Jimmy Carter, You've Been Punked!

Jimmy says:

Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that Hamas — the Islamic militant group that has called for the destruction of Israel — is prepared to accept the right of the Jewish state to “live as a neighbor next door in peace.”

But Hamas says:

Hamas is ready to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders but “it will not recognise Israel,” the Islamist movement’s exiled chief Khaled Meshaal told a news conference Monday.

“We accept a Palestinian state within the June 4 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital — a sovereign state without settlements — as well as the right of Palestinian refugees to return, but without recognition of Israel,” he said.

Hot Air calls Carter a useful idiot for the terrorist organization Hamas.
DKK

NATO Projects 2011 For Afghans To Secure Own Country

The Afghan Army and police forces should be able to secure most of Afghanistan by 2011, allowing international forces to start withdrawing, according to the U.S. commander of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, General Dan McNeill.

International Herald Tribune.
DKK

Oil, What We Don't Do.

And our "friends" the Saudis are balking at increasing production. So while they continue to screw with us on oil ... let's be sure to respond here in this country by:

1. Refusing to drill in ANWR for more oil in the very portion of ANWR that was set aside for the purpose of drilling for more oil.
2. Refuse to tap the known reserves of oil and natural gas off the West coast of Florida because, after all, we certainly don't want tourists in Florida to catch sight of a drilling rig 25 miles off shore now do we?
3. Refuse to develop ways to use the oil shale from the Western United States.
4. Refuse to develop coal gasification techniques.
5. Refuse to build any more refineries in the United States.
6. Listen to the anti-nuke moonbats and continue to delay building some nuclear power plants.

And while we're doing all of these things let's make sure to keep the subsidies for ethanol at a ridiculous high so that we can take more land out of food production to grow more corn to be turned into an alternative fuel. We burn more than a gallon of fossil fuels to produce a gallon of ethanol .. so this sounds like a good bet to me!

Oh ... and let's continue to call the Saudis our friends and kiss their sandy butts at every possible opportunity.

Neal Boortz, Nealz Nuze.
DKK

Self Reliance, Healthcare Choice

And what is the purpose of this extra bureaucratic level? To harass people with HSAs. Nothing more.

(...)

At the end of the day, we can thank Representative Pete Stark, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. It is Pete Stark's main goal as a politician to bring government-run healthcare to this country. He actually once compared these Health Savings Accounts to "weapons of mass destruction" because they introduce more individual choice into the healthcare marketplace.

And these are the people that you want to allow to provide your healthcare in the future.

Neil Boortz, Nealz Nuze on new regulations for Health Savings Accounts (HSA) requiring a bureaucracy take the role from the IRS of verifying HSA expenditures are appropriate.
DKK

Our Story So Far

Don Surber has the story of the Primaries to date:

How Democrats wound up where they are today.

Can we screw it up? YES WE CAN!

Democrat 1: Wow, look at the great choice we have this year. There’s the black one and the pink one. And of course, the white one.

Democrat 2: Yes, the white one.

[They laugh and both grab the white one and toss it over their heads.]

D1: Republicans have 5 choices.

D2: Yes, it must be difficult for them.

D1: They cannot decide on whether to go with white or white or white or white or white.

[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]

D2: Yes, it should be a good year. Just like 2006.

D1: Between the war going badly and the economy going south, this should be the year we take back the White House.

D2 (Sings): Happy Days Are Here Again!

[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]

D1: And Republicans will be fighting among themselves until May at least.

[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]

D2: Meanwhile, our candidate will be picked by Super Tuesday and will be able to begin the fall campaign while they bicker among themselves.

[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]

D1: Our candidate — no matter which one we pick — will make history.

D2: Yes, it is a win-win situation. They agree on everything, so there is no bickering over the party’s platforms.

D1: We’re united.

D2: They’re divided.

[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]

D1: So which one will it be?

D2: Let’s go with the pink one.

D1: Really? I thought we’d go with the black one.

D2: Well, maybe next time.

D1: Why?

D2: Well, she earned it, putting up with Elvis for all those years.

D1: Yes. Well, she also carries a lot of baggage with her. The Republican Attack Machine will have a field day with her.

D2: But she’s strong. She survived their attacks for 16 years.

[They both laugh.]

D1: Yes, but don’t you think Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton is a bit much?

D2: Maybe, but don’t you think it is time for a pink one?

D1: Oh sure, it is time. Still, it is also time for a black one.

D2: And a pink one.

D1: Too bad we cannot get a black and pink one.

