All Good Things Must End

Dandy Don Meredith used to sing a Willie Nelson song when the Monday Night Football game was, for all intents and purposes, over.

Turn out the lights
The party's over
They say that
All good things must end...

That's the feeling I got after watching Brett Favre's interview at the end of Sunday Night Football.

He started crying after the first question, a guy who's coming back wouldn't be that emotional.

Favre (pictured in Green Bay's Super Bowl XXXI win) said you couldn't ask for a better ending.

Yes, you could go out a Super Bowl winner like John Elway.

The Pack will be back, but not with #4 at quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers isn't the guy to get it done.

It was ten years ago when Green Bay last won a Super Bowl, before that it was 1967.

I'm too old to wait another 20 years for the next Super Bowl win.

I am thinking...spots!

Senator's Patrick Leahy (D/VT) and
Ted Kennedy (D/MA) react to Senator Joe Biden's (D/MD) latest ethnic gaffe.

FINALLY SOMEONE HAS CLEARED THIS UP . . .

For centuries, Hindu women have worn a spot on their foreheads.

We have always naively thought that it had something to do with their
religion.

The true story has recently been revealed by the Indian Embassy in
Washington, D.C.

When one of these women gets married, she brings with her, a dowry. On her
wedding night, the husband scratches off the spot to see if he has won
either a convenience store, a gas station, a donut shop or a motel in the United States.

Just thought you would like to know.

I'm not sure who the Senator plagiarized the joke from, probably Rekha Basu.

Thanks go to our friend Pat B. for instantly knowing it to be a "Bidenism".

From the online Ragister

Saturday, December 30, 2006
Sorry, there has not been a story for this category in the last seven days.


No big surprise, I always knew they were clueless.

*****UPDATE*****

Carolyn Washburn (pictured) on the Ragister publishing pictures of Saddam's hanging...

Images from the hanging wouldn't be published unless something unexpected happened that readers would only understand by seeing them, Editor Carolyn Washburn said.

"I have been willing to publish disturbing death photos if they were important to understanding the news - the photo of the soldier dragged through the streets of Mogadishu or the soldiers burned and hung from the bridge in Fallujah," she said. "I felt that readers really couldn't understand the extreme nature of the situation without seeing the worst of what had happened.

"In this case, the news of Saddam's hanging is not a surprise."

No surprise that the Ragister would enjoy publishing pictures of the desecration of American soldiers.

God forbid they might actually show the death of a cowardly tyrant!

Death to the Ragister....anybody got a rope?

Hanging's too good for him

I would have tortured him, like he did those he murdered.

A little gas, then the shredder.


May he rot and burn in hell.

I hope he messed himself at the end.

“Tomorrow” was invented for indecisive people and for children.

Proving that "Tomorrow Begins Today" and is not just a day away, John Edwards announced he is running for President in 2008.

Introduced to the tune, "Yesterday", Edwards stunned Iowans by announcing Charles Barkley as his running mate.

It's an obvious ploy to derail the Obama factor, but Edwards said, "Why wait to do tomorrow what you can do today?".

When questioned by the press about an internet picture that shows him primping like a little girl, Edwards responded, "I can't wait to look in the mirror, cuz I get better looking each day".

Trying to show he's more than a pretty face, Edwards awed the crowd saying, "The meaning of today will not be clear until tomorrow"and that "Today is, after all, today, but yesterday is of the same substance as tomorrow".

In a move to reach evangelicals Edwards quoted Matthew 6:34, "...do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today".

Edwards shared his personal philosophy, "The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday—but never jam today".

An audience member questioned Edwards about the national debt to which Edwards replied, "Let us not bankrupt our todays by paying interest on the regrets of yesterday and by borrowing in advance the troubles of tomorrow".

In an apparent slam at polls showing him trailing Hillary Rodham Clinton, Edwards said "Today’s public opinion, though it may appear as light as air, may be tomorrow’s legislation—for better or for worse".

Edwards concluded the night by telling the crowd, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life" and "I love you more today than yesterday--but not as much as tomorrow".

Movie Matinee

" The grandest thing I've ever seen are pictures on a movie screen....
The movies are great medicine thank you Thomas Edison
For giving us the best years of our lives."---The Statler Brothers

When Chris and I began dating, Friday & Saturday night's were movie nights. On occasion we'd see two.

As the quality of the product diminished and the cost increased, we found ourselves taking in matinees.

Hollyweird continued to turn out drivel and too many people were bringing their kids, so we'd wait for video.

It's an understatement to say we rarely go out to a movie.

