If you're bored in Houston, it's your own fault.

Houston, my home town, is today's featured article at Wikipedia.


I tell many people who are unfamiliar with Houston this sentence: "if you're bored in Houston, it's your own fault." And it's true. Our housing costs are comparatively low in Houston, so we have more disposable income than in other cities. Here are some places that surplus income can be diverted to:

• the restaurant scene has really stepped up to the plate (sorry, punny) with over 4,000 restaurants featuring of a wide array of cuisines
• the sports scene (such as it is) covers all three major sports (football, baseball, and basketball) with tax-payer-built stadiums
• the museum district featuring the Grand Opera, the Symphony, and Ballet, plus numerous theater stages outside downtown
• Johnson Space Center between Houston and Galveston
• Galveston and its beaches (such as they are) only an hour south of town
• parks throughout and wilderness (camping and hiking) only an hour or two outside of town

Of course, there's a downside to everything. In Houston, there are three big ones: hurricanes, bugs and humidity. For hurricanes, we have satellites that tell us when and where they form and when they enter the Gulf of Mexico. And we all have cars, so we can use our brains and leave the city when needed. For bugs, we have bug spray. And for the humidity, we have air conditioning.

It's not perfect, but it's a great place to live.

Ron Paul is this generation's Woodrow Wilson School of Government flunkee with a Texas Twang Twist

Amazingly there are still a formidable number of people vying for the Presidential nomination on both sides of the aisle. I say amazingly, because I thought a number of them would have been weeded out by now. Indeed, some have been: Tommy Thompson, Jim Gilmore, Tom Vilsack. But there are still eight Defeat-o-crats and eight Republicans in the race, not including Fred Thompson.

Anyway, at Playwriter Girl's Buh-Bye Chemo Pool Party Extravaganza a couple of weeks ago and after the "in an alternate reality" question, some folks and I got into a discussion of the current Republican candidates. And the name Ron Paul was mentioned, which was fortuitous timing for me. You see, earlier that day I had begun thinking about some of the Tier 2 candidates and how to sum them up. I came up with this summation for Representative Paul; he is this generation's Woodrow Wilson School of Government flunkee with a Texas Twang Twist.

Why do I call him this? Like Wilson, he would never have sent American troops into Iraq. (Wilson was forced into joining World War I, but kept us out of it for far too long.) He is an isolationist. Check out this snippet from his web site on "War and Foreign Policy":

Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft of our young men and women.

We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing America and bring the troops home. No war should ever be fought without a declaration of war voted upon by the Congress, as required by the Constitution.

Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations.

Indeed, we should not abdicate our sovereignty to the United Nations, ever. But President Bush's policy of fighting the terrorists over there so that they don't attack us here is the correct one. "No-win police action"? Really. How about 79.6% voter turnout in a new democracy? For me, this issue alone disqualifies Mr. Paul. Additionally, he's the only 2008 Republican Presidential Candidate to have voted against the 2002 Iraq War Resolution.

But wait, there's more. Mr. Paul doesn't get anything done in Congress, because he doesn't work with anyone. Again like Wilson, he's an elitist. Oh, but he has worked enough with fellow representatives in order to make $400 million worth of earmark requests - check out this PDF. Some people describe him as a conservative. Yet his American Conservative Union rating for 2006 (and 2005) is 76. I'm not joking. Check out that link for yourself. But what really seals the deal for me is his 1988 Presidential candidacy. On the Libertarian ticket. Game over.

As I told a party attendee a few weeks ago, when choosing a presidential candidate the only question I ask myself is, "who would the terrorists fear?" For me right now, the only answer is Rudy Giuliani.

Katrina Second Anniversary

I'm hesitant to even mention it, but there will undoubtedly be all sorts of lies told about it, so...

Here's my post on the second anniversary of many citizens of New Orleans not having the common sense to leave their city before a hurricane hit and the governments of the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans deciding to not follow their previously agreed upon disaster plans in order to minimize loss of life and property. Does that sound harsh? Perhaps. Can anyone point out an error in that sentence? Let me know if you can, seriously.

