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Month January 2008

God Bless Dolly!

What an excellent video and message.

Stop Whining….

The best answers are always the simplest ones. 

Venezuelan Coca Puff

He’s cuckoo for coca leaves!  All of my suspicions have been confirmed.  I thought maybe Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez, was just delusional and certifiable.  But it seems there is more to the story.

Venezuela’s controversial President Hugo Chávez has revealed that he regularly consumes coca — the source of cocaine — raising questions about the legality of his actions.

Chávez’s comments on coca initially went almost unnoticed, coming amid a four-hour speech to the National Assembly during which he made international headlines by calling on other countries to stop branding two leftist Colombian guerrilla groups as terrorists and instead recognize them as “armies.”

”I chew coca every day in the morning . . . and look how I am,” he is seen saying on a video of the speech, as he shows his biceps to the audience.

Chávez, who does not drink alcohol, added that just as Fidel Castro ”sends me Coppelia ice cream and a lot of other things that regularly reach me from Havana,” Bolivian President Evo Morales “sends me coca paste . . . I recommend it to you.”

That explains a lot – a whole lot.  How else can you account for his delusional, irrational and repulsive actions and statements?  When I read this, I almost fell out of my chair.  This isn’t just a sarcastic post.  It really got me to wondering.  I also wonder about the legal issues.

”It is another symptom that [Chávez] has totally lost the concept of limits,” said Aníbal Romero, a political scientist with the Caracas Metropolitan University. “It shows Chávez is a man out of control.”

More seriously, Venezuelan and Bolivian analysts said Chávez’s comments amount to a dangerous endorsement of a substance controlled around the world, and perhaps even an illegal act by a very public head of state.

”If he is affirming that he consumes coca paste, he is admitting that he is consuming a substance that is illegal in Bolivia as well as Venezuela,” said Hernán Maldonado, a Bolivian analyst living in Miami. ”Plus, it’s an accusation that Evo Morales is a narco-trafficker” for sending him the paste.

Morales and Chavez – two thugs in a pod.  One is a drug-smuggling junkie, and the other is just a delusional junkie.  Aside from the obvious fact that this calls into question their abilities to lead their nations, it also calls into question their ability or desire to stymie drug-smuggling.  Bolivia is a hot bed of cocaine production, and Venezuela is a safe route for the smugglers.  Then there is this -

In early 2007, Venezuela signed an agreement to buy 4,000 tons of coca leaf from Bolivia in what it said was an effort to diminish the supply available for refining paste and cocaine and launch the manufacture of food and medicinal products on an industrial scale.

Makes sense. If Chavez hadn’t stopped the efforts to get more coca into the country, the voters might have been drugged up enough to pass his communist constitutional “reforms.”  Chavez might want to rethink things and start up full-scale importation from Bolivia so he can dope the masses into accepting the imbecilic proposals that he advocates for Venezuela.

Saving The Economy

High oil prices, a weakened US dollar, the subprime mortgage fiasco and other factors have pushed the nation to the edge.  GW, unlike his father before him (faced with a hurting US economy), has acknowledged the fact and is going to do something about it.  The White House has engaged leaders of both parties and Fed Chairman, Ben Bernake to come up with a quick response in order to avoid a recession.

President Bush has suggested a $145 billion economic stimulus package that includes a tax rebate of $800 for an individual or $1600 for a married couple.  The idea is to put money into the hands of people who will spend the money quickly and spur the economy.  Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, agree and are working with the the White House to iron out the details for a quick response.  The Dems want to extend unemployment benefits and reach out to those who don’t pay taxes, but they have quickly embraced Bush’s ideas.

Stop for a minute.  Ponder for a moment.

It took a couple of days for this to sink in for me.  But now, I’m mad and joyous at the same time.

When faced with an impending economic crisis – when the economy is at a critical mass —- the Democrats are willing to embrace tax cuts and rebates!

Does anyone else see the irony here?  Does anyone else smell the stench of hypocrisy?  Dems are gung-ho about raising taxes and taxing the public into oblivion when times are good.  But when a real crisis looms, they suddenly understand the need to put money back into the hands of taxpayers.

