Exciting Stuff Coming

There are some really cool things in store for this summer. We have outs to cook, homes to build, people to see, things to do and cats to kill. ("Sometimes a Great Notion") Don't call PETA or the Humane Society. Its just an expression. Go read the book.

Cooking With the Troops needs a logo and we'd like for you to help design it.

There is an artwork contest in the planning stages and I have it on excellent authority that one of the judges will be Chris Muir and one of the prizes has something to do with him.

LW and I, along with some folks whose identities cannot be revealed at this particular time, but trust me, you'll recognize them, are very busy taking our cookout program to the next level and filing the paperwork to make it a 501c3 organization. Our goal is to hold cookouts at every major military medical center in the country. We'll do the whole major announcement/press release and name names when the designation is official.

In conjunction with Soldiers Angels, we will also make another trip or two to Landstuhl, but I won't be flying across 3,000 miles of open water. Sorry, I have my limitations. Yeah, I'm chicken. So what?

There is a new blogger in the wings. A young Warrior has just returned from Camp Victory and is setting up residence in NoVA. He's going back to school and he has a lot on his mind and wants to share it with us. I see a Senator in the making. I definitely see a new voice on the conservative front.

I have a new laptop. Wooohoooo!!! I've already burned 3 DVDs and I'm experimenting with livestream. I would have loved to livestream the Wartime Museum press conference on Tuesday. Ya'll know I had the exclusive for the blogside of that announcement, right? Blew my mind when they asked me to do it.

The video from the Milblog Awards should be up shortly. I've been checking YouServed's Livestream site for updates. As soon as its posted, I'll link it here and post it over at FreeRepublic.com. I couldn't do YankeeMom justice with any sort of remarks, so I just did my dumb country boy schtick and said Thank You for YankeeMom.

Virginia Dhimmis In Action

Lawmakers ripped over 9/11 mosque fundraiser
Democrat congressmen 'trashed their oath to protect U.S.'

An anti-jihad watchdog group has slammed two U.S. lawmakers for breaking their oath to protect the country by agreeing to appear as special guests at a fundraising dinner Saturday night for a radical Saudi-funded mosque tied to the 9/11 hijackers and the Fort Hood shooter, among other Islamic terrorists.

Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Jim Moran, D-Va., have "trashed their oath to protect and defend the U.S." by agreeing to attend the annual banquet for Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center, a large mosque in Falls Church, Va., a suburb of Washington, according to the Virginia Anti-Shariah Task Force, or VAST.

The group also criticized Virginia Democrat Gov. Tim Kaine for agreeing to attend the event, while praising Democrat Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia for withdrawing from the event following complaints from concerned constituents.

......according to the book, "Muslim Mafia," Connolly and Moran have received thousands of dollars in donations from several Virginia Islamists under federal investigation for financing terrorism. In addition, the book reveals, Connolly received an $18,758 windfall from the Saudi government's U.S. public relations firm while fighting to keep open a Saudi-owned madrassa in Northern Virginia also tied to terrorism.

Dar Al-Hijrah hosted at least two of the 9/11 terrorists who attacked the Pentagon, as well as the Fort Hood terrorist and an al-Qaida sleeper agent convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali graduated valedictorian from the Saudi madrassa – Islamic Saudi Academy – in Alexandria, Va.

Heritage Morning Bell - The System Failed

The System is Failing

This past weekend the American public learned that not only was the Obama administration briefed about the bombing technique attempted on Flight 253, not only did the United States have information that a Nigerian was being prepared for a terrorist attack by al Qaeda in Yemen, but our government also knew that an “Umar Farouk” was involved.

Following these revelations, the Obama administration again took to the Sunday shows to defend their national security record. Last week Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano tried to convince Americans that “the system worked”. She failed. This Sunday, Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan did admit that the system failed on Christmas Day but still insisted: “Every other day the system has worked this year….The system is working.”

No, it is not. The complete failure of the Obama administration to connect the dots on the Flight 253 bomber was not an isolated incident. On June 2nd of this year, Adulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, upset about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, shot and killed one soldier and wounded another while they were standing outside a military recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas. And on November 5th, Nidal Malik Hasan, also upset about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 12 people and wounding 31 others. And on December 10th, five young men, all Muslim extremists from Northern Virginia, were arrested in Pakistan at the home of a man linked to a radical jihadist group.

Since 2001, there have been 28 failed terrorist attacks against the United States. That averages out to about three foiled attempts per year. In 2009, there were six failed attempts — the most in one year. As troubling as these incidents are by themselves, Americans should be concerned about a White House that looks at this body of evidence and then declares “the system is working.” No, it is not.

The problem is not, as Brennan would have us believe, an isolated incident of “human error.” It is a failure of leadership. A failure by the occupant of the White House to admit we are at war and use the tools at his disposal to protect.

Instead of providing stability and confidence in the intelligence community by seeking the renewal of key investigatory authorities authorized under the USA Patriot Act, President Obama has settled for a six-month extension tacked on to the Defense appropriations bill.

Instead of going to Congress and pushing for a comprehensive war-on-terror detainee system, President Obama has punted the issue to the Federal Courts.

Instead of promising victory for our war on terror efforts in Afghanistan, President Obama sent fewer troops than were required for a maximum military effort and gave al Qaeda a set date for our withdrawal.

Faulting the administration for a lack of leadership is not meant as a partisan criticism. Scoring political points won’t make us safe. The terrorists don’t care if they kill Republicans or Democrats or the West Wing is held by the left-wing or the right-wing. Nobody wants the White House to fail in this mission. But the President needs to stop blaming his predecessor and look forward.

He needs to start over. Make winning the war against terrorism the top priority of his administration and act like a war president day in and day out.