Atlanta Opinion

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:04 AM | Link to this

I do. Thank you and God Bless you for keeping this country safe for the last 5 years.

Now close the border!

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:05 AM | Link to this

Why would anyone ever doubt me?: In her New York Sun column, Alicia Colon cites some interesting figures about Iraq, offered by Rep. Steve King of Iowa: According to Mr. King, the violent death rate in Iraq is 25.71 per 100,000. That may sound high, but not when you compare it to places like Colombia (61.7), South Africa (49.6), Jamaica (32.4), and Venezuela (31.6). How about the violent death rates in American cities? New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina was 53.1. FBI statistics for 2004-05 have Washington at 45.9, Baltimore at 37.7, and Atlanta at 34.9.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:06 AM | Link to this

But he’s still a scumbag:

What happened in Haditha we know not, but we can tell you that John “Maggot” Murtha’s description is false, for the simple reason that it is self-contradictory. If the Marines “overreacted,” then the killings were not premeditated. They could not have killed both in the heat of the moment and in cold blood. Murtha, wormy one, therefore either is slandering the Marines by exaggerating their guilt or making excuses for horrific war crimes.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 08:06 AM | Link to this

That trust is gone, baby! When W’s approval ratings are in the 20-30% range, you know that he’s gone way below the radar and his policies have become irrelevant to most Americans.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:06 AM | Link to this

McCaffrey wrote, “The Iraqi army is real, growing, and willing to fight. They now have lead action of a huge and rapidly expanding area and population. The battalion level formations are in many cases excellent — most are adequate … This is simply a brilliant success story. We need at least two to five more years of U.S. partnership and combat backup to get the Iraqi Army ready to stand on its own. The interpersonal relationships between Iraqi Army units and their U.S. trainers are very positive and genuine.”

“There is no reason why the U.S. cannot achieve our objectives in Iraq. Our aim must be to create a viable federal state under the rule of law which does not: enslave its own people, threaten its neighbors, or produce weapons of mass destruction. “

A big reason that many turned sour on the war rests on the preposterous assumption that “Bush lied, people died.” Remember the near unanimity with which experts believed that Saddam Hussein possessed stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he intended to pursue the development of a nuclear bomb. Even former President Bill Clinton, on “Larry King Live,” four months after the coalition troops entered Iraq, said, “[I]t is incontestable that on the day I left office, there were unaccounted for stocks of biological and chemical weapons. We might have destroyed them in ‘98. We tried to, but we sure as heck didn’t know it because we never got to go back in there.”

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:07 AM | Link to this

USA Today wants one of them Pulitzers:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - BellSouth Corp., the No. 3 U.S. local telephone company, on Thursday demanded USA Today retract claims in a story that said the company had a contract with a U.S. spy agency and turned over customers’ telephone records.* BellSouth spokesman Jeff Battcher denied the company had a contract with the National Security Agency and did not give access or provide call records to the spy agency as part of an effort to thwart any terrorist plots.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:08 AM | Link to this

The Senate voted yesterday to allow illegal aliens to collect Social Security benefits based on past illegal employment — even if the job was obtained through forged or stolen documents.

“We all know that millions of undocumented immigrants pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for years and sometimes decades while they work to contribute to our economy,” said Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican.

So the democrat’s favorite “republican” is either to ignorant to know that illegals hardly pay any taxes at all or he’s pandering for votes. Gee, I wonder which one it could be? It’s actually a harder question than first appears, I’m going with ignorance though.

He’s too ignorant to know or care that he’s sticking this giveaway right up the a-ss of the real tax payers, for whatever pervert reason he has in his mind. I’ll have to remember that here in a couple of years.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:08 AM | Link to this

Registered sex offenders ordered to find new homes (On The Front Page Of The Urinal)

Euell Collins Jr. is trying to put his past behind him, but it caught up with him on Thursday.

“I’ve done paid my debt to society,” said Collins, who lives in Conyers and works in a body shop. “I will abide by the law. But I feel like it’s an injustice to me.”

Isn’t this so sad? Does anyone have a Kleenex I can borrow?

I wonder how the real victim in all this, the child, is doing now, since the Atlanta Urinal isn’t concerned enough with them to tell us.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:09 AM | Link to this

Sticking it to your wallet, like they just don’t care!:

Ban on offshore oil drilling remains The House rejected by a 279-141 vote an attempt to lift a quarter-century congressional ban on offshore oil drilling in coastal waters outside the western Gulf of Mexico amid arguments that new supplies are needed to lower energy prices. A proposal to end the long-standing moratorium as it applies only to pumping natural gas was expected to be voted on later in the evening as lawmakers moved toward late-night approval of a $25.9 billion Interior Department spending bill.

When gas is $7.50 a gallon next summer, here’s what finch will say: Energy production does us no good, we need to squeeze apple cores and burn them, that’s our future, apple cores!

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:10 AM | Link to this

The Vent Times Deux:

Bush is blasted daily for his 35 percent approval rating while a judge sneers at 75 percent of Georgia voters and is treated as a hero for favoring gay marriage.

I am glad I am a conservative. Liberals seem so miserable.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:10 AM | Link to this

To make matters worse, many of the newsmen, pundits, and commentators on whom American viewers and readers rely to describe the situation have been contaminated by the increasing bitterness of American politics. Clearly there are those in the media and the think tanks who wish the Iraq enterprise to end in tragedy, as a just comeuppance for George W. Bush. Others, prompted by noble sentiment, so abhor the idea of war that they would banish it from human discourse before admitting that, in some circumstances, military power can be used in support of a good cause. But whatever the reason, the half-truths and outright misinformation that now function as conventional wisdom have gravely disserved the American people.

For someone like myself who has spent considerable time in Iraq country I first visited in 1968current reality there is, nevertheless, very different from this conventional wisdom, and so are the prospects for Iraq’s future. It helps to know where to look, what sources to trust, and how to evaluate the present moment against the background of Iraqi and Middle Eastern history.

By Republicans Never Die (without a wooden stake) They Just Fade Away!

May 19, 2006 08:11 AM | Link to this

Episcopal Church Debate Grows More Heated

As a critical church meeting on homosexuality nears, the debate online and in public comments has grown so intense that one publication has dubbed it “blood sport.”

Some bishops have complained of being flooded with hateful e-mails and of being personally attacked on the Web. Harmon, who runs the widely read titusonenine blog, has had to take down comments he said were “cynical, angry and alas, even petty.” He now reviews all statements before they are posted. Some liberal-leaning blogs have had to do the same.

On Luckovitch’s blog, we know all about Conservatives coming onto liberal blogs and spewing hate, cynicism, and anger. Conservatives are SO LOW and DESPERATE that they even have to attack churches and bishops, now!

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 08:12 AM | Link to this

Okay, now that we know that Midori (the head of the STFU Party)was the obnoxious spammer, can we have our old hours of operation back?

Many of the best commentators here are not on an 8 to 5 schedule, and the spamming took place during those hours anyway, so what’s the point?

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 08:13 AM | Link to this

An example of how out-of-touch our leaders in Congress are these days: yesterday on the House floor, Rep. Dennis Hastert had this to say:

“Well, folks, if you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two children, you don’t pay any taxes. So you probably, if you don’t pay any taxes, you are not going to get a very big tax cut.”

OK, so tell me where we we can move to in America where we don’t have to pay “any taxes” and are making about $40,000 a year? I certainly don’t know of any place in America where this is true, and I’ve lived in many states in this country!

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:13 AM | Link to this

By BLOG MODERATOR May 19, 2006 01:00 AM In reviewing the IP#’s for comments I have determined that #xxx.xxx.98.127 who uses the name “Midori” is the party responsible for recent disruptions in this blogs operation.

Thank You, Lea!

By Republicans Never Die (without a wooden stake) They Just Fade Away!

May 19, 2006 08:15 AM | Link to this

Protests to Greet Condoleezza Rice at Boston School

Plans by a prominent Boston Jesuit school to award U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice an honorary degree are stirring protests by some students and faculty who say her support for the Iraq war contradicts Catholic teaching.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 08:21 AM | Link to this

John McCain will never be President of the United States unless he runs as a Democrat.

Goldie,

Your personal approval ratings are at an all time low too*, so I wouldn’t cluck too much about Bush.

How does it feel to be on Midori’s team? Ha!

*(except in Iraq where Saddam Hussein has thrown his 99% to you so you may carry on for him after he is hanged)

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:22 AM | Link to this

By Goldilocks May 19, 2006 08:13 AM “Well, folks, if you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two children, you don’t pay any taxes. So you probably, if you don’t pay any taxes, you are not going to get a very big tax cut.”

Goldilocks: You took this out of the context of an income tax discussion and it is absolutely true.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 08:24 AM | Link to this

Goldie,

Could you be any more clueless? Hastert is talking about FEDERAL taxes. But whatever you do, don’t move to a Blue state because their STATE taxes tend to be higher too.

Listen, we could end this controversy right now, if we just moved to the Fair Tax.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 08:25 AM | Link to this

I’m really looking forward to the Repugnants putting Pat Buchanan at the top of their ticket in ‘08… he’s been talking their “close the borders” game for more than 20 years now and like d*o-doo, he’s floated to the top!

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 08:30 AM | Link to this

RNDWAWSTJFA!,

What’s your point? That we should silence the views of those we disagree with? Sounds familiar.

BTW, you “analysis” of my comments yesterday were characteristically lame. I was making a larger point about moonbat thinking, but apparently that was too nuanced for you to get. I guess the only “nuance” that moonbats get is “Bush Sucks!” and “Our soldiers rape and pillage like Genghis Khan”.

Please analyze today’s cartoon for me. Let me know if you see any illegal immigrants and their employers scurrying about. As finch said, the cartoon can be about anything you want it to be. Just like fantasyland for preschoolers.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 08:30 AM | Link to this

Danish guy— I’m sure you’re not speaking of yourself when you say: “Many of the best commentators here are not on an 8 to 5 schedule”. Who the h*ll are you speaking of? Oh you of such brilliance, spewing Fox News propaganda everyday here. Don’t they have some kind of blog for all of you Hannity and O’Reilly lovers so that you can talk to each other and go ‘round and ‘round with your circular non-logic?

