« July 2008
Main
September 2008 »
 

J. D. Pendry

I catch the 6 o’clock evening news when I can. However, I long ago gave up on the evening news with Brian or Katie or with whoever it might be on the major broadcast networks. Their too often condescending fashion of delivering news combined with the clear biases that only they appear unable to see got to be a bit much for me. I tune into the Fox News 6 o’clock report when I can. On Friday, I was particularly interested in what the program’s panel discussion might offer up on the selection of Governor Sarah Palin by Senator McCain as his Vice Presidential running mate. I was not surprised to hear Morton Kondracke express some contempt for the choice. He cited her lack of experience to assume the duties of the President as if he fully expected McCain to drop over dead on inauguration day. Why, he’s had two bouts of melanoma declared Mr. Kondracke. Morton is prone to say some dumb things, at least in my view, but following his comments about Governor Palin’s lack of experience he added to his nuttier than a squirrel turd opinion by saying that Senator Obama was more qualified to be President simply because he had been running for the job for the past 3 years. Morton actually had a pained expression on his face. Perhaps you need more fiber in the diet Morton. And just for the record, Obama is running against McCain or maybe it is Bush. I am not always sure, but he is not running against Palin.

Do you know what Morton’s problem is?

Read the rest:

Contributed by J D on August 31, 2008 at 06:35 PM in J D Pendry | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about this weekend:

• John McCain: The Stuff of Presidents

• Let Palin Be Palin
• More to Sarah Palin Than Meets the Eye
• Why Palin
• The Man Trap
• What Palin Does
• Pullin' for Palin
• Talk About An Outsider!
• Palin Fought for Reform in Alaska
• Sarah Palin and Creationism
• Hillary supporters and Sarah Polin: a first indication

• Classless Alan Colmes: OMG, the Palins Eloped!
• Desperation from Democrats
• Irony Alert
• A Sarah Palin Sex Scandal?
• Who's Behind Anti-Palin Smear Site?
• Palin’s Trooper’Gate: Beating MSM distortions to the truth

• Democrats Root For Hurricane

• Who is Barack Obama?
• A Party Organ Shifts Into High Gear
• The Idiossey
• Video: The Lyin’ King
• Maher on MSNBC’s Obama coverage: “I mean, these guys were ready to have sex with him”

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 30, 2008 at 04:07 PM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

So, were you impressed? I sure was. Yeah, let's all vote for the skinny black guy with the big ears just to prove to the world we aren't racist any more. Then everyone'll love us and we can all sit around the campfire singing Kumbaya.  *** We just won, folks. McCain has announced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, a good solid conservative with executive experience. So much for "How can John McCain win the PUMA vote." McCain/Palin '08! Palin/Jindal '12!

Worth knowing about today:

• Ex-Marine accused of Iraqi prisoner deaths is acquitted

• Georgia to Cut Diplomatic Ties With Russia

• Juan Williams: McCain’s the real bipartisan deal

• What Does the Palin Pick Say About McCain’s Judgment?
• Palin: Yes, there was sexism towards Hillary but she shouldn’t whine about it
• The Bright Side
• McCain Shakes Things Up with Palin Pick
• Palin for America: A true conservative
• What Palin does for McCain, and to Obama
• Palin: Let’s shatter that glass ceiling that Hillary cracked
• Video: Palin knocks Biden on drilling, ties it to national security

• Palin versus Obama at Landstuhl
• One difference between the two campaigns: competence

• Dem Boykin: Palin 'Affirmative Action' Pick
• Obama Campaign Reaction to Palin
• Barack’s Chutzpah Moment
• CNN: Hey, won’t Palin be neglecting her Down’s syndrome baby?
• Liberal Women Already Trying to Destroy Conservative Sarah Palin
• Class vs no class
• Obama Campaign Attacks Palin
• Now Obama wants experience?
• Classless -- the Obama response to Palin
• McCain camp pushes back: More qualified than Obama
• Ferraro: Palin a “historic” choice for McCain
• First lie about Palin: She dissed the VP job
• Think Progress Covers Up Child Abuse in Palin Nomination Smear
• Caught on live audio: The media sexist insults begin

• Freddoso: The Great Lie
• The Perfect Stranger
• Obama Offers a Beautifully Packaged Lie
• The Obama speech: More of the same, only less
• When narcissists attack
• Achingly Phony
• Obama over the top
• Obama, the Showman-in-Chief
• Not the Obama We Know
• The Advice Axelrod Should Have Given
• Media Cheers Obama Speech
• Was It Effective Demagoguery, Or Ineffective?
• The Radio Show the Obama Campaign Doesn't Want You to Hear
• New Republic Worries About 'Disappointing Fall' of Obama

• Jimmy Carter strikes again

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 29, 2008 at 01:11 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Well, what if McCain does select a woman as his running mate? Personally, I think it would be the death knell for the Democratic campaign, based of course on the assumption that his selection is a good one and can stand up to campaign scrutiny.

I've heard the same point made by quite a few of my veteran friends - male veterans - and if you can convince that crowd, I think the American voter is more than ready for a woman in one of the top executive posts.

There are at least two Republican women, and one business Chief Executive Officer whose names have been mentioned as possible VP selections, but the MainStream Media, well, actually, all the media, have given them short shrift.

They are Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and former eBay Ceo Meg Whitman.

All are pragmatic, accomplished leaders who have set firsts with their elections and careers. They have shown they have a tremendous grasp of the issues, aren't afraid to step up when the going gets tough, and all could step into the president's role should anything happen to McCain.

On a purely political level they also would certainly draw large numbers of Democratic women voters to the GOP in response to Barack Obama's disrespectful treatment of Hillary Clinton. Then there's the stage-managed sham called the Democratic Convention that was engineered to cloak the closeness of the Democratic race between Obama and Clinton.

But there is another issue that should be addressed regarding the Republican Party and its relationship to the voters. An esteemed colleague spoke with me about this issue just this morning and I have learned to heed her advice.

The fact is, she said, the GOP looks old, stodgy, stuck in its ways. Even though Obama has close relationships with a convicted felon, and an anarchist with a history of bombing the US Capitol, the mainstream media has made sure that most Americans don't know this unless they are Internet savvy.

Thus Obama comes across as young, fresh and energetic, even though he is simply another political hack, produced by the Chicago Democratic political machine operated by the Daley family for decades. It helps the GOP somewhat that he selected Joe Biden as his running mate, another Democratic politician who hid out in college and law school during the Vietnam War, but now acts like a bad ass.

Biden's just another career Washington insider with a lot to answer for regarding his relationships with lobbyists, not to mention taking credit for other people's work.

But that still doesn't alter the fact that many people don't take time to really study a candidate's background before deciding who they will support. Unless the opposing campaign can get sufficiently detailed, yet sufficiently brief, materials into voters hands with a reasonable assurance they will be read, it is difficult to offset the duplicity of the media.

So let's take a minute to look at our Republican women and see what they have to offer.

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON

Hutchison was first elected to the US Senate in 1993 in a special election, making her the first woman Senator from Texas. In 1994 she was re-elected to a full six-year term.

In 2000, Hutchison received more votes for her re-election to a second full term than any other statewide candidate had ever received. Voters overwhelmingly returned her to office in 2006.

In the Senate she was elected as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, making her the fourth-highest ranking Republican senator and the highest ranking Republican woman. Hutchison also serves on the Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA) National Advisory Committee.

She is former Chairman and now Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

On immigration she supported funding for an additional 1,500 Border Patrol agents to strengthen enforcement of immigration laws. In 2004, she helped pass the National Intelligence Reform Act, which included provisions she authored to ensure greater screening of air cargo.

Senator Hutchison's great-great-grandfather, Charles S. Taylor, was friends with Thomas Rusk of Nacogdoches, the first Texan to hold the Senate seat she currently occupies. Taylor and Rusk both signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Senator Hutchison graduated from the University of Texas and UT Law School. She was twice elected to the Texas House of Representatives and in 1990, she was elected Texas State Treasurer.

SARAH PALIN

Sarah Palin made history on Dec. 4, 2006, when she took office as the 11th governor of Alaska, the first woman to hold the office.
Since taking office, her top priorities have been resource development, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development.

She created Alaska's Petroleum Systems Integrity Office and created a Climate Change Subcabinet office to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska.

Governor Palin is chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and was recently named chair of the National Governors Association (NGA) Natural Resources Committee. She has served as chair of the Alaska Conservation Commission, and as president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.

Palin has lived in Alaska since 1964. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism at the University of Idaho in 1987.

MEG WHITMAN

Margaret Cushing Whitman, known as "Meg" was President and CEO of eBay from March 1998 to March 2008. She also has worked in politics and is known to have political aspirations of her own.

