This from The Smoking Gun:

Another Counter-Coulter Bust

Lewd heckler arrested at conservative's Texas college lecture
MAY 5--Months after members of "Al Pieda" disrupted a campus speech by Ann Coulter, another appearance by the controversial conservative commentator has been disrupted by a protester. During a speech last night at the University of Texas in Austin, a 19-year-old UT student was busted after asking Coulter a lewd question, which he followed up with equally inappropriate hand gestures, according to the below police affidavit. The student, Ajai Raj, was arrested by campus police and hit with a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. The police affidavit notes that Coulter's lecture was attended by "several children under the age of ten," which probably made them particularly sensitive when Raj queried Coulter about the sexual proclivities of certain right-leaning men.

What are we becoming? I mean seriously. I heard on the radio though that Ann had said she wouldn't continue until some burly Republican guys calmed things down and suddenly the aisles were filled with just that.

Heh....You gotta love it.

Yay! I fixed Hello AND I got the pictures bigger (that was driving me crazy) Any pics I have posted that were too small that ya'll want to see again? Let me know.

I think I have the hello picture thingy fixed. Anyway, I almost forgot this was White Trash Wednesday. Caption if you like.

Courtesy Of Alexis Rockman
"Artist Alexis Rockman drew this for the cover of Peter Ward's book "Future Evolution." Titled "Neozoic Era" after the geological time we live in, the piece shows human trash buried by dirt that's become a habitat for super-rabbits that can run great distances, and for dandelions whose spores bombard Earth." (So that's where my socks disappeared to!) Read the article on the evolutionary future of the earth.

This is how one professor sees the future (and it's all because....you guessed it!! - Global warming!)

"..... the real rulers will be rodents — and snakes. The fossil record shows that they have the genetic capability of whipping out new species," says Ward, a biology professor at the University of Washington.

Ok, if this is the future I want off at the next bus stop. I have an idea though. Once we see rats and snakes are starting to "whip out" a new species, how about we go get the garden hoe and start some pre evolutionary chopping them dead.

Read the article and hear the theory of a British geologist who sees the future with no humans and led by a giant land-based squid. (Now, that's a movie idea right there!) How does a squid command power I wonder? Any ideas?

"I Punched Saddam in the Mouth"
Meet Samir, the St. Louis auto mechanic who pulled Saddam Hussein from his spider hole
BY Chad Garrison

This is a MUST READ folks. This was the first soldier to grab Saddam out of his spider hold. He had been a Shiite from the south and was part of the revolution against Saddam in 1991. He told Saddam that he had murdered his uncles and cousins. That he had imprisoned his father.

And then he punched him in the mouth.

A perfectly understandable thing to do. In fact I would have encouraged it. I think he showed restraint actually. But you need to read the rest to find out how he went from being a part of the revolution against Saddam in '91 to being a U.S. soldier and helping to capture Saddam. Also interesting is the Pentagon's reaction to the photos of this man with Saddam at the time of the Capture.

In one part he describes how he had not seen his family since 1991 and so when he finds himself at an airbase near his home his boss makes sure he is driven to his home:

"The next morning Samir hopped on a Humvee for the half-hour drive to his parents' home. The entire neighborhood, some 700 residents, poured into the streets to greet him.

"It was an awesome feeling," he says. "I felt like I was coming with the U.S. forces to free my family. It was the best feeling of my life."

Seriously, this story just ROCKS! Read It! via Beautiful Atrocities

This from Mudville:

FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A military judge asked on Tuesday if Army Reservist Lynndie England, a key figure in the
Iraq prisoner abuse scandal, wanted to withdraw her guilty plea after a witness appeared to indicate she might have trouble telling right from wrong.

So? We had a Democrat President for 8 yrs who couldn't tell right from wrong either and no one seemed to care.

Sorry guys. Flickr is replacing each photo with the most recent photo I post. ARRGGHHH! I am leaving the comments up so you can still comment though.

"We are tired and we have suffered a lot"

"CAPTAIN ED analyzes a captured letter which appears to harshly criticize terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Ed predicts that Zarqawi won't be able to hold out much longer." (Citizen Smash)

"Arabs understand and respect power, but they won't abide a coward or incompetent, and so far it looks like Zarqawi qualifies as both. He's killing Iraqis and Arabs instead of so-called infidels, and even the terrorists know that will spell certain doom for their efforts and themselves, and sooner rather than later." (Capt. Ed)


MORE -- The text of the letter (courtesy AP):

To the sheik Abu Ahmed, may God keep him: (Quranic verses)

I advise myself first and then advise you to fear God in private as in public and that you don't worry about blame from anyone. I urge you that you let nothing stop you from jihad (holy war) for the sake of God ... and that you take refuge in God in all situations, in easy times and in difficult ones. ....
The Islamic nation is waiting for the establishment of an Islamic state that rules by God's laws and carries out his punishments and is waiting for the men who can protect its honor, which is being violated every day. This is the path, but where are the men? We ask God to guide them. What has happened to me (and to?) my brothers is an unforgivable crime. ...

By God, the one and only God, you (will?) ask about what happened to us, because you didn't ask about the situation of the immigrants. ... But morale is weakening and there is (unclear word: either "exhaustion" or "confusion") among the ranks of the mujahedeen, and some of the brother emirs are discriminating among them. God does not accept such actions. ...
What happened is that he (not identified in the text) said: 'Either you carry out a martyrdom operation or you go back home.' We were told that there is an order from the sheik (presumably al-Zarqawi) for us to return. Some of the brothers have returned. Others have signed up to become martyrs. Still others were waiting for God's comfort, but this came after humiliation and rude treatment and many other things. Who can tolerate all this? ...

There are brothers that are oppressed, brothers that are persecuted and brothers that are helplessly jailed with no one to meet with them or to ask about them. The situation is not the way it used to be in Fallujah, when you used to come and visit us and we used to enjoy sitting with you. The situation has completely changed. Thanks be to God for everything.
The most important thing, oh sheik, is that you are there and that you remain a thorn in the mouths of the Americans and a thorn in the mouths of the apostates. May God keep you.

The most important thing is that you don't hear from (only) one side, even if it were the closest person to you. Hear from all sides so that the truth can become clear to you. We have found emirs who are not fit for leadership. We are not the ones who can determine who is fit and who isn't, but we are witnesses of God's people and we are the ones who have experienced and know them. ...

Oh sheik, test those who are below you. Some of them are ... oppressors and some of them are not so.

This is my last request: to meet you, because there are many things that are secret and the truth is that I no longer trust any person who says that he is coming from the sheik's side. We are tired and we have suffered a lot. Thanks be to God.

I ask the great God, the honorable God of the throne, to make his religion victorious and to raise his word and to strengthen his worshippers, the mujahedeen, everywhere and to humiliate all kinds of disbelief in God and to destroy America and its supporters soon without delay.

Abu Asim al-Qusaymi al-Yemeni

It us hard to believe I am reading a letter from 2005 and not some ancient time. These men who blow themselves up in car bombs are like members of a cult. This letter sounds like a cult member. But this is what we are fighting against. Those who clearly want to "destroy America." I hope that their numbers are diminishing, but our world will not be safe until this "thorn" is crushed. There is no doubt of that in my mind.

