targeted for violence. 

Where are those feminists today?

Meanwhile, the left is up in arms about the fact that Jane Fonda (otherwise known as Hanoi Jane) was spat upon by a Vietnam veteran at one of her book signings.  Nine hundred people were at the signing.  Many of them gave Fonda, a traitor to the United States of America, a standing ovation.  From the film clips it appears that more than half of those people were women.  They were outraged. 

Of course, no one should be targeted for violence.  But the inequity is clear.  Feminists are outraged about some spittle on Fonda but not about the very real threats of real violence against Coulter.  What is fair is fair.  It is time for feminists to treat women on both ends of the political continuum equitably.  In fact, it is time that feminists treated PEOPLE on both ends of the political continuum equitably.

The Minneapolis StarTribune (Sharon Schmickle, April 21, 2005) in an article contributed to by the Associated Press reports that former U.S. Sen. Rudy Boschwitz joined his fellow Minnesota Republican, Sen. Norm Coleman, by saying that U.N. Secretary-General has failed in his role.  Boschwitz stated that “Kofi Annan's leadership failures have contributed to major humanitarian disasters.  Boschwitz -- who is winding up a six-week stint in Geneva as chairman of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. Human Rights Commission -- made his remarks in an e-mail to reporters in Minnesota.  Noting Coleman's criticism of Annan over the U.N.'s scandal-ridden oil-for-food program for Iraq, Boschwitz said, ‘there is considerably more to Annan's lack of leadership.’ Boschwitz then linked Annan to genocide in Rwanda 11 years ago, saying that, as head of the U.N.'s peacekeeping office, Annan was central to a ‘criminal’ lack of action to stop the slaughter. ‘It continues today ... in Darfur,’ Boschwitz said, referring to massive killings in western Sudan.

“During a telephone interview, Boschwitz said that Annan has failed to help an effort in the Human Rights Commission to pass a resolution condemning the Sudanese government for attacks on civilians in the Darfur region. A resolution is expected to pass this week, but it won't be as strong as Boschwitz had hoped… ‘I don't see any participation by [Annan]. That's what I define as a lack of leadership.’”

Of course Annan's spokesman denied the allegation. “As for Rwanda, Annan has expressed regret that he didn't do more to stop the genocide, as have several world leaders, including former President Bill Clinton. But Annan can't be blamed for the U.N.'s failure to send in fully armed peacekeepers, said Robert Flaten, who was U.S. ambassador to Rwanda until a few months before the violence erupted.”

Oh yes, to be named in the same sentence as former President Clinton.  According to Flaten, "Kofi Annan was doing exactly what he was told to do by the Security Council, which was led by the United States. It was a very weak mandate, deliberately, because we had overstretched ourselves in Somalia."

Overstretched in Somalia?  Clinton sent a small force, watched them die, and then withdrew them.  That is overstretched?

With Clinton and Annan running the “global village”, we had no hope.  Clinton is gone.  Now it is time for Annan to follow.

According to Tim Curran, of the Associated Press (© 2005)…"A man spit tobacco juice into the face of actress Jane Fonda after waiting in line to have her sign her new book”.  Apparently  “the man ran off but was quickly caught by police Tuesday night and charged with disorderly conduct.

“Fonda has been on tour and doing interviews to promote her just-published memoir, ‘My Life So Far.’  The thrice-married, two-time Academy Award winner covers a wide array of topics, including her 1972 visit to Hanoi to protest the Vietnam War, during which she was photographed on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. She has apologized for that photo, but not for opposing the war.

“Capt. Rich Lockhart of the Kansas City Police Department said that although Fonda did not want to press charges against Michael A. Smith, 54, of Kansas City, he was arrested on a municipal charge of disorderly conduct after off-duty officers caught him just outside Unity Temple, where Fonda was signing books.  Lockhart said Smith was released on bond late Tuesday night and is due to appear in municipal court on May 27.

“Smith, a Vietnam veteran, told The Kansas City Star on Wednesday that Fonda was a ‘traitor’ (NO NEED FOR THE QUOTATION MARKS, SHE IS A TRAITOR) and that her protests against the war were unforgivable. He said he normally does not chew tobacco but did so Tuesday solely to spit juice on the actress.  ‘I consider it a debt of honor,’ he told The Star for a story on its Web site, WWW.KANSASCITY.COM .  ‘She spit in our faces for 37 years. It was absolutely worth it. There are a lot of veterans who would love to do what I did.’.

