Vote for Bush or against liberalism?

2 Blowhards (via Spitbull) make an excellent point, something I'd kind of tossed around in my head for a while, but hadn't yet been able to put into words: A post-election point that seemed to me to be overlooked was that perhaps many of those who pulled the Bush lever weren't really voting for Bush. After all, who really likes what he's done to the economy, let alone his stance on immigration? Perhaps what many Bush voters were doing instead was voting against Kerry's backers, many of whom have been fantastically abusive and snide towards Red America. As far as I can tell, it almost never occurs to the left that the other half of America might not like being ridiculed, being called stupid, and being put down for what they believe in. I recall that while watching the Republican convention the cameras did two quick cuts to a couple random demonstrators who snuck in that caused a momentary ruckus in the crowd, but were quickly removed from the arena. At the time I couldn't help thinking that I dislike Kerry almost as much as they oppose Bush, but I wouldn't hurl myself into their convention and get my dumb ass arrested. My second thought was what would America think? Do most Americans want these nuts inspired by the likes of Michael Moore running the country? It's generally accepted that the two things you don't discuss (especially with family at Thanksgiving. That's a food fight waiting to happen) are politics and religion because everyone has firm beliefs in both subjects. But the average Joe doens't want extremist moonbats running the nation calling them morons because they believe in God or think abortion is wrong or think the death penalty is a good thing, etc. So the question is did the anarchist protesters (who are now hysterically apologizing to the rest of the world via the internet) do more harm than good? In my case they didn't change my mind, they just confirmed my principles and strengthened my resolve. But I'm sure that there were people out there offended at their blatant disregard for authority and figured four more years of Bush couldn't be that bad. And if it pisses off some of the lunatic fringe, even better.

Back to the salt mines

I swear there is nothing worse than getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to head back to work after a luxurious 4 day weekend of sleeping in and gorging yourself until you pass out watching football. Of course if your alarm clock doesn't go off, so you oversleep which makes you late to work... that would be worse. I hate Mondays...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all. May you stay safe in all your travels, and remember to say a prayer in thanks of the great country we live in, the freedom we all have, and a special thanks for those who keep us free and promote that freedom for all mankind around the world. God bless you and your family, God bless our troops who are far from their families this weekend, God bless President Bush, and of course God bless the United States. Happy Thanksgiving!

Geneva Conventions violations

A lot is being made of the marine who shot the injured terrorist as a possible war criminal because shooting the wounded man violated the Geneva Convention rules of war. Well since we're nitpicking this poor marine for shooting the enemy lets take a look at the terrorists and see if they're violating this at all. Just to be fair. Because we all know how the left wants everything to be fair (unless perhaps it's unfair against the US; they seem to be OK with that). These slides just cover Fallujah, check out the actual pictures (via Citizen Smash and John Donovan) To sum up the findings the terrorists used mosques as refuge and to wage war from, Used mosques to store weapons and take hostages, stored weapons in hospitals and schools, found three human slaughterhouses/torture chambers where beheading videos took place, used cemeteries as fighting positions, improvised explosive devices for car bombs and factories to make such devices, and videos of torture and random terrorist attacks. They booby trap dead bodies and the injured, attack while waving a white flag, and use women and children as shields and weapons. All that sounds great! They're the Geneva Convention model! If only the US follow the lead of the terrorists then the world and the UN and the French would like us and their would be world peace, if only we acted as nobly as the terrorists! Doesn't that sound like a beautiful world? (insert retching sound effect here) And remember, go sign the petition for that marine! Don't let the French have their way with him!

Rottweiler vs. a French poodle

Once again the French try to pretend to be important and involved in the world at large and the Big Dog rips the itsy-bitsy French poodle to shreds... again. We really ought to make mocking the French our national pasttime. I do enjoy it so: "Branding the US practices against the Fallujah residents as "state terrorism," Pascal Boniface, Director of the Institute for International and Strategic Studies in Paris, expected the onslaught to further fan anti-US feelings in the entire Islamic world. Wow. I didn't know the French considered it "terrorism" to force pathetic vermin into a stand-up fight. After all, the jihadis blow up schools and police stations, decapitate bound hostages, and crank out the usual Friday-night humanitarian aid-worker snuff films. In their off time they bitch, hector, spew laughably histrionic threats, and otherwise act French. Of course from the perspective of the Paris elite the thought of standing up and fighting like a man is undoubtedly terrifying, so it's no wonder they view our military actions as "state terrorism". Addressing a seminar organized by the Arab World Institute on Wednesday, November 17, Boniface said the cold-blooded killing of an unarmed, wounded Iraqi What really worries the French is that if the Americans possess a technology that can kill unarmed defenseless prisoners then the primary combat tactic of the French army is rendered worthless. He said the murder as well as the prisoners abuses in the infamous Abu Ghreib and Guantanamo Bay detentions demonstrate an established policy and doctrine. Yep. White House policy is to shoot anyone who's already dead and force anyone captured to parade around with women's underwear on their head, modeling the soul destroying panty-turban. It's all clearly laid out in National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 16-c, "Guidelines for Offensive Underwear-Warfare", which is of course classified. I'm reminded of the Guinness commercials with the oldfashioned guys: "Brilliant!!"

Step up liberals!

