"It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."
The Declaration of Arbroath - April 6th, 1320
Amazing, isn’t it, how the conventional wisdom that holds sway among many sophisticated — i.e. liberal — Washingtonians and New Yorkers is often so completely divorced from reality. These folks have come to take it as a given that America’s involvement in Iraq has inflicted severe damage to our nation’s image abroad, especially in Europe. But the most recent national election results from France and Germany demonstrate that this “truth” about George W. Bush’s America is about as credible as the recurring rumor that Elvis is actually alive and well flipping hamburgers in happy obscurity somewhere near Seattle...
Well Sir....at Bluto's request, I borrowed and posted this....and I agree completely....
The Latest Mainstream Media Lie...
...is a lie of omission.
John Hinderaker at Powerline writes about The Appeal for Courage:
As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home.
The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.It was signed by 2,700 active duty service men and women, and the only place you'll read about it is on blogs like this one. Not your local newspaper, not CNN, certainly not NBC or CBS - not even Fox, so often accused of leaning right. But you'll certainly hear about three disgruntled generals and their hissy fits over strategy and tactics.
That's news, at least as profoundly biased mainstream media types define it. It should shame every one of us that those who are putting their lives at risk for our freedom and safety feel the need to publicly ask the folks at home and their representatives to grow a pair of balls.
As a Disabled Vet, I am becoming so ashamed of our Government...and most certainly the MSM of this country....
Cookie....
As a veteran, the domestic enemies of freedom - MSM - disgust me to no end. They are nothing but idiots who are to stupid to see how their actions endanger the very freedoms they abuse.
Kansas Governor Sebelius was instructed by Howard dean to NOT ask for Federal Aid, then to claim help was slow in coming.
XM Radio’s Quinn & Rose made the allegation that DNC Chairman Howard Dean called Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius early Sunday morning and instructed her not to request federal assistance in recovery from the Greensburg tornado, and to lie about the federal response to date, on their show, The War Room, today. After I discussed the story via phone with both Quinn and Rose today, here’s what they sent me.
Democrats: Politics First, Help People Second
Senator Sam Brownback told Governor Sebelius that he was very disappointed in her, She pleaded “You know me Sam, I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t have to.” She declared “Howard (Dean) called me around 5 o’clock (in the morning) and told me not to ask The White House for any help or make any statements until I heard back. Dick (Durban?) called me an hour or 2 later and that’s when he told me we needed to use this ‘n’ said to talk about the Guard all bein’ at war.”
She then explained the thinking; “Speaker and Harry got so much heat on them from both sides over this damn war, ‘n’ they need to get the press on somethin’ else. I didn’t think it was right to use it like this either, but I didn’t see’s I had much choice in this climate, Sam.”
Tully, who lives in the area, reported this from Greensburg:
Wichita and Sedgwick County crews were already on standby because of the storms sweeping the state, and were in Greensburg within two hours. It's a hundred miles away. Do the math.
Acquaintances on one of those first teams told me that when they got there, the highway in had already been cleared and locals with chainsaws and pick-ups were well into clearing the streets so that rescue vehicles could go anywhere. By dawn heavy equipment from the region was already pouring in, and they had to start cordoning off the town because there were too many volunteers there with equipment. By Sunday when Sebelius made her insulting remarks, there were traffic jams on the highway from utility crews piled up, coming in to "safe" the gas and electric.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) tries to blame Washington for her decision to only send 10% of the available National Guard resources to help the victims in Greensburg, KS.
10% of the available National Guard in Kansas was all that this Democrat sent to help her people. (600 of some 6000).
Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback disputed claims by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that a deadly Kansas tornado exposed holes in National Guard readiness caused by the Iraq war.
Sebelius said Monday that Kansas is missing about half its National Guard trucks and many well-trained personnel that could have helped respond to last weekend's tornado in Greensburg, Kan. The twister killed at least 10 people and razed the farming town.
"The issue for the National Guard is the same wherever you go in the country. Stuff that we would have borrowed is gone. It's gone across the country," she said Monday.
Brownback said Tuesday that local officials and the Kansas National Guard commander all told him they have the resources needed to respond.
"That's what really got me, is her saying that," Brownback said in an interview.
"So I asked, privately and publicly, the adjutant general, do you have the equipment you need?" he said. "Because if you don't, we're going to hit Fort Riley and McConnell (Air Force Base) and other places to make sure we have all the equipment we need to respond to disasters. Everybody there said no, we have the equipment we needed."
In 480 BCE a small group of warriors stood against millions. They knew they faced almost certain death. They knew that they probably would not receive reinforcements. And yet they held their ground, they refused to retreat and their actions did nothing less than save Western civilization. This is the story of 300 Spartans who held off the two million man army of Xerxes of Persia.
It is also the story of the Alamo, where a few hundred men delayed the advancing thousands of the Mexican army, where the volunteers from Tennessee stood tall.
It is also the story of Bataan and Corigidor (sp?), where the US 1st Army stood and fought, for months, until they were exhausted.
Three examples of smaller forces, standing tall, fighting and dying - to give freedom and democracy a chance to survive.
The men knew what they fought for, they knew they would not prevail, they stood and fought anyway.
Is freedom and democracy worth fighting and dying for? What price shall we pay to stop the creeping chaos?
