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Heavy-Handed Politics

"€œGod willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world
without the United States and Zionism."€ -- Iran President Ahmadi-Nejad

Thursday, July 26, 2007

The Al Qaeda Threat

The Stratfor Terrorism Intelligence Report's assessment is that al Qaeda does not have the capability to be a strategic threat to the U.S. They differentiate between the "original" al Qaeda, or what they refer to as the al Qaeda core or "al Qaeda prime," and all the various broad assortment of "grassroot jihadists" that have no real connection to the original al Qaeda group.

They point out that they, of course, still pose a threat; but that is a tactical threat, not strategic. Attacks overseas against small, soft low-level targets have been deadlier than attacks on large-scale hard targets; and it is in this regard that Americans are still at risk.

A large country the size of the U.S. cannot seal its' borders so ironclad that terrorists are unable to enter, particularily a free and open society such as ours. No doubt there are people here now by way of visa fraud or who have entered illegally and undetected. Like all other countries, no doubt we have some "homegrown" operatives, people living here that have decided to become jihadists. This, I think, is the simple reality of it.

Another tactical reality, they say, and I cannot disagree, is that we cannot protect every possible target; not to mention how these attacks can be successful with a fair amount of ease - think of the Virginia Tech shooter and John Allen Muhammed, the D.C. sniper. There are just too many potential targets. We cannot guard them all. In particular, there are too many soft targets - malls, fairs, churches, football games, etc.

I have wondered since 9/11, why we have not had small attacks within our borders. They say the same thing:
Given this reality and the fact that jihadists are committed to staging attacks on U.S. soil -- and are willing to die in the process -- it really is rather astounding that we have not seen more jihadist attacks in the United States.

I think a reasonably large segment of the U. S. believes it is just a matter of time. It's not "if we will be attacked, it's when."

It has helped that since 9/11, the public has been more vigilant - more aware of events going around them. Prior to 9/11, we were asleep at the wheel, as was our government. This is meant as fair criticism, not a political statement, nor against any one administration. As the Stratfor analysis states: "Since 9/11 and the launching of the 'global war on terrorism', however, the U.S. government's anti-terrorism tool kit has been turned against the organization in full force."

A nuclear device is the one method, the one threat, that would guarantee a successful strategic strike - a strike that would cause massive casualties. However, since 9/11 and all the tools in place now fighting the GWOT, and the disruption we have caused, financial and otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for them to manufacture, or purchase this kind of a device. And conventional wisdom says that if they already possesssed such a device, as some "experts" claim, they most certainly would have used it by now.

There conclusion is this:
We believe the United States is long overdue for a jihadist attack. Like U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, we believe the elements are likely in place for such an attack in the near future. However, we do not believe the attack will be of the same magnitude as the 9/11 attacks.

The problem for al Qaeda is that the core group, in the words of the NIE, is "likely to continue to focus on prominent political, economic and infrastructure targets with the goal of producing mass casualties, visually dramatic destruction, significant economic aftershocks and/or fear among the U.S. population." It is one thing to launch an attack against the Sears Tower, for example; it is quite another thing to succeed in bringing it down. We believe al Qaeda can attack a target like the Sears Tower, but our assessment is that the organization currently lacks the ability to launch a devastating strategic attack -- one that would destroy the target.

Does this mean al Qaeda will lack this capability forever? No. If the United States and its allies were to cease pressuring the organization, and the jihadist movement as a whole, it could in time regenerate the capability. However, we disagree with the NIE assertion that the group already has regenerated to that point. Al Qaeda prime is still dangerous at the tactical level, but strategically it is only a shell of its former self.

It Didn't Happen'

Democrats go soft on crimes against humanity.

BY JAMES TARANTO
Opinion Journal

Barack Obama's latest pronouncement on Iraq should have shocked the conscience. In an interview with the Associated Press last week, the freshman Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate opined that even preventing genocide is not a sufficient reason to keep American troops in Iraq.

