The Real John McCain --

From Perish the Thought:


I've always held the Vietnam vet in high esteem. I was with them -- literally and figuratively -- and experienced first-hand the harassment and spite they have endured. That being said -- I have historically distrusted John McCain for how he has used his military service (particularly as a POW) as a crutch to further his political career.

His political career always has that subliminal disclaimer: "...yeah, but he was a military hero ..." As if he's "entitled" to forgiveness when straying from his conservative roots.

My contention is that, had his father not been an admiral, his lack-luster record (including the loss of at least 2 airplanes) would have gotten him thrown out of the military or notably demoted. For whatever he didn't accomplish -- it was not until his POW status that he gained any esteem.

Is this relevant to his run for an office to which he has always aspired?

I think so. There are too many correlations and incidents of self-service, entitlements and compromise in his background to qualify him as a reliable conservative candidate for POTUS. Much less as commander-in-chief in a volatile time.

If you choose to disagree -- fine. But when you do, keep in mind his voting record, his defense of amnesty, his history of sanctions by his peers, his emotional instability, his flip-flops and inconsistencies in promoting basic conservative tenets.
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From Pat Murphy:

Those who've known John McCain since he began his Arizona political career two decades ago made two mistakes. First, we underestimated the Washington media's gullibility for a political schmooze job. Second, we underestimated McCain's mastery in reincarnating himself as a lovable maverick glowing with political virtue and amiable charm while camouflaging his bullyboy and deceitful ways.

If McCain were to become president, Americans would wake up to more than a commander-in-chief with a prickly temperament and a low boiling point. McCain is a man who carries get-even grudges. He cannot endure criticism. He threatens. He controls by fear. He's consumed with self-importance. He shifts blame. McCain's thin skin and demand to have it his way have been obvious since infancy, when he held his breath until he was unconscious, and later in Washington, where he has resorted to pushing and shoving colleagues when irritated.

McCain is a man obsessed with political ambitions but plagued by self-destructive petty impulses. It was vintage McCain who exploded when the Arizona Republic questioned whether the man dubbed "Senator Hothead" in Washington is fit to be entrusted with presidential powers. Instead of conceding what's common knowledge about his volcanic personality, McCain exploded in denial, blaming a newspaper vendetta and George W. Bush for "orchestrating" the criticism. When his claims drew snickers, McCain shifted to another explanation: He explodes when he sees "injustice."

But this sort of blame-fixing works where it counts--with reporters who've come to blindly lionize McCain as a high-minded champion of political virtue fighting demons of political corruption. Perhaps McCain's master stroke in inoculating himself from serious media
scrutiny was his early fusillade of confessions--his adultery ruined his first marriage, the Keating Five scandal was a blemish on his reputation, he indulged in wild and reckless misbehavior as an Annapolis midshipman. He finally endeared himself to the media with
his Quixotic promise to reform campaign financing and by holding court with reporters aboard his "Straight Talk Express" bus.

The new journalism of dwelling on personalities rather than tedious investigative digging gives McCain a free ride from the national media. Swooning media ensure McCain special treatment in the right places: 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace cooed on the air that he likes McCain so much, he might leave TV to become his press secretary. Salon's Jake Tapper dubbed him "basically just a cool dude." Newsmen of another generation note that reporters covering McCain also are reluctant to seem tough on a man with McCain's painful experience as a prisoner of war.

One who hasn't been so quick to fall in line is Washington Post columnist David Broder, who warned on NBC's Meet the Press that "after the experience we all had with President Clinton [ignoring Arkansas reports of his misdeeds], I'm not inclined to discount the view of home-state reporters and journalists who have covered a candidate over the years." A few enterprising non-Arizona journalists have peeled back the McCain veneer. Boston Globe reporter Walter Robinson spent several weeks digging into McCain's Arizona behavior and reporting his dark side. Ditto Ted Rose of Brill's Content. And the acknowledged Arizona media expert on
McCain, reporter Amy Silverman of the Phoenix New Times (more on her later), gave readers of Playboy a McCain portrait not found elsewhere. ABC's Sam Donaldson came close to giving millions of viewers a clearer picture in a taped interview with Silverman for 20/20. But
the segment was canceled the night before airing, fueling speculation that McCain's oversight of broadcasters as Senate Commerce Committee chairman makes the networks wary of offending him. Several years ago, when NBC refused to support his TV-rating system, McCain wrote a letter to NBC President Robert Wright, threatening to ask the FCC to review licenses of the network's locally owned stations.

I'm among the swelling ranks of onetime McCain acquaintances ostracized for not being slavishly loyal. After McCain settled in Arizona with his young second wife, a millionaire, he asked me at dinner for help with a political career. As editorial page editor (and later publisher) of the Arizona Republic, I declined to be his political coach. However, we socialized, including dinners at his home. We even discussed writing a book. The relationship ended, however, when our newspaper exposed McCain as a liar who used an underhanded political trick.

Here is what happened: McCain boasted to my wife and me over lunch in Washington that he had planted complex questions with the Senate Interior Committee chairman to sabotage the testimony of Arizona Gov. Rose Mofford, a Democrat, about the Central Arizona Project, the multibillion-dollar Colorado River water delivery system for Arizona urban areas. When I protested to McCain that the project had enjoyed bipartisan support for nearly 50 years, from conservative Barry Goldwater to liberal Morris Udall, McCain retorted: "I'm duty bound to embarrass a Democrat whenever I can."

When reporters later asked McCain about planted questions, he feigned insult and injury and denied any such ploy. Editors in Phoenix were informed of McCain's deceit. After a news story and editorial appeared, McCain went into meltdown, shrieking on the phone: "I know you're out to get me!" (Several years later, McCain admitted the dirty trick and apologized to Mofford, who was then out of office.)

When Barbara Barrett, wife of Intel CEO Craig Barrett, ran against McCain's protégé, Gov. Fife Symington, McCain offered to buy her out of the 1994 GOP primary. She refused. Furious, McCain threatened revenge. Barrett lost, but Symington later was forced out of office after being convicted of seven counts of fraud (his conviction was overturned and is under appeal). McCain's wife was a front-row regular at Symington's criminal trial in Phoenix. McCain still calls Symington "my friend."

