First television ads from Ron Paul

Ron Paul has launched the first television ads of his 2008 campaign in New Hampshire.

Because...

• he's got cash to burn?
  
• he wants to appear relevant?
  
• he likes seeing himself on television?
  
• his (incredibly organized) supporters voted for television ads in their internal polling?

Pick one. Doesn't really matter. Because...he's a kook.



Yes, I know. You Paulaholics are organized and passionate (see the comments to my previous post on the subject). That's a wonderful thing. I just wish you could be organized and passionate about a candidate who has a chance of winning.

Boo

Remember the 76 border crossings by the MDR-TB-infected Mexican national?

And remember how the Department of Homeland Security said that he used an alias? Well, he didn't.

The Washington Times last week reported that Amado Isidro Armendariz Amaya made the border crossings from August 2006 to June 2007. Homeland Security (DHS) officials had said the Mexican businessman was traveling under an alias.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was warned by Mexican health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on April 16 that the frequent traveler was infected with multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis.

But according to internal DHS e-mails obtained by The Times, Mr. Armendariz did not use a fake name but rather used variations of his own name. For example, he customarily went by his middle name "Isidro," rather than his formal birth name, "Amado."

The e-mails show nine variations of his name in a system that is capable of searching two dozen law-enforcement databases.

In this week's hearing, the Senate committee learned that Customs and Border Protection officials had the name of "Isidro Armendariz Amaya" and the correct birth date in April.

I think I'm understanding better what the term Homeland Security means. It means cover up and/or protect government employees at all costs.

Oh, it also means "protect the travel industry".

Using only three of the four names would create tens of thousands of "false-positive" hits creating a logjam at the border crossings, Mr. Rosenzweig said.

"You know, we've had many, many complaints that the lines on the southern border are already too long. As the type of information we get is less and less accurate, and we widen the field to make an examination based upon the name check, we get more and more people who will be overwhelming our secondary inspection capabilities, extending the line beyond belief and inconveniencing lots and lots of people who aren't matches for any of those," Mr. Rosenzweig said.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The Department of Homeland Security — making sure you're not inconvenienced. Unless you happen to get infected with MDR-TB. That would be inconvenient.

Kay Bailey Hutchison, RINO Extraordinaire

Earning the designation RINO with distinction, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison voted FOR amnesty this past Wednesday. Fortunately, the cloture vote failed.

The DREAM Act failed in the Senate on Wednesday, dashing the latest and best chance Congress had to pass immigration legislation.

The bill would have paved a path to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants if they attended college or entered the military.

...

The bill would have granted conditional legal status to illegal immigrants younger than 30 who completed two years of higher education or served in the military. To be considered for legal status, they would have needed to have lived in the U.S. for five years and have entered before age 16.

After completing the educational or military requirement, they could have applied for citizenship. The legislation would have affected more than 1 million young people, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Senator Hutchison, what in the world were you thinking? You represent Texans, remember? We Texas are sick of illegal aliens cheating their way into our country. And we don't need you helping them out. How about you and your fellow RINOs voting to build the border fence quicker? That would be refreshing.

It's a good thing that you're not running for re-election. As for your gubernatorial aspirations, part of me hopes you'll pursue that so I can vote against you. Then again, part of me hopes you'll just go away.

An open letter to Ric Williamson, Chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission

Dear Ric:

Oink oink oink oink. Oink oinky oink oink. Oink oink Public Officials oink oink. Oinker oinker oink, oink oink. Oink oink oink. Oink oink oink. Oinkity oink oink oink. Oink oink, who think, oink oink. Oink oink oink — oinky oinky — oink oink.

Oinker oink. Oink oink talk radio callers oink oink. Oink oink oinkity, oink oink. Oink oink oink oink. Oink oink oink. Oink oinker oinker oink. Oink oink oink! Oink oinkity oinkity oinkity. Oink oink oink oink. Oink are pigs oink.

Oinkity oinkity oinkity oink. Oinker oink oink, oinker oinker oink, oink oink oinker. Oink oink oinky oinky. Oinker oink oink oink. Oinky oink oink disgust me oink. Oink.

Oink oink,

Mr. Light Bulb

76 border crossings by a Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis infected Mexican national led the big parade...

With a hundred and ten red-faced Homeland Security officials close behind.