We're bound to hear lots of wailing on the news tonight. For some balance, at Reason Online, Daniel Rothschild is doing a three-part series on "The Myths of Hurricane Katrina". The first one is "a lack of federal money". Should be good.

"In an alternate reality..."

Thus began a question posed to me by Playwriter Girl.

Before I continue, I haven't posted in quite a while, so let me get you up to date. Playwriter Girl has finished chemotherapy (complete with Pool Party) and is now in the radiation stage of her cancer treatment. Furthermore, her first PET scan was negative for disease. God is good.

Now to the subject of this post's title. While at the aforementioned Pool Party, Playwriter Girl began a question to me using this phrase. It seemed ominous at first, but then she continued.

In an alternate reality, where you are a Defeat-o-crat, which candidate would you like to see get the Defeat-o-crat nomination? [my paraphrase]

An alternate reality, indeed.

Well, it really comes down to just three names, doesn't it? Hillary, Barry, and John. But the Breck Girl is fading. I think people are sick of the two Americas hypocrisy. So I could scratch him off the short list. So that would leave Mrs. Bill Clinton and the Audacious Barry Obama.

It was at this point that I asked Playwriter Girl if I would be an intellectually honest Defeat-o-crat or a standard say-anything-and-do-anything-to-win Defeat-o-crat. This makes a difference, you see. If I'm the standard Defeat-o-crat, then it's Mrs. Clinton all the way, personal integrity and lack of accomplishment be damned. It's all about getting her in office. Whereas, if I'm an intellectually honest Defeat-o-crat, Barry is it. He is something new and brings a fresh perspective to the Executive Office, not to mention the fact that he's an incredible socialist. And, being intellectually honest, you'd have to think that getting the first black American into the White House would lend some momentum to the effort. Furthermore, continuing in the intellectual honesty vein, Mrs. Clinton's negatives are just to high. Sure she could win the nomination, but the general election?

And that's where we left it. On the Defeat-o-crat side. Other Pool Party attendees and I continued on the Republican side. More on that later.

Here we go again - Senator Craig regrets his guilty plea

Another day, another Republican politician caught in immorality.

"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions," he [Idaho Senator Larry Craig] said. "I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."

Well, Senator Criag, you should never have had to handle the matter yourself, because you should never have pursued this behaviour in the first place. Your term ends in 2008. Please don't run for re-election.

I ask again, where are the men of character in the Republican party?

UPDATE - Here's the police report on the incident.

Hey Alberto, please take Johnny Sutton with you!

Alberto Gonzales has resigned.

I'm of two minds about this. First, it's sad that a seemingly good man can be forced to resign due to the unceasing din of lies manufactured by the opposition party. This whole mess about the fired District Attorneys has been completely manufactured by the Defeat-o-crats. District Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President - 28 U.S.C. § 541(c). End of story. This is yet another notch in the Defeat-o-crats' belt of criticising away their opponents (Scooter Libby, Don Rumsfeld). Meanwhile, William Jefferson, who was caught with cold, hard cash (litterally), still served in Congress.

And yet, Gonzales has been an absolute disappointment. As our nation's chief law enforcement officer, his performance in stopping the flood of illegal immigration across our southern border has been, to be quite charitable, pathetic. While he and the President went around firing District Attorneys, why didn't they fire Johnny Sutton?

Perhaps he just couldn't take the constant critcism. Hey, Alberto, it's called "Washington, D.C." and they're called "Defeat-o-crats". It's what they do. It's all they know how to do. Deal with it.

Anyway, good bye Alberto. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. And seriously, please take Johnny Sutton with you. Please.

The two words they dare not write

Read this article. Can you guess the two words that the drive-by media just can't seem to write?

The 28-year-old Peruvian national charged in the executions of three college students in a Newark schoolyard is to appear in court this morning for a hearing on unrelated assault and child-rape charges.

Jose Lachira Carranza was named in a 31-count indictment in July that accused him of sexually assaulting a little girl over a four-year period, beginning when the child was 5. He was charged in 2006 with assaulting four men with a chair and a broken bottle in a brawl at a West Orange restaurant.

