Burning, Crackling, Color-Crackling?
Yeppers, that is the question as we begin the 2006 Christmas season.....
Random thoughts on Christmas and the season........
Today i begin decoration outside.....two spiral trees, two deer, icicle lights along the eves, a lighted arch across the walkway to the door, a huge 4 foot wreath of lights on a steel frame, a newly-purchased sign of 5 ft by 2 ft saying "Merry Christmas" in lights, candy canes lining the walkway to the front door.....my way of outside decoration....(Comment: I bought a "Merry Christmas" wall sign mentioned above at Walgreen's.....then went back for a 2nd to give to my Elks Lodge for an inside wall... They had ONLY "Seasons Greetings" signs left on the shelves.....but found me one more "Merry Christmas" in back....Guess the folks of Christmas are choosing "Christmas" over "Season".....love it.)
Tomorrow I begin my inside village......it is now officially HUGE! It will occupy two 3 X 6 foot tables, plus a 2nd level on one of 14 in X 6 ft.....Then My seaside village may still reside on a corner table nearby.....I have four villages....seaside, farm, ski and the main village to which I have this year added.... A train, and 6 new buildings....bringing my total to about 53-55....
My love of the season and the celebration is quite apparent, I guess.
Pictures to follow upon set up....
Duke
UPDATE: The two spiral trees are minus half their lighting....the bulbs are there and just refuse to light. Same of the two deer.....some lights out, some on.....and my gutter icicles are half-lit (bad terminology, perhaps).....I bought the "cure-all" find the problem detector to trace down the problems, and after Duchess and I spent a full 90 minutes working on them the lighting problems remain. Guess I'll buy new.....they cost so little.....BAH-HUMBUG!
Another One Bites The Dust!
Newt, oh my man, given a faint chance at the nomination for 2008, you just BLEW IT!
Read what is reported at
Captain's Quarters... and believe that Newt is DEADMEAT!
Duke
Dhimmitude is NOW!
Believe we have a "common ground" for discussion with Muslim folk?
Read
Tennessee Rant, and know what we face!The facts are folks, as presented by EVERY word we have received, the Islamists feel we are WRONG, and their religion MUST triumph!There are
ZERO points of discussion!
If you, as a Christian, feel we have a chance for negotiation, you are
WRONG!!!!!We either capitulate, or we move against the Islamist idiocy....
Democrats/Liberals will find a "common-ground" for discussion. Ask them where the Islamists are in respect to recognizing OUR religion.....
The Christian religion of 95% of the United States!Ask them, and then report BACK!I'll be waiting for their "Religion of Peace" tomes......There will be
NONE! Duke
Check the Facts....Islamists are...Well, Just Read It!
The facts are clear.....
Read it (as offered by Dean Barnett @ Hugh Hewitt's site):
"Anyone who’s made a habit of watching world events the past five years has had good reason to develop a healthy fear of Islam. When Islam makes the news, it’s usually because one of its adherents has blown himself up in a pizzeria, beheaded a newsman or crashed an airliner into a skyscraper.
We can bewail the fact all day of how unfair this is for the Muslims who want no part of such activities. We can even insist that the people doing these things represent a tiny fringe minority of the worldwide Muslim population. If we’re going to say that, though, we might also acknowledge that if they had free elections in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Iran, etc., all those countries would find themselves with duly elected governments that don’t share our revulsion over sawing off an infidel’s head while screaming “Allah Akbar.” Regrettably, the John Esposito “jihad is merely yoga while facing Mecca” view may have swept the American Academy but has yet to catch on like wild fire in the Middle East.
I KNOW I’M LATE TO WRITING ABOUT this, but I still can’t think about the incident with the flying Imams last week without getting angry. The more you consider the facts, the more apparent it becomes that the Imams were serving as provocateurs. As everyone knows by now, shortly before the Imams boarded their plane to Los Angles, they gathered at the gate in Minneapolis to do their evening prayers while offering a surfeit of Allah Akbars.
It is inconceivable that the Imams were unaware that their prayer ritual would scare the stuffing out of their fellow-passengers. Since we know that Islamophobia is actually a fear and a not particularly irrational one especially when boarding an airliner, the Imams were at best insensitive.
But when you consider the facts that a few of the Imams requested extra-long seatbelts (that they didn’t need) and engaged in a loud dialogue condemning America’s role in Iraq, it’s obvious that the Imams had mischief on their minds. For whatever reason, they deliberately intended to unnerve the plane’s other passengers. One can only wonder, to what ends? Would they really get such a kick out of making the other passengers terrified for four hours? I know Shar’ia doesn’t allow much in the way of fun, but that seems kind of desperate."
Yeppers, That is the way, and the light.....
We folks are engaged in a war of US vs THEM! Enjoy it, or ignore it....it is still going on and will result in the final episode of we must either capitulate, or dominate!
There are but two choices!
Duke
UPDATE:Captain Ed has even more! This was no accidental action!
0-60 In 4 Seconds.....Electric Car????
Yeppers, folks......
It is fact.....you have to read this one.....
The major carmakers are quaking in their boots.....and the facts are
HERE!!!!!Man, this makes my blood run fast!
I am an older-model sportscar fan....owner of a Lotus Cortina, driver of that and a 69 Z-28 Camaro......Yee Haw......
This is a story you have to read!!!!
Duke
Alcee, He's OUR Guy!
Alcee Hastings, discredited former judge.....removed from office by his fellow Democrats....and a few GOPs....is in line, vis-a-vis Nancy Pelosi, the DEM office-holder to head our
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE!What a stupid farce!
The ideas and the explanation are
HERE!Read them and then weep for the DEMS who have chosen Pelosi as their exec to make the transition from "corrupt" to really nice guys! He He!
I just love it....Go Nancy.....prove just how corrupt and idiotic your DEMs are!
Duke
UPDATE! Check this post to see what
REALLY happens!
Non-Cease Fire by One Side....Any Guesses?
Israel and the Palestinians have reached accord on a cease fire, and the Israelis have, as promised, withdrawn from the Gaza Strip.
Now, just hours old, the cease fire is broken by.....
HOW'D YA GUESS?These village idiots who live in/occupy Palestine are completely hell-bent upon the destruction of Israel. They have at least three major groups, and continue the rounds of cease fire....one or two groups will agree to a cease fire and the third continues firing rockets. It is a really stupid game, and other than harassing the Israelis a bit, it proves nothing and gains these folks nothing. Yet they continue.
Give them their own country and they'll promptly loot it and then tear down anything of value...all the while complaining because the world governments are not sending them enough money!
Duke
1st Amendment Job of The NYT is to WARN Terrorists?
This one is escaping the liberal-dominated Old Media as they flutter about trying to cover their tail for actually warning terrorist-linked groups of impending government raids!
Don't believe it? I admit it is difficult to fathom, but
Michelle Malkin tells us the story the Old Media are ignoring....
This is too much. Freedom of the press does not include the right to alert groups labeled as terrorist-connected of government plans.
I sincerely hope the NYT and its reporters fry over this one. It is a step just like unveiling the secret actions of the government to keep watch over potential terrorist activities.
The other actions taken by the NYT, including unveiling financial tracking, and phone watching, are just as horrendous under the guise of freedom of the press. In WWII, such information passed along as news would have led to serious charges against the reporters.