Iraq and Afganistan - the United States has lost and average of 2 soldiers a day. Plus, we keep the fight against the Islamofacist 'over there' and off of our streets. But some the fight is on our streets - the 'flying Imams' and their lawsuit to silence the reporting of 'unusual behavior'. They are working to weaken our protections here at home.
The election of Nicolas Sarkozy as president of La Belle France, with his affirmations of friendship for the United States, a firm stand against Islamism, and a rejection of the socialism that has pretty much turned France into an economic basket case, is proof that the majority of the French still have functioning brains and are still able to think for themselves.
I hope President Sarkozy can bring France back from the edge of self-destruction.
I hope he can reestablish law and order in ALL French neighborhoods. The 'Special Administrative Zones' set-up by former President Chirac, are a sign of defeat and surrender to chaos and mob rule.
I hope President Sarkozy can save Europe from the European Union and its looming oppression of Europeans.
To: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House Harry Reid, U.S. Senate Democrat Leader
Congress has passed and President Bush has vetoed H.R. 1591, the Iraq Surrender Act of 2007.
This legislation, which you worked to pass, sets a timetable for surrender. It pulls the rug out from under our troops. That is shameful and wrong.
Your actions have already emboldened the enemy. Violent jihadists now know that the elected leadership of Congress would undermine the troops by holding their funding hostage to demands for surrender.
This Congress would bring us back to the dark days of the 1970s, when the world doubted our staying power. Except only much worse. Withdraw in April 2008, and on May 1, Iraq becomes an unchecked den of terrorism at the heart of the Middle East -- a new base for the same people that struck our homeland on September 11th.
I stand with our troops. I stand for victory. I support the President's veto and will urge my representatives to vote to sustain it.
There can be one and only one outcome in Iraq: We win, they lose.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California death row investigator pleaded guilty on Monday to falsifying evidence in a bid to help spare the life of four condemned inmates, including one who has led a major challenge to the legality of lethal injection.
Kathleen Culhane, 40, who worked in private practice and earlier as an investigator for a San Francisco center that represents indigent death row inmates, admitted to four counts of perjury, forgery and falsifying documents.
She is expected to get a sentence of five years in prison, Brown's office said. *** 5 years!! Can we make her pay the state's cost in redoing all these cases? Can we execute all those killers/rapists that walked free because of her criminal acts?
It’s all about the numbers in the victimhood bullying game.
And Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, has problems getting the numbers he needs to prove that Muslims are subject to unusual discrimination. This could be a real embarrassment for Awad, because if Muslims are actually doing well in the U.S., maybe they don’t need CAIR.
1. First speech by Nihad Awad
There were 196 cases reported by the Justice Department for Muslims in civil rights cases. There were over 1008 cases reported by the Jewish faith. We need to do a much better job not only in recognizing our civil rights but also in reporting it to the government. Which is very critical and very important.
Hmmm, Jews being victimized 5 times for each Muslim victim... Yep. Jews have been victims for thousands of years.
…It is very important for Muslims to understand the law, and it’s also very important for Muslims to exercise their legal rights in the country. And it’s also important that if these rights are violated, that Muslims recognize that these rights are violated. Many Muslims,they are discriminated against or mistreated, they overlook or ignore or they are afraid to say or challenge or report these mistreatments. Which means, more of the same will take place against the same person or persons or against Muslims. And when people stand up and say something and challenge them, then there will be change.
True enough
But the psyche of Muslims have to change. The laws are there, fortunately, but the laws are not utilized. They’re not understood and they’re not followed by the victimizers or the victims. So there’s a lot of ignorance about the law, and that’s why Muslims usually find themselves being mistreated or discriminated against. Reporting to an organization like CAIR is important, because it is empowering.
Victimizers? Who are Victimizers? Are these the Muslims who attack others?
The Department of Justice, in their annual report, don’t be surprised that if you feel Muslims are not treated well in the country, that the number of reports of incidents against Muslims or hate crimes is very low. Whereas the number of incidents and hate crime cases against the Jewish community is very very high. Maybe dozens of [incidents] against Muslims, but against Jews are in the thousands. But when you examine the situation you say, We really feel our community is more targeted. 54% - this is one of CAIR’s surveys - 54% of all Muslims surveyed said they had been subject to discrimination.
54% of who. Just exactly who did CAIR survey? There own membership - their leadership, just exactly who did they survey? And what questions were asked in this survey? How were the questions worded? Were they all leading questions? Did this include discrimination by Muslims against Muslims?
From the Questions after his speeches:
“There are two levels. Imams are going after those who caused this for them, the particular incident. The imams also have the right to sue the media if the media misrepresented them and that misrepresentation caused them harm. So this is almost like first draft. There could be second and third draft. There’s a statute of limitation for Defamation of one year. So until November 20, 2007 they have the right to sue any party who misrepresented them or defamed them.
But the laws of defamation in the United States are much more difficult. The most difficult laws. You can say almost whatever you want in this country. Unlike Europe and Canada, where there are strict, tough defamation laws. If you accuse someone, if you say something about some people, you can be sued, you can go to jail or you can be fined. In the United States, people use free speech, the First Amendment, to justify a lot of what they say. But there’s a limit.And I think there are many lawyers who are looking into this. But the main focus on the imams now is to have legal recourse against those who caused them [immediate] harm, they were rejected, they were mistreated, they were [arrested] and they were denied service.”
