There Is Abuse At Gitmo Just Undercovered By Media

That Gitmo sure is one horrific place is it not? (via LGF)

LGF

I think the following line of Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu tells is spot on:

After speaking with soldiers, sailors, and civilians who collectively staff Gitmo, I left convinced that abuse definitely exists at the detention facilities, and it typically fails to receive the press attention it deserves: it’s the relentless, merciless attacks on American servicemen and women by these terrorist thugs.

Also this one:

GITMO is a far cry from the harshness experienced even by maximum security prisoners in the U.S.

Soros Buys The UN Also?

Why does it not suprise me that Soros is too close for comfort with UN Chief of Staff Mark Brown (via The NY Sun):

Sun

This pretty much sums it up:

"If true, this will be deeply troubling to Congress," the Heritage Foundation's Nile Gardiner said when told by The New York Sun about Mr. Malloch Brown's living arrangement. It "raises serious concerns over the partisan political ties of U.N. officials, which should be fully disclosed," Mr. Gardiner, who is a frequent critic of the U.N., said.

Pravda Post Silence On Foley Is Deafening

You can not trust journalist who write your news and are represented by a person like Linda Foley if they do not speak out one way or the other on her statement that "America's Military target journalists:

Foley's Attack

I wonder why the good folks at the Pravda Post Dispatch have not run one single article on the Linda Foley statement? Especially since she made it about four blocks from the Pravda HQ's and a Post journalist was there covering the event. Surely the Post journalists have the freedom to write about this, but given the deafening silence perhaps Linda Foley proves that Pravda is the absolutely correct name for the Post Dispatch.

No balls at the Post, someone should write about Linda Foley if they are in fact "true" journalists. Come on someone over at the Post, grow some balls and write something about Linda Foley, anything, pro or con, the silence is deafening.............................

Shredding Socialist Unwanted Ideology

Makes one really proud to live in the "Great Show Me Red State of Missouri" via Little Green Footballs:

shred that stuff?

It is the "Show Me State" and the "Buck Stops Here State", so I'm not surprised that we see such "show me action-activism" from those great folks over in Columbia. What a great idea! Probably 99.9% of the people at that Memorial Day events were "insulted" by the peaceniks and their demand to be in the face of people coming to the event to pay respect for our Veterans. It's one day that regardless of political leanings we honor those who fought to give us whatever political leaning we have. To give the attendees the expressive and powerful option of showing their disgust and giving them an even more powerful statement directly in the face of the peaceniks was powerful and brilliant.

I'm obviously a huge free speech advocate, it's I think probably the most important right and one could not blog without holding the freedom dear and I do. So I think the peaceniks have every right to be at the Memorial Day event if they choose, but is that the best platform for them to be at with their message? I mean think about it? And the in your face disrespect that the linked story exposes actually led to a peacenik punching a pro-military 49 year old woman supporter in the face. Nice peace message don't you think?

This "shred it" strategy is a great strategy to make a much stronger counter statement to the ultra-liberal socialist who sue their way in to such events to hand out literature that 99.9% don't wants and getting in peoples faces. Getting in peoples face from a protest perspective means the message is not resonating and is hollow. To show just how hollow, shredding the unwanted literature in their face is a masterful statement and much more of a peaceful statement. Well done, well done indeed...............................

Congress Goes To Gitmo To Get A Grip

The Congressional Durbin Damage Control Delegation (DDCD) arrived at Guatanamo today for a first hand visit and walk through to see the facility and the treatment of the terrorist for themselves (treatment of terrorist? that is still a puzzling word association for me personally). First question for me is why did this not happen years ago when the criticism first started coming out from the ultra-left, both in Europe and America? Regardless of the answer to that question, here is how the DDCD visit went, via Fox:

DDCD Tour

Member of the House of Representatives witnessed interrogations, saw the cells, toured the general facility, received a classified briefing, and ate the same chicken with orange sauce that the troops and the terrorist were having ( I had orange chicken this evening myself ). They saw terrorist who had displayed good behavior playing soccer in the recreation yard. Sounds like your standard America prison to me, with the slight difference of ongoing interrogations to gain more information to try and keep Americans safe. If the treatment is good enough for our own incarcerated then it is certainly good enough for terrorists. Who knows, the DNC is trying to give felons the right to vote so they may try to also give the Gitmo Gang the same rights and they can take it out on the RNC at the polls.........................

Who made up the DDCD, well 10 members of the House lead by David Hobson (R. Ohio), and Joe Skeen, R-New Mexico; Dan Miller, R-Florida; Todd Tiahrt, R-Kansas; Steve Chabot, R-Ohio; Thomas Allen, D-Maine; David Vitter, R-Louisiana; Todd Platts, R-Pennsylvania, and Robert Underwood, D-Guam, and Shelia Jackson Lee, D-Texas. Strange thing is that CNN is leaving Lee off the DDCD list here in the very last paragraph:

CNN Leaves Lee Off

Why would the most liberal news organization leave the most critical member of the DDCD off the attendee list? Don't know but I'm just saying.............

How about Shelia Jackson Lee, and her read here? She has been a "huge" critic of Gitmo, as she is on all Bush policy. It's funny though, she almost pushes people out of the way to get to the sideline for the opportunity to shake Bush's hand and be photographed with him at any official joint sessions. Bush must poll importantly even in Jackson Lee's district. Shelia Lee is a member of the Conyers Bat Commission that meets in the basement of Congress on the bat memo (Downing Street) and do things like this:

We are writing to request that you appoint a special counsel to investigate whether high-ranking officials within the Bush Administration violated the War Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. 2441, or the Anti-Torture Act, 18 U.S.C. 2340 by allowing the use of torture techniques banned by domestic and international law at recognized and secret detention sites in Iraq, Afghanistan Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.

Don't you thing that Shelia Lee and the others who have called are military heroes War Criminals, should have done what they did today before they made those statements? Novel approach but before you put the interest of terrorists before the brave Americans fighting for our freedom and protection, don't you think you should go down and see it for yourself? I do.

There is a lot of discussion going on about improper trips by members of congress these days.

Trips

Summary:

Republican and Democratic House members were nearly equal rules violators in failing to disclose their personal trips within 30 days after the trip's completion. There were 23 GOP members, 19 Democrats and 1 independent, all of them months or years late in their reporting to the House public records office.

Staff members for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, disclosed 11 prior trips, while staff members for DeLay, R-Texas, had 4. Rep. John Linder of Georgia, a former chairman of the House Republican campaign organization, belatedly filed 9 trips, as did Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California.

So Delay was the big abuser (and I'm not a Delay guy) but Pelosi had 11 to 4 on Delay on buy off trips? Huh, don't see much coverage on that point, but the whole Delay issue went away. That would explain the MSM attention on the matter. Well I digress, back to my point, which is:

Every member of Congress, every editor of any major newspaper, and every executive of "all" major TV networks must go the Gitmo and take the tour, or your criticisms mean really nothing. Everyone would be fine with a trip expenses to Gitmo so you know what your talking about. So what does bomb thrower and Conyers committee member Shelia Lee has to say after her visit via Fox:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, is one of many Democrats who have called for an independent commission to investigate abuse allegations and said the facility should close. She stopped short of changing her position after the visit, but acknowledged, "What we've seen here is evidence that we've made progress."

We have made progress? Really..................No I think you have made progress Shelia Lee, you have made progress understanding what the hell you are talking about. Go tell Dick Durbin(Nazi, Gulag, Pol Pot), Nancy Potosi, Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. Stop protecting the liberalism of your party and start protecting the American People.

The only remaining question is, how did the DDCD commission and the terrorist enjoy the Orange Chicken while our troops fighting the terrorist in Iraq and Afganistan enjoyed K-rations, heat, blowing dust, and being shot at?

Dems Rush To The Defense of MoveOn & Liberalism

A good summary from the Washington Times on the Rove "liberal" comment and the democrats falling all over themselves to defend liberalism and the anti-Iraq, anti-military speech of their party

Washington Times

The closing sums it all up:

But Mr. Rove didn't address Democrats; he addressed liberals, specifically MoveOn.org and its like. For a party with a clear image problem, it seems counterproductive that they would rush to Mr. Moore's defense -- which, by their outrage, is essentially what they have done.

Image building aside, the reality is that the Democrats have embraced the "Michael Moore wing" of their party. Earlier this year, MoveOn.org invited the Senate's top Democrats -- Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Mrs. Clinton, Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin and Charles Schumer -- to a rally. Last summer, the Democratic National Committee sat Mr. Moore right beside former President Jimmy Carter during the party's convention in Boston. And, lest we forget, it elected Howard Dean to be the party's chairman.

This is the side of the Democratic Party Americans see. Democrats should reread Mr. Rove's comments and realize that he was in fact diagnosing their problem. Instead, they have decided to act like hypocrites. Well played, Mr. Rove.

Well played in deed.................

Karl Rove's Master Piece

I believe that the Rove comment was a counter to a very active political operation that the democrats launched several weeks ago. What do I mean, well I think that the democrats thought that the "holy grail" strength of Bush was open for attack. The most important item of the 2004 election per the polls, was National Security and protecting America. Almost everyone to the tune of 98% believe that was the key issue in the 2004 election.