Duke
Russian "poisoned" by Russians????
The mere fact that the poisonings of the world in the past few years have all been against the opponents of Mother Russia is perhaps significant in terms of where the Russkies are really playing!
I know, as a little guy who knows not-a-lot, but reads a lot....I have found the idea of a "Replacement" KGB to be REAL!!!!!!
Today the Russian spy, turned opponent, Alexander Litvenenko, died in hospital in England. He had reportedly been poisoned. This reminds of the poisoning of others in the smaller Russian "split-offs"....small countries trying hard to divide themselves from Mother Russia.
Seems only Russian opponents are poisoned in today's world! How very amazing....
His story, and his dying are
HERE!Read them, and wonder.....
We are facing a NEW KGB.....a powerful group, unafraid of the view the world has of them, and it is a continuation of the completely unabashed opposition of the Putin-led Russia to any and all....without an apology.
The Russians are BACK as a world Communist force folks, and you had better accept that fact quickly before they overwhelm the forces of freedom by default.
NO, I am not a "sky-is-falling" Liberalist....
Duke
"Whitey" Scholarship Draws Ire!
You gotta be 1/4th white to participate in this scholarship! BOY-O-BOY is this creating some rumble and tumble!
However, given the multitude of scholarships which are for "blacks-only", or perhaps for "Spanish-speaking" only, etc. there seems some justification for this offering. Just go and read about it at ABC News! And then
KNOW for YOURSELF!Ah the bias.......!
The multitudes of minority-obsessed idiots are coming out in droves. If there can be a white award it drops all their ideas of equality, achievement, etc. from the minority perspective.....
I really love it.
"A Minority of One?"
He He.....we Dutch/French minorities are rejoicing as the itiotarians of the universe unite in finding that their cause is wrong...if applied by any other group!
Duke
Of Clocks, and Settings & Stuff!
I just returned from my bathroom. It was a quite usual visit, but brought to mind the little question my Duchess often asks me.
Why is my wall clock still telling time in the "pre-fallback mode"? She asks this several times each year....usually between the end of October and the beginning of April. For that is the time during which my wall clock reads an hour ahead of the rest of Florida and the Eastern United States.
I have this thing which sez to me...."If the time will advance again in April, why change the clock now and then have to change it again in April?" After all it is right at least 6 months of the year.
I looked at the clock during my just-completed visit and found the time to be shortly before 3pm. Thus I know it is really just before 2pm. Simple!
Ah, the complexities of life.
Duke
Thanksgiving...Time for the Media to Be Thankful!
Yeppers, they should be so thankful......
Why?
Well Try the analysis of
Michelle Malkin of media rules/laws/punishments....worldwide!Our MSM is so misguided, and out-of-touch as to be completely without merit....but they still espouse their superiority!
Idiots!
Duke
The Saudis Are Our Friends....Repeat Incessantly!
The ogres of Saudi Arabia.....land of slaves, mis-treatment and mono-religious beliefs have taken a new....er, LOW!
Check this story of allowable imprisonment of domestic help....including sexual demands! It is truly something
Our State Department would have problems explaining.....OOPS...I forgot, the State Department is composed of elitists who need explain nothing to we "ordinary" citizens!
Duke
A Voice of Reason on The Drug War!
A good friend of mine was lecturing his 13 year old son on the evils of drug use the other day as I sat watching.
"These drugs will rot your mind" he said. Pausing for effect he took a swig of his scotch and water, and a drag on his cigarette.
"They will give you more physical problems in your adult years than you can imagine"
Pause for a couple of sprays of his nose-ingested diet spray.
All made up of course.
Neal Boortz today has the actual best stuff on the topic, something with which I agree totally!
"WOW! ISN'T THIS DRUG WAR GREAT!Atlanta went to a home on Neal Street in Atlanta last evening to execute a search warrant. When they kicked the door in the only occupant of the home, a 92-year-old woman, started shooting. She hit all three police officers. One in the thigh, one in the arm and another in the shoulder. All police officers will be OK. The woman will not. She was shot and killed by the police.I'm not blaming the cops here. Not at all. They had a valid search warrant, and they say they were at the right address. Shots were fired, three cops hit, and they returned fire. A 91-year-old woman who was so afraid of crime in her neighborhood that she had burglar bars on every door and window, is now dead.The blame lies on this idiotic drug war we're waging. We have all the studies we need, all of the comprehensive data is in. We can do a much more effective job of reducing drug use in this country if we'll just take a portion of this money we spend for law enforcement and spend it on treatment programs. A Rand study showed that we can reduce illicit drug usage in this country a specified amount through treatment programs at about 10% of the cost of reducing drug usage by that same amount through criminalization and law enforcement. There's just something in the American psyche that demands that drug users be punished instead of treated and rehabilitated. We think they're stupid and ignorant for getting mixed up with those drugs in the first place. And you know what? We're right? But look at the messages we send to our children every single day with cigarettes, alcohol, and an endless stream of drug ads on television and in magazines. Drug culture? You bet we have a drug culture! "Ask your doctor about Noassitol!"
Right! In fact if the drug cartels would just lobby Congress like the pharmaceutical companies do, they could probably have most drugs made as legal as alcohol, cigarettes, etc.
We live in a completely idiotic law system my friends. He with the most clout wins.
Duke
2 in 5 Births To Unwed Parents!
40% of the births in the nation are now to people NOT married......
My God, that is incredible....perhaps I have not been keeping in touch, but questioned prior to reading
THIS I would have said 5-10%....
Man! That is scary......What has happened to the American Family?
I still have a family, and we don't have much of this going on.....many others must have.
WOW!
Duke
Investigators Mum on Columbia University Attack!
A month and a half ago the co-founder of the Minutemen organization, Jim Gilchrist, tried to speak as an invited guest of the Republican Club at Columbia University. He was physically attacked on the stage at the moment he tried to speak.
The University President Lee Bollinger announced an "internal" investigation...failing in his announcement to condemn such a physical attack. Michelle Malkin details the situation and today's New York Post statement in
her wonderful blog, complete with the film of the attack.So far no response from Bollinger about the investigation.
I today emailed Bollinger:
Many of us who observed the film of the outright physical attack on a conservative, Republican Club sponsored, speaker are eagerly awaiting the results of Columbia University's own controlled internal investigation.
48 days, I believe. I must have missed any interim reports as well as any condemnation by you or the University of such premeditated physical assaults upon a speaker sponsored on campus by a University club.
Woe be it if such an attack had occured against a Muslim speaker, or a pro-abortion speaker.
When might we see a report on the investigation and the resulting punishment of identified attackers?
Also, I presume in the face of such nastiness on campus, the speaker, Mr. Gilchrist, will be invited back for another appearance to clear the air about Columbia University's rumored bias against conservative speakers.
I look forward to your response.
Thank You.
Duke DeLand
Perhaps we will hear back from the gentleman. If so, you shall be the 1st to know. (No breath-holding going on in this location, folks!)
Duke
It All Depends On Your Point of View!
Tell a story.....Headline: "Israeli Offensive in Gaza Kills Two"
The headline might be more accurate as: "Isreali Response to Palestinian Rockets Leaves Two Dead"
Here's the story....see if I am not correct about the headlines....
as AP presented it.Seems to me my headline is much more accurate. The Israelis responded to an attack. They did not initiate the attack as seemingly indicated by the AP headline. Our Main Stream (Antique) Media strikes again....
