After all, in the latest video Osama clearly takes credit (again) for 9/11, and he has the evidence to prove it.

And he is calling for more homicidal activity by his fellow Muslims.

''It remains for us to do our part. So I tell every young man among the youth of Islam: It is your duty to join the caravan (of martyrs) until the sufficiency is complete and the march to aid the High and Omnipotent continues,'' Bin Laden said.

A note to those who claim Islam is, by its very nature, a religion of peace.

In Christianity, martyrs are those who accept death at the hands of others for the sake of the faith. They don't court martyrdom.

In Islam, martyrs are those who die while actively seeking to take the lives of others, including innocents.

I know that is an inconvenient truth, but I think it clearly demonstrates a difference between the two faiths. And it certainly explains why I will meekly accept martyrdom as defined by my Christian faith rather than embrace a religion that calls on its embrace the latter in all its bloody "glory".

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Posted by: Greg at 09:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The current kerfuffle over over the anti-Fred Thompson website connected to a pair of Romney advisers is rather amusing. After all, since when don't candidates highlight negatives about their opponents?

At least two top members of Mitt RomneyÂ’s South Carolina operation appear to be connected to an anti-Fred Thompson Web site that was taken down today after reporters began to make inquiries about it.

The Web site, PhoneyFred.org, had attacked Mr. Thompson’s conservative credentials, opening with the line: “Phoney Fred. Acting like a conservative.” But Internet queries reveal connections between the site and Warren Tompkins, a South Carolina political consultant hired by Mr. Romney, and Terry Sullivan, Mr. Romney’s South Carolina state director.

The site is hosted by a Utah company, Bluehost.com. But a search of that site reveals a long list of associated Web accounts that are hosted by the same server, including one for TTS Strategies, a political consulting firm where Mr. Tompkins and Mr. Sullivan are partners, and another for Under the Power Lines, which identifies itself as “South Carolina’s only online campaign strategy firm” and lists Mr. Tompkins and Mr. Sullivan as partners as well. Another Web account listed on the same server is palMITTostate.com, a pro-Romney Web site which bills itself as a “volunteer grassroots community to help Mitt Romney win the South Carolina Presidential Primary.”

That sounds awful, but is it? After all, opposition research has a long and honored history in American politics -- as is releasing information about one's opponent to the public. And from what I hear, no one is actually alleging that there is anything inaccurate in the material on the website before it was pulled down, merely criticizing its taste and propriety. But aside from violating Ronald Reagan's Eleventh Commandment, is there anything wrong with posting a website about a primary opponent that provides accurate, if unflattering, information?

And is the information on the website any more extreme than the rhetoric from the Thompson people?

"Mitt Romney will do anything, say anything, smear any opponent and flip flop on any position in order to win," - Todd Harris, spokesman for Fred Thompson, after Romney's "half-baked cover-up" of an alleged surrogate's hit-job on the Tennesseean.

My experience is that such a statement could be applied to most major candidates for most major political offices.

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Trinidad is one of those places I've always wanted to visit, mainly because I keep having various folks from Trinidad enter and leave my life as friends and co-workers. What I've noticed is that Trinidad natives are among the warmest, most friendly folks you could ever want to meet. And the cultural variety of these people has been incredible -- the people of Trinidad run the gamut from East Asian/Indian to African to European to various mixtures of ethnicity reflecting that diversity. What's more, because of the rich and diverse history of both Trinidad and its sister island, Tobago, the culture and architecture of the island reflects a unique blending of styles and customs.

So I'll have to see if I can make my way south to the islands one day, to see if I can experience for myself what I first heard of from my friends Elizabeth and Paul when we were kids together. I wonder if they followed their parents into the hotel business. After all, toruism and hospitality are among the most important industries for Trinidad.

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Originally Posted on September 11, 2004 -- As is my custom, I repost it today.

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 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.

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I don't usually pass on the content of emails, but I received this last night and feel it is worth sending on, even though the interview quote is about two years old. After all, there are still Marines from this unit in Iraq.

The CO of USMC Regimental Combat Team (RCT) 6 in Iraq, is asking for e-mails - Undisclosed Recipients

US Marine Colonel Simcock, the commander of USMC Regimental Combat Team (RCT) 6 in Iraq, is asking for 6,000 positive emails to his Marines. That's one email for each Marine in his RCT command. COL Simcock is concerned about the effect of the negative barrage that those Marines are getting through the electronic media. So far, they've only mustered 2,000 emails. That's a crying shame compared to the amount of crap I get daily in email. This is a legitimate request. It's not one of the "little Johnny wants to break the world's record in Christmas cards" situations. It takes only 30 seconds of your time. Here's the email address:

RCT-6lettersfromh@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil

If you're reading this email, then you can probably click on the address, type a few words, and then hit "send" to be all done. It doesn't have to be the Gettysburg Address. Something as simple as "Hello, Marine. We thank you for what you're doing. You are in a noble task. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Best wishes & get home soon" is more than sufficient.
An excerpt from an interview with the Colonel:

GRIM: Is there anything that you and your Marines need that we could send you?

COL. SIMCOCK: (Chuckles.) I'll tell you what, the one thing that all Marines want to know about -- and that includes me and everyone within Regimental Combat Team 6 -- we want to know that the American public are behind us. We believe that the actions that we're taking over here are very, very important to America. We're fighting a group of people that, if they could, would take away the freedoms that America enjoys.

If anyone -- you know, just sit down, jot us -- throw us an e- mail, write us a letter, let us know that the American public are behind us. Because we watch the news just like everyone else. It's broadcast over here in our chow halls and the weight rooms, and we watch that stuff, and we're a little bit concerned sometimes that America really doesn't know what's going on over here, and we get sometimes concerns that the American public isn't behind us and doesn't see the importance of what's going on. So that's something I think that all Marines, soldiers and sailors would like to hear from back home, that in fact, yes, they think what we're doing over here is important and they are in fact behind us.

So, friends -- send your support to those fighting for us.

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Now let me get this straight – the Left insists that terrorism should be treated as a criminal matter, and that accused terrorists should be tried and imprisoned before courts constituted under Article III of the US Constitution. However, they object when a lawyer actually represents an accused (not convicted) terrorist – or consults with another lawyer who is on the case. Take the outrage of Christopher Orr of The New Republic, who is on the offensive against Fred Thompson over 3.3 billing hours of consultation with another lawyer in his firm..

