Menendez' Ethics Issues Hurting Him

The myriad ethical lapses of Senator Bob Menendez are seriously hurting him in the campaign:

It appears the ethics investigation targeting New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is hurting his chances to return to Washington.

A new WNBC/Marist poll released on Friday shows that, if this were Election Day, Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. would defeat Menendez 42 percent to 37 percent.

This is a big change from two polls taken earlier this week, where likely voters were polled, and Menendez was slightly ahead.

...Overall, 52 percent said they were aware of the Menendez investigatio (sic), while 47 percent were not.

5-points is not a huge lead in most states. In NJ it most defnitely is. As for only 52% of the people saying they don't know about the investigation, they will as Kean has been running ads constantly pounding Menendez on just this issue.

Representative Foley Resign Over Page Scandal

Representative Mark Foley (R-Fla) resigned yesterday in the midst of an investigation into his conduct toward a male. teenage page.

Congressman Foley seems to be highly disturbed individual and should've stepped down. Get help Congressman.

The donks are jumping all over this and acting moronic. Rick Moran calls them on it.

Update: PoliPundit has background on Florida laws dealing with this the election.

Landmark Border Legislation Passed

The Border Fence Act of 2006 (HR 6061) passed 80-19 (Teddy Kennedy did not vote) and will now head to Bush. He has said he would sign.

The only nays were from Senators from mostly non-border states such as the dynamic duo of Menendez and Lautenberg from Jersey.

No amnesty, no BS, just a good soil bill that will change illegal immigration for the future.

Digger has the lowdown as he's been following and posting on this story for a long time.

Farm Aid

Neil Young, Willie (I'm seventy and still smoke weed) Nelson and John Camp Cougarmellon are coming to Camden of all places for Farm Aid.

It's funny that they chose Camden as it's the most dangerous city in America and the only thing farmed is home-grown sensimilla and the only ground overturned is that in which a freshly planted body is deposited.

I understand the plight of the family farmer and feel for them. I hope this assists some of them and helps them survive.

You can watch it at the link above.

Menendez' Scandal Du Jour

Old Robbie Menendez is in hot water again:

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's closest political adviser was secretly recorded seven years ago boasting of political power and urging a Hudson county contractor to hire somone as a favor to Menendez, according to a transcript obtained by The Star-Ledger.

Tonight Menendez's campaign says he has severed his ties with the adviser, Donald Scarinci, after learning of the taped conversation.

Menendez and Scarinci were childhood friends and Scarinci, a prominent attorney with extensive contracts in state and local governments, has been a key fundraiser for the senator throughout his long political career.

Scarinci was recorded in 1999 by Oscar Sandoval, a Union City psychatrist who had contracts with the county jail and hospital in Hudson County, according to two people familiar with the tapes who requested anonymity because the recordings are evidence in a pending lawsuit.

A transcript of the recorded telephone conversation was obtained by The Star-Ledger and verified by the two sources. In it, Scarinci urged Sandoval to hire another physician, Vincente Ruiz, telling him: "Menendez will consider that a favor."

It sound Godfatheresque, doesn't it? That my friends is New Jersey politics.

Menendez is a scumbag who has been not only living on the public dole but robbing it also.

Olbermann Sucks is Getting Play

It's funny the way people find this site. Today I've had seven links to this post via Google by people using the searchwords "Olbermann Sucks". I guess the word is getting out. The search links to this post.

Tuesday Night Notes (Kansas City Edition)

News of note from all over the web:

*I blame the JEWS!

*AP reporter taken to the woodshed by Hamid Karzai and President Bush.

*Will SCOTUS hear arguments on teacher's union dues? One can hope. This could have serious ramifications for many unions.

*Heh

UAW Fiddles While Detroit Burns

The United Auto Workers are a major part of the death spiral the US auto industry is now experiencing:

It's staggering how much money Detroit's automakers have to lose before the United Auto Workers union -- which promotes itself as a partner -- agrees to help out the companies.

The Chrysler Group will lose an estimated $1.5 billion in the third quarter and $1.2 billion for the year, yet the UAW won't work with the company to help reduce health care costs because it doesn't think the losses are significant enough yet.

"Our position remains the same," Roger Kerson, a UAW spokesman, said Wednesday when asked about reopening contract talks with Chrysler. Earlier this month, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said the union wasn't willing to make concessions that would have saved Chrysler $340 million a year.

Apparently losing $100 million a month during the year isn't significant.

They will come out with nothing for their members except empty promises. This may just signal the beginning of the end for one of the strongest unions in the nation. That's probably not such a bad thing in light of how they've contributed to hurting the industry over the years.

More Proof That the IAEA Are Bumbling Idiots

This is so funny as to be pathetic:

Jihlava, South Moravia, Sept 23 (CTK) - A US commissioner from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) emerged unharmed after falling into a water tank at the Dukovany nuclear power plant on Friday.

The daily Mlada fronta Dnes reported Friday that commissioners training at the facility were moving around the plant in a group. One of them, however, left the group and fell into the tank.

The water in the tank was not radioactive.

A spokesman for the plant told MfD that the commissioner admitted he had made a mistake. "The rules say that no one is allowed to leave the group," the spokesman said.

The water tank is used in the process of loading and unloading nuclear fuel. Although the water was not in contact with any nuclear fuel during the training, the commissioner was examined to make sure he was not contaminated with radioactivity.

These are the idiots once led by Mohammed el-Barradei who we trust to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons? Sheesh.

Michael Scheuer Rebuts Clinton

Former CIA analyst and expert on bin-Laden, Michael Scheuer puts the onus of the blame for al Qaeda's emergence squarely where it belongs, on President William Jefferson Clinton, Sandy Berger and Richard Clarke.

Scheuer is no Bush fan--he wrote the brutal Imperial Hubris--but is a smart man who was there.

Note that the left was singing Scheuer's praises not so long ago including antiwar.com, the extreme far-left Alternet and Political Dog Fight. How will they go from absolute praise to slamming him? Well, this is the left we're tallking about and hypocrisy is as natural as breathing.

More fact checking of Clinton here. BCB has more here.

Can Europe be Saved?

It can if other European nations do what the Swiss are doing:

Swiss voters have overwhelmingly approved tougher regulations on asylum seekers as well as new limits on immigration for people from outside the European Union.

But an initiative to prop up the country's ailing old-age pension scheme with profits from the National Bank failed to win a majority at the ballot box.

Around 68 per cent of voters endorsed amended laws on asylum and immigration in Sunday's vote, according to official results. All 26 cantons were also behind the measures, which were approved last year by parliament.

The United Nations Refugee Agency, which had criticised the new asylum legislation, said Switzerland's laws would now be among the toughest in Europe.

Of course the UN is against this policy as they are against anything that would protect nations from terrorism.

Have a Good Stiff Drink Mel

Mel Gibson is talking stupid again:

In describing its portrait of a civilization in decline, Gibson said, "The precursors to a civilization that's going under are the same, time and time again," drawing parallels between the Mayan civilization on the brink of collapse and America's present situation. "What's human sacrifice," he asked, "if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?"

Have a drink Mel, when you were drunk you only spewed anti-Semitic invective, now that you're sober you're just babbling incoherently.

More Bad Polling News For the Dems

It's looking pretty bad for the party of appeasement:

Today's Iowa Poll of the 2008 race for president in the Hawkeye state ought to make Republicans happy and cause a pause on the Democratic side.It's particularly bad news for Gov.
Tom Vilsack and Sen. Hillary Clinton, two Democrats gearing up for that contest.

We asked likely Iowa voters what they'd do in some hypothetical 2008 matchups in the state. The two GOP front-runners, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain, beat the Democratic front-runners - Clinton, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

(Giuliani beats Clinton 56-37; Edwards, 51-43; and Kerry, 53-40. McCain defeats Clinton 54-37; Edwards, 47-46; and Kerry, 53-39.)

I predict that the next approval poll will look better for Bush also. The donks have every chance imaginable to take at least one of the branches of the legislature and still no one likes them.

Update: Better news, Cantwell slips.

