Pelosi rejects Hastings bid to head committee�|�Politics News�|�Reuters.com

From Reuters.

That's right--Nancy Pelosi has, for reasons she has not so far disclosed, refused to advance Alcee Hastings to the chairmanship of the House Standing Committee on Intelligence.

Nancy Pelosi will never convince me that she has had a true change of heart (and I don't care what any moonbats over at Daily Kos might think about this). But perhaps she didn't think that Alcee Hastings, or any votes he might or might not represent, was worth picking a fight with the Republicans over. Or maybe "Judge" Hastings said one wrong word too many in Ms. Pelosi's face and thus landed on her excrement list. Or maybe she has something else in mind for him--so watch out.

She has not said whom she will name instead to that committee. Jane Harmon was supposed to be next in line--but she and Nancy evidently knew one another in grade school and still regard one another with mutual detestation from those days. So who knows?

FOXNews.com - News Corp. Cancels O.J. Simpson Book and TV Special - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment

In the from-the-horse's mouth department, of course.

I don't know what Judith Regan at HarperCollins Publishers was thinking. They have published some truly excellent work lately, including a seven-volume reissue of The Chronicles of Narnia. Nevertheless, if they hadn't pulled the plug on this project, I was ready to vow never to buy a HarperCollins book again.

Christopher Hitchens points out that OJ can barely read or write; therefore he did not write that silly book. Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, both at the Fox News Channel, rebelled against the planned publication and TV special. And now, both release and airing are cancelled.

I hope that Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corporation (which owns Fox News, Fox Broadcasting, and HarperCollins) will take a lesson from this fiasco.

WorldNetDaily: Democrat Rangel: Bring back the draft

This is a totally bogus campaign, and represents not a thing in this world except Charlie Rangel's attempt to make sure that Americans will grow weary of any war from the very outbreak of hostilities. And it has zero chance of success.

WorldNetDaily: Stop attacking Fox News!

Aaron Klein wants you to know: Fox News did not pay the $2 million ransom for the release of Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig, nor have anyone else pay it. Somebody paid that ransom, but no one seems to know who, and Klein's information militates against Fox News' involvement in the payment.

Tunisian Philosopher Mezri Haddad: Islamists 'Have Reduced the Koran to a Nauseating Antisemitic Lampoon'

Direct from MEMRI, of course.

Actually, Mr. Haddad has it wrong: the Koran is a nauseating anti-Semitic (and anti-everybody-else) lampoon. But he's right about the excuses that anti-Semitism provides for Arab self-pity. Furthermore, he opts for a complete rejection of Islamic theocracy--though I suspect that he's just being a dedicated secularist when he says that.

WorldNetDaily: Christ is making a comeback this Christmas

Ted Baehr, of MovieGuide fame, offers his brief preview of an upcoming film, The Nativity Story. (Warning: requires Macromedia Flash Player version 8 or later.)

Back in the Golden Age of Movies, Hollywood made a number of movies that either focused on or included the stories of Christ's Birth, Passion, and Resurrection. Ben-Hur was one--and you might remember that it won eleven Academy Awards. The King of Kings is another. One thing you can't miss is that Hollywood has made two movies under each title over the years.

And now here is The Nativity Story. If Ted Baehr's preview is at all correct, this will be better even than Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ.

That the Vatican will preview this film does give me a slight amount of pause. Like it or not, the Roman Catholic Church has added to the Bible in certain critical respects, something that John the Revelator [Revelation 22:18-9] specifically said not to do. Whether the producers of The Nativity Story are guilty of this, I can't tell until I see this film for myself. Ted Baehr seems to think that this movie plays it straight from the Bible. Let's hope so--because Mel Gibson demonstrably did not.

More to the point, one of two things is going to happen within our lifetimes: either we'll get the revival that Ted Baehr seems to think we're going to get, or we'll get the Tribulation.

Leading Embryonic Stem Cell Research Firm Threatens LifeNews.com

At issue: a company named Advanced Cell Technologies (ACT) claimed, in an article published in the journal Nature and in a press release dated August 23, 2006, that they had developed a technique that allowed the harvesting of embryonic stem cells from embryos without killing those embryos. The trouble is that ACT has flat-out lied about it. Nature has had to issue corrections that note that all of the embryos used in ACT's experiments died. So what is ACT doing? They're threatening to "monitor" LifeNews' future statements about ACT and its research. Evidently ACT's people don't have the gonadal fortitude to breathe or type the words legal action.

