A World Apart

Facebook is a interesting place. I'm checking my newsfeed and I see a comment left on my friend Dan Gainor's (from the Media Research Center) facebook status, where he is wondering how many Hamas rockets Americans would tolerate before we blew them back into the stone age. Actually I don't think that would be much of a trip, since they seem to be stuck in the stone age, but I digress. This is the comment left by a young Middle Eastern student:


Let me make few things clear right here...We are not afraid to die...death is our biggest wish...we are not afraid of the nuclear weapons israel has...because we have ones as well...there are two muslim nuclear countries so far and the rest are working on acquiring it...not to mention you can still buy a nuclear bomb from former soviet states with ... Read Morethe price of a Beamer...your F-16 bombs are music to our ears...we have nothing to lose...If i am killed I am given freedom...we don't cry our deaths we celebrate them...we will not negotiate peace under the threat of nuclear weapons...the second thing is we don't hate jews...us and the jews we decend from the same father...Ibrahim...we don't mind their stay as long as they are willing to stay under the bigger entity the region belongs to...they are free to practice their religion...we respect their believes as we believe in it...it's Israel that we have issues with...not the jews...there is a fine thread here...

Oh, and it looks like he is in Washington D.C.

Good grief.

But don't worry about the stone age stuff. He says the Arabs are coming back:

You can never wipe us out...we are not native americans..Our roots go deep in the desert since the dawn of history...we led an empire from indonesia to spain for 14 centuries...we will rise again and excell in sciences and math again...it's just a break...enjoy it while it lasts...

It gets better:


Jews back at the time when muslims invaded spain they flee from all over europe to spain to work n live there, they used to be close friends with th muslim sultans at the time, google islam in spain...What islam has offered for jews across history is much more than what christians offered them, we never massacured them while the pope was hunting ... Read Morefor them at a certain point of history and Hitler the leader of a christian majority country made stuffed turkeys out of them...I don't agree with most of what hamas does, n u can ask seton about tht, yet right now i support them cause u can only fight fire with fire....terrorisim with terrorisim...HAMAS IS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION AND SO IS ISRAELAbout jordan being the homeland of palestinians, again u are cracking me up, palestine is the homeland of more than 60% of palestinians and tht's by the UN. but i guess if u can flip all the fact in the world and negate history u can get away with tht...
Hitler is the leader of the Christian majority and the Pope was hunting and WE are the negating history?

Dan obviously deleted some of the more offensive comments. But I do find it fascinating to hear from someone like that. A world apart in beliefs.

I saw a man on Tv yesterday, whose father was big in Hamas, explaining how he became a Christian. He said a missionary stopped him in the street and asked him to come to a Bible study. In that Bible study he read a verse from Christ that completely rocked his world. The verse said, "Love your enemies." He said he never heard that. It was so radical, so unbelievable that God was asking us to love our enemies. He became a Christian.

I think in watching this Arab/Jew, Israel/Palestine conflict we forget our own Christian values. We are suppose to love those that are against us. It's hard to do, I know. Christ never said that following him would be easy. It's not.

Radical Muslims spread their own version of history. This guy believes that Hitler represented Christians. He should read Corrie Ten Boom's "The Hiding Place" and understand that it was Christians that hid Jews and also went to concentration camps. God's love weaved it's way into that horrible place and created miracles. He should read those books, and not the warped history that he has been taught. Not only did Corrie survive to write this incredible book of faith, but she even met the Nazi guard that held them and forgave him. Forgave him. That is the message of our faith. Love and forgiveness.

It would do us well to spread that message, not just support Israel.

Israel, the Moral Warrior

The Honorable Warrior by Alan Dershowitz is too concise and well-written to summerize. The major points are that Israel is perfectly legitimate under international law in their current military operations, that while Israel builds shelters and protects its citizens Hamas deliberately makes its civilians into targets and victims, and that here is no moral equivilance between Israel and Hamas.

It also seems that Israel has a sophisticated system to warn people living in Gaza when their neighbrhood is about to be bombed. It gives m 10 minutes to get out. It probably also warns the terrorists.

Lozowick concludes that the IDF is the most moral army in the world: "This drives some people bonkers, and they often go ballistic. Alas for them, and fortunately for many Palestinians, it happens to be the simple truth."

The care taken by the IDF to avoid civilian casualties complicates the achievements of its military objectives and increases the hazards to its soldiers, and it doesn't do much to win Israel friends outside the United States. It is nevertheless an essential component of Israel's strategy in dealing with its terrorist enemies.

Whose side am I on? Oh yes, Civilization.

Via Powerline.


"If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism." - Thomas Sowell

Bill Richardson withdraws as Obama's Commerce Secretary

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

Such drama before Obama even becomes President.

This will give you pause...

War is hell. It just is. If you have any doubt about that then check out these very graphic pics from Gaza. (WARNING! VERY GRAPHIC!)

So who is the bad guy? Is it the Palestinians for electing terrorists to lead? Is it the Hamas government for storing weapons and rockets in Mosques and schools and homes among innocents? Is it Hamas for constantly shooting rockets into Israel?

Is it the Israelis for bombing those places and killing hundreds of innocents? Do these pictures make you think that maybe Israel is overreacting? Or is this just a horrid part of war and defense? Is Israel wrong? They kill innocents and then the population is filled with hate for Israel and encourage Hamas to continue it's attack.

Then this never ending circle of war and violence continue.

It seems so simple. Stop attacking each other. Just stop.

But no one stops. And Satan dances on the clouds of the bombs.

Reid Rejects Blogo's Blacks!

Via the American Spectator and Newsbusters, "Harry Reid made it clear who he didn't want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones." and suggested two other names...

The upshot:

The Sun-Times doesn't bother noticing that the three rejected names all belong to Aftican-Americans. Add in Roland Burris, whom Reid also opposes, and you get four blacks rejected by Reid, with 2 whites meeting the Majority Leader's approval.

Reid really is a piece of work, but it does't surprise me. The home of racism in this country is and has always been the Democratic Party.

Perspective/Proportional

HotAir linked this:

On CNN a few moments ago, Christiane Amanpour, in the midst of an otherwise completely warped report on the Gaza war, said that over the past year only two Israelis were killed by Hamas rocket fire. Her point in the segment was to insinuate that Israel is overreacting to Hamas attacks that have been largely harmless. In order to do that, she had to abstain from mentioning important facts and context, such as that Hamas’ attacks in 2008 more than doubled — to 3,278 — from the 2007 number. And this figures in the six-month “lull” period, during which “only” around 100 rockets were fired. She also did not mention that the range and deadliness of Hamas’ rockets increased as well, putting around 15 percent of the Israeli population under Hamas’ missile umbrella. (The “disproportionality” fetishists also never get around to noting that Israel has conducted less than a thousand air strikes in response to over 7,000 Hamas rocket attacks since 2005.)

