The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to take up H.R. 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, this week. Some, namely Rep. Doc Hastings, are seeing problems with the legislation that simply do not exist or claim more time is needed to discuss the issue. No more time or answers are needed. Now is the time to act and pass H.R. 2499.

H.R. 2499 would provide terms for plebiscites that Puerto Rico could conduct to determine the preferences of Puerto Ricans regarding the territory’s political status. It should be noted that the territorial government can already conduct plebiscites on the issue — and has. In fact, all three previous, locally authorized plebiscites that have been conducted have been confused by impossible “commonwealth status” proposals. Under the current “commonwealth” proposal, Puerto Rico would be permanently empowered to nullify federal laws and court jurisdiction and enter into international agreements and organizations while being perpetually guaranteed all current federal programs, new federal economic concessions, and U.S. citizenship. What H.R. 2499 would most importantly do is clarify what the federal government regards as feasible statuses. Simply put, the Commonwealth status is a zero-sum game.

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From the Telegraph:

Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother’s funeral was held there in May that year.

The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.
[…]
As investigators look at Hasan’s motives and mindset, his attendance at the mosque could be an important piece of the jigsaw. Al-Awlaki moved to Dar al-Hijrah as imam in January, 2001, from the west coast, and three months later the September 11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour began attending his services. A third hijacker attended his services in California.

Hasan was praying at Dar al-Hijrah at about the same time, and the FBI will now want to investigate whether he met the two terrorists.
[…]
“I was shocked but not surprised by news of Thursday’s attack,” said Dr Val Finnell, a fellow student on a public health course in 2007-08 who heard Hasan equate the war on terrorism to a war on Islam. Another student had warned military officials that Hasan was a “ticking time bomb” after he reportedly gave a presentation defending suicide bombers.

Why in the world was this man in the US military? Why wasn’t he properly vetted? Was he investigated right after the 9/11 attacks? I have a feeling we’ll have a lot more questions the more details emerge of Hasan’s radicalism.

I think it’s safe to say the whole “radical Islam had nothing to do with this shooting” excuse is hogwash — a terrible realization for all the terrorist apologists that abound in the American far left. This was Islamic terrorism, through and through. Make no mistake about that.

UPDATE: More proof of Hasan’s radicalism. Golam Akhter, a community leader at the Muslim Community Center in Maryland, says of Hasan:

“So many time I talked with him,” said Akhter, a community leader who is sort of like a mosque gadfly, challenging congregants to reject literal, rigid interpretations of Islam. “I was trying to modernize him. I tried my best. He used to hate America as a whole. He was more anti-American than American.”

Despite all the conversations, Akther said, “I couldn’t get through to him. He was a typical fundamentalist Muslim.”

Crossposted on RandyHaddock.com

The H1N1 vaccine has generated some controversy but whatever thoughts you may have on it, one thing is for certain: Americans should have first dibs on the vaccine. Well, the Obama administration doesn’t seem to see it that way. While the country faces a vaccine shortage, the Pentagon will soon ship enough vaccines to Guantanamo to cover those poor, tortured detainees.

Terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base will soon get swine flu vaccines, despite complaints that American civilians should have priority, a military spokesman said Sunday.

Army Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for the U.S. jail facility in southeast Cuba, said the doses should start arriving this month, with guards and then inmates scheduled for inoculations.

He acknowledged there may be an “emotional response” from critics who argue that terror suspects should not be allocated swine-flu medications while members of the U.S. public are still waiting due to a vaccine shortage.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) is urging the Administration to rethink this decision:

I don’t know if detainees at Gitmo should never be given the H1N1 vaccine,” Pence told CNN during an interview. “But, certainly, at a time of such acute shortages, again, involving American citizens… I think the administration should immediately suspend the plan to deploy H1N1 vaccines to terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay, until such a time that sufficient vaccinations are made  available to the American public.”

And so is Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI):

As long as Americans must wait to receive the vaccine, the detainees in Guantanamo Bay should not be given preferential treatment to receive the H1N1 vaccination,” Stupak said in a letter to Secretary of the Army John McHugh.

This cartoon from 2004 pretty much sums up this whole thing.

Crossposted on RandyHaddock.com