Have you seen the new ad where Harold Ford says, "Come Tuesday, you won't have to hear me say, 'I'm Harold Ford, and I've approved this message' anymore"? Way to go, Harold! You've finally said something we can appreciate.

I heard today that Bob Corker has run over 12,000 ads since the August primaries. That feels about right.

Meanwhile, in Iran, they've just performed their third major missile test, code named "Great Prophet". They set off missiles that would be able to reach Israel, as well as a warhead that would distribute over 1400 baby bombs at the same time. The reason we should be concerned about this is because Crazy Dan Ahmadenijad believes that his purpose in life is to usher in Armageddon and the return of this "great prophet." Consider the article below from one of my favorite bloggers, Joel Rosenberg. It makes the daily media saga of Mark Foley, Rush Limbaugh, Michael J. Fox and the great John Kerry seem a lot less significant.

Four more days, four more days...

Thursday, September 21, 2006

MEDIA UNDER AHMADINEJAD'S SPELL: Why have Time, NBC, others refused to examine his dangerous religious beliefs?

(LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, September 20, 2006 -- updated on 9/21) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad has launched a charm offensive through the mainstream media. First was his "exclusive" interview with Mike Wallace on CBS's "60 Minutes." Now the Iranian leader is on the cover of Time magazine this week. Tuesday, he did a lengthy interview with NBC's Brian Williams. Wednesday, he did a 20 minute interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. And, of course, Ahmadinejad's speech yesterday blasting the United States (while on American soil) made headlines around the world.Yet something has been curiously absent from all this media coverage.

American journalists aren't asking Ahmadinejad about his Shiite religious beliefs, his fascination with the coming of the Islamic Messiah known as the "Twelfth Imam" or the "Mahdi," his critique of President Bush's faith in Jesus Christ and encouragement of President Bush to convert to Islam, and how such beliefs are driving Iranian foreign policy.

Time's cover story and exclusive print interview with Ahmadinejad never broached the subject of his eschatology (end times theology). Nor did Williams. Nor did Wallace. Nor does a just-released book, Confronting Iran: The Failure of American Foreign Policy And the Next Great Crisis in the Middle East, by British Iran expert Ali M. Ansari. Nor does almost any of the saturation coverage Ahmadinejad is receiving.

Journalists aren’t typically shy about asking tough, probing questions about the religious views of world leaders. President Bush has been grilled at length about being an evangelical Christian and how this informs his foreign policy, particularly with regards to Israel and the Middle East. Clearly the pope’s views of Christianity and Islam are now under fire. Why such hesitancy when it comes to the religious beliefs of a leader who has called for the Jewish state to be wiped off the planet and urges fellow Muslims to envision a world without the United States?

I think Ahmadinejad is waiting to be asked. He wants to talk about what he believes and why he believes it. His religion shapes who he is and what is driving him. When he addressed the United Nations General Assembly last year, he concluded his speech by praying for Allah to hasten the coming of "the Promised One," the Islamic Messiah also known as the "Twelfth Imam" or the "Mahdi." When he got back to Tehran, the Iranian leader told colleagues that during his speech he was surrounded by a halo of light, and that for 27 or 28 minutes as he spoke, delegates were so mesmerized by the words Allah was speaking through him that no one blinked. Not once.

In the months that followed, Ahmadinejad made his Islamic eschatology even more clear. He told followers that he believed the end of the world was rapidly approaching, and that the way to hasten the coming of the Messiah was to launch a global jihad to annihilate Israel and the United States. He also told followers that the "Mahdi" is already on the planet, but has not yet chosen to reveal himself. What's more, Ahmadinejad has said that he has personally been in contact with the "Mahdi" and received instructions from him, instructions that are apparently leading Iran to prepare for an apocalyptic war to annihilate Judeo-Christian civilization as we know it.

On Tuesday night, he concluded his speech before the U.N. General Assembly with this prayer: "Oh, almighty God, all men and women are your creatures and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirst for justice, the perfect human being promised [the Twelfth Imam, the Islamic Messiah] to all by you, and makers among his followers and among those who strive for his return and his cause."