Raisin' McCain

From Peggy Noonan at WSJ here:

The Rick Warren debate mattered. Why? It took place at exactly the moment America was starting to pay attention. This is what it looked like by the end of the night: Mr. McCain, normal. Mr. Obama, not normal. You've seen this discussed elsewhere. Mr. McCain was direct and clear, Mr. Obama both more careful and more scattered. But on abortion in particular, Mr. McCain seemed old-time conservative, which is something we all understand, whether we like such a stance or not, and Mr. Obama seemed either radical or dodgy. He is "in … favor of limits" on late-term abortions, though some would consider those limits "inadequate." (In the past week much legal parsing on emanations of penumbras as to the viability of Roe v. Wade followed.)

Raisin' McCain here at McCainBlogette.

Go Misty and Keri!

From MsUnderestimated here:

They thanked our President for his inspiration and for all he’s doing. They are very proud of him, as you can tell. So for all the nay-sayers who were against President Bush attending the Olympics, it mattered to these two women. So it mattered to me.

From RealClearSprots here:

"This is just another reason why we play in bathing suits," May-Treanor said.

Ignoring the rain that drenched their uniforms and left them squinting into the sky where the sun should be, Walsh and May-Treanor won their second consecutive gold medal Thursday by beating China in straight sets. It was the 108th consecutive victory overall and 14th straight at the Olympics for the Americans, who did not lose a set in either Athens or Beijing.

"I dreamt about rain last night. It could have been 500 degrees or 500 below, and we'd be happy," Walsh said, after beating Wang Jie and Tian Jia 21-18, 21-18. "The rain makes it better. We felt like warriors out there."

Col. Bud Day confirms the "Cross in the Sand"

From WaPo Karl Rove article here:

Another story I heard over dinner with the Days involved Mr. McCain serving as one of the three chaplains for his fellow prisoners. At one point, after being shuttled among different prisons, Mr. Day had found himself as the most senior officer at the Hanoi Hilton. So he tapped Mr. McCain to help administer religious services to the other prisoners.

Today, Mr. Day, a very active 83, still vividly recalls Mr. McCain's sermons. "He remembered the Episcopal liturgy," Mr. Day says, "and sounded like a bona fide preacher." One of Mr. McCain's first sermons took as its text Luke 20:25 and Matthew 22:21, "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's." Mr. McCain said he and his fellow prisoners shouldn't ask God to free them, but to help them become the best people they could be while serving as POWs. It was Caesar who put them in prison and Caesar who would get them out. Their task was to act with honor.

Another McCain story, somewhat better known, is about the Vietnamese practice of torturing him by tying his head between his ankles with his arms behind him, and then leaving him for hours. The torture so badly busted up his shoulders that to this day Mr. McCain can't raise his arms over his head.

One night, a Vietnamese guard loosened his bonds, returning at the end of his watch to tighten them again so no one would notice. Shortly after, on Christmas Day, the same guard stood beside Mr. McCain in the prison yard and drew a cross in the sand before erasing it. Mr. McCain later said that when he returned to Vietnam for the first time after the war, the only person he really wanted to meet was that guard.

HT over at John McCain site here.

The McCain "Cross in the Sand" Story

Andrew Sullivan thinks McCain stole this story from Solzhenitsen in his Gulag days. When the Christan's could not draw the sign of the cross they drew the fish instead. It was a way of letting other Christan's know they believed in Jesus. I have a firm belief in Christ that John McCain's not making this story up. Those who are prosecuted on their faith have drawn a symbol to show unity and belief in a higher authority.
From Riehl World links to other stories of "Cross in the Sand" here.

McCain and Obama at Lake Forest/Saddleback church

From the Saddleback Church with pastor Rick Warren.
McCain was stuck first in the cone of silence while Obama spoke first. I could hardly listen to Obama with all the umms & ahs. McCain's answers were cut and dry, no long explaining like Professor Obama.
On Faith in Jesus, McCain told his "Cross in the sand" story:

When asked what faith in Jesus means to him, McCain replied, "Means I'm saved and forgiven. Our faith encompasses not just America but the world."

McCain got teary-eyed while discussing an experience with a guard during his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. The guard, McCain said, drew a cross in the sand while he was praying on Christmas Day. "For a minute there, we were just two Christians worshipping together."

Support a fellow countryman

Join the Russel Brigade to defeat John Murtha here.

Seven year olds know!

It was a funny week last week when both Michelle and Barrack got questioned by two Seven year olds. I too have a seven year old daughter. I can relate. From Rush's show last week:

MICHELLE (MY BELLE) OBAMA: What do you think?

LITTLE BOY: Well, I think that we should finish what we started in Iraq.

MICHELLE (MY BELLE) OBAMA: (pause) "Finish what we started in I-raq." Okay, I will pass that along.

RUSH: Well, did it sound like she...? Could you hear what the little boy said? It's kind of dicey. Let me -- let me reeled what the little boy said. Michelle Obama: "What do you think?" Little boy: "Well, I think that we should finish what we started in Iraq." There was a little silence from Michelle (My Belle), and she said, "'Finish what we started in I-raq.' I pass that along." Here is a seven-year-old who has more maturity than The Messiah! I'll never forget this. I went down to Shreveport, Louisiana, some years ago. I was like asked to speak at an annual fundraiser that the PGA Tour's Hal Sutton and David Toms do. They're trying to build the equivalent of a St. Jude's Children Hospital in Shreveport, and they do this golf outing every year, and David Toms got up and was giving a few remarks before I got up and gave my stellar standing-O remarks, and he was talking about a conversation he had with his son. At some point in his career some things were not going well and he was not practicing as much and so forth, and he said his son said to him, "Dad, why don't you finish what you started?" So I guess Toms is raising his kids to, "Finish what you start. Don't start it if you're not going to finish it." So here's a seven-year-old: finish what we started in Iraq. And Michelle (My Belle), you know, she's probably expecting some question about SpongeBob SquarePants, and she gets "Finish what you started in Iraq." Here, play the bite again, and now that you know the little kid's in there, gauge Michelle (My Belle)'s reaction.

MICHELLE (MY BELLE) OBAMA: What do you think?

LITTLE BOY: Well, I think that we should finish what we started in Iraq.

MICHELLE (MY BELLE) OBAMA: (pause) "Finish what we started in I-raq." Okay, I will pass that along.

RUSH: Let's go back. Wednesday, Elkhart, Indiana, campaign event, Barack Obama. A seven-year-old little girl says, "Why did you start running for president?"

OBAMA: America, uh, is -- is no longer, uh, what it -- it could be, what it once was. And I say to myself, "I don't want that future for my children."

RUSH: Our children want you to "finish what we started in Iraq"! (laughter)

I thought this was so funny! My daughter last week was looking though a book on the Presidents. She tells me "McCain's not in here yet!" My conclusion is Seven Year olds know whats going on and the adults are clueless! LOL!

