Swiftee Gets Help - Why Was it Needed?

Thanks to Michelle Malkin for bringing this up. Steve Gardner, the "10th brother" who refused to stand with John Kerry and spoke out against Mr. Kerry, has fallen on hard times, but is getting help.... Some excerpts from an article:

Days later, Brinkley called again, warning Gardner to expect some calls. It seems Brinkley had used the "fact checking" conversation to write an inflammatory article about Gardner for Time.com. The article, implying that Gardner was politically motivated, appeared under the headline "The 10th Brother."

Twenty-four hours later, Gardner got an e-mail from his company, Millennium Information Services, informing him that his services would no longer be necessary. He was laid off in an e-mail -- by the same man who only days before had congratulated him for his exemplary work in a territory which covered North and South Carolina. The e-mail stated that his position was being eliminated. Since then, he's seen the company advertising for his old position. Gardner doesn't have the money to sue to get the job back.

"I'm broke. I've been hurt every way I can be hurt. I have no money in the bank but am doing little bits here and there to pay the bills," he said.
[...]
And, even though Gardner is broke and jobless for speaking out, the husband and father of three says he'd do it all over again. He says it wasn't for politics. It was for America. (Read here)

I find it interesting that it appears those supposedly there for the "down trodden" are the exact ones that caused this down fall! The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty has agreed to help Mr. Gardner.

Terrorist Collateral Damage

These insurgents do not care who they kill. Had the United States military made a mistake and killed innocents as this story describes the insurgents making, the US media would crucify the entire military and attempt to identify an individual to blame. However, in this incident I am sure someone somewhere will still blame the US military - which is a real shame. My point, these terrorist have no concept of war or how to conduct it, attempting to instill terror is all they know and have no iota of concern for the innocents that might die as they continue their campaign of terror.

Peyton Wins it Again

Well I could not let the fact that Peyton Manning won his second consecutive NFL MVP go without acknowledging it.... (Story here). Now if he can just get his first Super Bowl win.

No Bias - Right?

I have already commented on the CBS independent report of "Rathergate", CBS "Wrong Without Being Wrong", but after reading Cal Thomas' article I wanted to highlight some of his thoughts, which somewhat agree with mine:

Only those who believe the big media are unbiased and lack an agenda will accept the explanation that this was a failure solely in journalistic judgment brought on by CBS's desire to beat its partner in the story, The New York Times, which first published it.
[...]
CBS won't say if it will act on those recommendations, because CBS sees no bias, hears no bias and speaks no bias. End of story. But the public sees it, which is one reason why CBS News remains dead last in the ratings. (You need to read it here)

Quote of the day: "And Watergate was a "third-rate burglary.""

Can Iraq be Saved, How?

David Brooks' has an informative article in the New York Times today. Mr. Brooks mentions positive attitudes among the Iraqi people.

The newspaper Sabah recently published a poll of 4,974 Iraqis living in and around Baghdad. Nearly 88 percent support military action against the terrorists. A survey by the Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies suggests that the insurgents' archfoe, the prime minister Ayad Allawi, is the most popular prospective leader in the land.

Mr. Brooks also outlines a brief and interesting strategy to how Iraq can achieve freedom and democracy! Read it here.

Follow-Up: Do You Think They Get It

Earlier this month I posted do you think they get it where I stated, "terrorist are attempting to control their own people... Demonstrating the Iraqi people's need for freedom...free from fear of saying, supporting, or doing the wrong thing". This is yet another story that demonstrates the unbridled hate towards anything associated with freedom. I reiterate unlike the detractors who use "these terrorist attacks as a reason to get out of Iraq" - these attacks are the main reason to finish the job in Iraq and give them democracy!

Can You Believe This?

Jill Lawrence makes some unbelievable observations in her USA Today article. I really can't believe it and have to comment on it.

Imagine a Democratic presidential candidate and his allies assailing the character of the Republican nominee in ads and speeches every day for eight months.
Having trouble? That's because Democrats generally don't have the stomach or the discipline to do it. Often they don't even effectively fight back when under attack themselves.

What, is she serious? Comparing the Republican candidate and current President to Hitler or calling him a liar is not having "the stomach or discipline" to assail his character! Can she be serious?

What are Democrats missing? For a start, some academic analysts ....

More academia - is she implying academia is not currently a large part of the Democratic Party; wake up!

Another problem for Democrats: They can't shake the idea that people of integrity shouldn't have to, and don't need to, talk about their integrity.

Integrity, democrats? Really, in what world is she living?

That philosophy prevailed last spring, when the Bush campaign spent tens of millions of dollars labeling Kerry a flip-flopper who said whatever people wanted to hear....

