HunterByrd

That's why, dearest

It's amazing when you think about it. The media, the United Nations, the French and the Democrats have thrown everything imaginable, fair and unfair, at Bush, and he still leads by double digits on the issue of who's better at fighting the war on terrorism and winning in Iraq.

And so it is. We have heard from the left, to the top of our ringing ears, capillaries all a-bust, about the silencing of dissent in this administration. That's like Lizzie Borden wielding her famous hand ax, shouting "Murderer!" as she cleaves into her poor papa's head... Times seem that insane.

Jonah Goldberg delivers a pretty fine analogy concerning the Iraq war:

If you live in a house infested by rats, you may think it's OK to tolerate them for a while. They're just a "nuisance," as John Kerry might say. You might, if you're Bill Clinton, tolerate a series of "minor" rat attacks. But when one of your children dies from a bite, you do everything you can to kill the rats and plug up all the rat holes to protect your family. You don't care which specific rat was responsible for the death. You simply do everything necessary to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. In the post-9/11 world George Bush faced a world with a lot of rat holes. The most obvious, urgent and "doable" rat hole was in Baghdad.

Vacuous, Kerry's campaign

The Dems got a full tank from FDR, a top-up in the Civil Rights era, and they've been running on fumes for 30 years. Their last star, Bill Clinton, has no legacy because, deft as he was, his Democratic Party had no purpose other than as a vehicle for promoting his own indispensability. When he left, the Democrats became a party running on personality with no personalities to run. Hence, the Kerry candidacy. Despite the best efforts of American editorialists, there's no there there. -- Mark Steyn

Silent No Longer - 9/11 Families

Begged to post the letter...

With patience and tenacity, 217 or so signatories passed this letter to the Bush/Cheney campaign. It was a difficult task, because the campaign remained adament that it did not wish to use the grief of 9/11 as a campaign issue. You see, the Bush people were cowered by the MoveOn.org politics of rage and shyed away from the heart of this most seminal of core issues.

The Letter.

We speak to you now in the same spirit that you spoke to us then, as Americans, united on behalf of our country. Like many of you, we feel that our nation is poised at a critical moment in history. Like our parents and grandparents before us, we know that the choices we make today will affect our children tomorrow. But we face a new challenge, a new kind of war and an enemy who is different from the enemies faced by earlier generations. This is not an adversary who can be reasoned with or appeased, this is an adversary who has repeatedly demonstrated that its means and ends are one and the same: the wanton slaughter of innocents.

* * * *

We speak to you from the heart, as citizens from all across the country and every political stripe. We are Republicans and Democrats, “liberals” and “conservatives,” young and old. We are mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters and friends. We speak out from a profound sense of obligation to those we have lost and to the country that we love. Guided by core principles, President Bush has steadfastly told us who he is, what he believes and what he will fight for. He is a caring and decisive leader who is not afraid to make hard choices to keep this nation safe, by keeping it strong. He has sent a clear message to America’s friends and foes that he will not waver in his resolve as the winds of political fortune change. He will not revert to the failed policies of the past which only served to whet the appetite of those who would destroy us. He will stand firm against our adversaries.

* * * *

Three years ago, George W. Bush stood with us and vowed that he would “Never forget.”

We stand with him now.

This from Chrenkoff, who posts more from these folks:

"And lastly we told the campaign, 'Will the Bush/Cheney campaign, out of its sense of respect for us, inadvertently do what the mainstream media has done to us and refuse to give a public voice to our support for President Bush? Will November 2nd come and go without America knowing that 242 (now 248) 9/11 family members recognize and greatly appreciate President Bush's relentless pursuit of terrorists and those that harbored them? Before the election, will voters be kept from knowing that a large group of 9/11 family members--whom we believe represent a huge majority of 9/11 family members--believe President Bush was right to free Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein from power due to his history of supporting terrorism (including bin Laden and al Qaeda) and harboring terrorists such as Abu Abbas, Abu Nidal, and Abu Zarqawi?'

“Lord Haw-Haw of the war on terror.”

That would be Michael Moore. Source.

Also, this wonderful observation on the great hero of the proletariat and all slackers, from David Frum:

Moore arrived late in his trademark jeans, shirt, working man’s jacket, and baseball cap. One of the BBC producers made a joke about the contrast between his outfit and my own Washington-standard-issue blue suit and red tie. I replied that I’d noticed that Moore was wearing a watch that cost at least fifteen times as much as every article of clothing on my body. I learned later that he’d arrived by private jet. Ave et salute, tribune of the plebs!

ADDENDUM: Who WAS Lord Haw-Haw? See here.

SwiftVets Site

Okay, folks. We got it finally. We have the Former Secretary of the Navy who stated, "Yes, Kerry did receive an Other Than Honorable Discharge".
Stay tuned for more...
Now to MAKE THE MEDIA AND CONGRESS LISTEN!
Go my brothers and sisters -- spread the news to everyone!!!!
- Chief

Don't know what this means. As the Chief directs, I'll stay tuned.

UPDATE: "Content removed at the request of the author. Stay tuned for updates. Will re-open the topic when we have further info."

Bush v Kerry 47-47

"The election is four days away and we are right back where we started, in a toss-up," pollster John Zogby said. "Kerry had a good day today."

UPDATE: But Daily News columnist Sidney Zion writes of his own post-Novak conversation with Mr Zogby, and this is what Zogby 'really' says: "It's close," he said, "but in the last couple of days things have been trending toward Kerry - nationally and in the swing states. Between this and history, I think it will be Kerry."

To keep things interesting, Zion refers to the current British betting line: "The latest line from sunny old England makes Bush, in their funny lingo, a 4-7 favorite. (Vegas would say it 7-4.) That's almost 2-to-1."

UPDATE:Hugh Hewitt: Look for uneasy Democrats to desert Kerry this weekend even as he deserted the military he wishes to command by ending his campaign ridiculing their magnificent achievement in liberating Iraq in three weeks. Every set-back he has assigned to them and their leadership up to the president. For his own self-interest, he has campaigned on denigrating their effectiveness and refusing to credit their successes from the rout of the Taliban, to the securing of the Afghan vote, to the suppression of the insurgency in Najaf and the looming battle to crush the Fallujah terror hub.

On Broadway in Paducah

"A Gift to the Army of North Vietnam from the Students of Berkley California”

Another great American speaks his mind.

Kellipundit has posted the transcript of talk given by former U.S. Marine, Vietnam Veteran, and director of the WWII Museum located in Ruston, LA: Ernie Stevens. Read it.

As I told Kelli, the wheel just keeps turning...

Paul Johnson

"Quite simply, Kerry must be stopped; and Bush must win"

The great issue in the 2004 election—it seems to me as an Englishman—is, How seriously does the United States take its role as a world leader, and how far will it make sacrifices, and risk unpopularity, to discharge this duty with success and honor? In short, this is an election of the greatest significance, for Americans and all the rest of us. It will redefine what kind of a country the United States is, and how far the rest of the world can rely upon her to preserve the general safety and protect our civilization.

Finally, we hear from an eminent Brit who has his head screwed on. This is one of the finest, most powerful essays in support of George W. Bush's presidency I have yet to read.

In short, Mr Johnson identifies six reasons why John Kerry should not be elected, and he discusses the irrationality of the intellectual left's massive attack - in concert with billionaires, novelists, entertainers, European continentals, anarchists, 'the superbureaucrats of Brussels', and the mullahs - upon W.

For your edification:

There is something grimly admirable about [W's] stoicism in the face of reverses, which reminds me of other moments in history: the dark winter Washington faced in 1777-78, a time to “try men’s souls,” as Thomas Paine put it, and the long succession of military failures Lincoln had to bear and explain before he found a commander who could take the cause to victory. There is nothing glamorous about the Bush presidency and nothing exhilarating. It is all hard pounding, as Wellington said of Waterloo, adding: “Let us see who can pound the hardest.” Mastering terrorism fired by a religious fanaticism straight from the Dark Ages requires hard pounding of the dullest, most repetitious kind, in which spectacular victories are not to be looked for, and all we can expect are “blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” However, something persuades me that Bush— with his grimness and doggedness, his lack of sparkle but his enviable concentration on the central issue—is the president America needs at this difficult time.

