The American Spectator

kingsmill| 9.20.11 @ 9:45PM

Frank Sinatra knew how to treat this derivative crooner-----open contempt!

brandon| 9.20.11 @ 9:47PM

people like you need to stop sucking on the teat of the mainstream media. whats worse is you peddle the status quo with no regard for the damage your causing america. you make me sick. guess what when you and your kind die off it's those of us who don't buy into the crap you peddle who will take over. as an 26 year old man. i personally can't wait until all of you smack pushers are dead and buried so we might be able to have some kind of society left if you don't destroy it with your ignorance and bullshit.

brandon| 9.20.11 @ 9:49PM

also anyone who responds to this comment. be warned. your opinion means nothing to me. and if you think american service men and woman aren't capable of killing innocent civilians with disregard. go look at wiki leads. if you dare. i know wiki leaks is a four letter word in this country.

pearson| 9.20.11 @ 10:19PM

You're almost as stupid as Bennett. Give it a few more years and you'll be in his league.

Bob K.| 9.21.11 @ 9:01AM

Hey Brandon you cockroach,
Change your name to Archy. He couldn't use a shift key either. Google Don Marquis and get an education.

David W| 9.21.11 @ 1:43PM

I thought you were serious until you got to the "26 year old MAN" part. I can't imagine a real 26 year old man behaving like this.

Kiki| 9.20.11 @ 9:55PM

Two wrongs don't make a right is a generic, cryptic statement. How do you know he was talking about the military unless you purposely omitted some of the interview? Maybe he's like us on the outside of your borders watching your citizens lose their homes, your children starve, people who claim they can feed themselves and keep a roof over their head going into massive debt to do it, illegal immigrants bolstering at least two of your industries so much they would fold without them but you still want to kick them out, so much of your National Guard being in the wrong place there wasn't enough help for folks in the path of natural disasters, large chunks of your population being denied human rights, your population living beyond your means by using double the amount of oil you produce and we wonder why you're knee deep in everyone else's business except your own.

Skippy| 9.21.11 @ 1:52PM

Thanks Kiki!
I really enjoy your positive, uplifting observations.
What squalid festering sewer are you writing from?
Thank goodness you don't have to put up with being an American!

Kiki| 9.22.11 @ 1:47AM

Exactly why I let my passport expire. As for location, here's a hint - I'm being treated for cancer and I don't have to pay for it. At all.

bsdn| 9.20.11 @ 10:51PM

Once again, Goldstein doesn't Get It. It's called "blowback". You no like the term, talk to the CIA. American foreign policy has consisted largely of poking a stick in the eyes of the Arabs, while propping up corrupt regimes, and guess what - they don't like our meddling. Would we, if they or others were to do likewise?
That's the question that we have yet to hear answered by Mr. Goldstein and others of his opinion.
America has turned into a bully abroad and a wet nurse at home, but the flag waving jingoism doesn't pause for a moment.
Regardless, this isn't the country I grew up in and I am not unpatriotic.

Dai Alanye| 9.21.11 @ 9:55AM

"...and I am not unpatriotic."

Could have fooled me.

jboles| 9.20.11 @ 11:03PM

Dr. Ron Paul 2012. The only easy way out of the chaos that we call the american way of life as we know it in 2011. Do the right thing ----form your opinion by researching every cranny for the truth. Mainstream is not all the truth and nothing but the truth so helpyou God.. I'm just saying

Dr. Ron Paul | 9.20.11 @ 11:14PM

Viva la revolution!
Open the borders!
Nuke up the mullahs!
Pass the doobie!

Occam's Tool| 9.20.11 @ 11:39PM

Over 85 years of age, Alzheimer's risk reaches 50%.

Thanks and good bye, Mr. Bennett. You were never in Ol' Blue Eyes' League.

Al Adab| 9.21.11 @ 11:45AM

He left his heart in San Franciso, and apparently his mind also.

RJ| 9.20.11 @ 11:40PM

Granted some of the Arabic hostility towards the US probably is related to "blowback" as Ron Paul likes to say, but it doesn't explain the whole picture. Blowback is not a reasonable justification for the following illustrative events: a Danish cartoonist is threatened with death; a movie producer is murdered in the Netherlands; immigrant Muslim populations riot and are disruptive in France, Britain and other Western nations, which opened their doors to them. Does any one believe that these Western nations are worse than the countries that the immigrants left behind?

Yes, some of the hostility comes from "blowback" of an active American foreign policy, but you are missing the big picture if you think much of the hostility is in response to American actions abroad. There are many self-ignited hostile and intolerant people in the Middle East. They would exist even if the Western civilization did not.

