The last breath of the press.

Ralph Peters of The New York Post in Iraq: (emphasis mine)

"The reporting out of Baghdad continues to be hysterical and dishonest. There is no civil war in the streets. None. Period.

Terrorism, yes. Civil war, no. Clear enough?

Yesterday, I crisscrossed Baghdad, visiting communities on both banks of the Tigris and logging at least 25 miles on the streets. With the weekend curfew lifted, I saw traffic jams, booming business and everyday life in abundance.

Yes, there were bombings yesterday. The terrorists won't give up on their dream of sectional strife, and know they can count on allies in the media as long as they keep the images of carnage coming. They'll keep on bombing. But Baghdad isn't London during the Blitz, and certainly not New York on 9/11.<...>You are being lied to. By elements in the media determined that Iraq must fail."

You want more from Iraq? IraqPundit has this:(emphasis mine)

"Why do these reporters want to see a civil war so badly in Iraq? It looks to me that they hate Bush so much that they will stop at nothing to prove that he's wrong about Iraq and they are right. The reporters have sunk so low as to take this cheap angle of insisting that an all out civil war has been underway for three years. When will they wake up and realize that this is not a White House scandal. This is about Iraq and its people. Yes some people are being aggressive and I pray that the violence doesn't spread. But why do the media report exaggerated numbers of attacks and damage when it can only make a bad situation worse. What ever happened to checking for accuracy? Iraq the Model posted a list of numbers of what really was damaged.

The thugs of Moktada Al Sadr were responsible for most of the attacks. And the Interior Ministry's death squads were sent out by Bayan Jabr Solagh, who headed the Badr Brigades. IraqPundit is under no illusion that things are good right now. However, there is no reason to take the tabloid angle and declare a civil war when the parties who would fight that war have not yet declared one. The media appear to prefer to go for the schock approach instead of a responsible one."

Speaking of accuracy:

"Iraq's Cabinet, meanwhile, disputes a Washington Post tally of 13-hundred Iraqi dead in the past week, calling that number "inaccurate and exaggerated."

The Post cited figures from the Baghdad central morgue in its report on deaths in the violence since a Shiite shrine was destroyed. But a morgue official says as of Sunday night it had only received 249 bodies tied to the violence."

Via Mudville

I cannot wrap my mind around the clear evidence that there is reporting going on that is DETERMINED to paint President Bush and American soldiers in a bad light for what seems to be one reason and one reason only...to make sure Bush is not proven right.

Is there no honor in the journalism profession at all? No honesty??

I have read, not one, not two, but several opinion pieces in the last few days from respected intelligent people who are either in or just returned from Iraq. What they are saying is very different from what the msm is reporting and very different from what the milblogs are saying.

What the hell is going on here???? Whether you agree with the war or not, I don't think any of us want it sabotaged in the press. We want the truth, don't we????

We deserve better. I don't know how, but we have got to start demanding accurate reporting regarding the war. The press is only shooting itself in the foot here. The more people distrust the msm, the more they will turn to the internet for news and information.

The way I see it, the biggest casualty of this war may be the press itself.

Who Runs A Cargo Terminal At JFK Airport?

You guessed it!

The United Arab Emirates.

Blogs For Bush wants to know where is Schumer's outrage?

The dueling polls.

Smash doesn't think much of this new poll saying the troops want out of Iraq:

"I CAN'T SPEAK for anyone else, but I know that if a pollster came up to me while I was serving in uniform, and asked if I'd like to participate in an opinion poll, he'd get a two-word answer from me.

The second word would be "OFF."

But that's exactly what John Zogby's polling firm claims to have done with 944 soldiers serving in Iraq. Nothing like this has ever been attemted before. The results are interesting, but somewhat self-contradictory, and therefore difficult to analyze.

The poll, conducted in conjunction with Le Moyne College’s Center for Peace and Global Studies, showed that 29% of the respondents, serving in various branches of the armed forces, said the U.S. should leave Iraq “immediately,” while another 22% said they should leave in the next six months. Another 21% said troops should be out between six and 12 months, while 23% said they should stay “as long as they are needed.”

What I'd like to know, is what was the ratio of those refusing to take part in the poll to those agreeing to participate? Now that's a number from which I could draw some interesting analysis..."

Smash might be interested in this poll:

"Majority of US Troops Favor Increased Troop Levels in Iraq"

What???

As Blogs for Bush points out:

"Jason over at Generation Why ponied up the $19.99 to become a premium member of Zogby's site and found in that poll some interesting things that the New York Times didn't see fit to print. Things like this:

A majority of troops (53%) said the U.S. should double both the number of troops and bombing missions in order to control the insurgency.

Sounds to me like the troops want to win this thing - pull out, sure; but only after victory is secured. Addtionally, nearly 37% of the troops view calls here at home for a quick withdrawal as unpatriotic - so, it isn't just armchair warriors starting to question the patriotism of the war critics, but the front line warriors as well."

This is why I hate polls. One can always find a way to get the results they wish. Or...print the results they wish. Whichever.

How quickly a story changes.

And how disappointing it obviously is to the reporter.

Mudville has this:

"On February 24, as U.S. media hysteria reached it's peak in the wake of the shrine bombing in Iraq, the New York Times declared in a banner headline that More Clashes Shake Iraq; Political Talks Are in Ruins. Not jeopardized, not threatened, but ruined. All hopes dashed, over, fini, kaput. Stick a fork in it. The Iraqi Consensus Front, a key Sunni Arab political bloc, had pulled out of talks to form a government with the Shiite and Kurdish parties. According to the Times, civil war was looming - perhaps had even begun.


It had to be painful for the same reporter to file this story with the Times 48 hours later

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 26 — Leaders of the main Sunni Arab political bloc have decided to return to suspended talks over the formation of a new government, the top Sunni negotiator said Sunday. The step could help defuse the sectarian tensions that threatened to spiral into open civil war last week after the bombing of a Shiite shrine and the killings of Sunnis in reprisal.

Could defuse the tensions. Maybe. Possibly. Might. Because, it's not that big a deal, I guess.

Same reporter for both stories, by the way. Ed Wong - the Times has been passing off his deeply flawed analysis as actual news for quite some time."

A little history of Ash Wednesday.

Ashes are an ancient symbol of penance predating Christianity. They remind us of our mortality. We come from dust and unto dust we shall return.

They are made from the burned palms of last year. Placing ashes on the head was an ancient penitential custom, as is evident in the Bible (e.g. Jonas 3:5-9)

From about the fifth century, sinners confessed their sins on Ash Wednesday. They did not receive absolution but were enrolled in the "order of penitents," signified by placing ashes in the form of a cross on their foreheads. They were then assigned public penance to be performed throughout Lent and on Holy Thursday morning they received absolution.

2005 Lenten Booklet

Catholic City.

Very Interesting:

"A FORMER marine who was raised by nuns and made a fortune selling pizza has embarked on a 230m plan to build the first town in America to be run according to strict Catholic principles.
Abortions, pornography and contraceptives will be banned in the new Florida town of Ave Maria, which has begun to take shape on former vegetable farms 90 miles northwest of Miami.

Tom Monaghan, the founder of the Domino's Pizza chain, has stirred protests from civil rights activists by declaring that Ave Maria's pharmacies will not be allowed to sell condoms or birth control pills. The town's cable television network will carry no X-rated channels.
The town will be centered around a 100ft tall oratory and the first Catholic university to be built in America for 40 years. The university's president, Nicholas J Healy, has said future students should help rebuild "the city of God" in a country suffering from a "catastrophic cultural collapse."

My first thought when reading this is that it would be difficult to "spread the gospel" as we are called to do in our Christian lives, if we separate ourselves from society.

My second thought was that I would like to live there.

Let's face it, there are so many of us who want to live in a society free from abortion, porn, and an educational system that teaches our children the exact opposite of our values. I want to live in that society. I see nothing wrong with people freely choosing to do so either. But I also feel that those that do must also not isolate themselves and must also give back to the society at large.

