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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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....

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

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.

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