NYT Editorial On The Cornball Oreo Token House Negro Tim Scott

Is it time for some good old fashioned violence yet? Is it time to start getting attention by meeting false charges of racism with fists and feet? That is my conundrum. I doubt many conservatives will agree with me, but I think that it is.

I am livid at this point of being falsely accused of racism as a conservative, and in equal measure, I am infuriated at the left's treatment of any minority who dare not tow the progressive line. And there is no more scurrilous example of that than a recent NYT editorial by Univ. of Penn. political science Prof. (tenured, no doubt) Adolph L. Reed Jr.

Reed uses his poison pen to comment on the decision of South Carolina's first female governor - and the nation's first Indian American governor - Nikki Haley's decision to appoint black Republican Rep. Tim Scott to take over the Senate seat of tea party hero Jim DeMint. Sen. DeMint lobbied for the appointment of Scott because both share the same conservative ideology. Scott, a self made man and a darling of the tea party, was elected to Congress in a majority white district in SC over two white opponents, one of whom was the son of former SC Senator, Strom Thurmond.

According to Reed, while the appointment of Scott "seemed like another milestone for African-Americans," the reality is that "modern black Republicans" are "more tokens than signs of progress." As Reed later makes explicit, all minority conservatives, like Gov. Nikki Haley herself, were elected simply because "Republicans don’t want to have to think of themselves, or be thought of by others, as racist." Thus, when a Republican pulls the lever for a minority it is merely a psychological defense mechanism to hide their own rampant racism from themselves. And indeed, Prof Reed later asserts that the Tea Party itself is a cauldron of "thinly veiled racism."

All of which leads to the question, just how in the world does Prof. Reed define "racism?" He has an incredibly simple litmus test, one that has nothing to do with intolerance based in whole or part on the melanin content of one's skin - you know, actual racism. Instead, Prof. Reed defines racism as failing to support progressive policies nominally labeled as helping blacks. This is unconscionable.

The real travesty, of course, is that the left has been able to so mislead blacks with their false claims of racism. In any rational world, every single black American would have pulled the lever against Obama, a President who has overseen the single greatest economic decimation of blacks since WWII. They would not vote for a party that puts teachers union interests far ahead of the education of their children. They would not vote for a party whose commitment to the welfare state has done nothing positive for blacks, and indeed, has been one of the prime drivers in tearing apart the black family unit. They would not vote for a party that promises them a few handouts, but does not promise them jobs and advancement. The plight of far too many blacks in America today is an inexcusable and unnecessary tragedy.

A last special mention needs to be made of Prof. Reed's incredibly intellectually dishonest effort to suggest that South Carolina is itself a hotbed of racism. Reed notes that the state is (present tense) "home to white supremacists like John C. Calhoun, Preston S. Brooks, Ben Tillman and Strom Thurmond." That is beyond the pale. Calhoun, Brooks and Preston were Democrats who lived and died over a century ago. The late Strom Thurmond was a Senator who started his career as a segregationist Democrat before altering his view of race in Ameica post-1970. This would be akin to me noting that the left is the ideological home of Marx, Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao, in addition to noting that the last member of both the KKK and the U.S. Senate was Democrat WV Senator Robert Byrd. Arguably, none of those individuals define the left in the U.S. today, just as none of the individuals Reed sites mean that racism is rampant in SC today. Prof. Reed is simply despicable.

It really is time to stop accepting these false and scurrilous charges of racism. It is past time to meet such charges with a measured, rational response. It should be obvious that, after 50 years of the left using this tactic to effectively distort our politics, such responses are useless. It is time to treat such charges the same way I would expect blacks to react at being called "niggers." It should be met with seething anger and, where appropriate, violence. C'mon, who wouldn't want to see Prof. Reed on his knees cupping his recently kicked balls, or even better, Chris Matthews trying to clean his bloody nose and dust himself off as he got up off the floor.