* * * *

Anti-Americanism, like anti-Semitism, is not, of course, a rational reflex. It is, rather, a mental disease, and the Continentals are currently suffering from a virulent spasm of the infection, as always happens when America exerts strong and unbending leadership.

* * * *

I cannot recall any election when the enemies of America all over the world have been so unanimous in hoping for the victory of one candidate. That is the overwhelming reason that John Kerry must be defeated, heavily and comprehensively.

My radar will henceforth scan the horizon for further writings by Paul Johnson, an "eminent historian" and author. Regardless of 'W'ho wins, Mr Johnson is a man of great, good sense, it seems to me. I saw mention of, and a link to, it at The American Thinker.

Terror Video

I'm not that different from the 'highly trained broadcast expert' R. Limbaugh when it comes to checking Drudge first thing in the morning, afternoon, evening, and whenever I log on. He's my at-home PC homepage. Our modern newsman, posts all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Often, my post-hunts begin with his page. No blog-sin there. Not all of us can stay glued to the screen (or in the alternative, have six or eight, or 20 blog-site colleagues) 18 hours a day.

So, the latest headline at Drudge is : TERROR VIDEO WARNS OF BUSH, CHENEY CONSEQUENCE.

I link...and read.

TERROR TAPE WARNS OF BUSH, CHENEY CONSEQUENCE**Exclusive**The CIA and FBI have authenticated a new al Qaeda videotape which warns of retribution for Americans electing Bush and Cheney."What took place on September 11 was but the opening salvo of the global war on America and that our Lord willing, the magnitude and ferocity of what is coming your way will make you forget all about September 11," the man, whose face is covered by a headdress, warns in the video. "After decades of American tyranny, now it's your turn to die."The alarming tape which warns the next terror attack will dwarf 9/11.The CIA and FBI late Wednesday authenticated the tape, federal sources tell DRUDGE. ABCNEWS obtained the tape from a source in Pakistan."You are guilty, guilty, guilty. You're as guilty as Bush and Cheney. You're as guilty as Rumsfeld and Ashcroft and Powell...," the man states. He goes on to warn of an upcoming horror: "The streets will run with blood," and "America will mourn in silence" because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. "People of America, that was the verdict now for the sentencing: as participants and partners in the crimes of the regime, you too shall pay the price for the blood that has been spilled."

I don't know about you, but that makes me want to take a dip of snuff! It makes me mad as hell.

I am dat-burned if I will let some islamofascist scumbag dictate to me that I should cower in fear, or vote for a liberal man who can't make his mind up, or that my countrymen need do the same. The United States of America rose from nothing - NOTHING - and in the course of a 230 some years, our frontier IDEALS have changed the face of the globe...for the better, I would add. To you Islamofascist swine who seek to sway me and my countrymen, you waste your time. I am 'everyman', and I say with confidence: you're making Hitler's and Tojo's same mistakes, 'big time'! Lenin may have thought he was on to something big, just like you do, but he was corrupt of mind and spirit, just like you.

What you and your ilk seekwith this video, and with other hairy expressions of your predilictions and over-all sensibilities, is to cower the American electorate. You seek, by your stupid, fallacious, condemnations of George W. Bush, to sway us to a gentler, more cowardly sensibility. Sorry! No one in my corner cares to bend gently, whimpering quietly, as your sword of hate descends on our collective neck. You've done nothing but put another layer of cement on my long-standing CONVICTION to vote for the re-election of our President.

You cannot fool, sway, or scare me into voting for a liberal, brown-nosing internationalist. 70% of the French may want Kerry elected, but not "this ol' boy". Go on, take your Islamic laws into the streets of Marseilles. I have sense enough to know we are grinding through a significant stretch of world-play dynamics and history. I have sense enough to know an evil movement when I see one. You guys either want us 'converted' or killed. You fellows are my enemy. Bring. It On.

God - I don't spell His name 'Allah' (God is a bit too large for limitation of that sort) - doesn't take sides. And I believe, unequivocally, that my side is His side. I've lived a few years, studied a fair amount, and drawn a few of my own conclusions. Conclusion #1: Our Almighty is a loving God. #2: He gave us free-will. #3. We are to love our brother as we love ourself. #4. Islamofascism has scrambled the meaning of the first, has no concept of the second, and utterly disregards the third.

So that brings us back to the article. ABC News doesn't want to air this video. 'Too political,' they say. Afraid, it might sway the election. Yeah, right. Just like the discredited Al QaQaa story, and all the soundbites the enlightened fellows were only too glad to repeat ad nauseum the past 48 hours...the past 48 days (Rathergate, eg). You Spinmeisters! You don't want to run it because it will touch the American heart like it has touched mine! You fellows believe the American heart rests with east coast, effete sentimentalities - those aligned with the French and the Belgians!

"A member of al Qaeda who professes to be a U.S. citizen was always coveted and looked for by the al Qaeda," said Jack Cloonan, a former FBI agent who interviewed a number of captured al Qaeda members and is now an ABC News consultant. Cloonan said he believed the tape to be authentic.

Azzam makes references to several American officials, including 9/11 Commission Chairman Tom Kean, and even refers to the controversial remarks made by comedian Bill Maher about the cowardice of the U.S. launching cruise missiles compared with terrorist suicide attacks.

America is a big place. Room for all, including evil, religious zealots. But just because we are free and open doesn't mean we can't call a zealot a zealot. Bill Maher is in league with John Kerry and Jane Fonda. How does it feel, Bill? Your brave words have given aid and comfort to those who wish us dead. You, sir, are indeed a 'patriotic' American, in the most cynical, warped sense of the adjective. Talk on!

"People of America, I remind you of the weighty words of our leaders, Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri, that what took place on Sept. 11 was but the opening salvo of the global war on America," said Azzam. "And that Allah willing, the magnitude and ferocity of what is coming your way will make you forget all about Sept. 11." Source.

We don't forget, 'Azzam.' We get even. The upcoming election is a turning point in this, the latest tide of human history. If W prevails, we will right this global inequity sooner. If he does not win, half of us will stay on task, come hell or high water. I am not fool enough to expect comfortable, lax, 'touchy-feely' times in the coming days. It is the coming storm!

See also this grand rant by Le Shawn Barber. Polipundit picked it up, and Barber's star continues to rise. Go girl! Captain's Quarters also holds ABC to the fire.

As always, remain calm, steadfast, and vote 'W'!

Oil prices fall after US report

This BBC report explains the drop in prices (still sky high) is due to "US government data showed that crude stocks were up four million barrels on the week," but prices "will continue to face upward pressure." Assuredly so.

Demand for oil has expanded strongly in 2004, led by China's economic boom and continuing high consumption in the US.

Supply concerns centre on Iraq as well as the ongoing possibility of labour disputes in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, and Norway, the world's third biggest crude exporter.

How long before the US population converts to small vehicles, ala the late '70s and early '80s? I, for one, no longer have the itch to tool around in a 3/4 ton Chevy pickup...

Bush up 48-46

"It's close, it's close, it's close," pollster John Zogby said. "The candidates are locked in a dead heat among Catholics, young voters, voters over 70, men and women, and independents."

JFnK! Trash Putin, not your President. Al-Qaqaa!

As seen on Drudge last evening:

GERTZ // THURSDAY // WASH TIMES: Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein's weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned. John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said in an interview that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, “almost certainly” removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad.

Have mercy! Russia was right there with France and Germany, howling in anger and dismay that the US would invade Iraq. And now, it is no wonder; they almost got caught!

"The Russians brought in, just before the war got started, a whole series of military units," Mr. Shaw said. "Their main job was to shred all evidence of any of the contractual arrangements they had with the Iraqis. The others were transportation units."

Mr. Shaw, who was in charge of cataloging the tons of conventional arms provided to Iraq by foreign suppliers, said he recently obtained reliable information on the arms-dispersal program from two European intelligence services that have detailed knowledge of the Russian-Iraqi weapons collaboration.

Bill Gertz's story is here.

A second defense official said documents on the Russian support to Iraq reveal that Saddam's government paid the Kremlin for the special forces to provide security for Iraq's Russian arms and to conduct counterintelligence activities designed to prevent U.S. and Western intelligence services from learning about the arms pipeline through Syria.

