The RNC is trying once again to get us to abandon our principles and to impose their middle of the road mush upon a fed up electorate. I was proud to be part of this initiative.
Bloggers To The NRSC: Stay Out Of Primaries It was disappointing to many Republicans to
see the National Republican Senatorial Committee get involved in the
Charlie Crist vs. Marco Rubio primary in Florida. We've
had the leadership of the Republican Party saying we need to get back
to our principles and talking about how important it is to attract more
young voters and Hispanic Americans. Then, we get a viable, young,
conservative, Hispanic candidate running for Senate and they arrogantly
try to shove him aside to make way for a better connected, moderate pol
who's more acceptable to the GOP establishment. This cuts to the core
of what's wrong with today's Republican Party.
Dear Senator Cornyn, We
the undersigned believe that the National Republican Senatorial
Committee should be committed to serving ALL the members of the
Republican Party.Additionally, the NRSC should be focused on
defeating Democrats, not Republicans. Towards that end, we believe it
was completely inappropriate for the NRSC to endorse a candidate in the
Florida primary race. Therefore, we request that both you and
the NRSC alter your position on the Florida Senate race, maintain
neutrality, and promise to spend no money directly or indirectly in
that race Sincerely yours, John HawkinsRight Wing News Erick EricksonRedstate Jon HenkeThe Next Right Eric OdomAmerican Liberty Alliance Pamela GellerAtlas Shrugs R.S. McCainThe Other McCain, Right Wing News, Not One Red Cent Dan RiehlRiehl World View Jeff GoldsteinProtein Wisdom Kevin AylwardWizbang! Lorie ByrdWizbang! David BlountMoonbattery, Right Wing News Melissa ClouthierMelissa Clouthier, The Other McCain, Right Wing News
Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act or the GIVE ActPASSES! (more here)(1)
the School-Based and Community-Based Service-Learning programs and
Higher Education Innovative Programs for Community Service (Learn and
Serve programs); (2) National Service Trust programs (AmeriCorps); (3) the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC); and (4)
the Investment for Quality and Innovation program. Eliminates the
current Community-Based Learn and Serve programs. Establishes two new
Learn and Serve programs: (1) Campuses of Service, which
provides funds to institutions of higher education to develop or
disseminate exemplary service-learning programs that assist their
students' pursuit of public service careers; and (2)
Innovative Service-Learning Programs and Research, which funds
community service-learning opportunities for elementary and secondary,
college, and graduate students as well as research into
service-learning. Includes among eligible AmeriCorps programs: (1) an Education Corps to address unmet educational needs; (2) a Healthy Futures Corps to address unmet health needs; (3) a Clean Energy Corps to address unmet environmental needs; and (4)
a Veterans Corps to address the unmet needs of veterans and their
families. Creates AmeriCorps Opportunity Corps programs that include
certain existing programs and new programs to: (1) increase community access to technology; (2) engage citizens in public safety, health, and emergency preparedness services; (3) mentor youth; (4) reduce recidivism by re-engaging court-involved youth; and (5)
support the needs of veterans or active duty service members and their
families. Establishes an Education Awards Only program authorizing the
Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation) to provide
fixed-amount grants to programs that have approved national service
positions, but no AmeriCorps funding. Sets the National Service
educational awards for full-time AmeriCorps, NCCC, and Volunteers in
Service to America (VISTA) participants at a level equal to the maximum
available Pell Grant available to students under the Higher Education
Act of 1965. Includes among needs to be met under the NCCC program,
disaster relief, infrastructure improvement, environmental and energy
conservation, and urban and rural development. Requires states to
develop comprehensive plans for volunteer and paid service by Baby
Boomers and older adults. Directs the Corporation to plan pilot
programs to: (1) better target and serve displaced workers; and (2)
establish a centralized electronic citizenship verification system
which would allow the Corporation to share employment eligibility
information with the Department of Education. Authorizes the
Corporation to treat September 11th annually as a National Day of
Service and Remembrance. Establishes within the Investment for Quality
and Innovation program: (1) a ServeAmerica Fellowships
program providing fellowships to individuals chosen by states to
participate in service projects addressing certain areas of national
need; (2) a Silver Scholarship Grant Program providing
scholarships to individuals age 55 or older who complete at least 500
hours of service in a year in an area of national need; and (3)
an Encore Fellowships program providing one-year fellowships to
individuals age 55 or older who serve in areas of national need and
receive training to transition to public service employment. Makes
ServeAmerica fellows eligible for national service educational awards.
Authorizes the Corporation to provide grants to innovative and model
service programs, including those for disadvantaged youth, youth under
age 17, and potential recidivists. Eliminates federal funding for the
Points of Light Foundation. Revises under DVSA: (1) the VISTA program; and (2)
the Senior Corps, including the Retired and Senior Volunteer program
(RSVP), the Foster Grandparent program, and the Senior Companion
program. Gives priority in VISTA participant selection to disadvantaged
youth and retired adults of any profession. Authorizes new VISTA grant
programs of national significance that provide poor and rural
communities with: (1) services reintegrating formerly incarcerated individuals into society; (2) financial literacy and planning; (3) before-school and after-school services; (4) community economic development initiatives; (5) assistance to veterans and their families; and (6)
health and wellness services. Eliminates the VISTA Literacy Corps,
University Year for VISTA, and Literacy Challenge Grant programs.
Raises the minimum and maximum stipend provided to VISTA participants.
Prioritizes RSVP projects in specified areas. Makes anyone 55 years of
age or older eligible as Senior Corps volunteers. Provides, under the
Senior Corps demonstration program, incentive matching grants to Senior
Corps programs that exceed specified performance measures, enroll most
of their volunteers in outcome-based service programs, and increase
their enrollment of Baby Boomer volunteers. Expresses the sense of the
Congress that the number of AmeriCorps, VISTA, and NCCC participants
should reach 250,000 by 2014. Congressional Commission on Civic Service
Act - Establishes a Congressional Commission on Civic Service to
provide recommendations to Congress on improving opportunities for
individuals to volunteer or perform national service.
The “Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act” (GIVE act). HR 1388 has just passed the Senate.
In the
bill, Obama sets up the mechanics that he passed in the Stimulus
Package for his volunteer operations — including setting up a
government funded corporation with a Board of Directors and CEO. What
is frightening is the tentacles that this will entail as all agencies
need to create positions for these volunteers. Yada … yada .. I could
go on as how he has tied his FEMA Scheme for the Civilian Security
Defense Force into this legislation, but now they’re called “National
Volunteer Reserve Corps.” This creates images of the Peace Corps, but
it is something far more sinister. In addition, the legislation is
targeting foster kids, disadvantaged teens and more specifically BLACK
colleges and universities. Reading the provisions, it smacks of a
program tailor-made for ACORN. It is a bill that has reverse
discrimination all over it as it is NOT designed for middle-class
Americans to benefit from — regardless of your race. But this is NOT
what has piffed me off.
In the
bill, Obama sets up the mechanics that he passed in the Stimulus
Package for his volunteer operations — including setting up a
government funded corporation with a Board of Directors and CEO. What
is frightening is the tentacles that this will entail as all agencies
need to create positions for these volunteers. Yada … yada .. I could
go on as how he has tied his FEMA Scheme for the Civilian Security
Defense Force into this legislation, but now they’re called “National
Volunteer Reserve Corps.” This creates images of the Peace Corps, but
it is something far more sinister. In addition, the legislation is
targeting foster kids, disadvantaged teens and more specifically BLACK
colleges and universities. Reading the provisions, it smacks of a
program tailor-made for ACORN. It is a bill that has reverse
discrimination all over it as it is NOT designed for middle-class
Americans to benefit from — regardless of your race. But this is NOT
what has piffed me off.
The GIVE Act has 12 amendments. The one I am outraged over is House
Amendment 49. It reads: “H.Amdt49 Pass Amendment to prohibit
organizations from attempting to influence legislation; organize or
engage in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; and assist,
promote, or deter union organizing.”
If I read that right, your First Amendment rights of Free Speech just were legislated out the door. ( Kalani in the Atlas comments section here)
You can read the final version of the House bill here.
The legislation is a long string of amendments to existing laws that
make it almost impossible to understand. (Really. This legislation is
incomprehensible. I challenge you to click on this link and try to read the bill.)
There
appears to be little volunteerism and almost no education in the bill.
But there are a lot of make-work government jobs for doing God only
knows what.
For example:SEC. 122. NATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAMS ELIGIBLE FOR PROGRAM ASSISTANCE.
‘(a)
Required National Service Corps- The recipient of a grant under section
121(a) and each Federal agency operating or supporting a national
service program under section 121(b) shall, directly or through grants
or subgrants to other entities, carry out or support the following
national service corps, as full- or part-time corps, including during
the summer months, to address unmet educational, health, veteran, or
environmental needs.
(a) In general The Director shall provide for members of the Civilian Community Corps to receive benefits authorized by this section.
(b) Living allowance The
Director shall provide a living allowance to members of the Corps for
the period during which such members are engaged in training or any
activity on a Corps project. The Director shall establish the amount of
the allowance at any amount not in excess of the amount equal to 100
percent of the poverty line that is applicable to a family of two (as
defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually in
accordance with section 9902 (2) of this title.[1]
(c) Other authorized benefits While
receiving training or engaging in service projects as members of the
Civilian Community Corps, members may be provided the following
benefits:
(1) Allowances for travel expenses, personal expenses, and other expenses. <(2) Quarters. (3) Subsistence. <(4) Transportation. 5) Equipment. <(6) Clothing. (7) Recreational services and supplies. (8) Other services determined by the Director to be consistent with the purposes of the Program.
Does
that read like a voluntary program for, say, cleaning up the
neighborhood? Or does it seem more like directions for funding a labor
camp?
That America’s young people are not up in arms at the
very idea of this bill demonstrates how ill-informed, or brain washed,
the graduates of our public education system have become.
The
Senate could vote on the bill today or tomorrow. You may want to
contact your senator and see if you can help stop this monstrosity. If
not, the People’s Republic takes its first baby step when the Senate
passes HR 1388.
Did you see the David Frum hit piece on Rush in Newsweek-Sturmer? Frum went over to the darkside some time ago. I wish he'd stop parading around calling himself a conservative - he's not. He's wrong on so many critical issues - particularly Islam - he should STFU.
Frum keeps on lambasting Rush and other "vitriolic" right-wing commentators
as harmful to the GOP and the conservative movement. What he wants, of course,
is a total sellout of principles and the endless pandering to "minorities" and
interest groups.
The Obamedia now resorted to a new tactic, invented by Jonathan Alterman
(Julius Streicher's bastard child ;-) ): calling the GOP "wimps" for listening
to Rush, i.e. they're "caving in" and "are unable to conduct their own affairs".
Of course, the GOP are wimps specifically because they have forfeited their
principles and haven't listened to people like Limbaugh and especially Savage.
The media is enraged because congressmen and senators don't have radio shows -
and the only means for the masses to be informed about Benito Hitler Obama's
daily treason is that medium: talk radio. Most people don't read the internet or
the small print in select publications. They want to silence talk radio becuase
they own the Democrazi party. They cannot tolerate any form of dissent, and
certainly not the shdding light on their machinations. See the 3 videos in the
article (right hand side in middle of page) how they try to demonize Rush. Keith
EIchmann can't have enough spewing hatred and can barely control himself. They
somehow forget to ask themselves how come no one wants to censor THEM, as they
direct the Democrazi party.
In the printed edition they also had a nauseating snipped about Benito
Hitler Obama being right to send back the churchill bust - because Churchill
defeated a Kenyan nationalist uprising in which grandpa Obama also took place.
So they admit he has an anti-white grudge, or what?
What did we buy into here? Check out how Hughley "johnsons" Steele and the GOP. Rush is right. Steele should spend less time trying to be a CNN star and more time winning races.
Hughley confronted Steele on the Republican's implementation of their big tent philosophy. "Well, Michael, I agree. I'm telling you, if it were the sign alone -- in other words, the tenets of the Republican Party are amazing and they seem warm and welcome. But when I watch it be applied -- like you didn't have to go much further than the Republican National Convention."
"Agreed," replied Steele.
"It literally look like Nazi Germany. It literally did. I make that point, not only are we not welcome -- not only are we not welcome, but they don't even care what we think," explained Hughley.
I met Steele at Restoration Weekend and heard he was having a bloggers phone interview. I asked to be included and to be on his bloggers briefings and communications list. He handily agreed and gave me the contact info for his handlers. I wrote and requested inclusion, but was never contacted nor given the conference call info. His people conducted the blogger interview with Steele and no, I was not invited. I saw him later and he said it must have been an oversight blah blah blah. I followed up three times to be included on the blogger list of communication and news releases.
Not good.
Love me or hate me, I am a right of center blogger with a large readership of center right patriots. On the move.
