(Editor’s note: This blog wasn’t posted last Friday because GoDaddy, the company I pay to host it, told me that their server had a “catastrophic failure” while it was “migrating my data and it would take seven or more days to complete the transfer and fix the issue.”  The “catastrophe” was that they lost/destroyed my database and we’re still piecing everything back together. Following a phone call from one of their sales reps in October I paid for additional services he said would not only save me money but also make my experience with them more efficient. He was as slick talking as the seven GoDaddy “Stepford Wife” technical reps I wasted hours talking to on the phone and pleading with for a solution the past six days. It wasn’t until I finally got my site developer, Wendy Schaefer, involved that I finally got a resolution.  If you are looking for a no-nonsense person to design a site for you or your company and handle your technical issues, I strongly suggest you contact Ms. Schaefer at (404) 444-9615 or wschaefer@bluefrog22.com. Visit her website at www.bluefrog22.com. I’ve used her services for more than 25 years in both my own businesses and for corporations where I worked and have always been satisfied. You will be too.)  

The monologue delivered by host Ricky Gervais to a smug, dim and stunned crowd of actors at the Golden Globes awards January 6 could just as easily been presented to a gathering of American media, particularly those reporting on the drone strike that killed the blood-thirsty Iranian terrorist, General Qasem Soleimani and Iran’s subsequent shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner. “It’s a room full of the biggest virtue-signalers and hypocrites in the world,” Gervais said in interview with Spectator magazine before he went on stage.

Looking out at his audience of  pompous, leftist actors Mr. Gervais’s told them: “You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything,” he said. “You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.”

“Isn’t the Golden Globes an event designed to remind the world how awful Trump is, not themselves?” asked Piers Morgan in the Daily Mail. “Gervais is a comedic star who turned the tables on the reeking hypocrisy of these Hollywood phonies that claim they sit on the high moral ground yet lurk in a sewer of immorality.”

Like the hypocritical leftist actors, the leftist American media hate Trump. They berate him for ordering the strike which killed Soleimani, a monster whose life was devoted to the terroristic killing of men, women and children (Muslims, Christians, Jews, etc.) by any means possible. Now they glorify the dead terrorist who has been responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of American soldiers. Hollywood will probably create a tribute movie to honor this mass murderer.

The left-wing media’s unhinged hatred of Trump and the elimination of Soleimani has them screeching like a toddler screaming at mommy while demanding a pre-dinner cookie. When he didn’t attack Iran for downing an American drone or respond militarily to Iran’s attack on Saudi oil facilities, they portrayed him as a bumbling coward. Now, after snuffing one of the world’s most despicable terrorists, they accuse him of being an implacable war monger. They’re even blaming him for Iran’s admitted downing of a Ukrainian airliner that killed 176 people.

With a few exceptions the Trump-hating media can’t scream in protest loud enough about Soleimani’s death. “It couldn’t pile on enough praise or make enough ridiculous comparisons glorifying Soleimani – from the despicable to the ridiculous,” wrote Dan Gainor of the Media Research Center in a Jan. 4 op-ed for Fox News.com. “He was like Gen. George Patton or the Duke of Wellington (Business Insider), and former French President Charles de Gaulle or the French Foreign Legion (CNN).”

He said that CBS This Morning reporter Holly Williams must have worn out her thesaurus as she deployed in a short segment: “a revered figure, an inspirational military leader,” and, of course, a “military genius.”

The New Yorker gushed about Soleimani in heroic fashion, referring to him as “a flamboyant former construction worker and bodybuilder with snowy white hair, a dapper beard, and arching salt-and-pepper eyebrows.” Good grief!

Gainor noted that The Washington Post “treated Soleimani like he was a legitimate leader.”

The print headline called him a “key Iranian commander,” not a terrorist. The only one calling anyone a terrorist in the story was Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, saying the U.S. drone attack was an “act of international terrorism.”

The New York Times called Soleimani simply the “Commander of Iranian Forces” and, once again included the Iranian quote about terrorism.

“The terrorist responsible for more than 600 American military deaths in Iraq, along with many more wounded, was never once called a terrorist,” by the NY Times.

“Enough!” Israel’s Ehud Yaari, a senior analyst for Israel’s Channel 12 News, said in response to the criticisms of Trump’s order. “The modern-day Hitler was eliminated, and you are complaining about it? At least half of the people today understand that you have lost every bit of relevance you may have still had.”