The Russian arms-removal program was initiated after Yevgeny Primakov, the former Russian intelligence chief, could not persuade Saddam to give in to U.S. and Western demands, this official said.

Mr. Shaw said he believes that the withdrawal of Russian-made weapons and explosives from Iraq was part of plan by Saddam to set up a "redoubt" in Syria that could be used as a base for launching pro-Saddam insurgency operations in Iraq.

Pro-Saddam insurgency operations? Help from the Russians? It is a topsy-turvy world, indeed.
The story concludes with the DoD opinion that Russia "can provide information on what happened to the Iraqi weapons and explosives that were transported out of the country," as well as "explain what happened to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs."

This is powerful stuff, but I don't believe we are going to hear from the Russians before next Tuesday.

A new blog to visit

John McDonald: The Right Scale.

Click his site. He writes clearly and succinctly, and he is decidely right of center. Henceforth, I will check for his insight.

Here, he does a run on Kerry's numbers. Comforting.

WMD's smuggled from Iraq: UNMOVIC

This report is from June 18th? Real or no?

Late last week, the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) briefed the Security Council on Saddam's lightning-fast dismantling of missile and WMD sites before and during the war. UNMOVIC executive chairman Demetrius Perricos detailed not only the export of thousands of tons of missile components, nuclear reactor vessels and fermenters for chemical and biological warheads, but also the discovery of many (but not most) of these items - with UN inspection tags still on them -- as far afield as Jordan, Turkey and even Holland.

Jan, if you're reading, take note.

You probably haven't heard about Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin either -- a socialist and no friend of America. Addressing a group of 700 university researchers and business leaders in Montreal last month, Martin stated bluntly that terrorists have acquired WMDs from Saddam. “The fact is that there is now, we know well, a proliferation of nuclear weapons, and that many weapons that Saddam Huseein had, we don't know where they are…. [T]errorists have access to all of them,” the Canadian premier warned.

Disturbing!

The character of our foreign enemies has never been in doubt. The character of the enemy within -- from Dan Rather to Michael Moore -- has never been clearer. And the stakes are the highest they've ever been.

Iraqi Interim Government has Website!

It's new, and under construction. Nevertheless, despite the fact that it has not been updated since October 9, 2004, I appreciate that folks in this fledgling (struggling) government have put the 'establishment' on the line, for all to see.

Will they have the comfort of another four years of President Bush's rock-solid commitment, or will they, in their long, hard sprint toward freedom and democracy, be forced to look to the side lines, and see the corpulant visage of Micheal Moore sneering at them from the sidelines, yelling "wrong war, at the wrong time!"?

Pray for George.

Moth on far side of Pane.

Lileks finely fisks Andy Sullivan's tortured logic

Or: Karl Rove and Micheal Moore uniting as one?

James Lileks skewers Mr Sullivan's tortured logic behind his recent endorsement of Kerry. It had to come. As always this 'house dad' is brilliant, and a joy to read:

And let us shed a tear for those who believed it was necessary after 9/11 to knock off Saddam and establish a beachhead in the region ‘twixt Iran and Syria, but later ran away shrieking like freshly skinned rabbits because it had somehow, by some odd turn of events, turned into a partisan affair. What scared them off? Who knows? Just happened, I guess. Somewhere between the brutal Afghan winter, the interminable quagmire of the operational pause en route to Baghdad – all 72 hours of it - and the devastating supposition that the turkey Bush presented on Thanksgiving may not have been the actual fowl consumed by the troops, we realized that the war was all failure and lies and failed lies about lying failures, and we can’t do anything and the Plan was wrong and Mission Accomplished, yeah right. Oh, and We Support the Troops.

Who gets more media traction in this heated media-saturated climate? Rove-like Opportunists, or Moore-like Haters?

Beats me. More:

Oh, surely. But maybe - just maybe - many people did not want the country to be united if it meant being united behind Bush. He is a much more potent and immediate threat, after all. Who’s heard from Osama lately? Meanwhile Bush is out there every day handling snakes and speaking in tongues and supergluing parapalegics to wheelchairs, because his weird-beard God loves suffering and commands him – via text-messaging, for all we know – to kill them oily rag-heads. I mean, today I was behind a car whose bumpersticker had a picture of Bush with the slogan "American Terrorist." I know that driver was so behind Bush before he failed - in a fundamental way - to convince the driver he was not equivalent to Abu Nidal. Probably because he misprounced "Nuclear." Farking moron.

Keeping the country united? Good luck. Imagine FDR running a war with a press composed of cynical snickerers who derided the president as a rich old cripple who thought the best way to defeat Tojo was a war in North Africa and preached defeat every day through the hard slog of the Pacific theater. Imagine running a war with an entertainment industry that declined to make a single movie about the conflict - why, imagine a "Casablanca" where Rick and Sam argue about whether America started it all because they didn’t support the League of Nations. Imagine a popular radio drama running through the early 40s about a smart, charismatic, oh-so-intellectual Republican president whose bourbon baritone mocked FDR’s patrician whine, a leader who took no guff from Stalin OR Hitler! Lux Soap brings you, The West Wing of the White House! Imagine Thomas Dewey’s wife in 1944 callling the WW2 a war for oil; imagine former vice presidents insisting that FDR had played on our fears after Pearl Harbor. Imagine all that.

Read all of James Lileks rant. He isn't paid the big bucks - on the side - for nothing. Handles his pen with ease. Makes me feel better, too.

Winning the War

Columnist Ralph Peters's long-time military buddy requested that Mr Peters write one more 'Our Guys Are Winning the War' column before election day. He did.

"Kerry's rhetoric is giving the bad guys a thread to hang on," wrote the soldier. "They're hoping we lose our nerve. They're more concerned with the U.S. elections than with the Iraqi ones."

My pal has been involved in every phase of our Iraq operations — dating back to Desert Storm. And he's convinced that the terrorists have risked everything to create as much carnage as they can before Nov. 2. Our troops are killing them left and right. The terrorists are desperate. They can't sustain this tempo of attacks much longer.

But Sen. Kerry insists that we're losing — giving our enemies hope that we'll pull out. No matter what else John Kerry may say, the terrorists only hear his criticisms of our president and our war.

You know...Kerry has come full circle. That's how he started his political career, by giving aid and comfort to the enemy. He has gotten much better at it. Instead of fronting the VVAW, now he speaks for the entire DNC. Go John!

Muqtada al-Sadr is quiet as a mouse. Najaf is being rebuilt. Two-thirds of Iraq's provinces are quiet. We never see any headlines about our Kurdish allies in northern Iraq — because they're building a successful modern society in the Middle East. Good-news stories aren't welcome in our undeniably pro-Democratic media.

Even the French are uncharacteristically subdued. The serpents of the Seine thought they'd seduced the terrorists with a few anti-American apples. Instead, they've found that they can't even free two kidnapped French journalists.

After their own recent terrorist debacle, the Russians repented their criticism of the Bush administration. The Spanish, too, discovered that appeasement doesn't work any better for them than for the French — an Islamist plot to blow up justice-ministry buildings was recently uncovered. And there's more to come.

One hears little of the northern Kurds, except that they might be an incendiary factor in a free Iraq. I do not believe it! Kurds aren't reported on precisely because things are decently well there. Twinkie-eating cleric al-Sadr was reported on the other day -- on NPR -- he wants in on the politics, but commentators WARNED that if he couldn't fit in, well, then he was gonna call his jojos back up (they'd find arms and munitions somewhere) and they WOULD fight again... you know NPR, they can't say anything that leaves a warm impression on Bush or conservatives.

Of course, the United Nations is still doing everything it can to undercut President Bush. Embarrassed by Oil-for-Food corruption revelations, the U.N. would like to get back to the good old days of the Clinton administration, which winked at outright U.N. criminality.

We do a fair amount of reading in the papers and on the internet. Does anyone know whether Kerry criticizes the United Nations? Even on a limited or sporadic basis? . . . . Didn't think so.

The terrorists are pulling out all the stops to shed blood in Iraq this week. While the media makes every mortar round sound like the end of the world, the encouraging news is that the terrorists haven't been able to do more. They can harass convoys and murder civilians — but they haven't budged our troops or the new Iraqi government.

