...A Tale of Two Cities...................T 

Anti-War, My Foot

Really, I thought winning the Cold War & 2 Reagan landslides had put these fools out of business.....keep dreaming, fruitcakes! Vietnam is never, ever coming back! Get a job! Cut your hair!.....................T
The phony peaceniks who protested in Washington. By Christopher Hitchens.
Saturday's demonstration in Washington, in favor of immediate withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq, was the product of an opportunistic alliance between two other very disparate "coalitions." Here is how the New York Times described the two constituenciess of the event:
"The protests were largely sponsored by two groups, the Answer Coalition, which embodies a wide range of progressive political objectives, and United for Peace and Justice, which has a more narrow, antiwar focus."
The name of the reporter on this story was Michael Janofsky. I suppose that it is possible that he has never before come across "International ANSWER," the group run by the "Worker's World" party and fronted by Ramsey Clark, which openly supports Kim Jong-il, Fidel Castro, Slobodan Milosevic, and the "resistance" in Afghanistan and Iraq, with Clark himself finding extra time to volunteer as attorney for the génocidaires in Rwanda. Quite a "wide range of progressive political objectives" indeed, if that's the sort of thing you like. However, a dip into any database could have furnished Janofsky with well-researched and well-written articles by David Corn and Marc Cooper—to mention only two radical left journalists—who have exposed "International ANSWER" as a front for (depending on the day of the week) fascism, Stalinism, and jihadism.

This just in: Bush hates black-folk! call back Dan Rather!..............T 

The truth about global warming - it's the Sun that's to blame

Oh, the Left is gonna go Ape when they hear this one...turns out the Sun is (gasp) a Republican!!! (oh no! gasp)..............................T
Global warming has finally been explained: the Earth is getting hotter because the Sun is burning more brightly than at any time during the past 1,000 years, according to new research.
A study by Swiss and German scientists suggests that increasing radiation from the sun is responsible for recent global climate changes.
Dr Sami Solanki, the director of the renowned Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen, Germany, who led the research, said: "The Sun has been at its strongest over the past 60 years and may now be affecting global temperatures.
"The Sun is in a changed state. It is brighter than it was a few hundred years ago and this brightening started relatively recently - in the last 100 to 150 years."
..."The Sun's radiance may well have an impact on climate change but it needs to be looked at in conjunction with other factors such as greenhouse gases, sulphate aerosols and volcano activity," he said. The research adds weight to the views of David Bellamy, the conservationist. "Global warming - at least the modern nightmare version - is a myth," he said. "I am sure of it and so are a growing number of scientists. But what is really worrying is that the world's politicians and policy-makers are not.
"Instead, they have an unshakeable faith in what has, unfortunately, become one of the central credos of the environmental movement: humans burn fossil fuels, which release increased levels of carbon dioxide - the principal so-called greenhouse gas - into the atmosphere, causing the atmosphere to heat up. They say this is global warming: I say this is poppycock."

The big picture

Exactly..........................T
...isn't America hated around the world? By the elites and chattering classes of many countries, yes, and by much of the American elite and chattering class as well. But we are not competing in a popularity contest. In a unipolar world, the single superpower will always arouse envy and dislike. The relevant question is if we can live safely in the world; the French may dislike us, but we can live comfortably with France. The recent Pew Trust polls showing diminishing support for Islamist terrorism in Muslim countries indicate things are moving in the right direction. The increasing interweaving of China into the international economy suggests China may not be a military threat. A world spinning out of control? No, it is more like a world moving, with some backward steps, in the direction we want.

Thank you, Bill Clinton, for Justice Breyer, who believes Scottish law is binding on our Constitution (not kidding, really!) and thanks to "Splugy" for finding this toon!.........T

P-gate: Finally a Scandal That Holds Water

Thank you again, CornetJim, my friend! I'd write a more interesting Intro, but I am too busy laughing!...................T
"Democrats are getting frantic. Time is running out. With all the trash they've piled on Bush, they STILL haven't come up with a viable impeachment issue with any bite, until now. I mean Bush has been dumped on so much; he's had to take out a permit as a landfill. Throughout Bush's political career, the left has deliriously persisted in its regularity in sending up impeachment trial balloons.