I’ll say it again.  The Democrats led by Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are happily embracing a stimulus package which includes tax incentives for businesses and gives tax dollars back to the American people.  They admit that this will spur the economy and potentially help stave off a recession.

What the F, people?  Why does it make sense for the Dems to advocate such actions at this one moment in time?  But it doesn’t make sense to them to do it ALL the time?  It just betrays their hypocrisy and total lack of economic knowledge.  This all goes to prove that the GOP has it right. 

Bush helped in heading off a major economic catastrophe after 9/11.  His tax rebate plan and his tax cuts infused more money into the economy that kept us from falling into a deep hole.  The Democrats knew that then and they realize it now.  But don’t look for the tax sucking, class-warfare breeding numbskulls to carry this over beyond the moment.

We will help the economy, spur growth, and avoid a major recession and then the Dems will be back to their old games – swearing up and down that tax breaks won’t do enough to help the American people.

Bullcrap!

Time To Discuss McCain

When a writer from the conservative National Review begins to discuss the positive aspects of a John McCain presidential nomination, you know something is up.  The editors of this publication have endorsed Mitt Romney – one of the three more conservative candidates remaining (Hunter and Thompson being the others, in my view).  So, I guess it is time to begin the discussion on McCain.  I’ve alternately praised and lambasted the guy over my past couple of years in the blogosphere. Wynton Hall’s article posted on NRO.com provides a good starting-point for the discussion.

Hall is not rah-rah for McCain.  No conservative would be.  He notes the litany of sins that McCain has committed against the conservative cause.

To be sure, McCain has made an art of putting conservative and Republican noses out of joint. For many, the punch list is hard to read. 2002’s McCain-Feingold campaign-finance bill banned so-called “soft money,” limiting the freedom of political speech. McCain opposed President Bush’s tax cuts in both 2001 and 2003, on the grounds that they did not include cuts in spending. What’s more, he was a member of the infamous “Gang of 14”; he led the fight for an immigration-reform bill that included the much-maligned “path to citizenship” (a.k.a. “amnesty”); he has supported gunlocks and gun-show background checks; he now favors Congressional action to reduce global warming; and he once called Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell “agents of intolerance” (a statement, it must be added, that pales in comparison to Barry Goldwater’s suggestion that “every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Fallwell’s ass”: there must be something in the Arizona water).

That appears early on in the article in order to clear the air.  And my blood pressure rose a few points as I relived all of the reasons that McCain is not in my top 5 choices.  But Hall also makes a rational, conservative argument as to why he might be ultimately electable.  He isn’t just spouting the MSM crap.  He has a different analysis.  The one that caught my attention the most is exactly what I brought up in my previous post about Obama – the fight for the Reagan Democrats.

Consider the following: Even as Mitt Romney claimed his home state of Michigan this week, John McCain finished a competitive second in a state where 68 percent of primary voters were “mainstream Republicans” rather than the independent and moderate voters who typically form McCain’s base of support. Of the Democrats who voted in the Republican primary, 41 percent supported McCain. To some observers, McCain’s attractiveness to independents and Democrats is evidence of his weak conservative credentials. This is curious logic. Few of them would concede that Ronald Reagan’s support from “Reagan Democrats” in his 1980 and 1984 landslide victories made the Gipper less of a conservative.

That’s unique analysis of the candidate that you won’t hear from CNN or MSNBC.  And it actually makes some sense as well.  It’s not just the ususal blind cheerleading for the Democrats’ favorite Republican.  There is also the old analysis which I have made before that, when you total up the lifetime scorecard for McCain, he still comes out very right of center.

A closer look at John McCain’s voting record reveals more reasons for optimism. The American Conservative Union gives McCain a lifetime rating of 83 (former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich boasts a 90 rating). And although not a “man-the-barricades” pro-lifer, McCain advocates the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calls abortion “a human tragedy,” and lived out his support for adoption when he and his second wife, Cindy, adopted their daughter Bridget, a former orphan from Bangladesh.

