Making Fun of Craig.

Spokesman Review does a "knock three times" parody. Pretty funny.

The Idaho Statesman has a roundup of late night jokes and more:

"Sen. Craig said he made a mistake by pleading guilty. And I was thinking, maybe that was your second mistake. ... The way I look at it, anyone who spends more than two minutes in an airport men's room is guilty of something."David Letterman"


"The police report says he tapped his foot, which means 'I want gay sex.' And also means I'll never wear my iPod to the bathroom again." Jimmy Kimmel"


via Slate Magazine

More from About.com:

"How about that poor Senator Craig from Idaho? ... So he gets arrested in a men's room there at the airport in Minneapolis. And here's the deal now. He's now in Stage One of a political sex scandal: defiance. Stage Two: stepping down to spend more time with his family. Stage Three: 'I'm gay and I'm proud!'" --David Letterman

"Don't kid yourself, this Craig is in a tough spot. When you're up for re-election, you don't want to be known as 'The Restroom Don Juan.'" --David Letterman

"The guy was arrested for lewd behavior in the men's room, and I'm thinking, 'Well, hell. I'm lucky if I can get a hand dryer to blow'" --David Letterman*

"Senator Larry Craig declared he won't quit and he's not gay. And then Craig said 'I'm sorry. I meant to say I won't quit being gay.'" --Conan O'Brien

"Now there's more trouble for Senator Craig. First he's accused of soliciting gay sex at an airport. Now he's accused of soliciting gay sex at a train station. Craig denied the charges and said if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for a big night at the bus terminal." --Conan O'Brien

"Idaho Senator Larry Craig is now being called the hole from Idaho." --Jay Leno

"A lot of people are calling Senator Craig a hypocrite because he was a very vocal opponent of same-sex marriages. ... But to be fair, he has never come out publicly against anonymous gay bathroom sex." --Jay Leno"

This whole thing has to be very frustrating for the Republican Party. All these gay sex scandals and they still can't get any support from Hollywood." --Jay Leno

"Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, a married, very anti-guy conservative Republican, was arrested by a plainclothes police officer for lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport men's room. Today the senator's office said it was all a big misunderstanding. Apparently what happened was when the senator went in to use the restroom, he accidentally grabbed the wrong penis." --Jay Leno*

"Larry Craig, the conservative senator and hardcore heterosexual from Idaho, insists that he is not gay. In fact, he's anti-gay marriage and anti-gays in the military. He's anti-gay everything but sex." --Jimmy Kimmel"

There's a very simple explanation for all of this. Larry Craig is gayer than a barrel of Andy Dicks." --Jimmy Kimmel

Slate magazine also has "Bathroom Sex FAQ" It's disturbing because it reads like a parody, but you realize that it isn't one.

*Funniest ones.

Fred is IN!

From Real Clear Politics:

"Randy Enright, the national political director for Fred Thompson, just announced on a conference call with supporters that, "next Thursday on September 6 Senator Thompson will officially become a candidate for President of the United States.

Enright said the announcement will come via webcast on Thompson's site and will be immediately followed by a two-part grassroots tour that will begin in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and eventually get to Florida before winding up on September 15 with a "welcome home" rally in Thompson's home town of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.

Now things will get more interesting.

The New Mitt Romney Ad

Here.

"I'm not an old geezer like the rest of them." Heh.

(I had to delete the video embed because it was messing up on firefox)

Tucker Carlson beats up gay man

He remembers fondly.

Carlson said that in high school he was accosted by a man in the bathroom. He went and got a friend and they went back and he slammed the guy's head against the stall and then waited for the police, who arrested the man. Dan Abrams and Joe Scarborough yuk it up while he tells the story.

GLAAD is having none of it. And neither are many leftwing and gay blogs.

Carlson responded with this e-mail:

"Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men's room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men's room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived.

Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me."

These people who attacking Carlson should consider that they are not defending a guy who is gay and got assaulted, but a predator. It's an insult to gay people who are upstanding citizens to call this gay bashing. This is PREDATOR bashing, which I am all for. This didn't happen last year. He was a high school kid and it was an adult male.

Good grief.

Why you might not want to use Criagslist to date

Women Do Not Search For Sex On Craigslist

Some lonely fellow answered 100 Craiglist Casual Encounters ads, presumably posted by women. Of the 81 responses he got:

"-4 seems to be legitmate (or person at least): 1 successful online
conversation / 3 email conversation (2 dudes)

-58 immediat (within 2 hours) automatic fake responses (porn sites)

-19 delayed responses: the fake sites are getiing smarter, they are sending
out reply after a day

-19 non-reply (i even got rejected from porn sites!)

So yeah: Of the 4% of straight ads sampled that turned out to be real people, half of them are guys pretending to be women. Have fun out there!

The Fundraising Scandal.....that wasn't.

"For the last 15 years, California authorities have been trying to figure out what happened to a businessman named Norman Hsu, who pleaded no contest to grand theft, agreed to serve up to three years in prison and then seemed to vanish."

But he's been around the whole time raising big cash for Democrats, especially Hillary:

"Since 2004, one Norman Hsu has been carving out a prominent place of honor among Democratic fundraisers. He has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions into party coffers, much of it earmarked for presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton of New York."

I know this seems just juicy as it can be, but the truth is the public does not care about things like this. I don't know the legal aspect of this from a campaigning point of view, but I don't think Americans think a candidate should be responsible for the background of a donor, unless it is obvious from the beginning.

via WSJ and Redstate

Well, you can always ask I suppose......

"Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told a labor group he would ask Americans to make a big sacrifice: their sport utility vehicles.

The former North Carolina senator told a forum by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, yesterday he thinks Americans are willing to sacrifice.

Edwards says Americans should be asked to drive more fuel efficient vehicles. He says he would ask them to give up SUVs."

via Redstate

The Reaper.

The Air Force next month will deploy a new generation of pilotless airplane with the bombing power of an F-16 to help stop the stubborn Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.The Reaper is an upgraded version of the Predator, which has become one of the military’s most sought-after planes since it first appeared in Afghanistan in 2001. The Reaper can fly three times as fast as a Predator and carry eight times more weaponry, such as Hellfire missiles
via Stop the ACLU and PW.

Elizabeth Edward"s smack down of a fellow feminist.

Look, I know Elizabeth and John Edwards are the worst of the leftwing elite. But you have got to love Elizabeth's passion and the fact that she isn't taking any crap from anyone. Including a smug self serving delusional leftwing feminist.

From ABC News via HotAir:

Blogger "Rebecca" wrote a fiery tirade on the site Monday morning attacking Mrs. Edwards choice to bring her two small children, Jack and Emma Claire, on the campaign trail with her while her husband, John Edwards runs for president. (The blog is called Silicon Valley Moms Blog)

"…. you are being a terrible mother, forcing your young children, who should be in SCHOOL, to ride in buses and talk to the press when they obviously don't want to. This election is NOT ABOUT THEM, " blogger Rebecca writes.

