Daniel Greenfield / Sultan Knish Articles at DanielGreenfield.org

The vital question of the moment, for Americans and for free people the world over, is the choice between the risks of freedom and the relative safety of serfdom in a socialist nanny state. Social justice has been used to lay the bricks and bars of a vast prison of nations across the civilized world. In the name of providing aid to the disposed, an ever expanding category, people at large have been deprived of their independence and their incomes. But rather than aiding anyone, what has been truly built up is a vast bureaucracy to man the walls and herd the people through every step of their lives. Socialism has reversed the human march toward freedom and out of the shadow of monarchies and empires which assumed the ownership of the rights of its subjects. Like the monarchs of old, socialism promises protection in exchange for subservience. The contract isn't stated as clearly as that, but that is its final end point. Give us your freedoms and we'll measure out your healt...

Now that the Mumbai massacre is done and the bodies are being cleaned away, business can continue on as usual, but let's interrupt the proceedings for a moment to drag some of those bodies back on the floor, with a level of detail that the same media which has censored 9/11 footage and prefers to show wreath, rather than the crimes to which they themselves are accomplice to, would prefer to hide Photographs taken after the shootout give a vivid picture of the brutality unleashed on the Holzbergs and their friends after the terrorists took over the house on Wednesday, speak volumes of the nightmare the family and their friends must have gone through before they died. The Rabbi’s body was found in a room on the second floor, with his legs sticking into the hall where his wife’s body was found. Rivka’s body was found near the legs of the Rabbi. His legs had been tied with a belt. His wife’s limbs were, however, not bound. Two other Israeli girls were found dead with their hands an...

It's been a long two weeks, and while outside the Obama worship continues unabated with the Obama memorabilia industry succeeding , while all else seemingly founders. Or Barack Obama mugs, T-shirts, stationery, posters, postcards, notecards, aprons, coasters, dog jerseys, throw pillows and mouse pads. With so many segments of the economy in the fetal position, the Obama memorabilia business is one of the very few that is actually thriving. While the Washington Post crows enthusiastically about the United States economy being on a par with that of North Korea or the USSR, in which the only productive sector was the one selling images of the Beloved Leader, the rest of the country might want to think about what the future would be like in which the productive industries have been bankrupted, seized or taxed out of business, while everyone is told to go buy more Barack Hussein Oven Mitts and Doormats and of course copies of his books. The Washington Post of course needn't worry, n...

Now the hard part comes. We are heading for winter, the time when the summer soldiers fall away and decide that it's easier to live with a King George III or a Barack Obama then to continue a losing fight or be seen as irrational or extremist. What we were doing was a lot easier in 2002 than it will be in 2009. Back then we were supporting the US government in the War on Terror. Shortly we will be dealing with a US government that is itself pro-terrorist and a public that wants to hear more about massive government giveaways than about the terrorist threat. Meanwhile Obama's omnipresent cult of personality is already a pervasive reality, but will become more so when he actually occupies the White House. And it takes courage not to fall in line with a pervasive message aggressively broadcast through every channel. Many have already fallen in line or abandoned the fight. Others still have let themselves be herded into a "moderate" cage, moderation naturally being de...

He who may not be mocked, whose middle name may not be pronounced, who is an object of popular worship despite no apparent accomplishment but yet is declared as the harbinger of a new age. Not long ago a news story interviewed comedians wondering what they were going to do when Obama was President. Clearly they couldn't make jokes about him, they would just have to find someone else to make jokes about. And who knows what the editorial cartoonists are to do. Even if you are to defy the Cult of Obama and actually submit a cartoon, it's a hell of a slippery slope to being accused of racism. After all if calling Obama a socialist was declared a racist code word, and pointing out that he had terrorist ties, was also a racist code word... the hunt begins for a way to criticize Obama without being accused of racism, only to discover of course that there isn't one. So what is a leader who can't be criticized? An object of mass adoration whose very image is deified? You can ca...

Free speech is a rare quantity and many Americans are all too unaware of how rare it really is. Israel, like Europe or Canada, does not have actual free speech, instead it has free speech subject to government discretion and the politically correct sensitivity of "oppressed minorities". While mockery, contempt and even outright hatred for Judaism and Jews can be found on TV shows, political commercials, editorial cartoons and throughout the Israeli left wing media, when directed at Arabs quickly becomes a criminal offense. And that is no joking matter. Tatiana Soskin , a young Jewish immigrant who drew a cartoon of Mohammed as a pig and pinned it to a door, served time in jail for it. Today however in Israel it is a poet going on trial. Gershon (Gregory) Trastman is a moderately well known Jewish Russian poet living in Israel who wrote a series of satirical verses about a rival political party for Vesti, a Conservative Russian Jewish language newspaper. The verses included r...

The proposed appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State has many political observers baffled, but it shouldn't. It's actually a quite clever move, which can be summed up in two words-- Plausible Deniability. And a major target for which that will be needed is Israel. Appointing Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State will create an interesting situation because as a major former rival, Hillary Clinton will be seen as distinct and even independent from Obama, freeing him from a good deal of the responsibility for her actions. With just about any other Secretary of State, their actions would reflect on Obama. But Hillary Clinton is such a major personality that it will be easy for the Obama Kleptocracy to disown her at its convenience. Hillary Clinton wanted a whole other role in the Cabinet, but instead as Secretary of State she will have very little domestic power but a great deal of power overseas. This will close the door on her ability to threaten Obama's power b...

