Dril HERE, Drill now. Stop screwing us around, Pelosi

The Democrats are lying to us again. Instead of fighting it out in the realm of ideas, the Democratic Congress is trying to PERMANENTLY ban drilling offshore. If this bill pass, those that vote for it should be brought up on charges of treason or removed from office because of mental incompetence.

Ben Stein has the details:

Amazingly, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives gave the American people a firm slap in the face while it planted a big wet sloppy kiss on the lips of Hollywood's glitterati. On September 16th, the House of Representatives narrowly passed Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comically named "Access" Bill. This past Saturday, the Senate approved the lifting of the 26-year ban on new offshore oil drilling. In the guise of doing what America wants Speaker Pelosi's bill does the following:

* Places off limits areas within fifty miles of the coast line, where 80 percent of the oil and gas deposits are. This bill, if it becomes law, will place these energy rich areas off limits permanently.

* Places off limits such energy rich areas as the Destin Dome off Florida and the super-rich areas off the coast of California on a permanent basis.

* In a gesture of what she probably thought was courage, Speaker Pelosi allows drilling on seven percent of the acreage offshore in the most difficult, deep water areas, one hundred or more miles offshore.

* If state legislatures sign on, drilling would be allowed in a further 12 percent of the untapped areas between 50 and 100 miles offshore -- again, difficult areas to explore and difficult areas in which to drill.

Palin '08

With the harsh words and dirty tricks the left has pulled on Sarah Palin over the last few weeks, I was looking for a way to tweek back the left. This will work perfectly -- especially if you have a big SUV back window like I do.

Go to your computer. Launch the text editor of your choice, or MS Publisher -- if you have it -- and as a banner/bumper sticker, type out in the biggest words you can "PALIN '08!"

If you're really looking for a brawl, include a picture of her from your favorite web site.

Ahh, the reactions bring a warm spot to my heart!



Note: I didn't leave out McCain as a slam to him, but it's Sarah that REALY sends the left off the deep end.

Just Give Us Our Money Back

We'll fix this on our own, without greedy, manipulative politicians.

The ultimate example of opportunistic politics before good government was displayed in Washington over the past several days. Political operatives from both sides of the aisle did everything in their power to create a government-based solution to the financial crisis facing our country; a government-created problem. In the end the US House of Representatives voted down the highly contentious Wall Street bailout bill mostly due to the fact that we are within the 30-day window when voters do not forget actions taken by their elected officials. If only the public's attention were always so focused.
In the end 90 House Democrats joined with 133 House Republicans in an effort to stop a measure that would have seen the biggest expansion of government in US history. In effect, it would have placed the coyote in charge of the hen house.
Many in our citizenry viewed the now-dead proposal as a "no fault" measure that would have allowed those responsible for this financial malfeasance to escape culpability and with good reason. Watching US Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and US Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) - along with their leadership, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senior Senator from New York, Charles Schumer - harangue about how Democrats were taking the lead in crafting "bi-partisan" legislation to "rescue" the average American from the evils of Wall Street was the ultimate exercise in political hypocrisy.
Frank and Dodd, both chairmen of their respective committees that over see the financial community on matters directly related to this crisis and the malfeasance that brought us to this point, were derelict in their duties not only as chairmen charged with oversight, but in their duties to their respective constituencies in that they were not providing good government.
Without doubt, Frank and Dodd should resign from their chairmanships immediately and without question. If the GOP had been in control of Congress at this point in time Democrats would have been screaming for the chairmen's resignation not only from their chairmanships but from Congress. So, let's exact some "what's good for the goose" here.

Our elected officials - our US Representatives, US Senators and the White House - must understand we the taxpayers - We the People - have had enough and are exercising our constitutionally mandated right to provide oversight to our elected officials. To do that we must make our voices heard.
Just as We the People stopped the sham of an immigration bill we can apply enough pressure on our elected officials to bring them to craft a piece of legislation that affords taxpayer monies to the taxpayers so that they can lift themselves out of this financial crisis by paying their own bills. Approaching the existing crisis in this manner would:
▪ Make available liquid assets to the banks and financial institutions currently strapped for cash because of the "bad paper" they hold.
▪ Eliminate the immediate threat of foreclosure to those who were afforded loans they couldn't afford.
▪ Eliminate any need for a massive expansion of federal government, thus reducing the proposal for a greater "governmental footprint" in our private lives.
▪ Allows taxpayers to use their own money to rectify private sector matters without governmental interference.
The solution for this "crisis" rests with the people, not the government; government will be responsible for repealing Bill Clinton's National Homeownership Initiative and eliminating Jimmy Carter's Community Reinvestment Act, and disciplining US Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd for their dereliction of duty with regard to their obligation to provide congressional oversight.
In the beginning, when our Framers and Founders created the incredible documents that are The Charters of Freedom - the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights - they understood that government was to be executed from the local to the federal; they maintained that because we had a citizen government, created to serve the people rather than to lord over the people, that the power needed to rest with the people.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time to exercise our constitutional duties of civic responsibility. Let's tell government to give us our own money back so we can fix the mess they have created. It is time to put good government before opportunistic blame-game politics. Anything else would be to ignore the will of the people.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Frank Salvato is the managing editor for The New Media Journal. He serves at the Executive Director of the Basics Project, a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(C)(3) research and education initiative.
Feedback: editorialdirector@familysecuritymatters.org.
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DEMOCRATS getting a pass on the Bail Out Bill

Pelosi gave HER allies a pass to vote NO while demanding support from the GOP. We may be in economic trouble, but, this is not an emergency in her eyes. The Democrats are more interested in hurting the GOP than helping the country.

Willing to sink the economy rather that admit that THEY are wrong....

The recent attacks on the "greed of Wall Street" and on the Republican party are pitiful. The Democratic Party is a corrupt, willfully criminal organization, as it is run by the Pelosi, Frank, Reid, and Dodd gang. The assorted media is inept and incompetent.

I'm not college educated. I'm not an economist. But, even I had enough common sense and knowledge of history, to know that programs put into place to prevent another depression, MAY HAVE BEEN PUT THERE FOR A REASON! I predicted this would happen when Clinton and Co. (and there were some GOP members involved, too.) removed the separation of the regular and investment banks. And I predicted it again when the government forced the banking industry to liberalize their loans requirements to "provide loans to poor people....". Affordable housing, my butt. Buying votes is more like it.

Newsbusters.org has the truth:

Bill Clinton on Thursday told ABC's Chris Cuomo that Democrats for years have been "resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was President to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac"...

And from the same article, an interview on Fox, with Brit Hume:

ANGLE: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, backed by the federal government, buy mortgage loans from the lenders who make them. But four years ago, both were in trouble over shoddy accounting. Fannie Mae Chief Franklin Raines, President Clinton's former budget director, was fired. To placate those in Congress who watched over them, Fannie and Freddie promised to do more to help poor people get mortgages. That led them to buy riskier and riskier home loans from private lenders creating incentives for everyone to make shakier loans.

PETER WALLISON, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: The problem is that they encouraged very bad mortgages to be made by banks and other institutions, because Fannie and Freddie would buy them.

ANGLE: Eventually, they bought trillions of dollars worth of mortgages, a substantial portion of them based on poor credit, then resold many of them to financial institutions who thought they were safe because the federal government was behind them.

WALLISON: As a result of this appearance that they were backed by the government, people never paid very much attention to the assets they were acquiring or the risks they were taking.

ANGLE: And so shaky mortgages spread throughout the system. But in 2005, the Senate Banking Committee, then chaired by Republican Richard Shelby, tried to rein in the two organizations bypassing some strong new regulations.

WALLISON: Which would have prevented Fannie and Freddie from acquiring this bad -- these bad mortgages. It actually gave a new regulator for Fannie and Freddie the kinds of powers that a bank regulator had.

ANGLE: All the Republicans voted for it. All the Democrats, including the current chairman, Senator Chris Dodd, voted against it, and that was after Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan had issued a stark warning to senators that Fannie and Freddie were playing with fire. Greenspan said without stronger regulations, "We increase the possibility of insolvency and crisis. Without restrictions on the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, we put at risk our ability to preserve safe and sound financial markets in the United States."

