Joseph Stalin had Beatrice Webb, H.G. Wells, Malcolm Muggeridge, George Bernard Shaw, and Walter Duranty. Adolf Hitler had The Mitford sisters, Charles Lindbergh, Father Coughlin and Ezra Pound. Now we have George Galloway, Jimmy Carter, Lauren Booth, Michael Moore, Sean Penn, Roger Cohen, and countless others singing the praises of various Islamofascists and/or left-wing tyrants such as Saddam Hussein, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Hugo Chavez, Bashar Assad, Fidel Castro, and Ahmadinejad. The appeal of murderous dictators for the pampered children of western democracies is one that only psychiatrists can completely delve into. Needless to say, none of these useful idiots would ever be able to survive in Stalin’s USSR or the Mullah’s Iran.
by Seth J. Frantzman
‘Your excellency, dear Dr. [Bouthaina] Sha’aban I hope this letter finds you well. Please be assured of my warmest fraternal greetings always. I am writing on behalf of Viva Palestina whose world-wide family of solidarity organizations… will soon be setting out for besieged Gaza.”
This fawning introduction might sound innocuous enough, if it were not for the fact that it was e-mailed to the special adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad by a former British MP only three months after he left office in 2010.
George Galloway’s obsequious verbosity is now posted online for all to see. The hacker network “Anonymous” broke into the e-mails of Syria’s ruling elite and disseminated them on Tuesday. Other nuggets of slavish devotion to the dictator include: “Syria is, as I have often said is [sic] the last castle of Arab dignity. My only regret is to have to ask for your help again.” It is not clear what “again” refers to. It seems Mr. Galloway had had previous dealings with the optometrist-turned-tyrant in Damascus.
The Galloway transcripts, along with other e-mails, are receiving some attention in the press, with The Atlantic claiming they “reveal the friendly westerners who sucked up to Syria’s dictator.”
Another e-mail presents evidence that Assad tried to manipulate public perception through the Barbara Walters interview which aired in early December, 2011. A press attaché writes that the most important thing will be for Assad to mention that “mistakes” were made because there is no “well organized police force… the American psyche can be easily manipulated.”
The dustup over the e-mails comes as no surprise to people who have been watching the likes of Assad, Galloway and others for some time. In 1994 Galloway went to Iraq, ostensibly to oppose the sanctions that had been placed on that country, and spoke to Saddam Hussein in front of an audience, saying he saluted the dictator’s “courage” and “indefatigability.”
[.....]
The story with Assad and his manipulation of Western leaders and media is also not a surprise. US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Assad in 2007. She claimed he was ready for peace with Israel.
That intellectuals and leaders over the years were duped by Saddam, Assad, Muammar Gaddafi, Idi Amin, or other nefarious individuals who were subsequently proved to be mass murderers is unsurprising in light of the moral relativistic view that often allows these malevolents to scrape by with the meekest of promises.
Consider French philosopher Michel Foucault. The left-wing celebrity philosopher was a devotee of Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini and the Iranian revolution. In 1978 he waxed poetic, claiming that “by ‘Islamic government’ nobody in Iran means a political regime in which the clerics would have a role of supervision or control.”
Each dictator has his Western apologist, it would seem. Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan thug who has crushed the independent media and appears destined to cling to power has a friend in activist-actor Sean Penn. “This is not a dictator supported by the wealthy classes, but rather a president elected by the impoverished and at the service of the Venezuelan constitution, a document not unlike our own. He is a flamboyant, passionate leader,” said Penn. The long list of Fidel Castro admirers is well known.
The co-founder of the London School of Economics (LSE), it should be recalled, was a supporter of Joseph Stalin. After a visit to the Soviet utopia in 1931 he wrote that “we desire to record that we saw nowhere evidence of such economic slavery, privation, unemployment and cynical despair of betterment.” In an awfully worded excuse for mass murder he claimed, “wreckers of Communism could have sidetracked it without ever having to face the essential questions: are you pulling your weight in the social boat? Are you giving more trouble than you are worth? …That is why the Russians were forced to set up the inquisition called first the Cheka… to go into these questions and ‘liquidate’ persons who could not answer them satisfactorily.” Maybe it is not a surprise that the same LSE accepted more than $2 million in donations from Saif al-Islam Qaddadi shortly after he had received an academic degree. Of course the university is now duly embarrassed, has cleaned house and returned the money.
