Monthly Archives: July 2008

2008 Election, Politics, Uncategorized

McCain Campaign Needs A Clue About ANWR

Need proof that the McCain campaign is misleading their candidate? The place where the drilling would be looks nothing like the Grand Canyon or the Everglades as even John McCain himself would see, if he had a clue. Here he is making a complete fool of himself at a town hall-style meeting Wednesday at Missouri State University in Springfield. McCain said . . .

I’ll be glad to review over time in light of changing world events on any issue. But I also believe that the ANWR is a pristine place and if they found oil in the Grand Canyon, I don’t think I’d drill in the Grand Canyon.

McCain says that if the people in Louisiana want to drill off of their shore, that’s fine. And if the people of Florida want to do that too, that’s also fine. Well, the people in Alaska want to drill in ANWR. OOPS! Now it’s not fine?

Some things are worth repeating, and debunking the myths about ANWR is one of them. The media and the environmentalists will show you the prettiest pictures of the reserve, then actually tell you that this is where BIG OIL wants to drill.

This is the coastal plain, the place designated for oil exploration. ANWR Coastal Plain

And this is the coastal plain in the spring.

Coastal Plain in ANWR

And this is representative of pictures that the media and environmentalists will show you and why we need to save the planet. This also appears to be Sen. McCain’s view as well.

ANWR protected wilderness

Somebody ought to physically take John McCain to ANWR. Then I’d be interested to see if the added information would be enough for him re-consider his position on not drilling there.

So what does that say for Sen. McCain’s, I don’t know, judgement?, inquisitiveness?, malleability?

related links: NYT blog | McCain on YouTube video | What ANWR Really Looks Like video

Media, Politics

Iraq's Timetable Is More Table Than Time

Good news. Iraq is finally in the position to look toward taking over complete control of their country, and us out.

In politics, nothing happens by accident. Although the last of the five Army brigades that made up the surge will be leaving this month, political solutions still need to happen. 15 of 18 goals set forth last year have been met.

The widely publicized, and misrepresented, ‘timetable’ is a lesson in political maneuvering. PM al-Maliki has some coalition building of his own to undertake. Bringing together all the political parts to unify the country is required. Talk of a timetable, it is hoped, will facilitate that. The real timetable isn’t based on the calendar. According to his national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, it is based on the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security, which is in agreement with the Bush administration, not against it.

It is the media’s interpretation of a TIMEtable that the administration is against. Not Iraq’s.

related links:Iraqi security better; governance falling short | Iraq raises idea of timetable for US withdrawal

Media, Politics, War On Terror

Senate Overwhelmingly Passes FISA Law

In a 69-28 vote yesterday, the Senate approved a revised FISA bill that the House approved last month. The President is expected to sign it. It is a little disappointing that the vote wasn’t 97-0, since we are talking about taking out terrorists and terrorist cells, but it does show the far left’s commitment to their wacko base.

Bowing to President Bush’s demands, the Senate approved and sent the White House a bill Wednesday to overhaul bitterly disputed rules on secret government eavesdropping and shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits complaining they helped the U.S. spy on Americans.

alAP is not pleased. In fact, if you want to know where alAP stands on the issue, one only has to read the title of their article, ‘Senate bows to Bush, approves surveillance bill.’

They could have approached it from a different perspective, like an unbiased news perspective. They might have used one like this, ‘Washington United In Fighting Terror.’ Had they done that, it would have also sent the correct message to the enemy, instead of the wrong one.

link: Senate bows to Bush, approves surveillance bill

Pensacola, Politics

How The Left Likes Capitalism

What does the left like about capitalism? Air America Radio host Mike Papantonio has something to say about it in this weeks gem of an article, ‘Deregulation a bonanza for Big Business, not for you.’

‘During the long run of Republican leadership, prior to the Great Depression, Corporate America and the Republicans had an agreement: government would not regulate’

The premise is BS. No matter when in time. Free enterprise is not free if it is overly regulated. That could only be offensive to a socialist.

‘Corporations were able to generate bigger profits at the expense of workers’

Success is always attributed to one of two things by the left. It is either ‘at the expense of workers’ or ‘on the backs of workers.’

