Get your storm gear on.

Prepare yourself for a wave of screaming, crying, blubbering, moaning, griping, and all out asshattery from Michael Moore.

If that company goes under, it could get really ugly, really quick.

Found via this gimpy bastard.

What Liberal Media?

Big thanks to opinionjournal.com today for catching this one.

Read this story right here, which shows a picture of a Minnesota girl with her hair braided in the shape of a "W". The picture was taken during a Bush bus tour through Minnesota.

Now, right click on the picture of the girl. Select "properties". Then look at the URL for the picture.

http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/04/09/17/brainwashedchild.jpg

Nope, no sign of bias there.

The Party of "Tolerance" Strikes Again.

Not content with making three year old girls cry, Leftists now feel the need to suckerpunch wounded soldiers in the back of the head and beat them when they're on the ground.

Foster Barton, 19, of Grove City, received a Purple Heart for his military service in Iraq. He almost lost his leg last month after a Humvee he was riding in ran over a landmine.

Barton said he was injured again Friday night in a crowded parking lot as he was leaving the Toby Keith concert at Germain Amphitheatre. The soldier was injured so badly that he can't go back to Iraq as scheduled.

"I don't remember getting hit at all, really," said Barton, a member of the 1st Calvary Division. "He hit me in the back of the head. I fell and hit the ground. I was knocked unconscious and he continued to punch and kick me on the ground."

Barton and his family said he was beat up because he was wearing an Iraqi freedom T-shirt.

Yep, that's the left. Make small girls cry while you rip up the signs they hold, suckerpunch wounded combat vets from behind and then stomp on them while they're on the ground, all in the name of tolerance.

In fact, I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad that these fucking worthless communist bastards are the party of "peace" and "tolerance", because otherwise we'd see things like dirty filthy hippies heckling the family of a dead soldier, or a memorial to September 11th vandalized by commies, or a Kerry supporter attacking a Bush supporter on a plane, or union thugs attacking Bush supporters. Yeah, gosh, the party of worthless fucking communist scumbuckets "Peace" and "Tolerance" are real peaceful and tolerant, aren't they! The party of cowardly fucks traitorous skanks worthless communist shits backstabbing thieves "Peace" and "Tolerance" use those words as ways to attempt to bullshit the rest of the world, but their actions cannot be hidden by the MSM anymore. They're exposed as the worthless, cowardly, parasitic, backstabbing, communist wastes of air that they really are.

Fuck the Donks. Fuck 'em all. I just want ONE DIRTY FUCKING COMMIE to try attacking a veteran around me. JUST. ONE. Believe you me, I could dump a lot of stress if I had five minutes of pounding the shit out of one worthless commie fuck. Just give me a damn reason. And I want to know why the people standing around this poor vet didn't grab that filthy hippy and BEAT HIS ASS INTO A PUDDLE! I guess Columbus, Ohio is so infected with liberalism that spines disappear and wrists go limp when real action is required.

Grrrrrrr..... Time for my run.

Thanks to Kim for pointing this out.

CBS = Democrat Whores?

I've been staying away from the TV as of late. Part of it is my job, and part of it is the fact that I just don't like TV all that much. If a game isn't on, I'm not too interested. So I just found out that John Kerry was on the David Letterman Show Monday night.

John Kerry. Was on Letterman. Monday night.

Who airs the Letterman Show? CBS.

The very same network which whored out it's credibility with a forged memo smear job against President Bush just gave John Kerry yet another opportunity to attack President Bush on national television.

I'm rather speechless right now. The flat out gall of these partisan hacks is astounding. At this point the eye logo of CBS should just be replaced with "DNC" in big red letters across every microphone and letterhead, every graphic and visual. They've tossed aside any pretense of objectivity. CBS is nothing but a group of cheap whores for the DNC, and they're doing all this out in the open.

I'll be glad when this election is over.

More Public School Horror Stories

From Steve

The more you read, the more you understand that the public school system is damn near worthless.

Canada Honors Draft Dodgers with Monument

Most countries build national monuments to honor their own extraordinary citizens and accomplishments. Apparently, Canada has found other uses for them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada Plans Draft-Dodger Monument
Tuesday, September 21, 2004

NELSON, British Columbia — After burning their draft cards during the Vietnam War, tens of thousands of Americans avoided jail by fleeing to Canada.

Many settled in the small town of Nelson, British Columbia (search), just across the Washington state border. Now, 30 years later, the mayor of Nelson and some other Canadians are planning to honor the draft dodgers with a two-day festival and a larger-than-life monument depicting a Canadian helping two scared American men.

Though the festival and statue unveiling are still two years away, the war of words is just beginning.

Veterans of Foreign Wars (search) leaders are outraged by the monument, as are others in the United States who see the plan as a slap in the face. Some have written to Nelson officials to say they’ll never visit the town again.

The Canadian government did nothing to discourage Americans from heading north of the border so many years ago. In fact, then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (search) rolled out the red carpet, saying the draft dodgers had his complete sympathy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Think about it. America has a gigantic wall honoring Americans who fought and died in Vietnam. Canada will soon have a monument honoring Americans who fled the country. How big of an inferiority complex do you have to have to build a national monument that doesn't honor your own citizens, but jeers at a neighboring country instead? How fucking sick is this?

Have you paid your global tax today?

Jacques Chirac has proposed $50 Biliion in global taxes to pay for an International "War on Poverty". No, seriously. This is not a joke. I'm sure that Jimmy Carter would have no problem with this.

One more reason to close up and bulldoze the UN. As if you needed any more reason. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why it's so important for Convservative media and the blogosphere to expose the corruption and ineptitude of the UN "Oil for Food" program.

Too busy to post

Which is a drag, since there's so much going on. Like the debate about whether CBS was a) incompetent, or b) dishonest in using those memos. As I listen to the ongoing debate, I have to remember:

Freepers and Bloggers exposed the forgeries in 48 hours. Heck, within a day
and a half, there were people on the Yahoo! Typewriters group explaining the
procedure for changing the font ball on an IBM Selectric. I asked the question about superscripted "th", and they responded. We're not talking carbon dating here.

Sheesh.

Blogs unveiled the memos in two days.

To me that says that CBS obviously either didn't examine the documents at all or did and knew they were inauthentic, but went with them anyway, thinking that no one was paying attention. I think that's a big part of this story. The face of media is changing. Can't just slide this kind of sludge by The People anymore, because now media is Of The People.

I was watching CNN and they showed a timeline of this documents thing. No bloggers were mentioned. In their timeline, the documents just magically got debunked. Ah, well.

Maybe next lie.

Then there was John Madden last night, wondering aloud why every time the Minnesota Vikings got down into the "red zone", they suddenly started committing illegal procedure penalties, jumping before the snap. Hey, John! Hey, ya big blabbering oaf! Errrrr, crowd noise, fool.

The Eagles will be difficult to defeat this year, but they are woefully thin at running back and the guy they have is small. He'll take a lumping and then it will be All Air, All the Time.

Did you'all watch Monday Night Football? Did you see Randy Moss mailing in his routes in the fourth quarter? What a mutt.

That's all I've got.

A Picture Is Worth....

Fair and Balanced my ass



"the only bush I trust is my own"

My favorite catchy phrase this election cycle:

"Lose one with the Flipper"

I bet we don't see that one in the window of many See BS news trucks.

Ratherman

RAWK!

On The Run Again

No, not because I'm in trouble. I need to get back into shape, and today I started running for the first time in over four years.

When I got out of the Army in 2000, I told myself that I was only going to run if someone was screaming for me or shooting at me. I had to go to a doctor in 2002 due to knee problems (anterior ligament) and the doctor told me that I had compressed the cartiledge in my knees. Years of running in formation will do that to them. By the time I ETS'ed, I was hobbling after every run. I would literally limp home after PT sessions. The doctor said that time and TLC would eventually get my knees back to health, and I've been taking it easy on them for the past couple of years, not wanting to aggrivate anything. I was somewhat hesitant to start running again, but since I re-enlisted, it was necissary. So this morning after my push-ups and sit-ups, I put on my running shoes and headed out.

No pain.

Hallelujia, I could run and it didn't hurt! I didn't time myself, since I'm so out of shape that I would cry if I saw my time, but I ran for over two miles with no pain. By the time I hit Texas, I'm going to be smoking the run route.

The times, they are a changing. And I have one less thing to worry about. I can still run.

Burn down the schools!

Check this story out.

Dave Maier has retired as Skyview High's head wrestling coach.

He was recently suspended for four days without pay. Because it is a personnel matter, school officials would not comment on the suspension Friday.

In his 22nd year as a teacher in the district, Maier also retired as assistant softball coach, but will continue in his role as math teacher.

Also at Skyview, physical education teacher Paulette Gershmel has resigned as assistant girl's basketball and assistant track coach.

She will continue as a teacher, district officials said.

Suspended without pay, and it's a "personnel matter", so no talking to the press about WHY they were suspened. However, Og has the lowdown on these two coaches.

