It appears there’s smarm aplenty in Barack Obama’s new Camelot, as evidenced by this Times of London story from tomorrow’s edition about Obama’s dealings with an Iraqi billionaire who once worked for that other guy with “Hussein” in his name:

A British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama’s fundraiser just weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times discloses.

The money transfer raises the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain’s wealthiest men, helped Mr Obama buy his mock Georgian mansion in Chicago.

A company related to Mr Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France, registered the loan to Mr Obama’s bagman Antoin “Tony” Rezko on May 23 2005. Mr Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $3.5 million.

Three weeks later, Mr Obama bought a house on the city’s South Side while Mr Rezko’s wife bought the garden plot next door from the same seller on the same day, June 15.

What is Auchi, who lives in London, doing giving money to Obama? To determine who he is, don’t spend much time on the Wikipedia entry on him, which was obviously placed by his PR minions, with passages like:

In recognition of Nadhmi Auchi’s extensive business, charitable and humanitarian activities across the world, numerous awards and honorary positions have been bestowed on him, including a number of Royal and State decorations.

But even so, there are things to be gleaned from the entry. Most interestingly, he worked for Saddam Hussein’s Ministry of Oil before setting up his own company, intriguingly based in the laissez faire business back room of Luxembourg. He is also the longstanding president of the Anglo-Arab Organisation (the link is to a Web site that’s under construction). At one A-AO event, he said:

“What is happening in the Middle East is not acceptable or justified in any way, and I would like to appeal here from this stage to all international government which have influences in the Middle East to gather and stop this bloodshed and massacre.”

Massacre? Is he talking about how Arabs are massacring innocent Israelis with their suicide vests? Well …

“Dialogue is the only way that can get us together out of this problem. We reiterate our role as an organization in building the dialogue bridges between Arab and Moslems on one side, and Britain, Europe and the West in general on the other side”.

Notice who’s missing from the dialog? There appears to be no room for Israel in the thinking of this man who extended such largess to a certain Chicago politician with a Muslim name (even though we know he’s a Christian!).

Oh, and then there’s little note at the bottom of the Wiki that has thus far escaped scrubbing by Auchi’s minions:

Auchi has been convicted of fraud in France. Several US political fundraisers are currently on trial for corruption in connection with loans received from Auchi. Auchi is currently barred from entering the US by the state department as an undesirable alien.

The entry is sourced to this St. Louis Today news item about Auchi’s gifts to Illinois’ Dem Gov. Rod Blagojevich, via Blagojevich’s federally indicted fundraiser Christopher Kelly.

Back across the pond, The Guardian has a piece that rails against Auchi so strenuously it’s earned a notice at the top that says Auchi “disputes the contents of the article below and requests that it is not relied upon as an accurate source of information about him.”

That blurb was obviously placed as a result of threats from Auchi’s attorneys. No wonder. Here’s the lead:

[Auchi] was charged in the 1950s with being an accomplice of Saddam Hussein, when the future tyrant was acquiring his taste for blood. He was investigated in the 1980s for his part in alleged bribes to the fabulously corrupt leaders of post-war Italy. In the 1990s, the Belgium Ambassador to Luxembourg claimed that Auchi’s bank held money Saddam and Colonel Gadaffi had stolen from their luckless peoples. In 2002, officers from the Serious Fraud Squad raided the offices of one of Auchi’s drug companies as part of an investigation of what is alleged to be the biggest swindle ever of the NHS. With allegations, albeit unproven, like these hanging over him, wouldn’t you think that British MPs would have the sense to stay away?

Wouldn’t state senators from Illinois who are now bucking for a seat in the Oval Office also have the sense to stay away? Apparently not.

We should be hearing a lot more about Obama’s anti-Israel, Arab, former Saddam Hussein employee benefactor. We should. Let’s see if the New York Times, so quick to smear McCain, will pick up this story.

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As the Dems are all too eager to tell us, this election is about change: We’ll either have a black or a woman running from president — and that changes everything for the GOP, setting up what will be the most difficult campaign to message in the GOP’s history.

If Bill Clinton gets charged with using dirty, racial politics for calling an Obama position a “fairy tale,” how in the world will serious questions be raised by McCain, old white guy that he is?

And with Cindy, his cute, blond, prototypical political wife by his side, how will McCain take on She Who Does Not Bake Cookies without being vilified for representing glass ceilings and old boys clubs?