By Republicans Never Die (without a wooden stake) They Just Fade Away!

May 19, 2006 08:32 AM | Link to this

U.S. Won’t Say if It Aids Somali Warlords

Two weeks ago, Somalia’s transitional president said he believed the United States was bankrolling an alliance of warlords, the same people whose armed gangs are keeping Somalia ungovernable.

* The men from “Black Hawk Down” must be so very proud.*

By Republicans Never Die (without a wooden stake) They Just Fade Away!

May 19, 2006 08:36 AM | Link to this

Ex-Congressional Aide to Ney to Testify

The government’s newest cooperating witness in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, a former congressional aide to Rep. Bob Ney, will testify at the trial of the former top procurement official in the Bush administration, prosecutors revealed Tuesday.

The most corrupt administration since Richard Nixon.

By Eric

May 19, 2006 08:39 AM | Link to this

Politician = Liar. It is the only way to get and keep the job.

Shakespeare was wrong… it isn’t all the lawyers we should kill…. it’s the politicians (of course most politicians were lawyers… so maybe he WAS right)

By Conservatives Swallow

May 19, 2006 08:43 AM | Link to this

Goldie, don’t pay any attention to the GOP losers in here. They’re lonely and afraid, they way Bush likes his followers to be.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 08:43 AM | Link to this

Trust and The Constitution? This is not important to the cartoon.

I think this cartoon is about the dangers of using sharp scissors. Clearly ML is trying to tell us that we need federal regulations regarding scissor use.

Also, the guy with the big ears represents a Daddy who is incapable of caring for his own children because he uses unsafe scissors.

This cartoon means that ML believes that we need the federal government to step in and take them away from him. Illegal immigrants can work in the government-run daycare centers which could be our biggest employer. Hooray!

On second thought, maybe this cartoon is about back alley abortions. Yeah, that’s it.

By Republicans Never Die (without a wooden stake) They Just Fade Away!

May 19, 2006 08:47 AM | Link to this

Pentagon Urged to Aid Soldiers’ Finances

A recent report by congressional investigators found that nearly 900 Army soldiers wounded in war ran up $1.2 million in debt because of a military pay system said to be complex and cumbersome.

Many in the military report having difficulty covering their expenses and saving for the future.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., a member of the House Financial Services Committee’s investigative panel, said at a hearing that the Defense Department has not done enough for military personnel. “I’ve not seen anything that’s been done to protect them, to educate them,” she said.

This is how much Bush REALLY cares about our men and women in uniform. Notice which is the party that is genuinely trying to help our servicemen, Rep. Maxine Waters, DEMOCRAT-Calif.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 08:49 AM | Link to this

Goldie,

Do you have a problem with allowing this blog to operate past 5 pm? You see, that was my point. It really was very simple, and didn’t require a response from you, other than “I agree!”

Why do you find it necessary to nip at my heels like an annoying duck at every single comment?

Could you be anymore Obnoxious? Oh yeah, you could be Midori.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 09:04 AM | Link to this

I can see the headline now in 2008: “Pat Buchanan at the top of the ticket for the War Party (formerly known as the Republican Party)!”

By Lord Help Us

May 19, 2006 09:04 AM | Link to this

TRUST ME!!!!

Trust a man that denigrated nation building prior to being elected and then has led the country in to a futile nation building exercise in Iraq??

Trust a man that characterized the military as ‘Not ready to respond’ in 2000 because of the way the Clinton/Gore administration had wrecklessly stretched our armed services around the globe??

Trust a man that said ‘even with these tax cuts, we would still have trillions in surpluses??’

Trust a man that said anyone in his administration involved in the leaking of a covert CIA agant’s identity would be fired??

Trust a man that ‘sold’ the nation a war in Iraq on the notion that Iraq had operational ties to Al Qaeda, had aluminum tubes for enriching uranium, had mobile chemical weapons facilities, had remote-controlled drones for dispersing chemical weapons, etc., etc., etc??

Trust a man that said he was a ‘uniter, not a divider’ and subsequently alienated himself from his country;s citizens and the world??

Trust a man who promised to restore ‘honor and integrity’ to the office of the President but now trails behind his predecessor in every measure, including, who is more trustworthy??

Trust a man that promised transparency and proceeded to roll back/obstruct every attempt at oversight and even the FOIA??

Trust a man that promised that ‘humility’ would be a corenerstone of his foreign policy??

Trust ME, I could keep going.

This President has earned the world’s scorn, not their trust.

It’s The Competence, STUPID!!

By Jewish and Proud of It

May 19, 2006 09:04 AM | Link to this

Could you be anymore Obnoxious?

How does that old pot, kettle saying go?

By Southern Democrat

May 19, 2006 09:13 AM | Link to this

It makes me sad that this blog is reflective of our society as a whole: the two sides have entrenched themselves so much and fed off of their own bile for so long that no one remembers how to compromise… What happened to the days of Nunn, Moynihan, etc., Democrats I could believe in? Now we’re left with a fanatic (Dean) heading the party and the only centrist (Zell), an absolute nutcase. The Republicans are destroying this country and there is no one in the Democratic Party with the integrity, intelligence, and common sense to stop them.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 09:19 AM | Link to this

Thanks for deposing the Shah of Iran, Peanut.

Put truth to power!

By Tim

May 19, 2006 09:19 AM | Link to this

I agree with the point of the cartoon. Now that the Dumbya administration has negated the Constitution, all we have left is the word of a man who was ready to rush to war against Iraq when he got into office, and manipulated the truth and ignored all indications that there were no WMDs. The NeoCons keep whining about the majority of the people who went along, but those people were all misled by Dumbya and Co.

By Southern Democrat

May 19, 2006 09:20 AM | Link to this

It makes me sad that this blog is reflective of our society as a whole: the two sides have entrenched themselves so much and fed off of their own bile for so long that no one remembers how to compromise… What happened to the days of Nunn, Moynihan, etc., Democrats I could believe in? Now we’re left with a fanatic (Dean) heading the party and the only centrist (Zell), an absolute nutcase. The Republicans are destroying this country and there is no one in the Democratic Party with the integrity, intelligence, and common sense to stop them.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 09:20 AM | Link to this

Southern Democrat,

Don’t despair. ML claims to be a “conservative Democrat” and you have…..Goldie!

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 09:25 AM | Link to this

JAP (“don’t pick on me, I’m just a newbie”),

If you popped in here more often, you’d be tied with Goldie for the obnoxious schmuck award.

BTW, How’s that nice family you’re living with? When do you go back to the old country?

The B.S. stops here.

By Lord Help Us

May 19, 2006 09:26 AM | Link to this

Thanks for selling advanced weaponry to Iran, Bozo

Put Truth to Power!!

By Lord Help Us

May 19, 2006 09:32 AM | Link to this

This Reagan Administration new how to pacify those pesky Iranians:

At first, the Iranians refused to buy the arms at the inflated price, because of the excessive markup imposed by Oliver North and but the arms were eventually sold in February with the shipment of 1000 BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-sighted, Wire-guided) missiles to Iran. From May to November 1986, there were additional shipments of miscellaneous weapons and parts.

But, true to form, at least the conservatives tried to rip them off.

It’s The Competence, STUPID!!

By getalife

May 19, 2006 09:48 AM | Link to this

Well, Andy, now we know you work for the AJC, tell the truth.

You are really a lib aren’t you?

By Lord Help Us

May 19, 2006 09:48 AM | Link to this

Thanks for Selling Iraq the chemicals and advanced weaponry used against Iran, Israel, the Kurds, Kuwait and the US, Gipper

Put Truth To Power!!

By Dusty

May 19, 2006 09:49 AM | Link to this

I am sitting here wondering about Mike Luckovich and all his willing lap dogs.

As you have probably notice, ML drew sketches of wounded military at Walter Reed Hospital, wrote nice sympathetic words, and came off smelling like as a rose. But….

Luckovich’s closing words were this about the wounded:never to discuss whether the war was right or wrong.

Indeed. I doubt that ML mentioned that he drew derogatory cartoons about their commander-in-chief several times a week. That he made the president look like a chimpanzee. That the war was a total failure and its purpose was for oil and money for Halliburton. Did he pass out copies of the Statue of Liberty lying on her side? Or his version of the president cutting up the Constitution? I doubt it.

So, we have Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Luckovich—a sweetheart in the daylight hospital but a back stabber in black lines of newsprint.

Our troops deserve better than this. They deserve 100% support, not just 50% when you feel like it. Call me a 100% supporter of our troops.

By Lord Help Us

May 19, 2006 09:52 AM | Link to this

Thanks for being such a good friend of Saddam’s, Shrub #1!

“It is becoming increasingly clear,” said a grave Ted Koppel, “that George Bush, operating largely behind the scenes throughout the 1980s, initiated and supported much of the financing, intelligence, and military help that built Saddam’s Iraq into the aggressive power that the United States ultimately had to destroy.”

Put Truth to Power!!

By bobby

May 19, 2006 09:55 AM | Link to this

This cartoon is so appropriate. Constitutional rights trump everything. Even wiretapping without a court order to catch terrorists. If you don’t understand why that is, you never will. I am just amazed at how few people really understand what this document means and stands for, especially in the wonderfully red state of Georgia. This ignorance is pervasive throughout the local, state, and federal levels of government. I mean, look what Georgia’s Republican legislature accomplished over the past two years - passed a bill allowing the Ten Commandments to be hung in courthouses, passed a bill allowing elective bible classes to be taught in public schools, passed a law requiring photo IDs to vote. How many Republican-run municipalities in the metro area have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting the removal of the Ten Commandments, so proudly hung, from their courthouses, cheered on by their constituents?

Local, state, and federal Republican lawmakers do this for one reason and one reason only - they are allowed to by their ignorant constituancy. That lawmakers from either party are allowed to thumb their noses at our Constitution is unbelievable. Talk about a bunch of spineless simps.

