I saw the broadcast of this story on Fox News last night....

The Governor of Minnesota has looked into banning the use of food stamps to purchase junk food and candy. The thought being that since the tax payers are paying for their food to allow them to survive, it should only be used on actual food. This has raised the ire of food stamp recipient Angel Buechner (who by the way is grossly obese). Here is her logic:

>>>Angel Buechner, a working mother of four boys, says junk food is a bad buy for people who use food stamps like her family, but she doesn't believe the federal government has the right to prevent her from buying something special for her sons.

"Why should I have to shop on the other side of the grocery store just because I get food support?" asked Buechner, a food stamp recipient.<<<

We don't have the right? We don't have any say in the matter? Doesn't she understand that we pay for this food and therefore we have EVERY RIGHT to tell her what she can and can't use it on. If she doesn't like the restrictions, don't use the food stamp program at all! If we are going to pay for the food, she should use it on actual nutritious food to feed her four boys so they don't end up grossly overweight like she is.

Abuse is so rampant in this system. When we were first married my wife and I lived in a pretty poor inner city neighborhood. At the convenience store across the street, welfare recipients would constantly be using food stamps to buy a pop or candy bar one after another in separate transactions to get change back in cash, and then once they had enough cash use it to buy cigarettes. The clerk always just went along. So through willful fraud, they would use the tax payers generous support intended to feed them and their family to buy cigarettes, pop and candy. No doubt when they end up in the hospital with lung cancer, diabetes and heart disease the tax payers will be called upon once more to pay their bills. We better make sure they get junk food from the hospital cafeteria though, because THAT IS THEIR RIGHT!

Here is another great editorial from Townhall.com written by Colonel Oliver North. North takes Andy Rooney to task for his psychobabble about what our troops are thinking. The editorial is especially good since Rooney is sitting in New York assigning thoughts and motivations to our brave soldiers to fit his misconceptions, and Ollie is on the ground in Iraq and hearing from the troops themselves. North has it right, our troops believe in what they are doing, even if Andy Rooney and his out of touch leftist cronies don't. This says it best:

>>>When Lance Corporal Conyers appeared with me the other night on Fox News's "Hannity & Colmes," Sean Hannity showed his appreciation to Conyers by promising to buy him a big, thick, juicy steak from Ruth's Chris steakhouse when he gets home. What are you going to do for them, Andy, other than criticize? One thing you could do to show your appreciation for our troops who are defending your right to speak is to shut the hell up.<<<

Amen to that Colonel North!

Brent Bozell is America's conservative media watchdog, a full time job given the leftist, secularist garbage that is spewed forth by Hollywood.

Bozell's latest column on Townhall.com looks at the show Judging Amy. I haven't ever seen it, but it looked pretty PC even from the commercials. As usual, the truth is even stranger.

You really need to click on the link above and read the whole column, but this is the gist of the story. In one episode, one family is refusing medical care for their autistic child because they are religious fruitcakes and sure enough it is discovered that their preacher is beating the poor child senseless. In the other plot-line a family is having their child christened and at every mention by the pastor of Jesus Christ or sin, the skeptical grandmother scoffs out loud at these ridiculous religious types and instead urges them to raise the child to be a "kind and tolerant person" (cause you know that no Christian is either kind or tolerant!). She is chastised by Amy because, what does it matter as Christianity is a bunch of "meaningless crapola" anyway.

The second episode he discusses portrays a wonderful fella that is a Catholic priest, who also happens to be a transvestite seeking a sex change. Of course, this is Hollywood, so the transvestite priest comes across as wise and understanding, in sharp contrast to all those straight Christians who are so hate filled and intolerant of men dressing like women and seeking surgical procedures to change their gender.

So here we have the Hollywood version of faith in America. Those who believe strongly in God, normal heterosexual, perhaps conservative people, are uptight, intolerant, hateful people who believe in some myth. People who engage in aberrant behavior, cross dress etc. are the truly wise and spiritual ones.

There is definitely some "crapola" here, but Hollywood is the one shoveling it.

Speaking of gay "marriages"...

Our friend Stephen van Kuiken is at it again. Now he wants the Presbyterian Church USA to throw out his prior conviction for marrying gay couples...

>>>MAUMEE, Ohio: - A panel of Presbyterian Church (USA) leaders is expected to deliberate today in the case of a minister found guilty of marrying same-sex couples in his former church.

The Rev. Stephen Van Kuiken, 45, former pastor of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, argued before a 10-member judicial commission Thursday that his conviction should be overturned. He has said that ministers have a right to call union ceremonies of gay couples "marriages."

The national rulebook for the Presbyterian Church (USA) allows ministers to bless commitment ceremonies by same-sex couples, but they must not call the ceremonies weddings. Van Kuiken says such "word games" assign a lower status to committed gay couples than to straight couples.

Last April the Cincinnati presbytery found Van Kuiken guilty of violating church rules and publicly rebuked him. When Van Kuiken continued holding same-sex marriages, the presbytery stripped him of his status as a minister. <<<

Two issues here: First, their bylaws specifically prohibit the acitivity he was engaging in, so what in the world does he have to appeal about? That is like a car thief trying to appeal a conviction not based on the evidence, but because he doesn't think stealing cars is wrong! Second, the PCUSA is reaping what it has sown by compromising with the radical homosexual agenda. By giving a little, i.e. allowing "committment ceremonies" for homsexual couples but not calling them marriage, they have opened Pandora's box. These radical homosexuals will not be satisfied with anything less than full marriage with all the accompanying titles and benefits. Anything else ("civil unions", "committment ceremonies") is just a stepping stone to that goal.

Homosexuals try to hide the inherent shame of their actions by making believe that they are a normal couple just like married heterosexuals. By solemnizing these shams, the PCUSA is helping to hide their sin and need for repenetance, and a church that does that brings shame on the entire Christian community and denies the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ain't this a sweet story...

The Cincinnati Enquirer headline: "Web helps build family in Hamilton"

Turns out that the family in question are a couple of lesbians living together. Theone woman "discovered" she was a lesbian, of course she did so after being in an abusive relationship with a drunken man. Hmmm, a really horrible experience with on e man and she turns to another woman for companionship. Never heard that story before.

Then of course, after a committed relationship of 8 whole months with another woman coming out of a bad relationship with a man, she and her new friend got hitched:

>>>"Eight months later, the couple participated in a holy union ceremony - "to us, it's a wedding," Blaydes says - performed by Rev. Bonnie Daniel of New Spirit Metropolitan Community Church.<<<

So they have bad experiences with a man as well as heatlth problems, get divorced and shack up with one another, going through some sham "holy union" ceremony and the Cincinnati Enquirer describes them as a family? We wonder why this country is going to heck in a handbasket....

We likely won't hear much about this....

Fox News is reporting that the State Dept said that terrorism outside of Iraq is at the lowest level since 1969.

This war is not one we brought on ourselves, but at least we have taken the war to them. They will come after us and they will try to kill us, but we have forced the battle to move to Iraq. Every terrorist nutcase in the world is heading over there, and while I hate to see even one American casualty, I would rather fight the terrorists with Marines than with local cops.

Several writers like Albert Mohler have pointed to a series of articles in the Washington Post that look at the drastic differences between Bush country and Clinton country (even though Kerry is running, not Bill, it is still clearly Billary's show). The differences are dramatic...

I found it very interesting that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi lives in the same San Fran neighborhood that the profiled liberal family lives in. I found this quote a riot:
>>> "Their neighborhood is filled with restaurants that are cafes, and stores that are boutiques, and their neighbors include straight people, gay people, rich people, homeless people, married people, single people, and the House minority leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D), who says of this place: "I think it is more American than most places in the country." <<<

So San Francisco is more American than the rest of America? Does she even realize how incredibly arrogant that sounds, and indeed is? There are huge stretches of America, entire states and regions that look nothing like San Francisco (and thanks be to God for that!). Outside of NY, LA, Boston and smaller liberal enclaves like Ann Arbor, MOST of the country does not look like San Francsico in the least.

Of course, the writer of the two pieces, David Finkle, predictably goes out of his way to portray the conservative family as hickish (Oooh, he owns guns and prays. He must be one of those fanatics from Texas like David Koresh!) and the liberal family as educated and worldly. In reality, most of the middle class folks I know are quite conservative on almost every social and fiscal issue, and are almost universally college educated.

There is a small fraction of America that really can be influenced in this election, and that 5-10% is where the election will be won or lost. Everything else is just preaching to the choir (a secular choir of course)

James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries had an interesting commentary in his blog about a recent Roman Catholic (Redemptionis Sacramentum)proclamation regarding the Eucharist. I knew the Eucharistic worship was a bit over the top, but some of the language they used was downright insulting...


