Party Disfavors

From The New York Times: Social Conservatives Wield Influence on Platform.

Republicans approved a platform yesterday that puts the party firmly on the record against legalized abortion, gay marriage and other forms of legal recognition for same-sex couples, reflecting the political clout of social conservatives and setting up a stark contrast with the Democrats for the fall campaign. [...]

In a gesture to moderates, the Republican platform added a "unity plank," acknowledging that party members of good will might disagree. But the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay group, and Republicans for Choice faulted the plank for failing to specify the divisive social issues: abortion, stem-cell research and same-sex marriage.

I'm sympathetic to the elephant on the left.

I noticed that Arnold Schwarzenegger -- known for being a social liberal -- gave a good convention speech that included a few lines about putting aside such differences and focusing on the war on terror. Too bad the RNC platform wasn't as inclusive, or as secular for that matter.

UPDATE: Roger L. Simon reports from the convention on Pat Buchanan's reaction to Schwarzenegger. (Via Allah)

I headed for the nearest TV to watch [Schwarzenegger's speech]. Suddenly I realized someone was standing behind me. It was Pat. He had a scowl on his face. As we know, Schwarzenegger does not represent Buchanan's Republican Party. Nothing seems to make Pat happy these days. As Arnold began to lead the chant of "four more years," Buchanan spun on his heels as if repelled and stalked off, heading for the nearest microphone.

C'est l'appeasement

From The New York Times: Hostages Urge France to Repeal Its Scarf Ban.

[Hostage] Georges Malbrunot, who writes for the daily newspapers Le Figaro and Ouest-France, said, "I appeal to the French people and every Frenchman who appreciates the meaning of life to stage demonstrations demanding that the law banning the Islamic veil be revoked, because our lives are in danger and we might die any minute if this law, which I urge President Chirac to revoke, is not abrogated." [...]

The law bans conspicuous religious symbols from public elementary and high schools. It is scheduled to go into effect when schools open on Thursday. [...]

... Iraq's prime minister, Ayad Allawi, said the kidnapping proved that France's position on Iraq -- presumably its opposition to the war and the absence of a troop presence -- offered no protection from terrorism.

"Neutrality doesn't exist, as the kidnapping of the French journalists has shown," Mr. Allawi said in an interview with several European and American newspapers. "The French are deluding themselves if they think they can remain outside of this. Today the extremists are targeting them, too."

That realization, that opposition to the American-led war in Iraq has not provided immunity from Iraq-related terrorism, appears to have sunk in here [in France] as well.

"Nobody is safe," said an editorial in Le Monde on Monday. "No diplomacy can claim to be any kind of Maginot line that would protect us better than our Spanish or Italian neighbors from the death wish that has been at work since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

More accurately, a policy of appeasement with terrorists and dictators is a Maginot line, i.e., an ineffective line of defense. Worse still, appeasement acts as a lure to evil, inviting more and more blackmail because it rewards blackmail. That is why diplomatic compromise with Islamists -- whether in France or Najaf -- only furthers their cause and, ultimately, threatens western liberty. As the Times article notes:

[I]n an audiotape broadcast by a Dubai-based television channel in February, Ayman Zawahiri, the No. 2 figure in the terrorist network Al Qaeda, condemned France for defending the freedom of nudity and depravity and fighting chastity and decency with the scarf ban, adding that such anti-Muslim acts by the West should be dealt with by tank shells and antiaircraft missiles.

Robert Tracinski summed up the issue in today's TIA Daily:

The Europeans have long clung to the fantasy that certain specific "grievances" -- treatment of Israel and the Palestinians, US "Imperialism," and so on -- are the cause of terrorism. In reality, as French President Jacques Chirac is discovering, Islamic terrorists hate the West because of what we are -- and because we stand in the way of the global Islamic theocracy they long to impose.

UPDATE August 31: Belmont Club has more: Shadow of France. (Via InstaPundit)

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Urban Blights

From FoxNews: Anti-Bush Protesters Swarm NYC.

Roger L. Simon reports hearing a NYC police officer comment about the demonstrators: "It's like fuggin' 9/11 never happened." (Via Allah)

UPDATE: This cartoon will appear in the Tuesday, August 31st edition of The Detroit News.

HaTikvah

From The Miami Herald: Windsurfing Olympian brings a "wave" of hope to Israel

Windsurfer Gal Fridman swears he felt all of Israel -- and the 11 slain Israelis from the 1972 Munich Olympics -- pumping his board for him on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. "As if I was somewhere else, and the board was moving by itself in the final meters."

When he crossed the finish line and realized he had just won Israel's first gold medal, he wrapped himself in the Israeli flag and plunged into the water, his tears mixing with the salt water of the Saronic Gulf.

