Best of Me Symphony is UP!

Best of Me symphony is up at The Owner's Manual... this one features JRR Tolkein and couldn't be more fun. No, I don't have an entry there, but Tolkien is and has been a favorite of mine for over 40 years. Go, read and have some fun.

Pallywood Exposed

There is a tendency, including in myself, to see video on TV news as something taken on the fly and a fairly accurate portrayal of what occurred. Please, take the next few minutes to watch this film. You will never see "war" in the middle east again in the same way.

For the left, this should (but probably won't) help them see that what they see is not what they see. See?

A tip 'O The GM Derby to MsUnderestimated

UPDATE: More on the use of human tragedy as propaganda here. I'm never, ever going to look at war photographs in the same way again. You need to read this update, all of it and then come to a conclusion about the morality about Israel's actions. Hezb'ollah: "We tell the whole story TALE!!! Those of you castigating Israel, you're being manipulated. Don't you get it? These animals don't give a damn about the civilians, about the UN peacekeepers, about the Lebanese and for sure don't give a damn about the Israeli civilians.

UPDATE II: Supplied by Oyster at Soy Como Soy, is this lengthy, but well worth viewing video.

Global Warming Cult: "We Don't Have to Prove Anything."

If hurricanes are getting more numerous because of (human induced) global warming, as claimed, shouldn't the people who make those claims back it up with data that they can prove? Apparently not--to them. We have to prove them wrong.

Hurricane 'spike' debated

Studies that link a spike in hurricane intensity with global warming are spotting "artificial upward trends" because they rely on bad historical data, a paper suggested today in the journal Science.

US hurricane expert stirs global warming debate

...Chris Landsea, a leading researcher at the U.S. National Hurricane Center, challenged studies that found a dramatic jump in hurricane intensity in recent years.

The paper is the latest salvo in the debate among climate scientists on whether human-induced global warming is producing stronger hurricanes.

Landsea is among a group of scientists who say the impact of global warming on hurricanes is not clear, and the studies do not account for inaccurate information in storm databases

Okay, Landsea says that the data used by global warming advocates is not accurate. So, how do the GW advocates respond?

Experts respond to questions challenging link between global warming and hurricanes

... no one has done a rigorous error or uncertainty analysis on the data, so in my opinion Landsea's statements about the trends are not supported at this point.

Did you get that? The global warming supporters use data to "prove" that global warming is causing more hurricanes and that they are more severe. But, a scientist with the hurricane center says that, while their method is okay, their data is faulty. Now, here's what I like. In response to him, a GW advocate says that we have to accept their data is correct until someone proves that their data is bad. Is there something backwards here? Shouldn't it be the other way around to where the global warming advocates have to prove that their data is correct--period? Otherwise, why not just make anything up or use any convenient and unsupportable information? Oh, wait. They already do that. That's their science.

Well, file it away. The scientific debate is over on human induced global warming. Let's go spend a few trillion dollars based on their word.

Moral Equivalence, Disproportionality and Stupidity

Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world."

...William Shakespeare: Hamlet; Act III, scene ii

What better to describe the sheer arrogence of those decrying the defense of Israel when attacked by Hezb'ollah? Victor Davis Hansen, writing in National Review Online puts forth a lexicon to describe the reaction of the world, the left and those who do not believe in Israel's right to exist. A sample:

“Collateral damage� refers mostly to casualties among Hezbollah’s human shields; it can never be used to describe civilian deaths inside Israel, because everything there is by intent a target.
[...]
“Disproportionate� means that the Hezbollah aggressors whose primitive rockets can’t kill very many Israeli civilians are losing, while the Israelis’ sophisticated response is deadly against the combatants themselves. See “excessive.�

Anytime you hear the adjective “excessive,� Hezbollah is losing. Anytime you don’t, it isn’t.
[...]
“Eyewitnesses� usually aren’t, and their testimony is cited only against Israel.

Of course, anything VDH writes is worth reading, but this "lexicon" is worth reading in its entirety and I urge you to follow the link and do so.

This brings up, of course, a larger question. What do we do about the mini-war going on right now in Southern Lebanon? Negotiate? With terrorists or their supporters in the UN or Iran or Syria? Why for pete's sake? The terrorist organization known as the "Party of God" or Hezb'ollah has no intention of keeping an agreement, Iran most certainly set up this little war to keep the G8 focus off of their nuclear weapons program (and if you don't really believe that they have one, then you are no where near as bright as you think you are and your ability to read and understand facts is less than your ability to read chicken entrals) and to get the Arab/Muslim world to rise up against Israel:

DOHA, Qatar (CNN) -- With a poster of the burning World Trade Center behind him, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant appeared on tape Thursday calling on Muslims to join the fight against Israel and "rise up seeking martyrdom and attack the crusaders and Zionists."

Crusaders and Zionists indeed. Notably, this yo-yo made his tape standing in from of a poster of the burning WTC. And they wonder why we take up arms against them and in defense of liberty.

In today's Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal Leslie Gelb calls for "negotiations" with Syria, Iran, and if necessary Hezb'ollah and Hamas. Wow, could he be any more dense? Folks, this is not about Israeli aggression, this is about an ideology called islamofascism that is out to destroy everything you believe in, to kill you and yours or to convert you to Islam in "dhimmitude." Well, I don't know about you, but I'll submit when hell freezes over, when Bin Laden converts to Christianity or when the Democrats quit their quest for power and begin governing.

Cross Posted in The Real Ugly American

A tip 'O The GM Derby to Dr. Sanity

Tracked at Stop The ACLU!

Screedblog Has it ALL!!!

James Lileks is one of the more popular bloggers out there, and with damned good reason. I love his blogging on matchbooks, his uncanny ability to find illustrations from the golden age of advertising in the 50's and his ability to nail down a good and popular screed. This one in particular is awesome:

The energetic head of the DNC had this to say:

“If you think what’s going on in the Middle East today would be going on if the Democrats were in control, it wouldn’t, because we would have worked day after day after day to make sure we didn’t get where we are today. We would have had the moral authority that Bill Clinton had when brought together the Israelis and the Palestinians.�

The problem with Moral Authority is its antonym, the Palestinian Authority. Does Dean mean the Oslo accords? President Clinton had been in office less than a year. There‘s a reason they’re not the Little Rock Accords: Norwegian diplomats did all the heavy lifting. (Specifically, suspending disbelief about Arafat’s motives, which can throw your back out if you’re not careful.) Does Dean mean the Camp David negotiations, which ended in the bloody second intifada? Details, details. Moral authority, that’s what counts. Doesn’t stop wars, but it makes the bad guys look extra guilty. Ingrates!

Be sure and read the whole thing here

Hezbollah Hid Behind UN Post

Are we surprised that the Hezbollah would try to hide for protection around a United Nations post? I am. They usually use civilians for that. Will that make any difference on the left's judgment against Israel for its attack at that site?

Hezbollah was using UN post as 'shield'
Canadian wrote of militia's presence, 'necessity' of bombing

The words of a Canadian United Nations observer written just days before he was killed in an Israeli bombing of a UN post in Lebanon are evidence Hezbollah was using the post as a "shield" to fire rockets into Israel, says a former UN commander in Bosnia.

Those words, written in an e-mail dated just nine days ago, offer a possible explanation as to why the post -- which according to UN officials was clearly marked and known to Israeli forces -- was hit by Israel on Tuesday night, said retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie yesterday.

"What that means is, in plain English, 'We've got Hezbollah fighters running around in our positions, taking our positions here and then using us for shields and then engaging the (Israeli Defence Forces)," he said.

That would mean Hezbollah was purposely setting up near the UN post, he added. It's a tactic Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie, who was the first UN commander in Sarajevo during the Bosnia civil war, said he's seen in past international missions: Aside from UN posts, fighters would set up near hospitals, mosques and orphanages.

The U.N. knew of this situation and should have pulled their observers out of the battle zone. But, maybe four lives to them are worth the propaganda value against Israel. Is there any question as to who the bad guys are in this struggle?

There Goes the Neighborhood

Cindy Sheehan has taken the insurance money from her son's death to move closer to her place of business.

Cindy Sheehan Buys Property in Crawford

"We decided to buy property in Crawford to use until George's resignation or impeachment, which we all hope is soon for the sake of the world," Sheehan said in a newsletter set to be sent to supporters Thursday. "I can't think of a better way to use Casey's insurance money than for peace, and I am sure that Casey approves."

So, if President Bush does not resign or is not impeached, maybe she can sell the land and donate the proceeds to a grieving father who actually supports the troops. Oh, contrast what Sheehan thinks that her son would want versus what this father thinks his son would want.

A soft-spoken suburban real-estate broker, John Prazynski didn't consider himself political and never expected to become a public figure, much less a pro-war activist. But in the year since his son Taylor, a Marine, died in Iraq, Prazynski has devoted much of his time to supporting the troops through fundraisers, two trips to Camp Lejeune, N.C., and interviews backing the war effort.

"I could easily have gone the other way," Prazynski said. He says his activism is a tribute to his son, trying to "make something positive happen out of something so negative. That's what Taylor would want us to do."

Do you suspect that this father might have a better feel for a fallen soldier's desires to help those who fought with him? I believe that this man is driven by a sincere love of his son and his son's interests instead of personal attention for himself--unlike possibly some others. I wish John Prazynski the best; and, his help groups, Impact Player Partners and Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, deserve our support. Investments in people give better returns than five acres in middle Texas.

With Apologies to Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr - War (Updated)
U.N.! - huh - yeah -
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y’all

Well, if people oppose war and want peace, then why do so many put their faith in an organization that fails so miserably at achieving peace? Why has the United Nations had bases in Lebanon for 28 years for the purpose of achieving peace in that region without anyone noticing that something was not working?

The Great U.N. Delusion
Find another false idol to worship, multilateral fetishists -- the U.N. is a failure
By Jonah Goldberg, July 21, 2006

...it would be one thing if the U.N. actually, you know, worked. But the problem is that the history of the U.N. is a history of unrelenting failure. Oh, not in immunizing kids and feeding starving people. The U.N. gets a passing grade there, though certainly not an A.

No, the failure comes in precisely the arena that supposedly justifies the U.N.'s existence: global peace and security. And that's where the delusion comes in. The folks at United Nations Plaza have proved themselves to be either well-intentioned incompetents or cagey, crapulent kleptocrats.

The left is so quick to blame the U.S. for not achieving peace while they ignore the long-standing failures of their global god.

Then, Bush Must Be Doing Things Right for the U.S.

Poll: World Doesn't Respect Bush

Americans generally approve of President Bush's handling of the current Mideast crisis, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll, but six in 10 say the president is not respected by foreign leaders.

Why Democrats Should Like Katherine Harris

Howard Dean compares Katherine Harris to Stalin

United? We Can Only Hope So!

Angel, writing in "Woman, Honor Thyself" has a post up asking if we can put "United" back in "United States Of America." It is a must read!

Cross posted at The Real Ugly American

A Blaze of Hypocracy

I don't understand the Democrats, well, actually I do, but I don't like it. In the interests of full disclosure as well, sometimes I don't understand the Republicans either, especially on spending, earmarks and their general obtuseness as to why they were elected and by whom.

But over the last several days, the hypocracy of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate has shocked even me; and that is saying something. No doubt, some of my more leftward friends and relatives will disagree with this statement, but they can't and still be honest withthemselves.