From Rush's show yesterday-The Three Obama-cans

What the Republicans, what conservatives in this country want is to mop the floor with Democrats! We are tired of accepting their premises and then going along with them to show that somehow we're not the bad guys. We are the good guys. We just don't have any elected leadership. So this is going to be a grassroots, a series of grassroots operations that build conservatism back. For example, this is not a big deal, but it was announced today that three Republicans have decided to endorse Obama. They are former Iowa Republican Congressman Jim Leach, former Rhode Island Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee, and lawyer and former White House intelligence advisor Rita Hauser. Now, Obama is out there, and the Democrats are saying, "Woo! Wow! We've got three Republicans endorsing Obama."

But come on, Jim Leach? Chafee stopped being a Republican a long time ago. Jim Leach was never a Republican, he was a moderate; and this Hauser babe, nobody ever heard of. The dirty little secret about this, the way I see it, is these are exactly the kind of moderate Republicans in Name Only that, McCain courted all these years. Jim Leach, Lincoln Chafee, Rita Hauser, why, they ought to be the first to be endorsing...McCain! That's the exact kind of Republican he's going after. And look, they've signed up with Obama. It's pathetic, but it's funny at the same time. So, we're in this war for what kind of country we're going to have and what kind of future people's children and grandchildren are going to have. We are a nation, a great nation, at great risk in a dangerous world, with a bunch of sophists who want control.

Link here.

After 12 years NYT corrects it self

Also today, The Times came clean on having referred to Senator McCain as a Vietnam-era "fighter pilot" when in fact he was shot down while at the controls of an A-4 Skyhawk - technically an attack aircraft rather than a fighter.

The distinction was mocked by the New York gossip blog Gawker, which pointed out that the Navy fighter pilot school known as Top Gun used the A-4 to simulate Russian MiG fighters and the aircraft effectively met all the main criteria for a fighter - speed, manouevrability and the ability to shoot down other craft - even if its primary role was as an attack bomber.

"The Times should not be so easily cowed, particularly when 12 years worth of coverage is at stake."

From Times Online here.

The Olympic mode

Berlin 1936
Munich 1972
Beijing 2008
The Olympic Metal count at Yahoo here:
The USA metal count in graph form at Real Clear Sports here.
The Map of the metal count here at Real Clear Sports here.

Listening to Rush this morning I had the same thoughts about the opening ceremonies. The 2008 Chinese drummers/dancers had 5 years to practice being the same. I saw the communist manifesto all over the place. From LAT here:

Yes, there were 2,008 drummers pounding an ancient beat, and gymnasts doing cartwheels across a giant globe and the five Olympic rings rising mysteriously into the sky in the form of tiny lights.

Truly, it was neat to see hundreds of men flickering like Christmas trees, and colorfully dressed women flying through the air on strings, and, of course, 1984 Olympic gymnastics hero Li Ning reminding Los Angeles folks of his greatness by lighting the torch in midair.

But, unlike opening ceremonies of recent years, this show lacked real smiles, true laughter, visible heart.

This is a show that could have used an artistic advisor like, say, Steven Spielberg.

Oh, wait, the director was actually supposed to work on the show until withdrawing his name in protest of the support the country has given the government of Sudan, widely criticized for the crisis in Darfur.

A Communist will always be a Communist!

McCain is right about the crisis in Georgia with Russia invading. Putin is a communist and he will never change. Looking into his soul will not stop this. McCain is right that Putin is and will always be K G B.

From Winter's Solders Story here:

I think Obama wants to use appeasement as a reason to sit down and be the next American leader to look into Putin's soul. That has to be the definition of clueless.

McCain on the other hand accurately defined Russia's invasion of Georgia as a moral and strategic crisis. He wants Russia isolated, the invasion halted, and Russia punished.

McCain can't do much about it right now, and won't be able to do anything unless he becomes Commander in Chief.

Meanwhile, what we should be determining, is what Putin really is up to. Georgia is practice. Just practice. It gives Putin a little more land, it gives his troops some limited combat experience, but just enough to make them willing to go for more.

The question is where? And when? And what the hell are we going to do about it? This is just the first step, and for anyone who was not alive or has forgotten the brinksmanship that went on for decades during the Cold War, I guarantee you, we do not want to go back to that era.

The communists murdered an estimated 100,000,000 (that's one-hundred million) people from 1917 to the end of the Soviet Union, and state sponsored deaths continue in China and the remaining communist countries to this day.

Believe me, we don't want to turn back the clock.

I looked in Putin's Eyes and saw 3 letters

KGB! From RCP by Rich Lowry here:

John McCain's assessment stands up much better: When he looked at Putin, "he saw three letters: a K, a G, and a B." Putin's neo-Soviet state has launched a nakedly illegal invasion of neighboring Georgia that is reminiscent of the Winter War against Finland at the outset of World War II. The Russian press is pumping out absurd lies about Georgian acts of genocide, even as the Russian military indiscriminately bombs and shells Georgian cities. Edward Gibbon's description of the Inquisition comes to mind -- nonsense defended by cruelty.

History repeats itself. John McCain was a cold war warrior and he knows the Russian's are the tyrants. They still follow the same M.O.

McCain's judgment benefits from years of marinating in national-security issues and traveling and getting to know the key players; from a hatred of tinpot dictators and bloody thugs that guides his moral compass; and from a flinty realism (verging at times on fatalism) that is resistant to illusions about personalities, or the inevitable direction of History, or the nature of the world.

My vote is going to the one who has the maturity and knowledge to lead our country thought these times of crisis. (Obama wanted the UN to sanction Russia but forgot Russia has Security Council Veto power!) It is not the "One" but the "White Hair Guy!"

From Roger's Rules over at PJ Media here:

On 9/11 we were grateful to have a leader who could distinguish between friends and enemies and who was not so crippled by moral relativism that he believed that victims should be equated with their victimizers. In 2008, we have a choice between 1) a man who knows evil and repudiates it and 2) a man who believes that there is “fault on both sides” and that discredited “progressive” institutions like the United Nations are better equipped to deal with disputes among sovereign nations than the nations themselves.

Which would you choose?

(The White Hair Guy!)

Something I saw on Star Trek.....

The buzz on Obama's new hand signal here.

The Gorilla Congress

Go here for Don't Go Movement.
It was set up as soon as the Don't Go Congress movement started last Friday. A grass roots movement to solve our energy crisis instead of going on a five week vacation. A great place to find others also interested in getting congress back to work.

Rep. Eric Cantor has this site to call back the congress here.

Check out the petition here at "Drill Now".

The grassroots movement is going full steam. The do-nothing congress better watch out. We'll kick their buts out come election time!

The Celeb

This is The One!

Tax the Rich Again!

The fourth and final installment from the IBD The Audacity of Socialism : Obamanomics Flunks The Test.