SANDMONKEY: "Any kind of democratic reform in the country [Egypt] for the past 3 years has been rolled back specifically because there is no more pressure coming from Washington anymore."
ATLAS: Why? What happened to the pressure in Washington?
SANDMONKEY: You know what happened to the pressure in Washington. The Democrats won the Congress. There is no more pressure coming from Bush because he is not able to push people anymore to do those things. He is not able to push the Egyptian government anymore because the American public is suddenly not interested in reforming the Middle East because of what's going on in the Iraq. So suddenly the Egyptian government is not afraid of the American pressure. They are doing whatever they want to do. They are beating up demonstrators, they are cracking down on activists, they are changing the constitution, and eroding civil liberties once and for all and they are using proxies to take down bloggers.
Start with your own blog! And don't link to folks who don't maintain a polite blog. And 'just do it' - don't blow your own horn about how nice and polite you are, just be nice and polite.
Use peoples names, don't use nicknames: no silk pony, no hildabeast, no klintoon, no chimphitler, etc
Children use nicknames, adults should use real names.
Respect their office, even if you can not respect the officeholder.
Attack/discuss their ideas, their agenda. Make sure the facts support comments on their character.
As to the comments on your blog: Comments are off. Comments are moderated. (Be consistent) Comments are unmoderated.
If a comment is deleted or edited - comment on why it was deleted/edited.
ABC News House Speaker to Skip Gen. David Petraeus' Briefing on the Progress of the Troop Escalation
By JAKE TAPPER
WASHINGTON, Apr. 24, 2007- As the House and Senate prepare to vote this week on the final conference report on the $124 billion troop funding bill -- which would also mandate that U.S. combat troops begin withdrawing from Iraq on October 1 at the latest -- Gen. David Petraeus is scheduled to come to the Hill tomorrow to brief lawmakers on the progress of the recent troop escalation.
ABC News has learned, however, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will not attend the briefing.
"She can't make the briefing tomorrow," a Democratic aide told ABC News Tuesday evening. "But she spoke with the General via phone today at some length."
Allah at Hot Air looks at whether any news organization should have aired this mass murderer's video.
The networks refused to show the footage of the people who fall/jumped out of the World Trade Center, because they feared it would cause too much anger. But the networks aired Osama's video after 9/11....
hmmm..
Final answer - No. That bastards is the most watched video on YouTube. How many other glory seekers are going to plan a major crime to achieve such honor?
What would I have done, if I had been at Virginia Tech - - -
I don't know. I have never been in a situation of live hostile gunfire.
I have had been threatened with a knife, twice. First time, I stared him down. (This was at a small organizational event, for a high school club. The man who threatened me, in front of a witness, would have gone to jail.) Second time, was at a high school event. I had an entire football team backing me up.
So neither of those incidents were truly life threatening.
But, my daughter, who will start college next fall, asked about what she should do.
This is what I told her.
First, determine if you are in immediate danger, if not, determine were the danger lies, and move away from the danger. if yes, get small, get low, get slow.
Get small - less of a target Get low - a shooter is more likely to shoot high Get slow - a person notices fast motion, more than slow motion.
The epiphany is this: Each one of us is a foot soldier for civilization; when evil threatens, we must do our utmost to thwart it.
Your utmost may be as simple as snitching on your best friend when you discover he has systematically looted the company you both work for... or as profound as Virginia Tech Engineering Professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, who gave his last full measure blocking the doorway to his classroom, allowing his students time to escape out the window.
French voters in casting their ballots should “remember who has offended Islam,” the vice president of France’s largest French Muslim group said. (AKI)
Norwegian-Somalian Kadra, who became famous in Norway for exposing imam support of female circumcision, was beaten unconscious on Thursday.
Kadra was attacked and beaten senseless by seven or eight persons of Somali origin, newspaper VG reports. Kadra said that the gang of Somali men attacked her around 3 a.m. in downtown Oslo on Thursday. A medical examination found that she had several broken ribs, NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) reports. Kadra filed charges and was due to speak with police on Friday.
“I was terrified. While I lay on the pavement they kicked me and screamed that I had trampled on the Koran. Several shouted Allah-o-akbar (God is great) and also recited from the Koran,” Kadra told VG.
Kadra’s role in a 2000 hidden camera TV documentary revealing the positive attitude of Muslim leaders to female circumcision had a massive impact on Norway, and sparked new legislation.
Posted by Pat Dollard
RELIGION OF PEACE -- NOT ISLAM IS THE RELIGION OF CHAOS AND DEATH.
The former dean of Al-Azhar University (the highest center of Sunni Islamic learning in the world) has issued a fatwa declaring that if a husband and wife are completely naked during sex, the marriage is annulled.
Many people believe that being in Iraq has little bearing on the war on terror and winning is no longer an option. Yet even if we have no chance of winning we must have the moral strength and courage to continue to fight.
Through our operations we have tilled up the Iraqi society and our departure would only allow the enemy to embed themselves deeply within the social fabric. Left unchecked this situation would produce a state that is evil, radical, and anti American. This would be a Jihad Victory. Because of this we must be victorious.
