American Fighter Jet shoots down an Iranian drone

From Blackfive:

Those always helpful Iranians have continued to show why President Obama thinks they will be excellent partners for peace. Noah Shactman sends a scoop on our taking out an Iranian bird flying over Iraq.

An American fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone as it was flying over Iraq, U.S. military sources in Baghdad tell Danger Room.....Iran has built an array of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. The pneumatically launched Ababil ("Swallow") has a wingspan of more than 10 feet, and cruises at 160 knots, according to Globalsecurity.org. The Mohajer or Misrad ("Migrant") drone is a bit smaller, and slower-flying.

Update: News Story here.

"The End Is Near!"

Nah, I don't really believe that, but between Glenn Beck's daily "the end is near" show and Peggy Noonan's piece in the WSJ, where she describes a "pandemic of fear," it's difficult not to keep my usual sunny optimism going.

There is no doubt that people I know personally, as Peggy does, are stashing cash in their homes, buying guns, and setting up a "if it all goes to hell" emergency plan. I get e-mail every single day referring to it.

People are scared. I don't think anyone expected everything to go so bad so quickly. Just within my own extended family there are layoffs, lost health benefits, and devastating losses in retirement. There is this sense that something bad is right around the corner.

It doesn't help when the Gitmo Five put this chilling statement:

“We are terrorists to the bone,” the Guantanamo detainees proclaimed. Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, and his four comrades consider the charges that they slaughtered nearly 3,000 Americans to be “badges of honor, which we carry with pride.”

And we are going to put these guys exactly where when Obama closes Gitmo?

It also doesn't help when violence at our border increases and is being ignored by our government.

Then there is President Obama. Douglas Schoen and Scott Rasmussen write in today's WSJ: (via NRO)

Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama's net presidential approval rating — which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve — is just six, his lowest rating to date.

The thing that is worse about Obama's falling poll numbers, which otherwise would be just the normal flow of things for a new President, is that people had such "hope" that he would bring about such "change."

But that hasn't been what we have gotten. He promised bi-partisanship, and then gave only lip service to Republicans. He promised a more moderate way of governing, and then proceeded in his first month to offend pro-life Americans by reversing orders and having taxpayer money pay for abortions overseas, and funding embryonic stem cell research, and his signing of FOCA, which will wipe away all reasonable restrictions on abortion, including parental notification of a minor seeking an abortion, is only a matter of time.

It was also frustrating that so many of Obama's appointees seldom seemed interested in paying their taxes at a time Obama seems determined that the successful pay more.

Obama promised no earmarks and he proceeded to sign a spending bill with 8000 of them. He promised bills would be online for five days for the public to see them before they are voted on. Didn't happen. He promised no lobbyists in his administration. Didn't happen. He said he would never tax the poor, yet starting April 1st there will be a 61 cent tax increase on cigarettes knowing that the majority of smokers are the working poor.

I think people are depressed that this wasn't a man who was really different. That he was, after all, just a politician like the rest of them. There is a lot of disappointment out here.

I wish I could say that I also don't carry this sense of unease within me. I wish I could say that things will get no worse. But what I really feel is that this will be a time for all of us to step up to the plate and help those in own families to get through these hard times. If you have a job and your brother doesn't, then you help him get through without turning to the government. This is how we get through this. Together.

We, as conservatives, know that the government isn't the answer. We are the answer. Now is the time to prove that.

Calling all from North Carolina!!

You guys know that I am all about bringing minorities into our party. The best way to do this is to elect, appoint, and support good strong conservative minorities.

Meet Timothy F. Johnson. He is seeking office as North Carolina's GOP Vice Chairman. The purpose of the NCGOP leadership is to provide effective party programs and resources to elect Republicans at every level in our state. As a 21 year US Army veteran, Timothy understand in detail the importance of bringing individuals who represent a variety of ideals to the table in order to accomplish the overall objective. It is time we work together as a unified party to elect Republicans throughout the state of North Carolina. How you can help:

You can vote for him at the North Carolina State Republican Party's Annual Convention, June 12-14 at the Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, NC Alternatively, you can donate to his cause http://www.ncgopvicechair.com/ Contact: Jean Louis Thompson(828) 582-7990jlthompson@NCGOPViceChair.com

More here.

The time is now my Republican friends. It's time we take back our party.

