Largest Tax Increase In History!

Tax and Spend

by Robert D. Novak - March 29, 2007 - Townhall.com

Following the example of their Senate brethren last Friday, House Democrats will adopt a budget resolution containing the largest tax increase in U.S. history amid massive national inattention.

Nobody's tax payment will increase immediately, but the budget resolutions set a pattern for years ahead. The House version increases non-defense, non-emergency spending by $22.5 billion for the next fiscal year, with such spending rising 2.4 percent in each of the next three years. To pay for these increases, the resolution raises taxes close to $400 billion over five years -- about $100 billion more than what the Senate passed.

It had been assumed the newly majoritarian Democrats in Congress would end President Bush's relief in taxation of capital gains, dividends and estates. What came as a surprise was the simultaneous rollback in Bush-sponsored income tax cuts. This represents Democrats' belief they can politically survive this long-term commitment to bigger government. Here is an audacious effort to raise the banner of fiscal responsibility while increasing spending and taxes.

Tax and spend has always been the matra of those who are committed to socialism. That commitment is based on a failure to understand economics. The leaders of the democratic party are evangelical believers that wealth in a society is unrelated to economic policy. They are socialists. However they deny they are socialists and for many that is good enough.

It is simply amazing that this tax increase is about to happen and millions for whom it will be a disaster don't see the consequences. Someone needs to buy a few copies of Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom" and pass them out. Jimmy Carter was a socialist and with a democratic congress he got the same type program passed back in the 70s. The stagflation Carter caused is about to return. Why do we have to learn this lesson again. Wasn't one experience with the consequences of socialism in America enough? Reagan saved us from Carter's socialist agenda last time.

Who will save us this time?

Christopher Barrios Remembered

by Alicia Colon - March 30th, 2007 - New York Sun

It's been ages since I cried myself to sleep, but that's exactly how I spent Tuesday night, inexplicably sobbing into the early morning.

The crying was a release from the pent-up anguish I've felt about the death of a 6-year old boy I'd never met. The death of Christopher Michael Barrios was so hideous and sickening that it should have been the catalyst for societal outrage, yet his story has already faded from the headlines, and Christopher has become just another forgotten victim in a war against children. Shame on all of us.

Tuesday started off as a wonderful balmy day spent on the boardwalk of South Beach with my husband and granddaughter. The lunch at South Fin Grill was delicious, but as I looked out the window at the children running on the boardwalk, all I could think of was a silent warning to parents to watch their children. Don't let them out of your sight. Monsters are lurking everywhere.

Christopher was sexually assaulted by a convicted sex offender, George Edenfield, and his father, David Edenfield, while his mother, Peggy Edenfield, watched. Then they choked the boy to death. While this horrific incident occurred in Georgia, no child anywhere is safe in this sexually overcharged society.

This article was published on my birthday. It just seems appropriate to remember that I am getting another year older while a 6 year old child will never see another day.

Between abortion and child pornography the images and issues our courts defend vigorously are well known.

However they will not defend private property and until recently tried to argue that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" was a right being granted to government to arm its minions. No one can present evidence of a single government that ever failed to assume it had that right but liberals argue with a straight face that our founders were concerned government officials might not think they had the right to arm our militias in our defense. Therefore these liberals pretend that the prefatory clause is the operative clause in the second amendment sentence.

However these same liberal judges are determined that the first amendment was intended to assure that pornography cannot be opposed by any act of government. Freedom of speech is absolute, unless of course you are criticizing government officials. The courts have now determined that speech like that can be prohibited. John McCain and Russ Feingold are memorialized as the two Senators who found it offensive that some citizen might criticize government without proper approval of federal bureaucrats. So today you can advocate sexual perversion but you cannot advocate what you see as good government unless bureacrats share your views.

I think our founders would have been flabbergasted at the incompetence and stupidity of these court rulings.

I join Alcia Colon in crying for Christopher Barrios. One more child abandoned by our liberal courts and liberal legislators in their defense of abortion and pormography.