These two fuckheads are being allowed to stay in the school and continue to teach after a 14 year old freshman student caught them having sex in the lounge area in the gym. They were given minor suspensions and then allowed to come back to fucking work. Why they're not hanging from lamp posts at this very moment is beyond me. Read the story, come back, leave a comment, write someone, raise hell.

The male coach has an invalid wife, which he uses to justify his trysts with the female coach, and they have continued this activity for years, according to other students and parents in the know.

Folks, the public school system is, by and large, WORTHLESS. I wouldn't send my worst enemy's kid to public school. In fact, today's schools are worse than worthless, they've been completely taken over by the Left. Mr. Poretto (who led me to Og's story) expounds upon that thought much better than I can. But ask yourself this question - if you were caught boinking a co-worker in the broom closet at work by a fourteen year old girl who just happened to be one of your customers, would you still have a job? I wouldn't. I'd be fired on the spot. Hell, I've seen people fired on the spot for less than that!

But if you're a school teacher, you can obviously do whatever you want and get away with it. Those two teachers are still employed, and were only suspended for FOUR DAYS!

Oh yeah - that fourteen year old student who caught the two teachers playing "Hide-the-Salami"? That would be Og's niece.

The Council Has Spoken!

This weeks winners in the Watcher of Weasle's council vote are NPR and Media Matters Can't Tell Time by Patterico's Pontifications and Are the CBS National Guard Documents Fake? by INDC Journal. You can find all the results here.

More proof that CBS isn't worth a bucket of warm spit

You've seen the forged memos. Now look at the forgery vs. the real thing, side by side.

At this point, the only conclusion is that CBS and Dan Rather knew that the memos they had were fakes, and still pushed the story. Because it's either that, or CBS is so incompetant and worthless that they couldn't do five minutes worth of investigation to find out of the memos were real or not.

As far as I'm concerned, CBS committed a criminal act. They pushed known forgeries on the public and presented them as real. Dan Rather needs to be fired. Hell, entire sections of CBS need to be fired. That entire worthless, gutless, corrupt section of "news" reporting needs to be fired. The fact that NOBODY has been fired yet proves that CBS is nothing more than a group of partisan hacks who care more about Democratic power than objective journalism.

In fact, instead of pink slips for Dan Rather and the Democratic whores with him, it's people who critisize Rather who get fired.

SEATTLE - A radio talk-show host said Saturday he has been fired for criticizing CBS newsman Dan Rather's handling of challenges to the authenticity of memos about President Bush (news - web sites)'s National Guard service.

"On the talk show that I host, or hosted, I said I felt Rather should either retire or be forced out over this," said Brian Maloney, whose weekly "The Brian Maloney Show" aired for three years on KIRO-AM Radio, a CBS affiliate here.

Maloney says he made that statement on his Sept. 12 program. He was fired Friday, he said.

"What they have expressed is essentially that my show went in a direction they're not comfortable with," Maloney said.

The Democrats are only concerned with grabbing power through any means possible. Lying is fine with them. Using national news shows as attack platforms against President Bush is OK with them. Kitty Kelly for three days straight on NBC? That's fine with them, as long as those Swift Vets don't get any airtime, right? The same people crowing about Kerry's war record are the same people dismissing those vets as bitter drunks, psycotic wacked out vets. They've been saying the same thing for THIRTY DAMN YEARS! You want to know why the Left considers Viet Nam Vets to be crazy drug addled, PTSD zonked savages, but they love John Kerry? BECAUSE KERRY SIDED WITH THE COMMUNISTS THIRTY YEARS AGO, AND NEVER SWITCHED SIDES AFTER THAT! Attacking a three year old girl is perfectly acceptable, as long as you're a Democrat! BUT DON'T YOU DARE QUESTION DAN RATHER!

The more I see of the Democratic Party, the sicker I get.

Avast, ye mangy cur!

Ye best be talkin' like a pirate today!

Now pass that rum before I have ya dance from the yardarm and keelhauled!

Yeowch!

OK, you folks remember the child who was assaulted by Leftist losers for daring to have a "Bush/Cheney" sign in her hands, right? Nothing says Democrat like assaulting a three year old girl, lemme tell ya!

It gets better.

Steve H. of Hog On Ice is laying down some of the most savage beatings I've seen on the web. First of all, one of his more idiotic commenters actually blames the father for what happened.

That so-called "father" should be locked up for using his child in an act of provacation. Bringing her into that environment was nothing less than reckless endangerment of a child. There are better ways to express his first amendment right than to abuse his child in that manner. He could have started a riot and the child could have gotten seriously injured. What a loser he is.

Steve for you to mischaracterize the Edwards supporters as the villains while ignoring the culpability of the so-called "father" is grade A BS!

Steve, of course, responds in a way that leaves nothing to the imagination.

It's absolutely true that the father was foolish to trust liberals to behave like human beings. These are the same people who beat up a young boy for waving a "Sore Loserman" sign back in 2000. The same people who dragged a New York cop off his motorcycle during the RNC and put him in the hospital with severe facial trauma.

(....)

If, as Totsie's comment necessarily implies, liberals are so stupid and violent we can count on them to behave this way, then it IS the father's fault, just as it would be his fault if he went to the zoo and lowered her into the monkey pit. But here in America, our Constitution is supposed to protect our right to do exactly what Sophia was doing, and liberals always lie that that right is more precious to them than to us. So what are liberals, Totsie? Animals or hypocrites? I say "both."

No wonder they put them in cages at the Democrat National Convention.

Think about it - A liberal just admitted that Democrats and Kerry Supporters cannot be trusted to behave as civilized human beings. A liberal just admitted that assaulting a three year old girl is perfectly acceptable behavior, if you're a Democrat. Here, let me restate that for you.

A liberal just admitted that assaulting and screaming at three year old girls is acceptable behavior, if you're a Democrat. In fact, it should be expected.

Steve also rips apart the hysterical liberal claim that Parlock (the father of that three year old girl) is a fake, because he's been assaulted before.

In 1996 and 2000, Phil Parlock made the West Virginia papers by being attacked by Clinton and Gore supporters. Ergo, the conspiracy nuts say, the attack on his daughter was staged. And the liberal blogger who brought out the 1996 and 2000 stories even suggests that the goon in the photo of Parlock and his daughter is actually Parlock's son.

Okay, let's accept the conspiracy-nut premise. That's Parlock's son. He got himself a Kerry T-shirt and tore the sign out of his sister's hands. That means the sister is in on it. Phil Parlock somehow managed to train a three-year-old to cry convincingly on cue, and to behave as if her own brother terrified her. Or Parlock's son is such an evil son of a bitch, he deliberately scared the hell out of his own baby sister, on camera.

Now, what about the liberals in the background, who appear to be cheering the sign-ripper on? I guess that black lady is also Phil's daughter.

And since he happened to be on the scene with his camera ready, AP photographer Randy Snyder must be a Parlock, too. Maybe Randy is a woman, and Snyder is her married name.

If Parlock is really that prolific, he could get Bush elected just by telling all his children to vote for him.

So Parlock has been assaulted before for his political beliefs? That only proves that Democrats are against free speech. That only proves that Democrats are against the right to assemble. That only proves that Democrats are easily the greatest danger to America that we've seen in a long time.

Fine, Parlock goes to events packed with Democrats, and he waves Republican signs, and then he complains to the press when the Democrats attack. What exactly is he doing that is wrong or deceptive? Is he hypnotizing liberals and forcing them to attack? Do liberals have a right to beat him up and attack his children, just because he's a repeat protester? Does the fact that he has been attacked before mean he's not allowed to talk to the press about it any more?

Explain the logic.

Sorry Steve, there's no logic where the Left is concerned.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has a list of links detailing just how low the Left will sink.

Let's Punch a Few More Holes into the Left's Rapidly Deflating Worldview

Punch Punch Punch!

Air National Guard Colonel Denies Bush Got Preferential Treatment

"He presented himself well. I'd say he was in the upper 10 percent or 5 percent or whatever we ever talked to about going to pilot training. We were pretty particular because when he came back [from training], we had to fly with him."

(.....)

Records show Bush stopped flying F-102As in April 1972. He has said he moved to Alabama to work on the Senate campaign of a family friend. Staudt retired from the Guard in March of that year and said he was never contacted about Bush's performance.

"There was no contact between me and George Bush … he certainly never asked for help," Staudt said. "He didn't need any help as far as I knew."

He added that after retiring he was not involved in Air National Guard affairs. "I didn't check in with anybody — I had no reason to," he said. "I was busy with my civilian endeavors, and they were busy with their military options. I had no reason to talk to them, and I didn't."

If CBS had done even a preliminary investigation into those Bush memos, they would have known they were bullshit. But, knowing as we do that CBS and Dan Rather were looking for any angle possible to hurt President Bush, it should come as no surprise that basic background checks were ignored and quick checks were not completed.

Just another nail in the coffin. At this point, there's more nails than wood left in that thing.

Hat tip to Powerline.

