Dr Coburn Knows What Ails GOP

Dr. Tom Coburn is my favorite senator. He's a no nonsense MD who has remained true to fiscal conservatism. His diagnosis: Republicans are in denial. His prescription:

"Behave like Republicans. ...compassionate conservatism convinced the American people to elect the party that was truly skilled at activist government: the Democrats."

"Common sense and the Scriptures show that true giving and compassion require sacrifice by the giver. This is why Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions, not his neighbor's possessions. Spending other people's money is not compassionate."

"Regaining our brand as the party of fiscal discipline will require us to rejoin Americans in the real world of budget choices and priorities, and to leave behind the fantasyland of borrowing without limits. Instead of adopting earmarks, each Republican can adopt examples of government waste, largess and fraud, and restart the permanent campaign against big government."

Please drop a note to this good man. He is doing the Lord's work up on the hill. Unfortunately, even surrounded by Republicans, he is still virtually alone.

Friendship & Loyalty, or, Scotty McClellan is a Fat Weasel

I think President Bush is a sincere man, and, as politician go, pretty darned honest. I also think he has pretty much blown it, and much of his failure stems from incompetent advisers and poor communication.

Speaking of incompetence and poor communication, Scott McClellan, former White House spokesman, has written a book criticizing his old boss. Of course, the left is all atwitter: A Bush crony spills the beans on all the nefarious plots! He should be ashamed of himself.

Scotty was the most incompetent of all. I don't know how such a blubber-headed stumble bum made it into the communications business. Instead of standing at the White house Press Room podium, he should have been selling frozen treats out of the back of an ice cream truck. His boobish ineptitude turned every White House press briefing into a pathetic cartoon. Scotty, as Porky Pig in a strange neighborhood, being chased round and round by the pack of rabid press hounds, eyes darting, not knowing whether to take a dump or go blind. If he ran, the reporter dogs tore chunks out of his rump. If he stopped, they took humiliating liberties with him. Yeah Scotty, you failed miserably in getting the President's message out, but it sure did make for some classic comedy.

Scotty was part of the problem. Only in Washington can someone turn a botched job into a goldmine. Scotty will make millions by kicking a friend when he's down. What a weasel.

I Was Wrong About the Blue Dogs

Leave it to Robert Novak to burst my bubble. I though I saw a moderating trend in the Democratic Party. Novak shows how wrong I was. Read it all at Humanevents.com.

Unfortunately, it looks like Speaker Pelosi has things well in hand. I guess I need to keep my day job.

UN, Seat of International Corruption, Investigates the US

Doudou Diene (no, I’m not making this up), a United Nations rapporteur (whatever that is) is touring the US to investigate allegations of institutional racism. This from the International House of Scandal that brought us the UN Oil for Food scam that enriched the greedy while starving poor Iraqis. This from the organization that rapes those it purports to be helping. This from the organization that has on its human rights panel such enlightened countries as Cuba (jailed journalists), China (forced sterilization, no democracy), and Saudi Arabia (abuse of women). This is sick.

Excerpts from Nile Gardiner’s excellent National Review article, Theater of the Absurd:

“With the rare exception of Russia, Diene has chosen to ignore real human-rights violations in most dictatorial states, especially in Africa, Asia, or the Middle East. He has barely said a word about Chinese oppression in Tibet for example, and has been largely silent about the genocide in Darfur.”

“It is hard to take the U.N. seriously when its peacekeepers are actively engaged in raping refugees in the Congo and even arming rebel groups, or when it turns a blind eye to the man-made starvation of millions in southern Africa. In the arena of human rights, the United Nations has become an emperor with no clothes, a morally bankrupt institution that wallows in its double standards and appeasement of evil.”

The institutional racism claim is absurd on its face. Look around you. See all the people of color who are rich, successful, and admired? See the people of color in the halls of power, in every profession, and in every strata of our society? What other country has such a diverse population? You sure can’t find this diversity in Europe, the supposed seat of global enlightenment. Perhaps Mr. Doudou could investigate his home continent of Africa. I don’t know what racism is like there, but I do know that his homeland plays a prominent role in modern day slavery.

We still have race problems here, and we still have poverty. But based on their track record, we sure as hell don’t need the UN trying to solve them for us.

