Earlier this week the Emmy's were given out for lesser categories.  This part of the awards show will be edited to be shown in part or all of its entirety this weekend when the major Emmy's are awarded.  The lesser Emmy show has generated a lot of controversy because of anti-Jesus comments made by Kathy Griffin.  For those of you who do not know Ms. Griffin she is one of a group of unfunny comedians who either gravitate towards politics (Bill Maher, Jeanine Garafolo, etc) or make the rounds of second rate reality shows to extend their 15 minutes of fame.  In the case of Ms. Griffin, she won her Emmy for her show "My Life on the D-List", a celebration of her waning celebrity.

While giving her prepared speech which was obviously written for effect, the resulting controversy it has generated should serve as an object lesson of the stark difference's between our culture and the culture of radical Islam.  After Ms. Griffin gave her acceptance speech and it was brought to the attention of William Donohoe of the Catholic League, Mr. Donohoe denounced the speech for the hate-filled anti-Christian screed that it was and called for the omission of the speech from the eventual telecast of the ceremony.  The people producing the Emmy's have already stated that the speech will be edited to remove the offensive material.  This of course has had Ms. Griffin screaming censorship and I am sure that more of the secular progressives will come to her defense.  If the show is broadcast with the speech in its entirety, Mr. Donohoe will in all likelihood call on Christians and Catholics to boycott the broadcast and contact the corporate sponsors to apply pressure if necessary.  Eventually, I am sure that Mr. Donohoe will appear on a few of the talk shows debating a representative of the secular progressives over free speech.  And then the issue will fade.  But what if Ms. Griffin had made the same comments about Mohammed?

First, a fatwa would be issued and any of a number of Islamic clerics would appear on Al-Jazeera denouncing Ms. Griffin and calling for her death (along with the death of every other American as usual).  We would be treated to video from the foreign press of multiple demonstrations throughout the Muslim world with American flags being burned and calls to Jihad.  Eventually some editor would scan through the video and still photos and pick out a suitable Islamic Rage Boy-du-jour and plaster his photo all over the place.

And then there would be the uproar here in America.  CNN, MSNBC, Nightline and all of the major news shows would have representative's of CAIR on discuss the situation.  There would probably be calls from some members of the Democratic Party for Ms. Griffin to apologize, an apology that would no doubt include Ms. Griffin claiming that she made the comments because Bush administration policies subliminally convinced her to temporarily hate Islam.  She would probably have to meet with Keith Ellison and to raise her understanding and he would accompany her as she went on TV to apologize for offending a religion of Peace.  Perhaps the meeting between Ms. Griffin and Mr. Ellison could be co-opted by one of the democratic presidential candidates to prove their healing and unifying bona fides.  CAIR would then arrange for Ms. Griffin to go on a 50 state tour of mosques as part of the healing process.  Overseas, the calls for fatwa and jihad would not be rescinded unfortunately because after all, once and infidel always an infidel.

Somehow, the D-list wouldn't be looking to bad would it Ms. Griffin.

As the name of Ted Olsen has surfaced as a possible successor to Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General, Harry Reid has announced that the Democrats will not allow the nomination to be successful.  Harry says that the democrats do not want a partisan in the AG office.  Harry, it is said in an AP story, says that the possible nomination of Ted Olsen shows that the Bush administration does not understand the people who serve on the hill.  If this is true, then it is fortunate for the President that there are those of us outside of the beltway who can see through the Democrats like used Neutrogena (a classic Dennis Miller line.)

So President Bush, if you wish to be truly intrepid, nominate Ted Olsen.  Make the Democrats fight, make them object, make them state their case.  And when they say he is a partisan, tell them that they need a better argument than that.  Of course, this will require the Senate Republicans to stiffen up their spines for a fight.  In fact some of them will have to rediscover their spines. They need to fight for a good man and they need to fight for your nominee.  Some of these republicans who are considered vulnerable in the next election cycle might find out that if they fight for a good conservative nominee it might make them less vulnerable.  It will allow them to re-build their conservative bona fides in the eyes of their constituents.

The fact is "Wave the White Flag" Harry and his cast of cowardly lions would rather have you not nominate Ted Olsen and claim victory without any effort rather than have to face a confirmation process that will require them to make their case and run the risk of having the voting public see them for what they are, power hungry career politicians who are only concerned with reacquiring total power.

Intrepid

Go Fred Go

As the Armed Services Committee hearings proceed with General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker presenting their report on the current situation in Iraq since the surge, many defeatest democrats in the committee and their willing schills in the mainstream press keep stating that the surge is a failure because the Iraqi government has missed numerous benchmarks and US troops are being killed needlessly in what they refer to as a civil war.  Well, far be it from me to douse the flames of defeat that these nuanced 'statesmen' are intent on fanning but I wouldn't be me if I didn't.

In the infancy of our own fine republic it took our founding fathers over 10 years of peace following the American war of independence before a document could be agreed upon by all of the states, that being our current Constitution.  So perhaps our current crop of 'leaders' and 'objective journalists' could afford the Iraqi government a little more time to meet the benchmarks.  And let us also remember that the current Iraqi government is the first truly democratically elected government in the history of the country.

During our own civil war, fought some 50 years after our own constitution was ratified and a stable government was in place, more American citizens died during the Battle of Antietam (1 day, 22,000+ killed) than have died since we invaded Iraq (6 years, 3,776 killed).  So perhaps our 'leaders' and 'objective journalists' could apply a little honesty about the losses.  And do not get me wrong, the loss of even one American in combat is a high price to pay but these young men and women are performing an honorable duty by liberating and protecting those who only now are learning to defend themselves.  (This would be a good time for the senior senator from my own state, Chuck Schumer, to consider paying a visit to the battlefront to personally apologize to these fine men and women that he so callously insulted on the floor of the Senate).

Of course, we all know better than to expect the petulant children who make up the democratic leadership, the mainstream media and all of the far-left anti-war groups to act like adults.  It is far easier for them to scream and demand instant gratification like the insolent brats that they are.  But we can dream, can't we.

Here endeth the lesson.

Intrepid

Go Fred Go