Publius' Forum

Getting Ugly
by Erik Rush

Why Rush Limbaugh is Good for America
by Robert E. Meyer

Ports o'Potty
by Bob Parks

View From the Blind Side
by Thomas E. Brewton

This Week in Afghanistan: Let the Opium War Begin
by Jim Kouri, CPP

Reagan's Children Blog
- By Hans Zeiger

One Saturday last month, I attended two meetings. The first meeting was a Pierce County Republican Party Central Committee meeting. Most of the precinct committee officers and party officials were in their fifties, sixties, or seventies. They have been involved in Republican politics for years, and they are the valued grassroots that fought notably in my community for Reagan in 1980, for the Republican Congressional majority in 1994, and for Bush these last two elections.

The second meeting, that afternoon, was younger. About thirty people, most in their twenties and thirties, gathered at the Pierce County Republican Headquarters to discuss the blogging revolution. Not everyone there would stand out at a PCO meeting, but most of them stand out in the blogosphere. An excitement spread the room as we bandied ideas and networked, and I sensed the same thing that so many Americans now sense, that a revolution is at our disposal..........
Click HERE To Read On

Battle for Heart and Soul of GOP – StopTopinka.com

By J. Matt Barber

Just a reminder that all Iraqis do not hate US... not that the MSM would ever tell you that.

"Our schools, governmental services, businesses and offices were closed. Our streets were silent, and no one dared to walk them. Our people were barricaded in their homes out of fear; death awaited them around every corner. Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city. Their savagery reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young. This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered...the courageous soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of al-Zarqawi's followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats to the surrounding areas, where the bravery of other 3rd ACR soldiers in Sinjar, Rabiah, Zumar and Avgani finally destroyed them. To the courageous men and women of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, who have changed the city of Tall Afar from a ghost town, in which terrorists spread death and destruction, to a secure city flourishing with life, to the lion-hearts who liberated our city from the grasp of terrorists who were beheading men, women and children in the streets for many months, to those who spread smiles on the faces of our children and gave us restored hope, through their personal sacrifice and brave fighting, and gave new life to the city after hopelessness darkened our days and stole our confidence in our ability to reestablish our city... God bless this brave Regiment; God bless the families who dedicated these brave men and women. From the bottom of our hearts we thank the families. They have given us something we will never forget... Let America, their families and the world be proud of their sacrifice for humanity and life."

Signed: Najim Abdullah Abid Al-Jubouri, mayor of Tall Afar in the Iraqi province of Nineveh

--Tall Afar was the main base of operations for the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

(Original Source)

A Review Of The Journal Of William Thomas Emerson: A Revolutionary War Patriot
- By Frederick Meekins

The life of 10 years-old William Thomas Emerson is forever changed when his family is killed when their home is struck by lightening. William eventually ends up at The Seven Stars Inn in Boston where he finds himself amidst the turbulent days leading up to America's Revolutionary War.

Written in the form of William's journal, this historical fiction provides the reader with a glimpse into young Mr. Emerson's life regarding events both mundane and profound. As a border at the Inn, William comes into contact with a committee of Patriots and assists them in a number of tasks essential to the survival of liberty in America such as aiding in the defection of a British office to the Colonial side and in ferreting out a spy from the ranks of the committee's own membership.

Crafted as a first person account, Denenberg does not gloss over incidents that would shock our contemporary sensibilities as might be the case in a more detached theoretical exposition. Neither does he sugarcoat the shortcomings of either side. ...........
Click HERE To Read On

Students Document Abuse of Black History Month on Campuses
by Jim Kouri, CPP

A Failure to Communicate
by Thomas Lindaman

Hillary's Demagoguing Her Way into the Oval Office
by Jim Kouri, CPP

Teaching with Laptops
by Nancy Salvato

The ringleader, Youssef Fofana, 25, a French citizen of Ivorian origin, from Ivory Coast, has been apprehended by authorities and awaits trial.

While Ilan was held captive by these thugs he was mercilessly tortured. He was beaten, burned by cigarette butts, had fingers cut off, and was finally burned alive and left to die beside some rail tracks where he was discovered, barely alive, by police. Ilan died shortly after being discovered.

Over the last several years, anti-Jewish violence, property destruction, and racist language has been wildly increasing and French-Jews are worried more every month that it will spiral even higher. In a region that boasts over 5 million people of Muslim faith, the Jews number less than a million and the disparity in numbers does not bode well for the safety of Jewish citizens, especially in a country with deep underlying anti-Jewish sentiment, feelings that are even quite separate from her Muslim population, already pervasive. Worse still, the French government has, until recently, spent far more time denying that anti-Jewish crime exists than it has investigating and punishing it.

Jews in France are faced with a hostile and large minority in the Muslim populace of the country as well as a government that offers them no justice what-so-ever. And it is fast coming to a point where the French government won't be able to serve justice for her Jewish victims of crime even if it wanted to.

France has seen a huge increase in crime, most of it from her disaffected Muslim populace. Since the turn of the century things have spiraled out of control.

Problems include:

-A sharp rise in rape of women (both Muslim as well as western women) by Muslim men
-The burning of dozens of Jewish business and Synagogues since 2000
-Murders of Jewish citizens
-Theft and strong-arm robberies way up
-Chronic unemployment of Muslim youths
-Rise in youth gang activity
-High rate of Muslim male youths dropping out of school

... and many other problems, not the least of which was the massive riots and car burnings carried out by Muslim youth last fall.

The Ilan case has brought these worries to the fore and it is possible that French officials are finally awakening to the danger Jews face just living in France. At Ilan's funeral, President Chirac and Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, made an appearance in a rare showing of support for a French-Jew. And, on Sunday the 26th of February, both Sarkozy and Chirac attended a rally that attracted over 10,000 French citizens in protest over the violence. (See the BBC report here)

But is it too little too late? It is widely assumed that an important reason France didn't support the war in Iraq is because of her fear of those 6 million Muslims within her borders -- well, that and the fact that French officials were well bribed by Saddam Hussein. So, France has a vested interest in appeasing the Muslim population of her country, one proven to fits of destructive behavior that French security forces and police are utterly unable to curb.

It is doubtful that matters will get better anytime soon for either France or her Jews. The best one can do is to advise French-Jews to leave France for good. Can a Diaspora of French-Jews be too far off into the future? It shouldn't be if they know what is good for them. This clash of French Muslims and French western ideals is one that has been decades in the making and it will be decades still before any solution will be forthcoming.

By Warner Todd Huston

Kids say the darndest PC things
- By Michael M. Bates

In last week's column I wrote that if Illinois' governor succeeds with his preschool scheme, the kiddies would be sent "off for a fun filled day of government indoctrination on the state’s dime." A teacher who disagrees kindly took the time to tell me why I’m wrong about that.

For one thing, she said, most teachers aren't inclined to peddle a single political view. Despite the liberal positions taken by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, many teachers are not activists. There are, she asserted, even some who don’t vote a straight (if you'll pardon that unPC term) Democrat ticket at elections.

Setting political views aside, there's barely enough time for educators to teach the minimum skills children need to make it in life according to my correspondent. There are already so many demands on teachers that even if they wanted to proselytize, there aren’t sufficient minutes in the school day to do so.....................
Click HERE To Read On

The Press Tries to Stampede Conservatives
by Randall H. Nunn

Bombing of Mosque in Iraq a Pivotal Event
by Jim Kouri, CPP

Left-wing GrapeNuts
by Thomas E. Brewton

CSI and Dubai
- By David Tatosian

On March 26, 2005, Dubai, U.A.E. became the 35th member of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Container Security Initiative.

The CSI was developed in response to the 9/11 attacks in order to protect the global trading system and trade lanes between foreign and American ports.

Basically, teams of agents from both CBP and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) stationed in foreign ports assist the host nation’s customs agents in targeting and screening containers that might possibly be used as a means to deliver a weapon to America’s shores. ..............
Click HERE To Read On

See, here is why this Port-gate business is so confusing. Hillary comes on and lies about the whole thing to gin up the public for her campaign for president. Here is what she said a few days ago:

"I take a back seat to nobody when it comes to fighting terrorism and standing up for national homeland security. Our port security is too important to place in the hands of foreign governments. I will be working to introduce legislation that will prohibit the sale of ports to foreign governments."

And the lies are:

#1- Even if this sale goes through we are not directly placing the Port security in the hands of a foreign government

#2- We are not selling the ports. We STILL OWN them regardless of who operates the companies that manage them. We are selling the company that manages the port operations, not selling the ports outright.

