Saturday, July 31, 2004
A real nomination acceptance speech
Barry Goldwater at the 1964 Republican Convention gave a tremendous speech that was much maligned by liberals but contains so much truth. Excerpts and my comments follow:
I accept your nomination with a deep sense of humility. I accept, too, the responsibility that goes with it, and I seek your continued help and your continued guidance. My fellow Republicans, our cause is too great for any man to feel worthy of it. Our task would be too great for any man, did he not have with him the hearts and the hands of this great Republican Party, and I promise you tonight that every fiber of my being is consecrated to our cause; that nothing shall be lacking from the struggle that can be brought to it by enthusiasm, by devotion, and plain hard work.
The good Lord raised this mighty Republic to be a home for the brave and to flourish as the land of the free -- not to stagnate in the swampland of collectivism, not to cringe before the bullying of communism.
Substitute "terrorism" for "communism" and his speech still rings true today. Our nation must stand tall and strong, not pull a Spain and surrender to terrorism.
Now, my fellow Americans, the tide has been running against freedom. Our people have followed false prophets. We must, and we shall, return to proven ways -- not because they are old, but because they are true. We must, and we shall, set the tides running again in the cause of freedom. And this party, with its every action, every word, every breath, and every heartbeat, has but a single resolve, and that is freedom -- freedom made orderly for this Nation by our constitutional government; freedom under a government limited by the laws of nature and of nature's God; freedom balanced so that order lacking liberty will not become the slavery of the prison cell; balanced so that liberty lacking order will not become the license of the mob and of the jungle.
"followed false prophets"...Michael Moore, call your office. This next excerpt, though talking about LBJ and JFK, seems to predict what a Kerry presidency would be about:
....plodding along at a pace set by centralized planning, red tape, rules without responsibility, and regimentation without recourse.
Rather than useful jobs in our country, our people have been offered bureaucratic "make work"; rather than moral leadership, they have been given bread and circuses. They have been given spectacles, and, yes, they've even been given scandals.
"They have been given bread and circuses" is the best description of the welfare state I have ever read or heard.
Tonight, there is violence in our streets, corruption in our highest offices, aimlessness amongst our youth, anxiety among our elders, and there's a virtual despair among the many who look beyond material success for the inner meaning of their lives. And where examples of morality should be set, the opposite is seen. Small men, seeking great wealth or power, have too often and too long turned even the highest levels of public service into mere personal opportunity.
Now, certainly, simple honesty is not too much to demand of men in government. We find it in most. Republicans demand it from everyone. They demand it from everyone no matter how exalted or protected his position might be.
And Barry had never even met Kerry or Clinton back in 1964!
Now, we Republicans see all this as more, much more, than the result of mere political differences or mere political mistakes. We see this as the result of a fundamentally and absolutely wrong view of man, his nature, and his destiny. Those who seek to live your lives for you, to take your liberties in return for relieving you of yours, those who elevate the state and downgrade the citizen must see ultimately a world in which earthly power can be substituted for Divine Will, and this Nation was founded upon the rejection of that notion and upon the acceptance of God as the author of freedom.
Now those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. They -- and let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions, ladies and gentlemen, of equality. Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.
Rarely will you read such a great description of the divide between conservatives and liberals.
It is further the cause of Republicanism to restore a clear understanding of the tyranny of man over man in the world at large. It is our cause to dispel the foggy thinking which avoids hard decisions in the delusion that a world of conflict will somehow mysteriously resolve itself into a world of harmony, if we just don't rock the boat or irritate the forces of aggression -- and this is hogwash.
It is further the cause of Republicanism to remind ourselves, and the world, that only the strong can remain free, that only the strong can keep the peace.
Barry Goldwater knew that we cannot avoid hard decisions are put those decisions in the hands of the Usless Nations. I also don't think that the phrase "foggy thinking" was an innocent phrase; since the state department is located in the Foggy Bottom section of DC I think he was slamming the State Department. Bush has shown he will make the tough decisions to keep us free; Kerry has shown he will not.
It was during those Republican years that the thrust of Communist imperialism was blunted. It was during those years of Republican leadership that this world moved closer, not to war, but closer to peace, than at any other time in the last three decades.
And I needn't remind you -- but I will -- that it's been during Democratic years that our strength to deter war has stood still, and even gone into a planned decline. It has been during Democratic years that we have weakly stumbled into conflict, timidly refusing to draw our own lines against aggression, deceitfully refusing to tell even our people of our full participation, and tragically, letting our finest men die on battlefields, unmarked by purpose, unmarked by pride or the prospect of victory.
It also happened during the Carter and Clinton administrations. Clinton especially "timidly refused to draw our lines against aggression" in regards to terrorism, despite the first bombing of the World Trade Center, Mogadishu, the African embassies, the USS Cole, Clinton was too busy checking out the thongs on chubby interns.
Yesterday, it was Korea. Tonight, it is Vietnam. Make no bones of this. Don't try to sweep this under the rug. We are at war in Vietnam. And yet the President, who is the Commander-in-Chief of our forces, refuses to say -- refuses to say, mind you, whether or not the objective over there is victory. And his Secretary of Defense continues to mislead and misinform the American people, and enough of it has gone by.
Much like LBJ and McNamara, Kerry and the dems of today refuse to say that we are at war with the terrorists, they view it as a law enforcement matter.
Now the Republican cause demands that we brand communism as the principal disturber of peace in the world today. Indeed, we should brand it as the only significant disturber of the peace, and we must make clear that until its goals of conquest are absolutely renounced and its relations with all nations tempered, communism and the governments it now controls are enemies of every man on earth who is or wants to be free.
Now, we here in America can keep the peace only if we remain vigilant and only if we remain strong. Only if we keep our eyes open and keep our guard up can we prevent war. And I want to make this abundantly clear: I don't intend to let peace or freedom be torn from our grasp because of lack of strength or lack of will -- and that I promise you, Americans.
Again, substitute "terrorism" for "communism" and you have a paragraph that could have been spoken this morning.
Now I know this freedom is not the fruit of every soil. I know that our own freedom was achieved through centuries, by unremitting efforts of brave and wise men. And I know that the road to freedom is a long and a challenging road. And I know also that some men may walk away from it, that some men resist challenge, accepting the false security of governmental paternalism.
And I -- And I pledge that the America I envision in the years ahead will extend its hand in health, in teaching and in cultivation, so that all new nations will be at least encouraged -- encouraged! -- to go our way, so that they will not wander down the dark alleys of tyranny or the dead-end streets of collectivism. My fellow Republicans, we do no man a service by hiding freedom's light under a bushel of mistaken humility.
"some men may walk away from it"....France, Germany, Michael Moore....
I seek an America proud of its past, proud of its ways, proud of its dreams, and determined actively to proclaim them. But our example to the world must, like charity, begin at home.
In our vision of a good and decent future, free and peaceful, there must be room, room for deliberation of the energy and the talent of the individual; otherwise our vision is blind at the outset.
We must assure a society here which, while never abandoning the needy or forsaking the helpless, nurtures incentives and opportunities for the creative and the productive. We must know the whole good is the product of many single contributions.
Once again Barry highlights the divide between the Republicans and the Democrats. We value the individual and seek to create opportunity for everyone. He then goes on tu further define the GOP:
Balance, diversity, creative difference: These are the elements of the Republican equation. Republicans agree -- Republicans agree heartily to disagree on many, many of their applications, but we have never disagreed on the basic fundamental issues of why you and I are Republicans.
This is a Party. This Republican Party is a Party for free men, not for blind followers, and not for conformists.
In fact, in 1858 Abraham Lincoln said this of the Republican party -- and I quote him, because he probably could have said it during the last week or so: "It was composed of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements" -- end of the quote -- in 1858. Yet -- Yet all of these elements agreed on one paramount objective: To arrest the progress of slavery, and place it in the course of ultimate extinction.
Today, as then, but more urgently and more broadly than then, the task of preserving and enlarging freedom at home and of safeguarding it from the forces of tyranny abroad is great enough to challenge all our resources and to require all our strength.
Anyone who joins us in all sincerity, we welcome. Those who do not care for our cause, we don't expect to enter our ranks in any case. And -- And let our Republicanism, so focused and so dedicated, not be made fuzzy and futile by unthinking and stupid labels.
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Amen. Senator Goldwater took heat for the end of his speech as the liberal elitists in the media twisted his "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" to make it seem like he was a madman, which he was not. He was just pledging to defend our country and our way of life, and if he needed to unleash the hounds of hell he would. This speech is so clear in many area, and 40 years later still serves as a blueprint for what separates us from the dems.
Barry Goldwater at the 1964 Republican Convention gave a tremendous speech that was much maligned by liberals but contains so much truth. Excerpts and my comments follow:
I accept your nomination with a deep sense of humility. I accept, too, the responsibility that goes with it, and I seek your continued help and your continued guidance. My fellow Republicans, our cause is too great for any man to feel worthy of it. Our task would be too great for any man, did he not have with him the hearts and the hands of this great Republican Party, and I promise you tonight that every fiber of my being is consecrated to our cause; that nothing shall be lacking from the struggle that can be brought to it by enthusiasm, by devotion, and plain hard work.
The good Lord raised this mighty Republic to be a home for the brave and to flourish as the land of the free -- not to stagnate in the swampland of collectivism, not to cringe before the bullying of communism.
Substitute "terrorism" for "communism" and his speech still rings true today. Our nation must stand tall and strong, not pull a Spain and surrender to terrorism.
Now, my fellow Americans, the tide has been running against freedom. Our people have followed false prophets. We must, and we shall, return to proven ways -- not because they are old, but because they are true. We must, and we shall, set the tides running again in the cause of freedom. And this party, with its every action, every word, every breath, and every heartbeat, has but a single resolve, and that is freedom -- freedom made orderly for this Nation by our constitutional government; freedom under a government limited by the laws of nature and of nature's God; freedom balanced so that order lacking liberty will not become the slavery of the prison cell; balanced so that liberty lacking order will not become the license of the mob and of the jungle.
"followed false prophets"...Michael Moore, call your office. This next excerpt, though talking about LBJ and JFK, seems to predict what a Kerry presidency would be about:
....plodding along at a pace set by centralized planning, red tape, rules without responsibility, and regimentation without recourse.
Rather than useful jobs in our country, our people have been offered bureaucratic "make work"; rather than moral leadership, they have been given bread and circuses. They have been given spectacles, and, yes, they've even been given scandals.
"They have been given bread and circuses" is the best description of the welfare state I have ever read or heard.
Tonight, there is violence in our streets, corruption in our highest offices, aimlessness amongst our youth, anxiety among our elders, and there's a virtual despair among the many who look beyond material success for the inner meaning of their lives. And where examples of morality should be set, the opposite is seen. Small men, seeking great wealth or power, have too often and too long turned even the highest levels of public service into mere personal opportunity.
Now, certainly, simple honesty is not too much to demand of men in government. We find it in most. Republicans demand it from everyone. They demand it from everyone no matter how exalted or protected his position might be.
And Barry had never even met Kerry or Clinton back in 1964!
Now, we Republicans see all this as more, much more, than the result of mere political differences or mere political mistakes. We see this as the result of a fundamentally and absolutely wrong view of man, his nature, and his destiny. Those who seek to live your lives for you, to take your liberties in return for relieving you of yours, those who elevate the state and downgrade the citizen must see ultimately a world in which earthly power can be substituted for Divine Will, and this Nation was founded upon the rejection of that notion and upon the acceptance of God as the author of freedom.
Now those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. They -- and let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions, ladies and gentlemen, of equality. Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.
Rarely will you read such a great description of the divide between conservatives and liberals.
It is further the cause of Republicanism to restore a clear understanding of the tyranny of man over man in the world at large. It is our cause to dispel the foggy thinking which avoids hard decisions in the delusion that a world of conflict will somehow mysteriously resolve itself into a world of harmony, if we just don't rock the boat or irritate the forces of aggression -- and this is hogwash.
It is further the cause of Republicanism to remind ourselves, and the world, that only the strong can remain free, that only the strong can keep the peace.
Barry Goldwater knew that we cannot avoid hard decisions are put those decisions in the hands of the Usless Nations. I also don't think that the phrase "foggy thinking" was an innocent phrase; since the state department is located in the Foggy Bottom section of DC I think he was slamming the State Department. Bush has shown he will make the tough decisions to keep us free; Kerry has shown he will not.
It was during those Republican years that the thrust of Communist imperialism was blunted. It was during those years of Republican leadership that this world moved closer, not to war, but closer to peace, than at any other time in the last three decades.
And I needn't remind you -- but I will -- that it's been during Democratic years that our strength to deter war has stood still, and even gone into a planned decline. It has been during Democratic years that we have weakly stumbled into conflict, timidly refusing to draw our own lines against aggression, deceitfully refusing to tell even our people of our full participation, and tragically, letting our finest men die on battlefields, unmarked by purpose, unmarked by pride or the prospect of victory.
It also happened during the Carter and Clinton administrations. Clinton especially "timidly refused to draw our lines against aggression" in regards to terrorism, despite the first bombing of the World Trade Center, Mogadishu, the African embassies, the USS Cole, Clinton was too busy checking out the thongs on chubby interns.
Yesterday, it was Korea. Tonight, it is Vietnam. Make no bones of this. Don't try to sweep this under the rug. We are at war in Vietnam. And yet the President, who is the Commander-in-Chief of our forces, refuses to say -- refuses to say, mind you, whether or not the objective over there is victory. And his Secretary of Defense continues to mislead and misinform the American people, and enough of it has gone by.
Much like LBJ and McNamara, Kerry and the dems of today refuse to say that we are at war with the terrorists, they view it as a law enforcement matter.
Now the Republican cause demands that we brand communism as the principal disturber of peace in the world today. Indeed, we should brand it as the only significant disturber of the peace, and we must make clear that until its goals of conquest are absolutely renounced and its relations with all nations tempered, communism and the governments it now controls are enemies of every man on earth who is or wants to be free.
Now, we here in America can keep the peace only if we remain vigilant and only if we remain strong. Only if we keep our eyes open and keep our guard up can we prevent war. And I want to make this abundantly clear: I don't intend to let peace or freedom be torn from our grasp because of lack of strength or lack of will -- and that I promise you, Americans.
Again, substitute "terrorism" for "communism" and you have a paragraph that could have been spoken this morning.
Now I know this freedom is not the fruit of every soil. I know that our own freedom was achieved through centuries, by unremitting efforts of brave and wise men. And I know that the road to freedom is a long and a challenging road. And I know also that some men may walk away from it, that some men resist challenge, accepting the false security of governmental paternalism.
And I -- And I pledge that the America I envision in the years ahead will extend its hand in health, in teaching and in cultivation, so that all new nations will be at least encouraged -- encouraged! -- to go our way, so that they will not wander down the dark alleys of tyranny or the dead-end streets of collectivism. My fellow Republicans, we do no man a service by hiding freedom's light under a bushel of mistaken humility.
"some men may walk away from it"....France, Germany, Michael Moore....
I seek an America proud of its past, proud of its ways, proud of its dreams, and determined actively to proclaim them. But our example to the world must, like charity, begin at home.
In our vision of a good and decent future, free and peaceful, there must be room, room for deliberation of the energy and the talent of the individual; otherwise our vision is blind at the outset.
We must assure a society here which, while never abandoning the needy or forsaking the helpless, nurtures incentives and opportunities for the creative and the productive. We must know the whole good is the product of many single contributions.
Once again Barry highlights the divide between the Republicans and the Democrats. We value the individual and seek to create opportunity for everyone. He then goes on tu further define the GOP:
Balance, diversity, creative difference: These are the elements of the Republican equation. Republicans agree -- Republicans agree heartily to disagree on many, many of their applications, but we have never disagreed on the basic fundamental issues of why you and I are Republicans.
This is a Party. This Republican Party is a Party for free men, not for blind followers, and not for conformists.
In fact, in 1858 Abraham Lincoln said this of the Republican party -- and I quote him, because he probably could have said it during the last week or so: "It was composed of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements" -- end of the quote -- in 1858. Yet -- Yet all of these elements agreed on one paramount objective: To arrest the progress of slavery, and place it in the course of ultimate extinction.
Today, as then, but more urgently and more broadly than then, the task of preserving and enlarging freedom at home and of safeguarding it from the forces of tyranny abroad is great enough to challenge all our resources and to require all our strength.
Anyone who joins us in all sincerity, we welcome. Those who do not care for our cause, we don't expect to enter our ranks in any case. And -- And let our Republicanism, so focused and so dedicated, not be made fuzzy and futile by unthinking and stupid labels.
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Amen. Senator Goldwater took heat for the end of his speech as the liberal elitists in the media twisted his "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" to make it seem like he was a madman, which he was not. He was just pledging to defend our country and our way of life, and if he needed to unleash the hounds of hell he would. This speech is so clear in many area, and 40 years later still serves as a blueprint for what separates us from the dems.
Friday, July 30, 2004
How swiftboat skippers REALLY feel about Kerry
Courtesy of swiftvets.com is the truth about a picture of swiftboat skippers. Kerry used this picture to say how those with whom he served supported him. Let the picture tell the truth:
For those keeping score at home, there are 19 Swift boat skippers pictured other than Kerry. 11 consider him unfit, 4 are neutral, two have died, and 2 are working with the Kerry campaign. Four other officers were not present for the photo session; all oppose Kerry.
Courtesy of swiftvets.com is the truth about a picture of swiftboat skippers. Kerry used this picture to say how those with whom he served supported him. Let the picture tell the truth:
For those keeping score at home, there are 19 Swift boat skippers pictured other than Kerry. 11 consider him unfit, 4 are neutral, two have died, and 2 are working with the Kerry campaign. Four other officers were not present for the photo session; all oppose Kerry.
An open letter to Kerry
Conservative Push has some questions for Kerry:
Conservative Push has some questions for Kerry:
Dear John Kerry,
Congratulations on your big speech tonight. Sure I almost threw up, but anyway, those people on the floor seemed to like it. Im just allergic to class warfare, flip-flopping, and blatant lying. What can I say, it makes me gag. But anyway, I have a few questions, just for clarification.
1) You seemed to imply that companies that outsource jobs are doing America harm, in fact, you referred to them as "Benedict Arnold" companies in an earlier speech. Considering that many of the money your family owns vis a vis the Heinz company comes fromo outsourced jobs, would you be willing to give up your 1 billion dollar fortune?
2) So a lot of people are uninsured. What has Bush done to create this problem and how are you gonna fix it, other than doing a "better" job?
3) You plan to bring in the international community to solve future problems, and you claim you would have done the same in Iraq. Considering that the French and the Russians had financial bribes from Saddam Hussein and that they have equally, if not more extensive stake in Iran, a likely future foe of the United States, you must have some magic potion to make the Europeans obey your every command. What is it, and where can I get some?
4) You say that you will only raise taxes on the rich, yet the people you classify as "rich" pay 40% of the entire nation's income tax. Why do you omit this important fact?
5) You trump your Vietnam war service as a staple of your campaign, yet the vast majority of those who served with you find you "unfit for command" (see SwiftVets.com) What could make so many people, not all of them members of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy make this harsh judgment?
6) You said that the Presidet misled the country into war. Considering that every Independent investigation that has looked into this (Britain's Lord Butler Report, US Senate Intelligence Committe Report, and 9/11 Commision report in regards to Iraq and Al Qaeda) has concluded that no one lied. What makes you so much much more qualified to make this judgment than all of these bipartisan investigations? Are you a magic man?
7) You said that just because someone says there are WMDs, doesn't make it so. If that's the case, then why did you say "Saddam's WMDs are a threat?" Are you a liar too?
8) You said you're going to fight an more effective War on Terror. How?
9) You spoke of the sad story of a soldier's family, collecting donations for body armor. If you are so concerned about this, why did you vote against the supplemental $87 Billion to pay for such armor? Or did you vote for it, before you voted against it?
10) You said you think that the tone of debate should be elevated. Will you then condemn Howard Dean for advancing the theory President Bush was wanred about 9/11 ahead of time? Will you condemn Al Gore for saying that the President betrayed the country? And will you stop accusing the President of being a liar, for saying things, you yourself said prior to the war, and even after the start of the war?
Denzel Washington vs Meryl Streep
I'm already a big fan of Denzel, and his sparring with liberal idiot Meryl Streep makes me like him even more.
"Manchurian Candidate" stars Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep may be promoting a movie together, but they are not of one mind when it comes to religion and politics, as a recent interview on NBC's "Dateline" revealed.
Katie Couric asked Streep about her appearance at a John Kerry fund-raiser, where she criticized President Bush by saying: "Through the shock and awe I wondered which of the megaton bombs Jesus, our president's personal savior, would have personally dropped on the sleeping families of Baghdad."
"It was a question about, when you put Jesus on the campaign bus to stump for you, you have to really listen to what he says," explained Streep. "Because he says, 'If a man smite thee on the cheek, let ? you turn the other, that he may smite also.' And he says, 'He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword,' and he says, 'Love thine enemy.' Jesus could have raised an army against the people that persecuted Him. He didn't. So, that's what I was pointing out in my speech. And I couldn't really imagine Jesus ? like, I couldn't imagine how Jesus would vote. Jesus was the Prince of Peace. Would the Prince of Peace vote for a war president?
I am pretty sure the Prince of Peace wouldn't vote for a President that supports not just abortion, but partial birth abortions. How about a man that unceremoniously dumped his rich first wife and married a richer 2nd wife? How about someone who bore false witness under oath, accusing his fellow Vietnam soldiers of atrocities? Thankfully Denzel put her in her place:
But Washington didn't let that statement go unchallenged.
"Jesus also went into the temple and kicked everybody out," he interjected. "So some people..."
"That's kicking the money-changers out of the temple," said Streep. "So the money-changers should get out of Congress. I agree. And out of the church, and I agree."
"He didn't ? He didn't only say 'turn the other cheek,' though," continued Washington. "You got to read the whole book. That's not all He said."
"Oh, I do read the book," said Streep. "I do, too, and that's not all He said," said Washington. "Like I said, he did go into the temple and cleared the place. Well...
"Of money," said Streep. "Money's bad."
"OK, well, we're all ? we all make ? make money," said Washington.
"Yes, thank God," said Streep.
"So does that make us bad?" asked Washington "Maybe He's talking about us.
"Well, yeah, maybe," said Streep.
Washington also went on to say he is concerned about the reception returning U.S. troops are getting at home.
"You know, I haven't seen "Fahrenheit 9/11" because I live in America," he said. "I grew up here. I'm an ex-slave. I'm a result of what this country can do. So it's nothing new to me. I'm not surprised at all. It's just business as usual. What I want to talk about is what are we doing right now today for these young kids that ? that are coming home? ... Are they getting the support and the love they need from us? And maybe that story is being told, but I sure haven't seen that much in the news."
He suggested he'd like to see the national debate refocused.
"They're pointing fingers about who's right and who's wrong and who started what and where are the weapons of mass destruction?" he said. "But these kids are coming home. You know, I have a son, 19. Nineteen-year-olds are coming home completely different."
Good job Denzel.
I'm already a big fan of Denzel, and his sparring with liberal idiot Meryl Streep makes me like him even more.
"Manchurian Candidate" stars Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep may be promoting a movie together, but they are not of one mind when it comes to religion and politics, as a recent interview on NBC's "Dateline" revealed.
Katie Couric asked Streep about her appearance at a John Kerry fund-raiser, where she criticized President Bush by saying: "Through the shock and awe I wondered which of the megaton bombs Jesus, our president's personal savior, would have personally dropped on the sleeping families of Baghdad."
"It was a question about, when you put Jesus on the campaign bus to stump for you, you have to really listen to what he says," explained Streep. "Because he says, 'If a man smite thee on the cheek, let ? you turn the other, that he may smite also.' And he says, 'He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword,' and he says, 'Love thine enemy.' Jesus could have raised an army against the people that persecuted Him. He didn't. So, that's what I was pointing out in my speech. And I couldn't really imagine Jesus ? like, I couldn't imagine how Jesus would vote. Jesus was the Prince of Peace. Would the Prince of Peace vote for a war president?
I am pretty sure the Prince of Peace wouldn't vote for a President that supports not just abortion, but partial birth abortions. How about a man that unceremoniously dumped his rich first wife and married a richer 2nd wife? How about someone who bore false witness under oath, accusing his fellow Vietnam soldiers of atrocities? Thankfully Denzel put her in her place:
But Washington didn't let that statement go unchallenged.
"Jesus also went into the temple and kicked everybody out," he interjected. "So some people..."
"That's kicking the money-changers out of the temple," said Streep. "So the money-changers should get out of Congress. I agree. And out of the church, and I agree."
"He didn't ? He didn't only say 'turn the other cheek,' though," continued Washington. "You got to read the whole book. That's not all He said."
"Oh, I do read the book," said Streep. "I do, too, and that's not all He said," said Washington. "Like I said, he did go into the temple and cleared the place. Well...
"Of money," said Streep. "Money's bad."
"OK, well, we're all ? we all make ? make money," said Washington.
"Yes, thank God," said Streep.
"So does that make us bad?" asked Washington "Maybe He's talking about us.
"Well, yeah, maybe," said Streep.
Washington also went on to say he is concerned about the reception returning U.S. troops are getting at home.
"You know, I haven't seen "Fahrenheit 9/11" because I live in America," he said. "I grew up here. I'm an ex-slave. I'm a result of what this country can do. So it's nothing new to me. I'm not surprised at all. It's just business as usual. What I want to talk about is what are we doing right now today for these young kids that ? that are coming home? ... Are they getting the support and the love they need from us? And maybe that story is being told, but I sure haven't seen that much in the news."
He suggested he'd like to see the national debate refocused.
"They're pointing fingers about who's right and who's wrong and who started what and where are the weapons of mass destruction?" he said. "But these kids are coming home. You know, I have a son, 19. Nineteen-year-olds are coming home completely different."
Good job Denzel.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
The REAL John Kerry
No matter what he may say, Waffleman can't run from his record. Lowlights:
Remember these things when Kerry tries to say that he will keep us safe.
No matter what he may say, Waffleman can't run from his record. Lowlights:
* In the '70s, Kerry maliciously accused U.S. soldiers of atrocities in Vietnam and insisted that all U.S. military actions be directed by the United Nations.
* In the '80s, he opposed Ronald Reagan's efforts to rebuild the military. "I will fight to cut the overall defense budget," he said, arguing that such efforts bore no "relevancy to the threat this nation is facing."
He called for a four-year, $200 billion defense cut, including cancellation of 27 weapons systems, in 1985.
* In 1993, he proposed cuts in submarines, light-infantry units in the Army, tactical fighter wings in the Air Force, mine-hunting ships in the Navy and overall troop strength.
* In 1994, he proposed $45 billion in defense and intelligence cuts. That was after the first World Trade Center attack.
* He voted with a minority of senators against the Persian Gulf war of 1991.
* At home, Kerry has railed against the Patriot Act, as he likely will do tonight, even though he voted for it, and even though it's proven to have been a key weapon in the Terror War.
Remember these things when Kerry tries to say that he will keep us safe.
Democrats and religion, or "We can say God too!"
You can tell it's an election year as the dems and libs try to say"hey, we like God too!"
Democrats can be people of faith, too. They can pray out loud, they can sing hymns and invoke God's name in their speeches. They can even agree to disagree with their partisan pals on hot button issues like gay marriage and abortion.
And Kerry can disagree as to whether Job is in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Anyway, this is off to a good start.
And they say religion is not solely the domain of Republicans.
"It's not true ? the media may be the last group to figure that out ? but it's not the case," said Jim Wallis, a Christian activist for Call to Renewal. Wallis was one of several speakers at a "People of Faith" luncheon sponsored by the Democratic National Convention in Boston on Wednesday.
"Our faith has been stolen and it's time to take it back," he added.
Oh.my.goodness. Those darn faith burglars were out and about again.
The ballroom at the Sheraton Boston Hotel on Wednesday was filled with representatives from the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths, including Evangelicals and Baptists, who said it was okay to mix politics and religion in an effort to fulfill long-standing goals of eradicating poverty and taking care of the most needy Americans.
Still, even attendees at the event admitted that the caucus was a novelty.
"This is the first time in the history of the Democratic Party that we made space to come together as people of faith," said Leah Daughtry, pastor of the House of the Lord Church in Washington, D.C., and chief of staff of the Democratic National Committee.
Daughtry, a fifth generation black minister whose family has been preachers since the days of slavery, said the gathering in Wednesday was in part, there "to show that we can be people of faith and Democrats at the same time. We can reconcile the two."
For decades there many devout Christians, especially Catholics, that were democrats and voted for democrat candidates. There was no need to "reconcile the two." Even as late as 1976 the dems were officially pro-life. Now, the dems are the party of abortion, gays, Monica, "I did not have relations with that woman" and taxes.
A 2003 poll released by the Pew Center for People and Religion found that those surveyed who went to a religious service more than twice weekly were 63 percent more likely to vote Republican, while 37 percent vote Democrat. On the flip side, 62 percent of people who attended a service only once a year or not at all were more likely to vote Democratic, while 38 percent go Republican.
Analysts have said that religious Americans are typically drawn to the GOP's agenda on social issues. In general, Republicans oppose gay marriage and abortion, positions many faiths also profess. On the other hand, Democrats are associated with pro-choice, pro-gay causes as well as interpreting the separation of church and state (search) as keeping prayer out of public schools and religious iconography off of government property.
That seems to be a pretty easy concept.
Religious Democrats at Wednesday's event said they can succeed from within the Democratic Party because, aside from moral issues hotly debated in the United States, Democrats care more than Republicans about issues of social justice.
"When it comes to the issues we care about, it's more than gay marriage or abortion," said Wallis.
"There are some of those issues we may disagree with, but we have to put these differences aside to let justice roll," said Carl Schultz, interim senior minister at the Old South Church in Boston, which had later that day hosted a summit to address poverty and hunger.
"aside from moral issues hotly debated" and "it's more than gay marriage or abortion." Other than that Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?
Rev. Nathan Wilson of the Disciples of Christ said too often the "Christian Right" focuses on the "sanctity of life" in the womb, but not on the whole of the life after birth. Wilson said he is pro-life, but wants the debate to extend to improving the quality of life for humanity, and is willing to engage abortion opponents and supporters from all faiths so that they can move on.
"I think you have to focus on bigger, broader, issues," he said.
I get suspicious when I hear "I am pro-life, but..." We get more of the old "republicans hate the poor rhetoric.
But joining the Democratic Party means religious people must tolerate positions inherently antithetical to their supposed beliefs, said Steven Waldman, founder and editor of Beliefnet.com., a religious news Web site. Waldman said Democrats "clearly have watered down the spiritual dimension of their views" on religion, and he suggested that recent polls and Bush's strong showing over Vice President Al Gore among white Christians in the 2000 presidential election should be a wake up call for the party.
"Democrats are clearly extremely frustrated by the idea that religion is equated with conservatives," said Waldman. "And they're flailing around, trying to figure out what to do about it. The Democrats know they have to be more welcoming."
"Have to be more welcoming" to Christians....next Hezbollah will work on being "more welcoming" to Jews.
Wilson said he is a Democrat because he feels his mission, as guided by Biblical scripture, is to help the "least among us," or the disadvantaged among humanity. "I don't see that in the Republican Party. I see a real emphasis on individualism and 'I'm going to get all I can for me.'"
He added that he doesn't think religious Democrats need to hide their religious bona fides.
"I don?t think we are relegated to the back room," Wilson said, "and I think it?s a misconception, because more and more increasingly, Democrats are in fact embracing religious issues."
I could go on about Bush's big boost in spending on AIDS or how the tax cuts give families like mine more money to care for our kids, but why bother. I will agree with him that "Democrats are in fact embracing religious issues", it's just they always seem to find themselves on the opposite side of scripture, tradition, or reason.
You can tell it's an election year as the dems and libs try to say"hey, we like God too!"
Democrats can be people of faith, too. They can pray out loud, they can sing hymns and invoke God's name in their speeches. They can even agree to disagree with their partisan pals on hot button issues like gay marriage and abortion.
And Kerry can disagree as to whether Job is in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Anyway, this is off to a good start.
And they say religion is not solely the domain of Republicans.
"It's not true ? the media may be the last group to figure that out ? but it's not the case," said Jim Wallis, a Christian activist for Call to Renewal. Wallis was one of several speakers at a "People of Faith" luncheon sponsored by the Democratic National Convention in Boston on Wednesday.
"Our faith has been stolen and it's time to take it back," he added.
Oh.my.goodness. Those darn faith burglars were out and about again.
The ballroom at the Sheraton Boston Hotel on Wednesday was filled with representatives from the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths, including Evangelicals and Baptists, who said it was okay to mix politics and religion in an effort to fulfill long-standing goals of eradicating poverty and taking care of the most needy Americans.
Still, even attendees at the event admitted that the caucus was a novelty.
"This is the first time in the history of the Democratic Party that we made space to come together as people of faith," said Leah Daughtry, pastor of the House of the Lord Church in Washington, D.C., and chief of staff of the Democratic National Committee.
Daughtry, a fifth generation black minister whose family has been preachers since the days of slavery, said the gathering in Wednesday was in part, there "to show that we can be people of faith and Democrats at the same time. We can reconcile the two."
For decades there many devout Christians, especially Catholics, that were democrats and voted for democrat candidates. There was no need to "reconcile the two." Even as late as 1976 the dems were officially pro-life. Now, the dems are the party of abortion, gays, Monica, "I did not have relations with that woman" and taxes.
A 2003 poll released by the Pew Center for People and Religion found that those surveyed who went to a religious service more than twice weekly were 63 percent more likely to vote Republican, while 37 percent vote Democrat. On the flip side, 62 percent of people who attended a service only once a year or not at all were more likely to vote Democratic, while 38 percent go Republican.
Analysts have said that religious Americans are typically drawn to the GOP's agenda on social issues. In general, Republicans oppose gay marriage and abortion, positions many faiths also profess. On the other hand, Democrats are associated with pro-choice, pro-gay causes as well as interpreting the separation of church and state (search) as keeping prayer out of public schools and religious iconography off of government property.
That seems to be a pretty easy concept.
Religious Democrats at Wednesday's event said they can succeed from within the Democratic Party because, aside from moral issues hotly debated in the United States, Democrats care more than Republicans about issues of social justice.
"When it comes to the issues we care about, it's more than gay marriage or abortion," said Wallis.
"There are some of those issues we may disagree with, but we have to put these differences aside to let justice roll," said Carl Schultz, interim senior minister at the Old South Church in Boston, which had later that day hosted a summit to address poverty and hunger.
"aside from moral issues hotly debated" and "it's more than gay marriage or abortion." Other than that Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?
Rev. Nathan Wilson of the Disciples of Christ said too often the "Christian Right" focuses on the "sanctity of life" in the womb, but not on the whole of the life after birth. Wilson said he is pro-life, but wants the debate to extend to improving the quality of life for humanity, and is willing to engage abortion opponents and supporters from all faiths so that they can move on.
"I think you have to focus on bigger, broader, issues," he said.
I get suspicious when I hear "I am pro-life, but..." We get more of the old "republicans hate the poor rhetoric.
But joining the Democratic Party means religious people must tolerate positions inherently antithetical to their supposed beliefs, said Steven Waldman, founder and editor of Beliefnet.com., a religious news Web site. Waldman said Democrats "clearly have watered down the spiritual dimension of their views" on religion, and he suggested that recent polls and Bush's strong showing over Vice President Al Gore among white Christians in the 2000 presidential election should be a wake up call for the party.
"Democrats are clearly extremely frustrated by the idea that religion is equated with conservatives," said Waldman. "And they're flailing around, trying to figure out what to do about it. The Democrats know they have to be more welcoming."
"Have to be more welcoming" to Christians....next Hezbollah will work on being "more welcoming" to Jews.
Wilson said he is a Democrat because he feels his mission, as guided by Biblical scripture, is to help the "least among us," or the disadvantaged among humanity. "I don't see that in the Republican Party. I see a real emphasis on individualism and 'I'm going to get all I can for me.'"
He added that he doesn't think religious Democrats need to hide their religious bona fides.
"I don?t think we are relegated to the back room," Wilson said, "and I think it?s a misconception, because more and more increasingly, Democrats are in fact embracing religious issues."
I could go on about Bush's big boost in spending on AIDS or how the tax cuts give families like mine more money to care for our kids, but why bother. I will agree with him that "Democrats are in fact embracing religious issues", it's just they always seem to find themselves on the opposite side of scripture, tradition, or reason.
