Blogger's Block

I thought after a three day business trip the lovely DC suburb of Fairfax, Virginia, I would have plenty of stuff to comment on. Instead, I got nothin.

Not the hotel (it sucked), the meals (forgettable), or the traffic (horrendous). And I never blog about work (except referentially), so the three days of mind-numbing meetings will go unremarked upon. Even the Wednesday meeting, which stretched from 8 AM until 11 that night, with two 30-minute breaks. Nope, not gonna talk about it.

NEA: Home Schools Run By Well-Meaning Amateurs

The National Education Association (NEA) has posted an essay decrying home-schooling. Apparently, the NEA is convinced parents just aren't "professional" enough.

There's nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Certain jobs are best left to the pros, such as, formal education.

There are few homeowners who can tackle every aspect of home repair. A few of us might know carpentry, plumbing and, let’s say, cementing. Others may know about electrical work, tiling and roofing. But hardly anyone can do it all.

Cementing? Cementing? I've been in the business for 20 years, and I ain't never heard of no "cementing." Guess I'm not "professional" enough.

So, why would some parents assume they know enough about every academic subject to home-school their children?

Um, because some of us took classes in those subjects and received mostly "A"s?

There’s nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Whether it is window-washing, bricklaying or designing a space station.

Yeah, that window-washing gig really requires a seasoned professional. Better leave the soap and squeegee to the homeless guy at the Lincoln Tunnel. Don't try this at home, folks.

The author goes on to explain that parents "have no idea" how hard teaching is, gravely warns that the children will become social miscreants, and decries that these people are simply "gullible." But the real kicker is the author's tag line at the end of the article. Who is this all-knowing defender of teachers? This professional of the public schools?

Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.

You can't make this stuff up.

George W. Bush Compassionate Conservatism

What truly drives me nuts about the "dub-ya" is clear every time I go to Logan airport. We now have thousands of new governmental employees thanks to the TSA.

Yes, it drives me nuts.

How is being compassionate and conservative related to putting more people on the government payroll?

Yes, I know if Hillary is elected even the fry guy at the airport McDonald's will be on the government payroll, but still it makes me want to scream.

Check out The Shape of Days

Jeff Harrell, who I started reading for his hilarious Survivor summaries, has a very clever analysis of this Tom Friedman piece. I have often said that I think Islam needs a reformation, but Jeff explains the condition of Islam as it relates to Christianity and modernity better than I ever have:

I think Islam is a fundamentally adolescent religion. Islam is today where Christianity was eight hundred years ago, during the height of the Crusades and the Inquisitions. But where misguided Christian zealots had swords, misguided Muslim zealots have bombs.

Jonathan Chait has written a snotty little piece for the LA Times. Proving there isn't anything the press can't find fault with when it comes to George W. Bush, Chait lowers the boom on The President for being too fit.

When asked by the president of the United States how often he exercised, Wilkinson impressively responded that he runs 3 1/2 miles a day. Bush urged him to adopt more cross-training. "He warned me of impending doom," Wilkinson told the New York Times.

Am I the only person who finds this disturbing? I don't mean the fact that Bush would vet his selection for the highest court in the land in part on something utterly trivial. That's expected. What I mean is the fact that Bush has an obsession with exercise that borders on the creepy.

Chait manages to turn what was probably casual small talk into part of the vetting process, then goes on to sneer about Bush's focus on something "utterly trivial" being "expected." What a sorry premise for a column. But Chait is content to run with it.

Bush can bench press 185 pounds five times, and, before a recent knee injury, he ran three miles at a 6-minute, 45-second pace. That's better than I could manage when I played two sports in high school. And I wasn't holding the most powerful office on Earth. Which is sort of my point: Does the leader of the free world need to attain that level of physical achievement?

Chait must be pining for those delightful shots of an overweight Bill Clinton jogging down to the local McDonald's or riding in a golf cart with Vernon Jordan (I have neither the time nor inclination to look for links to those images). Moreover if Chait couldn't manage a 6:45 mile in high school, his two sports must have been shot put and bowling. Not content to imply that Bush exercises to the exclusion of doing his job, Chait goes on to turn it into a character flaw. Not content to leave it as a character flaw, Chait then goes on to remind us that Dubya once had a drinking problem:

My guess is that Bush associates exercise with discipline, and associates a lack of discipline with his younger, boozehound days.