Clinton Acts Un-Presidential

Bill Clinton got his panties all in a wad because he was asked on FOX about his failed "attempts" to get bin-Laden. He acted like the donks want the rest of their party to act and gave them a bit of red meat.

The facts however as laid out by Michael Scheuer, Richard Miniter and others are a different story.

Allah destroys Clinton's responses to all the pertinent questions that no one has ever asked the man who discredited the White House more than anyone since Nixon and failed in the single most important job a chief executive has--protecting America.

Update: Patterico proves Clinton wrong. He asked Rumsfeld the same question and Rumsfeld handled it like a pro--the exact opposite of Clinton.

All Hail Trevor Hoffman

I was living in San Diego back when they brought in an unknown manager to run a team that effectively was reduced to minor league status by Tom Werner and his band of idiots. Werner owned the Padres and decided to have a fire sale of epic proportions. Tony Fernandez, Fred McGriff and Gary Sheffield were dealt.

For Sheffield, the Padres got an unknown right-handed pitcher named Trevor Hoffman.

Bruce Bochy saw something in the kid and made him his closer, a tough job where one mistake is magnified times ten.

Bochy did what many mangers do not, he stuck with Hoffman through good and bad. When Hoffman was blowing saves, Bochy--like a god coach should--let him pitch through it.

Now we see what Bochy's faith in Hoffman had led us to. Trevor Hoffman is now tied with Lee Smith atop the leaders list for saves. He will be in sole possession by the end of this weekend if things play out correctly.

Congratulations Trevor Hoffman.

As anyone who reads this site regularly knows, my son is a Padres fan and I'm a Phillies fan. They've been battling down the stretch. As I write this, the Padres are 1.5 games up on the hated Dodgers in the NL West and the Phils are 0.5 games up on the Dodgers in the wildcard.

Always Ask the Handicappers

If you want to know the line on anything in the world, London handicappers will have it. From the Ryder Cup to US elections.

Don Surber has a post that shows that the odds makers aren't too hot on the donks prevailing come November.

Surber:

Gasoline prices are down 48 cents a gallon in a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 7% this year. Unemployment is below 5% and tax revenues are at an all-time high.

War on families? If so, the families are winning.

Which leaves the war on terror. Dr. Dean wrote, "We will have a defense policy that is tough and smart, starting with phased redeployment of our troops in Iraq, and shore up our efforts to attack al Qaeda and fight the war on terror."

Voters calculate that as phased redeployment=immediate withdrawal=surrender.

Equals why bettors have pushed the odds down to even in London.

How to Go From Regressive to Progressive

The so-called "progressive" (who are actually people who are too ashamed to call themselves "liberal") movement has lately stood up for Ahmadinejad and Chavez.

As I said to a commenter here, they are in fact "progressives" in certain circumstances; they've regressed so much by standing up for murderous terrorists and thugs that any positive step would make them a "progressive".

If you have lowered yourself into the fever swamps and sewers that places like Daily Kos and DU have become, any step out is progressive.

Think Progress Loads on the BS

This my friends is world class bullshit:

The USS Cole was bombed on October 12, 2000. As Clinton noted in his interview with Fox, “The CIA and the FBI refused to certify that Bin Laden was responsible” until early 2001 which foreclosed the possibility of a full response during his administration.

The Bush administration, on the other hand, had 8 months prior to 9/11/01 to respond to the USS bombing and did nothing.

Classic Clinton spin. He treated everything as a criminal case to the extreme detriment of our country.

The Khobar Towers bombing was linked to bin-Laden, the Blackhawk Down fiasco was linked to bin-Laden, The African embassy bombings and myriad other terrorist incidents were linked to bin-Laden. Everyone knew that the Cole bombing was linked to bin-Laden including Clinton. For crying out loud, he had (if it plays out that he died) roots in Yemen, the place of his father's birth. He had known operatives.

Think Progress should be embarrassed to even have such an erroneous post at their site. As soon as we had investigators there all signs pointed to al-Qaeda. Richard Miniter laid it out in excrutiating detail.

How sad that the Clinton supporters are resorting to revisionism and spin to try to rewrite Clinton's legacy of failed attempts and half-hearted efforts to stop al-Qaeda. Sad yet expected.

Bin-Laden Dead?

According to unconfirmed reports, the murderous sheikh died of typhoid fever in August.

Ace has the lowdown.

If he wasn't going to be sent to hell by a hellfire missile, typhoid would be just as good.

This is not confirmed by anyone just yet but Ace is right, if the US knew that he had died and were waiting for confirmation, that may have been the reason why he was put on the back burner.

I can see the left now, Osama is dead, but the US didn't get him.

No Shame at the Associated Press

In what could only be viewed as utilizing any reason to get the amount of American deaths in Iraq into the news, AP "news" writer Calvin Woodward gives us this:

WASHINGTON - Now the death toll is 9/11 times two. U.S. military deaths from
Iraq and Afghanistan now match those of the most devastating terrorist attack in America's history, the trigger for what came next. Add casualties from chasing terrorists elsewhere in the world, and the total has passed the Sept. 11 figure.

The latest milestone for a country at war comes without commemoration. It also may well come without the precision of knowing who is the 2,973rd man or woman of arms to die in conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, or just when it happens. The terrorist attacks killed 2,973 victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

I would bet anything that the AP had this story written weeks ago and counted down the deaths until they could run it. Mr. Woodward had this ready to go as soon as word of another death came across the wire. This is despicable, but sadly expected from the AP.

Do you think they ran a story noting the death of the serviceman that put the WWII level past that of Pearl Harbor? Of course not.

This is why the AP comes under fire repeatedly from the right side of the blogosphere.

MSM Hypocrisy (Example #4,509,698)

500 Saddam supporters--high on that good old time jihad laid down by the local Imam--rally for the return of the murderous dictator to power in his home town of Tikrit and the AP publishes a story about it.

35,000 to 40,000 people rally at the UN in support of Israel and the media is silent.

Bias? No way.

Anti-Wal-Mart Types on Defensive

Fresh off yesterday's decision by Wal-Mart to sell generics for $4 pr month supply, leading Democrat bloggers try to make some argument that Wal-Mart is still evil.

Kevin Drum has nothing to say worthwhile and takes several paragraphs to say it. Now Ezra Klein is another story. Klein thinks this is a loss for Wal-Mart and a win for "progressives:"

WAL-MART...GOOD? Some of my right-wing readers may think this'll make my head explode, but Wal-Mart's embarking on a new initiative to use its size and weight to bargain down the prices on generic prescription medications. In other words, the company I always accuse of acting like a monopsony is now going to use their might to act as consumer advocates on health care -- which will be good for consumers and bad for Pharma. Hooray!

Klein fails to note that because of Wal-Marts prices for all items they have been acting as an advocate for consumers. The view that it will hurt the big pharmaceutical firms is misguided at best, a lie at worst. The GlaxoSmithKline's of the world will sell more volume, thus they will make money regardless. It's a win-win situation for all and Klein is perplexed about how to spin it.

It's worth saying, though, that this is exactly what I and most Democrats are always calling for the government to do, and it's precisely this apparently unfair tactic that the Republican Party barred Medicare from using in the 2003 Modernization Act. It's rather weird that Congress felt the need to outlaw Medicare from bargaining down pharmaceutical prices, but thinks Wal-Mart should run wild.

This is where it gets fun. Klein is a big government, tax and spend liberal. The liberal brain just can't process the fact that Wal-Mart has come up with a great prescription drug program that will rival those of nations like Canada and Britain. They can't fathom that an evil corporation, especially one that pays low wages and is non-union would come up with a program that will save all American's money. They can't quite get their superior intellects around the fact that this corporate evil that they constantly attack (with constant instigation by organized labor) could come up with the dream prescription program and they did it using free-market means.

I'd love Ezra to explain to me how a program that will make Wal-Mart and the pharmaceutical firms more money is a win for "progressives."

Sorry Ezra, the free-market and capitalism wins again.

