And Here I Thought Objective Journalists Didn't Make Political Donations

We're always told that reporters, editors, and other involved in journalism shouldn't endorse candidates or give donations. Dan Rather broke that rule in Austin a few years ago, but claims it was an accident.

Well, given the current controversy caused by the use of forged and false documents by CBS News, let's see what the employees of that organization are doing politically.

CBS News-ers have donated $17,050 to federal candidates and political action committees since 1982. Of that amount, $10,800 was for Democrats and the DNC; $3,500 went to Lenora Fulani's wacky New Alliance Party; and only $2,750 went to the GOP. The biggest individual recipient was Fulani, who received $3,500 from a CBS News staffer back in the 1980s. The second highest was Sen. Hillary Clinton, who took in $2,250 from three CBS News employees. Among the CBS contributors: the late Charles Kuralt, who gave $1,000 to Harvey Gantt for Senate in 1996; David Garfinkle of "60 Minutes," who gave $1,000 to Bill Bradley's presidential campaign; and "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft, who gave $300 to Ham Fish, Jr.'s race for Congress in 1994.

Now you might argue that these are old donations, not current ones, but notice one significant fact -- the Republican party received less than the New Alliance party of left-wing crackpot Lenora Fulani! Is it that GOP employees are more scrupulous about ethics, or that they are non-existent?

Posted by: Greg at 09:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You, Too, Can Have Early Sex Pushed At Your Kids In School -- Just Vote Democrat!

If you want a vision of things to come, take a look at this article I found linked by Mark Shea. The schools in one district in Nova Scotia are about to distribute a sex education manual to all its students in upper grades. Parents are up in arms over statements like this one cited in the article.

". . . a person who is 12 or 13 can consent to sexual activity but only with a person who is less than 2 years older than he or she is."

Can you believe that! They are actually approving kids having sex at age 12! And when little Susie gets knocked up? They go into how to get an abortion without parental knowledge or permission! There is actually a page stating that it is illegal and unethical for doctors to tell parents their kids are sexually active!

If we elect Democrats, who seem to find traditional values and sexual morality troubling, to office this fall, we will soon find stuff like this in our students' backpacks, mandated by Washington, DC.

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A Beslan Miracle

We have all seen the picture. I even posted it on my site before. A blood-stained hand of a child clutches a cross following the Beslan school attack.

I've got another picture for you.

A happier one.

Of Viktoria Ktsoyeva.

The girl whose hand and cross touched so many of us.



Here's the story of what she went through in the school. And since I, as a teacher, can't type anything more about Beslan without crying, I'll leave you with this excerpt about the goodness of God.

"I felt that if I had that cross in my hand and if it was still there, then everything would be fine," she said.

The only sign of her injury are three small stitches on the right side of her forehead. But X-rays show a centimetre-sized piece of shrapnel that travelled into her skull and stopped practically in the center of her brain.

Dr Maxim Vladimirov, her neurosurgeon, said the shrapnel could have hit a major artery or affected Viktoria's ability to control her movement if it had gone just 1 millimetre further in any direction. "She's very lucky," Vladimirov said.

For now, doctors are planning to leave the shrapnel inside her skull and will only operate if any future complications develop.

After days of being confined to bed on doctor's orders, Victoria took her first cautious steps again on Wednesday. She's expected to be hospitalised for about a month, and then to travel with her family to a sanatorium for further recuperation.

The cross is now back in her family's apartment in Beslan, still stained with blood.

She didn't have time to remember it when she was taken September 5 to Moscow for treatment, but her father, Sergei, and brother will bring it when they arrive later. She now wears a brown cross given her by a priest who visited the hospital. A couple small icons rest on her windowsill in front of a small menagerie of stuffed animals.

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Dan Rather And CBS News Violate Their Own Standards

Dennis E. Powell does a book report about an interesting book he owns.

It's called "The White Book," at least informally. More formally, it is called CBS NEWS STANDARDS, and is a product of an outfit called the CBS News Division. It contains the standards and practices that the Columbia Broadcast System supposedly requires of its of those who gather and report the news for CBS Evening News and other news shows on the network. It seems relevant, given recent allegations against Dan Rather and others associated with the memo story.

Here is what the book says about anonymous sources, on page 37B:

"Anonymous sources should be used only when it is determined (1) that there is no other practicable way to obtain and report the information; (2) that the information is factual and of sufficient newsworthiness to warrant its use despite the fact that we cannot disclose its source; and (3) that the source and his information are highly reliable in the particular instance."

And it goes on.

"Where the use of an anonymous source is necessary, as much information as possible about the nature of the source should be provided to the audience, assuming, of course, that this information would not lead to disclosure of the source. Where the source may have a vested interest in the matter to be reported, it is especially important that information be provided as to the nature and/or motivation of the source."

The reporting in the memo stories and subsequent defenses of the stories seems to be in violation of these standards and practices.

Now I'll concede that Powell owns an older edition, since he left the network some years ago. But one would hope that the standards have not changed so dramatically that deception and obfuscation have become acceptable.

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Does This Really Make Us Safer?

Federal and state prosecutors have apparently decided not to prosecute or seek a civil penalty from Katheryn Stover, a special education teacher from Laurel, Maryland, for attempting to bring a "weapon" on a flight in August.

It was an 8 1/2-inch leather strap with small lead weights at each end. You can buy them at any number of bookstores throughout the country without a waiting period or background check.

She had carried it on several flights since the 2001 terrorist attacks, even through Tampa, but screeners had never noticed it, she said.

This time they did, and thought it resembled a weighted weapon that could be used to knock people unconscious. Airport police charged her with carrying a concealed weapon.

"It was a bookmark," Harrington, a special education teacher, told the St. Petersburg Times. "It's not a weapon. I could not understand why I was being handcuffed and put into a police car. I cried for hours."

Harrington, who also is a Sunday school teacher, faced a possible criminal trial, a $10,000 fine and the stigma of being deemed a security risk.

