The Belmont Club has this:

"Senator Norm Coleman has called for the resignation of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for his role in the maladministration of the U.N. Oil-for-Food program. Coleman, who chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee charges that Annan allowed the Oil-for-Food program to become a covert program for subverting the very sanctions they were intended to enforce."

They have much more and really covers this whole scandal. I just cannot believe that Kofi Annan has not been asked to step down before now.
But I have to say it concerns me that Clinton wants this job. I wonder what the chances are that he could actually get it?


WND has an article about a Principal at a Georgia High School who recited a parody prayer over the intercom that has circulated the internet for years. Of course the usual "offended" parties called in. Here's the prayer:

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule.
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.
If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a federal matter now.
Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.
For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.
We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the "unwed daddy,'' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate'' to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments'' do not belong.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.
It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot, my soul please take!
Amen.

Maybe not the best thing for a Principal to read, but there isn't a thing in there that isn't true and that is the saddest thing of all.



Rolling Stone has a interesting article on why Bush won. David Gergen points some voting trends about the democrats that I wasn't aware of:

"The Democrats are in danger of sliding down. They haven't won a majority of the white vote since 1964. They haven't won fifty percent of the national vote since 1976. And in the last six congressional elections -- starting with 1994 -- they haven't cracked 48.5 percent of the national vote. This is a party that needs to have some deep rethinking -- not simply go out and turn a few dials."

Although I find this encouraging, I don't see how the democrats can really 'rethink' things. They are who they are. What the elections depend on is who the voters want. My guess is that they will do the only thing that can be done. Sound centrist, but govern to the left when they get there.

U.S. News and World Report Dec. 6th edition says that Top officials expect that the marine under investigation for shooting an unharmed insurgent (the whole Kevin Sites thing) will be cleared despite the media outcry. ( and it WAS just the media) The officials argue that the soldier knew about booby-trapped bodies and he felt he had less than a second to shoot or be killed. One official suggested that the public would support a decision not to prosecute.

Can I have a AMEN?

The Writ of Wisdom has some more "I'm sorry" pics with hilarious captions. He even has a bad girl..but guys, come back here, ok???

This from Fox News:
CHICAGO — Mayor Richard Daley's (search) 29-year-old son has enlisted in the Army and will soon report for duty in the airborne infantry.

I don't know why I find this interesting except for the fact that the Daley's have long been known as a democrat dynasty and you have to know that it is not exactly the first choice of a career that he would want for his son. Listen to this..umm...not so ringing endorsement:

"Asked about his own feelings toward the war in Iraq , the Democratic mayor said: "You stand by the president; you stand by the men and women of the military."

I wish the best of luck to Daley's son, who could be sent to Iraq within a year.

I suppose you saw the NBA's Piston/Pacers brawl on TV, since they showed the clip every five minutes! I happen to come across this quote from columnist Clarence Page.

" the jaw-dropping footage has aired over and over again like an ad for some sort of a "Negroes Gone Wild" video."

Yow! Only a liberal black journalist could get away with saying that. Yet, ironically in the same column Page sneers at Rush Limbaugh for saying this (among other things):

"This is the hip-hop culture on parade. This is gang behavior on parade minus the guns. That's the culture that the NBA has become."

I guess Page has a "your a liberal black, you can say anything" card.

I found the column interesting because all I could think of during the brawl was how stupid everyone involved in it was. The basketball players for losing it and the fans for throwing beer on someone who could probably snap their neck in a matter of seconds. The color of the idiots never occurred to me. I blogged on the incident earlier and felt that sports itself, from little league to the big leagues was out of control. It all starts with the parents. Just like everything else. I just found this take on color a little strange.

MSM, where is this story?

Ok, I promise not to quote from 2slick's blog every single day, but he received an e-mail from Army officer serving in Task Force 2-7 CAV. His unit went into Fallujah on Nov. 8th and in the e-mail he describes it. It is a fascinating discription of the battle. But I found these points interesting:

"They (the Marines) also found unbelievable amounts of drugs, mostly heroin, speed, and cocaine. It turns out, the enemy drugged themselves up to give them the "courage" and stupidity to stay and fight.The enemy tried to fight us in "the city of mosques" as dirty as they could. They fired from the steeples of the mosques and the mosques themselves. They faked being hurt and then threw grenades at soldiers when they approached to give medical treatment. They waived surrender flags, only to shoot at our forces 20 seconds later when they approached to accept their surrender."

So..... drugged up idiots would throw grenades at our guys even as the Marines were attempting to give medical care to them. And yet again we hear about "faking." I swear if that Marine that NBC's Kevin Sites exploited gets into ANY trouble over what he did, it will be wrong and unjust.

" Soldiers took fire from heavy machine guns (.50 cal) and came across the dead bodies of fighters from Chechnya, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Afghanistan, and so on...no, this was not just a city of pissed off Iraqis, mad at the Coalition for forcing Saddam out of power. It was a city full of people from all over the Middle East whose sole mission in life was to kill Americans. Problem for them is that they were in the wrong city in November 2004."

In other words, we killed thousands of these monsters from all over the middle east and he says we have 900 in custody who seem pretty willing to talk. Weren't we always asked "Why go into Iraq? They didn't attack us on 9-11." What Bush understood was that no country attacked us on 9-11. Hate and bigotry attacked us and it had no country. Our boys just killed thousands of those hate filled fanatics who had the weapons, the plans, and certainly the inspiration to kill us. Now we have some singing as well.

Do you think it is possible for the critics of this war to now see that we needed to do this? That those fanatics will never hurt or kill Americans now? That we will uncover plans and bring down what is left of these enemies of ours? Is it possible? Perhaps it could be if what this soldier wrote about is told. If Americans can see the whole picture and get a clear understanding of all that we have accomplished here.

The Army officer also says:

"It was amazing to see how the American military had brought the world's most evil city to its knees."

I want to see that too. Don't you?

God, I hope we do.

Vote the right way...or God gets mad. Did you know that?

Is there is anything more condesending to read than the MSM writing about Christians, especially evangelical Christians? (of which I am not one, but I know many) In this ABC news article this is the very first "Christian" quote:

"I believe Our Lord elected our president and I believe he put him in office and it is my prayer that he will sustain him in office," said one woman at the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The ABC article goes on to say this about those Christians:

"They believe that if their agenda is not implemented quickly — if their concerns are not addressed in a timely fashion — God will be angry."

We do??? Notice he didn't say "many Christians" or "some Christians." He used the word "They" to imply all Christians.

Then the ABC reporter asked the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church about the millions of Americans who are not Christian, or have a different interpretation of Christianity, Kennedy said with another laugh: "I couldn't care less. It's true."

I wonder how long it took this reporter to find a church where he could make sure the pastor and the parishioner sounded kooky enough. One woman, not even named, speaks for all evangelicals I suppose. And of course the Pastor HAS to sound intolerant and dismiss what others think by saying " I couldn't care less."
How many pastors do you know that would say something like that? I grew up in the deep south, raised in the Methodist and Baptist Church. Why is it that I never heard this kind of "I speak for God" talk?

I have about had it with this kind of smug reporting. Do Christians ( and other religions for that matter) believe that God listens to prayers and moves to answer prayers? Yes. Are those prayers always answered in the way we want them to be? No. They are answered in the way God wants them to be.