Of course, the terrorists aren't suddenly going to quit if President Bush wins at the polls — but his re-election would be a terrible psychological blow to them. They know how high the stakes are in Iraq.

The struggle isn't just about the fate of one country, but about the future of the entire Middle East. If freedom and the rule of law get even a 51 percent victory in Iraq, it's the beginning of the end for the terrorists and the vicious regimes that bred them.

Al Qaeda and its affiliates are rapidly using up the human capital they've accumulated over decades. The casualties in Iraq are overwhelmingly on the terrorist side. Extremist leaders have paid a particularly heavy price. But they won't stop fighting because they can't. The terrorists have to win in Iraq. They have to defeat America.

The astonishing thing is that so many of our fellow Americans don't get it. The terrorists aren't committing their shrinking reserves because the outcome's a trivial matter. They recognize the magnitude of what we're helping the Iraqi people achieve.

Yes, sir.

JFKerry -- no enemy of the enemy

He was a communist stooge, as Polipundit puts it. If one reads carefully between the lines of two recently unearthed documents, and then couples the intelligence with Kerrys anti-war activities, one can certainly draw that conclusion.

The communist regime in Hanoi monitored closely and looked favorably upon the activities of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War during the period Senator Kerry served most actively as the group's spokesman and a member of its executive committee, two captured Viet Cong documents suggest.

So goes the opening paragraph of this New York Sun article. The captured documents have been housed in a massive set of archives located at Texas Tech University at Lubbock. "The Circular and the Directive are listed as items numbered 2150901039b and 2150901041 respectively."

On July 23, 1971, The New York Times reported that Mr. Kerry held a demonstration in Washington in support of the "seven-point peace proposal" and, according to the Times, "Mr. Kerry, who is 27 years, introduced wives, parents and sisters of prisoners to plead for support."

The Times's dispatch stated that Mr. Kerry charged "...the latest Vietcong peace offer in Paris, which promises the release of prisoners as American troops are withdrawn, is being ignored by Mr. Nixon..."

The circular in the Texas archive states, "The antiwar movements in the US are trying to find means to cooperate... They are also trying by all means to support the seven-point peace proposal (of the PRG) [Viet Cong] and oppose the distorted interpretation made by the White House, the Pentagon and CIA."

Kerry and NPR are spouting off about 380 tons of explosives missing from an Iraqi ammo dump before US forces ever got to it (a last week, planned DNC/CBS 'surprise'). He uses it to condemn Bush in the area of national security. This insight into Kerry's motive and intent during the Vietnam War is also within the area national security. Which do you believe is the more significant of the two? Is there even a comparison to be made?

Makes me want to take a dip of snuff... Tell your friends and acquaintances, please.

Bush Transforms Conservative America

'Bushism'

Our politically and economically astute, erudite British writer friends are at it again. John Mickelthwaite and Adrian Woolridge, who write regularly in the Economist, and are authors of The Right Nation, have a piece in the WSJ this morning that is a must read.

We have seen an incredibly active Bush administration. He has accomplished more in one term than many two-term Presidents. His view of conservatism is not the view of Ronald Reagan, or Barry Goldwater. Reagan said famously, "Big government is the problem, not the solution." But W hasn't said that...or acted in that manner...

The most surprising change has been the rise of "big government conservatism." Ever since the Goldwater campaign of 1963-64, conservatism has defined itself as an antigovernment creed. Barry Goldwater proclaimed that he had little interest in reforming government, "for I mean to reduce its size." Ronald Reagan proclaimed that "government is the problem, not the solution." The Republican Class of '94 believed that "government is dumb while markets are smart" (to borrow a phrase from Dick Armey)--and set about balancing the budget and cutting popular government programs.

But Mr. Bush has been different: an avowed conservative who is nevertheless willing to embrace big government. The massive growth in the state during this presidency (faster than under Bill Clinton, even if you exclude the spending on the war on terror) owes a fair amount to opportunism--to Mr. Bush's willingness to pay off friends in the business world or a refusal to pick a fight with allies in GOP-controlled Congress (he has not wielded his veto pen once). But at its heart it is a deliberate strategy. He came to office planning to expand the Department of Education (an institution the Gingrichistas had planned to abolish). And he laced his acceptance speech at the GOP convention with promises to use government to improve people's lives.

Is this, as many conservatives fear, a move to the left? Mr. Bush was certainly worried by the way that Gingrich Republicanism had apparently alienated suburban Americans. But he is no Nixon, flying in Harvard professors to fine-tune the Great Society. He has had a more ambitious aim: to turn government into an agent of conservative values. Hence the emphasis on choice and accountability to force public-sector bureaucracies to act more like the private sector. And hence the enthusiasm for using government departments to promote conservative values such as sexual abstinence and responsible fatherhood. Before Mr. Bush, conservatives had assumed that the only way to win the battle against what Michael Barone has dubbed "soft America" was to shrink government. Mr. Bush has pioneered a different strategy--to "harden" government itself.

The writers also discuss the social issues upon which W has remained steadfastly loyal and in league with his Christian conservative base. Fascinating, well-informed reading. Mikelthwaite and Woolridge are 'fair and balanced'.

Bush leads Kerry 48-47

Iranian Intellectual Struggle

Imagine, Michael Moore is making money from the terror masters that want to destroy us.

It is working. I have spoken to people returning from inside of Iran and there has been a huge shift in the public’s perception of our President and his intentions. Perhaps fewer than 10% of young people in Iran now trust our President. The people of Iran assume that if this film was created in America, it must be accurate.

That is treason, folks, if the word has meaning anymore. Who believes the ruling mullahs would disseminate a film on a mass scale if they did not believe it furthered their cause? Regime Change Iran is a superb, Iran-freedom-movement blog, and this post appears to be in keeping.

However, interested people aren't just sitting around, letting the lib-across-the-world juggernaut roll at will.

To counter this perception, I have been working overtime to arrange for broadcast into Iran portions of several new films refuting the claims of Fahrenheit 9/11 and other propaganda.

Today, the first film excerpt is ready to be broadcast on one of the most popular Iranian opposition satellite broadcast stations, AzadiTV (Azadi means freedom in Persian). We have received permission to air 30 minutes of the new film Fahrenhype 9/11. It has been dubbed in Persian and will air hopefully daily for the next week.

I have commented my thanks to this warrior for truth. Do so yourself.

6 in 10 look for post-election misery

Is that the way it is going to be? So say some. If it is going to be that way, then I hope Kerry wins, because the last four years have been nothing if not a shade miserable. What with the legion of whiners and moaners: "selected not elected!" Yes, I would rather be here in the blogosphere, among those bright minds who divine instead of whine. Yes, sir.

"I read the other day that there's going to be a perfect storm," Jack Martin, a businessman who lives near Salt Lake City, said of the growing number of lawsuits. "I think it's coming down to the courts. It worries me about our election system. I used to think every vote counts."

Both parties already have filed lawsuits over a variety of complaints -- from how provisional ballots are counted to alleged fraud in voter registration. Judges in several states have issued disparate rulings on provisional ballots, which are required under law for voters who show up at the polls only to find their names are not on the voter rolls.

I just want a good night's sleep when this is over. Let the micro-whiners whine away. There will come a time ("soon, but not yet") when we all wake up fresh, and carry on ((I pray W wins BIG!)).

Rain and Rainbow - Kentucky Lake

Hugh's take

"Kerry&Co. have been trying to run up the middle for 3 quarters and 12 minutes, and they have negative yards rushing. So what do they do? Run up the middle. Among the worst campaigns in American political history. " Check out a biggie take.

That's bold. Kerry's campaign hasn't been run as well as it could have been (my feelings aren't hurt, mind you). Neither has W's, but I have enjoyed his (too few) hard hits. The Dukakis campaign was laughable. Mondale's campaign was high comedy, and the final vote bore it out. This final vote will not bear out Kerry's incompetence. That's my prediction.

My prayer is this: The final tally will be not close enough to permit valid bickering of any sort.

Heaven forbid it falls to Kerry. In the unlikely event it does, we conservatives have enough red meat to last us the rest of our natural born lives. Right-of-center bloggers and commenters will blog and speak on, hard. The truth is what it is; won't change. We conservatives have, and will always be possessed of, the correct slant. Liberals may be masters of the slant, the 'emotive', but American conservatives are masters of rational reality. The 'world' be damned. This is today.

