SUPPORTING THE TROOPS

Retired Lt. Col. Gordong Cucullu has an excellent column at
Frontpage Magazine today. This one is a must-read:

"Whenever liberals dislike or distrust anything, they label it as
stupid. Hence Ronald Reagan was a buffoon, Bush a moron, and
today's soldiers are called ignorant, incompetent, and incapable
of finding employment anywhere other than in a military
establishment that will recruit anything with a pulse as long as it
will kill. It is the ultimate in sophomoric snobbery from a bunch
of moral and physical cowards who are content to slop at the trough
of freedom that is filled by the blood and sweat of patriots they
despise.

In fact today's soldier is a cut above any that the country has
produced, including the properly honored 'greatest generation' of
the Second World War. The troops who bravely crossed the beaches
at Normandy were young conscripts, average age 19. Few had
graduated high school. They accomplished the mission given them
and won the war. Today's soldiers patrolling remote Afghan
villages, crowded Baghdad streets, Columbian jungles, and Abu
Sayeff strongholds in Mindanao are older, better educated, more
mature, and more technologically savvy than any of their
predecessors. They are accomplishing a more complex mission
equally effectively. And they are winning this war."

You can read the rest here.

KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES

As I wrote in this post:

Are we trying to use a 19th century mindset to deal with a 21st century problem? I think it may be time for a new paradigm.

Retired Lt. Col. James Carafano, a former professor of history at West Point spelled out one of the things we need to change about the way we do business in this column:

The controversy over whether the president has the power to authorize the National Security Agency to monitor international communications with terrorists obscures a simple fact: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is no longer adequate.

Passed in 1978, FISA didn't anticipate the development of global communication networks or advanced technical methods for intelligence gathering. Congress should amend FISA to provide for programmatic approvals of cutting-edge technologies -- including automated monitoring of suspected terrorist communications.

While pundits and politicians are already passing judgment on the president's actions, many of their comments are premature. Not enough is known yet to justify many of the factual assertions and legal conclusions being offered. And, because of the highly classified nature of the methods used in this particular program, the only proper forum for reviewing these actions in detail is in the appropriate congressional committees with suitable safeguards for national security and with the full disclosure of all relevant documents and briefings by the Bush administration.

Reforming FISA is a great, and necessary, first step. Wouldn't it be nice if our congress-folks could put aside their games of political "gotcha!" long enough to get it done? Unfortunately, 2006 is an election year. I'm sure they have more important things on their respective plates right now. Maybe they'll reform FISA next year. If we don't get nuked first, that is.

OSCAR NIGHT: AND THE WINNER IS...

Me!!! That's right folks. I consider myself a big winner on Oscar
night. I'm a winner because I didn't waste hours of my life
watching Hollywood honor itself. Instead, I watched A&E's marathon
of "Dog the Bounty Hunter." I spent hours watching self-
destructive drug addicts winding up with a pair of stainless steel
handcuffs as a reward for their efforts. As opposed to the Academy
Awards, which gives such people a gold statue.

One thing I did miss, however, was the opportunity to learn that
"It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp." Apparently it isn't easy being a
thug who lives a parasitic life off women who work in the sex trade.
I never would've guessed that. Where's the justice in this world?

POLL POSITION

A recent poll conducted by CBS news (the fake National Guard memo
network) showed that only 34% of Americans approve of the job that
President Bush is doing. Another recent poll showed that only 28%
of Americans could name two of the five rights guaranteed by the
First Amendment to the US Constitution.

More than six in ten Americans think the president is doing his job
poorly. More than seven in ten are idiots. Depressing. I'm at a
loss as to which is more depressing. I was already depressed.
This doesn't help.

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT

The Rolling Stones song by that title has been running through my
head all morning. I got an email today about a deployment
opportunity to Iraq. The deployment, which is for six months,
looks like something I'd really like to do. Unfortunately, I won't
be available to deploy until three weeks after the "report-by"
date. The needs of my unit have to take precedence over my
personal desires. Another opportunity missed. Oh well. I
guess the Stones were right. Proving once again that even
a broken clock is right twice a day.

