Republicans Should Campaign For The Votes of Minorities

In Newsweek, Rove advises the Republican nominee how to beat Hillary. Rove understands that she will be tough to beat. Read the article for his own personal story that just so aptly illustrates who Hillary is. He advises on many things. He makes excellent points, but this one part struck me:

Go after people who aren't traditional Republicans. Aggressively campaign for the votes of America's minorities. Go to their communities, listen and learn, demonstrate your engagement and emphasize how your message can provide hope and access to the American Dream for all. The GOP candidate must ask for the vote in every part of the electorate. He needs to do better among minorities, and be seen as trying.

I could not agree more. I am long tired of Republicans shrugging their shoulders at the black community figuring they will vote Democrat no matter what. I cannot abide that attitude! No one will come to your side if you don't go to them and explain why your position is best for them as well. If I was a Republican candidate there is not a minority invitation that I would reject.

I believe in our message. I believe that our vision and our hopes for America are the same as the black community, the Latino community, the Asian community and all communities in between. Everyone benefits from lower taxes, less regulation on small business, less government intervention, strong leadership on the war on terror, strong border control, strong support of our military, and a belief in the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of marriage.

These beliefs are for all Americans and are not bound by color or religion. I don't care if the nominee's campaign feels they are wasting time with people that won't vote for them anyway. They are not. Reaching out to people is the first step. Convincing them, the second. Bringing them into the fold, the third and final. We will never do this if we do not try.

Whenever I see someone who dresses differently than I do, who worships differently than I do, who lives differently than I do, I remind myself that in so many things we are all alike. We all care about our children, we all want the best for society, we all have the same kinds of problems. We cook and clean. We work and play. We yell and get angry. We love and are frustrated by our children. What binds us are the same. I don't feel it would be very difficult to convince others, who are not on our side now, why our ideals and ideas would benefit them as well.

Politics of Personal Silliness

When I first saw this Huckabee ad with Chuck Norris over at HotAir, I couldn't believe it was a real ad, but it is.

I know it's suppose to be lighthearted, but I find it ridiculous. Running for President isn't a joke. Political ads should not be either.

Democratic Denial

Charles Krauthammer has an excellent piece on how the Democrats are denying our victory in Iraq and for what? Politics, of course. The Democrats also insist that the world hates us, but Krauthammer says not so fast:

(The President of France) "Nicolas Sarkozy’s trip last week to the United States was marked by a highly successful White House visit and a rousing speech to Congress in which he not only called America “the greatest nation in the world” (how many leaders of any country say that about another?) but pledged solidarity with the U.S. on Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, the Middle East, and nuclear nonproliferation."

Then there is the pro-American leader of Germany, Angela Merkel. And what about the rest?

"British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who in an interview with Sky News on Sunday noted “the great change that is taking place,” namely “that France and Germany and the European Union are also moving more closely with America.”

As for our other traditional alliances, relations with Australia are very close, and Canada has shown remarkable steadfastness in taking disproportionate casualties in supporting the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Eastern European nations, traditionally friendly, are taking considerable risks on behalf of their U.S. alliance — for example, cooperating with us on missile defense in the face of enormous Russian pressure. And ties with Japan have never been stronger, with Tokyo increasingly undertaking military and quasi-military obligations that it had forsworn for the last half-century.

So much for the disarray of our alliances.

This really is excellent news for America. Not just Republicans. We have effectively defeated Al Qaeda in Iraq. This is tremendous news that isn't making it's way to the headlines of our biggest newspapers or news shows.

As NRO Rich puts it:

"The United States may be the only country in world history that reverse-propagandizes itself, magnifying its setbacks and ignoring its successes so that nothing can disturb what Sen. Joe Lieberman calls the 'narrative of defeat."

We should all be celebrating. The sooner we clean things up, the sooner our boys come home. The news out of Iraq tells us that troop deaths are down and violence is down. Where there was once Al Qaeda strongholds, we have safe neighborhoods. Christians and Muslims are worshiping to gether in Iraq. The world leaders are praising us.

But, there is this unfortunate timing of a Presidential election. And the Democrats placed all their bets on us losing in Iraq. Hillary has positioned herself to be able to claim she was with us along, and she will get away with it, because she plotted her entire Senate career on it. Which is why our victory will not hurt her.

But while the rest of us who understand what is happening, are feeling really good about it all, what must the Democrats be feeling with all the good news? First the enemy used their talking points against us, and now this.

I'd be in denial too.

h/t BigDog

Don't let Hollywood Smear Our Troops

The Case Against Hillary

I watch Obama tell America that Hillary will continue to divide this nation, yet he never says why or describes how it will be. How difficult a task is this? This is what Edwards and Obama should be saying every single day until the primary vote:

No one, not even Bill Clinton, has generated such hatred as Hillary Clinton from the Republicans. If Hillary is elected it will be 4 (or more) years of the same kind of seething disgust that has been a part of the George Bush presidency from the left and from Bill Clinton's presidency from the right.

But it will be worse than those two combined. George Bush may have incurred people's wrath for how he governed with the war or with immigration, but on a personal level, people like him. I've never heard even a Democrat say that Bush is not a warm likable guy. This is certainly not the case with Hillary.

All her scandals (especially those dealing with China), all the rumors of her personal life, all the affairs that Bill Clinton had, and don't forget the infamous list of people who have died mysterious deaths that were involved with the Clintons, all this will be fodder again and again. Bill won't be able to behave himself. Hillary will push through her real agenda and half of America will seethe. No, not just seethe, there will be gnashing of the teeth that hasn't been seen since the Kos Kids realized Karl Rove wouldn't be indicted. But this won't be just the bloggers, this will be middle America. At least half of it. And we will live with that every single day for her entire Presidency.

Are you sick of the terrible division of this country? Are you sick of those who care nothing for the people, but only for the power? Are you sick of those on the opposite side of the political divide trying to destroy the other? Are you sick of the Congressional leaders who do not just disagree with the President, but personally smear the President as well? Will you enjoy the corruption and scandal that follow the Clintons wherever they go? Will you enjoy the weekly insults and mocking of Hillary and Bill on SNL and the late shows? Will you enjoy how much richer Rush Limbaugh will get if Hillary is elected? Are you sick of hearings after hearings that are nothing but witch hunts?

Because all of this and more is exactly what you are going to get with Hillary. The Bush Derangment Syndrome will look like puppy love compared to how so many will feel towards Hillary. The blogosphere will probably explode with the indignation and hate that will spew forth on a daily basis. And it won't be just from the right. Hillary may be many things, but she isn't stupid. She isn't going to pull out our troops immediately. The far left will howl as loud as we do.

Obama and Edwards need to be saying these things every time they open their mouth. They need to paint a visual picture of America under Hillary.

It's not a pretty picture.

Attention all Republican primary voters!

President Hillary.

Tell me that doesn't make you cringe. Just thinking of it and I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. But that is where we are heading if we are not careful.

This is the thing. Running for President is an art form. It takes political savvy. It takes will and determination. It's not for the weak. What we have in Mitt, Fred, and even Rudy are novices. They could learn as they go, of course, but we have seen in past elections how any mis-step can be devastating.

Let me tell you the one person who will not be taking any mis-steps whatsoever. Hillary Clinton. We all know that. Name recognition. Fame. Star Power. She has all that as well.

I'll tell you why Hillary would beat Rudy. People have a way of tuning out politics when they think that it is just a partisan crowd going after the politician, be it right or left. The scandals that have followed Hillary have been worked up and down. She has convinced everyone that it was nothing but rightwing attacks. There is nothing in Hillary's past that anyone doesn't know. We heard it all. Even the Hsu fundraising thing will not hurt her. People figure if she hasn't been indicted by now for something, she never will be.