Runaway Story

Isn't this Runaway Bride thing getting a little out of hand? Good Lord! Fox News had Sean Hannity out in her hometown getting the "exclusive" from her fiancee. Linda Vester featured it on her show today. You can't turn on the news without hearing the "latest."

If I were her, I would run away now. She has already proven herself to be unstable. I suppose making a HUGE news story out of this will help that along, I'm sure. She is probably gulping down Prozac as we speak.

I'm waiting for the big Barbara Walters interview with her.

Enough already.

Wow, the power of the BlogGod. One mention from him and I noticed I got over 1500 hits on my profile in less than ONE DAY. I have no idea how many hits I got to my site since I don't have a sitemeter, but blogspot has some sort of automatic count on how many people actually click on my profile. Crazy, huh?

The Red and Blue of the Catholic Church

This is an excellent article by Chuck Raasch about the divide in the Catholic Church in America on the issues. Speaking of the present Pope (then Cardinal) Raasch says this:

"Last summer, the then cardinal stepped in the middle of a raging political debate in the United States. He declared it a "grave sin" for politicians to favor abortion choice or euthanasia, in effect backing bishops who advocated denying the sacrament to abortion rights supporters like former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Benedict also has advocated "clear and emphatic opposition" to homosexual marriage and called homosexuality a sin. But he also urged that gay men and women be "accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity."

Isn't this exactly what Christ did? He made clear grave sin when he saw it, but he advocated compassion and forgiveness for that sin and for all of God's children. One may not like having a sin pointed out, as I am sure many in the New Testament did not, but if it leads us to a better place then it is important for those who wish to be faithful to know this.

It has long been clear to me that the divide in the Catholic Church in America runs along political "red and blue" lines as well. But the Church is not a democracy. It is a guide to our salvation. We should not expect it to be a "majority rules" kind of institution. This argument has been made well by many of the Southpark Republicans in the blogosphere. They understand that no one forces one to be Catholic. I certainly do not want anyone to leave my Church, but I also think they need to understand the role of the Church. It is to bring us to holiness, not win a popularity contest.

The article points out that for many Catholics in the world social issues such as women priests, abortion, or gay marriage are the last thing they think about. They think about how to feed the poor among them. They think about how to provide healthcare and shelter.

Believe it or not, American Catholics are but a small portion of the 1.1 billion Catholics in the world. Those who fight for change don't seem to see the big picture of the 'universal" Catholic Church.

For example, most Americans think that there is a world wide lack of Priests. They believe that the priesthood has been declining. That may be true in the United States (although even here it is getting better) But the truth is that during the papacy of Pope John Paul the vocation of the Priesthood rose over 10% worldwide. Where the teachings of the Church is taught in it's fullness there is no lack of vocations. But American Catholics seem to think of themselves in a bubble sometimes and that is too bad.

If the media would do it's job and report on this fairly, then both the Republicans and Democrats wouldn't have to spend so much freaking money doing this.

These are the kind of laws we need more of. Yay to Gov. Bush.

What If You Were Murdered?

As is stated in my profile, I am an avid reader. I read everything from politics to religion to literary fiction (my personal favorite) to science fiction. My mom, however, is crime/murder mystery fiction FANATIC. She sends me boxes of books every few months, so I read them as well.

I have noticed a theme in these books that got me to thinking (ohhhh... Such a dangerous thing!) The detectives on a murder case always search through the victims things to discover anything about their personal life that might be connected to their murder. I am sure you have seen the same thing on Law and Order, or CSI, or any of those crime shows that I don't watch. Anyway, it got me to thinking about what a detective would find out about me if I was murdered by going through my nightstand, closet, bookshelf, and computer. What would my friends and family say?

I think it would be an interesting experiment for all of you that are reading this to go into your rooms with a pencil and a paper and write down what is in your nightstand, what you read, what is hidden away in your closet, and on your computer. (yes, even the stuff you think no one knows about) Look at it when you are done and ask yourself what it says about you. I bet you might be surprised at how it might look to a stranger.

I won't bore you with everything I have, trust me....Nothing exciting. But I think the only "different"thing about me is that with all my makeup, bubble bath, bath and bodyworks stuff, and expensive perfume it would be obvious that I am a girly girl. But you would find no women's or beauty magazines in my house. Just political and religious magazines and National Geographic. Also, I have nice clothes but not a lot of clothes. I hate shopping. My closet is well organized because I keep ALL my clothes there. All seasons, all purses and shoes. I have no chest of drawers. I just don't have as much stuff as most women. I like simple things that rarely go out of style. I don't like clutter and I don't like having too much stuff.

I suppose if a detective really wanted to find out about me, all he would have to do is read my blog. Anyway, I thought it might be an interesting experiment if ya'll did it and comment here on what surprised you on how it would look to someone who didn't know you.

We really are never promised tomorrow. So even if you aren't murdered and you just die of natural causes or an accident, what would your relatives find? And what would it say about you? If you find things that make you a bit ashamed, then maybe it's time to get rid of them. Maybe it's time to reassess who you are and who you want to be.

I hope I am not sounding like Tony Robbins/Billy Graham here.....;-) Now go do it. Pencil and paper.....GO!

My Dream.

I have a reoccurring dream about my grandma. She is sitting on the front porch of her house, which is brilliant white set upon a brilliant white hill. I climb the steps and sit beside her on the front porch swing. She smiles at me and I take her hand and lay my head on her shoulder. I say, “I love you grandma.” “I love you too sweetie,” She replies. I look at her. “I miss you so much.” “I’m still here,” she says. “But it’s not the same.” I say sadly. “No. no it isn’t,” She says as she hugs me.

I close my eyes and see flashes of my childhood with her in brilliant color and texture. I see myself picking blueberries for breakfast in the early morning. I see me running through clean white sheets she is hanging on the line in the sunshine. I see me lying in bed beside her at night with the wind blowing the curtains in the window as she teaches me to pray.

Every child should have a person in their life like my grandma. I was so blessed to have wonderful parents. But to have another person who thinks you hung the moon, as my grandma did about me, causes a child to believe in oneself as never before.

I was one years old when my grandma’s husband died. She never re-married although still young and attractive. (She had had my dad when she was 15) She ran a “nursery” from her house that would be called a daycare today. There were two rooms attached to her garage and that is where the children ate and slept. She lived on a 10 acre playground. She had a big swing set, but nothing else. We played with old rubber tires, making up our games by building with them or rolling them or laying in them. We had trees to climb, dirt and ditches to play in. I don’t ever remember being bored. Imagination is a wonderful playmate.

It drove my dad crazy that she would hardly charge more than she spent. If a mother couldn’t pay one month, she would let it go. There was something so strong and independent about her. And there was love. Oh boy, was there ever love.

There were birthdays and Easter. There were Sunday dinners, Fourth of July, and any event she could celebrate, she did. Every Christmas Eve of my childhood was spent at my Grandma’s. First with just my family, my Aunt and Uncle, and later my cousins and nieces and nephews. We would start out with a big dinner with us kids itching to get it over with so we could open our presents. When given the go ahead, we would race to the living room and stand and marvel at our glittery presents as they reflected the brilliant lights of the Christmas tree. It was……magic.