Get the subtle twist? Going out and exercising every day isn't actually discipline; Bush just thinks it is. What follows is probably my favorite line of the piece.

"The president," said Fleischer, "finds [exercise] very healthy in terms of … keeping in shape. But it's also good for the mind." The notion of a connection between physical and mental potency is, of course, silly.

As a runner working in a business built around problem-solving, I can attest that running clears the mind and allows one to approach problems from new perspectives. So Chait's statement is, of course, silly. Much like the entirety of his column.

Sorry, Paul

Paul Begala is a piece of work. In this post, I reproduced a Begala quote:

"I was driving past the Pentagon when that plane hit" on Sept. 11, 2001. "I had friends on that plane; this is deadly serious to me," Begala said.

"They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted -- that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit," Begala said. "That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that."

Begala is now backing away from that. But you know who he claims is to blaim for the uproar over that quote? Wait for it ... THE CONSERVATIVES! Apparently, anyone who thought the first two "theys" and the second two "theys" were the same people are too dimwitted to follow Begala's nuanced thought processes.

"I concluded with the observation that, perhaps if the terrorists killed me, the Republicans would want my children to take comfort in knowing they won't have to pay any tax on the money they'll inherit."

Here's Begala's "explanation:"

Begala conceded that, "I did use the pronoun 'they' without a clear antecedent." He apologized to a former high school teacher, who Begala stated had taught him sufficiently for him not to make such a grammatical slip.

Oh, OK. Sometimes "they" means terrorists, and sometimes "they" means Republicans. Even in the same sentence. It's just a grammatical slip, you see. And if you didn't get it, then what does Begala have to say about you? Try this on for size:

He wondered why the conservative bloggers who reacted to the Cybercast News Service article "could be such dunderheads -- or so duplicitous" and "that they have such a low image of themselves that they would think that anyone would confuse them with terrorists."

Wow, that's a boatload. Former Clinton advisor Paul Begala called me a "dunderhead," "duplicitous," and accused me of having a "low image" of myself, all for failing to nuance his multiple missing antecedents. Shame on me.

Bin Laden: Architect of New Global Terrorism

This is from 2001, but it continues to this day:

Bin Laden, who U.S. officials have said is the prime suspect in Tuesday's attacks, is widely considered the architect of the new terrorism.

As an architect, I call for a moratorium on describing murderous terrorists who orchestrate savage attacks as "architects." Let's find a new occupation to use for a while. How about we call them "conductors" or "engineers"?

Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?

The Silly Season

So President Bush has selected John Roberts as his Supreme Court nominee. Some Democrats are actually praising the man:

(David) Boies called Roberts "a brilliant lawyer, a brilliant judge...a very careful judge, a thoughtful judge.

"I would agree with what the president said earlier," Boies said. "He is a decent man. I think everybody who knows him likes him. He is a conservative, but we were not going to get anybody who wasn't a conservative from this president.

Even Chuck Schumer said, "There's no question that Judge Roberts has outstanding legal credentials and an appropriate legal temperament and demeanor."

But it's not all sweetness and light. What does MoveOn, who claims to have bought and paid for the Democratic Party think? Here's a sampling.

"Roberts has been associated with some of the most fringe and extreme views of the Republican Party for years."

He compensates polluters, believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned and "won the case that gagged doctors so they could not even discuss abortion with their patients."

"He opposed clean air rules and worked to help coal companies strip mine mountaintops. He tried to stop Congress from strengthening the Voting Rights Act. He worked to keep injured workers from receiving disability."

Roberts has "regularly been associated with corporate, far right legal groups."

"Instead of a mainstream jurist with a distinguished career as someone who protects the rights of the American people, Bush chose another right-wing crony."

This promises to be a real test of how much control the far-left really exerts over the Democratic Party.

Dispatch From the Religion of Peace

A rape victim has been ordered to marry the rapist.

BOMBAY -- Hard-line Islamic clerics in a northern Indian village have declared that a woman's 10-year-old marriage was nullified when her father-in-law raped her -- and ordered the mother of five to marry the rapist.
[...]

The fatwa ordered Imrana Ilahi, 28, to separate from her husband and treat him as her son because she had sex with his father.

