Arnold delivered an extremely stirring speech, didn't he? Allow me to quote a little:
Now, many of you out there tonight are "Republican" like me in your hearts and in your beliefs. Maybe you're from Guatemala. Maybe you're from the Philippines. Maybe Europe or the Ivory Coast. Maybe you live in Ohio, Pennsylvania or New Mexico. And maybe just maybe you don't agree with this party on every single issue. I say to you tonight I believe that's not only okay, that's what's great about this country. Here we can respectfully disagree and still be patriotic still be American and still be good Republicans.My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans, how do you know if you are a Republican? I'll tell you how.
If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the people to the government...then you are a Republican! If you believe a person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest group... then you are a Republican! If you believe your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does... then you are a Republican! If you believe our educational system should be held accountable for the progress of our children ... then you are a Republican! If you believe this country, not the United Nations (news - web sites), is the best hope of democracy in the world ... then you are a Republican! And, ladies and gentlemen ...if you believe we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism ... then you are a Republican!
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if you ever doubt what why America is the greatest nation on earth, go ask someone who immigrated and chose citizenship. They'll help you understand.
And while the RNC is going on, the far left is exploding. There have been numerous reports of violence, verbal abuse, obstructionism, and worse. (There was NO REASON to assault and batter that police officer. NONE.)
Compare that to the relative peace enjoyed by the DNC, and it's pretty clear the the moonbat brigades have finally gone off the deep end. I take comfort in the fact that these "activists" and "demonstrators" are hurting their own cause. The American people are seeing this bullshit, and we aren't amused.
In other news, Alan Keyes should stop to think before flapping his piehole.
Then, this is exactly what I feared would happen when Spain folded to terrorist pressure earlier this year. It encouraged the bastards, and now Chechen terrorists are holding a school filled with children. They're threatening to kill fifty children for every one of their team who is killed, and twenty for every man or woman who is wounded. They are demanding the release of fighters seized in neighboring Ingushetia during a raid conducted back in June.
This is the price of appeasement. If you give in or stand down from a bully, he is encouraged to engage in worse crimes. In the last week, Russia has also lost two airliners to terrorist suicide bombs, and on Tuesday, another female suicide bomber blew herself up in Moscow, taking nine people with her, and injuring 51 others.
Some of the terrorists holding the children at the school near Chechnya are strapped with bombs, and have reportedly (unconfirmed) mined the school yard.
My anger is not with the people of the countries who have suffered from terrorist activities this year. I really hold the common people of France and Russia generally blameless. Like me and mine, they mostly want to live their lives with as little upheaval as possible.
Instead, I blame their governments for their policies of appeasement. I also blame Spain, and her people, for giving in to terrorist demands earlier this year. The terrorists used fear tactics to effect political change -- that's what they do, and now their demands grow more and more outrageous, and Spain is not exempt from their activities.
Now these bastards are threatening children. Children. When one considers how badly Putin handled the last hostage crises under his watch, my heart clenches.
All we can do is pray.
The other thing I can do is go on trying to raise public awareness about the very real threat Western civilizaton is facing..
There are ties between Chechen rebels and al-Qaeda. Chechens are a largely Muslim group, who live in the Caucasus region, south of Moscow and north of Iran.
As this article explains, al-Qaeda has funneled millions to Chechen rebels through Khattab, a late Chechen warlord who appeared on videotape with Osama bin Laden in 2000. Also shown on the tape is an appearance by Shamil Basayev, who is responsible for the 2002 hostage situation in a theatre in Moscow. Basayev not only claimed responsibility for the raid, but also says that he has trained women for Jihad -- women like those threatening Russian children today.
I believe that only the naive could doubt the links between these various evildoers.
It is time for the leadership of nations such as Spain, Russia, and France to look at the world and decide whether they would like to survive as free, sovereign nations, or if they mean to cave in truth and consign their children's lives to the whims of Islamic theocracy.
You know, this is exactly why America is at war with terrorism, and why we wage that war overseas. Our uniformed men and women, and our Commander in Chief, strive to make sure that this sort of scenario never plays out on American soil. They are bleeding right now to make sure that no terrorist group can ever hold a scholl filled with our children against us.
I'm resolved. Anyone else?
posted by Linda on September 1, 2004 05:57 PM