>>>[134.] “The worship of the Eucharist outside the Sacrifice of the Mass is a tribute of inestimable value in the life of the Church. Such worship is closely linked to the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice." Therefore both public and private devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist even outside Mass should be vigorously promoted, for by means of it the faithful give adoration to Christ, truly and really present, the “High Priest of the good things to come" and Redeemer of the whole world. “It is the responsibility of sacred Pastors, even by the witness of their life, to support the practice of Eucharistic worship and especially exposition of the Most Holy Sacrament, as well as prayer of adoration before Christ present under the eucharistic species."<<<

As Dr. White points out, this should be viewed as a dramatic departure from Scriptural teachings, but it passes with nary a whimper from most of the evangelical community. Dr. White quotes from the Westminster catechism on the Eucharist...

>>>In this sacrament, Christ is not offered up to His Father; not any real sacrifice made at all, for remission of sins of the quick or dead; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of Himself, by Himself, upon the cross, once for all: and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God, for the same, so that the popish sacrifice of the mass (as they call it) is most abominably injurious to Christ's one, only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of His elect. (29:2)<<<

Chirst said on the cross "It is finished" and indeed it was, the sacrifice was made, the price was paid. Catholics do not re-sacrifice Christ during Mass, nor do they transform the bread and wine into actual flesh & blood. Christ said "Do this in remembrance of Me" and we do indeed, not place Me on the alter and shed My blood and break My flesh again for you. Christ's redemptive work is completed on the cross and to deny that by reenacting the work in the Mass is to deny His Word.

Once more, the "civil rights" leadership fans the flames of racsim.

Cincinnati has had some issues with race relations, including a fairly ugly riot a few years back. As is often the case, the trouble is sparked by blacks being killed or allegedly abused by police officers. A few years ago, Timothy Thomas, a guy with a long rap sheet, was running from cops and ended up in a confusing situation in a dark alley and got shot & killed. More recently, a gentlemen by the name of Nathaniel Jones, an grossly obese man who was hopped up on PCP, cocaine and embalming fluid, who died in a struggle with six cops. The video clearly shows him trying to attack the officers and at one point attemtping to grab one of the officer's guns. It took six officers to subdue him and while on his stomach he died from suffocation. Not that the officers were choking him or otherwise causing the suffocation, but rather a combination of huge amounts of drugs, being incredibly fat and having heart disease led to his death (plus the exertion of a long struggle no doubt).

Now the NAACP has come out and claimed that a crime has taken place and demanding changes. No mention of the man being stoned out of his gourd. No mention of him refusing to comply with officers and trying to attack them and grab their guns. No mention of this man's criminal record and his heart disease. No mention of all reports indicating the police had done nothing wrong. All we hear about is how the police used excessive force in subduing a huge man who was stoked on PCP.

Perhaps the focus should be less on the police and more on why people like Nathaniel Jones are committing crimes? The NAACP complains that not enough is done to curb crime in balck neighborhoods, and yet sues the police whenever a criminal is killed by police. Maybe they should try working WITH the police instead of AGAINST them.

This is quite interesting....

An editorial in the OpinionJournal today discusses the idea of the bogeyman of overpopulation and the reality of depopulation in much of the world. Europe especially is not reproducing at a rate that will allow it to maintain it's current population levels, thus forcing them to import cheap labor from Islamic nation with all the accompanying headaches and danger that brings.

The editorial references a book The Empty Cradle by Phillip Longman that might be worth a read. Of course with six children, I am doing my part to keep up the population, and supply it with Christian children!

An excellent editorial from Michelle Malkin today on the death march in D.C. last weekend. She has a slightly different take on Ashley Judd, i was unaware that her mother Naomi is pretty openly prolife. Click here for the editorial.

I liked this part especially...

>>>Nonetheless, the truth keeps slipping out. In Britain, a ground-breaking documentary by filmmaker Julia Black titled "My Foetus" aired last week. Black is pro-choice, but says she "wanted to kick-start debate by allowing both sides . . . to actually look at what an abortion is." Her film showed a four-week-old fetus being vacuumed from its mother's womb -- as well as images of the broken limbs of 10, 11 and 21-week-old aborted children.

Pro-choice journalist Lauren Booth described her response to the documentary this way: "My hand flew to my mouth in shock. I swallowed. I didn't want to say it, but the word 'murder' came to my lips."

This is the true face of abortion, Ashley. Multiply it by 40 million. The mass destruction of unborn life in the name of feminist rights is not "just a nothing." Go ask your mom.<<<

Racism behind every bush...

There are few sillier things on TV than reality shows (even though I watch 'em!) and none are more contrived than American Idol. Leave it to moral paragon Elton John to find racism in the selction process. According to CNN, Elton John claims that the most recent castoff, Jennifer Hudson, who is black and apparently a good singer, was the victim of America's racist audiences. Apparently one cannot prefer another singer if they are white. CNN does rightly point out that the winner last year, Ruben Studdard, was black and in my opinion not as good as white runner up Clay Aiken. So it is racist when a black is kicked off, but not when a black singer is the overall winner? Maybe instead of some institutionalized racism, America just didn't like her as well that week....

The more often the Hollywood elite tells us we are racist, the less sting it has and the more resentful we become. No matter what we do, we get labelled racist, so rather than trying to work together amongst ethnicities, we just stop trying. Is that the goal here, to become so hypersensitive that we stop caring at all?

More from today's OpinionJournal. James Taranto reprinted some commentary from far left wacko website Independent Media out of Portland. These guys are way off kilter most of the time, but this takes the cake. The following comments were posted regarding former NFLer turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman, a hero in every sense of the word....

>>>The page begins with a Washington Post story about Tillman's death under the headline (Indymedia's, not the Post's) "Dumb Jock Killed in Afghanistan." This is followed by reader comments. A sampling (quoted verbatim except for expletives):

"Tillman chose to go to Afghanistan. He's partially reponsible for the deaths of hundreds, maybe thousands of Afghan civilians. No need to feel sorry for him, other than feeling bad that he was brainwashed into serving as a grunt."

"it's amazing the kind of attention this insignificant incident is going to cause. well, he was rich, white, and an american. 10,000 (brown) iraqis get killed, and it barely merits a mention in the american news. how utterly f---ing sad."

"To be honest I wish I could feel sorry for the guy, but the truth is I really feel nothing at all. To many have died and too much money has flowed into the pockets of Dick Cheney to even worry about it."

"if he 'sacrificed' anything it was his common sense. He had a good American thing going and blew it." <<<

Hey idiots: that "dumb" jock graduated summa cum laude in 3 1/2 years from Az State.

That sort of comentary allows the regular Joe to see how warped these people are and why pandering to them is going to cost Kerry any shot at the election. Bunch of birkenstock wearin', tree huggin', whale savin', unborn baby murderin', America hatin', dope smokin', no shampoo usin'. homsexual lovin' freaks, one and all.

I said it before, I sez it again: you hate America, too bad 'cause we ain't changing to suit your "needs". Take your tired, dirty act to France or Canada.

Freaks

Here is a marvelous quote, reprinted in today's OpinionJournal.com Best of the Web section, from former UN ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick in 1984.

>>> When the San Francisco Democrats treat foreign affairs as an afterthought, as they did, they behaved less like a dove or a hawk than like an ostrich--convinced it would shut out the world by hiding its head in the sand. . . .

When the Soviet Union walked out of arms control negotiations, and refused even to discuss the issues, the San Francisco Democrats didn't blame Soviet intransigence. They blamed the United States. But then, they always blame America first.

When Marxist dictators shoot their way to power in Central America, the San Francisco Democrats don't blame the guerrillas and their Soviet allies, they blame United States policies of 100 years ago. But then, they always blame America first.

The American people know better. <<<

It was true then and it is true now! Blame America first! Fly planes into out buildings? We did something to make them upset with us! Free them from a brutal dictator and give them freedoms they have not enjoyed for generations, trying to turn over power as soon as possible? Bush lied! Imperialism!

I swear the Left has become so livid about Bush that they rarely make any sense at all about anything. At least in the past, while they were wrong, they were coherent.

Oh get over yourself!

TV Guide online is reporting that NYPD Blue creator Steven Bochco is threatening to pull the plug on the series if he isn't allowed to put nudity and swearing back into the show after the Janet Jackson crackdown.

Somehow, TV dramas have managed to exist and thrive for decades without seeing Dennis Franz's naked bootie. In fact, I could live my whole life without seeing that. Geehhh! This self-righteous garbage about censorship drives me bonkers. Oh you are sooooo creative, John Ashcroft is keeping you from being brilliant. Poor baby. The show is very good, but that is in SPITE of the nudity not because of it. The few times I have seen it when they threw some partial nudity in, it was obviously contrived and completely unneeded. We are smart people, we get what is going on.

I say take your show and go home if you want. That show peaked years ago, and seeing Dennis Franz beat up suspects was cool at first but has become a) disturbing because of the way he beats confessions out of people and b) laughable because a portly, old man like that is hardly going to be intimidating to a 22 year old 6' 5" suspect. Oooh, the fat, bald, old man is yelling at me, I am so scared I will immediately confess my crime before he hurts me. Come on.

Outstanding!

