I think every so-called “Islamic Scholar” and fundamentalist opposed to the overthrow of Saddam and the establishment of Democratic government in Iraq should be asked this one question:

[i][b]Which version of Iraq do you fear more; one which, under Saddam Hussein, Islam, as well as every other religion, was actively oppressed OR one in which there is free Democratic government and freedom of religion, including Christianity?[/b][/i]

My guess is that most of these folks would decline to answer the question, but the answer would be obvious I think to anyone who heard the question… Islamic fundamentalists are [b]deathly[/b] afraid of the concept of freedom of religion. To them, the very idea is anathema; that someone would be allowed to worship as they see fit, whenever they saw fit, or not at all!

To a fundamentalist of the Islamic faith, worship of Allah is mandatory, and the goal of their faith is to establish the “proper” worship of Allah in every nation on Earth, even if it must be done at rifle-point. Ironically, in some Middle East nations today, worship does take place under the careful watch of armed soldiers. Failure to worship Allah will earn you a nice long visit to your local prison, and a confession of faith to a religion other than Islam, especially the Christianity, will earn you a bullet to the head.

The fact is, radical muslims prefer to treat christians as a doctor might cancer; cut it out, poison it out, or burn it out, but [b] never, ever tolerate it or allow it to spread[/b]. Christianity tends to be a dangerously prolfic religion and has served as a persistant roadblock to the spread of more radical forms of Islam for about a thousand years now. Not that people of the Islamic faith have been prevented from moving out into the western world, its just that, when those members of the faith do go and live amongst free peoples, they or their children tend to take on one very bad habit… tolerance!

Once muslims move into the larger world and become more socialized to western culture, they learn that freedom of worship is not such a bad thing as they first thought. First of all, there are no soldiers with guns to enforce worship, which is kind of nice. Secondly, members of their faith are free to participate in government, or not, and to express their opinion, even if it does differ from what anyone else thinks.

Thus, Islamic scholars may come to the US and denounce government intervention in Iraq or Afghanistan as “colonialism,” or “imperialism,” and nothing happens; except that some will listen and even perhaps agree. However, if a Christian scholar were to travel to, say, Syria, to speak to members of a university about the wonders of Democracy and religious freedom, well, its probably accurate to say that they would likely spend some time in prison, at the very least.

So, here is my suggestion; if you have the chance to attend a talk or debate regarding US actions in Afhganistan or Iraq with Islamic scholars insisting that the US is an imperialist nation that is intent on “recolonizing” the Middle East, please go. When you get the chance, get up and ask the question posed above and see what answer you get.

No matter what the answer is, please forward it to me at my email address, [email]david@viewpointjournal.com[/email], and let me know what they said. Inquiring minds want to know!

David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com

BEFORE THE TOP 10 LIST - A STATEMENT REGARDING RUSH LIMBAUGH
Yesterday, October 10, 2003, was the day that we all heard the sad truth of Rush’s addiction to prescription pain medication. Of course, rumors have been rampant for a week now, ever since the story appeared in the [url=http://www.nationalenquirer.com]National Enquirer[/url]. The flames were fanned when Rush, rather than denying the story, commented on the air that he would respond only after the legal ramifications were understood. At that point, many of us who have been his loyal listeners over the past 15 years knew that at least part of this story was true.

As for myself, I chose not to comment publicly nor write any commentary until Rush did indeed offer his own response. I’m glad I waited, because, though, he did acknowledge his addiction, I was encouraged by his statement. Though the radical left has reacted to this story with remarkable glee, including truly despicable and un-presidential (no big surprise there) comments from the french-looking John Kerry, Rush offered no harsh response to any of that. Instead, he gave us the straight story and did exactly what liberals do not do; he took personal responsibility for his situation and for its remedy. Here is part of his statement:

“I am not making any excuses. You know, over the years athletes and celebrities have emerged from treatment centers to great fanfare and praise for conquering great demons. They are said to be great role models and examples for others. Well, I am no role model. I refuse to let anyone think I am doing something great here, when there are people you never hear about, who face long odds and never resort to such escapes.

They are the role models. I am no victim and do not portray myself as such. I take full responsibility for my problem.”
[url=http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_101003/content/rush_on_the_record.guest.html]Rush Limbaugh, October 10, 2003[/url]

Now, lets turn our attention to our friends on the far-distant left, many of whom greeted this news with unbridled joy. These, of course, are the nitwits who consistently paint drug addicts as victims and who love to attack conservatives for their “lack of compassion.” Yet, when Rush’s story broke, where was their compassion? The typical response to my question is something like, “well, Rush was always acting to high and mighty and telling us that he was right all the time…” Well, guess what, Rush WAS right all the time, and thats why liberals hate him.