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More Left Wing Civility, The 50 Most Loathsome People of 2010

Daily Beast/Newsweek or whatever they are called now, issues another in a tradition of left wing hate fests focusing on the righties they love to demonize, all in the tradition of 10 Conservative women they would love to hatef*** and last years "Black Folks We'd Like To Remove From History." It's the Daily Beasts 50 Most Loathsome People of 2010. The list includes a sprinkling of of people from the left - Rick Sanchez, Julius Genachowski, Charlie Rangel, and even Obama for failing to impose every aspect of the far left wish list on America. And the list includes a few out of control Hollywood types. But on the whole, the list is basically a left wing screed against conservatives, a hit list with charges of racism, tea bagging, etc. and hopes for ironic misery and death:

46) Carl Paladino
Charges: Old-school racist, homophobe, hypocrite and purveyor of small gubmint horse porn, the would-be NY Governor’s real estate wealth comes largely from government subsidy of distressed properties. The Tea Partier wanted to impose “eminent domain” to stop the “Ground Zero Mosque,” . . .
Sentence: Buttsecks with James Dobson.

42) Haley Barbour
Charges: Looks like William Shatner if William Shatner ate a racist butter sculpture of William Shatner. As the oil and death washed ashore in the Gulf, the Mississippi Gov wooed tourists to “[c]ome on down” and “enjoy the beach.” The man was a tobacco lobbyist. He thinks the White Citizens Council is an upstanding organization. He doesn’t give a shit about you or anyone you know.
Aggravating factor: “I just don’t remember [overt racism] as being that bad.”
Sentence: Denied service at his favorite restaurant, blasted with fire hose, attacked by police dogs.

41) Christine O’Donnell
Charges: Doesn’t understand that separation of church and state is in the Constitution [note to authors - she's right, but why let that interfere with the snark]; . . . doesn’t understand that being pro-life in cases of rape and incest makes one a monster; doesn’t understand climate change; doesn’t understand evolution; . . . gives anyone with even a vague appreciation of human nature the likely correct impression that you’ve had your finger in more dykes than the Little Dutch Boy. . . .
Sentence: Burned at the stake.

38) Tucker Carlson
Charges: A consummate dildo, liar and CATO Institute lackey . . .

30) Mitch McConnell
Charges: Yet another example of the direct proportionality of evil to jowl size. . . . Aggravating factor: “I mean, let’s be honest. Who wants to hang out with guys like Paul Krugman and Robert Reich, when you can be with Rush Limbaugh!” . . .

29) George W. Bush
Charges: Worst. President. Ever. . . .
Sentence: Made to read Decision Points in jail.

25) David Brooks
Charges: The Bernie Madoff of American letters, . . .
Sentence: Buried under rubble; cholera.

24) Sharron Angle
Charges: Imagine the most viscerally repugnant, deeply moronic and pathologically regressive position one could hold on any given issue. Good. Now imagine Sharron Angle cackling maniacally at whatever comparatively feeble hippie shit you came up with. . . .

23) Joe Barton (R-TX)
Charges: A former oil company consultant, “Smokey” Joe is a potent combination of corrupt and cretinous. . . .
Sentence: Drowned in a shallow pool of pig vomit

21) James O’Keefe III
Charges: Like Sacha Baron Cohen mixed with G. Gordon Liddy’s fetid stool. Embodies every sniveling, Docker-clad College Republican to ever overlook the 9th fairway and obtusely bemoan lower class entitlements. A Breitbart disciple, he sparked the ruin of ACORN, an honorable advocacy group for the poor, by dressing like a pimp and editing like Leni Riefenstahl. . . .
Sentence: Sold into Bacha Bazi [underage male prostitue in Afghanistan].

18) Andrew Breitbart
Charges: Partly responsible for the abysmal online apothecary known as The Huffington Post and the career of James O’Keefe, whom he taught everything he doesn’t know. His Drudge-inspired bullshit finally hit the fan in July when he posted an out of context video excerpt of USDA employee Shirley Sherrod that implied she was a racist. . . .