And then there was....US. I notice that A WHOLE BUNCHA PEOPLE refinanced over the last few years......Yep, no complaining about a bubble then.... We are the ones at fault. For voting in these idiots and keeping them there. For buying the newspapers and watching the shows of those "news" media that continue to support them.
But we don't have to compound the problem by allowing these crooks in Congress to steal us blind and ruin the economy just so that THEY don't have to admit culpability.

Will the economy crash if there is no "bail out"? I don't know. But I do know that the Democrats don't act like this is an emergency. They had the votes to pass whatever is needed to fix the emergency. The original bill was 3 PAGES LONG! APPARENTLY THAT'S TOO COMPLICATED! They added another 107 pages of crap!

The corrupt leadership of Congress needed to stick their fingers in the pie before they were willing to support anything. They needed their share of the loot. Down where I come from, in New Orleans, we recognize that as corruption. And then they blamed the whole thing on the GOP. While asking for their votes.....votes that aren't necessary, since the Dems are the majority. Cowards. If the bill was for the good of the country, why not vote and take ALL THE CREDIT?
Today the vote failed with 40% OF THE DEMOCRATS VOTING AGAINST IT.

Some emergency.

The Pelosi gang insists that there needs to be more "oversight", which, in her world, means more bribes for Democrats....
It was the the willful disregard of existing protections by Dodd and Franks that caused this mess. And now they have the nerve to blame everyone else.......

Jerry Bowyer, at TCS Daily, has a great analogy:

Think of the analogy of a 'bail out': someone knocks a hole in a boat and the water rushes in. The crew bails water out of the boat to keep it from sinking. If things are really bad, another boat comes and helps. This analogy points to the real problem: the hole! If you patch the hole early, no bailing is needed. If you patch it very late, the whole ship needs to go into dry dock. But the bailing out only makes sense in the context of patching the original problem. The worst thing to do would be to allow the ship to sink to make some kind of populist political point. No, revise that:

The worst thing to do would be to take the left's view and say "too much water in the boat, let's knock more holes into it so the water can get out.

Here's how you fix the hole in the boat:

The best thing to do is to patch the holes. Here they are:

Some are talking about putting a hold on the mark to market regulations. That's a start but not enough. Don't suspend mark to market, abolish it. It's part of the whole Sarbox, Spitzer, FAS 157 wave of punitive regulation after Enron. It makes no sense to impose and universalize temporary downturns, especially during panics.

Abolish the Bank Holding Company Act. It's a remnant of the 1920s before branch banking. Its only current effect is to keep private equity from buying majority stakes in troubled banks. Goldman's decision yesterday just illustrates the problem. They had to change structure in order to buy up other banks. This is nuts. Get rid of this dinosaur and private equity will start the capital infusions.

Abolish the Community Reinvestment Act. Forcing banks to make minority loans is the original sin out of which came the Subprime mortgage industry. Let banks decide where to loan; that's their job. Leave identity politics out of our credit system.

Do all of the above and I'm not at all sure that any bailout would still be needed. Before we subsidize these institutions, let's stop the things we are already doing to collapse them. Back to Hippocrates: First of all, do no harm.

Now We Know Whose Side They Are On

No Oil for Blood
Thanks to three American senators, China will be pumping Iraqi oil.
by Frederick W. Kagan 09/16/2008 3:15:00 PM
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/574iglgp.asp

This morning, I had the honor of testifying before the House Budget Committee on the situation in Iraq. The discussion was polite and civilized, and was a reminder that even now it is possible for people who disagree about what to do in Iraq to argue without raised voices and disagreeable language (apart from the Code Pink women, yelling for those who think that shouting opponents down is preferable to arguing with them). Congressman Brian Baird once again demonstrated that it is possible even for those who bitterly opposed the war to recognize the importance of doing the right thing now--as well as the possibility of crossing the Republican-Democrat sectarian divide on this issue. One question came up repeatedly in the hearing that deserves more of an answer than it got, however: Why, after all the assistance we've given to Iraq over the past five years, was the first major Iraqi oil deal signed with China and not with an American or even a western company? The answer is, in part, because three Democratic senators intervened in Iraqi domestic politics earlier this year to prevent Iraq from signing short-term agreements with Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, Chevron, and BP.

The Iraqi government was poised to sign no-bid contracts with those firms this summer to help make immediate and needed improvements in Iraq's oil infrastructure. The result would have been significant foreign investment in Iraq, an expansion of Iraqi government revenues, and an increase in the global supply of oil. One would have thought that leading Democratic senators who claim to be interested in finding other sources of funding to replace American dollars in Iraq, in helping Iraq spend its own money on its own people, and in lowering the price of gasoline for American citizens, would have been all for it. Instead, Senators Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, and Claire McCaskill wrote a letter to Secretary of State Rice asking her "to persuade the GOI [Government of Iraq] to refrain from signing contracts with multinational oil companies until a hydrocarbon law is in effect in Iraq." The Bush administration wisely refused to do so, but the resulting media hooraw in Iraq led to the cancellation of the contracts, and helps to explain why Iraq is doing oil deals instead with China.

Senators Schumer, McCaskill, and Kerry claimed to be acting from the purest of motives: "It is our fear that this action by the Iraqi government could further deepen political tensions in Iraq and put our service members in even great danger." For that reason, presumably, Schumer went so far as to ask the senior vice president of Exxon "if his company would agree to wait until the GOI produced a fair, equitable, and transparent hydrocarbon revenue sharing law before it signed any long-term agreement with the GOI." Exxon naturally refused, but Schumer managed to get the deal killed anyway. But the ostensible premise of the senators' objections was false--Iraq may not have a hydrocarbons law, but the central government has been sharing oil revenues equitably and there is no reason at all to imagine that signing the deals would have generated increased violence (and this was certainly not the view of American civilian and military officials on the ground in Iraq at the time). It is certain that killing the deals has delayed the maturation of Iraq's oil industry without producing the desired hydrocarbons legislation.

Nor is it entirely clear what the senators' motivations were. Their release (available along with their letter to Secretary Rice at the New York Observer quoted Senator McCaskill as follows: "'It's bad enough that we have no-bid contracts being awarded for work in Iraq. It's bad enough that the big oil companies continue to receive government handouts while they post record breaking profits. But now the most profitable companies in the universe--America's biggest oil companies--stand to reap the rewards of this no-bid contract on top of it all,' McCaskill said. 'It doesn't take a rocket scientist to connect these dots--big oil is running Washington and now they're running Baghdad. There is no reason under the sun not to halt these agreements until we get revenue sharing in place,' McCaskill said." So was this about what's best for Iraq and American interests there or about nailing "big oil" in an election year?

Either way, like Barack Obama's asking the Iraqi foreign minister to hold off on a strategic framework agreement until after the American election, it was nothing but harmful to American interests and our prospects in Iraq.

Frederick W. Kagan, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is a contributing editor to THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

New Poll Numbers Out

All I can say is IT'S ABOUT TIME:

"Hard is not hopeless." - Gen. David Petraeus, 2007
The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has a new survey out. It was conducted in association with the Council on Foreign Relations. Though the headline on the poll is Declining Public Support for Global Engagement, it contains sections on energy and Iraq that provide some interesting information that isn’t breaking through in the current news environment.

Section 2, Views of Iraq and Afghanistan contains poll data that, a few months ago, would have been given considerable coverage. For example:

58 percent of respondents now say the war in Iraq is going well or very well. This is a 14 percent increase since June, and the highest rating on this question in more than four years.
Positive perceptions of the war increased since June by 15 percent among women, and by 17 percent among independents.
58 percent also now say that the U.S. will definitely or probably succeed in Iraq. A year ago, 47 percent predicted failure.

Section 3, Opinions About Energy Policy, also has interesting data. For example:

A solid majority (55 percent) now support drilling in ANWR. That’s an increase of 13 percent—just since February—including 52 percent of independents. As the report puts it, “Support for ANWR drilling has increased across demographic groups.”
Respondents overwhelming support an “all of the above” approach to energy independence, with more than two thirds of respondents supporting everything from drilling in coastal waters to greater fuel efficiency, development of renewable fuels and increased fuel efficiency.
Support for offshore exploration “garners the same level of support in coastal states as it does elsewhere.”

