Hillary T-Shirt Design Contest!

And the winner is.....?

Well, I and the "Panel" (my family) are looking over the entries and will come up with a winner in the next few days (yeah, anticipation baby!). Thanks to those who emailed and commented - some great ideas in here!

Chazz's Rant on Louis Farrakhan

That "Mullah of Malice" is at it again! Check out Chazz's Rant on America's own Stepchild of Islamic Fanaticism!

Deeyah - The 'Muslim Madonna'

Music Video Sparks Muslim Outrage

You would think that a beautiful, up and coming pop sensation would be having the time of her life after her album debuted in the UK in the Top 40, reached #4 on the Club Chart and #11 on the Indie Chart. You would think that after one of her singles on the album reached #1 on the hottest music video channel in the UK that she would be enjoying her success. This might have been true, except Deeyah is a Muslim - and she has fled to the U.S. in fear for her life from fellow Muslims over her video (Click HERE to watch it).

"...her video has led to threats from conservative Muslims who are angry that Deeyah (herself a Muslim) appears in sexy clothes and dances with a black man." This, from her website. "The resulting press coverage since the release of the video has been overwhelming to the point of overshadowing Deeyah’s music. For her safety, and in hopes of shifting the focus off of the “news story” and back on the music, Brainwash Records has brought Deeyah and her album to the US."

In an article posted at the Persian Journal website, Deeyah has quite a story - having fled her home in Norway for England after having alienated the Muslim community there, only to continue running to the United States for her safety and to continue her career.

"I can't walk around without bodyguards. I would be lying if I said abuse from religious fanatics did not upset or scare me," said the 28-year-old beauty, dubbed the 'Muslim Madonna.'

Now based in the U.S., Deeyah is scheduled to return to London next month to promote a new video - but may cancel the trip due to this threat. Apparently, shedding her Burqa to reveal a sexy bikini in the video just didn't fly with these extremist Muslim assholes. So, as with anything that pisses them off these days, it's got to be a death sentence for the offender. Imagine that.

Speaking of Free Speech and pissing radical Muslims off, click here to see another funny video clip. If this stuff offends you, don't go there. If you do it anyway, don't come back here and whine about it! Go write a Fatwa or something...

Timmer's FLIP-FLOP On U.A.E. Port Operations Deal

John Kerry's Got NOTHIN' On This Guy!

Okay, maybe not a total flip-flop (like Senator Kerry), but my attitude has been somewhat mitigated on this issue.

Like most of you, when I first heard about this impending deal, the first thought in my mind was "WTF!?" The second was "An ARAB Company is taking over major U.S. ports!?" I then wrote this article without first researching all of the facts that were available. Although the Bush administration has done a terrible PR job on this transaction, mine was more a gut reaction than one of measured analysis. My only excuse (other than the botched PR) is that this falls on the heals of the world-wide Islamic chaos that resulted from a few cartoons (and AMAZING PR from radical Islamic fundamentalists), and I am basically pissed off at Muslims. I have discovered myself sliding down this slippery slope of bias against Muslims AND Arabs in general (they are not always the same thing - Iranians, for instance, are Indo-Europeans) and have now willed my sweeping condemnation to an abrupt halt.

So where do I now stand on this issue? That, my friends, is the 20,000 Dinar question. The short answer is simply this - I want to see this explained better by the White House, but not scuttled for politics alone. I am not the only conservative blogger to have stepped in it, then stepped back. Sistah Toldjah writes:

"The more this UAE port management story is being reported, examined, and discussed in the MSM, as well as on opinion pages and in the blogosphere, the more I find myself believing that the issue has bas (sic) been overhyped unecessarily. Even with saying that, I know that the concerns put forth by many of our fellow conservatives are genuine and heartfelt...What persuaded me to change my mind? A number of pieces I printed out today to look over later this evening when I had some time to read and digest them..."

And my friend Amy Proctor has been steadfast in her cautious support:

"The UAE has been accused of "ties" to two 9/11 terrorists, but the connotation is not necessarily valid. The U.S., after all, is where the 9/11 terrorists learned to fly, lived in hotels and used the US as an interface to pull off their plots. It could be argued that the US has ties to the 9/11 terrorists as well..."

