This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Operator Dan

  • What Is Sean Penn Up To in Haiti?

    Far-left actor Sean Penn has been attacking rapper Wyclef Jean in recent weeks over the latter’s desire to run for President in Haiti (he has been disqualified however). Sean Penn made this self-righteous blog post on HuffPo attacking Jean, in which Penn spends just as much time pumping himself up as he does explaining why Jean isn’t qualified. Penn also made these comments in an interview with Larry King:

    “This is somebody who’s going to receive an enormous amount of support from the United States, and I have to say I’m very suspicious of it,” Penn, 49, who has been running a 55,000-person tent camp through his J/P Haitian Relief Organization,

    Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think a guy who has spent most of his life as a rapper and who ran a corrupt charity is qualified to run a country, much less a Burger King. But at the same time I have to wonder why Penn is really attacking Jean. Its no secret that Sean Penn has a hard-on for Hugo Chavez and considers him a friend.  Chavez has been trying to expand his influence throughout South America and the Caribbean by supporting politicians that would be sympathetic to his socialist ideology.  I would not consider it a stretch that Penn would be working to support a candidate that would be more friendly towards Venezuela and the Chavez regime. Discrediting Jean would no doubt strengthen any candidate that Penn and Chavez find acceptable.

    Tell me… am I full of shit and Sean Penn really cares about the people of Haiti or is Sean Penn helping to install a Chavez-friendly regime in Haiti?

  • The Hate Crime That Wasn’t

    On Tuesday, 21-yr old Michael Enright was arrested for attempting to murder a Muslim taxi cab driver in New York City. Enright had gotten into the man’s cab and after a short conversation where Enright supposedly asked the man about how Ramadan was going, Enright started attacking the man with a knife. The cab driver sustained injuries to his face and was only able to escape after he locked Enright in his cab. Enright was arrested by NYPD and charged with attempted second-degree murder.

    Immediately, the incident by tied to the protests against the Ground Zero Mosque. Posters at HuffPo claimed he was a Tea Party member (which no evidence has surfaced that he is). However, details have emerged about Enright that have complicated this story and made me question whether this has anything to do with the Ground Zero Mosque or the fact that cabbie was Muslim.

    From CNN (emphasis is mine):

    A film student suspected of stabbing a New York cab driver after learning the driver was Muslim was described Thursday as someone who worked to build bridges across religious and ethnic boundaries.

    Those who know Michael Enright, 21, a film student at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, were “shocked and dumbfounded” by his arrest, said Robert Chase, the executive director of Intersections International. Enright volunteered with the nonprofit group, and it partially funded his trip in the spring to Afghanistan.

    So here is a guy who volunteered time to a group that reached out to Muslims and spent time in Afghanistan (and who had a picture of himself posing with an Afghan child on his Facebook, but the FB page seems to have been taken down). Nothing in his past would suggest an association with hate groups. I also doubt that this guy would be caught dead at a Tea Party rally or anti-Ground Zero Mosque protest (he is a Film Student, c’mon…).  I am sorry, but I don’t believe this guy did this for a minute because he hated Muslims. The CNN article says he was drunk when he was arrested. This seems to be a case of a dumbass who couldn’t handle his booze and who gets violent when he drinks. He should go to jail for a long time but to blame it on the opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque is absurd (but not out of the realm of the supporters of the Mosque).

  • On The NewsCorp Donation To the Republican Governors’ Association…

    This week, the left-stream media has been going nuts over news that NewsCorp (the parent company of FoxNews) donated $1 million to the Republican Governors’ Association. This donation was certifiable proof for many Fox-haters that the network was in the bag for the Republicans. Of course, most media outlets did not report NewsCorp’s other donations.

    More below the fold…

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  • Ground Zero Mosque Supporters Want Bush To Save Them (And Obama)

    From the Washington Examiner:

    There’s a new argument emerging among supporters of the Ground Zero mosque. Distressed by President Obama’s waffling on the issue, they’re calling on former President George W. Bush to announce his support for the project, because in this case Bush understands better than Obama the connection between the war on terror and the larger question of America’s relationship with Islam.

