3/25/2004
There are those in this country who would do away with the phrase “One Nation Under God”. We as Americans must not let this happen. Some might ask; “why, they’re only words, they have no bearing on what this country stands for? Besides not every one in this country believes in God”. The phrase “One Nation Under God” indicates who we receive our freedoms from. The Declaration of independence says in part:
…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…
Whether or not you believe in God, or what part he plays in our lives and our salvation, our founding fathers believed that we were endowed with certain unalienable rights by God. If we fail to recognize that we are “One Nation Under God” then we are in effect saying that the rights we hold dear in this country have been given to us by man. If our rights have been given to us by man, then man can take away those same rights.
Imagine with me a nation that says, “We are not one nation under God, we don’t want God to play any part in our government or in our freedoms because of separation of church and state”. Have we then set a precedent where a lawyer or activist (judge or other) can come in and challenge our “unalienable” rights because we are no longer one nation under God?
I personally don’t want to find out…..
3/24/2004
Ten Questions for Richard Clarke
Did you notice how soft Lesley Stahl’s gloves were in the 60 Minutes interview with Richard Clarke? Charlie Gibson’s pitches were equally soft on Good Morning, America. Well, I have ten questions that could have been asked of Richard Clarke, but weren’t. You can read them below or listen to the audio link. See if my questions change your perception or opinion of Clarke’s answers based on what you heard in either of these interviews.
Question number 1: Mr. Clarke, the first time the Sudanese government offered bin Laden to the United States, exactly what advice did you give Bill Clinton?
Question number 2: Mr. Clarke, the second time the Sudanese government offered bin Laden to the United States, exactly what advice did you give Bill Clinton?
Question number 3: Mr. Clarke, the third time the Sudanese government offered bin Laden to the United States, exactly what advice did you give Bill Clinton?
Question number 4: When Al-Qaeda attacked our barracks in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Clarke, what exactly advice did you give Clinton for striking back at them?
Question number 5: Mr. Clarke, when Al-Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center in 1993, what advice did you give Clinton for striking back at them?
Question number 6: Mr. Clarke, when Al-Qaeda attacked the USS Cole in 2000, what advice did you give President Clinton for striking back at them?
Question number 7: Mr. Clarke, when Al-Qaeda attacked the two U.S. embassies in North Africa, weren’t you one of the experts who advised Clinton to bomb the pharmaceutical factory in Sudan?
Question number 8: Mr. Clarke, when Clinton was slashing the defense budget in the face of these Al-Qaeda attacks, did you advise him against it?
Question number 9: Mr. Clarke, when Clinton undermined the CIA in the face of all these takers, did you advise him against doing that?
Question number 10: Mr. Clarke, isn’t it true that you and your colleagues in the Clinton administration generally were complete and miserable failures in defending this nation for eight years, and isn’t it a little weak of you to now come forward and say that what Bush didn’t do in the first nine months of his term, is pathetic?
More great stuff from Rush. It really is unfortunate that the mainstream media doesn’t bring out the fact that Clarke and his buddies Bill and Hillary (oop’s, sorry about that Al, I guess you were in there somewhere…) had EIGHT years, and multiple chances to get bin Laden but choose not to. Now rather than ask the tough questions Leslie Stahl Decides to throw anti Bush administration softballs.
3/21/2004
Another stunning example of union leadership not being in touch with their membership. David Powell and Jason Reimer are firefighters with the Reedley, Ca. fire department. In January of 2004 they founded firefightersforbush.com which is a conservative site dedicated to showing support from firefighters for our president. Here’s Jason on the creation of the website:
“David and I were talking one evening in January about the President and thought it would be great to show support for President Bush from firefighters and actually reveal how much we appreciate his leadership.
“I like to think President Bush is a Firefighter at heart. He has shown his bravery on the fireline on 9/11 and demonstrated his steel in the years following in his relentless pursuit of terrorists that endanger everyone in America. He’s fearless!”