In fact, not only has Nature had to correct the record twice, but also--and most telling--Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) have each criticized the lead researcher (Robert Lanza, PhD) for the shoddiness and sloppiness of his claims. "You've made our job a lot tougher," Specter has said--said job being an attempt to legislate for taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research.

And let's not forget that never once has anyone developed a treatment for any disease from embryonic stem cells--only from adult and umbilical cord blood stem cells, which we can have without killing the patient from whom we take them.

WorldNetDaily: How Ted Haggard delivered control to the Democrats

Hint: not by getting caught buying crystal meth from a homosexual hustler. He turns out to be the instigator of a movement in evangelical circles to accept the highly dubious theory of global warming.

If that's the kind of silliness he chose to promulgate, then he is definitely better gone.

WorldNetDaily: The God vacuum: America and the barbarian hordes

David Kupelian lays it on the line: America as a kingdom (Greek basileia, which really means "nation-state") has turned away from God. If the Lord tarries, we have a choice of how to end this current cycle: either with Judge Gideon or with Jeremiah.

Of course, if the Lord does not tarry, then some of us will be here one moment and gone the next. The rest will get exactly the kind of leaders they've been clamoring for at the Daily Kos, the Democratic Undergound, and everywhere else. (Sorry, no links--I don't believe in posting signs leading to an unprotected landfill.)

Sen. Reid Backs Lieberman for Homeland Security Chairmanship

From NewsMax.com.

If true, then it's the best move that Harry Reid could make for the country. If any Democrat or former Democrat deserves to sit in that chair, it's Lieberman.

OpinionJournal - The election was a referendum on GOP failure.

This really sums it up. Conservatism did not lose, because conservatism did not run. Republicans ran. And they lost because they made the saddest mistake that anyone makes: trying to get rich playing another man's game. In this case, bringing home the pork is the Democrats' game.

As Anthony Quinn said to Irene Pappas in The Guns of Navarone, trying to explain to her why her brother got himself killed,

He forgot why we came here.

So now we have to start again. How long will it take? Hard to say. But this time we won't have any more RINO's to give us the illusion of power.

WorldNetDaily: 1st lady speaker to clean House

RRRR-IPPP!

You heard that right; that's the sound of a shirt ripping.

S'matter? Haven't you ever witnessed an honest-to-God Old Testament-style clothes-rending?

The inmates have taken over the asylum. Worse than that, a Minnesota district has elected a Quisling.

Expect an Iraq withdrawal timetable within days. My advice to the soldiers on the ground over there: Just win, baby. Give no quarter. Time has just run out.

And unless Conrad Burns and George Allen can pull themselves out of their holes, expect a sitting Justice of the Supreme Court to hang up his robes and let a liberal get in. (I have received rumors, to which I have lost the link, saying that John Paul Stevens might be the Justice expected to retire. His Wikipedia entry, updated last night, indicates that he has hired clerks through 2008, thus showing that he has no desire to retire. But his medical condition might force the issue.

I pray for the now wretched state of my country. I'm sure Jeremiah might know how I feel about now.

WorldNetDaily: Rather: Bush Guard story 'absolutely true'

In the some-people-don't-know-when-to-quit department...

OpinionJournal - Will today really be the dawn of a new day for the left?

Professor Arthur C. Brooks of Syracuse University says, "No." He makes three arguments:

1. People of faith gravitate more toward the party that honors their faith than toward the party that disrespect it, often when that goes against their politics. I wouldn't know about that; I find the Republican Party more friendly to faith-informed policies, as well as people of faith, than the Democrats have been since McGovern and arguably since the 1968 primary season. But Prof. Brooks records anecdotes of otherwise liberal women actually joining conservative organizations, because the liberal organizations disrespect their faith.
2. New Latin citizens and lawful residents tend toward conservative politics and desires for public policy. Again, I wouldn't know about that, either, given the politics and sympathies of people still in Mexico, and the kinds of leaders they elect (although Felipe Calderon might prove a breath of fresh air yet).
3. Young people are more conservative today than were their counterparts one generation back. This is by far Prof. Brooks' most powerful argument. He notes that Republicans still have their volunteer grassroots organizations, while Democrats have to pay people, directly or indirectly, to canvass for votes. Strangely, Brooks ignores one possible reason for the spectacle of a more conservative youth: that most of the would-be liberal youth aren't present, because their mothers aborted them--the Roe effect.