Gettin' Jiggy at the DNC
I thought it was funny that Black Eyed Peas played their song "Let's get it started" last night. That is the radio version of the song, but the album version is much more appropriate: "Let's get Retarded".
I thought it was funny that Black Eyed Peas played their song "Let's get it started" last night. That is the radio version of the song, but the album version is much more appropriate: "Let's get Retarded".
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
High school wrestler to the rescue
A high school wrestler took down an unruly passenger.
Wrestlers deal with the most brutal practices of any sport, don't mess with a wrestler.
A high school wrestler took down an unruly passenger.
A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Tulsa was detoured to Dallas Sunday night to deal with an out of control passenger.
One of the passengers who stepped in to get the out of control flyer under control again is 18-year-old Bryan Golemon of Cushing.
Bryan is a high school wrestler and used his wrestling skills to help the flight crew and other passengers. "The stewardess, she was standing right next to me and I said I'm a wrestler and if you want I can have him down in about ten seconds, she said OK."
They got the restraints on the man and the FBI took him off the plane in Dallas.
Southwest Airlines and the other passengers are thankful for Bryan's willingness to help.
Wrestlers deal with the most brutal practices of any sport, don't mess with a wrestler.
Good place for bumperstickers and such
Click on the bumpersticker to find this and other great stickers, shirts, and mugs
Click on the bumpersticker to find this and other great stickers, shirts, and mugs
Congressional Medal of Honor winners don't like Kerry either
24 winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military award in the US, have written a letter blasting Kerry.
CMH winners are the bravest of the brave. It has only been awarded 3459 times. This is the website for their society and it lists the exploits that earned these men the CMH. If they say Kerry is unfit, I believe them.
24 winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military award in the US, have written a letter blasting Kerry.
A letter signed by 24 Congressional Medal of Honor winners criticizing U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was released Tuesday.
"We are disturbed," they said, "that John Kerry would try to scare veterans with his false accusations, and we are disappointed in his lack of support for today's troops."
While a war hero himself, Kerry's record, the 24 winners of the nation's highest award for military valor said, shows he is "out of the mainstream."
"President Bush." they wrote, "has led the way on improving veterans' benefits, supporting our troops and restoring honor and dignity to the White House."
"Since 2001, "President Bush has increased veterans funding by over $20 billion, and funding for veterans' health care has increased by 40 percent since he took office. Funding for veterans has gone up twice as fast under President Bush as it did under President Clinton, and those who accuse the President of cutting funding are simply not being honest with veterans."
The ex-service members hit Kerry for what they said was his vote, "against a $1.3 billion increase in veterans' health care," as well as his missed votes on veterans' matters and for having, "voted against funding for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq."
CMH winners are the bravest of the brave. It has only been awarded 3459 times. This is the website for their society and it lists the exploits that earned these men the CMH. If they say Kerry is unfit, I believe them.
Swiftboat veterans for Truth (and against Kerry)
Swiftboat Veterans for Truth is a group formed to dispute Kerry's myths about Vietnam and the support the he allegedly has from veterans.
Here are some quotes about Kerry:
The world is too dangerous for a president that "requires constant supervision".
Swiftboat Veterans for Truth is a group formed to dispute Kerry's myths about Vietnam and the support the he allegedly has from veterans.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has been formed to counter the false "war crimes" charges John Kerry repeatedly made against Vietnam veterans who served in our units and elsewhere, and to accurately portray Kerry's brief tour in Vietnam as a junior grade Lieutenant. We speak from personal experience -- our group includes men who served beside Kerry in combat as well as his commanders. Though we come from different backgrounds and hold varying political opinions, we agree on one thing: John Kerry misrepresented his record and ours in Vietnam and therefore exhibits serious flaws in character and lacks the potential to lead.
We regret the need to do this. Most Swift boat veterans would like nothing better than to support one of our own for America's highest office, regardless of whether he was running as a Democrat or a Republican. However, Kerry's phony war crimes charges, his exaggerated claims about his own service in Vietnam, and his deliberate misrepresentation of the nature and effectiveness of Swift boat operations compels us to step forward.
For more than thirty years, most Vietnam veterans kept silent as we were maligned as misfits, addicts, and baby killers. Now that a key creator of that poisonous image is seeking the Presidency we have resolved to end our silence.
Here are some quotes about Kerry:
Swift Veterans Quotes
.
"We resent very deeply the false war crimes charges he made coming back from Vietnam in 1971 and repeated in the book "Tour of Duty." We think those cast an aspersion on all those living and dead, from our unit and other units in Vietnam. We think that he knew he was lying when he made the charges, and we think that they're unsupportable. We intend to bring the truth about that to the American people.
We believe, based on our experience with him, that he is totally unfit to be the Commander-in-Chief."
-- John O'Neill, spokesman, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
"I do not believe John Kerry is fit to be Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States. This is not a political issue. It is a matter of his judgment, truthfulness, reliability, loyalty and trust -- all absolute tenets of command. His biography, 'Tour of Duty,' by Douglas Brinkley, is replete with gross exaggerations, distortions of fact, contradictions and slanderous lies. His contempt for the military and authority is evident by even a most casual review of this biography. He arrived in-country with a strong anti-Vietnam War bias and a self-serving determination to build a foundation for his political future. He was aggressive, but vain and prone to impulsive judgment, often with disregard for specific tactical assignments. He was a 'loose cannon.' In an abbreviated tour of four months and 12 days, and with his specious medals secure, Lt.(jg) Kerry bugged out and began his infamous betrayal of all United States forces in the Vietnam War. That included our soldiers, our marines, our sailors, our coast guardsmen, our airmen, and our POWs. His leadership within the so-called Vietnam Veterans Against the War and testimony before Congress in 1971 charging us with unspeakable atrocities remain an undocumented but nevertheless meticulous stain on the men and women who honorably stayed the course. Senator Kerry is not fit for command."
-- Rear Admiral Roy Hoffmann, USN (retired), chairman, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
"While in Cam Rahn Bay, he trained on several 24-hour indoctrination missions, and one special skimmer operation with my most senior and trusted Lieutenant. The briefing from some members of that crew the morning after revealed that they had not received any enemy fire, and yet Lt.(jg) Kerry informed me of a wound -- he showed me a scratch on his arm and a piece of shrapnel in his hand that appeared to be from one of our own M-79s. It was later reported to me that Lt.(jg) Kerry had fired an M-79, and it had exploded off the adjacent shoreline. I do not recall being advised of any medical treatment, and probably said something like 'Forget it.' He later received a Purple Heart for that scratch, and I have no information as to how or whom.
Lt.(jg) Kerry was allowed to return to the good old USA after 4 months and a few days in-country, and then he proceeded to betray his former shipmates, calling them criminals who were committing atrocities. Today we are here to tell you that just the opposite is true. Our rules of engagement were quite strict, and the officers and men of Swift often did not even return fire when they were under fire if there was a possibility that innocent people -- fishermen, in a lot of cases -- might be hurt or injured. The rules and the good intentions of the men increased the possibility that we might take friendly casualties."
-- Commander Grant Hibbard, USN (retired)
"During Lt.(jg) Kerry's tour, he was under my command for two or three specific operations, before his rapid exit. Trust, loyalty and judgment are the key, operative words. His turncoat performance in 1971 in his grubby shirt and his medal-tossing escapade, coupled with his slanderous lines in the recent book portraying us that served, including all POWs and MIAs, as murderous war criminals, I believe, will have a lasting effect on all military veterans and their families.
Kerry would be described as devious, self-absorbing, manipulative, disdain for authority, disruptive, but the most common phrase that you'd hear is 'requires constant supervision.'"
-- Captain Charles Plumly, USN (retired)
The world is too dangerous for a president that "requires constant supervision".
Wictory Wednesday
Al Gore called us a bunch of "digital brownshirts," so let's not make a liar out of him (for once). It's not just Wednesday, it's Wictory Wednesday, the day of the week where us Bush supporters in Blogdom do our best to get out the support for the reelection of George Bush. How can you help? You can volunteer or donate and join these other bloggers and me in doing our part:
Al Gore called us a bunch of "digital brownshirts," so let's not make a liar out of him (for once). It's not just Wednesday, it's Wictory Wednesday, the day of the week where us Bush supporters in Blogdom do our best to get out the support for the reelection of George Bush. How can you help? You can volunteer or donate and join these other bloggers and me in doing our part:
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Sexy conservative pundit Ann Coulter and USA Today
USA Today wouldn't publish this column from Ann Coulter about the donkfest in Boston. Too bad, because it is hilarious!
Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston, conservatives are deploying a series of covert signals to identify one another, much like gay men do. My allies are the ones wearing crosses or American flags. The people sporting shirts emblazened with the "F-word" are my opponents. Also, as always, the pretty girls and cops are on my side, most of them barely able to conceal their eye-rolling.
Democrats are constantly suing and slandering police as violent, fascist racists -- with the exception of Boston's police, who'll be lauded as national heroes right up until the Democrats pack up and leave town on Friday, whereupon they'll revert to their natural state of being fascist, racist pigs.
A speaker at the Democratic National Convention this year, Al Sharpton, accused white police officers of raping and defacing Tawana Brawley in 1987, lunatic charges that eventually led to a defamation lawsuit against Sharpton and even more eventually, to Sharpton paying a jury award to the defamed plaintiff Steve Pagones. So it's a real mystery why cops wouldn't like Democrats.
As for the pretty girls, I can only guess that it's because liberal boys never try to make a move on you without the UN Security Council's approval. Plus, it's no fun riding around in those dinky little hybrid cars. My pretty-girl allies stick out like a sore thumb amongst the corn-fed, no make-up, natural fiber, no-bra needing, sandal-wearing, hirsute, somewhat fragrant hippie chick pie wagons they call "women" at the Democratic National Convention.
USA Today wouldn't publish this column from Ann Coulter about the donkfest in Boston. Too bad, because it is hilarious!
Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston, conservatives are deploying a series of covert signals to identify one another, much like gay men do. My allies are the ones wearing crosses or American flags. The people sporting shirts emblazened with the "F-word" are my opponents. Also, as always, the pretty girls and cops are on my side, most of them barely able to conceal their eye-rolling.
Democrats are constantly suing and slandering police as violent, fascist racists -- with the exception of Boston's police, who'll be lauded as national heroes right up until the Democrats pack up and leave town on Friday, whereupon they'll revert to their natural state of being fascist, racist pigs.
A speaker at the Democratic National Convention this year, Al Sharpton, accused white police officers of raping and defacing Tawana Brawley in 1987, lunatic charges that eventually led to a defamation lawsuit against Sharpton and even more eventually, to Sharpton paying a jury award to the defamed plaintiff Steve Pagones. So it's a real mystery why cops wouldn't like Democrats.
As for the pretty girls, I can only guess that it's because liberal boys never try to make a move on you without the UN Security Council's approval. Plus, it's no fun riding around in those dinky little hybrid cars. My pretty-girl allies stick out like a sore thumb amongst the corn-fed, no make-up, natural fiber, no-bra needing, sandal-wearing, hirsute, somewhat fragrant hippie chick pie wagons they call "women" at the Democratic National Convention.
Better Off under Bush
John Podhoretz tells us
how we are better off under Bush.
IN a debate with Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan famously asked Ameri cans whether they were better off in 1980 than they had been in 1976 before Carter took office. Last night at the Democratic Convention in Boston, the Clintons and Al Gore tried to frame the race between John Kerry and George W. Bush in Reagan's terms.
"Is our country more united today?" Al Gore asked. "Or more divided? Has the promise of compassionate conservatism been fulfilled? Or do those words now ring hollow? For that matter, are the economic policies really conservative at all? Did you expect, for example, the largest deficits in history? One after another? And the loss of more than a million jobs?"
"In 1992 and 1996," Hillary Clinton said of her husband, "Americans chose a president who left our country in far better shape than when he took office."
"Our way is better," Bill Clinton said. "It worked better."
It's a clever gambit. The problem is that it will only work if the American people are stupid.
In 1992 people knew the meaning of is, but I digress. What about economic factors? What would have happened if Gore had been elected?
Had Al Gore been sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2001, he would have been greeted by the very same recession that kicked off the Bush presidency. Enron and Global Crossing would have collapsed months later, just as they did in the Bush years. 9/11 would have been just as heavy a blow to the economy.
All the various phenomena that led to the recession and then to the very slow growth in 2002 and the first half of 2003 would have defeated the ability of any president to "cure" them.
Outsourcing would have been a big story under President Gore too. Job losses would have been a big story under President Gore. And the deficit would have ballooned to similar levels under President Gore ? because despite Democratic claims to the contrary, the cumulative cost of the Republican tax cuts, which were designed to grow over time, has actually been relatively low.
Here is where the author makes his case, as he tries to explain how Gore would have handled these issues versus how Bush DID handle them.
I, for one, would argue that the economic condition of the United States would be far worse today under a Gore presidency, for a reason not frequently or commonly discussed. In both 2001 and 2003, President Bush followed the recommendation of his former economic aide Larry Lindsey. He decided to send every American household an advance on the tax refund it was guaranteed in the following year by the passage of the Bush tax cuts.
The first $30 billion went out in August 2001 ? just weeks before the 9/11 attacks. That sudden flush of liquidity in the economy was of immeasurable help in keeping the nation from sliding into a depression as a result of the al Qaeda strike. It was unforeseen and unforeseeable, but it proved to be brilliant policy nonetheless.
In 2003, with the nation's economy slowing down again, Bush pushed through another tax-cut package that featured another $30 billion refund. That liquidity spike helped prime the pump for the explosive economic growth in the last two quarters of last year.
None of that would have happened under President Gore. Other things might have, but not these things. The Democratic playbook doesn't include a lot of material on how to kick-start economic growth (Clinton came into office with an economy already growing in a healthy way, though nobody in the country felt it yet).
The dems want us to forget that 2000 was the year that the dot.com bubble burst, and an artifically inflated market retracted. How has Bush done?
The fact is that we are better off than we were four years ago ? the economy has grown every year since Bill Clinton left office (even in 2001, when the annual growth rate was only 0.5 percent). And there's every reason to believe we would have been far worse off economically than we are today if George W. Bush had not been president.
Yet another reason to reelect George W Bush!
John Podhoretz tells us
how we are better off under Bush.
IN a debate with Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan famously asked Ameri cans whether they were better off in 1980 than they had been in 1976 before Carter took office. Last night at the Democratic Convention in Boston, the Clintons and Al Gore tried to frame the race between John Kerry and George W. Bush in Reagan's terms.
"Is our country more united today?" Al Gore asked. "Or more divided? Has the promise of compassionate conservatism been fulfilled? Or do those words now ring hollow? For that matter, are the economic policies really conservative at all? Did you expect, for example, the largest deficits in history? One after another? And the loss of more than a million jobs?"
"In 1992 and 1996," Hillary Clinton said of her husband, "Americans chose a president who left our country in far better shape than when he took office."
"Our way is better," Bill Clinton said. "It worked better."
It's a clever gambit. The problem is that it will only work if the American people are stupid.
In 1992 people knew the meaning of is, but I digress. What about economic factors? What would have happened if Gore had been elected?
Had Al Gore been sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2001, he would have been greeted by the very same recession that kicked off the Bush presidency. Enron and Global Crossing would have collapsed months later, just as they did in the Bush years. 9/11 would have been just as heavy a blow to the economy.
All the various phenomena that led to the recession and then to the very slow growth in 2002 and the first half of 2003 would have defeated the ability of any president to "cure" them.
Outsourcing would have been a big story under President Gore too. Job losses would have been a big story under President Gore. And the deficit would have ballooned to similar levels under President Gore ? because despite Democratic claims to the contrary, the cumulative cost of the Republican tax cuts, which were designed to grow over time, has actually been relatively low.
Here is where the author makes his case, as he tries to explain how Gore would have handled these issues versus how Bush DID handle them.
I, for one, would argue that the economic condition of the United States would be far worse today under a Gore presidency, for a reason not frequently or commonly discussed. In both 2001 and 2003, President Bush followed the recommendation of his former economic aide Larry Lindsey. He decided to send every American household an advance on the tax refund it was guaranteed in the following year by the passage of the Bush tax cuts.
The first $30 billion went out in August 2001 ? just weeks before the 9/11 attacks. That sudden flush of liquidity in the economy was of immeasurable help in keeping the nation from sliding into a depression as a result of the al Qaeda strike. It was unforeseen and unforeseeable, but it proved to be brilliant policy nonetheless.
In 2003, with the nation's economy slowing down again, Bush pushed through another tax-cut package that featured another $30 billion refund. That liquidity spike helped prime the pump for the explosive economic growth in the last two quarters of last year.
None of that would have happened under President Gore. Other things might have, but not these things. The Democratic playbook doesn't include a lot of material on how to kick-start economic growth (Clinton came into office with an economy already growing in a healthy way, though nobody in the country felt it yet).
The dems want us to forget that 2000 was the year that the dot.com bubble burst, and an artifically inflated market retracted. How has Bush done?
The fact is that we are better off than we were four years ago ? the economy has grown every year since Bill Clinton left office (even in 2001, when the annual growth rate was only 0.5 percent). And there's every reason to believe we would have been far worse off economically than we are today if George W. Bush had not been president.
Yet another reason to reelect George W Bush!
The wisdom of Teresa Heinz Kerry
This story about her being a loose cannon has a quote from her about Teddy Kennedy that is classic:
In the Jan. 13, 1976, interview with the Boston Herald American (now the Boston Herald), Heinz Kerry said she didn't trust President Richard Nixon but added, "Ted Kennedy I don't trust either."
She went on to say that she knew "some couples who stay together only for politics. If Ted Kennedy holds on to that marriage just for the Catholic vote, as some people say he does, then I think he's a perfect bastard."
Kennedy's 22-year marriage to Joan Kennedy ended in 1981. He married Victoria Reggie in 1992.
She shoots and scores!
This story about her being a loose cannon has a quote from her about Teddy Kennedy that is classic:
In the Jan. 13, 1976, interview with the Boston Herald American (now the Boston Herald), Heinz Kerry said she didn't trust President Richard Nixon but added, "Ted Kennedy I don't trust either."
She went on to say that she knew "some couples who stay together only for politics. If Ted Kennedy holds on to that marriage just for the Catholic vote, as some people say he does, then I think he's a perfect bastard."
Kennedy's 22-year marriage to Joan Kennedy ended in 1981. He married Victoria Reggie in 1992.
She shoots and scores!
Consumer confidence hits 2 year high
Bad news for the donks as consumer confidence keeps climbing.
Consumer confidence rose for the fourth straight month in July thanks to steady improvements in the job market, the Conference Board reported Tuesday, putting the indicator at a two-year high.
The New York-based research group reported that its index for consumer confidence rose to 106.1 in July, up from 102.8 in June and well ahead of the figure of 102.0 that investors had been expecting. It was the highest level for the indicator since June 2002.
Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, said the gains were fueled by a better outlook for jobs, "and unless the job market sours, consumer confidence should continue to post solid numbers."
The survey is based on a sample of 5,000 U.S. households.
Now what can the donks bitch about?
Bad news for the donks as consumer confidence keeps climbing.
Consumer confidence rose for the fourth straight month in July thanks to steady improvements in the job market, the Conference Board reported Tuesday, putting the indicator at a two-year high.
The New York-based research group reported that its index for consumer confidence rose to 106.1 in July, up from 102.8 in June and well ahead of the figure of 102.0 that investors had been expecting. It was the highest level for the indicator since June 2002.
Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, said the gains were fueled by a better outlook for jobs, "and unless the job market sours, consumer confidence should continue to post solid numbers."
The survey is based on a sample of 5,000 U.S. households.
Now what can the donks bitch about?
Frank J's "In My World"
In the latest installment, Bush infiltrates the Dem's convention. Sample:
The speaker trotted to the podium, jumped up, and bit off the microphone. He then chewed it up and spat it out.
"Hey," one person said, "That speaker looks an angry rottweiler."
"Not just angry rottweiler," said one of the ninjas, his sword shaking in his hand, "Very angry rottweiler."
Chomps made a hacking sound. Finally, he coughed up a Birkenstock.
In the latest installment, Bush infiltrates the Dem's convention. Sample:
The speaker trotted to the podium, jumped up, and bit off the microphone. He then chewed it up and spat it out.
"Hey," one person said, "That speaker looks an angry rottweiler."
"Not just angry rottweiler," said one of the ninjas, his sword shaking in his hand, "Very angry rottweiler."
Chomps made a hacking sound. Finally, he coughed up a Birkenstock.
Monday, July 26, 2004
The Presbyterians and Israel
This excellent article about the anti-Semitism of the Presbyterian Church USA can be summed up nicely with these few paragraphs:
For many years now, mainline Protestant churches have taken an increasingly hostile stance toward Israel, while evangelical churches have tilted strongly toward Israel. If there is a consolation for Israel, it is that the mainline denominations are in decline while the latter are flourishing. The reasons for these patterns probably have little to do with their views vis-a-vis Israel.
But it ought to be of some concern to American Jewry that the very people with whom they might otherwise make common cause on domestic issues have taken such a hostile position on Israel.
More broadly, it is of great concern to Jews everywhere that this slide toward outright anti-Semitism is taking place in the very quarters from which one might expect sympathy or at least nuance in judgment. With its vote last week, the American Presbyterian Church showed neither.
This excellent article about the anti-Semitism of the Presbyterian Church USA can be summed up nicely with these few paragraphs:
For many years now, mainline Protestant churches have taken an increasingly hostile stance toward Israel, while evangelical churches have tilted strongly toward Israel. If there is a consolation for Israel, it is that the mainline denominations are in decline while the latter are flourishing. The reasons for these patterns probably have little to do with their views vis-a-vis Israel.
But it ought to be of some concern to American Jewry that the very people with whom they might otherwise make common cause on domestic issues have taken such a hostile position on Israel.
More broadly, it is of great concern to Jews everywhere that this slide toward outright anti-Semitism is taking place in the very quarters from which one might expect sympathy or at least nuance in judgment. With its vote last week, the American Presbyterian Church showed neither.
The Myth of the "Middle Class Squeeze"
Robert J Samuelson shoots down Kerry's middle class squeeze.
We'll hear a lot of complaining about the "middle-class squeeze" in this election, but the squeeze is as American as the Constitution. We live in an ambitious and striving society. Most Americans hope to get ahead. They work hard. They like to spend what they earn -- and they also compete compulsively to show how well they've done. As a result, anxiety and angst become a permanent way of life, even when the economy is doing fairly well. Enough is never enough.
Americans' very optimism breeds stress and insecurity, because it invites disappointment. For proof, look at the monthly survey of consumer confidence done at the University of Michigan. One question is: Are you and your family "better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago?" Despite steadily rising living standards -- measured by new gadgets, larger homes, better cars -- it's rare for more than 50 percent of Americans ever to say "yes."
Some examples:
In 1966 only 35 percent did; that was a very good year (unemployment: 3.8 percent). In 1989, seven years into an economic expansion (unemployment: 5.3 percent), 42 percent did. Even during the 1990s boom, slightly less than half said they were doing better. From 1996 to 2000, an average of 22 percent said they were doing worse and 30 percent said they were holding their own.
So what to do about it? Well, they could blame the patient:
The pressure to get ahead generates an equivalent dread of falling behind. Politicians wanting to relieve these fears could offer practical advice. Eat out less often (about 46 percent of consumers' food bills goes for away-from-home meals); buy a $20,000 or $25,000 car -- perfectly adequate for most families -- instead of a $35,000 SUV (in 2003, 56 percent of new vehicle sales were SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans, up from 22 percent in 1980); buy a smaller home. These steps would shave debt payments, food expenses and fuel bills.
Forget it. Politicians won't blame constituents for their own "squeeze." It would seem unsympathetic, when people expect sympathy from their politicians. Worse, it would seem un-American. It would offend the ingrained get-ahead ethic. How ingrained? Well, let's examine most Americans' biggest purchase: their homes.
Home sales are a big indicator of how well we are doing:
On average Americans are the best-housed people in history. Since 1973 the median size of new homes has jumped almost 40 percent, from 1,525 square feet to 2,114 square feet in 2002. Meanwhile, average household size has fallen almost 20 percent, from 3.14 people to 2.58 in 2002. (There are more singles, fewer children and more elderly couples.) Americans have bigger homes for smaller families. Now 36 percent of new homes have four bedrooms or more; in 1987 that was 23 percent. And everyone needs a bathroom. In 1971, 15 percent of new homes had 2.5 bathrooms or more; by 2003, 56 percent did.
No matter. Most Americans want more. The National Association of Home Builders (whose Web site provides all this data) surveys homeowner preferences. It finds that 64 percent want to "trade up" and only 14 percent would "trade down." Even among those 65 and over, 39 percent would trade up, compared with 28 percent who would trade down. On average, homeowners want houses almost 30 percent larger than at present; 44 percent want four bedrooms or more.
Housing dominates most family budgets; therefore, the quest for bigger homes underpins the middle-class "squeeze." But government won't do anything about it. Homeownership is the essence of the American dream. Indeed, various federal subsidies promote the demand for more -- and bigger -- homes.
Samelson argues that nothing can be, or should be, done to "stop the squeeze."
The truth is that abolishing the middle-class squeeze is an impossible and undesirable task. Suppose the demand for bigger homes was suppressed. The urge to get ahead would pop up in other areas of aggressive consumption. As the upper-middle class indulges new tastes, it raises the bar for the middle- and lower-middle classes. The only way to stop this competitive cycle is to persuade Americans to be less ambitious. Why would anyone want to do that?
Americans' obsession with advancement, though easy to satirize and full of drawbacks, is both a measure of freedom and an engine of economic vigor. It encourages risk-taking and hard work. Unfortunately, it also creates stress. The economy involves other double-edged bargains. In America workers are more easily fired than in Europe; this too elevates insecurity. But Europe's job protections discourage job creation (because firms know they can't easily shed unneeded workers). In the 1990s U.S. unemployment averaged 5.7 percent, compared with 9.1 percent for the European Union.
Generally, the periods when Americans seem most satisfied occur when the economy exceeds expectations. After World War II, people feared another Great Depression. The postwar boom was just the opposite. In the 1990s the long expansion confounded wisdom that America was in decline. But these euphoric periods set up unrealistic expectations of even greater growth that are inevitably disappointed. One way or another, the squeeze is forever.
So, unless we marry increasingly wealthier women (right, Waffle man?) the squeeze is just a result of people working hard and getting ahead.
Robert J Samuelson shoots down Kerry's middle class squeeze.
We'll hear a lot of complaining about the "middle-class squeeze" in this election, but the squeeze is as American as the Constitution. We live in an ambitious and striving society. Most Americans hope to get ahead. They work hard. They like to spend what they earn -- and they also compete compulsively to show how well they've done. As a result, anxiety and angst become a permanent way of life, even when the economy is doing fairly well. Enough is never enough.
Americans' very optimism breeds stress and insecurity, because it invites disappointment. For proof, look at the monthly survey of consumer confidence done at the University of Michigan. One question is: Are you and your family "better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago?" Despite steadily rising living standards -- measured by new gadgets, larger homes, better cars -- it's rare for more than 50 percent of Americans ever to say "yes."
Some examples:
In 1966 only 35 percent did; that was a very good year (unemployment: 3.8 percent). In 1989, seven years into an economic expansion (unemployment: 5.3 percent), 42 percent did. Even during the 1990s boom, slightly less than half said they were doing better. From 1996 to 2000, an average of 22 percent said they were doing worse and 30 percent said they were holding their own.
So what to do about it? Well, they could blame the patient:
The pressure to get ahead generates an equivalent dread of falling behind. Politicians wanting to relieve these fears could offer practical advice. Eat out less often (about 46 percent of consumers' food bills goes for away-from-home meals); buy a $20,000 or $25,000 car -- perfectly adequate for most families -- instead of a $35,000 SUV (in 2003, 56 percent of new vehicle sales were SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans, up from 22 percent in 1980); buy a smaller home. These steps would shave debt payments, food expenses and fuel bills.
Forget it. Politicians won't blame constituents for their own "squeeze." It would seem unsympathetic, when people expect sympathy from their politicians. Worse, it would seem un-American. It would offend the ingrained get-ahead ethic. How ingrained? Well, let's examine most Americans' biggest purchase: their homes.
Home sales are a big indicator of how well we are doing:
On average Americans are the best-housed people in history. Since 1973 the median size of new homes has jumped almost 40 percent, from 1,525 square feet to 2,114 square feet in 2002. Meanwhile, average household size has fallen almost 20 percent, from 3.14 people to 2.58 in 2002. (There are more singles, fewer children and more elderly couples.) Americans have bigger homes for smaller families. Now 36 percent of new homes have four bedrooms or more; in 1987 that was 23 percent. And everyone needs a bathroom. In 1971, 15 percent of new homes had 2.5 bathrooms or more; by 2003, 56 percent did.
No matter. Most Americans want more. The National Association of Home Builders (whose Web site provides all this data) surveys homeowner preferences. It finds that 64 percent want to "trade up" and only 14 percent would "trade down." Even among those 65 and over, 39 percent would trade up, compared with 28 percent who would trade down. On average, homeowners want houses almost 30 percent larger than at present; 44 percent want four bedrooms or more.
Housing dominates most family budgets; therefore, the quest for bigger homes underpins the middle-class "squeeze." But government won't do anything about it. Homeownership is the essence of the American dream. Indeed, various federal subsidies promote the demand for more -- and bigger -- homes.
Samelson argues that nothing can be, or should be, done to "stop the squeeze."
The truth is that abolishing the middle-class squeeze is an impossible and undesirable task. Suppose the demand for bigger homes was suppressed. The urge to get ahead would pop up in other areas of aggressive consumption. As the upper-middle class indulges new tastes, it raises the bar for the middle- and lower-middle classes. The only way to stop this competitive cycle is to persuade Americans to be less ambitious. Why would anyone want to do that?
Americans' obsession with advancement, though easy to satirize and full of drawbacks, is both a measure of freedom and an engine of economic vigor. It encourages risk-taking and hard work. Unfortunately, it also creates stress. The economy involves other double-edged bargains. In America workers are more easily fired than in Europe; this too elevates insecurity. But Europe's job protections discourage job creation (because firms know they can't easily shed unneeded workers). In the 1990s U.S. unemployment averaged 5.7 percent, compared with 9.1 percent for the European Union.
Generally, the periods when Americans seem most satisfied occur when the economy exceeds expectations. After World War II, people feared another Great Depression. The postwar boom was just the opposite. In the 1990s the long expansion confounded wisdom that America was in decline. But these euphoric periods set up unrealistic expectations of even greater growth that are inevitably disappointed. One way or another, the squeeze is forever.
So, unless we marry increasingly wealthier women (right, Waffle man?) the squeeze is just a result of people working hard and getting ahead.
Bishops letting the sheep wander
AN op-ed in the NY Post takes the US Bishops to task.
A TASK force of Catholic bishops, headed by Wash ington, D.C.'s Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, is now engaged in the prickly examination of what to do about Sen. John F. Kerry: Should the presumed presidential nominee, who professes the Catholic faith but publicly and consistently flouts its tenets on abortion, be permitted to receive Holy Communion?
It's a nightmare the bishops would prefer to avoid, but Kerry's persistent defiance and the scandal it has triggered among the faithful have left them no choice.
In fact, it's a no-brainer: The church's Code of Canon Law 915 states explicitly that Communion must be denied those who have "obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin." Kerry and a whole herd of so-called Catholic politicians fit the bill.
To clear any ambiguity in the bishops' minds, the Vatican's Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger sent Cardinal McCarrick a letter reminding him that the church teaches that abortion is a grave sin, that it is never licit to promote it and if any person persists in formal cooperation in its execution "the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it."
You can't get it much plainer than that.
Yet some still can't see....
But in the larger matter of Catholic conscience on abortion in America ? more than 40 million legal abortions since 1973 ? the greatest culprit may not be the renegade politicians, but the faithful in the pews who keep electing them. The average Catholic's massive indifference to abortion is the real scandal.
Since all politics is numbers, consider these figures: The more than 65 million Catholics in the United States form by far the biggest single religious voting group. About 22 million voted in the 2000 presidential election. The overwhelming majority ? 13 million ? voted for the Democratic candidate, Al Gore, a fierce abortion advocate. And that's only the tip of it. The states with the highest proportion of Catholic voters are: Rhode Island, 61 percent Catholic in the latest census; Massachusetts, 49.8 percent; New Jersey, 42.6; New York, 40.4; Connecticut, 38.4; Wisconsin, 30.4, and Pennsylvania, 30 percent. Between them, these seven states own 106 electoral votes ? and all voted decisively for the abortion agendas of Bill Clinton in 1992 and '96 and Al Gore in 2000.
(For a state that is supposedly 50 percent Catholic, Massachusetts has an extraordinary record of electing radical abortion candidates, beginning with the likes of the Kennedys and extending through to Kerry, Rep. Barney Frank and the late House Speaker, Tip O'Neill. It's hardly a surprise that the biggest scandal in the American church in the past century should erupt in Massachusetts: Nobody has been minding the store there for 50 years.)
So while the bishops wrestle with the problem of whether to give Holy Communion to John Kerry (not to mention all the other Catholic politicians who sold out for electoral silver), they should be equally alarmed over the apathy of the estimated 13 million who voted for abortion politicians.
So we have politicians not following church teaching, and Catholics that keep electing them. Why is this happening?
he faithful get little encouragement from some members of the hierarchy. Indeed, Cardinal McCarrick, now at the center of the Kerry-abortion-Communion inquiry, is remembered in his old archdiocese in Newark, N.J., for throwing open his cathedral to fete that arch-pro-abortion Republican Christie Whitman when she was elected governor.
McCarrick has already sent some signals on Kerry: He's "uncomfortable" denying Holy Communion to anyone; he does not want to be "confrontational." When shepherds vacillate, the sheep stray.
The tragedy is the lost chance. The numbers prove that if every Catholic voter, acting on an informed conscience, refused to vote for any politician ? Democrat, Republican or independent ? who supports abortion, the scourge could be eliminated almost overnight.
A Catholic bloc vote against abortion would stun the Democratic Party into renouncing its abortion platform and serve notice to the wobbly Republicans, especially their Catholic sell-outs.
Beyond John Kerry, the bishops have a lot of work to do with the flock. The unanswered questions are: Do they recognize it, and do they have the will?
Once again, another case of bishops forgetting that they are the successors to the apostles and also the shepherds of their flocks. As a result, the sheep stray all over the place.
AN op-ed in the NY Post takes the US Bishops to task.
A TASK force of Catholic bishops, headed by Wash ington, D.C.'s Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, is now engaged in the prickly examination of what to do about Sen. John F. Kerry: Should the presumed presidential nominee, who professes the Catholic faith but publicly and consistently flouts its tenets on abortion, be permitted to receive Holy Communion?
It's a nightmare the bishops would prefer to avoid, but Kerry's persistent defiance and the scandal it has triggered among the faithful have left them no choice.
In fact, it's a no-brainer: The church's Code of Canon Law 915 states explicitly that Communion must be denied those who have "obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin." Kerry and a whole herd of so-called Catholic politicians fit the bill.
To clear any ambiguity in the bishops' minds, the Vatican's Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger sent Cardinal McCarrick a letter reminding him that the church teaches that abortion is a grave sin, that it is never licit to promote it and if any person persists in formal cooperation in its execution "the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it."
You can't get it much plainer than that.
Yet some still can't see....
But in the larger matter of Catholic conscience on abortion in America ? more than 40 million legal abortions since 1973 ? the greatest culprit may not be the renegade politicians, but the faithful in the pews who keep electing them. The average Catholic's massive indifference to abortion is the real scandal.
Since all politics is numbers, consider these figures: The more than 65 million Catholics in the United States form by far the biggest single religious voting group. About 22 million voted in the 2000 presidential election. The overwhelming majority ? 13 million ? voted for the Democratic candidate, Al Gore, a fierce abortion advocate. And that's only the tip of it. The states with the highest proportion of Catholic voters are: Rhode Island, 61 percent Catholic in the latest census; Massachusetts, 49.8 percent; New Jersey, 42.6; New York, 40.4; Connecticut, 38.4; Wisconsin, 30.4, and Pennsylvania, 30 percent. Between them, these seven states own 106 electoral votes ? and all voted decisively for the abortion agendas of Bill Clinton in 1992 and '96 and Al Gore in 2000.