'Well, look, if that's the criteria by which we are making decisions on the deployment of U.S. forces, then by that argument you would have 300,000 troops in the Congo right now--where millions have been slaughtered as a consequence of ethnic strife--which we haven't done,' Mr. Obama told the AP. 'We would be deploying unilaterally and occupying the Sudan, which we haven't done. Those of us who care about Darfur don't think it would be a good idea.'

Mr. Obama is engaging in sophistry. By his logic, if America lacks the capacity to intervene everywhere there is ethnic killing, it has no obligation to intervene anywhere--and perhaps an obligation to intervene nowhere. His reasoning elevates consistency into the cardinal virtue, making the perfect the enemy of the good."

Read on....

“Last [week] the Senate held an all-night session. Sen. Hillary Clinton gave a speech at four in the morning. It was the first time Hillary gave a speech at four in the morning that didn’t begin with, ‘Where the hell have you been?” ’

—Conan O’Brien

Nothing New Here: Blame Bush

“[George W. Bush is] the worst president we ever had... When you have a president who is so unpopular... it really reflects poorly on Congress. None of [Congress’ approval ratings] are real high and we acknowledge that, but most of it relates to the unpopularity of the president.”

-- Dingy Harry [Reid] --

BDS (Bush Derangement Symptom) at its' best (worst?). There is no end to this insanity. It's breathtaking.

“[President Bush’s] crimes are real and probably impeachable, and the monarchial arrogance of the Bush-Cheney administration is monumental.”

—Ken Bode, Ombudsman for the Corporation for [the fair & balanced, down-the-center, apolitical] Public Broadcasting

WHAT POLITICAL SAVVY

“Despite overwhelming support in and out of Congress, legal protection for airline passengers who report suspicious behavior is being blocked by Democratic leaders. Wasn’t one 9/11 enough for them? Were it not for the courage and sacrifice of the passengers of United Flight 93 who forced their plane into a Pennsylvania field, many in Congress might not be here today, with a gaping hole where the U.S. Capitol still stands. We wonder if this fact is appreciated by those trying to block final passage of the so-called ‘John Doe’ provision protecting from legal action those who report suspicious behavior on airplanes. Today’s passengers have an advantage. They know what can happen. They know what to look for. They will not be taken by surprise, and they are willing to take action. But some in Congress would sacrifice their lives on the altar of political correctness. Last November, six Muslim imams leaving an Islamic conference were removed from U.S. Airways Flight 300 in Minneapolis when passengers reported that the imams had acted in suspicious ways. Both U.S. Airways and the passengers soon became targets of legal action charging discrimination and racial profiling... So [in] March, the House of Representatives passed by a 304-121 vote the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007, with language protecting from such lawsuits airline passengers who might report suspicious activity. All seemed well. But last week, as Republicans tried to have the ‘John Doe’ protection included in final homeland security legislation crafted by a House-Senate conference committee to implement the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations, they found Democratic conferees blocking its inclusion.” —Investor’s Business Daily

“How do you feel about the American hostages in Iran? No, not the guys back in the Seventies, the ones being held right now. What? You haven’t heard about them?... Maybe the media figure that showing American prisoners on TV will only drive Bush’s ratings back up from the grave to the rude health of intensive care. Or maybe they just don’t care about U.S. hostages, not compared to real news like Senate sleepovers to block unblocking a motion to vote for voting against a cloture motion on the best way to surrender in Iraq.”

-- Mark Steyn --


Reference:
Opinion: Mark Steyn: Look who's holding hostages again
OCRegister.com

"How do you feel about the American hostages in Iran?

No, not the guys back in the Seventies, the ones being held right now.

What? You haven't heard about them?

Odd that, isn't it? But they're there."

“Not only the history of the UN, but the history of the League of Nations before it, demonstrates again and again that going to such places [as the UN] is a way for weak-kneed leaders of democracies to look like they are doing something when in fact they are doing nothing. The Iranian leaders are not going to stop unless they get stopped. And, like Hitler, they don’t think we have the guts to stop them.”

