Saturday, July 12, 2008

Tony Snow R.I.P


When I met Tony Snow at the Media Research Center Event in March he seemed very healthy and gave a wonderful speech about living in the moment. I knew all was not well though when I asked him if he thought he beat this thing and he said, "Not quite."
He was the nicest man. He stayed long afterward to talk to whoever wanted to talk to him. He never stopped smiling. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. From everything that I know about him he was man of great faith, a great capacity of love, and dedicated to living each day as the gift that it was.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Look at everyone whining about Phil Gramm

Regarding "the big story" of Phil Gramm saying we have beome a "nation of whiners." I have to agree with Jonah Goldberg's assessement over at NRO:

...this is just another example of why I've always wanted Phil Gramm to be president of the United States and why that can never, ever, happen.
Because it's a peeve of mine, my ears always seem to be catching people talking about how much we need straight talkers in this country who won't cave to their handlers, won't spin, won't poll-test their views. And yet, whenever somebody speaks honestly, down comes the thunder. I think this is a bipartisan phenomenon, by the way.


So true. Remember when Obama said that some Americans cling to their religion and guns out of bitterness? If he believes it (and he does) he should have stuck with it. Maybe John McCain doesn't agree with Gramm, but if he does, he should say so. Isn't that what straight talk is all about?

We are a nation of whiners. Good grief. We complain about everything and that is a bi-partisan problem.

It reminds me of when I was watching one of the Houston morning shows the other day and they had a veteran from WWII on. The left loves to whine about the length of deployment of our troops (although I never hear a soldier whine about it) and the host asked the veteran about it. He said that when he was in the war you weren't told when you were coming home. You went for however long they needed you or however long the war lasted. He said his first deployment was 3 years.

When we look at all the riches of our country. When we look at our freedoms. When we compare our lives now to our parent's lives at the same age and especially our grandparents lives at the same age, we live enormously well. Even those with low income. When my mother was a little girl, not only did they not have electricity, but no indoor bathroom. They kept "slop jars" underneath the beds for when nature called at night. (Forgot to add this to the post when I put it up at TexasSparkle) My Dad didn't have shoes in the summer growing up. He went barefoot all summer. They could only afford one pair a year and that had to wait for school to start.

We take all our good fortune for granted. We whine. We do. Phil Gramm was right and I hope he doesn't apologize for it.

"Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Plan:Mission Impossible?"

When you see that headline on ABC News, it catches your attenion. Wow.

Click on the story and you get this:

Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Plan May Prove Difficult
U.S. Commanders in Iraq Warn of Security Dangers, See Logistical Nightmare


The story basically interviewed several commanders in Iraq that looked at Obama's plan and said that there was no way it work logistically.

Maybe the Obama Crush with the MSM is over and the cold reality of what it would be like to have a novice as commander in chief is sinking in.

Skanks and Golddiggers feeling the economic pinch

Who knew?

It's not just the Porsches and the expensive lunches that are being credit-crunched down in the City – mistresses of high fliers are also feeling the pinch.
Nearly half of analysts, stockbrokers and hedge fund managers say 'the other woman' is first to get the chop as they cut their spending habits.


h/t BigDog

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

She is so sneaky...

I'm still afraid.

Jesse Jackson made a boo boo. A big boo boo.

Remember when J.C. Watts said at the last RNC that "character is what you do when no one is looking." Well, Jesse Jackson let us see a bit of his character when he thought no one was listening.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday for saying Obama is “talking down to black people” during what he thought was a private conversation with a FOX News reporter Sunday.
Jackson also made an off-hand comment about cutting off a part of Obama’s anatomy.


Watching the CNN apology that Jackson immediately gave, I searched and searched for what he actually said because Wolf Blitzer said it was too crude to repeat on TV. I thought..."What?????" I mean, what's too crude anymore?? Then I read the above that he obviously said Obama needed his ***** cut off.

Good grief. I almost feel sorry for Jackson. I mean, he did have a point about Obama talking down to black people (although Obama talks down to everyone, not just black people), but to insert such crude language is just weird.

Update: I don't know why I didn't think to look to Drudge. Of course he would have it. Jesse said (referring to Obama) that he "wants to cut his n**s out.

