Steyn in for Rush on Open Line Friday!

by Mark Steyn
The Rush Limbaugh Show
January 3, 2020

https://www.steynonline.com/9966/steyn-in-for-rush-on-open-line-friday

Gone to his virgins: Qasem Soleimani

Today, Friday, I'll be back on the air for a full three hours of substitute-host-level Excellence In Broadcasting on America's Number One radio show starting at 12 noon Eastern/9am Pacific. You can dial us up either via the iHeart Radio app or on one of over 600 Rush affiliate stations across the fruited plain - such as our old friends at WNTK New Hampshire, where you can listen to the entire show from anywhere on the planet right here. The priority checkout for General Soleimani at Baghdad International will be high on the agenda, but it's Open Line Friday, of course, so whatever's on your mind feel free to bend my ear about.

If you missed me on Thursday's show, you can find a few moments therefrom right here.

~As to that third Mark Steyn Cruise I mentioned on air, a few more details:

After a special Steyn Club reception in Rome on October 5th 2020, we sail out into the Mediterranean aboard the MS Nieuw Statendam. Holland America's beautiful and brand new flagship will be hitting all the high spots - Cartagena, Gibraltar, Seville, Barcelona, Marseilles, Monte Carlo, Pisa and more - before returning to Rome on October 15th 2020. I'll be doing double-duty, hosting the cruise, and also hosting live seaboard editions of many favorite features along the way - Tales for Our Time, Song of the Week, Steyn's Sunday Poem, and The Mark Steyn Show. I don't have to carry the load single-handed, of course. I'll be assisted by various special guests and old friends from round these parts - including Michele Bachmann, one of my very favorite presidential candidates of recent years and a stellar comedienne opposite me in our Lisa Page/Peter Strzok re-enactment last year. We'll also welcome my old boss Conrad Black, recently pardoned by President Trump; Douglas Murray, author of the bestselling books The Strange Death of Europe and The Madness of Crowds; John O'Sullivan, Mrs Thatcher's speechwriter and a doughty Brexiteer; and more. We'll address all the heavy geopolitical stuff but we'll also kick loose in the evening with dinner, convivial receptions, some late-night laughs and a little live music.

There'll be plenty of time for relaxation and revelry and getting to know your fellow Steyn cruisers and our guests. And every day we'll enjoy world class service from Holland America, and the spectacular beauty of the Mediterranean and some of its great cities before Douglas' strange death of Europe kicks in.

We've reserved the best cabins throughout the ship - and in all of the various categories so that you can make accommodation arrangements that suit you best. We're excited to welcome you aboard for the third Steyn at Sea cruise - but tempus fugit, so don't leave it too long! (As with most travel bookings, the price is better the earlier you book.)

So picture yourself on Holland America's lovely MS Nieuw Statendam, along with your fellow Steyn Club members and me and my guests, enjoying ten full days and nights of shipboard fun as we ponder the collapse of western civilization. There'll be:

*Live editions of The Mark Steyn Show, and other favorite SteynOnline features;
*Plenty of chances to meet, schmooze and hector me and my guests;
*Exclusive cocktail receptions and dining with yours truly, our guest speakers, and your fellow Steyn cruisers;
*Accommodations and all meals included;
*Port charges, taxes, fuel surcharges, and government fees all included;
*Most shipboard activities included;
*A fully escorted cruise by Steyn Club staff and the best cruise organizers in the business;
*And a few surprises along the way...

If you're one of those people who have always wanted to come on a cruise but have yet to take the, er, plunge, well, there's never been a better time to stop procrastinating. You don't have to be married, or even going steady: Nearly thirty per cent of our cruisers are single, so, if you fancy your chances with a Steyn Club member as the moon hangs over the Côte d'Azur and the sound of me singing "Cat Scratch Fever" wafts up from below deck, give it a go.

Any questions? Cindy, our cruise manager, can help with most of them, including flight and hotel bookings: If you're calling from beyond North America, she's on +1 (770) 952-1959; if you're calling from this side of the Atlantic, it's toll-free on 1-800-707-1634. Or you can email your query here.