Rudy is another story. I keep hearing people on TV who were involved in New York politics say that things will come out about Rudy that the country hasn't heard and it will be very bad. I believe it. Don't you? When people hear scandal the first time, they listen. But with Rudy they will be listening just as he is trying to convince them to vote for him for President.

The one thing that we love about Rudy, his ruthlessness, is the one thing that will work against him with Hillary. He will look like the bully teasing the class nerd. There isn't any way around it.

Now I will tell you why Hillary would beat Mitt and Fred. They have never attempted to run a campaign as big as this one. They already have made gaffs. No one is watching now. But in the general election, everyone will be watching. This is no time to learn the plays in the game. This is no time for rookies.

Fred has show lackluster performance so far. I just don't see Mitt overcoming his flipflopping on the issues and this whole anti-Morman thing. Have you seen the commercials with his liberal soundbites of the past? He will look like Kerry did in '04.

Yes, this is about McCain. I know you are angry with him for all kinds of reasons. I don't blame you. But I am telling you this again. He is the only one who can beat Hillary.

I have tried to believe that others can beat Hillary. I have tried to get on board with Fred or Mitt. And I do think either one of them would be a fine President. If I thought either one of them could win, I would be looking closer at them and hoping for them. But I don't believe they can.

McCain not only has the name recognition, fame, and star power that Hillary has, he has so much more. He is a war hero. He is a leader. He has dedicated his life to public service. His scandals are old and worn out as well. He has a sense of humor and can be charming. And this is key because those are the things Hillary has none of.... humor and charm.

She may not mis-step, but she simply cannot charm. Does no one else see how important this is? We are more visual than we have ever been in this country. This Presidential election will be a YouTube election. Relentless visual focus on our candidates. Rookies will make mistakes and YouTube will be there to remind us of it over and over. Hillary will make no mistakes.

Think of this too. We are at war. We will still be at war in '08. McCain not only has the obvious experience with war, but he has a personal stake in it. Both of his sons are serving in the military. This speaks volumes about what he believes.

I just want everyone to look at the big picture. Sure we want a conservative like Fred Thompson and a family values candidate like Mitt Romney. But this is not the year to "send a message" to Republicans.

This is the election to make sure that we don't have to sit in front of the evening news every night for years and hear what President Hillary Clinton proposed or vetoed. We won't have to watch her defund the military as her husband did. We won't have to see her add health care to the bloated bureaucracy of government control. We won't have to see her appoint a Ruth Bader Ginsberg clone to the Supreme Court.

The one thing that we all know is that McCain can get the moderate vote. Easy. There is no way we are going to win this election without the moderate vote.

It's more important than our anger at McCain.


It just is.

"House to House: An Epic Memoir of War"

Michael J. Totten describes Staff Sergeant David Bellavia's "House to House: An Epic Memoir of War" as providing "a gripping and necessary prologue to the to the state of the city today." That, my friends, is putting it mildly if any of these excerpts are an example of his writing.

If war is hell. This was the entryway. David Bellavia paints us a picture of the second battle of Fallujah in November, 2004. A city taken over by insurgents and cleared of citizens. The worst of war was here. Bloody, horrific, and deadly.

U.S. Army soldiers and Marines fought house to house to clear the city. But in many houses they found drugged up monsters willing to die to kill our boys:

In the kitchen, we found drugs and U.S. Army-issue auto injectors. They had been full of atropine and epinephrine. The muj inside the house had shot the drug directly into their hearts. It acted like PCP – angel dust – and kept them going long after my bullets should have killed them.

Totten has excerpts that describes this warrior's struggle with fear and bravery. He and others had stormed a house that is a deathtrap and barely made it out with their lives. He simply can't leave without doing his job. Riveting:

Inside that house, I surrendered my honor and my manhood. Now I have to take both back, or live with the fact that they are right about me. That is unacceptable.
I rant and swear with abandon. Down the street, I see Sergeant Knapp taking care of my men like they are his little brothers. I want to cry I am so proud. I love these kids in a way I will never be able to express.
I see their faces. One by one. John Ruiz, Lucas Abernathy, Piotr Sucholas, Alex Stuckert, Victor Santos, Brett Pulley, Tristan Maxfield – they deserve more from me.
I stop pacing and let out a deep, rattling sigh. Only Ware remains near me on the street. Everyone else has moved away. Perhaps my display has convinced them I've gone mad.
But Ware is still here. The journalist. Our platoon's unofficial intel officer. We stare intently at each other.
“Fuck it,” I say.
“Fuck it,” agrees Ware.
That settles it. I'm going back in.You know things are not right with the world when you share a spiritual moment with a damn journalist. But there it is. Mick Ware and I are standing on the street, digesting the finality of the option we've just chosen.

He goes back in. The following is a bit long, but it is GRIPPING.

