Its the Constitution, after all

Ok, did alot of reading relative to the NSA's program of intercepting communications without warrants on behalf of the President. This is simple.

• The NSA obviously intercepts a lot of communications 'data', some of which makes it across the water to the US, or from here to there. That falls under Article II of the Constitution. The Executive Branch has the right ( and the requirement) to conduct this kind of 'warrantless' survellience against foreign entities, be they countries or terrorist organizations, outside and inside our borders.
  

• They may know who is sending or receiving the information (Al Qaeda operatives, etc.), but may not know initially who's on the other end, sending or receiving.

• If the initially unknown person winds up being a US person (citizen or resident alien), THEN we need to deal with the Fourth Amendment. If they're not a US person, all bets are off.
  

Unless and until the liberal element in this country understands that this is a war and not criminal activity that we're dealing with, they're going to continue with this unmitigated drivel.

Sleep in heavenly peace...

Well, there's your trouble, Mr. Osteen.

Was noodling around the net after my first post. Found this info from a Christianity Today review of Osteen's book (see below). Looks like Mrs. Osteen was just following her hubby's idea that, by golly, these airline people need to get with the program and show her the favor that God has given Joel to parking spaces, faster seating in restaurants, and bending airline baggage rules. I'm of the persuasion that Providence is the hand of God in the glove of Circumstance. Hence, I may well get the parking space by the entrance. By the same token, I should neither demand, expect, or be ungrateful for getting it, or pitch a fit if I don't. Tsk...

One of the finest chapters shows how Christians should aim for excellence and integrity. The book undercuts the emphasis on integrity, however, by suggesting trivial examples of God's favor to the faithful: faster seating in restaurants, a last-second opening of an excellent parking space, being upgraded to first class without seeking it, and enjoying a personal exemption from an airline's baggage policy.
Osteen tells of not wanting to check an expensive television camera on a flight to India. The counter clerk insists that the airline's policy strictly forbids him from it carrying on, and Osteen asks if he can talk to someone else. A pilot walks up and offers to stow the camera behind the cockpit.
"The woman behind the counter glared at me and shook her head, clearly aggravated," Osteen writes. "I just smiled and said, 'Sorry, ma'am; it's the favor of God.'" Or was it simply that an observant pilot intervened to prevent an unnecessary conflict (which some planning on Osteen's part could have prevented) from escalating?

Victoria's not too secret, secret.

According to various news reports, it seems the wife of famed Houston evangelist Joel Osteen, Victoria Osteen, got sideways with a stewardess on a Continental Airlines flight. Seems that Mrs. Osteen refused to follow the stewardess' instructions prior to take-off and the Osteen family, on its way to a ski vacation in Vail, was asked to leave the plane. Something about a 'spill' on the tray table on Mrs. Osteen's seat in First Class. Interestingly, part of the article included a statement from the FBI. Evidently, they were called as a result of what all happened on the plane. The plane remained grounded for about an hour or so while the Osteen's luggage was retrieved for a later flight to Vail. Not a whole lot of other details, as everyone seems to have kissed and made up, and are now shutting up, but what in the world is going on here?

• You have to be pretty out-of-control to be asked to leave a plane. What, did she rush the cockpit?
• The FBI was involved?
• All those other poor folks had to sit for over an hour while the airline de-planed the luggage?

Something ain't right here, and it doesn't speak well for Mr. Osteen. House is worth 2.2MM, just recently stopped taking his $220,000 (how much?) annual salary only because his book sales have topped 3 million units, and if you look at his website, he's a 'health and wealth, name it and claim it' industry unto himself, replete with a hip "J" logo (oh, the irony!). Tsk...

Ya gotta love Chris Muir

In case you weren't aware, Senator Joe Biden, part of the 'if its Bush, its got to be bad' crowd was in Iraq for some photo ops, replete with purple finger. Talk about shameless political opportunism...guess he'll have this as part of his 2008 presidential run, and hope folks have forgotten his opposition to the war by then...

Take your Pick

By all accounts, all is going well in Iraq on the elections. Now, you can have the Iraqi perspective here...purple finger, Middle Eastern woman with the right to vote, hand raised in V for Victory salute, or...




You can take the Liberal view of Janeane Garofalo...no purple finger, arm raised in a 'Heil Hitler' salute (hey Janeane, the Nazi salute is the right hand, OK?), reflecting her perception that conservatives that support the war in Iraq are all Nazis. Take your pick.

Hey all you Secularists and assorted Christmas haters: we give up!

The AP has been reporting that several "mega" churches are closing the doors on Sunday, December 25th. Why, you might ask? Because its Christmas, of course! Here's the part that gets me the most. Read the following statement from the spokeswoman for WCCC. Do you find it odd that a church has a "spokeswoman"? How big is the PR department for this place? Where the heck is the pastor? Getting his travel plans together to be out of town for Christmas perhaps?

Cally Parkinson, a spokeswoman for Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., said church leaders decided that organizing services on a Christmas Sunday would not be the most effective use of staff and volunteer resources. The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday was 1994, and only a small number of people showed up to pray, she said.

"If our target and our mission is to reach the unchurched, basically the people who don't go to church, how likely is it that they'll be going to church on Christmas morning?" she said.

Hey Cally, its a dead cinch that no one will come on Christmas if the doors are closed. Maybe, just maybe, there might be someone out there that DOESN'T have any family to spend Christmas with, and a church with open doors might be a place of comfort to them. It beats going to a bar. You can bet they'll be going full blast for all those folks. Sheesh...Christmas has left the building!

They're right: Iraq is becoming another Vietnam...

So, what does that mean? The Wall Street Journal published an article recently describing the perspective of Communist North Vietnam leaders during that war. From a military standpoint (see Tet Offensive) the war was going disasterously for them. To their estimation, it took a full two years to recover from that setback. Where they were making real progress was here on the home front. They even mentioned Ramsey Clark, current Saddam advocate, as part of all that. It was a matter of waiting for public opinion here at home to force the USA out of the war, which it did.

We're getting the same thing now from Howard Dean (we can't win), John Kerry (our soldiers are terrorizing women and children in Iraq in the dead of night), Nancy Pelosi (we need out in six months), John Murtha (the army is broken down), Ramsey Clark (defending Saddam), and on down the line. You combine all of those folks with a media that supports the "I hate George Bush, therefore I must hate the war" line of thinking, and we're fighting on two fronts...there, and here at home. Might as well get Jane Fonda posing with an IED....(sigh)

If not global, there's definitely a regional war that needs fighting

Great article from Michael Ledeen here that tries to address the bigger picture of the war on terror. I would hope that there are some things in the works that ordinary citizens like myself and Mr. Ledeen aren't privy to, that are working toward that end.

Finally, a little backbone...

Politics is somewhat of a sport after all. Lets see how this latest game played out:

• Democrats continually beating the "Bush lied, people died" drum in advance of the mid-term elections, with the help of the major (in no way mainstream anymore) media.

• The Administration and other GOPers calling out the Democrats on their previous Clinton era comments on Saddam, WMDs, imminent threats, and so on, their vote to approve military action against him, and exposing the hyprocrisy, with the help of conservative media such as talk radio and the blogosphere.

• Democrats bring up a war hero, Murtha, to act as the mouthpiece to hide behind. He's been wanting to pull out of Iraq for some 18 months now, so at least he's consistent. How can you beat up a genuine war hero saying he wants an 'immediate' withdrawal from Iraq? War hero or no, you certainly can beat up the idea, not the man.

• Republicans call the bluff and request a vote...'Cut and run, or stay 'til we're done'. Dems tried their best to vote down the vote, and failed. Final numbers 403 to 3 to vote down an immediate pullout. Nothing was heard on the voice vote, but 3 Democrats recorded their support for immediate pullout. Six Dems voted 'present'.

