Our Warriors

I got into the habit a few years ago. If I was at an airport or a restaurant or any place at all, and I saw a person in a military uniform, I would stop and shake their hand and thank them for their service.

I may have written this before, but not too long ago My mom was walking me into the airport and a stream of soldiers came down the corrider. My mom, who is not quite as outgoing as I am, knew what was coming and I heard whisper under her breath, "Oh Lord, here we go." She backed away from me a bit while I shook their hands.

I figure it is the least I can do. But I wish I could tell by looking who is the wife/mother/family member of a marine or soldier, because I would be shaking their hand as well and even hugging them if they would let me.

Why? Well, because they are all a lot like this. (a must read)

So I want to wish all the Moms who wait for their husbands and sons overseas with heavy hearts and untold burdens, a happy Mother's Day. Your blessings are also ours and we are so grateful for them.

h/t Big Dog

*note: I'll be gone this weekend. If something super interesting happens, I will find a way to a computer, but if not, I'll see you guys Monday.

Poor Code Pink

They can't even boost their numbers by trying cute little PR tricks:

The women's anti-war group has told ralliers to come equipped with spells and pointy hats Friday for "Witches, clowns and sirens day," the last of the group's weeklong homage to Mother's Day.

"Women are coming to cast spells and do rituals and to impart wisdom to figure out how we're going to end war," Zanne Sam Joi of Bay Area Code Pink told FOXNews.com.

The group's week of themed protests, which included days to galvanize grannies and bring-your-daughter-to-protest, appears to have done little to boost its flagging numbers.

I know I always think of witches, clowns, and sirens when I think of Mother's Day, don't you?

The Willful Blindness of the Democrats

If I thought I had any impact at all on this race, I wouldn't write this. Heaven forbid I make any Democrat really think about what they are doing. Trust me on this, if the superdelegates go Hillary's way, it will be because of the following.

Obama can't win.

The Democrats love a new guy. They love a supposed "Washington outsider." Remember this same gushing over Bill Clinton in 1992? It was all about youth and charm, and it is with Obama as well. The difference being that Bill Clinton was a moderate Democrat. Obama is about as far from moderate as any Democrat gets. It seems Democrats can't see the forest for the trees.

Democrats may be able to dismiss Pastor Wright's association with Obama, but those middle of the road voters who decide these elections, will not dismiss it. And let's be brutally honest here. Many whites in the South were just looking for an excuse not to vote for Obama, and Wright gave them one.

Everytime I suggest that many whites in the South might not vote for a black man, people gasp! "Are you saying that the South is still racist?" Well, if you call the vast majority of blacks voting for Obama as racist, then yes. Because if it isn't wrong for someone to vote for a man based solely on his skin color, then why is it wrong to not vote for someone based on the same criteria?

Color shouldn't matter, but it clearly does. On both sides. And that is just one problem Obama has. The other is credibility and courage.

Ed Koch, former NYC mayor and Democrat agrees with me:

"I’m absolutely surprised because I think that all the things that Wright says — and nobody believes that Obama supports those statements — but he didn’t have the courage to stand up and object for twenty years. If you are running for president, you can’t be like some other poor guy in the pews who is afraid to stand up or even say something privately to the minister. You’re the guy who wants to lead the country and you have to have courage to stand up and lead your own pastor. He did not exhibit that. But the fact that the Democratic constituency doesn’t seem to care is a shock to me, but I’m certain that the overall constituency voting in November will care and that it will make the difference in the adverse way to his candidacy.”

Democrats are seeing Obama through their own rose colored glasses. They are not seeing the reality of a general election. Obama's far left positions will be on display, and while that pleases Democrats, the middle of the road voter doesn't like extremes on either side. You can call McCain many things, but catering to the extreme right is not one of them.

McCain is a maverick. McCain has sponsored many bi-partisan bills. He has crossed the aisle a number of times with great success. People in general like that. Obama has done none of that. Despite all his talk of unity, he has never unified with Republicans on anything.

Hillary and Obama pretty much agree on most things. Because of that, Obama's positions have not been displayed in comparison. When that happens with McCain, Obama will be seen as the far left candidate that he really is. What Hillary did, that Obama didn't, was spend time in Congress displaying bi-partisanship. Hillary knew she would need that moderate street cred when she ran for President. She's a planner, that girl. But she didn't plan on Obama. She never saw that one coming.