Cold Fury lets loose with the kind of rant that we've all felt like yelling at the top of our lungs at the hippie, peacenik, conspiracy theorist freaks on the left (via Paterrico). Here's a snippet: Yep, that’s right, you commie bastiches, we’re coming for you. It’s only a matter of time now until you hear that late-night knock on the door you’ve been dreading all along. Our jack-booted gendarmerie is going to be working overtime rounding up every non-white and non-rich subject of our fascist regime, and we’re going to be baking every last one of you into pies that we’ll then refuse to share with the poor and hungry. We’ll be baking those pies in coal-fired ovens, and those ovens will be devoid of any sort of exhaust-scrubber whatever, because we want to release all the toxic gases and chemicals we can into the atmosphere. Read the whole thing; it's hysterical.

Professional sports hits a new all-time low

After seeing the highlights from the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons all out brawl with each other and then more disturbingly with the fans, I was shocked. The resulting suspensions cost Ron Artest the rest of the season (73 games plus any playoff games), Stephen Jackson 30 games, and Jermaine O'Neal 25 games for going into the stands and fighting with fans. After watching the highlights of this a dozen or so times on ESPN last night after the suspensions were announced I really felt ill. I love sports, playing and watching; I'm a huge fan in general. What has led us to this point? Who's at fault? What should be done to correct the problem? In this case I believe both the fans and players involved to be repsonsible. For the players, their is no excuse. With great prestige, power, and influence in our everyday lives (for better or for worse) comes great responsibility. Their is no excuse for the players to rush into the stands and assault the fans, granted the fans behavior was appalling, but the majority of the burden still falls on the players to restrain themselves. Unfortunately the conduct of the fans in these cases has become increasingly belligerent. What is acceptable behavior these days at sporting events? Swearing; insulting the player's performance, family, race, religion; fighting; and general drunken debauchery have become standard at most sporting events. And I'm sure we all know stories of first hand experiences. My family has season passes to the LA Dodgers. My cousin refuses to take his young daughters to the game unless he has those good seats (2nd level third row behind homeplate. They're great seats). He said based on past experiences in some of the higher levels he'll never take his girls into the higher levels. When I was in college in San Diego the Padres had won the National League and earned the right to play the Yankees in the World Series. Padre fans are very dedicated to their team and I knew several people who went to NewYork to catch one of the games there. They came back and told tales of their miserable experiences being yelled at, spat on, having beer and other things thrown at them while they cheered for their team (ironically, Yankee fans who came to San Diego gave interviews saying how graciously they had been hosted by the city and the fans at the stadium). I actually attended a Dodger/Cardinal game several years back that became infamous because it was baseball give away night. All fans in attendance recived a free baseball. The game ended with the fans pelting the field with the balls after Raul Mondesi was called out on strikes on what was apparently ball four. Now you can't pick your giveaway item up until after the game. These situations are becoming more and more common as acceptable fan behavior goes to hell in a handbasket. That's not to say that these things never happened before, but their regularity has become frightening. What can we do about the unruly fan behavior? I think the NBA is actually doing just about all it can right now. As far as the suspensions go, the only thing I might have done differently is harsher suspensions for Jackson and O'Neal, while they didn't instigate the fight, they did just as much damage as Artest did. I think the most difficult problem to address is the fans. They'll never stop alcohol sales, but maybe a system to limit the number of drinks people have, or cut off taps sooner is in order. For the next Piston game, they had a visible increase in the amount of security present in the hopes of discouraging and policing the crowd. New laws have gone into affect to allow for the prosecution of fans that tresspass on the field of play (eg. Calvin Klein's Law in New York named after the famed designer drunkenly strutted out onto the court of a Knick's game to start a conversation with Latrell Spreewell). NBA seats are right on top of the court, and scarily, hundreds of fans could just take a few steps to come within arms length of the players. The potential for disaster is always there, but has increased dramatically as of late as our society's standards of acceptible behavior continue to drop. As Dennis Prager might say, we're in a cultural civil war: religion and morality vs. MTV, gangst rap, and moral relativism. This isn't a call for censorship or increased policing of personal behavior, but as our society becomes more liberal and less accepting of Judeo-Christian values, people are less and less likely to control their own behavior when they are not beholden to a higher standard. Standards of behavior are not calls to conversion but a recognition of acting for something bigger and more important than yourself. Selflessness has become a lost art as people's beliefs that what's right for them is moral, and who are you to tell me anything different type attitudes become more prevalent. Liberalsim's moral relativism at it's worst. The players will appeal their suspensions and the rumor is charges will probably be files against players and fans involved in the altercations as well as inumerable lawsuits. Think about your safety and the safety of your family the next time you attend a sporting event. Think of how you'd explain your behavior to your children. These players are going to have to. Ron Artest has four kids and he's out of work without pay for the next several months. And the most dispicable sight of all from the replays of the highlights of that brawl was the father trying to protect his young son who ended up frightened and in tears when all things were said and done. Come to think of it, maybe those suspensions weren't harsh enough. If baseball banned Pete Rose for life for betting on the game he played, why not do something similar for extreme cases like these. We shouldn't have to deal with child endangerment at a entertainment venue. UPDATE: Other opinions around the web: Slings and Arrows: Is anyone REALLY surprised by this? The biggest thug in the biggest thug sport gets involved in some thuggish hooliganism. We've bred this streetball mentality in the NBA, personified by Artest and his badboy B.S. and installed it league wide. A word on the fans - I feel for none of them. You throw a drink on someone, you might as well poke a bear with a stick. Radio Blogger: [How's this for hysterical, the brawl is Bush's fault according to James Carville] The man who owns the Detroit Pistons that failed to put security there for his fans is a man named Bill Davidson, who has given $20,000 to the Republican Party. Don't you think Mr. Davidson looks at the irresponsibility of this administration, the corruptness of running the surplus into deficit, of all of the lies that were told to this country about Iraq and all of these things, and saying, 'What the hell. Why should I worry about affording protection to the people who pay me money when I know that the administration lets everybody else off in the pharmaceutical...and everybody let me off.' Why would Mr. Davidson afford protection to his fans? [talk about a stretch, liberals must really be getting desperate]

Petition for a marine

Apparently that marine who shot the injured terrorist with two security rounds needs some help. Thanks to House of Wheels for directing my attention this petition. Support our troops; war is a tough business and if they didn't do it could you?