• In the aftermath, Dems are now saying there's a world of difference between a withdrawal and immediate pullout. GOPers made it too black-and-white a question. Go look at what representative Murtha said. He said 'immediate'. You guys might want to be careful about which mouthpiece you hide behind next time.

• Score? Well, considering the endless posturing of our elected officials on both sides, I'll grudgingly give points to conservatives for backbone. The real winners? Our military. They finally got a vote of confidence to stay the course.

Ooops, sorry!

The Washington Post just published a story about Bob Woodward and the Valerie Plame blame game. These are excerpts, but I just wanted to paste in some parts of the article. They speak for themselves...OK maybe a little highlighting on my part.

Bob Woodward apologized today to The Washington Post's executive editor for failing to tell him for more than two years that a senior Bush administration official had told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame, even as an investigation of those leaks mushroomed into a national scandal.

"I hunkered down. I'm in the habit of keeping secrets. I didn't want anything out there that was going to get me subpoenaed."

Woodward said the unnamed official told him about Plame "in an offhand, casual manner . . . almost gossip" and that "I didn't attach any great significance to it."

Woodward said he had passed along a tip about Plame to Post reporter Walter Pincus, who was writing about Wilson in June 2003, but Pincus has said he does not recall any such conversation.

Woodward said he could not discuss why he decided to notify Downie about his role in the Plame matter last month. He said Downie had told him that there was "a breakdown in communications, but not a breakdown in trust." Downie said he has told Woodward he must be more communicative about sensitive matters in the future.

In past interviews, Woodward has repeatedly minimized the Fitzgerald probe, telling National Public Radio, for example, that when "all of the facts come out in this case, it's going to be laughable because the consequences are not that great." Downie said Woodward had violated the paper's guidelines in some instances by expressing his "personal views."

(sigh)

And then, when you call them on it...

This is part of an exchange between Chris Wallace and Senator Jay Rockefeller on Fox News Sunday...

WALLACE: Senator Rockefeller, the President says that Democratic critics, like you, looked at pre-war intelligence and came to the same conclusion that he did. In fact, looking back at the speech that you gave in October of 2002 in which you authorized the use of force, you went further than the President ever did. Let's watch.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER (October 10, 2002): "I do believe that Iraq poses an imminent threat, but I also believe that after September 11th, that question is increasingly outdated."

WALLACE: Now, the President never said that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat. As you saw, you did say that. If anyone hyped the intelligence, isn't it Jay Rockefeller?

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: No.

Now in all fairness, this isn't the totality of his response. Essentially, he argued that he wasn't getting the same level of intelligence that Bush was.

Soooo, how does that explain that he, not Bush, was the one saying the threat was imminent?

WALLACE…and yet you, not the President, said that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat.

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: Chris, there's always the same conversation. You know it was not the Congress that sent 135,000 or 150,000 troops.

WALLACE: But you voted, sir, and aren't you responsible for your vote?

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: No.

WALLACE: You're not?

You have to love this. ' I'm a senator, and I vote, but I'm not responsible for the votes I cast, especially if it goes against the lie I'm telling you now...'

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: No. I'm responsible for my vote, but I'd appreciate it if you'd get serious about this subject, with all due respect....

OK, so he at least acknowledges that he voted for military action against Saddam, but wants Chris Wallace to get serious about it. I guess there's something more serious than voting to authorize troops in harm's way, or just flat-out disavowing what you yourself said about Saddam as an imminent threat leading up to the war.

Holy moly...

More liars and no one to call them on it

MICHAEL SCHEUER, the first head of the CIA's bin Laden unit in the Clinton Administration made this comment during an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Snowball”(Hardball, it aint…) on 9 November

MATTHEWS: Michael, just to think outside the box, would we be better off with Saddam Hussein still running tyrannically that country of Iraq, right next door to Jordan? Would Jordan be more secure in that environment?

SCHEUER: No doubt about it, sir.

MATTHEWS: No doubt?

SCHEUER: There'd be many more dead--many fewer dead Americans, and we would have many more resources available annihilate al Qaeda, which is what we have to do. Without a doubt, in the war against al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein was one of our best allies.

Now, it wouldn’t be quite as insane a comment except that Mr. Scheuer actually outlined a number of instances where Saddam was ca-hooting with Al Qaeda and Al Zarqawi back in 2002.

Hehehe...just something I found.

COWS
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington. And they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give them each a cow.

CONSTITUTION
They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart Guys, it's worked for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore.

COMMANDMENTS
Want to know the real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse? You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians! It creates a hostile working environment.

Lies and the liars who tell them..

Norman Podhoretz puts the whole 'Bush lied, people died' argument to rest here. Mr. Podhoretz pretty much pulls it all together in one place.

As has been talked up elsewhere, most notably by Bill Bennett, are the most recent revelations about the CIA and secret prisons in Europe. So, where is the outrage about the media revealing classified information? Why aren't we going after the CIA 'leakers'? Maybe its because the liberal media and certain CIA operatives are anti-administration. I guess that doesn't count

We need to stop criminalizing politics and politicizing criminality.

French Riots, Immigration, Mark Steyn, and Teddy Roosevelt

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Steyn has some analysis of what's happening in France that is not only a history lesson, but spot on. Had the French imposed the Teddy Roosevelt model (see below) of assimilation into their society, they wouldn't be having these problems now. Its no wonder now why France couldn't support an invasion of Iraq. But, here's the real problem. It wouldn't have mattered. What matters is showing weakness to these Islamic thugs. If there's no strong, head busting, "you're outta here!" reaction to this kind of behavior, they'll do this again, and worse. It won't be for the sake of freedom that they continue to torch, pillage, and murder. It will be for control of France. We need to also turn attention to our own situation here. If we continue to allow huge numbers of people to come into this country that refuse to assimilate fully to an "American" way of life, including language and culture, the blessings we enjoy as Americans will go up in flames as well.

Teddy Roosevelt was right...

Another Teddy Roosevelt quote:

Hat tip to my B-I-L, Pastor Ed

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Just in time for Halloween

Michelle Malkin, amongst others, posted these pictures from USA Today. You might notice a little difference between the two:

Halloween Condi









Whoo, pretty scary, eh?

Then, there's "unpossessed" Condi here











Oh man, the lights went off! I actually sent an email to USA Today. They blamed it on a 'new guy' that went a little too far lightening up the picture. Hmmm, wonder why nothing else got 'lighter' than the whites of her eyes? Halloween joke? Maybe, but how about doing Hillary while we're at it? Balance...

And for fun, Donald Rumsfeld

So which was it?

As you can see, ABC news wasn't quite so clear the first time. If you didn't catch it over the weekend, a Nazi group was going to march in Toledo, Ohio. With all the hubbub, the local police canceled the march. They didn't take one step. On the other hand, protesters definitely did take certain steps. Breaking windows, looting, burning, vandalizing...sigh.

Some more of what's out there...Beer and Jesus

Well, here was a post from that same site that I was getting the 'kudos' from. I don't think its much of a stretch to say that there's a correlation between ultra liberal, " bush planned 9/11" genre of blogs, and Godlessness. My take is in Italics

the top ten reasons why beer is better than jesus:

number ten: no one will kill you for not drinking beer;

I would guess that this reference goes back some 500 years to the Spanish Inquisition. Considering we've operated under the First Amendment for the last 200 years, I've not read of non-Christians being burned, lately.

