Brokeback Mountain 2?

CONTENT WARNING! Awful, but funny.

via V the K

Bush Didn't Lie???

I'm shocked! But only that that the MSM is admitting it.

via Ace.

Preachy Hollywood.

What is it with all these politically motivated movies lately?

There is Steven Spielberg's "Munich" which seems to have ticked off Israelis and Palestinians.

Then there is George Clooney's "Goodnight and Good Luck," about CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow's confrontation with anti-Communist witch-hunter Sen. Joseph McCarthy (I read that Clooney forgot to mention the cold war), and "Syriana" a look at corruption in the Middle East oil trade. (Hint. Americans don't look good)

Then there is the "epic love story" of "Brokeback Mountain"

Hollywood seems determined to create their liberal version of events, political intrigue, and social change. Which they are free to do, of course. But I don't think it's going to well for them.

Clooney talks of "critical acclaim" but why wouldn't liberals praise a liberal movie? Why should there be pride in that? Clooney seems to me to be especially angry with the right and determined to spread his political worldview. He says he carries around a worn copy of the U.S. Constitution. (I had to role my eyes at that one)

I have no idea how good these movies are. I don't plan on seeing any of them because I try to make sure my money doesn't end up in the hands of some Democrat candidate.

But it makes me realize how important the internet and cable news is right now, to try and look at all sides of things instead just Hollywood's version of it. In reading about "Munich" I discovered all kinds of viewpoints on message boards and blogs.

I don't need George Clooney's propaganda and it's nice to know we have forces to fight it. Not too long ago the best we could have hoped for is a letter to the Editor of our local newspaper. Now we have the world opened up to us to complain, to editoralize, to counter, to read!

So, watch the movies if you wish, but read opposing viewpoints as well. Who knows? We all just might learn something.

Live Blogging.

When Charmain Yoest of Reasoned Audacity asked me to live blog "Justice Sunday II" in Philadephia on Jan. 8th, I was thrilled. But my happiness knows no bounds now that I know that Planned Parenthood is protesting it. If they are against something then I KNOW I am doing the right thing. If there is a more despicable organization that has been mainstreamed, I am not aware of it. You can read their warning e-mail here.

Blogger's Row for Justice Sunday 3 includes Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters, La Shawn Barber, Stacy Harp of Mind and Media and ME! Stay tuned for my posts leading up to it. And don't miss the liveblogging that day!

Just Don't Get Involved.

Helping a kid get out of the porn industry? The media should just say no.

The Courage of The Kurds.

When reading about Iraq I ty to find sources that aren't political in nature. I feel they perhaps will give me more a sense of what is really happening over there. It is the reason I love the milblogs. Most soldiers are not political, at least not in describing their own experience. I have found their blogs to be a window into the world of the war.

I found two gems (articles) in this month's National Geographic. One is an article dealing with the Kurds and their independence and what they have suffered. The life of torture and death that they lived with daily under Saddam is hard to imagine here. The reporter found not one family that had not been affected by Saddam's brutality.

When reading the article, any American has to feel proud to have been a part of bringing this monster down. Lefties say there are many monsters. Why this one? Just as in the story you probably heard about the little boy on the beach throwing a starfish back into the ocean as thousands lay on the beach and the Dad says, "There are so many, throwing one back just doesn't matter." The little boys says as he is throwing one back in,"It matters to this one."

God knows, it mattered to the Kurds. As the reporter points out:

"I met not a single family there that had not fled its home at some point in the past 20 years, not a single farmer who had not seem his village shelled by bombs or artillery, not a single person without a tale of chemical weapon attacks, torture, or execution under Saddam Hussein."

Even if you believe that this war was for the oil, you have to be glad this genocide has ended and the person responsible for it has been brought down.

The sad thing is that most Kurds are the exact kind of people we would like see lead Iraq and the middle east into a democracy, but they have long considered themselves independent from Iraq. They have held elections and formed a legislature and chosen a President. They are not thrilled with being a part of Iraq in any form. One can certainly understand why. But they seem to be a forward thinking people at a time where that kind of thinking is much needed.