Adios Annan

Well it looks like Kofi is finally going to get the boot. And what is he getting the boot for, you may be asking? Oil for food (and weapons, and terrorists, and palaces, etc)? Nope. A failure to prevent, stop, or respond to Darfur? Nope. It was much, much worse. He let some touchy-feely grab ass bureaucrat go (Oooooooooh!) . At this point I could care less about shy he's gone. Hopefully we'll get someone in there with some gumption and a decent set of values, but don't bet on it. Froggy Ruminations seems to think this is symptomatic of the UN in general (I agree): Finally it seems some amount of accountability will be held by Kofi Annan as he faces a “no confidence” vote by the staff of the UN. The sad thing is that his confidence crisis has nothing to do with his Oil For Food kickbacks or his failure to address Darfur, but it is in response to his exoneration of some UN functionary for sexual harassment charges. This is a perfect metaphor for the UN. An institution that turns a blind eye to massive international security and humanitarian issues, but acts decisively to punish grab assing. According to Say Anything, Annan's term would normally be up in 2006. Let's hope this gets him out quicker.

Why we fight

If you want to understand the mindset of the military check this graffiti in Fallujah out (via Chrenkoff & Sondra K)

Chris Matthews, round II

Chris just keeps dropping these gems right on the doorstep (that's two in one week. He's going to get a cramp if he keeps this pace). How can you not just shake your head and pity him and his ilk (via Say Anything). SCHEUER: He's after a change in policies which he views as lethal to Muslims -- MATTHEWS (Interrupts): Does he think, for example, let me try this -- and I don't want to sound like an apologist -- but suppose we had truly an evenhanded policy in the Middle East. Suppose there was a Palestinian entity of some kind, and it had reasonable borders, and it was contiguous enough to be a working state, and we didn't back dictators like the Saudi Royal Family and people like that who are simply selling the oil to keep their fingers filled with rings and girlfriends in London, all right? Suppose we were a good country and an evenhanded country, all right? Would that make it any less hostile to us? SCHEUER: We are a good country, sir. I don't know... the "suppose we were a good country" line kind of makes me wonder exactly what planet the man is from. Free Iraqis, free Afghanis, and dead terrorists seems like a win, win, win situation to me. I'm glad Scheuer caught the line and responded, many would have missed it in the heat of debate and let it pass right on by. UPDATE: See Secure Liberty's take on this as well: Liberalism has become a self-mocking contradiction, a farce. Chris Matthews says that brutal murderers who would virtualy enslave millions of Iraqis and oppress women among other things just have a disagreement with us? How is that progressive? How is that liberal? Does the avoidance of war trump everything? Does it trump basic human decency? Apparently, Republican's compassionate conservativism has taken over for the pacifist, socialist Democrats while they're on leave for severe mental health issues.

Use the force young Jedi

You were destined to have a Red Lightsaber. Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, and determination as well as passion and desire. You have seen the Strength and Power of the Dark Side of the Force and have you thirst for more of it. What Colored Lightsaber Would You Have? brought to you by Quizilla What can I say I'm a wookie. I enjoy tearing arms out of democrats sockets, and quite often I'm forced to living in the Socialist Republic of California. Hopefully our fearless Jedi leader Aaah-nolld can lead the rebels to victory! Are you part of the VRWC (Vast Right Wing Conspiracy) red states or are you a namby-pamby PC blue state tree hugger? What color light saber would you have?

Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 sequel revealed

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movies, Michael Moore is back. And in his latest undertaking, he searches high and low to find true evil. So he raises JRR Tolkein from the dead (or perhaps he's just turning in his grave) to bring the true nature of the Fellowship of the Ring to light (they are owned by Haliburton, you knew that right?)

