At Last, A French Military Victory

A French soldier manages to defeat unarmed French civilians.

The sergeant opened up with an assault rifle, firing live rounds instead of blanks into a crowd of hundreds of visitors watching a hostage-taking exercise Sunday at the base near the southwestern city of Carcassonne.

A man who witnessed the shooting told AFP that "suddenly, people were falling, we thought it was part of the exercise, and then we saw blood."

Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want, but I'd like to know a bit more about this sergeant, like his name and his religion.

Remember Gary Hartpence, A Lesson For Barack Hussein Obama?

Barack Hussein Obama dared the media to find any links between himself and Chicago corruption.

"You will recall that for my entire political career here, I was not the endorsed candidate of any political organization here," Mr. Obama told Chicago reporters. "My reputation in Springfield [as a state legislator] was as an independent. There is no doubt I had friends and continue to have friends who come out of the more traditional school of Chicago politics but that's not what launched my political career and that's not what I've ever depended on to get elected, and I would challenge any Chicago reporter to dispute that basic fact."

That should be a lot easier than tracking down Monkey Business.

Imagine No ACLU

It would look like this.

Playing Defense With Our Liberties

I was briefly elated, then deflated, when I heard that the United States Supreme Court had struck down the District of Columbia’s handgun ban. Certainly, most people of my ideological persuasion were thrilled with the ruling and I was certainly much happier than I would have been had the Supremes ruled the other way.

What depressed my spirits was the notion that the Supreme Court or anybody else has the power to decide what rights I will be permitted to exercise. It’s written there in the Constitution for crying out loud. Why is it the business of the court to decide whether or not I’ll be permitted to keep that right?

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that when the Constitution was being drafted, many opposed the Bill of Rights because it was considered superfluous. The Constitution carefully enumerated and limited the powers of government, and nowhere in the document was the government empowered to control our speech, infringe upon our rights to keep and bear arms, toss us into jail without due process or to seize our property. Opponents argued that future interpreters might conclude that the Bill of Rights was the sum total of all our rights.

Wow. Would they be surprised if they saw today’s America. We have to fight to simply hold onto even those few rights in the Bill of Rights. And we’re losing.

Four years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that we no longer have a Fifth Amendment right to our property. In the Kelo decision, the court decided that local governments can take your property away from you if they’d prefer that someone else owned it. And before that, the courts decided that environmental law trumps property rights.

Shortly after the Kelo decision, the Supreme Court decided that the government had the authority to regulate political free speech under the guise of campaign finance reform. The Supreme Court has now given us the perverse situation in which the government can muzzle political debate but not pornography. Somehow, I don’t think that was the original intent of the Constitution’s authors.

When I read the outpouring of joy at Thursday’s court ruling, I was reminded of the scene from George Orwell’s 1984 in which the people are thrilled when the government allows the people a tiny increase in their chocolate ration, after that same tyranny had just slashed the ration by a much larger portion. So it is with our rights. We are supposed to be grateful that the Supremes or the Congress did no crush any more of our freedoms than they already have. I find it distressing that so many feel relieved because the Supreme Court did not declare part of the Constitution unconstitutional. And of course, both the court and the Congress have given me many reasons to fear for my freedoms.

It’s a strange world we live in when our courts grant rights to terrorists that have never been recognized for prisoners of war, while limiting the rights of citizens.
I credit Stephen Breyer for writing a dissenting opinion that clearly described the amorphous, unlimited power that he thinks the judicial branch should wield. While acknowledging that the Second Amendment granted an individual right, he argued the right should be dribbled out to the people on a case-by-case basis. He specifically addressed the District of Columbia’s case and argued that in such a high crime area, local governments should have the power to limit gun ownership: “In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas.” Actually, it’s in high crime areas where the citizens need the right to own guns for self-defense.
In the other dissenting opinion, John Paul Stevens tried to preserve gun control with Humpty Dumpty-like manipulation of the language by assigning definitions to words that are not found in any dictionary of any time.