Glad we have taken care of the security threat posed by literate middle-age women. But we still let large groups of Middle Eastern and Muslim men fly together and wander freely about the plane, so we may have a way to go before the skies are safe.

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Hero's Family Abused At Leftist "Vigil For Dead Troops"

Leftists from the Dallas Peace Center called it a vigil to honor the 1000th US casualty in Iraq. They didn't actually expect family members of the dead, Chad Drake (killed near Baghdad on September 6) to show up to honor the troops. What happened next?

A family friend said the vigil turned abrasive toward the family members. The friend sent an e-mail message to NBC 5 News that described the alleged treatment some vigil attendees directed at the family.

The family friend's message alleges Drake's mother was "harassed and yelled at, booed and hissed, told her son died for nothing."

Quite a way for those at a vigil to "honor the dead" to treat the family of one of those who had died. These people dishonor the troops, especially those who have died.

But they live in America, where they have the freedom to do such things. In Saddam Hussein's Iraq, they weould all be in prison or dead today.

That is why they should be thankful for men like Chad Drake -- and George W. Bush.

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Find Him -- Kill Him

Hey, when you confess to something of this enormous magnitude, it's hard to even justify the expense of a trial.

Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the deadly school hostage taking in southern Russia, according to a letter posted on a rebel website today.

Rebels commanded by Basayev have "carried out a series of successful military operations...", including "the operation in the town of Beslan", said a letter signed by the notorious warlord and posted on kavkazcenter.com.

The hostage crisis in early September killed more than 330 people, the majority of them children.

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Kerry Supporters Destroy Child's Sign

Want one more reasons for considering so many Kerry supporters to be evil? Phil Parlock decided to take his three-year-old daughter to see John Edwards at the Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Virginia -- and to engage in a little First Amendment protected speech by waving a Bush/Cheney sign. Kerry/Edwards supporters ripped the sign from the little girl and verbally abused her and her father (look at the smirking piece of excrement next to the father and daughter, mocking them).

Great class, folks -- picking on little children. This is why you will lose, because the decent people of America are going to rise up en masse against you.

By the way, Huntington is also the area where gunshots were fired into GOP headquarters as party faithful gathered to watch the president's acceptance speech during the convention. Were kerry supporters at this event questioned for involvement in that terrorist act, given their thuggish behavior today?

Posted by: Greg at 05:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Let's Guess Which Candidate This Psycho Supports

A guy out in California running for the Thousand Oaks City Council is causing some real concerns. Both the local sheriff and the Secret Service turned out at this week's City Council meeting. Why?

Daniel Avila, 25, admitted Wednesday that he handed out fliers at the city's Oktoberfest celebration stating, "President George W. Bush Deserves to Be Assassinated." The handbill also called for a sex attack on the president's twin daughters.

Avila, who didn't attend the Tuesday night council session, wouldn't discuss his motives.

"I don't want to give any clue as to whether I'm serious or whether I'm playing around," he said. "I just think people need to allow something they don't like in their society to exist. In general that's what democracy is all about."

This guy needs to be in custody. Especially since in July he passed out bumper stickers advocating the murder of the president when he came to speak at a City Council meeting -- and brought a hatchet with him. He appears to be a danger to himself or others.

The article ends with this little gem.

Asked if he has ever committed a violent act, Avila said he has not.

"But if I did, I wouldn't be honest about it," he said.

Tell it to your cellmate, Danny-Boy.

Posted by: Greg at 05:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Let Them Eat Ketchup!

Teresa Heinz Kerry doesn't think folks in the Carribean need clothes following the hurricanes!

"Clothing is wonderful, but let them go naked for a while, at least the kids," said Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. "Water is necessary, and then generators, and then food, and then clothes."

Actually, dear, cloting is necessary.

As I see it, there are a couple of possibilities.

First, Teresa could be the sort who gets her jollies looking at naked kids. One would hope not, but you never can be too careful these days.

Second, Teresa could be flashing back to her childhood home in Mozambique, where she and her fellow members of the colonialist oppressor class lived in luxury while the common people did without. She thinks poor little black kids don't need clothes.

Third, Teresa could simply have no clue, and be shooting off her mouth like an ignorant tramp again.

I vote for number three, but wonder about number one. I mean, she is pretty anxious to get those kids naked.

Posted by: Greg at 05:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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CBS Has Proof Bush Served, But Still Investigates

Look at the sidebar on this CBS story -- it contains a list of documents proving President Bush satisfactorily completed his service. So why are they still investigating? This should be a closed case.

Here they are, for your viewing pleasure.

Also view documents released by the White House reflecting President Bush's National Guard service:

• Memo from retired Lt. Col. Albert C. Lloyd on whether Mr. Bush satisfied Guard requirements

• Personnel Card listing points Mr. Bush earned from May 1972 to May 1973

• Service Record showing days Mr. Bush was credited with service from October 1972 to May 1973

• Service Record showing days Mr. Bush was credited with service from May 1973 to July 1973

• Pay Record listing days of service in 1972 and 1973, along with computer printouts of each quarter

• Dental Record showing the results of a dental examination Mr. Bush had on Jan. 6, 1973.

Posted by: Greg at 05:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Is George Soros A Threat To The Republic?

In an unusual infusion of big money into local upstate politics, billionaire George Soros poured cash into the Albany County district attorney's race — and engineered a stunning defeat of the incumbent because the DA supports the strict Rockefeller drug laws.

He's succeeded in destabilizing foreign governments. He's succeeded in taking out a DA. He's trying to buy the presidency for Kerry. So I have to ask -- Is George Soros a threat to the American Republic?

After all, we are told that wealthy Americans pouring large amounts of money into campaigns undermines the system. But that is what Soros does. Consider this race, in which he engineered the defeat of a man whose offense was strongly supporting strong drug laws.

The Soros-founded Drug Policy Alliance Network — which favors repeal of the Rockefeller laws — contributed at least $81,500 to the Working Families Party, which turned around and supported the successful Democratic primary campaign of David Soares.

