Sen. Clinton Says Rove Obesses About Her

"'He spends more time thinking about my political future than I do,' Clinton said, noting that Rove and other White House aides have met regularly with her possible opponents in November's 2006 Senate race."

No es possible.

WSJ.com - Daughter of Islam

"After 9/11, many Americans assume that the radical Islamic agenda is to destroy the U.S. The reality is that attacks on Western targets are designed to function as brutal propaganda coups that will attract recruits to the cause of violent revolution. The main goal of ideologues like Osama bin Laden is to topple the governments of Muslim countries, including, most famously, the Wahabi royal regime of Saudi Arabia. But the real strategic plum, Ms. Wahid says, would be her native Indonesia and its 220 million citizens -- with the largest Muslim population on earth."

Andrew C. McCarthy on Port Security on National Review Online

"You may recall, however, that, upon election, President Clinton proceeded to get tough with Beijing for, oh, about ten minutes. After that, there was no transfer of precious technology and no national security secret that couldn’t be had for the right price. Oh, and guess who now controls several port operations on the West Coast? And has for years? Well, whaddya know? It’s China.

Indeed, Chinese infiltration of U.S. ports would have been even more pervasive if Senator Clinton’s husband had had his way. In 1998, the Republican Congress (led by Senator James Inhofe (OK) and Congressman Duncan Hunter (CA)) had to stop him from turning over management of a 144-acre terminal at the former U.S. Naval Station in Long Beach to the Chinese Ocean Shipping Company — a subsidiary of the People’s Liberation Army linked to arms trading to Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea, Pakistan, Cuba, and even the street gangs of Los Angeles."

A Failure of the Press - By William J. Bennett and Alan M. Dershowitz

"We two come from different political and philosophical perspectives, but on this we agree: Over the past few weeks, the press has betrayed not only its duties but its responsibilities."

2006 Democrat Contract With Al Qaeda

"This 2006 Congressional Democrat Contract With Al Qaeda lays out what the Democrat Party promises to do if they are given majorities in Congress this fall:"

In government we trust

"Hillsdale College Economics Professor Robert Murphy cites some of FEMA's stupid responses to Hurricane Katrina, which include 'delaying firefighters two days in Atlanta hotels to receive sexual-harassment training and watch videos on the history of FEMA while people were dying in New Orleans.'
By contrast, private firms like Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Home Depot had trucks on the road right after the hurricane. "

Alec Baldwin Blasts 'Chicken-Bleep' Dems

"Hollywood Democrat Alec Baldwin is blasting his party's Senators for failing to block Samuel Alito confirmation to the Supreme Court, saying he's appalled that Sen. Ted Kennedy and other liberals could muster only 25 of the 41 votes needed mount a successful filibuster."

Funny, I thought he had left the country. Whatever could be holding him back?

BREITBART.COM - La. Turned Down Feds' Help, Documents Show

"Two days before the Aug. 29 storm, HHS was told by the state's health emergency preparedness director that the help was not needed, according to an e-mail released Monday by a Senate panel investigating the government's response to Katrina.

The state official, identified in the Aug. 27 e-mail as Dr. Roseanne Pratts, 'responded no, that they do not require anything at this time and they would be in touch if and when they needed assistance,' wrote HHS senior policy analyst Erin Fowler."

Flourishes and flubs - R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. on "Alioto" Hearings

"I cannot rid from my mind the name Alioto, Judge Samuel Alioto. That is the name of Judge Samuel Alito as pronounced by the delightful Sen. Edward Kennedy, or is it Eduardo Kennedino?

No, it is simply Teddy, and he is as entertaining as any U.S. senator since the days of the soused Southerners, who would tipple their way through the dreamy days on Capitol Hill, rousing themselves for histrionic oratory in the midafternoon and then slumping back into their seats, awaiting the late afternoon hour when they would all gather in one or another's chambers for a 'restorative' -- then on to dinner. "

WSJ.com - The Wages of Leaks

'I believe, I accept, your explanation that you didn't want to hurt the United States, that you are a loyal American,' Judge Ellis said in sentencing Mr. Franklin. But 'it doesn't matter that you think you were really helping,' the judge said. 'That arrogates to yourself the decision whether to adhere to a statute passed by Congress, and we can't have that in this country.'

Triumph of the Redistributionist Left | csmonitor.com

"Republicans' capture of both Congress and the White House was, understandably, a demoralizing blow to the left. But the latter can take solace that 'Republican' is no longer synonymous with spending restraint, free markets, and other ideals of the political right."

Amen

The Barrett report by Robert Novak

"The long-awaited final report by Independent Counsel David Barrett, to be released today [Thursday], was severely censored by court order but not enough to sufficiently obscure its importance. As long forecast, it alleges serious corruption in the Clinton administration's Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The question is what was contained in 120 pages removed by the judges."