Obama is like a Hollywood character. The Democrats swoon over his persona and ignore his resume and past. They ignore the state of the world around them and how that frames this election. They are like the new girlfriend of the best looking guy in the school, who ignores rumors of him being a playboy in the past. They ignore the reality because they are so in love with Obama.

But like the girlfriend, it will all end in heartbreak.

When your job is being pretty...

..you need to just stick with that.

via NRO

The Unsinkable Hillary Clinton

Hillary says "It's full speed to the White House." Tenacious, thy name is Hillary.

I have never seen anything like it. This woman just keeps going no matter what gets thrown at her. I noticed lately that Obama seems tired and who could blame him? But not Hillary. She's drinking vitamin water, sleeping 8 hours a night, and hitting the road running every morning.

Take for example yesterday at Shepard University in West Virginia:

Clinton endured boos when she mentioned her proposal for a gasoline tax holiday, catcalls when she spoke of ending the Iraq war and, most difficult of all, the heckling of her daughter, Chelsea, who introduced her.
"End the dynasty!" a young man holding an Obama poster shouted when Chelsea Clinton stepped to the microphone.

All the while, a smile was fixed on Hillary Clinton's perfectly made-up face - not a hair was out of place-

The princess of positive continues on:

As a brief news conference after her remarks at the college, she said, "It's a new day, it's a new state, it's a new election," her upbeat tone never wavering. "I'm staying in this race until there's a nominee. I'm going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee."

This shouldn't be a surprise. Not only was she still standing after the complete humiliation as First Lady by her husband during the Lewinsky scandal, but she fought back and stood by his side. After something like that, what's a few more betrayals?

Most of us would have crawled into a fetal position long ago. The woman is made of steel.

It reminds me of the movie Terminator II where a new more advanced Cyborg, T-1000, is sent from the future to kill the boy John. The entire time you watch the movie and they try to kill T-1000 over and over and nothing works, you think there is simply no killing it. This is like Hillary's candidacy. And unless the Democrats can find a vat of molten metal, I don't think they will stop Hillary either.

Will Hillary succeed in getting Michigan and Florida delegates seated? I think so. She is unsinkable. I don't respect her, but I do respect that.

Will the superdelegates be the vat of molten metal for Hillary? Maybe so. But there is no doubt that the Democrats are going to throw away the strongest candidate they have had in a long time.

Or can they?

Update: Hillary writes Obama a letter.

Ernie endorses Obama

I read that 85% of all muppets voted for Obama, so I think this had an effect. Hillary got the majority of non-muppet votes. Trolls and unicorns are leaning toward Hillary as well. via Gawker

Pelosi's Petroleum Problem

Victor Davis Hanson has this:

Nancy Pelosi chanted "Veto and Drill", "Veto and Drill" in caricaturing the threatened presidential veto of windfall oil company taxes and desire to drill in ANWR and elsewhere. But all that might sound, in fact, good to most Americans. With the world's largest reserves of coal, after creating the nuclear power industry ex nihilo, and with billions of oil still under our soil and waters, it makes no sense to produce less energy while blaming and taxing those who produce what we have, rather than drilling, digging, and saving, as we find ways to transition to the alternate energies. The problem is not just oil, but importing oil at $120 a barrel that is bankrupting us as much as it is enriching the wrong people.

It's a crying shame...

That this is how some blacks treat other blacks who are conservative.

Will The Cards Start Falling?

Three more superdelegates pledged support for Obama today. Jeanette Council (NC); Jerry Meek (NC) and Inola Henry (CA) and the AP is reporting a switch from Clinton in Virginia, Jennifer McClellan. I just heard on Fox News that Diane Feinstein, a longtime supporter of Hillary is asking for a "talk" with Hillary. By "talk" I'm sure she means she will shake Hillary by the shoulders and yell, "Stop this! Stop it right now!"

Will this be how it all ends for Hillary? Close friends, supporters, and fellow colleagues will turn on her and ask her to bow out for the good of the party? Are many of the superdelegates being pressured to declare support for Obama and get this thing over? And what if they do and that still doesn't stop her?

I think the superdelegates want to wait for all the primaries to end, but if they can push some momentum Obama's way to May 20th when Kentucky and Oregon vote, then the Democrats will get the memo. Vote for Obama.

The Democratic party's rules and bylaws committee is meeting on May 31 to talk about what to do about Florida and Michigan. Clinton is putting all her eggs in that one basket.

I can't wait to see how this all ends. If Hillary bows out gracefully, then Democrats will heave a big sigh of relief. If she takes it to the convention floor, then it will be a showdown of theatrical proportions. Knowing the Clintons the way we do, which path do you think she will choose?