Local Congressman Rob Portman was taking John Kerry to task for his miserable record on defense appropriations as a Senator. As usual, here was the response from Kerry spokeswoman Kathy Roeder: "John Kerry served in Vietnam. He's a decorated war hero. He's been shot at. He's 100 percent committed to defending our troops and making sure they have the weapons they need,"

Wow, Kerry served in Vietnam! Who woulda thunk it!

I loved the response from Douglas R. Roulstone, a retired U.S. Navy captain: ""I think he's a great patriot. He has a proud war record that veterans can get behind," Roulstone said. "But his record since that time, in protesting the Vietnam War and in voting down crucial weapons systems - I'm a businessman, and what I want to know is, what has he done for us lately?"

Beautiful! No one is saying that Kerry didn't serve more or less admirably in Vietnam. What we are looking at are his actions in the 30 years since Vietnam. If his only qualification for President was serving in Vietnam, the homeless guy outside of our Starbucks is equally qualified.

A major issue in Christianity today that is getting some fresh looks...

It is often said that Sunday morning is the most segregated day of the week. A report in today's Cincinnati Enquirer confirms that, but also shows the moves some churches, both black and white, are doing to help bridge the gap. The Enquirer reports that "In nearly 95 percent of American churches, one racial or ethnic group makes up more than four-fifths of the congregation, according to a study by Rice University sociologist Michael Emerson." Our congregation is no different, of the several hundred members at any given service the vast majority of them are white.

As mentioned, there is progress being made. "Last week, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary appointed a new dean of intercultural studies. The Rev. Ken Fentress, an African American who has pastored black, white and mixed-race churches, will evaluate curriculum and recommend ways to foster diversity."

We still have a way to go, but we could all stand to learn from one another and join forces. Far too often we are fighting the same enemy, but seperately. We are much stronger when God's people stand as one in His name.

The flip-flopping continues....

The much maligned and rightfully so incident where Kerry supposedly threw his medals over the White House fence has gotten new press. Kerry can't seem to decide (go figure) if it was his medals, his ribbons, how many of each, someone else's ribbons/medals who couldn't make it, etc etc. Click here for Fox News coverage. This guy has lie after lie after lie to the point that he has no idea which lie is which anymore. But oh no, don't question him about that 'cause then you are attacking his patriotism. Of course it is fair game to attack Bush for actions in the same time period, in fact it is OK to lie and cast innuendo at President Bush, because John Kerry is the only person to have served in Vietnam.

Apparently Kerry thinks that he is free to deflect any criticism of any sort about any issue because he is a veteran. Of course, millions of Americans have served and I am guessing most veterans will vote for Bush, who by the way ALSO SERVED HIS COUNTRY IN THE ARMED FORCES, in case you had forgotten. While Bush was flying jets in Texas, Kerry either was/wasn't committing/observing/hearing about/thinking about "atrocities" against the Vietnamese people.

Jonah Goldberg and Bill Bennett were talking this morning about how John Kerry is the Democrat's version of Bob Dole, except that while people liked Bob Dole, they didn't want him to be President. Apparently nobody likes John Kerry and the more we see of him, the less we will like him.

Pretty exciting weekend at Hickory Grove Baptist Church. We had Dr. Ergun Caner, a professor at Liberty, as our guest preacher. Dr. Caner is a Turk and grew up as a devout Muslim. He is vociferous in teaching about the lies of Islam and came across as passionate to the point of being bombastic, which I like!

Dr. Caner went to Cumberland College with our pastor, so they go way back. He is famous for being associated with the Dr. Jerry Vines "Mohammad was a demon possessed pedophile" comments, which based on what I have read seems to be a fair assesment. It is scary what we face in defense of Christ, and yet so many Christians are so very oblivious.

Here is a shock...

The Cleveland Browns, true to form under coach Butch Davis, managed to flub yet another draft. Rather than go for the homerun to get Robert Gallery, rather than trade down to pick up a decent tackle and later picks, rather than stay at 7 and get a good player, they give away their second round pick to move up ONE SLOT to take headcase Kellen Winslow, who seems to think he is a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame without playing a single down in the NFL.

The safety they took in the second round out of Georgia was a good player, but still no offensive tackle until a guy from Stanford late in the second day. He seems like a nice guy but because he served a mormon mission he is already 25 years old as a rookie, is slow, lacking natural athleticism, did I mention slow? This was clearly a pick aimed at quieting critics so they could say "Hey we did take a left tackle". Butch Davis needs to go 2-14 or 3-13 this year, and get himself fired so we can start over.

the death of Tillman reminded me of a famous quote from Thomas Jefferson, one that is full of wisdom that seems silly to far too many people today.

"What country before ever existed a century & a half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it's natural manure."

A true hero...

Sobering news out of Afghanistan as Pat Tillman was killed today. Pat was formerly a pro football player for the Arizona Cardinals, and walked away from a 3 year, $3.6 million contract to enlist in the Army and join the Rangers. In a day when we look up to snotty, self-absorbed superstars like Terrell Owens and Alan Iverson, this is a good reminder that the real heroes are those who volunteer to serve our country and Patrick Tillman chose to serve our nation and walk away from a million a year playing pro football. He was living a dream shared by millions of young men to play professional sports, but like so many patriots before in our country, he paid the ultimate price.

My prayers go out to his family, especially his young wife. ESPN.com eulogizes Tillman on their website and no doubt on TV. I found this to be such a wonderful testament to this young man:

>>>Tillman's agent, Frank Bauer, has called him a deep and clear thinker who has never valued material things.

In 2001, Tillman turned down a $9 million, five-year offer sheet from the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams out of loyalty to the Cardinals, and by joining the Army he passed on millions more from the team.

Tillman turned aside interview requests after joining the Army. He had denied requests for media coverage of his enlistment, basic training and ultimate deployment. According to Army officials at the time, Tillman wanted no special treatment, wanted no special attention, but wanted to be considered just one of the soldiers doing his duty for his country.<<<

Thank God for people like Pat Tillman, without whom we would not have the freedom we enjoy today.

Ah, the "non-partisan" media rears it ugly liberal head once more. From noted moderate Katie Couric:

>>> “Senator McCain, are you concerned that if the transfer of power does take place on June 30th that a huge vacuum will be created and it will be an invitation to civil war? Because no matter how deplorable Saddam Hussein was considered, he was the ultimate referee who kept the Sunnis and the Shiites apart from killing each other.”
— NBC’s Katie Couric to John McCain on Today, April 5. <<<

and her partner in crime Peter "Go back to Canada" Jennings:

>>> “I must say that from here this notion of having been liberated is also shared by Iraqis as something of a campaign of humiliation, and as you know, if you’ve been watching or listening to the news in the last several days, American civilians have been killed out here in some number in the last few days, [and] American soldiers and Marines continue to die.”
— ABC’s Peter Jennings in Baghdad on March 19, wrapping up live coverage of President Bush’s speech on the first anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. <<<

Ah, Saddam wasn't so bad after all. Even Hitler made the trains run on time! Humiliated? Like rape rooms, mass graves and people fed into wood chippers is a boost to self-esteem?

Click here for more liberal lunacy recorded by the Media Research Center. People still have the gall to say the media is not controlled by liberals. Unbelievable!

Speaking of the misnamed March for Women's Health (at least health for those women lucky enough to make it out of the womb alive), the Washington Post online shockingly had an online debate featuring Janice Shaw Crouse of Concerned Women for America. You can read the dialogue here. Dr. Crouse kicks around a few anonymous abortion apologists so it is good clean fun. I especially liked these exchanges…

>>>McLean, Va.: Why can't conservatives mind their own business and get out of our bedrooms and our clinics?
Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D.: Because liberals are out there sticking their faces into our values and mocking our beliefs and forcing their values into the law books through judicial tyrants because they cannot convince mainstream America that their foolishness makes sense. <<<

>>> Annandale, Va.: Dr. Crouse,
While I believe in equal rights for women, I also believe that the current women's movement has evolved into a severe liberal cause promotion that invokes a dislike of masculinity. Do you disagree?
Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D.: I could not agree more. I wrote a conservative critique of feminism and presented the paper at Princeton University. I gave credit to early feminism for providing equal opportunity for women, but said that somewhere along the line the movement was hijacked by special interests who focused exclusively on abortion, lesbianism and hatred of males. I think that agenda moved the movement away from mainstream women and isolated feminism to a group of devotees who are completely out of touch with real life, real America and real women. <<<

I do indeed hope that the freaks and weirdos show upon camera so America can see who is really behind this march: radical abortion apologists, lesbians and man-haters.

Speaking of Islam, "religion of peace", Jay Nordlinger from National Review Online directs us to the following news article, which really speaks for itself (but I will still comment on it...)...

>>> File this under the heading JUST IN CASE YOU FORGET WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE WE'RE DEALING WITH. The Daily Telegraph tells us that "the body of a police special-forces officer who died when Islamic terrorists blew themselves up in Madrid was taken from its grave, mutilated, and burned yesterday.

"The coffin and body of special agent Francisco Javier Torronteras were pulled from the tomb in Madrid Sur cemetery in Carabanchel and pushed 1,000 yards in a wheelbarrow before being doused with petrol and set alight.

