Saturday, February 04, 2006

Mohammad Cartoon Crudeness.

I have to disagree with so many blogs who seem determined to show as much disrespect for Muslims as possible with not only reprinting the offending Danish cartoons, but making up their own. I realize that many feel they are throwing it back into the face of fanatical Muslims who threaten us, but they seem to forget peaceful Muslims are offended too.

I also think it is a bit hypocritical for us to get all angry at crude depictions of Christ, yet feel that it is somehow ok to depict Mohammad in the same way. Yes, I understand that we don't believe in Mohammad, but the people that depict Christ that way don't believe him either.

It's really about common courtesy. Why do we seem to think that the only Muslims we offend by this are the ones who are terrorists? There are over a billion Muslims in this world and most of them are not terrorists. We have to learn to live together on this planet in peace. I don't think offending their faith will bring them any closer to democracy and it especially won't bring them any closer to understanding our faith and freedoms.

I've been getting a lot of heat on other blogs for saying this. One other commenter at LGF asked me, "Why should we try and understand them?" Because if we don't try and understand them and their culture, I can guarantee you they will never try and understand ours. By doing things such as this we look like the hedonistic "infidels" that people like Osama want the Middle East to think that we are. We are not that. It is the kind face of this nation that they need to see.

We have got stop looking at the Muslim world through the prism of our culture and start looking at it through the prism of theirs. Do you think that by showing them what freedom of speech looks like in this way, that they are going to think it is a good thing??? Getting along in this world starts with respect for each other's differences. We don't have to agree with them. We don't have to live by their rules. But if we want to show others the greatness of freedom, we can do a lot better than this.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Good Grief!

Talk about offensive! (be sure and click on the 'read more' link under the pictures. It gets better)

I Love This Blog.

Dedicated to all the blogs I love (and you know who you are)

Lyrics to "I Love This Blog" (sung to lyrics by Toby Keith’s "I Love This Bar.")

I LOVE THIS BLOG

We got winners, we got losers
Chain smokers and boozers
And we got yuppies, we got leftys
We got righteous rightys
And the nerds write like the hunks and beauties
they really are

We got corporate boys, we got truckers
Broken hearted fools and suckers
And we got hustlers, we got fighters
Early birds and all-nighters
And the veterans talk about their battle fog

Hmm, hmm,hmm I love this blog

(Chorus)

I love this blog
It’s my kind of place
Just clickin’ on the link
Puts a big smile on my face
It lifts you up more than your dog

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this blog

I’ve seen nasty trolls, we got high-techs
Blue collar boys and rednecks
And we got lovers, lots of lookers
And I’ve even seen moonbats and hookers
we like our politics like fat on a hog

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this blog

Yes I do

I like my truck (I like my truck)
I like my girlfriend (I like my girlfriend)
I like to take her out to dinner
I like a movie now and then

But I love this blog
It’s my kind of place
Just trollin around the links
Puts a big smile on my face
No cover charge, just log on

Hmm, hmm, hmm, I love this blog
Hmm, hmm, hmm, I love this blog

We got divorcess and a big insty man
Running with the lastest news that ran
We got loons and we got those with no sense
Who write too much in the comments

If you read enough you’ll sleep like a log

Reason number 672 why

Hmm, hmm, hmm, I love this blog
blog it on out boys
Old Media’s over
Got to take it to the people

Hmm, hmm, hmm, I love this blog

I just love it

I call for a "international day of anger" over this....

Bin Laden as "Christ." On second thought....nah. Life is too short to get angry at guys who think controversy equals art.

It's 72 degrees here and sunny. My family is healthy and happy. I live in freedom. I think I will call for an "international day of smiling."

It's all about the money.

90 planned parenthood clinics get caught in dishonesty. Again. Big surprise. As you read this, think about this being YOUR 13 year old daughter.

via La Shawn

"International Day of Anger" over Mohammed cartoons.

Something tells me that this won't be just a simple protest.

Here is a slideshow of the Mohammed cartoons that are causing such an uproar.


The Telegraph has this:

Day of anger threatened over cartoons of ProphetBy David Rennie, Europe Correspondent and Tim Butcher in Jerusalem(Filed: 03/02/2006)
David Rennie: Full text of interview with Danish Muslim activist
A leading Islamic cleric called for an "international day of anger" today over publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, and a Danish activist predicted that deadly violence could break out in Europe "at any minute".