Thus is the history of this episode of the conflict re-written almost in real time, from one of a gathering danger to one of a boring nuisance. Oh, and eight Israelis, not two, were killed by Hamas in 2008. Amanpour’s “errors” always seem to work in one direction, don’t they?

Good Commentary, but there is one thing alluded to here that needs to be spoken aloud. Do we judge conflicts only by the casualties? I mean, yes there were only 2-8 Israelis killed by Hamas in 2008, but isn't that only because Hamas isn't very good a warfare? Didn't they WISH to kill more Israelis? It's like someone who tries to murder someone else. Does it not count if the murder doesn't take place? Isn't that what we call "attempted murder?" 7000 rocket attacks since 2005 from Hamas tells me that they really wanted that number of dead to be "proportional." Just because they are unable to make that happen makes Israel the bad guy?

I don't get it.

Let's say several armed gunman starting shooting at a school in America. Let's say they only killed two teachers. They tried to shooting everyone, but they were just bad shots. Let's say our SWAT teams came out and took all the gunmen out. Would anyone claim that the SWAT team took "disproportional" actions? Should the SWAT team have only killed two of them?

Ridiculous.

*Had to add this. I found it at LST, It's a blog called "A Soldier's Mother."
It's a Mom of an Israeli soldier. She doesnt' want him in this war. She wants him home, as all mother's do. So why does she put on a brave face and not tell him that?

What gets lost, but what is so critical to remember, is the timeline here. Gaza fired on Israel, has been firing for many months and years. They chose the timing of this action, not Israel. To expect any nation to sit quietly while hundreds of thousands of people come under fire is arrogant and naive, and the Palestinian leadership showed both these sins and many others in the last few weeks.Gaza sent hundreds of missiles at our cities, our schools. Last week, the air force began to fight back. Earlier today, artillery joined the fight, and then tonight, many ground units, the navy, the engineering division and more moved in.
.................

They say we hit several mosques, places of worship. That too is a lie and our answer is very simple, as I wrote on Friday: A House of God is not an arsenal, and an arsenal is not a House of God. The minute you use a mosque to house explosives and terrorists, it becomes a legitimate target. This is true of your home as well. So, if you are going to store explosives and rockets in your home, the army of Israel kindly requests you not to store your wives and children there too.
......................

There was one problem with the hit on the Hamas leader's home. He indeed was not home - but the Palestinians didn't bother to evacuate the building. The man's four wives and eleven of his thirteen children were killed. One son survived. The other child died years ago when he decided to kill himself for the "divine" pleasure of becoming a suicide bomber to murder Israelis. So, this man who stored explosives in his home with his wives and children wakes this morning to a new reality - his wives, his children, and his explosives are all gone. I can't help but wonder what he mourns most.
..........................

Oh, and one more prayer - please take care of those Palestinian gunmen who are hiding themselves and their weapons in hospitals - especially in the maternity wards among the innocent newborns.Oh, wait - one other - please ask the Palestinians to choose between praying in a mosque and storing weapons there because, if they store weapons there, like the two we have already bombed, we are going to bomb those structures too. A House of God is not an arsenal and an arsenal cannot be a House of God.

She types this in between going to the bomb shelter. We can learn alot from her. Bookmark her. Learn what is really going on in this war. Learn from someone who had everything to lose....and still believes in the fight. She tells the story that isn't always told. Why are "civilians" killed? Because Hama chooses to use them as a shield. The intentionally do this.

Do I know this for sure? No. I'm not there. But Hamas is a terrorist organization. If there is anything I have learned in the last 6 years is that terrorists will do anything with any innocent person, including blowing up the handicapped and disabled with suicide vests to kill other innocents, and cutting off heads of civilians on videotape for the world to see.

So you can kinda see why I choose to believe this mother instead of them.

Random Christmas and New Years Pics

Top pic is me and my sis in law. Next is my oldest and me. Then my 16 yr old. Next is my neice and my oldest nephew's new wife. Sitting on the piano bench is my daughter and her boyfriend (aren't they adorable?). Next is me and my baby girl. Next is me with one of my nieces and a nephew in the background. Last is my girl and my baby boy Christmas morning.

Same goal, different tactics

The Green agenda is not about saving the earth, its about social engineering and putting money in their owm pockets. Since the nations who signed Kyoto are not living up to their obligations, its onto Plan B. As hilarious as these proposals are, a recent letter from James Hanson, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, reveals his real agenda in advocating global warming:

Acting either out of boldness or desperation, Hansen goes on to reveal the environmentalist left's deeper ambition: a collectivist redistribution of wealth. He recommends that the carbon tax be returned to the public in "equal shares on a per capita basis."

In other entertaining Global Warming news, Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic is set to become the figurehead of the EU. Mr Klaus is a Eurosceptic and dismisses Global Warming as a hoax.

"The European Union's new figurehead believes that climate change is a dangerous myth and has compared the union to a Communist state."

Note how the Times uses the term 'climate change' instead of Global Warming. Of course the climate is changing, the climate changes all the time. Klaus is skeptical of MANMADE GLOBAL WARMING caused by CO2, but by mischaractorizing what he thinks they can dismiss him without having to defend the indefensible.

Patty Ann Browne is the Shiznit, or something

Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive posts this compilation vid from Fox's Red Eye. Patty Ann Browne really is very attractive and quite funny. I watched it twice, and laughed so hard my dog came to see what was up.

There are some bleeped profanities. Its all in good fun.

Bush will be missed all too soon

Laura Bush, Steel Magnolia

Laura Bush is, imo, a personality and charactor all too rare in the spouses of Presidents. Honestly, she may be the finest First Lady in living memory.

A few links on Gaza

The Gaza Rules Vidctor Davis Hanson.
Proportionality. Intent. Culpability. Context. Victimization.
The world is a madhouse when clear distinctions cannot be made by supposedly rational adults. Hanson hits the nail on the head in this analysis.

Israel, Hamas, and moral Idiocy Christian Science Monitor
There is no moral equivilance here, folks.

Fight Fire with Cease-fire NYT
Speaking of moral idiots, I give you Exhibit A.

Israel Shakes Up the Information War Pajamas Media
Israel is trying to bypass traditional media which as noted above are moral idiots by using Twitter and You Tube.

Has Israel Learned Its Lesson? Boston Globe
Critical quote:

But it remains an open question whether Israel's leaders have learned the most critical lesson of all: that genocidal jihadists and other mortal foes cannot be wheedled, negotiated, bribed, or ignored into quietude. In a war with enemies like Hezbollah and Hamas and the PLO - enemies explicitly committed to Israel's destruction - goodwill gestures beget no goodwill, and peace processes do not lead to peace.

I do hope the current moderate gov't in Israel is not just trying to act tough for the election.