I have discovered over the last few days that this is NOT about Arabs "taking over" these ports. DP World of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has made a successful bid to buy the management rights of port operations from another foreign company - NOT ownership of any ports, nor the actual security. In fact, this company is considered by some to be the most efficient in the world at this sort of work, and they have franchises like this all over the world (including China and Australia).

I should have also remembered that the U.A.E., despite some questionable history, has been an immensely effective partner to the U.S. in the war on terror. If you look at a map, you will see that the U.A.E. is just across the Persian Gulf from Iran - and they have allowed us to place a sprawling U.S. Air Force Base on their soil. They tend to U.S. Naval Ships. They have been instrumental in capturing terrorists. And, as I have discovered myself when visiting there, they are the most western-friendly and cosmopolitan of any Arab country. Even the Golf is good. They are much like we would like to envision a future Iraq.

The U.A.E., and the Arab World in general, will surely be insulted if we show sudden bias toward them at this important juncture in our relationship with them - and who could blame them? If our rationale for excluding them from this enterprise is simply that they are Arabs, then all of our efforts to bring peace and democracy to the Middle East is preposterous and duplicitous. If we base this exclusion on terrorist activity that has happened on their soil and in their institutions, then we have to include the United States in that dubious list of exclusion - as we trained the 9-11 pilots, who were funded through channels into the U.S.

As many Democrats and some Republicans (up for election) know, this situation is almost the perfect storm against Bush. On the one hand, you have a political climate in America where the Democrats could not gain a foothold on the issue of National Defense. On the other, you have the President between a rock and a hard place - that is, insulting a major partner in the GWOT, or paying the political price of fighting a losing battle. As this situation is more complicated than the average constituent's attention span, it is fair to say that the President has been cornered - and his explanation is late and now falling on mostly deaf ears. I think it's safe to say that, politically, this is a nightmare for Bush - and it builds on the chink in his armor that is Border Security.

But a word of caution - this is a CONFUSING ISSUE, so beware of politicians intentionally stretching the facts! This is NOT a "takeover" and it is NOT "outsourcing" (as it was already "outsourced" to the British). Fans of Hillary Clinton might want to remember that as she continues this barrage of insults to our collective intelligence.

Late-Term Abortion vs. Partial Birth Murder

Alito Scares the BeJesus Out Of Abortionists

The Supreme Court will be revisiting a 2000 ruling in which Partial Birth Abortion was not quite deemed unlawful. Sandra Day O'Connor, casting the deciding vote in a 5-4 ruling, had cited that the mothers' health had not been properly considered in the case. Now that she has been replaced by conservative Sam Alito, even Pro-Abortion activists can read the writing on the wall.

"The Supreme Court's decision to hear this case is a dangerous act of hostility aimed squarely at women's health and safety," whined Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, an Abortion-Rights group. "Today's actions by the court are a shining example of why elections matter. When judges far outside the mainstream are nominated and confirmed to public office by anti-choice politicians, women's health and safety are put in danger."

Obviously, this woman has not been paying attention to the real "mainstream" of America, in which this procedure has caused widespread condemnation - as it is basically the killing of a fully formed fetus and, quite often, partially delivered. Alive and well. Until clinically murdered.

Here is the accepted medical rule of thumb on life, or in this case "viability," of a fetus: After six months of a pregnancy, a fetus is usually deemed by doctors as "viable" and therefore fully capable of living outside its mother's womb.

Now there are some of you who have read Timmer's Rant on Abortion, in which I do NOT support all facets of the Right to Life crowd, and perhaps you are perplexed by the strong language used here. Easy. This late term abortion, to my mind, is basically cold-blooded and needless murder. If a Mother is carrying her Baby into the last trimester, and especially if up to the delivery itself, should she not be legally bound to at least give this PERSON a shot at life - even if that would be through adoption or foster care? Besides a life-threatening situation for the Mother (which is very rarely the case in Late Term Abortions), what could possibly be the rationalization for jamming a poison-filled needle into a little baby as he/she is about to enter the world?

All of the Tookie Williams' of the world should face death, and the public's scorn, before any of these innocents are snuffed out before they can live long enough to cry out in protest. Let's hope that our new Supreme Court Justices feel that way, too.

Arab Company Takes Over Major U.S. Ports?

There are times when even supporters of the President have to stand back and say WTF? And when you start to think about this story's implications, this looks to be a glaring example of one of those times.

