Say Anything Blog

Almost overlooked today in the McClellan book controversy is this shocker. UN chief Ban Ki-Moon praised the progress being made in Iraq.

Iraq is stepping back from the abyss that we feared most.

What is troubling here, is the failure of the main-stream media to pay any attention whatever to a completely unbiased - indeed, frequently critical - source on the current progress in Iraq.

If Ki-Moon had savaged conditions in Iraq or blasted the United States, it would have been front-page news in the NYT and WP.

http://www.brietbart.com/article.php?id=080529093303.o0jux471&show_article=1&catnum=0

Drudge is currently headlining an ABC News bulletin which says that in the next 24 hours, Al Queda will release a tape calling for “jihadists to use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons against the West.” There's more and it's scary.

http://www.drudgereport.com

John McCain may not be all things to all conservatives, but on the most critical issue of all - the very survival of our nation and our way of life - he is the only candidate.

Unless folks think that Obama can talk our way out of the coming showdown.

This, from A Redleg’s Perspective:

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protesters to burn the flag. 

FREEDOM is RED, WHITE and BLUE.”

... Lest we forget.

http://redleg07.blogspot.com/2005/10/great-essay.html

Citing his concern for the welfare of his students, Eddie Walker, the popular principal of Irmo High School, has announced his intention to resign rather than see a “Gay/Straight Alliance Club” approved for his school.

Allowing the formation of this club on our campus conflicts with my professional beliefs and religious convictions

...Walker said in his letter of resignation.

Imagine!  A man with beliefs and convictions.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357205,00.html

Florida democratic party officials filed suit in federal court today to force the DNC to seat it’s delegates, claiming that the DNC gave waivers to three other states who moved their elections forward and that 1,700,000 Florida voters cannot be disenfranchised by the national committee.

Fun times are on the way!!

http://www.miamiherald.com/campain08/story/543090.html

From the Washington Times, Wednesday, 21 May, 2008:

Prominent conservatives and activists are indicating they will put aside their differences with presumptive republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and rally their supporters to his side because of one issue: federal judgeships.

The article, from the nation's premier conservative newspaper, goes on to say:

They predict the incoming president likely will fill more vacancies on the federal bench over the next four year than at any time in recent memory, giving a democratic administration the power to shape the courts to reflect a liberal worldview.

Unlike elected officials, federal judges serve for life; a fact which should alarm conservatives, republicans, independents and thoughtful democrats.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NATION/522218600/1001

I discovered SayAnythingBlog exactly six months ago and have spent more time here than I can afford. My therapist calls it an addiction and says the damage to my mind and ego are not permanent.  More about that later.

I have tried to figure out what professional sport would be analogous to surfing SAB. Tennis was an early choice - the lobbing back and forth thing - but that sport is way too genteel and civil. Sifted through pro football, curling, sky diving and sumo wrestling when it finally hit me. Hockey!!

Probably the world’s fastest and most dangerous sport, hockey and SAB were a perfect match! Where else is it legal to whack someone with a stick? Body-slam? Grin toothlessly at your sprawling opponent and once in a million slaps, actually score?

And where else would otherwise intelligent, civilized folks gather to opine, debate, argue, rage, whine, display wisdom and foolishness, give and take offense, insult and flatter, drive one’s blood-pressure to near lethal levels and then go to bed?  Hell, what’s not to like?

Let’s be honest here… we all are political junkies, Rush Limbaugh and George Will wanna-be’s [my shrink calls it projection - I call it awesome...] and thwarted presidents. Our moms all said we could be one someday. Right?

Anyway, back to hockey. I’ve gotten so warped that I’ve actually assembled a team roster. Sorry I can’t include everyone , but here goes…

Coach Port:  Junk-food addict, spends a lot of time dieting. Sometimes blows the whistle and has taken the puck away when we get really bad.

Rodney Graves: Spends much of the game thinking about the game. Often scores late in the third period.

Neiman:  Gentle goal-keeper who prays that no one gets hurt. Like Pilgrim, a real saint.

Anna: Ticket-taker, but lots of people get in free because she's busy thumbing through Playgirl.

robert108:  Intense forward. Prides himself on knowing the game better than the NHL commissioner.

LaydownSally: Silver-tongued front-office manager. Doesn’t play, but analyzes everyone else’s game, while Zsa Zsa works the phones.

RealityBasedBob: No match would be complete without him, but spends most of his time in the penalty box.

