More Evidence...

of Saddam and terrorism connections: (emphasis mine)

"Among the documents released last week was a translation of a three-page Iraqi Intelligence memo regarding a wave of attacks to be conducted by the Saddam Fedayeen.... The undated document was apparently prepared in response to orders given on May 5, 1999.
According to those orders, the Fedayeen Saddam was "to start planning from now on to perform special operations (assassinations/bombings) for the centers and the traitor symbols in the fields of (London/Iran/self-ruled areas) and for coordination with the Intelligence service to secure deliveries, accommodations, and target guidance." The execution of the plan would take place in several steps. After the IIS selected 50 "fedayeen martyrs," they were to receive training at an IIS school. Those who passed the tests would be assigned targets. "The first ten will work in the European field (London). The second ten will be working in the Iranian field. The third will be working in the self-ruled field."

It would have been nice to have all this information coming out recently about 2 yrs ago. It would have saved us a lot of yakking and arguing about it, that's for sure.

Maybe now Great Britain won't be so mad at Tony Blair.

via Ace

Black Thoughts.

I watched another episode of FX's "Black/White. I also read some quotes from the participants after the show in People magazine. It was an interesting look at misconceptions that each race has about the other. I thought the most interesting thing was the difference in the attitudes of the kids. The kids really didn't seem that interested in exploring all aspects of race. The black kid said he didn't really see a problem. His mother was mad at him for letting white kids get away with using the "N" word while he was made up to be a white kid. He said it didn't bother him. I don't think my generation gets it that the young people today don't see epithets has bad. (which is too bad)

I'm just going to put my general view of things out there. I read a saying recently about why you should never tell your problems to people. It said 80% don't care and 20% are glad you have them. It made me think that that is just about the way I see white people's reaction to black concerns. 80% don't care and 20% are glad they have them. In other words I don't think white people see much of a problem because of all the gains made in the last 30 years and the laws that have been passed. And there is the small portion that is simply racist.

Let's be honest. The only reason Democrats make such a big deal out of black concerns is for the votes. Period. The Democrats are as much of a good ole boy white party as the Republicans are and that is the simple truth.

The one person that I think has a real handle on white/black issues is someone you might be surprised at my mentioning. Dave Chappelle. That's right, the comedian. Let me say upfront that I don't like the cussing, the vulgarity, and the use of the "N" word in his comedy, but so much of it is hilarious because there is so much truth to it.

I watched his interview with "Inside The Actor's Studio" and I was blown away with his insight into black/white differences. We laugh at the things we either know to be true or we know to be what people think are true. If you get a chance to see that interview on BRAVO, watch it. He really has profound and true things to say. He also portrays how damaging "fame" is and why he had to walk away from it last year.

Today some people use race for political reasons and that is the main problem. What it really comes to down to just getting to know one another. It doesn't matter if we have different styles or different ways of looking at things. We are all human. We all enjoy laughter, food, good music, and love. There are differences in general in everyone who grows up in a certain culture or even a certain town. Kids who grow up in New Jersey have a different way of talking than kids growing up in Mississippi. They have different tastes in foods and clothes. It is the same way with those raised in black neighborhoods and those raised in white neighborhoods. Differences are what make us interesting to each other.

Politically there are those who make a living off continuing to harp on black victimization like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and those just making a living doing excellent work like Condi Rice and Colin Powell.

After all that I saw and experienced growing up during the civil rights movement in Mississisippi, I can say without a doubt that everything has changed for the better for blacks. There is about as level a playing field as there is ever going to be. That is not to say that there still isn't racism. There will always be racism. You can't have a perfect society.

But we can have a better one. Let's just keep working on having a better one.

V is for Very Stupid Part II

Ace has this from the author of the book "V is for Vendetta" (The new hollywood movie): (emphasis Ace's)

"V for Vendetta" was specifically about things like fascism and anarchy.