British firm Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P & O) - which runs the major commercial operations in the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia - was bought last week by DP World of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Okay, so one foreign company buys another, right? Isn't the UAE an ally of ours? Doesn't sound so alarming on the surface - until one discovers that the acquiring company is STATE-OWNED by the UAE, which (ally or not) served as an operational and financial base for the 9-11 terrorists and was along the route of smuggled nuclear components shipped to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.

Like I said, "WTF?"

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the administration had approved the sale after a classified review, saying the agreement would include safeguards to protect national security. "You can be assured that before a deal is approved we put safeguards in place, assurances in place, that make everybody comfortable that we are where we need to be from a national security viewpoint."

Apparently, that explanation doesn't cut it with lawmakers. The response from Democrats is predictable and therefore hardly news, but Republicans are starting to make themselves heard on this issue as well - and for good reason.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, voiced his concerns for approving an Arab company's takeover of operations at these six major American ports on Sunday, calling the terms "insufficient to guard against terrorist infiltration." He stated further, "I'm aware of the conditions and they relate entirely to how the company carries out its procedures, but it doesn't go to who they hire, or how they hire people...They are better than nothing, but to me they don't address the underlying conditions, which is how are they going to guard against things like infiltration by al-Qaida or someone else, how are they going to guard against corruption?"

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a usually staunch supporter of the President, told Fox News Sunday that it was a mistake for them to approve the sale and called on Congress to investigate it. "It's unbelievably tone deaf politically at this point in our history, four years after 9-11, to entertain the idea of turning port security over to a company based in the UAE who avows to destroy Israel...I don't think now is the time to outsource major port security to a foreign-based company."

Like the Terrorist Surveillance Program, there is probably a great deal the Public, and the whole of Congress, simply cannot know. But unlike the secret wiretapping, this will be very hard to sell to Post-9-11 Americans.

Chertoff stated on CNN's Late Edition, "Congress is welcome to look at this and can get classified briefings. We have to balance the paramount urgency of security against the fact that we still want to have a robust global trading system."

I don't know, Michael - given the UAE's dubious recent history, the outrageously lax border security plaguing this nation, and the fact that only 2% of shipping containers are inspected at these ports, this time you're going to have to do a LOT better than that. If we need to engage the Arabs in trade, why not stick to buying safe stuff like hookah pipes, outrageously priced spices and, er, I don't know... rubber dog-shit? ANYTHING but this!!!

Saddam Tapes: WMDs and Foreknowledge of 9-11 Attacks!

Well, waddaya know. Turns out that Saddam, in the mid-90's (after the Gulf War), not only knew about the impending attacks of 9-11, but was also hiding WMDs before spiriting them away to Syria. SURPRISE!

From ABC News TODAY:

ABC News obtained the tapes from Bill Tierney, a former member of a United Nations inspection team who translated them for the FBI. "Because of my experience being in the inspections and being in the military, I knew the significance of these tapes when I heard them," says Tierney. U.S. officials have confirmed the tapes are authentic, and that they are among hundreds of hours of tapes Saddam recorded in his palace office.

One of the most dramatic moments in the 12 hours of recordings comes when Saddam predicts -- during a meeting in the mid-1990s -- a terrorist attack on the United States. "Terrorism is coming. I told the Americans a long time before Aug. 2 and told the British as well & that in the future there will be terrorism with weapons of mass destruction." Saddam goes on to say such attacks would be difficult to stop. "In the future, what would prevent a booby-trapped car causing a nuclear explosion in Washington or a germ or a chemical one?" But he adds that Iraq would never do such a thing. "This is coming, this story is coming but not from Iraq."

Also at the meeting was Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who said Iraq was being wrongly accused of terrorism. "Sir, the biological is very easy to make. It's so simple that any biologist can make a bottle of germs and drop it into a water tower and kill 100,000. This is not done by a state. No need to accuse a state. An individual can do it."

The tapes also reveal Iraq's persistent efforts to hide information about weapons of mass destruction programs from U.N. inspectors well into the 1990s. In one pivotal tape-recorded meeting, which occurred in late April or May of 1995, Saddam and his senior aides discuss the fact that U.N. inspectors had uncovered evidence of Iraq's biological weapons program -- a program whose existence Iraq had previously denied.

At one point Hussein Kamel, Saddam's son-in-law and the man who was in charge of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction efforts can be heard on the tapes, speaking openly about hiding information from the U.N.