Forbes magazine estimated her worth at $1.4 billion in 2007. She is one of only seven women to have been repeatedly ranked among the world's most influential people by Time magazine.

Whitman was born in Long Island, N.Y., and attended Cold Spring Harbor High School in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. She earned her Bachelor of Economics from Princeton University and her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979.

Prior to eBay Whitman was in charge of global management and marketing of Playskool and Mr. Potato Head at Hasbro Inc. She also was president and CEO of Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD), and was an executive at the Stride Rite Corporation and the Walt Disney Company.

Whitman was a supporter of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, and after Romney left the race, Whitman joined McCain's campaign as a national co-chair.

Now, when we consider a vice-presidential nominee, one of the things we have to determine is whether they will be able to fill the president's shoes in a national emergency and can they be an effective commander-in-chief?

I'd say that any lady who grew up in Texas, is a descendant of one of the founders of the state, and set a number of firsts in a previously all-male environment such as Kay Bailey Hutchison can probably handle the role. Anyone who can stand tall in corporate America and succeed as Meg Whitman has should not have a problem in D.C.

And, Sarah Palin, who grew up in a state as remote and wild as Alaska, and also set firsts through her election, certainly should be able to look Vladimir Putin dead in the eye and not blink. Palin likes the outdoors, runs marathons and enjoys hunting and fishing. But there is a better barometer of the strength of her backbone.

When the federal government announced it was going to enact regulations declaring the polar bear, which has a growing population, as endangered due to some unproven and futuristic claims about global warming, Palin filed a lawsuit telling the feds to back off.

Oh, and Governor Palin is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. Yeah, she can handle Putin.

I don't know what is in John McCain's mind regarding his vice presidential choice. But the Republican Party is light years behind the Democrats who first put Geraldine Ferraro up for the post in 1984.

Women have been showing they can handle leadership posts around the world for centuries, but still haven't broken the glass ceiling in presidential politics here in the good old US of A. I believe it is high time that we stop being a stodgy old, "we do it this way because we've always done it this way" party and stop conceding that portion of the battlefield to the Dems.

We are falsely portrayed as not accessible to younger voters, many of whom are agree with our basic tenets of smaller government, less regulation and lower taxes. We also haven't done much to show the female voters that we really do believe in what we preach - equality.

John McCain projects a certain image. It is what he is. Some believe it is an image of knowledge and strength while others will try to make his age a negative issue.

We don't need two John McCain's on the same ticket - he is certainly capable of carrying his own share of the load.

But imagine what it would do, not just image-wise but in reality, for our party, and certainly for our presidential campaign team, if McCain was standing side-by-side with a Senator like Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Governor like Sarah Palin, or a CEO like Meg Whitman as his running mate and vice-presidential nominee.

Contributed by Ron Winter on August 28, 2008 at 07:38 PM in Current Affairs, Politics, Ron Winter | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I don’t know about you but when I hear Barack Obama stand in front of the a mass of adoring Kool Aid drinkers at the Democratic convention and say, “We’re going to take America back,” hairs stand up on my neck. Take America Back? Just who the hell from?

The verbal construct take back requires a reciprocal action, the necessity that someone else must give up their America. Since I am diametrically opposed to Obama’s extreme socialist views, I assume that one of those someone’s who is going to be required to give back America is me.

Nope, ain’t gonna happen. I’m not in a giving mood, Barry, so you better think long and hard, boy, about what it’s going to require to take it away from me.

I happen to very much like the America in which I live. With all its faults, this country is hands down the best place in the world to live as evidenced by all the folks from other countries busting their asses to get in here. We may export jobs but we sure as hell don’t export people. There’s gotta be a reason for that, Barry. Every speech you make you poormouth the USA but there’s not another country in the world that people are trying so hard to get into.

Sure, we have our periodic downturns economically but they’re always followed by upturns that keep us on track as the economic envy of the world. And, true, we do find ourselves in the position of having to defend our primacy in the world by periodically demonstrating through our military prowess that we’re not gonna take any crap from two-bit, tinhorn despots ranging from Arab pissants to Russian blowhards.

All I hear from you Democrats is how terrible our economy is and yet when I look at my own life which began dirt poor, I am content with the blessings my America has bestowed on me and my loved ones. We are far from well to do, but we are comfortable, warm, sheltered and able to eat and drink what we please. We’re a damned sight better off than your brother in Nairobi. Bet he’d be real happy to move into a spare bedroom in that big ol’ house of yours, don’t you, Barry?

Sure, I see poor people and I feel for them; but you know what that makes me think, Barry? They should be doing the things my wife and I did not to stay poor. Get an education, work hard and don’t blow your money on luxury automobiles and homes you can’t afford to maintain. Live within your means and work hard to increase those means. Save for your future.

But, no, Barack, you want to take back the America in which I am comfortable and give it to those who don’t want to work their way through college as I did, without taking out federally-guaranteed student loans to haunt me for years. You want to take back my America and hand it over to the tattooed, pierced losers who would rather waste their youth on things that make them feel good, and squander the most productive years of their lives seeking that ever illusive sense of fulfillment you Hollywood inspired liberals place so prominently above the sense of responsibility.

I’ll tell you right now and in no uncertain terms, Barack Obama, you want to take back my America? You and your pixie-dusted followers better be a helluva lot tougher than what you’ve shown me so far.

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on August 28, 2008 at 02:33 PM in Obamanation, Politics, Russ Vaughn | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• So Much For the Recession
• Economy grew 3.3% in Q2

• Obama camp: McCain would be committing "political malpractice" with veep leak tonight
• BREAKING: Obama Campaign "Mad as Hell" At McCain

• Video: Barack Obama’s greatest hits!
• Obama Doesn't Think He's Ready, Either
• The Presidency: The Longest-Held Full-time Job of Obama's Life.
• Do Not Blaspheme, Non-Believers
• Obama campaign confronts WGN radio
• Barack Obama, Aspiring Commissar
• Listen while you can
• Next, the Obama thugs came for Stanley Kurtz
• Team Obama’s character assassination to combat supposed character assassination
• Obama camp blasts National Review writer as "slimy character assassin"
• Toga! Toga! Toga!
• CBS Declares McCain's Anti-Obama Ad 'a Stretch' 
• NYT Glosses Over Bill Ayers's Terrorism, Attacks Anti-Obama Ad Instead
• Michelle Obama Quotes Saul Alinsky During Her Convention Speech
• Obama 2004: “We have to Finish the Job”

• Karl Rove: Inflating Obama's record will not resolve doubts.
• Will Media Report Biden's Exaggerations About Obama's Record?
• Was Barack's Surprise Visit a Sign He Knows It's Going Badly?

• Priceless
• What Is 'In Between' Two Countries That Share a Border?
• Obama’s gravitas man confuses military terms
• A plagiarist and his imaginary world

• Behind the Scenes at the DNC: Trashed American Flags
• Bill Clinton's digs at Obama
• Live from DNC: Zombie at a Giant Puppet Parade
• ABC News Producer Arrested
• Democrats vs. the First Amendment
• You can’t praise what isn’t there
• Look! Activists finally showed up…oh, it’s freebie concert-goers again
• Video: Cops shove, choke, arrest ABC reporter taping Democratic senators meeting with top donors; Update: Edwards pal Fred Baron at meeting?
• Bill Clinton Was Too Inexperienced To Be Commander in Chief
• John Kerry's Therapy at the Convention Podium

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 28, 2008 at 12:48 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Well, hell! Hillary blew a perfectly good opportunity to stab the boy wonder in the back last night. Maybe Bill'll do better tonight.

Worth knowing about today:

• US and Russian warships line up in dispute over Georgia

• "Dangerously Unprepared to be President"

• Obama’s oratorical trap
• The Return of the Liberal Hawk?
• Obama's lies about supporting gun rights
• The Real Ayers Problem
• Annenberg Papers: Putting On Ayers?
• Obama’s Friend, America’s Enemy
• Obama’s Ayers problem deepens
• Annenberg, Obama, And Ayers
• Ayers: Bombing America Not A Big Deal
• Bill Ayers: Unrepentant LYING Terrorist
• Ayers Unrepentant for Radical Group’s Violence in 1960s, 1970s
• Annenberg documents show extensive contacts between Obama and Ayers
• Document drop: Turning the tables again on Obama’s speech-squelching thugs
• Obama bleeding support among Democratic conservatives
• Conservative Dems bailing on Obama; Rasmussen has no Michelle O bounce
• Obama’s temple for the Cult of Personality
• Krauthammer: Has He Lost His Mind?
• Obama camp responds to criticism of “temple” stage by … attacking McCain’s wealth
• Obama's Greek Temple, Up Close
• The Obamamessiah: now coming to you as a Greek God!
• Michelle and Barack Obama as national mom and dad
• Obama Again Calls for UN Security Council, Where Moscow Has A Veto, to Denounce Russia

• The Obama-Biden pork partnership
• The definitive Obama-Biden poster

• Working in a word mine
• Catholics Against Joe Biden
• Biden follows Pelosi in mangling Catholic doctrine on abortion

• Childish
• Feeling Bill's Pain - And Anticipating his Retribution
• Live from DNC: Hillary Endorses Obama — Or Does She?
• Live from DNC: Hillary the Angry Populist, Part II
• Live from DNC: It’s Zombietime! (Day 3)
• Michael Barone: Hillary Clinton's Speech Was a Good Start on Her 2012 Run
• WaPo: Hillary inspired her delegates … to wish she had won
• “Obama does not like Clinton, and Clinton knows it”
• The Non-Obama Convention
• Some people have to be told

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 27, 2008 at 04:02 PM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• Vets for Freedom ad: Acknowledge our victory!

