In my previous commentary I gave one example why there can be no real compromise between left and right in America.  There are several other very real reasons.  For example, those on the right believe that global peace depends upon America’s ability to bring democracy to parts of the world that currently serve as a breeding ground for terrorists.  Those on the left take a European approach to the problem of terrorism, ignoring the problem and condemning anyone who attempts to deal with it.  That, in itself, is another huge difference that cannot be compromised.

During his speech on June 28, President Bush laid out a clear explanation for our war on terrorism.  Instead of fighting terrorists on American soil, we are fighting them on the Iraqi front.  Terrorists have amassed in Iraq to fight the future.  America is in control of the war.  Yet the leftists (just as during the Vietnam War) are crying that we are losing.  The left WANTS America to lose and is doing all that it can to make that happen.  The left is beginning to convince Middle America that we are losing.  Middle America must stand up and stand tall and support our nation in this war against evil. 

This war is even less complex than our war against communism in Vietnam.  We can win this and we will win, if we don’t let anti-American leftists convince us that we cannot.  This is very serious.  We HAVE to win this one.  Let’s make that happen.  And let’s begin to enforce our laws against sedition and treason.  If ever we are going to do so, THIS is the time.

Before I enter into my next rant, let me thank you all for your patronage.  As of this month, we have had over16,000 hits on this site.  Not much compared to some, but a lot compared to those who do not advertise and whose base has developed by word of mouth.  Thank you all!  Now on to the rant.

Once in a while we see an editorial, essay, or letter to the editor asking what, at first glance, seems to be a reasonable question:  "Why can’t the left and right learn to talk together, compromise, and just get along?".  In fact, an acquaintance of mine just asked this question again in a letter that he wrote to the editor of the Minneapolis StarTribune (Glenn Hirsch, June 26, 2005). 

So what is the answer?  Why can’t we all just get along?  Most of us aspire to get through the day, “play well with others”, and get the job done.  Yet, there are times that we cannot succeed at this aspiration.  There may be many reasons.  Here is one. 

Those who wonder why we all can’t get along seem to assume that we all, as human beings, share similar goals for ourselves and for our nation.  Unfortunately, this is not the case.  By way of example, look at the decision by the Supreme Court handed down on June 23.  Five liberal justices purposefully misinterpreted the Taking Clause of Amendment V of the U.S. Constitution to allow governments to take away the personal property of individuals solely on the basis of economic benefit to that government.  While in the past this clause was interpreted as allowing governments to take property for purposes of national security (as in the building of the interstate highway system), this recent decision allows city governments to take property if such seizure by eminent domain will simply increase the city’s tax base.  This is a remarkable expansion of government power.  And no one seems to be noticing.

It is my belief that no one notices this government takeover because liberals have taken away our individual rights slowly, one by one.  The right not to wear a helmet, the right to smoke, the right not to wear a seatbelts, and the right to bear arms are some examples.  The right to eat what we want (suits against fast food restaurants) and to live where we want (tax pressures on “urban sprawl) are not far behind.  As a people, we have accepted these thefts of individual rights in the name of progressiveness. 

As we all know, progressives,( i.e., liberals) assert repeatedly that they are out to defend the “little guy”.  How can anyone argue with that?  We can’t…unless we wake up.  Using that mantra, liberals are doing all that they can to take away individual rights in favor of big government.  Conservatives, on the other hand, are attempting to preserve individual rights.

So the answer to the question of why we can’t all get along is that we do not all share a common goal for ourselves and our nation.  The left promotes the value of the collective (big government) over the value of the individual. The right promotes the value of the individual. 

There is no middle ground between the left and the right and therefore we cannot all get along.  As long as the left wants to promote the collective above the individual, there can be no compromise.  America is not a communist country.  Communism has failed.  Communist countries are turning to capitalism for survival.  Leftists in America don’t get it.  There can be no compromise when the future of America and of our children is at stake. 