I don't think many Christians believe that God elected Bush. The people of America elected Bush. Did prayer sustain Bush during the election? Did prayer move people to vote? Did prayer change people's hearts? I'm sure it did. Prayer is powerful, believe me, I know. But I also believe that God does not care about politics. He cares about us.

The media likes to portray Christians in this backwoods church kind of way because that is the way most of them see us. My entire family from cousins to Aunts to Grandparents are all college educated, many with post graduate degrees, doctors, teachers, and lawyers, and they are all Christians as well.
What the media does not understand is that faith is the foundation of our lives therefore it does affect the way we vote, but it does not prevent us from reasoning and deciding certain issues in an intellectual way.

Finally the reporter ends the story with this:

"Evangelicals say Kennedy may seem intolerant, but there's no greater love than upholding the will of God."

Evangelicals say that? As a group? Is that written some where? No greater love than upholding the will of God? WHAT???? I've been a Christian for 30 yrs and I have never heard that one.
Imagine this reporter writing something where he speaks for all blacks, or all Jews, or even all Texans??? These blanket statements are not only unfair, but untrue.

The media doesn't have to be a Christian to understand our concerns. It doesn't have to agree with those concerns. But a little respect might be nice.


One interesting side note: I noticed in the ABC article mentioned above it says:

"By one measure, conservative Christians comprised 12 percent of the electorate this year — the same as four years ago."

Yet in a related ABC article , ( from Rueters, but it is from the same ABC news page) it says this:

"Unprecedented turnout by evangelical Christians was a key factor in ensuring Bush's narrow victory over Democrat John Kerry in the election."

So which is it? Was it an unprecedented turnout or the same as four years ago? Someone want to call ABC and check? Because it seems that whichever spin fits the story is the one they go with.

Gloria Borger with U.S. News and World report has a interesting article on why democrats lost. I know this topic has been run into the ground, but this part really says it all:

"When did the party of the little guy, the middle class, and working moms become the party of the intelligentsia, of Hollywood moguls, of left-wing billionaires?"

The answer to that is simple of course. The democrats became that party when they starting sharing the same values (or lack thereof) of the intelligentsia, Hollywood moguls, and left-wing billionares.

Sometimes we have to face the mirror and change what we know to be wrong. Not that I want to give democrats advice, but it is time for them to return to at least looking out for the little guy. At least then I could have some respect for them.

Iraqi Views.

According to 2Slick , Eric Simon's Desert Sky will be featured on FOX's Dayside with Linda Vester on Monday 1pm eastern time. It is a documentary told by the soldiers themselves about a year in the life of the world's largest Air Assault Helicopter Brigade.

I'm betting the film rocks.

2Slick also has more info on a new book coming out, IRAQ: PROVIDING HOPE written by Eric Holmes which are personal stories from 50 people actively involved in freeing and rebuilding a new Iraq. (2slick is in it!)
Please contact Timberwolf Press for more information and to pre-order.
Call office toll free to order: 888-808-0912 Or email information to: sales@timberwolfpress.com

And to round off a complete hat tip post to 2slick, here is an Iraqi blogger with a little Thanksgiving post of his own.

Reading a bit more on his blog I noticed he had this to say on Nov. 16th:

" the chief editor of an Arabic newspaper located in London, widely read in Arab world, recounted an incident which happened to him with one of the editors in the newspaper. He said that a picture, shows an American soldier speaking to an Iraqi girl, was to be published with an article. A comment which says (An American soldier instructing an Iraqi girl) was to be under the picture. What happened, the junior editor changed it to (An American soldier hitting on an Iraqi girl). Such comment stimulates a very conservative religious society as the one in Iraq.Now, what happened yesterday of showing an American soldier shooting an injured man in Fallujah will be the tambourine on which Aljazeera and Arabic media will play on for a long time."

It seems this Iraqi understands the damage of perception to us (the U.S.) and our soldiers when a story is "spun" in such a way to make us look bad. Perhaps Kevin Sites should read this guy's blog.

He goes on to say:

"The crimes of breaking into hospitals, snatching injured Iraqi policemen and soldiers, cutting them into pieces by the insurgents are not criticized by Aljazeera. "......The crimes committed by Saddam’s closest assistants against the Iraqi people, many are filmed, had never been spoken about. No one dared to raise a voice to demand a trail because of fear. And the same fear is used nowadays by the insurgents to keep mouths shut."

I think it is time for a 'fair and balanced' answer to Aljazeera.

What is the Arabic word for Fox?

Patti Davis and the long embarrassment....

Patti Davis, Ronald Reagan's daughter, has written a book about her father's descent into Alzheimer's disease called "The Long Goodbye." Patti spent her life embarrassing her father and doing a lot of whining. First with a "fictional" book about a daughter whose father was President and a cold aloof mother. She then posed for Playboy in 1994. Later writing another book involving S & M sexual activities. She was just a real class act all around.

Here she talks about her book. Making money off her father's memory is no surprise to me. It doesn't even surprise me that she even speaks for him in death, obviously injecting her own political feelings into what she 'thinks' he would have done or said in the present political climate. Here's a bit:

Point Loma, CA: Do you think the current president's vision for America is similar to your father's?

Patti Davis: I do not believe my father would have taken us into Iraq, nor do I think he would have alienated so much of the world. I believe, if he had been in office when 9/11 happened, Osama bin Laden would not still be walking around and sending out broadcasts via television.

She might be right about the bin Laden thing, but I don't think the left she loves would have liked the way he would have done it.

Orlando, Fl: ....Do you believe your father would have conducted a pre-emptive strike against Iraq, both in Desert Storm and now as the present administration has done?

Patti Davis: I think my father would have handled things very differently if he had been in office. I think he would have responded to 9/11 in an appropriate way by going after the group who carried out the attack. I'm saddened by what this administration has done.

Umm....Perhaps someone should tell Patti that Bush did go after the group (the Taliban) who carried out the attack. We went in Afghanistan and kicked their ass, killing off most and destroying their base and organization. And just as a little side thing, Bush also freed the afghan people from tyranny and allowed them to have free elections for the first time. I think Reagan would have loved that from the bottom of his freedom loving heart.
Patti, being the feminist that she is, might also kinda like the fact that girls are allowed to go to school and work now, and even have the right now not to be murdered if they choose the wrong boyfriend.
Because you know, I was really saddened by the brutality, murder, and discrimination that the Taliban had done.

Crofton, MD: Hi Patti: You've always been one of my favorite writers. Did your father ever voice an opinion regarding stem-cell research?

Patti Davis: Unfortunately, by the time stem-cell research became part of our vocabulary, my father was too ill to understand it. I think he would be very proud of my mother's work for this cause.

Everything that Ronald Reagan every wrote or said on the subject of embryos and the sanctity of life says he would have been against embryonic stem cell research, but for adult stem cell research. But, she doesn't say that he would have been for it at least, she only says that he would be proud of her mother, which of course, he would have. I think he would have supported Nancy in all things.

Gautier, MS: What type of relationship do you and your mother have with Michael? He seemed so alone at the funeral.

Patti Davis: Our family has pulled together and bonded through my father's illness and passing.