Don’t get me wrong.  There are still several people including Mitt, Duncan and Fred that I would support before McCain.  I even like Rudy, but when I compare Giuliani’s bottom line to McCain, Rudy fares no better.  McCain’s problem is that his affronts to conservatives were more high profile with issues like McCain-Feingold and Bush tax cuts.

I still hold out hope that this discussion maybe moot in a few weeks.  This post might be a little premature, but it’s worthy of consideration.  McCain has been lambasted by Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and other conservative personalities, but if we are faced with McCain vs. Hillary or McCain vs. Obama, what will we do?  If things go the way of McCain in the primaries, I am predicting a McCain/Thompson ticket.  The two are old friends, and Thompson has the conservative-Southern appeal that McCain would need on his ticket.

Until then, I’ll be anxious to see how this all plays out.

Now It’s Personal

Barack Obama made the mistake, as far as libs go, of praising former president Ronald Reagan.  The response from Hillary and John Edwards left me dumbfounded.  I’m a little amazed, but not totally surprised, that these two would rip the Gipper.  After all, they absolutely need to win back some of the Reagan Democrats in their pursuit of the White House.

I love the words, particularly, of the Edwards camp…

“The breadth of change Ronald Reagan brought was crippling for millions of Americans, with the two worst recessions since the Depression, a complete disregard for the rights of American labor, and tax cuts that lined the pockets of the richest Americans at the expense of fiscal sanity and the well-being of the most vulnerable in our society,” said Edwards campaign manager David Bonior.

Incredible.  I’m amazed that Obama made the statement in the first place – especially his comments about shrinking government.  I doubt Obama is sincere about that.  More likely he has the better plan – appeal to the Reagan Dems by invoking the greatness that made Ronald Reagan an icon.  His opponents are idiotic in attempting to degrade Reagan.  I can guarantee you that no Democrat will win without pulling in the Reagan Democrats.  Why the hell, then, would you go and alienate these people?

It’s incomprehensible, but I hope they keep it up.  As Hillary struggles against Obama, she just keeps saying the wrong things again and again.  Maybe Obama actually has a better head on his shoulders than the Hellcat.

Don’t take that as any kind of endorsement.

Who’s Stopping Him From Getting the Hell Out of Here, Anyway?

Obviously, this Kevin Sites “journalist” had nothing negative to write on the war in Iraq this week since even liberals now have to admit the success of the troop surge and the massive decline in violence.  It kills ‘em, doesn’t it?  This week, he chooses to showcase an Arab with a chip on his shoulder about the FBI investigating him after having good reason to do so.

The Arab in question is 35-year old Hasan Elahi who was investigated by the FBI after the agency was given tip about a storage shed he had rented which was believed to have been filled with explosives and emptied right after 9/11. 

After being investigated, Elahi was cleared of suspicion by the FBI.  Now; of course, he has a chip on his shoulder about it and has decided to videotape every single moment of his life and share it with us all on the web.  So; in other words, he’s violating his own “right to privacy” now.

In being interviewed by Kevin Sites, Elahi said:

We’re in this mentality where anyone who looks a little bit different is automatically a suspect.

NO!  The FBI was given a tip about a storage shed he had rented and merely followed through on it! 

You know when Ann Coulter talked about the Jersey Girls and the old Democratic trick of using “victims” as spokespeople?  Someone now who was appalled to be a suspect now feels compelled to share every moment of his life with us on a website?  Do the words “attention whore” come to anyone else’s mind?

I’m not sure if he’s checked the statistics but 100% of attacks overseas and on our own soil were committed by Arabs.  100% of the men who committed 9/11 were Arab men.  If 100% of the people killed overseas and in the World Trade Center on September 11th were all Arabs, perhaps I wouldn’t feel the same way.  But all people are falling victim to this lunacy.  All people are suffering because of a certain colored skin that manages to remain at 100% when it comes to calculating those involved in attacks with bombs strapped to their chest and simultaneously shouting “Allah Akbar!”  If it were up to me, more of them would be investigated while standing in line at airports but they are not.

While I completely agree with the notion that the majority of Muslims are peaceful, the fact becomes less vivid every single day when someone like this chooses to showcase his “peace” by attacking the United States government because it’s doing everything in its power to protect 300 million lives! 