AP, your bias is showing! By the way when was the last time you read a story about Palestinian rockets fired into Israel? (It occurs DAILY!) The AP does not consider that news....only a response by Israel that kills someone is news.
And the MSM wonders why their circulation/ratings are in a deadfall, and the blogs are gaining in popularity.
Duke
Does Anyone Else Feel a Draft?
I recall quite clearly how a number of Democrats, seeking ANY ammo they could find against Bush in 2004, ran about shouting that Bush was about to reinstitute the draft and take all our young folk off to war. Dean said it; Kerry said it too.
It, of course, never happened!
Now, elect the Dems to power and old man Rangel of N.Y., an embarrassment to any logical thinker GOP or DEM, proposes and plans to introduce legislation to make the draft happen as detailed in this
ABC News story by John Heilprin.One Senator Charles Rangel argument is that minorities are more heavily involved in our volunteer army. That stance is exactly opposite the FACTS as explained by
Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters.The positive news is, the DEMs as a party also
oppose the draft!Much ado about nothing, except one lone old man Senator (whatever happened to a term limit for Senators?) can rant endlessly. You might recall Rangel also recently ticked off all of the South with comments about "no one wants to live in Mississippi".
Don't ya just love it?
Duke
Many, Many Wives!
I guess every man has, at one time or another, envisioned the possibility of multiple wives. The fact of the matter is, wives would probably be more adept at having multiple husbands then would we menfolk of the reverse!
However, an extrimist group of the Mormons has found it quite the thing to have many wives, and to marry them YOUNG!
Now Steve Jeffs is going to face some serious retribution for his enforcement of this. The story reads like a nightmare....at least for the young girls involved....14?? 16?? Read
THE STORY and be amazed, and also find a reason to detest the extremists!Most forms of extemism are usually WRONG!
Duke
I Wish Those Days Would Come Back Once More!
The delicious title of the last blogpost from Stephen Green.
One of my favorites, he posted as "VodkaPundit". He was an articulate, intelligent, and in-touch person. I miss him.
DEAD? Nope, just missing from our posts.
Come back Stephen Green.....entertain me/us some more.....
Here is a sample of Stephen Green
at his best!I have not heard, but a rehab was involved I believe.....and I really wish I had heard from him or knew what was going on! There are too few talented writers out there....I know I am not one of them.....
Duke
Would The Trojan Horse Be Allowed Today?
No, you dope!!!! Not The Trojan which completes the job of "stopping the spread of disease"....The one which was used way back when Troy and Turkey and Greece were once powerful warriors!
Well, you "ain't" gonna believe this one.....but you'll laugh as much as did I.....
Go
HERE & Watch!Sometimes I wonder where folks get their thinking skills today....know what I mean?
Duke
O. J. Has Been "Erased".....
Boy, I sure wish that meant more than it does; although this is not too bad!
Rupert Murdoch, BIG GUY over News Corp which owns both FOX and the book company set to publish O.J.'s "If I had done it" creepy story.....Has cancelled the entire thing. No TV shows, no book, etc.
Good on him!Murdoch issued an apology to the families involved, and termed it an ill-conceived project.
For my part, I guess I am still mildly surprised that, at some point, some citizen of our fair state with a misguided sense of "right" has not taken a shot at O.J.
What a useless occupier of space!
Duke
A Right-Leaning TV Satire.....SERIES!
Just like the Daily Show, but with some Conservative material? Fox news is slated to give it a try.
Paul Gough at
The Hollywood Reporter has all the details. (HT Drudge Report)
I can't wait to see how it is done......
I can't wait to see how quickly the Liberal Left begins to scream and shout.
I just wish Chris Muir's
Day by Day Cartoon could get more exposure in those liberal newspapers across the country.
NOTE: You'll see it every day here on Pekin Prattles...just down a bit in the right hand column!& before any lefties begin yelling about bias, just catch one of the replays of the Comic Relief show that aired over the weekend. I like Robin Williams, particularly, however the rampant liberal left jokes and Bush Derangement Syndrome displayed overpowered me and I had to leave.
Duke
Bring Back The Draft! (OH; & JROTC!)
Har har.......Love this....
Instapundit has the suggestion
& I LOVE IT!Liberals oppose JROTC, BUT want to bring back the draft......HUH?????
There is a Democratic (ER....MIXED) metaphor here!
We Love building the military, but not building the military!
Wha?????
Duke
The Real Iraq Story
I am amazed, as I communicate with various bloggers, just how few follow the REAL news of what is happening in Iraq. At least the news of what the Iraqi people are seeing and feeling. The refreshing - non-MSM - view of Iraq is available daily at
Iraq The Model.These folks say it like it is without the slant/garnish/trickery and outright subtrafuge of the MSM.
On the current arrest warrant issued by Iraq for one of the religious leaders who has fought the Democratization process each step of the way, ITM sez:
"If you're not familiar with the name, al-Dhari and his organization are the only party that totally rejected the political process, never denounced Saddam's regime, explicitly praised al-Qaeda and is believed to be responsible for sponsoring a great deal of the activity of terror groups and insurgents loyal to the Ba'ath regime.Al-Bolani (the official issuing the warrant) said the decision was made according to the 'national safety law' and anti-terrorism legislations and described the arrest warrant as a message to all other warlords and men who incite sectarian violence.Actually the minister's words were an indirect threat to Muqtada al-Sadr, or more like a direct one because he said, and I'm paraphrasing, "there are two neighboring countries that are causing trouble in Iraq and anyone who cooperates with these countries will not be safe from prosecution"
Not what we've been hearing is it kiddies?
Check ITM daily and stay a bit more in tune with the opinions of the Iraqi citizens.
Duke
Ohio State - Michigan - Big 10 Are #1 & 2
WOW.....Gotta sign off and go watch this......Good to see two Big 10 teams atop the sheet instead of a Florida triumverate.....My Illini, however, are sad, sad, sad!
Go! ____________ (Whoever).......
If M beats O will they reverse positions and play for the title in a bowl?????
Yee Haw!
Duke
UPDATE: WOW! What a Game! Best one I've seen in years. Politics, as well as the funkiness of the rating system may prevent it, however, the two best teams in the nation played this game. If you watched, you saw the national championship! (Ohio State 42 - Michigan 39)
Back to School!
Ever have a really bad day?
HT: Born Again Redneck
Duke
Educating Our Young?
Check this story, and (hopefully) be stunned!
It is from
WRAL.COM and has to do with a North Carolina School....
Wanna check your child's studies?????
Duke
Twas The Night Before Christmas - New Version?
Read it, and think!
Different Christmas PoemThe embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,Transforming the yard to a winter delight.The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then thesure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,And I crept to the door just to see who was near.Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child."What are you doing?" I asked without fear,"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..To the window that danced with a warm fire's lightThen he sighed and he said "Its really all right,I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.""It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,That separates you from the darkest of times.No one had to ask or beg or implore me,I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',And now it is my turn and so, here I am.I've not seen my own son in more than a while,But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,The red, white, and blue... an American flag.I can live through the cold and the being alone,Away from my family, my house and my home.I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.I can carry the weight of killing another,Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..Who stand at the front against any and all,To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.""So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.""But isn't there something I can do, at the least,"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?It seems all too little for all that you've done,For being away from your wife and your son."Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,To stand your own watch, no matter how long.For when we come home, either standing or dead,To know you remember we fought and we bled.Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN30th Naval Construction RegimentOIC, Logistics Cell OneAl Taqqadum, Iraq
Our thanks to LCDR Giles......