HILLARY CLINTON'S AMERICA

I heard this speech by Hillary on Hannity & Colmes last night:

"Suppose that you were meeting today to decide who got the vouchers.
First parent comes and says 'I want to send my daughter to St.
Peter's Roman Catholic School' and you say 'Great, wonderful
school, here's your voucher. Next parent who comes says, 'I want
to send, you know, my child to the Jewish Day School. Great here's
your voucher! Next parent who comes says, 'I want to send my child
to the private school that I've already dreamed of sending my child
to.' Fine. Here's your voucher.

Next parent who comes says, 'I want to send my child to the school
of the Church of the White Supremacist.' You say, 'Wait a minute.
You can't send...we're not giving a voucher for that.' And the parent
says, 'Well, the way that I read Genesis, Cain was marked, therefore
I believe in white supremacy. And therefore, you gave it to a
Catholic parent, you gave it to a Jewish parent, gave it to a secular
private parent. Under the Constitution, you can't discriminate
against me.'

Suppose the next parent comes and says 'I want to send my child to
the School of...the Jihad.' Wait a minute! We're not going to send a
child with taxpayers dollars to the School of Jihad. 'Well, you
gave it to the Catholics, gave it to the Jews, gave it to the private
secular people. You're gonna tell me I can't? I'm a taxpayer. Under
the Constitution.'

Now, tell me how we're going to make those choices."

So, there you have it. Hillary would like to trust you with the
freedom to choose where your children should be educated, but she
can't take the chance that you might make a bad choice. That's the
nanny-state mentality for you. They want what's best for you.
They know what's best for you. They'll do what's best for you.
And you'd better like it, becuase you don't have a choice*.

*Unless, of course, you want an abortion.

Hat tip to Michelle Malkin for posting the transcript.

DUBAI-OUS PROPOSITION

The question of whether to let a UAE based--and government owned--company take control of several major ports in the US was such a no-brainer that I wasn't going to bother posting about it. But since even Rush Limbaugh seems to be in favor of the deal, I just have to say something. I have two major concerns about the prospect of Dubai Ports World taking over ports in New York, New Jersey, New Orleans, Miami, Philadelphia and Baltimore:

REASON #1
Having a UAE-based company running the ports would give terrorists an excellent opportunity to place personnel in a position where they could gather intelligence about our port security. Information like security strengths, weaknesses, and shipping schedules would be essential in planning any large scale terrorist operation. We're already weak in the port security department. Why make the terrorists job any easier?

REASON #2
Look who's in favor of the deal. Jimmy "Punked by Islamic Extremists" Carter.

"The overall threat to the United States and security, I don't think it's exists," Carter told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"My belief is that the president and his secretary of state, the Defense Department and others have adequately cleared the Dubai government or organization to manage their ports," Carter added. "I don't think there's any particular threat to our security."

Considering his track record in dealing with Islamic extremists, anything Carter suggests is most certainly wrong. This is a really (really) bad idea folks. Lets not put dollars ahead of sense.

MORE GITMO CONTROVERSY

A recent UN report criticizes the US over the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

The 54-page report also urged the immediate shutdown of the prison complex. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the detention facility would have to be closed "sooner or later ... hopefully as soon as is possible."

"The United States government should either expeditiously bring all Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial ... or release them without further delay," read the UN Commission on Human Rights report.

As hard as this is to believe, I sincerely doubt that the UN has the best interest of the US in mind. And I can't, for the life of me, recall mass trials for all of the Axis POW's during WW II. If I recall correctly, we held onto those guys until the end of the war.

For some perspective on the issue from someone who has a clue, check out Mike Gifford's column at Defensewatch.