Am I the only one who thinks it's slightly curious that the very open and vocal attacks against the military and Bush via the Soros DNC bought machine started rolling in after the polling data that showed American support for the war in Iraq was at an all time low? I have seen the Rove counter discussed but not the Dem first political initiative:

Zogby Iraq Poll

I won't get too deeply into the poll data on this post (but will on another), here are the important polling numbers on Iraq when considering the Dem stategy per Zogby 6/22/05:

Rate Bush on Iraq: 39% Favorable - 61% Unfavorable
Iraq Worth It: 49% Favorable - 50% Unfavorable
Favor or Oppose Iraq War: 39% Favor (that's a strange word given the question) - 59% Oppose

The Favor vs. Oppose question is where I'm going with the DNC strategy. During the election period in Nov 2004 it was 48% Favor to 46% Oppose. A slight majority favored being in Iraq. Now per Zogy 20% more Americans Oppose the war verses Favor it. I think that the question should be changed to "Support" vs. "Oppose" but like I said that comes in another post.

You can see the DNC strategy team led by Howard Dean salivating at that data and saying, "now is the time to attack the Bush strong suit, protection of America"! One can only imagine the joy in the eyes of the DNC strategy team when they saw the polling data show the 20% swing in support for Iraq. They must have "really" believed that they had an opportunity to deal Bush and the RNC a fatal blow if they spoke out and got the negative Vietnam quagmire analogy rolling. Much too enticing to believe the unbelievable, that they could win the security issues. Like moths to the flame...........

So that is just what they did by feeding the MSM that speaking point in speech after speech by DNC leaders. The whole Dean "White Christian" hate speak was an intentional decoy while the hard core machine got ready to attack the Bush "Alpha" strength, protection of America and the military strategy in play. They thought they had the opening to go where no democrat could image they could go, take away the "Security" issue from Bush.

The strategy called for the democratic enforcer (in hockey terms the goon) Dick Durbin to walk onto the floor of the Senate and really get the momentum rolling after the Gitmo Newsweek and Amnesty International falsehoods put the question in front of the public. However a strange thing happened after Durbin's Nazi, Gulag, and Pol Pot speech and trip on the carpet, that being the rejection of his "hate speak" by the American people. They rejected it and called for Durbin to apologize. They said that Gitmo should stay open by a "HUGE" margin even though Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Durbin, Pelosi, Reid, and Michael Moore are calling for the freedom of terrorist that want to kill Americans in the worst way. It was lined up with precision and with a real purpose to drive down the Bush Security rating.

Well, then came the Rove counter, and what a counter it was. They will be talking about this for years in Poli-Sci Government classes for some time, I think. I can see Rove watching the Dems talking up and executing their strategy, and just smiling broadly. Waiting, waiting, and waiting, until it was time to "define" them for what they are and to do so when they came out and clearly positioned themselves in the position of question. As they promoted that Nazi, Gulag, Pol Pot, position and offered it up in clear view, standing united and clearly in the public eye, they defined who they were as a party for everyone to see. And we all saw it clearly.......................

Then Rove said something simple in his speech, and offered up historically recorded facts about the DNC organization (MoveOn) that he was directing the comment towards:


"Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers. Conservatives, he said, saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war. He added that the Democratic Party made the mistake of calling for "moderation and restraint" after the terrorist attacks. Rove also denounced Sen. Dick Durbin's comments comparing interrogation at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to the methods of Nazis and other repressive regimes. He said the statements have been broadcast throughout the Middle East, putting U.S. troops in greater danger. The Illinois Democrat has since apologized for the remarks.

"No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals," Rove said.That is an absolutely correct statement Mr. Rove, no more needs to be said about motives.

52% of Americans agree with you on this point, and you have put the spot light on the DNC while they screamed that position on how they would protecting this country if they were in charge. Not reassuring in the least..................

Good news from Iraq and why the DNC move is doomed to fail and another step closer to permanent status as a minority party:

How Well Is Iraq Going: 50% Well - 46% Not Well

Keep Troops In Iraq: 50% Yes - 46% No

Is Iraq Vietnam II: 47% No - 35% Yes

Now you know why Rove was smiling while the democrats took just enough rope to hang themselves and expose their true convictions as anti-military and anti-America. They truly hate a Country that defines itself as moderate to right of moderate in its beliefs and values. ..............................

That's No Apology From Linda Foley

A good post on the Linda Foley article from Media Slander

Foley

I certainly don't see what Foley offered up as an apology...................

This part of the post captures the Foley issue perfectly and her liberal bias that prevents her from seeing the issue:

You would characterize it as a 'Right-Wing screed'. Yes, I am conservative. I am also white. Can we call it a 'White-Wing Screed'? You see, Right has no more to do with 'the screed' than White does. It's not about politics. Yes, you are liberal. However, I could fairly give a damn. You see, it's not about Right or Left, Conservative or Liberal, or Me or You. It's about the men and women of the US Military whose honor you recklessly sullied. But you'll never understand that

Rehnquist Retired or Died Via WaPo

Looks like WaPo got a bit ahead of themselves on Chief Justice Rehnquist's retirement.

WaPo

Here is the WaPo correction:

A headline and article summary that appeared to indicate that Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist had either retired or died was inadvertently published on washingtonpost.com and through a washingtonpost.com RSS feed on June 23. The headline and summary have been retracted and no longer appear on the site.

Either retired or died??????????? How could the headline not clearly present one "or" the other?

I would not want WaPo covering or commenting on my retirement.................

Rove Shines Light On MoveOn Cockroaches

So who was Karl Rove talking about in his speech in NY when he said, "In the wake of 9/11, conservatives believed it was time to unleash the might and power of the United States military against the Taliban; in the wake of 9/11 liberals believed it was time to submit a petition." Rove continued: "I am not joking. Submitting a petition is precisely what MoveOn.org did. It was a petition imploring the powers that be to 'use moderation and restraint in responding to the terrorist attacks against the United States.' "

Well Byron York has a good post that provides a little history about MoveOn

York

My question is why don't organizations like MoveOn not stand-up and defend their position if that is the one they have be promoting all along? I guess the spot light gets brighter when the audience widens and its no longer just the ultra left.

Bush To Get Three Supreme Court Nominees?

So looks like Bush will have at least one if not three appointments to the Supreme Court. Powerline has a good blog on the topic

Ted Will Qualify Them

I love Mad Ass Ted's statement:

"It doesn't take much to get our consent," Kennedy said. "All the president has to do is seek out his preferred non-ideological choices, ask us about them, and listen to our answers."

Listen to our answer, as in who you approve of? That's funny..............Well Senator Ted, let me clear a few things up for you. First your not the President and the President gets to appoint who he wants. Second, you are a minority party in both the House and Senate. Actually you are a minority party falling to pieces. And third, even if you Dutch Pirate the nominee, the Senate has the raw numbers to end the Fili and move on with the nominee. I think Ted and the socialist democrats should really gain some perspective before we get into the first Bush Supreme Court Justice appointment............

Rove Calls It Like the Dems Have Lived It

The truth hurts doesn't it Dems? Rove tells it like the Dems have been living it.................via the Socialist NYT

Rove Truth

You are what you eat and the Dems eat a steady diet of Howard Dean, Dick Durbin, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. When your party leadership openly calls the American military heros, Nazis, on the floor of the Senate, then yes the shoe does in fact fit. It's your shoe, don't complain about it being tight and uncomfortable. It's your shoe so wear the style that Soros bought you........................

Sylvester Brown's Column In Post Today Is A Good One

Anyone who has ever read this blog knows that I'm not a fan of the Post Dispatch and especially not of the most liberal of the writers on the staff. That said I also think that I'm able and capable of separating politics and recognize a good column that just happens to be written by a journalist that has a very different political leaning than mine. Well that is the case today in the Post when I read the article by Sylvester Brown Jr.

Brown's Cosby Article

Brown writes about the conflict that he is facing after the recent Bill Cosby visit and shares personal reflections in an eloquent and insightful manner. There is a deeply personal yet reserved manner to Sylvester's article that he did not have to share, but he decided to. It's rare that I walk away from reading an article in a newspaper today where I feel that the writer really shared a personal moment that they were currently involved in figuring out. In Brown's article today I felt that was the case.

It's a fascinating story revolving around Cosby's call to the African American community to be self empowered, and the journalist (Brown) that he contacted to organize and spread that message here in STL. It's also a story about a self made African American journalist who pulled himself up from the Projects to become a successful journalist and the conflict he faces with the Cosby message. My read was that Brown believes that the overall message is right but is struggling over the parts of the message he feels are wrong are perhaps aspect that are hard to come to terms with or overly harsh.

We all have had moments like that, but few write about it in the paper. I doubt if Sylvester Brown really cares what I think about his column, but I do think its one of the best I've read in the Post this year. If you have not read it, then its certainly worth a couple minutes of your time I think.............................

Major Bush Energy Bill Coming

Look for a major rise in Bush numbers (8 point bump to 55%) after the "successful" Energy Bill coming in the next few days. First comprehensive Energy Bill since Bush 41, after over 8 years of Clinton non-action. Bush tried in the first term but was obstructed................