SPQR

This Memorial Day Weekend, let's think about what our soldiers have sacrificed so much for: to preserve our freedoms and a Constitutional Republic.

SPQR, or Senatus Populusque Romanus, was emblazoned upon the skin of Roman soldiers and the proud unit standards they carried into battle. It stood for allegiance to the Senate and People of Rome.

During the days of the Roman Republic, this acronym reminded a soldier of his duty and loyalty to the people. This Republic was unique among governments of men, whereby the people consented to being governed. Executive Consuls, similar to our Presidents, were elected to short terms of service by the Senate. This was to prevent a tyrant from arising and dispensing with the voice of the people.

The final fall of the Roman Republic came about when Julius Caesar marched from the battlefields of Gaul with his army and crossed the Rubicon River into Italy. Against the will of the Senate he then entered Rome and became a dictator; the force of his army was such that the people could no longer refuse to consent to the governing power, however corrupt it might be. And corrupt it would become.

During the Imperial era of Rome, SPQR continued to be imprinted upon soldiers and articles, but this was merely a hollow tradition. It carried over from the Republican era when citizen-soldiers were fighters for the people, instead of tyrannical dictators as most Caesars were.

Those of us today in the American military hold to a similar custom. Like a Roman soldier branded with the letters SPQR, our consciences have been marked with an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

This is an excellent time to consider the meaning of this oath, and the Creator before whom many of us have spoken it. May our generation not turn this oath into a hollow and meaningless tradition.

Presidential Election: Barr -vs- Nader

Bob Barr –vs- Ralph Nader. Whichever one can pluck more nuts off the tree may determine the outcome of the presidential election. Maybe we’ll get a president elected with 43% of the vote, like in 1992. That would really unite us! Personally, I’d never vote for anyone who was punked by Borat.

Gas Pains? Blame Congress

Investors Business Daily explains how congressional ignorance is to blame for sky high petroleum prices. They've put 19 Billion barrels of oil off limits. Because they arel limiting supply the price goes up. Read all about it here.

Excerpts:
To listen to Congress, you'd think oil companies don't pay taxes. Nothing could be further from the truth. In 2006 alone, according to the American Petroleum Institute, U.S. oil companies paid some $138 billion in taxes to the IRS

A report released Thursday by the Department of the Interior notes that most of the oil and 40% of the natural gas under public lands in the U.S. is off-limits to drilling. That's about 19 billion barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.

Oops! Sorry About Those Trampled Legal Rights!

Here's a real case of government overstepping it's authority, as opposed to the imaginary ones conjured up by the lunatic left.

Where are Senators Feingold, Levin and that liberal lion, Ted Kennedy? Where's Eddy Vedder, Bruce Springsteen , Rosie O'Donnell and the rest of the Hollywood left who are so concerned about citizens falling into the hands of an angry government?

Answer: This doesn't fit their template. Standing up for religious nuts just doesn't satisfy unless they're angry, scraggly bearded America haters. Plus, no one has been able to connect the Bush administration to this clear violation of these peoples' legal rights.

Even the NY Times Says it's Good News

I have a rule of thumb when judging how things are going in Iraq: No news is good news. If something bad is happening our press is sure to report it. They always seem to be off doing something else when there's good news to report.

Which brings me to a second rule of thumb: If the NY Times reports good news, the news must really be good. Here's a good news story about Iraqi Army gains in Sadr City.

Enjoy!

Ted Kennedy's Legacy: Death and Destruction

I'm not jumping on that bandwagon singing the bloated gas-bag's praises. I will not join the crowd of conservatives tripping over each other to laud the limousine liberal (being rich is bad, unless you're him). I'm going to speak ill of Fat Teddy before he dies. My mom always told me to never speak ill of the dead, so I'm getting my licks in now. I wish him health and a long life; but I also strongly criticize his horrible record. Michael Savage has cataloged the "Liberal Lion's" sins at his website. It's a must-read.

* Why is it that those who believe Dick Cheney shot a man in Reno just to watch him die, don't know the name Mary Jo Kopechne?

* Kennedy opened the immigration floodgates

* He's anti-gun, pro flag burning, pro same sex marriage. If he's fer it, I'm agin' it! And vicey versy!

* He has fearlessly and vociferously supported the ongoing holocaust known as abortion, even partial-birth abortion. And he still shamelessly calls himself a Catholic.