More on the immorality of embyronic stem cell research

From Steve Chapman at Reason Magazine:

"This order," said the president, "is an important step in advancing the cause of science in America" and "protecting free and open inquiry." Harold Varmus, co-chairman of the president's scientific advisory council, said it showed the president would rely on "sound scientific practice ... instead of dogma in developing federal policy."

But one person's dogma is another one's ethical imperative or moral principle. Science can tell us how to build a nuclear weapon. But science can't tell us whether we should use it.Just because research may be useful in combating disease doesn't mean it's ethically acceptable. The infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment—in which the federal Public Health Service secretly withheld treatment from infected black men to learn more about the disease—might have yielded valuable data. But no scientific discovery could possibly have justified it.

This is a perfect example. We experimented on those that we really didn't think mattered in society that much. We took their life and experimented with it thinking that the ends justified the means. It was wrong and evil then, and it's wrong and evil now. It is immoral to experiment on human life. Period.

Research on embryonic stem cells is controversial because it requires the destruction of live human embryos. Supporters find it easy to minimize the significance of this fact because the embryos are only a few days old—nothing more than "blastocysts."

But if it's OK to destroy 5-day-old embryos to further scientific inquiry, is it OK to destroy embryos that are five weeks old? Five months? Eight months? Science can't answer that question.You don't have to be part of the pro-life movement to have qualms about this kind of scientific inquiry. James Thomson, the University of Wisconsin biologist who pioneered the field, has said, "If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough." The president's new order suggests we shouldn't think too much.

The thing that I have noticed about men's immorality, is that nature usually has it's way in explaining how and why things are wrong. Even without a belief in God, nature herself has a moral code, so to speak.

We thought that we could be as promiscuous as we wanted to. The 60's brought free love and, the birth control pill. We thought we could have sex with who wanted and however many we wanted, with no consequences. But nature told us we were wrong. Sexually transmitted diseases run rampant now, even in our young. Many of these leave women sterile and some even cause cancer. AIDS was discovered in the early 80's to remind us of the consequences of multiple partners and, of course, despite the pill, we felt we still needed abortion because if you were having sex with someone you didn't want to be the father of your child, then there had to be a way out.

And on top of all this, is the deep emotional damage done to all who bought the lie of free love. We are a people in dire need of a compassionate forgiving God who can take away our pain.

Luckily for us, we have one.


No doubt, we will continue to experiment on human life, just as we will continue to destroy our unborn children. We are a selfish lot. But nature always has a way of reminding us that actions have consequences.

Update: Bill Clinton doesn't understand human biology. Good grief.

Kidnapped

Just got this from Michael Yon:

Few people realize that New York Times journalist David Rhodes was kidnapped in Afghanistan back in November. There were a few scattered stories early on, but big reporting apparently has been squashed. In December, during a trip with Secretary Gates, I asked a New York Times reporter if she knew the status of the situation. The story had been kept so quiet that she didn’t actually know the kidnapping had occurred. The information came to me from several sources some weeks after the kidnapping in Afghanistan. I sat on the information, but there are a growing number of snippets on the web, and it can safely be said that the word is out. One extremely well placed Pentagon source told me in December that Rhodes is believed to have been moved to Pakistan.

I had no idea about this guy, did you?

Isn't this kind of big? Why is the NYT's keeping quite about this. Please don't say it's because of National Security or anyone's safety, because they proved long ago they care little for either.

More here.

This and That

My kids are on spring break this week and I had a bunch of meetings so we couldn't go anywhere, and you all know how I need my beach fix, so I'm not happy about that.

Anyway, that's my excuse for not blogging much and it reminds me of why I could never have done this when my kids were younger.

Just some things I've noticed today. Pres. Obama and the Dems have decided to spend their precious time going after Rush Limbaugh and the talking point "I want him to fail" is being repeated ad nauseum. Socialistic policies will fail of course, they always do. But in a flashback news story Fox News reports when Carville said straight out (ironically on 9-11) that he wanted Pres. Bush to "fail." He was not a radio talk show host though, but a democratic political strategist.

The whole thing is silly, and I find it incredible that Obama ever even mentioned Rush. It would have been like Bush mentioning Bill Mahr. It really is beneath what he is........the President. I think Obama needs to remember that and stop campaigning. I even see that my favorite liberal, Camille Paglia, an Obama supporter, is trying to get Obama to reign in his little flying monkeys:

"The orchestrated attack on radio host Rush Limbaugh, which has made the White House look like an oafish bunch of drunken frat boys."

