My company, Edelman, last evening welcomed Capt. John Powers, an Iraq war vet with an extraordinary idea. Capt. Powers screened a documentary called Gunner Palace and talked with the audience for more than an hour about his idea for helping kids in Iraq. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go to the presentation, but my friend Jeff Harrell did, and he tells the story a hell of a lot better than I could have.

The tale opens this way:

Jon Powers never meant to become a soldier. He wanted to be a teacher. He joined the ROTC not out of an overwhelming sense of patriotism, but because the program paid for college. He graduated in 2000 with a degree in education, a second lieutenant’s bar and a debt to his country. It was a debt he was happy to repay: three years and out, and back to the life to which he’d aspired, the life of a schoolteacher.

Jon was stationed in Germany on September 11, 2001.

Seriously — you need to follow the link, go to Jeff’s blog and read the every word.

The central element:

In late 2003, Jon was on a routine — if anything in such a place can be called routine — humanitarian mission to a Baghdad orphanage called St. Hannah’s when one of the nuns took him aside. She asked him not to come visit the children again. If the insurgents, who were always watching, saw the American soldiers visiting the orphanage again, she said, they would massacre the children.

Jon Powers never meant to be a soldier. He wanted to be a teacher. He didn’t want to put kids in danger. He wanted to take care of them.

It was in that moment, that horrible, sinking moment, that the idea for War Kids Relief was born.

Here’s a bit more:

He never forgot those kids, the kids he helped there, the kids he and the other Gunners inadvertently put in harm’s way.

See, Jon got to come home. Jon and the other Gunners did their time in Iraq, they served their fourteen months, and then they got to come home.

But those kids are still there.

The ones that haven’t been murdered, anyway.

In November 2005, Jon launched War Kids Relief, a program of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Not to support the war and not to impede it, but simply to help twelve million Iraqi kids grow up a little safer and with a little more hope.

And the final bit:

The soldiers in Iraq have done their jobs, and we honor them for it, and we thank them for their continued sacrifice. But what Iraq needs now is not just soldiers, but teachers.

Jon Powers never meant to become a soldier. He wanted to be a teacher.

The VVAF is accepting donations. You can give as little as $2.

I’ve visited the VVAF’s site and made my contribution. I hope you will, too.

And I’ll just add in passing how great it is that the place I work had the chance to have Capt. Powers in to talk about his experiences, and his amazing idea.

More about the War Kids Relief effort here.

UPDATE: When you make your contribution, make sure to mark the option on the left side for supporting kids in Iraq.

UPDATE II: Jim comments over at TKS.

Watch out for Rep. Cynthia McKinney. Besides the remarkable ability to get elected while believing President Bush knew 9/11 was going to happen, she’s also got a mean right hook.

Now, Cynthia McKinney might think that all Capitol police officers should recognize her on sight. I’d say there are 535 members of Congress, and she hasn’t yet reached celebrity moonbat status. She’s not recognizable on sight, or at least she wasn’t until the decked a cop. Methinks the Capitol police will have no problems recognizing her now.

Marshall: The House of Representatives is meant to be a reflection of our society, so it is occassionally afflicted with the worst kind of miscreants, fools, and thieves. I’m not sure that Rep. McKinney doesn’t fall into all three categories. Luckily for us, the republic will survive. But I agree with Jim — there was a time when her colleagues would have shunned her as a result of this sort of embarrasing (if not criminal) behavior. Bottom line, Cynthia McKinney is and will remain an electoral accident — a case study on the pitfalls of race-based redistricting. (She would not be routinely re-elected were it not for the racially gerrymandered district she represents.)

Jim: Notice that the scarily smart Marshall responds to my comment before I actually post it. I have surmised that beyond his established Jedi mind trick capacity to get bloggers to praise Wal-Mart, he also has telepathy and the ability to travel back and forth in time.

But yes, I read the McKinney news and wonder if we have established a new political aristocracy, above the law in most situations. Notice that McKinney reacted violently not merely to being stopped by the officer, and not being recognized, but by his expectation that she walk through the security gate like the rest of the commoners. (The no-security-check-for-Congress-members policy sounds like a formula for trouble to me.)