Trying to become Albany's first black DA, Soares on Tuesday unexpectedly trounced his former boss, incumbent Albany DA Paul Clyne, who has opposed changing the drug laws. The victory was overwhelming: Soares took 62 percent of the Democratic vote.

"This was more than a local race, that's what the [Soros] funding shows," said Assemblyman John McEneny, who supported the challenger's candidacy.

So I guess this means more use of shadowy groups to launder his money and make it appear like a grass-roots campaign to legalize drugs exists. Maybe Speaker Hastert is right, and there are drug groups involved in the Soros fortune.

But the part that makes me worry about our nations is later in the article.

While the Soros family has already donated more than $15 million to get rid of President Bush, it has also turned its attention to New York politics.

The Post recently reported that Soros' son, Robert, and his wife, Melissa Schiff Soros, donated $100,000 to state Senate Democrats.

I guess the folks worried about the integrity of elections don't see a need to protect us from rich Democrat partisans.

Posted by: Greg at 04:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No "Ho! Ho! Ho!" At Target For Me!

This word in from Target Corporate headquarters.

National news reports indicate that Target Corp., which operates 1,272 stores in 47 states, decided earlier this year to end a longtime agreement that allowed the Salvation Army to solicit funds at its stores.

A lot of people will do with a lot less this year as social service agencies have to tighten their belt because of the loss of funds.

Let's make sure Target suffers at least as serious a belt-tightening.

Posted by: Greg at 03:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Kerrys Among Richest Americans, Pay Little In Taxes

For all Joh Kerry complains about the Bush tax cut, he is more than willing to take advantage of it. Records released today show that they not only avoided paying the highest tax rate by using shelters and otehr loopholes, but they actually paid a lower percentage than the average Middle Class American Kerry professes concern for.

John and Teresa Kerry last year paid only 12% in income taxes. Apparently, Kerry, who rakes in just over $158,000 a year as a U.S. Senator, and his Heinz-heiress wife don't consider themselves "rich."

And it gets even more interesting when one looks at Kerrys state tax returns. Americans for tax Reform

also noted that "John Kerry has declined to pay a small, voluntary tax in his home state. The Massachusetts state income tax code contains a provision allowing payers to contribute an extra .6% of their income to benefit the commonwealth. Kerry has consistently failed to pay the extra money, which would have amounted to $687 dollars last year."

I guess that means that even though you don't need that tax cut, you are still greedy enough to keep it instead of giving it back to the federal government or even to the Massachusetts government. Hypocrite!

Posted by: Greg at 02:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What Is Kerry Hiding?

Peter Kirsanow points out in National Review that John Kerry has gone over a month without having any sort of press conference. This is despite his promise on August 3.

"I have a plan that I'm going to have a press conference at least once a month to talk to the nation about what I'm doing because I don't have anything to hide."

Apparently that doesn't include during his time as a candidate, but only if we elect the secretive Mr. Kerry to the presidency.

What kind of things could reporters ask Kerry about? Kirsanow points to the following areas that are ripe for inquiry.

* What is his secret plan for dealing with Iraq? The senator refused to disclose it to George Stephanopolous.

* Senator Kerry still has not released Vietnam journal or authorized the release of all his military records by signing a DD-180. Why not if he wants to show he has experience to make him a strong wartime leader?

* Why won't Kerry allow the disclosure of his attendance records for classified briefings of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to show the American public how serious he has been about the intelligence failures of the last decade?

* Which foreign leaders have told Kerry they want to see him as president rather than Bush? This will tell us who is committed to join us in Iraq if we are no longer going to "go it alone" (and yes, Kirsanow and I both know we aren't).

* Will Kerry give us the details of his 1971 meeting with the Viet Cong in Paris? His involvement with Vietnam Veterans Against the War during the time assassinations and violence were contemplated?

The list goes on and on — secret tax returns, medical files, diplomatic missions, and hats. Senator Kerry is applying for the most powerful job in world. He needs to be interviewed by the media to prove that he's up to the task.

Posted by: Greg at 01:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Al Michaels -- Conservative?

I missed this on Thursday night during the Patriots-Colts game in Boston.

When co-announcer John Madden marveled at the seesawing of the score - "This is what you call a flip-flop," he said - Michaels retorted: "You're in the right state for that."

By which Michaels meant Massachusetts, the home state of the Democratic presidential nominee, who's constantly being accused by President Bush's campaign team of "flip-flopping" on the issues.

And apparently James Carville is upset.

"These announcers are getting to think they're some kind of political commentators or pontificators," Carville told me. "But the football fans watch football to hear about football. If Al Michaels wants to give his political opinions, tell him to come on 'Crossfire.'"

Paul Begala, on the other hand, doesn't watch.

"I hardly ever watch ['Monday Night Football'] anymore. It's the television equivalent of Sominex. And they have had all these right-wingers on: Dennis Miller, Rush Limbaugh and Al Michaels - and all it does is drive viewers away."

Fortunately, ABC has the perfect response to this non-issue driven by gossip columnist Lloyd Grove.

"We don't respond to nonsense."

Posted by: Greg at 01:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Kerry Claims GOP Plans Racial Vote Suppression

John Kerry again played the race card by claiming that the Bush campaign has a plan to keep blacks from voting and their votes from being counted. He offered no evidence for this assertion.

"We are not going to stand by and allow another million African American votes to go uncounted in this election," the Democratic presidential nominee told the Congressional Black Caucus. "We are not going to stand by and allow acts of voter suppression, and we're hearing those things again in this election."

Kerry has a team of lawyers to examine possible voting problems to try to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election disputes. He also has said he has thousands of lawyers around the country prepared to monitor the polls on election day.

"What they did in Florida in 2000, some say they may be planning to do this year in battleground states all across this country," Kerry said. "Well, we are here to let them know that we will fight tooth and nail to make sure that this time, every vote is counted and every vote counts."

As in the past, Kerry and his campaign failed to offer any evidence to support his assertion that a million blacks were disenfranchised in 2000.