On the whole, we have nothing to apologize to Muslims for our society and I for one will never forget the immigrant Muslim population in New Jersey cheering the death of over 3,000 innocent civilians on 9/11. Each one of the celebrants should have been sent back to their point of origin.

Red Phillips| 9.21.11 @ 9:00AM

"Granted some of the Arabic hostility towards the US probably is related to "blowback" as Ron Paul likes to say, but it doesn't explain the whole picture."

I'm a Ron Paul supporter and an arch non-interventionist, and I agree that blowback doesn't explain the "whole picture," but the problem is a lot of interventionists won't even "grant" that it is part of the picture. That blowback is part of the picture is common sense, but the interventionist blowhards get morally indignant and huff and puff and accuse people of treason for stating this obvious truth. This is an emotional response, not a logical one.

It is better to frame the issue not as cause and effect but as a contributing factor, but semantics do not justify interventionist hysteria at the mention of blowback.

There have been several recent blog post and articles here on the Palestinian statehood issue. Everyone takes for granted that the US will use its Security Council veto to stop the measure. And then people act indignant at the suggestion that part of Muslim hostility towards us might have something to do with our busybody meddling. Can you say cognitive dissonance?

America shouldn’t even be in the UN and we should be neutral in the Israel/Palestine conflict. This is what is in the best interest of America.

Occam's Tool| 9.21.11 @ 10:13AM

I agree with Red. We should step out of the Middle East and let Israel use Nukes!

Right. Naive and prone to dangerous positions, like a Ron Paul supporter normally is. Red is the best of them, and that is sad.

Red, Islam is the next great totalitarian regime to oppose us. In this scenario, you back Chamberlain and I back Churchill (Geert Wilders). In 20 years , we will know who was right.

I expect millions of dead bodies if you prevail.

Jay Stevens| 9.21.11 @ 10:44AM

" Islam is the next great totalitarian regime to oppose us. "

NEXT? We as a country have been at war with Muslims for over 200 years. Remember the Barbary Coast pirates?

Al Adab| 9.21.11 @ 12:02PM

Conflict between the West and Islam dates back to the seventh century and the first expansion of Islam. While on the surface both seek to serve The One God, in fact one supports the worth of the individual and the other subsumes the individual into the community. The differences in the cultural emphases are the source of this long term conflict.

Islam claims control of the total person and subordinates both the state and the culture to its demands. The Prophet (bpuh) commanded the army and the government. Essentially Islam created a new "tribe" of believers out of the tribal society into which it came. It created thereby a new hierarchy of loyalty which claimed to be a superior one to any that existed.

The history of the rise and expansion of Islam is long and complex but nonetheless fascinating. Not enough room or time in a blog to cover it all. John may want to chime in here as well for I suspect he would have a bit to contribute.

W| 9.21.11 @ 5:48PM

Al Adab,
Several days you commented on the constant desire of some government to establish Heaven on Earth, and how it usually leads as in the case of the communist to killing whoever disagrees. With the commies you have the drive to establish a secular Heaven and with the Jihadists you have the religious drive.
I agree with you that both require the individual to subordinate himself to the state. The commies killed over 100 million from 1917 to 1990. And it continues in Cuba and North Korea.
We do not have a number on those killed by the Jihadists but I am sure it is high.

Red Phillips| 9.21.11 @ 4:37PM

Occam, below you said "answered ad nauseum." Well I have answered this ad nauseum. The threat of Islam to Europe is demographic, not military. It is due to Europe's suicidal immigration policies and their suicidal failure to procreate at even replacement rates (one major underlying cause of both is their loss of their historic Faith). Therefore the solution is not military. The solution is to halt immigration, start making babies and go back to Church.

I don't even know what military solution it is you advocate. Kill all the Muslims in their home countries so there won't be any left to immigrate? Bomb them into such abject submission that they become plaible, non-threatening supplicants? There is a word for that policy. It is called genocide. You want America to behave like a barbarian nation.

"In this scenario, you back Chamberlain and I back Churchill (Geert Wilders)."

In this scenario I back the historic teaching of the Christian Faith, Christian Just War Doctrine. Muslims need to convert to the True religion of Christianity, not be killed.

Sean| 9.21.11 @ 12:47AM

I wouldn't say we caused 9/11, but our government pretty much let it happen with stupid policies. We are too much involved in every ones business in the Middle East. Terrorism is used by people to fight back when they can't do it conventionally. Also when a people come to hate us why do we let them into our country? We should not allow people from countries like Saudi Arabia into our country. It is common sense.

Jay Stevens| 9.21.11 @ 10:40AM

No. Terrorism is used because it works and it is cheap.