One of the most persistant foolish ideas floating about is that Israeli retaliation makes Hamas stronger. Sandy Tolan from CSM:

When the smoke finally drifts from Gaza, and the human rights investigations begin – into the death of schoolchildren in midday rocket attacks or the demolition of a women's dormitory – sober voices will ask why Israel has still not learned a fundamental lesson: By trying to crush your enemy, you only make him stronger

Poetic descriptions of collateral damage and the assumptions about 'human rights investigations' aside, her logic does not follow. Hamas is not made stronger by Israeli atacks. Hamas is made stronger by material support from Iran, financial support from the Arab world, the diversion of 'humanitarian aid' and charity to Hamas, smuggled weapons, and moral support from Europe and journalists.

The NYT's Pretense

The NYT presumes to lecture Catholics about the Ave Maria fund.

Ave Maria hews to a far narrower, unmistakably conservative Catholic outlook. A prime objective, explicitly promised, is not to subsidize sexual indecency. Scan its investor materials and you will not find companies like Playboy Enterprises or firms that donate to Planned Parenthood or bestow health benefits on same-sex couples.

But you will find United Technologies, which makes Blackhawk helicopters; General Dynamics, builder of Abrams battle tanks and the Stryker combat vehicle; the junk-food giant ConAgra; Exxon Mobil; Halliburton; and Smith & Wesson, one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world. (Here is a helpful Q. from Smith & Wesson’s “Investor FAQ” Web page: “Does Smith & Wesson still make the 44 Magnum used in the ‘Dirty Harry’ films? Yes, that gun is the Model 29.”)

Pray tell us, Editorial Board of the NYT, what is wrong with building Blackhawks or Abrams tanks? Junk food? Is there some Catholic dietary restriction on Fiddle Faddle of which I am not aware? How does Exxon Mobile's exploring for, drilling of, refining, and sale of oil violate Catholic principles? And DO tell us about Haliburton. I believe Jesus was upset with money changers in the temple, not government contractors. Perhaps its because they are not union. I do love the digression about the S&W 44 magnum. Guns are scary, no need to explain why they are bad, I suppose.

It seems to me that the NYT is projecting their own - imo, rather dubious - moral construct onto Catholics and expecting them to live up to it. Good luck with that. I expect Catholics understand their own moral code.

Happy New Year!

I will be out of town for a few days, but I am leaving this blog in the capable hands of BigDog.

I'll be checking in and maybe posting, since I have my new little laptop that Santa brought me.

If not, please behave!

Have a blessed New Year everyone!

Texas boots Planned Parenthood

In the midst of feeling like we pro-lifers are always fighting a losing battle, we get some good news now and again.

Planned Parenthood has been shut down in the Texas panhandle.

American Life League's (ALL) Stop Planned Parenthood, or Stopp International, says it took a long time, but their campaign against Planned Parenthood finally got some results. "For 12 years in the Texas panhandle, there has been a fight against Planned Parenthood," he notes. "Planned Parenthood, in 1997, operated 19 clinics in the Texas panhandle."

Then the state reduced funding for the organization, and pro-life workers also continued in their efforts to shut Planned Parenthood's doors. "And as of December 31, there will no longer be any Planned Parenthood offices in the Texas panhandle," Sedlak explains. "They will all be gone."

Planned Parenthood has always tried to wear a mask of "taking care of birth control needs of women," but it has always been first and foremost the owner and operator of the largest number of abortion clinics in the country, running a billion dollar industry that profits off the agony of women and the destruction of unborn children.

Good riddance. Good on Texas.

Isn't 650 million Dollars Enough?

I guess not. Obama is still asking for money.

Here is part of the e-mail David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager is sending out today:

Between now and January 8th, 10 supporters and their guests will be selected to join the Inaugural activities.

If you make a donation -- in any amount -- to make the Inauguration a success, you and a guest could be flown to Washington, D.C., put up in a hotel, and be there as Barack is sworn in as the 44th President.Make a donation of $5 or more right now. You and a guest could receive your ticket to history.

A lottery type of thing. Perfectly normal. Only....seriously, do they really need any more of American's money?

Blagojevich and Clinton

It looks like Blagojevich is going to name former Illinois Atty Roland Burris to Obama's senate seat. This despite the fact that Democratic Senate leaders have said they would not seat anyone appointed by Blagojevich.

Blagojevich reminds me a lot of Bill Clinton. The things that would make most of us crawl into a hole out of embarrassment and humiliation, just don't bother men like Clinton and Blagojevich. It's surreal really. They both acted as if they had done nothing wrong. Even after Clinton could no longer deny the affair with Monica because of the blue dress, you could tell that he was much more angry at Republicans than he ever thought of being at himself.

Both men are so full of themselves, so egocentric, they cannot understand why people are against them or how they could possibly be wrong.

So they continue on, as if nothing extraordinary has happened, as if they shouldn't be completely mortified, like a normal person would be.

Clinton lied under oath to a grand jury, obstructed justice during the grand jury investigation, and lied straight face to the American people on, TV, and never even considered stepping down, even after being impeached.

The same will happen with Blagojevich. He will not step down, he will not admit he was wrong, and he will continue on as if nothing happened. Appointing someone to Obama's seat is part of his job and he is just going to keep doing his job. The difference is that the Democrats aren't sticking by him, but that doesn't matter to egocentric people. They don't need validation of others, only themselves.

Update: I think this news conference of Blagojevich proves my point from above. Blogojevich just actually said, "Although I've enjoyed the limelight for the last several weeks, this is the Senator's day."

That's right. He said he has enjoyed the limelight. He has enjoyed being called corrupt, being accused of lacking any integrity, and having his words from his filthy mouth played over and over. He's enjoyed it. Good grief.

Hey! I got some carbon offsets I wanna sell ya, oh and a bridge in brooklyn too

I apologize to Grouchy Old Cripple for stealing most of his post. But I knew I couldn't improve upon his commentary.

I was perusing the web yesterday and I came across this which has allowed San Francisco to rush past Seattle to reclaim the title of Moonbat Capital of the world.

"Environmentally conscious travelers flying out of San Francisco International Airport will soon be able to assuage their guilt and minimize the impact of their air travel by buying certified carbon offsets at airport kiosks."

As P.T. Barnum once said, "There's a sucker born every minute."

"The experimental program, scheduled to start this spring, would make SFO the first airport in the nation - possibly the world - to offer fliers the opportunity to purchase carbon offsets."

I'm sure that as soon as Seattle and Portland hear about this they'll follow suit.

"We'd like people to stop and consider the impacts of flying," said Steve McDougal, executive vice president for 3Degrees, a San Francisco firm that sells renewable-energy and carbon-reduction investments and is teaming up with the airport and the city on the project. "Obviously, people need to fly sometimes. No one expects them to stop, but they should consider taking steps to reduce their impacts."

I'm wondering if Steve was able to say that with a straight face? Even worse, I wonder if Steve believes his own bullsh*t.

"San Francisco's Airport Commission has authorized the program, which will involve a $163,000 investment from SFO, but is still working out the details with 3Degrees. Because of that, McDougal said, he can't yet discuss specifics, such as the cost to purchase carbon offsets and what programs would benefit from travelers' purchases."

