Krotchety Kegler

At least Barney never shot Andy's dog

2005-06-03T11:28:00.000-04:00

Richland County Sheriff's Deputy Ricky Sirois has been fired after shooting Sheriff Leon Lott's dog.

Barney Fife apparently had nothing on this guy.

(HT: Brad Warthen)

Note to Senator Graham

2005-05-24T00:14:00.000-04:00

Senator Graham,
You were holding a straight flush, and you just folded.

And I think that Thomas Ravenel will make a great Senator in 2009.

(HT to K.Lo at The Corner for the Ravenel link.)

Sen Lautenberg ought to be keeping quiet on this

2005-05-20T12:33:00.000-04:00

I found this quote from Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) on breaking the filibusters on judicial nomiations:

"In ["Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith."], the leader of the Senate breaks the rules to give himself and his supporters more power. As millions of Americans go to see this film this week and in the weeks ahead, I sincerely hope it doesn't mirror actions taken in the Senate of the United States."

For Senator Lautenberg to complain about rule breaking is rank hypocrisy. The only reason he is even in the Senate is because New Jersey Democrats broke the law to get him on the ballot in 2002, with the blessings of the liberal activist judges on the New Jersey Supreme Court, who declared that 51 days doesn't really mean 51 days if you are a Democrat.

The "Social Insecurity" "calculator"

2005-04-14T22:04:00.000-04:00

Back in February, I blogged about the bogus "Social Insecurity" "calculator" that Senate Democrats are using to try to scare people away from supporting President Bush's Social Security reform proposals. Now, FactCheck.org agrees, and explains much more exhaustively than I could.

That "calculator", and its popularity among Senate Democrats, once again demonstrate that the facts are not on their side, and that they have no qualms at all about using dishonesty to try to gain favor with the public. Also, the level of dishonesty routinely used by Democrat politicians and their rabid supporters is an insult to the intelligence of the American people.

(HT: Power Line)

Harry Reid says "Stop the partisan power grab"

2005-04-09T21:54:00.000-04:00

And that is exactly what I hope the GOP majority in the Senate does, Senator Reid. Because it is the Democrats who are attempting a "partisan power grab". For the 109th Congress, the citizens of the United States have, through elections, granted 55% of the seats in the Senate to the GOP. According to the Constitution, it only requires 50% of the Senate plus one to confirm judges, but the Democrats want to use their 45% (let's just go ahead and call Senator Jeffords a Democrat) to stop nominations. It is clear who is attempting to grab more power than they have been granted.

Senator Frist, use the Constitutional option. It is the constitutional duty of the Senate to vote up or down on these nominees, and it is your responsibility to see that those votes occur.

Hugh Hewitt wants you to contact your GOP Senators

2005-04-07T15:14:00.000-04:00

Hugh Hewitt is requesting letters to GOP Senators supporting doing what is necessary to get President Bush's judicial nominees to the floor of the Senate for a full vote. Here is the text of the letter I sent to my Senators:

Dear Senator [DeMint/Graham],
I just wanted to let you know that I fully support any efforts that would be required to allow President Bush's judicial nominees to have a floor vote by the full Senate, up to and including the constitutional option, if it becomes necessary. I believe that the recent Schiavo episode more clearly than ever illustrates the need to confirm judges that respect and follow the Constitution. America needs judges who recognize that lawmaking is the bailiwick of the legislature, not the judiciary.
The hyperlink below will take you to the blog entry I made last August 26, entitled "Jim DeMint for Senate", where I enumerated the most important reasons I supported [Senator DeMint's] election. You will note that the topmost reason was to increase the Republican majority in the Senate in order to facilitate the confirmation of the president's judicial nominees.
Here is the link.

In a recent public debate with Justice Scalia, Justice Breyer actually defended citing decisions by courts in Jamaica and Zimbabwe, of all places, to support his official opinions in the Supreme Court. Also, a recent majority opinion penned by Justice Kennedy indicated that he believes it is the job of the courts to discern the "evolving national concensus" on issues before them. Justice Kennedy has apparently forgotten that the national concensus is indicated by the voters in whom they elect to represent them in Congress.

The judiciary is out of control in this country. America is on the road to becoming a "kritarchy", or a nation ruled by judges. Please do what is necessary to reverse this trend and restore the balance of power envisioned by the founding fathers.

Who did receive that "GOP talking points" memo?

2005-03-30T15:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my wife, daughter and I attended the ribbon cutting and open house at Senator Jim DeMint's new office in Columbia, SC. I had an opportunity to speak to Senator DeMint for a couple of minutes, and I took that opportunity to ask him about ABC's so-called "GOP talking points memo" supposedly distributed to Republican Senators on the Senate floor.

John Hinderaker of Power Line wrote this about that memo in The Daily Standard:

Every Republican who has been asked about the memo has denied knowing anything about it.

Well, add Senator DeMint to that list. He told me that he never saw any talking points memo concerning the Schiavo case. He also pointed out that it wouldn't have been needed, since the bill was going to be passed by unanimous consent.

Mr. Hinderaker's title of "Fake but Accurate, Again?" seems more and more apropos every day.

A Leftist Expedition into Flyover Country

2005-03-30T14:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Hugh Hewitt posted a link to this Boston Globe article about an evangelical Ohio family, and asked for explanations as to why this was newsworthy. Here is the response I sent him:

Hugh,
I wanted to respond to you about this story because it hit
close to home, literally. I, like you, am an expatriate
Buckeye. I lived in Mason, Ohio from my birth in 1962 until
1983.

One thing I found somewhat strange about the article is its
comments about the political leanings of Mason and Warren
County, amidst a story about a family who attends church
there, but lives, and presumably votes, in neighboring West
Chester, which is in Butler County.

I suspect that The Globe found the Wilkersons at their
church, which may very possibly also be Ashley Faulkner's
church. (This could be why they picked that location.) The
church lies about halfway between Ashley's home and her (and
my) high school.

Mason has grown considerably since I left 22 years ago. When
my parents brought me home from the hospital, I was the
newest of ~4000 residents. I believe that the population now
is closer to 23,000. Although I no longer live there, I do
visit frequently. There are quite a few neighborhoods full
of quite large houses, but there are also a lot of older
neighborhoods with smaller houses, like the one my parents
shared for 44 years, and that my mother still lives in. (My
Dad passed away last year, and is buried about a mile away
from both churches.)

Mason, which is situated in a "cradle" formed by interstates
I-71, I-75, and I-275, is ideally located to attract the
upper middle class folks who occupy those larger houses.
That is why I find it believeable that the mediam income
could be $81,000, as the article mentioned. It wasn't always
that way, though, and I can say without doubt that Mason was
conservative long before it became affluent.

An anecdote: Last year in early May I stopped at a gas
station on Tylersville Road, very near the Voice of America
Park, where President Bush held the rally that attracted
about 55,000 people (about 2 miles from Mom's house). Inside
the station, there was quite a bit of political
paraphernalia for sale, and all of it for Bush - nothing for
Kerry. This made me smile with pride for my hometown.

It seems to me that The Globe is trying to portray the area
as being the home of a large number of fundamentalist
Christians. I do believe that there are a lot of church
going people there, but no more than would be typical for
any similar small mid-American city. As a member of the
military, I have spent time living in Illinois, Virginia,
and Florida, and after leaving the military I settled in
South Carolina. Of all the places I have lived, I would have
to say that SC is more religious than the others, but not
markedly so. Mason does not stand out in this regard.

I think that the article is just another example of a
"liberal northeastern expedition into the uncharted depths
of the benighted flyover country". Will the liberal elite
never realize that it is they who are out of touch with most
of America?

Mike Dayton
former Mason resident
current resident of Gilbert, SC

P.S. As for Skyline Chili (and Goldstar, for that matter),
it is heaven on Earth. What I wouldn't give right now for a
4-way and a couple of cheese coneys!

Judge Greer rebuffs Gov. Bush

2005-03-24T15:04:00.000-05:00

No surprise that Judge George Greer has rejected Governeor Jeb Bush's request to allow Florida's Department of Children and Families to take custody of Terri Schiavo. The judge refused to even look at any new evidence about Mrs. Schiavo's medical condition. After all, he already has the opinion he apparently wants from Michael Schiavo's expert, Dr. Ronald Cranford. The fact that several dozen other neurologists, including a Nobel nominee, have disputed Dr. Cranford's diagnosis, carries no weight with Judge Greer.

It is well known that, for the right amount of money, an expert can be found to testify to almost anything you want. If the first expert you approach doesn't give you what you want, keep looking. Eventually you can find one who will say what you want.

The fact that Judge Greer relies only on the testimony of Dr. Cranford, a well known right-to-die advocate, and refuses to acknowledge that Dr. Cranford could be wrong and dozens of neurologists who disagree could be right, shows that Judge Greer has an agenda of his own.

The bottom line is that the barbaric murder of Terri Schiavo continues unabated, and most likely will be seen through to its end.

One of the most disturbing aspects of this case is the fact that the judge has not only prohibited any further feeding by artificial means, he also has prohibited any attempts to feed and hydrate Mrs. Schiavo naturally. Mrs. Schiavo has not had a swallowing test performed sine 1993, but she does not drool. She swallows her own saliva without choking so it seems to me that the possibility exists that she could swallow water and liquified food as well. Florida law makes it a felony to withhold food and nutrition from a disabled adult. Since Judge Greer has prohibited any attempt to feed Terri Schiavo orally, I believe that he should be arrested and charged under that statute, and if Judge Greer's actions result in Terri Schiavo's death, Judge Greer should be charged with murder.

Sleep apnea can be deadly

2005-03-24T10:38:00.000-05:00

I found these two articles about sleep apnea via Google News today. Both articles refer to a study of 112 Minnesota residents who died suddenly from cardiac causes. The study found that those who suffered from sleep apnea (repeated short episodes of stoppage of breathing during sleep) were twice as likely to die from cardiac arrest during sleep, while those who did not were more likely to have died during the first few hours after awakening.

This hits close to home for me, as I just got off the phone with the clinic that will be fitting me with my CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, which is the common treatment for sleep apnea. I spoke to my family doctor about sleep apnea in January, and he referred me to a respiratory specialist, who ordered a sleep study for me. The sleep study, which took place at the beginning of March, confirmed my need for a CPAP.

This excerpt from the Globe and Mail article (Canada's national newspaper) makes me glad I live in the US:

[Jeffrey Lipsitz, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Centre of Metropolitan Toronto] said a diagnosis of sleep apnea requires a sleep study and, in some parts of [Canada], the wait list stretches up to four years for the test.

"You may die on a waiting list," Dr. Lipsitz said. (Emphasis mine.)

Take note that the Canadian health care system is what Hillary Clinton wanted to emulate back in 1993. So, under Hillary's socialized, government run health care system, I would be getting my CPAP machine in about 3 years and 10 months, rather than next week.

Democrats - the party of death

2005-03-19T14:32:00.000-05:00

I am astounded that anyone could possibly support starving anyone to death, as is now happening to Terri Schiavo. Democrats have become the party that supports killing unborn babies and disabled people, but there is no doubt that they will be the ones protesting when Jessica Lunsford's abductor and killer, John Couey, gets the needle. To reiteate, they support a ghastly, barbaric, lingering, painful murder of an innocent disabled woman, but support sparing the life of a rapist and murderer of children, or failing that, a quick, painless death.

Congress needs to come back into session immediately, and pass a law against starving anyone to death. It is that simple. What is happening to Terri Schiavo right now is no better than the barbaric executions that used to take place in medieval times. It is not something that should be allowed to happen to anyone in the 21st century.