[They both laugh.]

D2: But she’s paid her dues, like I said. She was the co-president.

D1: Like he hasn’t paid his dues.

D2: What do you mean?

D1: I mean, come on. He’s the black one.

D2: Well, it’s not like he descended from slaves. His father was a Kenyan. In fact, his family owned slaves.

D1: Well, so did a lot of presidents.

[They both laugh.]

D2: Well, he won South Carolina. But so did Jesse Jackson.

D1: What does that mean?

D2: Nothing. Nothing. Just saying.

D1: Yea, well I’m just saying that she won New Hampshire by crying.

D2: She did not cry. Her eyes welled up.

D1: He’s taking all the blue states. Party loyalty.

D2: So did Dukakis and Gore and Kerry. She’s taking all the red states. Opportunity.

D1: He’s ahead in the popular vote.

D2: Only if you don’t count Michigan and Florida.

D1: He didn’t campaign there.

D2: Neither did she.

D1: But her name was on the ballot in Michigan, not his.

D2: But she still got more than half those votes.

D1: But he’s ahead in money.

D2: But not by much.

D1: *cough* Norman Hsu.

D2: *cough* *cough* Tony Rezko.

D1: Geraldine Ferraro.

D2: Jeremiah Wright.

D1: Let’s not fight like this. The Republicans have chosen a candidate. It is time for us to settle on one. Fight the real enemy.

[They both laugh.]

D2: Agreed. How about a Dream Team of Pink/Black.

D1: Why does the black one always have to get to the back of the bus?

D2: Only because he’s the younger, less experienced one.

D1: Yes, he did not have the experience of voting for the war.

D2: But he later said, when we were winning, he did not know how he would have voted.

D1: Let’s not fight like this. The Republicans have chosen a candidate. It is time for us to settle on one. Fight the real enemy.

D2: You already said that.

D1: Just trying to be nice. Look, it is a close race but she cannot win the nomination. Let’s just pick the black one and begin concentrating on November.

D2: He cannot win the nomination either.

D1: He’s ahead in popular vote.

D2: So was Al Gore.

[D2 laughs. Not D1.]

D1: He might have won if the pink one helped more.

D2: She was running for the Senate. She had her own battle to fight.

D1: Yes, just like in Bosnia.

D2: What’s that supposed to mean?

D1: Oh nothing. Just going through her war record.

D2: Well his combat experience consists of listening to Bill Ayers talk about his bombs.

D1: You had to go there, didn’t you?

D2: Go where?

D1: You had to bring up Bill Ayers. Hey, how about those terrorists your husband pardoned?

D2: Yea? Well what about Tony Rezko?

D1: Marc Rich.

D2: Well, at least pink knows enough to wear a lapel pin and know enough to cross her heart when they sing the national anthem.

D1: Patriotism? Starting a war isn’t patriotic, it is suicide.

D2: Michelle did Princeton, Harvard, knocked down $300 grand a year as a hospital PR person, had her husband elected to the Senate and won a few primaries before she was proud of the country.

D1: Pink is starting to sound like a Republican.

D2: Beats sounding like an ingrate.

D1: Ingrate? You mean N-grate. Why don’t you just call them the N-word and be done with it.

D2: What? Where do you get that?

D1: From you, you witch.

D2: Chauvinist.

Republican 1: Pass the popcorn.

Republican 2: Buttered or kettle?

R1: Either, I’m not hard to please.

R2: Me neither.

Sorry to steal the entire thing, it is just too good. However he does have an update of one of his song parodies!
DKK

Timeline for Judgment

For those who have forgotten or weren’t born yet here is a list of a few of the activities. Just think if this were happening today:

7 October 1969 – Bombing of Haymarket Police Statue in Chicago, apparently as a “kickoff” for the “Days of Rage” riots in the city October 8–11, 1969. The Weathermen later claim credit for the bombing in their book, “Prairie Fire.”

8 October-11, 1969 – The “Days of Rage” riots occur in Chicago in which 287 Weatherman members from throughout the country were arrested and a large amount of property damage was done.

6 December 1969 – Bombing of several Chicago Police cars parked in a precinct parking lot at 3600 North Halsted Street, Chicago. The WUO stated in their book “Prairie Fire” that they had did the explosion.

27 December-31, 1969 – Weathermen hold a “War Council” meeting in Flint, MI, where they finalize their plans to submerge into an underground status from which they plan to commit strategic acts of sabotage against the government. Thereafter they are called the “Weather Underground Organization” (WUO).

