WAF - We Are F***ed

Just the latest sign that we're well and truly fucked...

2009-10-02T14:56:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Paulie Cee for directing attention to this picture elsewhere...and the big white circle was probably unnecessary, but sometimes you see something so unbelievable you want to make sure everyone else can see it and not believe it too.

Honestly, can you believe that someone could seriously be proposing this?

The War To End All Wars

2009-09-30T11:01:00.001-04:00

The one thing you can count on from the 'huggers is their penchant for hysterics. Since the imminent demise of Mother Earth hasn't brought the majority of rational thinking people to their side, they need to pump up the volume. Now according to Australian "climate change" whackjob Tim Flannery, we're heading toward war over global climate change.

IF the world fails to reach agreement on tackling climate change soon then it could end in war, climate scientist Tim Flannery has warned.

Like many others, he is concerned at a lack of progress ahead of a crucial UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December.

If there is no deal some time in the next year then there is a risk of momentum fading and the problem getting beyond the reach of world leaders, said Prof Flannery, who is in New York for climate talks.

"My greatest fear is that once people stop negotiating, once diplomacy fails, that's potentially a prelude for war."

That could mean conflict over carbon tariffs, over the mass migration of climate-affected people or over serious water shortages, Prof Flannery said.

It might not happen for decades but it was a real threat if Copenhagen failed. "The triggers are there for conflict," the former Australian of the year said.

I'm anxious to see what they're going to threaten the world with next...maybe one of those "if we can't take care of the planet, aliens from outer space will invade and take it away from us because we don't deserve it" movie plots or something.

Of course, this is the same guy who advocates pumping sulphur gas into the atmosphere to combat global warming.

Since the 1990's we've been receiving dire warnings of impending doom due to global warming/climate change...we're fast approaching 20 years on the subject. All I want to know is when some of it is going to start coming true? When can we start dismissing this b.s. out of common sense? I mean, those of us who haven't already been doing that for the past 20 years...

Thus Ever To Hippies

2009-09-29T10:39:00.003-04:00

Why on Earth would someone think they could get away with taking down & burning a VFW flag...especially one that had been flown in Iraq? The method of justice enacted (and that's exactly what it was) will make you smile.

VFW Flag Burner Pilloried

VALLEY FALLS -- The young man was given three choices: get turned over to the police, go one-on-one in a fight with a seasoned war veteran, or be duct-taped to a flagpole for six hours with a sign around his neck identifying his alleged crime: flag burning.

It was the third option that would still have the small town buzzing a week after a 21-year-old was hunted down and forced to endure a public humiliation with its roots dating to the Middle Ages. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1938 were incensed enough to tie up the man last Sunday after they accused him of setting the flag in front of their building on fire.

Post Commander Nick Normile, a Vietnam War veteran, said the man came into the post's bar Sept. 18 on Poplar Avenue and was eventually turned away for not having a proper ID.

Apparently angered, the young man, who Normile did not want to name, cut the rope of the American flag flying overhead and used a cigarette lighter to set it on fire, Normile and others said.

The man sat pilloried as the village had its fall youth soccer picnic with a long parade of children passing in front of him.

"He'll never disrespect the flag again, I can tell you that," Normile said.

Normile said the flag had at one point flown over U.S. troops in Iraq had special significance.
Veterans, both local and nationwide, responded to the event as accountings were posted online to the official VFW Facebook page and national Web site. Comments posted supported the act and added ideas for further punishment.

Other nearby business owners said they knew of the event but refused to give an accounting. Unconfirmed reports by citizens said the alleged flag-burner was a relative of a previous commander of the post.

Calls made to the alleged flag burner and a spokesman for the national VFW organization for comments were not returned. The Rensselaer County Sheriffs office confirmed knowledge of the event, but said they were not involved. State Police in Brunswick were contacted, but a trooper said no record of the event could be found.

The flag will be disposed of at a formal ceremony, Normile said.

Before the defenders of hippydom rally around this dumbass and defend his "First Amendment rights", please note that he cut down the VFW's flag and burned it, not his own. If he'd brought his own flag and burned it on the VFW's property, he'd only be guilty of complete lunacy and not vandalism, which is why the threat was made to call the police.

What were the guy's motives in burning the flag? Was he making a protest, just plain pissed off, ? No one knows at this point...but it's not surprising that when given a choice between an arrest, a sound thrashing or public humiliation, a coward will take the third one every time.

They Call Her 'Senator'

2009-06-18T16:33:00.003-04:00

Well, some do. Some are probably referring to her as "Her Highness, the Royal Stuck-Up Bitch" now.

Courtesy of Politico.com, complete with video and everything.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) didn't like a Brigadier General calling her "ma'am" at an EPW hearing yesterday.

"Do me a favor," she said, "could say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?' It's just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it, yes, thank you."

"I worked so hard to get that title"...no recognition of the fact that it's common military courtesy to use "sir" and "ma'am" in these sorts of situations, and no cognizance of the fact that using a title of office to address someone should be in deference and respect to the office and not the individual. Nah, just "I worked so hard to get that title." I'm sure you did, Barb...I'm sure you did.

NoKos To Lob Missile Toward Hawaii?

2009-06-18T16:14:00.004-04:00

Via MSNBC.com:

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese newspaper reported Thursday, as Russia and China urged the regime to return to international disarmament talks on its rogue nuclear program.

The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles, would be launched from North Korea's Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said the Yomiuri daily, Japan's top-selling newspaper. It cited an analysis by the Japanese Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites.

The missile launch could come between July 4 and 8, the paper said.

Last week, it was the threat of "nuclear war" on the Korean Peninsula, despite the glaringly obvious facts that a) the U.S. doesn't have "thousands" of nuke warheads in South Korea as the North claimed, and b) two barely credible nuke tests in the single kiloton output range do not a nuclear arsenal make. Despite all this, the sawed off star of Team America: World Police continues to press on with the "look at me Look At Me LOOK AT ME!!!" campaign.

Next comes this blurb from Foxnews.com:

The U.S. military is tracking a flagged North Korean ship suspected of proliferating weapons material in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution passed last Friday, FOX News has learned.

The ship, Kang Nam, left a port in North Korea Wednesday and appears to be heading toward Singapore, according to a senior U.S. military source. The vessel, which the military has been tracking since its departure, could be carrying weaponry, missile parts or nuclear materials.

"It is believed to be 'of interest,'" a senior U.S. official told FOX News.

This is the first suspected "proliferator" that the U.S. and its allies have tracked from North Korea since the United Nations authorized the world's navies to enforce compliance with a variety of U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing North Korea for its recent nuclear test.

The ship is currently along the coast of China and being monitored around-the-clock by air.

The apparent violation raises the question of how the United States and its allies will respond, particularly since the U.N. resolution does not have a lot of teeth to it.

Aye, there's the rub, my friends...one wonders what could be done about that.

American Jihadist: Just Another Victim

2009-06-05T09:07:00.010-04:00

If the sarcasm dripping off that title isn't enough for you, you should read the CNN piece on the statements made by Muhammad Abdulhakim's lawyer. You'll be happy to know that his client was "brainwashed" and tortured in Yemen while incarcerated during an immigration problem, and that everyone else in the world besides Abdulhakim is responsible for his shooting attack outside an Army recruiting station.

"My client is a young man, I think, brainwashed," attorney Jim Hensley told CNN. "What else could be explained for a young man who's a true American, plays football, helps his grandmother and mows the lawns of his neighbors? Comes back and then finds himself in this situation? That is not a normal situation in my book."

Just a red blooded American lad...

In September 2007, Muhammad left Tennessee State University in Nashville, where he was studying business, and traveled to Yemen to teach English to children and to learn Arabic.

There, "he felt at peace with these people," even marrying a Yemeni, Hensley said.

But things began to change when his client was detained for a minor visa violation in Yemen and sent to prison, where he was housed with radical Islamic fundamentalists, Hensley said.

...who just happened to fall in with a bad crowd...

There is disagreement about the time he was incarcerated. The lawyer said Muhammad told him he had served four months in prison.

Hensley said Muhammad told him that, during the last two weeks he was held, he was deprived of sleep and food and "was slapped around a little bit," enduring beatings on the backs of his legs.

During Muhammad's time in the prison, an FBI agent visited him not as an ally but as an interrogator, Hensley said.

...brutalized by his American puppet captors and abandoned by his government...

The FBI agent "believed that Carlos was some kind of hardened terrorist hellbent on doing violence to America," Hensley said.

...profiled...

After he was released in January, Muhammad returned to Nashville, Tennessee, where his parents noticed their son was "fidgety, frustrated, can't sit still," Hensley said.

The same FBI agent approached him and threatened to put him under surveillance, "to do everything we can to cause you trouble," Hensley said.

...harrassed by law enforcement...

Hensley added that Muhammad's parents told him that, once he returned to Nashville, "he was a different human," one who blamed the United States for the war wounds suffered by some of the children whom he had taught, children without arms or legs.

...haunted by visions of the victims of American imperialism...

He also blamed U.S. immigration policy for his inability to bring his bride back to the United States with him, Hensley said.

...denied the love and understanding of the love of his life by blatantly racist immigration policy...

"A first-year psychology student would be able to see that this young man needed some help, and that wasn't offered him by anyone," Hensley said.

...denied the help he needs by The System...

Federal agents said Wednesday that they were looking into whether Internet searches of various locations in several other U.S. cities were a sign that Muhammad was seeking "additional targets." The cities investigators included Atlanta, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee, where Muhammad grew up.

Hensley told CNN that his client was not the only person who was using the computer.

...and, in the end, wrongfully accused and a patsy in a larger, obvious conspiracy.

Where did they find this lawyer, advertising on late night t.v. during an all night kung fu movie marathon? Is there a race, culture or sympathy card out there that this guy missed playing? Every statement from the guy sounds like something you'd expect out of a bad parody movie.

It seems that this is destined to be turned into a circus by this dirtbag's lawyer, who pled "not guilty" on behalf of his client after his client already admitted to the shootings to police afterwards. Pvt. Long and Pvt. Ezeagwula deserve better than a media circus; they deserve justice.

The 2A Is Headed To The Supreme Court Again

2009-06-04T17:07:00.004-04:00

Courtesy of MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - The National Rifle Association is asking the Supreme Court to strike down strict gun control laws in the Chicago area, setting the stage for another high court battle over Second Amendment protections for gun owners.

The NRA wants the court to rule that last year's gun rights decision invalidating a handgun ban in the District of Columbia applies as well to local and state laws.

The appeal to the Supreme Court comes almost immediately after a federal appeals court in Chicago said Tuesday that it is bound by earlier Supreme Court decisions which held the Second Amendment applies only to federal laws. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was part of an appeals court panel in New York that reached a similar conclusion in January.

Judges on both courts — Republican nominees in Chicago and Democratic nominees in New York — said only the Supreme Court could decide whether to extend last year's ruling throughout the country. Many, but not all, of the constitutional protections in the Bill of Rights have been applied to cities and states.

The framers of the Constitution intended "to protect the right to keep and bear arms and other rights from state infringement," the NRA said in a filing made available at the court Thursday.

It is hard to imagine a situation where a state would put restrictions on the freedom of speech, or the freedom from illegal search and seizure, or most any of the other individual rights guaranteed by our Bill of Rights and have that restriction upheld at the Supreme Court level, but that is exactly what is being discussed here. These follow up cases to the Heller ruling will be crucial in establishing much about our Constitution even beyond the Second Amendment.

Also from the article:

In the case now pending at the Supreme Court, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld ordinances barring the ownership of handguns in most cases in Chicago and suburban Oak Park, Ill.

Judge Frank Easterbrook said that "the Constitution establishes a federal republic where local differences are to be cherished as elements of liberty rather than extirpated in order to produce a single, nationally applicable rule."

"Federalism is an older and more deeply rooted tradition than is a right to carry any particular kind of weapon," Easterbrook wrote.

Someone pointed out to me that asking for the Second Amendment to apply to the states and locales went against my "anti-big government" leanings. I immediately searched my desktop for a very hard, very heavy copy of the Constitution to hit that person over the head with. Both they and Judge Easterbrook are obviously missing the point of our Constitution, which is not to establish a heavy handed set of rules that apply to all, but to establish liberties of the individual and place restrictions on government. The Second Amendment is an important (arguably the most important) part of those limits on government, and those limits should be enjoyed by all Americans equally no matter where they reside.

Is It Bad When a Russian Tells You You're Getting Too Marxist?

2009-06-04T13:16:00.006-04:00

Via the English version of Pravda, with translation spelling & grammar errors intact (warning, there's plenty of typical Russian over-exaggeration and conjecture and a pretty good heap of gay bashing in this article):

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

...

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish.

Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

...

Then came Barack Obama's command that GM's (General Motor) president step down from leadership of his company. That is correct, dear reader, in the land of "pure" free markets, the American president now has the power, the self given power, to fire CEOs and we can assume other employees of private companies, at will. Come hither, go dither, the centurion commands his minions.

So it should be no surprise, that the American president has followed this up with a "bold" move of declaring that he and another group of unelected, chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automobile policies. I am sure that if given the chance, they would happily try and redesign it for the whole of the world, too.

Prime Minister Putin, less then two months ago, warned Obama and UK's Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our "wise" Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride.

Again, the American public has taken this with barely a whimper...but a "freeman" whimper.

So, should it be any surprise to discover that the Democratically controlled Congress of America is working on passing a new regulation that would give the American Treasury department the power to set "fair" maximum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private companies give out pay raises and bonuses? Senator Barney Franks, a social pervert basking in his homosexuality (of course, amongst the modern, enlightened American societal norm, as well as that of the general West, homosexuality is not only not a looked down upon life choice, but is often praised as a virtue) and his Marxist enlightenment, has led this effort. He stresses that this only affects companies that receive government monies, but it is retroactive and taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive.

The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at this and the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left.

The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker.

Pretty much every expansion of power (or changeover in power to a more expansive government) in the history of the world has been cleverly disguised as being "for the people." The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution is a perfect example of this. Marxism was supposed to be the ultimate cure-all for everything that ailed the Russian working man. Instead, they got 70 years of slavery that they were tricked into fighting for. History is filled with examples of "be careful what you wish for" in this regard. Once, we Americans were wiser as a whole than to take what we are taking right now without a fight, much less with barely a question.

Liberty is the most precious of commodities on the global scale. The currency of acquiring it was blood; words and policies are not something that it should be dealt away for. Once lost, it is the hardest of all things to replace.

Thankfully, we as Americans also have a mechanism in place to stop its erosion and regain our bearings: our representative democracy...but only if we heed the call and use it wisely.

It needs to begin in 2010. We need to send a clear message that this expansion of government power is not in the interests of America or liberty and needs to be halted. An all encompassing central government is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind. We have strayed far from the course and need to get back on bearing again, before the costs get too high.

Short Round: Dirtbag Takes Dirt Nap

2009-06-02T15:21:00.003-04:00

Buh bye, courtesy of CNN:

LONDON, England (CNN) -- British troops killed a "most dangerous" Taliban leader responsible for the deaths of two British service members and likely hundreds of civilians, the defense ministry said Tuesday.

Mullah Mansur is described as "one of the most dangerous Taliban leaders in Helmand," the province where British troops are based. He was killed on Monday by troops in British Apache helicopters northeast of Lashgar Gah, Helmand's capital.

Mansur is believed to be behind the May 7 suicide attacks that killed Sgt. Ben Ross of the Royal Military Police and Gurkha Cpl. Kumar Pun in Gereshk in southern Afghanistan.

Mansur is also thought to be behind other suicide attacks that killed Afghan police and civilians, including one on May 11 that killed 13 Afghan police and civilians and wounded 27 other people. He is also implicated in a March attack that killed 9 Afghan policemen and two civilians, with 28 people wounded.

Mansur was believed to have links to insurgent commanders from the Baluch tribe in the south and acted as the link between the insurgency in the south and central Helmand.

The defense ministry said the Monday attack is also thought to have killed and wounded other insurgents.

Mansur was reportedly the #3 man in the Taliban heirarchy. Three huzzahs and pints to all the Brits involved all around.

Back to the Horn?

2009-06-02T12:22:00.006-04:00

Via the NY Times:

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somalia is once again a raging battle zone, with jihadists pouring in from overseas, preparing for a final push to topple the transitional government.

The government is begging for help, saying that more peacekeepers, more money and more guns could turn the tide against the Islamist radicals.

But the reality may be uglier than either side is willing to admit: Somalia has become the war that nobody can win, at least not right now.

Wait a minute...now it's the war that nobody can win? That "news" is secondary though to the moneyshot of the article:

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the top United Nations envoy for Somalia, said that there were now several hundred foreign jihadists fighting for the Shabab. He noted that they were “more motivated, better organized and better trained” than typical Somali street fighters, who tend to be teenagers paid a few dollars a day to charge blindly into battle with rusty Kalashnikov rifles. These young combatants know as much about military tactics as they do about school, which is not a lot. Class has essentially been out for the past 18 years, since Somalia’s central government collapsed.

Is a U.S. presence back on the Horn of Africa almost preordained at this point? If it has to do with another disastrous U.N. orchestrated "peacekeeping" expedition, let's hope not. As these Muslim-on-Muslim powergrab conflicts become more and more prevalent across the globe, the real question will be if the current administation is capable of dealing with the expansion of the Long War, since apparently they don't even want to call it that.

Muslim-on-Muslim conflict is going to increase, and we're going to have to deal with it or risk having another half dozen Afghanistans and Pakistans popping up in different parts of the world over the next decade or so as the radical Islamists consolidate their positions.

Fighting Sotomayor

2009-05-27T09:52:00.003-04:00

Courtesy of everyone's friends at MSNBC.com this morning:

An all-out assault on Sotomayor by Republicans could alienate both Latino and women voters, deepening the GOP's problems after consecutive electoral setbacks.But sidestepping a court battle could be deflating to the party's base and hurt efforts to rally conservatives going forward.

Here's an idea: don't fight it. President Obama obviously made this pick with the concept in mind that she'd breeze through the confirmation process for about a hundred different reasons. She's the "middle of the road liberal" nominee for want of a better term; strange as it may sound coming from me, there's no upside to fighting this battle. She's going to get confirmed.

Instead, save it. Bank it. There's likely to be at least one more nomination in the next four years, when Justice Ginsburg steps down (not trying to be the Angel of Death here, but it is likely that given her illness and her age that she won't serve for President Obama's entire term). It's also likely that the nominee for Justice Ginsburg's spot is going to be a hell of a lot less of a Souter clone that Sotomayor. That fight is also likely to come after the 2010 midterm elections.

There are a lot of real reasons to hate this nomination, but given the atmosphere at the present time, is it a winnable fight? And would a victory against these long odds turn out to be a Pyrrhic one?

Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-23T18:32:00.003-04:00

Those who read this blog regularly need no reminder but to any casual observers, take 5 mins this Monday and remember the REASON it's a holiday. Say a quick prayer to whomever you pray to or a quick word of thanks to the men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

For those inclined to do more, I'm pleased and proud to share this:

Washington, DC 26 May 2009:

This Memorial Day we launch a new group, The Warrior Legacy Foundation- a non partisan organization committed to the protection, promotion and dignity of America’s Warriors. The membership of the group is open to anyone who believes in this cause.

Across every generation, at war and at peace, America has asked her citizens to protect liberty and defend freedom at all costs. And no matter the terrain or political climate, America’s Warriors have met every challenge and made every sacrifice that was asked of them in order to defeat our enemies and protect our way of life. The Warrior Legacy Foundation is a passionate advocate for the preservation and elevation of the hallowed legacy of the American Warrior Class. Join us and stand firm in defense of the heritage of those brave souls who have protected our sovereignty throughout our great nation’s history.

They have asked for nothing and have given us everything.

http://www.warriorlegacyfoundation.org/

Thank you to our own Mule and all those past and present for their service.

Frank's Tuesday Morning Hangover

2009-04-28T10:13:00.002-04:00

First, let me apologize to my readers - both of you - for missing last week's deadline. I made my annual commute to St. Louis to watch a Mets/Cardinals game on Tuesday night. It's a there and back in one day/night/morning thing that requires a lot of planning. And Monster Energy Drink (tm).

I almost skipped this morning as well, and am grateful to the two of you for checking in (I mean, if you actually did) to see if I took a shot here.

I owe it to you.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I mean the "owing it to you" part surely is, but I want to talk about my Governor, Kathleen Sebelius of the great state of Kansas. She wants to be yours, mine and ours as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. You have just a few hours to help me in my grass roots movement to prevent this from happening

(Note to my readership - as she has officially screwed my adopted state this is an act of selflessness that shows my obvious sincerity.)

Governor Sebelius is quite possibly the most liberal, I mean "progressive", governor of this great nation when it comes to allowing for the proliferation of late term abortions. Just this past week she vetoed a bill that would have required abortion "doctors" (geez that's tough to write...), to sign official documents stating why these procedures are medically necessary. The veto also ensures that parents need not be notified when their minor daughters have late terms. It makes pre-abortion counseling unnecessary. It saves "physicians" the trouble of having to provide life saving measures, or even basic painkilling comfort care, to babies that are born due to botched abortions.

There's a few more nooks and crannies built in there, but you get the gist.

Additionally, besides the standard Obama cabinet candidate requirement of having tax "problems" (she "mistook the acceptability of some deductions"), she also has the issue of receiving money from "Dr." George Hiller, noted mass murderer - I mean preeminent late term abortion "doctor" (there's that pause before clicking keys again).

A LOT of money.

Like three TIMES as much money as she initially reported.

Another honest mistake I'm sure.

She "forgot about" the tens of thousands of dollars that Hiller poured into her campaign. Her campaign that promised him that his killing mills will be able to operate indefinitely, unmolested, for as long as he can cash the checks.

Even many of the most pro-choice proponents believe that late term abortions are barbaric and even murderous. Do we want a Health and Human Services Secretary that thinks they should be legal, safe and common? (paraphrasing former Senator John Edwards, who is looking like a pro-life champion when compared to Kitty Kat.)

Quick, call your Senator and let him or her know how you feel.

Thanks for reading.

Stand By For Shit To Get Stupid

2009-04-22T09:58:00.003-04:00

via Fox News: Smiling Somali Pirate Weeps in Federal Court in New York City, Hearing Reopened to Public

The sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain wept in federal court Tuesday as he faced the charges against him.

A federal judge determined that the suspect, Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, is an adult and reopened the New York City hearing to the public.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck had closed proceedings briefly to figure out whether Muse was a juvenile.