All the proof you need

You want proof that California should be allowed to break off and float away? Think about this.

Smoking in a privately owned business was banned in California LONG BEFORE outlawing the practice of having sex with a corpse was even considered.

'Nuff said.

And the illness continues

I must apologise to my dear readers, but I'm still coughing up stuff best not described at all.

This virus is kicking my ass. And that's AFTER I brought on the spice.

Thank god that Tim and TVE are kicking ass and taking names, because I can't do squat. I think that's the best part about a group blog - you don't have to fire on all cylinders all the time. When Tim or TVE is on vacation or just too busy, I can blog, and when I'm too sick to do more than lift my head off my pillow, they take over.

Just another reason to visit Four Right Wing Wackos every day! (/salespitch)

Anyways, I'm just sticking my head up so you know I'm still alive. Hopefully I'll bet better with a bit more rest. And more spice. And more gin.

I know, gin might not be the best medicine, but it makes me not care that I'm sick for a while, so gimme my small pleasures!

Follow Up

Power Line, unlike most Pajamahadeen, haven't totally dropped the lies of the Associated Press.

Before there was Dan Rather, there was the Associated Press. We reported here and in several follow-up posts on one of the biggest media scandals of this campaign. On Sept. 3, there was a Bush rally in West Allis, Wisconsin. President Bush announced to the crowd that he had just learned that former President Clinton had been hospitalized. There was a moment of near-silence in which a slight murmur of concern was audible. Then Bush said that his thoughts and prayers were with the Clinton family, and the crowd cheered and applauded loudly.

But that's not what the AP reported. Under the by-line of reporter Tom Hays, the AP said: "Bush's audience of thousands in West Allis, Wisconsin booed. Bush did nothing to stop them." That was a lie, plain and simple. Audio and television tapes show that no one booed. No one.
.
.
.
The AP issued a corrected version of the story on the rally that omitted the false claim about the booing, and Bush "doing nothing to stop it," but hundreds of newspapers and television stations had already picked up the story. The AP has never made any explanation of what happened, nor, to our knowledge, has Lindlaw been disciplined in any way for deliberately filing a false news story.

Power Line: Associated Press Continues to Stonewall

TVE said it quite nicely: The Ivory Tower is Bugged, though I think its traditional inhabitants would prefer the term "infested".

If you click the link below, you can ask the AP just an itty bitty question about why Scott Lindlaw still works for them.

Info@AP.org

And yes, he is still at work:

As Bush peered into each car's passenger window, a Secret Service agent leaned into the driver's side, keeping a close eye. White House aides hovered nearby, ensuring that a mob of journalists captured the scene of the president as empathizer in chief.

Yeah. He really must have gotten his hand slapped.

Bradenton.com

Ummmm "Frog March"? Yeah!

Ok. I've been doing a whole bunch of reading! This is the article that spurred me back to blogging ---> Link

Bill Burkett has previously been all-too-willing to speak to the press. He's done so on numerous occasions, and he's written political columns for the internet under his own name.

Why is he suddenly so camera-shy that CBS News must protect his identity and treat him as an anonymous source?

Is this Bill Burkett's idea?

Or has this been Dan Rather's decision all along? Should Burkett's prior history and extreme political partisanship be revealed to the press, the story would be immediately condemned as irresponsible and baseless; but, as stealth techonology teaches, you can't hit what you can't see. Perhaps better to hide away this source, lest he whither in the light.

There is one final point to be made. I don't know who provided Dan Rather with his shoddy forgeries. It could have been anyone.

But if, hypothetically, Bill Burkett did provide those documents to Rather -- something, again, that Burkett's lawyer repeatedly refused to deny, but for which there is no genuine evidence -- then this would be a grave indictment of Dan Rather's integrity.

For here we would have a man who, for four years, has been making these very same allegations against George Bush, only to be dismissed by the press as lacking credibility. And yet we would have to believe two things:

1) That all along -- all the time since Burkett first "ruffled through" Bush's files in 1997 -- he actually had copies of those files all along, but has never once mentioned them before now; and

2) That Dan Rather actually believed Burkett's ludicrous claim, and was untroubled by Burkett's surprise announcement that he'd been secretly hanging on to the files for seven years.

If Bill Burkett is the source of the documents, it should have been plain to any reporter that they were forgeries; a man trying to prove an allegation doesn't wait five years to reveal he's had the proof all along.

You wouldn't need technical typographical analysis to determine that they're forgeries; you would just need a dollop of common sense.

But if Burkett was the source, and yet Dan Rather went along with this transparent hoax anyway, then he is guilty of something much worse than negligence.

Either way, it seems that Rather had good reason to want to hide his Unimpeachable Source away from the world, and away from prying eyes, and away from nosey questions.

And away farthest of all from all those conservative critics who just can't be trusted because they -- they! -- have a political agenda at work that makes them inherently untrustworthy.

Read the whole thing!

I will add that Jerry Killian's Bush-hating Secretary has stated that:

She did not type them.
Jerry did not type.
Neither typewriter she used could have produced them.
And that she considers them forgeries.

The forgeries came from Kinko's in Abilene, Texas....twenty miles from Burkett's house. He has an account there. He was there last Tuesday.

Have I mentioned that 2 of the 4 CBS document experts they cited to substantiate these documents did not authenticate them despite CBS claims to the contrary or that they raised issues with the documents only to be broomed by CBS as "peripheral"?

How about Ben Barnes? He said he got Bush into the Gaurd. His daughter called him a liar. He's raised massive amounts of money for Kerry. All the people who could coaborate his statements are dead. He has given previous contradictory testimony on the subject under oath.

Kitty Kelley? The source for her "Bush used cocaine" allegation denied she told Kelley that at all. Kelley's response? She says the notes she took show she did.

John Kerry's campaign started a new attack theme against President Bush this week called "Operation Fortunate Son" (or something the like).

That's an excellent case for coordination between the Kerry Edwards campaign/DNC, CBS, Kitty Kelley, and Ben Barnes. This has to stop. They are willing to go to any lengths to regain power. They would justify ANY means to achieve their end goals. They are filling a portion of the citizens in our country and those of others with a fairy tale world designed to lift themselves to the top of our society and keep their political opponents marginalized.

We've got News for them. Their Ivory tower is bugged.....or should I say "Blogged"! It's time to turn up the heat!

Power Line

One of the best features on the web

FARK: Photoshop a celebrity endorsed food item for your local grocer

Thieves Rob Bus Full of Policemen

Forty-six Brazilian policemen traveling to a sports competition were caught with their guard down this week when four Brazilian thieves robbed the bus carrying them to the event.

Yahoo! News

In Economic News...

...inflation is minimal, oil is volatile, and unemployment ticks up.

Poetry from the Pajamahadeen

All your memos are belong to us.

h/t Instapundit

Krooked Kofi Sez:

"I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time — without U.N. approval and much broader support from the international community."

and

"From our point of view and the UN Charter point of view it was illegal."

More

More, More, More - - - How Do You Like It, How Do You Like It?

Into the Time Machine We Go

Bill Burkett, now rumored to be the author of cBS' faux memos, authored this piece in March of 2003.

Witnesseth:

What do you do? Watching the sunrise on a beautiful morning, I used to feel hope. Before my illness, I felt exhilaration at the prospects of the day. After my illness, I felt hope that I might work hard to live. Now I feel sickness that today another massive group of people, held worthless by this anointed king, will be trampled upon like grapes. But their blood will not be rendered into wine. It will be spilled into the sands of this desert or another, or on the streets of Washington, or in the halls of the US Congress, or in the courts.

But there is a difference from any phenomenon previously faced by a spoiled American populace. With Teddy Roosevelt, we badgered and dented him into listening; with Franklin Roosevelt, we tenaciously talked until he listened; with William Jefferson Clinton, we crippled him through deceit and his own frailties. But none were anointed as king.

We must now revert to the history of Europe to discern what to do. We must study the nemesis of France and how Napoleon was felled before understanding the damage a tyrant does to a nation and society. We must examine the ruthless and dictatorial rise of yet another of the three small men—one whose name is not spoken out of fear of reprisal, but his name was Adolf. We must examine history, in order to not repeat it, and to understand the mesmerism of a public to a murderous scheme. Three small men who wanted to conquer . . . and vanquish. Each created a need for a balancing throng; history then recorded the damage from a far better perspective.

The three small men: Napolean, Hitler, and You-Know-Whom.

One last tidbit:

We must be credible.

Oy!

What do you say?

UPDATE: Burkett's attorney has one heckuva resume. And check out what his Daddy said.

There's a new insurgency in town

The Pajamahadeen

Bwah!

What appears below was submitted by a Dear Reader. I treasure our Dear Readers.







Classic. Just Plain Classic.

Oy!

Flashbunny

Top Of The List

Unfit for Command

That's a link to The New York Times. Don't forget to wash your hands after clicking.

Still Sick

Hacking and coughing, the whole bit. I'm a germ factory right now. So guess where I am?