A Mexican national infected with a highly contagious form of tuberculosis crossed the U.S. border 76 times and took multiple domestic flights in the past year, according to Customs and Border Protection interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Times.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency was warned by health officials on April 16 that the frequent traveler was infected, but it took Homeland Security officials more than six weeks to issue a May 31 alert to warn its own border inspectors, according to Homeland Security sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Homeland Security took a further week to tell its own Transportation Security Agency.
[emphasis mine]

For the record, here's a description of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. And, from this article, we find out that it can cost anywhere from $200,000 to $1.2 million to treat an MDR-TB-infected individual.

But wait, there's more:

Attempts to identify the subject failed "because information provided to Mexican health officials is not accurate" when an alias is used, Mr. Maier said in an e-mail. "Efforts to obtain solid data ... were achieved on May 31."

Translation: the MDR-TB-infected Mexican national lied about his identity. And that threw those DHS guys for a loop! (More detail here.)

But wait, there's still more:

Other documents reveal that the Mexican government had known for more than five years of the condition of Mr. Armendariz, a businessman from Juarez, a city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. The officials who spoke on that condition of anonymity said, "Information sharing is still at an all-time low, if not nonexistent, in issues such as these."
[emphasis mine]

And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, here's the stinger:

Homeland Security employees were told in June that they would be fired if the situation with Mr. Armendariz went public. At the same time, DHS officials were preparing to testify before Congress regarding the Speaker case, which had been front-page news across the nation.
[emphasis mine]

Got the full picture now? Let's break it down:

• An MDR-TB-infected Mexican national
  
• crosses into our nation
  
• 76 times,
  
• sometimes using an alias,
  
• putting untold thousands of Americans at risk for contracting MDR-TB themselves.
  
• The cost of treating an MDR-TB-infected individual can range from $200,000 to $1.2 million
  
• and last up to 18 months.
  
• The government of Mexico knew of this health risk
  
• for five years
  
• and didn't tell us.
  
• Our own government knew of this health risk
  
• since June (possibly before)
  
• and ordered DHS employees not to tell anyone about it
  
• probably because they were embarrassed at the ridiculously pathetic job they did in preventing Andrew Speaker from re-entering the country.

I think that about sums it up. Oh, one last thing; Michael Chertoff, please submit your resignation immediately.

Islamic "peace" on display in Karachi

The religion of peace shows its true face to those who dare support freedom and democracy.

Two bombs exploded Thursday night near a truck carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on her triumphant return to Pakistan after eight years in exile, killing at least 108 people and wounding 150, an official said. Party workers and police said Bhutto was unhurt.

Associated Press photographer B.K. Bangash at the scene said he saw between 50 and 60 dead or badly injured people. He said some of the bodies were ripped apart.

An initial small explosion was followed by a huge blast just feet from the front of the truck carrying Bhutto during a procession through Karachi. The blast shattered windows in her vehicle and set a police escort vehicle on fire.

Why Bhutto?

Authorities had urged her to use a helicopter to reduce the risk of attack. But Bhutto, hated by radical Islamists because she supports the U.S.-led war on terrorism, brushed off the concerns.

"I am not scared. I am thinking of my mission," she had told reporters on the plane. "This is a movement for democracy because we are under threat from extremists and militants."

She was squeezed between other party officials at the front of the truck rather than in the bulletproof cubicle toward the rear. Armed guards escorted the truck.

Bhutto recently courted controversy in Pakistan by saying that she would cooperate with the American military in targeting Osama bin Laden, and authorities warned that Islamic militants could launch suicide attacks and roadside bombings against her.
[emphasis mine]

We are at war. Our enemy is known. Our enemy wants to destroy us. Will we surrender, as the Defeatocrats want? Or will we win?

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but Rick "39%" Perry has endorsed Rudy

Rudy may have thought that getting Rick "39%" Perry's endorsement was a good thing.

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday won the endorsement of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, despite their differences on abortion rights.

Perry, an abortion opponent, said his biggest concern had been Giuliani's support for abortion rights but that he was satisfied Giuliani would appoint judges who view the issue conservatively.

"The one (issue) that I wanted to hear him give me an answer and look me right in my eyes was that issue of who can I expect, what type of individual can I expect on the Supreme Court," Perry said at a news conference with Giuliani.

"He clearly said ... you can look for people like Scalia and Roberts and Alito. Let me tell you, I can live with that," Perry said, referring to conservative Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Indeed, it's a good thing that Rudy will commit to appoint constructionist judges. And it's good that Perry likes that in Rudy.

