2001 Hoorays & Boos
Having just passed a grim year, with almost the grisly conclusion of a suicide shoe-bomber, here are a few hoorays and boos for the annus horribilis just passed:
Hooray for Matt Drudge, world's greatest journalist where many of us are concerned. Drudge won his case against Sid the Scumbag Blumenthal, the latter having sued Drudge for libel. Not only did Drudge stand up to Clinton White House bullying and the unlimited funds it provided to the Scumbag to pursue him, he even collected at the end, when Blumenthal threw in the towel. Hooray again for the David who made a total fool of the phony Goliath.
Boo to those who try every year to smother Christmas linguistically. It has now become so absurd George Orwell could not have imagined it. The powers that be?multiculturalists, deconstructionists, postmodernists, feminists and the politically correct?have decreed that nothing hinting at a Christmas theme can be allowed. The city of Pittsburgh has invented the term "Sparkle Days," instead of Christmas Holidays, to stimulate the consumer without offending anyone. This deserves the greatest boo of all. The Christian faith is a strong one that takes sacrifice and suffering in stride as givens. It has defeated all sorts of tyrants and dictators throughout the ages. But is it strong enough to resist the chipping away of the multiculturalists and of the politically correct? If the latter win, it will be evil triumphing over good.
Hooray for our fighting men (and the few women in supporting roles) who proved once and for all that when America wants to do it, it does. The causes of Western superiority throughout the ages cover a very broad spectrum. At one end there are huge, long-term factors, such as the development of Western science and the growth of capitalist economies. These ensured that Western armies would have better weapons, and more of them. There is also the fact that Western armies, starting with the Greeks, use citizens and freemen, not mercenaries and slaves. This bears directly on the battlefield: the better morale of a citizen-soldier and that of men brought up in free societies. Even the zealots of Al Qaeda?ready and eager to die?are no match for the intelligence of a well-trained, motivated, free citizen-soldier. Hooray once again for the West and its key values and strengths, which were expressed in the conduct of the war in Afghanistan. The biggest boo of all to those who blame America-firsters, phonies like Susan Sontag and the rest of the left-wing scum who were secretly hoping our boys would get trapped in that Godforsaken place. Boo, boo, boo, until you rot in hell.
Even if I say so myself, a tiny hooray to yours truly for having warned you one month ago that Geraldo Rivera, a fantasist at best, would make things up once in Afghanistan. (I had seen him at work during the Yom Kippur war, and believe you me, Rivera is no brave war correspondent. It does not take lots of guts to cover ferocious battles that are not taking place, except in his imagination, and transmit them.) A very big boo to the same Geraldo for reporting on the friendly fire that killed three of our soldiers on Dec. 5. The bits of uniforms and tattered clothing, as well as Rivera saying the Lord's Prayer, were giveaways from day one. He should be ashamed of himself, and Fox should have fired him. Fox network executives said it was an honest mistake and, based on Rivera's 30-year track record, they still had full confidence in him.
Hooray for Russia, Putin and the new Russian, someone who creates rather than steals something that existed before him. By combining their oil and gas reserves, Russia is already the world's leading energy nation, with about 15 percent more proven reserves than the ghastly kleptocracy that is Saudi Arabia. Now that the Russian people have realized they can make more money by real capitalism than by stealing?as was the way of the oligarchs?there will be no stopping them. Two enormous boos to those who criticize the Russian military for its stance in Chechnya. When the militant Islamists began to blow up buildings in Moscow, killing hundreds, there were those in the Clinton administration who asked for the Russian army to exercise caution and restraint. It was caution and restraint that got us 9/11.
Hooray for the California State U. students who booed Sacramento Bee publisher Janis Besler Heaphy, who raised questions about the government's response to terrorism. This is how it should be. The ridiculous woman is a journalist who lives in her ivory tower and wants to be touchy-feely for p.c. reasons. The students, for once, knew better. The ludicrous Times ran it on the front page of the national section as if fascism had become chic all of a sudden. Boo to Heaphy, boo to the Times and boo to anyone who talks about the right of free speech for those who would never grant it to us.
This column would not be what it is if I didn't boo Bill Clinton for convening a meeting to formulate a policy to repair his legacy. Also a big boo to the Times for running this nonstory on its front page, written by the biggest Clinton ass-licker, Richard Berke. The Clinton legacy is one of spin, lies and manipulation. Any other interpretation is just spin and more lies.
A Happy 2002 to all of you.