Recalling Lewis Carol’s masterpiece, Through the Looking Glass: “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

“'The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master - that's all.”
If Barack He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Middle-Named Obama wins the presidential election, he’ll undoubtedly be looking for a Humpty Dumpty to fill the next vacancy, maybe someone who’ll debate what “the meaning of is, is.”

I'll Rip Her Apart

A another Massachusetts Democrat tells us how he will cross examine a raped child.

I Hope Al Qaida Hunts You Down And Kills You

Barack Obama: That Was Not The Barack Obama I Knew

On the other, he was for it before he was against it. Or, was it the other way around.

Barack Hussein Obama: That Was Not The Barack Obama I Knew

Barack Hussein Obama has decided to distance himself from the Barack Hussein Obama who promised to accept public financing for his presidential campaign.

In an e-mail message, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said the decision means that his campaign will forgo more than $80 million in public funds.

In exchange for taking public funds, candidates usually agree to a cap on the amount of money they can spend on their campaigns.

"It's not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections," Obama wrote. "But the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who've become masters at gaming this broken system."

Obama repeatedly broke campaign fundraising records during the Democratic primary season. Since January 2007, he has raised more than $272 million.

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, raised less than half that amount, roughly $100 million, over the same period.

Obama's advisers argue that the Illinois Democrat has set up a "parallel" public fundraising system by soliciting small donations over the Internet.

Two months ago, McCain criticized Obama for appearing to backtrack from a previous commitment to accept public financing for his presidential campaign.

Steve Schmidt, a senior McCain adviser, called Obama's decision to opt out of public financing "a broken promise of staggering dimensions."

Of course, what's broken about the campaign finance system is that Barack Hussein Obama has shown that he can raise a lot more than $80 million.

More here.

Key phrase: His broken promise: “I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.”

Christopher Dodd: Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire

Well, it turns out that Christopher Dodd did know that he was getting special treatment from Countrywide, but he's deeply offended that anyone would think that his favorable loan terms had anything to do with his position as a chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

How could anyone think such a thing? Well it could be that he has lied previously.

Al Gore Brings His Wit and Wisdom To The Obama Campaign

Extreme Mortman has the details.

At first we were surprised that Al Gore endorsed so early in the contest. It’s only June, and he’s already made his mind to support Barack Obama.

Then we realized why he made the courageous act to rush out his announcement: it’s because he’s got killer material, but it’s quite topical.

From Gore’s endorsement speech last night:

If you care about food safety, if you like a T on your BLT, you know that elections matter.

Hilarious. Bush to blame for salmonella. If only Gore had some funny way to blame Bush for the Iowa floods. Sure beats kissing a pig at the Iowa state fair.

Or kissing a pet, as evidenced by this Gore line also from last night:

After the last eight years, even our dogs and cats have learned that elections matter.

Hilarious again. No, you wouldn’t wanted to sit on jokes with a shelf line so short.

Go get ‘im Al — maybe there’s still more Supreme Court jokes in you.

He's still got that rip-tootin' touch!

Muammar Gaddafi: Another Foreign Leader For Barack Obama

Foreign leaders continue to fall in line behind the Barack Hussein Obama campaign, including just about all terrorist enablers.

Kent Conrad: Liar, Liar, Pants On Fiar

After lying about it for a couple of days, Senator Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) finally admitted that he knowingly benefited from a VIP loan from Countrywide mortgage company.

He thinks that he can make it all better by writing a check to charity and refinancing one of his sweetheart loans. BS. What does a violation of trust cost?

Meanwhile, Christopher Dodd (D-Waitress Sandwich) is still proclaiming his innocence.

Countrywide: The Secret's Out

The New York Times finally got around to letting its readers know about Senators Kent Conrad and Christopher Dodd's involvement in the Countrywide scandal, but portrays them as victims.