• What's Happening In Georgia
• Michael J Totten: The Truth About Russia in Georgia
• Cheney To Visit Georgia Next Week
• Lieberman & Graham: Russia's Aggression Is a Challenge to World Order

• Feds detain nearly 600 illegals in Miss. plant raid

• Energy Policy for the Ignorant

• Cindy McCain visits Georgian refugees
• Cindy McCain to visit distressed Georgia

• McCain ad: “3 AM”

Today's Pass The Popcorn roundup:

The ad Barack Obama's afraid you'll see:

• Would An Obama Justice Department Be Used to Prosecute Conservatives?
• Gloves off: Now, Obama calls for prosecuting GOP donor; Update: AIP responds
• The Truth Hurts
• Fighting back against Obama’s thugs
• Barack Obama and the exercise of free speech
• Obama threatens TV stations airing Ayers ad
• Obama Asks DOJ to Investigate Critical Political Ad
• New Obama ad: Why is McCain trying to distract us with that unrepentant terrorist I’m friends with?
• The gospel according to The One: Encounter in the temple
• Of course: Setting for Obama’s speech to resemble ancient Greek temple
• The latest on the Annenberg Obama/Ayers paper caper
• Respect, Obama Style
• Look who’s calling whom racist now
• Video: Mobbed at the Mint
• The Left's Obama Assassination Fantasy
• Tribune-Review: The company Obama keeps
• Michelle Obama's Two Americas
• Last Night, the Obama Campaign Conceded Michelle's Old Rhetoric Won't Sell
• “Chicago Girl”
• Thy brother's keeper?
• One of the 57 States Is Between Kansas City and St. Louis

• Chicago Sun-Times: Biden has deep ties to Rezko accomplice
• Biden's Blink on Iran
• “Tehran’s favorite Senator”
• Talkin' Joe Biden, Iran counts its blessings

• Hillary’s test run ignores Obama
• Democratic convention, night two: Special, special lady to pretend she gives a rip about electing Barack Obama
• Mob-loan figure speaks at convention for agent of Hope and Change
• Dept. of Feet and Mouths 
• Live from DNC: Malkin in Jeopardy
• Live from DNC: It’s Zombietime! (Day 2)
• Recreate 68? They’re on their way
• The 2008 Democrat Convention, Featuring... Hillary! (And Obama and Biden.)

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 26, 2008 at 12:43 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• U.S. Warships Run the Gauntlet with Georgia Aid

• Pelosi vs. fallen Marines

• Pelosi on Natural Gas: Fossil Fuel or Not?

• “Debra”
• Biden Wanted McCain to Be Kerry's Running Mate in 2004

Today's Barry The Wonder Boy and Clueless Joe Roundup:

• Advance text of Michelle Obama’s speech
• Twelve
• "They are not my people!"
• The Order Thursday Night: Bon Jovi, The One, Springsteen
• Back to Jimmy Carter?
• 'The Inconvenient Obama'
• Bad Change
• Or else what, Michelle?
• U. of C. shunning poor patients?
  Obama's wife, 3 aides tied to plan to free up space
• Obama's teenage mentor liked sex with kids
• Video: Texas GOP goes after Obama on houses
• New ad: Black Republican PAC hammers Obama on terrorism, abortion

• Obama's ego problem
• The Obama-Biden-Rezko ticket?
• Obama, Biden and the Daley Machine

• Sacrifices...
• Talkin' Joe Biden, the Foreign Relations Committee years
• Biden’s son consulted for credit company Biden defended in Senate
• More Fun With Joe: The Guy is a Republican at Heart
• More Biden Wiki Wackiness: A Whole Year Disappears

• Live from DNC: It’s Zombietime! (Day 1)
• Denver discord real, deepening between Clintons and Obama
• Unity like you can’t believe: Hillary advisers skipping The One’s speech
• CQ: Dem convention "on the brink of a media disaster"
• “Was she right?”: New RNC ad hammers Obama with Hillary’s “experience” jab;
  Update: Hillary refuses to tell delegates to vote for Obama
• Operation Chaos gets more chaotic: racial slurs against Hillary supporters
• 'Cabin' Fever in Denver: Clinton Backer Accuses Obama Ally of 'Uncle Tom' Comment
• No guidance from Clinton
• Politico Exclusive: Obama- Clinton feud reignites
• Free speech, Denver style

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 25, 2008 at 02:45 PM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

J. D. Pendry

The Russians invaded the sovereign nation of Georgia, a free country with a democratically elected government. Where in the hell are Cindy Sheehan, Code Pink, Congress and 99 percent of Hollywood? Code Pink is probably still standing on the streets in front of Walter Reed Army Medical Center harassing wounded American Warriors and their families. The remainder is probably too busy admiring the great show put on by the communist Chinese.

The Russians only shot up a few journalists during Vlad’s great adventure. This female Georgian reporter, these Turkish reporters, and this Jewish one. This fine example of a professional military was also filmed robbing a bank and stealing United States military equipment from the port.

Read the rest:

Contributed by J D on August 24, 2008 at 01:42 PM in J D Pendry | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

As of 1:00 AM CDT Saturday it isn't official yet but everyone seems convinced that Wonder Boy Barry has selected Slow Joe Biden as his running mate on the Audacity Of Arrogance ticket. More later.

12:30P: Yep, it's Biden. I have chores to do outside but I'll round up some reactions later.

Worth knowing about this weekend:

• Images of War

• New York: Egyptian national with Sudanese passport builds unmanned drone designed to carry 600 pounds of explosives -- FBI says no terrorism

• Success in Iraq confounds the Democrats.

• Russia Won't Leave Georgian Port, Angering Protesters

• Operation Dream On

• Could a land swap solve the ANWR standoff?

• Jennifer Rubin: McCain Goes There

This weekend's Audacity Of Arrogance Roundup:

• A strange singling out explained
• Can Obama Survive the Annenberg Cover-up?
• “Passed Over”
• Obama pulling out of red states
• Another Obama “presidential” seal?
• Obama: Lets Make America More Like China
• Michelle, Anti-American Radicals, and U of C
• Jacob Weisberg: The Only Reason Obama Will Lose is Racism
• Slate Writer Claims Racism Is Only Reason Obama Will Lose 
• Maybe this is the Biden-Obama ticket?
• First gaffe of Obama-Biden ‘08: “Let me introduce to you the next president…”
• The 'Swiftboating' of Barack Obama 
• Obama Leads with his Chin -- Again
• Annenberg Challenge Records To See Light Of Day
• Obama Adviser Brzezinski to the Rescue...of Russia?
• Trouble for Obama's Ground Game in Virginia

• A sign of ego clashes to come?
• Dem ticket 0-2 on Iraq

• So set 'em up, Joe
• And a page or two to go before I sleep
• Biden flashback: Wrong on the surge
• Maybe Biden was angry in the debate?
• Biden’s lobbying ties; Update: Son’s firm lobbies Biden
• Biden flashback: On second thought, I wasn’t really “shot at”
• Talking' Joe Biden, the Judiciary Committee years
• The AP shows surprising honesty when it comes to Joe Biden
• Obama-Biden -- that's the ticket
• Happiness is a thing called Joe
• Flashback: The obligatory “I think I probably have a much higher IQ than you do” clip
• So Much For Change: Obama Picks Joe Biden
• Foreign policy genius unites Iraqis in sheer contempt for his plan
• La Shawn Barber: Joe Biden: The ‘Articulate’ and ‘Clean’ Man’s Choice
• Flashback: Biden to gun owner, “If that’s his baby, he needs help”
• Biden’s lobbying ties
• The Senator from MBNA
• Biden’s foreign-policy chops
• Joe Biden's Mouth: 'If the Sparks Fly, So Be It'
• In the dead of night, Obama announces VP choice
• AP: Biden choice demonstrates lack of confidence; Update: Plagiarism flashbacks

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 23, 2008 at 01:01 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• Exit Petraeus, Without Fanfare
• NYT: “The surge, clearly, has worked”
• Infamous ‘Shock Troops’ Author Back in the News
• New Republic's Winter Soldier Scott Beauchamp Is Back and He Swears It's All True.