13 February 1970 – Bombing of several police vehicles of the Berkeley, California, Police Department .

16 February 1970 – Bombing of Golden Gate Park branch of the San Francisco Police Department, killing one officer and injuring a number of other policemen.

6 March 1970 – Bombing in the 13th Police District of the Detroit, Michigan. 34 sticks of dynamite are discovered. During February and early March, 1970, members of the WUO, led by Bill Ayers, are reported to be in Detroit, during that period, for the purpose of bombing a police facility.

6 March 1970 – “bomb factory” located in New York’s Greenwich Village accidentally explodes. WUO members Theodore die in t. The bomb was intended to be planted at a non-commissioned officer’s dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The bomb was packed with nails TO INFILICT MAXIMUM CASUALTIES UPON DETONATION.

30 March 1970 – Chicago Police discover a WUO “bomb factory” on Chicago’s north side. A subsequent discovery of a WUO “weapons cache” in a south side Chicago apartment several days later ends WUO activity in the city.

10 May 1970 – Bombing of The National Guard Association building in Washington, D.C..

21 May 1970 – The WUO under Bernardine Dohrn’s name releases its “Declaration of a State of War” communique.

6 June 1970 – The WUO sends a letter claiming credit for bombing of the San Francisco Hall of Justice; however, no explosion actually took place. Months later, workmen in this building located an unexploded device which had apparently been dormant for some time.

9 June 1970 – Bombing of The New York City Police Headquarters .

27 July 1970 – Bombing of The Presidio army base in San Francisco. [NYT, 7/27/70]

12 September 1970 – The WUO helps Dr. Timothy Leary, break out and escape from the California Men’s Colony prison.

8 October 1970 – Bombing of Marin County courthouse. [NYT, 8/10/70]

10 October 1970 – Bombing of Queens traffic-court building . [NYT, 10/10/70, p. 12]

14 October 1970 – Bombing of The Harvard Center for International Affairs [NYT, 10/14/70, p. 30]

1 March 1971 – Bombing of The United States Capitol . ” [NYT, 3/2/71]

April, 1971 – abandoned WUO “bomb factory” discovered in San Francisco, California.

29 August, 1971 – Bombing of the Office of California Prisons . [LAT, 8/29/71]

17 September 1971 – Bombing of The New York Department of Corrections in Albany, NY [NYT, 9/18/71]

15 October 1971 – Bombing of William Bundy’s office in the MIT research center. [NYT, 10/16/71]

19 May 1972 – Bombing of The Pentagon . [NYT, 5/19/72]

18 May 1973 – Bombing of the 103rd Police Precinct in New York

28 September 1973 – Bombing of ITT headquarters in New York and Rome, Italy . [NYT, 9/28/73]

6 March 1974 – Bombing of the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare offices in San Francisco

31 May 1974 – Bombing of The Office of the California Attorney General.

17 June 1974 – Bombing of Gulf Oil’s Pittsburgh headquarters .

11 September 1974 – Bombing of Anaconda Corporation (part of the Rockefeller Corporation).

29 January 1975 – Bombing of the State Department in (AP. “State Department Rattled by Blast,” The Daily Times-News, January 29 1975, p.1)

16 June 1975 – Bombing of Banco de Ponce (a Puerto Rican bank) in New York .

September, 1975 – Bombing of the Kennecott Corporation .

October 20, 1981 – Brinks robbery in which several members of the Weather Underground stole over $1 million from a Brinks armored car near Nyack, New York. The robbers murdered 2 police officers and 1 Brinks guard. Several others were wounded.
1981 “Guilty as hel*. Free as a bird. America is a great country,” Ayers said when interviewed by David Horowitz.
September 11, 2001 “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” Ayers is quoted in NYT article

Read More of Bill Ayers Resume off-site...

Chicago Daily Observer does the legwork.
DKK

Bill Ayres -- Eric Rudolph

Rudolph and Ayers are unrepentant domestic terrorists. They are evil. Decent people detest them. And if someone were to take money from Eric Rudolph, or get a start in politics from an endorsement in Eric Rudolph’s home, if someone were chummy with Eric Rudolph and kept moving in the same circles with him, that person would rightly be detested as well.

Why doesn’t the same logic apply to Bill Ayers, and to his friend Barack Obama?