Somebody must die now. There is no turning back.
I bring my rifle to the ready up position. The M16 feels right; it is exactly what I need right now. Tucked firmly against my shoulder, I have a perfect eye line over the rifle's sights.
Across the room, I see the young insurgent standing behind the barriers. His head is down, still working on the RPG. The kid's gotta be drugged halfway to Neptune.
I take a step into the room; my feet slosh in the water and send ripples across the flooded floor. The M16's barrel pivots and stops when it is pointed at the insurgent's chest. I have the sight picture. My finger is about to end him.
He looks up. He stares at me with terror in his eyes. I know right then that I have surprised him. He doesn't have a chance, and he knows it, too.
“Jew!” he hisses in fear and spite, as if the word can protect him.
Close-quarters combat is instinctual, fought on the most basic and animalistic level of the human brain. Body language, eye contact, the inflection of a voice can turn a fight in a heartbeat. That is what happens here...
I pull the trigger and hit him right in the chest. He staggers back. I take a step to the left to move out of the doorway. The room's carpet is so waterlogged that my boots make a sucking sound with each step.
After a heartbeat's pause, I shoot him again. This time, my bullet goes into his pelvis. He spins completely around and falls across the barrier. Hands splayed, head draped, he gushes blood across the concrete. The water around him turns a milky crimson.
The last thing he expected was a rush through the doorway. That surprise saved my life and doomed his.
I can win this fight. I can do this.
A red heat forms on my face. The back of my neck tingles.Where's the second guy?There was not only a second guy lurking in the dark. Six well-placed insurgents waited in that house. Bellavia took them all out by himself.
Something slides along the wall on the other side of the doorway. I hear breathing. Somebody is close.
“I will kill you and take your dog collar.”
It is a malevolent, accented voice, low and totally devoid of fear. Its self-assured tone triggers a memory of the Nicholas Berg beheading video we watched at our base so long ago. It took them twenty-six seconds to decapitate him, and it was horrifying to watch. They were self-assured, too.
Now my imagination conjures a scene: my severed head, a grimy hand pulling my bloody dog tags free.
That's never gonna happen. Never—gonna—happen.
He's mind-fucking me, this one behind the door. I can't see him. I start to tremble. I fight it, but I can't control my body's physical reaction to this terror.
I can either go to pieces completely, or mind-fuck him back.
“Okay, listen up. I know you are not going to motherfucking stop. You know I am not going to motherfucking stop. La ta quiome.”
La ta quiome is my broken Arabic for “Do not resist.”
The enemy behind the door sniggers. He spits a curse in his native language. Sometimes it sounds like Arabic and sometimes it sounds totally different. Could that have been Farsi?
Am I fucking fighting Iranians in here?“Mommy will never find your body.”Bellavia shoots him. At least five times.
But there are more in the house. The fight isn't finished.He fingers his last magazine and thinks of his wife and son.
Deanna. Evan. I'm so sorry. I can't leave this fight. This is what I am. A warrior. It is my blood oath. If I turn my back on that again, I will be nothing and I can't face that.
I creep around the mattress, M16 at the ready. When I reach the doorway, I nearly slip. The water here is deeper and cloudy, probably with blood.
Neither corpse is in the doorway. I study the floor. Dark slicks of blood trail off into the stairwell room. It looks like one or both of them crawled into the kitchen.
Do I go finish them off and face the threat of somebody coming down the stairs again? I could get shot in the back as I go into the kitchen. Or do I go upstairs and face the bandolier-wearing Bogeyman from the closet? He's up there, somewhere in the darkness, waiting for me to do just that.
Or do I leave, get the rest of my squad and do this right.
No! I brought this on myself. I have to finish it.
Lawson is wounded. He's wounded because I didn't finish this the first time. I will not risk another man.
Fuck it.
I step through the doorway and onto the stairs. Eyes on the landing, I drop my current magazine out of the M16. I catch it and sling it into my pouch, then search for my last fresh one. I seize it and slam it home. The new mag makes a metallic snick as it slaps into place. I've got twenty-nine rounds in the mag and one in the pipe.
I begin to climb the stairs. There's no turning back now.
The image of my boy in his Halloween costume tumbles through my mind again. I hear his little voice in my head. It is the last thing he said to me on the phone before I left for Fallujah.
“I am going to save you, Daddy.”I'm sorry, buddy. I love you. I'm so sorry.He finds the “bandolier-wearing Bogeyman” upstairs. They're locked into hand-to-hand combat.
He clamped his teeth on the side of my thumb near the knuckle, and now he tears at it, trying to pull meat from bone. As he rages against the side of my right hand, his Adam's apple still in my clutch, I feel one of his hands move under me. Suddenly, a pistol cracks in the room. A puff of gun smoke rolls over us. The bullet hits the wall in front of me.
Where did that come from? Does he have a sidearm?
I cuff him across the face with my torn left hand. He rides the blow and somehow breaks my choke hold on him. I bludgeon his face. He tears at mine.
We share a single question of survival. Which one of us has the stronger will to live?
I gouge his left eye with my right index finger. I am astonished to discover that the human eye is not so much a firm ball as a soft, pliable sack. I try with all my might to send my finger all the way through. He wails like a child. It unnerves me, and I lose the stomach for this dirty trick. I withdraw my finger. Something metallic hits the cold concrete flooring. It is the same hand cannon that almost took my head off. His interest in trying to grab it opens a window of opportunity for me.
As he reaches for the pistol, I slam my left fist as hard as I can down onto his collarbone. He swings wildly at me again. My helmet's gone now. I have no idea where my M16 is. I've nothing but my hands left. And they're not enough. We will struggle and exhaust each other until the stalemate is broken by whoever's friends show up first.
I feel my strength ebbing. I don't have much left. He kicks at me, throwing his whole body into it. I've got to end this. But I don't know how.
“Surrender!”I'm ignored. He fights on, and I can sense he's encouraged. He's close to getting free of me. I swallow hard and gag. My mouth is full of blood, and I don't know whose. Both of us are slick with it; we have been bleeding all over each other. I taste bile through the blood. My body's maxed out. I don't know what to do.He remembers he has a knife on his belt.
I pounce on him. My body splays over his and I drive the knife right under his collarbone. My first thrust hits solid meat. The blade stops, and my hand slips off the handle and slides down the blade, slicing my pinkie finger. I grab the handle and squeeze it hard. The blade sinks into him, and he wails with terror and pain.
The blade finally sinks all the way to the handle.
I push and thrust it, hoping to get it under the collarbone and sever an artery in his neck. He fights, but I can feel he's weakening by the second.
I lunge at him, putting all my weight behind the blade. We're chin to chin now, and his sour breath is on my face. His eyes swim with hatred and terror. They're wide and dark and rimmed with blood. His face is covered with cuts and gouges. His mouth is curled into a grimace. His teeth are bared. It reminds me of the dogs I'd seen the day before.
The knife finally nicks an artery. We both hear a soft liquidy spurting sound. He tries to look down, but I've pinned him with the weight of my own body. My torn left hand has a killer's grip on his forehead. He can't move.
I'm bathed in warmth from neck to chest. I can't see it, but I know it is his blood. His eyes lose their luster. The hate evaporates. His right hand grabs a tuft of my hair. He pulls and yanks at it and tries to get his other hand up, but he is feeble.
“Just stop! Stop...Just stop! Rajahan hudna,” I plead. Please truce. We both know it is just a matter of time.
He gurgles a response drowned in blood...
His eyes show nothing but fear now. He knows he's going to die. His face is inches from mine, and I see him regard me for a split second. At the end, he says, “Please.”
“Surrender!” I cry. I'm almost in tears.
“No...” he manages weakly.
His face goes slack. His right hand slips from my hair. It hangs in the air for a moment, then with one last spasm of strength, he brings it to my cheek. It lingers there, and as I look into his dying eyes, he caresses the side of my face.
His hand runs gently from my cheeks to my jaw, then falls to the floor.
He takes a last ragged breath, and his eyes go dim, still staring into mine...
Tears blur my vision. I can hardly see him now, but he looks peaceful.
Why did he touch me like that at the end?
He was forgiving me...
“Sergeant Bell, Sergeant Bell, where are you?”
It's Lawson.
“Up here,” I manage.
“Sergeant Bell, are you okay? Why didn't you stay downstairs? Are you okay, man?”
“Yeah, I'm good. I'm good.”It's a lie. I wonder if I will ever be good again.

Buy the book from Amazon.com.

Forgive me for leaving in the language I don't usually allow, but if a story is being told by someone such as this, his words do not need to be changed for my sensitivities.

Weren't you just glued to reading that? Such good writing. I felt I was right there. Can you just hear the snake like hiss as he spit out the word "Jew!?"

I for one, do not believe he was forgiving Bellavia. Perhaps he needed one final human touch before he went to meet his virgins. I am sure he was thrilled that he had fought a "Jew." Is it strange that I would be more cynical than this brave warrior?

Compare this to Fallujah today where on Oct. 20, Michael Ledeen, writing for the WSJ, famously quoted a Marine officer friend as saying he has been told by enlisted Marines, "There's nobody to shoot (in Fallujah), sir. If it's just going to be building schools and hospitals, that's what the Army is for, isn't it?"

A horrific battle won. Good God, we should be proud.

h/t BigDog

One more very good thing. Beautiful pictures from Michael Yon. Muslim Iraqi's come to a Catholic Church service to ask those Christian Iraqi's "to come home."

Should Catholic Bishops speak on politics?

Of course.

From the Boston Globe:

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, saying the Democratic Party has been persistently hostile to opponents of abortion rights, asserted yesterday that the support of many Catholics for Democratic candidates "borders on scandal."

In his sharpest comments about the political landscape since he was installed as archbishop of Boston four years ago, O'Malley made clear that, despite his differences with the Republican Party over immigration policy, capital punishment, economic issues, and the war in Iraq, he views abortion as the most important moral issue facing policymakers.
"I think the Democratic Party, which has been in many parts of the country traditionally the party which Catholics have supported, has been extremely insensitive to the church's position, on the gospel of life in particular, and on other moral issues," O'Malley said.

