Do EUROPEANS HAT AMERICANS? PERHAPS--UNTIL THEY NEED OUR MILITARY AGAIN

The Washington Post printed an editorial yesterday stating four myths of American-hating Europeans. As you might expect, I have a thing or two to say about their findings.

1. The French hate us.

The Washington Post says this is a myth? Though the recent French elections seem to point French diplomats in the right direction, there will still be two tiny factors that will always draw the line between the French and Americans—history and power. Rocky relations with France pre-date the Treat of Versailles and our approach towards foreign affairs is on the complete opposite spectrum of appeasement-loving Frenchmen. But besides that, there is an attitude (much similar to in the US, which is justified) claiming to be the best country in the world. However, the French do not have the power geopolitically, monetarily and economically to back that up, and quite frankly, they will always be jealous. Perhaps if the French had actually succeeded in defending themselves against two German onslaughts we might be a bit more impressed. Anyway ... our grandchildren will know France as a Muslim nation. You just think they hate us now.

2. Europeans look down on the American way of life.

When it comes to this myth, I think it is a double-edged sword. Europeans are eager to soak up our re-runs of Baywatch and Britney Spears concerts, but in the end they are resentful that they can't produce such crap themselves. The exportation of any culture is always met warmly when convenient and hated when it seems to take away from cultural authenticity. Oh and not to mention that European students are coming in droves to study at American Universities. They must want something that they don't have back home! Sure, Americans go to be educated at Oxford. Look where they end up.

3. "Old Europe" no longer matters because China and India are the future.

The bonds between Europeans and Americans have created a long, rooted history of economic support and reliance. Not that the United States should ignore other markets, but "Old Europe" is by no means dead geopolitically. I'll temper this remark with a reminder that Europe is awash with Muslims. These Muslims were brought in to supply cheap labor to support the European social welfare state. The Muslims must be a randy bunch, for they're out-producing native Europeans by a wide margin. That's why I say that our grandchildren will know France as a Muslim nation. Spain is leading the race. You do know, don't you, that in some European countries school teachers won't even teach children about the Holocaust. They're afraid it might offend Muslims.

4. Europe loves only Democrats.

Well it is hard to deny the trend of appeasement, fostered by a socialist under-culture of society. The fact of the matter is, I think that the average European hates George W. Bush and automatically associates him with everything the Republican party stands for. But on the whole, I think that the people of Europe are skeptical of any party in the US. However, this street-level discontent is often not reflected by political leaders—look at Germany, Czech Republic, and now France. This myth seems to be pointing to the wrong problem, and that is that there is a disconnect between the people and the policies of European diplomats. Any policy that trends toward a free-market society or lack of government interference is labeled as "pro-American." Fine. But the people whine and complain about American foreign policy and their "pro-American" governments as they benefit from these same policies. Typical.

FORT DIX SIX' CHARGED AS CRIMINALS, NOT COMBATANTS; WHITE HOUSE WON'T TOUCH VISA WAIVER ISSUE

by John Gizzi

Their background in terrorist plotting notwithstanding, the six Muslim men arrested earlier this week on charges of plotting to kill soldiers stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey will be charged as criminals rather than “enemy combatants.” In addition, despite evidence that at least one of the six arrested men came to the United States under a “visa waiver” program, the White House signaled it would not touch programs that permit foreigners under special circumstances to enter the U.S. without a visa.

At today’s afternoon briefing for White House reporters, I asked Press Secretary Tony Snow whether the “Fort Dix Six” would be charged as criminals or enemy combatants.

"That’s not a question for me,” replied Snow, “Direct it to the U.S. Attorney.”

Later in the day, I did precisely that and contacted the office of U.S. Attorney Christopher Christi in Camden, New Jersey, which is overseeing the prosecution of the six.

“They are charged as criminals in the complaints,” Greg Reinert, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney told me. (A day after their arraignment at the U.S. Courthouse in Camden, five face charges of conspiring to kill American military personnel, which carry a possible life sentence; the sixth, Agron Abdullahu, faces lesser charges which carry a sentence of up to ten years).