"The body was found with a pick driven into its head and a spade dug into its chest.

"Although no motive was immediately apparent, police speculated that it could be the work of sympathizers of the Moroccan terrorist group that carried out the train bomb attacks in the Spanish capital on March 11, killing 192 people and injuring 1,900.

"The interior ministry said the act of desecration could have been part of 'an Islamic rite of revenge.'"

Etc. Again: just in case you forget. <<<

The whole column, full of conservatism and naughty political incorrectness, is available here.

Can I just say that digging up and mutilating a corpse gives another glimpse into the mindset of radical Islam. He is dead, so you aren't hurting him, but this act is either pure rage, a sick warning to others who dare uphold the law or a combination of the two. It also reminds me of the Christian martyr, whose name I forget, that had his bones dug up by the medieval Catholic church after his death and burned at the stake posthumously.

A peaceful religion indeed.

Just the other day we saw a piece on the news about people suing to stop church bells from ringing, for a variety of reasons most of which have to do with a hostility towards Christianity. Apparently a lot of places have church bell ordinances. Now Agape Press is reporting that residents of Hamtramck, MI outside of Detroit are giving permission for mosques to blare their call to prayer over loudspeakers five times a day. They can broadcast as late as 9:59 at night and as early as 6:01 in the morning.

Where are the civil liberties groups protesting this? Where is Americans United for the separation of church and state? Why not have a truck with a loudspeaker drive around Hamtramck blaring the message that church services are starting on Sunday morning?


Most importantly, why do we feel the need to be as accommodating as possible to a religion whose followers fly planes into our buildings? Whose nations discriminate against and war against Christians? Our servicemen and women are restricted from the free exercise of their faith in Islamic nations we are guarding, and yet we allow anything to go in this country when it comes to Islam. You want to listen to loudspeaker calls to prayer? Go back to Saudi Arabia or Qatar or Pakistan or wherever it is you come from. We can find someone else to drive our taxis and run our 7-11s.

Click here for the full article.

What sort of education is this?

Fox News is reporting (click here) that the Nat'l Education Assoc. is one of the sponsors of this weekends pro-abortion rally in D.C. Once more, a union is using it's members dues to support causes that many of them find abhorrent. Even when the NEA comes out for gun control or homosexual rights, they can make a weak case as to why they are education issues. But abortion? Heck, they are supporting the killing off of future consumers of education! How many more teachers would we employ in this country with the millions of children killed by abortion? They should be one of the big proponents of the PRO-LIFE position! More kids equals more teachers.

Of course, the obvious answer is that the NEA is so in bed with the Democrats that they are no longer an organization that has anything to do with educating kids and everything to do with trying to put a respectable face on liberal causes. It is easy to be against abortion and homosexuality, but who wants to come out as being against education?

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that the investigation into Rev. Larry Davis has been turned over to Federal investigators, which sounds like bad news for Dr. Davis. I hope it was worth it to go to the track and the casino...how much damage has this done to the reputation of Christians in the Cincinnati area?

48 HOURS AND COUNTING!!!

...until the start of the NFL draft. Rumors are flying, the Browns are in serious talks with San Diego for the number one overall pick so they can take Robert Gallery out of Iowa. I have no doubt Butch Davis will manage to blow it again this year, but with Gallery at left tackle, Jeff Faine in his second year at center, Jeff Garcia at QB, and a tandem of Willie Green and Less Suggs at RB, we might just have a decent team this year. They still need a tight end, a real fullback, some additional receivers and a few defenders but we will still be better than last year.

I hope.

Fox News has a good article about the backlash against young teens and preteens wearing trashy clothes. I am not sure what these parents are thinking, but on second thought I guess they aren't thinking at all. They will be once they become parents of a 15 year old and grandparents of her child.I hadn't even heard the term "prostitots" before...

>>>"They're called 'prostitots,'" said Anna Miressi, a Kingston, N.Y., high school freshman who claims the term is commonly used among her peers. "It's those girls at the mall with the tight jeans and belly shirts. They're in between the age group of 10 to 13 or 14."<<<

A) Why are girls between 10-14 wearing trashy clothes and B) Why are they hanging out at the mall? My 10 year old, who will be eleven in a few months, is not in any danger of hanging out at the mall anytime soon.

Thankfully some groups are trying to intervene. As the article points out, stars like Ashton Kutcher and Paris Hilton are put forward as heroes, and the idea seems to be wanton sexuality with people way older than you and being plain old stupid are cool. On the bright side, these kids wil be able to vote in the 2012 Presidential election. Myabe there is hope for Hillary yet...

Yikes am I tired. Two nights in a row entertaining clients at Reds games, getting home late and not being able to sleep. Plus we are getting a couple of additional foster English Setters from a shelter, so who knows how that will go....

Jay Nordlinger poses an excellent question in his Impromptu column on National Review Online (click here). Mr. Nordlinger asks:

>>>A recent Kerry ad goes as follows: "The Supreme Court is just one vote away from outlawing a woman's right to choose." Choose what, Senator? Choose what? Can't you say it? "Help elect John Kerry and join the fight to protect our right to choice." Right to choice concerning . . .? If it's not so bad — certainly deserving legality — why not say it, Senator? Can't you utter the word?<<<


What a great question! If abortion is so wonderful, such a great right and one we shold cherish, why won't proabortionists even utter the "A" word? Because they know that when faced with the ugly reality of abortion, people are a lot less "prochoice". It is far easier to talk about amorphous concepts like "choice" and "reproductive health" than it is to talk about dismembering unborn children.

How many things can I dislike in one paragraph? Apparently a lot...

TV Guide reports...

>>>Animal-rights crusader Kim Basinger sold her 3.7-carat diamond engagement ring from ex-husband Alec Baldwin at auction Tuesday for $59,750. The proceeds will benefit the Performing Animal Welfare Society, a California refuge for abused, retired and surplus elephants, lions, bears and other captive wildlife.<<<

So combine "Animal-rights crusader Kim Basinger" with Alec Baldwin and another animal rights group and you have a recipe for me tossing my cookies. Poor lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Let me say it one more time...

ANIMALS ARE NOT PEOPLE IN FUZZY SUITS!!! THEY DON"T TALK LIKE DISNEY CHARACTERS!!!

stupid, stupid, stupid people. Contribute almost $60,000 to help washed up elephants instead of people. The same people who suffer through your poor acting and help you live in a lavish lifestyle.

Freak

Oh my...

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting on a former mormon bishop that allegedly molested hundreds of boys in his ward. Now, before getting all twitchy, I recognize that this is unusual in mormondom, but I would suspect that when the truth comes out it will look bad for the LDS. Click here for entire article.

Much like Elizabeth Smart, all mormon youth are indoctrinated to believe that their bishop and other adult men are imbued with some sort of mystic special power, and the "priesthood" of mormonism puts children at special risk. Bishops often work closely with young men, and the added authority of the mormon "priesthood" makes their seduction easier, much as Elizabeth Smart was undoubtedly easier to control because she had been taught to be subservient to the "priesthood authority" from such a young age. I also suspect that at least some parents had an inkling this was going on, but refused to deal with it because the abuser was a bishop. This will be interesting to watch, the parallels between mormonism and catholicsim are eerie!

The myth of the Vietnam vet support for Kerry....

To hear the media tell it, every 'Nam vet in America is walking solidly in lockstep with John Kerry. The truth, as usual, is far different. CNN reports that one John O'Neill, who replaced Kerry when he went home to protest the war, had this to say about the man who would be commander-in-chief:

>>>"I saw some war heroes ... John Kerry is not a war hero," said John O'Neill, a Houston lawyer who joined the Navy's Coastal Division 11 two months after the future senator left Vietnam. "He couldn't tie the shoes of some of the people in Coastal Division 11."<<<

Ouch!

Click here for entire article...

Three cheers for Dick Cheney!

Cheney spoke at a National Right to Life event, once more emphasizing the Bush administrations commitment to protecting the lives of unborn children. Cheney said:

>>>"It doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, male or female, black or white, ... north or south, east or west, all that matters is your respect for the claim of every life," <<<

Further on in the same article (click here), abortion proponents "plan a protest rally Sunday that they hope will fuel voter anger at President Bush and his anti-abortion platform." Uh, don't they get it that the nation is swinging pro-life? Many who support abortion have murdered their offspring, so prolifers are raising the next generation of voters to respect life. See James Taranto's Opinion Journal.com "Best of the Web" writings on the Roe effect.

For all those who claim that the conservative media is under the thumb of the Bush cabal, here is a great editorial in the eminently conservative Wall Street Journal that rightly takes Bush to task for giving the UN too much control in Iraq come June 30. The title is hardly warm and fuzzy toward the President: "Bush's Brahimi Gamble: America shows weakness in Iraq by passing the buck to the U.N."

Excellent piece, Bush should stick to his guns here and keep the UN out of Iraq. They didn't want to enforce their own resolutions, they ran when violence flared up and they oversaw the corrupt oil for food program that helped sustain Hussein's regime and was used to buy weapons killing out troops. Tell the UN to stay out of Iraq, and while we are at it, tell them to get out of our country!