Moreover; his claim of being looked at because of the way he looks is preposterous in his specific case!  The FBI were given a tip!  What did he expect them to do with it?

If overfed Polish boys were guilty of the same thing and someone had reason to believe I was a threat, I would expect nothing but the same thing that happened to Elahi. 

Taking into account the fact that 100% of Democrats’ hope that the U.S. would sustain an embarrassing loss in Iraq have diminished, I see now that certain liberal journalists have shifted the attention somewhere else.

Kevin “Drama-Queen” Sites; the magnificient journalist that he is, begins the article (which includes a video) by asking:

What would you do if you were suspected of a crime that could send you to a jail cell in Guantanamo Bay for untold years?

Well, I’d like to end this post by asking three things:

  1. Why in the hell was he allowed to stay in the United States when it was even suspected that he had explosives removed from a storage shed after 9/11!?
  2. If he doesn’t understand that there are 299,999,999 other people residing in this country that need protection from people that look like him, why doesn’t he use his P/R to attack the crazy lunatics that have brought this kind of embarrassment onto him?  No, somehow the U.S. Government is who he has the problem with.  If you ask me, the U.S. Government might need to take one more look!
  3. If he truly doesn’t understand why we have to be protected, why the hell doesn’t he just leave?

The sad fact is he was suspected to have had explosives stored in a rented shed AFTER 9/11 and he was still allowed to stay in the country during the investigation.  The moral of the story here isn’t that his life was terribly interrupted, rather that the Patriot Act isn’t harsh enough.

What A Night

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The primaries are in full swing and election news is everywhere, but I wanted to take a break and share with everyone about the most incredible night of my life.  This is one I will remember forever. It’s not something I would have ever imagined would make it to that list of “amazing moments,” but this was truly special.

Chloe is our 4 year-old Lab/Border Collie.  She is, without a doubt, the best dog I have ever had.  Patrick and I love her like any parent would love a child.  She’s smart, intuitive, loyal and affectionate.  She’s become very much a part of our lives.  So we were thrilled when, four days ago, she became a mom to 6 beautiful puppies.  But the story of the birth was the most amazing part.  I’ve been around pregnant dogs, but I never have actually witnessed the birth before.

The miracle of childbirth in humans and in nature is well-documented.  Not much else needs to be said about the truly incredible process by which a new life is created.  There are only stories that illustrate how beautiful and wonderful it can be. I now understand and I have my story.

Chloe had never had babies before.  Patrick and I were especially attentive to her during her gestation.  We were particularly attentive in the 24 hours when we knew that the time was near.  I had spent a great deal of time researching online.  I had a lot to learn since my mom had always dealt with this subject as I was growing up.  I read all I could about the process as well as pre-natal and post-natal care.  I got a little nervous when I read the warnings about things that could go wrong.  We both tried to absorb all we could in case something unexpected happened.  In retrospect, it was a good thing we did.

For the most part, dogs are pretty self-sufficient when it comes to birthing.  I never remember my mom having to do much.  It always seemed to go off without a hitch.  In any case, Patrick and I stayed near Chloe’s box that night when it became apparent (around 11 pm) that she was going to have her babies. Patrick sat nearest the box when the first one arrived.

He watched as she delivered the first and she began to do what what was required of her.  I couldn’t see all that was happening, but I soon knew that something had gone terribly wrong.  The look on Patrick’s face told the story.  He quickly swooped in and brought the newborn pup out of the box.  I handed him a towel.  He worked to revive the puppy.  But Chloe had accidentally hurt the puppy during the act of detaching the umbilical cord.  We also determined shortly thereafter that the pup had been stillborn.

Last night we buried the baby near our Magnolia tree.  Patrick named him Lucky.  Though his fate was not indicative of his name, what we both learned from the first pup was enough to save the rest. We were fortunate in that regard.

Patrick cried when it became apparent that Lucky was dead.  I’ll never forget what he said as the tears came down his cheeks – “I could have saved him.” I rubbed his back as he held the baby and told him that we needed to focus on the other pups that would come. I brought him a pillow case in which he laid the pup.  He wrapped Lucky up and walked out of the room to lay him aside. Fortunately, Chloe didn’t seem to realize what had happened.