All things considered, Brooks concludes that even if the Democrats capture the House (he does not believe that they'll take the Senate in any case), they won't be able to hold it long, nor be able to claim any mandate for liberalism.

WorldNetDaily: Mexico ambassador: We need N. American Union in 8 years

Many who claim to be in-the-know, refuse to acknowledge any active project to create a North American Union, similar to the European Union.

But here is the Ambassador from Mexico advocating that very thing.

And am I the only one who missed the irony of where he said it--in San Antonio, home of Mision San Antonio de Valero, otherwise known as The Alamo?

UPDATE: Welcome WorldNetDaily readers, who followed the latest from WND in the News. I guess I'm not the only one who missed the irony of the Mexican Ambassador proposing--what's the Spanish word for Anschluss?--in the very city where stands The Alamo. Joseph L. Farah spotted it, too. Thanks, Joe, and keep digging.

OpinionJournal - The Press at War

The press is at war with their own country, plain and simple. The situation today certainly is not the same as that during World War II.

I cannot help but think of the stage play Command Decision, which became a bang-up motion picture with Clark Gable as a general making unpopular but necessary "command decisions," and Charles Bickford as a war correspondent who, in the end, sees the wisdom of that general's decision-making. What either man would make of the disgusting spectacle that is the modern press, I can't imagine.

WorldNetDaily: Haggard scandal: Wake-up call for evangelicals?

A much-needed perspective on the sad story of The Rev. Ted Haggard, who lately has confessed to sins that, while they might not be as dire as those of which someone has accused him, are bad enough to warrant his laying down his pastorate and all positions of church leadership. I Timothy chapter 3 tells us why: in a phrase, a church leader must be beyond reproach.

Frankly, the fall-from-grace of a pastor who grew a church to 14,000 members doesn't surprise me in the least. 14,000 could be the population of a small city. Furthermore, Ted Haggard has strayed from Bibilical precepts of church leadership and policy for years; that's how he grew his church to 14,000--probably nominal Christians, with no real root. (Cf. the Parable of the Sower, in Mark chapter 4, for a relevant illustration.)

More than forty years ago, Tennessee Williams charged, in a memorable play later adapted for film, that mainline churches were full of hypocritical leaders, each having a disqualifying sin in his life. So now the "Iguana Syndrome" has affected an "evangelical" church. So much for church-growth fads, and may this be a lesson for everyone.

WorldNetDaily: Bush cheers Saddam's conviction

As do I, and all that remains is to execute him as swiftly as possible. I cannot help but think of Nicolae Ceaucescu, who died by firing squad within days of the Rumanian army's takeover of Bucharest from Ceaucescu's secret police. Someone made a decision on something that needed doing, and did it. We could use that sort of courage ourselves.

WorldNetDaily: Behind the call for Rumsfeld's head

That's right: call, singular.

Yesterday, four editorials appeared in the four major intra-service newspapers, calling for Donald Rumsfeld to resign as Secretary of Defense. Those editorials were all alike, however. Now we know why: one and the same man wrote them all--because the Army Times, the Navy Times, the Marine Times, and the Air Force Times are not independently operated semi-official newspapers. The Gannett group, owners/publishers of USA Today, owns and publishes them all--and the editor who wrote those four editorials earned a nasty reputation for writings tantamount to treason thirty-seven years ago. This article has all the sickening details.

Tony Snow brushed it aside as insignificant. In this climate, wherein treasonous publications are still "free," that's perhaps the best he could have done. But at least the President has a Press Secretary who understands the media and how it really works.

WorldNetDaily: Democrats: 'No comment' on terrorists' endorsement

S'matter? Chicken? BWOCCCKKK-bwock-bwock-bwock-bwock-bwock-bwock-bwock-bwock-bwock-bwock!