Speaking of the dangers of watered down Christianity, Colleen Carol Campbell has an excellent piece on nationalReview online that discusses why conservative Christianity is so succesful in comparison to it's liberal brethren. Click here for the whole piece.

This is the best quote of the article...

>>>In a decadent culture, the demands of traditional morality appeal. In a sea of pluralism, the clarity of orthodoxy attracts. Religious leaders should keep that in mind when they are tempted to dilute their theology and soften its demands in order to reach more souls. To attract the postmodern pilgrim, it seems, holy boldness is a better choice.<<<

Let me just say to that: AMEN!

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Much as I love ESPN.com, I cannot stomach it when sports reporters try to pretend to be social commentators. Now, they have every right to have and write their opinions, but some of the stuff is so inane as to be laughable. Take ESPN.com's Page 2 editorial by Tim Keown, lamenting the lack of black starting pitchers. Why there are so few black starting pitchers is an interesting question, but if one were to lament the lack of white wide receivers in the NFL or white players in general in the NBA, they would be labeled a racist.

I don't know why young black men don't pitch. I think that the rise of basketball is a real issue, after all you can play basketball alone, or with one friend, or three friends anytime, anywhere. I used to shoot baskets for hours by myself as a kid (I was unstoppable with no one guarding me!). To play baseball, you have to have a place to play and enough guys to make a team, so if one makes an assumption that most black kids grow up in more urban areas and idolize LeBron James instead of Dontrelle Willis, it only makes sense that they play basketball instead of baseball. Kids don't sit around and decide to play baseball because pro baseball players make more on average than NBA players, they play basketball because it is fun and only requires a playground and a ball. But the simple minded logic that it is the evil rich white suburbanites keeping blacks out is insulting and ridiculous. The same holds true for hockey, but I guarantee you that if you find a young black kid that can put the puck in the net or throw serious heat, he will be given the chance to play.

You can click here if you are a glutton for poor writing.

Tim, stick to sports, your social commentary is embarrassing.

I ran across this fascinating article in the Cincy Post. We are at the center of the Presbyterian problem because of van Kuiken marrying homosexuals. The question becomes one of whether or not church constitutions hold any weight. If one is going to be a Presbyterian church, does the PCUSA have any say over how you run things? In a congregational church like mine in the SBC, it is less important, but hierarchical churches like the Presbyterians have a specialproblem. I thought this quote was telling...

>>>"The significance of the Van Kuiken case goes to the heart of the question of whether the Presbyterian Church will enforce its own constitution or has, in fact, declared that it is no longer a constitution but a local option for churches -- merely a guide or a wish book," said the Rev. Parker Williamson, chief executive of the Presbyterian Lay Committee -- the independent group based in Lenoir, N.C., that affirms biblical traditional values. <<<

I maintain that when churches stray they invariably end up with a mess lile the Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Methodists. That is one of the reasons I stick with a church that holds to the Word of God, not the whim of man, to run our affairs. Click here for the whole article.

GOOD RIDDANCE!

That seems to be the consensus in Cincinnati today upon hearing that Corey Dillon has been traded for a second round draft pick from the Patriots. This is probably a good move all around. The Pats get a guy with pro-Bowl potential and they have a ton of picks anyway, so Dillion is a known commodity (albeit one with an attitude problem and injury issues). The Bengals ditch the last remaining vestige of the old losing regime (a "cancer" in the lockerroom) and get a relatively high draft pick in return. I tell you, with the Bengals making good move after good move and the Browns imploding, it is going to be tough to root for the Butch Davis led inept Brownies this year. The only hope is for them to have a horrible season and fire Davis so we can start over.

Ah, more racist demagoguery from the right Honorable Charlie Rangel. In Newsday, Rep. Rangel is reported to have been assailing the Bush administration because the war in Iraq was disproportionately impacting minorities. Let's let the esteemed Congressman from New York speak for himself:

>>>The congressman said about a quarter of those killed in action so far have been black or Hispanic, and are drawn to the military as a way out of economic hardship.

"Too few people are paying this high penalty of a death tax," he told a luncheon at the National Press Club. "They come from communities with the highest unemployment, communities with the lowest wage."

He also repeated his call for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to be fired, and a draft reinstituted to share the burden of the fighting across all segments of society.

"This is not shared sacrifice," he said. <<<

As James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal points out on OpinionJournal.com's Best of the Web:

>>>"According to the 2000 census, Hispanics make up 12.5% of the population and non-Hispanic blacks 12.1%, for a total of 24.6%. If about a quarter of the soldiers killed in Iraq belonged to one of these groups, that means blacks and Hispanics are dying at almost precisely proportionate numbers to their share of the population.<<<

Also, maybe I am wrong here but I don't think Chuckie Rangel has any say about the employment status of Don Rumsfeld, that is the President's call alone.

One last point, Rangel says " Too few people are paying this high penalty of a death tax" Would Chuckles prefer that we had more of our soldiers die to make the war more equitable? The people of New York can be proud of the congressional delegation indeed!

SWEET!

Maurice Clarett has been declared ineligible for the NFL draft, which is 5 days away! Ha ha ha! CBS Sportsline reports (click here) that the NFL had a reasonable chance of winning, so I doubt that Clarett's people can do anything in time to avoid him missing the draft and potentially millions of dollars. Too funny!

There was a powerful editorial in the weekend Wall Street Journal, giving us a peek inside the world of defense policy. The topic athand was retooling our nuclear arsenal to allow us to actually use them as a last resort. The article (click here) describes changing many of our nuke capacity into a low yield, low radiation force that can penetrate underground bunkers without huge civilians casualties.

Our current nuke force is set-up to annihilate a Soviet Union that no longer exists. We need to maintain our strategic nukes, but realistically we are unlikely to face that threat again until China gets to the stage of strategic nuclear power (which is probably not far off). Other suggestions included:

>>>The panel has a host of additional recommendations that don't include nukes. It wants a new cruise missile with a conventional warhead that could be launched from an offshore submarine and strike a target 1,500 miles away in 15 minutes. It recommends that the 50 Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles now scheduled for deactivation be refitted with conventional warheads and deployed to Cape Canaveral in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This would give the U.S. "a 30-minute response capability for strategic strike world-wide."<<<

It is never easy to change the military but it is high time we prepare to fight the next war, rather than waiting to fight an enemy that no longer exists. All across the high plains, thousands of strategic nukes sit with crews at the ready and those resources could be better used to upgrade our posture while still retaining a deterrant to China.

This weekend is the ultimate male sporting event. I say male because most women will sit through a game, at least there is some action and players to watch. The NFL draft though has no score, no action and lots of talk about players who have yet to play a down in the NFL. I will watch this for hours, as will many a man, hootin' and hollerin' at the steals in the late round, the early round blunders and seeing who is dumb enough to draft Maurice Clarret.

Draft Day is like the sports equivalent of CSPAN. Unless you are a total junkie, it makes no sense to spend hours watching it, weeks talking about it afterwards and months predicting the next one, right after this one is over! I have said it before and will say it again, Mel Kiper has the best job in all of sports. I just hope the Browns don't totally blow this draft like last year...

OK, 'splain this to me....

CNN reports that the police have captured one Edward Stokes, a notorious child molester (click here for article). He is described as "one of the worst sexual predators on the West Coast. In a letter to a therapist in the early 1990s, Stokes said he had molested 212 victims and felt like a monster."

Somehow he gets free because his lawyer convinced a judge that he had an unfair trial because his accuser committed suicide and therefore he couldn't face his accusser. He has been arrested at least 5 other times on sexual assault crimes against children.

WHY IS THIS MAN ON THE STREETS AT ALL?

He has been loose since April 6th, so who knows what he was doing the last couple of weeks. The criminal justice system is failing our communities and endangering our children, all in the name of fairness. I am sorry, but I honestly don't care if it is unfair to lock up repeat sex offenders for life. Better that than have them hurt or kill someone's child.

The lie of accommodation...

the Cleveland Plain Delaer reports on the ordination of a supporter of Gene Robinson, the homosexual bishop of New Hampshire, as Episcopal Bishop of Ohio. The end result of casting God's word aside in favor of man's idea of tolerance is seen below...

>>>
The diocese that he takes over has shrunk rapidly from 74,000 baptized members in 118 northern Ohio parishes in 1966 to 32,000 baptized members in 2002. Of those, only 24,000 are communicants, or more active members in the discusses 103 parishes.

And Northeast Ohio is a flashpoint in the turmoil over the national church's decision to ordain Robinson and to acknowledge the blessing of same-sex unions. Last month, five diocesan churches that uphold traditional teachings on sexuality brought in conservative bishops for a confirmation service in a borrowed church. Last week, the five churches announced they have their own conservative bishop and asked Hollingsworth, a strong supporter of Robinson, to stay out of their parishes. <<<

There can be no compromise on the word of God, and the lie that tolerance and inclusiveness is necessary to membership has sown a terrible harvest. Click here for entire article.

This is a few days old, but still worth commenting on...