You cannot cherry pick what you support and don’t support in the Constitution. One cannot wholeheartedly support our soldiers dying in Iraq - for the sole purpose of enabling Iraq to form a Constitution based on democratic principles - and then thumb ones nose at those parts of the US Constitution one does not agree with, unless one is truly ignorant. Unfortunately, ignorance in this red state of Georgia is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

No go ahead - call me names. Another truly predicable behavior of ignorant people.

By getalife

May 19, 2006 09:56 AM | Link to this

Southern Democrat,

So true, I do not buy into any party. They are both corrupt and look out for themselves, not the people.

There are only two I see worth a crap and they are Mr. Murtha and Mr. Feingold, the rest should be purged from office.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 09:59 AM | Link to this

By getalife May 19, 2006 09:48 AM Well, Andy, now we know you work for the AJC, tell the truth.

getalife: You have yet to get anything about me or politics, for that matter, correct.

Why do you persist?

By getalife

May 19, 2006 10:01 AM | Link to this

BD,

The B.S. stops here.

So, do you work for the AJC too or just another “Andy” personality.

Tell the truth, are you a lib too?

By Midori

May 19, 2006 10:04 AM | Link to this

Okay, now that we know that Midori (the head of the STFU Party)was the obnoxious spammer, can we have our old hours of operation back?

You need to know what the h!ll you are talking about, you lying dirtbag.

You jerks keep doing this - trying to pin this immature, stupid, disgusting behavior on me. Time and Time again.

I’m not going for it.

Hear me and hear me good: I don’t have the time nor the low IQ and immaturity to pull that stupid crap.

You need to know what you are talking about before throwing out accusations like that.

Stupid cow.

By getalife

May 19, 2006 10:04 AM | Link to this

Well Andy,

Explain this:

*By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:13 AM | Link to this

By BLOG MODERATOR May 19, 2006 01:00 AM In reviewing the IP#’s for comments I have determined that #xxx.xxx.98.127 who uses the name “Midori” is the party responsible for recent disruptions in this blogs operation. Thank You, Lea!*

Tell the truth.

By Midori

May 19, 2006 10:07 AM | Link to this

Buy Danish - I’m beginning to think you have a crush on me.

Did I kidnap start the Reichstag fire too?

Kidnap the Linberg baby?

Shoot the Pope?

It’s perfectly obvious that one of yours was spamming this board, yet you are determined to try to put the blame on me.

Stupid cow.

Dumb b*tch.

Sorry POS.

By getalife

May 19, 2006 10:08 AM | Link to this

bobby,

Good post. People forget about all who gave their lives to protect our freedoms and give them away so easily because they are scared.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 10:08 AM | Link to this

Just a thought:

After reading some of the reviews of the Duh Vinnie Code, I’m kind of wondering how many people, half way through the movie, will be praying to Jesus Christ The Lord for it to end?

Oh, nevermind.

By rushncap

May 19, 2006 10:18 AM | Link to this

Dusty, our troops need a “100% supporter” such as yourself like the fish need a frying pan. What they need is a commander-in-chief who would not send them to die and get their legs blown off for no reason. That is patriotism. Blind faith in the Chimp is a caricature of that. And a poorly drawn one at that.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 10:19 AM | Link to this

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country’s Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

Eerie, isn’t it?

The yellow star, inscribed with the word “Jude,” has become a symbol of Nazi persecution. Its likeness abounds upon Holocaust literature and materials. But the Jewish badge was not instituted in 1933 when Hitler came to power. It was not instituted in 1935 when the Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their citizenship. It was still not implemented by Kristallnacht in 1938. The oppression and labeling of the Jews by use of the Jewish badge did not begin until after the start of the Second World War. And even then, it began as local laws rather than as a unified Nazi policy.

And here we are, sitting idly by like cowards, just like they did.

Those too stupid to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

By Midori

May 19, 2006 10:22 AM | Link to this

Andy,

why don’t you find a purpose in life?

Or is spamming this board your purpose?

No one reads your tripe.

You must be one lonely mo fo.

What a pitiful troll.

Just pitiful.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 10:22 AM | Link to this

Congratulations, liberals! You’ve come a long way, Baby!

Teenage girls are now more likely than boys to drink, smoke, steal and take drugs, a survey has shown.

By candide

May 19, 2006 10:24 AM | Link to this

I guess any topic will do. Here goes.

What about the breakup between the runaway bride and her pious fiance? Better for both of them to break up.

Drudge reports that Iran will issue colored labels for non-Muslims: yellow for Jews, white for Christians and blue for Zoroastrians. Fine! The Koran and Islamic practice designate a variety of humiliating penalties for not being Muslim. Christians before the 19th Century did the same thing to non-Christians. It’s good to see Muslims behaving in a traditional way. I am sure our own Taliban Baptists would love to do the same for Jews (whom God does not hear), Mormons (who are a cult), Catholics (who are not Christians), and secularists (who are the most loathesome of all). But at least Muslims don’t normally kill People of the Book. I am less sure about Baptists.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 10:26 AM | Link to this

LHU,

Those arms were “peanuts” compared to what Jimmy Carter, who the Brits actually suspected of being a Soviet mole, managed to do in Iran. Alliances shift, but leave it to Carter to betray our strongest mideast ally (except Israel) - under pressure from…………Marxists. Classic.

Here is a good collection of articles describing the Carter disasters

Midori,

Maybe Andy IS employed by the AJC. You deserve what you get for cheering the jackers on. Live with it. It’s fun to see you so upset.

Getalife,

I’m sorry, I don’t “get” your post to me.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 10:32 AM | Link to this

Rushncap,

What the troops don’t need is you referring (albeit unoriginally) to their Commander in Chief as a “Chimp”.

Note how so many of them long to return to Iraq - if you can read with all that blinding hatred.

By Midori

May 19, 2006 10:33 AM | Link to this

Getalife,

I’ll bet it’s both Andy and Buy Danish.

Two losers who have nothing better to do.

Two pieces of filth.

Two scumbags of the Earth.

Two lifeless jerks living on borrowed time.

Andy, I sent Customer Care an email, and pasted your “Moderator” message. I’m determined to get this cleared up.

In the meantime, get your hands out of your pants, and your finger out of your nose.

Loser dirtbag.

By Dusty

May 19, 2006 10:35 AM | Link to this

Rushncap,

I expected to hear some barking from you. Do you support the troops at your convenience just like Luckovich? Feel real synpathetic while carrying protest signs?

I get tears in my eyes at the wonder of your undercover patriotism.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 10:35 AM | Link to this

Bush’s legacy when leaving office in 2009:

1) Lost twin towers full of occupants in NY and a large segment of the Pentagon, and his reaction was to continue reading “My Pet Goat” with school children in FLA because he was not sure what to do;

2) Made a short-lived attempt to track down Al Qaeda in Afghanistan after Sept. 11th, but decided it was more important to invade Iraq and remove their evil dictator because “he tried to kill my daddy!”

3) Wasted thousands of American and Iraqi lives because he didn’t know how to save face for his obvious blunder in creating a civil war and bring our troops home safely.

4) Won a re-election bid by a small margin in 2004 by motivating the gun-toting homophobes to vote for him, and by constantly reminding the uneducated Americans via color-coded terror alerts that “we’re under attack!”; said terror alerts disappear forever after the election is over, making it obvious that he never could have won re-election without scaring the be-jesus out of citizens who only watch Fox News or “Survivor” to get their news of the world;

5) Lost a large portion of the American Gulf Coast to floods and snakes, all the while he continued to go to fundraisers in Arizona and California; thought it would be appropriate to fly over the devastated area on his return trip to Washington, five days following the disaster;

6) Looked over his shoulder as his administration and members of his party were indicted for crimes committed such as bribery, perjury, revealing CIA secrets to the media, and destroying several sections of the U.S. Constitution.

7) When asked by a reporter what his greatest accomplishment was as president, he replied that it was catching that big bass fish in his man-made lake, all the while the bloodshed continues in the Middle East due to his incompetence.

Only a few reasons why over 70% of Americans are disgusted by this president — what an embarrassment!

By Midori

May 19, 2006 10:36 AM | Link to this

Buy Danish,

and what do you deserve for cheering Andy on?

Stupid b*tch.

I’m not upset - just disgusted.

People like you bring that out in me.

Dumb b*tch.

“you deserve it for cheering them on*

Typical of the “W” supporters.

How do you get thru life being so stupid?

How???

What’s your secret?

Perhaps you can share it with the rest of the 29%

By getalife

May 19, 2006 10:36 AM | Link to this

Midori,

It would not surprise me that with Mike’s sense of humor, Andy is actually Mike.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 10:36 AM | Link to this

One more reason why Democrats are losers.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called a proposal to make English the official language “racist” on the Senate floor yesterday.

Hmmmm. I guess we could extrapolate that that English is hate speech. I better learn Spanish quick.

Finch,

I know this^^comes from the Washington Times, but it doesn’t make the quote any less true.

By Midori

May 19, 2006 10:37 AM | Link to this

LOL

Andy called me a moron. Pot meet kettle.

Buy Danish thinks I’m “upset” Again, pot meets kettle.

It’s going to be a good day.

I can certainly take those two losers opinions to the bank.

By Midori

May 19, 2006 10:39 AM | Link to this

Buy Danish,

of course he’s a chimp.

Just look at him.

I’ll bet you just love to be pelted with his feces, don’t you?

Awwww. Poor Buy Danish is upset with Rushncap because he stated the obvious.

WAH!!!

Dumb B*tch.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 10:41 AM | Link to this

If you look at the last couple of days, Andy is allowed to post after hours.

Getalife,

Let me give you a little hint. If you begin a comment before 5:00, but post it later, it will still get posted. There is no super secret code needed to do this and you can do it too. Try it!

By Midori

May 19, 2006 10:42 AM | Link to this

Getalife - you just may be on to something there :)

Rut roh - now Dusty is upset. Why do they always come in threes?

