We are drinking from wells we did not dig

My pastor used this phrase this morning to describe our veterans. (He had heard it Friday night at a Veteran's Day event.) It accurately describes the times in which we live. We are blessed to live in a free nation today because so many American Veterans have sacrificed their time, their treasure, and their lives for this purpose.

Nowhere in history can you find a nation that (in the comparatively short span of a little over two hundred years) secures and provides freedom for all its citizens, has been blessed with an incredible level of prosperity, and assists other countries in pursuing both of these.

What a blessing to live in the United States of America, made possible in large part by American Veterans.

If you can read, thank your teacher.
If you can read in English, thank a veteran.

UPDATE - Google, for the first time, has honored America's Veterans.

Mrs. Clinton is no Iron Lady

The effortlessly brilliant Peggy Noonan has compared her vileness, Mrs. Clinton, to the real Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, and found the former lacking.

In fact, she wasn't so much a woman as a lady. I remember a gentleman who worked with her speaking of her allure, how she'd relax after a late-night meeting and you'd walk by and catch just the faintest whiff of perfume, smoke and scotch. She worked hard and was tough. One always imagined her lightly smacking some incompetent on the head with her purse, for she carried a purse, as a lady would. She is still tough. A Reagan aide told me that after she was incapacitated by a stroke she flew to Reagan's funeral in Washington, went through the ceremony, flew with Mrs. Reagan to California for the burial, and never once on the plane removed her heels. That is tough.

The point is the big ones, the real ones, the Thatchers and Indira Gandhis and Golda Meirs and Angela Merkels, never play the boo-hoo game. They are what they are, but they don't use what they are. They don't hold up their sex as a feint: Why, he's not criticizing me, he's criticizing all women! Let us rise and fight the sexist cur.

Ms. Noonan goes on the write about the reaction we've seen to Mrs. Clinton's whining and her change of tactics in playing the "can't hit a girl" card. And she captures Lady Thatcher beautifully. I recommend a read.

BORDER - a Chris Burgard film

If you live in Houston, Sugarland, or Katy, you really need to go see the film BORDER. It will be in Katy on Wednesday, November 14, and in Sugarland and northwest Houston on Thursday, November 15.

I have seen it. The film will open your eyes as to what really happens on our southern border with Mexico. You will see and hear from eyewitnesses about the Minutemen, Coyotes, and FBI agents investigating the film makers. You'll see infrared footage of a mule train (human mules, that is) carrying millions of dollars worth of illegal drugs into our country. And you'll wonder how many OTMs have worked their way into our country.

Chris Burgard was told that he would never get this film made. He proved Hollywood wrong. Of course, there's no way Hollywood will help him out now. But you can. Even if you don't live in Houston, you can buy the DVD.

Vaccine experts are confused and dismayed? Really?

Sometimes it seems like the world is going crazy.

AIDS vaccine researchers are worried about the future of their field after learning an experimental HIV vaccine not only does not work, but just might make recipients more susceptible to infection with the AIDS virus.

They are worried about their volunteers and the future of AIDS vaccines in general. And they are worried because they cannot understand how a vaccine would make a person more vulnerable.

Really? They can't understand why their vaccine doesn't work? Let me break it down. It's called a virus. We cannot cure viruses. We don't even have a cure for the virus that causes the common cold. We simply let it run its course (and take more vitamin C). And HIV is a whole lot more complex than the common cold virus. How could these people possibly think that they can come up with a virus in only twenty years of trying.

Don't get me wrong, I do have compassion for the sick. And it would be phenomenal for a virus to be discovered. And our country's pharmaceutical industry offers the best hope of that happening. But we're talking about a behaviourally-spread disease here. The best way to cure the disease is to not get it, and the best way to not get the disease is to not engage in behaviour that leads to it.

Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudy

Yes, it's true.

"It is my pleasure to announce my support for America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, a proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans," Robertson said during a news conference with Giuliani in Washington.

...

"Rudy Giuliani took a city that was in decline and considered ungovernable and reduced its violent crime, revitalized its core, dramatically lowered its taxes, cut through a welter of bureaucratic regulations, and did so in the spirit of bipartisanship which is so urgently needed in Washington today," Robertson said.

Mr. Robertson understands what's at stake here. Being pro-life (among many other things) is useless if there's not a freedom-preserving nation in which to be pro-life. I hope other evangelicals will follow suit.

A confession and a list

Here's a confession, dear reader.

Back in April, the Light Bulb household got TiVo. (That's not the confession.) It is both wonderful and awful at the same time. Wonderful because it lets you search and digitally record television shows via an intuitive interface based on your own preferences. Awful because it enables you to record lots of television to watch at some point in the future, potentially filling up any available free time you might have.

Now this technology has allowed the Light Bulb family to do a much better job of recording our favorite programs when we're not around. For Mrs. Light Bulb, one of these programs is (sigh) One Life to Live. Shortly after TiVo arrived at the Light Bulb house, I was asked to set up a "Season Pass" for One Life to Live. This is a feature that enables you to record any and every episode of a certain program whenever it appears. Therefore, an episode of One Life to Live gets recorded by the TiVo almost every weekday for our later viewing pleasure, usually that evening. Notice I said "our". Yes, dear readers, I have become hooked. On a soap opera.

Perhaps it's the morbid curiosity of seeing characters go through situations that could never possibly happen in real life that draws me in. Whatever it is, I'm not proud of it. Nevertheless, there are high points, and here is one of them. Along the lines of Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendency Lists, I have compiled a list (sure to grow) which I hope you will enjoy. To wit...

Lines I Have Heard Characters Say on the Soap Opera One Life to Live Which I Would Truly Never, Ever Expect to Hear from Any of My Friends or Family in Real Life, EVER

1. Back when my dad was on death row...
   
   
2. Mom, did you send dad back to jail, again?
   
   
3. There's only room for one selfish jerk in this relationship, baby, and that's me.
   
   
4. How many broken marriages to the same man do you need to have before you realize the two of you don't work?

Thank you. That is all.

God Bless Governor Matt Blunt of Missouri

I don't know if he's a Defeat-ocrat or a Republican, but Gov. Matt Blunt is doing the right thing on immigration, so I like him.

Minor traffic violations do not usually warrant a press release from a governor. But when state police stopped a van on a Missouri road for "following too closely" and found it was carrying 10 presumed illegal immigrants, Gov. Matt Blunt was quick to tout the incident as part of a new state program to hunt down undocumented aliens.

"We will make every effort, implement every tool, and take every step to ensure the laws against illegal immigration are enforced," declared Blunt, announcing the arrests as he pursued tough new measures to push undocumented immigrants out of the state.

Way to go, Matt!

But wait, there's more! In Oklahoma!

Oklahoma's new law is widely seen as the toughest in the nation, making it a felony to transport or harbor people without legal status, requires local law enforcement and businesses to enforce federal immigration restrictions, and reduces public benefits for illegal immigrants.

"Illegal aliens will not come to Oklahoma or anywhere else if there are no jobs waiting for them. They will not stay here if there is no government subsidy," said the law's sponsor, Oklahoma Rep. Randy Terrill, a Republican who believes the measure will make illegal immigrants "self deport."

Way to go, Randy! Self deportation! I love it!

Now, Matt and Randy, I have one small request for you. Would you please talk to Governor Rick "39%" Perry? He desperately needs to hear about this.

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)