-- Thomas Sowell --

“The recent capture of the leading Iraqi in al-Qaeda’s Iraq affiliate is no accident... You capture such people only when you have good intelligence, and you have good intelligence only when the locals have turned against the terrorists.”
-- Charles Krauthammer --

“Today’s federal government is too big, too powerful, and too expensive because it is doing things beyond the scope of the Constitution. This is foolish and it is dangerous.”

—newly elected Georgia Rep. Paul Broun

“Liberty cannot be caged into a charter or handed on ready-made to the next generation. Each generation must recreate liberty for its own times. Whether or not we establish freedom rests with ourselves.”

-- Florence Ellinwood Allen --

“It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.”

-- Justice Robert H. Jackson --

Newt Gingrich Warming to Fred Thompson

"Newt Gingrich has said he won’t make up his mind whether to seek the Republican presidential nomination until after the summer, but there are signs he is warming up to Fred Thompson as his preferred GOP candidate.

'I’ve always said it was unlikely I would run,” and if Thomson runs 'and does well, then I think that makes it easier for me not to run,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press last week.

But on the same day as the interview, the former Speaker of the House’s communications director Rich Galen said he had signed on as an advisor to Thompson’s not yet official campaign.

In another possibly telling sign, Gingrich and his wife had dinner with Thompson and his wife at Thompson’s home in Virginia on July 16, according to The Politico." Read more.

Giuliani Packs Staff With Middle East 'Hawks'

"Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani is packing his campaign staff with Middle East Hawks – including one who urges a U.S. military strike on Iran.

Giuliani recently announced he had assembled a 'team of foreign policy advisers featuring several prominent neoconservatives, including one of the movement’s founders, Norman Podhoretz,” the Jewish publication Forward reported." More details.

"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens....There has never been a moment of my life in which I should have relinquished for it the enjoyments of my family, my farm, my friends & books."

-- Thomas Jefferson

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

'Jimma Carta' Offers to Mediate Between Hamas, Fatah

As Washington continues a policy of isolating the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, former President Jimmy Carter reportedly has offered to mediate between Hamas and rival Palestinian faction, Fatah. Carter told a human rights conference in Ireland last month that Washington’s refusal to aid Hamas and to recognize Hamas after it won legislative elections last year was a “criminal” act.

Dependence on Foreign Oil

From: Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

Dependence on Foreign Energy

by Raymond J. Keating


"Politicians love to talk about ending U.S. dependence on foreign sources of energy. In fact, it's a bipartisan mantra.

That most certainly is the case out on the presidential campaign trail. In Iowa this week, for example, Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani took the pledge, if you will.

The Associated Press reported, "Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani argued he can lead the country away from reliance on foreign oil with increases in ethanol production and nuclear power. On a visit to Iowa, the leading ethanol-producing state, Giuliani called for more ethanol plants and new nuclear reactors, oil refineries and transmission lines. Presidents going back to Richard Nixon have promised energy independence, ‘and we haven't made much of a real dent in getting there.'"

The AP account also noted: "Giuliani said he supports the 51-cent-a-gallon tax credit created by Congress to encourage growth of the ethanol industry: ‘I agree with subsidies for energy independence,' he said. The tax credit expires in 2010. Besides expanding nuclear power and renewable fuels like ethanol, Giuliani also called for more clean coal technologies, more clean-burning natural gas, environmentally safe drilling for oil and natural gas in North America and new technologies like hybrid cars and hydrogen fuel cells."

Does any of this make economic sense? And do or would such measures actually reduce U.S. dependence on foreign energy sources in any substantive way?" Continue reading.

Congress Presses Private Equity Tax Hikes: Why You Should Care

Tax Increase Would Punish Everyday Americans, Penalize Entrepreneurship and Drive Capital Overseas

"Congress, including some who are usually more reliable anti-tax members, now seeks to raise taxes on private equity partnerships, partnership performance fees and venture capital. But why should everyday Americans care?