* I won't go into the rumors of his drunken, sexist antics, since they are unsubstantiated rumors. (Which means "trailer trash" cocktail waitresses (think Paula Jones) were the only aggrieved complainers. We know they don't count. Previous presidential apologists have told us so.)

* The only good thing I can say about him is that he is a great politician

His brother John was a great man. His brother Robert was a great man. Ted Kennedy is not a great man. He's a national shame, but I wish him well.

Things Aren't So Bad

Peter Bronson over at the Cincinnati Enquirer makes a really good case that things aren't so bad. Read Here. The Press and some vindictive liberals (Axis of Weasels) have been talking us into a recession for years. Well, they still haven't succeeded. So, Nyah!

Excerpts:
And why do the politicians always blame "Big Oil"? The oil companies make less profit on a dollar (9 cents) than McDonald's (12 cents) or Microsoft (27 cents). Oilmen were not the pinheads who voted to burn corn ethanol and cause a worldwide food shortage to appease farmers and environmentalists.

The misery index - inflation plus unemployment - shows that the Bush years (7.89) are better than the Reagan years (12.19); more than twice as good as the Carter years (16.27); and only nine (.09) points worse than the Clinton years (7.8). (Silverfiddle note: Economically, the Clinton years and the Bush years are indistinguishable.)

Media research by John Lott Jr., author of Freedomnomics, showed: "Over 78 percent more negative news stories discussed a recession when the economy under a Republican was soaring, than occurred under a Democrat when the economy was shrinking."

In the final year of the Clinton administration, polls showed voters didn't know the country was in a recession, thanks to the media. But this year, even while the economy has been growing, headlines whine relentlessly about recession.

Other Points to Ponder:

* We are sitting on perhaps 4 billion barrels of oil, but congress won't let us tap it.

* Here's a reminder for those who call a 9% profit by oil companies obscene: The gas tax is 18.4% and the Diesel tax is 24.4%. The diesel tax is especially egregious since it cuts into the profits of truckers who haul our stuff across town and across the country

I like him... But I'm Voting for You. I Just Can't Play With You Anymore...

Politically confused media consultant quits McCain Campaign. This guy worked on The 2000 and 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign. With people like this, no wonder Republicans are in trouble. Here is an excerpt that sums up this man's conflicted stupidity:

"He said last year that he didn't want to work against an Obama candidacy. Electing Obama "would send a great message to the country and the world," McKinnon said at the time, although he added that he intended to vote for McCain."

Is this guy a political consultant or a teenager in love?

Media Ignores Iraq Progress

I'm a big Ralph Peters fan. He really lays the wood to the media for (purposefully?) ignoring good news or any progress in Iraq.

" Want a real "inconvenient truth?" Progress in Iraq is powerful and accelerating."

Read it here.


Enjoy!

A Pretty Good Defense of President Bush

Good editorial by Investors Business Daily.
"It takes little courage — or brains — to join the mob vilifying President Bush."

Why the Old Networks are Dying

... And the White House finally fights back.

GOP: Two Views (One Liberal, One Conservative) One Conclusion (Ozymandius)

Peggy Noonan, a stalwart Republican, wistfully, sadly, comments on the party’s woes. Here’s the money quote from her discussion with a GOP official:

"We can't let them (Democrats) pretend to be conservatives," he continued. Why not? Republicans pretend to be conservative every day.

E.J. Dionne tells a similar tale from his perch on the left side of the political scene. Although I don’t share his politics, I like him because his logic is always clear and his comments are rarely nasty or derisive. If you must hear bad news from an ideological opponent, he’s the one you want delivering it. He talks with Bob Corker, Republican senator from Tennessee. It’s a good read.

Although approaching this self-made disaster from opposite sides, both Noonan and Dionne come to a similar conclusion: The GOP National Committee is out of touch, plastering every Democratic opponent as a big spending liberal. The label doesn’t always fit, and voters at the local level know it and have rejected it. The President’s mishandling the war and immigration added to people’s disenchantment with the party.

I can’t help but recall the poem Ozymandius by Percy Shelley. It speaks of a traveler to a distant land who encounters the ruins of a once-fearsome monument to a long-forgotten ruler:

My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Look upon your works, ye cowering and craven Republican politicians, and despair!