I think people like Monaghan probably tire of fighting the immoral values of this world. The main problem I have with our society is that even the most diligent of parents are unable to protect their children from things they are too young to be exposed to and no one really seems to care about that. Everyone cares more about their own desires.

Something like this really underscores how immoral our society has become that people feel forced to pull away from it in such a dramatic way. I know I feel defeated all the time.

This should be an interesting experiment. I have a feeling there will be more people wanting to live there than even Monaghan imagines. I still am uncomfortable with the separation thing, but I understand why he feels a need to do this. I would imagine that liberals would rather something like this be built than for Monaghan to use his money to fight against them in politics, right?

Somehow, I don't think that will be the case.

via Kyrie

Let's see some outrage.

Iraq The Model brings what we may have missed otherwise regarding Saddam's trial:

"The documents revealed some unbelievably terrifying facts about the Dujail massacre; can you imagine that when orders were given to execute the 148 "convicts" the prison authorities executed only 96 of them. Why?Because the remaining 48 "convicts" had already passed away during "interrogation"!! What kind of interrogation was that killed one third of the suspects?!"

How many times have I listened to those here rant about Abu Ghraib? Even though we properly took care of the barbarians that committed those acts (and no one was killed thank God) and everyone condemned it, they rant and rant about how terrible we are.

Let's see if we see the rants about this. You hate the idea of torture? Meet the king of torture. Because, you know, torture that ends with one's death is the REALLY bad kind.

Oh, and one more thing.

He can't do it anymore.

via NRO

A Blogger Party!

Friday night the bloggers and commenters of Lone Star Times (which I link often) met for a few drinks and chat. I really enjoy meeting other bloggers and those interested in politics. The Lone Star Times is more about local stuff and local politics. Super nice people!!!

You can't really blame them...

One of the floats at New Orlean's Mardi Gras. Heh.

The War You Didn't See.

Read this excellent article that really goes to the heart of why I blog on the good news from Iraq. The press goes with a story that sells, one that sounds the worst that it can, but doesn't tell the whole story.

Remember the first national guard unit out of California to go to Iraq in 2004? The gentleman who wrote the article linked here was in that unit, the 1st of the 184th Infantry Regiment. This may jog your memory:

"From the first weeks of our mobilization in August 2004, we were in the spotlight. We were the battalion "mired in scandal." We were, according to the disgruntled, poor in training and morale. Once in Iraq, we were the battalion that suffered casualties seemingly faster than anyone could count: 17 killed in action and nearly 100 wounded in 12 months. We were the battalion whose commander, Col. William W. Wood, became the highest-ranking soldier to die in action. Our previous commander was relieved of duty after a scandal involving the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Even as we rolled out each day to confront terrorists, we were known at home primarily for things that had nothing to do with the job we did or how we did it."

And they did their job well. He goes on: (emphasis mine)

"Google us to find the litany of supposed woe. But if you want to know the real story of our battalion, go find Sgt. Thomas Kruger and ask him about April 5, 2005.

On that bright spring morning, with his legs shattered, Kruger dragged himself across 100 feet of debris and shrapnel to reach Cpl. Glenn Watkins, who had been mortally wounded moments earlier by the same ghastly roadside bomb.

You might also ask anyone from our ranks about Staff Sgt. Steve Nunez. Broken and bloodied by an IED, he was ordered home to recuperate after refusing to go voluntarily. He rejoined us to carry the fight forward, refusing the chance to stay home.

There were no front-page headlines for Kruger, Nunez or even Sgt. 1st Class Tom Stone, who covered a wounded subordinate's body with his own to protect that soldier from a secondary attack that could have come at any moment.

Stone, a Los Angeles Police Department officer, and Kruger, a paramedic on movie sets, were awarded Bronze Stars for their valor. Nunez, a Riverside metalworker, received our awe and admiration, and I hope yours too.

Equally deserving of recognition were Sgt. 1st Class Chris Chebatah and 1st Lt. Ky Cheng. One terrible September night, an armored personnel carrier in their patrol was destroyed by a tremendous blast and flipped, pinning a soldier. Even while taking enemy fire and directing the care for casualties around them, they rigged a chain to pull the 10-ton vehicle off him. The effort was successful but ultimately futile.

So far, 14 of our soldiers have been decorated for valor and another 48 have earned the Bronze Star for service. But that cannot be found in print."

Regarding the investigation of abuse of detainees:

"What was not said was that it was one of the soldiers in our own battalion who had found the video of the abuse and turned it in to our commander."

He ends with this:

"When it comes to Iraq, in my experience, that constituency is poorly served."

So true.

In other words, the story of the abuse of detainees was so juicy that it colored everything about the Regiment, even though these soldiers themselves turned in evidence as soon as they discovered it. Only 3 soldiers were sent to prison for the abuse. A disgrace that, as usual, was taken care of by our military. The heroic deeds of the rest of the Regiment ignored by the media. As the author points out, "The facts did not live up to the hype, but the hype was what we, and you, were left with."

In this wonderful age of the internet, we don't have to be left with just the hype. Now we can spread the truth with the "big picture" without it being censored by reporters with political agendas or those more interested in a dark juicy story than the whole truth.

Our soldiers deserve more than the press is giving them. If their stories are going to be told, then they deserve they be told with honesty.

It is the least we can do.

Friends.

Richard Cohen of the New York Dail News puts the Port controversy in perspective:

"To overlook the xenophobic element in this controversy is to overlook the obvious. It is what propelled the squabble and what sustains it. Bush put his finger on it right away. "What I find interesting is that it's okay for a British company to manage some ports, but not okay for a company from a country that is a valuable ally in the war on terror," he said last week. "The UAE has been a valuable partner in fighting the war on terror." It is a long way from a terrorist haven.

Somewhere in the White House, a political operative must have slapped his head in consternation as Bush made that remark. The politic thing for a President with a dismal approval rating (about 40%) would have been to join with the critics, get ahead of the anti-Arab wave and announce that he, too, was concerned about the deal. Instead, the White House stuck to its guns."

Once again Bush goes against what would be a political move to be liked (which would be so easy) and goes with what he knows is right. It's the mark of a great leader in my opinion.

Cohen ends with this:

"Maybe because Bush is a Bush - son of a President who got to know many Arabs - or maybe because he just naturally recoils from prejudice, his initial stance on this controversy has been refreshingly admirable. Whatever the case, the President has done the right thing."

One has to admit that many people in this country don't want to have anything to do with anyone in the Middle East. On the one hand they want democracy to flourish there, but on the other they want it all and everyone who is Middle Eastern to stay there.

This is a global economy. We cannot isolate ourselves as much as we would like to. We have to be able to distinguish between who are our friends and who are our enemies. If you think that every Arab is our enemy, then you are wrong.

Our future will include relations with Arab nations in a way that has not been seen before. The world is changing. We are changing it. We are now a part of the Middle East and they are a part of us.

Bush understands this. It's time we all did.

There is no media bias.

Nope. Not here. No way. I mean, come on...PROVE IT.

The Iraq story the msm misses.

If you can take one more positive look at Iraq. Here it is.

Victor Davis Hanson reminds us of what we thought was impossible and what might still be possible:

It was nearly an impossible task to remove Saddam Hussein, foster democracy in the heart of the ancient caliphate and restore on a relatively short timetable what took the Husseins three decades to destroy. Meanwhile, all this must be done surrounded by Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia; in the midst of a larger war against Islamic fundamentalism; and while under global scrutiny from a largely hostile audience.Yet what amazes is not so much the audacity of even thinking the United States could attempt such a thing, but rather that it may just pull it off after all — if only we remain patient.

H/T BigDog

Shame on the Red Cross.

The Captain has this:

The Red Cross has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on promotion of its executives in the media and on celebrity parties instead of assistance to disaster victims, the Washington Post reports today:
The American Red Cross paid consultants more than $500,000 in the past three years to pitch its name in Hollywood, recruit stars for its "Celebrity Cabinet" and brand its chief executive as the face of the Red Cross -- just a year before ousting her, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.