Finally, everyone ought to read this article.

Caller ID spoofing

2005-03-09T12:59:00.000-05:00

The Fox News Channel reported this morning on the latest high tech threat to personal security - caller ID spoofing. There is now a website where anyone can perpetrate this type of fraud for a nominal fee. I did a Google search and found the following articles:

securityfocus.com
publicradio.org
prweb.com

and finally, this article about a Bill Clinton of North Little Rock, AR (unrelated to the former president), who has been harrassed by an as yet unknown person. This person went so far as to call the North Little Rock police while spoofing Clinton's phone number into the caller ID, and claim that he was about to shoot someone. The police raced to Clinton's home, only to find out what had really happened.

According to Fox News' report, this activity is as yet still legal, if only because Congress cannot keep up with technology. The bottom line is, now you can't even trust your caller ID any more.

Jayson Blair had nothing on Dan Rather

2005-03-08T10:56:00.000-05:00

Power Line points to a Philip Chalk column that shows that Dan Ra^ther was prevaricating as early as 1963. Chalk writes about a 1963 Dan Ra^ther report that claimed that children at Dallas's University Park Elementary School had cheered when told of the President Kennedy's death, when in fact, the children had only been told that school was dismissing early that day. The children knew nothing of Kennedy's death at the time.

Eddie Barker, the news director for CBS's radio and TV affiliates in Dallas at the time, says that Ra^ther knew the story wasn't true at the time, but aired it anyway.

Shame on CBS for not firing him then.

Anti-Americanism as a Monty Python Skit

2005-03-04T08:56:00.000-05:00

In today's Times of London, Gerard Baker invokes Monty Python to characterize anti-American sentiment in the world today:

ONE OF MY favourite cinematic moments is the scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian when Reg, aka John Cleese, the leader of the People’s Front of Judea, is trying to whip up anti-Roman sentiment among his team of slightly hesitant commandos.

“What have the Romans ever done for us?” he asks.

“Well, there’s the aqueduct,” somebody says, thoughtfully. “The sanitation,” says another. “Public order,” offers a third. Reg reluctantly acknowledges that there may have been a couple of benefits. But then steadily, and with increasing enthusiasm, his men reel off a litany of the good things the Romans have wrought with their occupation of the Holy Land.

By the time they’re finished they’re not so sure about the whole insurgency idea after all and an exasperated Reg tries to rally them: “All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?”

And today's version of that exchange:

Confronted with this awkward turn of events, Reg’s angry successors are asking their cohorts: “What have the Americans ever done for us?” “Well, they did get rid of the Taleban in Afghanistan. ’Orrible bunch, they were.”

“All right, the Taleban, I grant you.”

“Then there was Iraq. Knocked off one of the nastiest dictators who ever lived and gave the whole nation a chance to pick its own rulers.”

“Yeah, all right. Fair enough. I didn’t like Saddam.”

“Libya gave up its nuclear weapons.”

“And then there’s Syria. Thousands of people on the streets of Lebanon. Syrians look like they’re pulling out.”

“I just heard Egypt’s going to hold free presidential elections for the first time. And Saudi Arabia just held elections too.”

“The Palestinians and the Israelis are talking again and they say there’s a real chance of peace this time.”

“All right, all right. But apart from liberating 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan, undermining dictatorships throughout the Arab world, spreading freedom and self-determination in the broader Middle East and moving the Palestinians and the Israelis towards a real chance of ending their centuries-long war, what have the Americans ever done for us?”

Baker points out that one cannot claim that America's actions in the Middle East are the sole cause of the current outbreak of freedom, but asks if the outbreak could ever have happened without American intervention.

It is an excellent column. Read the whole thing.

Happy Blogiversary Krotchety Kegler!

2005-03-03T16:01:00.000-05:00

Today marks one year since my first post on this blog.

Fake Indian Sells Fake Art

2005-02-27T01:28:00.000-05:00

How fitting.

UPDATE: LGF points to a ra^thergate style overlay.

Lawyers and Doctors and blogs

2005-02-26T20:24:00.000-05:00

Hugh Hewitt points to a new blog by a gastroenterologist. So Many Lawyers, So Little Time focusses on malpractice litigation from a doctor's point of view. So far it seems to be well worth reading.

I read his blog with a sympathetic eye, because I believe that malpractice litigation is by far the primary reason we desperately need tort reform. When I see price increases and benefit cuts in my employer's health plan, I get aggravated. (A year ago, I got about a 4% raise, but my take home pay actually went down a few dollars due to price increases in the health plan.) When I read about competent doctors paying $150,000 per year for malpractice insurance, I get more aggravated. When I read about costly unnecessary tests and procedures that are undertaken merely because the climate today forces doctors to act defensively to avoid any potential lawsuit, I get more aggravated. When I read about communities where women cannot get proper prenatal care, because all of the OB/GYN's have left town, unable to stay in business because of malpractice insurance rates, I get even more aggravated, and generally blame greedy lawyers for all of this.

This is not to disparage all lawyers. A year of reading Hewitt, Reynolds, Hinderaker, Johnson and Mirengoff has made me think twice before telling lawyer jokes, but there are real snakes out there, too. (Can you say, "John Edwards"?)

The recent enactment of the Class Action Fairness Act, along with its lopsided votes in the House (279-149) and the Senate (72-26) makes me hopeful, but I think that the need for malpractice tort reform is much more urgent than that. Without reform, we will inevitably wind up with socialized medicine as an end result.

A final thought: When people start dying for lack of availability of proper health care, can they sue all of the malpractice lawyers who drove away all of the doctors?

Key lieutenant to Zarqawi captured in Baghdad

2005-02-25T15:22:00.000-05:00

From Fox News:

Abu Qutaybah, who was captured during a Feb. 20 raid in Anah, about 160 miles northwest of Baghdad, "was responsible for determining who, when and how terrorist network leaders would meet with al-Zarqawi," the government said.

He "filled the role of key lieutenant for the Zarqawi network, arranging safe houses and transportation as well as passing packages and funds to al-Zarqawi," the government said. "His extensive contacts and operational ability throughout western Iraq made him a critical figure in the Zarqawi network."

I hope they reap a lot of intelligence from him toward finding Zarqawi himself.

Terri's reprieve extended to March 18

2005-02-25T15:11:00.000-05:00

Just heard on Fox News that the stay preventing Michael Schiavo from removing Terri's feeding tube has been extended to March 18. Details to follow.

UPDATE: Blogs for Terri Has received the same news by cell phone from the Schindler family.

New Kyoto counters

2005-02-24T13:58:00.000-05:00

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Check out the new Kyoto Protocol counters over on the right. JunkScience.com has posted these counters to illiustrate the high cost and low efficacy of the protocol. (Terms of use of the counters are included in the html code on the site. They're free, with a requirement for attribution and linking.) As of this posting, the protocol has cost over $3.5 billion while achieving a warming savings of less than 37 millionths of a degree Celcius. What a deal!

Would be Bush assassin attended private Saudi high school

2005-02-24T07:35:00.000-05:00

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Fox News is reporting that would be assassin Ahmed Omar Abu Ali attended a private Islamic high school, funded by the Saudis, in Virginia.

From the Fox & Friends site:

...the man who prosecutors say conspired to assassinate President Bush attended a Saudi government-funded high school in Virginia.

I just heard this on XM radio Fox News channel in the car this morning. I am still looking for more online. Will link if I find it.

This is from CBS "News":

...the defendant was the valedictorian of his religious school class in Virginia...

So CBS knows that Ali attended a religious school. Odds are that they know that the religion involved is Islam, but they apparently didn't see fit to include this detail in their report.

We need to know exactly what is being taught at this school. Are they teaching Wahabbism?

UPDATE: The Jawa Report blogged this story two days ago, and has many details and links.

Remembering heroes

2005-02-23T10:38:00.000-05:00

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Today is the 60th anniversary of the battle at Iwo Jima, where 7000 US Marines, including three of the men pictured above, lost their lives. Please take a moment today to honor these heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our great nation.

To learn more about the six men in the above photo, I highly recommend this excellent book:

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Petition for President Bush to intervene on Terri Schiavo's behalf

2005-02-22T15:03:00.000-05:00

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The Sunnye Side is asking everyone to sign this petition for President Bush to intervene in the Schiavo case and save Terri's life. Please do so, and ask as many people as you can to do so as well.

Terri Schiavo won't be murdered today

2005-02-22T14:37:00.000-05:00

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An emergency stay of the court order for removal of Terri's food and water has been granted, but only until 5pm tomorrow. Just heard it on CNN Headline News, will link as soon as I find one.

UPDATE: BlogsforTerri says they got this news in an e-mail from Terri's family.

Legacy media links: Reuters, Sierra Times

Catblogging, Dogblogging, why not both?

2005-02-21T23:55:00.000-05:00

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Shhhhh! Jitterbug and Cat, sleeping together.

Save Terri Schiavo

2005-02-21T14:45:00.000-05:00

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And Rightly So has a rather graphic description of the murder that is about to be perpetrated upon Terri Schiavo if her husband gets his way. If this horrifies you, call Governor Bush of Florida and implore him to prevent it. Here is the contact info for him, Tom Lee (President of the Florida Senate), and Allan Bense (Speaker of the House):

Jeb Bush, Governor
(850) 488-4441
jeb.bush@myflorida.com

Tom Lee, Senate President
(850) 487-5072
lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov

Allan G. Bense, Speaker
(850) 488-1450
speaker@myfloridahouse.gov

There is much more info at Pro-Life Blogs and BlogsforTerri

Time is running out! Save Terri Now!

Is this the NYT editorial board?

2005-02-21T10:39:00.000-05:00

- I just saw this banner ad at www.reuters.com:

I cropped it down to a size I like much better:

Social Insecurity? That's what we have now, Sen. Schumer

2005-02-18T19:39:00.000-05:00

- Senator Schumer and the Democrats are resorting to scare tactics again, trying to scare every worker away from reforming Social Security, using a "Social Insecurity" calculator to show how much you will lose under Bush's reform plan. (I have to say that the "calculator" will show you how much you will lose, because it is rigged to give a negative result no matter what numbers you put in.)

Ok, where do I start. First, the baseline they use is what is promised under the current system. Well, Senator Schumer, if we could count on that money actually being there, we wouldn't have a problem, would we. But the money won't be there, for me at least. (And it certainly won't be there for my kids, although they will most definitely pay into the system.) I will reach my Social Security retirement age in 2029. Problem is, the system will run out of surplusses a decade before that. So where will my Social Security money come from? The "trust fund"? The trust fund consists of government bonds. Some of these bonds will need to be redeemed for me to get my "promised" benefit. And where will the money come from to redeem these bonds? Higher taxes or deficit spending by the government. Will that happen? Give me a break.

Second, the "calculator" assumes that the money invested in personal accounts will grow by only 3% over inflation. There is no way to change this very conservative assumption on the page. Most of the decent 401K calculators I have seen would let you change this assumption. And given the time frame I would have (25 years before drawing out the money), any worthwhile financial advisor would tell me to invest more aggressively than that, mostly in stocks. Democrats like Schumer call stocks "risky", using the negative connotations of that word for their scare value, but in the sense the word "risk" is used by financial experts, with a time frame of 25 years, higher risk generally means higher reward. The real danger to me would be investing too conservatively, thereby limiting my potential upside.