[.....]
Only in retrospect are Stalin’s crimes exposed or the reality of Assad’s “reforms” appreciated. By then it is too late, because often not only are the local people crushed and dead, but the foreigner who provided aid and comfort is able to say he or she honestly didn’t know, or was merely using the dictator to help “the people.” This is the post-script of the well-known book Charlie Wilson’s War.
Wilson became a lobbyist for Islamist Pakistan after leaving office in 1996 and he never took responsibility for ignoring the darker side of the mujihadeen he had encouraged America to support in Afghanistan. Instead the book seems to suggest that had only America built a few schools in Afghanistan in the 1990s the Taliban would not have come to power.
[...]
Judged by democratic standards based on the values of John Locke or the Bill of Rights, one wouldn’t countenance Hussein, Assad, Stalin, Chavez, Castro or any of the others. And yet countenanced they are. In retrospect, people like Galloway look silly, but does his mistake serve as a lesson on the dangers of cozying up to despots? If history serves as evidence, the answer is decidedly no.
Read the rest – Galloway’s Gaffe
Tags: Seth J. Frantzman
A liberal has never met a despot who’s cock they wouldn’t suck dry.
@ John Difool:
Progressives are dictatorial by nature.
@ John Difool:
Oh, I think accusations like that are overblown.
Rodan wrote:
DICK-tatorial.
Oh, you’re back! Disappeared on me yesterday.
Robt Kennedy Jr, the Chavez oil suckup
Anna Wintour who published that interview with Assads wife – right
before the Arab Spring got sprung
Jimmy Carter – pick a day of the week
Oh, here’s the Big O explaining is ‘accomodation’
Why does everydoy say ‘contraception’ but nobody says ‘abortion’?
@ eaglesoars:
Keith Olbermann supported Hizballah in the 2006 war.
So the insurers provide this stuff ‘for free’?
My hormone replacement/birth control pills just doubled in price
Rodan wrote:
Well, maybe CNN will hire him in their Israeli bureau where they just fired all the Jews
Rodan wrote:
Lets not forget about Ted Kennedy collaborating with the Russians and conspiring against Reagan.
He should have been shot for treason twenty something odd years before he died of brain cancer.
Moe Katz wrote:
Perhaps you’re right, maybe I gave them the shaft on that one.
@ John Difool:
Yup that little gem. Think Progress was openly supporting Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
And on a related note:
China Probes Police Official After Obama Administration Rejected Asylum Request
Congressman pledges investigation, sees pattern of Obama administration failing to aid U.S. allies
http://freebeacon.com/china-probes-police-official-after-obama-administration-rejected-asylum-request/
Rumor posted at Drudge about kim jong un being assassinated in Beijing.
I repeat rumor
Did you all see where Homeland Security is monitoring Drudge? Apparently his site is considered seditious.
http://www.infowars.com/group-forces-congressional-hearing-on-big-sis-twitter-drudge-spying/
@ citizen_q:
If true, the Chinese killed him.
citizen_q wrote:
Most likely fake, but it would be epic if true.
@ citizen_q:
I love the line in the story that says anything from China that begins “According to reliable sources….” is fake.
Very much like our own MSM. Code for the journolist will now give you a leftwing talking point, meme or cliche.
Rodan wrote:
Or a Nork military/party coup. Lets not forget his two biggest handlers are his Aunt and Uncle who may want all of that power for themselves.
@ John Difool:
Yup and China gave the OK!
@ The Osprey:
Hey your posts are not sticking?
One more quick O/T post before I have to step away to do a quick lunch time errand.
At first, I thought Bill Murray was being sensible, unusual enough for a hollywood type, so I scan the article:
Actor Bill Murray to CNBC: ‘I think we ought to be personally responsible’
Then he says this:
WTF? Is he channeling george bernard shaw?