“Fonda drew a crowd of about 900 for her appearance, said Vivian Jennings, whose Rainy Day Books of suburban Fairway, Kan., sponsored the event at Unity Temple in Kansas City. Fonda, 67, spoke for about 15 minutes, answered questions for another 15, then began signing copies of her book.

“Jennings said Fonda received a standing ovation when she came out and when she finished speaking. Alan Tilson, one of those who had his book signed but left before the incident, said the crowd was very ‘warm and supportive’ to Fonda and he was surprised to learn what had happened. Jennings said the actress never got up from her seat and continued autographing books after the tobacco juice was wiped off (underline mine).  The important thing is that she was so calm and so gracious about it," Jennings said of Fonda. ‘She was wonderful’.

"Jennings said that the man had a book to which the name "Jody" had been affixed as he approached to have it autographed. She said that when Fonda got the book, she looked up and said, ‘You're not Jody.’  At that moment, he turned his head quickly and spit a trail of tobacco juice', Jennings said. He immediately jumped off the stage and started running down the aisle.

“Fonda…issued a statement through Jynne Martin of Random House, which published her book. ‘In spite of the incident, my experience in Kansas City was wonderful and I thank all the warm and supportive people, including so many veterans, who came to welcome me last night,’ Fonda said”.

So there you have it.  One man stands up against a traitor that our government has refused to prosecute for political reasons.  He will face a fine.  Hanoi Jane says that she was accepted in a warm sorta way by many…including many veterans.  Excuse me if I doubt the latter assertion.  Jane’s support came from 900 idiots in a bookstore and by a woman or man named Jynne (that is not a real name…it is leftist doodling) from Random House in an attempt to make a buck on this traitor. 

Jane can lie and she can pretend and she can marry man after man who will support her in the lifestyle that she has become accustomed.  She can not escape the wrath of those of us who tried to do the right thing and serve our country.  Barbarella was hot…Jane is a pathetic pseudowoman who either has no idea of the damage she caused or who knows exactly what she is doing and who wants to see America fall. 

Jane has cast a shadow upon her family name.  She has cast a shadow upon America.  She has contributed to the deaths of thousands.  The 900 who went to her book signing should know this.  And they should bow their heads in shame.  While I cannot condone spitting, Michael A. Smith is my new personal hero.

Ahhh yes, there just might be a silver lining in one of the dark clouds of our society.  According to Karen Kaplan, writer for the leftist publication, the Los Angeles Times (April 15, 2005), lethal injections may not be painless.  According to this bleeding heart, “Death by lethal injection, adopted by 37 states as a painless method of execution, actually might inflict enormous suffering on the condemned because of a routine failure to use enough anesthesia”…the toxicology data indicate that the condemned might be fully aware as they are dying."   The writer added that“an inmate facing death probably is anxious and fearful and would require more anesthesia than a typical surgical patient.”  (Karen apparently has never had surgery.  I have; I was tense; I wanted the maximum dose; it worked out.)

FINALLY…SOME GOOD NEWS.  The key words here are “the condemned” and “might be fully aware”.  THAT, Karen, my bleeding heart friend, is the idea.  In the old days, before the bleeding hearts took over this country, the bad guys were hung in the center of town, for all to see.  I believe it is fair to say that they were “fully aware” that they were dying.  That was the idea! The unlucky ones were just shot at close range.  Another indication that they knew they were dying. 

The impact of DNA evidentiary techniques has made it safe to assume that when people in America reach the point that they face execution, they are not the best of the best.  Bad guys need to know that when they murder, rape, steal, and generally create havoc upon our nation, they WILL be fully aware when they are dying.  They need to know that it will hurt and that after it hurts they will face their maker.  THEN they will really feel the pain.

Apparently it is true.  Evil will just not go away. John Kerry is evil.  Always has been…since his pre-Vietnam days to his post Vietnam days to his Senatorial career of disaster to his failed presidential bid.  And yet he won’t go away.  Now he has launched an internet campaign urging a “no” vote on the appointment of John Bolton as America’s ambassador to the United Nations.  Of course he is joined by the usual suspects, Biden and Boxer. (Those two should go on the road as a vaudeville team of ne’er-do-well, laughable mop-heads who try so hard but are always wrong).  Of course, they represent the European voice.  Of course, they also represent evil against good in a world that is fast becoming heavily weighted in their direction.