BatWing: A player’s player. Odd thing though; hangs by his feet in a dark corner of the locker room.

Whistler:  good on offense, rarely gets caught by the ref when face-masking.

Hannitized: Annoying but interesting rookie, still has trouble skating.

Goon:  Born to body-slam. ‘nuff said.

2hotel9:  Frequently fined for abusive language, his stick is lethal.

Proof:  tough on offense, can slide gracefully into the wall when down.

Chief RZ:  Experienced, steady, convinced the other team is all communist.

Sparkie: Rumor has it he might be traded to the minors along with ellinas and Puzzlefeet.

Carrick:  Good player, learned the sport on Wikipedia.

DocDave:  Good in a face-off, nasty on defense.

Me:  Newbie, prefers center-ice, frequently gets caught trying to insert a new puck in the game. [along with McKracken...]

My therapist says doing stuff like this is good for me. I hope so. I’ve been taking my meds. My hands aren’t shaking so much anymore and I drink less.

I have lots more I want to say, but I gotta go. McCain is getting ready to speak. I am sooo excited!

The Regan Era will be twenty years past in the next few months. A quarter of all Americans were not alive during his presidency. The brief exhilarating conservative sweep of congress in 1994 has faded, it’s Contract With America tarnished by later events. In the intervening years, a war has come, but not gone. Government spending and power has grown exponentially and social issues - unthinkable a few years ago - dominate the headlines: gay marriage, open borders and unlimited access to abortion. And for the first time in our history, a religion has become a potential enemy.

Nearing the summer of 2008, conservatives look to the future, not with optimism, but with genuine consternation. For many, the coming election spells doom in one form or another with the near certain expansion of a liberal majority in congress and the unhappy prospect of no presidential candidate they can support or put trust in.

It is the year of the conservative dilemma.

It’s symptoms are evident on every talk show, in the media and on the blogs. Conservatives speak openly of boycotting the election, voting for obscure candidates like Bob Barr, even forming a third party; hoping - in a replay of the twilight of the gods - for a democratic sweep which might later usher in a resurgent conservative movement and avoid blame for whatever ills occur in the meantime.

They loath Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and describe John McCain with the kind of language usually reserved for people who cut in line or splash muddy water as they drive by.

It is the Gotterdammerung theory - let the GOP and it’s untrustworthy candidate crash and burn in the hopes of a better tomorrow - which many, myself included, find most troubling. It borders on the “If I can’t have it, no one will” mode of nihilism which may satisfy one’s angst, but can guarantee nothing better in the future. It is, in effect, the elevation of political philosophy above national interest, and it assumes, naively, that the damage done over the next 48 to 96 months can be undone by a future conservative government. It is a reckless theory which ignores the fact that social security is nearing it’s 75th anniversary and no one has been able to undo it.

No aspect of the conservative dilemma is more troubling than the future of the Supreme Court, the one branch of government which serves as a political and social time capsule, projecting the values of one generation into the future to be imposed on the next.

Should Barack Obama and a liberal congress persevere for eight years, the makeup and character of the high court - not to mention hundreds of lesser federal bench appointments - could continue on an activist course for the next 25 years or more. The 9th Circuit comes to mind.

For conservatives, there exists a myriad of reasons not to vote for John McCain. But it may be worth noting that McCain has vowed never to nominate an activist judge to the bench and vigorously supported the appointment of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the high court.

As president, he would face a hostile senate, but so did George Bush when Roberts and Alito were confirmed. Barack Obama, on the other hand, would have a liberal senate at his disposal and has stated - in vague and ominous terms - his preference for “compassionate judges who understand the needs of regular people.” In short, the very future of the Supreme Court and the sanctity of the Constitution are at stake in 2008.

So, what to do? There’s the dilemma. Choose wisely.

pparets 17 May 2008

In a speech delivered yesterday at the NRA Convention, Senator John McCain took aim at his democratic opponent:

The Second Amendment isn’t some archaic custom that matters only to rural Americans who find solace in firearms out of frustration with their economic circumstances. The Second Amendment is unique in the world. It guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. To argue anything else is to reject the clear meaning of our Founding Fathers.

McCain, one of 55 senators who signed a brief urging the Supreme Court to reject the District of Columbia gun ban, went on to mock Obama’s characterization of Hillary Clinton duck-hunting with a six-shooter. Drawing laughter from the convention, he highlighted Obama’s ignorance on the subject.

Someone should tell Senator Obama that ducks are usually hunted with shotguns.