Showing Ahmadinejad the Love

Matt Yglesias gets a warm fuzzy feeling when he sees the vile jew-hating Iranian leader:

I keep talking about this with people in real life, but it deserves a blog mention as well -- Mahmoun (sic) Ahmadinejad has a pretty sweet hipster style. It all starts with a beard not unlike the one I and many of my twentysomething male friends sport. But it goes deeper. The man went without a tie to address the UN General Assembly. And I was in a bar where the TV was showing his interview with Anderson Cooper (it's DC, these things happen) and while there was no sound, he certainly looked witty and charming. There was also this clip of him walking down some hallway shooting the shit with Kofi Annan. It's like diplomacy! Bush should try it. One gets the sense that he's getting his stody red tie-wearing ass kicked this session by sundry third world goons and it's really not a proud moment for the United States.

A few things here Matty-boy. That man with a "sweet hipster style" is in the midst of building a theocracy in the mideast that would make the Taliban seem downright secular. In fact, if you lived in that mans nation, you'd be thrown in jail for A) sitting in a bar and B)watching the subversive CNN.

Next time you feel like getting the obligatory reach around from a thug dictator, you may want to reconsider posting it. If you're not embarrassed, you should be.

Note the comments where the "intellectual" left debates the hipness of such great and loved leaders as Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky and Mao.

Army Has Great Recruiting Year

Well lookee here. The libs have been telling us that people are against the war, especially the soldiers. Then why the hell have they had the best recruiting year since 1997?

At the start of this recruiting year, which began Oct. 1, 2005, many questioned whether the Army would reach 80,000, given the many alternative career options available to young people and the growing unpopularity of the Iraq war. But a package of new financial incentives, new recruiting approaches and a bigger recruiting corps did the trick.

Plus the unspoken fact that those who are old enough now to enlist were just beginning to understand the world when Muslim terrorists knocked down two buildings in NYC and slammed another into the Pentagon. They have seen war every day on TV. They know the consequences of their actions and still chose to enlist. They know that we are facing a serious enemy who threatens us. They are smarter than most give them credit for and I for one am proud they are my neighbors.

Patriotism is not dead... At least for those citizens not associated with the left.

Wal-Mart to Sell Generics for $4

Wal-Mart has been getting beaten up lately by the Democrats (hypocritically in some cases) who have been shills for the labor unions. The unions hate Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart will not allow them to represent their workers. They've pushed through laws keeping them out of Chicago to the detriment of residents there and still the Democrats back them.

I can't wait to hear their reply to this:

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Wal-Mart announced today that it will start a test program in Florida, where it will sell generic prescription drugs for $4 for a 30-day supply. The test will start tomorrow in 65 Tampa Bay-area stores and is to expand to the whole state by January.

In a statement, CEO Lee Scott says the world's largest retailer intends to "take the program to as many states as possible next year."

On average, generic drugs tend to cost between $10 and $30 for a month-long supply.

The world's biggest retailer said that it will test the program in Florida that will make 291 generic drugs available, which are used to treat a variety of condition (sic) from allergies to high-blood pressure. It will also be available to the uninsured.

The country's largest corporation is making pharmaceuticals available at a price that will save consumers hundreds or thousands of dollars per household. They are using their purchasing power to institute a program that will require little to no red tape and will be as easy as walking up the counter with a prescription from ones doctor.

In other words, they have developed a plan that will in fact act as a major tax cut for average citizens.

What can the donks say about this. They've chosen sides as shown by Hillary Clinton returning a fundraising check (after having sat on their board in the past) and will now have to answer to people in places like Chicago why they will not allow a Wal-Mart to be built in their neighborhood.

A brilliant move by Wal-Mart management.

The Left and Radical Islam (continued)

This is one writer who is so delusional as to be incomprehensible:

What it is is the latest case of overheated responses to Islamophobia overshadowing Islamophobia itself. Yes, violent protests are bad. But that doesn't excuse Benedict or make him some sort of civil libertarian martyr. The real issue is that the world's preeminent religious leader can get off making statements that could have been posted on Stormfront. That's a problem, and it should be treated as such.

So if I follow this guy's line of thinking, the Pope--quoting an ancient text that is still relevant--is wrong because he spoke his mind. He is a bit put off that the leader of the Catholic church would call out a religion that indeed does force conversion at gunpoint. This guy--like many of his liberal brethren--hate Christianity so much that they've become apologists for Islam. A religion whose leaders would round them up and execute them if given the chance. As for calling the Pope an idiot, that shows how bitter these people are. The Pope is among the most learned men in the world.

This drivel continues:

People seem to think of the Reformation as a time of moderation in Christianity. It wasn't. Martin Luther and John Calvin were a lot of things, but they were not moderates. They differed from the Catholic Church, but in many ways they were much, much more conservative. Similarly, the leaders of the Muslim Reformation are not moderates either. They are either Shi'a fundamentalists (Sadr, Hezbollah, Iran's leadership) or Salafists (al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas). But their more modern, personal Islam might well pave the way for a moderate and even liberal Islam. Who knows: in a few years, we might have the Muslim equivalents of Unitarians and Quakers.

This is one great example of why these peole are not taking seriously. Comparing Martin Luther and John Calvin to Hebollah, al-Qaeda and Hamas is like comparing apples and AK-47's.

Read that last sentence and tell me if these people can be trusted to lead our nation in this very important time.

Polls and Bush

The president has increased his approval rating repeatedly as I've noted several times in the last week. How can this be with an unpopular war going on and the constant drumbeat of negativity from the Dems and left?

R.C. Cox sums it up in two sentences:

"I believe he has made the country more secure," said R.C. Cox, a police officer from North Little Rock, Ark., who responded to the survey and categorized himself as a political independent. "President Bush has stuck with a nonpopular plan throughout this, and he has been relentless in what he has done."

Bush does not govern by polls and has stuck by his principles. Most Americans hadn't seen that in at least eight years and weren'treally sure how to react to that. They now see that this man is determined to protect our country and will battle with anyone--Democrats, fellow Republicans and allies--to do it.

Bush's stand will ensure that come November, the GOP will retain the House and Senate. The political climate in America is like Florida weather; if you don't like it, wait a few minutes.

Phillies Now Tied For First

The Philadelphia Phillies are now tied for first in the wildcard standings with the Dodgers. Yes, it's now late September and I've written those words.

True Phillies fans are waiting for the implosion. The one game or play that causes total and utter heartbreak. We've been here before and we all expect it. It's the Philly way.

The Phils have ten games left: three against Florida, one against the Astros; three at DC and the last three at the Marlins. The Dodgers and Padres are fighting for the division and the wildcard with the Pads playing the D-Backs tonight and moving on to Pittsburgh, St. Louis and then Arizona again. They are off today.

The Dodgers have an easier run with them finishing up in Pittsburgh tonight, then to Arizona, Colorado and two games at Frisco. They also have a day off in there.

My son is a Padres fan having been born in La Mesa. It's been a blast getting up every morning to check the west coast results.

Buckle up, it's going to be fun.

ER Notes

I've changed the blogroll on the right. Some sites stopped posting and to keep them there didn't make much sense.

You also may have noticed that I've included Google ads. As a free market conservative and all-around capitalist troglodyte, I figured what the hell.

If you are so inclined, click on the ad and see what they have to say. I make a shekel or two and it only cost you a minute. If not, that's fine also.

French "Youths" Get More Brazen

"Youths" attacked two French police officer in Seine Saint-Denis:

PARIS (Reuters) - A policeman was in hospital with serious head injuries on Wednesday after youths attacked him and a colleague in an assault that renewed fears about violence and crime in France's tinderbox suburbs.

The police captain suffered a double fracture of the skull and almost lost an eye after he and his driver were lured into a trap and assaulted in the Corbeil-Essonnes suburb south of the capital, said a police union official.

This is classic French right here:

Recent crime figures reported a sharp rise in violence, including attacks on police. The head of France's crime statistics body said that was in part due to Sarkozy's decision to order police back into tough neighbourhoods since the right won power in 2002.

So if I'm reading this correctly (as I'm a knuckle-dragging right-winger with no sense of nuance), the head of France's crime statistics body (a civil service job for everyone!) is blaming the right-wingers for sending police officers into tough neighborhoods to protect citizens. What an evil right-wing idea!