UPDATE: Rich Davis, founder of the West Chester Victory Movement sent me this letter from a Sheepdog:
Dear Mr. Steele,
You have erred in levying those words of criticism at Rush Limbaugh. He has done more than "entertain" Conservatives. He has continued to stand strong and deliver a clear message of Conservative principles. Since you found it necessary to distance yourself from Rush, you categorically distanced yourself from us and our message of "unapologetic Conservatism."
Where is your indignation at what Obama is doing to this country? Where is your indignation at DL Hugley's comments? You actually nodded in agreement when he said CPAC looked like Nazi Germany. I am a Black female and I attended CPAC and it was one of the most welcoming and encouraging environments that I have ever been in. You didn't expose the overt racism in Mr. Hugley's statement because you either believe it to be true, or because you don't have a spine.
I supported your bid and final ascendancy to the head of the RNC. You have now lost that support. I am an inaugural member of a conservative grass roots organization and I can confidently say that you have lost their support as well. There are a lot of us Mr. Steele. Not just the folks in my political action committee, but the millions who are not happy with your comments and who have decided that the RNC will not receive a dime of support because of your comments and your apparent weakness on the issues.
Michael Steele blew it. He caved and limped through leftard barbs on the Crescent News Network. Throwing Rush under the bus. If it walks like a RINO, and talks like a RINO, and smells like a RINO ..... it's another Conservative impostor. Ugh.
Michael Steele apologized to Rush Limbaugh for referring to him as
an "entertainer" who can be "ugly" and "incendiary," Mike Allen reports.
On his radio show today, Limbaugh fired back, calling the RNC and
Michael Steele "so-called Republicans" and saying that they "need a
little leadership."
"So I am an entertainer and I have 20 million listeners because of
my great song and dance routine," Limbaugh said. "Michael Steele, you
are head of the Republican National Committee. You are not head of the
Republican party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans
have nothing to do with the Republican National Committee...and when
you call them asking for money, they hang up on you."
[...]
"I hope that changes," Limbaugh continued. "It's time, Mr. Steele,
for you to go behind the scenes and start doing the work that you were
elected to do instead of being some talking-head media star."
[...]
"I'm not in charge of the Republican Party, and I don't
want to be," he said. "I would be embarrassed to say that I'm in charge
of the Republican Party in a sad-sack state that it's in. If I were
chairman of the Republican Party, given the state that it's in, I would
quit."
Rush then mocked those who have criticized him for saying he
wants Obama to fail, and directly challenged them to choose: You either
want Obama to succeed or fail at his goal of dismantling conservatism.
"So send those fundraising requests out," Rush said in a sneering
tone, in an apparent reference to Steele, adding: "Make sure you say,
`We want Obama to succeed.' So people understand your compassion." (Puff Ho)
G-d bless Melanie Morgan, the FReepers and the Patriots who stormed Arlen Speculum's office. He wasn't there, of course. The giant pussyboy was hiding. Someone needs to bitchslap that cretin and tell him he ran on the Republican ticket ..... this is when when we need him. He wants to dick around 360 days of the year. Fine. But when it comes to the big stuff - the crucial votes - he gets that cue ball head of his in line, around the party line. Jeeves, grab me my pool cue!
Sen. Arlen Specter must feel like one lucky man today. He wasn’t in his
Capitol Hill offices when MAF Chairman Melanie Morgan, Gold Star Mom Debbie Lee,
Freepers and Free Republic founder Jim Robinson, and other patriotic citizens
stormed his office to demand he reverse his position supporting the porkulus
bill, aka the Barack-Blowing-Through- Dollars-Scheme.
MAF, as you know, is a protroops organization, and it is our opinion that
this legislation will hurt veterans’ healthcare - not to mention every other
American.
We’re really in town for our big press conference on Tuesday, when we release
our commercial opposing President Obama’s decision to close Gitmo.
But we kept ourselves busy today. Melanie was at her finest, when we arrived
at Specter’s office. For those of you who don’t know Specter, he’s a
flip-flopping, spineless bureacrat who calls himself a Republican. He’s also one
of the traitors who supports Obama’s spendulus bill. This is why he was a target
for Monday’s action, spurred by Kirstinn Taylor of Free Republic.
Melanie and Jim Robinson asked to see the Senator. Specter’s front-office
staff need to go back to kindergarten to get their manners tuned up. either that
or they should go to work at Wal-Mart to pick up some tips from their greeters.
A secretary, who wasn’t happy to see American patriots, refused to answer where
the Senator was hiding. Jim, wearing his Navy cap, asked over and over about the
Senator’s whereabouts, but the secretary wasn’t helping. It was distressing to
see a Navy veteran being treated with such disrespect by a Senator’s staff.
Well, the cold-shoulder was too much for Melanie, who decided to take matters
into her own hands. She stepped to the closed door leading to Specter’s office
and the offices of his staffers, and flung it open. I didn’t take notes on what
she said, but it went something like this:
“Come out! We want to talk to somebody right now!!”
WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain said Sunday the confirmation of President
Barack Obama's choice for deputy defense secretary should move forward despite
concerns about the nominee's role as a former defense lobbyist.
The Obama administration considers William J. Lynn, Obama's pick for the No.
2 job at the Pentagon, to be an exception from its own ban on hiring lobbyists.
As a lobbyist for Raytheon, one of the military's top contractors, Lynn worked
on matters with far reach across the Pentagon.
What a frickin tool and an embarrassment to our party.
We had to get behind this strutz during the election after the libtard media picked our candidate -- now this? What an embarrassment to the party -- the only shot, the only hope this country has is the small opposition to the radical socialist agenda being rammed down our throat.
GOP Sen. John McCain is positioning himself to be one of President Barack
Obama’s strongest supporters, effectively giving Democrats the votes they need
to override any GOP attempt to block the new administration’s legislative
agenda.
Obama heaped warm praise on his GOP rival during a dinner held in McCain’s
honor the day before the inauguration, calling him a hero.
Heaped indeed.
Insiders duly noted McCain was granted a prime spot on the dais at the
inauguration, sandwiched in a seat between White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emanuel and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The day after the inauguration, Obama and McCain spoke again at the National
Prayer breakfast.
It was all part of Obama’s ongoing charm offensive to woo those on the other
side of the aisle. The effort was apparently well received by the maverick
senator from Arizona, who throughout his career has shown a proclivity for
teaming up with Democrats on legislation.
Immediately following the news that Obama was shutting down the Guantanamo
prison camp, McCain joined with Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., to praise Obama’s
decision.
“We support President Obama’s decision to close the prison at Guantanamo,
reaffirm America’s adherence to the Geneva Conventions, and begin a process that
will, we hope, lead to the resolution of all cases of Guantanamo detainees,”
they said in a joint statement.
Cracked brain.
While the two senators were not unequivocal in their endorsement – they
pointed out that other issues related to interrogations and detainees remain to
be resolved – the endorsement set pundits’ keyboards aflutter nonetheless.
“The move suggests that McCain views himself as a bridge between the
Democratic president and Republicans in Congress and a major player in the
expected fights over passage of Obama's agenda,” wrote the Washington Post’s
Chris Cillizza.
Longtime McCain political adviser John Weaver indicated Republicans should
get used to the idea of a McCain-Obama nexus – and took a swipe at conservatives
in the process.
"When there is agreement between the two, President Obama will have no
greater ally," Weaver told Cillizza. "The John McCain of today is the John
McCain who could have made the [presidential] race closer. The country is in a
mood to get things accomplished and problems solved and John has clearly
embraced that spirit."
There have been signs of late that McCain has returned to the maverick
inclinations that have long antagonized some conservatives. During the hearings
to confirm Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, McCain chided his fellow
Republicans for dragging things out.
"I remind all my colleagues: We had an election. I think the message the
American people are sending us now is they want us to work together, and get to
work," he lectured.
What about the 60,000,000 folks who voted for that RINO McCain?
McCain’s focus on getting along with the new powers that be in Washington
will make life much more difficult for Senate Republicans, who are barely
clinging to the 41 votes they need to stave off a Democratic override of a GOP
filibuster. It takes three-fifths of the Senate, or 60 votes, to shut down
debate and bring a bill to a vote.
Sen. GOP leader John Cornyn was asked if he has any idea how far McCain might
go in snubbing his fellow Republicans.
Cornyn told the Post: "In a word, no. I have no sense. I'm ready for whatever
happens."
It sickens me that Wafa Sultan must live in hiding here in the US (something that hasn't had to happen for decades.) She should be living in hiding ....in the White House.
In Andrew Bostoms's latest post he writes, "Wafa
Sultanattempts to educate the distressingly
self-righteous (and ignorant) Colin Powell, or Courageous Truth Confronts Pious,
Craven Drivel-Mongering"
Key extracts presented
below, but of course please read
her statement in its entirety:
If we consider the Islamic texts, their
content and the devotion that so many Muslims - including in America - attach to
them; if we consider the tragic upshot of these teachings in terms of our
current world’s security, is it not a duty for each one of us to view Islam not
frivolously but in a most serious manner?
There was
an episode during the current Presidential election that greatly disturbed me.
It was former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s interview on “Meet the Press.”
For me this interview was a defining moment. He expressed his displeasure at
some of his colleagues’ accusations that Obama might be a Muslim, and stated:
“And what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim?”
…If Powell doesn’t understand what
may be the dire consequences for being a Muslim, then who should
understand? The man, who once held the post of American Secretary of
State, asserts categorically that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim,
even though the country he led has been suffering immensely from Muslim
terrorism and has paid a high price because of it.
I appreciate that Powell, who has been
nurtured by the American moral code, refuses to judge people on the basis of
their religious affiliation. That is his right. But he does not have the right
to nonchalantly disregard people’s apprehensions of Muslims, especially at those
of us who have lived in Muslim countries. We have risked our lives to escape
from them, and are now risking our lives again to speak up against the harm they
cause, induced by Islamic theology and culture. In order to understand my
perspective one would have to be a woman, living in Syria, my birthplace, or any
other Arab Muslim country.
…[As for Mr. Powell], does he understand that
Islam is not just a religion but a political doctrine that seeks to impose
itself on non-Muslims even by force? If he does, why should people not be
doubtful?
This is not an Islamophobic prejudice I
present. Muslims, like any other national group, can be either good or bad, and
the best among them do not act in accordance with Islam’s political ideology,
either because they are not familiar with it, or because they have deliberately
progressed beyond it. But how are we to scrutinize the good from the bad
when a high level political official like Mr. Powell undermines the questioning
of any concerns related to this issue?
Certainly,
Mr. Powell knows that Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, is most revered among
Muslims. Does Mr. Powell realize that it is incumbent upon every devout Muslim
male to emulate Muhammed’s ways? If so, has Mr. Powell studied the life of
Muhammad as it is recounted in the original Arabic sources, as I learned it in
my schooldays?
…Did Mr. Powell ever contemplate
that what he heard from countless Muslims he met throughout his career was not
necessarily what they truly meant? I always considered Mr.
Powell one of the giants of American politics. To me he was as majestic as the
American eagle. But in that moment, sadly, I saw the eagle topple from its lofty
peak and tumble down in front of me like a little sparrow; and with it tumbled
many of my convictions.
After the events of September 11th, I
watched a press conference with an American general whose name I can no longer
recall. In the course of the conference, he shared that he had read the Koran
twice. One of the reporters asked him, “What conclusion did you reach after you
had read it?” He bowed his head for a moment before replying, “We have to defend
ourselves.”
It
is clear to me and many others who have lived in Islamic countries that a
military man - a general - understood our perilous situation better than Mr.
Powell - a politician - who held a high level government position. Had Mr.
Powell done any thorough research into the study of Islam, as the general did,
he may also have come to the conclusion that his question, “What’s wrong with
being a Muslim?” was indeed unwarranted.
Look, you can't be surprised. Powell was always working against the Republicans. The man knew it was his boy Armitage that "outed" Plame. He knew. All along .... and yet he let Cheney, Rove and ultimately Scooter Libby take the hit. How disgusting is that?
As Justice
Department official in the Reagan administration, Victoria Toensing said at the time, "He could have saved everybody some grief," Ms. Toensing said. "There should be
some kind of indictment for this behavior."
Did anyone really expect Powell to endorse McCain?
So now we find he is not post racial - and is endorsing the marxist? I am not so sure it's racial, and not ideological. Powell has consistently worked against the nation's best and brightest. John Bolton comes to mind.
More of the poisonous fruit of George W. Bush pandering to the left when he packed his administration with RINOs and leftists.
McCain on Powell endorsement: "Well, I have always admired and respected General Powell. We are longtime friends. This doesn't come as a surprise. But I am also very pleased to have the endorsement of four former secretaries of state
and I am proud to have the endorsement of well over 200 retired army generals and admirals," McCain said, noting the support offered by Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Alexander Haig.