"We did not reveal all that we have," Kamel says in the meeting. "Not the type of weapons, not the volume of the materials we imported, not the volume of the production we told them about, not the volume of use. None of this was correct."

Shortly after this meeting, in August 1995, Hussein Kamel defected to Jordan, and Iraq was forced to admit that it had concealed its biological weapons program. (Kamel returned to Iraq in February 1996 and was killed in a firefight with Iraqi security forces.)

A spokeswoman for John Negroponte, director of national intelligence, said information contained in the transcriptions of the tapes was already known to intelligence officials.

"Intelligence community analysts from the CIA, and the DIA reviewed the translations and found that, while fascinating, from a historical perspective the tapes do not reveal anything that changes their post-war analysis of Iraq's weapons programs nor do they change the findings contained in the comprehensive Iraq Survey group report," she said in a statement.

"The tapes mostly date from early to mid-1990s and cover such topics as relations with the United Nations, efforts to rebuild industries from Gulf war damage and the pre 9/11 situation in Afghanistan."

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says the tapes are authentic and show that "Saddam had a fixation on weapons of mass destruction and he had a fixation on hiding what he was doing from the U.N. inspectors." Hoeckstra says there are more than 35,000 boxes of such tapes and documents that the U.S. government has not analyzed nor made public that should also be translated and studied on an urgent basis.

Charles Duelfer, who led the official U.S. search for weapons of mass destruction after the war, says the tapes show extensive deception but don't prove that weapons were still hidden in Iraq at the time of the U.S.-led war in 2003. "What they do is support the conclusion in the report, which we made in the last couple of years, that the regime had the intention of building and rebuilding weapons of mass destruction, when circumstances permitted."

Tierney, who provided ABC News with the tapes, plans to make the 12 hours of recordings public at a nongovernmental meeting -- called Intelligence Summit 2006 -- this weekend in Arlington, Va. John Loftus, a former federal prosecutor, runs the meeting. "We think this is a tape that is unclassified and available to the public," says Loftus "[I] just want to have it translated and let the tape speak for itself."

Now, remember - we are talking ABC NEWS here. Not the liberal whipping boy Fox News, nor a Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity enterprise. A-B-C ! Now, go back and read my article on Saddam's General who confirms that the WMDs were shipped to Syria.

Now let us see what happens in the MSM! Already, the spin to this story is just that Saddam informed us of 9-11, so we knew about it (so Bush must be impeached (or something) !

Dead-Eye Dick Cheney Rides Again - Late Night!

Media Frenzy and a Gift to Late Night Television

As Fox News' Brit Hume gets to have a sit-down with the VP over the now-famous hunting incident, CNN, NBC and ABC affiliates rushed about today to collect the scraps of this exclusive interview - much to their self-important chagrin (hmmm...kinda' reminds one of the White House Press Corps' incredulous reaction to the small-town newspaper scoop on the incident itself!).

"They (Fox News) are the house organ for the Republican Party," chirped CNN political analyst and former Clintonite Paul Begala. "It's like Khrushchev giving an interview to Pravda." (waaaaahhhhh!)

So Cheney didn't have one of those all-important PRESS CONFERENCES. How dare he not include the fourth pillar of government!? The great thing about this story has nothing to do with Harry Reid's psychotic salivating rattle about "This secretive administration yada yada yada."

No, my friends, the best thing about all this was that it gave us something to laugh about, and it was a gold-encrusted lapis-lazuli-paneled treasure chest hand-delivered to the Purveyors of Late Night Bombast.

Jay Leno:

"I guess the guy is going to be Okay. When the ambulance got there, out of force of habit they put Cheney on the stretcher. When people found out he shot a lawyer, his popularity is now at 92 percent."

"Although it is beautiful here in California, the weather back East has been atrocious. There was so much snow in Washington, D.C., Dick Cheney accidentally shot a fat guy thinking it was a polar bear. "

David Letterman:

"Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally located weapons of mass destruction, and it’s Dick Cheney!”

"But here is the sad part — before the trip Donald Rumsfeld had denied the guy's request for body armor."

"We can't get bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney."

Craig Ferguson:

"He is a lawyer and he got shot in the face. But he's a lawyer, he can use his other face. He'll be all right."