Isn't it ironic that Congress slaps around bank presidents for flying to Washington when Pelosi uses our military aircraft as her own private jet?

In case you were wondering what the whole thing about The Employee Free Choice Act is about David Freddoso at NRO explains:

The Employee Free Choice Act would take away employers’ right to insist on elections — as soon as half of a company’s employees signed the cards, the union would represent the entire work force. Further, if the employer and the new union couldn’t come to a contract agreement within 90 days of negotiations, the two parties would have to enter mediation. After another 30 days, the parties would enter binding arbitration, meaning that a government-appointed arbiter (or panel) could force both sides to accept a contract. This provision would essentially eliminate any incentive for unions to enter labor negotiations in good faith.

This is also about Dem payback to the Unions. Small businesses will especially suffer here. It looks like Specter may once again be our betrayer. Go Toomey Go!

It's more than past time to fumigate our party from leaders that do not hold dear our most basic principles, and to bring forward those who do. Like this one:

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is expected Wednesday to become the first governor to formally reject some of the federal stimulus money earmarked by Congress for his state.
The move will cement Sanford's growing reputation as a political powerhouse among Republican party stalwarts nationwide — though how much of the estimated $8 billion in stimulus funds destined for South Carolina will be affected is unclear. The law allows state legislative leaders to accept funds the governor rejects.


Finally, Jake Tapper, of all people, points out Obama's biggest lie of all:

Then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., one year ago this week, swooped in from the campaign trail to — along with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. — vote for an amendment to impose a one-year moratorium on earmarks for fiscal year 2009.

All three then-presidential candidates voted for the amendment,offered by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-SC.

It failed: 71 NAYs, 29 YEAs.

Candidate Obama said then "we can no longer accept a process that doles out earmarks based on a member of Congress’ seniority, rather than the merit of the project. We can no longer accept an earmarks process that has become so complicated to navigate that a municipality or non-profit group has to hire high-priced D.C. lobbyists to do it. And we can no longer accept an earmarks process in which many of the projects being funded fail to address the real needs of our country."

Today, of course, President Obama will sign into law more than 8,000 earmarks for FY 2009, part of the $410 billion omnibus spending bill.

via NRO

When it all goes to hell......

I'm finding me a Mormon.

I'm not kidding! Scroll through. They are amazingly ready.

Obama lied on stem cell research

Krauthammer’s Take [NRO Staff]

From last night’s All Stars.

On Obama’s executive order on stem cell research:

What Obama is doing is he's expanding the range of the federal funding of research involving embryonic stem cells. He is allowing the use of embryos that were created in fertility clinics and are not going to be used anymore.

Now, I supported that when I was on the president's council of bioethics and in my writing, which I suppose is why the White House invited me to the signing ceremony.

But I declined for three reasons. One is the president has left open the cloning of human embryos in order to destroy them in experiments. Secondly, he leaves open the creation of human embryos entirely for the purpose of research and experimentation.

And thirdly, he had a memorandum which he signed in which he talks about restoring the scientific integrity in government decisions, which is an outrageous attack on Bush.

I disagreed with where Bush ended up drawing the line on permissible research, but he gave in August of 2001 the single most morally serious presidential speech on medical ethics ever given, and Obama did not, even though I agree on where — I agree more on where he ended up.

So I think it was disrespectful. And in pretending, as Obama did, that there's never a conflict between ethics and science, he was wrong.

I suspect that they're not going to be asking me to any more signing ceremonies in the future.

This is a man deeply involved in this issue because of his own disabilities. I have great respect for him and always have. Even when I have disagreed with him (and I do on the use of embryo's for experimentation, even those from fertility clinics, which are a horror in and of themselves, but that is a different post), I have always listened carefully because he is one of the most intelligent men I know of.

................................

If what he is saying is true, that Obama has left the door open for cloning and creating embryo's for the sole purpose of experimentation, then Obama just flat out lied to the American people in his address on the issue. Are we getting used to that yet?

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It seems every move Obama makes either plunges our economy deeper into a morass or he emboldens the culture of death.

