Mr. Arrogance is back

John Kerry, Vietnam war "hero" flubbed an attempt at a cheap shot towards President Bush yesterday. It sounded for all the world as if he were smearing the troops in Iraq. Here's the quote:

"You know, education -- if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well.

"If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

That's what he gets for trying to look like he has a sense of humor. He ends up putting his foot in his mouth again, and makes everyone mad. He compounded the error by coming out with both guns blazing in a rather amusing press conference. Having learned the wrong lesson from 2004, he's convinced that if he'd fought back against the Swift Boat Vets he'd have won the election, so he's fighting back and making himself look like a jerk. Which he undoubtedly is.

I personally am delighted that Kerry's attempt at a cheap shot at Bush has come back to bite him in the rear. He really is one of the most arrogant men in politics today.

Having said that, had he come out and been somewhat good humored about it, the brouhaha would have fallen flat. But when he came out today in that press conference and tried to preach about how bad the Republicans are, and how he would never attack the servicemen, I kept having flashbacks to that 'army of Genghis Khan' comment and others like it in the 71 hearings.

No senator Kerry, those of us who think you'd attack the troops are not crazy, because you've done it before.

I think Kerry will be the topic of conversation for a few days now rather than Iraq or the economy. It's helpful to my side quite honestly. Kerry is a big, arrogant, elitist left wing Democrat, and the Democratic party does not like to trot those guys out right now.

Election predictions

It's anyone's guess as to how things will turn out a week from Tuesday. I have my own idea about how the house and senate will look on November 8.

I think the Republicans will hold both. I think the margin by which they control both houses will narrow. I can't say by how much of course.

The mass media orgy of polls predicting doom and disaster for Republicans have made me suspicious because of the fact that there are so many of them, and the results are so eagerly reported by the left-wing press. The polls are the equivalent of "the lady doth protest too much". The endless barrage of numbers showing massive Democrat leads and upsets is clearly little more than wishful thinking on the part of pollsters, who weight their polls with too many Democratic participants so they can get the numbers they want. All of the numbers are designed to create a sense of fait accompli, and make those of us on the right think that the election is all but over so we won't bother to vote.

I can't say how such an approach affects most voters. I can say that in my case, it doesn't change my mind. I'd vote for the candidate I favor if I was the only one to do so.

There's little doubt that the war in Iraq has hurt the popularity of President Bush, and the Republicans in Congress. But with a good economy, lower gas prices and low unemployment, there's no real solid reason for people in general to be as angry at the party in power as the press would have us believe.

The attempt to depress the vote on the right has taken other forms besides loaded polls. The Mark Foley scandal was meant to drive away Christian voters. It's interesting to me that Foley resigned right away, and yet the story dominated the news for at least a week. It's all anyone wanted to talk about. North Korea was setting off a nuke, but ABC wanted to play up the latest dirty instant messages. They fired the gun too soon though. The Foley story has played itself out already. No one cares any more.

I don't think there's a "throw the bums out" landslide in the mold of 1994 approaching. We'll see if I'm right or not. I'm ready to head to the voting booth myself. I won't be staying home.

How many constitutional rights should terrorists be given?

This is a valid question. Depending on who you listen to, they ought to have the same rights as citizens of the United States.

How much do we as US citizens value our rights and privileges? Are they something that we can freely confer on anyone? Do those rights and privilges come at a price?

Yes, no and yes.

It makes me angry when Democrats and others believe that Al Queda prisoners captured on the battlefield or elsewhere should have their day in American courts. That they should be able to see the evidence against them like any American citizen, and be given the same due process granted to citizens. That's an insane position to take.

These men are not citizens. They do not live, work and care for the United States. They fulfill none of the responsibilities of citizenship. In fact, they are actively trying to destroy this country and kill our citizens. The idea that we should protect them astonishes me. It angers me. Should we not be protecting the people of this country instead? Why extend the privileges of citizenship that so many have fought and given their lives for to terrorists who want to commit mass murder?

I suppose there are some answers. Some people think the United States is at fault, and that the captured Al Queda are victims. That's the delusional approach.

Some believe that it's simply justice to treat them as one would treat a citizen of the United States. Citizenship is cheap then, isn't it? We freely give away to murderers what many have paid a steep price for. That's the numbing effect that moral equivocation has on common sense.

Some people just hate Bush, and if he's for harsh interrogation, they're against it. That's the mindless rage of the hateful.