"She had a physical relationship with her father-in-law, and it nullifies her marriage," said Mohammad Masood Madani, a cleric at the theological school. He said it made no difference whether the sex was consensual or forced. The village council then decreed that Mrs. Ilahi would have to marry her father-in-law.

To be fair, some of the "moderate" Muslims in the community have come out against the fatwa. It's amazing to me that any reading of Koran could generate this type of "reasoning."

Ya gotta love the liberals. They held the first-ever "Campus Progress National Student Conference" in Washington, DC this week. The event was intended to "provide campus liberals with the tools necessary to fight the conservative movement."
So what are these "tools?" Paul Begala was helpful, informing the students of the following at a panel discussion entitled Winning the War of Ideas:

"They want to kill me and my children if they can. But if they just kill me and not my children, they want my children to be comforted - that while they didn't protect me because they cut my taxes, my children won't have to pay any money on the money they inherit," Begala said. "That is bulls*** national defense, and we should say that."

The Dems think they can win a "war of ideas" with that kind of rhetoric? No wonder Rush Limbaugh has half his brain tied behind his back. But Begala wasn't through.

The GOP, he said, "ain't had a new idea since they opposed Social Security, and guess what, they still do. ... They are beginning to figure out that there is no Soviet Union, but they still want Star Wars to stop it," Begala said.

"Okay, they are utterly and completely brain-dead."

It seems we're fighting a war of ideas with a guy who thinks words like "bulls***," "ain't," and "brain-dead," are winning rhetorical devices. And this guy was a White House "aide."

Is the 2nd amendment critical to the success of the USA

Now I'm not a gun owner albeit I come from a long line of gun owners, and I find it hypocritical to believe that one clause of the Bill of Rights takes precedent over others.

In other words, I don't think one can be against placing limitations on Religion and Press and Speech and then justify placing limitations on the ownership of fire arms.

But I wonder, is it necessary for this cowboy/gunslinger ethic to exist in order for the US to remain the innovating power it has been.

Does this "living on the edge" which grants certain power and rights to the general citizen that many civilized countries find barbaric keep the US of A pushing ahead?

There's a danger and grittiness to many of our inner cities which has spawned new forms of music throughout the history of our country.

Does the basic fact that life in the USA can be so fleeting and brief make some strive to push forward quickly before time runs out.

We are a country of thrill seekers and big bang freaks, just think of the fireworks display this 4th of July. Does some of this stem from the 2nd Amendment?

Dispatch From The Religion of Peace

27-year-old Dutch-Moroccan Mohammed Bouyeri is on trial in the Netherlands for the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. So how does he defend himself? Well, he doesn't:

The man accused of killing Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh confessed to a Dutch court that he acted out of his religious beliefs, saying he would do "exactly the same" if he were ever set free.

"I take complete responsibility for my actions. I acted purely in the name of my religion."

The tough Dutch legal system, currently on display in Aruba as well, has some pretty frightfull penalties in mind for this barbarian.

In addition to a life sentence, the prosecution also demanded that Bouyeri be stripped of his right to vote or stand for election for the rest of his life.

Now there's a deterrent to violent crime. No voting or campaigning for you! And Mohammed, for his part, had no quams about throwing a little salt into the wound.

"I have to admit I do not feel for you, I do not feel your pain, I cannot -- I don't know what it is like to lose a child," he said as Van Gogh's family and friends looked on.

"I cannot feel for you ... because I believe you are an infidel," he added.

And finally, in the end, we learn how much the Dutch and Aruban legal systems have in common:

Even though prosecutors have said that Bouyeri was "a leading figure" in a terrorist organization known as the Hofstad group, he has not yet been charged in that connection because of lack of evidence.

Liberal Fear Mongering

Yes once again, the liberal loonies are fear mongering, obviously attempting to scare to death every frat boy and womanizer from here to Timbuktu, Indiana. Yes, the reliable "fair and balanced" Boston Globe is reporting that your birth control is in danger.