Campaign Reform? Try Campaign Inflation

by Jonah Goldberg - March 28th, 2007 - Townhall.com

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg reportedly tells friends that his idea of good financial planning is to have his check to the undertaker bounce. "So," asks the Washington Post, "how does a billionaire spend all his money before he dies?" Well, "he just might drop a cool half-billion on a long-shot bid to become the nation's first modern president from outside the two major political parties."

Now, if you're the sort of person who thinks Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, is the man to save America, this column's probably not for you. So, the seven or eight of you who feel this way are excused from reading further. For the rest of us, the pressing question is, "What hath we wrought?"

This article is just brimming with interesting issues. Of course they are all related.

First off is the idea that Bloomberg might drop a half billion into running in 2008. What (you have to wonder) will be the consequence for the political parties? Perot was the primary reason that Bill Clinton was President. It is easy to forget that the 90s were dominated by one person who would never have been President if Perot had not hated George H.W. Bush so much that he ran as an independent just to hurt Bush. Will Bloomberg's candidacy help the Republicans or the Democrats?

Next is the issue of free speech. McCain-Feingold has not reduced the money in political races. It has simply changed how it is spent. It has damaged free speech in the process. It has dramatically increased the power of the courts over political campaigns too. This is because now the courts get to handle lawsuits about whether the Federal Elections Commission is applying the rules fairly, whatever fairly means. So far it looks like it is harming our nation more than helping. How will these dynamics play out in coming years?

A couple of indirect issues are in play here as well. Like money, incumbency is an idea that Republicans love to hate. Like money, the consequences for the term limits movement has consistently been results worse than the problem they tried to fix. Will the Republican Party abandon its fascination with term limits? Maybe this issue is too obscure to tie directly to this article, but it is related.

Another related issue that this article forces you to think about is the war in Iraq. What exactly will be the consequences for the nation's thoughts on Islamofascism of Bloomberg running? Will this help or hurt getting the American people to think about this long term war and the consequences if the Islamofascists get nuclear bombs? In the last election the major factor which surfaced was that a huge part of our population simply did not want to deal with this issue. Islamofascism is not a force we have to care about (was the implication of the vote). Where does Bloomberg stand on this war issue? Does anyone really know?

I guess one reason I still read Jonah is that he often comes up with articles that really cause you to think. This is a good one.

Committing Suicide, One Step At A Time

by Ben Shapiro - March 28th, 2007 - Townhall.com

How far will the West be pushed? For decades, Iran has embraced a strategy of carefully feeling its oats, prodding at the West, testing our mettle in inches. Now, like Germany in 1938, Iran is beginning to realize that the West will do nothing to stop it. Crippled by a pathological aversion to war, America and Britain sit by silently as Iran develops nuclear weapons, fosters terrorism in Iraq and targets Western interests for total annihilation.

Ben Shapiro asks some good questions in this article. The long term future of our world is seriously in danger from Islamofascism. While it happens democrats blather on about the short term consequences of this same danger. They are looking for partisan advantage because their long term goal is still the destruction of free enterprise. Focused on that they prefer the short term risk of losing this war we are in. Why are there so many people in the country who cannot clearly see the motivation of democratic leaders? How can so many people think leaving Iraq will have no consequence?

The consequences of failure in Iraq is nuclear war, a nuclear war we are neither prepared for or willing to fight. Even with the fantastic success of closing down the Libyan nuclear program democrats blindly close their eyes and speak the mantra "there were no WMDs in Iraq". They simply ignore finding that Saddam was sponsoring the Libyan nuclear program and his missing nuclear sceintists were all there moving forward with the program under the guidance of Khan from Pakistan. Since we shut down the program in Libya they are literally true but it is still not an honest statement. They are lying in their implication.

Iran is close to the bomb becuase of Khan. Due to the involvement of Khan in Libya we found out what he was doing in Iran. We had Musarraf pull him out but that simply delayed Iran. It did not end the danger. Shortly we will face the certainty that multiple Islamic countries will have the ability to maufacture nuclear bombs. When Muslim countries are certain America cannot know for sure which country gave the Islamofascists the bomb, they will arm this radical group with nuclear bombs.