The last option is somewhat reasonable. Some people honestly believe that by denying captured Al Queda members due process in a civlian court that the slippery slope towards being able to hold anyone for any reason has begun. While there may well be some merit in that, my response would simply be to remain vigilant. We have to extract information from these prisoners somehow, and we have to have a method of trying and convicting them that keeps classified information and intelligence secret. A normal courtroom is not sufficient. If those who feel that rights are being eroded have a better option, it ought to be put forth for consideration.

As for me, I'll continue to side with the citizens of the US. I don't hold any sympathy for those in CIA prisons or at Guantanamo Bay. I don't have a lot of regard for those who do sympathize. When, God forbid, the next 9/11 happens, we may all wish that the naysayers had been ignored.

Harry Reid's crooked land deals... ignored.

Senate minority leader Harry Reid, the soft spoken and morally pompous Senator from Nevada has been making money off of land he no longer owns.

He sold it to a partner. He claimed on his Senate ethics committee report that he still owned it. He's been very contrite and offered to amend his report, which is very magnanimous of him, to be sure. I'll offer to change my story that next time I'm caught in a lie too.

Is the media obsessed with his lies? No. Not at all. They're still harping about Foley, who resigned weeks ago.

A scandal that can hurt Republicans is worthy of weeks of coverage. If it hurts a Democrat, it needs to be buried and forgotten as quickly as possible. Typical.

650,000 dead in Iraq? Not likely.

A report was released today (not politically timed, according to the authors... hah) claiming that over 650,000 have died since we invaded Iraq in 2003.

Never mind the fact that no one else, include United States and Iraqi governments, as well as several independent groups disagree, putting the number of dead at around 40,000. This new figure was gleefully jumped on by CNN and other media outlets, as well as Bush-haters in general. Check their blogs if you don't believe me.

Why would anyone be happy that over ten times more people are dead than most of us previously believed? Because it's ammo to attack George Bush, the devil himself. The famous compassion that we conservatives know nothing about rears its head again. Bush killed 650,000 in his illegal war for oil! Hooray! Let's impeach him.

It's sickening behavior.

Of course, I don't know the actual number of dead. I do know that with a few exceptions, America and Great Britain do not intentionally kill civilians. We don't lace cars with explosives and detonate them in crowded markets. We don't strap bombs under shirts and kill soldiers eating lunch or Iraqi police brigades. And we certainly don't behead young men on videotape with dull knives and then post it on the internet.

Our enemies do that. But somehow, we're the bad guys. That's the twisted morality of the left for you.

The media obsession with Mark Foley

Why?

Aren't there more important things going on in the world? North Korea has a nuke test. Iran says Israel must be wiped off the map and is also pursuing nukes. Iraq is getting more violent by the day, or so it seems.

And yet, with the election three and a half weeks away, the media is obsessed over Mark Foley and his sexual indiscretions with underage pages. Hmmmm...

Think they're rooting for the Democrats to win? Yep. Think they're trying to make it happen?

Absolutely.

The Mark Foley attack machine

Like many of you, I've been listening and reading about the continuing developments in the newest scandal to hit Washington in October right before a major election. Yet another one of these Congressional dimwits seemed to believe that his actions would never see the light of day. But they have, and the accompanying media frenzy is probably the nail in the Republican's coffin.

A few weeks ago, I didn't agree with the doom and gloom predictions that the Republicans would lose the House and the Senate. It didn't make sense that people were that angry with them, quite honestly. But with this made-to-order scandal involving a member of Congress and a young page, we may have raised the disgust levels just enough for the Democrats to benefit.

Think about the results if they win one or both houses of Congress. Tax cuts repealed. Possible impeachment proceedings. Funding cuts or votes to shut down key programs like the NSA wiretap or the interrogations of high-value Al Queda captives. The Democrats have been obsessed for six years with stopping anything President Bush has tried to do, and if they become the majority party rather than the opposition, they'll be dangerous.

Let's just hope that I'm wrong, and the voters are as ho-hum about this sex scandal as they were about Bill Clinton's dalliances with Monica Lewinsky. We'll see in about four weeks.

Jumping on the bandwagon

Hello.

Well, this is an experiment. Or perhaps I'm just jumping on the bandwagon, and feel like posting my thoughts and reactions to things as they happen.

We'll see.

Welcome. I suppose I'll update sporadically.