The misdirections are:

#1- The company that operates the ports already are owned by a foreign nation; Britain

#2- Since we aren't actually selling the Ports, this supposed legislation she is proposing to prohibit the sale of them to foreign nations is a red-herring

She gives the appearance of doing something without doing anything at all.

We have a major round of misdirections and confusions over this port deal. The proof of that is that we have people from all different ideologies coming together in either support of or in opposition to this port deal with the United Arab Emirates. people who would not ordinarily agree on the color of the sky much less public policy.

Now, I am not sure how I feel about this deal, either, but the more people are yapping the more it is becoming obvious that most politicians are demagogues over this issue for their own benefit despite the reality of the situation.

I can tell you one thing, though. The Unions are against this idea and it is the Unions we can thank for the fact that no American company wants to run our ports in the first place. So, if the Unions are for it, I certainly must carefully evaluate if I should end up on the same side the Unions are!

Just a few words for you all to take into consideration on this thing, is all. This is, after all, an important and sensitive issue and we should not be making our decisions based on the kind of lies that come out of the mouths of Democrats.

-Warner Todd Huston

(Picked this up from GOPBloggers.com)

After Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich had an embarrassing appearance on "The Daily Show," many had a good laugh. The Associated Press (Go Here) even reported on it:

Blagojevich says he didn't realize "The Daily Show" was a comedy spoof of the news when he sat down for an interview that ended up poking fun at the sometimes-puzzled Democratic governor.

CNN also picked up the wire story(Go Here), but decided to change an interesting detail:

Blagojevich says he didn't realize "The Daily Show" was a comedy spoof of the news when he sat down for an interview that ended up poking fun at the sometimes- puzzled governor

How sad. Over something so trivial as this, CNN decided to hide Governor Blagojevich's party affiliation. And we're supposed to believe they're unbiased?
_________________________
First of all, I do not believe for a moment that the Governor didn't know he was on a comedy show. I firmly believe that he is lying about not knowing. He expects us to believe that all his advisors let him go on that show without telling him it was a comedy show? And that is taking for granted that he didn't already know before hand that it was a comedy show!

Sorry, but I don't buy it at all. Blagooglevitch knew it was a comedy show and i'd guess that he was trying to seem "hip" and it went all wrong for him. It's pretty typical of his administration, though. Does anyone remember his comment that he had "testicular fortitude"? That comment was ridiculed widely and his silliness was jabbed at mercilessly.

Gov. Blagojevich is a useless fool that has done nothing at all as Gov.

-Warner Todd Huston

Something Different versus Something New
-By Greg Stewart

This particular site will receive an introduction, for the following reasons: it is simply an explanation of moods, feelings, and empathy of the circumstance surrounding the angst that I am feeling within myself, my friends both liberal and conservative, a fin de siecle, a sickness of the heart, which cannot be explained away by rationality. It is a compulsion of time, or lack there of, in which the anxiousness of fear, the smell of conspiracy, and the rancor of the inviolate leadership of one’s country. To never have doubt, or never to express them, brings sickness and schizophrenia to the mind and suffocates history. This leads to blindness and unnecessary suffering of the spirit, the heart, and the mind. This essay, for me, is another form of expression. Simply, it is a release, for all the activity in my life, from school, from work, from relationships, and the anxiety that has been pounding my soul. And, to never forget that this is just another day in paradise, and that for all of us, where else can I be free to explain my ideas, beliefs, or the insanity of the moments... And, so it begins............
Click HERE To Read On

How the Democrats Stole Paul Hackett's Campaign
by Thomas Lindaman

Europe's "Michael Moore" Releases Anti-American Film
by Jim Kouri, CPP

Morality is not Ideology
by Thomas E. Brewton

THE United States stunned UN officials and rights advocates today by threatening to reopen talks on a painfully negotiated resolution for a new UN Human Rights Council.

General Assembly President Jan Eliasson released a draft compromise text on the council to replace the discredited Geneva-based Human Rights Commission, which has included some of the world's worst rights violators.

The proposal sets a higher threshold for abusing nations to get a seat on the body and calls for a majority vote of all 191 General Assembly members, not just those present.

The United States and other Western nations had wanted about 30 members rather than the 47 proposed in the text as well as a two-thirds vote to make it harder for rights abusers, such as Zimbabwe or Sudan, to gain a seat.

US Ambassador John Bolton said he preferred "real" negotiations between governments rather than consultations with Mr Eliasson or his mediators.

The Australian
_________________________________________________
In other words, the agreement as it is will still allow some of the worst abusers of human rights to sit on this council in judgment on cases of human rights abuse, cases that will often be occurring in their own countries.

This is just one more example of the sophistry inherent in the entire idea of the UN. The best metaphor of the UN is that of the fox guarding the hen house. The UN is a joke and has been since the day its deliberations began.

The more effective organization would be one of a confederation of democratic nations gathered together upon economic, defensive, and democratic principles. Further, the best way to arrive at representatives to the forum from each country would be to have at least a portion of the delegation run for election in their home nation and not to have them all appointed by their governments.

Anything less than that is truly a joke ... worse, a crime.

-Warner Todd Huston

State pulls recognition for Elmwood Park over immigration fight

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. State education officials say Illinois has withdrawn its recognition of a suburban Chicago school district over its decision to deny enrollment to students based on immigration status.

The decision today means Elmwood Park District 401 will lose all of its state funding.

In December, the state put Elmwood Park on probation because it had denied enrollment to a girl who had a tourist visa. State rules prohibit discrimination against children seeking public education because of their immigration status.

-The Associated Press
Source-WQAD TV, Moline, ILL
_________________________________________
If this isn't an example of how absurd the laws concerning illegal immigration have become, what is?

It is NOT legal for people to come to this country outside the constituted system of immigration control. This control of immigration is the same concept utilized by every nation on earth in one form or another. It is perfectly legitimate for a country to make such rules, so the US isn't being "mean" to immigrants by making them.

But, the immigration laws cannot even be enforced if the states themselves make conflicting rules like the one in this story. Apparently, in Illinois we have children being rewarded for breaking immigration laws by being enrolled FOR FREE in a state sponsored school.

If we allow people access to ALL the benefits of being a US citizen even if they are breaking our laws in coming here, what is to stop them from coming here?

We simply cannot blame "them blasted Mexicans". It is our elected officials in Springfield, and all the Springfields across America, that are to blame. Why should a Mexican who is looking for a better life stay in the armpit of the continent when he can just walk across the border and be PROTECTED by the country who's very laws he is breaking?

Our leaders in every state house in the country are weak on this issue and we will never break this circle until the State governments get a backbone.

-Warner Todd Huston

The Illinois chapter of the Stop the ACLU Coalition to meet this Saturday

STOP THE ACLU COALITION NEWS RELEASE
FEBRUARY 23, 2006 ˆ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT NEDD KAREIVA: (773) 309-4463 or
By Email: info@stoptheaclu.org

The Illinois chapter of the Stop the ACLU Coalition will be meeting this Saturday, February 25th in Lincoln from appr. 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM. We will have lunch, then discuss ACLU issues pertaining to both Illinois and our nation. We will also have testimonies of individuals who have had direct experiences with the ACLU. One of them is Melanie Mills Melanie Mills, assistant to the director of the Coalition. Melanie has provided expert testimony before the Illinois and Missouri legislatures on abortion, based on her experience with abortion and in opposition to the ACLU's pro-abortion position.

"The ACLU has for decades been a near unstoppable battering ram against traditional moral and family values", says Nedd Kareiva, founder and director of the Coalition. "Many fine public law firms like the Alliance Defense Fund and the American Center for Law & Justice have successfully thwarted the ACLU's agenda in our courts but the ACLU still continues to push its hard core left agenda of unrestricted abortion on demand, same sex marriage and adoption, homosexual indoctrination and condom based sex education in our public schools, unrestricted access to pornography and removing the 10 Commandments and all religious symbols from society."

"The public at large has viewed the ACLU as a civil rights organization without considering their many positions that are antithetical to the vast majority of Americans. In addition, others who are familiar with the ACLU's liberalism have not had a voice against them outside of financially supporting the legal groups tackling them in the courts and contacting Congress. The Coalition exists to provide that voice and enable Americans who are fed up with the ACLU to have a tangible role with the Coalition in confronting the ACLU."

WHERE: Bonanza Steakhouse & Buffet, 1121 Hickox, Lincoln, IL 62656. We will meet in their meeting room near the back of the restaurant. Restaurant is located appr. 1 1/2 miles east of Exit 126 from Interstate 55.

