In a video message released earlier today, Adam Gadahn (or Adam Pearlman, if you want his birth name) threatened the life of our President.  President Bush will be going to the Middle East very soon. To endear himself to us even more, he also has renounced his American citizenship as of today, which actually means nothing until he becomes a recognized citizen of another nation.  "Azzam the American" has been "indicted in the Central District of California for treason and material support to Al Qaeda. The charges are related to Gadahn's alleged involvement in a number of terrorist activities, including providing aid and comfort to Al Qaeda and services for Al Qaeda."  (Source: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/gadahn_a.htm)

Now why would I consider this important?  Number one, I'd love to read of his capture and trial.  He is an American citizen and, unlike my feelings for the Guantanamo detainees, I cannot wait to here about his trial.  I will camp out in front of my television like I used to when O.J. and the Menendez brothers had their respective days in the California courts, oddly enough where "Gadahn" is headed.  But this time, it's not just my California cousins and friends who are in on the deal; it's the entire United States.  The reason I want this to happen is so that we can show the world that we will abide by our Constitution and adhere to the rule of law.  And I hope that he is sentenced to death (as should have happened to John Walker Lindh, regardless of the fact that his parents think that he's still a good person).  He has called for our deaths if we, as a country, do not turn to Islam.  (Source:  http://michellemalkin.com/2006/09/02/convert-or-die/) 

Further, "Azzam" is now making theological pronouncements: “Islam is the only religion acceptable to God and came with the revealed book, the Koran, which abrogates all previous revelations, like the Torah and Evangel… God recognizes no separation between religion and state…” As a Christian, I take a great deal of offense at his words, but he is free to say that, even on American soil.  What he is not free to do is this: “To Americans and the rest of Christendom we say, either repent [(your)] misguided ways and enter into the light of truth or keep your poison to yourself and suffer the consequences in this world and the next…”  (Source: Ibid.)  He is threatening Christians -- and specifically those who happen to Americans -- with punishment if they do not accept the faith of Islam.  Now, I've never been to law school, but I do believe that he is now guilty of terroristic threatening.  Just a suggestion to the U.S. Attorney handling this case: Could we add that to his charges?  I mean, you do have him on tape here -- twice.  And a note to Ramsey Clark: You have a new client and I bet he'll remind you of your late buddy Saddam!

The reason I bring all of this up is that several people -- even among the GOP -- seem to be overly concerned with how Guantanamo makes us as Americans look to the rest of the world.  Here's a hint as to my feelings on this issue: I will lose more sleep over my beloved Statler Brothers' decision to retire (albeit five years ago) than over how the rest of the world views America.  There are groups who are going to hate us no matter what we do, for whatever reason they choose.  Guantanamo does little to influence that sort of thing.  Do we really think that closing Guantanamo will suddenly cause some people to love us or revive a long-dormant -- even secret -- love for the United States?  If you do think that, you might want to seek professional help.  And, besides, hating America is chic!  It's the new "in" thing, even amongst the people who make their money here.  Just ask George Soros or Mark Cuban or Michael Moore, if you can understand him with his mouth full.  (Hey, I'm fat, so I can make fat jokes!  Live with it.)

To all of those who claim that Guantanamo causes our soldiers to be tortured, do you really believe that they'll stop if we close Guantanamo?  I can see the headline now, and in the New York Times, no less: "Al Qaeda Announces Moratorium on Torture in Response to Gitmo Closure."  That sounds more like something Oliver Stone might have in a movie one day when we get his version of history.  And Aaron Sorkin gets to write it, of course.  According to those two, Republicans had some dark connection to the many assassinations in the 1960s and they didn't actually win the Cold War, either.  I wonder what color the sky is in their world.  I'm betting on the same shade of blue as Monica Lewinsky's dress.

What will change the way the world sees us is what real conservatives like Barry Goldwater (circa 1964, not his later years) and Ronald Reagan always said: "peace through strength."  That includes our being strong enough to resist and even fight people who want to harm us, regardless of their motive.  Another important part of that is being strong enough to mean what we say and to back up what we say.  The reason the Russians backed down on several issues is that they knew that Ronald Reagan would stand up to them and so would George H. W. Bush.  We should never take the "one-more-chance" route as the United Nations did with Saddam.  Time after time, he ignored the sanctions and, time after time, the U.N. gave him "one more chance."  The result was that he soon learned that the U.N. was a paper tiger.  We should never wind up in that role.  America also needs to show that we will defend ourselves, even if it means trying one of our own citizens for treason and executing him if he is guilty.  The world will lose respect for us if we do not live up to our word and cannot defend ourselves.