If you guessed "At home in bed", you lose. If you guessed "At work, because there's nobody to cover your shift", give yourself a silver star.

I'm hunkered in my office, hoping that my contact with staff and visitors can be kept to a minimum. My immidiate supervisor went home sick, I'm actually covering for someone on vacation in Europe, other staff is busy with family emergencies, and I'm the only one here. Gah. I do NOT need to be spreading my virus around the workplace. I wonder if I can find some mask to cover my mouth with......

Oh my

Beldar is pissed. And he has reason to be.

But Dan Rather and CBS News had become co-conspirators by the time of their broadcast. ABC News has revealed that two of the experts whom CBS News consulted before running the broadcast — Emily Will from North Carolina and Linda James of Plano, Texas — could not and would not authenticate the fraudulent Killian memos, and expressly told CBS that.

So CBS had been told that the memos were fake... and ran with the story anyways.

America needs to see a cloud of pink slips coming from CBS headquarters.

The other side of the du Toit family

Mrs. du Toit has written a damn fine essay regarding fear and gun ownership.

I never knew another way. I never knew there was any other option. I remember having scary moments like that with my mother—hearing a noise outside and cowering in fear, or holding the telephone, ready to dial 9-1-1. I remember putting a chair under the door handle of my apartment. I remember buying a baby’s toy, that rattled when it moved, and putting that by the door, too. It becomes normal, common, the way you deal with life. You don’t think about these things after they’ve happened. You just continue on, as if nothing happened. It just didn’t occur to me that all women didn’t go around dealing with all of this, but never actually thinking about it.

Until I became armed.

It happened, literally, the day I left the range for the first time. I knew how to fire my own gun. I knew how to defend myself—and was “equal” to the strength of any man with that gun. It didn’t matter that it was a small caliber. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t an expert marksman. I knew I had a better than fighting chance and it was a feeling I’d never had before.

Exactly. My girlfriend is one of the strongest women I know. We met in the SCA, and she has literally stood side by side with me, swinging a stick and fighting just as hard as I was. Female heavy fighters are few and far between. Fear to her is not a common occurance. I've seen her get tossed ass over teakettle, and then get right back up and into the fray. But as tough as she is, she knows that when it comes to physical strength, she's overmatched by many males. No amount of toughness or guts can save you when you're outweighed by 100 pounds or more and the person wants to do you harm.

The one thing that sets her apart from the majority of women in the Puget Sound area is the fact that she has the tools, and the knowledge to use them, in order to protect herself. She doesn't have to worry about where she goes, or at what time. She can protect herself from anyone who tries to hurt her. And the tool she uses to protect herself is a .38 Special revolver.

Having a Pit Bull mix dog who would chomp on anyone who attacks her doesn't hurt either.

So tell me again....

What political party uses dead soldiers as political tools?

Oy!

Did John Kerry Coerce Vietnam Vets Into Lying About Atrocities?

You Decide

The Council Has Spoken!

The winners in last week's Watcher of Weasels council vote are It's Not the Thought, It's the Dream That Counts by Ubique Patriam Reminisci, and The Bush Doctrine by Citizen Smash - The Indepundit. You can find all the results here.

Rathergate

So by now, everybody and their brother knows that the memos used by Dan Rather in his wildly partisan attempt to smear President Bush are bogus. Here's what my father and I discussed over a beer -

How in the name of all that is holy did SOMEONE in CBS not pull in a former military member, and have them look the memos over? If you sat my father down and handed him that memo, he would have taken one look at it and tossed it in the trash. Memo For File? Never never NEVER used. CYA? If you were covering your ass in the military, you NEVER announced that fact. And you would NEVER put "CYA" on any piece of paper that you were going to put in someone's record.

Two glaring mistakes that someone with a military background would key on right away. And yet we're supposed to believe that CBS vetted those memos? Yeah, right.

CBS put those memos out in an attempt to hurt President Bush. And they didn't care if the memos were real or not. They also didn't expect people to out them in 12 hours.

Just look at the way Dan Rather reacted to the blogosphere's charge. "How dare you question me! I'm Dan Rather!" 'Ol Danny Boy was so used to people just accepting what he said as the truth that he can't handle any criticism. More to the point, he didn't expect any. Nobody in the old media does, even though people around the country have been waking up to the fact that the old media, by and large, is full of shit. When I read a news story, and then I'm force to look for other reports of it to find out what actually happened, I no longer trust the people putting that news story out. I can see a story on the nightly news, but when I read the accounts of people who were actually there and find out that the news story only contained 25%-50% of the information needed, I no longer trust the media. A perfect example? The anti-war protests before the invasion of Iraq.

Anybody remember those? All the major media markets zoomed in on the protesters shaking their signs, shouting their slogans, and waving their red flags around. But what did they NOT show? If they had zoomed their cameras out, the viewer would have seen the anti-protesters, the people in support of the President, who were literally RIGHT ACROSS THE LAWN from the protest.

But you never EVER saw the whole picture. The mass media would never show the whole picture. They only put out what they wanted you to see. And then they claim that they're objective? Right. And monkeys might fly out of my butt.

So this meltdown that Rather is having is, in my mind, the result of a shift by people finding other methods of getting news. I can't imagine CBS getting this level of scrutiny four years ago. And it's obvious that CBS can't imagine or handle this level of scrutiny now.

If CBS wants to regain any level of journalistic integrity, heads need to roll, and they need to start rolling right now. Start with Dan Rather, and start chopping. Whoever got the memos to begin with, fired. Whoever allowed those memos on the air, fired. Whoever was associated with those memos seeing the light of day, fired. We need to see a huge portion of CBS staff holding pink slips. Otherwise, why should we ever trust CBS again?

Well, those of us that trusted them in the first place, that is.

Hagged Out

I feel like absolute ass today. The Raging Girlfriend and I have adopted the motto "We'll sleep when we're dead" for the past couple of months, and it's starting to bite us in the ass in terms of our heath. As I was coming home from my drill, I got nailed by a nasty head cold that is now moving down into my chest. Ug. Nothing says fun like constantly sneezing while driving over Snoqualamie Pass at 80mph. At two in the morning.

However, the first drill went smoothly. Mostly inprocessing for the first day. Get your gear issued, meet the Company commander and 1SG. Fill out buttloads of paperwork, hear all the briefings and speeches, yada yada yada. The second day I was able to sit in on some of the training classes that they were giving; Traumatic Brain Injury, Proper use of Restraints, and Blood Transfusion. I was surprised by how much of this information I already know, but then again I do work in a hospital. I'm just not medical staff. Yet.

It was somewhat odd stepping into BDU's again for the first time in years, but I got used to it real quick. Much of what the military pounds into your head stays there for the rest of your life. Drill and Ceremony is one of those things. Fall in. Dress Right Dress. Stand At Ease. Orders barked out that you react to almost out of instinct, even after a four year absence.

I also found out when I'm most likely leaving for the 91W training, which means I have a date for leaving Seattle. When I go to that course, I'm leaving this city and never looking back. Both the Raging Girlfriend and I are ready to shake the Seattle dirt from our shoes and leave. We're now one step closer.

Life is changing, and it's changing for the better. Now I get to catch up on all the news I missed.

Gone Golfing

But hey, the saga at CBS continues, and the Comments at your click destination are simply magnificent.

This cartoon...

...leads my mind into all sorts of directions.

Every Picture Tells A Story

This is one scary person.

Professors fund liberal candidates

Most money from contributors goes to Leftist politicos. Go figure...

To computer science professor Andrew Appel, who has given $4,000 to Kerry this year, the imbalance is not unexpected.

"Does it surprise me that smart people should be supporting Kerry?" Appel said. "No."

Oy!

Tomorrow: Dog Bites Man.

The Daily Princetonian

Regarding September 11th

The Eleventh passed pretty quietly here. I thought of blogging a couple times on Saturday, but I knew I'd have little of value to say, especially since there are innumerable other places online to read about how people regard the events commonly referred to as "9-11".

I reckon my reluctance to even try to memorialize the day is the result of a couple things, key of which is that the whole event seems remote to me, ancient, surreal. I think that in large measure that's because I worked through that day. I was second in command at a small company at that time and the CEO asked me, roundabout 1130, "Should we go home?"

I replied: "No. We should keep going."

I'm not sure why. Maybe I wanted to be defiant in some incredibly small way, though "incredibly small" doesn't really cut it when the insignificance of my day that day is compared to the days other had.

---

I will never forget PRECISELY where I was when I heard the first news. I was driving, about three miles away from work, listening to FM Y-100 out of Philadelphia. They came out of a song and the morning guy said: "We've news of an incident in New York. It seems a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. We'll keep you posted."

Then they played "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana.

I could tell you EXACLTY where the front tires of my 1994 Honda Accord were when he said that.

---

I drove faster. I wanted to get to work and surf the news. When I arrived, everyone else there was oblivious to what was happening.

The Internet was jammed. Fox News, CNN, NBC, every news dot com was inundated. I finally got a look by crossing the pond to BBC. I said to my coworker Bob, asking him over the cubetops, "Bob, have you seen the news?"