He also fails to understand how taxes change behavior. He thinks raising taxes on the most productive members of society won't "curb incentives to work or invest." Even TV news anchor Charlie Gibson knows better.

During a primary debate, the ABC host took Obama to task for proposing a doubling in the capital gains tax. History shows, he pointed out, that raising the cap gains rate actually ends up costing the government revenues.

Obama just didn't get it. "Well, Charlie," he argued, "what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness."

Forget growth and revenues. Let's just punish those "greedy" investors. It's the same Marxist reasoning behind his plan to repeal the Bush tax cuts: The rich must be made to pay their "fair" share, Obama asserts.

Never mind that the top 1% of taxpayers already pay 38% of the total tax burden, according to recent IRS data, while the bottom 50% bear just 3% of the load.

Force the Kids to perform service!

Third part of the Investor's Business Daily here: Obama Wants YOU!

Announcing his plan July 2 at the University of Colorado, he said: "We will ask Americans to serve. We will create new opportunities to serve. And we will direct that service to our most pressing national challenges." He will make us an offer we can't refuse.

Obama says that as president he will "set a goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students to perform 100 hours of service a year." What he doesn't say is that he'll make such voluntarism compulsory by attaching strings to federal education dollars. The schools will make the kids volunteer. It's called plausible deniability.

In America, we have so many groups that already help those in need. Why does Obama want us to (pressure us) to serve involuntary? To re-structure society and break down the American way of life. I want to be able to choose how I contribute (or not contribute) to society. Not the way Obama wants us to contribute by forcing us to serve.

Global Tax to kill our "Sovereignty"

From the second in the series on Obama's Marxist ties here:

Obama's Global Poverty Act offers us a global socialist destiny we do not want, one that challenges America's very sovereignty. The former "post-racial" candidate obviously intends to be a post-national president.

A statement from Obama's office says: "With billions of people living on just dollars a day around the world, global poverty remains one of the greatest challenges and tragedies the international community faces. It must be a priority of American foreign policy to commit to eliminating extreme poverty and ensuring every child has food, shelter and clean drinking water."

These are worthy goals, but note there's no mention of spreading democracy, expanding free trade, promoting entrepreneurial capitalism or ridding the world of despots who rule and ravage countries such as Zimbabwe and Sudan.

Obama would give them all a fish without teaching them how to fish. Pledging to cut global poverty in half on the backs of U.S. taxpayers is a ridiculous and impossible goal.

The senators who support this "Global test" are:

Co-sponsors of S. 2433 include Democrats Maria Cantwell of Washington, Dianne Feinstein of California, Richard Durbin of Illinois and Robert Menendez of New Jersey. GOP globalists supporting the bill include Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Richard Lugar of Indiana.

We have to keep Obama from becoming President. It will kill the freedom we know and love. It will kill the America we love. We must keep it free. We must keep Obama from the office he wants. Please vote the right way!

Change I can do without!

From Investor's Business Daily here:

Following this discredited Marxist model, he believes government must step in and redistribute pieces of the pie. That requires massive transfers of wealth through government taxing and spending, a return to the entitlement days of old.

Of course, Obama is too smart to try to smuggle such hoary collectivist garbage through the front door. He's disguising the wealth transfers as "investments" — "to make America more competitive," he says, or "that give us a fighting chance," whatever that means.

Among his proposed "investments":

• "Universal," "guaranteed" health care.

• "Free" college tuition.

• "Universal national service" (a la Havana).

• "Universal 401(k)s" (in which the government would match contributions made by "low- and moderate-income families").

• "Free" job training (even for criminals).

• "Wage insurance" (to supplement dislocated union workers' old income levels).

• "Free" child care and "universal" preschool.

• More subsidized public housing.

• A fatter earned income tax credit for "working poor."

• And even a Global Poverty Act that amounts to a Marshall Plan for the Third World, first and foremost Africa.

His new New Deal also guarantees a "living wage," with a $10 minimum wage indexed to inflation; and "fair trade" and "fair labor practices," with breaks for "patriot employers" who cow-tow to unions, and sticks for "nonpatriot" companies that don't.

That's just for starters — first-term stuff.

Change you can use: Photoshop!

Victory is near

We remain a nation at war. Al Qaeda is on the run in Iraq -- but the terrorists remain dangerous, and they are determined to strike our country and our allies again. In this time of war, America is grateful to all the men and women who have stepped forward to defend us. They understand that we have no greater responsibility than to stop the terrorists before they launch another attack on our homeland. And every day they make great sacrifices to keep the American people safe here at home. We owe our thanks to all those who wear the uniform -- and their families who support them in their vital work. And the best way to honor them is to support their mission -- and bring them home with victory.

From President Bush statement today here.

McCain on the Surge with Hannity

Che Flag in Obama campaign office

Half-Blood Prince trailer

Who will be the Commander in Chief?

With the flap on not visiting the wounded solders at Landstuhl Hospital, here is a statement from the from Command Sergeant Major Craig Layton, USA (Ret.):

"Having spent two years as the Command Sergeant Major at Landstuhl Hospital, I am always grateful for the attention that facility receives from members of Congress. There is no more important work done by the United States Army than to care for those who have been wounded in the service our country. While Americans troops remain engaged in two hot wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a steady stream of casualties to the hospital, and a steady stream of visitors who wish to meet with those troops and thank them for their service.

"Senator Obama has explained his decision to cancel a scheduled visit there by blaming the military, which would not allow one of his political advisers to join him in a tour of the facility. Why Senator Obama felt he needed an adviser with him to visit U.S. troops is unclear, but if Senator Obama isn't comfortable meeting wounded American troops without his entourage, perhaps he does not have the experience necessary to serve as commander in chief."

From The McCain Report here.

The WaPo takes the angle that McCain is questioning Obama's patriotism. I think that McCain is questioning Obama's ability to assume the role of Commander In Chief. McCain is saying why could you not go by yourself and visit the wounded solders? Because it goes against your base Mr. Obama, the anti-military types (Code Pink, ANSWER and ACORN etc.) and it was not a campaign photo op. And the MSM (Obama cheerleaders) skirts the issue. They cover up the real issues that Obama can't possibly be the leader of our troops in a time of Global Terrorism!

The attacks are part of a newly aggressive McCain operation whose aim is to portray the Democratic presidential candidate as a craven politician more interested in his image than in ailing soldiers, a senior McCain adviser said. They come despite repeated pledges by the Republican that he will never question his rival's patriotism.

The essence of McCain's allegation is that Obama planned to take a media entourage, including television cameras, to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany during his week-long foreign trip, and that he canceled the visit when he learned he could not do so. "I know that, according to reports, that he wanted to bring media people and cameras and his campaign staffers," McCain said Monday night on CNN's "Larry King Live."

McCain is smart to attack Obama on the ability to lead. Keep it up McCain. Focus on any issue that Obama shows lack on leadership. I know the voters will pick up on that. The Berlin bounce proves it. (nil, not, nine!)