The capital will be back "Big Time".......................................

Durbin Acted Like & Sounded Like Kerry From 1971

From Hugh Hewitt's radio show with guest Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard, what I think was the highlight of the discussion (via Radio Blogger):

Hewitt & Kristol

BK: You know what struck me, listening to Durbin? He reminded me not of some...Don Rumsfeld compared it to Jane Fonda. I don't think that's quite right. He reminded me of John Kerry, actually in 1971.

HH: Yup.

BK: John Kerry came back and attacked the soldiers, and said they were doing terrible things, launched his political career in the Democratic Party at that time, and now we have Dick Durbin, a sitting Senator, really in a similar way, really, slandering American soldiers. And he was there at the event with Howard Dean last night, and got plenty of applause. And he's going to stay as whip, and I guess the Democrats are comfortable with him, as a leading spokesman for their party.

My points repeatedly about the state of the current democratic party. The are haunted by the ghost of Vietnam which leads to their attacks on our military and our country and putting the interest of the enemy over our own. It's not an isolated incident, it's a major theme of the party. It's bread and butter DNC. We see it in the top leadership of the democratic party in Durbin, Pelosi, Reid, Dean, and countless others speech and actions. We see it in the extremist fringe groups of the party, and we see it unfortunately now in the DNC rank in file. The anti military venom continues to come, from the next, then the next, and then the next. A steady and repulsive flow of "we hate the military". Sad................

The Kerry - Durbin analogy is a perfect one I think. Kerry came back and called his fellow soldiers "war criminals" and was embraced by the democratic party. He became a "rock star" in his party and they ate up his anti-America anti-military propaganda. Just like they ate up Durbin calling our military heroes, Nazis, keepers of the gulag, and enforcers of Pol Pot.....................................................

Dems Want A Terrorist Sleep Over?

When Jimmy Carter, Howard Dean, Bill Clinton, Dick Durbin, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi (The DNC leadership who are calling for Gitmo to be closed) spend a couple nights with the terrorists and all goes well, then I'll be open to discussions on closing Gitmo:

Hugh & Pete"

Here is I think the best exchange and the most telling and why I want those who are calling for Gitmo to be closed to spend some quality time with their friends:

Hugh: Tell us about the prisoners at Gitmo. Are these killers, or are they misunderstood religiously observant Muslims?

Pete: I tell you one thing, Hugh. I had a soldier in my platoon who spoke fluent Arabic, and so I'd go up in a tower and he'd interpret for me, and I am telling you, these guys are talking about, you know, how much they hate America and how much they would love to kill somebody if they could get their hands on them. These are not friendly guys, and given the opportunity, as I think someone put it, to spend the night at it with a few members of the editorial pages of the Star Tribune, I think that maybe they would take their statements back.

Back to the basics here slow Dem friends, these people are killer terrorist that hate you and me. If given the chance to kill an American they will. I'm ok with some extream temperatures, chaining them up, sleep deprivation, and such. Hell I'm ok with the fake dog attack. We are at war and this is acceptable Intel per the American people, listen and you might just hear it.......................

PBS Does Not Like Political Accountability

Dems call for Kenneth Tomlinson to step down

PBS

Not going to happen and the push to make PBS politically balanced will continue. It's a lefty news organization that my taxes pay for. I'm not good with a liberally biased network that is funded with my money, just like a majority of Americans, so it has to become balanced or the money will go away. If not through reform then I predict through litigation.

The Dems tried the children education game today per The Hill:

Joined by stars of PBS children’s programming, including “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” “Maya & Miguel” and “Between the Lions,” Democrats hailed the educational nature of public broadcasting, especially in contrast to the content of commercial broadcasts.

Markey said that, while PBS stations “offer up to 12 hours per day of nutritious, beneficial children’s programming,” commercial broadcast networks program shows like “Jerry Springer,” “Montel” “Maury,” “Judge Hatchett” and “Divorce Court.”

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) agreed that commercial networks are not providing sufficient educational programming, noting that, according to the National Television Violence Study, “children are exposed to six acts of violence and hour, and violence on the so-called commercial ‘children’s shows’ is on the rise.”

Well I have nothing but praise for the educational programs and that is why I have donated $150 per year until this year to my local PBS channel. It's about the political coverage and no one is following this sad diversion. I'd be game for making PBS a child education network only and would then renew my $150 per year pledge. However, if they want to run news, then it has to be "fair & balanced" or the money goes away.

Pelosi Launches Durbin Like Attack Tonight

The ink is not yet dry on the Durbin apology or his crocodile tears and the next democratic leader is stepping out of the line-up and attacking the US Military:

Pelosi Copies Durbin Attack

Nancy Pelosi's turn to undermine the military war efforts and the American people with a call for a outside commission to investigate allegations of abuse of terrorism detainees. This after she called the war in Iraq a "grotesque mistake," yesterday.

Pelosi said:
"We in Congress have a responsibility to make this issue once again too hot for the Republicans to handle," she said. "The treatment of detainees is a taint on our country's reputation."

She and the Dems are solely interested in making the "issue too hot for the Republicans", that simple. Damn the War on Terror and the protection of this country, they want political gains, pure and simple. Ms. Pelosi you and your party are the only "taint on our country's reputation" in this current climate.

Here is the reality of investigating Gitmo if you are only interested in facts and the right thing:

The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee noted her committee is already conducting a "serious and bipartisan" investigation, but argued it wasn't enough.

"This investigation is largely classified. We also need a public unclassified investigation," Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the Republican head of that committee, said those insisting on an independent investigation apparently don't know what Congress is already doing.

I think Joe Wilson R-S.C. called it right when he said:

"The creation of this committee is yet another example of Democrat leaders trusting the words of terrorists over the proven action of U.S. troops. "The American taxpayer is already footing a million dollar bill to provide for detainees, who are currently more comfortable than most of our men and women in uniform. When will Democrats start focusing their efforts on strongly supporting our troops rather than justifying the claims of terrorists?"

That is the question America is asking the Democrats. Its about the public rebuke that Americans gave Dick Durbin for his hideous comments and attacks and now will direct at Pelosi and the other Dems who feel it's more important to continue to attack our military and put the terrorist interests above our service men and woman and our citizens. The party bought by Soros, has completely fallen of the sphere of reality and into it's deepest and darkest era of shame and irrelevance...............

Hate It If Bush Is Doing It

Glenn Reynolds has a good post on MSNBC titled "Bush Is Doing It".

Glenn's MSNCC Post

The essence of the post is this:

You'd think that the strategy of overthrowing dictators and encouraging democracy as a way of defeating terrorism would draw support from the left, since it's consistent with the "root causes" talk we heard right after 9/11. But you'd be wrong, and for one simple reason: Bush is doing it.

In other words if Bush gets credit then we are against it no matter how important it is.........................

The utlra-left Dems are selling out their country and military in droves just like Durbin did, simply because it is Bush who is leading this revolution of liberation. The hate is thick and never will change because of the mainstream values that Bush represents. They certainly seem very willing to fore-go a victory on the War on Terror, to regain a political foothold.

When you have fallen so far as the Dems, it must be hell politically. However, it can not be so bad that it turns you against the biggest fight this country has been in since WWII, can it?

Durbin Apologizes

Sen. Dick Durbin has apologized for his terrible attack:

Durbin Apology

Well it's long overdue but he apologized, and that's a start. It would appear that Sen. Durbin clearly heard the ejection of his words, his comparison, and his assertions, as well as his agenda. It's a false analogy and was a vicious attack against the men and woman of our military.

I think he might very clearly understand at this very moment just how far he, his fellow Democrats, and people who think like them really are from mainstream America and mainstream Americans........

Show Them The Money

The Florida Democratic Party is broke and a lien was placed on their remaining assets by the IRS:

IRS & DNC

Here are some of the financial low-lights the Florida Dems face per WKMG Orlando:

Broke and without enough money in the bank to pay its bills after the end of the month, the Florida Democratic Party has now been slapped with a lien by the Internal Revenue Service for failing to pay payroll and Social Security taxes in 2003. The state party's budget and finance committee voted Tuesday to ask for a new audit to account for more than $900,000 it believes somehow disappeared from the books during the 2003-2004 calendar years when the party was led by Scott Maddox, who is now seeking its nomination for governor.

Somehow disappeared? How does $900,000 somehow disappear from a political parties coffers?

The Democratic Party in Florida has traditionally gone through financial woes, selling its headquarters building in Florida a few years ago to get out of debt. State vice-chair Diane Glasser of Fort Lauderdale said Tuesday she was confident the party could be able to meet its commitments. "We've had these problems before," Glasser said. "I think that everything will resolve itself. Karen has already got commitments for money that is going to be coming into the party."

Selling your HQ to get out of debt? Sounds like it no big deal and routine. Well as long as you know your way around that block then ok……………

Ausman, who is also a member of the party's budget and finance committee, said the party's 2003 year-end audit showed $609,032 cash on hand. He said it netted $586,986 in 2004 when it raised about $18 million. "I don't know how you start out with $609,000 and raise a net of $586,000 and end up with $269,000," he said.