Bolton is the one person who has truly spoken the truth about the U.N.  Because he sees the truth and doesn’t spend all of his time trying to be diplomatic, he is exactly the right person for the job. 

The U.N. is a failed experiment. If it is to ever get on track, it needs firm leadership.  That leadership will not come from Europe or from the dozens for nations that promote murder and torture of their own citizens.  Let’s get it together, America.  Put the right man in the job.  This is not time for diplomacy in the old sense of the world.  This is definitely not the time for Biden and Boxer.  Even more importantly, this is not the time for Kerry.

“Pavel Kohn survived a death march from Auschwitz and a winter train trip in open coal cars. He arrived at Buchenwald concentration camp a frostbitten, exhausted 15-year-old Jewish orphan, his parents and older brother already dead in the Nazi Holocaust.”  According to the Associated Press (Minneapolis StarTribune April 10, 2005) “Kohn was among those rescued by American troops who freed Buchenwald 60 years ago Monday. Some 56,000 others -- Jews, Soviet POWs, political prisoners, homosexuals -- perished at the camp near Weimar, Germany.”  This is only two thousand souls less than the 58,000 Americans killed in Vietnam.  And this was just ONE concentration camp in which the Germans killed Jewish people during Hitler’s reign.

According to the article, Kohn (a Prague native now living in southern Germany), said that "It was close to a miracle that I was still alive.  Although I was just a bit older than 15, nothing could surprise me anymore in terms of cruelty."

The Associated Press article stated that “Kohn and other survivors will mark the anniversary in a ceremony (today) at Weimar's National Theater, along with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Nobel literature laureate Imre Kertesz of Hungary, who wrote a chilling novel about his time at Buchenwald.  For many of the aging survivors, this is likely the last major remembrance event.”

The article went on to say that “Buchenwald had no gas chambers. Here prisoners were mainly worked to death, killed by overwork, starvation, disease and medical experiments. It was also the camp where Ilse Koch, the commandant's wife, had lampshades made from dead prisoners' skin.”

During World War II, average German citizens turned a blind eye on the cruelty being committed by their government.  Average Germans allowed millions of Jewish people to be tortured and killed.  Today, Chancellor Schroeder is attending a ceremony to honor those who survived that cruelty committed by German Fascists.  And yet, today, that same Chancellor ignores the cruelty unleashed upon the civilized world by Islamic Fascists…just as much of the world ignored the cruelty committed by German Fascists.  Schroeder has failed to help America rid the world of Islamic Fascism just as much of the world hid from reality before World War II.  The truly sad part of this is that it is not just Schroeder who is turning away from doing the right thing.  It is the majority of German citizens…just like before…just like before.

Another interesting fact:  Who is it that is condemning President Bush as being another Hitler?  The far left in America and in Europe.  Of course we all know that the name of Hitler’s political party was…all at once…the National Socialist Party.  Heck of a deal.

Heads up to Paul Krugman, every major American newspaper, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, CNBC, PBS, and NPR: Being on the Right doesn’t make one a “right-wing religious radical.  Being a Republican doesn’t make one a theocrat. 

The latest example of leftist confabulation was voiced by Krugman in an editorial for the New York Times published in the Minneapolis StarTribune(April 5, 2005) in which he asserted that people on the Right exclude themselves from our universities and colleges because they are religious radicals and (by inference) not very bright.  He acknowledges no leftist bias whatsoever in our academic communities. 

Of course, Krugman…an economist…has to realize that the field of economics is a soft science masquerading as hard science.  Economists are never correct.  And they are rarely Right.  Krugman is never correct even when he steps outside his field to proselytize the socialist philosophy.  It would serve him well to stick to his field and be wrong there instead of extending his wrong headedness beyond even his limited reach.

Fifty-eight thousand Americans dead.  Countless thousand Americans wounded.  Countless Vietnamese dead or wounded.  Countless Laotians dead or wounded.  Countless Thai dead or wounded.  Countless Australians dead or wounded.  All in the name of freedom and democracy.  All in the name of defeating totalitarianism.  My friends…my brothers...dead.  Men and women living with the scars of a war that America was not allowed to win.

That was the toll of war. The socialist left is responsible for those deaths.  The left that protested and divided America, not out of some belief in pacifism but out of a desire to see secularist, totalitarianism win over American ideals.  The left that made was fronted by the useful idiots.  Useful idiots like Jane Fonda. 