(For a state that is supposedly 50 percent Catholic, Massachusetts has an extraordinary record of electing radical abortion candidates, beginning with the likes of the Kennedys and extending through to Kerry, Rep. Barney Frank and the late House Speaker, Tip O'Neill. It's hardly a surprise that the biggest scandal in the American church in the past century should erupt in Massachusetts: Nobody has been minding the store there for 50 years.)
So while the bishops wrestle with the problem of whether to give Holy Communion to John Kerry (not to mention all the other Catholic politicians who sold out for electoral silver), they should be equally alarmed over the apathy of the estimated 13 million who voted for abortion politicians.
So we have politicians not following church teaching, and Catholics that keep electing them. Why is this happening?
he faithful get little encouragement from some members of the hierarchy. Indeed, Cardinal McCarrick, now at the center of the Kerry-abortion-Communion inquiry, is remembered in his old archdiocese in Newark, N.J., for throwing open his cathedral to fete that arch-pro-abortion Republican Christie Whitman when she was elected governor.
McCarrick has already sent some signals on Kerry: He's "uncomfortable" denying Holy Communion to anyone; he does not want to be "confrontational." When shepherds vacillate, the sheep stray.
The tragedy is the lost chance. The numbers prove that if every Catholic voter, acting on an informed conscience, refused to vote for any politician ? Democrat, Republican or independent ? who supports abortion, the scourge could be eliminated almost overnight.
A Catholic bloc vote against abortion would stun the Democratic Party into renouncing its abortion platform and serve notice to the wobbly Republicans, especially their Catholic sell-outs.
Beyond John Kerry, the bishops have a lot of work to do with the flock. The unanswered questions are: Do they recognize it, and do they have the will?
Once again, another case of bishops forgetting that they are the successors to the apostles and also the shepherds of their flocks. As a result, the sheep stray all over the place.
Heroic Holy Man
In the Bronx, a priest fended off the attack of a deranged man and officiated at his cousin's wedding later that day.
A battered and bruised Bronx priest, who bravely beat back a deranged man as he attacked churchgoing parishioners, didn't let his injuries keep him from officiating at a cousin's wedding hours later.
Father Francis Gargani, the 58-year-old popular pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church on 150th Street in Mott Haven, was returning to the rectory from the cleaners at 11:40 a.m. Saturday ? carrying his newly pressed garb for the wedding ? when he spotted the crazed man.
Another triumph for NYC's treatment of the mentally ill.
"He was sitting on the steps of our rectory. He was swinging a table leg at parishioners arriving for noon Mass," Gargani said.
"People were trying to come up the stairs, and he was hitting the stairs and hitting the railing. He was ranting and raving. He was delusional. He wasn't making any sense at all.
"I went up to him and tried to calm him down because he was swinging at people as they were trying to enter the rectory. He just jumped off the stairs and lunged at me with that bat and swung.
"He got me real good in the side, a little below the rib cage.
"I was frightened. It happened so fast. I stayed pretty calm. I just backed away. But he kept swinging. I managed to get around him and get up the stairs and inside and call 911," the plucky priest said.
Despite his pain, Gargani then drove out to a Long Island church and presided over the marriage ceremony of his 25-year-old cousin that afternoon.
Only later did his injuries start to make a serious impact:
But by 10 p.m., Gargani was in agony and went to North Shore Medical Center for treatment. A battery of tests revealed a bruised rib cage, and the priest was released.
Police said the priest's attacker, Bristol Edwards, 46, of East 165th Street, had a second victim, Jose Lopez, 29. They said that after Edwards attacked Gargani, he scurried down 151st Street, where he encountered Lopez and bashed him on the head. Police arrived on the scene within minutes and nabbed Edwards. He was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
"It's just so sad. He didn't know what he was doing. He was completely out of it," Gargani said.
Lopez was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Hopefuly this loon will be locked up for his safety and others, and kudos to Father Gargani for watching over his flock.
In the Bronx, a priest fended off the attack of a deranged man and officiated at his cousin's wedding later that day.
A battered and bruised Bronx priest, who bravely beat back a deranged man as he attacked churchgoing parishioners, didn't let his injuries keep him from officiating at a cousin's wedding hours later.
Father Francis Gargani, the 58-year-old popular pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church on 150th Street in Mott Haven, was returning to the rectory from the cleaners at 11:40 a.m. Saturday ? carrying his newly pressed garb for the wedding ? when he spotted the crazed man.
Another triumph for NYC's treatment of the mentally ill.
"He was sitting on the steps of our rectory. He was swinging a table leg at parishioners arriving for noon Mass," Gargani said.
"People were trying to come up the stairs, and he was hitting the stairs and hitting the railing. He was ranting and raving. He was delusional. He wasn't making any sense at all.
"I went up to him and tried to calm him down because he was swinging at people as they were trying to enter the rectory. He just jumped off the stairs and lunged at me with that bat and swung.
"He got me real good in the side, a little below the rib cage.
"I was frightened. It happened so fast. I stayed pretty calm. I just backed away. But he kept swinging. I managed to get around him and get up the stairs and inside and call 911," the plucky priest said.
Despite his pain, Gargani then drove out to a Long Island church and presided over the marriage ceremony of his 25-year-old cousin that afternoon.
Only later did his injuries start to make a serious impact:
But by 10 p.m., Gargani was in agony and went to North Shore Medical Center for treatment. A battery of tests revealed a bruised rib cage, and the priest was released.
Police said the priest's attacker, Bristol Edwards, 46, of East 165th Street, had a second victim, Jose Lopez, 29. They said that after Edwards attacked Gargani, he scurried down 151st Street, where he encountered Lopez and bashed him on the head. Police arrived on the scene within minutes and nabbed Edwards. He was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
"It's just so sad. He didn't know what he was doing. He was completely out of it," Gargani said.
Lopez was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Hopefuly this loon will be locked up for his safety and others, and kudos to Father Gargani for watching over his flock.
Unhappy Birthday
Today would be Mary Jo Kopechne's 64th birthday, had Teddy Kennedy not killed her. Remember that this week during the convention.
Click here for facts about the accident and the cover up.
Today would be Mary Jo Kopechne's 64th birthday, had Teddy Kennedy not killed her. Remember that this week during the convention.
Click here for facts about the accident and the cover up.
Friday, July 23, 2004
Great website!
If you want to keep up on all the stupidity of various celebrities, check out Famous Idiot where you can learn about the latest Bush-bashing, treason, and other liberal looniness spewing from celebrities. I have added it to the blogroll on the left side.
If you want to keep up on all the stupidity of various celebrities, check out Famous Idiot where you can learn about the latest Bush-bashing, treason, and other liberal looniness spewing from celebrities. I have added it to the blogroll on the left side.
New York City to the 9/11 commission: Screw you Washington!
Steve Dunleavy of the NY Post has read the 9/11 report and its criticism of the rescue response of New York's fire and police. He lets the jerks in DC have it with both barrels as only he can.
RUDY GIULIANI, the real Italian stallion of this crew called New York, was a little incredulous of the 9/11 commission report. In particular was a segment on Page 318 that appeared to rip the guts out of the responders of the 911 emergency call system.
"In several ways, the 911 system was not ready to cope with a major disaster. These operators and dispatchers were one of the only sources of information for individuals," the report said.
Exactly what do these morons think a 911 operator could say? They're not on the ground. They're not in the midst of a firestorm. What do they do in Pearl Harbor? Said Rudy, "911 was as prepared as they could be. 911 was not and can never be devised to give general advice.
"They respond to emergencies and get assistance. At the particular time of the crisis, the Port Authority was telling people to stay where they were.
"The Fire Department was advising people to flee the building. But it's dangerous to expect 911 to be in the advice business from a telephone."
If 911 was in the advice business and your girlfriend dumps you, and you're traumatized, you call up 911 and say, what should I do?
On September 10th, nobody could have dreamed that some islamofascists would hijack planes and willingly sacrifice themselves and others to take down the Twin Towers. Steve continues:
Look, we were all involved that terrible day, when our innocence was raped and tears flowed so often afterward.
It would be arrogant for me to put my losses ahead of yours . . . Chief Downey, Chief Ganci, Father Mychal Judge.
But forget it all for the moment. I get madder than a singed cat, and I expect Rudy Giuliani does, too, when this wounded but highly recovering city is judged by a bunch of Washington wusses.
He then goes for the jugular in shredding this pencil pushers in DC:
I don't remember seeing any of them down there stifling the odor of rotting flesh and yells from injured firefighters and cops at St. Vincent's Hospital, who somehow felt guilty that they survived.
If we are really talking about security, great, I'm all for it, but if you are trying to show how bad we handled one of history's greatest tragedies, go swim in a swamp.
"9/11?" said Rudy Giuliani. "What happened that day exceeded any level of human bravery."
All I can say is that the commission should think hard about that.
It's very easy to criticize when the commissioners were not there pulling bodies out of buildings, rushing in to save people, or dealing with the recovery of the dead.
Steve Dunleavy of the NY Post has read the 9/11 report and its criticism of the rescue response of New York's fire and police. He lets the jerks in DC have it with both barrels as only he can.
RUDY GIULIANI, the real Italian stallion of this crew called New York, was a little incredulous of the 9/11 commission report. In particular was a segment on Page 318 that appeared to rip the guts out of the responders of the 911 emergency call system.
"In several ways, the 911 system was not ready to cope with a major disaster. These operators and dispatchers were one of the only sources of information for individuals," the report said.
Exactly what do these morons think a 911 operator could say? They're not on the ground. They're not in the midst of a firestorm. What do they do in Pearl Harbor? Said Rudy, "911 was as prepared as they could be. 911 was not and can never be devised to give general advice.
"They respond to emergencies and get assistance. At the particular time of the crisis, the Port Authority was telling people to stay where they were.
"The Fire Department was advising people to flee the building. But it's dangerous to expect 911 to be in the advice business from a telephone."
If 911 was in the advice business and your girlfriend dumps you, and you're traumatized, you call up 911 and say, what should I do?
On September 10th, nobody could have dreamed that some islamofascists would hijack planes and willingly sacrifice themselves and others to take down the Twin Towers. Steve continues:
Look, we were all involved that terrible day, when our innocence was raped and tears flowed so often afterward.
It would be arrogant for me to put my losses ahead of yours . . . Chief Downey, Chief Ganci, Father Mychal Judge.
But forget it all for the moment. I get madder than a singed cat, and I expect Rudy Giuliani does, too, when this wounded but highly recovering city is judged by a bunch of Washington wusses.
He then goes for the jugular in shredding this pencil pushers in DC:
I don't remember seeing any of them down there stifling the odor of rotting flesh and yells from injured firefighters and cops at St. Vincent's Hospital, who somehow felt guilty that they survived.
If we are really talking about security, great, I'm all for it, but if you are trying to show how bad we handled one of history's greatest tragedies, go swim in a swamp.
"9/11?" said Rudy Giuliani. "What happened that day exceeded any level of human bravery."
All I can say is that the commission should think hard about that.
It's very easy to criticize when the commissioners were not there pulling bodies out of buildings, rushing in to save people, or dealing with the recovery of the dead.
Goodbye Critter
Virginia shows it means business as it took just 6 years for them to go from courtroom to execution gurney for a man who killed his family.
Convicted killer Mark W. Bailey was executed by injection last night in Virginia's death chamber, six years after he fatally shot his wife and their 2-year-old son. Bailey, 34, was pronounced dead at 9:07 at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, according to Larry Traylor, a Department of Corrections spokesman. The execution was the third in Virginia this year.
Asked whether he had any final words, Bailey said, "No, thank you."
Bailey, a former Navy submariner and a Persian Gulf War veteran, was sentenced to death for the Sept. 10, 1998, killings of his wife and son at their Hampton home. According to court records, Bailey awoke early that morning and shot his sleeping wife, Katherine, 22, three times in the head. He then shot their son, Nathan, twice as the boy was climbing out of bed.
Since it is the Washington ComPost, there is a bunch of tripe about how the guy was a poor victim, etc, but a spokesman for a victim's advocate group nailed it:
But Rush Wickes, a spokesman for Virginians United Against Crime, said his group believes the jury's sentence was appropriate.
"If Mark Bailey had been experiencing marital strife, he could have sought counseling or even separation. Instead, Bailey chose to slay his wife and then kill his own little boy as he tried to crawl out of his crib to check on his mother," Wickes said.
Good riddance.
Virginia shows it means business as it took just 6 years for them to go from courtroom to execution gurney for a man who killed his family.
Convicted killer Mark W. Bailey was executed by injection last night in Virginia's death chamber, six years after he fatally shot his wife and their 2-year-old son. Bailey, 34, was pronounced dead at 9:07 at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, according to Larry Traylor, a Department of Corrections spokesman. The execution was the third in Virginia this year.
Asked whether he had any final words, Bailey said, "No, thank you."
Bailey, a former Navy submariner and a Persian Gulf War veteran, was sentenced to death for the Sept. 10, 1998, killings of his wife and son at their Hampton home. According to court records, Bailey awoke early that morning and shot his sleeping wife, Katherine, 22, three times in the head. He then shot their son, Nathan, twice as the boy was climbing out of bed.
Since it is the Washington ComPost, there is a bunch of tripe about how the guy was a poor victim, etc, but a spokesman for a victim's advocate group nailed it:
But Rush Wickes, a spokesman for Virginians United Against Crime, said his group believes the jury's sentence was appropriate.
"If Mark Bailey had been experiencing marital strife, he could have sought counseling or even separation. Instead, Bailey chose to slay his wife and then kill his own little boy as he tried to crawl out of his crib to check on his mother," Wickes said.
Good riddance.
Too bad he just winged the critter
A Florida deputy had to shoot a man when the man and his brother assaulted the officer after a traffic stop.
A Santa Rosa County sheriff's deputy shot a teenager in the upper torso as the boy and his brother beat up the officer during a traffic stop, officials said.
Deputy Danny Aloy tried to pull over Luke James Mullikin, 18, and Matthew Joseph Mullikin, 22, for speeding along U.S. 98 in Navarre on off-road motorcycles Thursday.
The brothers led Aloy behind an American Legion Post, where one of them tripped Aloy as the deputy tried to handcuff him. Both brothers began "beating and kicking him in the head," said Sheriff Wendell Hall.
Aloy pulled his gun and fired two shots, one of which hit Luke Mullikin, said sheriff's spokesman, Deputy Jerry Henderson.
Officials said a second deputy, Sgt. Pat Vega, arrived at the scene shortly after the shots were fired, and found Matthew Mullikin on top of Aloy, striking him in the face. Matthew Mullikin continued beating Aloy after being shot twice with a Taser gun, stopping only when Vega hit him with a baton, according to a sheriff's report.
Luke Mullikin was in stable condition at Pensacola's Baptist Hospital. Matthew Mullikin was treated there and released, then booked at the Santa Rosa Jail and held without bail, Henderson said.
Officials planned to charge both brothers with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, attempting to flee or elude law enforcement and resisting arrest without violence.
Aloy was placed on paid administrative leave, Hall said. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.
I wonder if these punks were on meth. Whatever their malfunction, thankfully the officer will recover.
A Florida deputy had to shoot a man when the man and his brother assaulted the officer after a traffic stop.
A Santa Rosa County sheriff's deputy shot a teenager in the upper torso as the boy and his brother beat up the officer during a traffic stop, officials said.
Deputy Danny Aloy tried to pull over Luke James Mullikin, 18, and Matthew Joseph Mullikin, 22, for speeding along U.S. 98 in Navarre on off-road motorcycles Thursday.
The brothers led Aloy behind an American Legion Post, where one of them tripped Aloy as the deputy tried to handcuff him. Both brothers began "beating and kicking him in the head," said Sheriff Wendell Hall.
Aloy pulled his gun and fired two shots, one of which hit Luke Mullikin, said sheriff's spokesman, Deputy Jerry Henderson.
Officials said a second deputy, Sgt. Pat Vega, arrived at the scene shortly after the shots were fired, and found Matthew Mullikin on top of Aloy, striking him in the face. Matthew Mullikin continued beating Aloy after being shot twice with a Taser gun, stopping only when Vega hit him with a baton, according to a sheriff's report.
Luke Mullikin was in stable condition at Pensacola's Baptist Hospital. Matthew Mullikin was treated there and released, then booked at the Santa Rosa Jail and held without bail, Henderson said.
Officials planned to charge both brothers with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, attempting to flee or elude law enforcement and resisting arrest without violence.
Aloy was placed on paid administrative leave, Hall said. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.
I wonder if these punks were on meth. Whatever their malfunction, thankfully the officer will recover.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
They're like, evil, eh
Oh my gosh, Canadian teens don't like us Americans.
Evil ? a word usually reserved for the likes of Adolph Hitler or Usama bin Laden ? is now being used by more than a third of Canadian teens to describe the United States.
In a recent poll, 40 percent of Canadian teens said the United States is a force for evil in the world, with 50 percent saying it?s a force for good and 10 percent reporting they were undecided on the subject. French-Canadians were even harsher, with 64 percent of them calling America a force for evil.
?What they?re reacting to is a sense that the U.S. is belligerent,? said the pollster who conducted the phone survey, Greg Lyle. ?The U.S. is sort of bellicose, warmongering [and has] this sort of cowboy diplomacy.?
Maybe South Park was right: Blame Canada! What is causing this attitude?
But former Canadian diplomat Martin Collacot (search) says the teens are responding to cues from their government, the media and their teachers.
The anti-Americanism from the United States' northern neighbors seemed to peak when the Iraq war started.
In one incident, hockey fans in Montreal booed during the playing of the American national anthem. Then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien?s spokesman was caught on mike calling President Bush a moron. And while the streets of Quebec were filled with war protesters, a member of Parliament from the ruling Liberal Party was quoted as saying: ?Damn Americans. I hate those bastards.?
We don't like you either. Are you mad because no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since 1993? Are you mad because Canadian beer is cheaper in the US because we don't tax it into oblivion? Is the lack of a six month wait for surgery? Our ability to not end every sentence with "eh"?
Oh my gosh, Canadian teens don't like us Americans.
Evil ? a word usually reserved for the likes of Adolph Hitler or Usama bin Laden ? is now being used by more than a third of Canadian teens to describe the United States.
In a recent poll, 40 percent of Canadian teens said the United States is a force for evil in the world, with 50 percent saying it?s a force for good and 10 percent reporting they were undecided on the subject. French-Canadians were even harsher, with 64 percent of them calling America a force for evil.
?What they?re reacting to is a sense that the U.S. is belligerent,? said the pollster who conducted the phone survey, Greg Lyle. ?The U.S. is sort of bellicose, warmongering [and has] this sort of cowboy diplomacy.?
Maybe South Park was right: Blame Canada! What is causing this attitude?
But former Canadian diplomat Martin Collacot (search) says the teens are responding to cues from their government, the media and their teachers.
The anti-Americanism from the United States' northern neighbors seemed to peak when the Iraq war started.
In one incident, hockey fans in Montreal booed during the playing of the American national anthem. Then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien?s spokesman was caught on mike calling President Bush a moron. And while the streets of Quebec were filled with war protesters, a member of Parliament from the ruling Liberal Party was quoted as saying: ?Damn Americans. I hate those bastards.?
We don't like you either. Are you mad because no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since 1993? Are you mad because Canadian beer is cheaper in the US because we don't tax it into oblivion? Is the lack of a six month wait for surgery? Our ability to not end every sentence with "eh"?
Another example of why I dumped the Episcopal Church
Before returning to the Catholic roots of my family, I had a dalliance with the Episcopal church. Comments like the following from a "bishop" make me glad I fled. When speaking at a news conference about the failure of the Federal Marriage Amendment, this is the tripe she spewed:
"I am here today to say that not all people of faith believe we should amend the Constitution to deny people equal rights under the law," said the Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon, retired Bishop of Washington pro-tempore, at a news conference outside the Capitol following the vote. "As a Christian, my faith calls me to respect the dignity of every human being and to strive for justice and to tear down the walls that separate us."
"In the history of our nation, this great Constitution to form a more perfect union and establish justice has been amended to include those not originally included, never to exclude," Dixon added. "And the Federal Marriage Amendment debated in the Senate today [would] do just that. It excludes and denies American citizens equal protection under the law."
Where to begin....Let's start with the "as a Christian" comment. Yes, as Christians we are called to love our neighbor as our self, and in the Parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus said that everyone is our neighbor. We are also called to Love the lord our God with all our heart, we are called to evangelize, we are called to obey the commandments, we are called to repent. Dixon and others of her ilk squawk the warm and fuzzy parts of the Gospel but ignore the parts that call on us to change. And, Bishop, how much "respect" did you show for the "dignity" of the parish in Accoceek when you basically fired their choice of Priest? Just like you didn't show him "equal protection under law", or at least church law, as you didn't object to him until after your period of discovery was over.
Now on to the Constitution part of her idiocy. Judges have found a right to abortion in the Consitution that wasn't there; where is the equal protection for the unborn? Also on abortion, what about your duty "As a Christian, my faith calls me to respect the dignity of every human being and to strive for justice." Your faith, at least as it says in the Bible, should call you to respect the dignity of the unborn. The Bible, you know, that book that has lots of chapters? 10 commandments? Old Testament and New Testament? Anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller? Oh, never mind, go back to reading The Village Voice. Last one to leave ECUSA turn out the lights.
Before returning to the Catholic roots of my family, I had a dalliance with the Episcopal church. Comments like the following from a "bishop" make me glad I fled. When speaking at a news conference about the failure of the Federal Marriage Amendment, this is the tripe she spewed:
"I am here today to say that not all people of faith believe we should amend the Constitution to deny people equal rights under the law," said the Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon, retired Bishop of Washington pro-tempore, at a news conference outside the Capitol following the vote. "As a Christian, my faith calls me to respect the dignity of every human being and to strive for justice and to tear down the walls that separate us."
"In the history of our nation, this great Constitution to form a more perfect union and establish justice has been amended to include those not originally included, never to exclude," Dixon added. "And the Federal Marriage Amendment debated in the Senate today [would] do just that. It excludes and denies American citizens equal protection under the law."
Where to begin....Let's start with the "as a Christian" comment. Yes, as Christians we are called to love our neighbor as our self, and in the Parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus said that everyone is our neighbor. We are also called to Love the lord our God with all our heart, we are called to evangelize, we are called to obey the commandments, we are called to repent. Dixon and others of her ilk squawk the warm and fuzzy parts of the Gospel but ignore the parts that call on us to change. And, Bishop, how much "respect" did you show for the "dignity" of the parish in Accoceek when you basically fired their choice of Priest? Just like you didn't show him "equal protection under law", or at least church law, as you didn't object to him until after your period of discovery was over.
Now on to the Constitution part of her idiocy. Judges have found a right to abortion in the Consitution that wasn't there; where is the equal protection for the unborn? Also on abortion, what about your duty "As a Christian, my faith calls me to respect the dignity of every human being and to strive for justice." Your faith, at least as it says in the Bible, should call you to respect the dignity of the unborn. The Bible, you know, that book that has lots of chapters? 10 commandments? Old Testament and New Testament? Anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller? Oh, never mind, go back to reading The Village Voice. Last one to leave ECUSA turn out the lights.
If a tree falls on a tree hugger...
does anyone care? Read this story for the details.
TULSA - Blake Champlin, a Tulsa lawyer and environmental activist, died Monday at his home when a tree supporting a hammock fell and crushed him.
Champlin, 45, died instantly, said Gerald Hilsher, an attorney with Shipley & Kellogg, Champlin's former law firm.
Champlin was a member of Sierra Club and Save the Illinois River, and the director of Keep Tulsa Beautiful. He also pushed for an agreement between Oklahoma and Arkansas on phosphorus limits in northeast Oklahoma waters, Hilsher said.
Champlin was a past director of the Oklahoma Society of Environmental Professionals and a past chairman of the Environmental Law Section of the Oklahoma Bar Association.
He was a featured speaker at numerous environmental seminars throughout the region and represented many individuals in northeast Oklahoma who sued poultry companies for alleged water and air pollution, specifically around the Grand Lake area.
Champlin became a named-partner of Shipley, Jennings & Champlin and, in 2002, he joined the Tulsa law firm of Boone, Smith, Davis, Hurst & Dickman, where he headed their environmental law department.
A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa.
That would be like someone from PETA getting stomped by a bull.
does anyone care? Read this story for the details.
TULSA - Blake Champlin, a Tulsa lawyer and environmental activist, died Monday at his home when a tree supporting a hammock fell and crushed him.
Champlin, 45, died instantly, said Gerald Hilsher, an attorney with Shipley & Kellogg, Champlin's former law firm.
Champlin was a member of Sierra Club and Save the Illinois River, and the director of Keep Tulsa Beautiful. He also pushed for an agreement between Oklahoma and Arkansas on phosphorus limits in northeast Oklahoma waters, Hilsher said.
Champlin was a past director of the Oklahoma Society of Environmental Professionals and a past chairman of the Environmental Law Section of the Oklahoma Bar Association.
He was a featured speaker at numerous environmental seminars throughout the region and represented many individuals in northeast Oklahoma who sued poultry companies for alleged water and air pollution, specifically around the Grand Lake area.
Champlin became a named-partner of Shipley, Jennings & Champlin and, in 2002, he joined the Tulsa law firm of Boone, Smith, Davis, Hurst & Dickman, where he headed their environmental law department.
A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa.
That would be like someone from PETA getting stomped by a bull.
Terrorist Sympathizer and Supporter wins primary
Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney won her primary last night, which means probably victory for her in November.
Democrat Cynthia McKinney, whose tirades against President Bush helped get her tossed out two years ago, appeared headed back to Washington on Tuesday, while Johnny Isakson cruised to victory without a runoff in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
But it was the likely return of McKinney in the 4th District that represented the starkest shift in Georgia politics. McKinney finished just above the magic 50 percent-plus-one mark. The district has strongly favored Democratic candidates over Republicans in recent years, giving McKinney a substantial edge over Republican Catherine Davis in November.
McKinney ran a low-to-the-ground campaign among the black voters of south DeKalb County ? emphasizing her 10 years' experience in Congress rather than a rematch with Bush.
Tuesday night, McKinney called her primary victory "one of the greatest political comebacks in history."
"We've got to make America, America," McKinney told supporters. "We've got to avoid any backsliding on civil rights or human rights. We've got to get our troops out of harm's way. We've got to turn around this Bush economy."
Would it be "this Bush economy" that Alan Greenspan said is "quite favorable" with "notable gains in employment"? She wants to reverse that?
In 2002, McKinney's criticism of Bush and her alliance with Palestinians prompted a heated race in which pro-Arab money flowed McKinney's way and pro-Israel money went to McKinney's opponent, Majette..
"This victory means that her constituents missed her," said Abed Hammoud, president of the Dearborn, Mich.-based Arab-American Political Action Committee. "She is a great lady, and I am delighted she won."
Yes, her constituents missed her. Constituents such as CAIR, Hezbollah and other paragons of tolerance and freedom, they all missed having a friend in Congress to enable them to continue their terror.
Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney won her primary last night, which means probably victory for her in November.
Democrat Cynthia McKinney, whose tirades against President Bush helped get her tossed out two years ago, appeared headed back to Washington on Tuesday, while Johnny Isakson cruised to victory without a runoff in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
But it was the likely return of McKinney in the 4th District that represented the starkest shift in Georgia politics. McKinney finished just above the magic 50 percent-plus-one mark. The district has strongly favored Democratic candidates over Republicans in recent years, giving McKinney a substantial edge over Republican Catherine Davis in November.
McKinney ran a low-to-the-ground campaign among the black voters of south DeKalb County ? emphasizing her 10 years' experience in Congress rather than a rematch with Bush.
Tuesday night, McKinney called her primary victory "one of the greatest political comebacks in history."
"We've got to make America, America," McKinney told supporters. "We've got to avoid any backsliding on civil rights or human rights. We've got to get our troops out of harm's way. We've got to turn around this Bush economy."
Would it be "this Bush economy" that Alan Greenspan said is "quite favorable" with "notable gains in employment"? She wants to reverse that?
In 2002, McKinney's criticism of Bush and her alliance with Palestinians prompted a heated race in which pro-Arab money flowed McKinney's way and pro-Israel money went to McKinney's opponent, Majette..
"This victory means that her constituents missed her," said Abed Hammoud, president of the Dearborn, Mich.-based Arab-American Political Action Committee. "She is a great lady, and I am delighted she won."
Yes, her constituents missed her. Constituents such as CAIR, Hezbollah and other paragons of tolerance and freedom, they all missed having a friend in Congress to enable them to continue their terror.
Sexist but funny
TOP 10 REASONS WHY SOME MEN FAVOR HANDGUNS OVER WOMEN
#10 - YOU CAN TRADE AN OLD 44 FOR A NEW 22.
#9 - YOU CAN KEEP ONE HANDGUN AT HOME, AND HAVE ANOTHER FOR WHEN YOU'RE ON THE ROAD.
#8 - IF YOU ADMIRE A FRIEND'S HANDGUN, AND TELL HIM SO, HE WILL PROBABLY LET YOU TRY IT OUT A FEW TIMES.
#7 - YOUR PRIMARY HANDGUN DOESN'T MIND IF YOU KEEP ANOTHER HANDGUN FOR A BACK UP.
#6 - YOUR HANDGUN WILL STAY WITH YOU EVEN IF YOU RUN OUT OF AMMO.
#5 - A HANDGUN DOESN'T TAKE UP A LOT OF CLOSET SPACE.
#4 - HANDGUNS FUNCTION NORMALLY EVERY DAY OF THE MONTH.
#3 - A HANDGUN DOESN'T ASK, "DO THESE NEW GRIPS MAKE ME LOOK FAT?"
#2 - A HANDGUN DOESN'T MIND IF YOU GO TO SLEEP AFTER YOU USE IT.
and, the number one reason a handgun is favored over a woman
#1 - YOU CAN BUY A SILENCER FOR A HANDGUN
TOP 10 REASONS WHY SOME MEN FAVOR HANDGUNS OVER WOMEN
#10 - YOU CAN TRADE AN OLD 44 FOR A NEW 22.
#9 - YOU CAN KEEP ONE HANDGUN AT HOME, AND HAVE ANOTHER FOR WHEN YOU'RE ON THE ROAD.
#8 - IF YOU ADMIRE A FRIEND'S HANDGUN, AND TELL HIM SO, HE WILL PROBABLY LET YOU TRY IT OUT A FEW TIMES.
#7 - YOUR PRIMARY HANDGUN DOESN'T MIND IF YOU KEEP ANOTHER HANDGUN FOR A BACK UP.
#6 - YOUR HANDGUN WILL STAY WITH YOU EVEN IF YOU RUN OUT OF AMMO.
#5 - A HANDGUN DOESN'T TAKE UP A LOT OF CLOSET SPACE.
#4 - HANDGUNS FUNCTION NORMALLY EVERY DAY OF THE MONTH.
#3 - A HANDGUN DOESN'T ASK, "DO THESE NEW GRIPS MAKE ME LOOK FAT?"
#2 - A HANDGUN DOESN'T MIND IF YOU GO TO SLEEP AFTER YOU USE IT.
and, the number one reason a handgun is favored over a woman
#1 - YOU CAN BUY A SILENCER FOR A HANDGUN
Wictory Wednesday
Al Gore called us a bunch of "digital brownshirts," so let's not make a liar out of him (for once). It's not just Wednesday, it's Wictory Wednesday, the day of the week where us Bush supporters in Blogdom do our best to get out the support for the reelection of George Bush. How can you help? You can volunteer or donate and join these other bloggers and me in doing our part:
Al Gore called us a bunch of "digital brownshirts," so let's not make a liar out of him (for once). It's not just Wednesday, it's Wictory Wednesday, the day of the week where us Bush supporters in Blogdom do our best to get out the support for the reelection of George Bush. How can you help? You can volunteer or donate and join these other bloggers and me in doing our part:
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
A great bumpersticker
Click on the bumpersticker for ordering info:
Click on the bumpersticker for ordering info:
Neil Armstrong and Teddy Kennedy
In all the hoopla of Armstrong's walk on the moon 35 years ago today, Teddy got lucky that his murder of May Jo Kopechne was more easily covered up.
This week we may hear a little about the 35th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's moonwalk, but there is another anniversary that has alreeady gone unnoticed. On July 18, 1969, a couple of nights before Armstrong took that "giant step for mankind," Ted Kennedy took a turn onto a narrow bridge in Chappaquiddick. The passenger in his car that night was Mary Jo Kopechne, a pretty, blond Capitol Hill secretary, just about to celebrate her 29th birthday. The two events are inextricably linked in my mind because my husband, who was a correspondent for a British newspaper, instead of reporting on our glorious odyssey into space, ended up at police headquarters on Martha's Vineyard covering that sordid story.
In case you have forgotten or never knew the details, Ted and five of his pals and six women known as the "Boiler Room Girls" who had worked in Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign, cut short by his assassination the year before, were weekending together. Afterward, the men claimed it was just a couple of days of innocent fun to thank the girls for their help, though the six guys were all married but partying without their wives, and the young women were all single. One of the "Boiler Room Girls" is now big-time New York literary agent Esther Newberg, who was Mary Jo's roommate for the weekend. Like everyone involved in the incident, Esther remains close-mouthed about what occurred.
So what did happen?
What everyone testified at the time was that Kennedy and Mary Jo left the party before midnight. Kennedy said he was driving her back to the ferry to Edgartown, and took a wrong turn, though he was very familiar with the roads on the island. His car toppled off a narrow wooden-planked bridge, a bridge that is in the opposite direction to the road that led to the ferry but is on the way to the beach. The car landed upside-down in eight feet of water and, Kennedy claimed that after escaping, he tried unsuccessfully to rescue Mary Jo. He then staggered back to the party, called out his cousin Joe Gargan and his pal Paul Markham, to return to the scene. What he didn't do, inexplicably, was seek help in a lighted house only yards from the bridge or use the fire-alarm phone at a fire station he passed on the way back to the party.
Right from the start, the reporters who arrived at the scene were skeptical of his story, skeptical even of how he claimed he got back to Edgartown that night. Markham and Gargan said when they drove to the ferry landing ? the ferry had stopped running by then ? Kennedy took them by surprise by jumping in the water, and swimming across the channel towards Edgartown. They assumed, they said, he would report the accident that night to the police. Instead Kennedy went back to his hotel, ostensibly to change his clothes but instead, went downstairs to complain about a noisy party that was going on.
The next morning Markham and Gargan were waiting for Kennedy when he arrived at 9 A.M. on the first ferry. The ferry operator said Kennedy appeared to be in a jovial mood, but probably only until he was told that his car had been found. Only then did Kennedy return and report the accident.
Some reporters, primarily the foreign press, did ask tough questions. For example: Did Kennedy really swim back to Edgartown that night? No one saw him with wet clothes and my husband, for one, interviewed a young man who had tied up his rowboat at the Chappaquiddick dock on Saturday night. When he got there on Sunday morning, he said, it had been retied and with what he called a "land lubber's knot."
But the whole incident was overshadowed by the worldwide coverage of the moonwalk. Besides, all the people involved had, by midday, left Martha's Vineyard and headed home. When the police went to the cottage where the party had taken place, all they found were some washed Coca-Cola bottles. There was no one to interview and no one who would talk then ? or ever. Besides, Kennedy was treated like Massachusetts royalty by the local police chief, Dominick Arena, who even gave up his office so that Kennedy could make telephone calls to advisers and lawyers in privacy.
It may have been the last time when a scandal was so under-investigated, so quickly dispatched ? and the man involved seemed to get off so easily for what he had done. A week later, Kennedy, who arrived in court wearing a neck brace, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a two-month suspended sentence and a year's probation.
Next week Ted Kennedy will be center stage at the Democratic convention in Boston. "It will be a celebration...of the work of Ted Kennedy.... There will be a lot of appropriate attention paid to a person who has been at the center of national politics for the past forty years," his colleague Senator Christopher Dodd has enthused. And last year Boston Globe reporter Charles Pierce commented, "If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age."
It would be funny ? if it wasn't so sad.
In all the hoopla of Armstrong's walk on the moon 35 years ago today, Teddy got lucky that his murder of May Jo Kopechne was more easily covered up.
This week we may hear a little about the 35th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's moonwalk, but there is another anniversary that has alreeady gone unnoticed. On July 18, 1969, a couple of nights before Armstrong took that "giant step for mankind," Ted Kennedy took a turn onto a narrow bridge in Chappaquiddick. The passenger in his car that night was Mary Jo Kopechne, a pretty, blond Capitol Hill secretary, just about to celebrate her 29th birthday. The two events are inextricably linked in my mind because my husband, who was a correspondent for a British newspaper, instead of reporting on our glorious odyssey into space, ended up at police headquarters on Martha's Vineyard covering that sordid story.