"You can understand why this lawyer fellow let his guard down because if you're out hunting with a politician, you think, "If I'm going to get it, it's going to be in the back.' "

"The big scandal apparently is that they didn't release the news for 18 hours. I don't think that's a scandal at all. I'm quite pleased about that. Finally, there's a secret the vice president's office can keep."

Maybe it's the hidden Liberal-Libertarian in me (according to certain dubious online quizzes!), but you just gotta' laugh at this one. Dick more-or-less handled this like a, um, DICK. But given that this was, at the end of the day, a HUNTING ACCIDENT, the carrion-stalking American Media showed its own ass to the world as well.

Thanks the Gods for Comedy!

Saddam FORCED to Attend His Own Mass-Murder Trial

This is an OUTRAGE!

In yet another insult to civil liberties, justice, and plain old right-and-wrong, Saddam Hussein (and his fellow victims of the American puppet-government) continued his brave protest of the Iraqi "Kangaroo Court" today by stoically shouting down the (ethnically inferior) Kurdish judge, Abdel-Rahman.

This is on the heels of endless badgering to be in court for a few trumped up charges fabricated by the Americans, and unheeded cries of SADDAM'S TORTURE in December of last year!

As the Islamic Hero Saddam was brutally ushered into the courtroom, wearing a traditioal Arab robe and clutching his beloved Qur'an, he defiantly proclaimed "Down with agents, down with Bush, long live the Ummah (Motherland)!"

Then a bit later, unable to contain his indignation at this travesty of justice, Holy-Man Saddam cried out "This is not a court, this is a game. I was forced into the courtroom. Why have you brought us with force? Your authority gives you the right to try a defendant in absentia. Are you trying to overcome your own smallness?"

The Evil Dog Judge Abdel-Rahman bitterly replied "The law states that if the defendants refuse to appear before the court, he will be forced to appear before court, we are implementing the law."

Saddam The Saintly did not stand for the pesky accusations of torture, murder and genocide! Instead, he righteously shouted in manly defiance "Saddam the criminal? Not criminal, you agent. You sissy! You would not have said that before, sissies like you!"

Obviously faking his annoyance, the Camel-Piss-Rat-Judge tried to cut off Gentle and Misunderstood Saddam. "I've given you enough chances," he said. Allah's Messenger Saddam shouted back: "God damn your moustaches" Slamming the Kurdish Dung-Heap Judge's very manhood!

As the Great Protector of Victimized Dictators Ramsey Clark left work for the day, he walked out into the Iraqi sunset (with his body-guards) and, glancing back at the courthouse, couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Political Spectrum ~ Where Do YOU Fall?

I'm a Friggin' LEFTY!?

So this is the THIRD TIME I have taken one of these tests - and I'm always surprised at the results. Although I portray myself as a Conservative/Rebublican, according to this test (which is kinda' fun, actually) I am WAY over to the Left - juxtaposed almost atop Nelson Mandela (see graphic). Check this test out over at Political Compass and see where YOU fall in this spectrum.

The problem I have with these tests is that they deal in absolutes - and I am definitely a gray-area kind of guy. If you read Timmer's Rant on Abortion, you know that I have definite ideas on the subject, but do not belong completely to either radical camp. Same goes for Gay Couples adopting babies...generally, I'm okay with it but (all things being equal) a heterosexual couple should take precedence. Why, you ask? Well, that is for another article, and another day!

Hat Tip to Gun Toting Liberal

U.S. Intelligence ~ 10 Terror Plots Foiled

Foiled Los Angeles Terror Attack

Speaking at the National Guard Memorial building today, President Bush revealed details of one out of the ten publicized terrorist plots that has been defeated by using the tools of U.S. Intelligence and other international partners in the Global War On Terror.

In a plan that had originated as part of the September 11th 2001 attacks, but changed by Osama bin Laden to a follow-up attack, the hijacking of an American commercial aircraft and its use to destroy "the tallest building on the West Coast" was to be carried out by terrorists recruited by al-Qaida from Southeast Asia. The plan called for the terrorists to use shoe-bombs to breach the cockpit doors, then fly the fuel-heavy aircraft into the (then-named) Library Tower in Los Angeles.

According to Bush, the plot was foiled in early 2002 with the assistance of a Southeast Asian nation and the mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed (who also planned the 9/11 attacks), was captured in the summer of 2003.

Although he did not characterize this as proof of the effectiveness of the Terrorist Surveillance Program (erroneously labeled "Domestic Wiretapping"), he portrayed this and other such successes as proof of the effectiveness of his policies combating terrorism and safeguarding our nation.