Here's a list of junk the Demos have tried to hang our duly elected president: "

1. Cocaine Gate— 30 years ago? What's the statute of limitations? Has Senator Kennedy accounted for his leaving Mary Jo Kopechne to drown while he swam and then ran away? His sole purpose was to save his sorry, never worked a day in his life, anti-USA, pro enemy, career as the Senate's backbiter in chief?
Anyhow, I hear Bush never inhaled. Diagnosis-DEAD.
2. AWOL Gate—Dan Rather stood by this phony story and it ruined his career. Did any Democrat object to President Clintons draft dodging? Diagnosis-DEADER than Dan Blather's legacy as a fair and unbiased reporter.
3. Immigration Gate—Could have legs, but Demos, like Bush are too afraid of losing the ever growing Latino vote. Diagnosis-Ignored and covered up by both sides.
4. Bush a "dumb chimp" Gate—Never could figure out how Demos STILL call Bush dumb, after he totally outmaneuvered them. How do you lose to the brain dead twice and still mock him for it? Diagnosis-DEAD, by political aneurism.
5. Stolen election Gate (part 1) —Supremes stole it! After 8 years of delirious happiness and terrorism preparedness by the Clinton Administration, why didn't Gore win in a landslide? Diagnosis-Settled Law.
6. Stolen election Gate (part 2) —I believe even c-BS has conceded Ohio. Diagnosis-Bush victory.
7. 9/11 Gate—A special place in American history when an ex-governor, Presidential Candidate, and now DNC head, Howie "THE SCREAM" Dean postulated that Bush knew about the WTC and Pentagon attacks IN ADVANCE…without a scintilla of evidence. Diagnosis-Downright Traitorous.
8. Rove/Plame/Wilson Gate—Valerie was exposed as CIA by Novak, not Rove. Bush not implicated. Wilson issued BS report on Saddam's try to buy yellow cake from Niger. Diagnosis-No frosting on that pastry.
9. WMD Gate—Saddam had 'em, used 'em, agreed to get rid of and account for 'em. He failed to account for them in the very least. Wonder where they are. Dems are totally oblivious. If Bush lied, then the Demos were lying from the late 90's through 2003. I've got the quotes to prove it. Diagnosis-The most hypocritically obnoxious charge of all.
10. Iraq Gate—Bush called it like he saw it. Congress backed him almost 100%. Americans didn't buy. They elected Bush over John "Reporting for Duty" Kerry, going away. Diagnosis-Dead.
11. War Gate—The war is being mismanaged. We needed a larger coalition. We need more/less -0- troops. Who knows? Senator Hagel? Senator Kerry?
Seems like a lot of hindsight to me. Should we have waited for a bigger coalition after Pearl Harbor? FDR declared war on Japan and de facto the REST of her allies within 24 hours after attack. The Germans and Italians hadn't assaulted us. BTW., 407,000 US Soldiers were killed during WW2 in the same time 1,900 US troops have been killed in the War on Terrorism, a 407 to 2 ratio. If we had waited for the bought off French, Germans or Russians, we'd be subject to suicide murderers in our cities EVERY DAY! Diagnosis-Only history will judge for sure, but I predict vindication.
12. Cindy Gate—Take the troops out of Iraq AND New Orleans! I'm sorry for her loss and I honor Casey, but this woman needs medical attention. Diagnosis-Delusions of grandeur, multiple personality disorder, (grieving Mom, patriot, traitor, love/hate Bush/America.) Get her a psychiatrist, meds and therapy. STAT!
13. Downing Street Memo Gate—What happened to those hearings Congressman Conyers? Racist politics serve you much better than the former. Diagnosis-Shredded.
14. Katrina Gate—Initial calls of Bush incompetence due to racism totally false and will be remembered by mid America in '06 and '08 elections. Fault now admitted by local officials and Bush. President will turn this poor performance into some of his finest moments. The man already has spent more on the poor and minorities than any President in our history. A gondola for every home? Diagnosis-will vie for highlight of Bush's political career. If anything, the conservatives may impeach him for his uncontrolled spending!
15. Abu Garib Gate—A NY Times orgy of pics and stories. Forget about those nasty beheadings against Jews, Americans and Coalition forces. The times focus is on evil America. Diagnosis-Could the headline, "THANK YOU OSAMA, WE DESERVE ANOTHER." Be too far away?
16. Saddam Gate—When we couldn't find him it was a major issue for the lefties. Now that we've found him, the Southpaws seem to want him back in power. How about a compromise? Make him editor of the NY Times. Diagnosis-That'll please the left and the right.
17. P-Gate—Finally, an issue that's so full of potential, it could burst a bladder. The Dems even have tradition with them. They got Nixon to resign because of Watergate. Imagine, the President of the United States needing a break for a normal body function. Why, we impeached a President for his uncontrolled bodily functions and the cover up. Was it a false alarm? Did Bush wash his hands afterwards? Did he stall excessively by splashing water on his face? Most importantly, DID HE PUT THE SEAT DOWN WHEN FINISHED??? We have a paper trail: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050914/ids_photos_ts/r2587077477.jpg (not toilet paper, although I hear Howie Dean is searching UN bathrooms for any and all evidence.) Now all libs need is a cover-up…and not the kind that sits atop toilet seats. Diagnosis-The best chance the sainted left has to pass this President right out of their systems. Too bad, Bush won't have a chance at a fair shake…if you know what I mean.