Those words, "fascism" and "anarchy," occur nowhere in the film. It's been turned into a Bush-era parable by people too timid to set a political satire in their own country. In my original story there had been a limited nuclear war, which had isolated Britain, caused a lot of chaos and a collapse of government, and a fascist totalitarian dictatorship had sprung up. Now, in the film, you've got a sinister group of right-wing figures — not fascists, but you know that they're bad guys — and what they have done is manufactured a bio-terror weapon in secret, so that they can fake a massive terrorist incident to get everybody on their side, so that they can pursue their right-wing agenda. It's a thwarted and frustrated and perhaps largely impotent American liberal fantasy of someone with American liberal values [standing up] against a state run by neo-conservatives — which is not what "V for Vendetta" was about. It was about fascism, it was about anarchy, it was about [England]. The intent of the film is nothing like the intent of the book as I wrote it. And if the Wachowski brothers had felt moved to protest the way things were going in America, then wouldn't it have been more direct to do what I'd done and set a risky political narrative sometime in the near future that was obviously talking about the things going on today?"

When is Hollywood going to stop trying to preach their idiotic political agenda by pretending to make "thoughtful films?" We get it. Ok. We get it. You hate President Bush. You (wrongly) think conservatives want to take away civil liberties, create a theocracy, kill all the gays, and that the war is all about oil. WE GOT THE MESSAGE.

Luckily, no one is buying it.

Now, can we get back to some good family entertainment?

Here's a tip for Politicians.

Don't ever let a teenage relative go on T.V. (Scroll down a bit to the Pierce Bush interview)

The Elephant in The Bedroom.

Ten (and a half) reasons why Republicans—yes, Republicans—are the best party in bed.

Funny. Naughty, but funny.

via commenter at Ace's.

Does The Media Want Us To Lose The War?

I was reading this e-mail from a soldier in Iraq to Hugh Hewitt. Here is it in part:

"As it currently stands, the MSM is not telling the whole truth and actually siding with the enemy on occasion. They'll jump at the chance to report completely unsubstantiated claims by Iraqis of killings or theft or abuse that simply isn't credible when you know even the first thing about the American "militry" (as Ware calls it). They give the ruthless killers the benefit of the doubt every time, just to spread more nonsense about us.

Most soldiers don't follow the news back home, and it's a good thing,
because it would make them sick to know how they're being portrayed in the media. But I must be a bit of a masochist, because I can't seem to get enough. And it certainly takes a toll when you read time and time again in the NYT about things you know to be untrue or misrepresented.

The media wants us to lose, and they're doing their damndest to see it happen. But I have faith that the American people are too smart to fall for that trick twice."

I understand his frustration with the media, but I am not convinced that they want us to lose. I think they just don't believe in this war, so they are just more apt to report things badly because that is the way they see it.

I also think that there is some elitism involved here. Many in the media see themselves as above it all. I think they view our soldiers as being young and ignorant. I don't think they, in general, understand anything about passion or committment for our country. They are taught in journalism school to be skeptical. While that is a good thing to be in journalism, it shouldn't keep one from trying to be objective and report the good along with the bad.

I also think that this generation of reporters, taught by liberal professors, only remember Vietnam and the disaster that it was. They only see WWI and WWII as some far away historical event. War to them is bad. Always bad. When one is taught that all things are equal and someone's wrong may be another man's right, why would you ever see a need to fight for anything?

And finally, Their dislike for Bush is so intense that it colors their reporting whether they mean for it to or not. They realize that if Iraq goes well in any sense, then Bush will be remembered as a great President who bravely fought the war on terrorism. I don't think they can abide by that.

So I don't think they want us to lose, but they don't want us to win either.

It's about time.

ABC News has this:

March 23, 2006 — Over the last 24 hours, ABC News has been reading hundreds of messages sent in by viewers in response to President Bush's claim that the media are undermining support for war in Iraq.

Viewer opinions ran the gamut, but the vast majority believed the media were biased in their Iraq coverage.

I have to give ABC some credit in actually thinking of asking people if they feel the media is undermining the war. Maybe this will wake them up to why Fox News is so popular. The American people want both sides of a story, not just the one the media sees as the right one.

The message board is still open if you want to chime in.

Oh, did we forget to say "thank you?"

The Peace Activists saved by our boys yesterday had this addenda posted at 9pm EST last night by the radical left-wing Christian Peacemakers Team:

Addenda 23 March 2006, 9 p.m. ET

We have been so overwhelmed and overjoyed to have Jim, Harmeet and Norman freed, that we have not adequately thanked the people involved with freeing them, nor remembered those still in captivity. So we offer these paragraphs as the first of several addenda:
We are grateful to the soldiers who risked their lives to free Jim, Norman and Harmeet.

