I missed the Path to 9/11 when it was first on. Should have TiVo'd it.

Robert, I actually did receive a hard copy of Alms for Jihad after I'd bought the e-version. If you don't have one, and want this one I would be glad to send it to you.

Many if not most of these enterprises are public corporations, which means their executives have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders. How far can the use of corporate resources to support personal beliefs go before the executives are in violation of those fiduciary duties?

I am not a Disney shareholder, but if I were I would be highly irritated at the prospect of turning down income from these potential DVD sales.

You think the NYT will be as concerned about the path to 9/11 as it was about Fahrenheit 9/11?

Of course that supposed embargo was bunk. It was part of Michael Moore's (dishonest) marketing scheme.

I blogged about it here.

And no, neither the NY Times nor Baltimore Sun have retracted their faulty editorials.

Robert,
Sometimes I think - I know - LA-LA land would snap off from North America if it weren't for you and a handful others. Thanks for the uplifting post.

The "War on Terror" is a great way for certain folks to make money while keeping Americans fearful consumers. I, for one, am far, far more afraid of the erosion of our Constitution and our most important values than I am of a terror attack. And frankly, I wish more of us had the courage to stand up our beliefs. Does America torture? Does America have habeas corpus? Should we simply slaughter all Muslims? I challenge you to ask yourself the *real* questions - and then make sure that your answer is not morally reprehensible.

David:

You are not going to believe this, but I own stock in Disney! Oh man, I am really angry. I'm losing money because these liberals are pissing away millions in order to put that commie nudnik Hillary in the White House.

Soccer Dad:

Thanks so much for the links. I'm shocked, just shocked that that the New York Times and The Baltimore Sun have not printed retractions. What's the world coming to?

Jeremiah:

Sometimes I think I'm going to snap off from La La Land. Thanks so much for the kind words.

Jason:

So the people who were slaughtered on 9-11, they were what, evil capitalists?

The missiles that are flying from Gaza into Israel every single day are plots by Wal-Mart to sell, um, stuff to terrorized Jewish toddlers.

When the Algerian Islamic Front slit the throats of 100,000 Arab men, women and children who would not go along with their Caliphite program that was just a way of creating more "fearful consumers?"

When Islamic radicals in America, England and France preach that they wish to liquidate all Jews and Christians, destroy Democracy, and make Sharia the law of the land you think they are just kidding, correct?

You think President Bush is the true enemy. You think the CIA are like Big Brother. You think Gitmo is a, dramatic music sting here, Baaaad Place. You think habeus corpus is threatened because murderous foreign combatants who don't wear uniforms are not extended the same rights as American citizens.

So, you're not afraid of terror attacks.

But I'll bet you're really terrified of global warming.

Thanks so much for writing, Jason. There's nothing we like better than clarity. You do vote for the Democrats, right?

Robert, what a great post, informative and insightful. Thank you.

I'm hoping 'Jason 6:22 P.M.' is joking - even this week 3 were arrested in Germany in a confirmed terrorist plot set to unfold next week...no coincidence 9/11 anniversary falls then. This isn't a joke, or a game, or a passing whim.

Either sheer ignorance or idiocy will cause our demise. The enemy just has to patiently wait at the gate because from what I see, it won't take too long.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/world/europe/05cnd-germany.html?em&ex=1189137600&en=b1db4ad60b4d6e8d&ei=5087%0A

Dana:

Glad you liked the post. I fear that Jason is not joking. I know many like him in Hollywood. The truth is most liberals are incapable of standing up to true evil so they scratch and paw at imaginary monsters knowing full well that no harm will ever come to them. Meanwhile the rest of us are busy confronting really bad people who will not hesitate to saw off our heads given the first opportunity.

The Jasons of this world don't care that Iran just hung several homosexual men in a public square.

They don't care that Iran has promised to nuke Israel off the face of the earth.

They don't care that Saudia Arabia stones women to death on the suspicion of adultery.

They don't care that cells of Islamo Nazis are busy all over America plotting how to kill innocent Americans.

They don't care that the synagogue I attend has to have armed guards because a prison plot by Islamo Nazis was uncovered that involved blowing us to bits: men, women and children.

No, they're convinced that the Constitution is being eroded because a Republican is in office.

Believe me, if a Democrat was in office and pursuing the exact same policies, they wouldn't raise a single objection.

Robert,

Thanks for the post and keep up the good fight!

"Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character."

Margaret Chase Smith

Your gratitude to De Palma is understandable and quite honorable and in no way undermines your conservative credentials.

You are right about Hollywood caring more about ideology than profits. The left is selective in their caring.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/when_the_left_cares_and_when_i.html

Robert,
Your response to Jason was brilliant and to the point. I wish I had your way with words.

btw - the recent series "The Starter Wife" reminds me of the Hollywood shenanigans you describe.

mata

Robert:
Olmert and co. have just leaked a teaser to the press.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3446978,00.html

Before an Israeli govt. signs any pathetic appeasement treaty with the palestinians they "leak" the contents of the treaty unanimously to the press several months before the signing.