In todays "Best Of The Web Today" in the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal, James Taranto starts off with this bon mot:

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki spoke this morning to a joint meeting of Congress, and some Democrats seized an opportunity to burnish their credentials as supporters of Israel, CNN reports:

In a letter to al-Maliki, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York called the Iraqi leader's comments troubling.

"Your failure to condemn Hezbollah's aggression and recognize Israel's right to defend itself raise serious questions about whether Iraq under your leadership can play a constructive role in resolving the current crisis and bringing stability to the Middle East," the letter said.

The senators said some Democrats are considering boycotting al-Maliki's speech before Congress.

"I want the prime minister to denounce what Hezbollah has done," Reid said at a news briefing. "I will lose a lot of confidence in al-Maliki if he does not denounce what Hezbollah has done."

Now, Durban, Schumer and Reid have castigated Bush and Company for at least the last several years over the war in Iraq, so for any of them to say "...raise serious questions about whether Iraq under your leadership can play a constructive role in resolving the current crisis and bringing stability to the Middle East," should make each of them shudder in shame. What the hell have any of the three done to "...play a constructive role in resloving..." the crisis or in "...bringing stability to the Middle East," exactly what gentlemen?

Taranto also notes these two quotes from Prime Minister al Maliki:

"We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."
"What is happening is an operation of mass destruction and mass punishment and an operation using great force that Israel has--and Lebanon does not."

Taranto then compares those two statements to two statements made by none other than that great America basher Kofi Anan:

"[Israel's] excessive use of force is to be condemned."
"While Israel has stated its military objective is to hit Hezbollah's infrastructure and physical strength, it has, in the words of the Lebanese prime minister, torn the country to shreds."

As Taranto says, where is the Democratic condemnation of Kofi Anan? I'll add to that "Should we hold our breath?"

Today, Howard Deaniac (dean+maniac) called al Maliki an(gasp anti-semite. Oh my goodness, the chair of the Democratic Party calling someone else an anti-semite. Well, Mr. Deaniac, you of course know that Arabs are semites as well, so, if you say bad things about an Arab does that make YOU an anti-semite? No? Hypocrite!

I'm also curious as to how the Democrats including the four mentioned in this post can harp about Israel's self defense against Hamas and Hezb'ollah in the "occupied territories" and defend Israel in it's battle against Hezb'ollah. Is it possible that the Dems have read the polls and understand (understand.... you've got to be kidding...ed!) that the vast majority of Americans support Israel in the war on terrorism and the Dems want to play politics? Nah, that can't be, we all know that the Democratic Party is full of "plans" for ending the carnage. Just ask John F. Kerry:

"If I was president, this wouldn't have happened,"
[...]
"The president has been so absent on diplomacy when it comes to issues affecting the Middle East," [...] "We're going to have a lot of ground to make up (in 2008) because of it."

Oh really Senator? Let us harken back to 2004 when you had a "plan" for the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular. Did you ever, and I mean even once mention that "plan" to anyone so that after you lost it could have been implemented and lives saved? Could you have been bull-s***ing us? Or, more likely, were you merely mouthing things you thought would get you elected, oh, say like Nixon's "secret plan" to end the war in Vietnam in '68 in the runup to the election or perhaps like John Kennedy's tag football games that you tried to emulate by playing catch on the tarmac so often? Just who did you think you were fooling Mr. Sportsman? Yourself or the public? If it wasn't so much BS then, where are the photos of you doing it on the tarmac NOW Senator?

Yes oh beloved readers, the Democrats are absolutely playing politics with this, and we have to call them on it. No wonder that the vast majority of American's don't trust the Democratic Party with our National Security. And no, I don't mean all Democrats, Zell Miller for one, Joe Liberman for another, and quite a few of my conservative friends who consider themselves Democrats.

As a side note, 11 Mayors in the Rio Grande Valley, the vast, vast majority of whom are Democrats have endorsed Rick Perry (R) for Governor. Interesting isn't it? Wonder what that portends for this solid bastion of Democratic voters?

Cross Posted at The Real Ugly American

A tip 'O The GM Derby to James Taranto

On Iraq, Democrats Less Trusted than Bush

The Democrats have made Iraq a central theme for the upcoming mid-term elections. Look at the contrast between what the Democrats say and do and what the American people think, according to this article: A message for Democrats

Here's what House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says:

Part of the (Democratic) message...has to include Iraq. The Bush administration, Pelosi said, was "wrong on the premise going in, wrong on the reception we would receive, wrong on the reconstruction and how soon Iraq could pay for it, and wrong on an exit strategy of mission accomplished. Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong, and they say 'stay the course.'"

Here's what the American people say:

While 59 percent of Americans told an Associated Press poll this month that they disapproved of President Bush's handling of Iraq, 64 percent disapproved of the Democrats' handling of it. While 62 percent of Americans told a Washington Post/ABC News poll last month that they disapproved of Bush's handling of the war, an even higher percentage of respondents, 71 percent, said the Democrats do not offer clear alternatives.

It seems to me that if a political party is going to focus on an issue, its leaders should first determine if they have any better alternatives and if they have the approval of the voters. But, we're talking logic and Democrats here--two words that do not go together.

But, there is a lesson here for the Republicans, too. If the Bush administration is sure of its course in Iraq, then it needs to do a better job explaining it. If the administration is not sure that we are on the correct course, then the American people are right and adjustments need to be made--just not to the Democrats who are less trusted.

Another Lefty Melts Down

Ok I had to go back and rewrite this post as it was becoming entirely too confusing.

Let's start with the actors in this too insane to be fiction mystery. Moonbat Jason Leopold from Truthout.org who still to this day insists Karl Rove is under super double top secret indictment. Ex CIA Agent Larry Johnson, self described centrist blogger Seixon, Some commenter named AnonymousArmy, another commenter named topsecretk9, some secret club called VIPS (Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity) the Department of Defense, The Defense Intelligence Agency, lefty blogger Alexandrovna, shadowy Diebold executives and black box voting conspiracy theories, Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson and enough sock puppets to make Glenn Greenwald's head explode.

Follow me?

Nevermind just run with it. Our hero Seixon was just minding his own business one day when some moonbat posted his personal information at ThinkProgress. Seixon justifiably upset put on his Sherlock Holmes hat and went snooping. This is where it gets really crazy. Leopold or one of his cronies had posted Seixon's personal info at Thinkprogress. Seixon deduced this and confronted Leopold via email offering him the opportunity to explain himself.

Leopold responded by republishing the email from Seixon at ThinkProgress but chose to extensively edit the original email to make it appear Seixon had threatened him.

The following text in red was fabricated by Leopold. The following text in blue was edited out of Seixon's original email the black text is the only original content from Seixon:

From: George Gooding [mailto:george@seixon.com] Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 7:06 PM To: leopoldjason@sbcglobal.net Cc: jason leopold Subject: Alright…Jason,

I will make lies about you. I can do it. I have my own blog. Tell me all you know about Larry Johnson or me and anonymousarmy will hurt your reputation even more. We’ve already succeeded planting phony stories about you and we will continue to do it until you tell us everything about VIPS and who they are working with.

I now have you on the record lying. You sent anonymousarmy threatening or intimidating emails:

May 8 - from Boston

June 12 - from your ADSL near Irvine

June 19 - a couple emails sent from the Vance Hotel in Seattle

ahhh thats a lot of creative licence wouldn't you say?

Leopold doesn't stop there. He extensively edits another email from Seixon:

From: George Gooding [mailto:george@seixon.com] Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 10:56 PM To: jason leopold Subject: Re: Alright…

Blackmail? You’re damn right it’s blackmail. Johnson must be stopped and you’re the target. I will take you down and I will have the National Review back me up.

Jason, normally I would have just published what I have without even asking you to comment. This time I thought I would ask you to comment on this stuff, since this clown Dean went harassing me and my family, so I'm pretty pissed about it. Now, the reason for all this is basically all your fault because you just can't tell the damn truth.

As I said, I don't appreciate when people lie to me.

Now I have only given you a glimmer of Leopolds fabrications or the web of intrigue surrounding this. To be honest the whole damn thing confuses me. You are going to have to go to Seixons blog and read the whole thing. Here is the first post, and here is the second.

There is a whole series of comments at Thinkprogress by someone calling themselves DOJ. There is another series of comments at Seixon's blog by several sock puppets who Seixon has identified as Leopold.

Continue reading "Another Lefty Melts Down"

Letter From A Marine

In my local paper today, there was a letter from a Marine who had served in Iraq. He was responding to someone who had written to the Editor condemning the Marines who are being investigated in the incident in Hidatha. His letter was something that reached my heart and even without his permission, I would like to reproduce it here for you, my beloved readers, it is that touching and that important:

To The Editor:
In response to Lee B.'s letter on Haditha:

I guess you were there at Haditha to witness these acts of desperation. I am a Marine combat veteran who served at Haditha in Iraq's Al Anbar province.

Maybe I missed you there when my fellow Marines would get ambushed on a daily basis in Haditha, or when my patrol was shelled by mortars and two juveniles were spotting for the insurgent mortar team.

I guess you were there when two Marines from my company were killed when their patrol was ambushed in the city, hit by an IED (improvised explosive device) under the watchful eyes of Iraqi civilians in the area who did nothing to warn them it was there. An IED is usually an artillery round, sometimes several artillery rounds tied together and set off by a remote control device. It is intended to cause massive trauma and death. The insurgents use this indiscriminately and they don't care if civilians are near our patrols.

Were you there when we found 10 Iraqi civilians beheaded, left on the side of the road by insurgents? Or when our sniper team caught two individuals planting two IEDs along our patrol route. One of them was a police officer, the other was a teenager. They were eliminated under our ROEs (rules of engagement), which define what they were doing as a hostile act and hostile intent.

I'm sure you remember going house to hourse, clearing each building in Haditha, or getting shelled every day while you set up and guarded a voting site for the citizens of Haditha. We were willing to provide escort for them because of the insurgency in Haditha, but I read there were no insurgents there, just women and children.

Haditha is a very active insurgent region. I can's answer for my fellow marines with Kilo 3/1 because I was not there with them. But I have experienced their struggle and fought in the same area. You say the firs casualty of war is truth. Well then, with all due respect, go to Iraq and see the truth for yourself. It will open your eyes. Semper fi.

Rene A.
Alamo, Texas.

I've never met Mr. A, though he lives in a town just a few miles from me. I've never been to Iraq. But I can tell you this, Mr. A.'s letter smacks of truth, hardship and a firm knowledge of the combat conditions in Iraq and I honor him for his service. Mr. A. some day, I hope you will let me buy you a beer.

Nobel “Peace� Laureate: “Kill Bush for the Children.�

You win Nobel Peace Prizes by saying bad things about the U.S. You might win two if you say that you want to kill the U.S. President, too. According to this article, Nobel peace laureate Betty Williams, campaigning for “children’s rights,� said the following to a group of young people on “Education Day� at an international event focusing on world peace.

Right now, I would love to kill George Bush. Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered.

God help the world when youth of today are led by a leftist activist this irrational and who wants our President dead—at her own hands, at that! But, maybe she forgot that V.P. Cheney would become President in that case, and you simply cannot go around killing Presidents until you finally get to a Democrat. I think there’s a law against that.

Again, as we often ask, what would be the reaction if a conservative had made a similar statement about a Democratic President? The left appears more nuts every day.

Oh, and for good measure, the “Nobel peace laureate� threw this one in:

There can be no sustainable peace if we fail to rise to the global challenge presented by climate change.

Remember, (1) killing Bush and (2) achieving peace through global warming are “for the children.� Does the left do anything that isn’t for the children—except abort them?

