The Anatomy of a Loss.

Last night I could not stop thinking about the man from New Orleans on the news who had had to let go of his wife when his house split in two. The reporter was crying. I was crying. His pain was raw and heartbreaking to see.

During my prayers I kept seeing the people on their homes waiting for rescue. I thought of two fellow bloggers who have recently experienced a terrible loss in their life. One is very angry at God. I understand that. Some think that if we just believe in God, if we just live good enough lives, then we will be protected somehow, but that isn't what Christ promised us. That isn't the way life is.

Christ discussed sorrow, he knew that we would all experience it. He himself experienced it. Make no mistake about it. God weeps with us.

We cannot escape life's blows. God gave us free will and a world with the law of physics. We can't escape the reality of life and nature. Does God sometimes intervene with miracles? Certainly. I have seen that for myself. But I think those times are rare and are driven by a deep faith or a purpose known only to heaven.

When I was 22 I lost my Daddy to a heart attack. If you are new to my blog, my post on him is here. He was the finest man I ever knew. My heart was completely broken. He was the rock of our family. I didn't see how we could go on without him. I wasn't angry at God. Even that young my faith was deep and I knew that this life is but a small part of eternity. I had learned from reading "The Hiding Place," the story of a Christian woman taken to the concentration camps during the Holocaust for hiding Jews, that one should pray to God with a grateful heart no matter what your circumstances. Why? Because no matter what life throws at us, good can come from it....if we let it. If we pray and give God our pain and our tears.

That was a very difficult thing to do. I watched one brother of mine give in to the pain of losing Daddy. It took him years of heartache to finally give it to God. But that day, the day that I lost the most important thing in my life, I got down on my knees and thanked God for the years that I had had with my father. I thanked him for all that my Daddy had been to me. I thanked him for the wonderful childhood I had had. I thanked him for the values and love my father had given me. In that moment I felt great peace. I felt the comfort of a love that is unending. It was like an invisible warm blanket covered me. It was.....Indescribable.

I thought the world would fall apart. I thought my mom would not be able to go on. I thought my brothers would never be happy again. But in that moment of peace, I knew that it would be alright. I knew.

And it was. My mother happily remarried a wonderful man a few years later. My brothers went on to become the men my father wanted them to be. As I said, it took one of my brothers some self inflicted heartache to get there, but he did get there.

When we are overwhelmed with grief, it is so difficult to pray. We are consumed with our loss and we don't want to let anyone in, even God. But this is when we must pray the most. It is in prayer that we find the comfort we need and the way out of our pain and back into the land of the living.

After the death of my father, I experienced so many gifts from God that helped me and my family get through that terrible time. So many things that have no other explanation. God doesn't promise us a safe life, just one where He will always lead us where we need to be if we let Him.

I had a friend whose child had died. Her grief was beyond what she could endure. She couldn't function. Drowning in her grief she forced herself on her knees. She wept before God, not in anger, but in sorrow. Without words she cried out to God to help her. She told me when she opened her eyes she saw herself at the foot of the cross. She saw Christ on the cross and all the suffering He was enduring. She said she understood then that He suffered with us. And the comfort came. She was given the strength to continue on and she had three more beautiful children. Her life is full of love and laughter now and she knows in her heart that she will see her first child again. Love overcame the sorrow. As I have said many times, it is love that saves us.

1 Corinthians 13:7- "The Man of Suffering is the revelation of that Love which "endures all things."

It is in this time of suffering that we must endure. We must love. We must pray.

Baton Rouge

Well, my son, who came home from LSU Sunday, won't have to return to classes until Tuesday. They are even canceling (gasp!) the football game this weekend. It isn't the weather or any damage done to the university. They just felt given the circumstances, that the highways didn't need students returning and football fans coming in for a game. There is media camped out at one of the dorms there and I read on one of the local blogs that the Baton Rouge airport is providing free wireless. The apartment complexes around town are given month to month leases for those displaced and trying to find free furniture for the apartments. If you live anywhere near the area you might consider donating some used furniture.

A professor at LSU has set up a web site with an open thread for those trying to get information or contact someone. She also suggests that if you can't get through on a cell phone, to try text messaging. That usually works better.

Here is live blogging from New Orleans. Here is a collection of photos from Flickr

This is the time for us all to come together and help out. Right now they need money. I am posting the relief donation sites again.

You can donate to the American Red Cross Fund (specifying the hurricane relief) HERE.

Catholic Charities has a relief fund HERE.

The United Methodist Church has a relief fund HERE.

Remember to keep those hurting in your prayers.

Another Iraqi Voice You Might Want To Hear.

The Mesopotamian gives us his scenario if we get out Iraq the way the protestors wish us to.

Giving.

When I heard of looting in the aftermath of the Hurricane, it just ticked me off. Ugh. But I just heard Jeff Goldblatt say that a Walmart in New Orleans opened it's doors and is letting people take what they need, no payment necessary.

Nice to hear.

A Letter From An Iraqi to Cindy Sheehan.

I know many of you have read this already, but since I have so many left leaning commenting and asking why we are at war, I thought maybe they needed to read it. Website here.


A message to Cindy Sheehan

I realize how tragic your loss is and I know how much pain there is crushing your heart and I know the darkness that suddenly came to wrap your life and wipe away your dreams and I do feel the heat of your tears that won't dry until you find the answers to your question; why you lost your loved one?

I have heard your story and I understand that you have the full right to ask people to stand by your side and support your cause. At the beginning I told myself, this is yet another woman who lost a piece of her heart and the questions of war, peace and why are killing her everyday. To be frank to you the first thing I thought of was like "why should I listen or care to answer when there are thousands of other women in America, Iraq and Afghanistan who lost a son or a husband or a brother…

”But today I was looking at your picture and I saw in your eyes a persistence, a great pain and a torturing question; why?

I know how you feel Cindy, I lived among the same pains for 35 years but worse than that was the fear from losing our loved ones at any moment. Even while I'm writing these words to you there are feelings of fear, stress, and sadness that interrupt our lives all the time but in spite of all that I'm sticking hard to hope which if I didn't have I would have died years ago.

Ma'am, we asked for your nation's help and we asked you to stand with us in our war and your nation's act was (and still is) an act of ultimate courage and unmatched sense of humanity.Our request is justified, death was our daily bread and a million Iraqi mothers were expecting death to knock on their doors at any second to claim someone from their families.Your face doesn't look strange to me at all; I see it everyday on endless numbers of Iraqi women who were struck by losses like yours.

Our fellow country men and women were buried alive, cut to pieces and thrown in acid pools and some were fed to the wild dogs while those who were lucky enough ran away to live like strangers and the Iraqi mother was left to grieve one son buried in an unfound grave and another one living far away who she might not get to see again.

We did nothing to deserve all that suffering, well except for a dream we had; a dream of living like normal people do.

We cried out of joy the day your son and his comrades freed us from the hands of the devil and we went to the streets not believing that the nightmare is over.We practiced our freedom first by kicking and burning the statues and portraits of the hateful idol who stole 35 years from the life of a nation.For the first time air smelled that beautiful, that was the smell of freedom.

The mothers went to break the bars of cells looking for the ones they lost 5, 12 or 20 years ago and other women went to dig the land with their bare hand searching for a few bones they can hold in their arms after they couldn't hold them when they belonged to a living person.

