Ponderings on 2008.

One thing I am looking forward to is the catfight between Hillary and John Kerry over the Democratic nomination. Theresa's offerings on the subject of Hillary alone will be worth it all to watch. Hillary will get the nomination, no doubt. She hasn't come this far to let some moderate wussie beat her out of the chance to become the first woman president. She wants this so bad she can taste it.

On the Republican side. Newt Gingrich is getting all primed to go. He is wasting his time. Any Republican like me vetos Newt and here are a few more vetos:

Rudy Giuliani
Bill Frist
Rick Santorum

Either they are wrong on the issues or they can't win. Anyone who beats Hillary has to have star power. And there is only one guy and one girl who can do it. McCain or Rice. A McCain/Rice ticket might just be unbeatable.

Now, I know that tons of Republicans HATE McCain for being a tad too compromising and his finance reform stuff just drives them insane, BUT sometime we just have to steel ourselves and put the person out there who can actually beat Hillary. And he is the only one I can see doing it. I can see Condi beating Hillary as well, but let's have 8 yrs of McCain/Rice and then settle in for another eight with Rice. Imagine!! 24 straight years of Republican bliss! Why, we might could actually get some things done! And having the first woman President and the first black President in our history being Republican is just too SWEET.

Just Ponder it.

A Tragic Figure.

Cindy Sheehan has now become a minor celebrity. The news is all over it and the blogs are buzzing. The right seems disgusted with the lack of respect she is showing for her son's sacrifice and the left is disgusted by the right being disgusted by it.

I don't blame the press for spreading the story. Mrs. Sheehan is a tragic figure. I don't even blame Mrs. Sheehan for her protest and her vicious jabs at President Bush. As I have said before, I am more than willing to give latitude to any mother who is grieving over a lost child, but must everyone take advantage of it???

The Michael Moore crowd saw an opportunity to take a sympathetic character and have her be their poster child. The press saw an opportunity to blow a story out of proportion. And the right just got ticked off by them all.

Why? Because we feel so strongly about our soldiers. We know what our guys go through (thanks to the milblogs!) and we know that it isn't an easy decision to go into the military, and I would think an ever harder on to re-enlist during a war. But Cindy's son made those choices on his own. He obviously believed in the fight. No one made him enlist. If he felt he had made a mistake, he certainly wouldn't have re-enlisted.

Cindy Sheehan has every right to be angry. My heart goes out to her. But in her grief she is insulting everyone who serves in Iraq. She is implying that they are there for nothing. She has a right to think that, but she has to understand how upsetting that is to so many people. She can't expect everyone to ignore what she is saying if it hurts them as well.

She keeps asking for what purpose her son died.

The answer is here. (if you haven't read this post yet, you must)

It's time for the press to let go of this story. It is hurting everyone. The mother, her son's memory, and all of us who get caught up in throwing barbs at each other.

Sorry this is so small, I tried to get it bigger. If you want to see it better go to Chris's site.

Divine Evolution

Divine Evolution
By Frederick Turner

Go read an excellent ariticle on evolution. It seems his basic argument had been mine. That one can certainly believe in evolution and see the handiwork of God in it.

"I am the true vine," said Jesus, "and you are the branches." The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that grows and branches into a tree; it's like a sower whose seeds have differential rates of reproduction; it's like the yeast that leavens the whole lump. These images are entirely consistent with the theory of evolution."

There has never been a part of evolution that has made me doubt God. Not one time. It may be different for some, but for me, it helps explain his grand plan. It helps explain his great wonders.

We are only scratching at the surface though. God has much more for us to discover and reveal.

So much more.

Horrifying TV.

Michael Fumento , a former paratrooper who was embedded with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq, has his opinion of the new FX series "Over There." at Tech Central.

I have watched "Over There" and I didn't like the way they portrayed soldiers, but I didn't have the experience to know what other things they were getting wrong. Fumento does. Boots On The Ground gives his take on it as well.

Several years ago I stopped going to R rated movies. It just seemed I was always offended by them and had images in my brain I didn't want there afterward. Some things I just felt were wrong to watch. Since watching "Over There" I have caught a few more of the FX channel's series. I watched "Nip and Tuck" and "Starving."

"Nip and Tuck" follows 2 plastic surgeons around. One had obviously had a relationship with a porn star and at the end of the show they show her "performing." I thought it was extremely graphic. Yeah. These are the images I was trying to avoid getting into my brain from not watching R rated movies. "Starving." which follows around a bunch of bulmics whose problems go far beyond them being bulimic. It also had a graphic sex scene that totally dehumanized the woman. It also shows these people throwing up every 10 minutes. Totally disgusting. Who watches this crap? It horrifies me that my kids could happen to flip to this channel. We have the V chip on all our TV's and we have the channels we might not want them watching not programmed in. But since these shows are on basic cable, they could see them in anyone else's home. Has there been any controversy over these shows? Just the episodes I watched made me sick.