In a political era in which the cost of a man's haircut can be treated as though it were a window into his soul, you'd think people would be a little more curious what it says about Fred Thompson that he'd do work--even just 3.3 hours of it--for indicted terrorists.

Lefties like the TNR staff want terrorists treated on the field of battle treated as criminal suspects, not prisoners of war.

They want them tried in the courts, with the presumption of innocence until proven guilty (which would mean they are indicted terrorists) and all the other rights a criminal defendant has under our system (including the right to an attorney).

But they want to disqualify for office any lawyer who ever does any legal work of any sort for them.

Are they truly intent of depriving those terrorists of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel?

Do they mean that such accused terrorists should receive only the worst, least competent counsel?

Or could it be that they are merely engaged in a partisan political attack upon an opponent who they know can beat them?

I’d argue that it is the latter – and that is reeks of rank hypocrisy for them to demand due process of law for terrorists while condemning those who work to see that they receive it.

H/T Ramesh Ponnuru of NROÂ’s The Corner.

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I was raised Catholic. During the first year of my marriage, though, I realized that I was finding myself drawn in a somewhat different spiritual direction, and left the Church. At no time did I expect the force of law to be applied against me – nor did I need to live in fear that I would be murdered for following my conscience.

Unfortunately, that is not the case for these folks.

A group of young Muslim apostates launches a campaign today, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America, to make it easier to renounce Islam.

The provocative move reflects a growing rift between traditionalists and a younger generation raised on a diet of Dutch tolerance.

The Committee for Ex-Muslims promises to campaign for freedom of religion but has already upset the Islamic and political Establishments for stirring tensions among the million-strong Muslim community in the Netherlands.

Ehsan Jami, the committee’s founder, who rejected Islam after the attack on the twin towers in 2001, has become the most talked-about public figure in the Netherlands. He has been forced into hiding after a series of death threats and a recent attack.

The threats are taken seriously after the murder in 2002 of Pim Fortuyn, an antiimmigration politician, and in 2004 of Theo Van Gogh, an antiIslam film-maker.

Speaking to The Times at a secret location before the committee’s launch today, the Labour Party councillor said that the movement would declare war on radical Islam. Similar organisations campaigning for reform of the religion have sprung up across Europe and representatives from Britain and Germany will join the launch in The Hague today.

“Sharia schools say that they will kill the ones who leave Islam. In the West people get threatened, thrown out of their family, beaten up,” Mr Jami said. “In Islam you are born Muslim. You do not even choose to be Muslim. We want that to change, so that people are free to choose who they want to be and what they want to believe in.”

Indeed, that threat of death is quite real, given the murders that have taken place in the Netherlands. The courageous Ayaan Hirsi Ali was forced to flee the country because of the threats against her. And around the world, individuals like Abdul Rahman and Lina Joy have faced death and imprisonment for exercising their right to follow the call of Christ, while forced conversions have become a hallmark of jihadi terrorists.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is clear on that such oppression is a violation of a fundamental right of every human being.

Article 18.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Notice, please, that there is no exception for Islam – EVERYONE had the right to change one’s religion or beliefs.

So unless we are to conclude that Muslims – including those born and raised as Muslims without their consent – are not human, then it is obligatory for every government to not only permit individual Muslims to freely change their religion, but also protect such ex-Muslims from violent reprisal by their former co-religionists.

Of course, given the violations of the rest of the rights in Article 18 in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, I somehow doubt that the governments of those countries will suddenly embrace the right to renounce Islam and become an apostate. It is up to the rest of the world to apply pressure until that right is universally accepted.

Unfortunately, this does not help us to deal with the greater philosophical question – how much tolerance should we grant to a religion that not only rejects tolerance, but does so in a murderous fashion?

H/T Malkin

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I was raised Catholic. During the first year of my marriage, though, I realized that I was finding myself drawn in a somewhat different spiritual direction, and left the Church. At no time did I expect the force of law to be applied against me – nor did I need to live in fear that I would be murdered for following my conscience.

Unfortunately, that is not the case for these folks.

A group of young Muslim apostates launches a campaign today, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America, to make it easier to renounce Islam.

The provocative move reflects a growing rift between traditionalists and a younger generation raised on a diet of Dutch tolerance.

The Committee for Ex-Muslims promises to campaign for freedom of religion but has already upset the Islamic and political Establishments for stirring tensions among the million-strong Muslim community in the Netherlands.

Ehsan Jami, the committeeÂ’s founder, who rejected Islam after the attack on the twin towers in 2001, has become the most talked-about public figure in the Netherlands. He has been forced into hiding after a series of death threats and a recent attack.

The threats are taken seriously after the murder in 2002 of Pim Fortuyn, an antiimmigration politician, and in 2004 of Theo Van Gogh, an antiIslam film-maker.

Speaking to The Times at a secret location before the committeeÂ’s launch today, the Labour Party councillor said that the movement would declare war on radical Islam. Similar organisations campaigning for reform of the religion have sprung up across Europe and representatives from Britain and Germany will join the launch in The Hague today.

“Sharia schools say that they will kill the ones who leave Islam. In the West people get threatened, thrown out of their family, beaten up,” Mr Jami said. “In Islam you are born Muslim. You do not even choose to be Muslim. We want that to change, so that people are free to choose who they want to be and what they want to believe in.”

Indeed, that threat of death is quite real, given the murders that have taken place in the Netherlands. The courageous Ayaan Hirsi Ali was forced to flee the country because of the threats against her. And around the world, individuals like Abdul Rahman and Lina Joy have faced death and imprisonment for exercising their right to follow the call of Christ, while forced conversions have become a hallmark of jihadi terrorists.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is clear on that such oppression is a violation of a fundamental right of every human being.

Article 18.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Notice, please, that there is no exception for Islam – EVERYONE had the right to change one’s religion or beliefs.

So unless we are to conclude that Muslims – including those born and raised as Muslims without their consent – are not human, then it is obligatory for every government to not only permit individual Muslims to freely change their religion, but also protect such ex-Muslims from violent reprisal by their former co-religionists.