Poor Jose. Or—as the amnesty-or-bust crowd would call him—poor, hard-working Jose. Committing the murders that Americans just can't seem to commit. Sexually assaulting the five-year-olds that Americans just can't seem to assault. Visiting our country from his native Peru only to find himself behind bars. Where is La Raza? Where is LULAC? Why won't they help this hard-working man return to providing for his family?

Is it perhaps because of those two nasty little words?

More of the usual from Mrs. Clinton

More breathtaking gall*, that is. She doesn't consider herself a liberal.

Early on in the CNN/YouTube-sponsored debate, a California resident posed these questions on his video: "Mrs. Clinton, how would you define the word ‘liberal’? And would you use this word to describe yourself?”

Hillary answered: "You know, it is a word that originally meant that you were for freedom, that you were for the freedom to achieve, that you were willing to stand against big power and on behalf of the individual.

"Unfortunately, in the last 30, 40 years, it has been turned up on its head and it's been made to seem as though it is a word that describes big government, totally contrary to what its meaning was in the 19th and early 20th century.

"I prefer the word ‘progressive,’ which has a real American meaning, going back to the progressive era at the beginning of the 20th century.

"I consider myself a modern progressive, someone who believes strongly in individual rights and freedoms, who believes that we are better as a society when we're working together and when we find ways to help those who may not have all the advantages in life get the tools they need to lead a more productive life for themselves and their family.

Progressive. As if there were anything she was for that would result in progress. I have just one word for this: HillaryCare. Just think "HillaryCare" after almost each phrase that Her Vileness says in the paragraphs above.

Indeed, breathtaking gall.

* a wonderful description used by Peggy Noonan in The Case Against Hillary Clinton.

Compean and Ramos are HEROES

I'm late to this subject, I know. But I can no longer be silent. First, please read this.

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Compean/Ramos case. One of my senators, John Cornyn, sits on the Judiciary committee. The final witness at the hearing was the excreable Johnny Sutton, District Attorney for the San Antonio district.

Senator Cornyn should have been ready to skewer the excreable Sutton. Edd Hendee, co-host of the best morning talk show in Texas on "radio-active" AM 700 KSEV, went up to Washington, D.C. yesterday in order to help Senator Cornyn and his staff get prepared for today's hearing. Furthermore, others have written extensively about the excreable Sutton's lies, including this extensive list of 15 questions written by Jerome Corsi.

He should have been ready. But he wasn't; all he had was softballs. Instead, it was the liberal Diane Feinstein who led the charge against the excreable Sutton. Furthermore, she has committed to ask President Bush to commute the ridiculous sentences given the two border patrol agents.

Are there no more men of principle in the Republican party?

South Dakota, a civilized place

You can read the article, but the headline says all you need to know.

South Dakota carries out 1st execution in 60 years

Mr. Light Bulb, why are you so obsessed with execution?

Well, I'm truly not obsessed with executions. I'm just comforted to see appropriate and civilized penalty carried out by society.

Civilized? What can be civilized about an execution?

Everything. The fact that a jury of peers heard testimony and/or examined evidence, returned a verdict of guilty, and prescribed a punishment of execution hails to the very model of civilization. In South Dakota, civilization told Mr. Page that his actions were so heinous that they warranted his execution. (And if you read the article, you'll see that his actions were indeed heinous.) Furthermore, civilization told the family of Mr. Page's victim that their loved one was a valued member of society by showing Mr. Page the penalty of greatest magnitude. Civilization in South Dakota said, "because you destroyed the most precious commodity we have, you will pay with the most precious commodity you have."

Well done, South Dakota. The Light Bulb family will definitely come and visit you one summer.

Perspective

Some perspective on the War on Terror.

• Number of US casualties in the Battle of Iwo Jima - 6,825
  
• Number of US casualties on Omaha Beach on D-Day - 2,400
  
• Number of US casualties in Iraq this year - 525
  
• Number of automobile deaths in the US in 2005 - 43,443
  

Lady Bird Johnson - 1912-2007

All men marry up, by definition. And there was no better example than that of LBJ marrying Lady Bird.

Lady Bird was always a picture of grace, so much so that she made even her husband look good when she stood beside him. This woman was no push over. When LBJ was in the Senate, this brainy woman managed their business affairs here in Texas and did quite well at it.