17) Rand Paul
Charges: Named and molded after a writer whose sheer intellectual repugnance spawned an entire generation of thinly-veiled Social Darwinists. He tried to equate racial discrimination with “free speech,” saying that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was tantamount to big government regulation. Cried, “Medicare is socialized medicine!” while hypocritically deriving half of his ophthalmology income from Medicaid and Medicare. Portrayed criticism of BP’s little “accident” as an “un-American” symptom of our “blame-game society.” And then there was that befuddling college prank where he and another secret-frat dildo tied up a girl, blindfolded her, made her do bong hits, dragged her to a creek bed and forced her to swear allegiance to “Aqua Buddha.” . . .
Sentence: Raped in a quarry by Evil Frank Gehry.

15) John Boehner
Charges: Cries so often he embarrasses Glenn Beck’s family. An incorrigibly lazy corporate puppet who owes his emotional instability to legendary Merlot consumption and his radioactive Naugahyde complexion to innumerable special interest golf junkets.
Sentence: Lung cancer.

14) Barack Obama
Charges: Outside of his promise to never end the pointless war in Afghanistan, his word has the integrity of Halliburton cement. Whether it was a “robust” public option, real net neutrality, importing prescription drugs, barring lobbyists from serving in the White House, meaningful Wall Street reform or ending the Bush tax cuts for the disgustingly wealthy, our President caved like the Metrodome under the weight of a bloated oligarchy. Most irksome, he seemed dignified doing it.
Aggravating factor: Authorized the assassination of Americans accused of terrorism.
Sentence: Primary challenge from the Rent is 2 Damn High guy.

12) Pamela Geller
Charges: The Woodward to Orly Taitz’s Bernstein, publisher of the mendacious blog Atlas Shrugs and co-founder of the hate group Stop Islamization of America. She was the bigoted fountainhead of hysteria over the “Ground Zero Mosque,” . . . This lunatic makes Ann Coulter seem the very model of civility, reason and grace.

11) Roger Ailes
Charges: His entire life is an object lesson in pernicious mendacity. Before being named Fox News President/Rupert Murdoch henchman, he was a consultant for Nixon, Reagan, Elder Bush and Rudy Giuliani. Party to News Corp.’s $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association; ultimately responsible for Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon’s fiendish email, which ordered Fox employees to use the term “government option” in place of “public option,” and more recently, responsible for Sammon’s missive requiring staff to challenge the “veracity of climate change data.” In granting the Tea Party media saturation, and employing demagogues like Beck, O’Reilly and Hannity, Ailes has absolutely destroyed the impartiality of the fourth estate and made a large segment of the population ever more stupider. . . .
Sentence: Gassed by Garrison Keillor.

10) John McCain
Charges: If you were in a coma during the ‘o8 election or too young to remember McCain’s role in the Keating Five/Savings and Loan scandal, his stance against MLK Day or his betrayal of the dinosaurs, you may have been under the false impression that he was one of the few Republicans to not be a pandering piece of shit. 2010 fully erased that unfounded myth, as he flip-flopped like beached salmon on immigration reform, the border fence, climate change and the repeal of DADT in a race to the bottom against his Tea Party opponent J.D. Hayworth. Ultimately responsible for raising Sarah Palin to national consciousness.
Aggravating factor: “Today [the day DADT was repealed] is a very sad day.” . . .

9) Tea Partiers
Charges: Openly racist and lying about it, uber-religious, hyper-hypocritical, usually-tetched old codgers who wheel around in their Medicare-provided Hoverounds® and rage against fiscally irresponsible social programs, like Medicare, because they’re too dumb to realize that they’re co-opted, Machiavellian mouthpieces of greedy billionaires.
Aggravating factor: They elected some 40 candidates to Congress.
Sentence: The consequences of their actions.