Ironically, you can even in the year 2005 be killed for being an infidel by refusing to convert to Islam. So, in that regard, I would submit that beer is better than beheading someone.

number nine: beer doesn't tell you how to have sex;

Now here, I would heartily disagree. After all, how many instances are there of people having sex in situations they ordinarily never would have, without beer? What made you do it with that coyote ugly gal you met at the bar, your best friend's wife, your wife's best friend, underage teenagers at a party, and on and on...beer.

number eight: beer has never caused a major war;

Ok, so again we're going back a thousand years. In the twenty odd years I played in bars and nightclubs, I never once saw fights break out with Bibles flying back and forth with people yelling, "Immersion! No, sprinkling!". On the other hand...you get the picture

number seven: they don't force beer on minors who can't think for themselves;

Oh really? How many minors have been pressured into underage drinking by older folks (see sex reference above) or by their peers?

number six: when you have a beer, you don't knock on people's doors trying to give it away;

Of course not! Why be generous to strangers with YOUR beer? You keep giving it away, and eventually you'll run out. Now Jesus, on the other hand...

number five: nobody's ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured over his brand of beer;

For the third time....how many hundreds of years ago?

number four: you don't have to wait 2000+ years for a second beer;

Assuming the 'non-believer' perspective behind this top ten list, its a good thing we're still waiting. You folks wouldn't like how it would turn out when He does come back.

number three: there are laws saying beer labels can't lie to you;

Yeah? I don't guess that all the advertising that equates beer with drop dead gorgeous super-models being around ordinary looking guys is 'dead-on' truth in advertising.

number two: you can prove you have a beer;

Depends on how many you've had. At some point, you may have difficulty proving that you exist.

and the number one reason why beer is better than jesus:

if you've devoted your life to beer, there are groups to help you stop.

Considering all the destructive behavior associated with alchohol and alchoholism, you're right.

I'm not sure we need groups to stop people from feeding, clothing, and housing the poor, healing the sick, and even helping alchoholics quit drinking.

Sheesh, this was too easy....

Well, at least Al Qaeda understands its not about oil

This from the WaPo...

Now, I'm always hammering the left for quoting articles with 'unnamed sources', so I'll be circumspect here. However, considering the Post's left-of-center posture, I'm thinking I'm on pretty solid ground.

So, what do we have here?

"The United States has obtained a letter from Osama bin Laden's deputy to the leader of Iraq's insurgency that outlines a long-term strategic vision for a global jihad, with the next phase of the war to be taken into Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, according to U.S. officials."

That's nice...he's sharing a vision. So why is OBL's number 2 sharing with Zarqawi?

"The letter of instructions and requests outlines a four-stage plan, according to officials: First, expel American forces from Iraq. Second, establish a caliphate over as much of Iraq as possible. Third, extend the jihad to neighboring countries, with specific reference to Egypt and the Levant -- a term that describes Syria and Lebanon. And finally, war against Israel."

There's your answer: Iraq is the first step...but wait, there's more.

"I want to be the first to congratulate you for what God has blessed you with in terms of fighting in the heart of the Islamic world, which was formerly the field for major battles in Islam's history, and what is now the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era."
(emphasis mine).

So, I guess we can call Iraq "Jihadist Central", eh? Huhwuzzat? Bush just told us Iraq was the central part of the war on terror. He must have put those bad, bad Al Qaeda guys up to saying the same thing with some of those billions of dollars earmarked for Halliburton.

Boy, that Karl Rove is some kind of genius. Who would of thought of bribing those guys to back up W?

Or, maybe going to Iraq was the uh, ummm, right thing to do?

Now, here's the best part...

"In one indication of tensions between the al Qaeda leadership and its Iraqi division, U.S. officials said, Zawahiri writes about the need to maintain popular support. He is critical of Shiite Muslims and says a clash between the Sunni-dominated movement and the Shiite sect is inevitable, officials said, but he rebukes the leader of Iraq's insurgency for its brutal tactics -- noting that hostages can just as effectively be killed with bullets rather than by beheading, officials said."

Yeah, bullets are better. Not near as inflammatory in imagery. I mean, innocent people are just as dead, but without all those negative connotations. Yeah, lets 'ix-nay' the 'eheading-bay' from now on.

Boy, if this document is real..

So, what started all the hubbub?

Some of the reactions you see below concern the anti-war protest over the weekend.

Democracy Now!, a group that considers CNN part of the corporate media conspiracy that supports the evil aims of the current government(now that's leaning left, buddy!) advised that the anti war protest brought in somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000 participants. They had no basis in fact for coming up with that number, or more precisely, that wildly exaggerated estimation. I called the bloggerators at 'Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo' that linked to D.N. out on that number, and the discussion got pretty lively, and in some cases, pretty tasteless. Considering I was outnumbered, I did the best that I could.

This is what you get from 'progressive' blog sites...

Been commenting over at some other blogs with 'other' perspectives than mine. This doesn't happen all the time, but often enough. Here's the latest...

Uhm, let's start over, right wing troll. You're stuck on stupid. That's right. You're stuck on stupid. You're spewing million gillion billions of words to justify some stupid political idology of some sort or another. Well I got news for you. Reality don't give a shit what your ideological bullshit is. Anybody who calls themselves "liberal" or "conservative" rather than simply *AMERICAN* is literally STUCK ON STUPID. I'm not going to addres syour bullshit because that's just what it is -- bullshit. All I gotta say is this: When you're interested in figuring out what's right for America and Americans rather than in scoring ideological bullshit points, I'll be happy to address any concerns you have. But right now, you're stuck on stupid, and you wouldn't listen to me anyhow so why waste my breath? - Badtux the American Penguin

Oh and this one too...

Why do any of you want to deal with this piece of filth? Why respond? You can't win an argument with a schizophrenic. You can't change the mind of a True Believer -- and I don't want to. I just want to know how to flatten them into the ground.

Update: I just now figured out that Badtux follows an offshoot of Existentialism referred to as "Excrement(It really exists! Check out Wikpedia.) Existentialism", hence the multiple references to that material, bless his heart.

"It don't mean a thang without that transcendental swing"

I came across this article from http://www.lashawnbarber.com/ this evening. The link to the article is set below. Charles Murray, co-author of The Bell Curve, advises that our level of human accomplishment for the last 1200 years or so can be tied pretty much to our relationship with God. Interesting reading. When one looks back at all the great things written in ages past, it begs the question, "what have we done lately?" That might explain why things have pretty much gone to heck in a handbag since WW I, the rise of Communism, and pretty much every breakdown in civilization one could think of. To do a 180 on Rick Warren, its what we get when we have purposeless lives, eh?

So much for Hillary playing both ends against the middle

Courtesy of Michelle Malkin's post, here's the latest. In a New York Post article here We have Sheehan going after Hillary, who's going after Bush for not putting enough Military in Iraq. Poetic justice for all involved...

Crocodile Tears

Remember when we got this story and this video? This guy, Mr. Broussard was crying his eyes out in front of Tim Russert and a national TV audience. The gov'mint had abandoned New Orleans. He was crying over a woman that died at a nursing home. The son (not Mr. Broussard, BTW) kept hearing from her mom day after day after day asking if she would be rescued. Well, come to find out she died at the nursing home on August 29th, when storm came in. How in the heck was the mom calling day after day if she had already passed away? Now, the nursing home owners are facing charges that they did not act to evacuate the nursing home. Oddly enough, the owners made it out. Why not the residents? What does Mr. Broussard have to tell Tim Russert about now? Is he crying over that? Forget about the other part of the interview where he said FEMA turned away the Red Cross (It was the locals, actually). If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd say that this was part of it, but you don't have to have marching orders from the DNC to take your own shots at Bush. Too bad they don't take shots at the real problems like border control and out of control spending. Cry me a river Mr. Broussard...

UPDATE: Per Cookie Jill's request, here is the link to the most comprehensive breakdown of the Brossard breakdown, with tip of the hat to Wuzzadem.

UPDATE: NBC has now issued a correction:

"New details and interviews with the son whose mother died in the flood show that the tragedy unfolded from Saturday through Monday, Aug. 29 — not Monday through Friday, Sept. 2 as recounted by Broussard. The owners of the nursing home were indicted Tuesday for the deaths of more than 30 residents, which officials say occurred on Aug. 29."