How to Waste A Perfectly Good $6,000

Trying to make Hillary Clinton Look Good

Clinton, the likely 2008 Democratic White House front-runner, ponied up nearly $3,000 in campaign cash for her blond tresses to get some presidential pampering from acclaimed D.C. stylist Isabelle Goetz. Recently released federal fund-raising records show Clinton shelled out $1,500 in April for Goetz to carefully craft her coiffure and another $1,000 for a camera-ready clip in May. She passed off both styling sessions as "media production" expenses.

She can also take credit for working the West Wing - the NBC version. Clinton paid Lacy an eye-popping $1,600 for some eye-lining in mid-May and another mind-boggling $1,300 for some makeup two weeks later. Again, Clinton justified the makeovers as a media production expense.

They might as well burned the money as waste it that way. Can you imagine the uproar if some Republican was caught using campaign funds in this manner? But, maybe it turned Bill on, if she ever sees him.

Did'ja Notice?

Has anyone besides me noticed that the left accepts the scientist's "consensus" on "Global Warming" cause "scientists" know better, but doesn't accept the Arab worlds "consensus" that Hezb'ollah is the aggressor here and needs to be stopped in spite of the fact that as muslims they probably know better also?

What is it with consensus? Is it the ruling meme or not? The world wants to know!!

PETA's Abandoned "Americans" in Lebanon

Put this in the "Only from the Left" category. PETA is upset with America's leadership for failing to evacuate animals from Lebanon. This from PETA's web site:

PETA has sent an urgent letter to Brig. Gen. Carl Jensen—the military commander in charge of U.S. evacuation operations in Lebanon—begging him to instruct his officers to help evacuees take their animals with them to safety and bringing international attention to the government’s failure to serve all Americans trapped in Lebanon.

While the French government has made provisions for animal evacuations, the U.S. is doing the opposite.

Please immediately urge President George W. Bush not to break the law by encouraging abandonment of companion animals and to ensure the safety of all Americans in Lebanon by ordering that citizens be allowed to evacuate with their animal companions.

The reference to all Americans, meaning that animals belonging to U.S. citizens are also Americans, is straight from PETA. Their priorities for evacuation might be "Dogs and cats first, women and children next, Republicans never."

Well, PETA, once you get the vote for animals, I'm sure that some Democrats will demand government paid passage home for them. The only question that I have is that for a dog to vote, does he have to be 18 in human years or dog years?

Now We Find Out: Kerry was better. Just ask him.

Boy, did we blow it. We had two choices for President and guess what we now find out from this article.

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass....took time to take a jab at the Bush administration for its lack of leadership in the Israeli-Lebanon conflict. "If I was president, this wouldn't have happened," said Kerry during a noon stop at Honest John's bar and grill in Detroit's Cass Corridor.

Do you think that Sen. Kerry stopped a little too long at Honest John's bar before making that statement? Did he mention leading some swift boat attacks to bring peace in Lebanon?

“Cry ‘HAVOC’ and let slip the dogs of war!�

No Pasaran has an interesting commentary:

Western tofs given to marching in the streets and staging absurd, Self Indulgent antics for the death of their ideological alignments and opponents last month are in no position to demand (an odd sort of) peace this month out of the other side of their mouths.

He is right of course, the left has a lengthy history of asking for peace, but what is peace? Is it just the absence of war? Or is it something else. Is it justice where an ideaological strain doesn't seek to dominate the world according to some 7th century madman? Is it where any faith can take another faith on its own merit and let it be? Is it where one nation can freely trade with another with out fear of being overwhelmed? Is it where children and women have rights, where gay's aren't stoned or thrown from buildings, where reporters aren't beheaded just becuse they are Jews?

It is all this and more. But to insure peace, we must also ask whom are we dealing. With terrorists? With rogue states? Can anyone name a rogue state that has kept its promises? Nazi Germany? The Soviet Union? North Vietnam? North Korea? Iran? Saddam's Iraq? No, none of these. How about Hezb'ollah? Hamas? The PLA? No, none of these either. So, in the current strife I'm curious as to why the left, the EU, etc are asking for "restraint" on the part of Israel because of the death of civilians? Did those same entities ask for restraint on the part of Hezb'ollah or Hamas or the PLA? No? Why am I not surprised.

War is a very nasty business as numerous countries in the last 100 years or so have discovered when they tried to subjigate other peoples, and yes, that includes the invasion of Iraq. A very nasty business and people and children and women die and property is destroyed. John Stewart Mill noted:

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

Perhaps Patrick Henry, in a single speech said it best:

For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
[...]
"I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry Hezb'ollah for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves..." (wording changed for effect)
[...]
"They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard terrorist shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power." (wording changed for effect)
[...]
"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

If this makes me a cheerleader for the Israelis or a "fighting 101^st keyboardist, so be it.

I Never Expected to Agree with Alan Dershowitz

The Anti-Israel Double Standard Watch by Alan Dershowitz

So here is the deal Israel should offer. If Hamas and Hezbollah think there is a moral equivalent between the Israeli soldiers they kidnapped and the terrorists who are being held by Israel, let them begin by treating the Israeli soldiers the way Israel treats its prisoners. Let the Red Cross visit them. Let them communicate with their families. Let them have access to judicial review. Of course, neither Hamas nor Hezbollah will do any such thing, because they are terrorist organizations who do not operate within the rule of law.

Those who support them, or who suggest a moral equivalency between terrorists who target civilians and soldiers who defend civilians, are morally obtuse--or worse.

And, to think that this is the same attorney who helped Patty Hearst and O.J. Simpson.

Don't You Know the French Are Mad

Congratulations to Floyd Landis and good for the U.S.

American Floyd Landis has won the Tour de France here following the 20th and final stage to succeed compatriot Lance Armstrong.

Think that the French will start trying to smear him, now? I gotta love it.

I've Bought My Last Persian Rug

Two can play this boycott game. From an alleged news source:

Parvin Heydari, an Iranian mother of two, was flipping back and forth between the nightly news and Oprah when a bulletin on an Iranian state channel caught her attention. It urged Iranians to boycott what it called "Zionist products," including those made by Pepsi, Nestle and Calvin Klein, and warned that profits from such products "are converted into bullets piercing the chests of Lebanese and Palestinian children." As evidence, the voice-over intoned, "Pepsi stands for 'pay each penny to save Israel.'"

But, the article continued:

Heydari says she changed the channel, as she has no intention of crossing Nestle's Nesquik off her shopping list. "Lebanon has nothing to do with us," she says. "We should mind our own business and concentrate on policies that are good for our economy, and our kids."

Okay, if she can continue buying American, then the least I can do is to continue buying oil from that region. Maybe there are a few sane voices rising up in the mideast. I wish they were in charge.

Drawing Says It All!

Found this at Dr. Sanity's place. She has an amazing ability to cut to the root of the problem.

As Dr. Sanity Says:

If you are unable to distinguish a moral difference between the two images below, then you have something obscuring your vision. Ideology perhaps?

Doc, I couldn't agree with you more.

There Are Moms and There Are Mothers And They Aren't The Same

Crusing through the blogosphere today I went to another mu.nu blog, Ace of Spades HQ. Ace has some unusually good reporting and this one was no different.

It seems as though Dakota Fanning's Mom Mother (cause she damn sure ain't no Mom) has decided to let Dakota star in an upcoming film called Hounddog. Dakota plays a 12 year old who gets raped because Mother has decided that the role had "Oscar" written all over it. Furthermore, Dakota gets to appear damn near nude with just her panties on. Cinematical says:

Though it's been done before, I was still somewhat shocked to read Dakota's mother and agent liked the explicit scenes, thinking they had Oscar written all over them. While that may be true, who in their right mind wants to see a 12-year-old girl stripped naked and raped on screen? Would you want to pay ten bucks for that?

Well, who would? Pedophiles would, I'm sure, and those who are into child pornography if even only to pleasure themselves. It is damn sure not a movie I would want to see, nor should any self respecting parent.

A tip 'O The GM Derby to Ace of Spades HQ

Why are people Leftists?

He answers the question better than I can, as any reason escapes me....

Why Are People Leftists?
By John J. Ray

The answer in five words: "Leftists need to feel superior".

Or, as T.S. Eliot famously put it: "Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm -- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves." (From the 1950 play "The cocktail party")

But now for the details: (Follow this link to article and related writings.)

I haven't read completely the writings from John Ray and, therefore, cannot vouch for all that he offers; however, he started off with a lead-off hit in my book.

G.M. Wastes Money to Appease Liberals

No, not that G.M. He has more sense than that. It's General Motors. I have to hand it to G.M. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz for his honesty, when he essentially said that it's easier to give in than to argue with liberals obsessed with saving the Earth over all reason and costs. This involves Lutz's statements on hybrid cars:

Hybrids are technologically of doubtful benefit, and expensive, but necessary from a political and public relations point of view.

Toyota has said, economically, hybrids make no sense. The reduction in fuel [consumption] does not pay for the technological content and cost of the vehicle so therefore economically it remains fairly nonsensical, so that's the left-brain analytical argument.

The right brain is it's the popular thing to do, many people believe that if we all drove hybrids the world would suddenly get cooler again and then it's the patriotic thing to do because if you drive a hybrid you will no longer be funding the Arab terrorists, and so forth.

So, with all those beliefs out there, you have to do a hybrid for public policy reasons.

Then, Lutz said in regards to G.M. entering the hybrid market after Toyota:

For Toyota, it was a huge, huge, immeasurably valuable PR coup. (GM's decision not to pursue a hybrid car) was a mistake from one aspect, and that's public relations and catering to the environmental movement.

Besides private businesses spending money just to make liberals feel good, how about government spending to subsidize hybrid cars? Well, people who purchase hybrids receive tax credits (not deductions, but the higher credits which are dollar for dollar) of around $2,000. If the car is so efficient and great, then why are U.S. taxpayers having to help people pay for them?

How many other bad business and government decisions have been made to cater to the "environmental (anti-capitalism) movement?" How many more bad decisions will be made, and at what costs, if you let them continue to have their way simply because they will not shut up until you do?

There has to be an end to this insanity somewhere.

Anonymous Lawyer

In the mail: Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman.

I had received an e-mail from Jeremy a few weeks ago regarding his new first novel and he was asking if Iwould read it and do a review. Of course, since he was so polite and an attorney I said yes; didn't want my fanny sued for being obstreperous, after all, you know all about lawyers don't you? The book finally arrived after being tossed about in the US Mail for a week or so and I took it with me today to read while at the Doctors office. My doc is going on a short trip so he rescheduled his appointments for tomorrow and Friday to today and the result was one long wait.

The protagonist of the book is the Hiring Partner of a large, wealthy, busy law firm. He is the epitome of the self centered, snobbish, narcissistic, ego-maniac lawyer (Hmm, sounds like maybe a prototypical robber baron perhaps). His antics in the firm so far hilarious to say the least. A small sample? I don't think Jeremy will mind (Note, in the firm, there is a brand new chairman of the firm. Anonymous Lawyer who is just starting to blog is really wanting to be the ONE when this chairman is forced out/retires. His only competition is a lawyer who started the same time as Anonymous Lawyer and who AL calls "The Jerk"):

I passed The New Chairman in the hall on the way back from the bathroom. The stress of three days on the job looked like it was getting to him. He seemed fatter than usual. "You didn't stay too long at my picnic on Saturday," I said to him. "I was hoping you'd get a chance to see the house."