Her life long efforts to beautify our nation, true and honest environmentalism, will bear fruit long into the future. The world has lost a wonderful woman and a beautiful Texan.

Run, Cindy, Run!!!

Looks like Bug Eyes might have some competition in 2008.

Cindy Sheehan bid farewell to her former "peace camp" near President Bush's ranch and began a nearly two-week trek Tuesday toward Washington, D.C., with her sights set on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Sheehan, a Californian, officially announced that she intends to run as an independent against Pelosi in 2008 if the San Francisco congresswoman doesn't move to impeach Bush by July 23, the day she expects to reach Washington.

Of course, there's that July 23 caveat. But I'm not too worried.

In fact, I'm looking forward to it. This is California's Fifth congressional district—San Francisco. All sorts of human debris live and vote there. Raging Cindy just might have a chance. What fun.

Shame on you, Senator Vitter

Disgusting.

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, whose telephone number was disclosed by the so-called "D.C. Madam" accused of running a prostitution ring, says he is sorry for a "serious sin" and that he has already made peace with his wife.

"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," Vitter said Monday in a printed statement. "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there—with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

...

A Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, the 46-year-old Vitter was elected to his current office in 2004, becoming the first Republican from Louisiana elected to the Senate since Reconstruction. He represented Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in the House from 1999 to 2004.

In the House, Vitter succeeded GOP Rep. Robert Livingston, who was in line to replace Newt Gingrich as speaker until Livingston admitted to extramarital affairs and quit Congress. Livingston had been a critic of President Clinton, calling on him to resign over his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Vitter and his wife, Wendy, live in Metairie, La., with their four children.

In 2000, Wendy Vitter told Newhouse News Service she could not be as forgiving as Livingston's wife or Hillary Clinton.

Apparently, they don't teach fidelity at Harvard.

Now, before you start with "let him that is without sin...", I certainly do appreciate his seeking forgiveness from his family and wife and from God (hopefully in reverse order). And yes, he is a human. And humans sin. And I, Mr. Light Bulb, am a human. And I sin.

But come on. A Harvard-educated man, a former Representative, and now a Senator cheating on his wife? And, on top of all that, a Republican. Didn't he know that as a Republican he has to behave much better than any democrat would think of? Or maybe he wanted to . . . test drive a newer model. Maybe he and his wife didn't get along. Maybe she pushed him to it.

But what about this?

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.
— Proverbs 18:22

Again, I'm not perfect, so let me apply this to my life. Is Mrs. Light Bulb a beauty queen? Is she runway model quality? Is she a smokin' hot mama? Why yes, she is, as a matter of fact. And do you want to know why? It's not because of her outward appearances, stunning though they may be. It's because she is a gift designed specifically for me by the one true living God, the maker of the heavens and the earth, the creator of all things. Yes, that God. If I ever cheated on her, besides crumbling her heart to pieces and breaking the solemn vow I made to her and to Him in front of a whole lot of people, I would be telling God that his gift to me was not quite what I was looking for, that I didn't trust his taste, that I didn't particularly care for his choice.

Well, that's not gonna happen.

Shame needs to be brought back in vogue.

Freedom

The Light Bulb family is on vacation all week visiting, among others, my dear brother and sister-in-law in Missouri. Well, we couldn't visit the Show Me state with grade-school children and not see the Gateway Arch, also known by its official name as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. As we explained to the little Light Bulbs, the arch represents our nation's expansion westward. It's the symbolic door through which we as a nation walked on our journey west.


Eero Saarinen's design, a stainless steel catenary arch covering reinforced concrete, represents (at least to me) the strength our growing nation would seek and develop by being a freedom-preserving democracy. Wind will not fell it, nor will rust corrode it. The same is true for our democracy. There is little chance that outside elements could destroy the United States. But destruction from within is an unfortunate possibility.

I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe... Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger.
— Daniel Webster

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race...

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court issued opinions in a few cases. One of the cases was Parents Involved vs. Seattle School District (05-908). Here's the decision (careful, it's 185 pages long).

