Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for The Soul of The West - William Kilpatrick

The events of 9/11 brought to the shores of the United States the first real interactions most Americans had had with the Islamic religion. While we had been victims of prior Islamic fundamentalist terrorist attacks, including the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, most Americans thought of this as a problem based “over there” in the Middle East.

 

While the loss of nearly 3000 of our fellow citizens has had an impact our all of us, the real damage may have been done in the time since that terrorist attack in the form of our perpetuated ignorance of the Muslim faith and the “journalists” and politicians responsible for the politically correct cleansing that continues to this very day.

 

William Kirkpatrick issues a clarion wake-up call in Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for The Soul of The West. The amazing thing about this book is not only Kirkpatrick’s willingness to tackle the subject head on, but the fact that those who need to read this book the most, those so-called journalists and progressive politicians are the people least likely to ever pick up and read this book.

Their twisted worldview has been formed by not only political correctness and a desire to make all things equal, but by plain and simple ignorance. Those among us including former Pre4sident George W. Bush, who loudly proclaim the “Islam is a religion of peace,” clearly never bothered to read the teachings of the Koran. And those with a superior, smarter than you attitude; meaning most liberals, will write off this book and those who want to take on this subject as some sort of backwards hick, “cling to their guns and their Bibles.”

Kirkpatrick will undoubtedly take some heat for his work here, but those with truly open minds and a desire to learn more about the threats we face, should tackle this not light reading and be willing to break through the pre-conceived notions that have been forced down our throats by the lazy media who are not willing to do the heavy lifting.

Jake Tapper – The Outpost (Little Brown and Company)

Seemingly since time began, nations have tried to tame the far reaches of Afghanistan. Those attempts have seemingly been doomed to fail. Most recently Russia and currently the United States have made their attempt. The Russians, after many years, many lives and much fortune expended left with their tail between their legs. Through mission creep, far away from their original stated intent, the U.S. is taking their swing in what can best be described as community outreach soldiering.

It is that attempt to win over one such far flung corner of Afghanistan that is the story at the center of ABC News journalist Jake Tapper’s book, The Outpost. Tapper lays out the tail of 53 brave warriors who are outmanned, outgunned and stationed on the down slope of three steep mountains that it wouldn’t take a skilled military planner to determine was an ill-advised location for such an outpost.

Agree or disagree with Tapper’s perspective on the news, he does a fine job of capturing not only the locations lunar-like landscape but also detailing what can only be described as a shocking lack of common sense on the part of those that determined the ill-fated locale, but also the clarity brought by those who were tasked with the job of making it happen.

Through shear grit and determination, the soldiers put in this unimaginable situation prevailed and only an after action investigation would make it clear to the Pentagon that this outpost was not only a glaring error, but should never have been placed at that location. Tapper does well to serve the story of the brave men who fought and died and those who survived what would be one of the deadliest battles of the war in Afghanistan.

Pizza Bomber: The Untold Story of America’s Most Shocking Bank Robbery (Berkley Publishing)

Full disclosure: I literally had a front row seat for much of the early portion of this horrific story. I am a recovering radio talk show host; my morning show was broadcast from a studio situated on State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, which was directly across the street from the office building that housed the Erie office of the FBI. On a regular basis during the early days of the investigation of what would be dubbed the Pizza Bomber case, I attended press conferences that were held in the FBI office or a block down in Erie City Council chambers.

I waded through much of the same information that Erie Times News reporter and co-author of this book Ed Palatella did and regularly saw Jerry Clark, the FBI agent in charge of the investigation and co-author standing to the side of the podium where the latest information was being discussed. With that front row seat, I regularly saw law enforcement types including Clark, parade the string of bizarre characters involved in this story through the side entrance of the Highmark Building and into the FBI office for questioning.

On one occasion my co-host had the opportunity to pepper William Rothstein, a large, bearded, character decked out in his trademark bib overalls, with questions live on the air, while he stood on the sidewalk outside the studio waiting for a ride. Rothstein remained tight lipped, not responding to any question posed.

They say that truth is stranger than fiction and if any fiction writer had ever proposed a book laced with such a bizarre cast of characters and such a truly far-fetched story, they would likely have been laughed out of any publisher’s office. It is that dysfunctional, gang who couldn’t shoot straight and the tenacity of Clark and his fellow investigators that make this story so interesting.