“There’s no big money organization behind Firefighters For Bush. Nobody’s bankrolling us, and the Republican Party didn’t ask us to do this. We’re just a group of people who are fed up with being told that America’s firefighters are not behind this President. We’re mad enough and proud enough to make a difference.”
It’s interesting that the union leadership (not just the IAFF) in this country would have us believe that all their members are for John Kerry.
3/16/2004
John Kerry recently claimed to have met with foreign leaders who told him, “you’ve got to beat this guy” because of unhappiness over U.S. foreign policy. Some of my fellow bloggers have done some interesting research into whether or not John Kerry has broken the law by meeting with these foreign leaders. Before you read this blog read TITLE 18 , PART I , CHAPTER 45 , Sec. 953. of the U.S. Criminal Code, commonly referred to as the “Logan Act”:
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
Note to John Kerry: maybe you ought to admit you lied….
Hat Tip: Joe Carter
3/14/2004
Thanks to Joshua for pointing us towards a great blog, “Oh, that liberal media”. You can bet it will be a daily stop on my tour of the blogosphere, as well as a permanent link on my blog.
Some interesting facts regarding September 11:
Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819
Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343
Number of NYPD officers: 23
Number of Port Authority police officers: 37
Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60
Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402
Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614
Number of employees lost at Cantor Fitzgerald: 658
Number of U.S. troops killed in Operation Enduring Freedom: 22
Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115
Now we can add another roughly 200 people in Spain to the death toll caused by Al Queda.
Christopher Caldwell, in this weeks “Weekly Standard”, makes the point that the 3/11 attacks in Madrid are part of a larger worldwide problem. The piece states:
…But the idea that the carnage of March 11 can by any stretch of the imagination be called a “Spanish problem” strikes us as false. It is the problem of all the civilized world’s democratic republics and constitutional monarchies. Pat Cox, the president of the European parliament, is correct to call the Madrid attacks a “declaration of war on democracy.” So is Le Monde to insist on its front page that “it is Europe and democracy that were attacked in Madrid.”
I agree, this is something that we on the right have been trying to get across to those on the left for the last 2 1/2 years. This is not just Americas’ war on terror, it is a worldwide effort to defeat Islamic extremists that would do anything to see the free world annihilated. Much like our fight against Nazi Germany and Japan in WW II, we are at war with a group of extremists who want to see their philosophy dominate the world.
Even the extremists we are at war with place this fight squarely in the world arena, this from an alleged taped confession from Al Queda:
According to an Associated Press account, the alleged Al-Queda spokesman said: “We declare our responsibility for what happened in Madrid exactly 2 1/2 years after the attacks on New York and Washington. It is a response to your collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies.”
In light of this, I ask my fellow countrymen on the left to join this fight against global terrorism, and to stop turning the fight against terror into a partisan issue.
3/11/2004
For once I haven’t had to go looking for stuff to blog about, in the last two days there has been more than enough to go around. Most has been covered extensively by my fellow bloggers, some of it has been breaking news, way to much of it has been tragic.
Susan Lindauer was arraigned today in Baltimore, Md. on charges that she spied for the country of Iraq both before and after the U.S. invasion. Lindauer, a self proclaimed anti-war activist made the following ridiculous statement outside the Baltimore FBI office today:
“I’m an anti-war activist and I’m innocent, I did more to stop terrorism in this country than anybody else. I have done good things for this country. I worked to get weapons inspectors back to Iraq when everyone else said it was impossible.”
Lindauer has worked for four U.S. congressmen in the past (She worked for Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., in 1993 and Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in 1994. She joined the office of Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill., as press secretary in 1996. In 2002, she worked for Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. ) as their press secretary, all four of course deny any knowledge of her spying for Iraq. She also has worked in the past as a journalist for Fortune, U.S. News & World Report and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer before going into politics.