Salvation Army

Hugh yesterday started the segment with just a short FYI type story that quickly snowballed into the issue of the show yesterday thanks to concerned listeners. Apparently Target has decided not to allow the Salvation Army bell-ringers to collect donations outside their stores this Christmas. The article cited by Hugh from the Boston Globe (couldn't find a link, sorry) stated Target's reason was that they could no longer afford to make the exception for the Salvation Army. They were having too many other groups asking to collect donations on their premises. I admit I'm hugely disappointed by this. The Army's bell-ringers have been around for so long they've become part of the fabric of our society and a staple of the Christmas season. Based on the responses Hugh was getting this could be disasterous for Target. Being the devil's advocate she is, the fetching Mrs. Wookie commented that people shouldn't need to be reminded or "forced" to give to charity, they should proactively pursue charity. My reply was that's a good arguement if you're addressing a crowd of committed Christians because the Church does the active encouraging for them. But for everyday people this is an easy time to give despite all their excuses for not doing so during the rest of the year. And according to Hugh the Salvation Army made $9 million during Christmas from their Target locations alone. That's a huge dent in donations for a great chraity (they've got the lowest overhead costs and do some great work helping those who can't help themselves). Now I wouldn't suggest a boycott of Target, but I know that if I can help it, I'll probably take my business elsewhere this holiday season. There's always Walmart, Smart & Final, and Costco. UPDATE: Shot in the Dark had a great story on how Salvation Army personally helped him through tough times: The Salvation Army bailed us out. They covered our heat bill, and helped work out a deal with our landlord that kept us in the place - a small blessing, but it beat the alternative. I support the Salvation Army any way I can; I make a point of dropping something in the kettle every time I walk by, and usually manage a check of some sort once a year. Mitch also posts a quote from Lileks who probably has the best solution to this out of all of them: There’s always something to tick you off; the tentacles of business and the non-profits are intimately intertwined. Pick any big shop and you'll find they fund something you like, and something you don't. That said: if I find that Target kicked out the Salvation Army for religious reasons, I’ll be peeved. Doesn’t mean I won’t buy my soap there. But it would chip away at that ephemeral thing called good will, the stuff companies often spend too fast without heed...End result? I wrote out a check to the Salvation Army tonight. Figured out what I put in the kettles, and doubled it. They’re happy; Target’s happy; I don’t have to drive 20 miles to find a frickin’ Wal-Mart.

The boob tube

If I've got one vice, it's how easily I get sucked in to TV. I can get absorbed in almost any show and anything sports, so I do my best to avoid watching TV if there isn't something specific I want to watch so I don't start flipping around and end up watching some crappy show like The Real World or The Swan. And up until this season, there hasn't been too much of value new put out (reality TV is crap. I'm over it), so I've stuck to my favorites ER and CSI (the original only, so far the spin-offs are lame). But this season has been in my opinion the best in recent memory for new shows. First I don't think I could continue without some comment on the latest version of Janet's boob-gate, the MondayNight Football promo for Desperate Housewives where the actress drops her towel and jumps into Terrell Owens arms. Is it the huge controversy that boob-gate was? No, but people are all up in arms about it. I think the best explanation I've heard of this so far is that ABC did a cost evaluation of the possible fees incured from the FCC and the tons of free advertising they would get from the controversy this created. I don't think it's more complicated than that. Some people are trying to throw all these racial overtones into it, but I don't think those come into play here. The white woman threw herself at the black man, what's to be concerned about there? Post Kobe Bryant assault paranoia doesn't apply because roles here are reversed. I can see why some parents would be perturbed, expecting to watch sports with their kids and they get a little strip tease, and for those who say it's no worse than soap operas and other daytime TV, well not a lot of 10 year olds watch soaps during the middle of the day at their kindergarten. I think it's all about the free press. OK, back to my TV recommendations. One of my new favorites is the WB's Jack and Bobby. It's a family drama where one of the two brothers becomes the President in 40 some years. Now the show is full of liberal agendas and propoganda (I mean just look at the title. It screams Kennedy's). Christine Lahti's character is a self-pronounced, liberal, feminist, college professor, who in their episode right around the election wore a Kerry button to the college pub's election party. And the show's Republicans are so stereotypical: the homophobic evangelical minister and the wealthy, step on the poor, school president. But I can overlook all that crap because this show as opposed to dramas that are dramatic just for shock/entertainment value, does drama for the purpose of teaching the future president an important lesson. Yes that is correct there are actual morals to the story that Bobby learns that come into play in his presidency. Yeah some are stupid, like last night's where Bobby learns that soldiers that die in combat are his fault and that he has to go and personally apologize to the parents of each one (maybe Michael Moore wrote that episode). But trust me most are better than that, and it's fun watching the liberal agenda impale itself on its own stupidity (feminism for feminism sake, Bush bashing, etc, etc). But drama that actually reflects character growth I find more appealing than drama for the sake of creating drama. There are some other great new shows; Lost is really cool, and though I've only seen one episode, House MD looks good as well, but there is no greater point to them; nothing to learn (just fun to watch). While Jack and Bobby falls into its own liberal traps every so often, it is putting forth the right effort. Give it a watch, I think it's worth it. Plus anything that kills the ratings of those bug eating, spouse swapping, psycho, control freak filled reality shows has to be worthwhile.

The ant & the grasshopper parable plus the ACLU

See what happens when you get lawyers involved in a simple parable (via Pajama Journal): The Ant and the Grasshopper: Old Version The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. Moral of the Story: Be responsible for yourself! The Ant and the Grasshopper: New Version The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green" Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. John Kerry and John Edwards exclaim in an interview with Dan Rather that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share." Rather displays documents, verified by "experts", proving this. Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act," retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. Hillary Clinton gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood. Moral of the Story: Be Glad Kerry Got Stomped

Marines kill terrorists.