But where has this conservatism in Perry been for the past couple of years? Does Rudy really want the endorsement of the man who signed into the law the largest tax increase in Texas history? Does Rudy really want the endorsement of a man who tried to use executive order (a power the governor of Texas does not posses) to force girls to receive a vaccine of dubious safety? More importantly though, there is the possibility that this could mean a cabinet position or, horrifically, the Vice Presidency. Message to Rudy: Rick Perry is a snake. He comes from good roots, but they have been corrupted. He is a sell-out to Mexico. But, yes, he does have a terrific head of hair.


By the way, does it concern the Giuliani campaign that Mr. Perry only received 39% of the vote in his last election?

"Remember how we assumed you were guilty, suspended your team, and fired your coach? Yeah, about that, we're sorry. Are we good now?"

The understatement of the year award goes to Duke University President Richard Brodhead who finally apologized yesterday for his reprehensible actions.

Brodhead, speaking at the university's law school, said he regretted Duke's "failure to reach out" in a "time of extraordinary peril" after a woman accused three players of raping her at a March 2006 party thrown by the team.

"Given the complexities of this case, getting the communication right would never have been easy," Brodhead said. "But the fact is that we did not get it right, causing the families to feel abandoned when they were most in need of support. This was a mistake. I take responsibility for it and I apologize for it."

"Given the complexities of this case..." How complex it is to understand that, in the United States, people are presumed innocent? Not very. The article finishes with this paragraph:

Brodhead said the university is planning a national conference of lawyers, educators and student affairs leaders to discuss how schools should deal with students facing serious criminal charges.

Isn't that a crack up. Just hang up a big sign that says "Don't do what we did" and be done with it. No word yet from the Gang of 88 on their apology ETA.

I have all sorts of offsets for sale

WARNING: Heavy sarcasm ahead.

While pursuing the great Power Line, I came across this post that lead me to this article. Please read them both. Peter Schweizer is a wonderful author, so you won't be let down.

In this article, Schweizer has a fantastic proposal. He argues that carbon offsets are nothing more than a method of purchasing absolution of guilt. From the article:

Say you are wealthy and fly on a Gulfstream G400 jet. The plane will emit 1 ton of CO2 per passenger per hour. Flying commercial on a Boeing 777 will emit only .06 tons per passenger per hour. Wealthy environmentalists feel guilt about this, so they buy a carbon offset to supposedly reduce carbon emissions by an equal amount. The "offset" comes in the form of paying for solar panels or planting trees that "offset" the damage you have done. Buy an offset and — voilà — you are "carbon neutral."

Sounds like absolution to me. And there's already a market for this stuff. Schweizer continues:

Offsets are a brilliant idea: They allow people to carry on with their current behavior, buy their way out of their obligations, and along the way declare their moral cleanliness. As The Seattle Times put it, offsets are basically an "eraser."

We all have areas of our life that we feel guilty about. So why limit offsets simply to the carbon we produce? Why not expand offsets to erase our other sins? After all, why should environmentalists have all the fun?

Here are some suggestions:

• The Adultery Offset.

STOP RIGHT THERE! I read that line and instantly beheld a method of funding two college educations. To wit...

I am hereby announcing ADULTERY OFFSETS for sale to the highest bidder. You may purchase these offsets in daily, weekly, or monthly quantities. I have not committed adultery and will not as long as I am married to Mrs. Light Bulb. Therefore I have an eleven year supply (and building) of offsets. Serious purchasers only may contact me at thelightbulbblog at gmail dot com.

End of heavy sarcasm.

I may have to re-think this sarcasm thing.

Ahmadinenutjob at the Columbia Zoo

The circus came to town...and visited the zoo. But you really couldn't tell the difference.

Columbia President Lee Bollinger opened the program with a blistering introduction in which he lambasted Ahmadinejad for calling for the annihilation of Israel, denying the Holocaust and supporting the execution of children, and told the leader of Iran that he resembled "a petty and cruel dictator."

Bollinger levied repeated criticisms against Ahmadinejad, calling on him to answer a series of challenges about his leadership, blasting his views about the "myth" of the Holocaust as being "absurd," and saying that he doubted he "will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions."

"You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated," Bollinger told Ahmadinejad about the leader's Holocaust denial. "Will you cease this outrage?"