In case you have forgotten or never knew the details, Ted and five of his pals and six women known as the "Boiler Room Girls" who had worked in Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign, cut short by his assassination the year before, were weekending together. Afterward, the men claimed it was just a couple of days of innocent fun to thank the girls for their help, though the six guys were all married but partying without their wives, and the young women were all single. One of the "Boiler Room Girls" is now big-time New York literary agent Esther Newberg, who was Mary Jo's roommate for the weekend. Like everyone involved in the incident, Esther remains close-mouthed about what occurred.
So what did happen?
What everyone testified at the time was that Kennedy and Mary Jo left the party before midnight. Kennedy said he was driving her back to the ferry to Edgartown, and took a wrong turn, though he was very familiar with the roads on the island. His car toppled off a narrow wooden-planked bridge, a bridge that is in the opposite direction to the road that led to the ferry but is on the way to the beach. The car landed upside-down in eight feet of water and, Kennedy claimed that after escaping, he tried unsuccessfully to rescue Mary Jo. He then staggered back to the party, called out his cousin Joe Gargan and his pal Paul Markham, to return to the scene. What he didn't do, inexplicably, was seek help in a lighted house only yards from the bridge or use the fire-alarm phone at a fire station he passed on the way back to the party.
Right from the start, the reporters who arrived at the scene were skeptical of his story, skeptical even of how he claimed he got back to Edgartown that night. Markham and Gargan said when they drove to the ferry landing ? the ferry had stopped running by then ? Kennedy took them by surprise by jumping in the water, and swimming across the channel towards Edgartown. They assumed, they said, he would report the accident that night to the police. Instead Kennedy went back to his hotel, ostensibly to change his clothes but instead, went downstairs to complain about a noisy party that was going on.
The next morning Markham and Gargan were waiting for Kennedy when he arrived at 9 A.M. on the first ferry. The ferry operator said Kennedy appeared to be in a jovial mood, but probably only until he was told that his car had been found. Only then did Kennedy return and report the accident.
Some reporters, primarily the foreign press, did ask tough questions. For example: Did Kennedy really swim back to Edgartown that night? No one saw him with wet clothes and my husband, for one, interviewed a young man who had tied up his rowboat at the Chappaquiddick dock on Saturday night. When he got there on Sunday morning, he said, it had been retied and with what he called a "land lubber's knot."
But the whole incident was overshadowed by the worldwide coverage of the moonwalk. Besides, all the people involved had, by midday, left Martha's Vineyard and headed home. When the police went to the cottage where the party had taken place, all they found were some washed Coca-Cola bottles. There was no one to interview and no one who would talk then ? or ever. Besides, Kennedy was treated like Massachusetts royalty by the local police chief, Dominick Arena, who even gave up his office so that Kennedy could make telephone calls to advisers and lawyers in privacy.
It may have been the last time when a scandal was so under-investigated, so quickly dispatched ? and the man involved seemed to get off so easily for what he had done. A week later, Kennedy, who arrived in court wearing a neck brace, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a two-month suspended sentence and a year's probation.
Next week Ted Kennedy will be center stage at the Democratic convention in Boston. "It will be a celebration...of the work of Ted Kennedy.... There will be a lot of appropriate attention paid to a person who has been at the center of national politics for the past forty years," his colleague Senator Christopher Dodd has enthused. And last year Boston Globe reporter Charles Pierce commented, "If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age."
It would be funny ? if it wasn't so sad.
"Vote for da union, we know youse are gonna vote"
Kerry and Edwards have decided to support Ted Kennedy in trying to remove secret ballots when voting to unionize.
In an issue emerging as a top election-year priority for organized labor officials, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and John Edwards (D-NC) have joined with Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) to file formal arguments at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) urging the agency governing America?s private sector workplaces to deny employees access to the less-abusive secret-ballot election process when choosing whether to unionize.
?For two politicians who claim they?ll stick up for America?s workers, taking away basic freedoms is a strange way to show it,? said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation.
Kerry, Edwards, Kennedy, 14 other Senators, and 31 congressmen joined together to file the amicus curiae brief, perhaps the most noteworthy of dozens of briefs filed last week by representatives of management, unions, employees, public policy groups, and Members of Congress ? arguing either in opposition to, or in favor of, the plight of disenfranchised employees aided by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys.
The unions are already resorting to coercion:
The Board invited the briefs after voting 3-2 to determine the enforceability of increasingly common arrangements intended to limit further employees? freedom to determine whether union officials are authorized to represent them. These arrangements, sometimes called ?card check? or ?neutrality agreements,? involve high-pressure card solicitation drives that frequently result in complaints of union coercion from rank-and-file workers.
Replacing the less-abusive secret ballot election process with ?card check? has become the number one requirement of candidates to obtain Big Labor?s support in the 2004 elections. According to the AFL-CIO?s recent statement to BNA?s Daily Labor Report, ?we don?t have any issue that?s a litmus test, but this is as close as it gets.? According to the AFL-CIO, more than 80 percent of newly organized employees each year are already unionized through the controversial ?card check? process while the traditional election process, favored by federal labor policy and the courts, is used far less frequently.
?Having trouble selling even a bare majority of workers on the merits of unionization, union officials are resorting to the in-your-face ?card check? process to intimidate workers into supporting a union,? said Gleason.
Congressman Charlie Norwood (R-GA), a signatory to a separate congressional brief and lead sponsor of legislation to reduce ?card check? organizing abuses, said ?Hard-working folks deserve the right to a fair and secret election ? not the threats, arm-twisting, and shakedown tactics that come with ?card check? campaigns.?
The lead consolidated cases at the NLRB, brought by Foundation attorneys, arise out of the automotive industry where suppliers have cut deals with union officials to waive the secret ballot election process and to assist in pressuring employees to sign union authorization cards. The coercively obtained cards were then counted as ?votes? in favor of authorizing the union to act as the employees? monopoly bargaining agent.
These pacts also typically require employers to hand over their employees? private information (including home addresses) to union organizers, subject employees to unsolicited ?home visits,? and permit wide access to company facilities ? resulting in employee complaints of browbeating and other harassment.
Ballots with names, unions getting personal address information and conducting "home visits"....sounds like something worthy of these guys:
Kerry and Edwards have decided to support Ted Kennedy in trying to remove secret ballots when voting to unionize.
In an issue emerging as a top election-year priority for organized labor officials, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and John Edwards (D-NC) have joined with Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) to file formal arguments at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) urging the agency governing America?s private sector workplaces to deny employees access to the less-abusive secret-ballot election process when choosing whether to unionize.
?For two politicians who claim they?ll stick up for America?s workers, taking away basic freedoms is a strange way to show it,? said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation.
Kerry, Edwards, Kennedy, 14 other Senators, and 31 congressmen joined together to file the amicus curiae brief, perhaps the most noteworthy of dozens of briefs filed last week by representatives of management, unions, employees, public policy groups, and Members of Congress ? arguing either in opposition to, or in favor of, the plight of disenfranchised employees aided by National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys.
The unions are already resorting to coercion:
The Board invited the briefs after voting 3-2 to determine the enforceability of increasingly common arrangements intended to limit further employees? freedom to determine whether union officials are authorized to represent them. These arrangements, sometimes called ?card check? or ?neutrality agreements,? involve high-pressure card solicitation drives that frequently result in complaints of union coercion from rank-and-file workers.
Replacing the less-abusive secret ballot election process with ?card check? has become the number one requirement of candidates to obtain Big Labor?s support in the 2004 elections. According to the AFL-CIO?s recent statement to BNA?s Daily Labor Report, ?we don?t have any issue that?s a litmus test, but this is as close as it gets.? According to the AFL-CIO, more than 80 percent of newly organized employees each year are already unionized through the controversial ?card check? process while the traditional election process, favored by federal labor policy and the courts, is used far less frequently.
?Having trouble selling even a bare majority of workers on the merits of unionization, union officials are resorting to the in-your-face ?card check? process to intimidate workers into supporting a union,? said Gleason.
Congressman Charlie Norwood (R-GA), a signatory to a separate congressional brief and lead sponsor of legislation to reduce ?card check? organizing abuses, said ?Hard-working folks deserve the right to a fair and secret election ? not the threats, arm-twisting, and shakedown tactics that come with ?card check? campaigns.?
The lead consolidated cases at the NLRB, brought by Foundation attorneys, arise out of the automotive industry where suppliers have cut deals with union officials to waive the secret ballot election process and to assist in pressuring employees to sign union authorization cards. The coercively obtained cards were then counted as ?votes? in favor of authorizing the union to act as the employees? monopoly bargaining agent.
These pacts also typically require employers to hand over their employees? private information (including home addresses) to union organizers, subject employees to unsolicited ?home visits,? and permit wide access to company facilities ? resulting in employee complaints of browbeating and other harassment.
Ballots with names, unions getting personal address information and conducting "home visits"....sounds like something worthy of these guys:
What the dems REALLY think of the military
The treatment of a war hero in California tells us what the dems think of war heros.
Reminders of John Kerry's medal-win ning service in Vietnam will no doubt be everywhere at next week's Democratic National Convention in Boston.
The goals: to present Kerry as a patriotic veteran and a decisive leader. And to sell the idea that Democrats can be trusted on national-security issues.
It's smart strategy for a party that desperately needs credibility in this area.
But for a sense of what Dems really think about the military, consider what happened this month out in California.
More than just a brave Navy pilot, Jeremiah Denton spent eight years as a POW in Vietnam. When forced to speak on TV, he blinked his eyes in Morse code to spell out the word "torture," signaling that he was not speaking freely.
After returning home, Denton rose to the rank of admiral and went on to become a U.S. senator from Alabama.
A Republican in California's state Assembly invited Denton to the state capitol for a Fourth of July ceremony. But Democrats running the body refused to let him on the floor, claiming that "problems have arisen both with regard to the spirit, content and participation of various individuals."
Yes, Denton was a Republican. But the event was nonpartisan. As Assemblyman John Campbell noted, the same floor had seen celebrations of Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick's Day and the Chinese New Year.
To his credit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger permitted the use of a capital office for the ceremony ? though, according to Campbell, only one elected Democrat attended the event.
No wonder the party lacks credibility on military and security issues.
If that is how that they treat a real hero, I want them to have no part in our security.
The treatment of a war hero in California tells us what the dems think of war heros.
Reminders of John Kerry's medal-win ning service in Vietnam will no doubt be everywhere at next week's Democratic National Convention in Boston.
The goals: to present Kerry as a patriotic veteran and a decisive leader. And to sell the idea that Democrats can be trusted on national-security issues.
It's smart strategy for a party that desperately needs credibility in this area.
But for a sense of what Dems really think about the military, consider what happened this month out in California.
More than just a brave Navy pilot, Jeremiah Denton spent eight years as a POW in Vietnam. When forced to speak on TV, he blinked his eyes in Morse code to spell out the word "torture," signaling that he was not speaking freely.
After returning home, Denton rose to the rank of admiral and went on to become a U.S. senator from Alabama.
A Republican in California's state Assembly invited Denton to the state capitol for a Fourth of July ceremony. But Democrats running the body refused to let him on the floor, claiming that "problems have arisen both with regard to the spirit, content and participation of various individuals."
Yes, Denton was a Republican. But the event was nonpartisan. As Assemblyman John Campbell noted, the same floor had seen celebrations of Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick's Day and the Chinese New Year.
To his credit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger permitted the use of a capital office for the ceremony ? though, according to Campbell, only one elected Democrat attended the event.
No wonder the party lacks credibility on military and security issues.
If that is how that they treat a real hero, I want them to have no part in our security.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Roadkill
If the police can't catch a goblin on foot, just run him over.
Authorities said a burglary suspect is in critical condition after a police officer hit him with a patrol car as another officer chased the man on foot through a Jacksonville shopping center parking lot Monday.
It happened at 4:50 a.m. at the 48th Street Village Center at North Main Street. Police were answering a call about a burglary in progress when the foot chase ensued, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Assistant Chief Rick Graham said.
While driving on West 48th Street, an officer saw the foot chase and positioned his vehicle so it collided with the suspect, Graham said.
Hopefully the car is ok.
If the police can't catch a goblin on foot, just run him over.
Authorities said a burglary suspect is in critical condition after a police officer hit him with a patrol car as another officer chased the man on foot through a Jacksonville shopping center parking lot Monday.
It happened at 4:50 a.m. at the 48th Street Village Center at North Main Street. Police were answering a call about a burglary in progress when the foot chase ensued, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Assistant Chief Rick Graham said.
While driving on West 48th Street, an officer saw the foot chase and positioned his vehicle so it collided with the suspect, Graham said.
Hopefully the car is ok.
Selfishness at its most disgusting
Rather than having to "have to move to Staten Island" or "start shopping only at Costco and buying big jars of mayonnaise" a selfish bitch in New York decided to murder two of her three unborn children so she can maintain her "lifestyle."
Now I'm 34. My boyfriend, Peter, and I have been together three years. I'm old enough to presume that I wasn't going to have an easy time becoming pregnant. I was tired of being on the pill, because it made me moody. Before I went off it, Peter and I talked about what would happen if I became pregnant, and we both agreed that we would have the child.
I found out I was having triplets when I went to my obstetrician. The doctor had just finished telling me I was going to have a low-risk pregnancy. She turned on the sonogram machine. There was a long pause, then she said, ''Are you sure you didn't take fertility drugs?'' I said, ''I'm positive.'' Peter and I were very shocked when she said there were three. ''You know, this changes everything,'' she said. ''You'll have to see a specialist.''
My immediate response was, I cannot have triplets. I was not married; I lived in a five-story walk-up in the East Village; I worked freelance; and I would have to go on bed rest in March. I lecture at colleges, and my biggest months are March and April. I would have to give up my main income for the rest of the year. There was a part of me that was sure I could work around that. But it was a matter of, Do I want to?
I, I, I, I , I.... get the picture? She is all about "I" and not others. It gets worse.
I looked at Peter and asked the doctor: ''Is it possible to get rid of one of them? Or two of them?'' The obstetrician wasn't an expert in selective reduction, but she knew that with a shot of potassium chloride you could eliminate one or more.
Having felt physically fine up to this point, I got on the subway afterward, and all of a sudden, I felt ill. I didn't want to eat anything. What I was going through seemed like a very unnatural experience. On the subway, Peter asked, ''Shouldn't we consider having triplets?'' And I had this adverse reaction: ''This is why they say it's the woman's choice, because you think I could just carry triplets. That's easy for you to say, but I'd have to give up my life.'' Not only would I have to be on bed rest at 20 weeks, I wouldn't be able to fly after 15. I was already at eight weeks. When I found out about the triplets, I felt like: It's not the back of a pickup at 16, but now I'm going to have to move to Staten Island. I'll never leave my house because I'll have to care for these children. I'll have to start shopping only at Costco and buying big jars of mayonnaise. Even in my moments of thinking about having three, I don't think that deep down I was ever considering it.
I, I, I....more of the same.
The specialist called me back at 10 p.m. I had just finished watching a Boston Pops concert at Symphony Hall. As everybody burst into applause, I watched my cellphone vibrating, grabbed it and ran into the lobby. He told me that he does a detailed sonogram before doing a selective reduction to see if one fetus appears to be struggling. The procedure involves a shot of potassium chloride to the heart of the fetus. There are a lot more complications when a woman carries multiples. And so, from the doctor's perspective, it's a matter of trying to save the woman this trauma. After I talked to the specialist, I told Peter, ''That's what I'm going to do.'' He replied, ''What we're going to do.'' He respected what I was going through, but at a certain point, he felt that this was a decision we were making. I agreed.
Childbirth has been going on for millions of years, so while it is "trauma" (my hand was killing me from my wife squeezing it) it has been done successfully many times.
When we saw the specialist, we found out that I was carrying identical twins and a stand alone. My doctors thought the stand alone was three days older. There was something psychologically comforting about that, since I wanted to have just one. Before the procedure, I was focused on relaxing. But Peter was staring at the sonogram screen thinking: Oh, my gosh, there are three heartbeats. I can't believe we're about to make two disappear. The doctor came in, and then Peter was asked to leave. I said, ''Can Peter stay?'' The doctor said no. I know Peter was offended by that.
Two days after the procedure, smells no longer set me off and I no longer wanted to eat nothing but sour-apple gum. I went on to have a pretty seamless pregnancy. But I had a recurring feeling that this was going to come back and haunt me. Was I going to have a stillbirth or miscarry late in my pregnancy?
I had a boy, and everything is fine. But thinking about becoming pregnant again is terrifying. Am I going to have quintuplets? I would do the same thing if I had triplets again, but if I had twins, I would probably have twins. Then again, I don't know.
At least your boyfriend has a shred of humanity. As for you, sterilization would be best so you do not have the opportunity to murder and more innocent lives. Anyway, it turns out this bitch is an "renowned" activist for murdering the unborn. See the following links:
She also had an abortion at 18
bio of a murderer
another bio with a clearer picture
Rather than having to "have to move to Staten Island" or "start shopping only at Costco and buying big jars of mayonnaise" a selfish bitch in New York decided to murder two of her three unborn children so she can maintain her "lifestyle."
Now I'm 34. My boyfriend, Peter, and I have been together three years. I'm old enough to presume that I wasn't going to have an easy time becoming pregnant. I was tired of being on the pill, because it made me moody. Before I went off it, Peter and I talked about what would happen if I became pregnant, and we both agreed that we would have the child.
I found out I was having triplets when I went to my obstetrician. The doctor had just finished telling me I was going to have a low-risk pregnancy. She turned on the sonogram machine. There was a long pause, then she said, ''Are you sure you didn't take fertility drugs?'' I said, ''I'm positive.'' Peter and I were very shocked when she said there were three. ''You know, this changes everything,'' she said. ''You'll have to see a specialist.''
My immediate response was, I cannot have triplets. I was not married; I lived in a five-story walk-up in the East Village; I worked freelance; and I would have to go on bed rest in March. I lecture at colleges, and my biggest months are March and April. I would have to give up my main income for the rest of the year. There was a part of me that was sure I could work around that. But it was a matter of, Do I want to?
I, I, I, I , I.... get the picture? She is all about "I" and not others. It gets worse.
I looked at Peter and asked the doctor: ''Is it possible to get rid of one of them? Or two of them?'' The obstetrician wasn't an expert in selective reduction, but she knew that with a shot of potassium chloride you could eliminate one or more.
Having felt physically fine up to this point, I got on the subway afterward, and all of a sudden, I felt ill. I didn't want to eat anything. What I was going through seemed like a very unnatural experience. On the subway, Peter asked, ''Shouldn't we consider having triplets?'' And I had this adverse reaction: ''This is why they say it's the woman's choice, because you think I could just carry triplets. That's easy for you to say, but I'd have to give up my life.'' Not only would I have to be on bed rest at 20 weeks, I wouldn't be able to fly after 15. I was already at eight weeks. When I found out about the triplets, I felt like: It's not the back of a pickup at 16, but now I'm going to have to move to Staten Island. I'll never leave my house because I'll have to care for these children. I'll have to start shopping only at Costco and buying big jars of mayonnaise. Even in my moments of thinking about having three, I don't think that deep down I was ever considering it.
I, I, I....more of the same.
The specialist called me back at 10 p.m. I had just finished watching a Boston Pops concert at Symphony Hall. As everybody burst into applause, I watched my cellphone vibrating, grabbed it and ran into the lobby. He told me that he does a detailed sonogram before doing a selective reduction to see if one fetus appears to be struggling. The procedure involves a shot of potassium chloride to the heart of the fetus. There are a lot more complications when a woman carries multiples. And so, from the doctor's perspective, it's a matter of trying to save the woman this trauma. After I talked to the specialist, I told Peter, ''That's what I'm going to do.'' He replied, ''What we're going to do.'' He respected what I was going through, but at a certain point, he felt that this was a decision we were making. I agreed.
Childbirth has been going on for millions of years, so while it is "trauma" (my hand was killing me from my wife squeezing it) it has been done successfully many times.
When we saw the specialist, we found out that I was carrying identical twins and a stand alone. My doctors thought the stand alone was three days older. There was something psychologically comforting about that, since I wanted to have just one. Before the procedure, I was focused on relaxing. But Peter was staring at the sonogram screen thinking: Oh, my gosh, there are three heartbeats. I can't believe we're about to make two disappear. The doctor came in, and then Peter was asked to leave. I said, ''Can Peter stay?'' The doctor said no. I know Peter was offended by that.
Two days after the procedure, smells no longer set me off and I no longer wanted to eat nothing but sour-apple gum. I went on to have a pretty seamless pregnancy. But I had a recurring feeling that this was going to come back and haunt me. Was I going to have a stillbirth or miscarry late in my pregnancy?
I had a boy, and everything is fine. But thinking about becoming pregnant again is terrifying. Am I going to have quintuplets? I would do the same thing if I had triplets again, but if I had twins, I would probably have twins. Then again, I don't know.
At least your boyfriend has a shred of humanity. As for you, sterilization would be best so you do not have the opportunity to murder and more innocent lives. Anyway, it turns out this bitch is an "renowned" activist for murdering the unborn. See the following links:
She also had an abortion at 18
bio of a murderer
another bio with a clearer picture
Who is your best candidate?
Not sure who to vote for? Take this simple test to determine the best candidate for you...be sure NOT to check republican or democrat at the end (otherwise it will only give you those politicians). You might be surprised what it spits out!!!!!
Not sure who to vote for? Take this simple test to determine the best candidate for you...be sure NOT to check republican or democrat at the end (otherwise it will only give you those politicians). You might be surprised what it spits out!!!!!
"My favorite Beatle, Mick Jagger"
The Waffler sets a new low, ESPN's Peter Gammons has the details.
We have been led to cynically believe that many politicians are disingenuous and generally phony, but few will ever beat Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. This man, who changed his middle initial to be JFK and at an anti-Vietnam rally threw someone else's medals into the water, made a self-promotion appearance with Boston talk-show maven Eddie Andelman and claimed he was a big Red Sox fan from his days growing up in Groton, Mass. And at the promotion he said Eddie Yost was his favorite player.
The problem with that is just the simple fact that Eddie Yost never played for the Red Sox.
The Waffler sets a new low, ESPN's Peter Gammons has the details.
We have been led to cynically believe that many politicians are disingenuous and generally phony, but few will ever beat Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. This man, who changed his middle initial to be JFK and at an anti-Vietnam rally threw someone else's medals into the water, made a self-promotion appearance with Boston talk-show maven Eddie Andelman and claimed he was a big Red Sox fan from his days growing up in Groton, Mass. And at the promotion he said Eddie Yost was his favorite player.
The problem with that is just the simple fact that Eddie Yost never played for the Red Sox.
Heinz-Kerry funding the violent protesters
Violent protestors have a friend in Teresa Heinz Kerry. Hat tip to Blogs for Bush.
She may sport fashionable togs rather than a face mask, but the chaos expected during the upcoming GOP convention, is partly courtesy of the stylish Teresa Heinz-Kerry.
The Ketchup Queen financed the shadowy Tides Foundation to the tune of $4 million to date. The Tides Foundation funds the Ruckus Society, a notorious group of anarchists who rioted and looted Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization riots.
This summer, the Ruckus Society has been training protesters for the GOP Convention. Included in their how-to Book for Dummies are mass sit-ins, blockades and pie throwing at high-level officials enroute to Madison Square Gardens.
Here are some of the charming things she is funding:
Rhetoric aside, with tactics like dog decoys intended to deliberately miscue bomb sniffing dogs in their bag of dirty tricks, tossing marbles under the hooves of police horses and using homemade slingshots to pelt the noble beasts, radical protesters should be prepared to wear the unreasonable shoe that best fits them.
While some 600,000 passengers travel to Penn Station on regular working days, protesters are hoping that their handiwork will see the necessity of having to evacuate Madison Square Garden.
All lessons being taught to willing protestors at the Ruckus knee are ones to make it less easy for the New York Police Department to maintain public safety.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney calls radical protesters what they are, "criminal conspirators".
"There?s a cadre, if you will, of criminal conspirators who are about the business of planning conspiracies to go in and cause mayhem and cause property damage and cause violence in major cities in America that have large conventions and large numbers of people coming in for one reason or another."
Nothing, least of all commonsense will stop the radicals who are on a mission the equivalent of telling the not so long ago besieged Big Apple to get out of town by sunset.
"We will draw our examples and inspiration from the brave shapers of history who came before us and those who put their bodies on the line to gain independence," was one of the loftier protester warnings on the Internet.
How did she get involved with such radicals?
Ruckus Society patron Teresa Heinz-Kerry was a flower child of the 60s when she worked as a United Nations interpreter in Geneva. It was when she was hanging out for an Earth Day rally in 1990 that she first ran into the guy with the same initials as JFK.
The socialite, who partly financed the coming ruckus in Madison Square Garden, is not likely to risk her public safety by being in New York. Her protest days long over, for Teresa Heinz-Kerry the Aug. 31 Day of Civil Disobedience will be as tame as the ketchup bottle on the kitchen table as she watches events from one of her half dozen mansions.
As dangerous as the Waffler is, I'm starting to think she might be MORE dangerous than her hubby.
Violent protestors have a friend in Teresa Heinz Kerry. Hat tip to Blogs for Bush.
She may sport fashionable togs rather than a face mask, but the chaos expected during the upcoming GOP convention, is partly courtesy of the stylish Teresa Heinz-Kerry.
The Ketchup Queen financed the shadowy Tides Foundation to the tune of $4 million to date. The Tides Foundation funds the Ruckus Society, a notorious group of anarchists who rioted and looted Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization riots.
This summer, the Ruckus Society has been training protesters for the GOP Convention. Included in their how-to Book for Dummies are mass sit-ins, blockades and pie throwing at high-level officials enroute to Madison Square Gardens.
Here are some of the charming things she is funding:
Rhetoric aside, with tactics like dog decoys intended to deliberately miscue bomb sniffing dogs in their bag of dirty tricks, tossing marbles under the hooves of police horses and using homemade slingshots to pelt the noble beasts, radical protesters should be prepared to wear the unreasonable shoe that best fits them.
While some 600,000 passengers travel to Penn Station on regular working days, protesters are hoping that their handiwork will see the necessity of having to evacuate Madison Square Garden.
All lessons being taught to willing protestors at the Ruckus knee are ones to make it less easy for the New York Police Department to maintain public safety.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Timoney calls radical protesters what they are, "criminal conspirators".
"There?s a cadre, if you will, of criminal conspirators who are about the business of planning conspiracies to go in and cause mayhem and cause property damage and cause violence in major cities in America that have large conventions and large numbers of people coming in for one reason or another."
Nothing, least of all commonsense will stop the radicals who are on a mission the equivalent of telling the not so long ago besieged Big Apple to get out of town by sunset.
"We will draw our examples and inspiration from the brave shapers of history who came before us and those who put their bodies on the line to gain independence," was one of the loftier protester warnings on the Internet.
How did she get involved with such radicals?
Ruckus Society patron Teresa Heinz-Kerry was a flower child of the 60s when she worked as a United Nations interpreter in Geneva. It was when she was hanging out for an Earth Day rally in 1990 that she first ran into the guy with the same initials as JFK.
The socialite, who partly financed the coming ruckus in Madison Square Garden, is not likely to risk her public safety by being in New York. Her protest days long over, for Teresa Heinz-Kerry the Aug. 31 Day of Civil Disobedience will be as tame as the ketchup bottle on the kitchen table as she watches events from one of her half dozen mansions.
As dangerous as the Waffler is, I'm starting to think she might be MORE dangerous than her hubby.
Red or blue: which are you?
Slate has a quiz where you can test whether you are red (GOP) or blue (democrat). Since Slate is liberal, it seems slanted towards the more you know, the less red you are. I enjoy NYC and minored in theater so I guess that makes me more cultured and, in their mind, more apt to vote democrat. Yeah right.
Slate has a quiz where you can test whether you are red (GOP) or blue (democrat). Since Slate is liberal, it seems slanted towards the more you know, the less red you are. I enjoy NYC and minored in theater so I guess that makes me more cultured and, in their mind, more apt to vote democrat. Yeah right.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Sensible criticism of the NAACP
Thanks to MCJ for this one. Earlier I blogged about a conservative black calling out the NAACP. This time, we have a black liberal columnist for one of the more liberal papers calling out the NAACP and their partisanship.
President George W. Bush deserves credit for his candor, if for nothing else.
Black leaders and Democrats have been bashing Bush for refusing to attend the 95th annual NAACP convention in Philadelphia last week.
When asked why he skipped the convention, Bush didn't mince words.
"You've heard the rhetoric and the names they've called me," Bush said. "I would describe my relationship with the current leadership as basically nonexistent."
Now, that's a refreshing, nonpolitical response. Basically, the president said, "Hey, they don't like me. I don't like them. Why should I kiss up to an organization that opposes my party and my politics?"
And just how have they treated Bush and other republicans?
That would be a legitimate question. Another question is why the NAACP leaders even expected Bush to attend their conference given the way they've treated him.
Last year, chairman Julian Bond said Republicans appeal "to the dark underside of American culture." In June, he said the conservatives' idea of equal rights is the "American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side by side." Bond and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume have repeatedly claimed that Bush practices "racial division."
And what happens when the dems come to town?
What needs? What issues? Kerry made minor promises based on his assessment of black needs. He committed to nothing substantial because NAACP leaders demanded nothing of substance.
Kerry's appearance was a familiar, kissy-faced, well-choreographed political routine. In the end, the NAACP promised to do what they planned all along: support Kerry's campaign.
My prediction if Kerry wins: Four years from now, the same black leaders throwing their support behind him now will whine that he and the Democratic Party are taking black voters for granted.
The author then spells out what he'd like to see from the GOP, the dems, and the NAACP:
To President Bush: Don't sweat the NAACP. Dust off your "faith-based initiative" plan and rework it as an "urban economic growth" plan. Target young people like Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit crowd. Promote a realistic plan to establish businesses, increase home ownership and rebuild communities. Recruit Rep. Jim Talent and hire former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, who have promoted such proposals.
Democrats: Lose the lip service and scary tales of racist Republican conspiracies. It's old and annoying.
Finally, my advice to the NAACP and other influential black leaders: Lead. Decide and define your own agenda. Demand real commitments in exchange for the votes you supposedly represent.
Bottom line: Demand something valuable for something of value.
All in all, a refreshing article. He asks the same questions of the NAACP that I used to ask of the AFL-CIO, of which my dad belonged as a member of the USW. The leaders of the union gave blind allegiance to Carter and Mondale while the steel industry died under Carter. My dad worked in specialty steel and because of the vast defense spending his employer did very well, and so did my dad and my family. When the military needs jets, and the jet makers need engines and the engine makers need turbine blades, many people are being employed. The tax cuts of Reagan helped my family put my brother and me through college. I once asked a union leader at a conference how they could support policies and politicians that would hurt their members. 19 years later he still hasn't answered.
Thanks to MCJ for this one. Earlier I blogged about a conservative black calling out the NAACP. This time, we have a black liberal columnist for one of the more liberal papers calling out the NAACP and their partisanship.
President George W. Bush deserves credit for his candor, if for nothing else.
Black leaders and Democrats have been bashing Bush for refusing to attend the 95th annual NAACP convention in Philadelphia last week.
When asked why he skipped the convention, Bush didn't mince words.
"You've heard the rhetoric and the names they've called me," Bush said. "I would describe my relationship with the current leadership as basically nonexistent."
Now, that's a refreshing, nonpolitical response. Basically, the president said, "Hey, they don't like me. I don't like them. Why should I kiss up to an organization that opposes my party and my politics?"
And just how have they treated Bush and other republicans?
That would be a legitimate question. Another question is why the NAACP leaders even expected Bush to attend their conference given the way they've treated him.
Last year, chairman Julian Bond said Republicans appeal "to the dark underside of American culture." In June, he said the conservatives' idea of equal rights is the "American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side by side." Bond and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume have repeatedly claimed that Bush practices "racial division."
And what happens when the dems come to town?
What needs? What issues? Kerry made minor promises based on his assessment of black needs. He committed to nothing substantial because NAACP leaders demanded nothing of substance.
Kerry's appearance was a familiar, kissy-faced, well-choreographed political routine. In the end, the NAACP promised to do what they planned all along: support Kerry's campaign.
My prediction if Kerry wins: Four years from now, the same black leaders throwing their support behind him now will whine that he and the Democratic Party are taking black voters for granted.
The author then spells out what he'd like to see from the GOP, the dems, and the NAACP:
To President Bush: Don't sweat the NAACP. Dust off your "faith-based initiative" plan and rework it as an "urban economic growth" plan. Target young people like Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit crowd. Promote a realistic plan to establish businesses, increase home ownership and rebuild communities. Recruit Rep. Jim Talent and hire former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, who have promoted such proposals.
Democrats: Lose the lip service and scary tales of racist Republican conspiracies. It's old and annoying.
Finally, my advice to the NAACP and other influential black leaders: Lead. Decide and define your own agenda. Demand real commitments in exchange for the votes you supposedly represent.
Bottom line: Demand something valuable for something of value.
All in all, a refreshing article. He asks the same questions of the NAACP that I used to ask of the AFL-CIO, of which my dad belonged as a member of the USW. The leaders of the union gave blind allegiance to Carter and Mondale while the steel industry died under Carter. My dad worked in specialty steel and because of the vast defense spending his employer did very well, and so did my dad and my family. When the military needs jets, and the jet makers need engines and the engine makers need turbine blades, many people are being employed. The tax cuts of Reagan helped my family put my brother and me through college. I once asked a union leader at a conference how they could support policies and politicians that would hurt their members. 19 years later he still hasn't answered.
Good news for America, bad news for Kerry
Kerry's gloom and doom over the deficit is being shown to be baseless.
IF it's not bad enough that rapid economic recovery has neutered Sen. John Kerry's principal domestic criticism of President Bush, now comes even worse news for the Democratic campaign: The budget deficit is starting to substantially shrink.
The latest budget numbers show a $19.1 billion surplus for June, $3 billion higher than the $16 billion Wall Street expectation. It seems that a flood of new tax collections, spurred by fatter employment payrolls and corporate profits, is rapidly reducing the federal budget gap. Tax receipts from businesses rose an astonishing 38 percent over the past 12 months, and personal income-tax collections increased almost 9 percent.
If that's not bad enough for the libs, it's WHY the deficit is shrinking.
What's happening? Could it be that stronger economic growth from lower tax rates is producing more tax receipts? I believe it's called . . . supply-side economics.
Just as the 1.5 million new jobs created since last August has terminated talk of a jobless recovery, the chatter over widening budget deficits will end. The fiscal-year 2004 budget deficit now looks to come in around $435 billion, less than 4 percent of GDP. This would be almost $100 billion below estimates early in the year from the Office of Management and Budget and about $50 billion less than Congressional Budget Office forecasts.
The administration is also getting its arms around federal spending. Fiscal year to date, growth in spending on domestic discretionary programs has slowed to 2.7 percent from 6.8 percent a year ago.
As the tax-cut-led recovery continues, deficits will rapidly wane over the coming years.
Cut taxes, increase productivity and incomes and increase revenues. How simple. Why don't they understand?
Like the modern Democratic Party, the Kerryites neither understand nor acknowledge the tax-incentive model of economic growth that simply restates an old truism: Individuals produce and invest more if it is more profitable after-tax to do so.
Ironically, by placing his $900 billion government-funded health-care plan at the center of his economic policy, Kerry has dropped any pretense of deficit reduction. He may take great pains to position himself as a Clinton-type moderate Democrat, but his policies are pure tax-and-spend liberal.
Oddly, the Kerryites talk about a middle-class "squeeze." This is counter-factual. Over the first five months of this election year, after-tax incomes (adjusted for inflation) have jumped 4.3 percent compared with the same period a year ago. That's why retail spending over the first six months of 2004 has increased 7.7 percent compared with the year-ago period.
The middle class wouldn't be spending quite so rapidly if it was squeezed in the way the Kerry complainers allege.
In other words, the Kerry campaign's dark picture of American economic life is simply untrue. And in the areas where improvements are necessary ? including the Social Security system ? a big-spending, overarching government-regulatory scheme is not the answer. What is? Greater individual responsibility and personal choice in the context of our free-enterprise market system. It's what will make this thriving nation even more prosperous.
Kerry's gloom and doom over the deficit is being shown to be baseless.
