On KRMG radio in Tulsa this morning Governor Keating was interviewed by John Erling about his work in straightening out the Catholic Church and their problems with priests who sexually abuse children. The Governor has come under attack by some of the leaders in the Catholic Church for his statements that Catholics who feel their local leaders are brushing these problems under the rug should "vote with their feet" and go to another parrish or diocese. If I'm getting the nomenclature wrong please understand that Catholicism is a mystery to me. I was impressed with Keating's common sense approach and his gutsy outspokenness about his church. By voting with their feet and giving their donations to another Catholic Church the believers are hitting the evil-doers where it hurts most, in their pocketbook. If there is a hell however, these evil priests will have more to worry about.

The Governor went on to quote Steve Emmerson, author of American Jihad, as an authority on radical Islamic terrorists. I wouldn't put much credibility in anything Mr. Emmerson says, Governor. I wasted money buying his book and getting his autograph at a talk Emmerson gave in Oklahoma earlier this year. Emmerson was not objective. He was rabidly anti-Arab and anti-Palistinian. I immediately suspected him of being on Israel's payroll. He criticized America for not supporting Israel's incursions into Palistinian areas and flatly stated that if America were to give in to Palistinian demands it would make absolutely no difference in the degree of Palistinian violence against Israel. I do not believe this for one minute. While the Palistinians are justified in their opposition to Israel's occupation of Palistine they are not justified in their terrorist attacks on civilians. Not only is that immoral, it's stupid. If Arafat were to use Ghandi's methods the world would be behind the Palistinians 98%. But the US has been very one-sided in our support of Israel and I can understand why Arabs are upset with this unbalanced treatment of the Middle East situation. If we were to be fair and evenhanded in our dealings with the Israelis and the Palistinians it would eventually change Arab views. It would, moreover, be the right thing to do.

The Arab and Islamic world has over-reacted however. Polls of Arab nations consistently show that the citizenry have quite bizarre views about America. It amazes me how a plurality of Arabs could actually say they believe that the 9-11 terror attacks were orchestrated by Israel to incite American hatred of Arabs. They actually believe the story widely circulated, that Jews knew about the impending attacks and stayed away from the World Trade Center on 9-11. How gullible can you be? Are the believers of this story really that insane? They are, but can you blame them that much when the Arab/Islamic media and religious leaders tell them to believe such nuttiness? The Arabs should question their leaders credibility and we should question Emmerson's credibility too.