Here’s a partial answer: this is bigger than Obama. Much of the radical-left community of Chicago have thrown in their lot with Ayers and Dohrn and given them esteem and comfort. A lot of Chicago society is complicit in insulating Ayers and Dohrn from their execrable pasts. To admit the truth about what Ayers and Dohrn’s status means involves admitting much more about the historical relationship between the Left and radical violence than America is ready to acknowledge.

Michelle Malkin does the comparision and Chicago political lesson.

DKK

Making the Future

The split-cycle engine is intended to be an improvement on the traditional Otto cycle and acts a bit like the Miller cycle. Instead of using a mechanical supercharger, though, the Scuderi design uses paired cylinders to compress air, which is then used to prevent reversion of the exhaust gases into the intake tract. It is also possible to store some of this compressed air to power the vehicle as part of a hybrid drivetrain.

Autoblog.

I find this fascinating. Here is the Video of split-cycle in action:

DKK

Rockford Blogs

This is a carry over from my LifeTrek blog:

Here is an update on the Rockford Area Bloggers. If you are a Rockford area blogger or know of one let me know so I can add them to these updates. I would encourage you to visit them all!

New to the list:

• The Rock River Chapter of the American Red Cross has a blog.
  
• Lutheranlady has some inspiring sermons. Not sure it is Rockford, but one is from Zion Lutheran.
• The Bob Files Belvidere, loves dem Bucs!

Back from the dead list (started posting again):

• Angry Republican Mom
• Snug Harbor

The List:

• One For The Road appears to be a lady from nearby in Wisconsin.
  
• Bad Example
• The Splatter Zone aka, Raging Mom.
• Smiling Dynamite, last updated December 29, 2007.
• Phil Pash still blogging.
• Notes In The Key Of Life is the blog of Cindy Swanson. She updates most days.
• Miasmatic Review
• X-Ray Spex is a cartoonist, I think (Catwoman).
• SisterTalk liberal lesbian from S. Wisconsin.
• Power and Control is strongly supporting Democracy in Iraq and has a banner you can add to your blog here.
  
• Purple Medical Blog - Medical Info, some good stuff.
• T1Rex - Telecom Tech - some really great tech stuff.

The Rockford Rascal was on the list but he became the Applesauce blog on the RRStar political blogs.

I dropped the following this time due to inactivity: Rockford Area Affordable Housing Coalition, Mrs. Blue, Ryan Packer, Phil's Observations, The Speed Shop - The Bodyshop Blog, Tammi's World, Thermidor Rising, In The Mind of Malar , and Brainspinning.

The list is mainly from searches but it is really hard to find them so if you are a Rockford area blogger or know of one let me know so I can add them to these updates.
DKK

Illegal and Staggering Statistics

Nearly 300 illegal immigrants were convicted on driving-while-impaired charges and placed in North Carolina prisons in 2007.

Hispanics also account for 18 percent of drunken-driving arrests, while making up less than 7 percent of the state’s population, according to a study from the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center aired in WRAL's documentary "Focal Point: Crossing the Line."

The study also showed that Hispanics involved in car crashes were 2.5 times more likely to be drunk than white drivers and three times more likely to be drunk than black drivers.

Where else in the world would this be tolerated, and why doe we?

WRAL.

DKK

Sweeny's A Jooouuurnalist!

When I started this blog I had said this about Chuck Sweeny of the RRStar (Register Star):
Sweeny Report is a blog written by the Political Editor of the Register Star who blogs from the center right. Postings are sporadic, concentrating on local, state and national issues and are mainly short thoughts on events with few links. He doesn't like to respond to anonymous comments uncharacteristic of blogs but consistent with a newspaper.

Well, it appears I misspoke. Chuck Sweeny is far from being a center-right blogger, as this post demonstrates.

However, while Obama’s choice of words was clumsy, there is truth in what he said. The floor has been cut out of the economy in much of what once was middle class America. The uneasiness is palpable. People cling to those things that are more fundamental. For some, it’s their faith, for others its guns, for some, the only way to explain what went wrong is the influx of illegal immigrants — it’s their fault.

It's even better in the comments where he compares some of Ronald Reagan's comments to those of Obama.

A lot of folks thought Ronald Reagan’s supposedly off-air (but not really) comment about the USSR — “the bombing begins in 5 minutes” — was provocative and dangerous.
He was also accused of provocation when he called the USSR an evil empire, and when he stood on the Berlin Wall (remember that?) and said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Today we remember Reagan as the winner of the Cold War, and we remember the USSR, or CCCP if you wish, as a t-shirt.

Really Chuck? Really! The only Americans who considered those dangerous were the same elite class who agree with Obama now -- oh, and journalists!