The rant continues:

Mrs. Edwards comments about Hillary Clinton in a recent Salon.com interview were also criticized on the blog, "What resonated in my mind was the way that she (Elizabeth Edwards) dissed Hillary Clinton, decrying the "choices" that Hillary has made. The implication, of course, was that Hillary chose to work rather than spend time with her child. But it took all of my self control not to ask her, ‘Was it Hillary's work for the Children's Defense Fund, where she saved millions of lives of poor children, that you thought was a poor choice? Or was it when she went to China and announced, possibly for the first time ever, that women's rights are human rights? Or perhaps was it the way that insisted on being taken seriously, since she too was an accomplished attorney like her husband?’"

No, the poor choice is that you only have a few years with your child when he or she is young. It may not even be the child who loses the most when her mom is always off to work, It is the mom who loses the precious short time she has with her small child. Precious time that Elizabeth Edwards understands all too well. Since she may well have little of it left to spend with her children. How dare this woman judge Elizabeth for wanting to be with her kids. Good grief.

But I don't need to defend Elizabeth, she does very well all by herself:

Posting in the comments section of the website, Elizabeth Edwards responded with an equally fiery post, "…what I said about Hillary's choices is that I had made the same choices she had made as a parent, and when I changed my choices I was happier. Just like you don't get to decide what makes me happier, I don't get to decide what makes Hillary happier."
And the mother-of-three wrote at length about her choices as a mother, electing to bring along her children on the campaign trail, "….you have no idea what the quality or amount of the time I spend with my children is….You don't get to say I am a terrible mother because you think you wouldn't make my choices in my situation…You don't get to judge me because you think you know exactly what you would do if you had my disease. I want to be really clear: you don't know. And if the sun always shines on you -- and I pray it does -- you will never know."

Take that you Naomi Wolf wanna be.

No White House Wedding.

Too bad. That would have been lovely.

Guess that will quiet the lefties who saw this as a way to bump up approval ratings before the elections.

Thank God for Fox News.

Yes, it's opinion programs sway to the right, but that's not why I love it. The hard news is as "fair and balanced" as it gets no matter what lefties tell you. But more importantly, as this excellent article from Brent Bozell points out, the mainstream news outlets (ABC, NBC, CBS, who still garner 9 times the viewing audience of cable!) overwhelming favor Democrats in their news coverage: (emphasis mine)

Rich Noyes of the Media Research Center assessed all morning-show coverage on the Big Three from Jan. 1 through July 31. In those 517 campaign segments, the networks offered nearly twice as many segments to Democrats as Republicans, a margin of 284 to 152. (Another 66 stories focused on both parties.) When the sample is narrowed down just to interviews with the candidates or their spouses and staffers, the morning shows gave out nearly three times as much free airtime to Democrats (4 hours, 35 minutes) as they gave to Republicans (1 hour and 44 minutes).

ABC's "Good Morning America" was the worst, with 119 segments on the Democrats to just 51 for the Republicans. And try this for impartiality, ABC-style: The network offered sprawling, positive "town hall" segments to only two presidential candidates so far this year: 38 minutes for John Edwards and 26 minutes for Hillary Clinton.

More:

All three Democratic frontrunners received more individual attention than any of the top Republican candidates, with Hillary unsurprisingly receiving the most coverage of anyone, at 61 adoring minutes. The leading Republican was former liberal media darling John McCain, who attracted 31 minutes of coverage, much of it assessing how his campaign was falling apart.

Oh, it's a "love Hillary" fest on the main networks, and this is only the beginning.

Rudy Giuliani drew only 26 minutes, and Mitt Romney attracted even less, 19 minutes. Worse still, the Republican segments highlighted problems and controversies, like Romney's Mormonism and Giuliani's messy, fractious private life.

By comparison, the babble about Democrats was, and continues to be, embarrassingly giddy. Take ABC's Claire Shipman describing Hillary and Barack as both "white hot," a diversity-enhanced clash of the titans. Hillary was an "unparalleled star," with a "hot factor" boosted by "her ever-popular husband." But wait, Obama, "with his fairy-tale family, has personal charisma to spare!" Someone needed to urge Shipman to come down off her puffy cloud of hype.

Bozell points out that in all the coverage of the Democratic Presidential hopefuls, the word "liberal" was never used. The only time it was uttered was to describe....Rudy Giuliani.

"Thomas More Law Center Agrees to Represent Haditha Marine"

From Let Freedom Ring via The Gateway Pundit:

"According to this article the Thomas More Law Center has agreed to represent Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani in a civil suit against Rep. John Murtha if/when the charges against him are dropped."

Murtha may get what he deserves.

More Matt Drudge..

The international man of mystery.

NY Magazine has a interesting detailed piece on Matt, although they didn't get to interview him because he is obsessive about his privacy. I find him fascinating because he opened up this whole new world of blogging and blending the news with everyday man's opinion. But you don't have to read the long article. I did that for you. Here are the good parts:

"The Drudge Report is an institution, the seventh-most-visited news Website, ahead of the New York Times, Fox News, and the Washington Post. Getting linked on Drudge can unleash a tsunami of public mentions and e-mails, and journalists cater to Drudge to gain those links, alerting him when their stories have nasty anecdotes."

And of course the big green eyed monster raises it's ugly head:

“He is the center of personality-obsessed, attack-based politics. That is the content Drudge looks for,” Glenn Greenwald says. “He’s a right-wing hack.” Greenwald is a leader among the phalanx of left-wing Internet groups and voices, from Salon to Media Matters to Talking Points Memo"

But Drudge seems to believe that Hillary will be our next President:

“That House is going pink,” says Drudge."

What is Drudge like personally? Ohh... the mystery. But usually if your enemy has something nice to say about you, that is, at least, a bit of who you are:

"Donna Brazile describes her first meeting with the Webmaster: “What I remember is the graciousness of a Southern gentleman in him."

The author of the article paints a picture of a sad troubled childhood filled with parental rejection. I'm not talking just a nasty divorce. There was mental illness of a creative powerful woman, a father who was more interested in his new family than a strange son, and then being sent away. Then the turning point:

"After high school, the boy tried New York and Europe, then drifted to his father’s hometown, Los Angeles, where he worked for years in the gift shop at CBS studios. Worried about his son’s aimlessness, Bob Drudge insisted on buying him a Packard-Bell computer in 1994. The Drudge Report began as an e-mail sent out to a few friends."

Then came the moment of fame:

"Drudge filed a breathless report claiming that Newsweek had, that week, held a story reporting that Bill Clinton had had a sexual affair with a 23-year-old White House intern."

Could Drudge have seen how the Clintons would change his life? Even today it seems the Clintons will continue bankroll Drudge's life:

"Drudge said, “I need Hillary Clinton. You don’t get it. I need to be part of her world. That’s my bank. Like Leo DiCaprio has the environment and Al Gore has the environment and Jimmy Carter has anti-Americanism … I have Hillary.”