After all, this particular tax would only target corporate fat cats who are gaming the tax code through high-priced accountants to avoid their fair share of taxes, right?

Wrong. This legislation would force .... "

The Gospel of Freedom

"The Acton Institute has produced the most subversive movie I have ever seen. The Call of the Entrepreneur, which is being released on an agonizingly slow schedule, is a threat to tyranny everywhere, including here at home.

The movie's message is that entrepreneurs are creators of wealth, Wall Street financiers are enablers of economic progress, and the villains of the world are people like the Communist leaders in China and American religious leaders who rail against capitalism."

Read more at TCS Daily.

‘Super Rich:’ The New Code for Media Disapproval
Journalists think the very wealthy are anything but ‘super.’ The media use the term as one weapon in class warfare.

Thou Shalt Tax Every Sin

The media love to tell people what not to do: smoke, eat, emit carbon dioxide, etc. So, journalistic support for taxing those sins is rarely a surprise. As Congress prepares for a vote, the media are promoting an expansion of taxpayer-funded health insurance – to be paid for with huge tax increases on cigarettes and cigars. That’s the real sin.

Read on.

Muslim rejection of suicide hits on the rise

MS-13 gang seeks to unite nationwide

The international street gang MS-13 is unifying its violent members across the U.S., including the D.C. area, attempting to strengthen its criminal operation by creating a single organization.

Immigration refom shelved until second term

"Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, an architect of the Democratic campaign that regained control of the House last year, says his party will not attempt comprehensive immigration reform until at least the second term of a prospective Democratic president."

Giuliani backs legal shield for tipsters

Washington Times


"Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani yesterday endorsed a provision to protect citizens from being sued for reporting potential terrorism-related activity and criticized congressional Democrats for blocking the legislation."

Of course, the Dems are against this. Makes you wonder, doesn,t it?



Office raided on suspicion of terrorist ties

July 24, 2007
Detroit Free Press
Freep.com

Federal agents are raiding today the Dearborn offices of two charities suspected of having ties to terrorist groups in the Middle East.

A Dearborn police officer guarded the entrance to the office of the Goodwill Charitable Organization, a fund-raising office established by the Martyrs Foundation in Dearborn, on Warren Avenue, tucked between a grocery store and an import store."

More.

'I'm going nowhere' says Churchill after firing

"BOULDER – The University of Colorado Board of Regents voted to fire Ward Churchill on Tuesday evening, prompting the promise of a lawsuit from the embattled professor."

More.

There's no end to what you can do to fight global warming.

"The politics of global warming got very concrete, and oddly difficult, in a meeting with local environmentalists in the coastal town of McClellanville today, where Elizabeth Edwards raised in passing the importance of relying on locally-grown fruit.

'We've been moving back to 'buy local,'' Mrs. Edwards said, outlining a trade policy that 'acknowledges the carbon footprint' of transporting fruit."

Read more at Ben Smith's Blog - Politico.com

Airports Warned About Terror Dry Runs

My Way News

"WASHINGTON (AP) - Airport security officers around the nation have been alerted by federal officials to look out for terrorists practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft, based on four curious seizures at airports since last September." More.

Oh, no!! This is two years in a row this has happened.

Forecaster cuts 2007 hurricane outlook

"NEW YORK (Reuters) -The 2007 hurricane season may be less severe than forecast due to cooler-than-expected water temperatures in the tropical Atlantic, private forecaster WSI Corp said on Tuesday." More.

More bad news for the global warming crowd.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Democrats Can't Handle the Good News

By David Limbaugh

Very good news is coming out of Iraq. Not surprisingly, this hasnt caused a change of heart among the Democratic leadership.

Morally Paralyzed

By Thomas Sowell

Moral paralysis" is a term that has been used to describe the inaction of France, England and other European democracies in the 1930s, as they watched Hitler build up the military forces that he later used to attack them.