I should have realized that, Chuck Sweeny is a journalist.

Perhaps that is why he never replied to my offer to blog for the RRStar.
DKK

Screw You, You... Um... Heroes

Despite outcry from veterans and supporters of the military over the cover of Time’s April 21 issue, a spokesman for the magazine insists editors did nothing wrong.
(...)
“TIME has the utmost respect for our nation's veterans and we well understand the power of the iconic image of the raising of the flag over Iwo Jima,” Daniel Kile, associate director of public relations at Time, said in an e-mail to BMI. “We believe this is a respectful use of this symbol of American valor and courage and serves to highlight another great challenge facing our nation.”

Business & Media Institute (BMI)

Previous post, Offensive Time.
DKK

Guns and God -- Bitter? Who?

In my book "America Alone," I note a global survey on optimism: 61 percent of Americans were optimistic about the future, 29 percent of the French, 15 percent of Germans. Take it from a foreigner: In my experience, Americans are the least "bitter" people in the developed world. Secular, gun-free big-government Europe doesn't seem to have done anything for people's happiness.

Mark Steyn from the OC Register.
DKK

Self-Hating Yuppie

No more "re-litigating the 1960s," in Obama's own words.

But what about re-litigating the 1980s?

(...)

It's telling that for the Clintons, JFK defined politics, but for Obama, Ronald Reagan is the role model. Last year, Obama admitted to admiring the Gipper's "transformative" leadership (though not his policies). Indeed, not only did Reagan restore confidence in the nation while reducing confidence in government, he put a stake in the heart of the "Vietnam syndrome" and the blame-America-first ethos of the Democratic Party. The Reagan Revolution moved the country durably to the right - so much so that even Democrats saw the writing on the wall. Obama wants to erase that writing.

Jonah Godlberg in the NY Post.
DKK

How Was That Debate?

Moreover, those questions about Jeremiah Wright, about Obama’s association with 1960s radical William Ayers, about apparent contradictions between his past and present views on proven wedge issues like gun control, were entirely in-bounds. If anything, they were overdue for a front-runner and likely nominee.

If Obama was covered like Clinton is, one feels certain the media focus would not have been on the questions, but on a candidate performance that at times seemed tinny, impatient and uncertain.

Politico, Obama's secret weapon: The Media.
DKK

Define: Swiftboating

The Left is now redefining and, therefore, misusing the term swiftboating, and this misuse has become one of the many notable aspects of the 2008 presidential campaign. Democratic candidates and their partisans in the blogosphere use this word to mean smearing their candidates for public office with lies and innuendo. For some blog sites, the word is now synonymous with "screeds," the "politics of smear and fear," and "character assassination of proven effectiveness." Recently, some candidates have angrily declared that they will not be swiftboated.
(...)

To make the definition of swiftboating synonymous with "smears," "lies," and "innuendo" is to declare John Kerry's innocence. Once declared, one may conclude that it is the service of the Swift Vets that is tarnished, and that there may be some truth to Kerry's claims of heroism and charges of genocide in Vietnam. After all, both Kerry and the Swift Vets cannot be telling the truth. Whether explicitly, or implicitly with this newly created derogatory connotation of swiftboating, to declare Kerry's innocence is to do again to the Swift Vets in 2008 what Kerry and cohorts did to them in 1971.

Every time that a candidate today complains of being smeared by calling it swiftboating, he seeks the same exoneration or immunity that this redefined word gives to John Kerry, and, perversely, that candidate reinforces the false impression that the Swift Vets did something dishonorable in their campaign against John Kerry and in Vietnam years ago.

The American Thinker is taking back the meaning of the term Swiftboating and correcting history.
DKK

It Is About Judgment!

Gay Patriot says Debate Shows Obama Unfit for White House.

It wasn’t just Senator Obama’s withering under fire that caused me to question his fitness for the White House, it was also how he answered certain questions. His attempt to establish moral equivalency between his frienship with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers and his conservative Oklahoma colleague Tom Coburn suggests he doesn’t understand the difference between an advocate of violence and a peaceful proponent of opposing ideas. (emphasis added)

I agree and as Obama says, it is about judgment, in this case, bad judgment!
DKK

Caught Up!

Earlier I pointed out that Google had locked me out.

Well, I have caught up!

Now on to the new stuff.
DKK

Obama, What Does FARC Know?