I recall seeing a woman on TV two years ago, she was digging through the dirt with her hands. There was no definite grave in there as the whole place was one large grave but she seemed willing to dig the whole place looking for her two brothers who disappeared from earth 24 years ago when they were dragged from their colleges to a chamber of hell.

Her tears mixed with the dirt of the grave and there were journalists asking her about what her brothers did wrong and she was screaming "I don't know, I don't know. They were only college students. They didn't murder anyone, they didn't steal, and they didn't hurt anyone in their lives. All I want to know is the place of their grave".

Why was this woman chosen to lose her dear ones? Why you? Why did a million women have to go through the same pain?

We did not choose war for the sake of war itself and we didn't sacrifice a million lives for fun! We could've accepted our jailor and kept living in our chains for the rest of our lives but it's freedom ma'am.

Freedom is not an American thing and it's not an Iraqi thing, it's what unites us as human beings. We refuse all kinds of restrictions and that's why we fought and still fighting everyday in spite of the swords in the hands of the cavemen who want us dead or slaves for their evil masters.

You are free to go and leave us alone but what am I going to tell your million sisters in Iraq? Should I ask them to leave Iraq too? Should I leave too? And what about the eight millions who walked through bombs to practice their freedom and vote? Should they leave this land too?Is it a cursed land that no one should live in? Why is it that we were chosen to live in all this pain, why me, why my people, why you?

But I am not leaving this land because the bad guys are not going to leave us or you to live in peace. They are the same ones who flew the planes to kill your people in New York. I ask you in the name of God or whatever you believe in; do not waste your son's blood.We here have decided to avenge humanity, you and all the women who lost their loved ones.
Take a look at our enemy Cindy, look closely at the hooded man holding the sword and if you think he's right then I will back off and support your call.

We live in pain and grief everyday, every hour, every minute; all the horrors of the powers of darkness have been directed at us and I don't know exactly when am I going to feel safe again, maybe in a year, maybe two or even ten; I frankly don't know but I don't want to lose hope and faith.

We are in need for every hand that can offer some help. Please pray for us, I know that God listens to mothers' prayers and I call all the women on earth to pray with you for peace in this world.

Your son sacrificed his life for a very noble cause…No, he sacrificed himself for the most precious value in this existence; that is freedom.

His blood didn't go in vain; your son and our brethren are drawing a great example of selflessness.God bless his free soul and God bless the souls of his comrades who are fighting evil.God bless the souls of Iraqis who suffered and died for the sake of freedom.God bless all the freedom lovers on earth.
- posted by Mohammed @ 23:24

One Story from Crawford.

One of the girls in the Cotillion has up an excellent post on her trip to Crawford this past weekend to take down a loved one's cross at Cindy Sheehan's protest. Some pictures here.

Don't Miss This.

Pundit Review Radio has the latest interview with Michael Yon!!! He talks about his recent post "Gates of Fire," that was the most awesome war reporting I personally have had the pleasure of ever reading. He speaks of the progress we are making and how important it is to stay the course. He also addresses the Cindy Sheehan situation.

The U.S. News and World Report and startribune.com has articles on Michael Yon. I wonder when more msm and TV media are going to catch on to this incredible reporter that is literally bringing the war into our homes.

Let's Get Moving!!

Remember the Tsunami fund? $631,000,000 was the last amount I could find of U.S. aid there. We need to get busy and take care of our own down in Lousiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. We Republicans are always saying that the government shouldn't take care of everything! Let's take care of some of this ourselves! These are but a few.

You can donate to the American Red Cross Fund (specifying the hurricane relief) HERE.

Catholic Charities has a relief fund HERE.

The United Methodist Church has a relief fund HERE.


Let's put our money where our mouth is.

Update on Able Danger.

And It's a doozy.

"Congressman Curt Weldon (R - Pennsylvania) gave another exclusive interview to Dom Giordano this evening (Monday) and broke the news that he will be giving a speech on September 8th (next Monday) during which he will present yet another 'Able Danger' witness. This new witness will attest (and will swear under oath when called) that he was "ordered to destroy records" relating to the 'Able Danger' program.
This order to destroy the records occurred prior to 9-11-01. Weldon intimated that it happened during the Clinton Administration.
The witness, who Weldon did not name, says that he was ordered to destroy records and was threatened with jail if he failed to comply. Weldon said that he has the names of the people involved, including the person who gave the order, and HE WILL NAME THEM in his speech."

via JunkYardBlog

Did You Hear?

That "all Republican" Fox News Network's Greta Van Susteren's sister, Lise Van Susteren is running for U.S. Senate as an anti-war Democrat. Greta says, ""I love my sister," Greta, 51, told the New York Daily News. "She's smart and I hope she wins."

Caption Contest. Also, I heard about Sharpton's driver (what? he can't drive himself?) taking the Crawford police on a short chase doing 110 miles an hour, but I can't find it in any credible news source. Anyone got that?

Thanks to Robert for the link on the car chase. Isn't it interesting that it seems to be nowhere in the MSM? Imagine if this were Pat Robertson or James Dobson. It would be the lead story after the hurrican aftermath and we all know it. I mean this was FREAKIN 110 miles per hour!! Putting everyone on that highway in danger. They were weaving in and out of traffic too. Heaven forbid the MSM touch the great Al Sharpton.

What the 9/11 Commission narrative left out: Iraqis.

The Weekly Standard updates us on able danger. Read the whole thing. We would all like the answers to the questions at the end of the article.

"AS THE TWO SIDES in the current flap over Able Danger, a Pentagon intelligence unit tracking al Qaeda before 9/11, exchange claims and counterclaims in the news media, the work of the 9/11 Commission is receiving long overdue scrutiny. It may be the case, as three individuals associated with the Pentagon unit claim, that Able Danger had identified Mohammed Atta in January or February 2000 and that the 9/11 Commission simply ignored this information because it clashed with the commission's predetermined storyline. We should soon know more. Whatever the outcome of that debate, the 9/11 Commission's deliberate exclusion of the Iraqis from its analysis is indefensible."

via Ace.

I want to add something here. If all this turns out to be credible, it will be very upsetting to me. Not just because it would have proven Bush right, but because it will prove that some people put politics above the security of our country. Not only that, but drove a bitter wedge between the left and the right here that was not necessary and proved to be fertile ground for discontent and all out hate for one side to the other.

If it can be proven who was responsible for leaving this information out of the commission, then they need to be punished. I don't know how or by what law, but they should be punished. The damage they inflicted on the goodwill of the people of this country is probably irreparable.

Someone make it stop.

I. CAN'T. TAKE. IT. ANYMORE.

Some things just aren't funny.

Why lefties should not try religious humor.

It's all about the money.

Captialist Pigs!
via LGF

Man on the Street from New Orleans tells it to Shepard Smith.

You gotta laugh:


SHEPARD SMITH: You’re live on FOX News Channel, what are you doing?
MAN: Walking my dogs.
SMITH: Why are you still here? I’m just curious.
MAN: None of your f*cking business.
SMITH: Oh that was a good answer, wasn’t it? That was live on international television. Thanks so much for that. You know we apologize.
DOWNLOAD VIDEO:
WMV QUICKTIME (via Crooks and Liars)

via The Political Teen

What is wrong with this picture?