I just smile thinking about it.

The Saga of Hillary

As I surf around the blogosphere and news this morning, it seems everyone has posted a tombstone for Hillary's chance at the nomination.

I start to feel this small burst in my chest. You know what that burst is? It's hope.

I think, "Could it really be possible that Hillary won't get this nomination?? Could this really happen?"

Oh Lord, let it be so. Let it be so.

I'm afraid to post this. I don't want to jinx anything. Could this political machine actually be defeated?

I'm not convinced. But I now have hope.

Primary Shocker!!!

Not really. Just as predicted Obama wins North Carolina and Hillary wins Indiana.

Marc Ambinder has this interesting perspective:

"..of exit polls that have been released to the Edison-Mitsofky consortium:

if the surveys are accurate, the polarization within the Democratic Party has reached critical levels. Nearly six in ten Obama supporters in Indiana say they would be dissatisfied if Clinton were the nominee -- that's (I believe) the high percentage of Obama supporters who have ever said that.
In both IN and NC, two thirds of Clinton supporters say they'd be dissatisfied if Obama were the nominee -- I believe that's the highest number recorded for that question, too.

The percentage of Clinton voters who say they'd choose McCain over Obama in a general election is approaching 40% in Indiana. Put it another way: in North Carolina, less than HALF of folks who voted today for Hillary Clinton are ready to say today that they'd definitely vote for Obama in a general election."

40%!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

Here is the bottom line to me. The "dream ticket" of Hillary/Obama or Obama/Hillary will be a nightmare for us. The unity speech that Obama is sure to give will be inspiring and poetic. Nancy Pelosi says that a combined ticket is impossible, but I don't understand that! It is their best chance.

This is going to the convention. There is no doubt in mind about that. I have a feeling that it will be a show for the history books.

Al Gore, Call your office...

We have a problem.

h/t BigDog

Related: Gore is such a tease.

Don't mess with McCain..

McCain Declines Secret Service, Dares Assassins To Try Something

via HotAir

Hispanics Matter

John McCain announced today on his website that he will be addressing the La Raza annual convention. I'm sure all hell is about to break loose on the right side of the web. Once again McCain is going to tick off the right.

You don't have to tell me that La Raza is a radical organization. I know that. I think the NAACP is a radical organization as well, but I also don't believe that it's wrong to speak to them.

Most African Americans feel that the NAACP has their best interests at heart. They don't delve into the politics of it all and I doubt that most agree with the philosophy of many of it's leaders. The same can be said for Hispanics and La Raza.

Adding fuel to the fire, McCain has launched a Spanish-Language site on the web as well. I think that in all the anger over illegal immigration we seem to forget those Hispanics who are here legally. They are a very important voting bloc, not to mention as an important part of America as everyone else.

As I said in this post when Republicans participated in a Univision debate:

"I've said here before that Republicans are alienating a large voting bloc over our battle of illegal immigration. First of all, Republicans are not making it clear the distinction between illegal and legal immigration and are letting the media paint them as being against immigration. We are also allowing racist rhetoric to enter the fray without protesting it.

I think the Republicans were right to do it. I think we should show up at any venue that asks. Our message is for all people. McCain spoke and expressed how I feel:

"We have to address this issue with compassion and love, because these are human beings. I think some of the rhetoric that many Hispanics hear about illegal immigration makes some of them believe that we are not in favor of or seek the support of Hispanic citizens in this country,"

No matter how right we might feel about border control and law enforcement, we are dealing with human beings who are looking for a better life. We need to deal with it in a compassionate manner. We can do that and still proceed to enforce our laws. We are not doing a good job in making it clear that we support the Hispanics that have come here legally.

This is a complicated issue. We allowed illegal immigrants here for decades with a wink and a nod and now we have to deal with the millions here. It's frustrating, I know. But it's time to not merely dismiss those with ideas on how to deal with the problem just because they don't say we should deport them all."

MCain says that speaking to La Raza is part of his speaking to all Americans from all walks of life and I completely agree with it. We cannot afford to lose the growing Hispanic vote. Especially considering that Hispanics are faith filled family oriented people with conservative values, a natural fit.

We will never solve our immigration problems by placing a wedge between the Hispanic community and the Republican party. Reaching out to them, even by speaking to the more political radical groups, does not diminish the cause of fixing illegal immigration. It allows us to have a conversation.