In the 2nd article, "Genocide", we are introduced to anthropologists of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who are exhuming remains from the mass graves of the Kurds. As the lead anthropologist, Paul Rubenstein tells us:

"As you work with the victims, especially the children, their clothing, the baby bottles, the little shoes, just like the ones we bought for our daughters years ago, the little hands, so expressive in death-you have to try not to get into the heads of the monsters who did this, or it becomes overwhelming. You look at a perfectly knitted baby bonnet with two bullets holes in it, and you think, These could be your own kids."

The reporter interviews Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel who says there is some reason to believe that the work being done with Iraq's mass graves victims could help ensure that the 21st century is less violent than the one before it:

"The moment you give a face and a name, not just to the victim but to the killer, people respond with greater comprehension. It somehow puts limits on the phenomenon, which otherwise is incomprehensible because of the numbers and the magnitude."

What I believe Bush understood about Saddam was that Saddam was this kind of madman dictator in a region that was the hotbed of terrorist activities. Could we allow him to ignore U.N. resolutions to prove that he was the not the danger we suspected? Could we ignore someone capable of mass murder to possibly supply terrorists? No and no.

Argue the reasons for the war. Argue about the motivations. You still have a brutal killer off the world stage and a democracy struggling to grow where one once thought impossible.

And that, my friends, is something for America to be proud of.

Shame on Comedy Central.

Did anyone catch Dennis Leary's comedy central special on Christmas called "Merry F&*%'in Christmas?" I thought I couldn't be shocked anymore. In the first five minutes he was a total Christian bigot and made jokes about Christ and Mother Mary that were so offensive I wanted to scream.

Who enjoys this crap? Shame on him and on Comedy Central. I know that they "push the envelope" and all that. But this was beyond that. It was like listening to rednecks tell N*gger jokes. Awful. Sickening.

Cool Site.

The Lone Star Times turned me on to this site, Regret The Error. It documents newspaper corrections from all over. Like this one:

Another media death
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
"It was incorectly reported in yesterday's editions that Liberty Bowl founder Bud Dudley had died. He is still alive." Link.

Wonder if they will have to correct that they spelled incorrectly wrong? Heh.

This newspaper had to retract a story about Santa. Santa was forced to put them on his naughty list.

Oh, this is just great...

News you can use...with boobs.

Isn't the lipglossed beauties at Fox News enough for you guys???

Did You Miss Me??????

Stress + Fun = Holidays.

I won't bore you with all my personal stuff, but I did get to New York City before Christmas and got to do that dorky wave outside the Fox News Fox and Friends morning show. Then Steve Doocey and Brian Kilmeade came outside to do a segment. E.D. wasn't there...;-( But I got to meet the guys! I told Brian about my blog and he asked for a card. I should get those made up just for fun. Anyway, I love NYC at Christmas!

One of my commenters also took us to dinner while we were there. He mostly comments at Ace's site though and is one of those smart wall street guys. We had a lovely dinner and gossiped about all the bloggers we frequent.

Here are a few photos of my daughter and I in NYC.

A bit of a sabbatical

I have decided to take a break from blogging until the new year. I have 21 people coming to my house for Thanksgiving, I have five family birthdays in Nov. and Dec. (I always make a big deal out of birthdays) and I have this pageant thing and some traveling to do and THEN Christmas!

Every time I sit down at this dang computer time flies. By the time I read news stories and my favorite blogs and then blog myself, half my day is gone. I have just too much too do right now, so I need to quit cold turkey...;-)

I will miss miss my commenters! (even my leftwing ones!) Everyone has certainly made me look at different viewpoints. And I hope that I have allowed you to consider mine. One thing I know for sure..all voices matter.

Whether you think I am right on issues or not, I hope that I have shown that there is no doubt that I want the best for everyone. I hope that I have shown that rightwingers care about the poor and the disadvantaged as well.