• NATO Meows
• Signs of Russian Pullout From Georgia, But Timeline Still Unclear

• How many houses does John McCain own? None

Today's Urkel The Arrogant roundup:

• Obama hid $800,000 payment to ACORN through “Citizen Services, Inc.”
• The Case Against Obama - In His Own Words
• McCarthy: Obama’s moral failing on infanticide
• "They're Not Just Coming out Limp and Dead."
• ‘Yes we can'? Make that: ‘Oops, we may not'
• Obama, Ayers, and the Annenberg Challenge Cover-Up
• Obama's "lost" law review note revealed
• Obama: Know where it’s really great to do business?
• A nexus of cronyism at UC Medical Center? Update: Obama’s efforts for Blackwell
• Bill & Barack's Excellent Adventure
• Obama's Education Track record in Chicago
• Alice In Obamaland
• A Pavlovian Response
• Obama's Desperation is Showing
• Has the Gaffe Machine Gone Too Far?
• Obama's Abortion Position? It's a One-liner
• Conservative group places ad questioning Obama relationship to 60's radical William Ayers
• FactCheck.org: We’ve seen Obama’s original birth certificate and it checks out

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 22, 2008 at 04:42 PM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Democratic National Convention is upon us and for sheer entertainment value, this is shaping up to be better than the Olympics - way better.

We have protest groups, we have warehouse-sized jails waiting for the protest groups, we have a divided party, we have the ho-hum story of who will get picked to run with Barack Obama, assuming that he survives a floor vote, and then we have the lawsuit!

What's that you ask? Lawsuit?

Why, yes! The lawsuit! It was filed in federal court in Philadelphia Thursday, August 21, 2008, (that's yesterday) by a prominent Democrat, who just happens to be a Hillary Clinton supporter. The lawsuit alleges that Obama has not proved he is really a US citizen, and therefore could possibly be ineligible to run for the highest office in the country.

Now, this issue has been circulating for as long as Obama has been at the forefront of the Democratic race. Pamela Geller at the Atlas Shrugs weblog has been reporting on the discrepancies in Obama's birth certificate for quite some time now. Other investigative bloggers across the political spectrum have been chasing this story with the due diligence reminiscent of the days when the media actually reported the news instead of serving as publicity shills for their favorite candidate.

The lawsuit is listed as: Civil Action No. 08-cv-4083 Philip J. Berg, Esquire, vs. Obama. It seeks a Declaratory Judgment and an Injunction preventing Obama from continuing his candidacy. It claims that he does not meet the qualifications to be President of the United States.

Listed as the reasons why Obama should not be allowed to continue with his campaign include allegations that he:
1. Is not a naturalized citizen; and/or
2. Lost his citizenship when he was adopted in Indonesia; and/or
3. Has dual loyalties because of his citizenship with Kenya and Indonesia

Additional information that further explains the reasons behind the suit state that Berg filed it because he is looking out for the best interests of the Democratic Party, and for the rest of us too. I for one am tickled pink, so to speak, no pun intended, that a prominent Democrat is so concerned about my welfare that he would file a lawsuit on my behalf.

Further information making the rounds with the news on the lawsuit identifies Berg as a former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania; former Democratic candidate for Governor and US Senate; former Chairman of the Democratic Party in Montgomery County; and a former member of the Democratic State Committee. He now practices law in Philadelphia.

Let's not kid ourselves here. This is just one of the many fronts opened up by the Hillary Clinton forces to try to wrest the nomination away from Obama at the Democratic convention. That also doesn't alter the fact that there are serious questions about Obama's origins and whether he is indeed eligible to run for president.

If we go back to columns I wrote crunching the numbers at the end of the Democratic primary process you will see that Obama never did get enough committed delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot - unless a significant majority of the uncommitted super delegates support him.

Usually the super delegates can be counted on to support the candidate with the clear majority, but Obama doesn't have that clear majority and lately he has really been slipping in the national polls when compared to John McCain. The truth is, even though McCain doesn't have universal support within the Republican ranks, the more people learn about Obama the better they like the Republican nominee.

Despite all the rhetoric and unity crappola that has been on television and in the Democratic Party news outlets - also known as the mainstream media - Hillary's supporters want her in and Obama out. They not only believe they have been shafted through the Democrats' nomination process (I agree, they have) they also believe that their candidate has a far better chance of beating McCain in a general election.

Of course, the GOP really doesn't want Hillary running against McCain as it would make for a much tougher race, according to some forms of conventional wisdom. That thinking goes down a road that says McCain is just waiting until after Labor Day and after the GOP convention to really begin unloading on Obama.

Even though they have traded shots at each other's records and stances, the real campaigning won't get rolling until the fall when most people are back from vacation, kids are back in school, routines are re-established and people begin paying close attention to the candidates.

Once that happens, it is quite possible, perhaps even likely that Obama will slip further and further behind McCain, probably to a point from which he can't recover. Democrats who are supporting Hillary Clinton know this and are attempting to head McCain off at the pass.

But that is all in the distant future.

In the just around the corner future we have the Democratic Convention in Denver. I am going to spend more time watching late night re-runs on this than I did watching women's beach volleyball in Beijing, which is really saying something.

I was watching Fox News Channel this morning and they were doing previews of what is coming to Denver, and all I can say is - hold on to your hats. My favorite protest group, and there really is a cornucopia of protest groups to choose from, has to be Recreate 68.

For me to recreate what I was doing in 1968 I need to be in Southeast Asia, standing inside a CH-46 helicopter Super D model, manning a .50 caliber machine gun, shooting at North Vietnamese communists, and hanging out with my Marine buddies afterward.

But for these folks to recreate 1968 all they have to do is run amok in an American city where the Democratic Party is holding a national convention to formally select a candidate for president. They need bags of feces to throw at the conventioneers, and they probably should have a lot of bandages too. The bandages would be for use when the Denver police finally lose their patience and act the way the Chicago police did in 1968 - meaning smashing the daylights out of feces throwing protesters.

Denver's security precautions are so extensive the city looks like an armed camp. Oh yeah, it also is against the law to drag bags full of human feces around for either fun or profit! One would have to assume that extends to animal, mineral, vegetable, fish or insect feces too.

So, my recommendation for this weekend and onward is to stock up on your favorite beverages, adult or otherwise, get some pizzas, some ice cream, some snacks, junk food, stuff you can cook quickly in a microwave and settle down in front of the television.

This should be a non-stop show and with any luck we'll have riots, mass arrests, tear gas, water cannons, cops and maybe even the National Guard with fixed bayonets - just like in 1968. Do you feel that too? I mean the lump you get in your throat, and the tear that forms in your eye when you look back fondly on an earlier and happier time in your life?

You know, philosophically I am a Republican, but I have to admit, those Democrats sure know how to have fun.

Contributed by Ron Winter on August 22, 2008 at 11:15 AM in Dem Dumbness, Obamanation, Politics, Ron Winter | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A week ago an old Marine buddy sent me a link to a You tube video that after viewing it, caused me to sit momentarily stunned by the horror of what I had just seen and heard. The video was that of nurse, Jill Stanek, who had in a completely straightforward and highly effective manner related how she had cradled a dying infant that had been dumped in the dirty laundry room of the Chicago hospital where she worked, following an abortion procedure the unfortunate baby had just survived.

Stanek’s wrenching account of how that baby had fought for forty-five minutes to live but finally died in her arms, is one of those rare experiences that reaches into you and grabs you like a heart attack. If you have not seen it by now, go here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIdbYjmbFzo

If you come away from that video with less than a heavy heart, I don’t think you’d be someone I’d care to number among my friends. Do not, however, think that I am some kind of hard core, under any and all circumstances pro-life conservative because I’m not. However, I am adamantly opposed to the cold, heartless infanticide depicted in this video and I am totally opposed to any politician who would permit it to be public policy as Barack Obama apparently did while serving in the Illinois Senate.

While watching Sean Hannity interview Ms. Stanek, it suddenly occurred to me, Jill Stanek could very well be Obama’s Swift Boat Veteran. Her recounting of how Obama coldly disregarded her heartfelt testimony regarding the issue of these induced labor abortions and the horrifying consequences which she had personally experienced as a result, gives us a glimpse into the heart of this so-called Messiah that is nothing less than chilling. I believe every American who views that video can’t help but come away from it with questions about whether or not this is the kind of man we want as the leader of our nation.

But then, we must realize, he was merely a state senator and not a presidential candidate so decisions about leaving live infants alone in a hospital’s cold, dirty laundry room to helplessly die without any human warmth, love or contact were obviously above Mr. Obama’s pay grade.