9/11/ commission member Jamie Gorelick has been accused of being on the wrong side of the table, and it turns out that the partisan Democrat authored a directive that helped to increase the barries between intelligence and law enforcement agencies that has in large part been blamed for leading to the lapse that indriectly at least helped lead to 9/11.

The reaponse of 9/11 committee chairman, Republican Thomas Kean, was to say that: "people ought to stay out of our business."

Uh, 'cuse me? "our business"? Isn't this commission all of OUR business? I mean the point is supposed to be to fix the problems that led to 9/11 and if the committee is more concerned about protecting itself, pointing partisan fingers of blame and gotcha politics, than this is a waste of our time and tax money.

You can read the original offending editorial on OpinionJournal.com by clicking here.

Does Patriotism mean anything anymore?

I read the Salt Lake Tribune daily to see what is happening in Mormondom without a mormon censor's filter, and came across this editorial by Holly Mullen.

Now she is a pretty liberal gal, especially for Utah. What is disturbing is the trend amongst the Dems to cry about having their patriotism questioned, when no one in fact has done so. Her entire article talks about how wonderful the opponents of the Patriot Act are in the face of questions about their patriotism. As proof of this, she offers one quote at the very end of the article:

" 'I don't want any of the tools locked in a box so I can't get to them and use them when I need them,' Warner said.

Fine. Just don't reach for a sledgehammer when a ball-peen might do."

Now maybe it is just me, but where is he questioning anyone's patriotism? From this quote she drags out the age old liberal bogeymen of rightwing totalitarianism:

"We have a history of such in this country and a hefty portion of readers remember it: McCarthyism and the blacklistings; the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's penchant for wiretapping and spying on dissidents; Nixon's "enemies list."

Now the argument about the fact that Commies were INDEED seeking to subvert this nation can wait until a different day. But U.S. Attorney for Utah Paul Warner seeing to have every possible tool at his disposal to prevent another 9/11 being compared to some malicious plot to discredit the opponents of the Patriot Act? Hmmm, a bit of overreaction anyone? Does anyone doubt that if we suffer another terrorist attack that Mullen and her ilk will be jumping all over Bush for "not doing enough" to protect us?

By the way, what is fair game when questioning patriotism? Is anything unpatriotic anymore? Is the left the sole arbiter of what is or is not an attack on patriotism? I find it funny that those who most vociferously complain about flag waving, jingoistic types like me are the ones most sensitive about being labelled unpatriotic. I'm not being defensive, you are being defensive!

Just when I thought I might dislike Kerry less...

He "took on" a war protestor (i.e. cowardly commie sympathizer) at a rally who said:

"You say you are a stark difference from George Bush," said the 64-year-old Daum. "People hate George Bush, but by the end of your presidency, they'll hate you for the same thing."

Note to Mr. Daum: you may hate Bush and that shows how blindly led by your masters on the left you are, but many, many Americans like President Bush quite a lot.

Kerry responded by saying:

"I have consistently been critical of how we got where we are," Kerry responded. "But we are where we are, sir, and it would be unwise beyond belief for the United States of America to leave a failed Iraq in its wake."

A fairly well reaoned response. Of course he then ruins it by saying:

"The course that I have proposed is to turn over to the United Nations the full responsibility for the transformation of the government and for the reconstruction," he said.

"Because I believe that as long as it is an American occupation, we will have great difficulty in staying any course and achieving the kind of stability we want to achieve."

The Kerry foreign policy: let the UN do it. What the heck they have been so effective so many times in the past! The conspiracy theorist in me thinks perhaps this guy was a plant to make Kerry seem like a reasonable voice amidst the frenetic Left.

Amen to Cap Weinberger, who blasted Kerry by saying:

Former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, speaking on behalf of the Bush campaign, said Kerry's argument was "just a lot of criticism and pessimism."

"He is saying that we should hand over power to the United Nations," Weinberger said. "The United Nations is totally incapable of doing any kind of job as pacifying or removing terrorism from a country like Iraq."

You can read the whole article on CNN by clicking here, including a horrific picture of Kerry reading to school kids with grand marm Hillary sitting behind him. I nearly vomited.

I LOVE IT!!!

Another Fox News report (as an aside, the advent of Fox News may be the best thing to happen to conservatives since Reagan. Finally a large, respected 24 hour news channel without the liberal spin of CNN and the networks. Beautiful!) says that the IRS has granted tax exempt status to a counter-Clinton library in Little Rock, AR to detail the truth behind the fairy tale that the Clinton official library will tell. I am sure this will spark copycats from liberals, but it is still good fun! (click here for article)

This was wrong on so many levels.

The fake co-ed kidnapping "victim" in Wisconsin, Audrey Seiler, has been charged with two misdeamenors for lying about being kidnapped. They should make her pay back every penny of the reported $96,000 the police spent looking for her. Fox News is reporting (click here) that she was upset that her boyfriend was losing interest in her. I guess she is getting attention now and her boyfriend knows what a freak she is.

The other issue is that this might lead to doubt from the police when a woman or child is really abducted. Dru Sjodin has never been found, and this girl goes seeking attention by pretending to be kidnapped? Lock her up and make her pay the cops back every penny, with interest, if it takes her 50 years.

Another good article from NRO (click here), this one from the estimable William F. Buckley on the sacred aura we have given the Constitution which makes us strangley leery of amending it, yet leads us to allow the Supreme Court and judiciary to manipulate it at will. As always, WFB's mastery of the English language and dry humor wins the day.

John Derbyshire in National Review online has a thought provoking article today (click here) He postulates that we have chosen a middle ground in Iraq, one that is wholy unsatisfactory. I must say I agree, I don't think it would be a negative to occupy Iraq for the next century until they are ready to strike out on their own, at the very least we should insist on permanent military bases like we have in Germany and Japan. Yet another part of me likes the idea of the first way, identify those who are waging terrorist war against us, bomb them into rubble and warn them that we won't be so nice the next time. Force may be the only thing Islam understands or respects, but because it has total disregard for human life that may not work either.

His best line though sums up warfare nicely:

"War consists mainly in one bunch of fired-up young men setting out to kill another bunch of fired-up young men. Wars are won when one side runs out of young men, or out of fire-up. They don't end until then. Our problem in Iraq, basically, it seems to me, is that we have not killed enough fired-up young male Iraqis insistent on killing innocents."

true enough.

YIKES!

You know it is bad when Democrats get bad press from CNN. This article (click here) refers to a Democratic club ad which advocated shooting Don Rumsfeld:

"The ad says of Rumsfeld, "We should put this S.O.B. up against a wall and say, 'This is one of our bad days,' and pull the trigger."

Kerry and company immediately and rightly condemned the ad, but is shows the level of hatred on the Left for the Bush administration, that some would advocate killing the Secretary of Defense. I should think there is some sort of law being broken here....

Oops, did I say: "The Robert Byrd/John Kerry/Ted Kennedy clan"?

My apologies to Senator Byrd, I should have said: "The Robert Byrd/John Kerry/Ted Kennedy Klan "

A thousand pardons.

I missed Bush on TV last night, but I was sure to agree with him anyway so why bother. I liked this article from Fred Barnes, especially this line: "Reporters, particularly, are soft on presidents who seem to like them or at least pretend to--or who pander to them."

Bush clearly has no use for reporters and instead goes right to the people *GASP*

How dare he circumvent the press, who have a holy responsibility to tell us what to think. Why, us dumb midwesterners can't think for ourselves, we need the NY Times and Washington Post to tell us what is what. It is bad enough that we are allowed to vote in Ohio and Kentucky, but thinking for ourselves is off-limits!

It is becoming a less and less tenable position to oppose Iraq as clearly every mass grave we find tells us Saddam was a bad guy. A direct threat or not, that can be debated (I think anyone who believes he was not sponsoring and supporting terrorists is cracked in the head, unless you don't conder Abu Nidal a terrorist or helping plot the assasination of George Bush Sr. a terrorist act.). The dead Kurds, victims of a poison gas attack while we stood by and did nothing tell us he had WMDs. We certainly couldn't prove he didn't have them since he refused to comply with those tough UN resolutions (we REALLY mean it this time, can we pretty please inspect your WMD sites?) The Robert Byrd/John Kerry/Ted Kennedy clan would have preferred to wait until nukes fell on Israel or poison gas was released in Chicago before we acted, and then ONLY with the approval of the UN.

Maybe we should have left Hitler alone until he had finished bombing England into the stone age, killing off every Jew in Europe and subjugating Russia. After all he wasn't a direct threat to us, was he?

HERESY!!!

This guy doesn't know of what he speaks! How dare a Roman Catholis priest give an invocation in the House and urge lawmakers to be "the antithesis of John Kennedy" when it comes to seperating their faith and their politics (click here for article)

BLASPHEMY!!!

Doesn't he know that Kennedy was a great President? Oh sure, he was a bit of a philanderer. Maybe he wasn't quite as swift on foreign policy as some other Presidents. But he was just so darn cute, and had a happy family life. Well, maybe not but he was a handsome feller. Relying on religious faith, bah! Who needs God when you live in Camelot?