"[The Jerk} wanted to get me up to speed on what's going on in litigation. Before I even knew what was happening, we were at The Palm talking about new avenues of business for the firm to start exploring in the Asian market. I'll see the house some other time. I heard the event went well."

"It did. I'd love to engage in theAsian discussions as well, if you think my input would be useful."

"I didn't know you knew anything about the Asian market," he said.

"Sure I do. My neighbor's Asian. Chinese, I think."

But, I digress. As it turned out, I didn't mind the wait one little bit. It gave me a chance to start treading. And what a read it is. I've only read the first 75 pages of a 272 page book, but I haven't chuckled/smiled/laughed this much reading a book for a long, long time. In fact, a couple of times, I got a couple of very strange looks in the waiting room of the Oncologist's office. "How dare someone laugh when most of us have cancer" the looks seemed to say. But you know what folks, this book is such a delight, I'm taking it with me for my next chemo treatment on Friday. I don't think I'll mind the treatment one bit. Thanks Jeremy, and I'm adding your blog to my list on the right. It's that good folks, even if Jeremy IS a lawyer.

The Press Does Its Job

Yeah, right. This press did its job on this--if its job is slanting. An article reporting President Bush's veto of certain stem cell funding does not seem to report the veto exactly like the White House described it.

President George W. Bush will cast the first veto of his presidency on Wednesday to stop legislation championed by top scientists and desired by most Americans to expand embryonic stem cell research, the White House said.

"the White House said"...?! White House said??!! Do you think the above wording was in the press release?

Yeah, the press did its job...slant and distort news from the White House. (I'm sure that leftists reading the quote couldn't find anything wrong with it.) If that journalist keeps it up, he'll earn a high paying job with the New York Times or CBS. Surely, no bias was intended--no more than my sarcasm is.

Government Out of Control

It's one thing to get upset with government bureaucracy, government stupidity, and government power. It's another thing when those are combined to wreck your life with a long and humiliating investigation covering something that common sense could have dismissed. Read about the tale of a family that took pictures of their kids on a camping trip and the nightmare that they faced when an untrained drug store employee notified the Department of Family and Children's Services about his interpretation of those pictures that he developed. It's a nightmare that I wouldn't wish on anyone. The following link goes to the story. Read all of it and check some of the comments from their readers, too.

They called me a child pornographer (From Salon)
I took some photos of my kids naked on a camping trip. A drugstore employee called the police -- and my family's life became a living hell.

I don't want to diminish the horror of child abuse and the need for protecting abused children. I suspect that G.M. has an even greater appreciation for that and may have some stories from his work that would be too hard for me to hear. However, government, in many cases, just casts too broad of a net and causes unnecessary damage that will never be forgotten or repaired.

I know two families who have suffered from unsubstatiated accusations of child abuse. In one situation, the parents did not agree to a medical procedure for their new born child, as they felt that the treatment was premature and excessive. (The mom was a health care provider herself, and it turned out that she was correct.) The doctor reported them to authorities for child abuse for not taking his advice, and they had to undergo extensive investigations and home visits. Another parent was in a doctor's waiting room with her child when the child decided to test the limits of patience by acting terrible. The mom clarified the limits with a good swat to the child's bottom. Result? The doctor's receptionist called authorities reporting child abuse, and that parent's nightmare started. Even though there was no crime, the parent was warned that she only gets one pass and that the child will be taken into protective custody with just the filing of another complaint.

If government cared so much about "the children," then it would try to help their parents rather than turn their lives upside down. If it cared for the children, then government would properly train it's workers to recognize and handle real cases and to distinguish them from false accusations. Real victims need help and need those resources being wasted chasing down frivolous claims.

Are government workers being stupid, afraid to apply good judgment to poorly written laws, trying to justify their jobs, or maybe getting a charge out of their power (which may be the case when they won't give it up?) Whatever the problem, they need to make changes so that these nightmares don't become a continued problem for parents who love and care for their children. Currently 60-70% of such claims are without merit. That's too high of a miss ratio and indicates that government has more problems than do parents.

The job of protecting children is important and must be hard. That's why it should be done right without the usual government ineptness.

Found at Nealz Nuze

Can This Be Confirmed?

From YNET News comes this tidbit:

The IDF has found that Hizbullah is preventing civilians from leaving villages in southern Lebanon. Roadblocks have been set up outside some of the villages to prevent residents from leaving, while in other villages Hizbullah is preventing UN representatives from entering, who are trying to help residents leave. In two villages, exchanges of fire between residents and Hizbullah have broken out. (Hanan Greenberg)

Does anyone know if this can be confirmed? If so, Hizb'Allah is even worse than even I thought, and that is saying something. What would the arabic be for the name "Party of the Devil?"

A tip 'O The GM Derby to ¡No Pasárn!

Your Vote on My Ballot [Updated]

My primary ballot for Tuesday's vote has the questions below. How would you vote on the following Yes/No questions and why?

[Update] The election results are now shown after each question. Question 2A, directing Congress to enforce our immigration laws and to protect our borders, seems to show a decidedly different view on this issue between this group of voters and Congress.

1. Do you support the Fair Tax, which establishes a national retail sales tax on all new goods and services, and which would eliminate all federal income taxes? [Yes-85% No-15%]

2. How should be federal government deal with the problem of illegal immigration now facing the nation? (Vote Yes/No on both A & B)

- A. The U.S. Government should actively enforce current immigration laws, secure our country's borders and permit only those lawfully entering the United States legal status? [Yes 95% No 5%]

- B. The U.S. Government should establish a guest worker program for those illegal residents in this country, thus establishing a path to legal residency? [Yes 49% No 51%]

3. Do you favor naming a public building, road, and/or landmark in the county to honor President Ronald Reagan? [Yes 71% No 29%]

These questions are found on the Republican ballot and not on the Democratic one. Big surprise. I also bet that you will not find these questions on ballots in Massachusetts, New York, or California. One of my votes might surprise you.

I Stand With Israel

From a 2002 artical by Oriana Fallaci:

I find it shameful that in Italy there should be a procession of individuals dressed as suicide bombers who spew vile abuse at Israel, hold up photographs of Israeli leaders on whose foreheads they have drawn the swastika, incite people to hate the Jews. And who, in order to see Jews once again in the extermination camps, in the gas chambers, in the ovens of Dachau and Mauthausen and Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen et cetera, would sell their own mother to a harem.

I find it shameful that the Catholic Church should permit a bishop, one with lodgings in the Vatican no less, a saintly man who was found in Jerusalem with an arsenal of arms and explosives hidden in the secret compartments of his sacred Mercedes, to participate in that procession and plant himself in front of a microphone to thank in the name of God the suicide bombers who massacre the Jews in pizzerias and supermarkets. To call them "martyrs who go to their deaths as to a party."

I find it shameful that in France, the France of Liberty-Equality-Fraternity, they burn synagogues, terrorize Jews, profane their cemeteries. I find it shameful that the youth of Holland and Germany and Denmark flaunt the kaffiah just as Mussolini's avant garde used to flaunt the club and the fascist badge.

I find it shameful that in nearly all the universities of Europe Palestinian students sponsor and nurture anti-Semitism. That in Sweden they asked that the Nobel Peace Prize given to Shimon Peres in 1994 be taken back and conferred on the dove with the olive branch in his mouth, that is on Arafat. I find it shameful that the distinguished members of the Committee, a Committee that (it would appear) rewards political color rather than merit, should take this request into consideration and even respond to it. In hell the Nobel Prize honors he who does not receive it.

Go read the whole thing here.
I found this before at Dr. Sanity and it is worth putting up again

A tip 'O The GM Derby to Dr. Sanity who's article "THE EVOLULTIONARY DEAD-END OF ISLAM" is a terrific read. Go read it all.

UPDATE: Shrinkwrapped (one of my very favorites) has an excellent essay up on "The Limits of Intelligence" including some very informative links. Go Read it all.

Refreshingly Undiplomatic

"What they need to do it to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this sh*t."
...................George W. Bush, not realizing that a mic was picking up his words to Tony Blair, Prime Minister of England.

A tip 'O The GM Derby to Katheryn Jean Lopez of NRO's "The Corner"

Is Stupidity Necessary In "The Academy?"

This week, I've not spent much time scouring the blogosphere as I got ready for my first internet radio show (which didn't go very well given some technical glitches (see the post below). So, today when I resumed looking for some interesting items to share with you, my beloved readers of the left and the right, I visited an old friend's blog Reasonable Prudence by Todd Pearson and noted his "pique" at the University of Wisconson-Madison.

It seems that academic freedom includes teaching B.S. (and no, that doesn't stand for Bachelor of Science). A professor there (actually, he is a part time lecturer), if one can reasonably call him one who professes, is teaching a course in which he holds forth that the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11 was "9-11 was probably an American operation to launch a war on Islam countries." This is a part of the course that Kevin Barrett will be teaching entitled "Islam: Religion and Culture." Of course, he also must believe then that flight 93 didn't occur or that the Pentagon was not hit by a plane as opposed to some of the loonier claims by paranoid conspiracy folk on the left (and maybe a few on the right as well, though I've not seen those.)

Vinnie, blogging at Jawa Report (another mu.nu blog) has a video up that is very impressive and lays that conspiracy b.s. to rest in "Myth Busted." I've copied it from YouTube for your education, elucidation and your edification and because it's my blog. Thanks Vinnie, thanks Todd!

In Case You're Wondering!

I Stand WithIsrael

Best Of Me Symphony

The Best of Me Symphony is up at The Owners Manual. Great eading from a number of fine blogs.

Navy Seal Needs Help

From Michele Malkin comes a referral for a Navy Seal that needs help:
From The Washington Times (in it's entirety):

Rare is the occasion when a Navy SEAL needs help from his fellow Americans. Perhaps even rarer is the day an ordinary American can help a Navy SEAL. But Justin, 27, whose last name is not being disclosed at the request of the Defense Department, is in need, and Americans, especially readers in the Washington area, have an opportunity to help.

Last month, the Iraq war veteran was diagnosed with leukemia, which is normally treated with chemotherapy. Justin, however, has a rare condition that makes his best chance of survival dependent on a bone marrow transplant. Tragically, neither of Justin's siblings -- who often are the best match for transplants -- is a suitable donor. This makes the chance of finding a donor, according to Justin's sister, Jodi, about one in 25,000. Unless a match can be found, leukemia patients often die within months.

So, last week Justin's hometown newspaper, the East Brunswick, N.J., Sentinel, published a story asking local residents for help. While the Navy SEALs are busy conducting their own donor search, the potential donor field could be increased significantly if Washington-area readers are able to drive the three hours to Spotswood, N.J., where on Saturday the local high school is holding a one-day donor search, courtesy of the Defense Department's Donor Program (www.dodmarrow.org).

Testing is painless. Volunteers would be administered a simple swab on the inside of the cheek to find out if they're a match. That's it. In the rare case you are a match, the marrow extraction process itself is also relatively simple. The procedure includes the taking of a small amount of marrow via needle from the back of the pelvic bone, according to the Defense Department's Donor Program, at either Georgetown University Hospital or the University of Maryland's Greenbaum Medical Center in Baltimore. Patients are fully anesthetized at all times. Concerned readers are encouraged to contact Eddy Medina of the Defense Department program (800-627-7693 ext. 223) to learn more about the testing and procedure.