Not only that but they remind us how horrible life was back in the days before 14 and 15 year olds engaged in Rainbow Parties and getting off mutliple hockey players. Yes it seems in the bluest of blue states Massachusetts:

"Connecticut was not alone in strapping tough laws on birth control. Massachusetts law banned the sale of contraceptives to unmarried women until 1972, when the Supreme Court ruled that treating married and single people differently was a violation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.
If members of a newly constituted Supreme Court unravel Roe v. Wade, they could undermine the right to privacy and access to birth control. If this happens, other attacks could gain force, including the current cases of pharmacists who refuse to fill birth control prescriptions because of their personal values. The nonprofit advocacy organization NARAL Pro-Choice America points to refusals made this year in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Illinois." - - Boston Globe Editorial July 10, 2005

So boys and girls much like Elaine in that famous episode of Seinfeld, stock up on your favorite method of birth control and get ready to decide during the heat of the moment, "Hmmm, is he or she really sponge worthy?"

Dubya Did It

Every so often, when I am looking for a chuckle, I surf on over to the BlameBush! blog. Here's the author's satirical take on the London terrorist attack.

But now is not the time for pointing fingers. In the wake of 9/11, progressives waited a good three minutes before blaming Bush, America, and Western Civilization in general, and we should be every bit as reverent now. Let the people of Great Britain mourn their fallen bretheren in peace. There will be plenty of time to exploit their grief for political gain in the weeks ahead. I'm just as anxious to hear who the 7/7 Widows will endorse for New York Senator as you are, but let's practice a little bit of decorum, shall we? For once, let's rise above political rancor and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our friends across the pond in their hour of need, just as we did when Bush killed Princess Diana.
[...]

Without resorting to prayer, let us have a moment of silence and quiet reflection in honor of those who lost their lives today. Perhaps when the dust settles, England can turn to France for guidance through these dark times, as they have for centuries. As Americans, we must be ever vigilant, and work together to protect our own country from extremist right-wing judges who seek to overturn Roe v. Wade and deny a woman her right to choose. But until we repeal Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans, none of us will be truly safe again.

Best places to live

Money magazine has published a list of the best 100 places to live. On top of the list is Moorestown, NJ, which I think is not too far from where Cousin Don grew up. I am not sure how they came up with this list, but their criteria appear to include bars and restaurants. Moorestown, population 20,662, has 7183 restaurants and 729 bars within 15 miles. That's some serious eating and drinking.

Count your Blessings

The Norfolk Virginian Pilot is is running a 14-part series on the region's yellow fever epidemic of 1885. Sometimes it's easy to lose track of how good we have it - these people would have loved to have Supreme Court nominees and terrorism as their biggest worries:

Commandant Samuel Barron continued to struggle under the fever. His infant nephew, who was breast-feeding when Imogene became sick, came down with whooping cough.

Mills C. Godwin, a compositor for the Richmond Dispatch , watched from the capital city as the fever consumed his family in Gosport. Godwin first got word that his brother had died. The next day, the paper reported the death of his brother-in-law.

A day later, Godwin learned that the fever had sent his sister to her grave. Then Godwin’s cousin fell to the fever, and her 6-year-old son. When he hoped the fever had finished with his family, another telegraph arrived: His father had died.

Before he could make it east to comfort his mother, a final transmission came: The fever had taken her, too.

Kinda puts that federal courthouse in perspective.

Feds hover over Granby Tower

Here's a twist on the recent Kelo land-grab Supreme Court ruling. The Federal Government wants to take a piece of land currently under development to the tune of $150 million and build a courthouse annex on it.

Granby Tower, which would have 309 condominiums priced from $250,000 to $2 million, would, at 450 feet, be the state’s second-tallest building. The development has been in the works for nearly two years.
[…]
Joseph T. Waldo, an attorney retained by the Granby Tower developer, said the U.S. General Services Administration, a federal agency that acquires office space for the government, approached his client about purchasing the site. Told it is not for sale, the agency hired an appraiser and has threatened to force the developers to sell through a court proceeding known as condemnation, Waldo said.

Not surprisingly, Norfolk officials are a little perturbed.

“I was astounded” to hear they wanted Gadams’ land, said (Norfolk Mayor Paul) Fraim, who added that the City Council will discuss the issue at today’s meeting.
Fraim said that in his last meeting with federal officials about expanding the courthouse, in late 2002, he was told there was no interest in that site.

So there it is. The feds are offered a piece of land and express "no interest" in it. Three years later, with development underway and tens of millions of dollars invested by the private sector, they threaten condemnation. I guess public use means highest tax revenue for local government unless the feds come calling. Mayor Fraim sums the whole thing up pretty succinctly:

“No one wants to get sideways with the federal government,” Fraim said. “But anybody in our position would be troubled by this. … To have made the decision without including the city in its discussions is very troubling. Their procrastination could end up costing the federal government many millions of additional dollars. Someone should be held responsible.”

