2 American Soldiers captured in Iraq.

Keep them in your prayers folks:

"The two Americans, who were not identified, were taken prisoner at dusk on Friday by a group of masked guerrillas who mounted a surprise attack on their Humvee near the Yusufiya, a town that is a stronghold of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, Iraqis in the area said.
The American command in Baghdad confirmed that two Americans were missing on Friday after insurgents attacked a checkpoint they had set up on a canal crossing near the Euphrates River. One soldier was killed in the attack, which appeared to be an elaborate lure intended to isolate part of the force.
"We are currently using every means at our disposal on the ground, in the air and in the water to find them," said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the spokesman for the American military."

via Ace

Update: Soldiers found dead. It sucks.

A Man Without A Party?

I read that at the "Yearly Kos" convention that the subject that brought out the most passion was replacing Congressman Joe Lieberman with Ned Lamont. Which, by the way, if you want to see a visual on how much the Kossacks hate the truth, check this out. I don't think they even realize how much this illustrates their refusal to face hard facts.

But I digress. David Broder of The Washington Post describes Lieberman as having serious competition with Lamont:

"Sources in Connecticut tell me that momentum in the campaign is mostly with Lamont."

Why would this be the case? Lieberman has been an outstanding Democrat by anyone's measure. So why this challenge? Lieberman says:

"I think we did the right thing in overthrowing Saddam, and I think we are safer as a result," he continued. "Second, while I have been very critical of the Bush foreign policy before the war and the Rumsfeld-Bush policies in Iraq after Saddam was overthrown, I also made a judgment I would not invoke partisan politics on this war."

He goes on:

"My opponent says it broke Democratic unity," Lieberman said. "Well, dammit, I wasn't thinking about Democratic unity. It was a moment to put the national interest above partisan interest."

It boggles the mind that a former Democratic vice presidential candidate, a three-term senator, a former state Senate majority leader and state attorney general who is largely popular nationally would be someone the Democratic primary voters would not want to win. It truly shows how the far leftwing of this party has taken over. It also illustrates that to them nothing is more important than one being against Bush. It doesn't matter if you are right on all other issues and have proven to be an excellent Congressman, Bush hating must come first. If you argue that it's about being against the war I don't buy it because everyone agrees that overthrowing Saddam was a good thing. We don't agree on how and why, which is what Lieberman questions before and after the invasion.

This race will be a very interesting one to watch. If Lamont gets the nomination then Lieberman could run as an independent and would probably win in my opinion. But that would be quite a drastic measure for him to take and the Democrats would lose a influential Democrat to the Independent party.

The Politics of Hypocrisy.

Michelle Malkin remembers the press all over certain rap lyrics from soldiers in Iraq that were looked at quite differently than those of "Hadji Girl" song sung by a Marine. This is how the rapper's lyrics are described by the media: "The sound may be raw, even by rap standards, but it expresses things that soldiers usually keep bottled up."

With the rappers, "It was all about the music." Although it is clear to me that both song lyrics shown are as offensive as the other. And even really say the same thing. Here is a excerpt from the rapper's song that was was so praised by the media:

Killem alls what my heart say
So my finger gladly replies
With a 5.56, or a 7.62
Right between his eyes f*ckem

5 to 55 (what) my bullets don’t discriminate
so if you think that im wrong
get me outta here
you can gladly take my place f*ckem

chorus

this is war round here
when we see um f*ckem
everybody on the streets
when we see um f*ckem

they callin cease fires
but they keep firin f*ckem
I got no love for them P*ssy n*ggaz here f*ckem

Can someone tell me the difference between the "Hadji Girl" song lyrics and these, except for the fact that at least in the 'Hadji Girl" lyrics it is clear that the Marine was joking???

Look, I don't like either lyrics. I hate crude rude language of any kind. But the hypocrisy of this is astounding.

The Politics of Indictments.

Michael Barone has an excellent article on the criminalization of politics.