I know the Red Cross does invaluable work, but it's reasons like this my money always goes to Catholic Charities. It's a matter of trust.

Say What????

WSJ has this:

Jihadi Turns Bulldog

The Taliban's former spokesman is now a Yale student. Anyone see a problem with that?

Monday, February 27, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

Never has an article made me blink with astonishment as much as when I read in yesterday's New York Times magazine that Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, former ambassador-at-large for the Taliban, is now studying at Yale on a U.S. student visa.

read the whole thing.

It's like stepping through the looking glass. Hello. Let's wake up people.

Color me unimpressed.

I know this is kind of like bashing the student body President in highschool, but I saw Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit.com) for the first time on Q&A on Cspan last night and I want to know who thinks this guy is conservative? Not only is he not conservative, he comes across as pompous and elite as any mainstream media figure out there.

He said he worked on the Gore campaign in '88 and again in "92, so where does he get the reputation of being on the right? From what I see he doesn't even really blog. He links. How is he different from Drudge?

Heaven forbid a lowly blogger such as myself should criticize Glenn, who gets on average a thousand e-mails a day, so he doesn't even have to look for his links. They are sent to him. But it seems to me that he was just lucky enough and smart enough to be in on the beginning of blogging and understood that most people just wanted links to the best stories of the day.

That is a nice service to provide, no doubt, but in my opinion, it isn't blogging.

Could Ted Rall be any more of an idiot?

Apparently so.

I have to add Darleen's parody, because Ted so deserves it.

Sometimes I can't believe what I read.

Redstate has this:


New York Times Warns Foreign Leaders: Do Not Help the U.S.

By: Nick Danger · Section: News

In a startling breach of international etiquette, the New York Times today warned foreign intelligence services not to assist the United States. The warning was backed by public disclosure of highly secretive assistance provided to the U.S. military on the eve of the Iraq War.
"German intelligence services helped the United States invade Baghdad, and will now pay the price," the Times effectively told intelligence services worldwide. As it has in the past, the Times published classified information to bolster its latest attack on U.S. interests.
Foreign intelligence services are now on notice that the so-called "newspaper of record" intends to publicize their interactions with counterparts in the United States, despite any assurances of secrecy.

Read the whole thing. Good Lord.

Unfit to Print??

Powerline has this:

The New York Post devotes an editorial to underreported news including the letter of thanks to the men and women of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment from the mayor of Tall Afar: "Unfit to print?" The Post writes:

Every newspaper in the country should have run Mayor Najim Abdullah Abid Al-Jibouri's tribute to U.S. troops.

It's legitimate news — offering detailed updates on Iraq's reconstruction from the perspective of Iraqis.

And it's positive news.

The mayor wrote: "Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al Zarqawi. Our streets were silent, and no one dared to walk them...Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city.

"Their savagery reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young.

"This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered unto them the courageous soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of Zarqawi's followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists, and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats."

The letter has, as The Post reported last Monday, created a swell of pride in American servicemen.

Military families, fed up with conventional reporting, spread this and other positive stories through e-mail and Web sites. The letter itself was distributed to the families of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment in Fort Carson, Colo., upon the soldiers' return from their second year-long Iraq tour.

"Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a bygone era," the mayor writes. "The mission . . . deserves to be studied in military science. This military operation was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing unnecessary damage."

Inspiring stuff. So shouldn't Americans hear about it?

Don't the troops deserve to?

As traditional news outlets consider how to compete with Internet-driven media into the future, they might consider why it is Americans have to turn to blogs and e-mail to learn about what our troops are accomplishing.

Across Iraq, as Iraqis and Americans together build bulwarks against jihadi violence, their stories are lost to al Qaeda's bombs, which are endlessly rebroadcast around the world.

If the good guys could count on the same kind of press, the long road toward a stable Iraqi nation might seem not quite so arduous.

I posted on this two weeks ago. I, like others on the web weren't sure it was legitimate. We thought that if it was then surely the MSM would have reported on it with great intensity. I mean, this is the mayor of Baghdad, and it does help us to remember why we are there. But since it wasn't reported much we wondered.

It shouldn't have surprised us. A commenter here thinks that there is no one that really doesn't want us to succeed in Iraq. Then how does one explain this?

Sunnis and Sadr's Shiites make peace.

This is truly wonderful news.

The weekend Australian has this:

"THE movement of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, alleged to have played a role in the anti-Sunni violence over the last few days, publicly made peace with political and religious Sunni leaders overnight.

Four sheikhs from the Sadr movement made a "pact of honour" with the conservative Sunni Muslim Scholars Association, and called for an end to attacks on places of worship, the shedding of blood and condemning any act leading to sedition."

Gee, I know this is gonna so disappoint you lefties who keep hoping for that civil war that your pundits have been predicting for the last couple of years.

Please don't give me that "of course we want peace" stuff either. Everytime there is violence over there you guys go on and on about a possible civil war in a gleeful tone, hoping that Bush can be proven wrong. It's more important than anything else to you guys.

Ricin found at University of Texas.

Michelle has all the updates and reports. Interesting, strange, and scary.

via Ace.

Now didn't I warn you guys?

Not too long ago, out of the goodness of my heart, I told you Democrats to call your representatives and let them know that people like Stephen Colbert and the reporters on The Daily Show were not real reporters.

Well, no one in St. Louis did that. Heh.

This may explain the sense of humor thing. Hey lefty friends! Get your leadership turned on to some of Comedy Central!! Maybe then they won't be so angry all the time.

Brokeback humor, fun or insulting?

Update: I wasn't even looking for brokeback stuff and stumbled on this one. It's everywhere!

There are different views. Just a few online funnies are Brokeback to the Future and Star Wars: The Empire Brokeback and Brokeback Trek and Topgun: Brokeback Squadron.

I guess this would be the right time to show you Lego's Brokeback version. By the way, I got that link at Pink is the New Blog, a website run by a gay man.

via NRO

UPDATE 2: Good grief. It's IS everywhere. Brokeback Quailhunt.

Warning! I have not looked at the videos linked here. I got them from NRO, so I cannot tell you if you will need an eyeball scrub or not after viewing. So be careful out there!

Victor Davis Hanson is back from Iraq...

with his usual excellent analysis:

"It is an odd war, because the side that I think is losing garners all the press, whether by blowing up the great golden dome of the Askariya shrine in Samarra, or blowing up an American each day. Yet we hear nothing of the other side that is ever so slowly, shrewdly undermining the enemy."

And more:

"The Iraqi military goes out now on about half the American patrols, as well as on thousands of their own. It is not the Fallujah brigade of early 2004 -— rather, it is developing into the best trained and disciplined armed force in the Middle East."

And finally:

"Can-do Americans courageously go about their duty in Iraq -— mostly unafraid that a culture of 2,000 years, the reality of geography, the sheer forces of language and religion, the propaganda of the state-run Arab media, and the cynicism of the liberal West are all stacked against them. Iraq may not have started out as the pivotal front in the war between democracy and fascism, but it has surely evolved into that. After visiting the country, I think we can and will win.."

The New KKK.

I never thought there would be a group in this country that I would be more disgusted with than the KKK. But now there is Fred Phelps group who has been known for years for railing against gays at funerals, and he has spawned another hater, his daughter who now also "protests" at military funerals. Equal opportunity haters I suppose. His so called "church" only has about 100 members who are nearly all Phelp's relatives. He is not affiliated with any Baptist Conference or other organization.

It makes one grit their teeth that Phelps uses free speech to do these HORRIBLE protests, but now we have another group to the rescue, Patriot Guard. The group started in Kansas in October, when biker veterans decided to show up and place themselves between the demonstrators and mourners. They generally surround the protesters with their backs to them. They will hold up large flags to cover the picket signs and rev the engines of their motorcycles to drown out any chanting.

The organization has grown quickly with chapters in nearly every state and more than 8,700 members, about 100 of them so far in Minnesota. Read about them here.