Years later after my grandma had died and I was grown, I remember singing Christmas carols in a choir at a nursing home. As we were singing I noticed an old lady in a wheelchair crying. I left the stage and went to her and knelt down and took her hand. “Are you alright?” I asked. She said simply, “I miss Christmas.” I knew exactly what she meant. I said, “I do too.”

When my father died I was only 22 yrs old. My grandma was only 68. I spent 2 weeks with my mother, sleeping with her and comforting her. But during the day when everyone would come over, I drove to my grandma’s. As much pain as my mother was in I knew that there was no greater pain than losing a child. As usual though, my grandma was the one who made me strong.

My Grandma was never famous, never wrote a book, never won a Pulitzer, she never even finished high school, but she forever lives on through her love. She celebrated my life. She taught me how to celebrate it as well. Her love and her caring are a part of me that I give to my children and they will give to theirs. Generations from now my great great grandchildren will not know my Grandma’s name, but they will know her, because she will live in them by the love that she passed down. That is the legacy each of us is allowed to give. Who will remember what you did or the car you drove, or how much money you made? But love…that will be forever remembered and lived.

When I realized that I was losing my grandma to Alzheimer’s, I tried to tell her how much she meant to me before she forgot me. I stumbled on the words. How do you thank someone for giving you self confidence? For teaching you compassion? For loving you unconditionally? Words did not seem enough. I simply said, “Thank you for loving me so much.” With her usual way of making me feel like a princess, she smiled and said, “You made it easy.”

In my dream when I open my eyes I am alone on the porch swing. I look around for my grandma, but I can't find her. I close my eyes again and hear my heart beating in the quiet. And I realize that she is there, in every beat of my heart. In all the love that I feel.

She is there.

I missed the anniversary of the toppling of Saddam. But this one Iraqi blogger from Free Iraqi didn't. Here is his poetry. Beautiful.

Two years now and "they" still wonder
And "they" still ask
Was it worth it?
Was it right?
Two years and it seems to me Like it was yesterday
Two years and "they" keep trying
To silence the voice inside us
Yet it only grows louder

I was once free When I was a kid
But when I grew up
I couldn't be the man I am
I couldn't be the kid I was
And I couldn't flee
Two years since I finally became
The man in me, and the kid in me.
And "they" want to take this away?
"They" would have to kill them both first
The man and the kid
And turn the clock back around
And still "they" can't change me back
Two years since I stopped weeping
Inside of me, day and night

Two years since the widow
Found her husband's body
In a feast of death for the human death lord.
Two years since the orphan
knew
Where his father lied
And now they finally have peace
And they have a future
No matter how painful it is to go on
And their dreams still go on
Two years since I started dreamingDreams that have a chance
And are becoming true
Two years since I regained my heart
And then I found her...
And she found me...
And the world looked beautiful!
And "they" think they can separate us?!
Think again, or keep wishing.
"They" say we are being slaughtered
"They" say we are being abused
Am I blind or are "they" the ones who are sightless?!
As why can't I see what "they" see?
And the best "they" can offer of their view is Maybe I'm a CIA?
Or maybe the other "they",
that of their accusations is paying me?
But who is their accused and rumored "they"?
Oh, the accusers have so many names for this other "they".
Sometimes they're the CIA
Sometimes they're the NSA
Sometimes they're Bush and the gang
I say, yes they exist and they "pay" me, and I'm seduced.
I see with my own eyes this other "they"
And I call them simply, Americans.
What are they paying me?
Oh, you couldn't afford that!
Saddam couldn't afford it.
Sadr cannot afford it.
"They" think any of these can?
Could their "they" even try!?
Two years and some are still
Trapped in the past
And some cannot withstand the moment
And want to arrive without struggle to a better future
While others just enjoy what is already better now
And work to meet the future, bettered with them.
Two years and they ask Should I be grateful?
Am I?
Do I even need to answer that!?
YES, and to the last breath!
posted by Ali 7:41am

via Malung TVNews

Margaret Cho wants to be white. Go figure.

"Prince Abdullah was willing to skip and hold hands, why are you so uptight?" from the ever funny Caption This!

Have ya'll seen the latest Marines commercial with the young man climbing a mountain of rock with his hands and then reaches the top and sees himself as a Marine? It is just too cool of a commercial. I tried to find it online but couldn't. I thought this picture of Marines in dress blues onstage with the image of Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi seen in the background during the Virginia International Tattoo in Norfolk, Va., Friday was almost as cool though. Marines just rock, don't they?

 

Everything you could EVER want to know about last night's Presidential news conference can be found here. Including programming notes and the ABC staff's opinion on who Bush should call on and why. And then what actually happened with lots of quotes from others. It's very blog like and very interesting actually.

I have been hearing about these videos that kids tape of violent fighting and selling them. That is sick as is this from The Feature:

"Happy slapping" -- essentially violently attacking someone while it's recorded with a videophone -- is a growing problem in the UK, with British Transport police investigating 200 incidents in the last six months in London's public transport system alone, with who knows how many attacks going unreported. This isn't harmless childplay, the ferociousness and utter stupidity of these attacks is appalling. And the hooligans have embraced user-created content: they share the videos via Bluetooth, MMS and the Web, often describing their efforts as "Happy Slap TV".Blogger Alfie Dennen has cobbled some videos he's found together to make the point that these kids are violent criminals (via The Mobile Technology Weblog). It's grim and disgusting footage, showing clips of kids attacking not just their friends, but complete strangers minding their own business."

I am growing increasingly concerned with young kids having no conscience. I know we have always had a few, but now it seems to be going mainstream.

I have totally forgotten which site I stole this from. Forgive me. Care to caption? 

I just got this e-mail from Martin Gillespie, Director of Catholic Outreach for Bush.

"Congressional Republicans passed a bill yesterday entitled "The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act" that would make it a federal crime for an adult to take a minor across state lines for an abortion without her parent's consent. The measure passed the House by a margin of 270-157.

President Bush praised passage of this legislation, and stated the following: "I commend the House for its bipartisan vote to protect the health and safety of minors by ensuring that state parental involvement laws are not circumvented. The parents of pregnant minors can provide counsel, guidance, and support to their children, and should be involved in these decisions. I urge the Senate to pass this important legislation and help continue to build a culture of life in America."

Unfortunately, the vast majority of House Democrats opposed this common sense measure, including Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. This is the latest-- but unfortunately not the last-- attempt by the Democrats to stop President Bush's ongoing effort to build and sustain a culture of life in America.
For this reason, we need your help more than ever to educate your fellow parishioners and Catholic friends as to where the two parties stand on the most important issues facing Catholics and all people of faith."

I just read a while back about the mother of a boy who took it upon herself to take his 14 yr old girlfriend across state lines to have an abortion. The girl's mother or father knowing nothing about it. And guess what folks? It was all legal. That's right. Another adult with an interest in making sure this baby doesn't arrive, is allowed by OUR society to take that child without her mother or father's consent, and have a surgical procedure performed that will affect the rest of her life.