Is this the fruit of Howard Dean and MoveOn taking over fund raising for the party they own? Moving the opposite direction I’d say………………………………

"It's very important that we reassure our donor base and all the Democrats that we're on top of this situation," Ausman said.

Yes I would think that is the case.........

So what’s the slogan for the DNC next year in Florida, elect our candidates so we can take as good care of your money as we have our own?

Sen Durbin Calls For Unity Over Iraq Military Action

Well he did back in 1998......................

How ironic is this piece of journalist history (via Illinois Leader) that captures a much different Durbin and his call of standing united on Iraq and the use of military action back in 1998:

Durbin 1998

One would think that if Durbin called for a united America back in 1998, prior to 911, he would certainly call for a united America today, and refrain from inappropriate attacks on the men and woman of our military who are protecting us and fighting the War on Terror.

However, this call for unity was made while a democrat was sitting President, which obviously makes a difference to Durbin. It would be difficult not to see that Durbin is a partisan politician speaking with an extreme political agenda and bias, from a position of leadership in what has become an extreme party……………………………………..

An interesting side note was Durbin’s support in his statement of action because of Saddam’s “defiant protection of his weapons of mass destruction cannot go unanswered.

I wonder where Mr. Durbin’s resolve and dedication to protect America has gone………………

Post Dispatch's Soeteber & Robbins Apologize For Professional Failures

In the Sunday edition of the Post Dispatch Ellen Soeteber Editor, and Arnie Robbins Managing Editor, made a very rare appearance aside from their standard editorial work on the editorial page when and if they write one. I have no idea since the editorial pages in all newspapers don't include the name of the person who wrote the Op-Ed piece. More on that later.

An Apology

Under the headline of "Editor's Note", Soeteber & Robbins write a correction to the Joyce Meyer Ministries series they ran. It ran over four days and got a great deal of ink. I did not read the articles but remember them being the major theme covered over the four days it ran. I glanced at it but it sounded like the "Television Evangelist raking in the cash under the guise of religion" story, which did not really catch my attention.

In their correction, Soeteber & Robbins reveal that stories contained errors. They reveal that they received complaints from the Meyers ministry about factual issues in the stories. That they (The Post) "discovered references that need to be corrected or clarified", and that "the two articles did not meet our standard for fairness and accuracy".

The correction states "the Post-Dispatch is taking corrective action to address the professional failures that led to these errors". They then close the correction by saying "We know that mistakes erode our credibility and compromise our journalism. Our goal is to make our news coverage accurate, fair, and trustworthy" (excuse me while I vomit). "We apologize to you, our reader, for the journalistic transgressions in the May 1 and April 18 article".

I wonder just how bad this might be given that Soeteber and Robbins don't do this kind of thing very often from what I have seen. Usually corrections are left to the correction page. I wonder what makes this correction worthy of an "Editor Note"? It's some pretty strong verbiage that's for sure, so it must be really bad, have some real hot and heavy heat coming from the Meyers camp, or both.

For the record, I don't find the Post's news fair or trustworthy by the way, its way to politically biased to achieve that worthy goal. And if you have a politically biased newspaper I can see where "accurate information" can become a problem from time to time................................

Back to the Editorial Gems offered up anonymously, why is that? I suppose many years ago there was probably something to be gained by allowing the Editorial Board to write Op-Ed without attaching their name. Hard issues that would not be discussed without the name being withheld I can see needing some protection in the past. However I don't see any justification for that now. I really just see it as being unaccountable now. If you think about it the Post journalist pen their name to every article they cover outside the Editorials. The hard, divisive, and critical articles they may cover all contain their name and contact info. So why not apply the same standard to the Editorial Board? I think that appling the same accountability to the Editorial Staff that the rank in file are held to with their name attached might help newspapers gain back some of the seriously lost creditability over the past several years. That along with hiring some right of center Editors and Management................

There is one thing less accountable than an Op-Ed piece in the newspaper done under a blank author name, which is a blogger without their name on their blog or a ghost name. An editor, publisher, and writer of a blog that does not put their name on their publication simply can not be taken seriously................................

Durbin Is No Victim But He Is A Spokesman Speaking For His Party

Hugh Hewitt has an article in the Weekly Standard on Durbin that does a deep analysis of what Durbin said, why he said, why a Democrat said it, and what convictions drive the number two Democrat leader of the Senate to spew such vial:

Hugh's Durbin Read

This I think captures the essence of the Hewitt piece and the Durbin actions that deserves to be "Censured":

Dick Durbin hasn't been misunderstood, as his Friday web statement claims. He isn't the victim of a right-wing media, as his Friday interview argues. Dick Durbin has been perfectly understood. All of his words have been read and listened to, in their original context and in his original delivery.

Durbin stands with the Michael Moore left, the Howard Dean attack-America-first caucus, and the international chorus that assigns the responsibility for the jihadists to American overreach in the world.

The election of 2004 might have been the occasion when the Democratic leadership took account of where American public opinion stands on this war. That leadership rejected the results of November because those results rejected them. In response they have upped the rhetoric, intent on a replay of the anti-war movement and rhetoric of the late '60s and early '70s, hopeful of converting Bush to Nixon, and of driving American power back to its own shores. The tactic of demonizing the American military worked then, so it is being replayed now. If this rhetoric is not checked, it is only a matter of time until we have a new John Kerry discussing the "Genghis Khan" tactics of the American military operating in the Middle East.

Durbin's slander was simply a rhetorical bridge too far, but for both the man and his party there are no regrets and no apology. Not one senior Democrat has condemned Durbin's statement. Not one Democratic senator has asked for a caucus meeting.

The difference between 2005 and the Vietnam era, however, lies in the public's appreciation of its soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, founded in no small part on the public's recognition that the consequences of a collapse of American will in the new millennium will not be millions dead in Europe or Asia, but more Americans dead in America.

Well said Hugh, I think your right on the money. I've posted on the ghost of Vietnam many times on my blog as being one of the driving forces of the DNC and the MSM's coverage of the Dems.............................................

Post Durbin Editorial So Close Yet Ultimately So Far Away

The Post came within the last two sentences of writing a real and needed editorial on Sen. Richard Durbin.

Post's Durbin Editorial

It did not strongly criticize Durbin for his vial attack against the US military, but it did a decent job of saying he was obviously over the line and wrong saying what he said, and even said his "half step retreat" was "not enough".

Then with only two sentences left, they blew it and reverted to the only thing they know, that being "it's Bush's fault". The Post in the last two sentences showed their real displeasure with the Durbin comment and it was not that he called our men and woman of the US Military, Nazis, keepers of the Gulags, or Pol Pot.

The Post is upset that Durbin's attack on the military allows the Bush White House to "deflect legitimate criticism". This is how the Editorial mind of the Pravda Post operates, and there could not be a better editorial to expose it.

So close, but so far away in the end due to a Bush hating auto pilot default even when a regional Dem leader is attacking our military and needing to be held accountable for his statement and actions alone and without other agendas weaved into the editorial.

The Current Agenda of Hate At The DNC

Via Real Clear Politics a good article on the John Coyers make believe hearing in the basement of congress (the moonbat cave) last week and why today's DNC promotes its current agendas:

DNC Melts Down

It asks some really good questions about the surge in anti-Semitic speach coming from the Democrats these days. From Soros buying the party, the anti-Semitic agenda of activist groups deep within the DNC, Howard Deans words of hate, Harry Reid's attacks, and now the Durbin's attack against the US military.

Each of which I have been posting on for awhile. It would be hard to argue against the point that Soros did in fact buy the DNC last year and has turned it over to MoveOn and the extreme left of the party.

Not a winning strategy in the swing states, but the raw meat plays well with the ultra left so maybe that's the strategy, gain iron strong support from the socialist base and then concentrate on the moderates as we approach the elections in 2006 and 2008.

The stuff going on right now with the Dems will not be forgotten and will be a big part of the campaigns in both 2006 and 2008, so its not a winning strategy politically I'd say. As the DNC and their candidates continue to shows us just exactly what they have become, the RNC pick-ups should continue.

Gingrich Rightfully Calls For Censure of Durbin

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich has the perfect resolution to the Durbin travesty (via Powerline)

Time To Censure

Gingrich has it exactly right when he says:

A Senate censure of Senator Durbin is justified and would reaffirm a standard for healthy, rational debate. By voting for or against the censure, the rest of the members of the U.S. Senate can go on record and make clear how they judge Senator Durbin’s characterization of American soldiers. It will also send a clear message to terrorists who will use the words of a Senate leader against us that the Senate stands in support of America and our military and against those who seek to destroy the free people of the United States.

There is historic precedent for censuring Senators whose words bring dishonor and disrepute on the Senate and impair its dignity; Senator Durbin’s words fit that precedent.

So Democrat Senators, would you prefer to hold make-believe meetings in the basement of Congress or address this very serious issue that puts Americans in harms way?

Left Desperate On College Indoctrination Drop Off?

Are we changing the liberal college indoctrination across America and showing students a better alternative? Well yes we are.....................