From NYT here:

Assertions in early news reports that the Pentagon had told Mr. Obama he could not visit the medical center were incorrect, said Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman. He said the military personnel in Germany had made arrangements for Mr. Obama’s visit and were surprised when it was called off.

The cancellation provided one of the few sour notes in an overseas trip that otherwise seemed to be well orchestrated. It offered an opening on a subject, military affairs, that the McCain campaign believes Mr. Obama is vulnerable on.

If the story behind the story of the canceled troop visit has run its course, one question remains: Why didn’t Mr. Obama leave his aides behind, even the retired general, and make the visit by himself?

“Even him going alone would likely be characterized by some as a political event,” Mr. Gibbs said in an interview on Monday, adding, “He decided not to put the troops in that position.”

President Bush, Senators and Congress go and visit the troops all the time. And it is never a campaign issue at all. It is just going to visit those who have served their country and have been wounded while serving. And Thanking the wounded for their service. Thats all! And Sen. McCain has a right to question and attack Sen. Obama on his ability to be a leader to the troops. Which apparently is lacking.

Campaign slogans

Here is one I like, reminiscent of 'I Like Ike' back in 1952. From McCainiac and Don't give up the Ship here.
An interesting comparison of Obama to Adlai Stevenson here.

There are superficial similarities between these two upstarts from Illinois. Both deliver visionary, sometimes windy speeches; both are witty and appeal to a group of educated liberals whom Stevenson cultivated. (Stevenson called them “his Shakespeare vote,” complaining after his loss to Eisenhower in 1952 that they had failed the final exam.) Both Stevenson and Obama ascended rapidly into the highest party circles with slight resumes, the beneficiaries of fortuitous events.

Pelosi wants to save the planet!

From Politico here:

“I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet,” she says impatiently when questioned. “I will not have this debate trivialized by their excuse for their failed policy.”

“I respect the office that I hold,” she says. “And when you win the election, you win the majority, and what is the power of the speaker? To set the agenda, the power of recognition, and I am not giving the gavel away to anyone.”

Let’s face it, Washington: This speaker is different. She’s the first woman ever to hold the post and a very tough one at that, with a penchant for the mystical.

Stuck in the Moment and can't get out of it!

McCain's Prayer

Prayer: I Was Sustained in Times of Trial"

I was finding that prayer helped. It wasn't a question of asking for superhuman strength or for God to strike the North Vietnamese dead. It was asking for moral and physical courage, for guidance and wisdom to do the right thing. I asked for comfort when I was in pain, and sometimes I received relief. I was sustained in many times of trial.

When the pressure was on, you seemed to go one way or the other. Either it was easier for them to break you the next time, or it was harder. In other words, if you are going to make it, you get tougher as time goes by. Part of it is just a transition from our way of life to that way of life. But you get to hate them so bad that it gives you strength.

From John McCain's NewsWeek Article 5/14/73 How the POWs Fought Back here.

Obama's Prayer

The prayer that Obama left at the Wailing wall was taken out. Even in Israel, they have dishonest people! (OMG-d).

"Lord—Protect my family and me," reads the note published in the Maariv daily. "Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will."

The Rabbi who is in charge of the Western Wall says that publishing his prayer intruded on his relationship with God. I think so. But I wanted to publish his prayer to show he is just like every believer in christ. We are sinners and will do the will of God. God Bless Obama and his family. But I also say God Bless John McCain and his family too! May they both run great campaigns this November.
Update:
It seems that the Obama campaign has released the prayer to the media. To me the Obama prayer makes him look like a common man. But I still wonder if was for show. He did display a campaign banner at the wall.

From Israeli Insider here:

So, Obama called a play straight out of the Farrakhan playbook. The note is stolen and the Jew did it! The Jews, they are always to be blamed for everything. Who violated the sanctity of the note a man wrote to God? The Jews! Thus, Obama distracted from his visit to the Western Wall and appealed to his Muslim audience by being a victim of the Jews. His message to his Muslim audience: he believes as we do concerning the Jews.

Why the song and dance? It was a passion play designed to win votes. Jewish votes. Christian votes. Muslim votes.

McCain's icons

We are the World

There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretneding day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There's no way we can fall
Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one

[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

The Victory Column

The Victory Column in Berlin

A map to the Victory Column is here.

The Victory Column (Siegessäule) was constructed to celebrate the military successes of Prussia over Denmark. In 1938 Hitler moved it from its place in front of the Reichstag to the centre of Tiergarten where it stands today.

The Victory Column stands at 61.5m high and provides excellent views of Berlin from the center of Tiergarten. The statue of the victory goddess Viktoria that stands on top of the Victory Column was created by F Drake and weighs an impressive 35 tonnes.

From Major Garrett's Bourbon Room here:

The Obama advisers dodged and weaved about why Obama’s delivering the speech before what could be an audience of tens of thousands - possibly more.
“The senator wants to speak to the people of Europe and it would be inconsistent to exclude the public.”
In the midst of this tense exchange, an adviser said when the president delivers a policy speech it’s not necessarily the same as delivering a red-meat political speech. That’s not an illogical statement, except for the fact that Obama, of course, isn’t the president.
The use of this example, though, perfectly encapsulates the Obama campaign’s dual approach to this trip. Everything is designed to make Obama look presidential and the Berlin speech is by far the one with the most intense head-of-state choreography behind it.
So when the adviser said it was like a presidential speech, it didn’t sound as if the adviser was saying Obama was the president. Before this exchange, advisers said over and over that Obama will set no policy on this trip and seeks only to build relationships, not confuse world leaders about who leads America. This, it seems, is an important bit of context.
What was being said, however, goes to the heart of the internal campaign instinct to make Obama look like a president as often as possible on this trip — and especially at the massive event/speech in Berlin.

Will the military vote be screwed again?

From GOP USA by Robert Novak here.

Rep. Roy Blunt, the House Republican whip, on July 8 introduced a resolution demanding that the Defense Department better enable U.S. military personnel overseas to vote in the November elections. That act was followed by silence. Democrats normally leap on an opportunity to find fault with the Bush Pentagon. But not a single Democrat joined Blunt as a co-sponsor, and an all-Republican proposal cannot pass in the Democratic-controlled House.

Analysis by the federal Election Assistance Commission, rejecting inflated Defense Department voting claims, estimated overseas and absentee military voting for the 2006 midterm elections at a disgracefully low 5.5 percent. The quality of voting statistics is so poor that there is no way to tell how many of the slightly over 330,000 votes actually were sent in by the absentee military voters and their dependents and how many by civilian Americans living abroad -- 6 million all total.

Will the real Birth Certificate please be released!

I am amazed at our MSM for not covering this issue as the Israeli newspaper the Israeli Insider has! HT to Atlas for keeping this issue alive in the blogsphere. The DaliyKos's image of the Birth Certificate is a fake!