There's a fact that everyone needs to wake up to--the men we've detained at Gitmo are not common soldiers. They aren't conscripts fighting as soldiers in an Army that were captured in some obscure battle, like so many of the Iraqi soldiers you saw surrender en masse during war. These people are out to bring down the United States at all costs, and often have information that can help destroy the network that's out to destroy us. They will never fight by the same rules we do, and they know how to use our rules of warfare against America, Britain or anyone they consider an enemy. (5) We're not the bad guys here--they are--but in our panic to be completely fair, I'm afraid we're going to make deadly and potentially irreversible concessions.

MUST-READ ITEM FOR THE DAY

As you may have already surmised, I am less than impressed with
the media's handling of Dick Cheney's hunting accident. They
haven't exactly covered themselves in glory this week. The best
analysis I've seen about this to date can be found in Thomas
Sowells' latest column. I'm posting by email, so I can't post the
link. I'll put the url below. You can just copy and paste it into
your browser's address box. Or you can find it at Townhall.com.

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/thomassowell/
2006/02/16/186735.html

THOUGHTS ON STUFF

-Anyone who is a parent, and who has lived through the "terrible
twos," probably experienced deja vu upon seeing NBC news
personality David Gregory throwing a tantrum over the Cheney-
hunting accident story. And they probably empathized with Scott
McClellan.

-I read over at Drudge's site that Madame Hillary finds the way in
which information was released about the Cheney hunting accident
"troubling." As troubling as perjury by a sitting president? As
troubling as unauthorized access to FBI files for political purposes?
As troubling as campaign contributions from communist China? As
troubling as dozens of questionable last-minute pardons as payback
to supporters and donors from an outgoing president (and his
candidate wife)? As troubling as the illegal transfer of technology
to communist China? As troubling as a thirty hour delay
in releasing the suicide note of a senior administration aide? More
troubling, no doubt. It was a hunting accident, after all.

-The cartoon riot in the Muslim world continues. The mainstream
media has apprently lost interest in the story, or are busy with
more important things. This begs the question: If a tree falls in
the forest, and the American media isn't there to cover it, does it
make a sound? You bet your ass it does.

-Some snot-nosed punks at the University of Washington don't want
a memorial to UoW alum, and WW II fighter ace, Greg "Pappy"
Boyington on campus. Maybe they have a point. A campus full of
whiney, self-absorbed, left-wing asshats isn't good enough to have
a memorial to a hero like Boyington.

YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY

Always looking for a hidden lesson in everything, I've been giving
serious thought to the media meltdown over Dick Cheney's hunting
accident. Here's what I came up with:

Dick Cheney accidently shoots one of his best friends in a hunting
accident, and a thirty hour delay in reporting it to the almighty
Washington press corps is a mortal sin. "Coverup" is the word of
the day. NBC's David Gregory is ready to duke it out with Scott
McClellan during a press conference. No doubt we'll hear calls
for a Congressional investigation--and maybe utterances of the "I"
word--in the near future.

Rewind to the 1990s. President Bill Clinton has "sex with that
woman, Miss Lewinsky" and lies about it, under oath and in a speech
to the nation. "It's ok", we are told, because it involves his
personal life. None of our business anyway.

Thousands of FBI files on Clinton poltical opponents wind up in the
hands of a political hack at the White House. "It was just a
mistake," we are told. Lighten up already.

White House travel office director Billy Dale is arrested and
criminally prosecuted so a Clinton cousin can be installed as
director. A jury acquits him after a mere two hours of
deliberation. "Billy who?" the media elites asked at the time.
"Ancient history" they tell us today.

So, what's the lesson in all this? The lesson is that there is no
bias in the mainstream media. It's all just a paranoid delusion
of the right wing. Nothing but b.s. cooked up by talk radio. So
there you have it. Any questions?

STUFF

Some observations on the goings-on in the news:

Judging by the media feeding frenzy over the Dick Cheney hunting
accident, I'm inclined to suggest that Scott McClellen borrow the
VP's shotgun for his next news conference. Some birdshot in the
ass of a couple of the snottier reporters may serve as a warning to
the rest. Then again, maybe not. They are pretty dense.

