In what I expect to be series of legacy posts, here is my first.
The unspoken truth of the current war in Gaza is that the reason the Arab League is not coming to the rescue of Hamas is due to the Bush Administration's work over the last 8 years.
Ahmawackajob via RedState
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“Aren’t these oppressed Palestinians Arabs?” asked Ahmadinejad in a televised speech. “So when should the capacity of the Arab League be used? The Arab League should act quickly.”
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Blago, where were you 3 months ago?
Add this at the WaPo to Charlie Rangle - tax evader, Chris Dodd - sweet-heart loan taker, just to name a couple of the latest Dems. to be exposed as crooks and frauds. How would the world be different if this had come out in October...
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Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint former state attorney general Roland Burris to the Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama further complicates an already difficult situation for state and national Democrats.
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Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint former state attorney general Roland Burris to the Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama further complicates an already difficult situation for state and national Democrats.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Confluence of Despair
What a depressing set of articles. All compliments of Instapundit. I can't stress how good Instapundit is at identifying good links. Make this site required reading multiple times a day.
First, Mark Steyn eulogizes the auto industry and parleys that into a eulogy for the nation. Depressing.
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See the USA from your Chevrolet: An hereditary legislature, a media fawning its way into bankruptcy, its iconic coastal states driving out innovators and entrepreneurs, the arrival of the new Messiah heralded only by the leaden dirge of “We Three Kings Of Ol’ Detroit Are/Seeking checks we traverse afar”, and Route 66 looking ever more like a one-way dead-end street to Bailoutistan.
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Next comes Roger Kimball at PajamasMedia asking why we are not in Washington right now with torches and pitchforks.
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What is so depressing about such episodes is the fact that they dramatize the decadence of our democracy. An institution becomes decadent when it maintains its outward scaffolding but loses its inner vitality. The inner pulse of a modern democracy lies in citizen involvement and public accountability. Where have those ancient desiderata gone? A few days ago, I asked why people weren’t up in arms about the 137 new taxes and fees with which the governor of New York was proposing to saddle his subjects (can they still be called citizens?). Glenn Reynolds speculated that these days people
only riot over select ethnic grievances; matters of governance, civil rights, and taxes — once the main reason to riot and engage in “out of doors political activity” — are now left to shouting pundits on TV.
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And in case you wanted to feel a little worst, here's a post about the possibilities of the financial crisis. I may be hunting to feed my family. Will the power grid stay up? God help us.
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The defining characteristic of this downturn is the unexpected breaking of links in the economic machinery. Home prices crash far beyond anything seen since the 1903’s. Major finanical institutions crash. Astonishing floods of government money poured onto the fire. Perhaps this slowed the crash, perhaps it had no effect. Every step of the way brought new surprises.
First, Mark Steyn eulogizes the auto industry and parleys that into a eulogy for the nation. Depressing.
-----------
See the USA from your Chevrolet: An hereditary legislature, a media fawning its way into bankruptcy, its iconic coastal states driving out innovators and entrepreneurs, the arrival of the new Messiah heralded only by the leaden dirge of “We Three Kings Of Ol’ Detroit Are/Seeking checks we traverse afar”, and Route 66 looking ever more like a one-way dead-end street to Bailoutistan.
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Next comes Roger Kimball at PajamasMedia asking why we are not in Washington right now with torches and pitchforks.
-----------
What is so depressing about such episodes is the fact that they dramatize the decadence of our democracy. An institution becomes decadent when it maintains its outward scaffolding but loses its inner vitality. The inner pulse of a modern democracy lies in citizen involvement and public accountability. Where have those ancient desiderata gone? A few days ago, I asked why people weren’t up in arms about the 137 new taxes and fees with which the governor of New York was proposing to saddle his subjects (can they still be called citizens?). Glenn Reynolds speculated that these days people
only riot over select ethnic grievances; matters of governance, civil rights, and taxes — once the main reason to riot and engage in “out of doors political activity” — are now left to shouting pundits on TV.
-----------
And in case you wanted to feel a little worst, here's a post about the possibilities of the financial crisis. I may be hunting to feed my family. Will the power grid stay up? God help us.
-----------
The defining characteristic of this downturn is the unexpected breaking of links in the economic machinery. Home prices crash far beyond anything seen since the 1903’s. Major finanical institutions crash. Astonishing floods of government money poured onto the fire. Perhaps this slowed the crash, perhaps it had no effect. Every step of the way brought new surprises.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
"Ehtics Czar"
Of coarse the answer is "hypocrisy" (VDH)
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I don't understand why in the world — for all her obvious academic and business achievements and in all due respect — Obama associate Valerie Jarrett (or Caroline Kennedy) — never elected to a single office — would be qualified to be a U.S. senator by a fiat appointment, especially in a political climate where Sarah Palin (16 years in local and state politics, and several elections) was deemed by the media too inexperienced for high elected office.
And I don't understand why Charles Rangel mired in serial ethics and legal messes, and Barney Frank and Chris Dodd at ground zero of the Fannie-Freddie meltdown, haven't stepped down from their committee chairmanships, especially given the nexus between the money they received and the entities they were supposed to oversee.
...
In short, we need an ethics czar, pronto!
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I don't understand why in the world — for all her obvious academic and business achievements and in all due respect — Obama associate Valerie Jarrett (or Caroline Kennedy) — never elected to a single office — would be qualified to be a U.S. senator by a fiat appointment, especially in a political climate where Sarah Palin (16 years in local and state politics, and several elections) was deemed by the media too inexperienced for high elected office.
And I don't understand why Charles Rangel mired in serial ethics and legal messes, and Barney Frank and Chris Dodd at ground zero of the Fannie-Freddie meltdown, haven't stepped down from their committee chairmanships, especially given the nexus between the money they received and the entities they were supposed to oversee.
...
In short, we need an ethics czar, pronto!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Ya don't say...
LA Times:
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Everybody knows how President-elect Barack Obama's amazing campaign money machine was dominated by several million regular folks sending in hard-earned amounts under $200, a real sign of his broadbased grassroots support.
Except, it turns out, that's not really true.
In fact, Obama's base of small donors was almost exactly the same percent as George W. Bush's in 2004 -- Obama had 26% and the great Republican satan 25%. Obviously, this is unacceptable to current popular thinking.