Pro-troop supporters descended on Crawford Texas. This article estimates around 1,000 supporters a noted by San Francisco's KGO radio, included several Gold Star families whose sons had been killed in Iraq. The AP story had this: "Several times the crowd of about 1,500 chanted, "Cindy, go home!"

Yet the news site linked at Drudge says "Meanwhile, a few dozen Bush supporters held signs from their small camp in a ditch across the street from Sheehan's original site, where most of the dozens of protesters have continued camping off the main road leading to Bush's ranch."

Excuse me? a few dozen and around 1000 are two very different numbers. What gives?

Hurricane.

Here is a great link for live blogging from those experiencing the Hurricane.

This 2001 article from Popular Mechanics describes what a category 5 hurricane would do to New Orleans. via Boing Boing

I am watching Fox News and I am convinced that Steve Harrigan is insane.

Gotcha.

Cell phones aren't all bad. Especially if they help us catch the pervs. via Ace.

Sweet.

A story to warm your heart.

via Glossy Red

Getting away from the Hurricane.

We left early early Sat. morning heading to Baton Rouge for a barbecue for parents of engineering students a LSU. It wasn't until after the barbecue that we even heard about the hurricane. LSU e-mailed out that it was canceling classes on Monday and depending on the storm, maybe a few more days. We had a great time Satuday night going out with friends and our LSU kids. This morning we decided that we would take our kids home and away from this storm. Especially since LSU was talking about evacuating the entire campus.

Heading out this morning, I-10 was bumper to bumper. A friend called and said it had taken her 5 hours to get from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, usually an hour's drive for her. Luckily, our friend, who was driving, knew all kinds of back ways and it took us about 7 hours to get home. I'm hearing that on I-10 that would have taken anywhere fro m 10 to 12 hours (usual drive time 41/2 to 5 hours)

Anyway, glad to be home with my boy. He is happy to see everyone again so soon and we will wait and see how long classes will be out. It all depends on the damage and extent of this hurricane.

I don't like to name drop usually. But since I will be gone for a couple of days and ya'll wanted to see more pictures, I thought I would share some pictures below with some of my more important friends.

(yeah, I know I suck at photoshop, you don't have to tell me)

Here I am on the beach with my boys and a special friend.

Here I am on another date. The red carpet does get old.

This is my new Godchild and niece. My date insisted on sitting down for the picture. So rude. But when you look like that, you can get away with anything. (click on pic if you can't tell who my date is)

One more lil thing regarding Michael Yon.

Here is an interview with Michael Yon today on Radio Blogger. Here is the good news from the war that most Americans aren't getting.

HH: Are Americans getting a distorted view about how the war is going?

MY: Absolutely. Clearly, you're getting mostly body counts and bombings and that sort of thing, which are very real. I mean, I see those things here. They absolutely occur. We fight here every day. But what they don't see is that we fight less and less here every day. For instance, Deuce 4 has not been hit with an I.E.D. in about two weeks. We used to get hit like twice a day. Now, it's been like two weeks, and we have not been hit at all. So, you know what I'm saying?

Kickass Reporting.

Michael Yon is getting at least some attention in the msm. Even the NYT gives a slight mention. He got plenty the blogosphere though. One has to wonder why newspapers aren't tripping over themselves to publish what is easily the best reporting ever coming out of the war.

In reading his latest post that I implored y'all to read below, I was glued to the computer screen. I felt like I was right there. The pictures took you into the action as well. It was kickass reporting.

If any newspaper publisher has a brain in their head, they will hire this guy. Let's hope Michael gets the kudos he deserves when he returns.

Why Did We Go Into Iraq?

I notice that the left still keeps bringing up the fact, that they seem to think we on the right don't know, and that is that Saddam Hussein had nothing to with 9-11. So why did we go there? What was this noble cause? I like how a former black hawk helicopter pilot who served in Iraq answers the question.

"Before I went to Iraq, I was 100% sure that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Nobody ever tried to tell me that Saddam was in any way responsible for that terrible day. We weren't going there to avenge 9/11, folks. We went there to help prevent the next 9/11. It was the second step in what is sure to be a long drawn out campaign that is likely to see even more destinations in the mideast. If you can't figure that out, and you're still foaming at the mouth over all those lies that were never told- well, then, that's you're own fault..."

This Should Be A Circus....

This Saturday in additon to Cindy and friends, Freepers and Protest Warriors Join the “You Don’t Speak for Me Cindy Tour” , the Caravan of MoveAmericaForward, and White supremists Against the War - Protesting this war for Israel (the cabal of joooosss!) don't cha know? And I understand the usually low key Al Sharpton will also be on hand with his merry band of men.

Oh man. This will be one for the books.

UPDATE: Ok, not really an update, but I found an interesting article in Rolling Stone where one of their reporters went down to Crawford on Aug. 11th. The guy pretty much makes fun of the left and the right here. But as you read the article there is no doubt he is anti-war. But he does see things as they are in Crawford and speaks to the nuttiness of it all and how it isn't like Vietnam. Here were some interesting tidbits he picked up:

"The ostensible political purpose may be ending the war, but the immediate occupation for a sizable percentage of these people always seemed to be a kind of rolling adult tourist attraction called Hating George Bush. Marches become Hate Bush Cruises; vigils, Hate Bush Resorts."

" If you spend any amount of time involved with peace protests, as I have, you very quickly start to notice that Hating the President just seems like a little too much of a fun thing for too many of your brothers-in-arms."

But here was one... ummm... dare I say...crazy converstation with the anti-war people the reporter had:

"At one point at Camp Casey, an informal poll taken around a campfire revealed that six out of a group of ten protesters, selected at random, believed that the United States government was directly involved in planning the 9/11 bombings. Flabbergasted, I tried to press the issue.

"Do you know how many people would have to be involved in that conspiracy?" I said. "I mean, start with the pilots . . ."

"The planes were flown by remote control," a girl sitting across from me snapped."

And in an effort to be objective and fair in my blogging about the looniness on the right as well, he had this conversation with a righty:

"Another group I spoke with asked me why I believed Iraq wasn't connected to 9/11. I answered that Saddam Hussein's secular government was a political enemy of the Islamic fundamentalists.

"Well," said Raymond Smith, 42, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
He laughed, and the group nodded at me triumphantly.

It was like a scene from Spinal Tap.
Three seconds passed.

"But," I said finally, "that doesn't make any sense, does it?"

But in the end, the anti-war reporter feels the same way I have always felt about Cindy Sheehan. (emphasis mine)

"She had been through so much in the past week. In still more proof that red-blue politics often comes before family in this country, her in-laws had released a statement cruelly denouncing her. Her estranged husband, perhaps a coward and perhaps unable to handle the stress, filed for divorce. Revelations about her personal life were spilling into print, and all around the country, heartless creeps like Drudge and Ankarlo were casting themselves as friends and protectors of her fallen son and criticizing her for dishonoring him."

"In return for all that, what Sheehan got was this: her own trailer, a couple of weeks' worth of airtime and a bunch of people who called themselves her friends but were really just humping the latest cause. They would probably be moving on soon, and Sheehan would be left with nothing."

A Must Read!

Remember my post about Michael Yon's recent combat blogging with Commander Kurilla???? Well, he has the whole thing up now WITH PICTURES. It is the most amazing thing to read!!!! Go read it!! NOW!!!

Caption this had this photo with so many good captions that I couldn't pick just one.