And he said: "What news?"

That was probably about 0900. Roundabout 0945, my friend Don started calling every fifteen minutes, saying "Oh my God. Are you watching this? Are you seeing this??" At first he was incredulous. He calls back, almost breathless, when the Tower Two collapses. Ditto Tower One. Roundabout noon he calls again. He’s babbling, undoubtedly, I think to myself, at least halfway through a fifth of Jim Beam. Don probably opened the bottle at ten that morning, breaking the tax seal of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pouring over ice, then downing it. Repeat until incredulity is muted, then repeat again.

When he called at noon, he just pretty much read the TV screen to me, blathering manically like an excited schoolboy to whom the cute girl in class has just said hello. I heard Don, but today I cannot remember a word he said.

I just remember going out back of the building to catch a smoke, and looking up at the sky, neither seeing planes nor hearing them. I remember thinking that was unusual, since the business park where I worked was on approach to Philly International. On normal days, it was plane after plane overhead, with traffic copters interspersed early and late in the day. But on 11 September 2001, it was void and silence. I remember my hand shaking as I reached into my pack of Parliaments after deciding to smoke two in a row.

---

So I missed the event when it was happening. It was all like a video to me, in a way, surfing all morning and afternoon then arriving at home about 1800 to watch the replays on TV. To this day it seems surreal. Some people have criticized Condi Rice for saying that the idea of deliberately flying planes into buildings was "unimaginable". Well, I still cannot imagine it. Seriously.

What kind of mind does that sort of thing?

But I’d like to not get started on that topic, and I think most readers at 4RWWs know the answer, anyway.

---

Ah, well. I think I felt no great urge to write on Saturday because I feel removed from the event, as if I have no connection to it. Almost, anyway. There’s one component of 9/11 that does impact me, that causes me to stop and stare blankly into space, to put my chin on my hand and ponder, feel my eyes fill a bit, as I imagine the event as it occurred and marvel at the strength of the human spirit and what the human spirit will do when confronted with a seemingly impossible situation. I marvel at how seemingly ordinary men and women and can rise up together to fight something they neither asked for, nor deserved, nor were trained in any way to deal with.

Dave Barry explains it, better than I could hope to, here.

That's it.

Call to Action

Okay,

If I don't get at least ten notes in our Comments from people who either sent a fax or called a number or sent an email to at least one of these contacts at CBS and/or sponsors of 60 Minutes, well I'll just get upset.

Oy!

Remember - markets are ruled by Customers, but markets fail if Customers and Vendors don't have good information. Tell them what you think.

And don't believe the conventional wisdom about corporations being heartless bureaucracies who don't give a shit what their Customers say. I worked at a Fortune 100 company for ten years. We did over 4.5 BILLLION dollars in Sales every year. Yet if we got FIVE calls or letters complaining about a Product, it was a crisis. Corporations do care what their Customers think.

Except for Banks. Banks really don't don't give a shit what their Customers say.

I emailed Ziploc and told them that their products are like air to me - I use them without thinking. I told them if I see their advertising on 60 Minutes in October, it will cause me to stop buying their products, which i definitely do not want to do, but will, if I have to. I could not lie to Ziploc - they have a FANTASTIC product. So I just said I am watching.

Here is what I wrote:

Good morning. I am sure you have heard from other displeased Customers about your sponsorship of 60 Minutes. I would like to add my name to your list.

If I see Ziploc advertising on 60 Minutes in October, I will stop buying your Products, which I definitely do not want to do - Ziplocs are like air to me - I use them without even thinking.

I am extraordinarily displeased with 60 Minutes' use of forged documents and fraudulent authentication methods in their piece which sought to tear down our President. There simply is no room for such a practice in a functioning democracy. I therefore respectfully suggest that you cease advertising on 60 Minutes.

I obvously cannot dictate to you your advertising outlets. I am simply letting you know that if you choose to support 60 Minutes in the future, then I in the future will stop buying Pledge, Windex, Ziploc, Saran, and Edge, all of which I use every day.

Ahhhhh. The pause that refreshes.

Contact somebody. And hey - let's be civil out there.

This was found on DANEgerus, which is positively AFIRE right now. Positively one of the best blogs on the 'Net at present. Go check it out.

UPDATE: Aaron's got more.

Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism

See their web site.

Research Help Needed

I am writing a paper regarding how IBM reacted to the advent of the personal computer, which, if memory serves, was with:

- apathy
- derision
- denial
- stubborness
- panic

Can anyone direct me to some quotes or anecdotes regarding the topic?

The Experts are Speaking

As previously mentioned, I started a thread on the Yahoo! Typewriters Group (oh yes - there is one) and boy has it generated some commentary. There's even a guy there whom I presume is well known and recognized as a typewriter expert (oh yes - they do exist) and he's stated that he's turned off his phone "to avoid being in the middle of this circus".

Oy!

If what is being said there is accurate, these "memos" are about as legitimate as Britney Spears' marriage. There are two threads:

"Two questions about older typewriters" and "1972 Bush "Forged" Letter?"

Check here, too.

Relearning a ritual

I had to relearn how to shave my chin today. First time in over four years.

It feels weird. My goatee kept the wind off the lower half of my face, and now I can feel a soft breeze with my chin. I used to just shave the sides of my face and my neck. A few quick straight passes with the razor and I was done. This morning I was forced to remember how to curve the razor around my chin, how to cut the hair without cutting myself. I had never quite understood how much of an memorized ritual shaving was. Now I do, because I had grown out of that habit.

But I managed to not cut the hell out of myself, and I now have a smooth chin for the first time in years. Believe it or not, this is the first time that the Raging Girlfriend has seen me without my goatee. She says that from the side it shows just how much of a babyface I have. Seriously, I couldn't grow a full beard to save my life. Well, not one that looked good, anyways. That'll be a blessing when I'm sixty.

Some people will wonder why the hell I shaved my goatee off, and why I'm talking about it in the first place. That'll tie in.

September 11th is Saturday. The third anniversary of the terrorist attacks that informed quite a few people that we were at war. The third anniversary of the day we were informed that an ocean on either side of this country wasn't enough to protect us.

The day America was attacked, by the same group that had attacked us before, in Yemen, in Saudi Arabia, in Africa.

Some people will write reflective pieces, some people will let out their rage, and some people will ignore it. The morlocks at DU will howl and scream, gloating at America's suffering. Most of us will utter a small prayer and go about our day, thankful that the people who attacked us are either dead or on the run.

Not me. I won't be writing, or letting out my feelings. I won't be going about my normal day. And I won't be forgetting it.

On Saturday, September 11th, I'll be going to my first Army Reserve drill.

I think that's fitting.

And yeah, that's why I took off my goatee. AR 670-1 and all that.

Who Is Ben Barnes?

Yeah, I know.

Dead Horse.

But it's almost comical how far Partisan Media are willing to carry John Kerry's water. 60 Minutes didn't mention this stuff last night.

Did they?

Who Is Ben Barnes?

And that chart that linked Bush/Cheney 2004 to the Swift Boat veterans? Still looking in the New York Times for a similar graphic on TexansForKerry (or whatever) and John / John 2004.

Ah well.

UPDATE: And OMIGOD visit DANEgerus here and floow the link to LGF, where some fella with lots of spare time created the 60 Minutes document in Word and superimposed it over the 60 Minutes original from 1972.

Actually and truthfully rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.

More About The Forged Document

I emailed a couple Typewriter newsgroups today to try get info on typewriter technology in the early Seventies.

RatherBiased scooped me, and did a dang good job.

We, people, are witnessing a revolution in media. No longer are the columnists and OpEd writers alone in their possession of fact libraries. Even Little Ole Me can do some research and poke a big hole in a Big Media Lie.

It's astounding what we are seeing here.

Even more astounding is that it is likely that these lies have been going on for DECADES, and we didn't know.

Now we know.

Give 'em Hell!

Worthy

SondraK is asking for opinions regarding the 1000 deaths in Iraq.

Now, I gave my opinion, and I'm going to give it here. We've already had the Left jumping all over that number. The morlocks at DU are gloating and dancing over the deaths of soldiers. The Democrats want to use those deaths as a club against Bush. And it seems that everybody is asking the wrong damn question.

The question cannot, should not, and in my mind will never be "How many is too much"? The Left wants to play a numbers game, it seems. "How many people have to die? How many lives must be lost?" And as the number grows larger, they'll continue hammering away, trying to drive doubt into the minds of America. Remember, the Left's ultimate goal is the total and complete capitulation of America to their wishes, and anything that might help them to that end is fair game. Those military deaths are just another tool to them, another thing for them to use.

But the question should never be "How many", the question should always be "Was it worth it".

Thousands died during Operation Overlord on D-Day in WWII. America lost so many men that day that the beaches of Normandy were literally covered with blood. The ocean ran red, in every sense, from the blood that Americans and British and Canadians shed. We lost more on that day than we have in the entire Iraqi campaign. Was it worth it? I can't find a single person outside of the Neo-Nazi skinheads who say "no". To a man, everyone of sound mind agrees, yes, it was worth it. No price was too high to smash Hitler's tyranny.