When New York and Washington and Chicago and Los Angeles disapper in a mushroom cloud, what do you think the democrats are going to do? They will be busy blaming it on Bush. For the next 20 years everything that goes wrong in America will be Bush's fault. They will agonize and dawdle however they will take no action. Just watch. I am no Bush fan but this is insanity.

Shapiro is right. We are committing suicide, one step at a time.

Johnston County Honors Favorite Son Fred Smith

Fresh from the morning's press conference where Senator Fred Smith announced he is running for Governor of North Carolina, we drove down to Johnston County where the Annual Reagan Day Dinner was turned into a campaign rally for this "favorite son" as well as the planned "SALUTE TO THE TROOPS" to thank our armed forces.

This year's Reagan Day Dinner was held at the Agriculture Center for Johnston County, an appropriate place for Fred who was for many years a successful farmer in this county.




DeVan Barbour and Dodie Renfer are actively trying to make sure everyone has a good time.



The dinner was well attended so good organization was needed to assure that everything went smoothly, and it went very smoothly.



Ron Toppin looks on as Morgan Dickens helps Bill Tarpenning.




Ginny Smith arrives at the Reagan Day Dinner "Salute to the Troops".




There was an auction held at the end of the dinner and formal festivities and this is the stack of goodies to be auctioned off.




Dignataries on the Dais included Rudy Renfer, Johnston County Republican Chairman, Linda Daves, Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, SSgt Scott Peterson, Representative Leo Daughtry and S1C Roland McDowell.

The other side of the Dais included Sergeant Major Copps, Sergeant Cattelona, Representative J.H. Langdon, and Senator Fred Smith.

The crowd was huge, and they gave Senator Smith a standing ovation when he went to the Dais.



Everyone took their seats as the evening events started.

Rudy Renfer, newly elected Chairman of the Republican Party for Johnston County served as Master of Ceremonies.



Dr John Allen, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Clayton gave the invocation.



Color Guard was provided by the West Johnston High School JROTC.



Commissioner Ray Woodall led the Pledge of Allegiance.


Chauna Mason gave an a cappella rendition of the Star Spangled Banner that was awesome.



After these opening ceremonies everyone lined up for the food.


It was quite a feast, and included great ham and beef in addition to the traditional chicken.



Everyone continued to catch up with friends while the serving delay took place, as it always does when you are feeding this many people.



First item on the agenda after dinner was a very moving "SALUTE TO THE TROOPS", and the representative for each service was introduced to the audience by Jim Lee.




Sergeant Major Copps for the Army.



S1C Roland McDowell for the Navy.



Sergeant George Cattelona for the Marine Corps.




SSgt Scott Peterson for the Air Force.




After a patriotic film of the various services was played, Linda Daves delivered some special remarks on behalf of the North Carolina GOP.



At this point Representative J.H. Langdon started the introduction of the Keynote Speaker, Senator Fred Smith.



The introduction of Senator Fred Smith was completed by Representative Leo Daughtry.

Senator Fred Smith, newly announced candidate for Governor, completed the formal event. Senator Smith covered several key issues that are to be the basis for his campaign. The key theme is taking care of family through tax cuts and education focus.

The details of his campaign issues can be found on his web site here and in the article on his announcement press conference which follows immediately below. In that article there are links to the TV coverage of the press conference.

Fred ended with a great closing line, "I want to thank thank all of you for joining me in this. Because we are about winning."

A great way to close the formal festitivities for this Republican event.

Join Fred In Run For Governor

Senator Fred Smith announced his candidacy for Governor in one of the more traditional locations in campaign history, the place he was raised. It was Senator Smith's wish to draw attention to one aspect of his childhood that has driven his move into public service after a very successful life as a lawyer, farmer and businessman.




That background of his youth is the public service which was his parent's life commitment. Though Fred has always given back in both time and money to his community, it is only recently that he has made that his primary focus in life, to give back to our state, North Carolina.





His press conference this morning emphasized his rages to riches story, and the history of his family in giving back to society. These are things he can be proud of and which his family and friends already knew.




A huge throng of family and friends turned out for the event. Here below Ginny Smith, Fred's wife is shown arriving.