The scam has not been totally finalized yet. They still haven't made up all the bullsh*t.

"But the general idea, officials said, is that a traveler would approach a kiosk resembling the self-service check-in stations used by airlines, then punch in his or her destination. The computer would calculate the carbon footprint and the cost of an investment to offset the damage. The traveler could then swipe a credit card to help save the planet. Travelers would receive a printed receipt listing the projects benefiting from their environmental largesse."

Ain't that sweet? Stealing money from idiots. I thought they kicked out the religious dudes soliciting money at airports.

"The carbon offsets are not tax deductible, said Krista Canellakis, a 3Degrees spokeswoman."

Why not? I thought the Dimocrats wanted to save the planet.

"While the carbon offsets purchased at kiosks can't be seen or touched, they are an actual product with a specific environmental claim whose ownership is transferred at the time of purchase," she said.

Psssst. Wanna buy some Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock?

But wait! There's more!
..........................

"The cost of offsets for SFO travelers is still being negotiated, McDougal said,"

We gotta figger out how much the suckers are willing to pay.

"but figures on the company's Web-based "carbon calculator" suggest that a two-hour trip uses about 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per person, and the cost to offset that would be about $4. Offsetting a trip to Europe would cost $36."

A "carbon calculator". How scientific.

I think they should call it the "stupid calculator." I mean, that is what it is really measuring after all.

Gawker Rocks

I admit it. I have become a Gawker fan. I love it because they are equal opportunity bashers. It's doesn't matter if you are conservative or liberal, Hollywood, or regular folk, they will find something to hit you with and do it in a hilarious way.

Take for example this. The left is going ga ga over the film 'Milk' (a movie about California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk) because it's all teh gay, and Gawker tells us about a text message a Hollywood exec got from Micky Rourke saying that Sean Penn (the lead in Milk) is one of the most homophobic people he knows. Why does this not surprise me?

Then they have a piece on Christopher Hitchen's article slamming Rick Warren, but they deliciously describe Hitchen's perfectly as a "drunk crank," which is exactly what he is!

Then it gets even better! They list the top ten people who should be unemployed in 2009. #5 is "Wolf Blitzer and everyone else at CNN," which opines:

Wolf basically represents everything wrong with CNN. He just makes noises. Meaningless syllables. He fills up time, so much time, with these nonsense syllables, saying nothing, at all, ever. And CNN this year sucked. Anderson Cooper's show is ratings-grabbing fluff nonsense. The Magic Wall iPhone election map thing is stupid. The f**king holograms! Campbell Brown accepts no bullsh*t, stop bullsh*tting Campbell Brown. Oh, and they still let Lou Dobbs fear-monger every day for what seems like three hours of hate. Ugh. Go away, CNN.

Really. Go away.

No. Wait. It gets even better! This one is titled "Oprah Winfrey's Liar's Club," which hilariously chronicles the authors Oprah has had on her show who completely made up their non-fictional books. Gawker remarks, "But after awhile, we're forced to wonder if she's the victim or part of the problem." Well, duh. Part of the problem sweetie.

Ok, I was wrong. It. Gets. Even. Better. Than. That. They have been all over Caroline Kennedy for the rich elitest snob that she is. But "Caroline, No" puts it perfectly:

No more Senator Kennedys! (Or Senators Kennedy?) Ever again! Boo to dynasties and entitlement!

Yes, they bash Palin. But at least they bash Caroline just as much! Isn't that all we ask? Fairness in bashing?

Caroline's argument for receiving a free Senate seat is, you know, not much different from Michael Bloomberg's argument for remaining mayor of New York (or for running for mayor of New York in the first place): not a typical politician, beholden to nobody, allowed independence of thought and will through wealth and inexperience.
But dynasties suck, they are un-American and antidemocratic....

And if that couldn't have been written by Sean Hannity himself, there is this:

The gross entitlement is the absolute worst part of her bizarre and mismanaged campaign. Of course her competition for the title is a similarly dynastic Cuomo, but he has at least been elected to something, publicly. We understand and are sympathetic to the arguments against career political hacks, but encouraging the Senate to resemble the House of Lords even more is just about the worst impulse possible.

Now you see why I love Gawker.

Will Hollywood become pro-war?

There is nothing more I enjoy than seeing Hollywood trying to jam propaganda down down our throats, and then lose their shirts on anti-Iraq war movies.

Andrew Breitbart says it perfectly:

This was the year Hollywood finally realized that it couldn't sell an anti-Iraq war film. It also was the year the mainstream media discovered it couldn't report that the war on terror had failed.

Countless prime-time hours and untold acres of celluloid and newsprint were wasted demeaning the American mission. Yet, in the end, the heroic warriors destroyed their media adversaries by defeating our true enemies on the battlefield.

Except for the election of an antiwar candidate, 2008 was a great year for the pro-war side and only an economic meltdown could divert attention from this fact.

And even President-elect Barack Obama seems poised to disappoint the zealous anti-warriors who flamed his candidacy. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates could not have been the "change" Moveon.org believed in, just as soon-to-be Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton - who voted to authorize the Iraq war - isn't likely what filmmaker Michael Moore had in mind.

Obama has said that we will re-focus our commitment to Afghanistan, bolstering our troops to defeat the Taliban there.

Will this be a war the Democrats can get behind? Will Hollywood make pro-Afghanistan movies?

Don't count on it. But I do have a feeling they will be very very quiet about the whole thing.

The Hypocrisy of the Media

So what else is new? But sometimes you just have to point out the obvious.

Christmas day the Washington Post slobbered (metaphorically speaking) all over it's front page about Obama's workout:

"The sun glinted off chiseled pectorals sculpted during four weightlifting sessions each week, and a body toned by regular treadmill runs and basketball games."

Now, if that doesn't make you wanna puke in your cornflakes, I don't know what would.

The subtitle of the piece is "Gym Workouts Help Obama Carry the Weight of His Position." The WaPo just gushes about how wonderful it is that Obama stays in shape.

Flashback to Pres. Bush's workouts and how the WaPo described them.

Former Post writer Jonathan Chait famously attacked Bush three years ago in an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times headlined "The (over)exercise of power."

Recounting how President Bush ran 3.5 miles a day and preached more cross-training to a federal judge, Chait fumed: "Am I the only person who finds this disturbing? . . . What I mean is the fact that Bush has an obsession with exercise that borders on the creepy."

Chait argued that Bush's passionate devotion to exercise was a dereliction of duty. "Does the leader of the free world need to attain that level of physical achievement?" he jeered. "It's nice for Bush that he can take an hour or two out of every day to run, bike or pump iron. Unfortunately, most of us have more demanding jobs than he does."

Can you imagine any member of the Obamedia mocking the incoming gym-rat-in-chief this way?