When I asked the reason why the six, all of whom have a background in terrorism, were not charged as “enemy combatants” during the war on terrorism, Reinert replied: “I don’t know” and added that the decision “came from higher-ups.” As to who the “higher-ups” were, he suggested the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and cited the criminal complaints signed by John Ryan, special agent of the FBI.

Along with the status of the charges against the six, I asked Snow whether the arrest would have any impact on the “visa waiver” policy, a special loophole for foreigners under which defendant Agron Abdullahu entered the U.S. from Kosovo (allegedly out of fear from retribution from Serbians during the war in the Balkans in the 1990’s).

“Again the President’s visa waiver -- that is a separate debate, obviously,” said Snow, not explaining why it was separate froim the case of Abdullahu, “The President has noted all along that when it comes to matters of border security and visas, you take a good hard look at national security, national security interests, and we continue to do it.

“What he [Bush] is also trying to do is to come up with metrics that are going to permit us to have tamper-proof IDs, so you can know who’s in the country, you can track them. So there are a whole series of things that are embedded in this but -- and that debate is ongoing in the United States Senate.”

CHURCH SIGN ABOUT ISLAM OFFENDS MUSLIMS

By Michelle Malkin

Several North Carolina readers send word of this WRAL report about a church in Spring Hope that is rankling local Muslims. The church's sign is causing controversy:

Well, as Robert Spencer has noted, Muhammad did in fact command Muslims to subjugate, convert, or kill non-Muslims (see, e.g., Sahih Muslim 4294). And salvation in Jesus Christ is certainly not the message of Islam.

The other side of the billboard at Good News Independent Baptist Church is equally provocative. It reads: "When is the last time you heard of a Jew or Christian with a bomb strapped to their body?"

An offended official at the Islamic Center of Raleigh has asked the head of the church and his congregation to "learn more about Islam." Or else?

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Just a reminder of what some truly offensive religious signs look like:

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Here's some background on the Islamic Center of Raleigh.

No. 2 TERRORIST APPLAUDS DEMOCRAT WAR BILL

by Amanda B. Carpenter

Over the weekend, the second-highest ranking member of al Qaeda released a video that called Democrat-led initiatives to end the war in Iraq symbols of American defeat in Iraq.

In a 67-minute interview released on May 5, known terrorist Shaykh Ayman al-Zawahiri said legislation to tie war funding with a timetable for withdrawal, “reflects American failure and frustration.”

Last week, President Bush vetoed a bill delivered to him from the Democrat Congress that did this. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D.-Calif.) House has since failed to overturn his veto and now negotiations to proceed appear to be in a stalemate.

Zawahiri lamented that “this bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in this historic trap” but said it proved jihad “is moving from the stage of defeat of the Crusader invaders and their traitorous underlings to the stage of consolidating Mujahid Islamic Emirate.”

Zawahiri the withdrawal legislation helped to “raise the banner of Jihad as it makes its way through a rugged path of sacrifice.”

A senior government official said it was “stunning” that Zawahiri was watching Congress so closely.

The video was likely encouraged by comments from Democrat leadership. In an April 19 press conference Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) told media “This war is lost.”

Two days later, in a statement issued from the Islamic State of Iraq al Qaeda used Reid’s declaration as evidence of their success. “In the past few days it became clear to every watcher and observer the magnitude of damage that hits the American administration and the defeated declarations of its leaders about the situation in the field in Iraq,” it said. “A serious statement came from ‘Harry Reid’ the Democrat majority leader in the Congress who said: "the war is in Iraq is hopeless and that the situation in Iraq is similar to Vietnam War.”

The Vietnam War was ended with the 1973 Foreign Assistance Act that cut funding for operations in the region. The end effect of the Foreign Assistance Act was best captured in a photograph taken by Hubert Van Es that showed hundreds of Vietnamese civilians queuing up for the last American helicopter out of Saigon. Soon, without American troops or any resources to protect the Vietnamese, the Communists took over South Vietnam and millions were killed by the Khmer Rouge communist regime in the power vacuum left by American withdrawal.