Simply put (very simply), the court said that race should not be an issue when assigning children to one school or another. That seems logical, doesn't it. In fact, if I remember my grade school American history correctly, a case titled Brown vs. Board of Education said pretty much the same thing. But the weird thing is that the Parents suit was filed (if I understand the situation correctly) because race was NOT being used as a criteria in assigning students to schools.

Whatever. The court did the right thing. Chief Justice Roberts wrote part of the majority opinion. Roberts is an intellectual giant, like Scalia. If you saw any of his confirmation proceedings, you know this. His opening statement to the Senate Judiciary committee was a thing of beauty. In the Parents decision, he brandishes his intellect deftly.

Behold his summary paragraph:

Before Brown, schoolchildren were told where they could and could not go to school based on the color of their skin. The school districts in these cases have not carried the heavy burden of demonstrating that we should allow this once again—even for very different reasons. For schools that never segregated on the basis of race, such as Seattle, or that have removed the vestiges of past segregation, such as Jefferson County, the way "to achieve a system of determining admission to the public schools on a nonracial bases," ... is to stop assigning students on a racial basis. The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race. [emphasis mine]

What genius there is in common sense.

UPDATE - Excellent commentary, as usual, is available from the brainiacs at the Power Line.

Fairness Doctrine preview

You can bet that the lefties in the Senate will now give some serious consideration to reviving yet another awful monster, the Fairness Doctrine. After their defeat yesterday, largely won by conservative talk radio, all the lefties can see is a communication vehicle that they can't control. And uncontrolled communication is anathema to liberalism. A great commenter, Samuel Adams, brought to my attention the fact that the House overwhelmingly voted down the Fairness Doctrine, 309-115. But, we have to remember our enemy. They can be single-mindedly relentless.

Therefore, as a public service to you, dear reader, I will begin, from time to time, making Fairness Doctrine posts in order for us all to appreciate the freedoms we hold dear. These posts will seek to convey some the wisdom that liberalism can provide to different points of view. Through these posts I hope to show you the depths of understanding that the liberal mind possesses on the various issues of our day. It is my fervent wish that all of us, in the altruistic spirit of the Fairness Doctrine, gain insight into profound liberal thought.

The following is a post in accordance with the FAIRNESS DOCTRINE. It is an attempt to provide balance to Mr. Light Bulb's conservative point of view. It is only an attempt.

Bush lied, people died.

This has been a post in accordance with the FAIRNESS DOCTRINE. It was an attempt to provide balance to Mr. Light Bulb's conservative point of view. It was only an attempt.

VICTORY!!! The amnesty monster is DEAD!

Today is a day of victory for national sovereignty.

Today is a day of victory for legal immigration.

And today is a day of victory for the rule of law.

The awful monster called the Amnesty Bill is dead.

The Senate drove a stake Thursday through President Bush's plan to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants, likely postponing major action on immigration until after the 2008 elections.

The monster didn't even get a majority of votes (motion to invoke cloture). It died 46-53. I'm grateful to say that both of my senators (Cornyn and Hutchison) voted to kill the monster. But Teddy Kennedy couldn't leave the issue alone. He issued this threat.

"Year after year, we've had the broken borders," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "Year after year, we've seen the exploitation of workers."

After the vote, he said: "It is now clear that we are not going to complete our work on immigration reform. That is enormously disappointing for Congress and for the country." Kennedy, a chief proponent of the bill, said, "we will be back. This issue is not going away." [emphasis mine]

As always, Mary Jo Kopechne remains unavailable for comment.

Oh no he didn't!

Oh yes he did.

You know, I've heard all the rhetoric -- you've heard it, too -- about how this is amnesty. Amnesty means that you've got to pay a price for having been here illegally, and this bill does that. [emphasis mine]

And here's the video.

The disgusting, venomous, and putrid monster that is the Amnesty Bill lives still

Like the villan that keeps coming back to life in the third reel of a bad horror flick, it just won't die.

The Senate voted Tuesday to jump-start a stalled immigration measure to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants. President Bush said the bill offered a "historic opportunity for Congress to act," and appeared optimistic about its passage by week's end.