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 10:45 AM | Link to this

Think about this for a second, morons. I come on here at 5:00 every evening and call myself a homo? I would post a message calling myself a child molestor?

You people are whackjobs. Mental cases. Brain damaged.

By candide May 19, 2006 10:31 AM If I had lost a child in the military because of the Iraq war I think I would buy a gun and do my best to shoot Bush or Cheney or both.

I rest my case.

By getalife

May 19, 2006 10:46 AM | Link to this

If you read the real wingnuts opinions, all they want to talk about is their hatred for Muslims.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 10:49 AM | Link to this

Midori,

You sound like a psychotic parrot.

By getalife

May 19, 2006 10:49 AM | Link to this

Midori,

It is probably one person who works for the AJC. Could be Mike posting while drawing.

By Lord Help Us

May 19, 2006 10:50 AM | Link to this

Jimmy Carter…was…a…Soviet…Mole??????

BOLSHEVIK!!!

I have a new candidate for the most absurd accusation I have ever seen from a deranged wingnut!!!

That one is KILLING ME!!! BWAAAHAAHAHAHAH…Thanks, I needed that!

By Midori

May 19, 2006 10:51 AM | Link to this

Buy DAnish,

again, you stupid cow: what do you deserve for cheering Andy on?

By Dusty

May 19, 2006 10:52 AM | Link to this

Do you suppose we could get Midori and Getalife to run off to Fantasy Land together? Far from the keys of a computer?

Oh and take Goldie who now accuses the president of losing Twin Towers and the Pentagon 9/11.

Such mental confusion is unbelievable.

By getalife

May 19, 2006 10:59 AM | Link to this

Tell the truth Andy,

What do you do at the AJC?

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 11:01 AM | Link to this

Midori,

I’m not cheering Andy on. I’m cheering you on.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 11:09 AM | Link to this

LHU,

It does not say that he WAS a Soviet mole, it says the Brits SUSPECTED him of being one. Which, given his history with the Soviets, was an understandable concern.

By rushncap

May 19, 2006 11:09 AM | Link to this

No, Dusty, but our methods of “support” differ. Your is “yay, they’re dying but it’s soooo patriotic!!”. Mine is “Why are they dying? I would prefer them to live unless they absolutely HAVE to die.” You think “support” means waving a flag while their limbs are blown off. I think “support” is trying to prevent their legs from getting blown off. Minor difference.

Danish, I do not have the time to come up with an original nickname for the Chimp every post. Sorry. When I find something that works, I stick with it. And, yes, many want to return. What’s that prove? That the army was able to brainwash enough into thinking that what they’re dying for is actually worthwhile? Kudos to them…

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 11:19 AM | Link to this

Newsflash - Gitmo prisoners using improvised weapons are clashing with guards.

I hope we aren’t too mean to them when we get the situation back under control. Getalife wouldn’t like it.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 11:23 AM | Link to this

yes, many want to return. What’s that prove? That the army was able to brainwash enough into thinking that what they’re dying for is actually worthwhile?

Rushncap,

Thank you for having so much faith in our soldiers to have the ability to think for themselves.

The real you shines through once again.

By getalife

May 19, 2006 11:28 AM | Link to this

I guess Andy cut and ran. He would not tell the truth anyway.

BD,

I do not like this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060519/tsnm/koreanorthmissiledc

By Dusty

May 19, 2006 11:28 AM | Link to this

Rushncap,

You are right. Our ideas of support are entirely different.

I support our VOLUNTEER troops who are fighting terrorism on all fronts. I support them while they are fighting and I support them when they come home.

You, on the other hand, are sitting around saying “What for? Pointless! Talk to ‘em. What is the point of fighting terrorism? You’re fighting for oil. You kill civilians.”

You may call that support for the troops but I don’t.

Go let another white dove fly away. Maybe that will make you feel better about your invisible troop support and ignorance on securing freedom. What exactly did you come for in this country?

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 11:28 AM | Link to this

Newsflash update!

Dennis Ross is speculating that the prisoners are rioting because some of them are about to be sent back to Saudi Arabia.

Maybe we should listen to the Brits and shut Gitmo down.

(I apologize in advance if this posts twice. I keep getting a “can’t find server message” after I post.)

By @@

May 19, 2006 11:34 AM | Link to this

Rushncap:

I know you hate this, but allow me to psychoanalyze your post at 11:09.

The reason the military functions as a unit is because in basic training, they discourage individuality and encourage teamwork for the safety of their fellow troops. It’s necessary and I admire that quality in them that works not only among themselves, but in our behalf.

It’s pretty obvious to me that the “you” is more important than the “they” by your analysis.

It almost sounds like you prefer not to have a military at all because it’s too risky to the individuals who choose that noble path. You insult their integrity and their dedication when you proclaim that their intelligence allows them to be brainwashed.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 11:34 AM | Link to this

Danish guy— please remind us again of how many prisoners in Gitmo have been charged with any crime, after being held for almost 5 years now? I know they had to finally release some of them earlier this year because they were being held “in error” — lucky them — they only had to stay in prison a little over 4 years and not be charged for anything.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 11:41 AM | Link to this

Can some of you War Party supporters explain to me why my state and property taxes always go UP every time your guy Bush decides to sign another “tax cut” law for his millionaire buddies? But, I tell ya, I’m really looking forward to filing my IRS return for next year so that I can get this latest $36 refund for this year. Boy, look out — I’m gonna have to hurry down to the gas station and see how much I can buy then for $36! And to think that the War Party has pretty much bankrupted America for many years to come and I’m getting back $36!!! Sure must be those “voodoo econonics” that Papa was so enthusiastic about 20 years ago, finally coming to fruition!

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 11:43 AM | Link to this

By Goldie May 19, 2006 11:34 AM Danish guy— please remind us again of how many prisoners in Gitmo have been charged with any crime, after being held for almost 5 years now? they only had to stay in prison a little over 4 years and not be charged for anything.

Citizen’s rights from the United States Constitution given to a bloodthirsty Islamic killer that would like nothing more than to do away with the United States Constitution?

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 11:43 AM | Link to this

Here’s some details of the Gitmo story

Goldie,

Sure thing, as soon as you tell me which of the Americans who died on 9/11 had been charged with any crime.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 11:49 AM | Link to this

Hamas screams that we are mean for our logical suggestion that free American taxpayers will not subsidize such killers and terrorists. Those in the Middle East whine about Islamophobia, but keep silent that there is not allowed a Sunni mosque in Iran or a Christian church in Saudi Arabia. An entire book could be written about the imams and theocrats—in Iran, Egypt, the West Bank, Pakistan, and the Gulf States—who in safety issue fatwas and death pronouncements against Americans in Iraq and any who deal with the “infidel,” and yet send their spoiled children to private schools in Britain and the United States, paid for by their own blackmail money from corrupt governments.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 11:52 AM | Link to this

Goldie,

More on Gitmo - here is why we are cautious about releasing Gitmo prisoners.

As to why your property taxes go up, you’ll have to direct that question to your county commissioners, as Bush has nothing to do with it.

Is there anything else you’d like to blame him for?

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 11:53 AM | Link to this

More evidence of “compassionate conservatism” happening at the border yesterday:

Associated Press headline— “Driver shot dead by authorities after trying to enter Mexico.”

Now they’re even killing ‘em when they turn around at the border and try to return to Mexico.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 11:59 AM | Link to this

According to the book Cobra II, the authoritative account of the Iraq war, the CIA didn’t just get the state of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction programs wrong. It predicted units of the Iraq army would surrender en masse to the U.S. They didn’t. It predicted the Iraqi police force would remain intact. It didn’t. These mistakes meant the postwar phase was harder than expected because there were no Iraqi forces available to impose order, or for other tasks.

That’s the CIA as in Valerie “Pinko” Plame, Mary “Lib” McCarthy, Joe “Kerry’s SecDef” Wilson, Pulitizer Prizes…..

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 11:59 AM | Link to this

Danish guy— how many of those on 9/11 were being held in a prison for 4+ years without any charges being filed? I missed that piece of info, too, apparently.
My, you’re really digging hard here — always trying to exploit those who died by using them for your nonsense answers to questions asked.

Do try to stay on topic and have a grownup debate for a change— Thanks.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 12:02 PM | Link to this

If you don’t have human intelligence of the sort the CIA once provided, you had better have signals intelligence of the sort that Michael Hayden’s National Security Agency gathers with its controversial phone-surveillance and data-mining programs. Democrats aren’t comfortable with that either. Oddly, our country’s domestic statists tend to be national-security libertarians. They want more regulation, taxation, and spending—i.e., more state power—in every instance, unless it is an area involving protecting us from our enemies. Then, they suddenly think the government that governs least governs best.

By JT

May 19, 2006 12:14 PM | Link to this

Goldie, Why wouldn’t you show everybody the full text from your link?

Mexican presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said it appeared the driver was engaging in organized crime or people smuggling and that the vehicle was trying to escape U.S. officials by crossing into Mexico.

People like you never want to wait for the facts to become apparent. Use an unfortunate incident to further your argument. And then there is this crap from you to Buy Danish:

My, you’re really digging hard here — always trying to exploit those who died by using them for your nonsense answers to questions asked.

Exploiting those who died. Didn’t you just do that in your 11:53 post?

By Dusty

May 19, 2006 12:23 PM | Link to this

Goldie,

Do you ever stop trying to incriminate the government of the United States? Here is the accurate account of the killing of a driver at the Mexican border. This comes from CNN.

Mexican presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said it appeared the driver was engaged in organized crime or people smuggling and that the vehicle was trying to escape U.S. officials by crossing into Mexico.

That was from the MEXICAN government. I know brain washing is hard to overcome for you, Goldie, but do try to keep the facts straight and honest.

Adios, amigos. Hasta la vista.

By getalife

May 19, 2006 12:28 PM | Link to this

Oops, I forgot to comment on the toon.

No, I do not trust him.