Even if there were a line fine enough to appease the keepers of political correctness in the black, feminist and media communities, and there’s not, the GOP will be charged with crossing it. There is no way the GOP can get to November without being called every “ist” in the book.

Because I make my living off of messaging strategies, I’ve been turning this problem over in my mind for about a month now. This morning, I see from Politico that I’ve not been alone:

Top Republican strategists are working on plans to protect the GOP from charges of racism or sexism in the general election, as they prepare for a presidential campaign against the first ever African-American or female Democratic nominee.

The Republican National Committee has commissioned polling and focus groups to determine the boundaries of attacking a minority or female candidate, according to people involved. The secretive effort underscores the enormous risk senior GOP operatives see for a party often criticized for its insensitivity to minorities in campaigns dating back to the 1960s.

(If you want a glimpse on the Left’s take on the GOP’s dilemma, which is both obscene and predictable, read the comments to this Kos post. hat-tip Jim)

Politico quotes Jack Kemp, who’s always been a pretty on-point message guy, saying:

“You can’t run against Barack Obama the way you could run against Bill Clinton, Al Gore or John Kerry. Being an African American at the top of the ticket, if he makes it, is such a great statement about the country. Obviously you have to be sensitive to issues that affect urban America. …You have to be careful.”

“Urban America?” Ooops! Kemp has been caught placing all blacks in urban settings, turning his back on decades of upward mobility which has seen blacks move to the suburbs in comfortable numbers. See how impossible this is?

The fact of the matter is, the GOP effort cannot be about, as Politico said, protecting the GOP from charges of racism or sexism. Those charges will come no matter what, so while it’s important to prep messaging in order to avoid or reduce charges of racism in the campaign ahead, it’s more important to develop a strategy for responding to those inevitable charges.

This will not be easy, which is why this passage troubled me considerably:

The McCain camp is only beginning to explore this dilemma, aides said.

McCain’s strategic team still lacks survey research on either of their likely opponents in the general election, inhibiting their capacity “to discuss it intelligently,” a top adviser said. The campaign is currently occupied with “getting our act together structurally.”

“But my basic thought on it is that McCain is not much of a negative campaigner anyhow,” the advisor said. “When he does get into debates with people it’s on issues, substance. So I don’t think we are going to have to train our candidate not to insult people.”

How could they not have started working on this? The nomination’s been tied up since Romney stepped out, so they’ve lost several valuable weeks that should have been spent researching and planning.

The excuse that McCain is “not much of a negative campaigner” shows the advisor is minimizing what the GOP will be up against. This will not be about how McCain campaigns; it will be about how he, his running mate and every GOP candidate and spokesperson will be scrutinized by the race- and sex-card players for anything that can be called a gaffe, and how those gaffes, alleged gaffes, false gaffes and made-up gaffes will be used by the Dems.

Republican strategist Kellyanne Conway has a good take on it: You can’t allow the GOP to be “Macaca-ed.” That means two things: First, you can’t use words like “Macaca.” And more important, you can’t let any charges that you’re a racist or a sexist stand.

You also can’t look uncomfortable searching for the correctly PC word, especially if you’re John McCain. When he’s uncomfortable, he really looks uncomfortable, and in this case, that telegraphs that he’s searching for an acceptable way to cover up his true (read: racist/sexist) feelings.

The correct vocabulary has to be memorized and drilled until McCain and those campaigning for him can instantaneously come up with the right word for the moment with a natural ease that reflects molecular-level comfort with the subject.

Race-card playing race-baiters (or sex-card playing fem-baiters) cannot be allowed to enjoy the immunity that’s been extended to Jesse Jackson, the Irreverent Sharpton, or the flock of feminists. Perpetrators of such baiting need to be shut down in language that appeals to GOP and independent voters; forget appeasing the Dems. Here’s a first take on such a message:

“This is a defining moment for [race/women] in America, and we all must stand up to those who are playing the tired and empty [race/feminism] card, trying desperately to cling to an America that simply is no more. I am sick of people who want to shame America and embarrass it globally for the sake of their selfish power. I will not allow them to redirect this campaign to the past when I am looking to the future, and neither should you. Tell them you’re done with the dirty politics of division.”

And if a Macaca-like phrase ever slips a lip, the only credible response is to laugh, say “oops,” and go to message: I am sick of people who want to shame America ….