Finally, Schumer and the Democrats totally ignore the fact that the personal accounts will be inheritable. And so far, I have not heard them offer any alternatives.

Senator Schumer, your little "calculator" has failed to scare me. You and your Democrat colleagues seem to be advocating doing nothing. And that is what really scares me.

UPDATE: Thomas Sowell, who knows much, much more than I do about economics, published this column last month. It is a strong argument for taking ownership of retirement funds away from the government and giving it back to the individuals who earned it. It is a must read.

Condi as VP?

2005-02-18T19:20:00.000-05:00

- Dr. Jack Wheeler cites an anonymous Congressional Committee chairman who says that the rumor circulating on the Hill is that by the end of next year, Vice President Cheney will step down for health reasons, and will be replaced by Condoleezza Rice. What to make of this? I don't know.

Bush signs class action reform bill

2005-02-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

- President Bush has signed the Class Action Fairness Act, after it was passed by the House yesterday, 279-149. 50 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote yea, while the lone dissenting Republican was John Doolittle (CA 4th).

Thank you Mr. President, and thanks also to the Congress for passsing this. Can we pass medical liability reform next, please?

(HT: Blogs for Bush)

Post grad student kicked out of school for diverging from the orthodoxy

2005-02-17T16:23:00.000-05:00

- Joefish links to a story about how post graduate student Scott McConnell has been kicked out of the Masters of Science for Teachers program at LeMoyne College of Syracuse, NY for diverging from the school's orthodoxy. His offense? A paper he wrote for one of his classes advocated:

"strong discipline and hard work" in the classroom and an environment that allows "corporal punishment."

BTW, the paper received an A-, Mr. McConnell received an A for that class, and his GPA at the time was 3.78.

Former SecNav says Kerry dishonorably discharged

2004-11-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

I just got this email from Dr. Jack Wheeler of To the Point News:

A TO THE POINT HEADS-UP

I had a conversation with Bill Middendorf earlier today. Bill was the Secretary of the Navy from April 1974 to January 1978. I got to know Bill well when he was Ronald Reagan\'s Ambassador to the OAS and we worked together on support for the Contras.

Bill has agreed to publicly state that to the best of his knowledge and recollection, John Kerry was dishonorably discharged from the military and fought to have this reversed while he (Bill)was SECNAV, which Bill of course refused to do. When Carter became president, Kerry secured the honorable discharge from Bill\'s successor.

The OTH (Other Than Honorable)discharge story has been out for a while, but for a former Secretary of the Navy to confirm it is major news. WorldNetDaily will be headlining it, as should the Washington Times tomorrow, and possibly Drudge. For some reason, Drudge, whom Jerry Corsi (coauthor of Unfit for Command) just talked to a few minutes! ago, is resisting. I also gave the story to Neal Cavuto at Fox.

I thought all TTPers should get a heads-up on this.

Jack Wheeler

To The Point - The Oasis for Rational Conservatives. www.tothepointnews.com

Tabby arrives safely in USA

2004-10-23T01:48:00.000-04:00

Chief Wiggles has been working his tail off to bring Tabby, a young Iraqi girl, to the United States for life saving surgery. (Follow the above links for the background on this wonderful story.) Tabby arrived late Friday in the USA, and I have pictures.

Why is everyone looking at me?

UPDATE: To keep it from taking forever to load this page, I have moved the rest of the pictures here.

UPDATE II: Chief Wiggles and Plunge are now hosting the photos on their server.

Tabby and her father are looking forward to an extended stay in the US while Tabby undergoes treatment. A local hotel has generously donated a room for as long as they need it, but there are other needs, such as food, clothing, diapers, formula, etc. Please go to Operation Give and send a few bucks to the Chief to help out.

South Carolina SAT average

2004-08-31T22:36:00.000-04:00

WIS TV reports on the average SAT score for South Carolina:

The average score on the college entrance exam in South Carolina was 986 this year. That's down three points from last year and well below the national average of 1026 points.

The decrease again gave South Carolina the lowest scores in the nation. (My emphasis)

And who is in charge of the schools that produced this dismal result? Democratic US Senate candidate Inez Tenenbaum.

With this kind of job performance, why does Mrs. Tenenbaum think she deserves a promotion?

South Carolina voters, please don't grant her this promotion. Vote Jim DeMint for US Senate.

Atrios defines"smear", gives example

2004-08-30T22:09:00.000-04:00

I just screen captured the following image of Atrios' top two blogads:

The first ad gives us a definition for "smear".

The second ad gives a prime example.

Hypocrite.

And in response to the DNC ad - The truth is never a "smear".

Detroit News on the Bush tax cuts

2004-08-29T17:47:00.000-04:00

This chart from the Detroit News shows two things:

1. Everyone who pays taxes got a tax cut.

2. The overall tax burden shifted toward the top quintile of income earners.

Click the image to read the article.

Power Line hammers Star Tribune's Jim Boyd

2004-08-28T23:01:00.000-04:00

The August 29 Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul is carrying side-by-side opposing columns, one by Power Line bloggers John H. Hinderaker and Scott W. Johnson, and the other by Star Tribune editor Jim Boyd. The Hinderaker/Johnson column is a response to an earlier Boyd column, which itself was a response to an August 18 Hinderaker/Johnson column which debunked John Kerry's excellent Cambodian adventures. Power Line has the text of both current columns here. It is well worth the time to read and contrast both columns.

Hinderaker and Johnson point out in their column that Boyd did not dispute any of the facts presented in their 18 August piece, but merely labelled that piece as a "smear". Boyd's most recent column continues in this pattern. For example:

I see the recent commentary by John H. Hinderaker and Scott W. Johnson ("Unwrapping Kerry's story of Christmas in Cambodia," Aug. 18) as part of that smear. It did not meet what I believe should be the standards of the Star Tribune's editorial pages. (Is this codespeak for "does not support John Kerry"? - Ed.)Such pieces should not appear here, and that one does so for the second time in 10 days pains me greatly.

Boyd continues with:

We have a responsibility to separate legitimate political opinion -- and the latitude is great -- from deliberate smear.

Here Boyd seems to be saying that the fine gentlemen at Power Line do not express "legitimate political opinion". What would be the basis for a claim like that, Mr. Boyd? Could it be that Hinderaker and Johnson are merely bloggers, not paid professional journalists like yourself? That would be rather elitist of you.

After this, Boyd meanders away from the topic at hand, and uses a large portion of his space to attack recent columns by former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz and Senator Norm Coleman. Then he follows with this:

I could do extensive line-by-line analysis [of the Hinderaker/Johnson column], but I will not. It would take space I do not have.

Rather a cheap dodge, especially since it immediately follows the space used to attack Boschwitz and Coleman.

Next, Boyd tries to put the "burden of proof" about Kerry's excellent Cambodian adventures on Hinderaker and Johnson:

The top of their piece is devoted to negatives: No record of this, no record of that, etc. This proves nothing. There generally are no public records of clandestine activities. The burden of proof here is on Hinderaker and Johnson, not on Kerry and not on me.

Sorry, Mr. Boyd, but you are just wrong about this. The Cambodia claims are Kerry's, and thus so is the burden of proof. You ought to know that proving the negative is nearly always impossible. If you believe that Hinderaker and Johnson need to "prove" that Kerry did not go to Cambodia, then I have a challenge for you: On one particular summer day in 1988 (I think it was August, but I am not sure, because the memory is not "seared" into me), the ship I was serving on, the USS Elmer Montgomery (FF-1082) dropped anchor near the coast of Oman so that I could join a number of my crewmates on a swimming outing on the beach. Here's the challenge - there is one aspect of this story that is false, and it is up to you, Mr. Boyd, to prove the falsity of that aspect. I will even tell you what part is false - I did not swim that day (my duty section was on duty). Now you prove that I did not. Ridiculous, huh? Well, so is your claim that Hinderaker and Johnson bear the burden of proving that Kerry did not enter Cambodia.

Finally, after libelling Hinderaker and Johnson for 1½ columns, Boyd writes this:

I have now read his biography and a number of other things, and I believe there is ample evidence that he was at least very near Cambodia on Christmas Eve 1968...

So, Mr. Boyd, are you finally conceding the point that Kerry did not actually enter Cambodia? Or are you missing the point entirely? Kerry's whole Cambodia tale was meant to illustrate his epiphany about the US government being willing to break the law (send troops into Cambodia) and then lie to the American people about it. The problem with your claim is that it was not illegal for Kerry to be "very near" Cambodia, and that if he didn't actually enter Cambodia, his tale about his epiphany falls flat. If he didn't enter Cambodia, the government did not break the law, and it had nothing to lie about, and Kerry had nothing left to base his claim about his sudden disillusionment with the government on.

I think it is a good thing that the Star Tribune is publishing these two columns side by side. That way, readers can compare and contrast the two, and can see who actually is expressing "legitimate political opinion", and who is actually smearing whom.

The Real Dream Team

2004-08-27T23:17:00.000-04:00

The US men's Olympic basketball team lost again today, and can now do no better than the bronze medal. Actually, I'm kinda glad. Can we now stop calling these NBA prima donnas the "Dream Team"?

In my opinion, the real Dream Team of this Olympiad is the US Women's Softball team. In spite of the fact that Coach Mike Candrea's wife fell dead from a brain aneurysm less than a month before the games, he and his phenomenal athletes absolutely dominated the rest of the field in Athens. They achieved a nine game sweep, while outscoring their opponents 51-1.

(Note: I actually typed the above comments before linking to www.usasoftball.com, where I found the graphic below, depicting the next Sports Illustrated cover.)

Obviously, the editors at Sports Illustrated are highly intelligent and perceptive. Congratulations to the team that SI is calling the greatest of all time (subscription required).

More slanted reporting from the MSM

2004-08-27T15:27:00.000-04:00

This Associated Press article about Max Cleland's visit to Crawford was published in The State (Columbia, SC) in print and on line. The print version carried this sub-headline:

"Democrats send ex-Senator to Bush to protest Kerry ads, but he's turned away".

But the body of the article claims:

Texas state official and Vietnam veteran Jerry Patterson said the Bush campaign asked him to travel to the ranch, welcome Cleland and accept his letter to Bush.

“I tried to accept that letter and he would not give it to me,” said Patterson. “He kept rolling away from me. He’s quite mobile.”

Gee, I thought headlines were supposed to indicate what the article was about, not the opposite.

The article also said:

Patterson, who spoke with the president by phone, said the campaign asked him to give Cleland a letter for Kerry written by the campaign and signed by Patterson and seven other veterans.

The article failed to mention that Cleland refused to accept the letter from Patterson.

I am really getting tired of being lied to by the MSM.

Propaganda from Madison

2004-08-27T13:39:00.000-04:00

Google News linked to this column by Dave Zweifel in The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin. Some excerpts:

Al Franken is going to have to add another chapter to his book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them."

The chapter, of course, would recount the outright falsehoods that the self-described "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" have perpetrated upon this election campaign.

The lies are being exposed daily. Not only are Vietnam veterans stepping forward to express their outrage, but newspapers ranging from the likes of the New York Times to the Chicago Tribune have debunked the claims by conducting extensive interviews and examining the inconsistencies in the statements by the veterans themselves.

If the allegations from the Swifties are lies, as Mr. Zweifel claims, then why is Kerry retracting some of his earlier statements, such as his Christmas in Cambodia tale, and his contention that he was wounded by enemy fire on Dec. 2, 1968? Also, how could the Swifties second ad be a lie, when most of it consists of Kerry's own recorded testimony? Finally, Mr. Zweifel must not read NY Times articles in their entirety, or he would know that the "paper of record" has actually confirmed the verity of some of the Swifties' claims.