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 25th, 2006

TIME: Appr. 12:30 to 3:30. We will eat from roughly 12:30 to 1:30 and then proceed with the rest of the meeting. There will be a time for open discussion of ACLU related issues and matters.

COST: There is no cost to attend the meeting and use the meeting room, only the cost of the fabulous all you can eat buffet (appr. $7) or the buffet and main course (appr. $9-$12, depending on main menu item ordered). Donations to help the Coalition maintain and expand its mission are welcomed and needed but not mandatory.

AGE: Students of high school age are welcome to attend with their parents but please refrain from bringing young children to the meeting. Children can, however, eat with a parent or other adult outside the meeting area and there is nearby shopping available for children and those watching them.

SPACE: There is a maximum of 60 people for the meeting room. First come, first serve. To make a reservation to attend or for any questions, contact Nedd at (773) 309-4463 or at info@stoptheaclu.org We need to know how many are coming with your family or group.

Are Liberal Democrats Really Pro-Terrorist?
by Sher Zieve

The MOM Squad Capers
by Carey Roberts

Insanity Runs Rampant in United Nations
by Jim Kouri, CPP

Pussies At The Gate
by Bob Parks

Self-described liberal hollers phrase as Kennedy begins on-campus speech

A community college student in Massachusetts faces possible disciplinary action for shouting "Remember Chappaquiddick!" during an on-campus speech by Democrat Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Paul Trost, 20, a student at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Mass., says he was upset by an introduction of Kennedy given by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., in which the congressman noted how the long-time senator overcame hardship in life on his way to success.

"Lynch said Kennedy had overcome such adversity to get to the place he was, and that's a bunch of bull," Trost said of the introduction, which occurred in the school's student center Tuesday morning.

The student said one of his teachers confronted him after a class about the Chappaquiddick issue.

"One of my teachers called me ignorant and told me this was an embarrassment to the school," Trost told WND. "She said to me, 'Can't you forgive him after all these years?' And I said, 'No, he killed somebody.'

"If it had been me or any other person, we'd be in jail," Trost says he told his instructor.

Referring to his two-word shout, Trost said, "I did it because I know about Kennedy's past. I know what happened at Chappaquiddick.

"I haven't yet found out what's going to happen to me," Trost said, referring to the warning from campus police.

"I don't regret what I did," Trost said. "And if they ask me to apologize, I won't do it."

Trost's father, Edward, who calls himself a conservative, says he's proud of his son.

Source-Worldnetdaily.com
____________________
This kid is my latest hero!!

Kennedy is a disgusting murderer and the only reason he is given a pass is because of his anti-American activism on behalf of the DNC.

-Warner Todd Huston

Where Have You Gone George Washington?
- By Warner Todd Huston

I don't celebrate "President's Day". I celebrate individual presidents, not the whole gaggle of them. These days, George Washington has been relegated to that "truth telling guy" to be seen on the one dollar bill and on TV commercials at the end of February or that guy lumped in with Lincoln on "President's Day". And that is a shame, indeed, for, without George Washington, our presidency and nation might have had a far different attitude.

But, what made Washington such a giant for our times as well as his? For one thing, he knew how to act in public.......................

Click HERE To Read On

Making Islam Illegal -- Is It The West's Only Choice?
- By Warner Todd Huston

When President Bush gave his "axis of evil" speech he went out of his way to make the world understand that it isn't a war with Islam itself that we were joining -- and I say joining because the war had been started by the Jihadists decades before. And, in observance to our Western principles, that must be the correct way to view our conflagration with radical Islam.

Let's face facts, it certainly is uncomfortable to a Westerner who has been brought up on tolerance, freedom of religion, and liberty to contemplate a war against an entire religion. But are we approaching a time when Western nations won't have a choice but to target Islam itself in certain ways to keep their own people safe. The best course of action is to make public displays of Islam and certain of its practices illegal in Western nations.

So, the question becomes are we at that time now? Are we fast approaching a time when Mosques will be closed and banned? Have we come to a time when Islamic literature is turned away from our borders? Have the childish and dangerous reactions of Muslims to this cartoon in a Danish newspaper proven that Islam cannot be trusted to be a vital, peaceful, and law-abiding segment of society?

It is looking like yes is the answer to these queries......................

Click HERE To Read On

Mr. Gregory, I Revoke My Proxy
by Randall H. Nunn

Annexing Mexico Revisited
by Erik Rush

The Media Monologues
by Bob Parks

Shapes of Things to Come
by Jim Kouri, CPP

( As reported by Lifesite.net)

ROTTERDAM, Holland - Marianne van den Anker, an alderman in the Rotterdam city council in charge of public health and security has proposed forced abortion and forced contraception for teenage mothers whose origin is in the Antilles and on drug addicts and people with mental handicaps.  The alderman suggested that such mothers are nearly always guilty of child abuse.

While several reports have referred to van den Anker and her Leefbaar Rotterdam party as "right wing", the alderman is the furthest thing from the right side of the social conservative spectrum.  In addition to being pro-abortion, van den Anker has set up a program in the schools to counter intolerance of homosexuality. (see her website here for that info -Dutch only unfortunately )

Van den Anker told the NRC Handelsblad paper that children from these mothers run an "unacceptable risk" experiencing "violence, neglect, mistreatment and sexual abuse."  She added, "The exceptions, and there are some, can be counted on a pair of hands."

Her announcement of her plan came during a workshop on child abuse where she pressed her case for forced abortion saying, "What do you think of a 24-year old Antillean mother who visits the doctor, is 19 weeks pregnant, has three existing children , then abuses one of her children in the hospital, before announcing to the doctor that she wishes to proceed with her pregnancy , even though she doesn't know who the father is, has no idea how she's going to raise another child, take care, feed and dress the child, and on top of that is HIV positive?"

To express concerns:
Rotterdam Mayor Ivo Opstelten
i.opstelten@college.rotterdam.nl
Marianne van den Anker
mjj.anker@college.rotterdam.nl
______________________________________
No matter if they call this Dutch Politician a "right winger" or a "Left winger" she is merely expressing the ultimately logical end point for the thinking of abortion advocates. Those who are enamored of abortion will advocate for its use as much as possible and, if one is convinced that abortion is a good thing, it will always end up being used for the purpose of a cleansing or Eugenics. If it is a positive good, after all, why NOT use it to "cure poverty" or end "abuse"?

This is where a respect for life would put an end to such dangerous rumination. If a baby was humanized instead of dehumanized as some lump of "unviable tissue" people would find it harder to destroy that life.

Once again, Europe shows its utter lack of morals.

-Warner Todd Huston

Meet The New Bosses (Same As The Old Bosses)
- By R.A. Hawkins

Recently the Democrats have one-upped the Republicans in one of their moves that I find to be a little questionable. An English port-handling company has been sold to a company that operates out of Dubai. In order for them to operate in US ports the White House had to approve the sale, which it did. I found the move to be something I wouldn't have allowed, but there is that old Sun Tzu quote about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. I might be willing to agree with the move in part. The one thing that makes me think the move might actually be a good one is the list of left-wing clowns who are against it.

This particular company operates out of a country where many of the 9/11 attackers came from. They will be operating many of the ports here in the US, and will even be moving into New Orleans. This brings me to the point I would like to discuss.

After the Katrina disaster the old gangs, such as the Latin Kings, Bloods and the Cryps, to name a few, were moved out of the area or they have simply moved on by themselves. It is a little difficult to prey on a population that simply isn't there anymore. But there is something about gangs and organized crime that is interesting. They, unlike some other people, can see an opportunity that others miss completely. Last week MS13 graffiti began to appear in Kenner, which is just outside of New Orleans and quite sadly is connected to it. ...................
Click HERE To Read On

British Radicals Flap Their Pie Holes Over Hot Cross Buns
- By Frederick Meekins

There is an old Chinese curse which damns the individual to live in interesting times. Those alive here at the beginning of the twenty-first century are living in such a period as they have been given a ringside seat to view the decline and eventual demise of the West.

As the spiritual backbone of the West, Christianity must be removed if there is to be any chance of conquering that once noble civilization. One way of accomplishing this objective is by shaming the general population into abandoning those celebrations commemorating important events in the history of Christendom such as Christmas and Easter.