8) Jan Brewer
Charges: Gila Monster eugenics gone horrible awry. Killed two people, and another ninety-six languish, unable to afford the life-saving transplants for which she slashed state funding. Cut health care for kids too. Hates health care. Horny for the NRA; signed law nixing concealed carry permits, which had no ill effects in 2010. None. Don’t worry about it. Not a problem. Seriously. It’s totally cool. Attempted to justify the draconian racial profiling law SB 1070 by repeatedly citing fictional desert decapitations. Lambasted as the Himmler of the Southwest, she protested, saying her father died fighting the Nazis. He was never in the military. He died in ‘51. From lung cancer.
Sentence: Followed everywhere by a mirror; subsequent heart attack.

7) Glenn Beck
Charges: Cries so often he’d embarrass himself—if he could feel embarrassed or ashamed about anything. . . . This year, he besmirched the antiwar legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with his contemptible military worshiping “Restoring Honor” white power religious rally. But it was OK, he demurred, because he didn’t stand on the same exact step of the Lincoln Memorial. His dyslexic game of “Pin the Paranoid Delusion on the George Soros” directly inspired at least three would-be assassins (in 2010). A Latter Day, Romper Room Father Coughlin who screams “eugenic” as frequently as sane people say “hello.”
Sentence: Banished to the planet Kolob.

6) Sarah Palin
Charges: An ideologically abhorrent dunce whose answer to everything—caribou, wolves, Julian Assange, feminism, science, decency, accountability, the English language, Democratic incumbents—is to shoot it dead. From conspiring to advance her ham-legged, clopping daughter on “Dancing with the Stars” to successfully endorsing a slew of faux-revolutionary Tea Party imbeciles, she’s a persistent, violent rash on the entire body politic.
Aggravating factor: “But obviously, we’ve got to stand with our North Korean allies.”
Sentence: Shot in the head by a bear.

4) Justices Alito, Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia and Thomas
Charges: Their majority opinion in Citizens United v. FEC was the worst decision since Scalia instituted SCOTUS Hot Pants Fridays. . . . This is the very definition of “legislating from the bench” and ensures our elections will be dominated by well-funded Swift Boating for the foreseeable future. If democracy was an experiment, this case blew up the lab. . . .

2) David & Charles Koch
Charges: In a land filthy with noxious liars, these two are the filthiest. . . . How they make money is dirty; how they spend it is dirtier. From free-market-humping think tanks CATO and Heartland to Tea Party-backing Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works, they invest vulgar amounts of money in misappropriating populist rage and misinforming the ignorant masses on climate change, tax reform, environmental policy, health care, and any other issue that could cut into their fat bottom line.
Aggravating factor: In a philanthropy-meets-disinformation masterstroke, the Smithsonian’s new $15 million David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins is a climate change whitewash, which teaches that destroying our environment is no big deal because we can just adapt and evolve.
Sentence: Fed to the Kraken.

1) You
Charges: Your brain’s been cobbled together over millions of years of blind evolution and it shows. You’re clumsy, stupid, weak and motivated by the basest of urges. Your MO is both grotesquely selfish and unquestionably deferential to questionable authority. You’re not in control of your life. You wear your ignorance like a badge of honor and gleefully submit to oppression, malfeasance and kleptocracy. You will buy anything. You will believe anything. . . . You believe in American exceptionalism despite the contrary, compelling and overwhelming evidence. You tacitly partake in all manner of atrocity without batting a lash. You’re actively participating in our species’ extinction and you’re either in denial or you just don’t give a shit. You escape into every sort of mind-numbing distraction and ridiculous, convoluted fantasy, so you don’t have to face the bitter, terrifying fact that your life is utterly meaningless.
Aggravating factors: The careers of Rush Limbaugh, Oprah Winfrey, John Stossel and Justin Bieber; the success of The Secret, “Medium” and Atlas Shrugged; the election of Rand Paul; the existence of Kentucky, Texas and “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.”
Sentence: Bad teeth, an affinity for afternoon tea and the guilt-plagued, nostalgic psyche of a fallen empire.

And that demonizing and snark filled wish for violence and death is what passes for humor on the left. So tell me again about how conservatives are to act with civility. There was a time when I would have laughed at the above and just let it pass. Those days are over. It is long past time to hold these people to the standards they would impose on conservative speech.

