Have You Seen Cheryl Ann Magner?

My friends at Stop the ACLU need help finding a young lady named Cheryl Ann Magner who has been missing since early June.

ChristmasGhost has posted the following information on their site:

MISSING.......PLEASE HELP!

This is a photo of Cheryl Ann Magner.
She has been missing since the beginning of June. She was last seen in Marin County, Ca.
Please ,anyone who has seen this 17 year old girl please call 415-472-2994. This is her mother's phone number...please do not call unless you have information that would be helpful.
UPDATE.....I am changing the contact number to the Marin County Sheriff's Department. The number is 415-499-7365.If you have seen cheryl, or think you have, please call them immediatly.
Also, many of you have asked for more info. which I should have added the first time around.
So here it is: Cheryl is 5'8 and 140 pounds.She was last seen by a friend. That was the last time anyone saw her.
Cheryl is a beautiful[as you can all see] sweet and very trusting girl.
Please ...anyone who has information,...please please please contact the sheriff's department.
We all love her and miss her, and can't imagine life without her.
Please......
Any information or help would be greatly appreciated by the family.

Please spread this information around and post it on your site if you can. The more eyes that see the photo and contact information, the better the chances of finding her will be. Feel free to copy and paste this post in full if you need to.

Tags:Cheryl Ann Magner,Missing Person

Shuttle Grounded!

(Via Fox News)

SPACE CENTER, Houston — NASA said Wednesday it is grounding future shuttle flights because foam debris that brought down Columbia is still a risk — and might have doomed Discovery if the big chunk of broken insulation had come off just a bit earlier and slammed into the spacecraft.

A large chunk of foam flew off Shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank just two minutes after liftoff Tuesday morning. Shuttle managers do not believe it hit the shuttle, posing a threat to the seven astronauts when they return to Earth. But they plan a closer inspection of the spacecraft to be sure.

"You have to admit when you're wrong. We were wrong," said shuttle program manager Bill Parsons. "We need to do some work here, and so we're telling you right now, that the ... foam should not have come off. It came off. We've got to go do something about that."

This is too bad! What had been viewed as a picture perfect and flawless launch, has now been tarnished by another piece of thermal insulation from the external tank.

Parsons said, "Call it luck or whatever, it didn't harm the orbiter." If the foam had broken away earlier in flight, when the atmosphere is thicker, it could have caused catastrophic damage to Discovery.

"We think that would have been really bad, so it's not acceptable," said Parsons' deputy, Wayne Hale.

Engineers believe the foam was 24 to 33 inches long, 10 to 14 inches wide, and just a few inches thick, only somewhat smaller than the chunk that smashed into Columbia's left wing during liftoff in January 2003.

In my opinion, NASA is doing the right thing by going ahead and making the decision now to indefinitely ground flights until the problem is resolved. Unfortunately, no matter how successful the rest of the mission is, it will no doubt be treated as a failure by a lot of folks in the media and the blame game will begin in earnest. I imagine you can also expect wall-to-wall coverage from the media of the potential doom that awaits the seven astronauts when they attempt reentry. I certainly hope that doesn't happen.

I won't buy into all of the hype and I hope it is short lived. NASA has been sending humans into space since Alan B. Shepard in 1961, and they've had an incredible record of success during that time span. The Challenger and Columbia disasters were indeed tragic, but also rare considering the great risks inherent in space flight. The astronauts know these risks and accept them as part of the job.

NASA was prepared for this flight and had cameras in place to capture all angles from launch to orbit insertion. They have the data available to assess whether or not the shuttle was damaged, and with all eyes on them, I don't believe they have any reason to be less than forthcoming. If NASA says the orbiter has not been damaged, I have a tendency to believe them.

My thoughts and prayers will be with the seven astronauts during this mission and until they are safely returned to Earth. I have no doubt in my mind that they will do just that!

Also linked at Mudville Gazette and Outside the Beltway.

Tags:Space Shuttle Discovery,Space Shuttle,NASA,

Godspeed, Discovery!

Carnival Roundup

The 7th Edition of Carnival of the Clueless is up, as always, at Rightwing Nut House. Could it actually be 7 already? It seems like it was just yesterday. Thanks for the link, Rick!

The 149th Carnival of the Vanities is up at Pratie Place. Nice job, Melinama.

Rush to Judgment?

