The Larry Kane Report

Talk all you want about the disaster in Iraq. But take a hard look at what is happening right now in Afghanistan, the war we are fighting because of the terrorist attacks against America. As our troops put their lives on the line, the President of Afghanistan , Hamid Karzai, has offered to meet the murderer , Taliban leader Omar, and even offered the Taliban a position in his goverment. This appeasement policy comes hours after  only hours after a suicide bomber killed 30 people, mostly Afghan troops, by blowing up a bus.

Karzai has also escaped attempts to murder him. This is not the first time the embattled President has tried to appease the murderers who hide Al Qaeda, and who once conducted mass murder against the citizens of that country.

The U.S. has, rather mildly, rejected the Karzai sellout. Ironically, while we put all of our efforts in the Iraqi basket, we have left NATO forces vulnerable and under severe attack in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan.

Karzai should have his head examined before he literally loses his head. The Taliban moement is made up of drug runners, contract killers and leaders who want to destroy all of us here in America.

It is an unsult to the NATO coalition for the leader of Afghanistan to reach out to known terrorists.

Please note: The suicide bomber who attacked the bus was disguised in military garb. In a nation where no one can trust too many people, Karzai’s outreach to the enemy is a disgrace.

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A little commercial here for Charlie Manuel. The man has been under attack since he arrived in our great community. But look at what he and this roaring, energized and mostly fun team to watch has brought to everyone in this region. No, I am not one of those long-suffering fans who can’t seem to stand it that we have not won a championship in 24 years. So what? We made it to a SuperBowl and a World Series in that time.

Having said that, it is true that the Phillies last won a World Series on my 38th birthday, October 21, 1980. Now that you know how old I am, consider this: the current Phillies may be the comeback (come from behind ) team of this century. There have been more thrills on this team that any sports moments I can remember. Plus, considering that the sports press waits for any small losing streak to condemn the team to a living hell, and you get the picture. You should clip some of the articles and see what frontrunners some of the local writers are, with a few exceptions, notably Phil Sheridan, whose writing creativityis growing as fast as Jimmy Rollin’s talent,

I lectured, in print, to Donovan McNabb that he hasn’t learned that yet that, in this town, you are only as good as your last show. That’s why he is loved this week compared to the first two weeks.

What the Phillies players have learned is that when you work hard and go all out to win, the fans of this town are there for you. It’s easy for Madden and Aiken and all those Philly-haters to put us down, but they don’t know the people here.

I do. And all they care about is hard work and doing your best.

This Phillies team has helped us have some cheer and thrills in a tough news year, where crime blots the daily pages of our papers, where corruption is still a blot on the image, and where people hope for better leadership with a new Mayor.

They have also given us a rare “shared experience,” something we can enjoy together. Whatever happens by late Sunday afternoon, this has been a team to enjoy, a thrill ride for the ages, and a community that is laughing and screaming all the way.

Thank you Charlie. You have prevailed. You should be as proud as the fans who have come to finally appreciate what you can do.

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Not since the now-defunct Antioch College invited Philadelphia cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal to speak on tape at its graduation years ago, has an American university been so embarrassed.

Iranian dictator Ahmadijenad, invited by a Columbia professor who also said he would have invited Hitler to speak, delivered his usual Holocaust-denying and hate-filled dialogue at Columbia.

The President of Columbia introduced the dictator with an aggressive and hostile attack on the dictator’s record of violence and repression. Ahmadijenad responded with new assertions about the Holocaust and something new in his repertoire – doubts about the origin of 9/11.

In fairness to the University, here is what Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia, wrote to his campus community prior to the speech:

“I would like just to repeat what I have said earlier: It is vitally
important for a university to protect the right of our schools, our
deans and our faculty to create programming for academic purposes.
Necessarily, on occasion this will bring us into contact with
beliefs many, most, or even all of us will find offensive and even
odious.

But it should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we
deplore in any way implies our endorsement of those ideas, or the
weakness of our resolve to resist those ideas, or our naiveté about
the very real dangers inherent in such ideas. It is a critical
premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable
when we open the public forum to their voices.”

These are lofty and idealistic thoughts, but I have a question: Would Columbia or any American university or college invite a murderer to speak> Would Columbia or any American university invite an individual who advocates genocide?

These are the central questions in this debate.

That’s the last I’ll have to say until the next university or college, under the guide of American freedoms, allows another killer to speak.

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What a country! President Ahmadinejad will be speaking at Columbia University. While his nation’s university dissidents are quietly disappearing, the Iranian hate-monger and Holocaust denier is feted by one of this nation’s great institutions of learning. A serious saber-rattler, the Iran leader has done more than perhaps anyone in recent memory, with the possible exception of his own Mullahs, to spread hatred around the globe,

While he is visiting the country, perhaps its wise to do a net search on his name, and read his pronouncements. If you’re a student of history, perhaps you’ll notice the similarity in his words and their direct relation to the rhetoric that began the ill-fated Hitler regime in the early 1930’s. Or you may want to comprehend how dangerous words are.

I know: you already fear this. Whatever you fear about Iran, do not underestimate the danger of the verbiage as well as the military might. Iranians themselves seem to want more creativity and freedom, but free people are dangerous to the likes of Ahmadinejad, the Venezuelan oilman Hugo Chavez and the hemisphere’s greatest mass murderer, Fidel Castro.

So, it is true: only in America could his type of visit happen. Imagine Adolf Hitler visiting America in 1934 and being invited to speak at Penn or Columbia.

Here’s my point: although we have made grave mistakes in Iraq, we are still a nation filled with people who are more interested in pop culture than they are in the true nature of the world. As George Will recently communicated in an incredible Newsweek column, we are interested more in ostracizing people who make public errors (like the beauty queen who couldn’t understand geography), and denigrating those who are not like us, than we are in understanding the dangers facing us.

New York City officials have urged Columbia to withdraw its invitation to let the man speak.

I say, let him speak, even though it hardly embellishes Columbia’s reputation.

But as he does, make no mistake. There is a killer among us.

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Controversy continues in Philadelphia over Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb’s broadcast comments that black quarterbacks are treated differently than whites.

Donovan McNabb , despite all of his years here, doesn’t appear to understand where he works. This is not a black or white issue. Historically, this is an issue of a community with sports fans that are demanding and very tough. In this community, whether you are in broadcasting, sports, the orchestra or any public enterprise,  you are only as good as your last show. McNabb should get the news archives of the careers of Philly greats like Mike Schmidt, Ron Jaworski, Randall Cunningham, and Bob Clarke, among others , to see what the agony of defeat and the joy of victory brought them. Many of the biggest stars in this area were booed in their prime and demonized in the media. That’s what area writers and sports fans are all about –unrelenting and demanding success, which is why they are the most critical and supportive in the country.

It is not about race. It is about the race to the finish line.

Sometimes, in public life, a star has to have thick skin. Otherwise, the pressures of fame can be more dangerous than a linebacker rushing in for a crushing sack.

In retrospect, perhaps his comments that he is held to a different standard, are a reflection about how he feels about playing in Philadelphia.

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