In the likely event George W. pulls it off, the hatred of the left will intensify. It is not my intent to 'smirk' as the libbies like to say. Instead, I intend to join my like-minded brothers and sisters in the 'eternal vigilance' of our cause, i.e., the extension of freedom in all its myriad forms, of mind and heart, even if it 'hurts'...

By the way, I watched Kerry on TV for a moment tonight at a Bill Clinton Philly love-fest. Kerry was pounding away about the 380 tons of stolen explosives in Iraq. The Bush administation's failure to "guard those stockpiles" is too much to take. "This is one of the great blunders of Iraq, one of the great blunders of this administration," Kerry said. George didn't have his eye on that dynamite, folks, because he's incompetent to be your President! It's fallen into the hands of terrorists!

Drudge tallies at least 98 mentions of it in the MSM today. Fair and balanced, you know.

Dem vp hopeful John Edwards blasted Bush for not securing the explosives: "It is reckless and irresponsible to fail to protect and safeguard one of the largest weapons sites in the country. And by either ignoring these mistakes or being clueless about them, George Bush has failed. He has failed as our commander in chief; he has failed as president.

OUCH!

But tonight, NBCNEWS reported, once: The 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives were already missing back in April 10, 2003 -- when U.S. troops arrived at the installation south of Baghdad!

A senior Bush official e-mailed DRUDGE late Monday: "Let me get this straight, are Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards now saying we did not go into Iraq soon enough? We should have invaded and liberated Iraq sooner?"

OOOH!

Keep faith folks. This interchange DOES play well with Hugh Biggie's prognostication.

UPDATE: Hugh interviewed former NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerick on 10/26. Kerick was in Iraq for four months, from the time Baghdad fell.

"What John Kerry doesn't know or doesn't understand is that we seized more than 280,000 tons that were detonated already. We seized another 160,000 tons that are pending detonation."

Who are John Kerry and and his cronies that they would make such a big deal of 380 tonnes?

It Just Keeps Looming and Looming

Jack Kelly has another theory on Bin Laden's whereabouts -- if in fact he still exists and is able to be about...

If bin Laden has bitten the dust, it is more likely because of kidney failure than from thermo-baric bombs at Tora Bora. Bin Laden has an ailment that requires dialysis three or four times a week, at 4-5 hours a session. Treatment like this is tough to get in your typical Afghan cave.

This is why I believe that if bin Laden is still alive, he mostly likely is in Iran. If he were somewhere where he could be sheltered by the state, he could get the medical care that would be tough to obtain if he were constantly on the run.

If bin Laden is in Iran, he has lots of company, according to the newspaper Asharq al Awsat. The Saudi-owned London-based daily reported on July 15 that nearly 400 members of al Qaeda, including 18 of its top leaders, have taken refuge in Iran, chiefly near the town of Chalous on the Caspian Sea coast, about 60 miles north of Tehran.

* * * *

If bin Laden is in Iran, it means that the heavy lifting has yet to be done in the war on terrorism, and the axis of evil is more tightly knit than many suppose. Chalous, the town where the al Qaeda hierarchy is said to have taken refuge, is, according to Global Security.Org, "the locale of an underground nuclear weapons facility staffed by experts from Russia, China and North Korea."

Who knows? Plenty of people. They're just not the type folk you can go asking.

Comfort in shadow of West Bank Wall

Between 2001-03, there were (11) separate Palestinian suicide attacks in the Isreali city of Netanya. This year, there have been none. Israelis are relaxing more. There is less of an armed presence in the streets. Tourists are returning.

"I can walk around freely without looking at everybody that's passing me to see if he's an Arab or not an Arab, he's got explosives underneath his clothes or not," said Netanya resident Carol Shaw.

All because of the wall which has been erected on Palestinian West Bank ground, encircling one village and town after another. Leftists howl at the inhumanity and the apartheid of it. Yet, there are no more suicide killings. . . . and I don't believe there have been too many Israeli forays into the West Bank villages where the wall has been completed.

The security of its citizens is a government's most important function. The Israeli government has been effective in this regard. The International Court of Justice and half the civilized world condemns it. What's tantamount? Public safety or public opinion?

Carter trash-talking again

This time, he's at it in my favorite, wretch-inducing left-wing Brit rag, The Guardian. With every new utterance from ex-President Jimmy Carter these days, it becomes more difficult to believe the American public ever gave him the honor of the highest office... Former U.S. heads of state simply should not use debasing, demoralizing language when referring to a current President.

Carter is, however, a pioneer. He is dragging down the rhetoric of the of the Presidency to the level of trash talk.

Cincinnati at sunrise (people there are deciding how to vote)

Something Large This Way Looms

Call it an October Surprise

It's a lot of blogosphere 'buzz', but it's out there. Check out the rampant activity which stems from this. Folks say this is a Kerry Campaign Ender.

"[A] dirty-ass bush league trick of epic fucking proportions," said Kerry campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson. I must laugh. Campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill told Fox News' Linda Vester that "your beloved Hitler chimp has clearly been sitting on this for quite some time. In fact, the Biblethumping Enronhumper is choosing now to spring this shit on us -- with only a week to go before the election -- because that's precisely the kind of thing a half-retarded simian petrolpimp does." Oh, Ha!

We shall see.

Want to delve in-depth? Go to Protein Wisdom. This blogsite demands credit be given, and I comply.

Steyn again

Continuing the Kerry Debunk

Prescription Drugs/Flu Shots: I'm Canadian, so I know a thing or two about prescription drugs from Canada. Specifically speaking, I know they're American; the only thing Canadian about them is the label in French and English. How can politicians from both parties think that Americans can get cheaper drugs simply by outsourcing (as John Kerry would say) their distribution through a Canadian mailing address? U.S. pharmaceutical companies put up with Ottawa's price controls because it's a peripheral market. But, if you attempt to extend the price controls from the peripheral market of 30 million people to the primary market of 300 million people, all that's going to happen is that after approximately a week and a half there aren't going to be any drugs in Canada, cheap or otherwise -- just as the Clinton administration's intervention into the flu-shot market resulted in American companies getting out of the vaccine business entirely.

Afghan War: There are legitimate differences of opinion about the war, but they don't include Kerry's silly debater's points. On the one hand, the Tora borer drones that Bush "outsourced" the search for Osama bin Laden to the Afghans, though at the time he supported it ("It is the best way to protect our troops," he said in December 2001. "I think we have been doing this pretty effectively."). But, on the other, he claims he's going to outsource Iraq to the French and the Germans, though neither of them wants anything to do with it.

The Larger war on Terrorism: I want Bush to win on Election Day because he's committed to this war and, as the novelist and Internet maestro Roger L. Simon says, "the more committed we are to it, the shorter it will be.'' The longer it gets, the harder it will be, because it's a race against time, against lengthening demographic, economic and geopolitical odds. By "demographic," I mean the Muslim world's high birth rate, which by mid-century will give tiny Yemen a higher population than vast empty Russia. By "economic," I mean the perfect storm the Europeans will face within this decade, because their lavish welfare states are unsustainable on their shriveled post-Christian birth rates. By "geopolitical," I mean that, if you think the United Nations and other international organizations are antipathetic to America now, wait a few years and see what kind of support you get from a semi-Islamified Europe.

Europhile delusions: The Continental health and welfare systems John Kerry so admires are, in fact, part of the reason those societies are dying. As for Canada, yes, under socialized health care, prescription drugs are cheaper, medical treatment's cheaper, life is cheaper. After much stonewalling, the Province of Quebec's Health Department announced this week that in the last year some 600 Quebecers had died from C. difficile, a bacterium acquired in hospital. In other words, if, say, Bill Clinton had gone for his heart bypass to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, he would have had the surgery, woken up the next day swimming in diarrhea and then died. It's a bacterium caused by inattention to hygiene -- by unionized, unsackable cleaners who don't clean properly; by harassed overstretched hospital staff who don't bother washing their hands as often as they should.