Respondents were evenly split on the nation’s overall energy priorities:
“45% say that expanding exploration, mining, and drilling, and the construction of new power plants should be the more important priority, while 47% say the priority should be on more energy conservation and regulation on energy use and prices.”
That’s a sharp change from February, when 35 percent favored increased exploration, etc., and 55 percent conservation and regulation as the priority.

Top Idiots of the Week Awards

Not to be confused with the 3rd Annual Mibloggie Awards. Before I get into this, I have to tell you the milblog conference was a hugh success and everyone was very series about it. ;) Thanks to Matt at Blackfive for throwing one hell of a party at the Penthouse Club last Friday night. Yep, thats right THE PENTHOUSE CLUB!!!!!!!
I have some links here to the evidence, er I mean the photos of the event.
I made it through my Certified Welding Inspector class and took the exam on Saturday. All is well, for now. I'll let you know when my grades come in.
Now on to the Idiots of the Week Awards:
TOP IDIOTS OF THE WEEK AWARDS:

1. The top idiot of the week award goes, hands down, to Dem VP contender Joe Biden, who stated with a straight face that being patriotic means paying higher taxes. No doubt, some will fall for this bunk, which further explains the need for an expanded IDIOT'S list. So many idiots, so little time.

2. Narrowly losing out for first place has to be Washington Redskin's tight end, Chris Cooley, who 'accidentally' posted a photo of his genitals on the Internet. Cooley apologized, saying he was studying, in the nude, and accidentally included his genitalia in a photo of what were supposed to be notes. Right.. He as much as said it ain't no big deal.

3. A would-be robber picked the wrong bar to rob. It turned out Pooh's Corner Bar in Virginia is a cop's bar. This idiot ended up with a shot in the butt. Sometimes, life is fair.
4. Rep. Charlie Rangel, who, after being caught cheating on his taxes, penned an open letter to New Yorkers saying he is the target of a GOP "guerilla war." This, after he managed to keep his leadership post on our nation's tax-writing committee even after evidence of his tax fraud came to light.5. A German teenager engraved a swastika into her hip and then blamed it on right-wing militants. She is currently facing trial.

6. Billionaire George Soros has made this week's list. His hedge fund lost at least $120 million bucks for his investors on the funds' Lehman Brothers holdings. Welcome, George. Hope to see you back here real soon.

7. Our 'social justice' award has to go to the group of protesters who gathered outside John McCain's Crystal City condo, demanding McCain give them his condo. Too much koolaid for those kids. What do you want to bet they're all Obama supporters?

8. Last, but not least, we must acknowledge those zany Democrat leaders who, as the world teetered on the brink of financial ruin last week, suggested issuing gas stamps to help Americans cope with high gas prices.

They're Talking About Me Again

TSO has a post up you should read, and make sure you read the comment section.

CJ has a good one up at the VA Mortgage Center site.

Be sure to see Marcus's live blog from the last panel. Good Stuff.

and jump to the Talon for more links.

Have the Mission Parameters Been Changed?

Winning is winning, no matter the terrain or the climate; in spite of the terrain or the climate, or the prevailing governmental/theocratic attitudes from certain parts of the region who have a problem with the way we think things should be done. We expect to win. It should be a no-brainer and actions which result in the deaths of innocents, or military personnel should be stopped.


Stopped using whatever means neccessary. Going wherever the job takes you. Not worrying about an imagnary line in the middle of a remote desolate region.


The United States, with her military, is responding to direct instructions from civilian authority, elected by the citizens. The citizens are the ones who are telling the soldiers, we have a job for you. That job right now is to terminate tangos. Eradicate the goat-humping, mysoginistic, sneaky, lying, pieces of dung before they kill innocent civilians in the name of some false prophet.

When it's over, when you've won, we'll pay you to do something else, but right now, the primary mission is to kill terrorists.

Here is why:

They refuse to recognize the right of free will, especially with women. Free will is the ability to make decisions that affect your life. They make no distinction between ordinary people and uniformed peronnel. They will use innocents as shields. They will lie to further their cause. They will fire weapons from religious buildings and use them for ordanace storage.


They are crazy, insane, deranged, manical, suicidal and homicidal lunatics and they represent a clear and present danger to the security and well-being of the United States and by extension, her citizens, and by further extension, all of Western Civilization.


They are a threat to our lifestyle, our belief system, our rules, our laws, our free will. They cannot be reasoned with, they cannot be negotiated with, they will not stop unless they are dead.

By their own hand or by someone else's.

So, we need to win. And you know how the politically correct crowd hates to win.

Do we, the citizens, have the resolve to allow our military to perform the tasks it needs to perform to win?

Are we strong enough to let them do the job we've asked them to do? Can we let them win this one, too?

It's going to get ugly. People will die. There will be bad news about our soldiers. Our best and brightest will be slammed and lied about again. If Obama is elected, and if he is serious about putting more troops in Afghanistan, (I don't believe it for a nano-second), then the anti-military, anti-victory, anti-American radical elements will say something.

I'm Sure This Is Well Known

H/T to an email buddy who keeps me in the loop.


Subject: Bet Ya didn't hear about this on NBC
Family with Down Syndrome Child Meets John McCain and Sarah Palin
September 9, 2008
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Kurt in Pittsburgh, hello, sir. Nice to have you on the EIB Network, and how about the Steelers defense?
CALLER: How about those Steelers, huh?
RUSH: How about that?
CALLER: Hey, listen, Rush, longtime listener, first-time caller, one of those Bible, family, gun clingers from western Pennsylvania.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: And I wanted to share a story with you. A week ago last Saturday we went to the Palin-McCain rally in Washington, Pennsylvania, was the day after he announced her, and we have a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, and we made a sign that said: "We Love Kids with Down Syndrome." So when they pulled in in their bus the sign did catch their, McCain and Palin and the rest of their family, it caught their eye, we could tell, they gave us a thumbs-up from the bus, so we were all excited just by that --
RUSH: Wait, wait, wait. Who gave you the thumbs up, McCain and Palin?
CALLER: McCain, Palin, Cindy McCain, we could see them from the bus. We were in a position where we had eye contact with them --
RUSH: Oh, cool!
CALLER: My wife was holding our daughter.
RUSH: Very, very, very cool.
CALLER: It was really cool, Rush. I was like, "Wow, that's awesome," because I love Governor Palin and so I thought that's really neat. So then we moved around as the bus was getting ready to pull out, we kind of positioned ourselves so we could just wave them on and a Secret Service agent came up to us and said, "Hey, can you come with us?" I was like, "Do we have a choice?"
RUSH: (laughing) You shouldn't have worried. It's not the Clinton administration.
CALLER: Right. So we accompanied them up the hill, we went right to the bus, where it was, and Governor Palin, Senator McCain, Cindy, Todd Palin, they're all standing there. We're in this inner circle with just us and them, and the Secret Service agent, and they came right up to us and thanked us for coming out, said they loved our sign, and Governor Palin immediately said, "May I hold your daughter?" and our daughter Chloe, who's five, went right to her, and I have some pictures I'd love to send you maybe when I'm done here, but Governor Palin was hugging Chloe, and then her little daughter brought their baby Trig who has Down syndrome from the bus, he was napping, and Chloe went right over and kissed him on the cheek, and my son Nolan who's nine, he thanked her.
RUSH: This is amazing.
CALLER: I will send you all the stuff, Senator McCain was talking to my son, and we thanked him for his service, and he asked my son if he wanted to see the bus, and we were hanging out and it was very surreal. I felt like we could have had a pizza and a beer with them, they were so warm.
RUSH: You know what? I want to put you on hold. I want Snerdley to give you our super-secret, known-only-to-three-people here, e-mail address.
CALLER: I will send you everything, Rush.
RUSH: And then could you send us these pictures? Would you mind if we put them on the website?
CALLER: I would be honored, and my main thing is they are warm, kind, genuine people, and they represent the best of this country.
RUSH: That's right. And when you send these pictures, make sure you identify them. I mean, we'll know Palin and McCain, of course. Identify yourselves.
CALLER: I will, I will identify everybody in the picture, Rush, and God bless you for being a beacon of hope and truth in this country.
RUSH: Oh, no, no. It's nothing, it's nothing. You're doing the Lord's work.
CALLER: Well, we're very blessed and I want people to know what a blessing it is to have a child with Down syndrome. These kids, they're angels.
RUSH: That's the thing. There's always good to be found in everything that happens. It may be a while before it reveals itself.
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: Right, and when she hugged my daughter I said, here's the difference, this candidate embraces life and all its limitless possibilities.
RUSH: All right.
CALLER: That's what she is.
RUSH: Terrific, okay, I gotta run here, but I'm going to put you on hold.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you, Kurt. I really appreciate it.
END TRANSCRIPT

Blackfive Radio Goes Live

Uncle Jimbo has been hinting at this since he made the move east, and now it’s official.