Thus far, most of these efforts have been directed at Christmas. However, as these secularists hone and perfect their approach, they are beginning to set their sites on the even more pivotal celebration of Easter. For if one can divert attention from the Resurrection, there is little reason to pay much attention to Christ whatsoever............
Click HERE To Read On

Is Cheney Still in the Hunt?
by Robert E. Meyer

A Day With the White House "Gaggle"
by Vincent Fiore

Secret Deal to Flood U.S. Ports with Terrorist Opportunities Must be Destroyed
by Laura Adelmann

Rice Empties Both Barrels on Venezuela's Chavez
by Jim Kouri, CPP

The World Bank Gets (Socialist) Religion
by Thomas E. Brewton

The U.S. Supreme Court in History and Today
by Nancy Salvato

Immigration Woes: Europe's Crime Rate Rises; US Rate Declines
by Jim Kouri, CPP

William Jennings Bryan: Radical Reformer
by Thomas E. Brewton

So Much for Sweden as an Advanced Society Through Moral Liberty

SWEDEN, February 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) –Swelling crime rates and a parallel growth in suicide show the dark side of Sweden’s experiment with social liberalism.

Despite the country’s status among social liberals as the ultimate model for successfully breaking the shackles of “moral restrictions” on a modern nation, it is becoming more difficult to ignore the accelerating degeneration of Swedish society.

Stephen Crampton, Chief Counsel of the American Family Association Center for Law and Policy (CLP), compiled information on crime rates and social breakdown in Sweden from a Swedish media source, in an article published on the AFA website February 17.

Below are some of the facts he compiled:

• There is more crime in Sweden than in New York City, though they are comparable in population.

• Drug abuse is rampant, with the number of deaths from overdoses having doubled in the past 10 years.

• Sweden has one of the highest incidences of rape in the world.

• Burglaries are so numerous that many citizens have stopped reporting them, because the police are overloaded and cannot undertake to investigate them all anyway.

• Attacks on money transports (highway robbery) are so frequent that the transporters are threatening to quit, thereby effectively closing ATM’s all over the country.

• Violent outdoor muggings are becoming routine, having increased 15% last year alone.

• In Stockholm, the police recently admitted having lied when they claimed to have neutralized some 130 of the city’s most prominent gangsters; in reality, their sting operation was a bust.

• Swedish courts are plagued with perjurious police officers who routinely lie to support fellow cops in trouble.

Source= Lifesite.net
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We are coming to the conclusion that leftism is a failed concept, even a dangerous one, in the U.S.A. far faster than are the socialists in Europe.

Let's hope that the extremism and danger of radical Islam will help drive Europe to finally emerge from its socialist miasma and return to true liberal, democratic ideals, instead of wallowing in the failed leftist dogma that has laid waste their economies and their moral state.

I'm not sure I will hold my breath, though!

-Warner Todd Huston

We need your help.  We all know we live in a land where Islam can say and do what it wants, but Christians and Jews may not.  We have recently faced this in spades.
 
Have you chosen your side in this everyday war?  I'm not necessarily talking about the WAR ON TERROR, but the never ending war between good and evil, right and wrong.  I've chosen my side, and I intend to win.  Please read below and tell me which side you are on.
 
Jeffrey Epstein of the Islamic Symposium on Terror talked with me yesterday, and he has tried for months to get in touch with Michelle Malkin.  Jeffrey has David Horowitz and Daniel Pipes slated to speak at his Islamic Symposium--(www.americastruthforum.com)--but she has ignored every email and phone call.  I don't know if you can help, but if there's any way you can get in touch with her, it would be greatly appreciated.  We aren't asking her to attend, just to do several articles on it before and after the Symposium.  We desperately need the press.  Also, Jeffrey has to raise $70,000 in the next 3 weeks.  He has contacted all of the major corporations, car companies, food companies, etc., and not one is willing to donate.  Not one.  Not even businesses who lost people in the WTC.  Yes, you read that correctly; only 4 years after the inferno, the Giant is snoozing again.  Jeffrey is trying to get regular, everyday people to come to the symposium, and I know you can help by spreading the word or donating yourself.  We are also trying to get a conservative celebrity to attend the cocktail party that will take place the night before the Symposium.  A big name would force the Hippy Press to give coverage to the Symposium.  I have tried to get through to a few, but I am not a big enough name to get past all of the little assistance and PR people.  If you can help with anything on this list, PLEASE do.  The Hippy Press and CAIR are trying to stop this; if we fail at any of these goals, they will win.  Jeffrey's contacts within government organizations--I know you know the ones I'm referring to--have all told Jeffrey that there is nothing they can do as of right now to stop a suitcase/car bomb style attack; nuclear, biological, or otherwise.  It is only a matter of time.  We have allowed our hands to be tied by Political Castration for too long...people, it's time to choose your side and then fight like hell.  We've been asleep far too long.  Please join me...everything is at stake.

Jeffrrey and I and Joe Kaufmann need your help.  (Joe's site is www.americansagainsthate.com )  We must help.  We are at war everyday, and right now, THEY are winning.  They have the press, television, and Hollywood on their side; we only have us.  This war is going to get worse before it gets better, and I intend to win.  Please let me know which side you are on. 

All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.  We either believe this or we don't.  Ask yourself what you believe, then choose your side, don't look back, and FIGHT!
 
Keep the faith, bro, and in all things courage. 

Resa Laru Kirkland

"Usually when Al Gore gives a speech, left-wing blogs are filled with enthusiastic reviews. But we haven't noticed a single plaudit for, or even defense of, Gore's [recent] speech in Saudi Arabia... So we thought we'd offer one. To recap, here is what Gore said, as reported by the Associated Press: 'Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment. Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions.' We objected strenuously to this, for the obvious reasons. But later we thought of another way of looking at it. Think of the message Gore is delivering to the Saudis: If your countrymen attack America, you will be 'indiscriminately rounded up,' held in 'unforgivable' conditions and subjected to 'terrible abuses.' And don't bother trying to appeal to American public opinion. Most Americans already oppose such treatment, but Bush is too crazy and mean to care. If the Saudis take Gore seriously---a big if, but remember that they don't know him as well as we do---they will be way too scared to try any terrorism any time soon." ---James Taranto

81% of Republicans do...
- By David Tatosian

In a recent survey, 81% of Republicans polled felt that the president was doing a good job.

While it's probably not wise to read too much into any poll, (and my question would be, "a good job of what?") still, 81%?

Clearly, Republicans can be as deluded as Democrats.

I've become disenchanted with Republican fantasies. Invariably they haul out the familiar catalogue of imagined attributes including his faith, his honesty, his integrity and incredibly, his commitment to physical exercise.

Somewhere in all that mess "He's a man of his word" is whispered in almost reverential tones..............
Click HERE To Read On

Traditional Winchester rifles, including the famous Model 94, will no longer be produced when the plant in New Haven, Conn., closes March 31.
Modern, high-end rifles bearing the Winchester name will be produced in Belgium, Japan and Portugal, according to Robert Sauvage, a spokesman for the Herstal Group, the Belgium company that owns U.S. Repeating Arms and the rights to the Winchester name.

The Model 1894 appeared on the American scene in August 1895 and changed the world of shooting almost overnight.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Winchester could be bought back by an American company, produced in the same plant in New Haven that once employed 19,000 during WWII? This way the “Gun the Won the West” could ride back onto the American scene like Harley-Davidson?

The Times Tribune
__________________________
Sadly, it's the end of an era!

I am the proud owner of a model 1873 Winchester made in 1911 in .44/.40 caliber. It is definitely used, of course, not in 'el pefrecto condition. But, I got 'er cheap and I am quite happy with it.

I am sad that one more American tradition has had the kybosh put on it. We'd better keep our eyes on this kind of stuff because soon enough we won't have anything of our traditions left!

-WTH

Appeasing the radicals does not help. Here is another example. The Danish-Swedish diary giant Arla is the worst hit victim of the Muslim boycott of Danish products. Arab countries constituted Arla’s most important export markets. An article in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten today suggest that Arla itself has for many years been boycotting Israel because apparently companies doing business in Muslim countries are obliged to accept a clause that they will not trade with Israel. [PS: Arla immediately denied this in a press statement] Naturally, private companies and individuals are entitled to boycott whomever they want to. The present instance, however, shows that those who try to be a friend of extremists have no guarantee that the extremists will reciprocate the friendship.

The Brussels Journal
_________________
Well, appeasement proves its utter uselessness as a way to deal with radical Islam once again.

Will Europe learn this lesson?

-WTH

Europe's Eternal Confusion On The Muslim Question
- By Warner Todd Huston

I had occasion to see an Op Ed in the French newspaper Le Figaro that so exemplifies the reason the Europeans cannot understand the era in which we live that I thought it might be instructive to "fisk" it, or dissect it here.