Atlas Shrugs publisher Pamela Geller reports that the expert analyst, who goes by the screen name "Techdude", is "an active member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, American College of Forensic Examiners, The International Society of Forensic Computer Examiners, International Information Systems Forensics Association -- the list goes on. He also a board certified as a forensic computer examiner, a certificated legal investigator, and a licensed private investigator. He has been performing computer-based forensic investigations since 1993 (although back then it did not even have a formal name yet) and he has performed countless investigations since then."

I hope the Obama's World Mystery tour in Israel will reveal the real answers.

Perhaps the outspoken Israeli press corps will be able to do what their fawning American counterparts have failed to do so far. Obama's visit this week to Israel will be an opportunity to begin asking the tough questions -- however unpolitically correct -- about his apparently forged birth certificate and what that means for his citizenship status and Constitutional fitness to be the next leader of the free world.

McCain's a proven leader

Since the Gen. Clark gaff on John McCain's being shot down I've been looking up POW's who have served in Vietnam with McCain. HT from RCP McCain's Mettle by Stuart Koehl at the Daily Standard here. He talks about an article by Jim Warner who served with McCain in the Hanoi Hilton and as a domestic policy advisor to President Ronald Reagan.

McCain is like Churchill] who never held a grudge and was prepared to be gracious and magnanimous toward a defeated foe. When McCain led church services, he prayed for the enemy who had tortured him. I have observed Ronald Reagan in the White House and I have observed McCain in the Hanoi Hilton. I have seen that McCain, like Churchill, like Reagan, has courage, prudence, and magnanimity. That is why he is qualified to be president, even if he hadn't ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down.

Jim Warner's article can be found here at The Herald-Mail.It is interesting at the bottom is a comment from another POW who served about the same time with John McCain here:

I personally know John McCain and Jim Warner. I was with them in Hanoi. Both are true warriors. The article is well stated and accurate. I was one of those men in the nearby rooms who joined in to sing the songs. The guards called it a riot. We called it patriotism. In 5 years 8 months of incarceration, I never received socks, shoes, medical treatment, a bed, a pencil, pen, paper, reading glasses, let alone a Bible or permission to hold a church service. Our captors were brutal. McCain was strong in his resistance. He was a role model for all of us to admire. I'm proud of him. Captain John M McGrath, USN (Ret), POW in North Vietnam with John McCain

Men who know McCain as a POW and can testify that led his fellow service men.

Op-Ed piece the NYT would not print

Ht to Drudge here in its entirety:

In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command in Iraq, he called the situation “hard” but not “hopeless.” Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to 80% to the lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains.

Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there,” he said on January 10, 2007. “In fact, I think it will do the reverse."

Now Senator Obama has been forced to acknowledge that “our troops have performed brilliantly in lowering the level of violence.” But he still denies that any political progress has resulted.

Perhaps he is unaware that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has recently certified that, as one news article put it, “Iraq has met all but three of 18 original benchmarks set by Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress.” Even more heartening has been progress that’s not measured by the benchmarks. More than 90,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis who once fought against the government, have signed up as Sons of Iraq to fight against the terrorists. Nor do they measure Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s new-found willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists in Basra and Sadr City—actions that have done much to dispel suspicions of sectarianism.

The success of the surge has not changed Senator Obama’s determination to pull out all of our combat troops. All that has changed is his rationale. In a New York Times op-ed and a speech this week, he offered his “plan for Iraq” in advance of his first “fact finding” trip to that country in more than three years. It consisted of the same old proposal to pull all of our troops out within 16 months. In 2007 he wanted to withdraw because he thought the war was lost. If we had taken his advice, it would have been. Now he wants to withdraw because he thinks Iraqis no longer need our assistance.

To make this point, he mangles the evidence. He makes it sound as if Prime Minister Maliki has endorsed the Obama timetable, when all he has said is that he would like a plan for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops at some unspecified point in the future.

Senator Obama is also misleading on the Iraqi military's readiness. The Iraqi Army will be equipped and trained by the middle of next year, but this does not, as Senator Obama suggests, mean that they will then be ready to secure their country without a good deal of help. The Iraqi Air Force, for one, still lags behind, and no modern army can operate without air cover. The Iraqis are also still learning how to conduct planning, logistics, command and control, communications, and other complicated functions needed to support frontline troops.

No one favors a permanent U.S. presence, as Senator Obama charges. A partial withdrawal has already occurred with the departure of five “surge” brigades, and more withdrawals can take place as the security situation improves. As we draw down in Iraq, we can beef up our presence on other battlefields, such as Afghanistan, without fear of leaving a failed state behind. I have said that I expect to welcome home most of our troops from Iraq by the end of my first term in office, in 2013.

But I have also said that any draw-downs must be based on a realistic assessment of conditions on the ground, not on an artificial timetable crafted for domestic political reasons. This is the crux of my disagreement with Senator Obama.

Senator Obama has said that he would consult our commanders on the ground and Iraqi leaders, but he did no such thing before releasing his “plan for Iraq.” Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t want to hear what they have to say. During the course of eight visits to Iraq, I have heard many times from our troops what Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of coalition forces in Baghdad, recently said: that leaving based on a timetable would be “very dangerous.”

The danger is that extremists supported by Al Qaeda and Iran could stage a comeback, as they have in the past when we’ve had too few troops in Iraq. Senator Obama seems to have learned nothing from recent history. I find it ironic that he is emulating the worst mistake of the Bush administration by waving the “Mission Accomplished” banner prematurely.

I am also dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it. But if we don’t win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president. Instead I will continue implementing a proven counterinsurgency strategy not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan with the goal of creating stable, secure, self-sustaining democratic allies.

I heard about this on Rush first thing this morning. It is so ironic that Obama gets his op-ed printed no problem. But McCain has to do a re-write to mirror Obamas? The whole point for op-eds are to issue an opposing side to an issue. Not to mirror another opinion.

Troop Funding

Winnie the Pooh Foreign Policy

The Obama Presidency

From Michelle Malkin here.
On a side note what should the McCain Presidency look like?
(Major Kong riding the Bomb!)

Fireworks fly when Pelosi speaks

I really love to hear the "love" this woman has for our President Bush.

"You know, God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject."

Yes, I will name the subject. The control of the Democrats over our freedom of leading our way of life, the way we want to live. If we are allowed to drill for Oil off our shores, we don't depend on foreign nationals to supply us and jerk us around with high oil prices. If we are allowed to send our kids to the schools we want them to go to our kids will be a success for life. If we are able to have less governemt spending, we have bigger bank accounts.If we are able to make decisons on our own, we have a better life then depending on government to do it. If we protect the unborn, life is cherished not hated. If we protect marrage, then we protect the family. And without family, were would we be?