However, we'd come across a couple of free movie tickets that had to be used before years end.

After an anguishing process, we decided on the noon showing of Night At The Museum at the nearby twelve plex.

The movie stars Ben Stiller and features Robin Williams, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney.

It was a cute movie, a little weak, but cute.

Chris didn't like Dick Van Dyke playing a bad guy, he wasn't overly bad.

I thought it was great to see Van Dyke (81) and Rooney (86) together, they don't make it seem like acting.

The movie takes place in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

By default, Chris and I went there on a cold, rainy day in the fall of 2004.

We had planned on a trip to the Central Park Zoo or the Bronx Zoo, maybe both.

I thought the museum was AWFUL!

Most of the exhibits were like the diorama of the gorilla (pictured), out of a time warp.

I love history, especially American history, and I have an expectation that when I go to the AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY that I won't be traveling off to Africa or Asia.

For my money the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History or the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. are superior.

The Hall of Ocean Life, with the Blue Whale suspended from the ceiling, was probably the best part of the museum.

I wonder how many people will be planning trips to the museum because of the movie and how many kids, used to video game action, will be disappointed?

No Longer "Living In America"

Subtitled....I Don't Feel So Good or Papa's Got A Brand New Body Bag.

I try to be the person I should be, not the person I am. However, every once in a while it rears its ugly head.

Such is the case with the death of James Brown and to a lesser extent the passing of Gerald Ford.

How ironic that two people parodied on Saturday Night Live would die within a day of each other.

I always thought the Chevy Chase as a stumbling, bumbling Ford was over the top.

It was enhanced by a press that had turned mean after their feeding frenzy that brought down Richard Nixon.

Sure Ford bumbled, like when he was in Ames at I.S.U. and said it was great to be in Ohio.

As someone who hurt his knee playing football and would stumble down the stairs, I could empathize with the President when he tumbled down the stairs of Air Force One.

Gerald Ford was a nice man. The first unelected Vice President and President.

He was the first man I ever voted for as President, having turned 18 in 1976, although I had wanted Ronald Reagan to get the Republican nomination.

He did a better job than his "elected" successor Jimmy Carter and his pardoning of Nixon was the right thing to do, even though that's what cost him the election.

Celebrity Hot Tub featured Eddie Murphy as James Brown.

Too Hot, in the Hot Tub!

Loved the music, not so much the man.

President Gerald Ford.

"Godfather" James Brown.

Two legends from when it was a Man's, Man's, Man's World.

Now, I have to go make amends....somehow!

So this is Kwanzaa

With apologies to the "Twelve Days of Christmas".

"Seven days of a made up Holiday"

On the first day of Kwanzaa, Founder Ron Karenga gave to me...

Umoja(Unity), as in his group United Slaves.

On the second day of Kwanzaa, Founder Ron Karenga gave to me...

Kujichagulia(Self Determination), as in two dead Black Panthers killed by United Slaves.

On the third day of Kwanzaa, Founder Ron Karenga gave to me...

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), as in the time Karenga served for the torture of women members of United Slaves.

On the fourth day of Kwanzaa, Founder Ron Karenga gave to me...

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), as in the commercialization of a phony holiday.

On the fifth day of Kwanzaa, Founder Ron Karenga gave to me...

Nia (Purpose), as in the words of Al Sharpton, "De-Whitizing" Christmas. It's put there so the brotha's would par-tay.

On the sixth day of Kwanzaa, Founder Ron Karenga gave to me...

Kuumba (Creativity), as in the seven headed hydra symbol of the Symbionese Liberation Army.

On the seventh day of Kwanzaa, Founder Ron Karenga gave to me...

Imani (Faith), as in "People think it's African, but it's not. I came up with Kwanzaa because black people in this country wouldn't celebrate it if they knew it was American...". a 1978 Washington Post quote from Ron Everett now known as Maulana Karenga.


HAPPY KWANZAA!

God Bless Us Everyone

Tough Picks

The Washington Times is holding its annual Noble and Knave of the Year Contest.

Every Saturday their Editorial/Opinions section features a Noble and Knave of the Week.

The deadline for the contest is January 1st.

I'm having trouble narrowing down the list. Some of my picks include...

For Noble of the year, select three:

• Dr. Ward Casscells, now Col. Casscells, who, at 53, put aside a highly successful medicine career to join the Army Reserves.

• Laurie-Ann Fuca, for choosing to follow her son into the Army by enlisting herself at 41.

• The Alaskan villagers, for refusing Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez's offer of cheap oil.

• Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, the Navy SEAL who in September threw himself on a grenade in Iraq to save his fellow SEALs.

• Ambassador John Bolton, who leaves the United Nations better than he found it, but not as good as he could have made it -- if given the chance.

For Knave of the year, select three:

• Vermont Judge Edward Cashman, for sentencing a confessed child rapist to just 60 days in prison.

• New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, for saying that Hurricane Katrina was an act of God in response to the United States being "in Iraq under false pretenses."

• Yale University, for admitting a former member of the Taliban, but not the U.S. military.

• The American Civil Liberties Union, which attempted to prohibit its own members from criticizing the free-speech organization.

• The Stars, Stripes and Skates fund-raising organization, for writing a children's book which tried to make September 11 a "happy" event for kids.

• Jimmy Carter, for this, that and about everything else he's done, written or said recently.

• John Edwards, whose crusade against Wal-Mart apparently doesn't keep him from shopping there.

• Senator-elect Jim Webb, for ditching veterans at a post-election event in Virginia Beach.

Votes can be e-mailed to nobleknave@gmail.com with "Nobles Contest" in the subject line.

Pondering Polls

One of my pet peeves about the press is the hypothetical question, "what if".

In sports its, what if the season ended today?

It doesn't!

In politics its, what if the election were today?

It isn't!

I suppose in science its, what if frogs had wings?

They wouldn't flop their butts every time they jumped!

KCCI/TV8 commissioned a poll to find who 600 Iowans would support if the Iowa Caucus was held December 18-20, 2006.

For non-Iowans that's 13 months too soon.

With a statistical margin for error of + or - 4 percentage points, the poll found KCCI/TV 8 has too much money on their hands and a need to generate news.

For the Dummycrats; rich, pretty boys John Edwards and Barack Obama tied with 22%.

The Pickle polled 12% and the Hillary Rodham Clinton trolled at 10%.

On the Republican side John McCain polled 27%, Rudy Guiliani 26% and Mitt Romney 9%.

I won't go further into the poll where they paired potential nominees against the other and even brought one back from the politically dead (Al Gore).

Speaking of the dead, Exhume Goldwater '08 is a candidate I could support!

I'm talking early '60s Barry Goldwater, the candidate even HRC supported....

"To insist on strength … is not war-mongering. It is peace-mongering."

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

Not the early '90s Barry Goldwater that became senile and supported Hillary.

Door Matt

Oscar Wiener Matt Damon has been on MSNBC's "Hardball" acting like he has a pair.

Damon's shilling for a new movie, "The Good Shepherd", he made with such staunch patriots as Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, William Hurt and John Turturro.

The film is a fictionalized account of the birth of the C.I.A.

Both Damon and De Niro did the show.

Here's an exchange between "Hardball" host Chris Matthews and Damon...

MATTHEWS: Do you think if you waterboarded Cheney, like in the movie, that you‘d get a different truth out of him?

DAMON: Well, there‘s two answers to that question. One is he doesn‘t strike me as the kind of person who has any real personal courage. When it was his turn to go, he didn‘t go. He deferred six times.

Strong words from a man who's sole military background is in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Courage Under Fire".

Back to "NoBalls" or I mean "Hardball"...

Damon: What bothers me the most about the state we're in right now is I don't feel that there's a shared consciousness and a shared sense of sacrifice, and we have these young men and women who are fighting a war in name and our president tells us to go shopping. And I think that more can be asked of us and we need to be participating more for--I think that makes for a more robust democracy. . . .

Then an audience member is allowed a question.

Hi, my name is Meghan Wright, I'm from Richmond, Va., and I was just--this question is both for Mr. DeNiro and Mr. Damon. I was just wondering, would either of you go to war right now? Not right now, I guess, but--would you go to war if you were asked?

DeNiro: Well that's such a complex question. . . .

Damon: ....I agree with Bob that it's a complex question. It would depend on certain situations. I mean, I don't think that it's fair, as I said before that it seems that we have a fighting class in our country that's comprised of people who have to go for either financial reasons or you know, I don't think that that is fair. And if you're going to send people to war, if we all get together and decide we need to go to war, then that needs to be shared by everybody, you know. And if the president has daughters who are of age, then maybe they should go to.

So, Demon...oops Damon can question Vice President Cheney's lack of military service and his personal courage. He tells us we need a shared sense of sacrifice and that needs to be shared by everybody. However, he finds the question of his serving to be complex, but is willing to sacrifice the President's daughters.

Now that's a FIBERAL HOLLYWEIRD HYPOCRITE!

Out of the Closet

...and into full VIEW!

