Monday, June 30, 2008

Wesley Clark Does Obama's Dirty Work

Retired General Wesley Clark appeared on CBS' Face the Nation and had the following to say about Republican Presidential candidate John McCain's military experience:
"Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president"
Using the former General's reasoning, getting your PT boat sunk while you're at the helm would also not be a qualification to be president. That didn't stop JFK from using it to get elected, did it?

I'm a little surprised that he doesn't know that you don't "ride a fighter plane".  Also, John McCain flew an attack aircraft, an A-4E Skyhawk to be specific. If he flew a fighter, the nomenclature would begin with an "F" as in F-16 or F-22. I guess basic military knowledge is not a qualification to be a General -- or a failed Democrat Presidential candidate for that matter.

Needless to say, Clark was just doing the dirty work for B. H. Obama. That way Obama can make some vague comments about respecting military service and perpetuate the illusion that he is for "change". This is just regular old sleazy Chicago politics that Obama knows so well.

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Saturday, June 28, 2008

Scalia on Charlie Rose

It's a little long, but worth it. After all, it is Scalia.

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Monday, June 16, 2008

McCain: Lift Ban On Offshore Drilling

John McCain has seen the light. He must have read my recent post. Yeah, right.

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Sunday, June 15, 2008

So You Think You Can Dance?

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Saturday, June 14, 2008

Right Here. Right Now. Let's Drill.

Sign this petition demanding that:

. . . the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline prices
(and diesel and other fuel prices)* by authorizing the exploration
of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign
energy sources from unstable countries.

The first thing out of Madame Pelosi's mouth will be that this won't help because it will take 10 years before the oil will flow. That argument is irrelevant for three reasons.

First, even if that is true, all the more reason to start now. Who knows how bad things might be in ten years? Besides, most of those 10 years would be caused by bureaucratic red tape which Congress could easily cut through.

Second, much of the increase in oil prices is due to speculation in the futures market. If the USA begins to tap its own reserves, it will likely result in a drop in oil prices due to the expectation of increased supply in the future. Buy low, sell high.

Third, the oil producing countries which we are currently dependent on will have less incentive to restrict current production. They love the high price of oil and that they have the USA over a barrel (no pun intended). It was embarrassing to watch President Bush go over to our so-called friends, the Saudis, and beg them to increase production, only to be told (and I'll paraphrase here) "Go pound sand." If we start moving towards more domestic production, I think they will be more interested in producing more oil in the hope that it might discourage us from becoming too enthusiastic about cutting the petrol-umbilical cord.

And now, for your YouTube viewing pleasure, a message from Chuck Norris:



HT: Powerline

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Habeas Ruling and Election '08

Hugh Hewitt's column at Townhall.com, The United States Supreme Court Versus America: Awarding "The Privilege of Habeas Corpus To Terrorists", addresses the outrageous, irresponsible and narrow 5-4 SCOTUS ruling handed down today. The following is a portion of Justice Scalia's sobering dissent from Hugh's column:

America is at war with radical Islamists. The enemy began by killing Americans and American allies abroad: 241 at the Marine barracks in Lebanon, 19 at the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, 224 at our embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, and 17 on the USS Cole in Yemen. See National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 60–61, 70, 190 (2004). On September 11, 2001, the enemy brought the battle to American soil, killing 2,749 at the Twin Towers in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon in Washington, D. C., and 40 in Pennsylvania. See id., at 552, n. 9. It has threatened further attacks against our homeland; one need only walk about buttressed and barricaded Washington, or board a plane anywhere in the country, to know that the threat is a serious one. Our Armed Forces are now in the field against the enemy, in Afghanistan and Iraq. Last week, 13 of our countrymen in arms were killed.

The game of bait-and-switch that today’s opinion plays upon the Nation’s Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.


Like Hugh, I pray that Scalia is wrong, but I have no doubt that he absolutely correct.

Hugh puts much of the blame for this ruling at the feet of Justice Kennedy, and rightly so. Of the five justices in the majority, he was the only one who might have decided differently. The next President will likely have at least 2-3 vacancies to fill on the Supreme Court. Barak Obama has stated that his appointments will be in the mold of Justice Ginsberg. John McCain has repeatedly stated that he will appoint justices like Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito. Ginsberg has just decided that foreign terrorists who want to destroy us, our country and our way of life deserve the same Constitutional protections that we, as citizens, have. Roberts and Alito, along with Thomas and Scalia, dissented from that view.

I have never been a McCain fan. Not even close. However, there are two issues that will affect this country for decades to come: the GWOT and the Supreme Court. McCain is absolutely right on both issues. Obama is absolutely wrong on both issues. When it comes to my choice for President this year, I have only one option. And it is not Barak Obama.

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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Come On In Boys. The Water Is Fine.


Scenes from the film O Brother Where Art Thou?









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Saturday, June 07, 2008

Steyn On Trial

Writer, humorist and political pundit Mark Steyn, is suffering the slings and arrows of Canadian political correctness run amok. Apparently, a the Canadian Islamic Congress complained that their feelings got hurt when a portion of his book America Alone appeared in Maclean's. Naturally, the Canadian government told the CIC that there is such a thing as free speech in Canada and to stop whining. Oh, wait a minute. That must have been some other government. No, in Canada they haul you in front of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and stage what can only be described as a kangaroo court. On the bright side, it's great publicity for his book.

Andrew Coyne Liveblogging the BCHRT
Mark Steyn - But we were getting along so well!
Hugh Hewitt's interview with Mark Steyn (transcript)

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Monday, June 02, 2008

WaPo: "Lull in news coverage" of Iraq Progress

Yesterday's Washington Post editorial, The Iraqi Upturn, starts out by commenting on the lack of media coverage of the remarkable good news coming from Iraq.
There's been a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda. So many of its leaders have now been captured or killed that U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, renowned for his cautious assessments, said that the terrorists have "never been closer to defeat than they are now."
The editorial goes on to mention several areas of significant progress, politically as well as militarily. In the last paragraph, it suggests that "likely Democratic nominee" Obama may need to adjust his strategy to the current situation. The editorial suggests that, instead of withdrawing troops on an arbitrary time table, he should tie "withdrawals to the evolution of the Iraqi army and government". In other words, he should handle it like President Bush and the Republicans have been saying all along.

BRILLIANT!

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