What concerns me however about the congressmen she has worked for is that they all have taken an anti-war stance regarding Iraq. They might not have known that Lindauer was spying for Iraq, but their rabid anti-war ideology fosters this kind of traitorous action.
Lindauer is scheduled to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in the near future, to evaluate whether or not she is fit to stand trial. In my opinion it doesn’t really matter if she’s crazy as a bed bug, she betrayed our country, she should be treated like the traitor she is.
BREAKING NEWS…. Al Queda claims responsibility for terror attack in Spain. This is certainly not an original thought, but now that terror attacks have begun on the European front, maybe they will be a little more willing to help us defeat them.
Jared… at Exultate Justi has a very in-depth look at the group most likely involved in the terrorist attack in Spain overnight, check it out.
3/10/2004
It’s so sad that we have to legislate common sense. Today the “Cheeseburger Bill” passed in the house. This bill was sponsored by Ric Keller R-Fla in an attempt to control the rabid attacks on business by trial lawyers and Democrats. It simply states:
SEC. 2. LITIGATION MANAGEMENT FOR MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AND SELLERS OF FOOD AND NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE PRODUCTS THAT COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE STATUTORY AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS.
(a) PREVENTION OF FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS- The manufacturer, distributor, or seller of a food or non-alcoholic beverage product intended for human consumption shall not be subject to civil liability, in Federal or State court, whether stated in terms of negligence, strict liability, absolute liability, breach of warranty, or State statutory cause of action, relating to consumption of food or non-alcoholic beverage products unless the plaintiff proves that, at the time of sale, the product was not in compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
As usual the Democrats are trying to protect their friends the trial lawyers, and are saying everything they can to discredit both the Bill and the Republicans, calling the bill a Republican political ploy aimed at hurting trial lawyers and helping the multibillion-dollar food business.
It’s very simple folks, if you eat lots and lots of fatty foods, and don’t get any exercise you will get fat, you will be at a higher risk for all sorts of associated health problems (heart disease, diabetes, etc…). That is not McDonalds fault, it is yours. You alone have the power to push away from the table, use it.
Jonathan at Mangledcat has an important post on missing children. Please… everyone be on the lookout for this family, help them get home where they belong
3/3/2004
Paul Harvey has some interesting thoughts on the movie “The Passion of the Christ”. Richard at Exvigilare has them posted. It’s a good read.
It has been a long standing tradition in Presidential politics to “leave the children out of it”. In most cases I would agree, because in most cases the children of Presidents or Presidential candidates keep their mouths shut regarding policy issues.
Vanessa Kerry, Monday, decided to throw herself into the fray of the political boxing ring. Ms. Kerry, in an appearance Monday in Stony Brook, Ny. made a now familiar charge that the Bush Administration played a part in the ouster of “President” Aristide.
Ms. Kerry, a 27 year old third year medical student at Harvard said “I believe this administration just helped overthrow, basically overthrow, a democratically elected president.”
Ms. Kerry is taking a year off from her studies to work on her fathers campaign. I wonder if the mainstream media will catch on to the reckless statements she is making. I wonder if my fellow Republicans will call her on them, and if they do, if the media will blast them for being unfair to the young Kerry?
3/1/2004
It seems Charles Rangel (D) NY. and Maxine Waters (D) CA. have joined the tinfoil hat club. Today, the two of them, along with other far left Democrats such as Randall Robinson, head of the black lobbying group TransAfrica made the accusation that the Bush administration assisted in a coup d’etat of the Haitian President (Dictator) Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said “The allegations that somehow we kidnapped former President Aristide are absolutely baseless, absurd”.
That we would drive a “President” that the people of Haiti had already thrown out of office once, (President Clinton sent troops over to prop up the failed Presidency), and cause international outrage, not to mention committing numerous crimes in the process is outrageous.
I believe Rangel and the others know this too, but are using Aristides charges to their political advantage. Rangel, like Waters, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said after talking by telephone with Aristide that interpreting his allegations of “kidnapping” was “subjective.”