There’s a tired old phrase that we hear today on media debates, both radio and television “Just answer the question yes or no!”

OK,  Let’s just get this  stupid thing settled once and for all.

Basic debating rules 101:

On one hand I get frustrated when people avoid answering direct questions. And yes, people do that all the time. They talk in circles, hoping it will look like they answered the question when they really didn’t.

QUESTION:  “Since many Muslim clerics claim that Americans must convert to Islam or die,can you tell me why they aren’t a real danger?”

ANSWER:  “You wanna talk about terrorists?  How about George Bush?”

 
Such a fudging, cowardly, political response does need to be challenged.

On the other hand. there is only one fair way to ask and answer yes and no questions, especially when the question is designed as an obvious trap.

 
When I find myself on the receiving end of such inquiry, I often respond, “I will answer yes or no only if I can explain my answer.”

In other words, “I will answer your question but in my own words, not words you are attempting to put in my mouth.  If after I say yes or no, you’re going to cut me off with a smug victorious grin as if you just accomplished a knockout at a prize fight, then all you’re doing is making a fool out of yourself.”

Allow me to offer an example that makes the obvious, obvious:

“Did you ever drive over the speed limit?”

 
“Well …I…”

 
“Yes or no!   Did you ever drive over the speed limit?’

 
“Yes but…”

 
“Ha!  No more questions, Your Honor.”

 
“Wait!  The answer is,Yes, because I drive an ambulance.”

Note: The Bob Siegel Show can be heard every Sunday from 3:00 to 4:00 PM on KCBQ 1170 on the dial or KCBQ.com to listen live over the internet.

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The election did not go well.  The democrats took back congress and the implications for our country and the war on terror are enormous. Our country made a very stupid, possibly fatal mistake, the same mistake they made when Bush Senior went back on his pledge to not raise taxes. Conservatives bailed on him and voted for Ross Perot. Voting for Ross Perott gave us Bill Clinton for 4 years and he managed to hang on for 8 years.

Now, did Bush Senior deserve to be voted out of office for waffling on his campaign promises? Of course he did. And I understood the anger.  And I understood the desire to exhibit that anger in the voting booth. But here’s the question our country asked for 8 years after:  Was it worth it?  Was it worth it to have a man who stood for nothing other than the fact that he wanted to be President? A man who offered nothing but hollow talk when Alchida attacked and led them to believe that they could get away with 9/11?  And here we go again.

Look, I was angry at the Republicans too.  I was bothered watching our senators and congressmen desert Bush and publically challenge his policies just because they knew that 2008 was coming up and some idiot pollster told them that to the degree they distanced themselves from Bush they might get their own shot at the White House.  We didn’t elect the Republicans to do posturing. We elected them to do what can rarely be done when one party has the Legislative and Executive branches: Work together !!!!!!  And when they did work together they voted on Hate Crime Legislation which is code for “No More Free Speech in the Horizon”.

As for making illegal aliens legitimate, Do I even need to comment on what these virtually open boarders do for our country when our country is at war with Middle Easterners who know enough geography that they can figure out how to travel to Mexico first before hop scotching across the boarder?

And when Bush tells Israel to make deals with Palestine, something he said the United States would never do, interact with a country that harbors terrorism, and when we tie one hand behind the back of our soldiers in Iraq so that they can fight a more sensitive, more politically correct war, not allowing them to shoot at Mosques even though the enemy will shoot from Mosques, when our soldiers are accused of war crimes and when the only witnesses are the enemy, and we take the word of our enemy as opposed to the word of our men and women who volunteered to do what most of us do not have the guts to do, well yes, there was much hypocrisy, and it does bother me, and if asked the question, “Do the republicans deserve to be driven out of office?” my answer is yes. In fact, my answer is a resounding yes. But if asked the question, “Is this worth it?”, the answer is no.