Kerry did flip-flop and we are back to the "integrity" question; Kerry demonstrated none not knowing the meaning of the word; however, this writer wants to imply Kerry was "of integrity" and didn't feel he needed to explain himself. I have a different take Kerry knew he was nailed and if he attempted to explain himself the lack of integrity would have been further exposed.

Let me see, liberals don't have the stomach to assail a Republican candidate's character - this article was published the same day four (4) CBS employees where either fired or asked to resign for a fraudulent report attacking a Republican candidate, the sitting President's, character. Are we really supposed to give credence to this article, give me a break!

Lessons From Job

William Safire has interesting advice for tsunami victims and those questioning "Where Was God?", based on Job.

The first point the Book of Job made was that suffering is not evidence of sin.....Job's suffering was a test of his faith:...

Job's lessons for today:

(1) Victims of this cataclysm in no way "deserved" a fate inflicted by the Leviathanic force of nature.

(2) Questioning God's inscrutable ways has its exemplar in the Bible and need not undermine faith.

(3) Humanity's obligation to ameliorate injustice on earth is being expressed in a surge of generosity that refutes Voltaire's cynicism. (Read here)

Syrian and Iranian Connection

Michael Ledeen has an interesting article today about Syrian and Iranian connection to Saddam Hussein.

Yasseen had been a colonel in Saddam's Army, so he was a fighter of some importance. He told Alhurra that two other former Iraqi military officers belonging to his group were sent "to Iran in April or May, where they met a number of Iranian intelligence officials." He said they also met with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and were provided with money, weapons, "and, as far as I know, even car bombs" for Jaish Muhammad.

Yasseen also said he was told by Saddam himself, after the liberation of Iraq in the spring of 2003, to cross into Syria and meet with a Syrian intelligence officer to ask for money and weapons.

So here we have a high-ranking member of the "insurgency," a textbook case of the sort of Saddam loyalist said to compose the bulk of those fighting against the Coalition. And what does he tell us? He tells us that he has been working closely with Iran and Syria, and that this close working relationship was directed by Saddam. Moreover, his organization, Jaish Muhammad, is an ally of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, himself a longtime resident of Tehran.

......If we had truly investigative journalists out there, they would be all over this story, which is only one of many that came out of Fallujah. About a month ago, a letter from an Army officer who had fought in Fallujah circulated on the net, and, like Yasseen's tape, it helps dispel some of the myths clouding our strategic vision.

"In Fallujah," we learn, "the enemy had a military-type planning system...Some of the fighters were wearing body armor and Kevlar, just like we do. Soldiers took fire from heavy machine guns (.50 cal) and came across the dead bodies of fighters from Chechnya, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Afghanistan, and so on. No, this was not just a city of pi**ed off Iraqis, mad at the Coalition for forcing Saddam out of power. It was a city full of people from all over the Middle East whose sole mission in life was to kill Americans (Read here)

I want to echo a statement Mr. Ledeen made, were are our true investigative journalist, maybe the now unemployed CBS "Sixty Minutes Wednesday" team can regain some resemblance of creditability by investigating and reporting on this!

CBS "Wrong Without Being Wrong"

It is official CBS is wrong but really did nothing wrong - the fault of the fraudulent memos being aired is credited to "myopic zeal" not to simply out and out lying! Of course, even though they find no evidence of "foul play" four people have either been fired or asked to resign, in the real world these people would have a great lawsuit since there was no evidence of "malice lying" per the CBS internal report... Here are some excerpts:

Asked to resign were Senior Vice President Betsy West, who supervised CBS News primetime programs; 60 Minutes Wednesday Executive Producer Josh Howard; and Howard’s deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy. The producer of the piece, Mary Mapes, was terminated.

“We deeply regret the disservice this flawed 60 Minutes Wednesday report did to the American public, which has a right to count on CBS News for fairness and accuracy,” said CBS President Leslie Moonves.

The panel said a "myopic zeal" to be the first news organization to broadcast a groundbreaking story about Mr. Bush’s National Guard service was a key factor in explaining why CBS News had produced a story that was neither fair nor accurate and did not meet the organization’s internal standards.
[...]
"The combination of a new 60 Minutes Wednesday management team, great deference given to a highly respected producer and the network’s news anchor, competitive pressures, and a zealous belief in the truth of the segment seem to have led many to disregard some fundamental journalistic principles," the report said.
[...]
“the Panel cannot conclude that a political agenda at 60 Minutes Wednesday drove either the timing of the airing of the segment or its content.” (Read here)

Give me a break, "cannot conclude that a political agenda.......drove either the timing or the airing......", not only do I believe a political agenda drove both the timing and airing it drove the deception that CBS' internal investigation seems to want to overlook. Did we expect anything different? I know I didn't!