The Op Ed was written by a French Muslim named Moncef Marzouki, a Tunisian writer and professor, and a former candidate in the Tunisian Presidential election. It can be found translated into English on watchingamerica.com. titled: Westerners Must Understand How Muslims Think .

Right away, the very title shows us that Mr. Marzouki is on the wrong road to "understanding" anything. The title itself is placing the onus on the West for "understanding" Muslims. It is clear just by the title alone that you are about to read an apologia for the excess of modern Islam. You won't be disappointed in that notion as you read either.....................

Click HERE To Read On

For a Conservative, history is one of the most important aspects of your education. Without a solid knowledge of history, at the very least America’s, you cannot possibly understand why conservatism is the correct way of thinking.

Sure there are innate “feelings” that certain things are just right. There is also your cultural and societal mores that can lead you to conservatism. But, without understanding something about what has gone before, cultural and emotional influences will leave you with a shallow understanding of conservatism.

That being the case, I now offer some books on history that every conservative should read so that he might better understand and intellectualize his beliefs.

The Bible

Don’t let secularists and atheists let you imagine that just because the Founders were smart enough to make sure that a single, state religion would not be an integral part of the US government that this means we are a nation without religious influence.

With but few exceptions the Founders and all their contemporaries were members of some of the many Protestant Christian sects in the Americas. But, since they did have several different Protestant sects prevalent in the US, they all knew that agreeing on a single religion was impossible, even dangerous to their own, individual beliefs and sects.

Still, they were all in agreement that Christian ethos was what would guide them and this country to a better future.

So, the Christian Bible was the guide for the Founders without question.

Forrest McDonald

In the 1920s and 30s socialism was all the rage among the “literate” types in US universities as well as Universities worldwide. A writer named Charles Beard made a name for himself in the field of American historiography by claiming that the Founders wrote the Constitution based only on their avarice and greed, that economics was the sole reason that the country was formed. And it was an economics of exclusion, greed and elitism that they created, too. Beard was an avowed socialist and communist and his agenda was to knock down the USA’s reputation as the democratic light of the world a few pegs, if not to totally destroy it. He succeeded in this goal for several decades among the University set and history researchers.

Then came Forrest McDonald.

In 1965, McDonald shattered that anti-American, socialist paradigm. In his three most important books, We The People, E Pluribus Unum and Novus Oedo Seclorum, he revealed the philosophical influences as well as the economic ones that guided the minds of the Founders and their contemporaries. And exclusion, elitism, and avarice were not some of those principles and philosophies.

First came We The People which was a direct answer to Beard’s wrong interpretations of the economic forces that drove the Founders. This turned Beard’s socialist ideas on its head.

.E Pluribus Unum was next and it continued to demolish Beard’s claims about economic origins of the country and is a must read for that aspect alone. He shows the many economic influences and sectional needs that drove the Founders in a clear, concise style.

The third book, .Novus Ordo Seclorum .delves even further into the philosophy of the Founders proving beyond a doubt that, while economics was an important factor -- as it is in everything man does—the men who created our country did, indeed, have deep altruistic reasons for making the decisions they did. Not everything was solely driven by greed as Charles Beard claimed.

McDonald’s works are easily read by one not historically versed and clearly laid out. They are a must read if you want an introduction to early American thinkers and their goals and influences.

We The People, the Economic Origins of the Constitution- Amazon.com

E Pluribus Unum from the Liberty Fund

Novus Ordo Seclorum – On Amazon.com


Russell Kirk

Kirk is one of the more famous real conservatives of the 50’s and 60s. He was a bit of an odd character -- for instance, he refused to learn how to drive as he felt it unseemly-- and his conservatism was not generally of the current affairs, political type but of the old world type. He wrote many books but the one I suggest most highly is The Conservative Constitution.

Kirk gives us more of the influences that the Founders utilized to create the Constitution as McDonald did. But it is much more an overview of those influences whereas McDonald got a touch more specific.

Another book from Kirk is The Conservative Mind, from Burke to Eliot. This tome gives the reader some great references on where Conservative thought came from.

The Conservative Mind

The Conservative Mind

See the full list here...Conservative Book list

Saddam Tapes Being Distorted by News Media
by Jim Kouri, CPP

Dreyfuss: Dreaming of an America-bashing utopia
by Laura Adelmann

She Can't Be Serious: Hillary's inane war analysis
by Daniel Clark

One Peace Process, Hold the Hamas
by Thomas Lindaman

NY Times Used Psychotic Paranoid as NSA Spy Story Source?
by Jim Kouri, CPP

McCAIN'S BUSHIES - Robert Novak

Major political contributors to George W. Bush who have never given a dime to prospective 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain received letters, dated Feb. 8, asking for donations to the senator's Straight Talk America political action committee.

Obviously using President Bush's direct mail list, the letter signed by McCain asks for $1,000 or $1,500 to support candidates agreeing with McCain on "key issues." It specifically lists "limiting federal spending, immigration reform, military readiness, global climate change, Social Security reform, reining-in lobbyists, reducing the power of the special interests and putting an end to wasteful pork barrel spending by Congress."

Each recipient received a card to be filled in for McCain's files. "I'm asking you to update your file card," requests the letter, though the Bush contributors had no previous card in the senator's files.
__________________
Time for reading the tea-leaves on THIS bit of interesting info!

Posit- if McCain is utilizing Bush's top donator list then we can safely assume that the Bush team (Rove) has decided that the best GOP candidate for the 2008 campaign will be John McCain.

There has been evidence that there is a bit of a thawing between McCain and some of the GOP rank and file. And, let's face it, he is the single best candidate to face a Hillary Clinton candidacy.

But, McCain is still in dutch with conservatives. The best thing McCain can do to totally heal that rift is to renounce McCain-Feingold, in my opinion. But I don't see McCain, stubborn as he is, ever doing that.

I am definitely not a McCain fan. I do not think he is much of a statesman, I do not believe he has a stable personality, nor do I feel he has much by way of a real philosophy. I would not like to see a McCain nod from the GOP.

He has an unpredictable temper, too. This makes him untrustworthy. However, it wold sure be great to see him turn on the Press which he will inevitably do if he sat in the oval office.

However, I would have to vote for him if he was all we had to offer for the sole reason that he will continue the Bush doctrine on the GWOT. And NO Democrat would do that. The Democrats are soft on terror and bad for our security with their hatred of our military.

May we live in interesting times, indeed.

-Warner Todd Huston

Activist Judge Turning Over Top Secret NSA Files to Leftists
by Jim Kouri, CPP

It's Just Another Day in Paradise
- By Greg Stewart

Okay, I am sitting here working on the computer, doing homework, listening to music, emailing, and reading the textbook from my astronomy class, yes--I am a multi-tasker, when I realize that it was three in the morning and I had not slept for at least for twenty-four hours. So, this is not an earth shattering discovery, or discovery the universe is 14 billion years old, or that Kenny keeps getting killed on South Park, or that the sky is blue, or water is wet, but it has been a trend lately, reflecting my insomnia and that every time put my head to pillow the brain will not shut off. So I have a few questions, is it possible to grow brain cells after your dead? Why did Johnny Cash always wear black? Where did General O'Neill disappear to on SG-1? And, who is the idiot who thought up the concept of work, anyway?

Oh, I don't mind working, its part of my addictive personality. I am here to confess, I am a workaholic. The only time, I fear, I will relax is when I die, but I pray, (Yes, agnostics pray! were just not sure which religious entity will receive the message--so we pray to them all; like sending a universal email, if you will allow). Anyway, I pray that if I go, it is in the arms of fiery dynamo, with long legs wrapped around me, and of starry emerald eyes encompassing my soul and passion--at that moment of embarkation.

However, the question remains when that time comes: which voice will I hear, male or female, or will the universe be a cruel mother and reveal no voice at all? My hope is that it will be female. Why? Because, it's the perfect payback, and the fact that Alanis Morrisett is the actual voice of God (reference Dogma) and it will teach certain fundamentalists a lesson. Also, the hope is that she will grant my wish of a certain number of concubines (I just want 36 not 40) so that I know all the emotions of life, love, lust, empathy, fear, joy, passion, compassion, and much more. .........
Click HERE To Read On

I don't know how many of you get the Federalist Patriot report via email, but it is a great source of conservative news and opinion that all of you should get.

You can find their site at:

Federalist Patriot

Anyway, even though I support them, they sent out an email today that bashed Abe Lincoln fiercely. I was so moved to annoyance by their biased and ill thought out email that I had to write them and say how disappointed I was.

You can go to their site and see the anti-Lincoln screed that they put out to know exactly what I am replying to if you desire to do so.