It’s not going to be easy; in fact, the road ahead would be a challenge even to an eloquent campaigner like Ronald Reagan. I’m not sure if McCain is up to the task. Ironically, Mike Huckabee, whose campaign has turned me off even though we’re spiritual kin, is someone who could handle this message deck with ease.

There may be a place for him on this ticket after all — a thought I had rejected for strictly political reasons until I began this analysis. Bringing evangelicals to the ticket didn’t strike me as enough of a plus on its own, but bringing a good sense of humor and the ability to breeze through difficult messaging is a real plus.

Except that he’s a white guy.

This is going to be tough.

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Have you ever thought about adding up all the Dem Prez candidate fiscal promises?

Yeah, I know. It’s an intimidating thought and a daunting task. The fear of the hours it would take have kept me from doing it, but today USA Today bites off the big pieces and asks the question: Who’s going to pay for all this.

First, Hillary’s promises:

• Health care overhaul ($110 billion annually)
• Energy proposals ($150 billion over 10 years)
• New “GI Bill” education and housing assistance to veterans ($5 billion annually)
• Universal pre-K education program ($7 billion annually)
• Economic stimulus, including housing and heating assistance ($110 billion, presumably one-time)

That’s $137 billion in new government expense annually and a $110 billion one-time stimulus program — and those are just the high-profile programs that, if elected, Clinton would ask a Democratic candidate to pass.

Over at Obamarama, he’s got the following new big hand-outs lined up:

• Health care overhaul (up to $65 billion annually)
• Additional health care spending ($40 billion annually)
• “Making Work Pay” refundable tax credit to offset Social Security tax ($62 billion annually)
• $4,000 tuition tax credit ($6 billion annually)
• K-12 education spending ($18 billion annually)
• Doubling budget for basic science ($6 billion annually)

That’s $197 billion in new spending programs for Mr. Happy’s top programs, which proves it costs $60 billion more a year to be a completely out-of-touch Democratic televangelist than it cost to be a typical tax-and-spend Democrat.

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Got to hand it to Bill’s better lesser other half; she pretty much reflected my viewpoint on the show that’s known as Obamarama. Speaking in Rhode Island, she said:

“I could just stand up here and say ‘Let’s just get everybody together, let’s get unified.’ The sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.”

The sad thing is, a lot of Dems will hear/read that and wonder why she’s acknowledging what they’ve come to believe about the Tan Man with the Golden Voice.

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Loser

Joy around the GOP political campfires is muted on the news that Ralph “Upchuck” Nader is in the race, because as I said a couple days back:

It would be nice if a Nader run would steal votes from the Demobama candidate and seal the deal for the GOP, but just put the sour, dour, fatalistic Nader up against the Man With Hope and you can see that a Nader campaign will be utterly without consequence.

The Dem responses to Nader’s announcements were interesting, per AP: Obama lied and talked nice; Hillary didn’t lie and told it as it was:

Obama, promoting his specious persona of the man who brings people together: “In many ways he is a heroic figure and I don’t mean to diminish him.”

Hillary, being transparently Clintonesque: “A passing fancy.”

I run into Nader-like people all the time in my work; they are, basically, my consistent opponents. They fight change and progress, because they are utterly distrustful of corporations, and just as distrustful of government, which they see as sold out to the corporations.

Sounds like perfect model for a president from Hell, eh?

Imagine That!

60 Minutes is doing a Karl Rove expose tonight. Libs are giddy in anticipation: “This piece will undoubtedly be worth watching,” says Glenn Greenwald. Here’s the jist of the story:

A former Republican campaign worker claims that President Bush’s former top political adviser, Karl Rove, asked her to find evidence that the Democratic governor of Alabama at the time was cheating on his wife, according to an upcoming broadcast of “60 Minutes.” (AP)

Hold the presses! A political campaign operative looking for goods on a member of the other party! The only reason this story is being covered at all is because the subject is Karl Rove, and the BDS-sufferers in the media frequently show symptoms of Rove Derangement Syndrome as a side effect of BDS.

That said, stories like this are why I’m a public affairs guy who doesn’t do political campaigns.

Most Ridiculous?

I‘ve found a post I’m considering including in this year’s competition for Most Ridiculous Post of the Year. It’s from Chris Floyd Online, and it’s called Empire and Burlesque: Permanent Bases Rise While Public Gawks at Geeks.