Last week at Saddleback, he reminded us they still are.

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on August 21, 2008 at 03:42 PM in Obamanation, Politics, Russ Vaughn | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• Iraq drawdown “time horizons” agreed

• Russian forces retreating?

• McCotter: Stop Pelosi Now!

• No More Mister Nice Guy
• McCain offices evacuated after threats
  White powder, letters found in packages sent to Denver, New Hampshire
• No basement
• Col. Bud Day: McCain told me the cross story in 1970 or 1971
• New lefty charge: McCain wants to bring back the draft, except of course he doesn’t;
  Update: Flashback video added

• "Wow," Indeed - McCain Team Kicks Ayers Cover-Up Into The Spotlight
• NBC poll: McCain now within the margin of error — thanks to Hillary supporters

• Karl Rove: Conventions Need a Believable Script

Today's Audacity of Arrogance roundup:

• McCain ad: “Housing problem”
• Obama Housing Policy: Epic Fail
• Obama: We should probably stop setting examples for Russian aggression
• Obama/Biden for the Arrogance Ticket?
• Chilling: Obama’s concern for abortionists’ burden
• New Obama ad: Hey, McCain’s rich;
  Update: RNC releases Rezko memo;
  Update: Rezko may be sentenced on October 28
• Wealthy elitist Snobama attacks wealthy elitist McCain
• Obama hiding behind Daley’s skirts?
• When Daley says shhh, library is quiet on Obama
• Obama's Lost Annenberg Years Coming to Light
• Ayers in 2006: Weather Underground a “great teaching moment”
• Update: Still No Movement on Ayers-Obama Annenberg Papers
• Cracking The Annenberg Cover-Up
• Charming! Obama's Only Executive Role A Disaster
• British TV looks at The Chicago Way
• Patriotism
• The Unbearable Lightness of Joe Biden
• Obama goes reconquista
• Down The Memory Hole at ABC News

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 21, 2008 at 03:28 PM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I was there
Bob Prinselaar

I look at my ribbons
Yep, I was there
No fancy awards
But, yep I was there

I just did my job
No hero for sure
I stood by my buddies
and learned to endure

I watched new guys come
I watched new guys go
They just weren't ready
They just didn't know

Each day was a milestone
I asked for one more
Or maybe a week
To add to my score

Now I'm a civilian
No troubles or care
But I look at my ribbons
Yep, I was there.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 20, 2008 at 12:45 AM in Bob Prinselaar, Poetry | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Two candidates. One's a war hero who believes in and cares about this country. One's a "citizen of the world" who'll say anything to get elected. What else is there to know?

There's a crazy bear on the prowl, folks. Whom do you trust to protect you from it?

Worth knowing about today:

• Poland, Nuance and Understanding Russian Media Strategy
• Crisis: Russia digs in within Georgia, threatens response to Poland “beyond diplomacy”; Update: Russia freezes ties with NATO?
• Norway: Russia to freeze NATO military ties
• NATO: Russia not honoring cease-fire terms
• NATO resists U.S. pressure on Russia penalties
• Russians Take Georgian Troops Prisoner, Seize American Humvees

• 10 French Soldiers Killed by Taliban
• France pays a price: No surrender monkey jokes allowed

• Texas state legislators challenging 'sanctuary cities' for illegal immigrants

• Ice age

• TPM: Er, Solzhenitsyn never wrote about that cross story that McCain supposedly plagiarized

• McCain takes 5-point lead over Obama
• Poll mania: McCain jumps out in front
• Zogby: Obama suffers 15-point swing, trails by 5

Today's Audacity of Hype roundup:

• “Have I done enough for Rush today?”
• After Barack Obama hype, a backlash
• The Human ATM
• Obama channels UN’s Egeland in sneering at American charity
• Obama flat wrong on Americans’ generosity
• Will Rank-and-File Democrats Vote for Obama?
• Fathering More Lies
• Dems Have Reason to Be Worried
• Obama Campaign Denies Admitting Error on Born Alive Protection Act
• Obama’s support for infanticide breaks into mainstream media
• Obama Lashes Out Over Infanticide Charges, Hides Behind His Daughters
• The Annenberg Challenge money
• "Annenberg-Gate" - It's not the crime, it's the cover up.
• Endangered Documents Act
• Almost Like Reporting
• What is University of Illinois hiding?
• Help unlock the Obama/Ayers papers;
  Update: Response from UIC; AP’s lousy coverage
• PUMA alert: “Massive” e-mail campaign to derail Obama at convention
• ‘Just Words’ That Joe Biden Would Like To Forget
• Video: Obama’s Invesco sell-out an “underground fundraiser”
• The Road to Damascus, brought to Obama adviser by: Big Oil!
• Embracing the Axis of Evil: An Obama Adviser Goes To Syria and Comes Home Unsure if He Was Used
• Media Call Obama's 'Economic Disaster' Exaggeration a 'Sharpened Attack'
• Obama Plays the Patriotism Card
• The Democrat Party platform’s hidden Soros Slush Fund
• LAT Blames Obama Poll Drop On 'Attacks' By McCain
• Obama: McCain 'doesn't know what he's up against'
• Media Continue to Ignore Obama Abortion Kerfuffle
• Obama camp: He only voted against that born-alive abortion bill because it might actually have an effect
• Rant du jour
• 3 Days After Saddleback, Obama Looks Even Sillier
• One Day in the Life of Barack Barackovitch

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 20, 2008 at 12:25 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• IRAQ: Can civilian jurors understand combat decisions?

• What Withdrawal?
• No Sign of a Russian Departure in Georgia
• Defense Official: Russia Has Short Range Missiles in South Ossetia
• Stories of Russian Atrocities in Georgia Mount: Where's the US Media?
• Ukraine Acts

• Iranian satellite launch a “dramatic failure”

• NY Times Decries Laughably Incompetent Taliban Rout As "Complex Attack"

• Udall flips on drilling, Colorado reels
• "Let go of the past and allow offshore oil drilling."

• Is the Tide Turning?
• A tale of two McDonald's

Today's Audacity Of An Empty Suit Roundup:

• Henry Mark Holzer: McCain Questions or Obams
• When Did McCain Challenge Obama's Patriotism?
• How Different Is the Media's Treatment of Edwards and Obama?
• The Case For The Case Against Barack Obama
• Obama’s Punitive Liberalism
• The Chicago Annenberg Challenge - The Fog Thickens 
• Obama: Gee, a single-payer health-care system would be sweet
• Invesco Field sell-out takes on a whole new meaning with Obama
• DNCC hires disgraced former cop as security consultant
• Obama flip-flop: Bagmen to the Philly streets
• Inverted optics: DNCC wraps Obama in upside-down flag; A familiar look?
• Biden ‘88 ad: The White House is no place to learn on the job;
  Update: Sources tell Fineman Biden’s the “likely” pick
• Remember This When MSM Calls Biden a Moderate 
• Flashback: Biden on Obama: He’s a Johnny-come-lately copycat
• Erasing Obama's Past
• The Endless Secrecy Around Barack Obama
• Obama desperation starting to show
• Obama's "No Child Left Alive" Policy
• Obama Slips, Slides, and Squirms on Abortion
• Team Obama on Born Alive Protection Act: Nevermind
• Obama's Oft-Repeated Abortion Rate Claim Doesn't Check Out
• Shuster: Obama Lucky People Watched Phelps, Not Saddleback
• Obama and the netroots: looking a tad desperate these days
• He May Not Be Trailing McCain, But He's Trailing Kerry

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 19, 2008 at 12:44 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• Putin puppet: Georgia cannot go “unpunished”;
  Update: Russian navy to “visit” Venezuela
• Putin ordered ethnic cleansing: Times of London
• Tour of Tskhinvali undercuts Russian version of fighting 

• Musharraf resigns

• Arctic ice fails to follow warmist doctrine
• House GOP in no mood to compromise

• Jeremiah Denton Must be Lying, Too
• POW: I remember McCain telling the cross story in 1971
• The ‘Cone of Silence’ Non-Story
• McCain Campaign Protests to NBC Over Mitchell's Cheating Claim
• Did Mitchell Get 'McCain Cheated' at Saddleback from Daily Kos?

• McCain Slams Obama on National Security
• McCain's Clarity vs. Obama's Nuance
• McCain follows Clinton lead with '3 a.m.' approach

• Obamabortion
• Life Lies: Barack Obama & Born-Alive
• Team Obama acknowledges infanticide lie
• Obama's infanticide problem
• Obama campaign changes story, admits he misrepresented Born Alive vote.
• Obama now referring to Bush as “John McCain’s president”
• A tortured answer to an easy question
• Obama Campaign Accuses McCain of Cheating;
  Andrea Mitchell Dutifully Carries Obama's Water
• Sore loser: Obama and Obamedia accuse McCain of “cheating”

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 18, 2008 at 06:05 PM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

J. D. Pendry

There is much that warrants discussion this week and too little space to work it all in. So, here is the hodgepodge that is on my mind to start the week.