I say that it is the “Right war to Fight” and I mean it with every fiber of my being. America is in this fight now. Much like Israel is locked in war, we are now locked in war. It may be slow and protracted but it will remain.
You may be thinking that this is not the case and that the attacks on American soil were a fluke. I say to you that you are lying to yourself and are in for a rude awakening. Not only are you in for a rude awakening but your self deception will cost our nation dearly in mindset and readiness. You have become tired of fighting. But how can anyone become tired of fighting the right fight? Much like in a foot race you will begin to tire and hurt. You will begin to focus on what is happening to you now. You have lost sight of the goal as you focus on yourself. And the pain that consumes you now has killed your aspirations of winning. You will only be able to win when you keep your eyes on the end goal and you see past the now. But unfortunately our eyes, via the news, have been focused on the now far too long.
Where have the enemies of our country come from? The answer is Radical Islam. The only thing that I can equate Radical Islam to is a gang. In a land where there is little to offer in terms of education, jobs, and class advancement the idle public will begin to look for affiliation. They find that affiliation in their religion. Similar to a gang, Fundamental Islam provides a sense of belonging which translates to influence and through that affiliation and influence the members execute the will of the organization.
John Stuart Mill: "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
Metro Atlanta residents flood Channel 2 Action News with calls of snow flurries overnight. Our cameras caught a steady stream of snow on Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta.
None of the snow stuck. With temperatures Saturday morning hovering around the freezing mark, Channel 2 meteorologist Brad Nitz said Easter Sunday would be colder than it was on Christmas.
The Declaration of Arbroath was and has been unequalled in its eloquent plea for the liberty of man. From the darkness of medieval minds it shone a torch upon future struggles which its signatories could not have foreseen or understood.
The author of this noble Latin address is unknown, though it is assumed to have been composed by Bernard de Linton, Abbot of Arbroath and Chancellor of Scotland.
Above the seals of eight earls and forty-five barons, it asked for the Pope's dispassionate intervention in the bloody quarrel between the Scots and the English, and so that he might understand the difference between the two its preamble gave him a brief history of the former.
The laughable fiction of this is irrelevant. What is important is the passionate sincerity of the men who believed it, who were placing a new and heady nationalism above the feudal obligations that had divided their loyalties less than a quarter of a century before. In its mixture of defiance and supplication, nonsensical history and noble thought, two things make the Declaration of Arbroath the most important document in Scottish history.
Firstly it set the will and the wishes of the people above the King. Though they were bound to him 'both by law and by his merits' it was so that their freedom might be maintained. If he betrayed them he would be removed and replaced. This remarkable obligation placed upon a feudal monarch by his feudal subjects may be explained in part by the fact that Bruce was still a heather king to many of them, still a wild claimant ruling upon sufferance and success. But the roots of his kingship were Celtic, and a Celtic tradition was here invoked, the memory of the Seven Earls, the Seven Sons of Cruithne the Pict in who, it was believed, had rested the ancient right of tanistry, the elevation of kings by selection. This unique relationship of king and people would influence their history henceforward, and would reach its climax in the Reformation and the century following, when a people's Church would declare and maintain its superiority over earthly crowns.
Secondly, the manifesto affirmed the nation's independence in a way no battle could, and justified it with a truth that is beyond nation and race. Man has a right to freedom and a duty to defend it with his life. The natural qualifications put upon this by a medieval baron are irrelevant, as are the reservations which slave-owning Americans placed upon their declaration of independence.
The truth once spoken cannot be checked, the seed once planted controls its own growth, and the liberty which men secure for themselves must be given by them to others, or it will be taken as they took it. Freedom is a hardy plant and must flower in equality and brotherhood.
Dear Muslim Terrorist Plotter/Planner/Funder/Enabler/Apologist,
You do not know me. But I am on the lookout for you. You are my enemy. And I am yours.
I am John Doe.
I am traveling on your plane. I am riding on your train. I am at your bus stop. I am on your street. I am in your subway car. I am on your lift.
I am your neighbor. I am your customer. I am your classmate. I am your boss.
I am John Doe.
I will never forget the example of the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 who refused to sit back on 9/11 and let themselves be murdered in the name of Islam without a fight.
I will never forget the passengers and crew members who tackled al Qaeda shoe-bomber Richard Reid on American Airlines Flight 63 before he had a chance to blow up the plane over the Atlantic Ocean.
I will never forget the alertness of actor James Woods, who notified a stewardess that several Arab men sitting in his first-class cabin on an August 2001 flight were behaving strangely. The men turned out to be 9/11 hijackers on a test run.
I will act when homeland security officials ask me to "report suspicious activity."
I will embrace my local police department's admonition: "If you see something, say something."
I am John Doe.
I will protest your Jew-hating, America-bashing "scholars."
I will petition against your hate-mongering mosque leaders.
I will raise my voice against your subjugation of women and religious minorities.
“If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”
Congress does not need to micromanage the war, and funding for our troops should not be delivered with strings attached. The continuous efforts to set a surrender date undermine our military and are contradictory to the Senate’s unanimous support of General David Petraeus, who is currently executing the new strategy in. We need to give that strategy a chance to work without tying the hands of those who are carrying out that strategy.