Yaari called Soleimani “the most dangerous enemy for the State of Israel since the War of Independence” and compared him to Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi who was the chief architect of the Holocaust, noting Soleimani’s role in supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations which threaten Israel as well as his role in the slaughter of thousands of civilians in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran.

Both the BBC and CNN called killing the terrorist “murder.”

CNN’s “New Day” anchor John Berman called Soleimani’s killing a “murder,” then changed it to “assassination.”

Leftist media praise for the Iranian terror leader was not new, Gainor noted. “Back in 2017, Time Magazine piled on the praise, saying Soleimani was ‘James Bond, Erwin Rommel and Lady Gaga rolled into one.”

Following his demise in the drone attack, others hailed Soleimani as “revered” or an “icon.”

New York Times writer Farnaz Fassihi tweeted about a “Rare personal video of Gen. Soleimani reciting poetry” that was “about friends departing & him being left behind.” She then got mad that people criticized her for humanizing a monster.

Fortunately there are still some reasonable, factual journalists, pundits, editorialists and even a handful of rational Democrats scattered among the media detritus. Following are their views on the elimination of one of the world’s bloodiest and most dangerous madmen.

Ken Timmerman

Ken Timmerman, Amelia Island resident, former Time Magazine reporter, friend, authority on Iran, and former Palestinian terrorist hostage, probably knows more about the morally bankrupt and blood-thirsty Iranian leaders than most people anywhere and has been in demand by national print reporters and TV and radio outlets across the country for his opinions on the demise of Soleimani, including the New York Post, the Glen Beck radio show, and Fox & Friends morning TV. In his Post opinion editorial Saturday, January 4, Ken outlined the wave of terror and mass murder conducted by the evil General. Says Mr. Timmerman in his Post piece: “His many brushes with death and his outrageous terror rap sheet, which is longer than bin Laden’s, led Soleimani and his supporters to consider him invincible. His demise at the hands of U.S. forces on Thursday not only shows that is not the case but that the aura of invincibility of the regime itself is over.”

He went on to add that he believes the Iranian people will draw the obvious conclusion that this once powerful regime has feet of clay. “Expect bigger anti-regime protests inside Iran in the coming weeks and popular revolts against Iranian interference in Lebanon and Iraq as well.”

“To me,” he added, “the biggest question remains: Is President Trump ready for the revolution he has unleashed? With this single act, the United States has set in motion big historical forces for positive change. We must be prepared to help the forces of freedom against tyranny and oppression.” Ken’s entire editorial can be read at https://nypost.com/2020/01/04/inside-the-twisted-terrible-reign-of-iranian-general-qassem-soleimani/

Ken is a  New York Times best-selling author of “Deception: The Making of the YouTube Video Hillary and Obama Blamed for Benghazi” and other books on Middle East politics. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize for his work on Iran in 2006 and has lectured on Iran at the Pentagon’s Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy in Quantico, VA, from 2010-2016. You can read his book Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran, as an e-book from Amazon Kindle, here: https://amzn.to/2uKD15c

The New York Post in an editorial alongside Ken’s opinion piece illustrated the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the American left as they screamed in outrage over the president’s decision to take out the Iranian mass murderer  Soleimani. The Post said: “The act led the celebrity sewer to open its mouth, with Rob Reiner, Debra Messing, Rose McGowan and others sputtering foul nonsense. Rosanna Arquette went straight to the Hitler comparison. Ho hum. Unfortunately, a counsel of timidity is now virtually the only voice heard on the left. Peace-through-strength advocates are as plentiful as hen’s teeth in the modern Democratic Party. The fact is,” continued the Post, “that Soleimani deserved to meet his maker years ago but would be alive had he heeded warnings to stop spreading terror throughout the Middle East. He didn’t and there should be no mourning in America over his death.”