Just when it seemed abortion couldn't be any more horrific...

WORLD Magazine is running an article about the partial birth abortion case that is shocking for two reasons. First, the absolute inhuman treatment of these children at the hands of "doctors". Second is the utter lack of coverage by the mainstream media. WORLD points out that some judges, like the one in (surprise, surprise) San Francisco that allows medical jargon to be used in court to hide the gruesome details...

"One abortionist, for example, spoke of "separating the fetal calvarium from the fetal body"—in other words, decapitating the baby that has already been delivered outside the mother's uterus. And the judge himself speaks of "disarticulating" a baby, rather than "dismembering" or cutting her in pieces."

Another quote in the article shows that abortionists know full well what they are doing...

"Judge Casey's probing questions and his insistence on plain—even graphic—language has at times caused strain in the courtroom. "Do you tell the mother the fetus will feel pain?" he asked the NAF abortionist on April 5.

"I have never talked to a fetus," she snapped.

"I did not ask you that," the judge pressed on. "Do you ever tell the mother?"

At that point, according to Mr. Sekulow, the witness became "very angry" and raised her voice in response to the judge. "That is what I tell my patients, I'm sorry! ... I do not believe the fetus feels pain, so I do not tell them that." Did she ever bother to read the literature on fetal pain, the judge wanted to know? She admitted that she had not."

You can read the whole article by clicking here.

Even as much time as we have spent on the abortion issue is not enough. Every day that we allow this scourge to continue is a day we have blood on our hands. The time has come to say "enough!"

Speaking of the Iraq-Vietnam comparisons, there is an excellent piece in the National Review by Mackubin Thomas Owens on the wrongheaded conventional wisdom about Vietnam. As someone born after Vietnam was essentially over, I have grown up with the following preached as gospel truth: 1) Vietnam was unwinnable 2) We should have never been there 3) All Vietnam Vets agree with points 1 and 2. What I am learning is that that wisdom is revisionist. We could have and should have won Vietnam (click here for Owens article making the point that we had it won before giving it away) but for the lack of support and outright sedition on the part of American liberals and communist sympathizers (ala Hanoi Jane Fonda). Second, we were absolutely right to have been in Vietnam even if our strategy was often flawed. Vietnam is still a backwards country, full of repression. Compare that to the vibrant democracy of South Korea and you see why we should have stayed the course in 'Nam.

The problem in large part was that war weary Americans had raised self-indulgent children that wanted to do nothing but get high and have sex. Gone were the generations of young men willing to sacrifice all to defeat the scourge of Nazism, fascism and Japanese Imperialism. After the war, the comfort and prosperity of the 1950's led to a generation of Americans that didn't have to work for anything and thus refused to sacrifice for anything. I have been watching Band of Brothers on the History Channel and am amazed by the contrasts. Those boys didn't want to kill and be killed in Europe but they had a higher calling and purpose. I was struck by the one vet that recalled young men he knew that failed their physicals to get into the army that killed themselves because they were so distraught at not being able to serve. Look at Bill Clinton and his ilk cowardly hiding during Vietnam in foreign nations and you see the difference.

The entire 9/11 commission hearings have me all fired up. The blatant partisanship shown by Democrats is sickening. Much like the recession, which Dems assert began precisely as Bush said "I solemnly swear" during his inauguration, Dems on the panel seem to forget the shameful history of the Clinton administration for the 8 years when these attacks were being planned. (Click here for an excellent article about the irony of Jamie Gorelick questioning her former boss Janet Reno). What about the first WTC bombing? What about Khobar Towers? The U.S.S. Cole? The lesson that bin Laden learned from Mogadishu, bloody the Americans and they will run away? All of these events and Clinton's complete lack of response emboldened bin Laden and led at least indirectly to 9/11.

Having spent last week in D.C. I was amazed once again that people can spew this stuff with a striaght face. The nasty tone Dems took with Condi Rice had me fuming. I understand why Dems hate her, she is a brilliant, articulate black woman who doesn't toe the liberal line. As such she, and Colin Powell and Clarence Thomas, are a threat to Democratic hegemony of the black vote. Fortunately, she is far smarter than anyone on that commission and came across cool and collected while the panel Dems came across as hyserical and nasty. Clearly partisanship is going to rule over these hearings and ensure that nothing is done to prevent a repeat of 9/11/01.

Morton Kondracke doesn't hold many of my political views, but much like Christopher Hitchens I at least respect him as a thinker and a person. He has an excellent editorial on the Iraq-Vietnam comparisons available online here.

Here is an excerpt:

"Shame on Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) for picking a moment of high danger for U.S. troops in Iraq to declare, in essence, that their activities are in vain.

And shame, too, on former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean (R), chairman of the Sept. 11, 2001, investigating commission, for issuing a prejudgment that the terrorist attacks that day could have been prevented. "

Kudos to Bill Bennett for pointing this article out on his radio show. I am very pleased it is running in Cincinnati during my drive time, he always tells it like it is and showed a lot of guts by not going into hiding after the gambling kerfuffle. His website can be accessed here.

When the going gets tough...

The French start running. Shockingly, the French government has recommended it's citizens leave Iraq. I wasn't aware that there were any French in Iraq.

"PARIS (Reuters) - France is strongly advising its citizens to leave Iraq and warning people not to travel there, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday following a spate of kidnappings in the country.

"I draw your attention to the fact that, since the end of last week, we are strongly advising all French in Iraq to leave and all those who want to go there, to postpone their trip," Herve Ladsous told a news briefing.

"It is clear that the situation is worrying," he said, adding just under 100 French people were in Iraq at the moment.

Has there every been a more cowardly people than the French?

Some positive news for a change. After a week of reading the Washington Post, which seems to be universally bad news and almost exclusively blames Bush, it is nice to see this article in the Cincinnati Enquirer (click here) showing that young people ages 18-34 in Cinci are "flocking" back to church. Despite the naysayers who claim that young people don't wan't organized religion, people don't change. Mankind has always sought God, and though there are many false beliefs both religious and secular out there, only God can fulfill man's yearning through His Son Jesus Christ.

More from the mormon general conference...

The main theme seems to be Satan's influence on the world. Oddly, there is no mention of Satan's influence on the mormon church....

This quote was rich:

"Julie B. Beck discussed the importance of women, with or without children, developing a "mother heart."

Female roles "did not begin on earth and they do not end here," Beck said. Some good women with "mother hearts" will not have children, but they are "investing in a grand, prestigious future" in heaven.

Of course she does not mention that the grand future in heaven requires a faithful husband or being reassigned to one in a celestial polygamous relationship. The grand, prestigious future of eternally propagating spirit children.

I also liked Boyd Packer's statement: "Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles said families need "inoculation" against today's "moral and spiritual diseases." The safest place and the best protection against these diseases is a "stable home and family," Packer said. "

Focus on the worldly. Temple ceremonies, food storage, the world, the world, the world. I guess given my viewpoint, it makes sense because those who follow mormonism will follow it out of this world and not into heaven.

The right way and the wrong way...

This past weekend was the mormon semiannual general conference, where mormons worldwide are subjected to hours of mindnumbing talks by their geriatric leaders. As sure as general conference happening is the advent of a small group of screaming street "preachers". While they were still there this weekend, another, smaller group of more loving proselytizers was on hand (click here for article).

I liked this quote especially: "LDS Church members seemed to like the effort by Standing Together. "Thank you," 19-year-old Holly Clark, a Mormon, told a group member during a midday conference break. "I really appreciate what you're doing." We don't serve Christ by driving people away and insulting them. To reach mormons we have to get past the screaming and get into loving them. They will not like what we have to say and what they will find. As a former mormon, I now how difficult facing the truth can be. The approach of the screechers drives people away from having a chance to hear the message in the Bible, a message that needs no "latter day prophet" to interpret.

Part of the mormon psyche is that all mormons are nice people and evangelicals are some awful tribe of false worshippers. We have done a lot to encourage this with the screech "preachers" at general conferences and with books like The Godmakers by Ed Decker. There is plenty wrong with mormonism but one of the first steps is to let them know that Christians by and large are a loving people. It is because we love them that we point out the falsehoods of mormonism and the Truth in the Bible.

The latest contact sport on the Left...professional protestors.

Once again, world leaders meet. Once again the unwashed lefties show up to protest their favorite pet causes, or more likely just to protest for the sake of protesting. Typically this includes assualting the police, causing huge amounts of damage and disruption and generally changing nothing in the world. Then they move on to the next city, the next riot.

Now wait a second, aren't the Lefties the ones always crying about being part of the world community, working with the UN, multilateralism? Yet when we get world leaders together they trash the cities they meet in. The people of Savannah are deeply afraid of what damage will come of these rioters. I guess I should be thankful, because every time these idiots show up on TV it reinforces what conservatives are saying.

I am shocked! Shocked and outraged!