The announcement that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald would not seek an indictment of Karl Rove left not only the left side of the blogopsphere and Democrats in Washington in a funk, but I'm betting it also left the key players feeling some pain. I was reading this month's Vanity Fair and Dominick Dunne (famous crime writer) included an interesting snippit in his column. He said he was recently walking down 5th avenue in New York and heard someone call his name. It was Joe Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame, whom Dunne had not met previously. This was how Dunne describes the entire meeting after introductions:

"Oh My God," I said. I'd seen pictures of Plame. She is very pretty, and she was smiling and friendly. "Karl Rove was called before the grand jury today, for the fifth time." said Wilson. After a few moments I said, "Congratulations on what you wrote." Then I kissed the no-longer-covert operative, and we went our separate ways.

It is obvious that Wilson and Plame were practically drooling over the prospect of a Karl Rove indictment. Even though as Michael Barone points out:

"Still, it was clear early on that the likelihood that Mr. Rove violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act was near zero. Under the law, the agent whose name was disclosed would have had to have served overseas within the preceding five years (Valerie Plame, according to her husband's book, had been stationed in the U.S. since 1997), and Mr. Rove would have had to know that she was undercover (not very likely). The left enjoyed raising an issue on which, for once, it could charge that a Republican administration had undermined national security. But that rang hollow when the left gleefully seized on the New York Times' disclosure of NSA surveillance of phone calls from suspected al Qaeda operatives abroad to persons in the U.S.

In all this a key role was played by the press. Cries went up early for the appointment of a special prosecutor: Patrick Fitzgerald would be another Archibald Cox or Leon Jaworski. Eager to bring down another Republican administration, the editorialists of the New York Times evidently failed to realize that the case could not be pursued without asking reporters to reveal the names of sources who had been promised confidentiality. America's newsrooms are populated largely by liberals who regard the Vietnam and Watergate stories as the great achievements of their profession. The peak of their ambition is to achieve the fame and wealth of great reporters like David Halberstam and Bob Woodward. But this time it was not Republican administration officials who went to prison. It was Judith Miller, then of the New York Times itself.

Interestingly, Bob Woodward himself contradicted Mr. Fitzgerald's statement, made the day that he announced the one indictment he has obtained, of former vice presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby, that Mr. Libby was the first to disclose Ms. Plame's name to a reporter. The press reaction was to turn on Mr. Woodward, who has been covering this administration as a new story rather than as a reprise of Vietnam and Watergate."

It seems clear to me that since the Democrats couldn't win during elections, they decided that trying to make everything the administration does somehow criminal was the way to go. But I am afraid that backfired a bit. It helps when you accuse someone of being a criminal, that they actually have committed criminal acts. First of all, this undermines (yet again) the press's credibility and it makes the Democrats look like school children intent on revenge. The litany of Bush illegally using the NSA surveillance is a prime example. The American people weren't buying it either. If Tom Delay is cleared of his charges, then then the picture of revenge for revenge sake will be complete for the Democrats. People do not see them as trying to clean up bad behavior, they see them as "getting back" at enemies.

Another problem with this determination to criminalize politics is that it keeps good men and women out of politics. Who needs the hassle? It's one thing to go up against political differences, it is quite another to face criminal charges because you did so.

Birds of a feather?

Breitbart has this:

A reputed leader of the al-Qaida-linked terror group blamed for deadly bombings across Indonesia on Thursday accused President Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard of waging wars against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir also called on Bush and Howard to convert to Islam, saying it was "the only way to save their souls," adding that families still grieving after the 2002 Bali blasts that killed many foreigners should also become Muslim to find "salvation and peace."

It goes on:

Bashir, who has never been linked to the execution, preparation or commission of terrorist attacks, was asked Thursday about families still suffering from the Bali blasts.
He said the attacks "were God's will" and that survivors should "convert to Islam" if they wanted to soothe their suffering.
He had the same message for Bush and Howard, whom he criticized for waging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying converting was "the only way for them to save their souls."

Don't you just love that? He is basically saying that after they bomb innocent people, those loved ones grieving can find peace in the very religion that killed their family and friends.