His mother was in charge of 24 orphans in the building he stands before, and his father was a teacher and coach for the orphanage as well. This was the building where he and his parents lived and where Fred was raised.



Fred has recently run a very successful campaign for re-election for State Senate, and the huge victory margin in an area traditionally democratic, and which saw significant democratic victories this year, did not dent Fred's personal victory margins. In fact his margins increased, indicating the popularity of this Republican who is a "favorite son" of Johnston County.




That popularity among moderates is one thing that clashes with the democratic fondness for saying Fred is an "arch" conservative. They know that claiming he is extreme will not fly so they are trying to find a new way to try and paint him as out of the mainstrean. He is a conservative that moderates respect and admire too.



Here Fred answers questions of a couple of local reporters, as he starts to tell more of North Carolina what he stands for.




Here is the News & Observer take on the event.




Here is a link to another blogger, Lorrie Byrd's coverage of the event.




As usual at this type of event, there was plenty of food to take care of the crowd.



In the picture above, former Johnston County Republican Chairman and long time Fred Smith fan, Joe Avery partakes of some of the food.

WRAL gave major coverage to the press conference. Their stories and two separate streaming videos can be seen here and here. Click on the titles below the "Video" listing on the right of these articles to play their coverage from TV.

Our own Inner Banks Eagle coverage of Fred included one article where I personally observed how hard a worker Fred is. "Fred Smith is a Winner" was a great election day story about this man's endurance. This is not a man who can be outworked by anyone, probably one reason he has been a success at everything he tries. In another of our previous articles, Governor of Texas Rick Perry gave Fred his endorsement, here.



Link to second article covering Reagan Day Dinner and Salute to the Troops.

Why They Want To Lose

by Dinesh D'Souza - March 19th, 2007 - Townhall.com

It seems that there are many on the left who want Bush to lose in Iraq. “The United States needs to lose the war in Iraq as soon as possible,” Gwyne Dyer writes in a recent book. Michael Moore claims that “the Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘the enemy.’ They are the Revolution, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow—and they will win.”

Moore may be right, but what’s striking is that he appears to be cheering them on. He is not unique in his sentiments.

Dinesh is right. Democrats want America to lose. Since they cannot separate themselves from America that means they are prepared to lose a war. Read Dinesh's article and the litany of people on the left who see even the mild "compassionate conservative" principals of Bush as more threatening (to their socialist world goal) than Al Queda is eye opening.

Let's start off with a little honest talk about Bush and his "compassionate conservative" concept. George W. Bush has abandoned conservative principals and tried to invent a new set of principals for the Republican Party. His abandonment of conservative principals is the reason so many in the Republican Party despise Bush with a vigor equal to those on the left. An honest description of what Bush means when he talks about "compassionate conservative" is "big government conservative". This is a classic oxymoron. "Big government" and "conservative" are contradictory concepts. If you believe in individual freedom, you CANNOT, MUST NOT and WILL NOT embrace government bureaucrats telling people how to live.

That is all the government does. It is destructive of individual freedom no matter what idealist excuse was used to justify the expansion of government power. That is what liberals and socialists fear in Bush's world view (and why many conservatives agree with the liberals about Bush). Big government doing things but things that liberals oppose is not their view of progress. It is why liberals are so much angrier at Bush, a man who really agrees with them on their basic philosophy of goverment control, than they are at more conservative people who are in government to resist taxation and control of individual liberty. Not that Liberals hesitate to destroy anyone who represents success of the free enterprise concept.

A perfect example of this phenomenon is the reaction of the left wing of the democrat party to Senator Fred Smith's campaign for Governor here in North Carolina. Fred Smith is an extremely successful lawyer, farmer and businessman. Formerly farming and now building homes is the overwhelming focus of his business enterprises. A very small part of his business enterprise involves road contracts (however it was done to support his building homes, not as a direct business enterprise). How could he have benefitted unfairly by buying an existing road building company? However democrats have started lying about Senator Smith and calling him "Asphalt King", attempting to portray him as enriching himself by abusing public contracts. They pretend this is thr focus of his business. The reason they are so antogonistic to Fred Smith is simple; he is a successful businessman and this is how they wish to label him so they can stop him before he gets better known by the people of North Carolina. Of all the Republican candidates running for Governor of North Carolina, Fred Smith is the one they are incensed about. Why are they so determined to bias the outcome of the Republican Party primary process? The answer is because Fred Smith believes in free enterprise.