(Via Sky News)

Much has been made recently of the shooting death of Brazillian Jean Charles de Menezes on Friday by London's Metropolitan Police at Stockwell Station. I would agree that it would be a tragedy if the police killed a truly innocent man, but the facts leave some doubt as to whether or not this is true:

The shooting happened at 10am when armed plain clothes police officers shot Mr de Menezes as he tried to board a train at the underground station.

He had emerged from a nearby house that was under surveillance because of a suspected link to Thursday's attempted bomb attacks. His clothing and behaviour added to the officers' suspicions.

He caught a bus to Stockwell Tube where he was challenged by officers, who told him to stop. The man then bolted down an escalator, according to witnesses.

It appears he tried to board a train before being shot five times in the head by an officer with an automatic pistol.

If it is true that he had no connection to the recent terrorist attacks in London, his behavior when confronted would, I think, lead any reasonable law enforcement officer to assume otherwise: He left a home under surveillance in suspicious clothing, boarded a bus to Stockwell Tube, was told to stop by officers, but instead ran toward a train in an attempt to board it. It seems to me that this man had an opportunity to save his own life. Why he didn't is known only to him. Without knowing why, it's hard to criticize the officers involved.

If de Menezes was innocent, his actions certainly indicated otherwise. Why would a person run if they had nothing to hide? We don't know. We only know that he ran. Considering the current events of the last couple of weeks, I would think the last thing an innocent person would do when confronted by police is run toward a train. Again, the reason he ran was known only to him. What assumption would you have made if you were placed in the same situation as the Metropolitan Police based on everything that had occured in the last two weeks?

My point is this: I don't think that anyone should rush to judgment against the Metropolitan Police in this situation. For all they knew, this man was heading toward a train to detonate a bomb. Since he did not stop when asked, what other assumption could they have made? I believe they erred on the side of saving lives and had only a split second to make that determination. They did what they were trained to do.

Assuming a bomb had been detonated and many were killed as a result of inaction by the Metropolitan Police, they would be facing questions about why they did nothing to stop it.
Is it really fair to put the people sworn to protect you in a situation where they are wrong regardless of the action they take?
It is possible that Mr. de Menezes was a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and ran because he truly feared for his life, but I'm not prepared to indict the police without absolute proof that they acted irresponsibly.

As sad as this must be for the victim's family and loved ones, I truly believe the police acted in the most responsible way they could given the circumstances. They acted on their instincts and made the only decision they could in the time allowed. I think at the very least, the Metropolitan Police deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Thanks to Outside the Beltway and Mudville Gazette

Tags:Jean Charles de Menezes,London Bombings,Terrorism

Kerry Practices Fillibuster Technique at Tour De France

From the " Sometimes A Comment Warrants It's Own Post Department", this from Independent Sources:

Kerry nearly stops OLN’s TdF coverage with Filibuster-like Answer to Simple Question

John Kerry dropped in on the OLN coverage of Stage 20 of the Tour de France. We’re not sure if he was stumping in Saint-Etienne but he quickly showed what a lifetime in politics does to one’s ability to give simple answers.

Senator Kerry was asked two brief questions about Lance Armstrong and Lance’s legacy. Both could have easily been answered with quick sound bites—which no doubt was what the OLN producers expected. Instead Kerry looked as though he was in training for a judicial nominee filibuster. His responses dragged on for well over 2 minutes and given Kerry’s plodding, pause-filled, mind numbing delivery, it seemed even longer. Kerry’s soliloquy went so long in fact that OLN was forced to reduce him to a small box in the corner of the screen so that viewers wouldn’t miss even more of the race while he chatted away. By the way, if a two minute interrupted stream of consciousness doesn’t sound long to you, just try talking non-stop for that long without it seeming like an eternity for both you and your audience.

Read the whole thing here.

Warning: Do not read while eating or drinking! (The snort factor is off-scale high in my opinion)

Big Tip 'O The Hat to Independent Sources for the link.

Tags:Politics,Tour De France,John Kerry

It's Official: Pot Calls Kettle Black!

Via Fox News:

WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. John Kerry urged the White House on Friday to release "in their entirety" all documents and memos from Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' tenure in two Republican administrations.

"We cannot do our duty if either Judge Roberts or the Bush administration hides elements of his professional record," said the Massachusetts senator who was his party's presidential candidate last year.