Fuel for The Anti-Gun Crowd

This story is a horrible story and incredibly sad - I want to get that straight before I say anything. The story is about two gunmen crashing a fifteen year old girl's birthday party; however, knowing the anti-gun crowd will throw this up to attack my freedom to own guns I want to point to a few disturbing facts that will be left out of their (the anti-Gun crowd's) propaganda.

The men apparently had a previous dispute with some of the partygoers, Hialeah police spokesman Jose Caragol said. When the two showed up at the party, some of the revelers threw beer bottles at them to force them to leave.

Did that say beer bottles? This was a teenage party was it not? Not one mention of a parent either at the party or quoted in the paper, gee could that be part of the problem?

Please let me reiterate that two teenagers are dead and one is wounded and this is horrible and those responsible, being the only adults at the party, should be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. However, before we blame the gun, which will be coming, and not the gun wielders, who were the only adults; should we not look at ask some questions. Why was there alcohol at a teenager's birthday party? Where were was the parents of this teenager or at least on of the attending teenagers? If adults were there why was a twenty-four year old man, apparently unrelated, involved in a fifteen year old's birthday? Just wanted to bring all the circumstances I observed in the article instead of simply concentrating on the gun itself!

Social Security Reform

While catching up on my reading, after the busy holidays, I found a post by Urban Republican that reminded me of my earlier reform battle. I would suggest everyone read the article identified by Urban Republican. Some excerpts:

The misconception that there will be new costs--i.e., "transition costs"--arises from forgetting that Social Security is already, in effect, debt-financed. Consequently: 1) Any debt sold to the public in the short term during the so-called "transition period" to pay all promised Social Security benefits simply refinances an existing liability; and 2) Refinancing Social Security's debt through personal accounts makes possible a reduction, and eventually an elimination, of Social Security's unfunded liability, which otherwise is scheduled to grow without bound

I do believe it a mistake for Democrats to total discount Social Security reform, besides being wrong for the country it shows their total partisan attack on anything Bush - a debate is needed because reform is needed and there are several different opinions even among Republicans. Social Security reform would be an excellent opportunity for bipartisanship and beneficial for the country all the way around!

Prayer and Inauguration

Atheist Michael Newdow has filed a complaint demanding, "strict scrutiny have not been met and defendants must be enjoined from their planned religious activities". Seems Mr. Newdow has a problem with "clergy" prayer at the inauguration ceremony. However, it appears he is fighting an uphill battle since there are several like cases that have been ruled in favor of allowing clergy to pray..... Thank God! Taking the religious spin off the fact - prayer and God has always been part of tradition and is part of our history. The fact that people want to remove part of our history, history based on Christianity and, in my opinion, the primary reason for this country's rapid success, is sickening! They have no problem of desecrating my religious symbols or acts when it is expressed "as art", why should they have any problem whatsoever when religious acts are expressed as intended in an express of faith. Some excerpts:

Mr. Newdow filed his 16-page complaint Dec. 17 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
"The demands of strict scrutiny have not been met and defendants must be enjoined from their planned religious activities," the lawsuit states.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday.
The lawsuit also states: "It is an offense of the highest magnitude that the leader of our nation, while swearing to uphold the Constitution, publicly violates that very document upon taking his oath of office."
[...]
Such prayers turn non-Christians "into second-class citizens and create division on the basis of religion," Mr. Newdow said Friday.
The legal debate centers on two Supreme Court cases -- Marsh v. Chambers in 1983 and Lee v. Weisman in 1992.
The argument in favor of clergy at the inauguration is based on the establishment of chaplains in Congress at its inception, before the Bill of Rights was passed including a prohibition of any "law respecting an establishment of religion."
When the presence of chaplains in the Nebraska Legislature was legally challenged in 1983 by Ernest Chambers, a Nebraska lawmaker, the Supreme Court ruled against him, saying the practice had a "special nook" because it was a long-standing tradition to have government-paid chaplains.
"The Supreme Court has given its constitutional blessing, so to speak," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a District-based public-interest law firm. "We should not lose our history and the religious underpinnings it is founded on." (Read story here)

More Oil for Food Corruption

Niles Lathem has details of yet more UN personnel named as taking "kickbacks" in the "Oil for Food Lottery". I am beginning to see why the UN called the American government STINGY earlier this week, and I don't believe it had anything to do with our relief aid... Here are some snippets.

Iraqi officials have recently implicated more U.N. staffers in bribe taking during the oil-for-food program in a development that could dramatically escalate pressure on the world body...