That is the one aspect of why liberals want America to lose that Dinesh D'Souza doesn't really make clear. This is still all about the desire by the left to destroy free enterprise. They see free enterprise as an evil system rather than the foundation of our national wealth. They have learned nothing from the failure of socialism in every place that it has been tried. It is the background explanation for why they so passionately want America to lose this war.

Thousands Rally For Marriage Bill

by Jim Nesbitt - March 6th, 2007 - News & Observer

A noontime rally Tuesday in support of a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and woman drew thousands of people from across North Carolina.

With shouts of "let us vote!," the crowd aimed its collective ire at Democratic legislative leaders such as state Senate majority leader Marc Basnight, who has said he sees no need for a constitutional amendment because a 1996 North Carolina law already says same-sex marriages are invalid. Rally organizers say Basnight, a Democrat from Manteo, has kept the Senate version of the constitutional amendment bill bottled up in a committee that hasn't met since 2001.

Other coverage of the rally of over 10,000 included significant coverage on WITN-TV, which included this article on their web site: Rally Against Gay Marriage. Are you surprised that most of the press is covering this rally in such a low key manner? Can you imagine the extensive coverage if 10,000 liberals demonstrated for something?

Followup in the News & Observer on this issue included this letter from Steve Noble, Chairman, Called2Action in Raleigh with regards to Senator Marc Basnight:

I received a shocking reply to a recent e-mail to Sen. Marc Basnight's office: "Like you, I believe to my core that marriage should be between one man and one woman, and I strongly oppose same-sex marriage."

If Basnight had the courage of his convictions, then this issue would be over. If one believes in something "to the core," wouldn't you expect him to give it his best? The Defense of Marriage Act in North Carolina is a good law, but it's only one activist N.C. Superior Court judge away from being declared "unconstitutional."

Like Basnight, most North Carolinians support traditional marriage "to their core" and want to protect it to the fullest extent of the law. The fullest extent leaves only one option: the marriage amendment.

The difference is that most North Carolinians are not actively sabotaging the passage of the bill, proving that Marc Basnight cannot be telling the truth when he says he supports it. Either that or he is trying to have it both ways, kowtowing to the gay power block in the democrat party, while simultaneously claiming he agrees with North Carolinians privately.

At some point Marc Basnight is going to have to prove that he is not being a hypocrit. Liberal judges all over America are actively trying to subvert the laws that we currently rely on. Marc Basnight knows this. It is only a mtter of time until a judge declares gay marriage legal here in North Carolina. Will Basnight still be sitting on the fence or will he have taken a clear stand one way or another.

I think I know where Basnight stands. He stands with the gay power block in the democrat party. His personal claims about his beliefs notwithstanding, his actions prove it. One of those gay organizations supporting Basnight is Equality North Carolina, and they have not changed their stance since this article posted last year: Anti-Marriage Amendment Halted for Third Year

Similtaneously there is another group that is making their stand clear in support of the Defense of Marriage Bill. The North Caronlina Family Policy Council has posted this "Why North Carolina Needs a Marriage Amendment" article. No ambiguity there.

Senator Fred Smith is leading the charge to get this bill passed. His thoughts are posted on his web site here.

Neither supporters or opposition are waffling . . . . but Marc Basnight is. If you really want to make a difference either way, contact Basnight by email at Marcb@ncleg.net, or you can phone him at (919) 733-6854.

Don't you think it is time for Basnight to stop having it both ways?

Iran's Talk Is Full Of Fire But Its Economy Is Burning

by Chris Walker - March 11th, 2007 - London Independent

On current trends, Iran will cease to be a net oil exporter in 2015

In the nuclear stand-off between the US and Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talks a good game. But his bellicose words hide a weakness - the meltdown of the Iranian economy. As the situation becomes ever more desperate, so does Mr Ahmadinejad's rhetoric.