This part struck me:

Bashir called Bush an "infidel," but said he was happy the American people were starting to realize that their president had made a mistake when he decided to wage war on Muslims. He did not elaborate, but was apparently referring to sliding opinion polls.
"I feel sorry for the American people, but it seems now they realize he was wrong," Bashir told reporters.

Yeah. Just one thing. Not all of us think Bush was wrong. Just a certain "portion" seem to agree with Bashir.

Do we understand this? If you agree with Bashir, you might want to think about the company you keep.

Men like their women with brains? Who knew????

NEW YORK -- A national survey by Esquire magazine finds men more likely to invite Condoleezza Rice to a dinner party than Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson.
The secretary of state was followed by Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie in the survey, which is published in the magazine's July issue.
The 29-question survey polled nearly 1,100 randomly selected men aged 25 and older. The choices came from a list of 14 notable women.

Interesting. Not sure I'm buying it, but there it is.

via Pink is the new blog

Vernon Robinson for Congress.

Or for PRESIDENT! OMG! You guys have GOT to see this campaign commercial. Seriously. Go. NOW!! Too Funny.

I bet he wins.

h/t Cormac

I'm Back!

Thanks so much to Muslihoon, Darleen, and Mrs. Peel for guest blogging for me. I made the rounds visiting my best friends and some family in Dallas with two of my kids who are not working (and that is only because of child labor laws..;-)

I had a wonderful, but exhausting time. I hardly saw the news. I didn't even see Bush in Iraq. I caught it on the blogs when I was surfing quickly at my sister-in-law's house. Pretty dang cool.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me. I'll be up and running tommorrow.

Gay, Pro-life, and Proud.

I'll take it.

via NRO

The Media Just Doesn't Get It.

This is what is called a Blackfive smackdown.

And It shows just how out of touch even the media with journalists on the ground in Iraq can be.

Rove not to be indicted, psychic breaks on the left anticipated

Thanks to the Daves to alerting us to this

WASHINGTON - Top White House aide Karl Rove has been told by prosecutors he won't be charged with any crimes in the investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's identity, his lawyer said Tuesday, lifting a heavy burden from one of President Bush's most trusted advisers.

Meanwhile

Truthout.org -- the one publication to report, repeatedly, that Rove was definitely going to be indicted -- isn't buying it.

I reached Truthout editor Marc Ash on his cel phone this morning. "I wasn't aware that he had said that," he said of Luskin's announcement, but insisted that Truthout was "absolutely" standing by its earlier reporting.

"We've done a lot of work on this story, we've talked to a lot of people," he said, "and some of the people who provided information for the story are absolutely in a position to know."

So if Truthout's reporting -- by correspondent Jason Leopold -- is correct, is Ruskin lying? "Robert Luskin's allegations are in the best interest of his client, not necessarily the press," Ash said. "I think that the information he is providing is directly contradicted by the information we have."

And let's not leave out the wailing and rending of garments found at Delusional Underground

President Bush on in Iraq

... meeting with the Iraqi PM.

The blue-light special...

...in Russia. New Yorkers and Angelinos are miffed at being knocked out of first place.

Painfully sincere Al Gore

George Will

A few years ago a Los Angeles television anchor said: "Dodgers and Angels highlights at 11. Please watch anyway." Some viewers probably thought ABC should have said something like that when announcing Al Gore's extended interview on "This Week" last Sunday.

That's gonna leave a mark.

America Needs to Shut Down Camp X-Ray

The United States need to shut down Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo, Cuba. Yes, shut it down.

The United States need to release all of the prisoners. Yes, release all of the prisoners.

The United States need to release all of their prisoners and transfer all of them to a state allied with The United States, such as Poland, Romania, any other East European country, or even France (as long as they promise not to release any prisoners). If Egypt or Afghanistan or Pakistan or any other Muslim country is up to it, the prisoners can be released to it. From what I have heard about the conditions of its prisons, the prisoners can be released even to the Palestinian Authority.

Then, I am sure, everyone will be very happy. It would be so much better than sitting in an American compound, no?