Muse cried in court as the charges of piracy — which carries a mandatory life sentence — and other counts against him were read. A day earlier, he'd been all smiles when he arrived in New York.

The question of this dirtbag's legal status is not going to go quietly into that good night:

Ron Kuby, a New York-based civil rights lawyer, said he has been in discussions about forming a legal team to represent the Somalian.

"I think in this particular case, there's a grave question as to whether America was in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas," said Kuby.

"This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate. He was then captured. There is a question whether he is lawfully in American custody and serious questions as to whether he can be prosecuted because of his age."

This scumbag is going to have a legal team and more than a cult following (remember, to more than a few on the left they're not pirates, they're good, decent Somalis fighting to protect their coastline from the evils of overfishing and toxic waste dumping foisted on them by the western imperialists) before you can hum a few bars of "This Land Is Your Land". Hell his mother is already showing the victim card to President Obama.

Meanwhile, you can just about smell the mess this is going to become in the legal system. You know that feeling you got when you were a kid when you took your bike off a jump that was just a bit too high and you looked down just before you hit and thought, "Yeah, this is gonna suck"? That's the exact feeling I have over this whole mess right now.

A legal team, a free trip and three squares a day courtesy of the American taxpayer, the right of 100% victimhood and the flash of paparazzi cameras...welcome to America, jackbag.

In The Shadow Of The Cathedral Of Commerce, A Party Like It Was 1773

2009-04-16T17:42:00.021-04:00

Yes, I work in Manhattan.

Almost every individual I come into contact with on a daily basis strangely seems to have little problem with a government bureaucracy reaching towards spending half of this nation's entire output of productivity over the next 4 years, making even the much noted deficit spending of the extravagant and maligned Bush Administration look miserly by comparison.

You're not supposed to pay much notice to the massive inter-generational debt poised to pile up. It's considered divisive or even "extremist" to give too much thought to who and what will bear the burden of this debt, and perhaps how or even if a deficit this size will be serviced in the decades to come.

So although I hadn't planned on heading downtown yesterday for the tea party (if I had I'd have brought a better camera, believe me), the idea of seeing a crowd of individuals not content to sit around and wait for their own personal Federal Money Tree proved irresistible. There we all were, in City Hall Park, in the shadow of the Woolworth Building, the "Cathedral of Commerce"; one of the countless monuments in this city to the unprecedented productivity and wealth creation this nation's ideals once gave rise to, ideals that today are under assault. Ideals that currently tend to be ignored, obfuscated or deemed obsolete.

Not with this crowd however. Many people held signs, variations on "Redistribute My Work Ethic, Not My Wealth", a "Save The Trees, Stop Printing Money", "I'm Not Your ATM" and "Friedman Not Marx" were scattered throughout the crowd. For the most part it was obvious most were new to the idea of protesting. Few mass produced signs, no mind-numbing organized chanting and marching and no pre-set ubiquitous rally-logos. In fact, the vast, vast majority of the signs were specifically about ideas not personalities.

Sure, you had the occasional picture of Obama with the devil's horns and the red eyes, but considering we're talking about a crowd that was stuffed across 4 blocks almost from Barclay to Chambers on both sides of Broadway, that's to be expected. It was, for the most part, the issues that were being addressed not the people, in contrast to your typical left wing protest march where a cheap xeroxed sign of Bush and Cheney with Hitler mustaches toasting each other with cocktails made from the blood of the oppressed are practically the price of admission.

Despite the kind of characterizations you see here and there about these events from various mainstream sources, this wasn't simply a narrow focus on a single individual, it was an effort and an opportunity for an affirmation of ideals of public sector responsibility (now there's a phrase you don't hear too often) that many people grew up believing in, and currently see disappearing all around them.

Above are a few pictures I was able to take of the event from my cell phone before it got too dark.

Capt. Presley O'Bannon is Unimpressed

2009-04-15T09:45:00.007-04:00

Somali Pirates Attack US Flag Vessel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Pirates using rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked a United States-flagged cargo ship on Tuesday off the coast of Somalia, but they failed to board the craft, the ship’s owner said.

The crew of the ship, the Liberty Sun, was unharmed, but the vessel suffered damage, according to a statement from the owner, Liberty Maritime Corporation, of Lake Success, N.Y.

A United States military official said the Liberty Sun was attacked about 11:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The Bainbridge, a destroyer, was sent to provide assistance, the official said.

The USS Bainbridge, the same US Navy destroyer that was involved so prominently in the rescue of Capt. Phillips, is named after US Navy Commodore William Bainbridge. When Commodore Bainbridge was a mere Captain in October of 1803, his frigate USS Philadelphia ran aground in Tripoli harbor...during an anti-pirating patrol. Capt. Bainbridge and his entire crew were taken hostage by Barbary Coast pirates, held for ransom, and USS Philadelphia was in turn occupied and utilized as a shore battery by the pirates.

I'm sure most of this is sounding familiar.

On the night of February 16th, US Navy Lt. Stephen Decatur (later a Commodore himself) sailed a small captured pirate ship rechristened USS Intrepid into Tripoli harbor. Leading a small unit of US Marines, they boarded USS Philadelphia, killed and captured the pirate contingent aboard, and burned her to the waterline to deny her use to the enemy. Following the successful first stage of the operation, the raiding party then took control of the entire port city of Tripoli and freed Capt. Bainbridge and his entire crew.

The line of the Marine Hymn "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" immortalizes the actions of the Marines and Lt. Decatur forever.

However, the Barbary Coast pirate war dragged on, and it wasn't until Marine Lt. (later Capt.) Presley O'Bannon led a mixed force of US Marines and mercenaries overland from Alexandria, Egypt to the Tripolian city of Derna (which is one hell of a march, by the way) and attacked the garrison there, securing the city's capture in May of 1805. With that action, a peace treaty was secured and the First Barbary War effectively ended.

So what modern lessons can be learned from this?

1) Piracy has been a way of life on the African coasts since waaaaay before it became trendy with today's Somalis (and the American media for that matter.)

2) The pirates haven't really changed their methods: kidnapping and capture of goods for ransom and demanding "tribute" is still the rule of the day.

3) (and this is the punchline) President Jefferson recognized that a strong naval presence in the region was just the beginning, and the only effective way to deal with piracy on the seas is to deal with it's roots on land. Defending ships at sea is just that: a defensive action. To take the fight to the enemy, you have to root out their strongholds on the beach. And that, even (especially) today, requires US Marines.

There is a lot of talk about how to best defend commercial ships that are at sea in the Gulf of Aden right now, and these defensive measures are certainly necessary, but they will not solve the problem. Piracy in the region can only be solved through offensive action. There is just too much water and too many ships to effectively safeguard in a defensive posture only. We have to take the fight to them. In short, turn loose the US Navy and US Marine Corps and let them do their jobs.

One other thing that hasn't changed much...when piracy on the Barbary Coast first became an American issue in the 1780's, then Ambassadors Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were dispatched to speak with Tripoli's ambassor to London, Abdul Rahman Adja, about the increasing piracy and demands for tribute off the Barbary Coast. Adja's response, as relayed by Jefferson to then Sec/State John Jay, was in part:

It was written in the Koran, that all nations which have not acknowledged the Prophet are sinners, whom it is the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every muslim who is slain in this warfare is sure to go to Paradise.

The more things change....

Frank's Tuesday Morning Hangover April 14, 2009

2009-04-14T12:43:00.005-04:00

Ok, so I’m a little extra hungover this morning. I was up late last night celebrating the life and times of one Ms. Marilyn Chambers – may she rest in peace - who began her career as the lead actress in the groundbreaking art film “Behind the Green Door”.

Go ahead and google it, but don’t do it from your office desk.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Remind me to never piss off a Navy SEAL.

How do three guys lying prone on the deck of a rocking, moving ship hit three smallish targets simultaneously that are also on a rocking moving ship?

Better question, how geeked was Captain Richard Phillips about then? Think about sitting around wondering if you'll ever see your family or scarf down a slab of rare t bone ever again and suddenly your captors just DROP all around you.

Think he kicked any of the corpses before being yanked aboard the USS Bainbridge?

If I hear ONE more liberal bitch about the Patriot Act I’m going to explode faster than one of Kim Jong Il’s rockets sitting on a launching pad.

The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis has recently sent out a nine page report detailing the “increase in right wing extremist activity”. According to this report, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans (so much for “keeping the promise to our national heroes", huh?) could swell the ranks of white-power militias. This report was sent to all of the cpontry’s sheriff’s offices imploring law enforcement to watch out for people that speak out against abortion or illegal immigration or who are vocal on the importance of states’ rights.

So if you disagree with our current regime,…. err…. “government”, smile!

The ONE is watching you.

One of Kansas city’s congressman, the good “reverend” Emmanuel Cleaver recently traveled to Cuba with the rest of the Congressional Black Caucus. He returned to his district gushing that El Presidente Castro was a charming and intelligent man and that he saw no evidence of the oppression of the Cuban people.

Huh?

In unrelated news, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes a kickin' falafel and belts a killer karaoke rendition of Boston’s “More Than a Feeling”.

I'd like to close out by sending my condolences and prayers to the friends and family of rookie pitcher Nick Adenhardt, late of the Angels. May the drunk driver that cut short the life of this young man rot in hell.

Send your hate mail to ScrewYourselfWith@Chainsaw.com yada yada

Those Poor, Misunderstood Somali Pirates...

2009-04-09T10:55:00.004-04:00

Usually we try to keep from giving undo credit to the musings of deranged, terminally naive lefties around here, but occassionally you stumble across something so freaking hilarious, you can't help but share it.

I stumbled on this back in January when it was posted on Huffingtonpost, but it seems especially poignant now in light of the seizure of the American flagged vessel in the Gulf of Aden this past week:

You Are Being Lied To About Pirates

Did we expect starving Somalians to stand passively on their beaches, paddling in our nuclear waste, and watch us snatch their fish to eat in restaurants in London and Paris and Rome? We didn't act on those crimes - but when some of the fishermen responded by disrupting the transit-corridor for 20 percent of the world's oil supply, we begin to shriek about "evil." If we really want to deal with piracy, we need to stop its root cause - our crimes - before we send in the gun-boats to root out Somalia's criminals.

Read the whole thing. In the tradition of "Wayne's World", you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll hurl.

International Incident Wednesday

2009-04-08T08:57:00.010-04:00

Somali Pirates Seize U.S. Flag Vessel (Fox News link)

Same story via Navy Times

(Shout out to Op For for giving everyone a heads up on the Navy Times link.)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates Wednesday hijacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with 20 American crew members onboard, the shipping company said.

The 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was hijacked, said Peter Beck-Bang, spokesman for the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

In a statement, the company confirmed that the U.S.-flagged vessel has 20 U.S. nationals onboard.

Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that it was the first pirate attack “involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory.” She did not give an exact timeframe.

Of course, the proper response would be swift, violent, and result in the deaths of every Somali pirate within a 25 mile radius of the seized vessel. Somehow I'm doubting the current administration agrees with me.

UPDATE:

Crew regains control of ship.

NAIROBI, Kenya - Pentagon officials said Wednesday that the American crew of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship had retaken control from Somali pirates who hijacked the vessel far off the Horn of Africa.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because information was still preliminary. But they said the hijacked crew had apparently contacted the private company that operates the ship.

At a news conference, Maersk Line Ltd. CEO John Reinhart said that the company was working to contact families of the crew.

"Speculation is a dangerous thing when you're in a fluid environment. I will not confirm that the crew has overtaken this ship," he said.

A U.S. official said the crew had retaken control and had one pirate in custody. The official said the status of the other pirates was unknown but they were reported to "be in the water." The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Jeff Cooper said the desired result of an armed robbery is "a dead robber at the scene," which is tough to argue with. If several of the pirates were jetisoned overboard, so much the better.

It would be nice to see a "sea marshal" program, similar to air marshals, but instead of sworn law enforcment officers a few Navy SEALs aboard selected American flagged vessels, with proper rules of engagement, would be a pretty good deterent, I would think.

Meanwhile, in Iran:

U.S. Reporter Charged With Espionage in Iran

Iran charged detained American journalist Roxana Saberi Wednesday with
espionage, according to a Reuters report based on Iranian media.

This story has just broken, so we will update here as it develops.

UPDATE:

Evidently, Ms Saberi was originally arrested in February for buying a bottle of wine:

Fears increase for missing journalist Roxana Saberi from UK Times online 03 Mar '09:

Iran accused a detained American journalist of engaging in illegal activities yesterday after her worried family spoke out about her arrest in Tehran a month ago.

Roxana Saberi, 31, who had reported previously from Tehran for the BBC, called her father in the United States on February 10 to tell him that she had been arrested for buying a bottle of wine.

“She called from an unknown place and said she’s been kept in detention,” Reza Saberi said. “She said that she had bought a bottle of wine and the person that sold it had reported it and then they came and arrested her.” Buying or selling alcohol is a crime in the Islamic republic.

Ms Saberi said that she had already been held for ten days and called back moments later to warn her family not to raise any alarm because she was to be released in two more days.

Neither her family in the US nor her friends in Tehran have heard from her since. Friends told Mr Saberi that arrest for buying alcohol would not result in such prolonged detention, leading him to suspect that it was used as a pretext to detain her.

Ahmedawhackjob and company are terminally paranoid about Americans of Iranian heritage "infiltrating" the country for purposes of overthrowing the government, so it looks like this is the direction this is headed in.

A female Canadian photo journalist of Iranian heritage, Zahra Kazemi, was killed in custody of the Iranians back in '03, a victim of "severe head injuries". Surprisingly, no one was ever charged with her death.

Frank's Tuesday Morning Hangover April 7, 2009

2009-04-07T12:23:00.004-04:00

I’m really pissed off.

Let me start by admitting that I’ve got some Italian blood in me, but I’m pissed off as an American, not as an American of Italian descent.

How can The ONE justify sending the Italian people $50,000 in relief aid after they just suffered one of their greatest tragedies of the last several hundred years? Better yet, how can He (I'm being facetious by granting him deity status, by the way) offer up this pittance in the wake of his pledge of $900,000,000 to the Palestinian Authority?? Saying that this is a slap in the face of the Italian people would be like saying that there’s some water behind the Hoover Dam.

When I’m disgusted with a waiter’s service to my family during a night out I might tip him a quarter. I don’t want him to think that I just forgot to tip, I want him to KNOW, deep in his heart, that I have a really crappy opinion of him and everything about him.

Is this how The ONE sees the Italian people and government? On the heels of his show of disdain towards our brothers and sisters the Brits it’s not hard to pick up a trend.

More to the other point, how much of the $900,000,000 given to the Palestinians will be spent recruiting suicide bombers destined to wipe out kindergartens and old folks’ homes?

I’ll bet you $49,999 that it’ll be more than $50K.

Real men don’t tweet.

If you’re a guy who uses Twitter you need to turn in your nad sac post haste. How can a guy tell another guy that he’s “tweeting” every time he hits his blackberry? Besides that, who has so much damned hubris that they think that their life is important enough to keep everyone abreast of their happenings every couple of minutes?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to update my Myspace page. I’m changing my mood from “angry” to “really pissed”.

Back to my Italian heritage for a second – is it wrong that I claim to be Irish whenever Nancy Pelosi puts her foot in her mouth?

I’m starting to know how St. Peter felt on Good Friday with that whole “I don’t know this Jesus character” thingie.

From the files of too little too late – isn’t it nice to know that Attorney General Eric Holder thinks that former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens “did not receive a fair trial” and that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan thinks that "his trial was like no other instance of mishandling and misconduct that he’s witnessed In nearly 25 years on the bench”?

The Democratic Party and newly elected Senator Mark Begich of the great state of Alaska send their condolences Senator Stevens.

I’m sure that that helps take the sting out…

Please email me with any requests for my wisdom, but never forget to send hate mail and other negativity to ScrewYourselfWith@Chainsaw.com

I Don't Like Zeroes!

2009-04-06T20:38:00.003-04:00

Shocking news today from Italy where an earthquake of significant magnitude struck the country causing massive devastation. As of 8 p.m. more than 150 people had been confirmed dead and early reports say thousands are injured and several villages in the Old Country may have been completely destroyed.

Obviously our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone suffering- from residents and American citizens on holiday, to those involved in the recovery effort- it appears it will be quite an undertaking.

As I surfed the Internet earlier today, I came across a news brief that the United States had pledged $50,000 in aid to Italy. What? Is that in Lira, and what does that equate to over there? Oh yeah, I forgot, it’s the Euro now, which means even less cash.

"We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the earthquake. Our embassy in Rome will provide 50,000 (dollars) in emergency relief funding," State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.

Jumping on this early I run the risk of looking like a fool in three days time when the government pledges a few hundred million to help out, but I am willing to take the risk.

You see shortly after President Barack Obama took office he signed an order directing more than $900 million to Palestinian Authority to help with the recovery efforts in Gaza. You will recall that a few weeks later a government official claimed our allies in Great Britain were just the same as any other country in the world following a botched visit by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Now apparently Italy is the getting the same “old" "allied” "treatment."

If you’re keeping track, that’s $900 million for the suicide bombers blowing their own families up in the name of Allah, and $50,000 for our Italian friends suffering from a natural disaster.

In an effort to give the President the benefit of the doubt, I’m going to give him his out. In fact, he can plug this right into the teleprompter on Wednesday when he resurfaces from prayer in Turkey, and gives this address to the world.

“My fellow citizens of the world, I want to take a moment to explain to each of you why the United States is only providing $50,000 in aid to our great allies in Italy following the massive earthquake there earlier this week. You see, I am by nature, an optimistic person. And the number zero really gets me down. What we have to ask is, is zero even a number? Is it? This is what needs to be discussed during this tough time.

So we stand by our allies and offer our full support, but only whatever $50,000 buys these days. You see, 4 zeroes, is better than 7 zeroes, and definitely better than 8. I’m sure I don’t even need to tell you about 9, unless of course you happen to be a non-for-profit agency sanctioned by the government, then I have a lot of zeroes for you. Of course, those are the good zeroes, you know, the zeroes that buy votes. In closing, I just don’t like zeroes.

Thank you, and enjoy the opening of the Masters- it is a tradition like any other. I have Tiger in the White House pool.”

And there you have it.

I’m insulted that this great country would insult another country by releasing a statement saying we would send $50,000 while its people are buried beneath rubble. It’s pathetic, and people can continue to overlook this and claim it is partisan. It is anything but.

The only question left will be whether or not the real explanation will be as entertaining as the above faux speech? Well two questions, actually. How much would that original sum have totaled if it occurred in the homeland of one of our true allies? Say Iran, for instance.

Stay tuned.

Restoring America's Image

2009-04-03T19:49:00.005-04:00

For the last 7 years we heard how George Bush has "destroyed America's image around the world. Indeed, throughout his campaign, Obama spoke at length about that problem and vowed to restore that image.

And so, he has embarked on his first trip abroad as President, to meet with other world leaders at the G-20.

And so, we now have a new image.

That of Barack Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia. Let me say that again: the President of the United States of America bowed down to the King of Saudi Arabia, a nation that at best is a dubious ally and at worst is a despotic sponsor of terrorism.

What's the big deal, you may ask. That's certainly the question liberals have been asking. After all, he was just showing that he is a humble man and unlike his predecessor, he has respect for other countries.

Bullshit. One, Obama is a great many things, humble is decidedly not one of them. Two, he appears to have respect for certain countries. When introduced to the Queen of England, he did not feel compelled to bow. He nodded his head and shook hands. And that was the appropriate thing to do. In fact, that was how every other leader at the Summit greeted each other. They treated each other as equals. With one exception.

Liberals will also tell you they prefer Obama's bowing to Bush's "holding hands with the King". Well, of course they do. In the first place, BDS is their answer to everything and in the second place, they once again ignore facts. Consider this excerpt, from of all places, the NY Times:

In fact, if a man chooses not to touch another in a greeting, it can be interpreted as a sign of distance or disdain. Kissing cheeks, long handshakes and clutching hands are meant to reflect amity, devotion and most important, equality in status, noted Fuad Ishak Khuri, a social anthropologist, in his book, "The Body in Islamic Culture" (2001).

In other words, George Bush was able to pay respect to another country's leader while maintaining his not only his own dignity, but that of the country he represented. No wonder then, that liberals prefer Obama's bowing.

Because, HERE is the problem with what Obama did: bowing is a sign of subservience. With that bow, Barack Obama, President of the United States, a sovereign (for now) nation and leader of the free world subjugated not only himself but this country before another nation's King. The Revolutionary War was fought so that would never happen again.

Even better, he chose as the recipient of this gesture the ruler of an Islamic nation. That would be the same Islam whose basic philosophy preaches the enslavement of infidels...that would be us. Now, ask yourself how every jihadist interprets that image. Do they view it as "a sign of respect" or as a sign of America - the Great Infidel's submission?

Yeah. There's your new image.

That sound you hear is that of our Founding Fathers rolling in their graves.

Mexico and the 90% Myth

2009-04-02T16:06:00.005-04:00

If you've been paying any attention to the mess down on our border with Mexico in the popular media lately, you've learned two things:

1) 90% of the weapons used by the drug cartels are obtained from the United States, and

2) Certain U.S. politicians think that one of the best ways to help out our Mexican neighbors is to increase firearms control here in America.

Unfortunately, only one of those statements is true. Guess which one it is.

The 90% lie has been repeated in the press ad nauseam in the past month or so, ever since AG Eric Holder made his startling revelation to a group of Mexican reporters that the Obama administration had it's sights set on a new "assault weapons" ban...a claim later denied by the administration after prominent Congressional Democrats panned the idea, as visions of the '94 midterms danced in their heads. However, the 90% lie continued to cling to life, with only the independent blogsphere and the LA Times bothering to counter the ridiculous claims.

Now Fox News has actually looked into the 90% claims and (surprise!) they're bogus.

The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S.

In fact, it's not even close. The fact is, only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S.

What's true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency's assistant director, "is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S."

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.

"Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market," Matt Allen, special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told FOX News.

Thomas Paine, in "The Age of Reason," wrote, "One step above the sublime, makes the ridiculous; and one step above the ridiculous, makes the sublime again." With American leftist politicians considering altering our Constitution to serve the internal security troubles of a neighboring nation based on cooked up numbers, that statement takes on whole new connotations.

The Results Are (NOT) In!