Opening what is expected to be a broader attempt by Democrats to pry loose documents, Kerry issued his statement as Roberts made the latest in a series of courtesy calls on senators in advance of confirmation hearings.

Let me get this straight: John F. Kerry, who refused to fully release his military records during the '04 Presidential campaign, now is "urging" the White House to release "in their entirety", all documents and memos from John Roberts' tenure in two Republican administrations. Did I hear that right? John Kerry wants full disclosure?

I suppose it is ok to conceal records that might give the other side ammunition during a presidential campaign, but we must have full disclosure if the stakes are as high as (Gasp!) serving on the Supreme Court. I guess Kerry thinks the voters in the '04 Presidential Election should have been more than able to do their duty deciding who to vote for at the voting booth without all available information on him, but the Senate is too stupid to decide whether Roberts can serve on the Supreme Court without knowing what he will do when he is seated.

"The American people should know whether John Roberts will protect their constitutional rights if confirmed as a justice to the court," Kerry said in a statement.

Do you want the same information Ruth Bader Ginsberg provided to the American people, Mr. Kerry? She practically skated through the confirmation process without answering questions concerning how she would rule in the future and the White House didn't provide "full disclosure" on her. Kerry wants a different standard applied to Roberts than was applied to Ginsberg simply because Roberts is a conservative. Talk about hypocritical!

Tags:Politics,John Kerry,Judicial Nominations,Supreme Court,John Roberts

More London Terrorism Incidents!

Fox News is reporting more possible terrorist incidents in London. Details sketchy so far.
Possible incidents on a bus. Warren Street, Shepherd's Bush, and The Oval have been evacuated . No reports of casualties according to Sky News. Police report blasts that may have been detonators. Eye witnesses say rucksack exploded on Subway.

Emergency services responding to incident on East London Bus. Reuters reports that nail bomb exploded at Warren Street tube station.

Update 9:12AM: Fox News has more here.

Update 10:00AM: ABC News via WLS AM Chicago is reporting the possibility that explosions were the result of "dummy nail bombs" with detonators only. No explosives found. 1 injury reported.

Tags:London,Terrorism

Ann Coulter Is Not Impressed

Ann Coulter today:

After pretending to consider various women and minorities for the Supreme Court these past few weeks, President Bush decided to disappoint all the groups he had just ginned up and nominate a white male.

So all we know about him for sure is that he can't dance and he probably doesn't know who Jay-Z is. Other than that, he is a blank slate. Tabula rasa. Big zippo. Nada. Oh, yeah...we also know he's argued cases before the supreme court. big deal; so has Larry fFynt's attorney.

But unfortunately, other than that that, we don’t know much about John Roberts. Stealth nominees have never turned out to be a pleasant surprise for conservatives. Never. Not ever.

I must admit I am also concerned with the idea of a "stealth" candidate and will agree that it has not worked out so great for conservatives in the past. I am, however, willing to give President Bush the benefit of the doubt on this one.

I say this because President Bush has been a straight shooter thus far, and has said he would nominate a strict constructionist. Since Roberts doesn't have a significant track record, the only thing I can do is take Bush at his word and hope Roberts is as advertised.

I do believe that Bush, at the very least, has been assured by Roberts that he will strictly interpret the Constitution. Whether this will be the case or not, remains to be seen. I believe the President is well aware of his legacy and the historical importance this nomination would have in that regard, and I am fairly confident he would not be willing to risk that legacy by making a haphazard appointment.

While past history can be an indicator of future events, as Ann Coulter has suggested, I don't believe it is always the case. Roberts could become another Scalia or Thomas just as easily as he could a Souter or Kennedy. Since I'm not in a position to make my own nomination to the court, I can only take the President at his word and hope for the best.

In the end, Ann may end up being right about this, but I certainly hope she's not. I suspect if she is wrong though, no one will be happier about it than she will.

Tags:Ann Coulter,Politics,Supreme Court,John Roberts,Judicial Nominations

And The Nominee Is: John Roberts

Fox News is reporting that President Bush will nominate John Roberts for the seat vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court. More later!


Update 10:35pm: NARAL hates him, Susan Estrich is disappointed, Schumer and Leahy seem to be ready to put on the boxing gloves. Conclusion: I think we have a winner!