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Everybody knows how President-elect Barack Obama's amazing campaign money machine was dominated by several million regular folks sending in hard-earned amounts under $200, a real sign of his broadbased grassroots support.
Except, it turns out, that's not really true.
In fact, Obama's base of small donors was almost exactly the same percent as George W. Bush's in 2004 -- Obama had 26% and the great Republican satan 25%. Obviously, this is unacceptable to current popular thinking.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
I'm all for immigration
Done the right way. Congratulation, newest fellow patriots.
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Robert Looney... administers the oath of naturalization to 77 servicemembers on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Nov. 11, 2008. (image at link)
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Robert Looney... administers the oath of naturalization to 77 servicemembers on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Nov. 11, 2008. (image at link)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Data: US Still Center-Right After 2008 Election
But can we keep it that way? Tony Blankley at WaPo:
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... It is revealing that the exit polling disclosed that the public self-identified itself as 44 percent moderate, 34 percent conservative, 22 percent liberal, which was statistically identical (45-34-21) to the numbers after Bush's 2004 victory. ...
...Consider that in 1980, when Ronald Reagan won his first presidential election, the public was self-identified as 46 percent moderate, 28 percent conservative and17 percent liberal. But by the 1984 Reagan re-election the public had shifted to 42 percent moderate, 33 percent conservative and 16 percent liberal - a statistically significant shift to the right. In those four years Mr. Reagan had convinced 5 percent of the electorate to move largely from moderate to conservative. And that 5 percent have stayed conservative for 24 years, right through the 2008 election. It is that 5 percent that has made America a center-right country, rather than a centrist country - allowing a fairly conservative Republican Party to win both congressional and presidential elections most of the time.
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... It is revealing that the exit polling disclosed that the public self-identified itself as 44 percent moderate, 34 percent conservative, 22 percent liberal, which was statistically identical (45-34-21) to the numbers after Bush's 2004 victory. ...
...Consider that in 1980, when Ronald Reagan won his first presidential election, the public was self-identified as 46 percent moderate, 28 percent conservative and17 percent liberal. But by the 1984 Reagan re-election the public had shifted to 42 percent moderate, 33 percent conservative and 16 percent liberal - a statistically significant shift to the right. In those four years Mr. Reagan had convinced 5 percent of the electorate to move largely from moderate to conservative. And that 5 percent have stayed conservative for 24 years, right through the 2008 election. It is that 5 percent that has made America a center-right country, rather than a centrist country - allowing a fairly conservative Republican Party to win both congressional and presidential elections most of the time.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Death by a thousand cuts
(I try to reserve this statement only for emergencies.)
This is a MUST READ.
Bush has walked us down this isle and McCain tried to continue it. "Compromise" is not a noble cause. "Healing the nation" is not synonymous with defending the Constitution. (Mark Steyn)
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“The greatest dangers to liberty,” wrote Justice Brandeis, “lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”
Now who does that remind you of?
Ha! Trick question! Never mind Obama, it's John McCain.
This is a MUST READ.
Bush has walked us down this isle and McCain tried to continue it. "Compromise" is not a noble cause. "Healing the nation" is not synonymous with defending the Constitution. (Mark Steyn)
------------
“The greatest dangers to liberty,” wrote Justice Brandeis, “lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”
Now who does that remind you of?
Ha! Trick question! Never mind Obama, it's John McCain.
Rookie Miskates?
You know how you like an actor, then you see him on the Tonight show and your image is shaken? I'm afraid many people are going to get that feeling about President-elect Obama soon. Powerline
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The only news Barack Obama made in his first post-election press conference was when, in a classless moment, he falsely ridiculed Nancy Reagan for holding "seances" in the White House. He was then compelled to call her to apologize for what he termed his "careless remark."
It appears that Obama may have been careless again yesterday, with international consequences. He spoke with the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, on the telephone. Afterward, Kaczynski wrote that Obama "said that the missile-defense project would continue." The Obama camp then released a statement to the effect that Obama had said no such thing: "President Kaczynski raised missile defense but President-elect Obama made no commitment on it."
It's possible that President Kaczynski deliberately misquoted Obama, but that seems highly unlikely. It's much more probable that Obama indulged in his usual ambiguity, failed to choose his words carefully, and thereby conveyed a misleading impression.
Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. ...
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The only news Barack Obama made in his first post-election press conference was when, in a classless moment, he falsely ridiculed Nancy Reagan for holding "seances" in the White House. He was then compelled to call her to apologize for what he termed his "careless remark."
It appears that Obama may have been careless again yesterday, with international consequences. He spoke with the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, on the telephone. Afterward, Kaczynski wrote that Obama "said that the missile-defense project would continue." The Obama camp then released a statement to the effect that Obama had said no such thing: "President Kaczynski raised missile defense but President-elect Obama made no commitment on it."
It's possible that President Kaczynski deliberately misquoted Obama, but that seems highly unlikely. It's much more probable that Obama indulged in his usual ambiguity, failed to choose his words carefully, and thereby conveyed a misleading impression.
Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. ...
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Enemy #1
From Pajamas Media:
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When the object is to win, it would seem that the most salient key to victory lies in properly gauging the true character of one’s opponent. And in this regard, it seems to me that our beloved Senator McCain — outstanding war hero and statesman that he is — failed to comprehend the reality on the ground regarding Barack Obama and that army of trench fighters backing his candidacy.
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The irony is that Obama and the democrats will bend over backwards to negotiate, compromise and appease the enemies of the United States. But when if comes to Republicans, the Democrats are more than willing to fight rather than compromise.
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When the object is to win, it would seem that the most salient key to victory lies in properly gauging the true character of one’s opponent. And in this regard, it seems to me that our beloved Senator McCain — outstanding war hero and statesman that he is — failed to comprehend the reality on the ground regarding Barack Obama and that army of trench fighters backing his candidacy.
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The irony is that Obama and the democrats will bend over backwards to negotiate, compromise and appease the enemies of the United States. But when if comes to Republicans, the Democrats are more than willing to fight rather than compromise.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Unity
Does Obama have his "Cheney"? (The Corner via Hot Air)
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Emanuel was by all accounts a very effective White House staffer in the Clinton administration, and he has certainly been an effective member of the House of Representatives. He is smart and tough. But he has been, in both positions, a vicious graceless partisan: narrow, hectic, unremittingly aggressive, vulgar, and impatient....