This was a good dodge. Michael, who is a outspoken Christian, could not be more different from Patty and Ron. The one thing they do seem to have in common now is the love and respect they have for their father. Patty spoke a bit about how her father would have hated how divided the country was. Does she really believe that that we would be less divided with Ronald Reagan in office? Reagan's political policies and vision makes George W. Bush look like a liberal. Does she think the democrats would embrace a Ronald Reagan? Or even tolerate one? It was the force of Reagan's conservative vision that began the head spinning hatred the left has for conservatism.

This post probably seems harsh. Patty's book, as I understand it, is a beautiful tribute to her father. But that does not give her the right to put words in her father's mouth. Especially about political decisions being made now. And I admit to always having felt sickened by how she humiliated her parents who had such class. As you have read recently here how I felt about my father, I just can't not wrap my mind around doing something so embarrassing to him, especially in such a public way. We all make mistakes, but most of us do not intentionally open family wounds in public, and do it in such a way that seems determined to make our family look hypocritical.
I did read Patti's first book. It seemed to me that Nancy was not a nuturing mother to say the least. This seemed to be where the deep problems that Patti has dealt with her whole life come from. Everything I have read in interviews with her seem to say the same thing. If writing this book helps her and her family become closer, then that is fine. But I just wish she would not speak for her father.
His whole life speaks for itself and it is loud and wonderful enough for all us to understand everything that he was and all that he gave us.

Dean and the DNC.

Eleanor Clift wonders if Howard Dean can save the democrats by heading up the DNC:

"Dean is essentially a New Democrat who happened to be against the war. Signing legislation legalizing civil unions is the only outsized liberal thing he did, and he did it reluctantly in a compromise forced by court action. Only a few staffers were present at the signing ceremony, and photographers were banned."

He just "happened to be against the war." Like it was an accident. I tripped and fell and discovered I was against the war!
And by golly, they made him sign that leftie civil union thing! And then after they got through practically forcing him to, he signed it real secret like, so it really doesn't count. He didn't even let them take pictures! So I guess if you don't let them take pictures of you signing leftie legislation it makes you more centrist?

Clift goes on to say:

"Deciding to lead the party would probably take Dean out of the running for the ’08 nomination. Maybe that’s why the Clintons are quietly pulling for Dean. He would be one less party favorite for Hillary to dispose of."

Dispose of? I don't know about you, but that kinda gave me the creeps for some reason.

I just got this e-mail and I am wondering how many STUPID people will respond to this. I like the part where she says she found my e-mail by searching the internet. I guess she googled "honest foreigner" and my name popped up!!!!!
Never trust someone who wishes to never "look for money" again in her life. Working usually works better than looking for it, but thats just my opinion.
If I am reading this correctly she says her father died in a plane crash, but that she is his first wife.....? OK, well thats just gross.
So anyway if any of you want 20% of nothng, have at it.





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My house is clean, the groceries bought, the guest room ready. I'm all ready for Thanksgiving and it is only Tuesday!! YAY ME! So I am posting on the lighter side of life today.

If I had a real life I would want some of these and any sparkle shown here. (especially the shoes!) I will take this purse. (notice it is 'inspired' so I am not that bad). And This blue coat.

Continuing in the realm of unreality, I did an unusual thing last night. I actually watched some late night tv. I switched between Leno and Letterman and they were pretty funny. Letterman had actor Colin Farrell on and if there is a better looking man on this planet I am not aware of it. That is until....He opened his mouth. He just babbled and twitched. I just wanted to shout "just shutup and let me look at you!" Is this how you men feel about Anna Nicole Smith? (the new skinny one)

It just so happened that I had just seen "The Recruit" starring Colin Farrell and Al Pacino and Farrell is a very very good actor, Al Pacino is just incredible and Farrell held his own, so he must be pretty good. Like with most actors I will take the picture over the person anytime.

I hear Farrell is excellent in "Alexander The Great," but I also heard it is like a historical gay porn flick, so I guess I will be missing it because if there is anything worse than watching a great looking man babbling and twitching, it is watching a great looking man kissing another man.

Fred Hale dies at 113, he became Guinness' oldest known driver. But he hung up his car keys at 108, annoyed by too many slow drivers. (Heh.)

I keep thinking they could have come up with a better name for this item.

Someone might think about getting Jeff from Protein Wisdom this for the Holidays.

This is suppose to wake you up if you are the kind that doesn't wake up with your alarm clock.... who are they kidding?

If we only had a drink to keep us from this. But the label is interesting.

The Writ of Wisdom has another "We are Sorry Pic" that is too funny. I can't pick a caption I like the most. You pick.



I'll end with a used before quote of the day. It may become my signature quote:

"I was going to change the world, but I couldn't find a babysitter."

Reporting on War.

Belmont Club has this regarding the NBC reporter on the story and filming of the Marine who killed a wounded insurgent in a mosque:

"Although Kevin Sites' weblog posting can be read, at one level, as a defense of a journalist's duty to report what he sees, it is now being used to convey the impression that a Marine now under investigation is guilty of shooting an inoffensive and wounded man. Sites himself does not say the Marine is guilty: he carefully avoids that; but was well aware that a journalist's story could easily be put to uses beyond his control. Describing his own video, Sites said:"

"We all knew it was a complicated story, and if not handled responsibly, could have the potential to further inflame the volatile region. I offered to hold the tape until they had time to look into incident and begin an investigation -- providing me with information that would fill in some of the blanks. ...
I knew NBC would be responsible with the footage. But there were complications. We were part of a video "pool" in Falluja, and that obligated us to share all of our footage with other networks. I had no idea how our other "pool" partners might use the footage. I considered not feeding the tape to the pool -- or even, for a moment, destroying it. But that thought created the same pit in my stomach that witnessing the shooting had. It felt wrong. Hiding this wouldn't make it go away. There were other people in that room. What happened in that mosque would eventually come out. I would be faced with the fact that I had betrayed truth as well as a life supposedly spent in pursuit of it.
When NBC aired the story 48-hours later, we did so in a way that attempted to highlight every possible mitigating issue for that marines actions. We wanted viewers to have a very clear understanding of the circumstances surrounding the fighting on that frontline. Many of our colleagues were just as responsible. Other foreign networks made different decisions, and because of that, I have become the conflicted conduit who has brought this to the world."

Sites also says this:

"During the course of these events, there was plenty of mitigating circumstances like the ones just mentioned and which I reported in my story. The Marine who fired the shot had reportedly been shot in the face himself the day before. I'm also well aware from many years as a war reporter that there have been times, especially in this conflict, when dead and wounded insurgents have been booby-trapped, even supposedly including an incident that happened just a block away from the mosque in which one Marine was killed and five others wounded. Again, a detail that was clearly stated in my television report. ..."

This is what I am not getting. Yes, I understand why he didn't destroy it. That would have been wrong. The Marines themselves would have wanted to look at it, but couldn't he have used it without feeding it to the video pool knowing how it could be used against us? He uses the word "obligated." What does that mean? Was he under contract? Or was it more of a unwritten courtesy? Would he have been fired had he not shared it? This is important to know. It would tell me a little more of his motivation. It is very exciting for a reporter to have a "prize" piece of video. They get a lot of attention with it being aired everywhere with all video feeds. Did that maybe go into his decision?