But what good NY Magazine article on anyone with even the whiff of rightwing about them, be without an outing?:

"Sheff’s metaphor touches on the left’s assertion that Drudge is gay and closeted. In high school, Drudge was already in a gay scene, dating men, Jeannette Walls reported in Dish. And in his memoir, Blinded by the Right, conservative-turned-liberal David Brock, who is gay, described Drudge coming on to him sexually in 1997, including e-mailing Brock the suggestion that they be “f*ck buddies.” Michaelangelo Signorile, a journalist who has broken down many a closet door, calls Drudge “a nasty faggot.”

Isn't that sweet? You have to love the loyalty and decency of "friends" like Brock, don't you? My question is, why does it matter? Why is Drudge's sexuality even an issue or even interesting? He isn't a politican. And no matter what they say, he links negative rightwing stuff as often as he does leftwing. He isn't registered with any party and he doesn't even vote.

What Drudge does is take what is interesting and show it to us. The stuff that the media wouldn't even look at. The $400 haircut of Edwards, the swift boat veterans attack on Kerry, and of course what was obviously boring and should have been of no concern to us, Newsweek's blocked story of a young woman named Monica and the President of the United States.

His magic is knowing what we want to know.

h/t BigDog

Mitt hits it out of the park

Regarding Sen. Larry Craig and his lewd conduct:

"Once again, we've found people in Washington have not lived up to the level of respect and dignity that we would expect for somebody that gets elected to a position of high influence. Very disappointing. He's no longer associated with my campaign, as you can imagine... I'm sorry to see that he has fallen short."

And Romney also included this jab at Bill Clinton as he continued to talk about Craig: "I think it reminds us of Mark Foley and Bill Clinton. I think it reminds us of the fact that people who are elected to public office continue to disappoint, and they somehow think that if they vote the right way on issues of significance or they can speak a good game, that we'll just forgive and forget. And the truth of the matter is, the most important thing we expect from elected--an elected official is a level of dignity and character that we can point to for our kids and our grandkids, and say, `Hey, someday I hope you grow up and you're someone like that person.' And we've seen disappointment in the White House, we've seen it in the Senate, we've seen it in Congress. And frankly, it's disgusting."

Something I did not know about Fred Thompson.

From the NY Times:

"Mr. Thompson rose to national prominence in the mid-1970s. As chief counsel to the Republicans on the Senate Watergate committee, he famously asked the question that revealed the existence of the White House taping system that ultimately led to President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation."

It's a small political world.

Changes.

I've changed back to haloscan comments. It's just easier to manage. Sorry about the comments disappearing again!

John Edwards

I caught this through the media blog at NRO. They seem to think that this video montage by the NY Times makes Edwards seem weak, but I disagree. I think it makes him seem like a parent.

We make fun of Edwards for his prettiness, but I think he would have this nomination if it weren't for the Hillary Machine. I think Edwards could take on Obama pretty easily but he's so busy trying to figure out how to take down Hillary without seeming mean, that he can't do it.

I disagree with everything he stands for, but like Obama, there is something very likable about him. I think the video gives us a glimpse of how hard it is to be a Presidential candidate. Especially when you are trying to keep your kids with you. It's very hard.

Don't live a lie.

You have probably heard by now about Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) being arrested for lewd conduct in a men's public restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

I will never understand this kind of depraved behavior. Having sex with strangers in a public bathroom is simply depraved. And you cannot blame it on his having to hide his homosexuality. I mean, look at George Michael the singer. He did this sort of thing and he is in an industry that could not care less if one is gay or not. Both of these men could have "relationships" easily without having to resort to this disgusting behavior.

But no, there is something that drives them more than sex. It's some kind of sick thrill I suppose. But that is not my point anyway.

Perhaps Craig and others like him, do not want to admit to their desires because they think it is wrong. But it is much more wrong to lie to all those who love you. It is much more wrong to portray yourself as something you are not. Craig betrayed his family, his friends, and his party. Democrats may not care or look the other way with this kind of thing, but clearly the Republicans do not.

Craig will have to come to terms with who he is and how he wants to live his life. I wish him the best, but just not in the Republican party.

Meeting Fred

John at Powerline got to meet with Fred Thompson last night:

"My own impression of Thompson was similar to the image I already had of him. He's good; he has a nice, folksy manner, some good lines, a sincere, fatherly demeanor, and comes across as a solid conservative of the border-state variety.
Yet I still think there is something missing. Thompson gives long answers to questions, and a point often comes where his folksiness gives way to ennui. He rarely shows much--any--intensity."

That has been my concern with Fred too, I wonder if he has the "fire in the belly" to run for President. Plus I worry about the rumors about his health. But I am rooting for him.

There are things I like about all the top tier candidates (except Rudy) so I"m hoping for the best for all of them.

Michael Vick has found God.

That's nice. I hope it's true. I know all the skeptics out there are rolling their eyes on that one. But sometimes these "jailhouse conversions" are real. The problem is that if Vick's conversion is real, you won't be hearing much about it from the MSM. They only have scorn and derision for born again athletes.

Just recently Michael Irvin was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He had recently "found Jesus" as well. His speech was one of the most moving speeches I have ever heard come from an athlete. Here is final bit:

"You know the Bible speaks of a healing place. It’s called a threshing floor. The threshing floor is where you take your greatest fear and you pray for help from your great God. I want to share something with you today. I have two sons. Michael, he’s 10, and Elijah, he’s 8. Michael and Elijah, could you guys stand up for me. That’s my heart right there. That’s my heart. When I am on that threshing floor, I pray. I say, God, I have my struggles and I made some bad decisions, but whatever you do, whatever you do, don’t let me mess this up.

I say, Please, help me raise them for some young lady so that they can be a better husband than I. Help me raise them for their kids so that they could be a better father than I. And I tell you guys to always do the right thing so you can be a better role model than dad. I sat right here where you are last year and I watched the Class of 2006: Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Harry Carson, Rayfield Wright, John Madden, and the late great Reggie White represented by his wife Sara White. And I said, Wow, that’s what a Hall of Famer is.

Certainly I am not that. I doubted I would ever have the chance to stand before you today. So when I returned home, I spoke with Michael and Elijah . I said, That’s how you do it, son. You do it like they did it. Michael asked, he said, Dad, do you ever think we will be there? And I didn’t know how to answer that. And it returned me to that threshing floor. This time I was voiceless, but my heart cried out. God, why must I go through so many peaks and valleys?
I wanted to stand in front of my boys and say, Do it like your dad, like any proud dad would want to. Why must I go through so much?

At that moment a voice came over me and said, Look up, get up, and don’t ever give up. You tell everyone or anyone that has ever doubted, thought they did not measure up or wanted to quit, you tell them to look up, get up and don’t ever give up.

Thank you and may God bless you."