TO RESERVE YOUR CABIN OR STATEROOM, CLICK HERE.

See you on the telly tonight and tomorrow, and on the radio at noon Eastern - and do give me a call.

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26 Reader Comments

Andrew Vaccaro • Jan 5, 2020 at 06:40

I think Trump ordered the strike to put Soleimani out of his misery- he was watching the airport feed of CNN International at the time!

Walt Trimmer • Jan 3, 2020 at 17:50

We are easily distracted. The question that should be asked is who planned the December 29 airstrikes on Iraqi Shia Kata'ib Hezbollah (backed by Iran) positions in Iraq and Syria. This was a major change in policy. When you bomb someone in Iraq it is not too hard to predict that they can jump in their technicals and show up at the Embassy's front gate the next day. By coincidence that was the Iraqi guards day off.

Soleimani was just a target of opportunity. Someone was probably at the exit to the Baggage Claim area in Baghdad International and saw a driver holding a sign " Soleimani" and called his buddy at Drone Control, "You can't believe who just came into the airport!" Soleimani must have had an over developed sense of invincibility. His bloody past had left a trail of mortal enemies and Obama wasn't there to save him this time. Immediately after the Embassy attack, his killing was not a big deal but this is all we are talking about because Chuck Schumer was not consulted even though he is part of "The Gang of 8." I don't know what that is but it sounds important.

Next up is the retaliation that will inevitably be coming. I don't think it is likely going to be a direct military confrontation. It would more likely be a green on blue incident, hitting an MRAP with a penetrator IED, or harassing shipping in the Straight of Hormuz. The jackpot for them would be to take a prisoner. Foreign workers are leaving to avoid being kidnapped. There is a very good chance the Iraqi Parliament will vote to expel all U.S. forces.

Meanwhile we have retired parade generals telling us this was a measured response. The Iranians are going to decide if it was a measured response. We are just lucky the Iranians have no second-in-command who can take over the terrorist work.

Lowell Walker

Walt Trimmer • Jan 4, 2020 at 07:46

I heard the clip of Schumer saying he was a member of the gang of eight. I thought he was going to cry. Well, he is a leftie.
I was in Nashville and saw my sister. Twice she tried to get a conversation going about the Koch brothers. I didn't have the heart to tell her one had died. She's a committed leftie and somewhat loonie. When she doesn't like what I'm saying, she yells at me.
If Nancy doesn't deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate is Trump still impeached.
I was listening to CBS news report on this dead general and not one minute in the "but" word airs and news goes directly to why we shouldn't have done it.

Kate Smyth

Walt Trimmer • Jan 6, 2020 at 00:20

"Next up is the retaliation that will inevitably be coming."

When Mark guest-hosted for Tucker a month or two ago, a commentator mentioned the growing influence of Hezbollah in the vicinity of the US (in the context of narco-terrorism). It's interesting to see this regional threat being flagged, post-Soleimani: eg. Arab News, 6/1/20, "Hezbollah's disquieting presence in South America".

Great to have your expert contributions (and those of RAC et al) in addition to Mark's analysis, Walt.

Laura Rosen Cohen

Lowell Walker • Jan 6, 2020 at 15:12

Lowell, I know it's not really funny, but I did laugh about you not having the heart to tell her one of the Koch brothers is dead. At least you do realize one cannot reason with such folk, even (especially??) if they are related to you. There is no "conversation". They either "preach", tsk-tsk, lecture, yell, sulk or scream obscenities.

RAC • Jan 3, 2020 at 16:01

Lots of celebrating here and on Fox News. The assassination of Qassem Soleimani certainly feels good in the short term - no loss to mankind. What happens from here now lies with Iran. As one of Tucker's guests pointed out last evening if this move leads to war then Trump is likely toast. No question that the attack on our embassy required a strong response but killing a national hero brings unknown risks and it's now a question of just how far Iran is willing to take this. We have a long dismal record of underestimating our enemies in the middle east and elsewhere. Since WWII we've fought 4 major wars and stand 0-3-1. In Iraq 4,419 KIA 31,993 WIA only to turn the country into a vassal state of Iran. Trump's instincts are dead on and he campaigned on getting us out of these hopeless wars. I hope he hasn't done himself in with this move. It's all up to Iran now.