Acknowledging that Catholic voters in Massachusetts generally support Democratic candidates who are in favor of abortion rights, O'Malley said, "I think that, at times, it borders on scandal as far as I'm concerned.""However, when I challenge people about this, they say, 'Well, bishop, we're not supporting [abortion rights],' " he said. "I think there's a need for people to very actively dissociate themselves from those unacceptable positions, and I think if they did that, then the party would have to change."

Look, it is a Pope/Bishop/Priest's job to inform those in the faith on moral matters. Even if they are political in nature as well. Abortion was a mortal sin long before it became the law of this land.

The same people who complain that the Catholic Church should stay out of politics are the same ones who accuse the Church of not speaking out enough against Hitler and the Nazis.

You cannot have it both ways. Everything Bishop O'Malley says is true and right. You don't have to listen if you don't wish to. That is freedom.

But this is my faith. I can no more separate my faith from my ideals and standards than I can separate my hand from my arm. My faith is a large part of who I am.

The Church is there to lead us on faith and morals. Sometimes that involves politics. Many issues have gray areas. But not abortion. It's wrong. It's evil. And it is good and right that O'Malley should say so.

via Hugh Hewitt

The Democratic Debate

I'll sum it up for you. Forget free trade, keeping us safe from terrorism isn't worth the life of one soldier, the surge hasn't worked, forget the unborn, Forget Social Security, count on tax increases. Hillary won because she is still pretending to be a hawk to get elected.

For the love of all that is good and holy, let's nominate someone who can beat her.

Someone.....

..make it stop.

.."history is now being made while we sleep."

Just another must read from Victor Davis Hanson.

"Buckwheat" Blackout

USA Today:

Democrat who serves in the Louisiana legislature called a black supporter "Buckwheat" just days before the runoff election that will determine whether or not she returns to Baton Rouge.
Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez said "Talk to you later, Buckwheat" at the end of a telephone conversation with a black woman who helped drive voters to the polls on Election Day. (Buckwheat was a character in The Little Rascals who has come to symbolize demeaning racial stereotypes.)
"I've never had no one talk to me that way and I considered it a racial slur," Hazel Boykin tells the Associated Press. "I know the meaning of it, it's just like the N-word."
Boykin is a respected member of the community who played an active role in the civil-rights movement of the 1960s. Her son, Jerome Boykin, runs the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

This is the only story I could find on this. Where are all the news agencies and newspapers?? When Dog The Bounty Hunter used the "N" word in a private conversation with his son, the media went after it like ticks on a wild dog. Let's see if Sharpton, the Captain of the race police, will make as big a deal out of it as he did with Chapman. Will the person being racist being a Democrat make a difference? We shall see.

via national center for public policy

Hillary is now (finally) against drivers license for illegals

That's right. It only took two weeks (and I'm sure much polling) to make this decision.

First Read has a timeline on Hillary with this issue. Here is a summary:

October 16 editorial meeting with the Nashua Telegraph:

"I hate to see any state being pushed into trying to take this into their own hands because the federal government has failed. So I know exactly what Governor Spitzer is trying to do and it makes a lot of sense, because he's trying to get people out of the shadows, come forward and we'll give you this license

October 30 MSNBC debate:

Well, what Governor Spitzer is trying to do is fill the vacuum left by the failure of this administration to bring about comprehensive immigration reform. We know in New York we have several million at any one time who are in New York illegally. They are undocumented workers. They are driving on our roads. The possibility of them having an accident that harms themselves or others is just a matter of the odds. It's probability. So what Governor Spitzer is trying to do is to fill the vacuum. I believe we need to get back to comprehensive immigration reform because no state, no matter how well intentioned, can fill this gap. There needs to be federal action on immigration reform.

Moments later:

You know, Tim, this is where everybody plays "gotcha." It makes a lot of sense. What is the governor supposed to do? He is dealing with a serious problems. We have failed. And George Bush has failed. Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do? No. But do I understand the sense of real desperation, trying to get a handle on this? Remember, in New York, we want to know who's in New York. We want people to come out of the shadows.

October 31 statement from the campaign:

“Senator Clinton supports governors like Governor Spitzer who believe they need such a measure to deal with the crisis caused by this administration’s failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform.”

The New York Times reported on that statement:

“Mrs. Clinton’s aides said her statement Wednesday expressing general support for Mr. Spitzer’s plan was intended to signal that she broadly supported his goal of granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. But they said she had not studied — and was not endorsing — any specific plan.”

Clinton campaigning in Clinton, IA on November 4:

"I wasn't as clear as I should have been the other night. I have had a number of occasions where I have spoken to it and I believe clarified it, but I'd be happy to do it again. I believe in comprehensive immigration reform and I have been in favor of that for years. I have signed onto bills. I have voted for provisions and I think it is the only answer for our country."
"Unfortunately, because the Bush administration has failed and as has the Congress, the federal government as a whole to bring about comprehensive immigration reform, governors are left holding the bag. They're the ones having to deal with the security issues, the safety of their roads and so much else. Therefore, I broadly support what governors like Eliot Spitzer are trying to do. I don't pretend to know the details. That's up to the governor and the legislature to try to work out. But I think that it's understandable that states are trying to fill a vacuum left by the failures of the federal government."

Then in an interview yesterday CNN’s Candy Crowley…:

CROWLEY: If I wrote a story that said: "Absent a broad illegal immigration bill, Hillary Clinton agrees about giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants," is that correct?CLINTON: No. What I have said is that I support what governors are trying to do. And governors are on the front lines because of the failures to get comprehensive immigration reform. There are already eight states that issue driver's licenses without any verification of citizenship. That is a decision that the governors and legislatures and the people of those states have made. I understand…CROWLEY: But you see why people think…CLINTON: Well, but you know, Candy…CROWLEY: … that you are not answering the question.CLINTON: Well, but you know, Candy, well, but I think that if you go back and look at the complexity of this issue, I don’t think a lot of these hard questions lend themselves to raising your hand. And I know that that’s easier in a 30 second context to try to do.

And finally, From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones:

"I support Governor Spitzer's decision today to withdraw his proposal," Clinton said in a statement. "His difficult job is made that much harder by the failure of the Congress and the White House to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
"As President, I will not support drivers' licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration including border security and fixing our broken system."

Obama's campaign finally hit one out of the park:

Obama spokesman Bill Burton writes, “When it takes two weeks and six different positions to answer one question on immigration, it’s easier to understand why the Clinton campaign would rather plant their questions than answer them.”

UPDATE: I'm thinking THIS is why Hillary has come against the driver's license for illegals.

Forced Filibuster?

From The Hill.com:

Senate Democrats might force Republicans to wage a filibuster if the GOP wants to block the latest Iraq withdrawal bill, aides and senators said Tuesday.
That could set the stage for a dramatic end-of-the-year partisan showdown, which Democrats hope will help them turn voter frustration with Congress and the stalemate over Iraq into anger with the Republican Party.

Whatever. You have to give Sen. Graham a prize for the best line of the day:


“I think that’s a strategy that’s going to backfire on our Democratic colleagues because the surge has clearly worked,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who sits on the Armed Services Committee, referring to the troop buildup Bush announced in January. “You’d have to suspend disbelief to believe it hasn’t worked.”

The "Outrage" against McCain on CNN

You have to laugh at the dramatics of Rick Sanchez. I'll have to agree with the rest of my blogger friends that this hardly bothers anyone, it probably helped McCain.

I WISH we could be so offended by the "b" word.

National Right to Life Committee endorses Fred.