How in the world can this guy have provided so much detail, and ALL of it wrong?

Help! Somebody? Anybody?

I'm not saying there isn't any help coming from the international community, I just haven't heard of any other country stepping up to help us like we help everyone else. If I do, I'll be sure to put up a list. Waiting...

Ah, here we go. Lots of telegrams and expressions of sympathy. The Swiss people are asking where they can donate. That's one. Jihadists expressing glee...to be expected. Debate in Vienna on whether they should donate to such a rich country. Environmental groups blaming the United States for the global warming that created the conditions for the hurricane. Netherlands, and rightfully so, wondering why we haven't got things done like they have. Anybody else want to actually help? Still waiting...

There's your trouble...

Anybody notice that with all the records being reviewed concerning Judge Roberts and his tenure in government, how much there is? No wonder we can't balance the budget or save trees...:-)

Freudian Slip at NPR?

One has to laugh. On the way to work, the newscaster at NPR advised that Judge Roberts had cleared another hurdle in the "confrontation" process with the rating he received from his peers.

Is this how the previous administration dealt with the Able Danger Project?

OK, the monkey thing might have been a cheap shot, but you do appreciate the comic irony, don't you? On a more serious note, we've got Sandy Berger stuffing documents into his socks right as the 9/11 Commission is having hearings? For his sake, I hope it was mere coincidence. We've got lawyers in the Pentagon (Clinton adminstration lawyers) that said a terror suspect, a non-citizen with a US visa, gets the same protection as a US citizen? Finally, we've got 9/11 Commission members (including Clinton administration official, Gorelick, that signed off on keeping the walls up in the first place) denying ever getting, or seeing, or being notified, or... wait! 'Yeah, we got the info on Able Danger, but...'

Gee...thanks guys, for all the hard work...and forthrightness.

This reiterates the basic problem with our intelligence capabilities concerning terror, but it also reiterates how few politicians in this country (red or blue, take your pick) have enough courage to put out the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Just a little honesty, please...

I've made a point of cruising other aspects of the blogosphere to see what's going on.

Looking at Crooks and Liars' blog, I found a reference to Senator Rick Santorum's interview on Brian Lehrer's radio show. Senator Santorum recently published a book, "It takes a family" as a counterpoint to the Hillary/liberal viewpoint on how to raise children. Crooks and liars trumpets the fact that Rick Santorum 'lost it' during the interview. Thirty minutes later, I come to the conclusion that Rick Santorum actually maintained his cool throughout. Most of the comments to Crooks and Liars on that particular item, left and right, said the same thing. During a segment discussing gay marraige, Brian Lehrer throws this bomb out.

LEHRER: It came out this month that your communications director, Robert Traynham, is gay. How long did you know that?

SANTORUM: Uh, I’ve known it for a while.

LEHRER: And if he has a boyfriend, is that the moral equivalent as, in a famous quote of yours, of bigamy, adultery, or incest or even bestiality?

SANTORUM: Well, I didn’t – number one, my famous quote did not draw moral equivalence. And in fact if you read the quote in its proper context without words inserted by a reporter, uh, who put words in my mouth that I did not say, nor did I mean –

What? You gotta be kidding. Rather than deal with issues of the day, make it personal why don't you? If anything, the fact that Mr. Santorum discounts his comm director's sexual 'orientation' as a qualifier for the job speaks volumns to his open-mindedness. Can't say the same about liberals, generally.

LEHRER: By the way, do you have lively debates with your press secretary over this? Does he try to convince you, do you try to convince him to go get cured?

SANTORUM: Uh, no, I – look, his personal life is his personal life. I don’t have lively debates with any of my staff about their personal lives. It’s their personal life, and I have lively debates about issues of, that, of public policy. And I have people on my staff that agree with me on everything and – well, not everything, but most everything – and I have those who don’t. And uh, you know, that makes for a healthy debate in the office.

So, we have a liberal talk show host trying to bait the Senator with a 'gotcha', which he didn't take, by the way. Yet a liberal blog paints Santorum as some raving loonatic.

Look, if we're going to disagree and debate, at least keep it honest. Sheesh...

Hello! Are you awake yet?

Make no mistake. It could happen here. Perhaps we could look to Luke 11:21 "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace"

It is just hardball Politics, after all...

This from Howard Fineman of Newsweek on a Q&A concerning Karl Rove, here.


"Torrance, CA: Why is it that so little attention has been given as to why on earth the CIA would have sent someone like Joe Wilson in the first place?

Howard Fineman: Very good question. My theory is that the CIA didnt like the idea of going into Iraq and wanted to send someone who would help make the case against going in. CIA and State were at odds with DOD and the Veep's office on Iraq from the git go. I wrote about it on the Web in 2003 and think I'm right. "

So, maybe that's why we're getting all we're getting. What kind of help were folks at the CIA looking for? Its no secret (excuse the pun) that the CIA and the State Department have been anti-administration. Alot of the shake-ups and personnel changes have been a result of this feud, the lousy job the CIA did in the first place concerning pre 9/11 intelligence, and State's UN (show that anti-USA) oriented foreign policy. Hitting back at an effective Republican strategist like Rove seems in order for the opposition. Shoot, if they didn't I wouldn't have much respect for them to hit back. Kind of reminds me of "The Untouchables" and that Sean Connery line about the Chicago Way...

"You wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone! Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that?"

Finally!

Reports coming in this morning that London police (with guns) chased down a suspect from yesterday's bombing attempts and shot him dead. One down...you Limeys keep it up.


UPDATE: Evidently the guy was a Brazilian that didn't understand English and is not apparently connected to the terrorists in any way. Now the British Police are saying "sorry". Wrong move. The language thing is no excuse. At least some British civil rights groups are saying not to rush to judgement on the police action, considering the environment London is operating under. On the other hand, Muslim spokesmen are whining about how their young Muslim men are 'feeling', that they're afraid. Good. Maybe they'll finally figure out that if they don't want Islam hijacked by extremist thugs and ultimately have Islam outlawed as a religion in the West, they better get cracking.

Like my new hot tub?

Ya' gotta love CNN...

(CNN) -- Nearly 25,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq since the start of the Iraq war, according to a group that tracks such statistics from media reports.

The Iraq Body Count -- a London-based group comprised of academics, human rights and anti-war activists -- said on Tuesday that 24,865 civilians had died between March 20, 2003 and March 19, 2005.

The group said 42,500 injuries were recorded as well.

Academics....human rights activists...anti-war activists. Now there's some folks with no axe to grind. Surely all those media reports are accurate, right? Besides that...anti-war activists? Can't that be considered some type of oxymoron? I mean, anybody out there a "pro-war" activist? Anybody? Just raise your hand...anybody...oh Saddam, put your hand down...we know you're a pro.

When are we going to wake up out there? Islamic extremists are out to kill anybody thats not an Islamic extremist, a supporter, or in the case of too many other Muslims, enablers. I'm not sure the last two groups are neccesarily safe, either.

Can it be any more blatant? Watch this video...

Some five years ago, the mainstream media had made the connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam. Check this video out from ABC News . Somehow it was OK for the media to connect the dots back in 2000, but if its George Bush's administration, all of a sudden the connection is non existent, and he 'lied'. BTW, if you don't have Realplayer, you'll need it.

Hat tip to Powerline on posting this one

How many wake-up calls do we need?

The most recent attack in London bears out one of the big problems facing us in the war on terror. No one else seems to know there is one, and if they do, they don't want to fight in it. By and large, the war in Iraq has been unpopular in England. Tony Blair has taken a considerable amount of flack and lost some political mojo in his unwavering support of our position before and during the current action in Iraq. At home, Brits have allowed their country to become a crossroads and sanctuary for Islamic Extremists to operate and grow unfettered in their midst. It will be interesting to see how they ultimately react and if they'll clean up the mess they made for the sake of 'tolerance'. Lets hope this doesn't become another Spain.

