LISTEN UP........

It is the VETERAN,
not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN,
not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN,
not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN
who salutes the Flag.

It is the VETERAN
who serves under the Flag.


ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD,
AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

Florida, Michigan Delegates To Be Seated

The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee approved motions to seat all Florida and Michigan delegates, with one-half vote each.

Boston.com

When You Fill Up the Tank Thank Congress for High Gas Prices
By David Strom

Americans have been treated to a lot of whining by our elected officials about the high cost of oil and gas these days, but as usual the fingers are being pointed by rather than at the guilty parties.

Left-wingers want to have their cake and eat it too, of course: they simultaneously insist that oil is running out, its use is ruining our environment and....

Futures Markets
By Walter E. Williams

In searching for villains for rising food and oil prices, some commentators have turned to speculators, namely people trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and similar exchanges around the world. But instead of condemning commodity speculation, we ought to recognize the vital function it serves. Let’s look at it with a simplified example that captures the essence of speculation in commodity futures markets......

Non-Solutions to Non-Problems
By Alan Caruba

Cap-and-trade legislation is a non-solution to a non-problem. What makes this legislation so utterly wicked, inane and insane is that it would wreck what is left of our already injured economy. The fact that environmental organizations would push for passage of such legislation tells you everything you need to know about their true agenda regarding America......

Hezbollah Seen As Greater Threat Than Al-Qaeda
Hezbollah’s recent military and political victories in Lebanon are eroding democracy in that country and setting an example for other radical Islamic groups in the region. Ahead of a security meeting in Jerusalem on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that Hezbollah makes al Qaeda look like “a minor league team.” Israeli analysts agree.

The BIG lie

2 Quotes from Obama:

(1) “We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measures that I think respect the Second Amendment and people’s traditions. I think there’s a lot of room before bumping against a constitutional barrier... I am not in favor of concealed weapons. There has not been any evidence that allowing people to carry a concealed weapon is going to make anybody safer... I wanted to make sure that local communities were recognized as having a right to regulate firearms. The notion that somehow local jurisdictions can’t initiate gun laws isn’t born out by our Constitution.” —Barack Hussein Obama on “thoughtful” adulteration of our Constitution.

Non-Compos Mentis
(2) "While I may favor common-sense gun control laws, that doesn’t keep me from reaching out to NRA members... I’m a strong believer in the rights of hunters and sportsmen to have firearms.” —Obama on “common-sense” adulteration of our Constitution.

One quote about Obama:

On cross-examination...
“I knew Obama during the mid-1990s. The first time I introduced myself to him he said ‘Oh, you are the gun guy.’ I responded ‘Yes, I guess so.’ He simply responded, ‘I don’t believe that people should be able to own guns.”’ —Professor John Lott, PhD, author of More Guns, Less Crime

-- From The Patriot Post

“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of the republic; since it offers a strong moral check against usurpation and arbitrary power of the rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.”
-- Justice Joseph Story

“The Constitution shall never be construed... to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.”
—Samuel Adams

War Is Expensive, But Defeat Costs More
By Ed Feulner

The United States hasn’t lost the war in Iraq. Not by a long shot. The “surge” strategy has made major gains, opening the path to victory. And that’s helping us make gains elsewhere…

Boston Globe:
Lebanese prime minister wins new term, angering Hezbollah

Obama Dogged By Praise From America’s Foes

In a presidential race in which unwanted, damaging endorsements seem far more plentiful than endorsements that actually could help, Barack Obama has had the unfortunate distinction of being a magnet for such well-wishers.

The latest unsought praise........

Washington Post:
On Policy, Obama Breaks Little New Ground

Intelligent Design Film Is Boosting Academic Freedom Bills
Some states are considering bills that would protect teachers and students who believe there is evidence of “design” in nature. A documentary released earlier this year may be partly responsible for the advance of those “academic freedom bills.”

Obama Praised Wright, Criticized Black Churches, on Homosexuality
“Most African-American churches are still fairly traditional in their interpretations of Scripture," and that explains their “homophobic” messages. That’s what Sen. Barack Obama said in an Apr. 10 interview with The Advocate. He also praised his former pastor Jeremiah Wright for being “very good on gay and lesbian issues.”

There is Nothing Magic About Fathers?
By Albert Mohler

"The British government has decided that fathers aren't all that important to the well being of children. By a wide margin Parliament adopted a proposal that ends the requirement that a child's need for a father be taken into consideration when requests for IVF fertility treatments are made.

This follows a heated debate in Britain as opposing sides argued for or against the importance of fathers. One Cambridge University export cited in the media argues that there is "nothing magic about fathers" and that fathers have "absolutely no" impact on the gender formation of their children.

Does anyone actually believe this nonsense? Fatherhood has been subverted in recent years by so many forces--and by unfaithful fathers themselves. The last thing we need is less concern for the role of a dad."