We have military leadership on the ground in recommending against imposing timelines. We have civilian leaders who have significant military experience who testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and every single one of those individuals, whether they were Republican or Democrat, has said imposing timelines is not the way to go. A surrender date will simply embolden the enemy.
The European Union has drawn up guidelines advising government spokesmen to refrain from linking Islam and terrorism in their statements.
Brussels officials have confirmed the existence of a classified handbook which offers “non-offensive” phrases to use when announcing anti-terrorist operations or dealing with terrorist attacks.
Banned terms are said to include “jihad”, “Islamic” or “fundamentalist”.
The word “jihad” is to be avoided altogether, according to some sources, because for Muslims the word can mean a personal struggle to live a moral life.
One alternative, suggested publicly last year, is for the term “Islamic terrorism” to be replaced by “terrorists who abusively invoke Islam”.
An EU official said that the secret guidebook, or, “common lexicon”, is aimed at preventing the distortion of the Muslim faith and the alienation of Muslims in Europe.
Article I: I am an American, fighting in the armed forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
Article II: I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.
Article III: If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
Article IV: If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.
Article V: When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service, number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
Article VI: I will never forget that I am an American, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.
“...it is an awful irony of this debate that many of the same people who consistently and correctly call on the United States to do more to stop the bloodshed in Darfur now demand we abandon the Iraqis.”
“We hear that Sunnis and Shia have been fighting for centuries, and that no matter how tragic, we cannot possibly hope to resolve this conflict. We have heard these arguments before. We heard them in the 1990s about Yugoslavia. We heard them about Rwanda. Like the euphemism of “civil war,” it is another way for us to distance ourselves, emotionally and morally, from what is actually happening—and from the people it is happening to. It allows us to think of these places as a sort of abstract tragedy, in which there are no victims, just victimizers, whom we can walk away from with impunity… The wanton slaughter of innocent people that our soldiers are trying to stop in Baghdad is not the inevitable product of ancient hatreds, but the consequence of a deliberate, calculated strategy by an identifiable group of perpetrators—first and foremost, Al Qaeda.”
“I ask my colleagues: consider what it will mean if Congress orders our troops to pull back from this battle, just at the moment that they are taking the initiative. Consider the consequences if we knowingly and willingly withdraw our forces and abandon one of the few states in the Middle East to have held free, competitive elections to extremism and violence...”
“We cannot redeploy from our moral responsibility to the Iraqis. It is contrary to our traditions; it is contrary to our values; and it is contrary to our interests. And yet that is precisely what this Congress will be calling for, if we order our troops to withdraw.”
- Joseph Lieberman, addressing the United States Senate
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said Tuesday that he did not give staffer Phillip Thompson the pistol whose possession got the aide arrested Monday when he tried to enter the Russell Senate office building.
“I have never carried a gun in the Capitol complex and I did not give the weapon to Phillip Thompson, and that’s all that I think I’ll say,” Webb told reporters.
So, Senator, is your staffer a thief? or is your staffer a manic bent on killing inside the Senate Offices? or is your staffer just plain stupid?
And Senator don't forget - your staff is a reflection of you.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan are beginning to draw the resentment of Afghans fed up with growing civilian casualties and the lack of material progress in their lives, experts say.
Resentment has posed special problems in the south, where villagers who have suffered from Western military firepower have responded to the Taliban's call to arms against foreign troops and the government of President Hamid Karzai, the experts said.
David - just who are these 'experts' and what is their 'expertise'? Are they Islamic militants?, Democrats?, United Nations staff?, Just who are these experts - you refuse to name in the openning paragraphs of your report.
An honest journalist would have named their expert source, the first time they cite the source.
Ahh!! the third paragraph ids one source:
"There is growing resentment because of the kinds of military operations that have been carried out, not because of the international troop presence," Samina Ahmed, South Asia project director for International Crisis Group think tank, said this week in an interview
The seventh paragraph does show some balance:
Pentagon and NATO officials cited opinion polls, however, that show a large majority of Afghans favoring foreign troops and only a small fraction of support for the Taliban.
on page 2 - online:
But David Edwards, a U.S. anthropologist regarded as an expert on the origins of the Taliban, said reconstruction has been overshadowed by rampant corruption, meager international donations and poverty in a country where the unemployment rate is about 40 percent.
Resentment against the lack of material progress in theirs lives...has caused some Afghans to accept a paycheck from the Taliban.
But opinion polls show that the Afghan people accept the need for the NATO Troops to be in Afghanistan - Because the Afghans know the horror of living under Taliban rule.
The BAD news: Today was my last day at - what was - my primary employer. I have been laid-off. We were formally notified that the company had lost the contract last May, and we had suffered thru 2 years of contract negotiation before that. So, this was not a surprise. Since, I had 16 years with them, my package is 26 weeks of pay. I still have my other job. A part-time retail job, which hopefully will become full-time, while I search for another 'primary' or hopefully 'only' job.
The GOOD, I mean GREAT news: My one and only child, has been accepted (unofficially) at New York University (NYU)!!! The kid's desire has been to go to college in NYC. The kid is bursting at the seams. My in-laws live in NYC - so the kid gets college in the same town as the grandparents. [Official acceptance letters are sent March 31st.]