Pass it around folks!
Duke
Iraq News Not All Bad!!!!
You just have to be in touch with the folks who live there,
NOT the MSM version!
Check out the post by
Iraq The Model's Mohammed.
This is good stuff folks, and it is from the SCENE! Not a biased MSM story....
We need to be placing a lot more of our decisions upon the folks who ARE THERE! The NATIVES....
Duke
Martinez: Borders Need Not Be!
Yeppers folks!
Mel Martinez, he same idiot who was vile, ignorant, and dispicable in his campaign to be "our" GOP Senator from Florida, is now taking a look at and being endorsed for the RNC Chairman post.
MY GOD! What totally idiocy!
This man has betrayed his own party to win office; made idiot statements re: EVERYTHING, and achieved the status of the ONLY GOP candidate for federal office I have ever voted against! Is now to be our Chairman????
The facts are, ladies and gentlemen....and the rest of you too....This maverick is a Bush stooge to bring on the "AMNESTY" for our 12 million illegals while also espousing that we DO NOT address the flood of illegals.....
He is a BUSH STOOGE!
We will lose 2008 if this idiot is allowed to prevail in the Chairman's post....
CHECK THIS post to see how he REALLY FEELS about the border!I believe I need to sign off now, and go be SICK!
Where-o-where has MY GOP gone?????
Bushites lead the attack, and this is the legacy from 2006 to 2008????
If so, we will lose 2008 by a MAJOR MARGIN! Bush does not care as long as he accomplishes HIS agenda.
Duke
O. J. Part Deux! - Uck!!!!
I am an unashamed fan of Fox News and their webnews as well. It is my home page on the net. However, I have my 1st complete falling out with them on the O.J. fiasco they are about to visit upon the public, hell....already are visiting upon them.
In support of O.J.'s new book in which he tells "how he would have done it, if he had done it". What a complete crock! This book and the interviews by the man should be completely ignored.
Michelle Malkin has a nice long article on the topic, and sum her view with this:
"You wanna make money and attract eyeballs by putting on a vulgar, sweeps-week O.J. freak show? Go ahead. But don't dress it up as public interest journalism, or a historically significant probe "to gain insight into the mind of a sociopath," or a noble search for truth that adds something worthwhile to public discourse. This new specatcle adds nothing. Nothing. We already know the truth. As La Shawn Barber put it bluntly, O.J. Simpson is hellbound. What more is there to "understand?" Haven't there been enough endless interviews giving the sociopath a platform to bare his rotted soul and mind?
Slumming with O.J. is what I called it six years ago: The journalistic equivalent of dumpster diving. And that is all I will have to say about the O.J. orgy that will soil the airwaves through Thanksgiving.
Ugh."
I must agree!
If you'd like more read
The OJ orgy! by Michelle.
Duke
A Voice of Reason Is Gone!
Milt Friedman has passed away.....not in a shortened life, but at age 94....hope I get that far...with a mind in place!
He is known for many, many things and was just as the title suggests a voice of reason.
Try his take (in a 1990 letter to Bill Bennett) on the drug problem......
"You are not mistaken in believing that drugs are a scourge that is devastating our society. You are not mistaken in believing that drugs are tearing asunder our social fabric, ruining the lives of many young people, and imposing heavy costs on some of the most disadvantaged among us. You are not mistaken in believing that the majority of the public share your concerns. In short, you are not mistaken in the end you seek to achieve. Your mistake is failing to recognize that the very measures you favor are a major source of the evils you deplore. Of course the problem is demand, but it is not only demand, it is demand that must operate through repressed and illegal channels. Illegality creates obscene profits that finance the murderous tactics of the drug lords; illegality leads to the corruption of law enforcement officials; illegality monopolizes the efforts of honest law forces so that they are starved for resources to fight the simpler crimes of robbery, theft and assault. Drugs are a tragedy for addicts. But criminalizing their use converts that tragedy into a disaster for society, for users and non-users alike. Our experience with the prohibition of drugs is a replay of our experience with the prohibition of alcoholic beverages." (Highlight added by ME!)
I am one of those who feels that if drugs (Marijuana, and a few more) were NOT illegal, the entire thing would go away....at LEAST to the extent alcohol has.....& There would not be drug lords dealing in drugs as they could be gotten from any dealer (legal, of course).
However, it was Friedman's nature to address all things in equally clear, straight-at-you kinds of talk. His "Libertarian" (may I call them that?) views are and were a refreshing breeze in the blogosphere, as they were in the mainstream of books/letters/publications of all kinds.
He will be sincerely missed!
His ideas, however, will live far longer than has he!
Duke
The Sound of A Slap!
SLAP! - Take that Ms. Pelosi!
Hoyer takes out "Screamin Murtha" and his Pelosi endorsement/campaign. The vote, in secret, reversed what Murtha had so proudly stated in an interview last night. There he had stated that he had the votes. Period.
Mr. Steny Hoyer is the new House Majority Leader.
The Democrats came before the cameras and all the players spoke. What a congenial group, all smily and happy. But, Murtha still had to get in his patented line
"We can go to work now to redeploy the troops and get our guys out of Iraq."
Right! & what of the U.S. Generals who told you yesterday before Congress that we had to stay there until the job was done? Murtha must have been campaigning to beat Hoyer and missed that.
Pelosi now wins her Speakership....Before a House which contains GOP members and the Democrats who failed to vote with her on the 1st official vote. Maybe she will learn a lesson, but I sincerely do not believe so.
This is getting REAL good!
Duke
Malkin Declares A "Maalox Moment"!
Man is she right!!!!!!
Read it from Michelle's page:
"Just when the MSM focus had fixed on the Democrats' culture of corruption and business-as-usual, along come Beltway Republicans to remind us of how lame the GOP leadership is.Trent Lott is back.Flashback 2002: I called Trent Lott the Republican Party's eternal Maalox moment.Nothing's changed.Meanwhile, RNC chair Mel Martinez is demonizing grass-roots conservatives who support enforcing immigration laws and borders.More lameness."
This is her ENTIRE POST!
Enjoy!
Duke
The "FIX" is Getting There for Dems!
Pelosi WILL RULE!!!!
Just ask Charles Rangel, a man of definitive words.......
he was for Hoyer before Pelosi called, but now finds it an onerous task!What a bunch of asses these Dems are.....Nancy Pelosi rules, just ask the sheep of the party.....
I sincerely hope I am wrong, but feel the Pelosi arm-twist will win the post for Murtha, an idiot, and one who has been suspect of wrongdoing for DECADES!
Welcome to the fresh-clean world of Democratic Politics.
Ain't they refreshing?
Duke
"Macaca" vs "Crap".....GOP vs DEM!
The New York Times finds no problem with John Murtha's "crap" statement, but finds a GOP "Macaca" statement to be of tremendous import.
Hummmmmm.....
Let me see...as Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit tells it,
The Party Tells the Tale!!!!! vis-a-vis the NYT!Let me hear please from the NYT why this is NOT the way they report it!