You have to be savvy when dealing with politics. Politics is not where the conscience lives. Free speech is where the conscience lives. Politics is the means to preserving the free speech, thus preserving the conscience.  Because I have my freedom of speech I speak out against the Republicans if I don’t like what they do.  But with the Democrats in power I may not be able to do that much longer.  And that means that all of us should have been free to speak our conscience, but not so naïve as to think that on a ballot you can vote your conscience. They don’t have a box to check called “conscience”.  They have a box that says “Republican” or “Democrat”.  No matter how much Republicans may disappoint us, the difference between the philosophy of a Republican and a Democrat is light years apart.  If you don’t see the difference you are dangerously naïve. But even if you see them both as evil, you must vote the lesser of two evils.  If I have a choice only between Hitler and Mussolini, I’m going to go with Mussolini. It would have been nice if Mother Teresa was also on the ballot.  But if it’s only Hitler and Mussolini you go with Mussolini.  It’s called thinking from the head even if the heart hurts.

As I mentioned, there were many reasons for Republicans to punish Republicans, Iraq being only one of them, but let’s look at Iraq for a moment.  The frustrations that most Republicans had with Iraq was that Bush was not letting us be tough enough.  I was all for removing Hussein.  After that happened I would have rather seen us go into Iran and Syria (where Husseins’WMD’s are, incidentally) instead of turning Iraq into a democracy.  We have only to look at Muslim populations in democracies like Canada, Germany, France and England to see how well democracy mixes with theocracy, the theocracy of Militant Islam.  We have only to see the Palestinians elect Hamas to see how democracy mixes with the theocracy of Militant Islam.  Still, it was a noble idea the President had, and when Democrats say it has nothing to do with Al-Quaeda, they need to explain why Al-Quaeda  is the group we are fighting there and why Al-Quaeda  says it is about Al-Quaeda.

Did Bush have some secret plan beyond the stated goal of democracy, to lure terrorists out of the wood work into open conflict in a theater of overseas war, instead of a theater of New York City War?  I don’t know if that was his secret plan or not.  I know that if it was, it’s working.  And if that wasn’t the original plan, it’s still working as a nice default plan or at least it works when we let our soldiers do their job.

I know that idea is a better idea than trying to spread democracy.  You see, Militant Islam does not respect democracy.  It respects strength. And know this: The interpretation of this election on AL-Jazeera will not be that Republicans deserted Bush because Bush was not strong enough.  The interpretation will be that Americans are spineless.  Do you think prolonged war emboldens terrorism?  Then you need to brush up on Miltant Islam 101.  The weakness and gutlessness of a nation unwilling to take a stand, emboldens terrorism.  And this election breathed new life into an evil more ambitious than Nero and Adolph Eichman put together.

Two years ago, when Bush was re-elected and the Republicans held on to both the House and Senate, the Democrats whined and whined and whined.  There was so much of a wine, they were ready to ferment. Naturally we heard  the usual song and dance, claims of voter fraud.  Notice how when the Republicans lose, they ask themselves what they did wrong.  When the Democrats lose they also ask themselves what the Republicans did wrong. So we heard all that from the Democrats last time after the 2004 election.  But there was more.  The Democrats were also claiming that they being the minority party was of importance to the American people, that the Republicans owed it to them to listen to their voices.  They had a right to filibuster.  They had a right to block the nomination of judges. The American people put them in there for check and balance.  And it was unfair of those nasty Republicans to hold both the House and the Senate without listening to the few Democrats who were also there.

“The American people want us to listen to the minority party.”

Hmmm….Yes, can’t you see the logic?  It was a brilliant and fascinating interpretation of democracy. Of course, now that the Democrats are in the majority they seem to be re-acquainted with the more standard definition of democracy. Now that they are in power, Nancy Polosi tells us on election night that the people have spoken.  Well this time she might have something. This time I am forced to agree.  I don’t think I have ever agreed with her about anything else except possibly on the existence of oxygen. But much as I hate to admit it, this time the people really have put the Democrats in power. That was a harder line to buy in 2004 when the Republicans won and the Democrats wanted us to think that they won.  But now, let’s face facts. They really did win. You asked for it.  You got it. Let’s see how you like it. You conservatives who wanted to teach the Republicans a lesson, Let’s see if it was worth it.