There was no doubt in my mind that he was sincere. It was quite beautiful. When I was living in Dallas in the 90's and the Cowboys were superbowl superstars, I never liked Irvin. He was a pompous self absorbed criminal in my mind. When I happened upon his speech on ESPN, I didn't even know he had become a Christian. The media loved reporting his criminal exploits, but they didn't give quite the same coverage to his redemption.

Irvin did some terrible things. Just as Vick has. Is Vick sincere as Irvin seems to be? Time will tell. Time will tell.

I'm always ready to forgive. Because, you know, that is how we are forgiven. And who among us is perfect?

Michael Yon has a new post up.

Fascinating as always.

"People at home want to know what our Soldiers and Marines are doing in Iraq, and the only way to tell their story is to follow them. So deep inside the culvert, crawling on all fours, using my camera as a walking chalk (it’s pretty tough), I crawled behind SSG Lee who was using his rifle as a walking chalk. The day was hot. The body armor made it hotter.
I said, “I only met you for the first time like 20 minutes ago. What’s your name Staff Sergeant?”“Staff Sergeant Lee, Sir,” he answered while crawling forward.“United States Marine Corps,” I said.“Semper Fi,” he answered, and kept clearing the tunnel."

God bless our troops.

*Click on the "Support The Next Dispatch" at Michael's site. He can always use the donations.

Alberto Gonzales. Classy to the end.

His speech was completely non political. It was about public service and his family. Unlike my buddies on the right (there is a list of links at HotAir) I think that Gonzales is an upstanding intelligent loyal public servant. Out of the thousands and thousands of documents the Democrats have requested and countless witnesses, (see witch hunt) there has not been one shred of evidence that proves any wrongdoing.

So why has the right abandoned him? First and foremost, imo, is illegal immigration. If Gonzales had been a champion of eliminating illegal immigration, then you would be seeing very different headlines on the blogs from the right.

I understand the emotions here. I don't disagree with my friends on the right on illegal immigration. But I am not going to let Democrats smear an honest man because I disagree with him.

Shame on the right for doing so.

Will Matt Drudge help elect the next President?

So says TIME Magazine’s editor-at-large and senior political analyst Mark Halperin. This is from an interview David Brody recently filmed with Halperin. (emphasis mine)

"Take what happen the other day as a perfect example. Michelle Obama said, "Our view is that if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House".(some say it was a swipe at Hillary Clinton) Well, the story didn't get much play until Drudge featured it on his website. Watch Halperin's take above:

"Once Matt Drudge decided, for whatever reason, he wanted to highlight those remarks, they dominated cable news, they dominated talk radio. They produced a whole new round of interest. That's the power Matt Drudge had four years ago, clearly the power he will have in 2008. The campaign that figures out how to deal with Matt Drudge from both an offensive and a defensive point of view will probably elect the next President of the United States."

Vietnam. Let's remember history correctly.

William Kristol has an excellent article on the real history lesson of Vietnam. The lesson Bush was referring to in his speech before the VFW. All this braying of the left on how Iraq is like Vietnam, just not in the way Bush meant it, is hogwash.

"Like a pig in muck, the left loves to wallow in Vietnam. But only in their "Vietnam." Not in the real Vietnam war.

Not in the Vietnam war of 1963-68, the disastrous years where policy was shaped by the best and brightest of American liberalism. Not in the Vietnam war of 1969-73, when Richard Nixon and General Creighton Abrams managed to adjust our strategy, defeat the enemy, and draw down American troops all at once--an achievement affirmed and rewarded by the American electorate in November 1972. Not in the Vietnam of early 1975, when the Democratic Congress insisted on cutting off assistance to our allies in South Vietnam and Cambodia, thereby inviting the armies of the North and the Khmer Rouge to attack."

But what really brings home our biggest mistake to me in Vietnam is this letter that Kristol reprints from Phnom Penh former Cambodian prime minister Sirik Matak that he wrote to John Gunther Dean, the American ambassador, turning down his offer of evacuation: (emphasis mine)

"Dear Excellency and Friend:

I thank you very sincerely for your letter and for your offer to transport me towards freedom. I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion. As for you, and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people which has chosen liberty. You have refused us your protection, and we can do nothing about it. You leave, and my wish is that you and your country will find happiness under this sky. But, mark it well, that if I shall die here on the spot and in my country that I love, it is no matter, because we all are born and must die. I have only committed this mistake of believing in you [the Americans].

Please accept, Excellency and dear friend, my faithful and friendly sentiments.

S/Sirik Matak"

As Kristol writes, Matak was executed by Khmer Rouge soon after, shot in the stomach and left to die. It took three days for him to do so. He was one of between 1 and 2 million Cambodians slaughtered and one of thousands of Vietnamese. His final words to us break my heart.

The old saying that if we do not learn from the mistakes of our history, then we are bound to repeat them, certainly rings true here.

Many could make the legitimate argument that our mistake of ever going into Vietnam in the first place is the mistake that we are repeating. But the time for that argument is past. We are in Iraq. And now we can choose to abandon them as we did Vietnam.

I promise you, the result will not be any prettier.

Related and must read from TimesOnline: "Why Democrats dread hearing the V-word
Vietnam: a lesson in fouling up the endgame

h/t BigDog

You have got to love...

...how Michelle and Obama handled this little "If you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House" bit. Of course they denied that she meant Hillary. So the story keeps being "Michelle Obama denies that she meant Hillary couldn't take care of her own man, how can she can take of our country?"

It's the insult that keeps on giving, even when Michelle says she didn't give it.

Maybe it's my complete and utter fear of another Clinton Presidency, but I am liking the Obama campaign. I really am rooting for him for the Democratic nomination.

via The Kevin and Patrick Blog

Goth Day At Disney?

Now I've heard everything.

The LA Weekly says "When the Happiest Place on Earth plays host to the saddest people on Earth ­ and the line for the Haunted Mansion is longer than ever." (photo via LA Weekly too)

via Boing Boing.

Is your neighbor anti-gay?

Well, if you live in Oregon, you are about to find out. Know Thy Neighbor is an activist gay group that "plans to add Oregon to the list of states in which it's taking action. The group says it will publish names of those signing petitions to overturn gay rights bills passed in the state earlier this year, according to the Statesman Journal:

"A coalition of conservative Christians is circulating petitions to put the two measures before voters in the November 2008 election. That would enable Oregon voters to decide whether to grant marriage-style rights to same-sex couples via domestic partnerships, and whether to ban discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people. Know Thy Neighbor pledged to launch a new Web site that will list the petition signers' names and addresses."

via Towleroad

Gay activists do love outing people, don't they? I don't really see the harm here. I mean, if I sign a petition for something that I believe in, then I don't care who knows about it. But I wonder how the activists would feel if say....someone posted the names and addresses of people in their organization that are...I don't know... members of NAMBLA, or the names of the gay porn sites they frequent?