I can totally relate to being angry over something like this that demeans one's faith. It happens to Christians all the time. But my first thought is never to censor because I live in a land of freedom. If you get angry, you let them know and they can (and usually do) apologize and try and make it right (the Tole cartoon nonwithstanding).

Welcome to the world of radical Islam, where you cannot speak your mind if it disagrees with their belief. They don't predict protest or boycott like we would here. No, it's "deadly violence."

"A day of anger" might be a lesson to all of us about the level of tolerance there.

The Washington Post Defends Toles Cartoon That Drew Angry Protest Letter from Joint Chiefs....

and Tom Doles doesn't "regret what he drew." Big surprise. There simply is no shame.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Warning! Religious Alert!

I found this beautiful quote surfing around the blogs. I wanted to share it because I truly believe it too.

God's grace and desire for us is like sunlight -- it falls on everything and everyone equally. We are all people who live in a deep wood, building our houses and keeping close to ourselves, protecting ourselves from all interference. Some few of us tire of this protected living, tire of the darkness of the self-contained gloominess of our own fabricated identities. We wander abroad far from the things that own us -- mostly in shadow but occasionally in the dappled light of a thinner part of the wood. And then, all of a sudden, we stumble into a wide open green, no trees, no houses, no barriers, no protection. We are immersed in sunlight, completely enveloped in light. For some the experience is too intense and there is a retreat to the cool darkness of the wood. But for others, the light is the source of endless delight and a sort of rueful torment -- that it had taken so long to emerge into the light.

God's grace bathes us all. It provides whatever light there is in the dark wood. And when we give up our love of darkness and seek to emerge, we will suddenly discover ourselves whole and entire in the midst of Him.
via Happy Catholic

I do love Peggy Noonan.

Because we think alike. Democrats should heed this:

"But the Democratic Party seems to be near imploding, and for that most humiliating of reasons: its meaninglessness. Republicans are at least arguing over their meaning.

The venom is bubbling on websites like Kos, where Tuesday afternoon, after the Alito vote, various leftists wrote in such comments as "F--- our democratic leaders," "Vichy Democrats" and "F--- Mary Landrieu, I hope she drowns." The old union lunch-pail Democrats are dead, the intellects of the Kennedy and Johnson era retired or gone, and this--I hope she drowns--seems, increasingly, to be the authentic voice of the Democratic base.

How will a sane, stable, serious Democrat get the nomination in 2008 when these are the activists to whom the appeal must be made?

Republicans have crazies. All parties do. But in the case of the Democrats--the leader of their party, after all, is the unhinged Howard Dean--the lunatics seem increasingly to be taking over the long-term health-care facility. Great parties die this way, or show that they are dying."

To my fellow Democrats. I don't think this is the way you want your party to be. Can you not see it??? Just as in the Pro-life/Pro-choice march the difference in the activists were stark. You may not be like them, but you are letting them take over your party.

via Kobayashi Maru

If I were Saddam I would be ashamed to show my face too.

San Francisco Chronicle has this:

Baghdad -- A woman described being stripped naked and hanged by her feet, while Saddam Hussein's half brother kicked her in the chest until her ribs cracked.

A former Baath Party guard said he saw documents signed by the ousted president ordering security forces to destroy farms and orchards near the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

It continues:

Testimony from witnesses included graphic descriptions of torture and killings, tales similar to earlier testimony...

Several of the defendants, though not Hussein, were fingered by witnesses as having been present or having participated at various points during the Dujail crackdown, which allegedly included mass killings and the round-up of hundreds of residents suspected of involvement in the attempt on Hussein's life.

via Kobayashi Maru

Every soldier involved in bringing Saddam down should be proud.

I know I am proud of them.


Love Golf?


Looks like Tiger Woods kinda likes Navy Seals.

I'm not into golf, but I have always liked Tiger Woods.

via froggy

The difference between Democrats and Republicans...

explained. Very insightful.

H/T Jeff at BA

Boehner's the one.

Oh Well. Not as bad as Blunt, not as good as Shadegg.

A Jimmy Carter/Hamas Smackdown.