I complement the writer on a well-written piece, bringing us up to the cliff of his torrid anti-Americanism through a discussion of the remaining 2008 candidates as chicken-chomping carnival geeks … but I fear him as a man so obsessed with America as evil that he can’t recognize true evil when he sees it. In that, he reflects the thinking of the Left quite accurately, so it’s a piece worth reading … even if it sets your teeth on edge with passages like this:

It is also obvious – albeit far less openly acknowledged – that these policies are themselves a form of terrorism: state terrorism, on a massive scale, which has already killed at least a million people in Iraq alone.

Besides overstating Iraqi war fatalities by four-fold, Floyd manages to call us the terrorists of the world. Perhaps Floyd will join the geeks voting for Nader.

Military and Corporations? Puh-leeze!

With Nader and the rabid Left blog post noted above, there’s been a bit of an anti-corporate theme today, tied at the ankle in a global three-legged race with the companion anti-military theme.

So a quote like this, from Thomas P.M. Barnett’s weekly column, must drive Nader and Floyd nuts:

Gen. John Abizaid, former head of U.S. Central Command, says the role of the military is largely to buy breathing space for better, nonmilitary solutions to emerge. That’s something America needs to remember as we work the Middle East in this long war: The lasting solutions will arrive wearing business suits, not desert cammies.

Specifically, Barnett is talking about FDI in MENA, or Foreign Direct Investment in the Middle East/North Africa region. FDI is “sticky money,” in that investments in business and infrastructure create long-term benefits of jobs and income — which is particularly important in the MENA region, where idle hands can lead to terrorism. Look at Jordan as an example:

… I can’t help but be struck by what a huge difference America’s 2001 free-trade agreement with Jordan has made in that country’s future.

Jordan is the size of Indiana, where I currently reside, and it possesses approximately the same population. The big difference is that Indiana is full of arable land, so agriculture is big here. In Jordan, only 3 percent of the land can be farmed, so 85 percent of Jordan’s GDP originates in the service sector. If you’re a small, resource-poor and service-heavy economy, the only way you can really grow is to super-connect with the global economy – the Israeli model.

This is where America’s free-trade agreement, along with King Abdullah II’s ongoing trade liberalization and economic reforms, has dramatically brightened Jordan’s prospects. That agreement, along with a similar one concluded with the European Union in 2002, allows Jordan to serve as regional gateway to more than three-quarters of a billion consumers with disposable income.

Jordanian exports to America have skyrocketed since the treaty went into effect, increasingly 14-fold since 2000. The kingdom, which attracted $50 million of FDI annually in the late 1990s, pulled in roughly 36 times that amount last year.

Jordan still has 30 percent unemployment, but by Middle East standards, that’s not all that bad, and it’s moving in the right direction.

Wow. The U.S. military for temporary stability and corporate investments for long-term stability — what a nightmare for the Lefties!

Speaking Of The Military/Industrial Complex …

Right on cue, I came across a briefing out of Iraq that underscores the way the U.S. military buys time for home team to build up its security and economy. Speaking is Colonel Tom James, the commander of the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division:

The brigade combat team also conducts numerous operations focused on extremists and criminals over the past two and a half months. In December we conducted Operation Marne Roundup, a successful combined operation to clear AQI in the Euphrates River Valley west of Iskandariyah, in the vicinity of the town of Khidr. During the operation and with assistance of SOIs, or Sons of Iraq, and local citizens, we killed approximately 18 extremists, captured 25, found and cleared 51 IEDs, and found and cleared 43 caches. We established Patrol Base Kelsey, named after a soldier that gave his life during this offensive operation.

Since we established the patrol base, 100 families have returned to their homes. We initiated numerous projects, to include rubble removal, school refurbishment and electricity repair, just to name a few. We also organized a local sheikh council to capture the needs of the people, as required.

Just south of Khidr is the town of Jurf al-Sakhr. Four months ago, it was a war zone dominated by extremists. It is now a secure community with positive governance and economic growth. An active police station and Sons of Iraq program secure the area, and over 40 businesses are growing, based on small-business education and microgrant stimulation.

This is a model community concept that will be adopted throughout our AO. Just the other day, I was at Jurf and witnessed a government-funded road crew paving a once war-ravaged street.

We continue relentless pursuit of the enemy and denying extremist sanctuaries throughout our AO. Over the past 83 days we conducted over 70 combined operations, both coalition and Iraqi security forces. We captured over 50 high-value enemy targets, cleared over 100 caches and cleared over 70 IEDs.