Anyway, It appears as though the captain will be okay after a few more surgeries. But who are these "youths?" Al-Reuters doesn't say but they may have put it into code in the last sentence of the story on page 3:

The situation was also playing into the hands of local Islamic extremists, Cordet's note said.

California Completely Loses It

My former home state has gone way over the top on this one:

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California filed a global warming lawsuit on Wednesday against Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and three other automakers, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have cost the state millions of dollars.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer (Democrat--ed) said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California was the first of its kind to seek to hold manufacturers liable for the damages caused by their vehicles' emissions.

The lawsuit also names Chrysler Motors Corp., the U.S. arm of Germany's DaimlerChrysler, and the North American units of Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd..

If I were those car companies, I'd close any plants that manufacture vehicles in the state (starting with this one near San Francisco.) I would also discontinue buying any parts made by California companies.

Next, I would jack up the price of the cars sold to cover the costs of legal expenses that will surely be incurred by this frivolous lawsuit. If all the companies effected did this, it would send a strong message.

California has always been extremely over regulated and this is just a slap in the face to companies who've brought Billions of dollars into the local economies.

Let's continue:

It also charges that vehicle emissions have contributed significantly to global warming and harmed the resources, infrastructure and environmental health of the most populous state in the United States.

Perhaps Lockyer missed this important speech on the farce that is global warming. To donks, the debate is over and no one or no facts can change their minds that global warming exists.

Lockyer, a Democrat, said the complaint states that under federal and state common law the automakers have created a public nuisance by producing "millions of vehicles that collectively emit massive quantities of carbon dioxide."
I wonder exactly how Lockyer gets around the state. Does he ride a bike from San Franciso down to San Diego?

Perhaps Mr. Lockyer should concentrate more on looking at the anti-Semitic/anti-American art he supports and less on frivolous litigation.

Update (9/21): More at the National Association of Manufacturers blog. Everyone has a blog.

Update 2: It looks as though someone sent an e-mail with a link to this to a whole gaggle of liberals. Welcome comrades from Madison, Berkeley and Mountain View. Look around and leave comments because I guarantee the majority of what I've written will piss you off. Of course, as a cold-hearted supporter of the evil Bushitlermcchimpyhaliburton, I don't care even a little bit.

Smerconish Reviews Roger Waters

At the PuffHo. The comments are about what you'd expect from that braindead group of misguided losers.

Whiny Little Pinko Speaks at UN

Hugo Chavez--minor dictator from Venezuela--spoke at the UN today:

"The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address Tuesday. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."

The leftist leader, who has joined Iran in opposing U.S. influence, accused Washington of "domination, exploitation and pillage of peoples of the world."

...He also said the U.N. "doesn't work" in its current system and is "antidemocratic." He called for reform, saying the U.S. government's "immoral veto" had allowed recent Israeli bombings of Lebanon to continue unabated for more than a month.

He's starting to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher at this point. Anyway, Fidel Jr. had his platform and instead of calling for improved conditions for those in South America, he takes the opportunity to call out Bush. A real man of the people. This is interesting:

Chavez lambasted Washington for trying to block Venezuela's campaign for a rotating seat on the U.N. Security Council. He said if chosen over U.S.-favorite Guatemala in a secret-ballot U.N. vote next month, Venezuela would be "the voice of the Third World."

Chavez is a dictator in a nation that has large deposits of oil and is a member of OPEC. He calls his country "third world." How can you take in huge amounts of revenue from oil and still be a third world country?

That's a screaming indictment of his communist ideology.

Update: Noam Chomsky got Hugo's endorsement.

Update 2: Video at Hot Air.

Update 3: The delusional one is feeling all brave because he's got himself some big boy military hardware:

Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced further purchases of Russian weapons, saying his country is to become 'an impregnable fortress.'

Venezuela has ordered Antonov airplanes and 14 gunship helicopters, the nationalist-leftist told the air force academy in a speech Tuesday night in the central city of Maracay.

'If you want peace, prepare for war, and that is what we are doing,' he said, adding that he wanted to significantly raise the level of the entire 'anti-imperialist armed forces.'

Umm, amigo, airplanes and gunships will not not protect you from a cruise missile launched 50 miles off your coast by a US Navy sub. Before you've had the chance to say "ay caramba" the missile will be coming through your casa window.

Enjoy your day, Hugo. The leftists of the world applaud your standing up to the evil Bushitler. They may not agree with the "if you want peace, prepare for war" thought but will overlook it because you called Bush the devil.

Turning Out the Base

Chris Bowers has been looking at the polls and is getting a bit worried it seems:

However, I simply cannot imagine any way for Democrats to win this election if Republicans turn out at higher rates than Democrats, as the Gallup poll LV model must undoubtedly show them doing. If we hold a nine-point edge among registered voters, than we should also hold a nine-point advantage among likely voters. If we fail to do so, then we have utterly failed in our field operations, our message, and our media strategy. You cannot find a nine-point nation swing within Independents. According to 2004 turnout levels, that would require moving 17% of Independents out of the Republican column and into the Democratic column. According to 2006 turnout levels, where Independent turnout will probably be even lower, an even larger swing will probably be required.

The Republicans will definitely turn out, that's a given. Democrat turnout has been sketchy at best and there's no issue that is so galvanizing as to bring out the Black vote in large numbers. That has been a huge issue for the donks. The Hispanic vote may be increased but the Republican base will counter most of that.

It's increasingly looking like the GOP will hold on and keep at least the Senate, House or both.

This is the poll that has Bowers and other Dems worried. It shows likely voters deadlocked with regard who they will vote for come November.

Spin it as they will, the polls have been trending up for Republicans and the president at a steady pace.

Update (9/20): Kean now leads Menendez among likely voters according to Quinnipiac:

New Jersey State Sen. Tom Kean, Jr., the Republican challenger, leads Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez 48 - 45 percent among New Jersey likely voters, including leaners, in the U.S. Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Another 6 percent remain undecided.

Thai Military Coup

While their leader was in New York, the Thai military launched a coup and suspended the constitution. They've named the King head of state.

Could recent Muslim attacks be the cause?

Chirac Surrenders

Jacques Chirac folds:

President Jacques Chirac has broken ranks with the US and Britain by calling for the suspension of UN Security Council action against Iran during negotiations over its nuclear programme.

In a radio interview yesterday before flying to New York for the UN General Assembly, the French President provoked a diplomatic storm by backing Iran's demand that the Security Council should halt its involvement in the nuclear dossier.

As I noted in the post below, M. Chirac has a kind spot in his heart for dictatorial regimes developing nukes and paying for French assistance.

Update: Tammy Bruce points out the real reason Chirac is waffling--the almighty Euro again.

Matt Yglesias--Cheney Looking to Use Tactical Nukes

Matt Yglesias brings us this drivel:

Such strikes are very unlikely to actually resolve the perceived Iran issue, and there are administration figures who've convinced themselves that a sufficiently wide air target set will prompt regime change in Iran. One should note that the curious thing about air power is that the professionals involved in managing it have a longstanding, cross-national, and incredibly pernicious habit of massively and systematically overstating its efficacy in accomplishing all sorts of implausible things.

Uh Matt, there's precedent for air power actually taking out the nuclear warhead development program of a nation. Perhaps you've heard of the Osirak raid. In that raid, Israeli pilots took out the entire Iraqi nuclear program, a program mind you that was built by the French and Chirac was a major player in getting done.

The IAF got in through serious air defenses and obliterated the facility. But wait, Matt reports on a truly evil, nefarious scheme being cooked up by Dick Cheney:

At this point, I think I need to bring up what one might call the Craziest Goddamn Thing I've Heard In a Long Time. This story came to me last week from an anonymous individual who I would say is in a position to know about such things. According to this person, the DOD has (naturally) been doing some analysis on airstrikes against Iran. The upshot of the analysis was that conventional bombardment would degrade the Iranian nuclear program by about 50 percent. By contrast, if the arsenal included small nuclear weapons, we could get up to about 80 percent destroying. In response to this, persons inside the Office of the Vice President took the view that we could use the nukes -- in other words, launch an unprovoked nuclear first strike against Iran -- and then simply deny that we'd done so. Detectable radiation in the area of the bombed sites would be attributed to the fact that they were, after all, nuclear facilities we'd just hit.