Robert • Jan 3, 2020 at 15:41

From a previous post by yourself on the Medieval Warm Period

Mark,

You mentioned vineyards on the Isle of Ely at the time of the Magna Carta.

They actually extended much further north than that, e.g., the coastal zones of the Baltic (approx. 56°N), and, in England, Lancashire and Yorkshire (approx. 54°N). It may be assumed that this also held true in North America, and that the land the Vikings called Vinland was actually far closer to Greenland than might be expected from today's climate, possibly Newfoundland itself, or maybe Nova Scotia, without the need to suggest it was far farther south; the element vín 'wine' probably refers to grapes.

"Ek var genginn eigi miklu lengra en þó kann ek nokkur nýnæmi at segja: ek fann vínvið ok vínber." [...] Ok gaf Leifr nafn landinu eptir landkostum ok kallaði Vínland

'"I did not go much further, but I can say something new: I found vines and grapes"
[...] And Leifr gave the country a name from its qualities, and called it Vinland.' (Translation mine). Always a good one to throw out in discussion.

Meanwhile, the Inquisition was right, and Galileo wrong.

(Yeah, honest)

If you refer to an incident about fifteen years before Galileo's better-known confrontation with the church authorities, involving a dispute over the nature of comets. The Jesuit astronomer Orazio Grassi (also high up in the Inquisition hierarchy, interesting sort of joint appointment) declared them to be real material bodies moving in the celestial region beyond the moon, while Galileo held that they were 'atmospheric phenomena'.

Meanwhile, regarding the later, more famous dispute, the Church knew that Galileo was right, but, as so often happens, he had annoyed too many people, and they wanted to get him on something ..... anything....

Todd Lewis • Jan 3, 2020 at 15:09

Great show on Rush today. Mark, tell us what you really think of Parade Generals, Jimmy Carter, Jo Biden, and the Obama administration. A great tutorial on foreign policy.

Elizabeth B. • Jan 3, 2020 at 13:32

Hi Mark...for what it's worth I've simplified my sign-in name, I hope, and the cobwebs of the holidays are clearing off. But I have to say you're in good form on Rush today. And another way to observe Biden's tenure in DC, if you're not allowed to suggest an age...he's been in the DC swamp since he got out of short pants.

And which is the better way to treat a US ambassador, the way our poor Ukraine ambassador was treated by Trump? or the way Obama and Hillary treated Chris Stevens?

Lowell Walker

Elizabeth B. • Jan 4, 2020 at 07:47

Perfect comment.

Elizabeth B.

Lowell Walker • Jan 4, 2020 at 21:06

Thanks Lowell.

Laura Rosen Cohen

Elizabeth B. • Jan 6, 2020 at 15:15

Elizabeth, one of the most repugnant things about the entire episode was the way that President Obama and Hilary Clinton referred to him in death as "Chris". I thought it was utterly reprehensible that they couldn't afford him the minimal dignity of referring to him by his full name, especially given they were responsible for his gruesome murder and the subsequent savage, barbaric desecration of his earthly body. "Chris" this and "Chris" that. Repulsive. Makes me sick to this day.

Josh Passell • Jan 3, 2020 at 13:25

A Poem for the Dear Departed

The blood-spattered beast Suleimani
Was dispatched to Jannah by Donny.
He's now smithereens,
By the fiercest of means:
Think Nicholson growling "Here's Johnny!"

Calvert Whitehurst • Jan 3, 2020 at 13:08

Qasem Soleimani stood near a wall,
Qasem Soleimani heard a bomb fall,
Not Democrats, Mullahs, and not CNN
Can put poor Soleimani together again.

