Video: Madison Rising's version of Star Spangled Banner

Madison Rising is a conservative rock band who has released a video of their version of our national anthem. It's very good. Stick with it though because the lead singer eventually uses those pipes. Great images with the video as well.

LEAKED DOCUMENTS POINT TO U.S. CONCERN OVER TURKEY, SAUDI ARABIAN CONCERN OVER IRAN

There is a touch of irony that leaked documents which show U.S. government concern over Turkey were released on Thanksgiving weekend but the concern over that country is more than a little warranted. A point of curiosity is why the U.S. concern about Turkey becoming increasingly Islamist has been such a secret. Ever since 2002, when the AKP (Islamist) Party began making huge gains in the Turkish government, Islamist influence inside that government has been growing substantially.

Via Der Spiegel:

The US diplomats' verdict on the NATO partner with the second biggest army in the alliance is devastating. The Turkish leadership is depicted as divided, and Erdogan's advisers, as well as Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, are portrayed as having little understanding of politics beyond Ankara.

The Americans are also worried about Davutoglu's alleged neo-Ottoman visions. A high-ranking government adviser warned in discussions, quoted by the US diplomats, that Davutoglu would use his Islamist influence on Erdogan, describing him as "exceptionally dangerous." According to the US document, another adviser to the ruling AKP party remarked, probably ironically, that Turkey wanted "to take back Andalusia and avenge the defeat at the siege of Vienna in 1683."

People like former Muslim terrorist Walid Shoebat have been sounding the alarm over Turkey for many years for this very reason. Back in March of this year, Shoebat explained in great detail why Turkey's move toward Islamism is so potentially dangerous. The Ottoman Empire was disbanded in 1924 and the vacuum was filled when the Muslim Brotherhood was created in 1928. The Muslim Brotherhood umbrella has many Islamic groups under it that are currently operating in the United States. Among them are the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), and many others.

The country known today as Turkey was ground zero for the Ottoman Empire and its reimplementation would mean the end of Islamic nation states - all would be part of the monolithic Caliphate centered in Turkey.

Shoebat (pictured) appears to have another one of his arguments bolstered related to Saudi Arabia and Iran. He has long maintained that he thinks it highly likely Iran would attack Saudi Arabia before it went after Israel. Other wikileaks documents show that Saudi Arabia pleaded with the United States to attack Iran.

Via the L.A. Times:

Leaders of oil-rich Arabian Peninsula monarchies who are publicly reluctant to criticize Iran have been beseeching the United States in private to attack the Islamic Republic and destroy its nuclear facilities, according to a series of classified diplomatic cables released by the WikiLeaks website.

The cables show that both Saudi King Abdullah and King Hamed ibn Isa Khalifa of Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet, are among the Arab leaders who have lobbied the United States to strike Iran. According to one dispatch, a Saudi official reminded Americans that the king had repeatedly asked the U.S. to "cut off the head of the snake" before it was too late.

Iran, being a Shiite nation, has been nurturing a stronger alliance with Turkey lately. Both nations loathe Saudi Arabia for its cozying up to the west. The Saudi Arabian monarchy is held in contempt by Iran and Turkey, perhaps even more so than their hatred for Israel. Iran is likely to view these released statements from Saudi Arabia as extremely provocative.

h/t to Weasel Zippers for the Der Spiegel link.

Honduras: Bloomberg Calls Referendum a Poll?

The reason for the ouster of Honduras president Manuel Zelaya last Sunday was because he was trying to ensure his re-election via referendum despite the fact his country's constitution prohibits it. The only legal way for him to get his wish is through the amendment process.

While otherwise reporting objectively on the story, Bloomberg's word choices are distubring. Instead of calling attention to the primary reason for Zelaya's ouster, Bloomberg has decided to identify the referendum as a "poll" and a "survey".

Instance #1:
Honduras’s institutions remain united in support of Zelaya’s overthrow. The Supreme Court ruled that Zelaya violated the constitution by trying to hold an illegal poll on whether people support his proposal to change the constitution. The court issued an arrest order for the president on June 26.

Instance #2:
Zelaya also ignored a court order that said he couldn’t fire the head of the military for refusing to oversee the survey, and stormed a military base with a mob of civilians to “liberate” the ballots.

Yet, when referring to how Zelaya ally Hugo Chavez did the same thing to ensure that he would retain power in Venezuela, Bloomberg DID use the term.

The Venezuelan president won a referendum to amend the constitution in February that will allow him to run for re-election indefinitely.

Just to illustrate that I'm not splitting hairs here, check out Merriam Webster's definition of referendum.

1 a: the principle or practice of submitting to popular vote a measure passed on or proposed by a legislative body or by popular initiative b: a vote on a measure so submitted

The terms "poll" and "survey" seem to insinuate that what Zelaya was doing was innocuous and without consequence other than to test sentiment. A referendum carries the tone of something that prompts some sort of action. In this case, the action would have been discarding the constitution.

As the United States, the United Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Mainstream Media has decided to align with Zelaya, word games such as this only serve to further alienate those in Honduras who are defending their country's constitution.

Any and all arguments coming from those in support of Hugo Chavez ally Zelaya have totally avoided the reason for his ouster, a sure sign they have no real defense for it. The spinmeister arguments simply say he was democratically elected and was the victim of an illegal coup.