I challenge John Kerry -- any Democrat, for that matter -- to post the evidence of such voter suppression plans on the internet, and to turn over their supporting information to the Justice Department and the relevant state AGs for investigation and prosecution.

But they won't. Kerry and his cronies are acting true to form. After all, we all know that Kerry was merely repeating claims of attrocities he heard at the Winter Soldier hearings -- and that many of the participants engaged in false testimony, with none willing to cooperate with authroities to bring to justice any actual perpetrators. They would rather have an issue to flog.

Posted by: Greg at 07:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Did You Know Bush Tried To VolunteerFor Vietnam?

While doing a little research, I came across an intersting article from this past February. At least that is the recollection of William Campenni, a retired Virginia Air National Guard Lieutenant Colonel who served with Bush in the Texas Air National Guard.

According to Campenni, Bush inquired about participating in a volunteer program called Palace Alert that used Air National Guard pilots flying in the F-102 Delta Dagger interceptor jet in Vietnam.

The Air Guard advised Bush he did not have the desired 500 hours of flight time as a pilot to qualify for Palace Alert duty, and, in any event, the program was winding down and not accepting more volunteers.

Campenni also has an explanation of the gaps in the president's service time.

"[Excuses] for employment were common then and are now in the Air Guard, as pilots frequently are in career transitions, and most commanders, as I later was, are flexible in letting their charges take care of career affairs until they return or transfer to another unit near their new employment," said Campenni, who spent 33 years in the Air National Guards of three states as his career as an aerospace engineer took him around the country.

But I guess the word of a 33 year officer who served with President Bush just isn't sufficient for the partisans.

Posted by: Greg at 07:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Patriarch Of Alexandria Dead In Helicopter Crash

Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria and three other Orthodox bishops from Africa have been killed in a helicopter crash while traveling to the monasteries on Mount Athos. The cause of the crash remains unknown.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may the light of your face shine upon them.

Posted by: Greg at 07:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Nuke Test In North Korea?

A huge explosion occurred near the North Korean border with China on Thursday, apparently producing a mushroom cloud.

Could they be testing their nukes?

Posted by: Greg at 07:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In Memoriam --9/11/2001

So many died that horrible day.

One was my classmate at Washington and Lee University, Commander Robert Allan Schlegel.

I would love to tell you he and I were close. That would be a lie.

I would love to share stories of great times together. I don't have any.

What I can tell you is that I remember Rob Schlegel as a good guy, a friend of some friends. I remember him as being a bright guy, sitting a couple rows over and a couple seats back in a US History class. One of those classmates you later wish you had gotten to know when you had the chance.

Rest in Peace.

May all all the victims of September 11 and the many men and women of our armed forces who have died fighting terrorism since that day rest in peace.

And let us not forget those heroes who still live.

Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Which Party Is Politicizing God?

It is a given that "evilrightwingChristianconservativeRepublicans" are politicizing God. But is it actually true?

Not if you look at this year's Republican and Democrat platforms.

The GOP only refers to God four times.

Echoing a statement of President Bush, the Republican document says freedom is "the Almighty's gift to every man, woman and child in the world" and it says leaders of faith-based groups treat people as "moral individuals created in the image of God."

The other two Republican mentions criticize federal judges for banning "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and quote from a Bush eulogy: "May God bless Ronald Reagan."

The Democrats, surprisingly enough, refer to God seven times.

As for the Democrats, they twice speak of America as "one nation, under God." They say America offers "all the possibilities your hard work and God-given talent can bring." On the environment, the platform twice describes nature's bounty as a gift from God and later says it should be protected as a heritage for "God's children."

Yet another Democratic plank says "each of us should be as equal in the eyes of the law as we are in the eyes of God."

Where are the Atheist Criminal Liberals Union condemnations of Democrat intolerance, and their complaints about Democrat pushing of Christianity on the unbelievers of America?

they don't exist.

Why not?

Perhaps because their condemnations of the GOP are partisan, not philosophical -- or because they know that the Democrat invocations of God are nothing but hypocritical window-dressing designed to fool the unwary.

Posted by: Greg at 07:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Journalistic Bias At CNN?

GOP questions activities of Carville, Begala, on behalf of Kerry Campaign.

"It's not like I'm on a news show," Mr. Carville said, adding, "Why can't I host the most polemic talk show on television?"

Well, because JOURNALISTS and NEWS PERSONALITIES are supposed to remain formally neutral in political campaigns. You would have a fit if Joe Scarborough or Sean Hannity became advisers to the Bush campaign, made appearances for and represented them, and then claimed that it was irrelevant to their jobs. You would rightly be claiming that allowing them to keep their shows would be providing aid to the Bush camp -- as CNN does by keeping you and Begala on the air. That is our gripe here -- not that you are an active and partisan Democrat.

Posted by: Greg at 04:11 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Secret Laws?

We can argue about whether or not John Gilmore is right in his suit to end mandatory ID checks at airports. He argues government mandated checks are no different than the internal passports that some totalitarian governments require. I find that debatable, though I agree with his assertion that showing identification does absolutely nothing to make air travel safer.

But Gilmore is absolutely right on one point.

"The hardest question to answer is 'show me the law, the regulation, and the rule that requires this,' and none of them could, and never have," Mr. Gilmore said.
The government maintains that there is a law prohibiting the disclosure of SSI, and administration officials have the power to prohibit the disclosure of any information that would "harm transportation security."

Get that -- the government is unwilling to disclose the law, the regulation, or rule that actually requires that identification be shown, despite admitting that showing is legally required!

It gets even more hairy in court.

The Justice Department says it will identify the law in a court case brought against it and the Homeland Security Department by Mr. Gilmore, but only if the secret reasons for its top-secret status remain under a court seal.
"The government would also file and serve a redacted, unsealed version of the brief as well. That procedure will adequately safeguard any sensitive security information [SSI] while permitting this court's independent review of the merits of plaintiffs' claim," said the request filed by the Justice Department on Sept. 3.