Bright Eyes? So where's the light coming from?

As a way to take the pulse of what's going on out there in popular culture, I will periodically swing by Ifilm.com. For those of you not familiar, Ifilm maintains a burgeoning collection of film clips, commercials, movie trailers, and the like for the public's edification and enjoyment. A cautionary note: there is some vulgar material on this site. I give Ifilm.com credit for flagging those clips as "mature". This morning, I watched a clip of the Tonite Show. There was a singer/songwriter, Conor Oberst, otherwise known as Bright Eyes. It was just him and his guitar, singing "When the President talks to God". Two things I picked up on during the performance was that Mr. Oberst certainly doesn't like President Bush, or the idea that he prays to God. Conversely, it would appear that Mr. Oberst doesn't buy into talking to God. Evidently, its a waste of time and a sham, especially if you're the President. Mr. Oberst has every right to sing that song on national television (even if it at the end of the show, way past the time I normally would be snoring out). What was the audience's reaction? It sounded like Mr. Oberst had a small contingent from his fanclub in the audience that cheered him on between verses, and of course, the applause light surely came on as the show ended, pushing the applause needle somewhere past 'medium'. Lastly, Jay Leno came over to Mr. Oberst clapping and congratulating him on a good job. I know I felt uplifted by the lyrics (not). Perhaps I should talk to God about Mr. Oberst. I know Mr. Oberst could use a little interaction with Him.
-

In whose hands?

As a non-Catholic, I hesitate to comment too directly on Pope John Paul II. One could certainly jump on the 'What about all those pedophile priests he didn't deal with?' bandwagon, but that's not my issue here. I find it interesting that two Catholics, John Paul II and Terri Schiavo, wound up with two different paths out of this life. The juxtaposition is striking. On the one hand, we have Ms. Schiavo. She ultimately fell victim to the culture of Death that is ever growing in terms of groups whose lives are deemed unworthy of living. We started with fetuses and we're continually pushing the envelope to include anyone we feel uncomfortable being around because of their age, medical condition, state of mind, or maybe even their looks. On the other hand, John Paul II made a conscious decision to forego any further treatments to prolong his life. At least he got to participate in the final decision

Better deal than 4 out of 5 Dentists!

From 'best of the web' at the Wall Street Journal, an article here telling us that 5 out of 5 scientists think our solar system is unique. You know, stuff like having a planet with water that is in a circular orbit as it spins on its axis positioned in such a way that it supports life. You know, unique, like one-of-a-kind, special...waitaminnit....maybe ummmm, created that way for a particular reason or purpose. OK, that part might be a stretch for the logical minded, but perhaps we can suspend secular reasoning for just a moment to reflect...maybe, just maybe God did it. Ooops, I said it again. Hope I didn't offend the secular minded amongst you...:-)

A passion for pulling the plug, or tube, or trigger.

Peggy Noonan gives us her take on the Schiavo situation. Along with the politics surrounding this and other events, she's 'dead on' on a most basic issue: you either believe you are a creation of God, or the end result of a myriad combination of circumstances. That perspective defines for us how people are looking at Ms. Schiavo. Now, I'm not for any branch or individual overstepping the Constitution, but whether one believes...or not, we all answer to a Higher Power. Disbelief won't negate our requirement to answer to that Higher Power. It simply puts the answering off until we are individually or collectively called into account. If you don't think that you're knee will bow or your tongue confess...the Constitution gives you that right to think so. It just doesn't change the facts. It does, however, change what your idea of Right and Wrong and Life and Death are. That's why people are going way beyond simply allowing someone to starve to death and taking a more direct route with with guns (which is my argument for making it a law to require and/or to provide all citizens with firearms to protect themselves from people that think life is worthless). As I saw on a bumper sticker the other day, "If you don't believe in God, you'd better be right". Some would consider my position dogmatic. It most certainly is. Hey, its my blog, afterall... :-)

Its not like its a matter of Life or Death, is it?

I'm not the first to make this observation, but recent events really are highlighting this 'culture of death' phenomenon our country is experiencing as the Easter holiday is upon us. The first thing that comes to mind is Terri Schiavo. We have a person that is not on life support, whose ability to function beyond a 'persistent vegetative state' is still subject to debate amongst medical experts, and it seems that our judicial system is Hell-bent on killing her. This in spite of Congress and the President of the United States doing their collective best to give her another chance at Life. We have a young man, Jeff Weise, up in Minnesota that killed 10 people, including his grandparents, and even himself. It was found out later he was deep into 'neo-nazism'. Jessica Lunsford, a mere 9 years old, is murdered by a convicted sex-offender. Here locally a bar fight that in the past would have resulted in some fist fight in the parking lot, winds up with a 'drive by' type of shooting with four people dead. A high school football player simply attending a party is gunned down by another teenager, all because he was asked to leave.

The common thread? In all these cases, Life has lost its value to the people that are taking it. If we are to believe the polls concerning Terry Schiavo (which I don't), Life has lost its value to most of the rest of us as passive bystanders. Its no longer important whether anyone lives. There is no such thing as Eternity, only a blank space where we used to exist. The thing taking its place is Death. Literally, Life and Death have become equivalent in value to many people, and in some cases Death is actually preferable, the first choice. How ironic it is that the Holiday that celebrates Life in the form of the Resurrection falls on the heels of all this death, death, and more death.

Assuming a belief in a God of any kind, our mere existence is in and of itself a miraculous occurance. The culture we're living in now doesn't acknowledge God or the miraculous nature of our existence as the result of His own existence. How short a step it is to Oblivion when our lives are assumed to end there.

Do you see what I see?

Lets take some inventory, shall we?

Afghanistan: free of Taliban rule and having democratic elections. Check.

Iraq: free of Saddam and on its way to a democratically elected government. Check.

Palestinians: Almost acting like a nation with elections. Check.

Libya: renouncing terrorism, paying back victims of said terrorism,
and dismantling its terrorist system. Check.

Egypt: Hosni Mubarek calling for more 'open' elections

Lebannon: Its citizens in revolt ( and peaceful, BTW) against their Syrian oppressors, the Syrian backed government resigning. Check.

Syria: now coughing up some major Baathists hiding from Iraqi justice: Check

Awwww, maybe its just my imagination that Freedom and Liberty are compatible with Middle Eastern cultures. That people, no matter where they are or where they came from all want that same kind of freedom. Maybe all the usual suspects are figuring out that they need to start running the opposite direction now, merely to get in front of this march to Freedom, or risk being left behind in its dust, or worse, trampled beneath it. Maybe standing on principle and not backing down from a fight with Evil in whatever form it takes, get results. Maybe going it alone or with less allies than you'd like when you know the cause is right is actually the right thing to do. Maybe it is just my imagination after all...

He said it, not me.

Picked this up on Powerline. Its a quote from Winston Churchill, from his experience in fighting in the Sudan.

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property - either as a child, a wife, or a concubine - must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die. But the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytising faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science - the science against which it had vainly struggled - the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

Protestors in Lebannon, wanting their country back... 

Signposts in the Middle East

Just picked up a report from Fox News here concerning Syria pulling troops out of Lebannon. A little slow, since they agreed to that in 1989, and we really don't know what they mean when they say they're pulling troops out What was really interesting is a quotation from one of the participants in a protest related to the assasination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri.

"It is my civic duty as a Lebanese to take part in this uprising," said Youssef Mukhtar, a 47-year-old engineer. "Enough bloodshed and disasters. It is the 21st century, and people should be able to govern themselves. The situation has become unbearable and we have to regain our country."

21st century, indeed. I wonder why, after all these years of occupying their neighbor, the 'occupying nation' (that's NOT the United States) is NOW announcing a pullout of troops? I wonder why, after all these years, we have Lebanese citizens clamoring for self-government? Could it be, that after seeing countries like Afghanistan and Iraq moving toward democracy and 'governing themselves', these folks would want the same thing for their country? Could it be that Mr. Bush's policies, ever how imperfectly carried out, actually are having the desired effects? I'm thinking so.