The Captain gives one to Carter, but good.

The key to coming home.

Co. Mike Beech, commander of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4 Infantry Division, hands the ceremonial "key" to Forward operating Base Camp Honor to Col. Mohammed Wasif, commander of the Iraqi's Army 5th Brigade during a transition of authority ceremony. The handover marks another step toward the goal of putting Iraq troops in charge of their nation's security.

via SondraK

As long as I live...

I will never understand this. Ugh.

The "Walk for Life" March and Counter-Demonstration


From Jan. 21st in San Francisco. Dean has some interesting photos of both sides. (one pro-choicer pictured here) Check it out. The 2nd page is more interesting than the first. Compare the sides and let me know what you think.

I have a commenter here, Martha who went. If your reading this shoot me an e-mail with your impressions and what happened. Rightwingsparkle@hotmail.com

Update: Martha says there were "15,000 pro lifers to 150 pro death fanatics."

Boy, you sure couldn't tell that from the media coverage (what there was of it)

The end of collateral damage?

So very cool.

via Ace.

Flight 93

I watched Flight 93 on A&E night before last. To say it was heart wrenching would be an understatement. They did an excellent job on the film of portraying the fear, the horror, and the bravery that day.

My 13 yr old kept asking questions. We forget that our children who were so much younger on 9-11 don't remember the details or what exactly happened. This is important to explain to them so that we NEVER forget what happened that day.

When I think of that day, it is the ones who jumped from the towers that I think of the most. But the phone calls from the plane and the towers also haunt me. When the daughter on flight 93 finally hangs up and the mother is left holding the phone at home knowing that she will never speak to her daughter again, I thought I could barely stand it. I imagined for a moment what I would have felt if my daughter called me like that. Just in the imagining of it, I felt a pain so deep and cruel I could barely stand it. I shook my head of the image.

I thought of how I would have felt if I had been on that plane. If I knew I would never see my children grow up. Again, it was too much, too painful to imagine.

This didn't just happen to us though. Remember the cell phones that rang on the bombed train in Madrid? Imagine calling and calling your loved one. Praying they would answer. The voice saying to leave a message, the voice you will never hear again.

People die every day. War, accidents, disease. But what makes these deaths so awful is that there IS NO REASON and it was deliberate. The terrorists kill innocent people just doing every day things. These aren't people who have ever done anything to the terrorists. It's like a serial killer who kills at random. And we all know that if we don't catch a serial killer he will kill again and again.

For those mad about the war. For those who count the deaths. Don't blame America for a fight we did not start. Blame the ones who TARGET innocent people. Blame those who warned us with the first trade center bombing, the embassy bombings, the U.S.S. Cole bombing. Ignoring them didn't work, did it?

Fighting them and defeating will.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

A Lesson Not Learned.

John Tabin from The American Spectator absolutely nailed why the Democrats looked so stupid last night clapping and standing at Bush saying that Congress did not act on his proposal to save Social Security and Powerline summed it up nicely:

"Bush laid the groundwork early in his speech by criticizing excessive partisanship. The Dems did the rest. In addition to remaining seated at "inopportune times," they played into the president's hands through their bizarre partisan display of ecstasy when the subject of failed social security reform came up. As Tabin puts it, "it was as if Bush said 'we mustn't act like clowns,' and the entire Democratic caucus had shown up in multicolor wigs and greasepaint."

Al Gore might well be president today if he had met the American public's expectations for decorum. And all he did was sigh a few times. There's a lesson there, but the Democrats haven't learned it."

When Defending Saddam is not enough.

Ramesy Clark will now be head of the prosecution at a "mock trial" of George Bush, the US president, and the British and Israeli prime ministers for alleged war crimes committed in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

"The two-day event, set to open on Friday in the Egyptian capital, will be sponsored by the Cairo-based Federation of Arab Lawyers."

Could the left get any nuttier? Seriously. It gets better:

"It will bring together international lawyers and human rights activists including Ahmed Ben Bella, the former Algerian president, and ex-Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad.

Ziad Khasawna, the federation's assistant secretary-general and once Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer, said Nelson Mandela, the former South African leader and anti-apartheid icon, had accepted an invitation to be the chief judge if his health allows him to travel.

Ben Bella and Mohamad are also part of a committee to ensure Saddam's trial is fair."