The Letter


To: The Federalist Patriot,

I have to say that I am a supporter of the Federalist. I have donated money in the past and I enjoy the updates I get via email. So, I must say that it came as a bit of a shock to me when I read your anti-Lincoln screed this week.

Not only was nearly everything you presented about Lincoln skewed badly, but some of it was just plain unfairly attached to the martyred president. Worse yet, you used a quote from Thomas DiLorenzo on whom you laughingly bestowed high credentials of a "Lincoln scholar" to support your positions. DiLorenzo is one of the worst polemicists I think I have ever seen. His MO is one you decry in leftists all the time; arrive at a conclusion, then warp the facts to support it. He is no scholar, and from some of the roundtable discussions I have seen between him and real Lincoln researchers, he ain't much of a gentleman either. You do both yourselves and your readers a disservice to use him as a source.

If you are still bothering to read this, you may want examples of my disagreements with your Lincoln bashing. Well, glad you asked...

Now, I would absolutely agree with you that Lincoln had eliminated the old order of the formation of the country. I agree with you that he instituted a nation of big government. I also lament this to a degree, as well.

However, you act in your piece as if things were going along swimmingly with the Founder's plans until that Lincoln, avaricious of power, came along and destroyed democracy! You are absurd to say so, too. The southern block had quashed democracy in the 1830s with the gag orders on the issue of slavery in Congress long before Lincoln ever decided to run for president. If you want to decry the destruction of the old order, you can thank the slave holding south for starting the ball rolling.

In light of this, I was flabbergasted to see you signing onto the mythical "reunification model" dream that has been touted by people who ignore everything that was happening in this country prior to the war's beginning. Not only that, but to assume that the south would have just meekly returned to the Union after a few decades alone in the wilderness is idiotic to say the least. Nations, once they have successfully assumed that mantle, do not just cast it aside voluntarily and the South would probably have been no different.

Now, I think I can agree that secession was a concept assumed as possible by most politicians of the day and those days previous to the War Between the States. However, I feel that shows a weakness of our system not a strength. And that weakness was exploited dozens of times from before the Constitution was signed to the day the first gun fired at Fort Sumter. Dissolution was a constant threat used by weaker sections to force conciliation. This is a tyranny of the minority and NOT very democratic, I'd say.

The war may have worked for posterity, but I would have stood up at the time in favor of allowing the south to depart in peace, I must admit. So, to this point I'd say Lincoln did overstep his bounds.

But your lauding the ability of the south to separate makes the lie to the very stance you take today on American involvement in the Mideast. Two of the biggest reasons we use to involve ourselves in other countries -- and reasons that are ultimately legitimate in light of American exceptionalism -- are the same ones we have used since the war with Spain; human rights and spreading democracy. If your desires to see the south separate and become a sovereign nation would have come to fruition you would thwart both concepts. The south was neither democratic, nor did it observe the human rights of its chattel slaves. Your inconsistency on this matter is not just incidental, but abhorrent.

Further you assume the consolidation of this southern confederacy was transcendent in the south. But, if you look at the numbers of southern men who fought for the Union from every single southern state, you would see that the Confederacy never had majority support even among its own people. Conversely, few Northern states had anything more than tiny handfuls of men go south to fight for the Confederacy, many states statistically had none. The south forced thousands upon thousands of people in every member state into slavish support of the CSA. So much for your vaunted democratic ideals, eh?

Next you lambasted Lincoln with the results of reconstruction, yet Lincoln was dead during that era and never had the chance to offer his guidance to much of what went on then. And it is widely recognized that radical, "bloody shirt waving" Republicans were the ones that drove reconstruction to the oppressive ends it reached. Lincoln cannot be blamed for reconstruction and you are illegitimate to discuss that era in a Lincoln piece tagging him for its failures and excesses, for sure.

And it is obvious you have read nothing but DiLorenzo's prosaic canard on Lincoln's supposed hypocrisy on the Negro question. Both he and you make it clear that you haven't a clue of the racial attitudes and relationships that most whites had with and for blacks of the time much less any grounding in Lincoln's.

Lincoln mentioned slavery over a thousand times in his personal papers. This idiotic claim that he somehow didn't care about blacks just reveals your lack of knowledge all the way around. Yes he used the emancipation as a war aim. Yes he was cagy at times about slavery and did his best not to be too forthright in his condemnation. But his whole career as a candidate for the presidency from the Cooper Union speech to the day he died was backed by his desire to materially alter and hopefully eliminate slavery in the USA.

The fact that he did not feel blacks were the mental equal to whites is so immaterial to that issue that it isn't even funny. Few whites anywhere in the entire world at that time felt a black could ever be an equal citizen to a white person. Even science at the time had arrived at a consensus that blacks were a lesser human being. And those who did think blacks could be equal thought so on the basis on radical, quasi-religious fervor, not societal or scientific principle. Why would you expect Lincoln to be so much above his society and even the scientists of his day on this issue???

Furthermore your claims that the war was not about slaves at the beginning is a meaningless point. The war, every war, was a political animal as well as a security issue. The war could not have been carried on if it was "all about the Niggers" as many of the day put it (in fact two entire regiments of Illinois troops quit the war when the Emancipation was issued). Like I said, Lincoln was enough of a politician to know that politics is more often about the possible than the principle.

Next you act as if the South would have given slavery up and that it didn't need to take the war to do so. In that contention, history would prove you wrong. As each decade passed after the Constitution was signed slave advocates grew stronger in he south. What on earth would make you imagine that could be reversed?

This feeling against blacks was one that was felt by whites on both sides of the Mason/Dixon line. And that is why Lincoln didn't free any slaves in the North with the Proclamation. Again, we see that politics is about the possible and it was not politically possible to free slaves in the Northern held areas. But, Lincoln was the first president that ever succeeded in making this first step toward eliminating slavery. The issue is far more complicated than your superficial assumption that any US president could just have eliminated slavery with the "stroke of a pen" makes it seem.

(Also, the story of Robert E. Lee being offered command of all Union forces is problematic and not one fully proven.)

As to your discussion of the civil rights abuses that Lincoln engaged in, well that is all quite true. And I also find this a dent in his sterling record. But, then again, every president and administration we have ever had has done similar things to one degree or another in time of war. After all, you have written in favor of the Patriot Act, it MUST be pointed out! (And I support that support, by the way)

We have always limited civil rights in some way when we have been faced with war, and that is as it must be. It is a truism that the Constitution is not a suicide pact. But, every time a war is over, we've gone back to a fuller enjoyment of our common freedoms and that is because our system is designed with the flexibility to respond to times of war.

Also, your harkening back to the abuses of Mad King George is also foolhardy. After all, our president was given powers stronger in many ways than that of the King's by the very men who fought a war to free themselves of that same King. Nearly every president until Lincoln used those powers liberally.

In the end, your reputation has taken a sever blow with me I am quite sad to say. This slanted, often illogical, and badly ahistorical polemic against Lincoln has made you look little better than a hood wearing, cross burning southern apologist from the late 1800s. It has also made you look just like the leftists who warp and bend facts to fit their needs of the day. You needed to bash Lincoln, so you warped things to do so.

I suggest you stay with current affairs. Your history seems a bit tarnished.

This is not my kiss goodbye, I feel it necessary to say. It is my democratic right of disagreement with you. I still support your work and look forward to seeing your next email missive. I just hope that I can trust it as fully as I have in the past.

Thank you

Progress For America has put together a terrific video called "Midwest Heroes." You can watch it here. The video features three servicemen who have served in Iraq: Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson of Minnesota, Captain Mark Weber of Iowa, and Staff Sgt. Marcellus Wilks of Iowa. The theme of the video is that "American troops are making real progress in Iraq." I was delighted to see that PFA is playing the video as an ad, not only on cable TV, but as a sponsor of the Winter Olympics.

"Midwest Heroes" is a straightforward defense of the Iraq war. Here are some excerpts; all narration is by the three servicemen:

The media only reports the bad news, but American troops are making real progress, securing free elections and defending our country from radical al Qaeda terrorists who want to destroy Americans, starting in Iraq.

Saddam Hussein is one of history's biggest mass murderers. The blood of a million people is on his hands, with countless more raped and tortured.

You'd never know it from the news reports, but our enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda--the same terrorists who killed three thousand Americans on 9/11, the same terrorists from the first World Trade Center bombing, the USS Cole, Madrid, London, and many more.

American troops overwhelmingly support the mission President Bush has given us.

Where do you want to fight terrorists? We want to fight them, and destroy them, in Iraq.