The IBD editoral gives more examples of the press knocking Pres. Bush and his workouts but it comes down to this:

Fit Republican president = Selfish, indulgent, creepy fascist.

Fit Democratic president = Disciplined, health-conscious Adonis role model.

Media, thy name is hypocrisy. Which is why you are dying.

h/t BigDog

Christianity in Africa

In this article, an atheist from Africa concludes that Christianity is what is needed most in Africa:

Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

The author reminds us how academia in this country emphasizes that our Christian culture is equal to any other culture's beliefs. I know I was taught that in sociology class in college:

There's long been a fashion among Western academic sociologists for placing tribal value systems within a ring fence, beyond critiques founded in our own culture: “theirs” and therefore best for “them”; authentic and of intrinsically equal worth to ours.

The author doesn't buy it. He says the tribal belief in Africa suppresses individuality and "feeds into the "big man" and gangster politics...."

What the author is saying is basically that Christianity can transform a people into happier, better adjusted individuals, and therefore create a better society.

The incredible work of Christian missionaries all over the world is pretty much ignored by the mainstream media. But the work they do is transforming the world for the better.

h/t BigDog

"Human rights or national sovereignty?"

Here is an interesting article on the U.N.'s inner battle of what is more important, defending basic human rights or letting Governments have sovereignty over their own decisions in this matter.

As the author puts it:

a nation's right to non-meddling in its internal affairs by other countries, its sovereignty, versus the international community's responsibility to ensure human rights for all

It's obvious from the article that the author and most at the U.N. did not approve of the intervention in Iraq:

snarked the Russian permanent representative Vitaly Churkin in a security council meeting on Georgia. "And I would like to ask the distinguished representative of the United States: weapons of mass destruction – have you found them yet in Iraq or are you still looking for them?"

No, we haven't found them, but we did find mass graves of women and children killed by them. Guess that doesn't matter much to them. I'm thinking that if a dictator gassing, shooting, and torturing innocent people doesn't count as a "human rights" violation, I don't know what does.

But now that evil warmonger, George Bush is gone, I suppose the U.N. (who were very happy about Obama's win) can rest easy that the U.S. will not intervene again in a country's sovereignty.

Actually, not really.

The new US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, is on record saying she'd rather "go down in flames" than fail to do something about Darfur, so it seems clear that the Americans are still interventionists. So in the end, the question turns out to be whether Rice can convince the rest of the world that after Iraq, there is a difference between a neocon interventionist and a humanitarian one.

Yeah. Right. What's the difference exactly? Stopping the brutal killing of innocent people seems to be the same in Darfur as it was in Iraq. But the complaint has always been that we went into Iraq, a Muslim country, for it's oil. Ending the brutal dictatorship was just secondary. Yeah. Hmmmm..... Guess what? Going into Darfur would be the same thing. It's Muslim and Sudan has lots of the good black stuff too.

Doesn't look like the "change" the U.N. was hoping for, will come to pass.

CNN's Weatherman having some fun

It's really disturbing in so many ways that even if you are a mere weatherman for CNN, the gossip websites see you as enough of a celebrity to publish any juicy pics.

Rob Marciano had these pics published over at Dirt. But there isn't anything particularly salacious or even dirty about the pics at all. But Rob's friend made the mistake of trying to reason with dirtbags who make a living, or enjoy as a hobby, being the perpetual "mean girl" their entire life. Rob's friend's note is much more embarrassing than the pics.

Lesson learned. Don't wrestle in mud with a pig. You get all dirty and the pig likes it.

The New York Times is Pathetic

You may have seen posts regarding Caroline Kennedy's interview where she used "Ya know" about a dozen times in the course of a minute.

Gawker Magazine noticed:

Aspiring senator Caroline Kennedy might want to hire a vocal coach in addition to her PR help. Today's NYT headline reads "As a Candidate, Kennedy Is Eloquent but Elusive," but the accompanying audio clip says:
12.

As in, Kennedy says "you know" a dozen times in the 49-second "I'm a traditional Democrat" clip. We can't listen to two years of this! Caroline: every pause need not be filled with wordage, you know?

Only thing? It seems the NYT has changed it's headline since Gawker posted that. The headline no longer reads, "As a Candidate, Kennedy Is Eloquent but Elusive." It now reads, "As a Candidate, Kennedy Is Forceful but Elusive" I wonder if this post had anything to do with that? Heh.

Now that is a correction. I guess they couldn't say with a straight face that she is "eloquent." But they could have noted the correction.

I'm sure SNL will be all over it, right? Right.

*I wanted to add this. We are all aware of the modern Kennedy exploits, but did you know this about Caroline's grandfather? Good grief.

Say Goodbye to The Princess

I think Caroline Kennedy always held an "above the fray" type of persona. We all grew up seeing the pictures of her and her little brother, John, playing under Pres. Kennedy's desk. Her mother was the epitome of grace and lived a quiet life of class.

The tragedies of the family made all of us feel such sympathy for Caroline. First, the horror of her father's death will forever be etched in America's memory. Then the sad death of her mother. During all of this America was fascinated with her incredibly good looking brother John, who chose to start a magazine (which I subscribed to and really enjoyed) instead of seek public office. With neither Caroline or John involved in politics for themselves, they made it much easier for even us on the Republican side to like them. John was more like a movie star than anything else. The tabloids followed his every muscled move, and then there was his fairy tale wedding to his beautiful blond bride.

Caroline may have been in the background of her magnetic brother, but she was respected. Then that final tragedy of her brother's plane crash. It very well could have been written as a movie. Beautiful, rich, and privileged, the couple we had all loved to watch, was gone.

Caroline was the last survivor of her famous family, and she seemed to handle it with the grace that her mother taught her. She had devoted her life to being a wife, mother, and raising funds for the New York City public schools. No controversy. No real politics involved. She was still the princess of Camelot.

It's a shame that she had throw off that crown to publicly express a desire for the Senate seat left by Hillary Clinton. Now she is subject to what all politicians are subject to. It's that icky, mud slinging, power hungry politics that make us all sick. Caroline can no longer be "above the fray." She is now a part of the fray. I read at Gawker that Caroline had used her influence to make sure some exploits of her children as teenagers were not published. That will no longer be possible. Now we know her material wealth, how she hasn't always been a consistent voter, and some tabloids are hinting at an affair.

I'm thinking she will regret giving up her crown to lower herself into the dirty business of politics. Grace and class are not often seen in that business.

The princess we knew, is gone.

Republicans are not supposed to use satire??

Anderson Cooper of CNN titles his post "RNC chair candidate sends out controversial Obama song."

Why is is controversial to make fun of a liberal black columnist calling Obama "The magic negro?" It absolutely begs to be made fun of.

It all started with Time's columnist David Ehrenstein wrote a piece titled "Obama the 'Magic Negro" back in March of '07. (You will notice that Anderson doesn't bother to link that column, which would have taken all of 10 seconds to find, to make it clear where the song came from). Paul Shanklin (known of his parody songs) then recorded a parody song as satire directed at the Times that played on Rush Limbaugh's show.