I'm just saying that if you don't respect one's privacy, then don't expect your privacy to be respected either.

She's Gone.

I didn't cry. I was ready to let her go. I've already got one at college. I didn't cry when I dropped him off 2 yrs ago either. It was time.

A girl is different though. You worry more. But she had matured so much in the last year that she put my mind at ease a bit. She is a lot like me. She is strong headed. Opinionated. She has a deep faith. She can take care of herself.

On the drive home I started remembering some of the stupid things I did at college. Compared to today's youth, it probably seems mild, but still stupid. I was 17 my freshman year in college because I graduated a year early. I made road trips constantly. To Memphis, to Nashville, to Houston, to Orlando, to Austin, to even Key West. Crazy trips, where we drove all night, putting ice on our face to stay awake. I use to drag race with my baby blue Cougar XR7 down fraternity row. One time, I was bored driving home and picked up two hitchhikers, a man and a woman of a hippie variety. WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING???

I know that despite these things, I have to let go. I just don't have a choice.

When I got home today I went into her room and laid down on her bed. I closed my eyes and remembered what an absolute joy she had been as a little girl. She was a sweet baby who never fussed and went to sleep with no problem. As a toddler she was adorable. I dressed her like a doll and had such fun decorating her room. As she grew I would just marvel that she was mine. She was so beautiful, smart and athletic. (still is!) Once, when she was 8 yrs old, I was delivering meals on wheels with her and her two brothers. I was pregnant at the time and was trying to hurry through it. One of the elderly women had hurt her hand and it was wrapped in a bandage and she had spent quite a bit of time telling us about it. I was trying to get on to the next stop and was hurrying the kids through the door. My daughter said "Wait a second Mom," and ran back in. I stepped back in the apartment to tell her we had to go, when I saw her lift the old lady's hand and kiss the bandage. Oh, how the lady smiled. My daughter ran back to me and said "I needed to make it feel better." That's when I knew she would be a better person than I.

The teenage years brought stress to both of us. This cultural allows too much too soon and I wasn't backing down on being a mom, not a friend. We went through some rough years, but it was brief and the sun did shine again. And wouldn't you know it? Just when the sun was shining again and we liked each other again, She leaves.

I'm still busy with two sons at home (not to mention the 2 dogs) but I am going to miss my girl.

I'm off!

To move my daughter to college. The 2nd one to leave the nest....;-(

I'll be checking in later to publish comments though. Have a great weekend!

It figures.

From The Corner:

From FoxNews.com:

Aware of the trouble Iraqi progress could mean for Democrats at home — House Whip James Clyburn recently said if the surge were successful, it would be "a real problem for us" — a revised set of talking points is being worked up by Democrats that declares the escalation of troops in Iraq has not been successful despite White House claims otherwise.

A Commenter Gem..

Every once in a while while surfing through comments on other blogs I find a comment that is so perfect, I have to post it. I found this one while reading a blog(Beltway Confidential) at the Houston Chronicle regarding the President's speech yesterday about the war:


Would you like a soldiers Mother's point of view?

Give the Commander in Chief the authority -then criticize when he uses it.

When interrogation methods are successful - find isolated examples of bad behavior and try to shut down the operation.

When wiretapping policies show success - criticize and try to shut the policies down.

Give General Patraeus unanimous consent - then criticize his plan and personally attack him.

Write legislation that demands the White House give a report on the surge progress - then imply the White House shouldn't give the report.

Write legislation that demands the White House give the report in September - then imply it's political timing.

When the military surge shows progress - switch criticisms to the political goals.With the focus on the political goals - begin to personally attack the elected Iraqi Government.

I'm the proud Mother of Marine 2nd Lt. James T. Collins of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division II, Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune North Carolina who is currently in Iraq, and I think our service men and women are doing a damn good job considering half of our Government has been fighting against them from the beginning.

Posted by: Barbara Collins at August 23, 2007 11:02 AM

Greater love hath no man...

than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – An Iraqi man saved the lives of four U.S. Soldiers and eight civilians when he intercepted a suicide bomber during a Concerned Citizens meeting in the town of al-Arafia Aug. 18.

The incident occurred while Soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, were talking with members of the al-Arafia Concerned Citizens, a volunteer community group, at a member’s house.

“I was about 12 feet away when the bomber came around the corner,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Kane, of Los Altos, Calif., acting platoon sergeant of Troop B, 3-1 Cav. “I was about to engage when he jumped in front of us and intercepted the bomber as he ran toward us. As he pushed him away, the bomb went off.”

The citizen’s actions saved the lives of four U.S. Soldiers and eight civilians.

Brokeback Putin?

Heh.

via Towleroad

Vintage Photoshop

I love it! More here.

via boing boing

Is Anyone Listening?

Redstate has this excellent essay. Please read the whole thing.

"In one of President Bush's positively BEST foreign policy speeches since the September 11 attacks brought us to this hell we find ourselves in now, we were reminded via clear, detailed, and somber analogy, of the gravity of our situation in the war against Radical Islam.

He provided a wealth of historical reference, gave specific meaning and context to our current situation against the backdrop of past wars America has engaged (and ultimately triumphed), and established clear parallels between what "could have been" in yesteryear, and what "might become" should we choose poorly from our list of options today.

The problem, however, is that nobody is listening anymore. No one cares. Everyone has made their respective minds up. Any future developments will be received as nothing more than new revisions of the already out-of-vogue bumper sticker. And worst of all, not for this President but those who come after, the credibility of Commander-in-Chiefs is forever lost in the muddied waters of American cynicism, and disbelief in the idea that there might be those who would see the country destroyed."

Redstate goes on to quote the President and a vital part of his speech yesterday:


"We must remember the words of the enemy. We must listen to what they say. Bin Laden has declared that "the war [in Iraq] is for you or us to win. If we win it, it means your disgrace and defeat forever." Iraq is one of several fronts in the war on terror -- but it's the central front -- it's the central front for the enemy that attacked us and wants to attack us again. And it's the central front for the United States and to withdraw without getting the job done would be devastating. (Applause.)

If we were to abandon the Iraqi people, the terrorists would be emboldened, and use their victory to gain new recruits. As we saw on September the 11th, a terrorist safe haven on the other side of the world can bring death and destruction to the streets of our own cities. Unlike in Vietnam, if we withdraw before the job is done, this enemy will follow us home. And that is why, for the security of the United States of America, we must defeat them overseas so we do not face them in the United States of America. (Applause.)"

I couldn't agree more that no one is listening. The Democrats have their anti-war talking points and nothing will sway them from it. Coming elections make it even worse for our leaders to objectively look at this conflict.

Th bottom line to me is this. In wars past we walked away, for good or bad, done. Our battles did not come back to haunt us. But make no mistake about it, if we don't do what we have to do in Iraq, the enemy will return. He will come to our shores again and he will know that we can be broken down by politics. We must listen to what he says.