Check the rest out at Powerline- click here
________________________
This is a great commercial and it is high time the media is used to extoll the successes of what is being achieved in Iraq by our wonderful soldiers.

But, it is also being reported that the Democratic Party in Minn. is trying to get these ads pulled from the airwaves.

The Democratic Party is weak on defense now and has been since 1974. They are Europeanesque in their hatred of our military. And, thousands of burning cars, death threats to cartoonists and murdered film makers is what Europe has gotten from that hatred. The Democratic Party would visit that kind of violence on the entire world with its anti-US policies.

By Nathan Tabor

At one time, the New York Times was considered the newspaper of record in this country. It soberly proclaimed “All the News That’s Fit to Print.” Aspiring journalists looked at the Times as the gold-standard for writing and reporting. If an item appeared in the Times, it was serious business. Statesmen routinely consulted the Times, especially when it came to foreign news that might affect U.S. policy.

But in recent years, new questions have been raised about the credibility of the Times. A reporter named Jayson Blair disgraced the paper through plagiarism. In an interview at the time of Blair’s exit from the Times, Blair said, "I am sorry to hear that more people have fallen in this sequence of events that I had unleashed. I wish the rolling heads had stopped with mine."

But there was more wrong with the Times than just Jayson Blair. Time and time again, it has proven to be a publication with an extremist editorial policy and a radical left-wing news agenda. The concept of "fair and balanced" simply does not enter into the editorial mind-set of the Times staff. To the Times, Republicans are simply lying ideologues who are completely out of touch with the American people. For Times reporters, a strong defense is unnecessary; abortion is simply a rite of passage for women; and homosexual marriage should not simply be tolerated, it should be celebrated. The Times never met a conservative it ever liked....

Click Here to Read On

I am not very big on this "cartoon war" business, but you just have to go see this little flash movie...
Movie Link

Watch out, Big Babysitter is in the offing
- By Michael M. Bates

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich wants to be president. The most recent indication is the $7,500 he paid last December to an Iowa political consultant who just coincidentally ran Al Gore's winning operation there in 2000.

Milorad's ambition also explains his need to come up with a new crusade every so often. Importing prescription drugs, purging junk food (we used to call them snacks) from state schools, and banning violent and sexually explicit video games may not be why voters elected him, but those campaigns keep him in the public eye. As the old saying goes, any publicity is good as long as they spell your name right.

The guv's latest gimmick is a proposal to shove 3- and 4-year-olds into the loving arms of state government. Called "Preschool for All," the plan will allow everyone – even those millionaires Democrats so despise – to send their kiddies off for a fun filled day of government indoctrination on the state's dime....................
Click HERE To Read On

Al Gore Personifies Liberal Disloyalty To America
by Christopher Adamo

San Francisco Needs to Leave the US
by Sher Zieve

ACLU Creating More Mischief
by Jim Kouri, CPP

Slandered vs. Slander Author?
by Thomas Lindaman

Karl Zinsmeister recently returned from a trip to Iraq and has written a great piece that demolishes a pile of the left's Iraq war myths. If you'd like some facts to counter leftist assumptions, read this piece. It is a very long piece compared to most simple Op Eds you might see, but the subject is not a simple subject, after all.

Among the myths he tackles...

Has the Iraq war been too costly?
 
But aren't our losses mounting?
 
How is the morale of our soldiers holding up?
 
But don't American combat losses fall disproportionately on minorities and the poor?

"The idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," opined Democratic chairman Howard Dean in December. Who agrees with him?
 
Well, most academics and journalists seem to. Military leaders, however, do not.

Morass or not, this war seems to be especially unpopular on the homefront.
 
Where is some evidence that we're making headway?

Then why do Iraqis seem so dissatisfied?
 
The Iraqis don't seem to be doing much for themselves.

Are there signs of the Iraqis weaning themselves from dependence on the U.S.?

Do average Iraqis support the insurgents?
 
But in the wider Muslim world, hasn't the Iraq war done irreparable damage to America's image?

Isn't it a pipe dream to think we can introduce democracy to the Middle Eastóso long dominated by strongmen?

Why do I never hear any of this in most reporting?
 
One media critic (Arthur Chrenkoff) did a content analysis of a typical day (January 21, 2005), and counted this breakout of freshly published stories on Iraq:
 
-1,992 covering terrorist attacks
- 887 essays alleging prisoner abuse by the British
-289 about American casualties or civilian deaths in Iraq
-27 mentions of oil pipeline sabotage
-761 reports on public statements of terrorists
-357 on U.S. anti-war protestors
-121 speculations on a possible American pullout
-118 articles about strains with European nations
-217 stories worrying over the validity of the upcoming January 30 Iraqi election
-216 tales of hostages in Iraq
-123 quoting Vice President Cheney saying he had underestimated reconstruction needs
-2,642 items on a Senate grilling of Condoleezza Rice over Iraq policy
 
Balanced against these negative stories, Chrenkoff ís computer search found a grand total of 96 comparatively positive reports related to Iraq:
 
-16 reports on successful operations against insurgents
-7 hopeful stories about Iraqi elections
-73 describing the return of missing Iraqi antiquities

American Enterprise Institute

In the decade since they voted to join the European Union the islanders of the Aland archipelago in the Baltic Sea have been outvoted and overruled by Brussels, time and again.

Now Aland, a unique, autonomous region of Finland, is about to teach Brussels a lesson in democracy it may never forget.

Thanks to a quirk of early 20th-century history, Aland's 26,000 people are essentially sovereign co-rulers of their home nation of Finland. As such, they can veto any international treaty that Finland wants to enter, including EU treaties.

And the islanders are threatening to do just that when the European Commission attempts to revive the moribund EU constitution later this year.

But last week the archipelago's head of EU affairs, Britt Lundberg, travelled to Brussels - a day-long trek - to deliver a warning that dismally low public opinion on Europe could mean Alanders prevent Finland from ratifying the constitution.
 
The islanders' revolt has been brewing for some time. First, this community of Swedish-speaking Finns lost the right to fish at sea with traditional nets.

Then Alanders saw their beloved spring duck hunting virtually abolished. To the Alanders' final outrage, local laws on consuming "snus" or Swedish chewing tobacco, are about to be quashed by the European Court of Justice.

Brussels is trapped in a "Catch 22" situation of the EU's own making. Snus, a form of chewing tobacco, has been outlawed by EU fiat in every nation except Sweden, which secured a -special opt-out as a condition of its joining the EU, and in every region - except Aland.

Aland is not allowed to defend its law before the justices in Luxembourg because the court recognises only nations. So the court is set to convict and fine Aland, without allowing the island's government to plead its case.

The head of the Aland government, Roger Norlund, admitted that he did not even like snus. To him, the row is philosophical. "Aland finds small-scale solutions to its problems. But the EU model is one of large-scale solutions, and harmonisation."

Tomas Grunér, a navigator on the big boats, uses snus "24 hours a day". "It keeps me relaxed," he said. "I thought the EU was a good idea, but now I think it sucks."

telegraph.co.uk
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OK. There is at least ONE place left in Europe where men have a backbone and tradition matters. Notice it isn't france?
-Warner Todd Huston

Frozen In Time (Greco-Roman Sculpture and National Policy)
- By R.A. Hawkins

At the moment the Chinese are buying our 'T' bills like they are solid gold. They have been for quite a while. Some might wonder why they would consider doing something like this when it is somewhat obvious that we're at odds with each other on just about everything from trade deficits to human rights and Taiwan. This year, 2006, is the year they have to open their banks to outsiders. The fear in China is that the insolvency of their banks will cause their banks to fall dramatically as everyone moves their money over to safer European and American banks. It is but one of the many joys brought to us by the WTO.

I remember hearing from the tin foil beanie crowd for quite a while that the UN had been tracking our debts and knew how much each and every one of us Americans owed to everyone else in the world. I usually answered them with one of the few Mao quotes that I like. He said that all politics are ultimately settled down the barrel of a gun. This is quite true, but then even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Got bullets? ...................
Click HERE To Read On

No Time To Go Wobbly On Iran
by Jeff Lukens

The Enemy of the Press's Enemy Is Its Friend?
by Randall H. Nunn

Unlike You, I Have Nothing Smart To Say About Those Anti-Muslim Cartoons In That Danish Newspaper
by Jonathan David Morris

The Story Behind the Non-Story
by Thomas Lindaman

Feminine Mystique, or Feminine Mistake?
by Carey Roberts

U. of I. cartoon flap brings investigation

The editor in chief of a student-led newspaper serving the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been suspended after printing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad that, when published in Europe, enraged Muslims and led to violent protests in the Middle East and Asia.