It is time for Americans to wake up.  We have to push for enactment of legislation and Constitutional amendments that will prevent activist leftist judges from legislating socialism in America.  We have to support leadership that will appoint judges who will interpret the Constitution as it was written instead of legislating through the courts.  We have to stand up for America.  This is not a time for compromise.  It is a time to fight for what is right for America.

The following is a quote from Katherine Kersten (Minneapolis StarTribune, June 23, 2005). 

"Too often, we believe we can adequately address the plight of the less fortunate by doling out ever larger sums for government benefit programs, government schools and a host of other 'we'll take care of you' efforts. ...But (we) know that real civil rights are a product of economic and educational freedom---the freedoms that unleash the creative power of the human spirit."

America is the land of opportunity.  When the government takes away the right to reach for that opportunity by doling out money for government programs that increase dependency upon government, the concept of opportunity becomes a joke.

There lies the difference between liberal and conservative.  Thank you, Ms. Kersten for the clarity.

Yes, Virginia, we all know that many Americans felt betrayed after Vietnam and Watergate.  We all know that those same Americans decided that they would just focus on their individual wants and on what they could get from government.  Self-indulgence and complacency still prevail.

Now we are in the midst of the most important war of our time.  We are fighting Islamic fascists who want nothing less than the deaths of all who do not believe as they do.  America has taken the war to the Middle East where it belongs.  And in the midst of that war more and more Americans are finding the fight too hard.  Leaders on the left such as Representative Dennis Kucinich and Senator Ted Kennedy continue to oppose the war and call for pull-out.  Even Republicans like Representatives Walter Jones and Ron Paul have joined in the chorus to set a timetable for pulling out of Iraq. 

Setting a timetable for ending conflict is exactly what the terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere want.  They correctly understand that many Americans are complacent and self-indulgent and unwilling to withstand the fight over the long haul.  That is why they continue what the left calls the “insurgency” in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They believe that eventually Americans will put pressure on our government to end the conflict just as happened during the Vietnam War. 

Now is the time to stand up as Americans and prove the terrorists wrong.  We cannot allow our national complacency to weaken American resolve in the most important struggle in our lifetime.  In this case, quitting on America is quitting on ourselves.  Even (or especially) the most self-indulgent among us can understand that.  There is NOTHING else as important to our survival and to the survival of our children.  Yes, Virginia, we can fight this war and win…IF we get over Vietnam and Watergate and realize the severity of the consequences for quitting on ourselves.

Once again, America is preparing to cave…under the pressure from the anti-American left.  A bill has been forwarded in Congress to force President Bush to begin removing troops from Iraq.  The bill was offered by a Republican.

Once again I am going to have to tell my children that America has no resolve…that we cannot sustain the fight against evil.  Just as when we ran like rats out of Vietnam as a result of the rhetoric of the anti-American left, we are getting ready to run like rats from Iraq. 

The left has done its job.  Making sure that Americans see the deaths and not the successes.  Making sure that America sees the so-called “abuse” of terrorists that actually should have been shot in the field instead of being treated like kings in Gitmo.  Making sure that anti-American Iraqis have a voice in America.  Making sure that we lose another war against evil.

The sad part is that not only will America lose; so too will Iraq.  So too do thousands of Iraqis who supported America in our effort to free them from tyranny. 

The terrorists are near victory.  And that victory is being brought to you by the American left….Kenney, Kerry, and all the rest of the left….both Republicans and Democrats.

This is a sad day for America and for the world.  I am in grief about having to tell my children that America has once again caved against evil.

“A congressionally mandated panel will report this week that the United Nations suffers from poor management, ‘dismal’ staff morale and lack of accountability and professional ethics.” (Warren Hoge, New York Times, June 13, 2005).  The report went on to note that one of the key issues with the United Nations is the “absurd level of member state micromanagement”.  These conclusions are consistent with those that would be drawn by anyone who has observed the U.N. over the past decade (see previous commentary).