Even with fallen leader, GOP reigns

Time for the on-the-ground political (good) news. Things are in great shape, Cindy Sheehan & Evil-Republican hurricanes notwithstanding!............T
"Looking ahead to 2006, Barone sees good news for Republicans. He notes that Bush carried 31 states last year, compared to Kerry's 19. That means that if the trend toward polarization continues - 'red' states getting redder, 'blue' states getting bluer - the GOP has little reason to fear losing the Senate.

A similar GOP geography advantage holds true in the House. Barone counts 20 congressional districts that Kerry won with 80 percent of the vote, compared to zero for Bush. What that means is that Bush's vote was more evenly spread out; indeed, W. won 255 congressional districts last year, to Kerry's 180. So again, if Republicans can merely hang on to the Bush base, they can hang on to control.

For his part, the conservative Barone would like to see the GOP stay on top, Bush or no Bush. But he earned his reputation as an analyst, not as an advocate. Indeed, the data he has assembled in his new book speak louder than any partisan could."

Shhhh! don't let the secret out! If we didn't control global warming and the winds and ocean currents, we couldn't have achieved this tremendous triumph! Seig Heil!.........T 

Our Rock of Sisyphus

Excerpted here, please read the entire article by Victor Davis Hanson. Perspective is presented insightfully on the overall War on Terror......................T

How goes our hard labor in Iraq?

Where does the United States stand in its so-called global war against terror, four years after the September 11 attack? The news is both encouraging and depressing all at once.
...If on September 12, Americans could have been asked whether they were willing to make the sacrifices we have already tragically incurred to achieve the end of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein , the democratic stirrings in the Middle East, and the avoidance of another September 11, most would have reluctantly done so.
...But right now all this is in the hands of a brilliant U.S. military that must stabilize Iraq, train a viable military, ward off foreign intruders — and do that without losing very many more soldiers and in very little time. An impossible task for any other military — but just possible for ours.
...So I think we will accomplish all that, as we have pushed the rock almost to the summit. But it is heavier than ever and one or two more of our stumbles and it could come crashing back — just as it was ready to roll over the top and cascade down the other side.