The White House chief of staff is not a chief strategist or a chief advocate. He is a manager of people and of process. Above all else, he sets the tone internally, and shapes the president’s decision process and the feel of the upper tiers of the administration. Obama is especially in need of someone who will lead him to decisions, because he appears to be intensely averse to making difficult choices—which is the essence of what the president. His inclination is to step back and conceptualize the choice out of existence, looking reasonable but doing nothing. To overcome this, he will need a chief of staff with a sense of the gravity of the choices the president faces, and one capable of moving the staff to decision, keeping big egos satisfied and calm, and resisting the pressure to be purely reactive to momentary distractions. None of this spells Rahm Emanuel. There is definitely a place for a Rahm Emanuel type of brilliant ruthless shark in a White House staff, but not in the Chief’s office. Not a good first sign.t does.
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Emanuel was by all accounts a very effective White House staffer in the Clinton administration, and he has certainly been an effective member of the House of Representatives. He is smart and tough. But he has been, in both positions, a vicious graceless partisan: narrow, hectic, unremittingly aggressive, vulgar, and impatient....
The White House chief of staff is not a chief strategist or a chief advocate. He is a manager of people and of process. Above all else, he sets the tone internally, and shapes the president’s decision process and the feel of the upper tiers of the administration. Obama is especially in need of someone who will lead him to decisions, because he appears to be intensely averse to making difficult choices—which is the essence of what the president. His inclination is to step back and conceptualize the choice out of existence, looking reasonable but doing nothing. To overcome this, he will need a chief of staff with a sense of the gravity of the choices the president faces, and one capable of moving the staff to decision, keeping big egos satisfied and calm, and resisting the pressure to be purely reactive to momentary distractions. None of this spells Rahm Emanuel. There is definitely a place for a Rahm Emanuel type of brilliant ruthless shark in a White House staff, but not in the Chief’s office. Not a good first sign.t does.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
What must our enemies be thinking?
A spot-on piece in the WSJ. This morning-after-the-election, Obama and the left want me to join them in uniting the country. For at least the last 4 years I have seen the left excoriate President Bush and now they want ME to let by-gones be by-gones? Don't count on it.
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The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.
Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.
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The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.
Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Wall Street's Panic is an Obama Presidency
How much of the free-fall on wall street is due to the anticipation of the anti-capitalist government that may take over in January?
From Investor's Business Daily:
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It isn't only that the most anti-capitalist politician ever nominated by a major party is favored to take the White House. It's that he'll also have a filibuster-proof Congress led by politicians who are almost as liberal.
Throw in a media establishment dedicated to the implementation of a liberal agenda, and the smothering of dissent wherever it arises, and it's no wonder panic has set in.
From Investor's Business Daily:
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It isn't only that the most anti-capitalist politician ever nominated by a major party is favored to take the White House. It's that he'll also have a filibuster-proof Congress led by politicians who are almost as liberal.
Throw in a media establishment dedicated to the implementation of a liberal agenda, and the smothering of dissent wherever it arises, and it's no wonder panic has set in.
Obama has the 1st Amd. Shaking in Its Boots
Michael Barone writes about what I have been worried about if Obama wins. With a democratic House and Senate, and judges on the supreme court, freedom of speech will be under assault. First up, the Fairness Doctrine. A liberal Mainstream Media will only become more powerful under the Obama administration. Now THAT is something to be worried about.
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Congressional Democrats sought to reimpose the "fairness doctrine" on broadcasters, which until it was repealed in the 1980s required equal time for different points of view. The motive was plain: to shut down the one conservative-leaning communications medium, talk radio. Liberal talk-show hosts have mostly failed to draw audiences, and many liberals can't abide having citizens hear contrary views.
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Congressional Democrats sought to reimpose the "fairness doctrine" on broadcasters, which until it was repealed in the 1980s required equal time for different points of view. The motive was plain: to shut down the one conservative-leaning communications medium, talk radio. Liberal talk-show hosts have mostly failed to draw audiences, and many liberals can't abide having citizens hear contrary views.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Leadership
Obama on solving the financial crisis: (HA)
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It’s my sense that the most helpful thing we can do right now is, uh, to let everyone know this is a sufficiently important problem. I can be helpful, and I am prepared to be anywhere, anytime. So, uh, I think the message is, if I can be helpful, I am prepared to be there at any point.
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It’s my sense that the most helpful thing we can do right now is, uh, to let everyone know this is a sufficiently important problem. I can be helpful, and I am prepared to be anywhere, anytime. So, uh, I think the message is, if I can be helpful, I am prepared to be there at any point.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
What did Sarah Palin ever do to inspire the rage...?
From Pat Buchannan, Real Clear Politics.
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Why did the selection of Sarah Palin cause a suspension of all standards and a near riot among a media that has been so in the tank for Barack even "Saturday Night Live" has satirized the infatuation?
Because she is one of us -- and he is one of them.
Barack and Michelle are affirmative action, Princeton, Columbia, Harvard Law. She is public schools and Idaho State. Barack was a Saul Alinsky social worker who rustled up food stamps. Sarah Palin kills her own food.
Michelle has a $300,000-a-year sinecure doing PR for a Chicago hospital. Todd Palin is a union steelworker who augments his income working vacations on the North Slope. Sarah has always been proud to be an American. Michelle was never proud of America -- until Barack started winning.
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Why did the selection of Sarah Palin cause a suspension of all standards and a near riot among a media that has been so in the tank for Barack even "Saturday Night Live" has satirized the infatuation?
Because she is one of us -- and he is one of them.
Barack and Michelle are affirmative action, Princeton, Columbia, Harvard Law. She is public schools and Idaho State. Barack was a Saul Alinsky social worker who rustled up food stamps. Sarah Palin kills her own food.
Michelle has a $300,000-a-year sinecure doing PR for a Chicago hospital. Todd Palin is a union steelworker who augments his income working vacations on the North Slope. Sarah has always been proud to be an American. Michelle was never proud of America -- until Barack started winning.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
3AM? Are you kidding me?