Congress Supports High Gas Prices, Increased Terrorist Funding

We have doubled our funding of dictators and terrorists. Thank Congress.
Patrick Casey over at American Thinker makes an excellent case for blaming congress for high gas prices. Although he singles out Democrats, I believe some disoriented elephants may have been involved as well.
Click Here to see who we get our oil from. I don't mind my money going to Colombia, Canada or the UK, but it really chaps my hide to know I'm funding Hugo Chavez's Marxism and Saudi-supported obscurantism, misogyny, and often-violent religious bigotry.
The solution is in our easy grasp: If we produced more oil the price would come down and we could tell some suppliers to get bent. It's simple supply and demand.

Big Mac's Big Vision

Criticize him if you want (I know I do), but at least John McCain gives you something to grab on to. Obama critics often fumble when challenged because the O Man just doesn't give his detractors much to hold on to. How do you criticize hope?
Anyway, Mr. McCain has laid out more of his vision for governing. These are non-partisan issues addressed from a centrist-conservative perspective. I think many voters will find them attractive. If nothing else, his approach is refreshing.

- A "League of Democracies" has supplanted a failed United Nations to apply sanctions to the Sudanese government and halt genocide in Darfur.

- The United States has had "several years of robust growth," appropriations bills free of lawmakers' pet projects known as "earmarks,"

- Public education improved by charter schools

- Health care improved by expansion of the private market

- Energy crisis stemmed through the start of construction on 20 new nuclear reactors.

- Democrats are asked to serve in his administration

- He holds weekly news conferences

- And, like the British prime minister, answers questions publicly from lawmakers.

Despite my earlier comment, I believe Mr. Obama is a sincere man. Maybe this election can actually avoid trashy tabloidism and be about real issues for a change. I can dream...

America is not in Decline ... According to a Liberal Brit

Will Hutton is a formidable British thinker and writer, a European Union cheerleader, and a critic of American conservatism. Why does it take a European progressive to tell us things here aren’t so bad?

Mr. Hutton relates the following facts about the United States:

* We have 37 of the top 100 universities in the world
* 20 of the world’s 50 top businesses ranked by R&D are American
* 52 of the world’s top brands are American
* The US is the world’s #1 exporter
* 66% of America’s imports come from affiliates of American companies

I may not agree with Mr. Hutton’s politics or his criticism of our capitalistic society, but I applaud his intellectual honesty. You can read his short article here. It is a refreshing antidote to the one-note sad song wailings of our stunted press and pandering politicians.

Bad News for GOP, Good News for Conservative America

So the Republicans lost another house seat... To a conservative Democrat. Blue Dog Democrats moderate the heated passions of their colleagues to the left, which is a good thing. And their ranks are increasing, which is good news for conservatives who pine for a real choice at the voting booth.

The truth is, very liberal politicians only get elected in safe seats (think progressive urban enclaves like Seattle, LA, or San Francisco; or liberal meccas like Boulder or Vermont). Out in the sticks, Democrats come in the more moderate variety, where they must garner votes from Obama's gun totin,' Bible thumpin' hicks. These Democrats, not the Republicans, are the congressmen and senators that keep Speaker Pelosi and her radical friends from tipping it all over.

Jim Wooten sums it up nicely in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Childers won 51-49 in a district Republicans have held since 1994. He won the way Democrats win statewide in the South: As a pro-life conservative who appeals on gun rights and social issues. Republican may be a tarnished brand this election cycle but in the South at least, Conservative is not. The message for the general election: Think Right, Move Right.

This may be bad news for the GOP, but it's good news for conservatives, and good news for America.

GWOT Platitudes

George Monbiot, in the Guardian, says Guantánamo Makes Us All Less Safe
Which leads me to ask: Would you feel safer if we released them all into your back yard?
I don't think I'll be getting an answer anytime soon.

This is predictable America-hating claptrap disguised as concern for human rights. Concerned world citizens don't trust the Bush administration, but invest complete credulity in every nutball who "accidentally" stumbled onto a battlefield with a bazooka in his hands.
Alan Dershowitz provides a nice counterpoint to the soft-headed critics. He points not to right or wrong, but to gaps in current law that responsible governments need to cooperate on closing if we are going to deal with international terrorism in a humane fashion. Unfortunately, too many people would rather engage in America bashing.