I love when this happens. When the mask comes off and everything you've suspected comes tearing into the cold light of day. I was right about that mole. I would love to know what Bush thinking.
Bill Kristol is reporting on Neal Cavuto that Colin Powell will speak at the Democratic National Convention and endorse Obama.
I always thought he was a closet Democrat. Bush had the knack of surrounding himself with the best, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bolton and the the worst - Powell, Armitage, Rice, Hadley, Burns (and the worst won out!). Bolton nailed Powell in his book Surrender is not an Option. He did it diplomatically, but if you read it, you knew Powell was weak and lacked integrity. Tobin wrote at the time,
During Bush's first term, when Powell was in charge, the
drive to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions lost critical ground. Rather
than seek to lead our European allies into a coalition that would
impose serious sanctions on that Islamic republic, Powell left "the
driving to the European Union." That meant years — when Tehran's
program was still far from success — were wasted. This convinced the
Iranians that nothing would or could stop them.
Powell surrendered on Iran in 2004 at the G8 foreign minister's dinner in New York. Powell offered 'carrots' to Iran over their nuclear weapons program, sounds astonishingly similar to O-bambi's plant to meet with Ahmadinejad unconditionally. Powell bent to the British, French and Germans, just as "citizen of the world" Oybambi.
In the early morning of Oct. 1, 2003, Secretary of State Colin
Powell received an urgent phone call from his No. 2 at the State
Department. Richard Armitage was clearly agitated. As recounted in a
new book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling
of the Iraq War," Armitage had been at home reading the newspaper and
had come across a column by journalist Robert Novak. Months earlier,
Novak had caused a huge stir when he revealed that Valerie Plame, wife
of Iraq-war critic Joseph Wilson, was a CIA officer. Ever since,
Washington had been trying to find out who leaked the information to
Novak. The columnist himself had kept quiet. But now, in a second
column, Novak provided a tantalizing clue: his primary source, he
wrote, was a "senior administration official" who was "not a partisan
gunslinger." Armitage was shaken. After reading the column, he knew
immediately who the leaker was. On the phone with Powell that morning,
Armitage was "in deep distress," says a source directly familiar with
the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal
sensitivities. "I'm sure he's talking about me." …
Armitage acknowledged that he had passed along to Novak information
contained in a classified State Department memo: that Wilson's wife
worked on weapons-of-mass-destruction issues at the CIA. (The memo made
no reference to her undercover status.) Armitage had met with Novak in
his State Department office on July 8, 2003—just days before Novak
published his first piece identifying Plame. Powell, Armitage
and Taft, the only three officials at the State Department who knew the
story, never breathed a word of it publicly and Armitage's role
remained secret.… (more here)
Gen. Colin Powell told ABC News on Wednesday that he will not be going to the Democratic National Convention, disputing a suggestion made earlier in the day on the Fox News Channel by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol.
"I do not have time to waste on Bill Kristol's musings,” Powell told ABC News. “I am not going to the convention. I have made this clear."
After telling ABC News by phone that he would not be going to the Democratic National Convention, Powell ended the conversation without entertaining any follow-up questions as to whether he would be crossing party lines to endorse Obama.
The latest Obama ruse is the group callimg themselves "Republicans for Obama". If these clowns are Republicans, then I'm a jihadi. CHAFFEE is an Arab tool and has been on their payroll for years. He singlehandedly sunk Bolton, for that alone he ought to be banished to the land of Nod.
This is who Obama wants in his camp? Why is it that all the Israel-haters gravitate toward this guy? And he's got the nerve to imply Jews distrust him because of his name!
Read Lasky's : Obama's GOP roster share anti-Israel views and notes, "Leach is far more problematic: he also called for Jimmy Carter to be appointed as ME negotiator; and said the key to peace in the entire ME is a settlement between the Palestinians and Israelis. The NY Sun missed the Obama-Khalidi-Hauser connection." Even the mentally defective know the "Palis" don't want peace, they want the destruction of Israel.
The "Republicans for Obama" are not Republicans, they are RINOs (Republican in name only). Goodbye and good riddance to bad rubbish.
The Obama
campaign's conference call yesterday on Republicans who back the presidential
bid of the Democrat from Illinois showcased quite a crew. There was Rita Hauser,
the PLO apologist whose law firm, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, racked up
millions of dollars in legal fees over the years as a registered foreign agent
of Yasser
Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Ms. Hauser met with Mr. Arafat as
early as 1988, when America still considered him a terrorist and refused even to
allow him access to the United Nations headquarters in New York. Though the
meeting may have had the tacit approval of the State Department, Israel publicly
objected at the time, though it too chose eventually to treat with Arafat.
Ms. Hauser helped fund the Edward Said chair at Columbia for Mr. Obama's pal
Rashid Khalidi. "I made a contribution," Ms. Hauser told us back in 2003,
describing the chair's namesake, Professor Edward Said, as "a friend of mine. I
admire him." Ms. Hauser said she was happy with Mr. Khalidi's selection as a
teacher there. "I like him very much. He's a splendid guy, a Palestinian
intellectual, a first-class choice, and I think everybody's pleased," she said
of the professor whose errors The Sun exposed in its August 5, 2004, editorial,
"What the UAE Bought."
Mr. Obama also is boasting of Lincoln Chafee, who, as a senator representing
Rhode Island, was responsible for blocking Secretary Bolton from being confirmed
as the American ambassador at the United Nations on the grounds that the Bush
administration had been too pro-Israel. He was one of two Republicans to vote
against repeal of the estate tax, even though he gained his Senate seat in 1999
by being appointed to fill the remainder of his father's term. He voted against
confirming Justice Alito. He was one of only three Republicans in 2006 who voted
against an extension of the Bush tax cuts on dividends and capital gains.
Back in 2006, a New York Sun article quoted a longtime pro-Israel activist in
Washington, Morris Amitay, as saying Mr. Chafee "has one of the worst records of
anyone in the Senate, definitely in the bottom 10% of class as far as pro-Israel
initiatives are concerned." The Sun article noted that in 2003, Mr. Chafee was
one of only four senators to vote against the Syria Accountability Act, a
sanctions measure. In 2002, Mr. Chafee was the only Republican senator to vote
against giving President Bush the authority to take military action in Iraq.
According to at least one press report, Mr. Chafee left the Republican party in
2007 after losing his 2006 campaign for re-election.
The third "Republican for Obama" after Ms. Hauser and Mr. Chafee — and the
only other one who participated in the call — was a former congressman from
Iowa, James Leach. Mr. Leach took to the House floor in 2004 to deliver a speech
titled "The Case for Restraint in Iran," warning against American or Israeli
attacks on the mullahs's nuclear facilities. "It is hard to believe that outside
military intervention would lead to anything except greater ensconcement of
authoritarian mullah rule," Mr. Leach said, calling instead for America to agree
to a comprehensive nuclear test ban. In 2006, when the House voted 397 to 21 to
pass the Iran Freedom Support Act that toughened sanctions on Tehran, Mr. Leach
was one of the 21 congressmen who opposed it.
First, let me say it was Bolton that calmed the restive, disgruntled crowd at CPAC when he spoke and endorsed McCain. I was there. I had the displeasure of going on to introduce Steyn right after Romney withdrew from the race. Conservatives were not happy. Certainly not with McCain. It was was as if the air had been sucked out of the room. When McCain spoke he had to pack the room with his peeps. Someone who would know in the CPAC organization had told me that McCain took 500 tickets for his speech. 500 tickets ......... and he filled them.
And anecdotally, I know that people were literally thrown out of their seats, asked to move to accommodate McCain's manufactured cheerleaders.
CPAC attendees were not cheering, they were booing but they were
relegated to the sides of the ballroom, not the middle where the mics
and the plants were. And no one was wearing McCain pins or stickers
except folks that worked for him.
Bolton corralled the conservatives. Bolton insisted and explained, cajoled the crowd to back McCain. He didn't have to. He could have furthered the a case of impeding the ominous threat of NORK nukes, Iranian nukes etc. But he didn't. He put his enormous reputation as a conservative to work to create a cohesive Republican tent in support of ..... McCain. He turned the conference for McCain. And frankly, only he could have done it.
I have previously queried as to Bolton's status (or lack thereof) in the McCain camp. It confounded me. The conservatives trust Bolton. McCain exploited this trust. Bolton gave McCain conservative cred. Surely he would lead his foreign policy staff (personally I think he belongs on the ticket). McCain's misstep is major. Real Clear Politics is reporting Bolton is not part of the McCain circle. WTF?
Bolton saved him.
How this?
Dissing Bolton?RealClearPolitics (hat tip Dave) John Bolton, who as U.S. ambassador to
the United Nations in 2005-2006 became a conservative icon, has not connected
with Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, though he desires to help
out.
Friends say Bolton was puzzled when his offers of assistance got no
response from the McCain campaign. He did receive a late request to be a
spokesman for McCain Tuesday in Winston-Salem, N.C., where the candidate
addressed selection of federal judges. However, Bolton got the impression that
he was merely being asked to attend the event and declined the
invitation.
Bolton's treatment did not appear to signify disrespect for
him by McCain but rather disorganization at the candidate's
headquarters.
I spent some time with Wheeler is DC and he spoke glowing of Warner. A fine man. Respected. In the following article, Wheeler counters Warners arguments below. And yeah, there really is a "T".
Whoa... what a firestorm. At the insistence of many TTPers, last week's How the Clintons Will Destroy John McCain was
made a free access article and promptly went viral over the Internet, becoming
explosively controversial.
As you can see from the comments on the Member
User Forum (145, a TTP record), the response from TTPers was overwhelmingly
positive. I also received a number of responses from personal friends. Most
were very supportive, a few were vehemently upset, with most of the latter
assuring me that I remained their friend nonetheless. I cannot adequately
express how much this meant to me.
Then there were those among the latter
whose friendship I have lost. I am most regretful of losing that of Jim
Warner's. Jim had been a dear friend of many years. I know of no finer man
than Jim Warner, a man of unquestionable character and integrity.
As a
captured POW held by the Communist Vietnamese for over five years, and a cell
mate in the Hanoi Hilton of John McCain's for over a year, Jim felt it necessary
to write a rebuttal to my article - without mentioning either my name or the
article - in FrontPage
Magazine.com.
It is easy to understand Jim's desire to defend his
cellmate with whom he suffered indescribable horrors at the hand of the
communists. Thus the excruciating irony of Jim's article - for John McCain
possesses a fraction of the integrity and decency of character of Jim Warner. I
would trust my life to Jim Warner without a moment's hesitation. I would not
trust my life to John McCain for a moment.
His candidacy may become a
tragic joke being played upon America. For any joke to resonate, there has to
be a core of truth to it. Think of the original Jewish American Princess joke
about what she makes best for dinner - reservations. Now think if that joke
were told about Italian women. Instead of a laugh, you'd get a huh?
After he digests his morning mushrooms, he'll explain how the nuclear bomb making factory Israel took out on September the 6th was for peaceful purposes (yeah, a pax Islamica).
If Specter is a Republican, then I'm a Paulistinian.
The Omaha World-Herald is reporting
-- and The Post's Jonathan Weisman has confirmed -- that Sen. Chuck Hagel
(R-Neb.) will announce Monday that he will not seek a third term in 2008 nor run
for any other national office.
The news that Hagel will leave the Senate
creates a potentially competitive open seat, with former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) and
former Gov. Mike Johanns (R) -- two titans of Cornhusker politics -- mentioned
prominently as his replacement.
Diane West had Allen Specter all to herself on a Washington train out of DC. What follows is West's response to his parting comment. Rich, guys, really rich.
Dear Sen. Specter: I'm writing today because I didn't get a chance to
respond to your parting comment as you left the train last week in
Philadelphia. If you recall, we were both riding the Acela out of
Washington; I was the columnist sitting across the aisle from you (both
literally and in a Washington way, often, figuratively). I introduced
myself and offered you that day's column for your reading pleasure.
You can't blame a gal: How often do the ink-stained wretched
get a U.S. senator as a virtually captive traveling companion? No
office aides to intervene, no floor votes to run off to: just a nice
long stretch of time to pass, sort of together.
Wondering how best to take journalistic advantage of the situation,
I realized the column was the key. Not a big intrusion, but maybe an
icebreaker.
Or maybe not. After you accepted my column on Iraq -- an op-ed
lamenting the futility of "surge" and "withdrawal" plans in Iraq that
fail to address the menace in Iran (and elsewhere) -- you read it. That
was nice. I sat up a little, hoping for a senatorial reaction, but
didn't get one. Then again, maybe I did: You turned to another
newspaper. Still no reaction. Then you fell asleep. Nothing. Then you
woke up. Still nothing. Then you had lunch. Oh well. We were almost
into Philadelphia.