Nelson. Mandela. I may puke. The same people defending a sick and brutal dictator want to prosecute Bush, the one who took him down. And to top it off a former attorney general of the U.S. will head the prosecution!

Have these people walked through the looking glass?

via Harry's Place

Do Conservatives owe McCain an apology?

Tom at Real Clear Politics wants to know. I think maybe we do.

MCain to endorse Shadegg.

So says NRO. Interesting.

Go Shadegg!!

Imagine being the editor of the Washington Post....

and reading this letter from all 6 of the Joints Chiefs of Staff.

Shadegg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow is the day the House GOP will meet to elect their next majority leader. So please! If you are concerned with the need for reform in Congress, or with the success of the Republican party, contact your Representative and urge them to support John Shadegg, who will commit to real reforms. (The House switchboard is (202) 224-3121 ).

Call now. Yes. Right now. Go. Git. CALL!!!! John Shadegg!!!

Who said this?

"I'm still trying to find out why the president's Gestapo had to arrest Cindy Sheehan in the gallery. ... It shows he still has a thin skin,''

Who would use the word "Gestapo?" Surely some radical left wing anti-war activist, right? Wrong.

It was Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont. Guess there isn't a difference anymore.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

The Democrat's response.



Mark Steyn summed it up pretty good:

"There's A Better Way"? Isn't there a better slogan? I kept wondering whether Governor Kaine's dreary generic reprise applied only to health care for pre-kindergarten or whatever he was talking about, or whether he'd also use it for Iran's nukes. But in the end - as Democrats always do these days - he talked about the war only in terms of Bush's errors. Won't do. When they come up with a "better way" on that, let me know."

I guess I hope the Democrats never get it. It's just sorta painful to watch. (I'm not gonna say a thing about the eyebrow)

I'm hearing..

that Cindy Sheehan got arrested for trying to bring in an anti-war banner into the gallery. But I can't find a link yet.

Here is the link. It wasn't a banner, it was a t-shirt with an anti-war message on it. She was told that that wasn't allowed.

How does one not see that before she went it? Wasn't she searched, as I hope all were???

The SOTU drinking game!

via NRO. Go for it! Pretty funny.

Cindy Sheehan will be in audience at Bush's SOTU speech.

Oh dear. My first thought was "oh no, she is going to make a fool out of herself." Then my second thought was "oh goody, she is going to make a fool out of herself."

Seriously, if she doesn't want to do even further damage to her cause, she will sit politely with no dramatic facial expressions, because the cameras will be trained on her waiting for at least one.

Iranian bloggers.



They don't sound that much different from us. They even care just a bit too much about sports like we do. Here are some excerpts: (you'll have to go to the link for the sports talk)

"I wish God would take this sense of national honour away from us; no, I wish He wouldn't but I wish we'd use it at appropriate times...
Why is it that our planes crash, our buildings collapse at the slightest tremor, our cars burst into flames, we don't have even a half-standard football stadium in the entire country, but when it comes to nuclear energy, it's a national issue?!... Anyway, it smells of war. God help us. Our people have suffered a lot over these past 100 years."


"Mr Ahmadinejad didn't mention in any of his campaign slogans that, if he became president, he intended to remove Israel from the map...
I also don't recall him promising that he'd take the nuclear file to the point of having international sanctions imposed on the country, having the file referred to the Security Council, sacrificing the country's economic interests and war...
What has brought the government to this point today is that it's realised that it's not capable of fulfilling even 55% of its campaign slogans... so it wants to deflect domestic public opinion by creating constant international crises in order to pretend that it's foreigners who are preventing the government from fulfilling its promises
."

"Greetings Mr President! I wanted to congratulate you. God willing, you're on a roll, taking our dear country towards ruin... I won't allow the flames of war, ruin, famine and wretchedness to be lit in my country. I don't want to be shamed any further before the world. I don't want war! I don't want nuclear energy. This oil is more than enough for me."

ht/ Simone

The Cotillion is up!


If you would like some more conservative women's opinions Check out my girls!!

Chris Matthews, a wingnut.

That's right. Chris. Matthews. You have to know when they are calling on Matthews to cool it with rightwing bias, they have completely lost it.

Ugh.

