Review and Comment on the News 11/30/05

Why is it"grim" that we are enforcing the law? Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "dig 'em up and kill 'em again" types, I take no pleasure in reading or hearing about someone being executed, but it is their own actions that put them there. 1000 people in nearly 30 years...let's see that's 33.3333333333333333333333333 333333333 people a year. In a nation of 300 million that doesn't seem like a lot. I read somewhere that at their current pace of executions, it would take 900 years to execute all the people currently on death row in California alone. Many of those people will die of old age. Michael Moore's "Minutemen" kill 9. Nevada teacher under fire for teaching early American History i.e. Jefferson, Madison, the Constitution, you know, that stuff. All I've heard about regarding Abramoff and corruption is Conrad Burns (R) Mt. Conrad Burns, Conrad Burns, Conrad Burns and some other republican (or republicans) whose name (or names) escape me. I knew it was only a matter of time until a Democrat was exposed as possibly snaring themselves in Abramoff's tentacles:

To wit:

North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan, who heads up the Senate investigation into Jack Abramoff, says there's no connection between the nearly $20,000 he received from the scandal-plagued lobbyist's firm in 2002 and a letter he signed earlier that year urging his colleagues to fund a program backed by Abramoff's clients. The AP reports that Dorgan received nearly $95,000 from Abramoff's firm or his clients between 2001 and 2004. But Dorgan has blasted the story, saying he never met Abramoff, did not know about the donations from the lobbyist's clients and sees no reason to step aside from the investigation.

I wonder if that means republicans will be frothing to the press about the"culture of corruption" in the democratic party?I Doubt it. After all, they are "The Spineless Party" and largely clueless on how to score cheap political talking points. Hillary Rodham Clinton, star of ABC's Tuesday Night political drama "Hillary in Chief" puts a gentle spin on her Iraq War "Yes" vote and demands that we finish the war.

 

 

 

 The New York Times is forced into reporting good economic news... NYT: The economy appears to be doing great but it is not that simple. Does bookish little snot merchant Harry Reid (D) Nevada know something the rest of us don't? Peace Activists kidnapped in Iraq. Arlen Specter is an idiot for even bringing this up. He's obviously not a football fan. Part of me thinks it is good that congress gets involved in trivia such as steroids in sports and other miscellaneous drivel as it keeps them away from us.


As if he could wave a magic wand...
Stupid Headline of the Day:

Bush offers no date for Iraq victory

More good news from Iraq:

Absenteeism has significantly declined in the Iraqi security forces.

A U.S. Defense Department report said absenteeism in the Iraqi military dropped to an average of between one and four percent. The Pentagon report, however, said the absenteeism rate could rise during combat operations.

And finally! How to spot a rich guy...

 

Review and Comment on the News 11/29/05

Review and Comment on the News 11/21/05

Legendary Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward is in the dog house. Held up for decades by the left as the patron saint of Watergate, Woodward has fallen out of favor with liberals over his role in the Valerie Plame case. So what did Bob do?

He simply kept the promise not to reveal his source, until he absolutely had to. I thought that was supposed to be the honorable thing to do...because journalists are protected by the First Amendment and all. But that's not why Democrats are hopping mad at Woodward.

It's because he's screwing up their political witch-hunt of the Bush administration. Because of Woodward's admission, it makes more plausible Scooter Libby's defense that he heard about Valerie Plame from journalists. Patrick Fitzgerald's case is now weakened. He says he's going to press on with it...but it's more doubtful he'll get a conviction.

So who was Woodward's source? He's not saying...but Karl Rove says it wasn't him and now there's word today it wasn't Dick Cheney.

The whole Valerie Plame (non) affair is getting weaker and weaker. And the left couldn't be more upset.

A frightening show of hands. The never ending search for those secret CIA prisons, maybe George Cloooney knows. If something goes wrong in America it is because Bush cuts the budget, yet the left is also criticizing him because his spending is out of control. Must be nice to spew it both ways and get away with it. Uh oh. U.S. to reduce troop levels after December elections, is that "immediate" enough for Murtha? That was quite a bit of political theatre on Friday, eh? They (the left) had their chance to put their demands for immediate withdrawal to a vote and punted. I guess they need an issue in '06. This would be bigger news if they were anti-American demonstrations: 200,000 protest... Al-Queda!! Zarqawi had an "oops sorry" tape released Friday stating that they didn't mean to kill so many Jordanians. What the f**k do you expect to happen when you blow up a hotel in Jordan? The law of averages states that you will probably kill more Jordanians than anyone else. You see Zarqawi thought that they (Jordanians) would blame America for the attacks. Didn't work. Of course the Kos types on the protest left will do the work for him.