 

It was a beautiful, sunny day on Thursday, August 28, 2003. The events that would unfold on the busy retail hub that the locals in Erie call “upper Peach Street” were incredible to the point of almost defying description. Brian Wells, a pizza delivery man walked into a branch of PNC Bank wearing and oversized T-shirt covering a large, metal contraption that was fitted around his neck, carrying a large, black device that was fashioned to resemble a cane, that would later be determined to be a cane gun, and demanded money from a teller.

Shortly after the bank robbery was completed, Wells was stopped by police and placed on the ground in front of his vehicle. It was at this point Wells began a rambling dissertation about the device that was locked around his neck. Police quickly determined that the collar could indeed be an explosive device as Wells claimed. The first responders backed away and called for the Erie Police Bomb Squad to respond to the scene. As time dragged while the bomb squad attempted to work their way through the usually hectic Peach Street traffic, Wells became increasingly agitated, pleading with those on scene to help him and remove the locked collar.

At 3:18 PM, three minutes before the bomb squad would arrive on scene, the device detonated, killing Wells and sending this story into the national spotlight. It would also start the clock on the investigation that would consume hundreds of man hours, cost participants in the investigation their marriages and take countless twists and circuitous turns before concluding with indictments of the conspirators who were involved in the twisted plot to rob a bank.

Central among that group was Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, a near-infamous women who was serving time for the murder of her boyfriend, James Roden. Investigators believe Roden had made the fatal mistake of claiming he would expose the bank robbery plot to law enforcement which led to his untimely demise. Further twisting the tale was that fact that Roden’s body ended up in the freezer at Rothstein’s house. Armstrong had first come to attention of law enforcement when she was acquitted of the murder of another of her beaus in the late 1980s.

As I worked my way through the book I was amazed to remember how many of those that played a role in the extended tale had succumbed to illness or had died under mysterious circumstances. The story has told by Clark and Palatella has a disjointed feel to it, but when you reflect on just how twisted this tale became and the manic mental state of those involved in the plot, that disjointedness seems almost fitting. Despite that front row seat, the book does reveal some amazing detail of how investigators honed in on this group, picking up threads of the story that would lead to not only the indictments, but also the convictions of those central to the story. Palatella details his nearly daily conversations with Diehl-Armstrong, as she called collect from whatever correctional facility she was currently housed in to berate, rant, rave and regularly, loudly, proclaim her innocence. It made me feel sorry for him and glad she didn’t have my number.

While some, including Wells family may disagree with the outcome of the case, Pizza Bomber is a fascinating look into the day-to-day inner workings of the investigation into what certainly is and will remain one of the strangest crimes in U.S. history.

There’s a Reason Why Bob Costas is a Sportscaster…

During halftime of NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast, tiny sportscaster Bob Costas felt the need to step out of his usual role and while talking about murderous Kansas City Chief linebacker Jovan Belcher opined by quoting a fellow sports goof Jason Whitlock;

“Writer Jason Whitlock, with whom I do not always agree but today said it so well that we may as well just quote or paraphrase from the end of his article.

Our current gun culture, Whitlock wrote, ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience-store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead.’

Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it.

In the coming days, Jovan Belcher’s actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. Who knows? But here, wrote Jason Whitlock, is what I believe: If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”

Costas should stick to what he knows...sports and plastic surgery

There’s a reason why Costas and for that matter Whitlock are sportscasters; they just are not all that intelligent. Does anyone really believe that an oversized individual like Belcher could only cause the demise of the mother of his child by using a gun? I would bet that there were plenty of implements of death within arm’s reach in the couple's home.

The problem with simpleton’s like Costas, Whitlock, and most mind-numbed, gun control advocates is that they blame the tool, not the person using the tool. Costas and Whitlock’s misguided thought that the elimination of guns from our society would somehow eliminate violence, has been proven wrong in every nation that has ever attempted it. In fact in places where gun ownership is mandatory, violent crime is almost non-existent. Even not-to-bright sportscasters should be able to grasp the concept that bad guys won’t take the chance to act out if they might me met with serious firepower.

If Costas and Whitlock are so dead set against guns, then I would encourage them to take the lead and post signs outside their home that read; “GUN FREE HOME.” Let’s see how safe they feel then. I don’t just doubt that they would take that step I know for a fact that these gutless wonders will blanche at the mere suggestion because like all mind-numbed liberals it’s do as I say not as I do!