We hear about official motorcades driving through red lights, not paying as they pass through tollbooths, and all kinds of little exemptions from the rules. It is a disturbing sign that we have one set of rules for lawmakers and one set of rules for the rest of us; it is even more disturbing that, so far at least, criticism of her actions have come from only one side of the partisan aisle.

Marshall: I should note that every member of the Capitol Police force is required to be able to recognize every single member of Congress on sight. (For the first few days of the new session, there are more than a few facebooks sitting around at security checkpoints.) But Jim, to me, this enhances your point. Why shouldn’t lawmakers just walk through the metal detectors like everyone else?

For those of us who grew up during the Reagan administration, Nofziger and Weinberger were household names. Within the last 24 hours both have followed their champion into eternal bliss. I can’t say that I ever met either of these two titans, but I have tremendous respect and admiration for each. They both served their country with honor and stood at the forefront of a movement that transformed our world –and our nation — for the better.

Cam says: I grew up during the Reagan administration, but I will confess to not being much of a political animal until after Reagan left office. Still, it’s always sad to see guys like this pass on.

Jim says: I have a suspicion that when the three of us are old men - er, older, much older - that professional historians and layman history buffs will remain fascinated with the Reagan years, on par with today’s popular interest in the Founding Fathers, the Civil War, and World War Two. The change in America, in so many ways, from the late seventies to the late eighties was extraordinary, and in so many ways for the better.

I think they will be fascinated by Reagan first and foremost, but also by the remarkable team that the 40th President put together: Jim Baker, Ed Meese, Michael Deaver, Lyn Nofzinger, Caspar Weinberger and Alexander Haig, among others, were the right men at the right time.

At a time when many of us feel at times as if the current crew in the White House are overworked, tired, unfocused and making avoidable mistakes, it’s reassuring to know that high expectations have been met in the past - and will, sooner or later, be met again in the future.

According to AP, an Afghan court today dismissed the case against Abdul Rahman. AP reports that Rahman will be freed soon but may have to leave the country, presumably for his own safety.

Needless to say, Michelle Malkin is all over it.

I’m thrilled to hear that the Afghan government is dropping the charges. But I remain deeply disturbed that Rahman will have to uproot himself and flee to a foreign nation in order to save himself. This reality still reflects very poorly on Islam.

Jim: It’s hard to say what a good and simultaneously realistic outcome to this would have been. You had a prosecutor willing to push for the death penalty, and widespread public support for the death penalty, and plenty of opportunistic hardliners who were/are sure to use the case to stir up hate against Rahman, Christians, outsiders, the U.S. forces remaining in Afghanistan, Karzai, etc.

What’s also depressing is that there have been really no reports of any Afghanis arguing in favor of religious freedom. This case is likely to get dismissed on technicalities, and Rahman is unlikely to be safe once he’s released.

Here’s a somewhat crazy thought: I wonder if the U.S. could press the Afghan government on its signing of the UN charter, international treaties, international conventions that Afghanistan has signed, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I expect the reaction from the Afghanis would be something in the vein of, “None of the laws of man supercede the laws of Allah.” The U.S. ought to then demand that Afghanistan (as well as Saudi Arabia, and any other country that does not permit religious freedom) withdraw from the treaty if they do not follow it or enforce it. (Why should those countries get the p.r. benefit of being party to those treaties if the treaty rules are ignored within those countries?)

Finally, if Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, etc. refuse to withdraw from the treaties, then the U.S. should state the obvious - that the documents are meaningless, not worth the paper they’re written on, and withdraw from them in protest.

Cam says: Honestly, I’ve now reached the “*** ‘em” stage. Maybe I expended all of my caring and compassion last week, but I’m not really in much of a mood for discussion, sharp rebukes, et. al.

In the submarine thriller “Crimson Tide”, the gruff old Captain played by Gene Hackman says something like, “You can forget all that we’re-friends-with-the-Russians crap, because the Cold War’s back on.” (The quote is not on IMDB.)