The Advocate brings us this regarding Jeff Gannon:


"Gannon denied the characterization of himself as a gay prostitute in a interview with The Advocate conducted via e-mail. “There is much misinformation and exaggeration about my past,” he wrote. “What is most interesting about it is that the people who talk about it the most in very graphic and disparaging terms are the ones who probably see nothing wrong with it.” Gannon, 48, adds that his sexual orientation is a private matter and that he objects to being “called a fake, phony, and faux or that ‘he was posing as a journalist.’ I was and still am a legitimate journalist, and I did some solid reporting.

The fact that Gannon has lost his White House access has not stopped him from writing. He has his own blog at JeffGannon.com, with political views that are the polar opposite of Aravosis’s. He rips apart Democratic leaders as well as “Doonesbury” cartoonist Garry Trudeau for making light of Gannongate. Gannon’s site features the tagline “So feared by the left, it had to take me down.” via Jeff Gannon.com (Jeff is on the cover)

I have to be honest. I am getting a little sick of Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds libertarian self. via Ace.

Scarborough lays out the Democrat's religous hypocrisy perfectly:

"The Times keeps telling us that these Christian assemblies are un-American. Would it be cynical to suggest that it may be because those church meetings are led by conservatives like James Dobson or Pat Robertson?

If a preacher pushed a liberal agenda in God's house, would we hear a discouraging word?

Well, let me ask you this. How often have you read the word "theocracy" in stories reporting on church speeches by Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, or Bill Clinton?"

Read the rest.

Another pretty white woman has gone missing. She was suppose to get married this weekend. (oh the excitment of the story!) It's funny how black/asian/mexican women NEVER go missing!!!

Amazing really.

As you have probably heard, Laura Ingram has breast cancer. It just so happens I caught a rerun from 2004 on C-Span yesterday of some symposium that her and Tucker Carlson did debating Al Franken and some other lefty that I recognize but don't remember his name.

She is without a doubt the classiest most informed debater out there. She blew both lefties out of the water with her arguments. No doubt. Tucker just kind of went along for the ride.

Keep her in your prayers.

TNOYF has a great post on Arianna Huffington's new "celebrity blog." Heh.

We have a winner!

"Does this bathing suit make me look fat?"-Dirk the Turk

This is what happens when you're a momma's boy.

Zarqawi jumps out of a moving truck as our guys are chasing him and gets away. We find his computer and tons of cash and some co-horts. This is like a freaking James Bond movie. Why can't we catch this guy? He just slips away like the invisible man. It's crazy. Let's GET THIS GUY ALREADY!

Also, why is Saddam just sitting in jail? What is the holdup? Are we waiting for the new government or stability? I for one, would like to see this trial move forward.

Part 2 Of My Interview With 2Slick.

Continuing with 2Slick . Just a reminder. He is a "Former Army Black Hawk Pilot. Deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne from Feb '03 to Jan '04 (OIF 1), and Kuwait (with 3rd Army HQ) from Aug '04 to Jan '05."

Do you see any other way we could have fought this war?

I'm certain there were many ways we could have done it. I'm sure there were many ways we could have fought World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, etc. John Kerry and his fellow critics have an unbelievable gift of hindsight- they could have brought down Saddam and installed a perfectly functional Iraqi government without any loss of life. I won't pretend to be that good. I guess I'm just not qualified to be a Democratic Presidential Candidate...

It doesn't matter that there might have been other ways to have gone about it- our forces do the best they can with what they have. Hindsight will ALWAYS yield better solutions. The American public gives way too much credit (and assigns way too much blame) to the suits in Washington. I don't think the typical American citizen knows or appreciates the fact that any decision made by a Pentagon bigwig is going to be based on information/intelligence/assessments forged by a staff of thousands and thousands of military soldiers and officers. There are so many checks and balances in place- at every level of command- that nobody is going to get away with making a ridiculous, bone-headed decision. There are too many commanders that care way too deeply for their soldiers.

What is your personal opinion of Rumsfield? Of Bush?

Rumsfeld is brilliant- he rarely takes the time to defend himself from critics, because he's always too busy fixing the world's problems or visiting wounded soldiers. If he would just take some time to sit in front of a camera and say, "I'm really not such a bad guy," the press would love him. If he would just cheat on his wife and create a huge sex scandal, I think he'd become a "media darling" overnight. Let's hope he never does that.

I did enjoy the Russert interview a few months back- when Rumsfeld blasted Tim (who I like) for jumping on the big-media bandwagon and playing stupid Michael Moorish video cut-and-paste games in an effort to nail him. It was out of character for Rumsfeld to defend himself like that, but he did a great job.

I have nothing but respect for Rumsfeld, and most of the people I served with feel the same way.

Bush is a liberal. Ron Silver (the actor) makes a great argument for this. As does Michael Totten. Yes, I think he's a liberal, but I like him anyway. It's strange how so many people in the world seemed to adore the guy who found safe-haven with an intern and a cigar while millions died and terrorists roamed freely. Even stranger how so many people so despise the guy who takes action against evil in an effort to bring peace and prosperity to whoever wants it. I'll simply never understand that, but then again, what's to understand in this crazy, crazy world of ours?

I'm proud to have served under President Bush's command.

What was the general attitude about the Presidential election while there?

I was in Kuwait during the election. I was surprised at how little people seemed to care. My perception was that just about everyone voted (mostly for Bush), but few people actually paid attention to what the candidates were saying. I felt like a lot of the military people were voting for Bush for the same reason that so many minorities vote for Democrats- because it just seems like the right thing to do. I was definitely surprised by that- but I'm glad they voted for the right guy. No complaints there...

Do you see a real chance for peace in the middle east anytime soon?

"Soon" is such a relative term. I definitely see a chance for peace in the Middle East, but I don't think it will come anytime soon. We can't stop the car bombers who want to blow themselves tomorrow or next month or next year. They will strike if they want to, and they simply cannot be stopped. What we CAN do is continue to work over there and help set the conditions for the car-bombing culture to become extinct. It will happen eventually- as long as we are committed to seeing it through.

How much do you think it helped you personally having access to the internet and blogs?

It was a great way to keep friends and family in the loop without having to send a million emails a day. I also learned so much from reading some of the awesome blogs that I discovered- LGF, Blackfive, Totten, and of course- RightWingSparkle!

How has the transition from the military to the private sector affected you?

It's given me a whole new perspective- cliche, I know. But I can't think of any other way to say it. It's different. I can't believe how much freedom I have. People aren't depending on me. I'm not making gut-wrenching decisions that may affect people's lives. I'm just figuring out new and exciting ways to increase revenue and market share and enjoying lots of time with the love of my life- it's great! I sort of feel like I just finished running a marathon that never ends, and now I'm drinking a cold gatorade, enjoying the scenery, and cheering for the people who are still running...


I'm thinking you deserve it and more 2Slick. From the bottom of my heart I thank you for serving our country. Thank you for risking your life for freedom in this world. Is there any way any of us can ever really show how much it means to us that men like you fight the good fight, who find within themselves a greater purpose that we will never know.

I'm glad you came back 2slick. And for those who didn't, we all should live our lives a little better and with a little more passion in honor of them.

It is because of them and you that we walk free.

God bless you and all who stand to fight at the wall of freedom.

"Despite the marketing departments best efforts, the new "Triple Whammy French Tickler" just never really caught on."-PP

We have a winner! Naughty though it is.

In Love.

