A Tale of Two Daughters

A tale of two first daughters, one former and one present, has presented itself recently in the news. The lead up to the telling of the tale was put into play as a story broke a few days ago that former President Clinton was successful in silencing a popular men's magazine's feature on the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign with a behind the scenes angle on her staff and consultants. Former President Clinton's aides, according to The Politico, issued an ultimatum to GQ Magazine: "kill the piece, or lose access to planned celebrity coverboy Bill Clinton." Though the staff at GQ objected, the editor, Jim Nelson, kowtowed to the offer he couldn't refuse. According to the article, "GQ writer George Saunders traveled with Clinton to Africa in July, and Clinton is slated to appear on the cover of GQ's December issue, in which it traditionally names a "Man of the Year," according to magazine industry sources."

Interesting.

Hillary's campaign is said to be patterned after President Bush's campaigns, not like Bill Clinton's, which was, let's face it, animal house. At least the first presidential run in 1992. Remember the "War Room" and the 'documentary' filmed highlighting the behind the scenes look at Begala, Carville, and Georgie S? Well, you can take it to the bank that she who must be obeyed isn't about to allow that for her campaign. For all the name calling by Hillary as to the love of secrecy of the Bush administration and his cronyism of old friends, she has embraced his style of campaigning and taken it to the next level. Her schedule is run like clockwork and nothing is left to chance.

Hillary's war room is run by the old cast of characters from the two presidential terms of Bill and they know the art of intimidation. Big time. They are also still arrogant enough to expect press coverage to continue to go their way. Or else no access to everyone's American Idol, Bill Clinton. They take the two for the price of one schtick quite seriously, you know.

Just as all campaigns in recent years have made demands of campaign reporters, what with Cheney banning the New York Times from his campaign jet in 2004 and Obama banning Carl Cameron of Fox News from his campaign travels, this incident with GQ is newsworthy for its financial implications. GQ plans to sell tons of magazines with Bill on the December cover, after all. They love the guy. His face on the cover is money in the bank.

Keeping with the financial angle, a restaurant owner in Greenwich Village was sent a letter, on official William Jefferson Clinton letterhead, from a lawyer demanding the picture on the wall of the restaurant of Chelsea Clinton and the owner be removed immediately. The letter threatened future legal action if the demand wasn't met. Immediately. So what did owner Nino Selimaj do? He went to the media. Nino didn't like the attitude coming from the letter. Not a nice tone. His restaurant, Osso Buco, has lots of photos of famous patrons on its walls. It's a very common practice for eating establishments, particularly in New York. Chelsea, according to Nino was very pleasant and happy to pose for a photo. She wasn't under duress. She was there in his restaurant with a group of about 30, he said, and was well behaved and polite to everyone.

Nino was a self-proclaimed big fan of the former President Clinton. He is grateful for the action Clinton ordered in Bosnia as that is his homeland and he was concerned about relatives there. He said if someone had simply made a phone call and asked him to remove the photo he would have been ok with that. But, since the strong arm methods were used he has decided to do the media tour and wait to see what happens next. And, by the way, Hillary has lost his vote.

Jenna Bush, one of the current first daughters, will be interviewed on ABC's 20/20 Friday night by Diane Sawyer. She is doing a bit of a book tour now for her book, "Ana's Story". Recently engaged to her boyfriend of three years, Henry Hager, she is a teacher at a charter school and a former intern with UNICEF. She is currently writing a book with her mother, Laura Bush.

Jenna Bush met Ana in Latin America at a UNICEF conference for women and children. Ana is a young woman living with HIV. At the time Ana was 17 years old, a single mother, and telling her story that people do live with HIV/AIDS. Jenna was moved by Ana's positive outlook on life and her personal strength. "The more I got to know her, the more inspired I became," Bush said, as quoted by ABC News. Jenna said she didn't go to Latin America with the intention of writing a book but since her job with UNICEF was to document the lives of children living in exclusion and she wanted to do more than just statistics, the idea of a book telling Ana's story came to her.

"Although she was orphaned at a young age and was born with HIV/AIDS and suffered abuse in her home and she's a teenage mother and she see her life as perfect," Bush said. "She sees her life as the way, you know, God made it for her, and she never complains. She dances."

Diane Sawyers will ask Jenna about her father's Iraq War policy and Jenna answers, "You know I'm not here to talk about that, but I'm also not a policymaker. It's a really complicated, obviously a very complicated subject Everybody can agree on that." That made me smile as I remember reading the book by Mariane Pearl, "The Lonely Heart" and in it is a story she tells of Laura Bush visiting her during a trip to Paris to extend a hand of friendship and comfort to Mariane after the death of her journalist husband, Danny, in Pakistan. Danny Pearl was beheaded by al Quada thugs. Jenna met them both there and while there the conversation drifted to war and Jenna made a reference of her thoughts against our involvement in Iraq. The story by Mariane noted that Laura Bush shot Jenna a look and quickly changed the subject.

So, we see the offspring of one Democrat political family and one Republican political family. I just find it interesting that the Dems who claim to be all about 'the people' and all the pat feel good social issues have a daughter educated in expensive private Ivy League schools and Oxford, too. Chelsea is working for a hedge fund in Manhattan, living large in the city. Her drunken episodes were never published in this country as a young college gal. They were noted, however, in the press in England when she was at Oxford.

Jenna, a graduate of the University of Texas, was never cut a break when she made poor decisions. Jenna, from the evil, greedy Republican family, is a public school teacher in Washington, D.C. Hardly a glamorous or lucrative career choice. She has worked on issues such as HIV/AIDS and literacy, as has her twin, Barbara. Barbara frequently works with a pet project of hers in Africa in a medical setting on issues of malaria and AIDS. These two young women are known for their volunteer work.

Chelsea is not. Chelsea is only noted as a member of the board of the New York City Ballet. If it is as many boards, it would be a paid position.

Both young women are thought to be kind, smart and polite. All good. Both are working and productive in society. All good. I make no judgement on their individual choices. Just don't expect me to blindly follow the reasoning that only the Dems have the moral authority on doing good in society while the Republicans are all about big business and greed.

Funny how that works after all.

And One More, Because It's So Easy

Sometimes in the world of entertainment, also known as the world of political punditry, meltdowns are witnessed and savored. Such an interview happened on Monday evening for David Shuster on MSNBC. I'm am telling you about it because no one actually watches MSNBC and this foolish interviewer needs to be called out on his behavior.

Shuster, formerly of Fox News channel is a 'reporter' who used to patrol the U.N. and surrounding sidewalks hoping to ambush an official, any official at all, with questions about the Oil For Food program. As the scandal about the management of that program was finally being reported by Fox News, long before any other network bothered to investigate, I would watch in amazement as Shuster would target someone and then chase them down for a question. Not the most dignified while executing his moves, Shuster would dart through groups of passersby like the roadrunner cartoon character on crack trying to get to an official for a comment.

Monday evening Shuster was the substitute host of the Tucker Carlson show. His guest was Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, and he was doing a standard smackdown on Rep. Blackburn for her support of the mission in Iraq and speaking up for General Petraeus by criticizing the MoveOn ad in the New York Times.


From NewsBusters.org:
Shuster: Let's talk about the public trust. You represent of course a district in western Tennessee. What was the name of the last soldier form your district who was killed in Iraq?

Blackburn: The name of the last soldier killed in Iraq from my district? I do not know.

Shuster: OK, his name was Jeremy Bohannon. He was killed August the ninth, 2007. How come you didn't know the name?

Blackburn spoke about her appreciation for sacrifices made by the troops and then about her outreach to military families in her district by herself and her office. Not good enough for Shuster, though.

Shuster: Well, you weren't appreciative enough to know the name of this young man...I still think it's a little bit surprising that you didn't know the name of this last soldier killed in Iraq who's only 18 years old yet you do know so much about the MoveOn. org ad and the tactics you didn't like.

Shuster. What a charmer, no?

Well, well, well. What did I read last night? That's right. Shuster had to issue a big ole apology on air during the Tucker Carlson show last night. Why? Well, turns out that the soldier, Jeremy Bohannon, wasn't from Rep. Blackburn's district. He was from a neighboring district and his representative in Congress was John Tanner, a Democrat.

See why David Shuster is on MSNBC?

Katie's Punditties

As a timely addition to my first post today, I am reading an account of disgraced CBS newsreader, Katie Couric spouting off about her opinions of the war in Iraq. Before a studio audience while speaking at the National Press Club, faux journalist Katie says, "Everyone in this room would agree that people in this country were misled in terms of the rationale of this war," adding that it is "pretty much accepted" that the war in Iraq was a mistake. Quotes are courtesy of PJM Roundup at PajamasMedia.

The blogs are showing across the board rejection of Couric's remarks. Maybe everyone in her world has her opinions, actually I would take that bet, but her world's population doesn't speak of regular U.S. citizens. She left regular U.S. citizen world many moons ago.

There is even a blogger on Daily Kos that relates what a buffoon she's become. Mon Dieu!

Couric bad mouths the administration for 5 years, belittles those holding the highest of office in the administration, blah, blah, blah and then accepts an assignment of reporting from Iraq to try to salvage any hopes of decent ratings for her CBS Evening News show. Couric makes headlines with her come-to-Jesus moment when she says, on air, that progress is indeed being made and the military really isn't full of murdering, raping, knuckle dragging apes. Oh, my mistake. The last part of the previous sentence should be credited to the likes of Murtha, Kerry and Durbin.

So, safely back in her cocoon on the east coast of the U.S. of A., trying to re-establish her cred as the mouthpiece for the defeatists, there she goes.

Nicely done, Katie.

Meredith In The Morning

While checking in with a favorite website of mine, NewsBusters.org, I came across an article I found quite amazing. Seems Meredith Vieira had an interview with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai Monday morning. Seems Meredith is convinced the war in Afghanistan was lost and was astonished that President Karzai didn't agree with her conclusion. She is described as being 'bewildered' with his opinions.

Vieira: "A lot of Americans, here, are confused by this, what's going on in Afghanistan. They say, 'Wait a minute, I thought we won that war, already and now the Taliban is back? What went wrong?' So I'm asking you sir -"

Karzai: "We won."

Vieira: "- what's gone wrong? You've won?"

Karzai: "Yes, of course we won."

Vieira: "What have you won?"