Please!
Duke
A 2nd Holocaust Watch?
So sez Jeff Rosenbaum
at Pajamas Media.
I have felt for some time that the tenor and tone, plus the continuing saber-rattling and weapons displays tell me Iran's crazy President is asking for war. He wants a reason to attack that will draw in Syria, Gaza, and perhaps others, such as a "newly-liberated" Lebanon....liberated of course by Hezbollah!
We (US & Isreal) will have to address this idiot in some fashion, and do it soon, and it is not going to be pretty no matter how it is addressed.
These are scary times, my friends.....and we have a "cut & run" Democratic majority just waiting to sell us out.
Duke
UPDATE: Captain Ed has the story which enforces my theme above. He comments on the finding of BAD THINGS (surprise, surprise) IN IRAN!
Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Pelosi!
Nancy Pelosi is leading her "band of thieves" into leadership positions in the new Congress....despite her protestations during the campaign that only a woman would know how to clean up the mess.
Michelle Malkin, writing at Townhall.com, sums it up like this:
"In 1992, Bill Clinton pledged to run the most ethical administration in history. We know how that went. Fourteen years later, Nancy Pelosi has recycled the pledge -- and is now well on her way to recycling the same old soiled legacy.A friendly woman-to-woman tip to Nancy Pelosi: To clean a house, you take the garbage out, not in."
Right! Michelle gives us person-by-person looks at the "leadership"(?) Pelosi is touting and just how corrupt they all have been. Read the entire lively piece HERE!
Duke
It's A PC World!
NO, I am not speaking of the proper behavior etiquette, but instead the computers, ubiquitous monsters of the Gates era.
Today I spent most of my time fighting problems with my aging old mini-tower...the last PC I actually built. During my six hour quest to fix the several problems which presented themselves, I mused on The Duchess and I as a "regular" family....Ha!
Between the two of us we have three desktops and two laptops currently functioning. That is, for those without fingers, 5 computers for two people! Just how absurd is that?
I have explanations.....I have two desktops as I have not yet moved in my new one since I find it hard to download most of what I have on the old one I built. She has a desktop as she could never get on the computer when I was around....I live on mine.
I bought a laptop to take in our motorhome, and went wireless at home. Then, as I added GPS to my mobile computer, she was again left PC-less.....sooo, a 2nd laptop just for her.
There is something not just right about that.....but then those who have been "puterin" long as I have will understand it better when they know that under this very desk, snug in its zipper bag is my antique KayPro....which was a 28Mhz processor with twin single-sided 5 1/4 inch floppy drives and NO hard drive. It also ran on an operating system called CP/M.....It is complete with tilt down green screen and keyboard snapped onto the front.
Ah, we idiots of the computer world. I have got to clear this room out one of these days, and am only glad we have a nice-sized home where an extra bedroom is just for computers and software and books for them....a room full!
Duke
Anybody check the T & C Meeting Tonight?
I was very busy today, and worked right through my planned departure to go to the Town & Country meeting tonight at T & C Park on Jackson Springs.
I am sure the highway manglers (er-managers) are proposing more of those hideous "speed bumps" which they call "traffic calming".....Probably for T & C Blvd on which they recently had one of those signs that tells you how fast you are going; or, perhaps, on Jackson Springs itself....
I hate those things, and wanted to go rant a bit, but probably would not have had any impact upon their plans anyway!
Duke
Are Ya Watchin, Folks?
The beat is so loud a good conservative, and MANY middle-of-the-roaders can hear it!
Dems headed for control......
1. IRAQ is on the table for "control"
2. Tax hikes vis-a-vis allowing the current tax cuts to expire; AND, by adding new taxes to "balance the budget" (what stops a Democrat from finding ways to CUT expenses... they only see tax hikes as a cure....)
3. The Shrillary is already ex"pound"ing on her ideas for the NEED for socialized medicine, oops, excuse me....government involvement in healthcare. If you have a PC monitor and keyboard (of course you have!) then go take a look at the fine success of socialized medicine in England, Canada, and the Scandinavian countries....They are massive failures where people wait unbeliveably long times for regular surgical procedures.
Yeppers folks, we got us a Democratic gummit goin!
Duke
Martinez - No-o-o-o-o-o-o!!!!!!!!
Let me be quite explicit......WE, the voters of Florida, having experienced the devilish and dreadful acts of Mel Martinez, We DO NOT want him as RNC!PERIOD!!!!!
We, the voters of Florida have some principles.......I, a usually regular GOP voter, voted against one GOP candidate when Mel ran for Senator.....MEL!
His dirty politics are well known here, and apparently are just him.... He has a history of dirty style politics....and to have him as RNC is abominable!
We have to stop this prior to the meeting next year......What the hell happened to the talk of Steele??? Is this another Bush gambit? Damn, it is time to abandon "The Bush" and get on with REAL GOP politics.....or 2008 is also history, plus a possibly even bigger loss!
The GWB mystique is GONE.......he is both a lame duck, and a person who has abandoned his conservative group....the folks who put him in office. I guess he just does not care about the base... how hard it is to know he has abandoned us. But, the signs were there......illegals, judicial appointments, etc. He is a moderate....who courted and won the conservative vote, but now needs to be pushed aside for the future of the GOP!
Duke
UPDATE: Please go and take time to vote on this poll....GOP FOLKS!
A New PEACE Initiative In The Middle East????
Prime Minister Tony Blair is apparently off on a new peace initiative about which I have heard nothing, however my source, "Iraq The Model" is usually in touch, and he is
realllly pissed off at Blair!
You gotta read his post
AND THEN check around!I have interviewed ITM in the past for an abortive attempt at blogger interviews, and he is really a nice guy (well, both actually as they are brothers).....
Duke
What the Hell Are They Thinking?
GOP/DEM.....samo-samo!
I swear the politicians all are inhabited by a bug which eats out their ability to recognize anything but their own thinking.
The election is over.......Two results:
DEMs are in power soon!GOPs are not!So, given their new levels of achievement, or lack-thereof, one would think the crowds at both party centers might try really hard to cater toboth their base and the votes that DID NOT occur last week to insure a 2008 victory.
No-o-o-o-o-o!
Not these head-up-your-patoot guys!
The GOP is headed toward rewarding those in charge of the lost election with...... YEPPERS, you guessed it....a re-election to their leadership posts. They are apparently not going to dissect the vote and the problems and then decide on a direction. Instead they are going to apparently again elect Boehner (pronounced "bay-ner", but should be "BONE-ER") and Blunt so they can plan another fiasco in 2008. Meanwhile if that is not enough they are naming our own Florida Senator Mel "I'll lie about anyone, anytime to get elected" Martinez as the RNC! Could we do worse?????
Nothing better on the DEM side......Pelosi wants the new 2nd in command to be none other than "I hate all soldiers" Murtha.....WOW what a choice. & The plans are underway for scalp-hunting all along the Patomac....plus lots of "nationalized" illegals and a nice new tax hike, plus elimination of the existing tax cuts. WOW how to win voters and try for a 2008 win.
You know what I think just might happen?????
DEMs lose their 2008 chance via tax hikes, a sliding economy, and "cut & run"; and, the GOPs lose their chance at regaining Congress thru their inept (and continued) leadership.....