2009-03-31T21:00:00.026-04:00

A week ago (here comes the pat on the back), WAF brought to your attention the ongoing Congressional race in the 20th District of upstate New York, in what we determined would be the first referendum on the President's spending plans.

The national media jumped on two days later- props to us. Anyway, tonight is the night. Polls have just closed, and we should know who won within two hours.

For the past four days, the candidates have been in full GOTV (Get Out The Vote) mode. It has been about as crazy as anyone can remember in these parts. Yeah, there are some hicks in this district.

9:00 p.m. - Today, New York State Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R- Schenectady), trailing despite a heavy Republican enrollment in the district, resorted to sending out text messages reminding people to vote. Unfortunately, the district is drawn so strangely, that they ended up wasting who knows how much money telling people that could not vote, to vote.

Scott Murphy, leading in the polls, despite running a campaign that said simply, "I love Barack Obama and you should vote for me for that reason," gained the support of the President in recent days with an e-mail to potential voters.

9:07 p.m. - The local TV stations are all fired up, and presenting updates during commercial breaks, interrupting the Tuesday night lineup again. This new government really is not a fan of Tuesdays.

9:08 p.m. - One of my favorite poll questions in recent weeks was the following- "Who do you believe will win the 2oth District race." Tedisco had a 10 point lead. Yet he "trailed" in the polls by four points. Bueller? Bueller? What the hell does that mean?

9:09 p.m. - The live blog of one election race in the entire country is not the smartest tactic for WAF, but the point is, we care, and we love you. Now get commenting.

9:11 p.m. - Play That Funky Music White Boy. Ok, so they're both white, but I stopped on American Idol for a moment while searching for an update. That guy can sing.

9:15 p.m. - Fox- Barney Frank, CNN- Natalie Cole, MSNBC- Gitmo. WAF? Congressional Races. You decide where to get your news!

9:17 p.m. - There is just not much coverage of this going on. But hang in there, once 9:45 p.m. rolls around it should pick up a bit. In the meantime, did you know that Ozzy has a new show coming up on FOX. Ugh. Why?

9:19 p.m. - On the text message issue. I appreciate the GOP trying to jump into the 21st century, but honestly, that is just going to piss people off. We were already inundated with obnoxious television ads for the better part of a month, and now you're going to run up my cell phone bill by sending me a message and I can't even vote in the race. C'mon. There has to be a better way. But at least they're trying.

9:27 p.m. - Early results are coming in. Murphy with huge leads in Greene and Warren Counties. Tedisco with a small lead in Saratoga County. Greene and Saratoga are not surprising. Warren is. Could be ugly.

9:29 p.m. - With 15 percent of the vote in District wide, Murphy leads 50-49 percent, but that is with nearly half of Saratoga Country reporting, what should be a strong Tedisco vote.

9:32 p.m. - The woman from the local AFL-CIO is on. You'll never guess who they are rallying for.

9:36 p.m. - Talk of it coming down to absentees. Good times, if both National Committees become involved. Who wants to buy a race! I'm going out on a limb and saying we have a result by midnight.

9:40 p.m. - Muprhy has won Washington and Warren County (not a surprise, somewhat surprise, respectively), and Muprhy now holds a very slim lead with 33 percent of the entire district reporting. Tedisco needs a bigger showing from Saratoga Country if he is going to pull this off. With 25 percent of that district in, he holds a 57-43 lead. If that holds up throughout the entire country, he should win, as it contains the most Republican voters.

9:43 p.m. - With 41 percent in, Muprhy has now extended his lead to 1,000 votes. At 33 percent it was just 210.

9:47 p.m. - It's a swinging night. With 53 percent of the district now in, Tedisco holds the slim lead of approximately 800 votes. No idea what district just reported. Stay tuned.

9:50 p.m. - With 68 percent in (105,000 votes) the Tedisco lead is just 342 votes, and the percentages in Saratoga have shrunk to 55-45. Not a very good sign.

9:52 p.m. - Murphy takes Essex and Dutchess County as well. But like we said before, it's going to come down to Saratoga, which is only reporting 2/3 of its districts right now. Lead is up to 425, with 68.? in. A small update, but we're working for you!

9:55 p.m. - The best source of upstate local news on the web- http://www.timesunion.com/ - has crashed, good times. With 73 percent in, Tedisco holds a lead 787 votes.

9:58 p.m. - Tedisco has won Rensselaer County. Once a Republican stronghold, it has changed dramatically in the last few years. There are two counties left to report- Columbia, where Murphy is doing very well, and Saratoga, where Tedisco is trending well. With 77 percent reporting, Tedisco's lead is 1,300 votes (50-49 percent).

10:01 p.m. - With 80 percent in, Tedisco still maintains a 1,300 vote lead. It's close. Reallllll close.

10:04 p.m. - Looking at the numbers, I still think Tedisco may have a problem. Saratoga is now at 82 percent reporting. Columbia has many more votes to count. Fitting that in the land of the Spa, this is going to be a photo finish. 83 percent in district wide, Tedisco by 1,300 still.

10:06 p.m. - 84 percent, and the lead is still 1,300. That number not moving is a bit scary for the GOP. The amazing thing is that Tedisco has a 5,000 vote lead in Saratoga County. If it weren't the over-achieving rich people that need to do more for this country, and stop being selfish, this race would be over.

10:09 p.m. - With 85 percent in, it's down to 1,000. Not good.

10:12 p.m. - Murphy has officially taken the lead. Up 200 votes with 90 percent in. You could see that coming. Tedisco now has to hope there is a pocket of votes in Saratoga County for him.

10:14 p.m. - Down to 150 votes. Can you say close? Saratoga, Green, both going for Tedisco right now, and Essex going for Muprhy, are left. Saratoga is clearly the largest block of voters.

10:16 p.m. - And out of nowhere, Murphy now has a 1,600 vote lead. Looks like it came somewhere in Saratoga, which could be the death knell for Tedisco.

10:23 p.m. - Bad news for Tedisco- Down 1,400 with 92 percent reporting. Worse news- Saratoga is 99 percent in, and it looks as if it will finish at 53-46. Way back when, an hour ago, we said it needed to be at 57-43. As always, we know our shit.

10:26 p.m. - With 94 percent of the votes in, Muprhy is leading by 1,509 votes. It's not looking good for Jumpshot Jim.

10:28 p.m. - Don't call it a comeback! Tedisco pulls withint 209 votes with 95 percent in. The tally is 73,915 to 73,706. At least the country is on the same page.

10:30 p.m. - Are you ready for this? with 99 percent of the Districts reporting, Muprhy holds a lead of 177 votes. Wow. There are 10,000 absentees out there. So in other words, we're not going to know tonight. Ok, maybe we don't know our shit.

10:36 p.m. - 99 percent in and we are separated by 75 votes, Muprhy with the slight lead. Tedisco is speaking right now. "From now on, just call me, Landslide Tedisco!" That was pretty funny.

10:39 p.m. - Ok, 100 percent of the precincts have reported. The two candidates vying for the 2oth Congressional district are separated by 59 votes after more than 155,00o votes. Every vote really does count. Murphy has the small lead. Tedisco says he is going to win, I'm sure Muprhy will say the same. It's going to come down to the absentees, and we're sure plenty of court challenges. Needless to say, we'll be back with the updates.

Good night and God Bless!

11:03 p.m. - Never mind, I'm back. Listening to Muprhy talk now. After eight minutes he has yet to mention that he has a lead of 59 votes with 10,000 absentees to be counted. So you ask, what has he talked about? Barack Obama. For ten minutes. All about the stimulus package. All about how the One is going to save the country with his economic policies. I swear to you, he's been speaking for ten minutes and has not uttered one word about how close this is. He is delivering a victory speech. And now the "Yes We Can" chants begin. I can't believe what I'm watching. These people are pathetic.

11:06 p.m. - "I am awed and humbled by the support we received tonight. The voters spoke loud and clear that they support Barack Obama and his attempts at saving our economy." What?!?! 155,000 votes. Separated by 59. And the people spoke loud and clear.

11:08 p.m. - "I also want to thank President Obama, and Vice-President Joe Biden. Who would've imagined 8 weeks ago that the President of the United States would've endorsed our campaign?" Uh, anyone?

11:10 p.m. - You should see the beards on some of these people behind him. Thanked Governor Paterson. No applause. Shocking. And now, "Thanks to the brothers and sisters in the labor movement. There has been such a tremendous amount of time and energy put in by our brothers and sisters. Fuck the rich." Everything there was accurate minus the final three words.

11:12 p.m. - 16 minutes in. Nothing about how close it is. I'm interested to see if he will thanks Tedisco for the race as the Republican did. "I want to thank the voters all over the 20th District. No one expected this many people to turn out and vote for a new guy. This is their victory, they turned what would've been a loss into a success." Are you kidding?

11:14 p.m. - I'm starting to think he won this thing by 30 points. I just can't believe what I am hearing. Or seeing. "I'm going to go to Washington and use common sense to work together with everyone else in Congress..." You should have started tonight, Scott. You're up 59. He's declaring victory. He just left the stage. And the media just said, "Neither party really celebrating tonight."

What? Dear lord.

11:28 p.m. - Politico.com with an interesting update. Murphy has more than 200 relatives in the District that are registered Republicans, and each likely voted for him.

We shall be back in the coming days.

Frank's Tuesday Morning Hangover

2009-03-31T12:34:00.005-04:00

Before I get less serious and more sarcastic I want to take a moment to recognize my colleagues and family at the Pinelake Health and Rehab center of Carthage, North Carolina. During a recent shooting rampage seven defenseless residents and their heroic charge nurse – Jerry Avent - lost their lives. Nurse Avent gave his life protecting his residents from harm. My nursing brotherhood lost a great one that day.

My prayers and thoughts reach out to each and every one of the loved ones that these innocents left behind.

I also want to take this opportunity to recognize Officer Justin Garner, who took three shots before dropping scumbag murderer Robert Stewart. Officer Garner had been accepted as a North Carolina State Highway Patrolman but stayed back in Carthage out of a feeling of service towards his hometown.

Open invitation to Officer Garner - If I’m ever in Carthage, North Carolina, dinner’s on me. Whatever you want my brother.

The ONE recently signed off on an increase in the Americorps Gestapo, errrr… volunteerism group of 75,000 members to 250,000 at an increase in cost of $5.7 billion in funding. There will be spots open for Americans of grade school aged children all the way up to senior citizens, but there is a mechanism to make membership compulsory for high school and college students. The group will be outfitted with special uniforms and even (re)education centers teaching these wonderful people in the fine arts of community agitation… I mean “organization”. They will be trained with the best attributes of our community organizers and the U.S. military.

High school kids with special uniforms and training in crowd control… hmm.

Anyone get the feeling that they were clubbed over the head by Cambodians in 1976 and woke up to a German interrogation in 1939 Berlin?

About a week ago I had the good fortune to spend the day at my daughters’ grade school, acting as a hall monitor and tutor. Some of what I saw left me dumbfounded.

My opinions –

-6th graders should not be allowed to dress as sluts-in-training. Their parents should be shot for allowing this, and the school administration needs to be slapped around for not sending these kids home.

-Teachers shouldn’t be dressed in jeans and t shirts or sweatshirts, the explanation being that “the students are more comfortable if everyone dresses the same”. Newsflash “teachers” – you’re supposed to be authority figures, not peers to 4th graders. Dress the damned part. When I was in grade school you knew that the old ladies in the habits were the ones that could rap your knuckles if you hacked them off.

-Finally, if Johnny can’t spell “a-c-k-n-o-w-l-e-d-g-e” you don’t tell him that he did a great job, but does another student “have a better answer”. Johnny screwed up. Tell him he was wrong and to write the word correctly on the board in front of the rest of the class. We're too worried about a child's self-esteem. Self-esteem doesn’t make great students. Making kids actually learn things in preparation of their futures makes great students. Self-esteem comes later when your kids are stepping on the stupid kids on their to the top of their chosen fields.

This is in a nice neighborhood grade school in a gaited community. I’m not talking about an inner city junior high where the teachers have to carry holdout pistols in case they need to waste a pissed off Rodian in a dive bar. (author’s note – I’ll send a Ruby Tuesday’s $10 gift card to the sender of my first received email that tells me which dive bar that would be.)

So The ONE doesn’t want to run the American automobile industry but he has the authority to fire now former GM CEO Rick Waggoner. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m wondering how American business is going to survive and thrive during this downturn if all of the potential executive superstars are so afraid of “special” government intervention that they avoid the risk taking that has made this country great.

Barack Obama wants to bail out the banks in order to free up credit for anyone that wants to get a new AmEx card. He wants bankers to give you the cash you need to spend, spend, spend. On the other hand, Tim Geithner wants Americans to wake up and realize that frugality and caring more about what you do for others is more important than how much money you make.

Do these guys get the same memos?

I celebrated Earth Hour by preparing an outstanding 24 ounce t-bone with asparagus and sweet potato fries on my George Foreman Grill ™.

Yes, I do own one. Seriously.

As always email me your thoughts and suggestions, but remember to send your hate mail to ScrewYourselfSlowlyWith@Chainsaw.com.

Short Round: Poetic Justice

2009-03-27T11:18:00.003-04:00

Oops.

KABUL, March 26 (Reuters) - A would-be suicide bomber accidentally blew himself up on Thursday, killing six other militants as he was bidding them farewell to leave for his intended target, the Interior Ministry said.

"The terrorist was on his way to his destination and saying good-bye to his associates and then his suicide vest exploded," a statement from the ministry said.

Karma's a bitch.

All that's left to wonder is how the White House would have treated this press release....

A misguided victim of capitalist imperialism prematurely detonated his only viable weapon against tyranny on Thursday, mistakenly extinguishing the future hopes of freedom of six other misunderstood indigenous personnel that were singing "Kumbaya" to celebrate his departure...

What's In a Name?

2009-03-25T11:03:00.004-04:00

First, the new Director of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, told a German news outlet that "man caused disasters" is the new term for "terrorism".

I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.

Yesterday, the Washington Post dropped this nugget about a war of words between the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget over how we refer to the War on Terror.

"Recently, in a LtGen [John] Bergman, USMC, statement for the 25 March
[congressional] hearing, OMB required that the following change be made before going to the Hill," Dave Riedel, of the Office of Security Review, wrote in an e-mail. "OMB says: 'This Administration prefers to avoid using the term "Long War" or "Global War on Terror" [GWOT]. Please use "Overseas Contingency Operation.'"

Now you're going to be hard pressed to find an administration more aware of the power of words than President Obama's...after all, he got elected using only two of them. This isn't just a move toward "political correctness"; this is a calculated public relations move and the opening salvo in the battle to change the way Americans view terrorism. It's not just a nuance.

Personally, I've never been in love with the phrases "global war on terror" or "war on terror". They're cumbersome, and although I'm no grammar nazi you can't wage a war against "terror", only "terrorists". On the flip side I've always liked the term "the Long War" because I feel it's perfectly descriptive of what we're engaged in and will continue to be engaged in for coming generations (not just decades, generations.)

"Overseas contingency operation", besides being overly bureaucratic, doesn't describe anything at all, really. A college kid trekking across Europe and trying to bang as many Swiss girls as he can in two weeks is engaged in an "overseas contingency operation" (and a worthy one, but you get my point.)

Never has a more public relations aware administration held the office, and the Democrats as a rule have always held a heavy PR hand over the DoD when they're in charge. We'd have probably rescued the Iranian hostages if President Carter wasn't so risk adverse to killing Iranians to do it because of the press it would have gotten. PR is why we beat a hasty withdrawal from Somalia after the Battle of Mogadishu in '93. It's never about how effective we are in combat with the lefties, it's about what headlines get in the paper a week later with these people.

It's no longer allowable to a large portion of the American population to kill our nation's enemies, and in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks this simply boggles my mind.

An entire generation of now elderly Americans were so completely galvanized by the Pearl Harbor attack that even today, 60+ years later, they can not only recount to you where they were and what they were doing that day, they can recall the emotion of it. Think about that. These people did not get the graphic images we were all privvy to on the fateful morning of 11 September 2001; they got their news at best through a radio, and more often than not through word of mouth and the newspapers. They didn't get to see images of the attack until days later, at best. And yet, that single instance became a point of resolve for an entire nation that has lasted with that generation of people for 6 decades. Ask any of those folks today whether they think the war on Japan and killing in defense of this nation was justified and see what sort of response you get.

To a logical mind, the attacks on 9/11 should have completely overtaken the memory of Pearl Harbor in the collective conscience: after all, the Pearl Harbor attack was at least on a military installation, and an act of war against the U.S. military and not intentionally targeting American civilians. The 9/11 attacks should have welded this nation's resolve into a single, unquestionable iron will like absolutely nothing in the history of this nation has. Today, a mere 7 1/2 years later, the opposite seems to have happened. The resolve of the nation as a whole to kill its enemies is weakening further still, and the Obama administration sees an opening here.

We will lose this war (and it is a war, not an overseas contingency operation) if this continues. Weakness in the face of overwhelming evil is always answered with more evil. If history has taught the human race anything, it is that. We must not shun from calling a terrorist a terrorist, we must not shun from calling a war a war, and we must not shun from killing our nation's enemies if we want to remain a nation of free men and women. This war of words is only the beginning of what portends to be a disastrous turn for our nation.

The Coin Toss

2009-03-24T19:11:00.002-04:00

When New York Governor David Paterson appointed upstate Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat earlier this year, he unwittingly set up ground zero for an early debate on President Barack Obama and his economic stimulus plans.

On March 31st, a special election will be held in the 20th Congressional District pitting longtime New York Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco (R- Schenectady) against Democrat businessman and political novice Scott Murphy. The 20th District is an interesting battleground for the first Congressional race since Obama took office, as sits in the increasingly liberal upstate New York, but happens to be a Republican stronghold for decades.

Gillibrand's first win in 2006 was considered a dramatic upset, attributed to a combination of her engaging personality, conservative views on finance and gun control, and an opponent draped in controversy.

Last year the District, like much of the state, voted for President Obama- despite its heavy Republican enrollment. Pundits on both sides of the aisles admit that Tedisco has run a clumsy race, making the outcome that much more important. At the end of the day, Tedisco will not win based on who he is, but if the 20th is concerned with the agenda the President has pushed in his first few months, he stands a fighting change.

Both Murphy and Tedisco have hammered each other on the economic stimulus package. Tedisco has attacked Murphy by claiming he created thousands of jobs for India, stealing work from Americans, and labeling him an outsider… or is it an insider. You can't keep track these days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB6kh4sKfCY

Murphy has criticized Tedisco for not taking a stand on the stimulus package, and has more or less campaigned on the back of Obama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0QSPHCSJV4

That is until the AIG bonus story broke last week and Tedisco emphatically came out against the Obama economic plan- better late than never. That spurred the Murphy camp to create an ad that could be considered a Tedisco ad depending upon how voters feel when they walk into the voting booth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3r8qKP29SQ

I was lukewarm on Tedisco until that ad, which was meant to be a negative piece, but did the opposite. Granted I have strong feelings on the stimulus package, which I’m not sure others do. Murphy has even taken a page from Obama’s book and said the stimulus package will create or save 76,000 jobs in upstate New York.

Upstate television viewers have been inundated with ads from both sides, including productions sanctioned and paid for by the Republican National Congressional Committee and Democrat National Congressional Committee. Both sides are invested heavily in the outcome, despite the fact that today one Congressman makes little difference at this point.

The 2010 mid-term election campaigns are going to start sooner than they have in years past, as each party believes it can capitalize on the current problems facing our nation. This is the pre-game buffet. There have been many issues discussed in the race thus far, but make no mistake that the Economic Stimulus Recovery Act will be the deciding factor.

For the Democrats, it is a race that should’ve been easily won. The District supported Obama, Gillibrand supports Murphy, and he has campaigned on the popularity of the President. Because of the enrollment advantage, a loss would not be devastating, but it would give some pause to a party that seems to believe the entire country is ready to follow it down a path to socialism.

The Republicans faced an uphill battle in winning the seat because of the above factors, and they have been saddled with a candidate that has been consistently inconsistent when it comes to his message. A win would be great, a loss not terrible for a party that needs to life, new ideas, and a new voice, particularly in New York.

At the end of the day it’s a toss up with one week to go. That's ironic when you consider that at this point the race is the coin toss for the 2010 mid-term games. Winner gets ball first. Heads or tails?

Frank's Tuesday Morning Hangover

2009-03-24T07:46:00.007-04:00

Oprah Winfrey, “Dr.” Phil McGraw, Tyra Banks and those skanky shrews on The View need to be strapped to the nose of an intercontinental ballistic missile loaded with sweet Chinese fireworks and launched straight into the air.

They have officially contributed to one of my greatest societal pet peeves plaguing the nation today.

They have made it OK to be fat.

I’m all about positive body image and self-esteem about who you are and how you look, and I’m certainly no fan of the emaciated Kate Moss look, but as a nation we’ve become SO ok with “being who we are” and "being happy with ourselves" that a whole lot of Americans have decided that it’s just fine to stop taking care of themselves.

Let me give you an example -

Recently an employee approached me rather tentatively and told me that she thought that I was “inappropriately flirtatious” towards her and asked me to please watch my behavior.

Now, the woman goes three bills easy (that’s around 300 pounds for those of you still in denial), and, not to brag - well, screw it, I’ll brag - I run 6’2”/195 and the percentage of my body weight that is composed of disgusting, useless fat cells is in the single digits. I work out regularly and for the most part watch what I eat. I care about how I look, how I feel, and my personal health. Why in the name of hell and heaven would someone that just doesn’t give a crap about her own appearance assume that anyone that DOES give a crap about his appearance could find her any more than repulsive?

Because Oprah says she’s beautiful just the way she is.

Oprah is wrong, AND Oprah is dangerous.

Newsflash - obesity is one of the most expensive healthcare issues in the nation today. Currently more than one quarter of our healthcare dollars are spent treating the chronically fat. That’s about what smoking costs us. Nearly two out of every three Americans are considered obese, and one out of eight deaths is caused by diseases attributed to being corpulent. Those numbers are only going to go get worse as McD’s cranks out super-sized "McValue" Meals - with the small Diet Coke, of course.

Is it too late to try and convict "Dr." Phil for conspiracy to commit mass murder?

As a fairly conservative man I have to question the righty tenet that gay marriage is wrong and ought to be prevented at all costs.

Shouldn’t homos be allowed to be as miserable as the rest of us?