Did you guys see this at NRO? A Gay blog is threatening to out a Republican Senator if he doesn't vote their way today. Disgusting. And I would feel the same way if it were a Democrat Senator. Should blackmail really be a part of our political discourse?

Coretta Scott King R.I.P.



A lovely and gracious lady who never let politics interfere in the great legacy of her husband.

Monday, January 30, 2006

How Will You Remember Ted Kennedy?

Ted Kennedy rants on the floor about Alito. DOWNLOAD - .WMV via Expose The Left

There is something so ridiculous about Kennedy shouting indignation regarding women's rights. He has shown a lifetime of disrespect for women.

That being said, I will tell you a secret, and I will probably get hell for it. I have always felt sorry for Ted Kennedy. Yes, I know that much of the grief in his life has been self-inflicted. His womanizing, his cheating, his drinking, and the death of a young woman. People act out in all kinds of ways against their life. I think this is what he has done his whole life.

First he has heros for brothers. Forever immortalized by assassin's bullets and a war hero's death. A brilliant future for all them taken away and never to be diminished. For in death we cannot make mistakes.

He had a horrible power hungry father who worshiped power and money and never taught his boys to worship anything else. In the wake of his brother's death he experienced one failure after another. His marriage, his chance at the Presidency, his drinking, his women. He watched so many people that he loved die around him. With no faith to hold on to, that can be a burden that I would not wish upon anyone. He has had a dozen lifetimes of sorrow. His tribute at JFK Jr.'s funeral was one of the most touching and profoundly sad speeches I have ever heard.

Now that he has stopped drinking, settled into a decent marriage, I am sure he sees only one chance at respect. He sees himself as the great defender of "the march of progress." He believes it. With every fiber of his being, he believes what he says. Of that I have no doubt. He doesn't do this as Kerry did, for the NOW and NARAL support. He does it so that he can have a legacy as well. He clings to the hope that people will remember him as one who fought the dragons of the right. Who stood up to evil of the Republican party. At least, he tells himself, I did this.

It can be his only legacy after a lifetime of mistakes his brothers never made.

The Left's nightmare.

The one thing that astounded me when talking to the protestors outside Justice Sunday II was the fact that they were convinced that the religious right wanted a theocracy. Surfing around the leftwing blogs I find similar ridiculous beliefs about religious conservatives. Things like the belief that we hate anyone who disagrees with us or that we want some sort of forced religion in the schools or that we would want women who had abortions to go to jail. Consider the reaction to "The Chronicles of Narnia" as pointed out in this article: h/t BigDog

The novelist Phillip Pullman has described CS Lewis' original book as 'one of the most ugly, poisonous things I have ever read'. With the zeal of a veteran cultural crusader Polly Toynbee of the UK Guardian cut straight to the chase: 'Narnia represents everything that is most hateful about religion.'

The author continues:

The liberal elite's obsession with the insidious threat posed by faith-based films is paralleled by its paranoia about the religious right. Anti-religious crusaders, in particular in the US, continually exaggerate the influence of Christianity in culture and politics. Every time I visit America, this fear seems to have worsened. Raising the alarm about Christian fundamentalists has become a taken-for-granted affectation among those who define themselves as liberal or left-wing, who are forever telling horror stories about the power of the religious right.

Look at Theocracywatch.org, whose entire web page is one long scream "The sky is falling! The sky is falling! And the religious is making it fall!!" On it's front page it quotes D. James Kennedy, Pastor of Coral Ridge Ministries as saying "Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost. As the vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors -- in short, over every aspect and institution of human society."

Pastor who? Quoting some unknown pastor as representing the religious right is like quoting your college Marxist professor and saying he represents the left in this country.

Then it has this "chilling" warning:

Today's hard right seeks total dominion. It's packing the courts and rigging the rules. The target is not the Democrats but democracy itself.

It would be funny if I didn't hear pretty much the same thing from leftwing bloggers and even commenters here. It's delusional.

I have lived in 8 different cities. I have attended church in each one. I have never met any Christians that even begin to look anything like the ones the left have nightmares about. I haven't seen anything but compassion for those caught up in sin. My Church has 85 ministries that serve the poor, those in prison, the elderly, and those in crisis pregnancy. There are support groups for those with substance abuse problems, those divorced, widowed, and just about anything else that people have to deal with.