The AP is reporting that Kelly Osbourne, freakish daughter of Ozzy Osbourne, has checked herself into a drug rehab clinic (click here for article) Oddly enough, her brother took her and knows the way quite well because he also has been in drug rehab. Yet America celebrates this family as some wonderful example. Why people watch their show, only to see foul mouthed kids, disfunctionality at it's finest and a drug ravaged father who can barely be coherent from moment to moment is beyond me.

Uh, excuse me?

Why in the world does China get the idea that they can demand anything from us? We are bound by law to arm Taiwan to defend herself, and honestly we should go ahead and recognize Taiwan for what it is: a free and democratic nation, and an ally of the U.S. China is a belligerant dictatorship and should be treated as such.

Whn Bush named the axis of evil, he left out the granddaddy of them all (currently) in Red China, a nuclear power that deserves nothing but disdain from us.

Recognize Taiwan now, and to heck with China!

This is a remarkably lucid editorial by Christopher Hitchens in today's OpinionJournal. I often find myself in vehement disagreement with Mr. Hitchens, but I also deeply respect him. Unlike other knee jerk liberals, Mr. Hitchens gives the appearance of being his own man. Bucking the Left, ala Dennis Miller, he recognizes that capitulating to the terrorist threat will gain us nothing but further violence. This should be a struggle where Left and Right put aside our differences. At least Mr. Hitchens recognizes that.

Nepotism is alive and well at the U.N.!

Koffi Annan's nephew is running an NGO to hep prevent the proliferation of small arms (click here for article). This should be translated to include gun control of all sorts, a goal that Annan and his cronies at the UN have made a priority.

Tell me again why we tolerate this "august body" on our soil, at our expense primarily, to tell us what to do? Annan is from Ghana, do we want America to emulate Ghana or Ghana to emulate America?

The U.N.: Waste of time, waste of money, threat to our national sovereignity. Send 'em to France!

methinks he doth protest too much...

Like many people who make a living off of being offended, Carl Olson has a nice cottage industry based around refuting the Left Behind series. Here is his latest foray on NationalReview.com. His snobbery is indeed evident, although he rejects that from the start of the article. It is not snobbery toward the poor writing, as he suggests, but snobbery towards though who hold a different view of eschatology than he does.

I honestly have not delved deeply enough into the eschatological writings of the Bible to label myself pre- or post- or a-millenial. What is more likely behind Olsen is that the Left Behind books point a finger right at the catholic church, and as a self-proclaimed "former Rapture-believing Fundamentalist-turned-Papist" he quite understandably doesn't want his fellow catholics to look too closely or ask too many questions.

I quite frankly can't read the Left Behind series because the writing is so poor and the characters are so laughable. Even the very legitimate criticisms levelled at Rome lose their sting because they are so contrived. I still find it funny that people like Olsen that critique LaHaye and Jenkins for the commercial success of Left Behind seem to be doing quite well for themselves refuting it. What is that old saying about the pot and the kettle, and one calls the other black?

How can someone read an article like this and still think partial birth abortion is OK? How depraved must one's mind be?

This quote says it all:

"Casey asked Johnson if doctors tell a woman that the abortion procedure they might use includes ``sucking the brain out of the skull.''

``I don't think we would use those terms,'' Johnson said. ``I think we would probably use a term like 'decompression of the skull' or 'reducing the contents of the skull.'''

The judge responded, ``Make it nice and palatable so that they wouldn't understand what it's all about?''

Johnson, though, said doctors merely want to be sensitive.

``We try to do it in a way that's not offensive or gruesome or overly graphic for patients,'' Johnson said.

Wow, we wouldn't want to offend anyone. For all those who think this procedure is incrediby rare and thus not worthy of legislation, the AP reports that partial birth abortions make up "An estimated 2,200 to 5,000 such abortions are performed annually in the United States, out of 1.3 million total abortions."

As many as 5000 babies, inches from birth are murdered by crushing their heads. Or to be less effective "reducing the contents of the skull"

I am shocked CNN even reported this...

CNN reports that payrolls grew at the "fastest pace in nearly four years in March" (Click here for article) I thought Democrats said this was a "jobless recovery"? I am sure Kerry will run right out and credit Bush with these new jobs since he has blamed him for a slow pace of recovery (along with pollution, dirt, falling down while snowboarding and the upcoming cicada invasion)

With the economy recovering, the Democrats can look forward to running against Bush by opposing the liberation of Iraq and supporting gay marriage. Why doesn't that sound like a winning strategy to me?

Now Cleveland is another story....sports wise that is.

First we have Dennis Northcutt, whining about only making $700,000 to play football. Is he grateful for that huge sum of money? NO! Is he upset with his agent who flat forgot to file paperwork to make him a free agent? NO! He is demanding to be traded and demanding that the Browns send him to Baltimore (click here for article)

hey Dennis, news flash: You don't run the team. You signed a contract. You guys screwed up. Honor what you signed. If you had stunk it up the last few years, I guarantee you wouldn't be offering to give the Browns back some of the money you made. Go where they send you, play hard and make some great money.

Then the unfortunately named Milton Bradley, who can't bother to hustle out a fly ball for the millions he makes a year. Now the Tribe is going to trade him, likely for next to nothing losing a solid hitter and their cleanup batter (Click here for article). On the bright side, this will open up a spot for Coco Crisp or Alex Escobar to play in the big leagues. they are the future in Cleveland's outfield, not Bradley, so that gives them more at bats.

What the heck has gone wrong in Cleveland. At least the Cavs have LeBron and look better.

Good sports night in Michigan!

Ok, it was only the NIT but U of M won it last night, and the kids were FIRED UP! I was glad to see them get excited, they are such a young team and could make some noise in the Big Dance next year. Hail to the victors!

More importantly, the Red Wings won the Presidents Cup last night, clinching home ice throughout the playoffs. That is huge given the disparity of winning percentage home versus away for the Wings. I assume they will rest everyone in the last game to give them a bit of extra rest before the playoffs start. Lang is back, Draper is back, Whitney is back, Hatcher is back. Look out NHL!

Typical...

USA Today has an article in which yet another Jewish group accuses The Passion of the Christ of being an antisemitic movie, and calls Mel Gibson "a tortured soul (click here for article).

Of course, in their usual evenhanded reporting, USA Today goes out of their way to claim that this group or that finds the movie antisemitic, yet never manages to talk to those Jews who don't find it to be so. "Some Christians" also find in antisemitic? What about the millions who have actually seen it and found it not antisemitic in the least (like myself)? Those who believe in the Word of God must not qualify as Christians in the eyes of USA Today.

Click here for an excellent article from Peggy Noonan on OpinionJournal.com regarding the terrorist attacks and subsequent defiling of victim's bodies in Iraq. Ms. Noonan rightly points out two key points, first about those who were murdered:

"The Americans who were murdered were, according to the wires, working for a security company, a North Carolina-based subcontractor hired by the U.S. government, among other things, to guard convoys.

The convoys carried food. They carried it to Fallujah."

They were trying to help these people, and their response is murderous.

The second is the response the cowardly murderers expected:

"It is not a stretch to imagine the young murderers of Fallujah had this on their minds: Do it again to America, kill them and string up their corpses, because when you do this America leaves.

And so this time the response must be the opposite of the response in Mogadishu."

If we truly were the despotic imperialists the Left makes us out to be, we would roll into Fallujah with tanks, round people up and shoot them in the streets. The reason we don't is because we are not trying to conquer Iraq, we are liberating Iraq.

The cowardly lions on the Left, full of empty bluster and self-declared wisdom, would have us flee. President Bush understands that to retreat is to, in the eyes of these thugs, show weakness. Like school yard bullies, showing weakness invites more violence. The only thing the cheering bullies in Fallujah understand is the clenched fist.

ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING!

Once again, Ann Coulter is a voice of reason in the wilderness of liberalism. Click here for her latest editorial detailing the results of attacks on America under each of the Presidents from Carter to Dubya. A disturbing pattern emerges of impotence from democrats (except with chubby interns), and generally decisive action by Republicans. Coincidence? I think not...

This (click here) is an excellent article regarding the religion of Darwinism trying to use "Christians" like he United Church of Christ to prove that even Christian folks are onboard with evolution. Of course, they dare not ask anyone who actually believes in Christ and in the Bible as the Word of God. Many proponents of a random universe vociferously attack anyone who dares question evolution. In a fit of righteous indignation worthy of Tomas de Torquemada, Darwinists burn at the stake of mockery any who don't walk in lockstep with evolutionary dogma. No church and state, but our religion of Darwin is acceptable, nay demands, public teaching and public funding.

Hypocrisy!

Mea culpa to the mormons....

Illinois is apologizing for expelling the mormons 150+ years ago. Wow, how generous! I wonder if the mormons will apologize for introducing polygamy to Illinois, arming a militia, minting their own money, atrocities against Illinois residents? I doubt it.....

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CNN is reporting that the voices of The Simpsons characters are holding out for a pay increase, thus stopping work on the 16th season (click here for article) According to the report, they currently make only $125,000 per episode and want $360,000 instead. Let me get this straight, a third of a million dollars to do a voiceover. No acting, no cameras, just sitting around and reading off a script. Who says Hollywood types are out of touch!