Newt Gingrich steps forward, and selects Rice, Guiliani, or Romney as a running partner and becomes our next President!
Stranger things have happened.Duke
McCain is a Judas in Sheep's Clothing!
John McCain, determined to be President, even at the cost of GOP control of the Congress, has almost single-handedly handed the Dems their control, and managed to botch every effort of the GOP. Not, of course, to say the GOP was feckless in this adventure down failure lane. Smug thoughts of an enduring majority danced in the heads of the GOP after 2000, 2002, 2004 & they thought 2006!
Hugh Hewitt has it nailed in
THIS PIECE!Read it all and know the problem. Know also that the problem is deep enough that lacking a truly open and honest review of GOP policies, actions, etc. the problem will be exacerbated in 2008....whatever way the Presidency goes! The lone prediction I make is, there are enough folks in the GOP aware of John McCain's abandonment of the GOP that he will NOT be our candidate. God, I hope I am right!
Duke
Speculation, Just That!
Let me try this one on you.
President Bush didn't want a GOP victory in 2006.
Bush, a proven middle-of-the-road Republican, could have done so much more to help his party win the election. He could have hammered the roaring economy instead of Iraq. He could have fired Rummy 3 weeks before the election, not the day after.
There are more examples, but let me indicate to you why I feel he may have not tried to win for the GOP. a) He can, with a cooperative Democratic party, now institute the illegal alien plan he wanted all along....without having to close the border. b) He can use the final two years to work toward some resolution of growing Iraqi unrest in the voters by now laying the problem back on the Democrats who will have to both satisfy their angry demanding left and yet not be the "cut and run" folks. The Dems realize that a pure cut and run will cost them the election in 2008. c) He knows the Dem plan to drop the tax cuts, coupled with what will be a try for a spending spree like we have not seen (even given the GOP budget debacle of the past 6 years) will do nothing but relieve all pressure on the GOP and reinstall them as the party of restraint in budgets.
Speculation, that is all this is my friends....however there is enough meat and potato look about it to give one pause to consider.
Duke
Bush Helping in Illegal Battle?
Helping.....the Illegals. The lines are drawn, the facts are there, and this writer feels Bush Co. may have deliberately fought against some GOP incumbents/candidates because of their anti-illegal stance.
Not to repeat the effort of reporting, just read this heart-breaking story of an illegal in NY & the death of a woman....plus details on the Bush efforts AGAINST those GOP candidates.....
Michelle Malkin has the entire story.You don't suppose Bush and company will partner with the Dems now and make the illegals all citizens.......believe I addressed this from another angle just
this morning.
Damn, I am mad as hell!
Duke
Now The Dems Are In, We'll Have Peace!
Yeppers, the Al Quaeda idiotarians will be ready to accept withdrawl and resignation from the Iraq war and end the hostilities....as the Dems said they would....
NOT!
Just check
this post from the Iraqi Al Q leader....Ya gotta love it. I wonder what the Dems comment will be when a dirty bomb greets the return of our US troops to this great country? Bet they call the police! After all it is a police situation, isn't it?
Disgusting!
Duke
A Veteran's Day Salute....Repeated
I offered this post last year aimed at all Vets, but specifically at my own Father. It is still important to me, so
Give it A READ!Thank you to all our vets of all our wars. You are the reason dissenters, and the anti-war crowd have the right to act so anti-American. Guess the crowd would not be so vociferous if under the rule of Nazi Germany, WWII Japanese soldiers, N. Vietnamese, N. Koreans, or Islamofascists! They might not be able to dissent at all. Is that their goal?
Shame!
Duke
A GOP Ballot They Cannot Lose?
Actually it is a poll, courtesy of Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters, and
The answers in the vote so far did not surprise me, but they might YOU!
Duke
Listen to YOUR Voters!!
N. Z. Bear sez it well about the GOP:
"The Grand Olde Party got its head handed to it last night. Any other interpretations are deluded, foolish, or otherwise stupid. So, the obvious course of action is for the GOP to spend a few days --- oh, a week at most --- performing a perfunctory survey of the warm bodies closest to their leadership seats, and immediately anoint one of them to be the new face of the Republican Party. That's the great thing about leadership elections, you know --- no need to actually consult anyone resembling the actual rank-and-file of the Party. No need to actually consult the people who give the money, who work the campaigns, who actually, 'ya know, cast the votes to keep a party in power. Or --- who don't. Wrong. Very wrong. Amazingly, stupendously, staggeringly and absurdly wrong. The reality of November 8, 2006 is that the Republican party no longer has control of the agenda in Congress. And yes, that includes the Senate --- it's over. The GOP doesn't get to decide what bills will come to the floor. The GOP won't control committees; it won't control legislation. There is one, and only one, major decision that the Republicans have to make right now to influence how the next two years go --- and that is who the party will choose to be their leaders. This is a huge decision, and it is not one that should be rushed."
The only thing Bear misses is the fact the statement applies to BOTH parties. Neither party shows, through their platforms or their actions, the response and adherence one would expect them to show their own voters. It is amazing to me that these self-anointed gods of politics always feel one of two things about their efforts.......a) they know better or b) they can extend their voter base by broadening their positions! Idiocy.
Dems and Bush will now legalize 12 million illegals in this country, and do so without stopping, or attempting to stop, the flow of new illegals. This has been repeated time and again. Why? Their own party in both cases is opposed adamantly to forgiving the illegals. Why is listed above.... Bush likes the idea because his business interests like the illegals cheap labor (a) above. The Dems on the other hand like the illegals because they feel they can make gains through (b) above.
Where is that 3rd party....You know, the one that listens to the voters. It is no wonder the country is still conservative in most voted items, but went liberal this time. The voters have little say about what their own party does, so the GOP was this time chastised by their own voter base for not listening!
Grumble, Grumble.....Politics is getting to me more and more each day!
Duke
Lieberman, Man With the Hammer?
Could Joe Lieberman be in the position of majority-maker in the Senate?
O.K. It is a bit early to speculate that far, but certainly I'm not without some facts to support the speculation.
Lieberman, denied by his state party; chastised by the Dems nationally; considered a bit of an embarrasment;
but victorious! I heard speculation last night on FOXNews about the way the Dems would treat Lieberman on his return to the Senate. The comments were about denying him any real part in the caucus.
Let me examine where we are this morning.
49-49 in the Senate with two races hanging, BUT leaning Democratic.
49-49 is actually 49 (R) -47 (D) -2 (I) with the two independents, Jeffords and Lieberman, caucusing with the Democrats.
If Joe Lieberman is shunned by his former party and decides to: a) change parties, or b) caucus with the GOP, the Senate control count is........(Ta Dah!) 50 (D) & 50 (R)...a tie! The tie, however is completely a myth as a tie produces a vote with VP Dick Cheney deciding the outcome. Thus: GOP control!
Yeppers, Joe Lieberman is a man to whom the Dems better offer an olive branch....quickly!
Sometimes things are just too delicious to contemplate. Paybacks are hell!
All that said, I am sure, knowing the man Joe Lieberman is and has been in the Senate, he will probably still caucus with the Dems.....BUT....(& isn't there always a BUT?)