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Obama And FARC

Terrorism: The March 1 death strike by the Colombian army against FARC warlord Raul Reyes broke open a trove of contacts in his computer. So why did the name of Barack Obama turn up there?

DKK

Bottom Line On ABC Debate

Consider this thought experiment: Assume that a conservative candidate for the GOP nomination spent two decades at a church whose senior pastor was a white supremacist who uttered ugly racial (as well as anti-American) epithets from the pulpit. Assume, too, that this minister wasn’t just the candidate’s pastor but also a close friend, the man who married the candidate and his wife, baptized his two daughters, and inspired the title of his best-selling book.

In addition, assume that this GOP candidate, in preparing for his entry into politics, attended an early organizing meeting at the home of a man who, years before, was involved in blowing up multiple abortion clinics and today was unrepentant, stating his wish that he had bombed even more clinics. And let’s say that the GOP candidate’s press spokesman described the relationship between the two men as “friendly.”

Do you think that if those moderating a debate asked the GOP candidate about these relationships for the first time, after 22 previous debates had been held, that other journalists would become apoplectic at the moderators for merely asking about the relationships? Not only would there be a near-universal consensus that those questions should be asked; there would be a moral urgency in pressing for answers. We would, I predict, be seeing an unprecedented media “feeding frenzy.”

The truth is that a close relationship with a white supremacist pastor and a friendly relationship with an abortion clinic bomber would, by themselves, torpedo a conservative candidate running for president. There is an enormous double standard at play here, one rooted in the fawning regard many journalists have for Barack Obama. They have a deep, even emotional, investment in his candidacy. And, as we are seeing, they will turn on anyone, even their colleagues, who dare raise appropriate and searching questions–the kind journalists are supposed to ask. The reaction to Stephanopoulos and Gibson is a revealing and depressing glimpse into the state of modern journalism.

That's the bottom line as pointed out by Peter Wehner of Commentary found at Powerline.

DKK

Obama -- Same Old Distortions

What is it with this guy? He claims he is a different type of politician but yet he distorts McCain on Iraq and now he does the same on the economy. Funny thing is he then turns around and agrees with McCain's original comments.

Hot Air covers it here:

Video: New gold standard set in Obama’s shameless distortion of McCain’s comments; Update: It’s true that economy expanded, admits Obama

DKK

Debacle They Can't Win!

No, not Iraq today, but the whole the Miami Herald dug themselves and many on the left who fell in head first. This included the RRStar's own Applesauce maker Pat Cunningham who used this headline:

Lilly-livered peacenik at Pentagon school says Iraq war is a “debacle” we “can’t win”

I pointed out the following:

From the report (pdf):

For many analysts(including this one), Iraq remains a “must win,” but for many others,despite the obvious progress under General David Petraeus and the surge, it now looks like a “can’t win.”(emphasis added)

That is the only mention of the term, “can’t win,” in the entire report.

Here is the real story from the report's author:

The Miami Herald story (”Pentagon Study: War is a ‘Debacle’ “) distorts the nature of and intent of my personal research project. It was not an NDU study, nor was it a Pentagon study. Indeed, the implication of the Herald story was that this study was mostly about current events. Such is not the case. It was mainly about the period 2002-04. The story also hypes a number of paragraphs, many of which are quoted out of context. The study does not “lay much of the blame” on Secretary Rumsfeld for problems in the conduct of the war, nor does it say that he “bypassed the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” It does not single out “Condoleeza Rice and Stephen Hadley” for criticism.

Pat was kind enough to note his error.
DKK

What does Italy's turning back to conservatives mean for Europe?

The NY Post looks into it.

On foreign policy, Berlusconi advocated a strategy of peace based on strength with a tough message against "all enemies of democracy across the globe." Veltroni offered a policy of "dialogue and accommodation."

Berlusconi's message was unabashedly pro-American, promising to strengthen transatlantic relations, especially in the context of the global War on Terror.

Strange, I thought we had to restore ties that had been irreparably damaged by President Bush?
DKK

Guilt by association or a verdict on judgment?

Hot Air points to a post at National Review by Andrew McCarthy:

Why is Barack Obama so comfortable around people who so despise America and its allies? Maybe it’s because they’re so comfortable around him.

He presents as the transcendent agent of “change.” Sounds platitudinous, but it’s really quite strategically vaporous. Sen. Obama is loath to get into the details of how we should change, and, as the media’s Chosen One, he hasn’t had to.