‘Eight years of deregulation have again been profitable for Big Business’

That’s a good thing. Proving the point that capitalism is handicapped and deformed when regulated. Oh the success of the capitalistic system.

‘but not for the average American.’

. . . more socialist-speak.

He goes on in the article but, generally speaking, much of Papantonio’s rants and writings seem to follow a checklist like this one. They’re all there in this week’s installment. But this checklist is not exclusive to Papantonio. You’ll find this checklist employed everywhere the far left resides.

Exxon, BIG OIL, check.
Halliburton, like BIG OIL, only worse, check.
Tom DeLay, check.
Karl Rove, check.
Dick Cheney, check.
Enron, check.
Wall Street, check.
AT&T, check.
Shell Oil, BIG OIL, check. Did I mention BIG OIL?

Bio: Mike Papantonio hosts a nationally syndicated radio show, the Ring of Fire, on Air America Radio and is the founder of GoLeft.tv. He is a partner in the Levin Papantonio law firm in Pensacola.

link: Deregulation a bonanza for Big Business, not for you.

2008 Election, Immigration, Media, Politics

Embarrassed For The First Time?

I was flabbergasted today when Democrat Presidential Candidate Sen. Barack Obama said that he was embarrassed, as an American, compared to European countries. And for an even more innocuous, if not arrogant, reason. Speaking ‘Spanish.’

I’ve never before seen such contempt for their country from someone who wants to be president of it then what the possible first couple thinks of it. His wife, no, I won’t lay off her. His wife said that for the first time she was proud of her country. It doesn’t matter what kind of context she comes up with. That statement speaks for itself as far as where she is coming from. From her writings at Princeton, it makes perfect sense that she would and could say something like she said. There was no mis-speaking going on.

Now, Barack himself says today that the United States embarrasses him. What the hell kind of talk is that about this country from someone that wants to be President? What media figure will ask the first-term senator whether this was the first time he had been embarrassed by this country, or if he has felt that way all his life? That isn’t going to happen.

I wouldn’t expect the media to pick up on this. Which explains why, about 10 hours after it happened, there is no news yet about it in the drive-by media. Not the New York Times, not the Washington Post, and not al-AP.

Uncategorized

Today's Special

I don’t know how this story got past the al-AP editorial board, but it is sure to be ignored by everyone else. Saddam Hussein had a nuclear weapons program that included 550 tons of yellowcake. That is enough needed to produce about 145 nuclear warheads. From the American Thinker . . .

The media have been telling us for years that Saddam had no WMD, so “Bush’s War”: was based on a “lie.” And those who believed Saddam did have WMD or WMD programs were delusional or worse.

But today, on July 6, 2008, the Associated Press reports that

* Saddam Hussein had a nuclear program
* At the Tuwaitha nuclear complex just south of Baghdad
* Which included 550 metric tons (over 1.2 million pounds) of “yellowcake”, or concentrated uranium
* And multiple devices that could be used in a nuclear weapon.

Should be obvious to everyone now that the 550 tons of yellowcake was for making radioactive sand castles, not for developing nuclear weapons grade uranium. Now that the dis-confirmations have been dis-confirmed, who was lying and who was ignoring?

For about five years now, those of us who thought Saddam Hussein probably had at least WMD programs, if not WMD themselves, have been called not only wrong, but illogical and insane.

There’s not enough bandwidth on the Internet to handle all the ‘corrections’ and apologies for years of disinformation by the media and Democrat politicians in general. We weren’t the ones who were crazy ideologues.

related link: AP Exclusive: US removes uranium from Iraq | Disconfirmations Disconfirmed: Saddam Had Nuke Program

Uncategorized

End The War, Win The War

Thank you Senator Obama for clearing up any misunderstanding about your intentions regarding our national security and the future of Iraq, and the Iraqi people who have put it all on the line.

I was a little puzzled by the frenzy that I set off by what I thought was a pretty innocuous statement,” he said. “I am absolutely committed to ending the war.

He promised to summon the Joint Chiefs of Staff on his first day in office . . .

‘and I will give them a new mission and that is to end this war, responsibly and deliberately, but decisively.’

The new mission, to end the war. As opposed to the old mission, which is to win it.