Of course, given the violations of the rest of the rights in Article 18 in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, I somehow doubt that the governments of those countries will suddenly embrace the right to renounce Islam and become an apostate. It is up to the rest of the world to apply pressure until that right is universally accepted.

Unfortunately, this does not help us to deal with the greater philosophical question – how much tolerance should we grant to a religion that not only rejects tolerance, but does so in a murderous fashion?

H/T Malkin

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, Rosemary's Thoughts, DeMediacratic Nation, Adam's Blog, Right Truth, Big Dog's Weblog, Inside the Northwest Territory, The Populist, Shadowscope, Nuke's News & Views, Webloggin, The Amboy Times, Conservative Cat, Conservative Thoughts, Pursuing Holiness, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Planck's Constant, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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I canÂ’t help but be struck by where this story places the emphasis.

A woman who authorities said was sexually abused, beaten, stabbed and humiliated while held captive in a home for at least a week was repeatedly called a racial slur during the attacks, the victim's mother said.

So that’s the bit of information you want to emphasize – not that this woman was brutalized, but that someone dared to utter a racial slur while doing it. Frankly, I view that as the least disturbing part of the attack, with the incredible acts of violence and violation being significantly more important, and much more worthy of outrage.

Six people, all white, including a mother and son and a mother and daughter, have been arrested in connection with the alleged abduction of the 23-year-old black woman, sheriff's officials said Monday. Authorities were looking for two people they believe drove the woman to the home, Logan County Chief Deputy V.K. Dingess said Monday evening.

The FBI, which was asked by the sheriff's department to aid in the investigation, will look into whether a hate crime occurred.

And I say to you – who cares if this is a so-called “hate crime”? As vile and violent as these acts were, I cannot imagine that there is much need for any enhancement of the penalties or additional charges. And to be honest, I don’t care why this woman was brutalized – the mere fact that she was so cruelly abused should be sufficient to send the perps away for the duration of their natural lives.

Indeed, this story illustrates the utter inanity of “hate crime” laws. What needs to be punished here is not the words directed at the victim, or even the motive for the crime. Instead, we need to be punishing the very real and offensive criminal acts which were perpetrated upon the victim, without regard for side-show issues like race.

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1 mcewen, ljakvdyi, 257093, mcvaqgys, > , afpjatpi, hqeq,

Posted by: Bcjfdhkv at Wed Oct 7 09:39:32 2009 (uFEEn)

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After all, the editors agree with the folks who disrupted yesterday's hearings.

The American people deserve more than what the general and the diplomat offered them yesterday.

For that matter, they deserve more than what was offered by Representative Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. When protesters interrupted the hearing, Mr. Skelton ordered them removed from the room, which is understandable. But then he said that they would be prosecuted. That seemed like an unnecessarily authoritarian response to people who just wanted to be heard.

I'm curious -- will they be that indulgent when Americans they disagree with engage in the same tactics, whether in the halls of Congress or the newsroom of the New York Times? How about on the sidewalk in front of an abortion clinic, where the NY Times has long supported draconian punishments for nonviolent protesters engaged in sit-ins or even just trying to talk to women before an abortion.

Posted by: Greg at 10:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It sure took long enough -- will other Democrat candidates and organizations follow suit?

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign said Monday it will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation for allegedly violating election laws.

Clinton, D-N.Y., previously had planned only to give to charity $23,000 she received from Hsu for her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her political action committee, HillPac.

The FBI is investigating whether Hsu paid so-called straw donors to send campaign contributions to Clinton and other candidates, a law enforcement official said Monday.

"In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement Monday night. "An estimated 260 donors this week will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from the campaign."

* * *

In addition to the $260,000 he contributed to federal candidates, Hsu also contributed at least $330,000 to state Democratic candidates and state party committees and ballot initiatives during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles. Among the state officials who received money were New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Both have said they would divest their campaigns of the donations.

Additionally, last week Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said he would donate nearly $40,000 in contributions, and Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said he had donated a $1,000 contribution to a charity that helps soldiers.

It is all well and good to get rid of the direct Hsu money -- but will they get rid of the bundled cash, in light of the clear evidence that Hsu was illegally reimbursing donors to direct more cash to his chosen candidates?

Posted by: Greg at 09:58 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This is why such wiretapping programs are necessary.

The governmentÂ’s ability to eavesdrop on terrorism suspects overseas allowed the United States to obtain information that helped lead to the arrests last week of three Islamic militants accused of planning bomb attacks in Germany, Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told senators on Monday.

But another government official said Mr. McConnell might have misspoken. Mr. McConnell said the information had been obtained under a newly updated and highly contentious wiretapping law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. But the official, who has been briefed on the eavesdropping laws and the information given to the Germans, said that those intercepts were recovered last year under the old law. The official asked for anonymity because the information is classified.

The previous law required officials to seek warrants to monitor at least some phone calls and e-mail messages between foreign locations when they were collected from fiber-optic cable in the United States; the new law waived that requirement.

In my book, it doesn't matter which version of the FISA law was used to get the intelligence that stopped attacks on Americans abroad. They key thing is that these jihadis were prevented from carrying out their own 9/11 commemoration by spilling American blood.

Ultimately, we must decide as a nation whether we are going to treat the jihadi terrorists as criminals to be prosecuted or a military enemy to be rooted out and destroyed. I vote for the latter, and believe that we need to use all necessary means to defeat them, just as we did with the Nazis in WWII. The only question is, are we serious about stopping this enemy -- and what it will take to make us serious if we aren't.

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Because after all, laws against official corruption were never meant to apply to Democrats.

House leaders are beginning an investigation this week of the prosecution of Don Siegelman, the former Democratic governor of Alabama who was imprisoned in June on federal corruption charges. The case could become the centerpiece of a Democratic effort to show that the Justice Department engaged in political prosecutions.

* * *

In Alabama, a small war of editorial boards has erupted since Mr. Siegelman was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison in late June. Newspapers in the stateÂ’s smaller cities have repeatedly raised questions about the former governorÂ’s treatment.

Alabama Democrats are seething over a judge’s decision to have Mr. Siegelman immediately shackled and jailed on the day of sentencing, with no chance for him to seek bond or put his affairs in order. Republicans say the ex-governor is nothing more than a crook who ran a “pay for play” administration.