A while back I decided to try and find my best friend from high school. She had married a friend a mine and settled in my hometown and I had last seen her at my father's funeral 20 yrs ago. I thought it would be fairly easy. We didn't go to the same high school, but I had many friends at hers and my boyfriend had gone there. In my search I found a 20 yr reunion website for her high school and found pictures and information on my old boyfriend. As I sat looking at pictures of this man who had broken my heart at 16, who had aged as we all have, I remembered what it was like to be so young and so in love.

The summer I was 15 I met him after a highschool baseball game. He was a gifted athlete and would later play college ball. Meeting him was literally like being hit by a truck. I was a rare confident teen. I had boyfriends since I was in 1st grade. It had all been fun and games up to this point. But this, this was love.

My usual witty responses got stuck in my throat. My confidence in my looks disappeared. He seemed to like me as well, but unfortunately his cousin liked me a lot and he didn't want to hurt his cousin. I would see him at games, at the pizza hut we hung out and I would start to shake. My heart would pound. I HATED IT! I tried to make this feeling go away. My interest in other boys disappeared. I could hardly eat. All I could think about was this guy. It was like listening to the same song all day long. And there was no way I could find to turn it off.

Finally, the situation resolved itself and he called and asked me out. I don't remember the conversation. I remember hanging up and almost passing out. I laid on my bed, put my hands to my face and screamed.

I honestly don't remember that first date either. I think I must have been in such a state of nirvana that it was almost like a drug induced high. I call it a love blackout.

I turned 16 and it was the summer of love. When I finally got to the point where I could actually breath around him, we started to have fun together. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions for me. The high when he called and the low when he didn't. He never treated me badly, but it was clear that I was crazy go nuts in love with this guy and he.....well....he liked me a lot, but there was a wall there I could not break through. I remember lying on the couch in my living room with him and my head on his chest listening to his heartbeat. I would close my eyes and try to will his heart to love me.

Loving someone more than they love you is so painful I don't think I could have ever gone through it again. When we were together I would soar. But when he didn't call for days I would fall into a depression I have never experienced since. On the one hand I was so grateful to be with him when I was that I never complained about the times when I was not. So I made it pretty easy for him to take me for granted and he did.

Then the day came when I found out he had cheated on me. (Then that just meant he had gone out with someone else) I may have been in love, but I still had my dignity. Cheating was not something I would ever put up with. I wrote him a terse note and that was that.

For about a month I soaked my pillow each night with my tears. I didn't just feel my heart was broken, I felt it had been torn to pieces. But after a while I put the pieces back together and went forward. I will always be grateful that he never took physical advantage of the love I had for him. I thought of myself as pretty strong, but he had a way of making me pretty weak.

But the story doesn't end there.

I learned many things from my first love. I learned to never let yourself love someone more than they loved you. I learned to never feel that the thought of losing someone should make you let them walk all over you.

A few years later after we had both gone to different colleges, we saw each other at a club. He called me and wanted to see me again. I'm not saying my heart didn't flutter a bit, but the scars had kept me from the soaring feeling of love I had felt before. Over the next few years we saw each other when we could. He said to me once, "You're not falling in love with me like before." I replied, "No, I learned my lesson." Did this bother him? I am not sure. Like before there was still a wall there I could never break through. But I was in full control this time. No more broken hearts for me.

But still..... That girl who was crazy go nuts in love was hiding behind my heart waiting for him to go crazy go nuts and be in love with her the same way.

My senior year in college he called to tell me that his college baseball team was playing my college that weekend. He said he would call me when he got there. He did. He told me he had about an hour before practice and could I come to the athletic dorm and see him.

Now this may seem like an insignificant detail, but you will understand at the end. At this time in the early 80's all curly long hair was in, right? I had straight long hair. I was so excited about seeing him I didn't bother to stop and roll my hair though. I just flew out the door and drove over there. When I got to him I gave him a big hug and he looks at me and says with a slight smile, "Thanks for fixing your hair for me."

In that moment I knew that I would never make this man happy. I knew that I would never be smart enough, be pretty enough, or love him enough. As much as my heart yearned for him, my mind knew better. A deep sadness flowed through me.

He said, "I'll see you at the game tomorrow, right?" "Yes," I replied, "I'll be there." But I didn't go to that game the next day and I never saw him again.

He has married, divorced, remarried and has 3 children. He lives in my hometown. I saw a picture of his wife and wondered if she had broken down that wall.

I never did find my best friend. She had divorced my friend and remarried. Sometimes we lose things that are so precious to us and we just never find them again.

So it goes.

Would a "gay gene" mean the end of gays?

I had a conversation with an atheist friend of mine the other night. He firmly believes that being gay is genetic and is a gene that is passed on from family.

His theory is this. He believes that for generations when homosexuality was not accepted, gays married out of social pressure and had children. Thus the gay gene was passed on. Now that the social pressure is no longer there and very few gays are opting to have natural children if they have children at all, then he believes that gays will diminish and finally be eliminated from the gene pool. He figures in 50 years there will be very few gays left.

Well, I had to think about that one. No one has proven there is any kind of "gay gene" of course, but the interesting thing is that gay people themselves very much want it to be proven that there is one. The reason being that it proves this isn't a "choice" they make and they were "born" that way.

So I was thinking that if there is a gay gene, doesn't it follow that that gene is passed on and that my friend has a point?

Look..... I am no scientist, which is abundantly clear here, but I wondered what your thoughts are on this theory.

No Pasarant! brings us this. A fact we should NEVER forget:

"BBC's retiring Stephen Sackur.
As he hangs up the microphone of BBC foreign correspondent, Sackur brings with him a host of powerful memories, one of the very strongest coming from Iraq.

"A country especially dear to me, as my wife's homeland. It was there I saw the most distressing sight of my life. Men and women clawing at the earth, uncovering the first of the mass graves discovered after the fall of Saddam Hussenin.

Thousands of stinking corpses came out of the ground that day. I saw infants with bullet holes blown through their skulls. I was the only reporter there. I sensed in that Iraqi field that I was a necessary witness, in the right place at the right time." via Mudville

Our soldiers have died, but they sure as hell haven't died in vain. This was a MONSTER we took down. A monster who had bred 2 monster sons. God knows what we saved that region from, not to mention the world.

To spank or not to spank....

On Fox News they just showed a five year old having a temper tantrum in class (someone was videotaping, I guess so they wouldn't be sued by the parents) The little girl is tearing things off the walls and swinging fists at the teacher.

Finally a cop comes in and HANDCUFFS her!! Thats right, a five year old handcuffed!!! This is where we are???

I remember being in 2nd grade and having the meanest teacher. Mrs. McDonald. If we so much as SPOKE at the wrong time you were asked to stay after school. (I tend to speak alot) She would march us into a closet and spank us with a paddle. AWFUL! But, we obeyed her. By the end of Sept. when Mrs. McDonald said jump, WE JUMPED. When she said "Be quiet!" We WERE. There was never any classroom disruptions or problems.

Now I am not saying we should go back to letting teachers spank, but only because I don't trust public school teachers anymore. One used to be able to know the teacher well and know that she held pretty much the same basic values as you did. Not so now. And thats too bad, because children want to be shown how to control themselves. They really do.