An open letter to Democrats...

It seems almost daily one finds example after example of Democrats shooting themselves in the foot over foreign and domestic policy, and for what? Do you guys hate Bush that bad that you can't see the real opportunity before you as a party? My late father, rest his soul, was a yellow-dog Democrat. For those of you to young to remember, it means if Mother Teresa was a Republican, he would have voted for a yellow dog running on the Democratic Ticket. He always considered Democrats as the party for the Little Guy, the Workin' Man, the Disadvantaged, the Downtrodden, the Forgotten. Democrats were the ones to stand up to Big Government and Big Business, and hold them accountable to regular folks. It wasn't Liberalism in his day, it was Progressivism. The biggest problem you guys have is you've forgotten all that. We need people that won't allow Big Government and Big Business to run roughshod over the common man with no accountability. We need folks to act in our behalf. Where'd you go? All the way to TooFarForYourOwnGood, Texas...that's where. You want to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves? Well, how about unborn children, the least able to fight for their rights? Are you too busy advocating a woman's right to choose, after she's already chosen? And that makes sense to you? Want a cause to champion? How about all those 20 and 30 somethings that WILL NOT have Social Security having a say in their future retirement and their families well being? Want to advocate for civil rights? How about the BILLIONS of people across this planet still in the grip of Totalitarianism, torture, religious fanaticism , genocide, and the like? Want to show the electorate that you have as much claim to 'Christian values' as Bush? How about not looking down your pseudointellectual noses at the "unwashed" in this country and actually try caring about them, and then doing the appropriate, 'Christian', thing? That enough to keep you busy? It would be so easy to out-bush Bush, I could do it from my couch, for crying out loud. Maybe if you'd take a break from hating the guy so much and get your 'stuff' all in one bucket, you might do yourselves, and this country, some good. I don't get all I want from the Republican side. I'm ready to strangle the whole lot concerning our borders, culture, and government spending. We do at least need a loyal opposition in this country to keep us all honest, the 'other side', if you will. The problem is that you have no side, no agenda, no ideas, no vision, no nothing...except for your hatred of a very imperfect man that's got all of that stuff. Heaven help you. I know I can't.

More on the Iraqi elections, terrorism, cowardice, and bravery.

As you can imagine, there are some bloggers in Iraq, "Iraq the model" being one of the more prominent, which you can visit here . Great story on the cowardice of the terrorists and the heroism of Iraqi citizens during the election. If you have any doubts about who is wearing the black hats in Iraq, go check out this blog.

A whole 'nother symbol of Freedom

One, among 8 million fingers symbolizing pride in Iraqi citizens' ability to finally choose how their lives will be. Historic

And so, a new day dawns in Iraq

Sometimes, all the blogging in the world doesn't capture the essence of a historic day such as today. Sometimes, all it takes is a picture. For those Iraqi souls that were brave enough to test the waters of Democracy and freedom of choice, our congratulations and praise. To the others not yet ready or willing, your example lays before you. For those doing their worst to prevent Freedom's ring from sounding the call for Iraq's citizens, your days are numbered. For those Americans and others, Iraqis included, who gave the last full measure of devotion to the highest of ideals, Freedom itelf, your have our undying gratitude and rememberance.
The finger, indeed.

Just call 'em like you see 'em...

Diana West of the Washington Times posts her column
here concerning the inauguration speech. Her contention is we (Bush) need to stop calling it a "war on terror" and call it a "war against Islam", at least the kind that buys into Jihad and either converting or killing all infidels (that most likely means you and me). According to her article, that segment of Islam represents 10% of Muslims in the world. Ten percent, you say? What's ten percent? Approximately 100 million Muslims. She can't be serious, can she? All this bombing and beheading stuff in Iraq is merely political intimidation in the guise of following Muhammed, right? They really don't believe that "kill all the infidels" stuff. Well now, lets go local and think about that Coptic Christian family, including an 8 year old daughter, in New Jersey that was murdered, execution style, bound and gagged, and throats slit. I have no dots to connect here. That would be a job for the police. I would note that the FBI is in on the investigation. There is, after all, a "war on terror" going on, but who is doing the terrorizing? What do you see, and how would you call it?

Some 95 years later...

As we come to Inauguration Day today, I came upon this... Back in April of 1910, Theodore Roosevelt made a speech to the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, the text of which you can find here. If you're not familiar, its the speech in which we got the famous 'man in the arena' quotation listed below:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Now, that in and of itself would be good enough, but there's so much more. Mr. Roosevelt was prescient in seeing what kind of things actually work in this world and what evils masquerade as virtue. There's alot here, but it is so worth reading!

So...like what does it take for a democracy to work:

"The success or republics like yours and like ours means the glory, and our failure of despair, of mankind; and for you and for us the question of the quality of the individual citizen is supreme. Under other forms of government, under the rule of one man or very few men, the quality of the leaders is all-important. If, under such governments, the quality of the rulers is high enough, then the nations for generations lead a brilliant career, and add substantially to the sum of world achievement, no matter how low the quality of average citizen; because the average citizen is an almost negligible quantity in working out the final results of that type of national greatness. But with you and us the case is different. With you here, and with us in my own home, in the long run, success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average women, does his or her duty, first in the ordinary, every-day affairs of life, and next in those great occasional cries which call for heroic virtues. The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed. The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation. Therefore it behooves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average citizen is kept high; and the average cannot be kept high unless the standard of the leaders is very much higher. " (emphasis mine)

Conversely, he lists the qualities that good leaders should(or not) have:

"It is well if a large proportion of the leaders in any republic, in any democracy, are, as a matter of course, drawn from the classes represented in this audience to-day; but only provided that those classes possess the gifts of sympathy with plain people and of devotion to great ideals. You and those like you have received special advantages; you have all of you had the opportunity for mental training; many of you have had leisure; most of you have had a chance for enjoyment of life far greater than comes to the majority of your fellows. To you and your kind much has been given, and from you much should be expected. Yet there are certain failings against which it is especially incumbent that both men of trained and cultivated intellect, and men of inherited wealth and position should especially guard themselves, because to these failings they are especially liable; and if yielded to, their- your- chances of useful service are at an end. Let the man of learning, the man of lettered leisure, beware of that queer and cheap temptation to pose to himself and to others as a cynic, as the man who has outgrown emotions and beliefs, the man to whom good and evil are as one."

And, how our country should handle education. Note the emphasis on character:

"There is need of a sound body, and even more of a sound mind. But above mind and above body stands character - the sum of those qualities which we mean when we speak of a man's force and courage, of his good faith and sense of honor. I believe in exercise for the body, always provided that we keep in mind that physical development is a means and not an end. I believe, of course, in giving to all the people a good education. But the education must contain much besides book-learning in order to be really good. We must ever remember that no keenness and subtleness of intellect, no polish, no cleverness, in any way make up for the lack of the great solid qualities. Self restraint, self mastery, common sense, the power of accepting individual responsibility and yet of acting in conjunction with others, courage and resolution - these are the qualities which mark a masterful people. Without them no people can control itself, or save itself from being controlled from the outside. I speak to brilliant assemblage; I speak in a great university which represents the flower of the highest intellectual development; I pay all homage to intellect and to elaborate and specialized training of the intellect; and yet I know I shall have the assent of all of you present when I add that more important still are the commonplace, every-day qualities and virtues. "

How about his view of the mainstream media:

"The power of the journalist is great, but he is entitled neither to respect nor admiration because of that power unless it is used aright. He can do, and often does, great good. He can do, and he often does, infinite mischief. All journalists, all writers, for the very reason that they appreciate the vast possibilities of their profession, should bear testimony against those who deeply discredit it. Offenses against taste and morals, which are bad enough in a private citizen, are infinitely worse if made into instruments for debauching the community through a newspaper. Mendacity, slander, sensationalism, inanity, vapid triviality, all are potent factors for the debauchery of the public mind and conscience. The excuse advanced for vicious writing, that the public demands it and that demand must be supplied, can no more be admitted than if it were advanced by purveyors of food who sell poisonous adulterations."