When Bush deals with investigative committees and motions for impeachment the next two years distracting his time from the war on terror, let’s see how you like it.

When our enemies, unaware that you were punishing Bush for not being strong enough come to the conclusion that our country is too weak to fight,and when Islamo Nazi terrorism is emboldened all over the world, let’s see how you like it. 

Oh, and when they bring back the Fairness Doctrine which they promised to do….you know,  the Fairness Doctrine:  For every hour of conservative programming on the radio there must be an equal hour of liberal programming, even if liberal talk radio gets zero ratings, even if we already have Public Radio funded by your tax dollars, let’s see how you like it.

And speaking of your dollars...What dollars?  Your dollars will now go to others, a mandatory redistribution of wealth. Don’t bother to complain.  They’ll shut you up by calling you a racist and accusing you of Hate Speech.

But hey!  You taught Bush and the Republicans a lesson!  Yes Sir !  You voted your conscience.  You voted with your heart.  You kind of ignored the head.  But you and your heart can sleep well, while free speech sleeps permanently, or at least runs the risk of sleeping permanently.  And remember, free speech was the real home of the conscience.  But you wanted the conscience to have a new home, the voting booth.  That’s how you chose to speak.  And speak you did.  Good job. Fine job.

 So yes, Mrs. Polosi, you are absolutely right.  Yes, the people have spoken.  They really have.  And I admit it.  The people have spoken.  God save the people.

The fashionable P.C. rhetoric of the day:  “It was wrong for the United Nations to give the Jews land that resulted in the state of Israel back in 1948.”

Look, I’m no lover of the United Nations.  That’s no secret to any one who reads my column or listens to my radio show.  But I find it interesting that anyone who wants to critique America’s invasion in Iraq does so by saying it’s illegal, illegal being defined as defying the United Nations.  Of course, we did not defy the United Nations.  There were 17 UN resolutions that Hussein violated, but that isn’t even the point.  The point is, people act today like the only barometer of morality and legality is the United Nations.  Well, if that is true than you need to accept the UN’s decision about Israel in 1948.  You can’t have it both ways.

Speaking of having it both ways :  People are complaining that Bush calls terrorists, Islamo Fascists because not all Muslims are fascists. Well, not all Germans were Nazis but we were still at war with Nazi Germany. It’s kind of hard to fight a war against an unidentified enemy. Actually, our enemy identifies itself all the time, and is not at all shy about labeling America as an enemy.  The problem is we simply haven’t been paying attention and if our President is finally willing to admit that the phrase “war on terror” was too broad and “war against Alcida”  was too specific, all the power to him.

Having said that, I do agree that we should stop using the term, Islamo Fascists.  Instead, let’s start using the term Islamo Nazis. Call me a romantic. I think any ideology which wants to murder all Jews and take over the world is kind of Nazi like.  Pardon me for once again making the obvious, obvious. What’s interesting to me is that the left has no trouble whatsoever calling Bush a Nazi or a Fascist.  They do it all the time and  they use exactly those words.  Supposedly Bush is a Nazi for invading the country of an evil dictator with WMD’s. As for Ahamadinnejad saying he wants to wipe out every Jew in Israel, or Hezbollah saying they want to eliminate every Jew in the world?  Let us not dare call them Nazis because that wouldn’t be sensitive.

But there’s plenty of sensitivity going around in California  these days because Arnold Shwartzenhager   (whom I voted for and whom I greatly regret having voted for) signed into law SB 1441.   This means it is now against the law for any public schoolteacher or college professor, or policeman or fireman or any government employee  to say anything negative about gays. Private schools can no longer take vouchers if they speak against homosexuality and Christian colleges can no longer accept students who receive government aid unless they censor certain  “insensitive” scriptures or expositions on those scriptures. Why is this freedom of speech being curtailed? Because of a need to be “tolerant”. We have brainwashed our country into believing that the only moral standard worth its salt is tolerance, and in the name of tolerance the state of California refuses to tolerate any view of homosexuality but one.