After sitting through Bollinger's rebuke, Ahmadinejad rose to applause, and after a religious invocation, opened his remarks by objecting to the scolding, saying it was insulting to be spoken about that way.

"At the outset, I want to complain a bit about the person who read this political statement made against me," Ahmadinejad said. "In Iran, we don't think it's necessary to come in before the speech has already begun with a series of complaints ... It was an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here."

He said Bollinger's speech was full of "insults and claims that were incorrect, regretfully," and accused Bollinger of offering "unfriendly treatment" under the influence of the U.S. press and politicians.

He did not address Bollinger's accusations directly, instead launching into a long religious discussion laced with quotes from the Koran before turning to criticism of the Bush administration and past American governments, from warrantless wiretapping to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Just absolutely ridiculous.

This man is the leader of a nation that sponsors terrorism. His nation aids the enemy in Iraq. His government contributes to the death of Americans every day.

Why wasn't he arrested once he left the United Nations?

Why won't the amnesty monster just die already?!?

It's a really bad horror flick, but unfortunately it's not a film...it's reality.

Determined amnesty advocates who lost the fight for “comprehensive” immigration reform three months ago are now attempting to grant illegal aliens “amnesty on the installment plan.” Illegal aliens who entered the U.S. before age 16 and who have lived here illegally for five consecutive years will be the first to qualify under a bill the Senate is expected to vote on this week. Senator Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) will offer his Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act as an amendment to the defense-authorization bill. Later in the month, senators will attempt to extend amnesty to agricultural workers.

I thought that we, the people, made our thoughts known on this subject a few months ago. We were pretty clear, weren't we? Yep, I thought so.

Some questions. Has anything changed since then? Have the illegal aliens already in our country decided to go back to their country of origin and re-enter the United States legally? Have the taxpayer costs for illegal alien medical treatment suddenly decreased? Has the need for bilingual education evaporated overnight? Have drunk-driving illegal aliens vanished from our roads? No, I didn't think so.

Unfortunately, since neither of them can be depended upon to do the right thing as conservatives but instead must be hand-held on every issue of importance like the irresponsible political toddlers that they are, I cannot tell you how the senators from the state of Texas, Hutchison and Cornyn, will vote on this bill. But I know how they should vote, and I have told them so. Have you told them how you expect them to vote? If not, and you live in Texas, click here and here.

Ladies and gentlemen, Fred "the Snake" Hill has left the building.

Oh, happy day.

North Texas Rep. Fred Hill said Tuesday he won't seek re-election to the state Legislature, despite his bid to become Speaker of the House.

I am so grateful to say that I was there. I was there the day that Fred Hill showed himself to be the enemy of every tax payer in the state of Texas. I was in the room when he disrespected all of us who traveled from Harris county, Fort Bend county, Galveston county, and Montgomery county to speak to our elected representatives about how appraisal creep was taxing us out of our homes. His actions that day would, in part, enable me to be able to vote for Dan Patrick as my state senator.

Anyway, he's leaving. Here's a couple of his "thoughts" listed on the Dallas Morning News editorial blog:

• Spent a long time in public life -- 10 terms in the Legislature, two terms on Richardson school board -- and now feels a "need to move on."
  
  
• Sold his paper-products business in July after 35 years of ownership.
  
  
• Will be looking either for a new business or public-service challenge.
  
  
• Does not feel drawn to lobbying, but "you can't say never."
  
  
• Could get involved in two issues close to him: 1) transit goals for North Texas and 2) fight against limiting the property tax revenue that local governments depend on.
  
  
• Does not feel like a major commitment right away

And more "thoughts":

• Republicans on the state and national levels "need to do a better job of putting partisan concerns aside and concentrating on governance."
  
  
• Partisanship is hurting the GOP.
  
  
• An example is the call to curb local property taxes, which makes for great campaign rhetoric but can end up stranging local government's ability to deliver services.
  
  
• Local governments get no support from Austin but have to shoulder the burden of mandates passed by the Legislature. The best government is local government, not central government. "Local elected officials know what's best for their communities."
  
  
• One regret is not passing legislation letting North Texas have local elections on expanding rail service. The region is becoming too congested and opponents "have to look past the tax issue and focus on the benefits."
  
  
• The expanded Dallas-area House delegation (from one to six counties, beginning in 2005) has worked well for local interests. Passage of the water bill this year is an example.

How stupid. "Partisanship is hurting the GOP." No, Fred, you and your ilk are hurting the GOP by behaving like RINOs instead of conservatives. And you leaving is a giant step in the right direction.