To this day there are still leftwing bloggers who use that as example of Rush being a racist, thinking that Rush himself made up or approved of a song calling Obama "the magic negro" himself. Apparently never listening to the song which mentions the LA Times in the chorus several times.

I would think that the column itself would be what is controversial, not the song making fun of it.

But, that's liberals for ya.

The LA Times column reads in part:

The Magic Negro is a figure of postmodern folk culture, coined by snarky 20th century sociologists, to explain a cultural figure who emerged in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Education. "He has no past, he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist," reads the description on Wikipedia.

He's there to assuage white "guilt" (i.e., the minimal discomfort they feel) over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history, while replacing stereotypes of a dangerous, highly sexualized black man with a benign figure for whom interracial sexual congress holds no interest.

Ehrenstein ends with this:

Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him.

So, basically saying that Obama is non threatening, unlike most black men, without a past to be afraid of, he appears to help the white man say to himself that he can live with a black such as this.

Now that isn't controversial enough for Anderson to even link or mention that a liberal black wrote it, but the RNC chair sending out the song as the funny parody it is, is controversial.

Right.

Twas the day after Christmas

It was the day after Christmas and all was quiet in the house.

The kids were all spoiled with toys and videos lying by their beds

The mother was exhausted with wrapping and cooking

But being the dweeb that she is, she is still up blogging.


How was your Christmas? I am about to go run 4 miles to make up for the ridiculous amount eating I did. From hot chocolate stirred with chocolate/peppermint spoons to cakes, cookies, and even the vegetables are covered with things like bacon and cream.

I had a party Tues. night and I got party trays from Jason's Deli. I am telling you if you have one in your town, use them for parties. They make delicious food and even the fruit is fresh and yummy.

The funniest/weirdest thing to happen yesterday is that my son got a remote controlled VAMP. Here is what one looks like. It sorta looks like a bat, right? Anyway, so my son is flying it outside and out of nowhere swoops a hawk and grabs the VAMP right out of the sky and flies off with it!!! Can you believe it??! My son starts yelling and then runs in the house and everyone goes off in the neighborhood to find this stupid thieving hawk. No luck, but we had a good laugh.

I got an acer laptop. Tiny little thing. It's like 7 by 10 inces. I love it. I can carry it in my purse while traveling through airports.

But my favorite gifts are always those given by my kids when they are still young and they buy stuff themselves like at Walgreens. One year when my daughter was eight she gave me a little plastic angel. I just loved it and I Keep on my vanity. This year my youngest got me this little fishbowl with plastic fish that swim around somehow (magnetic or battery..something) I have it right here beside the computer. I've named them Reagan and Palin after my two favorite conservatives. Heh.

Hope your Christmas was wonderful!

Merry Christmas

Although I focus on politics on this blog, I think it is clear from my writing what my faith means to me, which is everything. I remember a friend in college thought the whole idea of Christianity was silly. A son of God born to a Virgin? To save us? To forgive our sins? Ridiculous. She told me to think about the "sense" of it. But I told her, it's about experience and love. It isn't just a belief, I explained, It's what I have known, experienced, and know to be true. It comes from a relationship based on the most profound love. Once you have felt the hand of God in yours, then faith is easy. And it literally changes everything.

My Christmas wish for everyone reading this is that you find that hand. It never lets go, it never disappoints, it never wavers. Even in your darkest moments, He brings us light. Life is hard. God's love is easy.

Merry Christmas my friends. Thanks for visiting this blog.

Home For Christmas

Sgt. Chris Burleson and his son Hunter enjoy a moment of joy during a welcome home ceremony at Camp Shelby, Miss., for returning troops of the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

3,200 of our bravest and brightest warriors came home from a yearlong deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I love it.

h/t BrickandClick

A Christmas Story

Because you know you love to read them. Just admit it. Tis the season.



Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his backyard in the snow. Bobby didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway, he didn't own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. And, try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift.

He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to spend."

Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far. What the family lacked in money and material things, they more than made up for in love and family unity.

Bobby had two older and one younger sister who ran the household in their mother's absence. All three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother. Somehow it just wasn't fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already and he had nothing. Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were.

It wasn't easy being six without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to. Bobby walked from shop to shop looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting off of something along the curb.

He reached down and discovered a shiny dime. Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment. As he held his new found treasure, a warmth spread throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement quickly turned cold when salesperson after salesperson told him that he could not buy anything with only a dime.

He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift.

The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten cent offering. Then, he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and said to him, "You just wait here and I'll see what I can do for you." Bobby waited, he looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers.

The sound of the door closing as the last customer left jolted Bobby back to reality. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid. Suddenly, the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before Bobby's eyes, lay twelve long-stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow.

Bobby's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white box. "That will be ten cents young man," the shop owner said, reaching out his hand for the dime. Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime. Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime!

Sensing the boy's reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like them?" This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true.

Walking out the door that the owner was holding for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas, son."

As he returned inside, the shop keepers wife walked out. "Who were you talking to back there and where are the roses you were fixing?"

Staring out the window, and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he replied, "A strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then, just a few minutes ago a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother with one small dime. When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years ago. I too was a poor boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten dollars. When I saw that little boy tonight, I knew who that voice was, and I put together a dozen of my very best roses."

The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn't feel cold at all.


Unknown.

Not Surprising

The Hill blog:

Last week, the website Change.gov — the official website of the Obama Transition Team — asked the public to provide them with a list of the top public policy questions facing America. Visitors to the site were then asked to vote on which questions should take priority for the incoming administration.

What was the number one priority for these Obama supporters? What was the top question about? Healthcare? The genocide in Darfur? The war?

Nope.

They would like to get high legally.

You gotta laugh (or you might cry).

Palin, Enlightened Redneck of The Year Award

Here. Good stuff.

A Family Legacy?

Looking at the two highly visible Senate appointments of New York (Hillary's seat) and Chicago (Obama's seat), illustrates how the Democrat machine works. If Democrats could pick and choose their winning candidate without benefit of the people's vote, this is what we would get. Caroline Kennedy or Andrew Cuomo for New York. Do the names sound familiar? Of course they do. They are Democratic royalty and the princess and the prince are fighting it out to get the Governor's attention.

The Caroline Kennedy scenario (which is almost sure to happen) is laughable because of the hysterical left insisting that Sarah Palin was not qualified to be Vice President. Now that one of their own is truly hardly qualified to be a Senator, they have nothing but praise for her. It's all about the star power bequeathed to Caroline and Andrew from their families.

As Victor Hanson perfectly points out:

Ms. Kennedy is about as undiverse as one could imagine. She was educated at exclusively private schools among those of her like race and class. Her financial security is due to either inheritance or marriage; there is no evidence of a self-employed stellar legal or business career. But there is plenty of evidence that Ms. Kennedy reflects the current Democratic Party’s obsession with celebrity and Hollywood-like imagery.