Just asking.


Darrin Mortenson of the North County Times in defending Site's reporting tells of time in Fallujah where he witnessed a Marine shoot an unharmed Iraqi talking on his cell phone. He reported the incident to the Marines, but he goes on to say:

"It was instructive: What we had witnessed and documented was how the insurgency grows -- something the military and folks at home seemed very uncomfortable hearing about."

This is problem here to me. Does anyone else see it? This reporter Mortenson is certainly putting himself in the place of being all knowing here, isn't he? Did it ever occur to him that the Marine might have known something the reporter didn't? Perhaps being told that cell phones were being used to activate bombs at our forces? ( a not uncommon occurrence), perhaps even notified that that was exactly what this man was doing? I am just speculating here. For all I know the Marine could very well have shot this man against all engagement rules, but this reporter is assuming the worst, why? And why does he feel that he is instructing us and the marines on how the insurgency grows? Did he not think the Marines had a clue about anything going on there? It sure seems like it to me. Perhaps the military wasn't uncomfortable hearing about it, maybe they just disagreed and had intelligence saying otherwise.

Just wondering.

Do you see what I am saying here? On his website Sites says that "the wounded man made no sudden movements before the Marine opened fire on him. ... "

Perhaps it never occurred to Sites that in the sentence where he says "the wounded man made no sudden movements," he should have added...."That I saw."
Is it possible that the Marine, who I am imagining had a laser beam focus on the guy, could have seen movement?

My point is that as we know the Marines will investigate and the Marine in question will either be found guilty of ignoring rules of engagement or he will be justified. But these reporters seem to have a sense of being the ones who really know what is going on in this situations. They report as if they are above the fray.
I think it is fair to say that if one has never been a Marine, then one can never really know the knowledge, training, and expertise that goes into being one.

It is not the filming of the incident that is making people so mad. It is the arrogance of the reporting behind it and either the reporter's seemingly ignorance of Marine training, or just not caring that he knows little about that training. It is the fact that this is war and awful mistakes happen, but one should not use those mistakes, if that is what they are, to further one's career, if that is what he is doing.

Just speculating.

UPDATE: This from CentCom . The incident occurred yesterday afternoon. Wonder if anyone was filming it???

Check out this oh so cool military photo essay from USA Today. h/t INDC Journal.

And while we are thinking about it. Lets really support our troops. Here's a site that lets you know all the ways you can. h/t Mudville.

The most excellent Belmont Club brings us this:

One of the situational dangers of the battlefield was illustrated by the death of a California Marine. The Mercury News reports:
Marine Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes, 22, of Gilroy was killed Monday in Al-Fallujah by small arms fire. "They had finished mopping up in Fallujah and they went back to double-check on some insurgents. From what we gathered, somebody playing possum jumped up and shot him,'' said his father, Joel Ailes, who learned of his death Monday evening. "It's extremely hard."
... His first time in Iraq, Jeramy Ailes gave $10 to each child he came across because he knew it would feed their families for 30 days. This time, he asked his family to mail as many soccer balls as they could. His family sent 300 balls, and Jeramy Ailes' platoon handed them out to children.
Joel Ailes warmly remembered the last conversation he had with his son last month, in which Jeramy Ailes recounted how he had come across a large man walking with a 12-year-old girl carrying a huge bale of straw on her back. His son, who spoke and read Arabic, exchanged words with the man. And, for the next seven miles, his son carried the girl on his back and the man carried the bales of straw. "That was my son," Joel Ailes said.

That was his son.


Then the first comment by "Kenny" really says what everyone should be thinking.

Comments:
"well I guess it's better to die a hero that he is...than to shoot the iraqi playing dead and be termed a war criminal "

Then the AP gives us this:

"In Fallujah, where U.S. Marines and soldiers are still battling pockets of resistance, insurgents waved a white flag of surrender before opening fire on U.S. troops and causing casualties, Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert said Saturday without elaborating."

These guys wave a white flag and then open fire. And we are suppose to worry about a young soldier shooting an insurgent that was faking dead? I think our soldiers know which rules of engagement these guys use.....NO RULES. NO, I am not saying we throw out our strict rules at all. But when fighting an enemy like this, I think taking into account that they pose a danger until they are safely captured and tied up or until they are DEAD is something I don't mind our soldiers understanding and acting upon.
h/t to BigDogshouse for throwing me the big lines to catch. If you are a smart single 20-30 something female hottie, you might want to check out his website. So I can give him some big lines to catch. 3 words ladies....he can cook.


Now, if you haven't been here all weekend. Please scroll down and read my Thanksgiving and Protesting posts. They are personal and I would like all who come here to read them.

Thanks!

Althletes and the people who don't like them.

I just saw the video of the fights in the Pacers and Pistons NBA game. I am truly SICK of the ego and irresponsibility of these athletes. Personally I think they should be thrown off the team. I know, I know, the money. They are just above it all because of the money they generate.

More personal stories. Before you know it, it is going to sound like I have had an pretty exciting life. Which, comparatively speaking, I guess it was. ANYWAY, I had a best friend in college that dated a well known football star at the University of Texas. We went to the game one day and then went back to his very lush apartment to wait for his greatness to arrive. She had rushed to the store and brought back tons of food and a case of beer. She told me that this is what he requires after the game. "Hmmmm.....I thought." So he comes in with a few of his fellow football players. If there were more egotistical big headed self involved jerks, they would have to be in Hollywood. Without so much of a thank you, he and his cavemen wolfed down the food and drank the beer and proceeded to assume that I and the other 2 girls with us were there for their express pleasure. I guess they figured we came with the food and beer. My friend Debbie made it clear that we were her friends and not football groupies. That didn't seem to matter. Before finally leaving totally disgusted, I had literally pushed 2 of them off of me and poured a glass of ice water over the head of another. (You do not want to know why)

A year later I dated an old boyfriend from high school who was a baseball player at Northeastern Louisiana University. I went to one party with him and his baseball buddies and they pretty much had the same...ummm....... demeanor.

I am not saying all athletes are like this. I know there are many wonderful guys for every one Kolbe Bryant. But this culture of glorifying our sports figures to the point of almost worshiping them is out of control. You can see it even in kid's sports. These parents think their little Johnny is gonna be in the big leagues and everyone, including little Johnny knows it.

I have 2 children who are very gifted athletes. I have no idea if they have what it takes to play in college or beyond. But this is the LAST dream I give them. I tell them I am proud of them. I tell them to keep doing their best. But the last thing I would want is to create this impossible dream in them that only one in a million achieve. And many of those you wouldn't want to live next door to, much less have as a family member. Yet I see parent after parent push this dream on their kids. The sports world, even on a elementary level, is too competitive, too obsessive, and too much. Period.

Our friend 2Slick has an interesting post about his involvment in giving out millions to the Iraqi people. It explains it and has an excerpt from a book coming out Eric T. Holmes that quotes 2Slick.

In the book Mr. Holmes describes the 101st Infantry Division "giving project" (my personal name for it):

"In the course of combat operations and searching for weapon caches the 101st came across large amounts of Ba’athist cash. They immediately turned right around and spent the money in the local economy for humanitarian efforts. During 2003 they seized and spent $178 million. Other units are now continuing the program."