Assigning blame

His wit is razor sharp, his economy with words, impeccable. Not to mention his humor...The author devastates the leftist idiocy so rampant at this moment.....................T
"In less enlightened times, there was no catastrophe independent of human agency. When the plague or some other natural disaster struck, witches were burned, Jews were massacred and all felt better (except the witches and Jews).
A few centuries later, our progressive thinkers have progressed not an inch. No fall of a sparrow on this planet is not attributed to sin and human perfidy. The three current favorites are: (1) global warming, (2) the war in Iraq and (3) tax cuts. Katrina hits and the unholy trinity is immediately invoked to damn sinner-in-chief George W. Bush.
This kind of stupidity merits no attention whatsoever, but I'll give it a paragraph."

Back to Business

Now, time for a reality check...the libs are in for a long, cold, winter..................T
"President Bush had a rough summer. That doesn't mean he's in for a fall."...
...But the simple fact of governing in Washington is that popularity is not a measure of power. In the late '90s, President Clinton's approval rating stayed well above 60%, even after he was impeached. But Mr. Clinton had almost no clout. True, this was partly because he faced a Republican Congress. A Bush aide was accurate (if self-serving) in drawing the distinction this way: "The difference is between polls in the 40s and changing history and being in the 60s and twiddling your thumbs. We'll take the 40s. That's our motto."

The Culture of Blame

Another great piece, passed on by our colleague "CornetJim". Great humor needs one thing more than any other to be truly funny: Truth. Read on, and be prepared to laugh while you are sobbing............................T

The Culture of Blame-on assigning blame for Hurricane Katrina: "Let me make this clear: Everything which has happened as the result of Hurricane Katrina is my fault. Mine. Alone. No one else's. Stop wasting energy pointing fingers and put your hands to work helping out. It was me. Got it? I was a United States Senator from Louisiana in 2001 when the levee at Lake Pontchartrain was declared unsafe and I didn't have enough clout with my Senatorial brethren to get sufficient money appropriated to fix it. It was my fault. Oh. I almost forgot. I was the Commander-in-Chief of all United States Armed Forces in the 1960s which includes the Corps of Engineers. The cost-benefit analysis? My fault. It is my fault that, as the Governor of Louisiana, I didn't foresee the need to have enough Louisiana National Guard troops--the vast majority of whom are NOT currently in Iraq, or Afghanistan or, for that matter, Indiana--pre-positioned and ready to preserve order. I, frankly, forgot that there is a portion of the population which will steal anything from anyone given any opportunity and then will blame it on me because I didn't--in spite of ample warnings by sociologists from large Eastern Universities--foresee the need to have 27" flat-screen television sets available to every family in the New Orleans city limits as soon as the electricity went out. That one WAS my bad. It is my fault that, as Mayor of New Orleans, I was boogying down Bourbon Street the night before the hurricane hit rather than being where I should have been--on the roof of the Superdome pounding in extra nails to hold the roof on. As the architect of the Superdome, it was my fault for claiming that the Dome could survive 200 mile-per-hour winds. It couldn't even handle a relatively gentle 160 mile-per-hour zephyr. Strap me to my drafting table and set me adrift. Global warming? My fault. Despite the fact that nearly every serious climatologist in America has stated over and over again that there is no clear evidence tying human-generated greenhouse gasses to global warming, and even if there were, there is no evidence tying global warming to hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, I was opposed to the Kyoto treaty and so it is my fault. It is also my fault that during the administration of Bill Clinton the U.S. Senate rejected the terms of the Kyoto protocols by a vote of 95-0. That would be zero, zilch, nada, nil, bupkis. As the Grand Poohbah in Charge of all TV Coverage, it is my fault that there is constant video of looters and almost none of humanitarian activities. I am the person who issued the statement: 'No more rescue footage UNLESS the person rescued complains about how long they had to wait or, if he shoots at the rescuers.' And, finally, as Chairman of the National Association of Gasoline Producers it is my fault that I had the bad judgment to put so much of my drilling, refining and transportation assets in a hurricane-prone area like the Caribbean basin. What...was...I...thinking? If I could re-do that whole thing, I would have put all that equipment in Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. There may not be any oil there, but hurricanes are very rare. So. There you have it. Everything that has happened is my fault. Now. Shut up and help."--Rich Galen