The QUESTION: How do we afford to send the kid to NYU?????
I am almost bored enough to find a picture of Anna Nichole Smith in a blue dress and caption it "Is Bill Clinton the Daddy?" Now, of course that would make Hillary Clinton, the prime suspect in the deaths. If that was true, would Angelina Jolie, adopt the baby? and whose campaign would get the cash? I am almost that bored.
Then again if Harry Houdini has escaped from his casket, then Sherlock Holmes, urr I mean, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gets away with 'red rum'.
But that would be like Gandalf returning from the dead or Professor Dumbledore dying.
I have added a new feature on the sidebar: "S M's Shared Items".
These are links to worthy articles...
These are worth the time to read them...
The links are created using Google Reader, a new service from everybody favorite provider of FREE products; GOOGLE. Reader compiles your RSS feeds into an easy to organize and browse site, which features your 'unread' items.
President Bush requested Congress pass a bill to provide $103 billion in emergency funding for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Katrina reconstruction efforts. I wanted to vote for the President’s request for additional funds for our troops because it is imperative that we support our men and women in uniform while they are fighting the Global War on Terror. They are talented, dedicated, and professional and should have every dollar they need for success.
Unfortunately, Democrat leaders have once again failed my constituents. The Democratic Party is split between abandoning our troops immediately versus abandoning our troops in two years. In order to gain enough support from the fringes of their party, Democrat leaders had to add $22 billion worth of pet projects to the war funding bill. Rather than convince members of their own party to support their policy of micromanaging the war, Democrat leaders decided to buy their votes.
Maybe some of these projects can be justified but they are certainly not emergency spending for the troops. Democrats in Congress believe invented ‘emergencies’ such as spinach growing and peanut storage are just as important as the needs of our troops. Setting a date for withdrawal is as irresponsible as increasing a funding bill twenty percent to buy the votes of Members of Congress. Democrats are willing to jeopardize the effectiveness of our military just to make a political statement.
$20 billion plus - to BUY VOTES that will help the enemies of civilization, this is aiding and abetting the DEFEAT of our Mission in IRAQ.
The DEMOCRATS want the United States of America DEFEATED.
The DEMOCRATS want to CUT and RUN.
I PRAY that the REPUBLICANS in the SENATE have enough backbone to defeat the defeatists.
I HOPE BEYOND HOPE that SUPPORT FOR VICTORY can be RESURRECTED in WASHINGTON DC.
*******************
Dear Congress,
We are making solid progress towards peace and stability in Iraq.
WHY does the Democrat Leadership want to UNDERMINE the efforts of our brave troops on the streets of Iraq?
PLEASE rethink your support of the barbarians who use children to sneak bombs past the checkpoints in Baghdad, and then KILL THE CHILDREN.
WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. general on Tuesday said Iraqi insurgents used children in a suicide attack this weekend, raising worries that the insurgency has adopted a new tactic to get through security checkpoints with bombs. Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy director for regional operations in the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, said adults in a vehicle with two children in the backseat were allowed through a Baghdad checkpoint. The adults then abandoned the vehicle and detonated it with the children still inside, he said. "Children in the back seat, lower suspicion, we let it move through," he said. "They parked the vehicle, the adults run out and detonate it with the children in the back."
(emphasis mine) We Fight to Protect the Innocent from such Barbarians. The barbaric Islamic Militants don't care about the children, they simply want to kill, and they don't care who dies.
Don’t believe the MSM — either their lying by entirely omitting any mention of the numbers of people attending the Gathering of Eagles, or their deliberate playing down of the numbers who did come. The Parks and Service people counted thirty thousand patriots (30,000) gathered to protect the Wall.
Semper Fi
The "anti-war" protest had only ten thousand.
This protest had been professionally planned over the past year and a grass roots organization of veterans - an effort lasting only 2 months had 3 times as many folks in Washington DC.
Not all of the veterans support the war in Iraq, but they all wanted to prevent vandalism and destruction of the memorials to our war dead.
The Eagles will defend the rights of those protesting the war. That is what we veterans do: Defend the Constitution.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The Eagles will defend our memorials from vandals: "the right of the people to peaceably assemble" does not include damaging property or injuring people.
The Move America Forward Caravan was in Atlanta this morning and I was one of about one hundred folks who attended their rally in front of the CNN Building. The Caravan is underway to join the Gathering of Eagles in Washington DC on Saturday March 17th to stand guard over our memorials.
The scene at 7:30 am, rally scheduled to start at 8 am.
The media was there. THANK YOU.
A cute kid was there, waving her flag in and around the Patriot Riders.
Bill Greene, a candidate for the the open Congressional seat of the late Charlie Norwood, was there. I hope he wins the special election on June 19th.
The media was there, but there are no stories online about this event.
I was hoping to see more people there. But I am glad that there are 100 folks who did show.
Surrender is not an option. Victory can and will be achieved, if the American People stay strong.
The choice is clear, defeat the Islamic Mass-Murdering Terrorists over there or fight them in the streets of America.