M Kane| 9.21.11 @ 3:49AM

I heard the interview yesterday and I wouldn't even call it "a rant." Bennett wasn't not trying to be provocative. The guy sounded like a sweet, but extremely naive old man. Either that or he wasn't all there. Before the 9-11 comments he mumbled about how we needed to melt down all the world's weapons to have world peace. Stern started to joke about this absurdity, but quickly backed off. To challenge this poor man would have been like mocking a 6 year old for believing in Santa Claus.

When he came out with the doozy about Bush telling him Iraq was a mistake the reaction from Stern and co. was a rather polite "Oh, really..."

I found the whole spectacle more sad then outrageous.

PCC| 9.21.11 @ 5:07AM

Tony Bennett died a few years ago, didn't he?

Timothy L. Pennell| 9.21.11 @ 5:50AM

You are absolutely right. He DIED, when he REFUSED to sing The Star Spangled banner, at the World Series, at Yankee Stadium.
He sang America The Beautiful. instead.
He's not "A sweet old man". He's a Far Left POS, who can't die fast enough, if you ask me.

JimH| 9.21.11 @ 7:55AM

We know where he left his heart. Now where did he leave his brain?

martin j smith| 9.21.11 @ 8:05AM

First I want to thank the Ron Paul Trolls for showing us who they are because that makes it clear why Ron Paul will NEVER, EVER be a President of this country--Maybe someplace else not here.
As for Tony Bennett he was party of my past. Now I will continue to pass him by.
Those who believe we caused 9/11 are not only Un -Patriotic they are idiotic, and worthy of being ignored. Thus I do not take on trolls individually but collectively--they are all the same. And, thus
not worth trying to reason with. You cannot reason with stupid.

Clint| 9.21.11 @ 8:33AM

Dr.Ron Paul,
“Our military’s purpose is to defend our country, not to police the
Middle East.

“As the President prepares to send even more support to Egypt, we should
be reminded that it was our foreign aid that helped Mubarak retain power
to repress his people in the first place. Now we have to deal with the
consequences of those decisions, yet we keep repeating the same mistakes.

“I am not the only one who can see the absurdities of our foreign
policy. We give $3 billion to Israel and $12 billion to her enemies.
Most Americans know that makes no sense."

The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.

Occam's Tool| 9.21.11 @ 10:14AM

Cut andpaste, Cut and Paste. Answered ad nauseum.

You are not a Tea Partier, Clint---I AM!

O Tamandua| 9.21.11 @ 10:25AM

(It was VERY refreshing right after seeing this post about yet another misguided entertainer to "google" the phrase "Have you forgotten" and see this as the first entry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6yLQRF-cEU .)

W| 9.21.11 @ 10:50AM

Just because someone can sing well or act well does not mean their political opinions have any merit. Look at the Hollywood crowd from Bill Maher to Sean Penn and the rest. Tony has always been ultra liberal in his politics but I was surprised he said this.

Al Adab| 9.21.11 @ 12:06PM

W;
Our American society seems to confuse celebrity with wisdom. How that ever came about is beyond me, but it creates a huge problem in our public life when we follow those of some reknown in one field into areas in which they are ignorant.

W| 9.21.11 @ 12:53PM

Al Adab,

What timing, I was reading a book about Italian singers and there was a chapter on Tony B. His name was Anthony DiBenedetto but he changed it to Tony Bennnett at the suggestion of Bob Hope and Milton Berle. There is an interesting story about how Tony "stood up" for black soldiers when the Army was segregated. Too bad about his stupid statement.

JimBob7| 9.21.11 @ 1:17PM

Dear Tony,
Shut up and sing.

W| 9.21.11 @ 1:34PM

JimBob,
Where did I hear or see this!
You a fan of Miss Laura.

bsdn| 9.21.11 @ 8:04PM

We're still waiting for the jingoism crowd to start belittling the CIA and questioning their patriotism for admitting there is such a thing as "blowback".
Tain't gonna happen, but we thought we would at least point it out for the record.
Ditto the same thing as regards the distinction between isolationism and non-interventionism.
Which says to me the intellectual caliber and substance of the neo-con right matches that of the liberal progressive left.
Me thinks tho, just maybe, the swing vote is not only independent, but the larger portion of the electorate.
Which means maybe, just maybe, we can transcend the typical siamese twins act in the next election between GW Obama and Bush 3.0 (either Perry or Romney).
ciao

Windy Wilson| 9.22.11 @ 2:38PM

If he's a pacifist after having fought across Europe to eliminate the National Socialist scourge and pacify Europe, this can only be the early stages of alzheimer's disease. Surely he saw the camps and knows that it is the motive and not the carrying of the weapon. Feh! As I've said elsewhere, Pacifists are against sticking knives in people so they demonstrate against surgeons and hospitals.
Well, he's in his dotage. No excuse for others, though.