Per The New York Post Hillary Rodham Clinton stumbled on to the national stage - literally.

She...narrowly avoided an embarrassing face-plant as she misstepped on to the stage during her introduction.

A smiling Clinton quickly made light of her foot fumbling, quipping, "I was laughing so hard backstage, I didn't think I'd get up" the step.

Probably still can't get over how she and Bubba have been able to completely hoodwink most of America.

"We've never had a mother who ever ran for or held that position," the former first lady told the all-female cast of ABC's "The View.", speaking of the Presidency.

HRC definitely qualifies as a MOTHER.

She also told the klatch....

"In most elections it was accepted that someone was going to be the nominee and maybe the likely winner. This time that's all thrown up, and that's good."

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Tom Vilsack...all the Dummycrats make me want to throw up.

I found it interesting that the woman who wouldn't stand by her man like Tammy Wynette and bake cookies said she loved making homemade ornaments and trimming the tree.

"You'd be surprised how crafty she is," host Rosie O'Donnell cracked.

Cunning, I bet!

You'd have to be to make the money she did on commodities futures.

Village Idiot

Hillary Rodham Clinton is making the rounds (Today, The View) for the re-release of her book, "It Takes A Village".

Talking about her vote to authorize military action in Iraq, HRC told NBC's Today...

"Obviously, if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn't have been a vote and I certainly wouldn't have voted that way."

Is her Senate desk too close to John "I voted for the $87 Billion before I voted against it" Kerry's?

If there wouldn't have been a vote, you couldn't have voted any which way!

Hell, if I knew then what I know now...I wouldn't have married my first wife!

She also said she would not support a short-term increase in U.S. troop presence in Iraq unless it was part of a more comprehensive plan to stabilize the country.

I guess that rules out baking cookies.

Don Surber, a columnist for the Charleston Daily Mail, points out Hillary makes a mistake bringing attention to her idiot book.

...That anti-welfare reform chestnut has not held up very well in the decade that followed.

The Kumbaya wisdom of African villages has deteriorated into an AIDS ravaged continent of civil war where young boys carry AK47s and troops and UN peacekeepers alike gangrape young girls.

...Hillary's test is not whether she can regurgitate liberal pablum on social issues, but whether she can deliver a military that is more than just a place to park her husband's ex-girlfriends.

Swapping child-rearing tips with Rosie O'Donnell ain't gonna cut it.

More like swapping spit!

Rut-Row

Joe Barbera, half of Hanna-Barbera, has passed at the age of 95.

Bill Hanna died in 2001.

These two gentleman had a huge influence on a lot of boomer children as they produced some classic cartoons.

Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Huckleberry Hound and to a lesser extent Scooby-Doo were all favorites of mine growing up.

"Yabba- Dabba Do" Hanna-Barbera!

Sadly another piece of my youth is gone.

As Huckleberry Hound would sing, "Thou art lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, Clementine".

It wasn't Pooh

The Pickle and Jon Stewart played nice last night on The Daily Show.

The Pickle sucked up by bringing Stewart a Vil-sack that had the AFLAC duck inside sporting a #1 Vilsack fan button.

At least 3 times the Pickle referred to a "Culture of Dependency" we've created in Iraq.

If anyone would know about a "Culture of Dependency" it's a Dummycrat!

The Pickle also came across as heartless when he said it's their country, let them fight and die for it.

I was surprised that Stewart got so foul, pun intended, that he had to be bleeped when referring to President Bush.

I'm not sure if anyone else caught this flub, but The Pickle said "the light bulb went off" in his "unscripted" moment in Iraq.

When the light bulb goes off, you're in the dark.

Goodnight President Pickle

A heart attack...ack...ack...ack

With apologies to Billy Joel.

Yesterday was a normal Sunday.

I was an hour into the Packers-Lions game and Chris had just gone outside with Tory, our dog.

The phone rang, it was Chris' mom, she said she wasn't doing good because Chris' dad had a heart attack and was at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames.

I said we'd be right up, a 40 minute drive from our acreage.

I went outside to get Chris and she could tell from my look that something was wrong.

I held her in my arms and relayed what I knew.

I was surprised at how well she handled the news and the drive up, considering all we didn't know.

We got to Mary Greeley and there was nobody staffing the information desk.

We'd never been there before, but followed the signs to the Emergency area knowing that would have been his arrival point.

A very nice lady there got on the phone and located where her mom would be and walked us down to a waiting area.

Chris' dad had been having chest pains and went to lie down in bed around noon. Her mom checked on him a few minutes later and found him pale and sweating. She said he needed to get to a doctor. They were going to drive to the hospital, she called ahead and they said to dial 911.

Thanks to her insistence that he get help and good luck that the Cardiac Cath Lab staff was there, they normally are closed on Sunday, what would have been a major heart attack was averted.

The staff at Mary Greeley was outstanding.

I was amazed at how friendly each staff member we encountered was. They kept us informed and showed genuine concern.

Chris' dad is in the Intensive Care Unit and may move to a private room today and probably will be hospitalized until Friday.

To quote Emerson, Lake & Palmer...."Ooooh, what a lucky man he was."

Between my mom's ongoing fight with metastatic breast cancer, Chris' dads heart attack and losses we've experienced this year....

I'll end with The Grass Roots lyric..."Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today."

Moi?

When I started this blog back in April, I had no idea of the attention I would receive.

I thought that a few friends would enjoy my stuff.

I had no idea I'd get people like this....

Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf

Muhammed left a comment on my Donald Rumsfeld posting yesterday.

He also is part of another blog here...thebigmess.blogspot.com

Nice!?

Today I am totally stunned by this national recognition....

I have been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year"!!!

Ronald Reagan and I now have two things in common, both of us worked for Palmer Broadcasting---he at WHO Radio and me at KLYF Radio.

Apparently Time liked the content I create on the World Wide Web.

The 2006 "Person of the Year" hits newsstands tomorrow.

Maybe there's still hope I can win the Heisman!?

All I can say about my new found fame is, it's about TIME!

Donald H. Rumsfeld

"If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much."

And so he goes out 10 days shy of being the longest serving Secretary of Defense, I for one will miss him.

Here's what President Bush had to say yesterday about Rummy...

"One of America's most skilled, energetic and dedicated public servants."

"This man knows how to lead and he did," the president said. "And the country is better off for it."

"Every decision Don Rumsfeld made over the past six years, he always put the troops first, and the troops knew it," Bush said.

Vice President Cheney said..."Donald Rumsfeld is the finest secretary of defense this nation has ever had."

He should know since he served in that capacity under President Bush's father.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace said the 2.4 million members of the U.S. military joined in saluting "this incredible American, for his leadership and service to our country."

"He's a man of enormous commitment," Pace said. "He pushed us hard. The only person he pushed harder was himself."

When previously asked how he'd like to be remembered by history, Rummy said...."Better than the local press."

I'm sure by local press he means those fools he had to suffer that cover the Pentagon.

Here's probably the key reason they didn't like him....

"If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't, I'll just respond, cleverly."

His clever responses didn't win him friends in Congress either.

It was quite a slap in the face how quickly the Senate confirmed his successor, Robert Gates, who doesn't give me a great deal of comfort.

Here's another reason I love Rummy...

"Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was - by a taxpayer. "

I think he truly believed that and too many in Washington have forgotten that.

Here's this Pattonesque quote regarding Iraqi resistance fighters...

"If a person is determined to fight to the death, then they may very well have that opportunity."

Thank you for your service to this country!

Here piggy, piggy, piggy

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named CommieTommie Harkin its "Porker of the Month".

I'm sure the junior Senator must be as proud as when he supported Dean 'The Scream' in '04 (pictured).

As I shared on Tuesday, CommieTommie says....

“I happen to be a supporter of earmarks, unabashedly. But I don’t call them earmarks. It is ‘Congressional directed spending.’ ”

CAGW replies....This is a prime example of Washington doublespeak because all federal spending is directed by Congress.

...earmarking is a secretive, corrupting, and wasteful practice that bypasses normal budget procedures.

As proof CAGW cites the Senator himself as they noted his earmarking millions of dollars in defense spending for breast cancer research....

“Now, was that bad? If you left it to the Defense Department, they never would have done it.”

The reason the Defense of Department does not conduct cancer research on its own accord is that such spending...falls outside its national security mission.

In fiscal 2005, the federal government spent $560.1 million on breast cancer research through the National Cancer Institute.

If Sen. Harkin wants more funding for breast cancer research, his proposal should be debated, authorized, and integrated into the federal government’s existing research framework; not snuck into an unrelated bill. The duplication of efforts across different departments and agencies weakens the government’s overall approach to all research.

CAGW says since 2000 CommieTommie Harkin has brought home the bacon to the tune of $276 Million.

Hoo-O-O-O-Ey!

That's too freakin' high!

A chance to dine with Governor Kathleen Blanco fetched a winning bid of $1 at a recent fundraising auction hosted by a group of business leaders.