And then, gathering your belongings, you said: "So. You just want to bomb them?"
[...]
Nodding at intervals,
you asked questions, mainly about my personal tolerance for civilian
casualties -- theirs, not ours. You asked me something like: At what
number do civilian deaths -- theirs -- become intolerable? How many
people -- not ours -- have to die before I (me) say it's too much?
So now I ask: Was that Diyala, or Pennsylvania you represent? Uppermost
in your mind were Iraqi (or, for that matter, Iranian) casualties, a
likely consequence of the aggressive actions under discussion -- since
this was, in fact, war we were talking about. Another likely
consequence of such actions -- warfare, right? -- is the achievement of
American war goals, which strikes me as preferable to just bleeding our
nation to death. But maybe I've been reading too much history. Somehow,
American war goals have become a secondary consideration when America
wages war. As Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Mellinger put it to The Washington
Times: "We could absolutely crush every one of (our enemies in Iraq),
but would you be happy with what is left?"
[....]Well, it sure sounds
better than asking American troops to knock on doors, card terrorists
and drive over IEDs for the next 20 years. But not to the powers that
be. In our new age, in our post-modern culture, American war goals --
American self-preservation -- are secondary to war casualties, and I
don't mean our own.
Lincoln Chafee, always on the take for Arab $$$ payola, once again shows what a shtick dreck he really is. If one nonperson is responsible for Bolton not getting to the floor for a vote it was Chafee (although a case can be made that he did JB an enormous favor -- but totally screwed the American people.)
Shilling for the savages, again.I wonder what they want now? He is one of their American organ grinders monkeys.
And Brown gave this asshat a job? A job? He's barely normal. hat tip Ed Lasky
Ousted Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee criticized President George W. Bush's
handling of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, saying the president was
bowing to a faction of evangelical Christians who oppose a Palestinian state.
"The religious thing is driving the foreign policy here," Chafee said
following a speech at Brown University in which he questioned whether the
president's past comments pushing for peace were sincere.
Chafee, who served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lost his seat in
November as Democrats swept into power in Congress. He landed a job at Brown's
Watson Institute for International Studies following his loss to Democrat
Sheldon Whitehouse.
The Jerusalem Post titled the article "ex-Republican senator criticizes Bush on Israel." Someone ought to tell them he was never a Republican. He is the very definition of a RINO (Republican in name only.) He should be thrown out of the party.
Lori Lowenthal Marcus sent me this piece on the that rat Specter and she fisks it. If you haven't heard Lori's show, you can catch it here. Lori is co-host and commentator, "The ZOA MIDDLE EAST REPORT" 12:00 - 1:00 pm EST WNWR 1540 AM. 'LLM' are Lori's comments.
Jerusalem - Sen. Arlen Specter met with The Bulletin at his Jerusalem hotel on Thursday morning, and used that occasion to convey a message from Syrian President Bashir Assad, with whom the senator had met with in a private meeting earlier in the week.
Syria's personal American whore - Atlas
That message, according to Specter, was that the Syrian president was ready to participate in an international peace conference concerning the future of Iraq, and that the Syrian president was willing to meet with Israeli leaders for peace talks with no preconditions.
That, however, doesn't take into account the Syrian state of war to destroy Israel that has existed since 1948. Specter said that he did not raise that issue with the Syrian president, asking rhetorically how that state of war with Israel manifested itself.
Destroy Israel? Minor details - Arlen?
After being reminded that Assad gave full support to Hezbollah's genocidal campaign of 4000 missiles that rained down on the Jewish state last summer, The Bulletin asked the senator about Syrian support of Hezbollah's aim to wipe out the state of Israel. Specter said that he raised concern about Syria's supply of arms to Hezbollah, but that President Assad had denied such support. He added that, when he returns to Washington, he would ask American intelligence sources to confirm if, indeed, Syria continues to supply Hezbollah with weapons.
[Perhaps Specter is the only one who hasn¢t seen the videos/pictures of the little trucks crossing the border from Syria into Lebanon, delivering weapons. Even the see-no-evil UNIFILers have reported it. LLM]
There were other issues to be addressed, including Syria's curriculum in its schools, which inculcates school children with the ideology of war against the Jewish state. Specter answered that he was unfamiliar with that curriculum (which can be found in translation at the Web site of the Center for Monitoring The Impact of Peace, www.edume.org).
Asked about Syrian support of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, Specter said that he was not willing to take sides on the question of whether Syria was indeed supporting terrorist organizations such as Hamas.
[Not willing to take sides? I can't write more about this without using expletives. LLM]
However, The Bulletin asked Specter whether he had therefore implored President Assad to close down the 10 Palestinian terror organizations, including Hamas that officially operate out of Damascus, only a few blocks from the Syrian presidential palace.
Specter's response was that he had always raised the issue of the 10 Palestinian terrorist organizations that operate out of Damascus with President Bashir Assad's predecessor, his late father, President Hafez El Assad.
Nevertheless, Specter admitted he failed to raise the issue of these terror groups with the younger Assad, even though all of them are listed on the "watch list" of terrorist organizations that are monitored by the U.S. State Department, the CIA and the U.S. Justice Department. Specter had no explanation for his failure to raise this issue with the current Syrian president.
On another crucial issue, The Bulletin asked Specter if he had used any of his 15 visits with Syrian leaders, including this past visit, to implore Syria to cease and desist from its role in the harvesting and marketing of narcotics that are found on Philadelphia's streets.
Specter, recalling his days as district attorney in Philadelphia, stated that he was not aware of the Syrian role in the narcotics trade, and that he was only aware of the role played by Latin American sources in this matter. The Bulletin referred the senator to the reports issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington which specifically identify Syria as a main supplier of narcotics which wind up on American streets.
[Yikes! Is it possible he didn't know this? Or did he forget? Which is worse? LLM]
Asked about U.S. State Department criticism of his visit with President Assad, Specter responded by saying that the U.S. must maintain dialogue with its enemies, remarking that he had always believed that "you have to keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
He compared his visit to Syria to visits that he made to the former Soviet Union and to Communist China during the height of the Cold War. Specter said that President Bush should view him as an asset, and said that that the U.S. Senate must develop an independent voice in order to fulfill its role to advise and consent in matters of foreign policy.
Specter firmly stated that he would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Iranian president and to demand that the Iranian leader "cease and desist from his policy of wiping out the state of Israel." Specter said he would like to initiate a dialogue with the Iranian president so that the Iranian leader would come to the conclusion that six million Jews were indeed slaughtered by the Nazis during World War II.
Specter "welcomes the opportunity" to meet with Ahmadinejad? Breathtaking.
McCain has become the champion legislator for censorship. Enemy of free speech. First he authored McCain Feingold campaign finance reform - mother of all bad legislation, an abysmal reform failure that only led to more negative campaign ads and an explosion of the use of 527 groups by big donors. More than $950 million
was funneled through 527 groups in the 2004 and 2006 elections, much of
it from wealthy donors and corporations otherwise barred from having
such a large financial impact. 527s owe it all to John McCain. Now this? This will shut us all down (except those leftoid blogs underwritten by Soros.) Take it from a blogger who makes no money - this is very very bad. Over at Down the Avenue - hat tip Jeremaya
Via Digg,
Senator John McCain Hates Blogs....apparently he has launched an assault
"against the independent blogosphere by introducing legislation that would,
among other things, make bloggers responsible for comments and copyrighted
material posted on their sites, with fines of up to $300,000."
Most independent bloggers I know are not making money from their blogs and
with a fine of such magnitude, could make them homeless. What on earth is he
talking about? Freedom of expression and creativity gets punished with such
severity?
Carolyn Glick has written, yet again, a seminal piece in today's JWR. Ms. Glick will be joining me on my next radio show, Atlas on the Air,TUESDAY next week. I'll give you a heads up when I know the time.You must listen and tell your friends, she is a national treasure, one of the smartest historians, observers, pundits, out there. Mark your calenders
When the history of
our times is written, this week will be remembered as the week that Washington
decided to let the Islamic Republic of Iran go nuclear. Hopefully it will also
be remembered as the moment the Jews arose and refused to allow Iran to go
nuclear.
With the publication of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group chaired
by former US secretary of state James Baker III and former congressman Lee
Hamilton, the debate about the war in Iraq changed. From a war for victory
against Islamofascism and for democracy and freedom, the war was reduced to a
conflict to be managed by appeasing the US's sworn enemies in the interests of
stability and at the expense of America's allies.
Baker and his associates claim that the US cannot win the war in Iraq and so
the US must negotiate with its primary enemies in Iraq and throughout the world
- Iran and Syria -- in the hopes that they will be persuaded to hold their fire
for long enough to facilitate an "honorable" American retreat from the country.
Like his unsupported assertion that the US cannot win in Iraq, Baker also
asserts - in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary - that Iran and
Syria share America's "interest in avoiding chaos in Iraq." Because of this
supposed shared interest, Baker maintains that with the proper incentives, Iran
and Syria can be persuaded to cooperate with a US withdrawal from Iraq ahead of
the 2008 presidential primaries.
The main incentive Baker advocates offering is Israel.
Go, read it all.
It is particularly upsetting that Washington has chosen now of all times to
turn its back on the war. Ahmadinejad hinted Monday that Iran has completed the
nuclear fuel cycle and so has passed the point of no return on its nuclear
program. He also made a statement indicating that Iran will have its nuclear
arsenal up and running by March - just four months away.
Serious disagreement exists in Washington over the status of the Iranian
program. Some claim that Iran is four or five years away from nuclear weapons
capabilities. Other maintain that Iran has recently experienced serious
technical setbacks in their uranium enrichment activities and that the North
Korean nuclear bomb test in October in which Iranian officials participated, was
a failure.
But there are also engaged officials who agree with Ahmadinejad's assessment
of Iran's nuclear progress. Those officials maintain first that the North
Korean-Iranian test in October was successful and should be taken as a sign that
Iran already has a nuclear arsenal. Second, they warn that the US and Israel
have six months to act against Iran's nuclear installations and to overthrow the
regime or face the prospect of the annihilation of Israel and the destruction of
several US cities as a result of an Iranian nuclear offensive.
[...]
Even if the US were to somehow get them to agree to certain understandings
about Iraq, there is no reason to believe that the Iranians and Syrians would
keep their word. Not only would the US be approaching them as a supplicant and
so emboldening them, but to date the US has never credibly threatened anything
either Syria or Iran value. Indeed, through supporting negotiations between the
EU and Iran, empowering the UN to deal with Iran's nuclear program, and forcing
Israel to accept a cease-fire with Hizbullah last summer that effectively gave
victory to the Syrian and Iranian proxy, the US has consistently rewarded the
two countries' aggression.
Worse than that, from a US perspective, although Gates admitted Tuesday that
he cannot guarantee that Iran will not attack Israel with nuclear weapons, he
ignored the fact that Iran - whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad daily calls for
the destruction of the US - may also attack the US with nuclear weapons.
[...]
Gates admitted in his Senate hearing that Iran is producing many bombs - not
just one.
Since it is possible to destroy Israel with just one bomb, the Americans
should be asking themselves what Iran needs all those other bombs for. There are
senior military sources in the US who have been warning the administration to
take into consideration that the day that Iran attacks Israel with a nuclear
bomb, 10 cities in the US and Europe are liable to also be attacked with nuclear
weapons. Unfortunately, no one is listening to these voices today.
IT IS particularly upsetting that Washington has chosen now of all times to
turn its back on the war. Ahmadinejad hinted Monday that Iran has completed the
nuclear fuel cycle and so has passed the point of no return on its nuclear
program. He also made a statement indicating that Iran will have its nuclear
arsenal up and running by March - just four months away.
Kumbaya, brothers. Why can't we all just get along?
More of leftist tool dick sick trick slick Nic Burns' - mastermind of our
appeasing diplomatic policy failure towards Iran.Nations failed to agree on Iran nuclear sanctions. Good job, Condi, Nic - as long as you feel good about yourselves, that's whats important.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his
countrymen they needn't worry about Iran's escalating confrontation
with the US because he has a direct line to Allah. Allah, he said, has
assured him that everything will be just fine. Ahmadinejad also
promised that Iran would not cease its enrichment of uranium "even for
one day." Iran's nuclear triumph is imminent, Allah's messenger
promised. "We have one more step," he enthused, "if we pass that, this
[matter] will be attained." Glick more here.
If anyone still has any doubts about the seriousness of Iranian intentions, the
satellite photos reveal the deployment of numerous antiaircraft missile
batteries, in a way that is perhaps unprecedented, around the nuclear sites.
European intelligence information also points to the presence of Iranian
scientists at the recent nuclear test in North Korea. All these things leave no
room for doubt that Iran is closer than ever before to putting together the
first Shiite atomic bomb.