While Barrett, a successful attorney, emerged mostly unscathed, others weren't so lucky. Maricopa County (Phoenix) schools superintendent Sandra Dowling, a Republican, refused McCain's demand to abandon support of Barrett. Dowling told Morley Safer during a 60 Minutes interview about Arizona politics (which never aired) that McCain exploded and threatened to "destroy" her. Thereafter, her son lost his appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, where McCain sits as an ex officio member of the Board of Visitors. McCain denied any connection. Even former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, McCain's onetime senior aide who considered succeeding him in Congress, was purged from the senator's circle for investigating Symington and refusing to seek McCain's advice as a loyal understudy.

More of McCain's style:

McCain indulges in hypocrisy with a flair. He attacks tobacco but ignores alcohol. Why? His wife's millions flow from the family beer and wine distributorship, Arizona's largest.

The affable, candid, gregarious candidate, who mingles with reporters and yuks it up in the back of the bus, is no friend of free speech, and merely tolerates and uses the press as part of his political strategy. In Arizona, McCain tries to subdue reporters by threatening to have them fired when he's displeased with their pieces. Upset about critical reporting in the Phoenix New Times by Amy Silverman, McCain complained to her father, Richard, general manager of the Salt River Project, an Arizona hydroelectric utility. McCain's intent seemed clear: muscling the federally chartered SRP in hopes Silverman would pressure his daughter to back off.

One of my Arizona neighbors, Dianne Smith, wrote McCain protesting his criticism of Anita Hill in confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. A widow then in her sixties, Smith was flabbergasted when McCain telephoned her, shouting at her for "questioning my integrity."

McCain promised Arizona voters, "I've never tried to exploit my Vietnam service to my country because it would be totally inappropriate." But his presidential campaign is festooned with reminders of his POW years, from campaign videos to speeches to best-selling books, trying to capture the veterans vote.

Even as he moralizes about corrupt corporate money, McCain rakes in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Washington lobbyists and asks corporations for use of their jets for campaigning. Last year, the Washington Post documented thousands of dollars of donations to McCain's political war chest from K Street lobbyists who do business before the Senate Commerce Committee.

McCain himself has acknowledged that he intervenes before regulatory agencies with letters on behalf of campaign donors, but claims he's merely performing a "constituent service"--the same explanation he used when initially defending himself in the Keating Five scandal. As a peevish lobbyist told Newsweek: "He sees no connection between twisting our arms for money and then talking about how corrupt the system is."

The John McCain glamorized by the national media is a total stranger to Arizonans who are painfully familiar with a far coarser and more foreboding man. His victory in the New Hampshire primary may bring greater scrutiny. Instead of treating him as a lovable maverick and quotable long shot, the national media that have been fawning over him are certain to begin digging seriously into the McCain background that has turned so many of his home-state Republicans against him.

I Was with MLK and George Romney

... in Grosse Pointe and I'm with Mitt Romney on the issues.

It amazes me that the fear-Mitt crowd continues to harp on whether Mitt's father had joined MLK in a march through a Michigan community. Why?

There is no denial that George Romney was a visionary leader in the civil rights movement. Why the issue on whether or when he marched with MLK?

The answer: to discredit his son, Mitt Romney.

Find another issue, you idiots.

You're shadow boxing a flash from the past. For every written account and witness that say "yes, I marched with them," there will always be another "witness" to refute their claims.

Like one of those gotcha questions.

We deserve better from our media.

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Get Back on the Raft, Huck!

We're paddling upstream and you're slowing us down!

Speaking as a moderate conservative, I find Mike Huckabee a drag against the current, a cumbersome anchor of resistence to progress and prosperity.

The other things I think about him are discussed in depth at PTT. If you prefer to weather another eight years of Bill and Hill in the White House, then jump in with the Huckster.

Otherwise, paddle like hell, 'cause we going to need all hands on deck to withstand the "perfect storm."

Mitt. Mitt Romney. We need a true leader at the helm.

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Mitt on Experience

... and he's right. The Presidency of the United States is NOT an internship ....



Direct link.

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Return of the Chinese Crookie Monster!!!

Funny. HaHa funny. Hirrary Crinton in the kitchen again, eh?

Fortune Crookies.
The whole sheet of them.
Crookies.

Return of the Chinese Crookie-Monsters! EEEEEEKS!!!!

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Saying NO to Bill Clinton ----

Make that a resounding NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

America neither needs nor wants a disbarred lawyer, liar, rapist and womanizer filandering around the globe at taxpayer expense. Again.

Here's what Billy-Bob told the Guardian:

If Hillary Clinton wins the US presidency, Bill Clinton will be given the
job of repairing America's damaged international reputation, the former
president tells the Guardian in an interview today.

Mr Clinton, 61, reveals that his wife has said she would ask him to "go out
and immediately restore America's standing, go out and tell people America was open for business and cooperation again" after eight years marked by unilateralist policies that have "enrage[d] the world".

America WILL be open for "business and cooperation" again, Billy-boy.

But not the type of business and cooperation your reputation implies.

credit: Perish the Thought

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The REAL Protest Message

THIS is the message that protesters wanted to convey this weekend in Washington.

Message received.

Now, take your Soros-funded anti-America protest-for-hire money and return to the rock you crawled out from under.

God bless our troops and their families.

Thanks to the thousands of Eagles and GOE III participants who confronted the cowards in Washington this weekend.

hat tip to Gull.

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Beyond Murphy: Laws of Life

Next time you say, "There oughta be a law ...." stop and consider there may already be one. Especially one that goes wayyyyyy beyond Murphy's:

Law of Mechanical Repair
After your hands become coated with grease, Your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee.

Law of the Workshop
Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of Probability
The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the Stupidity of your act.

Law of the Telephone
If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal.

Law of the Alibi
If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, The very next morning you will have a flat tire.

