John Kerry Swift Boats himself

Yet another post that writes itself. John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, had this to say at a campaign rally yesterday:

You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.

See the video here. And now he's trying to say that he didn't say it back when he said it.

Typically pathetic.

They call it the "slapdown" at their house

Just keeps gettin' better and better. Neil Cavuto asked Vice President Cheney what he thought of his wife's performance on CNN a few days ago.

CAVUTO: Your wife, Mr. Vice President, created a little bit of a stir in an appearance on a rival news network last week, taking exception to the way that network portrayed the economy, the government, that things are going to hell in a hand basket. I’m sort of paraphrasing here. Actually, she was much more to the point that I’m being. What did you think of that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I thought it was great. We refer to it around the house as the “slapdown.” And she was very tough, but she was very accurate and very aggressive.

Watch for yourself at Michelle Malkin's Hot Air.

Watch Lynne Cheney neuter Wolf Blitzer

Oh, you gotta see this. Wolf Blitzer thinks he can out-wit Lynne Cheney. But, as usual, he's unarmed.

Hat tip to the Power Line

Hey, Rick. Where's my $2,000?

Remember Governor Perry's television ad promising a $2,000 property tax cut? We here in Houston knew it wasn't coming. Well, the folks up in Dallas are waking up to the truth. And Governor Perry, who has a great head of hair, starts tap dancing.

Across the state, angry and confused homeowners have been calling their local tax collectors, asking what happened to the tax cut they were supposed to get, officials say. And Perry's opponents, citing his claim in a now-controversial TV ad that taxpayers would eventually receive "a $2,000 tax cut," are piling it on.

Rick, FYI, making promises you can't deliver would not be called a good campaign tactic. Just so you know.

The best response I've seen to Michael J. Fox

Just can't beat it.

Background here and here.

Hat tip to Right Wing News.

What if we had a truly objective media?

I check Google News every day to get a survey of what the drive-bys are saying. Today I came across this headline: "Bush has decided to cut and run from 'staying the course'." Amazing. They don't even try to hide it anymore. The drive-bys just can't stand Republicans and Conservatism.

And it got me to wondering, what if we had a truly objective media in our country? Seriously. What if, when the Democrats mentioned "culture of corruption", a reporter were to ask, "you mean Senator Reid's unreported land flip?" What if, when someone mentioned "tax cuts for the rich", a reporter were to ask, "you mean because the rich pay greater than 50% of all taxes and naturally they'll benefit the most?"

Just wondering.

Byron Calame channels Emily Litella

Mr. Light Bulb, who is Byron Calame?

He's the public editor for the New York Times. He "responds to complaints and comments from the public and monitors the paper's journalistic practices."

Fine. Who is Emily Litella?

Sometimes I feel so old. Emily Litella was a character played by Gilda Radner during the beginning years of Saturday Night Live. Ms. Litella would opine about something she heard incorrectly, such as "Endangered Feces" (instead of Endangered Species). After the hosting news anchor would interrupt her and point out her error, Ms. Litella would deliver her classic line, "never mind."

And that's exactly what the New York Times has said, through Mr. Calame, about the damage it has inflicted to our national security by exposing the SWIFT terrorist money tracking program. See the in-depth analysis from Michelle Malkin and the Power Line brainiacs.

Imagine, God forbid, "Speaker Pelosi"

I posted a few days ago about the nightmarish scenario of Nancy Pelosi being seated as Speaker of the House and then, by horrifying circumstances, becoming President of the United States.

Sure, that's awful. But of more immediate awfulness is what she'd do as Speaker of the House. Via Red State, read this list of bills and commitee chairs over which she might preside.

Disgusting.

Don't you wish we had a roaring economy?

Because if we had a roaring economy,

• the stock market would be at record levels
  
• unemployment would be low
  
• housing starts would be rising
  
• inflation would be in check
  
• our nation would have a fantastic Gross Domestic Product and great productivity especially when compared to other countries

Wait a minute . . . oh, never mind.

When is $535,729,345 not enough?

Answer: When you are the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District School Board. And the governor of your state signed a special session bill earlier in the summer allowing you to raise your tax rate up to 4 cents without voter approval. And you just can't seem to find $10,000,000 worth of savings in over half a billion dollars of spending. You can watch the whole discussion here if you'd like, or (my recommendation) you can read fellow Lone Star Times contributor Ree-C Murphey's excellent summary.

In completely unrelated news that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with runaway school district spending, the Berry Center, Cy-Fair ISD's new $80 million state-of-the-art stadium, arena, conference center, and theater facility, will present Cinderella on November 17 through December 10. Tickets are $10.50 for adults and $9.50 for children and seniors.

YOU MUST READ THIS REPORT

You must read this report. It is titled A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border. It is written by Rep. Michael McCaul from the 10th district of Texas. Rep. McCaul chairs the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations. Rep. McCaul is a former prosecutor. As such, Rep. McCaul has not written a light-hearted tale of adventure, but a shocking and well-documented review of reality.