Similar actions could be taken by al Qaeda forces, who have failed to hold territory in Iraq and Afghanistan or disrupt American-led political processes there, should U.S. troops withdraw from the region.

Through the 2004 presidential election, Democrat candidate Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.) was also quoted by name in communications from Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri.

WHAT A WONDERFUL RELIGION

There's a horrific video making its way through the internet right now. I'm not going to link to it because it is just too terrible to watch. The video shows a 14-year-old Muslim girl being stoned to death [story only, not link to video] ... by members of her own family! Her crime? She was in love with another Muslim .. but he was from a different Muslim sect. This they call an "honor killing."

Honor killing? There is anything honorable about this?

Listen very carefully today. Let's hear how loud the cries of outrage and condemnation are from the Muslim community. Let's all have another sip on our morning coffee while we wait for the Council on American-Islamic Relations to step forward and condemn this act of Islamic barbarism. Don't wait too long. Your coffee will get cold.

GAS PRICES GOING UP

Look for Democrats to exploit the massive ignorance of the American people on this issue. Barbara Boxer is out there telling all of us how "very clear" it is that we have a government that is being run for the benefit of oil companies. Yup .. it was so "very very clear" that Moonbat Boxer didn't even take the time to explain it to us. Now if we were to press her to give us these "very very clear" reasons I have no doubt she would immediately point to oil company profits. At that point a good journalist would ask her: "Can you tell us what the profit margin, not the profit, but the profit margin was for Exxon Mobile during the last reported quarter?" Oh how I would love to see that question asked! But there's not a chance. They'll ask a Republican presidential candidate how much a gallon of milk costs. That's all part of the media game of showing us that Republicans are out of touch with the common man. But they damned sure won't ask a Democrat some basic business questions. After all, the last thing the MSM (mainstream media) wants to do is illustrate leftist ignorance when it comes to business.

Oh ... and let's get ready for the whining from the public too; spurred on, of course, by media scare stories and Democrats slamming the oil companies. Just as soon as gas goes over $3 a gallon the media will start screaming about record gas prices and the great unwashed will join right in.

How about a bit of math. Let's say you're going to drive a family of four to Walt Disney World. You live 700 miles away, so there's a 1400 mile round trip. You burn regular gasoline. As of last Friday (excuse me, but the numbers for today aren't out yet) your regular gas could have cost $3.03 per gallon. This time last year that gas would have cost you $2.92 per gallon. That's an eleven cents per gallon increase. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tells us that the average gas mileage for new vehicles sold in the United States in 1980 was 23.1 miles per gallon. It has increased since then to around 24.7 mpg, but we'll go with the 1980 figure on the assumption that the people whining the loudest about gas prices are the least likely to have a new car. See how fair I'm being here?

So ... with the 11 cents per gallon increase since last year, how much extra are you going to have to save for your trip to Disney World? You drive 1400 miles and get 23.1 miles per gallon. That means you burn 60.6 extra gallons of gas. At 11 cents per gallon that is going to increase your vacation driving cost by a whopping $6.66! (The HELL you say!)

Now .. let's imagine that gas goes up by one entire dollar from last year's prices! Oh my! Will the media be having a fun time then! Barbara Boxer would probably pass out while delivering the anti-big-oil diatribe for the ages! That means your vacation would cost you $60.60 more while you're paying $3.92 per gallon! Hint: If that $60 is going to break you, you have no business at all taking your family to Disney World. Get a Slip 'n Slide for the backyard and take the kids to DQ.

I could say some things here about drilling for oil in ANWR and building new refineries and ending all of these special blends that cause disruptions in the gas supply around this time every year. I could also say some things about supply and demand ... but that would just make me a neo-con, wingnut hate monger. So I'll just shut up now.