As quoted in the Sentinel, Justin's sister said: "When he was told that there was only a 30 percent chance of recovery, he replied, 'That's good. There was only a 10 percent chance of me becoming a SEAL'.?" The drive is being held at Spotswood High School, 105 Summerhill Road, Spotswood, N.J., this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

As one who is currently undergoing Chemo-Therapy for cancer, I can appreciate the fear that Justin and his family are currently experiencing. If you can help, please, please call The Department of Defense (800-627-7693 ext. 223). A simple swab of the cheek might just save this young man's life. If you are a blogger reading this, please spread the word. Thanks Michele, your intervention is greatly appreciated.

Michael Yon is also spreading the word (and is the source of the photo) as is Black Five

Why the Left is Ignoring the War

As per Kevin Drum at the Washington Monthly:

1. It sparks unusually vicious comment threads

Completely understand Kevin No reason to rile up the natives.

2. The fight between Israel and the Palestinians is over half a century old and seems intractable."Both sides need to ratchet down the rhetoric and rein in their own extremists." Aside from being pointless, there are only just so many ways you can say this.

You are absolutely right Kevin. You could instead try the truth for once; like Israel pulled out of Gaza unconditionally and in return got hundreds of rockets launched from Gaza into Israel, incursions from Gaza and Lebanon where Israeli soldiers were killed and kidnapped.
This is not a case of both sides being equally guilty. Hamas is guilty, Hezbollah is guilty, The Lebanese government and the UN are guilty of not disarming Hezbollah 6 years after Israels withdrawal from Lebanon (honoring their part in a UN resolution) and after said UN resolution called for Hezbollah to disarm. And of course Syria and Iran are guilty of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.

3. The conflict is fantastically complex, and the partisans on both sides are mostly people who have been following events with fanatical attention to detail for many decades.

Actually it is quite simple as I explained above. In all fairness yes if you wish to go back to 1967, or 1948, or before the birth of Christ it gets very complex. We don't apply those standards anywhere else in the world. Only in this case is the world guilty of applying such twisted logic and nonsensical arguments.

4. As with the conflict itself, punditry is heavily dominated by extremists on both sides.

That hasn't ever stopped you before.

5. Related to 1 and 3, posts that display any sense of sympathy for the Palestinians run the risk of provoking a shitstorm of accusations of anti-semitism.

No doubt some hardline supporters of Israel are guilty of this. In my experience more often than not the anti-Semites are the ones who get accused of anti-Semitism.

Although I find your explanations severely lacking you certainly did a much better job than anyone else on the left, so I guess you should be commended for it.

Just curious, when exactly do you think you might be ready to talk about this war?

After Israel bombs Syria? After Iran attacks Israel? After one side or the other employees some form of WMD? Would any of those events rise to a level of importance worthy of the left's attention?

Unfogged Agrees with Kevin's rationale, and cites Hugh Hewitt as one of the right wing extremists.

Kevin's first commentor isn't very kind.

A political blog will be pretty lame without an opinion on an active war.

This post is also available at TheRealUglyAmerican.com

Michael Meyn Interviews Bill Clinton (...Interviews?... yes, Interviews...ed)

My good friend Michael Meyn writing at Misunderestimated Germans has an interview up with Bill Clinton. I laughed my fanny off. So will you!

UPDATE: Civil Truth, a fine fellow indeed reminds me that Michael recently took the oath and has become a United States Citizen. Michael, as I said in an email to you, as both a native born and naturalized American Citizen (yes, there is a rational explanation) welcome and I'm proud to call you brother. I'm adding the video that your friend made, because as CT says: it'll leave a lump in your throat. The post is here, and the video is
here

What Does A Living Wage Look Like?

UNDER THE SPREADING CHESTNUT TREE THE VILLAGE SMITHY SNOOZES,
NO HORSE SINCE 1933 HAS COME TO HIM FOR SHOESES.
The Democratic Party and the left (not always the same thing) have been agitating for a substantial raise, to a "living wage" the federal minimum wage law. Currently, and for many years, the federal minimum wage has been $5.15 an hour and the generic left (in which this time I'm including the Democrats) would like to see that raised. I've seen suggestions ranging from $6.00 an hour up to $12.00 an hour. When anyone suggests that price increases passed on by businesses and or job loss from small firms may result, the outcry typically is that Republicans and Conservatives (again, not necessarily the same thing) hate the poor and don't want the rich to have to pay anything out of their pockets. And, depending on the blog you go to, the language to describe generic conservatives (this time I'm including Republicans) is a whole lot worse.

Well, the fact of the matter is that there will be a tradeoff. Companies, large and small will either have to raise prices and/or lay folk off in order to keep profit margins within the realm of feasibility. What's that you say? No they won't? How silly, of course they will. No politician is going to pass a law limiting profit (unless it's big oil and a windfall profits tax - and you see how well the last one worked) because they know that the funds for re-election come essentially from the pockets of investors and owners of small and large businesses. So, ask for the moon, you have as much a chance of getting that.

But, I digress, back to the issue of the minimum wage. Many states and localities have already passed minimum wages for residents in their respective political subdivisisons, so why aren't the generic leftists prodding them for increases and the rest of the country to catch up? Simple really, again politics. To effectively "buy" votes for the Democratic Party, there needs to be a national stage for Democratic politicians to run from.

It just won't do to have a bunch of Democrats touting a higher minimum wage as a local issue (although they are doing so for state wide initiatives). Ahhhh, but "The Democratic Party forced the administration to raise the minimum wage can be a national cry and be much more effective. But, that is still not the whole answer.

The rest of the answer lies in the amount of the raise. If $9.00 an hour is "OK" but not where it should be, why stop at $9.00, or $10.00 or even $15.00? Let us go all the way to $30.00 an hour for all entry level jobs, regardless of skills, education, or experience. Those don't matter anyway, because a minimum wage is just that... the minimum that you can pay someone for work received. But, you know, I've never had a generic lefty say "OK, you bet, let's do it." They all say something along the lines of "Don't be ridiculous." But, I'm not being ridiculous! If that, or some other figure exceeding a figure of say $18.00 an hour is what it takes to reach the "livable wage" criteria, why heck, lets do it.

If we did however, while the Democrats could claim victory for that election's pandering, it wouldn't hold up over the long term. No, not even close, in fact the resulting economic displacement and chaos would be horrendous. You see, the Democratic party really doesn't give a damn my dear, about the "little guy" they only want policies that insure his vote. Look at all the "grand coalition" of special interest groups called the Democratic Party and where they are today. The Democrats ruled congress and the senate from 1954 through 1994, with a single exception of the U.S. Senate on the coattails of Ronald Reagan's landslide, and that only lasted a couple of years. Are those groups substantially any better off now than they were then? Blacks? The Poor? The Hungry? The Homeless? Labor? Or, as it seems to me the Dems are running on the same issues that they have always run on? Except of course when a Democrat is in the White House. Whole different ballgame then friends.

So, why not raise the minimum wage all the way at one time? Because they want to use that issue again, and again, and again. $7.00 an hour now, in a couple of years, another $0.75 then another a dozen years after that. Each time decrying the lack of a livable wage. Yeppers dearly beloved readers, a platform they can run on forever, and never be held accountable for. No wonder the horses haven't been to the smithy since '33, same old tired platform, same old tired policy.

Thoughtful comments from generic lefties requested. No vitriol please or I'll take your comment down.

More on the Minimum Wage and other egregious fibs from my good friend Donald Luskin on my blogroll, who writes "The Conspiracy To Keep You Poor And Stupid." By the Bye, if Luskin isn't on your favorites list, he ought to be.

GM's Corner Experiences Technical Disaster

What a night tonight was. Shortly after signing on, my computer froze up and I had to re-boot. Then, sound faded on my mic for some unknown reason (perhaps I developed a liberal gremlin on my hard drive perhaps I just had too many windows open). At any rate, Rick Calvert, my guest, did a fantastic job with Kender filling in for me as I tried to clear up problems on this end. I will set up a dedicated computer in a spare room so that this will not probably will not happen again. At any rate, for those of you listening, thanks for tuning in and thanks for supporting GM's Corner. Onward and Upward!

Children's Books for Healthy Minds

reg, our unbalanced commenter, often recommends books to me such as Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed and Help! Mom! Hollywood's in My Hamper!--both charming children's books to help mold innocent minds into good citizens. Without his help, I have found a new book to help them understand the world today. It used to be that we had to warn our children to avoid strangers. But, now we see that there are greater dangers by associating with liberals, so we now offer this new fare. Enjoy!

.

Found at Grouchy Old Cripple in Atlanta

GM's Corner is On the Air Tonight

Catch it on www.wideawakesradio.com click on the microphone logo and have a listen. My special guest tonight is Rick Calvert, proprietor of The Real Ugly American (http://therealuglyamerican.com/) and Rick has a lot to say. So, join us and if you have a question or three for Rick call us a 1-888-407-1776. That is 1-888 Fourth of July, Seventeen Seventy Six... 1-888-407-1776.

Valerie "Plame Nuts" [Updated]

This should be good. Valerie Plame is suing V.P. Dick Cheney, Presidential advisor Karl Rove, and others saying that they ruined her career by leaking her identity as a CIA employee. The law suit can be found at The Smoking Gun. Hey, Valerie, while you're at it, sue your husband Joe Wilson, too, because of this report from National Review:

So if Novak did not reveal that Valerie Plame was a secret agent, who did? The evidence strongly suggests it was none other than Joe Wilson himself.

Was she even a covert agent? Was she outed? After an exhaustive investigation, special counsel Pat Fitzgerald hedged his answer in a press conference:

Let me say two things. Number one, I am not speaking to whether or not Valerie Wilson was covert. And anything I say is not intended to say anything beyond this: that she was a CIA officer from January 1st, 2002, forward. I will confirm that her association with the CIA was classified at that time through July 2003. And all I'll say is that, look, we have not made any allegation that Mr. Libby knowingly, intentionally outed a covert agent.

Her $2.5 million book deal didn't work out, so she may have found some lawyer's name from a television ad to help her manufacture a claim. Maybe the lawyer can go for whiplash after Plame's head gets snapped so fast after the lawsuit is tossed out. For someone who pretended to want anonymity, she sure likes the public spotlight.

But, if her and her husband's name is new to you, then you can learn more from "Who's Who" beginning in 1999, during Clinton's presidency. Wow! How secret can that be?

Valerie Plame doesn't sound like a secret agent. She just sounds like another shrill Democrat after a fast buck, some fame, and hatred for the Bush administration. Maybe she and Cindy Sheehan should have coffee together some time--after the hunger strike is over, of course.

[Update]

What a bad break for Plame...Wilson and Plame drew Judge John D. Bates -- and a quick glance at his rulings will no doubt have the Left fuming.

Democrats New "Champagne and No Shame Campaign"

We could sub-title this post "Democrats Show Disgusting Hypocrisy - Part 10,482." Do you remember when the Democrats and the left became vitriolic in condemning President Bush's campaign ads which used three seconds of footage from the destroyed World Trade Center in a defining moment of his leadership? They said that it was exploitive and insensitive--in their more polite moments. Well, now the Democrats are using footage of the caskets of American soldiers killed in combat for their ads, but no outrage there, of course! No insensitivity or exploitation either, I guess.

Here are mild examples of the left's earlier feigned "outrage" of Bush's ad: Salon with "Has Bush no shame," over to The Nation with "Exploiting 9/11, Badly," at Working for Change with "Bush exploiting 9/11", and a brief recap of them with comments from Little Green Footballs. The Democrats had similar attacks that can be found from a search but have become inaccessible.

Now, you can view this new Democratic campaign ad showing rows of the soldiers coffins, courtesy of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. No hypocrisy here, huh?

