As predicted, the doctrinaire leftist Obama is not something new and post-partisan and unifying. Rather he is partisan, divisive, and increasingly unpopular. One would never guess this from reading the European media. Consider the following:

1. Mar 2009: Bush, 2 months in, had a higher approval rating than Obama, 2 months in.
2. June 2009: It was the 2008 economic crisis that won the election for Obama, but the voters aren't impressed so far. Voters now trust the Republicans more than the Democrats on the economy. Voters trust the Republicans more on all the economic and foreign policy issues asked - the economy, taxes, national security, and Iraq.
3. July 2009: More Americans disapprove (50%) than approve (44%) of the way Obama is handling healthcare. More disapprove (49%) than approve (47%) of Obama on the economy.
4. July 2009: 38 percent of voters Strongly Disapprove of the way Obama is performing as President. Only 30 percent Strongly Approve. Just 25 percent believe Obama's "stimulus" package has helped the economy.
5. July 2009: Obama is 10th in popularity among the 12 post-WW2 presidents at this point in their tenures.

It looks like the bid for democracy in Iran has been crushed by the regime (for now). One can't help feeling that:

1. Obama didn't support them enough. (The struggle of non-westerners for freedom against non-western regimes makes little sense to his cautious, realpolitik world view.)
2. The Iranians didn't fight hard enough for their freedom. (Yes I know it's easy to say that.)

The weak, half-hearted Obama seems not to care
whether the USA's no.1 enemy is toppled or not.

Michael Rubin on Obama's "realism": "Realism is about maximizing U.S. interests. Preserving an enemy regime is not realism. It is simply stupid. We should not be throwing a lifeline to the Islamic Republic, the fall of which would enable Iran to emerge as a force for moderation in the region, and allow the Iranian people to take their rightful place among nations."

Think what Reagan would be saying right now
as the Iranians fight for their freedom against the Axis of Evil!

Andrew Klavan on Obama's weakness, 22 June 2009: "Compare, if you can bear it, President Ronald Reagan's response to the 1982 crackdown on the Polish union Solidarity by the Soviet Union: "The struggle in the world today for the hearts and minds of mankind is based on one simple question: Is man born to be free, or slave?" ... In less than a decade, in startlingly large measure because this one idea found so mighty a voice, the Soviet Union was gone."

Israeli Premier, Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with the moral clarity that Obama lacks: "The Iranian regime oppresses is own people. ... The Iranian peoples' courage in their search for liberty is something that deserves notice from free men."

Mousavi is an Islamist thug (as are the other "opposition" leaders Karroubi and Kadivar). But this is bigger than Mousavi or any "opposition" figure. These are the biggest protests in Iran since the 1979 revolution. This could (let's hope!) spiral out of control. This could bring down the Islamic regime itself.

The 1979 Iranian regime falling would be perhaps the greatest event in the world since the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1989. It would be by far the greatest event of Obama's presidency. It would remove the nuclear threat to Israel and Europe. It would remove the sponsor of Hamas and Hezbollah and Syria, and the killer of American and British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It would deal a mortal blow to Islamism and jihadism worldwide.

Everyone should verbally support the revolt. Though after the bloodbath in Iraq when the West tried to help the Iraqis, no one is directly going to help the Iranians gain their freedom. They will have to do it themselves.

This tough new movie reminds us why the Iranians are struggling to be free of the vile clerics who control their lives.

Eight years we had to wait since 2001 for the first movie about the reality of Islamism. Why? Because it is politically "incorrect" to talk about it.

Local and European and Dublin Central and Dublin South.

Good news:

1. Anti-government vote goes to sensible, pro-market, centre-right parties rather than radicals. Martyn Turner gets it right. (Though he seems to think it is a bad thing!)
2. Anti-government vote in Ireland makes Fine Gael largest party.
3. Anti-government vote in UK makes Tories and UKIP largest two parties.

4. Libertas go from 0 to 5.45 percent (5th largest party) in Ireland. Anti-Islamist Philippe de Villiers wins European seat for Libertas in France.

5. Geert Wilders' party goes from 0 to 4 European seats (2nd largest party) in Holland. Despite my reservations, it sends an important message (that the infidels of Europe will not tolerate Islamism).

6. Mary Lou McDonald out. SF-IRA have no MEP from Republic.
7. SF-IRA vote static or down in local and European and NI European.

Bad news:

1. 2 European seats for BNP in UK.
2. 5 People Before Profit councillors elected.
3. Proinsias De Rossa re-elected.
4. Joe Higgins elected.
5. Richard Boyd Barrett elected.