On a side note, statistically speaking, it's still safer to hunt
with Cheney than it is to hitch a ride with Teddy Kennedy.

It looks as if former VP Al Gore and DNC Chair Howard Dean are in
a footrace to the looney bin. Who will win? Damned if I know.
It's too close to call at this point.

Senator Hillary's leftwing-moderate-antiwar-hawkish-tax-and-spend-
fiscally responsible act is wearing thin. In her bid for the
presidency, she's trying to wear too many hats, a tough trick to
pull off. Even for someone with a head as big as hers. It's
starting to appear that she won't even get the nomination, let
alone win the election in '08.

Since Cindy Shhehan has decided not to run against DiFi for US
Senate, I wonder if we could convince her to move to New York
and take on Madame Hillary. I'd actually register as a Democrat
in order to vote for Cindy in the primary.

RIOT IN TOONTOWN--REAX

A sampling of some columns on the Cartoon Jihad:

Kathleen Parker

The cartoon implosion now rocking the Muslim world - featuring embassy burnings, threats of 9-11 sequels and the Arab street equivalent of the Terrible Twos - is based on equal parts fake photographs and a default riot mode looking for an excuse. Extreme propaganda on one side and a lack of fortitude on the other have brought us near the brink of extinction through a global act of accidental self-mockery.

David Yeagley

Any so-called “moderate Muslims” there are have simply made insufficient effort to distinguish themselves, or to alter the horrid image of Islam. The “good” Muslims have no place in the press, and have either not made the effort, or are simply incapable. If they are the majority, as apologists like to assert, then why haven’t they taken over Islam? Why don’t they control it?

Nobody believes in this “vast majority” of moderate Muslims. This is a fantasy, until proven otherwise. Many of these “moderate Muslims” hardly practice Islam at all. They left it by the wayside, along with the other chronic restraints of a socially retarded culture that justifies its deformity in the name of religion. They prefer freedom. Islam is only for weddings and funerals, or personal prayer. It is no longer a way of life for the “moderate Muslims.” There are no “moderate Muslims.”

Fred Siegel

Why have so many Europeans submitted (to) this kind of blackmail? Anti-Americanism is part of the answer. Like the Arab world, Europe is deeply resentful of American power. In order to counter balance the United States and increase their dwindling welfare state populations, Europeans have, ever since the oil shock of 1973, entered into a close relationship with the Arab world. The so called Euro-Arab dialogue produces regular meetings designed, in principle, to bring modernity to the Arab world while easing the way for Arab immigrants to be integrated into Europe. In practice, as in the case of the Danish cartoon affair, the Arab world has been little modernized, but it has successfully exported its hatreds and world-view to Europe.

Claudia Rosett

What’s noteworthy about the latest violence is not that it is unusual — but how very ordinary in so many ways it has become. Yes, of course, the grimly whimsical surprise is that this time the lightning rod has turned out to be not the famous London underground, or the grand train stations of Madrid, or the twin towers of New York, but a set of cartoons out of Copenhagen. The Danish drawings did not trigger some previously nonexistent fury. They have simply become the latest litmus test of how very much the worst thugs of the Islamic world believe they are entitled to get away with, whatever the pretext.

The inimitable Ann Coulter

The rioting Muslims claim they are upset because Islam prohibits any depictions of Muhammad -- though the text is ambiguous on beheadings, suicide bombings and flying planes into skyscrapers.

My take? The evidence is mounting that these riots aren't that spontaneous. The cartoons are five months old, and they're only now causing an uproar? The three most offensive "cartoons" were never even published, and are almost certainly fakes. And how does every asshat with a zippo in the Muslim world come to have a Danish flag? I've spent a little time in the middle east, and I've never seen or heard of a "Scandinavian flag superstore" in the region.

For what it's worth, I don't think that the American left is alone in viewing the war on terrorism as a "quagmire." The global Islamic revolution that was supposed to be set off by the US response to 9/11 hasn't happened. The terrorists are still out there and they're still active, but they've made no progress. It's going to take more than a few thousand fanatics to make bin Laden's vision come true, it's going to take millions. I believe that this whole thing is meant to serve as a recruiting drive and a pep rally for Islamofascist anti-Americanism. Let's hope it's not successful.