Karzai: "The war against terrorism. The liberation of Afghanistan. These guys, the al Qaeda, Osama, and their associates were running Afghanistan. Today you're talking to President Karzai, elected by the Afghan people."

Vieira: "There's also killings everyday. So how do you reconcile that with this notion we've won?"

Karzai: "We have won because we have defeated them from being the government, now they are the runaways. Outlaws. Hiding in the mountains, in caves."

Vieira, like so much of the entertainment liberals, is so determined for the U.S. to fail in all military actions that she actually challenges the President of Afghanistan on state of his country. Unbelievable.

She was so proud to proclaim her participation in anti-war marches in NYC before the Iraq War. She's so cool, you know. That was out of line for her to be saying on a morning show but she was on The View then so, you know, that's not anywhere close to journalism. It's just a chat show for bored women in Manhattan, so big deal.

At one time Vieira was masquerading fairly convincingly as a journalist. In her younger days as a reporter for 60 Minutes she was accepted as a professional. No better or worse than the rest of them on that show.

In today's climate there is no need for any pretense of impartiality or professional objectivity. It is quite evident where the majority of those interviewing people on the air stand on political opinion so why bother? Just play along and think they are really earning their glorious salaries. If you are not an east coast or west coast liberal your thoughts don't matter anyway. Those claiming to be journalists today are no different than run of the mill actors, self absorbed and thinking as a voting block.

Like the others in her circle, Meredith refuses to accept success. At least as far as her country is concerned.

Today President Karzai was at the White House meeting with President Bush. Karzai, still a snappy dresser, wanted to publicly thank the American people for his country's freedom.

Must be a sad morning for old Meredith today.

There Are No Homosexuals in Iran

Yesterday the spectacle at Columbia University brought live television coverage of a speech to a new level. One day students of history will look back and wonder, what the hell were they thinking?

The very fact that this Iranian dictator would be allowed into our country defies reason. In 1988 President Reagan denied entrance to Arafat. Isn't this tyrant just as evil?

He was allowed in to speak at the United Nations, you say. OK. So, speak at the United Nations. All of the failed nations represented there will applaud him as a hero. They will have their opportunity to bash the bad America, from the comfort of their padded chairs in the auditorium, while experiencing the luxury of walking freely about our country. While being chauffeured about Manhattan not worrying so much as about paying parking fines. They will sit down to lavish lunches and dinners together, many courses of fine food and wine, and jawbone about the disgraceful U.S. of A. And that idiot Bush. Just who does he think he is anyway? They are diplomats. They are here to promote dialogue.

They are here to hear themselves speak.

I hear a lot of yammering about the First Amendment. Everyone has a right to free speech. Let me make a distinction about the free speech argument in this exercise - our founding fathers included a bill of rights, a list of amendments to our original constitution, because some important guidelines for our republic were left out of the first document. Let's think back to our American History classes, those of my day, not of today. We were taught that the founding fathers were adamant about the necessity of freedom of speech to protect the listener, as well as the speaker. The American people were to be guaranteed the right to say and write as they wished about their own government. Americans were to be guaranteed that 'the government' couldn't take away sources of information and deny access to all points of view.

Common sense must rule, though. No screaming 'fire' in a crowded theatre, for example. Just because you can say something doesn't mean you should sometimes.

There are those of the opinion that a visit and speech from the madman of Tehran would enlighten us. Dialogue would be so very helpful. Well, it was helpful, ok, but not to America. It is very helpful to the madman today in his country. The newspapers there are full of how wonderful this speech at Columbia was and how the students gave him standing ovations. They did, too. All true. There is no mention of the President of Columbia University's remarks. What a surprise.

After the speech some students were interviewed. Some of the naive answers of the young people would be sweet, even charming, if it were not all so dangerous. A student said that President Bollinger's opening remarks would counter whatever the madman said in press write-ups. She assumed that the people in Iran would read of the President's remarks in his introduction. Unfortunately, despite all that expensive, Ivy League kind of education, she is absolutely clueless in the real world.

The President of Columbia University, the one who extended the invitation to the madman to participate in the Distinguished Speaker series, in order to try to deflect some of the pressure he is under from public outrage, introduced the madman with some strong language. Too little, too late, of course, and I say he wouldn't have even bothered to make these remarks if the demonstrations had not happened. From his appearances on television chat shows, the President of Columbia looks like a standard academic elitist. The invitation should never have been made in the first place. He is a pompous bag of wind.

Columbia University has a large Jewish student and facility population. The university has a renowned Hebrew/Middle East studies program. More than 800 alums and professors of Columbia University live in Israel today. I'm guessing letters from the Alumni Association soliciting donations will go straight to the circular files in their homes and offices. Rightly so.

The madman did the usual song and dance during the lame question and answer session after his speech. Did they expect answers from this man? He rambles and filibusters. He doesn't answer questions. He answers with his own questions. He said there are no homosexuals in Iran. He said women are held with the highest respect. He said Iran has no nuclear ambitions for weapons. All lies, of course, and when pressed on the subjects he simply changed the subject. It was what he always does with questions.

How's that for dialogue? Really moved things forward, didn't it? Negotiation and 'dialogue' with madmen never works. Not since the beginning of time.

One interesting tidbit from writer Susan Jones from CNSNews.com (h/t Debbie at Right Truth) broke the news of the release of a Columbia alumnus from an Iranian prison. Remember previous mentions of Kian Tajbakhsh, the 'human rights activist' in the employ of George Soros's Open Society Institute? He was released on bail Thursday. Coincidence? Hardly. He's still in Iran and not able to leave the country, held there by the free and open government of Iran, but he is out of prison.

No one bothered to ask about Americans being held prisoner in Iran. No one bothered to ask much of anything of substance. Yes, there were questions about denying the Holocaust, about wanting to push Israel into the sea, about wanting to destroy the U.S., but those are standard questions for him and he gave standard non-answers. He had the opportunity to say Iran is a peace loving, freedom loving, human rights loving, open and accepting country.

He was given a platform.

It was a disgrace. Columbia University brought it upon themselves. The Dean of Foreign Studies even had the arrogance to say Hitler would have been a welcomed speaker before we went into WWII. Unbelievable naivety for such 'educated' people.

The madman has declared war on Israel and the United States. Just as Saddam did by shooting at the jet fighters flying in the No Fly Zones, patrolling, the madman is provoking the U.S. with his threatening hateful speech.

Funny, I didn't hear all this high and mighty free speech and dialogue enlightenment from President Bollinger and his cohorts while the leader of the Minutemen was being shouted down and the stage stormed by students acting like thugs and punks as he began his speech before the students assembled to hear him. He wasn't invited by the Distinguished Speaker series, though, not qualified by just doing what he thinks protective of his country. He was invited by student groups on campus.

I haven't seen Secretary of State Rice, or President Bollinger for that matter, lecturing at Tehran University lately. Maybe their invitations were lost in the mail.

Rules of Life

Because wordnerd is my girl in south Louisiana, I will give you some rules of life, according to moi:

1. To thine own self be true. No guilt, baby.

2. Don't give up. Even when you feel like a lone voice in the wilderness.

3. A daily fix of chocolate will keep your moods a little more even.

4. Vote. Every election. No excuses.

5. Read. Everything.

6. Keep up with current events. It's really NOT all about you.

7. When it comes to politics, be partisan. Partisanship is good. That's why we have more than one party. Differences matter.

8. Character matters. Expect the best of others. And yourself. Each day is a fresh start.

9. If you don't love animals, I want nothing to do with you.

10. Listen more. It's the best way to learn.


That's it now. I'm not tagging anyone this time. Feel free to jump in though. It's good to know where others are coming from.

Speechless

Marcel Marceau died. I'm speechless.

Hillary Clinton, she who must be obeyed, hoisted herself onto her throne in the Clinton estate in New York and held forth with her views of the world and the body politic as it pertains to her candidacy for the office of president. On all five, count 'em five, Sunday morning chat shows. That may be some kind of record.

Hillary presented herself as the professional she is and didn't stray from her script, no matter what the question. She really didn't get any tough questioning, as predicted, and the usual suspects were fawning and drooling over her and her all but certain terms in the Oval Office. Heck, let's just get on with it and oust Bush/Cheney this week and move her in.

"Unless we have people rooting for us all over the world", the U.S. can't battle the war on terror. Well, then let's just throw in the towel now, shall we? Since when have we had people around the world rooting for our country? Maybe in liberal fantasy land.

She was right about one statement, though. She called this upcoming presidential election a 'turning point' election. I absolutely agree. This election, as no other in my life time, will determine the direction of our country. I know that phrase is often used, but it holds true this time around. The differences of the two major political parties couldn't be starker. Do you want to be on the offense or defense against acts of terror coming to this country? What is the tax rate that is acceptable to you and your family's income? Do you want a career government worker in D.C. making your health care decisions? Do you want a potential employer to ask if you have health insurance and if you don't well, that's reason enough to not hire you? How about a 23 year old adult child without standard health insurance and starting out in the world? Does that healthy, invincible human have to be insured to live in this country?

Do the Dems ever stop running against Bush/Cheney? Those two won't be on a ticket in November 2008. It is said that Bill Clinton was taking notes for Hillary as she was doing the interviews. Passing her notes on his suggestions. Wait, I thought it was Dick Cheney who was the puppeteer in politics.

A good article in the Washington Post online yesterday by Chris Cillizza and Shailagh Murray pointed to a recent survey by Celinda Lake, a Democrat pollster. Her poll results show Clinton and Obama behind Giuliani in all 31 House districts currently held by Dems and thought to be in jeopardy in 2008. The main concern is that this will be a drag on Dems retaining the House. "Despite Obama's relative advantage over Clinton, both candidates are significantly under performing against the generic Democratic edge in the presidential and even against party identification." The article said the news continues to worsen as the survey is delved into deeper. Both Obama and Clinton spokespeople down play the poll findings, of course. Never mind Celinda Lake is a respected, usually accurate pollster.

Then I read an article in the Washington Post, again online, that was a lovely little puff piece on their girl, Hillary's mother.

The Hillary roundup ended for me with an opinion piece by one of my favorites, Mark Steyn. He spoke to the points in Hillary's much gushed over health care plan released last week. He spoke to the numbers referred to as uninsured in this country. No one knows the true number. The number is usually quite exaggerated by those offering up a government as nanny plan and a number lessened is produced by those believing in the free market. I noticed not one interviewer asked what she intended to do about the illegal immigrants flooding our medical facilities. By all accounts they number 40% of those not insured. That fact is not one commonly spoken in discussions, though, is it?