Well, Russia sure is acting like a foe, with reports that the Russian ambassador in Baghdad had funneled intelligence on U.S. plans to the Iraqi government before during the war.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service - what we used to call, the KGB - is (surprise!) denying the allegations. Well, what did we expect, a statement of, “aw, gee whiz, you Yankee running dogs caught us”?

It’s been standard in the past few days to remember Bush’s comment about Putin, “I looked into his eyes and got a sense of his soul,” and mock the president’s judgment. Of course, that was the first meeting between Bush and Putin, when both men were relatively new on the world stage and needed a successful, positive meeting. So of course Bush had to praise his counterpart; unfortunately, we can safely conclude he laid it on a bit thick.

Of course, our policy since about 1991 has been to treat Russia as an unstable, complicated, messy but essentially non-hostile state. For the revelations of their help to Hussein, and a lot of other reasons, we cannot treat them the same way.

This, of course, also has implications for our policy regarding the Iranian nuclear program.

 Trust me, Comrade.

Went pretty well. Here’s the obligatory protest babe.

And here’s an image of one little girl from Sudan who was in attendance.

Media turnout was good. There were, by my count, four television cameras there, including one from NBC Nightly News. The producer for Andrea Mitchell, a guy named Carl, kept asking question after question designed to elicit a critical response towards President Bush. Finally I had to say something.

So I said this isn’t a conservative vs. liberal issue, or even a Christian vs. Muslim issue. It’s a human rights issue. And I said if the media ignores the reality of Abdul Rahman being put to death because of his religious beliefs because they’d rather portray this as “Conservatives angry at the President”, then they’re falling down on the job.

Of course it’ll probably get chopped up like a Chef soundbite on South Park, and I’ll be speaking out in favor of clubbing baby seals or something. I’ve got the blogosphere to back me up on this one, however. There were lots of folks from the Citizen Media out as well.

cross-posted at camedwards.com

But remember this from yesterday?

Cam says:
i think if he’s released, i don’t think he makes it to the airport to get to out of the country.

Now we see this:

“He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian,” said Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque.

“The government is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed,” Hamidullah said.

Raoulf, who is a member of the country’s main Islamic organization, the Afghan Ulama Council, agreed. “The government is playing games. The people will not be fooled.”

“Cut off his head!” he exclaimed, sitting in a courtyard outside Herati Mosque. “We will call on the people to pull him into pieces so there’s nothing left.”

Don’t forget the rally today.

Noon to 1pm
Outside the Afghan Embassy
2341 Wyoming Ave NW.
Washington DC

Jim: The only thing I’ll say for now is that these clerics have no idea what kind of emotional nitroglycerin they’re playing with. If Rahman is killed by an angry mob, the Bush Doctrine will be kaput. Nobody will be interested in bringing liberty to the Muslim world when Afghanistan has just proven that it rejects freedom of religion and claims the right to enforce the death penalty by mob for apostasy. The Western world isn’t going to just blame that particular mob, they’re not going to just blame Afghanis. They’re going to blame Muslims.

I suspect that if Rahman is killed, either with court mandate or without, we’re going to look at his death as the trigger for a great deal of violence.

Marshall: Jim pretty much took the words out of my mouth. If this guy is executed by the government for being a Christian, I fear we’ll be far past the tipping point, and a lot closer to a fundamental, and possibly very bloody, clash.

Over at Confirm Them, I lament the Judge Henry Saad’s withdrawal as a nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Over the past couple of years, I got to know Judge Saad. I can honestly say I have rarely a met a finer man, or a man more deserving of confirmation. But he got screwed, plain and simple, by shameful, obstructionist Democrats and Republicans who were content to sit by and watch while a good and honorable man became the victim of the worst kind of political character assasination. Every member of the Senate, regardless of party, ought to be ashamed.

Dan Dalthorp has more at Confirm Them. And there’s a wealth of discussion at Bench Memos.