Here is a hard core ultra left college propaganda site that has a "Yellow Elephant' campaign

Desperate Libs?

You don't organize a Yellow Elephant campaign if things are going well on the former ultra liberal farms. The 18-22 year olds (well some are > 22) are rejecting the liberal agenda, just as I did and moving strongly to the right. Good for you, the insight you have is correct and will serve you well in your life.

This is very encouraging news, and a trend that we will continue to see I think......

Representative John Coyers Downing Street Make Believe Hearing Turns Very Anti-Semitic

Like a really bad skit from Saturday Night Live, Rep. John Conyers Jr, (D-Mich) held a dress-up, make believe hearing in the basement of the Capital for an Impeachment inquiry over Iraq. You know the Saturday Night Live skits I'm talking about, those that are so ridiculous and bad, that the cast members in the skit start laughing and goofing around because they know its so hideously bad. Dana Milbank of WaPo has an article on the "long suffering Democrats taking a trip to the land of make-believe".

WaPo

Here are some of the portions of the skit that got the loudest laughs from the audience watching on C-SPAN per Milbank's article:

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) banged a large wooden gavel and got the other lawmakers to call him "Mr. Chairman." He liked that so much that he started calling himself "the chairman" and spouted other chairmanly phrases, such as "unanimous consent" and "without objection so ordered." The dress-up game looked realistic enough on C-SPAN, so two dozen more Democrats came downstairs to play along.

I suppose Tracy Morgan would play Conyers

No matter: The lawmakers and the witnesses saw this as a chance to rally against the war. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) proclaimed it "one of the biggest scandals in the history of this country." Conyers said the memos "establish a prima facie case of going to war under false pretenses." Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) concluded that "the time has come to get out" of Iraq.

Here is the star power, Horatio Sanz as Frank will be a perfect ringer. Maya Rudolph as Waters will also be a good fit. She can yell scandel in Florida 2000 scandel in Florida 2000, repeatedly....................

The session took an awkward turn when witness Ray McGovern, a former intelligence analyst, declared that the United States went to war in Iraq for oil, Israel and military bases craved by administration "neocons" so "the United States and Israel could dominate that part of the world." He said that Israel should not be considered an ally and that Bush was doing the bidding of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "Israel is not allowed to be brought up in polite conversation," McGovern said. "The last time I did this, the previous director of Central Intelligence called me anti-Semitic."

I'm not surprised that this group of people holding a make believe hearing, broke out into an anti-Semitic tone. Chris Kattan could play McGovern.

Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), who prompted the question by wondering whether the true war motive was Iraq's threat to Israel, thanked McGovern for his "candid answer."

Darrell Hammond is a must for Moran, a perfect fit.

At Democratic headquarters, where an overflow crowd watched the hearing on television, activists handed out documents repeating two accusations -- that an Israeli company had warning of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and that there was an "insider trading scam" on 9/11 -- that previously has been used to suggest Israel was behind the attacks.

Looks like this whole thing is taking a very serious anti-Semitic theme and that's not funny..............................................

Conyers's firm hand on the gavel could not prevent something of a free-for-all; at one point, a former State Department worker rose from the audience to propose criminal charges against Bush officials. Early in the hearing, somebody accidentally turned off the lights; later, a witness knocked down a flag. Matters were even worse at Democratic headquarters, where the C-SPAN feed ended after just an hour, causing the activists to groan and one to shout "Conspiracy!"

A free for all with this group? No............Lets cast Amy Poehler as the screaming insane conspiracy loony.

The glitches and the antiwar theatrics proved something of a distraction from the message the organizers aimed to deliver: that for the Bush White House, as lawyer John C. Bonifaz put it, the British memo is "the equivalent to the revelation that there was a taping system in the Nixon White House."

Will Forte can play Bonifaz and perhaps Chevy Chase can guest host and end the skit as Howard Dean charging in screaming Conspiracy-Conspiracy-Conspiracy and crashing onto a table and busting it up.......................................

What a pathetic joke and the only visual one can get is a really-really bad SNL skit. However, the obvious anti-Semitic theme that is developing with the Downing Street Gang (DSG) is not funny at all. I think the Anti-Defamation League needs to pay pretty close attention to where this whole thing is going as well as all Americans. There are some very dangerous biases and prejudices bubbling up from the DSG make-believe hearing and from their support organization Democrats.com.

Take a look at this organizations website - disinformation central I'd say. Check out the headline "Hearings Moved to US Capitol". Well yes but the basement on card tables. Talk about misrepresenting the facts for one's own agenda, that's a perfect insight for the mindset of the DSG and a scary one given the anti-Semitic tone that is part of the DSG.

democrat central

Here is John Coyers site, he has the DSG agenda front and center

Conyers

Senator Durbin Gives An Unsatisfactory Apology

Well Senator that's not what you said

Durbin Back Tracks

Durbin is in damage control now with this statement but America knows exactly what he said:

"I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support," he said. "My statement in the Senate was critical of the policies of this administration, which add to the risk our soldiers face."

Well we did not "misunderstand" your words or statement we have the exact comments here:

Senate Record of Durbin Statement

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime—Pol Pot or others— that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

Senator Durbin said: our brave military soldiers (Americans) were the same as Nazis, Gulags, and Pol Pot........................................

Senator, time to step down from your leadership position as number two, unless of course you do represent the views and convictions of the Democratic Party on this hideous matter. If you do then stay in your position and we will address that in 2006..................................

Downing Street Memo Revisited Due To Edmund Richter's Comment

I posted on an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, by Edmund Fruchter in this post:

Edmund Fruchter's Post Article

The author of that column read my blog and commented on it here.

Comment


Edmund seems like a smart, articulate, and decent guy. I'd still say Edmund is certainly left of center in his views and reporting based on his Post article and his comments here on my blog, but that's ok, I'm right of center. Out of respect for him taking the time to read my blog and comment on it, I decided to do additional research on the whole Downing Street Memo question that Edmond had written on and obviously feels so strongly about.

My opinion has not changed much from the original post. I don't believe that the memo comes close to a smoking gun and I don't believe the premise the left is trying to advance with it are true. I think that its pretty much just an interesting memo, that the left is falling all over themselves thinking they finally have something that will damage the President and will give the left some much needed traction. One of the best articles I found on the subject was at NRO by James S. Robbins (senior fellow in national-security at the American Foreign Policy Council)

Robbins Downing Street Memo

Robbins does a good job in discussing each of the key points raised by those who think this is some type of smoking gun:

The memo raises three issues dear to the hearts of President Bush's critics — the timing of the decision to go to war with Saddam, the WMD rationale, and the use (read: abuse) of intelligence to create the casus belli. One paragraph in the memo conveniently contains all three:

C [Richard Dearlove, Head of MI-6] reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.

Was the President Committed To War With Iraq?

Robbins makes the perfectly correct observation that given the issue of Iraq at the time, of course we were preparing contingency plans for Iraq. Any President who would not have done that after the 911 attacks, would be incredibly negligent. He also points out all the steps that were being taken both covert and diplomatic to remove Saddam and ensure that WMDs that were believed to be in Iraq were not used against America.

Was the WMD Focus Appropriate?

Robins makes the point that Saddam was the one who banned the inspectors and with the intelligence that was available showing Iraq had them, it is perfectly correct for us to use Saddam's obstruction of inspections to strengthen support for the invasion. The policy for many years had been to replace Saddam, intelligence said he had WMD's and we had just suffered a terrible attack. There was strong bipartisan concern that Iraq and WMDs were a huge threat to America, and the intelligence of the day supported that Saddam had WMDs. Using Saddam's refusal of inspections to strengthen support for military action was the correct and appropriate steps given the intelligence and circumstances.

Was The Intelligence Fake?

The left is seizing on the "fixed" reference in the memo as meaning the intelligence was fake. Forgive me if I like Robbins "put more faith in a bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and their findings after exhaustive investigation, over a memo that has the word "fixed" reporting out an aids impression, of a British Cabinet members impressions, of unnamed people they spoke to in America" (per Robbins). As Robbins points out, " The investigation found no evidence that administration officials attempted to coerce, influence or pressure analysts to change their judgments related to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities or that the Vice President's visits to the Central Intelligence Agency were attempts to pressure analysts, were perceived as intended to pressure analysts by those who participated in the briefings on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs, or did pressure analysts to change their assessments.” If Richard Dearlove has more to tell, that will provide facts related to his memo, then by all means I would love to hear what he has to say and will consider what he has to say. If he has no factual info or proof that there was intentional efforts by the Bush Administration to use "fixed" if that means "fake" intelligence as the reason for the Iraq invasion, then this memo has no incriminating qualities. Without proof that Bush Administration officials promoted "fake" intelligence then there really is nothing to talk about on the memo.

Summary

I think the President acted as he should have, given the intelligence that he had (all be it that some was proven to be flawed but that is a CIA issue not a Bush issue). It was not only a CIA issue, but a world wide intel issue because the Egyptian, Saudi, Jordanian, Israeli, Russian, and British intel all said the same thing, that being Saddam had WMDs.