It seems that the most annoying thing in the context of the Iranian nuclear
program is the approach of the IAEA. Although Iran is caught lying over and over
again; although it admits to actions that blatantly violate the Geneva NPT
Treaty; although there is a whole string of issues between it and the IAEA on
which IAEA experts say that it has not provided even the beginning of
satisfactory answers; although it repeatedly threatens to put a stop to the
supervision; and although it bars the inspectors access to some of the sites, to
experts, and to know-how -- IA EA Director Dr Muhammad al-Baradei, the Nobel
Peace Prize recipient, insists on drafting a very watered-down of his
conclusions and recommendations on the matter. True, even if the Egyptian
Al-Baradei was firmer, the United States would still insist on putting together
an international coalition to impose strict sanctions on Iran, but it is clear
that more incisive statements from him, which are warranted by the facts, would
provide the United States with operative ammunition and push Russia and China,
which are close to Iran, into a corner. By acting the way he is doing,
Al-Baradei is providing these countries with the excuse to continue to sit on
the fence and do business with Iran behind everyone's back.
AHMADINEJAD SAYS AGAIN THAT ISRAEL WILL BE WIPED OUT: He adds: "Today scores of Western politicians are in doubt as to the future of this
illegitimate regime and its existence has come under question." President Imadinnerjacket
Ken
Timmerman says the warning in Ahmadinejad's latest letter is clear: "Dump George
W. Bush, allow the Muslims to destroy Israel, and adopt Islam -- or else you
will be destroyed. This is Mr. Ahmadinejad's message." More here and here. hat tip FDD
....... on your way out, ferret. From John Fund over at the WSJ Political Diary (PAID ONLY);
After the Republican Party spent untold sums[ugh - Atlas]to rescue Senator Lincoln Chafee from certain defeat in a GOP primary this year and then spent more untold sums in his losing fight to retain his seat against Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, the mercurial Mr. Chafee has told reporters that he is unsure he will stay in the GOP.
"I haven't made any decisions. I just haven't even thought about where my place is," Mr. Chafee said at a news conference. When pressed on whether his comments indicated he might leave the GOP, he replied: "That's fair."
The NY
Times is spinning like a whirling dervish trying to claim a compromise on
codifying what is allowable in interrogations (obviously in light of Common
Article 3 of the Geneva Convention which says we cannot hurt the pride or
feelings of fanatical murderers hellbent on mass murder) is not actually
codifying was is allowable in interrogations:
Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a Republican on the Armed Services Committee
who has supported the president’s legislation, said Tuesday morning that the
White House had agreed to work within the War Crimes Act to refine the
obligations under Common Article 3.
“There’s agreement on the goal,” Mr. Cornyn said, “that is, that we continue
to comply with our international treaty obligations and all of our domestic
laws, but at the same time not tie the hands of our intelligence officials.”
Mr. Warner declined to comment on specific proposals, saying only that he had
“great optimism” that an agreement could come soon.
The senators propose to provide clearer guidelines for interrogators by
amending the War Crimes Act to enumerate several “grave breaches” that
constitute violations of Common Article 3.
Got that? The figleaves being handed out are we are modifying the War Crimes
Act and not restricting the conventions, but not to worry this will restrict the
conventions…
These people are so stupid. The WH allows the NY Times to report the
preposterous idea that Bush’s goal of defining what is in allowable (or, in this
case be defining its opposiite - what is not allowable) so they can get back to
saving lives. What do the Senate idiots get? A transparent CYA to hide their
image of their large posteriors in rapid retreat. As I said yesterday, if the
result is clear guidelines on what Article 3 means then the President won. And
he could care less whether he gets credit for it or not. Sadly for Warner,
McCain annd Graham the new media is not as gullible or complacent as the antique
media. More here
What Chafee needs is help. Professional help. Read the letter. What this has to do with the Bolton nomination is beyond me (and anyone else that read it.) He questions whether the Road Map is no longer official US policy? Ask Ahmadinejad, Nasrallah and Hamas. Man, you think he ever removes the tinfoil hat?
Dear Secretary Rice:
I write to you with regard to the nomination of John Bolton to be US Representative to the United Nations. Today, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations was scheduled to have a vote on Mr. Bolton’s nomination. The decision on whether to hold that vote is in the Chairman of the Committee’s hands. Chairman Lugar decided to hold the vote over to a later date, and I support that decision.
Hey genius, Lugar postponed it because you said you didn't support it and so Lugar couldn't move forward.
It is no secret that I have serious questions about this Administration’s policies in the Middle East. As we tackle enormous problems in the region, most notably with Iran and Iraq. I believe we need to be successful in forging alliances. A critical part of that work is accomplished by our Ambassador to the UN.
You have serious problems with the Administration policies? That's rich. How about the Islamic terror states promising to wipe neighbor states "of the map?" Nuclear Jihad. You down with that?
One of the key issues with many of our allies is the situation with Palestinians. I support the creation of a viable, contiguous Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with its neighbor Israel. I believe progress on this front would be beneficial for the Palestinians, and further America’s and Israel’s, security. The President, and you, frequently have spoke in favor of establishing a Palestinian state. On February 26, 2003, President Bush said “Success in Iraq could also begin a new stage for Middle Eastern peace, and set in motion progress towards a truly democratic state.” On February 22, 2005, the President said “Israel must freeze settlement activity. And on April 14, 2004, the President wrote to then-Prime Minister Sharon, “The United States supports the establishment of a Palestinian state that is viable, contiguous, sovereign, and independent, so that the Palestinian people can build their own future in accordance with the vision I set forth in June 2002 and with the path set forth in the roadmap.
Phase one of that Road Map states clearly that Israel will freeze all settlement activity, Yet, just this week, it is reported that 690 home will be built in the West Bank settlements of Maale Adumim and Betar Illit. While the official US policy has been against settlement activity, no credible observer could think that the US could not do more to stop these new actions.
While I am a strong supporter of Israel, and believe her security is non-negotiable we should have a more balanced approach - so that both sides can see that we are an honest broker for peace. I have been a long-time critic of the disparity between the rhetoric and the actions of the Administration on the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. However, now I fear that even the rhetoric is going to stop. Is this expansion of settlement activity a signal that holding both sides to their commitments under the Road Map is no longer official US policy?
Settlement activity? Which settlement? Tel Aviv? Strong supporter of Israel? Uh, give them man a dictionary.
It is my hope that answers will be forthcoming about our policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that the Committee can reconvene to debate Ambassador Bolton’s confirmation.
It is my hope you get your ass kicked come November.
In
an extraordinary pre-emptive announcement, the National Republican
Senatorial Committee has said it will concede Rhode Island to the
Democrats should Stephen Laffey, the mayor of Cranston, defeat Mr.
Chafee in the primary.
Moreover:
Republicans
said they expected to spend over $1.2 million on advertisements
attacking Mr. Laffey, saturating the television stations of this state,
the nation’s smallest.
Hmmm. What if the NRSC had spent $1.2 million helping Laffey?
Or what if it had spent $1.2 million on Santorum of Pennsylvania or
Talent of Missouri? Why does it value Chafee above these guys?
Staggering that a man as small and as weak as Chafee could crawl out from a state just as small and inflict such damage on our country. Shame on the Republicans for supporting this feckless clerk. I'd rather have a Democrat in there if Laffey can't beat Chafee. At least with a Democrat, you know what you have. Chafee is a dhimmi, who abides his masters.
Mr. Chafee, who supported
Mr. Bolton's nomination last year, apparently changed his mindshortly
before the vote, a congressional aide who has been following the
nomination battle closely said. In a fight for his political life in a
tight primary election Tuesday, Mr. Chafee's move was not totally
unexpected, the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
"It seems he decided to flip-flop on Bolton. He thought all night
how to present it, and then all he could come up with was this," the
aide said, referring to a letter Mr. Chafee sent yesterday to Secretary
of State Rice.
In the letter, Mr. Chafee raised questions about issues that have
little to do with Mr. Bolton, Turtle Bay, or even the current
Arab-Israeli situation.
"Chairman Lugar decided to
hold the vote over to a later date, and I support that decision," Mr.
Chafee wrote in his letter — although it was he who had forced the
delay by changing his mind. The letter seemed designed to appeal to
Arab-American voters, but the issues it raised, including perceived
failures by the White House to implement the Middle East "road map,"
are out of step even with the Cairo-based Arab League, which recently
declared the road map "dead."
According to the Providence
Journal, Mr. Chafee is one of only two senators who received donations
from the Arab-American Leadership PAC. Prominent Arab-American
personalities also hosted Washington and New York fund-raisers for Mr.
Chafee's re-election campaign.
Recent polls among prospective
Rhode Island voters show a virtual tie between Mr. Chafee and his
challenger in Tuesday's Republican primary, Mayor Stephen Laffey of
Cranston. NY Sun
Pamela, a recent poll shows Chafee
getting trounced 51-34 by Laffey. And I don't buy the BS that Laffey
can't win the state if he whips Chafee.
I don't buy it either. And I believe politicians must be held to accountability. They must be responsible for their actions. He's got to pay.
I don't think it's impossible that Chafee will defect to the Dems,
RI Dems will shaft the Dem challenger Whitehouse and it will be Laffey
v. Chafee again in November, and unfortunately too close to call.
His vote against Bolton is IMO his first kiss to the Dem establishment.
It is inconceivable that at a moment like this, the United States would even
think of changing ambassadors.
But sadly there are clueless
Republicans like Chafee and Democrats who remain mindlessly partisan.
Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd is one of the latter. Dodd says he will
recommend that his Democratic colleagues filibuster the Bolton nomination when
it reaches the Senate floor.
If Dodd sees this as the opening
round in his quixotic quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, he has
chosen a poor target
UPDATE: From the Conservative Union: John Bolton is a truly American representative to the world: tough yet
fair.
Even more importantly, when American soldiers are fighting to rebuild Iraq
and Afghanistan, when Israel is fending off Hezbollah in Lebanon, when North
Korea unabashedly tests missiles and Iran brags about the holocaust to come when
it acquires a nuclear weapon—this is no time to go wobbly. The world must know
that America speaks with one voice, and that voice, at the most important
international forum, should continue to be that of John Bolton.
A Senate failure on the confirmation of Ambassador Bolton at this critical
juncture will only sow doubt about America’s resolve and unity, and signal
weakness to our enemies.
To make sure this doesn’t happen, please e-mail your senators by clicking here. Tell them that John Bolton is a truth-teller,
which is exactly what Americans need at the United Nations.
Romney is a good man. Expect the left to rip his Mormon background. Don't buy into Shadow party propaganda;
Governor Mitt Romney today ordered all Massachusetts state government agencies to decline support, if asked, for former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami's September 10 visit to the Boston area, where he is scheduled to speak at Harvard University....
More here hat tip Jeremy
FOX reports: The Republican chief executive, a potential candidate for his party's 2008 presidential nomination, said Mohammed Khatami oversaw torture and the murder of dissidents, as well as Iran's secret nuclear program, while in office from 1997 to 2005.
"State taxpayers should not be providing special treatment to an individual who supports violent jihad and the destruction of Israel," Romney said in a statement.
Mitt Romney will be on John Gibson the Big Story today at 5PM EST. He's comer, watch him.
The wonderful Faith J. H. McDonnell
Director, Religious Liberty Programs
and Church Alliance for a New Sudan sent me this;
FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN
ACTIVITIES TO COUNTER IRANIAN EX-PRESIDENT KHATAMI'S VISIT TO
WASHINGTON:
Apress
conference will be held at the National Press Club. Participants will include torture victims of
the Islamic regime, former political prisoners, and opposition figures. They
will brief reporters on former President Khatami’s visit and also answer
questions on UN Security Council crisis. The panel will testify, explain and publicize crimes of the regime that
occurred during Khatami’s presidency as well as the time that he was a cabinet
member of Rafsanjani as the minister of Islamic guidance. This will be a first rate presentation.
Members of the press, congressional staffers, think tank members and policy
makers are welcome to attend.
Also, a
demonstration will occur at 6:00
PM in front of the National Cathedral, at the northwest intersection
of Massachusetts and Wisconsin
Avenues, to protest Khatami’s visit. ALL ORGANIZATIONS, ALL INDIVIDUALS WHO
SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND AND
PARTICIPATE.
UPDATE: There is agreat editorial in The NY Sun on the Romney "kerfuffle" ;
Quite a kerfuffle erupted
yesterday over Governor Romney's decision to deny a state police escort
to President Khatemi when the Iranian makes his propaganda visit to
Harvard's Joseph P. Kennedy School of Government. It reminds us of the
wonderful story about how one of our police commissioners here in New
York, Theodore Roosevelt, handled the visit of the anti-Semitic
agitator from Berlin. The agitator was a clergyman named Rector
Ahlwardt.