I posted at my disgust with Phelps when he was busy at gay funerals, and now military. Not only is his message the opposite of Christianity, his actions go against any shred of decency.

If there is one thing the left and right can agree on it's that this guy is a hate filled idiot. I encourage everyone to get involved in Patriot Guard. If you hear of a funeral near you that the Phelps group will be attending, please contact Patriot Guard and show up to show support for common human decency.

I actually saw Phelps years ago at Disney World on gay day. As we were driving toward the park and he was there with his nasty little group holding signs that said "God hates fags." My oldest son yelled out the window (with no prompting from me, he was 10) "God doesn't hate anyone!!!" and then turned to me and said, "What's a fag?" My husband said, "A cigarette, that's what the British call them." My son said, "Oh, well maybe God does hate them." We laughed and then I told him in a roundabout way what fag meant here. No big details were needed. All he needed to know what that it was a person and God loves all his children.

via The Captain.

Gore vs. Hillary.

From Taegan Goodard's political wire:

"Guest contributor Dick Morris emails: "I think the most interesting recent development is the growth of Al Gore in the Democratic field at the expense of Hillary. Without Gore in the running, the Marist poll of Feb 21 has Hillary at 40% but with Al, she drops to 33 and Gore runs second at 17%. He is pure on the war and his issue, energy and climate change, is becoming increasingly relevant. The real fight of 2008 may be Clinton v Gore."Morris writes more in The Hill: "History indicates that candidates who won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College have all come back to win revenge in subsequent elections."

That would be more fun to watch than any pay for view you could imagine.

Run Al Run!!!!!

Where are the horns?

"Great Performers" photographed for the New York Times Magazine.

I think this explains a lot about George Clooney.

Hearing from the Moderate Muslim community regarding the Ports issue.

The Free Muslim Coalition (a nonprofit organization made up of American Muslims and Arabs of all backgrounds who feel that religious violence and terrorism have not been fully rejected by the Muslim community in the post 9-11 era) has this: (emphasis mine)

"...However, it is wrong to accept management by one foreign owned company and reject another foreign owned company when both companies are located in nations that are strong allies of the United States.

Indeed, the United Arab Emirates is a great friend to the United States. They have been loyal friends in the war on terror and they are excellent friends to the U.S. military. The United Arab Emirates provides docking rights for more U.S. Navy ships than any other nation in the region.

Moreover, the United Arab Emirates has adopted American style capitalism and tolerance. The UAE is a success story that is helping to shape the Arab world in a positive way. The UAE has opened its doors completely to Americans and American businesses. Relations between the UAE and United States are so good that the UAE spends billions of
dollars in America and only accepts U.S. Dollars for the sale of their oil and gas. Their loyalty to the United States helps keep the American Dollar strong and the American economy moving forward. Thus, just as the UAE opens its arms to America,
America should open its arms to the UAE.

Finally, by closing the door on one of our closest allies, the U.S. would be sending the wrong message to voices of moderation in the Middle East and a gift to voices of extremism. We are certain that Muslim extremist groups like Al-Qaeda and HAMAS would jump on this issue by arguing that Americans hate all Arabs and Muslims including their allies. The Free Muslims have argued time and time again that the United States must do a better job of supporting moderate Arabs and Muslims. The uproar against this ports deal is misplaced and the Free Muslims stand by President Bush for fighting back against the voices of bigotry."

via Lone Star Times (commenter)

We either believe in bringing Democracy to the Middle East or we don't. If we who support this war in the belief that it is a turning point for the future in regard to freedom and Democracy for Arab nations, do not also believe that we can do business and support our friends in the Arab world, then we might as well give up on that dream of Democracy.

We cannot say how wonderful it is that we fight for the freedom of the Iraqi people and then turn our backs on Arab FRIENDS. This is not the time to send mixed messages. Our message must be one of outreach and friendship to nations who are wondering if we are sincere in our efforts in Iraq.

We must encourage positive steps and positive role models that reveal the virtues of Democracy and capitalism and freedom.

The Bombing of the Holy Shia Shrine in Iraq.

As usual, Iraqi The Model gives us the most detailed report about what is really going on. Two things struck me because I hadn't heard them on MSM. One is that leaders in Iraq quickly and loudly requested that no one take any action against any Sunni sites, asking for self control and no violence. This is significant in a part of the world where retaliation is a given. I think it shows our influence, which is a good thing.

Iraqi The Model thinks that outside forces were responsible for the bombing "because this particular shrine had been in Sunni territory for a thousand years and the residents of Samarra had always benefited from the movement of religious tourism and pilgrimage."

Also I thought that The President Talabani promising to make rebuilding the shrine his personal responsibility and to donate the required money from his own is also impressive.

It's difficult to find any positive in this bombing, but there are my two small silver linings.

Stuff.

I have been busy with my new puppy, but honestly there was nothing interesting to talk about yesterday. Everyone is talking about the port thing and I haven't changed my mind about that.

I was looking over at Newsbuster this morning and I just couldn't believe that Time and Newsweek have as their cover stories this week the Cheney hunting accident. This kind of thing will be the death of news magazines. With online news, magazines, and blogs giving people minute by minute news, magazines like Time, who put a week old story of no real significance on their cover, will fade into history.

Speaking of history, there is also the story of Pacific Radio, a leftwing network of five radio stations, having a fundraiser with a DVD of celebrities reading from leftist historian Howard Zinn's "Voices of a People's History of the United States."

One of the voices ( Marisa Tomei) does a dramatic reading of.....Cindy Sheehan.

She's a "person of History???"

Good Grief.

Cheney and Whittington, the Reenactment.

via Boing Boing

Some Linky Love.

Blogs for Bush gives us David Frum's encouraging look at Iraqi forces.

RedState gives us Abortion vs. The Death Penalty. (excellent. The comments as well)

The Captain asks if McCain can woo conservatives.

La Shawn gives us a look at Harold Ford Jr. , who looks like a Democrat ought to look to me.

Security and Ports.

There is quite the fuss going on over the deal which would hand commercial control of six major U.S. ports to a state-owned Arab company.

From CNN'S Situation Room: (emphasis mine)

BUSH: The transaction should go forward, in my judgment. If there was any chance that this transaction would jeopardize the security of the United States, it would not go forward. The company has been cooperative with the United States government, the company will not manage port security. The security of our ports will be continued to be managed by the Coast Guard and Customs. The company is from a country that has been cooperative in the war on terror, been an ally on the war on terror.

Weldon represents the "concerns" of Congress:

REP. CURT WELDON (R), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: This White House did nothing to communicate with Congress on this deal. With all the concern about port security going on in America right now at a minimum, leaders of both parties should have been brought in from both houses and had this deal reviewed.That didn't occur. And it's a little late right now to announce it and say the government's behind it. We're not going to stand for that.

And Bartlett responded:

DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: Well, it's understandable. I know he takes port security really -- it's a top priority for the chairman, as it is for this president.We've done a lot of things, Wolf, since 9/11 to improve our port security. And there's a specific process that was followed here, Wolf. And I must remind you, this -- a deal was announced, this transaction was announced back in November. This is not something that just came out of left field in the last couple of days.

It seems to me that there is a lot of political posturing going on because it is an issue that politicians think they can look good being against. It's easy. But just like the wiretap issue, I question those who act like it is "news to them," when in fact they knew about it for a long time. Just when they found out there could be some political capital out of it, they decide to be outraged.

McCain agrees with the President:(emphasis mine)

“We all need to take a moment and not rush to judgment on this matter without knowing all the facts. The President’s leadership has earned our trust in the war on terror, and surely his administration deserves the presumption that they would not sell our security short. Dubai has cooperated with us in the war and deserves to be treated respectfully. By all means, let’s do due diligence, get briefings, seek answers to all relevant questions and assurances that defense officials and the intelligence community were involved in the examination and approval of this transaction. In other words, let’s make a judgment when we possess all the pertinent facts. Until then, all we can offer is heat and little light to the discussion.”

