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Nightly Ramble: This And That

The Music:

lotr1.jpgOK, this is going to be a little odd; I’m actually listening to the soundtrack from Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.

Sometimes, particularly after you’ve heard a sound track a few times, by virtue of seeing the movie, it’s nice to examine the music itself. Given the epic nature of the film, the music is somewhat more bombastic than most, but appropriately so. Howard Shore earned his keep with this one.
* This [1] makes me mindful of the last time I tried to ride in a Ford Fiesta. Never again, with those small cars. Never again. Not only for comfort reasons, but for safety as well; paid a good friend I’m one of those things a few years ago.  It’s not an experience I’d like to live through myself.  To do it non stop for two weeks? Ouch.

This [2] furthers my arguments about the international press..

Not only did the Associated Press bury [3] their report that 367 cars had been torched in France, now it turns out that the media have been lying about the violence.

Because the actual number of cars destroyed by “youths” last night was 730—about twice the number reported by the AP.

You see, I’ve already put up two posts about this today, but this is too rich not to mention it at some point, so I may as well put it in the ramble. As LGF indicates later in the same article, The French media has declared openly that they’re going to cover up the true extent of violence.  And as he further points out, the French constitutional council has recently passed a law criminalizing the reporting of acts of violence by anyone other than “professional journalists”.
The reason of course for this, is that so-called “professional” journalist can be easily controlled by the leftists in power.  approach the main reason, that this is not being reported, is the rather obvious link between that violence and Royale calling for it. here and the states, we call such things inciting a riot.  That would be something that she would bear direct responsibility for.  In this case, in socialist France, we seem to have found a way around these problems; simply ignore them.
There’s also a major reason why this is not being reported widely here in the states; it’s because there’s an awful lot of parallels going on, between Royale, and Hillary Clinton, and their supporters. I don’t think it’s going to take a great deal of transposition, to come up with similar scenarios, here in the states, following the ’08 elections. However, I will tell you up front that that’s precisely what’s going to happen.  You may think that a bold, and somewhat outlandish production, but I don’t think so.

Perhaps if you were to consider closely the unbridled illogical and unreasoning anger on the part of the democrats, that’s been there since Al Gore lost in 2000…. you’d understand.
Unfortunately, that comparison works both ways; Sarkozy is about to experience the same kind of media smear treatments that George Bush has been experiencing your own home.  I can’t imagine that he didn’t understand that, going in; Sarkozy is no dummy.  And that’s a bit of comfort, on that score.  Still, I don’t think I’d like to be in his shoes, right now.

And what of Royal?

Newt Gingrich [4] who has been often wrong, recently, still makes an interesting comment today in Human Events:

Incumbent French President Jacques Chirac had been twice elected, has served a total of 12 years in office, and is very unpopular. Coming into this election, people were very tired of the Chirac government and there was a sense that there had to be change.

But the opposition on the left, the Socialist Party, failed completely to capitalize on this desire for change. They nominated a candidate of great achievement, Ségolène Royal, but she proved herself to be the candidate of the status quo, not the candidate of change. She was actually committed to keeping all the bureaucracies that were failing and all the policies that were creating unemployment. She was committed to avoiding the changes necessary for a French future of prosperity, opportunity and safety.

bnr.jpgWhat Gingrich fails to realize, is precisely what the left worldwide fails to understand; change for its own sake isn’t the issue.  What you change two, has to work; socialism never does.  Never has.  Never will.  Apparently, somewhere north of 53% of the French nation, has figured out that particular point.
Gingrich, also, however, paints a picture of Sarkozy, that is very different from what the mainstream press here in the states will tell you;

He was born of Hungarian parents who had fled communism in Eastern Europe. That makes him the first president of France who is a first-generation immigrant. It also means his name doesn’t sound very French. And his style certainly isn’t very French. He is a tough, confrontational leader — a man who has been preaching things that don’t sound very much like the French establishment.

In the campaign, Sarkozy argued that the French have to work longer hours and, in order to give them an incentive to do so, that they shouldn’t pay taxes if they work overtime. He called for tax cuts to encourage investment so the private sector can create jobs. And critically, Sarkozy has said that the people must obey the law, that the creation of law and respect for the law is a central part of any civilized society.

Newt’s quite correct, that this doesn’t sound like the French establishment.  The reasons for this difference are mentioned in the first sentence of the “; he was born of Hungarian parents who fled communism in Eastern Europe.  Here is someone who knows firsthand the the road the French were on.  He knows what a disaster socialism is, from apparently very painful firsthand experience.

There is, however, a lesson there for those of us here in the united states; cool, in the leadership of either the democrats or the republicans, can make the statement that they know firsthand what a disaster socialism is?  Thereby, how can we be assured that they are not going to lead us down the disastrous road the French have been traveling, and if only just recently, and perhaps too late, turned away from?

* I’m not getting a great deal of reports on this just now, or rather, a great amount of detail, but this API report [5] appears to be the best of the bunch at the moment:

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A device left in a casino parking garage exploded early Monday, killing a man who tried to pick it up off the top of his car, authorities said.

The device exploded shortly after 4 a.m. on the second floor of a parking garage behind the Luxor hotel-casino, said Officer Bill Cassell, a police spokesman. He declined to describe the device, but said initial reports that it was inside a backpack were wrong.

The blast was not a terrorist act but an apparent murder of a man who worked at a business inside the hotel, he said, adding that the case was being investigated as “a homicide with an unusual weapon.”

No threat had been made against the Luxor, Cassell said.

There is something strange about all of this, that I can’t quite put my finger on.  But I get the impression, that we’re going to learn more as this goes on.

* I’m sad to see Lileks has lost his perch at the Strib [6], more or less. I do, however, have confidence that he will be relocated in short order; the talent like that cannot languish for long.