How about ethics for the rich, famous, and powerful...and how we react to it:

"...if a man's efficiency is not guided and regulated by a moral sense, then the more efficient he is the worse he is, the more dangerous to the body politic. Courage, intellect, all the masterful qualities, serve but to make a man more evil if they are merely used for that man's own advancement, with brutal indifference to the rights of others. It speaks ill for the community if the community worships these qualities and treats their possessors as heroes regardless of whether the qualities are used rightly or wrongly. It makes no difference as to the precise way in which this sinister efficiency is shown. It makes no difference whether such a man's force and ability betray themselves in a career of money-maker or politician, soldier or orator, journalist or popular leader. If the man works for evil, then the more successful he is the more he should be despised and condemned by all upright and far-seeing men. To judge a man merely by success is an abhorrent wrong; and if the people at large habitually so judge men, if they grow to condone wickedness because the wicked man triumphs, they show their inability to understand that in the last analysis free institutions rest upon the character of citizenship, and that by such admiration of evil they prove themselves unfit for liberty."

How about civil rights and affirmative action:


"But we should not take part in acting a lie any more than in telling a lie. We should not say that men are equal where they are not equal, nor proceed upon the assumption that there is an equality where it does not exist; but we should strive to bring about a measurable equality, at least to the extent of preventing the inequality which is due to force or fraud. Abraham Lincoln, a man of the plain people, blood of their blood, and bone of their bone, who all his life toiled and wrought and suffered for them, at the end died for them, who always strove to represent them, who would never tell an untruth to or for them, spoke of the doctrine of equality with his usual mixture of idealism and sound common sense. He said (I omit what was of merely local significance):"

"I think the authors of the Declaration of Independence intended to include all men, but they did not mean to declare all men equal in all respects. They did not mean to say all men were equal in color, size, intellect, moral development or social capacity. They defined with tolerable distinctness in what they did consider all men created equal-equal in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. This they said, and this they meant. They did not mean to assert the obvious untruth that all were actually enjoying that equality, or yet that they were about to confer it immediately upon them. They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society which should be familiar to all - constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and, even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people, everywhere."

On the subjects of equality and Welfare:

"We are bound in honor to refuse to listen to those men who would make us desist from the effort to do away with the inequality which means injustice; the inequality of right, opportunity, of privilege. We are bound in honor to strive to bring ever nearer the day when, as far is humanly possible, we shall be able to realize the ideal that each man shall have an equal opportunity to show the stuff that is in him by the way in which he renders service. There should, so far as possible, be equal of opportunity to render service; but just so long as there is inequality of service there should and must be inequality of reward. We may be sorry for the general, the painter, the artists, the worker in any profession or of any kind, whose misfortune rather than whose fault it is that he does his work ill. But the reward must go to the man who does his work well; for any other course is to create a new kind of privilege, the privilege of folly and weakness; and special privilege is injustice, whatever form it takes.

To say that the thriftless, the lazy, the vicious, the incapable, ought to have reward given to those who are far-sighted, capable, and upright, is to say what is not true and cannot be true. Let us try to level up, but let us beware of the evil of leveling down. If a man stumbles, it is a good thing to help him to his feet. Every one of us needs a helping hand now and then. But if a man lies down, it is a waste of time to try and carry him; and it is a very bad thing for every one if we make men feel that the same reward will come to those who shirk their work and those who do it. Let us, then, take into account the actual facts of life, and not be misled into following any proposal for achieving the millennium, for recreating the golden age, until we have subjected it to hardheaded examination."

Class Warfare:

"The gravest wrong upon his country is inflicted by that man, whatever his station, who seeks to make his countrymen divide primarily in the line that separates class from class, occupation from occupation, men of more wealth from men of less wealth, instead of remembering that the only safe standard is that which judges each man on his worth as a man, whether he be rich or whether he be poor, without regard to his profession or to his station in life. Such is the only true democratic test, the only test that can with propriety be applied in a republic. There have been many republics in the past, both in what we call antiquity and in what we call the Middle Ages. They fell, and the prime factor in their fall was the fact that the parties tended to divide along the wealth that separates wealth from poverty. It made no difference which side was successful; it made no difference whether the republic fell under the rule of and oligarchy or the rule of a mob. In either case, when once loyalty to a class had been substituted for loyalty to the republic, the end of the republic was at hand. There is no greater need to-day than the need to keep ever in mind the fact that the cleavage between right and wrong, between good citizenship and bad citizenship, runs at right angles to, and not parallel with, the lines of cleavage between class and class, between occupation and occupation. Ruin looks us in the face if we judge a man by his position instead of judging him by his conduct in that position."

Who not to vote for:

"The very last thing an intelligent and self-respecting member of a democratic community should do is to reward any public man because that public man says that he will get the private citizen something to which this private citizen is not entitled, or will gratify some emotion or animosity which this private citizen ought not to possess."

And finally, 'Internationalism' as we see in the UN today.

"Experience teaches us that the average man who protests that his international feeling swamps his national feeling, that he does not care for his country because he cares so much for mankind, in actual practice proves himself the foe of mankind; that the man who says that he does not care to be a citizen of any one country, because he is the citizen of the world, is in fact usually and exceedingly undesirable citizen of whatever corner of the world he happens at the moment to be in. In the dim future all moral needs and moral standards may change; but at present, if a man can view his own country and all others countries from the same level with tepid indifference, it is wise to distrust him, just as it is wise to distrust the man who can take the same dispassionate view of his wife and mother. However broad and deep a man's sympathies, however intense his activities, he need have no fear that they will be cramped by love of his native land."


Wow, I'm simply amazed...its a mirror of what we're facing today

Help? We don't need no stinkin' help!

Unless you've watched the "Treasure of Sierra Madre" with Humphrey Bogart, you won't appreciate the humor. Well, it seems that Indonesia would just as soon have us drop off all the supplies and the money, and leave. They don't want our military walking around with guns. They don't want us setting up any camps to expedite the relief efforts. They even have 'get out of town' date of March 24th. If not for the people in those areas that actually need the help, I'd recommend honoring Indonesia's request and leaving...now. No more money, no more equipment, no more supplies, no more personnel...just leave. Only in today's world of convoluted value systems and moral equivalency can the leader of a devastated country bite the helping hand of the most generous country on the face of the earth, and not be called on the carpet by the rest of the so-called 'world community'.

After the heads start rolling, rolling, rolling...

Well, Mary Mapes comments concerning her dismissal from CBS are full of factual holes and omissions of fact. There's enough out there in the blogosphere analyzing her response point by point. I don't think I could add much. My favorite part? Read the following quote:

"I am heartened to see that the panel found no political bias on my part, as indeed I have none."

One of my contentions about the mainstream media has always been that: (1) they're overwhelmingly liberal, and (2) they consider their political/cultural leanings to be ' we're-all-middle-of-the-road-and-that's-how-most-of-America-thinks-too' perspective. How could a journalist like Mapes make a statement like that and expect anyone to believe it? I think she does, because she believes it.

Speaking of heads rolling...so much for the strong-arm from Armstrong Williams

It pays to advertise. At least that's what the Education Department, and by extension, the Whitehouse figure, to the tune of about $750,000. Now Mr. Williams has apologized for his part, i.e., non-disclosure of $241,000 to produce what amounts to an infomercial for the No Child Left Behind Act. Tsk. But wait, I did say $750,000 didn't I? Where did the other half million go, and to whom, and for what.? We don't know...yet. What were they thinking? Don't know what they call it other places, but around here, when the government hires a mouthpiece without telling the public they'e a government mouthpiece, its called propaganda.