    So let me get this straight. From pretty much the beginning of combat operations in Afghanistan in October 2001 to his last day in office, George W. Bush was accused of violating the rights of Muslims around the world, was accused of trashing America’s image in the Muslim world, and of course torturing thousands of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, and GITMO. Now, some of the same people who routinely attacked Bush during his administration for his handling of relations with the Muslim world want him to come out and support the Ground Zero Mosque and save President Obama.

    Maureen Dowd professional Bush-basher:

    “It’s time for W. to weigh in,” writes the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd. Bush, Dowd explains, understands that “you can’t have an effective war against the terrorists if it is a war on Islam.” Dowd finds it “odd” that Obama seems less sure on that matter. But to set things back on the right course, she says, “W. needs to get his bullhorn back out” — a reference to Bush’s famous “the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” speech at Ground Zero on September 14, 2001.

    Wow. How the world has turned upside down.

    By the way, if I were GWB, I would have three words for these people: Go Fuck Yourself.

  • AlterNet Kills Two Birds With One Stone: Bashes Christians AND Marines In The Same Article

    Found this article on Alternet last week. Basically, they argue that a couple of dozen reserve Marines (with 3/25) getting baptized in the Pacific Ocean will somehow inhibit the war effort in Afghanistan. I don’t smoke crack so it didn’t make any sense to me.

  • The National Infantry Museum: A Place You Should Visit

    I was in Atlanta this week to visit some family and I decided to take a day trip to Columbus, Georgia to visit the National Infantry Museum.

    I spent about three hours at the museum and it was definitely worth the drive. There are exhibits covering every period of American military history (however, the Revolutionary and Civil War eras are under construction) and there is also an extensive exhibit on the training that goes on at Fort Benning. There is also a Ranger Hall of Fame exhibit and an indoor virtual rifle range (which I wasn’t really interested in). Finally, there is a pretty good bar and restaurant upstairs if you want to get some food.

    I recommend avoiding Mondays, since that is usually when OCS and ITB will send their classes over to the museum for a visit. With two companies of recruits and candidates in the museum, often times in formation, it gets pretty crowded.

  • VA Budget Insanity

    A couple of weeks ago, the House was debating a $77.3 billion dollar appropriations bill that included the 2011 budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). While the bill was being debated in the House Rules Committee, John Boehner and other Republicans introduced three amendments that would have cut $52 million dollars from the budget request for 2011. Democrats of course did not hesitate to accuse the Republicans of selling-out veterans.

    Louise Slaughter of New York said the following (emphasis is mine):

    “I thought it was extraordinary that someone would want to cut the VA budget to the bone,” said Rules Chairwoman Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.

    This article from the AP quotes Democrat Bob Filner:

    “I couldn’t believe it. You’re coming into an election and you’re taking money away from veterans,” said Veterans Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif. “I guess that’s their definition of supporting the troops.”

    Of course, the toolbags over at VoteVets did not miss the chance to chime in and bash Republicans:

    Not only do they not want their pimps, the wealthy, the corporations, whoever else they get on their knee’s for, to pay for veterans issues, and more, but they keep trying to Cut VA Budgets by millions while pushing Defense and their Wars of Choice Spending to the limits!!

    So what exactly did the Republicans want to cut from the DVA’s budget? More below the fold…

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  • ADL Announces Opposition to Mosque Near Ground Zero

    This admittedly surprised me. The ADL isn’t exactly a red-blooded conservative and while they do criticize some of the opponents of the Mosque for “bigoted” speech, they do use some of the talking points that the conservative blogosphere has been using for awhile in regards to this mosque:

    In recommending that a different location be found for the Islamic Center, we are mindful that some legitimate questions have been raised about who is providing the funding to build it, and what connections, if any, its leaders might have with groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values.  These questions deserve a response, and we hope those backing the project will be transparent and forthcoming.  But regardless of how they respond, the issue at stake is a broader one.

    Proponents of the Islamic Center may have every right to build at this site, and may even have chosen the site to send a positive message about Islam.  The bigotry some have expressed in attacking them is unfair, and wrong.  But ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right.  In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain – unnecessarily – and that is not right.

    The ADL wouldn’t have waded into this unless they know some real scary people are behind this mosque. I wonder if this will change the narrative of how the MSM has been reporting this story or if the left-wing media will start lumping the

    By the way, if anyone has any video or a statement of Mark Potok or anybody else from the SPLC commenting on or defending the mosque, plus post the link in the comment section.