Henry Wallace, VP under FDR and candidate for POTUS himself was an agent of the communist party
I.F. Stone was a sovietspy
@ citizen_q:
If true, would he become the Un-Kim? Or izzat ex-Kim?
@ John Difool:
@ Rodan:
Teacher: “Barry, please use the word dictate in a sentence.”
Barry: “HOW…MY…DIC-TATE!”
eaglesoars wrote:
Now, now…all that’s ancient history.
Everone knows the communists (and their plans for world domination) all magically disappeared in 1991.
//
@ The Osprey:
Dammit, now I’m hungry. Gee thanks Osprey!
Macker wrote:
There’s only one Nando’s in the US at this point, in DC. But you can get their Peri-Peri pepper sauce here apparently. I’ve seen it in Jamaican restaurants.
They’re a Portuguese-Mozambican style chicken restaurant chain based in South Africa.
@ The Osprey:
Sounds yummy!
@ The Osprey:
I’m at work so that’s why I didn’t see your post!
My Bad!
Man arrested by Secret Service for “glitter bomb” attack on Mitt Romney worked for Dems…
@ Macker:
I have to ask. Your new avatar. Is that WindUpBird? NTTAWWT…
John Difool wrote:
Great imagery!
Rodan wrote:
Olberdork is stuck on Current TV.
Speranza wrote:
Speaking of imagery, Madeline Albright and Kim Jong Il.
Nancy Pelosi and Bashir Assad
Jimmy Carter and whoever happens to be running Fatah and Hamas at any given time.
Sorry for the visuals.
@ John Difool:
Charles Johnson and any Jihadi cause.
Speranza wrote:
see my #9
Rodan wrote:
He won’t have far to
walkwaddle, isn’t there a mosque right across the street from him ?eaglesoars wrote:
Didn’t get the memo…it isn’t pc and msm trying their best to soft pedal this. obamma really hit the wall with this one. I hope he keeps it up on other things…so America will finally see his un-American bias.
Iron Fist wrote:
Must be!!! Looks like a furrie costume!
@ citizen_q:
This the new age thinking/green thinking…..that a lot of people must die so the planet and mankind can be okay. It is a sick logic.
Lily wrote:
Green Is The New Red !
Just landed in my inbox from Jonah Goldberg. He spent a little time at CPAC and sez:
@ John Difool:
He has an open Jihadist on his blog.
John Difool wrote:
Peter Jennings and Hanan Ashrawi.
@ John Difool:
That type of mentality has been around for awhile…first I saw of it was in New Age worship….and now in the AGW green worship. Same thing just under a different name. Both worship ‘mother earth’.
100 percent of the Marxist in Mordor on the Potomac oppose the Keystone Pipeline.
@ eaglesoars:
He’s right. Many on the Right are demoralized.
Think of this: its coming down to Mitt Romney who’s a Big Government Progressive vs. Rick Santorum who’s a Big Government Religious Progressive.
Its a pathetic choice.
@ eaglesoars:
I’ve been saying that for months now. YOu can’t win without your base. The key to winning Presidential elections is turn out your base in strength and then draw from the moderates/independants. If you can’t do the former, there aren’t enough of the latter to make up the difference. I’m not a fan of anybody who is left in the race, but I would vote for either Santorum of Gingrich with a much cleaner conscience than I would holding my nose and pulling the lever for McRomney.
Speranza wrote:
Mandrea Mitchell and Crispyanne Amenpoo.
@ Iron Fist:
This shows you that the GOP is not a Conservative Party. It’s Progressive and just disagree with the Democrats on what the Nanny state should do.
@ Rodan:
Unfortunately, that is where the majority of the Electorate is. If you really ran on cutting Fedzilla down to only what its ennumerated Constitutional powers and duties were, you’d lose in a massive landslide. You or I would vote for that person, but we are the tiny minority.
@ Iron Fist:
I have come to that conclusion myself. The US is not a Center-Right nation. It’s a Progressive-Left/Nanny State Nation.