Joel Ross, New York essayist, author, pundit, investor, and professor echoes the above sentiments. Following are excerpts from one of his latest and lengthy Ross Rants: “What the assassination of Soleimani did was change the geopolitics of the world forever,” he says. “Here is the perfect analogy. In 1938 Chamberlain made his famous peace in our time deal with Hitler. We know what happened. Obama made his deal with the mullahs in 2015, and what happened was similar, on a smaller scale. Appeasement and death. Was Obama Biden naïve, or just an idiot? Both I think. Obama- Biden claimed the nuke deal was going to bring a peaceful and cooperative Iran (peace in our time). What Trump did was the equivalent to assassinating Hitler in 1938. Soleimani was the modern-day Hitler. Instead of the Wehrmacht, he was running proxy armies across the world killing thousands. He was far more dangerous than Bin Laden. What is hard to understand is the Dems and the press not understanding what he represented as a clear and present danger to the U.S. The Dems complain Trump should have gotten permission from Congress!  That he should have asked Adam Schiff? Are they just stupid, or so partisan and hateful of Trump they cannot understand what is happening?

The U.S. is now in position to take out their navy bases, cyberattack headquarters, and revolutionary guard bases in a very short amount of time. Trump offered to talk, but he is fully prepared to kill any of them if needed and destroy their ability to pose a threat. The Iranian economy is in free fall, and riots have been in all the cities. The Iranians are out of money to support and pay the proxies. The Dems and press ignore all of that. The Dems and press think we should cower in fear of an attack and reassert the nuke deal. The Dems are a real danger to American security.

The Dem comments are beyond stupid and disgraceful. Here we have killed the world’s top terrorist, and they are claiming it was a bad idea because there will be retaliation. When Obama ordered the killing of Bin Laden he was a hero for the exact same action, and he never told Congress, but they never objected. Iran is our sworn enemy, and the Dems want to prevent Trump from acting to defend US troops and facilities. That is insane and just encourages the Iranians. The Iranians and others likely now will do anything to help defeat Trump. Their lives depend on it.  It is a replay of the thirties when Congress thought we could stay out of the war. Do they ever read a history book? Do they never learn anything? It is the Dems and press who are posing a true risk to our security.”

In a later essay Ross explained that the world has always had really bad guys and women running major countries, or monarchies, and they have run rampant across the world killing and occupying others. “In the end it always requires a guy with real balls to stop them,” he said. “Katherine the Great, Churchill, George Washington, George Patton. Trump just happens to be that guy right now, and whatever other major flaws he has are unimportant in the greater picture.”

“If America and the world are not safe from attack by terrorists, and if we let China gain preeminence, then we are finished as a nation,” he stated, “and the world will again be back into one of its very dark periods.  The US is the only nation capable of controlling events and stopping the spread of Muslim terror and Chinese domination. It is now or never, and Trump luckily is the one in a position to act boldly.”

Wall Street Journal: “Allowing open season on U.S. forces wasn’t tenable, and something had to be done,” said the WSJ in a January 6 editorial. “The U.S. strikes in Iraq against Iranian-backed militias and Qasem Soleimani were necessary and they always risked a nationalist backlash. Most Iraqis know that the U.S. played a decisive role in defeating Islamic State and have no interest in becoming Iran’s colony. Killing Soleimani was justified under the laws of war and is a blow for deterrence against those who would kill Americans with impunity.”

Joe Lieberman, former U.S. Democrat Senator from Connecticut, 1989-2013, and the Democrat Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 2000. “It is most likely that Soleimani’s death will diminish the chances of a wider conflict because the demonstration of our willingness to kill him will give Iranian leaders (and probably others like Kim Jong Un) much to fear. The claim by some Democrats that Mr. Trump had no authority to order the attack without congressional approval is constitutionally untenable and practically senseless. If enough voters decide that Democrats can’t be trusted to keep America safe, Mr. Trump won’t have much trouble winning a second term in November.”

Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School and life-long liberal. “The targeting of Soleimani was more justified, as a matter of law, than the targeting of Osama bin Laden in 2011. The killing of Soleimani was in large part an act of prevention, whereas the killing of bin Laden was primarily an act of retaliation. The killing of Soleimani was also entirely legal under international law.”

Babylon Bee: On the lighter side even the satirical online Babylon Bee chimed in reporting from Tehran that: “Colin Kaepernick sent his workout video to Iran after learning they may have recently opened up a position but has yet to receive a phone call. Iran has clarified that they agree with Kaepernick ideologically, but they need someone who can throw.”