I have sold more books than Nancy Pelosi has. No one ever mentioned my book on a national television or radio program. I believe there are a few hundred thousand of us in that club. Did you notice that since Ms. Pelosi became Speaker of the House we have not heard from Michael Jackson? I think we need the NSA to do a voice print analysis. Heh – Heh.

I finally watched some of the Olympic Games. I also caught Chris Collinsworth’s, former professional football player and now highly mobile sports announcer, interview of NBA player and current Olympian Kobe Bryant. Bryant had just proclaimed how proud he was to don the team USA uniform and represent his country in Olympic competition.

Collinsworth asked: Where does the patriotism come from inside of you? Historically, what is it?

Bryant: Well, you know it’s just our country, it’s... we believe is the greatest country in the world. It has given us so many great opportunities, and it’s just a sense of pride that you have; that you say "You know what? Our country is the best!"

Collinsworth: Is that a cool thing to say, in this day and age? That you love your country and that you’re fighting for the red, white and blue? It seems sort of like a day gone by.

Read the rest:

Contributed by J D on August 17, 2008 at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Contrary to their politically correct aims, the advertising industry in this country has created a voting bloc that I am positively sure they never intended. I refer to all us Clueless White Guys, that resentful constituency that for years has endured a constant onslaught of television commercials in which the white male is always the bumbling buffoon, while minority males, black, Asian and Hispanic are always the cool, in-tune, in-the-know dudes who always, effortlessly get it, whatever it may be.

Variations include the Clueless White Guy being totally oblivious to the obvious worth or value of whatever is being sold in the commercial while his wife or some other female, usually a racial minority, demonstrates with over-done grimaces or knowing smiles just what a total and complete dumbass the white guy is.

I have no children so I’ve never had to suffer the indignity of spending an evening watching television with my kids where at least every fifteen minutes or so that demographic which I represent is subjected to ridicule by the corporate sponsors of the programs I’m watching. Still, I have to wonder, don’t those fools realize the influence fathers have on the buying decisions made by their families? Don’t any of the corporate wunderkind ever question the wisdom, or lack thereof, of insulting that demographic which controls the buying decisions, especially of big-ticket items, in a majority of American households, especially the most affluent ones?

And yes, I know, it’s just all in good fun and to take offense is being silly and hypersensitive, or at least that’s what all these advertising whizzes would be quick to tell us were we ever to mount an organized protest. And I would agree if such commercials were merely sometime things and if black, Hispanic and Asian husbands and fathers were depicted occasionally as hapless losers, just like their white counterparts; but that’s not the case.

In fact, this phenomenon has become so widespread that even my wife now sits and shakes her head ruefully when we see it played out again and again. And that brings up another issue, the ancillary effect of such advertising where it has become so prevalent that now the offense extends to those family members who happen to love their white fathers and husbands and are fed up with seeing them constantly portrayed as maladroit dopes.   

So all you smug, elitist, politically correct liberals in the business of making these commercials should give some thought to the inestimable backlash voting bloc that you have cluelessly created out here with your steady drumbeat of ridicule of white males. Take just a moment to wonder as to just how many clueless white males, their wives and their adult children are going to go into the voting booth in November and express their frustration with your constant condescension by the only means available to them:

Their vote for the only white male in the race, the one the media loves to portray as clueless.

And it’s not because they are racists that these folks will vote this way; to the contrary, many white Americans who might have voted for a first black president will not do so precisely due to their heretofore, unexpressed resentment of your unceasing, smug portrayals and precisely to prove you wrong. In fact, I’m wondering how many white males may go into the booth intending to vote for Obama and at the last minute remember a particularly insulting commercial and think, “Well, screw them!”

This reaction may be comparable to the reasoning we hear from the liberal media who claim that the 93% of blacks reporting their support for The One are not racists. We hear that this is a completely understandable skewing, given the history of oppression endured by that demographic and their need to find a champion to advance the healing process. Please don’t think I’m trying to equate the malignance of slavery and Jim Crow with this current campaign of ridiculing of white males, which does indeed pale in comparison. But before you accuse us of whining, consider this: if we are whiners, why have you not heard more complaints, earlier and louder from this caricatured cohort? We have endured the indignities with graceful (dare I say manly) silence and only now have I raised the issue in the context of how it relates to the coming election.

If you creators of these commercials think you are cleverly and harmlessly assuaging the resentment of minorities by constantly and very publicly maligning white males, you are badly mistaken. You are only transferring resentment from one group to another and in doing so may be creating a backlash vote not against the first black presidential candidate for his race but rather a protest vote against yourselves, the too politically correct media industry that slavishly supports him. On a broader scale, the overt bias in the news media for any Democrat candidate may be creating a similar backlash vote and for similar reasons, but that’s a topic for another article.

All of this, your mocking of white males and your idolizing of The One, will result in yet one more demonstration of that fatal flaw in too many liberal minds, the inability to foresee the unintended negative consequences of your supposedly good intentions: the clueless white guy vote.

We’ll just have to wait until November to see if I’m right.

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on August 17, 2008 at 12:19 AM in Obamanation, Politics, Russ Vaughn | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about this weekend:

• Germany Offers Support for Georgia's NATO Bid
• Russia still in Georgia despite agreement to leave
• Kremlin Signs Truce but Resists Quick Pullout
• Russia’s Pathetic Defenders
• Russian forces still entrenched in Georgia
• Georgia accuses Russia of cutting rail line, starting fires
• Russian Forces Digging In Despite Georgian Withdrawal Agreed in Cease-Fire
• Georgia President Says He Will Never Surrender as West Demands Russia End Blockade
• Video: Pro-Russian forces fire on Turkish journalists?

• Worried about normalizing diplomatic relations with Libya? Here’s something worse.

• Saddleback: Acknowledging McCain
• How McCain Won Saddleback
• Who Was That? Mac Goes Right at Saddleback!
• A not-so-subtle signal to the Gang of 10
• McCain runs rings around Obama on Georgia; Washington Post displeased

• Bounce wars: What to watch for at the conventions

• Clintons block 'Path to 9/11' release

• Obama's abortion lie
• What exactly is Barack Obama’s problem with Clarence Thomas?
• La Shawn Barber: Obama and Color-Coded Racial Double Talk
• There are a lot of things above Obama’s “pay grade”
• Laugh of the day: Obama blames McCain for messianic imagery
• Leftwing Blogosphere Disappointed in Obama Saddleback Forum Performance
• Obama looks to McCain for bail-out
• Obama admits relationship with Frank Marshall Davis
• Obama almost says Clarence Thomas didn’t have enough experience to serve
• Another Obama flip-flop: Campaign raising “soft money” from big donors
• Silk Purses, Hog's Ears
• Barack Obama calls a 9/11 truther who wants Bush impeached part of "the Bush/Cheney Attack Machine"

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 16, 2008 at 12:19 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• Iran training Iraqi hit squads
• Greyhawk: Getting Our Money’s Worth in Iraq
• Our British allies in Iraq

• The Kremlin's 'Protection' Racket
• Russia Threatens Poland
• Russia Threatens Nuclear Attack On Poland
• US, Poland agree to anti-missile defense deal
• Bolton: “The United States fiddled while Georgia burned”;
  Update: Russian armor 15 miles from Tbilisi
• Back to the U.S.S.R. 
• Krauthammer: Making Putin Pay
• Georgian 'Cease Fire' a Sham
• Who Is Joe Mestas?

• Fred Thompson: Dangerous times demand serious leadership.
• NYT: McCain demonstrates leadership while Obama vacations

• Another reason to vote for Murtha’s GOP challenger
• Murtha intervening to protect firm convicted of illegal exports

• If the Editors of the NY Times Were High School Students, They Would Flunk

• Clinton's name to be put in nomination at DNC

• Did Edwards’ campaign launder payments to his mistress?

• New McCain ad: “Maybe”

• Video: “You deserve more respect from Barack Obama”

• “Taxman”
• Obama Nation
• FactChecking Obama's FactChecking
• Is the Obama Campaign Asserting The Candidate Didn't Know of Ayers' Past?
• What Would Obama Do About the Russia/Georgia Conflict?
• Would John Kerry report for duty … as running mate?
• New DNC ad forgets Obama haul at Abramoff firm
• FactCheck.org vs. Obama
• You can just hear the crickets chirp
• AP: Obama’s stalwart water carrier
• Obama's Alinsky Hoodwink is Coming Home to Roost
• Vote early and often for Obama in Ohio

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 15, 2008 at 05:06 PM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

I asked in my last column what Russia's true intent might be regarding its invasion of Georgia, appropriating portions of that country, taking over at least one port city, then allowing looting and murder of civilians, all based on trumped-up claims of protecting its citizens from rampaging Georgians.