Jane Fonda committed treason.  She provided aid and comfort to the enemy.  She posed with the enemy…posed with a weapon aimed at Americans.  She turned over information provided by POW’s to the enemy.  She was a traitor.  She has had every opportunity to apologize for her actions.  She has failed to do so.  In fact, she has now written a new narcissistic, self-promoting book “explaining” her actions.  She has not apologized.  In fact, she continues to condemn the very America that has allowed her to grow rich despite her lack of talent, based solely upon her having been born the daughter of an actor and upon her looks and upon her ability to marry a rich businessman and divorce him with profit.  Jane Fonda is still a traitor. 

For political reasons, President Nixon ignored the treason of Jane Fonda and her cronies.  There is no longer any excuse to ignore her actions.  She was directly responsible for thousands of deaths.  She is still responsible.  Instead of buying her new book we need to be standing up for the thousands that she helped kill.  PLEASE AMERICA, TAKE A STAND.  Please take a stand for our brothers and sisters.  Please take a stand for America.

Once again the victim left is criticizing a Presidential appointment.  Go figure.  President Bush appointed Paul Wolfowitz as the president of the World Bank.  The left is in an uproar despite the fact that the board of the World Bank approved the Wolfowitz appointment with hardly a murmur. 

J. William Middendorf noted in a recent editorial ( “By his foes, ye shall know that Wolfowitz is the right guy”, Minneapolis StarTribune, April 5, 2005) that “Sometimes you can judge the quality of a president's nominees by taking a look at who opposes them -- and why”.  As Middendorf suggests, “By that measure, it's clear that President Bush has done a highly commendable job of rounding out his foreign-policy team.  These are men of remarkable accomplishments who've made the right enemies. They're unpopular with some because they pose a threat to corrupted power structures in the United Nations and the World Bank.”

So who is it that is opposing the appointment?  Primarily it is members of the socialist left…the anti-poverty elite…who have provided the most vociferous condemnation of the President’s choice. 

"‘As well as lacking any relevant experience, he is a deeply divisive figure who is unlikely to move the bank toward a more pro-poor agenda,’ asserted, a policy officer at the British charity Action Aid.  A spokesman for the London-based World Development Network went further: Dave Timms called Wolfowitz a ‘terrifying appointment’.” 

A retired foreign minister recently opined to (Middendorf)  that Wolfowitz would fail unless he were willing to adjust to the culture of the World Bank – ‘go native’” I don’t see that happening.

Paul Krugman, well known socialist economist added, " ‘The advice that the World Bank gives is as important as the money it lends -- but only if governments take that advice. And given the ideological rigidity the Pentagon showed in Iraq, they probably won't. If Wolfowitz says that some free-market policy will help economic growth, he'll be greeted with as much skepticism as if he declared that some country has weapons of mass destruction’."  Just like Krugman to predict doom. 

Wolfowitz is not the kind of man who goes into a situation to fail.  He is not a victim.  As Mideendorf asserts, “Wolfowitz has built his career on supporting democracy and freedom, and on encouraging transparency in governance. It's well known that he's an architect of the Iraq war, which finally brought down Saddam Hussein and gave millions of Iraqis a chance to vote.  He's also backed democracy through other means. In the 1990s, Wolfowitz pushed for North Atlantic Treaty Organization expansion, knowing that doing so would help spread and protect democracy in Eastern Europe. Wolfowitz has also served as ambassador to Indonesia, so it's pretty clear that he's familiar with using diplomacy to encourage our allies.  Plus, his experience in Jakarta should convince foreign leaders that he understands the importance of economic growth. After all, he's seen the benefits of it firsthand. If every recipient of World Bank assistance grew its economy as quickly as Indonesia has done over the last 15 years, there'd be less need for a World Bank.”

Middendorf has hit the nail on the head.  Wolfowitz does not find favor with the socialist left.  That makes it obvious that he is the right man for the job.  He is a man who has helped bring democracy to the Middle East and who has an intense understanding of the role of capitalism in growing the world economy.  Once again, we owe President Bush a debt of gratitude for selecting the right guy for the job, despite the grumbling of the victim left.

J. William Middendorf is a former secretary of the Navy; a former U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, the European Union, and the Organization of American States; and a trustee of the Heritage Foundation.  

The depth to which the leftist media will go to support international socialism is remarkable.  Day after day the “mainstream media” provides support and absolution for United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.  Their editorials cry that Annan is being unfairly treated.  Their “news” pages are filled with innuendo and direct prevarication in an attempt to mislead Americans. 