"Spank me, comrade! Spank me like a four-year-old at Kmart!"

"Let's call Jimmy Carter and see if he's up for a three way?"

"Aw, Hugo, you arranged to have a dissident tortured just for me?"

"They say the only different between a straight brutal tyrant and a gay brutal tyrant is a six-pack."

Move America forward

MoveAmericaForward.org is an organization that is countering Cindy Sheehan's protest movement. I saw an ad on TV today asking for people to join them in a caravan to Crawford Texas this weekend. The ad included a mother who had also lost a son in Iraq.

From my previous posts, you know that I don't like this. I don't like pitting one grieving mother against another. The whole thing is distasteful to me. But I certainly can't blame those in MoveAmericaForward for what they are doing. They can't very well just let Cindy say things that they, as grieving parents, don't agree with. They feel that Cindy Sheehan's words are hurting our troops and our country.

That is why I was pleading with Cindy and her supporters to go home. This will just be painful and not necessary. We all know that there are two sides to this issue. We all know what those sides believe. It is really necessary to make a spectacle out of grief????

No, it isn't.

Eminent Domain back at cha....

You have to admit, this is a great way to make a point in a way a Supreme Court Judge can understand.

The Highs and Lows of being a Democrat.

The American Spectator describes perfectly the glee and then profound disappointment the left keeps experiencing:

"The feeling you are experiencing, or will soon experience(regarding Sheehan), is a familiar one. It shrouded you when you first accepted in your heart that the infamous CBS News memo "proving" President Bush went AWOL during his service with the National Guard was a fraud. You giggled with glee when the story first broke. We've got him now, you said to your friends. When conservatives immediately expressed skepticism about the documents' authenticity, you called them "liars" and "idiots." But deep inside you knew. Ultimately, you settled into a weird "fake but true" numbness.

You felt it again when the London Times revealed the leaked Downing Street Memo. This was it, you said. Now we have Bush by the short hairs! You blogged about the memo so much, you gave it a shorthand moniker, the "DSM." "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD," the memo read. "But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." An open and shut case, right?

Well, no. Even before liberal magazines like Slate and many liberal talking heads in the media wrote the DSM off as no big deal, you started having doubts. "Fixed around" doesn't really mean "fixed." And the memo was written by Britons who, after all, have different idioms than we Yanks.

So you lowered your sights. When Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, told the Conservative Party of New York, "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," you just knew this would be the end of "Bush's Brain." The American people wouldn't stand for a politician -- well, a Republican politician anyway -- politicizing 9/11. Sen. Hillary Clinton called for Rove's resignation. So did Sen. Jon Corzine. You had the Big Mo. Then you thought about it for a moment and you realized it was true. You did want to understand the terrorist attackers. You credited poverty, U.S. foreign policy, Israel and anything else you could think of (except the terrorists' evil hearts) for instigating that terrible act. The swarm dissipated over the weekend.

But you had a second bite at the Rove apple when you found out he leaked to a reporter that Valerie Plame was a covert CIA operative. Yeah! Rove wouldn't merely lose his job for this, he'd lose his head. Only he didn't "name" Valerie Plame. He didn't even know her name, which is actually Valerie Wilson. And she wasn't a "covert" operative. She hadn't been one for six years. She drove to her "secret" CIA office every day -- between Vanity Fair photo shoots apparently -- out in the open where any terrorist spy could tail her.

Again, that old feeling poured over you; a mixture of disappointment, rage, confusion, and whatever the exact opposite of Schadenfreude is."

Heh.

In Case You Have Been Missing My Intelligent Design/Evolution Posts. (I know you have)

Now this is interesting. This is a perspective of someone who believes in an intelligent design, just not the Christian type belief in it.

"It's high time to rescue "intelligent design" from the politics of religion. There are too many riddles not yet answered by either biology or the Bible, and by asking them honestly, without foregone conclusions, science could take a huge leap forward."

More interesting is the questions he poses. Maybe some of my anti-I.D. commenters can answer a few of them.

No. No. NO.

Someone who loves Cindy Sheehan needs to get through to her. Do a leftwing intervention or something. In an article today Cindy explains why she is going back to Crawford, which is fine, but she has to cross the line. She has to insult all those soldiers and parents who have lost a child in the war: (emphasis mine)

"What is the noble cause that he says my son died for? The answer to that question will not bring my son back. But it may stop more meaningless deaths. Because every death is now a meaningless one."

OMG! If I had a child in the military I think I would be making a trip to Crawford myself and have a little talk with Mrs. Sheehan. I understand she is lost in her grief, but that does not mean she gets to insult others who have suffered the same loss, but feel very differently about the meaning of their child's death.

If all I wanted was the left to look bad then I would encourage Cindy in her quest to insult all Americans who support the war. But this is too painful to watch. If Democrats care about their party, then they need to make it clear that they don't agree that our soldier's sacrifices are meaningless.

Because if you don't make your voice heard, then Cindy's painful remarks will be all that is heard.

Gearing Up.

Leftwing groups are gearing up for a fight against John Roberts. You may be aware that they have requested and received 250 trillion notes and opinions from Robert's past work, but you may not know that they have also requested notes that he passed to girls in 7th grade.

Ok, not really. But even that wouldn't surprise me. The attitude now is to keep digging until proper dirt can be found. It is a wonder we get any decent people appointed in government given the witch hunts that occur now.

Who needs it? Roberts can make a very comfortable living in private life. I don't know why any one would want to go through the smear campaign of being appointed to high government positions.

Dear Abby,
My husband is a liar and a cheat. He has cheated on me from the beginning, and when I confront him, he denies everything. What's worse, everyone knows he cheats on me. It is so humiliating. Also, since he lost his job three years ago he hasn't even looked for a new one. All he does is buy cigars and cruise around and jokes with his pals, while I have to work to pay the bills. Since our daughter went away to college he doesn't even pretend to like me and hints that I am a lesbian. What should I do?

Signed,

Clueless

Dear Clueless:

Grow up and dump him. For Pete's sake, you don't need him anymore, you're a United States Senator from New York, act like it.

Stolen from Atlas Shugs (because it was too funny not to)

HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY TO ME!!!! I Y ALL MY COMMENTERS!!!

No! Wait! Stop! Your In The Right Place!

Yes! I changed my look. I got so many comments about the pink and I never thought about the workplace. Anyway, please keep commenting on the "Tell Me About Yourself" post. When I changed, it deleted my comments, but I copied and pasted those on one comment there. I am trying to do the rest. (at least the most recent)

Hope you like it!!

One more thing. I am trying to decide whether to go back to Haloscan comments or not. Tell me which one you like best.

Bizarre.

I don't keep up with Pat Robertson much. I have never seen The 700 Club, but you would have had to have been asleep all day to miss his bizarre statements regarding assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Truly strange.

Got a few days to read? Well, it doesn't get more fascinating than this. These are the interviews with the firefighters that survived 9-11 after the fact. Here is a gripping one I picked at random to read. I am sure they are all riveting. I'm reading them now and I can't stop. Now I can't remember where I got this link from. Sorry.

God. I just get so emotional reading or hearing about 9-11.

Waaaay past time for a caption contest!!! Go for it!

Tell me a little about yourself.

Comments From Left Field had this survey on his blog and I thought it was a great idea. If I can know a bit more about you and why you read this blog, maybe I can do better here. Feel free to post with a different name if you don't want even your online identity known. No need for an e-mail either.