Variation Law
If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will start To move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).

Law of the Bath
When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Law of Close Encounters
The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically When you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

Law of the Result
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

Law of Biomechanics
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Law of the Theater
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last.

Law of Coffee
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

Murphy's Law of Lockers
If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

Law of the Dance
If there are only two people on the dance floor, they will run into each other.

Law of Rugs/Carpets
The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug.

Law of Location
No matter where you go, there you are.

Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

Brown's Law
If the shoe fits, it's ugly.

Oliver's Law
A closed mouth gathers no feet.

Wilson's Law
As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.

Doctors' Law
If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, By the time you get there you'll feel better. Don't make an appointment and you'll stay sick.

Yeah. I agree. There oughta be a law against laws.

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Algore vs. Belching Cows and Farting Mooses?

While cow's breath (the odor -- not the flower) is not one of my favorite fragrances (I never could figure out how "sour" grass could be converted to "sweet" milk), Algore may have met his match as a hot air blow-hard.

Take that anyway you choose. I do, however, recommend NOT lighting any matches for the rest of this post.

The Algore environmental crowd are sniffing out bovine gastrointestional odors as another cause of global warming. They're now blaming cows and moose for melting snow caps and homeless polar bears.

And speaking of belching and farting -- Algore obviously never met my Dad.

Dad's belches would rattle the neighbor's windows; his farts brought tears to the eyes of anyone within 50 feet.

Funny thing is, I always figured algore as a "pull-my-finger" sorta guy.

But I digress.


So read the article.

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Mitt Herds the Cow(ard)s Outta Iowa

The sports world should be so lucky. You know you're going to lose, so to save face -- you decide not to play.

No, this doesn't work in sports and it certainly doesn't work in politics.

Rudy and John (and Ron Paul, for that matter), can make all the excuses they want. True is, they took their ball and went home.

In addition to "offending" the most historic straw vote state in the nation, they failed to make opening curtain in the first event of the 2008 election year!

That's worse than blowing your lines with a cue card behind the camera, Fred. You all have heard of Fred!, haven't you? Fred! Thompson .... that undeclared, "I'll let you know soon" guy who continues to line his pockets with "testing the water" money while changing his campaign staff as often his youngest changes diapers.

What kind of political candidate for the Presidency of the United States "declines" to campaign? What does that say to the American public about determination and faith in -- not only the process -- but in their position on the issues????

When you hear someone criticize Mitt Romney or "alibi" his winning margin --- remember what happened in Iowa.

If conservative candidates are afraid of Mitt's organizational skills in a (as they describe "meaningless") preliminary state, what will they do when facing him in subsequent state polls? Will they feel more confident in "matching" his well-organized team in states less conservative?

Will Rudy and John be able to match the enthusiasm and focus Mitt demonstrated in this speech in Iowa yesterday?

Time will tell ..... May the best candidate win. And if Iowa is any indicator -- it will be Mitt Romney.

Romney Goes Spirited AND Spiritual

This is the man we need as POTUS. Mitt Romney --- spirited AND spiritual.

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Yankee Gov with Southern Values

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports:

Family was center stage both literally and figuratively as Ann Romney launched her fist solo bus tour throughout South Carolina Tuesday.

Oversized blown-up family pictures of the Romney family draped the campaign sites. On display front and center was the real life version: daughter-in-law Mary Romney and grandson Parker Romney whom were by their CFO “Chief Family Officer’s” side at each event.

Crowds of mostly women waited eagerly to hear from the mother of five, the grandmother of ten, and the potential next future first-lady of the United States.

Mrs. Romney served as the perfect spousal surrogate: touting Mitt Romney as a loving husband, valuable father, and successful businessman, volunteer and governor. But she said he’s not done yet, “Wait until he gets his hands on Washington…he’s going to tear it up.”
Referencing the political environment that Governor Romney had risen from in Massachusetts, Mrs. Romney admitted, “It’s been quite an experience, being conservative and living in the North East,” and joked that she liked it when people called her husband, “the Yankee governor with Southern values.”

Taking aim at the characteristically liberal political culture of Massachusetts she continued, “… living with Kennedy and Kerry as your Senators: Mitt often likes to joke that he will trade anyone in the country – your two senators for his two senators. Would you guys like to trade?” The crowd, comprised mostly of Republican party members, shouted “no” in response as roars of laughter followed.

Mrs. Romney described the successes her husband had while in office, recalling the governor promising not to raise taxes in response to the health care problem, a la what the Romney’s refer to as “a Hillary takeover of health care.” Mrs. Romney, pinpointing health care as one of the most important voting issues of the 2008 presidential election, promised that her husband was one of the only candidates who’s had a successful track record, by finding a solution to universal health care coverage without having new takes through market-based initiatives.

Professing she’s having a “great time” touting her husband’s background and qualifications to win the White House, Mrs. Romney gushed how wonderful it is to have her family by her side.

Describing the campaign trail as sometimes “rough and tortuous” grandma Romney brought a little light-hearted humor into the mix, introducing her grandson Parker as the “biggest drooler ever” and later making it up to him with an ice cream cone break between events on the trail.
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One nice thing about egotists... and other ponderings

Just what I needed. A few more rhetorical questions .....

1. Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
2. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.
3. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
4. If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?
5. The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
6. I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
7. What if there were no hypothetical questions?
8. If a deaf person swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?
9. If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation?
10. Is there another word for synonym?
11. Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"
12. What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?
13. If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?
14. Would a fly without wings be called a walk?
15. Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?
16. If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?
17. Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?
18. If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to start speaking?
19. Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?
20. How do they get deer to cross the road only at those yellow road signs?
21. What was the best thing before sliced bread?
22. One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people.
23. Does the Little Mermaid wear an algebra?
24. Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
25. How is it possible to have a civil war?
26. If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest drown, too?
27. If you ate both pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry?
28. If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
29. Whose cruel idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have "S" in it?
30. Why are hemorrhoids called "hemorrhoids" instead of "assteroids"?
31. Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?
32. Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?
33. If you spin an oriental man in a circle three times does he become disoriented?
34. Can an atheist get insurance against acts of God?