Jim: Okay, here’s something I don’t understand. In two straight fights over Supreme Court nominees, the Democrats have had their tushies handed to them on a platter. In both fights, they geared up and charged into the arena, confident that their mightiest weapon, the “far-right and out of the mainstream” label, would vanquish the nominee before them.

And both times, they swung at the nominee and…

CLANK! Their weapon snapped in two. Turns out their once-mighty trusted tool got rusty in the years since the Bork and Thomas fights. The public’s view of the court, and the media’s coverage of nominees, changed greatly since the early 1990s and 1980s.

So why has this dynamic not manifested itself in lower court nomination fights?

 In related news, the White House is reportedly exploring an option where Judge Saad can “sub in” for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she feels like a nap during oral arguments.

Believe it or not Jim, Marshall, and I all had a chance to chat earlier today about the case of Abdul Rahman. The following is a transcript. Yes, we typically don’t capitalize when we’re chatting.

Cam says:
morning fellas. or morning and afternoon as the case may be

Jim says:
Yes - and a fairly good afternoon

Jim says:
I linked to a report that the Afghanis are telling other embassies that Rahman won’t be executed

Jim says:
Bravo on the protest organizing efforts anyway, though

Cam says:
they’re going to use the insanity thing?

Jim says:
Not clear exactly how, but I guess the various ambassadors let them know how strongly the opposition was

Cam says:
I’m not sure locking him away in a mental institution is all that much better.

Jim says:
and the message back was, “we know, we’re looking for a way out of this, and we assure you, he won’t be executed”

Marshall says:
I agree with Cam.

Marshall says:
Putting this guy in a mental institution might be worse than executing him.

Jim says:
Yeah, this isn’t quite the solution I’m looking for, but at least the worst possibility is off the table

Jim says:
Is the asylum really a possibility?

Marshall says:
“We’re going to kill you for your beliefs.” vs. “You don’t agree with us, so you must be crazy, mentally unbalanced or retarded.”

Jim says:
Does Afghanistan even have asylums?

Cam says:
something tells me they’re not going to let him go back home. how do you think the average Afghan would feel about that?

Jim says:
Well, keep the pressure on, and we’ll see

Cam says:
I’ve been thinking about this, and I don’t see a way for it to end very well.

Cam says:
I mean, Karzai’s got to do something. either they punish Rahman for having a bible, or they don’t. If there’s ANY punishment, the West is going to go nuts… at least I think they will. If they don’t punish Rahman, a lot of people in Afghanistan are going to go nuts. Well… nuttier than they already seem to be.

Jim says:
I guess the question is, does the ruling say, “he’s crazy, lock him up”, or does the ruling say, “he’s crazy, by the Koran we can’t punish him, we have no choice but to release him in accordance to Allah’s will? He’s crazy, what can we do?”

Jim says:
I dunno; the woman with the two-year pregnancy seemed to get off the hook, IIRC

Cam says:
do you think anybody will buy it?

Jim says:
“Even the devil can quote scripture for his own purposes.”

Cam says:
i don’t think the woman with the two year pregnancy ever ended up on the front page of every newspaper in this country

Jim says:
The CAIR release on this was full of Koranic verses talking about how it was unIslamic to convert by the sword

Marshall says:
So CAIR finally said something?

Jim says:
I suspect that if the authorities declare forcefully enough that whacking Rahman is against Allah’s will, the public will sign on.

Cam says:
you’re more optimistic than i am

» Continue Reading

Abdul Rahman’s been on my mind a lot over the past couple of days, so last night I emailed Michelle and asked her what she thought about a rally in support of Rahman outside the Afghan Embassy in D.C. She thought it was a great idea.

Because a) I don’t want anybody thinking that this is an official function of my day job and b) they’re really good at stuff like this, I contacted the DC Chapter of Free Republic. Beth was nice enough to submit the application to demonstrate to the D.C. police.

The way it works is the D.C. Police only contact you if there’s a problem. As of now, there’s been no contact by the police, so it looks like the rally is a go.

It’s scheduled to start at noon on Friday, outside the Embassy, located at 2341 Wyoming Ave NW.

If anything changes, I’ll let you know. Otherwise, please help spread the word.