It's really that simple. It's their job; it's what we are paying them to do. But the PC vultures in the media and even those in the government are already circling this poor marine; expect to see him on trial for murder, conduct unbecoming, and/or court martial shortly. As Shot in the Dark points out, the lefty moonbats are already trying to blame this on the Bush administration. Reality check dim bulbs. Bad things happen in war. In WWII there were hundreds of cases of prisoners being killed during what was undoubtedly the most just war of the previous century. This is an isolated case, not administration policy (as you moonbats would love to believe) and when you consider the circumstances totally justifiable. Froggy Ruminations has the details: Here is your situation Marine. You just took fire from unlawful combatants shooting from a religious building attempting to use the sanctuary status of their position as protection. But you're in Fallujah now, and the Marine Corps has decided that they're not playing that game this time. That was Najaf. So you set the mosque on fire and you hose down the terrorists with small arms, launch some AT-4s (Rockets), some 40MM grenades into the building and things quiet down. So you run over there, and find some tangos wounded and pretending to be dead. You are aware that suicide martyrdom is like really popular with these kind of idiots, and like taking some Marines with them would be really cool. So you can either risk your life and your fireteam's lives by having them cover you while you bend down and search a guy that you think is pretending to be dead for some reason. Also, you don't know who or what is in the next room, and you're already speaking english to each other and its loud because your hearing is poor from shooting people for several days. So you know that there are many other rooms to enter, and that if anyone is still alive in those rooms, they know that Americans are in the mosque. Meanwhile (3 seconds later), you still have this terrorist that was just shooting at you from a mosque playing possum. What do you do? You double tap his head, and you go to the next room, that's what.What about the Geneva Conventions and all that Law of Land Warfare stuff? What about it. Without even addressing the issues at hand you first thought should be, "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6." Arresting the insurgents is a holdover from the policing the situation mentality. Our objective in Iraq is not to take prisoners; it's destroy terrorism and facilitate democracy. It's not our job to coddle terrorists; that's for France and the UN. UPDATE 1: The more I think about this the more I'm reminded of a line from Unforgiven: "You just shot an unarmed man!" "He should have armed himself." UPDATE 2: Hugh played a clip of Chris Matthews on Hardball last night talking about this and he referred to the terrorists as "not bad guys" and "rivals." Pardon my French but that's bull-effing-sheit. They're not part of any army so they aren't protected by the Geneva convention and most of the people they've killed they've done so by the cowardly means of suicide bomb. In my opinion the marine was only doing what he had to to keep his ass safe. Hoo-hah. UPDATE 3: Dennis Prager also referred to the liberal mentality here as policing the problem as opposed to trying to cure it. His statement was "would they prefer us to read him his miranda rights?" Indeed. Or perhaps offer to dress his wounds for him despite the fact others have played possum to kill GIs. Maybe get him a cup of coffee and a pillow while you're at it.

Boy Scouts get the shaft

Once again the Boy Scouts, that rebellious, anarchist, spawn of Satan organization has drawn the ire of the peace loving, god faring, pillars of virtue the ACLU (via the Rottweiler): The Pentagon has agreed to warn military bases worldwide not to directly sponsor Boy Scout troops, partially resolving claims that the government has engaged in religious discrimination by supporting a group that requires members to believe in God. No, surely not, no. An optional, private organization asking people to follow their guidelines? Heaven forbid. Here's a tip for you whiners out there: if you don't like the rules, don't join! Start your own damn group! Let's sue the girl scouts for not allowing boys in, or McDonald's for making people fat, or bulglars suing the people they tried to rob when they get hurt on their propoerty. I don't care if the government gives the boy scouts money. Good for them. Everyone wants the government to pay for health care, and reasearch, and special interest programs, but because this group thinks God is a good guy and would like their members to respect him, that makes them brain washing fascists. Go figure.

Why do the French make it so easy...

With all their moral superiority and snobbish, "we are French," nah-nah-na-nah-nah attitude, you'd think the French would try harder to hide their dirty laundry. They covered up that oil for food fiasco for a long time, but now there's a new story again linked to oil (gosh I thought Americans were the only oil burning, baby seal clubbing, war for oil nation on this planet). Apparently in the Ivory Coast (or in French La Cote d'Ivoire), civil war has been on-and-off for the past two years, but the French have involved themselves to keep the popular sitting government from putting up their oil deposits up for international bids. Silly French, did you think we wouldn't find out. Our media would never report this; they swallow the French press lines whole without bothering do their own fact finding. Check out SCSU Scholars and the Big Dog for a good French fisking (that sounds kinda dirty). I do really enjoy poking fun at the French. Being able to speak the language probably has a large part to do with it. It's always more fun to swear at someone when you can do it in their native language. Really, it's like a joy welling up in me whenever the talk turns to the stupid habits of the French. It nevers fails to make me smile. UPDATE: The crack young staff at The Hatemonger's Quarterly join me in mocking the oh-so mockable French: "Which aspect of the French personality do we most detest? The inept, effete caterwauling, or the disgraceful moral preening? Or the inflated sense of ego? Or the coddling of authoritarians? Or Gerard Depardieu?" That's a pretty tough choice. UPDATE pt. deux: Pajama Journal links a canadian editorialist who insists Americans not move in droves Canada and approves of Dubya saying anyone who "manages to simultaneously annoy France and Germany, not to mention those renowned deep, geopolitical thinkers, the Dixie Chicks, Bruce Springsteen, P-Diddy or whatever he's calling himself now, Gwynneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck." Then joins the fun with France segment noting that "America invades Iraq without UN approval and America is portrayed as a barbarian striding across the world stage. Recently, France essentially invaded the Ivory Coast to protect its interests there ... without asking the UN squat. Just pointing out the hypocrisy" and "Plus, let's face it: France deserves to be annoyed by as many people as possible, as often as possible, if only for encouraging Jerry Lewis by telling him that he was a genius" (that's almost below the belt... almost) and more "Not to mention for exporting snotty wine culture across the Atlantic so that otherwise reasonable North Americans have turned into cork-sniffing oenephiles -- although the word sounds like an exotic perversion, it just means wine-nerd -- who can actually say with a straight face: "This is a full-bodied Cabernet, rich with a full body tasting of plum, blackberry and leather cooked on an oak plank.'" Let it rip.