Thanks, Gull. You've disrupted another afternoon nap.
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Romney on .... Well, About Everything

This is one of the most comprehensive and thought-provoking speeches I've heard from a candidate for the Presidency -- in years.

"We've just come from celebrating the 4th of July. For me, it was parades in
Iowa and fireworks in Idaho. You know, the kind of celebrating the Democrats
usually reserve for April 15th.

"But this week, we were celebrating our nation's birthday. July 4, 1776 was an inflection point in history - a moment that set a new course for America.

"Today, we face what is sure to be another inflection point in American history. A new generation of challenges, unprecedented challenges, means that we must change our present course. Domestically, our addiction to spending and borrowing is breaching crisis proportion. Competitively, our citizens choose to buy hundreds of
billions more from foreign nations than they buy from us. And militarily, we face an entirely new type of threat - violent Jihad whose sponsors seek nuclear weapons.

"To confront unprecedented challenges, we must change. Both parties claim to be the party of change, and I think both are right. But there's a big difference in the direction their change would take us.

"Republicans look to our American heritage. The 4th of July marked our
independence from England. But there was more to it than that. The Founding
Fathers established a nation where the people were sovereign, not the state, not
the king. We would not rely on the divine right of kings, or their whimsical
beneficence. We would rely on ourselves. Succeed or fail, America would be the
land of opportunity. So when Republicans talk of change, we are talking about
opportunity and freedom. We are talking about people, not government.

"Democrats look beyond our heritage - they look to the Europe of the past. When Democrats talk of change, they are thinking about big government, big welfare, big taxes and big brother. But those are the very policies that led to Europe's decline. In short, big mistake.

"Look at how Democrats like Senator Clinton think about the economy. She said that it is 'time to reject the idea of an "on your own" society and replace it with shared responsibility.' She says she prefers a 'we're all in it together society.' I see, out with Adam Smith and in with Karl Marx!

"Don't Democrats see that individual initiative is at the heart of America's unprecedented march to world economic leadership? Adam Smith wasn't heartless. Adam Smith saw that individual initiative would produce the greatest wealth for the entire society.

"Can't Democrats see that since the 1970's while Europe's growth stagnated,
America created 57 million new jobs? Look at unemployment, look at growth -
America won, Europe lost. That's why Europeans are beginning to elect
conservatives. Come to think of it, with her economic plan, Hillary Clinton
couldn't be elected president of France!

"Senator Clinton's economic plan goes beyond utopian visions of collective good. She also has a special program for corporate taxes: she wants to raise them. It's time, she says, to require corporations 'to pay their fair share.'

"The last time I checked, American corporations were subject to the second highest tax rates in the industrialized world, just a smidgen below Japan. In our new 'flat' world economy, many corporations can move their headquarters and their operations almost at will. Just look at the economic boom produced by Ireland's move to lower corporate taxes.

"Let's not raise taxes on the employers who create jobs and national wealth, let's lower them!

"Corporate taxes aren't the end of it. Democrats have their sights on 2011 for a record-breaking personal income tax hike. And whenever you take money away from citizens, and give their money to government, you slow down the economy.

"When Democrats talk about change, they're referring to what you'd have left in your pockets.

"I have a different answer. Let's make the Bush tax cuts
permanent. Let's kill the Death Tax. And let's have a new tax rate for middle
income Americans who want to save their money, who are investing in America. The tax rate on their interest, dividends and capital gains should be...exactly zero!

"Our fiscal problem is not that we are taxing too little; it is that Washington is spending too much.

"Shame on both parties in Congress for all the earmarks, the waste, the duplication, and the failure to reform entitlements. I am proud to be the first presidential candidate to have signed Grover Norquist's tax pledge. But I have made another pledge as well. If I am elected President, I will cap non-defense discretionary spending at inflation minus one percent. That alone will save $300 billion over ten years. If Congress sends me appropriations that exceed that cap, I will veto them. I don't care if it's a Republican or a Democratic Congress. I will veto.

"And I know how to veto. I like vetoes. I vetoed hundreds of spending appropriations as Governor. And by the way, if Congress doesn't want to do the cutting itself, then give me the line-item veto.

"Of course, I will do more than veto. I will personally lead a top-to-bottom review of government programs, agencies, procurement and spending. It's time to cut out the mountains of waste and inefficiency and duplication from the federal government. Only in Washington would someone think that 342 different economic development programs make sense.

"Cutting waste, streamlining, benchmarking - this is what I do. I
have done it in business, I've done it in the Olympics, and I've done it in
state government. I simply can't wait to get my hands on Washington!

"Funny thing, Democrats talk about raising taxes on people. We talk
about cutting spending by government. For them, it's always government first,
people last. Here's an inconvenient truth Al Gore won't tell you about – one
thing you can count on if America elects a Democratic president is higher taxes.

"Time and again when Hillary and the Democrats see a problem, they think
government first. There are 45 million people who don't have health insurance.
That's not good for those people, and it's not good for everyone else either.
When people who don't have insurance get sick, they go to the hospital and get
free care. Free for them, that is, but expensive for you because you are the
ones that pay their bills, either in your taxes or in your insurance premiums.

"The Democrats' solution? Government-managed universal healthcare. But
the last thing America needs is socialized medicine - Hillary-care!

"At least Barack Obama had the courage to admit that his plan means
higher taxes. It's just like P.J. O'Rourke said: 'If you think healthcare is
expensive now, wait till it's free!'

"The right answer for healthcare isn't government, and the new Secretary of Health and Human Services should not be Michael Moore.

"Let's provide people with their own private, affordable and portable insurance by insisting on personal responsibility and the principles of the free market. Let's not have the same bureaucracy that ran the Katrina clean-up manage our healthcare!

"The Democrats have a plan for illegal immigration as well. It's amnesty. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and their colleagues insist that every illegal immigrant become a legal permanent resident of this country. Some people think that their position has less to do with compassion than with calculation - they hope these illegal immigrants will vote them in power forever.