He lies like Andy.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 12:31 PM | Link to this

“I don’t know how long the war will take. Could be 6 days, could be 6 weeks — I doubt it will take 6 months.” Don Rumsfeld, 2003

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 12:34 PM | Link to this

You may be right, Dusty — we should probably blame you, 8 to 5, Danish, JT and your ilk for inciting so much hysteria at the Mexican border these days…

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 12:36 PM | Link to this

More legacy stuff for Bush:

— 2500 Americans killed and 15,000+ permanently injured in Iraq.

— 100,000+ Iraqis dead.

— Over $400 BILLION spent so far by America for Iraq war effort, and still no oil or utilities available every day for the Iraqi people.

— More than 3500 Iraqi policemen murdered due to civil war raging between Iraqi sects.

— More than 430 foreigners kidnapped in Iraq due to sectarian violence.

— Still no exit strategy from Iraq, two years after overthrowing evil dictator.

— Highest gasoline prices ever in America and highest profits earned for big oil companies EVER.

— $400 MILLION payout given to retiring Exxon/Mobil CEO.

— Bush catches “big fish” in his lake.

By JT

May 19, 2006 12:38 PM | Link to this

Dusty, You didn’t even have to find another source for Goldie’s—Anti-Bush—proclamation. It was right there in the A.P. story, but she selectively ommitted the text you and I italicized.

You’re right, her only intention was to BASH BUSH, not to tell the truth. And she is the one who is constantly claiming lies on the part of the administration.

Very telling Goldie, very telling.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 12:45 PM | Link to this

Goldilocks out of context: To remove Saddam from power, it took 3 weeks, Rumsfeld was pretty close.

By Daniel

May 19, 2006 12:47 PM | Link to this

George W. Bush lied to America to send us into war. He is an incompetent, untrustworthy rat. I have no respect for him or his government. He is incapable of leadership. He has betrayed America, its servicemen and women. History will judge him harshly. Do not tell us we have to agree with this lying coward to love our country.

By JT

May 19, 2006 12:52 PM | Link to this

And a follow-up from Goldie. When caught in a lie of omission, displace the blame.

You may be right, Dusty — we should probably blame you, 8 to 5, Danish, JT and your ilk for inciting so much hysteria at the Mexican border these days…

Be very careful how you respond Goldie. You may find yourself in the same company you conveniently discount to further your argument. “Trust Me”

You’re repetitive arguments are stale. Very stale.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 01:07 PM | Link to this

By Goldie

*May 19, 2006 11:59 AM *

Danish guy— how many of those on 9/11 were being held in a prison for 4+ years without any charges being filed?

Goldie,

No one on 9/11 had the opportunity to plead their case to anyone. That was my point, but apparently it is too “nuanced” for you to get.

Moreover, before you lecture me about “staying on topice” why do you think that there are prisoners in Gitmo in the first place? Huh?

Do you think you can pull a few of your brain cells together and come up with the answer to this question?

P.S. I am not a “guy”. You can just call me “Danish” without any reference to my sex.

By Cindy

May 19, 2006 01:10 PM | Link to this

Why is it that when the constitution is threatened, such as with illegal call monitoring, people say “it doesn’t bother me because I don’t do anything wrong.” But when it comes to gay marriage (which will not force them into a same sex marriage) that has no personal effect on their individual rights they get their bowels in an uproar?

By getalife

May 19, 2006 01:10 PM | Link to this

Andy,

Yes, I have.

I remember you and Midori flirting with each other.

By JT

May 19, 2006 01:18 PM | Link to this

getalife, I’m betting that nobody at the AJC would want this outcome so I’m sure 8 to 5 isn’t working for the AJC.

By Joe Roman

May 19, 2006 01:21 PM | Link to this

This cartoon supplies the perfect visual metaphor for this president. There have been so many lies and distortions and such an effort to ignore reality that even when Bush comes down on the right side of an issue like immigration, there is no basis for believing him. It seems even those who are willing to accept the erosion of our Constitutional rights for the sake of security don’t know what to make of this NSA telephone database business. All we are offered is just what it says in the cartoon. We’re supposed to trust people who have seem to fear even the notion of truth, much less sharing it with the boss. For those among you who have forgotten, “We, The People” are the boss.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 01:21 PM | Link to this

Goldie,

This is why there is border “hysteria”, and it has nothing to do with Andy, JT, Dusty, or me.

Terror Plagues Border: Corruption, Kidknapping, Crime Ruining Texas Town

Nuevo Laredo - the busiest port of entry into the US, just over the border from Texas.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 01:25 PM | Link to this

By Cindy May 19, 2006 01:10 PM Why is it that when the constitution is threatened, such as with illegal call monitoring, people say “it doesn’t bother me because I don’t do anything wrong.” But when it comes to gay marriage (which will not force them into a same sex marriage) that has no personal effect on their individual rights they get their bowels in an uproar?

Because what you choose to do with your reproductive organs is not a right protected by the Constitution?

While we’re playing 3 questions, let me ask why does the left want to shove gay marriage down the throat of a population that has never done anything to harm or stop the activities of gays, but they look the other way while Muslims crush gays with block walls?

If you want to see “bowels in an uproar” go picket the Iranians the “right for gay marriage.” They’ll make you a star in a movie, albeit one where you get your head cut off.

By getalife

May 19, 2006 01:29 PM | Link to this

JT,

I really do not care who he is, it is fun messing with him.

I do not take myself seriously, as you can tell from my blog

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 01:42 PM | Link to this

Meanwhile, a white-haired film editor asked me “if there is anything he could possibly do that would make you stop supporting this administration.”

I thought about saying something like: “Withdraw all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow.” Or: “Make a federal law banning capital punishment in all states.” But I actually just tried, futilely, to change the subject. Here in Los Angeles, though, you’d really better have an explanation about why you aren’t one of them.

By Joe Roman

May 19, 2006 01:43 PM | Link to this

The Walter Reed illustration (I don’t think of it as a cartoon) is sadly accurate.
My ex-wife takes her father, a retired full Colonel and three war veteran to Walter Reed for medical care on a regular basis. It is a sad and sobering sight. Few of us know the overwhelming number of permadently maimed GIs this Iraq invasion has produced. The other side to the enormous progress made in treating battlefield casualties is the number who survive only to lead lives of constant pain and disability. On one hand, one could say ‘at least they are alive’, but what kind of lives do they lead? In every war, soldiers like these are forgotten. In this war, they are far more forgotten than others. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz and all the other chickenhawks should be DRAGGED if necessary to see these poor unfortunates on a daily basis so they can see the human cost of their folly. Most of all, the pro-war bloggers should be taken to Walter Reed and made to empty the bedpans of these fallen heroes for the duration. Maybe then they would come to know that war is something more than a chance to shoot off their collective mouths.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 01:45 PM | Link to this

Cindy,

Not that this cartoon is even remotely about “gay rights”, but are you aware that they just voted to get rid of the hateful words “mom” and “dad” from California textbooks?

How does that mesh with your ideas about “individual rights”?

By rushncap

May 19, 2006 01:51 PM | Link to this

@@: a few points. #1 is that you spend the first half of your post explaining that soldiers are trained to lose their individuality (part of which is the ability to reason for yourself), and in the second half you rail against me for accusing them of being brainwashed. Consistency, thy name is @@. #2 is that I make no claim about the soldiers’ intelligence. I make a claim that enlisted men are, in effect, somewhat brainwashed, just like you said. Now, this bears good fruit in battle, where obedience and chain of command is more important than analytical skills, but analysis of the situation that their higher-ups get them into is not their strength.

By Cindy

May 19, 2006 01:57 PM | Link to this

Well said Joe Roman!

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 02:09 PM | Link to this

Joe Roman,

If you weren’t so incredibly ignorant of current events, you would know that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld DO go to Walter Reed hospital to visit the injured troops.

They do not brag about it and issue a press release. Unlike some Dems I could mention, they have too much class for that.

But if we’re going to decide that it is necessary for those responsible to visit on a daily basis, I’d be volunteering some Al Qaeda members and maybe Saddam Hussein himself. Maybe have them clean a few bed pans while they’re there.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 02:16 PM | Link to this

Nice try, rushnsap, but I too found your original post to be repulsively out of line:

By rushnsap May 19, 2006 11:09 AM That the army was able to brainwash enough into thinking that what they’re dying for is actually worthwhile?

I also found it to be quite hilarious, that someone who has been brainwashed with every silly a-ss feminist feel good nonsense available would comment on something that they have absolutely no experience with: The courage to give up your life in defense of those too weak to protect themselves. You are the exact opposite of our brave soldiers, you cheer for the murderers of innocents as though they are proving your noxious little political statements for you.

You are simply reprehensible.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 02:23 PM | Link to this

This shouldn’t need explanation but we are up in the land of the airhead:

Keeping the baby and raising it to adulthood, instead of drilling a hole in it’s head and discarding it, is the courageous thing to do.

Standing up to the Islamic murderers and protecting the innocent, instead of kowtowing to their demands and weakly tip toeing around their sensitivities, is the brave thing to do.

Honoring a woman and treating her with respect, instead of sizing her up like a piece of meat, is the right way to live your life, not the easy way.

Apologies for the rant but I felt we needed the reminder (-:

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 02:27 PM | Link to this

This shouldn’t need explanation but we are up in the land of the airhead:

Keeping the baby and raising it to adulthood, instead of drilling a hole in it’s head and discarding it, is the courageous thing to do.

Standing up to the Islamic murderers and protecting the innocent, instead of kowtowing to their demands and weakly tip toeing around their sensitivities, is the brave thing to do.

Honoring a woman and treating her with respect, instead of sizing her up like a piece of meat, is the right way to live your life, not the easy way.

Apologies for the rant but I felt we needed the reminder (-:

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 02:30 PM | Link to this

My bad on the double, excuse me.

seekling: Luckovich goes to work every day at 1:00 pm in the afternoon. Think about it for a minute.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 02:30 PM | Link to this

Seeker,

Gosh, you’re so good at connecting dots, but you still can’t see the relevance of the fact that Ramzi Ramsi Yousef had an Iraqi passport, or that Zarqawi left Afghanistan for Iraq, or the countless other connections.