Progressive Partying

Hanna Rosin offers this Washington Post profile of the players in the upcoming Supreme Court nomination battle (link requires registration):

"It's like the Howard Dean days," says a lady who is standing over by the pool, eating a piece of sushi. And in form, at least, it is: groups of strangers meeting in suburban back yards or tiny downtown apartments on a Saturday night, telling stories of "how I got involved," resuscitating that common enemy from the heady pre-election days, known in these circles as "the fascist government" or "the people destroying this country" or sometimes simply "Them."

Notice the lack of a positive agenda. Politics for these people is reduced to stopping "Them." That and eating Sushi by the pool.

Fazio's story is much like those of the 30 or so guests who have shown up after signing up for the party on MoveOn's Web site. Last time he felt this jazzed up was at the "Vote for Change" concert organized by MoveOn at MCI Center just before the election. There was "Bruce" ("We're huge Springsteen fans") singing his heart out for John Kerry, thousands of like-minded groovesters waving their arms and singing along, still giddy in that last window of giddiness, when there was still a chance.

Ah, there's the policy agenda: "Change." No reason to clutter up a perfectly good Springsteen concert with pesky specifics.

Then came that black post-election phase when people at the party recall feeling "pretty depressed" or "burned out" or "drained" or "exhausted." "Let's just say I suffered quietly" are Fazio's words. He moped along, feeling helpless and frustrated, watching a lot of Fox News and throwing boxes of Cheerios at "Hannity & Colmes."

Oh, good lord, would you please get over yourselves already? Apparently, the resignation of Sandra Day O'Conner pushed Fazio out of his funk, and he sprang right into action. He threw a party.

And the future suddenly took shape. No more aimless Cheerios-throwing. Genny would come home from work every day and say to herself: "Chuck is energized."

"I said, 'You got to do something,' " she recalls. "This is very scary. They've pushed us over the edge." Last Tuesday he called her at the office, excited. He'd gotten the e-mail from MoveOn about the house parties, and now he had a plan.

"Gen, I know what we have to do. We're having a party. We're doing it."

And these people expect anyone to take them seriously? There political instincts are to party? So what is the conversation like at this poolside sushi-fest? Predictably bitter and nasty.

"Enough is enough These people are scary and they're trying to take over. They've got to be stopped. I mean, the jig is up, man. These people cannot continue to lie because we know the whole story now."

Typically, the whole story they now know is never articulated, at least beyond "taking over."

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Vijaya Thakur is partying at her apartment, too. The digs are not quite as stylish, though.

The apartment is dorm-ish and looks like it could be packed up in an hour -- a mattress on the floor and a few mismatched chairs, two old desks covered with bags of Utz pretzels and potato chips, an old TV with a turn dial, nothing on the walls.

Sounds like not much has changed since I was college. Although Vijaya isn't thinking about her studies today.

Thakur has the energy of an undaunted activist, something more solid and serious than peppy. She says the group at the party already addressed the notion that they are powerless to affect Bush's decision, and pulls out a chart the group has written up explaining their demands.

Their demands? Ya gotta love the hubris of youth. Only someone under age 25 or so could seriously refer to their political desires as "demands."

Here, too, the guests go around and explain what brought them here. They pass around a lime, and only the person holding it gets to talk. One woman is from a family of activists and complains about the "fascist administration." A man from Iceland says he feels "sorry for you Americans." A teacher says she is "more and more scared about what's happening to our country."

I'm just laughing, now. The visual of a group of 20-something "progressives" passing around a talking-lime is too much. You can't make this stuff up. Time to wrap up the article, the party, and the blog entry, in Vijaya's words:

"Yea, us," she says, and invites everyone to stay and watch a movie.

What If?

When I was a child I used to read Marvel Comics' "What if?" series which always took some dramatic event in a superhero storyline and asked, "What if that had happened differently?"
Then the tale would spin out showing the difference between the alternate storyline and the real one. Questions like, "What if Peter Parker never got bit by that radioactive spider?," would be answered in 20 quick pages of cool artwork and cheesy dialogue.