Other than using Georgia as a military practice round for its next expansion effort, it seems that Russia didn't really get much from the invasion, unless it was a prelude to something larger.

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer had an answer right away: the next target is the Ukraine, the gateway to western Europe.

Since Krauthammer is one of America's premier commentators on both foreign and domestic affairs, his ability to discern where Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is headed next is well worth considering.

(Yes, I know that Putin has a title other than dictator, but we're dealing in reality here. Putin and Putin alone is in charge in Russia which makes him a dictator. Argue with Putin, the former head of the communist secret police and you'll end up dead, which pretty much defines him.)

The Ukraine is an historic target of Russian communists. An estimated 10 million residents of that country were starved to death in the 1930s in late communist murderer Joseph Stalin's drive to take over all of Europe. Stalin created a fake famine by drastically increasing the amount of grain the Ukraine farmers were required to donate to the Soviet system, insuring that there would not be sufficient food stores to feed the Ukrainian populace.

He enforced that decree using troops and secret police to ferret all who attempted to horde enough to feed their families, killing them when they were discovered. It even was a crime to not be losing weight.

Russian communists downplayed the results of the famine, maintaining that "only" six to seven million people died slow, horrible deaths from starvation in 1932-1933, but independent sources have put the ultimate death toll at 10 million. Regardless of the extent of the holocaust that engulfed the Ukraine, the communists gloried in its effects on the population, because it ended resistance to communism.

Western news organizations at the time all but ignored the famine in their unceasing drive to portray communism as the one form of government that would truly make everyone equal.

The comparison to journalists today is obvious, since many of them are trying to portray the Russian invasion of Georgia as analogous to the US response to Saddam Hussein supporting terrorists building bases in Iraq from which to attack the US. The comments in the mainstream media are so ludicrous they would be laughable if it wasn't for the fact that people are dying.

Here are a few comparisons to consider. Georgia did not invade a neighboring country as Iraq did when it attacked Kuwait and subjected its citizens to pillage, rape and murder until driven out by an international coalition.

Georgia did not attack its own indigenous population with guns, armor and poison gas as Saddam did to his own people. Georgia did not invite known terrorists into its country to build training camps to attack Russia. Georgia did not provide sanctuary, security and assistance to known terrorist mass murderers such as Abu Nidal and Abu Al Zarqawi as Saddam Hussein did.

Georgia did not violate dozens of United Nations resolutions aimed at preventing development of a nuclear weapons program, nor did it violate an oil-for-food program by paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to heads of state and high level officials in countries across the world - including Russia!

The truth is, except for those of the communist mindset, there is very little real comparison between Russia's invasion of Georgia and the United States' intervention in Iraq. Not that the truth stops Barack Hussein Obama's spokespeople from again claiming the US was wrong in Iraq - the war we are winning, which he also said was not possible - not does the truth have any relevance to many in the mainstream media.

But for all the talk in the past eight years about Vladimir Putin and his goals for Russia under his dominance, the truth is in his actions, which thus far are mimicking Stalin - or Hitler for that matter, who attacked the same eastern European countries from his base in Germany.

Rather than being a devout nationalist who merely wants Russia to take is rightful place on the world stage following the fall of the Soviet empire, it is obvious that Putin wants to re-establish that empire, with him in charge. To the people of Eastern Europe who have suffered under both Nazi and communist systems in the recent past, it probably doesn't make much difference which political system's label most appropriately defines their attackers.

The differences between Nazi and communist philosophies are hard to discern anywhere except in a classroom. In practice, they both rely on murder, forced labor, mind control, propaganda and concentration camps to enforce their will on the populace.

Putin's lies are no different from Stalin's lies that were no different from Hitler's lies or Mao Tse Tung's lies or Ho Chi Minh's lies or Pol Pot's lies or Fidel Castro's lies or Hugo Chavez's lies. They all claim they are going to change the status quo for the benefit of the weak, the poor and the downtrodden. But all they really do is take control by force of arms, renege on the promises they made to their supporters, and then murder those who object to being used as dupes and puppets.

That is not opinion. That is historically documented fact.

So, what are we going to do about this? The world stood by and did nothing when Stalin's communist armies took over the countries of Eastern Europe one by one. Journalists of that time lied and produced propaganda for the communists, who murdered millions upon millions of innocents, just as today's alleged journalists are producing propaganda for Islamo-fascist terrorists and Putin's thugs.

Are we going to stand by and let history repeat itself? Are we soon going to be in another cold war with millions of people once again subjected to the excesses of communist debauchery as we were from the 1930s to 1990?

So far we've seen little in the way of direct response to the Russians except for some relief shipments. There has been a lot of talk from various world leaders, but that is eerily reminiscent of the talks that European leaders had with Hitler in the 1930s.

Back then entire countries were swallowed up first by the Nazis and then by the communists as the fortunes of war shifted away from Hitler. Listening to the commentary from that time and comparing it to the modern commentary reveals that both have a similar definition: appeasement.

Vladimir Putin knows this and is milking it for all it is worth. When he went fishing with his shirt off a while back he was sending a message to the other leaders on the world stage - they are golfers and country club members, he is a street fighter.

They may look down on Putin and think he has no means of effectively hurting them, but he knows better. He was flexing his muscles to let them know he believes he can beat them, but they just smirked and saw him as a classless, ineffective buffoon.

Nonetheless, Putin will land a series of shots that individually don't amount to much, but as they continue to pile up will hobble the west and bring its leaders down to his level. Then, just as the realization dawns that they are hurting and in danger of losing to him, Putin will hit them low and dirty with a shot that effectively will take the prima donna western countries right out of the fight.

And as the west grovels in pain, its effete diplomats bad mouthing Putin for being "a dirty fighter," he'll stare down at them from the winner's circle, his face the picture of contempt, and sneer "Da! But I won!"

Contributed by Ron Winter on August 14, 2008 at 08:46 PM in Current Affairs, Ron Winter, Russia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hey there’s little Georgie boy,
Barack’s new pretty campaign toy.
Sure they’re nuts, a little loony,
Gotta be to pick George Clooney,
As counselor of foreign affairs;
Forget this flick, folks, find the stairs.
Liaisons, sure he’s expert on;
Except for that what’s Georgie done?
To Libs a celebrity knows it all,
Can tell Obama the shots to call.
With all his Hollywood expertise,
George can seduce and stoop to please.
To George and Barry our world’s their toy,
Exists for naught but selfish joy.
So Georgie boy will surely be
First Secretary of Celebrity.

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on August 14, 2008 at 12:12 AM in Obamanation, Poetry, Russ Vaughn | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• Report: New security agreement may see combat troops withdraw within Iraq

• AQ “hit woman” most significant capture since 2003?
• Pakistani Woman Allegedly Carried List of NYC Terror Targets

• Georgia: Russian Troops Appeared Ready to Pull Out, Then Returned
• U.S. Aid Arrives in Georgia
• Russia to U.S.: Choose us or Georgia
• John McCain: We Are All Georgians
• Showdown: Bush sends “humanitarian” aid to Georgia as Russians advance;
  Update: “This is not 1968,” says Condi;
  Update: Russians camp along the road to Tbilisi

• McCain: Lieberman and Graham are going to Georgia

• Pew: McCain pulls into a draw

• Nan and the Big Wind Boone-doggle

• Obama's Foreign Donors: The media averts its eyes
• Sneak Preview of Obama's Next Flip Flop
• CNN Concerned Anti-Obama Book 'Might Catch on With Some Voters'
• NY Times tries to torpedo anti-Obama book; succeeds in spreading its message
• The DNC to feature 'Wright in a Dress'
• Obama on 527's: Do as I say, not as I do

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 14, 2008 at 12:09 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

(Posting may be light today due to a medical appointment.)

Worth knowing about today:

• AQ “hit woman” most significant capture since 2003?

• Civilians were only targets left as Russia kept bombing

• Great expectations
• U.S., Allies Weigh Punishment for Russia
• Russia May Turn Focus to Pro-U.S. Ukraine After Beating Georgia

• Video: Georgian president touts McCain’s solidarity in Tbilisi

• Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Shot Killed; UPDATE: Shooter Was Fired Employee

• Open To Not Being Crushed In November
• The Washington Post Tears Apart Anti-Drilling Arguments

• Adviser urged Hillary to paint Obama as “Fundamentally Foreign”

• Lieberman: Obama hasn’t always “put the country first”
• Yes, we can … elect a guy who votes for infanticide
• Obama’s mandatory volunteerism starts NOW!
• Obama claims to have been talking about South Ossetia
• Chasing the Mythical 'Obamacan' Masses
• The myth of the Obamacans
• Obama's Republicans
• Obama politicizes military spouses
• Barack Obama, Generous To Chicago Museums With Your Money

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 13, 2008 at 01:09 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

When President Bush met Vladimir Putin for the first time in 2001, Bush said, "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue.