The pivotal test-vote was 64-35 to revive the divisive legislation. It still faces formidable obstacles in the Senate, including bitter opposition by GOP conservatives and attempts by some waverers in both parties to revise its key elements.

Here's the roll call. How did your senator vote?

"Tear down this wall!"

Twenty years ago today...

In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind--too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.

And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.

Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

One man, sure in his convictions, standing up to the enemy.

William Jefferson FINALLY gets indicted

Well, he's a democrat. They get to live their lives by lower standards. Had he been a Republican, he would only have needed to fart at the wrong time to get an indictment like this.

Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money-laundering in a long- running bribery investigation into business deals he tried to broker in Africa.

The indictment handed up in federal court in Alexandria., Va., Monday is 94 pages long and lists 16 alleged violations of federal law that could keep Jefferson in prison for up to 235 years. He is charged with racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money-laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

But why did it take two years?

Almost two years ago, in August 2005, investigators raided Jefferson's home in Louisiana and found $90,000 in cash stuffed into a box in his freezer.

At least there seems to be plenty of evidence.

Court records indicate that Jefferson was videotape[d] taking a $100,000 cash bribe from an FBI informant. Most of that money later turned up in a freezer in Jefferson's home.

and this

Brett Pfeffer, a former congressional aide, admitted soliciting bribes on Jefferson's behalf and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Another Jefferson associate, Louisville, Ky., telecommunications executive Vernon Jackson, pleaded guilty to paying between $400,000 and $1 million in bribes to Jefferson in exchange for his assistance securing business deals in Nigeria and other African nations. Jackson was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Both Pfeffer and Jackson agreed to cooperate in the case against Jefferson in exchanges for their pleas.

Poor Bug Eyes will find it tough to keep her "most ethical" label now.

RNC losing donations over amnesty bill

Against the President's wishes, people who usually contribute to the Republican National Committee seems to not want to.

"Every donor in 50 states we reached has been angry, especially in the last month and a half, and for 99 percent of them immigration is the No. 1 issue," a fired phone-bank employee told the Washington Times.

I guess the RNC got the "un-patriotic" list to call.


Fantastic picture and hat tip to World Net Daily.

It is time to let him go

The effortlessly brilliant Peggy Noonan has hit the nail on the head.

For almost three years, arguably longer, conservative Bush supporters have felt like sufferers of battered wife syndrome. You don't like endless gushing spending, the kind that assumes a high and unstoppable affluence will always exist, and the tax receipts will always flow in? Too bad! You don't like expanding governmental authority and power? Too bad. You think the war was wrong or is wrong? Too bad.

But on immigration it has changed from "Too bad" to "You're bad."

The president has taken to suggesting that opponents of his immigration bill are unpatriotic--they "don't want to do what's right for America." His ally Sen. Lindsey Graham has said, "We're gonna tell the bigots to shut up." On Fox last weekend he vowed to "push back." Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff suggested opponents would prefer illegal immigrants be killed; Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said those who oppose the bill want "mass deportation." Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said those who oppose the bill are "anti-immigrant" and suggested they suffer from "rage" and "national chauvinism."

I love our president. He was absolutely the right man (I believe, God's appointed man) for the right time for our nation. No one can argue that Algore would have performed nearly to the degree that W did after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

But, for some inexplicable reason, on the issue of amnesty for illegal immigrants, honest people can no longer disagree. On this issue it's his way or you must be a fear monger.

President Bush sounded like he hoped to sever ties with the remaining 30 percent who like him when he went after critics in his party this week over opposition to his latest immigration plan.

"If you want to scare the American people, what you say is the bill's an amnesty bill," Bush said during a stop in Glynco, Ga. "That's empty political rhetoric, trying to frighten our citizens."

It was his harshest public backhand yet to the conservative bloggers, commentators, politicians and CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, all gassing about how the bill amounts to amnesty.

It is time to let him go. He never was a true conservative. Let him hoist his lack of conservativeness on his own petard.

2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season Starts Today!

The 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season starts today! Do you have a plan? Here is the City of Houston's plan. Here is Harris County's Homeland Security & Emergency Management web site.
But the most important question: will you follow your plan?