Very often people especially pundits and politicians like to do this with real events.

I bet in the next few days we will hear such questions posed by both members of the left and the right. Questions like:

"What if one of the London Bombers is a released Guantanamo prisoner?"

"What if England had never joined us in the Iraq War?"

But do these question ever really serve any good except as attempts to sway public opinion or idle mental masturbation for the intelligentsia?

(Of course as a blogger, I'm a pot calling the kettle black, or what if I'm the kettle Hmmm... I bet the Watcher knows...)

Should Sources be Protected?

This question of course comes about because of the recent imprisonment of NY Times Reporter Judith Miller for refusing to give up her source in the Valerie (Plame) Wilson outing.

I am not asking whether or not it's right for Miller to go to jail but is it right to have a system where leakers are protected from prosecution due to "Freedom of the Press."

This question comes to mind because of this recent Time Magazine story where the following is stated:

In the future, the best hope for journalists may be a federal shield law, now in Congress, which would let reporters keep sources confidential under any circumstances. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have shield laws, while 18 additional states have similar protections. A federal law has been proposed by Senator Richard Lugar and Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, who have signed up dozens of co-sponsors. It's not that legislators love the media. But when it comes to advancing their politics, legislators can be world-class leakers and could have as much to lose as journalists.

So is it good to have a system where leakers are protected or not. Or does it have to be decided on a case by case basis?

I think I lean toward the case by case basis because then there is risk to leak but if the leak reveals a true injustice then it is difficult to argue it wasn't the correct thing to do.

It is an interesting question though?

Talk Radio Today

I was in the car today around 2:00PM Eastern Time, and I was flipping around the dial looking for new information on the London Bombings.

Rush Limbaugh was on a tirade about the war on terror. O'Reilly had a guest host Gibson, somebody or other, who was also on a talking about the London Bombings with callers. Dennis Prager was interviewing some British expert about the war on terror.

Even reliably liberal NPR was talking about the London Bombings.

But Air America host Al Franken was interviewing some woman asking why Tom Delay was currently not being accused of any new misdeeds, and why the Democrats have called an apparent cease fire on criticizing Delay.

Now that's the wacko left....

Ouch

Christopher Chantrill, writing for The American Thinker, offers this stinging review of liberalism and the courts:

The keystone of liberal magnificence is the Supreme Court. Over half a century liberals have enjoyed the fawning deference of a compliant court that built them a jurisprudence inspired by three noble principles: first, that liberals should be free to follow their bliss, to live creative and meaningful lives liberated from suffocating suburban conformity; second, that their liberal clients should be freed from all responsibility and consequence of bad behavior; and thirdly, that every one else—that is to say: Republicans, religious believers, and corporations—should be held to the strictest standards in everything and should pay swingeing damages whenever they failed to deliver a cost-free world to liberals and their clients.

Viewed in the light of these three eternal principles, the last half century of Supreme Court jurisprudence makes complete sense. In the liberal bedroom, in the liberal art studio, and on the streets of the inner city, anything goes. But in the office and the corporate boardroom, strict scrutiny and detailed liberal supervision is the law of the land. And to spare delicate liberal sensibilities the Court has diligently driven religion from the public square.

Man, that's good stuff.

Dispatches from the Religion of Peace

Al-Qaida claims killing of Egyptian envoy
"We announce in the al-Qaida in Iraq that the verdict of God against the ambassador of the infidels, the ambassador of Egypt, has been carried out. Thank God."

Report: Islamic group claims London blasts
"Rejoice, Islamic nation. Rejoice, Arab world. The time has come for vengeance against the Zionist crusader government of Britain in response to the massacres Britain committed in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"The heroic mujahedeen carried out a blessed attack in London, and now Britain is burning with fear and terror, from north to south, east to west."

Some religion, that.

Top ten hot national news babes

1. Kiran Chetry, better pix - love the tomb raider outfit
2. Norah O'Donnell - Couldn't let you down, Kurt...
3. Sibila Vargas
4. Campbell Brown
5. Kareen Wynter
6. Juliet Huddy
7. Julie Chen
8. Ann Curry
9. Tamala Edwards
10. Laurie Dhue - collagen or not who cares

Shameless plug: If you enjoy this blog...

You might want to try The Bennelli Brothers ...