Hillary was in a grey/green suit yesterday with a modest string of green gems around her neck. All very sedate. I was relieved to see it was a no-pink day.

Hillary now claims she will no longer vote to fund the war. She used the defeatists' favorite talking point, when questioned how she could leave troops in the field without funding, that to protect them best we must bring them home. Because, the implication was, she knows best. They are to be taken care of by mama Hillary. She and Grandma Mimi will be quite a team.

"...the password tonight is victory or death", General George Washington.

America's War

Dirty Harry Reid, in between corrupt land deals in Nevada, said today that he intends to bring vote after vote on withdrawal dates and cutting funds for the war in Iraq. He intends to brand the war the Republican's war. Not America's war, not even Bush's war, as they tried to call it over the summer break. Now it's just the Republican's war. What a creepy loser.

What do we call him now?

After the President's press conference yesterday, ABC News said they regretted not carrying the press conference. They didn't want to disrupt the soap operas and game shows with the current events of the country, I guess.

What do we call them now?

Later yesterday, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), got his resolution condemning the MoveOn ad through the Senate business, after being denied the opportunity previously. So, while General Petraeus was unanimously voted 'yes' to his leading the surge policy in Iraq, while he was the beneficiary of platitudes from left and right, while the leaders of foreign countries voiced approval of him as the leader of the military operations in Iraq, the MoveOn people were cooking up their own little campaign to impugn him publicly. Yesterday, as the vote was taken on the resolution, 24 Dems and 1 Socialist, no Republicans, voted to congratulate MoveOn for their ad. They have no intention of doing anything to stop the monetary contributions to their campaign coffers from this group, led by George Soros.

What do we call the no voters now?

Twenty-two Dems and 1 Independent voted with the Republicans to condemn the ad. President Bush finally spoke out against the ad and the Dems who continue to applaud and kowtow to the MoveOn people, lead by Eli Pariser, Soros' front man.

What do we call them?

Here's the resolution:

SEC. 1070. SENSE OF SENATE ON GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS
(a) Findings. - The Senate makes the following findings:

(1) The Senate unanimously confirmed General David H. Petraeus as Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, by a vote of 81-0 on January 26, 2007.
(2) General Petraeus graduated first in his class at the United States Army Command and General Staff College.
(3) General Petraeus earned Masters of Public Administration and Doctoral degrees in international relations from Princeton University.
(4) General Petraeus has served multiple combat tours in Iraq, including command of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) during combat operations throughout the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom, which tours included both major combat operations and subsequent stability and support operations.
(5) General Petraeus supervised the development and crafting of the United States Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency manual based in large measure on his combat experience in Iraq, scholarly study, and other professional experiences.
(6) General Petraeus has taken a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.
(7) During his 35-year career, General Petraeus has amassed a distinguished and unvarnished record of military service to the United States as recognized by his receipt of a Defense Distinguished Service Medal, two Distinguised Service Medals, two Defense Superior Service Medals four Legions of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal for valor, the State Department Superior Honor Award, the NATO Meritorious Service Medal, and other awards and medals.
(8) A recent attack through a full-page advertisement in the New York Times by the liberal activist group, MoveOn.org, impugns the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all the members of the United States Armed Forces.
b) Sense of Senate. - It is the sense of the Senate-
(1) to affirm its support for all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, including General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq;
(2) to strongly condemn any effort to attack the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all the members of the United States Armed Forces;and
(3) to specifically repudiate the unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus by the liberal activist group Moveon.org.

Hardly going out on a limb for a General leading our country and her soldiers in war.

Three didn't vote: Biden, Cantwell and Obama. All Dems. Two running for President.

What do we call them?

Obama was seen on the floor of the Senate minutes before the vote, speaking in favor of a resolution put up by Barbara Boxer, D-CA and a surrender monkey. Then he scurried off as this vote was taken.

None of the Dems running for President voted to condemn the ad.

What do we call them?

According to the most recent polls: 61% approval for General Petraeus, 11% approval for Congress.

Dirty Harry is doing a splendid job.

Today a vote was taken demanding the withdrawal of troops in Iraq in 9 months. It failed by 13 votes. Take a vote every day and use a different number. They are pulling them out of the air anyway.

Dirty Harry is doing a splendid job.

Thursday Tidbits

Columbia University is inviting Ahmadinejad to speak and be asked "tough" questions by the President and the audience. Yeah, right. It is surreal to me that the President of an alleged fine university in New York City would issue an invitation to the terrorist known as the leader of Iran and give him a forum to spew his hate-filled speech to our citizens. This, at a time that it is under reported that Iran is providing weapons to al-Qaeda in Iraq, killing and maiming our soldiers. There's a slice of the state of American higher education today.

It is incredible enough that the head Iranian thug will be allowed to speak before the U.N. But, that is common anymore. It was incredible that yesterday the mayor of New York said he would escort him on a tour of Ground Zero, until the public finally spoke up and Bloomberg backed down. Can you imagine? What the hell are these people thinking? He wants to lay a wreath in the pit. Wants to express sympathy. Yeah, sure. This from the dictator who want Sharia law in full force in his country. Women who had been expressing forms of freedom, quietly, like western dress and music, well, no more of that. Women are being forced to cover up again, stonings are a popular form of killing women who will not submit. He wants to destroy Israel. He dreams of a world without the U.S. Yeah, he must be one of Rosie O'Donnell's terrorists who is just a dad like everyone else.

Have you seen the video of the young member of YAF who confronts Rep. Murtha about his disgusting remarks made of our military members during the Hiditha incident? The remarks Murtha made that the Marines were killing innocent Iraqis in cold blood? The young man follows Murtha to the elevator and asks him if he'd like to issue an apology now that they have all been vindicated, with only one given a short jail sentence. The charges are being dropped on the rest of the men. Murtha pulls the 'have you ever been in the military?' crap. As if being a veteran is good enough of an excuse to lie about the military, at war in a foreign country. He is a disgrace. Now, too, C.R.E.W. has named Murtha as the most corrupt politician currently in the House. That's saying something since normally they lean heavily liberal. The young man told Murtha that his remarks were more in line with al-Jezzera than with a Congressman. Yes.

Murtha thinks there will be big gains made in the upcoming election for the Dems. We'll see, I suppose. He may want to take a gander at the latest polling numbers. Congress is at 11% approval. President Bush is at 29%. Draw from that what you will.

Hillary's campaign co-chair, Tom Vilsack is boasting that if Rudy is the nominee for the Republicans, her campaign will trot out all the baggage of his personal life. Well now. Is that really the road her campaign wants to travel? If she wants to run on Bill's coattails, which is how she got there to begin with, if she wants to assure everyone he'll be right there with her, if she promises to send him around the world as a goodwill ambassador, then I guess her personal life with him is up for grabs, too. What a bone-headed boast for that loser to make. He thought he was going to be president, then when he had to leave the race after about 2 weeks when he realized no one was really interested in the governor of Iowa, he had to go to work for Hillary.

Today I read a tidbit from Presidential candidate, Elizabeth Edwards. Oh, you thought her husband was running? She weighed in on Hillary's health care plan. "Mrs. Clinton has -seven and a half months after John unveiled his health care plan -unveiled a health care plan that is in every material respect just like John's." That from an AP article on Breitbart.com. She went on to say the plan was "John Edwards' health care plan as delivered by Hillary Clinton."

Hillary thinks since she has softened up her language and uses MUSAK style piano music in her latest commercial that you are too stupid to know her health care plan is a disaster waiting to happen. Hey, she'll 'let' you keep your current coverage. Until she changes her mind. Not even other Dems wanted her plan in 1993. She can put on all the pastel pink suits she wants. She's not fooling this mean Republican woman. I'm not nearly as stupid as she thinks I am.

Oh yeah. Did you see President Bush's press conference this morning? Me either. But I heard a great clip. One of the Dems, er, reporters, asked him what he thought of MoveOn's ad blasting General Petraeus. FINALLY, he said it was disgusting. He said the Dems want to insult the military more than they want to be successful in Iraq.

It is past time for Republicans to start hitting back. I am sick of the standard politeness of Republicans. It is time to stand up and be heard. Loud and proud.

And, yeah, I'm reading Laura Ingraham's new book, "Power to the People". I'm the proud owner of an autographed copy. Good on her.

The Local Front

My blogging friend, Jessica, over at www.gagascorner.blogspot.com, has an interesting few entries about the Florida University story of the student tasered during the question and answer section of the Kerry speech. The officer who used the taser is an old friend of Jessica's and she lets loose. I say good for her. Loud and proud. Check out her stories.

On a local front, we have one of our own citizens in the spotlight in NYC. Oscar Wyatt is on trial for payouts to Saddam during the years of Oil for Food, so that he could buy the oil through his company, Coastal Corp. The man's a billionaire and his wife, Lynn, is one of the beautiful people, an international jetsetter with friends from royalty to celebs to all sorts of socialites. You may remember back a few years ago when Sarah Ferguson was fooling around on Prince Andrew and was caught in a scandal with a Texan sucking her toes in public, around a swimming pool. That Texan was one of the Wyatt sons. Lynn celebrates her birthday on the French Riveria each summer with Elton John. Yeah, that kind of stuff.

So, Oscar, who is 83 years old now and possibly facing up to 74 years in jail if he's convicted on all the charges against him. In testimony by government witnesses, Wyatt is referred to as a 'good friend' of Saddam's. Wyatt is now fighting to keep an address book out of the hands of the jury as it refers to 'Nigerian Scams" and Marc Rich, the fugitive Clinton pardoned after Rich's ex-wife Denise ponied up millions for the Clinton Presidential Library, according to reports in the Houston Chronicle.

If you have read recent reports about IslamoFacists planning to target schools and children, you will understand the concern here over the apparent theft of some 17 school buses. Houston Police Department's Criminal Intelligence Division, the FBI, and Harris County Sheriff's Office are all investigating. They were all stolen from charter schools, business schools and private bus companies, according to a report on www.nationalterroralert.com. Last week I watched Glenn Beck's "Perfect Day" series that went through the steps that are in the jihadist plans. Remember the Beslan attack on the school, the Russian school? Yeah, like that. Remember the school bus hijacked by two Muslims not too long ago in Florida?