Could they blow the hype any worse? I don't support Barak and I did not sign up for this gimmick (cuz I think these people will get spammed by Barak until election day), but I concede that it might have been cool to be at a bar at about 6PM after work and hear one-in-five cell phone go off, up comes a mummer and then maybe a little cheer. But no. Just an annoying wake at 3AM to tell people what they already knew if they were up late the night before. Here are some great reactions to this latest rookie mistake.
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Cajun Boy in the City - Very Funny. And from the comments:
"It's like Obama just drunk texted you because you're special and he was up late and just got back from the traveling, and he's got to head to Springfield tomorrow, but if you're awake maybe he could just come over, and maybe bring his friend Joe, you up for that?"
Brandon Loy - It's 3:00 AM, and your children are safe and asleep...
...but there's a cell phone in the other room, and it's ringing. Must be one of your a**hole friends drunk-dialing you
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Cajun Boy in the City - Very Funny. And from the comments:
"It's like Obama just drunk texted you because you're special and he was up late and just got back from the traveling, and he's got to head to Springfield tomorrow, but if you're awake maybe he could just come over, and maybe bring his friend Joe, you up for that?"
Brandon Loy - It's 3:00 AM, and your children are safe and asleep...
...but there's a cell phone in the other room, and it's ringing. Must be one of your a**hole friends drunk-dialing you
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Pakistani's Civil War
The new, liberal Pakistani government has got the Taliban right where they want them... (LWJ)
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The Taliban's suicide campaign against the Pakistani government is in full swing. The latest suicide bombings occurred outside a weapons factory just west of the capital of Islamabad in Punjab province.
The Kamra Air Weapon Complex ... is believed to be connected with Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.
The Pakistani government and the military have issued multiple statements assuring the Pakistani people and the west that the country's nuclear weapons are safeguarded and incapable of falling into the hands of terrorists.
Today's suicide bombing is the fourth mass-casualty strike by the Taliban since August 12.
---------------------
On a brighter note, we're still taking shots at Al Qaeda inside Pakistan. (LWJ)
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The Taliban's suicide campaign against the Pakistani government is in full swing. The latest suicide bombings occurred outside a weapons factory just west of the capital of Islamabad in Punjab province.
The Kamra Air Weapon Complex ... is believed to be connected with Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.
The Pakistani government and the military have issued multiple statements assuring the Pakistani people and the west that the country's nuclear weapons are safeguarded and incapable of falling into the hands of terrorists.
Today's suicide bombing is the fourth mass-casualty strike by the Taliban since August 12.
---------------------
On a brighter note, we're still taking shots at Al Qaeda inside Pakistan. (LWJ)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Turning the enemy into a a strategy
You have to respect the McCain camp's strategy of manipulating the "get-it-first" media on the VP selection. They're "leaking" info keeps it front and center of the news. Non of these are real leaks. They're all misdirection as a strategy to stay on the front page. And the hapless media is powerless to stop themselves from blabbing every "source" they hear from. Turning the enemy into a a strategy. It's Ridge! It's Romney! Lieberman's out! Pawlenty short list! Lieberman in!
Hot Air
Hot Air
Friday, August 08, 2008
Your Media
They know better what you need to know. (via. Instapundit)
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The scandal over former Sen. John Edwards' alleged fathering of a love child is rapidly being surpassed by a greater travesty -- not one single major media organization in the U.S is covering the story.
Edwards, who's sought the presidency twice,... is manifestly newsworthy and clearly a public figure.
Heck, he's almost a celebrity.
Yet no major network or national daily paper is doing anything with the story.
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The scandal over former Sen. John Edwards' alleged fathering of a love child is rapidly being surpassed by a greater travesty -- not one single major media organization in the U.S is covering the story.
Edwards, who's sought the presidency twice,... is manifestly newsworthy and clearly a public figure.
Heck, he's almost a celebrity.
Yet no major network or national daily paper is doing anything with the story.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Save the Planet?
"Save the planet." Are you serious? Is that your constitutional role are a member of the US House of Representatives? Besides, as Charles Krauthammer puts it...
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposes lifting the moratorium on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on the Outer Continental Shelf. ... as she explained to Politico: "I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet."
A lovely sentiment. But has Pelosi actually thought through the moratorium's effects on the planet?
Consider: 25 years ago, nearly 60 percent of U.S. petroleum was produced domestically. Today it's 25 percent. ... We need the stuff to run our cars and planes and economy. Where does it come from?
ad_icon
Places such as Nigeria, where chronic corruption, environmental neglect and the resulting unrest and instability lead to pipeline explosions, oil spills and illegal siphoning by the poverty-stricken population -- which leads to more spills and explosions.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposes lifting the moratorium on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on the Outer Continental Shelf. ... as she explained to Politico: "I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet."
A lovely sentiment. But has Pelosi actually thought through the moratorium's effects on the planet?
Consider: 25 years ago, nearly 60 percent of U.S. petroleum was produced domestically. Today it's 25 percent. ... We need the stuff to run our cars and planes and economy. Where does it come from?
ad_icon
Places such as Nigeria, where chronic corruption, environmental neglect and the resulting unrest and instability lead to pipeline explosions, oil spills and illegal siphoning by the poverty-stricken population -- which leads to more spills and explosions.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Still No Recession
But liberals are still hoping for one. Because anything bad to the country is good for democratic power. via. HotAir
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Whatever else this economy might be, it’s not a recession, and it’s improving.
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Whatever else this economy might be, it’s not a recession, and it’s improving.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Going Green Fallacy
A great, short reminder of the fallacy of going green. Forbes
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A number of influential people in Russia, China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam say the planet is now entering a 30-year cooling period, the second half of a normal cycle driven by cyclical changes in the sun's output and currents in the Pacific Ocean. Their theory leaves true believers in carbon catastrophe livid.
...
No serious student of global politics can accept the notion that the world will soon join ranks behind Brussels, Washington and the gloomy computer and its minders. Dar is surely right when he says, "The U.S. and Japan will not tell Asia and Africa to choose poverty, disease, hunger and illiteracy over electricity."