Yet someone like Palin, who came from a family much like you or I, completely middle class, is not considered good enough for the Democrats. Palin put herself through college because her family simply could not afford it. She proved her mettle and leadership qualities completely on her own all the way to being Governor of Alaska, and she is ridiculed by the Democrats. But someone like Caroline is held up as a standard of someone who can "fight" for the people. People whose lives she has never known or understood in her elite Democrat bubble.

The same can be said for the Chicago Senate seat (which is in limbo now obviously). But it easily could have gone to Jesse Jackson Jr. Another one who was bequeathed his star power. Hillary took her star power from her husband and we all can't wait for Chelsea's first run for office.

To be fair the same can be said of the Bush's. Bush got the star power from his Dad, as did Jeb.

But enough is enough. We aren't a Monarchy here. We don't have dynasties (or at least we shouldn't). These kind of leaders/politicians illustrate an incestuous political game that benefits only the families involved.

Enough with the Kennedy family, the Bush family, the Jackson family, the Clinton family, and the Cuomo Family.

There is nothing we can do about the New York appointment. But elections are about the voice of the people. Dynasties are not what America is about. It is about "we the people." It would do us well to remember that.

Christmas in Baghdad

Baghdad celebrates Christmas publically for the first time. You gotta love it.

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

The reporter says:

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

Even before I can ask Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul Karim Khalaf a question, he greets me with a big smile. "All Iraqis are Christian today!" he says.

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

Wow. Ok. That kinda rocks.

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

Father Saad Sirop Hanna, a Chaldean Christian priest, is here too. He was kidnapped by militants in 2006 and held for 28 days. He knows firsthand how difficult the lot of Christians in Iraq is but, he tells me, "We are just attesting that things are changing in Baghdad, slowly, but we hope that this change actually is real. We will wait for the future to tell us the truth about this."

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

He just returned from Rome. "I came back to Iraq because I believe that we can live here," he says. "I have so many [Muslim] friends and we are so happy they started to think about things from another point of view and we want to help them."

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

This is what it's all about to me. Living together in peace on this earth. Muslim and Christian.

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

We can do this. I just know we can.

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

via Newsbusters

Dying With Dignity?

I knew years ago, after fighting in the pro-life movement for unborn children, that one day we would legalize euthanasia. It was only a matter of time. Once a society has decided that certain life has value and certain life does not, then we slide down that slippery slope of determining who should die and rid us of the burden of their presence, and who shall be allowed to live.


From The Weekly Standard:


On December 5, Montana District judge Dorothy McCarter ruled in Baxter v. Montana that the state law banning assisted suicide violates not only the right to privacy guaranteed in the Montana constitution but also the constitutional clause that reads, "The dignity of the human being is inviolable." McCarter found here a "fundamental right" for the terminally ill to "die with dignity"--meaning in the case at hand, to commit suicide by drug overdose.

McCarter also ruled that doctors have a concomitant right to be free from "liability under the State's homicide statutes" if they help a patient commit death with dignity: "If the patient were to have no assistance from his doctor," she explained, "he may be forced to kill himself sooner .  .  . in a manner that violates his dignity and peace of mind, such as by gunshot or by otherwise unpleasant method, causing undue suffering to the patient and his family." That suicide is not a necessity apparently never entered the judge's mind.


Once again, as in Roe v. Wade, the courts are making these decisions and the people have no debate, no vote, and no say. I the same reaction has and will occur that occurred in 1973 with Roe v. Wade. The people uncomfortably ignore it. They shrug their shoulders and say to themselves, "The courts have spoken. There is nothing I can do."

Isn't assisted suicide really just a way to get rid of the unwanted and justify it by assuring ourselves that it was they, the suicide victim, who wanted it themselves?


Oregon already passed an euthanasia law 10 years ago with over 200 patients overdosing themselves with the supervision of a Doctor. Their law provided a 15 day waiting period. But the legal director for the assisted-suicide advocacy organization Compassion & Choice says the waiting period is "unduly burdensome." Does that sound familiar? It should. Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice groups have long fought the 24 hour waiting period for a woman considering abortion. What is it about these people that they don't even wish for a short time period that the patient think about the life ending/altering decision he or she is about to make?


How many times in my personal experience have I seen a woman coerced into abortion by the boyfriend, husband, or father? How many times will we see the same with the family of the elderly? Especially if an inheritance is involved or the care for the patient is costing too much money. Is there any way to truly monitor that? Of course not. It's a moral nightmare and we, as a society, just allow it.


People on the euthanasia side say that we must be allowed to die with dignity. A pro-longed death is not dignified. But can one honestly say that a suicide death has dignity? Many people have chosen that path without benefit of court approval. They overdose on drugs. Same path. Was that dignified? I don't think so. Does an Doctor administering or authorizing the final dose suddenly make it more dignified? No. It does not.

Because in reality, it's not really about dignity. It's about giving up. It's about fear. It's about being a burden. What does it say about us that allow people we love to feel that way? I've had close ones die of prolonged illnesses of cancer and Alzheimer's. Dying is hard, but then again, so is living. It's what do about it and how we love that makes the difference.

Dignity comes from loved ones comfort and help at the end. Dignity comes from a society that says we still care for you and you still matter in your illness. Would anyone want to die earlier than their natural death if the ones they loved were with them and wanted them here as long as possible?

It's not about the way we die. It's about the people we love that love us as we die. That is what gives us dignity.

Liberals are Stingy

What a shocker!

Years ago I was President of the PTA of the Catholic school my children attended. I had the power to decide what programs to implement and what to cut. It gave me a bit of an insight into Congress, but a really good insight into liberals. When you are the one deciding where money goes, suddenly you feel like the benevolent one. It's not your money, so giving generously is easy and feels quite good.

I have found that liberals see themselves as "compassionate" as long as they are fighting for the greater good with other people's money. I remember when they published what Al Gore gave to charity when he was Vice President and I just couldn't believe how much more my family gave. I'm sure he justified it to himself by thinking, "look at how much I do for environmental causes!"

As the NYT points out:

Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, “Who Really Cares,” cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an even greater disproportion: average annual contributions reported by conservatives were almost double those of liberals.

This doesn't surprise me. Liberals tend to think that the mere act of voting for someone who claims to help the poor is the equivalent of giving. Where conservatives actually see helping the poor themselves as the way to go.

It's not just in financial ways that conservatives are more generous:

Conservatives also appear to be more generous than liberals in nonfinancial ways. People in red states are considerably more likely to volunteer for good causes, and conservatives give blood more often. If liberals and moderates gave blood as often as conservatives, Mr. Brooks said, the American blood supply would increase by 45 percent.