A brave new world

I remember reading all those communist society type books in high school, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, and 1984, being totally enthralled by them and being absolutely frightened of the reality they presented. Did they resemble in any way the reality of communism? Absolutely, that's the end result of hamstringing capitalism, stealing a man's freedom, and destroying his ingenuity. Read Bill Whittle's excellent essay on the Holy Trinity of western civilization and how these factors lead to communism and why communism has never worked in reality. It all boils down to a simple equation: (capitalism + freedom) * ingenuity = the greatest economy the world has ever seen. Bill says it in a way that should be required reading for everyone. Go read it. What I really wanted to plug here is Shot in the Dark's four part series the Secession Diaries (1, 2, 3, & 4) is a remarkable blend of political and social reality and realistic fiction. The thought that the left would really try to secede from the union because Dubya got a second term is such cry baby crap. Grow up liberals, we put up with 8 years of Clinton, you can put up with Bush for another four. Yet he takes it and creates a viable reality of fiction. It's like reading something straight out of 1984: chillingly ironic. Mitch I think you missed your calling as an author.

Check out the new digs

I was bored last night for a couple hours, so I fiddled around with the website's code and came up with this. Yeah, I know, the format is almost identical, but the colors are pretty. I was in a patriotic, red white & blue kind of mood; yesterday was Veteran's day after all. Anyway, hit me with a comment, let me know if it works well or if it bugs the hell out of you.

The lighter side of...

Pajama Journal found a couple gems. Usually forwards are mostly crap and I read through them with one hand on the mouse and the other on the delete button, but these are great: Bill, Hillary and Kerry are flying on Kerry's wife's private jet. Bill looks at Hillary, chuckles and says, "You know, I could throw a $100.00 bill out the window right now and make somebody very happy." Hillary shrugs her shoulders and says, "Well, I could throw ten $10.00 bills out the window and make 10 people very happy." Kerry says, "Of course then, I could throw one-hundred $1.00 bills out the window and make a hundred people very happy." The pilot rolls his eyes, looks at all of them and says to his co-pilot, "Such Bigshots back there.....I could throw all of them out the window and make millions happy." ...and... Little Melissa comes home from first grade and tells her father that they learned about the history of Valentine's Day. "Since Valentine's Day is for a Christian Saint and we're Jewish," she asks, "will God get mad at me for giving someone a valentine?" Melissa's father thinks a bit, then says "No, I don't think God would get mad. Who do you want to give a valentine to?" "Osama Bin Laden," she says"Why Osama Bin Laden," her father asks in shock. "Well," she says, "I thought that if a little American Jewish girl could have enough love to give Osama a valentine, he might start to think that maybe we're not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit. And if other kids saw what I did and sent valentines to Osama, he'd love everyone a lot. And then he'd start going all over the place to tell everyone how much he loved them and how he didn't hate anyone anymore." Her father's heart swells and he looks at his daughter with newfound pride. "Melissa, that's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard." "I know," Melissa says, "and once that gets him out in the open, the Marines could blow the sh*t out of him." Heh!

Iraq Calling

I just found a great new blog (well new to me, at least), Iraq Calling written by a soldier in Iraq. If you want the behind the scenes info from on the ground in the war zone, this is your place. And don't forget to check on Chrenkoff, and see what his sources have given him. Another great site: We're Not Sorry. Send a link of this to your liberal friends worldwide.

Hug a veteran today

Being Veterans' Day today, it is only appropriate that we all take a moment to thank the nearest veteran for providing the blanket of freedom that we all so peacefully enjoy. They are literally on the front lines defending democracy from the tyranny of evil. This is my personal, heartfelt "thank you" to all the men and women in the armed forces who are risking their lives for me and my family. God bless you all, and may God bring you all home quickly, safely, and victorious. On a lighter note, I know I'm a little late with this since Halloween was two weeks ago, but there's a connection, I swear. Whenever I can, the fetching Mrs. Wookie and I return to my parent's home for Halloween. The neighborhood goes absolutely nuts with decorations and kids from all over LA are literally bussed into the area. The see thousands of trick-or-treaters in just a few hours. The candy handout policy for the evening (since everyone at the party took turns) was "kids dressed as soldiers get extra." (see I told you there was a connection). That and their neighbor is currently a marine stationed in Iraq. Whenever they get mail from him they forward it to me, so I do get real, occassional posts from the front. I'll keep you up to date.

Quick apologies...

Sorry for the nonexistent bloggin over the past several days. Brother-in-law got married over the weekend (tons of fun and alcohol were had by all) and I had an exam to deal with yesterday (I know you're concerned... I crushed it). But I'm back now, so hopefully I can pick things up where I left off. But with the elections over now, you'd think the material at hand to use to poke fun at liberals would have dried up. But no, let not your hearts be troubled, even though they suffered significant losses on election day, that could never plug up the endless material that liberals continue to spew forth. The blogosphere may just have to dig a little deeper, that's all. Democrats lose the election, and the misjudgements and conspiracy theories abound (see any lefty blog for the latest outrageous conspiracy). The Republicans version of Zell Miller, Arlen Specter's appointment to the judiciary committee, and of course the death of Yasser Arafat strikes a blow to terrorists everywhere, not just in Palestine. UPDATE: Found this at Cox & Forkum and thought you all might enjoy. .