IF it's not bad enough that rapid economic recovery has neutered Sen. John Kerry's principal domestic criticism of President Bush, now comes even worse news for the Democratic campaign: The budget deficit is starting to substantially shrink.
The latest budget numbers show a $19.1 billion surplus for June, $3 billion higher than the $16 billion Wall Street expectation. It seems that a flood of new tax collections, spurred by fatter employment payrolls and corporate profits, is rapidly reducing the federal budget gap. Tax receipts from businesses rose an astonishing 38 percent over the past 12 months, and personal income-tax collections increased almost 9 percent.
If that's not bad enough for the libs, it's WHY the deficit is shrinking.
What's happening? Could it be that stronger economic growth from lower tax rates is producing more tax receipts? I believe it's called . . . supply-side economics.
Just as the 1.5 million new jobs created since last August has terminated talk of a jobless recovery, the chatter over widening budget deficits will end. The fiscal-year 2004 budget deficit now looks to come in around $435 billion, less than 4 percent of GDP. This would be almost $100 billion below estimates early in the year from the Office of Management and Budget and about $50 billion less than Congressional Budget Office forecasts.
The administration is also getting its arms around federal spending. Fiscal year to date, growth in spending on domestic discretionary programs has slowed to 2.7 percent from 6.8 percent a year ago.
As the tax-cut-led recovery continues, deficits will rapidly wane over the coming years.
Cut taxes, increase productivity and incomes and increase revenues. How simple. Why don't they understand?
Like the modern Democratic Party, the Kerryites neither understand nor acknowledge the tax-incentive model of economic growth that simply restates an old truism: Individuals produce and invest more if it is more profitable after-tax to do so.
Ironically, by placing his $900 billion government-funded health-care plan at the center of his economic policy, Kerry has dropped any pretense of deficit reduction. He may take great pains to position himself as a Clinton-type moderate Democrat, but his policies are pure tax-and-spend liberal.
Oddly, the Kerryites talk about a middle-class "squeeze." This is counter-factual. Over the first five months of this election year, after-tax incomes (adjusted for inflation) have jumped 4.3 percent compared with the same period a year ago. That's why retail spending over the first six months of 2004 has increased 7.7 percent compared with the year-ago period.
The middle class wouldn't be spending quite so rapidly if it was squeezed in the way the Kerry complainers allege.
In other words, the Kerry campaign's dark picture of American economic life is simply untrue. And in the areas where improvements are necessary ? including the Social Security system ? a big-spending, overarching government-regulatory scheme is not the answer. What is? Greater individual responsibility and personal choice in the context of our free-enterprise market system. It's what will make this thriving nation even more prosperous.
Blasting Congresswoman Maloney
Reading the NY Post's letters to the editor, I find readers blasting Carolyn Maloney for supporting UN oversight of the US elections this fall. I already dislike her as her victory in 1992 cost me my internship with Congressman Bill Green's office. Here are the letters:
Rep. Carolyn Maloney stated that there were armed police officers and prison guards suppressing voters in New York ("Pride in Our Democracy: Counting Every Vote," Letters, July 15).
She may represent sections of New York City, but I wonder if she's ever voted here.
I was a member of the NYPD for 23 years ? and I've been an enrolled Democrat since I first voted in 1971 ? so I would like to inform her that there are always armed police officers at every polling place in the city.
They are armed because they are working and assigned to maintain order.
There is a poll worker from each party at every polling place. I doubt that a Republican worker would say nothing if Republicans were harassed, and the same goes for the Democrats.
If Rep. Maloney heard of officers hindering voters, she may want to check her sources.
If she saw it herself, she should have told the police officer assigned to the polling location about the problem.
John Gallagher
Staten Island
*****
It is outrageous that some members of Congress think "monitors" from places like Iran, Cuba, Zimbabwe and North Korea can show us anything about running a democratic election.
Their blind partisan rage is matched only by their simplistic worldview.
Matt Baer
Manhattan
*****
Even if the United Nations weren't the most corrupt and inept organization on the planet, I'd still be furious at the suggestion that it should monitor free elections here.
The very idea is a slap in the face to all of the people who fought and died to maintain our freedoms.
Frank Cerbini
Pleasantville
Reading the NY Post's letters to the editor, I find readers blasting Carolyn Maloney for supporting UN oversight of the US elections this fall. I already dislike her as her victory in 1992 cost me my internship with Congressman Bill Green's office. Here are the letters:
Rep. Carolyn Maloney stated that there were armed police officers and prison guards suppressing voters in New York ("Pride in Our Democracy: Counting Every Vote," Letters, July 15).
She may represent sections of New York City, but I wonder if she's ever voted here.
I was a member of the NYPD for 23 years ? and I've been an enrolled Democrat since I first voted in 1971 ? so I would like to inform her that there are always armed police officers at every polling place in the city.
They are armed because they are working and assigned to maintain order.
There is a poll worker from each party at every polling place. I doubt that a Republican worker would say nothing if Republicans were harassed, and the same goes for the Democrats.
If Rep. Maloney heard of officers hindering voters, she may want to check her sources.
If she saw it herself, she should have told the police officer assigned to the polling location about the problem.
John Gallagher
Staten Island
*****
It is outrageous that some members of Congress think "monitors" from places like Iran, Cuba, Zimbabwe and North Korea can show us anything about running a democratic election.
Their blind partisan rage is matched only by their simplistic worldview.
Matt Baer
Manhattan
*****
Even if the United Nations weren't the most corrupt and inept organization on the planet, I'd still be furious at the suggestion that it should monitor free elections here.
The very idea is a slap in the face to all of the people who fought and died to maintain our freedoms.
Frank Cerbini
Pleasantville
This guy should get lots of time in Purgatory....
....or a serious ass-whupping. Or both. Robbing a nun who was wearing her habit calls for serious punishment.
A beloved Brooklyn nun dressed in habit and veil was knocked down and mugged yesterday by a thug who made off with her rosary beads and about $60 ? and she already forgives her attacker.
"God forgives him. So do I," Sister Ngozi Ohaeri said at the St. Rita rectory in East New York.
Ohaeri, 41, was headed to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, where she volunteers as a nutritionist, at 5 a.m. when a man grabbed her bag and tossed her to the ground.
The crook swiped her bag, which had the cash and her rosary, and fled in a cohort's car waiting down the block.
Ohaeri, who suffered minor bruises and emotional trauma, said she begged her attacker to leave her alone.
"I was screaming at him, 'Get away from me. Don't touch me,' " Ohaeri said.
Out of desperation she told her assailant to take the cash but leave the rest.
And though she forgives, she won't forget.
"I am very upset with him," said the nun, who came to the United States from Nigeria in 1992 and has been at St. Rita for four years
Ohaeri was treated and released from Brookdale Hospital and spent the afternoon at the 75th Precinct flipping through books of mug shots.
The pastor of her church just doesn't get it though:
"She was very, very shook up," said St. Rita Monsignor John Peyton. "It's part of giving. You have to expect to suffer sometimes, too."
The pastor noted his area of Brooklyn is one of the city's most dangerous, and he doesn't believe the crooks had religious motives.
"They're so desperate for money, they'll do anything," he said. "People want work, but they just can't find it."
Maybe the Monsignor should read this study which shows immigrants work hard and have good attitudes, as opposed to many native born people. Also, Monsignor, perhaps you should look at the latest hiring statistics. Poor or not, mugging a nun cannot be excused no matter how "desperate" they are.
....or a serious ass-whupping. Or both. Robbing a nun who was wearing her habit calls for serious punishment.
A beloved Brooklyn nun dressed in habit and veil was knocked down and mugged yesterday by a thug who made off with her rosary beads and about $60 ? and she already forgives her attacker.
"God forgives him. So do I," Sister Ngozi Ohaeri said at the St. Rita rectory in East New York.
Ohaeri, 41, was headed to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, where she volunteers as a nutritionist, at 5 a.m. when a man grabbed her bag and tossed her to the ground.
The crook swiped her bag, which had the cash and her rosary, and fled in a cohort's car waiting down the block.
Ohaeri, who suffered minor bruises and emotional trauma, said she begged her attacker to leave her alone.
"I was screaming at him, 'Get away from me. Don't touch me,' " Ohaeri said.
Out of desperation she told her assailant to take the cash but leave the rest.
And though she forgives, she won't forget.
"I am very upset with him," said the nun, who came to the United States from Nigeria in 1992 and has been at St. Rita for four years
Ohaeri was treated and released from Brookdale Hospital and spent the afternoon at the 75th Precinct flipping through books of mug shots.
The pastor of her church just doesn't get it though:
"She was very, very shook up," said St. Rita Monsignor John Peyton. "It's part of giving. You have to expect to suffer sometimes, too."
The pastor noted his area of Brooklyn is one of the city's most dangerous, and he doesn't believe the crooks had religious motives.
"They're so desperate for money, they'll do anything," he said. "People want work, but they just can't find it."
Maybe the Monsignor should read this study which shows immigrants work hard and have good attitudes, as opposed to many native born people. Also, Monsignor, perhaps you should look at the latest hiring statistics. Poor or not, mugging a nun cannot be excused no matter how "desperate" they are.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
The thin blue line gets thinner
A Long Island police officer is killed in the line of duty.
A retired NYPD lieutenant working as a Long Island bay constable was brutally gunned down yesterday by a man he had tried to pull over for drunken driving, who then ran his car over the officer several times after blowing him away, authorities said.
The slain officer, Richard Brooks, 40, was shot in the upscale Oak Beach section of Babylon, a ritzy community next to Robert Moses State Park in Suffolk County.
The suspect, Jim Wilson, 41, was shot by officers moments later when they were called to the scene.
The deadly drama unfolded around 3 p.m. when Brooks, a part-time constable who was driving in a marked car, tried to pull Wilson over for suspected drunken driving on the Robert Moses Causeway, said Suffolk Police Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick.
Wilson refused to stop and Brooks followed in hot pursuit.
The wild car chase ended moments later at Wilson's house at 79 Hawser Drive in the ritzy Oak Beach Association gated community.
Wilson ran inside his home as Brooks pulled his vehicle into the driveway and waited.
Brooks got out of the car and called for backup, unaware Wilson was pointing a 12-gauge shotgun at him from a second-story window.
Wilson fired from inside the house and Brooks was hit in the chest.
Wilson ran back downstairs, got back into his vehicle and ran over Brooks' body several times before fleeing the scene.
The police were able to shoot the culprit.
State parkway police officers, who were responding to Brooks' earlier radio call, encountered Wilson in his SUV about 1/2 mile away from Wilson's home.
One of the officers shot Wilson after he pointed the shotgun at them.
"They kept yelling at him over and over, 'Drop the gun, drop the gun,' " said witness Tom Canning. "That's when they shot him."
Brooks, who also worked as a volunteer with the Amityville Fire Department, was married with two children.
Rest in peace.
A Long Island police officer is killed in the line of duty.
A retired NYPD lieutenant working as a Long Island bay constable was brutally gunned down yesterday by a man he had tried to pull over for drunken driving, who then ran his car over the officer several times after blowing him away, authorities said.
The slain officer, Richard Brooks, 40, was shot in the upscale Oak Beach section of Babylon, a ritzy community next to Robert Moses State Park in Suffolk County.
The suspect, Jim Wilson, 41, was shot by officers moments later when they were called to the scene.
The deadly drama unfolded around 3 p.m. when Brooks, a part-time constable who was driving in a marked car, tried to pull Wilson over for suspected drunken driving on the Robert Moses Causeway, said Suffolk Police Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick.
Wilson refused to stop and Brooks followed in hot pursuit.
The wild car chase ended moments later at Wilson's house at 79 Hawser Drive in the ritzy Oak Beach Association gated community.
Wilson ran inside his home as Brooks pulled his vehicle into the driveway and waited.
Brooks got out of the car and called for backup, unaware Wilson was pointing a 12-gauge shotgun at him from a second-story window.
Wilson fired from inside the house and Brooks was hit in the chest.
Wilson ran back downstairs, got back into his vehicle and ran over Brooks' body several times before fleeing the scene.
The police were able to shoot the culprit.
State parkway police officers, who were responding to Brooks' earlier radio call, encountered Wilson in his SUV about 1/2 mile away from Wilson's home.
One of the officers shot Wilson after he pointed the shotgun at them.
"They kept yelling at him over and over, 'Drop the gun, drop the gun,' " said witness Tom Canning. "That's when they shot him."
Brooks, who also worked as a volunteer with the Amityville Fire Department, was married with two children.
Rest in peace.
Calling out the NAACP
The secretary of Education Rod Paige, a "lifelong member of the NAACP" criticizes the partisanship of the NAACP, in particular how they oppose meaningful educational reform.
Another idea that has been opposed in knee-jerk fashion is the No Child Left Behind Act. The law, passed in 2001 and one of the president's first priorities upon taking office, is improving the entire American school system and is giving parents whose children are trapped in underperforming schools not only hope, but options, such as free tutoring or transfer to a better public school. The NAACP's opposition to this law has left me scratching my head, given the civil-rights roots of the organization. Education is truly the civil-rights issue of the 21st century. If a child is denied a quality education, his or her future is dimmed by ignorance, indifference, callousness and disregard. Millions of children have been pushed through the school system in years past with little regard as to whether they have learned.
For minority students in particular, the denial of a quality education begins with what President Bush has termed the "soft bigotry of low expectations." Like Ralph Ellison's "invisible man," these children have been overlooked and thrust into the shadows. They supposedly cannot learn because they are too slow, come from disadvantaged homes, have the wrong skin color or are learning English. Excuses all.
School should be a leg up on life, which is why No Child Left Behind is designed to provide a quality education to all children, regardless of their race, spoken accent or street address. How a civil-rights organization could characterize NCLB as "disproportionately hurting" African-American children is mindboggling, since it is specifically designed to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.
By the time African-American students reach 8th grade, only 12% can read proficiently and only 7% are proficient in math. Or, as education researchers have put it, the average black high-school senior is leaving 12th grade with 8th-grade skills. We know they can learn. Now we must educate.
Although the NAACP says it is committed to erasing this pernicious achievement gap, has it put its money where its mouth is? No Child Left Behind is the most aggressive attempt to attack this problem to date, and it is the law. Yet, the NAACP would prefer to attack it merely because of its origins in the Bush administration. How sad for black children everywhere.
He pulls no punches, the rest of the article is just as good.
The secretary of Education Rod Paige, a "lifelong member of the NAACP" criticizes the partisanship of the NAACP, in particular how they oppose meaningful educational reform.
Another idea that has been opposed in knee-jerk fashion is the No Child Left Behind Act. The law, passed in 2001 and one of the president's first priorities upon taking office, is improving the entire American school system and is giving parents whose children are trapped in underperforming schools not only hope, but options, such as free tutoring or transfer to a better public school. The NAACP's opposition to this law has left me scratching my head, given the civil-rights roots of the organization. Education is truly the civil-rights issue of the 21st century. If a child is denied a quality education, his or her future is dimmed by ignorance, indifference, callousness and disregard. Millions of children have been pushed through the school system in years past with little regard as to whether they have learned.
For minority students in particular, the denial of a quality education begins with what President Bush has termed the "soft bigotry of low expectations." Like Ralph Ellison's "invisible man," these children have been overlooked and thrust into the shadows. They supposedly cannot learn because they are too slow, come from disadvantaged homes, have the wrong skin color or are learning English. Excuses all.
School should be a leg up on life, which is why No Child Left Behind is designed to provide a quality education to all children, regardless of their race, spoken accent or street address. How a civil-rights organization could characterize NCLB as "disproportionately hurting" African-American children is mindboggling, since it is specifically designed to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.
By the time African-American students reach 8th grade, only 12% can read proficiently and only 7% are proficient in math. Or, as education researchers have put it, the average black high-school senior is leaving 12th grade with 8th-grade skills. We know they can learn. Now we must educate.
Although the NAACP says it is committed to erasing this pernicious achievement gap, has it put its money where its mouth is? No Child Left Behind is the most aggressive attempt to attack this problem to date, and it is the law. Yet, the NAACP would prefer to attack it merely because of its origins in the Bush administration. How sad for black children everywhere.
He pulls no punches, the rest of the article is just as good.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Medal of Honor Winners against Kerry
21 Congressional Medal of Honor winners (the highest award for bravery) have signed an open letter criticizing Kerry.
Twenty-one Medal of Honor recipients have signed an open letter praising President Bush and criticizing Kerry, and sent it to veterans in West Virginia. The letter states:
Dear fellow Veterans in West Virginia:
We have listened to Senator Kerry falsely attack President Bush for months over funding for veterans, and it's time to set the record straight. The truth is President Bush has led the way on improving veterans? benefits, supporting our troops and restoring honor and dignity to the White House.
Since 2001, President Bush has increased veterans funding by over $20 billion, and funding for veterans' health care has increased by 40 percent since he took office. Funding for veterans has gone up twice as fast under President Bush as it did under President Clinton, and those who accuse the President of cutting funding are simply not being honest with veterans.
Meanwhile, John Kerry voted against a $1.3 billion increase in veterans health care, skipped votes on concurrent receipt and voted against funding for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. And while he talks a good game, Kerry's record shows he is out of the mainstream. The American Flag symbolizes our ideals, our history and our values. President Bush shares this belief and supports a Constitutional Amendment banning desecration of the Flag. John Kerry believes this is "an attack on free speech."
We are disturbed that John Kerry would try to scare veterans with his false accusations, and we are disappointed in his lack of support for today's troops. Please join us in setting the record straight and showing your support for President Bush ? a leader who has proven his support for those who have served, backs our troops defending our nation and shares our values.
21 Congressional Medal of Honor winners (the highest award for bravery) have signed an open letter criticizing Kerry.
Twenty-one Medal of Honor recipients have signed an open letter praising President Bush and criticizing Kerry, and sent it to veterans in West Virginia. The letter states:
Dear fellow Veterans in West Virginia:
We have listened to Senator Kerry falsely attack President Bush for months over funding for veterans, and it's time to set the record straight. The truth is President Bush has led the way on improving veterans? benefits, supporting our troops and restoring honor and dignity to the White House.
Since 2001, President Bush has increased veterans funding by over $20 billion, and funding for veterans' health care has increased by 40 percent since he took office. Funding for veterans has gone up twice as fast under President Bush as it did under President Clinton, and those who accuse the President of cutting funding are simply not being honest with veterans.
Meanwhile, John Kerry voted against a $1.3 billion increase in veterans health care, skipped votes on concurrent receipt and voted against funding for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. And while he talks a good game, Kerry's record shows he is out of the mainstream. The American Flag symbolizes our ideals, our history and our values. President Bush shares this belief and supports a Constitutional Amendment banning desecration of the Flag. John Kerry believes this is "an attack on free speech."
We are disturbed that John Kerry would try to scare veterans with his false accusations, and we are disappointed in his lack of support for today's troops. Please join us in setting the record straight and showing your support for President Bush ? a leader who has proven his support for those who have served, backs our troops defending our nation and shares our values.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
How to deal with the Paleswinians
This former deputy under Netanyahu has a solution: crush them.
That's right ? it is not the construction of a security fence, or restrictions on Palestinian workers, or even the assassination of Hamas leaders that is fueling the fire of anti-Semitic hatred, but Israel's ongoing failure to crush Palestinian terror once and for all.
Anti-Semites, like bullies everywhere, prey on those they perceive to be vulnerable and defenseless. A weak and conciliatory Jewish state is seen as representing Jews everywhere, no less than a strong and assertive Israel once did in the wake of the 1967 Six Day War.
WHEN PEOPLE see an Israel taking blow after blow from Palestinian terrorists over the past decade, and yet responding with proposals of retreat and surrender, the message is clear and unequivocal: Jews are feeble and fainthearted, so feel free to take your best shot at us, wherever we might be.
But the best answer to anti-Semitism remains an infusion of Jewish pride and the application of Jewish power. The rescue at Entebbe in 1976, the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981, are two illustrations of how a proud and self-confident people was once able to set such an example, dazzling the rest of the world in the process.
Of course we must continue educating, protesting and petitioning against anti-Semitism. All that is important. But the bottom line is that if we want the world to respect us, rather than disparage us, we have to work a little harder at it.
A good place to begin would be to stand up for ourselves, and for our Land, and start fighting back against those who would destroy us.
That also applies to us dealing with our foes. We never punished Iran for the hostages, or terrorists for Beirut, the Towers, the USS Cole or the first WTC bombing. We need to stomp them.
This former deputy under Netanyahu has a solution: crush them.
That's right ? it is not the construction of a security fence, or restrictions on Palestinian workers, or even the assassination of Hamas leaders that is fueling the fire of anti-Semitic hatred, but Israel's ongoing failure to crush Palestinian terror once and for all.
Anti-Semites, like bullies everywhere, prey on those they perceive to be vulnerable and defenseless. A weak and conciliatory Jewish state is seen as representing Jews everywhere, no less than a strong and assertive Israel once did in the wake of the 1967 Six Day War.
WHEN PEOPLE see an Israel taking blow after blow from Palestinian terrorists over the past decade, and yet responding with proposals of retreat and surrender, the message is clear and unequivocal: Jews are feeble and fainthearted, so feel free to take your best shot at us, wherever we might be.
But the best answer to anti-Semitism remains an infusion of Jewish pride and the application of Jewish power. The rescue at Entebbe in 1976, the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981, are two illustrations of how a proud and self-confident people was once able to set such an example, dazzling the rest of the world in the process.
Of course we must continue educating, protesting and petitioning against anti-Semitism. All that is important. But the bottom line is that if we want the world to respect us, rather than disparage us, we have to work a little harder at it.
A good place to begin would be to stand up for ourselves, and for our Land, and start fighting back against those who would destroy us.
That also applies to us dealing with our foes. We never punished Iran for the hostages, or terrorists for Beirut, the Towers, the USS Cole or the first WTC bombing. We need to stomp them.
Peaceful Religion Update
Sydney and other cities are being overwhelmed by muslim gangsters. Some samples of the article:
When searching the vehicle and finding stolen property from the break-and-enter, the police were physically threatened by the three occupants of the car, including references to tracking down where the officers lived, killing them and ?fucking your girlfriends?. The two officers were intimidated to the point of retreating to their police car and calling for urgent assistance. When police back-up arrived, the three occupants called their associates via their mobile phones, which incidentally is the Middle Eastern radio network used to communicate amongst gangs. Within minutes as many as twenty associates arrived as well as another forty or so from the street where they had been stopped. As further police cars arrived, the Middle Eastern males became even more aggressive, throwing punches at police, pushing police over onto the ground, threatening them with violence and damaging police vehicles.
But the humiliation did not end there. The group of Middle Eastern males then drove to the police station, where they intimidated the station staff, damaged property and virtually held a suburban police station hostage. The police were powerless. The duty officer ordered police not to confront the offenders but to call for back-up from nearby stations. Eventually the offenders left of their own volition. No action was taken against them.
It's not just police they are terrorizing:
The Middle Eastern cycle of violence is not local. It can occur on the central coast, around Cronulla, Bondi, Darling Harbour, Five Dock, Redfern, Paddington, anywhere in Sydney. Unlike their Vietnamese counterparts, they roam the city and are not confined to either Cabramatta or Chinatown. And even more alarming is that the violence is directed mainly against young Australian men and women. There is a clear and definite link between violent attacks on our young men and women being racial as well as criminal. Quite often when taking statements from young men attacked by groups of Lebanese males around Darling Harbour, a common theme has been the racially motivated violence against the victims simply because they are Australian.
They are starting to fear a repeat of the situation in France:
MANY OF YOU would have heard of the horrific problems in France with the outbreak of unprecedented crimes amongst an estimated five million Muslim immigrants. Middle Eastern males now make up 45,000 of the 90,000 inmates in French prisons. There are no-go areas in Paris for police and citizens alike. The rule of law has broken down so badly that when police went to one of these areas recently to round up three Islamic terrorists, they went in armoured vehicles, with heavy weaponry and over 1000 armed officers, just to arrest a few suspects. Why did it need such numbers? Because the threat of terrorist reprisal was minimal compared to the anticipated revolt by thousands of Middle Eastern and North African residents who have no respect for the rule of law in France and consider intrusions by police and authority a declaration of war.
The problems in Paris in Muslim communities are being replicated here in Sydney at an alarming rate. Paris has seen an explosion of rapes committed by Middle Eastern males on French women in the past fifteen years. The rapes are almost identical to those in Sydney. They are not only committed for sexual gratification but also with deep racial undertones along with threats of violence and retribution. What is more alarming is the identical reaction by some sections of the media and criminologists in France of downplaying the significance of race as an issue and even ganging up on those people who try to draw attention to the widening gulf between Middle Eastern youth and the rest of French society.
Yep, it sure is "the religion of peace."
Sydney and other cities are being overwhelmed by muslim gangsters. Some samples of the article:
When searching the vehicle and finding stolen property from the break-and-enter, the police were physically threatened by the three occupants of the car, including references to tracking down where the officers lived, killing them and ?fucking your girlfriends?. The two officers were intimidated to the point of retreating to their police car and calling for urgent assistance. When police back-up arrived, the three occupants called their associates via their mobile phones, which incidentally is the Middle Eastern radio network used to communicate amongst gangs. Within minutes as many as twenty associates arrived as well as another forty or so from the street where they had been stopped. As further police cars arrived, the Middle Eastern males became even more aggressive, throwing punches at police, pushing police over onto the ground, threatening them with violence and damaging police vehicles.
But the humiliation did not end there. The group of Middle Eastern males then drove to the police station, where they intimidated the station staff, damaged property and virtually held a suburban police station hostage. The police were powerless. The duty officer ordered police not to confront the offenders but to call for back-up from nearby stations. Eventually the offenders left of their own volition. No action was taken against them.
It's not just police they are terrorizing:
The Middle Eastern cycle of violence is not local. It can occur on the central coast, around Cronulla, Bondi, Darling Harbour, Five Dock, Redfern, Paddington, anywhere in Sydney. Unlike their Vietnamese counterparts, they roam the city and are not confined to either Cabramatta or Chinatown. And even more alarming is that the violence is directed mainly against young Australian men and women. There is a clear and definite link between violent attacks on our young men and women being racial as well as criminal. Quite often when taking statements from young men attacked by groups of Lebanese males around Darling Harbour, a common theme has been the racially motivated violence against the victims simply because they are Australian.
They are starting to fear a repeat of the situation in France:
MANY OF YOU would have heard of the horrific problems in France with the outbreak of unprecedented crimes amongst an estimated five million Muslim immigrants. Middle Eastern males now make up 45,000 of the 90,000 inmates in French prisons. There are no-go areas in Paris for police and citizens alike. The rule of law has broken down so badly that when police went to one of these areas recently to round up three Islamic terrorists, they went in armoured vehicles, with heavy weaponry and over 1000 armed officers, just to arrest a few suspects. Why did it need such numbers? Because the threat of terrorist reprisal was minimal compared to the anticipated revolt by thousands of Middle Eastern and North African residents who have no respect for the rule of law in France and consider intrusions by police and authority a declaration of war.
The problems in Paris in Muslim communities are being replicated here in Sydney at an alarming rate. Paris has seen an explosion of rapes committed by Middle Eastern males on French women in the past fifteen years. The rapes are almost identical to those in Sydney. They are not only committed for sexual gratification but also with deep racial undertones along with threats of violence and retribution. What is more alarming is the identical reaction by some sections of the media and criminologists in France of downplaying the significance of race as an issue and even ganging up on those people who try to draw attention to the widening gulf between Middle Eastern youth and the rest of French society.
Yep, it sure is "the religion of peace."
Summer camp of Hate
For those who STILL think that the Paleswinians can be reasoned with, I present you this story.
JERUSALEM ? Palestinian terror thugs are running a kiddie summer camp touting a chilling new feature ? live performances of mock kidnap-slayings of Jews.
As kids as young as 10 don military fatigues and struggle to tote AK-47 assault rifles nearly as big as they are, sicko teachers can be seen in video footage staging the roadside abduction of an "Israeli" wearing glasses and a yarmulke. The "settler" is then to be killed, the teachers tell their young pupils.
The deranged organizers of the camp boast that dozens of kids are flocking to their outdoor classrooms ? and more than half are under age 15. Lessons for the tykes include instruction on how to assemble explosives and fire automatic rifles.
The eager kids also must complete an obstacle course that includes jumping through burning tires and crawling under barbed wire, as shots are fired above their heads.
But the entire course is designed to lead up to the grand finale: the mock staging of the deadly kidnapping of the "settler."
A guide at the camp in the Nuseirat refugee camp near Gaza City said the children learn "the art of war and the jihad."
The sickening footage of the camp aired last night on television news services in Israeli, Saudi Arabia and Great Britain.
Some of the rabid youngsters said they couldn't get enough of the pretend killing. One pint-sized recruit named Mustafa, 10, said he hoped to one day soon destroy Israeli aircraft and tanks.
The Nuseirat camp is being run by the "Popular Resistance Committees," which killed three Americans in the Gaza.
Up to 150 kids are enrolled in that one camp alone, the report said. The children usually stay two to three weeks.
Unleash the hounds of hell on them.
For those who STILL think that the Paleswinians can be reasoned with, I present you this story.
JERUSALEM ? Palestinian terror thugs are running a kiddie summer camp touting a chilling new feature ? live performances of mock kidnap-slayings of Jews.
As kids as young as 10 don military fatigues and struggle to tote AK-47 assault rifles nearly as big as they are, sicko teachers can be seen in video footage staging the roadside abduction of an "Israeli" wearing glasses and a yarmulke. The "settler" is then to be killed, the teachers tell their young pupils.
The deranged organizers of the camp boast that dozens of kids are flocking to their outdoor classrooms ? and more than half are under age 15. Lessons for the tykes include instruction on how to assemble explosives and fire automatic rifles.
The eager kids also must complete an obstacle course that includes jumping through burning tires and crawling under barbed wire, as shots are fired above their heads.
But the entire course is designed to lead up to the grand finale: the mock staging of the deadly kidnapping of the "settler."
A guide at the camp in the Nuseirat refugee camp near Gaza City said the children learn "the art of war and the jihad."
The sickening footage of the camp aired last night on television news services in Israeli, Saudi Arabia and Great Britain.
Some of the rabid youngsters said they couldn't get enough of the pretend killing. One pint-sized recruit named Mustafa, 10, said he hoped to one day soon destroy Israeli aircraft and tanks.
The Nuseirat camp is being run by the "Popular Resistance Committees," which killed three Americans in the Gaza.
Up to 150 kids are enrolled in that one camp alone, the report said. The children usually stay two to three weeks.
Unleash the hounds of hell on them.
"Heart and Soul of our Country"
Bush lashed out at Kerry for calling vulgar Hollywood elites "the heart and soul of our country".
President Bush yesterday tagged rival John Kerry as an "out-of-the-mainstream" Hollywood liberal by pointing to last week's New York fund-raiser in which Whoopi Goldberg reeled off an X-rated Bush-bashing rant.
"The other day my opponent said, when he was with some entertainers from Hollywood, that they were the heart and soul of America," Bush told crowds in the Democratic but socially conservative towns of Marquette, Mich., and Duluth.
"I believe the heart and soul of America is found in places right here," Bush added to cheers from two giant crowds as he sought to move the values debate to the center of the race.
The people in attendance were in agreement:
Up at the top of the stands of a Marquette stadium stood four kids proudly holding a long white banner with red and blue letters that proclaimed: "We are the heart and soul of America."
Kathleen Erikson, 57, said she was so angry at Kerry's claim that "those type of people" are America's soul that she made the banner.
For those who wonder what she means, let me refresh your memory:
Last Thursday, Goldberg led the way in crude Bush- bashing at a $7.5million Kerry fund-raiser by reeling off vulgar sexual word-plays on Bush's name while other performers blasted him as a killer and "cheap thug."
Right afterward, Kerry got up on the stage at Radio City Music Hall and said all the performers showed "the heart and soul of our country." The Duluth Superior newspaper yesterday called on Kerry to apologize.
I feel for these folks, as like many others they have not left the democrat party so much as it has left them.
Bush lashed out at Kerry for calling vulgar Hollywood elites "the heart and soul of our country".
President Bush yesterday tagged rival John Kerry as an "out-of-the-mainstream" Hollywood liberal by pointing to last week's New York fund-raiser in which Whoopi Goldberg reeled off an X-rated Bush-bashing rant.
"The other day my opponent said, when he was with some entertainers from Hollywood, that they were the heart and soul of America," Bush told crowds in the Democratic but socially conservative towns of Marquette, Mich., and Duluth.
"I believe the heart and soul of America is found in places right here," Bush added to cheers from two giant crowds as he sought to move the values debate to the center of the race.
The people in attendance were in agreement:
Up at the top of the stands of a Marquette stadium stood four kids proudly holding a long white banner with red and blue letters that proclaimed: "We are the heart and soul of America."
Kathleen Erikson, 57, said she was so angry at Kerry's claim that "those type of people" are America's soul that she made the banner.
For those who wonder what she means, let me refresh your memory:
Last Thursday, Goldberg led the way in crude Bush- bashing at a $7.5million Kerry fund-raiser by reeling off vulgar sexual word-plays on Bush's name while other performers blasted him as a killer and "cheap thug."
Right afterward, Kerry got up on the stage at Radio City Music Hall and said all the performers showed "the heart and soul of our country." The Duluth Superior newspaper yesterday called on Kerry to apologize.
I feel for these folks, as like many others they have not left the democrat party so much as it has left them.
Wictory Wednesday
Al Gore called us a bunch of "digital brownshirts," so let's not make a liar out of him (for once). It's not just Wednesday, it's Wictory Wednesday, the day of the week where us Bush supporters in Blogdom do our best to get out the support for the reelection of George Bush. How can you help? You can volunteer or donate and join these other bloggers and me in doing our part:
Al Gore called us a bunch of "digital brownshirts," so let's not make a liar out of him (for once). It's not just Wednesday, it's Wictory Wednesday, the day of the week where us Bush supporters in Blogdom do our best to get out the support for the reelection of George Bush. How can you help? You can volunteer or donate and join these other bloggers and me in doing our part:
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Another black eye for the Archdiocese of NY
Not that I have any faith in Cardinal Egan to do anything about it, but a Monsignor is accused of swindling $500,000 from an elderly parishioner.
The monsignor of an East Side Catholic church swindled an elderly parishioner out of $500,000 - including $100,000 that he used to buy a luxury condo on the Jersey Shore, an explosive lawsuit charges.
Monsignor John Woolsey allegedly betrayed the trust of Rose Cale, who died last year at the age of 88.
Now the executor of her estate, family friend Janet Naegele, has filed suit against the Archdiocese of New York and the pastor of St. John the Martyr Church over Woolsey's "unconscionable and reprehensible conduct" in draining the devout Catholic's life savings.
Woolsey, "in his capacity as a respected and trusted spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, induced Rose Cale . . . to give him over $490,000 in cash and stocks during the course of three years," and "misappropriated for his own 'personal use' a portion of the $241,500 in charitable donations" she made directly to St. John the Martyr Church, the Manhattan Supreme Court suit says.
"Woolsey exercised undue influence on Miss Cale and was able to manipulate her to his personal gain," the suit says.
When representatives of Cale's estate confronted archdiocese officials about the pastor's alleged wrongdoing, the archdiocese told them that Woolsey was "an independent contractor," the suit says.
It figures, Cardinal Egan has shown an inability to protect Catholic youth, now we see he is unable or unwilling to protect the elderly members of Mother Church.
Not that I have any faith in Cardinal Egan to do anything about it, but a Monsignor is accused of swindling $500,000 from an elderly parishioner.
The monsignor of an East Side Catholic church swindled an elderly parishioner out of $500,000 - including $100,000 that he used to buy a luxury condo on the Jersey Shore, an explosive lawsuit charges.
Monsignor John Woolsey allegedly betrayed the trust of Rose Cale, who died last year at the age of 88.
Now the executor of her estate, family friend Janet Naegele, has filed suit against the Archdiocese of New York and the pastor of St. John the Martyr Church over Woolsey's "unconscionable and reprehensible conduct" in draining the devout Catholic's life savings.
Woolsey, "in his capacity as a respected and trusted spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, induced Rose Cale . . . to give him over $490,000 in cash and stocks during the course of three years," and "misappropriated for his own 'personal use' a portion of the $241,500 in charitable donations" she made directly to St. John the Martyr Church, the Manhattan Supreme Court suit says.