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A number of influential people in Russia, China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam say the planet is now entering a 30-year cooling period, the second half of a normal cycle driven by cyclical changes in the sun's output and currents in the Pacific Ocean. Their theory leaves true believers in carbon catastrophe livid.
...
No serious student of global politics can accept the notion that the world will soon join ranks behind Brussels, Washington and the gloomy computer and its minders. Dar is surely right when he says, "The U.S. and Japan will not tell Asia and Africa to choose poverty, disease, hunger and illiteracy over electricity."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Media Groupies
All three major nightly news anchors will follow Obama on his world tour and Iraq visit.
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When was the last time we saw any network anchor doing a remote, let alone all three at the same time? ...This is nothing more than the media fawning over Obama, and looking to give him as much earned media as they can. Their pretense of objective reporting has been ripped away, and the media looks like little more than groupies vying for the attention of a pop star, hoping that some of his popularity rubs off on them. This should embarrass journalists, but instead they’re busy rationalizing their utter lack of self-respect.
Hot Air
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You do realize, don’t you, that if a GOP candidate with weak foreign policy was doing the same thing - making a “world tour” with dramatic backdrops - the press would be sneering about how the whole thing is a “stunt” meant to “deflect his inexperience.”
Anchoress
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When was the last time we saw any network anchor doing a remote, let alone all three at the same time? ...This is nothing more than the media fawning over Obama, and looking to give him as much earned media as they can. Their pretense of objective reporting has been ripped away, and the media looks like little more than groupies vying for the attention of a pop star, hoping that some of his popularity rubs off on them. This should embarrass journalists, but instead they’re busy rationalizing their utter lack of self-respect.
Hot Air
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You do realize, don’t you, that if a GOP candidate with weak foreign policy was doing the same thing - making a “world tour” with dramatic backdrops - the press would be sneering about how the whole thing is a “stunt” meant to “deflect his inexperience.”
Anchoress
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Dems will Fold on Drilling
Slaves to public opinion, the Dems will cave on drilling like they did on FISA and on funding the war. (via. Hot Air)
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A new poll commissioned by Investors Business Daily finds overwhelming majorities in favor of increased drilling and domestic production of oil. ...
Support for offshore drilling and oil shale development is also broad-based, with the former favored by 64% of respondents and the latter by 65%.
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A new poll commissioned by Investors Business Daily finds overwhelming majorities in favor of increased drilling and domestic production of oil. ...
Support for offshore drilling and oil shale development is also broad-based, with the former favored by 64% of respondents and the latter by 65%.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Economic Downturn?
Yeah, recession, when people are lining up to buy the latest cell phone. EDN
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“The fact is that, when the books are closed on the first half of 2008, ...about an additional $7 billion will have been spent on semiconductors in the first six months of this year compared to last,” Gordon said. “We can conclude — and we have hard evidence from markets such as PCs and cell phones — that spending on electronics has held up well despite the effects of the economic downturn.”
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“The fact is that, when the books are closed on the first half of 2008, ...about an additional $7 billion will have been spent on semiconductors in the first six months of this year compared to last,” Gordon said. “We can conclude — and we have hard evidence from markets such as PCs and cell phones — that spending on electronics has held up well despite the effects of the economic downturn.”
Friday, July 11, 2008
It's Good to be The King
New York Times via. Hot Air
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While aggressive evictions are reducing the number of rent-stabilized apartments in New York, Representative Charles B. Rangel is enjoying four of them, including three adjacent units on the 16th floor overlooking Upper Manhattan in a building owned by one of New York’s premier real estate developers.
Mr. Rangel, the powerful Democrat who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, uses his fourth apartment, six floors below, as a campaign office, despite state and city regulations that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence.
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While aggressive evictions are reducing the number of rent-stabilized apartments in New York, Representative Charles B. Rangel is enjoying four of them, including three adjacent units on the 16th floor overlooking Upper Manhattan in a building owned by one of New York’s premier real estate developers.
Mr. Rangel, the powerful Democrat who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, uses his fourth apartment, six floors below, as a campaign office, despite state and city regulations that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Thank You for Donating
Wouldn't you be pleased to know that your donation to the Democratic party went to a committee that wrote this?
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A 28-page contract requested by Denver organizers that caterers provide food in “at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple and white.” Garnishes could not be counted toward the colors. No fried foods would be allowed. Organic and locally grown foods were mandated, and each plate had to be 50 percent fruits and vegetables. As a result, caterers are shying away.
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A 28-page contract requested by Denver organizers that caterers provide food in “at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple and white.” Garnishes could not be counted toward the colors. No fried foods would be allowed. Organic and locally grown foods were mandated, and each plate had to be 50 percent fruits and vegetables. As a result, caterers are shying away.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Progress 7
Times Online
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Iraqis lead final purge of Al-Qaeda
American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.
After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul.
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Iraqis lead final purge of Al-Qaeda
American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.
After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul.
Progress 6
Times Online
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Al-Qaeda is driven from Mosul bastion after bloody last stand
The murder toll is dropping, the insurgents are on the run. Our correspondent is on the front line as the Iraqi army takes control
...
In Mosul, Al-Qaeda’s last redoubt, the group still held sway as recently as Easter. Now it lacks the strength to fight the army face to face and has lost the sympathy of most of the ordinary citizens who once admired its stand against the occupying forces and their allies in the Iraqi army.
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Al-Qaeda is driven from Mosul bastion after bloody last stand
The murder toll is dropping, the insurgents are on the run. Our correspondent is on the front line as the Iraqi army takes control
...
In Mosul, Al-Qaeda’s last redoubt, the group still held sway as recently as Easter. Now it lacks the strength to fight the army face to face and has lost the sympathy of most of the ordinary citizens who once admired its stand against the occupying forces and their allies in the Iraqi army.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Grace
Dems cave - Hot Air
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There was a time, not so long ago, that we assumed a Democratic majority would cause enormous problems in getting funding for the war efforts in Iraq and, to a lesser extent, in Afghanistan. If one wanted to see how well the surge has really worked, all the proof can be found in the quiet, mostly bipartisan manner in which the latest supplemental funding bill passed through Congress this month. Instead of crowing over the demolition of Democratic opposition it represents, President Bush took the gracious path of acknowledging the bipartisanship: ...