Those reading my posts know Steyn is a wit and pundit in league with Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken. Said it before, and I'll say it again! With due respect, his mind is on par with Scalia's and Limbaugh's. There is nothing like truth told by a keen, prescient intelligence.

The above quoted from his latest Chicago Sun Times column.

Olympians and Professional Athletes for Dubya

Open Letter signed by 24 outstanding individuals

Go here and check it out. You will recognize most of the signatories. I am impressed.

Hat Tip: Today's Politics Thought via Stone's Cry Out.

Does anyone in America doubt that Kerry has a higher IQ than Bush?

Remember that August quote from NYT editor Harold Raines?

To Bush-bashers, it may be the most infuriating revelation yet from the military records of the two presidential candidates: the young George W. Bush probably had a higher I.Q. than did the young John Kerry.

Like fine wine on the palette and J.S. Bach's Prelude 1 playing softly in the evening air, this is the report from...the New York Times. May those Bush-haters choke in their own bile, so to speak... Shoot, I think I could listen to Satie's Trois Gymnopedies and savor that thought some more. Oooh silence in golden. Faith will out!

Mr. Bush's score on the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test at age 22 again suggests that his I.Q was the mid-120's, putting Mr. Bush in about the 95th percentile of the population, according to Mr. Sailer. Mr. Kerry's I.Q. was about 120, in the 91st percentile, according to Mr. Sailer's extrapolation of his score at age 22 on the Navy Officer Qualification Test.

Linda Gottfredson, an I.Q. expert at the University of Delaware, called it a creditable analysis said she was not surprised at the results or that so many people had assumed that Mr. Kerry was smarter. "People will often be misled into thinking someone is brighter if he says something complicated they can't understand," Professor Gottfredson said.

I've studied W from my little cubby for five years now. I've heard scores of personal anecdotes, as well as countless ones in the media. I've heard and seen him speak. He is special. While he is no Max Planck, he manages to carry his weight with ease, I would say. On the other hand, JFKerry is the product of great privilege and prestige. He has enjoyed the finest schools money and status can buy. To his credit, he didn't waste his family's money. Somewhere in there he picked up an ego vaguely reminiscent of Clinton's. Good for him and his rarified life.

The Kerry campaign's feeble response:

Upon hearing of their candidate's score, Michael Meehan, a spokesman for the senator, said merely: "The true test is not where you start out in life, but what you do with those God-given talents. John Kerry's 40 years of public service puts him in the top percentile on that measure."

That Mr Meehan is what, shall we say, laughable?

And look at this keen insight into the mind of Bush:

"In contrast, the only election Bush ever lost was a 1978 Congressional race in the Texas Panhandle, where his opponent made fun of Bush for having degrees from Yale and Harvard."

That is very interesting, indeed. Hat Tip to California Yankee, via Stones Cry Out.

Twilight in the copse

Dem Violence Spreads

Partisan Vandals are at it again. This time in Oregon.

Someone smashed the windows of the Multnomah County Republican office in Southeast Portland on Thursday, perhaps the latest sign some Oregonians have tossed out civility in their zeal to put their man in the White House.

* * * *

Patrick Donaldson, volunteer chairman of the Bush campaign in Multnomah County, said the broken windows, discovered early in the morning, follow weeks of harassment, including threatening phone calls and people walking into the office and ripping up signs.

"Any Bush supporter will tell you the various levels of disdain from co-workers and complete strangers when they assert they're Republican, that level of disdain was nowhere near this in 2000," Donaldson said. "I'm not saying we are without fault, but these efforts to try to intimidate us and frighten us . . . it really upsets me."

That is true, Mr Donaldson. In spite of the intimidation, stand firm there in the land of utopia.

What is more disturbing is that there doesn't seem to be much contrite verbage flowing from the Dem leadership.

Oregon Democratic Party officials said they do not condone smashing the windows of Republican offices and discourage such acts.

"But the fact is that the reason the Republican Party is feigning righteous indignation is because they don't want to talk about the 30,000 jobs lost and the 180,000 Oregonians who have lost health care," said Neel Pender, executive director of the state Democratic Party.

Take a little time out, Mr Pender, from your talking points and address the issue at hand. One might think there would be more difference between these Democratic officials and the typical Islamic 'cleric' who refuses to roundly condemn terrorism.

See here for recent examples of Dem mayhem.

Bush/Kerry 47-45

Bush led Kerry 47-45 percent in the latest three-day tracking poll, within the poll's margin of error, all according to the latest results from Zogby.

"The poll found the candidates essentially tied among many voter blocs, including independents, women, Catholics and military families. Kerry led by double digits among 18-24 year olds, and Bush led by double digits among 25-34 year olds."

I find that most interesting. What it tells me is that it does not take long for a reasonable mass of human beings to come round to a realistic world-view. The 18-24 year olds, are by an large a target of partisan fear-mongers and Micheal Moore slacker hucksters.

ADDENDUM: Check out Judy Bean's hilarious comment to this post. Reality is stranger than the MSM portrays it to be.

Ever quite said of Chamberlain?

Heady times. The US election draws ever nearer, and while the rest of the world bangs its head against the floorboards screaming "Please God, not Bush!", the candidates clash head to head in a series of live televised debates. It's a bit like American Idol, but with terrifying global ramifications. You've got to laugh.

* * * *

On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?

Posted loud and clear, first on Drudge in red print. Written by the Brit-clever hack Charlie Brooker in Guardian Unlimited. I will smile and tuck this one away. When was the last time an American Presidential election, as contentious as they have been, has ever drawn this much attention. If W subscribed to the Clintonian philosophy (that ANY publicity - no matter how negative - is infinitely beneficial in the long-run), he'd be in hog heaven. I suspect that is not the case.

To Mr Brooker and his like: if we didn't know better, we might believe those were fighting words of the worst sort.

UPDATE: Said far better than I by Deacon at Powerline:

Yet, the rationalization reveals the true source of Bush-loathing -- hatred of the religious and core philosophical underpinnings of western civilization (represented in the leftist parable by the ancient Greeks). But if you hate these things, what remains worth defending about the west? The only thing I can think of is its hedonism. That's how the Islamofascists see it too. And they have figured out that, if that's all the west is fighting for, the west will lose.

UPDATE: A "correction" has been posted by the Guardian, as follows in toto:

The final sentence of a column in The Guide on Saturday caused offence to some readers. The Guardian associates itself with the following statement from the writer.

"Charlie Brooker apologises for any offence caused by his comments relating to President Bush in his TV column, Screen Burn. The views expressed in this column are not those of the Guardian. Although flippant and tasteless, his closing comments were intended as an ironic joke, not as a call to action - an intention he believed regular readers of his humorous column would understand. He deplores violence of any kind."

Charles Brooker said what he said. As a (struggling) Christian, I don't harbour near the ill-will Mr Brooker does.

Europeans for Bush?

Our European friend and commenter Jan has provided this site with the link to an October 13 story in The Globalist: Why Europe Needs - And Wants - Bush to Win. It is an anti-American screed, and well-written at that. It's one of those articles one needs to think upon a bit. Read it and comment, please.

After having thought a while, I can agree that Bush is hated in many parts of Europe. He has probably even inspired a bit of back-slapping between such formerly viscious enemies as France and Germany! Yank bashing and Bush slandering is a huge industry in Europe.

After having thought a while longer, it really chaps me that the US is stuck with the heavy lifting - having to make the hard choices - in order to re-stabilize the middle-eastern world. All the while, the French, Germans, Belgians, and various and assorted other 'continentals' sit back, watch, and nip at W's heels with the cry "neo-con!"

All the while, America blusters, fumes and cites a Baptist morality that is often indecipherable outside America’s ‘red’ states — those that predominantly vote for George W. Bush.

The story's author Richard Phillips, a financial consultant with especial expertise in things European and the UN, reveals himself there as one whose nose is out of joint with free-thinking folks. No, a 'globalist' is too much a 'relativist', and therefore too 'nuanced' to concern himself with such fly-over-types as me.

I read a sign on a church billboard this morning (no, wasn't Baptist): "The men who move the world cannot be moved by the world." Now take it as you will, but I thought it summed up our current American administration. It is taking hits as hard as any since the administration of Abraham Lincoln. I believe in W's resolve! If, as Phillips intimates, a second administration will cause Europeans to morph from anti-Bushies to anti-Americans, then I will just have to hold onto the railing that much harder.