Mike Hubbard, chairman of the state’s Republican Party, called Ms. Simpson’s allegations “a bunch of hogwash” and said “the state of Alabama was for sale when Don Siegelman was governor.”

Democrats are equally passionate. “My sense is, there is a great unease with what has gone on here,” said Jack Miller, former chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party. “It’s kind of, if it could happen to him, it could happen to anybody.”

I'll tell you what -- I'll be glad to have a probe of politically-motivated prosecutions. Let's put the non-crimes of Scooter Libby at the top of the list, along with the prosecutions of law enforcement officers over incidents with illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. Then we can get around to Siegelman, whose bribery conviction seems a lot more solid.

What we see here, friends, is that the Democrats are chickenhawks when it comes to battling official corruption. They only want their opponents prosecuted, not their own.

Posted by: Greg at 09:45 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I've been talking with my students recently about the need to obtain a new costume for our school's mascot. That old horse has started looking really ragged the last few years -- as well it should, given that it has been in use since the Reagan administration. I found a replacement for it on a site that specializes in halloween costumes, and they have quite a selection of mascot costumes as well. I wonder if the student council would be interested in raising the money for a replacement?

Of course, they do have some great halloween costumes as well. I just love this kid's penguin outfit! I wonder if my wife and I can find something good to scare the trick-or-treaters?

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Sportscaster Keith Olbermann, who is playing in a pool well out of his depth, has really crossed over into the final delusions immediately before the body rejects the brain as totally diseased and more of a threat than death itself.

Al Qaeda really hurt us, but not as much as Rupert Murdoch has hurt us, particularly in the case of Fox News. Fox News is worse than Al Qaeda — worse for our society. It’s as dangerous as the Ku Klux Klan ever was.

Let's see -- how many people have been hunted down and murdered by FoxNews? How many individuals have had their rights stripped of them by FoxNews? Last time I checked, the combined total is approximately ZERO.

On the other hand, the KKK (the paramilitary terrorist wing of the Democrat Party), was responsible for over a century of subjugation of American blacks, including multiple acts of murder for of individuals for daring to assert their rights as American citizens and their equality to any white man. Furthermore, they engaged in the oppression of other non-whites, as well as Jews and Catholics. One member currently sits in the US Senate, as an honored and respected member of the Democrat Party -- an ongoing disgrace to the Senate.

And need I remember this mouth-frothing lunatic that al-Qaeda attacked America and murdered our citizens and continues to kill Americans today around the world? Does he really mean to say that reporting the news from a perspective that Keith Olbermann disagrees with is more damaging to America that the acts of al-Qaeda?

Good God -- to draw moral equivalence between a cable news channel, jihadi swine, and racist murderers is an act that I thought even below Olbermann -- whose rhetoric on any given night sounds surprisingly close to that of Osama bin Laden in his latest video.

Clearly, Keith Olberman is the Worst Person in The World -- and MSNBC needs to fire him!

H/T Inside Cable News via Captain's Quarters & Malkin

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After all, these words are nothing if not dripping with hatred and bigotry.

The comedienne didn't go home empty handed, winning Outstanding Reality Program at the 2007 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for her show My Life on the D-List. As planned, Griffin shouted ""Suck it Jesus, this award is my God now!"" from the stage.

Will she have to go into hiding because of death threats? Will her show be cancelled? Will the Academy revoke her award? Will she even find it necessary to apologize for insulting Christians and the Son of God?

Of course not.

But what would have happened if she had dissed Mohammad?

Posted by: Greg at 09:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Depending on whether or not the judges in Oregon follow the clear and unambiguous language of the statutes passed by the legislature, concealed carry by teachers may be an option in the state very soon.

A high school teacher wanting to carry a gun on campus is fueling a challenge against a Medford School District policy that prohibits possession of a weapon on school grounds.

Portland-based lawyer Jim Leuenberger, with backing from the Oregon Firearms Federation, said in an e-mail sent Friday to the Mail Tribune that he intends to ask a Jackson County Circuit Court judge to declare the policy "illegal and void" for holders of concealed handgun licenaes.

"There is a state statute that prohibits local governments — including school boards — from restricting possession of firearms by concealed firearm permit holders," Leuenberger said. "The state statute says any such local restrictions are void."

Leuenberger identified the woman only as a high school teacher and said he will file the complaint using "Jane Doe" as the plaintiff.

This particular teacher has a concealed carry permit and a restraining order against her ex-husband. She needs the gun for personal protection.

But the school sees matters differently.

"It's our responsibility to provide a safe learning environment for our students and a safe working environment for our employees," Gerking said. "We feel that would not be fostered by allowing folks, whether they have the authority or not, to bring weapons onto campus, in particular firearms — loaded firearms. We believe that's a recipe for potential disaster."

I guess that means that the school district believes that its policy trumps state law and the Second Amendment. Their lawyers should tell them that such is not the case.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with trained, licensed individuals having weapons on campus – if you look at the statistics in every state, such individuals have a significantly lower rate of abusing those weapons than other citizens. Indeed, here in Texas the number is miniscule during the entire lifetime of the concealed carry statute. I suspect that the same is true in Oregon.

The problem, you see, is not legal, registered guns carried by licensed individuals in schools – it is those carried illegally by unlicensed individuals seeking to do violence.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Link Fest - Week One, Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Rosemary's Thoughts, DeMediacratic Nation, Big Dog's Weblog, Right Truth, Nuke's News & Views, DragonLady's World, Webloggin, Leaning Straight Up, The Bullwinkle Blog, Conservative Cat, Allie Is Wired, third world county, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Republican National Convention Blog, CommonSenseAmerica, CORSARI D'ITALIA, High Desert Wanderer, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Posted by: Greg at 09:29 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Jane Wyman was a beauty as a young woman. As she aged, she remained a marvelously talented, dignified woman whose grace exuded an inner beauty.

Many forget that, had the circumstances been different, she could have become the First Lady.

Jane Wyman, an Academy Award winner for her performance as the deaf rape victim in "Johnny Belinda," star of the long-running TV series "Falcon Crest" and Ronald Reagan's first wife, died Monday morning at 93.
Wyman died at her Palm Springs home, said Richard Adney of Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in Cathedral City. No other details were immediately available.