My take: I have been listening to the talking heads on Fox most of the evening, and I think conservatives overall are pleased, but probably not ecstatic. My personal feeling is that time will tell. I don't think I will know for sure until I see some of his decisions. Some of the things I have read look pretty promising.


Bio and other Links


Tags:Supreme Court,John Roberts,Judicial Appointments

Finally!

Gribbit at Stop the ACLU has some news that all freedom loving Americans will love to hear. The ACLU and Greenpeace are now under investigation by the FBI and the Justice Department. I'm not sure what will come of the investigations, but at the very least it means that these organizations are receiving some much overdue and needed scrutiny.

According to Gribbit:

The news that we have today is too good to be true. But it is. Our friends at the ACLU top the list of “Progressive” organizations being investigated by the Justice Department and the FBI. Check it out:

“The FBI has thousands of pages of records in its files relating to the monitoring of civil rights, environmental and similar advocacy groups, the Justice Department acknowledges.

The organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Greenpeace, are suing for the release of the documents. The organizations contend that the material will show that they have been subjected to scrutiny by FBI task forces set up to combat terrorism.” source

Well, well, well, it’s about time the Justice Department wised up to these anti-American organizations. The FBI has investigated the ACLU before, but couldn’t make a case against them. Hopefully with the new powers granted to the FBI, they can make something stick.

“The FBI has identified 1,173 pages related to the ACLU and 2,383 pages about Greenpeace, but it needs at least until February to process the ACLU files and until June to review the Greenpeace documents, the government said in a filing in U.S. District Court in Washington.

The FBI has not said specifically what those pages contain. The ACLU’s executive director, Anthony Romero, said the disclosure indicates that the FBI is monitoring organizations that are engaging in lawful conduct.

‘I know for an absolute fact that we have not been involved in anything related to promoting terrorism and yet the government has collected almost 1,200 pages on our activities,’ Romero said. ‘Why is the ACLU now the subject of scrutiny from the FBI?’” source

Let’s see, first off Anthony, yes you do promote terrorism. Your organization is attempting to grant “rights” to terrorists. You opposed meaningful National Secrurity legislation namely “The Patriot Act.” And you engage in terrorist activities here in the US.

By strong arming the state and local governments into submitting to your will through threats of litigation. Knowing state and local governments have tight budgets.

“The FBI has denied singling out individuals or groups for surveillance or investigation based solely on activities protected by the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech.

Officials have said agents adhere strictly to Justice Department guidelines requiring evidence of criminal activity or indications that a person may know something about a crime.” source

My thoughts on the matter:

I hope this is the beginning of some much needed reform for both of these organizations. Reform that will severely limit their ability to trample on the rights of ordinary Americans and impair their ability to file lawsuits against every "injustice" they perceive. In the past this has only served to protect the "rights" of a very few, while limiting or eliminating the rights of many.

Linkage!

(Via Instapundit, Roger L. Simon)

Do you want proof of a link between Saddam and Al Qaeda? Back in 1999, ABC News definitely thought there was a link and produced a detailed segment showing the connection. They and the rest of the MSM have since changed their tunes, but ABC apparently forgot to get rid of the evidence. A comment in Roger L. Simon's post points to the Quinn in the Morning radio show out of Pittsburgh as the source of the audio clip. Bill from INDC tracked down the video link from Media Research Center. Very enlightening!

Here are the links:

Audio
Video

Tags:Politics,War on Terror,Saddam Hussein,Al Qaeda,Osama bin Laden,Terrorism

The Enemy We Face

From Today's Washington Times:

BAGHDAD -- Tiny plastic sandals, some tattered and stained with blood, lay in a pile near a child's crushed bicycle. Mothers wailed and beat themselves after a suicide bomber killed 18 children and teenagers getting candy and toys from American soldiers.
One of the soldiers was among the up to 27 people killed in the blast yesterday in an impoverished Shi'ite Muslim neighborhood. At least 70 persons, including a newborn and three U.S. soldiers, were wounded.
Terrified parents who heard the explosion raced from their homes to the discover the worst -- children's mangled, bloodied bodies strewn on the street.
Twelve of the dead were 13 or younger, and six were 14 to 17, said police Lt. Mohammed Jassim Jabr. Among the wounded was 4-day-old Miriam Jabber, cut slightly by flying glass and debris.