The Newark Massacre

Michelle has this:

Local NY/NJ media outlets reported chilling new details about the attack by criminal aliens on young Newark students Iofemi Hightower, Doshen Harvey, Terrance Aeriel, and Natasha Aeriel. From today’s NYPost:

The thugs who shot four college students in Newark reportedly preceded their sick attack by trying to sexually assault their two female victims.

The group of six assailants - who shot two men and a woman dead and wounded another woman - failed in their attempt at a sexual attack, and then decided to kill their victims, according to 1010 WINS radio.

Six suspects have now been charged in the Aug. 4 atrocity, in which the victims were blasted execution-style.

Yesterday, a family member of one of the slain victims, Iofemi Hightower, described the level of savagery of the attack. He said the thugs used a machete to hack their victims.

“They cut my niece’s face off,” said John McClain, who is Hightower’s great-uncle, and the chaplain of the Newark Police Department. “They cut her from cheek to cheek. They left her head hanging.”

McClain said the mortician told him he had to work for three days to put his grand-niece’s face back together.

“Most people couldn’t tell, when he was done, but the family could tell,” he said.

Read the whole thing. She has more details about the gangs and contact info so you can help.

This. Is. Important.

As Hugh Hewitt points out in Bush's speech today:

“In Iraq, our troops are taking the fight to the extremists and radicals and murderers all throughout the country. Our troops have killed or captured an average of more than 1,500 al Qaeda terrorists and other extremists every month since January of this year. (Applause.) We're in the fight. Today our troops are carrying out a surge that is helping bring former Sunni insurgents into the fight against the extremists and radicals, into the fight against al Qaeda, into the fight against the enemy that would do us harm. They're clearing out the terrorists out of population centers, they're giving families in liberated Iraqi cities a look at a decent and hopeful life.”

Why the administration or the media doesn't make a bigger deal out this, I don't know. Good grief! That makes 12,000 al Qaeda terrorists that can no longer plan to or harm America. Just since January. The left doesn't seem to understand this. We are winning if we are killing them while keeping America safe. That's it.

Update: Meanwhile, even amidst the hope of the surge working and our defeating al Qaeda, the left continues it's pessimism while at the same time insulting our vets. (and no, it's not the KosKids either)

This is KosKids, completely ignoring the al Qaeda number. In fact, no mention of al Qaeda at all.

They Question The Timing...

..of the Wedding! That's right. Jenna Bush's wedding.

RightWing News has the post from The Huffington Post in all it's moonbat goodness. Ya know, I really don't like to use the term "moonbat," but in this case, it so fits.

"Here's to the Happy Couple -- and a 10 Point Bump

Jenna Bush and Henry Hager plan to marry. And there is already buzz of a spectacular White House wedding that will gather society, power and politics around these two cute kids.
Ordinarily, I'm a sucker for such things. I've cried when the groom kissed the bride -- and I didn't really know either of them.

But this time I have to say to Jenna and Henry: don't do it. The sixteen months to go as this administration ebbs away is not too long to wait.

The bigger the wedding, the sweeter the music of the Marine Band, the greater the contrast with what is happening to some other kids in the 110 degree hell of a far away desert country.
They can try to keep it simple. But a White House wedding is going to be big. It will be the first one since the coming of cable. It's a union of Republican royalty. It could be Philip and Di -- without the carriage ride. Or, wait, the carriage might make great TV.

The thing I find most disturbing is that there is already talk that a White House Wedding will be great politics. It could be a terrific way to hook women -- who are the angriest about the war, and one of the biggest problems for Republicans going into the election.

Women -- even the angry ones -- are going to eat this up. We can't help it. It's what we do.

The father of the bride is responsible for the loss close to 4,000 American lives, the lives of uncounted Iraqis, and many thousands of injured and maimed. He has had the big boy office in an organization that has lied, manipulated and ultimately failed at every turn. But on this day, he is the proud and loving papa walking his daughter down the aisle.

Eyes will grow moist, and approval ratings will rise.

Can I possibly be cynical enough to suggest that this is timed around the election? Could it be that the children's book Jenna Bush wrote with her mother is a bit of pre-wedding character repair for a girl who seems well-versed in the difference between shots and shooters?

The administration gives great and ongoing credence to the old saying: just when you think you're too cynical, you realize you're not cynical enough."

Yep. Moonbat. That pretty much sums it up.

Here Comes The Pro-surge Democrats.

The Washington Post has this:

"Democratic leaders in Congress had planned to use August recess to raise the heat on Republicans to break with President Bush on the Iraq war. Instead, Democrats have been forced to recalibrate their own message in the face of recent positive signs on the security front, increasingly focusing their criticisms on what those military gains have not achieved: reconciliation among Iraq's diverse political factions."

On the one hand I am grateful to those on the left (the few) who have acknowledged progress after the surge in Iraq, forcing Democratic leaders to acknowledge it as well. But on the other hand, I know that if it weren't for those few truthful souls, the Democrats would still be framing our military in failure.

From Obama:

"My assessment is that if we put an additional 30,000 of our troops into Baghdad, that's going to quell some of the violence in the short term," Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) echoed in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. "I don't think there's any doubt that as long as U.S. troops are present that they are going to be doing outstanding work."

Here's Hillary:

"We've begun to change tactics in Iraq, and in some areas, particularly in Anbar province, it's working," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Monday.

Both of these candidates really do understand, to an extent, how important it is to look strong militarily. But they are tied to the nutroots, who clearly don't care how well the war is going. They don't want to fight. Ever.

Expect Hillary to become more pro-surge. She feels she has this nomination wrapped up and she wants to be seen as a strong military leader to the general public.

Bush is on TV right now speaking VFW convention. Saying the speech he should have said before and repeated many times. I'll have more to say when he is done.

Related: Listen to this radio ad from MoverAmericaForward.com and join The Fight For Victory Tour.

It's on!

Fred goes after Rudy on gun control:

Now, the same activist federal judge from Brooklyn who provided Mayor Giuliani’s administration with the legal ruling it sought to sue gun makers, has done it again. Last week, he created a bizarre justification to allow New York City to sue out-of-state gun stores that sold guns that somehow ended up in criminal hands in the Big Apple.
The lawsuit has been a lesson in out-of-control government from the get-go. Mayor Bloomberg sent private investigators to make “straw” purchases – illegally buying guns for somebody else. According to the ATF, NY’s illegal “stings” interfered with ongoing investigations of real gun traffickers.

He ends with this:

While this attack by New York City on the Second Amendment reinforces the importance of appointing judges who apply the law as written, there is another important legal point. Federalism, though usually seen as a protection of the states from the federal government, actually grew out of the need to protect states from other states that interfered in free commerce beyond their borders – as New York is doing today. In this case, we need Federalism to protect states from a big bully in New York City.

Rudy shoots back (via his communications director). You have to know that Fred will have hear this "TV" thing endlessly.