Let's face it, if Bush had brought most of our boys home after Afghanistan, he would have sailed into a landslide in 2004 and the left would have had little to bash him with. But he didn't. He put our safety before his own legacy and that proved to me, right there and then, that he would always put our security before politics. So I have to trust him on this. Plus, we can't say to the Arab world, "Come and be more like us" and then reject the very things that help them be more like us.

Check out the Cotillion!

There is really good stuff! Go!

As Cassandra at Villainous Company says:

This week, hostesses Janette of Common Sense Runs Wild, Christina of Feisty Repartee and Sissy of Sisu join with me in serving up a saucy mix of opinions on topics ranging from the terrorist attack in London, the G8 summit, political correctness and racial profiling, Live 8, family, and the proper expression of patriotism. There's something for every taste from fiery to icily satirical to sweetly sentimental. And so it is with great pleasure that we invite you to join us over at The Cotillion for the week's festivities.

Open Thread.

Sorry to do another open thread but I am on my way to a rescue shelter out of town to get another dog! I'm very excited! I'll try and post a picture this afternoon.

UPDATE: Here is my new doggy!! Her name is Jewel and she is a blue merle Sheltie. We can't tell if she is a mix or not. She is a sweetie!!!!!

An All-Star night.

I took my 9 yr old sports fanatic son to the NBA All-Star game last night and it was full of stars, not just on the court though. There was the first President Bush, Eva Longoria, and Jamie Foxx. Eva and Jamie played a sports quiz game inbetween. Also there, Chris Tucker,Queen Latifah, and the rapper Ludacris, whose security detail was ludicrous. Some people have a over important view of themselves.

Anyway, since we had church we got there late, which meant the roads were smooth sailing, which was sweet. Then when we got in, they had delayed the start to 7:45 so we didn't miss a thing! Even sweeter! They had a girl sing "O' Canada" first and she was wearing these old jeans and a jacket and I thought, "Geeze, can't you dress up for international TV?" I thought, "Well, I bet American will show then how to dress to sing the 'Star Spangled Banner'." And who comes out but "Destiny's Child" looking incredible! Singing like nightingales. I felt sorry for the first girl.

The half time show featured Carrie Underwood whose song "Jesus Take The Wheel" is my favorite. She didn't sing that one though, but she was fantastic. Then they had John Legend. He was very good too. In between quarters and timeouts were dancers, cheerleaders, drumlines, and all sorts of stuff. Never a dull moment.

Oh, you wanted to hear about the game? Well to get the full scoop you would have to ask my son. He knows all the players. All I know is they were playing like the Harlem Globe Trotters to begin with. Shaq and Ming showing off. But in the 2nd half they seem to start playing like they both wanted to win. East won 122 to 120.

Giuliani starts wooing religious conservatives.

NewsMax has this:

"In late January, Giuliani showed up unexpectedly at the Global Pastors Network conference in Orlando, Fla., and told the evangelical crowd: "I can't tell you from my heart how much I appreciate what you are doing - saving people, telling them about Jesus Christ and bringing them to God."

I wonder why he had to "show up unexpectedly?" Yeah. If he thinks telling relgious conservatives how great we are, but disagreeing with us on all the social issues is going garner our support, he could not be more wrong.

The Guest Worker program could work.

John Hawkins over at Right Wing News gives us 3 simple reasons why the guest worker program won't work. I don't agree with any of them. The only point he made that was correct was his last one:

Securing our borders and enforcing our laws against illegal immigration should be done first, before a guest worker program comes into place. If that isn't done, we could only end up exacerbating our current problem by pouring more "legal" foreign workers into our country without getting rid of the illegal aliens. If anything, that would just make our current illegal immigration woes worse.

Securing our borders first has got to happen to stop the flow, but that doesn't really address his 3 points anyway. He cites a New York Times article (registration required) where Charlie Bearse, the president of Sidney Coal, laments the work ethic of Americans to do these kinds of jobs like mining citing a deficit of 6000 miner workers in Kentucky and West Virginia. Giving what has happened to miners lately, I can kind of understand that. Mr. Bearse cites declining work ethic, bad attitudes and drug abuse as reasons some Americans won't take these jobs. We may hate to admit it, but he is right about a lot of Americans. We are fat and lazy.

Here are Mr. Hawkins 3 points:

#1) Isn't it interesting that a job paying $18 an hour with benefits is now supposedly one of the jobs that "Americans won't do?" And the solution to the problem is to hire non-English speaking workers (translation: illegal immigrants) who'd undoubtedly be paid cut-rate wages to do the same work.
If that were to happen, in a few years the work force would be overwhelmingly made up of illegals, probably making $10-$12 an hour, and guys like Charlie Bearse would be claiming that he had no choice but to hire them because Americans just don't have a "work ethic" anymore.
Incidentally, that's what illegal aliens do to EVERY INDUSTRY they get involved with from picking fruit, to construction, to meat packing. Because so many of these illegals come from backwards Third World countries with terrible economies, they can come here, work for peanuts, have us educate their kids and pay their medical bills for free, send a big portion of the money back home, and still be doing better than they would have back home.
Whether you think that's good, bad, or indifferent for Americans, understand that is how it works.

If $18 an hour and benefits is such a great deal then why is there a deficit of people wanting the jobs? And the only reason they are paid $18 an hour now is because of the union and the lack of good workers. I don't think lowering it to $10-$12 is necessarily a bad thing. When a company is able to cut costs in such a way, the savings can be past on to the consumer. Mr. Hawkins just assumes that all the money will go into Mr. Bearse's pocket.

I doubt " the entire work force will be overwhelming made up of illiegals." That is just silly. And they would no longer be illegals if they are here under the guest worker program.

There is no way to know how much money goes back home, but one has to live here. One has to buy food, rent, electricity, clothes, shelter, and goods. So quite a bit of the money goes into our economy.

#2) Because of #1, if we actually stopped illegals from coming into the US, a guest worker program would make things real interesting for politicians.
For example, let's say we get a guest worker program and Charlie Bearse gets permission to start bringing in guest workers. Then those guest workers, quite naturally, drive wages into the toilet and start putting tens of thousands of American workers in a position where they have to choose between big pay cuts or losing their jobs.
At that point, the politicians will have to choose between guys like Charlie Bearse, who'll be flush with cash and able to pour money into their coffers for their reelection campaigns and all those workers who'll be screaming bloody murder and demanding that their Senators and Congressman do something about those guest workers "stealing their jobs" right now!

Once again Mr. Hawkins assumes that companies won't pass savings on to customers. If a company knows that it can sell it's product for less, thus selling much more, he knows that in the long run he will make as much money with more product out there. With the examples that Mr. Hawkins has given, construction work, to fruit picking, I haven't seen "wages driven into the toilet" and the company owners "flush with cash." In fact the only thing I have seen is better built houses in a quicker time and lower fruit prices. A good work ethic doesn't care what color your skin it. Higher productivity doesn't care what color your skin is. Company growth doesn't care what color you skin is. I also haven't seen construction workers here screaming about illegal aliens "stealing their jobs." It seems that working on a black roof in 102 degree hot sunshine isn't the ideal job for most Texans. They don't seem to miss it much.

#3) Whatever you think about #2, at least it's much more honest and out in the open than the current situation.
What we have today is illegal aliens pouring into the country, the business owners who are hiring them making cash hand over fist, and the workers not really knowing who to blame when they're priced out of their jobs. Their representatives in Congress SAY they don't think people should be able to enter the country illegally, but nothing ever seems to get done.
Why so?
Because if it did get done, then see #2 for the dilemma politicians would be in. That's why despite talking tough, most members of Congress don't actually want to see illegal aliens stopped at the border -- which is why it never gets done. Even most of the politicians talking about guest worker programs in truth, want those workers to come into the US IN ADDITION TO the illegals that would still be flowing into the country.
Why?
Because it would provide more workers for the Charlie Bearse types out there, which would make them happier and lead to more money for the pols and yet the workers who get screwed still wouldn't know exactly who to blame for it.