Duke
UPDATE: I was not the only one who had the idea....just had it 1st! Michelle Malkin points to this story by James D. Besser writing for The Jewish Week. Frankly, his story is more well written, and contains a lot of interview answers I did not try to obtain....I, usually just give my impressions....Maybe it is time to return to my newsman origins, and begin "reporting" instead of expressing my beliefs! Something to ponder!
The Blogs Are Here!!!!
What a treat.......with this election the blogosphere gains a lot of respectability!
I am in the leather recliner, trusty laptop in place and the circuit for me is....FOXNEWS (With Michelle Malkin the always lovely and always on-point young lady helping show blog sites reporting the election.); then off to CNN for the liberal news (With a collection of bloggers of all political stripes doing their thing); then onto the laptop and checking the sites of numbers of my regulars. Once in a while I drop in on Channel 9 for their continuing coverage.
What we have here folks is a TV recognition of the importance of the blogosphere.
Enjoy!
Duke
Just Wondering!
The weather here in Tampa is dreary and grey.....Rainy (uncharacteristic for this time of year).....I begin to wonder....Could it all be the harbinger of GOP bad news.
Actually the projections are as many out there as there are cigars in Tampa. Probably just as many outcomes also.
I already spoke on my projection......GOP Senate, DEM House, and small majority for each indicating a quite nice stalemate for the next two years. This will NOT mean no more tax money spent.....Lets remember that both parties wear bath-towel napkins when partaking at the pork trough! They all do it, and some even brag like Alaska's Stevens.
How do voters indicate their opposition to this? There is no safe direction to pursue to indicate to the hogs they need to stop.
Duke
VOTE if you have not!
& Thus It Begins!
The reports are already in the media (read MSM), including a big story at
FOX NEWS all about random incidents across the nation of voting problems from missing cards to machines not programmed, etc. ABC sez
VOTERS FRAZZLED BY PROBLEMS. NBC adds their version in
VOTING PROBLEMS CROP UP.
Strange as it may seem CBS is somewhat quiet in the face of their usual thrilling headlines.
For my part, if one goes back to records on the history of voting in this country there have been snafus in EVERY election since the original. They are not new, and probably cannot be cured by any form of voting, except a possible nationalization which is not friendly to the constitution!
I voted in my NW Hillsborough precinct with ease and calmness around 11am this morning. The officials reported no problems there or in other area polling places.
Unfortunately the voting totals will be small, as usual in an off-year election.
One of my most discouraging times as a voter...and newsman...was back in Illinois when I was News Director of a station in the Chicago Metro area and the state had a constitutional convention. Elected folks rewrote the constitution over 18 months, and then we in the media spent months exposing the entire thing to the people via interviews, stories, etc. When it came time to vote
18% of voters turned out! How pathetic was that?
Duke
UPDATE: I found the real stuff at Instapundit where he reports, through another, There are "officially" no problems! Hummmm
Democratic Platform - What Platform?
Michael Kinsley....Certainly not a GOP supporter....Finds a lack of content in the Democratic Platform and
Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters gets on the topic.
For my part I am, in this election, bereft of any commitment to anyone as I see NO positive message at all. Just lies and deceit!
The GOP is talking positives, and they have produced a great economy currently. However, they also have failed in controlling the borders; gotten hideously out of line in budget matters; and, shown no ability to control from the driver's seat of the Congress.
The DEMs on the other hand have given us the non-platform. In power they will also give us tax hikes as soon as possible, killing the economic growth and then blaming it on someone else.
Where are our 3rd parties???? Libertarian? My son is one, but ashamed of their overall performance as well he should be. Greens? They are clueless as they practice the theme of opposition to things with no positives that are near workable.
I have personally known two politicians whom I liked.....And felt were honest and looking to improve the political picture. They did not make much of a splash on the national scene. (They were, by the way Paul Simon, Democrat from Illinois and John B. Anderson, GOP from Rockford, Illinois). Yes, I am originally from Illinois where I met the two during an 8 year stint as a radio newsman.
Sometimes politics just gets too heavy! Yet, it is our life and future for this magnificent country of ours.
So,
VOTE TODAY!!!
Duke
From the "Bush is Stupid" group....A Rebuttal!
Yeppers.....the Bushites are going to feel warm fuzzys from this post of the "Eject, Eject, Eject" class.......
The facts are an "idiot" could not do most of the things Bush did in the ANG! In an F-102!!!
For instance (as written by Bill Whittle):
"There were some minor aerodynamic problems with the F-102. For example, at certain power settings and angles of attack – like, say, take-off -- the jet compressor would stall and the aircraft would roll inverted. It is no picnic, skill-wise, to fly a modern F-16 with advanced avionics and fly-by-wire flight control systems. The workload on the F-102 was far higher. The F-16 has an accident rate of 4.14 occurrences per 100,000 flight hours. The F-102’s accident rate was more than three times that: 13.69 per 100,000 hours. 875 F-102A interceptors were built; 259 – almost 30% -- were lost to accidents or enemy action while serving in Vietnam.
George W. Bush flew hundreds of hours in the F-102."
My gosh, tell me it ain't so.....tell me the GWB was not a brilliant flyer who could control a very, very touchy plane!
The facts come out:
"If he had been a civilian rather than military pilot, Dubya would have had to have passed 60 questions like this with at least 70% correct. Questions on weather, radio communications, mechanical systems, aerodynamics, pilot physiology, airspace, navigation and a hundred other things. But, since he was military, he also had to know how to operate that primitive in-fight radar, plus weapons systems, rules of engagement, electronic warfare, hydraulics, fuel systems…it goes on and on.
People like Michael Moore and Bill Maher and Keith Olberman would not be able to figure out how to close the canopy on an F-102. These people would be weeping with fear when those afterburners light up and you barrel down that runway hoping that engine doesn’t flame out and roll you inverted into the asphalt, or when you’re rocketing through the soup at 300mph watching two little needles chase each other, praying the next thing you see out the window is a runway and not a mountain goat.
George W. Bush is not stupid. It’s not possible to be a moron and fly a supersonic jet fighter, and everyone knows it.
What George W. Bush is, however, is inarticulate. English is his second language. From what I can see he does not have a first language. Abraham Lincoln spoke in simple frontier language in an age of rhetorical flourish. Like Bush, he was considered a bumpkin and an idiot, and like Bush, he realized that there were times when having people misunderestimate you repeatedly was a real advantage. That’s goal-oriented. That’s playing the deep game. That’s cunning.
I personally have gotten to the point where Bush’s malapropisms cause me to look at the floor and shake my head with an affectionate smile, in much the same way supporters of his predecessor used to do with every new revelation of coerced sex from former employees. He is what he is. But he is a damn sight more intelligent than the graphic designer in the Mini Cooper with the Village Idiot sticker. Me, personally, I look at the man’s entire catalog of flaws in the same way Lincoln looked at Grant and his drinking: I can’t spare this man. He fights.
So to me, anyway, given the above information I feel that anyone calling President Bush a moron and an idiot comes off sounding like…well…a moron and an idiot. "
Gosh! The facts are pretty damning here folks.....Bush was a GOOD to GREAT pilot, and in a difficult plane.
MORON loses its meaning here.....but I bet the BDS folks can find an explanation! After all, they can explain ANYTHING! Except their plans for the country if they get into office as the majority!
Consider that folks....consider it long and hard.....NO Plans! Just a Bush is wrong mantra.