Amazing.

By Pay Treeutt

May 19, 2006 02:36 PM | Link to this

Yes, we SHOULD trust Bush! He knows exactly what to do with our freedoms!

By Jesus

May 19, 2006 02:44 PM | Link to this

IMPEACH BUSH NOW!!!

By Joe Roman

May 19, 2006 02:47 PM | Link to this

Danish: First: They do not. If they do it in secret, refer back to the cartoon. Are we supposed to trust that they are when it isn’t mentioned? Second: Why aren’t you there emptying bedpans?

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 02:51 PM | Link to this

Seeker,

I forgot to mention that whoever the “Blog Moderator” is, they are not aces at spelling, as they mispelled “contributors” and “privileges”.

Who is a lousy speller here? That’s a dot that could be connected.

By seeker

May 19, 2006 02:52 PM | Link to this

Danish, President Bush has connected the dots, and has admitted Saddam’s Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. And yet you can’t.

Amazing.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 02:55 PM | Link to this

Oops - I just misspelled misspelled.

Joe Roman,

Am I a member of Al Qaeda or one of Saddam Hussein’s henchmen? That was my point. You libs are really terrible at anything that isn’t spelled out for you.

By rushncap

May 19, 2006 03:03 PM | Link to this

I’m quite honored that you find me “reprehensible”, li’l andy. Thank you.

Dusty: the difference between us is that you seem to think that slapping a bumper sticker on a car constitutes “support” of troops. I think that trying to elect people who won’t send them to die for no reason constitutes support. You are happy that they are dying because you get to be patriotic by proxy. I’m upset that they are dying (and killing) because I believe that death is bad and should be avoided unless it absolutely cannot be.

By Joe Roman

May 19, 2006 03:22 PM | Link to this

Danish: First: They do not. If they do it in secret, refer back to the cartoon. Are we supposed to trust that they are when it isn’t mentioned? Second: Why aren’t you there emptying bedpans?

By @@

May 19, 2006 03:33 PM | Link to this

Rushncap:

If you are prepared to say that those who join military service make that decision without the intelligence to know full well what the risks are, then you prove my argument. We’re not talking about “drafted” into service.

I’m going to predict what your argument to this ^^^ would be. “Financial need”? I would respond to that by asking you if there is something wrong or intellectually deficient with someone who sees the need to give to their country before taking advantage of it’s generous liberties that others have died to protect?

Only after their “independent” decision to sign up do they undergo training necessary to protect not only their own lives, but the guy next to them who has been given that same encouragement to protect and defend them as well as the country.

I’m not into arguing semantics with you. I do know what I believe in, and I believe that individuals who have reached an age of accountability, who are not mentally deficient, can make informed decisions without expecting to have their motives or intelligence questioned by you. It is a weak mind that can be subjected to brainwashing. And I would never suggest that theirs were weak. Just the opposite.

I also believe that you may be happier living in Switzerland.

Now, thankfully, my day has ended and I am on my way to the track.

By Joe Roman

May 19, 2006 03:34 PM | Link to this

No Danish. You are just some chickenhawk who thinks war is a fine thing as long as you don’t have to fight it or make any sacrifices. War isn’t some cute exercise in tough talking political rhetoric. People get killed, maimed, lose loved ones and often lose their minds. As far as al Qaida emptying bedpans, what an unbelievably dumb come back that was! Is that all you’ve got? Never mind. I already know the answer. That is all you’ve got. This bedpan is for you.

By rushncap

May 19, 2006 03:53 PM | Link to this

Well, @@, maybe you should argue semantics. You’d have better luck there.

If you sign up for the army, the risks are this: you may die defending your country from its enemies, or protecting those who are in danger of being killed. Do you think that when an 18 year old goes into a recruiter’s office he is told “Oh, any by the way, if we get an idiot in charge of this country there is a good chance you’ll be sent you know not where to die for no reason and lose your life not protecting your country but rather invading some foreign land which poses no threat to your family or to the country which you swore to defend.” Do you think that is, or, rather, should be a risk our soldiers should have to take? I don’t. Do those young men and women understand that they may lose their lives when they sign up for the military? No doubt about it. Do you think they understand they may lose their lives not for a noble cause but for a pig-headed adventure based on a lie? I have some doubts about that. You seem to think that since they signed up for the army, it’s ok to send them anywhere, to do anything for any reason you see fit. I still think of them as human beings who would prefer to be alive, not pawns in a political sharade. I guess different approaches here….

Those in Afghanistan died to protect our liberties. Those in Iraq died to protect a Haliburton contract. It’s not their fault, and no one holds men in uniform responsible. They are heroes. But some of us DO hold responsible those who sent these men to die.

By rushncap

May 19, 2006 03:55 PM | Link to this

Well, @@, maybe you should argue semantics. You’d have better luck there.

If you sign up for the army, the risks are this: you may die defending your country from its enemies, or protecting those who are in danger of being killed. Do you think that when an 18 year old goes into a recruiter’s office he is told “Oh, any by the way, if we get an idiot in charge of this country there is a good chance you’ll be sent you know not where to die for no reason and lose your life not protecting your country but rather invading some foreign land which poses no threat to your family or to the country which you swore to defend.” Do you think that is, or, rather, should be a risk our soldiers should have to take? I don’t. Do those young men and women understand that they may lose their lives when they sign up for the military? No doubt about it. Do you think they understand they may lose their lives not for a noble cause but for a pig-headed adventure based on a lie? I have some doubts about that. You seem to think that since they signed up for the army, it’s ok to send them anywhere, to do anything for any reason you see fit. I still think of them as human beings who would prefer to be alive, not pawns in a political sharade. I guess different approaches here….

Those in Afghanistan died to protect our liberties. Those in Iraq died to protect a Haliburton contract. It’s not their fault, and no one holds men in uniform responsible. They are heroes. But some of us DO hold responsible those who sent these men to die.

By finch

May 19, 2006 04:03 PM | Link to this

@@,

Sensibly put. I may disagree with the Iraq war and question the motives of President Bush’s advisors… but I don’t want to hear the argument that enlistees are “brainwashed”.

Who knows the reasons why they enlist? One part patriotism, one part adventure, one part growing up, one part career/education… and I have no idea what the proportion of those parts are in any individual who signs up. And I probably missed a reason or two.

But they sign… and re-up!.. of their own free will. They are not dummies. They are not brainwashed. No one can argue that the media’s painting a rosy smile on the Iraq war. No matter how you feel about the war, I think everyone agrees that what you see on TV is no picnic.

And still they enlist. Gotta respect that.

By @@

May 19, 2006 04:07 PM | Link to this

Rushncap:

This is my last post. I won’t be able to post again because of the cut-off. You can protest against the administration and their policies all you want. Men have died to give you that freedom. Just don’t impugn the intelligence of those who fight for your liberties.

Have you ever stopped to consider the impact it may have on those soldiers who believe in what they are doing in Iraq to be brought home under the pressure of anti-war advocates. Do you ever think that maybe they would feel as though they were not afforded the confidence to complete a mission that they believed in?

And I found your response to be rather redundant like so many here are. Boring and repetitive. But you do have the right to be so, I guess.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 04:09 PM | Link to this

Seeker,

Bush said that there is no evidence that Hussein was directly involved with planning 9/11. He has not changed his mind on Al Qaeda’s connections to Hussein.

JoRo,

Were you in war at some point? That may explain why you lost your mind somewhere along the way.

Let me try this one more time. The people who are responsible for our soldiers being killed and injured are Al Qaeda and Hussein’s insurgents. I suggested that they should be changing the bed pans. I was being what is sometimes called, facetious. Get it?

I am fully aware of the horrors of war. That does not mean that wars cannot ever be fought. Elementary, my dear JoRo.

Rushcap,

I guess anti-war vets are the only ones who manage to escape this brainwashing scenario that you painted for all of us.

And speaking of brainwashing, when was the last time you took a college course from a professor who wasn’t a raving Leftist? If ML can describe himself as a “Conservative Democrat” I can only imagine the looney tune “pacifists” who have been filling your brain with mush and tales of American Imperialism.

You are a character right out of a South Park episode. A “Know it all Hippie” is how I peg you.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 04:14 PM | Link to this

Did y’all happen to read this morning’s NY Times, front-page article regarding the Senate hearing for Gen. Hayden. Apparently, Hayden let slip a little info re: pressure put on the CIA to support the Pentagon’s case for war:

“…But he repeatedly professed his independence from the Defense Department and its leadership, saying he had been “uncomfortable” with the work of a Pentagon intelligence office run by Douglas J. Feith, a former undersecretary of defense, which asserted in the months before the Iraq war that Iraq had established ties with operatives for Al Qaeda in the Middle East. “

And to this very day, Rummy, Cheney and the 3 or 4 of their b*tt-kissers here on the blog still maintain there’s “no doubt” about that Al Qaeda connection and that “it’s all the CIA’s fault.” How disgusting, and shameful that you still choose to continue your lies!

By rushncap

May 19, 2006 04:14 PM | Link to this

No, finch, I don’t mean they are brainwashed into joining. I mean part of the process after you join, especially as an enlisted man, is a variation on brainwashing. You are broken down as a human being, made to be something that you were not before. That is brainwashing.

As for reenilstment, that cannot be used as an argument for this war. Someone reenlisting does not validate the war, does not make either an intellectual, legal or moral case for the war. All that means, in my opinion, is that they have been convinced that this war is a good war. But simply because there are volunteers who are fighting in a war does not mean it’s good. Otherwise just about every war in history was just and necessary. I, personally, have a hard time, morally, figuring out what I think about someone who willingly re-enlists to fight in a bad war. On one hand they are doing what they think is right. On the other hand they wind up doing what is wrong. So how does one treat, for instance, a convinced SS member who joins the frontline troops when he could have had a cushy administrative job at home? And, before everyone starts screaming, I’m not comparing our troops to the SS, merely posing a hypothetical question.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 04:19 PM | Link to this

Most Annoying Liberals of 2005 are here

There are a bunch right here who qualify for 2006. You guys can fight it out amongst yourselves as to who will actually win the award.