We just have to live our lives. The wheel of history turns.
Lily wrote:
Rush is calling this a great obama victory. Chairman obama’s “compromise” is to force the insurance companies to pay for women’s “reproductive services”. He created this crisis, and leveraged the public outrage to move another step closer to controlling healthcare.
@ Rodan:
@ Iron Fist:
I hate Romney much more than I do Santorum.
There is a difference, in that Romney is the establishment pick.
That makes the difference for me.
Of course, it’s just a coinky-dink.
Yesterday Obama announcesa BS deadbeat bailout for the housing market.
Today Bernanke sez
HOUSING MAY NO LONGER BE VIEWED AS SECURE INVESTMENT
OT driveby–
Live stream of the protest at CPAC. 100s of union marchers assembling.
http://www.ustream.tv/occupiedair#utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=10016873&utm_medium=social
citizen_q wrote:
And the churches still aren’t happy. They still have to purchase those insurance plans. Obama just shifted their wallet from one pocket to another.
Not to mention that ALL our premiums will go up
This isn’t over
Bunk X wrote:
looks like they’re just getting started – getting off metro
Lily wrote:
This line of reasoning lead to the einsatzgruppen and gas chambers in germany, not to mention stalin and mao’s mass murder.
@ eaglesoars:
Damn, Bernanke isn’t the brightest bulb in the candlabra, is he? I could have told him that. My house, if we finally close on the 21st, has cost me a boatload of money. Way worse an investment than buying a new car, when you look at how much I’ve had to fork over to get rid of the damned thing. It’ll take me five years to recover from it, economically, and I realize that I am not anywhere near as bad off as a lot of people are. Houses are a lousy investment. People have to live somewhere, but damn I wouldn’t want to own rental property. Apartments may make some return on investment, but houses are crap in most markets.
eaglesoars wrote:
I should hope not.
@ citizen_q:
Really?? I don’t see it that way…..some say it isn’t much of a compromise either. He started it and now the blow-back is hitting him in the face…so he compromises on something he created and it is a victory for him? Arrgghhhh.
Iron Fist wrote:
Yep, unfortunately we’re the 2 percenters. I read somewhere that the folks actively engaged online in sport-politics is around 5% of the population both conservative and liberal combined. That’s about 15-20 million people and if you look at mega-sites like Kos , Huffpo and Politico, the 2% claim I just made may be a stretch.
Everything to us seems crucial and imperative, a very sense of urgency….life or death for the Republic. The vast overwhelming majority still get their news from the dino-media, even self-identified conservatives which is why crap like McCain and Romney keep getting pushed down our throats. Even FOX and Drudge are shilling for Romney.
citizen_q wrote:
Exactly…evil. Changing shapes all the time.
Lily wrote:
He didn’t compromise – he just shifted the nut from one shell to another
@ Bumr50:
I hate Romney and Santorum equally. They represent everything I despise about today’s GOP.
@ Bunk X:
@ eaglesoars:
@ Lily:
Pol Pot was the ultimate Greenie.
@ Bunk X:
was wondering when their schtick was going to start.
/lurk
eaglesoars wrote:
Excatly. Like I said it isn’t much of a compromise….at least to the Church. They are still not backing down on this.
Isn’t Urban Infidel at CPAC? If anybody has her email, let her know the OWS/Union crowd has just arrived – head to the metro to pick them up
@ Bumr50:
That’s lowering the unemployment percentage
Rodan wrote:
Yep, those few million corpses made excellent fertilizer for the fields.
@ eaglesoars:
My fault. That’s a tape from earlier. They’re on lunch break now, scheduled to start up again at 5PM EST.
Bumr50 wrote:
I bet it’s tax deductable too
eaglesoars wrote:
Yep. But all you see in the headlines is ‘obamma compromises’….the Church doesn’t see it as a ‘compromise’.
@ John Difool:
That’s why there’s no point at getting angry anymore. The US is a Progressive-Left nation. We are the minority. If The GOP and Democratic Parties want to destroy this nation and voters want to enable them, there’s nothing I can do.