A Right winger Mom's sites

I'm getting into the election mode now, being a lone conservative Republican in a Democratic neighborhood. I found some blogs worth noting here:
-The RightOnline conference
-The Next Right here
-Mom's for McCain here
-Mom's In The Right (Just brand new to the bloggosphere!)
-Let's Get This Right here!

The Right is getting into gear to head up the NetNuts! Giv'em hell!

The latest JibJab

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

A commander I can trust

In wartime, judgment and experience matter. In a time of war, the commander-in-chief doesn't get a learning curve. If I have that privilege, I will bring to the job many years of military and political experience; experience that gave me the judgment necessary to make the right call in Iraq a year and half ago. I supported the surge because I believed it was our only realistic chance to reverse the disaster our previous strategy had caused, and the right thing to do for our country. And although events have proven me right, my position wasn't popular at the time, and I risked my own political ambitions when I took it. When I tell you, I will put our country's interests -- your interests -- before party; before any special interest; before my own interests, every hour of every day I'm in office, you can believe me. Because for my entire adult life, in war and peace, nothing has ever been more important to me than the security and well-being of the country I love. Thank you.

From John McCain's article at RCP here.

Tony Snow RIP

Tony flying to Bagdad
Tony at his post

Bomb Iran

McCain and Obama on Iran's missle test

Here's what McCain said:

"Working with our European and regional allies is the best way to meet the threat posed by Iran, not unilateral concessions that undermine multilateral diplomacy," McCain said.

"Iran's most recent missile tests demonstrate again the dangers it poses to its neighbors and to the wider region, especially Israel," McCain said.

"Ballistic missile testing coupled with Iran's continued refusal to cease its nuclear activities should unite the international community in efforts to counter Iran's dangerous ambitions."

McCain also said the tests shows the United States needs effective missile defense "now and in the future," including the planned missile defense sites in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Here's what Obama said:

Senator Obama said Iran "must suffer threats of economic sanctions with direct diplomacy opening up channels of communication so we avoid provocation, but we give strong incentives for the Iranians to change their behavior."

"We have to have a kind of aggressive diplomacy which unfortunately has been absent over the last several years," Obama said in an interview with CNN.

(snip)

"Part of the problem that we've got right now is that we've been basically farming out the diplomatic activity to the Europeans. We've got to be actively engaged," Obama said.

My take is Obama wants to engage in more sanctions and McCain wants to supply missile defense to our allies. Right now sanctions are not stopping Iran from building and testing their missiles. A determent is needed and investing in a missile defense is necessary.
From Bretbart here.

Don’t “hope” for a better life.

The new McCain ad about the "Summer of Love" is a great contrast been Obama and McCain. I like the last line, 'Don’t “hope” for a better life. Vote for one. McCain.'

I got one too "Don't Hope, Just Vote!" and "Use your brain and Vote MCCain!"

Columbia's resuce and Trade with US

From Micheal Barone's column here:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's rejection of the Colombia free-trade agreement, by changing House rules in a way that may have destroyed the fast track procedure by which the United States has secured free-trade agreements for more than four decades, seems to me to be the one truly shameful act of this Congress. This rejection of an ally, the third largest country in Latin America, a nation that is threatened by authoritarian and terrorist opponents, and has nonetheless succeeded in strengthening human rights and stimulating economic growth, is as disgusting as anything I've seen Congress do. John McCain hailed Colombia's action; Barack Obama, an opponent of the Colombia trade agreement, unblushingly chimed in a bit later. I wonder how he reconciles this with his message on the Colombia trade pact, summed up aptly in the title of a Washington Post editorial, "Drop Dead, Colombia."

With a McCain presidency we will have free trade with our ally Colombia. We have information that FARC is communicating with Hugo Chavez with the capture of the FARC laptop. The Democrats are destroying our country by paralyzing our ability to obtain agreements between allies. They are driven to destroy what we have gained to obtain the presidency. The dems are so sad they will ruin the goodness of the USA to get the power they want.

What Caroline B. Glick thinks about Obama

In the US, the public’s love affair with Senator Barack Obama, who refuses to acknowledge that there is a jihad going on at all and seems to think that the best way to assert US global leadership is to run around the world apologizing about the US’s assertion of its power to anti-American dictators is also deeply troubling. And our willingness to be led by fabulists comes as our enemies behave more and more aggressively.

From FrontPage Magazine interview of Caroline B. Glick here.

Happy Independence day!

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The last paragraph of The Declaration of Independence at the National Archives here.

Che T-Shirt clad rescue

The rescuers came wearing Che Guevara T-shirts and logos declaring them delegates of some obscure humanitarian organization.

They didn't look much like an international relief brigade. And they weren't.

They were Colombian commandos, pulling off Operation Checkmate, an elaborate ruse that would finally liberate the world's most famous hostage and three American defense contractors from the hands of leftist rebels in the jungle.

Without firing a single shot.

"Who are these people? What kind of international commission is this?" former hostage and once-presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt remembered thinking. "Are we clowns in another circus? I didn't want any part of it."

From SacBee here.

Obama's Core

From Hugh Hewitt's article from Townhall.com here:

Here's the core of Obama:

He's hard left.

He wants the marginal rate on total federal taxes, including his social security tax hike, to immediately rise at least 57% on the highest earners. Obama wants to raise taxes even in a weak economy, though this is a recipe not just for recession but worse. Obama also wants to raise taxes on dividend income and to return the death tax to its highs of eight years ago.

Obama has proposed more than a trillion dollars in new spending.

Obama wants to cut and run from Iraq, with withdrawals of crucial forces beginning immediately upon his entry into office. Obama has never met one on one with General Petraeus and has not been to Iraq in more than 900 days. He is indifferent to the incredible progress made by our troops and the Iraqi Defense Forces and the Iraqi government in the last 18 months.

He supports the decision extending habeas rights to Gitmo detainees and he thinks the most liberal member of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is a great model for future Supreme Court appointments.

Obama supports gay marriage, and opposes the California constitutional amendment to restore marriage to the definition overturned by a 4-3 vote of the California Supreme Court in May. He supports abortion on demand, including partial birth abortion.

Obama has the slightest grasp on history, and routinely makes the sort of errors about basic facts that shock knowledgeable observers, like arguing the Kennedy-Khrushchev summit in Vienna was an example of the benefits of one-on-one diplomacy. (i.e. the US of A has 57 states....)

Obama is not a strong friend of Israel. He spent 20 years in a church that was openly hostile to Israel, and he reversed himself on Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel after one day of criticism by Palestinians.

Obama is running a dirty campaign, and the serial assaults on John McCain's service, most visibly by Wesley Clark but by many others closely associated with Obama, is repulsive. These are not hits by independent 527s but by close associates and advisors of Obama.

McCain's fellow supporters against Gen. Clark

At least five Republican senators and retired military officers - four on a conference call arranged by McCain's campaign - cried foul Monday, particularly over Clark's last line.

"I was utterly shocked," Sen. John Warner, R-Va., told the conference call, "... that he would in such a disrespectful way attack one of his fellow career military officers."

"Beyond comprehension ... further erosion of our nation's political discourse," said former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., in a written statement.

"Complete silliness," retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Carl Smith said on the call.

Retired Marine Lt. Col. Orson Swindle said Clark was "denigrating the character and the experience and the integrity and the performance" of McCain.

"A very indecent thing," said retired Air Force Col. Bud Day.

Day's participation on conference call spawned a new round of broadsides as the Democratic National Committee rushed to point out that Day had appeared in the so-called Swift Boat TV ads that cast aspersions during the 2004 election on the medals Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry earned in Vietnam. Committee spokesman Damien LaVera said McCain himself had called the Swift Boat ads "dishonest and dishonorable."

By comparison with these exchanges, the candidates were positively high-minded. Besides Obama's personal remarks disdaining criticism of McCain's military service, the campaign's spokesman, Bill Burton said, "Sen. Obama honors and respects Sen. McCain's service, and of course he rejects yesterday's statement by Gen. Clark."

McCain himself said, "If that's the kind of campaign Sen. Obama and his surrogates and supporters want to engage in, I understand that. But it doesn't reduce the price of gas by one penny. It doesn't achieve our energy independence or make it come any closer. Doesn't make any American stay in their home who's at risk of losing it today. And it certainly doesn't do anything to address the challenges Americans have in keeping their jobs, homes and supporting their families."

Dr. No

"Scoop" McCain

I have found another article on McCain in the JPOST here.

McCain began his speech by praising one of the architects of the America-Israel alliance, Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson. Senator Jackson represented the State of Washington, a western state with few Jews. Throughout his career, and at the peak of his power in the 1970s, Jackson defended the Jewish State not because it was the politic thing to do, but because it was the right thing to do. Jackson also worked hard to save Soviet Jews, another cause without an obvious Washington State constituency - but with a compelling moral rationale.

Senator Jackson understood that Israel was an essential ally in fighting America's greatest threat in the 1970s, Soviet Communism. Jackson was the kind of bighearted visionary who could champion Soviet Jewry and Israel in such a way that he never appeared to be using the plight of Soviet Jews or Israel's needs as mere tools against Soviet Russia. Rather, he showed how the universal moral cause and America's strategic needs converged and reinforced each other.

"Scoop" McCain is following that approach in fighting the Islamist scourge. He appreciates the way Israeli and American needs harmonize - and a righteous American-Israeli friendship consecrates and cements the strategic American-Israeli alliance. "My friends," McCain proclaimed, "as the people of Israel know better than most, the safety of free people can never be taken for granted. And in a world full of dangers, Israel and the United States must always stand together."

Amen.

Gen. Wesley Clark on McCain

From International Herald Tribune here;

When the interviewer, Bob Schieffer, noted to Clark that McCain had been shot down over Hanoi, Clark replied, "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president."

When Schieffer then asked what executive responsibility Obama had held - the Democrat's résumé includes work as a community organizer in Chicago and eight years in the Illinois legislature - Clark said that Obama was running on the strength of his character and good judgment.

Brian Rogers, of the McCain campaign, was quick to hit back in a release: "If Barack Obama's campaign wants to question John McCain's military service, that's their right. But let's please drop the pretense that Barack Obama stands for a new type of politics. The reality is, he's proving to be a typical politician who is willing to say anything to get elected, including allowing his campaign surrogates to demean and attack John McCain's military service record."

Let us not attack McCain's military service. It is what Obama lacks that makes him not qualified for the Commander in Chief position. Obama has flip-flopped on Issues such as Guns, Campaign funding, and Jerusalem, etc. He has distanced himself from former supporters such as the Rev. Wright. Obama has not shown the character and good judgment at all. McCain had served his country and was a POW for five and half years! He believes in God, Country and his fellow solders. And he waited his turn to come home by refusing to be let go until others ahead of him went first.

From an article in the Jerusalem Post on McCain's character here:

Character matters. In a president-and particularly in a commander-in-chief, that kind of character arguably counts more than any particular political orientation or policy. From character flows leadership, as it is character which dictates morally grounded direction and engenders public trust.

Character is critical to determining how a leader will respond to crisis. Will he reach deep within himself and in the traditions that shaped him and find the courage and grace to inspire strength and greatness? Will soldiers trust the wisdom and integrity of his decision when he orders them to war? Will he truly understand the terrible toll of war, as well as the price of appeasement? Will he make decisions based on considerations greater than cheap political expediency?

Now, ask yourself: which candidate has repeatedly demonstrated that kind of character?

I don't think its Obama, do you?

Phil Gramm on McCain

From WSJ here:

He hadn't meant to get back into politics, but when Mr. McCain came calling, he couldn't say no. Mr. Gramm believes the country desperately needs Mr. McCain in the White House for three reasons: First, he will win the war against terrorism; second, he will get runaway federal spending under control; and third, he will steer America away from the course of trade protectionism that the Obama Democrats favor.

"I don't say John McCain will be the best president for all time, but he is the best man to be president for these times. He doesn't have the communications skills of Ronald Reagan, but he's tough, and that's what we need now."

McCain can win

From John Fund at WSJ here:

The McCain campaign can't expect to win the election on the strength of their man's personal appeal or character. He is most likely to win by engaging Mr. Obama on the issues, and forcing debates over competing visions of foreign policy, and the size and scope of government. Tackling concerns about energy and food costs are key.

The Obama Birth Certificate

I heard about this on the Kevin James show on KRLA. The article is from the israelinsider and has Obama's Photoshop version and is compared to an authentic version of another Hawaiian born citizen. Israelinsider said that the official seal is not embossed on the certificate. Is is Not official? Is Obama not a "Natural Born" citizen? The article is here.
Update:
Another Israelinsider has a more detailed article on the Photoshop version here.

More analysis at townhall.com here.

McCain will win hands down

Mr. McCain will be helped if he uses Mr. Obama's actions to paint his opponent as someone driven by an all-powerful instinct to look out only for himself. In a contest over who is willing to put principle above personal ambition and self-interest, John McCain, a war hero and a former POW, wins hands down. That may not be the most important issue to voters in electing a president, but it's something they will rightly take into account.

From WSJ Karl Rove's article here.

Second Amendment lives...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, for the first time in the nation's history, that individual Americans have the right to own guns for personal use, and struck down a strict gun control law in the nation's capital.

The landmark 5-4 ruling marked the first time in nearly 70 years that the high court has addressed whether the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, rather than a right tied to service in a state militia.

Sen. McCain chimes in here:

This ruling does not mark the end of our struggle against those who seek to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens. We must always remain vigilant in defense of our freedoms. But today, the Supreme Court ended forever the specious argument that the Second Amendment did not confer an individual right to keep and bear arms.

If Obama wins our taxes go way up!