He cried again at the waterfront medal ceremony, when several hundred Israelis belted out "HaTikvah" (The Hope) as the Israeli flag was raised. Fridman, whose first name means "wave" in Hebrew, was mobbed by fans afterward, and security guards had to escort him to safety. [...]

Fridman's victory is a happy chapter in what has been a somber Olympic history for Israel, and he said he knows what he will do with his medal when he returns home. He will take it to the memorial for the murdered 11 Olympians and "show it to them, to show they are always with us, to show that we have moved on, and that we are winning."

We've created a lot of cartoons on the negative aspects of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We wanted to create a cartoon on a positive note for a change. Our congratulations to Fridman and Israel for its first Olympic gold medal.

Fellow Travelers

From Reuters: N.Korea Hurls Abuse at Bush, Calls Him Human Trash

North Korea hurled invective at President Bush for a second day Tuesday, calling him a political idiot and human trash, and said six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions appeared doomed.

A day earlier, a Foreign Ministry spokesman for the isolated communist state described Bush as a tyrannical imbecile who put Adolf Hitler in the shade and said Pyongyang could see no justification to negotiate with his administration.

We'll likely hear more of the same during the Republican National Convention next week, and not necessarily from Pyongyang.

UPDATE August 30: I watched some of the C-SPAN coverage of this weekend's march against Republicans in NYC. There seemed to be less "Bush=Hitler" type expressions than at previous demonstrations, but then I only watch about 45 minutes worth. Two that I noticed: a sign reading "POLAND 1939, IRAQ 2003"; and a t-shirt reading "BUSH" with the "S" replaced by a swastika.

S.O.S.?

From FoxNews: Have the Swift Boat Ads Hurt Kerry’s Image?

HUME: We got something on our screen now that shows this was. Before the [first Swift Boat Veterans] ad we had 42 percent [of surveyed Independents] leaning toward voting for Kerry. After the ad, it came to 29 percent.

KESSLER: That's correct.

HUME: And so you had a decline. Measurable decline, would you say, in support for Kerry?

KESSLER: Yes. The first Swift Boat ad definitely had an impact.

Read the whole interview, which also says that Kerry's counter ad didn't help him and that the second Swift Boat ad hurt Bush among Independents.

From FoxNews: Negative Attacks Often Prove Effective.

Some political advisers have suggested the Massachusetts senator waited too long to respond forcefully. If nothing else, the issue has thrown Kerry offstride during a between-conventions period when he had hoped to focus on the economy and other issues.

Polls suggest that the Democrat's support has been slipping.

A CBS poll said independent voters were split on whether the allegations were believable, and noted a shift in veterans toward Bush.

A survey by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Public Policy Center said more than half of those surveyed had seen or knew about the ad, even though it ran only in a few markets.

From FoxNews: Swift Boat Vets Vow to Press On.

Not only has the Kerry campaign backtracked on the Christmas in Cambodia claims, but the Swift Boat group now says that the Kerry campaign has backtracked on statements about Kerry's first Purple Heart. (Via LGF)

UPDATE August 30: This cartoon appears in the Monday Special edition of Investor's Business Daily. It is also being linked by Mark Steyn (see "Taking A Bath" on right side bar).

UPDATE II -- August 31: This headline on CNN's home page seemed to reflect our cartoon: • Sources: Dems fear Kerry campaign adrift.

The concern, according to these sources, is that Kerry has failed to effectively respond to attacks from Republicans and criticism of his military service in Vietnam, particular ads from a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Mullah Justice

From Iran Focus: Girl, 16, hanged in public in Iran. (Via Little Green Footballs)

On Sunday, August 15, a 16-year-old girl in the town of Neka, northern Iran, was executed. Ateqeh Sahaleh was hanged in public on Simetry Street off Rah Ahan Street at the city center. The sentence was issued by the head of Neka’s Justice Department and subsequently upheld by the mullahs’ Supreme Court and carried out with the approval of Judiciary Chief Mahmoud Shahroudi.

In her summary trial, the teenage victim did not have any lawyer and efforts by her family to recruit a lawyer was to no avail. Ateqeh personally defended herself. She told the religious judge, Haji Rezaii, that he should punish the main perpetrators of moral corruption not the victims.

The judge personally pursued Ateqeh’s death sentence, beyond all normal procedures and finally gained the approval of the Supreme Court. After her execution Rezai said her punishment was not execution but he had her executed for her "sharp tongue". [Emphasis added]

'Free Iran' News has translated from Farsi another article:

The animosity and anger of [local judge] Haji Reza was so strong that he personally put the rope around the girl's delicate neck and personally gave the signal to the crane operator, by raising his hand, to begin pulling the rope.

And Iran-Va-Jahan reports that Amnesty International has issued a statement on the execution of Ateqeh Sahaleh.

UPDATE August 30: This cartoon appeared in the Sunday, August 29th edition of The Washington Times.