WorldNetDaily: Lawmaker: Terrorists right about Democrats

Tom Tancredo reflects on Aaron Klein's interview with the exiled leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade. His assessment: The terrorists are right in their own assessment of Republicans and Democrats.

WorldNetDaily: Abortion records reveal cases of suspected child rape, incest

These cases arise in Kansas, the same State where George Tiller has (or had) his practice, and the same State where another abortion clinic had to close up shop when an Operation Rescue operative bought their building out from under them and then served them with an eviction notice. Now the Kansas AG finally has access to ninety case records, after a district judge redacted out the names of the women involved. Those records reveal evidence of child rape, incest, and, more to the point, failure of abortion providers to report the same.

Interestingly, this investigation is an election issue. The AG's challenger has said that he would not pursue this investigation. Now the incumbent can ask an all-important question: "Are you sure about that?" I quote:

Kline said now with access to the records, there may be evidence of child rape, failure to report child rape, performing illegal late-term abortions, rape by force or fear, failure to report suspicion of child sexual abuse, incest, making false information and others.

I ask again: Are you sure you wouldn't investigate this sort of crime? Of course, some big federal tax monies are involved, and that explains the opposition to his investigation--and certain other people have some 'splainin' to do about the very involvement of federal tax money.

WorldNetDaily: Is Islam inherently violent?

A review of a new book that says, "Yes."

WorldNetDaily: Mideast terror leaders to U.S.: Vote Democrat

WorldNetDaily is second to none among Western media organs who have cultivated terrorist sources that will present their unvarnished vaunts. Today, Aaron Klein, Jerusalem bureau chief, quotes them as saying that they hope the Democrats win next Tuesday.

When your enemies tell you to vote a certain way, that ought to signal you to vote the opposite.

OpinionJournal - Climate Non-Conformity

The WSJ takes on the Nicholas Stern report themselves, and similarly find it lacking in logic and objectivity.

OpinionJournal - Beating Around the Bush

Brendan Miniter analyzes the Claire McCaskill challenge to Senator Jim Talent (R-MO), and points out its inherent weakness: that she has nothing on Talent himself and is trying to make her race a referendum on Bush. That, of course, explains why she prevailed upon Michael J. Fox to overdose on his levodopa to the point of tardive dyskinesia in order to make a totally specious point about research policy and the effectiveness of embryonic stem cells. Miniter clearly shows that Claire McCaskill cannot hope to make a winning campaign solely on that. Only time will tell...

OpinionJournal - A Selective Climate Review

Bjorn Lomborg scores Nicholas Stern for selective, biased, and frankly sloppy report on climate change, and what such change, or any action to stop or slow this change, would actually cost.

OpinionJournal - Contemplating Catastrophe

Walter Lacquer, formerly of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, thinks about true-life mad scientists placing their advanced knowledge in the hands of terrorists or rogue states. Actually, Mr. Lacquer suffers from a lack of imagination--and understanding of biblical prophecy. Daniel (chapter 12) warned of the Last Battle and said that it would take place when travel and knowledge would be vastly increased over what it was in his day. And John the Revelator (chapter 13, verses 16-18) tells of a pair of dictators passing a law to stamp everyone like cattle and permitting no one to buy nor sell who does not submit to such stamping.

Contemplating catastrophe? I'd ask him to contemplate cataclysm, a word the Greeks coined to mean something orders of magnitude worse.

OpinionJournal - These Are Not Ideologues

L. Paul Bremer, former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, addresses the canard that CPA administrators were just a bunch of ideologues. This says as much about Paul Bremer--a good officer who knows how to stand by his men--as about the CPA and the good work that the Fishwrap Axis deliberately sought to overlook.

WorldNetDaily: 'We R Stuck Hear N Irak'

The photo in this article, one that I will vouch has been circulating widely over the Net, says it all--about our troops, about the utter falsity of John Kerry's insult to them, and about how they feel about it.

I didn't comment on this while it was happening, because I did not believe that any United States Senator could be that stupid. A man like that ought to be thrown out of the Senate--and the voters of Massachusetts now have a choice to make. Do they really want this kind of Senator? If so, then one can only conclude that they feel about the military exactly as he does. John and Sam Adams must be spinning in their graves.