It is a term that may be painfully relevant to our own times.

Back in the 1930s, the governments of the democratic countries knew what Hitler was doing -- and they knew that they had enough military superiority at that point to stop his military buildup in its tracks. But they did nothing to stop him.

Instead, they turned to what is still the magic mantra today -- "negotiations."

No leader of a democratic nation was ever more popular than British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain -- wildly cheered in the House of Commons by opposition parties as well as his own -- when he returned from negotiations in Munich in 1938, waving an agreement and declaring that it meant "peace in our time."

We know now how short that time was. Less than a year later ....

Read more....

Report: Taliban moving closer to Kabul
Recent kidnappings and other attacks indicate the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan is moving closer to Kabul.
Read on...

Hill: No relations with nuclear N.Korea
The chief U.S. negotiator at the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program said there cannot be normalization of relations without denuclearization.
Read on...

U.S.-Iran talks on Iraq resume in Baghdad
Talks about the security situation in Iraq began Tuesday in Baghdad between Iraq, Iran and the United States.
Read on...


Related:
US accuses Iran after Iraq talks
Iran has increased support for militia groups in Iraq, the US ambassador in Baghdad says.
Read on...

Poll: U.S. support for Iraq invasion up

NEW YORK, July 24 (UPI) -- "Support for the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq has risen 7 percent since May in a New York Times/CBS national poll published on Tuesday.

The telephone poll of 889 adults was conducted Friday through Sunday, and found 42 percent said they believe the invasion to depose Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do.

A similar poll in May found 35 percent agreed with it in hindsight, the Times said.

In May, 61 percent of respondents said the United States should have stayed out, while the most recent poll's figure was down to 51 percent.

The number of people who said they feel the war effort is going 'very badly' fell to 35 percent from 45 percent in a poll earlier this month.

U.S. President George Bush has made appeals to Congress and the public to reserve judgment and resist moves to begin withdrawing forces until September, when a military and political report is given."

ON FREE MARKETS:

“Free markets are simply millions upon millions of individual decision-makers, engaged in peaceable, voluntary exchange pursuing what they see in their best interests. People who denounce the free market and voluntary exchange, and are for control and coercion, believe they have more intelligence and superior wisdom to the masses. What’s more, they believe they’ve been ordained to forcibly impose that wisdom on the rest of us. Of course, they have what they consider good reasons for doing so, but every tyrant that has ever existed has had what he believed were good reasons for restricting the liberty of others.”
--Walter Williams--

ON THE CONSTITUTION:

“Today, when a concerted effort is made to obliterate this point, it cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals—that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government—that it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen’s protection against the government.”
--Ayn Rand--

Dishonest Discourse

By Michael Medved

"Both political parties and all major media distort the current Congressional debate on Iraq. Despite Democratic demands for "withdrawal" and "ending the war," the actual resolution that squeaked through the House of Representatives on a party line vote never mentions ending the U.S. mission. The legislation sets deadlines for troop reduction--not withdrawal, and specifically authorizes a "limited presence" in Iraq for the indefinite future, without defining how large that presence might be, but making clear it would engage in continued combat with al Qaeda.

Democrats won't offend their "peace now" base by admitting they've passed a redeployment resolution, not a withdrawal measure, and Republicans go along with the masquerade to label their opponents as surrender advocates. The media lie to make the fight look more significant than it is. The truth is the two sides argue about strategy, not abandoning the war, while quietly, jointly acknowledging substantial U.S. forces must remain in Iraq for years."

Syria occupies Lebanon. Again.

BY BRET STEPHENS

Cheese headcases: Wisconsin reveals the cost of "universal" health care.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Law Center Ensures Right Of Third-Grade Student To Read Bible In Public School

ANN ARBOR, MIThe Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has received the written assurance from Elementary School District 159, which is outside of Chicago, Illinois, that its client, Rhajheem Haymon, a third-grade student, will be permitted to read his Bible in school.