Blackfive Radio is on the air.
Knowing UJ like I do, this is sure to be at least one good show.
Radio America may not be ready for UJ and Big Wave Dave Bellavia.

Here’s the pre-show interview UJ had with RA:

Uncle J: So when I refer to al Qaeda can I call them “Goat-raping bastards”?
Radio America: Yeah…well
UJ: OK what about “goat-molesting wankers”?
RA: Maybe…..I guess
UJ: I have been referring to Obama as “Cakeboy” since shortly after they began inserting him up my ass in 2004, is that still kosher?
RA: Well, the “Cakeboy” wil probably fly, but the anal-insertion, not so much.

Sunlight Makes You Happy

So maybe this explains why the moron lunatic left is so depressed. They stay in their basements hiding behind keyboards, typing rambling incoherent tomes about conservatives and never get enough sunlight.

Sunlight is a natrual source of Vitamin D.

Vitamin D Council says:

"There are 3 ways for adults to insure adequate levels of vitamin D:
regularly receive midday sun exposure in the late spring, summer, and early fall, exposing as much of the skin as possible.
regularly use a sun bed (avoiding sunburn) during the colder months.
take 5,000 IU per day for three months, then obtain a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test.
Adjust your dosage so that blood levels are between 50–80 ng/mL (or 125–200 nM/L) year around"
The sun must hit your skin directly...not through glass or other medium."

Nearly everyone living above 40 degrees north is Vitamin D deficient in the winter time...worse the older we get.
Whale blubber (cod liver oil) is full of Vitamin D. That's how they got along naturally up there.

MD OK's short sessions...10 minutes 2-3 x monthly...marvelous!
Take up to 2,000 IU daily. Others say 3,000-4,000 is OK.
We have been mislead by the warnings of easy toxicity...not so.

Vitamin D is critically essential to health and wards off cancer, depression and other diseases.
It is a precursor to a natural steroid/antibiotic we make internally.

2008 Republican Party Platform

The entire platform is here.

Energy

Energy Independence and Security
All Americans are acutely aware of the energy crisis our nation faces. Energy costs are spiraling upward, food prices continue to rise, and as a result, our entire economy suffers. This winter, families will spend for heat what they could have saved for college, and small businesses will spend for fuel what could have covered employee health insurance.
Our current dependence on foreign fossil fuels threatens both our national security and our economy and could also force drastic changes in the way we live. The ongoing transfer of Americans’ wealth to OPEC – roughly $700 billion a year – helps underwrite terrorists’ operations and creates little incentive for repressive regimes to accept democracy, whether in the Middle East or Latin America.
It didn’t have to be this way, and it must not stay this way. Our nation must have a robust energy supply because energy drives prosperity and increases opportunity for every American. We reject the idea that America cannot overcome its energy challenges – or that high gasoline prices are okay, as long as they are phased in gradually. We reject half-measures and believe “No, we can’t” is not a viable energy policy.
Together we can build a future around domestic energy sources that are diverse, reliable, and cleaner. We can strengthen our national security, create a pathway to growing prosperity, and preserve our environment. The American people will rise to this challenge.

Growing Our Energy Supply
We must aggressively increase our nation’s energy supply, in an environmentally responsible way, and do so through a comprehensive strategy that meets both short and long term needs. No amount of wishing or hoping can suspend the laws of supply and demand. Leading economists agree that any actions that will increase future energy supplies will lead to lower energy prices today. Increasing our production of American made energy and reducing our excessive reliance on foreign oil will:
Bring down the high cost of gasoline and diesel fuel.
Create more jobs for American workers.
Enhance our national security.
In the long run, American production should move to zero-emission sources, and our nation’s fossil fuel resources are the bridge to that emissions-free future.

Growing American Energy Production
If we are to have the resources we need to achieve energy independence, we simply must draw more American oil from American soil. We support accelerated exploration, drilling and development in America, from new oilfields off the nation’s coasts to onshore fields such as those in Montana, North Dakota, and Alaska. The Green River Basin in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming offers recoverable shale oil that is ready for development, and most of it is on federal lands.
To deliver that energy to American consumers, we will expand our refining capacity. Because of environmental extremism and regulatory blockades in Washington, not a single new refinery has been built in this country in 30 years. We will encourage refinery construction and modernization and, with sensitivity to environmental concerns, an expedited permitting process.
Any legislation to increase domestic exploration, drilling and production must minimize any protracted legal challenges that could unreasonably delay or even preclude actual production. We oppose any efforts that would permanently block access to the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Nuclear Power: the Earth’s Clean Future
Nuclear energy is the most reliable zero-carbon-emissions source of energy that we have. Unwarranted fear mongering with no relationship to current technologies and safeguards has prevented us from starting construction of a single nuclear power plant in 31 years. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has for decades relied upon nuclear-powered vessels, and other nations have harnessed nuclear power to provide a major portion of their energy consumption. There is no reason why the United States cannot catch up and do the same. Confident in the promise offered by science and technology, Republicans will pursue dramatic increases in the use of all forms of safe, affordable, reliable – and clean – nuclear power.
As new plants are constructed using the highest safety and operation standards, the nation’s industrial and manufacturing base will be rejuvenated. The labor force will expand, with nearly 15,000 high quality jobs created for every new nuclear plant built – and those workers will lead the nation away from its dependence on foreign oil.

Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Hydropower
Alternate power sources must enter the mainstream. The technology behind solar energy has improved significantly in recent years, and the commercial development of wind power promises major benefits both in costs and in environmental protection. Republicans support these and other alternative energy sources, including geothermal and hydropower, and anticipate technological developments that will increase their economic viability. We therefore advocate a long-term energy tax credit equally applicable to all renewable power sources.
Republicans support measures to modernize the nation’s electricity grid to provide American consumers and businesses with more affordable, reliable power. We will work to unleash innovation so entrepreneurs can develop technologies for a more advanced and robust United States transmission system that meets our growing energy demands.

Clean Coal (We're doing that right here in the Old Dominion)
Although alternate fuels will shape our energy future, coal – America’s most affordable and abundant energy resource and the source of most of our electricity – remains a strategic national resource that must play a major role in energy independence. We look to innovative technology to transform America’s coal supplies into clean fuels capable of powering motor vehicles and aircraft. We support coal-to-liquid and gasification initiatives, just as we support investment in the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage technologies, which can reduce emissions. We firmly oppose efforts by Democrats to block the construction of new coal-fired power plants. No strategy for reducing energy costs will be viable without a commitment to continued coal production and utilization.

Natural Gas
Natural gas is plentiful in North America, but we can extract more and do a better job of distributing it nationwide to cook our food, heat our homes, and serve as a growing option as a transportation fuel. Both independently and in cooperation with alternative fuels, natural gas will be an essential part of any long-term energy solution. We must ensure it gets to consumers safely and quickly.

Energy Cooperation
We embrace the open energy cooperation and trading relationship with our neighbors Canada and Mexico, including proven oil reserves and vast, untapped Canadian hydroelectric generation.