Some suggested questions:

What is your gender?
What is your age?
What is your ethnicity?
Where are you located (eg. Pittsburgh, PA)?
What is your political affiliation if any?
What issues are most important to you?
Why do you read this blog?
Where did you find out about this blog?
What would you like to see more of? Less of?
Do you have a blog? URL?

Never Again.

I was surprised at how emotional I got watching the last half of "Inside 9-11" last night on the Discovery Channel. I can only imagine the memories it brought back for those who lived in NYC and Washington D.C. I truly do not see how anyone watching this documentary can be against this war.

One can argue all day about specifically going into Iraq. Fine. But it important to remember that a country didn't attack us, a belief did. And that belief is blowing itself up almost daily in Iraq. Whether those are men from Iraq or other Arab nations, they are the terrorists and we are killing them by the thousands over there. In February, an unnamed senior military official told CNN that the US military believes it killed between 10,000 and 15,000 guerrillas in combat last year. Dead terrorists. Lots and lots of them. Sounds good to me.

In my comments section there is a soldier who served with Casey Sheehan. He says that 5 other servicemen where killed the day Casey died, but for every one of them, they killed anywhere from 100-200 terrorists. And that was just one day. No one has convinced me yet that killing those monsters that seek to destroy our way of life is making this world a more dangerous place. No one can convince me that these men were just average citizens until we came along and then decided to blow themselves up along with fellow Arabs, including children. No. This mindset was made long ago.

Say what you will about the reasons we went into Iraq, but the fact is that our Special Ops discovered and destroyed a international terrorist camp in Iraq the first week of our invasion. Radical Muslims, such as the ones who flew those planes into our buildings, are spread throughout the region. Right now they are going into Iraq so they can be "martyrs." So I will ask you this. Where else would we have gone to fight the terrorists? We had destroyed and killed them in Afghanistan. Should we have let them stew and plot against our nation again????

"Inside 9-11" convinced me more than ever that we are doing what has to be done. It isn't pretty and I hate it, but terrorism cannot be ignored, it must be destroyed.

We ignored it before and paid the price.

Never again.

No One Wins This One.

Yahoo News has this:

CRAWFORD, Texas - A patriotic camp with a "God Bless Our President!" banner sprung up downtown Saturday, countering the anti-war demonstration started by a fallen soldier's mother two weeks ago near President Bush's ranch.

The camp is named "Fort Qualls," in memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Wayne Qualls, 20, who died in Iraq last fall.

Now isn't this special? The war of the dead children. That is just great, isn't it?? Is this what Cindy Sheehan wants? Parents of fallen soldiers fighting with each other?? One infuriating the other? Adding to an uspeakable grief?

Let's stop this now. For God's sake, everyone pack up and go home. We don't need vigils , we know your against the war and we know why. We don't need "Support Our Troop" rallies to turn into yelling fests between parents of soldiers and those who oppose the war.

This isn't changing anyone's mind. This isn't helping. This isn't going to bring the troops home any sooner. This isn't going to get your guy elected. This is only going to cause hurt and pain, not the least of which will be on Cindy herself. This hurts our troops. This hurts the parents. This hurts our country.

Put down your signs, your candles, and your banners and go home. This isn't Vietnam. The people who support our troops are going to be out there too. It will always be one opinion against another. No one is going to win this.

No one.

chickenhawk, chickenhawk, chickenhawk....oh shutup.

You know that "chickenhawk" argument the left is spewing all over the blogs? Well one commenter over at Protein Wisdom got a wee bit ticked off. He was exactly the right guy to put it the way we would all like too (except I don't allow that kind of language here) So enjoy.

The Right Meets The Left.

Andi's world gives us a detailed report of a "Support Our Troops" rally to counter the "Cindy Sheehan candlelight vigil" in front of the White House Wednesday night. Along with this Freep account, you get a big picture idea of how each looks at this war and our troops. Both links have great photos too. It is, as they say, a must read.
via Mudville

More incredible reporting from Michael Yon.

If you have been reading the incredible blog of Michael Yon in Iraq, Lone Star Times has this horrifying post of his from yesterday:

"The operation has begun. The Commander of Deuce Four, LTC Erik Kurilla, was shot three times in combat yesterday in front of my eyes. Despite being seriously wounded, LTC Kurilla immediately rejoined the intense and close-quarter fight that ended in hand-to-hand combat. LTC Kurilla continued to direct his men until a medic gave him morphine and the men took him away. I was right there. When I returned to base, I was actually "ordered" not to write about the fighting until given clearance, and was told that my phones could be confiscated. I will ignore such "orders" at my own discretion. I am preparing a dispatch now."

Kurilla is a well known soldier in Michael's blog. His bravery is well documented.

Say a prayer for him today if you can.

Powerline has this "must read" piece. So go read it.

Now this is energy from a natural source.

Watching TV.

Wow. That is my main reaction to the first part "Inside 9-11" on the Discovery Channel tonight. It was fascinating to see the path Osama and the rest took to 9-11. Thank goodness the Discovery Channel took pains to not get political with it. I think they tried to stick with just the facts as they happened.

It seems clear that the Clinton administration dropped the ball many many times in not catching Osama or taking the threat seriously. But the early Bush administration didn't take it seriously enough either. The thing is, I'm not sure that taking it seriously could have prevented 9-11. The elaborate scheme was so far beyond anyone's imagination.

The only comfort I can take from it is that we now know how real and dangerous this threat is. We now know how easily it is to recruit Muslim fanatics to do the unspeakable. Not knowing this was our greatest weakness.

After watching "Inside 9-11," I watched another episode of "Over There." I have read the reviews from soldiers on other milblogs and they weren't happy with it overall. But I have to say (and I am speaking as a BIG supporter of the military as anyone who reads this blog knows) that I kind of like the show. It has a lot of soap opera drama, but it doesn't seem to make the soldiers look bad in my opinion. They just seem human and venerable. I am no military expert though, so I can't speak to the details that seem to be bothering the milblogs.

In watching the show, I felt a great tenderness for those who serve so far away from those they love. I also felt a great appreciation for the sacrifice they make and the bravery it takes to make it. I am under no illusion that all soldiers are some kind super hero. Soldiers make mistakes. Some bad people become soldiers. Nothing is perfect. Certainly not in war. But it is my heartfelt belief that most soldiers believe in the same values that I do. And they feel those values are worth fighting for.

I am looking forward to seeing next Sunday's episode. It is about an inbred reporter that the soldiers get pretty ticked at. The only thing that concerns me is having a drama on TV about a war that is happening in real time. Could terrorists watch the show and get ideas or learn something about our military they didn't know before?

I hear that the ratings aren't too good for the show. So it may not last long. But if the goal of the producers were to somehow show our military in a bad light, it just doesn't come off that way. If anything, it should generate sympathy for the families of the soldiers at home and the needs that they have.

At least I hope so.

Iraq Unplugged

Mudville tells us about "Iraq Unplugged" Songs written and recorded by American soldiers in Iraq. They actually recorded it there.

Click on "I am a Patriot." It is awesome. It will give you goosebumps. I heard Luke Stricklin sing "An American By God's Amazing Grace" on Fox and Friends about 2 weeks ago. It is awesome. You can buy the CD straight from their website.