The reason there hasn't been much done about illegal immigration is because the benefits have outweighed the complaints. Period. Now, that seems to be changing, so expect something to be done finally. At least Bush stepped up to the plate with SOMETHING. Unlike any other leader.

Deporting the millions of illegal aliens here now cannot be done with the manpower we have. We have to deal with the problem we have NOW. The Guest Worker program is our best bet. It may not be fair since they came here illegally, but at least we would know who they are and where they are working. Businesses would no longer be able to take advantage of them. As much as many may want a giant spaceship to suck them all up and drop them in Mexico, it just isn't going to happen. We have to deal with reasonable alternatives even if we don't like them.

As I said before, the only point I agree with Mr. Hawkins on is securing out borders first. If we don't do that, then the guest worker program will not work.

This pretty much sums up the Washington Press Corp.

The Captain has this hilarious exchange between Chris Wallace and former Senator Alan Simpson:

WALLACE: So, many up here, Senator -- and we love your tour of this whole event -- what does the last week tell us, or should tell us, about Washington, about the politicians, about the press corps?

SIMPSON: Well, it tells you that you should listen to Lindsay Graham and Evan Bayh and that really there is cooperation. But what it really tells you -- what are we going to expect out of our national press corps, and especially the Washington press corps, when something really happens? How are we to trust, after a whole week of absolute drivel and babble -- and people interviewing themselves! [mimicking reporters] "Uh, what do you think about Cheney?" [makes a face] Jay Leno and David Letterman asked them, "How would you feel if this happened to you?" Let me tell you, the American people are really waiting with a sense of glee when something really, really happens in America, and I suppose they'll just have a catatonic stroke and pitch forward on their faces.

W: So I take it, Senator, that you really miss this place?

S: [Claps hands and laughs] Oh, no, I do! I loved it, I did, I loved it. And I loved it because it was fun. I have a lot of pals on both sides of the aisle. I worked with President Clinton, enjoyed him, President Bush, President Carter, good people doing good things. But let me tell you, you'll never find it if you just follow the Washington media. You'll never know the good -- all you'll get is controversy, crap, and confusion.

W: [laughing] Well, there you go, there's a slogan. I've got to put that on a bumper sticker.

So almost immediately someone came up with the above. Heh.

"Freedom was worth the risk."

I see Jeff Jarvis agrees with me regarding the Nazi slurs:

"I find it offensive, even anti-Semitic, when people equate whatever they don’t like with Nazism, trivializing its horrid crimes, and we see one prime example of this in today’s Times, in Stephen Holden’s over-the-top review of ‘Sophie School: The Final Days.’

"How would you behave during the kind of relentless interrogations that Sophie endures? If sentenced to death for your activities, would you still consider your resistance to have been worth it? In a climate of national debate in the United States about the overriding of certain civil liberties to fight terrorism, the movie looks back on a worst possible scenario in which such liberties were taken away. It raises an unspoken question: could it happen here?"

"Thus Holden is equating with Nazism and fascism and even the Holocaust with — what? — secret data analysis of international phone calls? Taking off our shoes in airports? Mr. Holden, go down to the Holocaust Museum in Washington and stare at the pile of shoes in Washington and then come back and write such tripe as this. Get your perspective, man. And they say that bloggers go over the top and journalists don’t? Bullsh*t."


One can surf all over the web and find such analogies and comparisons. It's all about America being bad. Here is a taste:

Democrats.com gives is this:

"We now seem to be watching the creation of a new World Order. NAFTA is not raising Third World countries up to America's standards of living, as was publicly intended. Instead, America is being dragged down to the Third World level of living. And once America goes in the dumper, so will Western Europe as well. And the rich Bastards doing this? Well, once they've impoverished all of us, they will still have their money and will buy everything up and have an entire country, and indeeed, an entire Western World of subjucated, endentured servants, along with a bloated military industrial machine ready to do their bidding."

and then more:(emphasis mine)

"All the work of the good people at this site and other sites could easily go for naught if someone doesn't come up with a short term strategy to neutralize this ploy. I ask, no I implore, the intelligent, patriotic, decent people at this site, working so hard to save America from dictatorship, to think about how emotion, and particularly terror, often overules our logical powers, and then in your collective wisdom try to conjure up a strategy to counter the terroism card."

OpEdNew.com gives us this regarding the Patriot Act:

"Those bagpipes you hear playing in the background provide a much-needed funeral dirge for freedom, which died this week at the hands of the United States Congress."


Today I took one of my sons to get a haircut. The woman cutting hair told me she was from Vietnam. During the course of the conversation she told how she came to be an American citizen.

10 years ago she got on a boat where one pays to be taken to America. It is very dangerous and many have died in the crossing. Her parents begged her not to go. It was said that once the boat got out of site another boat from Thailand would approach with men seeking pretty women for wives and they would just take them. So her brother helped to put dirt and make up her face in such a way to look as ugly as possible.

The boat she was on took off and sure enough came a boat from Thailand with men. One of the men started to take her. She started to act irrationally, as if she had mental problems. This is what her brother told her to do. It worked. The man left her and she made it to the United States.

Now she has a family and business and she even travels back to Vietnam to visit her family and give them money. I was quite moved by the story. I said, "I can't imagine how terrible it must have been for you to take such a risk to come here." She said, "Freedom was worth the risk."

When I got back and read that post on the Jeff Jarvis site it really made me angry. These smug elite liberals know nothing of living under a dictatorship. They don't begin to know what it really means to have no freedom. It is so easy to mock America and it's leaders when one is FREE to do so.

This is where oppressed people flee. Even when it means they may give up their life to do so. This is America. With all it's faults, it is still the best place on earth.

Would you vote for this man?

A Dallas Democrat seeking election to the Texas House of Representatives has acknowledged that he once worked as a prostitute.

Tom Malin, a salesman and actor, said he no longer works as a prostitute but conceded that his previous life could cost him the nomination in the March 7 Democratic primary.

"I’ve made mistakes in my life, and I’ve stood before my creator and I’ve accepted responsibility for my behavior," Malin told The Dallas Morning News for its editions today.

[…]

He said Thursday that he would stay in the race.

"I don’t regret my past, nor do I wish to shut the door on my past," he said. "I think anyone who has made mistakes in their lives can be a viable member of community and society."

The picture above is from the gay escort website he was on. I won't make the obvious jokes about one profession not being that different from the other. I'll let you guys do that.

via Lonestar Times

Open Thread

Another busy day.

Democrats have taken more money from Lobbyists.

From the Washington Times:

Democrats have taken more money from lobbyists than Republicans during the past 15 years, according to an independent analysis of campaign contributions.

Since the 1990 election cycle, Democrats have accepted more than $53 million from lobbyists while Republicans have taken more than $48 million for their election campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Data provided by the nonpartisan group also shows that when Democrats controlled Congress in the early 1990s, they consistently hauled in more than 70 percent of the town's lobbyist money. The group is a leading critic of Texas Republican Rep. Tom DeLay's ties to lobbyists.

"When the Democrats were in charge, they were getting an incredibly higher amount of lobbyist money compared to Republicans," said Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "Now that the tables are turned there is parity between the two parties."

Which is why the Abramoff scandal will never gain much traction for Democrats. "The Culture of Corruption" involves both parties and everyone knows it.

via Iowa Voice

Gay Pride Parade.....

We think nothing of it here, right? We shake our heads at some of the more outrageous costumes, but that's about it. Well in Russia they kind of have a different view. Seems the country's Chief Rabbi and Islamic leaders (shocking!) aren't very happy.

Rabbi Berl Lazar on Thursday told the Russian news agency InterFax that if the Gay Pride parade were allowed to go ahead it “would be a blow for morality”.

Russian Mufti Talgat Tajuddin said gays could be killed if they go ahead with pride celebrations in the capital. (story)

Rabbi Lazar on Thursday said that anything promoting what he called “sexual perversions” does not have the right to exist.

"I would like to assure you, that the parade of homosexuals it is not less offensive to the feelings of believers than any caricatures in newspapers," Lazar said, linking the pride parade with the current furor over the cartoons of the Islamic Profit Mohammed published in Denmark.