Protesting Khatami in Washington and Boston followed by
Ahmadinejad in Manhattan
By Jerry Gordon
Former President Mohammad Khatami is cutting a wide media swath in the U.S.
on his so-called ‘personal tour’. He’s given major media interviews, spoken at
last weekend’ national convention of Saudi Wahhabi backed Islamic Society of
North America. Today, he flits between the University of Virginia in
Charlottesville this morning and a closed meeting at the Washington
National Cathedral this evening. Sunday, Khatami is scheduled to speak at
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government-no doubt invited by the co-author of the
infamous Israel Lobby papers in the London review of Books, Professor Stephen
Walt.
Massachusetts
Governor Mitts Romney-a possible 2008 Republican Presidential contender
issued statements chastised Harvard for issuing the invitation to Khatami and
indicated that the State Police would not provide special VIP protection-the
State department’s own diplomatic security detail will. Romney told the press:
“State taxpayers should not be providing special treatment to an individual who
supports violent jihad and the destruction of Israel.” (Read more…)
America, America, Gd shed his grace on thee. Do no squander it! As Soros Shadow partyangles for a coup d'etat, and jihad is the enemy we speak of only in whispers and hushed tones (!)............I ask you, who better to fight the jihad? It is not morning in America, it is late afternoon. I asl every reader to get involved in the process and insure that America stays America.
FightAmerabia, fight the UN takeover of our sovereignty.
Dennis writes me;
Below is a list of the top 10 Senate races in November "06"
Remember Republicans hold the Senate; 51 to 49
These will be knock down drag out fights against hard core unscrupulous Democrats.
We must fight back against Democrat supporters like the Hollywood Left,
the dominant anti-American media and George Soros and all the 527s.
Please contribute generously.
Please go to the candidates web sites to research for yourselves.
New Jersey Senate race Tom Kean
Republican challenger Tom Kean for U.S.
Senate 187 Mill Lane Mountainside, New Jersey
07092 Ohio Senate Seat Mike
DeWine Republican incumbent (thanx oaf) Mike DeWine for
U.S. Senate P.O. Box 340188 Columbus, Ohio
43234 info@mikedewine.com
Maryland
Senate race Michael Steele Republican challenger Steele for Maryland Finance
Department 1350 Dorsey Rd. Bldg A, Suite A Hanover, MD 21076 For
contributor assistance, please contact the Finance Department at
Contributions@steeleformaryland.com or (443) 603-1288.
Arizona Senate race Jon Kyl Republican incumbent Jon Kyl for U.S.
Senate P.O. Box 10246 Phoenix, AZ 85064-0246 Please
make checks payable to ³Jon Kyl for U.S. Senate² For questions contact
Sarah Borst, 602-840-0306 or sborst@jonkyl.com.
Montana Senate race
Conrad Burns Republican incumbent Conrad Burns for Senate 125 25th St. W. Billings, MT
59102 Phone: 406-656-9999 Fax: 406-656-9963
Nebraska
Senate race Pete Rickets Republican challenger Please make checks payable to: Nebraska Families for Pete
Ricketts, Inc. P. O. Box 24705 Omaha, NE 68124
Missouri Senate race Jim Talent Republican
incumbent Talent for Senate Phone: (314) 993-8235 | Fax: (314)
993-82819467 Dielman Rock Island Industrial
Dr.St. Louis, MO 63132
Washington Senate race Mike McGavick
Republican challenger Mike McGavick for US Senate 501
8th Ave N Seattle, WA 98109 Phone: (206)
838-7479
Minnesota Senate race Mark Kennedy Republican
challenger Mark Kennedy for US Senate P.O. Box 49333 Blaine, MN 55449
651.644.2506 info@markkennedy06.com.
Maybe the Senate isn't so safe for the GOP after all. Stephen Moore, WSJ Political Diary PAID only, writes today;
The latest Zogby poll contains new nuggets of data for Republicans to fret
over -- including findings that suggest that incumbent Republicans thought to be
safely in the win column are now in hot races. The Senate is very much in play
and potentially within the Democrats' grasp in November. There's bad news
especially in Ohio and Pennsylvania where Rick Santorum trails by 11 points
against Bob Casey, Jr. and Mike DeWine is down by eight points to Sherrod Brown.
Really sour news comes from Virginia, which the GOP had counted on as a "safe"
seat just a month ago but thanks to George Allen's gaffes of late, he is now
down one point to Democrat Jim Webb.
Most shocking was that the Senate race in Nevada is turning into a nail
biter, with John Ensign leading by only three points against Jack Carter, son of
the former president. Republicans had hoped that once Republicans rallied around
a candidate in Tennessee after a bitter three-way primary, they could put this
seat in the red column, but former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker is only up by
four points against Democrat Harold Ford Jr.
Among Senate Democratic incumbents,
both Debbie Stabenow in Michigan and Bob Menendez in New Jersey have shockingly
tight races with a less than five-point spread in both. Republicans also have
shots in Maryland and Washington State as well, if the "throw the bums out" mood
persists.
Democrats would have to win six Senate seats to take over control of the
Senate. That would require victories in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Montana, Rhode
Island, Tennessee and one upset among Virginia, Missouri, Nevada, or Arizona. On
top of that, they would have to hold all of their incumbents. The Zogby survey
suggests it's doable but only with a 1994-like voter tide against Republicans.
I don't trust Zogby, the quintessential Democratic party tool but I do believe the Republicans are vulnerable. I will continue to update this and I will post the House and Governor races as well. Stay with these races. Make a difference
The United States, along with the rest of the free world, must confront Iran and North Korea and defend Israel and its democracy while working to bring stability to the entire Middle East and Darfur.
&
Ambassador Bolton's appointment expires this fall when the Senate officially recesses. Should the president choose to renominate him, I cannot imagine a worse message to send to the terrorists -- and to other nations deciding whether to engage in this effort -- than to drag out a possible renomination process or even replace the person our president has entrusted to lead our nation at the United Nations at a time when we are working on these historic objectives
Should the president send his renomination to the Senate, I will vote to confirm him, and I call on my Democratic colleagues to keep in mind the current situation in the Middle East and the rest of the world should the Senate have an opportunity to vote. I do not believe the United States, at this dangerous time, can afford to have a U.N. ambassador who does not have Congress's full support.
For the good of our country, the United Nations and the free world, we must end any ambiguity about whether John Bolton speaks for the United States so that he can work to support our interests at the United Nations during this critical time.
The ad explains Senator Lincoln Chafee's support for
high taxes, his sponsorship of $48 billion more in government spending, and his
votes for wasteful spending, including the "Bridge to Nowhere" boondoggle in
Alaska. It calls on Rhode Islanders to tell Chafee that he's just too liberal
with their taxes.
UPDATE: April 27th from John Fund Opinon Journal (Paid subscription only)
Mr. Chafee is trying to encourage Democrats to reregister as independents,
which would allow them to vote in the party primary of their choosing. "It
doesn't take very many independents, maybe 10,000 to 15,000, to really make a
difference," Darrell West, a Brown University pollster told the Providence
Journal.
Indeed, Stephanie Chafee, the senator's wife, went so far as to send out an
e-mail this week in which she tells registered Democrats: "I am strongly
encouraging you to disaffiliate and to become an unaffiliated voter." Her pitch
isn't exactly designed to comfort most Republican hearts: "Linc's centrist views
are good for Rhode Island. They allow him to work with colleagues in a
bipartisan manner to ensure that our state receives its fair share of federal
funding, to expand access to health care and education, and to safeguard our
beautiful forests and coastlines."
While Mr. Chafee's ploy is certainly within the boundaries of a tough
political contest, Republicans should ask themselves if they really want a U.S.
Senator who thinks he can only remain in office by inviting Democrats to crash a
Republican primary.
Chafee is one of those spineless RINOs that MUST GO! VOTE FOR STEPHEN LAFFEY AND TELL EVEYONE YOU KNOW .
RINOSenator Lincoln Chafee and Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey
are sparring over US policy on Israel. Laffey is running for Chafee's
Senate seat, and the two will face off in the September 12th Republican primary.
RINO Chafee chairs a Senate subcommittee that oversees policy on the Middle
East. He says the United States is partly responsible for Hamas' victory in the
January Palestinian election because it failed to support Mahmoud Abbas, Yassar
Arafat's more moderate successor.
Laffey calls RINO Chafee week on
terrorism and says the United States should get tough -- withdrawing even
humanitarian aid from the Palestinians until Hamas renounces violence.
Laffey says he sees no reason for Israel to give up more land when
Palestinian leaders have yet to compromise. Article here.
In case you don't recall RINO Chafee did not support John Bolton's nomination to the UN. This is from the Washington Post article here April 21, 2005,
Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R-R.I.), a member of the Foreign Relations
Committee that is weighing the nomination, "is less likely right now"
to vote to confirm Bolton, his spokesman Stephen Hourahan said in an
interview.
Chafee repeatedly had said he was reluctantly inclined to vote for Bolton.
A negative vote by Chafee could deeply wound the
nomination because it would prevent the committee -- which Republicans
control 10 to 8 -- from recommending Bolton to the full Senate. With
all eight committee Democrats opposed to Bolton, a Chafee defection
would lead to a 9 to 9 tie at best
KICK THIS SCHMUCK OUT. Anyone that didn't back John Bolton is not normal, and a Republican no less. Bolton is the best thing we ever did at the UN.
Thanks goes to the House Republicans. The Appropriations Committee vote was so
overwhelming, that the UAE got the message and is now pulling the ports deal.
Hence, there will be no confrontation with the president, or embarrassing veto
override. And the reaction from Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, and the appeasement
wing of the Senate is hilarious: Reid is demanding a vote on a deal that no
longer exists and Schumer is insisting on seeing the details of the now defunct
deal. It's not easy being a weak-on-defense liberal.[ 03/09/2006 03:08 PM ] NRO hat tip Phil
I campaigned hard for the Dubai deal here and here. I thought the Democratic rhetoric was total bullshit. Dubai can't move boxes around but Al Qaeda can speak freely on phone calls into and out of this country because FISA was a "power grab by the executive branch?" Puhleeze.
It was pure political posturing and the RINOs that capitulated to the political winds are as spineless (but not nearly as cunning) as their left wing counterparts.
I can not say I am happy about this turn of events. It will come back to bite us - we need to build relationships with allies in that part of the world, but it will be pleasant not to hear the Pelosi pile-on of double speak or Read wailing in varied shades of gray. But who am I kidding? The next canard is being typed up as we speak.
LONDON — It could be any employment contract setting out salary, paid holidays,home leave,and grievance procedures — except in this case the employer is Al Qaeda and the recruit’s job is “carrying out jihad.”
By signing the contract, the recruit commits himself to Al Qaeda’s objectives: “Support God’s religion, establishment of Islamic rule, and restoration of the Islamic Caliphate, God willing.”
An Al Qaeda “mujahed brother” is paid a monthly
wage of 1,000 Pakistani rupees (about $17 at current rates) if a bachelor,6,500 rupees ($113) if married, with an additional 500 rupees ($9) for every child.
Airfares for home leave are paid for by the firm.Tickets cannot be cashed in but are transferable for performing the Haj pilgrimage.
The contract is one of thousands of documents captured by American forces, mostly in Afghanistan and Iraq during the past four years of the “global war on terror,”and stored on a Pentagon database known as Harmony.
An initial sample of 28 have been declassified and published by the Combating Terrorism Centre, part of the Military Academy at West Point, with the promise of many more to come.
They provide a fascinating glimpse into the workings of Osama bin Laden’s organization. For example, according to the CTC, the material “provides several tools for identifying and exacerbating existing fissures” within Al Qaeda.
The declassified Harmony papers include documents that set out the internal structure of Al Qaeda and illuminate disputes over tactics.They also analyze past failures such as the crushing of an Islamist uprising in Syria in 1982, speculate on new regions for jihad and discuss the use of the Internet.
One hitherto unknown writer, Abdel-Halim Adl, wrote to a man identified only as “Mukhtar” in June 2002 complaining of Mr. bin Laden’s stubbornness and “the capture of a large number of brothers.” He said: “We will become the laughing stock of the world.”
He urges Al Qaeda to “stop rushing into action and take time out to consider all the fatal and successive disasters that have afflicted us during a period of no more than six months”.
One word of advice to Bush & Co., follow the money. Who is funding all this. Strangle them.
"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being"
"I trust that no one will tell me that men such as I write about don't exist. That this book has been written - and published - is my proof that they do" --Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
America's U.N. ambassador, John Bolton, yesterday publicly announced his
opposition to Venezuela becoming a member of the U.N. Security Council,
escalating Washington's diplomatic campaign against inroads made by Hugo
Chavez's regime into international institutions
It is unfathomable to me, that Venezuela is being considered for such action by the UN. It is also unfathomable to me that he received a standing ovation at the UN.