"I was able to get a sense of his soul."

Obviously when he looked into the window on Putin's soul the shades were pulled down and Bush saw only what Putin wanted him to see.

John McCain on the other hand, said he looked into Putin's eyes and saw the letters KGB, the Russian secret police and terror organization Putin headed until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990.

Now Russia, under Putin, has invaded the sovereign land of Georgia, one of those former Soviet republics that went independent as fast as it could in the 90s. Georgia became a US ally, and has been petitioning to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Unfortunately, membership did not come fast enough.

Putin travelled to China last week for the opening of the Olympics, as did Bush, and while the cat (Bush) was away the mouse (Putin) revealed that it was never a mouse, but rather a mountain lion and pounced.

Initial reports from China said Bush and (Ras)Putin had a very testy exchange of words before Putin headed home to cheer on his troops as they smashed through Georgia's outer defenses. The mad Russian initially claimed he was sending in troops to support people in Georgian provinces who really wanted to be part of Russia but were being restricted by the Georgian government.

But by mid-morning Monday - east coast US time - Russia had continued its offensive and fighting was reported in portions of Georgia that were not in dispute a week ago.

This shouldn't surprise anyone. Putin has been planning this move for years, McCain has been warning about it, and Putin's feigned friendship with Bush was just the starting point to throw him off guard. There is a major pipeline for oil and natural gas running through the disputed territory. Putin has long shown he wants control over energy sources.

Why do you think Russia made such a big deal of the US talking with former Soviet republics about installing anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe to guard against a potential attack from Iran? I'd say it had much more to do with Putin worrying that Eastern Europe would be able to protect itself from Russia.

Putin has been working step by step for most of this decade to reinvent the old Soviet Union and the attack on Georgia is proof. Commentators have said Putin is no longer a communist, but rather a nationalist who was merely consolidating his power in Russia and had no intent of reinventing the old Soviet Union.

I disagree. People who are communists in their hearts and souls never stop being communists. They believe that communism is the only true and proper form of government for all humanity and their belief in the Communist Manifesto requires that they continue the struggle for their entire lives.

We have known for decades, going back to the 1930s and 1940s, that we have had communists in our Congress, in our State Department and in our military, and we still do. We have domestic communist organizations agitating against the war in Iraq, against our military and against democracy.

Do you see the leaders of Code Pink preparing to fly to Georgia to stand in front of invading Russian tanks? No you don't. Do you know why? In the first place, communists world wide support Russian expansionism.

In the second place despite all the rhetoric that domestic communists throw at US forces, they know the Russian military will roll over anything and anyone that stands in its way, and it doesn't give a damn about human rights violations, nor does Putin.

There will be no consequences for Russian commanders who level towns, villages and cities and every living thing in them, unless they fail to level said communities and every living thing in them.

Why do you think Russia has been arming Iran, supplying it with nuclear fuel and highly sophisticated anti-aircraft missile systems? It sure looks like a diversion to me. Keep the US focused on the War on Terror and the possibility that Iran's nutcase leader will develop a nuclear weapon, then hit somewhere else.

But here is another thought. Georgia is just a minor piece of Russia and RasPutin's overall puzzle.

Georgia is in fact, practice. Why? Because unlike the United States the Russian Army has not had much real combat experience since it left Afghanistan nearly 20 years ago. It has fought against the Islamic rebels in Chechnya, but that isn't a big enough war to get sufficient combat experience for a large segment of troops.

The United States, Great Britain, and other countries that have been helping us in the War on Terror, including Georgia by the way, have what is called a "blooded" army. In other words, we have in-depth combat experience and a huge pool of combat veterans if they are ever needed.

By invading a couple of Georgian provinces, the Russians get a couple of quick and relatively easy victories. By continuing their attack into Georgia, even though Georgian authorities have called for a cease-fire, the Russians are giving their troops a stiffer challenge, which they will gladly embrace since they still are riding a combat high after their victories of the past two days.

Meanwhile, George Bush dallied in China, Vice President Dick Cheney issued a strongly worded warning, and Condoleezza Rice has been told to make it clear that if the Russians don't stop this and stop it this instant there will be consequences.

All of which Putin is laughing off as his tanks, ships, bombers and troops continue the slaughter in Georgia.

On the American presidential campaign scene Barack Obama is on vacation in Hawaii and issued a position paper. One of his advisers told Fox News on Monday morning that the US has no right to say anything about Russia invading Georgia, because after all we invaded Iraq when its leaders didn't want us there.

Wow! Talk about no clue whatsoever. The same Obama spokesman then claimed that both McCain and Bush are responsible for Bush's foreign relations policies. In the Obama campaign rhetoric the presence of a murderous despot, Saddam Hussein, who invited terrorists into his country to rebuild their terrorist network to launch further attacks against the United States after 9-11 corresponds to a peaceful country that hasn't harmed anyone.

I think Obama wants to use appeasement as a reason to sit down and be the next American leader to look into Putin's soul. That has to be the definition of clueless.

McCain on the other hand accurately defined Russia's invasion of Georgia as a moral and strategic crisis. He wants Russia isolated, the invasion halted, and Russia punished.

McCain can't do much about it right now, and won't be able to do anything unless he becomes Commander in Chief.

Meanwhile, what we should be determining, is what Putin really is up to. Georgia is practice. Just practice. It gives Putin a little more land, it gives his troops some limited combat experience, but just enough to make them willing to go for more.

The question is where? And when? And what the hell are we going to do about it? This is just the first step, and for anyone who was not alive or has forgotten the brinksmanship that went on for decades during the Cold War, I guarantee you, we do not want to go back to that era.

The communists murdered an estimated 100,000,000 (that's one-hundred million) people from 1917 to the end of the Soviet Union, and state sponsored deaths continue in China and the remaining communist countries to this day.

Believe me, we don't want to turn back the clock.

Contributed by Ron Winter on August 12, 2008 at 07:44 AM in Current Affairs, John McCain, Ron Winter, Russia | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• The War in Iraq Is Over. What Next?

• Voluntary amputation
• Russia Drives Deeper Into Georgia; Bush Warns Moscow to Pull Back

• Hey, you know who was right all along on Russia? John McCain
• McCain condemnation upstages Bush
• McCain: “Today, we are all Georgians”;
  Update: Majority prefers McCain to handle similar crisis, 51/36;
  Update: Georgians “roar” over McCain speech?

• Post Drills Through Arguments Against Offshore Oil
• Dems' Ostrich Approach on Oil
• Pelosi indicates openness to offshore drilling vote (sort of)

• It’s the Cover-Up, Stupid
• Edwards Took Mistress on 2006 Presidential Announcement Tour

• More rumblings of a Hillary coup (updated)

• Did Obama amplify pork for bundlers?
• Questions that answer themselves
• Landrieu backs away from Obama
• Barack Obama is so pathetic, even his own team calls his latest tax scheme bad
• The Galbraith Effect?
• Barack Obama, Legal Scholar
• What the Media Knows, and We Don't...Yet
• Obama calls for Security Council resolution on Georgia — even though, er, Russia has veto power; Update: Or does it?

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 12, 2008 at 12:48 AM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Worth knowing about today:

• Leftist AWOL’er Faces 3 Years In The Slammer

• Russian troops reportedly cut Georgia in half
• Bush: Russia's actions in Georgia 'unacceptable'
• Russia Broadens Attack on Georgia
• War in Georgia: What is to be done?
• Mikheil Saakashvili: The War in Georgia Is a War for the West
• Bush, Cheney signal support for Georgia
• The declining interest in war crimes
• Video: Why we need experience in the White House
• Ukraine enters the Caucasus fray
• McCain, Obama Respond to Scenario Out of First Level of Ghost Recon

• Shale Oil To Be Developed, But Not Here

• An unwarranted shot at McCain

• Stephen Green: How the Press is Still Screwing Up the Edwards Story
• Rielle Hunter’s friend: It started before the campaign hired her
• Edwards caught in another “inconsistency”?
• Inconsistencies Raise Concerns Edwards May Still Be Lying About Affair
• Jennifer Rubin: The MSM's Latest Embarrassment
• NYT: Edwards Scandal Not Our Style, Unproven McCain Affair Is

• Why Obama is in Trouble 
• Seven Worrisome Signs for Obama
• Jennifer Rubin: Obama’s Hawaiian Dreams of a Denver Nightmare
• Video: Yeah, Obama is inexperienced, arrogant … and?
• The Messiah That Failed
• God help us, but this is supposed to be one of their *hard-line* natsec people.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 11, 2008 at 05:13 PM in National Defense, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack