Sep
30
2007
Banner never flown at Planned Parenthood
Sep
30
2007
Don’t hold your breath until it actually happens, Murtha will no doubt attempt to hide behind a privilege of the elite, the protection granted Congressmen under the Speech and Debate clause. This law allows Congressmen to say just about anything about anybody without fear of legal jeopardy. you know, just the way an elite class should be treated.
“Murtha, a former Marine. accused Marines of “cold-blooded murder and war crimes” during the Haditha incident. Frank Wuterich, a Marine sergeant involved in the incident, has sued Murtha for libel and invasion of privacy over his comments.
According to AP, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer wants Murtha to explain why he made this statement and any documents he has related to the incident.
From the AP: ‘You’re writing a very wide road for members of Congress to go to their home districts and say anything they choose about private persons and be able to do so without any liability. Are you sure you want to do that?” Collyer said, adding later, ”How far can a congressman go and still be protected?”"
Politico is not in favor of Collyer’s ruling;
“Frankly, I don’t understand this ruling at all, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is appealed by the Justice Dept. and/or House general counsel’s office on behalf of Murtha. Murtha, who can say some inappropriate things once in a while, was clearly acting in his capacity as a lawmaker when he made the comments and is thus protected by the Speech or Debate Clause from any type of prosecution for official acts.”
But, even if Murtha can not be prosecuted for his words, mustn’t he be held to explain if they are true. The Marine involved here has had his reputation smeared, where else can he go to get his good name returned? And could that ever happen without a direct confrontation and refutation of Murtha? The object of the wrongful defamation suit, while we may want it to be a diminished and punished Murtha, is to set the record straight and return a good man’s reputation. If the truth also hurts Murtha, well that is just too bad, he brought it upon himself. Only an unambiguous public decision showing Murtha to be have been wrong will achieve a reversal of the damage done in public to this Marine. Murtha should be forced to appear and either defend his remarks with facts and supporting evidence, or he must say that he is a liar. Only after he is placed under oath in a court of law, with cameras present I might add, so that all the world can see, can Murtha be excused from the ramifications of his remarks. Perhaps, as a member of the elite, he can not be held legally accountable for what he has so far said, lucky elitists, civility and equal protection under the law requires that he at least be held to tell the truth once, under oath and with the threat of perjury attached. Surely even the elite are not above telling the truth, once in awhile.
Sep
25
2007
The legitimization of Ahmadinejad
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The legitimization of Ahmadinejad
Filed Under War and Terrorism | 3 Comments
Yesterday, I was moved by the reaction of my coworkers, who all seemed riveted to news reports of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York, to wonder aloud if perhaps we might find some silver lining in the disgraceful invitation by Columbia University for the Iranian theocrat to speak in a “distinguished lecture series”.
Unlike many liberals, who can’t contemplate the possibility that they’re wrong, I regularly like to test my thinking and the logic of my ideology by playing Devil’s Advocate. So I asked, “Could Americans be getting a good look at the evil this man represents? Could this help resolve some quarters of the American continent to confront Iran more directly?”
Seventy years before this week’s invitation to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Columbia rolled out the red carpet for a senior official of Adolf Hitler’s regime, according to research by Prof. Stephen Norwood of the University of Oklahoma, who is completing a book on the academic community’s response to Hitler in the 1930s….Well, there goes that idea.In 1936, the Columbia administration announced it would send a delegate to Nazi Germany to take part in the 550th anniversary celebration of the University of Heidelberg. This, despite the fact that Heidelberg already had been purged of Jewish faculty members, instituted a Nazi curriculum, and hosted a burning of books by Jewish authors. Prof. Arthur Remy, who served as Columbia’s delegate to the Heidelberg event, later remarked that the reception at which chief book-burner Josef Goebbels presided was “very enjoyable.”…
Eventually, in the late 1930s, Butler would change his position and speak out against the Nazis. Unfortunately, it was too late to undo the damage he already had done by helping to legitimize the Hitler regime….
According to Israel’s ambassador, inviting Ahmadinejad to speak is the equivalent of “inviting Hitler to [speak] in the 1930s,” because “appeasing fanatics and granting them legitimacy leads to genocide and war.” Will some future Columbia president one day look back at the invitation to Ahmadinejad and say the same thing?
Sep
24
2007
Excerpt from the latest e-mall newsleltter from little Dick Durbin’s group:
“Heroes like Henry Waxman and John Conyers have been holding hearings, issuing subpoenas…”
With heroes like these, who needs enemies?
Sep
22
2007
There could be stories like this on the news every night, but we never see them. Watch and be amazed by the courage of our troops – and even moreso, their dedication to the mission and each other.
Sep
19
2007
I got the following in my email today, unsolicited, from someone named Andre Bright. I don’t see anything previously in my email from this gentleman, and a check of the site indicates we’ve never gotten a comment from anyone named Andre. (I do delete a rare few comments, usually for vulgarity or racist remarks, sometimes for just being remarkably stupid – neither of which fits the style and tone of this email.)
Why are you not speaking out and challenging Mayor Giuliani, Senators Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney & John McCain to show up for the All-American Presidential Forum on September 27, 2007 at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD?My first reaction – tongue planted firmly in cheek – was: “How can we take Tavis Smiley seriously, if he seriously expects us to believe he’d ever take Republicans seriously?”This is why many African-American voters, myself included, do not take the Republican party seriously as a political option. In the words of Tavis Smiley, “how can we take them seriously, if they don’t take us seriously?”
First the GOP presidential candidates fail to commit to Hispanic voters for a debate sponsored by UniVision, and now the top four candidates pull a no show for a forum geared at speaking to issues that affect African-Americans?
How can the Republicans continue to ignore the many Black and Brown voters of this country, and expect to be taken seriously as viable options by minority voters?
We can take this ad infinitum. Who wants to play the chicken and who wants to be the egg? To the tune of some 90% per presidential election, blacks have made known their opinion that the Republican Party doesn’t care about them. Public opinion polls, boundless anecdotal evidence, and regular references in popular culture indicates most blacks (and liberals) think we’re racists. And so Republican elected officials and candidates make no effort to fight the losing battle. When they dare to believe, despite the benefit of past experience, that they can try to fight the battle, and then go to a function sponsored by “black leaders”, they’re usually ambushed by left-leaning propaganda skillfully woven into “black-themed” issues. Worst of all, large portions of the Republican base, jaded by that past experience, sometimes look at such attempts as pandering to blackmail perpetrated by those who wish to perpetuate the cycle – which is, of course, what it is.
The email goes on to hint at a sad truism in today’s society – the only people who can make efforts to resolve this are the people who don’t have the power to resolve this.
This forum, by many accounts, has been regarded as the fairest and most balanced of all of the presidential debates. This was addressed by former Vice Presidential candidate Jack Kemp just a few weeks ago in an editorial he wrote for the Washington Times and on www.TownHall.com. Mr. Kemp also spoke about the wonderful opportunity this will be for the GOP to reach out and express their ideas to an audience composed primarily of people of color.Count me among those who will continue to beat our heads against the wall of black disenfranchisement in the our-way-or-the-highway Democratic Party. But when the only people who can afford to speak out are people not running for office, and the perceived lack of attention from people running for office is used to further the con run by the other side, it does not bode well for our future success.I was even more impressed to hear that Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, also spoke favorably about the forum and the opportunity for the GOP to reach minority voters.
I fear all we can hope for is patience, that the continuing rise of the black middle class and the gradual erosion of strict definitions of black vs. white, amid the growth of interracial marriages and integrated suburban neighborhoods and schools, marginalizes not “the black community” per se, but only those who think there ought to be one separate from whites.
Sep
18
2007
Run away!*
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Run away!*
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* Where do you suppose Rep. Murtha was off to in such a hurry? Running from the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, perhaps?
Big hat tip to the good people at HotAir!
Sep
17
2007
Today was the last day in office for Alberto Gonzales. And, while we had our complaints with him over the handling of the illegals who broke into our country, we had no complaint with the firings which lead to his departure. Firing US Attorneys is a power vested in the executive branch and the President chose to exercise that power, no crime, no scandal, no reason for the President or the AG to explain why. It shouldn’t have become the political quagmire the Democrats MoveOnocrats made it out to be.
I don’t want to get into a protracted summary of Gonzales’ career as AG, it had good points and bad, as all careers do. But, there is one aspect for which he deserves the unending praise of all the American people; on his watch we were not attacked again. It is no small thing that the terrorists have failed to get us again. And Alberto Gonzales was a big part of the reason why we have been so safe.
Were Mr. Gonzales to never do a good thing with the rest of his life he has done himself proud already. And for that contribution alone he deserves our thanks, and our respect.
Now we can only hope that the next guy does as well. And we pray that the obstructionists in Congress allow him to begin sooner rather than later, for we need to maintain the vigil, the enemy will not rest while we delay.
Sep
11
2007
We must remember, no matter how painful.
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We must remember, no matter how painful.
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…because no one can jump into the arms of God. Oh, no. You have to fall.
Image Credit: Richard Drew, AP
My grandfather was 39 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and turned 40 a few days later. I was 40 on 9/11. He was, like me, too old to actually pick up a weapon and fight those who had attacked us (though he, like me, made every attempt to do so). I wish he was still around, I would like to know how he felt after that day, and if it was anything like what I feel today. I think that for him, like others of his generation, only after decades did the profound feeling caused by Pearl Harbor even begin to recede. It will be at least as long before we should even hope to have the pain of 9/11 ease, if ever does so.
As I watch the videos and listen to the audio of that day, the disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger is still there. Six years later and those images and sounds still make fresh the old cuts and wounds. Perhaps those cuts and wounds do not sting as much as when they were first inflicted, or perhaps I have just become inured, but my mind still reels from the abhorrence of that day, and always will. And I place these images and sounds here to rub raw the wounds we all suffered that day, because only by remembering the pain of our loss can we be sure to fight enough to prevent it from happening again.
Please read what these others have to say about today’s anniversary. The words and stories they have written are all so much more elegant and poignant than anything I could ever write…
- Tuesday Morning – Cox & Forkum
- 9/11 – Bryan at Hot Air
- Remembrance and resistance – Michelle Malkin
And be sure to read this from Ace… because it is the most truth I have ever read about 9/11.
Sep
10
2007
MoveOn.org has run an ad in the NY Times in which they ask “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?”. Of course the good General can never betray them for they have never been on the same side as is the patriot now leading our troops in Iraq.
It makes far more sense for Americans to ask MoveOn.org why they betrayed us.
Sep
10
2007
Kudos Duncan Hunter
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Kudos Duncan Hunter
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Forgive me for not having the exact quote; this morning on Fox News Rep. Duncan Hunter said something close to this:
‘The Democrats have spent the last three years telling the President to listen to his Generals on the ground in Iraq, now that he is doing that they criticize him for listening to his Generals’
I understand that he also had a well phrased set of opening remarks before General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker began their report to Congress. I’ll keep looking for transcripts of these two Hunter gems and will post same when found.
Sep
6
2007
(Goodbye Maestro, and thank you for the beautiful music.)
Bravo! Bravissimo!
Nessun Dorma
None must sleep! None must sleep!
And you, too, Princess,
in your cold room,
gaze at the stars
which tremble with love
and hope!But my mystery is locked within me,
no-one shall know my name!
No, no, I shall say it as my mouth
meets yours when the dawn is breaking!And my kiss will break the silence
which makes you mine!(No-one shall know his name,
and we, alas, shall die!)Vanish, o night!
Fade, stars!
At dawn I shall win
Sep
4
2007
Global Warming’s Sister Sharon Falconer*
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Global Warming’s Sister Sharon Falconer*
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I found a very funny story over at NewsBusters this morning. It seems that someone watched The Right Reverend Al Gore’s movie and took it’s Global Warming conclusions a bit too literally, and is now finding those conclusions quite a bit more inconvenient than truth. Not to fear though, the answer here is clear. Since Global Warming is the new religion of the left, this guy doesn’t need to call the Russians for help, he just needs to show a little faith and pray harder to the Global Warming gods (Gore and Dicaprio) that the ice won’t crush his boat and polar bears won’t munch on his frozen carcass.
I’m sure they’ll race to his rescue… right after their spa treatments, facials, and a few Half-Caf Double Espresso Soy-milk Lattes.
* A character in Elmer Gantry – A novel by Sinclair Lewis and 1960 film starring Burt Lancaster.