In other words, not only are We, The People, not allowed to know what the law, regulation, or rule is, but We, The People, are not even allowed to know why we are not allowed to know what the law, regulation, or rule is -- and they are willing to disclose such information to a court only on the condition that We, The People, are not allowed to know the arguments that support not allowing us to know why we are not allowed to know what the law, regulation or rule is.

Sorry, folks, but such a situation is the absolute betrayal of the concepts that underlie our system of government.

Posted by: Greg at 03:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Edwards Demands Bush Answer Memo Questions

As questions swirl about the authenticity of new documents about President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, John Edwards wants to put focus on Bush, not the documents.

President Bush should have to explain newly released records that reveal his former Texas National Guard superior was asked to “sugar coat” performance records after finding Bush failed standards to be a trained pilot, Sen. John Edwards said Thursday.

“I think they are reasonable and legitimate questions the White House ought to answer.”

Excuse me, John, why don't you answer the questions about your campaign's connections to these apparent forgeries.

And while you are at it, how about explaining to the public about your deferments and your failure to serve at all before you start questioning the service of a man who fulfilled his obligation in the National Guard.

And could you also get John Kerry to answer questions about his medals, his efforts in support of the Vietnamese Communists, and the six year delay in his discharge?

Posted by: Greg at 03:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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But She's Pro-Choice, Don't You Know?

Well, the face of "right to choose" hypocrisy looks an awful lot like Ellen Barkin. She currently tars in Palindromes, a film fanatically attacking pro-lifers as extremists and terrorists. In it, a twelve year old runs away from home after becoming pregnant, to avoid being forced to abort by her mother. The girl is then cared for by a Christian woman who protects her, her child, and her choice to become a mother.

But who is the fanatic here?


Barkin said this about the situation faced in the film at the Venice Film Festival.

"I am the mother of a 12-year-old girl and I can tell you unequivocally that if my daughter was pregnant, I would take her kicking and screaming to have an abortion," Barkin said at a press conference Tuesday to publicize her new movie.

Well, I thought that the rhetoric of the abortion industry was that of choice. What we are hearing here is that the actual issue is abortion -- and it doesn't matter if it is wanted or an assault upon the person of the pregnant female.

Posted by: Greg at 03:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Liberal Teachers Ignore California Standards

Franciscan friar Junipero Serra founded the mission system that led to Spanish settlements all up and down the California coast. It also led to the conversion of many Indians to Christianity. This is something the IrReligious Left has never forgiven.

Well, they've gotten into some California classrooms, and are intent of destroying the documented historical picture of Father Serra and replacing it with a PC image that portrays him as a genocidal exploiter of the California Indians.

A priest in the Franciscan Order of the Catholic Church, Serra was the driving force behind SpainÂ’s colonization of California, and he's well remembered in the stateÂ’s grade-school textbooks.

But some elementary school teachers and activists say Serra took advantage of Native American labor, and through his leadership, the Golden StateÂ’s adored missions had devastating effects on thousands of Indians who lost their freedom and lives building and maintaining the 21 Catholic sites.

While Serra could become CaliforniaÂ’s first saint, some teachers are providing their own perspective, forsaking the mandated textbooks and letting 8-year-olds act out scenarios that portray Serra as a trickster and even, in a few extreme cases, a purveyor of genocide.

Will the state of California act to stop the miseducation of its children, and the defaming of Father Serra and the other missionaries who brought Christianity to California?

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Bush Met His Service Obligation Early -- When Did Kerry Meet His?

Byron York makes an important point in The Hill today. As much as the Bush-haters want to focus on one year of Bush's Texas Air National Guard career, they miss the bigger picture. George W. Bush met his service obligation, and did so early.

See if you can follow the math here. Guard members were required to obtain 50 drill points a year for that year to "count". That means his 6-year hitch required that he rack up 300 points. How did he do?

The future president joined the Guard in May 1968. Almost immediately, he began an extended period of training. Six weeks of basic training. Fifty-three weeks of flight training. Twenty-one weeks of fighter-interceptor training.

That was 80 weeks to begin with, and there were other training periods thrown in as well. It was full-time work. By the time it was over, Bush had served nearly two years.

Not two years of weekends. Two years.

Now I will concede that he did agree to that in his initial contract -- but it is interesting to note that there was clearly no problem there. His 1968-69 calendar year shows him earning 253 points. The 1969-70 period is even more productive. Bush earned 340 points based upon his time training and drilling.

Now we hit two years when he was not on active duty -- 1970-1971 and 1971-72. What happened then?

He earned 137 points in 1970-1971. And he earned 112 points in 1971-1972. The numbers indicate that in his first four years, Bush not only showed up, he showed up a lot.

In other words, by May of 1972, George W. Bush had about 140% of the points he needed to accumulate.

May 1972-May 1973 is the period folks question. What happened then? Yes, Bush stops flying (not a good thing, in my book). We've known that. But he still ekes out 56 points -- meaning he met the obligation for the year. He spent most of June and July of 1973 on duty, giving him 56 points for that year as well. In other words, for the sixth straight years he performed a creditable year of service. He requests and receives an early discharge so he can continue his education, and that request is granted in light of his completion of the mandated duty. He receives an honorable discharge, and he gets it early because of his diligence.

In contrast, John Kerry doesn't receive his discharge until the summer of 1978, six years later than scheduled. Why the delay? We don't know, because John Kerry won't allow the records to be released that would answer the question. We do know that during this time he was zipping off to Paris to consort with the enemy, and that he found time to travel the country promoting the enemy's peace plan and make speeches that defamed his fellow servicemen. Why the delay, Senator? Were you a deserter, or were you simply AWOL?

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Teresa Opens Mouth, Shows Over-Inflated Ego

We all know that the elite on the left think they are superior to the rest of us in the unwashed masses. Teresa Heinz Kerry is possibly the best living example of this sort of arrogance. She has now made it clear that there is only one reason someone could oppose John Kerry's plan to socialize the health care system.

"Only an idiot wouldn't like this."

