The Neo Con Blogger(TM)

You Decide!

Is it me, or does Harriet Miers look like the Aunt the kids left at the mall on purpose?

With the exception of the ocassional stock pics of Miers with a Congressman, the only other images we were shown of Harriett was when she was incessantly walking from building to building in DC. I mean, the frumpy suits, bad shoes, oversized handbags, and that look on her face like she just conjured the wrong spell on Darren or Tabatha, I could not help myself from making a comparison of Miers to Aunt Clara from 'Bewitched' But now that Miers is gone, she can call on Dr. Bombay to make her life normal again.

I know this is cruel, but it is Halloween, afterall. Trick or Treat!

"I'll be laying down and not getting up," Cindy Sheehan said Tuesday of a planned protest outside the White House. "When they let me out, I'll do the same thing if I get arrested."

She said she hoped 2,000 people would attend the vigil throughout the week to represent each American death. Each participant was to receive a wrist bracelet with the name of a fallen soldier.

What we need to do is encourage evey anti-war wonk to do the same thing. Pay their way to DC, provide temp housing, food, clothing, and travel vouchers. Then we get them all chained to the same fence.

Now That's Homeland Security!

(I have about one more hour of power before the electricity goes off again - thanks Wilma)

I have visited a lot of leftie sites that are calling for W to be impeached. And I have really tried to be open minded to understand the rationale for this assertion. My goal was to try and find any substantiation, legal or otherwise. I have read their claims of calling W a war criminal and some of these sites state that W needs to be executed (Brad's Brain), which is treason isn't it since we are at war? (Do a Google Search on 'Impeach Bush' and look at some of the stuff that is out there - it's pretty funny, if not sad. And the petitions that are going around are worth a pretty good chuckle)

I have put the question in the title of this post to the owners of many leftist sites. And I have gotten nothing in the way of a response. I'm not surprised. Johnson and Kennedy are both Dems, and of course, no Democrat can ever be held up to the same standards of the impeachment cry that W is battered with today. Kennedy got the US involved in SE Asia, and rightly so. But Johnson escalated our involvement steadily and had our troops in this theatre for over ten years without a formal declaration of war with the North. So would today's Oprah-Namby Lefties applying the same weak-kneed, pacifist, anti-American crud against Kennedy and Johnson call for their impeachment if they were in power today, let alone execution like Brad's Brain and his sycophant followers? I bet not. Certainly the VN War was far worse in terms of lives lost, cost in GDP, our ability to prosecute our interests for at least ten years after the war was over due to the cuts in our military spending, not to mention the loss of credibility in the eyes of the rest of the world when we finally did pull out of VN which is so important to the lefties of today? I don't think that today's lefties have the same guts that those in 60s and 70s did when they rallied incessantly for an end to the VN War. But it's ok for the left to call for W's head, he's a Republican. If Johnson was President today, would the left call for his impeachment if he prosecuted a war against the peace loving Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan? Nope. Cowards!

Where have I been? Thanks to many who have asked over the last week - went to New Orleans to help rebuild homes of relatives - had to get back to FL to board up my own house - irony of ironies! Wilma came and went - damage to house - water in the roof, fence gone - new hurricane shutters - fantastic! No power - I am on batteries for about two more hours looking at work email and answering the personal messages from those who were wondering where I have been.

As for New Orleans and Jefferson Parish - all I can say is that every house on every block has piles of furniture, carpet, refrigerators, dry wall on the street - it's worse than anything you have seen on television. Every house has either water damage, wind damage or both. In fact, the house next to my relatives is uninhabitable. The house on the other side has a 100 year old oak tree wedged in the center of the building. Words can't describe the devastation and all I did was see areas that were not that bad compared to the rest of New Orleans. I can't even imagine what MS looks like.

Now we have had Wilma - we are just south enough to have had sustained Cat 2 hurricane winds for six hours. The only salvation was that this storm was moving at 25 mph. I can't imagine what it was like for those folks in Mexico where this beast sat for three days. As if those people are not poor enough! Anyway, we are alive. No power, but all is well. I know others have not made out as well as we have. When the power comes back on, I will get back to blogging. Thanks to all for the thoughts and prayers over the last few days.

Pax

Recognizing the need for an award for troops assigned to headquarters units during combat operations, the Army today announced the approval of the Combat Briefing Badge, or CBB. "People don't realize that being in a major headquarters can be just as stressful as going on patrols or convoys," said MAJ John Remf. "When you're briefing that many General Officers, your career can end in a heartbeat. And it can happen to anyone at any time, not just combat arms soldiers." DOD statistics note that CSS personnel are more likely to suffer career-ending incidents in rear areas than Combat Arms Soldiers. "This just reflects that reality," said Pentagon spokesman LTC Roger Pogue.

The award ranks in precedence below the CIB and CAB, but above the EIB and PowerPoint Ranger tab.

The criteria for the award is still under discussion, but preliminary guidance authorizes the award for 30 days of continuous briefings of officers at least two grades higher than the briefer without incident while serving in a theater of operations in which the awardee is eligible for hostile fire and hazardous duty pay.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

October 12 is the day that Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador (Walting Island) in the Bahamas and claimed it for Spain. Although not the first person to sail to the Americas, Christopher Columbus is credited with opening up the passage to the Americas for others to explore, and to the chagrin of his many detractors, exploit. But what can't be pc'd away is the remarkable achievements of his four voyages to try and open a west-ward passage to the east. And once others followed, Columbus opened the way for Spain to be the richest and most powerful country for centuries.

One interesting note is the historical revisionism that Columbus has met over the last thirty years was perpetrated by none other than Hugo Chavez. In 1992 Chavez changed the name of 'Columbus Day' in Venezeula to 'The Day of Indigenous Resistance.' In 2004, Chavez sanctioned the destruction and desecration of Columbus statues which had been standing for over 100 years citing that he was quilty of 'imperialist genocide.' The attrocities committed by the Spanish against the natives of all of the islands and South America are well documented. While others did the deeds, Columbus is a unifying figure of political expediency for the likes of Chavez and many in the US and around the world.

In honoring the man and his times, I lift the following from the historian Warren H. Carroll:

Ultimately the American Indians as well as the Europeans benefited from Columbus’ great discovery. An interracial culture developed in much of Latin America, notably in Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. Human sacrifice and cannibalism were ended, and the Indians were almost all converted to Christianity. Large-scale evangelization began with the arrival of a group of Franciscans in Hispaniola in 1500 and continued steadily from then on. Though many Indians were long held in a state of virtual serfdom and some were forced contrary to law to work against their will for long periods of time in gold and silver mines, none were enslaved after the first colonial generation. Spanish law never recognized Indian slavery. And, back in Spain, a prolonged debate at the highest levels of Church and state finally convinced the highest authorities of both — the bishops and the King-Emperor Charles V — that the Indians had souls equal before God to the souls of white men, and rights equal before the law to the rights of any Spaniard.

Columbus was a flawed hero — as all men are flawed, including heroes — and his flaws are of a kind particularly offensive to today’s culture. But he was nevertheless a hero, achieving in a manner unequalled in the history of exploration and the sea, changing history forever. For some strange reason heroism is almost anathema to our age, at least to many of its most vocal spokesmen. But heroes and the inspiration they give are essential to uplift men and women; without them, faceless mediocrity will soon descend into apathy and degradation. Heroes need not be perfect; indeed, given the fallen nature of man, none can be perfect. It is right to criticize their failings, but wrong to deny their greatness and the inspiration they can give.

Christopher Columbus deserves to be honored now and forever.

The best television show in the early 70s was All In The Family (I stopped watching it after Archie's opinions were neutered and Gloria and Mike moved to California). This ground breaking show gave us the first real tastes of the kind of discourse you read on blogs today - left vs right/the Meatheads vs Archies. ( I still think the greatest line Archie ever spoke was when he was showing an ashtray to George Jefferson, 'That right there is the symbol of Apollo 14 - that's what separates the US of A from them atheistic ping-pong playing Chinks and all them other Commie losers' Brilliant!)

Why this show was so innovative was that until it aired, American television was in denial as to the massive culture shift the 60s ushered in. Art was not imitating life. Now, Laugh-in was a great show, but it was just too slapstick to cover the topics that confronted Archie and the gang from week to week: politics, racism, feminism, communism, religion, bigotry, alcoholism, gay rights, family values, the Old Guard vs Social Progressivism, etc. I bet anyone reading this had an Archie Bunker in his or her family ( or an Anti-Archie). I did in the form of my Grandfather - depression era child, ran away to sea at 16, WWII Vet - US Navy Capt & Merchant Marine (See Honor Roll Link on the right), Father, staunch conservative, hater of Communism.

One episode I remember was one where Archie showed a bumper sticker to Meathead that read, 'America - Love It Or Leave It' To me, not truer words could have been spoken. It absolutely baffles me that there are people in this nation that do not think America is the best country on the planet. How can people think like this considering what this nation has done for billions of people across the globe?

Ben Stein has a fantastic piece in the most recent American Spectator where he waxes lyrical about why every Jewish person in the world needs to thank the US for their very existence. Let's face it; these people were about five months away from being wiped clean off the map of Europe. If it had not been for the US, Israel as we know it would not exist. Most American Jews, according to Stein are left of moderate to very liberal, whereas most Jews in Israel are much more conservative. Perhaps so since living in Israel proper means having to wake up each day with the threat of exploding terrorists at your door step, I guess I would be much more conservative, patriotic and pro-military.

Taking this idea further, I would like one and maybe more than one lefty to say that the United States is the best country on the planet, period. No debate. No double talk. No, yeah but...No equivocating - just say that the US is superior to any country and has been for 250 years. If anyone can't say that, pack your bags and leave. Get out. I can't think of anything more un-American than to criticize what this nation does for its own citizens and the rest of the world. I can't fathom the relentless assault the left takes on all that is right and just with how we act as the world's only real hope for justice and peace.

Case in point - the latest pictures of Abu Ghraib Prison that might be released because some low-life judge thinks it's in the interest of free speech to have them sent out to the world. In a previous post, I stated that anyone who agrees with releasing these pictures is un-American and values our nation's security so little as to the harm that will come to us here in this country and for any American abroad. That's right, kids, once these pictures are released, no American is safe outside our borders. And I'm not talking just about our brave men and women in uniform. I'm talking about any and every American - diplomats, missionaries, Peace Corps volunteers, ex-Pats, tourists, etc. We've seen how wonderfully Americans are treated by the radical followers of Islam, save the images of AG Prison - just ask any member of the Leon Klinghoffer family how great Islam is.

America Love It Or Leave It! What a great national motto that would be. I'm not advocating replacing the hallowed words of In God We Trust with a bumper sticker. But in the context of what is happening in this nation and the world, America - Love It Or Leave It is as important to me as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Good and bad, the US is the greatest country ever. If you don't think this is true, there's the door, Comrade. Good Luck in Canada!

Take That You Atheistic Pinko Meathead, You! - Thanks Archie.

(I welcome no comment that attempts to disdain or refute the words in this post - save your lefty solipsisms for my other pearls of Conservative Wisdom soon to follow - God Bless America!)

Click on this link. A flash movie should pop-up. It's on an ACLU website. I got there by clicking the previous page whose link was a picture of Donald Rumsfeld with the caption: 'The New Face of America'

I cannot begin to express my outrage over what I viewed. It matters not one wit to me that what happened in Abu Ghraib actually happened. I could care less that anyone of these terrorists, militia, ex-Saddam henchies, mid-easterners was mal-treated. Their humiliation or torture or whatever anyone says is not the issue. The only issue is that while what was done to those men was wrong, our military has brought many people to render unto Caesar. There have been convictions. They will serve jail time. This issue should be closed.

My question now of the ACLU is why would it want to put out more pictures of something that has already been settled in our military court system?

Second, what power does the President or court system have to stop those pictures from being put out to the public?

It's unfathomable to me that any group that puts a picture of the Defense Secretary and claims that is the New America should not be hauled in front of Congress and brought up on charges of treason, let alone libel.

The ACLU's incessant pursuit to discredit this President and his administration with the release of these pictures is a clear and present danger to the national security of this nation. It will be done - these pictures will bring harm to our troops and inflame the passion of those who wish to do this nation harm in the future.

These pictures need to be classified by the military or destroyed ourtight and anyone who leaks them to the public should be shot for treason - any judge should be tarred and feathered and stuck in a cage.

Thanks, ACLU. Thanks for pitching in for America's quest to help our image around the world!

You all should be strung up to the nearest tree!

Where the hell is Andy Jackson when you need him?

If Harriet Miers is qualified to be on the Supreme Court, then why not Judge Judy?

Here are Judge Judy's Quals:

• - Family Court Attorney 25 years - State of NY
• - Appointed by NYC Mayor Ed Koch to City Bench
• - Prosecuted Juvenile Deliquency cases
• - Strict constructionist of right vs wrong
• - Does not favor women even though she is one
• - Author of several books on legal issues facing ordinary Americans

Here are some excerpts from Judge Judy's book - Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining: America's Toughest Family Court Judge Speaks Out:

"By shifting the emphasis from individual responsibility to government responsibility, we have infantilized an entire population."

"During my years in family court, I have seen a dramatic deterioration in the lives of adults and children. At the same time, there has been a dramatic increase in expensive public programs. We are spending a fortune and the result is failure. The recipients of these monies are in the same or worse shape than before, and the consequences are all around us"

To further prove her qualifications, here are some of the best quotes from her award winning show:

"If you live to be a hundred you will never be as smart as me"

"Do I have stupid written over my forehead?"

"Have you ever heard of the KISS principle? Keep It Simple, Stupid?"

"This is my courtroom I can say what I want. When you become a Judge, we will talk."

"Do you feel as if you're getting whipped? (laughs) You sure are!"

"You spent seventy-two dollars getting your hair done? You wasted your money!"

"Two people can't talk at the same time. When my mouth is moving, it means that you need to be quiet."

"Do you know when a gift becomes a loan? When the relationship is over. Have you ever heard that, sir? Well, neither have I. I just made it up. I'm going to put it on coffee mugs."

"Sir, the table didn't have three beers and get up and move!!!"

"You are not a good witness. Because a good witness answers a Judge's question directly, and my question to you was a very simple one. A SIX YEAR OLD COULD ANSWER IT!!!"

"My grandmother always told me; beauty fades, but dumb is forever!"

"gotta job? well get one!"

"Of course I’m right, I’m always right.” "I got an A for Torts in Law School.” "BALONEY SIR!"

"I'm like a truth machine."

"I'm the boss, Applesauce."

"l have 3 sons so l know you are no gift! You're not even good looking!!"

"That's going to be the most expensive curse word you ever said!"

"Did you just curse at him? Get out"

"Ridiculous --- NEXT!"

"I think you ought to be quiet. You know, they don't need anybodys tirring up the pot. You're a pot-stirrer."

"Sir don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."

"Do I look like I need help from you?"

"Did you forget you were coming to coming to court today?"

"I don't care what you think! I'M the one who has to make a determinationwhat is fair."

If these are not the credentials required to be on the Supreme Court, I don't know what is. Compared to Harriett Miers, Judge Judy is the most qualified to take the next seat.

Do the right thing Congress - Appoint Judge Judy

Imagine the ratings you'll get!

Thanks to Major K for his enlightening post:


About a month ago in an area of Baghdad not far from where I am now a little known engagement took place out in the street between an arhabi sniper team and a group of Soldiers from the Louisiana Army National Guard's 256th Brigade Combat Team. They are appropriately known as the Tiger Brigade, and as someone who as served in the active Army in Airborne and Ranger units before coming to the National Guard, from what I have seen, these guys are pretty damned good. This story is one example. To my knowledge it has not made the MSM, but everyone around here knows about it. I have omitted operational and TTP (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures) details for reasons of operational security:
During a routine patrol in Baghdad, these Soldiers were engaged by a sniper team. Several shots were fired at the patrol. One shot was direct hit center mass of the chest of one Soldier. This Soldier fell, only to rise again immediately (probably cursing quite a bit) and returned fire in the direction of the sniper. It was his lucky day. Underneath his body armor, this Soldier had one heck of a large contusion on his chest, but the bullet did not penetrate. Having identified the location of the sniper, the squad used fire and maneauver to close with the sniper team and capture them, wounding the sniper in the process. Upon securing the location, the same soldier who had been hit in the chest, fell to stabilizing and dressing the wounds of the terrorist who shot him minutes before. After loading the wounded sniper on to a MEDEVAC, they shifted into CSI mode, tagging and bagging all of the evidence of the attack, the weapons used and photographing the scene. All the while they maintained 360 degree security against other attacks. Their battalion section circulated a report on the engagement TTP's so that everyone could learn from it.
What composure. What discipline. What courage. What presence of mind. Being able to be around Soldiers is what keeps me in the Army. I am amazed that I am allowed to wear the same uniform as this guy.