Since I am a minister, many homosexuals confessing their struggles have came to me for help over the years. When this happens, they are always treated with compassion. Do I agree with the lifestyle? No. Does the Bible call it sin?  Yes, along with many other sexual activities, not to mention, gossip, arrogance, boasting, etc. In other words, the Bible says we are all sinful. Homosexuality is not singled out or put in a class by itself. God does not hate homosexuals. God loves everybody.

But where as I feel compassion for most gays who just want to be left alone, I have serious problems with militant gay activists.  This is an important distinction. Militant gay activists laid out an agenda in the 1980s to eventually make it against the law to even speak against homosexuality. I warned my radio show audience long ago that even issues such as gay marriage are not really about marriage so much as a strategy to erode our freedoms a little bit at a time.  Just watch, sooner or later the ACLU will figure out that if churches are getting tax exemptions, it’s kind of like taking money from the government. Will this happen soon?  I think so.  I hope I’m wrong, and I don’t know, but I do know this: It is part of the militant gay agenda.

The day may come when radio talk show hosts like me are not allowed to even discuss this subject. So between now and then I plan to discuss it a lot. No it won’t be the only thing we’ll talk about. We’ll warn you about all the other forms of fascism coming our way as well. And if the day comes when I am not allowed to talk about homosexuality over the air, I will honor that.  And on every single program I will explain that I am not going to talk about homosexuality.  And I’ll explain why:  Because in the name of tolerance, we are becoming Fascist, even without the help of Islamo Fascists. Excuse me. I meant Islamo Nazis.  This is Bob Siegel, making the obvious, obvious.

Bob Siegel is a Christian apologist who does debates and open forums on college campuses across the country. You can hear The Bob Siegel Show on Salem Broadcasting Network's KCBQ, 1170 AM, Sundays 3-4 PM, Pacific Time. Listen online  at www.KCBQ.com. For archived radio shows, written articles and information on how to obtain Bob's books, go to www.bobsiegel.net

It’s hurricane season once again.  I have just one thing to say about these hurricanes: “Oh that George Bush!!!”

What does George Bush have to do with hurricanes?”  Nothing!  Absolutely nothing, just as he had nothing to do with last year’s hurricanes.  I only wanted to sound hip and radical and with it, like all the other Politically Correct people so that I can be fashionable at  the cocktail parties. Therefore...“Oh that George Bush!”

Of course hurricanes are only part of the news. There’s been a lot going on in the world these last two weeks, but you wouldn’t know that from our cable channels.  To watch our 24 hour networks, you’d think there was basically one story worth reporting, the alleged confession  by the murderer of Jon Bonet Ramsey. Please don’t misunderstand me. She was a beautiful little girl and her story is a heart wrenching one.  No event in the world will ever be as important to her parents.  Not only did they have to endure a horrible tragedy,  they were accused of being in on the murder themselves.  Assuming this was a false accusation, (and I always did assume that) the tragedy became a nightmare.   