Isn't it clear? No need for debate or discussion -- conform to the platform or you are mentally defective! What next, Teresa? An involuntary psychaiatric commitment for dissenters, until they see the errors of their ways?

All paid for by the government, of course.

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FORGERIES!

By now it seems quite clear that the documents used by CBS to "prove" preferential treatment of the young George W. Bush are fakes. The technology doesn't lie, folks, and the following facts lay to rest the possibility that the document is legitimate.

"These documents do not appear to have been the result of technology that was available in 1972 and 1973," said Bill Flynn, one of country's top authorities on document authentication. "The cumulative evidence that's available Â… indicates that these documents were produced on a computer, not a typewriter:"

Among the points Flynn and other experts noted:

* The memos were written using a proportional typeface, where letters take up variable space according to their size, rather than fixed-pitch typeface used on typewriters, where each letter is allotted the same space. Proportional typefaces are available only on computers or on very high-end typewriters that were unlikely to be used by the National Guard.
* The memos include superscript, i.e. the "th" in "187th" appears above the line in a smaller font. Superscript was not available on typewriters.
* The memos included "curly" apostrophes rather than straight apostrophes found on typewriters.
* The font used in the memos is Times Roman, which was in use for printing but not in typewriters. The Haas Atlas — the bible of fonts — does not list Times Roman as an available font for typewriters.
* The vertical spacing used in the memos, measured at 13 points, was not available in typewriters, and only became possible with the advent of computers.

Add to that the statements of the son and widow of Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, (conveniently dead since 1984) that they doubt the authenticity, and you have a real mess. CBS has called them Killian's "personal files", but offers no explanation as to how or where these were obtained. It is clear that they did not come from the family, so that leaves us asking some serious questions about the source of the documents.

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Democrats View Women As Incapable, Inferior

Mary Katharine Hamm perfectly illustrates the liberal view that women are incapable of caring for themselves without the help of liberal men. Such paternalism, we thought, was the hallmark of a bygone age, and certainly outside of the realm of "good liberals" who see women as equal. But scratch the surface and you will find it there.

Hamm, a Heritage Foundation staffer, was introduced to a former DNC staffer while out with friends. during the course of the conversation, the following exchange occurred.

“All right,” I said, “as a young person working on Capitol Hill, making a modest sum of money, what do you and the Democratic Party have to offer me? What are you gonna do to help me move from one class to another?”

Brad looked at me as if the answer were self-evident. I raised my eyebrows and waited for his answer.

“Well, you know, as a female…”

He must have noticed the wicked smile spread across my face. If I were a better actress, I would have gone for outrage, but I asked:

“As a female… what?”

He mumbled something about women’s and minorities’ rights and “leveling the playing field.” Check mate, DNC Brad. Just to make sure I understood correctly, I ran over his points. I need the Democratic Party to help me move up in life. I can’t be expected to do it all by my little lonesome. And why not? Because I’m a girl.

DNC Brad had a slightly sheepish look on his face. He had just let slip one of the most blatantly sexist things IÂ’d ever heard in person, and before I repeated it, had apparently been secure in the fact that he occupied the moral high ground.

I explained to Brad that I simply donÂ’t believe I need the help of men like him and the government to make it in life, nor am I up for forking over my tax dollars to cheapen my achievements with a special set of girly rules. And so our conversation ended, a polite parting of ways. I picked up my lukewarm beer and moved on.

Had the story stopped there, one might be excused for thinking that Hamm had stumbled across one of the few remaining unenlightened individuals remaining in the Democrat Party. But her examination of the contents of the 2004 Democrat Party Platform is devastating. She repeatedly shows how the Democrats view her as incapable of fending for herself because of her sex.

First, “we support affirmative action to redress discrimination.”

That must have been what DNC Brad was talking about! The DNC is going to force people to give me all kinds of goodies I may not deserve simply because IÂ’m incapable of earning them on my own. And why canÂ’t I do it? Because IÂ’m a girl!

Looks like this DNC thing really is the next train out of Oppressionville. Here’s another way they’re going to help me: “We believe a day's work is worth a day's pay, and at a time when women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, we need stronger equal pay laws and stronger enforcement of them.”

Now, I can understand that because IÂ’m just a girl, the DNC would figure IÂ’d take this statistic from them without question, but it turns out I can Google with the best of them, men or women. This figure comes from a 2002 census survey, which compared the yearly median earnings figure of full-time working women to the median figure for men. So the census folks took two lists that include everything from burger-flippers to CEOs, stuck a pin in the middle of each list, compared them, and thatÂ’s supposed to determine equal pay for equal work? If women really do offer equal work for 23 cents less on the dollar, why does anyone bother hiring men?

The point being that there may be sexual discrimination in pay, but there are also plenty of other possible reasons for discrepancies. The DNC would force employers to ignore those other reasons and pay me a certain salary simply based on my gender.

And last, “because we believe in the privacy and equality of women, we stand proudly for a woman's right to choose… regardless of her ability to pay.”

Clearly, I cannot be expected to protect myself from an unwanted pregnancy, and should I decide to have an abortion, I can’t be expected to take responsibility for even paying for it. Why not? You guessed it—Because I’m a girl.

No wonder all the liberal women IÂ’ve ever known felt like someone was keeping them down. I never imagined there were so many things I canÂ’t do because IÂ’m a woman until I read the DNC platform. But isnÂ’t this the party for women? I hear time and time again that I canÂ’t be a self-respecting woman without being a Democrat.

I beg to differ. It is precisely because IÂ’m a self-respecting woman that I donÂ’t need BradÂ’s condescension cloaked in kindness. I want to earn what I get, deserve what I earn, and decide exactly what I do with my earnings instead of handing that responsibility off to a political party. I am capable of that and much more, because IÂ’m a girl.

Bravo, Mary Katharine! And not just because you are a girl, but because you have cut to the very heart of Democrat sexism.

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DFL Distributes Bush/Hitler Bumper Sticker

We Republicans have been held responsible for the speech of groups we do not control. We've also were told that there was a proven link between the Swift Vets and the GOP because someone dropped of a hand-made flier at GOP headquarters promoting an event that some of the vets would be appearing at.