The Truth in Sadr City

This is the title of the article from the A.P at the Houston Chronicle:

Militiamen ambush drives back US patrol in Sadr City

The story reports:

"The U.S. military said 28 militiamen were killed as the U.S. patrol pulled back."

Not exactly.

Bill Roggio at The long War Journal gives us the important details. The title of his article?

US troops kill 28 Mahdi fighters during Sadr City ambush

His story reports:

"...a US soldier was wounded by gunfire and US forces began to evacuate the soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover, the chief Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Division Baghdad said. “The fire came from the portion of Sadr City we are not in – the northern neighborhoods – and militants fired at our patrol in the southern neighborhoods,” Stover said in an email to The Long War Journal.

During the evacuation, Mahdi Army fighters triggered three roadside bombs and fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at the US patrol. Five more soldiers were wounded in the attacks and two vehicles were damaged. None of the soldiers' injuries are reported as life-threatening.

In other words the title of the A.P. piece is completely wrong. The ambush did not "drive back" the US patrol. The ambush occurred while our forces were evacuating a wounded soldier. The US patrol counterattacked and killed 28 of Sadr's militiamen.

I wonder why it is necessary to title pieces that put our soldier's in the worst possible light?

Thanks to Joe Sixpack

Hillary Isn't Going Anywhere

As much fun as it has been to watch the Democrats beat each other up, we are coming into the homestretch and to what I have always predicted, a Hillary nomination.

"In the USA Today survey taken Thursday through Saturday, Clinton leads Obama among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents by 7 percentage points, the first time in three months she has been ahead. Two weeks ago, before the controversy over comments by Jeremiah Wright reignited, Obama led by 10 points.”

For independent voters, the Wright controversy removed the halo from Obama. If they thought that his candidacy would put the issue of race behind us, they realized they were wrong. It ended up showing not the ugly face of racist whites, as we might have imagined, but the ugly face of racist blacks, and independent voters discovered that was just as disturbing to them.

Rev. Wright was a gift to the Hillary campaign (or a calculated orchestration of events, whichever you wish to believe) and it gave Hillary the doorway to her transformation to "moderate" candidate. And she is doing a marvelous job with. Boxing gloves are her "symbol" now. She signs her autograph on them. She portrays herself as the fighter who has been battle tested. She isn't giving up. No matter what. Women are eating this up. She has also softened up her image so much that even I can tolerate watching her on the morning shows.

I am amazed that people like Allahpundit over at HotAir and Michael Goldfarb at the Weekly Standard think that Hillary is about to go.

Please.

Hillary makes the case that all the votes need to be counted. She says let all the primary voters vote, and then the superdelegates can decide. This is hard to argue with given the Democrat's mantra on having every vote count (when it suites them of course, but that's another post). Because of this, there is simply no way Howard Dean or others can force a decision one way or the other until all the votes are in. Time is on Hillary's side and so is the momentum.

Bottom line. Clinton knows if Obama doesn't meet the delegate threshold, she can fight his nomination on the floor of the convention. A delicious scenario that I hope happens. But what Hillary absolutely WILL do is fight to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations. She has practically promised to do this.

I predict she will win this particular fight, and then she would be ahead in the popular vote, thus giving the superdelegates a way to give her the nomination "fairly." The pressure upon Obama to accept the V.P position will be enormous. If he does, it doesn't bode well for us. If he doesn't, then maybe he is the man of integrity that we imagine him to be.

Howard Dean imagines that Hillary will bow out for the good of the party. But think about it. When have the Clintons done anything for the good of anyone but themselves politically?

Hillary isn't going anywhere.

Wallace vs. Dean

This is why Democrats boycotted Fox News for so long. Fox doesn't let Democrats get away with dishonest talking points.

Know Your Enemy

I just finished reading a book I received from the Media Research center called "In The Words of Our Enemies" by Jed Babbin. It is basically (among other things) a compilation of the many warnings we were given before 9-11 from radical Islamists like Osama bin Laden to the maniacal rantings of cleric leaders in Iran. Many of the "speeches" had never been translated into English before. One thing that struck me beyond what we all know, which is their wish to kill us, is that there is no hope of unity. There is no hope of living in this world, side by side, leaving each other alone. They thrive on our weaknesses. And they see that the fact that we value our own lives as weak.

I often hear from my lefty friends that radical Islam is but a small fraction of rebels and is not associated with Islam in general. This book puts that myth to bed. Radical Islam has woven itself into the religion of Islam. If we can't face that fact, then we can't defeat it.