I just saw on Fox News a video of Cindy Sheehan at a rally for a lawyer that defended terrorists awhile back. Cindy was wondering why Bush didn't send his "two little party animals" to Iraq.

I think the left is going to regret pushing Mrs. Sheehan as the anti war face of their movement.

John Roberts obviously hates it when celebrities get accolades they don't deserve. I love it.
via Dean's World

Girls just want to have fun. But they rarely do.

Every single girl in the world should read this opinion piece. I could have written this when I was single. The key sentence in the column that describes how I thought and was highly motivating for me was this:

I never want to be "her."

Who Cares What The World Thinks About America? I Care.

Have I mentioned that I think this Pope rocks?

I can't imagine loving a Pope the way I did Pope John Paul, but Pope Benedict is coming close. Here is what he said to a gathering of Germany's Muslim officials:

"Terrorist activity is continually recurring in various parts of the world, sowing death and destruction, and plunging many of our brothers and sisters into grief and despair.

"Those who instigate and plan these attacks evidently wish to poison our relations, making use of all means, including religion, to oppose every attempt to build a peaceful, fair and serene life together."

This comes after a visit Friday to Cologne's synagogue, where Benedict was warmly received by Jewish officials for his remarks urging better Jewish-Christian relations and warning of rising anti-Semitism.

This is what I like. I like people with different views getting along. I like us agreeing on certain basic widely held moral beliefs and then trying to understand and live with each other as best we can beyond that.

The word 'catholic' means universal. We now have a global economy and, like it or not, the United States citizens can no longer ignore the rest of the world. We like our way of life here. We don't like to talk about politics. (not the bloggers of course, but everyone else) We like our sports, our movies, our cars, and our homes. It is easy to become so busy in our lives we forget that our government leaders make profound decisions every day that affect how other people on this earth see us. And we need to care how they see us, whether we want to or not.

There is another source of information that affect how others see us as well. Our media. And I don't mean just the news. In fact, I believe that it is our celebrity media that affects the world view as much as just about anything else. Millions across the world saw Fahrenheit 9-11. They also believed the distortion and lies that were crafted in the movie. I saw on a special on VH1 that the show "The Jerry Springer Show" was translated and shown all over the world and other countries could not get enough of it. When I heard that, I thought that if I got my impression of what Americans are like from The Jerry Springer Show then I too would hate Americans.

From international popular shows like "Baywatch" and "Friends," and all our R rated movies, the impression given is that all Americans are hedonistic and immoral. I can certainly see why Muslim countries would think so. In America we just find these shows funny or entertaining. We know they don't represent who we are or what we care about.

The rest of the world must have really been shaking their head when we elected a Christian, down to earth, conservative President twice. At least Bill Clinton fit in with the stereotype that has been put out there by the media about Americans. But George Bush? How could that happen?

There are many ways to poison relations with others. The Pope points out the most egregious and brutal- terrorism, but there are many other ways we do it as well. When the media allows people like Cindy Sheehan to say thinly veiled anti-Semitic remarks and not condemn her because they sympathize with her. When any of us blame entire cultures or religions for the problems in the world.

We seem to have forgotten a simple gesture that I was taught as a child....kindness. We need to be kind to those we disagree with. We cannot reach out and change anyone's mind without kindness. Pope John Paul knew that. When he died I was shocked at how the liberal media gushed over him. I mean he was conservative as they come. He would never back down on any strongly held moral belief and no one in the liberal media agreed with one thing he believed in, yet they liked him.

Why? Because he was kind. Because he showed no ill will toward anyone. Because he clearly loved people, even those who disagreed with him. He proved that you don't have to compromise or back down from your values to reach out to those who don't share them.

Let's get back to a little kindness here. Let the soldiers fight. Let the protestors protest. Let the angry rant. But let us show compassion.

After all, it is love that saves us.

via Dr. Sanity

Say a Prayer Today.

I want to offer a prayer for Coretta Scott King, who is in the hospital after suffering from a stroke.

I have always had a lot of respect for her. She showed great grace after Dr. Martin Luther King's death. She never used her fame or her husband's fame to put herself in the limelight. She never let the left use her as campaign tool. She has always seemed to be in complete control of what she wanted to do.

Going to the GOP and DNC conventions showed that she wanted the black community to be involved in the political process in both parties. This could not have made the Democrats happy. But she never seemed to care about that.

In all these years I don't remember her saying anything negative. It would have been easy for her to be bitter. It would have been easy to lash out and become a loud self involved camera hound like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have. It would have been easy for her to blame white America for her husband's death, but she didn't do any of those things.

She has always carried herself with dignity and grace. She has honored her husband and his memory as only a true lady can. She is a shining example of how to handle being a part of history and the fame that comes with that.

Get well Mrs. King. This generation needs your example.

Brian Maloney, the man behind one of the most popular blogs on the Internet, The Radio Equalizer, will be the guest Sunday evening at 9pm est on Pundit Review Radio.You can listen live at WRKO and call toll free at 877-469-4322.

An example of why I don't like to elect Southpark Republicans.

Will Blog For Money.

It's just a matter of time. They want us.

The crazy blog money is right around the corner. I just know it.

This sign was posted by a neighbor of Bush's in Crawford living closest to where the small white crosses are lined up. via Powerline

"Cindy Sealed The Deal."

I can't get over the reaction to this guy's decision to become a Republican. (via LGF) Check out the post and the comments. (read the comments on LGF too) It pretty much illustrates the left and right's differences.

Welcome Scott Randolph to our happy family. Here is his crucial excerpt:

"I actually felt myself become a republican today. It was around 10am, when I read the latest update of the Cindy Sheehan saga in CNN.com. I then shot over to read some blogs about it, and perused the comments in some of them, which was nothing but a long series of petty (albeit entertaining) partisan bickering.
Then it happend. The good little democrat in me tied the little noose around his neck and jumped off the stool. He just couldn’t take it anymore.

Take what? The whining. The constant whining by the extreme left about the reasons for war, the incompetence of this administration, and how we’ve all been lied to, and how we should pull out of Iraq immediately, because, *gulp* our soldiers were in danger.

Guess what folks….they signed up to join the Army, not the boy scouts. Anytime your orientation to a new job involves an automatic weapon, you should be smart enough to figure out there’s danger involved. I actually read some people’s comments about many of the soldiers over there being naive….they weren’t expecting to go to war, so, they should be allowed to go home. Wow."

Makes you feel better about the whole protest thing, doesn't it?

Children can just make you so proud sometimes.

I'm sooo glad stem cell research is bringing us such important advancements in medicine.
via Grouchy Old Cripple.

What Air America Scandal?

When Rush had his drug problem, we never heard the end of it.

When O'Reilly had his phone sex embarrassment, we heard every detail.

But when Air America takes $875,000 from a children's charity as a "loan" that it hasn't paid back and an Air America executive that also served as development director for the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club of the Bronx made a "diversion" of funds for the struggling leftists, we hear nothing but crickets from the MSM.

Want details of the glorious coverage when Air America started up and the silence as it dives into scandal? Go here.

Cindy Sheehan Leaves.

Sheehan left Crawford today after getting a phone call that her mother had had a stroke.

For the love of God, please bloggers do not make jokes about her mother.

I am wondering if her family will try and talk her into not returning to Crawford while they have her away from the leftwing goups.

No. No way. Not true. Really?