Well what about this? A sticker reading "Bush/Cheney - Most hated world leaders since Hitler" was distributed by Democrat Farmer Labor Party state headquarters in Minnesota. Even when they were removed from view, one GOP visitor to the office was still able to get one from office staffers.

Minnesota Republicans are outraged.

"DFL Party Chair Mike Erlandson must immediately cease the distribution of these hateful bumper stickers," GOP Chairman Ron Eibensteiner said Wednesday.

THe DFL, on the other hand, acted as typical leftist do by blaming the victims of their smear campaign.

"These kinds of shenanigans by the Republican Party only prove the point that George Bush has no record to run on, so his party will employ games to distract our attention away from the real issues facing Minnesotans," Erlandson said.

In other words, I stand by the message of the bumper sticker, and am mighty angry that the GOP caught me and decided to go public with the party's actions.

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Gotta Love Some Families

Hurrah for the McIntyre family of Locust Fork, Alabama. These are the sort of folks that the Democrat elitists can never understand.

Daughter Brandi was interested in joining the military, so Navy recruiter Wendy Chunn paid a visit to the family. That got son Jamie interested. She's going as a culinary specialist, while he is headed for training in the nuclear engineering field. That led their father, Kerry McIntyre, to decide to reenlist in the Navy Reserve. He then persuaded his wife, Angela, to join with him. In a matter of weeks, the entire family enlisted in the Navy.

Go Navy!

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Just A Reminder

Remember -- violence and mayhem is a standard tactic of the left. Whether we are talking about the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Sixties Weather Underground and Black Panthers, or the German National Socialists.

As I pointed out the other day, one pro-Kerry leftist in New York carried a sign advocating the murder of the president without a word of objection from his peers.

Now comes this little tidbit from West Virginia.

The Secret Service was contacted Friday to help investigate a shot fired at the Cabell County Republican headquarters in Huntington.

Supporters of President Bush had gathered at the 4th Avenue headquarters Thursday night to watch the president accept his party's nomination. About two minutes into the speech, someone fired a shot through the front window of the building.

Nobody was hurt, but there was plenty of anger in the aftermath.

"This is pretty low and shows how desperate the Democratic Party is," said Republican Amanda Beach.

Local Democrat officials claim to be shocked, shocked, that such violence might be seen as political.

Bobby Nelson of the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee disagreed. "I hope it doesn't take on a political connotation, that this was done for politics," Nelson said. "I'd like to say it was some random thoughtless act."

Yeah, Bobby, through a sign in the window of GOP headquarters advocating traditional marriage and into a crowd of Republicans, right as the President started to speak. If the situation was reversed, we would have John Kerry demanding that George Bush account for every Republican volunteer in the US -- and his 527 and internet surrogates would be insisting that Karl Rove had ordered up a Special Forces sniper team to intimidate black voters.

The President will be in Huntington on September 10. If you are anywhere nearby, make a point of turning out to offer support.

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Stripping Power From Rapists

Imagine this scenario, horrible as it is.

A woman, maybe someone you love, is raped. She ends up pregnant by the rapist -- rare, but possible.

Abortion is not an option for her, for whatever reason. She chooses adoption.

But there is a hitch. The father -- the rapist -- must terminate his custodial rights. And he will not do so, unless his victim agrees not to file charges or testify against him. There would be no justice for the victim, and the rapist would be free to rape again.

That can't happen in North Carolina, thanks to Representative Sam Ellis. The legislature recently passed legislation to automatically terminate the parental rights of convicted first and second degree rapists in that state. They can be regained only if the rapist petitions a court and proves that the restoration would be in the child's best interests. A mighty high burden, don't you think?

The scary thing? It took FOUR YEARS to get it through the legislature! Four years to decide that a criminal has no right to control the life and dictate the choices available to his victim!

Contact your legislators, folks. Demand legislation like this in your home state.

And tell them they had better not take four years to pass it.

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Kerry/Edwards Diplomatic Failure -- And The Election Isn't Over Yet!

John Edwards proposed a Kerry Administration ( brrrrrrrrr!) plan for Iran to have nuclear power but not retain the material necessary for nuclear weapons. This was seen as a shift from the Bush Administration position of treating Iran as a sponsor of terrorism seeking nuclear weapons. It was a bold, radical plan.

And it has failed. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi has rejected the nuclear non-proliferation plan. Thus we see the first John Kerry foreign policy failure -- his first foreign policy success was the undermining of US policy in Vietnam and the destruction of US-allied South Vietnam -- and it comes before the election.

Senator Edwards told the Washington Post that the proposal would represent a "great bargain" for Iran -- and that should Iran reject it, a Kerry administration would be forced to conclude that Iran actually was, as the Bush administration now contends, actively pursuing the weaponisation of nuclear materials.

In other words, Bush is right, and Kerry/Edwards lacks what it takes to form a coherent, security-focused foreign policy.

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Clinton Under The Knife -- Please Pray

Via ABCNews

NEW YORK Sept. 6, 2004 — Former President Bill Clinton was in the operating room Monday for heart bypass surgery, a hospital source told The Associated Press.

Preparations for the surgery began at about 6:45 a.m. at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia in upper Manhattan, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The operation was expected to last until noon or 12:30 p.m. EDT.

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ACLU Whines Over TV Denial For Death Row

Proving conclusively that the system for capital punishment in Texas meets all relevant standards under the Constitution, Texas ACLU officials are now expending effort to demand that death row inamates be given television privileges. The request has been dismissed out of hand by Texas Board of Criminal Justice Chairwoman Christina Melton Crain.

Noting that Texas is the only state that does not allow condemned prisoners television access, ACLU prison project litigation director Yolanda Torres first raised the issue in May.

"We believe it is significant that every other death row in the country has successfully developed and implemented policies and practices that allow death row prisoners access to television, while at the same time maintaining the safety and security of their employees and institutions," Torres wrote.