"But this is not about power or politics. It is about sovereignty and security. And it is about fairness. Millions of applicants are waiting to come here legally, to be joined with family members, to bring education and skill that will strengthen our nation,
not burden it. Legal immigration is a boon to our nation. We are made a greater
nation when immigrants come here legally, seeking opportunity.

"Let's secure the border, install an employment verification system and tell illegal
immigrants to get in line with everyone else. There should be no special pathway
to permanent residency or citizenship for those who have come here illegally!

"Amnesty didn't work before and it won't work now!

"Beyond our domestic challenges, we face a very different world around us. Asia is emerging from generations of poverty. It's becoming a far more effective competitor in the marketplace than we have ever faced before. In the past, we've competed
primarily with Europe. We know how to compete with Europeans - they are a
lot like us. They like short work weeks and long vacations. But China and India
are very different. Their workforce is almost never-ending; and it is very hard-working. Americans are buying hundreds of billions of dollars more from them than they do from us.

"The Democrats see this challenge and shrink from it. They don't think the American people can compete. They want to pull up the drawbridge to protect us. They're so pessimistic about Americans that they have been trying to scuttle free trade agreements with nations in Latin America and Central America. Are they kidding? We can't compete with Colombia?

"Our only choice is to compete.

"Fail to compete and you end up with a Soviet-style economy - laughable products, anemic standards of living and economic collapse. The answer for America is not to retreat, it is to lower the ramps and charge into the emerging Asian marketplace.

"Invest in our people. Invest in technology. Democrats fear the strength of others,
Republicans believe in the strength of Americans!

"The new generation of challenges we face today includes challenges to our national security as well. Violent Jihadists are intent on replacing moderate Muslim governments with a Caliphate or Imam. And they seek the collapse of our economy, our government, and our military.

"During this last week, they sought to maim and kill innocent civilians in London and Glasgow. These were not impoverished malcontents; they were doctors serving in Britain's public health system. They were Jihadists. Theirs is a face of evil not seen in the civilized world since the gas chambers of Hitler's horror.

"I know that it is popular today to be critical of the President. And he is not above making mistakes. But we should thank him for doing everything in his power to keep us safe. Against the objections of Democrats and even some in our own party, he pushed though the Patriot Act. He made sure that someone was listening in when Al Qaeda was calling. He made sure we were interrogating terrorists to learn how we could prevent attacks on our citizens.

"When Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was captured, he said, 'See you with my lawyer in New York.' Nope, that's not at all what he saw: he saw the CIA and our GI's at Guantanamo!

"All this talk of Jihadists, Salafi Muslims, and the War on Terror makes Democrats like John Edwards uncomfortable. Senator Edwards says there isn't a War on Terror - it's only a slogan. Tell that to the people in London and Glasgow. And to the people in Bali and Malaysia, Pakistan and Lebanon, Tanzania and Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Tell that to the people of New York and Boston and Washington, D.C.

"One thing you can count on if I am President, if there is a war being waged by the terrorists, there will be war waged on the terrorists. And we will win!

"This convergence of challenges is why I am convinced that America is at an inflection point in our history. Our over-spending, our dependence on foreign oil, the emergence of Asia, the Jihadist threat to world civilization – these challenges will force us to change. And that change will either make us stronger or it will make us
weaker.

"America will either remain the world's superpower or instead become just another member of the family of nations. If we choose strength, we will be remembered by our children as a great generation. If we choose weakness, we will be remembered as something much less.

"Conservatism, Republicanism, is a philosophy of strength. We believe in a strong military, a strong economy, and in strong families and values. We believe in the American people.

"Democrats believe that government is the source of our strength. They're wrong. I love what Ronald Reagan said: 'It's not that liberals are ignorant, it's just that what they know is wrong!'

"The American people are the source of our strength - hard working, educated, risk
taking, opportunity loving, God fearing, willing to sacrifice for their family and their country, freedom loving American people. They have always been the source of our strength and they always will be!

"And when you need to call on the strength of America, you don't strengthen government, you strengthen the American people.

"You strengthen the American people by letting them keep more of their own money, not by taxing them more when they earn, taxing them when they save and taxing them when they die!

"You strengthen the American people by making sure that the voice of millions of voters trumps the voice of a handful of unelected judges.

"You strengthen the American people with the world's best healthcare, the world's best schools, and the world's strongest families. We must preserve the institution of marriage - every child deserves a mother and a father!

"This is not a time for our party to shrink from conservative principles. It is a time to hold them aloft.

"We didn't suffer losses last year because we were conservative. We
suffered losses because we strayed from conservative principles. Too much
spending, too little ethics and a war that everyone recognizes was not
effectively managed.

"The way forward is not to look left. The way
forward is to look ahead. There is too much at stake to do otherwise.

"Shimon Peres, the President-elect of Israel, visited Boston not too
long ago. He was asked what he thought about the conflict in Iraq.

"'First,' he said, 'I must put that in context. America is unique. In
the history of the world, whenever there's been war, the nation that wins takes
land from the nation that loses. That is because land has been the source of
value in the world. One nation in history, and this during the last century,
laid down hundreds of thousands of lives and took no land. No land from the
Germans, no land from the Japanese.'

"The only land America takes is enough land to bury her dead.

"America fights for freedom - for itself and for freedom-loving people around the world.

"This is the America our parents chose, a nation that is good, a nation that is strong. And now it is time for us to choose what America will be. I know what I choose. I
know what you choose. We choose a strong America."

Mitt Romney's got my vote. No one -- declared or undeclared -- has his awareness of America's future -- in terms of pitfalls and prosperity.

Honoring our Nation

Happy Birthday, America --

An "Over-the-Hill" Coalition Tribute -- July 4, 2007

Mutts4Mitt

You should have expected this blog to appear .... MUTTS4MITT has some hilarious pet images and quotes.

You mean pets can't vote?