With the security window opened, we continue the exploitation phase, focused on governance and economics. We have an embedded reconstruction team resourced with governance and economics experts. Mr. Van Franken (sp), our EPRT leader, has a team, and as his team is an essential part of our brigade combat team, we include them in all operational planning and execution.

Under economics, they focus on developing small businesses, agricultural associations, poultry and fish farms and reconstruction projects. Under governance, they focus on local governance training, governance linkages and beladiya assistance, which are the public works and the essential services for the people.

Just another profile of the ruthless bloodsuckers who make up our military, eh?

Up against stories like this one, the rabid tirades against our military by the Left — calling them fixated only on violence, and not smart enough for “real” work (like, oh, being a social worker on the government dole) — just make me sick.

Pity The GM PR Guys

The GM PR department is going full-tilt on establishing GM’s reputation as a green company — not an easy task under the best of conditions — so they must be reeling in light of this:

General Motors Corp Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has defended remarks he made dismissing global warming as a “total crock of s—,” saying his views had no bearing on GM’s commitment to build environmentally friendly vehicles.

Lutz, GM’s outspoken product development chief, has been under fire from Internet bloggers since last month when he was quoted as making the remark to reporters in Texas.

In a posting on his GM blog on Thursday, Lutz said those “spewing virtual vitriol” at him for minimizing the threat of climate change were “missing the big picture.”

“What they should be doing in earnest is forming opinions, not about me but about GM and what this company is doing that is … hugely beneficial to the causes they so enthusiastically claim to support,” he said in a posting titled, “Talk About a Crock.”

How about truth as a defense? Works for me.

Cat Haiku

I‘m a dog guy, and this cat haiku just may explain why:

Humans are so strange.
Mine lies still in bed, then screams;
My claws are not that sharp.

Or this one:

The rule for today:
Touch my tail, I shred your hand.
New rule tomorrow.

For 13 more cat haiku, click here.

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The threads of the campaign are starting to weave …

John McCain is now being portrayed as the Old Washington White Guy, as the NYT slime-piece on an alleged affair morphs into a story of his dealings with lobbyists.

The story, with McCain’s staff first denying meetings with a TV station owner on an FCC matter, then having to admit that the meeting did exist, not only plays him up as just another typical “for sale” senator, but also attacks his carefully constructed political straight-shooter brand .

This is clearly the best course of attack on McCain, because with his decades of history in Washington, he is probably vulnerable to string of similar charges, and he will have difficulty brushing them off. That will take the focus off his military record, his stubborn stands against earmarks, and his greater qualifications for leadership during war.

The woof to this thread’s warp is the rising anti-patriotism meme encircling the Obama camp, as evidenced by this AP story:

WASHINGTON – Sen. Barack Obama’s refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism.

Now Obama’s wife, Michelle, has drawn their ire, too, for saying recently that she’s really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life.

That story, coming on the heels of yesterday’s Politico story on Obama’s relationship with Weather Underground terrorist bombers William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, is the perfect set-up for Obama. While McCain’s record is long and out there for all to see, Obama is a mostly blank canvas that is going to be painted not just as weak, but also as Socialistic, radical and un-patriotic.

(Here’s another such story, on Obama’s woeful lack of understanding of the military, and his quick, unpatriotic assumption that the military is screwed up. Hat-tip to Jim.)

The right will rally around McCain, making them look forgiving of Washington shenanigans, and the left will rally around Obama, making them look just as unpatriotic as he.

Throw into this the difficulty McCain, an aging white man, will have confronting Obama, a young black man, and we have a general election campaign that will make the tempests of the primary season seem like spring breezes.

Hold on to your hats.

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Muqtada al-Sadr has decided he’s not quite ready to re-engage in murder and chaos again in Iraq, saying his earlier threat to rescind his militia’s cease-fire will be extended for another six months.

That brings the next deadline up in the heat of an Iraqi August, three months after Surge forces are to begin drawing down.

Even as al-Sadr announced the extension, mortars slammed into the Green Zone, apparently fired by Shi’a militia unhappy with the extension. Al-Sadr threatened to drop the cease-fire after U.S. and Iraqi forces began taking out rebellious Shi’a militias that were doing anything but ceasing firing. U.S. forces, while welcoming the extension, have made it clear that they have every intention of extinguishing violence from the renegades, so al-Sadr is in a position where he will be sitting back as U.S. and Iraqi forces take out terrorists once loyal to him.