While it considers membership in the council “very important,” Mr.
Bolton told
reporters yesterday, Washington in the past has refrained
from stating in public which countries it has supported for
membership.Besides the five permanent members of the Security Council —
America, China, Russia, Britain, and France — 10 countries are elected
for a two-year stint as voting members of the council, and Venezuela
has begun campaigning in earnest for one of the temporary seats that
will open up next year.
It is still unfathomable to me that Bolton is a recess appointment, that the left wing of the Senate and the RINOs that love them, would not approve him.Think about that. The fifth column in America, the black hand.
“I don’t think there is any mistake that Venezuela would not contribute to the
effective operation of the Security Council,” said Mr. Bolton, who serves as the rotating president of the council for the month of February. “I think we can see that from their actions in the past six months in the General Assembly, which have been unhelpful. And I don’t think it would be conducive to an effective and well-functioning Security Council.”
I'll say. Well Mr. Bolton has certainly mastered that special art of diplomacy -- nuance.
Last September, Mr. Chavez received a standing ovation while addressing the General Assembly, after defying a time limit imposed on speeches and contending he needed as much time as President Bush.Venezuela has opposed America in votes on U.N. reform and on almost all political issues taken up by the assembly.
I am shocked, shocked I tell you.
It also infuriated diplomats beyond Turtle Bay, organizing anti-American opposition in world bodies, including a dissenting vote last month in the
35-member board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, on referring the Iranian issue to the Security Council.
Using his oil riches and allying himself with Iran and Syria, Mr.Chavez raised his international profile far beyond South America, where he has vied to become the heir of his mentor, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Most recently he has invited Hamas leaders to visit Caracas. More here, NY Sun
It's hard not to cynical........but I am not. Cynicism is hopelessness, I am anything but.
First on our listof RINOs that will be poached is Senator Chafee from Rhode Island. This little worm rode in on the Republican magic carpet only to join the tyranny of the minority
A Republican primary challenge to Senator Chafee of Rhode Island is attracting
backing from national groups that favor tax cuts and a strong U.S.-Israel
relationship.
The mayor of Cranston, R.I., Stephen Laffey, 43, is hoping to unseat Lincoln
Chafee, a Republican who was appointed to the Senate in 1999 after the
unexpected death of his father, John Chafee, and who won election to his
father's former seat the following year.
I expect all my readers to support Laffey, most enthusiastically.
Chafee's list of crimes against the Republican platform reads like TYRANNY FOR DUMMIES.
Chafee has made many enemies on the right (particularly me) with his votes
against President Bush's tax cuts, against the Iraq war, and against a law
authorizing sanctions on Syria, and came out against BOLTON. This putz just voted to filibuster
the defense appropriations bill over ANWR.
In 2004, the senator flirted with leaving the
Republican Party and pointedly declined to vote for President Bush. Mr. Chafee
told the Providence Journal that he wrote in the name of President George H.W.
Bush as a "symbolic protest."
He has been an enemy of the people going so far as to vote for withdrawal of our troops in Iraq.
To quote Sen. Pryor, drawing up such a timetable would amount to "telegraphing
our intentions to the bad guys." Only one Republican, Rhode Island's Lincoln
Chafee, thought it would be a dandy idea to let Zarqawi & Bloody Company
know just when this country planned to throw in the towel. Actually, the
president and commander-in-chief has already announced when American troops will
leave Iraq: when victory is achieved. Sounds like a good timetable to me.
Because any other will invite defeat.
A Senate resolution condemning the president of Iran for anti-Semitic comments he made earlier this month is riling its Republican sponsors on Capitol Hill. They claim Senate Democrats forced them to strip language from the document expressing support for self-determination and a national referendum in the country. More here (Senator Santorum, a Republican of Pennsylvania, drafted the resolution, the only reason to live in Pennsylvania I might add, that and the pretzels. Santorum is looking mighty presidential whether he wants it or not -Atlas).
When Mr. Santorum moved to
introduce the resolution last Friday, Senator Wyden, a Democrat of
Oregon, registered an unusual objection. According to the Congressional
Record, Mr. Wyden told Mr. Santorum on the Senate floor that he was
objecting to the resolution because his Democratic colleagues in the
Senate had asked him too. Mr. Wyden did not say who asked him to issue
the objection.
"While I personally am vehemently opposed to the statements that
have been made by the president of Iran," Mr. Wyden said, "I have been
asked by the members on this side of the aisle to object, and I do so
object." [The quintessential dhimmicrat - Atlas]
Mr. Wyden's office did not return repeated calls yesterday to
explain who suggested that he object to the Iran resolution or why he
was chosen to register the complaint. And a spokesman for Mr. Santorum,
Robert Traynham, said he did not know who raised the objection either.
"We're still trying to see who those Democrats are," he said. An
Internet blog devoted to promoting Democracy in Iran, "Regime Change
Iran," detailed the flap over the resolution. It simply said that
"Senate Democrats" objected to the resolution.
The following day, Mr. Santorum introduced a revised resolution,
absent the language calling for a referendum in Iran. Once it passed,
he delivered a floor speech in which he condemned not only the comments
of Mr. Ahmadinejad but also members of the Senate and others who have
resisted a similarly strong condemnation of the remarks.
"We could not adopt tonight in the Senate the Senate saying to the
people of Iran that we support efforts of self-determination and a
national referendum that was free and fair," Mr. Santorum said. "That
is, in my mind, a rather unfortunate occurrence. But I found, from my
perspective, that it was so important to condemn these actions that we
agreed to strike those two sentences from the resolved clauses. I don't
necessarily understand why anyone would oppose either of those
sentences, those resolved clauses. They state that we are for freedom
and democracy for all people, including the people of Iran." SANTORUM ROCKS!
More surprising is that Senator Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
committee had not cosponsored either resolution. We learned that
a majority staffer objected to
condemning the entire government of and the call for a referendum
with international observers. He reportedly said that we should be condemning
President Ahmadinejad (vs. the entire government) and that
Iran just had elections and they chose the current
leader." Dr. Zin
This genius was elected?. Can you imagine that? Is Lugar a bloody pod or what?
Such statements show a complete lack of understanding of the Iranian
government’s electoral process.The
regime chooses which candidates are
permitted to run for office that they approve of and even these are fraudulent. Even Iran's leaders agree they are
fraudulent.
I'll say..........Here is a glimpse of the post election Iran. LUGAR, THE IRANIANS DID NOT VOTE FOR THIS;
The darkest places in hell are reserved for
those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.
The
Ahmadinejad Doctrine. Just as
President Bush declared a "Bush Doctrine" stating plainly that there
would be no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them,
Ahmadinejad is stating his judenrein plainly and telling the world you
are either with him or against him. Basically,
he is opening
the door to all the America hating, Jew hating closet dwellers to come out of the
closet. Their day has come. No more shame. Just as Hitler did. And, if
you recall, a large part of the world embraced Hitler for it
(including Teddy "not to worry I can swim" Kennedy's father -
Ambassador to England at the time).
So it will be. Whose side are you on? Hey LUGAR, Biden, Wyden, Voinavich WHOSE SIDE?
The folks are choosing sides in the war of the worlds, climbing out from under their rocks; Malaysian: U.S. Scheming on Iran, SyriaMalaysia's former prime minister accused the U.S. Thursday
of scheming to invade Iran and Syria, and said the Iranian president's recent
statements against Israel are providing Washington the excuse.
Egypt's
Muslim Brothers Brand Israel a "Cancer" "I declared that we will not
recognize Israel which is an alien entity in the region. And we expect the
demise of this cancer soon," Mohammed Mehdi Akef, the leader of Egypt's Muslim
Brotherhood, told the state-owned Ahram Weekly in an interview published
Thursday. "The Muslim Brothers do not recognize Israel....70 million Egyptians,
300 million citizens in the Arab world, and 1.5 billion Muslims across the world
do not recognize Israel," Akef told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on
Sunday. (AFP/Yahoo)
Iran rejects “any conditions whatsoever” in nuclear talks
Khaleej Times VIENNA - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Wednesday Iran would “not agree to any conditions whatsoever” for the resumption of talks with the EU on its controversial nuclear programme.
CALL Senator Lugar AND DEMAND HEARINGS! Dr Zin: Last Friday, the day after millions of Iraqi's voted in an
historic election, the US Senate passed a resolution condemning the
recent alarming statements by Iran's President. Surprisingly, the mainstream
media ignored the resolution while the international press has been
avidly covering similar resolutions adopted by countries around the world.
Unfortunately, the story behind the resolution revealed a disturbing lack of
conviction by some in the US Senate.
The resolution, authored by US Rick Santorum, was in his words "a
mild condemnation" version of the resolution that he had also authored
and which had obtained bi-partisan support, hours earlier- which was then
objected to by Senate Democrats.
The original resolution co-sponsored by contained language in support
for the people of Iran:
It supported the people of Iran's desire to exercise self
determination over the form of government of their country and
supported a call for a national referendum in Iran with
oversight by international observers and monitors to certify the integrity and
fairness of the referendum.
But after the resolution containing these clauses was objected to by
Senate Democrats. Senator Santorum was forced to REMOVE the two clauses
which addressed desire for free elections in Iran. So he then submitted
the resolution without those clauses….
Remember, this was the session in which the Senate democrats filibustered the
Patriot Act.
But more surprising is that Senator Lugar, chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations committee had not cosponsored either resolution.
It has been reported that a Majority staffer with the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee objected to condemning the entire government of
Iran and the call for a referendum with international observers.
He reportedly said that we should be condemning President Ahmadinejad
(vs. the entire government) and that "Iran just had
elections and they chosethe current
leader." Such statements show a complete lack of understanding
of the Iranian government. Sadly it looks like Chairman Lugar is the
problem. READ
MORE
SANTORUM
Since February, we have long supported Senator Santorum's other Iran
legislation, The Iran Freedom and Support ActS. 333. The bill is designed to hold the
current regime in Iran accountable for its threatening behavior and to support a
transition to democracy in Iran.
Despite the ever increasing threat of the Iranian regime not only to Israel,
Iraqi democracy, but even to the United States Chairman Lugar has yet to
hold a single hearing on the bill. While the Europeans act the US
Senate is paralyzed. …
The Senate had an opportunity to send a signal to those inside of
Iran that the US is finally willing to take their struggle seriously. We failed
to send the signal. Nevertheless, we have an opportunity to correct the
situation by demanding that the US Senate hold hearings on the Iran Freedom and
Support Act. …
Failure of the US Senate to even hold hearings on the bill emboldens the
regime that thinks we are incapable of action - which unfortunately appears to
be true. As long as the mainstream media and even the blogosphere fail to demand
action, none will be forthcoming.
The cacophony of Democrat manufactured theater is deafening - snap out it!
It is time for the blogosphere to write Senator Lugar and demand hearings now, before it's too
late. Please also contact your Senator's office demanding hearings now! hat tipRegimeChangeIran.
These are the hearings we sh0uld be having in Washington right now, not a Boxer Burlesque Show on keeping Osama's chitty chats private, asshat.
Thousands of Sunni secular Shiite and Kurdish protesters
took to the streets of Iraq Friday, Dec. 23, over what they called“the biggest
election fraud in Middle East history.”
Allawi, head of the Iraqi List and a
key American ally, that he and the Sunni bloc of 30 lists were boycotting the
elections, brought US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld dashing over to Baghdad
Thursday night.
Allawi alleges that convoys of trucks carrying sealed ballot
boxes stuffed with forged voting slips and other documents went round polling
stations on election-day and packed the ballot boxes with pro-Shiite votes.
Between 10 and 15 of those trucks were intercepted by Iraqi security forces at
the southern Iraqi towns of Qut, Al Amara and Basra. An investigation disclosed
that they trucks were organized by Iranian intelligence agents to falsely boost
the Iranian majority. More on election hijinks here and here.
Please click on the image below to
see CAMERA's brief year-end Flash presentation. Also, feel free to forward this
e-mail to friends and acquaintances who might be interested in CAMERA's
work. (If the presentation takes too long to load click
here for a smaller version; if necessary click
here to download the free Flash player.)
George W is a victim of his
own success. The spineless little girls that call themselves Democrats
have not renewed key provisions the Patriot Act due to expire at the end of this month.. They are aligning themselves with CAIR (the
Council of Islamic Relations). Imagine that. You couldn't write fiction like
this! President Bush has done such an extraordinary job of protecting Americans,
that the Dhemmis have the gall, the utter hubris to tempt fate. FOOLS! Just
because we haven't had an attack since 9/11, do these asshats believe "it's
safe"? Can you see the barbarians laughing their
asses off in their airless caves? The Vote 52 to 47.