Like so much of the agenda that the the left pushes today .. this is pure hogwash. Of course there is nothing 'magical' about fathers ..... just as there is nothing 'magical' about mothers. But it is undeniable, that as a general rule (I should not have to say this .... but .... there are always exceptions) children with a loving mother and father, in a stable household, fair better than children with just a mother.

Boston Globe:
Democrat's bill would slash greenhouse gas emissions
Requires licenses for major polluters

Fox News:
Boy Scouts Sue Philadelphia Over Rent, Gay Rights

Barack Obama’s Anti-Military Problem
By Ben Shapiro

Does disdain for the military matter anymore? If Barack Obama’s candidacy is any indication, it does not. In a speech to Wesleyan University graduates on May 25, Obama encouraged careers in public service. He mentioned the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps -- but not the military. Barack Obama is running for commander in chief of our armed forces, yet he is a man who believes that the American military is a force for darkness in the world.......... More.

Conservative Group Presses Senate to Kill Climate Bill

Washington (AP) - A conservative, free-market advocacy group will begin airing ads this week pressing Senate Republicans and Democrats to vote against a bill that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Club for Growth wants to scuttle a bill by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, and John Warner, R-Va., that the Senate is scheduled to begin debating next month. Despite the ad campaign, the bill seems to lack the votes needed to overcome a filibuster...... More.

Effect of the Lieberman-Warner Global Climate Change Legislation on States
By The Heritage Foundation

The Senate's leading climate-change bill, while aiming to combat global warming by reducing carbon dioxide in the air, actually poses "extraordinary perils" for Americans and the economy, according to a new study from The Heritage Foundation.

The study, produced by Heritage's Center for Data Analysis (CDA), forecasts severe consequences—including crushing energy costs, millions of jobs lost and falling household income—if Congress enacts the so-called Lieberman-Warner bill.

What follows are 50 state-by-state breakouts of the impact the bill would have on jobs and the economy. Go here to see charts of individual states.

Special Report: The Great Media Depression

The Great Depression was the darkest economic period in American history – yet the mainstream media continue to cite it as a point of comparison in 2008. In fact, media coverage of the Bear Stearns financial scare this spring was four times more negative than that of the 1929 stock market crash. .....Read more.

Two Tragedies, Two Responses
By David Aikman

When Burma--also called Myanmar--suffered a massive tropical storm that drowned thousands of its people, it refused for days to allow foreign relief flights or aid workers into the country. The result: thousands more people died than needed to.

But when China experienced a devastating earthquake recently, it opened its doors to reporters and international aid. The result: an outpouring of sympathy and assistance that will surely result in lives saved.

China is no democracy, but its society is generally becoming more open and humane. Burma is ruled by a brutal military junta that consults with astrologers and murders monks.

Case closed.

"It's just obvious that you can't have free immigration and a welfare state."
-- Milton Friedman --

A New Argument About Immigration
By Phyllis Schlafly

Many arguments, pro and con, about how to deal with illegal aliens have been passionately debated over the past couple of years, but there are still other arguments that need public exposure. Mark Krikorian presents a new argument in his forthcoming book called "The New Case Against Immigration, Both Legal and Illegal."

The pro-more-immigration crowd argues that today's immigrants are just like immigrants of a century ago: poor people looking.... (more)

Mascot Politics
By Thomas Sowell

Years ago, when Jack Greenberg left the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to become a professor at Columbia University, he announced that he was going to make it a point to hire a black secretary at Columbia.... (more)

Encouraging Death
By Ken Connor

Even the most despicable ideas can be made palatable when euphemisms are used to spin them. That's why abortion advocates call themselves "pro-choice" rather than "pro abortion....(more)

Obama's Foreign Policy Fumble
—Michael Medved

Barack Obama's attitude toward negotiating with Islamic radicals isn't just naïve, but inconsistent. He says he won't negotiate with elected leaders of Hamas unless they do three things: recognize Israel, renounce violence, and honor previous agreements made by the Palestinian people. But then he says he will negotiate--without preconditions--with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, even though he?s done none of those three things. The Iranian leader has repeatedly threatened to annihilate Israel, recently calling it a "stinking corpse."

So why does Obama want to impose pre-conditions on Hamas, but not on the similarly radical--and terror supporting--Ahmadinejad?

He ought to just admit he misspoke when, in a televised debate, he said he'd meet with Iran's deranged president without preconditions. His failure to acknowledge his blunder shows bad judgment and bad character.

"Eating and sleeping are the only activities that should be allowed to interrupt a man's enjoyment of his cigar." - Mark Twain

American Anthem

All we’ve been given by those who came before:
the dream of a nation where freedom would endure.
The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day.
What shall be our legacy? What will our children say?
Let them say of me I was one who believed in sharing the blessings I received.
Let me know in my heart when my days are through,
America, America, I gave my best to you.

Each generation from the plains to distant shore
with the gifts that they were given were determined to leave more.
Valiant battles fought together, acts of conscience fought alone.
Those are the seeds from which America has grown.
Let them say of me I was one who believed in sharing the blessings I received.
Let me know in my heart when my days are through,
America, America, I gave my best to you.