Crain's response was, in my opinion, perfect.

"I appreciate the passion and energy that you bring to matters for which you advocate," Crain wrote. "But as the Board and the current Administration do not wish to entertain this issue further, dialogue between you and me on this subject is now closed."

ACLU representatives are up in arms over a government official not kowtowing to their demands to coddle murderers.

Meredith Martin Rountree, the Texas ACLU's prison project director, believes Crain's decision is based on misguided popular opinion.

"TDCJ's job is not to pander to public misunderstandings and misconceptions about criminal justice," Rountree said.

Actually, as government officials in the state of Texas, it is their job to run the prisons the way we Texans want. Until and unless there is a right to watch Oprah buried somewhere in the text of the Constitution, we don't want the killers to have televisions. And they work for us, Rountree, not the UnAmerican Criminal Liberals Union.

Heck, if we had our way these killers would get one bullet to the base of the skull immediately upon the denial of their first and only appeal.

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Kerry's USS Gridley Shipmates Speak

The XO and a couple of enlisted men from USS Gridley have some things to say about John Kerry. It's a mixed bag, but overall pretty damning.

The first thing I noticed about the two long pieces is that they are reasonably complimentary towards his skills as an officer. As Captain J.F. Kelly notes,

John Kerry and I were shipmates in the guided missile cruiser USS Gridley (CG-21) in 1967 and 1968. He served as First Lieutenant, the officer in charge of the deck division, and I was Executive Officer, or second in command. I remember him as a serious and intelligent young ensign, seemingly mature beyond his years. The skipper and I were mightily impressed with him in spite of his inexperience. . . . Drafting his fitness reports was an exercise in the use of superlatives. In fact, of the thirty or so officers, I counted him in the top half dozen, no mean feat for an ensign.

Phil Carter, one of the radarmen on USS Gridley (and later a Kerry campaign donor) makes a similar statement.

Ensign Kerry was a fine young officer. He came aboard as a boot Ensign on June 8, 1967 and quickly impressed the senior officers in his chain of command. His fitness reports were outstanding. His privileged upbringing with experience in yachting and flying a private plane gave him a leg up on the other Ensigns.

It is plain to see that these were men impressed with an intelligent, competent young officer -- something I have always assumed would be the case.

But each of these men has something more to say about Kerry, things that go to the heart of who that fine young officer became. Carter gives a long list of inaccurate assertions and stories that appear in his official biography, Brinkley's Tour of Duty.

When I read “Tour of Duty”, I became concerned because the material on Kerry’s time on GRIDLEY appeared in many instances to be exaggerations and in some cases figments of an overactive imagination. . . .

hey (Kerry's false stories) seem to show a deliberate effort in his writings of the time to build a mystique for a future political career showing him as a great leader, father confessor to the ship and astute analyst of political and military happenings.

That is not to say that Kerry was not a good officer. He was and to my recollection was well liked. Did he stalk the passageways showing his future presidential timber? Absolutely not. A reporter from the Chicago Tribune actually asked me that. When I told him that he was just another goofy Ensign, he was horrified and did not use that quote.

Kelly assesses the impact of Kerry's anti-war statements very harshly, building to a damning conclusion.

While he was protesting against the war, many of us were still fighting in it. Many of us felt betrayed that one of our own, a decorated hero, would give comfort to the enemy by such actions. Think what you want about the wisdom in getting involved in that war, two presidents, both Democrats, committed the armed forces they commanded to fight it. Make no mistake; actions by the likes of Fonda and Kerry were damaging to our morale, gave aid and comfort to the forces we were fighting and altered the eventual outcome in a manner less favorable to the United States (italics mine) than if they had kept their mouths shut. The time for anti-war protests is before the war starts.

There is no question that John Kerry earned his decorations and that he put his life at risk in the service of his country. There is no doubt in my mind, moreover, that he has the intelligence to serve as president. But there is also no doubt in my mind that his anti-war activities while our troops were still fighting, dying and being tortured in filthy Vietnam prisons were despicable.

For that reason, even aside from his anti-defense voting record in the Senate, he is one ex-shipmate that I could never support as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

These are not the Swift Boat Heroes -- these are men who served with Kerry and praise his service. Their words are not contained in a book or an attack ad, but are rather found on the site maintained by the ship's association so that old crewmates can reminisce and keep in contact. Their statements do, however, raise serious issues as to the truthfulness of Senator Kerry's public accounts of his service and his fitness for office. This should be food for thought.

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A Historical Reminder

While appearing with Don Imus, has-been interview host Dick Cavett said “Zell Miller looks like a Klansman.” Setting aside the fact that Miller has always been noted as a progressive on race relations, I'd like to remind Cavett that all he needs to do is look at mainstream Democrat Senator Robert Byrd to see what a Klansman really looks like.

Funny, though, that the accusation should be made against a Republican ally, since it was Republicans who were the key target of the Klan, as documented in this 1870 grand jury testimony.

"There has existed since 1868, in many counties of the state, an organization known as the Ku Klux Klan, or Invisible Empire of the South, which embraces in its membership a large proportion of the white population of every profession and class. The Klan has a constitution and bylaws, which provides, among other things, that each member shall furnish himself with a pistol, a Ku Klux gown and a signal instrument. The operations of the Klan are executed in the night and are invariably directed against members of the Republican Party.”

You see it wasn't just blacks that these partisan Democrats were after, it was the ones who dared align themselves with the Republicans. And it wasn't just black Republicans, but also white Republicans. So, as this article in the American Thinker points out, there is a more accurate term for Zell Miller than Klansman.

the term Mr. Cavett and the Democrats were looking for to apply to Zell Miller, the historically accurate term, is “scalawag.” Scalawags is what the Klansmen called those Southerners who dared to side with the Republican Party in freeing the slaves and trying to secure them their newly won equal rights. In this usage scalawag is surely now a term of honor.

And yes, Zell Miller is a modern day scalawag. He seems to be damn proud to be one. He should be.

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