We lost more thousands in the Korean War, stopping the communists in their tracks. Was it worth it? Ask, and the majority of people will say "Yes". No price was too high in order to keep Kim Il Sung contained, and allowing freedom to prosper below the DMZ.

The end results of this current war remain to be seen, it's still in progress. But if you were to ask those people who until last year were held in Saddam's rape rooms, I think they would tell you it was worth it. Those 1000 brave men and women gave their lives so that Kurdish children wouldn't have to worry about their entire village being gassed. Those 1000 brave men and woman gave their lives so that a major supporter of international terrorism was removed. We have removed a genocidal, terrorist supporting dictator. We have freed millions upon millions of people from under Saddam's thumb, and we have begun a process in the Middle East that will radically change the world in the future.

I think by any objective standard, it's worth it. Soldiers fear dying, yes, but dying is only the soldier's SECOND worst fear. Do you want to know what the first is?

The soldier's worst fear is dying for NOTHING.

You know, as a soldier, that you may be called into combat. The realities of life and death are pretty much burned into your head from Day One. As a soldier, you understand that should you go into combat, you could die. That is just a simple fact about the Army. Death, even in peacetime, is a constant shadow hovering over your shoulder. Training accidents happen. For a while, the Marines had lost more troops to accidents in the V-22 Osprey than they had to combat. Accepting hazards is part of the military.

But to die, and have your sacrifice made worthless? To have any value of what you did yanked away by self-serving politicians? That's worse than death. Many people can accept the risks, the eventuality of death, but not if it's only for cheap political gain. People can be willing to put their lives in harm's way for great things, but if you cheapen what they do, you have cheapened what they give. And that is worse than death.

It's up to us to ensure that these brave few have NOT died in vain. There is still more to do on the international front. Iraq still has insurgents coming into the country from Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Gaza Strip. Our work is not even half finished. But if those soldier's deaths are to take on meaning, we must push forward.

Don't dishonor them. Grieve for them. You can be sorrowful, yet resolute. You can cry, and yet push forward. You can remember them, and look to the future.

It's not the number, it's the meaning. Don't let those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines die for nothing.

Give their deaths meaning.

UPDATE: On Sondra's thread, commenter "sjmld" made this statement:

"Even discussing an arbitrary limit to how many lives we consider "too much" gives our enemy a goal to shoot for. Do not forget we are as dust to them, infidels. They will not yield until vanquished. Let's not defeat ourselves.
I do not want to fight, or die. But fight I will, and make the enemy die."

He's right, on both counts.

Submitted for my Approval, and I Approve!

In the tie in with the last post, I want to bring this weeks list of submissions to the Watcher's Council to your attention. Especially the non-council member submission.

Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. If you want to leave any comments, I've already voted, so feel free.

Did 60 Minutes and The Boston Globe get duped by a forgery?

And worse yet - a forgery that was detected by bloggers and surfers in under a day??

The Kerry Spot on National Review Online

One ponders...

The last point at that link talks about proportional spacing, though, as if an "i" and an "m" were the same width on old typewriters. That's not the way i recall it.

The superscripted "th" is compelling.

For more, check out this and this.

An Open Seat

Yet another seat has opened up on the Watcher's Council. You know the deal - submit one piece of your own and one piece from somebody else per week, and vote on it. At worst, it brings a little extra traffic to your site.

If you're interested, drop the Watcher a line!

Uber Flipper Says The War On Terror Is "Wrong"

Those exact words? Nope. But being a flip flopping imbicile has it's down side:

Kerry, Monday:

"It's the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Kerry, yesterday:

" More than 1,000 of America's sons and daughters have now given their lives on behalf of their country, on behalf of freedom in the war on terror."

Kerry Spokesman David Wade, today:

"Kerry was referring to U.S. soldiers fighting in parts of Iraq that have now become a breeding ground for terrorists."

Oh, okay. All 1,000+ died "fighting in parts of Iraq that have now become a breeding ground for terrorists," but other than that, it's the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. That clears up everything.

Boy! That Flipper SURE knows how to clear up his inconsistant positions.

Today, however, was not a single Flip Flop sort of day for the Flipper. He's going for broke:

Kerry, today: "I would not have made the wrong choices that are forcing us to pay nearly the entire cost of this war — more than $200 billion that we're not investing in education, health care and job creation here at home."

Kerry, last year:

NBC News, Meet the Press, August 31, 2003
MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that we should reduce funding that we are now providing for the operation in Iraq?

SEN. KERRY: No. I think we should increase it.

MR. RUSSERT: Increase funding?

SEN. KERRY: Yes.

MR. RUSSERT: By how much?

SEN. KERRY: By whatever number of billions of dollars it takes to win. It is critical that the United States of America be successful in Iraq, Tim.

I guess he's still proud of voting against the $87 Billion the President requested to fund our troops efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But according to the Super Duper Flipper Flopper:

Doyle McManus (LA Times): "If that amendment does not pass, will you then vote against the $87 billion?"
Kerry: "I don't think any United States senator is going to abandon our troops and recklessly leave Iraq to – to whatever follows as a result of simply cutting and running. That's irresponsible." (CBS, "Face the Nation," 9/14/03)

More? You betcha :)

Let's talk about he Gulf War 1, Senator Flipper:

Kerry, moments ago: "America has paid nearly 90 percent of the bill in Iraq. Contrast that with the Gulf War, where our allies paid 95 percent of the costs."

Unspoken: "Which raises the question of why I voted against that one and for this one. And why I cite that one as an example of the way wars ought to be fought, compared to this one."

What to make of all this? Let's ask Flipper:
December 16, at Drake University in Iowa, Kerry asserted that

"those who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be better off without Saddam Hussein, and those who believe today that we are not safer with his capture, don't have the judgment to be president or the credibility to be elected president."

Guess who doesn't have any credibility, Flipper :)

And.....

Last month, Mr. Kerry was asked by reporters whether he would have voted to authorize war even if he knew no weapons would be found.

"Yes, I would have voted for the authority," Mr. Kerry said. "I believe it's the right authority for a president to have"

Then, of course, there is always this documentary.

Flipper made a big spectacle of himself today. He was gonna clear up his position on Iraq...... BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Encore, Flipper! Encore!

Blogspot is being wierd today

But I can still manage to get through. Maybe just high traffic?

Anyways, it's time for a little bit of LINKLY LOVE!

First via Instapundit is the final word on the Bush AWOL meme. If the Democrats wanted to continue shooting themselves in the foot, holding on to that meme would be the perfect way. Bravo, Donks! You haven't made the charge stick for five years running, and that article explains why. But if you wish to continue holding on to lies and slandering the service of National Guardsmen, be my guest. It'll make your downfall that much sweeter.

Second, via Dean's World is yet another great essay by Orson Scott Card.

As a Democrat, I would hope that a solid trouncing of our fanatic-ruled party at the polls this November would serve as a wakeup call and remind Democrats that they only get to do the things that the Democrat Party exists to do if they get enough votes to control the White House and Congress. Which requires that you have serious candidates and embrace serious issues that most Americans, not just tiny pressure groups, care about.

And on that day, Democratic moderates can take the party back. And yes, Democratic moderates actually exist. They're all voting for Bush this year, but they'd rather have had a Democratic candidate to vote for.

And last from Random Nuclear Strikes comes the latest in Donk Bullshit. Read and wonder just how mindless the Left has become.

No time for an extended entry today, much too busy. I'll see you tomorrow.

The Spitball Defense

Heh. New blog, clean blog, good blog. Gotta remember to add these folks to the roll next time i am in there.

"The Spitball Defense"

Oy!

God Bless America.

h/t DANEgerus

Speaking of spitballs, Jimmy Carter is just hoppin' mad at Zell Miller. Badge of honor, Senator, sir, badge of honor.

Alas, the Jewish World Review sees things differently.

Out of Control

I know RD will LOVE this one:

Kerry gives thanks for the gift of a gun he sponsored a bill to ban.

"I thank you for the gift, but I can't take it to the debate with me," Kerry told a cheering crowd as he held up the device.
Did I mention that his bill would have prevented this act as it constitutes a "gift" transaction?

Ok. Flipper took that weapon in hand not thinking about all the irresponsible legislation he and his constituents pushed due to their fear of guns. He wanted a photo op with a gun. Why? Because he is the head of a lunatic fringe political movement and he was trying to appeal to a larger audience. Where are these leftist retards and their "gun slinging" rhetoric? Complicit and silent. Why? They know Kerry's record and they don't care if he has to lie his way into office by brandishing that fire arm. Why? Because Kerry is NOT a leader. Rather he is a puppet. Remember those violent maniac leftist protestors in New York starting shit with delegates of the Republican National Convention? They are the puppet masters. That's how things like this happen. What the hell did he mean by "but I can't take it to the debate with me."? Why did his mind connect that weapon and the debates he will have with the President of the United States? Was he feeling out the crowd? "They must want me to shoot him at the debates." Fruedian slip? ???????????? WHAT?! And who the hell told these cheering simpletons Kerry was a gun enthusiast? The left is out of control, as is their candidate.