"Captain 2Slick served with the 101st in Mosul during the first year of the war. He’s a Black Hawk pilot by trade, who personally spent $2.7 million in support of higher education in Mosul. After serving with his unit in Iraq, 2Slick is now serving in Kuwait. “I honestly believe that we are losing the information campaign here. As soldiers fighting this war, we have an obligation to get the word out about what's really going on over here.”

Now go read more at his site.

Protesting.

I seem to be in the "personal stories" mode. One of the previous posts had many comments on protestors. I have actually been a protestor. Let me tell you about my first time.

I had 2 small babies in the late 80's. I was involved in the pro-life movement through my Church. I had counseled at a pregnancy crisis center called Birthright. Birthright has offices all over the country and has been around since the 60's. It is not political, but it offers resources to mothers with unplanned pregnancies. Everything from Lamaze classes to Doctor appts. To diapers to formula. I was a busy young mother at the time also involved with the Nurturing Network, a crisis pregnancy organization that focused on helping single pregnant women in college. Finding jobs, college transfers, and shelter.

"Operation Rescue' was in full swing at the time. If you don't remember, it was the summer Rev. Flip Benham went to abortion clinics all over to protest. The protestors would go slack as they were arrested just as those did in the civil rights and peace movements of the 60's. Of course, that is not how the media portrayed them at all. It just so happened that I had a lovely 18 yr old babysitter from my Church named Mary. She told me she was joining Operation Rescue in Dallas that summer. I was very concerned. To be honest I have always found protests silly. I never see them change things. Perhaps they did have an impact in the 60's, but now they seemed like the 'lefts' way of getting on TV. But this wasn't the left by any stretch of the imagination.

So the next Saturday morning I drove over to Dallas to show support for Mary. I expected wild rantings from "those evangelicals" screaming "murderer!" and the like. That was the media had led me to believe. But what I found was a peaceful display of young mothers with children. Grandmothers, and few young men. The abortion clinic was surrounded by policemen on horses.

I sorta wandered around chatting with different people, looking for Mary. What I didn't know was that Mary had snuck into the abortion clinic as a 'patient' and was counseling the girls there not to go through with the abortions.

A couple of interesting things. There was LOTS of media. One cameraman started kind of following me around. I guess because I was speaking to many of the people and he wanted a good shot of something, because nothing exciting was going on. I spoke to a Hispanic grandmother who had been praying the rosary. She pointed to one of the policemen on a horse and said "That is my nephew." She smiled at him and did a little wave. He kinda smiled back and shook his head. "I kid him that one day he will have to arrest me." she giggled. I smiled. "You do this often?" I asked. "I come every Saturday and silently pray the rosary." she answered.

Scary stuff. These people.

Then a very strange thing happened. Suddenly from the 2nd story balcony of the abortion clinic they brought out a 9 foot purple paper mache woman. Her arms were attached with elastic and they had sticks glued to the back of her hands so she could wave back and forth. Some woman from the balcony shouted that she was the goddess of something ( I couldn't understand her and I never found out what goddess, seems the reporters there weren't that interested in finding out) I turned to the cameraman that had been following me and said, "Aren't you going to film that???" He looked reluctant..."I guess so" he said. "YOU GUESS SO???? THIS isn't newsworthy???? THIS isn't interesting enough for the local news????" I said.

He filmed it, but I never saw it on any news station or written up in the newspaper. It occurred to me later that the station may have told him to only film that which made the pro-lifers look nutty, not the other way around. I just can't explain it any other way.

Finally, Mary and 2 other girls were arrested along with Flip Benham, he was arrested for stepping onto the property. THAT made the news of course. Mary was a straight A student, very active in school and church activies. She had no arrest record. The judge threw her jail for 3 months. Mary spent the summer before going to college in jail. We wrote each other and her attitude was wonderful. She looked at it as an opportunity to share her faith with the other women in jail. Her outlook and tenacity and faith made me remember my own 18 yr old summer spent combing the beaches of Hawaii, surfing, and trying to find the cutest guy with the best tan to take me dancing. Feeling pretty shallow in comparison, I decided to go to a few more protests ( not with Operation Rescue, just local prayer vigils in front of abortion clinics ) Nothing exciting or even confrontational ever happened. Once a security guard asked one of the young men with us why we were doing this. The young man answered "Have you seen a 6-12 week old fetus?, the heart is beating, brain waves can be detected. They don't do abortions before then." The security guard said "you're lying." "Go look it up yourself." said the young man.
We never saw the security guard there again. Maybe he did look it up.

An interesting thing also occurred that summer. Norma McCovery (Jane Roe of the infamous Roe v. Wade case) became a Christian, later a Catholic and denounced all things to do with the pro-choice movement. She became adamantly pro-life.

Those of us in the movement knew of her conversion. But none of us called the news outlets. We felt it was personal for her and it wasn't our place. At the time I was an avid caller into talk shows and I had to BITE MY FINGERS to keep me from calling it in sometimes when they were discussing the pro-lifers. Months later a reporter noticed her at a pro-life center and asked her what the hell she was doing there. That is when the story became news. She said that the pro-choice movement never did anything but use her. Making her lie at the beginning of Roe v. Wade and say she was raped.
But the pro-lifers never did anything but help her.

I didn't do anymore protesting. I felt my concern was with helping the young girls who found themselves pregnant and alone.

I have mixed feelings about protesting. I feel that it is so watered down now that no one really pays attention. I also feel that too many spend their time protesting thinking that that makes them a better person. Well, holding up a sign that says "I'm sorry" and taking a picture of yourself doesn't help mankind, I can tell you that for sure.

In case your wondering. Mary graduated from college. She is a teacher and a happily married mother of 3.

I still call her my little ex con.

Thanksgiving

I want to tell you about a little boy who was born in 1931. He was born to a poor 15 yr old girl who was married to an older man in the rural south. As you might imagine, it was not an easy childhood. Having a young unsure mother and a overbearing mean father along with no money brought feelings of anger out in the little boy often. When that happened his father would beat him. His mother would cry, but there wasn't much she could do.

Finally his father left them, divorced his mother and remarried. This was uncommon in the 40's and humiliated his mother and left the little boy feeling even more feelings of anger and abandonment. The small glow of rage that had been smoldering for many years, began to grow.

Luckily for his mother, she found a sweet man to marry and they began a family. By this time the little boy, growing into a teenager was rebellious and uncontrollable. Feeling it for the best, His mother and stepfather sent him to a boarding school. His mother had 2 more babies. Feeling left out and alone, the boy turned his anger outward. He started fights. He found enjoyed fights. They let a little bit of his rage out.

When he graduated high school he returned home and spent his weekends going to bars, getting drunk and getting into fights. He enjoyed the feeling of rage and anger as he pounded at someone. He enjoyed the taunting, the final insult that led to the fight, but most of all he enjoyed the fight. It didn't take a psychologist to figure out that the fight gave him an outlet for his resentment and rage.

This went on for almost 2 years, until one night everything changed. Sometimes people actually do have one specific moment in their lives when life grabs them and shakes them and nothing is ever the same.