The New York Times last week connected the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to none other than Karl Rove, Bush's chief political aide...

Yes, and I personally am under the control of the Bush campaign as well, and here is the proof: my wife's mother's brother's granddaughter is the "girl from the University of Texas" whom George H. W. Bush wanted to see when he met the US Women's Olympic Softball Team in Athens. So, obviously, I am intimately connected to the Bush campaign and under their control.

Some theorize that the real reason these Vietnam vets are doing this is to get even for Kerry's vehement anti-Vietnam War rhetoric after he got out of the Navy and led the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. They claim that he insinuated that the U.S. military was killing babies and women and committing other atrocities. (Emphasis mine.)

The line above in bold exposes Mr. Zweifel's own lack of integrity. Mr. Zweifel, when one is speaking under oath before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one is not "insinuating". It is called testifying.

Kerry's "God's Honest Truth"

2004-08-27T12:13:00.000-04:00

Power Line has posted an excerpt from a Kerry speech in Minnesota, that contains this line:

I am absolutely telling you the God's honest truth with regard to what happened over there [in Vietnam].

I couldn't begin to count the number of times I, as a child, tried that line on my mother. It never worked.

Jim DeMint for Senate

2004-08-26T18:29:00.000-04:00

I have just added a link that you can use to donate to Jim DeMint's campaign for election to the United States Senate from South Carolina. (Note: I have done this voluntarily, and have not accepted any payment from the DeMint campaign.)

Here are the reasons I have done so:

1. Democrat filibusters on confirmation of federal judges. The US Constitution dictates that federal judges appointed by the President must be confirmed by a simple majority of the Senate. In other words, the framers of the Constitution indicated that in order for a federal judge to be seated, that judge must be approved by at least half of the Senate plus one. Quite a few judges who have been appointed by President Bush to federal circuit courts would meet this requirement, but Democrats in the Senate are using Senate filibuster rules to increase that requirement to 60% of the Senate. They are blocking these apointments because they believe that the judges disagree with them on certain political issues, such as abortion. Democrats like Ted Kennedy decide whether or not to support a particular appointee not based on that person's honesty, integrity, fairness, and ability, but on whether or not that person agrees with him on political issues. In fact, Kennedy has gone so far as to delay the confirmation of one judge in an attempt to influence the outcome of a particular case before the court, at the behest of a group that has supported his reelection campaigns financially.

Seems to me that the Constitution of the United States ought to supercede Senate parliamentary rules. We need to increase the Republican majority in the Senate so that Senate Democrats will be unable to skirt the Constitution. Fritz Hollings has finally decided to retire (Hallelujah, and it's about time!), and we in South Carolina have a tremendous opportunity to replace an old Democrat embarrassment with a capable Republican who will support the President's judicial nominees.

2. Tort reform. I got a decent raise at the beginning of this year, but my take home pay actually went down. How did this happen? The increased cost of my family's health insurance more than made up for the raise I got.

The cost of medical care is being driven up by greedy trial lawyers like John Edwards, who use the threat of lawsuits to extort huge sums of money from doctors and their insurance companies. The cost of defending against these lawsuits is so prohibitive that insurance companies often settle just to avoid the cost of litigation. Trial lawyers know this, and will pursue a case even when they know that there was no wrong done by the doctor, and even when they know that they could never win in court.

The settlement money doesn't appear out of thin air. It comes from the premiums paid to the insurance companies by doctors. The money that doctors pay their insurance premiums with also does not appear out of thin air. It comes from you and me, their patients.

This problem has progressed to crisis levels. Doctors who can no longer afford their insurance premiums are finding other ways to make a living. And it is not just bad doctors. A newly minted MD faces overwhelming odds that he or she will face at least one frivolous lawsuit during his or her career. College students who have an interest in becoming doctors are seeing this, and are choosing other careers. The result of this is that there are now many areas in the country where is it very difficult to find a doctor. The OB/GYN field has been particularly hard hit. (Note that John Edwards made his fortune suing OB/GYN's.) Pregnant women are being forced to forgo prenatal care for themselves and their babies because there are no OB/GYN's nearby. And we can thank trial lawyers like John Edwards for that.

Here is what Jim DeMint says about the issue:

We have a health care crisis in America. Health care costs and insurance premiums are skyrocketing, businesses are dropping coverage, doctors are being forced out of practice, and people cannot afford and access the care they need. That’s why Jim believes that the best way to reduce costs and improve access is to empower individuals with more freedom and options.

Jim supports expanding and enhancing personal health accounts that empower consumers, eliminating frivolous medical lawsuits that increase costs and reduce access, establishing refundable health care tax credits to help low-income Americans afford insurance, and modernizing Medicare so retirees can choose between competing private health plans.

3. Free trade. Trade barriers rarely do more good than harm. Economist Walter Williams illustrated this by discussing sugar tariffs, which were enacted in order to protect American sugar producers. The immediate result of this is that hte price of sugar in the United States is about 200% higher than the world market price. The impact of this goes farther than your daily morning cup of coffee. The price of sugar also affects candy manufacturers. According to Williams, in 1970 candy manufacturers employed about 15,000 people in the Chicago area. Today that number is nearer to 8000, primarily because the candy manufacturers could not afford to continue buying sugar in the United States.

Jim DeMint understands that increasing the cost of doing business is bad for the economy. Here is what he says about it:

We must reject isolationism and recognize that our current economic problems are a direct result of our own misguided policies, which are sucking the life out of American businesses. That’s why Jim has a jobs plan that includes specific measures designed to lower U.S. business costs.

4. National security. Jim DeMint is committed to waging the war on terror. Unlike John Kerry, he understands that appeasement will never work. Terrorist fanatics are wholly committed to the obliteration of all who do not share their medieval world view, and are willing to die to achieve their goals. Negotiating with these fanatics is not an option.

There are other reasons that I support Jim DeMint's candidacy for the Senate, such as his stance against abortion, his support for lower taxes, and his support for individual retirement accounts under the control of citizens, not the government. But the four that I expounded upon above are the ones that I personally feel most strongly about, and Jim DeMint is right on every single one of them. I believe that Jim faces a serious challenge from his opponent, Inez Tennenbaum. She is a popular Democrat (in 2002, she received more votes statewide for State Superintendent than Republican Mark Sanford did for Governor) who is distancing herself from the national party, and is presenting herself as a conservative. You can help tremendously by clicking on the link above and donating to the DeMint campaign.

John Kerry confuses John Kerry with Bob Kerrey

2004-08-17T16:40:00.000-04:00

For most people, it would be excusable to confuse Senator John Kerry (D-MA) with the former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE). But not if you are John Kerry.

The Volokh Conspiracy points to a January 29 press release from the Kerry campaign that claimed that John Kerry is the former Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI). (I read this press release about an hour ago, but it has now been pulled from the Kerry website.) Volokh also points to a March 24 press release and an August 6 press release claiming the same thing.

Robert Tagorda at Red State did a little digging, and found out that John Kerry was a member of the SSCI from 1993 to 2001.

I did a little digging and found:

- From 1993 to 1995, the Vice Chairman of the SSCI was Senator John Warner (R-VA).

- From 1995 to 1999, the Vice Chairman of the SSCI was Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE).

- From 1999 to 2001, the Vice Chairman of the SSCI was Senator Richard H. Bryan (D-NV).

You just can't make this stuff up.

(Hat tips to Red State, Captain's Quarters, and the Volokh Conspiracy.)

ADDENDUM: The Republican National Committee has recently pointed out that while Kerry (John, not Bob Kerrey) was a member of the SSCI, he was absent from 76% of the SSCI's public hearings, and that in 1994, the year following the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Kerry did not attend a single intelligence committee hearing. (His attendance records for the closed-door meetings can only be released by Kerry - don't hold your breath.)

The San Francisco Chronicle (!) carries this quote:

"It's difficult to take John Kerry's claims about his intelligence experience seriously when one of his credentials is completely made up," said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson. "If he had shown up for Intelligence Committee hearings he would notice he wasn't vice chairman."

Then there's this from the Wall Street Journal:

Kerry's Identity Crisis
Remember when John Kerry went to the prom and got doused with pig's blood? Oh wait, sorry, that wasn't Kerry; it was Carrie, Sissy Spacek's character in the eponymous 1976 film. We regret the error.

Finally!

2004-08-15T21:56:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to update my Recommended Reading links since 3am. Blogspot has apparently been down all day. DOS maybe? I don't know. Finally got it done though.

More Kerry Prevarications

2004-08-11T12:16:00.000-04:00

Yet another Kery lie comes to light, this time from New Hampshire's Union Leader:

Here is what Kerry said about [Mary Ann] Knowles during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on July 29:

“What does it mean when Mary Ann Knowles, a woman with breast cancer I met in New Hampshire, had to keep working day after day right through her chemotherapy, no matter how sick she felt, because she was terrified of losing her family’s health insurance? America can do better. And help is on the way.”

What it means is that John Kerry is fibbing. As Union Leader correspondent Scott Brooks reported on Sunday, Mary Ann Knowles did not have to work through her chemotherapy for fear of losing her health insurance. Employed by Elderhostel, the Boston-based non-profit travel organization for people 55 and older, Mary Ann had 26 weeks of paid disability at her disposal. More was available for a long-term illness. She did not have to work through her chemotherapy. She chose to.

It should be obvious to all by now that Kerry cannot be trusted to tell the truth about anything.

(Hat tip: La Shawn Barber)

Why were we bombing the Taliban?

2004-08-09T01:58:00.000-04:00

From Donald Sensing:

I am reminded of a dinner I attended just after the campaign in Afghanistan began. Another guest commented that it "wasn't fair" for US pilots to fly with impunity above Taliban positions, dropping bombs. I bit my tongue. Later, another guest said that the bombing "wouldn't intimidate" the Taliban.

I dived in."We're not trying to intimidate them," I said.

"Then why are we bombing them?" came the question.

"To kill them," I answered.

Bravo, Rev. Sensing.

War Heroes

2004-08-09T01:55:00.000-04:00

These Marines (and one sailor) are genuine war heroes.

Poetry

2004-08-08T23:26:00.000-04:00

My daughter requested I write another poem. I asked her if one about Kerry would do, and she said yes. So here goes:

The Senator from Massachusetts
Raised the ire of more than a few vets
He won Purple Hearts three
Then he left Nam early,
And left behind all the men of his units.

But his scratches wre all self inflicted,
No enemy had interdicted,
He dreamed up this scam
To get out of Nam,
Now his ambition does grow unrestricted.

As Prez he hopes to be elected,
But his lies have not gone undetected.
Swift Vets will tell you,
His tales are not true,
And as Prez he should not be selected.

Kerry's Cambodia Confusion

2004-08-08T01:03:00.000-04:00

I just read this Kerry quote at Roger L. Simon:

"I remember spending Christmas of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real."

Kerry, in his apparent eagerness to slander any and all Republicans, can't even remember that on December 25, 1968, the President of the United States was a Texas Democrat named Lyndon Baines Johnson.

As I said in an earlier post, what an ignoramus.

UPDATE: According to Power Line, this quote was published in the Boston Herald on October 14, 1979.