Reducing Demand for Fossil Fuels
While we grow our supplies, we must also reduce our demand – not by changing our lifestyles but by putting the free market to work and taking advantage of technological breakthroughs.
Increase Conservation through Greater Efficiency
Conservation does not mean deprivation; it means efficiency and achieving more with less. Most Americans today endeavor to conserve fossil fuels, whether in their cars or in their home heating, but we can do better. We can construct better and smarter buildings, use smarter thermostats and transmission grids, increase recycling, and make energy-efficient consumer purchases. Wireless communications, for example, can increase telecommuting options and cut back on business travel. The Republican goal is to ensure that Americans have more conservation options that will enable them to make the best choices for their families.

New Technologies for Cars and Other Vehicles
We must continue to develop alternative fuels, such as biofuels, especially cellulosic ethanol, and hasten their technological advances to next-generation production. As America develops energy technology for the 21st century, policy makers must consider the burden that rising food prices and energy costs create for the poor and developing nations around the world. Because alternative fuels are useless if vehicles cannot use them, we must move quickly to flexible fuel vehicles; we cannot expect necessary investments in alternative fuels if this flexibility does not become standard. We must also produce more vehicles that operate on electricity and natural gas, both to reduce demand for oil and to cut CO2 emissions.
Given that fully 97 percent of our current transportation vehicles rely on oil, we will aggressively support technological advances to reduce our petroleum dependence. For example, light-weight composites could halve the weight and double the gas mileage of cars and trucks, and together with flex-fuel and electric vehicles, could usher in a renaissance in the American auto industry.

PBS Poll Go Vote

I'm getting my Certified Welding Inspector papers.
The class is a bear so blogging has been light, but my good friend Bev Perlson from Band of Mothers sent this out, and it's important.

PBS is running a poll.

Go vote.

Not Politics. Print Out Houses

Instant Print Out Houses? Just add water.... Hey ConcreteBob! Job Security!





H/t Gizmodo and Contour Crafting

Governor Palin's Resume'

From Family Security Matters

Sarah Palin
44
Candidate for Vice president

Current Job:
Governor of Alaska

Other public jobs/positions:
Chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission; Chair of the National Governors Association Natural Resources Committee; Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission; Mayor of Wasilla, AK; President of Alaska Conference of Mayors; Wasilla City Council member

Executive experience:
Governor for two years; mayor for 10 years

Foreign relations experience:
Governor of a state that borders two foreign nations (Canada and Russia)

Military affairs experience:
Commander-in-Chief of the Alaska National Guard

Private sector experience:
Sportscaster; worked in her husband’s family’s commercial fishing business

Troop support:
Visited wounded troops in Germany; visited AK National Guard soldiers deployed to Kuwait; son deployed to Iraq on 9/11/08 as Army infantryman

“Maverick” credentials:
Married to a non-Republican; exposed corruption within own party; endorsed Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell in his run against pork-friendly GOP congressman Don Young; called on Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) to “come clean” about financial dealings that are under federal investigation

Legislative accomplishments:
Supported and signed a landmark ethics reform bill; used line-item veto to cut millions from state spending; prevented “bridge to nowhere” that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars

History of dealing with corruption:
Exposed legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders; campaigned against corrupt GOP Representative; ran against and defeated corrupt incumbent governor in GOP primary

Second Amendment:
Lifetime member of NRA and avid hunter

Earmarks:
Opposed “Bridge to Nowhere” project; said Alaska should avoid relying on federal money for projects; campaigned against porker Don Young (R-AK) in 2008 primary

Abortion:
Pro-life; gave birth to fifth child knowing that he would have Down’s syndrome

Energy:
Believes energy independence is a matter of national security; supports drilling in ANWR, which is in her state; brokered a multi-billion dollar pipeline deal with a Canadian company

Follow The Money

Family Research Council

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is once again bringing up a bill this Tuesday to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). That makes eight bills that seek to dismantle the UIGEA, and countless hearings. No other issue, except perhaps the war, has garnered so much attention from the Democratic leadership. To find the reason for this sudden regret over the bipartisan bill Congress enacted, one simply needs to "follow the money." Three of the six gambling lobbyist groups that filed the most lobbying reports (all three of them foreign-backed) are promoting the effort to overturn UIGEA. Chairman Frank and others are all too happy to carry water for these foreign gambling entities, as are a number of Washington, D.C. lobbyists, including Hunter Biden, son of Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.). Hunter Biden was recently in the news after it came to light that Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) sought $3.4 million in earmarks for the younger Biden. In light of such revelations, and the scandal developing around House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) over donor improprieties, perhaps the Democrats should be more careful about their priorities.

If you don't vote for the "ONE", you are either a racist or ignorant peasant

Apparently YOU will be held in contempt by all the world if you don't vote for 0Bama. Makes me want to send $50 to Sarah and that Sailor...
How will I sleep at night?

The world's verdict will be harsh if the US rejects the man it yearns for
by Johnathan Freedland (effete poncy patronizing Pommy columnist)
UK Guardian
excerpts:
If Americans choose McCain, they will be turning their back on the rest of the world, choosing to show us four more years of the Bush-Cheney finger. And I predict a deeply unpleasant shift.
If it is deemed to have been about race - that Obama was rejected because of his colour - the world's verdict will be harsh. (Of course, THAT would be the only reason given by our press...)

Even if it's not ethnic prejudice, but some other aspect of the culture wars, that proves decisive, the point still holds. For America to make a decision as grave as this one - while the planet boils and with the US fighting two wars - on the trivial basis that a hockey mom is likable and seems down to earth, would be to convey a lack of seriousness, a fleeing from reality,... (It CAN'T BE because Obama is a flaming socialist from the corrupt Chicago political machine, with no experience in anything based in reality...)

Of course I know that even to mention Obama's support around the world is to hurt him. Incredibly, that large Berlin crowd damaged Obama at home, branding him the "candidate of Europe" and making him seem less of a patriotic American. (Nah, he does that himself.) But what does that say about today's America, that the world's esteem is now unwanted? If Americans reject Obama, they will be sending the clearest possible message to the rest of us - and, make no mistake, we shall hear it. (What!? You haven't heard the big F##k You! we've been saying to european leftists for the last few years? The world's esteem? Why would we want the esteem of failed or failing states like yours? Btw, if you listen to our press and leftists, but I repeat myself, the world ALREADY HATES US! What do we have to lose?)

However much fun it it would be to fisk this opinion piece, Rachel Lucas does it so much better:

Yeah, you’ll hear it, like a big fart in your general direction. Tough shit.

In all seriousness though. I can’t speak for any other Stupid American, but Europe and Rest of World? Wanna know why I don’t give a toss what you think? Because you’re doing it wrong.

You’re doing so many things wrong, in my view, that I want my country to be very different from yours.

That is, unless there’s a logical argument for why I would take political advice from people who live in places with cultures that are no more successful - and often far less successful - than my own. Freedland even helps out by listing some as examples:

Germany, France, Britain, Russia, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

And of course, the comments are just as much fun: From a letter to the editor
Frankly my dear, we don’t give a damn who England or Europe or anyone else thinks ought to be President of the United States and leader of the free world,...
When you figure out how to run your own country with some measure of freedom and dignity, maybe then we’d consider listening to your advice…

And an email from the commenter that described Mr. Freedland so well (above):
Howdy there — just one of your provincial American readers weighing in on your latest missive, which was so full of Wrong that it’s hard to figure out where to begin to rebut it, and which I can’t hope to rebut in full without devoting much more time to composing an e-mail than you really deserve, so I’ll just touch on a few high (low) points, and maybe mock you a bit while I’m at it.

And I will leave you with the words of Mr Freedland. Maybe he's finally getting our message:
Until now, anti-Americanism has been exaggerated and much misunderstood: outside a leftist hardcore, it has mostly been anti-Bushism, opposition to this specific administration. But if McCain wins in November, that might well change. Suddenly Europeans and others will conclude that their dispute is with not only one ruling clique, but Americans themselves.

Finally, I think they might be getting it. My question is, "Why do the Europeans care about OUR opinion of them?" Americans don't care if the rest of the world respects our opinions.....So why should we care about theirs? If they want Obama so much, let him run for office in England.