Most of the time other forms of punishment work. But every once in a while and with some kids, they need to have a good spank and that is all there is to it. Because you can't tell me it's better or more humane to HANDCUFF them. Geeze!

(And no, for the record, I never spanked my kids, I expected my hubby to do it because that's how it was done at my house. He wouldn't, so I had to work hard at alternatives. Don't even get me started talking about it)

The Guardian brings us this:

"Call it Colin Powell's revenge. The former US secretary of state has been putting the knife into John Bolton, the administration's rottweiler and the man nominated by George Bush to represent the US at the UN.
In very similar stories, the Washington Post and the New York Times reported today that Powell has been telling moderate Republicans on the senate foreign relations committee that Bolton is a bad choice. Powell's former chief of staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, went so far as to tell the New York Times that Bolton would be an "abysmal ambassador".

Why do we Republicans always do this to ourselves? You never see Democrats back stab each other. I will give them that. They are loyal. Getting serviced by an intern at the white house? No problem. Have a gay prostitution ring being run out of your house and you are a Congressman. Thats OK! Have a illegimate child with someone who works in your nonprofit while the wife and mother of your five children handles it with grace? Sure! Why not???? Congressional investigation into your finances? Who cares?

Seriously, Republicans just turn and run or back stab. It is really starting to make me sick. Who needs enemies when you have friends like these??

So this is how you get a Rightalk Radio job......

I found this SUPER SECRET shot of some of our bloggers night job! From your left to right. Jeff at Protein Wisdom, Bill at INDC Journal, and Ace From Ace Of Spades HQ. Ace was a bit of surprise I have to admit.

Click here for larger image. You seriously need to see the larger pic.

You've heard of twins trading places like for a test, right? Well this has a political spin on it. You won't believe it. via The Obscure Store.

This is so stupid a nd goofy, it's funny.via The Biomes Blog

Wizbang has this news story:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Police said they arrested a man for spitting on two-time Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda during a book-signing stop in Kansas City Tuesday night.
Fonda, 67, spoke at Unity Temple, in The Plaza shopping district, about her new best-selling book, "My Life So Far," and her new movie with Jennifer Lopez called "Monster-In-Law."
At about 9 p.m., police said, a man who had been waiting in line for about 90 minutes, passed a book to Fonda and then spit a large amount of tobacco juice into her face.
Michael A. Smith, 54, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, which is a city charge.

This is unacceptable. I don't care who you disagree with, people with any sort of decency do not do things like spit in people's faces. Just like with this whole liberal pie throwing thing that has been going on. I understand people's feelings of outrage over something, but to act like a idiot does not speak well of your cause.

Let's have a caption contest for our old Russian leader, shall we?

I thought ya'll were all funny, so I let my son decide the top 3.

"I thought they said Martha Stewart was going to be on Sirius? What's this P Diddy crap I'm listening to??"-Barry

Gorbie field tests the new Russian "hands free" mouse for his laptop.-PP

"...that's two McBorshts, a Gulag McGoulash, and a chocolate shake. Would you like fries with that?"- Wonderduck

Ok, Ok,....Enough about the Pope, but how about one more thing if it's HILARIOUS?

Beautiful Atrocities brings us:

"VATICAN SHOCKER: NEW POPE IS CATHOLIC"

"Passed over: Deepak Chopra & Maya Angelou."

Legions of deeply spiritual media pundits, academics, & Hollywood celebrities expressed dismay over the Vatican's controversial decision to elect a Catholic as the new Pope." READ THE REST.

I don't know about you, but I certainly have never faked it.

An Interview With 2Slick.......

For those of you who don't know, 2Slick is a "Former Army Black Hawk Pilot. Deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne from Feb '03 to Jan '04 (OIF 1), and Kuwait (with 3rd Army HQ) from Aug '04 to Jan '05." (As described on his blog) He is also a contributer to the book, "IRAQ: Providing Hope" listed on his website.
His blog was intensely fascinating and informative to read while he was in Iraq, he was a 2004 Weblog Award finalist as well. (He also won an "award" on my site, but that's another story...;-)
I asked him when he returned if he would answer some questions. There were so many things I wanted to know about how things were over there. Here is the first part of that interview:

How did you decide to become a blackhawk helicopter pilot?

I knew I had a service obligation after West Point, and Army Aviation seemed like the most exciting way to go about it. My eyes held out just long enough to pass the first flight physical (I've been wearing glasses ever since), and my grades were good enough to get my first choice. Once I arrived at flight school, I trained on a Bell Jet Ranger (A civilian OH-58), and learned about the various airframes in the inventory- UH-60 (Black Hawk) was easily the choice for me- it's the most versitile and exciting aircraft in the fleet!

Can you describe your basic mission in Iraq?

Initially (during the invasion), I was a operations/logistics officer. I was focused on getting my brigade from Fort Campbell, KY to Kuwait, and then eventually into Iraq.

Once we settled into Mosul Airfield, I began to assume the Civil-Military Operations role for my brigade. I ended up leading the Mosul University project. Our job was to interface with the University Staff/Faculty, provide emergency assistance (initially), opportunity upgrades (based on how much money I had at any given time), security assistance, intel gathering, etc.

Describe your scariest mission or the one that affected you the most.

During the "major combat operations"- I led a small team of about 12 troops to the Mosul Train Station to await a rail shipment. It was my first night in Mosul (after having spent 2 weeks in Najaf and 3 weeks in Baghdad). The train was supposed to arrive at 9 pm. It didn't. We waited until 8 the next morning. All night long, shots rang out all over the place. Many bullets came very close to us. We could hear them cracking the air as they whizzed by us. It was pretty terrifying. And then there was a huge burst of gunfire at a Univeristy protest that I was trying to put down. That put a good scare in me. I know that many people experienced much worse, so I didn't think much of it. But I guess it was pretty scary in retrospect...

Regarding the politics of the war, how was the overall moral of the soldiers over there ?

Initially, we didn't really follow the public sentiment back home. We were just too busy doing our jobs. I'd say morale was very high while I was there. Only about 10% of the troops whined about being there- and those were usually the younger, less-educated, I-miss-my-mommy types.

What was yours and other soldiers major news sources?

Initially- letters from home. It eventually became the internet (which I'm sure it now- combined with Fox News).

What were the reporters on the ground like?

Usually friendly. Sometimes overbearing. Sometimes apologetic ("I know it sucks that we only cover the bad news, but we need paychecks, ya know?"). They pretty much dissappeared after the end of "major combat operations."

Did you see a change in the attitude of the people there the longer you were there? If so, explain how.

Yes. Initially they seemed skeptical and/or curious- just like us. The more we interacted with them, the more trusting and cordial they became. I think that usually happens when the Americans come to town. You'd never know it by watching the news, but it happens. I've seen it 3 times (Korea, Iraq, Kuwait)

After having been there and back home, do you still feel strongly about the rightness of us going into Iraq?

Absolutely. Just read my blog...


Stay tuned for the next installment sometime next week.

Resurrection Song brings us the opinion of Mark Morford of SFGate.com on our new Pope:


"See, most spiritually progressive peoples the world over were sort of hoping for a new pope who would recognize this as a historic opportunity, an unprecedented moment for the church to finally get with the times, modernize, shake off the dust and roll some bones and pry open some of those old dungeon doors and bring in some goddamn light.