Just enjoy life, which sucks right now. No Football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bunk X wrote:
THREE HOUR LUNCH BREAK!!??
shiiite
@ Bunk X:
http://www.ustream.tv/timcast
@ Lily:
That is the way I see it. By executive order he is forcing insurance companies to provide a coverage their customer may not want and doesn’t have to explicitly pay for. However, as eaglesoars noted the insurance companies will have raise everyone’s rates to cover the cost.
It is the same thing that happens with with raising hospital rates. Some of that is to cover costs for the care of indigents.
Bunk X wrote:
Rodan wrote:
The thought of anyone supporting any murderous, evil dictator or ideology shows just what their moral compass is.
@ eaglesoars:
They need a long lunch break because they have to take the streetcar down to their ‘hood and meet their crack connection.
well, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
Oh honey, there was nothing covert about it
Alberta Oil Peon wrote:
Then they’re in deep kimchee.
DC doesn’t have streetcars
@ eaglesoars:
Well, what’s the Metro, then? Is it entirely underground?
Alberta Oil Peon wrote:
In D.C. proper it is, when it gets out to the Va. and Maryland burbs it’s either elevated or on regular train lines.
@ eaglesoars:
DC had streetcars when I was a kid, though.
@ Bumr50:
http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/10/occupy-cpac-protesters-paid-60-for-the-day/#ixzz1m0bhRd6b
@ Bunk X:
astro-derp
Hey obama! How’s your a-rab spring?
Libya Struggles to Curb Militias as Chaos Grows
From the NY Slimes no less.
@ Bunk X:
@ John Difool:
The short video at Daily Caller is funny. I tried to embed it, no dice.
@ eaglesoars:
They are Union workers, after all…
@ citizen_q:
Well, that’s certainly unexpected, isn’t it? ///
@ Bunk X:
Saw it earlier over at WZ and yea it’s hilarious.
@ eaglesoars:
At one point in time, the Greeks would fight and die for their freedom and soverignty. That was about 2500 years ago (479 BC), but they kicked Persia’s ass!
@ John Difool:
The protester is trying hard not to grin.
@ Iron Fist:
It’s the Chicka-Roma mascot from US Marshals.
citizen_q wrote:
Smell that? That’s Arab Spring®!
citizen_q wrote:
No you imbecile, this is Islam, this is what the true face of Islam has always looked like, it is the true soul and heart of Islam, it is what Allah will’s for you.
@ Iron Fist:
IF, my local news was reporting a face-palm worthy story yesterday that I thought you would appreciate knowing your interest in knives.
They reported that someone was stopped trying to board a plane with a machete and 2 throwing knives. Did not catch which airport, could’ve been Regan, Dulles, or BWI, but get this, the picture they showed along with the story was for a Kukuri and its 2 accessory knives. I guess the accessory knives were supposed to be the throwing knives.
I know they were simply parroting what TSA must have told them, but wow. I toyed the idea of writing a complaint for their insult to Nepalese culture.
Iron Fist wrote:
@ doriangrey:
What doesn’t get destroyed by islam?
I am amused by his sense of surprise.
@ citizen_q:
Wow! I don’t know which is stupider. The guy trying to carry it on a plane, ot the TSA for mis-identifying it. I guess it could be worse. He could have gotten it on the plane and cut somebody’s head off with it. Then we’d be hearing about laws to restrict dangerous “Assault” knives…
*snort*
citizen_q wrote:
Bare hands, he says? I was under the impression they had shitloads of rockets and Kalashnikov’s but bare hands should go along well with their 5th century religion then .
@ eaglesoars:
For some reason they are leaving the fact out that those insurance company’s will be forced to fund abortions too.
/so the media can keep on spinning the fact that Catholic’s use birth control.
So obamma is saying to the Church’s he is their god now???
On the original topic.
Evan Sayet has an excellent speech on why this phenomenon occurs. What it boils down to is our old friend Moral Equivalency, all dressed up and parading around as actual thought.