But he’s not, as some hopefully dismiss him, a charismatic lightweight with a gift for sparkling the same old vapid cant. Judging from the company he chooses to keep, Obama’s change would radically alter this country. He eschews detail because most Americans don’t believe we’re a racist, heartless, imperialist cesspool of exploitation. The details would be disqualifying.

Examples include:

The connection to William Ayers was no accident of geography. Michelle Obama picked him to sit on a panel with Barack in 1997 on juvenile crime, two years after meeting with them for support in his race for the state senate.

They participated in a panel together called “Intellectuals in Times of Crisis” in 2002, well after Ayers’ comments about being unrepentant for his terrorism got published on 9/11. Bernadine Dohrn participated in a panel at the same event.

Ayers and Dorhn joined the Obamas in celebrating the departure of Rashid Khalidi to a new post at Columbia University, after Ayers and Obama helped get Woods Foundation funds to Khalidi’s AAAN, to the tune of $75,000. Khalidi was a fanatical supporter of Yasser Arafat and a purported operative of the PLO. Khalidi hosted a fundraiser for Obama in 2000 as well.

DKK

Offensive Time

Twice in it’s history Time has used a different color boarder.

Black after 9/11 and now green.

The red cover boarder is copyrighted and trademarked. Do they not understand that trivializing their brand and brand identity is a bad idea, not to mention that it clearly puts the two events, global warming and 9/11 on a par.

To summarize, for feel good politics they are willing to:
a) Sully the efforts and heroics of those brave Marines of WWII,
b) Sully the tragedy of 9/11,
c) Sully the Time Magazine brand.

Good move there, or did I miss when they changed the title from Publisher to Pimp?
DKK

Guns and God -- Yummy!

But then, after all their hard work making believe they're into NASCAR and God, some Democrat invariably slips and lets us know it's all a big fake-out. They're like a gay guy trying to act straight who accidentally refers to Brad Pitt as "yummy!"

Ann Coulter, often offensive, but often right on!
DKK

EVIL TREE MUST BE DESTROYED!

The oldest tree in the world runs contrary to generally accepted beliefs on the climate and climate history!

Spruces, which according to Kullmann offer rich insight into climate change, had long been regarded as relatively newcomers in the Swedish mountain region.

The discovery of the ancient tree had therefore led to "a big change in our way of thinking," he said.

We really have no idea what we are doing, or at least not enough to make "crisis driven" changes!

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Global Whoring -- We Really Have No Clue!

Look, cleaner air has caused Europe to warm.

Europe is heating up much faster than climate researchers expected, and now they think they know why: air made dramatically cleaner by anti-pollution programs. With less particle pollution clouding the air, more sunlight is coming through and the continent is getting warmer. (JammieWearingFool)

The ever present unintended consequences!

We are messing where we have no clue.

Eisenhower warned of The Scientific-Technological Elite running policy, he should have just called them Dumb Asses!
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Saddam and Terrorists

Claims that there were no links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda are wrong. Documents just released by the Pentagon prove it.

It's long and in depth!
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Franken: What? I have to pay Taxes Too?

A short while ago New York accused Al Franken, who as a Democrat is running for Senate in MN, of failing to pay $25,000 in Workers Compensation Insurance premiums.

Now California says Franken failed to pay taxes for his company.

This may be the only funny thing the man has ever done!
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Can't Pray In Silence

He sued the school board seeking to be allowed to bow his head and kneel when students led their own prayers. A lower-court judge found that should be allowed.

But Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote in the lead opinion Tuesday that Borden's past action of leading the prayers made his head-bowing seem inappropriate: "A reasonable observer would conclude that he is continuing to endorse religion when he bows his head during the pre-meal grace and takes a knee with his team in the locker room while they pray."

Looks headed to the Supreme Court.
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Oh Look, A New Toy!

Obama, like Clinton and John McCain, has accepted donations from oil and gas company employees — $222,309 in Obama's case from donors from Exxon, Shell, Chevron and others, according to campaign-finance data. Two oil company CEOs have pledged to raise at least $50,000 each as part of Obama's fundraising team.

Same old in a new package. Someone really should have read the manual before they unpacked this one! USA Today.
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Could Carter Save His Reputation?

How could Jimmy Carter really move the world forward without being a useful idiot for the dictators and terrorists? The WSJ gives some suggestions:

- In Egypt, Mr. Carter could give an address at the newly established Middle East Freedom Forum. He could call for the immediate release of George Ishak, a lawyer and democracy activist who helps coordinate the liberal Kifaya ("Enough") movement and was arrested by security forces last Wednesday. He could pay a call to journalist Gameela Ismael, the wife of Ayman Nour. Mr. Nour, who contested the 2005 election against President Hosni Mubarak and took 8% of the vote, has spent the past two years in prison on trumped-up charges of electoral fraud.