I am saddened by the viciousness of politics now compared to when my dad was involved in it. In fact, I am saddened by most things to do with politics. I totally understand why most Americans don't care for it and avoid it.

I wish I could.

So check back here in the new year! I'll still be checking my e-mail rightwingsparkle@hotmail.com and I will still be roaming the blogs.

Have a happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

McCain for President 08'!

Get use to it!! And today he gave me another reason to love him:

"Anyone reading the amendment gets the sense that the Senate's foremost objective is the draw-down of American troops. What it should have said is that America's first goal in Iraq is not to withdraw troops, but to win the war. All other policy decisions we make should support, and be subordinate to, the successful completion of our mission.
Morality, national security and the honor our fallen deserve all compel us to see our mission in Iraq through to victory.
A date is not an exit strategy. To suggest that it is only encourages our enemies, by indicating that the end to American intervention is near. It alienates our friends, who fear an insurgent victory, and tempts undecideds to join the anti-government ranks.
Think about this for a moment. Imagine Iraqis, working for the new government, considering whether to join the police force, or debating whether or not to take up arms. What will they think when they read that the Senate is pressing for steps toward draw-down?
Are they more or less likely to side with a government whose No. 1 partner hints at leaving?
The Senate has responded to the millions who braved bombs and threats to vote, who put their faith and trust in America and their government, by suggesting that our No. 1 priority is to bring our people home.
We have told insurgents that their violence does grind us down, that their horrific acts might be successful. But these are precisely the wrong messages. Our exit strategy in Iraq is not the withdrawal of our troops, it is victory."

via New York Post via Powerline.

Stay the course. Don't play the Democrats game.

Bill Clinton plays his usual game of trying to have it both ways:

Former President Clinton told Arab students Wednesday the United States made a "big mistake" when it invaded Iraq, stoking the partisan debate back home over the war.
<...>
"Saddam is gone. It's a good thing, but I don't agree with what was done," Clinton told students at a forum at the American University of Dubai.

Gee, How would you have done it Mr. Clinton? Oh wait. Nevermind. You had 8 yrs to do it and didn't.

Iraqi blogger Hammorabi has harsh words for our former President:

The world without Saddam is not only better place for the Iraqis but for the whole world. Those who are fighting the changes towards democracy in Iraq are Al-Qaeda terrorists and the other extremists and their supporters in Syria. Bill Clitonn is no different from them. Bill Clinton certainly failed to remove Saddam and failed to prevent the terrorists but was successful in killing more Iraqis by his rockets and by Saddam hands. Bill Clinton is a supporter of the dictator regimes in the Middle East indeed.

And Iraqi blogger Alaa told us prior to the January elections what would happen and why we have to stay the course.

Moreover, no one should expect that the security situation and strife would somehow improve after the elections; it is more likely to intensify. This is an unfinished war; the Saddamists and their allies have fully regrouped and rearmed and are being very well financed and supported. The brave American people have given President Bush the mandate to finish this war despite the painful sacrifices and material cost. The Iraqi people are up in arms through the political groupings, new army, N.G. and various security forces and are suffering the greater part of the sacrifice. Despite all the snags and faltering, these forces are getting bigger and stronger and should be supported and nurtured until they can bear the full responsibility; this is the only viable "exit strategy" available. In fact, we do not like this phrase, for what is required is a "victory strategy". This war must be fought to the bitter end, and there is only one outcome acceptable both to us and to you: Total and Complete Victory. Anything else is completely unthinkable.

via Mudville

Open Thread.

At the request of my funny lil jeffie.

We MUST have some fun here. Too much serious for too long. Let's have a look at an interesting wedding photo and caption. Heh.

via Old Grouchy Cripple

Another interesting engagement.

via Grouchy Old Cripple

It's time for the yearly weblog awards. Go nominate someone!

Let's look at torture.