If I hear one more person complain about the treatment of terrorists currently being housed at Abu-Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay, I'm going to throw up. I cannot fathom the thought that there are people out there who actually have sympathy on those who commit these types of atrocities. Yet, Dick Durbin and others actually have the nerve to get on the Senate floor and accuse the military of atrocities. How utterly disgraceful! The military is not the problem, it is the solution!

If you are one of those who actually are concerned with the treatment of enemy combatants, you should only have to ask yourself two questions:

What would these enemy combatants be doing with their time if they hadn't been captured by our military? and What if one of these children were your child?

If you can't see the flawed logic after asking yourself these questions, then just maybe you are living in the wrong country. This enemy is not to be bargained or sympathized with, it is to be defeated. There is no other choice!

It must be defeated not just for the Iraqi and Afghani people, but for our very own survival. An enemy that will indiscriminately murder children trying to get candy and toys, won't bat an eyelash when it comes to you.

They murder without sympathy and we should eliminate them without regret.

Tags:War on Terror,Terrorism,Politics

If These Walls Could Talk

Don Surber had a post yesterday that would be absolutely hilarious if it didn't involve such a waste of taxpayer money. The West Virginia taxpayers were asked to pay $27 million to build new headquarters for it's Division of Environmental Protection. The idea was to build an environmentally friendly building. What they got instead was a certain insect who took the environmentally friendly invitation a little too seriously:

West Virginia taxpayers spent $21 million, make that $23 million, OK, $27 million to build an environmentally friendly headquarters for its Division of Environmental Protection. Along the way, yea, there was that lawsuit that accused the contractor of damaging and dirtying homes. But with its biodegradable tiles and its energy-efficient design, the building is environmentally friendly.

Very environmentally friendly.

Too environmentally friendly. It is now infested with midges. Thousands of these tiny bugs are crawling all over the environmentally friendly building. They turned off the fountain and exterior lights. They have called the exterminators.

I say get some trout in there. Rainbow trout. They eat midges. Then you bring in my wife's Uncle Milford to eat the trout.

I have just one question:

What exactly do exterminators spray with when they make a call to the Division of Environmental Protection? I'd sure love to be a fly on the wall... Well, maybe not.

Tags:Politics,Environment,Humor

Coast-to-Toast

(Hat Tip: Daisy Cutter)

I missed this, and so did apparently everyone else in America. It was on MSNBC after all.

Here's the short version:

Ron Reagan, apparently a co-host on MSNBC's Connected Coast to Coast, opened his mouth. Christopher Hitchens made him wish he hadn't.

Daisy Cutter provides a bit more detail:

RR: Christopher, I'm not sure that I buy the idea that these attacks are a sign that we're actually winning the war on terror. I mean, how many more victories like this do we really want to endure?

CH: Well, it depends on how you think it started, sir. I mean, these movements had taken over Afghanistan, had very nearly taken over Algeria, in a extremely bloody war which actually was eventually won by Algerian society. They had sent death squads to try and kill my friend Salman Rushdie, for the offense of writing a novel in England. They had sent death squads to Austria and Germany, the Iranians had, for example, to try and kill Kurdish Muslim leaders there. If you make the mistake that I thought I heard you making just before we came on the air, of attributing rationality or a motive to this, and to say that it's about anything but itself, you make a great mistake, and you end up where you ended up, saying that the cause of terrorism is fighting against it, the root cause, I mean. Now, you even said, extraordinarily to me, that there was no terrorist problem in Iraq before 2003. Do you know nothing about the subject at all? Do you wonder how Mr. Zarqawi got there under the rule of Saddam Hussein? Have you ever heard of Abu Nidal?

I'm not stealing DC's thunder, so you will need to read the rest of the transcript here. Political Teen has the video here.

Tags:Politics,Ron Reagan,Christopher Hitchins,MSNBC

SCARY!

I'm no weather expert, but Dennis looks terrifying. I always hear the experts talk about well defined eyes and a tight center of circulation being bad. This one appears to meet both qualifications. I'll be paying close attention to this one.

My sister and her family live in Sarasota and my parents also happen to be there visiting right now. I think they are probably ok since they didn't get a direct hit, but I did hear about some high winds and tornadoes in that area. I don't have any solid information about that area yet, but I'm sure I'll hear from them tommorrow. I just got back in town from videotaping a wedding and reception, so I've been in an information/communication vacuum for a good portion of the last two days. I did speak with them this morning, but I'm not sure if conditions worsened for them after that or not. (Note to family: Give us a call in the morning and let us know how you are.)