Despite the conciliatory tones of all the administration officials in today’s announcement, the Democrats are privately annoyed at having lost yet another battle to George Bush during his supposed lame-duck year.
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There was a time, not so long ago, that we assumed a Democratic majority would cause enormous problems in getting funding for the war efforts in Iraq and, to a lesser extent, in Afghanistan. If one wanted to see how well the surge has really worked, all the proof can be found in the quiet, mostly bipartisan manner in which the latest supplemental funding bill passed through Congress this month. Instead of crowing over the demolition of Democratic opposition it represents, President Bush took the gracious path of acknowledging the bipartisanship: ...
Despite the conciliatory tones of all the administration officials in today’s announcement, the Democrats are privately annoyed at having lost yet another battle to George Bush during his supposed lame-duck year.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Who We're Up Against
Charles Krauthammer - Washington Post
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Normally, flip-flopping presidential candidates have to worry about the press. Not Obama. After all, this is a press corps that heard his grandiloquent Philadelphia speech -- designed to rationalize why "I can no more disown [Jeremiah Wright] than I can disown my white grandmother" -- then wiped away a tear and hailed him as the second coming of Abraham Lincoln.
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Normally, flip-flopping presidential candidates have to worry about the press. Not Obama. After all, this is a press corps that heard his grandiloquent Philadelphia speech -- designed to rationalize why "I can no more disown [Jeremiah Wright] than I can disown my white grandmother" -- then wiped away a tear and hailed him as the second coming of Abraham Lincoln.
Gitmo Resident Returns to Jihad
The Long War Journal is instrumental in following the War on Terror.
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Ajmi was released from Guantanamo Bay and was searching for "a way to reconnect with the jihad." He claimed he was tortured while at Guantanamo Bay.
Ajmi "is seemingly responsible for an earlier truck bombing at the Iraqi Army HQ in the Harmat neighborhood of Mosul on March 23, 2008," said Kazimi. ...
Thirteen Iraqi soldiers were killed and 42 were wounded after Ajmi drove an armored truck packed an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of explosives through the gate of the outpost and detonated in a spot between the three main buildings of the compound.
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Ajmi was released from Guantanamo Bay and was searching for "a way to reconnect with the jihad." He claimed he was tortured while at Guantanamo Bay.
Ajmi "is seemingly responsible for an earlier truck bombing at the Iraqi Army HQ in the Harmat neighborhood of Mosul on March 23, 2008," said Kazimi. ...
Thirteen Iraqi soldiers were killed and 42 were wounded after Ajmi drove an armored truck packed an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of explosives through the gate of the outpost and detonated in a spot between the three main buildings of the compound.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Progress 5
Now this looks like progress. See photo at link (Strategy Page)
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U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Kathryne B. Schilling coaches a woman as she prepares to shoot a pistol during her training to become a Sister of Ferris, June 4, 2008, Ferris, Iraq. The Sisters of Ferris will inspect women for weapons, suicide vests, large amounts of cash and contraband at entry control points.
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U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Kathryne B. Schilling coaches a woman as she prepares to shoot a pistol during her training to become a Sister of Ferris, June 4, 2008, Ferris, Iraq. The Sisters of Ferris will inspect women for weapons, suicide vests, large amounts of cash and contraband at entry control points.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Non-partisan Issue - Gas
Like illegal immigration, it looks like the cost of gas cuts strongly across party lines. See, we can come together when it matters, like after 9/11 and on immigration.
Hot Air
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... Fox gets to that precise question we should start drilling immediately “in the United States” — 76% say yes, including 71% of Democrats — and whether we should be drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, to which 77% say yes.
Hot Air
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... Fox gets to that precise question we should start drilling immediately “in the United States” — 76% say yes, including 71% of Democrats — and whether we should be drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, to which 77% say yes.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Example #13
Evidence that we are not in hard economic times even though the media likes to tell us we are. People feel they can afford to send money to politicians. Other examples include our purchasing of HDTVs, SUVs, ever increasing movie prices/sales (no "price gouging" here, no...).
Vis: Hot Air
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Mr. Obama’s power to excite average donations of less than $100 also is admirable...
Vis: Hot Air
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Mr. Obama’s power to excite average donations of less than $100 also is admirable...
Drill
Charles Krauthammer
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Gas is $4 a gallon. Oil is $135 a barrel and rising. We import two-thirds of our oil, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the likes of Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. And yet we voluntarily prohibit ourselves from even exploring huge domestic reserves of petroleum and natural gas.
At a time when U.S. crude oil production has fallen 40 percent in the past 25 years, 75 billion barrels of oil have been declared off-limits, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. ...
Technological conditions have changed as well. We now are able to drill with far more precision and environmental care than a quarter-century ago. We have thousands of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, yet not even hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted in spills of any significance.
...forbidding drilling there does not prevent despoliation. It merely exports it. The crude oil we're not getting from the Arctic we import instead from places like the Niger Delta, where millions live and where the resulting pollution and oil spillages poison the lives of many of the world's most wretchedly poor.
Our environmental imperialism does not just redistribute pollution to people who can least afford it. It generally increases the total overall damage because oil extraction in the wealthier and more technologically advanced United States is far more environmentally sensitive.
--------------------
Gas is $4 a gallon. Oil is $135 a barrel and rising. We import two-thirds of our oil, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the likes of Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. And yet we voluntarily prohibit ourselves from even exploring huge domestic reserves of petroleum and natural gas.
At a time when U.S. crude oil production has fallen 40 percent in the past 25 years, 75 billion barrels of oil have been declared off-limits, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. ...
Technological conditions have changed as well. We now are able to drill with far more precision and environmental care than a quarter-century ago. We have thousands of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, yet not even hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted in spills of any significance.
...forbidding drilling there does not prevent despoliation. It merely exports it. The crude oil we're not getting from the Arctic we import instead from places like the Niger Delta, where millions live and where the resulting pollution and oil spillages poison the lives of many of the world's most wretchedly poor.
Our environmental imperialism does not just redistribute pollution to people who can least afford it. It generally increases the total overall damage because oil extraction in the wealthier and more technologically advanced United States is far more environmentally sensitive.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Still better than the alternative
Not in this area, but in others.
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He says what he means and he means what he says, even when it’s really stupid.