Wayne La Pierre, NRA President, said of McCain, who has butted heads with the NRA on issues like background checks at gun fairs and campaign contributions, that there were “vast numbers of areas” on which McCain and the NRA agreed.

In no uncertain terms, McCain declared,

For more than two decades, I’ve opposed efforts to ban guns, ban ammuntion, ban magazines and dismiss gun-owners as some kind of fringe group unwlecome in “modern” America.

Obama responded by saying he supports the Second Amendment but wants “common sense gun laws so that we don’t have kids being shot on the streets.” No elaboration on what he meant by ‘common sense’ gun laws was forthcoming.

You can use your own imagination in guessing what they would be.

Have any of you noticed, as I have, that Breitbart.com has not carried an SAB post since Monday, 5 May?  Is there a reason for this that anyone knows of?  Or is this no big deal?

I found SayAnythingBlog while doing my daily news searching on Breitbart last November. SAB was a breath of fresh air, and I hate to think that others will be denied the opportunity.

In a speech today at Wake Forrest University, Republican presidential nominee John McCain came out swinging against Senator Barack Obama.  McCain, who heaped praise on Chief Justice John Roberts for his conservative, strict-constructionist leadership of the high court, blasted Obama for being one of 22 senators who voted against appointing Roberts to the Supreme Court.

… A justice of the court, as Senator Obama explained it - and I quote - “should share one’s deepest values, one’s core concerns, one’s broader perspectives on how the world works and the depth and breadth of one’s empathy.” These vague words attempt to justify judicial activism - come to think of it, they sound like an activist judge wrote them! 

Continuing his attack on Obama and making an impassioned plea for judicial restraint, McCain went on to say,

Somehow, by Senator Obama’s standard, even Judge Roberts didn’t measure up. And neither did Justice Samuel Alito.

We may be witnessing the opening volley on McCain’s part in what could become a major issue in the fall campaign - the future of the court. At least it should be for any thoughtful conservative.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/4672

Breitbart is reporting that the City of New York spends 65 million dollars a year paying full salary to teachers who are not in the classroom, while awaiting resolution of charges against them ranging from chronic absenteeism to possible child abuse.

According to Michael Best, chief legal counsul for NYC’s Education Department, most suspended teachers spend their day in district-sponsored “rubber rooms”, playing cards, sleeping or reading newspapers, while collecting full pay. Best calls it “terribly demoralizing.”

This is a huge tragedy for taxpayers, students and the city’s working teachers, many of them struggling in overcrowded, under-supplied classrooms.

Maybe it’s the city’s school administrators and AFT union bosses who should be assigned to a rubber room.

http://www.brietbart.com Sunday, 4 May, 2008

The State of Texas has dropped it’s warrant against Dale Barlow, 50, accused of raping minor girls at the fundamentalist Latter Day Saints ranch. Texas officials declined to say why the warrant for his arrest was dropped.

Rob Parker, speaking for the FLDS, said,

I think thats just one more piece of evidence that the whole basis on which this raid was premised was unfounded and was inadequately checked out, to the formulation of what basically amounted to an army that went in there and took their children.

Another page from the Janet Reno playbook on how to deal with suspiciously different religious groups, perhaps?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354039,00.html

Rasmussen is reporting this morning that 48% of polled democrats and nearly 70% of all voters believe that Barack Obama shares some or all of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s radical views!

58% believe that Obama repudiated Wright out of political expediency, not out of personal convictions.

Not good news for the senator from Illinois with Indiana and North Carolina primaries looming next week.

Drudge and Politico are reporting that far-left bloggers are outraged by the recent appearances of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on FOXNEWS.

Adding insult to injury, Howard Dean, DNC Chairman, is scheduled to meet with Chris Wallace on the up-coming FOXNEWS SUNDAY.

Far-lefties like Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, whined that, “Democrats are being idiotic by appearing on that network.”

Roger Ailes, president of FOXNEWS fired back that, “More democrats watch FOXNEWS than watch CNN and MSNBC."

FOXNEWS has long been the target of left-wing hatred and was successfully boycotted last year in early democrat debates.

Mike Allen of Politico.com noted that, “The democratic leader’s new openness to FOX reflects the liberal left’s diminishing power. Once feared by democrats, these activists are now viewed as an impediment to winning...”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10032.html.

On a personal note, what I see here, on the part of all three presidential contenders, is a major effort to woo moderate voters in the middle. Bloggers on the left and the right have regularly complained that the candidates do not reflect their core values.