However, when Monday took off with the flag, all of the cynicism and defeatism of the past two years melted away. Watching Monday rescue the flag from two lunatics who tried to hijack a baseball game for their protest, which would have provided the perfect nadir of American morale at that time, the crowd did something no one expected. Lasorda recalled in his book that starting softly, the crowd started singing "God Bless America", completely unprompted, until all of the tens of thousands of Dodger fans had joined together to sing it. It was one of the few unscripted and spontaneous patriotic displays in our Bicentennial, and one of the most moving at any time.
According to reports, The White House Counsel (Harriet Miers) wanted all 93 US Attorneys replaced.
The Attorney General only fired 8.
The Attorney General should be praised for not removing the other 85 US Attorneys.
President Bush complained about the failure of US Attorneys to stop voter fraud. Once again, Democrats and the MSM want to enable voter fraud.
By the way, Bill Clinton replace ALL 93 US Attorneys when he took office. But of course, we can not question the actions of a Democrat.
US Attorneys are appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate. The Patriot Act has increased the time a US Attorney may served without confirmation by the Senate.
"Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need—not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty and war itself."
"The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission."
The Gathering of Eagles is a defense, not an attack. I know that a few US Army paratroopers and Marines from the Viet Nam war will be there at the Wall. If there's one thing, aside from love of country, that they share, it's knowing how to fight when surrounded. 1. Gathering of Eagles is non-partisan. While each member has his or her own political beliefs, our common love and respect for America and her heroes is what brings us together. 2. We are a non-violent, non-confrontational group. We look to defend, not attack. Our focus is guarding our memorials and their grounds. 3. We believe that the war memorials are sacred ground; as such, we will not allow them to be desecrated, used as props for political statements, or treated with anything less than the solemn and heartfelt respect they-and the heroes they honor-deserve. 4. We are wholly and forever committed to our brothers and sisters in uniform. As veterans, we understand their incredible and noble sacrifices, made of their own accord for a nation they love more than life itself. As family members, we stand by them, and as Americans, we thank God for them. 5. We believe in and would give our lives for the precious freedoms found in our Constitution. We believe that our freedom of speech is one of the greatest things our country espouses, and we absolutely hold that any American citizen has the right to express his or her approval or disapproval with any policy, law, or action of our nation and her government in a peaceful manner as afforded by the laws of our land. 6. However, we are adamantly opposed to the use of violence, vandalism, physical or verbal assaults on our veterans, and the destruction or desecration of our memorials. By defending and honoring these sacred places, we defend and honor those whose blood gave all of us the right to speak as freely as our minds think. 7. We vehemently oppose the notion that it is possible to "support the troops but not the war." We are opposed to those groups who would claim support for the troops yet engage in behavior that is demeaning and abusive to the men and women who wear our nation's uniform. 8. We believe in freedom at all costs, including our own lives. We served to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy, and we agree with Thomas Jefferson's assertion that "From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants." 9. We will accept nothing less than total, unqualified victory in the current conflict. Surrender is not an option, nor is defeat. 10. We stand to challenge any group that seeks the destruction of our nation, its founding precepts of liberty and freedom, or those who have given of themselves to secure those things for another generation. We will be silent no more. Silent no more! *********************
I will see the Eagles as they ride from San Francisco to Washington, DC, as they pause on March 14th at the CNN Building in Atlanta.
Scooter Libby, former chief of staff for VP Cheney, found guilty of 4 of 5 charges stemming from the Federal Grand Jury investigation into the non-crime of leaking that Mrs Plame worked at the CIA. Richard Armitage 'leaked' that she worked for the CIA, and that she arranged for her husband to go to Niger. Her Husband, Joe Wilson, lied about what he learned in Niger. He goal was to undermine the Bush Administration. Scooter Libby, who testified 7 times before the Grand Jury, was inconsistent in his testimony. What honest person wouldn't be somewhat inconsistent in recalling conversations which occurred more than 2 years prior.
A member of the jury, a former Washington Post reporter, stated he was looking for Rove, or Cheney...WAS THIS JURY BIAS AGAINST THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION?
Fact: It was known that no crime was committed, before the investigation was launched - Mrs. Plame was not a covert agent. She was simply a CIA employee.
Fact: It was known one month into investigation, that Richard Armitage leaked the information about Mrs Plame.
The charges need to be overturned on appeal because there was no underlying crime for the grand jury to investigation. This is a gross miscarriage of justice.