When Patrick returned, I saw something in his face I had never seen before. 

We have all read the stories about ordinary people developing superhuman strength in the face of a crisis -  a dad lifting a car off of his teenage son trapped beneath, a mother strangling a vicious animal with her bare hands when her child is attacked.  That night, I got to see that level of strength in action. Patrick was determined, and the adrenaline kicked in.

Patrick walked back into the room with a vengeance and knelt down by Chloe’s box as the contractions continued.  Over the next three hours, he delivered each of the puppies with his own hands.  As she would push the baby out, he would place his waiting hands beneath to capture the pup.  He held each one up at a safe distance so she could bite off the cord.  He placed each one in a towel - clearing the mouth, cleaning off the fluid and rubbing the baby to life until it let out its first cry.

We let each baby bond with Chloe for a short time, then we placed them in a small carry-on suitcase bedded with a towel.  Then it was off to the next.  Just like clockwork, Patrick delivered all 6 of the pups in the same manner.  We didn’t lose another baby that night.

I tend to be very squeamish, but I held my own that night.  I was merely the “towel boy,” but I was proud to be a part of that evening.  When it was all over, we crashed on the bed, exhausted.  Chloe came up on the bed with us and curled up next to me.  Patrick placed all the puppies beside her for the first time. I remember watching in awe as she laid close to me, nursing and cleaning her kids.  Patrick looked on with well-deserved satisfaction. It was an amazing sight. We were emotionally and physically drained and spent at 3 am, but our baby girl was a mom to six beautiful babies.  It was incredibly rewarding.

That evening, I got to witness two incredible things – the birth of new living beings and a level of determination that makes men great.  I’m not an overly-emotional person, but I get very emotional everytime I recall the events of that night.  I finally understand the pride felt by a husband in the delivery room or Mom and Dad when their daughter gives them a grandchild.  I hope that everyone gets the chance to experience this miracle.  It’s the thrill of a lifetime – one you won’t soon forget.

Another Conservative Pot-Shot at Global Warming

I can’t resist.  In the 1970s, we were warned of an impending global ice age.  Three decades later, the thermostat has been turned up.  The environmentalist idiots need to either make up their mind or just shut-up and watch the Weather Channel (whose founder has blasted global warming).

Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe is one of my favorite columnists of all times (along with Mark Steyn).  He is an inspiration – a conservative columnist in the most liberal state in the Union.  God bless Jeff.  He opines about global warming in his column today.

In South America, for example, the start of winter last year was one of the coldest ever observed. According to Eugenio Hackbart, chief meteorologist of the MetSul Weather Center in Brazil, “a brutal cold wave brought record low temperatures, widespread frost, snow, and major energy disruption.” In Buenos Aires, it snowed for the first time in 89 years, while in Peru the cold was so intense that hundreds of people died and the government declared a state of emergency in 14 of the country’s 24 provinces. In August, Chile’s agriculture minister lamented “the toughest winter we have seen in the past 50 years,” which caused losses of at least $200 million in destroyed crops and livestock.

He cites a Russian scientist to make his point.  I’m not a fan of the Russians, but I love this one.

Sorokhtin dismisses the conventional global warming theory that greenhouse gases, especially human-emitted carbon dioxide, is causing the earth to grow hotter. Like a number of other scientists, he points to solar activity – sunspots and solar flares, which wax and wane over time – as having the greatest effect on climate.

“Carbon dioxide is not to blame for global climate change,” Sorokhtin writes in an essay for Novosti. “Solar activity is many times more powerful than the energy produced by the whole of humankind.” In a recent paper for the Danish National Space Center, physicists Henrik Svensmark and Eigil Friis-Christensen concur: “The sun . . . appears to be the main forcing agent in global climate change,” they write.

People treat global warming as if it were a fact.  Many folks in the scientific community act as if though there was authoritative evidence that us miserable humans are the cause of  “alleged warmer temperatures.”  Forget that.  Look at all of the places around the world that are experiencing record lows and incredible snow.  These doofs discount natural climatological patterns.