A War to Be Proud Of

Please do not fail to read the whole article (click on the link). Hitchens lays out the most compelling and detailed case for the war you will have ever come by. In painstaking detail, the author disarms the critics of the war effortlessly, and entirely. Print out a copy to use as a "Bible" when confronted by leftist cranks...........T
"The case for overthrowing Saddam was unimpeachable. Why, then, is the administration tongue-tied?
I am one of those who believe, uncynically, that Osama bin Laden did us all a service (and holy war a great disservice) by his mad decision to assault the American homeland four years ago. Had he not made this world-historical mistake, we would have been able to add a Talibanized and nuclear-armed Pakistan to our list of the threats we failed to recognize in time. (This threat still exists, but it is no longer so casually overlooked.)
The subsequent liberation of Pakistan's theocratic colony in Afghanistan, and the so-far decisive eviction and defeat of its bin Ladenist guests, was only a reprisal. It took care of the last attack. But what about the next one? For anyone with eyes to see, there was only one other state that combined the latent and the blatant definitions of both "rogue" and "failed." This state--Saddam's ruined and tortured and collapsing Iraq--had also met all the conditions under which a country may be deemed to have sacrificed its own legal sovereignty. To recapitulate: It had invaded its neighbors, committed genocide on its own soil, harbored and nurtured international thugs and killers, and flouted every provision of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United Nations, in this crisis, faced with regular insult to its own resolutions and its own character, had managed to set up a system of sanctions-based mutual corruption. In May 2003, had things gone on as they had been going, Saddam Hussein would have been due to fill Iraq's slot as chair of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament. Meanwhile, every species of gangster from the hero of the Achille Lauro hijacking to Abu Musab al Zarqawi was finding hospitality under Saddam's crumbling roof.
One might have thought, therefore, that Bush and Blair's decision to put an end at last to this intolerable state of affairs would be hailed, not just as a belated vindication of long-ignored U.N. resolutions but as some corrective to the decade of shame and inaction that had just passed in Bosnia and Rwanda. But such is not the case. An apparent consensus exists, among millions of people in Europe and America, that the whole operation for the demilitarization of Iraq, and the salvage of its traumatized society, was at best a false pretense and at worst an unprovoked aggression. How can this possibly be? "

Iraq's Federalist Papers

"The constitution empowers legislators, not clerics."
Finally, the truth begins to emerge. Iraq policy has been a great success. No attacks at home in 4 years now, historically the lowest casualty rate in any conflict in the history of the world, and now the Iraqi constitution ensures the viability of the new Iraqi State............T
Iraq's first freely elected government continues to vindicate the belief that the Mideast can be transformed, starting with Saddam Hussein's former tyranny. Its draft constitution, which appears headed for parliamentary approval tonight, reflects a remarkable spirit of compromise--and even enlightenment--among the country's political, ethnic and religious factions.

Whoa is us, we are evil Americans....(Vote Democrat! hee-haw!)...........T 

Of minds and metrics

The news (please click the link for the full article) we don't hear from the "MSM"!!!....................T
Two generations ago, Americans, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of deaths, changed minds in Germany and Japan. The Pew Global Project Attitude's metrics give us reason to believe that today's Americans, at far lower cost, are changing minds in the Muslim world.
George W. Bush has proclaimed that we are working to build democracy in Iraq not just for Iraqis, but in order to advance freedom and defeat fanatical Islamist terrorism around the world. Now comes the Pew Global Attitudes Project's recent survey of opinion in six Muslim countries to tell us that progress is being made in achieving that goal.
Minds are being changed, and in the right direction.
Most importantly, support for terrorism in defense of Islam has "declined dramatically," in the Pew report's words, in Muslim countries, except in Jordan (which has a Palestinian majority) and Turkey, where support has remained a low 14 percent. It has fallen in Indonesia (from 27 percent to 15 percent since 2002), Pakistan (from 41 percent to 25 percent since 2004) and Morocco (from 40 percent to 13 percent since 2004), and among Muslims in Lebanon (from 73 percent to 26 percent since 2002).