Not even undocumented dachshunds? Illegal Irish Setters? How about unclassified collies? Unregistered Rottweilers?

Doggone it.

I was hoping .... Nevermind.

Lawyers Tell Employers How to Defraud Americans To Hire Immigrants

If you have ever believed that money and corporate power are NOT behind the push to pass the current immigration reform bill without sending it through usual committee review -- worry no more. Here's the proof in the pudding.

It's time to let Congress know that we will not tolerate their undercutting legislative process, the American public's right to work AND right to know what corporations will do to keep the money in their own coffers.

If your blood is not boiling after watching THIS video (the law firm removed the original copy), then you're either a lawyer or an employer.

Tancredo Promotes Romney!

How noble of Tom to acknowledge that Mitt Romney not only LOOKS presidential, but that he is also smart and competent!




Thanks, Tom. We who already knew this appreciate your insight!

The Bull Horn

Bull horn = political news. It's the new list in the sidebar .... The second word in the title will change, depending on who's on the horn. If you know what I mean.

Click and read to your heart's content.

Almost forgot --

I was going to blog about the immigration bill vote, but I was so sick of reading and thinking and getting upset, I'll let you read it for yourself on the Bull Horn. Or if you share my feelings on the shamnesty bill, changing the second word in the title may be all I need to post. If you know what I mean.

Murtha's Personal Drug Program

If graft and corruption have a cousin in Washington, DC, he must look a lot like Jack Murtha. Wouldn't you say?



I'm sure the ole wart hog hardly glanced up from the trough as he was censored for the threat ....

McCain and Rudy Avoid Immigration Topic

Rudy and John shared the podium in NY this week (Thursday), but neither addressed the hottest topic on the national scene: the Immigration Reform bill.

McCain, of course, helped shape the immigration compromise that has so many
conservatives in open revolt. For his part, Giuliani issued a statement in which
he didn't really take a position on the bill, which would provide amnesty for
millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States. He ignored that part
and emphasized his commitment to border enforcement in general.

Conservatives hoping for either candidate to elucidate his position were
left wanting.

Neither candidate talked about the proposed compromise.

Instead, both largely stuck to the same talking points they've recited
dozens of times before, although Rudy tailored his in order to capitalize on his
personal connection with New York and New Yorkers. "I didn't take a city that
was unmanageable and ungovernable and make it into a city that was the best
example of urban renaissance in the 1990s," Rudy told his fellow New York
Republicans. "I didn't do it. You did it. We did it as a team. We did it with
ideas that are the ideas we're going to put into place in Washington, and
Washington needs these ideas badly."

Faced with the failure of the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Bill, McCain had little to say .... Rudy, of course, reminded constituents of how great a mayor he was.

Bless both of them for their previous service.


McCain needs to retire and write his memoirs. Rudy needs to run for re-election in NYC.


If you want to read about the Immigration Reform Bill heading to the Senate on Monday, skip on over to Humbug or Gull's blogs.


Everytime I try to talk about it, I get sick to my stomach and mad as hell.

Politics over Human Tragedy?

I'm as sickened by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius' comments about the government's lack of response to the Greensburg tornado recovery as I am about the allegations that Howard Dean and his democrat co-horts told Sebelius to say them.

One Greensburg survivor shares my sentiments: "The poor response thing is just political BS," Greensburg resident Mike Swigart, 47, who lost his house and four vehicles from the storm, told wcbstv.com in an exclusive interview. "I saw her on television and I'm disappointed in that because she doesn't know what she's talking about."

Gull has a summary of stories circulating on the net.

It's time MSM stopped taking sides and tell the truth -- including revealing the hypocrites who politicize human tragedy in order to discredit the Bush administration.

Will the REAL Fred Thompson Step Forward?

Who is the real Fred Thompson? Is he the man who spoke in California last night? Is he the man portrayed in this 1996 portrait?

I'm not sure.

I do agree with John at Powerline, however. I'm not happy with Thompson's performance right now. Either he is jerking us around, letting others do his ground-work (he's never been referred to as industrious) before jumping into the mix or he's just a mythical figure created by conservative idealists in their quest for another Ronald Reagan.

I agree with Gull and others. We don't need another 80's Ronald Reagan-type to restore 2008 American credibility on the global or home fronts. We don't need a flashback to the Clinton Era, either.

We need a new direction, a new approach to solving the issues that confront America. My support remains for Mitt Romney. As another blogger suggested, Thompson has the "sound" of Mitt, but without the bite.

Example:

In his speech last night, Thompson spoke of bipartisanship, particularly in resolving problems such as the fate of Social Security. His audience was notably quiet; even Thompson had failed to inspire bipartisanship when he was prosecuting Bill and Hillary Clinton's finance scandals during his term in the Senate.

For the past few years, he's been involved in the background -- garnering support for either Scooter Libby or conservative SCOTUS appointments. Good enough. But is that (lobbying) his best political attribute?

It remains to be seen.

First, he's got to make the decision to run.

Then he's got to belly up to the fire and prove that he's actually the leader -- not just the mythical image -- that America needs.

Endorsing Mitt Romney is the Easy Part

I've already joined Team Mitt, and if I had to explain why -- I'd push you over to Gullspirit's post at Perish the Thought.


Gull has filled in the "blanks" on why we need Mitt Romney as President. I can't wait for Thursday's debates. Here's another reason why I'm supporting Mitt Romney.


Boots on the Ground

Senate Spectre Swills

Souieeeeee! Souieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

The trough is open, porkers. Belly up, boyz!!!

Message to Pelosi and Reid:

Don't guess they'll be taking any junkets to THAT part of the Middle East anytime soon ....


From Gull et al

The HOKIE Nation

The tragedy of 4-16-07 has touched all of us.


To say that we share the excruciating pain felt by the families and friends of those lost in a senseless tragedy is one thing ....


At this time, the best we can do is to display a symbol of our respect for their loss, to pray that the healing will be timely, and to join a nation in sharing the heart-felt sympathy for those who were touched by this tragedy.


God-speed.