VOTE!!!!!
Duke
What Do The Iraqi People Think?
Of the Saddam ruling.....
Check the statement of Mohammad one of the Iraq The Model guys who is Iraqi, lives in Iraq, and has been through the entire thing.....a local view, not the myopic and directed views of those of us with USA agendas:
"This is the day for Saddam’s lovers to weep and I expect their shock and grieve to be huge. They had always thought their master was immortal so let them live in their disappointment while we live for our future.This is a day not only for Iraqis but a historic day for the whole region; today new basis for dealing between rulers and peoples are found.No one is above the law anymore.I was particularly pleased by the way Judge Raouf Rasheed handled the session; he was reading the court’s decision and at the same time chastising members of the current government for their misbehavior and threatened to throw them in custody regardless of their ranks!We are living a new era where there’s much hope despite the difficulties…our sacrifices have a noble cause, that is to build a new model that obviously terrifies other tyrants."
Now it is time to move on, and to hope that Mohammad is right about other Middle Eastern despots shaking in their boots a bit.
If you'd like to read the entire piece by Mohammed, it is at Pajamas Media.
Who wins?
Great question, and by the look of the blogs this morning it is one with 1,000s of answers! For my part the prediction is so mushy as to be not important. I believe the Dems may have a 1-3 seat majority in the House, and the GOP a 1-2 seat majority in the Senate (counting Jeffords as a Dem....as well as Lieberman).
There is a tremendous piece at TCS Daily with
LOTS OF PREDICTIONS!It is an interesting read.
The important thing? VOTE!
In a nutshell that is the most important thing.
As for my prediction above, I feel this might give us a fairly stable congress basically doing nothing for 2 years. It could be disasterous for the tax cuts, however.
Primary among the results of a screaming idiot like Pelosi in charge(& her minions of disaster as chairmen of committees) would be the return to GOP control in 2008. That, I am fairly certain, would be Pelosi's legacy for 2006-2008.
One thing of which I am certain. The quiet in the blogosphere and all other media following the election (providing we don't have horrendous recounts, manufactured "problems", etc.) will be sweet music to my ears and brain. Sort of the same effect I felt after 2004. The sounds of silence!
Duke
Saddam to Swing High!
Death by hanging!
The verdict and punishment for Saddam Hussein. Nothing he does not deserve. While the actual hanging is going to be dependant upon more things than the appeal (his trial for killing thousands of Kurds, for instance), it is evident he will swing.
Captain's Quarters' Capt. Ed has a fine conclusion that I have not heard even closely reported in the media....
"It's worth reflecting that Saddam would not ever have faced justice at all had we not acted to remove him from power. He and his sons would still run Iraq as their personal abbatoir, and the sons would have been worse than Saddam given the opportunity to run the nation. Kurds and Shi'ites would still wind up in mass graves and face the rape rooms at hospitals and police stations; they would still have their tongues cut out for speaking out against tyranny and their hands chopped off for any perceived rebelliousness. Instead, Uday and Qusay have shuffled off this mortal coil for significantly warmer climes than the Iraqi desert, and Saddam will stretch a rope after having been tried in a much fairer court than Iraqis ever experienced under his rule."
No truer words could be spoken, and they provide a perspective missing in the MSM!
Read Ed's entire story HERE!
Duke
Back From The Beach!
Mentioned in an earlier post that the Duchess and I would be at the beach for two weeks. We had NO wireless for the 1st week, and only half the second. How did we get it? I suspect it will dearly cost me in the long run!
I accepted an appointment to the board of our timeshare.....also the Vice-Presidency! In return I and a fellow owner, installed a new Beldin wireless router in the office, and have on order an extender to pair with it for our top two floors where the current signal is weak.
The "path to the moon" picture above is one of my favorites, but you can see some more at my Tampa photo blog.....
Tampa Town Review, including a neat place where they have wireless, sell specialty motorcycles/motorbikes, and serve a mean cup of coffee! Cafe Racer is worth a visit if you are ever in the Tampa/Madeira Beach area. Their site is
RIGHT HERE...Go take a look at the neat things they sell and have in the cafe.
Duke
Not A Democrat This Time.....Card!
The anti-war, dump Lieberman, get out of Iraq, Democratic stance has cost them dearly in the guise of
Orson Scott Card, an admitted Democrat since the 70s! (HT: Instapundit)
Read his logic and you see where hope may yet lie for Tuesday's election. The question in my mind is the number of voters giving consideration to something other than just general dissatisfaction with all politicians at this point....And their punishment of the party-in-power as a result. Perhaps Iraq, while a pain, is not strong enough an issue to the majority of voters as to keep the GOP in power.
The following point may not be an issue, but I have heard it now three separate times in the past week from quite dissimilar people. They all three pointed to the long-term positives given us by Reagan, and found a means to equate the efforts and direction he gave to the current situation. ??? I am a bit lost on it, and not sure where their source is, but it was enough to make me pause and consider.
Reagan as a force in the 2006 elections....Even subconsciously?
Hummm....
Duke
Go Kerry, Go!
Howard Kurtz has the rest of it.....
HERE!!!!!Enjoy
Duke
All Bets Are OFF!
Thus sayeth Neal Boortz......He has changed his view of the election, courtesy of hizzelf, JFK, II.....The Poodle......The loser of 2004, and the man with terminal foot-in-mouth disease!
"OK ... all bets are off.Don't get me wrong ... I still have this deep felt desire to see the Republican's get punished by the electorate in next week's midterm election ... but suddenly the stakes seem to be too high.What turned the tide for me? John Kerry, that's what. That insipid, haughty, pretentious jerk uttered another one of his absurd statements about our men and women in uniform ... and in a flash my fear of Democrats and their disdain for our military services overcame any desire I had to put Republicans over my knee.You did hear what Kerry said, didn't you? Come on now .. surely you have. [refresher] For the few of you who might have been in a 48-hour coma, The Poodle was talking to a group of college students in Pasadena, California (where else?) on Monday when he said: "You know, education--if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." (my emphasis!)So there you have it. There's your choice. According to Mr. Band-Aid Purple Heart, you either become smart, or end up serving in our armed forces."
Time to turn inward, I guess. Time to assess.....HOWEVER! What really bothers me here is the feeling of being a sheep guided by Bush/Cheney....with an unexpected (though certainly NOT surprising) assist from John "Skerry!" The fact is, I, along with Boortz, WANT the GOP to be punished for their terrible record in living up to the goals of the GOP as stated in 1994.
I find the GOP sadly lacking in performance, and the most horrendous thing of all is the GOP KNOWS they have performed badly, but are relying upon the fact the Dems have DONE WORSE! The Dems have NO plan, they have negatives....they are anti-Bush.....that is not a vote-getter for any group except the nutroots Liberals.
AND, thus the GOP expects they can pull off another victory snatched from the jaws of the completely clueless Dems.
AND They might just do it.........
Simply terrible political times......where is that 3rd party option?????
AND, when will the electorate finally tire of this two-tiered game of politics by one party which does as they please because they can as the other party is so politically-inept as to be useless? The voters are tired now, but the voter-capabilities and options are so limited as to make a serious 3rd party challenge one of dire need......Is that what I hear approaching?????? Dire Need....I actually believe the sound of 3rd party is growing......
God, I hope so!
Duke