"Woolsey exercised undue influence on Miss Cale and was able to manipulate her to his personal gain," the suit says.
When representatives of Cale's estate confronted archdiocese officials about the pastor's alleged wrongdoing, the archdiocese told them that Woolsey was "an independent contractor," the suit says.
It figures, Cardinal Egan has shown an inability to protect Catholic youth, now we see he is unable or unwilling to protect the elderly members of Mother Church.
In support of the Israeli security wall
Benjamin Netanyahu has an op-ed in the NY Times stating quite eloquently the need for the security fence. His conclusion is spot on:
Instead of placing Palestinian terrorists and those who send them on trial, the United Nations-sponsored international court placed the Jewish state in the dock, on the charge that Israel is harming the Palestinians' quality of life. But saving lives is more important than preserving the quality of life. Quality of life is always amenable to improvement. Death is permanent. The Palestinians complain that their children are late to school because of the fence. But too many of our children never get to school ? they are blown to pieces by terrorists who pass into Israel where there is still no fence.
In the last four years, Palestinian terrorists have attacked Israel's buses, cafes, discos and pizza shops, murdering 1,000 of our citizens. Despite this unprecedented savagery, the court's 60-page opinion mentions terrorism only twice, and only in citations of Israel's own position on the fence. Because the court's decision makes a mockery of Israel's right to defend itself, the government of Israel will ignore it. Israel will never sacrifice Jewish life on the debased altar of "international justice."
Benjamin Netanyahu has an op-ed in the NY Times stating quite eloquently the need for the security fence. His conclusion is spot on:
Instead of placing Palestinian terrorists and those who send them on trial, the United Nations-sponsored international court placed the Jewish state in the dock, on the charge that Israel is harming the Palestinians' quality of life. But saving lives is more important than preserving the quality of life. Quality of life is always amenable to improvement. Death is permanent. The Palestinians complain that their children are late to school because of the fence. But too many of our children never get to school ? they are blown to pieces by terrorists who pass into Israel where there is still no fence.
In the last four years, Palestinian terrorists have attacked Israel's buses, cafes, discos and pizza shops, murdering 1,000 of our citizens. Despite this unprecedented savagery, the court's 60-page opinion mentions terrorism only twice, and only in citations of Israel's own position on the fence. Because the court's decision makes a mockery of Israel's right to defend itself, the government of Israel will ignore it. Israel will never sacrifice Jewish life on the debased altar of "international justice."
Monday, July 12, 2004
Religion of Peace Update
Muslim guerillas in Kashmir commit atrocities.
Guerrillas on Monday chopped off the ears, nose and tongue of a teenage girl they suspected of helping police, while at least nine other people were killed in separate violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The girl was held captive for eight days before the rebels abandoned her in a field outside the village of Manoh, 190 miles southwest of Srinagar, the capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, police said.
Also, five schoolchildren ? riding a bus to a school picnic ? were wounded in crossfire between Indian soldiers and suspected rebels who attacked an army convoy on a highway outside Srinagar, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Mukhtiar Singh said. Three soldiers also were wounded.
Muslim guerillas in Kashmir commit atrocities.
Guerrillas on Monday chopped off the ears, nose and tongue of a teenage girl they suspected of helping police, while at least nine other people were killed in separate violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The girl was held captive for eight days before the rebels abandoned her in a field outside the village of Manoh, 190 miles southwest of Srinagar, the capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, police said.
Also, five schoolchildren ? riding a bus to a school picnic ? were wounded in crossfire between Indian soldiers and suspected rebels who attacked an army convoy on a highway outside Srinagar, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Mukhtiar Singh said. Three soldiers also were wounded.
America's Top 40: 40 reasons to vote for Bush
Courtesy of Right Wing News are the top 40 reasons to vote against Kerry and for Bush. A sampling:
1) "John Kerry. In his 20 years in the Senate, he's been a standard-issue Massachusetts liberal, with a lifetime rating from Americans for Democratic Action of 93 on their 0-100 scale. By contrast, the other Senator from the Bay State, Teddy Kennedy, has a lifetime rating of 88. "That makes Kennedy the conservative of the two," chortled Republican National Chairman Ed Gillespie as he visited New Hampshire last week on an anti-Democratic strafing run." -- James Pinkerton, 1/26/04
3) John Kerry's official blog links to the Democratic Underground, a left-wing website with very popular forums that is often quoted from by conservative bloggers and radio hosts because it's such a cesspool of lunacy. If you're looking for people who think Americans are just as bad as Al-Qaeda, the US Gov't had Nick Berg killed, or just a little America trashing, there's no better place on the internet to go than the Democratic Underground. In fact, just to give you a better idea of what it's like, here's the #1 quote from The 10 Worst Quotes From The Democratic Underground For 2003...
"I realize that not every GI Joe was 100peeercent behind Prseeedent Booosh going into this war; but I do know that that is what an overwhelming number of them and their famlies screamed in the face of protesters who were trying to protect these kids. Well, there is more than one way to be "dead" for your country. They are not only not accompishing squat in Iraq, they are doing crap nothing for the safety, defense of the US of A over there directly. But "indirectly" they are doing a lot.
The only way to get rid of this slime bag WASP-Mafia, oil barron ridden cartel of a government, this assault on Americans and anything one could laughingly call "a democracy", relies heavily on what a sh*t hole Iraq turns into. They need to die so that we can be free. Soldiers usually did that directly--i.e., fight those invading and harming a country. This time they need to die in defense of a lie from a lying adminstration to show these ignorant, dumb Americans that Bush is incompetent. They need to die so that Americans get rid of this deadly scum. It is obscene, Barbie Bush, how other sons (of much nobler blood) have to die to save us from your Rosemary's Baby spawn and his ungodly cohorts." -- Starpass
If John Kerry thinks it's appropriate to link a website where those sort of views are expressed, is he fit to be President?
4) Do you want to allow the United Nations to control where American troops are sent? John Kerry said he did...
"I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations." -- John Kerry, 1970
6) George Bush is a strong supporter of a Federal Marriage Amendment which is the only way to stop liberal judges from imposing gay marriage on the states against the wishes of the voters and State Legislatures.
7) If you believe it's important to increase funding for education, "President Bush's overall Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 budget represents a 49% increase for elementary and secondary education since FY 2001".
8) George Bush is a staunch supporter of the pro-life movement and signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban into effect.
9) A rudimentary nuclear missile defense system will for the first time go online later this year thanks to George Bush.
10) George Bush's five-year, $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is the most significant strike against the spread of AIDS/HIV in the history of mankind.
11) "...Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president's hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn. He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke:
This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11."
Bush stopped and turned back.
"He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man," Faulkner said. "He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest."
Faulkner snapped one frame with his camera.
"I could hear her say, 'I'm OK,' " he said. "That's more emotion than she has shown in 21/2 years. Then he said, 'I can see you have a father who loves you very much.' "
"And I said, 'I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.' It was a special moment."
Special for Lynn Faulkner because the Golden Lamb was the place he and his wife, Wendy Faulkner, celebrated their anniversary every year until she died in the south tower of the World Trade Center, where she had traveled for business.
..."The way he was holding me, with my head against his chest, it felt like he was trying to protect me," Ashley said. "I thought, 'Here is the most powerful guy in the world, and he wants to make sure I'm safe.' I definitely had a couple of tears in my eyes, which is pretty unusual for me." -- More stories like this here
12) John Kerry missed 64% of his votes in the Senate last year and has missed more than 80% of them this year. If John Kerry isn't bothering to do the job he has, wouldn't it be a mistake to give him a promotion?
13) John Kerry claims to believe that life begins at conception. Yet, he voted against bills that would have banned partial birth abortion 6 times and he "also voted three times against bills requiring parental consent or notification for a minor to get an abortion. He also opposed making it a federal crime for anyone other than a parent to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion." Kerry also usually receives a 100-percent rating from pro-abortion groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood while the National Right to Life Committee regularly scores him at 0-percent. (Source: Peter Kirasow)
16) John Kerry publicly supported a 50 cent gas increase.
17) Kerry did, in fact, vote over 350 times for higher taxes.
23) In Afghanistan, we were told going in that the war would be long, difficult, and perhaps even unwinnable. A lesser man than George Bush might have gotten weak kneed at the prospect of sending our troops into a "mountainous Vietnam" and found some sort of excuse not to go. But, not only did we take the fight to our enemies in Afghanistan, we bombed Al-Qaeda's camps, decimated the Taliban, drove them out of power in less than two months, and sent our enemies running to Pakistan and remote caves on the Afghan border, where they live even today as hunted men. This is even more impressive than it sounds since our defeatist press was crying "quagmire" & "Vietnam" as we bombed our enemies into oblivion.
30) "There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50 calibre machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare, all of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this is ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down." -- John Kerry, April 18, 1971
31) "(Kerry) encouraged our enemies to rebuild and hang on when they were near defeat, as they were after the Tet offensive in 1968. Did you know our POWs had John Kerry's words quoted to them by their interrogators?" -- Retired U.S. Navy SEAL captain with service in Vietnam, John Bailey
32) "John Kerry's recent admissions caused me to realize that I was most likely in Vietnam dodging enemy rockets on the very day he met in Paris with Madame Binh, the representative of the Viet Cong to the Paris Peace Conference. John Kerry returned to the U.S. to become a national spokesperson for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, a radical fringe of the antiwar movement, an organization set upon propagating the myth of war crimes through demonstrably false assertions. Who was the last American POW to die languishing in a North Vietnamese prison forced to listen to the recorded voice of John Kerry disgracing their service by his dishonest testimony before the Senate?" -- John O'Neil in May, 2004
33) "Hundreds of former commanders and military colleagues of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry are set to declare in a signed letter that he is "unfit to be commander-in-chief." They will do so at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.
"What is going to happen on Tuesday is an event that is really historical in dimension," John O'Neill, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy as a PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) boat commander, told CNSNews.com. The event, which is expected to draw about 25 of the letter-signers, is being organized by a newly formed group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
"We have 19 of 23 officers who served with [Kerry]. We have every commanding officer he ever had in Vietnam. They all signed a letter that says he is unfit to be commander-in-chief," O'Neill said." -- Every commanding officer John Kerry had in Vietnam says he is unfit to be President
38) "Running For Senate In 1984, Kerry Called For Cancellation Of At Least 27 Weapons Systems And Reductions In 18 Other Systems. ?[Kerry] recommended cancellation of 27 weapons systems including the B1 bomber, the cruise missile, MX missile, Trident submarine, Patriot air defense missile, F15 fighter plane, Sparrow missile, stealth bomber and Pershing II missile. He recommended reductions in 18 other systems including the joint tactical air system, the Bradley fighting vehicle, the M1 Abrams tank and the F16 fighter plane." -- RNC Research
39) Is this the picture (and yes, this is a real pic) of a man you can trust to lead the free world in the war against terrorism?
40) "In 1994, Kerry proposed an amendment to gut the Intelligence Budget by $6 billion across the board. The amendment cut $1 billion from FY 1994 and $5 billion for FY 1995 through 1998". -- RNC
Courtesy of Right Wing News are the top 40 reasons to vote against Kerry and for Bush. A sampling:
1) "John Kerry. In his 20 years in the Senate, he's been a standard-issue Massachusetts liberal, with a lifetime rating from Americans for Democratic Action of 93 on their 0-100 scale. By contrast, the other Senator from the Bay State, Teddy Kennedy, has a lifetime rating of 88. "That makes Kennedy the conservative of the two," chortled Republican National Chairman Ed Gillespie as he visited New Hampshire last week on an anti-Democratic strafing run." -- James Pinkerton, 1/26/04
3) John Kerry's official blog links to the Democratic Underground, a left-wing website with very popular forums that is often quoted from by conservative bloggers and radio hosts because it's such a cesspool of lunacy. If you're looking for people who think Americans are just as bad as Al-Qaeda, the US Gov't had Nick Berg killed, or just a little America trashing, there's no better place on the internet to go than the Democratic Underground. In fact, just to give you a better idea of what it's like, here's the #1 quote from The 10 Worst Quotes From The Democratic Underground For 2003...
"I realize that not every GI Joe was 100peeercent behind Prseeedent Booosh going into this war; but I do know that that is what an overwhelming number of them and their famlies screamed in the face of protesters who were trying to protect these kids. Well, there is more than one way to be "dead" for your country. They are not only not accompishing squat in Iraq, they are doing crap nothing for the safety, defense of the US of A over there directly. But "indirectly" they are doing a lot.
The only way to get rid of this slime bag WASP-Mafia, oil barron ridden cartel of a government, this assault on Americans and anything one could laughingly call "a democracy", relies heavily on what a sh*t hole Iraq turns into. They need to die so that we can be free. Soldiers usually did that directly--i.e., fight those invading and harming a country. This time they need to die in defense of a lie from a lying adminstration to show these ignorant, dumb Americans that Bush is incompetent. They need to die so that Americans get rid of this deadly scum. It is obscene, Barbie Bush, how other sons (of much nobler blood) have to die to save us from your Rosemary's Baby spawn and his ungodly cohorts." -- Starpass
If John Kerry thinks it's appropriate to link a website where those sort of views are expressed, is he fit to be President?
4) Do you want to allow the United Nations to control where American troops are sent? John Kerry said he did...
"I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations." -- John Kerry, 1970
6) George Bush is a strong supporter of a Federal Marriage Amendment which is the only way to stop liberal judges from imposing gay marriage on the states against the wishes of the voters and State Legislatures.
7) If you believe it's important to increase funding for education, "President Bush's overall Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 budget represents a 49% increase for elementary and secondary education since FY 2001".
8) George Bush is a staunch supporter of the pro-life movement and signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban into effect.
9) A rudimentary nuclear missile defense system will for the first time go online later this year thanks to George Bush.
10) George Bush's five-year, $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is the most significant strike against the spread of AIDS/HIV in the history of mankind.
11) "...Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president's hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn. He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke:
This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11."
Bush stopped and turned back.
"He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man," Faulkner said. "He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest."
Faulkner snapped one frame with his camera.
"I could hear her say, 'I'm OK,' " he said. "That's more emotion than she has shown in 21/2 years. Then he said, 'I can see you have a father who loves you very much.' "
"And I said, 'I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.' It was a special moment."
Special for Lynn Faulkner because the Golden Lamb was the place he and his wife, Wendy Faulkner, celebrated their anniversary every year until she died in the south tower of the World Trade Center, where she had traveled for business.
..."The way he was holding me, with my head against his chest, it felt like he was trying to protect me," Ashley said. "I thought, 'Here is the most powerful guy in the world, and he wants to make sure I'm safe.' I definitely had a couple of tears in my eyes, which is pretty unusual for me." -- More stories like this here
12) John Kerry missed 64% of his votes in the Senate last year and has missed more than 80% of them this year. If John Kerry isn't bothering to do the job he has, wouldn't it be a mistake to give him a promotion?
13) John Kerry claims to believe that life begins at conception. Yet, he voted against bills that would have banned partial birth abortion 6 times and he "also voted three times against bills requiring parental consent or notification for a minor to get an abortion. He also opposed making it a federal crime for anyone other than a parent to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion." Kerry also usually receives a 100-percent rating from pro-abortion groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood while the National Right to Life Committee regularly scores him at 0-percent. (Source: Peter Kirasow)
16) John Kerry publicly supported a 50 cent gas increase.
17) Kerry did, in fact, vote over 350 times for higher taxes.
23) In Afghanistan, we were told going in that the war would be long, difficult, and perhaps even unwinnable. A lesser man than George Bush might have gotten weak kneed at the prospect of sending our troops into a "mountainous Vietnam" and found some sort of excuse not to go. But, not only did we take the fight to our enemies in Afghanistan, we bombed Al-Qaeda's camps, decimated the Taliban, drove them out of power in less than two months, and sent our enemies running to Pakistan and remote caves on the Afghan border, where they live even today as hunted men. This is even more impressive than it sounds since our defeatist press was crying "quagmire" & "Vietnam" as we bombed our enemies into oblivion.
30) "There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50 calibre machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare, all of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this is ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down." -- John Kerry, April 18, 1971
31) "(Kerry) encouraged our enemies to rebuild and hang on when they were near defeat, as they were after the Tet offensive in 1968. Did you know our POWs had John Kerry's words quoted to them by their interrogators?" -- Retired U.S. Navy SEAL captain with service in Vietnam, John Bailey
32) "John Kerry's recent admissions caused me to realize that I was most likely in Vietnam dodging enemy rockets on the very day he met in Paris with Madame Binh, the representative of the Viet Cong to the Paris Peace Conference. John Kerry returned to the U.S. to become a national spokesperson for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, a radical fringe of the antiwar movement, an organization set upon propagating the myth of war crimes through demonstrably false assertions. Who was the last American POW to die languishing in a North Vietnamese prison forced to listen to the recorded voice of John Kerry disgracing their service by his dishonest testimony before the Senate?" -- John O'Neil in May, 2004
33) "Hundreds of former commanders and military colleagues of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry are set to declare in a signed letter that he is "unfit to be commander-in-chief." They will do so at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.
"What is going to happen on Tuesday is an event that is really historical in dimension," John O'Neill, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy as a PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) boat commander, told CNSNews.com. The event, which is expected to draw about 25 of the letter-signers, is being organized by a newly formed group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
"We have 19 of 23 officers who served with [Kerry]. We have every commanding officer he ever had in Vietnam. They all signed a letter that says he is unfit to be commander-in-chief," O'Neill said." -- Every commanding officer John Kerry had in Vietnam says he is unfit to be President
38) "Running For Senate In 1984, Kerry Called For Cancellation Of At Least 27 Weapons Systems And Reductions In 18 Other Systems. ?[Kerry] recommended cancellation of 27 weapons systems including the B1 bomber, the cruise missile, MX missile, Trident submarine, Patriot air defense missile, F15 fighter plane, Sparrow missile, stealth bomber and Pershing II missile. He recommended reductions in 18 other systems including the joint tactical air system, the Bradley fighting vehicle, the M1 Abrams tank and the F16 fighter plane." -- RNC Research
39) Is this the picture (and yes, this is a real pic) of a man you can trust to lead the free world in the war against terrorism?
40) "In 1994, Kerry proposed an amendment to gut the Intelligence Budget by $6 billion across the board. The amendment cut $1 billion from FY 1994 and $5 billion for FY 1995 through 1998". -- RNC
The dangerous left
The radicals on the left are planning for serious violence and mayhem in New York during the Republican Convention.
Fringe elements are hoping to spark major disruptions at the Republican National Convention with a series of sneaky tricks - including fooling bomb-sniffing dogs on trains bound for Penn Station, the Daily News has learned.
Internet-using anarchists are telling would-be troublemakers to decoy specially trained Labrador retrievers with gunpowder or ammonium nitrate-laced tablets in a bid to halt trains or even spur the evacuation of Madison Square Garden.
Top cops are girding against the attempt to foil strong anti-terrorist strategies aimed at protecting conventiongoers - including President Bush - as well as peaceful protesters during the Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 GOP fete.
"Where is the legitimate protest in trying to endanger the public?" an angry ÂPolice Commissioner Raymond Kelly told The News.
"It is the height of irresponsibility," he added. "These hard-core groups are looking to take us on. ... They have increased their level of sophistication and violence."
Here are some more details:
The dog decoy ploy is the among most insidious in the fringe groups' bag of tricks - which includes throwing marbles under the hooves of police horses and using slingshots to pelt the animals.
"They're trying to use up our resources with false alarms. ... The sensitive dogs would become burned out with too many alerts," said a police source.
Preliminary plans call for state and city cops with the dogs and hand-held chemical detection devices to board commuter and subway trains one stop before they reach Penn Station, under the Garden.
The trains will be swept for suspicious packages and terror suspects before being allowed to continue into the station - the country's busiest, with about 600,000 passengers on a regular workday.
"We're going to make certain there is absolutely no disruption of the train," Kelly said in announcing the procedures on April 28.
Two days later, an Internet posting detailed how to stoke disorder by miscuing the bomb dogs.
The posting instructed people to "go to a rifle, pistol or skeet shooting range, spend an hour shooting to saturate clothing with smell of gunpowder, go directly to a New Jersey Transit, LIRR or subway train headed for Penn Station.
"Try to have at least two people on a train in different locations, sit or stand near the doors as the train approaches the station, try to get near police and dogs, loiter as long as possible around the dog, try to pet it if possible.
"If the dog alerts on your scent, do not leave or resist; the situation will cause a major disruption of the train schedule. ... If there is more than one person on the train that causes a dog to alert, you can bet that the train will not be going anywhere for a long time ... neither will any trains behind it."
The message instructs to "Play dumb for as long as possible" before telling the police you unwittingly got the gunpowder on your clothes at a shooting range. "It is important that the police call in all possible resources to investigate the situation. ... With any luck, Madison Square Garden will be evacuated."
"Rush hours are ideal, the final night of the convention, very good, too," the posting said.
After being alerted to the gunpowder posting, investigators uncovered Internet mentions of dispersing traces of ammonium nitrate on the trains.
Ammonium nitrate is one of the most common farm fertilizers in the world. The dogs are trained to detect the fertilizer because it has been used in major bombings, from the 1993 World Trade Center attack to Oklahoma City to Bali, Indonesia.
The NYPD also is preparing for possible "Black Bloc" tactics by small groups of anarchists, in which demonstrators wear black clothing and bandannas over their faces - and wield pipes, bottles and commit acts of vandalism against corporate "enemies" such as the Gap, Starbucks and McDonald's.
Cops have been trained to isolate violent individuals among peaceful protesters, and will employ an 1845 law that prohibits people from wearing masks in street gatherings, except for masquerades.
The cowardly goons are going to realize that unlike Quebec, Genoa, or Seattle, the NYPD is a force that will stop them. These are not cops that will roll over and let New York burn. NY's finest face some of the worst drug dealers, gangs, housing projects and other threats, they will not be threatened by some pimply faced radical trust fund kids.
The radicals on the left are planning for serious violence and mayhem in New York during the Republican Convention.
Fringe elements are hoping to spark major disruptions at the Republican National Convention with a series of sneaky tricks - including fooling bomb-sniffing dogs on trains bound for Penn Station, the Daily News has learned.
Internet-using anarchists are telling would-be troublemakers to decoy specially trained Labrador retrievers with gunpowder or ammonium nitrate-laced tablets in a bid to halt trains or even spur the evacuation of Madison Square Garden.
Top cops are girding against the attempt to foil strong anti-terrorist strategies aimed at protecting conventiongoers - including President Bush - as well as peaceful protesters during the Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 GOP fete.
"Where is the legitimate protest in trying to endanger the public?" an angry ÂPolice Commissioner Raymond Kelly told The News.
"It is the height of irresponsibility," he added. "These hard-core groups are looking to take us on. ... They have increased their level of sophistication and violence."
Here are some more details:
The dog decoy ploy is the among most insidious in the fringe groups' bag of tricks - which includes throwing marbles under the hooves of police horses and using slingshots to pelt the animals.
"They're trying to use up our resources with false alarms. ... The sensitive dogs would become burned out with too many alerts," said a police source.
Preliminary plans call for state and city cops with the dogs and hand-held chemical detection devices to board commuter and subway trains one stop before they reach Penn Station, under the Garden.
The trains will be swept for suspicious packages and terror suspects before being allowed to continue into the station - the country's busiest, with about 600,000 passengers on a regular workday.
"We're going to make certain there is absolutely no disruption of the train," Kelly said in announcing the procedures on April 28.
Two days later, an Internet posting detailed how to stoke disorder by miscuing the bomb dogs.
The posting instructed people to "go to a rifle, pistol or skeet shooting range, spend an hour shooting to saturate clothing with smell of gunpowder, go directly to a New Jersey Transit, LIRR or subway train headed for Penn Station.
"Try to have at least two people on a train in different locations, sit or stand near the doors as the train approaches the station, try to get near police and dogs, loiter as long as possible around the dog, try to pet it if possible.
"If the dog alerts on your scent, do not leave or resist; the situation will cause a major disruption of the train schedule. ... If there is more than one person on the train that causes a dog to alert, you can bet that the train will not be going anywhere for a long time ... neither will any trains behind it."
The message instructs to "Play dumb for as long as possible" before telling the police you unwittingly got the gunpowder on your clothes at a shooting range. "It is important that the police call in all possible resources to investigate the situation. ... With any luck, Madison Square Garden will be evacuated."
"Rush hours are ideal, the final night of the convention, very good, too," the posting said.
After being alerted to the gunpowder posting, investigators uncovered Internet mentions of dispersing traces of ammonium nitrate on the trains.
Ammonium nitrate is one of the most common farm fertilizers in the world. The dogs are trained to detect the fertilizer because it has been used in major bombings, from the 1993 World Trade Center attack to Oklahoma City to Bali, Indonesia.
The NYPD also is preparing for possible "Black Bloc" tactics by small groups of anarchists, in which demonstrators wear black clothing and bandannas over their faces - and wield pipes, bottles and commit acts of vandalism against corporate "enemies" such as the Gap, Starbucks and McDonald's.
Cops have been trained to isolate violent individuals among peaceful protesters, and will employ an 1845 law that prohibits people from wearing masks in street gatherings, except for masquerades.
The cowardly goons are going to realize that unlike Quebec, Genoa, or Seattle, the NYPD is a force that will stop them. These are not cops that will roll over and let New York burn. NY's finest face some of the worst drug dealers, gangs, housing projects and other threats, they will not be threatened by some pimply faced radical trust fund kids.
Another Brick in the Wall...
Arnold Ahlert rips into the World Court.
THE International Court of Justice at the Hague has ruled that Israel's West Bank barrier should be demolished because it threatens a "de facto annexation" of Palestinian lands. The vote was 14-1 ? the lone dissenting voice was the United States.
The court has told Israel that the path of the wall "gravely violates Palestinian rights" and the "infringements from that route cannot be justified by military exigencies or by the requirements of national security or public order."
In other words, suicide attacks against innocent Israeli civilians ? orchestrated by various Palestinian terror groups whose latest intifada lasted over two years ? is insufficient provocation for a defensive structure such as a wall. In addition, the land seized by Israel as a result of the 1967 war ? a multi-Arab nation attempt to obliterate Israel completely ? still belongs to the Palestinians.
In the realm of wishful thinking, it would be useful for these international jurists to take up residence in Israel. It would then be possible for them to observe the "peaceful" intentions of groups like Hamas, the PLO and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade firsthand. They might even learn how "eager" most Palestinians are to achieve the "two-state" solution envisioned by the "road map to peace." Or maybe, one or more of them might just get blown to bits by some of those "freedom fighters" they so heartily support.
Arnold Ahlert rips into the World Court.
THE International Court of Justice at the Hague has ruled that Israel's West Bank barrier should be demolished because it threatens a "de facto annexation" of Palestinian lands. The vote was 14-1 ? the lone dissenting voice was the United States.
The court has told Israel that the path of the wall "gravely violates Palestinian rights" and the "infringements from that route cannot be justified by military exigencies or by the requirements of national security or public order."
In other words, suicide attacks against innocent Israeli civilians ? orchestrated by various Palestinian terror groups whose latest intifada lasted over two years ? is insufficient provocation for a defensive structure such as a wall. In addition, the land seized by Israel as a result of the 1967 war ? a multi-Arab nation attempt to obliterate Israel completely ? still belongs to the Palestinians.
In the realm of wishful thinking, it would be useful for these international jurists to take up residence in Israel. It would then be possible for them to observe the "peaceful" intentions of groups like Hamas, the PLO and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade firsthand. They might even learn how "eager" most Palestinians are to achieve the "two-state" solution envisioned by the "road map to peace." Or maybe, one or more of them might just get blown to bits by some of those "freedom fighters" they so heartily support.
Mobsters and church
The always entertaining (at least to me) Steve Dunleavy is covering a mobster trial for the Post. In today's article, one of the topics is mobsters dealing with those that steal or injure the church.
While certainly that is true, mob bosses tend to get very protective about their religion and church.
In May of 1952, at the Regina Pacis Votive shrine at 12th Avenue and 65th Street in Brooklyn, jeweled crowns worth $100,000 were stolen from the altar.
Joe "Olive Oil King" Profaci was outraged. He sent his boys out, the jewels were returned, and Ralph "Bucky" Emmino, 38, of Brooklyn was found mysteriously shot to death on the Fourth of July.
When a nun was raped in East Harlem, mobster Carmine Galante, a furious man and a very bad man, in 1982 ordered two of his soldiers to plead to a robbery they never committed.
That way, they could be in Rikers Island and assassinate the two rapists who had been caught.
Don't mess with the church around wise guys; kinda gives new meaning to "Onward Christian Soldiers"
The always entertaining (at least to me) Steve Dunleavy is covering a mobster trial for the Post. In today's article, one of the topics is mobsters dealing with those that steal or injure the church.
While certainly that is true, mob bosses tend to get very protective about their religion and church.
In May of 1952, at the Regina Pacis Votive shrine at 12th Avenue and 65th Street in Brooklyn, jeweled crowns worth $100,000 were stolen from the altar.
Joe "Olive Oil King" Profaci was outraged. He sent his boys out, the jewels were returned, and Ralph "Bucky" Emmino, 38, of Brooklyn was found mysteriously shot to death on the Fourth of July.
When a nun was raped in East Harlem, mobster Carmine Galante, a furious man and a very bad man, in 1982 ordered two of his soldiers to plead to a robbery they never committed.
That way, they could be in Rikers Island and assassinate the two rapists who had been caught.
Don't mess with the church around wise guys; kinda gives new meaning to "Onward Christian Soldiers"
Sunday, July 11, 2004
More about "The Fence"
This piece in the JPost shreds the International Court of "Justice".
Many things have been and remain to be said about Friday's advisory opinion on Israel's security fence by the 15-member International Court of Justice, most of it having to do with the court's jurisdiction, fitness, and reasoning. How can Israel expect justice from an international tribunal on which no Israeli jurist is eligible to serve? How can we expect it from one on which Egyptian and Jordanian judges do serve? How does the court sidestep the question of the terrorism that created the fence and then render an opinion on the legality of settlements?
But all this is of little point. The court's verdict would have been outrageous if the court were departing from some prior standard of recognized integrity. In this case, everyone knew from the start what the verdict would be, and so it was. From kangaroo courts, kangaroo justice.
Read the rest, it is a good read about the absurdity of this court and their hatred of Israel.
This piece in the JPost shreds the International Court of "Justice".
Many things have been and remain to be said about Friday's advisory opinion on Israel's security fence by the 15-member International Court of Justice, most of it having to do with the court's jurisdiction, fitness, and reasoning. How can Israel expect justice from an international tribunal on which no Israeli jurist is eligible to serve? How can we expect it from one on which Egyptian and Jordanian judges do serve? How does the court sidestep the question of the terrorism that created the fence and then render an opinion on the legality of settlements?
But all this is of little point. The court's verdict would have been outrageous if the court were departing from some prior standard of recognized integrity. In this case, everyone knew from the start what the verdict would be, and so it was. From kangaroo courts, kangaroo justice.
Read the rest, it is a good read about the absurdity of this court and their hatred of Israel.
"The Fence"
"The Fence" refers to the security fence that Israel is building to keep the Paleswinians from coming into Israel and blowing up Israelis. Here is a story of a Israeli arab who supports the fence.
Sami Mcarah, a 29-year-old Arab Israeli resident of Jaffo got off a bus at Tel Aviv's old bus station just minutes before a bomb went off on Sunday that killed one woman and injured 30 others.
"I used to be opposed to the security fence, but now I support it, and I'm going to start a foundation to support the fence's construction" Mcarah told Israel Radio.
"The terrorist had no intention just to hurt Jews, but he went out to kill as many people as possible. The Palestinians are stupid for what they're doing, they're not achieving anything and in the end they will only turn us Israeli Arabs against them," said Mcarah.
Nobody has ever accused the Paleswinians of being smart.
"The Fence" refers to the security fence that Israel is building to keep the Paleswinians from coming into Israel and blowing up Israelis. Here is a story of a Israeli arab who supports the fence.
Sami Mcarah, a 29-year-old Arab Israeli resident of Jaffo got off a bus at Tel Aviv's old bus station just minutes before a bomb went off on Sunday that killed one woman and injured 30 others.
"I used to be opposed to the security fence, but now I support it, and I'm going to start a foundation to support the fence's construction" Mcarah told Israel Radio.
"The terrorist had no intention just to hurt Jews, but he went out to kill as many people as possible. The Palestinians are stupid for what they're doing, they're not achieving anything and in the end they will only turn us Israeli Arabs against them," said Mcarah.
Nobody has ever accused the Paleswinians of being smart.
Political Correctness and AIDS
AIDS is a horrible disease, and it doesn't help when liberals play politics with it.
As the man in charge of the Bush administration's $15 billion plan to treat millions of HIV-infected people in underdeveloped nations, Randall Tobias might expect a hero's welcome at the International AIDS Conference opening today in Thailand.
Instead, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator is likely to be greeted by the protests of activists opposed both to the administration's policies and to Tobias.
Tobias, some activists said, could expect a reception similar to the one given Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson at the last conference. Thompson was booed off the stage at the 2002 conference in Spain.
Since then, the administration has launched the most expensive effort ever mounted by a government to fight AIDS internationally. Yet neither the financial commitment nor the power Bush has given Tobias to mobilize the U.S. bureaucracy has won over critics, who charge that the administration's efforts are hamstrung by political and ideological concerns.
And why are they so upset with Bush in particular and conservatives in general?
He's been worse than we thought," said Sharonann Lynch, of the AIDS organization Health Gap, of Tobias. "Tobias is the front man for Bush's ideology-driven policies on prevention and on treatment (of AIDS)."
Lynch said Tobias has given his critics fodder by emphasizing abstinence and faithfulness as effective ways of preventing AIDS while downplaying the role of condoms, and by failing to embrace generic drugs as substitutes for more expensive, patented brands.
See, liberals hate to be reminded that actions have conseqences. People should be able to do whatever they want and have all the free AIDS medicines they can. Conservatives, with their hate the sin and love the sinner approach, really aggravate the AIDS activists. Liberals think a lack of funding and compassion causes AIDS, where conservatives believe that sex with AIDS infected people and injecting IV drugs spreads AIDS.
AIDS is a horrible disease, and it doesn't help when liberals play politics with it.
As the man in charge of the Bush administration's $15 billion plan to treat millions of HIV-infected people in underdeveloped nations, Randall Tobias might expect a hero's welcome at the International AIDS Conference opening today in Thailand.
Instead, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator is likely to be greeted by the protests of activists opposed both to the administration's policies and to Tobias.
Tobias, some activists said, could expect a reception similar to the one given Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson at the last conference. Thompson was booed off the stage at the 2002 conference in Spain.
Since then, the administration has launched the most expensive effort ever mounted by a government to fight AIDS internationally. Yet neither the financial commitment nor the power Bush has given Tobias to mobilize the U.S. bureaucracy has won over critics, who charge that the administration's efforts are hamstrung by political and ideological concerns.
And why are they so upset with Bush in particular and conservatives in general?
He's been worse than we thought," said Sharonann Lynch, of the AIDS organization Health Gap, of Tobias. "Tobias is the front man for Bush's ideology-driven policies on prevention and on treatment (of AIDS)."
Lynch said Tobias has given his critics fodder by emphasizing abstinence and faithfulness as effective ways of preventing AIDS while downplaying the role of condoms, and by failing to embrace generic drugs as substitutes for more expensive, patented brands.
See, liberals hate to be reminded that actions have conseqences. People should be able to do whatever they want and have all the free AIDS medicines they can. Conservatives, with their hate the sin and love the sinner approach, really aggravate the AIDS activists. Liberals think a lack of funding and compassion causes AIDS, where conservatives believe that sex with AIDS infected people and injecting IV drugs spreads AIDS.
Bad judges: another reason the election is so critical
One big reason to reelect Bush, in addition to taxes and national security, is to appoint good judges instead of these bad ones.
How long will it be before the U.S. Supreme Court decides to out law criminal confessions?
Not long, we fear: The high court clearly is headed in that direction.
In a 5-4 vote, the court's liberal majority has tightened the protections of the 1966 Miranda decision (which sharply restricted the right of cops to question a suspect), ruling that a police strategy designed to elicit admissions from criminal suspects before informing them of their rights is usually illegal.
And in leaving open the possibility of admitting confessions as evidence in some cases, the justices raised fresh issues that can't help but sow even more confusion within the law-enforcement and criminal-justice systems.