At least President Bush cared about the 9-11 victims and has defended America so that we have not had another such attack at this point, with no help from the left. This is unlike the Democrats who break out the champagne every time another milestone is reached by the deaths of American soldiers, whom they never really supported.

Let's wait for the outrage from Salon, The Nation, the mass media, and wacko leftists sites. I'm afraid that there will be a strong silence from them regarding this and the Democrats.

Bush showed respect for the 9-11 victims. The Democrats do not respect our military, but they can use its and our dead soldiers to try to get votes.

I guess that the Democrat's new ad and movement could be titled "The Champagne and No Shame Campaign." How disgusting for them.

Advice For Novice Bloggers

One of the better writers out in the blogosphere is Sister Toldjah (She has been on my blogroll for some time) who has written an exceptional bit of advice to new bloggers. If you are thinking about blogging and need a little good advice, check her post out. You won't go wrong. She has another equally good post here.

UPDATE: My friend Raven also has some excellent advice for Novice Bloggers here.

Wide Awakes Radio Is ON THE AIR

Wide Awakes Radio is On The Air. Click the microphone below or the one in the upper right hand corner of this blog and tune in. Go to http://wideawakesradio.com for the latest in scheduling. You can catch GM's Corner Thursday nights at 9:00 PM Central Time staring your own, your beloved, ME!

It Takes the Mind of a Liberal

The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled it constitutional for citizens to vote on an amendment which would overturn the ruling allowing gay marriage. What I have trouble with is the basis of the lawsuit opposing the right to vote on the amendment. Read this paragraph from the AP Article carefully with emphasis mine:

The ruling came on a lawsuit brought by gay-rights supporters who argued that Attorney General Tom Reilly was wrong to certify the question because the state's constitution bars any citizen-initiated amendment that seeks to reverse a judicial ruling.

I'm not making a statement on the issue at hand and I'm not making a legal judgment, but is there something wrong with this rationale? If a judge makes a ruling, which may overturn a legislative act, then no one should have the right to vote on overturning the judges later on--ever?! Why don't we just get rid of governors and legislators and even the voters?

It takes the mind of a liberal to come up with such a twisted scheme for governing. This time the justices ruled on the law rather than their preferences. But, if it were not for activist judges in most cases, the left wouldn't have much say so in government.

The Best Of Me Symphony is UP

The Best of Me Symphony is up over at "The Owners Manual." Some very good reading including one of my pieces. Go on over and take a gander at some of the older posts, but posts that are very good and that you may have missed.

Cheers!

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

Enough already! I've had it! Knock it off! I am sick and tired of Americans, Europeans and others comparing their political opponents to Nazi's. It is rampant in the blogosphere, it is rampant in political advertising, it is rampant in the MSM and it is absolutely disgusting. The latest is in Michigan where some political action committee is attempting to lure the black vote away from Gov. J. Granholm but by using Nazi Images. This is not acceptable to anyone with any degree of rationality. Richard (Dick) DeVos, the Republican candidate for Governor has condemned the ad as has the incumbent Jennifer Granholm. The folks that placed the ad, Voice the Vote defended the ad:

Political consultant Adolph Mongo helped put the ad together and defended the use of the Hitler image.

“Nobody is saying that Granholm and Hitler are the same person; it’s just telling a story,� Mongo told the Detroit Free Press.

“Black voters are not getting any love from Jennifer Granholm and the Democratic Party and that’s what this ad is about,� Nataki Harbin, Mongo’s stepdaughter and the PAC’s treasurer, told The Detroit News."

OK, fine, tell them that the Democratic party has used the black vote for its own purposes without any real benefit to blacks, outline your proof; but damn it, you don't have to use one of the most heinous regimes in history to do it; and you ARE using a Hitlerian imagery to do it say that Granholm is like a Nazi denying it just makes you look stupid.

In fact, the reality is that Nazi accusations are so rampant in the political process we have Godwin's Law:

Godwin's Law (also Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies) is a mainstay of internet culture, an adage formulated by Mike Godwin in 1990.

It states:

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

Godwin observed that people had increasingly begun to compare anyone and anything they mildly disliked with Hitler and/or Fascism.

Godwin has stated that Godwin's Law does not dispute whether, in a particular instance, a reference or comparison to Hitler or the Nazis might be apt. It is precisely because such a reference or comparison may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued, that hyperbolic overuse of the Hitler/Nazi comparison should be avoided. Avoiding such hyperbole, he argues, is a way of ensuring that when valid comparisons to Hitler or Nazis are made, such comparisons have the appropriate impact.

Although in one of its early forms Godwin's Law referred specifically to Usenet discussions, the law is now applied to any threaded online discussion: electronic mailing lists, message boards, chat rooms, and so on."

In an article on being compared to Hitler, Beautiful Atrocities notes:

IN THE FUTURE, EVERYONE WILL BE HITLER FOR 15 MINUTES

Rick Santorum compares Democrats to Hitler

Robert Byrd compares Republicans to Hitler

John Glenn compares Republicans to Hitler

Martha Stewart compared to Hitler

The Gallery of Bush=Hitler Allusions

George Soros: Worse than Hitler

Dick Durbin Compares Nazi Holocaust (6m dead), Stalin's gulag (18m dead), & killing fields of Pol Pot (2m dead) to Gitmo (0 dead) [Note, there are many more links in this article, go read them all]

Then there is this photo(?) of Bush:

In all, you can do a Google search using the search phrase "Comparisons To Hitler" and find over 4 million, yes, that is MILLION entries and that is only one search engine. It is disgusting.

Yesterday, my blog friend Joerg Wolf corrected a misconception regarding Hitler imagery and the "Deutschland Uber Alles" and did a great job. Joerg, as a German National is understandably upset that there are still misconceptions regarding Nazism and Hitler and that those sobriquets are still applied to the Germans and German character. I agree with Joerg, as does any rational human. However, if you read the article and then the comment thread, you will find that the comments rapidly devolve from the "misconception" to the war in Iraq. What the heck is going on here? Cannot people stay on thread, can't any political discussion about a single topic stay on topic. I'm not saying that there is no right to comment on any blog about anything you want to, but geeze folks, how long before one of the commenter’s, or Saddam H. or Joerg is compared to a Nazi? How long will that thread go on before some one makes an accusation that someone in the thread is a secret fascist?

I spent many years in Germany as a child, in fact, I was born there. Indeed some of my most vivid memories of Germany were bombed out and burned buildings, the shells still standing in Frankfurt, Bad Nauheim, Stuttgart and other places. Of seeing concentration camps and understanding how far an anti-human regieme can go. It is not pretty folks, not pretty at all and the current trend to compare anyone's political stripes to that of Hitler is abominable.

It has to stop, and it has to stop now.

Clearing Up A Misconception

Recently, the British paper "The Independent" published an article on the World Cup Games in which Germans, waving Israeli flags sang the German National Anthem:

When it came to the national anthem and its opening line "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles", so often accompanied by uncertainty and shoe-gazing, much of the 65,000-strong crowd rose to their feet and joined in, as did the national team.

This in turn was picked up by The Winds of Change and Instapundit. Well, just goes to show you can't believe everything you read in the paper.

Joerg Wolf, writing in Atlantic Review does an excellent job of letting people know that the German National Anthem is the THIRD stanza of a song written in 1841:

"Deutschland über alles" ('Germany above all') is not the national anthem, but the first stanza of the Deutschlandlied (Song of the Germans) written in 1841.

Because the Nazis misused and reinterpreted the first stanza, Germany's national anthem consists now only of the third stanza of the Deutschlandlied, i.e. the crowd was singing "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" ('Unity and rule of law and freedom').

In fact, singing the first stanza, "Deutschland über alles", is associated with the Nazis only.

As someone who was born in Germany, and still has strong ties to the wonderful peoples there, and who occasionally disagrees with their foreign policy, I'm glad that Joerg has made the effort to clear up the misconception. It is a great article, go read it all, drop Joerg a note or a comment and tell him GM sent you.

Carnival of the Insanities is UP and Running

Dr. Sanity has her new Carnival Of The Insanities up.. and it's a damn good one this time (of course it is ALWAYS a damn good one, but this time it has one of my posts included) Drop by and see how insane the left can be when they put their (pseudo?) minds to it.

Wide Awakes Radio Keeps Technicians Wide Awake

A Wide Awakes Radio update early this morning from Kender describes a technical hold for this morning's startup. I think it has something to do with discovering a crack in the foam--in his beer.

As It Stands, by Kender on 07-09-06 @ 2:38 am MT.

It is 2:38 A.M here on the West Coast at the HQ of W.A.R. as I write this message, and I am beyond dog-snot-tired.

We were going to go live in a little less than an hour from right now, but we’re not. We have a small problem with the computers here, between our encoder and sound. We will have it worked out.

When you see the “Listen Live� Button in the top left side, you will know we are back up. Keep checking back, as we are returning….

Thanks for listening…..errr…well not really listening yet, but thanks because you’re gonna listen……you are gonna listen, right?

Kender and his technicians are real troopers and their work is appreciated. It will be well worth the effort. After the radio gets on the air, we won't have to worry about any cracks except those where leftists have stuck their heads. (I hope G.M. doesn't read that.)

We'll post an update as soon as we're aware that broadcasting has started.

Be sure to tune in this afternoon to listen and participate with G.M. His post yesterday has the Sunday special premier schedule, with G.M.'s time slot between 4:00 and 5:00 CDT, as of now. Have some comments and tough questions for him, unless you're a leftist in which both likely would be just plain stupid.

Get ready!

When Free Speech Isn't

I'm wondering when folk on the left will learn that the First Amendment does not mean that free speech and a free press does not have consequences. I have every right to stand up to someone and call them any name I want. I also have the responsibility to accept the consequences for those actions and if the consequence is a punch in the nose, I don't have the right to claim that my freedom of speech is being restricted.

The Dixie Chicks should have figured this out by now. I'm not sure that they have.

The New York Times is claiming that it has a right to publish the SWIFT program even though they had been asked not to because of National Security questions. Yet, the NYTimes felt that it's right to publish (First Amendment Rights) trumped the governments need for secrecy. Too bad, now there will be consequences and those consequences will be the sole responsibility of the NYTimes.

Those Consequences may include charges being filed against the leaker (here's hoping there are), charges filed against the reporter and publisher (again, here's hoping) and significant possibility that al Qaeda and their fellow islamo-fascists have adjusted their money laundering schemes and that good people in Iraq, including our military, in Afghanistan and around the world may die. Hey NYTimes, don't like that. Tough, that is the consequence of your actions perhaps and it rests solely with you for exercising your rights to free speech.

Of course, I'm not the only one thinking so; check out these editorial cartoons:

Continue reading "When Free Speech Isn't"

Wide Awakes Radio Is Back ON THE AIR!

Wide Awakes Radio premiered July 4, 2006, the 230th birthday of the United States of America. It was entirely too successful and we "melted" the server on the first day because there was a far larger response and a far greater number of listeners than even we anticipated. But we also obtained a new dedicated server which is even now being installed as I type this post.

Yours truly will have his opening shot at the liberals, the confused,
Democrats (wait, those are all the same thing aren't they?) TOMORROW at 4PM Central time... that will be 3PM Mountain Time and 2PM Pacific time as well as at 5PM Eastern.

I'm excited... I'm delighted... My first guest will be Rick who writes a great blog at The Real Ugly American. Rick describes himself as a classical liberal who is still a Democrat trying to streighten out his party (good luck with that Rick). He also considers me his blogfather though truth be told, he was blogging a little bit already and sent me an e-mail asking for some tips. I responded being the kinky kind and wonderful person that I am and we soon talked on the phone and I have a great friend out of this deal.