I'm starting to think they should call it the FXXX channel. "Over There" may be bad, but the other FX shows are even worse.

Able Danger and the 9-11 Commission.

My girl Michelle Malkin brings all the dirt we have so far on Able Danger. She has all the good links and you need to read them ALL.
via Ace

Iraq wasn't a threat at all. Nah. No connection to Bin laden either. Just move along.

The Captain rocks it once again with excellent reporting!! Is anyone paying this guy??? They should be!

"With all of these references to Germany and Hamburg, the 9/11 Commission oddly failed to include a published report from March 2001 in a Parisian Arabic newspaper, Al-Watan Al-Arabi, about the arrest of two suspected Iraqi spies -- based on a tip from the CIA (boldface mine):

Iraqi Spies Reportedly Arrested in Germany 16 March 2001
Al-Watan al-Arabi (Paris) reports that two Iraqis were arrested in Germany, charged with spying for Baghdad. The arrests came in the wake of reports that Iraq was reorganizing the external branches of its intelligence service and that it had drawn up a plan to strike at US interests around the world through a network of alliances with extremist fundamentalist parties.

The most serious report contained information that Iraq and Osama bin Ladin were working together. German authorities were surprised by the arrest of the two Iraqi agents and the discovery of Iraqi intelligence activities in several German cities. German authorities, acting on CIA recommendations, had been focused on monitoring the activities of Islamic groups linked to bin Ladin. They discovered the two Iraqi agents by chance and uncovered what they considered to be serious indications of cooperation between Iraq and bin Ladin. The matter was considered so important that a special team of CIA and FBI agents was sent to Germany to interrogate the two Iraqi spies."

Unfreakinbelievable. via Ace.

Pundit Review Radio will be having Michael Yon , the EXCELLENT blogger out of Iraq, on his program again.

Michael will be on live from Mosul, Iraq this Sunday evening at 9pm EST. You can stream the show live at WRKO and you can call toll-free with questions at 877-469-4322.

Don't miss it!

Posting will be slow this next week. 3 of my kids will be starting school. And I am getting my oldest ready to leave for college on Wednesday. Color me stressed.

I keep thinking about my baby not being in the house and being so far from me. I keep thinking about the things I probably forgot to tell him that he needs to know.

I keep thinking that the dynamics of the family will be different. I keep thinking that my job with him is over. Another chapter closed. All those sleepness nights, all those little boy escapades, all those sporting events, all those milestones, Baptism, first Holy Communion, Confirmation, High School graduation. All over.

I keep thinking I will miss him, but I have to let go. I keep thinking...... I just keep thinking.

The Shuttle takeoff and our own lean mean fighting guardian angel. Check out Mudville for more pictures. They are awesome.

The lust for dirt from the left.

Looks like NARAL ad is getting the criticism it deserves from all sides. First the adoption investigation of the NY Times fails, and now this. It's not looking good for the left.

I'm thinking NARAL should have used those millions to "help women" (yeah, right) instead of on misleading commercials.

A partial story gains momentum.

Another story about the mother protesting at President Bush's ranch and no mention of the earlier interview she had with him where she praises him. Here they even mention the first meeting, but no mention of what she first said about it.

It seems Drudge is the only one quoting her. If you missed it in my previous post, here is one of her quotes from her first meeting with President Bush.

"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting. "I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."

Now, one can say she changed her mind if they wish, but to just ignore that part of the story and not report both sides is why news organizations like Fox News are so popular. One also has to wonder why she is getting so much attention. This double standard of the MSM is demonstrated here in Brent Bozell's recent article:

"On Monday morning, the Sheehan publicity continued, but still no one reported how radical she is. CNN’s graphic throughout their story on "American Morning" read "Peace Mom." In a "Good Morning America" devoted almost entirely to mourning the death of Peter Jennings, ABC made room for the "angry and determined mother" on her "peace vigil." NBC’s "Today" began their show by promoting "a mother’s vigil" in the first seconds of the program.
Can you imagine the networks ruining the Clinton vacation on Martha’s Vineyard by making a big story out of a conservative protester there? I can’t, because they didn’t. In 1998, a few weeks after Clinton admitted sex with Monica Lewinsky, he went to his first partisan pep rally in Worcester, Massachusetts. ABC and CBS did full stories, and the streets outside the hall were filled with protesters demanding Clinton resign, but ABC and CBS failed to interview them. Only Fox News brought up how a local Democratic city council member, Konstantina Lukes, refused to attend."

We don't want "censored" news that doesn't give us the whole picture. Give us the whole picture and let us decide for ourselves.

Update: This story filed only an hour and 1/2 ago STILL fails to mention Mrs. Sheehan's first meeting with President Bush.