This is about the craziest primary season I have ever seen. People endorsing candidates you might not expect to. It's not that Fred hasn't been a pro-life supporter, he has, but other candidates have been stronger. Fred doesn't endorse the Human Life Amendment, which is in the Republican platform. Usually the NRTL committee endorses based on that candidate's dedication to the unborn child, but as you can see in this conversation with the executive director of NRTL and Hugh Hewitt, electability seems to be the order. Hewitt doesn't pull any punches here. It was a good interview.

Some Things Never Change.

While in California I went to the Nixon Presidential library. I learned many things I didn't know about Nixon. I didn't realize that the 1960 election was so close and that there was illegal voting to the point where many encouraged Nixon to ask for a recount. He refused saying for the good of the country, he would let it stand. (Unlike some one in recent memory)

History does seem to repeat itself. We had the communism threat during Nixon's political career and we have the Islamic terrorism threat now. Nixon reached out to communist China, something Bush refuses to do with Iran. And the scandal that defines Nixon was more about the coverup and lying than the crime, as it was with Clinton.

They are just now building a watergate part to Nixon's library. I suppose Nixon never wanted that there while he was alive. I wonder if one day The Clinton Presidential Library will have the blue dress displayed?

Nixon was the first President I remember. Being a good Democrat, my Dad couldn't stand him. I have a vivid memory of my Dad being so appalled at the tapes. He told me he just couldn't believe a President would speak like that. Especially the language. No wonder I detest cussing.

Anyway, you would think Presidential libraries would be boring, but they are not. History is always fascinating to me.

BBL

I'm going on a retreat today and then to L.A. for a few days. I won't be posting again until Thursday. For all you new commenters, the comments are moderated, so you won't see them until Thursday either. (I've had some e-mails from those not understanding the moderation thingy)

Anyway, I expect to see each and everyone of you back here Thursday morning. Don't disappoint me!

Romney's On A Roll

From Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:

Mitt Romney has opened a wider lead in New Hampshire over his Republican presidential rivals, according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey. Romney now has support from 32% of likely voters, followed by Rudy Giuliani with 17%, Sen. John McCain at 16%, Mike Huckabee at 10% and Fred Thompson at 7%. Meanwhile, a new Zogby poll in Iowa shows Romney leading with 31%, followed by Mike Huckabee at 15%, Rudy Giuliani at 11%, Fred Thompson at 10% and Sen. John McCain at 8%.

The way things look now, if Romney wins Iowa and New Hampshire and some of the other early states, then I think Rudy will be toast.

We can only hope.

One more thing. I think a Romney/Huckabee ticket has a nice ring to it. It does have that north/south thing going. But what would you think of a Romney/Giuliani ticket?

I just saw this. This is the biggest slam on Romney that I have seen from the right.

Quote of the Day

Gail Collins: "Back in mid-2001, when Mayor Rudy Giuliani was busy committing adultery, lurching into his divorce and third marriage and rooming with a gay couple he promised to marry as soon as the law allowed, who among us would have imagined that one day he would be endorsed for president by Pat Robertson? Truly, Sept. 11 changed everything."

Mr. Redford, Just Shut Up.

Robert Redford is ranting about his new film "Lions for Lambs." Look, we all know Redford is a raging liberal and that's fine. That is who he is. In this Washington Times article he bashes Mitt Romney as "plastic." Fine. He is entitled to his opinion, but this is what TICKS ME OFF:

"What he wants, he says, is for people to think about what important moments in recent American history have in common, "from McCarthyism to Watergate to Iran-Contra to now," where the "fear card" has been played."

I have a newsflash for Redford. WE HAVE REASON TO FEAR. I am just sick and tired of mish mash liberals IGNORING what happened on 9-11. I am sick and tired of them pretending that it was an isolated incident instead of the fulfillment of years of terror that we ignored, from the first World Trade Center bombing, to the U.S.S. Cole to our embassy bombings. I am sick and tired of Hollywood limo liberals like Robert Redford who would be the FIRST to be beheaded if the radical Islams got a hold of him, pretend that these fanatics do not pose a threat to us and that we are silly to fear them. Did he not watch the innocent men and women jump from the world trade towers? Did he not see the faces of those lost on Tv night after night? Did he not feel our sorrow and pain? Where the hell was he????? Why not make a movie about that???

Listen Mr. "The Way We Were," we ARE NOT the way we were. Evil men flew planes into our buildings and killed 3000 innocents. They meant to kill tens of thousands more. How can ANYONE who saw any of the coverage of that day or the films made about those plane rides and not think WE HAVE A RIGHT TO FEEL FEAR?

You can disagree with this administration about a great many things. But the TRUTH and the FACT is that this administration has done what it promised, what NO ONE thought it could do. IT HAS KEPT US SAFE FOR 6 YEARS. 6 years. When no one thought we would be safe for 6 weeks. These monsters cut off the heads of our journalists, hung our soldiers like a lynching, blew up our boys and their own people, and promised American deaths, and yet we SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID? Bush plays the fear card????

Mr. Redford, you play the propaganda card with your films. That's your right and be grateful you have it, because under those who hate us, you would not. Take for granted all that you enjoy. That's fine. But don't you accuse this government or people of playing the fear card.

We should be afraid. These monsters are brutal, sick, and HATE us. If we didn't have the mighty military that we have then God knows what would happen.

You make me sick Mr. Redford and you don't deserve to be American. But you are. Because we are free. Free to be ignorant like yourself.

Once again, the party of tolerance...

..isn't very tolerate. Maybe the gay community will learn it before the black community will. They want your votes and that's about it:

The Democratic Party establishment's behavior is being called called "shameful" in the handling of North Carolina Senate candidate Jim Neal's recent disclosure that he is gay.

The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Independent Weekly reports:

"'Shameful' is how Pam Spaulding, a Durham activist, puts it. Spaulding's blog, Pam's House Blend, is one of the most read gay-advocacy Web sites in the country. 'The complete lack of institutional respect for Jim Neal's candidacy based on his orientation,' she says, 'shows the two-faced nature of the Democratic party.' They want gay votes, she says. But they don't want gay candidates. Spaulding points specifically to the national Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and its chair, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who for unknown reasons wouldn't return Neal's phone calls. 'The cause,' Neal said, 'is that I'm not Washington's choice. I'm not Chuck Schumer's choice.'"

Obama? Edwards? Are you paying attention??

I'm thinking you could use this:

Hotline On Call:

NPR's David Greene reports about what happens when real people find their stories folded into the candidates' campaign rhetoric. One single mother, a waitress at Maid-Rite, famous for its meat sandwiches, chatted with Hillary Clinton during a recent campaign stop about her struggles to make ends meet. Her story wound up in HRC's stump speech, Greene reports. The waitress, meanwhile, was left wondering why the former first lady didn't leave a tip.

From NPR:

I followed Clinton during a recent bus tour across Iowa, when she and her entourage pulled into a Maid-Rite, a greasy spoon famous for its loose-meat sandwich. Clinton settled into a red stool at the counter, ate a sandwich, chatted with her waitress and then was on her way.

The scene gave Clinton perfect fodder for her next few stump speeches. Turns out her waitress was a single, working mom — just the kind of voter Democrats are courting aggressively this year.

Clinton recalled the meeting for an audience up the road in Boone. "The woman waiting on us — it was her first day," she said, adding, "She was a little nervous. Single mom, raised two boys, works at a nursing home and always has a second job."

If she's elected president, Clinton promised, people like her waitress will have it better.

The way Clinton eased the waitress into her rhetoric is something repeated day after day, by all the campaigns. But in the process, people like the waitress don't always have their stories told.