By the way, didn't the Great and Powerful Obama call down an air strike on an American citizen - and, I believe, his teenaged son - who was involved in Islamic terrorism? I can't recall if he sought Congressional authorization for that - but he certainly did not respect the due process rights Americans supposedly enjoy.

Perry Pattetic • Jan 3, 2020 at 11:14

France injected Khomeni into Iran back in 1979 to shift the balance of power from the Americans. Having set the middle east ablaze and gifted the Mad Ayatollahs to the world (not to mention the Syrian and Lebanese mess), they are now whining.
The Dems, who gave us Libya and the War on American Borders, are also whining. Screw them.
The Bush clan better keep quiet too.
What I want to know is - "how much did John Kerry's Iranian son in law make from the $150bn Dane-gelt?"

Lowell Walker

Perry Pattetic • Jan 4, 2020 at 10:45

Didn't Jimmy Carter have something to do with Khomeini going to Iran?

Owen Morgan • Jan 3, 2020 at 10:16

The Beebyanka had some Iranian "journalist" on, insisting that Soleimani was wildly popular within Iran, which I find very hard to believe. Apart from Khamenei, it's hard to think of anyone who more obviously symbolised the violence and brutality of the theocratic state. Iranians must be perfectly well aware that, when Barack Obama sent pallets of cash to Iran, virtually all of it was diverted to Soleimani. I think the hack was from Kayhan, which is to objective reporting what Goebbels was to the truth.

He even claimed that Soleimani fought against terrorism and extremism, which is true only if one accepts the usual islamic conceit that murder, rape, terrorism, extremism and suicide are things that only non-believers, or believers from the wrong sect, commit. Blowing up a synagogue, or a Lebanese motorcade, raining rockets on Israel, or sabotaging shipping lanes all look quite a lot like extremism and terrorism to me.

The Iranian regime is vowing retaliation, but it's going to be a bit hard to tell the difference between that and the sort of mayhem Soleimani spent his worthless existence plotting on a day-to-day basis. This, after all, is the regime which has led chants of "Death to America" every Friday for the last forty years.

Kate Smyth

Owen Morgan • Jan 6, 2020 at 00:25

"The Iranian regime is vowing retaliation, but it's going to be a bit hard to tell the difference..."

Exactly. As Mark said on Rush (paraphrasing): 'This might "provoke them"?!! Provoke them into doing what?!'

Owen Morgan

Kate Smyth • Jan 6, 2020 at 08:02

And the newsual suspects are reporting that the killing of Soleimani has prompted cries of "Death to America," because that never happened before, did it?

Kate Smyth

Owen Morgan • Jan 6, 2020 at 09:58

In the Iranian Parliament, too! (Video on Twitter.)

But yes, far worse is the phenomenon you allude to which Mark discussed on-air, which was summed up somewhere on Twitter: The biggest story is how much support Iran has inside the US government & media.

The mass public mournings - across "the free world", from London to Toronto - are interesting, to say the least.

Sol • Jan 3, 2020 at 02:22

Stay tuned for KC-135, Qasem and the weakly topped Ford.

Perry Pattetic

Sol • Jan 3, 2020 at 13:40

Still playing on local radio every Sunday!

Mark Shere • Jan 3, 2020 at 01:42

Might for right, masterfully done by our President and armed forces.

Perry Pattetic • Jan 3, 2020 at 00:01

There will be a shortage of virgins tonight.
Allah will be putting in an order for 500 new ones, but unless he has Amozlim Prime, it may take a couple of days to get them delivered.

Robert Bridges

Perry Pattetic • Jan 3, 2020 at 11:06

Being reduced to so many less than spare parts, each virgin can get their own commemorative piece of him. Will John Kerry and James Taylor do a reprise of "You've Got A Friend" tour? The Dems express sympathy for the Devil, so Iranian terrorist will be lavished with solemn moments of reflection .

Perry Pattetic

Robert Bridges • Jan 3, 2020 at 13:38

I expect they will have to take turns with the Martyred Appendage