One or two buses, ok, petty theft. But 17? Something's going on somewhere. According to the site, U.S. Military found information in Iraq pertaining to U.S. schools. Some reports of hundreds of thefts of school bus radios have been made across the U.S.

Authorities are trying to keep parents calm and emphasize that school buses are one of the safest ways for children to get to and from school. Across the country, about 24 millions children are transported daily by school buses. Drivers have been trained to look out for suspicious people and activities.

It's a good reminder for us all to remain alert. It's not alarmist, it's being a realist.

Victimization Lives

This morning brings another example of stupid celebrity tricks. Barry Manilow, not exactly on the top of the mountain of his career these days, was booked to be on The View. He demanded at the last minute that the one conservative on the show not be on stage with him. He said he didn't agree with her opinions and that she was dangerous and destructive. Yeah, ok. Poor Barry is so delicate that he can't be on stage with someone finally willing to stand up to his friend, the bully Rosie, and still remain a decent human being. Another example why I haven't watched the show in years. At least Barbara Walters had the decency to back her host and cancel Barry. Guess he's not as important as he thought he was after all. I'm sure the sheeple in her audience would not think Barry was doing anything wrong by refusing to even be on the same stage with the conservative host. Those progressives, they are so open minded and accepting, aren't they?

Speaking of encouraging the culture of victimization, a recent article in the Houston Chronicle told the story of an humor columnist living in New Orleans and his story of an appearance on the Oprah show. He put together a book of his newspaper columns with his recollections of life after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. His columns, by the way, are attributed with helping the Times-Picayune win a Pulitzer Prize. He was in Houston recently promoting his book, signing copies in a local bookstore. Many of those still living here in Houston, calling Houston home after leaving New Orleans, consider Chris Rose a lifeline. His book is "1 Dead in Attic" and he says, "I truly believe the more hands this book gets into, the more people understand."

"Although the stories were very personal, there is no question...I was telling a universal story. I'm not an extraordinary man. I'm not even an extraordinary writer. I just happen to be living in extraordinary times and have a job that allows me to tell that story on an everyday basis." "This book is not meteorological. It's not technical. It's not political. It doesn't apportion blame. All it is, is the story of why we live here, how we live here."

Rose suffered from depression and sought treatment for it. He wrote about the journey in his columns. His marriage broke up. He was treated for dependence on painkillers. He's off all medications now and feeling good. He came through.

He is seeking revenge on Oprah. He jokes about it, anyway. He gladly accepted an invitation to appear on her show and hoped to plug his book. He hoped to get the big bounce in sales that other books from Oprah's show experience. No deal, the staff of Oprah's show told Rose. They only wanted to talk about his depression. His book wasn't mentioned at all on the show, as it turns out. He said, instead, "they made me look like one pathetic, sorrowful, broken human being."

He refused to sign a waiver, so he is free to write about his experience with the mighty Oprah. He wrote about it in a column the day after his appearance and by nightfall it was all over the Internet. His book sales climbed from the exposure his story brought.

This is why I don't watch Oprah anymore. I haven't watched in years. She, who professes to help so many better themselves, is still a hostage to the tv ratings that keep her on the air. Drama and victimization. Why wouldn't she promote his book and his ability to turn his story into a story of hope? I guess the sheeple in the audience prefer the standard, same old, same old. Their loss.

And, for a political tie-in to the victimization angle: Lincoln Chaffee said yesterday that he has left the Republican party. Officially, anyway. He left a long time ago, if you ask me. He lost his last re-election and now is a nobody. His way of trying to remain relevant was to make a formal announcement to the press. Good riddance. Any Republican who proudly boasted that he didn't vote for the re-election of Bush in 2004 is of no use to the party anyway while in elected office. Wonder why he wasn't re-elected? The national party continued to pour money into his campaign, even with his consistent record of not voting with the party policies in recent years, even with his slap at the president.

It's too bad. His father, John Chaffee, was a fine man. He was an honest, old style Republican. He was a civil, hard working man and a man loyal to his party. He remembered he worked for the voters. His son, however, forgot. Son Lincoln said his party left him. He's riding that defeatist wave. Instead of staying and fighting to make the party into the party of the true republican agenda, the one from the days of his father's time in office, he quits.

What a loser.

What'd She Say?

Did you watch the Emmys? Me either. I think Hollywood types pat themselves on the back enough in regular life, I don't need to see them gather in borrowed jewels and free designer duds to pick up high cost goody bags and a statue or two. Blech. This morning, on a recount to the evening, I heard the radio show host reference a speech made by Sally Field. Sally Field? The actress who is taunted for her "you like me, you really like me" line from 20 years ago? Same one. Seems she used a curse word not acceptable for broadcast and now Fox is being criticised for bleeping it. Like any other network would have let it go. Please. Is that the best they have today?

I watch little in the way of regular network tv shows. Most of it, frankly, isn't worth the time. My 18 year old doesn't even watch much of it. I do, however, enjoy the show Sally Field is currently on and for which she was recognized last night. "Sons and Daughters" is an interesting show. Sally Field is the matriarch, a recent widow, wealthy California wine country kind of lifestyle. She has many children and one is a conservative pundit, now a political consultant to a presidential candidate. The 'child' is played by Calista Lockhart and the candidate is Rob Lowe. Two libs playing conservatives, convincingly. One of the sons is about to be re-deployed to Iraq. He was in Afghanistan and home for leave during the first season. He was, of course, battling demons.

The Sally Field character is loudly anti-war. She uses her motherhood as her reason. So, ok. Who doesn't understand that? What I don't like is the unnecessary Republican bashing. Every chance it can be worked in. It does nothing to advance the script. It's just rote. It's dumb. Last night Fields decided to continue on in her role as anti-war woman and turned her speech into a support of mothers, especially mothers with children in combat. OK. Then she starts to blabber, some kind of nonsensical loss of thought, them blurted out that there would be no g--damn war if mothers were in charge. Well, no network would let that remark through.

I guess Field didn't go to many history classes during school years. Or, continued her education as an adult doing some reading on her own. Mothers ruling countries have been throughout history, whether it was Queens, Empresses, or women like Margaret Thatcher or Indira Ghandi or Golda Meir. They didn't oversee battles, wars? The whole if women ruled there would be no war meme is just not reality. It's only aging feminists who continue to spout that nonsense.

It's a shame she has to stoop to this level to get some publicity for herself. She knew exactly what she was doing by using that language. She's been in show biz since she was a teenager. I've enjoyed her work for as long as I can remember. "The Flying Nun", "Gidget", "Murphy's Romance", "Mrs. Doubtfire", all that stuff.

Maybe Field should have stuck to pimping for big Pharma by hawking that drug for Osteoporosis.

Mil Bloggers Take D.C.

Sipping another cup of Boca Java's Brew of Bravery this quiet Saturday morning. The sun is peeking out from behind the clouds and I'm hoping for another day of calm skies. Written in 'my book', as I call my spiral bound calendar, in purple ink is Lunch with C. It's an entry that I always look forward to that. We've been best pals since we were in second grade together in Shreveport, Louisiana. Life is good like that.

Did you know that President Bush met with a group of military bloggers yesterday in the Oval Office? How cool is that? Also in the room were War Czar LTG Doug Lute, Tony Snow, Dana Perino, Stephen Hadley among others. They were hooked up on a video teleconference with two bloggers at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, too. Bill Roggio and Bill Ardolino participated from Camp Liberty.

One of my favorites was there, Matt from Blackfive. I read his blog daily and have enjoyed reading his book, "The Blogs of War". I spoke with him once when he was a guest on the early morning show on C-SPAN. My call was taken and I was able to thank him for writing that excellent book and doing the blog.

Others there include Mrs. Greyhawk from Mudville Gazette, Ward Carroll from DefenseTech, and Mohammed from Iraq the Model. I have been reading Mohammed's blog for a long time, too. He always provides the in country point of view from the people on the ground. I read some great accounts of the meeting on Blackfive, and Roggio's Long War Journal. Bill Ardolino, http://www.indcjournal.com/, asked the President "how national political reconciliation will affect progress in the Anbar Province and Fallujah specifically, and the President's answer honestly surprised me in its length, level of detail and grasp of events on the ground."

The meeting was on the record but no recording devices were allowed, due to the sensitive video conference surroundings.

Milbloggers taking Washington, D.C. What a great meeting.

And today I wish great success to Gathering of Eagles.

Wrapping Up The Week

Out of nowhere a tropical storm developed in a span of about 14 hours in the Gulf of Mexico and then became a category 1 hurricane. Hurricane Humberto. Fortunately when we awoke yesterday morning we had nothing but blue sky. No rain at all, no wind. Our neighbors in Galveston county were not so lucky. And the folks further east and up the Gulf coast of Texas received the brunt of the storm.

I watched the speech by the President last night. Then I watched the Dem response read by Senator Jack Reed, from the state of Rhode Island. Ho-hum to both. I am on the side of those saying that the President should have skipped the whole thing this week. Let the General and Ambassador speak for themselves. We know the President was signing off on their recommendations. And the Dems? More of the same. Their responses were out before the speech was given and, oh what a surprise, they don't agree with the President. They think the good General is the President's mouth piece. Blech.

Not once did Senator Reed thank the troops for their work. He did, however, feel the need to begin his speech by stating he served 12 years in the Army and was an officer. I was distracted by the lack of an upper lip on his face. Maybe he should take some of his generous Senate salary, paid by the American taxpayer, and buy one, then stiffen it.

Not once did Senator Reed acknowledge any of the success that the General and the Ambassador either. I am hard pressed to remember a time when good news was so unwelcome by the defeatist wing of a political party. They simply can't lose fast enough. You'd think a military veteran would show more respect but that is not how things are now in politics. It's simply all about the next election.

The next report, according to the President, will be given in March by the General and Ambassador. MoveOn has plenty of time to construct another attack ad.