Wyman's film career spanned from the 1930s, including "Gold Diggers of 1937” to 1969's "How to Commit Marriage," co-starring Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason. From 1981 to 1990 she played Angela Channing, a Napa Valley winery owner who maintained her power with a steely will on "Falcon Crest."

Her marriage in 1940 to fellow Warner Bros. contract player Reagan was celebrated in the fan magazines as one of Hollywood's ideal unions. While he was in uniform during World War II, her career ascended, signaled by her 1946 Oscar nomination for "The Yearling."

The couple divorced in 1948, the year she won the Oscar for "Johnny Belinda." Reagan reportedly cracked to a friend: "Maybe I should name Johnny Belinda as co-respondent."

My personal favorite movie starring Jane Wyman was “Brother Rat”, in which her co-star was none other than her future husband, Ronald Reagan.
Years later, after Reagan had entered politics, Jane Wyman kept silent about her ex-husband and their marriage. She said it was wrong to gossip about ex-husbands and ex-wives. But after his death in 2004, she released a statement that spoke volumes about him in its brevity and sincerity.

"America has lost a great president and a great, kind and gentle man."

And today Hollywood has lost a great actress, but America has gained a beautiful angel in heaven.

And to Michael Reagan and his family, I offer my condolences on the loss of his mother.

Posted by: Greg at 09:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Jane Wyman was a beauty as a young woman. As she aged, she remained a marvelously talented, dignified woman whose grace exuded an inner beauty.

Many forget that, had the circumstances been different, she could have become the First Lady.

Jane Wyman, an Academy Award winner for her performance as the deaf rape victim in "Johnny Belinda," star of the long-running TV series "Falcon Crest" and Ronald Reagan's first wife, died Monday morning at 93.
Wyman died at her Palm Springs home, said Richard Adney of Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in Cathedral City. No other details were immediately available.

Wyman's film career spanned from the 1930s, including "Gold Diggers of 1937” to 1969's "How to Commit Marriage," co-starring Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason. From 1981 to 1990 she played Angela Channing, a Napa Valley winery owner who maintained her power with a steely will on "Falcon Crest."

Her marriage in 1940 to fellow Warner Bros. contract player Reagan was celebrated in the fan magazines as one of Hollywood's ideal unions. While he was in uniform during World War II, her career ascended, signaled by her 1946 Oscar nomination for "The Yearling."

The couple divorced in 1948, the year she won the Oscar for "Johnny Belinda." Reagan reportedly cracked to a friend: "Maybe I should name Johnny Belinda as co-respondent."

My personal favorite movie starring Jane Wyman was “Brother Rat”, in which her co-star was none other than her future husband, Ronald Reagan.
Years later, after Reagan had entered politics, Jane Wyman kept silent about her ex-husband and their marriage. She said it was wrong to gossip about ex-husbands and ex-wives. But after his death in 2004, she released a statement that spoke volumes about him in its brevity and sincerity.

"America has lost a great president and a great, kind and gentle man."

And today Hollywood has lost a great actress, but America has gained a beautiful angel in heaven.

And to Michael Reagan and his family, I offer my condolences on the loss of his mother.

Posted by: Greg at 09:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It’s an amusing little fantasy from the NY Sun – but it does raise a point that I think is important.

"Senators and distinguished guests, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to testify in respect of progress in the Battle of Iraq. Before I do however, there are a few things I'd like to get off of my chest. Although your house of Congress confirmed me as commander by a unanimous vote, some of you have made it a point to undermine me as I lead our soldiers in battle. Even as we are fighting the battle, some of you have declared it lost. That was also the plain meaning of the House and Senate resolutions passed in March and April, as we were fighting the war. You have sought to undercut my own report to you with the guess work of the General Accountability Office, an office that lacks professional intelligence analysts and access to the data of our military.

"So I would like to begin by asking you to stop all of this. Our country is at war, and I am reporting to you that the enemy views the Congress of the United States as a theater. When the enemy heard that you intend to end our military strategy irrespective of the outcome of the surge I was sent to lead, the enemy became emboldened and persuaded that he could wait us out. Our future allies, whom we are bringing over to Iraq's side against the terrorists every day, will waver or defect if they think there is a chance you here in Congress will call the soldiers home before we finish clearing and holding the provinces and neighborhoods.

"I commend those of you who have come to see me in Baghdad and toured Anbar province with me to see the war for yourself. It's no accident that many of the lawmakers who have made it out to Iraq have tempered their rhetoric, and I appreciate your honesty. I also share your concerns about the efficacy of the current national government. But I can assure you that any chance of national reconciliation will require our sustained fight against an enemy that abhors little so much as it abhors the idea of national reconciliation. We will need now to commit to securing the country at least for another national election.

"What I cannot countenance is for you today to commend my skill and bravery in Anbar and Baghdad and then tomorrow to hold votes on how futile this struggle is. So let me make this choice easy for you. I believe we have a good chance to drive Al Qaeda and Iran's network from Iraq and stand up in due time a functioning democracy in Baghdad. I am prepared, even eager, to command our forces in this battle -- but only on one condition: That you signal that you share my goal of victory. If you think I am mistaken and wish to continue your efforts to undermine me, then I cannot command. Absent that signal, I will resign, effective immediately, and take my case to the voters in a run for the presidency on a campaign to finish the work of winning the war and redeeming the sacrifice of so many Iraqis, allies, and our own GIs."

The political class in this country is regarded with disdain by much of the American public. Is it time for someone from outside that category to step in and inspire the American people – perhaps from a thoroughly non-partisan perspective, running as an independent?

While one leftoid blogger calls the suggestion MacArthurite (though they cannot spell that general's name correctly), IÂ’d suggest that they have compared this fantasy to the wrong general. The closest weÂ’ve ever had to such a candidacy was that of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was actively courted by both political parties and who overwhelmingly claimed the presidency twice.

Posted by: Greg at 09:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And until the Democrats tell them to do so, they are clearly complicit with each and every vile move these folks make.

With its full-page “General Betray Us?” ad in the New York Times, MoveOn.org has once again put itself at the forefront of the antiwar movement. And if past patterns are any guide, a number of Democrats are embarrassed, and even angered, by MoveOn’s actions but are afraid to reveal the true extent of their feelings. MoveOn simply has too much fundraising clout — and a fear-inducing inclination to attack Democrats who stray from the MoveOn line — for many in the party to take it on.