Finally, some heads rolled at CBS

News reports are now coming out about the resignations and firing of CBS employees over Rathergate. Well, its about time. The public pronouncements about the whys and wherefores of the whole thing focus more on the rush to break a story rather than any politically motivated agenda of "getting" Bush. Well, if Mary Mapes was working on this story for five years, the timing of 'breaking' this story doesn't square with CBS's official position on why it happened. There's too much coincidence between the story, the presidential campaign, and the way the Kerry campaign was able to jump in the middle of it before the ink was dry on Dan Rather's notes. I understand that to admit to the political agenda that was part of Rathergate would probably eliminate any shred of credibility CBS is holding on to. So be it.

And the blogosphere grows

Hat tip to my colleague, Jared King and his contributions to Bloggerville, http://boxingforchrist.blogspot.com/. Of course, I couldn't help putting my 2 cents worth in on his initial post...:-)

The Red Kettle Effect?

I can't say why for sure, but maybe Target could've used some Red Kettles at its stores to help things along...hehe


NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Retail behemoth Wal-Mart hit its mark Thursday, reporting December same-store sales in line with Wall Street expectations while holiday sales at other retailers were mixed.
December sales at Wal-Mart (WMT: news, chart, profile) stores open longer than a year grew 3 percent, matching the Bentonville, Ark., company's forecasts, but down from the 4.3 percent growth in same-store sales in December 2003.
Wal-Mart said Thursday it doesn't see the pace picking up significantly in January, and forecast same-store sales growth of 2 to 4 percent for this month. Wal-Mart shares rose 1.4 percent to $54.05
Target Corp. (TGT: news, chart, profile) shares slid 5.4 percent to $48.50, after it said December same-store sales rose 5.1 percent. But it warned that fourth-quarter results would come in below the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call for earnings from continuing operations of 94 cents per share.

Only in America...well California anyway.

This letter from Senator Barbara Boxer to US Representative Stephanie Jones is part of an attempt by Democrats to protest the electoral college results, specifically in Ohio. Like Senator Kerry said, Ms. Boxer...he didn't really lose, he just didn't win. Irregularities...what irregularities? Can we please get back to our regularly scheduled program?

WASHINGTON — Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., sent the following letter to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio:
January 5, 2005
The Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones
1009 Longworth H.O.B.
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative Tubbs Jones:
I am in receipt of your letter that spelled out concerns about the election irregularities in Ohio during the November 2004 election.
The fact that you are from Ohio and that you are a former judge gives great weight and much credibility to the points you cited and to your plea that these issues be addressed by the Congress.
I was particularly moved by your point that it is virtually impossible to get official House consideration of the whole issue of election reform, including these irregularities.
I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio's election.
I will therefore join you in your objection to the certification of Ohio's electoral votes. Attached is my signature on a copy of your written objection.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Target-ing Target: Sales figures

Well, maybe this is the telling result of Target's 'nifoms' (not in front of my store) policy concerning the Salvation Army. Note that 'promotional sales' means they had to discount the heck out of their stuff to get anyone in to buy it. My heart bleeds peanut butter sandwiches for their stockholders...

UPDATE 2-Target sees profit below average estimate
Thu Jan 6, 2005 09:49 AM ET (Adds January sales forecast, December sales details, share activity)
CHICAGO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Discount retailer Target Corp. (TGT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said it expects fourth-quarter profit to fall short of the average Wall Street estimate after increased promotional sales in December, sending its stock down more than 3 percent.
The company said sales at stores open at least a year rose 5.1 percent in December, just above its forecast for a rise of 3 to 5 percent, but sales were more promotional than a year earlier.
Analysts' average earnings forecast for the fourth quarter is 94 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Target said it expects earnings from continuing operations in the quarter to be up by double digits on a percentage basis from the year-earlier 80 cents a share.
Sales from continuing operations in the five weeks ended Jan. 1 rose 11.3 percent to $7.55 billion.
Best selling categories included jewelry and entertainment, while home improvement, electronics and auto were among the worst categories, the company said in a recorded telephone message.
Target forecast a 5 to 7 percent increase in January same-store sales.
Target shares fell $1.67 to $49.61 on Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.

A little bit of a brag here.

If you're not familiar, Powerline is the blog(see 'links') that was essentially responsible for exposing the documents associated with Rathergate. Its the 'Big Kahuna' of blogs out there. Not too long ago I emailed them concerning a Christmas show put on by Jay Leno, exclusively for the military. He tried a couple of Rumsfeld jokes and almost got booed off the stage by the armed forces audience. Son of a gun if Scott Johnson of Powerline didn't email an attaboy back to me. Show me in a virtual blogging swoon...:-)


What a great report. Thanks for taking the time to write it up and
let us know about it.
Best regards,
Scott Johnson

You knew it was coming..."Illegal Immigration for Dummies"

Well now, seems like the Mexican government is making sure its citizens know the way to San Jose, San Diego, San Francisco, San Fernando, well you get the idea. An Illustrated booklet on the ins and outs of getting in, illegally. I guess President Fox figures its cheaper to print directions to the promised land rather than fix his nation's economy. You can see it here. So, what's next President Fox...free transportation in the unvented semi-trailer of your choice? Hey, W...if you weren't sure your buddy there in Mexico wasn't fully intending to export his problems North, you sure have proof now! Sure hope those terrorist crossing the Mexican border can't read Spanish...'course I guess the illustrations in the booklet will get the point across just the same...argh.

Couldn't have said it better...but I'll add to it.

"We are six percent or less of the world's population, yet we give almost half. We are a very small number of people, relatively speaking, and we carry the weight of a dozen countries. Secondly, we maintain a military structure that keeps the peace of the world.....Who is in the Indian Ocean with the aircraft carriers, helicopters, skilled personal? No one has the infrastructure in the world, we spend almost half a trillion dollars a year on our military structure, which is essentially the fire department of the planet and it is always at the disposal of people hit in a national disaster.....Incidentally on food aid, we give 60% of all the food aid in the world. It is simply irresponsible to talk about the U.S. as anything other than the most generous nation on the planet."



This quote from Charles Krauthammer, a Fox News commentator and columnist really paints a big picture of who we are and how we handle a natural disaster half a world away. I'll add that by and large, we are a Christian nation. As such, we never considered the race, creed, color, national origin, sex, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or even the opinion those people had of the United States before this nation threw its collective back into helping those affected by the tsunami, we just did the(yeah,uh huh...Christian)right thing. I would like to think that somehow, the rest of the world would have a gentler, kinder opinion of America when this is done. I'm not holding my breath.

As long as we have Islamic extremists and a entire religion that tolerates any level of extremism as long as "allah" is invoked, we'll be hated. As long as liberals continue to equate theological absolutes with cultural relativism and substitute moral equivalency for morality, we'll be hated. How bankrupt theologically is a religion that holds Islamic terrorists, absolutely the worst of the worst, above us so-called "infidels"? If every good and faithful Muslim turned on these jackals like they know they should, terrorists would disappear tomorrow.

Hey! Rap degrades women...So what was their first clue?

Picked up on a NYPost column by Stanley Crouch here. In effect, Essence Magazine, a publication geared toward black women, is going to oppose certain kinds of rap/hiphop music that is so degrading to women, among other things too numerous to elaborate here. The wholesale assault against anything remotely related to morals or generally acceptable behavior or ideas that rap music has become is finally getting some pushback from the people it attacks. In reading the column and the quotes in it, I was dumbfounded. It was as if some 40 watt bulb finally went off over someone's head. Here it is 2005, and the group most targeted by rap 'artists'...that's right, women, are just now figuring it out? Better late than never, I reckon...