An Open Letter to CPAC Sponsors and Organizers Regarding Ann Coulter Conservatism treats humans as they are, as moral creatures possessing rational minds and capable of discerning right from wrong. There comes a time when we must speak out in the defense of the conservative movement, and make a stand for political civility. This is one of those times. Ann Coulter used to serve the movement well. She was telegenic, intelligent, and witty. She was also fearless: saying provocative things to inspire deeper thought and cutting through the haze of competing information has its uses. But Coulter’s fearlessness has become an addiction to shock value. She draws attention to herself, rather than placing the spotlight on conservative ideas. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2006, Coulter referred to Iranians as “ragheads.” She is one of the most prominent women in the conservative movement; for her to employ such reckless language reinforces the stereotype that conservatives are racists. At CPAC 2007 Coulter decided to turn up the volume by referring to John Edwards, a former U.S. Senator and current Presidential candidate, as a “faggot.” Such offensive language–and the cavalier attitude that lies behind it–is intolerable to us. It may be tolerated on liberal websites but not at the nation’s premier conservative gathering. The legendary conservative thinker Richard Weaver wrote a book entitled Ideas Have Consequences. Rush Limbaugh has said again and again that “words mean things.” Both phrases apply to Coulter’s awful remarks. Coulter’s vicious word choice tells the world she care little about the feelings of a large group that often feels marginalized and despised. Her word choice forces conservatives to waste time defending themselves against charges of homophobia rather than advancing conservative ideas. Within a day of Coulter’s remark John Edwards sent out a fundraising email that used Coulter’s words to raise money for his faltering campaign. She is helping those she claims to oppose. How does that advance any of the causes we hold dear? Denouncing Coulter is not enough. After her “raghead” remark in 2006 she took some heat. Yet she did not grow and learn. We should have been more forceful. This year she used a gay slur. What is next? If Senator Barack Obama is the de facto Democratic Presidential nominee next year will Coulter feel free to use a racial slur? How does that help conservatism? One of the points of CPAC is the opportunity it gives college students to meet other young conservatives and learn from our leaders. Unlike on their campuses—where they often feel alone—at CPAC they know they are part of a vibrant political movement. What example is set when one highlight of the conference is finding out what shocking phrase will emerge from Ann Coulter’s mouth? How can we teach young conservatives to fight for their principles with civility and respect when Ann Coulter is allowed to address the conference? Coulter’s invective is a sign of weak thinking and unprincipled politicking. CPAC sponsors, the Age of Ann has passed. We, the undersigned, request that CPAC speaking invitations no longer be extended to Ann Coulter. Her words and attitude simply do too much damage.
* Credentialed CPAC 2007 Bloggers Sean Hackbarth, The American Mind * James Joyner, Outside the Beltway * BoiFromTroy, Boi From Troy * Joy McCann, Little Miss Attila * Kevin McCullough, Musclehead Revolution * Fausta Werz, Fausta’s blog * Patrick Hynes, Ankle Biting Pundits * Ed Morrissey, Captain’s Quarters * Jane Stewart, See Jane Mom
Other Right-of-Center Bloggers * Owen Robinson, Boots and Sabres * N.Z. Bear, The Truth Laid Bear * Michael Demmons, Gay Orbit * Mark Coffey, Decision ‘08 * Russell Newquist, The Philosopher’s Stone * Marshall Manson, On Tap
Calling the Howard Kurtz profile of Ms Malkin in the Washington Post, a Valentine Week mash note.
Mr. Boehlert says this about Michelle:
Malkin is the field general for a squad of bitter pro-war dead-enders who lash out online against anyone who dares speak the truth about the war. She has been wrong about Iraq in every conceivable way, with a losing streak dating back more than 50 straight months.
Mr. Boehlert is correct in calling Ms Malkin the 'field general', but he is wrong about the Iraq War.
Mr Boehlert continues with:
See, GOP warbloggers can't lose. If they'd been right about Iraq, The Washington Post surely would have toasted them. But even after they continually make fools of themselves prognosticating all sorts of falsehoods about the war, The Washington Post still toasts them. As for the articulate bloggers on the left who opposed the war from the outset and who insisted the White House had not made a coherent case for launching a pre-emptive war? The Post couldn't care less about them.
Okay, who is factually challenged here. President Bush convinced a vast majority of American People and the Congress that we needed to invade Iraq in 2002. The MSM has been chipping away, one false misleading story after another.
Now which bloggers does Mr Boehlert like? Markos "screw'em" Zuniga of DailyKos.com, a site which enforces anti-bush, anti-american groupthink. Matt Stoller of MyDD.com, a site which is sad that Vice-President Cheney is still alive. Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post, a site which had over 400 comments today complaining that VP Cheney lives. (They have without comment, toned their post down and deleted several hundred comments.)
More attacks coming:
It's the absolutely central point about Malkin that the Post neglected -- Malkin claims journalists covering Iraq are either cowards or siding with the terrorists who are trying to kill Americans (or both). As her fellow warblogger Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs puts it with a headline he routinely uses, "The Media Are the Enemy." Yet the Post profile politely omitted any reference to Malkin's repugnant claim that journalists are terrorist-sympathizer traitors.
Eric, Michelle and Charles are correct: The US Media is the Enemy. With their whitewashing of individual jihadis (mass murderers), their refusal to admit that some Muslims in the US are a danger to society.
Eric, Get over the fact, that Michelle Malkin is more respected than you will ever be.
This morning I overheard several 'Eagles' who planned to be in Washington to protect the Vietnam Memorial from harm during the planned 'Anti' march in March.
Was refreshing to hear veterans, yes, they were all Vietnam veterans, planning to protect the sacred memories of their fallen buddies - And some of these men are opposed to the war in Iraq.
They also predicted the media coverage will be spun to make the 'Eagles' look bad.
Beware the Ides of March....
The Battle will be joined on the Mall in Washington, DC.
I hope the Eagles far out-number the 'Anti's' but most Eagles have gainful employment ( A job) and family that depends on them.
The US Marines and Sailors who saw the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, cheered wildly.
From the main deck of USS Eldorado, a beaming Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal turned to Marine General Holland M. 'Howlin' Mad' Smith and exclaimed, “Holland, the raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years.”