The boy (he was called Sonny) ,was now a man of 19. He was doing his usual drinking in a favorite bar. He started his usual fight with some other redneck over the usual nothing. The fighting began, then Sonny knocked the other man into the bar. As the man fell his head hit the corner of the bar. The man fell to the floor, blood was everywhere. People rushed over. A man knelt down by him and then looked up at Sonny and said "he's dead."

In that moment, Sonny saw what the rest of his life was to be. Prison. He saw the bars and the cot and the cold hard floor. He closed his eyes, overwhelmed by the frozen fear that washed over him. He wasn't sure how long he stood there with his eyes closed. But someone shook him and he looked up. They said, "He's not dead, just a a bad gash to the back of the head."

Sonny didn't remember the rest of the evening. Back then no one called cops over some honkey tonk fight. He didn't remember getting home. He only remembers laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. He remembers thinking and thinking. He remembers that he understood how close he came to having no life at all. And that is when he made a decision.

He decided that not only was he going to have a life, he was going to have a damn good one.

That week he joined the Army. He made sergeant quickly. He worked hard and was focused. After his stint in the Army. He took his G.I. bill and enrolled in college. He studied hard and graduated. He wanted to go to law school, but he needed to work to save some money. He sold insurance. During this time he met a beautiful young girl, appropriately named Joy. He knew within a week that she was the kind of girl he wanted to love and to be the mother of his much wanted children. A week later they were married. This guy had gotten real good at making decisions by now.

He got into Law School. He worked all day as a security guard at a train station, where he could easily study, and he went to law school at night. He and Joy had 2 sons. He became a lawyer. Then they had a daughter. He had many other successes in his life. But the personal ones are the most significant. He forgave his father and even had a relationship with him. His mother had become widowed at an early age, and he took care of her and became very close to her. He also loved his little brother and sister very much. But even more than all that, he became a remarkable person. He made a lot of money and he gave it to anyone who needed it.

Because of his childhood,he felt little boys needed an outlet for their aggressiveness, so he became a Golden Gloves boxing coach. He sponsored his son's little league teams and any other team that couldn't afford one. He gave money and land to The Boys Club. He headed up fundraisers for the Crippled Childrens charity through his civic clubs. His generosity was unlimited. He was never famous or held high office. But when he died too young, at the age of 53 ,the funeral home did not have enough rooms to hold the flowers, despite his wife asking for donations to other charitable funds. There were 11 police cars and 11 police motorcycles leading the hearst to the cemetery.

He was not perfect. But he was a loving and wonderful husband and father. I know. Because he was my father.

When I was 17 I had a boyfriend who came from a poor family. Keith stole some engine parts from the gas station where he worked to sell for extra money. Instead of forbidding me to ever see him again, Daddy got Keith out of jail. He got the arrest off his record. He managed to find him a scholarship to the local Jr. College and gave him money to get started. I began college farther away and my Daddy waited patiently for the relationship to end, and it did.

What my father taught me most of all is that life is a decision you make. Every day you decide whether you will be happy or not. My dad had nothing but rage fueling him growing up. He could have let that rage ruin it all and he almost did. But that fateful night he decided to turn it all around. He decided to be a wonderful husband, father, friend, and public servant.

He chose love over hate.

He was a senator in the state legislature and then ran for Circuit Clerk of Hinds County. After the first time, no one ever ran against him again. He always ran uncontested. He was asked many times to run for Governor, but I would hear him discussing it with my mom. He didn't like the meanness of politics and he didn't want to spend time away from his kids. So he never did.

He was not a religious man. When we were young he took us to church, but when I was 12 and joined the Baptist church because of the youth group, he and mom stopped going. When I questioned him about it later. He told me, "I am Christian, but I don't like how churches focus on things that I don't see Christ focusing on. When I read the Bible I saw Christ asking us to do 2 things, love God, and help one another. So that is what I did."

My father died before I finished my spiritual journey (which is never finished, I suppose) and I wish that I could have shared with him how fufilling I have found my Church and how much it has taught me about Christ. But I figure, because of the love he gave me, because of the childhood of security and affection that I had, I started from a whole different place than he did. He climbed the mountain from the bottom, digging in and sweating his way up. I was placed gently toward the top. My climb was so much easier by all that he gave me.

He has been gone for 20 years now, but I am still thankful for him. Still thankful that somewhere out there is a man with a big scar on the back of his head. Still thankful for the decision my daddy made all those many years ago.

Citizen Smash has some pics of demonstrators and counter-demonstrators in San Diego. He describes the 'protestors' as: "religious pacifists mingled with anarchists; communists selling newspapers for a dollar each; anti-capitalist vegans holding up a banner advertising a “yeast-free” bread shop; a woman -- made up to appear like a victim of multiple gunshot wounds -- lay supine on the sidewalk, draped in an American flag."

Their counter demonstrators were veterans and other proud Americans, proud of our military. And then the Marines arrived.....

"They arrived without warning, easily identifiable by their short hair and strong physical bearing. They eyed the protesters warily, but visibly brightened when they spotted our counter-demonstration. These Marines were on weekend liberty from infantry training at Camp Pendleton, and for many of them, this was their first trip into downtown San Diego."

Go check out the pics. Just do some comparing. Look at our young strong oh so cool (can I say hot?) Marines and the pitiful display of humanity that the left produced. Not to be mean. I'm just saying..........

Remember the famous European line "We are all Americans now" after 9-11?
Well, it seems that line has changed a bit after 11-2 to "We are all blue Americans now."
That is the last line of this article anyway.....to which I say....well, I can't really say what I want to say because this is a nice clean blog. But the 2 words your thinking right now.....that's it.

My dog dug up and chewed up my phone cable out back (so my DSL was out as well) So I have been unable to get on the internet.
Did you miss me??.... Huh?..... Did ya?...;-)
On the good side I got tons done, including some Christmas shopping. On the bad side I experienced I.W. (Internet Withdrawal) which included the cramping of fingers from not typing and extreme stress brought on by not being able to rant.

Did I miss all the jokes about the Clinton Library looking like the biggest mobile home ever? Because that was my very first thought when I saw it.

I tend to avoid all things Clinton. I can't bear to hear him speak, so all I did was read the excerpt from his interview with Peter Jennings. Here are some thoughts:

Clinton on Iraq: "I did believe that the administration made a mistake going to war when they did, and that's what alienated the world. Most Americans still haven't focused on this."

I wonder if the rest of the world has focused on the fact that WE WERE RIGHT. Not only finding weapons strewn thoughout Iraq, the plans to renew the nuclear weapons program, and the mass graves of women and children, but now we know the corrupt collaboration the U.N. had in the food for oil program scamming all of us, but especially the Iraqi people. And now we know how Saddam paid the families of suicide bombers. With food for oil money. A scandal of historic and world wide proportions. Keep in mind this would still be going on if not for the U.S. invading Iraq.

Clinton has just a tad more to say about Iraq: "You know, I don't follow it on a day-to-day basis. I'm not there. I'm concerned about it."

Alrighty then....

Clinton on how the heart surgery changed his life: "You know, I find birds that I used to know, I'm more alive to just the pace of daily life than I used to be, and I'm very grateful for things that are easy to take for granted."

Why do I get the feeling they changed the word "birds" from "chicks?"