Blame this on the war. Or (the non-existant) Budget cuts....

"We heard at least three or four shots go off and we knew it was serious," a woman who had been shopping in the mall with her husband and children told a television news station.

I would think one shot would have driven home the gravity of the situation, but that's just me.

For a brief shining moment the GOP pulls it's collective head out of it's collective digestive tract...

This is the first good move the GOP has made politically in quite a while. Pushing for a vote on troop withdrawal now is just the right counter to Murtha, that "hawkish Democrat" who has become the media's latest star performer. Case in point is the AP story linked above, which one reader accurately noted reads more like "something from the DNC." This paragraph in particular bothered me:

Some members of the House and Senate, looking ahead to off-year elections next November, are publicly worrying about a quagmire there. They have been staking out new positions on the war that has grown increasingly unpopular with the American public, resulted in more than 2,000 U.S. military deaths and cost more than $200 billion.

This kind of negative framing of the conflict is exactly what these Marines were talking about when they criticized the press coverage of the war. Count it as yet another "Marine Out Eight
Bucks" moment (follow the link for an explanation).

Can't blame Bush? Ignore it! Bobby Mugabe. Saddam's lawless legacy hampers command structure. Sounds a little like the mob....

Officials said Iraqi military commanders have refused to impose discipline in their units and enabled absentee soldiers to receive salaries. They said the reluctance of the commanders stems from fear of retaliation by penalized soldiers and their families.

Gas prices continue to drop, can't find a link anywhere, must not be news. Can't blame evil oil companies, Halliburton or neocons.

Review and Comment on the News 11/17/05 

 Bravo!! About time...Cheney hits back. Will the Spineless Party in the Senate stand with him? Uh oh, Leftists! Woodward's testimony refutes the prosecutor's charge that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is focus of all evil on this planet. Donald Rumsfield uses the past statements of Senate democrats and William Jefferson Blythe Clinton against them.

"We've got men and women serving in Iraq, risking their lives on the one hand and on the other hand, we have people suggesting that the reason we're there was because the president decided to go in based on information that was unique to him," the defense secretary said. "And it wasn't unique to him. The information that he based his decision on was the same information that President Clinton and the previous administration had. It's the same information members of the House and Senate had."

Secretary Rumsfeld continues:

In December 1998, Mr. Clinton ordered five days of bombing against Iraqi military targets. He explained why in a nationally televised speech: "Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors. Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas or biological weapons. ... I have no doubt today that, left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again. ... The best way to end that threat once and for all is with a new Iraqi government."

Sounds suspiciously like the Clinton Administration supported a policy that can be boiled down to a quaint little phrase that our friends on the Left like to ridicule...Regime Change!!

Ironically, the only person to use the word "imminent" with regards to Saddam was a Senate Democrat, one J. Rockefeller. Of course he will skate as he is a member of the Anointed Party. I think I like Tom Daschle better than Harry Reid, I never thought I'd say that. And I despised Tom Daschle. Al-Queda suspect arrested in Mexico. Time for a good old fashioned "necktie party." Whew!! Al Gore invented it, so we should be able to retain oversight of it.

From Boortz.com:

Former FBI Director Louis Freeh wants to know why the 9/11 Commission ignored 'Able Danger.' Freeh says the 9/11 Commission itself are the ones that need to be behind the witness table. New documents show Saddam was making preparations to hide his Weapons of Mass Destruction prior to the U.S. invasion. These same documents also show his ties to Al-Qaeda...before 9/11. Looks like the entire Democratic party's argument against the war just went out the window. A recent poll shows that only 2 percent of blacks approve of President Bush's performance. Larry Elder says that if only blacks new the true history of the Democratic party, that number would be much higher. Ain't that the truth? According to Deroy Murdock the KKK acted as the Democrat Party's shock troops, Robert "Bobby" "Sheets" Byrd (D) West Virginia was it's Grand Wizard years ago, yet republicans are the "racist party."

Ants eat woman's eye in India. Enema of the State: Wait until Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D) Mass.ive Quantities of Scotch gets a few belts in him and waddles to a microphone with this. He will imply that the Iraqis learned from the Americans about torture and the fever swamps at Kos and DU will echo his sentiments for days. Bad news for Cindy "it's only a little wind and rain" Sheehan and Michael Moore. Fresh, Steaming Pantload of the Day: French unrest falls to "normal" levels, meaning only about 100 vehicles are being torched every night. I could live with that. See? Dialogue works.