Usually a minister is given the task of floating the trial balloon in the press. The Govt officialy denies the story and the PM has no comment.

Once the story is published opinion polls are quickly taken to see if the Govt. can withstand the opposition.
If the polls are favorable the local TV news(mainly liberal left) starts debating the issue.

Eventually the treaty garners support by the liberal left and anyone opposing the giveaway is deemed a radical extremist.

Chaim Ramon is the latest flunky to bear this challenge.

I expect the debates on TV to begin early next week.

I'll keep you posted

David
Tel-Aviv

Good post.

While I don’t share Jason’s laissez-faire attitude when it comes to terrorist and terrorist actions, I do share his concern over the erosion of our Constitutional rights. In the name of security we, the American people, have acquiesced a number of our rights to the government. This is, in my opinion, a very scary path to follow. I can not help but ask the question, when does the price, in civil rights, become too high as to offset the cost of safety? Unfortunately erosion of individual rights generally comes in incremental steps so that when one realizes what has transpired it is far too late. However, only time will tell as to whether this was a fair bargain or not.
The true question is how do we combat terrorism and still maintain those intrinsic values which make us a great nation, and which our enemies (the terrorists) view as our greatest weakness, our individual freedoms.

Chris:
The right to vote, freedom of speech, religious freedom, are only a few of the civil liberties which make our great democracy great.

Impingement on only some aspects of our personnal privacy is a small price to pay to maintain security and thwart terrorist acts.

Don't confuse security with erosion of our Constitution.

David
Tel-Aviv

Chris said: "...we, the American people, have acquiesced a number of our rights to the government."

I have not lost any of my rights as an American citizen. Please list the rights you feel you have lost. Thank you.

XP:

Great quote, I'll put it in my memory bank. Thanks so much for the vote of confidence. More than anything, I hate ingratitude. I owe Brian, big-time.

Mata Hari:

Thanks so much, I have a feeling my response won't change his mind. If he ever watched the Daniel Pearl z'l, beheading, he'd probably claim that it's a plot by VP Cheney to increase profits for Haliburton.

David:

Olmert & Co are almost as dangerous as Hamas. There, I've said it.

Gazastan, now a forward base for every transnational terrorist gang in the world, is not a reality nor a caution for the present government. No, they want to create a second terrorist front in Judea and Samaria.

Who said Jews are smart?

Chris:

Thanks so much for writing.

We are fighting an incredibly adaptive enemy who use our rights and our Constitution against us at every opportunity.

The Constitution is not a suicide pact.

In times of war, The President and the Congress have always taken strong measures to counter those who would threaten the security of this country. Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt took measures which, to civil libertarians of our time, are just plain morally wrong, if not unlawful. But common sense judgments must be made in times of war.

The Islamic Republic of Iran declared war against America over 30 years ago. They have been killing Americans, and Jews with impunity ever since.

Dozens of transnational Islamist gangs have also declared war/jihad against America, Jews-Israel, the West, Christians, and all infidels. It seems to me that this country has been incredibly slow to recognize and act against this mortal threat.

I believe that the hysteria over the so-called "erosion of civil rights," something that has not occurred, is designed to pull focus from the true threat: Islamo Nazis.

I believe that those who rail about civil rights are petrified to face evil because real evil and its practitioners, the jihadists, are violent, homicidal men and women who do not negotiate and give no quarter.

The last words Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh said to his Arab/Muslim murderer was: "We can still talk."

His killer stabbed him in the heart and then slit Van Gogh's throat so deeply that his head was almost severed from his body.

Much safer and far more fashionable to attack President Bush and his policies. What's the worst that can happen? You get an Op Ed column in the New York Times.

"I believe that those who rail about civil rights are petrified to face evil because real evil and its practitioners, the jihadists, are violent, homicidal men and women who do not negotiate and give no quarter."

Robert,

You are exactly right on this point. This is what Dr. Rittenberg is speaking to in his article *Courage, Cowardice and the Wordsmiths* By Stephen Rittenberg, MD.

"Many fine and noble efforts have been made to awaken the Western world to the mortal threat posed to its moral foundations and its very existence by militant Islam. The openly declared intentions of these enemies of Western civilization, accompanied by their daily deeds of mayhem, would seem to be enough to awaken us. Testimony by former adherents like the brave Walid Shoebat should sound an alarm that would wake the deepest sleeper.