Even though Rush never planned for this to happen in his life, I think it completely appropriate, as well as ironic, that Rush’s predicament once again exposes the false compassion of the left. If the liberals were TRULY compassionate, and if they REALLY believed that addicts were victims, they should have shown some kind of support for him, or, at the very least, remained silent. Instead, you hear statements like Kerry’s where he commented during a [b]presidential debate,[/b] no less, that one way to solve your prescription drug problems would be to hire Rush Limbaugh, and comments heard from Ed Asner and others hoping that what happened to Rush would soon happen to Sean Hannity and other conservative talk show hosts.

Even during a time of personal turmoil, Rush has indirectly shown exactly how right he is about liberals; and that too I find encouraging. I have no doubt that Rush will deal with his personal crisis and return to the airwaves better than ever. The vultures on the left think they have a feed coming, but I’m confident that what they’ll have is only more disappointment and frustration.

[b]Rush is right, and he’ll be back![/b] Now, on to the Top 10!

THE TOP TEN EXCUSES YOU WOULD HAVE HEARD IF RUSH WERE A LIBERAL
Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh admitted his problem and his responsibility in an admirable way. But, what if it were a liberal who was found to be addicted and then had to make a public statement to his/her fans? Here are the top 10 liberal excuses you might hear:

10) Before I comment, I’ve invited Jesse Jackson to say a few words…
9) I think this morality play from the right is just reprehensible! Well, first let me point out that I served in Viet Nam…
7) It depends on what your definition of “pill” is.
6) You can read all about it in my scintillating psuedo-autobiography, on sale in December.
5) I have just two words on this issue… “Big Pharmaceutical!”
4) I never had a pill-popping relationship with that woman… Ms. Cline!
3) This is all part of some vast right wing conspiracy.
2) The B*!ch set me up!!!

And now, the number one excuse…. Drumroll please!

[b]Yes, its true that I bought the pills… but I never swallowed them![/b]

David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com

Do you hear that sound? Its coming from your TV, your radio, and your daily newspaper. It’s the sound of liberals everywhere who are in high gear, attempting to spin the events of the past few days.

I can only imagine the planning that went on behind closed doors this past weekend. The liberal politicos and media elites trying to come up with an angle, just in case, to sell to all of us non-Californians as to why the citizens of that state turned out in historic numbers to remove their current Governor and replace him with a so-called “political novice.” You’ve got to hand it to them, they were delivering all that mis-information in a very smooth manner tonight.

On [i]The Nightly News[/i] tonight, Tom Brokaw fired the first shot in just the first 30 seconds of his monologue, stating that Governor-elect Schwarzenegger would soon find out that RUNNING for the office of Governor is far easier than SERVING in it. It smacked both of sour grapes and of Tom’s desire to see the Governor-elect fail. For the next 30 minutes, the spin never let up.
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How desperate are Democrats? VERY! Almost a year ago, it was just anger at the loss of yet [b]more[/b] seats in the House, as well as the unimaginable and historic loss of seats in the Senate, giving all three houses of government back to Republicans.

The absolute [b]worst[/b] part about the loss being, of course, the fact that President Bush was the deciding factor in the 2002 mid-term election cycle. The President took a sizable risk, one that no other President had taken before, and went out to actively campaign in key races. His support, and the use of his political capital translated into enough votes to give Republicans the push they needed to win most of those key races.

Since then, the anger and rhetoric coming from that party, especially its angry, ugly left-wing members, has grown consistently more shrill with each passing month. Don’t agree with me? Let me give you a typical example of what you will find out there in the left-leaning parts of the Internet. Here is an excerpt from the “saveoursecurity.org” blog called [i]Kicking Ass - Daily Dispatches From The DNC[/i] which was contemplating ways to win back swing voters:

“I had thought I never again would write about retired diplomat Joseph Wilson’s CIA-employee wife…” writes Robert Novak [url=http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=\Commentary\archive\200310\COM20031001a.html] in a commentary published today[/url]. “My role and the role of the Bush White House have been distorted,” Mr. Novak goes on to say.

Well, thats a shocker, don’t you agree? Truth distorted, accusations hurled, Democrats posturing, the mainstream media following like a dog on a leash… Its all very familiar to those of us who follow politics. At the same time, though, I believe that recent actions on the part of Dems go far beyond what we are used to seeing from this party. In my opinion, those who regularly blame such shameful behaviour on the approaching election don’t quite see the big picture here.
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