Hillary Clinton, is it just me or do you notice that at election time she drops the "Rodham" part of her name so you just think of the hubby?, who called the General a liar to his face, a stooge for the administration, too has brought out into the open that Sandy, THE BURGLAR, Berger is one of three foreign policy advisers to her campaign. Just like the good old days. I suppose this is his reward for destroying the documents from the National Archieves. It is said that Berger destroyed the copies of a report prepared by Richard Clarke in 2000, called the Millennium After-Action Review, according to Richard Miniter. Miniter once had a 'cordial' relationship with Berger and used him as a helpful source in his columns. That relationship is over, as of 2002 when Miniter a series for the Sunday Times in the U.K.. Berger "phoned my hotel room at something like 6AM, screaming that I was accusing him of murdering 3000 people. He promised that he was going to ruin and destroy me," Miniter said.

According to Miniter's sources, this Millennium After-Action Review was a binder-sized report and there were 13 copies of it. Only one copy, however, had hand-written notes by President Clinton. Clinton wrote 'NO' beside recommendations, inside the margins, as he didn't agree with the tough recommendations.

Welcome back, Sandy. Job well done.

Nine For Nine

It was one of my state's Senators that asked for a resolution on the floor of the Senate yesterday to denounce the MoveOn ad calling General Petraeus a 'betrayer'. Of course, traitor in chief, Harry Reid would have none of it and it didn't come to be. Harry doesn't want to lose any of that donation money. Other than Joe Lieberman, who has come out against the full page ad in the New York Times, given at a 64% discount? No defeatist Dems, that's for sure. And they all intend to continue collecting the donations from the scum.

Hillary Clinton proves again her hatred for the military. I didn't hear her accusations to the General but read of them online. You didn't think the MSM would report them, did you? No bad press for their gal, Hill. She went the farthest to call the General a liar. That he was not reporting with truthful stats and all that. She is one cold hard woman. We knew that. She has some nerve to question anyone's honesty, much less that of General Petraeus.

Monday morning I attended the monthly meeting of my Republican Womens PAC. Our speaker was Joan Neuhaus Schaan, Fellow in Homeland Security and Terrorism at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. She is also on the advisory council for Houston-Harris county for homeland security matters. She was activated during Operation Noble Eagle and received the Joint Chief of Staff insignia - Northern Command, quite a high honor. She was very impressive in her presentation and knowledge.

She was concentrating on foreign threats and how they relate to the Houston area. Locally, we have always been told that we are a target rich city for terrorists. We have a very large Muslim population, some say the largest outside of Michigan. So, I learned of the criteria in rating a city as a target. They are as follow:

1. Telecommunication
2. Health
3. Information Technology
4. Transportation
5. Shipping
6. Nuclear Power
7. Chemical
8. National Icons
9. Banking

Houston is the only city in the country to meet all nine of the criteria. That's a distinction I could have lived without. We've always been skittish about our ship channels and coastal resources but also major is our medical center area of town. It is the world's largest medical center, I knew that and it is huge with many major hospitals there, but I learned that it contains 40% of the hospital beds for the entire state. The chemical industry, sure, that makes sense. We have the refineries and lots of petroleum based chemistry businesses. I learned 40% of all petro based chemicals for the nation originate here. We are the home of a former president and many world leaders are here.

Houston is a part of a recruitment and training pipeline. Extremists are in our midst. For instance, Ramsey Yousef was a former resident and Domino's pizza delivery guy. Jeffrey Leon Battle, one of the Portland 7, was trained by a local radical Imam. Omar Abu Ali was involved with the Riyadh bombing. Local mosques have been implicated in plots and local Internet site hosting companies have been helpful to terrorists.

Houston Taliban connections include Kobie Williams who changed his name and trained to fight troops overseas while attending the University of Houston school of engineering.

There is a new service offered by Google Earth that lets the computer user see the view of a street as if driving down it. Houston is one of the first 4 cities offering this service.

Middle Easterners are assuming Hispanic names and learning Spanish. There is a marked increase in 'Muslim activity' in Mexico. The leader of MS-13 was captured here and put on trial.

She said we must stop this pre-disposition that only a handful of plots worldwide are of concern. Activity is all over the world and the terrorists are constantly testing for weaknesses. There is a frustration that when asked, 85% of Muslims say they wouldn't report a plot if they knew of one. She encourages people to notify Crimestoppers in their communities if someone sees suspicious activity. That is a way to remain completely anonymous.

The Department of Treasury maintains a list of non-profits known for providing monetary funding to terrorist groups. You can check online if you have a question about a non-profit before contributing to it.

Football is huge in the South. Recently, Dallas Stadium was found to be an example used by a group planning an attack. Large sports arenas are being considered as targets. Blonds or Blacks are being recruited to set off several suicide bombs, with the ensuing stampede of the crowd killing a large number of people. Hispanics are also being recruited at the Mexican border. Already Middle Easterners have been taken into custody in the Houston area with false documents after crossing into the country from Mexico.

Women have been recruited as suicide bombers and discovered to be 'shamed' women. They volunteer to detonate rather than be stoned to death for shaming themselves and their families for something deemed offensive to Islam.

Ms. Neuhaus Schaan was a really interesting, informative speaker. It's good to know we have such sharp talent on the scene.

Nine for nine? That's a test I wish we had flunked.

Life Re-Defined

I was happy to receive this month's shipment from the coffee gurus at Boca Java yesterday. I needed several cups of their Brew of Bravery this morning. "A portion of the proceeds support the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund honoring the bravery and dedication of our Armed Forces by providing educational schlorships to the children of fallen heroes." Seems appropriate today.

So, as I see a video clip of Rep. Dennis Kucinich's trip to Syria, doing a little war on terror bashing as he campaigns for the presidency of this country, I reflect on this day, six years ago.

It was a Tuesday, as it is today. I was standing in the parking lot of my son's school, watching the two classes of sixth graders of his small, private school board a chartered bus to transport them to the site of their 'outdoor education' excursion. It was to be a 5 day camping trip to Enchanted Rock. I waved them off and went inside to visit with other moms there. I was a Room Mother, so I was probably on the lookout for a willing volunteer for something. One of the other moms, the mom of one of my son's good friends, asked if I'd seen it. Seen it? Seen what? She had an SUV with a tv screen in the back seat and while watching the morning news saw the breaking news. One plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, she said. "We are a nation at war."

Well, I thought she was horribly mistaken. She is a highly educated woman, a graduate of Harvard undergrad and of Law School, but at times can overreact to a situation. I was so stunned I couldn't think straight. She said she made the kids turn off the tv and went into the school. I went into the school library. I was also a volunteer in the library and it wasn't particularly odd for me to stop by there and chat. Same story there. They had shut down the Internet availability there so the kids wouldn't come in to check it out.

I drove home and as I walked in the front door I glanced up and saw my mother, who was living with us as I was her caregiver in her later life, and she had such an odd look on her face. The cable news was on, as it usually is during the day around here and she had seen both planes hit the World Trade Center by now. I sat down and we both just watched in silence as the network ran it over and over as the latest videos became available.

I felt so strange. Just weird. My son was on a bus to the middle of the state. My husband was on the other side of the world, on his way to a location in China. We were scattered all over the place. My sister in Montana called. My sister in Indiana called. Our taxi driver called. Huh? Yeah. At the time, with my husband travelling more than he was home, he had established a rapport/friendship with a wonderful man who was training to be a Buddhist monk. He was from Vietnam and with my husband's service during that war could talk to him about the country. He was a lovely, kind man who I am sure is making a fine monk now. He moved to California to complete his training about 2 years ago. He invited us to his daughter's wedding before he left town so that my son could experience a Buddhist wedding and reception.

He was a reliable ride to the airport, any time of day or night.

Anyway, this man had taken my husband to the airport less than 24 hours before and knew my husband was going to Newark to connect on his overseas flight. He wanted to make sure my husband was ok.

Then the Pentagon attack happened. Then the flight in Pennsylvania went down. It didn't seem all that long before the F-14's or whatever they were began flying, keeping an eye on the city. That would continue for several months here. My city was a targeted city that day, had the whole plot been carried out.

My son's school was struggling to decide if they should have the bus turn around and bring the kids home or let them continue on. Most of the parents wanted the kids to just come home. So, by afternoon they were on the way back to be picked up. They re-scheduled the trip so the kids
went in the spring. Frankly, I was relieved to have the boy home with me.

My husband called from Hong Kong that afternoon. A co-worker found him at the hotel and woke him up to tell him to turn on CNN International. When I answered the phone all he could say was, "What the hell is going on there?" "Is everyone ok?"

We were physically. I haven't been the same intellectually since.

I am just as guilty of being asleep as anyone else leading up to that day. We knew a terrorist named bin Laden was out there, 'over there', and executing attacks on our embassies overseas and had been behind the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. Clinton treated it as a legal, criminal act and issued indictments. His justice department wrote laws that the intelligence agencies couldn't put there findings together to work together. They had to remain separate. We learned so much more, of course, in hindsight.

Since the fog lifted and life continued on, our national security has become the single most important issue to me. As a policy wonk and a political junkie I have a renewed interest in foreign policy. I find the counter terrorism aspects fascinating. What can I say? I grew up loving to read Nancy Drew books. She was awesome.

I am not a big war hawk kind of person by nature. The people of my generation grew up with the Vietnam War and the thoughts of war tend to make my stomach cramp up a bit. I love my country and have no problem with anyone thinking I'm some kind of square for supporting it and flying a flag. I have the highest admiration for the military. All of the older men in my family are veterans of one branch or another, including my husband. That's a source of pride around here.

I have to say I have been disappointed with this administration's war effort in Iraq and think that the battle in Afghanistan should have continued on a little longer. Our military missions have been accomplished. I never doubted that they would for one minute. I'm no military expert.

I want bin Laden's head on a platter. Behead him as his thugs do our citizens.

All that said, I will say with certainty that I will never again even contemplate voting for a Democrat for the Presidency of this country. They are not worthy. They are cowards and poll watchers. There is no moral compass and the best interests of this country are the farthest thoughts from their small minds. I will never forget how they have turned their collective backs on our military and country at its greatest time of need. I will not forgive them.

The next attack will come. We are told over and over that it is when not if. I'm a believer.

Never forget.

Never submit.

He Wrote the Book

Fair warning: I'm worked up and not taking it with grace today. This won't be pretty.

Today, how appropriate that on 9/10 the Joint Committee on Iraq, comprised of the House Armed Forces Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, listened to the report offered by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. I am so ashamed of fully half of the elected officials sitting on that panel, I can only record it and hope I'll be able to release it as the evening goes on.