Gateway Pundit pronounces BS.

Barack Obama Chickens Out

I knew he would.

Tim Russert Dead?

If true, this is a tragedy. Not only was Tim Russert as sincerely decent man, he was the only Sunday news talking head who ever asked tough questions of a Democrat. Somehow I fear that NBC will promote one of these two idiots.

Update: The New York Times has a breaking news banner with no link confirming that Russert is dead, although, I can't honestly say that the New York Times adds any credibility.

Confirmed by NBC.

Obama: This Is Not The Eric Holder I Knew

Another close Barack Hussein Obama associate is linked to another scandal. And, just like the last one, there's really no excuse for not knowing about it ahead of time.

The criticism Thursday centered on Obama adviser Eric H. Holder Jr., who is scrutinizing candidates to be the Democratic presumptive presidential nominee's running mate. As deputy attorney general under President Clinton, Mr. Holder reviewed the last-minute pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich.

Charged with 51 counts of fraud, tax evasion and illegally trading with Iran, Mr. Rich fled to Switzerland in 1983 but won a pardon from Mr. Clinton in 2001. The decision prompted a congressional investigation because Mr. Rich's wife was a major Democratic donor and prosecutors said they were never consulted.

Indicted by then-U.S. Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mr. Rich failed to return to the U.S. following the indictment and was on the FBI's Most Wanted list for several years. Mr. Holder had given a "neutral, leaning towards favorable" opinion of the pardon that led directly to the pardoning of Mr. Rich on Mr. Clinton's last day in office.

"I think it is a matter of record that Mr. Holder recommended the pardoning of Mr. Rich," Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told reporters Thursday.

And then there's this tripe.

Countrywide: The Secret Scandal

Once again, the mainstream media is largely uninterested in a scandal that has swept up Democrats. New Yorkers who rely upon the New York Times as the sole source for their news would know nothing about it. Fortunately, New York does have a real newspaper - The Post.

Two influential US senators got "VIP" loans from a leading subprime mortgage lender that saved them tens of thousands of dollars, it was reported last night.

The Democratic pols, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, both received the highly favorable loans under the designation "Friend of Angelo," a reference to embattled Countrywide head Angelo Mozilo, Condé Nast Portfolio reported.

Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, while Conrad is chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. The two senators refinanced properties through the VIP program in 2003 and 2004, the report said.

Others who received "FOA" loans include Alphonso Jackson, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bush who resigned in April, and Donna Shalala, who was secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration.

The report came one day after Democratic heavyweight Jim Johnson stepped down as chief of Barack Obama's vice-presidential search committee after revelations he'd gotten Countrywide loans at very favorable rates because of Mozilo.

I'm certain that these are not the Christopher Dodd, Kent Conrad, Jim Johnson or Donna Shalala that Barack Obama knew.

Send PARD The Bill

It’s time to drive the victory home. With the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development still threatening to obstruct the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, both Wal-Mart and Pullman should step on their opponents’ throat and put an end to PARD and its meddling. In its effort to prevent the construction of a Wal-Mart in Pullman, PARD has lost city council elections and every legal appeal it has filed and has just about reached the end of the legal road. It’s time they paid the toll.

Just over a week ago, the State of Washington Division III Court of Appeals denied PARD’s latest effort to prevent the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. In its decision the court wrote: “There is no evidence in the record that the proposed Wal-Mart is likely to have a significant adverse impact on the physical environment in downtown Pullman. The fact that some identified local businesses will compete with Wal-Mart does not support a conclusion of economic blight.”

If the court ruled on PARD’s complaint that building a Wal-Mart would attract “undesirable social elements” to Pullman, I did not read about it in any news reports. From my standpoint, Washington State University attracts enough undesirable social elements in the form of far left leaning faculty, such as those who formed PARD, but I wouldn’t oppose WSU’s expansion on those grounds.