One of our most effective weapons on the
War on Radical Islamofascism is also under attack again from the largest muslim
group in America. CAIR Launches Patriot Act Blog. CAIR is a dangerous organization.
CAIR's blog, located at CAIRPatriotAct, offers information about the unsupervised domestic surveillance
powers contained in the legislation and suggests ways in which voters can
express their concerns to elected officials. It will be updated daily with new
information. (Automatic updates can be sent to newsreader software using the
Atom URL: CAIRPatriotAct ATOM. For newsreader information, go to: www.AtomEnabled.org) [they are certainly using all
the up-to-the-minute state of the art technology - American ingenuity at its
very best - Atlas]
The 52-47 roll call by which the Senate voted to reject reauthorization of
several provisions of the USA Patriot Act. Sixty votes were needed to overcome a
filibuster of the bill.
On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote to end the
filibuster and a "no" vote was a vote to continue a filibuster.
Voting "yes" were 2 Democrats and 50 Republicans. Voting "no" were
41 Democrats, 5 Republicans and one independent.
"There has been
not been one single case in America............Diane Feinstein testified before
the Senate committee that she had received 20,000 letters complaining about
everything from soup to nuts and Feinstein had her staff go through every one of
those letters. And not one , not one even simple case of abuse. Not one. And
Feinstien called the ACLU and asked them for a specific example and she said
they couldn't name one."
"The Patriot Act was very helpful to us in
the Lackawanna case. in the Cortland [the 2003 trial charging subjects with
material support to Al Queda in Portland, Oregon. This exceptional investigation
by the FBI and other agencies is described on the FBI Portland Field office web site hat tip MarcH] it's helpful in lowering the barrier between law
enforcement and intelligence and allows for the prosecution of individuals
charged in the murder of American citizens in Israel in buses that were blown up
in Israel...................."
Pulling down the "firewall" dividing law
enforcement and intelligence agencies. This may sound technical, but it
greatly enhanced American capabilities. For years, legal investigators
pursued information that their colleagues in the intelligence agencies already
had. It was like "having your best football players sitting on the bench when
you are having your butts beat," notes Barry Carmody, an FBI agent who worked on
the Sami Al-Arian terrorism case. Then the Patriot Act was passed and
"Everything changed." More
here
Morehere on the architect of the Patriot Act, John Ashcroft,
Photoon (artistnot in residence) Pete iHillary. Check this video out of RINO John Sununu with Sean Hannity, who btw takes him on and finishes him off.
INTERVIEW CONTINUED (and yeah that's me catwallin in the background)
UPDATE: From JAHPDQ "Next cooked up story that begins with a true premise and goes south real fast. Check out this quote from the linked article:
____________________________________________________
Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, former NSA general counsel, said it was troubling that such a change would have been made by executive order, even if it turns out to be within the law.
Parker, who has no direct knowledge of the program, said the effect could be corrosive. "There are programs that do push the edge, and would be appropriate, but will be thrown out," she said.
_______________________________________________
One needn't look far to find out who Ms. Parker is:
As a lawyer, I can tell you, that when a lawyer that you know is on the opposite side of an issue says something like, "even if it turns out to have been within the law. . .", that attorney is pretty damn sure what was done WAS within the law.
So, what's the message from Ms. Parker? The Bush administration has done something, "legal; but corrosive."
Now, this is a very direct statement. If I had to guess, I'd guess that Bush is
angry — livid, chair-throwing angry — about this revelation, especially since
the Times said in so many words that they withheld publication for a year
because publication could harm national security. This raises the interesting
question, what changed? If it would harm national security on 1 December, what
made it publishable on 16 December?
It would appear that the Times
is admitting that they released this information, knowing it would damage
national security.
Everyone is so effing ON today. I love it! And this from Dave in Seattle who sent this this morning to NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott
Simon:
Scott, please tell Dan Schorr that "analysis" is more than saying
"This reminds me of when President Nixon..."! Everything reminds Dan of President Nixon. I find it shocking that he compares NSA eavesdropping on selected phone numbers that were found on terrorist cellphones with Nixon's "enemies list". He has lost it, and NPR has lost any credible claim to
provide analysis of the news.
And Scott, when you asked Dan for his
analysis of the impact non-extension of the Patriot Act, you should have
said "impact on the security of America" because Dan of course only thinks
about politcal impact. Dan has precious little interest in US security,
unless it is right after an attack when he can fatuously ask why nobody
"connected the dots".
I do not enjoy listening to NPR hosts asking
relevant questions of Mr. Schorr, only to have him respond in terms of
over-the-top analogies that dodge the question. The information content of
this morning's commentary was a flat zero.
He shoots! He scores!
UPDATE: December 19th And a word from the man;
Taking Liberties With the Nation's
Security
By RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI NY Times
YESTERDAY the
Senate failed to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, as a Democratic-led filibuster
prevented a vote. This action - which leaves the act, key elements of which are
due to expire on Dec. 31, in limbo - represents a grave potential threat to the
nation's security. I support the extension of the Patriot Act for one simple
reason: Americans must use every legal and constitutional tool in their arsenal
to fight terrorism and protect their lives and liberties.
The attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001, made clear that the old rules no longer work. The terrorists who
attacked us seek to kill innocent men, women and children of all races and
creeds. They seek to destroy our liberties. They willingly kill themselves in
their effort to bring death and suffering to as many innocents as they can, here
in this country or anywhere in the world where freedom has a foothold.
Tony Snow is good enough to expose the scurrilous back door fix politics is notorious for. The irony here is the complicity of Republicans to cover up the serious crimes of the Clinton mafia and yourwould-be next President. Snow's piece is here at Townhall
Team Clinton was using key players at the IRS and Justice to harass, frighten
and threaten people who somehow got in the former president's way.
By all accounts, the 400-page Barrett report is a bombshell, capable
possibly of wiping out Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential prospects. At the
very least, it would bring to public attention a scandal that would make the
Valerie Plame affair vanish into comical insignificance.
Democrats know this. Using provisions in the independent-counsel statute
that permit people named in a report to review the allegations against them and
file rebuttals, attorneys close to the Clintons have spent the better part of
five years reviewing every jot and tittle of the charges arrayed against their
clients and friends.
This careful and continuous monitoring of the report explains why Sens.
Byron Dorgan, Dick Durbin and John Kerry took the highly unusual step earlier
this year of trying to slip into an Iraq-war spending bill an amendment to
suppress every word of the Barrett report. (Every other independent counsel
finding has been printed in its entirety, with the exception of small sections
containing classified material.)
Alert Republicans, pushed by talk-radio listeners and bloggers, managed to
short-circuit that effort, but Democrats patiently pursued their goal. They got
what they wanted recently, when the House and Senate met to iron out differences
in yet another appropriations bill. Democrats inserted language that would
prevent public release of the 120 pages of the report listing the Clinton
transgressions. They offered what may have looked like a good deal. They
promised not to object to letting Barrett continue with any prosecutions already
underway.
Republicans negotiators, led by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., and Rep. Joe
Knollenberg, R-Mich, took the bait.[shmucks- Democrats vicious, Republicans stupid -Atlas] They agreed to keep the public in the dark
about the important stuff in exchange for a big, fat nothing. Unbeknownst to
Bond and Knollenberg, Barrett shut down his grand juries three years ago.
The move represents more than just boneheaded politics. It's grossly
irresponsible. If the report contains the kind of bombshells that have been
hinted at in reports published by The Wall Street Journal and National Review,
among others, the public not only has a right to know, Congress has a duty to
investigate.
If Barrett has found evidence that officials at Justice and the IRS served
as a praetorian guard, that means some bureaucrats felt it appropriate or
beneficial to ignore their duty to the public and instead to perform dirty work
for the people who oversee their budgets.
Something stinks, and the only way to get at the truth is to release the
full report. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who fought a lonely battle to ensure
the document's publication, is furious. So is House Judiciary Committee Chairman
James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc. The question is whether Republican leaders Bill
Frist and Denny Hastert will step in and ensure the report's publication, or
whether they'll just sigh and look the other way.
Tony Snow is the host of the 'Tony Snow Show' on Fox News Radio. Hat tip Faker
This is important, write Hastert and Frist NOW! A note to your Congressman and Senators, we want to know.
From the WSJ Political Diary (subscription necessary)
We know that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is buying MiGs
from Russia and stockpilingwhat he's learned from Fidel Castro, he is actively funding anti-Americanism all over Latin America and working to destabilize legitimate governments. He makes no secret of his cozy relationship with Iran's mullahs and
China's military men. AK-47s that intelligence reports suggest are meant
for his paramilitary sympathizers at home and around the region. Using his oil wealth and what he's learned from Fidel Castro, he is actively
funding anti-Americanism all over Latin America and working to destabilize
legitimate governments. He makes no secret of his cozy relationship with Iran's
mullahs and China's military men.
But never mind all that. Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter wants the U.S. to
make nice with the bully so that we can fight the "war on drugs" together.
Donald Rumsfeld was in Peru and Paraguay last week trying to drum up regional
support to isolate the Venezuelan strongman. If the U.S. is to confront Chavez's
aggression, it has to counter claims that Washington is merely pushing its own
hegemony. The best way to do that is by engaging Latins who care about
preserving the region's frail democracies, such as Bolivia's, in which organized
civil disturbances recently forced the resignation of two successive presidents.
The Rumsfeld aim is to strengthen the region's representative governments. On
Thursday he reportedly told the press: "There certainly is evidence that both
Cuba and Venezuela have been involved in the situation in Bolivia in unhelpful
ways.''
That upset Mr. Specter, who wrote the defense secretary a letter scolding him
on the grounds that the U.S. and Venezuela are in a difficult moment with
respect to interdiction efforts in the drug war. Not surprisingly, Mr. Specter
sees himself as the hero of an effort to patch things up, claiming that his own
visit last week with President Chavez had "produced an agreement between our
Ambassador and Venezuela's Minister of the Interior, who had not previously had
any contact, to meet early next week to try to resolve those differences between
DEA and the Venezuelan narcotics officials." Therefore, opined the senator, "It
may well be helpful to, at least, have a moratorium on adverse comments on
Venezuela."
Hey Arlen, we can't do drugs if we lose the war on Radical Islam and they cut your head off. Helloooooooooooooooooo...priorities man!
Is Spector effing nuts? He is making love to Chavez? Is he a member of the Fifth column or just plain stupid? Look I know we had to back him or lose his seat to a Dem but frankly this new trend of running on the Republican ticket while secretly being a Democrat is more than a wolf in sheep's clothing, it's a Pali in an IDF uniform. RINOs (Republican in Name Only) Chris Cannon, Chuck Hagel, McCain, Lincoln Chafee, DeWine, Graham, Linda Lingle, Collins, Snowe, Bloomberg, it's a nightmare.
WE NEED A STOP THE RINO MOVEMENT (but don't tell PETA).
Well, I read Atlas Shrugs, Power Line, National Review blogs ...... ... Ambassador John Bolton
I'm a fan! - Mark Steyn
Fearless, intelligent, beautiful -- Pamela Geller wears her Supergirl
costume well.
Pamela Geller is a dynamo of energy and
a paragon of courage and fearlessness.
-- Robert Spencer, JihadWatch in his book Stealth Jihad
You do great work with your blog. -- Geert Wilders
"Courageous insights from a pulchritudinous pundit!!" Dr. Andrew Bostom, Leading Scholar on Islam
"Great site," Dick Morris
"Indeed, some of Israel's best friends and most articulate defenders can be found in the blogosphere .... Atlas Shrugs, [et al] all provide a refreshing alternative to the moral relativism and politically correct anti-Israel blather of the media. Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post
"The best there is," Beryl Wajsman, President Institute of Public Affairs
Speaking to the unnamed, unchampioned, beating heart of her new land, Ayn was to say: 'Yours is the glory.'"
A man whose ability and independence leads others to reject him, but who perseveres nevertheless to achieve his values. Man as an individual, as a creator. What's the most depraved type of human being? Not a sadist or a murderer or a sex maniac or a dictator; "The man without a purpose." Yet most people seem to go through their lives without a clearly defined purpose.
Life has Loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fires that sways and swing,
And children's faces looking up,
Holding wonder like a cup
Life has Loveliness to sell,
Music like a curve of Gold,
Scent of pinetrees in the rain,
Eyes that love you,
arms that hold,
And for your spirit's still delight,
Holy stars that star the night.
Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of Peace
Count many a year of strife well lost
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.
![Kurdistan](http://<a href="http://northerniraq.info" title="northern iraq"><img src="http://northerniraq.info/northlogo.gif" width="135px" height="68px" alt="northern iraq"><br>northern iraq </a>){kind=link}
Pamela, a recent poll shows Chafee getting trounced 51-34 by Laffey. And I don't buy the BS that Laffey can't win the state if he whips Chafee.