Clinton on Bush as a politician: "It's like saying to the moderates, the swing voters, I will give you everything Bill Clinton did with a smaller government and a bigger tax cut.Wouldn't you like that? You get the same results with lower taxes. I mean, he's very good."

Everything except an affair with a 22 yr old white house intern, lying to the wife, and the nation. Also, no being disbarred, no being held in contempt, no $90,000 fine, and...oh yeah... no impeachment. Everything but that.

Just one more quote from Clinton : "And still, [there's] not any example of where I ever disgraced this country publicly."

See above.

SondraK....good one. Funny goodbye pic to the *stars.*

Some interesting notes from this weeks U.S. News and World Report (the actual magazine)

Nadwan Waed, 22, a Iraqi soldier says his fellow soldiers are as "charged up as their American counterparts." Waed says, "It's good the Americans are here because we need someone strong. I hope that someday we can do it ourselves."

Cool.

Another interesting tidbit describes Sgt. Jamie Gomez. Listen to this soldier's job. He had $300,000 in American greenbacks shoved into his backback to start outreach efforts to civilians. The team is authorized to pay for destroyed houses and cars, up to $2,500 a person. They are also paving the way for contractors to attempt to upgrade the water and medical facilities, as well as the damaged power plants.
Another soldier is loaded with bags of Jolly Ranchers candy to give to children.

Should I, at this point, make a wisecrack about mean selfish Americans? Nah.

I just realized that after being 'instalaunched" (or whatever you call it) by Glenn Reynolds, I think I have blasted him in about 3 recent posts. I really didn't plan it that way.
I appreciated the link, but I gotta say what I gotta say.

The Politburo Diktat has his take on the marine killing the insurgent story. It is more of a 'look at it from your own point of view' thing.

Here is Arlen Spector spinning the wheels to get chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Spector says: "The president is well aware of what happened, when a number of his nominees were sent up, with the filibuster," Specter said.
"And I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning." (considerations meaning 'no pro-lifer need apply')

I would go on about how I don't think we should cower to democrats threatening to filibuster extremely qualified nominees because of the democrats pro abortion views, but Republican Sen. Alexander from Tenn. said it well:

"It would seem to me and others it'd be inappropriate to be issuing that kind of warning to the president of the United States," Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told CNN Tuesday. "It sounded like Senator Specter might have a litmus test, and I don't think the Judiciary Committee should have a litmus test."

Condi Rice as Sec. of State... I like the sound of it.

Hostage aid worker Margaret Hassan is believed to have been killed. On Sunday, U.S. Marines found the mutilated body of what they believe was a Western woman on a street in a Fallujah during the U.S. assault on the insurgent stronghold. There was also a tape of the killing sent to Al-Jazeera TV. She had been the long time director of CARE in Iraq. Not only do these mutant idiots kill those who help them, but they don't seem to grasp the obvious. YOUR BEHEADING AND KILLING ISN'T WORKING!!! % &**#!!!!!!!!

Fox News reporting:

WASHINGTON — The father of a teen who died after taking an abortion pill says new safety warnings added by the government aren't enough to protect women. Because a third death now has been linked to RU-486, the Food and Drug Administration (search) should bar sales of the abortion pill, said the grieving father.

Many other problems with the pill have included reports of serious bacterial infection, bleeding, ectopic — tubal — pregnancies that have ruptured and death. The fatalities including a death from sepsis, a severe infection.

As always, Planned Parenthood gives us a statement showing it's deep concern for women:

"All of us need to understand that no procedure, no medication is risk free," said Vanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Don't even get me started.

This is the face of our soldiers. This is the guy who goes into battle. He faces situations that you and I can't even imagine in our nightmares. This story about the marine shooting the insurgent in Fallujah is getting me in a mood again. So buckle up.

Are we surprised that it was a NBC reporter? Was it just day before yesterday that we saw in an e-mail to a soldier from a reporter covering the war from NBC how much disdain the reporter showed for the military?

We are talking about Iraqi insurgents who think nothing of strapping bombs to themselves and blowing up even their own people to try and get at our soldiers.

The most ironic and disgusting thing is that YOU KNOW that if this insurgent had killed this marine the very same media would have been decrying the death toll of our military in Fallujah.

I cannot explain to you my strong feelings about the military. Although my father was a sergeant in the army during the Korean war, he never served in Korea. He trained soldiers and it was long before he was married and had kids and I don't remember him ever talking about it much. I was a small child during Vietnam, so I don't remember anything personally about that war either. I don't have friends in this war, although I have gotten to know some of these fine soldiers over the internet through other friends. I have never owned a gun. I am the kind of person that nurses baby birds back to health rather than let them die. I hate violence of any kind. But I have also always had a profound sense of right and wrong. There is just something so noble to me about men and women willing to put on a uniform and fight and risk their lives so that I can drive around with my kids to a baseball game or a movie feeling safe and free.

Maybe I just have always known who to be grateful to. Maybe I understand history enough to know that war, although a terrible thing, produces freedom and keeps evil from overcoming this world.

When I look at the soldier above, I see all soldiers who leave those precious loved ones to fight for us, for you and me. I get a FIERCE grateful heart for them.

Could I leave that little boy shown above? Do I have the unselfish heart of nobility to leave him and fight for what I know to be right? I can't answer that question. I truly can't. But I thank God every day that that father and thousands like him have that unselfish noble heart and I am SICK of the MSM and some snotty reporter like Hockenberry sneering at these brave men and women and tearing down their sacrifice, every chance they get.

If you have not heard the whole story. This marine had just lost a buddy to a insurgent faking being injured and then killing the marine when the marine went to attend to him. (Because that is what marines do) The marine in the film who shot the insurgent, had also just recently been shot in the face, although not badly, thank God. This unit had been fighting for 8 days straight. So if this media of ours thinks they are going to twist things to make that young man look like some kind of cold blooded killer instead of protecting himself as he SHOULD have, then they can just know that there is a new media out here. We are not strong, we are not vast, but we ARE LOUD! And we will not allow the spin that the MSM wants so badly to put out there. There will be truth. There will be accountability. Our military does it's own investigations. It always has , and always will. Soldiers know what is expected and know the rules of engagement. But that is not the accountability I am talking about. Within the military, that is a given. I am talking about the media. You will not be able to run stories based on your version of the so called "truth." Not anymore. The whole story will be told and there isn't a damn thing you can do about.

So get used to it and start being the kind of journalist and newsmakers that have some kind of integrity again.

We will be watching.

I'm in a mood today so watch out.

This time it isn't at the lefties. I noticed from the start of my blogging that the "big time" bloggers, those who get the most hits and attention ( and you know who you are ) were all Republican, or some kind of converted libertarians. And that's fine. But then came all this "Jesusland" stuff. The vile and hatred of Christians from the left made it obvious why Bush had won. I read many many well known blogs defending us Christians, making fun of the left and it's moronic image of Christians. I appreciated that, really I did. These blogs were glad we were on their side. But it seemed at the beginning of the defense of us, you always said "I am not religious but,....." And that is fine too. Because Christian faith in and of itself cannot be forced. It must be freely chosen or it is no faith at all.

Stick with me here, because I DO have a point.