From WSJ here:

Suppose your household consists of you and your spouse, each earning wages of $150,000 per year. Currently, you are each subject to the payroll tax up to $102,000 of wages, so together you are taxed on $204,000. Under the Obama plan, you'd be taxed again on another $50,000 of wages.

At the current payroll tax rate of 12.4% – 6.2% from wage-earners and 6.2% from their employers – your household would be looking at a tax hike of $6,200 per year. You probably didn't consider yourself rich before, and you certainly won't after paying that tax bill.

All the Bush tax cuts go away. And us the little guy get poorer. Such a shame. I hope all you voting for Obama realize you'll be poorer too. Just wanted to say that. And please don't whine if Obama wins.

Kim Jong-IL endorses Obama

The report said the campaign shows that the United States has undergone a fundamental change and pointed out the obvious: Hillary is a woman, Obama is black and McCain is old.

Obama has said that he may be willing to sit down face-to-face with leaders like North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il if that's what it takes to resolve the continuing nuclear tension on the Korean peninsula.

McCain said last month that it is of vital interest to the United States to end nuclear weapons programs by countries like North Korea, calling Kim a "dictator."

McCain said a warning by President John F. Kennedy "resonates more today than ever before. North Korea pursues a nuclear weapons program to the point where, today, the dictator Kim Jong-Il has tested a nuclear weapon and almost certainly possesses several more nuclear warheads."

Ahmadinejad and Hitler--both tyrants

Obama denies the entire premise of McCain's challenge. In his eyes Ahmadinejad may be deplorable, but he's no Hitler. Obama has pointed out that the president is not the real power in Iran, and that in fact Ahmadinejad may no longer even be in office after elections scheduled for next summer. He knows that as a young Democrat he cannot afford to look weak on national security: a week after he first declared, during a debate, that he would negotiate with any world leader without preconditions, he emphasized that he would order strikes against known terrorist targets inside the borders of ally Pakistan (as the United States does now, with mixed results). McCain—and before him, Hillary Clinton—has mocked Obama's stance on Iran as naive. But the critique didn't work for Hillary, and Obama is betting it won't in the general election, either: rather than trying to look tougher than McCain, Obama is going to argue that the familiar tropes—every dictator is Hitler, every negotiation is Munich—do not apply to the challenges facing the next president.

Article from Newsweek here.

I think that Ahmadinejad is just like Hitler. He is a religious fanatic believing the 12th Iman is down some well waiting to come out and reign the world. Hitler killed 6 million Jews. Ahmadienjad wants to eliminate Israel. I don't see the difference between the two leaders. They are both tyrants and want(ed) to kill the Jews. Hitler created a false cabinet on paper for Chamberland. It never met as a cabinet at all. With Ahmadinejad, how can we trust an agreement with his government? Something on paper that will not be binding? If he has nukes, he will use them to destroy our ally Israel. No doubt about it.

Bush never lied to us

(HT From the LAT) I'm amazed that the lies that the liberal left have been saying (about Bush's lies on Iraq and the intelligence of the WMD's) were never lies to begin with. I kept saying to any liberal (that said Bush Lied), "What was the Lie?" There was never an statement of a Bush lie. But they tried to make us believe there was a lie. But none of them could quote it.

This may sound like ancient history, but it matters. After Sept. 11, President Bush did not want to risk allowing Hussein, who had twice invaded neighboring nations, murdered more than 1 million Iraqis and stood in violation of 16 U.N. Security Council resolutions, to remain in possession of what he believed were stocks of chemical and biological warheads and a nuclear weapons program. By glossing over this history, the Democrats' lies-led-to-war narrative provides false comfort in a world of significant dangers.

Happy Father's Day!

From McCain's web site.
I stole this picture from the campaign site but it shows the pride of serving one's country as one's father and grandfather had. It is an honor to serve. And very honorable when your father serves. (or when your Husband does!)

I want to wish all Son's, Husband's, Father's and Grandfather's a Happy Father's Day! And to My Dad a Happy Father's day too. He's in Hilo right now with my Mom enjoying the tropical paradise.

Happy Flag Day!

Read here the history of the day.

Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 - was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.

Tornado hits Boy Scout Ranch

Billy Bob and the PRis

HT to JAWA here.

Cybernuts to crack anti-Obama sites

A crack team of cybernauts will form a rapid response internet “war room” to track and respond aggressively to online rumours that Barack Obama is unpatriotic and a Muslim.

As he gears up for his general election fight against John McCain, Mr Obama and his chief advisers are aware of the danger of such rumours, amid polling data showing that a significant number of Americans believe he is a Muslim or are suspicious about his background. Such doubts were a factor in his poor showing with white, blue-collar voters during his primary battle with Hillary Clinton.

In recent days Mr Obama has — unprompted — brought up the subject of the chain e-mails and blog sites making the false claims. Some state that he is a radical Muslim who was sworn in as a US senator on the Koran; others that he sympathises with Palestinian radicals. Many focus on his middle name of Hussein, which was taken from his Kenyan father.

HT from Drudge.

Also on LGF the Obama website has security problems, leaving directories on his website unprotected.

Don't crack me you Obama Cybernuts! I got the First Amendment behind me you Marxist Pigs! (Good luck in beating me down!) HEH!

Bolton's Op-Ed in LAT

It is an article of faith for Obama, and many others on the left in the U.S. and abroad, that it is the United States that is mostly responsible for the world's ills. In 1984, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick labeled people with these views the "San Francisco Democrats," after the city where Walter Mondale was nominated for president.

Most famously, Kirkpatrick forever seared the San Francisco Democrats by saying that "they always blame America first" for the world's problems. In so doing, she turned the name of the pre-World War II isolationist America First movement into a stigma the Democratic Party has never shaken.

This is yet another piece of history that Obama has ignored or never learned. There may be one more piece of history worthy of attention: In 1984, Mondale went down to one of the worst electoral defeats in American political history. We will now see whether Obama follows that path as well.

I had to post this because it is so true. America is the greatest country in the world. And it pains me to hear such talk and I question why would anyone trash the USA?

HT LGF here.

The Longest Day colorized version

Iron Maiden - The Longest Day

The Longest Day

Here is the trailer to "The Longest Day."

TV Ad - Safe

On the Dark side of the force?

George Lucas has created legendary film heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, but the US director says that in real life, his hero is Barack Obama.

Lucas was in Japan on Wednesday to promote his latest film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," as Obama clinched the Democratic Party's nomination for president.

"We have a hero in the making back in the United States today because we have a new candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama," Lucas said when asked who his childhood heroes were.

Obama, "for all of us that have dreams and hope, is a hero," Lucas said.

Lucas is the creator of the blockbuster "Star Wars" series, as well as the adventures of the swashbuckling archaeologist Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford.

Obama on Tuesday sealed the Democratic contest after a marathon battle with Hillary Clinton, becoming the first black White House candidate nominated by a major party.

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