She has also backed out of agreeing to be on The Bill O'Reilly show this evening. He says she claims that he has lied about her. O"Reilly pointed out yesterday that Sheehan had blogged on Michael Moore's site. Is that not true? Or is she afraid of someone actually asking her about her positive comments regarding the first meeting with Bush?

I think it is time for Protest Warriors to get out to Crawford and get some publicity as well. I e-mailed them about that today and haven't heard back.

Chris Muir is asking every reader to hit this link as often as you can for the next 10 days.

Why? To raise the Yahoo rating of a small clinic that's keeping his sister Cathy alive and well-- but that could use some PR. A high listing is vital to the clinic's visibility with a timed ad on a local CNN cancer special August 14th and 20th. It's a tiny ad, but what helps them, helps Chris's sister.

There were terrorists among us and we knew.

The AP brings us the following:

WASHINGTON - The Sept. 11 commission will investigate a claim that U.S. defense intelligence officials identified ringleader Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers as a likely part of an al-Qaida cell more than a year before the hijackings but didn’t forward the information to law enforcement.

Although this is a interesting development and illustrates why the Patriot Act is so important, I hope that we don't jump on the bandwagon of "It was Clinton's fault because he was President at that time." It might seem like an easy swipe to take, but I believe that there was simply no way for us to know the evil the Al Qaida cell was planning.

It is only important to use this information to move forward and keep our country safe NOW.

Distortion on Abortion.

You have probably heard by now that CNN has agreed to run the bloody abortion ad by NARAL. The ad suggests that John Roberts supported those involved in abortion clinic bombings. John Roberts filed a friend of the court brief in 1993 for some protestors in Operation Rescue. The bombing shown in the ad happened in 1998.

I posted on my experience with Operation Rescue here. To connect these people in any way to anything violent is laughable.

I keep thinking what an impeccable record John Roberts must have for NARAL to take such untrue measures to vilify him.

Steven Vincent RIP or maybe not.

Steven Vincent was a wonderful journalist who died recently in Iraq. If you don't know who he is, here is a good discription at Mudville.

But leave it to the left to try to smear him because he wrote in support of our soldiers. Here is what Juan Cole had to say about Steve Vincent's death:

"He was romantically involved with his Iraqi interpreter, who was shot 4 times. If her clan thought she was shaming them by appearing to be having an affair outside wedlock with an American male, they might well have decided to end it. In Mediterranean culture, a man’s honor tends to be wrought up with his ability to protect his womenfolk from seduction by strange men…. Vincent did not know anything serious about Middle Eastern culture and was aggressive about criticizing what he could see of it on the surface, and if he was behaving in the way the Telegraph article describes, he was acting in an extremely dangerous manner."

As Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine puts it:

"Well, how about his murderers didn’t know anything serious about civilized culture and they were behaving in a way that should bring your condemnation?"

Why is when someone like this dies in Iraq it is never the fault of the insanity of the terrorist in these people's mind???

A mother's sorrow exploited.

You probably have all heard of the grieving mother ,who lost her son in Iraq, protesting at President Bush's Crawford Ranch. It seems her story has changed quite a bit since the first time she met with Bush.

I didn't really want to comment on it because anyone who has to sustain the horror of losing a child should be given all the lattitude they need to get through it. But Jeff at Protein Wisdom manages to understand that and still make the point that many of us wanted to make without being too hard on the mother:


"Thank Patton grieving parents and spouses of WWII soldiers killed in battle weren’t subjected to the kind of crass exploitation by anti-war opportunists Cindy Sheehan is being exposed to; the thought of some seersucker-suited aide wheeling Roosevelt door-to-door across America, hat in hand, so that he could answer to the wives and parents of 400,000 dead soldiers—the majority of whom were drafted ...well, that’s just too ridiculous and depressing even to contemplate.
Listen → I feel for this woman, I honestly do. But somebody close to her needs to take her aside and convince her that it’s time to grieve in private and to honor her son’s memory. Instead, this poor grieving woman is taking solace—solace I believe she’ll later come to regret—from the worst type of hyperpartisan frauds, professional Bush-bashers and wannabe-Vietnam-era protestors whose hatred for the President and his foreign policy runs so deep that they’re willing to adopt Ms. Sheehan like some sort of morbid mascot of convenience and exploit her pain—and her son’s death—in the most cynical and public way imaginable.
The whole business makes me sick. "

BigDog has a good post and links about the myth of Islam.

There will be a test on this later.

Ok, I just can't shutup about this evolution/ID debate!! Someone stop me!!

Here is a scientist who says that intelligent design, as a theory of origins, is no more religious, and no less scientific, than evolutionism.

And here is an author of several popular science books and writes for National Geographic, Science, Newsweek, Popular Science, and Discover, where he is a contributing editor who writes how Darwinism is tested.

h/t BigDog and Monty

Reason #2976 to not get drunk, especially with idiot friends.

via Lone Star Times