For those who think they have nothing to share,
who fear in their hearts there is no hero there,
know that quiet acts of dignity are that
which fortifies the soul of a generation that never dies.
Let them say of me I was one who believed in sharing the blessings I received.
Let me know in my heart when my days are through:
America, America, I gave my best to you.

From the Patriot Post

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

-- Thomas Paine --

A Debt We Cannot Repay
By Albert Mohler

"The resting places of the fallen evoke both memory and gratitude, with line after line of simple white stones marking the graves of the brave. All across this nation the fallen lie, along with many thousands of their fellows, whose graves now lie in foreign lands.

Memorial Day 2008 comes as Americans owe a debt of unspeakable gratitude to yet another generation of those who have so proudly served and dies in the service of their country. How do we recognize--much less repay--that debt?

In the first place, we pause on this Memorial Day to remember--and to count the cost of our freedoms once again. Our freedom has been bought with the blood of the brave.

Don't let the sun set on your Memorial Day without remembering that debt."

Have a nice Memorial Weekend

Have a safe 3 day weekend everyone.

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.
~Arthur Ashe

*****
We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart.
~ Albert Einstein

*****

War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
~John Stuart Mill

*****

The story of America's quest for freedom is inscribed on her history in the blood of her patriots.
~Randy Vader

*****

Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

*****

For love of country they accepted death...
~James A. Garfield

*****

And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave;
for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.
~Joseph Drake

*****

Perform, then, this one act of remembrance before this Day passes - Remember there is an army of defense and advance that never dies and never surrenders, but is increasingly recruited from the eternal sources of the American spirit and from the generations of American youth.
~W.J. Cameron

*****

And each man stands with his face in the light of his own drawn sword.
Ready to do what a hero can.
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning


*****

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
~Thucydides

*****

The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage.
~Thucydides

*****

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died.
Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
~ General George Patton

Thank you. We will forever be in your debt.

Setting A Conservative Agenda
By Tom DeLay

It seems everyone these days knows how the Republican Party can stop its internal bleeding and win a few elections this November. And while there are many good ideas floating around (and a few bad ones), almost everyone offering their free advice is offering it specifically to presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain. And while McCain needs as much good advice as he can get, his name is only going to be the one at the top of the ballot this November.

Thousands of other Republicans running for offices around the country have not only a chance to win, but a chance to rededicate the Republican Party and reform our country in the process.

Read more.

Dems Helping to Destabilize Latin America
By Kathryn Jean Lopez

May 20 marked Cuban Independence Day -- a bittersweet occasion celebrating a freedom won more than 100 years ago but no longer known to the long-suffering residents of Cuba.

John McCain went to Miami for the occasion to assure Cuban exiles that he is committed to pressuring the tyrannical regime in Havana "to release all political prisoners unconditionally, to legalize all political parties, labor unions and free media, and to schedule internationally monitored elections."

The Republican presidential nominee said the embargo "must stay in place until these basic elements of democratic society are met."

Read more.

Gas prices and Taxes in Illinois

Truth In Politics: Illinois Gas Prices And Taxes
cbs2chicago.com

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Tired of seeing the price at the pump jump every time you need to buy gasoline? Well, the record-high price of gasoline in the Chicago area is linked to a record-high rate of taxation: nearly 20 percent of the Chicago price.

Read more.

Farm Bill Takes Aim at Taxpayers
Acton Institute PowerBlog

The new farm bill may be one of the most shameless displays of government largesse ever, even more so when you consider who will most benefit from the pork. Citizens Against Government Waste called it “The most farcical farm bill in history.” The Economist dubbed it “Harvest of Disgrace.” The Wall Street Journal opines, “If farm prices stay high, consumers face higher grocery bills and farmers get rich. If farm prices fall, taxpayers kick in the difference and farmers still get rich.” The most pressing concern is that billions of dollars in subsidies will be going to the wealthiest agribusiness corporations in the country.

Read on.

Related:
Econ 101: Old MacDonald Had a Subsidy
As Dr. Gary Wolfram explains, the veto-proof farm bill shows the power of politics to take and redistribute our money.

The Rev. Wright Connection Still Haunts Obama
By Michael Barone

As Barack Obama makes his slow but steady way toward the Democratic nomination, the assumption in the admiring precincts of the press corps is that voters have dismissed as irrelevant his longtime association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But that may prove as mistaken as the assumption, back in 1988, that voters would not be impressed by Michael Dukakis's 11-year support of a law granting weekend furloughs to convicts sentenced to life without parole, an issue brought up in the primaries by Al Gore but largely ignored in press coverage at the time.

Evidence for this comes in the exit polls from the West Virginia and Kentucky primaries on May 13 and 20. In both, about half the voters -- and these are voters in the Democratic primary -- said that they believe Obama shares Wright's views either somewhat or a lot. And slightly under 50 percent of these voters said that Obama is honest and trustworthy.

Read more.