Given the scope of our operations since 9/11, it is inevitable that some abuses have occurred, and each one is a shame. But misfortunes are bound to happen when you're forced to go it alone because your feckless friends have abandoned you or are secretly sabotaging your efforts.

Basra, Iraq: Even the NY Times Says it's Good News

It must be good news: Even the New York Times admits the Basra operation, undertaken by Iraqi forces, is looking like a success. The Iraqi military could not have pulled this off a year ago. It's another sign of progress. Let's pray it continues.
Read the Story

Illegal Immigration

Not only are Illegal immigrants exploited by greedy employers who refuse to pay a decent wage, they are also exploited by their own countrymen. In the US as well as in Mexico. Breitbart reports that authorities discovered a single family home being used to hold immigrants, including children, against their will. Mexicans imprisoning other Mexicans here in the US. Think about that for a minute… This is not your grandfather’s immigration.

On a related note, notice how the latest trend in the press is to express concern for the children and how ICE is ripping them from their parents? That’s admirable, but why don’t they ever express the same concern when a US citizen single parent or a husband & wife are arrested for something?

I feel bad for the illegal immigrants. They are trapped between a home country that cares nothing for them and a new land of prosperity and shadows. The root cause is Mexican Corruption. I wish the press and our politicians would talk more about that. Unfortunately, cataloging the sins of the US is much more profitable.

What in the World is Going On?

www.globalincidentmap.com has the answer. Flu outbreaks, amber alerts, suspicious activity. This map shows it in real-time with links to news stories. Hey Chavez! We see you down there aiding the Colombian guerillas!
Of course, the Middle East and South Asia are lit up like a christmas tree, but there's plenty of activity in the US as well. Check it out.

Shemp Howard: Underappreciated Stooge

I watched The Three Stooges Story last night, and gained a new appreciation for Shemp. I had always been in the camp that viewed him as a poor substitute for Curly--a pretender. Curly may be everybody’s favorite stooge, but we shouldn’t let that detract from Shemp’s place in the stooge spotlight.

Shemp, older brother to Moe and Curly, was actually one of the original three stooges. Before the Stooges gained Hollywood fame, he left for greener pastures, leading Moe to bring in brother Curly. Shemp became a comic star in his own right, working with such stars as W.C. Fields and Abbott and Costello. When Curly’s health failed in 1946, Shemp rejoined the group until his own death in 1955.

According to those who knew him, he had a great sense of humor on and off screen. Directors and fellow actors admired his excellent improvisational skills and his original shtick. He had his own brand of humor. He never tried to “do Curly.”

By all accounts he was a prince of a man. Curly’s daughter praised him as a charming, loving uncle who gave her a silver dollar every time she visited his house. He died in 1955 while riding home with friends from a prize fight.

3 Stooges Links

Short Bio

http://www.3-stooges.com/text/shemp.html

http://www.threestooges.com/

Government of the Banksters, by the Stupid, and for the Ignorant

The Banksters are worming their way out, and our stinking government "regulators" will probably let them get away with it.
Meanwhile, over on Capitol Hill, the Demicans and Republicrats have conspired to bail out the stupid and the ignorant to the tune of $300 Billion we don't have. Our tax dollars are encouraging irresponsibility and greed.
Suggested Slogans:
- I live within my means and all I got was this lousy $600 check
- I bought a house I could afford. Boy do I feel dumb
- Pay your taxes: A Wall Street welfare queen needs your support
- Look on the back of your stimulus check: Made in China

The Ten Cannots

The Ten Cannots of Abraham Lincoln have been circulating since forever. President Reagan has quoted them, Lincoln impersonators have used them in their historic presentations, and now they are circling the globe via e-mail. Only one slight problem… President Lincoln is not the author. They were written by a Reverend Boetscher over 90 years ago. See the full story here.

Nonetheless, like all good wisdom, they are as applicable today, maybe more so, as when they were written. If our politicians had to live by these rules it would ruin their franchise! If ordinary citizens took them to heart our country would be much better off.