When I lived in Dallas I was a part of a prayer group where women reached out to each other with such love that there was hardly a time I didn't leave there shaken from crying. Crying for those who were suffering and crying for the outpouring of love that was given for the person suffering.

Think about it. If Churches really were like the left likes to paint them, then no one would join, would they? What makes people come to a Church? If there was nothing but hell and judgment being given out, then the church wouldn't last long.

The truth is the religious right is just like anyone else. We care about our children. We want a better society. We see too much that has gone wrong. We see a political agenda being forced on us that contradicts our values. Are we not free to fight for our values as well? Whether one is on the right or left, we both fight for what we want our society to be. The left may fight for abortion rights, gay marriage, and less defense spending. Just as the right will fight for unborn rights, against pornography, and a stronger military. But both sides have a right to fight.

Not believing in God doesn't make you unpatriotic, but believing that those who do believe in God don't have a right to have a say in our government does.

It's nice to see...

that there seems to be no tranquility in the house of the Democrats.

The Counterterrorism Blog...

has a great anaylsis of Zawahiri's videotape released today:

The new Zawahiri videotape released by al Jazeera today shows a sophistication in the propaganda war waged by the Jihadists worldwide against the US and its allies. Designed to "crumble" the morale of the American public and "boost" the commitments of the Jihadi forces, the tape is another attempt to score points in the War of ideas and media. The results were immediate in the West. The Associated Press immediate leads were stunning: 1) Zawahiri proves he wasn't killed by the US strike, therefore he scored one point against the US. 2) He labeled his enemy, the US President, as "butcher of Washington," hence attempting to rally the widest anti-American axis as possible AP lead. But the tape is not just that, another message from the number two in al Qaida. It is a very well orchestrated political offensive aimed at the nervous centers of the "enemy's public. A shot that may preceed action or asking for it. Here are the ingredients:

Read the rest.

Cute Alert.


via Baghdad Girl. A 14 yr old girl in Baghdad who is crazy about cats.

Forget Southpark Conservative...

Now we have Southpark Zionist.

I'll take it. Plenty of room under this tent big guy. As long as you vote Republican, you're good with me.

via harry's place.

Wonders never cease...

Naomi Wolf, feminist news pundit and known for her feminist tract, "The Beauty Myth" had a "come to Jesus" meeting. That's right. She had a vision of Jesus. A spiritual awakening that she is just now talking about.

“I was completely dumbfounded but I actually had this vision of … of Jesus, and I’m sure it was Jesus.” Anticipating a raised eyebrow, she adds quickly: “But it wasn’t this crazy theological thing; it was just this figure who was the most perfected human being – full of light and full of love. And completely accessible. Any of us could be like that. There was light coming out of him holographically, simply because he was unclouded. But any of us could become that as human beings.”

She has been afraid to talk about it:

The experience has made her happier than ever. She’s anxious about the repercussions of going public on her life-altering moment, but insists that her commitment to feminism remains as strong as ever . “ I don’t want to be co-opted as the poster child for any religion or any agenda,” she adds. “ There are a lot of people out there just waiting for some little Jewish feminist to cross over. I so much want to distance this from Christianity. It has nothing to do with any religion whatsoever.” But in the meantime Wolf has been doing some intensive reading about what the rabbi Jesus had to say, as a Jew “not as this whole Christian construct but as a teacher and a social activist, as a rabbi and as a healer.

Heaven forbid that those she has argued against for so many years on T.V. could actually be right. (Check out Charmaine's discussion with Naomi on the Today Show. Click on the "Today" icon.)

I've watched Noami for many years and always felt there was a desperate sense to please, but also a passion for things. I sincerely wish her the best in her spiritual journey. We all climb that mountain in one way or another.

via The Dawn Patrol

NSFW!

But only because you will laugh so hard people will come out of their offices to see if your ok.
Here and here.

I warned ya!

via the ever funny himself, Jeff at BA.

Howard Dean blows through DNC cash.

Hey, it's the Democrat's way. If it's somebody else's money, throw it around like old corncobs to pigs. Why not?

Missed Opportunity? No More.