"Those who live in New York in the real world - not on TV - know that Rudy Giuliani's record of making the city safe for families speaks for itself. No amount of political theater will change that."


Via Instapundit

CIA Report

So Clinton really had no plan to deal with bin Laden. Albright obviously lied to Congress.

I'm shocked.

Just No.

I didn't realize that Gen. David Petraeus will testify before the Senate about the contents of his report on September 11.

I agree with The American Prospect (although I don't agree with anything else they write) This is just stupid. Pick another day, for God's sake. It just doesn't look right.

B-Rock

It seems the hip hop community has a crush on Obama too. Vibe magazine calls him "B-Rock." How cute! Too bad they don't vote, huh? If they did, maybe we could avoid Hillary quoting black hymn lyrics with a pandering black accent ever again!

Preserve your right to get high!

Junkyardblog sent me to American Digest for these perfectly hysterical stereotypical pictures of "Hempfest" in Seattle. I use to think that legalizing pot wouldn't be so bad. But if these people are any indication of what would be the down fall of our fashion sense, not to mention hygiene, then I will have to stick with the side that wants it to stay illegal.

A New Low.

I don't care much for opinion polls, but since the left goes on and on ad nauseam regarding Bush's low poll numbers, I feel obligated to remind them that people have even a lower (much lower) opinion of the Democratically controlled Congress.

"A new Gallup poll finds that approval of Congress has sunk to a poll-history low of 18%. 76% of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing. The poll also reported Pres. Bush’s current approval rating remains low at only 32% -- a slight improvement from its dismal 29% mark from a few months ago."

via Political Wire

I don't know why...

....but I just love how the wives of the candidates are all in your face this year. Ms. Obama and Ms. Elizabeth being front and center. They seem to be able to say what their husbands cannot. It has an unscripted flair that I find refreshing.

I don't blame Elizabeth Edwards or Michelle Obama for their frustrations. The Hillary Machine claimed this nomination as her right from the beginning, and the MSM, not to mention the Democratic party, seems to be going right along.

I haven't understood the Democrats for a long time, but it defies good sense to not get behind a charismatic passionate candidate like Obama instead of the corrupt lying political machine that is Hillary. What is wrong with you guys?

uhhh...ok.

"A tiny Serbian village has put up a statue in honour of its adopted patron - Sylvester Stallone's Rocky.

A local sculptor in Zististe has unveiled the 9ft bronze homage to cinema's most famour boxer.
It is said to signify the underdog battling his way through adversity."

What's a little sex solicitation between friends?

I'm sure you have heard by now about Florida Representative Bob Allen, who was arrested for solicitation after offering an undercover police officer $20 for the opportunity to perform oral sex. I know you have heard he is Republican because the MSM only mentions the party if the person accused is Republican.

Anyway, Allen is scheduled to speak to the the North Brevard Branch of the NAACP at its August general membership meeting tonight. I figure they will give him a break on the sex thing. I mean it's just sex, right?? But I'm wondering if they will be as understanding of his explanation of why he was in a public restroom known for that stuff. He says saying he was intimidated by the "stocky, black man" who he thought was going to rob him.

The meeting is open to the public too. Should be fun.

Gen. David Petraeus and the future of the Iraqi War.

Update: Welcome Instapundit readers! I just got back to blogging after taking a break. Come back and see me! I promise it's not the same old blogging you see everywhere else. I am a Compassionate Conservative. I don't allow uncivil discourse. You'll love it!

The following is from "Noted From Down Under." The blogger is Wesley Morgan who "is a sophomore at Princeton University, where he writes for The Daily Princetonian. He is blogging from Iraq, where he will spend the month on the invitation of the commander of U.S. forces there, Gen. David Petraeus."

You must read the whole thing. If you want a first hand look at perspective over there. Here is the final paragraph. Worth it's weight in gold:


"I’ve stayed away from expressing opinions in this blog (besides that Petraeus is a great commander and that the troops he commands are among the best to have served this country), mostly because I don’t think I have enough information or experience to really have strong opinions one way or the other. I’m going to close here, though, by advocating as strongly as I possibly can that one of Rep. Bird’s ideas be carried out – that Petraeus should, on national television and for a full hour, deliver an unclassified version of the detailed, operational-level Iraq brief that he gives to Congressmen and government officials straight to the public. At no time since the invasion have the American people been given the chance to hear the commanding general’s perspective in a direct, informative, operations-based way, but given how strongly they seem to want to believe in Petraeus – the polls say that Americans have tremendous respect for the general despite having tremendous misgivings about the war and the surge – I think that’s exactly what they need, want, and deserve. When Lt. Gen. Odierno brief Operation Phantom Thunder in June, he gave viewers a superb window into the corps-level offensive; the problem was that no one watched. The talkative, media-savvy Petraeus, I’m certain, would do an even better job and would, if given the chance, draw huge audiences – I’m continually stunned by both the name recognition that he has back home and the respect with which many people who oppose the surge or the war or are on the fence view him. No one, not President Bush, Secretary Gates, Gen. Pace, or the New York Times and Washington Post, can explain the situation we face in Iraq the way David Petraeus can – and the American people, not just Congress and the White House, want to hear that explanation desperately."

Posted by Wesley Morgan on Saturday, August 18, 2007

via Mudville

When Eco Nuts Go Naked.

via the ever funny Caption This!

My favorite captions from his site:

"Great... In 2000 years, archeologists will discover hundreds of granola bar wrappers, and 17 frozen species of pubic lice."

"Congratulations, martyr Achmed, here are your 72 virgins!"

"We proudly present tonight's show: Ben Gay on Ice"

(all from son of the godfather)

Elvira Arellano

Story background here:

"An illegal immigrant who took refuge in a Chicago church for a year to avoid being separated from her American-born son was deported from the United States to Mexico, where she vowed Monday to continue her campaign to change U.S. immigration laws.

Elvira Arellano, 32, became an activist and a national symbol for illegal immigrant parents as she defied her deportation order and spoke out from her sanctuary. She announced last week that she was leaving the Adalberto United Methodist Church to try to lobby U.S. lawmakers."

Anyone who read my blog from before knows that I have much sympathy for the illegal immigrants from Mexico. I still do, but I have been swayed by much of the discussion on the right on how necessary it is to secure our borders and to do something significant about illegal immigration.

Let's face it. Arellano is the Cindy Sheehan of the illegal immigration movement. Do I feel sorry for those in her plight? Yes. Do I think she and others like are only trying to have a better life? Yes. But we have laws that must be obeyed. Effort to change them is admirable. Efforts to thwart them are not.

We just winked at these laws for decades and now we are paying the price with division and resentment on both sides.

Legal Mexican immigrants need to speak out more about their journey. Obviously our citizenship path needs to be looked at. I have a neighbor from Africa. He said it took 12 years for him to obtain citizenship. That is ridiculous. But what do you expect from a bloated bureaucracy? And this is the same government that the left wants to run health care. Scary indeed.