Just when I think I have seen it all. The Japanese have come up with a children's beverage called Kidsbeer, a nonalcoholic brew. And it seems to be selling well. It looks just like beer and is bottled like beer.

"Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink," reads the product's advertising slogan.

Wow. What an upbeat message!!!

Good Lord, are the Japanese that unhappy? They think kids need a drink?? I mean who can stand this life??? *shakes head*

Dead Al-Qaida Leader. Always good to hear.

Captain Ed gives us this spectacular news from the AP:

" Al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia was killed Thursday during clashes with police in the western city of Medina, the Interior Ministry said.
Saleh Mohammed al-Aoofi was among six al-Qaida militants reported killed during police raids on numerous locations in the holy city and the capital, Riyadh, security officials told The Associated Press.
Al-Aoofi, a Saudi in his late 30s, and another militant were killed during one of seven police raids in Medina, the Interior Ministry said."

As Captain Ed points out:

" The Saudis have done a remarkable job in cleaning up al-Qaeda leadership since AQ attacked foreigners in Riyadh in May 2003. Shortly after that attack, the Saudis listed 26 known terrorist leaders wanted by their security services. With the death of Aoofi, 25 of 26 have either been captured or killed by the Saudis. They also captured 10 Islamist "militants" in Medina, and killed another in a separate raid in Riyadh. The Riyadh operation also turned up a number of weapons, bombs, and documentation."

I'm wondering, as Jeff at Protein Wisdom is, whether this news will carry the weight of a certain Crawford protest.

Thanks to Matt.

Why we have no respect for the ACLU.

School Board Compared to Terrorists?

"It's in the choice of words, but you decide.. is American Civil Liberties Union chief Joe Cook calling the Tangipahoa Parish School Board members a bunch of terrorists?

Cook was asked about a meeting Monday, during which the school board spoke to all teachers and workers about policy for this year, and had been asked by the ACLU to remind teachers to be extra careful not to allow prayer at school functions. This is what the ACLU chief had to say:

"They believe that they answer to a higher power, in my opinion. Which is the kind of thinking that you had with the people who flew the airplanes into the buildings in this country, and the people who did the kind of things in London."

Tangipahoa school officials tell reporters it's ludicrous to compare the Tangipahoa school board's "fight for religious freedom and freedom of expression in schools" with terrorist motivated attacks."

Need I say more?

via Lone Star Times

Thanks to Jill for pointing out another idiotic pursuit of the ACLU. Have you noticed that the only thing the ACLU sees as wrong is anything having to do with religion.

I Wonder.

The images of the Gaza pullout are painful to watch. After reading the following from Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas’s overall leader in the Gaza Strip in The Jerusalem Post, I wonder if it will all be for nothing.

Zahar said: “Neither the liberation of the Gaza Strip, nor the liberation of the West Bank or even Jerusalem will suffice us. Hamas will pursue the armed struggle until the liberation of all our lands. We don’t recognize the state of Israel or its right to hold onto one inch of Palestine. Palestine is an Islamic land belonging to all the Muslims.”

via LoneStarTimes

"She Does Not Speak for Me."

There are always two sides to every story, isn't there?

It's hard to find a picture of my college guy, but here is one. His best friend (and my adopted son) on your right is now in the Navy training to be a Seal.

Off To College.

I got my son off to college yesterday. I actually did it without crying. I know he was ready to go. My last minute "do's and dont's" was enough to send him screaming away I am sure. He is a very laid back kid, so he just kept nodding thoughtfully, but I am sure he wanted to tape my mouth shut. Heck, I wanted to tape my mouth shut, but I just couldn't stop myself. After several warnings and tips I remind him to change his sheets every week or so and keep his dorm room locked at all times, he looks at me patiently and says, "Mom, do you think I am retarded?"

I think moms say things like "don't let anyone talk you into taking any kind of pills" so that if anything like that actually happens, we can always say, "well, I warned him of just that!"

Our conscience is clear.

I started cleaning out his room today. Not a good idea. I find reminders of his childhood everywhere. Goofy pictures that make me laugh, Halloween candy that was never eaten, shirts I bought that were never worn (too dweeby, I guess). I take a deep breath and decide to do this later.

I still haven't cried. I am always strong until the storm is over. I wait until everything is settled and right, and then I let go. Getting the other three off to a new school year has kept me busy.

Tonight could be the night.

Why we don't trust the media.

I have read 4 stories this morning about the "peace protest" of Cindy Sheehan. And none of them even mention the parents of fallen soldiers who went to Crawford to take their son or daughter's cross down from the protest saying "you don't speak for us." to Cindy.

And according to Google news there are 1,666 related stories. I wonder how many of them mention the parents of those fallen soldiers who support the war?? I wonder how many of them mention that Cindy Sheehan is tearing her family apart over this? They don't mention the husband who filed for divorce over this. They don't mention the brother of Casey who is angry at his mom over this. They don't mention the protest warriors, the pro-troop group that is also in Crawford.

The anti war media have found their mascot and they are doing everything they can to paint a sympathic picture of her.

Truth be damned.

That is why we don't trust the media.

Very Cool.

This is called "working together." Iraqis help our soldiers find bombs and our soldiers recover a kidnapped Iraqi 2yr old and return the toddler safely to the parents.

A Question.

Victor Hanson gives us this excellent commentary:

"The same people who castigate us for allowing the slaughter in Rwanda and Sudan and a dozen other venues now chide us for insuring that such brutality stops in Iraq. They chafe at the unforeseen consequences, mistakes, and inadvertent death that always and everywhere has accompanied the use of force. How many tens of thousands died unnecessarily in World War II, the “good war,” because of such contingencies? The tragic truth of action is that we have to accept those risks and accept that to achieve a future good we often have to risk a present evil. The only alternative is never to use force, and pacifism is a juvenile ideal refuted on every page of history."

Maybe one of my leftwing commenters can answer that question for me. Because I have always wondered it as well. Why is the suffering in Rwanda and Sudan so much more important to stop than the suffering of the Iraqi people?

via BigDog

Silly, but hilarious. Even funnier.

via Ace

Iraqi Women. Let the Iraqi govt. finally have some respect for them.

A Soldier's Mom said it perfectly about the Iraqi constitution and the role of women:

"Wishing the draft Iraqi constitution had been done on time because every delay heightens the danger our troops and the Iraqis face from the terrorists… but was also glad to hear that the extension was a unanimous vote. I hope the drafters do not abandon the Iraqi women who are the strength and honor and spirit of Iraq… these women who must raise and protect their families under the direst of circumstances and are the hope with their children of the new Iraq and the Middle East – women who went to the polls in parity with Iraqi men. It would be distressing to me and many others I’m sure, if their legal standing was LESS under the new government than Saddam.However, despite the assertions of the MSM and the liberals – this is IRAQIS driving this – not Americans. While our ambassador and consultants can exert some pressure, it is up to the Iraqis themselves to assure that they HONOR their women and their role in Iraqi society and history. You cannot hope to join the 21st century of your women are forced to return to the 5th century."

Check out her blog too. She has a son in a dangerous area in Iraq and her attitude is awesome! Read her amazing experience at a Toby Keith concert. Too cool.

UPDATE: Good news! The news this morning is reporting that Iraqi women will have equal rights under the law. That issue has been settled.

The Media Should Be Ashamed.