Before the General and the Ambassador gave their opening testimonies, the congressmen read opening statements. The first to set the tone of the side of the Dems was Ike Skelton, chair of the Armed Forces Committee. He's from Missouri, is old, and speaks as though it pains him to exert the energy. He told the two men he thought they were fresh out of credibility and only spouting the administration's message. The evil, lying administration, you know. I am happy to say I missed out on the original site of the spewing forth as I was attending a meeting this morning and away from home. Rep. Tom Lantos, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee told the General the same on credibility and basically called him a lying shill for the President and the Pentagon. Santos is Hungarian by birth and still has a very heavy accent in his speech. You'd think he'd be a little more grateful to the U.S. military. Too bad he wasn't sent to a gas chamber. Ingrate.

Rep. Duncan Hunter asked if the congressmen could at least give the General a few minutes of assuming he is telling the truth and what he really sees happening on the ground. He wanted to know if that was too much to ask. Well, yes it was. In response to the defeatists trying to get out in front of the report last week by labeling it the Bush Report, as if they didn't make the law on how the report was to be handled, General Petraeus opened with "This is my report." He made it very clear that he was the author, not the White House.

None of the Dems bothered thanking the General or the Ambassador for their service for our country. All of the Republicans began their questioning time with spoken gratitude. But the Dem support the troops.

Sylvestre Reyes, the Chair now of the Intelligence Committee, a former Border Patrol guard in south Texas who didn't even know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite when he took chairmanship of the committee, actually asked Ambassador Crocker a question using some statics of success on the ground and asked, "That's not as good news as it seems, is it?" Actually wanting bad news, as he vocalized for the world to hear.

The hysterics of Rep Robert Wexler were unreal. He raised his voice to a loud level, jabbed his finger at General Petraeus and flat out accused him of cooking the books on the troop levels needed and other statics. He deserves to be flogged. Publicly.

He was not using his inside voice. He supports the troops. Wink, wink. You'd think a Jew from Florida would be a little more concerned about the future of Israel.

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, a Cuban born resident of Miami with a stepson in Iraq, held up the despicable MoveOn.org full page ad in The New York Times declaring General Petraeus as a betrayer. Like Benedict Arnold. Not one Dem on the panel denounced the ad, they said they didn't have to, they didn't publish it.

The operation was leaked in an interview a few days ago. A Democrat operative told a reporter that it doesn't matter what the reports said, the Dems wouldn't have to call the General a betrayer in public, that those behind the scenes would be doing that. Like MoveOn, apparently. The Dems are bought by them and proclaimed them as their property after the last election. The Dems are George Soros' bitches and that has never been more apparent than it was today. Not a single Dem running for President denounced the ad. I'm sure they will all be accepting donations from the organization, led by George Soros as the founder and money man. They are so beholden to him that it is scary. He is a Socialist, proudly saying so, and his goal is the complete downturn in our economy and way of government. It's working out pretty good for him so far as far as the left is concerned.

Dance, puppets, dance.

If you upset the far left defeatists, they will go after you big time. Look what has happened to Rep. Brian Baird of Washington. He's still an anti-war defeatist but after a recent trip to Iraq came back saying he was surprised to see how well the surge is working in some places and beginning to take hold in other places. He's now being threatened with being primaried in the next election.

The left, the defeatists, the Kos Kids, the Soros crowd, are thugs and bullies. They will stop at nothing. There is absolutely no respect for anyone or a different opinion than theirs. I thought they were so progressive. So open to free speech, different thoughts, dialogue. I thought the party of the Dems was a big tent. I thought it was those evil Republicans who were the facists.

Right.

If the left was not so heavily entrenched in the position of defeat in Iraq, if they could see beyond their hatred for Bush and Cheney, they would think General Petraeus was a good guy. They have no clue. And, they could not care less about getting a clue. It's all about them. It's not about the country, our way of life. What a bunch of useless, spoiled brats. The 60's are long gone. They are brain dead.

General Petraeus was in Iraq in 2003. He wasn't seeing the war run as he thought it should be run. He wasn't being listened to by Rumsfeld. He continued on with his assessments, his honest opinions, anyway. What happened to him? He was sent to Fort Leavenworth as the commander there and denied a promotion that was due him. We won't get into my thoughts on Rumsfeld. So, what did he do at Fort Leavenworth, with some time on his hands? He wrote the book on counter-terrorism, the insurgency. HE WROTE THE DAMN BOOK. No one has ever questioned his integrity. His integrity cost him a promotion, a new assignment back to the States.

The left are not worthy to be talking to him in the first place. It is surreal that they are so emboldened by the hateful people controlling the puppets that they call this General and the hardworking Ambassador liars, as though this is perfectly normal behavior. Who the hell do they think they are?

I am really disgusted with the Republicans. They should be out every hour, on the hour, expressing support for our military, for the General, the Ambassador, and letting the sun shine on these traitors on the left. Their total contempt for the military used to be hidden behind the scenes. Spoken in private conversations. Sent in draft dodging letters, as Clinton did when he said he 'detested' the military. Then when he and the mrs. got into the White House they used the military guards as butlers, waiters at State Dinners. White trash gone wild.

The left is in 9/10 mode. They think we must get out of the war now. They have absolutely no idea what to do after that. They want us to lose. Why? I have no idea. I can't even wrap my brain around that way of thinking. They are hateful, self-loathing bullies. Absolutely clueless to the big picture. They want to be on the defense, not the offense. They have no worth as human beings in our country. They don't deserve the efforts of our military.

So very 9/10. So very last century.

Everyone Tango

As with all things consumer supported, the entertainment industry is in need of a strong message. I suggest you vote with your wallet and your feet. Don't agree with some of the shenanigans going on in Hollywood? Don't appreciate 'free speech' and 'artistic expression' from the ignorant haters? Want to recognize the few out in LaLa land who are trying to make a difference and support our country in the global war on terror?

I have some names for you.

While checking in with C-SPAN this evening, I noticed a speaker being introduced by actor Ed Asner. He's a raving loon about this administration and probably a truther, too, so I was curious as to who it was he was introducing to the audience assembled at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. The speaker was William Rodriquez, billed as the last survivor out of the North Tower on 9/11. Hmm. I listened for a few minutes and had to change the channel. He was a janitor there for 20 years, he said. His job was cleaning the stairwells. He talked about what a lousy job that was. He was wearing a beautifully tailored, expensive looking suit and was calling himself an activist. No more mr. janitor for him. He is angry that the U.S. has failed to do a thorough investigation of 9/11. Really? I thought. What does he think hasn't been uncovered? Also,he thinks the remains from the attack site should be returned from the dump in Staten Island where they were taken so that family members can go to the site to remember their loved ones. He's been to Europe several times on speaking tours. He was very proud to show a photo of him meeting with George Galloway, who he claims 'embarrassed' the Senate committee he was made to appear before concerning the Oil for Food scandal. Yeah, this guy is over the cliff. He made me cringe from his foolish speech.

I read on the Internets that Brian De Palma won the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival for his new anti-war movie "Redacted". Big surprise. The film is suppose to tell the story of American soldiers raping and murdering a young Iraqi girl and murdering her family. Nice, huh. One soldier so far has been arrested, prosecuted, sentenced to more than 100 years in prison and the others involved will soon follow suit. Our soldiers are held accountable, unlike our enemy. De Palma, however, I would be willing to bet doesn't bring out that point in his film. He "hopes it will help end America's military occupation" and thinks the war accounts are too sanitized. "The pictures are what will stop the war". "All the images we have of our war are completely constructed - whitewashed, redacted." Don't you question his patriotism now.

Then De Palma admitted that he was "forced to fictionalise things" to get the movie made due to legal obstacles. Hmm. Just like his comrade, Al Gore, who also had to fictionalize his global warming power point movie to get the public's attention. It's all true but it's made up. Don't you question their honesty, ethics, or most importantly their integrity now.

De Palma is known for his movies with a definite anti-woman theme. "Carrie", "Body Heat". He did "Scarface", too. Now he's just anti-military. What a guy. He's 67 years old.

There are several other anti-war, anti-military, anti-big, bad America about to be released, too. Good times.

So, imagine my surprise as I stumbled upon a site, http://www.libertyfilmfestival.com/ last night. I was drawn to it as they were showing some luv for Rudy Giuliani, my pick for President. I've told you over and over, I'm all about national security. I'm serious about it.

One of my favorites, Robert Duvall and his wife Luciana will host a big fundraiser at their home in Virginia. It made me want to tango! "Rudy has consistently proven he's ready to confront tough challenges," said Duvall in a statement. "I don't normally get involved in politics, but I think the stakes are too high this election." Yes.

Other Giuliani donors: Adam Sandler, Ben Stein, Melissa Gilbert, Kelsey Grammer and Kevin James. Also producers Joel Surnow and David Zucker. Those are names I'll remember when spending entertainment dollars.

I'm with Mr. Duvall. Let's all tango.

Then and Now

Politics make strange alliances, doesn't it? During the previous administration we watched Hillary and Newt Gingrich team up for adoption issues. We've watched Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush team up to work on global issues. We've noticed Bob Dole and Donna Shalala co-chair a working group on veteran's issues. Teams consisting of policy people representing opposite ends of the political arch working together.

Since the events of 9/11/01, the single most important issue to me in politics today is national security. The way I see it, without national security, nothing else matters. By nature, I'm not an alarmist. I am normally quite a cynical human being. But I have less and less patience for those in our population with absolutely no clue about the dangers before our very existence. Let's just talk, let's just use diplomacy, they say. It's ridiculous.

This morning I watched a re-run of an extensive interview with Christopher Hitchens on C-SPAN. Unfortunately I missed the first two hours, the third and final hour was in play as I tuned in. Hitchens is a journalist and an author. He's a Brit by birth and an American citizen by choice. He possesses a brilliant mind. And that upper crust British accent is pleasant to the ear. Before 9/11, I enjoyed listening to him and his ideas but rarely agreed with his politics. He was good for bringing another point of view into a debate of ideas. He was a Socialist but a student of Trotsky, not Stalin.

The same applied to Senator Joe Lieberman. Pleasant enough man. Sincere in his beliefs. Very liberal voting record. I agreed with almost nothing, except his pro choice stance and support of the military.