Bob Parks --- The Right Words

I'll be in DC on May 26, 2007 with the Eagles to honor our troops.

Thanks, Bob -- and thanks to our military personnel.

credit: Perish the Thought

Positive Reports on ADULT Stem Cell Research

BAD news for those opposing embryonic stem cell research and GOOD news for those favoring adult stem cell research:

A week before the U.S. Senate again grapples with the explosive issue of
embryonic stem cell research, one of the most stunning reported advances in
bio-technology in years comes from stem cells not harvested from human embryos
but derived from a non-controversial source.

British researchers have for the first time grown part of a human heart,
using "adult" stem cells derived from bone marrow, British media reported this
week.

If trials in animals such as pigs and sheep prove successful later this
year, the London-based team led by professor Sir Magdi Yacoub said such
replacement tissue could be used in transplants for heart disease patients
within three years.Yacoub, professor of cardiac surgery at Imperial College,
told The Guardian newspaper that a whole, functioning heart could be produced
from stem cells within a decade, a goal he described as "ambitious ... but not
impossible."

The researchers hope to grow a heart valve that will not be rejected by the
patient's body - because the stem cells are the patient's own - and that will
have a longer life than artificial (plastic or metal) valves currently being
used in heart patients.Using the tissue could ultimately preclude the need for a
heart transplant, they said.

The researchers' achievements are due to be published in August in the
Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions journal, in a special
edition on "Bioengineering the Heart."According to the U.N.'s World Health Organization, some 17.5 million people around the
world died of cardiovascular disease in 2005 - 30 percent of all global deaths.
Of those, an estimated 7.6 million deaths were due to coronary heart disease and
5.7 million to stroke.

The push to use stem cells to treat a range of diseases and injuries is at
the forefront of modern bio-science endeavor, but the sourcing of the cells
remains a pressing ethical issue.Proponents of embryonic stem cell (ESC)
research say cells from early-stage human embryos are likely to be the most
effective and have the greatest potential to turn into many different types of
cells ("pluripotency"), but the fact that the embryos are destroyed in the
process makes the work highly controversial.

"Adult" stem cells from alternative sources, such as bone marrow,
placentas, umbilical cords and nasal passages, are already reportedly being used
in scores of treatments, and for many who oppose ESC research,
this is the work that should receive more attention and more taxpayer
funding.Supporters of "adult" stem cell research also note that cells from a
patient's own body do not share problems of rejection often experienced in the
case of embryonic stem cells.ESC research is being carried out in many parts of
the United States, but largely with private funding, since President Bush in
2001 restricted federal funding to work on a limited number of then-existing ESC
colonies.

Next Wednesday, the U.S. Senate is due to vote on a bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
mandating federal funding for ESC research.The House of Representatives passed a similar bill last January but will also have to vote
on the Senate bill before it can be sent to the president.Bush has already
pledged to veto the bill, as he did with similar legislation last year.Another bill before the Senate next Wednesday is an alternative
sponsored by Sens.

Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), seeking federal funding
for stem cell research that would not harm embryos.'Dubious notion'The latest
breakthrough, like many previous ones - including Australian trials that have
reinjected patients' own stem cells into their hearts to repair damaged muscle
tissue - uses "adult" cells, not embryonic ones.But most media coverage of the
news downplayed that fact, with the descriptor "adult" rarely appearing."As I
always say: Most biotechnology is not controversial," bioethicist and Discovery
Institute senior fellow Wesley J. Smith said in reaction to the news from
Britain. "This is a wonderful example. Let us hope that the reality meets the
dream."Proponents of ESC research have frequently dismissed or downplayed the
importance of "adult" cells.Last year, the New England Journal of Medicine
reported that while many hospitals around the world now routinely inject bone
marrow stem cells into the blood vessels surrounding the heart to induce
recovery of damaged heart muscle cells, the intervention offers little
benefit.In an article called "The Politics and Promise of Stem-Cell
Research,"

NEJM deputy editor Robert Schwartz took issue with the White House position
that "adult" stem cells offer far more promise than embryonic ones."The notion
that adult stem cells have the same developmental potential as embryonic stem
cells, let alone 'more promise,' is dubious," Schwartz wrote."

There is evidence in laboratory animals that an adult stem cell can
differentiate into a cell that normally belongs to a different/super /nosupersub
lineage ... but such reports of a pluripotent stem cell that can
transdifferentiate have been challenged," he said.Meanwhile, at the University
of Dusseldorf in Germany, scientists have found bone marrow stem cells useful in
dealing with advanced cancer of the liver.According to a study published in the
April issue of the journal Radiology, some patients with advanced liver cancer
cannot undergo surgery because removing the large cancer would leave too little
of the liver - less than 25 percent - remaining to support the body's
functioning.

Seven patients underwent a standard treatment involving diverting the blood
supply from the cancerous part of the organ to the healthy part, while another
six patients received that treatment plus an injection of liver stem cells taken
from each patient's own bone marrow.The latter six patients' livers grew twice
as fast as the others, the doctors reported."Based on our results, we also
believe that adult stem cell administration may be a promising therapy for
regenerating livers damaged by other chronic and acute diseases," the journal
quoted the study's co-author, Jan Schulte am Esch, as saying.

Those looking for proof of the validity of adult stem cell research should take heart ..... Congress would do well to take note in their deliberations next week!

Pelosi's Spring Break Buddies

horn tip: Perish the Thought

Wheeeee Whoooooooo! Talk about lining up a P.A.R.T.Y. for spring break ---- Let the good times roll! Nancy Pelosi certainly knows how to pen a guest list!

Guess who's on Pelosi's flight to the Middle East!!??

Give up?

Keith Ellison (Muslim from MN), Holocaust Survivor Tom Lantos and Republican David Hobson (Ohio).

How's that for bipartisan planning? Wonder who gets to stand next to her in Israel? In Syria? In the West Bank? How about in Iran? Iraq?

Uhhhhh ..... somehow, I don't think she'll be too welcome in Iraq right now. Or Afghanistan. Or anywhere her immediate safety might depend on the troops she's under-cutting.