Not adequately thanked the people involved? You're damn right you haven't.

via Michelle

Blogging From Iran.

Stumbled onto this interesting blog written by a woman living in Iran. They just left for vacation. She had this to say:

"Hoo ha! On our first vacation in a long, long time. The flight from Iran was uneventful. By the end of our flight, not one woman was wearing a headscarf."

I can only imagine the relief to take that oppressive piece of material off.

Anyway, look through the blog. It's a glimpse into a country that I am sure I will never get to see.

via Harry's Place

ABCNews: Russian Ambassador Gave US War Plan and Order of Battle To Saddam

As Ace says: Yes, "more diplomacy" really could have gotten the Russians on board, right?

Caption Contest!

Haven't had one for a while. Go for it!

Liberal Elitism part 984

No finer example of liberal elitism can be found than reading the transcript from HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" with Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen debating Richard Beltzer.

Beltzer believes that our soldiers are all stupid and uninformed. He knows everything of course, because he reads 20 newspapers a day. Ros-Lehtinen does gives him a bit of smackdown though.

It really must get chilly up there on Mount I'm smarter than everyone else.

Why the MSM is never objective.

Drudge has an e-mail sent by ABC News exective saying:

"Are you watching this? Bush makes me sick. If he uses "mixed messages" one more time, I'm gonna puke."

Does anyone seriously believe that a person like this can make sure the news is reported in an objective fashion? I know this doesn't surprise anyone, but at least it verifies everything rightwing bloggers say about the MSM.

ABC News says the producer is "mortified."

Yeah. He should be.

Could political infighting....

get any weirder?

Double Standard Alert!

Regarding a bill passed in December by the House that would make unlawful presence by illegal aliens in the United States currently a civil offense, into a felony, Hillary Clinton had this to say:

"It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures," Clinton said, "because this bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself."

Imagine for a moment Rick Santorum saying something to that effect about any issue. Why is it that liberal Democrats can yak about Jesus and no one bats an eye, but when a conservative does then we are on our way to theocracy?

Well, I know the answer, do you?

The anti-war movement. Classy as always.

A slew of celebrities gathered in NYC Monday night for an anti-war benefit concert titled "Bring 'Em Home Now!" Cindy Sheehan and Susan Sarandon (soon to be playing Cindy in a bio-pic) took the stage, as did the ever classy Margaret Cho. Go here and scroll down for a look at a few of Cho's classier jokes. Moveon.org cultural director sings with Moby. And Peaches has a special song about the war. Read the title.

I want my lefty commenters to take a good look. These are the guys on your side. They even booed a Vet who was speaking against the war.

Update: Karol from Alarming News was at the concert.

Just what we need...

Paris Hilton and her sister Nicky are reportedly set to make a cartoon about their lives. Right. That's what our little girls need to watch, a cartoon based on slutty rich girls.

via Pink is the New Blog.

Talk show host fired....

after accidently referencing Condi Rice with the word "coon."

Referring to Condi taking the NFL Commissioner's job, The host said:

"She's been chancellor of Stanford. She's got the patent resume of somebody that has serious skill. She loves football. She's African-American, which would kind of be a big coon. A big coon. Oh my God. I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that."

This is ridiculous. He obvious liked Rice and was bragging on her. He meant to say "coup." They said what he did was "unforgivable." Excuse me? One can't have a slip of the tongue? He did not mean to say the word. It's like saying sh*t when you are trying to say ship.

Poor guy. Another victim of Political Correctness gone wild.

via Radio Equalizer

A Saddam/Bin Laden connection???

The liberal's heads may explode.

ABC News has this: (emphasis mine)

"Osama Bin Laden Contact With Iraq"

"A newly released pre-war Iraqi document indicates that an official representative of Saddam Hussein's government met with Osama bin Laden in Sudan on February 19, 1995 after approval by Saddam Hussein. Bin Laden asked that Iraq broadcast the lectures of Suleiman al Ouda, a radical Saudi preacher, and suggested "carrying out joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia. According to the document, Saddam's presidency was informed of the details of the meeting on March 4, 1995 and Saddam agreed to dedicate a program for them on the radio. The document states that further "development of the relationship and cooperation between the two parties to be left according to what's open (in the future) based on dialogue and agreement on other ways of cooperation." The Sudanese were informed about the agreement to dedicate the program on the radio.