Exhibit A that Almighty God is getting damned sick and tired of humanity's egotism - Recently some global warming geeks were snowed in on a glacier while they were trying to prove that we're killing a planet that has been around for about six billion years with or without or help.

Exhibit B - a recent symposium on global warming in Washington, D.C. was mostly unattended due to its being held during one of the worst cold spats in D.C.'s history.

Hey Heavenly Father, hate to rain on your parade, but you know that most of these tools don't believe that You exist, right?

I officially being my 38th year on planet earth today. Please feel free to send beer and lap dance coupons to my email address. On the other hand, if you have any complaints, disagreements or hate mail, send it all to ScrewYourselfSlowlyWith@Chainsaw.com.

Nancy Pelosi: Illegal Immigration Raids Are "Un-American"

2009-03-20T10:05:00.003-04:00

Yes, we're crossing over into the surreal again.

Shout out to ObamaOdrama for breaking out the video of Nancy Pelosi addressing a mixed crowd of legal and illegal immigrants this past Saturday:

It's always nice when the Speaker of the House is willing to get up on stage, pick up a microphone and say that enforcing the law is "un-American".

My son recently did a research project for his 4th grade class where he had to pick an ancestor and give a presentation on them, where they were from, their customs, etc. He picked his great grandfather, who was an immigrant from Norway in the 1920's, and researched his immigration into America. After learning more of what people went through in the 1920's to immigrate here legally (everything from dealing with the laws of their home country to the rigors of the trip to waiting at Ellis Island, etc.) I see every border sneek illegal as an even bigger slap in the face to every American who's ancestors did things the proper and just way to become Americans.

Short Round: A Good Cause

2009-03-19T15:05:00.002-04:00

Online Petition To Deny John Murtha's Navy Distinguished Public Service Award

From the petition:

On March 5, 2009 Congressman John Murtha was awarded the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award by the Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter. From the press release: It is the highest form of public service recognition bestowed by the Department of the Navy for a non-employee. According to the Department, nominations for this award will be limited to those extraordinary cases where individuals have demonstrated exceptionally outstanding service of substantial and long term benefit to the Navy, Marine Corps, or as Department of the Navy as a whole.

...

John Murtha deserves no such award. He has routinely and deliberately undermined the United States military, slandered servicemen serving in combat, and caused irreparable damage to our international reputation. While serving as a Representative from Pennsylvania, Murtha called Marines from 3d Battalion, 1st Marines "cold blooded killers" who "murdered innocent civilians." Before an investigation into the Haditha incident was even conducted, Murtha went on numerous television news programs and announced that the Marines "went into houses and killed women and children." He said, "There's no question in my mind about what happened here. There was no gunfire, they killed four people in a taxi...24 people were killed." When asked specifically if he claimed that innocent civilians were intentionally executed by Marines, he said, "That's exactly what happened." Not content to slander those Marines directly involved, he went on to claim that if these Marines were not punished, "other Marines would say well I'll do the same thing." Murtha then continued to use this incident to lobby for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, citing it as evidence that our military was incapable of winning the war.

Eight Marines were originally charged. As of March 17th, 2009 all charges were dropped against six Marines, one was found not guilty on all counts in courts martial. The prosecution has delayed the court martial of the final defendant indefinitely. The original allegations of a massacre and the statements of Congressman Murtha have been thoroughly discredited. Despite the facts, John Murtha refuses to apologize to those he slandered.

Take a moment and go sign the petition. It's tough to say about a former brother Marine, because one Marine hates to see any Marine fall, but Murtha is a scumbag and deserving of no such recognition at all from anyone.

With Friends Like These: UPDATE

2009-03-19T09:49:00.005-04:00

The Obama administration on Wednesday abandoned a controversial plan to make veterans use private insurance to pay for costly treatments of combat-related injuries.

Stung by the angry reaction to the proposal, the administration made the decision after a meeting between officials from 11 veterans advocacy groups and top White House officials.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the intent of the plan had been to "maximize the resources available for veterans."

He said, however, that President Barack Obama, who met with the veterans groups on Monday in their first trip to the White House, recognized their concern that it could "under certain circumstances, affect veterans and their families' ability to access health care."

The fact this never should have been a consideration in the first place, it was only pulled because they knew they'd be hammered over it and the idiotic explanation all notwithstanding: score one for the good guys.

And This Week's WAF "Ray of Hope" Award Winner Is...

2009-03-18T09:57:00.008-04:00

With all the depressing news about the economy, our sinking foreign relations, etc. floating around, it's nice when once in awhile a story that fills you with an actual sense of hope comes along. I'm not talking about Hope & Change sort of hope here, I'm talking about real, maybe-we're-not-so-fucked-after-all sort of hope.

This is that sort of story:

Canadian Bus Driver Interupts Seal Hunt Protest to Club Mock Seal

The head of an anti-sealing group says it’s “extremely alarming” that Halifax regional police have decided not to press charges again a Metro Transit driver who stopped his bus, ran into their protest and attacked a mock seal with an extendable baton.

I'm sure they're alarmed...I'm sure they're equally alarmed when animal rights protesters display worse sorts of behavior and get arrested. The problem here is these retarded hippies have had their way unopposed for too long...when somebody stages a counter-protest by, say, smacking their baby seal puppet around a little, they get shocked. "Wait, he can't do that...only we can do that sort of thing!"

The weird attack happened around 12:40 p.m. Saturday in front of the main entrance to the Halifax Public Gardens. The driver, who was in uniform, stopped his bus near the corner of Spring Garden Road and South Park Street and ran toward the group of about 25 protestors brandishing a baton, said Bridget Curran, director of the Atlantic Canadian Anti-Sealing Coalition.

“It was a black retractable baton, which is a weapon, I saw it quite clearly,” Ms. Curran said Monday.

Calling it an "attack" is a bit strong...he beat up a fake baby seal. Maybe it was cardboard, paper mache', stuffed, whatever, but how do you "attack" a fake baby seal? And I'm not condoning this guy doing this in uniform, on company time. Okay, maybe I am a little bit. Point being, the guy has to take his lumps for doing this on the job (reportedly he's on a small vacation as I type this...suspended, taking vacation pay while the "investigation" procedes.)

After the odd incident, “he ran back across the street, got back on his bus and drove away,” Ms. Curran said. “We were all quite shocked. Because we were there to demonstrate against violence against animals and, in this particular case, the seal hunt, violence against seals. But he obviously thought that it was quite funny to simulate an act of violence against a seal.”

He's not the only one who thinks it's "quite funny", lady.

The bus number was 1036 driving east on the 1 Spring Garden Road route. The middle aged driver was “medium build and medium height, and he had a bit of a belly on him,” Ms. Curran said.

Way to profile and stereotype bus drivers, you hippy freak. How would you like it if I said, "I saw the protesters who's baby seal was attacked...they were all dressed in tie-dye, looked like they hadn't showered in a week, smelled like patchouli oil and were all standing around with lost, vacant looks on their faces"?

Here's a little fact the seal hugging crowd doesn't want you to know: the harp seal population is estimated at somewhere around 9.5 million. The Canadian quota for the hunt fluctuates somewhere between 250,000 and 350,000 every year, so roughly they're looking at culling about 3% of the total population with this hunt. The harp seal population is beyond stable; it has about tripled since 1970 (evidently in spite of global warming...) and they've never even sniffed at the coveted "endangered" status.

Any time we can twist the knife between the ribs of the collective hippy conscience, it's a good day. Let's hope this bus driver takes his suspension like a man, goes back to work, and enjoys a free beer or two at the bar while retelling the story.

With Friends Like These

2009-03-17T17:02:00.011-04:00

Barack and Michelle Obama think very highly of the United States Military. Very. Highly. This is how highly they regard our servicemen and women:

The First Lady has vowed to be an advocate for the military, promising them that they have a "friend in the White House". Just last week, she paid a visit to Ft. Bragg, meeting with military families and touring the base. Her message: "Military families bear a very heavy burden, and again, they do it without complaint," Obama said. "But as a nation, we need to find ways to lighten their load."

This is also how highly the Obamas think of the military: At a meeting yesterday at the Department of Veterans Affairs, PHBO said: "I think about my grandfather whenever I have the privilege of meeting the young men and women who serve in our military today. They are our best and brightest, and they're our bravest -- enlisting in a time of war; enduring tour after tour of duty; serving with honor under the most difficult circumstances; and making sacrifices that many of us cannot begin to imagine. The same can be said of their families. As my wife, Michelle, has seen firsthand during visits to military bases across this country, we don't just deploy our troops in a time of war -- we deploy their families, too."

To this end, PHBO, together with new Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, want to "transform the Department of Veterans Affairs for the 21st century". Indeed, the plan is to increase the budget for the Department by over $25 billion (pdf). These funds will be used to expand the VA health care program so that it can serve an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013; to implement a GI Bill for the 21st century; to provide better health care; and to dramatically improve services related to mental health and injuries like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. The funds will also be used for technology that will ease the transition from active duty to home for our nation's service members.

This is all excellent news. If you're not convinced yet just how highly PHBO and the First Lady value the military, I offer you this:

His administration is considering a proposal to require a veteran's private insurance to reimburse the VA for treatment of combat related injuries. Yes, you read that right. PHBO wants servicemen injured in defense of their country to have their own insurance reimburse any care provided by the 21st century VA.

Now, I'm not going to get into how disgraceful a betrayal this is to the men and women who put their lives on the line or how this violates the most sacred of trusts. Nor am I going to get into how we can provide full medical coverage to illegal aliens or how we can find 900 million to send to Hamas...er, I mean "Palestine" but we can't take care of our wounded servicemen. Really. Not getting into it.

Instead, I wonder about the financial aspects of this proposal. I don't know about the rest of you, but my insurance company specializes in finding ways to get out of paying for the care I'm supposed to get. Between deductibles, co-pays, riders and the all inclusive "pre-existing condition", how much will a vet's insurance really cover? And what happens to the portion they decide isn't covered? Even when an insurance company does pay, there's a maximum amount of coverage in a calendar year. What happens to the vet and their family after coverage is exhausted? For those discharged vets entering the workforce or reservists returning to work, how will employers deal with this situation? On the bright side, the improved treatment for PTSD will come in handy when vets face mounting medical debts.

I wonder if PHBO has thought about any of this. I also wonder if Michelle knows about this. I mean, did Barack not get the memo that she is BFF with the military?

Now, for those of you suffering from BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome), before you start with "yeah, but Bush...", pay attention: Bush. Is. Not. The. President. STFU.

For the rest of you, if you think this is a disgrace...oh wait, I said I wasn't going to get into that...anyway, I urge you to write your representatives and senators and tell them to vote against any such proposal making its way to the Hill. I am blessed in this regard. Hailing from Massachusetts, my senators are the "Lion of the Senate" himself, Ted Kennedy and that "champion of vets everywhere" John Kerry. I am sure they will work tirelessly to defeat this proposal. What? You think THEY want to piss off Michelle?

Frank's Tuesday Morning Hangover

2009-03-17T07:29:00.002-04:00

Has anybody ever seen this movie starring Gomez Adams’ kid Rudy, or Samwise or something about a United States where liberals have taken the “create an even playing field for all Americans” to an extreme that’s ridiculous even by the most ridiculous of liberal extremes?

In an effort to create the ultimate “equality” among the citizenry, the achievers and gifted amongst the populace were given impediments to bring them back to the pack. The fastest runners and best basketball players had to wear leg weights to slow them down and screw up their vertical leaps. People with superior eyesight had to wear “corrective” glasses to give them a normal 20/20 vision range. Tera Patrick had to get a breast reduction.

Most importantly, everyone in the country had to wear this headgear thing that forced the brain to process information at the level of someone with an IQ in the 90-100ish range - flat average. The gifted were brought back to the pack in an effort to allow the rest of the people to “catch up”, to “become equal”.

I’m about to hurt your eyes people -

All men and women were not created equally.

Some are smarter. Some are faster. Some are better looking. Some are more inventive and creative. I don‘t expect to match up one-on-one with Lebron James in a pickup game anytime soon, and I’m certainly not about to bitch to The ONE to make him wear leg weights and screwy goggles to make it a fair game.

You can’t create artificial equality by punishing the achievers and leaders in this nation. Would Microsoft have become the industry giant without Bill Gates? Do the Bulls win six rings without Michael Jordan? Do you really want a bank janitor running AIG?

Ok, that last one’s a bad example, but you get my point, right? It’s ok to envy the gifted - envy leads to inspiration which leads to self-improvement, which leads to personal achievement (unfortunately this is only in theory)- but expecting your government to level the field by redistributing wealth or creating special laws giving preferential treatment or protection is just wrong.

Oh, the punch line of Sean Astin’s “Harrison Bergeron”? Samwise takes his headgear off, realizes he’s a genius and ends up eating the business end of a pistol rather than live in a society devoid of creativity and achievement.

Do we really want to live in a society that embraces mediocrity?

Do we really want those that we should be looking up to to just give up?

So I’m at one of those all-you-can-eat family friendly style restaurants, an “Italian” - and I use the word verrrrry loosely - place called “Cinzetti’s”. The couple in the table over is pushing seven bills between them. Easy. Plate after plate after plate to the point where my daughters are talking about poor people not having enough to eat and I’m losing my appetite.

The waitress comes over to clear some plates away and the guy just about takes her head off of her shoulders.

“THIS PLACE IS ALL YOU CAN EAT!! WE’RE NOT DONE YET!!!!”

Want to know what really pissed me off about these pigs??

Universal healthcare.

In ten years we’re going to be paying for this slob’s triple bypass, stomach staples and one of those fat people scooters that you make fun of in grocery stores.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. Otherwise known as "Amateur DUI Day".

Do us all a favor and stay the hell off the road.

Disagree with me? Please send your emails to ScrewYourselfSlowlyWith@Chainsaw.com

PSA: Homes for our Troops

2009-03-15T11:02:00.002-04:00

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a fund raiser hosted by Homes for our Troops. I hadn't heard of this organization until late last week but have since learned a great deal about the good work these people have undertaken.

As the name implies, Homes for our Troops is a non-profit grass roots organization, founded in 2004, whose mission is to remodel or provide custom built homes designed to meet the needs of severely injured service members. They raise donations of money, land, building materials and professional labor and coordinate the process of adapting or building the home. All of this assistance is provided at no cost to the service member. Since their founding, they have provided 20 homes in as many states with 35 more planned thus far. Of particular note is the fact they manage to keep their overhead down to 7%; a great many other charities can learn a trick or two here.

Last night's event was to benefit Army Sgt. Peter Rooney and his wife, Susanne. The Sgt. lost both legs above the knee when the vehicle he was riding in was hit by an IED in Ramadi, Iraq. He enlisted in the Army in 2001 at age 18; he is now 25. Think about that for a minute.

The general reaction of the service members who have been the beneficary of homes is this: they are humbled that complete strangers could be so generous just because they served their country. I suggest it is we who are humbled by their selflessness, sacrifice and honor.

The link to Homes for our Troops has been added to our list of recommended sites. It's more than more a look.

Snub Of The Century: A WAF Exclusive!

2009-03-14T08:45:00.000-04:00

(March 14, 2009- Washington, D.C.)- President Barrack Obama is reeling this afternoon after a morning press conference in which the most powerful man in the world confessed that the snubbing of Great Britain Prime Minister Gordon Brown was intentional.

Obama admitted transgression following a string of questions from the media outlet WAF. The shocking transcript is reprinted below:

WAF: Mr. President, Led here, from WAF. Could you please explain exactly what happened with Mr. Brown’s visit and the snubbing of our closest ally?

Obama: There was no snubbing, and that is the, uh, end of the story.

WAF: Well most of England feels like it got the shaft.

Obama: Well how does Great Britain feel?

WAF: Sir?

Obama: You know England is just one small piece of Great Britain.

WAF: Sir?

Obama: I bet you, uh, the previous President was unaware of that fact.

WAF: So you’re saying you only intended to anger England and not Great Britain.

Obama: Yes. Uh, no. There was no snubbing.

WAF: Follow-up question. What were the DVD’s that you gave to Mr. Brown.

Obama: Let’s see there was Braveheart, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, I really love that one. There was uh, King Ralph, and uh, V for Vendetta.

WAF: Sir, that is quite a list. It appears that, well, that none of those really portray England very well.

Obama: What do you mean?

WAF: Well, Braveheart was about Scottish rebels fighting the evil English king. Robin Hood took on the feudal system, you know the whole redistribution of wealth. King Ralph is about an American becoming King of England, and V for Vendetta calls for an uprising and overthrow of the English government.

Obama: What is your point?

WAF: Seems like a pretty consistent message you are trying to send.

Obama: Let me ask you this, and I am, uh, of course, a student of history. Do any of these movies present a false image of the England as it, uh, currently exists.

WAF: What?

Obama: Do they present a contradictory message?

WAF: Well, yeah, I think so.

Obama: Well then, we have a differing opinion, don’t we?

WAF: Sir, are you contending that England is more closely represented by the DVD’s you sent to Mr. Brown than by our nearly two hundred years of friendship?

Obama: Two hundred years of friendship? These people tried to kill my ancestors. They tried to kill your ancestors.

WAF: Sir, I’m English.

Obama: Well how the **** did you get in here?

WAF: Sir, I’ve been covering you since you announced you were running for President.

Obama: Well okay then. They didn’t kill, uh, your ancestors, but they did mine. And everyone else in this country. Why do we forget that, if we are so concerned about, uh, terrorism? Who has had a more tyrannical history than England?

WAF: Is it your contention that the United States should sever it’s alliances with Great Britain.

Obama: Certainly not. But I don’t think they are anything special. They are just like the other 57 states, and 190 countries- all the same.

WAF: I think the people of England would beg to differ with that.

Obama: Friends? Do friends attack friends?

WAF: Sir?

Obama: Oh yeah, everyone forgets about the War of 1812. Like it didn’t happen. But I don’t. And where the hell, uh, were they when the Civil War was going on? Suddenly we save their ass in the 20th Century a few times and we are best buds. This relationship hasn’t really been, uh, mutual has it?

WAF: Again sir, I think England would beg to differ.

Obama: You can beg all you want, you aren’t getting any stimulus.

WAF: What about all of the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq that have stood by you since September 11th and put their lives on the line.

Obama: I told you I’m bringing all the troops home soon.

WAF: The English soldiers, sir.

Obama: What about them?

WAF: What do you say to them?

Obama: Tally ho?

At this point President Obama was whisked away by Secret Service because of an emergency that we later learned was whether or not the scones for the Saint Patrick’s Day dinner should have raisins.

Follow-up calls to the White House for clarification were not returned, though a source did say he thought the President was “joking” and was likely just caught off guard when his teleprompter did not work.

Representatives from Great Britain have also not yet returned calls for comment.

Environmentalism and Shifting the Tax Burden

2009-03-13T11:42:00.008-04:00

This morning, my office got a call from a very nice elderly lady, inquiring about the mechanics of filing a conservation easement on her property. She had started the easement process in the late 1990's and decided against it at the time. However, something had changed her mind in the past decade: "With the property taxes getting so expensive, I need to do something here to bring them back down."

Ay, there's the rub, as Hamlet would say.

A conservation easement, as the name implies, is generally an encumberance placed on a piece of property (generally a large or desirable tract of land) by the owner for the purpose of conservation for the future. Usually they limit future development and use of the property to specific small, "low impact" uses. There will often have restrictions on how the land may be divided, what sorts of structures may be built, how the vegetation/trees on the property will be managed, etc. They are generally billed as "preserving the land for future generations". This easement will become attached to the title of the property and carry these restrictions forward to any future owners. A property owner may have this easement written up independently, by a lawyer or title company experienced in these matters, but more often than not the easements are written up and enforced by a third party conservation or land trust organization (generally a non profit).

The largest nation wide organization managing these sorts of easements is The Nature Conservancy. In my home state of Minnesota, the Minnesota Land Trust is the largest state wide organization managing conservation easements.

The question is, when does a conservation easement no longer become a conservation easement, but a tax shelter? From the Nature Conservancy's website:

Here is a summary of the benefits available to many landowners who donate conservation easements:

- They can deduct up to 50 percent of their adjusted gross income in
any year (up from 30 percent);

- They can deduct up to 100 percent of their adjusted gross income if
the majority of that income came from farming, ranching or forestry; and

- They can continue to carry over unused portions of deductions for as
long as 15 years (up from 5 years) after the initial year in which the deduction
was claimed.

Those are just the benefits at the federal level; if you're state uses an ad valorem property tax system that uses the value of property as the basis for figuring property taxes, the argument then becomes that since these sorts of easements diminish the usability of the property, then the value of the property on the open real estate market is therefore diminished, and therefore subject to a lower level of taxation. This aspect of the system is openly advertised by the groups that specialize in managing these properties, like Minnesota Land Trust:

Income Taxes: As with other charitable contributions, the donation of a conservation easement under certain circumstances may allow the landowner to claim a federal income tax deduction for the value of the easement.

Estate taxes: A gift of a conservation easement may also reduce federal estate taxes, making this an effective way to transfer land to the next generation with its natural features intact.

Property Taxes: An easement that reduces the value of the land may result in lowered annual property taxes.

The tendency is to shrug these sorts of incentives off, but at what point does this change from a simple incentive to a shifting burden? At the local and state level, the total levy amounts will not be changed to compensate for these lowering values; the loss in revenue will simply be passed on to the neighboring properties in the same taxing jurisdiction. In other words, if your neighbor's share of property taxes go down, yours are likely to go up.

In some areas, where these programs are very attractive to landowners of large tracts of land, the tax burden can get shifted down to folks who own pieces of property that are smaller, less desirable from a conservation standpoint, and lower in overall value. Theoretically, the owner of a multi million dollar property should be in a better position to pay their fare share of overall property taxes than a person who owns a family home on a small lot...but in the end, what constitutes their fair share becomes a point of conservation debate and not a simple fact.

There is more talk now than ever of additional government incentives to "be green", everything from subsidies to set aside farmland to a tax break for driving a high mpg vehicle. Having failed to get majority of people to enlist in the fight to save Mother Earth by appealing to our collective environmental conscience, they're now trying to get us to do it by appealing to our individual wallets.

At what point do a person's motives to "be green" come into question? Should the general public subsidize a person's conservation efforts when the sole point of that effort is to lower their taxes?

Is the planet really going to hell so fast that we can't slow down, take a look at some of these programs and say, "Wait, is this really in the average American taxpayers' best interests?"

Like Kermit said, it ain't easy being green.

How Local is Local?