Have you forgotten?

First, God Bless the victims of 9/11 and their families.
Second, God Bless the police and firefighters and everyone else that ran INTO the buildings....
Third, God Bless everyone that assisted, in any way during or after the ordeal.
Fourth, God Bless America.

September 11, 2001 started out like any other day. I was on active duty with the Navy at the Richmond Navy and Marine Corp Reserve Center. I was on ADSW, aka Active Duty Special Work, being the Honor Guard at Veterans' funerals. I was on my way to find out what was scheduled for the day.

I remember the time exactly. It was 0854 hours. I was passing the conference room, noticing at first, only that the room was filled with the "gunnies" from the Marine Corps Reserve section from across the hall. Then I saw what they were watching...one of the World Trade Center towers was on fire.

One Gunny told me that a terrible accident had happened, but that was all that he knew. And so we watched....

And six minutes later, we were at war. We now knew that the crash had been no accident. The Marines, even before the debris had hit the ground in NYC, began securing the building and opening the armory. And then they called their superiors.
Over the next few weeks, they called in Reservists, in case they were needed. The gates were closed and armed guards posted.
One of my most cherished possessions is the Letter of Appreciation in a RED award folder that I have among my blue Navy award folders, which I received for volunteering to stand a guard post during the day so that the Marines could do their duties activating Reservists.

About an hour later, we found out about the Pentagon. Our eyes had finally been opened. Terrorism had ceased being a crime. Now we knew that, truly, we were at war.

Where were you when the Towers were hit?

9/11 - Remembering

I have no soaring words for 9/11. No eloquence. 9/11 was just another normal day. With normal Americans going about their business. The President declared that today should be Day of Remembrance.

We should remember. All of us. And teach your children about it, so that they remember.

For me, I remember what my thoughts were after the shock and worry about the victims:
Some people need to die for this.

And they still do......

The Truth Unpoliticized About Troop Withdrawls

Never Forget Who Started This!!!!

From my friend CJ via email this morning.

General Petraeus and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have recommended that we move forward with additional troop reductions over the next several months – continuing our policy of "return on success." With this reduction in forces, the President also announced additional troop deployments to Afghanistan.
Ø Eight thousand troops will come home from Iraq without replacement. The reduction of forces will include 3,400 combat support troops over the next several months, 1,200 Marines serving in Anbar Province, and another Army combat brigade of about 3,400 troops in early 2009. In addition, troop deployments to Iraq have been reduced to 12-month tours instead of 15. If progress continues in Iraq, General Petraeus believes that further reductions are possible in the first half of 2009.
Ø Successes in Iraq and increasing capability of Iraqi forces have allowed for a reduction in coalition troops. Many coalition partners have now completed their mission in Iraq, and more will be able to conclude their deployments this year. More than 140,000 troops from 41 countries have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and troops from Australia, Azerbaijan, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, and Ukraine have given their lives in this fight.
Ø A Marine battalion will deploy to Afghanistan in November followed by an Army combat brigade of about 3,400 troops in January 2009. During the past year, the United Kingdom, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Australia, Germany, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and others have sent additional forces to support the NATO mission in Afghanistan. U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan now total 31,000, up from about 21,000 two years ago. Additionally, there are 31,000 coalition troops, an increase of about 11,000 over the past two years.
Ø The United States, Afghanistan, and our allies will nearly double the size of the Afghan National Army over the next five years. This new initiative is an international effort to help the Afghan government mobilize more forces of its own and further enable Afghan security forces to take a leading role in building a democratic Afghanistan.
The Success Of The Surge And Increased Capability Of Iraqi Security Forces Is Undeniable
Ø Anbar Province, once considered "lost," has now been reclaimed by the Iraqi people. Iraq's largest province has a mayor and functioning municipal council in almost every city. U.S.-led Provincial Reconstruction Teams are assisting local leaders in creating jobs and economic opportunities.
Ø Attacks in Anbar Province are down more than 90 percent from October 2006. The success in Anbar is a credit to Iraqi Security Forces, the local tribes, and American troops who together dismantled al Qaida's safe haven.
Ø Across Iraq, violence is at its lowest point since spring of 2004, and civilian deaths, sectarian killings, and suicide bombings are all down. Successful operations led by Iraqi Security Forces against Shia extremist groups have been conducted in Basra, Baghdad, and al-Amarah, capturing hundreds of Al Qaida fighters and extremists.
Ø Normal life is returning to Iraq, and political reconciliation is moving forward. Markets are open and full of commerce, restaurants once again can stay open late, and hundreds of doctors who fled the violence have returned to Iraq to serve the people of their country. The United States will continue working on the Strategic Framework Agreement and Status of Forces Agreement to establish bilateral relations with Iraq like those we have with dozens of other countries and to authorize multinational forces for security support.
Ø We are on the offensive in Iraq, and Iraqi Security Forces are increasingly capable. Current Iraqi-led operations are being conducted in the northern city of Mosul and in Diyala Province where al Qaida seeks refuge. While the progress in Iraq is still fragile and reversible, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker report that there now appears to be a "degree of durability" to the gains we have made.

The Taliban And Al Qaida Will Not Be Allowed To Return To Power In Afghanistan
Ø Troop increases have made a difference in Afghanistan. Improved security is the foundation for peace as well as political and economic success in Afghanistan. The increases in the Afghan National Army, NATO, and U.S. forces will help restore basic security, which is the key to restoring the confidence of the Afghan people.
Ø America has committed over $10 billion in 2008 and 2009 for political and economic development. Unlike Iraq, there are few natural resources in Afghanistan. Its underdeveloped infrastructure, fragile democratic institutions, and ruthless attacks from the Taliban and al Qaida present huge challenges. New personnel from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the State Department's Foreign Service office will increase our civilian presence. Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Agriculture Development Teams will help Afghans fight corruption, improve governance, feed their people, and jump start their economy.
Ø Pakistan has an interest in and responsibility for defeating the Taliban and al Qaida. The Taliban and al Qaida fighters who hide in Pakistan's remote border regions pose a threat to Pakistan's future as they have recently stepped up their attacks in the region. Pakistan's new democratically elected leaders have a responsibility to govern their territory and prevent establishment of a staging ground for extremists to plot and carry out terrorist attacks.
Ø NATO and the United States are committed to working with Pakistan to fight al Qaida and the Taliban. The same terrorists who take refuge Pakistan's remote border regions and target and kill innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan are also plotting new attacks against Europe and America.
Success In Iraq And Afghanistan Is In The Interests Of The United States And Our Allies
Ø The situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan is difficult. All three countries have seen violence and terror used to impose an ideology on their people. There is another way forward in the broader Middle East – freedom.
Ø Defeating our enemies requires success on both the military and ideological fronts. The courage of our Armed Forces, coalition partners, government civilians, and the Iraqi and Afghan people ensures we will prevail in the battle against the al Qaida, the Taliban, and the extremists that support and fight alongside them.
Ø America will stand by brave elected leaders, determined reformers, and millions of people who seek liberty, justice, and tolerance. There will be difficult times in the work ahead, but we can transform nations that once harbored terrorists into allies in the war on terror.

Keeping the Peace

New Orleans was a nice place to grow up. Or, at least when I was growing up....
Now, I don't know.

This is the proper use of the 2nd Amendment.....