I am someone who has openly praised and supported the Fianna Fail / PD governments on my website. They have made Ireland rich, far beyond the achievements of any previous Irish governments. I name Bertie Ahern as the best Taoiseach ever on my site. Yes, there has been an economic crash recently, but this is a global problem, and it will pass. At worst we may go back to early 2000s level of wealth before things pick up again.

Before the blasphemy law, I was going to vote FF in the local election, European election and my local Dail by-election. Because of my anger at the blasphemy law, FF lost all my votes.

Fianna Fail threw away my otherwise certain vote
with their offensive blasphemy law.

The game "Faith Fighter".
The kind of thing FF are proposing to make illegal.
Click to play the game.

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life",
from the Life of Brian.
The kind of thing FF are proposing to make illegal.

Father Ted.
The kind of thing FF are proposing to make illegal.

The Paddy Power "Last Supper" ad.
The kind of thing FF are proposing to make illegal.
See full size.

The Devils.
The kind of thing FF are proposing to make illegal.

Why no blasphemy of Islam above?
Because of the threat of Islamic violence.

• The UN

• The UN's hatred of Israel

• 2009 World Conference Against Racism ("Durban 2").
• The planning committee included Iran, Libya, Cuba, Pakistan and Russia.
• Iran's racist leader gave the keynote talk.

Boycott Durban 2
I asked: "Will Obama have the guts to?"
The answer: Yes! Credit where it is due to Obama!

Watching what actually goes on at the U.N. "Human Rights" Council is the best cure for anyone who believes in the UN.
From here.

Dissident republicans, who no one would vote for, and who don't have the guts to stand for election, try to drag Ireland back into the abyss.

• RIRA kills two British soldiers, 7 Mar 2009. First British military killed in Northern Ireland since 1997.
• CIRA kills police officer, 9 Mar 2009. First police officer killed in Northern Ireland since 1998.

• These pointless killings illustrate well that, like the rich Saudis of Al Qaeda, like the Weathermen, like Baader-Meinhof, like Aum Shinrikyo, terrorism is not necessarily caused by "oppression". In all of the above cases of rich, comfortable people attacking rich, free societies, terrorism is caused by demons inside people's heads, not by "oppression".

Cengiz Azimkar, killed by the RIRA in Mar 2009
as they try to start a war that no-one wants.

The dissident republicans want all this to come back again.

Darwin in 1842. From here.

Until 1859, humans had no idea where they came from, and what made us. As Darwin showed, all our previous answers were wrong. It is hard to think of a more profound discovery in human history. Richard Dawkins sums it up:

"Living organisms had existed on earth, without ever knowing why, for over three thousand million years before the truth finally dawned on one of them. His name was Charles Darwin. To be fair, others had had inklings of the truth, but it was Darwin who first put together a coherent and tenable account of why we exist."

"He was the first living creature to understand what life really is. ... This kind, gentle old man was reviled by the orthodox and died plain Mister Darwin, but will be honoured till the end of our species."

I think America has just elected another weak, naive Jimmy Carter, and the West's enemies will be resurgent and triumphant on his watch.
I would love to be proved wrong.
From cafepress.com.

"The Presidential Pledge", Jan 2009.
Original here.
"I pledge to be a servant to our President and all mankind because together we can, together we are, and together we will be the change that we seek."
This is seriously creepy stuff.
This Obama worship seems both irrational and deeply un-American. For heaven's sake, Obama is just a bog-standard left-wing defeatist. There's no need to get so excited about him.

The idealistic George W. Bush deposed dictatorships in Afghanistan and Iraq, killed thousands of jihadi fighters, and kept America safe from homeland attack for 7 years. Will the cynical, weak-kneed defeatist Barack Obama ever achieve anything like this? I doubt it. I would love to be proved wrong.

Summary: Israel left Gaza in 2005. All Jews were expelled. And yet the Palestinians got worse, not better. They looted their own infrastructure, elected Hamas, continued teaching their children to hate Jews, and did not stop but rather escalated terror attacks on Israel.

Conclusion: Israel ending the occupation won't bring peace. It will make the violence worse, not better.

• Gaza
  • Gaza offensive, 2008-09

• The Islamist way of war
• Israel - The future

Rockets fired at Israel from Gaza, 2000-08.
Note how rocket attacks escalate after Israel leaves Gaza in 2005.
See full size.