The radiation released from an attack on an unarmed nuclear warhead would be drastically different than that of a armed and delivered tactical nuke. We have conventional bunker busting bombs available that are more than capable of reaching most underground bunkers. Some bunkers will indeed remain but the hit would be devastating to their program. We do possess nuclear bunker-busters but the use of them would not be conducive to the aim of stabilizing the mideast. A conventional attack is one thing, nukes are another and it would never be approved.

Yglesias has it from someone he says who knows (and who also knows that leaking this info to a blogger would end their career) that the US is planning on a tactical nuclear strike and attributed that to the Office of the VP. I further think it wouldn't take too long for Cheney to find out who the leaker was and to make a huge example of them. That's why I think this is BS of the first order.

These people will believe any bad thing attributed to Cheney and worse will disseminate it without any type of confirmation.

The Inquirer Switches Story

This is odd. In todays dead tree version of the Inquirer, they have a story on the inside front cover with the headline 'Pope's apology fails to quiet a storm of protests; others say, 'enough'

The piece fails to highlight that certain influential Muslims called for the Pope to be executed and is written by Ian Fisher of the NY Times News Service. You can read the piece by clicking here but the link won't take you to the Inquirer, it will take you to the Deseret News.

On the Inquirer's website they have a story that's a bit different with this headline:

Pope's apology fails to quiet a storm of protests

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaeda in Iraq warned Pope Benedict XVI yesterday that its war against Christianity and the West would go on until Islam took over the world, and Iran's supreme leader called for more protests over the pontiff's remarks on Islam.

Protests broke out in South Asia and Indonesia, with angry Muslims saying Benedict's statement of regret a day earlier did not go far enough. In southern Iraq, demonstrators carrying black flags burned an effigy of the pope.

Now why would the Inquirer replace a story it had in it's printed page (one that was way softer on Islamic reaction) and use essentially the same headline without the portion indicating some moderates have spoken up?

Because they knew that the bloggers on the right who get the paper delivered would've been all over them for running the whitewash story. They decided to switch the story to one with a harder edge. Read the NY Times written piece and you'll see nothing but moderate or slightly inflamed Muslim leaders. Read the piece the Inqy has on its website and they have this:

"You infidels and despots, we will continue our jihad and never stop until God avails us to chop your necks and raise the fluttering banner of monotheism, when God's rule is established governing all people and nations," said the statement by the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups in Iraq.

That is not what was in the paper dropped in my driveway this morning. Here's a scan. For sizing purposes, I've left it longways.

The Fairness Doctrine and the Death of Free Speech

Are the Democrats seeking to silence those they can't beat? Maybe:

Having seemingly failed to knock Limbaugh out in the free market, where, oh where will the liberals turn? We already have the answer. If Democrats win control of Congress, the plan of some is to legislate radio time for liberals through reinstituting the Fairness Doctrine and thereby, in all likelihood, silencing Limbaugh and conservative friends. In other words, if speech gets too free to make you happy, bring your heel down on its head.

Let’s have some history here.

The Fairness Doctrine went into effect in 1949 as a regulation of the Federal Communications Commission. It essentially said that stations had to provide opportunities for other sides to be heard if someone said something politically controversial on air. The consequence was a quietude strikingly at variance with this democracy of ours.

...Democratic members of the House have already introduced legislation that would restore the Fairness Doctrine in such a way that radio stations carrying Limbaugh at great financial advantage would have to carry someone like Franken for an equal length of time at what would almost certainly be a great financial disadvantage. Hey, the stations might decide, let’s go with rock music - or whatever - because it’s easier and more profitable. If Democrats take back Congress, this anti-speech legislation could have a good chance of enactment, something to keep in mind when you enter a voting booth.

I'm hoping Ambrose is wrong, but the donks have been out power for so long, once they regain even a little, they will lock it up as best they can.

The F-14 Tomcat Flies Into History

The plane that made any male who watched Topgun (regardless of how incredbly irritating Tom Cruise was) want to be a pilot when they grew up is being retired:

VIRGINIA BEACH — By Friday, the Tomcat will be gone.

Cmdr. Jim “Puck” Howe, the last skipper of the last F-14 squadron based at Oceana Naval Air Station, will suit up, climb inside aircraft No.103, and fly off.

His radar intercept officer in the back seat, Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lind, also a member of the “Tomcatters” from Fighter Squadron 31, will do the same.

Watching the farewell flight will be about 3,000 invited guests, mainly former aviators, mechanics, suppliers and builders of the vaunted fighter jet.

“We’ll go through the start-up sequence, launch, come back for one fly-by and then officially it will be gone,” Howe said.

The Crazed Rantings of a Misguided Woman

Crazy old Aunt Helen is at it again:

TROY - White House correspondent Helen Thomas, known for grilling presidents from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush, had blunt words for both Democrats and the nation's Republican leader Sunday.

"Moderate Democrats dominate the party - GOP-lite," said Thomas, finding little difference between Republicans and moderate Democrats.

"Democrats should be shouting from the rooftops against Bush's war of choice," said the 86-year-old Detroit native and Wayne State University graduate, who tempered her criticisms with humorous recollections of her decades covering the White House.

The visual of the looney old bat yelling from the rooftops is not that hard to imagine. But just like someone yelling from the rooftops, no one will pay attention.

Helen of course doesn't even stop to think that the "GOP-lite" moderates are more akin to JFK and Truman than the Ned Lamonts of the world.

I know picking on Thomas is fish in a barrel easy, but she deserves it.

Also, note that the Michigan donks biggest event of the year only get $85 per plate. Hell, that wouldn't even buy a salad at a GOP shindig.

MSM & Democrat Strategy Takes Shape

With summer over, we're starting to see the MSM strategy take shape with regard to helping the donks win.

First, they are hinting that gas prices are going down to help the GOP. The piece tries to be fair but the headline--Is pump price drop tied to Nov. elections?--is the clue. Here's a good debunking of that line of thought via Andrew Cassel.

Next up in the playbook would be downplaying the economy. Exhibit A is this piece by Liz Sidoti:

GOP talk of vibrant economy rings hollow

FALMOUTH, Ky. - Used boots fetch $3 and old salt-and-pepper shakers bring in a buck at a makeshift flea market along Highway 27, presumably not what President Bush and Republicans have in mind when they herald a vibrant economy.

Times are "very good for the rich and very, very bad for the poor" who "can't afford to live," laments Larry Mitchell, 43, a now-and-then merchant peddling his wares recently in a submarine sandwich shop parking lot. He says the middle class is "having a hard time."

In the Ohio River Valley, where people decry high gas prices, stagnant wages, lost jobs and factory closures, many don't buy the claim that the economy is humming along.

Typical liberal spin. The rising tide does not raise all boats, especially if you go looking for boats with holes with a magnifying glass.

The good Cap'n whacks you with facts that totally destroys Sidoti's reasoning.

I also expect to see more negative stores about Afghanistan and Iraq (as if that were possible) and polls being spun like crazy as the GOP is making some good strides by all accounts (when even Zogby has to admit it, it's a fact.)

Lastly, this meme will be steady as a drumbeat: the polls are rigged:

An overhaul in how states and localities record votes and administer elections since the Florida recount battle six years ago has created conditions that could trigger a repeat -- this time on a national scale -- of last week's Election Day debacle in the Maryland suburbs, election experts said.

In the Nov. 7 election, more than 80 percent of voters will use electronic voting machines, and a third of all precincts this year are using the technology for the first time. The changes are part of a national wave, prompted by the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 and numerous revisions of state laws, that led to the replacement of outdated voting machines with computer-based electronic machines, along with centralized databases of registered voters and other steps to refine the administration of elections.

This will give the donks an out when they get beat again. They're starting it before the election this time around.

Buckle up and settle in, it's going to be bumpy for the next six or seven weeks.

Roger Waters Continues to Rile

Drudge is posting a picture and short story about Roger Waters and a flying pig prop that says "impeach Bush" among other things. One of the reviewers who saw the show said he interspersed pictures of Bush Reagan and Thatcher with Mao and other dictators.