As I peer into my crystal ball...

While 2008 almost certainly holds a Hillary Clinton/anybody ticket for the Democrats. What will Republicans counter with? Some are saying the party is pretty weak (I really don't think Jeb Bush will fly very far), I've heard all sorts of fascinating rumors. Some of my favorites were Condi/Hannity, Guiliani/McCain, but Pajama Journal has the best so far: He is doing a great job for Kahlifoniah.

Kerry concedes election.

Looks like Kerry saw the same info from Ohio that I posted, and (thanks to fine reporting from the fetching Mrs. Wookie) Fox and NBC report Kerry concedes. Congratulations Mr. President on another four years. UPDATE: A big "Thank You" to John Kerry, for deciding not to pursue legal recourse to try to win the election. It is better for the country in the long run. Thanks.

4 More Years!

Yeah I know the Kerry and the DNC are going to throw their lawyers around in Ohio (go Buckeyes!) , but it's not going to matter because as of the latest tally Bush leads Ohio by 136,483 with only 135,149 provisionals to be counted (via Captian's Quarter). I'd hope that Kerry would concede by now but that's probably hoping for too much. But Bush winning a fairly decisive election will be a big step for democracy around the world. To quote Team America: "America, f*ck yeah!"

Is this a great country or what? Voting updates...

I just got back from voting and (breaking news) I encountered no intimidation or voter fraud (though truth be told I live in a heavily Republican area). After five ballots worth of propositions I finally finished. I came home grabbed a snack, a beer, put on my "W '04" t-shirt, flipped on Fox News, turned on the radio to overload my senses with more information than is humanly possible to consume. God bless America! UPDATE 5:22PM PST: Nothing significant has been called either way, no surprises, but with what looks like a positive for conservatives (and possibly the Dubya), all the "defining marriage as between a man and a woman" seem to be passing handily. UPDATE 5:24PM PST: Fox showing Bush up in Florida. UPDATE 5:27PM PST: Shot in the Dark comments on Zogby already calling the election for Kerry and the proper response to such a poll this early in the evening: Roll it up Use it for kindling Never, ever pay any attention to Zogby again. Zogby, whose brother leads an Arab-American group that is in the bag for Kerry, may as well be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the DNC at this point. Sounds about right. UPDATE 5:33PM PST: Fox projecting NC and VA for Bush and Bush still with a significant lead in Florida. UPDATE 5:47PM PST: Fox makes a similar statement to what Hugh Hewitt just made: exit polls are underestimating the votes in the favor of Bush. Is MSM going through its death throws? UPDATE 5:58PM PST: More talk of Bush outperforming the exit polls, sounds great. UPDATE 6:06PM PST: Fox ticker showing Bush ahead in Michigan but only a couple percent of precincts reporting. And good omen in Ohio, Rep. seantor incumbent winning easily. All things look good. UPDATE 6:14PM PST: California Republicans pounding the pavement. I just got a call from Republican HQ letting me know that if I and the fetching Mrs. Wookie hadn't voted yet, the polls were still open. Hope they did the same across the rest of the nation. UPDATE 6:30PM PST: CNN has LA for Bush no big surprise. Bush with leads in MI, OH, and NM. Kerry leading in PA. UPDATE 6:46PM PST: CNN no shows NM for Kerry, but it's still early, and Bush up still in FL. UPDATE 6:50PM PST: I'd talk more about the senate, but since CA's republican candidate was the missing candidate, I'm slightly disappointed. But go Thune, hopefully we get rid of Daschle. UPDATE 6:58PM PST: Bush up in CO by about 8% but Coors only up by 800 or so votes. Come on CO, keep it up. UPDATE 7:03PM PST: Lots of early totals starting to come in (via Fox) NM, MO, MN, MI, AZ, WI & CO leaning to Bush, NV for Kerry. UPDATE 7:05PM PST: Kerry talking head on Fox from Kerry headquarters "not surprised" by early Bush positive returns in blue states, & in fruitless last ditch to take the higher road, says America should just be "proud of the high voter turnout." Dude, too late to try to add class to your campaign. UPDATE: 7:14PM PST: Bush up in FL by some 200,000 votes. Still close but nothing like predicted by exit polls. I think we're seeing a trend with those rascally exit polls. UPDATE 7:23PM PST: ABC showing Bush up in WI, Kerry up in MN. Come on Northern alliance you guys have got to get the snowmobile vote out. UPDATE 7:31PM PST: Nothing to update, just needed to post something here. UPDATE 7:41PM PST: Barone showing Republican turnout is up OH (leaning red)and apparently the polls are still open due to rain and crowding (same in PA leaning blue). UPDATE 7:44PM PST: Watching CNN breakdown the county map of FL shows almost the entire state a nice beautiful deep dark red. Bush still up there by 250,000. UPDATE 7:48PM PST: RedState saying it's over and inside sources say OH and FL are going to Bush. We can only pray. UPDATE 7:51PM PST: Some results showing Thune up by 600 in ND and Bunning winning by 2%. UPDATE 8:03PM PST: MN for Kerry, MI for Bush so far. Polls closed here in the Pacific time zone; we're finally coming to the meat of the election night. UPDATE 8:08PM PST: We now show NH leaning to Kerry, and WI still pretty strong for Bush. UPDATE 8:11PM PST: Via Fox and Greta, the ACLU is filing lawsuit to have the deadline for absentees in state extended to the date for absentees out of country. Somebody please shoot the ACLU. Please. UPDATE 8:35PM PST: Fox has Bush up by 100,000 in OH, bu MI has shifted to Kerry (doh!) UPDATE 8:38PM PST: CNN and RedState mention 10 of 11 same sex marriage bans (OR still too earlier but the ban is leading in the polls) have passed. All bodes well for the conservatives. UPDATE 9:01PM PST: Just watched Karen Hughes on Fox, and everything in the Bush camp sounds relaxed and confident. The numbers are looking good. MN and MI are leaning to Kerry but they went to Gore in 2000 so they would have been gifts. Blue to Red shifts look to be WI and NM while red to blue may be NV. Regardless, some have called FL for Bush and OH is strongly leaning red. I don't see many ways for Kerry to pull this out. UPDATE 9:20PM PST: Fox finally calls CA for Kerry (like that was in doubt, though I'm disappointed). Fox has been extremely cautious and (go figure) conservative calling states, and I really can't blame them. UPDATE 9:32PM PST: Best line of the night just came from Brit Hume on Fox, "Kerry is playing catch up." I frankly (no hotdog pun intended) can't believe he even said it. UPDATE 9:36PM PST: Captain's Quarter's reporting that Kerry's lead in WI is due to counts heavy in urban area and slow counting in the more conservative suburban areas. Watch for a possible swing there. See Powerline as well. UPDATE 9:42PM PST: Fox calls OH for Bush!!! That should be the final nail in the coffin of Kerry. UPDATE 9:54PM PST: Fox now projecting Bush the winner. Let's hope it sticks this time. UPDATE 9:57PM PST: Kerry's only ahead by 1,000 votes in Iowa. Let's slam dunk this baby. Go Dubya! UPDATE 10:00PM PST: MSNBC projecting AK for Bush now, putting Bush 1 vote away from the magic number. UPDATE 10:24PM PST: CNN shows Bush ahead by 4,000 in Iowa and 20,000 in NM. UPDATE 11:00PM PST: No one wants to call IA or NM but those leads are 13,000 and 25,000, so I'm going to bed for peaceful sleep knowing Dubya has been re-elected.