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Delegitimizing Obamacare Protests

It seems that ugly crowd of protestors harassing members of Congress in the Capitol complex this afternoon got even uglier than we thought. As noted earlier, in addition to menacing behavior toward multiple members of Congress, one protestor called Rep. Barney Frank a "faggot", a taunt greeted by laughter from fellow protestors.

We're now getting reports that other protestors yelled "nigger" at Rep. John Lewis (D-GA).

Talking Points Memo, True Colors (Even Worse Than We Thought), 20 March 2010

Yesterday, estimates are that 30,000 to 40,000 people turned out in Washington to protest the coming vote on Obamacare. NRO has a good first hand account of the rally with numerous photos:

The rally earlier today on the West Lawn in opposition to the health-care legislation before Congress had all the fingerprints of a somewhat organic celebration of democracy. There was a pretty focused message, but mostly displayed on handwritten signs . . .

As I walked around, if it weren't for the congressmen and some right-wing organization types speaking, one might think people had gathered for an Independence Day celebration. There were smiles and babies and families and goodwill. Now and again I would run into some lone guy responding to a speaker with "then we'll dismantle the government." But that guy also got weird looks — and not just from me. I was struck by how few mass-produced signs there were. Many groups might try to take credit for the rally, but concerned Americans are responsible for it. . . .

Apparently, the worst that the NRO author saw from this mass of people - peaceably assembled to petition the Government for a redress of grievances - was repeated use of the F-word. Freedom.

But the meme of the day among the left wing MSM was not the protests - and certainly not the substance of the protesters' complaints - but allegations that the mob was angry, ugly, and motivated by racism and homophobia. As ABC's John Muir announced breathlessly on World News Tonight: “Protesters against the plan gathered on the streets of the capital where late today we learned words shouted turned very ugly, reports of racial and homophobic slurs, one protester actually spitting on a Congressman.”

Is it possible that this actually happened? Perhaps. And indeed, it is human nature that when emotions run very high, as they do at the moment, people are more inclined to say hateful things. But one, does that mean it actually happened, and two, is that the way the protests involving tens of thousands of people should have been reported? The answer to the second question is obviously not - unless the purpose was to delegitimize the opposition to Obamacare and the remaking of our country into a socialist nation.

As to the fist question. let's see any proof at all. I have zero trust in the veracity of the left wing members of Congress nor the MSM. Thus, I awaited the video on youtube of the angry mob, or an audio tape from MSM. Yet, surprisingly, none was forthcoming. One would think that with every MSM network out in force, we would have gotten some of this on Youtube or even some first hand accounts from the reporters. Nope. None. Nada. Zip. Yet these allegations were used by the left and the MSM to define the protests.

Think Progress reports on one sign at the protests: "If Brown can't stop healthcare, Browning can" - that of course being a reference to the gun manufacturer. We are a tremendously long ways away from blood on the streets at this point. But as the sign indicates, we are not so far away that it is unthinkable. As the left dreams up more ways to get around our Constitution and our democratic process, to dillute the vote, to force fundamental social changes upon our country outside of the ballot box, to criminalize political differences, and to demonize, delegitimize and silence their opposition with the help of a compliant MSM rather than engage in debate, then no, it is not unthinkable. The day the majority of the people in this country - and it should be noted that the vast majority self-identify as conservative - feel that their vote no longer is fully counted and their voice is silenced, then we will be at a tipping point - one our Constitution was designed to prevent.

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Let’s Not Confuse The Narrative With Facts

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warns David Petraeus and Ryan Crocker not to mess with her narrative on Basra. One wonders if she is certifiable yet?





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Wow. Pelosi has her narrative and does not want to hear any dissent from these two government servants, Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, during their testimony before Congress slated for 8 and 9 April. If a Republican issued a similar warning to a witness before a hearing, we'd never hear the end of it. Anyone tired of the double standard yet?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warned Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Thursday not to "put a shine on recent events” in Iraq when they testify before Congress next week.