Xenophon has this:

"...when 14 more 3/25 Marines were killed on August 3rd the media, both local and national, paid much more attention than any of the other incidents involving 3/25. Here in Ohio you could not escape talk of the fourteen Marines killed, and that is all the information the media had. They broke this story so fast that the Marines could not even notify the families before hand. This led to absolute panic among the 3/25 families. I was able to find out pretty early that the casualties came from Lima Company (based in Columbus, OH), and so began contacting as many family members from Weapons Company and Headquarters Company (based in Akron, OH and Brookpark, near Cleveland, OH, respectively) as I could to mitigate the damage. But the damage had been done. My phone calls were answered by crying wives and mothers, sitting in front of the TV hoping for any information, horrified that I was calling with the worst of news. This was media irresponsibility at its worst."

He continues:

"The media has every right to do this. We’re a country that enjoys the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. But does that mean that we cannot expect that the media will have the simple courtesy and consideration to allow the military to take care of our family before they announce tragedies of this kind? Especially when it comes to consideration for the families of those that serve." via Mudville

Amen to that.

The Rantings of The Left.

Mike Malloy of Air America wonders:

"Maybe the Unionists had it wrong in the late 1850s. Maybe there should have been a separation, a legal breaking apart of a society in which one half was moving toward progressive, liberal, scientific thought and the belief that justice had to be universal, and the other half drifting into racism, ignorance and a fundamentalist Christianity that demanded, among other perversions, subservience and silence from women"

Do reasonable people really believe this crap? All conservative Christians are racist, ignorant, and want women be subservant. It's such an absurd belief I can hardly believe even a leftwinger would say it. I expect this kind of ranting from Kos readers or at DU, but here is a "spokesman" for the left spouting this nonsense.

I use to hate it when Rush Limbaugh would always sarcastically joke about how lefties saw us. Using words like bigot, racist, and homophobe. But every day they seem to prove him right!

These over the top sterotypes (on both sides really) are starting to really get on my nerves.

Able Danger explained simply.

John Podhoretz from the Corner explains:

"It behaved disgracefully and in a nakedly partisan fashion, with former officials of the Clinton administration attempting to use the platform to damage the president's reelection chances. Then, after months of ludicrous conduct, out of nowhere came the brilliantly conceived and written report that set a new standard of eloquence and coherence for government documents, became a major bestseller and redeemed the commission's reputation.

Well, that didn't last long.

In a story filed at 7:10 PM, the Associated Press is now confirming all the particulars of what will now forever be called the Able Danger disaster. The 9/11 Commission staff did hear about intelligence-gathering efforts that hit pay dirt on the whereabouts of Mohammed Atta -- in 1999 -- and deliberately chose to omit word of those efforts.

And why? Because to do so might upset the timeline the Commission had established on Atta.

And why is that significant? Because the Mohammed Atta timeline established by the Commission pointedly insisted Atta did not meet with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague.

And why is that significant? Because debunking the Atta-Iraq connection was of vital importance to Democrats, who had become focused almost obsessively on the preposterous notion that there was no relation whatever between Al Qaeda and Iraq -- that Al Qaeda and Iraq might even have been enemies."

via Small Dead Animals.

McCain, 2008.

Just wanted to comment a bit more about McCain and 2008. I saw McCain on Fox News Sunday, and all I can say is this guy is saying the right things. He knows his way around the media, he knows how to win, and I still think he is our only hope of beating Hillary. I know a lot can change before then, but we conservatives have to face the fact that the majority of the public does not care about politics and will vote on emotion and star power. That is just the way it is. And if we want to win, we have to choose someone who can deliver those things.

You can disagree with McCain on many things, but the fact remains that he is a TRUE military hero. He not only survived the 5 yrs in a POW camp, but he refused to leave when given the opportunity by the power of his dad. He would not leave his men behind. Who has that kind of courage today??? Compare his service and sacrifice to the Democrat's next best thing, John Kerry. It doesn't even come close. McCain is not only a hero, but he dismisses that word when it is spoken of him.

He not only has the star power we desperately need ( he had a TV movie made about him!! Which I guarantee will be replayed if he runs) but in the this war on terror he has the military background we need as well.

We have awhile, but something to think about any way.

Enough Already.

I have tried hard to give Cindy Sheehan latitude for all that she is saying because of the heartache she has experienced, but it is obvious now that she is being used by fringe groups to get the media to pay attention to leftwing talking points. I could take her barbs at Bush. I understood her reflecting her anger at her son for re-enlisting to Bush. But now she is spouting things about Israel and talking about not paying her taxes and even demeaning the people of Texas. Referring to a man living on the street where they are protesting who shot a gun in the air:

"Sheehan, 48, said she was not concerned with her own safety but has told others to be aware that "this could get physical, even though we are peaceful."
"I think we knew of the risks when we came down here," said Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif. "I'm surprised we haven't had more of that since we're in Bush country." via My Way News

Parents in Texas have lost sons too. I heard a man on the radio this morning who drove to Crawford this past weekend to talk to Cindy. He had lost his son in Iraq in November. Even though she had told the press she would meet with the parents of fallen soldiers only, he said she would not meet with him. He seemed very nice. He told the radio host that he wanted to throw his arms around her and tell her he understood her pain. Although he believes that his son died fighting for a noble cause, he didn't want to argue that, he only wanted to comfort her.

So how can she criticize Bush for not meeting with her a second time when she won't even do what she said she would do and meet with the parents of other fallen soldiers who don't feel the way she does?

I think she made her point well. The truth is that to the general public she is now starting to look like a crackpot. Stopping now would at least give her the sympathy from the public she so clearly feels she needs, but continuing saying things that are ugly and untrue will only hurt her cause.

It's time to go home Cindy. Stop letting these people use you and your grief and fill your mouth with their talking points.

The Hillary Attack Machine Starts Up.

The New York Daily News gives us this:

"Democrats are in stitches over Jeanine Pirro's glitches - and they're spreading their mirth online.
Pirro's struggle to find a missing page of her speech during her campaign kickoff Wednesday against Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton became the fodder for a 45-second clip on the state Democratic Committee's Web site (www.nydems.org). The clip shows a confused Pirro saying "Hillary Clinton ..." and then falling silent as she struggles to find the next sheet.
The Democratic wags filled in the 32 seconds of silence that followed with the theme music to the game show "Jeopardy." At the end, the words "Without a Script, She is Speechless" fill the screen.
State Republican Chairman Stephen Minarik said it showed the Democrats were "resorting to the politics of personal destruction."

And so it begins. The Hillary attack machine. But since Pirro is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, anti-gun, and pro-affirmative action, I don't know what else they will be able to attack other than gaffs like these.

I Do. Do I know you?

Get this. It is now possible to meet someone, get to know them, flirt with them, and marry them without ever having to actually meet them.

I give you the first blogwedding.

If you work for CNN, you better not date a conservative, much less be one.

This from Mediabistro:

"What's happening at CNN reports rumors that Daryn Kagan has been passed over "for any and all promotion[s]" due to her relationship with Rush Limbaugh.TVNewser heard similar rumblings last week, and received this anonymous tip: "Daryn Kagan is very upset that because of her relationship with Rush she is being overlooked for any and all openings at CNN. Her current time slot is constantly being preempted by the O'Brien's on breaking news days. She is just gathering her paycheck now as she thinks she will not be there by the end of summer."