Isn't it interesting is the truth is so far from the perception?

h/t BigDog

Rewriting the Narrative of Detainee Abuse

The Corner reports:

Republicans on the Senate Armed Service Committee, hitting back at Levin over the supposedly bipartisan Committee report on detainee treatment and the impression it has created.

The impression created by Sen. Carl Levin and the media by the 'Executive Summary of the Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody' is that the administration's policy intentionally approved of illegal treatment of detainees. This has been the left and the media's narrative all along and it's nice to see Republicans step up to the plate and correct that narrative.

The statement from U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, James Inhofe, R-OK, Jeff Sessions, R-AL, John Cornyn, R-TX, John Thune, R-SD, and Mel Martinez, R-FL, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee says in part: (emphasis mine)

Throughout our history, even in the gravest of circumstances, the United States has embodied the ideals of individual freedom and liberty. This nation adheres to the principle that all detainees in U.S. custody must be treated humanely and in accordance with applicable law. The fallacious assertion, made in recent newspaper editorials and other media outlets, that illegal treatment of detainees was an intentional or necessary result of administration policy is irresponsible and only serves to aid the propaganda and recruitment efforts of extremists dedicated to the murder of innocents and the destruction of our way of life.

I would hope that at least a few Democrats would also see the harm to America by promoting a false impression that our government intentionally approved of illegal treatment of detainees. But no, it is more important to them to denigrate this Republican President than to care about lies that promote American hate around the world.

This is not to deny that there were isolated incidents of illegal treatment. There were. But those committing those offenses were caught and punished. (emphasis mine)

The latest inquiry into detainee treatment by the Senate Armed Services Committee breaks little new ground – merely reiterating the findings of at least 12 previous independent investigations, which reported that certain isolated and limited incidents of detainee abuse occurred in the handling of detainees in U.S. custody. The implication, however, that this abuse was the direct, necessary, or foreseeable result of policy decisions made by senior administration officials is false and without merit. It is counter-productive and potentially dangerous to our men and women in uniform to insinuate that illegal treatment of detainees resulted from official U.S. government policies.

Read the entire statement here.

As The Wall Street Journal reports:

Not one of the 12 nonpartisan investigations in recent years concluded that the Administration condoned or tolerated detainee abuse, while multiple courts martial have punished real offenders. None of the dozen or so Abu Ghraib trials and investigations have implicated higher ups...

Did you get that? Not one of the investigations concluded that Bush or higher ups approved or tolerated detainee abuse. The left loves to blather on and on about how Pres.Bush has hurt America's reputation in the world, when it is they themselves that promote false narratives that fuel the hate for America and it's President. The ridicule and hate that the left has fosted upon Pres. Bush these last eight years has given those around the world an excuse to hate us. The left has always promoted any movie, news story, or false impression that humilated or denigrated our President, not to mention our military. And when those tatics worked, and many in the world did come to hate us, they think they can just blame Bush and ignore the fact that it was they themselves that brought this hate upon all of America.

Robopoliticians

I'm sure you have seen Blagojevich's press conference by now. What an actor. Seriously. He should have gone for the stage. I wonder how many hours he practiced that speech. Just the right tone. Just the right inflection.
It was a brilliant performance.

It reminded me of when Clinton shook his finger at the American people and declared, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." So emphatic. So sincere.

Are they good actors or just amoral sociopaths with no conscience? Both men seemed to have no sense of shame.

When he quoted the Rudyard Kipling poem, I seriously thought I might throw up.

We have got to stop electing these shiny, articulate, robopoliticians. It just has to stop.

The Holiday Buzz Tree

This my daughter's best friend. I think it perfectly illustrates the Holidays at College. Heh.

Brief and to the point.

That's how I like it.

The President of Americans For Tax Reform sent this letter to Pres. Bush regarding the Bailout.

I would say, "LOVE IT," but that would be too wordy.

Facebook Jihadists

That's right. They want to invade facebook. I figure we can "poke" them until they run screaming from the computer.

Online jihadists have already used YouTube, blogs and other social media to spread their propaganda. Now, a group of internet Islamic extremists is putting together a plan for "invading Facebook."

"We can use Facebook to fight the media," notes a recent posting on the extremist al-Faloja forum, translated by Jihadica.com. "We can post media on Facebook that shows the Crusader losses."

"We have already had great success in raiding YouTube," the poster adds. "American politicians have used Facebook to get votes, like the house slave Obama."

I just laugh they are now calling Obama a "house slave." Yeah, being the leader of the free world, with all the power that includes, and hundreds at your beck and call and yet you are still a "house slave." Could these people be any more moronic?

The al-Faloja poster suggests seven "brigades" work together within Facebook. One will distribute videos and writing of so-called "martyrs." Another will spread military training material. Most of them will work in Arabic, presumably. But one of the units will focus just on spread English-language propaganda through Facebook.

Ugh.

He Will Be Our President Too

Paul at Powerline reminds all of us on the right side to remember not to treat Obama the way the left treated Bush. Unlike many on the left, we will see Obama as OUR President too, because although we don't agree with him, he will be the leader of the free world. That means some stupid band can't go overseas and bash him on foreign soil. That's right, I'll get mad about that too, even it is about Obama. That means we won't want a moronic movie made distorting his words and denigrating him while he is in office. We won't give terrorists talking points to repeat on tapes given to news agencies.

Here are some excerpts:

Pray that President Obama achieves greatness in office. Our overriding concern must always be the country we love, not the success of a party or an ideology.

Be loyal in your opposition. As my blog partner Scott Johnson puts it, paraphrasing Steven Decatur: "May he always be in the right; but our president, right or wrong."

Don't hate.

Don't obsess.

Read the rest. Good advice. Because we don't want to fall into the same pit of hell the left did with Bush, always being critical and crude, never giving credit where credit is due, and spreading lies just to create a negative narrative.

Naturally Obama will do things we don't like. Our criticisms should be on issue and never personal. If he does things we like (like some of his appointments so far) then we need to give credit there.

It reminds me of what my 11 yr old said to me after Obama was elected. Every night we include Pres. Bush in our prayers. He asked me if we were going to include Obama when he became President. I said, of course! I told him we need to pray that Obama will do the right things. Keep in mind that my son thinks that Obama's stance on abortion is so unacceptable he can't comprehend how we could elected someone that doesn't understand the gift of life. How we could have elected someone who thinks it's ok to destroy unborn children. My son sees it in the most simple terms. Other issues can't really be explained to him. He also wouldn't care about them much. But babies he can relate to.

Anyway, I could see him wrestle with this thought of praying for Obama. I told him that Christ asked us to love even those who hate us, even our enemies. He said, "you are right. We will pray for him. Do you think we could just say, 'God bless our President?' and leave off his actual name? God will know who we are talking about after all. I just feel good when we pray and his name might depress me."

I had to laugh.

But it's true. An Obama Presidency might depress us, but we still need to stand strong on our principles, and we can do that without over the top rhetoric and mean ugly criticisms. We can pray for the best for our country.

h/t dave bones