Have any of you people heard of Roger Waters before today? The guy is a friggin' communist. He's always been. Listen to Pigs (Three Different Ones) where he slams Thatcher and other British leaders. Hell, listen to entire Animals CD and you'll see where his politics were and are.

He gets off on getting people worked up--especially conservatives. He always will.

Update: Waters got the day of the election wrong. I say to all who hate Bush: Vote Democrat on Nov. 2nd! The old donk motto "vote early and often" is apt.

More on the Pope and Islam (Updated)

Even the Vatican appears scared of Muslim anger. The Pontiff issued a non-apology apology and it's not enough. Here's the latest:

ROME, Sept. 17 — Pope Benedict XVI sought Sunday to extinguish days of anger and protest among Muslims by issuing an extraordinary personal apology for having caused offense with a speech last week that cited a reference to Islam as “evil and inhuman.”

“I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address,” the pope told pilgrims at the summer papal palace of Castel Gandolfo, “which were considered offensive.’’

“These were in fact quotations from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought,” the pope, 79, said in Italian, according to the official English translation.

“The true meaning of my address,” he said, “in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.”

A learned man like the Pope knows full well that Muslims don't respect Christianity. Oh, they moth the words when needed, but they will never respect it. Here's an example of Muslim thinking:

The daily Jomhuri Islami said Israel and the United States -- the Islamic republic's two arch-enemies -- could have dictated the comments to distract attention from the resistance of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah to Israel's offensive on Lebanon.

"The reality is that if we do not consider Pope Benedict XVI to be ignorant of Islam, then his remarks against Islam are a dictat that the Zionists and the Americans have written (for him) and have submitted to him."

"The American and the Zionist aim is to undermine the glorious triumph of Islam's children of Lebanese Hezbollah, which annulled the undefeatable legend of the Israeli army and foiled the Satanic and colonialist American plot," it said.

Would you consider Muslims respecting Christians if they believe the most powerful Christian in the world can be swayed the Zionists and America?

We all knew how the ROP (TM) would react when they were called out for their violent tendencies, they'd enter into peaceful dialogue and try to make us understand Islam, right? Uh, wrong in so many ways:

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Gunmen shot and killed an elderly Italian nun at a children's hospital in the Islamist-controlled Somali capital amid outrage over Pope Benedict's comments about Islam, witnesses said.

Two attackers entered the Austrian-funded SOS Hospital in Mogadishu's Huriwa District on Sunday and opened fire, killing the nun and a Somali bodyguard before escaping in the ensuing confusion, witnesses and medical workers said.

"They came into the compound and shot the nun and then ran away," one medical worker told AFP. "We don't know who they were."

Captain Ed has more.

Update: This from the Times of London:

The question is whether the emperor is justified in what he said. His main thrust was at least partly justified. There is a real problem about the teaching of the Koran on violence against the infidel. That existed in the 14th century, and was demonstrated on 9/11, 2001. There is every reason to discuss it. I am more afraid of silence than offence.

Update 2: I sure hope the Italian government has got their anti-terrorism ducks in a row because the call for the Pope's death is everywhere.

Why did Pope Benedict even apologize to these vermin? Jihadi's need the slightest provocation and never, ever forgive or forget a real or perceived slight.

I ask you, could this be the wake-up call that Europe needs and Oriana Fallaci called for?

Update 3: The Greek Orthodox and Aussie leaders hang tough, the Pope is looking to get out this and the Archbishop of Canterbury embarrasses Episcopalians once again. Allah has the roundup.

The Pope and Islam

The Pope chose to highlight obscure text about the violence of Islam. As a way to show that Islam means peace, Muslims rioted and are demanding an apology. The words the Pope quoted are:

“Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

Pope Benedict knew exactly what he was saying when he uttered the words that inflamed the Muslim masses. He's calling on them to take a hard look at what their religion condones and what the consequences of not speaking out against the violence has wrought. He left wiggle room by attributing the words to an ancient text but those words were his own.

As has been the M.O. of Muslims lately, they attack the messenger and do not listen to the message. He's been labeled a "crusader" and worse.

The Pope sees what has been happening in Europe and like the late Oriana Fallaci, he knows that the consequences of inaction will be the destruction of the various Eropean cultures.

The NY Times as always assumes the dhimmi position.

Think Progress Taken For A Ride

TP reported that inside sources said Air America was going to declare bankruptcy. They claimed inside sources, etc.

Looks like thy were taken in as they've retracted the original story.

Think Progress did n't think to check the validity of the story. How many other posts were as wrong as this?

Terrorist To Be Executed

One of the terrorists who killed more than twenty people with sarin gas in the Tokyo subway had his appeal rejected:

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a special appeal by AUM Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara against the death sentence for the sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 and other crimes.

The death sentence on 51-year-old Asahara for 13 crimes is now finalized as Japan's top court dismissed his appeal.

The Tokyo District Court's ruling deemed that Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, masterminded the 13 crimes by AUM Shinrikyo, and that a total of 26 people were murdered by AUM members under Asahara.

Good, I just hope it doesn't take us 11-years to stick the plunger in Zubaydah and KSM's arms.

Friday Morning Links

A busy day, what with McCain puffing out his chest and a conviction in the fake tallywhacker in the microwave case.

*Now this is funny. I wonder if he kept the receipt.

*Missed opportunities. Aggressive Tendencies has the story.

*That joyful group of Swatties is back at the Swarthmore College Young Democrats site.

*Those Jews are really clever, aren't they?

*As Frank Rizzo once said, "never write a letter and never throw one away".Our words will always come back to haunt us, whether it's two months later or 27-years.

*Update: Well duh!

McGreedy Watch

It's starting and it won't go away too soon. Former NJ Governor Jim McGreevey taped a segment with Oprah earlier this week for release during next. He supposedly poured out his soul to the talk show queen. Andrea Peyser has some thoughts:

THERE are several words in the English language that can better describe Jim McGreevey than his chosen title, "gay American."

One word would be "whore."

McGreevey's sin was never his sexuality. He was a corrupt politician who raped the people he served. He hired a foreigner, a man he now says was his lover, for a top position in his administration.

And when he was about to be caught, the coward hid behind his gayness - a move so cynical that I'm surprised it worked.

McGreevey used his homosexuality as a shield from his critics--critics who rightfully saw that the man was another vile example of north Jersey sewer politics. He is now just another scandal plagued hack who will sell his story of deception and unethical behavior for a few bucks.

This man sold out the safety of my friends, family and neighbors for nothing more than a little nookie from a man he placed in a position of great responsibility and was not even remotely capable.

Please just go away, Jim.

Oriana Fallaci Dies

The very brave and brilliant writer and resistance fighter Oriana Fallaci has died:

ROME -- Veteran journalist and writer Oriana Fallaci, a former war correspondent best known for her abrasive interviews and provocative stances, has died, Italian news reports said Friday. She was 76.

Fallaci, who had been diagnosed with cancer years ago, died in a Florence hospital, the Italian agencies ANSA and Apcom said. The reports said that she had been hospitalized for days.

Fallaci enraged the Muslims and leftists (but I am redundant) in Europe by speaking out about the Muslim threat to western ways. She also got the lefties in America worked up as well.

She was what journalists should be and will be missed.

You can read more about this incredible womans life here and here.

Update: Michelle Malkin has more.

Update 2: Judith at Kesher Talk links to this great New Yorker article:

Fallaci continued posing indignant questions about the treatment of women in the new Islamic state. Why, she asked, did Khomeini compel women to “hide themselves, all bundled up,” when they had proved their equal stature by helping to bring about the Islamic revolution? Khomeini replied that the women who “contributed to the revolution were, and are, women with the Islamic dress”; they weren’t women like Fallaci, who “go around all uncovered, dragging behind them a tail of men.” A few minutes later, Fallaci asked a more insolent question: “How do you swim in a chador?” Khomeini snapped, “Our customs are none of your business. If you do not like Islamic dress you are not obliged to wear it. Because Islamic dress is for good and proper young women.” Fallaci saw an opening, and charged in. “That’s very kind of you, Imam. And since you said so, I’m going to take off this stupid, medieval rag right now.” She yanked off her chador.