The Democrats and the media played up the Abu Ghraib scandal even though it was clearly an isolated instance of prisoner abuse which, while deplorable, did not come close to what Saddam Hussein committed during his dictatorship. Yet you hardly hear a sound from Democrats or the media on how thankful we are that this man is no longer torturing people.

Let's take a look back, shall we? via Newsweek

"One former prisoner he talked to, Anwar Abdul Razak, remembers when a surgeon kissed him on each cheek, said he was sorry and cut his ears off. Razak, then 21 years old, had been swept up during one of Saddam Hussein’s periodic crackdowns on deserters from the Army. Razak says he was innocently on leave at the time, but no matter; he had been seized by some Baath Party members who earned bounties for catching Army deserters. At Basra Hospital, Razak’s ears were sliced off without painkillers. He said he was thrown into jail with 750 men, all with bloody stumps where their ears had been. “They called us Abu [Arabic for father] Earless,” recalls Razak, whose fiancee left him because of his disfigurement."

No humilating pictures, but I'd say Razak wins the "I really got tortured" award over anyone at Abu Ghraib.

No one is sure how many men were mutilated during that particular spasm of terror, but from May 17 to 19, 1994, all the available surgeons worked shifts at all of Basra’s major hospitals, lopping off ears. (One doctor who refused was shot.)

It is hard to measure the depth of Saddam’s wickedness or the devastation he wreaked. In Baghdad last week, silent families wandered through Saddam’s jails and dungeons, looking for long-lost loved ones. They were convinced there had to be an underground prison, somewhere. But the jails were empty. At the Abu Ghurayb Prison, neighbors had witnessed convoys of buses carrying prisoners away before the first American bombs began to fall. Where to? No one seemed to know.

Issa was tortured for simply not joining the Baath Party:

As part of the prison routine, Issa was tortured daily, sometimes twice a day. Battery acid was spilled on his feet, which are now deformed. With his hands bound behind his back, he was hanged by his wrists from the ceiling until his shoulders dislocated; he still cannot lift his hands above his head. The interrogators’ goal: “They just wanted me to say I was plotting against the Baath Party, so they could take me and execute me. If they got a confession, they would get 100,000 dinars [roughly $40].”

Even paying bribes didn't keep one from this:

Kubba’s money insulated his family from mayhem, but it did not shield him from witnessing the almost casual slaughter of his people. Last week he recalled a “scene that haunts me still.” Kubba was driving his Mercedes through Basra’s Saad Square when he came upon some 600 men who had been detained while police checked their IDs. According to Kubba, “Chemical Ali” Hassan al-Majid, Saddam’s half brother and the tyrant of southern Iraq, stopped and inquired, “No IDs? Just shoot them all.” Kubba watched as “they shot over 600 people in front of me.”

The fates of thousands of others are buried in Saddam’s numerous prisons. One of the most notorious was the IIS prison at Haakimiya, near a bustling commercial area in downtown Baghdad. A nondescript five-story building notable only by the extra barbed wire on the roof, the Haakimiya Prison is actually 10 stories. Belowground are interrogation cells where unspeakable horrors were committed. NEWSWEEK’s Liu, prowling the dank and empty halls, ran into a former inmate, Mohsen Mutar Ulga, 34, who was searching for documents about his cousin, executed under Saddam. Ulga said he was sentenced to 12 years in jail for belonging to an armed religious group called “the revenge movement for Sadr,” referring to a martyred Shiite cleric. He had been arrested with 19 others; the lucky ones were executed right away. The rest were tortured with electric cattle prods and forced to watch the prison guards gang-rape their wives and sisters.


THIS, my friends, is torture. THIS is what we took down. THIS is what the Democrats seem to be arguing that we shouldn't have gone to war for. They now say this man was not a threat. They would rather rail against America for an isolated incident than be grateful that we saved a country from THIS.

Next time a lefty tells you that this war is a failure, show them this.

Ask them if stopping this was a failure?

The GOP.....

fires back. See the video of what the Democrats said themselves. (click play now)

Excellent.