"We're hunting down the terrorists using every element of our national power. The terrorists are living under constant pressure, and this adds to our security…By striking the terrorists where they live, we are protecting the American homeland."

Ten Up, Ten Down

1. West Coast Airliner Plot: ((2002 - See above))

2. The Jose Padilla Plot: In May 2002 the United States disrupted a plot that involved blowing up apartment buildings within the U.S.. One of the alleged plotters, Jose Padilla, allegedly discussed the possibility of using a "dirty bomb" inside the United States. Bush has designated him an "enemy combatant."

3. Strait of Hormuz Plot: In 2002 the United States and partners disrupted a plot to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Persian Gulf from the Indian Ocean.

4. Arabian Gulf Shipping Plot: In late 2002 and 2003 the United States and a partner nation disrupted a plot by al-Qaeda operatives to attack ships in the Arabian Gulf.

5. Karachi Plot: In spring 2003 the United States and a partner disrupted a plot to attack westerners at several targets in Karachi, Pakistan.

6. Heathrow Airport Plot: In 2003 the United States and several partners disrupted a plot to attack London's Heathrow Airport using hijacked commercial airliners. The planning for this alleged attack was undertaken by a major operational figure in the September 11, 2001, attacks.

7. Tourist Site Plot: In 2003 the United States and a partner nation disrupted a plot to attack a tourist site outside the U.S.. The White House did not list what site that was.

8. East Coast Airliner Plot: In mid-2003 the United States and a partner disrupted a plot to use hijacked commercial airplanes to attack targets on the East Coast of the United States.

9. Britain Country-Wide Plot: In the spring of 2004 the United States and partners, using a combination of law enforcement and intelligence resources, disrupted a plot to conduct large-scale bombings in Britain.

10. British Urban Targets Plot: In mid-2004 the United States and partners disrupted a plot to bomb urban targets in Britain.

What Keeps Us Safe

Although President Bush couldn't be specific about the role Secret Surveillance played, I'll say it for him - The Terrorist Surveillance Program, in combination with F.I.S.A. and the Patriot Act (which has crossed a significant hurdle today), IS WORKING. These successes, with no terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9-11, is your proof!

While the citizenry of the United States and her allies go about their daily lives in relative comfort and safety, tens of thousands of silent, vigilant warriors are hard at work ensuring that the Terrorists cannot bring them harm. Along with conventional armed forces and law-enforcement, security and emergency personnel who operate in the open, there exists a largely thankless army of engineers, linguists, analysts and scientists who, by necessity, operate in the shadows. They represent a considerable buffer between our largely unenlightened populations who are free to go about their lives., blissfully ignorant of the dangers we face - and how very close to the brink we have come.

Fighting Terror, while protecting the methods by which it is fought, is like a fist fight with one hand tied behind the back. Informing the public is informing the terrorist - a concept that is widely misunderstood by many members of Congress and the MSM. By its very nature, Intelligence Gathering must be kept secret, and must be used in this post 9-11, dangerous and cyber-linked world.

Sister Toldjah
Michelle Malkin

A President's Dignity, Another's Disgrace ~ Coretta Scott King's Funeral

Jimmy Carter Stoops with Dotard "Reverend"

This was to be her day. An event where tens of thousands would hope to catch a glimpse of the "First Lady of Civil Rights." This was the day to celebrate the life, and message, of Coretta Scott King. Celebrities, Clergy, Activists, Congressmen and even the current and former Presidents came to show their respects.

That is, all but two. Widely thought of as the Worst President in Modern Times, Jimmy Carter decided to follow the unfortunate example of an elderly activist/reverend (I'm trying to be nice) who had earlier shown his disrespect to the lady, and the occassion.

President Bush is said to have a very real affection for Mrs. King, having met with her on several occassions during his tenure in the White House. Despite an impossibly busy schedule he brought his wife Laura to pay their last respects to his friend Coretta ~ and got publicly slammed in front of millions.

Activist/Reverend Lowery during his "eulogy" ~

"We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there...but Coretta knew, and we know, that there are weapons of misdirection right down here," he bellowed, nodding toward the row of presidents. "For war, billions more, but no more for the poor!" The suddenly hip-hop-poetry-loving crowd cheered.((Glad to see he found a way to work Mrs. King's name in there somewhere.))