Right now I see the race as being between Goldie, Rushncap and JoRo. Anyone else who deserves this honor?

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 04:23 PM | Link to this

Update!

I’m sponsoring a new award. It’s called the “Blah Blah Blah” award, and there is no competition.

The winner is…….. Rushncap, by a mile.

By rushncap

May 19, 2006 04:24 PM | Link to this

@@: my first concern is about the truth, how people “feel” about the truth is secondary. If the war is wrong, I really don’t care whether me saying so hurts someone’s feelings. And, frankly, I’d much rather one of our soldiers return from Iraq with a hurt pride than missing his legs. It may be less glamorous, but HE has to live without legs, while YOU get to wave the flag and smile.

As for you, Cartma… I’m sorry, I mean Danish, my professors don’t talk about politics in class. So I don’t know whether they are conservative or liberal. And I don’t really care either. I don’t need them to teach me politics. I’m also amused that to you the term “pacifist” is derogatory. I guess wanting to see other people’s children die makes you a real patriot, Danish. Just not in my opinion.

By rushncap

May 19, 2006 04:35 PM | Link to this

With that I’m off to the gym. Go ahead and tee off on me if you wish. Lata, Gators.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 04:35 PM | Link to this

Our Senators are still trying to pander to their 29% of extremist supporters for amending the U.S. Constitution to ban marriages other than for “one man and one woman.” Who knows, they may even whip up enough bigotry to increase their support by another 3 or 4%. Apparently they still believe that along with “illegal aliens” being the #1 issue in America, right behind that is discriminating against gay couples who may want to marry.

And you really wonder why so few Americans support your agenda? Amazing…

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 04:36 PM | Link to this

It’s pretty easy to understand, rushnsap believes that the innocent women and children should be the ones getting killed. It’s some feminist thing he learned at the re education camp.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 04:41 PM | Link to this

Danish— you really seem to be full of yourself today. Especially with your implication earlier today that you were one of the “more interesting commentators” here on the blog. You obviously haven’t taken the time to look at yourself in the mirror lately because you come across mighty ugly to others here.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 04:44 PM | Link to this

Rushcap,

Unfortunately “pacifists” just make situations worse and more deaths result in the long run.

I have no desire to see any American soldier die or be wounded (particularly as the mother of a young son) so your assertion that that is what I desire is despicable.

If your professors don’t discuss politics in class, then good for them.

By Goldie

May 19, 2006 04:45 PM | Link to this

And Danish, if you’re wanting to give out awards today, you’d be one of the top 3 contenders for the “Ignorance Is Bliss because I don’t care” award…

By finch

May 19, 2006 04:45 PM | Link to this

rushncap,

You know I disgree with the Iraq war, but I also disagree with the notion that enlistees are being subjected to inappropriate persuasive techniques (how’s that for a euphemism!) compelling them to re-enlist.

In this war, more than any other, our Americans in uniform have tremendous access to the media. They’ve got computers, blogs, satellite TV, iPods they can upload with MP3s of Rush or Franken, etc. And then there are all the emails (with links!) from friends and relatives at home. If they were in an information vaccuum, I’d be worried. But they’re not. They are free citizens making their own informed decisions.

And from what I know about the military, discipline is vital. Teamwork is essential. You can’t have some soldier puzzling over moral issues when he and his fellow troops are being shot at. He does not set policy. He executes policy. To have it any other way in the military is dangerous for the rank and file and for the country. I think of enlistees as being trained, not propagandized. And if they know all that (and I think they do) when they re-up, than goodluck and Godspeed.

I think the Pentagon is doing a fine job training enlistees. It’s what the enlistees are being ordered to do that bothers me. For that, I hold the civilians in the Bush administration totally responsible.

By finch

May 19, 2006 04:50 PM | Link to this

Unfortunately “pacifists” just make situations worse and more deaths result in the long run.

Goodness! Then, for the sake of the nation, we should be in a constant state of war?

How Orwellian of you!

By Midori

May 19, 2006 04:51 PM | Link to this

I have no desire to see any American soldier die or be wounded (particularly as the mother of a young son

oh give us a break. someone actually MATED with you??? Was it of this Earth?

Goldie - you certainly hit the nail on the head about her. Deluded AND a bloody hypocrite to match.

By Buy Danish

May 19, 2006 05:19 PM | Link to this

finch,

That was really lame. Do I need to go back and review what happens when we have people like Neville Chamberlain and the appeasers deciding policy? Because I don’t believe in pacifism as a realistic or life-saving policy does not mean that I want to be in a constant state of war. A ludicrous analogy…

Goldie,

Speaking of blissful ignorance - when did I say that “I was one of the more interesting commentators here on this blog?” Huh? The answer is never. I never even implied it, and was thinking of people like RW who often post “after hours”.

You do seem obsessed with the idea that I requested later blog hours as you have brought it up twice today. Threatened by too much free speech?

I guess you still want the blog closed at 5:00 but want our borders with Mexico wide open? Add that to your embarrassingly uninformed opinions on subjects like property taxes versus Federal income taxes, laying the blame for our immigration problems at our feet (among other fatuous statements) and you are proving your stupidity and foolishness one post at a time.

But keep it up please! I love to watch Libs commit verbal suicide.

Midori,

You just qualified for the “Know Nothing Unemployed Psychic” award.

Later.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 06:17 PM | Link to this

Obviously, 5:58 is not me, it belongs to some hopeless little wanker, who just like a real liberal, can only defend themselves like a worm would. They are hopeless losers, chickensh-it tossers to afraid to fight you straight up. They have to jack names and call you a f-ag, like that is a bad thing, I guess. How does that make you liberals feel, someone hurling homo around as an insult?

Someday all of the human trash will be gone, they can’t stand goodness and light, America is too good for them.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 19, 2006 08:06 PM | Link to this

Not only is CNN signalling to the world their irrelevancy by publishing Mother Moonbat Molly Ivins, read what the democrats have in store for us if they ever gain back power:

Of particular note in this department is “the inconvenient truth” — global warming. Wasting eight years in the face of what we already knew when Bush came in is not only insane, but also unforgivable. A recent poll showed the majority of Americans feel the war in Iraq will be the overriding issue of Bush’s presidency. I suspect future historians will fixate on his global warming record — not only doing nothing to stop it, but letting the hole get dug deeper, as well.

This has been the coolest May in years and the crackpots are foaming about hot weather. It’s like my peppers should be twice the size of what they are now, I say bring global warming on.

Double Post!

As is also the case with TV courtroom drama series like The Practice, the producers and scriptwriters can’t resist giving liberals almost all the good lines. Conservative characters and conservative ideas are stereotyped, distorted, exaggerated and set up like straw men for leftist target practice.

The people who write this stuff are either so intent on indulging their political agendas or so ideologically narrow as to be incapable of objectivity or balance. Since TV is such a competitive, ratings-dependent business, you’d think network executives would make a greater effort to broaden their audience appeal.

Then there are the supercilious left-wing political talk shows. At least they’re overtly biased, making little pretense of balance. The worst is Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. This isn’t designed to be a mass audience grabber. It’s cable TV filler.

Blended in with his monologue, a cartoonish liberal rant, Maher showcases mostly a procession of leftists with whom he agrees. When a token conservative is present, he or she is routinely outnumbered by two or three liberals - plus Maher. The formula frequently includes an intelligent liberal panelist and one or two idiotic rock stars or actors, representing the pop culture. This is a concession to the show’s self-conscious “hipness.” There’s little opportunity for anyone to get more than 30 seconds to make a cogent point. It’s a game of cheap-shot one-liners to get a rise out of the studio audience, dominated by self-selected liberals cheering for the home team lions as they devour the hapless “Christian,” so to speak. Why any self-respecting conservative would agree to be part of this circus is beyond me.

P.S. It looks like RW has opened the bar for this weekend, feel free to get what ever off your chest.

By 8 To 5 Andy

May 20, 2006 07:28 PM | Link to this

Weekend Update!

Before you get all bent about the post length, this is several different items all wrapped up in one big present, courtesy of the Atlanta Urinal-

Murtha’s irresponsible remarks

Rep. John Murtha, who last year called for the immediate pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq, this week accused an entire Marine company of murdering 15 Iraqis “in cold blood.” Mr. Murtha claims he received his information from sources inside the Pentagon, which is conducting an investigation into the Nov. 15 incident in the town of Haditha. That investigation is not yet completed, which makes Mr. Murtha’s accusation not only irresponsible, but an egregious violation of ethical conduct by a sitting congressman.

Mr. Murtha concedes that he has not read any part of the Pentagon’s unfinished report. All he has are his “sources.” But if Mr. Murtha thinks he can hide behind them, he has severely underestimated the seriousness of his accusation. By turning the presumption of innocence standard on its head, Mr. Murtha is duty-bound to name his sources or provide evidence. Otherwise, he must immediately apologize to the Marines he so recklessly labeled as cold-blooded murderers.

Cut

With Verizon and BellSouth both challenging USA Today’s report on their alleged participation in NSA’s surveillance programs, it’s not yet clear whether or to what extent the claims in the Gannett daily’s much-discussed article are true. What’s clearer is that USA Today reporter Leslie Cauley has ties to the Democratic Party (tsk, tsk, tsk), which the Media Research Center’s “NewsBusters” Web site unearthed yesterday.

Searching through campaign-filing records, Rich Noyes discovered that Miss Cauley gave $2,000 to then-Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt in 2003. That’s the type of activity that journalists normally avoid if they wish to be perceived as objective.

Cut

Critics are attacking Mr. Cosby for supposedly anti-religious comments he made Tuesday at the University of the District of Columbia. But Mr. Cosby said nothing of the sort. “I have no problem with Jesus or God,” he told the audience. “I have a problem with people sitting there and saying that Jesus and God will find a way. I have a problem with Christian men who won’t dress up and go down and confront the drug dealers.”