The president of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce, in northeastern Louisiana, said she called Mrs. Blanco's office to apologize for a "poor joke gone awry".

The bidding opened at $1,000 and dropped to $500 before the auctioneer accepted a $1 bid from bank executive.

The one who should apologize is the poor joke of a Governor who cried while New Orleans drowned.

It's Baaack!

A tax by any other name is still a stupid idea!

Project Destiny is a plan to add another penny to the sales tax collected in Dallas, Polk and Warren Counties.

According to the web site...

Project Destiny is a blueprint for the future of our economic and community development efforts. It's the culmination of months of discussion among business and community leaders to provide property tax relief and fund regional quality of life amenities through a penny
local option sales tax in Polk, Dallas and Warren Counties.

It's a blueprint to more waste!

According to the City of Des Moines' finance department, the owner of a $100,000 home would save about $84 a year.

However, that same person would pay $160 in higher sales taxes. That's according to the Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance.

Let's just say you're a business leader and you decide to produce a product that will net your company $84 for each sale, but would cost you $160 to produce.

You are not going to be a business leader for long!

Certainly not the ten years this tax would be in effect if enacted by voters on July 10, 2007.

The business leaders behind this tax increase are the Greater Des Moines Partnership, a business development group outgrowth of the Chamber of Commerce, that since 2003 has pushed for tax increases.

Windsor Heights resident Richard Christie has an Internet site to oppose the tax increase.

It should be noted the vote also would not freeze property assessments, which have climbed steadily for most homeowners, or prevent cities from increasing their property tax rates.

Here's what you should be reading Hillary!

From The New York Observer

An Alternative to Baker: Kill Our Enemies, Quickly

By Richard Brookhiser

...The solution now is to put 30,000 troops into Baghdad, without stripping Anbar, and kill the enemies of order. If the generals say they don’t need 30,000 more troops, find new generals....

...This is not international social work, or finishing a job. Since the violent in Iraq include Al Qaeda, and terrorist wannabes, killing them is a twofer. Let the end begin.

War For Oil?

Was the headline in today's Washington Times/Inside Politics column...

"Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force."
-- President Jimmy Carter, State of the Union Address, Jan. 23, 1980

jimmycarterlibrary.org verifies it.


As the T-shirt shows, "Jimmy Carter--Not Just Peanuts".

What it doesn't show, but what we've come to know....

JUST PLAIN NUTS!

Come Again!?

This quote from Bill Clinton's former press secretary Mike McCurry made me nearly choke

....the record and legacy of the Clinton presidency is, dare I use the word, 'stain.' "

McCurry was spoke to students at his alma mater , Princeton, on Monday.

"In some ways, he had enormous potential and political gifts. But, they didn't ARISE because of his lack of discipline," McCurry added.

(Highlight is mine)

During his speech, McCurry also used the word..."exacerbated".

It's been said before that Clinton needed to be a little more HANDS ON!

Like Bill & Monica, this has all been a little too easy.

I doubt that is what Iowa Dummycrats had in mind when they advised Hillary she may need to loosen up if she wants the state to support her Presidential plans.

(the last sentence was added a few hours later)

Fox to guard chicken coop

I can't believe anyone is actually falling for this!

Dems to Wipe Out Pet Projects in Bills

"There will be no congressional earmarks," Representative David Obey (D-WI) and Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) said Monday in a statement announcing their plans, which were quickly endorsed by incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi,(D-CA) and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid(D-NV).

Robert Byrd!?!

"They call me 'The Pork King,' they don't know how much I enjoy it." - Sen. Robert Byrd

I think there's a bill in the West Virginia statehouse changing their name to BYRDLAND!

Last month the New York Times had an article that stated....

Dozens of West Virginia bridges, roads and public buildings bear his name. Among his recent appropriations feats was putting the Coast Guard’s Operations System Center, its National Vessel Movement Center and, next summer, its National Maritime Center in his landlocked state, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Go here to see the projects named for the onetime Kleagle of The Ku Klux Klan.

Has our own CommieTommie Harkin heard of this?

Here's Harkin in the same New York Times article....

“I happen to be a supporter of earmarks, unabashedly. But I don’t call them earmarks. It is ‘Congressional directed funding.’ ”

There's the rub!

You may recall CommieTommie helped Ramona Cunningham(pictured), of CIETC fame, obtain $1.4 Million in 'Congressional directed funding' for a center that bears his name.

Dummycrats don't know Shi'ite

Representative Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) is the incoming Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

In a recent interview with Congressional Quarterly, a magazine that covers political and legislative issues in Congress, Reyes incorrectly answered a couple of intelligence questions.