Even though the intel has been proved wrong and no WMDs have been found, there are important and valuable things on the verge of happening in Iraq and the Middle East. Iraq is moving towards a true democracy all be it slow and with death and violence along the way. It's a war and that's what happens in a war. Democracy sparks are being seen in other countries in the region like Lebanon, Egypt, and even in Iran. Democracy in the Middle East will not only vastly improve the rights and lives of people in those countries but also strengthen American security. Besides that, liberating Iraq from Saddam bottom line, was just the right thing to do. Go online and look at the killing fields and torture that Saddam inflicted on the Iraq people. We liberated the Balkans, why not Iraq for far worse conditions and crimes and at the time serious risks to the security of America. Democracy is exactly what Al Qaeda fears, why they send terrorist to Iraq to blow themselves up and why they attacked us on 911. It's a Democratic Middle East that keeps them up at night. Today proof that is the case from number II Al-Zawahiri:

It's About Democracy

It's very unfortunate that brave American soldiers have died and will die in Iraq completing the liberation. No one wants that. However, I think that the long term security that a liberated Iraq and democratic region in the Middle East will bring, will be a great tribute to our fallen American heroes. I'm glad Edmon read my post and commented. It caused me to consider my position on this issue that I felt I had a good understanding of, and to look even deeper. My further research has deepened my belief that the Downing Street Memo is no smoking gun and has no standing. It's interesting but not incriminating, unless someone comes up with hard facts that the Bush Administration promoted known "fake" intelligence. I believe that the President under took action on Iraq because of the intelligence at the time and for the purpose to protect America and the world from what he felt based on the intelligence was a serious threat. I also think that had Clinton, Gore or Kerry been the President they also would have done the exact same thing.

So thanks Edmund for giving me a reason to dig deeper into the matter, it was rewarding and worthy of the time invested. I would say that is the purpose of any journalistic format, that being to challenge people to consider their own position and gain deeper knowledge of the matter and then decide what their opinion is based on their deeper understanding. That's a very healthy process I'd say.

That said, I don't see any moonbat dances around the full moon anytime soon over a Bush impeachment proceedings because of the Downing Street Memo...............

VFW Demands That Senator Durbin Apologize

Here is the official statement from the VFW on Sen. Durbin's assault on the Military:

VFW

Of everything I have read, this reaction I think is the best fitting and perhaps that is because it is from the organization that represents those Dubin attacked:

"The senator was totally out of line for even thinking such thoughts, and we demand he apologize to every man and woman who has ever worn the uniform of our country, and to their families," said John Furgess, the VFW's commander-in-chief.

"Our soldiers put the needs of others first, just like generations of Americans before them," said Furgess, a Vietnam veteran who retired as a colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard.

"They answered the call to create our country, to save our Union, and to help free the world from tyranny. And in return, all they ever asked for was to be appreciated for who they are and what they do, and for the country to care for their minds and bodies if broken or care for their families should they die," he said

"To link such selflessness to three of world's worst regimes is reprehensible," said Furgess, "and I call on every member of Congress and all 900,000 veterans in the State of Illinois to make their displeasure known to Senator Durbin."

I can't agree more and what a powerful point I think the VWF's commander-in-chief made when he said: The senator was totally out of line for even thinking such thoughts

How does someone especially someone who is the second highest ranking of his party in the Senate, think such a thought? Then to say it?????

I say it comes from a true bias against the military which can be seen clear as a bell in a large number of the DNC rank & file. Certainly not all but a healthy percentage on the ultra liberal side of the spectrum. If that's the case then I guess it makes sense that they would elect people who have the same mindset on the military that they do.......................

Post Dispatch Promotes Liberal Bias

So why does the Pravda Post have a liberal agenda? Read the Post Platform:

"I know that my retirement will make no difference in its cardinal principles, that it will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty."

-- statement by Joseph Pulitzer, April 10, 1907

Might have been relevant in 1907 but its a bit out dated today and real rusty. The Post continues to live outside their platform with watch dog journalism applied only to only right of center issues. So, is not the best described as the "Pravda Post" the Pravda Post?

It's a socialist democrat newspaper that is ultra left and they love living where they live. Well ok, we shall see how that plays out with the new ownership and the subscribers......

Why Do Democrats Hate America & America's Military Hero's?

You know if 67% of Americans think that the conditions at Gitmo are acceptable and 59% think that the detainees are living better than back home, what is the noise from the ultra liberal left all about?

75% say keep it open and the MSM and Dems beat the drum of closure, what is that all about? Do they simply not understand the opinion of America or simply don't care how we feel? I don't think it is either.

I simply thing that the DNC and the Dems are lost in the ghost spirit of Vietnam and will never escape that mindset. They are defeatists who are also pacifist. If you are a pacifist then no war is good regardless of the cause. You can do the PR and give the "we support the troops" wink, but in their core they are anti-military.

Need proof, well here is Sen. Dick Durbin giving you just that:

Durbin Hates America

It's not even a full moon and the moonbats are flying thick and heavy................

Durbin is the Assistant Minority Leader of the Senate. That makes him top level leadership of the DNC. He, Reid, Dean and Pelosi speak loud and clear for all Democrats and for the Democratic party. When Durbin said our military acted like the Nazis he spoke as a leader of the Democratic party and for the party, period.....

Big Terrorist Caught In Iraq

More very big and positive news from Iraq:

Big Fish Caught

Muhammad Khalaf Shakar was captured on Tuesday. Who was Shakar:

"Talha has been one of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's most trusted operations agents in Iraq," Alston said. "This is a major defeat for the al Qaeda organization in Iraq."

I particularly like this quote from Alston:

"Numerous reports indicated he wore a suicide vest 24 hours a day and stated that he would never surrender. Instead, Talha gave up without a fight," Alston said.

Huh, guess it was too hot to keep wearing that vest or more likely even within the inner circle the commitment for the cause is wearing thin given all the defeats and bad momentum going against the terrorist cause.................

Strong Poll Numbers To Keep Guatanamo Open

From Fox News some new polling data:

Fox Poll

Summary:

* Bush Approval 48% Disapproval 43%, up one point from April (12 month high 53% )
* Bush Favorable 52% Unfavorable 42%, same as April ( 12 month high 52% )also his Favorable is up from the election period of 48% ( up 4 points )

* Hillary Approval 52% Unfavorable 37% Can't Say 10%, will probably break the same as Bush's numbers.
* Howard Dean The Scream Favorable 23% Unfavorable 41%, (not good................)

Most Important Issues

War/Saddam Hussein: 25% up from 16% Oct 04'
Economy: 13% down from 27% Oct 04' ( the Economy bogey man issue the press promoted is solid and a big Bush positive )
Social Security: 12% up from 3% Oct 04' (Bush is making progress and its in the top three now )

2008 Front Runners

Rep: Rudy 29%, McCain 26%, Gingrich 9%, Frist 3% ( three man race now )
Dem: Clinton 44%, Kerry 17%, Edwards 13%, Biden 6% ( Hillary looks like the DNC candidate )

Guatanamo

Meets Acceptable Standards of Treatment: 43% Yes, 33% Fail
Conditions are Acceptable or Unacceptable: 67 Acceptable, 8 Unacceptable
Living Better Than in Iraq or Afghanistan: Better 59%, Worse 12%

Should Gitmo Be Closed: No 75%, Yes 10%

75% to 10% says that the Dems in office and in the MSM are promoting an agenda that Americans are against by a wide margin. Do the Dems really still not understand why they keep loosing elections and does the MSM still not understand why they are loosing customers in record numbers and on the verge of becoming irrelevant?

Post Dispatch Under Coverage of Durbin Statement

You know you have credibility issues as a newspaper and news provider when the Guardian covers a story better than you on a regional issue…………..

Guardian

Here is how the Post reported the Durbin statement

Post's Durbin Coverage

Buried deep in an AP article that headlines a call to set detainees rights by Republican Senator Arlen Specter R-PA. No headlines, no focus, not even a dedicated story line.

How in the world can even a socialist European newspaper understand the news worthiness of the Durbin comment, and give it a headline but the St. Louis Post Dispatch does not see the importance?

Senator Dick Durbin represents the neighboring state of Illinois and the Post subscription has a large number of Illinois residents. His statement should have been addressed in the Editorial today it has that kind of significance in this area. To run the story in the manner that the Post did means one thing I think and one thing only, a blatant attempt by the Post to run cover for a political ally. Durbin shares the same ultra liberal political leanings that define the management and much of the staff at the Post. One thing for sure, the way the Post chose to cover this story certainly can not be described as “watch dog journalism”. What Durbin did is terrible and deserved to run on the front page in a dedicated article.

I will guarantee you that if the statement had been made by “Any” Republican Senator it would have been on the front page, hands down.

It would appear that the UK’s Guardian has less liberal bias in its coverage than the Post. Now that’s scary……………………………….

Dems Want A Sensitive War On Terrorism

Is being "SENSITIVE" to terrorists a winning strategy for the DNC?

No, it is not. The DNC wants to close down GITMO and send them where? Nothing from the DNC on that solution.

Just like a democrat to say "just do it and we will figure it out". While we try to figure it out, they what, kill a soldier or two or bring a nuke in?

They belong in Gitmo, and that is where they will stay................