"I wished I would have been asked first," the waitress, Anita Esterday, said of Clinton's decision to insert her in a speech, adding, "I wish she would have asked if she could talk about me later. I didn't like it when someone called me up and said Hillary Clinton is talking about you. It's like, what'd I do now? What's she saying?"

When I returned to the Maid-Rite a few weeks later, Esterday said the senator had caught her off guard. But once they got talking, she was honest with Clinton about her need to work two to three jobs.

"I've been doing it all my life. Why should it change now that I'm old?" Esterday said.

Esterday does not think Clinton got it. "I don't think she understood at all what I was saying," Esterday said, adding, "I mean, nobody got left a tip that day."

Clinton may have decided not to tip. She was also never given a bill — her meal was on the house. Still, Esterday said Clinton might have left her something: "Maybe they don't carry money, I don't know."

Welcome to world of the limo liberal my dear.

Now, could someone get a hold of Obama and Edwards and make a commercial about this. Now. I think Iowa Democrats would be very interested.

Update: The Clinton campaign is saying they did leave a tip for the staff, but no one seems to know where it went. Also on Drudge..this isn't the first time Hillary has stiffed a single mom.

Update 2: Fox news is reporting that the Clinton staff did leave a generous tip, but this ABC news story says "Brad Crawford, manager of Maid-Rite caught in the political mixer, who said the senator's staff did pay a tip but "it might have not been disbursed properly."

One story is saying that everyone was tipped, so why would the waitress say that no one did? Did the manager keep the tip???? Or.....perhaps he suddenly found it, if you know what I mean. Also, one story is saying the meal was on the house and the other story is saying that the staff paid for it. Whatever.

Not a big deal, to be sure, just curious.

Update 3: Geeze. I know this whole thing is stupid, but I just hear on the news that the manager is saying that the waitress was paid her tip. So was she lying? And why would she lie??? And what is she suppose to say now? She works 3 jobs, she needs this job. Is she going to contradict her employer?? Good grief. This is just so typical of the Clintons. Just obscure the facts and no one will ever know the real truth. Ugh.

Will Religious Endorsements Help?

That depends on who gets nominated.

Pat Robertson endorses Rudy (I still haven't figured that out). Brownback endorses McCain. Moral Majority co-founder Paul Weyrich endorses Romney. Gary Bauer endorses Fred. Baptist leader Rich Scarborough endorses Huckabee.

As this WaPo article points out, the social conservatives are very divided this election. Many Christian conservatives are very upset with Robertson's endorsement of Rudy, not the least of which is the Family Research Council. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention said that Robertson's support of Rudy reflects Robertson's belief that Rudy is the only one to beat Hillary, but like so many social cons, Richard Land says he will not vote for Rudy under any circumstances.

This is what I have been saying for a long time. It doesn't matter how stupid you may think it is that many won't vote for Rudy, even if it is against Hillary, there it is. It is a political reality. And this looks like the road we are going down. I just cannot tell you how frustrating it is to me.

I look at my religious friends and say "you cannot let Hillary win. That would be so much worse than voting for Rudy." I look at my Republican friends who are not so religious and say " Wake up and understand how many will not vote for this man and nominate someone they will vote for!"

And neither side is listening to me.

Geeze. It's just like my personal life.....;-)

This is the way I see it. If Rudy gets the nomination I don't think the religious endorsement of Robertson helps. Robertson has said too many crazy things over the last few years and he has lost respect from many Christians. If Romney gets the the nomination, then it does help to get religious endorsements because it shows social cons that his Mormonism should not be looked upon as a negative. If McCain or Fred get the nomination,the religious endorsements help because it helps assure Christians that they really do care about their concerns even if they themselves don't come across as very religious.

I said this last election to my non-religious Republican friends, and I will say it again. You can't win without us and we can't win without you.

Let's come together on this. Pick one. McCain, Romney, and Fred can get all our votes. But not Rudy. Just not Rudy.

What is that that I am feeling???

Oh yes, it's hope.

THANKS AND PRAISE: Michael Yon emails: "I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John's Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome. A Muslim man had invited the American soldiers from 'Chosen' Company 2-12 Cavalry to the church, where I videotaped as Muslims and Christians worked and rejoiced at the reopening of St John's, an occasion all viewed as a sign of hope. The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. 'Thank you, thank you,' the people were saying. One man said, 'Thank you for peace.' Another man, a Muslim, said 'All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.' The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers.

Michael Yon is making this photo available for free.

via Instapundit

*note: I've bumped this from yesterday because it's important. I don't want anyone to miss it.

A Hunger Strike At Columbia

All kinds of liberal mish mash here. Their Facebook here. So it looks like five students will forgo food until, among many other gobbly gook type things, they have an "an administration that is responsive to institutional racism, supports its students, and proactively works to create a climate in which nooses and swastikas are not the order of the day."

The order of the day?? What? Are there ropes all over campus and swastikas on every door? Good grief, is there anything worse than '60's type hippie wannabes? Too bad they weren't this upset when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to speak. Oh well.

via Gawker

Just something to think about....

From RedState: (emphasis mine)

1) McCain polls better against Clinton than any other Republican, including Rudy. Any electability argument for Rudy applies to McCain equally well and fewer social conservatives are likely to jump to a third party candidate if the pro-life McCain is at the top of the ticket.

2) McCain staunch support of the mission of our troops in Iraq has rekindled some love (and muted some of the hate) that conservatives have felt toward the Senator. McCain's early argument for a change in strategy means he was not a go-along-with-Bush supporter as much as someone looking for a way to win the War. McCain can claim, legitimately, that he proposes the "surge" long ago and the administration came around to the successful strategy far later.

3) McCain's heroic story still lends him unrivaled credibility on military affairs and unequaled respect among those who disagree with him on some issues.

4) As the Republican candidates all seem to be flawed in some respects, Republicans seem to be reevaluating McCain. Instead of comparing McCain to some mythical Second Coming of Reagan, voters are considering McCain in relation to Rudy or Romney and realizing that all have things to like and dislike.

5) Sen. McCain is increasingly and surprisingly likely to be a candidate that doesn't cause a chunk of Republican voters to run to a third party. Rudy and Huckabee are facing (perhaps non-credible) threats from large groups of voters who say they will vote Hillary or nobody if they are nominated. McCain may not be most Republicans first choice, but he is not most Republicans last choice either.

Band of Bloggers...

...will debut on the History Channel this Friday. I've been seeing the promos and I cannot wait to see it. In the promos a military blogger (not sure who), says if you want to know what's going on in Iraq read the milblogs. That is more than true.

Check the listings for more times at the link.

via Instapundit

Good News and Weird News.

The good news? My man McCain is moving on up.

The weird news? And it doesn't get any stranger than this. Pat Robertson endorses Giuliani.

Michael Yon calls into the Hugh Hewitt show

Transcript here. Here are some good parts:

HH: Tell us what the Iraqis are telling you about this lull or peace or improvement. What do they think is going on here, and how long will it last?

MY: I don’t believe this is a lull. I believe this is the real thing. I believe that we’ve seen lulls before, and I’ve always been very circumspect on taking a chance and saying hey, this is the real thing. But I’ve seen a change in the mood of the people, and it’s remarkable. And I believe if we can just continue to help them progress, and we’ve got a little bit more serious fighting to do up in Ninewa Province, and then in Kirkuk and Salahaddin Province, and also out in Diayala Province, those four provinces. Other than that, I think really, it’s a matter of pouring on the juice and helping them to get this country going again. I mean, they’re just finished with the war, as long as we can help get the monkey off their back in the form of al Qaeda, which is pretty much crushed at this point.