9/30/2005 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- An improvised explosive device killed a female Airman during a convoy mission supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Jacobson, 21, was providing convoy security Sept. 28 near Camp Bucca, Iraq, when the vehicle she was riding in was hit by an improvised explosive device.
The Riviera Beach, Fla., native was assigned to the 17th Security Forces Squadron at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. Airman Jacobson had been in the Air Force for two years and had been deployed to Iraq for more than three months.
She is the first female Airman killed in the line of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“She was an outstanding Airman who embraced life and took on all the challenges and responsibilities with extraordinary commitment to her country, her comrades and her family,” said Col. Scott Bethel, 17th Training Wing commander at Goodfellow.
“Her dedication to the U.S. Air Force and serving her country was evident in all aspects of who this young lady was,” he said.
“Team Goodfellow and the San Angelo community are deeply saddened by this tragic loss of one of our cherished family members,” Colonel Bethel said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family during this difficult time. We ask that all Americans keep Airman Jacobson, her family and the men and women serving in the military, overseas and in the United States in their thoughts and prayers as they continue to keep America free.”

The Palm Beach Post did a nice story about this brave American.

This is a shattering piece that La Shawn Barber rolled out on her site. Here are a few tidbits:

In typical fashion, black politicians and other hustlers are calling for Bennett’s head on a platter. In the backrooms, out of sight, white liberals are jumping for joy. If they can’t sell their ideas enough to win elections, they’ll keep floating the conservatives-are-racists meme because they know exactly how blacks will react.

Second, black liberals have been voting for people who openly advocate abortion for the past 30 years! Child killing is morally reprehensible, as Bill Bennett said, but for some strange reason, it doesn’t bother black folks when it’s time to go to the polls.

Third, Bennett’s hypothetical is based on fact. Blacks are 12.3 percent of the population, and about half are black men, which means black men are approximately 6 percent of the U.S. population. Yet, they commit over half of all violent crimes (see Bureau of Justice statistics). Why aren’t you outraged over those shameful statistics?

Read The Rest

Bookmark her site. She is a rose among the thorns!

Why are we getting just another lawyer?

What an intellectual midget compared to the host of other candidates in the pool.

Who is using the administration brain cell these days, cuase it sure ain't W.

There are those that say this is a shrewd move - she is a woman, lots of experience in law, no judicial record to bash, first lady head of the Texas ABA, others on and several other justices had no judicial experience either when nominated...

All good pionts, but the reason this is such a poor nomination is that this lady has nothing to make up for the fact that she has no judicial experience which I think opens her up to the kind of witchfinder general grilling she will receive from the likes of Schummer, et. al.

Now, if she was a Moynihan, or a Bork, etc., people who were scholars of the law, then the confirmation hearings could shed light on the leanings of each candidate and provide the kind of debate I think this nation needs on cases like Affirmative Action, Privacy, States Rights, etc., - in this case Bork to the right of Atilla The Hun and Moynihan to the center. What is Miers going to show us?

All the planets have aligned for the right to put two people on the bench who could bring some retraint to the silliness and irresponsibility that the court has doled out since the 70s. This historic opportunity to pound one on the left's face has passed us. I don't think this lady is of the same judicial timbre as others who have been put in for nomination.

Just another lawyer just does not cut it, W.

John Edwards was just another lawyer, too.

Australia is to impose "draconian" counter-terrorism laws after state and territory leaders agreed on Tuesday to wide-ranging security proposals made by Prime Minister John Howard in the wake of the London bombings. Howard said the new laws, which include detaining suspects for up to 48 hours without charge and using electronic tracking devices to keep tabs on terror suspects, were needed to combat "unusual circumstances."

"We do live in very dangerous and different and threatening circumstances, and a strong and comprehensive response is needed. I think all of these powers are needed," Howard told a news conference after the leaders' terrorism summit in Canberra.
"I cannot guarantee that Australia will not be the subject of a terror attack ... but as a result of the decisions taken today we are in a stronger and better position to give peace of mind to the Australian community," he said.

Keysar Trad, president of the , condemned the new laws, which came from a review of Australia's counter-terroIslamic Friendship Association of Australiar legislation following the July 7 London bus and subway bombings. "These laws will be unfair and could lead to the creation of a fascist state," he said.
Australia, a staunch U.S. ally with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, has steadily beefed up security and anti-terrorism laws since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Australia has never suffered a major peacetime attack on home soil, but 88 Australians were among 202 people killed in the 2002 Bali bombings and 10 Indonesians were killed when the Australian embassy in Jakarta was hit by a suicide bomb on September 9, 2004.Under the planned changes, existing sedition laws are to be replaced by a new law making it a crime to incite violence against the community or against Australian soldiers serving overseas or to support Australia's enemies.
"In many sense the laws that we have agreed to today are draconian laws, but they are necessary laws to protect Australians," Queensland state premier Peter Beattie told a news conference.
(Reuters/ Michelle Nichols) Good Show Bruces