“I hope we don’t hear any glorification of what happened in Basra,” said Pelosi, referring to a recent military offensive against Shiite militants in the city led by the Iraqi government and supported by U.S. forces.

Although powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agreed to a ceasefire after six days of fighting, Pelosi wondered why the U.S. was caught off guard by the offensive and questioned how the ceasefire was achieved, saying the terms were "probably dictated from Iran.”

“We have to know the real ground truths of what is happening there, not put a shine on events because of a resolution that looks less violent when in fact it has been dictated by al-Sadr, who can grant or withhold that call for violence,” Pelosi said.

Read the whole story at the Politico.

So let’s flush out that the likely contours of Speaker Pelosi’s narrative just a tad, since the MSM has been playing this one to the hilt for the past week, and various Democrats have been weighing in:

1. The offensive was a partisan political dispute with PM Maliki allied with the SIIC against a powerful Shia political rival.

2. Sadr is a national political figure with wide appeal.

3. The violence is down in Iraq because of Sadr’s ceasefire. Maliki’s move foolishly threatened that ceasefire. Sadr can turn on or turn off the violence in Iraq at his whim. The U.S. cannot control the violence.

4. The Iraqi military lost in the conflict Maliki started. Sadr won.

5. Calling on U.S. air power shows that the Iraqi military is weak.

6. There were mass desertions from the Iraqi forces during the fighting.

7. Sadr’s offer of a cease fire was a “face saving measure” for Maliki

8. Iran won also, as the most important power broker, able to influence Sadr.

9. And my personal favorite, from Harry Reid, is that the Basra offensive is proof that “our troops mired in an endless civil war."

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t one of the benchmarks a requirement to disarm the militias? And do you think that maybe Maliki’s willingness to take on Sadr might not improve his standing as a nationalist leader and earn a great deal of trust among the Sunnis and Kurds? And hasn't reoncilliation been a word ever on the tip of Pelosi's forked tounge?

No matter. Let’s go down the narrative:

1. The offensive was a partisan political dispute with PM Maliki allied with the SIIC against a powerful Shia political rival.

I love this one. This spin actually came from Sadr himself on March 21. The MSM liked it enough to pick it up and run with it, presenting it as their own sage analysis.

The fact that Basra is Iraq’s only port city and its economic lifeline were apparently unimportant. It appears to equally have passed by our Democratic leaders and the MSM that Basra was under the control of Sadrist criminal gangs who were running it like their own personal cash cow while using ever more violence, murder and intimidation to impose an Iranian style mini-theocracy on the city. Obviously, none of these would be reasonable justifications for an offensive to establish government control.

2. Sadr is a national political figure with wide appeal.

The MSM has been playing this up for years. They found in Sadr an anti-American that they can throw their arms around and pump up as the true voice of Iraq. The fact that there is a democratically elected government reflecting the will of the people – and that Sadr neither leads it, nor holds more than 10% of the seats in the Parliament – is merely an unimportant and ancillary fact for them.

Sadr has precious little appeal, he is a tool of Iran – and indeed, his militia is a creation of Iran on the lines of Hezbollah – and his ideology is the establishment of a Shia theocracy in Iraq along the lines of Iran. Every place his militia has held sway, they impose Islamic law to go along with their criminal enterprises and reign of thuggery. If you want to see his appeal, check on the DOD or at the Long War Journal on April 10 to see how much support there was among the 20+ million Iraqi Shia for the million man march Sadr has called to be held in Baghdad on April 9.

3. The violence is down in Iraq because of Sadr’s ceasefire. Maliki’s move foolishly threatened that ceasefire. Sadr can turn on or turn off the violence in Iraq at his whim. The U.S. cannot control the violence.

Sadr’s forces got decimated by the U.S. in 2004. When 2007 rolled around and the surge began, the U.S. was explicitly targeting Sadr. He ran for Iran while his remaining militia melted away – but for those who were working directly for Iran. Sadr’s “ceasefire” merely put a spin on what was already reality.