Yet many in the Western world remain in a sound, politically correct, post-modern sleep. Why is this? When evidence is ignored, when savagery is blamed on provocation by its victims, when a Jew-hating death cult is described as a religion of peace, when media and governing elites see little difference between the firemen and the fire, there must be non-rational forces at play. Rational discussion doesn't always work because fear is great, terror has worked on many, and amongst the wordsmith elite, cowardice is the usual response."

http://americanthinker.com/2007/08/courage_cowardice_and_the_word_1.html

As you say, it is easier and safer for them to blame Pres. Bush.

I do share his concern over the erosion of our Constitutional rights. In the name of security we, the American people, have acquiesced a number of our rights to the government. This is, in my opinion, a very scary path to follow. I can not help but ask the question, when does the price, in civil rights, become too high as to offset the cost of safety? Unfortunately erosion of individual rights generally comes in incremental steps so that when one realizes what has transpired it is far too late. However, only time will tell as to whether this was a fair bargain or not.

It is a fair concern, but I have to ask the same question as others. What is different about your life today as opposed to September 10, 2001.

The biggest "complain" I have right now is that flying has become a real chore. It used to be relatively easy to just walk onto a plane. Now there is a whole process involved that makes me crazy.

To be clear, I prefer to be safe. I'd rather err on the side of caution. All that being said, things feel pretty similar to the way they always have.

Jack:

Could you imagine what your life would be like if everytime you went into a bank,shopping mall,supermarket,hospital, govt blding etc. you were screened for weapons and your bags were opened and inspected?
If every time you entered any parking facility your trunk was opened and inspected.

If while driving down the street a police officer could pull you over for no apparent reason(no probable cause) and ask for your drivers lic., registration and do a full car search.

Could you imagine the uproar these security precautions would cause in the USA.

Well, these security precautions are the daily way of life in Israel. Nobody complains or even challenges the checks. Actually, we have come to appreciate them and encourage the limited invasion of privacy.

I for one feel much safer knowing that every person is screened before entering a shopping mall.

Actually, it has become such a norm for me that while visiting the States I cringe at the lack of security in public places.

In Israel we have greatly reduced the amount of terrorist attacks solely due to these security procedures.

Civil rights-what good are they if your children are blown up at the movie theater by some jihadist homicide bomber?

David
Tel-Aviv

First of all let me say sorry for the long delay in responding.

To answer the question of what rights we as American citizens have lost let’s start of with the Patriot Act. Under the Patriot Act the courts are able to hold, in secret, proceeding without any oversight from the public. As far as I understand it these tribunals are held in secret, there findings are secret, and the members are secret. For me this is a scary concept, government without oversight. Now I will grant you that we are in a state of war and extraordinary measures need to be taken, and please do not misunderstand me, I am not a bleeding heart liberal, however I have studied some history and it has been my understanding that ALL governments are loathed to give up power once it has been handed over to them by the public.

Also, by the way, under the Patriot Act the government can tap yours and my phone, track yours and my bank statements, get yours and my medical records and they have tried to track yours and my internet access. Now I will grant you that these are extraordinary times and they call for extraordinary measures, but why does the government need my medical records in the war on terrorism?

Now I would like to return to the history lesson for a minute. The German people acquiesced their rights to the German government all in the name of financial stability and we all know what happened there. This bring to mind the old saying ‘Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.’

I am by no means advocating that we as Americans and every other free person on the face of the planet should knuckle under to the terrorists, quite the contrary. The main dilemma that I have is trying to balance what we, as free people everywhere, need to do to combat this scourge, terrorism, and going overboard in allowing my government the necessary powers in this war. Where the fine line between these two evils is, terrorism on the one hand and government abuse on the other, I wish I had the wisdom to decipher. For now the only course of action which seems to strike a balance is to allow the government the latitude it has asked for in dealing with the terrorists, keep a watchful eye on my government, and hope and pray that when the time comes my government will do the right thing and reinstate my rights.

David,

I have been to Israel many times and haven't any problem with these measures.

Chris,

Understood. I don't go blindly into the night, but at the same time I want to provide the proper tools to protect the nation.

As you said the rub is in how to balance things. To a certain extent you have to trust the people in gov't not to abuse their power and the vigilance of the electorate to monitor them.

Chris...I think if you look at the actions taken by Lincoln and FDR under wartime conditions, they were considerably more stringent than anything done under the present administration.

Chris:

Thanks for your response. I am not a lawyer and by no means an expert on the Patriot Act, but here's a fine link that clears up quite a lot of misconceptions about the Patriot Act. Which, by the way, Congress has approved and continues to review every few months.

http://nationalreview.com/comment/comment-comstock090303.asp

As for Germany.

The German people were not simple victims who just gave up their civil liberties to a tyrannical regime for economic gain. This is an incredibly narrow reading of history. They were an expansionist and Jew-hating society who were Hitler's willing executioners. A proudly genocidal society who knew the program and swore allegiance to one man and the monstrous program he had been advocating for many, many years. To compare America's to that society is false in every manner, shape and form.