Bayou Renaissance Man: A recipe for neighborhood peace and quiet

The Face of Courage

From Michelle's site this morning. I just found this:

I have never before written to express a political opinion in my life. I was skeptical but very interested in McCain’s VP pick. I hoped she would turn out to be the real thing and not just knee-jerk expression of gender politics.
I have two special needs children, (boys 4 and 2), and a 2-month-old daughter. I’m a lawyer and my wife is a doctor. This morning we watched Fox News’ recap of Palin’s speech as my wife breast-fed the baby and I fed the boys.
My wife has been appalled at the depths too which the reporters have sunk and the so-called women’s rights advocates who have attacked Palin’s choices.
I was struck by Palin’s Courage. I don’t say that lightly.
Here’s what happened: the media attacked a postpartum mother of a DS kid, who also has an unwed teen daughter who is pregnant. Thye attacked her at her weakest in her most vulnerable spot. They tried to humiliate, shame, and intimidate her before she ever took the podium. Palin looked like they never laid a glove on her. Wow. I think the message she sends is “don’t be afraid.”
Don’t be afraid of the media attack machine that has all but called you and your family every name in the book.
Don’t be afraid to face down the challenges that life throws you: Dr. tells you that your baby has DS. Don’t be afraid. When you have a kid with special needs you WILL meet a better class of people - the parents of those special needs kids for one - and the people - therapists, teachers, doctors - who devote their lives/carriers to help those kids. Oh by the way - what’s the bonus that comes with your special needs kid?
Lifelong unconditional love. So your kid isn’t going to be perfect. Okay, whose kid is?
Don’t be afraid to be a woman with kids and go to work every day.
Don’t be afraid to be a soccer mom and run for mayor with ZERO support against an incumbent to try and make your town better.
Don’t be afraid to succeed - don’t stop at your town improve your state. Run for Governor and win.
Teenage daughter gets pregnant. What to do now? Erase the mistake? Hide? Get out of politics? Or teach your kids the toughest but most important lesson of all: that decisions have consequences. If you make a bad decision, you don’t run away from it. You face it. You face it. Not alone, but with your family standing right next to you. What do you want to teach your kids: the easy way out or moral courage? You teach your kids what real courage is by example. (My God, her father must be a very proud man today.)
Michelle, tell your kids that’s what courage looks like. Michelle, you tell America that this is what courage looks like. Between McCain and Palin, these may be the two toughest people we have ever nominated.
I donated to McCain today. For the first time.

Why I Like Sarah Palin

Well, actually, it's why Doug Giles likes Sarah Palin, but I agree:

So, why do I like Palin besides her looks and Bulldog Attitude?

• She’s from a small town. I am pig sick of hearing the smarmy latte sippers dissing folks who don’t live in San Francisco. Viva la Smallville, where sanity is still alive and well! I say we all go out and buy a gun and a new Bible to celebrate!

• She’s a mama who can juggle work and family. Look, goofy libtard, if Bill Clinton could juggle five chicks and a mean wife, I believe Sarah Palin can manage five kids and a loving husband.

• She’s pro-life. And this is not just a political position but a very personal point for her: She put her down syndrome baby where her mouth is. Today it has become en vogue in our designer family milieu to off a special needs child if detected in the womb because that little bugger could ruin our family photos. Not Palin.

• She’s pro-gun. No double speak Barack blather coming out of Palin’s mouth about the 2nd amendment and the great sport of hunting. She’s a lifetime member of the NRA, a Ted Nugent Kill and Grill it girl. I get from her that if you don’t like her right to keep and bear arms or hunt, then you can kiss her moose.

• She’s pro-drilling. The only thing the libs will drill is your wallet.

• She’s pro-tax cuts. I like my money.

• She’s a true blue Washington outsider and not a polluted Chicago politician.

• She's an equal opportunity offender. She has gone toe to toe with idiots on both sides of the aisle. To Palin, crap is crap no matter how you frame it.

Just A Reminder As You Begin A New Week

The only thing wrong with this economy is the price of gasoline.

Congress can fix it.

Tell them to fix it.

Tell them to fix it NOW!!

Drill Here, Drill Now

This is what we want:

3rd Annual Milbloggie Awards Nominations Open

JP (the JP of the PBS documentary Bad VooDoo's War and creator of milblog.com) has announced the opening of the nominating process for the 3rd Annual Milbloggie Awards.

Link is in the title for a change, but just in case;

3rd Annual Milblog Awards Nominating Page

Go forth and nominate.

One Marines View
A Soldiers Perspective
This Aint Hell

Collateral Tragedies My Big Ole Butt

My friend CJ has a post up at A Soldiers Perspective, with pictures and everything.

It infuriates me when I read stories like the one in this week's Time Magazine called Collateral Tragedies. The article rails against our air campaign against the Taliban as responsible for killing more and more "innocent" civilians.
The tent stake holding the line on this story is the August 22nd airstrike in which the military claims only 7 civilians and 35 insurgents were killed. However, the Afghani government and a United Nations "inquiry" claim that up to 90 "civilians" were killed. These types of stories work wonders for enemy propaganda and they use it to their utmost ability in Afghanistan (and in Iraq).
The problem here, again, is that the Taliban does not abide by the rules of war or the Geneva Conventions. They use civilian buildings and locations to conduct and launch military operations. They use children as cover for their activities knowing that if a targeting gunship sees them, the airstrike will be called off.

Did you just hear what I said? We will NOT kill the enemy if there are visible civilians, especially children, at the target location!!

In Case You Missed It Sunday Morning

Pardon me Obama Baybay but your slip is showing.

If It's Change You Want

Obama is your man.

From RightSideNews, via Heritage New Media

Obama is one of the most cynical presidential candidates ever to aspire to national office and his rise to the nominee of the Democrat Party is a lesson in deliberate political ambition. First Obama cooperated with Chicago's Democratic Machine and then he developed relationships with the likes of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and unrepentant '60s bomber Bill Ayers. He also engaged in an exchange of favors and payback with corrupt developer (and convicted felon) Tony Rezko.

Obama's rise to prominence is no accident. According to David Freddoso Obama won his first election (to the Illinois State Senate) "by having his lawyers knock all his opponents --including the black, female incumbent -- off the ballot on technicalities, so he could run unopposed." Chicago insiders know the "Chicago Machine" made a U.S. senator" out of Obama. But worst of all Obama has very bad ideas that would permanently change America. If he is elected President, America will be a very different place from the one we know now: both militarily and economically, and under the thumb of a Supreme Court full of judges who believe in the notion of a "living, breathing Constitution" that says whatever they want it to say.

Along with too many other elected politicians Obama opposes school choice through vouchers or tax credits - while sending his own children to an elite private school.

If you are in favor of killing unborn children, Obama is your man. He voted to deny medical care to babies born alive after abortion in a bill too extreme even for Nancy Pelosi. Obama also vowed to Planned Parenthood in July 2007 to end all restrictions on government abortion funding.

Obama seems to believe democratic elections are not for everyone. He wants, and has voted, to abolish secret-ballot elections in the workplace when Union leaders coerce employees to sign Union cards; thus allowing unions to intimidate and harass workers who don't support them.

The "change" Barack Obama's calls for in his campaign as the cure for ills of society is higher government spending, weaker national defense, continued tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, and support of gay marriage.

Obama claims to give us "new politics" but in less than four years as a U.S. Senator, Obama has voted for some of the worst special-interest legislation to move through the congress. If you vote for Obama, you are voting for the most liberal member of the United States Senate in 2007; according to the respected National Journal Obama beat out Barbara Boxer, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and the previous title-holder, John Kerry. Is this who you want for our next president?

Here We Go

via email...
Little Known Facts About Sarah Palin
The first one is an original. I just thought that up.