CARTOON BLOGBURST

"Freedom isn't free." It's a phrase I've heard many times, and said myself on more than one occasion. Oftentimes it is meant as a reminder of the sacrifices made by others so that we can be free. It is also a reminder of the costs we all must bear in order to be free. One of those costs is having to tolerate that which we find offensive. The benefit for paying this price is freedom of speech. To that end, I've decided to take ranks with the other bloggers who have elected to show their support for freedom of speech by joining The Muhammad Cartoons Blogburst.


If I can tolerate the likes of Ted Rall, Michael Moore, Al Franken, and others of their ilk, Muslims can tolerate these cartoons. Even the "Christian Right" managed to deal with Piss Christ and Kanye West posing as Jesus without rioting or threatening to massacre anyone.



And while I'm showing my support for freedom of speech, I'd like to show a little support for the people of Denmark. I think I'm going to buy (and drink) some Carlsberg Beer this weekend. Buy Danish!

NEW PARADIGM TIME

A government agent can't search your person without a
warrant or probable cause. If you're carrying a suitcase, he
can't search it without a warrant or probable cause. If you're in
your car, he can't search your car without a warrant or probable
cause. Unless you give them permission, government agents can't
search you without legal justification (i.e. a warrant or probable
cause). Ever! Right? Not so fast.

What if you're entering the US at a border checkpoint? Can they
search you? Your suitcase? Your car? With no warrant? No probable
cause? No problem. I've seen it with my own eyes. When I was in
college, three of my friends and I spent about an hour at the US-
Canadian border while my friend's car was tossed by Customs
Inspectors. Why? Because we were college kids, and they probably
figured that we had some drugs in the car. Turns out we didn't.
When they were done searching the car, one of the Customs guys
said "OK, you can go now." No explanation. No apology. They didn't
even put back the stuff they threw on the pavement during the
search. That's just the way it is at the border. Anyone, or anything,
entering the US can be searched. It's been that way for years and
years.

With this in mind, I'm curious as to why phone calls and
communications are any different. We're in the information age.
A lot can be done with the transfer of information. Why should it
be allowed to enter the country unchecked? Are we trying to use
a 19th century mindset to deal with a 21st century problem? I think
it may be time for a new paradigm.

GOOD QUESTION

Retired marine H. Thomas Hayden wrote a that appeared on Military.com today titled by The Need For Counterintelligence. Go check it out, it's well worth the read. In it, he asks a damn good question:

Can someone tell me if there is a section in the US Constitution that guarantees the right to national suicide? I surely must be missing something that some of the liberal national news media, ACLU, and some politicians on both sides see.

CELEBRITY MOONBAT WATCH

Compassionate actor-director George Clooney was one of several filmmakers interviewed recently by Newsweek. I expected that Clooney would be the man with the best quote. He didn't disappoint:

But on the other hand, I'll wager that every one of our films, when you first tested it with an audience, tested much lower than after it was reviewed. Sometimes people need reviews to explain what a film is, to put it into some sort of perspective.

(emphasis mine)

Yup. You read that right. Us poor stupid rubes need film critics to tell us what movies to like. Thank God for Rex Reed and Roger Ebert. But not Gene Shalit. He, apparently, has no perspective.

If us ignoramuses cain't be trusted to know what movies to like, how can we be trusted to know which polytishuns to vote fer? Hopefully, the good folks in Hollywood will let us know.

TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET

I take a couple weeks off from blogging to focus on my educational pursuits, and look what happens. The world blows up. Again. I should have known.