From the introduction:

Based on a review of the data, interviews conducted and other information collected, Subcommittee staff finds that:

1. Drug trafficking organizations and human smuggling networks are proliferating and strengthening their control of key corridors along our Nation's Southwest border.
   
   
2. The Mexican drug cartels wield substantial control over the U.S.-Mexican border. Law enforcement on the border agree that very little crosses the respective cartel territories, or "plazas," along the Southwest border without cartel knowledge, approval, and financial remuneration.
   
   
3. These criminal organizations and networks are highly sophisticated and organized, operating with military style weapons and technology, utilizing counter surveillance techniques and acting aggressively against both law enforcement and competitors.
   
   
4. Drug trafficking organizations, human smuggling networks and U.S.-based gangs are increasingly coordinating with one another to achieve their objectives.
   
   
5. Federal, State and local law enforcement report new and ever-increasing levels of ruthlessness and violence associated with these criminal organizations, which are increasingly spilling across the border into the United States and moving into local communities.
   
   
6. Each year hundreds of illegal aliens from countries known to harbor terrorists or promote terrorism are routinely encountered and apprehended attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.
   
   
7. The existing resources of the U.S. Border Patrol and local law enforcement must continue to be enhanced to counter the cartels and the criminal networks they leverage to circumvent law enforcement.

[emphasis mine]

There is a picture on page eight of the report of a train heading north through Mexico. The train is teaming with human debris hitching a ride north to the border. MAKE SURE YOU SEE THIS PICTURE.

From pages eleven and twelve:

To protect and expand their criminal operations, Mexican drug cartels maintain highly developed intelligence networks on both sides of the border and have private armies to carry out enforcement measures. For example, the Gulf Cartel leader Cardenas employs a group of former elite military soldiers know as "Los Zetas." The Zetas are unique among drug enforcer gangs in that they operate as "a private army under the orders of Cardenas' Gulf Cartel, the first time a drug lord has had his own paramilitary." The Zetas have been instrumental in the Gulf Cartel's domination of the drug trade in Nuevo Laredo, and have fought to maintain the cartel's influence in that city following the arrest of Cardenas. The Zetas' activities are not limited to defending the Gulf Cartel's terrain in northern Mexico. The paramilitary force is also believed to control trafficking routes along the eastern half of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Zetas are believed to be a serious threat to public safety on both sides of the Southwest border. They are well-financed and well-equipped and have demonstrated a willingness to shoot, torture, and kill law enforcement officers, or rival cartel and gang members on both sides of the border. Federal law enforcement officials deem the Zetas among the most dangerous criminal enterprises in the Americas.

[...]

The cartels' method of torture and killing are particularly brutal. On September 6, 2006, masked gunmen entered a nightclub in the Michoacan, fired guns in the air and rolled five severed human heads onto the dance floor. The gunmen left a sign among the severed heads that read:

"The family doesn't kill for money. It doesn't kill women. It doesn't kill innocent people, only those who deserve to die. Know that this is divine justice."

According to Federal law enforcement officials, this hideous act was a revenge killing between warring gangs. Decapitations are becoming quite common in many areas in Mexico where cartels and gangs battle for control over lucrative smuggling corridors. Heads are publicly displayed for the purpose of intimidation.

[emphasis mine]

You must read this report. When you finish it, you must send it to your family members and tell them to read it.

Imagine, God forbid, "President Pelosi"

I've been away on business travel and vacation, so my posting has been light recently. Doing some catch-up surfing this evening, I came across this post at Wizbang Bomb Squad. It should frighten all of us to the core.

However, if the Democrats were to gain majority status as a result of the November elections, that doomsday scenario would become even more of a nightmare because the new Speaker of the U.S. House would be none other than Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from California. She would thus become the forty-fourth President of the United States and the most powerful person on the planet.

Let me repeat that very slowly: If the Democrats regain majority status in the U.S. House, Nancy Pelosi would be in line to become president of the United States should tragedy befall the president and vice president.

Can you even imagine the bug-eyed Pelosi a mere two or three heartbeats from the Oval Office?

Just the thought of a Pelosi presidency should cause all voters--regardless of party loyalty--to think twice, or more, before voting for any Democrat!

Go read the whole thing, and look at the bug-eyed photo. Frightening indeed.

American airplanes rule!

Or, more accurately, American Aerospace Engineering Rules! A great story from C-Net news about 747 construction at the largest building in the world, Boeing's assembly facility in Everett, Washington. A lot of industry watchers said Boeing was in trouble with the new Airbus A380. But that plane's troubles have yielded a wonderful opportunity for Boeing and the continued supremacy of American aerospace engineering.

Plus, I like planes.

Simple solution to the Foley issue

The messages Rep. Foley sent are disgusting and inexcusable. Period. His resignation is wholly appropriate.

Of course, the Democrats will use this for all it's worth. We'll be hearing about the Foley issue from now until Election Day, all day long. But I think there's a way for the political argument to be quickly nullified—have Rep. Foley become a Democrat. After all, when Democrats do things that are far worse—sex with a male page, sex with a campaign staffer, sex with an intern—they are re-elected, pardoned, or given a pep rally.

UPDATE - The moonbats are already at work trying to change the record.