Maliki’s Basra offensive led the Sadrists to rise up in all of the areas that they control. And by March 29, but for Basra, the Sadrists were defeated in each of those areas - Hillah, Kut, Karbala, Najaf, Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, and Amarah. And the U.S. secured Baghdad’s Sadr City.

I question just how much violence Sadr can create beyond that happening right now as a result of Iran’s use of Sadr and his militia as their own private proxy forces.

4. The Iraqi military lost in the conflict Maliki started. Sadr won.

Yes, the WaPo actually printed that verdict. And others on the left have embraced and duly celebrated this alledged victory over the U.S. and its allies.

Yet, when the conflict ended six days after it had begun, the Iraqi government was in control of Basra and had replaced militia control of the port with military control. Sadr’s forces were indoors as the Iraq Army marched through all of Basra, conducting raids for Mahdi Army commanders wanted for criminal activities. So explain again, how did Sadr win?

5. Calling on U.S. air power was a sign of weakness of the Iraqi Army.

I can’t wait to hear Petraeus on this one. This is actually how things are supposed to function as the Iraqi military stands up. They do not have any functioning air combat units yet. So they do the grunt work, we support from the air and provide a strategic reserve with our own grunts. Calling this weakness shows just how utterly clueless are our MSM. They really should be given at least a course on the military before they try to report on it.

6. There were mass desertions from the Iraqi forces during the fighting.

About 4% of the Iraqi forces in Basra deserted or underperformed. Given the great concern about infiltration of those forces with Mahdi Army members and given that the brigade with the most desertions had literally just come out of basic training, I’d say this overall is pretty good. It certainly suggests that there is much less infiltration than has been feared.

7. Sadr’s offer of a cease fire was a “face saving measure” for Maliki.

Lolllllllllll . . . . this is a good one. After six days of fighting, Sadr unilaterally orders a cease fire and makes demands, Maliki accepts the cease fire, ignores the demands and continues operations in Basra. Whose face was saved again?

8. Iran won also, as the most important power broker, able to influence Sadr.

Could it be that the Iraqis are getting pissed about Iran’s continued deadly meddling in their country and had a heart to heart talk with the Qods Force Commander? I don’t know what was said in the meeting in Tehran – and neither do those speculating in the MSM or the halls of Congress. What we do know is the end result - that Iran and its proxy Sadr seem to have gotten nothing out of this ceasefire but a chance to live to another day.

The more telling thing is that Iran holds what may be a high degree of influence over Sadr and his militia. That is an indictment of both Iran and Sadr.

9. And my personal favorite, from Harry Reid, is that the Basra offensive is proof that “our troops mired in an endless civil war."

Harry Reid so loves that “civil war” mantra - reality be damned. I am far more inclined to agree with Kimberly Kagan. What we just saw in Basra was not simply the government retaking its territory from criminal thugs, it was the first shots of the Second Iran Iraq War.

At any rate, so much for Pelosi and her narrative. You know, the thing of it is, after watching Pelosi in action throughout her time in the House of Representatives, I honestly believe that there is no such thing as objective reality for her. She presents as a woman so deeply invested in partisanship that, for her, spin is reality. And given the position she holds, that reality is frightening indeed.

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Declining Violence & Explaining the Success in Iraq

Last month saw 369 "indirect fire" attacks — the lowest number since February 2006. October's total was half of what it was in the same month a year ago. And it marked the third month in a row of sharply reduced insurgent activity, the military said.

Read the entire story. I wonder if the video in this post might explain some of the decrease?

"As we assess the security gains made over the past four months, I attribute the progress to three prominent dynamics," General Odierno explained. "First, the surge allowed us to eliminate extremist safe havens and sanctuaries, [and] just as importantly to maintain our gains. Second, the ongoing quantitative and qualitative improvement of the Iraqi security forces are translating to ever-increasing tactical successes. Lastly, there's a clear rejection of al Qaeda and other extremists by large segments of the population, this coupled with the bottom-up awakening movement by both Sunni and Shia who want a chance to reconcile with the government of Iraq." These dynamics worked together to improve security.

Read the entire article from Kimberly Kagan.

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