Unemployment in Europe

The charts found herein are helpful when gauging American unemployment versus that of our allies and trading partners.

Darfur and Sudan

Aaron from Free Will has a damn good piece up about Sudan, Darfur, and international non-action in that area of the world. Go read. I'll be here when you get back.

Dum da dum da dum, hmmmmmmm, dum de dum.....

Back? Great. Here's my take:

America can't do jack squat about Darfur right now. We don't have the troops.

If Clinton hadn't done a military fire sale during his eight years in office, we wouldn't be stretched so thin. But he slashed the military. Seriously, Clinton took a double-bit axe to the military on a regular basis, and it shows. It's a testiment to Bush's leadership that the military is doing as well as it is, but the simple fact remains; if we don't get at least another division of Army troops up and running, we can't continue to do the things we're doing. We don't have the manpower. And I'm not even going to touch what the Navy, Air Force and Marines need. I'm sure there are many other people with more knowledge and expertise in those areas than myself.

However, this whole disaster is exposing the rest of the world for what it is. It's exposing the UN (again!) for what it is. Worthless, weak, corrupt, incompetant, and useless. If the rest of the world REALLY wanted to put an end to the genocide, it could. The USA isn't the only country with a military! There are plenty of other countries who have the means to put a stop to the massacres and murder going on in Sudan.

They just don't want to.

Let me add that Britan and Australia, as well as the other countries in our coalition in Iraq are tapped out as well. Contrary to John Kerry's insults and slander, those countries have a hell of a lot more than 500 troops in Iraq and Afganistan. But what about France? Germany? Spain? What about Russia? Where are all the countries who refused to join the USA because we weren't getting rid of Saddam for "the right reasons"? Where are all those countries who call themselves compassionate and caring? Where the hell is the vaunted UN "peacekeepers"?

The protesters here in the USA got one little miniscule part right. It's all about the oil. FRANCE'S oil. France's TotalFinaElf had huge oil contracts with Saddam, and they have their hand in the cookie jar oilcan when it comes to Sudan as well. Germany, for being so "humanitarian" and "peaceloving", doesn't give two hoots about peace anywhere else. And Russia under Putin looks out for itself first. Sudan pumping oil to the rest of the world is competition. Sudan brutalized by thugs and pumping oil to a few corrupt governments like France means Russia can sell it's oil to other countries instead.

And the UN has always been a toothless paper tiger. When your organization consists mostly of corrupt thugs, theocracies, murderers, terrorists, brutal dictators, and criminals of every stripe, all of whom vote against the few upstanding countries trying to do the right thing, you're just S.O.L. Why the hell should Syria allow the world to stop Sudanese genocide? As far as Syria is concerned, that "ethnic cleansing" is perfectly fine! Muslims killing non-muslims! Jihad, Allahu Ackbar, go brother go! Do you really think Cuba gives a shit about Sudan? Hell no! As far as Castro is concerned, the more focus put on Sudan, the less focus put on the murder and torture of dissidents in his own country. Why the hell should Castro help out Sudan?

The only UN peacekeepers worth a damn were the ones from the Anglosphere - America, Australia, and Britan (with Poland recently rejoining the ranks of the competant). The Dutch? Hiding in their compound while civilians get murdered. Everywhere the UN has put troops from other countries than the big four, murder, rape, child prostitution, and corruption has followed. The UN without the USA is worse than nothing, it's an impediment to peace worldwide.

If you want to get a taste of the world without the USA, look at Sudan. If you want to get a taste of Democrat Party policy, look at Sudan. If you want to get a feel for UN control, look at Sudan. If you want to get a taste of how John "Let's enforce UN sanctions" Kerry would handle terrorism.... look at Sudan.

'Nuff said.

Lileks

On target.

Cicadas, airplanes, wind in the trees. A peaceful weekend. At least here. There’s a bloody child on the front page of the newspaper. The Strib subhead calls them “Islamic guerrillas” and “fighters” and “militants,” because you know one man’s terrorist is another man’s disciple of God who practices his sharpshooting so he can nail children in the back at 50 paces. This teaser to an inside story made my jaw bruise my sternum:

“This week’s bloodbath in Russia shattered the notion that innocents are taboo terror victims.”

This is why I despair sometimes. Now we learn that innocents are no longer taboo terror victims.

As usual.

The Bleat

Gee, I wonder

....why THIS won't be found in the Seattle P-I?

In Najaf, scores of demonstrators took to the streets in the battle-scarred heart of the city near the Imam Ali shrine to protest the presence of al-Sadr and his militia and to back Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, who brokered last week's peace deal. The agreement called for the Mahdi Army to give up its arms, but many militia members in Najaf are thought to have kept them, hiding them at home or elsewhere.

"The demands of the demonstrators in general and for the people of Najaf especially are to ensure safety and security and to have stability back," said one protester, 38-year-old Abu Mohammed al-Najafi, identifying himself with a nickname.

Demonstrators shouted chants denouncing al-Sadr, including one that equated him with deposed dictator Saddam Hussein.

(emphasis mine)

Remember folks, for the Donks and their whores in the mass media, anything that could be deemed good for Iraq is also good for Bush, and cannot be aired. It might make John Fonda Kerry look bad.

But that doesn't mean it's not happening. Hat tip to (who else?) Instapundit.

Patriotism, and the lack thereof

Mark Alger nails it.

EVERY SO OFTEN, A DEMOCRAT POLITICIAN Will rear back on his or her hind legs and roar, "How dare you question my patriotism?" -- as though that were a blacker sin than betraying the country or robbing the productive people in the country blind to finance risky utopian-socialist schemes.

It ought to be a clue -- being that he feels his patriotism under attack (even when it's not) -- that he thinks he's doing something unpatriotic.

I'm wondering, when did it become taboo to call a spade a spade? For too long, the political dictionary has been controlled by the Left. Think about the very term "politically correct". Correct to whom? Not to the Right. The Left speaks about "African-Americans". I want to speak about Americans, no hyphen, no prefix. And yet, it's not "politically correct". Let's just flat out say it. Politically correct=Democrat Party Approved.

How patriotic is it to bear false witness against our military in time of war, poisoning the attitudes of generations of Americans toward our military services, rendering them less able to defend us against the very real threats at large in the world?

My father had red paint poured on him when he came back from Viet Nam. I can remember talking to my mom about it, and how she struggled to hold back tears as she related the story to me, of how they had to keep buying uniforms because the Left kept assaulting my dad. He came back from Viet Nam and was put to work recruiting.

To the Left, he was the perfect target. To John Kerry, he was the perfect target.

It was men like my father who John Kerry accused of murder, rape, and torture. It was men like my father who John Kerry accused of "atrocities reminicent of Ghengis Khan", accusations which were totally baseless and false. And yet John Fonda Kerry has NEVER APOLOGIESED for his role in the degridation of Viet Nam vets, who returned home and wanted to return to normal lives. But you can't live a normal life when you're being spit on, when you have bags of feces thrown at you, or when some idiot is dumping red paint on you or calling you a baby killer. All of those actions were facilitated in part by John Kerry.

You're damn skippy I'm going to question his patriotism.

How patriotic is it to urge, support, and vote in the legislature for massive cuts in every facet of our national defense -- from Defense and weapons appropriations to intelligence budgets -- while saying one is for a -- scorn quotes -- "stronger" America.

When Zell Miller delivered his "Military armed with what? Spitballs?" line at the RNC convention, the crowd roared. And they roared because that wasn't just a throw-away line, it had it's base in the TRUTH. DANEgerus has a link regarding the 1984 defense budget that John Kerry voted against. In that budget were included the MX Missile, B-1 Bomber, Anti-Satellite Systems, 'Star Wars', Tomahawk Cruise Missile, AH-64 Helicopters, Division Air Defense Gun (DIVAD), Patriot Air Defense Missile, Aegis Air-Defense Cruiser, Battleship Reactivation, AV-8B Harrier, F-15 Fighter, F-14 Fighter, Phoenix Air-to-Air Missile, and the Sparrow Air-to-Air Missile. I've bold-faced the weapons systems that that I know were used in Iraq and Afganistan. If John Kerry had his way, our military would be under-equipped and unable to do it's job. And lest anyone think that he was just voting against some pork bill, here's a quote from John Kerry on that very bill.

"There's no excuse for casting even one vote for unnecessary weapons of destruction and as your Senator, I will never do so."

He KNEW what he was voting against. It wasn't some pork bill he opposed, he flat out admits that HE DID NOT WANT THE USA TO HAVE THOSE WEAPONS AND WEAPON SYSTEMS! Hell yeah, I'm questioning his patriotism!

How patriotic is it -- after the national debate has been had and support expressed in the lawful halls of government by both parties -- for one party to continually attack our war leaders while we're engaged?