Liberals First, Americans Second: San Francisco No Longer Supports the U.S. Military

From the Subtle to the Sublime.Try to restrain your tears of laughter long enough to mourn the vicious anti-Americanism evident in this decision.............T
"Liberals often lamented, during the election of 2004, that the presence of war gave a natural advantage to Republicans. For some unknown reason, most Americans do not trust Liberals to run a war, or treat the military well, or even put America’s international interests above pet social causes.
The anti-war left responded to this belief with a set of standard talking points: Liberals oppose the war, but they support the troops. They hate the President’s policies, but they respect and honor the military and their sacrifice.
Somebody, however, forgot to send the memo to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which last month stunned veterans groups, local businesses and even Diane Feinstein when it voted 8-3 to banish the USS Iowa from San Francisco Bay.
But the anti-military Government of San Francisco will not accept the ship, because the Supervisors oppose the Iraq war, do not wish to glorify the military and its “machinery of war,” and the manic gay rights movement is mad about the Clinton “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy on homosexuals serving in the military, a policy once hailed as a major gay rights victory. Also, San Francisco wishes to only build “Peace” monuments –you know, like Ho Chi Minh Park.
Because of the radical anti-military politics of eight of San Francisco’s Board Members, the city will be denied an attraction, veterans will be denied their memorial, and the men and women serving our country all over the world have been told that San Francisco no longer wishes to support them or their dreaded machines at all.
Apparently, “anti-war” now includes World War II as well. What’s next? Does the Board plan on officially removing the sailor from the “Village People?” Can San Franciscans still sing "In The Navy" without fear of being labeled fascists?"

Speak of the Dead

Whoa....right on target! They go down to defeat again in 2006, I predict. ....T
IN THE FOUR YEARS OR so since September 11, liberals have found a new weapon of preference, and that weapon is martyrdom. They have discovered grief as a tactical weapon. They tend to like grief they can use. They use it to arouse guilt and sympathy to cover a highly partisan message, in the hope that while the message may be controversial, the messenger will be sacrosanct and above reproach. Since 9/11, they have embraced this tactic repeatedly, and each time with a common objective: to cripple the war, to denounce the country, to swing an election, but mainly to embarrass and undermine the president.

Castro Bashes John Bolton as 'Gangster'

Politics AND MEDIA affairs are the focus of this page. After reading this article, The reason for the convergence becomes ever more obvious. The treasonous activities of the press during the Iraq war, in particular, and the Bush presidency in general, should not numb us to the fact of the traitorous activities of many during the Clinton years. Not the press in that case, but the administration itself, which sold weapons and technology the Chinese, gave it away free to the North Koreans, pardoned Marc Rich (the international arms merchant who sold nuclear technology to the Iranians), and gave away intelligence to Fidel Castro!
You will need a cocktail or two after this one!.....................T
"In early 1957, when the only thing he commanded was a half-starved band of a dozen 'rebels' in Cuba's Sierra Maestra mountains, Fidel Castro was approached by some of his rebel group's wealthy urban backers.
'What can we do?' They asked. 'How can we help the glorious rebellion? We can write you some checks. We can buy you some arms. We can recruit more men. Tell us, Fidel, what can we do to help?'
'For now,' answered Castro, 'get me a New York Times reporter up here.'
Bingo! The rest is history. They quickly complied and The New York Times' ranking Latin American expert, Herbert Matthews, was escorted to the rebel camp with his notepad, tape recorder and cameras. Within weeks Castro was being hailed as the Robin Hood of latin America on the front page of the world's most prestigious papers. Within two years he was dictator of Cuba, executing hundreds of political prisoners per week, jailing thousands more -- all the while being hailed as 'the George Washington of Cuba!' by everyone from Jack Paar to Walter Lippmann to Ed Sullivan to Harry Truman."