Welcome to the world of Islamic intolerance. Al Gore can rant all day about so called "abuses on Arabs" in this country, but it is quite obvious where the abuses really are.

Maybe we conservatives can't agree on gay marriage, but we do believe in live and let live. That little thing called freedom. Gee, I wish we could promote it in other cultures.

If you look at it from a global aspect, gays who voted for George Bush may have just voted for the one who truly is defending their rights.

Unfreakingbelievable......

Did you know that in 2001 a van containing Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) rolled through a checkpoint at the Westchester County airport injuring a policeman? Well neither did I. Seems there were only 6 reports on it at all and the MSM ignored it. Compare that to the 649 reports on the Cheney incident and media frenzy.

Read about it here. God knows you wouldn't read about it anywhere else. I guess liberals get a pass when they are involved in an accident. Oh, and by the way, "according to Monday's NewsMax report on this issue, neither Hillary nor anyone from her office bothered to apologize to the officer, or check in to see how he was doing."

Lovely.

Net War.

Michelle Malkin's site has been attacked by Muslim hackers. Many other sites have as well. Read about it here.

I have to admit that when I check my stats and see that I have been visited many times by Iran, Syria, and Pakistan, it bothers me. Now, I am not a big enough blogger to bother with, I'm sure, but just not knowing exactly who is reading me from this places is disconcerting.

Here are a few of the e-mails Michelle has received: (forgive the bad language)

From: naser jianpour (n_jianpour@yahoo.com)

To: writemalkin@gmail.comMailed-By: yahoo.comDate: Feb 10, 2006 12:04 PM

Subject: we will kill you
I am Iranian I am a mosleme .We will kill you( every )down with you( Crectian & jowe.)world is mine.
***

From: monalisa monalisa (monalisa23h@hotmail.com)

To: writemalkin@gmail.comMailed-By: hotmail.comDate: Feb 4, 2006 5:55 PM

Subject: you are filth the dishonourable the mean the prostitute I'am a müslim and turkish I killyou devil you are go to the hell shit the whore

I think Michelle is brave to blog. She is one of the best out there and I doubt she makes much money off of it. Now she is facing real threats. Keep her in your prayers.

Let me respectfully disagree.

I have a couple of problems with Howard Kurtz's column at Washington Post.com:

"Bill O'Reilly has been arguing that the shooting doesn't affect the average American one whit but that "the press is making a big deal out of this because they despise Dick Cheney."
I'd concede that the vice president is probably not their favorite politician. But in terms of it "mattering" -- did it matter to the average American that Bill Clinton was fooling around on his wife, or that Vince Foster committed suicide (to pick two matters that seemed to matter a great deal to the conservative commentariat)?"

How can he even compare the two? Both of the latter examples were deliberate. Clinton's was an intentional immoral and unethical act within the White House. Cheney's was an accident and has nothing to do with morality. To compare them is ludicrous.

"Had Cheney addressed this right away, it would have been a far more modest story."

I don't believe that for one second. No matter what Cheney did in contacting the press, they would have blown this up into the media frenzy that it is now. The Vice President shoots someone? Too juicy. Sorry. As Cheney pointed out, accuracy is more important than swiftness. But the opposite is true for the media.

The Jerusalem Post has this:

While riots over the cartoon depiction of Muhammad continue to rage worldwide and controversy surrounds an Iranian newspaper's decision to hold a Holocaust cartoon competition, an Israeli cartoonist has come up with his own ironic - some say misguided - response. And it's attracting a wide audience.
Amitai Sandy, 29, a Tel Aviv graphic artist, has launched the Israeli Anti-Semitic Cartoon Contest, a challenge, led by Jews, to find the best cartoons, caricatures and short comic strips that demonize the Jewish people.

H/T Muslihoon

An interesting look...

at declassified al Qaeda documents.

Willie Nelson releases gay cowboy song.

I'm not kidding .

It's titled, "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)"

I'm not kidding.

Here are the lyrics:

There's many a strange impulse out on the plains of West Texas;
There's many a young boy who feels things he don't comprehend.
Well small town don't like it when somebody falls between sexes,
No, small town don't like it when a cowboy has feelings for men.
Well I believe in my soul that inside every man there's a feminine,
And inside every lady there's a deep manly voice loud and clear.
Well, a cowboy may brag about things that he does with his women,
But the ones who brag loudest are the ones that are most likely queer.

Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other
What did you think those saddles and boots was about?
There's many a cowboy who don't understand the way that he feels towards his brother,
Inside every cowboy there's a lady who'd love to slip out.
Ten men for each woman was the rule way back when on the prairie,
And somehow those cowboys must have kept themselves warm late at night.
Cowboys are famous for getting riled up about fairies,
But I'll tell you the reason a big strong man gets so uptight:
Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other

That's why they wear leather, and Levi's and belts buckled tight.
There's many a cowboy who don't understand the way that he feels towards his brother;
There's many a cowboy who's more like a lady at night.
Well there's always somebody who says what the others just whisper,
And mostly that someone's the first one to get shot down dead:
When you talk to a cowboy don't treat him like he was a sister
Don't mess with the lady that's sleepin' in each cowboy's head.
Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other Even though they take speed and drive pickups and shoot their big guns;
There's many a cowboy who don't understand the way that he feels towards his brother;
There's many a cowboy who keeps quiet about things he's done.

I'm not kidding.

A Rightwingsparkle Exclusive!!!!

The Dallas Morning News on the Cheney hunting accident: "Kenedy County sheriff's deputies have redoubled their efforts to investigate the case after criticism of their decision not to interview witnesses until a day after the shooting.""Ms. Armstrong said she faxed a detailed account to deputies on Wednesday at the sheriff's request. She said she would have done so sooner if she'd been asked and added that everyone at the ranch has been encouraged to tell the truth about the shooting."

It's apparent that everyone present at the Quail hunt is a Cheney insider so don't expect anything new there, but RWS has obtained an exclusive interview with the one eye witness that ISN'T an insider and the truth of what happened that horrible day of the shooting is shocking! On a tip, I ventured out close to the Ranch to meet with our eyewitness in an undisclosed bush. Meet Mr. Quail.

RWS: Mr. Quail, thank you for meeting with me today.

Mr. Quail: No Problem.

RWS: Walk us through what happened Saturday evening.

Mr. Quail:Well, I was just minding my own business in the bushes at the Ranch when I heard singing.

RWS: Singing?

Mr. Quail: Yep, it was that lawyer fella that got shot. He was singing "I got the Power" by P. Diddy

RWS: And then what happened?

Mr. Quail:Well, I started to fly up, which is kind of hard without wings and all.

RWS: No wings?

Mr. Quail: Yeah. Those rich bastards can't shoot us when we fly, so they saw off our wings so we have to kind of shimmy in the air.

RWS: Ok, then what?

Mr. Quail: Well, I hear this "BOOM" and I feel a bullet just whiz by me and I look down and that lawyer fella is laying on the ground bleeding.

RWS: Was he saying anything?

Mr. Quail: Yes, he was whispering " I would never have told Dickie boy, I promise."

RWS: Told what?

Mr. Quail: I don't know. You humans make no sense to me.

RWS: So then what?

Mr. Quail: Well that Cheney fella hollers at someone to get Karl Rove on the phone and runs over to the bleeding lawyer. It was kind of hard for him to run since he was wearing a toga.

RWS: A toga???!!

Mr. Quail: Yep, they had that "Shout!" song blasting all afternoon and they were drunker than cooter brown.

RWS: Drunk???????

Mr. Quail: Oh yes, Lone Star beer cans were everywhere. Well, someone musta got hold of that Rove fella cuz next thing I know guys in black ninja like outfits were everywhere threatening all those there. They had pictures of their children with with bullseye across their chest. These guys clearly don't mess around. I heard Cheney whisper, "A horse's head in your bed is nothing."

RWS: Oh dear.