Democratic leaders might be further embarrassed by a new email, headlined “Your dog can help end the war,” sent out by the leadership of MoveOn’s political team. The email asks members to attend a protest on Capitol Hill this morning preceding the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus. “Congress was fooled before by the White House’s ‘dog and pony show,” the appeal says. “We need to make sure they’re not fooled again. That’s why we’re hosting our own ‘Dog and Pony Show’ outside the Capitol Building right before Petraeus takes the stage for his testimony. We want to show Congress and the cameras that the American people aren’t buying the White House spin.”

“We’re bringing real ponies, signs and a big banner that reads, ‘CONGRESS: Don’t be fooled, AGAIN!’ Can you make it — and bring your dog if you have one?”

It seems unlikely that many top Democrats will be bringing pets. But the thing that should trouble party leaders is not that MoveOn is capable of silly stunts. ItÂ’s not even that MoveOn is capable of making slanderous comments about U.S. military officials. And itÂ’s not that MoveOn is against the war in Iraq, which polls show many Americans believe was a mistake. Rather, MoveOnÂ’s latest campaign is a continuation of a drive to oppose not just the action in Iraq, but the war on terror in general, and, in a larger sense, AmericaÂ’s use of military power in its own defense.

The Democrat leadership has allied themselves with those who slander patriots like Petraeus and seek to intimidate their opponents with Maoist tactics and Stalinist demands for ideological purity. That is not the American way.

MoveOn.Org needs to FuckOff.Now – will the Democrats have the courage to tell them so?

Posted by: Greg at 09:16 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When will the US quit backing this thug? He's no real help in the Crusade Against Jihadism, and now he defies the courts does this.

Nawaz Sharif, a Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister, was arrested here today, after he had flown to the Pakistani capital intent on leading an effort to oust the current president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Mr. Sharif was dragged out of a lounge in the Islamabad airport by several police officers. He was being taken to prison, according to Irfan Ilahi, a district coordination officer for the Pakistan police.

But Dawn News, a local television channel, reported that Mr. Sharif was being deported to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Posted by: Greg at 10:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I think that Mahmoud the Mad has been listening to too much AC/DC.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday lashed out at his Western foes which demand Iran halt its sensitive nuclear activities, saying they were "racing to hell".

"The Iranian people have climbed over difficult mountain passes on their path of progress. The enemies need to step aside from our path and give up their satanic ideas," he said, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

"One or two countries are refusing to accept that Iran is now mastering nuclear technology ... Some countries are racing towards hell. But this makes us sad and, for the good of their people, we will resist."

The genocidal anti-Semite has denied plans to make nukes, but has promised to destroy Israel in the past.

Hopefully they will get him before he gets them.

Posted by: Greg at 10:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And hopefully both will soon recognize that their fifteen minutes are up.

First Britney Spears.

Kicking off the show Sunday night with her new single, "Gimme More," Spears looked bleary and unprepared, much like her recent tabloid exploits on the streets of Los Angeles. She walked through her dance moves with little enthusiasm. She appeared to have forgotten the art of lip-synching. And, perhaps most unforgivable given her once-taut frame, she looked embarrassingly out of shape.

Even the celebrity-studded audience seemed bewildered. 50 Cent looked at Spears with a confused look on his face; Diddy, her new best friend, was expressionless.

No-talent drug-addled slutty white-trash is as no-talent drug-addled slutty white-trash does.

And then there was this from race-baiting rapper Kanye West.

"That's two years in a row, man ... give a black man a chance," West said, stomping around his entourage and directing his comments at a reporter. "I'm trying hard man, I have the ... number one record, man."

West said he never will return to MTV.

And MTV will be a better place for your absence, Kanye. The problem is not your race -- it is your talent.

After all, you can't spell "CRAP" without "RAP".

Posted by: Greg at 10:22 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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After all, Nanny State knows best.

Amid worries of an obesity epidemic and its related illnesses, including high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, Los Angeles officials, among others around the country, are proposing to limit new fast-food restaurants -- a tactic that could be called health zoning.

The City Council will be asked this fall to consider an up to two-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in South L.A., a part of the city where fast food is at least as much a practicality as a preference.

"The people don't want them, but when they don't have any other options, they may gravitate to what's there," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who proposed the ordinance in June, and whose district includes portions of South L.A. that would be affected by the plan.

So what we have here is Councilwoman Perry arguing that fast food restaurants have harvested black holes and that unwilling customers are being sucked into the restaurants and forced to eat food they don't want.

I never knew -- what would I do without big-government liberal politicians to tell em these things.

Posted by: Greg at 10:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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While the Left tries to reject the Petraeus report in advance -- even demonizing General Petraeus and questioning his patriotism --the American people recognize that he and other members of the military are in the best position to offer a path to victory in Iraq.

Americans trust military commanders far more than the Bush administration or Congress to bring the war in Iraq to a successful end, and while most favor a withdrawal of American troops beginning next year, they suggested they were open to doing so at a measured pace, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

On the eve of what is sure to be a contentious debate on Iraq, the results underscored the benefits to the White House of entrusting the top American commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, to make the case that an increase in American forces this year had been successful enough to continue into next year.

I do have one problem with this poll -- the 5% rating for the administration is really an illusion because the selection of General Petraeus, the Surge strategy, and the draw-down that is a part of it are all part of the Administration's policy. I trust the Bush administration on Iraq, but would have fallen in the 68% who say I place my trust in the commanders in the field rather than the politicians in Washington. I suspect that many others would have said something similar.

Posted by: Greg at 10:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The alumni elect board members who object to the direction of a liberal administration. The solution -- stack the board with administration appointees.

Dartmouth College announced late Saturday night that its board of trustees would expand to 24 members, two-thirds chosen by the college and one-third elected by the alumni.

Since 1891, Dartmouth alumni have elected eight trustees and the administration has appointed an additional eight, giving the college an unusually small board and an unusual level of alumni power.

The changes come largely in reaction to divisive trustee campaigns over the past three years, in which alumni rejected the candidates officially nominated by the alumni association and instead elected four libertarian or conservative alumni who got onto the ballot through a petition process.