Europe can fuss, preen, and posture till the cows come home. In the end, history will yet again justify American action in this violently changing world -- we are not done yet!

Oh yeah, the EU's principal goal from way back when: a trading block to equalize US marketing dominance. France wants to be in charge.

Thanks, Jan. I hope you will give us more of your point of view. As has been said, there is hope for all of us westerners as long as we keep talking -- at one time, we were pretty strong in our mutual affections...

MTV => Rock the Vote <= DNC

And other thoughts from 'everyman'*
*red-state variety

Perhaps three times in the past eight months, I have watched four minutes of MTV. Amazingly, each time I viewed, there was some speaker pushing Rock the Vote. Each time I took away an obvious impression: these people despise George W.

Now, the California College Republicans make a well-founded allegation: That MTV and Rock the Vote are joined at the hip with the DNC.

Through just cursory research, CCR discovered numerous connections between MTV, Rock the Vote, and the DNC. Judy McGrath, President of MTV, has maxed out her donation to the Kerry campaign. She donated at least $1,000 to the failed candidacy of the Gore campaign, and she’s donated over $5,000 to other extreme liberal PACs, such as America Coming Together.

Connect the dots to Rock the Vote: In February of 2001, Jeff Ayerhoff, Co-Founder of Rock the Vote, said: “There are 5-6 pillars sustaining the foundation of the Rock the Vote organization -- and Judy McGrath is one of those pillars. Without Judy McGrath, there would be no Rock the Vote…” Incidentally, Rock the Vote, including its draft scare tactics and Democrat bias, has been given over $10,000,000 of free air time on the so-called independent-from-Rock the Vote MTV.

“Comments and facts like those make it hard to find the line where MTV/DNC stops and DNC/Rock the Vote begins,” said CCR Chairman Michael P. Davidson. “The exact same lies coming out of John Kerry’s mouth are the exact same lies being used by MTV/Rock the Vote to scare young voters about the draft. First Dan Rather, and now MTV/Rock the Vote. Thanks a lot Viacom.”

I am truly saddened by all of this, not just the above. The disconnect between good citizens in this country is becoming unbearable. For me, it began when President Clinton was inaugaurated in '93. Many of you will recall this, which I first heard on Rush:

Ron Silver was there [on the Mall in DC] and he looked up and said what the hell is that? Don't they know? What's the military doing here? Clinton won the election. And Ron's friend jabbed him in the ribs and said, "Ron, those are our jets now." And Ron, "Oh, yeah! We have those jets."

It was on that day that the latest round of 'us v them' began, and the intensity of it has grown unabated to this day, with one darkly ironic exception: 9/11 and its short aftermath. In those tragic days there were no more politics, only the comfort of being a part of the unified resolve of an entire, powerful nation.

HT: LGF

A Squatter in The Twilight Zone

You'll just have to read it.

Trandscends politics...thank God.

The DNC will fight to stifle this voting block

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. service members based in Iraq and across the globe can't be confident that their votes will be counted in this year's presidential election, analysts and military advocates said this week.

Democrats fought to quash the overseas military vote in 2000. Watch for the same this election.

Keep faith!

Urban legand mirrors reality

Why is our vaccine made in the UK and not the US? The major pharmaceutical companies in the US provided almost 90% of the nations flu vaccine at one time. They did this despite a very low profit margin for the product. Basically, they were doing us a favor.In the late 80's a man from North Carolina who had received the vaccine got the flu. The strain he caught was one of the strains in that years vaccine made by a US company.

What did he do? He sued and he won. He was awarded almost $5 million!

That should tell you what you need to know...

Since UK and Canadian laws prohibit such frivolous law suits UK and Canadian companies began selling the vaccine in the US. By the way...the lawyer that represented the man in the flu shot lawsuit was a young ambulance chaser by the name of John Edwards.

URBAN LEGEND! Or no? Yes. No. Doesn't matter. The larger truth is that litigation is a muffling force.

I don't take the shot. Most people I know in my small circle get sick in spite of it. The flu shot is a partisan shot, and that it what it is...

Hat tip: Lori Byrd at Polipundit.

A curious, deeply disturbing anecdote

I have a friend who is a strong, political leader in his community. His leadership extends across a generation. He was born a Democrat; his father, probably more influential than he, was a lifelong New Deal Democrat. My friend was born to it. Recently, I have heard disturbing rumours about him.

For several years, I have engaged him in political dialogue outside of the public eye. "You strike me a very conservative individual," I said. "You are the essence of a man grounded in common sense and deeply held values." Always with a politician's smile, he never gave an inch from his chosen party's line. Yet, he lived the life of an honest, conservative American.

He is a stalwart Southern Baptist. I know this because of his reputation and his actions. Yet, last year, he stood openly against his regional church body politik. He said he would vote in support of a resolution in support of the troops, but he would not the same resolution if it included prayer for the current government or our President. Very controversial, indeed.

Still, I joked with him... pressed him to admit the reality of his life.

A couple of days ago, I heard he now stands at odds with his home congregationt. Like many southern baptist church houses (think about Kerry politicking behind various pulpits), his local pastor has begun speaking out on many of the moral issues liberals have dragged into the political arena. "Preach on abortion or homosexual marriage (or other great issues of the day), and I will stand up in the midst of your sermon and debate you!" He allegedly said this to his pastor, face-to-face. His fellow congregants are unhappy with him. He supposedly told his preacher he will take his family and leave...

I am perplexed, and deeply so. He is a good man of stalwart conviction -- I passed it off to blind loyalty to his party, but his openly defiant stand against the pastor boggles my mind. I will be careful and not treat politics so lightly the next time I see him.

This man exemplifies a large portion of the leftist electorate: His party left him behind in the dust; its positions swirl bitter and dry in his mouth (OR DO THEY SIT WELL WITH HIM?). Yet, loyalty is a deep southern trait, it is paramount.

Thank the Lord, I trust my common sense.

Nevertheless, millions of his like-minded compatriots hang on to a vacuous impression of the past, and are loyal to it... Think of honest loyalists in the time of the Revolution or the great Civil War... it's getting easier with each day to imagine those thoughts and emotions... as well as the awful feelings of uncertainty clinging to each of us...

Bob Just: My Un-American Democratic Party

Our 'cold civil war'

Bob Just is a WorldNetDaily columnist, and this article is a few months old. But timely. I have severely abridged what follows. However, in the interests of what is going to follow the election, I culled a lot of the best of it, for your edification.

Students of the American Civil War will recall US Grant's end-game strategy, which was to continually march past Lee's flank in a bloody race to Richmond. Thousands upon thousands of Union boys' blood was spilled, by a beleaguered, attritted, albeit superior-led Southern army. In the end, Grant's overwhelming, marshalled control of superior numbers and material wore down the Army of Northern Virginia.

Now, I'm obviously not attempting to draw the parallel you think I am. Conservatives are on an equal footing with the Libs these days, at least nation-wide. The outcome of this national struggle is yet to be seen, but the liberal element has adopted Grant's winning strategy of 140 years ago...

Make no mistake, anti-Semitism is alive and well as a political force – and so is appeasement. The two will combine, and my Democratic Party will soon betray Israel.

* * * *

Inside they seethe at "red state" America. . . . What caused all this anger, and why is it directed at fellow Americans? The furious fringe is taking over the party. They are solidified in their sense of victimhood. They aren't looking for compromise, but for total victory – revenge almost – in fulfilling their vision for a new America, one that has nothing to do with biblical Christianity or Judaism, the pumping heart of true Americanism.

* * * *

Last November, famous Soviet Jewish dissident Natan Sharansky wrote a piece for Commentary Magazine in which he made clear that anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism were related. Both express hostility toward the "moral clarity" of Jews and Christians and their shared love of liberty.

* * * *

Everyone is talking about the growing red-state /blue-state divide in America. The words "parallel universe" have even been used to describe the two ethics that dominate our political scene. To put it simply, the red side believes in "one nation, under God," and the blue side doesn't. We think rights come from our Creator, they think rights come from our government. We think there are moral absolutes, they think everything is relative, including the Constitution.