Investigators from the House International Relations Committee said several current and former officials in Iraq's Oil, Health and Transportation ministries have told them that U.N. staffers assigned to the "661 Committee" — the U.N. Security Council group that oversaw sanctions and approved oil-for-food contracts — regularly took bribes and kickbacks from suppliers of aid to Iraq during the program. (Read here)

Good for Mississippi

It may have taken forty years but Mississippi is following through and holding a man accountable, murder is murder, which is why there is no statute of limitations on murder... I had to contact my parents to get the details they remember on this case. There was a mini-series many years ago, before "Mississippi Burning" and my parents made we watch it so I would learn the evil of racism my parents grew up in Mississippi and I make this point because cyber space is full of condemning comments of all "old" Mississippi residents. Although there were racist as today, many despised what the KKK stood for and generalizations are an insult to my parents and those like them! Edgar Ray Kilens mistrial should tell the tale of Mississippi residents the 1967 mistrial was 11 guilty to 1 not-guilty; 1 person out of 12 but although I am happy it is ashamed it took nearly 40 years to bring the case back to trial, but better then never.

I hope Sheriff Myers is able to following through on his statement "We've got several more to arrest..." I was living in Tennessee at the time Mississippi extradited Byran de la Beckwith for killing Medgar Evers and that was a good moment for American justice.

Billy Wayne Posey, one of the men convicted on federal civil rights charges, stated after 40 years to come back and do something like this is ridiculous....like a nightmare NIGHTMARE, what about the NIGHTMARE those three young men endured.... You sir got of light and I would hope all involved could be retired under state murder charges, although I am not a lawyer and do not understand all the double jeopardy implications.

Read the story here.

Limiting Liability

This story highlights some of President Bush's ideas on liability reform.

Mr. Bush would like to see a cap of $250,000 on the awards for pain and suffering and restrictions on punitive damages -- the part of a judgment that often accounts for the lion's share of financial compensation -- to cases of "truly egregious wrongdoing."

I am contemplating these actions and feel that "junk" or "frivolous" lawsuits have gotten out of control. Personally, I have always liked the "looser pays" concept. "Looser pays" will halt "frivolous" lawsuits at their heart - the lawyers, the lawyers will not manipulate people into suing unless they know they can win and get paid! The issue now is that you sue "no matter if you are right or not" because the plaintiff will pay simply because it is cheaper then the litigation cost! We as consumers I assure you actually eat the "big company's" cost weather you realize it or not - they are in business to make money, and besides if they did not turn the cost back on consumers there would be additional layoffs. I will say any reform will be an improvement! See The Washington Times column here.

More Love for Fellow Muslims

Having already identified the insurgence's failure to respect life, any life, even that of their own countrymen and fellow Muslims here, here, and here. I thought I would bring the point up again.

This story is about the discovery of the bodies of eighteen Muslim taken of a bus while on their way to find work at a US base last month.. How much more proof do liberals need that these are animals with zero respect for life and hates everything living including those of their own race and religion. What exactly are they fighting for or against except simply to eliminate anyone opposed to them, and then say they are successful whom would they kill, my guess each other - it is all they know!

Boxer "Grandstanding"

Senator Barbara Boxer joined Representative Stephanie Tubbs-Jones in a move to stop formal declaration of President Bush's second term.... Interesting Boxer used the "War in Iraq" to defend her grandstand action saying, "Our people are dying all over the world ... to bring democracy to the far corners of the world". Guess you can throw the "we are doing the right thing" card in when you need to support your stance, maybe get some fence sitters on your side even if we know it is disingenuous.

Newly elected Senator Barack Obama stated he would not be joining the effort - shows intelligence especially if he wants to win moderate republicans when he makes his much-touted presidential run. Read the story here.

Democracy vs. Republic

Walter E. Williams has a good article on the fact that our "founding fathers" did not create a democracy! Here are some excerpts:

The word democracy appears nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution -- two most fundamental documents of our nation. Instead of a democracy, the Constitution's Article IV, Section 4, guarantees "to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government." Moreover, let's ask ourselves: Does our pledge of allegiance to the flag say to "the democracy for which it stands," or does it say to "the republic for which it stands"? Or do we sing "The Battle Hymn of the Democracy" or "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"?

So what's the difference between republican and democratic forms of government? John Adams captured the essence of the difference when he said, "You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe." Nothing in our Constitution suggests that government is a grantor of rights. Instead, government is a protector of rights. (Read it)

Governor Baghdad Killed

Amazing how much these inhuman individuals hate democracy - they kill their own people to keep it from coming and for what.... North and South Koea, North and South Vietnam; were both were against brother for a "promise" (although inaccurate) of a better life, what better life do these insurgents represent? Please someone tell me, all I see is the represent is terror - more oppression - more suffering, unbelievable how easily the can recruit and now not to kill Americans but to kill Iraqis. Amazing. Read about the governor's assassination here.