2009-03-11T21:00:00.006-04:00

A long, long, time ago Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil, remarked… “all politics is local.” Now, as the good, God fearing Liberal that I am, I hang on just about every word Ole Tip said. So when I hear that there is some $8.2 billion of “pork” in a $410 billion budget, I’m not troubled. I mean a few million dollars to investigate pig odor and manure removal doesn’t seem so important to me, but to the guy that lives around them, it’s a different story. Congressmen get elected based in part by what type of bacon they bring home to their district. So, if a few million goes to local pet projects, that’s fine. They all do it…..politics is local, remember.

But when Ms. Pelosi’s definition of local moves from helping the district, to helping the bedroom or the board room (or maybe in this case bored room, as I can’t imagine an evening with Ms. Pelosi being the romantic equivalent to a ride on Space Mountain), she has gone too far. It is as if I’m watching a rerun of that game show where Allen Ludden would give his panel a word in an envelope as an offstage voice would tell the viewers at home, “ the password is hypocrite.”

When the minimum wage act was passed, Ms. Pelosi, said “After nearly a decade, 15 million hard-working families will finally receive the pay raise they have deserved for so long. With the passage of this crucial legislation, we will reward work, paying America’s workers a decent wage so they may join in our nation’s prosperity.” This is nice, unless you happen to be one of those hard working American families who live in American Samoa, the only US Territory exempt from the minimum wage requirement, an addendum to the bill which Ms. Pelosi sponsored and endorsed.

You see, American Samoa is the largest producer of tuna fish for the Star-Kist Company. 75% of the workers in American Samoa work for Star-Kist. Star-Kist is headquartered in San Francisco. Star-Kist’s parent company, Del Monte foods, is a major contributor to Ms. Pelosi. To add to the questionable ethics, Paul Pelosi, Nancy’s husband, owns $17 million of Star-Kist stock. Even the most devout liberal has to be appalled at this. Lord knows I am.

Somehow, I don’t think this is what Ole Tip meant when he defined all politics as local. Local means bringing home a pet project that will benefit the district, not keepingthe corporate giant happy by keeping wages down. Nor is it defined as adding to the bottom line of hubby’s portfolio. Pelosi is a disgrace. She owes the workers of American Samoa an apology, and a more substantial apology than just a simple…“sorry Charlie”

I Am Not An Economist, Nor Is Warren Buffett

2009-03-11T18:56:00.004-04:00

Warren Buffet is going to have to turn in his cool kids club card.

While technically not an economist, Mr. Buffett has amassed enough of a fortune, and developed enough of a reputation in the investment world, that liberals have been quick to parade his endorsement of Barrack Obama out when anyone dared question the acumen behind the administration’s economic recovery efforts.

Until now.

Speaking to CNBC on Monday, Buffett related the current economic situation to Pearl Harbor, saying that we are in an economic war, and not so subtly adding that the crisis the Democrats keep talking about as an opportunity not to be missed is shameful.

“(We’ve) heard this comment recently from some Democrats recently that a `crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” Buffett said. “It’s, in my view, it’s an economic war, and–I don’t think anybody on December 7th (1941) would have said a `war is a terrible thing to waste, and therefore we’re going to try and ram through a whole bunch of things and- but we expect the other party to unite behind us on the- on the big problem. It's just a mistake, I think, when you've got one overriding objective, to try and muddle it up with a bunch of other things.

What Buffett fails to recognize is that this has been the Democrats plan all along. They’ve just advanced it at a quicker pace than many thought possible due to the initial overwhelming support for the President (Hope!). While Buffett gives their intentions the benefit of the doubt, he does not agree with the treatment of the GOP, which the left has attempted to label as a party of no.

“You can’t expect people to unite behind you if you’re trying to jam a whole bunch of things down their throat,” he said. “So I would–I would absolutely say for the–for the interim, till we get this one solved, I would not be pushing a lot of things that are–you know are contentious, and I also–I also would do no finger-pointing whatsoever.”

Strike two. And then came the big no-no in Liberal Land, the defense, or at least the calling off of the dogs on the former President. He even called him George. Really.

“I would–you know, I would not say, you know, `George’–`the previous administration got us into this,’” Buffett said while signing his liberal love death certificate. “Forget it. I mean, you know, the Navy made a mistake at Pearl Harbor and had too many ships there. But the idea that we’d spend our time after that, you know, pointing fingers at the Navy, we needed the Navy. So I would–I would– I would–no finger-pointing, no vengeance, none of that stuff. Just look forward.”

In the last week, Obama’s big name advisor has called into question the Democrats ability to manage this economic crisis, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has questioned the honesty of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Nancy Pelosi threw out the idea of a second pork-filled stimulus package, and word came that Obama does not have the votes to pass his budget.

Most of this is being overlooked because the media cannot bother to talk about news, and the Dow had one of its starts Tuesday, gaining more than 5 percent.

Soon it will go back down as more government programs are proposed with no viable funding source. There will be more job losses, but we will continue to hear about how many jobs are saved or mythically created. Barring a miracle where the country rises up and stops this abhorrent taxation of achievers for the benefit of the non-contributors, there will be no light at the end of the tunnel. Not yet.

No, I am not an economist. Not that it matters anymore.

Letting Radical Islam Die On The Vine?

2009-03-11T10:27:00.008-04:00

In last week's Newsweek, Fareed Zakaria had a very well written opinion piece called Learning To Live With Radical Islam (and let's face it, Fareed Zakaria is really the only compelling reason to read Newsweek anyway.)

Zakaria's article was released with impeccable timing, as this past week President Obama himself expressed the possibility of reaching out to the Taliban in Afghanistan as part of the solution to the Afghanistan campaign.

Both men cite the successes of the U.S. in dealing with former Sunni and Shi'a radicals in Iraq as at least part of the motivation for their concepts, and that we need to separate the local jihadists from the global ones.

Zakaria makes a very compelling argument for isolating local jihadists and letting their radicalism "burn out" so to speak. For instance, he points out that in Nigeria:

After the end of military rule in 1999, 12 of Nigeria's 36 states chose to adopt Sharia. Radical clerics arrived from the Middle East to spread their draconian interpretation of Islam. Religious militias such as the Hisbah of Kano state patrolled the streets, attacking those who shirked prayers, disobeyed religious dress codes or drank alcohol. Several women accused of adultery were sentenced to death by stoning. In 2002 The Weekly Standard decried "the Talibanization of West Africa" and worried that Nigeria, a "giant of sub-Saharan Africa," could become "a haven for Islamism, linked to foreign extremists."

But when The New York Times sent a reporter to Kano state in late 2007, she found an entirely different picture from the one that had been fretted over by State Department policy analysts. "The Islamic revolution that seemed so destined to transform northern Nigeria in recent years appears to have come and gone," the reporter, Lydia Polgreen, concluded. The Hisbah had become "little more than glorified crossing guards" and were "largely confined to their barracks and assigned anodyne tasks like directing traffic and helping fans to their seats at soccer games." The widely publicized sentences of mutilation and stoning rarely came to pass (although floggings were common). Other news reports have confirmed this basic
picture.

Residents hadn't become less religious; mosques still overflowed with the devout during prayer time, and virtually all Muslim women went veiled. But the government had helped push Sharia in a tamer direction by outlawing religious militias; the regular police had no interest in enforcing the law's strictest tenets. In addition, over time some of the loudest proponents of Sharia had been exposed as hypocrites. Some were under investigation for embezzling millions.

Zakaria's point seems to be a simple one: that people will always choose order over chaos, and in the Muslim world "order" often simply means Sharia. Later, in time (and the loose examples that Zakaria uses tend to make it seem like it will be sooner rather than later) the people and government will softly "rebel" and the strictest interpretations of Sharia will fall off on the wayside, and things will moderate of their own accord. Unfortunately, history is filled with examples that prove Zakaria's examples are really not the norm, but part of his argument defies a historical examination: that in this modern age, radical Islamism cannot exist long term and will eventually fade and die as a system of government due to its own nature.

It is a compelling and attractive position, and comes back to the core argument that by pulling back our overseas deployments we will no longer be the invaders on foreign soil, angering the locals into jihad, and that the global jihadists will lose support once the locals don't have foreigners walking around to piss them off.

The question then becomes, how much presence is too much? The existence of an embassy alone was enough to set off the Iranians in 1979. There were only a handful of infidels within spitting distance of the Taliban in the late 90's when foreign jihadist training camps flourished after the Taliban's rise to power in the mid 90's. Rhetoric about global jihad continues to grow in Indonesia. And everywhere that any form of Sharia rules supreme, the boogeyman of Palestine is always available to whip up some nationalistic/religious fervor among the natives.

The reality of the situation is that while the local Islamists in Muslim countries may not support a global jihad themselves, history has proven they are more than willing to tolerate the presence of global jihadists among them, and that's all it takes.

Everyone can agree that the problem of how to combat the global Islamists is more complicated than it seemed back in 2002. However, there is danger in the concept that by pulling back forces now, it is guaranteed we will make more friends than we will enemies. Rather we need to recognize that there are not individual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is only one war, it is global, and the battle will ebb and flow through different campaigns, of which Afghanistan and Iraq are only two of what will certainly be more. During this war, anywhere on the globe that radical Islam creates the atmosphere that allows global jihadists to exist, we will be forced to be at odds with it, no matter how "localized" the phenomenon is.

I am at my core a "live and let live" sort of guy. Zakaria seems to be saying that the vast majority of Muslims out there are too, and I don't have a problem believing that. The problem is, their religion doesn't have much "live and let live" about it, and as long as a Muslim in Asia is willing to tolerate living next door to someone who believes in delivering the war to our doorstep, we're going to have this problem. How we decide which threats are local and which are global in the next couple of years is going to frame the success of the war, and in large part the security of the nation.

Mending Fences

2009-03-10T13:05:00.005-04:00

Like most folks with an IQ north of Gump, I nearly shit a brick this past week when the White House declared that there's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment.

What. The. Fuck. Our staunchest allies on the globe, who are doing much of the heavy lifting in Afghanistan, who have sacrificed 300 of their very best citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan combined since 9/11, have been reduced to the same as everyone else on the globe. Congratulations Britain, you're on par with Iran and North Korea now in our book!

The stunning idiocy that is forming within the White House under the guise of foreign policy has become breathtaking. Why not just put Gordon Brown up in a Motel 6 the next time he's over, and send over some Subway?

There's only one thing I can think of that will rectify this situation in the shortest possible time frame: turn over UK/American relations to WAF.

We like to make occassional fun of our UK brethren here, but beyond the jokes, you have to give the Brits credit where credit is do. While their society is being overrun by liberalism run amok, there are still small oasis of tradition holding out that give one hope, and one of the greatest rays of light is their sporting traditions, and specifically racing. A great percentage of the great racing drivers in history have been Brits, and for good reason: these fuckers are just flat out crazy when they get behind the wheel. And they'll race anything, and I do mean anything:

There isn't much that gives me hope in the world anymore, but watching some crazy Brit two wheel a double decker around a corner does the trick.

So this is what I'm proposing: give us a race track, a keg of Guinness for the "after action review", and send us a proper contingent of Brits. It doesn't really matter what we drive; we're just going to wreck it all anyway...but in a day, we'll have this whole "you're nothing special" thing sorted out.

Don't worry UK...there's plenty of us over here that think you're still pretty fucking special; and not just in a short bus sort of way.

Frank's Tuesday Morning Hangover

2009-03-10T07:08:00.011-04:00

My portfolio is going down faster than an out of work stock broker in a back alley in Chinatown, so I’ve decided to diversify my holdings.

I’m going to buy a Rent-a-Center franchise.

Let me explain.

“Cramming down” is a process by which a bank is forced to write off a portion of an individual’s mortgage balance to make the home worth more than the owner owes said bank. Bankruptcy lawyers are about to be granted much more liberal power with which to “cram down” the balances due on upside down mortgages, thus allowing the Obama administration to succeed in pulling off his greatest campaign promise.

They’ve redistributed the wealth of the "haves" to the "havenots" without most Americans even understanding the process.

Let me explain some more -

I own a house that is worth more than I owe. Some other schmuck owns a house that is worth less than he owes. Obama tells judges to set up Butthead's mortgage so that his house is worth more than he owes on it. Obama then takes my money to make up the difference to Corky's bank. Shmo end up with equity in his home – i.e. wealth – that used to be my vacation fund.

Who ends up being the beneficiary of this redistribution, what with me buying equity in some moron's home and giving it back to him?

Rent-a-Center, that's who.

You know damned well that the minute these Mensa members have an inch of breathing room they’re getting another home equity loan to buy a sweet, sweet 64” plasma with the super duper package (including the sports plans!!) from Directv.

Now if you'll excuse me I've got some kickin' speakers to sell.

Most American moderates..err, I mean progressives know by now that President Obama has no intention of governing from the center, but for the komrades who need one more dollop of sour cream on the borscht, here's a name for you - George Tiller.

Tiller, "MD" is the leading late term abortion "doctor" in Kansas, and one of the "preeminent" late term abortion "doctors" in the country. (It sickens me to use "MD" and "doctor" and "preeminent" when describing this scumbag.)Tiller's "justification" for performing late term abortions - in KS a definable medical condition needs to be determined before this murder, I mean this procedure, can be performed - is often "temporary depression".

Christin Gilbert, a teen with Down's Syndrome and "temporary depression" actually died of sepsis after an abortion that took several days to complete --- at Tiller's clinic.

What does George Tiller, "MD" have to do with the Obama administration?

Besides being a world class mass murderer he's also a guy who shares happy hours at the mansion with Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's future Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Does anyone else want to take the boot from their carbon footprint and shove it up someone's ass today?

If you have any topics that you'd love me to hate on, please drop me an email.

If you've got any complaints about my thoughts, always remember to send them to ScrewYourselfSlowlyWith@Chainsaw.com.

The Liberal Orwellian Nightmare: Big Brother Britain

2009-03-09T16:48:00.005-04:00

Although you’d not think it from the mainstream media, the oldest and strongest of alliances is now under threat. The alliance that has been responsible for keeping the world free of fascism. The alliance that faced down the threat of communism during the cold war. The alliance that has stood shoulder to shoulder in defiance of the new wave of terrorism and hate fueled fascism that would otherwise engulf us all.

Is it under threat because of suddenly differing policies or a change in ethical viewpoint? Because one nation was caught committing espionage upon the other? Some act of betrayal? No, it is under sudden strain because one side now wishes to be ‘cool.’

Like a hormonal teenager discarding their best friend after suddenly winning a popularity contest, President Barack Obama would have found it hard to treat Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a greater sense of contempt. Admittedly, many in Britain would like nothing more than to see Brown humiliated, but in this case, all are aware it was not the man being snubbed, but the position and by extension the country.

Much has Britain done in recent history following the 9/11 attacks beyond the usual co-operation the two countries have enjoyed for so long. Not only in military support, or the sharing of intelligence or expertise in fighting terrorism gained through the years of combating the IRA, but perhaps more crucially in simply providing symbolic and literal unity after the most horrific act of terrorism in history.

While other countries provided lip service in support, or in many cases mere condemnation, following the attacks it was Britain who first pledged unwavering military support in retaliation. It was Tony Blair who broke from international obligations to declare on international television that the UK would be there when called upon - not the hip liberal nations of France or Germany that Obama is so keen on courting. Not the Islamic states he is trying to impress. Not Russia. It was Britain, as always.

So on receiving Brown to Washington, despite paying lip service to the ‘special relationship,’ Obama made it clear how little the country that has literally shed blood for the U.S. really means to the new administration with his actions. The little things that can be dismissed by a liberal media, but only a fool takes as meaningless. Whereas a bust of Winston Churchill always took place during such press conferences as a sign of respect, Obama made a point of returning it to the UK.

No.10 was told Obama did not have the time in his diary to spend with Brown. It has since been found that such pressing demands were in fact a routine speech to the Department for Interior and a meeting with the boy scouts of America. Now unless these boy scouts are going to be taking the place of British troops fighting and dying in Afghanistan, I think most can see who should have had priority.

There was no press conference, a standard for such visits during previous administrations and the British press were made to wait in the cold for over an hour before being allowed into the White House for what was permitted. Browns speech in which he trying to push his need to work with the US against the global recession actually had several members of congress missing, their seats taken by aides. There was no lunch or dinner as had on previous visits. Let us not forget, this was not a ‘party’ thing - Britain has been warmly received by both Clinton and Bush, and Bush was friendly with Blair and subsequently Brown. Brown had made sure to bring a personal gift - a pen holder made from wood of a warship that helped abolish the slave trade. Obama gave Brown DVD’s. DVD’s that don’t play on British DVD players no less. Yes, all that was missing was essentially pomp and ceremony, but it is symbolic of the attitude that Obama feels the British aren’t worth even that despite the physical and military unity Britain has provided at the drop of a hat.

Even if ceremony can be dismissed as meaningless, this irrefutably cannot, as taken from the Daily Telegraph (a normally left wing paper) dated 7th March -

The real views of many in Obama administration were laid bare by a State Department official involved in planning the Brown visit, who reacted with fury when questioned by The Sunday Telegraph about why the event was so low-key.

The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: "There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment." The apparent lack of attention to detail by the Obama administration is indicative of what many believe to be Mr Obama's determination to do too much too quickly.

Sadly, Labour, being full of liberal wet rags have done all they can to dismiss what was clearly a snub and pathetically try to convince people it was a diplomatic success. Anyone with a brain can see what it was, and why it happened. In his bid to keep up with his ‘cool liberal’ image, Obama has brushed off America’s most important ally to gain favour with Europeans who favour image over substance, but it has not gone unnoticed over here. Even left wing media outlets are talking of the snub for what it is. The same press that bent over backwards to hail the coming of Obama as salvation of America’s ‘soul’.

What can also only be missed by an idiot is that Labour will not be winning the next election. America may find itself with a British government with a spine. One that will take offense at such an international slight. So when America next finds itself in need of an ally, Obama may find his arrogance coming home to roost when Germany and France forget how to answer the phone. When he finds himself alone in the world beyond polite nods and condescending smiles from Europe upon finding his gloss carries no weight with Iran who still wish to see the destruction of the US, he may realise that maybe Britain wasn’t just one among the many, and maybe the relationship was actually that important after all.

Short Round (sort of)

2009-03-09T14:25:00.004-04:00

Today's not-so short round focuses on Biden's meeting with AFL-CIO executives last week in Miami. At the five-star Fontainebleau Hotel. (remember that last part, we'll come back to that one)

Here is the gist of his message: Frick and Frack in the White House will do all they can to boost union power. In Biden's words:

“We're going to make sure that in every policy, every decision, we don't lose sight of the folks that brought us to the dance,” he said -- a reference to organized labor’s support of the Obama-Biden ticket. “And toward that end, we have to make sure that the jobs we're creating come with fair wages and decent benefits.”

Well...I'm glad to see they've put a stop to pandering to special interests.

Wait. It gets better.

"economic injustice and inequity are bad for everyone. It's just not right and everybody knows it -- it's just not right when the average CEO makes $10,000 more every day...than what the average worker makes every year.”

Stirring words really. Especially when delivered at the five-star Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. Funny, I don't notice any outrage at this boondoggle.

To continue:

Biden says the middle class has been "slipping" in recent years because the “social contract” is out of balance.

"When productivity goes up, the people responsible for that productivity are supposed to benefit. That’s the “deal,” he said: “We don't want chief executives and wealthy people not to get wealthy. That's okay by us. (I'm sure it is, they're needed to foot the bill) Every one of us hope our kids end up there some day.” (Because we're leaving them the mother of all debts to pay off)

But Biden said the deal involves workers getting a piece of the higher profits generated by their labor: “While a company’s management may come up with a good idea, workers “help make it happen…we do things faster and better and cheaper for you so the profit margin increases -- the deal was we get a piece of that. We get a piece of it -- a fair piece. That's the bargain.”

Let's ask the auto industry how well that bargain is working, shall we?

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=44621

The New Space Race

2009-03-07T09:06:00.006-05:00

There's a new "space power" in town:

China Readies Military Space Station

China is aggressively accelerating the pace of its manned space program by developing a 17,000 lb. man-tended military space laboratory planned for launch by late 2010. The mission will coincide with a halt in U.S. manned flight with phase-out of the shuttle.

The project is being led by the General Armaments Department of the People's Liberation Army, and gives the Chinese two separate station development programs.

Shenzhou 8, the first mission to the outpost in early 2011 will be flown unmanned to test robotic docking systems. Subsequent missions will be manned to utilize the new pressurized module capabilities of the Tiangong outpost.

Importantly, China is openly acknowledging that the new Tiangong outpost will involve military space operations and technology development.

Also the fact it has been given a No. 1 numerical designation indicates that China may build more than one such military space laboratory in the coming years.

"The People's Liberation Army's General Armament Department aims to finish systems for the Tiangong-1 mission this year," says an official Chinese government statement on the new project. Work on a ground prototype is nearly finished.

It doesn't take a whole lot of imagination to dream up the havoc that taking out the GPS satellite system and a few choice communications & reconnaissance satellites will create in a shooting war. Take all this into account with President Obama's campaign pledge to "not weaponize space" and "slow development of future combat systems" and it's really starting to look like ceding this new arms race to the Chinese is a supremely bad idea.

What's even better is the Chinese are virtually rubbing our faces in it.

You know how sometimes you hear a campaign promise and actually hope the candidate is lying about it? This is one of those times.

Math With Professor Reardon

2009-03-04T19:53:00.000-05:00

Okay kids, here is today's math question presented by Professor Reardon.

To pay for all of these wonderful programs that the government is attempting to expand and create, we are going to TAX THE RICH! Universal health care? Tax the rich! Everyone goes to college? Tax. The. Rich. Cure cancer? No really, we're now going to cure cancer according to the President. You guessed it- tax the rich.

Currently the top 5 percent of income earners in the United States already pay 60 percent of income taxes to Uncle Sam. 60 percent.

The bottom 40 percent pays nothing. You know, the same people who will benefit from the universal health care and FREE college educations.

Really.

But I digress.

The answer we look for is, under these current conditions, how long will the rich last?

Be sure to provide and add any circumstances you want to your projections. Leave answers in the comments section.

Professor Reardon

Frank's Tuesday Morning Hangover

2009-03-03T08:29:00.004-05:00

My name’s Frank and I like to eat meat. Unapologetically.

I recently got into a heated discussion with some ahole who was hacked off because I had the unmitigated gall to disagree with his anti-gun/anti-hunting/anti meat consumption rant. Let me start by saying that I don’t personally hunt (the natural elements reek havoc on my perfectly coiffed, product-laden head of hair), but I do enjoy consuming the spoils of the game.