FORK REPLACES DONKEY AS DEMOCRATIC PARTY SYMBOL

"Andrew Jackson, the father of the Democratic Party, may have had some unpalatable goals, but at least they were big ideas. Wipe out the Indians, kill off the national bank and institute a spoils system. Love him or hate him, he never said, 'I'll be announcing my platform sometime early next year.' The Whigs were formed in opposition to everything Jackson stood for.

The Republican Party emerged from the Whigs when the Whigs waffled on slavery. (They were 'pro-choice' on slavery.) The Republican Party was founded expressly as the anti-slavery party, which to a great extent remains their position today."

CNN banned from Iran for nuclear translation gaffe

"He said a restoration of CNN's right to work in Iran would depend on an assessment of the broadcaster's future coverage of the Islamic state."

If only we could do the same thing here!

OPENING ARGUMENT: The Case of Alito v. O'Connor (01/09/2006)

Brilliant!

Media Report Miracle Mine Rescue -- Then Carry the Tragic Truth

"The Washington Post story by Ann Scott Tyson, which appeared on the front page, opened: 'A dozen miners trapped 12,000 feet into a mountainside since early Monday were found alive Tuesday night just hours after rescuers found the body of a 13th man, who had died in an explosion in an adjacent coal mine that was sealed off in early December.'"

Wind Farmer's Almanac

"Kennedy elaborates on this - he goes on to describe Nantucket Sound as 'among the most densely traveled boating corridors in the Atlantic.' As such, Cape Wind's turbines would come 'perilously close to the main navigation channels for cargo ships, ferries and fishing boats.'

The project would also come 'perilously close' to the Kennedy compound, although no mention of this is made in the column. "

The Road to Hell...

Someone on Slashdot claimed that the Democrats were the more financially responsible party. After I cleaned the coffee off my screen I had to set them straight.

(1) I don't consider just raising taxes to cover every spending spree you go on to be "financial responsibility". Republicans regularly vote for smaller spending increases than Dems. And I can't think of the last time a departments budget was actually cut. ("cut" means CUT, not just reduce the increase).

(2) The reduction in the size of government that Clinton likes to take credit for consists almost entirely of military base closings that were voted into place during the previous Bush administration. How about we do the same thing for domestic departments that have long since outlived their function? I don't hear any of these responsible Democrats calling for such things. If they did, I'd vote for them.

(3) Most Republican voters as well as Democrats are "good" people. What confuses you is that you have been told that all Republicans are evil when in reality most Republicans have a distrust, that is well founded in history of governments that get too big and try to live people's lives for them. There is no instance of government "giving" money to individuals that does not come with strings attached. As "kind hearted" as many of those programs sound, they will, and have largely already, produce a population unable to think for themselves and such a society cannot sustain itself. Never has, never will.

If there were a "Leave Me the Hell Alone" party that had electable candidates I would vote for them. Until then, I will continue to vote for the party that comes closest to that philosophy, even if there is only a hairs breadth of difference between the two existing parties.

Here is a quote from Jimmy Carter's new book "Our Endangered Values":

"Soon after arriving in Washington, I was surprised and disappointed when no Democratic member of Congress would sponsor my first series of legislative proposals -- to reorganize parts of the federal bureaucracy -- and I had to get Republicans to take the initiative. Thereafter, my shifting coalitions of support comprised the available members of both parties who agreed with me on specific issues, with my most intense and mounting opposition coming from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. (One reason for this was the ambition of Senator Ted Kennedy to replace me as president.)"

(NPR Link)

When Carter took office, even though I hadn't voted for him, I thought he was a nice guy, and his statements on reforming government gave me hope that he would do the right thing. His presidency was one disaster after another, some probably beyond his control (the gas crisis), but his own party sabotaging him is not a reason for me to consider voting for another Democrat until the Democrat party does more to distance itself from people who for all practical purposes are extreme socialists. Again, the problem with the socialist philosophy isn't that the intentions are bad, it is that the system does not work.

As they say, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Maybe that should be the motto for the Democrat party.

Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation: Honor the Victims of Communism and Those Who Love Liberty

"'The fall of the Communist empire,' said Czech President Vaclav Havel, 'was an event on the same scale of importance as the fall of the Roman Empire.'

And yet in Washington, D.C.--the city of memorials--there has been no monument marking this epic event or memorial to the many millions who died under communist tyranny. Until now."

Europe must face ugly truths of communist past

"What is needed to accomplish this is a Europe-wide Truth and Reconciliation Commission, composed of scholars and elder statesmen of undoubted democratic loyalty, who would hold hearings and report not just on the crimes of communism — remember, they included mass murder and widespread torture — in eastern and central Europe but also on those in the Soviet Union itself and even on the culpable failures of Western statesmen to halt or restrain those committing them."