Read Hugh's post here. It is just delicious! He has video of the Democrats making predictions of our defeat in Iraq.

The irony here is that with the defeat of al Qaeda and all the good things happening in Iraq, we will finally have the opportunity to bring our boys home. Which is what we all want on all sides of the political spectrum.

The bad news for the Democrats is that we will bring them home in victory, not the defeat the Democrats predicted and based their political agenda on.

A Big French Hug

Who could have forseen this?



What would have been unthinkable a year ago--a two-day summit between the leaders of France and the United States--is now a political reality that promises to change the complex and troubled landscape of U.S.-European relations. Not only will Sarkozy meet with President Bush at the White House and Mount Vernon, but also he will address the U.S. Congress, a great honor and rare privilege, especially for the president of a formerly hostile power.

More:

Alongside his straight-talking foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, the new French president has become a key U.S. ally in efforts to halt the rise of a nuclear-armed Iran, delivering a barn-storming speech, in September at the U.N. General Assembly, condemning the stance of Iranian tyrant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Most of the old tensions over the war in Iraq have largely dissipated, replaced by a newfound willingness to work together on an array of issues, from the Iranian nuclear crisis to genocide in Darfur. There is even talk in Paris of France rejoining the unified command structure of NATO in the next couple of years, a radical reversal in French thinking.

h/t BigDog

Someone notices the difference between the Bush family girls and the Clinton's daughter

And it's a Democrat no less. Maybe she read my post?

Hillary, let it go....

Why does Hillary not just move on from the disastrous answer regarding drivers license for illegals at the last debate? Why does she feel she must keep defending herself on what could easily have been downplayed?

Mickey Kaus thinks it could be one of two things:

It's the possibility that a) she panics in adversity--a point Levin emphasizes or b) she's too vain to let herself be perceived as having given a wrong answer, so she goes back to correct it even when that only compounds the damage. .

The answer would be "b," of course.

Say What???

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that her status as the Democratic presidential front-runner-not her gender-has led her male primary rivals to intensify their criticism of her.

"I don't think they're piling on because I'm a woman. I think they're piling on because I'm winning," Clinton told reporters after filing paperwork to appear on the New Hampshire primary ballot.

"I anticipate it's going to get even hotter, and if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. I'm very much at home in the kitchen," she said.

Good grief. This woman hasn't seen a kitchen in 35 years.

Obama on SNL

Live from New York, it's...Obama!

This is the bit if you don't want to watch the video:

The opening sketch of Saturday's broadcast featured Poehler and Hammond, as the Clintons, hosting a Halloween party. Toward the end of the sketch a man walked in wearing an Obama mask — which he removed to reveal he was, indeed, Obama.
"I have nothing to hide," Obama said. "I enjoy being myself. I'm not going to change who I am just because it's Halloween."

No wonder this man will not win against Hillary. You have a forum like that and you can't make the writers give you better material than that??? I mean, come on!!! If Hillary and Bill win, they will keep SNL funny for the next 4 years.

Obama, for God's sake...Step. Up. Your. Game.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom Honors a Great Man

From the WSJ yesterday:

Cuban physician Oscar Elías Biscet and seven others will be awarded the presidential medal of freedom by George W. Bush in a White House ceremony today. But Dr. Biscet will not be there to accept his honor in person. Today, like most days for the better part of the past eight years, he is locked away in a dungeon on Fidel Castro's island paradise.

The Cuban cell where Dr. Biscet resides looks like the one above.

The Boston Globe has more:

A prolife Christian physician, Biscet first ran afoul of the Castro regime in the 1990s, when he investigated Cuban abortion techniques - Cuba has by far the highest abortion rates in the Western Hemisphere - and revealed that numerous infants had been killed after being delivered alive. In 1997, he began the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, which seeks “to establish in Cuba a state based on the rule of law” and “sustained upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” In 1999, he was given a three-year sentence for “disrespecting patriotic symbols.” To protest the regime’s repression, he had hung a Cuban flag upside down.

Jay Norlinger at NRO reminds us of why this is so significant:

In awarding this medal, President Bush — not for the first time — has shown huge brass ones. How many other presidents would have done this? I can’t think of any (save our boy, the 40th). And don’t hold your breath for a president in the future who will act this way.

As I said in a recent column, conservatives are down on President Bush, blaming him for everything under the sun, picking at him. Sure, he’s made mistakes. But he also has greatness in him. And this was a great act. In bestowing the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Oscar Biscet — an all-but-forgotten and all-but-helpless man in a Cuban dungeon — George Bush has done an incredibly large-hearted and important thing.
Do not think it’s merely symbolic: This award has rocketed through dissident circles, and nerved Cubans and their well-wishers everywhere.

Dr. Biscet's son has tribute to his father published in yesterday’s Boston Globe.

In a world of great suffering at least we can honor those who sacrifice so much for so many.

God bless Dr. Biscet.

via LST

Obama fights back...

On Hillary's energy policy.:

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA -- Clinton laid out proposals today she said would promote clean energy and create at least five million "green-collar" jobs. The wide-ranging speech was the first of a series she will deliver on the topic this week. In it, she talked about the problems caused by climate change and pollution like rising sea levels, water shortages and health problems and compared dealing with these issues to the great challenges of the last century. ("green-collared "jobs? oh puke)

Obama:

“You can’t bring about change on our energy policy if you change your position to suit the politics of a presidential campaign,” Obama Iowa communications director Josh Earnest said. “When she had the chance to lead, Senator Clinton voted multiple times against legislation to increase production of renewable fuels and to increase fuel efficiency standards. To stand up for rural America and break America's dependence on foreign oil, we need a leader who won't just tell people on the campaign trail what they want to hear, but one who will tell the American people what they need to hear like Senator Obama did when he called for increased fuel efficiency standards during a speech in front of automakers in Detroit.”

It's a start, but Obama better find his fangs soon.

Because He Was A Jew

After thinking about Daniel Pearl, the journalist from the WSJ that was beheaded by terrorists in 2002, I decided to go rent the movie based on his story, "A Mighty Heart."

It occurred to me while watching the film, and it was an excellent film, that the reason political type movies don't do well isn't because of Hollywood bias, as much as we would like to believe so, it is because they are too difficult for most people to understand.

This world's problems are too big. They are too vast and horrible. When I try to focus on terrorism across the world, across these years, I can't wrap my mind around it. And I am one of those few who are really interested in it. But the truth is that when I see films like this and I try to grasp such evil in the world, I just cry.

Most people don't want to go to the movies to cry. Most people don't want to go to movies to understand political or religious situations.

The movie tried to guide the viewer through the maze of reasons that Daniel Pearl was killed. It hinted at the reason being the way we treated our prisoners at Gitmo. It hinted that the reason was that the terrorists that held Daniel believed him to be a CIA operative. But the real reason Daniel Pearl was murdered is simple and it was addressed in the movie. It was at the beginning and the ending. And I am sure Daniel Pearl's widow had a lot to do with making sure that happened.

The reason Daniel Pearl was brutally murdered was because he was a Jew. Plain and simple.

I'm going to put this simply for you because the movie makes it much too complicated, which is one of the problems of these kinds of movies. The group that kidnapped Daniel called themselves "The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty." But that was just a made up organization that no one had ever heard of before. The man convicted and sentenced to death in July of 2002 for the kidnapping and death of Daniel Pearl is Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British national of Pakistani origin. (He is still alive, on appeal)

The movie briefly mentions al Qaeda, which is one of it's glaring errors. The truth of the matter is Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was a member of the innermost circle of Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. In 1994 he was operating terrorists training camps in Afghanistan and had earned the title of bin Laden's "special son." And then there is this last bit of information. U.S. authorities named Saeed Sheikh as a key figure in the funding of the 9/11 attacks.