Mr. Quail: No kidding. Oh, and by the way, that lawyer fella died right there.

RWS: Died???!! How do you explain that he is in the hospital right now??

Mr. Quail: Well, those ninja guys scooped up the body and it was gone and the next thing I knew one of them was putting on face makeup to look just like him. It was all very "Mission Impossible" like.

RWS: This is astounding.

Mr. Quail: Tell me about it. It was really awful when they killed that reporter that was there. Because it took them a long time. I think they enjoyed it actually.

RWS: OMG! Who was it?

Mr. Quail: I'm not sure, but I think that is why the White House Press Corp was so angry, it was one of their own. No one wants to be the one to report him missing for the obvious reasons.

RWS: Good grief! I guess the left has been right about Cheney all along.

Mr. Quail: Well, yes, but let me tell you I've seen some things out here in the woods involving The Clintons, Al Gore, Michael Moore, George Clooney, Janet Reno and women of various ages that would make Larry Flynt blush. So all of you humans are pretty much scum to me.

RWS: Well, thank you for your honesty Mr. Quail.

The Saddam Tapes.

Transcripts for last night's Nightline regarding the Saddam tapes are here.

ABC News obtained the tapes from Bill Tierney, a former member of a United Nations inspection team who translated the tapes for the FBI. Tierney said the U.S. government is wrong to keep these tapes and others secret from the public. "Because of my experience being in the inspections and being in the military, I knew the significance of these tapes when I heard them," says Tierney. U.S. officials have confirmed the tapes are authentic, and that they are among hundreds of hours of tapes Saddam recorded in his palace office.
[. . .]
One of the most dramatic moments in the 12 hours of recordings comes when Saddam predicts -- during a meeting in the mid 1990s -- a terrorist attack on the United States. "Terrorism is coming. I told the Americans a long time before August 2 and told the British as well ... that in the future there will be terrorism with weapons of mass destruction." Saddam goes on to say such attacks would be difficult to stop. "In the future, what would prevent a booby-trapped car causing a nuclear explosion in Washington or a germ or a chemical one?" But he adds that Iraq would never do such a thing. "This is coming, this story is coming but not from Iraq."

It goes on:

Also at the meeting was Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who said Iraq was being wrongly accused of terrorism. "Sir, the biological is very easy to make. It's so simple that any biologist can make a bottle of germs and drop it into a water tower and kill 100,000. This is not done by a state. No need to accuse a state. An individual can do it."
The tapes also reveal Iraq 's persistent efforts to hide information about weapons of mass destruction programs from U.N. inspectors well into the 1990s . In one pivotal tape-recorded meeting, which occurred in late April or May of 1995, Saddam and his senior aides discuss the fact that U.N. inspectors had uncovered evidence of Iraq's biological weapons program--a program whose existence Iraq had previously denied.
At one point Hussein Kamel, Saddam's son-in-law and the man who was in charge of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction efforts can be heard on the tapes, speaking openly about hiding information from the U.N.
"We did not reveal all that we have," Kamel says in the meeting. "Not the type of weapons, not the volume of the materials we imported, not the volume of the production we told them about, not the volume of use. None of this was correct." Shortly after this meeting, in August 1995, Hussein Kamel defected to Jordan, and Iraq was forced to admit that it had concealed its biological weapons program. (Kamel returned to Iraq in February 1996 and was killed in a firefight with Iraqi security forces.)
Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says the tapes are authentic and show that "Saddam had a fixation on weapons of mass destruction and he had a fixation on hiding what he was doing from the U.N. inspectors."

I don't think the tapes reveal anything that reasonable people didn't already know. The one question that no one seems to be asking is how Saddam was so sure that terrorism was coming to the United States?

The tapes do not tell us why they were so determined to hide information for UN inspectors either. If you have nothing to hide, why do this?

via Redstate

As Redstate reminds us:

...the tapes remind us why the world believed Saddam was so dangerous back in the days before the main stream press and looney left started their campaign to revise history with the Bush lied meme.

Sometimes being a Muslim Cleric...

Is. Just. Too. Much.

I go run a few stupid errands...

And I miss this. I suppose the media feeding frenzy will be all over it, right? I mean it's not a hunting accident, but it is something.

Secret audiotapes of Saddam Hussein discussing ways to attack America with weapons of mass destruction will be the subject of an ABC "Nightline" program Wednesday night, a former federal prosecutor told Cybercast News Service.
The tapes are being called the "smoking gun" of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. The New York Sun reported that the tapes have been authenticated and currently are being reviewed by the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The panel's chairman, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), declined to give the Sun details of the content or context of the recordings, saying only that they were provided to his committee by former federal prosecutor John Loftus.
Loftus has been tight-lipped about the tapes, telling the Sun only that he received them from a "former American military intelligence analyst."
On Tuesday night, Loftus told Cybercast News Service that ABC's "Nightline" would air an "extensive report" on the tapes Wednesday night. Loftus also described an ABC News "teaser," which reportedly contains audio of Saddam Hussein discussing ways to attack America with WMD. "Nightline will have a lot more," said Loftus.

via Ace

Hypocrisy abounds.

The leftwing media says Muslim cartoons should not be printed, even within the context of the story. But the Abu Ghraib photos? Go for it. Even though it will clearly anger Muslims.

Which proves that it isn't about not offending Muslims, but making the U.S. look bad.

Dang I missed it!

NRO has this:

VPOTUS ON CHENEY [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
I just saw the first excerpt from the Cheney Hume interview on FNC. There will be more to the interview, of course, but what they've shown so far did what was, perhaps, the most important thing: He humanized the whole thing. It's not THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND AN ACCIDENT HE TRIED TO HIDE! It's a man, who happens to be vice president of the United States, who shot a friend in a bad, embarrassing accident. He tells Hume, taking public responsibility for the shooting: "I'm the one who pulled the trigger and shot my friend."

I did just see an excerpt and Cheney makes clear that it was his fault and not Mr. Whittington's.

Update: I'm watching the excerpt of why the friend who owned the ranch was the one who put out the story. Cheney said he thought that was a good idea since she was an eye witness. She could give the exact and correct details. She chose a reporter that she knew well. Given the reputations of reporters, I would certainly want to call one I trusted as well.

Makes sense to me.

Why are Canadians....

so weird?

Republicans are happier.

No surprise there. Surfing the right and left sites will tell you that. But Powerline has this:

One of the things tracked by the Pew Research Center is happiness. Since the 1970s, the Pew pollsters have been asking Americans how happy they are and analyzing the results. This year's survey came out on Monday, and, as always, it shows that Republicans, on the average, are happier than Democrats:
Some 45% of all Republicans report being very happy, compared with just 30% of Democrats and 29% of independents. This finding has also been around a long time; Republicans have been happier than Democrats every year since the General Social Survey began taking its measurements in 1972.

"We Will Drink the Blood of the Jews"

They are freakin insane.

Political Correctness gone wild.

We have a local thing going on here. We have a new soccer team here in Houston and a few weeks ago they announced their new name...Houston 1836. That is the year Houston became a town. But it it also the year that Texas gained it's independence from Mexico. It seems some Mexican-American people felt that was offensive.

Offensive.

It is so incredibly idiotic I can hardly stand it. And the worse thing is that the team is going to change it's name. A spokesman for the team was on the radio this morning and he said this was an economic decision as well. Too many companies that would be sponsors don't like to hear the word "boycott" thrown around about a new team.

Now the truth is that 99.99% of Mexican Americans and any other kind of American don't even know where the 1836 came from. When told that it was when Houston became a city, they would nod and say, "oh, ok" and it would never occur to them that that was also the year Texas gained independence. Even though you learn that little fact in school, it isn't a date that sticks in your head. In fact an Hispanic commissioner was a key player in the unveiling of the name. I guess it never occurred to him to be offended. He must be a Republican.

So the bottom line is a few in the P.C. crowd get to push others around with threats and cost the team money to change a perfectly fine name. Ugh.

Open Thread.

I'm busy this morning. I'll be posting later.