I heard a story on Rush today. He was playing an audio of Tina Brown's show. The audio had Tina talking about a piece she wrote regarding a dinner party before the election in New York where she and the elite among us were discussing how to beat Bush. Suddenly a waiter serving them boldy stated, "Well, I am from the suburbs and I am voting for Bush." I had to laugh. Can you imagine their faces? I would love to have seen it..... "The peasant speaks!!!! How dare he! Off to the dungeon!!!"

The point of Tina's story was that the democrats had to come up with a strategy to win over the voters from the suburbs, "the little people," if you will. You know, the ones who do their own yardwork and wash their own clothes. THOSE people. Rush pointed out that this is the elites problem. You don't figure out a strategy for these people. You have to know them. You have to know what their values are. You have to know what they believe.

Now where am I going with this? The same can be said of many of the conservative bloggers about people of faith. Powerline, Glenn Reynolds, LGF, Wizbang and the rest. You don't know or understand Christians (or those of deep faith from other religions) too well, or you wouldn't dismiss our concerns on social issues. The idea of Arlen Spector as head of the judiciary committee doesn't bother you a bit, yet it horrifies us. Another 'moderate' supreme court judge seems fine to you. Good God! Look what the moderate ones have brought us so far. If all you seem to care about are the economic issues, then we become the Republicans the democrats imagine us to be, greedy and self involved.
This is what we, people of faith, care about on social issues:

Listen up class. Look at the board.

1) Abortion. Yeah, you are all mostly guys and you don't care. Your use to it ..blah blah blah... Well, we are sick of 4000 unborn children being destroyed everyday in this country, so sick of it that we are even willing to compromise. How about giving us what just about every reasoned American agrees on...First trimester only, unless the life of the mother is in danger, parental consent for minors, 24 hour waiting period, and informed surgical consent. What??? You didn't know that abortion is the only surgical procedure in the country where there is no informed consent? Where a doctor is not required to tell you about the procedure beforehand. You didn't know a 13 yr old could get an abortion and her parents need never know??? That's because you haven't been paying attention. That's because you don't give a damn.

2) No gay marriage. Not because we hate gays, not because we are homophopic. We have gay friends and relatives we adore. And I shudder at what the fashion industry would be like without them. ;-) We don't want marriage re-defined. It is the foundation of our society and it's hard enough to keep it together as it is. It opens the pandora's box of unions and we all know it. All issues of rights regarding property, inheritance, children ect.. can be handled legally and we all know that too.

3) Pornography. Yeah, your guilty of looking at it. We know. Your a grownup, you want to look at it, go for it. But the internet is in our homes and our kids are seeing things you wouldn't want to expose your dog to. We want it restricted, we want it mandated and required that all pornography sites must verify that an adult is the one looking at the website. I don't give a rat's butt about credit card and privacy issues, I care about our children. And they are being damaged beyond belief by what Johnny next door is pulling up on his computer and showing your 9 yr old, while at your house your nice safe computer software and firewall sit idle.

4) Faith based iniatives. Being the sister of a recovering alcoholic, I know a little about this. I believe and most studies show that recovery programs that are run by people who do the work out of love for God's children, and not a government paycheck, do a MUCH better job at helping and sustaining the recovery of the addicted person. These iniatives work better at helping those in welfare programs and homeless programs for the same reasons. Welfare was suppose to be a stop gap program, not the billion dollar fraud industry it is today. You don't stop the vicious cycle of poverty by rewarding it. Yes, there are many job training programs that work well run by the government, but when it comes to personal responsibility, the Church and other faith based programs teach those who are struggling with life how to be strong. A government check does the opposite.
The government should have a role in helping those TRULY in need, the elderly poor and the impoverished children. But those addicted, in need of fatherly guidance, in need of clothing and food, in need of caring and shelter. These can be addressed by people of faith or even those just willing to help mankind out of love from their own atheist heart. The transition cannot happen overnight, but DANG..... let it begin.

This, blogger boys, are why we are called "compassionate conservatives."

The left has resisted these programs because the people needing help might....Actually.....Become.....CHRISTIANS!!!!! OMG!! THE HORROR!!!!
And here is the big secret of Christians.... shhhh...... don't tell......*whisper* We actually spend most of our time ministering to those who need help in soup kitchen, need programs, nursing homes, and pregnancy crisis centers ect... We don't sit around rubbing our hands together trying to figure out how to blow up abortion clinics or make signs saying "God hates fags." IN FACT, (now this is a super secret!!!) WE are as HORRIFIED by those people as the left are. (Don't tell. What would the left write about if they knew?)

But you knew that, right? Now, all we asking is a little payback here. We waited in line hours to vote for the man that best represented our values. Maybe you don't give a flying squirrel about them, but we do. We gave what you wanted, we had your back, now you have ours. Got it?

Good.

The 'sorry' (and I do mean sorry) pictures that have been going around the net of the misguided people who are taking pictures of themselves holding signs apologizing for America to the world, have provided much fun for some conservative bloggers to umm.. change the words on their signs a bit. One example from Mudville here......Heh.

Well the whole 'sorry' thing seems to have started here, with Mr. Sorry apologizing even for us who think that the U.S. apologizing to the world is like parents saying "I'm sorry" to their children for their presents at Christmas. Here is what Mr. Sorry states on his site:

"Some of us -- hopefully most of us -- are trying to understand and appreciate the effect our recent election will have on you, the citizens of the rest of the world. As our so-called leaders redouble their efforts to screw you over, please remember that some of us -- hopefully most of us -- are truly, truly sorry. And we'll say we're sorry, even on the behalf of the ones who aren't."

*will pause so that you may go puke*


The following is a list of a few things that maybe people of the world should be saying "thank you" to America for. (noting that many many do) And also something Mr. Sorry might think about before he starts a self righteous campaign of smug false enlightenment.


Since World War II, the U.S. government has given well in excess of $500 billion (not adjusted for inflation) in foreign aid. Last year, our government distributed more than $20 billion to 130 countries.

We are the most powerful country in the world, yet we never invade to take more land or impose imperialism. Instead, we have used our military might to liberate. Nazi Germany, North Korea, Soviet Russia, Hussein's Iraq, and Communist Vietnam are among the nefarious states we sought to prevent from increasing their totalitarian control over others. The world is a better place because America, and not some other country, is the sole superpower.

The impact on modern medicine from America is incredible. This year, like 45 of the last 60, an American won a share of the Nobel Prize in the field of medicine. Americans cured polio and tuberculosis, developed vaccines for hepatitis B and yellow fever, pioneered modern chemotherapy, and produced the CAT scan and MRI. Our generosity in fighting AIDS worldwide cannot be matched.


Americans have given the world movies, the telephone, the television, the computer, the Internet, the airplane, the VCR, and a host of other machines and devices that have vastly improved the quality of life on the planet.


How many hundreds of other things have I missed that America has given to the world? The billions of dollars in private charity donations? The millions of volunteers that give their time to other countries to educate and help? Come on guys...I am sure you could give me several other examples.
These aren't just small gifts we give to the world either. These are historical, life changing, and world changing gifts that last generations into the future of our world.

So Mr. Sorry and his ragtag band of left wing sorry sign holders can cry me a river. This world, by any measure, is a better, safer, more humane world because of America.

This is my sign to the world"

"GOD BLESS AMERICA,
because God knows, it blesses you."