So, what happened? Thousands of Americans died one day on our own soil at the hands of Islamofacist terrorists, hell bent to change our world. Both of these men joined with President Bush, not out of political loyalty, but for the sake of the country. That can not be said for many on the Democrat side.

What did the recent bin Laden tape released yesterday sound like to you? Other than the ramblings of an insane man, of course. It sounded like it had been written by the Democrat National Committee. Like Howard Dean was doing the usual song and dance. bin Laden did, however, chastise the Dems for not doing anything to end the war or impeach Bush. It is a pathetic place this country has gotten to when the enemy is parroting the words of the President's opposition party.

This didn't happen in World War II. Those of the greatest generation chose to resign their positions of power when they disagreed with FDR. Remember, Joe Kennedy resigned his ambassadorship to the Court of St. James rather than support our involvement in WWII. Teddy, the swimmer, Kennedy gets his stance as a surrender monkey honestly. He's daddy's boy. Joe Kennedy was a Jew hater and had no problem knowing they were being victims of genocide at the hands of Hitler. Defend democracy and freedom? Not if things get tough. Just run like a shaved weasel. The enemy today not only wants to kill Jews, but all of us who are not the right form of believer for them.

I read a good editorial at WSJ.com, Opinion Journal, yesterday. In 'The Measure of Progress', the subject was the upcoming Petraeus report. The Dems are labeling it the Bush report. They think we are too sound asleep to know the law was written that the White House would write the report after getting the General's report and that of Ambassador Crocker's. The Dems, in full surrender monkey form, are trying to get out in front of the General's testimony, scheduled for 9/11, by the way by the defeatists for added theatre, and they are only talking of the failures to meet some of the bench marks. The report by the GAO given last week to Congress, delivered by anti-Bush hack David Walker, stressed the list of 18 benchmarks, of which only 7 have seen success. The article notes the report is more like a list. There is no in depth analysis or reasoning given. Just a one page check list.

The success of the surge, so far, is downplayed to the point of brushing it aside. "In some other war, under some other Administration, all this would be cause for bipartisan rejoicing. So leave it to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to pounce on the Congressional report, written by the Government Accountability Office, to salvage the bad news from the good."

"The larger danger lies in focusing too much on the lack of political progress or allowing it to become an alibi for withdrawal. The Iraqi leaders whom Mr. Reid so cheaply denigrates in his speeches have all risked their lives for the sake of a free country. The U.S. can help them best by providing a more secure environment in which tough political decisions can be made."

"That's why Mr. Bush was right when he said he would only begin to withdraw troops "from a position of strength and success, not from a position of fear and failure." Nobody wants U.S. troops to remain in Iraq forever, but neither is it in any one's interests to see another humiliating American withdrawal. Given the evidence of the last six months, that need not happen, and Washington's wavering politicians have no higher responsibility than to ensure it does not."

Running, hiding, ignoring, dismissing the threat of terrorism as a bumper sticker slogan, is short sighted and the height of ignorance in today's world. That dumb President Bush gets it. Those opposing him get it, too, they just have decided to put politics above country.

Thoughts to Debate

The Fred Thompson ad before the debate last night? Ho-hum. I'm still not feeling it. He looks old and tired. I still think he missed his window of opportunity. He's not the second coming of Reagan, as much as he tries.

It was the old John McCain last night featured on the Republican candidates debate. The John McCain we thought had fizzled out was in full form. It was good to see. He is at his finest when he speaks of honor, a national purpose and patriotism. Yes, patriotism. I know in today's political world, patriotism is for rubes, dupes, stupid robots going along with what they are told to do. Couldn't be farther from the truth.

Just as those who claim dissent is a high form of patriotism, just exercising free speech, they say, so is expressing a love for your country. The need is even greater now as we are a nation at war. A nation so divided that the haters of this administration, so small minded and lacking of character that the war is seen as a vote getter to increase numbers in the senate for their party, now go to the floor of the Senate and proclaim:

"The violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from al-Qaeda, said to these tribes: "We have to fight al-Qaeda ourselves." The Senator? Chuckie Schumer, D-NY, of course. A snarling, petty, vindictive Bush hater who is willing to say absolutely anything to pander to the aging hippies and those too naive to know any better about the safety of our country in this new age of terrorism. The party of which we are not suppose to call unpatriotic, that we are suppose to tolerate while they exercise their use of free speech, are the exact ones with absolutely no business running this country.

Since when is defeat a national strategy in war for the USA? Since when is it ok for the leader of the majority party in the Senate to declare the war is lost for the world to hear? For Dick Durbin to compare our soldiers to Nazis with gulags? For Murtha and Kerry to proclaim the soldiers are committing atrocities as a way of carrying out their mission? This is traitorous speech, not free speech. They are not worthy of office, let alone leading the country.

The interesting result is that the American people, even the ardent anti-war folks, are turned off by them, too. Their poll numbers are in the tank, twice lower than the president's, whose numbers are inching back up.

The surge is showing progress. The military benchmarks are being met. The political benchmarks are still up in the air. Nothing will happen overnight. Defeat is not a strategy. Americans expect to win. It's what we do. It's what is expected of us by other nations.

I am ashamed of every politician so small of thought that feels emboldened to use such hate speech. Yes, hate speech. And then say, but don't question our patriotism. We support the troops. Please. Grow the hell up already.

The media in this country so heavily invested in our defeat in the war in Iraq decided to concentrate on topics like the sexuality of Larry Craig and cheer leading for the Clintons, her for President, him for his book tour which just happens to get him lots of face time to pimp Hillary's campaign, that scant notice was paid to the agreements made by the three factions in Iraq. The Kurds, Sunni and Shiite came together to work out oil revenue distribution and security issues. Little is said that al-Qaeda is suffering humiliating losses and the Sunni leadership has decided to fight with the Americans not with al-Qaeda. That is huge. But it is good progress, not bad news. Can't have that.

I'm telling you that history will not look favorably on this period in our national story. Mistakes have been made in Iraq, some like me didn't even want to go there in the first place, but that is over. We're there. I would never turn my back on a soldier in the field. I would never belittle a leader trying to do the right thing and bring freedom to a country. Over 50 million have been given the opportunity to live as free people, in Afghanistan and Iraq, thanks to this president and what happened? His opposition decided it was more important to turn against their own country and show their true opinion of the military than to roll up their sleeves and work for success. They forget Clinton signed the policy into effect in 1998 to bring about regime change in Iraq. Just one more thing he didn't follow through on. Too busy being serviced and attending to his own pleasures. Telling the world how much he loved his job, don't you remember? He passed on three opportunities to get bin Laden. Now his wife's campaign is hampering the release of the dvd of the movie about the lead up to 9/11 that he was having a hissy fit about when it was on ABC. Real class acts, those two.

So desperate for power they'll sell out their own country. I have no problem calling them unpatriotic.

Road Trippin', Gulf Coast Style

We left about 10:30 Saturday morning. It was a later start than I would have preferred but it worked out ok. We stopped in Orange, Tx after about 2 hours on the road. It was raining off and on out of Houston and into Louisiana. Our stop in Orange included a lunch buffet at "The Original" Cajun Cookery, off I-10W. The buffet featured gumbo, frog legs, boudin, catfish, jambalaya and fried okra. I enjoyed a fried oyster plate off the menu while the guys ate from the buffet. The table decor included a plastic bucket with 2 rolls of paper towels in it. It was that kind of joint and the food was fab.

At Lafayette we turned off to Hwy 90. The scenic route. The highway takes the traveler along the coast, up close and personal.

We arrived at our hotel, The W New Orleans - French Quarter, about 6:00 that evening. It's a lovely hotel, especially the luxurious bedding and spa bathrobes. The rooms themselves are on the small side but the bathrooms are huge. Large walk in shower with designer name toiletries. Both the USA Today and The Wall Street Journal are delivered to your room, week days. Since we were there on a weekend I requested a Times-Picayune for Sunday morning.

Saturday night we decided to eat in the hotel's restaurant. It was no ordinary hotel restaurant, I'll tell you. It's called Bacco and it is owned and operated by Ralph Brennan, of the New Orleans legendary restaurant family. Unbelievable food. Italian with a Creole fusion. The lobster ravioli is to die for, as is their own version of the lemon icebox pie for dessert. We also ate there for our son's birthday dinner, Sunday night. He had the 4 course lobster dinner, which included a creme fraiche cheesecake for dessert. The waiter and waitress (all tables have 2 servers assigned to them) made a paper hat for him for a birthday hat! One night I enjoyed a Katrina Rita as a cocktail. Quite an extravagant margarita.

My favorite entree at Bacco was the Louisiana Blue Crabmeat linguine. It was slap yo mama good.

Sunday we walked around the French Quarter and stopped here and there, shopping and exploring art shops. We purchased a ceramic replica of a New Orleans Water Dept street cover, which are famous for their artistic bent. We bought that at Dutch Alley, an Artist's Co-op. I was disappointed that the French Market is closed. I hope they are re-building it and not just abandoning it. The archway entrance is still there but nothing else. And Central Grocery, unfortunately, is closed, too. We purchased the Italian Olive mix at Frank's. Frank's is an old established merchant, too, but just not the same for those of us spoiled by the Central Grocery muffaletto.

I went to cool off and enjoy some down time back at the hotel while the guys went to the Southern Decadence parade. It's a gay pride extravaganza. Our son got a kick out of it. He was born in Lafayette, remember, so drag queens and other gays costumed, as he's seen during Mardi Gras and are nothing new to him. He was ticked off about the protesters there with their placards reading "God hates fags" and the like. He questions the true Christianity of those folks. Just like his parents do. We believe God loves all men, as he created them all, didn't He?

Coming home Monday we got off I-10 and traveled Hwy 90 again this time on through the Rockefeller Nature Center and the Creole Nature Trail. The effects of Hurricane Rita are still quite evident. Lots of wetland damage.

The French Quarter is open and ready for tourists. The crowds were noticeably smaller than normal, especially for a long weekend. The weather was perfect. Only a 5 minute wait in line to get into Cafe du Monde. Very little of street vendors or musicians, though. We were not bothered by panhandlers. It was very clean. Some damage is evident as you go in and out on the expressway but lots has been re-built. We weren't in the 9th ward as we know from tv reports the condition it is still in.

I saw today in the newspaper that Mayor Ray Naquin is about to enter the Governor's race. Unreal. What a foolish egoist. He can't run the city, how does he think he could run the state?