After being contacted by Leslie Haymon, Rhajheem’s father, and being informed that school officials had denied Rhajheem the right to read his Bible during “reading time,” a time during the day when students may read a book of their choosing, Edward L. White III, trial counsel with the Thomas More Law Center, immediately sent school officials a demand letter on the Haymon’s behalves.

In the letter, White informed school officials that the United States Supreme Court and the United States Department of Education have assured that students are free to express their religious views while at school, a freedom that includes a student’s choice to read religious materials. He explained that a public school may not suppress or exclude the speech or expression of individual students for the sole reason that the speech is religious or contains a religious perspective. Soon after receiving the letter, the school district sent written assurance that Rhajheem could bring his Bible to school and read it at the appropriate times during the school day.

Leslie Haymon stated: “I thank the Thomas More Law Center for the assistance given to me and my family. I thank them for protecting our rights as Christians and as Americans. I thank God for the work of the Thomas More Law Center.”

Assisting the Thomas More Law Center in this matter was Kevin Edward White, an attorney in Chicago.

The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life through education, litigation, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization.

Britain's Brown Won't Rule Out Strike on Iran

"British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday that tougher sanctions are likely against Iran over its contested nuclear program and declined to reject outright the prospect of future military action.

Brown, holding his first Downing Street press conference, said he believed sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to halt uranium enrichment were working, but predicted a swift new U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at increasing pressure on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

'I'm not one who is going forward to say we rule out any particular form of action,' Brown said, asked if he would rule out options for future military action against Iran." More....

Romney says Hillary's economic plan is like that of Socialist Karl Marx.


Jimmy Carter, The Muslims, and Other Catastrophies

By Burt Prelutsky

No to Medicaid for the middle class

By Star Parker

"The Senate Finance Committee has approved a major expansion of SCHIP .... "

Democrat equals defeat

By Carol Platt Liebau

"Democrat equals defeat Republicans have a compelling case to make .... "

Shame of the Senate

By Robert D. Novak:

"WASHINGTON --
When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid picked up his ball and went home following his staged all-night session last week, he saved from possible embarrassment one of the least regular members of his Democratic caucus: Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Reform Republican Sen. Tom Coburn had ready a Defense authorization bill amendment to remove Nelson's earmark funding a Nebraska-based company whose officials include Nelson's son. Such an effort became impossible when Reid pulled down the bill.

That Reid's action would have this effect was mere coincidence. He knew that Sen. Carl Levin's amendment to the Defense bill mandating a troop withdrawal from Iraq would fall short of the 60 senators needed to cut off debate, and planned from the start to pull the bill after the all-night debate, designed to satisfy anti-war zealots, was completed. But Reid also is working behind the scenes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to undermine transparency of earmarks and prevent open debate on spending proposals such as Nelson's." Read more....

The Surge Produces Results

By Donald Lambro

"WASHINGTON -- The war against Islamic terrorism in Iraq is still a work .... "

Power of Government

"Another not unimportant consideration is, that the powers of
the general government will be, and indeed must be, principally
employed upon external objects, such as war, peace, negotiations
with foreign powers, and foreign commerce. In its internal
operations it can touch but few objects, except to introduce
regulations beneficial to the commerce, intercourse, and other
relations, between the states, and to lay taxes for the common
good. The powers of the states, on the other hand, extend to
all objects, which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern
the lives, and liberties, and property of the people, and the
internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the state."

-- Joseph Story, Supreme Court Justice, 1833 --

Victory, Not Retreat

By Hugh Hewitt

In my July 18th interview with General David Petraeus, the commander of multinational troops in Iraq, he revealed that many hundreds of the enemy are being killed every month in Iraq and that the lethal capabilities of allied special forces are increasing at an exponential rate. He also cited many recent huge successes in the targeted capture or killing of senior al Qaeda figures in Iraq as well as mounting evidence of Iranian meddling in Iraq.