Harsh as it may be, Mr. Cosby’s message certainly deserves a wider audience. A couple years ago, he offended politically correct sensibilities for going after black teen-agers for speaking poorly. On Tuesday, he continued that theme by comparing school-children of his generation who had to fight for the right to attend school, and today’s “knuckleheads who don’t want to accept that they have to study to get an education.”

Speak on, Mr. Cosby. Sometimes the truth is hard to hear.

Cut

The Senate has by a 50-49 vote allowed a provision to remain in the Immigration Bill allowing illegal aliens to claim Social Security benefits. There is no way to sugar-coat what a disaster this is for Republicans and for the country.

Senator Patrick Leahy demonstrated the standard (though still jaw-dropping) Democratic hypocrisy on the issue. Quoting from the Washington Times: Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, said it would be unfair to deny illegals the benefits. “We should not steal their funds or empty their Social Security accounts,” he said. “That is not fair. It does not reward their hard work or their financial contributions. It violates the trust that underlies the Social Security Trust Fund.”*

The Democrats know that keeping provisions like this in the bill make a successful House-Senate conference that much more difficult to achieve and the passage of Immigration Reform is less likely. This gives them a great election issue, painting the Republicans as the party that can’t get anything done. The politics of obstruction.

Cut

The news, as reported by the media, has been so bad for so long that it is unlikely to remain on this track for the next six months. It could get much worse, but it more likely to get better inasmuch as the real news from Iraq is actually a mixture of good as well as bad, with prospects for improvement over the summer months as American troops turn more and more responsibility over to Iraqi forces. A pre-election announcement of the beginning of withdrawal of American troops at present force levels is not impossible.

Mission Accomplished!

Finally, I suggest that the current Democratic strategy to take advantage of widespread unease in the country, including among many Republicans, about the war in Iraq by calling for immediate withdrawal of our troops is a critical strategic mistake. It is an attempt to relive the past, in this case, our withdrawal from Viet Nam 30 years ago. But this is a different time, a different place and a different war. Most importantly, President Bush as commander in chief controls this issue. In five or six month¹s time, he could announce that the U.S. will begin to withdraw troops, and the issue would boomerang on Democrats big time.

Cut

By Robert Novak

CHENEY VS. TIMES

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney, addressing a closed-door session of Republican fund-raisers and contributors Wednesday, attacked the New York Times report on the NSA terrorist surveillance program that won it a Pulitzer Prize.

Cheney spoke to 350 high-dollar Republicans over lunch at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington. The news media was barred from the event, and the vice president’s office declined to release a text. However, sources present quoted Cheney as saying U.S. security suffered from the leak that won the Times a Pulitzer.

A twofer for the libs! Damage national security and snag a prize for it!

Cut

Howard Dean: Gen. Hayden Unfit to Run CIA

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is calling on Senate Democrats to vote against the nomination of Gen. Michael Hayden to run the CIA, saying his efforts to wiretap terrorists while he was running the National Security Agency make him unfit for the job.

Coming from a man who should know what unfit is.

AAAAAAaaaaaaaaeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyuuuuueeeeggggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Cut

Pat “Leaky” Leahy Aided NSA Phone Taps

In 1994 Sen. Pat “Leaky” Leahy co-wrote a law that forced telecommunications carriers to build convenient wiretap features into their networks enabling the kind of telephone records collection now at the heart of the controversy over the National Security Agency’s terrorist surveillance operation.

Well, well, well, you just can’t tell.

By 5 To 8 Andy

May 21, 2006 06:07 PM | Link to this

The “Sunday Special,” brought to you from behind enemy lines-

Who better than Ollie North to comment on Armed Forces Weekend:

Cameramen like David Douglas Duncan spent months in the field —their lenses capturing indelible images of young Americans serving in harm’s way. Journalists like Marguerite Higgins filed tributes — not affronts — to the young soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines serving the cause of freedom. Hard as it may be to comprehend today, the New York Times, on May 17, 1952, said of Armed Forces Day, “This is the day on which we have the welcome opportunity to pay special tribute to the men and women of the Armed Forces… to all the individuals who are in the service of their country all over the world. Armed Forces Day won’t be a matter of parades and receptions for a good many of them. They will all be in the line of duty and some of them may give their lives in that duty.”

They deserve better from the press and the politicians. As President Bush said recently, the reason why we’re “still the land of the free is because we are the home of the brave.” And the bravest are those who serve in the uniforms of the Armed Forces of the United States.

Cut

Our secret weapon?

I have seen rebuilding and restructuring, and I have seen death and democracy. So what have I heard? That’s easy: Lionel Richie.

Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. “I love Lionel Richie,” they say. Iraqis who do not understand a word of English can sing an entire Lionel Richie song.

Everyone you meet, they’re dancing in the street, all night long.

Cut

Democratic leaders began this year thinking that Republican corruption in Congress would be one of their most lethal campaign weapons, but GOP officials say that firepower has been defused by new accusations of bribery and other abuses against Democrats.

“The Democrats’ attempt to paint this as a one-sided issue has come back to bite them. They have a lot of ethics problems in their own closet,” said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican.

Another Democrat, Rep. Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia, is the focus of an FBI investigation for his purported role in obtaining millions of dollars in pork-barrel appropriations for his state, a network of groups he set up that benefited from the money and a personal fortune that grew from $565,000 to more than $6.3 million in just four years.

Mr. Mollohan, the ranking Democrat on the ethics committee, was forced to resign that post under pressure from party leaders.

Cut

Don’t it figure, Queen Pinko’s answer to the immigration debate is to hammer on big business, bloodsport of the socialists:

Just once, I’d like to see a corporate executive whose company has knowingly hired illegal immigrants doing the perp walk for his offenses — handcuffed, disgraced, chaperoned by law enforcement officials as cameras record his every tentative step.

What wonderful compassion we have for the suddenly unemployable tens of millions of foreigners whose only reason to be here is work.

Besides which, what, pray tell, does this liberal demagogue, brimming with stupid overheated rhetoric, think this means?:

Perdue (A Republican, duh) signs illegal immigration bill into law

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue on Monday signed into law a proposal to direct taxpayer-funded benefits away from illegal immigrants and designed to pressure employers to stop hiring illegal residents.

Either I know more about current affairs then the Editorial Page Pooh Bah of the Atlanta Urinal or she’s going all out for that Pulitizer.

Cut

Steyn Hall of Fame:

On the other other hand, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had added earmarks to the bill proposing that the family of Mohamed Atta should be entitled to receive survivor benefits plus an American Airlines pilot’s pension based on past illegal employment flying jets over the northeast corridor on Tuesday mornings in late 2001.

Under the new “comprehensive immigration reform” bill (Posse Como Estas?), a posse of National Guardsmen will be stationed in the Arizona desert but only as Wal-Mart greeters to escort members of the Illegal-American community to the nearest Social Security office to register for benefits backdated to 1973.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain, in a quintessentially McCainiac contribution to the debate, angrily denied that the Senate legislation was an “amnesty.”

He has a point. Technically, an “amnesty” only involves pardoning a person for a crime rather than, as this moderate compromise legislation does, pardoning him for a crime and also giving him a cash bonus for committing it. In fact, having skimmed my Webster’s, I can’t seem to find a word that does cover what the Senate is proposing, it having never previously occurred to any other society in the course of human history.

Cut

The Washington Post, thank you very much:

Businesses large and small, careerists with Latin nannies, and those who want wages low, the unions suppressed and their gardens well tended have made common cause with their political opposites. The latter, who have embraced multiculturalism and bilingualism, and who, though they may be little blast furnaces of ostentatious compassion, are in their disdain for America as ruthless as commissars, would be delighted to see it changed any which way as long as it becomes unrecognizable. If you worry about the potential for California and the Southwest to calve like melting glaciers and cleave to Mexico, or vice versa, the left will mock your distress as it once mocked and reviled anticommunism.

To assert as some have that illegal immigrants do not depress wages because they do the jobs Americans refuse is the kind of nonsense economists speak when they strain to be counterintuitive. It is similar to saying that cheap imports do not hold down prices. If employers paid higher than substandard wages, Americans (who famously do almost anything for money, including eating worms, shooting themselves from cannons and listening to Barbra Streisand sing) would take these jobs. Other than simple sovereignty and the control of borders, which should be beyond debate and would if properly approached immediately contain and stabilize the problem, the essence of the illegal-immigration question, muddled though it may be by sophistry and peripheral claims, is the importation of labor.

Cut

FBI agents wrapped up their search Sunday of the Washington office of Rep. William Jefferson as part of a bribery investigation into the Louisiana Democrat, government officials said.

According to the affidavit, Jefferson had asked the witness for a percentage ownership interest in his Nigerian broadband company in exchange for the congressman “using his official acts to support the the Nigerian business venture.”

Jackson pleaded guilty in federal court this month to bribing the congressman with more than $400,000 in payments, company stock and a share of the profits to promote his company’s high-tech business ventures in Africa.

The cloud over Jefferson comes as Democratic leaders have been attacking what they call a “culture of corruption” surrounding the Republican leadership in Congress.

Cut

Say what?:

Sen. John Kerry joined most of his Democratic colleagues last week in voting to build a wall along 370 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border. But he now says that after the wall is built it should be taken down as soon as possible. “I voted for it,” Kerry acknowledged Friday while speaking to the New England Council breakfast.

But in quotes picked up by the Boston Herald, the Massachusetts Democrat added: “If I were making the long-term decision, I’d announce, you know, hopefully it’s a temporary measure, and we can take it down as soon as we have enough people” to guard the border.

Oh, it’s Kerry talking, now I understand.

Cut

And now for the really, really good news: BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced Iraq’s first full-term government yesterday, with a vow to bring stability to a nation racked with terrorism and sectarian attacks and the promise of a timetable for U.S.-led troops to return home.

President Bush congratulated the government that is to rule for the next four years. “Iraqis now have a fully constitutional government, marking the end of a democratic transitional process in Iraq that has been both difficult and inspiring. “This broadly representative government offers a new opportunity for progress in Iraq,” Mr. Bush said.

Mission Accomplished!

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Mike Luckovich

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