We also have family in the Panama City area, and it looks like they could get quite a blow from this one. I'm not sure how limited communication will be once this thing hits, so if any of you have information you can share, it would be much appreciated. You can drop me an e-mail or leave a comment if you have information that you feel may be helpful to either those in the affected areas or those concerned about them. I would be glad to spread the word to everyone I know and/or post it here to try to get the word out. Hopefully, it won't be necessary.

I'm praying this one has a bark that's worse than it's bite!

Tag:Hurricane Dennis

Our Prayers Are With You

London Terror Attack 7/7/05

Latest Report from Sky News (via radio report from WLS
Chicago)

45 Dead, 1,000 Injured (150 serious). Additional
casualties expected

Here's a partial list of bloggers and others following
the story (Via Instapundit)

Instapundit
Michelle Malkin
Tim Worstall
The Corner
TigerHawk
Terrorism Unveiled
The Command Post
Jeff Jarvis
Gateway Pundit

This is just a partial list, but each link contains
tons of other links to people following the story.

Please keep those who have died or been injured in
your thoughts and prayers along with their families
and the brave souls who are working on the scene to
protect and to rescue those who were, and still are,
in harm's way.

Tags: terrorism,London,Current Affairs,News and politics,News

Carnival of the Vanities

The latest installment of Carnival of the Vanities is up at Conservative Friends. It is fashionably late this week due to the holiday weekend, but is excellent as usual.

Tags:Carnival of the Vanities,Blog Carnivals

Ted Rall Makes Pathetic Comparison

Ted Rall is at it again with KARL ROVE: WORSE THAN OSAMA BIN LADEN. His name alone makes my jaw drop to the floor in sheer astonishment and disbelief.

The opening:

In war collaborators are more dangerous than enemy forces, for they betray with intimate knowledge in painful detail and demoralize by their cynical example. This explains why, at the end of occupations, the newly liberated exact vengeance upon their treasonous countrymen even they allow foreign troops to conduct an orderly withdrawal.

Apparently, in Ted's world, the bullets and bombs don't matter, it's the war planners that do all of the real damage. At least that's what I think he is saying. I will admit I had a hard time figuring out the point he is trying to make. I suppose he also has forgotten about all of the ink stains on those newly liberated fingers, but I guess I'm just nitpicking. It has been my impression that our military is taking care of the "treasonous countrymen" even as we speak.


He continues:

If, as state-controlled media insists, there is such a creature as a Global War on Terrorism, our enemies are underground Islamist organizations allied with or ideologically similar to those that attacked us on 9/11. But who are the collaborators?

The right points to critics like Michael Moore, yours truly, and Ward Churchill, the Colorado professor who points out the gaping chasm between America's high-falooting rhetoric and its historical record. But these bête noires are guilty only of the all-American actions of criticism and dissent, not to mention speaking uncomfortable truths to liars and deniers.

Here are a few examples of "All-American actions of criticism and dissent" as Ted Rall would define it:

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the revolution, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow - and they will win.
Michael Moore

The motivation for war is simple. The U.S. government started the war with Iraq in order to make it easy for U.S. corporations to do business in other countries. They intend to use cheap labor in those countries, which will make Americans rich.
Michael Moore

If U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned.
Ward Churchill

They were targeting those people I referred to as 'little Eichmanns.' These were legitimate targets.
Ward Churchill

When you kill 500,000 children in order to impose your will on other countries, then you shouldn't be surprised when somebody responds in kind.
Ward Churchill

I believe this goes just a bit past "criticism and dissent", but then again my idea of All-American is still Mom, Apple Pie, and Baseball. I am also naive enough to think that just maybe 9/11 and Terrorism has a little something to do with the reason we are over there.

Rall basically uses this opening to get to the main point: Karl Rove is worse than Osama Bin Laden. Why? Did he kill over 3,000 Americans on 9/11? No, he released the name of CIA Agent Valerie Plame! In my world view, the two aren't comparable by any stretch of the imagination.

There's More:

Last week Time magazine turned over its reporter's notes to a special prosecutor assigned to learn who told Republican columnist Bob Novak that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent...Time's cowardly decision to break its promise to a confidential source has had one beneficial side effect: according to Newsweek, it indicates that Karl Rove himself made the call to Novak.

