"That's Right, Generation Snowflake Is Whining Again"

Now It Can Be Told: Tony Blair Saw the Iraq War As Necessary Precursor For "Fixing" the Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Who knew that part of the reason why Tony Blair was so eager to "get" Saddam was his imbecilic conviction that it would provide an opening to finally "solve" that pesky Israel-Palestinian situation, the one he believed was responsible for pissing off the Arabs and making the Middle East so bleak? Once "peace" was effected--and he was certain it was completely doable--everything else would fall into place.

Here's how it's explained in the Jewish Chronicle:

[Blair's] vision for Britain's place in the world, side by side with the United States in the promotion of democracy and liberty, was coupled with a second vision. He was convinced that the Middle East could be transformed - indeed was ripe for change - and that the sting of radical Islam could be drawn by bringing about political reform, including regime change in Iraq, whilst resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  

In his July 2002 memo to President Bush, Mr Blair declared: "Getting rid of Saddam is the right thing to do", not only because "he is a potential threat", but because "His departure would free up the region." And in another private memo shortly after the invasion he began: "Our fundamental goal is to spread the values of freedom, democracy, tolerance and the rule of law, but we need a broad based agenda capable of unifying the world to get it. That's why, though Iraq's WMD is the immediate justification for action, ridding Iraq of Saddam is the real prize." 

So where did the Israeli-Palestinian conflict come into this?  

It was not that Mr Blair believed Israel's actions caused Al Qaeda's anti-Western Jihad, as some of the Labour left did, but because he believed it was the lever which steered Arab and wider Muslim opinion. It was, he said in the July 2002 memo, "essential" because, for the Arabs, "this is the very soul of their attitudes."  

Resolving it, or at least attempting to, would undermine Al Qaeda's propaganda, cool Arab opinion towards the West, and make it easier for Arab states to get on board. It would also help manage the left of his own party, for whom the Palestinian issue had an outsized significance.  

Tony Blair bent President Bush's ear on "MEPP" (Middle East Peace Process) so often that he would apologise in his memos for being a "bore" on the subject.  

Indeed he is still hammering away at Israeli-Palestinian peace now, running a self-starter peace mission in Jerusalem, even after stepping aside as Quartet envoy...

Clearly, Tony is the grip of an unhealthy obsession that cries out for intervention by a competent shrink.

I'm So Dizzy My Head Is Spinning...

The cause is this NYT headline: Would Donald Trump Quit If He Wins the Election? He Doesn't Rule It Out.

Comey Couldn't Possibly "DeLay" Clinton Because the U.S. Is Lawless (and Bananas)

Kevin D. Williamson writes:

Comey spelled out in some detail exactly how Mrs. Clinton broke the law before all that oogedy-boogedy about how she didn’t really break the law. That must be a source of some amusement to Tom DeLay. DeLay, you may remember, was the House majority leader, a Republican, who was indicted on charges stemming from violating a law that had not — concentrate on this for a second — even been passed at the time he was alleged to have violated it. DeLay was driven from office, politically and financially ruined, and damn near jailed before the case was laughed out of court — years later, of course. We’re hearing a lot just now about “mens rea,” the legal principle that criminal culpability requires the positive intention to do wrong. That this should get Mrs. Clinton off the hook is questionable — she clearly set up her illegal private e-mail server for the purpose of obstructing the State Department’s ordinary legal oversight — but, in any case, it was no obstacle to the indictment of DeLay on charges that he willfully violated a law that had yet to be passed. DeLay, once a pest-control man by trade, was derided as “the Exterminator” by his enemies. It should have just been the “Terminator,” with prosecutors in the present going after him for laws passed in the future.

Going out on a limb here (not really), I'm pretty sure DeLay does not find any of this the least bit amusing.

On a Visit to Africa Bibi "The Lion King" Outroars the Palestinians

Technology trumps jihad/the victimhood narrative, at least for now.

State Dep't To Reopen Probe Into Clinton E-Mails--So That All the "Little People" Involved Can Be Punished

This stinks worse than a dead and rotting skunk (my bolds):

Washington (CNN)The State Department is reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.

The State Department's announcement on Thursday was expected, as the department had suspended its probe while it was waiting for the Justice Department to complete its criminal investigation. But the State Department's announcement serves as a reminder that the email issue will continue to dog Clinton's campaign.

The State Department will now focus on whether current employees involved in handling or sending and receiving Clinton's emails should get disciplinary action, which could range from a reprimand to losing their security clearance. Former employees found to be mishandling classified information could also have notes put in their file that could also have consequences if they seek future employment with the government and need security clearance.

So Hillary Clinton, the woman who set all this malfeasance in motion, won't face any consequences for her actions, but all her underlings will?

Many careers and lives will likely be ruined, but Clinton gets to keep going and has a good shot at becoming next POTUS?

When did America become a kingdom, and when did Hillary Clinton become Louis (or Louise) XIV?

"Iraqi Lives Matter" Vigil In Toronto Draws 2,000, Including Some Faux Dead Folks

Why do these things almost always turn into exercises in moral narcissism ("look at me, look at me, I'm soooo caring and virtuous and stuff--and all I had to do was toss some red paint on a T shirt and lie down!")?

"The crowd outside Queen's Park began chanting 'Iraqi lives matter'

as some lay on the ground to pay tribute to those who died Saturday

in Baghdad." ( Tina Mackenzie/CBC)

"Hood Said the Crowd In Dallas Was Taunting the Police, But He Never Believed Shots Would Be Fired At Police Officers"

Dallas protest co-organizer Hood got it wrong.

Dead wrong.

Turns out "blue" lives matter, too.