...Upon leaving Khomeini’s house after her first interview, Fallaci was besieged by Iranians who wanted to touch her because she’d been in the Ayatollah’s presence. “The sleeves of my shirt were all torn off, my slacks, too,” she recalled. “My arms were full of bruises, and hands, too. Do believe me: everything started with Khomeini. Without Khomeini, we would not be where we are. What a pity that, when pregnant with him, his mother did not choose to have an abortion.”

More from the same piece:

“Look at the Muslims: in Europe they go on with their chadors and their burkas and their djellabahs. They go on with the habits preached by the Koran, they go on with mistreating their wives and daughters. They refuse our culture, in short, and try to impose their culture, or so-called culture, on us. . . . I reject them, and this is not only my duty toward my culture. Toward my values, my principles, my civilization. It is not only my duty toward my Christian roots. It is my duty toward freedom and toward the freedom fighter I am since I was a little girl fighting as a partisan against Nazi-Fascism. Islamism is the new Nazi-Fascism. With Nazi-Fascism, no compromise is possible. No hypocritical tolerance. And those who do not understand this simple reality are feeding the suicide of the West.”

The Folly of Appeasement

The French have stayed out of most military undertakings lately because they wish not to incite the Muslim population that resides there and around the world. To this point it seems to have worked. Maybe for not much longer:

Deputy al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has urged a militant Algerian Islamist group to punish "crusader nation" France, even though it vehemently opposed the US-led war in Iraq, a newspaper said on Thursday.

The Le Figaro daily cited a security expert who had reviewed the entire tape, released on Monday, in which Zawahiri called on the Algerian GSPC group to become "a bone in the throat of the American and French crusaders."

France has a major problem on their hands. As "youths" burned cars across the nation over the last two years, the French should have taken it as a wakeup call. Alas they did not.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last -- Sir Winston Churchill

Update: Pope Benedict has riled up the Muslim street. I expect this to be at least as big as the Mohammed cartoon madness.

Thursday Night Lazy Blogging (Pink Floyd Edition)

Here's a cut from The Wall recorded live in 1980. Whereabouts are unknown but the choices are London, New York or L.A.. Note Roger with the acoustic in all his egostistical glory and a great solo by Gilmour.

Mother



Here's another. Rainbow's Stone Cold. Ritchie Blackmores guitar work and Roger Glover's bass is good. Hell, Joe Lynn Turner's vocals are great until you see the video and he decides to act like an idiot.



Here's another Rainbow video espousing all the cold war leftist rhetoric. Crazy-ass times were the eighties.

What happened to Ritchie Blackmore? Does anyone know?



Finally, this last one. Absolute hippy porn (Update: note John Kerry with Lennon):

Baathist Iraq and al-Qaeda Part 2

An Iraqi-Kurdish politician who serves as Iraqs Deputy Prime Minister says that there was in fact a link between Saddam and al-Qaeda:

WASHINGTON — A deputy prime minister of Iraq yesterday offered a sharp contradiction of the conventional wisdom here that Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al Qaeda had no connection before the 2003 war, flatly contradicting a recent report from the Senate's intelligence committee.

In a speech in which he challenged the belief of war critics that Iraqis' lives are now worse than under Saddam Hussein, Barham Salih said, "The alliance between the Baathists and jihadists which sustains Al Qaeda in Iraq is not new, contrary to what you may have been told." He went on to say, "I know this at first hand. Some of my friends were murdered by jihadists, by Al Qaeda-affiliated operatives who had been sheltered and assisted by Saddam's regime."

...Those words directly contradict a recent report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that declassified a 2005 CIA assessment of Iraq's pre-war ties to Al Qaeda and found that none existed. In an interview after the speech yesterday, Mr. Salih said he was unaware of the CIA assessment. But he added, "There were links between Ansar al-Islam and Al Qaeda. The information at time [in 2002] was quite different. Now, we could not prove this in a court of law, but this is intelligence."

So we have a man who was targeted for assasination by a group that has ties to al-Qaeda. We also have the Vice President stating the same thing. On the other hand we have congressional Democrats who--based on dated information--wrote and are using a report that says there was no connection.

I know who I believe.

Incumbents & Republicans Score Low

The Pew Research Institute writes that the voter mood is akin to 1994 when the Republicans obliterated the donks:

Read the report. The numbers don't look good but it's not bad news all around:

Forty-seven percent (47%) of American adults approve of the way that President Bush is performing his job. Fifty percent (50%) disapprove. Those are by far the best numbers for the President since mid-February.

The spike is fueled largely by a resurgence of support among the President’s base. Eighty-five percent (85%) of Republicans now offer their approval. At its low point earlier in the year, just 66% of the GOP faithful approved of his job performance.

His running average at Real Clear Politics is 42% which is improving.

Dems Support CAIR (Updated)

Say Anything has a list of congressmen and women who get a 100% approval rating from the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group that supports those who perpetrate terrorism.

More than 75% of donks in the House get a 100 rating. Some you knew aboyt like "Baghdad" Jim McDermott, Cynthia McKinney and Denis Kucinich. But how about John Murtha, Patrick Kennedy and Rahm Emanuel? They're all there. Remember, that compared to 3.5% of Republicans.

Amazing that these men and women would support CAIR to such an extent.

Update: Rusty Shackleford notes that the CAIR ratings are 100% or 0% and can relate to a single vote.

An MSM Tailspin

Newspaper sales have been sliding for years and they haven't hit bottom yet. Here's an example from just today:

The NY Times

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Chicago Tribune

Those examples are from two minutes of searching.

Most Americans don't want newspapers to go away, just present the news in a fair fashion. The various scandals have depleted any goodwill they once had and running Reuters op-eds as news doesn't help either.

Diebold Voting Machine Hacked

Princeton researchers successfully hacked a Diebold voting machine and made it change votes.

This will make the libs heads explode and the talk that Kerry really won Ohio will echo once again across Looneyville.

Uh, scratch that, it already has.

Clinton and Big Oil (updated)

Bill Clinton gave the oil industry a big fat kiss with tongue and it's going to cost us:

Devaney was asked to investigate a controversy that's been brewing on Capitol Hill for months over what critics call a giant giveaway to the major oil companies.

The giveaway, according to the critics, stems from leases issued by the government to oil companies in the late 1990s that exempted them from paying royalties on deepwater drilling, regardless of how much profit they ultimately reaped from that exploration.

The issue has taken on heightened urgency in the wake of the recent discovery of huge new oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico. The federal government could lose more than a billion dollars in royalty payments from this new source alone. Over the long term, the leases could cost the government as much as $20 billion, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office.

That money could be used to pay down the deficit or give us a little additional tax cut. Instead, Clinton gave it to the mean nasty big oil companies. It's all about the oil!

What would the outcry be like if it had been Bush who had given the oil companies this sweetheart deal?

Update: Why not include Hillary's latest shady deal disclosure:

WASHINGTON -- In the spring, when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was denouncing the Dubai Ports World deal, a consulting firm run by her top advisers was quietly lobbying for a Dubai takeover of two U.S. defense plants, Newsday has learned.

The Glover Park Group, whose principals include Clinton insiders Howard Wolfson, Joe Lockhart and Gigi Georges, was paid about $100,000 to help the government-owned Dubai International Capital Corp. in its acquisition of the British engineering firm Doncasters Group Ltd.

Will we hear from those who screamed about the ports deal? I'm not holding my breath.

Of course Chucky Schumer is involved:

Clinton and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who helped to sink the takeover of port operations by a Dubai company, supported the Doncasters acquisition, saying it didn't pose nearly as significant a security threat.

Basic Economics Sinks Gas Prices

Perhaps to as low as $1.15 a gallon:

Fear of disruption focused on fighting in Nigeria, escalating tensions over Iran's nuclear program, violence between Israel and Lebanon that might spread to oil-producing neighbors, and the prospect that hurricanes might topple oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil traders bet that such worrisome developments would drive up the future price of oil. Oil is traded in contracts for future delivery, and companies that take physical delivery of oil are just a small part of total trading. Large pension and commodities funds are the big traders and they're seeking profits. They've sunk $105 billion or more into oil futures in recent years, according to Verleger. Their bets that oil prices would rise in the future bid up the price of oil.