When you listen to the interview--available at Townhall.com--it is impossible to miss the confidence in the general's voice and the belief that Iraq can be made stable and our enemies can be defeated. This message is too often either not reported by the media or deemphasized by the understandable focus on the carnage of car bombs.

We in the American media have to work overtime to make sure the public understands the stakes and the momentum in Iraq. And the American people have to communicate to their political leaders that they support a policy of victory there, not retreat.

A conservative Republican wins a stunning upset in a Georgia House race.

By John Fund

"Special elections to fill vacant House seats are usually fought over local concerns, but often they have national overtones. The stunning result of a Georgia race last week is a case in point.

Because no Democrat finished among .... "

The Democrats' attack on executive privilege shows blatant disregard for the Constitution.

BY JOHN YOO

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Stay and win, or turn tail and run

“The Islamists believe we can’t win; so does The New York Times. But it falls to the American people to decide the issue.” —Victor Davis Hanson

“We are seeking to create order in Iraq, while al-Qa’ida seeks to create disorder. It is orders of magnitude easier to create chaos than it is to create order. That doesn’t mean it is impossible. But it will require patience and above all, will.” —Mona Charen

“How the threat of a resurgent al-Qa’ida is ameliorated by a hasty U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, no Democrat, liberal Republican or member of the media has yet explained.” —Oliver North

The Edwards' Headquarters

The John Edwards 'poverty tour' headquarters:



The Breck girl, in three days, covered eight states and 12 cities. That's a pretty aggressive schedule for this ‘Road to One America’ excursion.

We would not want to confuse this with a campaign tour; even if it might look like one to us, he says it's not.

I don't know, but it seems to me like he took a page right out of Algores' global warming playbook.

You want more evidence that it looks like a campaign stunt? Take a gander at this picture from his poverty tour:

Notice the teeshirt this gal is wearing: ACORN.

Do We Really Have to Accept Incompetence From Government?

"The governing elite in this country routinely expect us to accept a level of incompetence from our government that we'd never tolerate from the private sector. To do otherwise, they say, would be unreasonable. We have to "bow to reality," as Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff recently said.

"Bow to reality" -- that seems to be the slogan of our government these days.

I have a better idea. Instead of listening to the secretary of Homeland Security tell us what's impossible, let's listen to one of our national heroes tell us what's possible."

- Newt Gingrich -

FedEx vs. Government Bureaucracy

The world that works is not a theory.

Preventing the West from Understanding Jihad

By Walid Phares

Western apologist literature has convinced and confused readers, including those in America’s Defense intelligentsia, that Jihad is not as lethal as it is. FSM Contributing Editor Dr. Walid Phares opens our eyes to the stunning successes of this enemy’s disinformation campaigns.

Read it at Family Security Matters.

Border Patrol Union president supports pardon for imprisoned agents

"The leader of the union representing 11,000 field agents in the U.S. Border Patrol is pushing Capitol Hill for a pardon of two former agents he believes were wrongly prosecuted for shooting a fleeing illegal alien."

Free the Border Patrol Two

By Debra Saunders

Related:
President Bush Gets Another Second Chance
By Austin Hill

There Oughta Be a Law

By Ken Connor

"'You can't legislate morality.' You hear it all the time in Washington, DC. Some Americans assume that there is something unseemly about making laws based on moral standards. Such a notion is absurd, of course. All laws are based on someone's moral standards, someone's view of how things ought to be. Nevertheless, there is a vocal element that insists that morality and law should be completely separate." More.

Petraeus' Bargain

By Charles Krauthammer: "WASHINGTON -- Amid the Senate's all-night pillow fight and other Iraq grandstanding, real things are happening on the ground in Iraq. They consist of more than just a surge of U.S. troop levels. Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker have engaged us in a far-reaching and fundamental political shift. Call it the 20 percent solution.

Ever since the .... "