Nevertheless, some perspective is in order:  Thousands upon thousands of children are murdered every year.  When the media focuses on one event to make it the headline news and they do it night after night, week after week, month after month as they did ten years ago and as they are starting to do again, one has to wonder if there are two or three other events in the world just a little more newsworthy.
For example:  August 22^nd  last week was a holy day for Muslims.  August 22 was also the day Ahamadinnejad said he would answer the United Nations’ request to stop advancing nuclear power.  Although the 22^nd was a Tuesday for us, it was already the 22^nd in Iran on what would have been Monday night to us.  So, I’m home Monday night, flipping through the cable channels.  On CNN,  Jon Bonet Ramsey.  CNN’s other channel, Healine News, world wide news across the globe, 24 hours a day: What were they talking about?  Jon Bonet Ramsey.  And on MSNBC?  Jon Bonet Ramsey. And on Fox?  Now most of the time I like Fox.  And I’ll grant them Greta Van Susteren. Greta is going to talk about Jon Bonet Ramsey because her year of Scott Peterson ended when he finally went to jail, and the Natalie Holloway story just isn’t bringing in the ratings anymore. In fact, I had been in a state of amazement recently because during the Israel -Hezbollah battle, Greta was actually talking about it.  She was discussing world events instead of combing the police reports for some bisexual cheerleader who disappeared after trying to get her cat down from a tree. Then when this “gentleman” confessed to be Jon Bonet Ramsey ‘accidental killer, re-awakening a case that is ten years old,  I said to myself, “Oh boy, Goodbye, Greta. She’s going to retreat from the real news faster than the French and Belgian army put together.” Yes, I expected that from Greta. I did not expect it to take up half of Hannity and Colmes since the story has nothing to do with the left, the right or the in between.  Sean, along with Alan’s substitute, did mention the August 22^nd  phenomenon, but only late in the show.  O'Reilly never mentioned it at all. But he opened with two segments in a row about (three guesses and the first two don’t count) Jon Bonet Ramsey.

Ahamadinnejad never did anything last week after all. He didn’t fire missiles at Israel as people thought he might and that’s something we can be grateful for. My point is that nobody knew yet what was going to happen and he did tell the United Nations he’ll continue his nuclear program despite their fearsome protests which cause him to lose sleep at nights.  So maybe hours upon hours of talking heads discussing whether Ponce Del La Predator is guilty or lying or mentally ill, is not the biggest priority right now.Save it for the National Enquirer.  Put it next to “Elvis reincarnates out of hatched space pods.” 

Do you remember what our world wide 24 hour cable networks were discussing before 9/11?  The disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levi.  That was it.  That was the news. It pacified our country.  It put us to sleep.  And we’ve fallen asleep again or at least forty percent of us have.

Forty percent of the nation does not believe there’s a terror threat.  They instead, believe some whacked out conspiracy theory about 9/11.  I mean no disrespect, I really don’t.   I actually know somebody who believes one of these conspiracies  The guy is bright and the guy loves his country.  He’s sincere, but sincerely mistaken. 

Let’s put to rest some of these myths once and for all.  We have video tape of the planes flying into the buildings.  We have recordings of passengers on all four planes talking to operators and reported phone conversations from their loved ones.  We have Osama Bin Laden bragging about what he did. Call me a romantic but it looks like maybe, just maybe,  the reason sixty percent of us believe the straight story of  a terrorist attack is because there actually was one. 

Now some of you are with me half way on this, thinking to yourselves,  “Oh sure, Alcida did attack but what did Iraq have to do with Alcida?  OK, a quick review for the pop quiz coming up:

1) Bush never declared war on Alcida, He declared war on all terrorists and all countries that harbor terrorists. If Hussein doesn’t qualify, nobody qualifies.

2) Saddam Hussein sponsored Palestinian suicide bombers who targeted and murdered Israeli civilians. I know they were just Jews but to those of us who are Jewish, that meant something.

3) Saddam Hussein publicly congratulated Alcida after 9/11. We should have taken him out just for that alone.

4) His sponsored Palestinians danced on the streets on 9/11 celebrating the death of Americans.

5) The 9/ll commission discovered that there was indeed a strong link between Hussein and Alcida,.  He may not have planned 9/ll specifically, but he supported Alcida,  I offer this  information only for those of you who needed to hear the word “ Alcida”  because, again, it’s not about Alcida,.  It’s about all of them, Hezbollah, Hamas  the Muslim snipers on the East Coast, not too long ago, the Muslim who tried to blow up a bomb at a college foot ball game, the Muslim who tried to run college students over in his car, the Muslim who shot and killed some people at LAX, the Muslim who killed some women at a Jewish school in Washington…Are you starting to notice a theme?   I used to love listening to the commentators talk about these stories, saying things like, “It seems confirmed that the perpetrator did not belong to Alcida,” 

Whew…That’s a relief.  The families of the dead feel so much better now. Oh sure, a horrible bloodthirsty murder happened, but not at the hands of Alcida. Don’t worry. Be happy.