The only legal option still left open to PARD is an appeal to the Washington State Supreme Court. The clock is ticking as PARD only has 30 days to file their appeal. Wal-Mart expressed confidence that the Court of Appeals ruling left no room for an appeal, but Wal-Mart and Pullman could preempt the possibility of yet another frivolous appeal without having to wait 30 days, by pursuing recovery of legal fees from PARD.

According to Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jennifer Holder, the company is entitled to recover legal fees incurred during its nearly 4-year battle with PARD. If that’s true, then it makes sense to this legal layman that the City of Pullman could do so as well. At the last accounting I am aware of, back in 2006, Pullman had spent $20,000 fighting PARD’s appeals. That number has certainly gone far higher. And I would imagine that Wal-Mart has spent considerably more than Pullman. Presenting PARD with the bill would probably go a long way toward discouraging any further gratuitous trouble-making.

Considering that PARD’s members have so far managed to have their fun with little cost to themselves, taking a generous slice out of PARD’s hide would probably cool their enthusiasm for any further obstructionism. Wal-Mart is a savvy corporation that knows how the media would portray such a strategy. I can see it now: Here’s Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer turning its limitless resources against a small group of idealists who were only trying to protect their town’s identity. But, if the City of Pullman led the way, then Wal-Mart could simply piggyback its claims against PARD with Pullman’s. In fact, a strong case could be made that failing to recover its costs from PARD would constitute fiscal negligence on the city’s part.

PARD has not only forced Pullman and Wal-Mart to incur legal expenses, but its nearly 4 years of obstruction has cost Pullman a fortune in revenues that would have started pouring into the city’s coffers more than 2 years ago. In addition, the city has lost a considerable amount of indirect revenue that the increased indirect economic activity would have generated.

Pullman has suffered economically in another way as well. Unlike the sanctimonious snobs who stand in the way of Wal-Mart, most Americans, including those in Pullman care, about the prices they pay. As Mark Twain tried to explain in “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” lowering prices is the same as putting more money in people’s pocket. Having a Wal-Mart come to town essentially gives everyone a raise by stretching their dollars.

PARD insists that it is not quitting just yet. And while PARD is still pondering whether or not to waste more taxpayer money on another appeal, PARD chairman T.V. Reed darkly hinted at, “other things, besides legal options.”
What does he have in mind – emulating Rachel Corrie by standing in front of a tractor? Earth First-like eco-sabotage?

Whatever nefarious schemes might be swirling around in the minds of the PARDners, I have little doubt that they would be calmed considerably were they presented with a six figure legal bill.

Representative Kanjorski Layers His Lies

Who doe he think he is? Barack Obama?

Barack Obama: Not Even Up To Jimmy Carter's Standards

Hat tip, Gateway Pundit.

Update: But why take Jimmy Carter's word for it?

Obama: This Is Not The Jim Johnson I Knew

Another close Barack Obama associate gets thrown under the bus.

Jim Johnson administered the scandal-riddled Fanny Mae mortgage and collected financial favors from Countrywide Financial Corporation, a company that Obama himself derided as a predatory lender. In explaining his amazingly tin-eared choice as a staffer, "Well, look ... first of all, I am not vetting my vice presidential search committee for their mortgages," Obama answered. "I mean this is a game that can be played -- everybody you know who is anybody who is tangentially related to our campaign I think is going to have a whole host of relationships… These aren't folks who are working for me. They are not people, you know, who I have assigned to a job in the future administration."

Maybe he's hoping that the average Democrat doesn't know what "tangentially" means.

Barack: He Was For The War Before He Was Against It

Or, was it the other way around?

Let's Make Democrats Pay For Environmental Extremism

The graph at left shows what Americans view as the real number one issue in the election. And so far, Republicans have shown little interest in hanging this issue on the party that deserves the criticism.

If the Democrats want to be the Green Party, then fine, but Americans should be made aware of the price.

The Messiah Fails Test In The Wilderness

He has given in to temptation.