In the end, we all want Arellano to be with her son. And she can be...in Mexico. Or she can go through the normal process, as frustrating as that may be, and become a citizen.

I have a question for you. Why do you think this has become such a hot button issue now? I mean this has been with us for decades now.

The Future is Ours.

Interesting commentary over at the WSJ. Arthur C. Brooks points out how strange it is to Europeans that our Presidential candidates invoke their religion while campaigning. But that isn't the most interesting part. This is:

"The demographic implications are even more profound for the political left, where a disproportionate number of secularists are located. Religious people who call themselves politically "conservative" or "very conservative" are having, on average, an astounding 78% more kids than secular liberals. Studies show that people are even more likely to vote like their parents than they are to worship like them. The secular left, therefore, has to rely on the tough slog of bringing people from the political and religious middle over to their views. The religious right simply has to keep having lots of babies."

Good grief! We have 78% more kids than liberals?? I mean, I knew we had more, but I didn't realize it was that much more. Which might explain why liberals are not as bothered by abortion as we are.

We know that we, as conservatives, don't have kids to further our political agenda or even to make them religious. It flows the other way. We have kids because we understand that they are what gives us joy (and sometimes pain) and makes life so much richer. We experience a love that cannot be matched or explained. In us, our children see that our love for them comes from an understanding that we know we are loved by God.

In other words...we get it.

Now, I know plenty of liberals who have kids and love them as I love mine. But it seems clear that they are not as plentiful as my side.

So, what does this mean? It's good news for us. We are having future Republicans and that is a good thing.

via townhall

McCain conference call.

McCain had a conference call with bloggers this morning, which I had to end up missing because of personal business. But NRO has the highlights. Go read what he had to say. You can disagree with him on many things, but he has this war thing exactly right.

Also via NRO, the same guy who timed the Mark Foley debacle just right, has filed a complaint with the FEC against Fred Thompson for raising more money than he actually needs to test the waters for a Presidential campaign.

Whatever.

Changing the blog name back.

I got quite a few e-mails asking me why I changed the blog name. I figured if I kept the same web address then everyone could find me, but some are complaining that with a name like "Texas Sparkle" I would seem focused on things just in Texas. So I thought about it and decided to go back to "RightwingSparkle."

The first day back I got almost 2000 hits, which I thought was pretty awesome. But why aren't you guys commenting more??? I like it when you comment. Don't just be a lurker!

Glenn Beck, The Redeemed.

I admit, I am sucker for someone who has "turned it all around." That person who has redeemed himself from the slime he was before. It's so easy to go down the wrong path. It's so easy to give into our baser instincts and desires. I think our world is proof enough of that, but it takes guts to stop, look around, and wonder what the hell happened to the good person you once were.

Everyone I have ever known like this, has become, not just a better person, but a spectacular person. But the effort almost has to be superhuman. This is why I love Glenn Beck. He has been through the self made fire and come out on the other side a wonderful human being. GQ has an article on him for it's Sept. issue if you want to read more about him.

If you don't know, Glenn Beck has a radio show. The third most popular after Rush and Hannity. He has a TV show now on CNN, which is the fasting growing cable show in cable news. And CNN has taken such grief from the left about it, I have to express admiration for them to stick with Glenn.

If you haven't heard of Beck, then you have missed what is, in my opinion, the funniest and most insightful hours of radio programing anywhere, anytime. He is much funnier than Rush and much more compassionate than Hannity. I notice on his TV show that he isn't as funny. Maybe because he can't get away with the irreverent humor he can on radio, but his show is much better than Hannity's imo.

When I started listening to Beck in the car, he would make me laugh so hard I almost had to pull off the road sometimes. But there was something else. He had a soft heart. He spoke about his mother's suicide, his life of addictions, and his divorce with such sorrow and such determination to make his life different and better. I was riveted. As Beck started toward a new life, blessings started to happen for him. A new love, more beautiful children and an astonishing career. I have never disagreed with him on an issue, even the one's where we differ from our conservative counterparts, such as the death penalty. But I have to admit that Beck's attention to the Islamic fanatics threat just plain scares me. Here is a snippet from the article:

"He is earnestly convinced that America is on the brink of another Holocaust, and the choice is clear: Confront radical Islam or repeat 1930s Europe’s sins of apathy and appeasement."

I know many of you feel the same way. And of course I think we must confront radical Islam, but on the brink of another Holocaust?? If that is true, then we sit here, in America, as ignorant as many of the Germans were during the Holocaust.

I am just not ready to accept that yet. This one time, I hope that I am right and Beck is wrong.

What makes Beck so much better than Rush or Hannity is that he has no ego. He sees himself as somehow blessed by none of his own doing. His past and his mistakes are a part of him and he never lets us forget how flawed he is. His message always seems to be that if he can overcome, then anyone can overcome. We all have the capacity for greatness and goodness.

GQ's article is titled " Is Glenn Beck The Most Annoying Man On TV?" Which is the completely wrong question. Is he the most amazing man on TV? I think so.

Digging For Dirt.

The truly awful thing about politics is the dirt digging. Yes, both sides do it, but the far left have got it down to a fine art. If they can't find any dirt on you personally, then it's on to the family.

There is no one the left hates more than Karl Rove. Rove must have led a total scandal free life, because if he had even ran a red light, we would have heard about it. But the left did dig into his adopted father's life. I had read on left wing sites before that Rove's father, Louis Claude Rove Jr. was supposedly gay. Oh, how they delighted in that! But that wasn't juicy enough I suppose, now they are saying Rove's father liked to get piercings in...umm...unlikely places. Anything to embarass Rove, right? I mean, why is this interesting? If Pelosi's father like to wear lacy panties, would that be printed at boing boing? Somehow, I don't think so.

If you read about the book that "outed" Rove's father " "The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power" you would know that it must have gravely disappointed the authors that Rove had a wonderful relationship with his father and that if he was gay, Rove still visited him and spoke fondly of him and obviously loved him very much. But they even turned that into something to criticize Rove about.

In this post, the author says that although Rove treated his father well, it was hypocritical that he still fought against gay marriage. He even wonders if Rove was fighting his own homosexual impulses. It just never occurs to the left that maybe sexuality was meant to be private. That maybe some people don't think their life should be defined by sex. It never occurs to them that one can love a family member or friend who is gay, and still be against gay marriage. In their world, if you are gay or love someone who is gay, then you must adopt their leftwing political agenda. And if you don't, you are a hypocrite.

It also never occurs to them how wrong it is to "out" someone who never asked to be in the public eye. How wrong it is to dig into a private matter of an unelected citizen. Funny, isn't it? That these are the same people who scream about privacy when it comes to wiretaps on would be terrorists. Privacy rights go out the window when it comes to one's sexuality I suppose.

I've said it before, it's a wonder any decent people at all get into politics. Who needs this kind of sick personal attack? Where your family isn't even safe from the mud splattered dirt digging left.