Kerry's lawyers trying to intimidate TV stations to keep them from running anti-Kerry ads

2004-08-05T23:08:00.000-04:00

Instapundit links to sites that document how Kerry is using lawyers to try to suppress anti-Kerry ads:

1: Human Events Online has an image of a facsimle letter sent from Kerry's lawyers to TV station managers concerning an ad placed by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (the same group I wrote about here.) The letter claims that the ad is bogus, stating that none of the people in the ad served on either of Kerry's two boats. Well, no one in the ad claimed to have served on the same swift boat as Kerry - they are fellow skippers, who commanded swift boats themselves, alongside Kerry's. Also, the lawyer letter claims that the doctor in the ad is a fraud, because he is not the one who signed the medical report concerning one of Kerry's Purple Hearts. In fact, the paperwork was signed by a Hospital Corpsman (an enlisted medical aide).

2: Club for Growth has .pdf images of another letter sent from Kerry's lawyers to station managers, this time conerning one of their ads. This ad makes statements about Kerry's support for a 50 cent per gallon gas tax, and also states that Kerry has voted for higher taxes 350 times. This lawyer letter claims (wrongly) that these points are lies, and encourages station managers not to accept the ad.

Please follow the links, view the ads, and read the letters. It seems that Kerry must be really desperate if he thinks he needs to resort to suppressing the first amendment rights of citizens who don't want him to be President.

UPDATE: Captain's Quarters has the full text of a letter sent to station managers rebutting the claims made by Kerry's lawyers about the ad from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The letter also describes the events behind Kerry's Bronze Star, and two of his Purple Hearts, and explains how Kerry's applications for these awards were fraudulent.

Letters to the troops

2004-08-04T12:54:00.000-04:00

SlagleRock's Slaughterhouse is requesting letters of thanks for the troops to be written by grateful citizens. These letters will be printed out, hand carried to the Middle East by a soon to be deployed Tech Sgt (USAF), and distributed to the troops on the front lines. Here's mine:

Dear Defender of Freedom,
I just wanted to say thank you for your courageous efforts to defend the freedom we enjoy back home. You truly are appreciated. News of your great works is getting back home, in spite of the tendency for the mainstream media to only report the bad.

As a Navy veteran, I know how it is to be away from home for extended periods. But I was lucky to only see one day of combat in my six years of service, so I really can't identify that well with your situation.

I have only one request of you: Please return home safe to your family after your job is finished.

My family and I are very proud of you, the magnificent job you are doing, and the great way you are representing all Americans overseas.

Thank you again, and please be safe.

Mike Dayton
Gilbert, SC

P.S. My wife wants to add a few words:

As a mother, I understand how really hard it can be to be separated from your loved ones, so know that you are in my heart, and I am truly proud knowing that you are there keeping me and mine safe. Hang in there, take one day at a time so it's not so overwhelming. And know that you do have a proud country to come home to. You are doing a fantastic job, and I will never take our troops for granted.

Love in Christ,
Mom

Terrorism roundup

2004-08-03T21:36:00.000-04:00

Jeff Quinton at Backcountry Conservative has a roundup of today's terrorism news from the blogs.

Kerry was for the Buckeyes before he was against them

2004-08-03T21:09:00.000-04:00

Having just left Ohio, John Kerry claimed, before a crowd of University of Michigan supporters, "I just go for Buckeye football, that's where I'm coming from." I guess he took a clue from the angry reaction of the crowd. He then said, "But that was while I was in Ohio. I know I'm in the state of Michigan and you got a great big M and a powerhouse of a team." But the damage was done.

What an ignoramus. How could we possibly elect a man who doesn't even know what state he is in? Kerry's campaign has turned into one long gaffe. All the better for George Bush and the United States.

UPDATE: The gaffe continues in Michigan.

Another media distortion

2004-07-31T15:54:00.000-04:00

I just fired off a letter to the editor of The State (Columbia SC). I don't know if they will publish it, so I will here:

Has The State adopted the lax standards of accuracy and veracity employed by the New York Times?

In the July 30, 2004 print edition of The State, on page A4, the following sentence appears (in an article with no byline)(I could not find it online - Ed.):

"Standing with his crewmates, all fiercely loyal to Kerry, former Special Forces officer Jim Rassmann told the nation how Kerry saved his life in 1969." (My emphasis)

While the sentence could be interpreted as referring only to the crewmates actually standing with him on the stage at the Democrat convention, it will likely be interpreted by many to indicate that all of Kerry's crewmates are "fiercely loyal" to him. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, according to the website Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (www.swiftvets.com), whose members include some of those very crewmates:

"Swift Boat Veterans for Truth contacted surviving members of [Kerry's Coastal Group 11, pictured with him on their site] to find out how many actually support John Kerry, and discovered that of 19 Swift boat skippers pictured other than Kerry, 11 consider him unfit, 4 are neutral, two have died, and 2 are working with the Kerry campaign. Four other officers were not present for the photo session; all oppose Kerry. Only 2 of John Kerry's [21 surviving] fellow Swift boat commanders from Coastal Division 11 support his candidacy today." (My emphasis)

The site also has many quotes from people who served with Kerry, including this one from Steve Gardner, a member of Kerry's crew:

"I served ... with John Kerry in the last 2 1/2 months of my [second Swift Boat] tour. The John Kerry that I know is not the John Kerry that everybody else is portraying. I served alongside him and behind him, five feet away from him in a gun tub, and watched as he made indecisive moves with our boat, put our boats in jeopardy, put our crews in jeopardy... if a man like that can't handle that 6-man crew boat, how can you expect him to be our Commander-in-Chief?"

I cannot say for sure if the article was intentionally trying to mislead readers about the attitudes of Kerry's fellow Vietnam vets toward him, or if this was merely a case of overlooking a sloppy, ambiguous sentence. Either way, The State has misrepresented the attitudes towards Kerry of those who served with him, and needs to print a correction.

UPDATE: Here is an image of the print article.

UPDATE 2: The pictures and text at www.swiftvets.com have been updated to indicate that only one of Kerry's fellow swift boat skippers actually supports his candidacy.

Happy Independence Day, Iraq!

2004-06-28T16:02:00.000-04:00

May the Iraqi people live in peace, prosperity, freedom, and happiness from this day forward.

Are we there, yet? Are we there yet?

2004-06-27T17:14:00.000-04:00

The Cassini spacecraft, which has been travelling toward Saturn for nearly seven years, is scheduled to arrive on June 30. It will then enter orbit around the ringed planet, and begin a mission that has been planned to last four years, but may endure for up to ten. Scientists expect that the spacecraft will be able to beam back as many as 500,000 images during the mission. It is planned to have encounters with all of the major moons, especially Titan, where in December it will launch the Huygens probe, which will make a parachute landing on the moon's surface.

Mustard gas reported to have been used in Baghdad

2004-06-27T09:14:00.000-04:00

WorldnetDaily is reporting that mustard gas has been used by terrorists in Baghdad. According to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin (subscription required), a chemical attack was launched inside Baghdad's Green Zone one day after Charles Duelfer, the head of the CIA weapons inspection team, warned that terrorists were trying to get into Saddam's chemical WMD stash.

On Thursday, Charles Duelfer, the head of the CIA weapons inspection team, said terrorists in Iraq are seeking chemical arms and expertise left over from the Hussein regime for possible use against U.S. and allied troops. He added that his team has so far found as many as a dozen chemical-filled bombs – far more than previously reported. (my emphasis)

Also:

Duelfer said his inspection team has uncovered bombs filled with blistering mustard gas or the nerve agent sarin.

"We're not sure how many more are out there that haven't been found, but we've found 10 or 12 sarin and mustard rounds," he said. "I'm reluctant to judge what that means at this point, but there's other aspects of the program which we still have to flush out."

(Hat tip: Backcountry Conservative)

Fritz Hollings is an embarrassment for South Carolina

2004-06-24T21:12:00.000-04:00

I am thoroughly embarrassed to be "represented" in the Senate by Ernest F. Hollings. Thankfully, he will no longer be a Senator as of next January 3. He has already been there far too long.

Yesterday, Hollings had this column published in The State - part two of "Why we are in Iraq". Part one was seething with anti-semitic blather and untruths about President Bush. Now Senator Hollings has inflicted part two on us. Let us examine some of his claims:

Iraq, as a threat to the United States, was all contrived.

Seems that this point (that he took from Ted Kennedy) was dramatically refuted by Vladimir Putin just last week. (I guess Fritz wasn't paying attention.) The point was also refuted by the 9/11 Commission, who, in spite of what the liberal media reported, cited evidence of contact between Iraq and terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, going back many years. (He should be embarassed that his column was refuted even before it was published.) As in the first part of this column, Hollings would rather cite Richard Clarke's discredited book, "Against All Enemies".

President Bush must have known that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We have no al Qaeda, no weapons of mass destruction and no terrorism from Iraq; we were intentionally misled by the Bush administration.

First, the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission have already stated that President Bush never misled us. The "imminent threat" claim, the argument that Saddam was involved with 9/11, that liberating and democratizing Iraq would be easy, are all straw men set up by the President's opponents to give them something to argue against, since they have very few cogent arguments against anything the President actually said.

All of us knew that there were WMD's in Iraq. Hussein used them on the Iranians and the Kurds, and they have recently been found, including the sarin shell used as a road side bomb, and among the scrap metal exported from Iraq. (Old arguments, so Fritz should already know about them.) We still haven't searched Syria and Lebanon for the missing WMD's.

Saddam Hussein had a long history of doing everything he thought he could get away with. If he hadn't already, it was only a matter of time before he would have provided WMD's to a terrorist group to use in the USA. Meanwhile, he would have continued colluding with the UN to enrich himself off of the "Oil for Food" fiasco, while the Iraqi people continued to suffer.

Putin already pointed out that Saddam was planning terror attacks against the US. Saddam also provided a safe haven for terrorists, like Abu Abbas, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and Abu Musab Zarqawi. He also provided training facilities for terrorists. And don't forget about Saddam's gifts of $25,000 (later $50,000) to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers for killing innocent Israeli women and children. "No terrorism"? I guess in Hollings' mind, Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a Utopia on Earth, with Iraqis frolicking carefree in their happy day to day existence, until the evil USA destroyed it for them.

As a result, our troops are hunkered down, going out to trouble spots and escorting convoys.

Fritz, like the media, focusses exclusively on the bad news in Iraq, and ignores all of the good work we have done there (restoring infrastructure, rebuilding schools, restarting Iraq's oil industry).

In the war against terrorism, we’ve given the terrorists a cause and created more terrorism.

This is patently false. The conversion of the whole world to radical Islam is their cause, nothing less will satisfy them. They need no further cause to kill "infidels".

By removing Saddam, we have removed a safe haven for terrorists, shown Moammar Qadhaffi what would happen to him if he didn't cooperate, and by drawing terrorists into a battle with our Marines and Army in Iraq, have managed to kill many of them. By continuing the war on terror in Iraq and on other fronts, we have significantly weakened Al Qaeda and have so far managed to avoid any more attacks on our own soil.

...both Richard Myers and John Abizaid, saying we can’t win.

Actually it's the media and idiotic Democrats like Hollings who have been saying that we can't win, even while we have in fact been winning. A transition government is in place, ready to take over on June 30, and start planning elections. Zarqawi and the terrorists are using more and more desperate measures, because they know that they are losing. Hollings cites the cover of "The New Republic" magazine, and their editorial, "Were We Wrong?" but apparently he didn't read the editorial. TNR wonders if one of their justifications for supporting the war (WMD's) was wrong, but they still support our efforts on a moral basis, and still believe that Iraqis can create a free, democratic society that will cause a ripple effect of freedom throughout the region. So, in his argument against the war, Fritz cites an editorial that actually still supports the war.