Apologist Coverage of Good News From Iraq

While blogging this PM I was watching the local news on NBC channel 5 and Karen Foss did the same usual Iraq lead in, with tough news. Then almost as if apologizing, she stated "and now some good news from Iraq":

Iraqi Forces Free hostage

My God, what great news and what a telling event on the progress being made in Iraq. the Iraqi forces found and freed a coalition hostage. Now that should tell you which way the tide is flowing if you want to believe the truth.

Ms. Foss, there is nothing to apologize for in reporting one of hundreds of daily positive and good stories about Iraq. There are places you can learn the truth about what is going on in Iraq and put it into your newscast if you would like. Its right here:

Chrenkoff

It will take you real close to a day to read about all the very positive things going on in Iraq but its worth it. Just think, enough material to offset each tough story and then several more to show why we are there and why it's worth it and why we are winning. One condition, you have to abandon the liberal mindset that the Iraq war is "bad" and the liberal leaning to criticizes all things military. This is about facts and what is actually happening, not OpEd journalism. Read it, I think you might be enlightened.

The MSM can say they support the troops all they want with a wink, but they are of the same mindset as Sen. Durbin and hate the military action in Iraq. It goes beyond not understanding it or having the stomach for it, its ideology. You can not support the troops without supporting why they are there.

St. Louis PBS Producers Ask That You Contact Reps

In todays Pravda Post, Patrick Murphy Executive Producer of KETC wrote a letter to the editor asking viewers to call their representatives on behalf of PBS

Murphy's Political Plea

I thought of this post from earlier this year when PBS called asking me for money

No Money For Biased Coverage

I especially thought this was humorous:

Public broadcasting has come under fire before - during the Nixon and Reagan administrations - and survived, because the viewers have risen in its defense.
It would be a national tragedy if partisanship and politics killed public broadcasting. Please, make your opinion known to those who are deliberating on the future of what many Americans consider a national treasure.

Of course those Partisan Republicans, asking something as totally unfair as to have the network that we fund report in a fair and balanced way, and not have ultra agenda driven reporters like Moyers reporting OpEd as news. How dare those right of center ask for such a thing from the enlighten liberal left staff at PBS?

Well I am going to contact my representatives and tell them just how strongly I feel about this and if they want my vote PBS had better have the screws put on them to clean house and start having objective and balanced coverage. Thanks Mr. Murphy, for the great suggestion.

PBS Hires Ombudsman & REVISES Editorial Practices

So PBS is hiring a ombudsman and "REVISING" their editorial practices in light of the liberal bias light being shown on them bright and clear over the past few weeks.

PBS

PBS, which rejects accusations of liberal bias, said it has been reviewing its procedures since before Republicans in Congress moved to cut its financing. The Republican chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, has specifically accused the show hosted by Bill Moyers of featuring guests hostile to conservative views.

So if they reject accusations of the liberal bias why are they changing their editorial practices and hiring an ombudsman? Well they are doing nothing really its all window dressing. Just like the Daniel Okrent stint at the NYT's after the Jayson Blair scandal, it's just to try and turn the light off them.

Well that's not going to work, PBS is accountable to the American tax payers and must uphold a unbiased editorial and reporting agenda. If not, then they loose the money and can go completely independent. For every Moyer you have to have a Rush. Better yet don't have either and report fair and balanced without a bias and just give the viewers the news and information, without a deep liberal leaning agenda.

Durbin Calls US Servicemen Nazis

Sen. Dick Durbin is a true American patriot. Well not exactly, here is what the Sen. from the east bank had to say yesterday on the floor of the Senate

Durbin's Statement

So Durbin thinks our troops are Nazis? Here is the official record


Senate Record

Who elects people like this? I mean it how could anyone vote for such a foul American? Unbelievable but true when you follow the record and statements of democrat elected officials...................................

HUGE DEMAND FOR SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM

Rasmussen has a great report and survey on the Social Security "QUESTION"....

Social Security Reform

The summary: Some Congressional Democrats have suggested that no change of any kind should be made in the nation's Social Security program. Just 28% of Americans favor that approach.

Here are the real numbers:

- Only 28% want to have no change collectively.
- 60% Oppose doing nothing and CALL for REFORM

From a party perspective here is how it looks:

- Democrats want: 45% ACTION to reform Social Security NOW - 43% want no action
- Republicans want: 75% ACTION to reform Social Security NOW - 16% want no action
- No party - Third Party: 61% ACTION to reform Social Security NOW - 23% do nothing

You would have to be as my uncle said "Thick" in the head not to understand what Americans want - "Reform of Social Security"....................

However, Harry Reid, Nancy Potosi, and Howard Dean are a "bit" thick, and they are doing just that, obstucting reform and saying no....................

If your older that 55 no problem you get the old plan. It's the Personal Plan that has lots of people concerned. Well I have made on average 12% in the private market during good time and bad the past 20 years when average out. I expect to make another 12% over the next 20 year. Mostly in Index Funds, so if the S&P makes money I do and it has very limited fees. The Social Security fund pays out a zero investment return, it's just a bad investment in terms of returns and a socialist governance with my money and yours.

If your younger than 55 then you better have a hell of an investment program because the plan will pay out in the range of 50% unchanged. So re-adjust your plan and get ready for living on 50% of your social security pay in unless you demand reform from the obstructionist Democrats. They are stealing your retirement and security under a socialist agenda.

Bush Labels Democrats Obstructionist Who Stand For Nothing

President Bush tells it like it is.........

Obstructionist Dems

President Bush tonight ripped the Democratic Party as a pack of do-nothing obstructionist bent on derailing his agenda of reform, telling Democratic leaders in Congress that on issue after issue, "they stand for nothing except obstruction, and this is not leadership."

They stand only for the Fili (Dutch Pirate) and that is the only issue that the Dems know how to lead on, Dutch Pirate-Filibuster-Obstruction.................

he hammered Democrats for offering no solutions to the nation's most pressing problems. "If leaders of the other party have innovative ideas, let's hear them. But if they have no ideas or policies except obstruction, they should step aside and let others lead," Mr. Bush said to thunderous applause from more than 5,000 supporters.

Absolutely, nothing really more to add to that exactly correct comment..........

The president, who has spent the last several months seeking consensus on his Social Security reform package and reaching out to Democrats with non-confrontational rhetoric, said opposition party leaders are pursuing "the philosophy of the stop sign, the agenda of the road block, and our country and our children deserve better."

Bush has tried to seek consensus on a critical issue that a huge majority of Americans believe needs attention and reform. The President is willing to talk in a consensus building fashion and just gets "non-action" and "obstruction".

"The other approach is to simply do nothing, to delay solutions, obstruct progress, refuse to take responsibility. Members of the other party have worked with us to achieve important reforms on some issues, yet, too often, their leadership prefers to block the ideas of others."

Bush nailed this one and expressed it exactly how it is. The Dems are on the verge of suffering fatal labeling, if they do not reach out to this President with a mandate and start working on these very hard problems we have and must face. If they do not then they will pay severely in the election of 2006...............

Per my prior Post on the Senate Approval Ratings for the Fili Compromise Gang of 14, the public seems really to reward the consensus building the President has been trying to build for the past several months. Time to come to the table Harry and Nancy, and understand that you are the minority, but you have been invited and help solve our problems instead of making them worse due to non-action because of an inbreed obstructionist agenda.......................

Evidence Proves Kofi Lied And Is Guilty

Well what do you know, the old socialist guard at the UN have been lying to the world

Kofi Smoking Gun

A new memo that shows that Kofi lied about meeting with Cotecna Inspection Service, the company that hired his son, and one of his son's Kojo's supervisors was a life long friend Michael Wilson.

Fox has the evidence that shows an email from Kofi's life long friend and Kojo's supervisor Michael , that proves that Wilson sent an email to Cotecna management saying that he had a meeting with the soon to be former Secretary General, where the following occurred:

"We had brief discussions with the SG [the acronym for secretary-general] and his entourage. Their collective advise [sic] was that we should respond as best as we could to the Q and A session of the 1-12-98 and that we could count on their support."

Well Kofi is a socialist crook, as I always knew and he kept Saddam Hussein in power due to his corrupt UN government and money grab. Without the Oil for Food fraud money it can be argued that Saddam would not have held on to power.

Kofi is a dead man walking and the stench of the corruption at the socialist UN is overwhelming. A great deal of heads had better roll on this and the whole rat's nest had better be cleaned out or America should completely stop all funding of the UN.

Approval Numbers For Filibuster Compromise Senators

The Senator approval ratings from yesterday are interesting. I broke them out by the Fili Compromise group of 14 and compared them that way to their approve rate from 5/5/205:

Senate Poll Numbers

Republicans

McCain 67% (-2%)
Snowe unchanged @ (71%)
Collins unchanged @ (71%)
Dewine 44% (-1%)
Chafee 53% (+5%)
Graham 53% (-1%)
Warner 53% (-2%)
Average: - 1%

Democrats

Byrd 63% (+7%)
Pryor 58% (+2%)
Salazar 55% (+2%)
Lieberman 65% (+4%)
Inouye 70% (+2%)
Landrieu 54% (+4%)
Nelson 64% (+2%)
Average: +3.3%

The obvious thing is that Democrats went up in their poll numbers considerably compared to Republicans. On 5/5 the seven Dems had a collective approval average of 58% and it went up 61%. On 5/5 the seven Republicans had a 59% approval average and it went down to 58%.