You know what we wanted? More sex. Love. Good TV. Gender freedom. Better wine. Less sneering doctrine and homophobia and sexism and more fun with condoms and music and spiritual joy. But, instead, we got you."

Hmmm..... Mark wanted to get drunk, get laid (by either gender it seems), and have fun with condoms while listening to music or watching TV. Can't he do that without the Pope? Can't he do that even without the Catholic Church?

Here is my suggestion for Mark and all those who feel like him.

SHUTUP!

You know what? I love my Church. I don't want it to change and GUESS WHAT? I like a good glass of wine, I get plenty of sex, music, and spiritual joy and I do it all being a devout Catholic!!!!!!!!!!! That's right!!! I follow those so called "repressive" teachings and I HAVE A GOOD TIME!!!!

Now you can go do any ole sexual experiment you wish, drink, eat and be merry..... Just don't try and change my Church. Because what WE wanted was a humble holy man filled with compassion, but determined to keep the Church on the course of moral clarity. This isn't a club. This is a CHURCH. The Church tells us how to live morally, how to love God more fully. THAT"S IT'S JOB!

It's job is NOT to make you or Andrew Sullivan or anyone else feel better about your sexual proclivities or your partying habits. This Church has thousands of years of tradition and it's not perfect by any means, but it isn't going to change so people like you can have a good time and say that the Catholic Church says it's OK.

So go just ride another horse and try not to sound so stupid.

"Unfortuntely, in the rich countries like ours, we really don't give a damn."-Jimmy Carter, knocking what he says is stingy U.S. foreign aid via U.S. News and World Report.

EXCUSE ME? Just privately Americans have donated $989,189,234.32 for tsunami relief alone. $ total via You Big Mouth You. Need I go on about our billions sent out through the government?

Don't they make you just want to SCREAM?

Now this is what the liberals really want. Picture via U.S. News and World Report. (click on link or pic above to see a larger picture...(I hate HELLO)

Ace catches Andrew Sullivan being dishonest. SHOCK! I have long ago had enough of his whiny self involved rants that focus on nothing else but his sexuality. As Ace puts it:

"Sullivan: And I'll Keep Leaving the Church Until Someone Notices."

Really. Enough already. Do I really need to say it? If you don't like our Church, there are about 1500 dominations to choose from. Go for it big guy.

Why I Am Catholic. It Seems a Good Day to Explain.

Two years I ago I stood in Saint Peter's Square in awe of it's beauty and majesty that pictures do not do justice. I walked through the Sistine Chapel and attended Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica. I stood a few feet from Saint Peter's Bones under the Basilica. The history of our Church became very real to me then. But my journey to Rome began long ago.

Many have asked me about my conversion story from Baptist to Catholic. But I don't look at it that way. I look at my whole life as a spiritual journey to a place where I could be as close to God as possible.

I was not raised in a very religious home. My parents were Methodist and took us to Church once and awhile. As you may have read in my post about my father, they were Christians, but just didn't love organized religion too much.

I'm not sure I know why my desire to follow God came so strongly around 14 years old. Sitting in the front yard of my Grandma's house in the country, looking at the stars and praying , I was overcome with the spirit of God. I really don't know how to say it any other way. It is a feeling of pure joy. Indescribable really.

From that moment on there has never been a doubt in my mind or soul that God existed and is real. Even in times of deep darkness I have felt His comfort. I have experienced miracles and have come to believe that there is no way to understand or realize how much God loves us, how much He wants our happiness, and how much He suffers with us.

As I have also said before in another post, God and I always had different ideas on how I should live my life. I have argued with him like a daughter argues with her mother. I have been stubborn and stupid, but He has been faithful.

The Catholic Church teaches that we are all united in God, although imperfectly so. The more I learned about the history of Christianity the more I was drawn to Catholism. There was no doubt that man had messed up many times, as Christ knew that we would. But "the gates of hell did prevail against thee." And even now in the year 2005, the Church thrives will more than a billion followers. God's teachings are argued and distorted, but it is quite simply based on love. Such love.

I have a great love for the Protestant Church. I found Christ there, and for that I will always be grateful. But the more I learned about Catholism, the more I realized that this was what I needed to climb the mountain.

We all climb that mountain of faith, whether we realize it or not. Many of us fall and get bruised and hurt, many are lost on the mountain and cannot find their way. I chose the Catholic Church because I felt it gave me a map of that mountain. I climb and I suffer, but I hold fast to that map and I look at it every day to make sure I am on the right path.

My map is worn and torn and tattered but I shall never let it go, for it has brought me up the mountain this far and I have far to go.

"WE HAVE A POPE!"

That is the headline Fox News has at the bottom of the screen. The others have "A New Pope Elected."
I just find it interesting the difference. The Pope does belong to the world, even for those who don't care.

Chris Wallace says he has goose bumps. So do I.

The smoke is white, the bells are ringing, and there is joyful noise made unto the Lord in St. Peter's square.

It is Cardinal Ratzinger. That is who I had hoped for!!!

His name will be Pope Benedict XVI.

Praise God!

The Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Wild Ride Through Fantasy.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows the love/hate relationship I have with the magazine 'Vanity Fair.' This month's issue has the usual diatribes against conservatives. As you know, a more liberal slant on the war and Bush cannot be found anywhere else but in Vanity Fair. So I get to read the other side who assumes that all Vanity Fair readers are liberal Democrats and I am sure most of them are.

This month they feature an excerpt from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new book "Crimes Against Nature." Robert is an environmental lawyer, but this excerpt focuses mainly on showing us 2 things. One, how Bush LIED to us and how talk radio and rightwing media is brain washing the American people. Robert says:

"I believe, however, that the Democrats lost the presidential contest not because of a philosophical chasm between red and blue states but due to an information deficit caused by a breakdown in our national media."

He goes on to say:

"This threat to the flow of information, vital to democracy's survival, has been compounded in recent years by the growing power of the right-wing media that twist the news and deliberately deceive the public to advance their radical agenda."

Robert then goes on in the rest of the article to deliberately deceive VF readers to advance HIS radical agenda.

Funny how that works.

According to Robert, Fox News, Rush, Hannity, and even MSNBC are pretty much brain washing us all. He complains that 90% of talk radio is conservative while only 10% is "progressive." (We wouldn't want use the L-word, now would we?)

Radio, like other things, is a business. If people like what they hear they listen and advertisers pay. If people don't listen then the talk show goes away. It's that simple. People started listening to Rush for the same reason I did. It was nice to finally hear someone articulate what we conservatives believed and felt. I don't know about you, but I felt pretty alone before Rush came along. What Rush and others did was give voice to our beliefs and our frustrations and he even did it in an amusing way.

What Robert and others don't seem to understand is that Rush or other conservative voices didn't CHANGE our minds, they just agreed with us. That is why we liked listening. But as with so many liberals, Robert seems to think that Americans are pretty stupid and easily led.

He quotes statistic after statistic about what the American people "believed" about the war. For instance, Robert says that President Bush "failed to protect vulnerable terrorist targets at home-chemical plants, nuclear facilities, air-cargo carriers, and ports."