Rick has taken his blog to great heights and will no doubt eclipse his blogfather's efforts in the years to come (don't try too hard Rick, if you do it will only take months... ) but you know what, every "parent" is thrilled when his progeny does exceptionally well and I'm no different. Go Rick Go!

So, be sure and tune in tomorrow by clicking on the Wide Awakes Radio Logo in my upper right side bar or go to http://www.wideawakesradio.com and look for the microphone logo to click on. Either way, it will take you to hours of the most exciting thing to come along on the internet in years (is this where I'm supposed to thank OwlGore?) and it is an opportunity to call in, to listen carefully and to hear what conservative America has to say.

Other shows tomorrow will be (all times listed as Central) Dave and Glen of Total Kaos At 7AM; Rick Moran of Right Wing Nuthouse at 8AM; the Mad Tech of Ravings Of A Mad Tech at 9AM; Brian Bonner, of Uncooperative Radio at 1PM; Ms. Underestimated of, you guessed it, Ms. Underestimated at 2PM; Basil of Basil's Blog at 3PM; Yours truly GM of GM's Corner at 4PM; Cao & TD, Cao of Cao's Blog and TD (Terry Dillard) of The Right Track at 5PM; Matt Hurley who writes Weapons of Mass Discussion is on at 6PM; Ric Ottaiano of Release the Hounds at 7PM; The the Real Teen of Right On The Right at 7:30PM; Stacy Harp of The Right View at 8PM; Wild Bill of Passionate America at 8:30PM; and Kit and Heidi of Euphoric Reality at 9PM. The "empty" time slots won't be empty long, check in with Wide Awakes Radio to get an update.

This is exciting folks, NOTHING like this has been done on the internet and W.A.R is going to set the world on fire. Kender Macgowan, who also writes Kender's Musings, and who is our fearless leader has been working on this concept for over a year and has recruited some top flight talent (not necesssrily me of course... yes it does, quit being modest...ed/) for on the air and in the background. Join me and all the others tomorrow for the big 2nd debut. Thank you, and good night!

Moi? Improper? But Of Course!

The truly funny (weird?) blog "Alabama Improper" has started a new blogroll called (what else) Improper Blogs.

Now, most of you know me as a very understated, shy, reticent, mildly conservative, mostly republican individual who would never, ever say any thing rude or offensive; and yet ... and yet ... there is this part of me that absolutely want's to be outgoing and occasionally "improper." Of course, those of you that know me well, those that have been reading my blog since it's inception (both of you) or have judged my character by the writing skills of Woody, my partner in crime, probably think I'm a knuckle dragging, Neandertholic, rightwing nutjob who is damned proud of it and makes no bones about it and takes names but not prisoners. (I only take names for the purposes of notifying the Graves Registration for Stupid Leftoids). So, I think I'm joining Improper Bloggers. Not for the above reasons, but because as a lad (right up to my 50th birthday my mom always, ALWAYS said I was an "IMP" and my last name is ROPER So, there you have it boys and girls... one more blog roll to spread my fame and earn a fortune. Well, as Woody can attest, fame.

Republican Answer to NY Times on Illegal Immigration

The New York Times wrote the following about illegal immigration from Mexico. You may want to read it twice.

"The rise in illegal border-crossing by Mexican 'wetbacks' to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government."

Don't believe it? Well, read in this article, How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico, about Dwight D. Eisenhower's answer to that NY Times 1951 statement, and how he succeeded in stopping illegal immigration and deporting illegals after he became President--while being opposed by Democrats including Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson, who "favored open borders" and was "against strong border eforcement."

Now you know the rest of the story. But, keep reading to see what President Eisenhower actually did about the problem.

Then on June 17, 1954, what was called "Operation Wetback" began. Because political resistance was lower in California and Arizona, the roundup of aliens began there. Some 750 agents swept northward through agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions a day. By the end of July, over 50,000 aliens were caught in the two states. Another 488,000, fearing arrest, had fled the country.

By mid-July, the crackdown extended northward into Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, and eastward to Texas.

By September, 80,000 had been taken into custody in Texas, and an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 illegals had left the Lone Star State voluntarily.

Unlike today, Mexicans caught in the roundup were not simply released at the border, where they could easily reenter the US. To discourage their return, Swing arranged for buses and trains to take many aliens deep within Mexico before being set free.

Do you think that the U.S. is not capable of doing this again? Oh, I think that we are capable--but, do our politicians have the will and integrity to do it?

Something else interesting is this tidbit offered by the Border Patrol veterans who worked during the Eisenhower crackdown and enforcement:

The Patrol veterans say enforcement could also be aided by a legalized guest-worker program that permits Mexicans to register in their country for temporary jobs in the US. Eisenhower's team ran such a program. It permitted up to 400,000 Mexicans a year to enter the US for various agriculture jobs that lasted for 12 to 52 weeks.

This sounds similar to recent proposals but read closer. Note that the immigrants had to register in their own country and that the work permits expired in one year or less. The problem with doing this today is that the politicians want to give these permits to millions who are already here illegally and then make them eligible to vote--the next step right behind that.

This is a brief but interesting look-back at illegal immigration issues from over fifty years ago. What's amazing is that this Republican president, President Eisenhower, was the last one, to my knowledge, to do anything seriously about the problem. You can't let you house go fifty years without replacing some broken windows and some doors--otherwise anything could blow in, and it has.

Now, it's going to be hard to undue fifty years of neglect. But, it can be done. The question is, who will have the integrity and resolve to do it. I'm afraid that we already know the answer, amigos.

Democratic Underground in Spoof (Surely)

You know that President Bush blew up the Twin Towers on 9-11 just like he bombed the levees in New Orleans. Well, here's a classic making the rounds about someone from the Democratic Underground "proving" that the planes that crashed into the buildings could not have brought them down. Implied Conclusion: Bush bombed the buildings. Check it yourself. You have to see the pictures.

.

Can a jet fuel/hydrocarbon fire collapse a steel structure? An experiment.

"1. I set up the following experiment using steel rabbit fencing as the steel structure supporting a heavy cement block.
2. Then I damaged the "columns" by cutting them with wire cutters:
3. Just inside where the gash was made in the outer wall, I placed a cup of kerosene (jet fuel), and there was newspaper around the bottom on the structure.
4. Then I put a heavy cement block on top, weighing about 15 pounds. I don't think the wire structure would hold more than three of these blocks, so the "safety factor" was not particularly high.
5. Then I tipped over the cup and lit the kerosene:
6. Then fire burned for about twenty minutes, and toward the end, I put my foot on the structure to see if it would extra weight. It still did:
7. The structure held up fine after the fire died:
8. After the fire was hot, the "columns" were not hot at all:

"What I conclude is that a fairly flimsy steel structure does not distort and bend and collapse very easily from a simple hydrocarbon fire. And thus, it is not clear why the much stronger steel columns in the WTC towers weakened so much from fires that the towers underwent global collapse."

My own conclusion? I cannot believe this is a real experiment. I have to think that The Onion is pulling a fast one on us or that the Democratic Underground did this as a spoof to make conservative bloggers look gullible for anything bad about the left. This is just too nuts to be real.

No sir, they couldn't fool me. Even I don't think that the Democratic Underground is that DUmb.

So Much For "An Inconvenient Truth"

Sixty people. Sixty scientists. Sixty concerned individuals none of whom have been convinced that the "computer models" are accurate to predict what has already happened let alone what the future may hold. And this is what they said:

An open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

Dear Prime Minister:

As accredited experts in climate and related scientific disciplines, we are writing to propose that balanced, comprehensive public-consultation sessions be held so as to examine the scientific foundation of the federal government's climate-change plans. This would be entirely consistent with your recent commitment to conduct a review of the Kyoto Protocol. Although many of us made the same suggestion to then-prime ministers Martin and Chretien, neither responded, and, to date, no formal, independent climate-science review has been conducted in Canada. Much of the billions of dollars earmarked for implementation of the protocol in Canada will be squandered without a proper assessment of recent developments in climate science.

Observational evidence does not support today's computer climate models, so there is little reason to trust model predictions of the future. Yet this is precisely what the United Nations did in creating and promoting Kyoto and still does in the alarmist forecasts on which Canada's climate policies are based. Even if the climate models were realistic, the environmental impact of Canada delaying implementation of Kyoto or other greenhouse-gas reduction schemes, pending completion of consultations, would be insignificant. Directing your government to convene balanced, open hearings as soon as possible would be a most prudent and responsible course of action."

OK, they are saying that basically, the computer models used to support the climate warming mantra does not even support the observations of the past, so how could it support the catastrophe that is predicted for the future? Read the rest here

Continue reading "So Much For "An Inconvenient Truth""

A Tidbit For All My Marine Friends

The Marine Hymn God Bless You All and Thanks for being Marines!

Newly Discovered Site!

G.M. frequently recommends a new blog or site that is really interesting, and I've been feeling kind of left out. But now, I discovered a site on my own, which is new to me, and it may be of interest to some of you: Communists for Kerry! I particularly liked this story covering voting rights for dead people. If you go there, tell them that G.M. sent you--don't even mention my name.

Kyoto Score Cards Fudged in Europe

Knowing that some leftists will go berserk over the thought that anything to do with Europe is bad and anything to do with the Kyoto Protocol is bad, how will they feel when they learn that there are problems with both Europe and Kyoto? Well, some of this is coming to light, so watch out for the flying mud.

Europe Cheats on Kyoto by "right wing" Dr. Jennifer Marohasy explains the current "creative accounting" for carbon emissions where each country does its own accounting and says, "Trust me." This article was a follow-up to another one on the same subject titled "Broken Trust, Broken Carbon Trading, Broken Kyoto?" by the same author.

Golf is a gentlemen's game and the only activity where I trust the participants to keep their own scores. The Kyoto Protocol isn't golf, and the European nations who cheat aren't gentlemen--but, they expect us to join their group. No thanks. The stakes are too great in this game.

Democratic Underground: Delusional or Just Plain Mean?

Last night, Kenneth Lay, disgraced CEO of Enron died of a massive coronary. So, he escapes the prison sentence he surely would have been sentenced to. I feel sorry for his family, their grief is entirely understandable and I know what it is like to lose a spouse.

On the radio this morning however, I heard some stuff about comments being made on the Democratic Underground and I was (but maybe shouldn't have been) astounded that "civilized people" would make these kinds of comments. So, taking a dose of anti-biotics and a tranquilizer to steel myself I went there and found some of the following "messages" on the death of Ken Lay.

Quick, get a WOODEN STAKE and a Hammer"

Oh, that's real reminiscent of the compassion of so called liberals.

So, maybe Linda offed Kenny Boy so that the money would be tied up in an estate?"

Or maybe he had a heart attack plain and simple... he was 64 years old.

Will George Bush be giving the eulogy? After all, Enron financed his theft of the White House."

Some delusional people still can't get over loosing in 2000.

Why would you induse a heart attack? When you can just OD on sleeping pills, I don't think it was intentional, this man is a coward and fraud, he wouldn't put himself throught the pain of a heart attack."

Nor would this commenter learn how to spell induce. But, I'm more curious as to how this commenter knew Lay was a coward? A crook perhaps, he was convicted after all, but a coward?

I have to wonder if Cheney had him killed. Lay knew where a lot of bodies are buried."

Oh gads, the delusional system in this fellow is full blown. Next he will have either Rove or Lay behind a grassy knoll in Dallas in November, 1963.