Obama: He Was Against It Before He Was For It

Those who pay attention to such things (ie: not Democrats) noticed that Barack Obama made a complete 180 on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force. Although the issue was not important enough for him to interrupt his campaigning, he declared himself opposed to a Senate resolution that declared the Quds a terrorist entity. In fact, he lambasted Hillary Clinton for having done so.

But now, he is labeling the Quds Force as terrorists.

"Obama may not be an unusually cynical politician, but he is extraordinarily cynical."

The Incredible Shrinking War

“Oh, are we still at war?”

That was the question asked by Seattle born New York Times writer Timothy Egan in an opinion piece published shortly before Memorial Day. He was startled when the pilot of a flight he was on asked the plane’s passengers to give special consideration to 5 soldiers on the last leg of their 3-day journey back from Iraq.

The pilot requested that the other passengers please keep their seats for a few moments so that the soldiers might leave the plane first and not have to fight the crowd on their way to see their loved ones. The other passengers applauded the soldiers, which seemed to cause more irritation for Egan.

Reflecting the prevailing attitude of the city of his birth leavened by the culture of the New York Times, Egan allowed that he and his employer might find their interest in the war rekindled if they were provided with enough photos of flag-draped coffins. And although he didn’t say so, another Abu Ghraib embarrassment or a poorly sourced rumor of civilian casualties would certainly find its way to the front page.
If only there were more bad news to report, well maybe his employer could find a little more ink to print it. But as it is, the war has been going so well lately that it has slipped below the New York Times’ radar.

The Washington Post was scratching its head at the forgotten war as well. The editors noticed last week that there has been “a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war.”

The Post was coming to the realization that we might actually be approaching a successful conclusion to the war that might be worthy of reporting to the American people:

“Now, another tipping point may be near, one that sees the Iraqi government and army restoring order in almost all of the country, dispersing both rival militias and the Iranian-trained ‘special groups’ that have used them as cover to wage war against Americans. It is -- of course -- too early to celebrate; though now in disarray, the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr could still regroup, and Iran will almost certainly seek to stir up new violence before the U.S. and Iraqi elections this fall. Still, the rapidly improving conditions should allow U.S. commanders to make some welcome adjustments -- and it ought to mandate an already-overdue rethinking by the "this-war-is-lost" caucus in Washington, including Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).”

Gee. It’s too bad that the Washington Post isn’t a newspaper or something. If it was, then it could take up some of that slack and start getting the word out. Instead it simply warned the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee that good news might overtake his defeatist agenda before the election and he’d better get ready for it.

But the problem is that the Washington Post and just about every other news outlet has shown an inverse correlation between its own reporting and our military’s success. The better we do, the less interest the media has in reporting it. It would be as though the press stopped reporting on WW II in the Pacific after the Miracle at Midway, or on the European theater after D-Day.

The American Journalism Review has actually quantified the media’s lack of interest in reporting on the Iraq War once the surge turned the tide. For the first 10 weeks of 2008, the number of television network news stories reporting on the war declined 92%. News stories on Iraq accounted for 23% of all television news. This year the networks could only squeeze the war into about 3% of their precious airtime. Cable news coverage is even worse. In the last year the cable coverage declined from 24% to 1%.

Newspapers were a bit better. Since the war turned in the United States’ favor, coverage has only declined by 70%, although war news deemed worthy of making it on the front page is down by 89%.

One can go through the library and see that this has not always been the case. The front pages of newspapers during WWII trumpeted allied successes. Compared with the few column inches permitted to war coverage today, WW II seemed to consume acres of page space.

In those days, the media were on our side. And war was not a partisan issue.

Another Foreign Leader For Barack Obama

The execrable George Galloway.

The Oil Non-Crisis

I don't know how much of this is true, but it should be looked into.

Along with the Bakken Oil Field, if our politicians would get off their asses, we could tell the Saudis and the Iranians to kiss our ass.