I hope you have a wonderful retirement with your children and grandchildren. (And I truly mean that.) Don't let the door hit your butt on the way out. (And I truly mean that, too.)

Why is Barry Manilow afraid of a little girl?

Ridiculous.

"I had made a request that I be interviewed by (co-hosts) Joy (Behar), Barbara (Walters) or Whoopi (Goldberg), but not Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out," he said in a statement on his Web site (http://www.manilow.com).

"It's really too bad because I've always been a big supporter of the show [The View], but I cannot compromise my beliefs."

In an earlier statement to the news Web site TMZ.com, which broke the news, Manilow said Hasselbeck was "dangerous" and "offensive."

And for those of you who don't know (and I hope that's a lot of you), Elisabeth is the (more) conservative host of the show.

Typical liberalism. They can't defend their beliefs, so they certainly don't want any questions about them. I wonder (not really, but for the sake of argument) what would happen if someone said that Whoopi was "offensive" (which she is).

Algore could fart and win an award in Hollywood...

...and they wouldn't even make him use any carbon credits.

I'm watching the Emmy Awards this evening. And for the category of "Best Alternative Program" or something like that, who did the television academy choose to honor? None other than Algore, because he and another guy started MySpace. (I think. I can't remember the specific award, and I really don't care)

Could these people be any more transparent? Oh, and the applause went on for quite a while, of course. I guess they were trying to bring to life their warped version of reality, if only for 30 seconds on an awards show. I have now had my quota of the loony left for the weekend.

Both Texas senators blew it last night

Both senators from the state of Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, blew it last night with their votes to allow Mexican long-haul trucks to operate on our roads. Fortunately, the majority of senators got it right.

The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to block funding for a Bush administration test program to let Mexican long-haul trucks operate in the United States under 1994's North American Free Trade Agreement.

One day after a fiery truck accident killed dozens in Mexico, the Senate approved an amendment to a transportation spending bill that would cut off funding for the test, which the administration authorized last week to run for one year.

Worse yet, twenty-one other Republican senators joined them. When will they learn?

Never forget, we are at war

And in war, there are only two possible outcomes: we win or we lose.

I vote for us winning.

Governor 39% shows why he's Governor 39%

Rick "39%" Perry spoke in Mexico City this past Tuesday. Talk about not getting it.

Leading a large delegation of Texas executives trying to drum up business in Mexico, Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday criticized the U.S. Congress for failing to pass an immigration bill that would legalize millions of workers.

"I don't think this is that difficult an issue if Congress would have the maturity to sit down and really discuss it and cut out all the mean rhetoric," Perry said during a break in the third day of meetings with Mexican officials and business executives.

"We need those individuals to continue to grow our economy," he said of Texas' undocumented workers, most of whom hail from Mexico. "The vast, vast majority of those individuals want to come and work and take care of their families."

Perry made the remarks in Mexico City, where immigration is nearly as big a hot-button issue as it is in Washington. He spoke at a press conference shortly before meeting with President Felipe Calderon who, like past Mexican presidents, has lobbied for changes in U.S. immigration law that would include a guest-worker program.

Perry's statements seemed to put him at odds with many in the Republican Party's base who regarded the immigration overhaul bill that collapsed in the Senate in June as nothing more than an amnesty for illegal immigrants.

You know you're on the wrong side of the debate when the Houston Chronicle mentions your conservative opponents, even if it is in the fifth paragraph.

But wait, there's more! Now remember, we live in Texas. When people in this state commit heinous crimes, we execute them. As Ron White has so eloquently stated, "other states are trying to abolish the death penalty...mine's putting in an express lane."

Consider the case of Kenneth Eugene Foster. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996. He drove the getaway car for a botched robbery that resulted in the murder of Michael LaHood. He participated in the needless extinguishing of a human life. What did Rick 39% Perry have to say about it?

"Foster sought to have his death sentence commuted to a life sentence arguing that he did not shoot the victim, but merely drove the car ... that the actual killer was riding (in)," Perry's office said in a statement.

"After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendations from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Perry was quoted as saying.

If you have the time, please read the entire article. Let me know if, in the eight paragraphs that form the article, you read a mention of Foster's earlier arrest and probation for shooting two men in 1994.

Worst of all, it might be that Rick 39% Perry commuted the sentence in response to pressure...from the European Union. (see: picante made in New York City)

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?