* * * *

Now here is our big problem. These Democrats don't need to win elections the usual way. All they need to do is solidify their angry base – then entrench like an occupying army – and wait until Americans are desperate for a political "change." No one can break the stranglehold of a party that has a solid 40-45 percent base (as some experts claim), and few moral limits.

Read the whole article here, where you will find more strong language and thought. By the way, Bob Just is a Democrat.

Shoe shells

George Esseff

I do not have the privilege of listening to Rush very often. But when I do, I'm all ears. Today, I was not disappointed.

Rush performed a great public service by reading most of the following advertisement from the pages of The Washington Post. The individual who paid for this full-page ad - all by himself - is George J. Esseff, Sr. I have never heard of him. But his message rings true as a brass bell.

You’re a Republican???

In today’s America, ask a growing number of high school and college students; their teachers and professors; the self-anointed media elite and/or hard working men and women of all ethnicities, the question, “What is a Republican?”, and you’ll be told “… a rich, greedy, egotistical individual, motivated only by money and the desire to accumulate more and more of it, at the expense of the environment … the working poor ….and all whom they exploit…”

I am a Republican … I am none of those things… and I don’t know any Republicans who are.

WHAT I AM … first and foremost, is a loving husband of some 52 plus years, the father of four and an American who’s proud of his country… and his country’s heritage.

WHAT I AM … is the grandson of immigrants who risked everything, including their lives and those of their children, to escape tyranny in search of freedom.

WHAT I AM … is a man who grew up during the Depression and witnessed, first hand, the effects of the Stock Market crash and the soup lines that followed. I watched as both my parents and grand parents, who had very little themselves, share what food they had with a half dozen other families, who had even less.

WHAT I AM … is someone who worked his way through college by holding down three and four jobs at a time and then used that education to build a better life.

WHAT I AM … is a husband who, at age 24, started his own business for the “privilege” of working 60, 70 and 80 hours a week, risking everything I had, including my health, in search of a better life for myself and my loved ones.

WHAT I AM … is a businessman whose blood, sweat and tears…. and plenty of them…, made it possible for me to provide a secure living, not only for my family and myself, but also for literally hundreds of my employees throughout the years. Employees, who in turn, were able to buy their own homes, raise their own families and give back to their communities and their country.

WHAT I AM … is a man who believes in God; a God who has blessed this country… and all for which it stands.

WHAT I AM … is someone who knows, if you doubt miracles exist in today’s world, you need only to look into the face of those who received them … and the eyes of those who give them.

WHAT I AM … is an American who’s proud that his President embraces a belief in God; proud of a President who understands, as “politically incorrect” as it may be, there is evil in this world and for the security and safety of all freedom loving people everywhere, it must be confronted… and it must be defeated.

WHAT I AM … is an American who takes comfort in the knowledge that our President refuses to allow decisions concerning the very safety and security of this nation, to be governed by the political whims of foreign governments.

WHAT I AM … is tired of hearing from leading Democrats who see only negativity in America; racism in her people; class warfare in her society and “political incorrectness” in her character.

WHAT I AM … is a former democrat who now understands that it is the soldier and not the reporter that guarantees us our freedoms of press, speech and dissent.

WHAT I AM … is a man who believes in the sanctity of life. A man who is repulsed by the pandering of the political left for votes, at the expense of the unborn.

WHAT I AM … is a husband and father who believes in the sanctity of marriage and the preservation of the family unit.

WHAT I AM … is a movie go-er who is repulsed by those insecure, socially inept, elementary thinking, ego-inflated “entertainers” who have appointed themselves “experts” in the fields of national security and geo-politics and then use their forum to attack this nation, its leaders and its actions…. much to the delight and encouragement of our enemies.

WHAT I AM … is an American who understands the difference between “censorship” and “choice”. Evidently, these individuals do not, because when these same “celebrities” receive public ridicule for their offensive actions, the first thing they yell is “Censorship!”. What they seem incapable of understanding is… the right of free speech and dissent is shared equally by those offended… as well as those who offend. I support and will continue to support those films and performers whom I choose to … and refuse to support those I don’t. It is my right as an American … a right I will continue to enthusiastically exercise.

WHAT I AM … is a voter, tired of politicians, who, every time their voting records are subjected to public scrutiny, try to divert attention from their political and legislative failures by accusing their opponents of “attack ads” and “negative campaigning”…. and the news media who allow them to get away with it.

WHAT I AM … is a Catholic who loves his God and his Faith… and who’s been taught to respect all religions whose teachings are based in love, peace and charity. As such, I am embarrassed and ashamed of those individuals, in both private and public life, whose decisions and actions are devoid of any sense of character or morals; individuals who are only driven by what’s best for them … rather than what’s right … often times at the expense of many …. including our national security.

WHAT I AM … is a realist who understands that the terrorist attack that murdered hundreds of innocent Russian children could have occurred here, in our heartland. That’s why I sincerely believe America needs now, more than ever, a President who sees with a clear and focused vision and who speaks with a voice when heard by both friend and foe alike, is understood, respected and believed.

WHAT I AM … is eternally grateful to Ronald Reagan for having the bravery to speak out against Communism and the courage of his convictions in leading the fight to defeat it; and George W. Bush for the vision, courage, conviction and leadership he has shown in America’s war on terrorism amidst both the constant and vicious, personal and political attacks both he and his family are made to endure.

WHAT I AM … is a human being, full of numerous faults and failures, but a man nonetheless, who, though not always successful, has continually strived to do “what’s right” instead of “what’s easy”. A man who is challenging the religious leaders of all faiths, to not only preach to their congregations the fundamentals of “what’s right” and “what’s wrong”, but to also then hold them accountable for their actions in both the public and private sectors.

WHAT I AM … is disgusted with the Courts who, on one hand, call the murder of a pregnant woman a “double homicide” but then refer to the abortion of her baby as, “pro-choice”.

WHAT I AM … is someone deeply troubled by a political party which embraces a candidate whose primary “leadership” qualities center around his protesting of the Vietnam war and his labeling the honorable men and women who fought in it, (50,000 of whom gave their lives in that action), as rapists, and war criminals. That same political party then stepped forward this year to block the appearance of a true Vietnam war hero, retired Admiral and former United States Senator, Jeremiah Denton, (a man who spent seven years and seven torturous months in a North Vietnam prison), from speaking before an open session of the California legislature as part of that state’s 4th of July celebration. The reason Democrats gave for refusing to allow this American hero to speak before their state legislature was because of the “conservative” nature of his views. As an American, that troubles me deeply ….as well it should you.

WHAT I AM … is a man who feels the need to spend, $104, 655.60,(tax paid) of his own money, to purchase this advertisement, in order to set the story straight. Some may say this money would have been better spent feeding the world’s poor. At the risk of sounding self-serving, as an American and as a Republican, for the last six decades of my life, I have done exactly that… and more. Following the examples of my parents and grand parents, I have used my earnings to feed the poor, shelter the homeless, provide housing for the elderly and medical care for the sick….. and continue to do so… and I’m not alone in that work.

WHAT I AM … is someone who is paying for this announcement, at my sole expense, in hopes of opening the eyes of those led blindly by ill-informed elements of our great nation, who, through either ignorance, or malicious intent, repeatedly attack and belittle those of us who belong to a political party that holds true to the belief, “… the rights of the governed, exceed the power of the government”. For those interested, I am speaking only as a tax-paying individual who is in no way associated with The Republican National Committee, nor with any of its directors, or delegates.

WHAT I AM … is a man who understands, “the American way of life” is a message of self-empowerment for all.

WHAT I AM … is an American who is grateful that our nation gives each of us the opportunity of self-determination and the right to benefit from the fruits of self achievement.

WHAT I AM … is an American who wants to preserve that way of life for all who seek it.

WHAT I AM … is blessed to be an American…. and proud to be Republican.

Oh...right on! I get the distinct feeling Mr Esseff's hardships in life have been far more profound than my own, but I KNOW his message will resound. Why? Because it is my own! When that happens, we are on to something.

Please disseminate this message. You may know a few rarified 'undecideds' or waffling 'Democrats' possessed of a sound heart. If this message from Mr Esseff's heart does not resound, then...I won't engage this post in pessimism. Take heart!