Is al Qaeda a Sunni organization, or Shi'ite?

"Predominantly -- probably Shi'ite," Reyes said.

BUZZ...WRONG!

Al Qaeda, founded by Osama bin Laden, is a Sunni organization and views Shiites as heretics.

Asked to describe the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Reyes responded...

"Hezbollah. Uh, Hezbollah, Why do you ask me these questions at five o'clock?"

Maybe he thought it was a Three Dog Night Song?

Coming on the heels of Nancy Pa-LOSER'S statements...

"Asked by a reporter about how 'President Bush today blamed the surge of violence in Iraq on al Qaeda,' incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded with a disjointed answer about how 'the 9/11 commission dismissed that notion a long time ago, and I feel sad that the president is resorting to it again. "

AND...

"....The War on Terror is the war in Afghanistan."

It's obvious that he was picked to make Pa-LOSER look smarter!

I told you Leonard BOZO-well could chair that committee.

"Blue Balls, Blue Balls...

It's dollar night at the titty club..."

Thanks to Larry the Cable Guy.

I loved this headline from The Star Press....

Topless bars put under spotlight

It is a Gannett paper so that explains it.

It seems there's a couple of strip clubs in Muncie, Indiana and they are on the hot seat for contributing to crime in their neighborhoods.

What is interesting though is this....

A 2001 study of topless bars in Fort Wayne, conducted by professors at the University of California, showed little difference between offenses reported in the areas around topless bars and other areas chosen for comparison.

In other studies conducted in other parts of the country, Ball State's Eric Kelly found no clear-cut indication of an increase in crime in areas around topless bars.

Who commissioned such a study?

Strip clubs in Fort Wayne or perverted professors in California? Who has the bigger boobs?

How pathetic that these "professors" have to go all the way to Indiana to get their lap dance.

Do they not have strip clubs in Berkeley, or is it because they fear the feminists there?

Also of interest, the article doesn't tell you the background of Eric Kelly and under what pretenses he conducted strip club studies in other parts of the country.

I think he's just in the article so they could use BALL STATE!

Nuttier than a fruitcake?

Kirk Douglas turned 90 last weekend and he chose that time to share his senility LOUDLY with THE WORLD.

My name is Kirk Douglas. You may know me. If you don't ... Google me. I was a movie star and I'm Michael Douglas' dad, Catherine Zeta-Jones' father-in-law...

Let's face it: THE WORLD IS IN A MESS and you are inheriting it. Generation Y, you are on the cusp. You are the group facing many problems: abject poverty, global warming, genocide, AIDS, and suicide bombers to name a few. These problems exist, and the world is silent. We have done very little to solve these problems. Now, we leave it to you. You have to fix it because the situation is intolerable.

What is intolerable is shallow self-absorbed celebrities who feel the need to share their wacko ideas about THE WORLD with the world!

The world is now worse off than it was when Douglas was younger and Hitler was inflicting his wrath on Douglas' people and all others who weren't Aryan?

The world is worse off than when Stalin killed millions of his own people, in the country of origin for Douglas' parents?

My grandmother is 94 and so is Chris' grandmother, they have more going on upstairs than Mr. Douglas.

I did Google Kirk Douglas and came back with these pictures that appear to show him as a flower child and some sort of weird homo-pedophile?

I recall the words Frosty the Snowman spoke when they placed that hat upon his head....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

No Man Is Just a Number

I'm sure that will be the cry of the fiberal crowd, just like no human being is illegal, after this Reuters news story.

U.S. has most prisoners in world....

We rank first in the world in locking up our fellow citizens," said Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports alternatives in the war on drugs.

"We now imprison more people for drug law violations than all of western Europe, with a much larger population, incarcerates for all offenses."

We're #1! USA! USA!

Could it be that Europe has a too relaxed policy when it comes to "recreational" drug use?

Can you say Denmark?

Ryan King, a policy analyst at The Sentencing Project, a group advocating sentencing reform, said the United States has a more punitive criminal justice system than other countries....

Commenting on what the prison figures show about U.S. society, King said various social programs, including those dealing with education, poverty, urban development, health care and child care, have failed.

No kidding!

I'm sure he thinks it's because we haven't thrown enough money at the social programs.

I remember in 1992 then State Representative Tom "Tubby" Baker was stunned to learn that people coming out of prison were no better educated than when they went in.

I felt it necessary to point out to him it was PRISON and not COLLEGE!

Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in California, said the high prison numbers represented a proper response to the crime problem in the United States. Locking up more criminals has contributed to lower crime rates, he said.