Any questions?

related link: Iraqis Prefer McCain

Politics

Revised Declaration Of Independence?

Interesting piece by Tom Purcell at FrontPage Magazine, reflecting on the Declaration of Independence and how far our government has strayed from its roots. Something like this . . .

  • In the course of human events it is necessary, now and again, to dissolve our political bands with the ninnies who keep abandoning our founding principles.
  • It used to be self-evident that our government’s role was primarily to protect certain unalienable rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  • It used to be that our government did the bidding of the people — that any power it derived was solely through the consent of the governed.
  • It used to be our country believed in limited government — that government at its best was a necessary evil and should be aggressively restrained.
  • But too many of the birds running things these days don’t see it that way.

The end result has divided the country into two coalitions of people. The Taking-Coalition and the Leave-Us-Alone Coalition. The politicians in Washington from both parties are guilty of building this mess, supporting it with spending bills, and complaining that they can’t seem to spend enough of our money, and want more.

Take on a gimmicky mortgage bigger than you could afford? Not to worry. Our esteemed Congress is pushing through a $300 billion bill to bail you out with taxpayer dough.

Struggling at the pump now that energy prices are at record highs? Not to worry. Some of our politicians promise to tax energy companies lots more so they can pay your energy bills for you.

You take one Obama administration, add one Supreme Court Justice, and the original Declaration of Independence and Constitution, for all practical purposes, will become a mere footnote in history.

link: A New Declaration of Independence

Media, Pensacola, Race Relations

Nation's Best 'Black' Newspaper

Actually, the award is the ‘Best Newspaper,’ not the best Black newspaper. But I didn’t title it, E & P did. The relevance of the ‘Black’ aspect of it is the National Newspaper Publishers Association, known as The Black Press Of America. The NNPA is a 67-year-old federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers from across the United States. From Editor & Publisher . . .

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), has bestowed 10 honors, including the John B. Russwurm Award for “Best Newspaper,” to the Philadelphia Tribune, the nation’s oldest continuously running black newspaper. This is the seventh time in the last 12 years that the Philadelphia Tribune has won the “Best Newspaper” award.

Among the awards the Philly Tribune received is Best Editorial for this piece from Sunday editor Mike Bruton titled ‘End The Chaos: Start Snitching.’

With the city’s crime problem and explosive murder rate, Mr. Bruton hit the nail on the head with this one. We could benefit from his message right here in Pensacola. And everywhere for that matter.

related links: ‘Philadelphia Tribune’ Named Nation’s Best Black Newspaper | End the chaos: Start snitching

Media, Politics

Happy Independence Day

We’ll be celebrating our independence with the family and thanking God that we were all born in the United States, where freedom is not a dirty word. Although that does depend on who you ask.

Others, like Mark Murray, Deputy Political Director at NBC, prefer to forget the purpose of the holiday. To him, it’s ‘Happy Fourth of July.’ It’s a day off from work.

At the time I read his post on First Read, there were no comments posted. So I commented to his post something to the effect of ‘Happy Fourth of July? Mark, it’s Happy Independence Day. But you knew that.’

I just checked in on the post and my comment is not among those listed. So I made another just for giggles.

This post probably won’t make it either, like the one I made yesterday. I guess because the author feels embarrassed at the thought of calling this holiday what it really is, Independence Day.

Not one, NOT ONE, post in this thread (so far) refers to it. It’s happy 4th of July to the left, and the media, who should know better. But won’t.

So, to all my conservative friends reading this, both of you, Happy Independence Day.

Not one of the ‘approved’ comments mention Independence Day. There can only be one of two reasons for this. Either Mr. Murray refuses to acknowledge the holiday and all that it represents, which would amount to malpractice for a ‘Political Director,’ OR like all the other commenters, he really doesn’t know what it is, which would amount to journalistic malpractice as well. Could there be another possible reason?

One thing is evident about the political climate today. The current batch of the majority party today would never have dreamed of splitting with the Crown. And if they did dream about it, they wouldn’t have the courage to do it.

related links: Happy Fourth Of July | History’s trash heap filled with dust of empire | Some Americans Are Saying We Shouldn’t Celebrate Independence Day | Independence Day: Happy Birthday, America! 232 Years Strong