Under Annan and his predecessors, the United Nations has been an enemy of America.  Beyond that, the U.N. is an ineffectual band of nations that has failed in its efforts to deal with nuclear proliferation, HIV-AIDS, rebuilding war-torn and disaster-torn nations, and global poverty.  It has failed in its role as peacemaker, with the blue helmets forced by the organization to run away as fast as possible whenever there is any kind of danger.  The left cannot allow Americans to see this because the U.N. is its best hope for the promulgation of socialism across the world. 

Senator Norm Coleman (Minneapolis StarTribune, April 4, 2005) reiterated his findings against Annan while serving as chairman of the Senate permanent subcommittee on Investigations. 

• Under Annan, Benon Sevan (his handpicked chief of the Oil-for-Food Program) received oil allocations from Saddam Hussein estimated at $1.2 million.

• Under Annan, the U.N.’s own investigators found waste in the Oil-for-Food Program totaling at least $100 million.

• Under Annan, a U.N. agent took a bribe of $105,000 to help Iraq cheat the program.

• Under Annan, the process for awarding large contracts in the Oil-for-Food Program was tainted.

Since Coleman’s report, it has come to light that under Annan the U.N. awarded a massive contract to the company that employed Annan’s son.  In addition, it has been found that Annan’s chief of staff destroyed three years worth of documents related to the Oil-for-Food Program. 

With all the evidence against Sevan, Annan has failed to strip him of his diplomatic immunity.  Until an international uproar took place, Annan was prepared to pay for Sevan’s legal costs out of Oil-for-Food money.  With all the evidence against his administration, nothing has changed.  Annan is the “CEO” of the organization and as a result is ultimately responsible.

The United Nations has the potential to bring about positive change in the world. It has not done so as of yet and will not do so under Annan.  His soft voice and caring eyes cannot hide the truth.  His administration is corrupt and needs to be changed…now.

On September 24 of this year I made two predictions: 

1   The findings of the CBS/Dan Rather fraud investigation wouldn’t be made public until after election day.

2  The Sandy Berger investigation will never happen.

Granted, those predictions were not that difficult to make.  In September, we had all come to expect that the left would do whatever it could to get its candidate elected.  When the CBS fraud was uncovered by a number of knowledgeable bloggers, stonewalling was the rule at CBS and across the rest of the elite media.  The same stonewalling held true regarding the Sandy Berger case.  Even worse, in both instances the culprits blamed conservatives for trying to “smear” them.

After the reelection of President Bush, on November 27, 2004, I predicted that CBS appointed investigators would issue a vague report of findings.  That is exactly what happened.  The panel found that there was not enough evidence to lead to a claim of media bias and purposeful lying.  CBS fired a few peons and Rather escaped to the hell that is “60 Minutes” without public sanction.

However, I was wrong in my prediction about the Berger situation.  I said on November 27 that I did not expect to hear much more from the Berger “investigation”. On Friday, April 1, it was announced that Berger would cop a plea and never really admit that he was guilty of intentional theft of documents from the National Archives.  The article was placed on the inner pages of many of the nation’s newspapers. 

Berger continues to assert that the episode was “an honest mistake”.  Despite this assertion, Berger took several reports from the Archives in his clothing.  It is hard to “accidentally” place papers in your clothing.  The fact remains that several drafts of sensitive after-action reports are missing.  Those reports deal with the Clinton administration’s handling of Al-Qaida terror threats during the 2000 New Years celebrations.  In part, they apparently relate to information about port security.  John Kerry discussed similar information several days later despite asserting that he hadn’t had time for official briefings by the White House. 

No reasonable person could believe that the incident was a simple mistake.  A reasonable person would have to conclude that the information was taken intentionally from the Archives.  A reasonable person would have to conclude that either:

• Berger took the documents to hide information that would embarrass the hapless Clinton, or
• Berger took the documents to assist John Kerry in his bid for the presidency

The entire investigation and court proceeding have been under the radar until now.  Berger could have been sentenced to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.  Instead, by pleading guilty and copping a plea he will pay a $10,000 fine and surrender his security clearance for three years. 

I was wrong about the way the Berger situation ended.  I was not wrong about the consequences. 

Rather and Berger both got off easy.  Had the shoe been on the Republican instead of the Democrat foot, I dare say the outcome would have been different.