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He says what he means and he means what he says, even when it’s really stupid.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Liberal Unemployment
Jerry Bowyer - Townhall.com
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Ask yourself a few questions: Why did unemployment surge ...?
... This huge jump in the size of the unemployed comes from new entrants to the economy – hundreds of thousands of them. ...who starts looking for work at the end of Spring? That’s right – students. Hundreds of thousands of students are looking for work right now, and they’re not finding it.
Congress is to blame. Last year Congressional Democrats (along with some Stockholm-Syndromed Republicans) passed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, which started a phased hike of the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25. Free market economists warned them that this would increase unemployment – that rapid increases in unemployment compensation hit teens and minorities the hardest. ...
Now, we see the perfectly logical outcome of wage controls – rising unemployment among the most economically vulnerable.
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Ask yourself a few questions: Why did unemployment surge ...?
... This huge jump in the size of the unemployed comes from new entrants to the economy – hundreds of thousands of them. ...who starts looking for work at the end of Spring? That’s right – students. Hundreds of thousands of students are looking for work right now, and they’re not finding it.
Congress is to blame. Last year Congressional Democrats (along with some Stockholm-Syndromed Republicans) passed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, which started a phased hike of the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25. Free market economists warned them that this would increase unemployment – that rapid increases in unemployment compensation hit teens and minorities the hardest. ...
Now, we see the perfectly logical outcome of wage controls – rising unemployment among the most economically vulnerable.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Why McCain
Thomas Sowell
-------------
Not since 1972 have we been presented with two such painfully inadequate candidates. When election day came that year, I could not bring myself to vote for either George McGovern or Richard Nixon. I stayed home.
This year, none of us has that luxury. While all sorts of gushing is going on in the media, and posturing is going on in politics, the biggest national sponsor of terrorism in the world-- Iran-- is moving step by step toward building a nuclear bomb.
The point when they get that bomb will be the point of no return. Iran's nuclear bomb will be the terrorists' nuclear bomb...
One of these candidates will determine what we are going to do to stop Iran from going nuclear-- or whether we are going to do anything other than talk, as Western leaders talked in the 1930s.
At a time like this, we do not have the luxury of waiting for our ideal candidate or of indulging our emotions by voting for some third party candidate to show our displeasure-- at the cost of putting someone in the White House who is not up to the job.
-------------
Not since 1972 have we been presented with two such painfully inadequate candidates. When election day came that year, I could not bring myself to vote for either George McGovern or Richard Nixon. I stayed home.
This year, none of us has that luxury. While all sorts of gushing is going on in the media, and posturing is going on in politics, the biggest national sponsor of terrorism in the world-- Iran-- is moving step by step toward building a nuclear bomb.
The point when they get that bomb will be the point of no return. Iran's nuclear bomb will be the terrorists' nuclear bomb...
One of these candidates will determine what we are going to do to stop Iran from going nuclear-- or whether we are going to do anything other than talk, as Western leaders talked in the 1930s.
At a time like this, we do not have the luxury of waiting for our ideal candidate or of indulging our emotions by voting for some third party candidate to show our displeasure-- at the cost of putting someone in the White House who is not up to the job.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Revisionist WWII
Here's a piece by Victor Davis Hanson criticizing Pat Buchanan's new book on Churchill and "The Unnecessary War"
--------------------------
Buchanan and others, for example, fault the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I as too harsh on a defeated Germany...
The mistake instead was not occupying all of imperial Germany after the first war in 1918-19. ... The Allies later did occupy Germany after World War II -- and 60 years without war have followed.
--------------------------
Buchanan and others, for example, fault the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I as too harsh on a defeated Germany...
The mistake instead was not occupying all of imperial Germany after the first war in 1918-19. ... The Allies later did occupy Germany after World War II -- and 60 years without war have followed.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The Point
From Hot Air:
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History made — and was that the point?
In watching and reading some of the reaction, many reveled in Obama’s nomination for the same reason. They want to feel good about America rather than have an experienced nominee. In fact, they not only want to feel good about America, they want to feel good about themselves. They wanted to be part of that historical moment, and that was their first priority — and that’s not limited to Obama supporters, either. The lament one hears most about Hillary’s collapsehas nothing to do with policy, experience, or expertise, but that she didn’t get to be the one who makes history.
----------
History made — and was that the point?
In watching and reading some of the reaction, many reveled in Obama’s nomination for the same reason. They want to feel good about America rather than have an experienced nominee. In fact, they not only want to feel good about America, they want to feel good about themselves. They wanted to be part of that historical moment, and that was their first priority — and that’s not limited to Obama supporters, either. The lament one hears most about Hillary’s collapsehas nothing to do with policy, experience, or expertise, but that she didn’t get to be the one who makes history.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Progress in Afghanistan
via Hot Air
----------------
The defeatist rhetoric on Iraq has just about been discredited, and its cousin — that we’re losing in Afghanistan — may be just as endangered. The Telegraph reports that the aggressive counterinsurgency tactics adopted by NATO have “decapitated” Taliban leadership, and that cross-border attacks have taken the fight out of the rebels.
...
In the winter of 2007, American commanders decided on a much more aggressive policy, using NATO’s advantage in close air support. The military no longer just defended against Taliban attacks, but used air power to chase down and destroy Taliban forces once they withdrew. NATO also significantly increased the attacks across the border in Pakistan, and has increased them more in 2008.
----------------
The defeatist rhetoric on Iraq has just about been discredited, and its cousin — that we’re losing in Afghanistan — may be just as endangered. The Telegraph reports that the aggressive counterinsurgency tactics adopted by NATO have “decapitated” Taliban leadership, and that cross-border attacks have taken the fight out of the rebels.
...
In the winter of 2007, American commanders decided on a much more aggressive policy, using NATO’s advantage in close air support. The military no longer just defended against Taliban attacks, but used air power to chase down and destroy Taliban forces once they withdrew. NATO also significantly increased the attacks across the border in Pakistan, and has increased them more in 2008.
We Will Remember
A mother's quote at her son's Medal of Honor ceremony (via. Hot Air)
“I guess about the only thing you’re really going to remember about my son is that he did the right thing at the right time.”
“I guess about the only thing you’re really going to remember about my son is that he did the right thing at the right time.”