When Al Gore, the 2000 Democrat nominee to the presidential election, calls conservative bloggers and web pundits digital brownshirts, then yes I'll question your patriotism.

When you lie about employment numbers just to win an election, hell yes I'll question your patriotism! And yes, DANEgerus has yet another link to prove that John Kerry lied!

When the only record you run on is a four month span in Viet Nam, with no reference to your actions afterwards nor your nineteen year Senate record, then yes, I'll question your patriotism!

When you call your opponent AWOL, yet refuse to release your military records to clear up inconsistancies, then yes, I'll question your patriotism!

When your supporters call American military members "occupiers", when the mouthpiece of your Party calls American's "stupid", when your supporters riot in the streets while calling conservatives "facists", "nazis", "jackbooted thugs", and "war profiteers", and you disavow NONE OF IT, then hell yes I'll question your patriotism!

Four months of combat does not innoculate you from critisim of your actions ever since you got back in country! You might have been a Naval Officer, but meeting up with North Vietnamese Communists in Paris while you're supposed to report to Naval Reserve Duty is anything but patriotic! Hell yes, I'll question your patriotism!

The lies, slander, abuse, false accusations and insults Kerry directed at my father and other Viet Nam veterans disgusts me. The way that Kerry has tried to evade questions about his record disgusts me. The way Kerry lies in order to score cheap political points disgusts me. The way he can't answer a single question honestly disgusts me. And his voting record in the Senate revolts me.

It's about time we stopped using the set of rules handed down by the Democrats. Every time John Fonda Kerry whines "Don't you question my patriotism!", someone needs to step up and ask "Why not?".

Because Kerry has been anything but patriotic for the past thirty years. And calling him on that should not be a source of embaressment.

Stemming The Tide

Kim du Toit has put up yet another masterfull essay regarding illegal immigration.

'Nuff said? Yep, 'nuff said.

And spare me the grief and namecalling, all you leftist twits. I have no problem with people coming into this country LEGALLY. As Kim puts it:

And I don't want to hear about "rights" of illegal aliens. Our Constitutional rights are guaranteed for citizens -- they're damn lucky we don't shoot them on sight (as Mexico has been know to do to migrant South Americans on their southern border).

Bingo

The years of overt legitimization of Palestinian and other terrorism has eroded the civilian status of every human. The road from the point blank shooting of a pregnant Israeli mother and her two little children in the name of dead Palestinians leads directly to the bombing of homes in Riyadh when some Salafists find the Saudi regime not in compliance with their version of Islam.

The seizure of a school full of children was not a far step down from the gleeful immolation of four contract workers in Iraq. Jihadiis define all Americans as legitimate targets and do not lament any Iraqi children within the bomb radius. In England, Sheikh Yousef Al-Qardhawi, head of the International Council of Muslim Clerics published a new fatwa declaring: it is an obligation incumbent on the Muslims to kill American citizens in Iraq…it is forbidden however to desecrate their corpses.

The path to School Number One runs through Spain and the Philippines and the appeasement of terrorists. It runs through the Sudan where hundreds of thousands of children may die in an accommodation to the sovereignty of a brutal Islamic regime. It runs daily through Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and India, in smaller but no less brutal acts of jihad.

She gets it. And check out the mouth-breathing dhimmicrat "Joe" in the comments section.

Hmmmm.

Interesting, eh? The more Big Media is explored, the more fraudulent it appears to be.

A Weak Argument needs a Weak Opponent

That's gotta be the only reason that Pat Buchanan is still around.

Seriously, I'm looking at "Meet The Press" right now, and there's 'ol Pat, mumbling away on something or other. Why the hell is this guy still around? He doesn't speak for the Republican Party. He's not a part of mainstream conservative thought. He's out on the fringe, blathering away, alive only because the Democrats need a weak opponent on national programs so that they can debate and not have their ass handed to them on a silver platter. Buchanan doesn't speak for me, or for any of the people on the Right side of the political spectrum that I know. Hell, I can imagine the internal dialogue that went on in Tim Russert's head.

"Crap, we've got Bob Graham on today. How the hell can I make him look good? The guy's a senile mushmouthed loon! Damndamndamndamndamn... oh wait! CALL PAT BUCHANAN! He makes ANY Democrat look good!"

The guy is out of any real politics (due to the fact that he's a nut), and he's out of touch with Conservatism today. His only reason for being on TV is the fact that the Democrats can't debate with a real conservative, so they bring in the soft guy to make themselves look good. If the Donks had to debate any real Republican, they'd get their asses handed to them the majority of the time.

UPDATE: Hell, Newt Gingrich is on right now, slapping Russert around like a pimp. NEWT FRIGGING GINGRICH! Mr. "I haven't even sniffed a congressional fart since 1996" Gingrich!

'Nuff said.

Too Damn Good

Sir George over at the Rott links to a piece from a San Francisco newspaper that shows a moment of honest truth.

I know, I know, honest truth from a San Fran fishwrap? But it's true. However, it's not just the article I wanted to bring to your attention, it's the writing from George that accompanies it.

I think George just lifted himself up with Bill Whittle as a master of wordcraft.

Though John Kerry may be skilled at shooting kids in the back or backstabbing anyone dumb enough to put their faith in him, he didn't exactly hold a gun to anyone's head and make them pull the voting lever for him. He's the anti-____ candidate who depends on masses of well-meaning but poorly informed voters to mistakenly guess what fills in that blank to grant him his ambitions. He's the embodiment of a candidate of the flaky, by the flaky, and for the flaky, and the more thoughtful flakes are figuring that out.

That has to be one of the best stinging rebukes of John Fonda Kerry I've ever read. And there's more!

Their fear of religion had them supporting a brutal fundamentalist theocracy; their demand for sexual equality had them supporting a country where women were horsewhipped for showing ankle; their horror at genocide had them supporting a man who ran death camps to meet the mass grave quotas; their disgust for soldiers had them support a country that was little more than an army ruling over the captive breeding stock that refilled the ranks; their fear of Ashcroft had them supporting a police state where people routinely disappear for not praising their maximum leader loudly enough; their outrage over the Florida election had them supporting a man who'd eliminated the last person foolish enough to vote against him. So after all these contradictions it was only a small thing to find themselves on a Quixotic quest to find a pro-war/anti-war candidate, a war-criminal/war-hero, an unwounded casualty, a patriotic traitor. Yet not all on the left can sleep at night just by toking the bong, drinking the Kool-Aid, and saying three "Hell Bushes", so articles like this will keep oozing out at an ever increasing rate as Kerry flounders on his own contradictions, finishing much like this one, with the stark truth of the situation.

I wish I'd written that.

A Tale of Two Sides

Analog Kid points out something that I think is indicative of the political spectrum.

"I just looked at the top 20 or so lefty blogs and I can?t find a single story about the tragedy in Russia. Not ONE."

Let's work our way down TTLB's Ecosystem

#1 Joshua Micah Marshall can't stop blathering about the RNC. Especially about Zell.

#2 daily Kos whines about the Bush bounce 'It can't be real!'.

#3 Eschaton has big hopes for the new Kitty Kelly book on the Bush family

#4 Andrew Sullivan is also focused on the RNC and Zell. I sense a pattern here.

#5 Kevin Drum has four consecutive posts about Bush's bounce in the polls.

#6 Talk Left is talking about the RNS and, amazingly enough, Abu Ghraib.

#7 Tom Tomorrow writes that anyone who tries to use Kerry's Winter Soldier testimony against him is perpetrating 'Revisionist History'.

#8 Pandagon frightens themselves with the Newsweek and Time poll results and continues the 'Republicans = racists' crap.

#9 Tapped insists that Iraq should follow the economy on the list of campaign issues and bitches about the Texas delegation at the RNC.

#10.1 Oliver Willis is currently down. Maybe he pulled a Sullivan and switched parties, thereby causing a million small voices in the universe to cry out in fear, collapsing his site.

We'll check back with him later. Until then....

#10.2 Orcinus is on vacation, sooooooo

#10.3 Ahhh, digby at Hullabaloo is really pissed that the Navy might be investigating Kerry's medals and goes on to try and rally the troops for Kerry after Bush's bounce.

I didn't see Juan Cole on the TTLB anywhere, but FYI, he's still talking about the 'Israeli spy' case and counting the months and the dead in Iraq.

Sadly, I cannot speak for the next 8 (or 10) leftie blogs as I just don't have the time. Once you get this far down in the blog-ecosystem, you kind of have to go through all the blogs because the left leaning ones don't really stand out.

Why do I point to this? Because as I said, it's indicative of the political spectrums. By and large, the blogs of the Right are on this story. Michelle at A Small Victory is raising money for the victims of this terrorist attack. Most of the blogs on the right are expressing their outrage at the murder of innocent kids.

The Left? They're whining about Zell Miller and the RNC convention. They're bitching about Bush's poll bounce. And above all, they're insulting anyone to the Right of themselves.

As I said. Indicative.