(Remember how sociopathic nutter Charles Manson hoped to spark a race war in the U.S.--what he called "Helter Skelter," the name of a Beatles song? Seems to me old Charlie is closer than ever to seeing his dream come true.)

Update: The War on Cops Comes to Dallas

Black Lives Matter Spokesperson Implies That "The Police" and Their "Power" Are Responsible For the Orlando Massacre

In a prime example of how the Left devours its own, a BLMer who disrupted Toronto's Pride parade tries to 'splain how her peeps are higher up on the victimhood totem pole than non-Black LGBTers. In the throes of this deliciously discombobulated rant, she also purposefully ignores the fact that the person who shot up that gay nightclub was a Muslim who repeatedly swore allegiance to ISIS (my bolds):

‘The majority of the leadership within Black Lives Matter – Toronto and Black Lives Matter internationally identify as queer or trans. Pride has always been for the most marginalized, and has always been for us. 

’She added: ‘Since the action, I have received hate mail and death threats, primarily from gay-identifying men. I have been screamed at on the street. I have been called a “nigger” more times than I care to count. People have told me I’m no longer part of the queer community because my Blackness has no place there. 

‘People who are not under the LGBT2QSIAA umbrella have used our action as an excuse to attack us with racist vitriol. Their actions are revealing the racism that prompted our intervention at Pride in the first place. 

‘We are not all on a level playing field fighting for the same equality. Any such claim is absurd.’Khan claims the media is ‘fostering a narrative wherein calling for an end to police floats in Pride is considered “discriminatory’, completely overlooking the reality of privilege and power granted to police’. 

‘Orlando continues to devastate me and remind me that I have a responsibility to disrupt a system that continues to brutalize the LGBTQ2SIAA communities that look like me,’ she added. 

‘Part of that work is creating more inclusivity in spaces like Pride. An increased police presence at Pride in the wake of the Orlando tragedy does not make the most marginalized among us feel safe. It did not in 1969 and it does not today.

If she really wants "to disrupt a system that continues to brutalize" non-heteros, shouldn't she be inveighing against sharia law instead of police "privilege"?

Update: Black Lives Matter is suffering from delusions of grandeur. It believes, for example, that it is more powerful than Toronto Mayor John Tory, a man who was elected to high office in a democratic election. Black Lives Matter, on the other hand, was elected--by Pride organizers--to hold an "honoured" place in the Pride parade. BLM repaid this honour by derailing the parade, agreeing to let it proceed if and only if Pride signed off a list of BLM demands, the most outrageous of which called for a ban on police participation in all future parades.

After initially remaining mum, Mayor Tory pushed back and voiced his support for Toronto Police (whose chief, it should be noted, is Mark Saunders, a gentleman of Jamaican heritage who rose through the ranks and became top cop last year--the first Black police chief in the city's history). BLM is none too pleased about Tory's action, and is ordering--yes, ordering--the mayor to back off:

Mayor John Tory should not be taking sides in the debate about whether police take part in Toronto’s Pride parade, Black Lives Matter Toronto says.

Tory “has no place in this discussion and he should stay in his lane,” Rodney Diverlus, one of the group’s co-founders, told a news conference Thursday.

“We are not interested in his vapid interest in this community.”

Diverlus and fellow Black Lives Matter Toronto members said they will continue to demand that police floats be banned from future Pride parades.

You are not interested in what the mayor has to say? You want him to stay out of it?

Well, who died and made you dictator?

To quote former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman: "Noooooobody!"

So will Pride organizers abide by demands made under duress and agree to prohibit police floats from now on? Will they evince a semblance of a spine and tell these BLM bullies to take a hike?

That remains to be seen:

However, Pride Toronto executive director Mathieu Chantelois told the Star on Monday that he wouldn’t move forward on them without consulting his community, and that he had only signed the demands to get the parade moving.

To me that sounds like maybe we will "move forward" on the demands and, then again, maybe they won't. Which, sorry, doesn't exactly inspire confidence that Pride would willingly take on and defy its ungrateful "honoured guest".

Obama's Eid Message As Irrational as Ever

As the Ramadan killing spree reached new heights of bloodshed, Obama once again fixates on--what else?--"Islamophobia" (booga booga):

The president acknowledged the attacks over the Islamic holy month, stating "our prayers are with the hundreds of innocent lives, many of them Muslim, taken during the month of Ramadan in places like Orlando, Istanbul, Dhaka, Baghdad, and Medina."

"Here at home, we’ve also seen a rise in attacks against Muslim Americans," Obama added. "No one should ever feel afraid or unsafe in their place of worship. Many Americans have shared in the experience of Ramadan by volunteering in community service efforts to assist those in need and even fasting a few days with their fellow Muslim American co-workers. In the face of hate, it’s our American values and strength that bring us together to stand in solidarity and protect one another—thereby, making our nation stronger and safer."

"Muslim Americans have been part of our American family since its founding," he continued. "This Eid, we recommit to protecting Muslim Americans against bigotry and xenophobia, while celebrating the contributions of Muslim Americans around the country, including one of our finest, the People’s Champion Muhammad Ali, to whom we bade farewell this Ramadan." 

A rational president would recommit to protecting Americans from Muslims, more specifically, from those Muslims who are heeding the Koran's call to wage jihad/unleash terror on infidels until such time as they are prepared to admit that Islam rocks, rolls and rules.

The operative word, of course, being "rational."

A Dispatch From the Alternate Universe

 FYI, this is how someone who dwells in that murky realm spins Comey's revelations about Hillary Clinton's obvious and egregious guilt: Here’s Why Hillary Clinton Isn’t a Liar and James Comey Needs to Shut the Entire Hell Up.

Cue the Twilight Zone music.