"The 10 Cannots"
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
-- Written by Rev. Boetscher

Ron Paul For the Long Haul

He's still in it, folks! Ron Paul has not dropped out. Here's an excerpt from the Washington Post:

"If it was just for the presidency, it would have ended a long time ago," says supporter Tom Martin, 50, a database administrator from State College, Pa. "The idea was to reinvigorate the Republican Party back to its principles and, more than that, to reinvigorate the American people back to its principles."

I'm asking those conservatives who don't like Dr. Paul to please hold their fire. You may not agree with everything he says (I don't), but he does have many good points when it comes to the constitution and how our politicians abuse it at every turn.

What I respect about him at this juncture is his decision to stay aboard that stinking, sinking ship known as the Republican Party. Ideological luminaries such as Pat Buchanan, Alan Keyes, and Bob Barr have already manned the lifeboats. I wish they would have stayed.

After failing to win friends and influence voters as a power-mad big spender, the GOP has become a craven, intellectually inbred beast. The GOP needs intellectual ferment, but it's driving some of the best (and occasionally odd) mind away, producing a bland pablum that conservatives and moderates everywhere are spitting out with disgust. They've reverted to your dad's Republican party before Ronald Reagan: Permanent patsy to the Democrats, bereft of ideas, politicians going along to get along, doing anything to cling to their seats. Ron Paul didn't drive the voters away, the cowards who abandoned their conservative principles did.

It's time for an ideological insurrection. Pitchfork Pat couldn't get 'er done, maybe Dr. Paul has the prescription.

Iraq Perspective from Michael Yon

Violence is up in Iraq. Michael Yon tells us why it is not necessarily a bad sign. Like Michael Totten, Mr. Yon practically lives in Iraq, providing valuable eyewitness accounts from neighborhoods all over the country. Here's an excerpt:

"We are taking more casualties now, just as we did in the first part of 2007, because we have taken up the next crucial challenge of this war: confronting the Shia militias."

He is cautiously optimistic and breaks down the situation for us in simple, straightforward language. This is real journalism. Check it out!

The Hyperpower and the Hypocrites

Earth Times reports we just returned six more well-fed, well-rested Guantanamo prisoners back to the 8^th century societies they came from. One paragraph from the article stood out:

“About 270 detainees are still being held at Guantanamo. The Defence Department said it was still looking for countries that would take in about 65 prisoners deemed eligible for release. The US has released about 500 prisoners since 2002, but has often struggled to find countries that will accept the detainees and sought guarantees that they will not be tortured."

Europe clamors for us to shut down Guantanamo, but turns the other way, studiously inattentive, whistling absentmindedly, hands in pockets when we address the subject of repatriating the European ones back to the old continent. Men with strong British names like Mohammad and Farook may never play darts on the old sod again. A certain Herr Al-Jihadi, of the old and venerable Hamburg Jihadis, fears he will never again cast his bushy-browed gaze upon the land of Beer and Bratwurst. While refusing to ease the plight of their imprisoned countrymen, the Euros also insist men from delightful Middle Eastern and South Asian countries may not be repatriated for fear they will be tortured. So here we are in a logical cul-de-sac: Can’t keep them in prison, can’t turn them loose. The Euros and the Internationales are good at scolding bad behavior, but come up a little short on solutions.

I don’t know what the alternative is. They sure as hell can’t be turned loose on American soil (of course, that is the conclusion the Bush-haters have steered us into.) I don’t even want them stinking up American jails. Maybe we could turn them over to the men and women in powdered wigs at the Hague. Things have been pretty quiet there since Slobo kicked the bucket. For those who need a reminder, the Clinton administration cast Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic as the demon in the Balkan tragedy-drama. He was perfect for the part: He looked mean, had an evil-sounding name, and had directed the killing of Muslims (just ignore the fact that some of his victims were terrorists.) We dragged him to The Hague, where he commenced to making a shambles of international justice with his long-winded angry tirades. The Euros stood around looking helplessly at one another and flapping their arms futilely in response. Anyway, I think the Hague is the perfect place to wrap this whole debacle up. Wasn’t it Karl Marx who said something about history repeating itself, first as tragedy, secondly as farce?

The only alternative left is to interrogate future captives on the battlefield then shoot them dead after getting what we want out of them. There’s probably some international law against that…

Remember rendition? You know, secret CIA flights (probably in black planes with meat hooks hanging from the ceiling) that carried to their doom poor innocent men who accidentally stumbled onto the battle field with rocket launchers in their hands? Remember talk about how the US had turned the world into our own global Gulag Archipelago? Why aren’t we hearing about that anymore?