- In Saudi Arabia, Mr. Carter could raise the case of Fawza Falih, an illiterate woman who was convicted of "witchcraft" and sentenced to death on charges that she used sorcery to render a man impotent. He might also seek out the now famous "Qatif Girl," the woman who was gang-raped by seven men and, as a result of her "crime," sentenced to 200 lashes.

- In Jordan, Mr. Carter might find time for Jihad Momani, editor of the weekly "Shihan," who in 2006 was arrested for reprinting the Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammed. "Muslims of the world be reasonable," he wrote in an editorial that ran alongside the cartoons. "What brings more prejudice against Islam, these caricatures or pictures of a hostage-taker slashing the throat of his victim in front of the cameras or a suicide bomber who blows himself up during a wedding ceremony in Amman?"

- With the Palestinians, Mr. Carter could denounce the Hamas-operated Al Aqsa TV, whose programming includes a Sesame Street-like show that urges its young viewers to "get rid of the Jews."

- In Syria, Mr. Carter could ask to meet with representatives of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration for Democratic Change. A dozen leaders of this pro-democracy umbrella group were arrested in December on charges of "spreading false or exaggerated news which would affect the morale of the country"; Human Rights Watch charges that at least eight of the men signed false confessions under torture.

But he won't.

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Red Chameleon

In, A Living Lie, Thomas Sowell gives insight into Obama.

I have referred to Obama as a Chameleon for years and now others are beginning to see it.

There is, of course, not a speck of evidence that Obama has ever transcended party differences in the U.S. Senate.
(...)
Like so many others on the Left, Obama rejects “stereotypes” when they are stereotypes he doesn’t like but blithely throws around his own stereotypes about “a typical white person” or “bitter” gun-toting, religious, and racist working-class people.
(...)
It is understandable that young people are so strongly attracted to Obama. Youth is another name for inexperience — and experience is what is most needed when dealing with skillful and charismatic demagogues.

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China's Number ONE!

China has already overtaken the US as the world's "biggest polluter", a report to be published next month says.

The research suggests the country's greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the US in 2006-2007.

BBC

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Hair Trigger

"Geraldine Ferraro said it right," Johnson added. "The problem is, Geraldine Ferraro is white. This campaign has such a hair-trigger on anything racial it is almost impossible for anybody to say anything."

BET founder Bob Johnson.
Yes, and Americans are getting sick of it.
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Guns and God -- Hauteur

And what are the grounds for his supercilious disdain? If he were a war hero, if he had a career of remarkable civic achievement or public service — then he could perhaps be excused an unattractive but in a sense understandable hauteur. But what has Barack Obama accomplished that entitles him to look down on his fellow Americans?

Bill Kristol in the NYTimes nails the problem with Obama's remarks on the head!
The Mask Slips.
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Guns and God Pennsylvania

Barack Obama: What’s the matter with Pennsylvania?

Protein Wisdom analyzes "Bittergate" and why the left doesn't get it. A Kinsleyian “gaffe,” where a candidate accidentally says what he really thinks.
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SF Gun Ban Ilegal

State Supreme Court ruling ends San Francisco gun ban move.

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More Guns and God

Liberals won't get this, and reading at places like DU or Kos think Obama was right but:

By refusing to acknowledge that the lumping of Americans of faith together with racists and xenophobes is empirically insulting, he essentially restates his position and digs in: Religion, racism, xenophobia are just “refuges” (his new word) for people who are not as privileged as he. Really repugnant stuff.

Ankle Biting Pundits.
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Why Aren't They Willing

Liberals and Their Invisible Homophobia

And yet gays will vote for Democrats no questions asked.
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It's Now An Alternate Universe!

Chertoff Defends Immigration Enforcement.


Only in an alternate universe would this headline make sense.
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Everyday Man!

Barack's condescension reveals a man out of touch with the rhythms of American life to a degree that's hard to fathom. As Michelle says, they "chose" to "leave corporate America", and Barack became a "community organizer" and she wound up a 350-grand-a-year "diversity outreach coordinator". I've no idea what either of those careers involve, and most of us seem able to get along without them. But their remoteness from the American mainstream perhaps explains why the Obamas seem to have no clue how Americans live their lives.

Steyn at The Corner.
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