What reminded me to write about this was listening to Andy McCarthy talk about his book, Willful Blindness in a similar vein to Rush. I found part of the transcript over at NRO: (emphasis mine)

Rush: What's it going to take to wake people up again to the existence of this threat, and just because we've thwarted one on our soil for seven years; however we've done it, doesn't mean the threat's gone away or is any less intense. What's it going to take?

MCCARTHY: Well, I hope it doesn't take another attack, but it's probably going to take at least a sense that we could be attacked that certainly isn't present for us now — and in terms of what you're talking about now, you know, I haven't been the biggest McCain fan to the planet, but let me give him this much of his due. He wants to get the job done in Iraq at least insofar as it means defeating Al-Qaeda there. I can't stress to people how important that is. Even if you don't agree with why we went to Iraq in the first place — and, you know, say we should never have been there —the fact is that the worst thing we ever did was pull out of Lebanon in 1983 when the Marine barracks got hit. The next worst thing we probably ever did was pull out of Somalia when that got ugly. These people — and when I talk about "these people," I mean people like Bin Laden and the Blind Sheik — if used to a fair thee well as a recruiting tool this notion that they're the strong horse, we're the weak horse; and if they make it ugly enough and bloody enough for us, that we will pull out. It's like when a very strong team plays a very weak team in sports. The strong team can never give the weak team a sniff, because the minute you do and they start to think they can win, and they start to believe in themselves, they become much more efficient. It becomes much more easy for them to recruit, to raise money, to do all the things they have to do to take on a superpower. What they have going for them that we don't, is they have basically eradicated our threshold idea of what is civilized behavior. They are willing to do anything to win, and they're absolutely sure that history is on their side. Unless we become more sure than we are now that we're right, and that we have a need to show them that however long it takes, we're going to do what has to be done to win; you know, we can't rely on the fact that we're a super power and that it's inevitable that we'll win this thing.

If you didn't read my post, "A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The 'Quagmire' in Iraq...:, please check it out now because it addresses how important it is for us to not just leave Iraq right now or in the near future.

The one thing that was absolutely clear in "In The Words of Our Enemies" was that Osama bin Laden delighted in our weakness. He said over and over many times that America cannot stand to lose their soldiers, that we are a paper tiger. He pointed to the very places that Andy pointed out, Lebanon and Somalia. Osama is like the predator that smells weakness and then goes in for the attack. In an interview published in a London newspaper five years before 9-11, Osama talked about how disgraceful Somalia was for us. He said we moved in tens of thousands of soldiers and then he said this:

"However when...(many) of your soldiers were killed in minor battles and one American pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadish, you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat, and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge, but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of you impotence and weaknessses became very clear"

It's clear that these madmen see our weakness as Allah's will. It explains our weakness. But when we win, when we fight back, then that explanation evaporates.

I could go on and on about the Hitler like insanity that permeates the interviews with Osama and other radical clerics. From Osama's delight in the blood and guts of "infidels" that he sees on TV, to his determination to obtain the weapons that would destroy us for good.

Do you see how important it is that we elect the person who best understands this fight? If we retreat now, we invite the belief that we are weak and the enemy builds on that to prepare for the next act of destruction and death.

Friday Fun links

via USA Today:

How superdelegates can break up with Hillary.

Obama de-friends Wright on Facebook.

More:

Hillarambo.

Man gets trapped in elevator for 6 minutes. (really funny. Trust me) via Gawker

Things get even uglier...

Obama supporters can fight dirty too. But it is kind of hard for Democrats to argue that we shouldn't associate Obama with his pastor and expect us to associate Hillary with this guy. I, like most reasonable people, do associate them with whom they hold close.

It is telling of the hypocrisy of the Democratic party when it comes to race though.

via Ace

Update: It seems Kos and The Democratic Underground are delighted with this. Geeze. Talk about eating your own.

Update II: The Politico is saying the clip is doctered.
If it's doctored, then Cantor needs to be screaming about it. And the Kos kids and DU need to take a deep breath and not just do anything to get Obama elected.

Update III: Here is the original "War Room" video. The clip in question is at 4:56 and you cannot hear what Cantor is saying at all. Cantor is absolutely denying it. I guess the KosKids and the DU will have to find something else to go after Hillary with.

Update IV: Looks like the "dubbed version" is off YouTube. Interesting. If you want to get a good look at what Demcrats will do to one another. Check out the comments at the Kos and DU links.