Who are you voting for?

Cox & Forkum are at it again...

Propositioning California

There are 15 propositions on the golden state's ballot this year (15 too many if you ask me). Here's my take on them and which way I'm voting. 1A: YES. Keeps money grubbing state politicians' fingers out of the piggy banks of the local governments 59: YES. Public information actually open to the public. You don't say. 60: NO. Can't find too much info, something about political party rights, whatever. If you don't know, vote no. 60A: NO. See above reason. 61: NO. We do need more hospitals, but not at this kind of cost. 62: NO. Open primaries? Elections are too complicated for most of the country already (see 2000 hanging chad fiasco). 63: NO. More taxes and more bureaucracy. A double whammy. We want business to stay in the state not move to Arizona and Nevada. 64: YES. Close lawsuit loophole. Good idea. Next year we need a proposition to start closing the loophole for lawyers in general. 65: NO. More state/city economic conflict better resolved by 1A. 66: NO. Three strike law for those on a diet, tastes great but less filling of prisons with prisoners. I personally don't care what the thrid strike is. If they've got two already, you think they'd figure out to keep their noses clean after they get out. 67: NO. More taxes on phones. No, no, no. 68: NO. Casinos taxes and assorted poltical handwringing. Don't need it, don't vote for it. 69: YES. DNA database for felons. If you're not a felon you've got nothing to worry about. See response to 66 above. 70: NO. Casinos and taxes part II. No, no, no, pt. II. 71: NO. Bond for stem cell research. Great, borrow more money and put us deeper in debt. Researchers are doing just fine on their own, they don't need government's help. 72: NO. Health care requirements for business will drive business out of state. Whatever happend to the free market? Personal responsibility? Keep the government from regulating us to death. VENTURA COUNTY MEASURES: Q: NO. Not that I care about Fillmore, I'm just tired of these damn measures and propositions. Fillmore is buying a pool. Yippee. R: NO. Bond for schools. No more debt. figure some other way to pay for it. S: NO. Bond for community colleges. Some personal interest here (currently taking classes at Moorpark CC). They are fairly pathetic and do need the money, but read my lips, no more debt (less fountains and beautification crap, more money for schools, labs in particular). T: NO. Reduces business tax late fees... blah, blah, blah... only unincorporated areas... blah, blah, blah.... Pay you bills on time. My gas and cable company slam me with fees if I'm late with payments. Memo to everyone: pay your bills on time. For some other opinions on the California propositions see Dennis Prager, Citizen Smash, & Neophyte Pundit.

100 reasons to vote Bush

Shot in the Dark lists his 100 reasons to vote for Bush and/or against Kerry. My personal favorites are #43 (Kerry is a vacuous hamster), #44 (the Bush daughters were little hellions), #50 (Bush risked his presidency to do the right thing), #54 (after 9/11 Bush did more in 2 months than Kerry did in 20 years), and #99 (Bush hasn't forgotten 9/11, Kerry remembers only what's convenient). Check out the full list; it has some great stuff.