The biggest winners were Chafee of RI +5%, Byrd of WV +7%, and I think Landrieu of LA with a 4% bump that took her up from the mid-mark of 50%. That’s the other thing I see is that all with the exception of Dewine, and Landrieu when she voted, had pretty solid approval numbers going into the compromise. Perhaps that is the main reason they felt they could compromise because they had pretty good poll numbers but so do lots of other Senators and they did not join the group. I don't know what the story was with Dewine. Seems a politican at 45% should not be taking chances, but he did and we shall see how it plays out.

The other thing I saw was that Red State Democrats certainly benefited the most. Aside from Lieberman (CT) ( who is a true centralist in my opinion ) and Inouye (HI), all five of the other Senators are from pretty strong Red States.

Conversely Snow, Collins, and Chafee are Blue state Republicans and they either stayed the same (Snowe & Collins) or went up by +5% (Chafee). What does that tell us?

I’m not sure but I think it tells us that no one on the compromise team really got hurt and most had significant gains. Especially a Senator who is from the opposing party from the party that won their state in the Presidential election in 2004. Seems that being viewed as a centralist in that situation is a positive poll mover. Interesting………….

AFL-CIO Breaking Up?

Sounds like the socialist union mothership is seriously considering breaking-up

Union Break-up

The Service Employees International Union gave authorization to its union leaders to quit the AFL-CIO. This would probably start the domino affect.

Decentralizing and disbanding the mothership AFL-CIO would be a good thing. It might lead to saving lots of important companies that employ thousands of people in well paying jobs, like say GM and Ford. Fair and reasonable wages are required, but union wages today in several industries are on the verge of destroying the companies.

French Business Model

The economic cost of socialism via Ankle Biting Pundits

Socialist Model

A $37,000 waged employee costs a company a total of $85,035 due to benefits!!!!! $48,035 in benefits or 130% of their wages!!!!

This is why socialism has always been a failure and will always end in failure.....

Drudge On The Hillary Book By Ed Klein

Well we knew that the Clinton White House was dysfunctional as was the Clinton household, but this dysfunctional?

Hillary

Man, we are over three years away from the Presidential election 2008, and this is a liberal Clinton insider writing this. The info coming will get much worse and much more revealing...................................

Jean Carnahan Is A George Sorros Sponsored Blogger

I saw a bumper sticker on a car today in West County that had the following: www.westcountydemocrates.org

I have never seen such a bumper sticker so tonight I looked for the site. Nothing came up but I did find a site that I think might be associated with it.

Responsible Government

Basically the Missouri Socialist Democratic party web site in the sprit of MoveOn, but with a Missouri DNC slant. Lots of postings about God, churches, church bells, values, etc. The DNC knows that they have been squarely identified as a party who's platform does not match the values of a huge majorities of Americans. So what to do? Well get Jean Carnahan to be the front for a blog that is attempting to give the Missouri DNC the critical requirement of "having mainstream American values" as well as "Missouri mainstream values". Well that's sort of like the old saying you can put perfume on a pig, but..........................

So that's what Jean is up to these days, she blogs for George Sorros the Responsible Government gang.

Blogger Jean



This site hates Bush of course and has lots of loony moonbat posts about Bush, but man do they hate Blunt. The Socialist Democratic Missouri party does not like their current status of being completely irrelevant and powerless in state politics. Well they better develop an appetite for it because I don't see that changing for some time......................

Bottom line on the blog site, pretty weak but give them credit they are trying. Problem is you don't import values and have them stick unless the values are in the party platform. The values they are trying to present on the blog are not the values of the DNC...............

Sean Penn Covering the Election In Iran

Well I sure feel a whole lot better now that Sean Penn is in Iran covering the elections, how about you? Cox & Forkum have a good post and cartoon on the subject

Cox & Forkum

Now if we could only get Jimmy Carter over there we would truly have the dynamic duo would we not?

Latest From Iran

Regime Change Iran has the latest from Iran and the bombings over the weekend

Iran Update

There is some speculation that the regime may be behind the bombings. Reason? The regime in Iran has started the bomb explosions so that when the Iranian people are not out on the election day... they (the ruling clergies) can justify it by saying: Our enemies, the opposition groups scared the hell out of our people...!

I'm still hopeful that the spark that has already been lit, will turn into a huge fire and move toward democracy.........

Fact Check of Frank Rich's AFI Article

Just One Minute has a fact check on Frank Rich's Artistic Impressionist Journalism piece "Don't Follow the Money" (via Instapundit)

Fact Check

Rich gets a lot wrong as Just One Minute points out, but per my previous post on the Rich article, those who write from an Artistic Impressionist Journalism point of view, don't much care about facts or accuracy, its more about promoting their impression of the facts.............................

Artisan Impressionist Journalism - AIF

I'm the creator and inventor of the phrase:

"Artisan Impressionist Journalism". AIF for short.

Here is the logic of the AIF:

I guess it might be the artisan in people like Rich, Eric the Mink, and Krugman, that allows them to separate from the real world facts and enter that creative dimension of making up what they want to to promote influence. Artistic creation journalists tend to forget facts and reality and just go with their own impression and or desired impression. They creation an agenda driven interpretation of what the person, group, organization or subject is doing, has done or why it happened. It certainly is not good journalism but it is done within the boundaries of journalism and in an active journalistic role, and that is the serious problem. I call it "Artisan Impressionist Journalism".

Krugman Is Officer Number One In The AIF Club Per Okrent

Speaking of Krugman and the Time Machine at the NYT, Daniel Okrent, who until May 25 was the Times' public editor has a lot to tell. In the last column after his 18-month contract, Okrent wrote:

"Op-ed columnist Paul Krugman has the disturbing habit of shaping, slicing and selectively citing numbers in a fashion that pleases his acolytes but leaves him open to substantive assaults." Okrent added that Krugman is ideological and unfair and should be held to higher standards by the man who hired him.


So if you like to be lied to, and told things that you want to hear, without accurate and factual backing you love Krugman. That come from a former NYT internal editor, not me. That should tell one volumes about Krugman's hate based premises and distorted articles. He is the essence of the "Artisan Impressionist Journalist". Here is all you need to know about the Artisan Impressionist Journalist (AIJ) motives of Krugman per Okrent:

It's hardly surprising that the Times would hire a columnist who blames everything wrong in the world on President Bush.

It's Krugman's AIJ view of the world I'd say that make it a harder place to ensure peace, prosperity, and rights for all ...............

Frank Rich Becomes A Total Artisan Impressionist Journalist

Frank Rich is one of the most haughted of all journalists by the Vietnam war and Watergate. In his June 12th offering he enters the New York Time Machine and takes up permanent residency back in the early 70's.

Frank Rich Goes Back In Time To His Motivation

Rich is a reporter who writes on Art & Entertainment as well as everything evil in the world that moderate to right of center people have done, are doing, and are planning to do. I have issues with Art & Entertainment reporters covering non-art material in the paper as I have said here:

here

I guess it might be the artisan in people like Rich, Eric the Mink, and Krugman, that allows them to separate from the real world facts and enter that creative dimension of making up what they want to to promote influence. Artistic creation journalists tend to forget facts and reality and just go with their own impression and or desired impression. They creation an agenda driven interpretation of what the person, group, organization or subject is doing, has done or why it happened. It certainly is not good journalism but it is done within the boundaries of journalism and in an active journalistic role, and that is the serious problem. I call it "Artisan Impressionist Journalism".

The MSM has provided Artisan Impressionist Journalist like Rich the canvas to paint their distorted and agenda driven impression of the facts. It sells well with other Artisan Impressionist subscribers. They love to read in print, see on TV, see it at the movies or hear on radio. A theory very separated from facts that supports their own neurosis. It feeds their insatiable hate for government, the military, big business, capitalism, and America in essence. The European socialist democracy that the Artisan Impressionists desire, is based in none of that. A nirvana of their ultra left freedoms without the establishment that ensures all freedoms that they are free to participate in. They hate the freedom that brings them the right and opportunity to engage in the experience that defines them and they so enjoy and fulfills them. Saying this view is short sighted and irrational is less than complete in analyzing it.

Rich is very close to clinically insane, due to the uncountable findings and facts that continue to discredit him and the Artisan Impressionist MSM. They are being separated further and further from the reality of America and Americans. They are being flushed literally out of the sphere of creditability and relevance in the minds of rational Americans and a rational America. That is why only 28% of all Americans rate the MSM "credible".

There is so much more to write and post on related to the irrational Artisan Impressionist rants of Frank Rich in his latest offering. I plan to post much more on this matter as I'm sure many others are. However this is my first impression, and that impression could not be further separated from the Rich lead Artisan Impressionist MSM mindset and agenda.............................We need journalists in America that are not Artisan Impressionist journalist if we are to hear and learn the truth.........................