Unfortunately, the peoples of the world ... are still against us. Heretofore, the world looked to the United States to do the right thing. No more. The United States has lost its moral authority.

(Remember that this is the same Fritz Hollings who said that African potentates liked to come to Europe for a good meal once in a while, to take a break from eating each other, the same Fritz Hollings who was Governor of SC in 1962, presiding over a state with a 100% Democrat bicameral legislature that originally hoisted the Confederate flag over the statehouse dome, who now wants to lecture us on moral authority.)

By this statement, I gather that Fritz supports two things: selling out our national security to the control of the (horribly corrupt) UN; and that the US was wrong to topple Saddam Hussein. That he should still be the President of Iraq, and should still by using actual torture at Abu Ghraib, and still be filling mass graves. That Uday should still be abducting and raping any woman on the street that strikes his fancy. That Qusay should still be making his father's political opponents "disappear", never to be seen again. That ordinary Iraqis should still be living every day in fear of being executed by slow torture for saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.

That Fritz Hollings, while occupying high office in our government, should so blatantly place crass partisanship over our efforts to bring freedom and democracy to tens of millions of people, just sickens me.

Kerry supporters hire convicted felons for door to door voter drives

2004-06-23T22:52:00.000-04:00

America Coming Together, a group working for the election of John Kerry, has hired drug dealers, sex offenders, and other convicted felons to come to YOUR door to register you to vote for John Kerry.

Next time someone sporting a John Kerry button appears on your stoop, don't let your daughter answer the door...

(Hat tip: Blogs for Bush)

UPDATE: It seems that Arizona Democrats have filed a lawsuit to prevent Ralph Nader from appearing on their presidential ballot in November. It seems that one of their arguments for doing so is that Nader used convicted felons to collect petition signatures. I kid you not:

[One of the lawyers handling the suit, Andy] Gordon also charged that some of the signature gatherers used by the Nader campaign in Arizona were convicted felons and therefore not eligible to collect signatures.

Such blatant hypocrisy from the left. So, what else is new?

(Hat tip: Punic Treachery.)

President Putin provides justification for our invasion of Iraq

2004-06-18T17:25:00.000-04:00

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia warned the US that Saddam Hussein was planning terrorist attacks against Americans in the US and abroad after 9/11 but before our invasion. President Putin opposed our invasion, but allowed his intelligence agency to inform us of this threat anyway. For this I thank him.

It will also be interesting to watch the left squirm to find a way to explain this away.

A Democrat slams the media for misrepresentations

2004-06-18T16:53:00.000-04:00

Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN), chair of the 9/11 commission, is slamming the news media for misrepresenting the commission's report on the ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, as in this headline from my local paper. From Newsmax:

"The sharp differences that the press has drawn [between the White House and the Commission] are not that apparent to me," Hamilton told the Associated Press, a day after insisting that his probe uncovered "all kinds" of connections between Osama bin Laden's terror network and Iraq.

Hamilton also says, "There are all kinds of connections. And it may very well have been that Osama bin Laden or some of his lieutenants met at some time with Saddam Hussein's lieutenants."

There is apparently no limit to how much the press will distort the truth in order to get their man Kerry elected. It is also another example of why the media's credibility has dropped enormously since Walter Cronkite was "the most trusted man in America".

Thanking Tony Blair

2004-06-09T21:26:00.000-04:00

Little Green Footballs has a link to a site where you can thank Prime Minister Tony Blair for his support in the war on terror. Here is what I sent to him:

Mr. Prime Minister,
As an American citizen and military veteran, I would like to thank you for your steadfast support of the war on terror. Yours has been a clear and compelling voice giving staunch support to the efforts of Great Britain and the United States in this war. I know that you have taken very significant political risks to express this support. It is a sign of a true and great leader when he is willing to risk his own career in order to do the right thing. You, sir, are a great leader, and you have my eternal admiration and gratitude.

Senator Biden can't be this ignorant, can he?

2004-06-08T18:49:00.000-04:00

ABC News just showed footage of Senator Joe Biden grilling Attorney General John Ashcroft about an alleged memo from the Justice Department advocating torture of prisoners in Iraq. While Ted Kennedy was still trying to get political mileage out of the Abu Ghraib photos, Biden was lecturing Ashcroft about the purpose of international treaties dealing with the treatment of prisoners. This is an obvious point, but the point that Biden glaringly misses is that the terrorists we are fighting don't give a damn about international treaties. All they care about is killing infidels, especially Americans and Israelis.

As I said in an earlier post, Abu Ghraib had nothing to do with Nick Berg's death. Zarqawi was going to kill him no matter what. (An American Jew in the custody of Islamofascist fanatics? He had no chance.) Abu Ghraib was just convenient propaganda for Zarqawi (and Kennedy).

I do not advocate torturing anyone. But Biden's rant about an alleged memo from Justice putting his son (a Guardsman) in more danger is just asinine.

UPDATE: According to Jonah Goldberg, Biden's son is a military lawyer serving in the US, not overseas, as he implied while lecturing Ashcroft about putting his son in danger. Meanwhile, Ashcroft's son has served in Iraq. Despicable grandstanding from Biden.

Ronald Wilson Reagan 1911-2004

2004-06-06T10:49:00.000-04:00

I was saddened to learn last night of the passing of the greatest president of the 20th century, Ronald Wilson Reagan. His is a legacy that will not soon be forgotten.

President Reagan was my Commander-in Chief during my years in the US Navy. I was certainly proud to serve under such a courageous leader. Much maligned by the liberal networks and press during his years in office and after, he nevertheless boldly saw through his vision of a world without the tyranny of the Soviet Union, and without the constant fear and danger of the Cold War years.

My deepest sympathy and condolences go out to Mrs. Reagan and his children.

Mr. President, you will certainly be missed, but never forgotten. God bless you sir.

Another new month, another batch of good ecenomic news

2004-06-02T17:42:00.000-04:00

From The State (Columbia, SC):

U.S. manufacturing activity expanded for the 12th consecutive month, and construction spending rose to its highest level ever, providing fresh evidence that the economy is picking up steam as it heads into summer.

Some individual points:

The Institute for Supply Management said Tuesday that its manufacturing index advanced to 62.8 in May from 62.4 in April. The latest reading was the highest since 63.6 posted in January and was well above the 61.5 that analysts had expected.

the Commerce Department said construction spending registered its best month on record in April. The value of buildings put in place rose 1.3 percent in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $970.4 billion.

The employment index showed growth for the seventh consecutive month with a 61.9 reading in May, the highest since it hit 62.6 in April 1973, according to the group, which is based in Tempe, Ariz. The employment reading in April had been 57.8.

It mystifies me that the Democrats still think they can use the economy in their campaign against George Bush. It should be clear to anyone who is paying attention that we are in a strongly recovering economy. Bush inherited from Clinton an ecenomy heading into recession. It has turned around completely under his leadership, in spite of 9/11. Any Democrat who says that George Bush has mismanaged the econemy is being either ignorant or disingenuous.

This is just one of the many reasons we need to return President Bush to the White House for a second term. You can volunteer or donate to help achieve that goal. Bloggers can join the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, listed in the left column.

First hand reports from Fallujah

2004-05-14T14:49:00.000-04:00

The Green Side is a website set up by a man whose son is a Marine Major in Fallujah. He posts his son's e-mails there. Very well worth the time to read.

(Hat tip: Hugh Hewitt)

Support for my earlier Vietnam comparison

2004-05-14T14:42:00.000-04:00

Hugh Hewitt posts an e-mail from a learned colleague, that makes my Vietnam comparison (see below) in a much more forceful and detailed manner than I am capable of. Please go read it.

NY Daily News' Michael Goodwin on Air America

2004-05-14T11:21:00.000-04:00

Michael Goodwin must have a stronger stomach than I, to endure ten hours of Air America. Here is his reaction. The last two paragraphs were very interesting:

During a day of torture by radio, I heard ads for Hewlett-Packard, Greyhound and, especially, General Motors. I asked GM why it appeared in such shows.

Ryndee Carney, GM's manager of marketing communications, said the ads were wrongly picked up from an earlier deal with WLIB. She said the station was ordered to "cease and desist" yesterday, and added: "GM will not advertise on any Air America affiliates."

Maybe it is becoming like Vietnam...

2004-05-12T18:07:00.000-04:00

...in some aspects, anyway. In 1971, it was John Kerry and others spreading lies about widespread atrocities in Vietnam. Because the lies were believed by many, the war was lost, and the returning soldiers were vilified and ostracized, rather than being welcomed home and thanked.

Well, it seems that the lies are starting again. It was triggered by the Abu Ghraib incidient, which is not itself a lie, but is being blown out of proportion by the media. Now, according to Junk Yard Blog, the Boston Globe has published some pictures depicting an alleged gang rape of an Iraqi woman by American soldiers. The photos were exposed as fakes by worldnetdaily.com a week ago. Undoubtedly, many in Boston still believe the photos are real. There are also other fraudulent reports of abuse.

The photos were provided to the Globe by Boston city councilor Chuck Turner, who distributed the graphic photographs yesterday at a press conference with activist Sadiki Kambon, director of the Black Community Information Center. Kambon claims he got them from Akbar Muhammad, a representative for the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan's group.

Apparently, neither Kambon, Turner or the Globe tried to verify the authenticity of the photos.

While the North Vietnamese were militarily beaten, and ready to surrender, it was propaganda like this that convinced them to fight on, and eventually win the war. That war was lost here on the homefront, by people like John Kerry, and the American soldiers who fought it were vilified when they got home, most of them innocent of the atrocities they were accused of.

And now it is starting to happen again. The monsters who beheaded Nick Berg (now THERE'S an atrocity) cited the Abu Ghraib incident as their reason for the murder. They would have killed him in any case, but the way Abu Ghraib is being played up gives them great propaganda, and the Democrats and news media here in the US are playing right into their hands by spreading that propaganda, by overblowing incidents that did happen, propagating fraudulent reports of "atrocities" that did not happen, and failing to report on our widespread succccesses, against the terrorists, and in the hearts and minds of the Iraqi street.

Kerry and the Democrats are working hard to turn American opinion against the efforts in Iraq. Their aim is obvious - unseating Bush, at any cost. It is becoming more apparent that that cost will be a Vietnam-like failure in Iraq, caused by the turn of American hearts and minds against the war by the left and the media, and the consequences that would follow: the empowerment of terrorists the world over, the ostracism of the military by the gullible public, the weakening of our military caused by that, and heightened danger of attacks on our own soil, and more deaths of Americans at the hands of terrorists.

We must not let this scenario come to pass. Media outlets like the Boston Globe must be strongly repudiated by large numbers of people for spreading propaganda like the fake rape photos. The traditional media in general must be repudiated for their blatantly biased reporting that is feeding the terrorists' propaganda machine. We must repudiate politicians Like Kerry, Kennedy, and Rodham, who place their own ambition ahead of the well being of our country.

Word must be spread of our tremendous sucesses in Iraq, not only against the terrorists, but also all of the rebuilding that has occurred, and how the large majority of Iraqis truly appreciate what we are doing for them. We must support our troops, who are risking their lives to defend our freedoms and way of life. The price of losing this war is just too great not to do all of these things.

We are at perhaps the most critical juncture in our history. We currently have the right people leading us through these dangerous times. We must keep them there. President Bush has shown again and again that he has the courage and the clarity of vision to preserve and defend this country againt the terrorists. John Kerry has shown again and again that, if you don't like what he says, wait a while, he will say the opposite. I cannot remember another time when the American electorate was presented such a stark choice.

With ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and many others clearly aligned against the President, he needs all the help and support we can give him. Please show your support by donating to his campaign, or volunteering. Bloggers can join the Wictory Wednesday blogroll.

Abu Ghraib put in perspective

2004-05-12T10:53:00.000-04:00

The Reverend Ken Joseph Jr., an Assyrian Christian with first hand experience with Saddam's Iraq, puts the Abu Ghraib abuses into perspective. This is a must read.

One more tribute to my Dad

2004-05-11T20:56:00.000-04:00

In loving memory of my father

2004-04-30T09:48:00.000-04:00

Donald Keith Dayton
August 4, 1930 - April 29, 2004

My father was one of the most selfless people I knew. He was always doing things for others, without expecting anything in return. I remember when I was a child, whenever we would visit Grandma (Dad's mother-in-law), Dad always spent most of his time there fixing things in her house, or helping out in some other way. At home, even at age 73, with a badly arthritic knee, and full fledged diabetes, he would cut the grass of four of his neighbors every week in the summer, and snowplow their driveways in the winter.

One neighbor was widowed about 35 years ago, and never remarried. Dad became her handyman, fixing her car whenever she needed him to, helping her around the house.

Dad made several cross country trips to help his brother deal with, first, the death of his wife, and later, Parkinson's disease.

Dad spent his whole life thinking of others before himself.

Anyone who would like to honor my father may do so by clicking the photo above to make a donation to the American Diabetes Association.

I love you, Dad.

Pro life students forcibly dragged from Kerry's pro-abortion rally

2004-04-28T12:02:00.000-04:00

John Kerry allows dissenters to be violently removed from his rallies, according to this report from LifeNews.com:

Five pro-life college students were forcibly removed from a pro-abortion rally held by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry on Friday. The students were literally dragged off after they began leading a pro-life chant and one woman suffered injuries to her feet as a result.

...

"All of a sudden these NARAL girls appeared out of nowhere," Edmiston. "You guys have to leave right now," the NARAL women told the students.

Edmiston said the students told the abortion advocates they would leave, but wanted a uniformed official to explain why they had to leave a public event and one for which they had obtained tickets from the Kerry campaign.

After seeing the students wouldn't leave, the NARAL women told each other to link arms and began to surround the pro-life students.

...

They became angry and began to push and shove the pro-life women. One woman told Suanne that her mother should have aborted her.

The NARAL women eventually enveloped three of the students, including Suanne, in a circle and began dragging them away.

Suanne was wearing flip-flops and one of her shoes fell off as she was taken away.

"My foot is dragging on the gravel and they wouldn't let me get it," Edmiston said.

The abortion advocates dragged her barefoot over a rough gravel surface that caused her foot to bleed so much that Edmiston required medical attention afterwards.

"I have never been manhandled like that before -- pushed around, shoved and tossed -- it was ridiculous," Edmiston said. "I really felt violated, they had no right to touch me like that. So much for 'my body, my choice.'"

Both Edmiston and Stan Dai, a GWU political science major and a friend of the women, said Priscilla, another pro-life student, was dragged by the strap of a backpack. The strap began to wrap itself around her neck and she began to choke.

Edmiston told LifeNews.com that neither Kerry campaign staff nor security officials stepped in to stop the activists from dragging the students away from the rally.

"Nobody stopped it, people from [Kerry's] campaign were just standing around," she said.

Apparently, John Kerry condones this kind of behavior, since he nor his staff did anything to stop it, and they will not comment on the matter.

Bad news for Kerry, good news for the rest of us

2004-04-27T11:16:00.000-04:00

According to Reuters, the new consumer confidence report was published today. The index was expected to ease a bit, from 88.5 to 88, but instead rose strongly, to 92.9, mainly as a result of increased confidence in the strength in the job market.

The Bush boom continues.

A very interesting site

2004-04-22T13:27:00.000-04:00

A website called Fundrace has a lot of interesting features, including national, county, 3 digit zip code, and city maps showing where the candidates are getting their donations from; neighborhood searches to see which of your neighbors are giving, and to whom.

Very few blue states on their map!

Attention Senator Kerry: This is a war hero

2004-04-22T12:47:00.000-04:00

His name is Sgt. Kenneth Conde Jr., 3rd Mobile Assault Platoon, Mobile Assault Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. He was shot in the left shoulder while fighting terrorists in Ramadi, but refused to leave his men until the fighting died down several days later.

Over the next few days, Conde's unit participated in several other firefights until the violence died down. All the while, he nursed his wound, not giving into the pain and refusing to leave his Marines.

Only when his arm went numb, making it difficult to hold his rifle steady, did he finally give in and step out of the fight.

Back at the camp here, Marines asked Conde why he chose to stay and fight even after being shot.

"I told them that I couldn't just leave the fight when I still could keep going," he told them.

But it his actions didn't surprise his fellow Marines.

"He always told us that he would lead us from the front, and that we would never do anything if he wasn't doing it too," Cox explained. "After being in that firefight with him, I will always know that he is true to his word."

Read the whole article. It is inspiring.

(Hat tip, doubleplusgood infotainment and Citizen Smash)

Saudi Religious Police prevent girls from leaving burning school

2004-04-20T14:56:00.000-04:00

A report from the BBC says that the Saudi religious police prevented schoolgirls from leaving a burning school building in Mecca because they were not wearing abayas and headscarves. Firemen were also prevented from going to their rescue. As a result, 15 girls died in the blaze.

One witness said he saw three policemen "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya".

After reading this, I am thoroughly shocked and disgusted. Could it actually be true that the religious police would rather see young girls die an agonizingly brutal death than see them in the street without their abayas and headscarves? Apparently so.

(Thanks to Muttawa for the link.)

Leonard Pitts takes the 9/11 commission to task

2004-04-20T14:20:00.000-04:00

Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts is taking the 9/11 commission to task for all of the useless finger pointing going on. Key quote:

Who was responsible for Sept. 11? A fellow named Osama bin Laden and a terrorist group called al Qaeda.

Also:

Because the ultimate failure of that day wasn’t in what someone did or didn’t do, but rather, a failure of imagination. Before Sept. 11, most of us simply couldn’t conceive of someone using airliners as missiles. It was the stuff of action novels and summer movies. It was too preposterous to be real.

We have since learned better. And our education has come at a ruinous cost.

That cost has left me impatient with the egos and agendas of Washington functionaries, intolerant of jockeying for political advantage, vexed by buck passing and butt covering. This is not Abscam or Iran-Contra or even the Lewinsky matter. So the response ought not be Washington gamesmanship as usual.

Nearly 3,000 people died on Sept. 11. There is no official whose head on a pike will make us feel better about that.

So the most important thing we can do is learn the lessons of that tragedy and put them into action with all deliberate speed.

The best way to memorialize the terrorist attack that came two and a half years ago is to prevent the one that’s on the way.

Not much I can add to that, except, "Hear, hear."

Poetry

2004-04-20T11:46:00.000-04:00

As this year's Election Day nears,
John Kerry has plenty of fears.
He knows that it's his fate
To stay in the Bay State,
While W wins four more years!

Kerry entering the caption contest?

2004-04-19T10:55:00.000-04:00

Looks like John Kerry wants to enter the Captain's Quarters Caption Contest. This week's picture shows Kerry reading to a class of 4 and 5 year olds, with HRC looking on. Aaron's Rantblog has a link to a NYT article which says that, while in that classroom, reading Zoop!, a story about a magic wand that makes things disappear, Kerry said the following:

"I could go zoop! and Republicans would disappear."

This man who would be President can't even go into a classroom full of toddlers without slinging political attacks.

More on why I stopped watching 60 Minutes

2004-04-19T10:24:00.000-04:00

I just caught a glimpse on CNN Headline News of a 60 Minutes clip with Mike Wallace claiming that gasoline prices were currently the highest they have ever been. I guess Mr. Wallace forgot one pesky little thing - inflation:

While an all-time high in nominal terms, the current price of gasoline is still significantly lower than the inflation-adjusted peak of $3 a gallon set in 1981, and well below the prices seen regularly in European countries. (My emphasis)

So, while Bill Clinton might agree that Mr. Wallace's statement is true enough to made under oath, the real truth is that Mr. Wallace is either flat out wrong, or is trying to deceive us.

We could claim, using Mr. Wallace's logic, that the price of almost everything is at an all time high. In the 50's, you could get a double feature movie with soda and popcorn for a quarter, for cryin' out loud! Just last week, it cost me $13 to take my daughter to a movie! Has Halliburton been controlling the cinema industry too?

The bottom line is that 60 Minutes used to be an excellent show, but has turned into just another lapdog for liberal causes, thanks to people like Mike Wallace.

Wictory Wednesday (a bit late)

2004-04-15T17:22:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's late, but here's my Wictory Wednesday post.

The Blogs for Bush blogroll keeps growing! There are over 400 blogs on the blogroll supporting our President. This shows that there are a lot of intelligent, well informed (in spite of the traditional media) people in this country. Encourage everyone you know to support the reelection of Mr. Bush. This is a critical time in our country's history, and we need the right person in charge. President Bush is that person.

Please follow these links to donate to or volunteer for the Bush campaign. Bloggers can join the ever growing blogroll by following the instructions here.

Democrats' leftward journey leaves some behind

2004-04-14T19:52:00.000-04:00

This post from a lifelong Democrat at American Digest is a must read. He explains why, in spite of having always voted Democrat except once (Rudy Giuliani), he will not be voting Democrat this year. Key quote:

Now I have come to the place where the whole sorry spectacle and circus of the Democrats over the last year has finally angered me. The party whose ideals once excited me has become a parody of itself, a dangerous parody. Instead of inspriation it delivers either numbing boredom or sheer despair at its intellectual and spiritual poverty. Instead of telling us what sort of New Jerusalem it would have us build as our City on the Hill, it takes us into the slums of the soul. Instead of waving the bright banners of how, it dons the rags and bones of defeatism and appeasement. Instead of leading the parade, it wants to make us content with following after the elephants with a shovel and a wheelbarrow. When it needs to supply us with someone to believe in, to follow, to admire and to trust, it offers up John F. Kerry and his rollicking side-kick Ted Kennedy. It’s like after sitting through the long and tedious circus of the primaries, the Party went out and chose Emmett Kelly; the saddest clown of them all.

This bodes well for the President's reelection chances, which is a good thing, but I think that this self destruction of the Democratic party will be a long, slow, and painful process, and will leave behind a lot of collateral damage.

Al Franken off the air

2004-04-14T18:31:00.000-04:00

Drudge is reporting that Al Franken's radio show has been taken off the air in Chicago and Los Angeles. The Chicago Tribune is also reporting on this:

Arthur Liu, owner of Multicultural Radio Broadcasting, which owns Air America affiliates WNTD-950 AM in Chicago and KBLA-1580 AM in Los Angeles, said Air America bounced a check and owes him more than $1 million.

...

"They bounced a check today," Liu said. "It's a default. They have paid only a very small portion of what they owe us." Liu declined to say how much Multicultural is owed, but did say he is holding $1 million in checks that Air America has asked the company not to cash.

"They've been saying, 'We're going to get you the money' for the past two months," Liu said, referring to a security deposit that he said Air America was supposed to have prepaid in advance of its launch. "They're not honoring our agreement."