The Captain brings us this:

"Debra Burlingame, the sister of one of the pilots murdered on 9/11, writes in today's OpinionJournal about the way we have changed our attitude about 9/11 and the failures of law enforcement and intelligence to "connect the dots" that could have prevented part or all of the terrorist plot. She rails against the politicization of the PATRIOT Act and the NSA intercept program, which the 9/11 Commission not long ago called on the administration to provide."

Here is a telling excerpt:

"NBC News aired an "exclusive" story in 2004 that dramatically recounted how al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar, the San Diego terrorists who would later hijack American Airlines flight 77 and fly it into the Pentagon, received more than a dozen calls from an al Qaeda "switchboard" inside Yemen where al-Mihdhar's brother-in-law lived. The house received calls from Osama Bin Laden and relayed them to operatives around the world. Senior correspondent Lisa Myers told the shocking story of how, "The NSA had the actual phone number in the United States that the switchboard was calling, but didn't deploy that equipment, fearing it would be accused of domestic spying." Back then, the NBC script didn't describe it as "spying on Americans." Instead, it was called one of the "missed opportunities that could have saved 3,000 lives."

Thank God Bush won.

The Act of a Desperate Senator.

But it wouldn't be the first time, would it?

The Commander In Chief...,

also known as "Please let Hillary Win in '08" series looks like it might be going the way of "The Book Of Daniel," also know as "Let's See How Hypocritical We Can Make Christians Look" series.

Nice.

via Blogs for Bush.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

A Brief Life.

Patrick sent me this article. As I read it I remembered a girl I helped many years ago and her story was almost exactly the same.

Angelina was told at the county hospital that her baby had Anencephaly and would die within hours of birth and it was better to abort her now. Angelina's sister came to me for information. She knew I was pro-life and had materials with photographs of the unborn child. I gave them to her and told her to tell Angelina that even though her baby was destined to die whether she decided to abort or give birth, at least with giving birth she would always know she wasn't the one who decided the baby's fate. That a natural death was far different from a deliberate one at a Doctor's hands. What I didn't realize was what Rosa (the baby) would give her parents in those few hours of her life.

The doctors and nurse at the County hospital were angry at Angelina for choosing to give birth. Abortion was a much easier way to go. They treated Angelina as ignorant because she was poor and Hispanic. This would cost more money they insisted, but I assured Angelina that they could gripe all they wished, but it was her decision.

The day she gave birth and her beautiful daughter, Rosa, was born, the whole family had gathered. The staff handed the baby to Angelina without cleaning it. Her sister called me immediately and I asked to speak to the nurse. I told her that if she didn't get that baby properly cleaned and wrapped in a blanket as they did all other baby's in about 15 seconds I was going to call the local news and anyone else I thought might be interested. I WAS TICKED. Trust me when I say, I don't get ticked often and it takes a lot to do so, but when I do......you don't want to be on the other end of my rage.

The baby was cleaned and handed back to Angelina. She told me later that it was the most perfect looking baby she had ever seen. Anencephaly is easily covered with a cap and then the baby looks normal. Her eyes open and she gurgles just like any other baby. The whole family spent about 12 hours loving and holding her and then she died peacefully in her mother's arms. The mother told me that she would always be grateful for those 12 hours and it literally changed her life. She appreciates everything in her life now. She feels a great need to be a better person for Rosa.

Would have it been easier to abort Rosa? Perhaps for the doctors and hospital. A hidden grisly procedure and then everyone goes home. But life sometimes gives us harder, but infinitely better choices.

Life matters. Life changes us. Even the very brief ones.

"A Moral Awakening"

The Guardian has this: (emphasis mine)

"A majority of women in Britain want the abortion laws to be tightened to make it harder, or impossible, for them to terminate a pregnancy.

Evidence of a widespread public demand for the government to further restrict women's right to have an abortion is revealed in a remarkable Observer opinion poll. The findings have reignited the highly-charged debate on abortion, and increased the pressure on Tony Blair to review the current time limits.

The survey by MORI shows that 47 per cent of women believe the legal limit for an abortion should be cut from its present 24 weeks, and another 10 per cent want the practice outlawed altogether. Among the population overall, reducing the upper limit was the preferred option backed by the largest proportion of respondents, 42 per cent, made up of a 36-47 per cent split among men and women.