It's hard to know what's really going on in an Iran full of Orwellian doublespeak. The Expediency Council is pursuing a 20-year plan to create an "Islamic Economy". At a recent conference of the Elite Society of Self-Sacrificers of the Islamic Revolution, economic discussions were pretty theological with calls for "economic jihad".

And yet, behind the scenes, it is becoming clear that all is not well inside Iran, even in the middle of an oil price boom. At 3.9 million barrels a day, oil production remains stubbornly below its level at the time of the 1979 revolution.

Despite its bellicose attitude towards the west, the reliance by Islamofascists on the government paradign of socialism, assures that the Islamic governments suffer greatly diminished productivity.

As noted in this article, it is encouraging that our government has learned to use the levers of free enterprise to fight against our enemies. What value is there in being a nation of free enterprise if you don't understand and use its principals? That is the one positive that we must hold on to. We must remain a nation of free enterprise. As noted in Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose", free enterprise is the bastion that keeps us the wealthiest nation on earth and that underpins the whole concept of individual freedom.

The use by the Bush administration of the tools of free enterprise in its battle against Islamofascism has been one of the plus signs for the "war on" what Bush calls "terror". Ironically all of Bush's major failings have been when he went against the concept of freedom and embraced socialized programs . . . such as his drug plan for medicare.

The lesson for America is the same lesson that should have been learned with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Socialism does not work. Since those on the left are so upset with Bush this irony seems lost on them. Their bias in favor of a failed economic system is as great a threat to our nation as the danger of Islamofascism when it gets nuclear bombs.

Shooting Elephants In A Barrel

by Ann Coulter - March 7, 2007 - Townhall.com

It was not a crime to reveal Valerie Plame's name because she was not a covert agent. If it had been a crime, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald could have wrapped up his investigation with an indictment of the State Department's Richard Armitage on the first day of his investigation since it was Armitage who revealed her name and Fitzgerald knew it.

[snip]

. . . Libby is now a convicted felon for having a faulty memory of the person who first told him that Joe Wilson was a delusional boob who lied about his wife sending him to Niger.

This makes it official: It's illegal to be Republican.

Ann Coulter is hated by progressives and democrats. One thing they always try to claim is that she is "over the top" or "excessive". Actually Ann can more accurately be described as well researched and as a result more incensed at democrat actions.

Notwithstanding her calling Joe Wilson a boob so the democrats can call her excessive, this article is a litany of the prosecutor abuses that democrats have taken on behalf of the democrat party agenda. These partisan witch hunts are an insult to our nation and a total condemnation of the most corrupt court system on earth. That court system is ours.

From Kennedy to Berger, democrats either walk or get "community service" for actions that are arrogantly criminal. Does anyone remember the testimony of Hillary in the court case about her Rose Law Firm billing records. Something approaching 200 "I can't remember" or variations on that statement. When Republicans say they can't recall, they are held in contempt. When Republicans testify even the most insignificant flaw in memory results in perjury convictions. How did Hillary get away with this? She of course is a democrat.

The double standard Ann documents in this article is outrageous. It is time for more of the moderate and middle of the road Republicans, and America's large pool of independents, to start to notice this partisan abuse. If it continues there will be an escalation. The rage among Republicans is growing and open warfare is not far behind rage. Do we want another civil war?

See you in the streets.

After Libby Trial

By Adam Liptak - March 8th, 2007 - New York Times

After Libby Trial, New Era for Government and Press

The investigation and trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr., who was Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, will have many legacies and lessons — for government officials, for supporters and critics of special prosecutors and for historians of the events leading to the war in Iraq.

But the institution most transformed by the prosecution, and the one that took the most collateral damage from Patrick J. Fitzgerald’s relentless pursuit of obstruction and perjury charges against Mr. Libby, may have been the press, forced in the end to play a major role in his trial.