Lately a bunch of articles have been making the rounds blaming McCain's defeat on social conservatives who had "hijacked the party." One of the more famous such articles comes from one Paul Hsieh who claimed that McCain had lost his vote because of the social conservative agenda. I want to let them know that they lost the vote of many former supporters (including myself) because they have chosen to embrace the Religious Right. I voted Republican in 1996, 2000, and 2004. I believe in limited government, individual rights, free market capitalism, a strong national defense, and the right to keep and bear arms - positions that one normally associates with Republicans. But I didn't vote for a single Republican in 2008. I've become increasingly alienated by the Republicans" embrace of the religious "social conservative" agenda, including attempts to ban abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and gay marriage. Now if we are to take Paul at face value, th...

HOMAGE TO A GOVERNMENT by Philip Larkin (1969) Next year we are to bring the soldiers home For lack of money, and it is all right. Places they guarded, or kept orderly, Must guard themselves, and keep themselves orderly. We want the money for ourselves at home Instead of working. And this is all right. It's hard to say who wanted it to happen, But now it's been decided nobody minds. The places are a long way off, not here, Which is all right, and from what we hear The soldiers there only made trouble happen. Next year we shall be easier in our minds, Next year we shall be living in a country That brought its soldiers home for lack of money. The statues will be standing in the same Tree-muffled squares, and look nearly the same. Our children will not know it's a different country. All we can hope to leave them now is money.

While promising Hope and Change, Obama's real promise is clearly being translated as Hopeless Corruption. The pick of Clinton Administration figure Eric Holder who was criticized in a Congressional report for ethical violations involving the infamous pardon of fugitive criminal Marc Rich, followed by the appointment of corrupt Clinton Administration figure and Freddie Mac board member, Rahm Emanuel. There were figures in the Clinton Administration who were dirtier than Eric Holder, but not many and Eric Holder's career both before and after his time in the Clinton Administration is a very ugly one. Let's begin with Pardongate, when Eric Holder was involved in giving his nod to the pardon of fugitive tax cheat Marc Rich and in withholding information from the Justice Department. A Justice Department that he will now ironically head as Attorney General. "A forthcoming Congressional report on the last-minute pardons by President Bill Clinton says Deputy Attorney General ...

While many have commented on the media's bias leading up to the election, what we are beginning to see now trumps anything that has come before. We are no longer talking about media bias, but media worship. The media's approach to Obama does not resemble their approach to any living President, but its parallels can only be found in the Russian press' approach to Putin or the Iraqi press' approach to Saddam Hussein. It's not bias, it's a cult of personality. Key to this cult of personality is the omnipresence of Obama. In totalitarian states, the dictator is everywhere. His life is always front and center, his recreation and hobbies are major news items, his day to day existence is meant to be the focus of your life. It is an ominous development in a Democratic country, but not an unexpected one. The goal of this constant coverage is to deepen the one way emotional bond the "people" experience with Obama. Like a deity, the cult of personality is meant t...

While the liberal media insists on shoving the infamous 78 percent exit polling number at us, it is quite unclear what the real numbers of the Jewish vote are and how many Jews voted for Obama vs McCain. The media has demonstrated in this election why they are untrustworthy on anything involving Obama and sources that may have been credible in the 2004 election, no longer are. The few solid numbers we do have come from the 40,000+ votes cast by US citizens living in Israel. Those showed that 76 percent of Jewish voters backed McCain with 46 percent of Democrats switching sides to vote for McCain. Yet in the US numbers, the exit polls would have us believe that more Jews voted for Obama than had voted for John Kerry. The idea that Obama, who had generated serious doubts even among hard core Jewish Democrats, pulled in more votes against a liberal Republican, than Kerry had against Bush is nakedly implausible. But local polling too strongly suggests an entirely different picture. Take t...

Call it Scenes from the Obama Revolution Part 2. It's happening quietly and under the radar but there is a pattern to it is a bit similar for it to be completely random. Editors and staff working for local Jewish papers that have run articles critical of Obama have been receiving hostile phone calls. While critical phone calls are not unusual when you're working on a newspaper, these phone calls are not from random readers, they are coming from lawyers and sometimes doctors who wield influence in the community and may often be advertisers. Typical talking points for these phone calls typically warn against running any further critical articles of Obama "now that he is President", emphasize that most Jews voted for Obama and emphasize that "we must unite behind him" or there may be "consequences to our community." The phone calls are conducted with a brashness and rudeness that smack of Rahm Emanuel. A not atypical closing section from a phone call ...

Ancestor of Crazed Homicidal Maniacs Traced Back to 560 CE Mecca Genetic researchers investigating the origin of crazed homicidal behavior have traced back the vast majority of crazed homicidal maniacs to a common ancestor in the vicinity of Mecca around the sixth century. "We don't quite know what to make of it yet," said Dr. Susan Anderson, "but we've found a clear correlation between crazed homicidal behavior with a common origin point in the Arabian desert. We don't know what causes it and so we can't offer any real hope for a cure, but this one single man appears to be the origin of a great deal of present day homicidal mania across the Middle East and parts of Europe, America and Asia." In response to the release of this study outraged homicidal maniacs burned three Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in Mecca and out of habit began boycotting Danish goods. South Korean Scientists Clone Dog Smart Enough Not to Vote for Obama In a major breakthrou...