At issue was the case of Patricia Seibert, who was convicted of plotting a fire to cover up the death of her 12-year-old son, Jonathan, who suffered from cerebral palsy and had died in his sleep. Afraid she'd be charged with neglect, Seibert induced another son and his friend to set the fire.
But to avoid the appearance that Jonathan had been unattended, Seibert and the others left an 18-year-old mentally ill youth who'd been living with the family to die in the blaze.
A local cop questioned Seibert without advising her of her rights and got her to confess. He then took a 20-minute break and resumed the interrogation after reading her a Miranda warning. She repeated the confession, but was never told that her earlier statement was legally inadmissable.
The justices all agreed that the first confession could not be admitted ? the officer admitted he intentionally tried to evade the Miranda warnings ? but split over whether the second confession was allowable as evidence.
The majority ruled that the questioning constituted a single, uninterrupted interrogation; hence, the confession was invalid. As Justice Sandra Day O'Connor noted in her dissent, that "devours" an earlier court ruling that incriminating statements made without a Miranda warning do not invalidate a later, fuller confession.
That's bad enough: In the age of "NYPD Blue," "Law and Order" and "Cops," anyone with a television can recite the Miranda warnings ? the right to remain silent, to have a lawyer appointed, etc. ? by heart.
But the court left an out ? saying that two-step questioning might be permitted as long as the cops aren't intentionally trying to evade the Miranda rules.
Just what we need: Every confession will now involve a lengthy hearing to determine what was in the arresting officer's mind. That, as O'Connor notes, is precisely the kind of tortured, subjective process "we normally take pains to avoid."
Giving police some common-sense leeway to obtain confessions is hardly the same as writing them a blank check to trample over civil liberties. The court's latest Miranda ruling has unnecessarily handcuffed cops' ability to do their job.
Outright abolition of confessions is a logical next step.
One big reason to reelect Bush, in addition to taxes and national security, is to appoint good judges instead of these bad ones.
How long will it be before the U.S. Supreme Court decides to out law criminal confessions?
Not long, we fear: The high court clearly is headed in that direction.
In a 5-4 vote, the court's liberal majority has tightened the protections of the 1966 Miranda decision (which sharply restricted the right of cops to question a suspect), ruling that a police strategy designed to elicit admissions from criminal suspects before informing them of their rights is usually illegal.
And in leaving open the possibility of admitting confessions as evidence in some cases, the justices raised fresh issues that can't help but sow even more confusion within the law-enforcement and criminal-justice systems.
At issue was the case of Patricia Seibert, who was convicted of plotting a fire to cover up the death of her 12-year-old son, Jonathan, who suffered from cerebral palsy and had died in his sleep. Afraid she'd be charged with neglect, Seibert induced another son and his friend to set the fire.
But to avoid the appearance that Jonathan had been unattended, Seibert and the others left an 18-year-old mentally ill youth who'd been living with the family to die in the blaze.
A local cop questioned Seibert without advising her of her rights and got her to confess. He then took a 20-minute break and resumed the interrogation after reading her a Miranda warning. She repeated the confession, but was never told that her earlier statement was legally inadmissable.
The justices all agreed that the first confession could not be admitted ? the officer admitted he intentionally tried to evade the Miranda warnings ? but split over whether the second confession was allowable as evidence.
The majority ruled that the questioning constituted a single, uninterrupted interrogation; hence, the confession was invalid. As Justice Sandra Day O'Connor noted in her dissent, that "devours" an earlier court ruling that incriminating statements made without a Miranda warning do not invalidate a later, fuller confession.
That's bad enough: In the age of "NYPD Blue," "Law and Order" and "Cops," anyone with a television can recite the Miranda warnings ? the right to remain silent, to have a lawyer appointed, etc. ? by heart.
But the court left an out ? saying that two-step questioning might be permitted as long as the cops aren't intentionally trying to evade the Miranda rules.
Just what we need: Every confession will now involve a lengthy hearing to determine what was in the arresting officer's mind. That, as O'Connor notes, is precisely the kind of tortured, subjective process "we normally take pains to avoid."
Giving police some common-sense leeway to obtain confessions is hardly the same as writing them a blank check to trample over civil liberties. The court's latest Miranda ruling has unnecessarily handcuffed cops' ability to do their job.
Outright abolition of confessions is a logical next step.
John and John, a love story
Sound is needed to get the full effect of this great creation from free will blog.
Sound is needed to get the full effect of this great creation from free will blog.
Friday, July 09, 2004
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Terrorism is OUR fault????
According to the Presbyterians it is, or at least to some of the goofs that attended their national convention.
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted overwhelmingly a "Resolution on Religion, Violence, and Terrorism." The final vote on the resolution from the denomination's Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) was 396-81. There was little discussion of the terrorism resolution in the plenary session of the Assembly.
The resolution warns against "falling into the quagmire of attempting to label individuals, groups, or governments as terrorists." Instead it urges Christians "to ponder the message of attackers who are so desperate that they surrender their lives to kill others."
The resolution calls for Presbyterians to "acknowledge our complicity in contributing to the circumstances that prompt individuals to engage in acts of terrorism." It asks church members to accept blame for: "our disproportionate consumption of the earth's resources"; "the export of the artifacts of our popular culture such as movies, music, and television programming?; "military responses to terrorism [that have] too often been motivated by a desire for vengeance and not a desire for justice"; and "condemn[ing] the religious faith of those who are different without taking the time to understand that faith."
The resolution recommends "less reliance on the military response to terrorism" and "increased investment in programs that can transform and reduce the root causes of terrorism across the developing world." It "disavows the resort by the United States government to "preemptive attack against other nation states as a means to deter terrorism.
Put down the bong, dude. The "root cause" of terrorism is terrorists, end of discussion. As far as "falling into the quagmire of attempting to label individuals, groups, or governments as terrorists" let's call a spade a spade. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. The part I really like is "condemn[ing] the religious faith of those who are different without taking the time to understand that faith." The more I understand Islam, the more I see that these terrorists ARE Islam. Islam has never peaceably converted people, and in places where Islam is the majority religion Christians are persecuted and martyred for the faith: Indonesia, Sudan, Nigeria, Iran....the list goes on.
According to the Presbyterians it is, or at least to some of the goofs that attended their national convention.
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted overwhelmingly a "Resolution on Religion, Violence, and Terrorism." The final vote on the resolution from the denomination's Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) was 396-81. There was little discussion of the terrorism resolution in the plenary session of the Assembly.
The resolution warns against "falling into the quagmire of attempting to label individuals, groups, or governments as terrorists." Instead it urges Christians "to ponder the message of attackers who are so desperate that they surrender their lives to kill others."
The resolution calls for Presbyterians to "acknowledge our complicity in contributing to the circumstances that prompt individuals to engage in acts of terrorism." It asks church members to accept blame for: "our disproportionate consumption of the earth's resources"; "the export of the artifacts of our popular culture such as movies, music, and television programming?; "military responses to terrorism [that have] too often been motivated by a desire for vengeance and not a desire for justice"; and "condemn[ing] the religious faith of those who are different without taking the time to understand that faith."
The resolution recommends "less reliance on the military response to terrorism" and "increased investment in programs that can transform and reduce the root causes of terrorism across the developing world." It "disavows the resort by the United States government to "preemptive attack against other nation states as a means to deter terrorism.
Put down the bong, dude. The "root cause" of terrorism is terrorists, end of discussion. As far as "falling into the quagmire of attempting to label individuals, groups, or governments as terrorists" let's call a spade a spade. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. The part I really like is "condemn[ing] the religious faith of those who are different without taking the time to understand that faith." The more I understand Islam, the more I see that these terrorists ARE Islam. Islam has never peaceably converted people, and in places where Islam is the majority religion Christians are persecuted and martyred for the faith: Indonesia, Sudan, Nigeria, Iran....the list goes on.
Our troops: fighting the terrorists AND the media
This column shows how our troops put their bodies and pride on the line to defend a Humvee.
Ever hear of the Battle of the Humvee? That's what I'm calling a May skirmish fought by soldiers of the 37th Armored Regiment's 2nd Battalion in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf. In what became a six-hour firefight, Americans battled militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr to secure the hulk of a burning Humvee. It's not that our soldiers fought because the flaming wreck amounted to a tin can's worth of military value.They fought,as Capt. Ty Wilson of Fairfax, Va., explained to The Washington Post, because "we weren't going to let them dance on it for the news. Even [with] all the guys they lost that day, that still would have given them victory."
Chalk one up for our side, a small win on the way to an underreported triumph over Muqtada al-Sadr's spring uprising. Iraq is sovereign, life goes on ... but I can't get over the chilling description of American soldiers risking their necks to keep the media from awarding a phony victory to the enemy. This puts the media ? in this case, anyone with a video camera and a satellite hook-up ? not in No Man's Land, but on the Other Side. The concept is horrifying in that the ramifications are so bleak. It shows our soldiers engaged in a war on two fronts ? a military front and a media front. And it shows our soldiers fighting two enemies: the adversary who fights fire with terror, and the adversary who also fights fire with perception.
Too bad we can't charge the traitors in the press with the treason they are committing. I'm a big defender of freedom of speech, but in times of war the press should show some restraint and least be neutral instead of providing aid and comfort to the enemy.
This column shows how our troops put their bodies and pride on the line to defend a Humvee.
Ever hear of the Battle of the Humvee? That's what I'm calling a May skirmish fought by soldiers of the 37th Armored Regiment's 2nd Battalion in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf. In what became a six-hour firefight, Americans battled militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr to secure the hulk of a burning Humvee. It's not that our soldiers fought because the flaming wreck amounted to a tin can's worth of military value.They fought,as Capt. Ty Wilson of Fairfax, Va., explained to The Washington Post, because "we weren't going to let them dance on it for the news. Even [with] all the guys they lost that day, that still would have given them victory."
Chalk one up for our side, a small win on the way to an underreported triumph over Muqtada al-Sadr's spring uprising. Iraq is sovereign, life goes on ... but I can't get over the chilling description of American soldiers risking their necks to keep the media from awarding a phony victory to the enemy. This puts the media ? in this case, anyone with a video camera and a satellite hook-up ? not in No Man's Land, but on the Other Side. The concept is horrifying in that the ramifications are so bleak. It shows our soldiers engaged in a war on two fronts ? a military front and a media front. And it shows our soldiers fighting two enemies: the adversary who fights fire with terror, and the adversary who also fights fire with perception.
Too bad we can't charge the traitors in the press with the treason they are committing. I'm a big defender of freedom of speech, but in times of war the press should show some restraint and least be neutral instead of providing aid and comfort to the enemy.
John Edwards: whore to trial lawyers
Now that Kerry has chosen the Breck Girl, they may be busy explaining illegal campaign contributions from trial lawyers.
During his run for the top job, John Edwards relied heavily on leading trial lawyers. Twenty-two of his top 25 donors were trial attorneys. And those donations likely cloak a multitude of sins and violations of the campaign-finance laws.
Edwards' trial lawyers bundled massive contributions from their assorted law firms and client lists to float his presidential run. Bundling isn't illegal ? except when the donors are straw men and women putting up money given to them by a wealthy patron.
For example, $1 million of Edwards' funds came from trial lawyers' wives ? identified merely as "homemakers" in the campaign-finance filings. If the money came from their husbands, there could be a violation of law.
More significant is the example of Little Rock trial lawyer Tad Turner, whose firm gave $200,000 to the Edwards campaign and associated committees. But Slate found last Aug. 29 that many of the "contributions . . . appear to be illegal." The online magazine reported that "one clerk who gave $2,000 said that Turner had 'asked for people to support Edwards' and assured them 'he would reimburse us.' " Another clerk told much the same story.
When that came out, Edwards returned $10,000 to Turner employees. Tad Turner himself ? a noted trial lawyer ? said that he didn't know his promise of reimbursement was illegal.
How many more stories like Turner's are there buried in Edwards' filings? The Bush campaign's negative-research operatives will be crawling all over the trial lawyers' firms to find any other donations that were similarly disguised. Since more than half of Edwards' donations came from trial lawyers, there's a vast ground to pick over looking for scandal.
Time to get the digital brownshirts into action.
Now that Kerry has chosen the Breck Girl, they may be busy explaining illegal campaign contributions from trial lawyers.
During his run for the top job, John Edwards relied heavily on leading trial lawyers. Twenty-two of his top 25 donors were trial attorneys. And those donations likely cloak a multitude of sins and violations of the campaign-finance laws.
Edwards' trial lawyers bundled massive contributions from their assorted law firms and client lists to float his presidential run. Bundling isn't illegal ? except when the donors are straw men and women putting up money given to them by a wealthy patron.
For example, $1 million of Edwards' funds came from trial lawyers' wives ? identified merely as "homemakers" in the campaign-finance filings. If the money came from their husbands, there could be a violation of law.
More significant is the example of Little Rock trial lawyer Tad Turner, whose firm gave $200,000 to the Edwards campaign and associated committees. But Slate found last Aug. 29 that many of the "contributions . . . appear to be illegal." The online magazine reported that "one clerk who gave $2,000 said that Turner had 'asked for people to support Edwards' and assured them 'he would reimburse us.' " Another clerk told much the same story.
When that came out, Edwards returned $10,000 to Turner employees. Tad Turner himself ? a noted trial lawyer ? said that he didn't know his promise of reimbursement was illegal.
How many more stories like Turner's are there buried in Edwards' filings? The Bush campaign's negative-research operatives will be crawling all over the trial lawyers' firms to find any other donations that were similarly disguised. Since more than half of Edwards' donations came from trial lawyers, there's a vast ground to pick over looking for scandal.
Time to get the digital brownshirts into action.
Kerry and Abortion
Deal Hudson nails Kerry on abortion:
I know, I know... The big story today is Senator John Edwards. But I
want to call your attention to something else. It passed quickly
through the news cycle, so you may have missed it.
On Sunday, John Kerry told Iowa's Telegraph Herald that he
personally opposes abortion and believes that life begins at
conception. The exact quote is as follows:
"I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe
life does begin at conception."
Amazing.
You may recall the e-letter I sent you in February that covered this
very issue. In it, I had assembled several past Kerry comments that
seemed to show that Senator Kerry does NOT really oppose abortion --
publicly or personally.
For example, compare his recent statement with the remarks he made
at last year's NARAL Pro-Choice America Dinner:
"I think that tonight we have to make it clear that we are not going
to turn back the clock. There is no overturning of Roe v. Wade...
There is no outlawing of a procedure necessary to save a woman's life
or health and there are no more cutbacks on population control
efforts around the world. We need to take on this President and all
of the forces of intolerance on this issue. We need to honestly and
confidently and candidly take this issue out to the country and we
need to speak up and be proud of what we stand for."
Did you catch that? Not only should abortion be available to all
American women, all the time, but it should be used as a population
control valve around the world. And this is something we should "be
proud of." Not what you'd expect from someone who claims he doesn't
like abortion.
And this isn't an isolated comment...
From the Boston Herald on January 23, 2001: "I will not back away
from my conviction that international family planning programs are in
America's best interests. We should resist pressures in this country
for heavy-handed Washington mandates that ignore basic choices that
should belong to free people around the globe."
Kerry's support for "international family planning programs" -- a
standard euphemism for "abortion" -- is an issue he's advocated for
some time. If Kerry is telling the truth about being "personally
opposed" to abortion, why is he trying to spread it worldwide?
But perhaps the most outrageous quote comes from the 1994
Congressional record: "The right thing to do is to treat abortions as
exactly what they are -- a medical procedure that any doctor is free
to provide and any pregnant woman free to obtain. Consequently,
abortions should not have to be performed in tightly guarded clinics
on the edge of town; they should be performed and obtained in the
same locations as any other medical procedure... [A]bortions need to
be moved out of the fringes of medicine and into the mainstream of
medical practice. And by the same token, if our children are to be
safe from the danger of fanaticism, tolerance needs to spread out of
the mainstream churches, mosques, and synagogues, and into the
religious fringes."
Abortion is simply "a medical procedure"? If that were true, then on
what grounds could he possibly be personally opposed to it? He
certainly doesn't seem to be struggling with the issue here. And how
exactly does he propose to "spread tolerance" to the "religious
fringes"? Presumably, he's referring to the people who, as an article
of faith, believe abortion to be immoral. But didn't he just claim to
be one of those very people?
John Kerry says he believes that abortion is wrong and that life
begins at conception. And yet he vows to do everything he can to make
sure that women have the freedom and right to end that life.
You can say a lot of things about a position like that. But you
certainly can't say it's Catholic.
Deal Hudson nails Kerry on abortion:
I know, I know... The big story today is Senator John Edwards. But I
want to call your attention to something else. It passed quickly
through the news cycle, so you may have missed it.
On Sunday, John Kerry told Iowa's Telegraph Herald that he
personally opposes abortion and believes that life begins at
conception. The exact quote is as follows:
"I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe
life does begin at conception."
Amazing.
You may recall the e-letter I sent you in February that covered this
very issue. In it, I had assembled several past Kerry comments that
seemed to show that Senator Kerry does NOT really oppose abortion --
publicly or personally.
For example, compare his recent statement with the remarks he made
at last year's NARAL Pro-Choice America Dinner:
"I think that tonight we have to make it clear that we are not going
to turn back the clock. There is no overturning of Roe v. Wade...
There is no outlawing of a procedure necessary to save a woman's life
or health and there are no more cutbacks on population control
efforts around the world. We need to take on this President and all
of the forces of intolerance on this issue. We need to honestly and
confidently and candidly take this issue out to the country and we
need to speak up and be proud of what we stand for."
Did you catch that? Not only should abortion be available to all
American women, all the time, but it should be used as a population
control valve around the world. And this is something we should "be
proud of." Not what you'd expect from someone who claims he doesn't
like abortion.
And this isn't an isolated comment...
From the Boston Herald on January 23, 2001: "I will not back away
from my conviction that international family planning programs are in
America's best interests. We should resist pressures in this country
for heavy-handed Washington mandates that ignore basic choices that
should belong to free people around the globe."
Kerry's support for "international family planning programs" -- a
standard euphemism for "abortion" -- is an issue he's advocated for
some time. If Kerry is telling the truth about being "personally
opposed" to abortion, why is he trying to spread it worldwide?
But perhaps the most outrageous quote comes from the 1994
Congressional record: "The right thing to do is to treat abortions as
exactly what they are -- a medical procedure that any doctor is free
to provide and any pregnant woman free to obtain. Consequently,
abortions should not have to be performed in tightly guarded clinics
on the edge of town; they should be performed and obtained in the
same locations as any other medical procedure... [A]bortions need to
be moved out of the fringes of medicine and into the mainstream of
medical practice. And by the same token, if our children are to be
safe from the danger of fanaticism, tolerance needs to spread out of
the mainstream churches, mosques, and synagogues, and into the
religious fringes."
Abortion is simply "a medical procedure"? If that were true, then on
what grounds could he possibly be personally opposed to it? He
certainly doesn't seem to be struggling with the issue here. And how
exactly does he propose to "spread tolerance" to the "religious
fringes"? Presumably, he's referring to the people who, as an article
of faith, believe abortion to be immoral. But didn't he just claim to
be one of those very people?
John Kerry says he believes that abortion is wrong and that life
begins at conception. And yet he vows to do everything he can to make
sure that women have the freedom and right to end that life.
You can say a lot of things about a position like that. But you
certainly can't say it's Catholic.
Wictory Wednesday
Al Gore called us a bunch of "digital brownshirts," so let's not make a liar out of him (for once). It's not just Wednesday, it's Wictory Wednesday, the day of the week where us Bush supporters in Blogdom do our best to get out the support for the reelection of George Bush. How can you help? You can volunteer or donate and join these other bloggers and me in doing our part:
Al Gore called us a bunch of "digital brownshirts," so let's not make a liar out of him (for once). It's not just Wednesday, it's Wictory Wednesday, the day of the week where us Bush supporters in Blogdom do our best to get out the support for the reelection of George Bush. How can you help? You can volunteer or donate and join these other bloggers and me in doing our part:
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Abortion=Modern Day Slavery?
This very good column draws parallels between the abolitionists and the pro-life movement. Excerpts:
Recently, while doing research for my entry in the National Right to Life Youth Oratory competition, I learned a lot about the history of abortion, including some of the striking parallels between abortion and slavery to which Keyes alluded. One of the things I discovered is that, ever since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, people have been comparing the abortion issue to that of slavery. And putting legalized abortion in the U.S. in that context renders my personal concern with this national evil particularly appropriate.
The Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision, which effectively defined blacks as non-persons, was made only three years before Lincoln's presidency and the onset of the Civil War. In an attempt to settle the vexing slavery controversy once and for all, the court concluded that slaves were legally property, not people; therefore a slave owner could legally buy, sell, or even kill a slave.
Of course abolitionists, many of them Christians, objected to the ruling as immoral and unjust because it discriminated against an entire class of people on the basis of their skin color. But to this, then Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney replied that the rights and freedoms America's founding fathers outlined were never meant to apply to blacks, who in long-established law and practice "were never thought of or spoken of except as property." Taney's majority opinion gave a whole chorus of moral relativists permission to say, "Listen, you don't have to own a slave if you don't want to. No one is forcing you. But don't force your morality on the slave owner. He has the right to choose to own slaves if he wishes. The Supreme Court says so."
To many, the Roe v. Wade parallels are obvious. That case too was an attempt to settle a vexing and controversial issue. And just like the Dred Scott decision, Roe v. Wade was enacted with a 7-to-2 majority vote, and ruled that legally the people in question -- this time the unborn -- were not to be considered people at all. They had no civil rights, no human rights. Unborn babies were thenceforth to be considered the property of the mother, who had the absolute right to choose, either to keep or kill her child.
We pro-life believers must stand and speak out today for the unborn. We must stand in the shoes of the brave abolitionists of the late 1700s and 1800s, who in their day cried out on behalf of those whose voices society and its justice system chose to ignore. Remember, this time the voiceless ones are not merely being sold into slavery -- they are being slaughtered. It is up to us to cry out for the unborn in a society that is trying to silence their first cry before it can be uttered.
The Christian pro-life movement stands today as the underground railroad of our generation, seeking to rescue those who unjustly, tragically, and legally are being killed by the millions. But if we fail to get on board, if we remain silent, how are we different from those of whom scripture says, "They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters ... and the land was desecrated by their blood" (Psalm 106:38)? We as God's people must stand together to pray, act, and speak out against abortion.
This very good column draws parallels between the abolitionists and the pro-life movement. Excerpts:
Recently, while doing research for my entry in the National Right to Life Youth Oratory competition, I learned a lot about the history of abortion, including some of the striking parallels between abortion and slavery to which Keyes alluded. One of the things I discovered is that, ever since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, people have been comparing the abortion issue to that of slavery. And putting legalized abortion in the U.S. in that context renders my personal concern with this national evil particularly appropriate.
The Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision, which effectively defined blacks as non-persons, was made only three years before Lincoln's presidency and the onset of the Civil War. In an attempt to settle the vexing slavery controversy once and for all, the court concluded that slaves were legally property, not people; therefore a slave owner could legally buy, sell, or even kill a slave.
Of course abolitionists, many of them Christians, objected to the ruling as immoral and unjust because it discriminated against an entire class of people on the basis of their skin color. But to this, then Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney replied that the rights and freedoms America's founding fathers outlined were never meant to apply to blacks, who in long-established law and practice "were never thought of or spoken of except as property." Taney's majority opinion gave a whole chorus of moral relativists permission to say, "Listen, you don't have to own a slave if you don't want to. No one is forcing you. But don't force your morality on the slave owner. He has the right to choose to own slaves if he wishes. The Supreme Court says so."
To many, the Roe v. Wade parallels are obvious. That case too was an attempt to settle a vexing and controversial issue. And just like the Dred Scott decision, Roe v. Wade was enacted with a 7-to-2 majority vote, and ruled that legally the people in question -- this time the unborn -- were not to be considered people at all. They had no civil rights, no human rights. Unborn babies were thenceforth to be considered the property of the mother, who had the absolute right to choose, either to keep or kill her child.
We pro-life believers must stand and speak out today for the unborn. We must stand in the shoes of the brave abolitionists of the late 1700s and 1800s, who in their day cried out on behalf of those whose voices society and its justice system chose to ignore. Remember, this time the voiceless ones are not merely being sold into slavery -- they are being slaughtered. It is up to us to cry out for the unborn in a society that is trying to silence their first cry before it can be uttered.
The Christian pro-life movement stands today as the underground railroad of our generation, seeking to rescue those who unjustly, tragically, and legally are being killed by the millions. But if we fail to get on board, if we remain silent, how are we different from those of whom scripture says, "They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters ... and the land was desecrated by their blood" (Psalm 106:38)? We as God's people must stand together to pray, act, and speak out against abortion.
If Kerry and Edwards win...
...the unborn lose.
In response to Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) selecting Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) as his running mate today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
"Today John Kerry has selected a vice presidential candidate whose Senate record mirrors his own. Both John Kerry and John Edwards have a zero percent rating from FRC, and a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, and both men have a history of opposing judicial nominees simply because of their deeply held religious beliefs.
"As recently as this weekend, Sen. Kerry stated that his personal belief that life begins at conception should not keep him from serving as President because it does not influence his public policy record. However, both he and Sen. Edwards have repeatedly refused to extend that same courtesy -- the presumption that one's religious beliefs shouldn't disqualify him from public service -- to countless judicial nominees who happen to be pro-life.
"Today the U.S. Senate will hold a vote on Leon Holmes, nominated to the Eastern District of Arkansas by President Bush. Mr. Holmes has been attacked by Kerry and Edwards' Democratic colleagues not because of a spotty judicial record, but rather simply because he holds private, Christian beliefs.
"If Sen. Kerry is such a defender of the ability to harbor private beliefs without allowing them to impact public decisions, he should call off his colleagues who are bashing Mr. Holmes as if he is unable to do the same. If Catholic beliefs do not disqualify John Kerry from being a U.S. President, those same beliefs shouldn't disqualify Mr. Holmes from becoming a federal judge."
...the unborn lose.
In response to Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) selecting Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) as his running mate today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
"Today John Kerry has selected a vice presidential candidate whose Senate record mirrors his own. Both John Kerry and John Edwards have a zero percent rating from FRC, and a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, and both men have a history of opposing judicial nominees simply because of their deeply held religious beliefs.
"As recently as this weekend, Sen. Kerry stated that his personal belief that life begins at conception should not keep him from serving as President because it does not influence his public policy record. However, both he and Sen. Edwards have repeatedly refused to extend that same courtesy -- the presumption that one's religious beliefs shouldn't disqualify him from public service -- to countless judicial nominees who happen to be pro-life.
"Today the U.S. Senate will hold a vote on Leon Holmes, nominated to the Eastern District of Arkansas by President Bush. Mr. Holmes has been attacked by Kerry and Edwards' Democratic colleagues not because of a spotty judicial record, but rather simply because he holds private, Christian beliefs.
"If Sen. Kerry is such a defender of the ability to harbor private beliefs without allowing them to impact public decisions, he should call off his colleagues who are bashing Mr. Holmes as if he is unable to do the same. If Catholic beliefs do not disqualify John Kerry from being a U.S. President, those same beliefs shouldn't disqualify Mr. Holmes from becoming a federal judge."
$25 million a head
The US has increased the bounty on Abu Musab al Zarqawi.
The Bush administration last week put a bigger bounty on the head of Abu Musab al Zarqawi ? raising the reward for his death or capture from $10 million to $25 million.
Zarqawi is the vicious master terrorist who has claimed responsibility for the beheadings of Nicholas Berg and Kim Sun-il and threatened the life of Iraq's new Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
His al Qaeda-linked Islamist network has carried out scores of suicide bombings in Iraq over the past year, taking hundreds of lives and setting back the pace of Iraqi reconstruction.
Hopefully SOMEONE will drop the 35 cents on him...
The new bounty ? announced as Saddam appeared before an Iraqi court ? doesn't quite put the one-legged, Jordanian-born terror boss in the same league as Osama bin Laden, whose capture or death is worth $50 million.
But it provides a serious incentive for his associates or ordinary Iraqis to take the risk of supplying information to the Coalition.
And given the terrible human and economic costs of his bloody handiwork, Zarqawi's head on a platter would be worth at least that much.
Think of it as ironic justice.
The US has increased the bounty on Abu Musab al Zarqawi.
The Bush administration last week put a bigger bounty on the head of Abu Musab al Zarqawi ? raising the reward for his death or capture from $10 million to $25 million.
Zarqawi is the vicious master terrorist who has claimed responsibility for the beheadings of Nicholas Berg and Kim Sun-il and threatened the life of Iraq's new Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
His al Qaeda-linked Islamist network has carried out scores of suicide bombings in Iraq over the past year, taking hundreds of lives and setting back the pace of Iraqi reconstruction.
Hopefully SOMEONE will drop the 35 cents on him...
The new bounty ? announced as Saddam appeared before an Iraqi court ? doesn't quite put the one-legged, Jordanian-born terror boss in the same league as Osama bin Laden, whose capture or death is worth $50 million.
But it provides a serious incentive for his associates or ordinary Iraqis to take the risk of supplying information to the Coalition.
And given the terrible human and economic costs of his bloody handiwork, Zarqawi's head on a platter would be worth at least that much.
Think of it as ironic justice.
Dain Bramage
What was that about marijuana not harming your memory?
It turns out the leaders of a drive to legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana in Nevada forgot to turn in 6,000 petition signatures.
That threatens to undercut supporters' claims that they collected enough names to qualify for the November ballot.
Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax says it's too late now, and he can't accept a forgotten box of signatures from petition leader Billy Rogers.
They were due June 15th. Rogers has sent a letter to Lomax suggesting the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana may challenge the deadline.
If it fails to qualify in Clark County, the committee will need to qualify in all 13 other counties where leaders say they turned in enough signatures to get a spot on the statewide November ballot.
I guess they had the munchies...
What was that about marijuana not harming your memory?
It turns out the leaders of a drive to legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana in Nevada forgot to turn in 6,000 petition signatures.
That threatens to undercut supporters' claims that they collected enough names to qualify for the November ballot.
Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax says it's too late now, and he can't accept a forgotten box of signatures from petition leader Billy Rogers.
They were due June 15th. Rogers has sent a letter to Lomax suggesting the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana may challenge the deadline.
If it fails to qualify in Clark County, the committee will need to qualify in all 13 other counties where leaders say they turned in enough signatures to get a spot on the statewide November ballot.
I guess they had the munchies...
Hey Mexico, we've whupped up on you before....
....and if you screw with any more funerals of Marines we'll do it again. Remember the whole "Halls of Montezuma" part of the Marine Corps hymn?
Mexican soldiers carrying automatic weapons interrupted the Independence Day funeral of a U.S. Marine and demanded that the Marine honor guard give up ceremonial replicas of rifles they carried. The move drew an angry reaction from the U.S. Ambassador.
Hundreds of friends and relatives packed a small cemetery for the funeral on Sunday of 22-year-old Juan Lopez, who was born in this sun-scorched farming town, immigrated to Dalton, Ga., as a teenager and became a Marine.
He was killed in an ambush in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on June 21.
Maj. Curt Gwilliam presented an American flag to Lopez's widow, Sandra Torres, who clutched a bouquet of yellow and white flowers while tears streamed down her face.
While the funeral demonstrated the close human ties of Mexico and the United States, problems began moments after the start.
Four U.S. Marines marched solemnly to the grave carrying an American flag and the colors of the Marine Corps. Two of the men had rifles that looked real, but could not be fired, strapped to their backs.
Four Mexican soldiers blocked their path, asking the four Marines and six others who had served as pallbearers to return to the car that had brought them to the funeral. Several minutes of discussions by soldiers from both countries continued until a trumpet player began a rendition of taps and the funeral proceeded, despite the objections of the Mexican troops.
When the ceremony was complete, the Marines returned to a U.S. Embassy vehicle and waited. Fourteen Mexican soldiers arrived to guard the premises. About 40 minutes later, the Mexican soldiers allowed the van to leave.
"I'm outraged that this would take away from the ceremony honoring U.S. Marine Juan Lopez Rangel, whose family requested he be buried in his town of birth with full military honors," U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in a statement.
I too am outraged.
Mexico has a deep suspicion of foreign military forces in its territory. The Marine Hymn's "Halls of Montezuma" refers to the 1847 U.S. capture of Mexico City.
The Mexican Defense Department banned plans for a 21-gun salute by Marines because Mexico's Constitution bans foreign soldiers from carrying firearms here.
Mexican soldiers at the funeral refused to comment, but U.S. Embassy spokesman Jim Dickmeyer said they likely saw the rifle replicas and mistakenly thought the Marines were planning to fire a salute anyway.
"These are ceremonial weapons," Dickmeyer said. "We were told not to bring M-16s, we didn't bring M-16s. We were told not to fire in the air, we didn't fire in the air."
Next time we'll bring real rifles and add some stanzas to the Marine Corps hymn, since you've never defeated anyone other than France. Only this time when we win, we're giving California BACK to you, at least Southern California.
....and if you screw with any more funerals of Marines we'll do it again. Remember the whole "Halls of Montezuma" part of the Marine Corps hymn?
Mexican soldiers carrying automatic weapons interrupted the Independence Day funeral of a U.S. Marine and demanded that the Marine honor guard give up ceremonial replicas of rifles they carried. The move drew an angry reaction from the U.S. Ambassador.
Hundreds of friends and relatives packed a small cemetery for the funeral on Sunday of 22-year-old Juan Lopez, who was born in this sun-scorched farming town, immigrated to Dalton, Ga., as a teenager and became a Marine.
He was killed in an ambush in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on June 21.
Maj. Curt Gwilliam presented an American flag to Lopez's widow, Sandra Torres, who clutched a bouquet of yellow and white flowers while tears streamed down her face.
While the funeral demonstrated the close human ties of Mexico and the United States, problems began moments after the start.
Four U.S. Marines marched solemnly to the grave carrying an American flag and the colors of the Marine Corps. Two of the men had rifles that looked real, but could not be fired, strapped to their backs.
Four Mexican soldiers blocked their path, asking the four Marines and six others who had served as pallbearers to return to the car that had brought them to the funeral. Several minutes of discussions by soldiers from both countries continued until a trumpet player began a rendition of taps and the funeral proceeded, despite the objections of the Mexican troops.
When the ceremony was complete, the Marines returned to a U.S. Embassy vehicle and waited. Fourteen Mexican soldiers arrived to guard the premises. About 40 minutes later, the Mexican soldiers allowed the van to leave.
"I'm outraged that this would take away from the ceremony honoring U.S. Marine Juan Lopez Rangel, whose family requested he be buried in his town of birth with full military honors," U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said in a statement.
I too am outraged.
Mexico has a deep suspicion of foreign military forces in its territory. The Marine Hymn's "Halls of Montezuma" refers to the 1847 U.S. capture of Mexico City.
The Mexican Defense Department banned plans for a 21-gun salute by Marines because Mexico's Constitution bans foreign soldiers from carrying firearms here.
Mexican soldiers at the funeral refused to comment, but U.S. Embassy spokesman Jim Dickmeyer said they likely saw the rifle replicas and mistakenly thought the Marines were planning to fire a salute anyway.
"These are ceremonial weapons," Dickmeyer said. "We were told not to bring M-16s, we didn't bring M-16s. We were told not to fire in the air, we didn't fire in the air."
Next time we'll bring real rifles and add some stanzas to the Marine Corps hymn, since you've never defeated anyone other than France. Only this time when we win, we're giving California BACK to you, at least Southern California.
Monday, July 05, 2004
A Cold Case solved
A high profile murder case from my native northwestern Pennsylvania has been closed with the arrest of two brothers and their accomplice.
Nearly a decade after Shauna Howe disappeared while walking home from a Halloween party, state police said a Venango County man told them he'd seen two brothers carry the girl into his home and up the stairs.
Investigators said Eldred "Ted" Walker, 45, of Cranberry, also told them that he and the brothers, James and Timothy O'Brien, spoke about snatching someone from a street before Shauna's abduction.
Walker told investigators he knew Shauna, and that he spoke to her and hugged her on the street before Timothy O'Brien pulled her toward a car.
State police said that statement -- which Walker yesterday denied making -- as well as a DNA match with James O'Brien led them to accuse the O'Brien brothers of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing the 11-year-old Girl Scout in 1992.
James O'Brien, 32, and Timothy O'Brien, 37, were charged yesterday with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, rape, kidnapping and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. The O'Briens, formerly of Oil City, are serving time in state prisons -- James in Greensburg, Timothy in Waynesburg -- for unrelated attacks.