Basically, Karl Rove committed the unpardonable sin according to Rall, but it's okay because Karl Rove is the guilty party. Nice logic there.

In my opinion, the reason Valerie Plame's days were numbered with the CIA had as much to do with her recommending the unqualified Joe Wilson go to Niger as anything Karl Rove has supposedly done. There is also plenty of speculation as to whether Ms. Plame was even undercover when she was "outed" which means, according to Clifford D. May, no law was broken by columnist Bob Novak in naming her, or by whoever told Novak that she worked for the CIA.

Here's the money quote:

If Newsweek's report is accurate, Karl Rove is more morally repugnant and more anti-American than Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden, after all, has no affiliation with, and therefore no presumed loyalty to, the United States. Rove, on the other hand, is a U.S. citizen and, as deputy White House chief of staff, a high-ranking official of the U.S. government sworn to uphold and defend our nation, its laws and its interests. Yet he sold out America just to get even with Joe Wilson.

Osama bin Laden, conversely, is loyal to his cause. He has never exposed an Al Qaeda agent's identity to the media.

First of all, we all know the inherent danger in relying on Newsweek for accuracy. Second, if Rall thinks that any decent American citizen will establish some sort of moral equivalence between Karl Rove and Osama bin Laden, he is sadly mistaken. He's comparing apples to terrorists. Logical people simply don't make such connections. Neither do they look to Osama bin Laden when defining loyalty!


The grand finale:

Rove and his collaborators should quickly resign and face prosecution for betraying their country, but given their sense of personal entitlement impeachment is probably the best we can hope for. Congress, and all Americans, should place patriotism ahead of party loyalty.

I believe Ted Rall is right about resignations, but 180 degrees out of phase. If there is anyone who is betraying their country, it is Ted Rall and the tripe he continues to put out there. How dare he question anyone's patriotism. To do so would require him having some of his own.

If Mr. Rall wants evidence of betrayal, he need look no further than his own mirror. As far as resignations go, I'm sure there is a long line of true patriots ready and willing to accept his.

Tags:Ted Rall,Joe Wilson,Valerie Plame,Karl Rove,Politics,Treason

Something to Think About

Consider this during the course of your celebrations today:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...

Read it all here.

Remember, Independence Day is about much more than beer and barbecue. In fact, if these brave men long ago had not taken a stand against tyranny, America would not exist as we know it today. They risked it all so that we could have freedom and be able to celebrate it!

Remember this today and enjoy the freedoms that began with this declaration on July 4, 1776.

Tags:Declaration of Independence,Independence Day,Fourth of July

Birthday Blogging!

I am a couple of days late with this post, but I thought you might want to see a very original birthday cake concept. My parents purchased a cake but instead of "Happy Birthday"
it said "Happy Blogging". Pay no attention to the 38 on the cake. It is in no way relevant to our discussion.
I meant to post this on Saturday, but as you can see, I was a little busy.

Tags:Birthday,Blogging

It's Put Up or Shut Up Time!

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman ever to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, announced her retirement today. It is to become effective when a replacement has been nominated and confirmed. If past history is any indication of future events, she won't be leaving any time soon.

This is the perfect opportunity for the Bush Administration to create a lasting legacy and the Republican Party to show or grow some backbone. President Bush needs to nominate a true conservative to replace the moderate O'Connor; someone who will actually read the Constitution instead of rewriting it. The Republican Party needs to fight to ensure the nominee is confirmed instead of making back room deals that help ensure further obstruction.

It's really fairly simple. There is no excuse for letting political capital sit on the shelf and collect dust. Use it! Do not save it for a rainy day: This is the rainy day! One really has to look no further back than last week to see just how critical this nomination is.

It doesn't take a genius to know the Democrats next move: OBSTRUCTION! Don't let them get away with it. It is time for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to get the seven dwarves in line and go nuclear. They are holding both sets of keys and the launch codes for Heaven's sake! Don't talk about it, don't seek common ground, don't try to promote comity. These tactics don't work. The Democrats have proven it time and time again. The only thing that will work is ACTION!

President Bush has the opportunity to make a significant difference in the makeup of this court and the Republican party has the responsibility to take up arms and fight as if their lives were at stake. Their lives may not be at stake, but their political future may indeed be.

Tags: Sandra Day O'Connor,Supreme Court,Politics,judicial appointments