I think Lay has been moved to an undisclosed location... I'm sorry. I just don't buy it. He was too in with cheney and *. They gave Kenney Boy his own Independence Day.

At the same time I hate that I've become so cynical and distrusting of the powers that be that I can't whole-heartedly accept this story."

That's because you spend way too much time in places like the Democratic Underground where this kind of stuff runs rampant.

Bush will have to put him on display like Uday & Qasay. Did he have any metal plates in his bones like Uday, or a pacemaker or something we could pull out to verify it's him?"

Gadzooks, the ghouls are out early and it's not even close to Halloween. Pull out to verify? OMG!

And on the same sick line:

I want to see DNA, fingerprints, dental records, etc. I just don't buy that he is dead. Way, way, too, convenient."

Perhaps a sample of bodily fluids would do for this fellow.

OK, that is enough, what with chemo-therapy and the DU, my nausea tolerance is way down... just can't take any more of these nutcases.

Pow! Bam! Smash!!!

Well, Wide Awakes Radio launched yesterday. Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, it was smashing. In fact, it was so smashing it practically shut down the server and left it in the proverbial smoking heap. The temp server that we had been loaned wasn't able to keep up with the traffic that was generated. We'll have to wait till our permanent server is up and running this weekend to get back to "normal."

So, I won't be hosting my own show this thursday night as scheduled, please tune in to Wide Awakes Radio and enjoy the best that conservative talk radio has to offer.

(We'll get the kinks ironed out... I promise!)

A tip 'O The GM Derby to Wild Bill Moore at the Passionate America Show

Happy Independence Day

Have a safe and happy Independence Day.

Take time to give thanks for our rights,
given to us by God and preserved and honored by our nation.

For Global Warming Supporters: Just One More Question [Updated]

Global warming "enthusiasts" just hate to answer questions and want those who ask them to just go away. But, just when the GW crowd thinks that they're in the clear, there's just one more question that can trip up their "well thought out" plan.

Global Warming? With all due respect, it doesn't add up.

Here we go again...dealing with global warming activists who think that they can just outlast sensible people. They might outlast "sensible people" who give up rather than waste more time arguing with zealots, but they won't outlast me when they want to hide the truth and destroy our economy and, in the process, steal finite resources that could be used for education, research, medical care, and other programs with proven benefits.

The current issue at hand is that the GW Club continues, day-in and day-out, to declare that the scientific debate is over when it is hardly over. Continue reading to see what others think about the scientific debate and why the left is afraid to engage in one.

Continue reading "For Global Warming Supporters: Just One More Question [Updated]"

Elections in Mexico: Too Close To Call?

Mark In Mexico was up much of the night providing live coverage of the Mexican Presidential Elections. Go on over and take a gander. He'll have more up today and he does an excellent job of reportage. Thanks Mark.

UPDATE, Mark has a new post up here. Calderon may have won, AMLO is protesting saying he won. This could get really sticky... go read Mark's stuff and put it on your favorites or bookmarks. This issue is muy importante por Los Estados Unidos. I've got him on my blogroll if you want to use that instead. Either way, he is keeping us current. A sample:

Well, it's starting. Based upon what I have seen and heard this morning, this is going to get nasty and AMLO is the demagogue that his political opponents have been portraying him to be.

He just concluded an interview with Televisa where he claims he has won and will not accept any other result. He said, unbelievably, "Go to the IFE and see the results. They have declared me the winner." That's not even close to the truth. The IFE's results show that Calderon leads AMLO by about 1.5 percent of the vote and the IFE is not declaring anyone the winner and will not until at least Wednesday. Calderon has been forced to respond. Calderon also suggests visiting the IFE where the federal elections board has him with a 1.5 percent lead over AMLO. That is true.
AMLO is stoking the fires of a popular revolt, ala Chavez.

That popular revolt has already manifested itself in Oaxaca. The president of the state's IFE has been kidnapped by some striking teachers' union members. They are accusing him of changing vote totals to benefit the PRI. In addition, some of the votes here in the capitol city of Oaxaca de Juarez were taken to the headquarters of the Policia Preventiva so they could be counted in a secure environment. The teachers attacked the PP headquarters and took votes, election officials and police as hostages. I don't know where those people are now."

Newly Discovered Blog: Jeremayakovka

Discovered a new blog (new for me that is) and I've decided to add it to my blogroll. Go on by and take a look at Jeremayakovka and tell him GM sent you.

Interview With An Iraqi General

No not me. My friend Sgt. Tim. Boggs over at T.F. Boggs told me he had this lined up about two weeks ago.

I have been pestering him daily, asking when he would have the post up. I just checked my email and got this message from Tim:

Rick,

I just got back from Interviewing the Iraqi General and it was just amazing. This story is going to be huge and I ask that you can do all you can to promote it. His answers were beyond anything I could hope for.

If you are not familiar with his blog T.F. Boggs, I will tell you he is one of the best milbloggers around with consistently great posts at both his blog and Michael Yon's great online magazine. Sgt. Boggs is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

Here is a small excerpt of his post:

I wrote a story for Michael Yon’s Frontline Forum a week ago about the town I am stationed in right now named Qayyarah. Qayyarah is a model for other Iraqi cities because it was once a haven for terrorists but is now safe enough for anyone to travel around in without fear of terrorists. The main reason for the safety of Qayyarah lies with one man: General Ali. He is a myth-like figure around our base and everyone knows his name. He is a strict military man but is the type of man Iraq needs so desperately right now. I hope people the world over will read this interview and learn just what kind of men are in Iraq right now willing to take control of their own country. What follows is the truth. It comes directly from the mouth of a man who knows intimately what is going on in Iraq and knows where Iraq has come from and where it needs to go.

Have you liked working with the American soldiers?

General Ali: Yes, yes, yes. They believe me and I believe them. All the soldiers that have worked here know General Ali. I invite them to my house to eat with me and to train with me. I know they came to help the Iraqi people. That is why I work with them, that is why I tell my people the truth about the coalition. Before they might have disliked the US army because they did not have the real picture of the soldiers. I told the people though how the US army fought for us and also how they did projects for us. They fixed the schools, made roads, and made many things for the people of Iraq. The people see how we caught the terrorists, how we made it safe, they see that is more comfortable then under Saddam’s regime.

This is a long interview so Tim has broken it up into two parts. He will post Part 2 Wednesday so stay tuned.

I also have a small post up at my blog here.

Happy Birth Day USA!

July 4th... Hotdogs, picnics, parades, fireworks, flags. And a memory of what it took for us to celebrate the 230th birthday of this glorious day. It took Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coastguardsmen, Merchant Marines, Airmen, Railroad men, Teachers, and yes, even a few traitors; some to work for us, some like Benedict Arnold to work against us, but all involved in the making of the fabric that is the United States. For those who gave their lives for freedom, for those that worked tirelessly to build a country, to educate it's citizens, for those who took off knowing not where they were going, but determined to make a better life for themselves and for their families, I send a word of thanks. I thank the people that first establish the Articles of Confederation and then, realizing that we needed a more solid framework built the constitution and then immediately amended it to provide our Bill of Rights. I thank those who in the early days of our country decided that millions for defense but not a cent for tribute was the way to go. I'm grateful even for the British invasion during the War of 1812 because it showed that our nation could stand against the most powerful nation in the then known world.

I'm grateful for the Confederacy, who in trying to secede proved that we could stand against ourselves, correct the mighty wrongs and still be preserved as a Union. I'm grateful for those in the Union Army who often enlisted knowing that they would be fighting their own family members, but who believed that a Union of free men and women was more important.

I'm thankful for my Grandfather and Father who spent their lives as Soldiers so that I could be free, I'm grateful for my Grandfather who for over 60 years preached the word of Almighty God and who instilled in me a belief that my immortal soul was well worth my care and concern. I'm grateful for my child, my wife and even my two psychotic cats.

I'm grateful for Al Gore who invented the internet so that I could be a blogger and I'm most grateful for you, my readers and my friends who have supported me in this blog, and in my fight against cancer.

I'm also grateful to all my blogging friends for all the friendship, support and care that they have all provided me when I was down, when the few times I wanted to quit and reached out and they kept me going.

Most of All, I'm grateful that through no action of my own, I was born a citizen of the United States of America and that I am an active participant in this democracy. God Bless America!

Let the Excuses and Lies Begin - Dems and Elections

In the last Presidential campaign, the Democrats tried to scare every kid and parent by claiming that President Bush had a secret plan to reinstate the military draft after the election. Well, that "secret plan" must be super-secret because we never saw it. Now, the Democrats are poised with made-up accusations again--this time that President Bush has a secret plan to bring home the troops right before the November elections--a "November Surprise". I guess that's a way to say that they thought of it first if Bush does (possible, but not a timetable) and to start laying out the excuses for when the Democrats do poorly in the mid-term elections. Let their lying begin.

Thanks Olaf, And Its CARNIVAL Time

Olaf Peterson's post and David's Medienkritik (July 2nd) are hosting the Carnival of German American Relations. This is a terrific way to update yourself on what is going on between our two countries. The Carnival was founded on December 11, 2005 by yours truly and Joerg Wolf of Atlantic Review as a way for bloggers on our two sides of the Atlantic to pat each other on the back, knock each other in the heads and otherwise pontificate on the state of the states. It is always worth reading and always thought provoking. Olaf (a terrific person by the way) made a kind remark about yours truly, hence the title of this post... but the real subject is of course the Carnival.

Olaf had this to say:

GM's Corner erinnert an die Berliner Luftbrücke, bewundert, wie schnell aus ehemaligen Feinden Freunde wurden, bedauert das seit einiger Zeit getrübte Verhältnis der Deutschen zu den USA, sieht aber Zeichen der Hoffnung. Hoffnung und Zuversicht sind geradezu ein herausragendes Kennzeichen George Mann Ropers, einem der bekannteren US-Blogger. Vielleicht sollten die USA zur Imagepflege gelegentlich mal wieder ein paar Rosinenbomber einsetzen?

Translated into semi-acceptable English:

GM's Corner reminds us of the Berlin Airlift, and how quickly former enemies can become friends again. He also regrets the current relationships between Germany and the USA but does see some hope for improvement. Hope and assurance are almost an outstanding characteristic of George Mann Roper. One of the more well-known US bloggers. Perhaps the US could begin the improvement by sending over a few more raisin bombers? [Note: raisin bomber or Rosinenbomber is the term used by berliners for the candy and other foodstuffs dropped from cargo planes during the airlift] [emphasis added ~ Although I'm not sure I'm one of the "more well known US bloggers" but it does feel good that Olaf thinks so.]

Linked to Olaf Peterson's Extrablog, David's Medienkritik and Atlantic Review.

Why is Bill Clinton smiling?

Did you ever wonder why President Clinton stood on his head to give away our missile guidance secrets to the Chinese and how he had such "good luck" getting contributions through Johnny Chung?

Look at his smile from this perspective and ask yourself if there's anything strange about it.

Continue reading to see the image right-side up and find out maybe why he has that smile and what it reveals.

Continue reading "Why is Bill Clinton smiling?"

Newly Discovered Blog

Couldn't sleep tonight, got up and started at the top of the blog roll and worked down. Came across a comment on a post in one of the blogs I read and Recommend and came across a new blog (only a week old) with the interesting URL that includes the words Kali Mom. Well, I just had to go look and found Vox Rodentae written by Kate Hennessy and Kate does a great job. Please drop by, tell her GM sent you and drop a comment encouraging her to keep it going.