The most telling comment comes from the president of the board, Charles E. Haldeman Jr.

“Dartmouth’s trustee elections have become increasingly politicized, costly and divisive,” he said. “It’s not the results of these elections that are the problem, but the process itself.”

“I know some will ask why we didn’t simply expand the board through an equal number of charter and alumni trustee seats,” he said. “Given the divisiveness of recent elections we did not believe that having more elections would be good for Dartmouth.”

Yeah -- a self-perpetuating oligarchy does have advantages over a democracy.

The main one being that those who govern need not listen to the voice of the people.

So let's just call this what it is -- a coup.

Posted by: Greg at 09:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I agree that extremist materials need to be kept out of prison libraries, but this just goes too far.

Behind the walls of federal prisons nationwide, chaplains have been quietly carrying out a systematic purge of religious books and materials that were once available to prisoners in chapel libraries.

The chaplains were directed by the Bureau of Prisons to clear the shelves of any books, tapes, CDs and videos that are not on a list of approved resources. In some prisons, the chaplains have recently dismantled libraries that had thousands of texts collected over decades, bought by the prisons, or donated by churches and religious groups.

I understand that there needs to be screening, and I acknowledge that libraries can't accommodate everything. However, consider what the approved list includes -- and does not include.

The Bureau of Prisons said it relied on experts to produce lists of up to 150 book titles and 150 multimedia resources for each of 20 religions or religious categories — everything from Bahaism to Yoruba. The lists will be expanded in October, and there will be occasional updates, Ms. Billingsley said. Prayer books and other worship materials are not affected by this process.

The lists are broad, but reveal eccentricities and omissions. There are nine titles by C. S. Lewis, for example, and none from the theologians Reinhold Niebuhr, Karl Barth and Cardinal Avery Dulles, and the influential pastor Robert H. Schuller.

Mainstream theologians and popular pastors have been excluded. How absurd! It appears as if intellectual laziness is the criteria for inclusion of materials -- I won't say theological bias is at work, other than a bias against weightier works.

And, of course, the problem that is being dealt with has never particularly been one coming from Christian and Jewish works. The hatred and extremism has been imported by "The Religion Of Peace" that attacked us six years ago tomorrow -- but actually dealing with the foul propaganda that advocates hatred and extremism would be seen as an example of bias, so everyone's religious material needs to be restricted lest the ACLU and CAIR file suit.

Posted by: Greg at 09:47 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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That is the word on Drudge.

Following their testimony to Congress, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will appear exclusively on FOXNEWS Monday at 9pm EDT for one hour live interview with Brit Hume... Developing...

No confirmation yet.

And Andrew Sullivan is doing the twisted-knicker dance.

If Drudge is right and the general and the ambassador are going to give Fox News' Brit Hume an exclusive hour-long sit-down, then it seems to me they forfeit any pretense of neutrality. They really need either to stick to the Congressional testimony, or appear on more outlets than a purely Republican network. It's extremely important for the integrity of the US military - and the credibility of Petraeus - that it remain above partisanship and even the appearance of partisanship. Here's hoping Drudge is wrong. They couldn't be that stupid, could they?

Last time I checked, Fox News was the highest rated and most trusted news network on cable. Why not go with them? Would we hear this objection if they went on CNN or were interviewed by the mouth-frothing sportscaster on MSNBC? I doubt it. The word for objections to this interview is therefore one we've seen thrown around a lot lately -- hypocrisy.

Posted by: Greg at 09:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Now, will all those cut-and-runners who worship at the altar of the Iraq Study Group fall in line with the proposal they outline? Somehow I doubt it.

n a report to be released today, a panel of experts assembled by the U.S. Institute of Peace calls for a 50 percent reduction in U.S. forces in Iraq within three years and a total withdrawal and handover of security to the Iraqi military in five years.

"The United States faces too many challenges around the world to continue its current level of effort in Iraq, or even the deployment that was in place before the surge," the report says. "It is time to chart a clearer path forward."

Got that -- three years to cut troops by 50% and five years to get them out entirely. The Democrats are all talking about an immediate withdrawal. Will they now admit their error? Or will they play politics and dismiss any proposal that calls for any withdrawal timetable the extends past next year?

Posted by: Greg at 09:31 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Sweet Jesus, folks, that is one of the things that members of a law firm do -- indeed, it is one of the reasons that lawyers band together in law firms, so that they have multiple individuals with different areas of expertise with whom to consult. It is standard practice -- and for anyone to complain about this (or the clients other partners brought to the firm) is rather absurd.

A little over three years after Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, Fred D. Thompson provided advice to a colleague about one of his law firmÂ’s new clients: The man representing the two Libyan intelligence officials charged in the terrorist bombing.

The colleague, John Culver, a partner at the Washington firm of Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn began advising the two suspects’ Libyan lawyer in February 1992. Mr. Thompson, according to a memorandum from that era written by his secretary, held “discussions with Culver re: Libya” that same month.

At the time, Libya was facing international outrage for refusing to comply with a United Nations demand that the two suspects be extradited to the West for trial in the 1988 bombing, which killed 270 people. Revelations that American firms were representing Libyan interests provoked a furor among the Pan Am victimsÂ’ families. Some law firms refused to represent the country or the suspects, while others withdrew.

The involvement of Mr. Thompson, who worked part-time for Arent Fox as a lawyer and lobbyist from 1991 until shortly before his election to the Senate in 1994, never became public. But Arent FoxÂ’s chairman, Marc L. Fleischaker, confirmed that Mr. Thompson, who is now seeking the Republican presidential nomination, briefly provided Mr. Culver with advice about the suspectsÂ’ case, billing the firm for 3.3 hours of his time.

Imagine that -- less than four hours on how to get the Libyans to allow these folks to be extradited while ensuring that they would get a fair trial. I've no doubt that there are some Italian firms doing work for the US government regarding the charges growing out of that hostage rescue SNAFU a couple of years ago. Like in this case, you need experts in the laws of a particular nation in order to bring some resolution to the situation.

Really, folks, there is nothing to see here -- just move along.

Posted by: Greg at 09:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well, friends, I spent today watching my Houston Texans beat the Kansas City Chiefs over at Reliant Stadium. Great game. But I'll tell you, it also put me in mind of the other great sporting event that goes on RodeoHouston.