UpdateII: Jesse Jackson's son seems to love Obama... a great deal. Enough to slap his own Dad around:

"Revered Jackson is my dad and I'll always love him. He should know how hard that I've worked for the last year and a half as a national co-chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. So, I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself."

Yeah, Dad!

Just another day in Democratic politics.

Guns and Roses

The roses are Obama's attempt to seem moderate on gun rights.

Obama has said that he believes that the Second Amendment protects an individual right, but that reasonable restrictions can be enacted.

ABC News:

On the Supreme Court ruling on the DC gun ban, Obama explained, “I actually have said I agree with that for years, even before the ruling came down. That doesn’t mean that I also recognized that we need to make sure that we’ve decent controls over the use of firearms in our community. Those two potions are not contradictory.”

But here is what he said in his book, The Audacity of Hope: “I believe in keeping guns out of our inner cities, and that our leaders must say so in the face of the gun manfuacturer's lobby.”

That is a difference of night and day from saying "Keeping guns out of the inner city" and "decent controls." Obama loves to use words to his advantage. He claims he is saying the same thing. But he really isn't.

Keeping guns out of the inner city means keeping law abiding citizens from protecting themselves because they live in a certain place. That isn't "decent controls." That is a violation of the 2nd Amendment.

It is beyond ridiculous to believe that any gun laws and any gun restrictions will keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Saying that you believe that a certain area where people live should ban guns is only speaking to law abiding citizens. We all know that.

If only criminals would obey!

I have never been a big gun rights person. But I'm starting to feel I may soon be.

via NRO

I wanted to add this I found at UrbanGrounds. I mentioned before that I wanted to get my concealed handgun license while the getting was good.

Looks like I'm not alone in Texas:

AUSTIN — More than 52,000 people in Texas have submitted an application for a first-time concealed handgun license or renewal since the beginning of the year, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
That is an almost 5 percent increase over the first six months of 2007, but there’s a good chance they’ll have a bit of a wait.


The crunch which some say is spurred by concerns about rising crime, the state’s new “castle law” and uncertainty about future gun laws has created a ballooning backlog of applications for the department.

There is no doubt in my mind that Obama would nominate Judges that would restrict our gun rights. The D.C. gun ban was so startling in that 4 Supreme Court Judges thought it perfectly fine to ignore the 2nd Amendment.

Crossing the line

In 1991 ACT UP, a radical gay activist group, fitted Jesse Helms home in Arlington Virginia with a condom because of Helms unrelenting opposition to the radical gay agenda. Video here.

ACT UP was a newly formed group at the time and had no cash, it was never revealed then, but Towleroad is now admitting that Hollywood Mogul David Geffen gave Act Up $3000 cash to fund the act of protest on a Senator's home.

I believe in the right to protest, but targeting people's private homes goes beyond the pale. And I say that about any protesting that I agree with as well (like anti-abortion protesting). Private homes are off limits to me. Period. There must be common decency.

Jesse Helms died on July 4th and he put up with more than most of us ever would have. He wasn't perfect, but he never deserved that.

Rest in peace.

David Geffen is, of course, supporting Barack Obama for President having raised over 1.3 million for him already.

It ain't a river in Egypt...

Obama denies quite a bit.

He reminds me of a 2 yr old who insists he didn't eat your cake, but has icing all over his mouth. When you point that out he gets mad you for not believing him. Indignant even.

via Ace

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Monday, July 07, 2008

Hillary???

You just never know.

Heh.

A Victory In Iraq That Was Meant To Be

As I ponder what looks like actual victory in Iraq, I am amazed at how we got here. I found this article over at the Media Research Center showing how a year ago every media outlet saw the surge as nothing but folly. Over and over they bleated about it.

Here is Senator Chris Dodd on the Senate floor in January of 2007: (emphasis mine)

That is why we must say no to the decision by the President of the United States to send thousands more of our brave men and women in uniform to the streets of Baghdad to risk their lives for a plan which just “doesn’t make any sense.”

I, as one Senator, intend to speak out loudly against this ill-conceived policy. But more than just speak out, I intend at every available opportunity to get the Senate of the United States on record against the President’s specific decision to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq, and against the continuation of our failed military strategy in Iraq.