Instead, we do this.

An Inconvenient Truth: Global Temperatures Continue To Plummet

Global warming anyone?

Confirming what many of us have already noted from the anecdotal evidence coming in of a much cooler than normal May, such as late spring snows as far south as Arizona, extended skiing in Colorado, and delays in snow cover melting in many parts of the northern hemisphere, the University of Alabama, Huntsville (UAH) published their satellite derived Advanced Microwave Sounder Unit data set of the Lower Troposphere for May 2008.

It is significantly colder globally, colder even than the significant drop to -0.046°C seen in January 2008.

The global ∆T from April to May 2008 was -.195°C

Meanwhile, John McCain continues to support a radical power and tax grab plan that is supposed to protect us from global warming.

Obama's Judgment Fails Him Again

Once again, the man who assures us that his infallible judgment more than compensates for his lack of experience has shown another lapse in that judgment.

"This isn’t the Tony Rezko I knew, but now he has been convicted by a jury on multiple charges that once again shine a spotlight on the need for reform. I encourage the General Assembly to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent these kinds of abuses in the future."

Let's see now, Tony Rezko, Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pfleger, John Murtha, unrepentant terrorists, and maybe his own wife.

Supposedly he was "right all along" regarding the Iraq War - Uh Oh!

America Holds High School Students To a Higher Standard Than Presidential Cadidates.

Barack Obama seems to practice plagiarism without consequences, note here and here.

Meanwhile, a high school valedictorian is forced to return his medal for plagiarizing a line from the Onion.

We Have All Been Here Before

It's 1984, all over again.

Be Dumb, Live Long

I don't know how one measures the intelligence of a fly, but apparently the dumber a fly is, the longer its lifespan.

Scientists Tadeusz Kawecki and Joep Burger at the University of Lausanne said Wednesday they had discovered a "negative correlation between an improvement in a fly's mental capacity and its longevity".

I don't know if this applies to humans or not, but it seems to have worked for Robert Byrd. Patty Murray will probably live forever.

Christine Gregoire: Four More Year!!! Of What?

I'm just wondering, does Christine Gregoire have a governing philosophy other than pandering to her biggest political donors and allies?

Is It Time For Hillary To Go?

It's Getting Crowded Under Obama's Bus

It seems that Obama was recently very pro-Palestinian.



But now, according to no less an authority that Barack Obama himself, "nobody has spoken out more fiercely on the issue of anti- Semitism than I have."

Michelle Obama's "Whitey Tape"

Maybe this is the assassination that Hillary was fantasizing about.

I first heard this mentioned on Rush Limbaugh's show on Friday - Michelle Obama's racist ranting at the Trinity United Church of Christ. I wonder how Barack will go about throwing her under the bus.

How Long Will Obama Continue To Deny Success?

If even the Washington Post gets it, will the New York Times be next? The Times has managed to concede that the economy is a lot better than they had hoped for.

HERE'S BEEN a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda. So many of its leaders have now been captured or killed that U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, renowned for his cautious assessments, said that the terrorists have "never been closer to defeat than they are now."

I find it odd when a mainstream media outlet like the Washington Post considers it odd that there has been a lull in news coverage of Iraq. I mean, doesn't the Washington Post control its own content? If the Post wanted news from Iraq on its pages, then why doesn't it just publish it?

Of course, it could just be that the MSM doesn't want to report good news from Iraq until after the election.

Democracy! Whiskey! Sexy!

Freedom returns to Basra.

"Two months after the Iraqi government ordered its fledgling military to root out the religious militias here in Iraq's third-largest city, Basra is beginning to awaken from a four-year dormancy. A recent week-long visit that included several dozen interviews revealed that many of the city's nearly 3 million residents are resuming lives that had been interrupted by an austere interpretation of Islam."

No wonder Barack Obama doesn't want to visit Iraq. He doesn't want to learn anything that conflicts with he unconditional surrender plans.