I believe that the last quote is the most telling as we ask the obvious question: why is the United Nations so lacking in ethics and accountability?   The micromanagement of member states is one very critical component.  This factor is seen as even more relevant when it is understood that many of those member states themselves lack ethics (professional, political, and social) and accountability.  One example of this is an article by Bob Keefe (Cox News Service, June 13, 2005) regarding international reaction to Michael Jackson and his trial.  In that article Samya Kassoussi, a 30-year old native of Lyon, France said that “I think overseas we’re much more open-minded.”  Marta Wozniak, a 29-year old who has traveled from Poland several times during the Jackson trial, said that “Europeans don’t care about the personal lives of pop stars like Americans do.”  Apparently this is true even when part of the personal life of a pop star involves sleeping with young boys (at the very least) and even more serious child abuse (at the most). 

Apparently in Europe there is little thought to right and wrong or good and evil.  Apparently everything just falls into a gray category that we should not or can not judge.  Given that it is nations that espouse this laissez-fair (pardon my French) attitude that hold sway with the U.N. it is no wonder that the organization itself, like many of its members, lacks any form of ethics or accountability.

So, why exactly should Americans care about the ethics in Europe?  Because Europeans are exporting their secularist, non-evaluative brand of socialistic “we are all the same so don’t judge me even if I am evil” to America.  The proof is in the press…first O.J., now Michael.  The jury didn’t even find Michael Jackson guilty of giving alcoholic beverages to minors (for illegitimate purposes) even when it was evident that he had.  Everything is gray, even in America.  Thanks to the media for marketing this European “reality” to America. 

One more question.  Why exactly should Americans care if a European worldview is being exported to our nation?  Refer to another New York Times article (Carlotta Gail, June 12, 2005).  In that article it is noted that the Taliban, contrary to predictions, has remained “vibrant” in Afghanistan.  Okay, let’s skip over the word “vibrant” as a descriptor of a force that has beaten, raped and killed thousands and that continues to try to keep Afghanistan and its people in the dark ages.  More important is the truth that both in Afghanistan and Iraq the terrorists are continuing their terror.  They are bolstered by those who see only gray and who condemn America instead of the evil it is fighting.

America lost the war against North Vietnam because anti-American activists, hiding under cover of the anti-war movement, divided our nation and weakened American resolve.  The result was thousands of American, Vietnamese, Thai, and Laotian deaths.  Those anti-American activists of the 60’s and 70’s took many forms: politicians, students, educators, and reporters.  The same is happening today.  Politicians like Senators Kennedy and Kerry and DNC Chairman Dean, reporters such as Dan Rather, educators like Ward Churchill, and thousands of students already brainwashed by all of the above are trying to undermine our nation and our troops.  They are having an impact.  The enemy is not asleep.  The enemy knows that it can outwait us as we decline into self-hate and weakness.

So, the message from Europe is one that has a very important impact on our nation.  It is time that Americans take a stand, unlike the United Nations and most of its member nations.  Although many in the world don’t want to accept it, there is right and wrong and there is good and evil.  America must regain its strength and take the lead against evil as it has in the past.  We can not allow America to decline into self-blame, divisiveness, and weakness.  If we do, not only America, but the entire world will suffer the result.  Now it is getting serious.

The United Nations is an ineffectual, incompetent, corrupt bureaucracy.  The United Nations treats nations ruled by evil terrorists the same as it treats nations attempting to rid the world of evil.  Proof, you say?

President Bush stated on June 1, 2005 that the violence and death in Sudan’s Darfur region constitutes genocide (Jim VandeHei, Washington Post, June 2, 2005).  This fact was previously asserted by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. 

Meanwhile the United Nations as conducted a “legal analysis” of the killings.  The result of that analysis is that “the situation is tantamount to crimes against humanity but technically not genocide”. 

That is what the United Nations does.  It sugar coats the truth when it chooses.  It debates semantics.  It defines according to “legal analysis” and “protocol” in order to protect evil from good.  It is all so politically correct.  It is all so analytical.  It is all so legal.  To the families of the thousands that have been raped and killed in Sudan, it must be all so pathetic.