***

Drinking, Dining & Dancing:  The fourth resurrection of the 801 Beach Street Grill, the corner of South 8^th Street and Beech Street, is coming and will be open for business in the next four months if all goes as planned owner Ernie Saltmarsh tells me. Ernie says the new concept, which is still being fine-tuned, will take full advantage of the historic building’s upstairs and will reflect the 1920s period of the community. The upstairs hasn’t been used in 10 years since the site was the Beach Street Grill. Its past two lives were as the Beech Street Bar & Grill and most recently the Beech Street Kitchen & Bar. Ernie didn’t reveal the new name or menu telling me that those are still being batted around by his management group that will run the operation. Without revealing too much he did say the concept they’re considering is new to the island and will feature two full bars, one upstairs and one down, and will be American themed. Ernie has already made improvements on the exterior and interior of the building which was built in the late 1800’s as a personal residence and is a sister building to the Pippi Longstocking house in Old town.  Ernie also owns the popular Green Turtle on South 3^rd Street and its next-door neighbor Florida House Hotel, home to the Mermaid Bar. He also renovated and owns the highly popular Down Under, under Shave Bridge. Based on his past successes Mr. Saltmarsh’s new venture will be a success. This past Saturday

Southern Sisters generous servings.

PJD’s Bad Buffet

Linda and I went to see “Richard Jewell” at the B&B Theatre on South 14^th Street and prior to the movie we tried the Southern Sisters restaurant in the same strip mall location that once housed the Doo Wop Diner and the short-lived New Orleans Diner. I recommend both the movie and Southern Sisters. We both tried the eatery’s signature fried chicken (white meat) that comes with two sides, rice and gravy, corn bread or a biscuit for just $11 each. The collard greens, okra and stewed tomatoes, blacked eyed peas, mac & cheese and green beans were all to write home about. This is comfort food at its best. The people that run the restaurant are as appealing as their food — friendly, polite, helpful, and fun…the kind of people you wish lived next door to you. I’ll be back and will checkout some of the menu items that you can’t find anywhere else on the island including ox tail stew, chitterlings, Shepard’s pie and so much more. They are closed Mondays but open 11 am to 3 pm & 4 pm to 8 pm Tuesday to Friday and 1 pm to 8 pm Saturday and Sunday. They also cater. Call ‘em at 904/432-8704.  About three weeks ago PJD’s Beer & Wine Garden (12 South 2^nd Street)   proprietor Pajamadave Voorhees and his fiancé Zan Maddox decided it would be fun if its weekend foodie crowd

Mystery offering.

of regulars created a smorgasbord of old-fashioned dishes from the 1950’s and 60’s, those that many of us old enough to recall considered long gone and hoped would never resurface. For reasons beyond our comprehension we agreed to prepare dishes to share amongst our crowd that were recreated from yellowed recipes left behind by grandmothers and moms and ripped from magazines of that era. The entry determined to be the absolutely worst overall was voted on by the local crowd and it was decided that nothing could compare with the disgusting gelatinous tuna mold constructed by Zan, who followed an aged Better Homes & Garden recipe to the letter to capture undisputed first place, using a mold found at an antique store. The most bizarre looking entry was a Jell-O mold with spaghetti O’s suspended inside. A close contender was some kind of a carrot mush topped with green peas. The bananas sitting on pineapple circles topped with a cherry and whipped cream were conversation starters and just about everybody tried the fried Spam slices, while the Saltines accompanied by sliced hot dogs were barely touched. I contributed two mincemeat pies, a dessert alien to southerners hereabouts. I left with one, so I guess it wasn’t so awful and mine didn’t include suet. Speaking of things to eat, Amelia Island will host its 12^th annual Restaurant Week, Jan. 17-26, a 10-day, island-wide culinary celebration with special events and fixed lunch and dinner menus at the destination’s dining establishments. The menus for lunch are just $12 per person, with dinner menus priced at either $21, $31 or $41 per person. Menus, restaurant listings, special event information and discounted hotel packages can be found online at AmeliaIsland.com/yummy. Sunday, January 25, American legion Post 54 at Gum and South 3rd Street will host a program from noon to 5 p.m. to support Billy Cimeno (Army), Cam Hansen (Air Force) , Hupp Huppman (Navy) and Paul Lore (Marines) — a quartet of local guys that represent the Cross the Line Foundation, a not for profit organization that supports veterans from all branches of service by raising awareness for veteran related issues and causes with all funds going directly to agencies that assist veterans.  The four are one of the teams that will row across the Atlanta to raise funds and awareness. The Smoke N Da Cockpit crew will be on hand to serve up their tasty BBQ while Hupp & Ray will provide the entertainment and it’s only $12 per ault and $6 for kids.