Now there is some good news in the war on terror but it seems laced with a few disturbing features. The two Fox News journalists, Steve Sutanai and Olaf Wiig, held captive by a gang of thugs in Gaza, have been released..  The two ex-hostages are saying they want the story of the Palestinian people to be told because “they’re a beautiful people.”   A beautiful people.  Well maybe  Certainly we cannot blame every single Palestinian for acts of terror. But in our zeal to remember exceptions, let us not throw away a rather glaring and obvious rule: With few variations, this beautiful people hates Jews.   This beautiful people launched missiles at Israel as soon as Israel left the Gaza Strip as part of the Road Map For Peace.  This beautiful people elected the terrorist group Hamas to be its government., and these beautiful people teach kids from kindergarten on up that  all Jews are devils. Oh yes. I almost forgot. This beautiful people kidnapped the journalists in the first place. This is beautiful, Bob Siegel, making the obvious obvious.

Bob Siegel is a Christian apologist who does debates and open forums on college campuses across the country. You can hear The Bob Siegel Show on Salem Broadcasting Network's KCBQ, 1170 AM, Sundays 3-4 PM, Pacific. Listen online  at www.KCBQ.com. For archived radio shows, written articles and information on how to obtain Bob's books, go to www.bobsiegel.net

On the heels of the recent attempt to blow up some British flights mid air, the sleeping west has had to face the fact that terrorism just might still be alive and well. Since “evil” seems to be an extinct word, alternative explanations for the terrorism are once again being offered. My favorite? “Terrorism exists because of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Until we solve the problem of the Middle East, terrorism will continue.”

 Let’s see if we can follow this flawless logic:  Muslims blowing up British and Americans do so because of the Middle East. And Muslims blowing up people in Bali and in Spain do so because of the Middle East.  And in the Sudan where  thousands upon thousands of Christians are murdered by Muslims, it’s all because of the Middle East. And in the Philippines, where Muslims murder people and in India where there was as terrorist attack just recently that our media seems  to have forgotten about…All because of the Middle East. Oh…I almost forgot. It’s also because of George Bush. It couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that Muslim terrorists believe in  book which commands them to kill anyone who won’t convert to Islam. No sir. It’s only because of the conflict in the Middle East.

 Meanwhile, back in England:  Evidently the potential bomb this time involved several liquids, harmless by themselves, explosive when mixed together. Now each time something like this happens, they have to add some new rules at the airport, not just the British airport, but our American airports as well.  Last time it was the elimination of razor blades or any other sharp object. Now, no liquid can be carried on to the plane. No drinks. No shaving lotion. Only a few important items like baby formula and that has to be checked.  Wonderful,

 Of course if these 9/11 men who were actually fingered by the FBI had been deported instead of allowed to stay because their lawyers threatened a law suit. maybe 3000 people would still be alive and maybe the airport could have been spared stupid box cutter rules.

 What’s next?  Somebody will set off a bomb in the bathroom on the plane and so passengers won’t be allowed to go to the bathroom anymore? They’ll have to hold it the entire flight?

 Yes, Sir. New extra security measures, as if the lines weren’t slow enough already, now we’ve giving the airlines a new excuse to be their regular lightening speed selves

 Actually, this is probably only the beginning.In order to take extra, special security measures, there is serious talk now about eventually just making everybody check all of their luggage. No more carry-ons!  That way no bomb can get on the plane because people who work for the airport will be going through all of your bags and none of them could possibly plant anything in your luggage. Of course,  people from middle eastern, terrorist harboring countries are not allowed to be refused jobs at the airport because that would be racist. And don’t think we’ll just do like the Israelis and learn to stop only people who fit suspicious profiles because, well… you can’t look at a profile without profiling and “profiling” has become a Politically Incorrect word.