What the public needs to learn is the real lesson of this trial, taught by liberal Tim Russert (a hardcore democrat partisan), not the lessons the commiecrat newspaper the New York Times thinks is the lesson they were taught. Russert was perfectly willing to share all he knew that would damage the President and the Republican Party, as long as it was him "privately" chatting with the attorneys for the justice department. At the very same time he was voluably chatting with the justice department off the record he was fighting a supoena to have to say the same thing on the record, and lying in the process. Nothing of greater importance to Republicans could have come out of this fiasco. Maybe the weenie wing of the Republican Party will start to understand how viciously the media really plays this hypocritical game.

This has long been the real game played by the MSM (main stream media). A duplicitous game where anything that hurts Republicans is privately conveyed at the same time that anything that hurts any democrat or socialist is fought with a vengeance, publicly and privately.

Scooter Libby was convicted of perjury on the basis of the fact that he remembered a conversation differently than Tim Russert, or at least as the partisan bigot Tim Russert claims he remembers it. The reality is that Tim Russert lied in his court filings. He claimed that he never revealed what sources said when the justice department has taped telephone conversations with Russert telling them off the record exactly what he claimed he would never reveal.

The jury believes him more than they believe Libby?

George W. Bush started this whole fiasco when he insisted that he would fire anyone who did not cooperate fully with the investigation. What should have happened is that there should have been wholesale resignations by his entire staff for Bush's gutless caving to political pressure. If you have any doubt about George W. Bush's culpability in this fiasco, check out this second article in the American Thinker, Get a Grip Mr. President, by J. Peter Mulhern.

This trial has set a new standard. It has escalated the war between Republicans and democrats to a new level of ruthlessness. Next time we have the chance, any democrat who is being pursued should be persecuted with this same vigor. Reporters must be jailed if they do not willingly reveal their sources and all they said. If democrats want war Republicans must fight too. Everyone must play by the same rules.

See you in the streets.

I Call for Justice

by Clarice Feldman - March 7th, 2007 - American Thinker

I call for justice for Scooter Libby because he has had none in this ridiculous matter.

But at whose door do I stand to shout my curses?

Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame who cooked up a series of lies to undermine the Administration in the middle of the war?

[snip]

Shall I blame the judge who let the prosecution get away with introducing into evidence prejudicial news accounts of limited relevance or probative value while denying the defense an opportunity to fully make its case? Who permitted the prosecutor to make scandalous charges on his rebuttal -- for which he had not offered a shred of evidence and which went beyond the defendant's closing statement -- the last thing the jury would be allowed to hear.


Shall I blame the jury which seems to have been unable to find the pony so it reconstructed it out of flip charts and post it notes?


This entire process has been an outrage from beginning to end.

And it will remain an outrage. There is little choice but to acknowledge the ridiculous situation we are in. Nancy Pelosi appoints Jefferson and Murtha to positions of power in congress. George W. Bush fires the best U.N. Ambassador we have ever had.

The greatest example of how much bias existed in this process includes the outrageous comments of the Washintgon Post reporter (somehow allowed onto the jury in spite of the obvious bias) who came out screaming that they should have gone after Rove and Cheney. His most amazing quote? "I'm a political hack, a foaming at the mouth lib." Yes he is. So how was he allowed on the jury?

There is no hope for this nation when the majority backs commiecrats who are dedicated to crippling our military and shuns common sense as presented by intellectual giants like Thomas Sowell and Mark Steyn. This trial is an example of how bigoted and biased our courts have become. They tolerate a prosecutor who has long despised Libby, and yet he is not forced to recuse himself, and a juror who worked for a former employer known for its anti-Republican bias.

Do you honestly think this verdict is just?

How Gore's Massive Energy Consumption Saves The World

by Mark Steyn - March 4th, 2007 - The Chicago Sun Times

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the other day the Rev. Al Gore declared that "climate change" was "the most important moral, ethical, spiritual and political issue humankind has ever faced.'' Ever. I believe that was the same day it was revealed that George W. Bush's ranch in Texas is more environmentally friendly than the Gore mansion in Tennessee.

[snip]

What's he doing in there? Clamping Tipper to the electrodes and zapping her across the rec room every night? [What an image that is!] No, no, don't worry. Al's massive energy consumption is due entirely to his concern about the way we're depleting the Earth's resources. When I say "we," I don't mean Al, of course. I mean you -- yes, you, Earl Schlub, in the basement apartment at 29 Elm St. You're irresponsibly depleting the Earth's resources by using that electric washer when you could be down by the river with the native women beating your loin cloth dry on the rock while singing traditional village work chants all morning long.