The only drawback to our birthday weekend getaway was the son's summer cold. He picked it up the first week back to school, as will happen. So he was fighting that all weekend. Then the husband came down with it after being cooped up in the car with germ boy. So he's nursing it now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I will avoid it all.

We all agree it was a weekend well spent. My baby boy is 18.

Grounded by Reality

Labor Day is approaching. I heard an interesting tidbit on a radio show I normally don't listen to, so maybe they have a new listener now. I like one that isn't just dwelling on the same stuff everyone else is, something new to ponder. Seems the Machinists union has endorsed both a Dem and a Repub. Whoa, Nelly. They stated that they expect an estimated 1/3 of their union members to vote Repub and thought it was time to begin some sort of bi-partisan process. It was a hallelujah moment for me, I'll tell you that. Imagine that. Unions members voting Republican? As if it hasn't always been so? As if union members were a monolithic group, like say, black Americans? Yeah, even that is marginally changing. There does seem to me to be room in all organizations and groups of people for more than one point of view.

The endorsements? Hillary and Mike Huckabee. Huckabee because he was the only Republican to show up! Republicans are missing out by not reaching out and forgetting about stereotypes. Think about it. Regular working Joes and Joans in the Heartland have just about nothing in common with the socialist agenda of Hillary. They get up and go to work everyday. They support families and educate their children. They aren't waiting for the government to take care of them. Republican tax cuts and low interest rates, low unemployment, higher consumer confidence is just as important to them as any sector. They are Reagan democrats.

And, with Labor Day almost here, all the buzz is about the upcoming report on Iraq by General Petreaus and Ambassador Crocker. The defeatists are in a distinct panic mode, trying to backpedal as swiftly and quietly as possible. According to a new Zogby poll, no friend normally to conservatives, reports that 54% of Americans believe Iraq is not a lost cause. 54%. Problems arise with the following breakdown: "While two in three Democrats (66%) said the war effort has already failed, just 9% of Republicans say the same." The point is that a majority of Americans are not ready to surrender just yet. The surge is showing signs of progress. The drag is the political side of the equation. Even a major development last week, though, failed to get prominent coverage - the three major populations, the Shiite, Sunni and Kurds, came together and formed a union of sorts to pull the country together. Joining forces to resolve a national oil policy, easing of de-Baathification, and the release of certain detainees. No big media coverage there. Gee, wonder why.

A common complaint is that the Petraeus report will be written by the White House, therefore, it is not to be trusted. As if all of a sudden the rug had been pulled out from under the defeatists and the writing of the report hijacked by the White House. In fact, the law was written thus:

"Public Law 110-28 specifies that the President, having consulted with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Commander, Multi-National Forces - Iraq, he United States Ambassador to Iraq, and the Commander of the U.S. Central Command, will prepare the report and submit the report to Congress." "The United States Ambassador to Iraq and the Commander, Multi-National Forces Iraq will be made available to testify in open and closed sessions before the relevant committees of the Congress." (H/T Blackfive)

So, there you go. The braying donkeys will get lots of public and private testimony from all involved. They will have the opportunity to put on whatever kind of show they wish to subject the taxpayers to and live on C-SPAN, I'm sure.

The defeatists really ramped up the rhetoric when congressmen like Brian Baird, D-WA, a staunch anti war kind of representative came back from his journey to Iraq, who previously called the war "one of the worst foreign policy mistakes in the history of our nation", said he is convinced the situation "has at long last begun to change substantially for the better." And, along with that honesty from him came the predictable attacks from the far left blogging world. One of the nicer 'insults' was he's now Dick Cheney's trained monkey. As if.

And, when Hillary came back and said to the Veterans of Foreign Wars last week, "We've begun to change tactics in Iraq" she was warned by David Bonior, John Edwards's campaign manager about "undermining the effort in the Congress to end this war." To which Hillary did the expected bowing to any criticism and pandered "The surge was designed to give the Iraqi government time to take steps to ensure a political solution. It has failed...We need to start getting out." Atta girl, Hill.

They don't want no stinkin' honesty. Doesn't fit the agenda in which they are so heavily entrenched. Rooting for defeat.

Quite a party platform for 2008.

One of Those Days

Blogging pal, Debbie, over at http://www.righttruth.wordpress.com/, has nominated me for the Nice Award. She is a sweet gal and I will take any good strokes I can get today.

What a day. I was picking up the boy at school and maneuvered through the parking lot to get back to the side street. Onto the side street, stopped, in line, waiting for the stop light to change to green to get onto the main street. Some young chickadee was driving far too fast and not paying attention, evidently, and rammed into my rear bumper. She was in her daddy's SUV and I suppose it could have been worse. It did unnerve me, I must admit, as these accidents out of the blue can do to a person. Bleck.

Let me just say that the high school parking lot, alive with new drivers, scares the water out of me.

I read an interesting article written by Jodi Kantor for The New York Times the other day. Do you realize how many potential presidential candidates this time around have very young children at home? It's quite extraordinary. Proves we baby boomers refuse to grow old gracefully, I guess.

You know John Edwards has Emma Claire (I adore her Southern name, by the way) age 9 and Jack age 7. Well four others have young ones, too. Chris Dodd has Grace age 5 who suffers from some life-threatening allergies and Christina age 2. Barack Obama has the two young girls but it appears he is disrupting their lives the least. He and Michelle have made the decision to not have them on the campaign trail, as opposed, to say, the Edwards.

Sam Brownback has twin nine year olds, Mark and Jenna. And Fred Thompson, as soon to declare candidate, has two really young ones, the youngest being Samuel who is only 9 months old.

Interesting.

And then Peggy Noonan's column "To Old Times" that appeared in the Wall Street Journal last week. She reminisced about a trip to Normandy in 1991. It was summer and she went hot air ballooning. The balloon had to land unexpectedly in a farmer's field. He was an old man and was so excited to host some Americans. He ran into his house and came back out, carrying a bottle of Calvados, to make a toast. His toast? "To old times." He had not seen any Americans since the Normandy Invasion. Wild. He was honored to thank the next generation of those who fought their way through France, to give France back to the French, as Noonan said.

She went on to write her thoughts of the children of Iraq. They will one day tell stories to the next generation of the American soldiers. Our soldiers are doing wonderful acts of kindness in Iraq, as well as yeoman's work, such as building hospitals, schools and distributing school supplies.

"It is not possible that the good people of Iraq are not noticing, and that in some way down the road the sum of these acts will not come to have some special meaning, some special weight of its own. The actor Gary Sinise helps run Operation Iraqi Children, which delivers school supplies with the help of U.S. forces. When he visits Baghdad grade schools, the kids yell, "Lieutenant Dan!" -- his role in "Forrest Gump," the story of another good man."

Makes a person proud.

Some of This, Some of That

Today brings a bit of this and a bit of that.

Pat Leahy, D-Vt, kicked off the Senate Intelligence Committee, as its chairman, a few years ago for leaking classified info to the newspaper reporters when the opportunity arose, said this upon the resignation of Alberto Gonzales: "The Attorney General's resignation reinforces what Congress and the American people already know - that no Justice Department should be allowed to become a political arm of the White House, whether occupied by a Republican or Democrat". See, he's all bi-partisan and all. What a guy. Does the name Bobby Kennedy ring a bell, Senator Leahy?

Leahy would do well to remember the separation of the three branches of government he is so fond of whining about to the administration whenever they do anything of which he disapproves. Like showing up in the morning for work. That group of senators still think they get to make the president's administrative appointments.

Another endorsement in for Hillary Clinton : Fidel Castro gives props to a ticket with her and Obama on it. She must be proud.

Good news for the American people/bad news for John Edwards: The U.S. Census report was released and poverty is down in our country. Sorry, John. Wages are up. And the uninsured that all of the socialists running want to pander to? Seems that 45% of the uninsured in this country are illegal aliens. 45%. The next biggest percentage is the 19-24 year old segment of society. Makes sense. They fall off the parents' policies at 18 and some until college graduation, but it's always been like that.

Ever been to an emergency room in Houston on a Friday night? Ah, good times.

New York architect Robert A.M. Stern, dean of Yale's School of Architecture has been named the architect chosen to design the George W. Bush presidential library. No official announcement as to where it will be but rumor has it that SMU has been chosen, in Dallas. It's one of Laura's alma maters and George W. donated a million to fund the Laura Bush something or the other there.

Lucy, the fossil found in Ethiopia in 1974, making her the oldest fossil found at the time, is on display here in Houston. She's visiting for a while and letting folks gawk at her to see more evidence of the progression from ape like beings to humans now.

As contrast, yesterday an original light saber prop from the original Star Wars was delivered by NASA employee to Space Center Houston as part of a commemoration of the 30 year anniversary of said movie.

Ancient man to space man. If nothing else, we are a city of dramatic contrasts.

Note to Kenye West: President Bush and Laura Bush were in New Orleans and Mississippi today to remember Hurricane Katrina's arrival on the Gulf coast two years ago. Black folks were hugging him, freely and openly. Guess the president must have found some black people he doesn't hate, huh Kenye?

Apparently they didn't get the memo, Kenye, as most seemed to be reaching out to hug him as he moved to them.

The Katrina cottages built in Mississippi are awesome. Unlike New Orleans, the state of Mississippi came up with a plan for moving people back into homes and thus, received the federal money. The state of Louisiana, however, is doing the same old, same old. So corrupt, still, that plans aren't being made and money isn't being distributed. They'd like to say it is Bush's fault. The only blame I have for Bush is that he has allowed the state to have too much power in the state of emergency. The governor and the mayor have failed miserably and the federal money is slow to be received because of them. It's a disgrace. Plus, the people of Mississippi are used to doing for themselves. Whole towns in coastal Mississippi were completely destroyed, gone, after the hurricane came through. New Orleans didn't receive the full force of the storm and the infrastructure of most of the city remained in tact.

And so it goes.

Senator Tim Johnson, D-S.D., made an appearance for a crowd in Sioux Falls yesterday. He is hoping to return to his senate duties next week after all this time. He's making progress from speech and physical therapy after his massive stroke. I'm proud Republicans wished him a full recovery at the time of his stroke and none moved to have him replaced. I'd like to think the Dems would have done the same for a Republican but I don't.

Now, I think Johnson should announce he won't seek re-election and go on with his life as best he can.