Were you all aware of these things? Neither was I. Nor does the movie educate us on these very important matters.

Why is it important? Because as many splinter groups of Islamic fanatics there are, things always seem to funnel back to the monsters that attacked us on 9-11. And it occurred to me while watching this movie that as much as the Islamic fanatics hate America, there is one group they hate much more. The Jews.

At the beginning of the movie Daniel Pearl makes the mistake of admitting to one of the terrorist "clerics" he is interviewing, that he is Jewish. They don't mention the Jewish aspect again until the end. They do not show the beheading in the movie, which is understandable of course, but when you think about the gore and violence we see every day on the movie screen, why should we avoid it when seeing it will teach us a most important lesson about our enemy? I haven't seen the movie, but I'm sure in "Rendition" they show all the brutality of the U.S. interrogation, don't they? When the movie about Abu Ghraib is made, and it will be, I'm positive that every inhumane act will be put before us. Hollywood will be hoping to teach us to never let it happen again. Yet, Daniel's murder is censored completely from this movie.

At the end of the movie it shows Daniel on the video of his captors declaring himself a Jew. He talks about a street named after his Jewish grandfather. His wife had said that Daniel had not been a religious man, but in the end he embraced what he was, a Jew. And he died because of it.

Did you know that On April 16th 2007 Daniel was added to the Holocaust Memorial on Miami Beach as the first non-Holocaust victim? His father, Judea Pearl, said that he wanted to remind generations to come that "The forces of barbarity and evil are still active in our world. The Holocaust didn't finish in 1945."

So many things I didn't know about Daniel Pearl. So many things the movie, whether intentional or not, failed to say about this man.

This article in the WSJ has Tom Jennings, a longtime friend of Daniel's remembing this: "This was the man who wrote a song for my son days before his birth, encouraging him into the world. The song was called, 'The World Is Not a Bad Place."

But this world is a bad place. We, here in America, live our cushy lives and argue about stupid things, while the dark face of hatred simmers with ideas on how to kill us. Not because of war or land, but because of who we are. If we are Jewish. If we are Christians. If we are simply Americans. We are wished dead by our enemy.

The recent news of the defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq should really be a cause of true celebration here, but we are all caught up in our own political agendas and Presidential campaigns to realize how significant it is.

Daniel Pearl's father is right. The holocaust didn't finish in 1945 and it's time we all faced it. The story of Daniel Pearl came and went. The movie came and went. No one seems to want to remember the truth about the death of this man. I want us to never forget Daniel Pearl.

Daniel wasn't a soldier, he was not in war, he was not a political prisoner. He was an innocent American citizen. Daniel Pearl's head was cut off by those who attacked us because he was a Jew.

More on Torture

BigDog also sent me this link:

Torture" is probably the most egregious of these cases. That's the explanation for the sneer quotes. Because, quite simply, in much of the debate over "torture", we're not talking about actual torture at all. We're talking about rough treatment, harshness, or coercion. "

"The American left has defined these upward until they mean the same thing as torture, all as a part of their efforts to undermine the War on Terror in general. The core of this stance is the assertion that a slap on the head, several days without sleep, or hearing Rage Against the Machine played at full volume is fully the equivalent of torture in the classic sense. (Well... maybe we should reconsider that last....)"

"Of course, it's no such thing. Torture is easily defined as physical assault carried out over a prolonged period against a victim under complete control and holding the possibility of permanent physical or psychic damage. Official legal terminology contains the proviso that torture consists of acts that "revolt the conscience" We can also add, by way of Dashiell Hammett, that such actions must have "threat of death behind them". If they contain these elements, they are torture. If not, they're something less. Not necessarily something justifiable or commendable, but not torture either. (Another method of judging these actions is to ask whether the activity would excite an individual like Mengele or Yezhov.) "

"The left has succeeded, through a relentless media campaign (is there any other kind?) in obscuring this distinction. According to the latest criteria, torture is anything unpleasant that occurs to a prisoner while in American custody. (Overseas it's different. It's very, very difficult -- almost impossible, in fact -- for any developing or left-of-center regime to commit torture, no matter what they do to their prisoners. Unless, as in the rendition uproar, the U.S. is somehow involved.)"

It's strange really, that sometimes I must defend what I don't believe in. BigDog sends me this link to allow me to see the distinction of what the left defines as torture and what the definition of torture really is. It is a compelling argument. I'm glad I don't make these decisions.

It just so happens that I got an e-mail the other day from a lefty commenter who berates me for somehow defending torture in an earlier post. I e-mail back and point out that whatever the U.S. is involved with, does it bother him more that our enemy "tortured" Daniel Pearl for example? Not a enemy combatant, not even a soldier, but an innocent American. Do you know what he wrote back? He said that that wasn't torture, that was murder. You can't compare the two.

Gee, do you think the moments (days? weeks?) leading up to beheading Daniel Pearl might have been torture for him? Do you think the moment he saw the blade coming for his throat might have been torture? Do you think that when he felt the cold steel against his skin IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN TORTURE?????

For the life of me I can never understand why the left can find so much to be angry about with America, yet can seem to find no rage for the monsters that fight us.

UPDATE: Actually it's more of "past" date. I found this post I wrote in the archives (2005) on torture. Sometimes I even forget what we took down in Iraq. Sometimes it's good for us to remember.

A few thoughts...

I was watching TV these last few days and I just wanted to comment on these two unrelated things.

First, Duncan Hunter proposed giving the jobs of State Department officials who refuse to serve in Iraq to our wounded soldiers. (h/t to Bigdog for reminding me of this)

An excellent idea. I wish Bush had the nerve to do it.

The second thing I watched was Larry King's interview with Bill Cosby and his friend Alvin F. Poussaint who wrote the book, "Come On People; On The Path From Victim to Victors." Did any of you see it? I have written here many times how much I admire Cosby for speaking out about the problems in the black community, but he was practically incoherent in this interview. He would start to answer a question and then go rambling off on another subject that made no sense. He was wearing dark sunglasses the whole time too, which I found strange. I hope he's ok, but that was the most bizarre interview I have seen in a while.

How can we solve the political differences in Iraq?

I don't know. Maybe the same way we do here?

The suggestion is that American forces must keep fighting in Iraq until the Arabs and Kurds have put aside their differences, resolved their internal tensions, and started singing "kumbaya" in Arabic. But even the president's most ambitious aims involved only establishing a stable and peaceful democracy in Iraq--which is very different from resolving all tensions, as anyone who knows anything about democracy can tell you. For the United States, reconciliation should mean persuading the peoples of Iraq to address their problems and power struggles peacefully, through a political process rather than through violence, and to reject and oppose those who seek to use force to gain leverage in the political process. That is exactly what we are now in the midst of doing.

h/t BigDog

The anti-war far left protestors.

Zombie has the pictures from the Oct. 27th anti-war protest in San Francisco. I advise my lefty commenters to go take a good hard look at those that agree with you. You might not like the company you keep.

These pictures are a reminder of why the left has the reputation of being anti-American. Zombie should be given an award for shining a light into the darkness of liberalism. via RWN

Fred Thompson on Abortion

He didn't have me at the beginning. He almost completely lost me in the middle. But the very last thing he said about his daughter, and it had nothing to do with law or federalism or anything else but reality, he got me.
I think I can be on board now with Fred.

via HotAir