Mark Steyn is a great satirist. However you have to ask if anything is more ridiculous than Al Gore claiming to save the world. Isn't that the ultimate satire?

Read the article anyway. It will give you a great laugh to start the day. Steyn is the best.

Fresh Troops -- or Fresh Thinking?

by Patrick Buchanan - March 2nd, 2007 - Townhall.com

Six years after Donald Rumsfeld agreed to a second tour of duty as secretary of defense, to rebuild the military, Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker told Congress his Army "will break" if not relieved of the present burdens. Colin Powell says the Army is "almost broken."

This article by Buchanan shows how out of touch with anything but his own biases that he really is. It makes me nervous when I agree with Buchanan so when he gets things wrong I am comforted. I started off nervous since I partially agree with Buchanan that we need to reduce our stupid commitments to nations who are no longer under credible threat. To pretend that Russia could threaten Europe when it could not even maintain its hold over the eastern satellites is not rational. Since Europe maligns us at every move, why we still have hundreds of thousands of troops committed to protecting nations that spit on us constantly just proves that George W. Bush cannot comprehend the real threats that face us.

Nor can Bush continue to ignore what Clinton did and act like the current size of the armed forces is adequate for our nation. It would require Bush to ask civilians to sacrifice if he was to increase the size of the military and nothing indicates he has the guts to ask our citizens for sacrifice. Nor does Bush have the guts to criticize Clinton.

. . . . what happened to the armed forces that were Ronald Reagan's great legacy to the nation[?]

"The active-duty Army was cut from 18 divisions during Desert Storm to 10 by 1994 -- its size today. The Navy, which counted 569 ships in the late 1980s, struggles today to sustain a fleet of only 276. And the number of tactical air wings in the Air Force was reduced from 37 at the time of Desert Storm to 20 by the mid-1990s."

Inheriting Reagan's estate, Bill Clinton sold off much of it for the big party of the 1990s.

Where Buchanan and Bush disagree is what puts me opposed to them both. Buchanan is stuck on the idea of nation states as the only credible threat to our nation. He has therefore opposed the war in Iraq since day one. He still opposes it. Buchanan is too stuck in his old ways to see a powerful movement like Islamofascism as a real threat.

Bush has decided that rather than a military defeat of our enemy, installing democracy will fix the problem. However he fails to note that none of the forces for successful democracy exist in the Muslim world. This is especially true of Iraq. George W. Bush believing that all people want democracy has led him to some ridiculous strategies. Clearly Bremer made mistakes in the early days in Iraq that Bush is still paying for. The real problem is that Bush has no instinct for how to succeed in this war against Islamofascism. He is groping and off balance and has been since the beginning.

His insistence that Islam is a religion of peace is as stupid as his insistence that anyone who wants to close our borders is a "vigilante". Both statements prove that Bush is out of touch with reality. When Bush failed to keep the American people focused on the war and instead tried to make his legacy "reforming" social security (wasting his political capital in the process) he proved himself a man seriously deluded about his place in history.

Even though the surge is working for now, we will not win an easy victory and pulling out is not the answer. We must be prepared to fight this war until victory is achieved. We cannot "quit" as we did in Vietnam and expect our nation to survive. We are entering the real nuclear age, an age that will see small radical movements armed with the weapons of armageddon. The forces of Islamofascism in Iraq will soon adjust to the success of the "surge" and change tactics. That is the reality of war. Your enemy will never stop adjusting. When they adjust, the MSM will be ready once again to proclaim we are losing. How will Bush maintain pubilc support for this unpopular war at that time?

Or can he?

Buchanan will still be there advocating that we pull out. The democrats will still be there advocating we pull out. When the paleo conservatives (extreme right) and progressive socialists (extreme left) are aligned, how do patriots resist?

Our nation is still at a crises point. Our citizens need to prepare for the consequences. They need to prepare now.