 You see, it isn’t really about stopping the terrorists.  Its about creating airport security rules which look like we are really stopping them. That’s why  little  old ladies who can hardly move get stopped and questioned. But if you’re a young man from a Muslim country, step right on board. 

 And so, my friend,  forget about those quick electronic tickets that you punch out yourself from the computer terminal.  Forget about  heading right out to the gate because you only brought carry ons. There won’t be any more carry- ons, Jack.

 “Well OK,”  some of you are saying to yourselves. “So it takes a little longer now. Checking our luggage isn’t the end of the world.”

 No, it’s not the end of the world, but there is one problem:  Airlines are always losing luggage!!! But wait, there’s more. Now they’re talking, just talking mind you, about checking our cell phones too.

Well, OK, do we really need our cell phones? We all got along without them for years. And we’re never supposed to use them in the middle of a flight anyway.  Then again, cell phones came in pretty handy the last time terrorists decided to take a joy ride across our friendly skys. Remember the plane that went down in Pennsylvania?  Passengers were in communication with families that already knew what happened to the first three planes, so they took over the plane and probably kept it from destroying the capital building. These people may have spared our entire United States Congress.  (Although…Oh, never mind).

Even so, aside from such heroics, a cell phone is a pretty handy thing to have when the flight is over and the more incompetent the airline, the handier the cell phone becomes. When “extra security precautions” along with all the real reasons delay your flight, and when your plane finally comes in five hours late and when you aren’t able to get a hold of the friends who were going to pick you up, you’ll wish you could use your little cell phone. But you’ll have to wait some thirty minutes for your luggage to come out of the carousel, and chances are, that cell phone won’t come at all. Chances are, the phone, along with the rest of your luggage will be lost, sent to the wrong place. Oh wait!  You can still get in line for one of those white paging phones, You remember those white phones, the kind Fred Flintstone used to use?  The one with the big line of people who lost their cell phones too? 

 All luggage checked from now on. What a wonderful idea. Are they going to give us some kind of guarantee that luggage headed for Hawaii won’t end up in Gela Bend, Arizona?  Are they going to promise to fire whatever meatball put the wrong baggage tab on your luggage? Is that Huckleberry going to be out of a job? Well, maybe, as long as he  doesn’t come from a Muslim country.  But if he is from one of the countries that terrorists come from, they’ll give him a free pass. And you may just never  see your luggage again.

 Now, you’re saying to yourself, “Bob, safety from terrorism is more important than airport inconvenience..”

 I understand what you mean. Inconvenience is worth it if lives are saved. I do agree, but only to a point.  Think about this for a minute: Messing up our way of life is part of the strategy. Making life more difficult, even in the ordinary everyday routines, emboldens the terrorists. You see, taking out bloodthirsty dictators and cutthroats like Saddm Hussein  doesn’t embolden terrorists. That’s moveon.org gobbledygook or rhetoric from politicians who pay their spin misters for the speech and then go to bed wondering how they were able to recite such  words with a straight face. Making stupid decisions at the airports? That does embolden terrorists. Why? Because one way, we are upsetting their way of life. The other way, they are upsetting our way of life.  They just love seeing Americans create more and more stupid rules, rules that can’t really guarantee to stop all terrorists’ actions anyway.  Face it, if these dudes representing the religion of peace really want to blow things up, sooner or later they’ll get lucky. What stops them is the way we punish them And we do need to punish them even if Ted Kennedy and the New York Times and the United Nations  don’t like it. Why do we punish them? Because it’s not all about the Middle East It’s also about evil. And if stupid self imposed rules are all we can do about evil, then we may as well give up, follow our luggage to Gila Bend, Arizona and live there ourselves.

This is Bob Siegel, making the obvious, obvious.