This administration’s Iraq policy has been a total failure, and this “escalation” or “surge” of 21,500 more Americans will not work. We all know it. Generals Powell, Abizaid and Casey know it. The British and the rest of our allies know it. Nearly every expert who has come before the Foreign Relations Committee in the past two weeks of hearings knows it. Most importantly, two-thirds of the American public flat-out oppose it, according to a recent Newsweek poll.


Well, guess what Senator? It did work.

If we had done has the Senator wished, Iraq would now be overrun by Al Qaeda and Iran. Dodd was willing to accept defeat. President Bush was not.

I have to add this:

MSNBC's “Response To The President's Speech On Iraq,” 1/10/07

Barack Obama: “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse.”

How wrong could he be?

How did this happen? Dodd said that just about everyone opposed it and that the American people opposed it. A year ago the Democrats were screeching for an end to the war and Bush got 21,000 additional troops?

It really seems almost miraculous.

Looking back I found one article that tries to explain it from a political perspective. If you read the article carefully you find that it came down to Majority Leader Harry Reid trying to avoid embarrassment and hoping to blame it all on Republicans. Such is the bizarre world of politics.

So despite the Democrats, the surge happened. It must be noted that John McCain had argued since before 2006 for sending 15,000 to 30,000 more troops to defeat the insurgency and stabilize Iraq. While Obama was against the surge. In other words, McCain was for our victory and Obama was for what would have surely been our defeat.

It is something we would do well to remember when we vote in November. We need leadership, not pandering. Obama knew what was popular to say at the time and said it. McCain wasn't thinking of popularity, he was thinking of America winning.

So now we have an Iraq with violence down 60 percent nationwide. Al Qaeda has been expelled from Baghdad and Anbar Province and is currently on the run. 15 of the 18 benchmarks have been achieved. Military and political victories are sweet.

We are almost there. Leaving a stable Iraq, defeating Al Qaeda, and achieving victory in this war.

It's sad to think that America's victory is a defeat for Democrats.

Update: It looks like we all may get what we want..... our boys home. But with the surge, they come home as victors.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the prospect on Monday of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of negotiations over a new security agreement with Washington. It was the first time the U.S.-backed Shi'ite-led government has floated the idea of a timetable for the removal of American forces from Iraq.

But make no mistake. Terrorists will still try their hand where they can. As they did today in Kabul on the Indian embassy.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

"One of the Most Spectacular Victories of the War on Terror"

There are all kinds of juicy news we may have missed over the 4th. for the first and best news you have to run across the pond to read, but no matter, it's gold:

American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.

Vets For Freedom has their first ad up to counter the lies of the far left group MoveOn.org. It's brief and excellent. It will be playing in battleground states. They don't promote any candidate, they just want the truth about the war out there:

"As an organization, we have four months here," said the group's chairman, Pete Hegseth, an Iraq veteran. "A window of opportunity of heightened awareness. We think it's crucial that the success our troops have made on the battlefield is relayed to the American public."

Why is this necessary? Maybe because as the surge succeeded, coverage of Iraq declined 92% in one year.

Our troops have taken a beating from the media and the far left in this country for many years. But they stood steady and did their job.

There is a reason we have not been attacked again. Our warriors are the reason. God bless them.

Update: I've got to add this. Greyhawk, over at Mudville wrote the following song while in Iraq when the surge began. Check out the video here.

The Free and The Brave
Greyhawk

Over in America, home of the free
Land of unlimited opportunity
People in the streets protest whatever they can
While over in Iraq and Afghanistan

The brave, far from home, are standing talland toeing the line, so they can have it all
Some try to complicate it but it's simple to me
They're making noise, we're making history

Osama'd like to think that we can't get it done
And some would like to tell you it's time to cut and run
Me I like to finish something once I've begun
And I don't think I'm the only one

Here making history, hearing the noise
of things that divide and things that destroy
Things you'd never ever want to see on your street
Things you might call the price of defeat

So excuse me if I come home a little annoyed
If while I was making history, you were making noise

We're making history
They're making noise
We're facing the fire

They're playing with toys
Nobody ever said
That it would be easy
They're making noise
We're making history
- Iraq, May, 2007


Perfect.