Editor Acton Gorton and his opinions editor, Chuck Prochaska, were relieved of their duties at The Daily Illini on Tuesday while a task force investigates "the internal decision-making and communication" that led to the publishing of the cartoons, according to a statement by the newspaper's publisher and general manager, Mary Cory.

Gorton said he expects to be fired at the conclusion of the investigation, which is expected to take two weeks.

Chicago Tribune Story
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Yeah. Freeeeeedom of the Press!!!

The Universities are all boogered up (as my old Grandfather used to say) over this issue. On one hand their PC world is anti-religion, on the other their PC world is pro-free speech, and on the third they are for multiculturalism to the point where nothing "bad" can be said about minorities regardless of context, truth, or relevance.

We can now see that the U of I is more concerned with multiculturalism than either anti-religion OR free speech.

Richard Roeper -- A Bush Basher Who's Annoyed With Me
- By Warner Todd Huston

On Feb 14th, Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Richard Roeper, wrote one of his columns about the fact that Chicago White Sox Manager, Ozzie Guillen, did not accompany the team on their visit to the White House.

He used this occasion not solely to write in support of the ball player, but as a vehicle to attack George W. Bush, saying in part: “…I just couldn't shake hands and smile with President Bush”.

(See Roeper’s columns here: Lay off Ozzie: Sometimes you can't pay your respects )

I have little interest in Roeper’s column here, however, as it is prosaic in its Bush bashing. Roeper is a Hollyweird wannbe after all. No, what this column is interested in is the thankfully short correspondence that Mr. Roeper and I had over his column.

Three little emails (two from me and one from him) reveals so very much about the both of us, to be sure.

After reading his bashing attempt, meant to ingratiate him with the Hollyweird set no doubt, I dashed off my own little missive to let Mr. Roeper know of my displeasure -- taking advantage of the same freedom Mr. Roeper indulges in for a living I might add; opining.
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Schauungtown Chronicles, Part 3: Change Of Address
- By Frederick Meekins

"The Community has to do with everything. Now tell me where you live, or get out of line, you useless geezer."

"My foot's gonna live up your..." The pugnacious elderly gentleman caught himself before enunciating something beneath his dignity. Just because the young snots these days felt they had some kind of duty to keep nothing hidden ---- even their innermost thoughts ---- was no reason he had to let it all hang out, at least not yet anyways.

"Getting feisty, are you? We'll see if your still so eager to disrupt communal harmony once the Social Enforcement Committee gets here."...........
Click HERE To Read On

WFire This School Superintendent!
- By Warner Todd Huston

In yet another case of PCisms gone mad, superintendent Basan Nembirkow of the Brockton, Massachusetts school system has suspended a 6-year-old boy for sexual harassment of a girl student at Downey Elementary School.

Now, one might think by reading that first line that this Op Ed is just another example of a Conservative going over the top. After all, what does a 6-year-old know about sexual harassment? Well, that is certainly a good question. It's sad that it is a question that our intrepid superintendent, with all the many sheepskins presumably hanging on his office wall, didn't think of first.

It is a question that many others considered, though...................

Click HERE To Read On

About time!

TORONTO — Ontario has formally passed legislation to prohibit the use of religious tribunals to settle family law disputes such as custody and divorce.

The bill was introduced after Premier Dalton McGuinty promised last year to prohibit the use of religious rules, called Shariah law, to settle Muslim family law cases.

McGuinty surprised many when he announced he would not only ban Shariah, but would also prohibit all religious arbitrations in Ontario.

Attorney General Michael Bryant says passage of the legislation means there will be only one law for all Ontarians, regardless of their religion.

McGuinty said last September that Ontario residents will always have the right to seek advice from anyone in matters of family law, including religious advice.

"But no longer will religious arbitration be deciding matters of family law," he said.

CTV.ca
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Hear, hear, Canada.

I wrote a warning article in 2003 about this that was widely distributed among Canadians. In fact, I still get an occasional email about this one:Canada Allowing Barbaric Sharia Laws?

In any case, at least we are beginning to see western law makers crack down on the pernicious influence of Islam in the west. Now, if only Australia can get beyond the tough rhetoric against Sharia and Islamic ideas of "law" and institute some laws banning observance of such, we will have another western nation seeing the light.

-Warner Todd Huston

Is it too much for a little common sense in the Press?

Now we get the MSM falling for propaganda from the Chicoms who, in their arrogance, are now trying to claim they invented the game of golf!

ANCIENT paintings allegedly proving the Chinese invented the game of golf 1000 years ago are to go on display in Hong Kong.

The pictures from the 13th and 14th centuries show Chinese noblemen hitting balls into holes with clubs that look remarkably similar to modern golf clubs.

The paintings will go on display in an exhibition titled Ancient Chinese Pastimes in Hong Kong's Heritage Museum from March to June, the South China Morning Post reported.

Golf is widely believed to have been invented by the Scots in the 15th century but some Chinese historians argue that the game was being played in China by the year 945.

They point to evidence of a game called "chuiwan" - "chui" meaning to hit and "wan" meaning ball - and say the game was taken to Europe by Mongolian travellers.

Chief curator of the Hong Kong museum Tom Ming said: "The game shown in these drawings is very similar to modern day golf. (This is) very strong evidence that we invented the game."

Go here for source

Sorry to disappoint ya, MSMers, but until the Chinese can present solid proof that the Scots were influenced by an ancient Chinese game, a game that was seen hundreds of years before -- and not SINCE -- the Scots began to create golf, we have to conclude that this is just another one of these coincidences that shows that man thinks like other men.

It is not uncommon to see various and far flung cultures of men creating similar games, art styles, similar social structures, and similar religious constructs throughout time. Some were influenced by each other. Many are not and are merely a result of a commonality in the way man thinks and reacts to his fellows.

Let's not allow the Chinese to steal golf like they have stolen their entire technical infrastructure!

-Warner Todd Huston

A reminder for you San Franciscans who have lost your Constitutional rights...

Free State Project offers safe haven for San Francisco gun owners

San Francisco handgun owners who are unwilling to comply with the city's new gun ban and confiscation that goes into effect over the next two months have at least one promising alternative: Join the hundreds of other Californians who have signed up for the Free State Project and are moving to New Hampshire.

Free State Project Press Release

OPEN LETTER TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON
- By Vince Johnson

Dear Al: I hope you won't mind my addressing you as "Al." We the people of the United States of America aren't as formal as we used to be. Since your time, Americans have found ways to shorten all kinds of things. We can travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific in less time than it took you to go a tenth the distance from New York to Boston. One of our most popular carriages is called a "Chevrolet," but everybody calls it a "Chevy." The shorter the word the more we can say during those brief moments we call a "coffee break."

The examples of how we speed up conversations are everywhere. We have an organization known as the "National Football League." It takes too long to pronounce each word so we simply say the "NFL." You might be surprised to know that this is a game watched by millions and played by millionaires proficient at running, throwing and catching an elongated ball some refer to as a "pig skin." On each "play" these gents grunt and groan while knocking each other down. Several times during the game, everybody holds their breath when another gent comes in to kick the ball!............
Click HERE To Read On

HOW LOONEY CAN MASS MEDIA GET?
- By Vince Johnson

By "mass media," I mean all TV news outlets, big city newspapers, and entertainment companies that produce movies and videos. I first noticed it when CBS announced plans to air a "special" that made President Reagan look like a buffoon. A vast number of people were scoffed at as "hyper-sensitive" when they objected to the idea of ridiculing an ex-President while he was laying on his deathbed. Eventually CBS reconsidered. They expressed no regrets for producing the show and were obviously reluctant to drop it off their schedule.

Then there was the "boat people" with their attacks on Kerry. All segments of the media went into a frenzy over that one. Those who liked Bush thought it was great, and those who liked Kerry thought it was outrageous. Media people made millions running the ads and using prime time TV to analyze whatever impact it may have had on the campaign. Other than that, nothing changed.............
Click HERE To Read On

An American Perestroika
by Laura Adelmann

Sen. Chuck Hagel Rewarded by New York Times
by Jim Kouri, CPP

Parallel Universes
by Erik Rush

Jeb and George Bush: True Education Reformers
by Nancy Salvato

Anger Management
by Thomas Lindaman

Jimmy Carter: An American Disgrace
by Vincent Fiore

UN to US: Close Down Guantanamo; US to UN: Clean Up Your Own Act
by Jim Kouri, CPP