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The thing that the msm seems to hardly mention is that embryonic stem cell research HAS continued during the Bush years. Bush DID NOT ban it, he only banned federal funds from funding it. And since we HAVE SO MUCH EXTRA MONEY NOW, why not use taxpayer money to fund something that offends so many of us?

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Bush also allowed federal funding for research on 60 lines of embryonic stem cells.

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And in those years of experimentation, Adult stem cells (and other stem cells) have proven to be much more useful, and embryonic stem cells have proven to be much less so. But don't let that get into the way of a culture determined to undermine those of us who believe in a culture of life.

E-Verify

Most Americans don't even know this happening. I meant to post on it earlier and forgot (from e-mail):

URGENT-WE ALL MUST CALL TODAY!! MONDAY, MARCH 09, 2009. THE VOTE WILL PROBABLY HAPPEN TONIGHT OR TOMORROW. CAN YOU MAKE ONE PHONE CALL TODAY? JUST ONE??

From www.numbersusa.com. Please go to the website for the full story. Here is the short version.

Your phone calls to your Senators are especially important today to ensure that E-Verify opponents don't kill the 5-year re-authorization by just "running out of time. Call your Senators now at 202-224-3121. Check www.numbersusa.com for talking points, and here are a few suggestions:

Do NOT vote for "cloture" (cloture= to terminate debate by calling for a vote) to shut off debate on the Omnibus before the E-Verify amendment comes up for a vote.

A vote for cloture before an E-Verify vote will be graded by NumbersUSA as a vote AGAINST E-Verify and a vote FOR hiring illegal aliens.

Because of your activism, Sen. Sessions' Amendment 604 to the Omnibus Bill (HR 1105) is on the list of amendments to be debated and voted on tonight and tomorrow. Please call your Senator to urge them to support E-Verify! Go to: www.numbersusa.com.

Since December of 2007, 4.4 million jobs have been lost while the federal government continues to bring in approximately 1.5 million foreign workers per year. Go to: www.numbersusa.com for a fast and effective ways to help.

The jobless rate jumped to 8.1% according to numbers released by the Labor Department this morning. It's the highest rate since 1983. Another 651,000 jobs were cut in the month of February. We Need Immigration Reform and We Need To Start With E-Verify!!! Please share this information with everyone you know and call today. Go to: www.numbersusa.com. They make it very easy and quick. If we all made one phone call think of the impact we would have. to tell your representatives what

There are now 12.5 million unemployed American workers, these people need Legal Immigration Rocks!! Illegal Immigration is, well ILLEGAL!!!
your help and one phone call could make the difference in their lives.

Embarrassing and Rude

I watched Glenn Beck today as he discussed the enormous gaffes and insults the Obama's made toward our greatest ally, Great Britain, in how they treated the Prime Minister and his wife while they were here.

I had read the stories from London, but I heard Beck had said that our media was pretty much ignoring it, so I came home and googled it in the news and found, astonishingly, that he was right. Imagine if this had been a Republican? Oh dear Lord, it would have been all we would have heard about.

The New York Post managed to sum it up:

London newspapers are howling over a string of alleged snubs by Obama to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his visit to Washington last week — including a squabble over presidential gift-giving.

"President Obama has been rudeness personified towards Britain," sniffed The Daily Telegraph Friday. "His handling of the visit of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to Washington was appalling."

The list of complaints is longer than the Magna Carta: Obama canceled a planned, podium-to-podium news conference with Brown (actually, none was ever scheduled) Excuse me, but isn't that even MORE insulting???

The London paper declared that the gifts to the Brown family were "about as exciting as a pair of socks."

After Brown presented Obama with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President (whose sister ship, HMS Resolute, provided the wood for the Oval Office's desk), Obama offered up ... 25 DVDs of American movie classics.

"Oh, give me strength," wrote one appalled Daily Telegraph staffer. "We do have television and DVD stores on this side of the Atlantic."

Oh, did I mention that our DVD's don't play in their players? Different configuration of some kind. The White House have people in charge of making sure things like this don't happen. Where were they? Helping out at the Treasury Dept where they are woefully shorthanded?

...........................