Isn’t it ironic that the human race spent five million years crawling to the top of the food chain only to have vegetarians tell us that they are more evolved than those of us that revel in being carnivorous?

I love steak. I love pork chops. I love seabass. I love turkey. Hey PETA - want to get really pissed off?

I loooooooooooove veal.

Make it your personal quest to eat an extra animal for every vegetarian that frosts you today.

You know what’s almost as bad as a nut punch? Freezing your balls off holding a door open for a woman only to have her berate you for being an insensitive, sexist prick.

Anyone else think that Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio suck incredible amounts of ass? If you watch their films for any reason other than to get a handjob you should turn in your ‘nads. Hell, I think that you have to drop your scrotum off at the concession stand on your way into the theater.

Ok, here’s your popcorn, slurpee aaaaaaand… whoa… you’ve still got your ball sack. You know that you can’t take that in there, right?

Why doesn’t Troma Entertainment crank out the high art that we took for granted in the 80’s?

Who else is pissed off that you didn’t buy a house twice the size of the one that you own for the low, low, low ARM rates?

Show of hands.

Now that Obama has decided to "spread the wealth" from the "rich" to the downtrodden we once again have proof that God protects stupid people.

When the hell did Jeff Spicoli start taking himself so seriously?

At the recent Oscars Awards show Spicoli called out the "homophobes" that voted against gay marriage in California. In the next breath he praised Americans for electing "such an elegant man" as President of our country.

Hey Spicoli – Obama is against gay marriage.

Dearest Nancy, we'll give you a seven day waiting period and mandatory training before gun ownership if you give us a seven day waiting period and mandatory counseling before an abortion.

Deal?

Finally a shout out to my man President Barack Hussein Obama – thank you for getting Kathleen Sebelius the hell out of my state.

She has all but bankrupted Kansas due in no small part by making it a safe haven for illegal aliens. She recently went so far as to threaten Kansans with not receiving our tax returns before caving to the Republican dominated legislature who had the audacity to get her to promise to balance the state budget.

This woman screwed up healthcare delivery as the Kansas insurance commissioner, she’s screwed up Medicaid reimbursement as our governor, and now she gets to oversee the correction of our nation’s "healthcare crisis".

Is it too late to give up my citizenship, move to Mexico and cross the river back in?

Got a contradictory comment? Send it to ScrewYourselfSlowly@WithAChainsaw.com

Don't Mess With Joe

2009-03-02T20:17:00.003-05:00

I intended to discuss the state of our newspaper industry today, but the weekend was filled with news that is simply impossible to pass up.

In the future we will spend plenty of time discussing exactly what President Barack Obama intends to pursue with his global bailout plan. But I will wait for the details (I know, we’ll be waiting awhile) so as not to jump on any rumors.

Apparently the largest global warming protest in history is taking place in Washington D.C. today in the middle of a snowstorm that could bring a foot of white fluffy powder to coastal communities along the Eastern seaboard in March. We don’t need to touch that one right now, irony has it under control.

Instead the topic that really got me going was a Phoenix protest by 3,000 people upset with the actions of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. If you do not know who the sheriff is the issue of illegal immigrants living in our country is not near to your heart. Arpaio has developed a reputation as being the toughest man in the country when it comes to illegal aliens. His vocal critics include Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Arizona Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League. In other words, he’s awesome.

His offenses range from the mundane and silly- all inmates must wear pink boxers, the establishment of his own radio station at the jail specializing in classical music and Frank Sinatra (KJOE), the reintroduction of chain gangs- to more serious matters like the establishment of a “Tent City” where inmates live outside in tents that approach 150 degrees in the hot Phoenix summer. It’s fair to say he’s from the old school.

But what draws the ire of liberals more than anything is his stance on illegal aliens. Arpaio has made his goal in life to disrupt the lives of these people, and why not? No one else in law enforcement seems to care, certainly not the federal government.

Using the Coyote Law, a 2005 measure passed by the Arizona State Legislature making it a felony to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country, Arpaio and his undersheriffs have arrested 262 people, generating over 120 convictions. He has also arrested more than 1,500 people later proven to be illegals under a deal with the government that allows local enforcement of federal statutes. He accomplishes this with targeted raids.

Last month Arpaio took the immigration debate to the next level when he marched 220 illegal immigrants in shackles and striped prison garb through Phoenix under armed guard. "My message is clear: if you come here and I catch you, you're going straight to jail,” Arpaio said recently. “I'm not going to turn these people over to federal authorities so they can have a free ride back to Mexico. I'll give them a free ride to my jail."

The backlash has been strong. Illegal immigration proponents are the most hypocritical people in the world today, no easy task considering the current state of our country. Not only do they want to have their cake and eat it to, but when they are done they will steal mine and give it to someone who just crossed over from Mexico.

Opponents of Arpaio have accused him targeting raids in predominately Latino neighborhoods in search of illegal immigrants. They say he is racial profiling. Maybe it’s just me, but if I’m looking for a cucumber, I’m not going to search an orange grove for it.

This one quote in particular is a shining example of the thought process on this issue:

“Walking people through the streets in chains, public shaming, it's medieval," said Veronica Perez, 32, an archeologist that according to Reuters carried signs Sunday that read "No Human Is Illegal" and "Stop the Raids."

No human is illegal? Really Ms. Perez? Don’t get me wrong, I understand why these people are fighting so strongly on the issue of illegal immigration. They want a majority in our country. They want to take over. And you know what? If they do that legally, and enter the United States like my ancestors did 170 years ago, all the power to them. But if you break the law to do it, you are a criminal.

"Isn't cruel and unusual punishment against the U.S. Constitution?" she asked.

Disregarding the legalities of illegal immigrants using the Constitution for protection, how is forcing people who have broken the law, who have propensity for committing violent crimes that harm the law-abiding people of this country, to march through a City in shame cruel or unusual? If anything, it is appropriate.

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (WAF really needs to have its own network), rallied the protestors Sunday by pleading for Arpaio’s raids to end, saying Arizona didn’t need a “Bull Connors.”

Connors is the notorious segregationist that turned fire hoses and police dogs on demonstrators in Birmingham during the Civil Rights movement. Illegal immigration advocates love to sync their cause with blacks from the mid-20th century, ignoring that the crime African-Americans perpetrated on racists was the color of their skin. They play the race card by trying to convince us that there is no difference between Latino persons here legally and those that do not bother to follow the rules. It’s among the most offensive of their ridiculous rhetoric.

Don’t believe me?

In an effort to encourage people to attend the protest the above network sent out e-mails claiming: "And last week, the nation witnessed the ritual humiliation of migrants in a spectacle evocative of some of the most horrific episodes of human history."

Spare me. Spare us.

Obama knows he cannot touch this issue with a ten-foot pole. With his sights set firmly on socializing the country he cannot afford a misstep on an issue that firmly divides most of the Democrats with the loony fringe of the party.

So we are left hoping that people like Arpaio do the job they are elected to do, and enforce the law. He is a rare breed that deserves all the support he can get.

Go Joe!

The Politics of Movie Reviews

2009-03-02T10:53:00.010-05:00

Yesterday, The NY Post printed a well written and somewhat scathing op-ed piece on some critical write-ups of HBO's production Taking Chance. Hollywood's obsession with politicizing the Iraq war has apparently extended to at least a few of its movie critics as well.

A little research beyond the quotes used in the NY Post piece will show you that Post writer Kyle Smith had plenty of material to work with.

Sundance Review: Taking Chance

It doesn’t take long for Taking Chance to cross the line from patriotic and affecting into cloying and desperate. This is a film frantic for tears and nationalistic fervor that, unfortunately, it just hasn’t earned.

Slant Magazine: Taking Chance

This is lazy filmmaking that fails to engage anyone who doesn't have a personal connection to the story or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Boxoffice.com: Taking Chance

Given Bacon’s much-publicized fiscal troubles, it would be nice if Taking Chance were better, if only so that Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick can avoid selling hair care and exercise products on the Home Shopping Network in their dotage. But years after the bloody mire Chance died fighting in was initiated, it’s disheartening that American moviemakers are still capable of viewing the Iraq War in the simplest terms possible: as a wound to an essentially honorable American psyche, and maybe even a just cause and a sort of hero manufacturing device.

TV Review: Taking Chance

There is surely an edge of propaganda to the unfailing grace and dignity of the process showcased in "Taking Chance," replete with stirring music and intermittent mawkish overkill. But the story's power is sufficient to overcome the occasional histrionic flourish.

There was a time that things like this would simply make me shake my head. I am a Marine (no longer on active duty, but there are no "ex" Marines) and Taking Chance affected me deeply. I have watched it 3 times now, once with my 9 year old son. Every time I have watched it so far (and there will be more), I am surprised with just how much Kevin Bacon and HBO "got it right" with this one. It doesn't surprise me that there are critics who don't "get it" so much as it saddens me that they cannot look beyond their own ideology long enough to recognize that a non-political film can be made that honors the fallen; to people like those who wrote those reviews, honoring the fallen is a political statement. I no longer just shake my head at this.

(For the record, there is very little political discourse in Taking Chance. The only major exchange of politics, limited to a few lines, is from the hearse driver from Dover AFB, a young civilian who "doesn't get what we're doing over there." From then on, there are no images glorifying war. The only images of war in the entire film are a few seconds of a burning Humvee that Bacon's character briefly views on the news on a hotel room t.v. during his journey.)

Hollywood in general has had a huge problem with its portrayals of the Iraq War so far. It has worked very hard to drive a propaganda message firmly rooted in leftism about the war, and has monumentally failed. Films such as Stop Loss, Lions For Lambs, In the Valley of Elah, etc. have performed very poorly at the box office. Brian DePalma's film Redacted, probably the biggest travesty of a war film ever made, had only grossed $762,000 as of May 2008, when it had a budget of $5 million. It has become plainly evident that after being barraged by depressing news of the Iraq war from the popular media literally every day between 2004 and 2008, that Americans did not want to pay out their hard earned money at the box office to hear more of the same message.

It must be a small twist of the knife between the ribs for the Hollywood cadre to watch a t.v. film like Taking Chance (HBO's highest rated in-house film production in 5 years) see success where it has so often failed. It must also drive them insane to have to admit that the American viewing public is tired of having a leftist propaganda agenda driven down its collective throats and being told we have to pay through the nose for it too.

In short, collective Hollywood has gone to a lot of time, trouble and money to politicize the Iraq war, and failed. HBO made one movie, left out the politics and simply honored a fallen Marine, and succeeded. Instead of learning a lesson from this, some people would rather belittle the message of honoring those our nation has lost. The truly sad part is that this is no longer surprising.

Kids with military parents naturally ask lots of questions. They ask about scars, and the little remnants of the past that you keep out for others for see, and also about the things that they know you keep tucked away from others and hold for yourself. While my son and I watched Taking Chance together, he was especially curious about the personal effects belonging to PFC Phelps that LTC Strobl carried on his person, in a small red felt bag, and asked several questions about them. After the movie ended, my son turned to me and asked, "Do you have some of your friends' things, you know, like he had in that red bag for Chance's mom and dad?"

"Yes, I do."

"Will you let me see them sometime?"

I paused, thought about it, and answered, "Yes, I will, sometime, sometime soon."

He seemed content then, as if he could stand the curiosity of knowing what these things are for awhile longer, as long as he knew there would be answers eventually. The fact that he didn't need to ask why I would keep them still swells me with pride, even as I sit here and type this. It seems like such a simple message, but as the reaction of some to Taking Chance has shown, not everyone gets it.

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. -- Gen. George S. Patton

We is all gonna be edukated

2009-03-01T11:50:00.002-05:00

Having solved the housing problem, our President now turns his attention to the education crisis. Apparently, it is a crisis that not everyone receives a post high school education. I did not know this. And I even went to college! Perhaps I need re-education. I'm sure that will be forthcoming.

Anyway, he wants every American to commit to a year or more of post high school education, be it college or vocational training. Also, by decree, "dropping out of high school is no longer an option". The President bemoans the fact that we have one of the highest high school dropout rates in the world. Whose fault is that exactly? Is someone making these deprived darlings leave school to hang out on street corners?

Look, some of the most intelligent people I know did not attend college for a variety of reasons and I'd much rather talk to them than some people with an alphabet after their name. The fact remains however, that a good percentage of the student population can't read, write and do simple math...not because they don't have the opportunity, because they choose not to apply themselves.

Our President and the Democrats don't see it that way. No, we're failing our youth. I'm sure we're going to hear a lot in the coming days about improving the quality of education at the secondary level. I have no argument with that to be honest. I'm all for making sure schools are better equipped, paying teachers a decent salary so as to attract and retain dedicated professionals, making schools safer. These are all good things. But we all know that this is not going to be the solution. Oh, a great deal of lip service will be paid to these measures and some money may even be spent on them, but they alone won't ensure every student is qualified to graduate high school and attend college.

How then, do you ensure this? This is how: high schools will be forced to adopt a "multi-cultural approach" in their course material and exams to make it easier for students to "relate". And colleges will be forced to do the same, effectively lowering their entrance requirements. That is, they will do this if they want to see a dime in federal funding. Rather than help students raise themselves up, the process will simply be dumbed down. And those students with promise and drive will suffer. In other words, they're going to do with education what they did with "affordable housing". Someone remind me again how that worked out.

Now then, who is going to pay for all this education? I think we all know the answer to that one. But fear not. All we are being asked to do is "invest" in our youth. What's the return on that investment? Oh, it's huge. You see, the President wants to make dedicated service to community or country a condition of education. Interesting. So all will be provided for the good of the collective. Where have I heard that before? I do wonder about a couple of things though: who will determine the type and length of service each fresh faced graduate will perform and what happens if said fresh faced graduate doesn't hold up his or her end of the deal? Maybe we can consult the Chinese.

"Trust Me, I Get It"

2009-02-28T12:57:00.005-05:00

“Trust me, I get it”

So said President Barack Obama in his delivery to the nation Tuesday evening. As I did some play by play on the speech here, I was left wondering one thing- is this guy stupid or arrogant?

Then it hit me. He’s the worst scenario of all- a liberal with a plan. I am firm believer that contradictions cannot exist, but this case may prove that theory wrong. He has a plan and he will pursue it until stopped.

Shortly after his budget presentation headlines were clear- $10,000 per person, that’s what the 2010 budget averaged out to. Several hours later, the headline changed to $25,573 per taxpayer. That got me thinking. At what point will the extreme left wing of this country, which gains more and more power each day, be happy with that ratio? Is it 3 to 1, 4 to 1, or even higher?

At what point will they achieve happiness knowing that they have succeeded in their goal of providing for the have-nots on the back of those who achieve?

Thanks to a drooling media that cannot get its head out of its own ass long enough to ask a few relevant questions about our future, Rahm Emmanuel, the current Chief of Staff, has flown under the radar despite his tremendously insightful remarks that “crisis brings about opportunity.”

That’s the troubling part of this economic downturn. Deep down, the Democrats in charge at the top are digging it. It is allowing them to pursue an agenda they never dreamed of chasing- a radical adjustment of what this country used to stand for.

Nancy Pelosi is sipping champagne tonight with visions of a $3.5 trillion budget figures dancing in her head. Pet projects saving field mice in California, more than $600 billion heading towards universal health care with no plan for implementation, and people who don’t pay taxes receiving a tax break- it’s a liberal utopia. A trillion in new taxes over the next decade? I don't know if they conjured that up out of their ass or hat?

Please do not make the mistake that I genuinely believe everyone having access to health care is a liberal dream. Nor is the completion of pledged projects to their constituents- they could care less about that.

My friend KO discussed this earlier, but it cannot be understated. Liberals seek a government that does not just enforce laws and collect taxes, but provides you with the food you eat and the work that allows you to earn. They understand, perhaps more than most people realize, that the advancement of these plans solidify their increasing voting base- the people that are searching harder for handouts than they are a job. Their true heaven on earth is in sight for the first time in many, many years.

The opportunity this crisis presents is to reach their unstated and silent goal. It is a notion that they will deny until the very end- they want to make everyone equally poor. There is no need to prosper in their minds, just survive. They loathe individual achievement. If everyone is forced to remain the same, and we somehow retain our democracy, they remain in power. They become the great liberators. Taking care of those who do not know better, this is how they look at America.

Their arrogance is angering. After spending the week talking about his goal to cut the budget deficit in half by 2012 despite spending more than a trillion new dollars on ill conceived stimulus packages and bank bailouts, Obama had the audacity to title his budget message, “A New Era of Responsibility.” He either has one serious sense of humor, or he’s just hoping we are not paying attention.

During Ayn Rand’s epochal Atlas Shrugged, two characters discuss the worst fable ever repeated to children- Robin Hood. The moral of that story has been destroyed over the years and molded to the point where we genuinely believe that stealing from the rich for the benefit of the poor is a noble goal. It’s difficult to believe that in a short 50 years we have reached a point in our culture where that exaggeration has become a reality.

"The taxing aspect of this is worse than Robin Hood," said economist Peter Morici, a University of Maryland professor, of Obama’s spending plan on Thursday. "He's resurrecting class warfare for political gain."

There are some people out there that get it. As we’ve talked about before, the question is how the liberals go, how much do they achieve, before the rest of the country wakes up from its coma?

In the meantime, we are left with over-the-top rhetoric entitled “Inheriting a Legacy of Misplaced Priorities,” also known as, Chapter One of Obama’s Budget Message. That’s true hope and change right there.

The message, which can be viewed here- http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/fy2010_new_era/A_New_Era_of_Responsibility2.pdf- has wonderful little ditties discussing “eroding trust and accountability,” the “erosion of market oversight,” and an “unresponsive and secret government.” For guys that claim to want to play in both sides of the political sandbox, the entire budget message is a lefty fringe wet dream- “Bush Bad.”

What was Pelosi’s response to this massive budget that brings back big government to a level that conservative stalwart Bill Clinton pledged we would never see again?

“It is a blueprint for the future, and I’m proud of that,” she said.

Trust me, I get it.

I’m hoping the rest of the country will soon.

Assault Weapons Ban Update

2009-02-27T09:24:00.004-05:00

Ah, the political winds blow fickle between the election cycles....

Her Highness Nancy Pelosi was the first one to play party pooper with the Obama administration's sudden announcement that they wanted to revisit the Clinton AWB:

Attorney General Eric Holder raised the prospect Wednesday that the administration would push to bring back the ban. But Pelosi (D-Calif.) indicated on Thursday that he never talked to her. The Speaker gave a flat “no” when asked if she had talked to administration officials about the ban.

“On that score, I think we need to enforce the laws we have right now,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. “I think it's clear the Bush administration didn’t do that.”

The esteemed Senate Majority Leader Harry "We've Lost" Reid soon joined in:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will join Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in opposing any effort to revive the 1994 assault weapons ban, putting them on the opposite side of the Obama administration.

Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the Nevada Democrat will preserve his traditional pro-gun rights voting record.

"Senator Reid would oppose an effort (to) reinstate the ban if the Senate were to vote on it in the future," Manley told The Hill in an e-mail late Thursday night.

Why the lack of support for a traditional leftist issue? It's simple, really: the entire House of Representatives comes up for election again in November of 2010, and 36 Senate seats also go up for election that year. The balance in the House is 254 Dem/178 Repub (with 3 vacant seats sure to be filled by Dems) and in the Senate of the 36 slated for reelection, 19 are Repub and 17 are Dem. After the last ban passed in '94, more than a few Democratic Representatives were targeted by the NRA and other pro-gun groups, and lost reelection. In 2004, when the original AWB sunsetted and was brought up for renewal, the Democrats in Congress knew it was a losing issue, and treated it accordingly.

Toss one more rough economic year on top of things, and every Democrat in Congress with an election coming up in 2010 is probably going to be scrambling for reelection as it is, without the added pressure of the NRA bearing down on top of them over a piece of legislation that has very little upside, only a ton of downside.

One is left to wonder why President Obama would send AG Eric Holder out to basically sign a bunch of Congressmen up for political suicide without even consulting them first? Is the administration going to make a habit of floating ideas out in the press to measure reaction, all the while without consulting its own allies in Congress beforehand? I must have skipped that chapter in How To Make Friends and Influence People.

While I do not for a moment believe the issue is dead, hopefully the past two days has been a lesson to President Obama et al that there are limits even within his own party to how much liberal rhetoric he can float out there without repercussions.

Pentagon Repeals War Dead Photo Ban at Dover

2009-02-26T17:19:00.004-05:00

The Pentagon has officially repealed the ban on photographing returning remains of dead servicemen/women at Dover AFB:

Pentagon to Allow Media Photos of Returning War Dead

The only groups requesting this ban to be lifted were Code Pink & associated groups. That should tell you pretty much everything you need to know.

Blackfive has it right: HELL HATH FROZE OVER, AND THE INMATES NOW RUN THE ASYLUM.

Update 27 Feb '09:

Even after sleeping on this, I have strong feelings on this. My main reaction is that the men & women actually putting themselves in harm's way are not being listened to at all here. Even beyond the wants and needs of the families, the opinions of America's warfighters should be heard here. It is they who are coming home in those flag draped boxes.

Secondly, the only reason anyone ever wanted this ban lifted was for propaganda reasons. The comment you hear most is, "If Americans saw these photographs, they'd realize the cost of these wars and opposition would be higher/have started sooner." What a load of horseshit. These photos are the fulcrum that "understanding the costs of war" rests on? We haven't been barraged with "the costs of war" in the popular media in the form of casualty counts, etc.?

Thirdly, the opportunity for groups like Code Pink to take rare advantage of a family in grief is too great. These groups are opportunist, PR driven packs of jackals and a year from now, if a mother or father regrets a decision made in haste during a time of mourning, the Pinkers aren't going to give two shits about it.

On the surface it doesn't seem like a bad idea to let the families decide "as they are allowed to at Arlington," but Arlington is on the other end of the process. Families have at least had a few days after their loved ones return to American soil to consider the impact of media/photography at a graveside service.

I believe that a few people, family members, probably wanted a choice in this and that their opinions were true. A far greater majority asking for this to be opened up to media coverage are doing it purely for propaganda purposes and it is probably too much that we ask they feel ashamed of themselves for it.

The words of John Stuart Mill hold true here:

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

With Apologies To Melanie

2009-02-26T13:09:00.008-05:00

a 3.5 Trillion dollar Budget??