Here’s your answer: Old Europe was complicit all along.

It’s a game we play. The US plays good cop, and bad cop, while Europe plays the moral cop, blowing the whistle on the actions we take to protect ourselves and them. It’s all part of the deal: European governments cravenly cooperate and egg us on in private while criticizing us in public. If the Euros and the Internationales want us to adopt humane (according to them) policies, then they need to grow up and take some responsibility for their actions, or inaction, as the case may be. We can argue the legalities of Guantanamo, but let’s get all the cards on the table first. Fritz and Basil still have a few up their sleeves.

Links:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/202927,nine-prisoners-released-from-guantanamo.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/16/AR2006101601339.html

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42218

Mission Accomplished

To those who wish President Bush would admit his mistakes, cast your gaze upon events of the last few days:

Like ancient supplicants trying to appease the angry gods, the White House has admitted it erred in using the phrase “mission accomplished” five years ago. The response has been less than gracious, with the DNC and smirking journalists piling on. Can’t really blame them, I guess. Politics is blood sport and savvy fighters never pass up a chance to clobber the opponent. Especially one who had them dancing to his tune a short few years ago.

The Dems and the press still have a bad taste in their mouth from the kisses they gave the President immediately after 9/11. The Dems are still red-faced from being duped by someone so stupid. The press still nurses a guilty conscience for collaborating with the enemy White House.

Remember the fawning coverage of SecDef Rumsfeld, how his daily press conferences were must-see TV? Remember how President Bush gained stature and gravitas in those days after the catastrophe? The press took him seriously and they’ve hated themselves for it ever since.

But the coup de grace was the aircraft carrier event starring a dashing President Bush as Top Gun Commander in Chief. He looked so heroic. The press must have been simmering in self-loathing as they covered that tableau worthy of Hollywood. I imagine them muttering to themselves, swearing revenge on the man who made them complicit in this obviously staged event (What presidential event isn’t staged?)

Oh yes, the Dems and the press must have inwardly swore he would have to pay. Pay for the swagger, the unwavering religious belief, the cowboy mentality (smoke ‘em out! Yer either with us or agin’ us), the inability or disinclination to explain himself. He’d have to pay for that 90% approval rating! Can’t let anybody get that big, not even the president. Unfortunately, subsequent poor decision-making and various blunders by his administration hastened his downfall.

President Bush is now where the press and the Dems want him: A failed president sitting on a dismal approval rating. Mission Accomplished.

Naked Workers of the World: Clothe Yourselves!

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

-- Mark Twain

Today is May Day. In much of Europe and Latin America, today is Labor Day.

It’s campaign season, so we’re hearing about the masses of people living in inner-city poverty because there are no jobs, or those left jobless because the factory shut down, etc. Those of us who suggest the unemployed move to where the jobs are or go get some training are shouted down either as uncaring or naively simplistic.

Here’s a question: What would your chances of getting hired be if you showed up to the job interview naked? Probably not too good. OK, how about if you presented yourself wearing a 17th Century pilgrim outfit? You know, the big wide-brim hat with a large buckle in the front, poofy-sleeved shirt, wide black belt with a big buckle, leather breeches, square shoes with, well, a buckle. You’d probably be higher on the list than the naked guy, but your chances of landing that job would still be quite slim.

Well, we have a lot of naked people looking for work in this country. And we have people in pilgrim’s costumes, women wearing Victorian era dresses with the thousand buttons down the front, men in tight-fitting 70’s disco garb… Times change, and if you want to stay employed you must change with them. The COBOL programmer has gone the way of the wheelwright and the candlestick maker. Detroit used to be a boomtown, but it ain’t one no more, and thousands have voted with their feet.

If you are a displaced worker and you’re waiting for Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or John McCain to help you, you’re going to be waiting a long, long time. Politicians win elections by making promises to people like you, but have you noticed that there are always people like you? And they’re still waiting. The ones who have escaped the ranks of the unemployed are the ones who took the initiative to move, update their job skills, or both. It really is that simple. The only thing easier is walking around naked all day.

Helpful Employment Links:

http://www.doleta.gov/layoff/workers.cfm

http://www.educationmoney.com/