"The hand-wringing over the incarceration rate is missing the mark," he said.

Scheidegger said the high prison population reflected cultural differences, with the United States having far higher crimes rates than European nations or Japan. "We have more crime. More crime gets you more prisoners."

Finally a voice of reason!

In the immortal words sung by Sammy Davis Jr., "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time"!

PS: The title of the article and the picture come from the mid-1960s TV show 'The Prisoner'.

Another wrinkle for the Pickle

A woman I once worked with named Margaret used an expression, Oh pickle, whenever things weren't going well.

It works for Presidential POOH-bah Vilsack now.

I call him The Pickle, because WHO TV weather wienie Ed Wilson kept calling him Vlassic at a Junior Olympics event.

Just days after telling black Dummycrats in South Carolina, "we have work to do" to root out racial bias in Iowa's state government.

The NAACP is withdrawing from his task force set up to investigate allegations of racial discrimination at Iowa Workforce Development.

The Rev. Keith Ratliff Sr., head of the state's NAACP chapter, complained that the governor was trying to narrow the group's investigation.

"The NAACP agreed to lead the investigation but the subsequent communication from the governor and his staff contradicts the original request and significantly restricts the parameters of the investigation".

They scheduled a news conference for Monday to discuss this development.

The president of South Carolina State University's Young Democrats, said discrimination claims in Iowa would only discourage her from voting for Vilsack in the primary if she learned he tried to hide them.

Pooh, Pooh the thought!

The more honed the spotlight becomes folks will find The Pickle won't be able to bear up.

They don't make 'em like that anymore

Jeane Kirkpatrick, a rare breed who put country and principles before politics, has passed at the age of 80.

Here are excerpts from one of her finest speeches, the 1984 Republican Convention.

Thank you very much for that warm welcome.

Thank you for inviting me.

This is the first Republican Convention I have ever attended.

I am grateful that you should invite me, a lifelong Democrat. On the other hand, I realize that you are inviting many lifelong Democrats to join this common cause.....

Democratic presidents and presidential candidates....were not afraid to be resolute nor ashamed to speak of America as a great nation. They didn't doubt that we must be strong enough to protect ourselves and to help others.

They didn't imagine that America should depend for its very survival on the promises of its adversaries.

They happily assumed the responsibilities of freedom....

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

Today, foreign policy is central to the security, to the freedom, to the prosperity, even to the survival of the United States.

And our strength, for which we make many sacrifices, is essential to the independence and freedom of our allies and our friends....

They said that saving Grenada from terror and totalitarianism was the wrong thing to do - they didn't blame Cuba or the communists for threatening American students and murdering Grenadians - they blamed the United States instead.

But then, somehow, they always blame America first.

When our Marines, sent to Lebanon on a multinational peacekeeping mission with the consent of the United States Congress, were murdered in their sleep, the "blame America first crowd" didn't blame the terrorists who murdered the Marines, they blamed the United States.

But then, they always blame America first.

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

But then, they always blame America first.

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

But then, they always blame America first....

The American people know that it's dangerous to blame ourselves for terrible problems that we did not cause.

They understand just as the distinguished French writer, Jean Francois Revel, understands the dangers of endless self- criticism and self-denigration.

He wrote: "Clearly, a civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself."

It is amazing how so much of what she said the night of August 20, 1984 rings true today, easily adaptable to any current situation.

That is proof of a true statesman!

Here's one of my favorite quotes of hers too...

"[Democrats] can’t get elected unless things get worse—and things won’t get worse unless they get elected."

Thanks to shortsighted voters, that'll soon ring true too!

God Bless You and Rest In Peace Jeane Kirkpatrick.

Visual World Peas

All Yoko Ono is saying is GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.

The widow of John Lennon has asked that this date, the anniversary of his murder, become a worldwide day of healing.

In a recent New York Times ad she urged readers to mark the anniversary by apologizing to those who have suffered because of violence and war.

IMAGINE that!

She's having trouble with her own MIND GAMES..."I don't know if I am ready yet to forgive the one who pulled the trigger. ... But healing is what is urgently needed now in the world."

I'm sure she could have easily said, NOBODY TOLD ME there'd be days like this.

WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT!

In giving POWER TO THE PEOPLE, Ono went on to say... "Let's wish strongly that one day we will be able to say that we healed ourselves, and by healing ourselves, we healed the world."

Is that (JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER?

All I can say is WOMAN, please promise you'll go COLD TURKEY and never attempt to sing again!

'Cuz if you do, INSTANT KARMA's gonna get you!