Air America denies these allegations with ad hominem attacks:

"That is an outright lie," said Evan Cohen, Air America's chairman, in a statement. "Multicultural Radio Broadcasting's conduct in this matter has been disgraceful.... [I]t is a clear violation of their contractual obligations."

Listeners who tuned into WNTD-950, Air America's Chicago affiliate, Wednesday morning heard Spanish-language talk radio instead of "Morning Sedition" and "Unfiltered," the network's morning talk shows.

A Chicago source familiar with the situation said a Multicultural representative showed up at WNTD's offices this morning, kicked out Air America's lone staffer overseeing the network's feed to the station from New York, switched over to a Spanish-language feed, and changed the locks on the doors.

Liu said the same thing happened at KBLA in Los Angeles.

This is the indication of the reasons conservatives dominate talk radio: because that is what most listeners want to hear. Franken's claptrap just won't bring in the revenue

St. Petersburg (Fla) Democrats call for assassination of Donald Rumsfeld

2004-04-13T14:13:00.000-04:00

Drudge is reporting that a group called the St. Petersburg Democratic Club have placed a newspaper ad with the following:

We should put this S.O.B. up against a wall... and pull the trigger.

Here is an image of the ad.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident, but seems to be rather typical of the more vocal John Kerry supporters. I am thoroughly disgusted by it.

The Kerry Sloganator is up!

2004-04-12T14:05:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Wizbang, now you can put your very own slogan on a Kerry for President graphic, using the Kerry Sloganator!

A sample:

Go make yours now!

This global warming doomcrier can't even convert temperature changes

2004-04-11T13:17:00.000-04:00

The Guardian is spouting global warming doom, but the "science editor" who wrote the article can't even correctly convert temperature changes from °C to °F.

an average annual warming in the region of 2.7C (37F) and an average warming of 8C (46F)

The article says that European scientists have used computer models to predict temperature change effects at varying levels of carbon dioxide and oxides of nitrogen. But a computer model is only as good as the data and programming that are entered. Dr. Joe D'Aleo (Dr. Dewpoint at intellicast.com) believes that these models are highly dubious. He has a number of excellent articles that debunk the global warming myth, and he uses actual data from the past to make his point. (One example - doomcriers cite the warming of the 20th century as evidence of anthropogenic warming from carbon dioxide, but Dr. D'Aleo shows that most of that warming occurred before 1940, and most of the CO₂ was released in the second half of the century. I thought cause came beforeeffect in this universe.)

Like most doomcrier articles, this one has very little supporting the causes of warming, and deals mostly with what would happen "when" (not if) it does.

Dr. D'Aleo has found that the primary cause for long term climate change is changes in the output of the sun. (Let's see the Kyoto people come up with a treaty to prevent that.) He shows that the length of the 11 year sunspot cycle is not constant, but is variable. When that cycle shortens, the individual peaks in the sunspot number rise, and the earth grows warmer, indicating a more active sun. When the 11 year cycle lengthens, the earth grows cooler. He cites the Maunder Minimum ( a period from about 1600 to 1750) when the sunspot cycle virtually disappered. This period was also known as the Little Ice Age in Europe. He also cites evidence that Europe was significantly warmer from about 800 to 1300. He has found historical evidence of olives being grown in Germany, and wine grapes being grown in England. This also coincides with the period when Greenland was colonized by the Vikings.

Dr. D'Aleo believes that shorter term climate change (decades) are driven by changes in the El Niño/La Niña oscillation in the Pacific, and similar oscillations in the Atlantic and Arctic. He shows that from about 1950 to 1979, the LA Niñas were stronger than the el Niños, and the earth cooled a bit. He also notes that about 1980 the "next ice age" fears peaked. (These fears are probably better founded in fact. Evidence has been found for an "Ice Age Cycle" that lasts about 100,000 years, with a 12,000 year warm phase in between. The current warm phase is about 11,000 years old.) From 1979 to 1998, the El Niños were stronger, and the earth warmed. He believes we have recently entered another cool phase, and predicts colder winters in the near future.

(Hat tip: Bastard Sword)

A view of the other side

2004-04-11T11:44:00.000-04:00

The loony left held a protest across from the White House. Then some Iraqi counter protseters showed up! INDC Journal has the story and pictures.

An interesting web site

2004-04-10T21:55:00.000-04:00

I just found a website called GoogleRace. On it you can type in a word, and it will seaqrch the web for associations of that word with the various presidential candidates (including some who have dropped out). Here are a few words I tried:

Resolve - George Bush first, John Kerry seventh

Honest - George Bush first, John Kerry dead last

Liar - George Bush first (must be the constant Kerry/Kennedy attacks) John Kerry sixth

Leader - GWB first, JF'nK fifth

What would have happened if we had preempted 9/11?

2004-04-09T23:36:00.000-04:00

The New Republic has one alternate scenario. I would say that it is a plausible one, too.

While reading this article, keep in mind the atmosphere of the 9/11 commission, and all of the fault finding and finger pointing going on. President Bush is being faulted by many on the left for not preventing the 9/11 attacks. (We'll leave Clinton and his eight years of incompetency out of it for now.) Given the rabid hatred of the President by the far left, how would they have reacted if Mr. Bush had sent troops to Afghanistan, had arrested 19 Arabic flight school students who had merely overstayed their visas?

Read the Easterbrook scenario, then decide.

(Hat tip: Blogs for Bush.)

UPDATE: Here is another report from this alternate universe: Mohammed Atta sues the government and the airlines for racial profiling and harrassment.

Found this at DumptheDoubters.com

2004-04-09T17:56:00.000-04:00

Click the image to see who this message is addressed to.

What liberal media?

2004-04-09T17:42:00.000-04:00

Mensnewsdaily.com has a very interesting column up about the media bias. This time, it is the Yahoo! News from April 7. Out of the first ten articles listed, eight are either pro Kerry or anti Bush , one was (grudgingly) pro Bush, and one had nothing to do with either Kerry or Bush - except that the picture linking to the article was one of Kerry! I wish they had done a screen image.

UPDATE: Rizzay checked out Yahoo! News today, and found the same thing. His post has screen images.

Rice 1, Clarke 0

2004-04-09T16:57:00.000-04:00

Bloomberg is reporting that a growing number of Americans believe that the Bush administration did everything that could be expected to stop the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

A Time/CNN survey taken yesterday showed that 48 percent of Americans said they believe the Bush administration did all it could to prevent the attacks, up from 42 percent in a poll taken March 26-28. A CBS News poll, also conducted yesterday, showed 32 percent of Americans said the administration did everything possible to stop the attacks, up from 22 percent the previous week.

When asked whom they were more likely to believe, respondents chose Condoleezza Rice over Richard Clarke by a 43-36 margin.

Thank you, Mr. President

2004-04-08T08:25:00.000-04:00

Sunday, April 11 is Easter, but it is also Tax Freedom Day for 2004. This is the theoretical day, as calculated by the Tax Foundation, that Americans get to start keeping the money they earn, rather than giving it to the government.

This year's Tax Freedom Day is the earliest in 37 years, thanks to President Bush's tax cuts. According to Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge, the drop in the tax burden since 2000 is the biggest drop in America's tax burden for at least a century.

Figure 1: Tax Freedom Day, 1963 – 2004

Thank you, Mr. Bush.

Democrats, take heed...

2004-04-07T19:07:00.000-04:00

...of the words of your icon, John F. Kennnedy. These words apply to today's world as much as they did in 1961:

Now we are face to face once again with a period of heightened peril. The risks are great, the burdens heavy, the problems incapable of swift or lasting solution. And under the strains and frustrations imposed by constant tension and harassment, the discordant voices of extremism are heard once again in the land. Men who are unwilling to face up to the danger from without are convinced that the real danger comes from within. They look suspiciously at their neighbors and their leaders.

And:

So let us not heed these counsels of fear and suspicion. Let us concentrate more on keeping enemy bombers and missiles away from our shores, and concentrate less on keeping neighbors away from our shelters. Let us devote more energy to organize the free and friendly nations of the world, with common trade and strategic goals, and devote less energy to organizing armed bands of civilian guerrillas that are more likely to supply local vigilantes than national vigilance.

Let our patriotism be reflected in the creation of confidence rather than crusades of suspicion. Let us prove we think our country great by striving to make it greater. And, above all, let us remember that, however serious the outlook, the one great irreversible trend in world history is on the side of liberty -- and so, for all time to come, are we.

Ted Kennedy, this is your brother speaking. Are you going to listen?

(Hat tip: Joefish)

2004-04-07T19:00:00.000-04:00

The media would have us believe that all Iraqis hate us. But this tells a different story:

Military officials said they got an unexpected assist from some Iraqi civilians who offered their cars and, in one instance, a bus to take wounded troops to safety.

What you don't see in the news: progress in Iraq

2004-04-07T17:45:00.000-04:00

Donald Sensing links to Blackfive, who has a post about the progress in Iraq, as reported by a soldier serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army's 16th Combat Engineer Battalion, Joe Roche. A small excerpt:

The reality is we are accomplishing a tremendous amount here, and the Iraqi people are not only benefitting greatly, but are enthusiastically supportive.

Read the whole thing. This is the kind of news that is being kept from us by the liberal media during an election year.

Native Americans could cost Daschle his seat

2004-04-07T17:28:00.000-04:00

Bruce Whalen, a Lakota Sioux and Republican Party Chairman in Shannon County, SD, is trying to encourage his fellow native Americans to vote Republican this fall.

"I see how the social programs are devastating the people around here," Whalen, a 41-year-old college student and Lakota Sioux Indian, said during a recent break from classes at Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota College. "The Democrats are hurting us."

Also:

[Republican challenger for Daschle's seat, John] Thune has picked up key support from Indian activist-turned-politician Russell Means, who is campaigning for Thune. The Democratic Party helped establish a system that makes Indians beholden to the federal government, and Daschle helped create such an environment, Means said.

"I mean it's pure communism, and it's an abject failure. Just like it was in the Soviet Union. It's failure. You've created a dictatorship by the Bureau of Indian Affairs," Means said.

Daschle said that people on reservations would like to be on their own but that that was not possible without help. Treaty obligations require the government to provide health care, education and housing, he said.

"We have Third World conditions," Daschle said. "Those treaty obligations ought to be respected and fulfilled."

More here.

It looks like it will be very interesting to watch this race develop, especially with native American Democrat Tim Giago running for the seat in the general election as an independent. I would love to see Tom Daschle become the Senate analog to Tom Foley of 1994.

The Perky One is still cheerleading for Saddam

2004-04-07T17:24:00.000-04:00

Katie Couric is still a fan of the Butcher of Baghdad.

During an interview with Senators Joe Biden and John McCain on Monday, she said that while the Butcher of Baghdad may have been "deplorable," at least he "kept the Sunnis and the Shiites apart and from killing each other."

Actually, Couric's partly right - though she failed to mention how Hussein accomplished his amazing peacekeeping miracle: by exterminating the Shiites who dared to rise up against him, including the father of the Iraqi imam who's currently leading the latest insurgency.

John Kerry calls Muqtada Al Sadr a legitimate voice

2004-04-07T17:09:00.000-04:00

Muqtada Al Sadr has been inciting anti-Americanism in Iraq since the war started, and apparently wants to establish an Iran style mullahocracy with himself in charge. He is the one responsible for the latest attacks on American and coalition forces. THe Iraqi Governing Council has had a warrant for Al Sadr's arrest out for months. And John Kerry calls him a "legitimate voice" in Iraq.

John Kerry has demonstrated again and again that he is not qualified to lead this country.