Little known Sarah Palin facts:

Sarah Palin is actually a female clone of Fred Thompson. The experiment turned female when Bo Derek and Margret Thatcher accidentally (allegedly) touched the petrie dish.
The Northern Lights are really just the reflection from Sarah Palin's eyes.
The Russians sold Alaska to America because Sarah Palin would not submit to autocracy.
The Arctic Circle runs through Alaska so the Sun can have some relief from Sarah Palin's bright glare.
Sarah Palin is allowed first dibs on Alaskan wolfpack kills.
Sarah Palin is so pro-life that she personally hog-tied two reps from Planned Parenthood who came knocking at her door.
It's not raining in DC. Those are God's tears of joy that McCain picked Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin's hotness is the largest single contributor to melting polar ice caps.
Sarah Palin is the "other" whom Yoda spoke about.
Sarah Palin's presence in the lower 48 means the Arctic ice cap can finally return.
Sarah Palin fired Jack Bauer because he was too soft in dealing with terrorists.
Sarah Palin's pageant career ended early so other women could have a chance.
Sarah Palin's son Track is going to Iraq after the Surge, because a Palin during the Surge would have been unfair.
Sarah Palin wears glasses lest her uncontrollable optic blasts slaughter everyone. (X-Men reference)
Sarah Palin actually has Big Foot in her freezer.
Sarah Palin doesn't need a gun to hunt. She has been known to throw a bullet through an adult bull elk.
Sarah Palin once spilled coffee on Joe Biden & one of his $400 ties from Pink.
Sarah Palin keeps her hair in a beehive to hide her ninja weaponry.
Sarah Palin will personally open a homemade can of whoopa** on Ahmadinejad, Putin, and Chavez as soon as she's done making mooseburgers for her kids.
A grizzly bear once tried to stare down Sarah Palin. Once.
Sarah Palin will send Joe Biden a pre-debate cheat sheet. The sheet will have tips on defending against Kung Fu Death Grip.
Sarah Palin became governor because five children left her with too much spare energy.
Sarah Palin will give birth to the man who will lead humanity's war against the machines. (Terminator reference)
Three of Sarah Palin's 5 kids came out sideways and she never flinched.
Global Warming doesn't kill polar bears. Sarah Palin does. Generally with her bare hands.
Sarah Palin was the original "Deadliest Catch."
Sarah Palin paid her way through school by hunting for Kodiak pelts with a slingshot.
Alaska is the 49th state solely because they knew even in 1959 that Sarah Palin never finishes last.
Chuck Norris wishes he was Sarah Palin trapped in a man's body.
Sarah Palin got Tom Brady pregnant, and then left him. (for you Pats fans)
Sarah Palin killed and ate the Grizzly Man.
Sarah Palin once won the Iditarod without any dogs. She simply willed the sled to victory.
Sarah Palin wears half the makeup that John Edwards wears and still looks like twice the woman he does.
Sarah Palin once guided Santa's sleigh through an Alaskan blizzard with the light from her smile.
Sarah Palin fishes salmon by convincing them it's in their interest to jump into the boat.

More From People Who Actually Know Sarah Palin

David Murrow, author of "Why Men Hate Going To Church", via The Mudville Gazette

People around the world are asking, “Who is Sarah Palin?” I thought you might appreciate an analysis from someone who has worked with John McCain’s pick for Vice President.

Her rapid rise in politics is a direct result of her unwavering moral compass. Sarah makes her decisions based one criterion: what’s the right thing to do? In 2003, Gov. Frank Murkowski offered her an appointment to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. (I advised her not to take the position. She ignored my advice, and took the job anyway.)

Shortly after taking her seat on the commission, she noticed that one of her fellow commissioners, Randy Reudrich, was doing political business on state time. Reudrich was (and still is) chairman of the state Republican party. Randy controls the flow of money to Republican candidates.Once a year all political appointees in Alaska are required to sign a conflict of interest statement. Part of the statement requires commissioners to report any violation by their colleagues. Sarah felt she had no choice but to tell the truth about Reudrich’s abuses, even though she would be turning in a fellow Republican. In the days following her allegations many who follow Alaska politics (myself included) thought Sarah had committed political suicide. But her courageous stand against corruption endeared her to the citizens of Alaska.

In 2006 Sarah Palin decided to run for governor. You have no idea what a quixotic mission this was. To win elections in Alaska a candidate must gather the backing of at least one powerful group: the oil industry, the media or the labor unions. Sarah had none of these. Nevertheless, she won the Republican nomination handily. In the general election, the power groups stepped up their opposition. The media dismissed her as a lightweight (and too conservative). The oil industry and labor unions backed her Democratic challenger. Even her own Republican Party (under the control of Reudrich) offered only token support. In the end only one group stood behind her: the people. She rolled to victory and began cleaning house.

Sarah tightened the states ethics laws. She sponsored an ingenious new tax regime on the oil industry, sweeping away a law passed a year earlier under the taint of corruption. And she jump-started Alaska’s long-stalled dream of a natural gas pipeline to the Lower 48 states. Instead of begging the big oil companies to build a pipeline (as her predecessor had) she opened the process for competitive bidding. Today, Alaska has two groups competing to build the line, with a possible third group waiting in the wings. She enjoys an 80+ percent approval rating here in Alaska.

Most politicians learn early in their careers to carefully parse every word that flows from their mouths. Not Sarah. She has a tendency to speak her mind, and say things that might one day come back to haunt her. More than once I've rolled my eyes and thought to myself, Sarah, why did you say that? But our governor keeps following that moral compass – and comes up smelling like a rose. All the controversy that’s swirling around her this week is vintage Sarah. I’ve seen this movie before, and it always ends the same way: with Sarah Palin standing taller than ever.

The last time I saw Sarah was about two months ago. She was here in my hometown of Chugiak, with her newborn son Trig, walking around a local craft fair on a Sunday afternoon. I was struck by the simplicity of it: the Governor of Alaska, visiting a craft fair with no media entourage, no security guards, no big crowd. Just a mother and son enjoying a beautiful Alaska summer day. We had a nice talk about everything except politics.

As far as her religious beliefs go, Sarah is your garden-variety evangelical Christian. She’s a woman of genuine faith, but not a zealot or weirdo. She has not hidden her faith during her term as governor, but neither has she worn it on her lapel. I think that’s a good thing.

Governor Sarah Palin Delivers Saturday Morning Radio Address

Governor Sarah Palin Delivers Weekly Radio Address

ARLINGTON, VA -- This week, Governor Palin is delivering the weekly radio address for the first time.


DOWNLOAD THE AUDIO FILE HERE: http://www. johnmccain. com/Downloads/0905_PALIN_WRA. mp3

Governor Sarah Palin's Weekly Radio Address:

Good morning, this is Sarah Palin -- the governor of Alaska and candidate for vice president. When Senator John McCain asked me to join the ticket last week, he placed a lot of confidence in me, and I'm going to do my level best to be worthy of it. Senator McCain also asked me to fill in for him today in his weekly radio address -- he's putting me right to work.


In my speech to the convention last Wednesday, I wanted to share some basic convictions, and also to tell you a little about the path that shaped those convictions. I never really set out to be involved in public affairs, much less to run for vice president. My mom and dad both worked at the local elementary school, and my husband Todd and I, we both grew up working with our hands. I was pretty much your average hockey mom, raising kids, and joined the PTA. When I ran for city council of my hometown, and then for mayor, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and I knew their families, too. I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment, and I have no plans to join.


That was the spirit that brought me to the governor's office, when I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau, when I stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists, big oil companies, and the good-ol' boys network. Sudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power brokers. That's why true reform is so hard to achieve. But with the support of the citizens of Alaska, we shook things up, and in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people.


I came to office promising major ethics reform, to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is the law. I came to office promising to control spending -- by request if possible and by veto if necessary. And today, our state budget is under control. We have a surplus. And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes.


Senator McCain also promises to use the power of veto in defense of the public interest -- and as a chief executive, I can assure you it works. In a McCain-Palin administration, we'll pursue a pro-growth agenda focused on creating jobs and reducing the tax burden. And with a maverick in the White House, Republicans are going to reclaim our good name as the party of spending discipline.


Our opponent in this election supports plans to raise taxes on income, payroll, investment income, business income, and altogether would increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.
But ask yourself: If you're trying to run a small business, or to keep your job at a plant, or keep a small farm in the family, how are you going to be better off if he adds a massive tax burden to the American economy?

In Alaska, we've also made some serious reforms in energy policy. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue right back where it belonged -- directly to the people of Alaska. And despite fierce opposition from oil company lobbyists, we broke their monopoly on power and resources. As governor, I insisted on competition and basic fairness to end their control of our state and return it to the people. I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history. And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.


Energy security is one of the great issues in this presidential campaign, and I look forward to debating it. Our opponents keep saying that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems -- as if we didn't already know that. But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines and build more nuclear plants, create jobs with clean coal, and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers.


John McCain is a man who has always served his country and not just his party, and that's exactly the spirit we need in Washington today. Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason to enter politics is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it. No one expects us to agree on everything. But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and a servant's heart. And I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as Vice President of the United States. Thank you for listening.