It’s clear he wants to appear to be a power broker and that the extension plays into that desire, but he also wants to be a strong man, and he appears to be losing that persona — and the control it gave him over his militia — as evidenced by this passage from WaPo’s coverage:

[After al-Sadr's announcement], signs of discontent were visible. Some followers shook their heads and appeared frustrated as they left the mosque. Tears welled in the eyes of some militiamen from Diwaniyah, where Iraqi security forces have detained or displaced hundreds of Sadr followers amid allegations of abuse and torture.

“This is a huge shock,” said Bassim Zain, 27, one of the militiamen from Diwaniyah. “We were expecting that Sayyid Moqtada will end the freeze in order to defend ourselves.”

Another militiaman, Jassim Ali, 36, predicted that his comrades under pressure in Baghdad, Diwaniyah, Karbala and Basra “will be obliged to defend themselves. They will not be committed to this decision. This new decision will be an opportunity for the government and the occupiers who are against the Mahdi Army.”

Even those still loyal to the John Belushi look-alike, are only loyal to a point:

Other senior militia leaders vowed to obey. “We wanted the freeze to be lifted, but we are obedient and loyal to Moqtada Sadr,” said Laith al-Sadr, a Mahdi Army commander in the Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad. “We will be patient. We know this path is filled with oppression, but eventually there will be an end for everything.”

Iraq is a land of high-stakes power plays, and the chubby cleric’s toe-hold is getting more tenuous by the moment.

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It’s that age-old question: What are these folks are insurging about, what they’re militanting over?

BANGKOK, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) — Two students and an official were wounded when suspected insurgents detonated a bomb at Yala Rajabhat University in Thailand’s southern province of Yala on Friday morning.

A five-kilogram bomb was placed inside its Science and Technology Faculty and was detonated by remote control at around 10 a.m. (0300 GMT), according local newspaper the Nation’s website.

The victims, all female, were rushed to Yala Center Hospital.

Kraisorn Sritrairat, dean of the university, was quoted as saying that police are still not sure who planted the bomb. However, he said he believes the attack must be staged by suspected militants.

Thailand’s three southernmost provinces — Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala have been troubled with insurgency-related violence which has claimed more than 2,800 people’s lives since 2004.

Note that this report is from Xinhua, China’s news agency. If we’re to believe what officially atheistic China reports regarding its Muslim population, there are 26.4 million Muslims in the People’s Republic, so we can see why Beijing doesn’t want to rile the jihad set.

But anyone who’s been tracing jihad over the last few years has had to track Indonesia, especially its southern provinces. As Global Security reports:

The 4-province area in the southern-most part of Thailand, which is populated mainly by Muslim Thais, has not been completely pacified. There are still some small groups of Islamic radical[s], which sometime resort to violent tactics in order to make their presence felt, are still posing problems to public safety in the south. The crack down on terrorist organizations, with connections to international terrorist groups like Al-Queda, may spill over into this sensitive area. The possibility of local Islamic radical groups in the south giving sanctuary or staging location for future attack to fellow neighboring or international factions cannot be totally discounted. It has been a concern among Thai and friendly countries. Authorities have known for quite some time that many Muslim Thai activists went overseas to Islamic schools, where they came under influence of hard-line teachers. Some were reported to have joined the jihad war against the Soviet Army in Afghanistan and returned to Thailand as extremists.

So I guess what they’re insurging and militanting about, eh?

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One of our 21 B-2 Stealth bombers has crashed near Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, and from the initial reports appears to have been destroyed. The Air Force reports both pilots successfully ejected and are in good condition, thank God.

What a shame to lose such a powerful and beautiful rarity.

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I‘ll keep taking votes, but it’s evident that we’ve identified our winning entries into the Cheat-Seeking Missiles Six-Word Slogans for America. Here! They! Are!

Runner-up for best serious slogan, entered by Dave Hardy:

And the best serious slogan, entered by Patrick:

Now the runner-up for best humorous slogan — A three way tie!

• Someone has to be the grownup, entered by BA.
• Because everywhere else pretty much sucks, entered by Jimmy Walnuts.
• Knowing we don’t live elsewhere? Priceless. Entered by Alan.

And the runaway winner for best humorous slogan, entered by Joe Y.:

Thanks, everyone, for your entries and votes.

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