By the way, any abuse you can throw "the captain's" way would be much appreciated. His blue state butt needs to become a little more red...

Update: The Benneli Brothers have been added to the blogroll for ease of use. - Kurt

That's one mean SUV

From the Virginian-Pilot:

Man found slain in Norfolk home; SUV sought

NORFOLK — A man was found killed in a home on 3rd Bay Street early today, and homicide investigators are seeking his SUV.

Police did not release the man's identity. Officers found him after they got a call about a door being open in the 9500 block of 3rd Bay St.

The man's gold Ford Expedition was missing. It bore the Virginia license plate JKL 7222, police said.

I am sure the Norfolk police won't let that ingrate of a car get away with this heinous crime.

Dennis Prager has three reasons why Bush's Supreme Court nominee will be smeared:

"First, Democrats believe that conservatives by definition are bad people."
...
"A second reason Democrats and others on the Left use smear as a political weapon is to avoid challenging ideas and intellectual argument."
...
"Third, having been unable to persuade the American public to adopt most of its policies, the Left has increasingly relied on the courts to do what the political process will not do."

The whole thing is here.

Joe Biden (D), Egomania was on Face the Nation on Sunday. In defending his postition that Janice Rogers Brown is acceptable as a circuit court judge but would be unacceptable as Supreme Court nominee, he made this distiction between the two positions:

"Because a circuit court judge is bound by star decisis. They don't get to make new law."

There you have the Dems' perception of the role of the Supreme Court: to make new law. Not to interpret the Constitution, but to legislate from the bench. We always knew this was their position, but until now I had never heard a Democrat say it so blatantly.

The transcript is available here.

Ronald Reagan on the 4th of July

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people.

We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.

Happy Fourth of July,

Ronald Reagan

The whole thing is here.

I Got To Get One of These

Now this is model airplaning at its finest. No pansy little biplane or propeller driven "trainer" for this guy. He built a jet-powered Tomcat!

Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ

Meet the Press

I TiVo NBC's "Meet the Press" and watch it most weeks. I used to watch ABC's "This Week with David Brinkley" but the Cokie & Dan show that it became prior to the current George Stephanolpolous version kind of ruined that show for me. Although I do miss the dry wit of George Will.

This week Tim Russert was on vacation so Andrea Mitchell, NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and wife of Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Chairman, was the guest host.

It was interesting to see how much the show lacks without Russert's pointed questions. Andrea wasn't bad but I think she steered the questions so they definitely favored a negative impression of the President's administration.

Just my opinion.

Anybody else agree?

Sandy and Kenny sitting in a tree

A memo written by a young Ken Starr about Sandra Day O'Connor is often cited as one of the things that caused Ronald Reagan to choose her for the court.

Starr's memo was called "a hurriedly prepared, error-filled memo by a young Justice Department lawyer" by Robert Novak and Rowland Evans.

Ironic isn't it?

Starr, not only unable to find the dirt on a President who instead of being a "Tricky Dick" was fond of using his dick for kicks, was also responsible for a Justice who has tormented the conservative base with her sometimes liberal rulings.

Sandra Day O

Day I say Day I say Day O

But I digress...

Continuing on my cousin's theme I heard a woman on talk radio in liberal Massachusetts claim that the replacement of Sandy with a conservative would lead to the end of birth control.

Yes, the end of birth control not abortion not Roe v. Wade but birth control, as if the judge replacing Sandy is going to poke holes in every condom in existence.

Even if Roe v. Wade is overturned it will mean that states will have to decide for themselves whether abortion is to be legal in that state.

I mean exaggeration is one thing that both Donkeys and Elephants engage in but this is hysterics plain and simple...

Bush Opponents Crank Up The Rhetoric

Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation is about three hours old as I write this. And the left is already gearing up their attack machine:

"...an ominous vacancy..."
"...terrible changes..."
"The battle for the Supreme Court has begun."
"Help save the Supreme Court from President Bush."
"...a significant threat to women's reproductive rights..."
"... a critical time in history..."
"...a nightmare for reproductive health care and women's rights..."
"...women's health is clearly at risk, and the future of reproductive rights in this nation is in grave danger."
"...Bush will appoint someone who threatens our rights and liberties."
"...we would encourage a bipartisan filibuster to defeat such a nominee."

This promises to be an entertaining summer for us political junkies.