Really? Did I miss some attacks? Isn't it pretty obvious that Bush DID protect us? Newsflash to Robert. We haven't been attacked again since 9-11.

And one of the main reasons we haven't imo is because we rounded up the would be terrorists at Guantanamo. But Robert says that Bush "disgraced our nation and empowered tyrants with unpunished excesses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib."

Really? It looks to me like we have "tryrants" well in hand. I don't feel threatened by anyone, do you? But then, we are just stupid Americans as his statistics show. We believe this propaganda of the rightwing because we obviously can't think for ourselves.

Isn't this just so typical of liberals? They are the smart ones and everyone else is stupid. If you read the Pat Sajak piece I linked earlier you read a conversation he had with a liberal colleague that illustrates exactly that:

" I complained to another Liberal friend about some of the Left’s tone concerning the 2004 elections. I thought it insulting to hear those “red state” voters caricatured as red-necked rubes. My friend asked, “Well, don’t you think that people who live in large urban areas, who travel and read and speak other languages are better able to make informed choices?” It turns out it is superiority, not familiarity, which breeds contempt."

It's all about the superiority folks.

Robert seems to think there is "a vast rightwing conspiracy" that gives out false information. But in reality, we conservatives were just sick of being looked at as ignorant by the major networks and newspapers and were so relieved to have our views on the table that we FLOCKED to rightwing radio and TV.

Robert gives an example of us "winning" by the resignation of Pat Mitchell as president of PBS after "rightwing critics" got upset that she was allowing a cartoon episode with a lesbian couple. (she recanted and canceled the episode) Come on! How dare we get angry that a popular CARTOON watched by our children is trying to send an ADULT message to children that very well may go against our values and is totally inappropriate for the age group.

I mean really.

Who is really trying to spread propaganda here? You tell me.

Among the pundits Robert accuses of being in this VRWC is Peggy Noonan and Dick Morris for example. He cited John Stossel and Michael Savage as well. Could each of these people be more different? Even Brian Williams is included because he dared to give kudos to Rush Limbaugh recently.

The liberals probably do believe this VRWC. What they can't and won't face is that it is simply the marketplace of ideas and our ideas are winning now. Not because we lie or give out disinformation, but because our ideas are different from theirs and many seem to agree.

And that scares the hell out of them.

Kids and Swimming

Six Meat Buffet directed me to this story at Red State Rant. It's a story told by a patrol officer of a missing little 4 yr old boy the other day in Florida. Part of the story involves the little boy's dog and it reminded me of something that happened to me several years ago. Both stories remind us that life can be gone in an instant. Even when we are good parents.

I was putting my newborn daughter down for a nap. My 2 yr old son was out in the back yard with my dog. I was only gone a minute or two because she was so easy. I would just lay her down and she would crash. I walked back out in my yard and there was no sign of my son or dog. I ran around the house and saw the gate was open. He had never even tried to open the gate before, nor did it occur to me that he actually could open it. (it had that latch thing very high up) My son had been born being afraid of NOTHING. He never looked where he was going, he never stopped to ponder what might be over that edge, or care whether he got lost. He simply had NO FEAR. I tell him now that he is 18 that the only reason he lived was that I followed him around like a puppy the first 6 yrs of his life.

Anyway, the biggest problem was that we lived across the street from a lake. The houses that backed up to the lake didn't have fences for the obvious reason of enjoying the lake, so anyone could walk between the houses to get to the lake or walk just a bit down the street where it was open to the lake which had a sidewalk surrounding it. I knew the moment I saw the gate open that my son had headed straight for that lake. Probably running at full speed. Knowing my daughter was fine and asleep I raced through the house, grabbed my car keys and was out the front door looking in all directions. He was no where in sight. Some guys were working on a light pole a few feet away. I screamed at them that my 2 yr old was missing as I jumped in my car I pointed to each one and told each which direction to go look. (back through the other parts of the neighborhood just in case) Panic causes one to become extremely bossy and I can tell you they did exactly what I told them.

I went from 0 to 60 in about 2 seconds and was at the lakefront. I saw a woman and a child feeding the ducks by the lake bank. As I jumped out of my car I yelled at her and asked her if she had seen a little blonde boy. She pointed behind the houses that were situated across the street from my house. I ran around the houses like a race horse and there was my little boy, throwing rocks into the lake with my dog, Vince (An American Eskimo-Spitz) jumping around in front of him not letting him get close to the water. My knees nearly buckled under me, but I almost tackled the poor little guy when I got to him. I held him against me and cried and cried. Trying to calm myself down I started to tell him how he was to NEVER do that again and how dangerous the water was. In every instance that I had taken him to a pool, lake, or the beach he had run for the water without stopping and jumped right in. What made him stop this time? A fluffy white angel named Vince, I'm thinking.

The event jarred me so much that I taught my son how to swim myself within about 3 weeks of that incident. I taught my other 3 children to swim by the time each was 3 years old. You think you can't do it? You can. The earlier you start, the better. Get them used to the water as soon as possible and then when they are 2, you get in that water every day practicing until they know how to swim to the side. After mine all learned, I would playfully throw them in the water so they would learn what it was like to go under quickly and push themselves to the top and make it to the side. As the story the patrol officer shows, it's worth the effort to make sure your children can swim.

Last night I did a very rare thing for me. I actually went out to see a movie! The movie was "Hitch" with Will Smith. He plays a "love doctor" of sorts. I had seen previews and it seemed kinda silly, but one of my friends that had seen it said I would like it and I LOVED it!!!!!!!!! Seriously. It was a really cute and funny movie. Much better than I expected.

The girl who plays his love interest is a supermodel that I have seen in magazines, but she did a great job in this movie. I think she has a bright future in acting. Very natural (not to mention gorgeous) Anyway, I highly recommend you take your girlfriend or wife. It's the kind of movie that would get her in a lovey dovey mood. Really. But it isn't just a chick flick. It is really funny and I would bet many of you guys have been in similar situations. It has sort of a good message for women too about looking for the wrong things in guys. Anyway, go see it if you haven't.

As Partisan Pundit pointed out in the comment section of the Ann Coulter picture , this picture of Hillary on Time magazine's cover seems a MUCH nicer picture than Ann's, don't ya think???? Very Presidential. (OMG! I almost threw up typing that!) Heh.

You can even compare the two side by side here of Michael Moore's picture and Ann's.

UPDATE: Ace has some commentary from a professional photographer and some links showing the different pics of liberals vs conservatives in news magazines. He also made the same point I did about the shot of Clinton discussed in the comment section. He thinks it was Esquire magazine though. Someone find out because I just don't have the time. Anyway, read Ace's piece and links. It's looks at it pretty fairly.

You may have been reading recently about the "minutemen" who have been patrolling the Arizona border with Mexico. Diggers Realm has some good stuff on them, but THESE GUYS pictured above are from the ACLU to.... you know........ to make sure the minutemen don't do anything rough or maybe illegal to the illegal aliens trying to cross the border. So.....while being the ever watchful eye of democracy......... they get stoned. That's right. That is weed they are lighting up there. Gotta love it...Heh. via Eclipse Ramblings and Say Anything.

This is the photo discussed below. Ann wasn't happy with it.