@ John Difool:
That is what they wipe their ass with!
Bryan Preston nails it
Lily wrote:
He’s being saying that since he said “WE are the ones we’ve been waiting for”
The 2nd coming turns out to be the collective
@ eaglesoars:
Like I said in my last post…obamma is telling the Churches he is there god now. This will be an epic battle.
eaglesoars wrote:
Public funding of abortion is the Holy Grail for the abortionists. An endless stream of revenue. This is, in the end, all about money. Big Abortion is a multi-billion dollar a year business, and Obama and the Democrats are in their hind pocket. They’ll do anything to maximize the profits of Big Abortion.
Lily wrote:
Almost, he is diety to all of us in his own mind. All hail Pharaoh obama!
/
@ Iron Fist:
Not only that but the tearing down of morals ….the attack on the Christian Churches…dividing America even more. This is pure evil.
@ Lily:
It is more than just about money.
citizen_q wrote:
Obama is a Fairy-O
Iron Fist wrote:
I don’t think so. Totalitarianism is never just about money.
It’s about a mis-apprehension of human nature, that’s it’s infinitely plastic and malleable.
And they’re just the ones to do the molding.
@ Lily:
Oh, I’ve always said Obama was evil. I am simply using the Left’s constant tirades against “Big” Fill-In-The-Blank against them. They are shills for Big Abortion, and there is a lot of money to be made in disposing of unwanted children. It isn’t just about money, but don’t kid yourself. Planned Parenthood’s operating budget would collapse without sufficient number of abortions every year (I think the number is something like 300,000). If it were anything else, it would be equated to Dachau or Auschwitz. Thise numbers should trouble all right thinking people, no matter where they fall on abortion’s legality.
A caller into Chris Plante’s show today made a good point (paraphrasing).
If having a ‘right’ to birth control and abortion means I have to pay for it, then guess what? I have a right to bear arms. Start buying my ammo.
@ eaglesoars:
Ammo, hell! I want an M-249 SAW, as is my right! I damn sure can’t afford one of my own. Hell, Fedzilla won’t even let them be made available to civillians for any price. That needs to change.
Iron Fist wrote:
SING IT!
citizen_q wrote:
Will end up like Somalia until a murderous dictater comes along.
@ Iron Fist:
The number of abortions SHOULD disturb people….how many Saint’s have been killed? How many brilliant scientists have been torn from the womb? How many people who would have made a huge contribution’s to the world have been flicked away by the abortionist’s knife?
This is what people should ask themselves.
new thread
eaglesoars wrote:
Trouble is obama and the other progressive leftist totaltarians don’t believe that you do. The Constitution is only observed by them for easy legitimacy when it can be used as a lever to their own power and policies.
Armed citizens are not yet fully slaves.
@ Lily:
50 million since Roe v. Wade, more or less. The number is staggering. I’m all for contraception (though people can buy their own. I don’t see forcing the Catholics to pay for it), as good birth control will lead to fewer abortions. But the numbers are damning. That is on par with Stalinist Russia or Maoist China. Of course, we don’t know the abortion numbers from China’s One Child policy (that Biden thought was just swell). Millions of girls aborted for the crime of being female. Damn right, it is a woman’s rights issue. Just not the way the Left is playing it.
Lily wrote:
Personally I wonder why the race hustlers don’t take issue with the appalling numbers for the black community? They are pretty good on shaking down businesses with statistics. What about half of all black pregnancies ending in abortion?
@ citizen_q:
Another reason to tack on.
@ citizen_q:
That is just a choice! Margaret Sanger would be so thrilled! In her world-view, every black aborted is one less to worry about. She was a very evil woman.
@ Iron Fist:
Let’s not forget the damage done to the psyche of women who get them.
Abortion should NEVER be used as birth control.
Iron Fist wrote:
agreed
Lily wrote:
He is The One after all.
ok, why were my comments that were negative against this writer and some of the ideas therein deleted.
seriously.
i am one of the three who PAY to keep this joint running and i got deleted????
there will be hell to pay on this.
….