"Look what they've done to my party, Ma
Look what they've done to my party
Most of the time they were close to right
And now they're just all wrong, Ma
Look what they've done to my party

Look what they've done to Mr Jefferson, Ma
Look what they've done in his name
Well they twisted it and turned it
Like they're all insane, Ma
Look what they've done to my party

I wish I could fix the party I am in
Wish I could find a good fix
Well, if I just could find a real good fix
I'd never have to come out and look at
What they've done to my party

But maybe it'll all be all right, Ma
Maybe it'll all be OK
If the people don’t buy the fears
And Pelosi - Reid go away some day, Ma
Look what they've done to my party

Look what they've done to my party, Ma
Look what they've done to my party, Ma
Well they tied it up in a socialist bag
And turned it upside down, Ma
Look what they've done to my party

Look what they've done to my party, Ma
Look what they've done to my party
Most of the time they were only half right
And now they're just all wrong, Ma"

Liberty At Stake

2009-02-26T09:26:00.008-05:00

So it begins. Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the administration's intention to renew the 1994 Clinton Assault Weapons Ban.

It is not a surprise, since Joe Biden was one of the authors of the original bill, which still stands as one of the most useless pieces of legislation in the history of legislation...and that's saying alot.

What is even more galling, however, isn't just the reintroduction of the ban. This has been expected by most firearms owners, to be honest. We knew toward the end of the campaign when Obama looked dead into a t.v. camera and said, "Look, I'm not going to take your guns," that he was lying through his teeth. He has to give the far left voters something, and this looks like a gimme.

What's really galling is the how, when and why of the announcement:

Holder said that putting the ban back in place would not only be a positive move by the United States, it would help cut down on the flow of guns going across the border into Mexico, which is struggling with heavy violence among drug cartels along the border.

"I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum." Holder said at a news conference on the arrest of more than 700 people in a drug enforcement crackdown on Mexican drug cartels operating in the U.S.

A positive impact in Mexico? Now we're seriously considering trampling the Constitution of the United States of America because Mexico can't take care of its own problems? Seriously? And the words "at a minimum" are especially ridiculous. He just basically acknowledged this ban has no real purpose, except it might do some good for Mexico. Maybe. We're now pissing on the Constitution because it might help out the Mexicans.

That is not the minimum, Mr. Holder, that is the maximum and you damn well know it. Anyone who's ever looked at the real math behind the original AWB knows it was a spurious piece of legislation. Traditionally, the rates of assault weapons used in violent crimes have run around 1/5th of 1% (.2%). The ban had absolutely no measurable effect on violent crime in the United States.

Then why bring it up now? Several reasons come to mind:

1) The administration has to look like it's doing something about the border problem.

2) The administration is not going to be able to carry through on many of the promises that it made to the more radical leftists of the country to garner votes, and as I said before, this looks like an easy measure to push over to show that the lefties got some return on investment.

3) It is a quintessential stepping stone. As the Washington Post said about the original ban back in '94:

No one should have any illusions about what was accomplished (by the ban). Assault weapons play a part in only a small percentage of crime. The provision is mainly symbolic; its virtue will be if it turns out to be, as hoped, a stepping stone to broader gun control.

Of course, no one should be surprised at any of this coming from the mouth of Eric Holder. He is primed to easily surpass Janet Reno as the biggest joke of an Attorney General this nation has ever had. As someone who's lawfirm represented 17 Guantanamo Bay detainees and who's former law firm partner represented the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, we shouldn't be surprised that his legal philosophies are firmly rooted pretty far to the left of the center aisle. His confirmation shows that when it comes to the Constitution, this administration is only interested in upholding the rights of a specific segment of this nation's citizens.

Battle lines are forming, and Americans who screamed bloody murder about the Patriot Act and the treatment of foreign terrorists who wish nothing more than the obliteration of this nation are now going to stand aside and watch real, tangible assaults on our real liberties happen. Hope and change has quickly been replaced with rhetoric and fear mongering. The words of Samuel Adams in 1776 have never been truer than now:

The warm sunshine of influence would melt down the virtue which the violence of the storm rendered more firm and unyielding. In a state of tranquillity, wealth, and luxury, our descendants would forget the arts of war and the noble activity and zeal which made their ancestors invincible. Every art of corruption would be employed to loosen the bond of union which renders our resistance formidable. When the spirit of liberty, which now animates our hearts and gives success to our arms, is extinct, our numbers will accelerate our ruin and render us easier victims to tyranny. Ye abandoned minions of an infatuated ministry, if peradventure any should yet remain among us, remember that a Warren and Montgomery are numbered among the dead. Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, What should be the reward of such sacrifices? Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plow, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom--go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

The spirit of liberty is something we must recapture as a nation, and before it is too late and our chains do not sit so lightly upon us.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

2009-02-25T13:32:00.002-05:00

So…Obama is going to withdraw the troops from Iraq and end the war. He hasn’t yet provided any details on the timeline (actually he hasn’t provided any details about any of his plans yet, but I digress…), however, reports are circulating that most troops will be withdrawn over the next 18 months with a residual force remaining until December 2011, the deadline under the current agreement with Iraq.

That’s nice. I mean it. The men and women who have spent years and multiple tours of duty fighting to bring freedom and democracy to a people who have known only terror and tyranny have well earned their trip home. Their families have well earned the return of their loved ones.

But let’s be clear about one thing: when this war is brought to its conclusion, it will NOT be because of anything Obama does. The natural course of events will end the war. Events driven by President Bush. You see, the reason Obama is in a position to bring the troops home is because the Iraq government, military and police are increasingly able to stand on their own. And the reason for THAT is because Bush stayed the course. Now, you can debate the reasons he sent troops into Iraq in the first place and you can criticize the initial strategy. Lord knows that’s been the favorite liberal pastime over the last 7 years. The fact remains that once there, failure was not an option and we did not fail. That’s a tough pill for the Democrats to swallow but it’s still the fact. The elected government of Iraq is taking control over running their affairs, their military is becoming more effective in handling insurgents, their police better able to maintain law and order and their people more comfortable with, and trusting in, their new freedom and leadership. A turn of events brought about by Bush staying in Iraq and our military fighting along side and training their counterparts to do the job themselves.

And so the troops are ready to start coming home. But not because of what Obama does. Any action taken by the Obama administration now, is akin to scrubs coming in to run out the clock after the varsity has built up a lead so large it can’t possibly be fucked up. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking anything else and don’t let his usurped claim of victory distract you from the real focus: how he handles Afghanistan and Pakistan. For all our sakes, I hope he does as well as his predecessor ultimately did in Iraq and can claim a genuine victory there.

Short Round

2009-02-25T13:06:00.005-05:00

A "short round" in fire mission speak is indirect fire (artillery, mortar, etc.) that lands short of the intended target, possibly endangering friendly troops. In Indiana Jones speak, it's a small Asian kid kicking bad guy ass. In WAF speak, it's a brief post designed to draw attention to something of interest somewhere else on the Errornet.

This Short Round is dedicated to Day By Day. If you're not a regular Day By Day reader already, you're missing one of the funniest conservative slanted cartoons in, well, ever.

We Will Defeat Al Qaeda...Just Please Don't Ask About Jamaat ul-Fuqra Or Anyone Else

2009-02-25T09:51:00.013-05:00

After spending 7+ years doing everything they can to denounce and undermine the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it appears the Democratic leadership of the nation is poised to take credit for the successes that, up until a few months ago, they denied existed. After Al Qaeda's command structure has been completely decimated by both our military and diplomatic efforts, including the seizing of huge amounts of money and disrupting their training and financial networks, President Obama has declared that Al Qaeda will be defeated.

I'm glad to hear our new President is committed to the Cause, but while we're all focused on the Dems renewed vigor in the Long War overseas, we have a wee little problem developing right here in the U.S. While we've been killing jihadists over there, they've slowly and quietly been increasing their presence over here.

Back in November of 2008, KMSP Fox 9 in Minneapolis/St Paul broke the story of the Somali jihadists living in the Twin Cities area (archive link courtesy of Free Republic):

Young Somali men are vanishing off the streets of the Twin Cities. More than 20 have left in the last few months, and the community fears they’ve gone back to Somalia to fight in a holy war.

They’re known in the Somali community simply at The Missing. More than 20 young Somali men, between the ages of 17 and 22, who have left the Twin Cities in the last few months, without a single word to their families.

The families and community leaders believe the men have gone back to fight in a bloody civil war, in which Al Quiada is a major player.

Now it appears the NY Times is on the case with a similar story of recruitment of young Islamic youths in Minnesota (NY Times embedded links removed):

WASHINGTON — The FBI Director, Robert S. Mueller III, said Monday that a Somali-American man who was one of several suicide bombers in a terrorist attack last October in Somalia had apparently been indoctrinated into his extremist beliefs while living in the United States.

The problem is not nearly isolated to the Twin Cities area, and neither is it isolated to the Somali Islamic population.

Fox News recently released a video report on 35 suspected camps suspected of indoctrinating and training Islamist militants scattered across the U.S. belonging to the group Muslims of the Americas, which is an offshoot of Jamaat ul-Fuqra:

For the uninitiated, Jamaat ul-Fuqra is a terrorist group formed in 1980 by Muslim Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani. The stated mission of the group is to "purify Islam through violence."

Within 10 years of its formation, Fuqra's communes in the US attracted many Muslim converts-including some of those recruited in prisons. The JF is said to comprise of some 1,000 to 3,000 members in the US. Secrecy is the hallmark of the outfit and cadres are reportedly well versed in the use of aliases. The Fuqra’s structure is well concealed behind front outfits and consists of a network of safe houses and cells. Furthermore, the JF founder as well as cadres consistently maintain that it does not exist. JF members occasionally travel abroad for ‘paramilitary and survivalist training’ under Gilani's supervision.

Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who also calls himself the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr, is the chief of JF. Jamaat ul-Fuqra is headquartered in Hancock, New York.

...

Although Gilani, the reclusive chief of Fuqra resides in Lahore, Pakistan, most JF cells are located in North America. Fuqra members have purchased isolated rural properties in North America to live as a community, practice their faith, and insulate themselves from Western culture. The group has set up and funded rural communes that the US authorities allege are linked to murder, bombings and other felonies throughout the US and Canada. Currently, there are half a dozen Fuqra residential compounds in rural hamlets across the US sheltering hundreds of cadres, some of who have reportedly trained in the use of weapons and explosives in Pakistan.

Muslims of the Americas, a tax-exempt group established in the US in 1980 by Gilani, operates communes of primarily black, American-born Muslims in many states in the US, including in Binghamton in New York, Badger in California, York in South Carolina and Red House in Virginia. JF is reportedly linked through court documents to the Muslims of Americas. There is also a road in the name of Sheikh Gilani in the vicinity of Virginia. The cult houses between 100 and 200 people, many of them women and children in about 20 huge trailers. There is also a Virginia newspaper, the Islamic Post, founded by Sheikh Gilani.

The following is courtesy of Jihad Watch and the Canada Free Press about a visit by CFP in May 2007 to the camp located at "Islamberg", New York:

Islamberg is not as benign as a Buddhist monastery or a Carmelite convent. Nearly every weekend, neighbors hear sounds of gunfire. Some, including a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, have heard the bang of small explosives. None of the neighbors wished to be identified for fear of "retaliation."

"We don't even dare to slow down when we drive by," one resident said. "They own the mountain and they know it and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can't even do that. Who wants to buy a property near that?"

The complex serves to scare the bejeesus out of the local residents.
"If you go there, you better wear body armor," a customer at the Circle E Diner in Hancock said. "They have armed guards and if they shoot you, nobody will find your body."

At Cousins, a watering hole in nearby Deposit, a barfly, who didn't wish to be identified, said: "The place is dangerous. You can hear gunfire up there. I can't understand why the FBI won't shut it down."

Islamberg is a branch of Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization formed in 1980 by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who refers to himself as "the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr," Gilani, has been directly linked by court documents to Jamaat ul-Fuqra or "community of the impoverished," an organization that seeks to "purify" Islam through violence.

Though primarily based in Lahore, Pakistan, Jamaat ul-Fuqra has operational headquarters in New York and openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S., including the prison system. Members live in hamaats or compounds, such as Islamberg, where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority. Additional hamaats have been established in Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; and Onalaska, Washington. Others are being built, including an expansive facility in Sherman, Pennsylvania.

JUF and Muslims of the Americas have been implicated in multiple terrorist incidents both here in the U.S. and abroad, including bombings in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1980's, an attempted bombing in Toronto in 1991, and a member convicted in complicity of the 1993 WTC bombing. Daniel Pearl was on his way to interview Gilani when he was abducted and murdered in 2002. Gilani was questioned and released following Pearl's murder.

In other words, this is a very serious terrorist organization with infrastructure and facilities spread across the U.S. that has a history of keeping their jihad below the radar. They are active, and they are training, and the threat of an attack similar to the terrorist incidents in Mumbai is no longer looking like just a possibility, but an inevitability.

With the focus on our actions overseas, this group and other smaller, similar groups have flown under our radar for far too long. These are threats that need to be dealt with immediately and emphatically. We need to recognize that not only is Al Qaeda not the only terrorist threat to the U.S., they may not even be most dangerous terrorist threat to the U.S. International terrorism in general has a constant ebb and flow to it, with groups evolving, some becoming more prevalent as others fade. Al Qaeda has been the bogeyman of America since 9-11 with good reason, but they are not the only game in town and we ignore the others at great peril.

As our commitments abroad in Iraq and Afghanistan transition, we need to refocus some of our energies here, within our borders. The Obama administration has two choices: continue the current rhetoric to take credit for advances made overseas under former President Bush's watch, or adapt to a changing world that's including rapidly increasing threats here on our own soil. It is no longer a question that the rise of these groups on the North American continent is a failure of the previous administration. A new question appears: is the current administration more interested in taking credit for the previous administration's successes, or correcting its failures?

Blogging The President

2009-02-24T20:30:00.061-05:00

Coming live from WAF headquarters in parts unknown, we bring to you the President of the United States. Come along for the ride in a live play by play diary. Be warned, the edits will be limited.

8:31 p.m.- Coincidence? Obama will preempt the Biggest Loser on NBC tonight. Stay tuned for more...

8:33 p.m.- We've also been alerted that American Idol is being preempted tonight. Make up your mind Mr. President, are you a loser or an idol, we can't have both. These are the tough decisions that need to be made in this tough economic climate.

8:35 p.m.- And what's with taking over prime time TV anyway? Doesn't he know that Tuesdays are the only night worth watching? Is this what it's going to be like in four years when things get realllll ugly- nightly addresses from the bosses?

8:46 p.m.- So, exactly how negative is this speech going to be tonight? Will there be a return to the positive Obama? Or will we simply hear about the worst climate since the Great Depression and how the poor President, pardon the pun, inherited this mess?

8:52 p.m.- For the record, this viewer will be tuning into NBC for the speech, more fun than FOX. Although we may have to switch to Fox later for the Jindal speech. NBC plans on returning to normal programming at 10 p.m. You know, we can't miss another episode of Law and Order.

9:00 Woohoo! A Special Report. Live From Washington. It's Brian Williams. With a blue tie that is trying to hypnotize me. And a weird looking bald man just came out on TV. And Al Roker's older brother too. Wow.

9:01- Ahhhh the President held a lunch for a small gathering of reporters. Shocking. And the David Gregory blow job is in full swing. Says Obama is going to "condition" us for the economy that is about to worsen. Good times. HOPE!

9:02- What the hell is Pelosi wearing?

9:04- The cabinet is not yet complete. Any mention as to why? Of course not.

9:05- A female version of Slugsworth just yanked Hillary aside as she entered the chamber? We can only imagine what was said there. "Get me an ever-lasting Gobstopper!"

9:06- Seriously. Brian Williams says the administration has made zero mistakes so far, with the POSSIBLE exception of Geithner's plan for the banks. Thanks for coming Brian.

9:07- From the sideline reporter: Smiles, handshakes and warm greetings fill the air. Now THERE is the HOPE and CHANGE. At least the media hasn't given up yet.

9:10- The President is announced.

9:13- Still making his way to the podium. NBC ignoring the "polls" in favor of the poles in their pants.

9:15- An hour long speech? Fuck me. I have to listen to this for an hour? An hour? Good lord. Well anyway, five minutes later, he's at the podium.

9:15- I hate Nancy Pelosi. An amazing amount. She's ten times worse than Obama could ever dream of being.

9:16- Pelosi sucks. Doesn't she know her place? Applause for the first lady? A standing ovation? Fuck me. This is going to take all night.

9:17- Woohoo, speaking frankly is back. I love it. We don't need to hear another list of statistics, but you will. Just wait. It's coming.

9:19- Someone tell Ruth she doesn't need to get up every time these morons start applauding. And yes, a Charlie Rangel sighting. If he paid his taxes, we'd cut the deficit in half in no time.

9:20- About damn time we started talking about the inheritance. I thought he was going to say something intelligent, until he went to energy costs. And then health care (how are we going to pay for that again?). And then piling up debt! Boy, who has been doing that in the last week? Ah yes, and now the transferring the wealth. And REGULATIONS! Damn it!

9:23- Inherited times two! And did he really just say he was not for bigger government? What!?

9:25- Let's talk about this create or save 3.5 million jobs comment they've been tossing around. And a shout out to Mule in the Minny Police! Nice. But back to the jobs, talk about a number they will never be able to back up. What do you mean we've lost ten million jobs? Maybe, but we've SAVED 3.5 million.

9:25- And oh yeah, I thought we didn't need any statistics? That only took 8 minutes!

9:26- These guys are so happy with themselves. People are going to held accountable. Damn it, accountability. Too bad he already broke his first promise on this bill by not letting it sit 48 hours before acting. But let's not talk about that.

9:28- Swiftly and aggressively! Apparently the speech writer intends to use every adjective possible tonight, all while refusing to release one detail about this swift and aggressive plan. Are there any?

9:30- I don't know what they are applauding. This is the same shit we've been hearing for months. THIS TIME? You voted for the plan last time. You did. Why don't you say that?

9:32- I REFUSE TO LET THAT HAPPEN! What happens when his plan fails miserably? What is he going to refuse then? Can someone explain to me how he can sit there and say, "This is not about helping banks, it's helping people," when he's not doing that.

9:34- It's time to put into place common sense rules? Well we finally agree on something. Too bad the administration is lacking common sense. Long term investments with what? Where's the money coming from? Oh and now that we've been down the road of hope, back to schools (which we can't pay for), health care (which we can't pay for), and jobs (which we can't pay for, or create).

9:37- Did he really just try to equate the building of the Trans-Continental Railroad with the $787 billion in bullshit the Congress just passed. Do people really buy this? Really?

9:38- And energy. Don't forget about energy. Jesus, we are fucked. WAF rules.

9:39- This speech would be much more bearable if Pelosi were not sitting/standing behind him. And by the way, for a speech that didn't need any statistics, he sure is using a lot of numbers that absolutely no one can back up. Funny how that rhetoric works.

9:42- We are committed to a new imaginative auto industry. On your backs. It won't be easy. That has replaced hope and change. A bankruptcy every 30 seconds. Premiums growing 4 times as fast as wages. 1.5 million homes lost to health care.

We don't need stats. We just don't.

Time for health care reform. How will we pay? Who knows. Who cares!

9:45- Seeking the cure for cancer. I can't wait for I Am Legend to actually happen. This has been a fantastic speech. How are we going to pay for this again, AND cut the deficit in half? Can someone, anyone, offer any type of answer to that. Anyone? Are we going to sell Alaska to the Russians?

9:48- I'm just glad we are not using statistics tonight. Bigger buzzword of the night- "reform" or "responsible." Lots of reform going on. He's asking every American t commit to at least one year of higher education. Let's have that frank conversation he wanted. Are there enough jobs now for all of the college graduates? Ummm, no. Keep it up!

9:49- "To all those assholes that paid for college, you were born too early. We'll now give it away if you just say, 'But I can't do it myself.' This is our duty. This is our future."

Ok, so he didn't really say that. I don't think so anyway.

9:51- We don't want to pass along the debt to our grandchildren? That's admirable. I thought that was only a Republican card. Then he follows it up with inherited. The Democrats are so pathetic.

9:53- As the astute KO points out. Has he said one thing tonight of note? One? Can you think of one single thing? The look at Pelosi's face about Iraq is priceless. Does she remember that she voted for the war. Do any of them? I can say honestly, I loath these people.

9:55- REDISTRIBUTE THE WEALTH! It works! Yes! We love it! Just do it. I hear some booing in that chamber. At least some people have some balls left. And I know I can't wait for my $13 a week! That will fix everything. These arrogant assholes are intent on destroying the entire country and don't believe anyone will stand in their way. I hope they're wrong.

9:58- These Dems sure have a funny way of screaming they will not allow something to happen, and then acting as quickly as possible to subvert those words. Is that a disease? Can they get help for it?

9:59- Raising pay and benefits for veteran? It took him an hour, but he said something I can agree with. That one hurt Pelosi. She could barely stand up.

10:00- She couldn't be happier about the closing of Gitmo though. Funny how that works. He's also making a commitment that the United States does not torture. That's nice to know. What the hell do you consider this speech?

10:01- According to NBC before, there are still 15 minutes left in this speech. How? And now we're talking about how the world depends on us? Wait, what? Really? That's what we now need to discuss. Oh, and for those waiting, apparently, they are going to talk to Rahm Emmanuel before they go to Bobby Jindal. Riiiiiiigggggghhhhhtttt...

10:03- He actually just called for the United States to become a Socialist society. He did. He really did. This guy is the shining example of what we should become. If that's what makes him happy, great. Nice work guy. But just because he does it, does not mean everyone should. And it makes me sick that he just attempted to make that point.

10:05- Propping up children is always good for a standing applause.

10:07- He just went off script. "We haven't been on the same all the time... thus far." You bastard Republicans will obey. You must!

10:08- And as the President leaves the podium, and I'm left with but three words- "Nancy Pelosi sucks."

10:09- David Gregory blowjob back in effect. Obama "took the country to school." What? These guys will follow this man to the seventh level of hell. Nothing will stop them. Can we just get onto Jindal so I can go to bed.

10:11- The problem with Democrats and the media is that they love to suck each others dicks. They can do no wrong in each other's eyes. It's transparent and sad, but it is what it is. We will have to deal with it.

10:12- I had to switch to Fox, Brian Williams was too much. And he's the moderate of the elitist media. Almost Jindal time. Don't blow it.