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Beginning of the End
An excellent summary and status of our pending victory in Iraq. There are no promises that Iraq will live 200 years as a democracy, but it will be for many years to come. More importantly, it won't be a safehaven and sponsor of the enemy who has inflicted harm on us. From: The Strategy Page
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May 30, 2008: The U.S. is beginning its withdrawal from Iraq. U.S. troops strength is expected to decline from 170,000 to 140,000 by the end of the Summer. The reduction is made possible by the growing number of Iraqi army and police units that can do the job.
...in the last year, many Iraqi army and police units have revealed their capabilities through their performance.
The attitude towards the U.S. troops had also changed. For five years, the American troops consistently demonstrated their superior combat ability, while also observing strict ROE...
When the security forces went after the Shia militias earlier this year, the militiamen were dismayed. It was widely known that the Iraqi army and police were defeating al Qaeda, and a few hold-out Sunni Arab militias. Now these forces were moving into Shia Mahdi Army strongholds, and the Mahdi gunmen quickly discovered they could not hold out against these Iraqi troops who dressed like American troops, and fought a lot like them as well.
---------------
May 30, 2008: The U.S. is beginning its withdrawal from Iraq. U.S. troops strength is expected to decline from 170,000 to 140,000 by the end of the Summer. The reduction is made possible by the growing number of Iraqi army and police units that can do the job.
...in the last year, many Iraqi army and police units have revealed their capabilities through their performance.
The attitude towards the U.S. troops had also changed. For five years, the American troops consistently demonstrated their superior combat ability, while also observing strict ROE...
When the security forces went after the Shia militias earlier this year, the militiamen were dismayed. It was widely known that the Iraqi army and police were defeating al Qaeda, and a few hold-out Sunni Arab militias. Now these forces were moving into Shia Mahdi Army strongholds, and the Mahdi gunmen quickly discovered they could not hold out against these Iraqi troops who dressed like American troops, and fought a lot like them as well.
It's Raining Peace
This is the western border of Pakistan where the Taliban stage assaults on Afghanistan. It's sure it wil hole this time... From: The Long War Journal
---------------
With peace agreements signed between the Taliban in Swat, Bajaur, and Mohmand, and talks under way in South Waziristan, the government is pushing forward with negotiations in northwestern Pakistan. The Pakistani government is currently in talks with the Taliban in the settled district of Kohat in the Northwest Frontier Province, where heavy fighting has taken place this year.
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With peace agreements signed between the Taliban in Swat, Bajaur, and Mohmand, and talks under way in South Waziristan, the government is pushing forward with negotiations in northwestern Pakistan. The Pakistani government is currently in talks with the Taliban in the settled district of Kohat in the Northwest Frontier Province, where heavy fighting has taken place this year.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
More Steps Towards Victory
Via Hot Air:
-------------
ABC News... reports with enthusiasm on the effects on Sadr City from Nouri al-Maliki’s imposition of central government authority. Commerce has returned to this poverty-stricken area of the capital, and deaths and injuries from fighting have all but disappeared. Maliki has brought normalcy to Sadr City just as he did to Basra, and the people have begun to trust that it will stay
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ABC News... reports with enthusiasm on the effects on Sadr City from Nouri al-Maliki’s imposition of central government authority. Commerce has returned to this poverty-stricken area of the capital, and deaths and injuries from fighting have all but disappeared. Maliki has brought normalcy to Sadr City just as he did to Basra, and the people have begun to trust that it will stay
Monday, May 26, 2008
Progress 4
Didn't hear much about this, cuz we're winning and the war is progressing towards an end and we will be victorious. Wouldn't want to report on that, now would we?
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There wasn't much coverage of General Petraeus when he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee last Thursday. Even C-SPAN didn't show it live. Petraeus reported that violence is at a 4-year low and that he will likely reduce troop levels this September after the 45-day pause. His comments were more upbeat than six weeks ago, when the Basra offensive was in full flux, but he is still cautionary about the political situation. Here is what he said about al-Sadr and Basra.
-----------
There wasn't much coverage of General Petraeus when he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee last Thursday. Even C-SPAN didn't show it live. Petraeus reported that violence is at a 4-year low and that he will likely reduce troop levels this September after the 45-day pause. His comments were more upbeat than six weeks ago, when the Basra offensive was in full flux, but he is still cautionary about the political situation. Here is what he said about al-Sadr and Basra.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Messaage Sent
from Baseball Crank:
"...the war has been hard at times on the U.S., but it is not lost on other regimes how badly it ended for Saddam, his sons and his senior apparatchiks. Or for Zarqawi or other leaders of the foreign forces opposing us in Iraq. That's a huge distinction from how Vietnam ended for Ho's regime. Only the Iranians have really come out of this well, and only because they have not yet provoked us to the point where we would turn our guns on them directly. And if the U.S. did invade and seek to conquer Iran in the same fashion as Iraq (not that I'm suggesting this would be a good idea at any time in the foreseeable future), no matter how difficult that would be for the U.S., it would be much worse for the Iranian regime."
"...the war has been hard at times on the U.S., but it is not lost on other regimes how badly it ended for Saddam, his sons and his senior apparatchiks. Or for Zarqawi or other leaders of the foreign forces opposing us in Iraq. That's a huge distinction from how Vietnam ended for Ho's regime. Only the Iranians have really come out of this well, and only because they have not yet provoked us to the point where we would turn our guns on them directly. And if the U.S. did invade and seek to conquer Iran in the same fashion as Iraq (not that I'm suggesting this would be a good idea at any time in the foreseeable future), no matter how difficult that would be for the U.S., it would be much worse for the Iranian regime."
Welcome Back
Been gone for a while, but I'm back now. I'm going to keep my posts short. My hope is that you will find links to interesting articles here.
I have been linking to articles regularly at my del.icio.us site and will continue to do so. So if you're not getting enough here, book mark my del.icio.us site and check that out frequently.
It's good to be back. And thanks for visiting Geoffosphere.
I have been linking to articles regularly at my del.icio.us site and will continue to do so. So if you're not getting enough here, book mark my del.icio.us site and check that out frequently.
It's good to be back. And thanks for visiting Geoffosphere.
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