She's also got Democrat Reps. Henry Waxman of Los Angeles, Louise Slaughter of New York and Nick Rahall of West Virginia with her.

On second thought, she could let Hobson walk in front while in the Green Zone and Ellison could maybe ride shot-gun if she dares to venture beyond the Zone ..... Look for Lantos in Israel.

The Slow-Bleed Bonanza

Dems have figured out how to buy votes legally (unlike what can be done in a general election when folks go to prison for doing it). Pad the bill with pork! Hungry politicians will swarm like flies to tainted meat.

Meat tainted with the blood of our troops.

Enjoy those broccoli and shrimp and parking lots and pay raises and beef and fruit. Gorge yourselves on the blood of our troops, you traitors.

Soon we'll have your names to nail on the wall like skunk skins. Bad meat, bad smell. Bad for our troops who stand between the President and the slow-bleeders' desire to play politics with their blood.

See how the vultures voted today (to exclude any reference to timelines for troop withdrawal from Iraq) at the DEFEAT CAUCUS.

We'll watch for the vultures to vote again this week.

Nancy's BBQ: Pork 'n Murtha = Pink Pickle

Ouch. The far left is not happy with Speaker Pelosi right now. eh. eh. eh. Pinko protesters were escorted from her hallowed halls today.

Who cares. She and Murtha had just porked up a bundle of billion$$$ in add-on's to entice Dems and 2 Pubbies to vote for the war funding request -- including a section to pull troops from Iraq in 2008.

May their sidewalks be layered in cow pies.


President Bush responded to today's House vote:

"...The purpose of the emergency war spending bill I requested was to provide our troops with vital funding. Instead, Democrats in the House, in an act of political theater, voted to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders on the ground in Iraq. They set rigid restrictions that will require an army of lawyers to interpret. They set an arbitrary date for withdrawal without regard for conditions on the ground. And they tacked on billions for pet projects that have nothing to do with winning the war on terror. This bill has too much pork, too many conditions and an artificial timetable for withdrawal.
As I have made clear for weeks, I will veto it if it comes to my desk. And because the vote in the House was so close, it is clear that my veto would be sustained. Today's action in the House does only one thing: it delays the delivering of vital resources for our troops. A narrow majority has decided to take this course, just as General Petraeus and his troops are carrying out a new strategy to help the Iraqis secure their capital city...."

What "pork" was attached?

Check out these for starters:

$500 million for emergency wildfires suppression; the Forest Service currently has $831 million for this purpose;
$400 million for rural schools;
$283 million for the Milk Income Loss Contract program;
$120 million to compensate for the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the shrimp and menhaden fishing industries;
$100 million for citrus assistance;
$74 million for peanut storage costs;
$60.4 million for salmon fisheries in the Klamath River region in California and Oregon;
$50 million for asbestos mitigation at the U.S. Capitol Plant;
$48 million in salaries and expenses for the Farm Service Agency;
$35 million for NASA risk mitigation projects in Gulf Coast;
$25 million for spinach growers;
$25 million for livestock;
$20 million for Emergency Conservation Program for farmland damaged by freezing temperatures;
$16 million for security upgrades to House of Representatives office buildings;
$10 million for the International Boundary and Water Commission for the Rio Grande Flood Control System Rehabilitation project;
$6.4 million for House of Representative’s Salaries and Expenses Account for business continuity and disaster recovery expenses;
$5 million for losses suffered by aquaculture businesses including breeding, rearing, or transporting live fish as a result of viral hemorrhagic septicemia;
$4 million for the Office of Women’s Health at the Food and Drug Administration; and
A minimum wage increase, which is the subject of separate legislation.

In the Senate, these are the anticipated pork attachments:

$1.5 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers for recovery along the coast, including funding for Hawaii for an April 2006 flood;
$850 million for Department of Homeland Security grants ($625M for rail/transit grants, $190M for port security grants, and $35M for urban area security grants);
$660 million for the procurement of an explosives detection system for the Transportation Security Administration;
$640 million for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program;
$425 million for education grants for rural areas;
$388.9 million for a backlog of Department of Transportation projects;
$165.9 million (including $60.4 million for salmon fisheries in the Klamath Basin region) for fisheries disaster relief;
$75 million for salaries and expenses for the Farm Service Agency;
$48 million in disaster construction money for NASA;
$25 million for grants through the Safe and Drug Free Schools program;
$25 million for asbestos abatement at the Capitol Power Plant;
$24 million to sugar beet producers;
$22.8 million for geothermal research and development;
$20 million for reimbursements to Nevada for “insect damage;”
$12 million for Forest Service money requested by the president in the non-emergency FY2008 budget
$3.5 million for guided tours of the Capitol;
$3 million for sugar cane; and
Allows the transfer of funds from holiday ornament sales in the Senate gift shop.

Updates later .....

A.N.S.W.E.R. COWers

It was cold and CrOWded. Especially if you were a protester. Not much room (unless you took to the middle of the street or an isolated parking lot near the Pentagon) for antics or outrage.

They came, they saw, they COWered.

Let this video be a warning to those who were herded in the anti-war protest in DC Saturday ....

Cud you replay it, please?

Plaming Cow

I'd throw up, but I have this cud in my mouth which I MUST swallow.


Uh, do witnesses rehearse their speeches with committee chairmen? It sure sounded as if Plame and Waxman had been practicing before they met today.


Get the full joke here and here.


Not sure who was more effective -- Plame or the she-man in the pick shirt performing behind her.

Fool me once ....

HA! It's a no-no to "bait and switch" in the real world, but not in politics.

Watch this Salon video.

Sacred Cows and Trojan Horses

We're not in the problem-solving business, so don't get too excited about this blog. OK?

We will be looking at a few topics (scenarios) which are often treated as sacred cows -- persons or things routinely considered immune to criticism or questioning.

The list is in the right sidebar. It may be updated without warning. After all, nothing is sacred around here -- especially a list of allegedly sacred cows.

peace.