And if that wasn't bad enough, a smug Carter a bit later ~

"It was difficult for them then personally with the civil liberties of both husband and wife violated as they became the target of secret government wiretaps." The crowd cheered - wiretapping, get it? ((Of course, Jimmy neglected to mention that it was under a Democratic Whitehouse that Attorney General Robert Kennedy was surveilling the King couple.))

Further on, obviously not satisfied with his idiocy, Carter said Hurricane Katrina showed that all are not yet equal in America. New Orleans Blacks intentionally left to die, right?

Of course, the liberal blogs are making much out of the President sitting through all of this behind the podium, squirming in his chair with an embarrassed smile, while Laura looked a bit peeved. WHAT? How exactly would we expect him to react?

By remaining seated and silent, and by thoughtfully eulogizing this brave woman's life without attempting politics or smear like his critics, George Bush showed a great deal of poise and grace in a difficult position. The disrespect shown by these two pathetic activists on a day meant to celebrate Coretta Scott King's Life is a disgrace, and yet has some value - in that it demonstrates some very poignant distinctions. Naturally, it is up to the reader to decide what those are.

Mocking Mohammed ~ Muslims Finally Unite Against Something

So THIS is what it takes???

After several newspapers in Europe have recently published 12 cartoons depicting Muhammed, the Ire of Islam has finally been raised. One of the drawings shows Muhammed's turban as a bomb with a lit fuse. In another he turns suicide bombers away from heaven because "We have run out of virgins". (LOL!)

Responding to a call for an International "Day of Anger", Muslim worshippers on Friday quickly morphed into protesters throughout Europe and the Middle East, demanding apologies from newspaper editors and the governments of a half dozen European countries that have refused to block the publication of the images.

Widely condemned by cowardly government officials across the globe for exercising their freedoms of the press and expression (which is NOT enjoyed throughout most Islamic nations), these European newspapers, embassies of their governments and even commercial goods and tourists are now being targeted throughout the Middle East.

"We must tell Europeans, we can live without you. But you cannot live without us," said Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, a leading imam in Qatar, in an obvious reference to Middle Eastern Oil Dependency. "We can buy from China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia... We will not be humiliated."

Of course, Islamic Terrorist organizations are quite vocal about this as well.

Wanna' know what I find offensive???

The carnage unleashed upon the world in recent years - all in the name of Islam. Images of flag and effigy burnings, sawed-off heads, planes crashing into the WTC and Pentagon. Then there is the brutality unleashed upon innocents in Britain, Spain, Bali, Kenya, Israel, Saudi Arabia - among many, many other little newsreels that run through my head.

SO, it took a CARTOON!? Forget the fact that thousands of their own people, most of which are women and children, are dying at the hands of Islamic Terror every year. Forget the constant and violent insults to THE WORLD by Radical Islam.

Imagine if All Muslims directed this kind of righteous anger against Their Terrorists? This world would become safe in a week. But no. The Religion of Peace is too busy chasing cartoons, playing the victim....while literally burning our world.

And Allah help them if the World runs out of patience, sympathy and excuses for these impetuous people. Our little "Coalition of the Willing" will change into something much, much bigger - and little cartoons will be the least of Islam's problems.

Mudville Gazette
Michelle Malkin

Who The Hell Invited HER??

Cindy Sheehan Crashes (at) the State of the Union Address

That most ridiculous of activists is doing her level best to remain in the national consciousness - while making a progressively bigger fool of herself each time.

Cindy Sheehan, who has made headlines again recently by befriending America's enemies, slandering our President and threatening to run for senate, was removed from the House Gallery on Tuesday night and placed under arrest - even before the object of her disaffection arrived. This time, it was for refusing to remove or cover up her anti-war T-shirt, which read "2245 Dead. How many more?" She has promised to file a First Amendment lawsuit.

But who invited this clown? Turns out to have been another clown. Representative Lynn Woolsey, Liberal Anti-War Democrat (surprise!) of California. In an event so steeped in history, tradition and decorum, where even Nasty Pelosi cracks a smile (literally) and shakes hands with the President, what on Earth was this idiot congresswoman thinking?

The Capitol Police should have pinched Woolsey right along with her knuckleheaded friend Sheehan...if for no other reason than having caused this disturbance. Call it abuse of ill-deserved congressional priviledge!