Hopefully these scum will get the death sentences they so richly deserve.
Shauna's mother, Lucy Mae Brown, said she does not know the suspects and cannot understand why they targeted her daughter. Yesterday's arrests left her "numb," she said, but her longing for her slain child is as overwhelming as ever.
"My daughter never did anything to anybody, especially these two people," she said. "I would hope that when people remember her, they turn to their own children and hug them and love them."
The mother of three other grown children, Brown now lives in another state but plans to attend court proceedings for the O'Briens and to push prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
"You won't get me out of Oil City until the day [the court] finds them guilty and sentences them for killing my daughter," she said. "I guess I'm glad [the arrests] are a beginning of the end.''
A shy brunette with a pageboy haircut, Shauna was abducted Oct. 27, 1992, near the busy intersection of West First and Reed Streets while walking home from a Girl Scout Halloween party at a church. Her mother reported her missing about three hours after a witness called Oil City police to report that he'd seen a thin, disheveled white man force a young girl into a red Oldsmobile.
Widespread searches over the next three days led to the discovery of her battered body about six miles away in Rockland, under an abandoned railroad trestle near a remote swimming area known as Coulter's Hole. An autopsy determined she died of head and chest injuries.
I remember the slaying and the reaction of the community and the region. Now they have caught the scum, who are real wastes of oxygen.
Timothy O'Brien already is serving a 33-month-to-5-year sentence in the State Correctional Institution Greene following his conviction in 2003 for indecent assault of a girl and a boy. He was deemed a sexually violent predator under the state's Megan's Law.
In 1994, he was convicted of corruption of minors for having sex with a 16-year-old girl, taking nude photographs of her and plying her with alcohol. He was sentenced to one to two years in prison.
James O'Brien is serving a 41/2-to-20-year sentence at SCI Greensburg following his conviction in 1995 for abducting a woman, knocking her to the ground and trying to force her into his car. He previously was sentenced to 111/2 to 24 months in jail in 1994 for receiving stolen property.
Hopefully they will have a date with a big needle, or else get shanked in prison. Either way suits me.
A high profile murder case from my native northwestern Pennsylvania has been closed with the arrest of two brothers and their accomplice.
Nearly a decade after Shauna Howe disappeared while walking home from a Halloween party, state police said a Venango County man told them he'd seen two brothers carry the girl into his home and up the stairs.
Investigators said Eldred "Ted" Walker, 45, of Cranberry, also told them that he and the brothers, James and Timothy O'Brien, spoke about snatching someone from a street before Shauna's abduction.
Walker told investigators he knew Shauna, and that he spoke to her and hugged her on the street before Timothy O'Brien pulled her toward a car.
State police said that statement -- which Walker yesterday denied making -- as well as a DNA match with James O'Brien led them to accuse the O'Brien brothers of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing the 11-year-old Girl Scout in 1992.
James O'Brien, 32, and Timothy O'Brien, 37, were charged yesterday with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, rape, kidnapping and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. The O'Briens, formerly of Oil City, are serving time in state prisons -- James in Greensburg, Timothy in Waynesburg -- for unrelated attacks.
Hopefully these scum will get the death sentences they so richly deserve.
Shauna's mother, Lucy Mae Brown, said she does not know the suspects and cannot understand why they targeted her daughter. Yesterday's arrests left her "numb," she said, but her longing for her slain child is as overwhelming as ever.
"My daughter never did anything to anybody, especially these two people," she said. "I would hope that when people remember her, they turn to their own children and hug them and love them."
The mother of three other grown children, Brown now lives in another state but plans to attend court proceedings for the O'Briens and to push prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
"You won't get me out of Oil City until the day [the court] finds them guilty and sentences them for killing my daughter," she said. "I guess I'm glad [the arrests] are a beginning of the end.''
A shy brunette with a pageboy haircut, Shauna was abducted Oct. 27, 1992, near the busy intersection of West First and Reed Streets while walking home from a Girl Scout Halloween party at a church. Her mother reported her missing about three hours after a witness called Oil City police to report that he'd seen a thin, disheveled white man force a young girl into a red Oldsmobile.
Widespread searches over the next three days led to the discovery of her battered body about six miles away in Rockland, under an abandoned railroad trestle near a remote swimming area known as Coulter's Hole. An autopsy determined she died of head and chest injuries.
I remember the slaying and the reaction of the community and the region. Now they have caught the scum, who are real wastes of oxygen.
Timothy O'Brien already is serving a 33-month-to-5-year sentence in the State Correctional Institution Greene following his conviction in 2003 for indecent assault of a girl and a boy. He was deemed a sexually violent predator under the state's Megan's Law.
In 1994, he was convicted of corruption of minors for having sex with a 16-year-old girl, taking nude photographs of her and plying her with alcohol. He was sentenced to one to two years in prison.
James O'Brien is serving a 41/2-to-20-year sentence at SCI Greensburg following his conviction in 1995 for abducting a woman, knocking her to the ground and trying to force her into his car. He previously was sentenced to 111/2 to 24 months in jail in 1994 for receiving stolen property.
Hopefully they will have a date with a big needle, or else get shanked in prison. Either way suits me.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Israel fights for its freedom...
...and five terrorists are liberated from their earthly bounds.
JERUSALEM ? Five armed Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in gun battles that lasted for hours yesterday in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians were stopped near the Netzarim junction after they apparently tried to penetrate an army outpost or Jewish settlement there, authorities said.
The shootout came during a violent day in which Israeli forces launched raids in the West Bank town or Jericho and the Gaza refugee camp of Rafah.
Col. Roni Belkin, who led the Jericho offensive, said the town had "turned into a terrorist shelter" in recent months.
His men arrested at least 30 wanted Palestinians, including a man the army said killed an Israeli teenager lured to the West Bank in 2001 by romantic e-mails sent to him by a Palestinian girl.
...and five terrorists are liberated from their earthly bounds.
JERUSALEM ? Five armed Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in gun battles that lasted for hours yesterday in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians were stopped near the Netzarim junction after they apparently tried to penetrate an army outpost or Jewish settlement there, authorities said.
The shootout came during a violent day in which Israeli forces launched raids in the West Bank town or Jericho and the Gaza refugee camp of Rafah.
Col. Roni Belkin, who led the Jericho offensive, said the town had "turned into a terrorist shelter" in recent months.
His men arrested at least 30 wanted Palestinians, including a man the army said killed an Israeli teenager lured to the West Bank in 2001 by romantic e-mails sent to him by a Palestinian girl.
Sgt York and Independence Day
Sergeant York is on TCM right now, and it is one of my favorite movies for many reasons. One reason is I'm a huge Gary Cooper fan and this is one of his best performances. Another is it is a story of a relatively simple man doing great things. I think it is very appropriate for this movie to be playing today, as the Sgt Alvin York's are what have made this country great.
For those who have never seen the movie or do not know who Alvin York was, he was a country man from Tennessee who became a very religious man after a wild youth. When he was drafted for service in World War I, he claimed conscientious objector status, but eventually became America's most decorated soldier from that war, including the Congressional Medal of Honor.
While our country has been blessed with great leaders such as George Washington, Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and countless other political and military leaders, what has made our country great is the ability of our ordinary citizens to rise up and do great things when asked. Alvin York left the hills of Tennessee to become a great hero.
In researching my family tree I have found ancestors that fought in or served during the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, both World Wars, and Vietnam. My one I-don't-know-how-many-greats-grandfather was the son of a man who came to Philly from Germany in 1732, the same year Washington was born. William Schroeffler fought for the freedom of a new country, hoping to preserve religious freedoms that attracted them to come from Germany. My one great-grandfather left farms and mines of rural Pennsylvania to serve in the Argonne. Both of my grandfathers were drafted during WWII. One stayed stateside, but my paternal grandfather served with the 3rd armored Spearhead as a medic in The Battle of the Bulge and earned a Bronze Star in Paderborn, and treated the survivors of the death camps they liberated. They and countless others left the farms, the cities, mines and factories when asked to earn our freedom and then preserve our freedoms. Thank you for your service and Happy Indepedence Day.
Sergeant York is on TCM right now, and it is one of my favorite movies for many reasons. One reason is I'm a huge Gary Cooper fan and this is one of his best performances. Another is it is a story of a relatively simple man doing great things. I think it is very appropriate for this movie to be playing today, as the Sgt Alvin York's are what have made this country great.
For those who have never seen the movie or do not know who Alvin York was, he was a country man from Tennessee who became a very religious man after a wild youth. When he was drafted for service in World War I, he claimed conscientious objector status, but eventually became America's most decorated soldier from that war, including the Congressional Medal of Honor.
While our country has been blessed with great leaders such as George Washington, Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and countless other political and military leaders, what has made our country great is the ability of our ordinary citizens to rise up and do great things when asked. Alvin York left the hills of Tennessee to become a great hero.
In researching my family tree I have found ancestors that fought in or served during the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, both World Wars, and Vietnam. My one I-don't-know-how-many-greats-grandfather was the son of a man who came to Philly from Germany in 1732, the same year Washington was born. William Schroeffler fought for the freedom of a new country, hoping to preserve religious freedoms that attracted them to come from Germany. My one great-grandfather left farms and mines of rural Pennsylvania to serve in the Argonne. Both of my grandfathers were drafted during WWII. One stayed stateside, but my paternal grandfather served with the 3rd armored Spearhead as a medic in The Battle of the Bulge and earned a Bronze Star in Paderborn, and treated the survivors of the death camps they liberated. They and countless others left the farms, the cities, mines and factories when asked to earn our freedom and then preserve our freedoms. Thank you for your service and Happy Indepedence Day.
"Christian" Brownshirts
Some Religious and Holy In Name Only's, or RHINO's, want to muzzle free speech at the pulpit.
A group of pastors Thursday lashed out at the Mainstream Coalition over its plan to monitor Johnson County church services for potentially improper political activity.
?We are alarmed at such scare tactics,? the group, called Ad Hoc Pastors for Biblical Values, said in a written statement. ?These are the methods of coercive rulers. There is no place for this type of intimidation by ?secret police' in our land.?
The statement from the pastors came in response to an announcement that the Mainstream Coalition, whose members include moderates from the political and religious fields, will send undercover volunteers to worship services this month. Churches need to keep partisan politics away from the pulpit, the coalition said.
?If they're not doing anything wrong, they shouldn't be worried about anything,? Caroline McKnight, executive director of the coalition, said Thursday. ?Our goal is not to intimidate anyone. Our goal, which I think we've achieved to some degree, is to raise public awareness about this issue.?
I call Bullshit. These fascists want to make sure nothing is said from the pulpit that disagrees with their agenda, and their goal is to indeed intimidate the righteous, using the IRS or any other means.
Internal Revenue Service rules bar tax-exempt groups such as churches from participating in political campaigns for or against candidates. Some activities, however, such as voter education, are allowable. Violations could lead to loss of tax-exempt status.
McKnight said the coalition decided to act after hearing that area pastors displeased with the Kansas Legislature for defeating a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage were planning to get more involved in pre-election activities. The August primary election ballot in Johnson County features several legislative races in which conservative and moderate Republican candidates are opposing each other. The monitoring will begin July 11.
The clergy have a responsibility to tend to their flock, and as such have a responsibility to educate their parishes and congregations as to the ramifications of their actions, including their voting choices. They shouldn't endorse candidates, but they should point out when certain choices are contrary to the Lord. Thankfully, the good people of Johnson County are not intimidated.
Despite the strong words in the pastors' statement, James Conard, coordinator of the group, said observers from the coalition are welcome to attend services.
?We want to invite them into our churches,? Conard, associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Shawnee, said in an interview.
Conard said about 100 church leaders are affiliated with the Ad Hoc group, many from Johnson and Wyandotte counties. Some of them expect to conduct or already have conducted political activities, including voter registration and discussion forums.
The pastors' statement said: ?We do not recognize the Mainstream Coalition as the self-appointed guardians of political and religious purity.?
It added: ?Their members share a common social agenda and seek to impose that agenda across this county. Their patronizing attitude toward those whose views differ, and especially toward white, evangelical Christians, is distasteful.?
If you want to check out what the "Mainstream Coalition" is all about, check out website. They are a socialist liberal organization, opposing the right to bear arms and other rights guaranteed by the Constitution for which they have no regard.
Some Religious and Holy In Name Only's, or RHINO's, want to muzzle free speech at the pulpit.
A group of pastors Thursday lashed out at the Mainstream Coalition over its plan to monitor Johnson County church services for potentially improper political activity.
?We are alarmed at such scare tactics,? the group, called Ad Hoc Pastors for Biblical Values, said in a written statement. ?These are the methods of coercive rulers. There is no place for this type of intimidation by ?secret police' in our land.?
The statement from the pastors came in response to an announcement that the Mainstream Coalition, whose members include moderates from the political and religious fields, will send undercover volunteers to worship services this month. Churches need to keep partisan politics away from the pulpit, the coalition said.
?If they're not doing anything wrong, they shouldn't be worried about anything,? Caroline McKnight, executive director of the coalition, said Thursday. ?Our goal is not to intimidate anyone. Our goal, which I think we've achieved to some degree, is to raise public awareness about this issue.?
I call Bullshit. These fascists want to make sure nothing is said from the pulpit that disagrees with their agenda, and their goal is to indeed intimidate the righteous, using the IRS or any other means.
Internal Revenue Service rules bar tax-exempt groups such as churches from participating in political campaigns for or against candidates. Some activities, however, such as voter education, are allowable. Violations could lead to loss of tax-exempt status.
McKnight said the coalition decided to act after hearing that area pastors displeased with the Kansas Legislature for defeating a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage were planning to get more involved in pre-election activities. The August primary election ballot in Johnson County features several legislative races in which conservative and moderate Republican candidates are opposing each other. The monitoring will begin July 11.
The clergy have a responsibility to tend to their flock, and as such have a responsibility to educate their parishes and congregations as to the ramifications of their actions, including their voting choices. They shouldn't endorse candidates, but they should point out when certain choices are contrary to the Lord. Thankfully, the good people of Johnson County are not intimidated.
Despite the strong words in the pastors' statement, James Conard, coordinator of the group, said observers from the coalition are welcome to attend services.
?We want to invite them into our churches,? Conard, associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Shawnee, said in an interview.
Conard said about 100 church leaders are affiliated with the Ad Hoc group, many from Johnson and Wyandotte counties. Some of them expect to conduct or already have conducted political activities, including voter registration and discussion forums.
The pastors' statement said: ?We do not recognize the Mainstream Coalition as the self-appointed guardians of political and religious purity.?
It added: ?Their members share a common social agenda and seek to impose that agenda across this county. Their patronizing attitude toward those whose views differ, and especially toward white, evangelical Christians, is distasteful.?
If you want to check out what the "Mainstream Coalition" is all about, check out website. They are a socialist liberal organization, opposing the right to bear arms and other rights guaranteed by the Constitution for which they have no regard.
Friday, July 02, 2004
Are you a neocon?
This quiz tells you where you line up on the political spectrum. I was a neocon, as I figured I would be. Sample question:
How should the US approach relations with Iran? (Choose one)
- The US must remember its history with Iran. Pro-West reform efforts - including the 1953 CIA coup that installed the Shah - incited the Islamic Revolution. US-led regime change would once again empower the most backward and hardline elements of radical Islam. The people of Iran must set their own course for freedom. Meanwhile, the US must turn to its EU partners to push for stricter inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.
- The US is simply not positioned to stop Iran's seemingly inevitable drive to acquire nuclear weapons. But as it did with the Soviet Union and China before, America can contain and deter Iran's mullahs and their nuclear leverage. Hard-line Islamic rule in Iran is bankrupt and doomed to failure - democratic reformers will eventually seize the day. Patience and pressure, not preemptive war should guide America's approach toward Iran.
- Iran's hardline Islamic regime, proven connections to terrorists networks, and obvious desire for nuclear weapons make it a particularly dangerous threat. The mullahs who run Iran have repressed freedom at every turn, and show no evidence of ending ties to terrorism. To ensure that Iran does not threaten US security, American forces must be prepared to do to Tehran what they did to Baghdad.
- Iran presents a serious foreign policy challenge. Most Iranians clearly embrace democratic reform, but its hardline Islamic government seems intractable. Aggressive support for reformer efforts may be unwise at this time. The US must make a concerted effort with its European and regional allies to pressure Iran's regime to cease its nuclear ambitions.
This quiz tells you where you line up on the political spectrum. I was a neocon, as I figured I would be. Sample question:
How should the US approach relations with Iran? (Choose one)
- The US must remember its history with Iran. Pro-West reform efforts - including the 1953 CIA coup that installed the Shah - incited the Islamic Revolution. US-led regime change would once again empower the most backward and hardline elements of radical Islam. The people of Iran must set their own course for freedom. Meanwhile, the US must turn to its EU partners to push for stricter inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.
- The US is simply not positioned to stop Iran's seemingly inevitable drive to acquire nuclear weapons. But as it did with the Soviet Union and China before, America can contain and deter Iran's mullahs and their nuclear leverage. Hard-line Islamic rule in Iran is bankrupt and doomed to failure - democratic reformers will eventually seize the day. Patience and pressure, not preemptive war should guide America's approach toward Iran.
- Iran's hardline Islamic regime, proven connections to terrorists networks, and obvious desire for nuclear weapons make it a particularly dangerous threat. The mullahs who run Iran have repressed freedom at every turn, and show no evidence of ending ties to terrorism. To ensure that Iran does not threaten US security, American forces must be prepared to do to Tehran what they did to Baghdad.
- Iran presents a serious foreign policy challenge. Most Iranians clearly embrace democratic reform, but its hardline Islamic government seems intractable. Aggressive support for reformer efforts may be unwise at this time. The US must make a concerted effort with its European and regional allies to pressure Iran's regime to cease its nuclear ambitions.
Could you pass the citizenship test?
Here is a link to some actual questions from the test. I have a degree in history and know the stuff, but all citizens should know the answers.
Here is a link to some actual questions from the test. I have a degree in history and know the stuff, but all citizens should know the answers.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
A reasonable argument for reinstating the draft
This op-ed makes a good argument for reinstating the draft.
As a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon, I wrote the legislative message proposing an end to the military draft. The draft was a target of antiwar protests. The president made a tactical retreat, ending it. He later regretted the move, urging that the draft be restored.
Ironic that the man who helped end the draft would argue to restore it, and here are his arguments for the draft:
- The draft shattered class distinctions. It mixed high school dropouts with college graduates, rich with middle class and poor. But the educated learned to value those without college degrees, and the uneducated, helped along by the GI Bill, discovered that higher learning might be within reach after all.
- Class lines blurred and so did racial lines. The military did more to advance the cause of equality in the United States than any other law, institution or movement. Not for nothing did "Bro" come into common usage in the Vietnam era: "Who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."
- It advanced the business of making us one people. The draftees may not have liked being pulled away from the careers that awaited them and being thrown in with people they probably wouldn't have associated with otherwise. But over the two-year span of their service, there were sea changes. The disaffected became the committed, became leaders who demanded the best of others and especially of themselves. They saluted with a snap indistinguishable from any other.
- When they took their discharges and went home, they had an investment in America not shared by those who did not serve. Try to find a draftee who regrets his service to America. After a time they were not "draftees" at all; they were American soldiers -- part of the fabric of the nation, committed to its values and their preservation.
All good points. He also has a good conclusion:
But the nation also needs a draft because it is one proven mechanism to bring unity to our rapidly separating parts. It needs a draft to provide that common civic grammar that encompasses those who have served and their families and friends. It needs a draft to honor, and to even out, the sacrifices we call upon our young to make for our nation.
Finally, America needs this fund of experience to expand the pool of people likely to find their way into the corridors of power and, when they get there, to bring with them a bone-deep appreciation of the true costs of conflict. Thus might we reduce the risks of counsel from those who have never had to learn the difference between a war and a cakewalk.
I may not agree with his whole piece, but unlike Rangel and others, the author demonstrates the positives of having our citizens possess "that common civic grammar." There is also no partisanship or name calling, just a good thought provoking article.
This op-ed makes a good argument for reinstating the draft.
As a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon, I wrote the legislative message proposing an end to the military draft. The draft was a target of antiwar protests. The president made a tactical retreat, ending it. He later regretted the move, urging that the draft be restored.
Ironic that the man who helped end the draft would argue to restore it, and here are his arguments for the draft:
- The draft shattered class distinctions. It mixed high school dropouts with college graduates, rich with middle class and poor. But the educated learned to value those without college degrees, and the uneducated, helped along by the GI Bill, discovered that higher learning might be within reach after all.
- Class lines blurred and so did racial lines. The military did more to advance the cause of equality in the United States than any other law, institution or movement. Not for nothing did "Bro" come into common usage in the Vietnam era: "Who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."
- It advanced the business of making us one people. The draftees may not have liked being pulled away from the careers that awaited them and being thrown in with people they probably wouldn't have associated with otherwise. But over the two-year span of their service, there were sea changes. The disaffected became the committed, became leaders who demanded the best of others and especially of themselves. They saluted with a snap indistinguishable from any other.
- When they took their discharges and went home, they had an investment in America not shared by those who did not serve. Try to find a draftee who regrets his service to America. After a time they were not "draftees" at all; they were American soldiers -- part of the fabric of the nation, committed to its values and their preservation.
All good points. He also has a good conclusion:
But the nation also needs a draft because it is one proven mechanism to bring unity to our rapidly separating parts. It needs a draft to provide that common civic grammar that encompasses those who have served and their families and friends. It needs a draft to honor, and to even out, the sacrifices we call upon our young to make for our nation.
Finally, America needs this fund of experience to expand the pool of people likely to find their way into the corridors of power and, when they get there, to bring with them a bone-deep appreciation of the true costs of conflict. Thus might we reduce the risks of counsel from those who have never had to learn the difference between a war and a cakewalk.
I may not agree with his whole piece, but unlike Rangel and others, the author demonstrates the positives of having our citizens possess "that common civic grammar." There is also no partisanship or name calling, just a good thought provoking article.
Are you serious?
Nicole Kidman says she can't find a man.
Being a single mother makes it difficult to find a mate, says actress Nicole Kidman.
"I'm hoping to meet someone and be happy with them. But that's not as easy as it sounds. I'm a 37-year-old woman with two children. Men aren't beating a path to my door," she said in an interview published in the latest issue of "Now" magazine Wednesday.
"I don't want to sound like a woman from a lonely hearts club and I don't want to advertise. The children are my priority. I take them around with me ? movies or baseball games or local shows ? and that's not so appealing for any new man on the scene, is it?" she said.
Nicole honey, if I was single.....
Nicole Kidman says she can't find a man.
Being a single mother makes it difficult to find a mate, says actress Nicole Kidman.
"I'm hoping to meet someone and be happy with them. But that's not as easy as it sounds. I'm a 37-year-old woman with two children. Men aren't beating a path to my door," she said in an interview published in the latest issue of "Now" magazine Wednesday.
"I don't want to sound like a woman from a lonely hearts club and I don't want to advertise. The children are my priority. I take them around with me ? movies or baseball games or local shows ? and that's not so appealing for any new man on the scene, is it?" she said.
Nicole honey, if I was single.....
Come over here, pretty college boy
From the AP:
A former Harvard Dental School student was sentenced to four to six years in state prison on Thursday for raping a fellow student after a party in 2001. Martin Urban, 30, of Canton was convicted by a Suffolk County jury on Monday after a five-day trial.
Urban, a postdoctoral student at the time, was driving the victim to her Boston home on Dec. 20, 2001 after a party, according to testimony given at trial. During the drive, he pulled into a parking lot, got in the back seat and raped the woman, who was sleeping.
The woman, who was studying to be a dentist, told a friend the next day that she had been raped and went to a hospital for an examination. Several weeks later, she reported the rape to authorities, who investigated, and obtained an indictment in the spring of 2002.
I think his new prison buddies will be glad to help him floss. Have fun in prison, preppy boy.
From the AP:
A former Harvard Dental School student was sentenced to four to six years in state prison on Thursday for raping a fellow student after a party in 2001. Martin Urban, 30, of Canton was convicted by a Suffolk County jury on Monday after a five-day trial.
Urban, a postdoctoral student at the time, was driving the victim to her Boston home on Dec. 20, 2001 after a party, according to testimony given at trial. During the drive, he pulled into a parking lot, got in the back seat and raped the woman, who was sleeping.
The woman, who was studying to be a dentist, told a friend the next day that she had been raped and went to a hospital for an examination. Several weeks later, she reported the rape to authorities, who investigated, and obtained an indictment in the spring of 2002.
I think his new prison buddies will be glad to help him floss. Have fun in prison, preppy boy.
The lefties love Saddam
America's sexiest conservative pundit, Ann Coulter, skewers the left and the love of Saddam and hatred of Bush.
The Americanization of Iraq proceeds at an astonishing pace, the Iraqis are taking to freedom like fish to water, and the possibilities for this nation are endless. It's hard to say who's more upset about these developments: the last vestiges of pro-Hussein Baathist resistance in Iraq or John Kerry's campaign manager.
The New York Times ran a front-page news story on Sunday about how life was better for Iraqi girls under Saddam Hussein -- living under Saddam, that is, not the girls who were literally under Saddam, Odai and Qusai while they were being raped. The article was titled "For Iraqi Girls, Changing Land Narrows Lives." True, they don't have to run from Odai's rape rooms anymore. But apparently not a single Iraqi female has been admitted to Augusta National Golf Club since the liberation!
The Democrats want Saddam back.
Gotta love Ann, she does not hold back. She then goes into a rundown of various lefty baffoons.
There's Michael Moore, who has said he hopes more Americans will die in Iraq. His movie, "Fahrenheit 7/11" as we call it, apparently supports the Times' view that life in Iraq was better, sunnier, happier under Saddam Hussein. Moore has also accused the American people of being the stupidest, most naive people on the face of the Earth. And after last weekend, he's got the box office numbers to prove it!
Moore keeps whining about all the right-wing hit groups out to get him. Granted he's a large target (or what's known in baseball as a "fat pitch"). But conservatives are frankly relieved we finally have a liberal who tells the truth about what he thinks of America.
Body Blow! Body Blow! Uppercut! He's down for the count!
Then there's George Soros, who compared Israel to Nazi Germany and President George Bush to the Nazis. Soros later denied comparing Bush to the Nazis, saying he had merely said Bush reminded him of "the Germans." Hmmm, which Germans was Soros referring to -- the Von Trapp Family? Katarina Witt and Steffi Graf? Eric Braeden from "The Young and the Restless"? Wouldn't Soros like Bush if he were similar to the new pacifist, America-hating Germans? If not, why did liberals keep pestering us to get Germany's approval before we invaded Iraq?
To quote one of my favorite Flintstone episodes: "Judo, chop chop"
And then there's Howard Dean, who thinks Bush was in cahoots with the Saudis -- and he's the centrist of the bunch. I'm looking forward to Dean's address at the Democratic Convention this summer. Rumor has it he'll end with a squeal so high-pitched only dogs will be able to hear it.
Daniel-San is getting ready for the crane kick...
I admire their savage energy, but these people want to run the country. Even with all their money and power, I don't think they could get the Haitians to let them govern. But Soros and company think they should be running the United States of America.
Come to think of it, it's no surprise they want Saddam Hussein back. He made the Democrats seem moderate by comparison.
And the ref stops the fight
America's sexiest conservative pundit, Ann Coulter, skewers the left and the love of Saddam and hatred of Bush.
The Americanization of Iraq proceeds at an astonishing pace, the Iraqis are taking to freedom like fish to water, and the possibilities for this nation are endless. It's hard to say who's more upset about these developments: the last vestiges of pro-Hussein Baathist resistance in Iraq or John Kerry's campaign manager.
The New York Times ran a front-page news story on Sunday about how life was better for Iraqi girls under Saddam Hussein -- living under Saddam, that is, not the girls who were literally under Saddam, Odai and Qusai while they were being raped. The article was titled "For Iraqi Girls, Changing Land Narrows Lives." True, they don't have to run from Odai's rape rooms anymore. But apparently not a single Iraqi female has been admitted to Augusta National Golf Club since the liberation!
The Democrats want Saddam back.
Gotta love Ann, she does not hold back. She then goes into a rundown of various lefty baffoons.
There's Michael Moore, who has said he hopes more Americans will die in Iraq. His movie, "Fahrenheit 7/11" as we call it, apparently supports the Times' view that life in Iraq was better, sunnier, happier under Saddam Hussein. Moore has also accused the American people of being the stupidest, most naive people on the face of the Earth. And after last weekend, he's got the box office numbers to prove it!
Moore keeps whining about all the right-wing hit groups out to get him. Granted he's a large target (or what's known in baseball as a "fat pitch"). But conservatives are frankly relieved we finally have a liberal who tells the truth about what he thinks of America.
Body Blow! Body Blow! Uppercut! He's down for the count!
Then there's George Soros, who compared Israel to Nazi Germany and President George Bush to the Nazis. Soros later denied comparing Bush to the Nazis, saying he had merely said Bush reminded him of "the Germans." Hmmm, which Germans was Soros referring to -- the Von Trapp Family? Katarina Witt and Steffi Graf? Eric Braeden from "The Young and the Restless"? Wouldn't Soros like Bush if he were similar to the new pacifist, America-hating Germans? If not, why did liberals keep pestering us to get Germany's approval before we invaded Iraq?
To quote one of my favorite Flintstone episodes: "Judo, chop chop"
And then there's Howard Dean, who thinks Bush was in cahoots with the Saudis -- and he's the centrist of the bunch. I'm looking forward to Dean's address at the Democratic Convention this summer. Rumor has it he'll end with a squeal so high-pitched only dogs will be able to hear it.
Daniel-San is getting ready for the crane kick...
I admire their savage energy, but these people want to run the country. Even with all their money and power, I don't think they could get the Haitians to let them govern. But Soros and company think they should be running the United States of America.
Come to think of it, it's no surprise they want Saddam Hussein back. He made the Democrats seem moderate by comparison.
And the ref stops the fight
Evil released from prison
Sadistic child killer Joel Steinberg left prison yesterday after serving only 17 years.
Sadistic child-slayer Joel Steinberg sauntered out of an upstate prison in style yesterday, sliding into a chauffeured stretch limo that broke speed limits and wove wildly through traffic as it raced back to New York City with a mass of media in hot pursuit.
When the worn and graying Steinberg, 63, arrived in Manhattan yesterday afternoon, he immediately was taken to the West Harlem headquarters of the Fortune Society, a prisoner-rehabilitation group, where he is expected to stay as he is counseled about re-entry into society after serving nearly 17 years for fatally beating his illegally adopted 6-year-old daughter, Lisa. Steinberg was convicted in 1989 of manslaughter in Lisa's death, which occurred after the ex-lawyer pummeled her in the squalid Greenwich Village apartment where they lived with his brutalized lover, Hedda Nussbaum, and another illegally adopted child, 17-month-old Travis Smiegel.
Steinberg, who apparently became enraged because Lisa had stared at him, smoked crack cocaine just after the Nov. 2, 1987, attack from which the girl died three days later.
It's an outrage that he is free, and Governor Patkai agrees:
Although Steinberg was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, he went free on parole yesterday morning, as the law allows, after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
"The fact that a despicable child-killer like Joel Steinberg is being released from prison before serving his full sentence is not only wrong ? it's an outrage," said Gov. Pataki, who added that recent legal reforms will prevent such early releases in the future.
The neighbors of the halfway house aren't too happy either.
Some 30 neighbors protested outside the society last night, some carrying votive candles and shouting, "Baby killer out of here!" in English and Spanish.
"I'm scared," said Nuryn Tejada, 12. "He's known as a killer of a little girl, and he could do that to me."
Added neighbor Ydalia Colgan, "They shouldn't have brought him to this neighborhood? and in a white limo, like he's a Kennedy."
Ask May Jo Kopechne about the Kennedys. Oh that's right, we can't. Teddy killed her in a car accident.
Sadistic child killer Joel Steinberg left prison yesterday after serving only 17 years.
Sadistic child-slayer Joel Steinberg sauntered out of an upstate prison in style yesterday, sliding into a chauffeured stretch limo that broke speed limits and wove wildly through traffic as it raced back to New York City with a mass of media in hot pursuit.
When the worn and graying Steinberg, 63, arrived in Manhattan yesterday afternoon, he immediately was taken to the West Harlem headquarters of the Fortune Society, a prisoner-rehabilitation group, where he is expected to stay as he is counseled about re-entry into society after serving nearly 17 years for fatally beating his illegally adopted 6-year-old daughter, Lisa. Steinberg was convicted in 1989 of manslaughter in Lisa's death, which occurred after the ex-lawyer pummeled her in the squalid Greenwich Village apartment where they lived with his brutalized lover, Hedda Nussbaum, and another illegally adopted child, 17-month-old Travis Smiegel.
Steinberg, who apparently became enraged because Lisa had stared at him, smoked crack cocaine just after the Nov. 2, 1987, attack from which the girl died three days later.
It's an outrage that he is free, and Governor Patkai agrees:
Although Steinberg was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, he went free on parole yesterday morning, as the law allows, after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
"The fact that a despicable child-killer like Joel Steinberg is being released from prison before serving his full sentence is not only wrong ? it's an outrage," said Gov. Pataki, who added that recent legal reforms will prevent such early releases in the future.
The neighbors of the halfway house aren't too happy either.
Some 30 neighbors protested outside the society last night, some carrying votive candles and shouting, "Baby killer out of here!" in English and Spanish.
"I'm scared," said Nuryn Tejada, 12. "He's known as a killer of a little girl, and he could do that to me."
Added neighbor Ydalia Colgan, "They shouldn't have brought him to this neighborhood? and in a white limo, like he's a Kennedy."
Ask May Jo Kopechne about the Kennedys. Oh that's right, we can't. Teddy killed her in a car accident.
More communism from the left coast.
King County Washington (Seattle area) has decided to try to tell landowners it's not their land.
Residents of King County, Wash., will only be able to build on 10 percent of their land, according to a new law being considered by the county government, which, if enacted, will be the most restrictive land use law in the nation.
Known as the 65-10 Rule, it calls for landowners to set aside 65 percent of their property and keep it in its natural, vegetative state. According to the rule, nothing can be built on this land, and if a tree is cut down, for example, it must be replanted. Building anything is out of the question.
Most of the residents who will be directly affected by the regulations ? those who own property in the rural areas of the country ? are fuming. They see the new regulations as a land grab and a violation of their property rights.
"My take is it's stealing ? out and out stealing," said county resident Marshall Brenden. "They're taking 65 percent of your land that you fought for years to pay for, paid mortgages on and now you can't use it."
But it's "for the common good", just like Hillary taking our money:
But supporters and environmentalists say personal property rights do not trump the rights of a larger community to save the eco-system.
"We're trying to keep the rural area a place that isn't just McMansions and ball courts, but instead has those natural processes," said Tim Trohimovich of the group 1000 Friends of Washington, which aims to promote healthy communities and cities while protecting farmland and forests.
One of the basic foundations of the US has been the right to own property. Unlike peasants and serfs beholden to a baron, a lord, or the government, we have been able to buy property and within reason do what we want with it. This law must be defeated.
King County Washington (Seattle area) has decided to try to tell landowners it's not their land.
Residents of King County, Wash., will only be able to build on 10 percent of their land, according to a new law being considered by the county government, which, if enacted, will be the most restrictive land use law in the nation.
Known as the 65-10 Rule, it calls for landowners to set aside 65 percent of their property and keep it in its natural, vegetative state. According to the rule, nothing can be built on this land, and if a tree is cut down, for example, it must be replanted. Building anything is out of the question.
Most of the residents who will be directly affected by the regulations ? those who own property in the rural areas of the country ? are fuming. They see the new regulations as a land grab and a violation of their property rights.
"My take is it's stealing ? out and out stealing," said county resident Marshall Brenden. "They're taking 65 percent of your land that you fought for years to pay for, paid mortgages on and now you can't use it."
But it's "for the common good", just like Hillary taking our money:
But supporters and environmentalists say personal property rights do not trump the rights of a larger community to save the eco-system.
"We're trying to keep the rural area a place that isn't just McMansions and ball courts, but instead has those natural processes," said Tim Trohimovich of the group 1000 Friends of Washington, which aims to promote healthy communities and cities while protecting farmland and forests.
One of the basic foundations of the US has been the right to own property. Unlike peasants and serfs beholden to a baron, a lord, or the government, we have been able to buy property and within reason do what we want with it. This law must be defeated.