AND THE WINNER IS...
Hamas! Yeah, big surprise. The punditocracy calls the outcome of the Palestinian election "shocking." Well I'm not shocked. This is about what I expected. I must be psychic. Or maybe I'm just paying attention. The Palestinian people had two choices: the party that is dedicated to destroying Israel (Hamas), or the party that is dedicated to destroying Israel (Fatah). Fatah talked peace--to the Americans and Israelis. But they still spoke about an Israel-free world among themselves. Hell, their schoolbooks even deny the existence of Israel. If you were fooled into believing that Fatah wanted peace, you must've fooled yourself. The Palestinians were barely putting up a front. The only real difference between the two parties is who gets to run the show.

THE EVIL BUSHITLER IS VIOLATING OUR RIGHTS
Be still my heart! President Bush and his evil minions at the NSA are violating our God-given, constitutionally protected rights to chit-chat with terrorists overseas who are plotting to attack the United States. The founding fathers must be spinning in their graves! Stopping the terrorists is priority number 2 to some of these leftwing yahoos. Filling out the paperwork is priority 1. My opinion? That's backwards. But since it appears that the majority of Americans agree with me on this, I hope the moonbats keep bleating about this. It hurts them politically, and I don't trust them to run things with the bad guys still looking to hurt us.

"THE CULTURE OF CORRUPTION"
Yeah, it's called Washington, DC. Let's do the math:

would-be lifelong politicans
+the need for money to stay in office
+strict controls on campaign financing
-------------------------------------------
=corruption

Term limits anyone?

AUNT HILLARY'S CABIN
The smartest woman in the universe, Hillary Clinton, tells us that the House of Representatatives is run like a plantation. Really. Are our congressional representatives slaves? Are people being whipped? Worked to exhaustian in the fields? Doubtful. Hill needs to learn some history before she tries to make historical comparisons. The lamestream media gave her a pass, though. Shocking! Like a Hamas victory!

SOMEBODY PLEASE BUY HER A FREAKIN' DICTIONARY!
Since I'm bashing Hillary...
From a speach on the Senate floor yesterday:

"I fear that Judge Alito will roll back decades of progress and roll over when confronted with an administration too willing to flaunt the rules and looking for a rubber stamp."

OK Hill listen up. Time for a quick vocab lesson.

Flaunt: To exhibit ostentatiously or shamelessly.

I think that the word you're looking for is flout.

Flout: To show contempt for; scorn.


OK. Enough for the current events. I have a final to study for.

"STUPID IN AMERICA"

John Stossel, who wrote the column I cited in my previous post, is doing a report titled "Stupid in America" on ABC's 20/20 tonight. It looks like it's well worth watching. If you go to the 20/20 website, there is a video preview of the report, and an interview with Stossel on Good Morning America. There's also a poll there about school voucher programs. So far it is 71.8% in favor of vouchers, 28.1% in favor of spending more on public schools instead of vouchers.

SCHOOL CHOICE

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that I send my daughters to a private school. It's not easy, as we aren't rich, but I think it's well worth the effort. Knowing that, it should come as no surprise that I'm an advocate for school choice. It's not a topic that gets a lot of play from the punditocracy these days, but it is an important one. That's why I was happy to read John Stossel's latest column.

Remember when the Postal Service said it couldn't get it there overnight? Then companies like FedEx were allowed to compete. Private enterprise got it there absolutely, positively overnight. Now even the Post Office guarantees overnight delivery sometimes. Competition works.

Why can't education work the same way? If people got to choose their kids' school, education options would be endless. My tiny brain can't begin to imagine the possibilities, but even I can guess there soon would be technology schools, cheap Wal-Mart-like schools, virtual schools where you learn at home on your computer, sports schools, music schools, schools that go all year, schools with uniforms, schools that open early and keep kids later, and, who knows? If there were competition, all kinds of new ideas would bloom.

Damn right. School choice would revolutionize education in this country. Unfortunately, there aren't many politicians out there willing to make it happen. When it comes to school choice, the vast majority of politicians fall into one of two categories:

1. Bought off by the teachers' unions.
2. Spineless.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that all these folks are opposed to private schools. Many of them have sent their own kids to private schools. But they'll be damned if they lift a finger to help working class folks to do the same.