Just like with the Texans, my wife and I have season tickets for RodeoHouston. We have since we moved first here eleven years ago and bought Houston Rodeo Tickets for the first time. And I'll tell you, we consider it to be the entertainment bargain of the free world. After all, where else can you go and watch a sporting event -- and yes, boys and girls, rodeo is a sport -- and see a spectacular concert for under $30? And those are the expensive seats on the club level, where my wife and I sit! We sure couldn't afford them for the football season, I can assure you of that. In fact, I made my payment for this year's tickets just this past week. I can't wait to hear who the concert entertainers are for those twenty nights. What I do know is that they will include some of the top acts in country music, as well as other musical entertainment in other fields.

What is great about RodeoHouston, though, is the fact that when you buy those Houston Rodeo Tickets you are not just getting great seats and great entertainment at a great price -- you are also contributing to a scholarship fund that helps send many young people from around Texas to college. So whether you are on the field level, in the club seats, or up in the 500s and 600s, you are a part of something greater than yourself -- the future of our young people.

Posted by: Greg at 09:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I know I am -- I'm signing off for the next few hours to go watch the Houston Texans begin their first playoff run!

We will beat the Chiefs.

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DISCLAIMER: No naked hippies were harmed in the making of this video. Sadly, not enough jihadis were harmed in the making of this video.

I love the opening sequence with this question and answer

What's dumber than being a wife-beating, queer-killing jihadi?

Being a pro-feminist, gay rights advocate that supports those jihadis.

From The People's Cube, via the folks at The Jawa Report

Posted by: Greg at 02:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Where exactly is Norman Hsu's money coming from -- and how much of it is being illegally funneled to Democrats?

A review of financial records for one of Mr. HsuÂ’s companies begins to shed light on some of his recent activities, including his dealings with a circle of campaign contributors that has fallen under suspicion since news of Mr. HsuÂ’s criminal past, murky business interests and unexplained riches rocked the Democratic Party.

The records show that Components Ltd., a company controlled by Mr. Hsu that has no obvious business purpose and appears to exist only on paper, has paid a total of more than $100,000 to at least nine people who made campaign contributions to Mrs. Clinton and others through Mr. Hsu. The payments occurred in the spring of 2003, several months before Mr. Hsu emerged as a contributor to Democrats and more than a year before he started bundling checks from those same people for various campaigns. In all, he has raised more than $1 million for Democrats.

The records make clear that the group was more than just a loose collection of friends, family and co-workers that bundlers typically rely on when raising money for a candidate. Rather, each person had a direct financial relationship with Mr. Hsu, either receiving money from his company or paying into it, even though many of them appear to have other jobs or businesses independent of him. The purpose of the payments, and whether they related to business costs, fees or expenses, is unclear.

There needs to be an investigation of Hsu, every contributor whose money he bundled, and every candidate and party organization to which that money went. We have a whale of a political scandal here, folks, and it highlights the hypocrisy of the Democrats, who have set themselves a high bar on campaign finance over the years.

Posted by: Greg at 01:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Left has told us for years that they are a source of corruption and lead government away from what is right and beneficial for the American people. So why are we seeing them use lobbyists for this effort?

One weekday morning in mid-July, perhaps two dozen liberal organizers gathered around a conference table in an office building on Washington’s K Street. Their mission: American withdrawal from Iraq. In one sense, the location was unlikely; K Street is a symbolic address, like Madison Avenue or Fleet Street, in this case representing the capital’s thriving industry of trade associations and corporate lobbyists. Yet this was a group of mostly young progressives drawing meager salaries who had no ties to corporate America. Still, the venue was not inappropriate. Those arranged around the table represented the new face of the antiwar movement — now one of Washington’s most vigorous single-issue lobbies.

The purpose of the meeting was the daily conference call conducted by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, a coalition of activists, policy outfits and labor unions brought together this year by MoveOn.org, the 3.4-million-member-strong liberal advocacy group, which was convinced that Democrats on Capitol Hill needed help to end the war. By the end of this month, Americans Against Escalation will have spent $12 million on a combination of grass-roots organizing, polling and television advertisements in order to get the United States out of Iraq.

Seems to me that we are seeing liberal hypocrisy in action.

Posted by: Greg at 01:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The slogan of the cut-and-runners used to be "listen to the generals". Now the NY Times is shouting the exact opposite -- Ignore Petraeus and the generals in Iraq who are saying there is progress.

We hope that General Petraeus can resist the political pressure and provide an unvarnished assessment of the military situation in Iraq. He is an important source of information, of course, but he is only one source — and he is not the man who sets American policy. If Mr. Bush insists on listening only to those who agree with him, Congress and the public must weigh General Petraeus’s report against all data, including two new independent evaluations sharply at odds with the Pentagon’s claim that things in Iraq are substantially better.

In other words, we want Congress to listen to those who are not on the ground in Iraq rather than those who are.

Oh, and by the way, I love this little jab at the President.

Mr. Bush, deeply unpopular with the American people, is counting on the general to restore credibility to his discredited Iraq policy.

Let's see here -- what are the polls saying about the views of the American people towards Congress? Somewhere around 18% approve of the job being done by Congress, which is about half of the president's job approval rating. On the other hand, General Petraeus has an approval rating nearly 4 times higher than that of Congress. So perhaps it is time the anti-war, anti-troop Democrats listen to someone who the American people do believe is doing a good job.

Posted by: Greg at 01:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Frankly, this is a move that should have been made when John Ashcroft resigned from office. That it is happening now is a good thing -- but it comes with the cost of the Alberto Gonzales debacle.

President Bush is expected to choose a replacement for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales by the middle of next week, and former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson has emerged as one of the leading contenders for the job, according to sources inside and outside the government who are familiar with White House deliberations.

Other candidates still in the running include former deputy attorney general George J. Terwilliger III and D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Laurence H. Silberman, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Ted Olson is a great legal mind and a principled individual. The death of his wife, Barbara Olson, on 9/11 will also serve to highlight the fact that the Justice Department is a critical part of the Crusade Against Jihadism.

Oh, yeah -- and the Democrats hate him, and will put on a show of petty partisan politics that will show how unprincipled they are. You know, just to remind the American people how unfit they are to govern.

Posted by: Greg at 01:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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