The report then states that "Saudi opposition figure" bin Laden had to leave Sudan in July 1996 after it was accused of harboring terrorists. It says information indicated he was in Afghanistan. "The relationship with him is still through the Sudanese. We're currently working on activating this relationship through a new channel in light of his current location," it states.

(Editor's Note: This document is handwritten and has no official seal. Although contacts between bin Laden and the Iraqis have been reported in the 9/11 Commission report and elsewhere, (e.g. the 9/11 report states "Bin Ladn himself met with a senior Iraqi intelligence officer in Khartoum in late 1994 or early 1995) this document indicates the contacts were approved personally by Saddam Hussein.

It also indicates the discussions were substantive, in particular that bin Laden was proposing an operational relationship, and that the Iraqis were, at a minimum, interested in exploring a potential relationship and prepared to show good faith by broadcasting the speeches of al Ouda, the radical cleric who was also a bin Laden mentor.

The document does not establish that the two parties did in fact enter into an operational relationship. Given that the document claims bin Laden was proposing to the Iraqis that they conduct "joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia, it is interesting to note that eight months after the meeting — on November 13, 1995 — terrorists attacked Saudi National Guard Headquarters in Riyadh, killing 5 U.S. military advisors. The militants later confessed on Saudi TV to having been trained by Osama bin Laden.)

"Osama bin Laden and the Taliban"

Document dated Sept. 15, 2001

An Iraqi intelligence service document saying that their Afghani informant, who's only identified by a number, told them that the Afghani Consul Ahmed Dahastani claimed the following in front of him:

That OBL and the Taliban are in contact with Iraq and that a group of Taliban and bin Laden group members visited Iraq. That the U.S. has proof the Iraqi government and "bin Laden's group" agreed to cooperate to attack targets inside America. That in case the Taliban and bin Laden's group turn out to be involved in "these destructive operations," the U.S. may strike Iraq and Afghanistan. That the Afghani consul heard about the issue of Iraq's relationship with "bin Laden's group" while he was in Iran."


Like I have said before, we could find WMD's buried beneath one of Saddam's mansions with a note from Saddam to Bin Laden and the left would still figure out a way to say it was planted by Karl Rove. Nothing will ever convince them that Bush was right. Bush always said that he didn't want a monster like Saddam ready to give terrorists what they needed to hurt us. Perhaps Bush didn't even know how close Saddam came.

via Ace

This is how weird I am..

I sit and watch C-span for over an hour while it was showing New Orlean's people lined up at a mike to complain to Mayor Nagin and some sort of "Bring Back New Orleans" commission. From what I gathered Nagin has told them that in certain sections of the city they can only rebuild "at their own risk." In other words they would not have city services for many years. No policemen, no emergency services and the like. As you can imagine, people were not happy. They were giving people 3 minutes each to say their piece.

There were a few with well stated speeches regarding the Army Corp of Engineers and the rebuilding of the city, but the ones that really got to me where the elderly. Many were wondering about some personal problem they were having with their insurance company or regarding bills and such. I said out loud, "I could never be on a city council because I would want to solve every single person's problem that came to us." Another relative (who shall remain nameless) said, " I was just thinking that I could never be on a city council because I would call them all idiots." (Am I too nice?)

When I hear from an elderly person about a problem like this I always wonder where are their children or grandchildren? Why don't we take care of our own anymore? When I was serving Meals On Wheels I had so many homes where I knew the children lived close by. I wondered why they couldn't be bothered to fix their parents lunches and put them in the refrigerator. But I would tell myself that there could be many reasons.

My heart just went out to the elderly women who didn't seem to have anywhere else to turn but a stupid townhall meeting with a bunch of bureaucrats who would no more remember her problem than her name.

Anyway, New Orleans is such a mess. And it doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon. One priest reminded Nagin about his statement regarding God being mad at New Orleans and then read the paper where it said that one knew New Orleans was coming back because the famous strip clubs had re-opened. He wondered if this was how Nagin wanted New Orleans to come back.

Now I don't know if Nagin really believed that God was mad at the city, (I certainly don't) but if he did, then one would think that the Priest might have given him something to think about. But money talks. It always does. And right now all New Orleans has is the French Quarter and the tourism dollars. I wish there were more money to be made making jazz music than stripping, but I'm afraid that isn't the case.