Only one person in three agreed that 'the current time limit is about right', with slightly fewer women (31 per cent) than men (35 per cent) saying that. Just 2 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men think the last possible date after which a woman can end a pregnancy should be increased from 24 weeks.

The leader of the 4.1 million Catholics in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, called on politicians last night to heed the evidence of a growing demand for a rethink on abortion policy, to include The Observer's findings. 'There has been a moral awakening over the last few years about abortion; the British public have been undergoing a reality check,' said his spokesman, Dr Austen Ivereigh. 'The Cardinal sees in this moral awakening a growing unease with, and erosion of, the idea of abortion as simply a woman's right.'

Increased awareness of the realities of abortion, and the impact of ultrasound images of a 23-week-old foetus smiling and grimacing, have made people change their views, said Ivereigh. The latter 'very dramatically showed that what had been depersonalised in many people's minds as a foetus was clearly seen to be a baby, a human being in formation, and that has come as a shock to many people', he added..."

Wow. If British women can can be "awakened" to this horror maybe it's possible that Democrats can be as well.

via Michelle Malkin

Munich 2 "I Regret Nothing"

Looks like Spielberg has the makings for a sequel.

Senator Sheehan?



In case you missed it, Cindy Sheehan let Dianne Feinstein know that if Feinstein didn't support the filibuster against Alito that she would run against her for her seat. Dianne caved in, but that didn't change Cindy's mind:

Cindy Sheehan, the peace activist who set up camp near President Bush's Texas ranch last summer, said Saturday she is considering running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein to protest what she called the California lawmaker's support for the war in Iraq.

"She voted for the war. She continues to vote for the funding. She won't call for an immediate withdrawal of the troops," Sheehan told The Associated Press in an interview while attending the World Social Forum in Venezuela along with thousands of other anti-war and anti-globalization activists.

"I think our senator needs to be held accountable for her support of George Bush and his war policies," said Sheehan, whose 24-year-old soldier son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004

via The Captain.

I'm thinking the above pic with Cindy locking lips with Hugo Chavez might make it into the campaign. via LGF

Let them rant....

Powerline touches on why I think the Kos crowd will never let the Democrats win:

Jim VandeHei at the Washington Post reports on the attack of the angry leftist bloggers on liberal Democrats who are trying to broaden (or at least prevent further erosion of) the party's appeal to mainstream voters. The piece includes this quote from Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic operative and lobbyist:

The bloggers and online donors represent an important resource for the party, but they are not representative of the majority you need to win elections. The trick will be to harness their energy and their money without looking like you are a captive of the activist left.

At one level, Elmendorf is merely describing the perennial balancing act that both political parties must engage in -- keep the base happy without alienating swing voters. Although both parties occasionally trip up, the task is far from insurmountable, particularly when a party has been out of power for awhile. What's unique about the situation the Democrats find themselves in now is the unhinged nature of the base and the juvenile "power"-crazed nature of the bloggers who speak for a portion of it.

Indeed, as if on cue, Kos threw a temper tantrum, responding to Elmendorf by referring to him as a sleazebag amoral lobbyist, and by threatening to "out" any Democratic politician who associates with him. As a political operative, Kos makes a good ACT-UP activist.

Moving beyond bluster into question-begging, Kos added, "There's nothing 'extreme left' with demanding Democrats act like Democrats." But Democrats have never acted like Kos and his Kiddie Korps.

Exactly. And as long as they seem to control the votes of the Democrats, the Democrats will lose. Why do you think Kerry ranted about a filibuster for Alito, a clearly qualified judge? One can see why he would vote against him, but filibuster? Shouldn't that be reserved, if ever used, for the most unacceptable?? But Kerry knew that if he didn't' garner the favor of NOW, NARAL, and the Kos kids, then he would lose his support for '08, which in his caviar and champagne induced illusion, he still thinks he has a chance at the nomination.

ABC News has this:

Jan. 29, 2006 — "World News Tonight" co-anchor Bob Woodruff and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, were seriously injured after their convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device in Taji, Iraq, today.

Woodruff and Vogt are undergoing surgery at the U.S. military hospital in Balad. Both men suffered head injuries. Woodruff sustained shrapnel wounds and Vogt was hit by shrapnel in the head and suffered a broken shoulder.