In any case, you and I know better.  My only advice is as follows:  The Senate should hold off on endorsing Kyoto or Bali or whatever.  Give things a few years, and we’ll be back to ice age warnings again.  Environmentalists are fickle.  And the uber liberals in the international community will continue to rush from place-to-place in order to assuage these idiots. 

Good grief!

A Look At New Hampshire

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Here is the RCP (RealClearPolitics) composite of New Hamphire polls for the GOP race.  I find it stunning that John McCain has a 10 point lead over Mitt Romney.  I may not be McCain’s #1 fan, but his resurgence has been incredible.

My Take on Iowa

The fun has just started.  Political junkies like myself eagerly awaited the kickoff to the 2008 Presidential elections.  And what a kickoff it was.

Forgive me for gloating a bit.  Hillary’s third-place finish made me smile inside, but she’s far from done.  Obama will need to take the momentum and prove that he is the “real deal” in New Hampshire and South Carolina.  The Hellcat won’t roll over; however her new stated strategy of going negative and playing up the “experience” card is an all-or-nothing gamble.  Dems see Obama as an agent of change.  That’s why he snagged 38% in Iowa.  Hill’s message of “experience” makes it seem as if though she is running as an incumbent.  The question is – how will that play with voters who may be seeking change?

Don’t count out John “girly-boy” Edwards (is this guy touchy-feely or what?).  Edwards has a chance if he can make a decent showing in New Hampshire.  Then it is up to South Carolina to decide his fate.  Edwards is virtually a favorite son (being from NC).  But will that translate into votes?

It’s all about the big “mo.”  If Hill loses all three of these intial contests, you can probably consider her “toast.”  I almost hate to see that.  I think she is the GOP’s best shot.  She would be an easy pick for the general, but we may never know as things look now.

What about the GOP?

Huckabee’s win was almost anit-climatic after he seized the lead in polls over 2 weeks ago.  It has to be an embarrasment for Mitt who spent so much time and money in the Hawkeye state.  Nevertheless, 40% of self-described evangelicals turned out for Huck compared to 19% for Romney.  That was significant.

Huck will need to have a decent showing in New Hampshire before going on to South Carolina.  He and Thompson are both hoping that the ‘Southern” thing will play to their advantage.  Huckabee is an unknown quantity right now.  My bet is that he is the “Howard Dean” of the GOP this year.  He may prove me wrong.

Fred and McCain rounded things out in Iowa.  I believe that the 3rd place finish is enough to keep Thompson in it for awhile.  His bet is on South Carolina.  How he does there may determine his fate despite the fact that (in my opinion), he is the most conservative of the viable bunch.

McCain may mean the end of Romney if he takes New Hamphire.  The voters there seem to have an affinity for the grumpy senator.  He is banking on NH to keep the “Straight Talk Express” rolling.  A wave of newspaper endorsements in Iowa, Boston and Michigan have given him new hope.  It’s unclear how much stock GOP voters put into such endorsements, but it might cause enough independents to come McCain’s way.

And Giuliani?  Rudy is banking on Florida (and maybe Michigan). Though he has not emphasized Iowa or New Hampshire, I personally feel that a horrid showing in the Granite State will hurt him.  He is from the Northeast.  If voters from this Northeast state soundly reject him, what does that say?  He has placed all his eggs in the basket of Florida (maybe Michigan) and the major Feb 5th states.  His strategy is a gamble that might not pay off.

I’m not a professional commentator.  All of this might seem fairly obvious to the well-read.  I am, however, a major political enthusiast.  This is my game.  Iowa is not a king-maker.  The winners of Iowa don’t necessarily go on to win the gold.  But Iowa is a good indicator of who “won’t” make it.  Right now, it’s still a toss-up among many candidates (Biden and Dodd aside).

I’m not going to make any predictions at this point.  New Hamphire might give us all a clearer picture of the eventual nominees.  At this point Hill, Obama, Edwards, Mitt, Rudy, Huck, McCain and Fred are all still in the picture.  I’ll be anxious to see how things stand a few days from now.  This might be a more exciting race than I had imagined.

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