That, in turn, led users of oil to create stockpiles as cushions against supply disruptions and even higher future prices. Now inventories of oil are approaching 1990 levels.

Wow, that whole suplly and demand thing really does work, huh? It astounds me when people don't understand basic economics. Free markets fluctuate, that's part of the equation.

This cannot sit well with the Democrats going into the election cycle. If I were the GOP, I'd hammer this issue home every opportunity they get.

More:

Should oil traders fear that this downward price spiral will get worse and run for the exits by selling off their futures contracts, Verleger said, it's not unthinkable that oil prices could return to $15 or less a barrel, at least temporarily. That could mean gasoline prices as low as $1.15 per gallon.

The ripple effects from lower gasoline prices would be huge. I know in my case I've been getting beat up by high gas prices as I pay for my employee's gasoline costs. I will now see higher profits which means more money going into other sectors.

This will assist all industries as transport and logistics costs will be reduced dramatically. Trucking companies I was using were charging as much as a 20% fuel surcharge.

Update: More at In From the Cold.

Why Wal-Mart Matters

George Will on Wal-Mart:

The median household income of Wal-Mart shoppers is under $40,000. Wal-Mart, the most prodigious job-creator in the history of the private sector in this galaxy, has almost as many employees (1.3 million) as the U.S. military has uniformed personnel. A McKinsey company study concluded that Wal-Mart accounted for 13 percent of the nation's productivity gains in the second half of the 1990s, which probably made Wal-Mart about as important as the Federal Reserve in holding down inflation. By lowering consumer prices, Wal-Mart costs about 50 retail jobs among competitors for every 100 jobs Wal-Mart creates. Wal-Mart and its effects save shoppers more than $200 billion a year, dwarfing such government programs as food stamps ($28.6 billion) and the earned-income tax credit ($34.6 billion).

Think about those numbers. WM creates an astounding amount of jobs in the communities where they build.

The near-sightedness of those cities that bowed to union pressure and passed anti-Wal-Mart ordinances has hurt those cities. How much tax revenue has Chicago lost because of the pro-union anti-growth legislation?

Bush Scores Twice

Two major pieces in the war on terror are making it through committee and should be voted into law soon:

That bill, which could come before the Senate next week, is considered by many to be a ratification of the administration's current surveillance program, which monitors the overseas phone calls and e-mails of some Americans when one party is suspected of links to terrorism. The program has been attacked by Democrats and civil liberties advocates as an excessive encroachment on Americans' privacy.

...At the same time, the House Armed Services Committee voted 52 to 8 to ratify the White House's version of legislation creating military commissions for trying terrorism suspects. The measure would give Bush the authority he seeks to withhold classified evidence from defendants, admit testimony that defendants might maintain was coerced, and protect U.S. intelligence agents from legal action over their interrogation methods. House Republican leaders plan to bring the tribunal bill to a vote next week.

I'm not a lawyer so I will defer to those who are. But, these two bills seem logical in the fight to protect Americans and America.

Hugh Hewitt thinks the GOP will use this as a hammer in the election, I tend to agree. For an idiot, Bush sure does seem to outfox these people regularly.

Lefty reaction here and a simplistic view here.

Stick a Fork In Air America

Air Scamerica--the highly unprofitable alternative to Rush and Hannity--is entering bankruptcy.

Think Progress tries to spin it, but you end up a pretzel spinning it into anything but what it was, a huge mistake that America didn't listen to or care about.. The reason it didn't succeed was simply that liberals have no conviction when spewing their talking points. They sound as if they're saying things without really meaning what they say. "I hate Bush" or "Bush is an idiot" is funny the first or second time I suppose (at least to the Air America average listener,) but by the fifth time or one hundredth time it gets old. Another reason is that liberals just have no sense of humor and lack to ability to laugh at themselves and their ideology. Add it all up and it just makes for really horrible radio.

(Note: Think Progress just got a Drudgelanche so I imagine access will be limited)

Read the comments to the TP post, these people are deluding themselves. Typical.

That sound you here is my cold Republican heart pumping piss for Air America and their listeners. I do feel bad for the five employees they summarily fired with no severance, I hope they can feed their familes this week. I thought only evil Republicans did things like that.

Update: How delusional are they? Get a load this garbage:

I’m not terribly surprised that Air America is having financial problems. Liberals don’t have the people with deep pockets willing to subsidize them as conservatives do. Liberals are also much less likely to listen to one-sided talk radio, while conservatives appear to thrive on having their thoughts fed to them.

Let's discuss this for a second. First, Our little friend says "Liberals don't have the people with deep pockets to subsidize them as conservatives do." Hmm, George Soros and many Hollywood lefties have been subsidizing AA since the start, including a few scams thrown in.

Second, conservative radio doesn't have to be subsidized because it sells advertising, lots of advertising. That's called a free market and capitalism. People like conservative talk, advertisers place ads, the conservative host gets a huge contract and the radio stations make money.

It's so funny how Liberals think something has to be "subsidized" to continue, they just don't get the capitalism thing.

As for libs not listening to one-sided radio, I guess he listened to Air Scamerica and the well-known conservative leaning and completely government subsidized NPR so he gets both views, left and far-left.

These people are so unintentionally hilarious.

NJ Senate Race Update

Robert Menendez was a horrible choice to replace Jon Corzine when he won the Gubernatorial race for NJ. I said it at the time that it would've shown guts and leadership for Corzine to select someone from south Jersey because we are under-represented at every level.

Instead Corzine selected Menendez, a party hack who built his power the way all north Jersey politicos do, through pay-offs and bullying. It's the north Jersey way. Corzine felt he owed Menendez--then a US Representative and relatively obscure--because Menendez wrangled money and votes.

Corzine wasn't prescient enough to know that every politician who comes out of the municipal and county wars in the northern half of the state has baggage. Ethics up there means you smile while stabbing a friend in the back.

It's coming back to haunt Corzine in particular and the Democratic party as a whole:

As with Mr. Torricelli, it is ethics that have dragged down Mr. Menendez, who won his appointment in part through the hefty political muscle he built as the reputed boss of Hudson County, a colorful collection of gritty towns that could easily have spawned just about every character Damon Runyon ever wrote about. The ghosts of his machine past have haunted Mr. Menendez in periodic news stories this year, and Republicans have made the notion that he has disqualifying “baggage” their central line of attack.

That is why the federal investigation is so damning for Mr. Menendez: The jury is already poisoned against him. Sure, he can cry foul and vow to fight. But the race was essentially a tie before this, so any fallout at all puts Mr. Kean in the lead.

Now, Mr. Menendez’s options are limited—and all bad. He began by attacking the prosecutor as overly partisan—a weak response given the dozens of corrupt Republicans who have been brought down by Christopher Christie, the U.S. Attorney leading the Menendez inquiry.

The Observer notes that if Menendez drops out--a highly unlikely prospect--the donks will ask Richard Codey to run. Codey is a likeable guy but he too will have baggage. He was never vetted
by the media when he assumed office after the McGreevey disaster as they are completely cowed by the donk machine.

I wonder when Howie Dean is going to comment on this.

Chafee Wins

Liberal Republican Lincoln Chafee hung on to win his primary in Rhode Island. His challenger was more conservative and Chafee has irked many Republicans but the party backed Chafee knowing that a loss by him meant a loss for the entire GOP.

Juxtapose that with the donks handling of Lieberman. Lieberman needed his party's support and at the crucial time it was needed most, they cut and ran on him. They were cowed by a few hundred idiots with lame blogs and an army of pseudo-intellectuals who took down the only good man left in their party. The Democratic party threw Lieberman under the bus and will now pay for doing it. Lieberman will win and his proclamation that he'll caucus with the donks may change if he can be lured by the GOP.

I'd rather have a liberal Chafee in the Senate than a liberal unknown Democrat. We know how Chafee will vote and we retain leadership. That's a trade-off I'm willing to make.