Quote of the Day, Democratic Underground.com:

itzamirakul: I don't believe the "failed bomber" woman woman was involved at all...I think this is just one more staged event by BushCo..

Spineless Party develops spine and defeats the insurgent Enema of the State in the United States Senate.

Senate Democrats were doing the work of the Islamic jihadists yesterday ... right there on the floor of the United States Senate.  Led by Michigan's Carl Levin, these loyal Democrats tried to force President Bush to engage in a staged surrender to Islamic terrorist "insurgents" in Iraq.  The idea was to force George Bush to set a virtual timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

Clinton says Iraq invasion was a big mistake, that is not the signal he was sending the world about Saddam in the '90s. A quick Google Search yields these results...(Hat tip, Michelle Malkin) Clinton: Iraq has abused it's last chance.

Clinton signs Iraq Liberation Act. The Clinton view of Iraq Al-Queda ties in '98.Of course he can get away with this duplicity as he is a member of the Anointed Party. Another Bush atrocity:  FEMA to stop paying for evacuees hotels.  A new Iron Curtain? EU sets up spy satellites, ooh. Dream on Putz, it'll never happen as long as we have Senate Democrats and Moderate Republicans to nurse maid us through these difficult times.The real reason Wal Mart is evil. Land grabs... "Droopy the Peace Queen Hive Mother" to insert herself into the news cycle over the Thanksgiving Holiday. How cold does it get in Texas in November? Probably not cold enough.Cindy "It's just a little wind and rain" Sheehan, what a piece of work. Esquire magazine has named Bill Clinton as the world's most influential man.  So influential, in fact, that he couldn't get Al Gore elected and his party lost the House for the first time in 40 years.More media BS. Double Standard in the making? Trent Lott says some stupid things at Strom Thurmond's 1,000,000th birthday party and he loses his leadership position, now Hillary attends the 900,000th birthday party of KKK Grand Poobah Robert "Sheets" Byrd (D) West Virginia and her opponent will probably get criticized for criticizing Her Holiness, Madam Hillrod 44th president of these here Younited States of America.

Quote of the Day, Vice President Cheney:

CHENEY FIGHTS BACK
Wed Nov 16 2005 18:56:46 ET

Excerpts As Prepared For Delivery Tonight by Vice President Cheney

THE VICE PRESIDENT: "As most of you know, I have spent a lot of years in public service, and first came to work in Washington, D.C. back in the late 1960s. I know what it’s like to operate in a highly charged political environment, in which the players on all sides of an issue feel passionately and speak forcefully.

In such an environment people sometimes lose their cool, and yet in Washington you can ordinarily rely on some basic measure of truthfulness and good faith in the conduct of political debate. But in the last several weeks we have seen a wild departure from that tradition.

And the suggestion that’s been made by some U. S. senators that the President of the United States or any member of this Administration purposely misled the American people on pre-war intelligence is one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city...

Some of the most irresponsible comments have, of course, come from politicians who actually voted in favor of authorizing force against Saddam Hussein. These are elected officials who had access to the intelligence, and were free to draw their own conclusions.

They arrived at the same judgment about Iraq’s capabilities and intentions that was made by this Administration and by the previous Administration. There was broad-based, bipartisan agreement that Saddam Hussein was a threat … that he had violated U.N. Security Council Resolutions … and that, in a post-9/11 world, we couldn’t afford to take the word of a dictator who had a history of WMD programs, who had excluded weapons inspectors, who had defied the demands of the international community, who had been designated an official state sponsor of terror, and who had committed mass murder.

Those are facts.

What we’re hearing now is some politicians contradicting their own statements and making a play for political advantage in the middle of a war. The saddest part is that our people in uniform have been subjected to these cynical and pernicious falsehoods day in and day out. American soldiers and Marines are out there every day in dangerous conditions and desert temperatures – conducting raids, training Iraqi forces, countering attacks, seizing weapons, and capturing killers – and back home a few opportunists are suggesting they were sent into battle for a lie.

The President and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone – but we’re not going to sit by and let them rewrite history.

We’re going to continue throwing their own words back at them. And far more important, we’re going to continue sending a consistent message to the men and women who are fighting the war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan, and many other fronts.

We can never say enough how much we appreciate them, and how proud they make us. They and their families can be certain: That this cause is right … and the performance of our military has been brave and honorable … and this nation will stand behind our fighting forces with pride and without wavering until the day of victory.