Equally insulting, decided the Times of London, was Michelle Obama's "solipsistic" and "inherently dismissive" gifts to the Browns' two little boys, Fraser and John.
The offending souvenirs? Toy models of Marine One, the President's helicopter — gifts no doubt plucked from the White House gift shop at the last minute, The Times decided.
Brown's wife, Sarah, by contrast arrived with dresses for Sasha and Malia from the UK's trendy Top Shop (with matching necklaces) and a selection of books by British authors.
"A bit of thought had clearly gone into choosing them," crowed The Daily Mail. "Lovely."

Beck also reported that Obama gave back to England a bust of Winston Churchill that we received on 9-11 as a show of unity.

Good grief.

I may disagree with Obama on a great many things, but I never thought him as classless. Until now.

The State of The Union By Me

I was determined to ask Sen. John Cornyn a question that he had never been asked before. I told him to let me know when that happened. I finally got there when I asked this; "If George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin suddenly appeared at the Capitol, what do you think they would think about how we are taking care of the country and the liberty they founded?"

Cornyn said that he thought they would be proud that this country has survived as long as it has and prospered. He also thought they would be alarmed by what they would see as some erosion's of the free market they created, in particular in regard to the judiciary to re-write the constitution.

I couldn't agree more. In my view, I think that we have forgotten that this is a government "of the people, by the people." We have allowed black robed activists to misuse and abuse the constitution. We have allowed the executive branch to ignore the will of the people, and we have made the Presidency a popularity contest.


We let activists and politicians take the belief of our founding fathers that we would never become a theocracy or allow a government to tell it's people what religion to follow, and warp that into believing that public faith has no place in the public square.


In the most profound way, we have lost the meaning of the following statement in our declaration of Independence:


We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.


Our forefathers would never approve of a nanny state. These men crossed an ocean, left a country and their former lives behind to begin, against all odds, a grand experiment that produced the most free and most prosperous nation on earth.

Last March I stood at the National Archives and gazed upon our Constitution. It's words are disappearing. Literally. My eyes filled with tears because it seemed to be a metaphor.

Republicans don't have the answers to our problems. Democrats clearly do not have the answer to our problems. But we don't need new answers. All that we really need to know and understand about governing can be found in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. This is where we have gone horribly wrong, and what Sen. Cornyn was referring to. We should have always adhered to the original intent or meaning of our Constitution. To not do so brings in politics that literally changes and distorts it.


Did our founding fathers ever imagine, in their wildest dreams, this bloated over reaching government that is involved in almost every aspect of our lives? Could they ever have imagined how everything we touch, everything we earn, would be taxed?

They certainly could never have imagined in their nightmares"a right to privacy" found in the Constitution that would approve of the destruction of our children.

Imagine they returning to find all the diseases we have cured that have allowed most parents to go a lifetime without ever having a child die? A common thing in their day. All that grief taken away with our modern medicine. How astounded and thrilled they would be with that! But then to discover that instead of appreciating this and understand the true meaning of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we allowed our country to destroy that which makes it most precious, our children.

People oftn accuse of me of being a "one issue" voter. Maybe so. When that issue defines us fundamentally, then yes. It tells us who we are and what isn't or is important to us. If the value of human life does not matter to us, then what are we really left with?

There is a saying, "The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world." But if that hand is manipulated, assured, and convinced that the cradle can be empty, then we are a people lost.

How long will we remain lost? How long before we reap what we sow?

We have twisted the Constitution to our own means and desires. When we find our way back to it, then we will truly be free again.

Please

Ann Coulter to debate Bill Maher on March 10th in Boston.

Great. The political equivalent of the World Wide Wrestling Federation.

I think I'll pass.

Obama is in over his head...

Gee...ya think?

I suppose the next four years could be a big "I told ya so" from all of us who warned that this charismatic smart man was not ready for the Presidency. Barely 2 yrs as a Senator with zero business experience, and zero foreign policy experience, and this is what we get.

Hillary tried to warn everyone, but the Democrats and many others in the country were besotted with the image of Obama. Politico's reporting of Obama's reliance on teleprompters is another indication that he is so overwhelmed he can't even think on his feet.

Normally this would be annoying just long enough to elect someone else in four years, try to reverse the damage, and move on. But the chilling truth is that Obama's incompetence is being displayed at a time where some decisions are irreversible. This economy may never bounce back to where we were before. Bigger govt, higher taxes, more social engineering, and more pork is the mess we will all wallow in the next few years. The fear is that we will drown in the muck and never truly recover.

The old adage, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" has never been more apt.