10:14- For what it's worth, even I find the guy (Obama) likable as he stands and just chats with people.

10:18- I'm still trying to figure out how we're going to cut the deficit in half, spend $800 billion on this stimulus, fund universal health care, fund an entire college system, and deal with the $400 billion Congress package that they want. How can you accomplish all this? Do people think about this, or are we alone?

10:23- Charles Krauthammer looks like he is being propped up like he just send a weekend at Bernie's. That said, he is right. Republicans basically need to call Bush a hypocrite and move back to a conservative spending agenda. But they have to shed Bush first.

10:24- Bobby Jindal must be the happiest guy on earth.

10:27- Jindal with the most devastating Katrina comment I have ever heard. That was brutal.

10:28- "The strength of America is not in its government." A.M.E.N.

10:30- If nothing else, Jindal has laid it on the line. He said the plan will fail. If it does, he can say I told you so. If it doesn't (I know, I know) he is done.

10:32- On Sunday evening, I wrote that, "Jindal failing to get this message across in a plain-spoken manner that the majority of the country can connect with will have the effect of Obama not closing a barn door, but just another opportunity for this country to right itself."

Unfortunately, another window has closed. Whoever wrote this speech should be shot. More Republican yawning. No one gives a shit about Louisiana. I can't believe this is the best the Republican Party can do. I like Jindal. He appears to be a smart guy, comes off very likable, but right now I feel like he's talking down to me. Actually, he kind of reminds me of Fred Rogers.

10:35- "Our party is determined to regain your trust." If he had started out with that it would have been better. But he started out with talking about how great they are when the country just told them in November how much they suck. Not that I was ever on it, but Jindal's bandwagon will be pretty empty tomorrow morning.

10:37- Britt Hume: "The speech read a lot better than what it was delivered, this was not Bobby Jindal's finest oratory moment." Yeah, that was FOX.

10:38- WAF. And good night.

Mr. President, Don't Blow This

2009-02-24T15:34:00.007-05:00

As my Lahti and I made our way to our small, cramped, dimly lit desk, nestled in the far left corner of the bunker I reflected on a conversation I recently had with my college History major daughter. The topic was England and Parliament and some of its most famous personalities. We came around to one of my favorites, Edmund Burke. So, I am declaring it Edmund Burke day, at least in the small, far left corner of the bunker. Burke once mused:

'When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state will be of no service”.

Mr. President, on day 35, earlier than I am sure you ever imagined, you are at an important crossroad of your administration. You can sacrifice it to those to whom the auctioneers have already bid and won, yes that’ means YOU Ms. Pelosi, or you can use your talents as problem solver, a conciliator, to bring the GOP into the discussion and come to a true bi-partisan agreement on how to resolve the economic downturn.

Follow the lead of one of Burke’s fellow Irishman, Ronald Reagan (whoa, that was tough to write even on Edmund Burke day), Reagan won both his elections with a far larger mandate than the one which brought you to office. If he can sit down with Tip O’Neil, there’s no reason at all why you shouldn’t bring Boehner, Cantor, et al to the White House, shut the door and “git r done”. 35 days into your administration you have the opportunity to be a great President, don’t squander it to the same bidders and auctioneers who have already destroyed the reputation, credibility and effectiveness of the congressional democrats.

“Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion”

Mr. President, use the judgment with which you have been blessed. Use your victory as an olive branch of co-operation, not as a gavel to unilaterally end debate. Use your address tonight to invite bi-partisan success, not partisan failure.

Frank's Tuesday Morning Hangover

2009-02-24T11:06:00.015-05:00

Today, please join me for a very special episode of Frank’s Tuesday Morning Hangover.

I know that I’m only one column in, but I want to be a little serious today. I promise that we’ll bust balls on Brad Pitt and talk about boobs and what pisses me off next week.

So the other day I hired a young female accountant. Smart, qualified, professional - all of the things that you want in an associate - but she had one other “something”. She’s the sort of person that makes a room better just by being there. You know the type, the “aww shucks, life is beautiful and I’m so glad to know you” people. The ones that, when you meet them and know them, make you pray down in your soul that they’re genuine so that your faith in humanity might be maintained for another day.

I’m feeling pretty good about, we’ll call her “Margaret”, so I ask her my favorite question.

“Tell me about your greatest tribulation and how you overcame it”.

I generally get “my professor in Psych 250 had it in for me”, “my Dad wouldn’t buy me a car for sweet sixteen”, “my last job got yanked out from under me because I wouldn’t kiss ass”.

Really deep stuff.

Not from Margaret. No way.

“Mr. TStyl, that’s got to be when I had my car wreck. I was six months pregnant and totaled it - the other driver was intoxicated. I had a seizure and had to deliver by emergency c-section three months early. I got home from the hospital after a couple of weeks and about a week or so later my husband was laid off so I had to go back to work, except the hospital replaced me and I had to take a position in customer service.”

Then she starts smiling, and I’m thinking “what the hell? Is she nuts?”.

“I got to learn how to deal with difficult people and the whole thing strengthened my marriage. My daughter is now three and she‘s just the greatest thing in my life. God really blessed my family”.

Lessons to take home here?

#1 - Her pregnancy was six months along when this wonderful woman gave birth to a beautiful girl who is now three years old, smart and almost perfect. It's a shame that The ONE thinks that this child wasn't a person when she was brought into the world. That Margaret was “punished with a baby”? (side note - every time this guy leaves the relative safety of a teleprompter he lets slip his forked tongue and gives us another peek into the shallow, fetid pond that is his soul.)

Before you get on my ass about abortion in general, I’m talking late term here. I’m not really sure that I think that all abortions should be illegal, but banning late termers, where the child could almost certainly thrive outside of the womb, should seem pretty damned obvious and logical to anyone with a high school bio class under his or her belt.

But what about incest or the health of the woman?

A.) self defense in any situation is something that I believe in.
B.) didn’t Suzie realize that it was Uncle Joe who knocked her up before her seventh month kicked in?

Hold your tongue before you get on me for “being a man that doesn’t know what he’s talking about”. I was conceived in the back seat of a car between a couple of stupid teenagers in the summer of ‘70, not too many years before Roe v. Wade became the law of land.

BTW, thanks to both of you for finding me some great parents - your little boy turned out ok.

#2 - This woman genuinely believes that God brought her and her family through this tough time. Not the “god” that tells radical Islamists to blow up daycare centers or the “god” that tells Fred Phelps and his band of troglodytes to protest the services of our brothers and sisters in the military - a loving God that protects, guides and nurtures His (or Her) children.

Yeah yeah, we get it Bill Maher. Anyone that believes in “the magical dude in the sky” is a moron. Thanks. Does anyone else want to be enjoying buttered popcorn, hot wings and Genny Cream Ale on a plush sofa with Lou Gehrig and Jimi Hendrix watching while Maher tries to convince God that He doesn’t exist???

Even if there isn’t a God (something with which I strongly disagree), is it a horrible thing that prayer, belief and hope brought this young woman and her husband through a time that would have emotionally crippled 99% of the people that cross your path?

My brush with fame - I used to date a woman that got nailed by Brad Pitt at a frat party at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He’s got a TIIIIIIIIINY penis and horrible body odor.

Let that bring a smile to your face every single time you get jealous of him banging Angelina Jolie whenever she isn’t pregnant.

(Ok, sue me. I had to sneak one in.)

Who's Minding the Store?

2009-02-24T09:08:00.007-05:00

Of the myriad of promises our President has made, a common refrain has been "transparency of government and accountability to the American people". Indeed, he wasted no time as seen here:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release January 21, 2009

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Transparency and Open Government
My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government

A truly noble thought. We should know what our Government is doing. One small problem: The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, under new Chairman, Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), evidently did not get this memo. It appears this august body, whose mandate is to ensure that very transparency and open Government President Obama seeks to bring to unprecedented levels, has not yet convened.

An odd set of circumstances given the current state of affairs. They should be the busiest little beavers in D.C. Just ask Rep. Waxman. Under his stewardship, the Committee held the Bush Administration under a microscope and STILL found time to investigate MLB's steroid problem. In the waning year of President Bush's term, Rep. Waxman, along with Rep. Barney Frank also found the time (over the holiday recess yet!) to hold extensive hearings into the mortgage/credit crisis, at the behest of Madam Speaker. (I'll leave it to some of my colleagues to comment on their findings.)

Now, to be fair, the Committee will hold their first meeting this week. No, not on the economic crisis. Their first order of business is an examination of the Excluded Parties List System, a federal database intended to prevent persons and businesses ineligible to receive federal contracts due to past misconduct from receiving new awards. No, I'm not making that up. Hey, I'm sure they just want to make sure no miscreants slipped through the back door.

Still, I'm not feeling the urgency. Chairman Towns' staff has attributed the slow start to transitional issues. Of course, Rep. Waxman has hit the ground running on his new committee, but then, he has extensive experience holding hearings as we've seen. I suppose it didn't help matters that the Oversight Committee was among the last to get staffed. Yes, that's right...the Committee charged with OVERSIGHT was among the last to be staffed.

It seems the Committee has lost some of its stature. So what's different? Well, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) offers this theory:

“Speaker Pelosi gutted this committee,” said the panel’s ranking member, Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) Issa defended Towns in the face of having “no money, no staff and no members,” but he questioned Pelosi’s commitment to rigorous oversight under the Obama administration.

“She could have gutted the ability for Henry Waxman to do oversight two years ago if she wanted to,” Issa said. “But it wasn’t until President Obama took office that she did so.”

Surely, Rep. Issa must be wrong. Speaker Pelosi wouldn't do that. It flies in the face of the change she and our President promised to bring to Washington. It must just be those pesky transitional issues.

Monday Closing Drive By: In Case You Find Yourself Wondering Why The Dow's Dropping Like a Rock...

2009-02-23T18:36:00.006-05:00

Here's a hint.

The Swedish government said on Wednesday it would not intervene to take over Saab. Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson slammed Saab’s US owner General Motors for “abandoning” the struggling Swedish car maker. General Motors has warned that the unit would go under without official help. “Voters picked me because they wanted nursery schools, police and nurses, and not to buy loss-making car factories,” Enterprise and Energy Minister Maud Olofsson told Swedish public radio.

When politicians in Sweden begin looking like the rational beacon of free enterprise ... well -- you know.

(Hat tip: Richard Florida)

Resident Liberal

2009-02-23T17:21:00.009-05:00

Bobby Jindal: Politics over People

With unemployment at the highest level in decades and likely to go higher Bobby Jindal, Louisiana’s Republican Governor has placed his own political fortune over the people of Louisiana. In refusing to accept Federal Stimulus money, particularly those dollars for increased unemployment compensation, an emergency measure designed to give those who need it, help. Jinadal joins Haley Barbour and South Carolina’s Mark Sanford as point persons for the GOP’s latest round of obstructionism.

While there is still great debate over the best method to resolve the current economic malaise in the country, Obama’s Keynesian approach or the GOP’s “supply slide” theory, one thing is certain: the GOP Governors have no intention of allowing the plan to succeed. The triumvirate of Barbour, Jindal and Sanford are seeking to gain power; as if this were ancient Rome and they were Augustus, Antony and Lepidus. Consumed with gaining power at the expense of the people they are supposedly representing.

Jindal’s insistence that the only way to solve the economic crisis is to “cut taxes, lower tax brackets and get the private sector spending” is déjà vu fantasy. Correct me if I’m wrong here but didn’t Bush, “cut taxes, lower tax brackets and get the private sector spending” and aren’t we in the worst economic position in 50 years? During the Bush Tax cut years, we created a mere 3 million jobs and the median income did not go up at all………yet Mr. Jinadal feels more of the same is the recipe for a turnaround.

Jindal, just as conservatives often do, plays the “grandchild” card on Meet the Press……”You’ve got another view that says all this spending is temporary yet its creating debt my children and grandchildren will have to pay” Mr. Jindal openly celebrates the Regan legacy of record debt in the eighties and more recently was silent when President Bush created debt (some of which was created to help Louisiana after Katrina) as if he were a drunken tourist on Bourbon street during Mardi Gras. Mr. Jindal’s repudiation of Obama’s Keynesian approach is understandable from an ideological sense, but from a practical sense, the Rubicon has been crossed. Jindal’s lack of desire to work within the solution with which he has been presented simply shows that he is far more concerned with The White House in 2012 than with helping the people of Louisiana. It is another example of the GOP’s desperate gamble to regain power………..regardless of the cost or harm to our country.

How far does the ACORN fall from the tree again?

2009-02-23T09:39:00.009-05:00

Soon, ACORN will begin battling other similar organizations for their "fair share" of between $4 -5 billion dollars of stimulus money earmarked for "neighborhood stabilization activities". Evidently, according to ACORN, breaking & entering, unlawful property damage and vandalism all qualify.

ACORN Trains Citizens To Protest Home Foreclosures

Near Patterson Park, the padlock on the door and the sign in the window tell part of Donna Hanks foreclosure story.

"The mortgage went up $300 in one month," said Hanks, former
homeowner.

She says the bank refused to modify her loan and foreclosed, kicking her out of the house in September.

The community group ACORN calls Hanks a victim of predatory lending.

"This is our house now," said Louis Beverly, ACORN.

And on Thursday afternoon, they literally broke the foreclosure padlock
right off the front door and then broke into the house, letting Hanks back in for the first time in months.

"We are actually trespassing, and so this is a way of civil disobedience to try to stay in the house," said Beverly. "Legally it's wrong, but homesteading is the only means that she has left to stay in her house. And we feel as though this is the right thing to do at this particular time to save this family."

Inside, there's spray paint on the walls and evidence that someone has possibly been remodeling.

The group says it was staging similar demonstrations in six other cities
nationwide while urging a moratorium on foreclosures. They want
that until President Obama's stimulus plan begins on March 4. The
plan is designed to help threatened homeowners.

"As you all can see, Donna is reclaiming her home, and she's putting a lock on her door at this time," said Beverly.

But that padlock won't stay there for long.

The current property managers told Eyewitness News they were unaware of ACORN's actions Thursday and were contacting the police and their lawyers.

Donna is not "reclaiming" her home. Donna is at least an accessory to breaking and entering and a few other fairly serious crimes. One is also left to wonder why Donna would be helping people to spray paint graffiti all over the inside of "her" own home.

"Predatory lending" will once again become a favorite buzzword of the left as they continue to attempt to shift responsibility for the foreclosure crisis from the poor spending habits of Americans to the evil banks and mortgage companies that only did what the left asked them to do to begin with: provided long term loans to people with marginal credit histories and marginal ability to make realistic repayment. You are now a "victim" if you can't plan a budget for more than a month at a time, evidently. The advancement of the culture of victimization continues.

As taxpayers, we should all be concerned that an organization with as sketchy a history as ACORN that is now actively supporting serious illegal activity not only has the ear of the President, but stands a good chance of receiving taxpayer money in the form of grants to escalate that activity. Taxpayer funded criminal activity isn't something the stimulus plan officially calls for...is it?

We Don't Need No Water, Let The Motherfucker Burn...

2009-02-22T21:23:00.021-05:00

Later this week President Barack Obama will announce that he is closing the barn doors. Unfortunately for the United States, the horses split awhile ago, and while our trusted politicians were out looking for their valued thoroughbreds, the tools were stolen from the shed and scrapped, the feed robbed by hungry wolves, and the building burned to the ground by potential regulatory arsonists.

But he will close the doors now. Before it's too late.

When Obama delivers his speech to the country it will be littered with catchphrases encouraging us all to “do our part” in this “economic climate” that is “the worst since the Great Depression.” According to reports, his comments will concern his attempt to cut the national debt in half by the next Presidential election. A noble goal to be sure, and only a couple of weeks late.

During the big push to have the stimulus package passed as quickly as possible the President was quoted as saying that “now is not the time for profits,” adding that it will come later. It is terrifying that a large segment of our country actually believes that rubbish. If now is not the time for profits, exactly when would be a good time be? This thought process will only accomplish to handicap the producers left in our country.

On this stop along the path to socialism, the overtaxing of the rich to provide for the rest, the country is being asked to close its eyes to the problems we face, and wish them away on the backs of the earners. The left wing of this country accomplishes this magic act by convincing the middle class that the cause they fight for is those making under $250,000 per year. They just forget to mention how far under.

We can thank former President George W. Bush for his great efforts in making this path much easier for Obama to traverse. The current President is a man who proudly told “Joe the Plumber” that he sought a “redistribution of wealth” to cure all of our financial ills. We knew then, but it was Bush's advancement of his bank bailouts that allowed this path to be free of logistical pitfalls.

As we continue to discuss the economy, liberals in this country have begun to prop up appointed economists as a blockade to the true motives they chase, believing this Great Wall of Economy cannot be seen through despite its transparency, when it actuality all that is required is common sense.

When that wall is brushed aside they resort to the only tool they have argued with for nearly a decade- “Bush Bad.” The progressives in our country enjoyed crowing about Bush's abysmal approval rating during his last two years in office- it was proof to them of his abysmal failure. What is perplexing about this liberal delusion is remarkably they believe 80 percent of the country disapproving of Bush meant 80 percent of the country suddenly became liberal. Logic is not their strong suit.

If we are to survive as a society and buck this intended advancement towards what was once our worst nightmare, we must awaken from our slumber and once again become a nation of people that think freely and make difficult decisions. Each day politicians preach the difficult choice mantra. Choosing between Filet Mignon and smoked pork tenderloin is not a difficult decision.

The path that we need to travel is to convince an entire nation to change its way of life. Though it looked promising for decades, we must now acknowledge that long term consumption without equal production is a recipe for failure. Our leaders, current and past, refuse to recognize that we must focus on the foundation of which this country was built. We must stop our excess government funding of programs that started as transitional assistance and morphed into generational expectations. We must stop subsidizing the living conditions of the unmotivated, and ignore programs that bankrupt our society morally, ethically, and financially.

When Obama delivers his address this week, it will be the latest in which he eloquently maps the further destruction of our country. What will our response be?

Maniacal government spending that has been supported by both political parties must be replaced with a plan that rewards ability and hard work, not the opposite. This is not a Republican versus Democrat issue, it is an ideological battle concerning those willing to work through life and earn what they seek, and those looking for a handout.

Following Obama's remarks, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal will offer a rebuttal to the President. Jindal has been in front of the stimulus package argument by declaring that his state would not blindly accept the funding if it was determined that it would be a long term detriment. Jindal will be the first person to hold the national spotlight in prime time and offer another perspective to Obama.

He held his own against an aggressive David Gregory on Meet the Press Sunday in addressing the fact that any opposing party must offer suggestions, particularly in these challenging times, rather than simply being a party of no. Offering no alternative will only strengthen your opponent, and Jindal understands this.

If he can offer logical options to the “we must act now, or we will all die, hope be damned” message that Obama has hammered home in recent weeks, it will help promote the common sense alternative to the contradiction that permeates our society today- that government needs to spend itself to death for us to survive.

Jindal failing to get this message across in a plain-spoken manner that the majority of the country can connect with will have the effect of Obama not closing a barn door, but just another opportunity for this country to right itself.

Dear Attorney General...

2009-02-20T17:01:00.005-05:00

Earlier this week Attorney General Eric Holder spoke to the Justice Department and declared that the people of the United States deploring its lack of advancement on race relations and referring to the entire populous as “cowards,” despite the recent election of Barack Obama.

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial (they) have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," Holder told his employees.

Your eyes do not mislead you. During his first month in office, the chief law enforcement officer in the country, referred to his constituents as cowards. Ignore for the moment that the President is black, as is Mr. Holder. Disregard the impact that people like Oprah Winfrey have on our culture, or the great importance that black athletes hold in the hearts of our youth. Erase from your memory the service that Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell have recently given to this country.

Instead, focus on Mr. Holder’s words.

"If we are to make progress in this area, we must feel comfortable enough with one another and tolerant enough of each other to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us."

Apparently Mr. Holder’s version of a frank conversation begins with name-calling, and ends with, well, we’re not quite sure yet. Is it surprising that President Obama has surrounded himself with someone willing to flippantly call an entire nation “cowards?” Only until we understand that the only people he was referring to as “cowards” were people who happen to be white.

Perhaps we should provide Mr. Obama some leeway on this matter; it’s not as if he has a history of surrounding himself with people that have made it their mission to destroy this country from the inside by injecting a far ranging agenda of hate, anger, inequality, and terrorism into its blood stream. We were told during the recent election that we need not worry about Reverend Wright and his “God Damn America”- he would not be a member of any administration. We were looked at as racists if we dared question how someone could continually listen to ideologies and not come away with some type of indoctrination.

We, the thinking men and women of this country, however few of us remain, are willing to have very frank conversations on race, and all of the other matters troubling this country, Mr. Holder. Please let us know when you are ready. Please let us know when we may be judged on the content of our character; and not the assumption of racism because we dare question a dangerous liberal agenda.

If we are to progress in this area, we must feel comfortable enough with one another and tolerant enough of each other, Mr. Holder. These are your words, but the direction in which you speak them is wrong. Do not stand at the edge of the balcony and preach to the choir a reinforcement of unrealistic platitudes. Instead, look in the mirror and whisper to yourself these noble directions.

Are you, Mr. Holder, willing to have a frank conversation with us? Are you willing to admit that when we look at you, we do not see an angry black man, but a person serving his country that we disagree with vehemently?

Are you willing to admit that the vast majority of this country could care nothing of race? Do not look at this as a negative. It is the fulfillment of Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream. How else can you explain the election of Mr. Obama to the most powerful position in the world?

For generations, the United States, not white or black people, has been saddled with leaders in the black community that play a divisive game that would not exist were it not for self advancement and preservation. Reverend Al Sharpton, praised by many in the black community, the liberal base, and the media, has done more to harm race relations in this country than any delusional KKK fool could ever hope to achieve.

People of Mr. Sharpton's ilk, if we are to speak frankly, care little for the advancement of racial equality in this country. If achieved, they would be out of a job.

These words would carry more weight if I were black. I am not. We look at this situation, the message these words intend to convey, and the insults that will instead be lobbed, as a true problem if we are to have our discussion. We will not apologize for the wrongs and sins our ancestors committed because we cannot fathom for a moment the audacity they had to chain a fellow human being to land and treat him as property.

Instead we will work to right those wrongs the only way we know how- true equality. We are willing to hire anyone of color for a job they are qualified for. We judge a person for who they are, listen to what they believe, and work with them to perfect our American dream. Color be damned- to not do so would be cowardly.

Are you willing to do the same?