Rally, Sons of Notre Dame

Rally sons of Notre Dame,
Sing her glory, and sound her fame
Raise her Gold and Blue,
And cheer with voices true,
Rah! Rah! For Notre Dame.

We will fight in every game
Strong of heart and true to her name.
We will ne'er forget her
And we'll cheer her ever,
Loyal to Notre Dame.

Chorus:
Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send the volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky,
What though the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to Victory.

You may be asking what is a die-hard fan of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks doing publishing the lyrics of the Notre Dame Victory March. First of all, I have always like Notre Dame. The gold dome, "Touchdown Jesus", Knure Rockne and the "Gipper", it is a program of story and legend. Michelle Malkin links to this story thats greatly contributes to the mythos
WARNING:reading this will result in choking back the tears, or letting them flow depending on what kind of Sensitive New Age Guy you are.

This Check Should be Returned as Well

You remember Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal ? Funny little man who, after giving Mayor Giuliani a check for $10 million for relief after the 9/11 attack, turned around blamed US policy for the attacks? Well, he has now purchased 5.46% of the Fox Corproation. It will be interesting to see how this will effect the only news network that has not been a cheering section for the terrorists now that is part-owned by a terrorist sympathizer. I only wish the poeple at Fox had the same sense of integrity that Mayor Giuliani had. I think Atlas Shruggs says it best, "oy".

Take This Guy to the Pub

Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. relays this from the Irish Times' Newton Emerson:

As the full horror of Hurricane Katrina sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if this is the end of George Bush's presidency. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that every copy of the US Constitution was destroyed in the storm. Otherwise President Bush will remain in office until noon on January 20th, 2009, as required by the 20th Amendment, after which he is barred from seeking a third term anyway under the 22nd Amendment.
As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if the entire political agenda of George Bush's second term will not still be damaged in some terribly satisfying way. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that the entire political agenda of George Bush's second term consists of repealing the 22nd Amendment. Otherwise, with a clear Republican majority in both Houses of Congress, he can carry on doing pretty much whatever he likes.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if the Republican Party itself will now suffer a setback at the congressional mid-term elections next November. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided that people outside the disaster zone punish their local representatives for events elsewhere a year previously, both beyond their control and outside their remit, while people inside the disaster zone reward their local representatives for an ongoing calamity they were supposed to prevent. Otherwise, the Democratic Party will suffer a setback at the next congressional election.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if an official inquiry will shift the blame for poor planning and inadequate flood defences on to the White House. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody admits that emergency planning is largely the responsibility of city and state agencies, and nobody notices that the main levee which broke was the only levee recently modernised with federal funds. Otherwise, an official inquiry will pin most of the blame on the notoriously corrupt and incompetent local governments of New Orleans and Louisiana.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if George Bush contributed to the death toll by sending so many national guard units to Iraq. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody recalls that those same columnists have spent the past two years blaming George Bush for another death toll by not sending enough national guard units to Iraq. Otherwise, people might wonder why they have never previously read a single article advocating large-scale military redeployment during the Caribbean hurricane season.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking how a civilised city can descend into anarchy. The answer is that only a civilised city can descend into anarchy. As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if George Bush should be held responsible for the terrible poverty in the southern states revealed by the flooding. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody holds Bill Clinton responsible for making Mississippi the poorest state in the union throughout his entire term as president, or for making Arkansas the second-poorest state in the union throughout his entire term as governor. Otherwise, people might suspect that it is a bit more complicated than that.

As the full horror of this sinks in, thousands of desperate columnists are asking if George Bush should not be concerned by accusations of racism against the federal government. The answer is almost certainly yes, provided nobody remembers that Jesse Jackson once called New York "Hymietown" and everybody thinks Condoleezza Rice went shopping for shoes when the hurricane struck because she cannot stand black people. Otherwise sensible Americans of all races will be more concerned by trite, cynical and dangerous political opportunism.

As the full horror of that sinks in, this columnist is simply glad that everybody cares.

Get than man a pint of stout.

HT:Cassandra at Villainous Company

If it Quacks Like a Duck

In the early part of the Twentieth Century, the Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million Armenians in what is regarded by some as the first genocide of that century. Some disagree. A twice cancelled conference to discuss the matter is drawing fire of guess who. Sorry, folks, but in the words of dirk Gently, "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck you at least have to consider that you have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on your hands.

Apologies to the Goose Creek Symphony

I will get to my headline momentarily but first (trust me it will get tied together...even if the segue sucks):
As many of you know, Michelle Malkin and Brian Maloney have been chronicling the woes of Air America and bring us more in the links I just provided. This is the funniest chapter yet in the pathetic saga of the Little Network that Couldn't.
Ahhh...tin-cup broadcasting is in the air. Not the usual PBS fund raisers, but a commercial for-profit radio network we know and loath, Air America. That is right, that champion pilferer of service organizations for underpriviliged children and Alzheimers patients now wants to reach into your pockets. Okay they want you to reach in yourself and give them $50 for three bumper stickers. Well, at least now the left has its own version of the PTL Club to invite the derision of of its critics. Instead of Jim and Tammy we will have Al and Randi. Actually, for $50 I would want nothing less than an autographed copy of Al Franken's partnership agreement that he never signed (So he says despite the copy that was uncovered a few weeks back).
When I was about 13 or 14 a group calling themselves The Goose Creek Symphony had its first and only hit. A little ditty called, "Oh Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes-Benz". It is the plaintiff cry of a nere-do-well asking favors of God with a sense of entitlement:

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes- Benz
My friends all drive Porches
I must make ammends
I worked hard all my lifetime
No help from my friends
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes- Benz

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV
Dialing for Dollars
is trying to find me
I wait for delivery
each day until three
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town
I'm counting on you, Lord
Please don't let me down
Show me you love me
and buy the next round
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town

You get the picture. Now let's play with the lyrics a bit (and you will soon see the reason for the apology).


Oh [fill in whatever deity], won't you buy me a ton of air mins
My friends all have real jobs
I must make ammends
I can't beat Rush Limbaugh
Using string and two tins
Oh [fill in whatever deity], won't you buy me a ton of air mins

Oh [fill in whatever deity], won't you buy me an hour of Al Franken
We're doing so badly
I drink til I'm stankin'
He denies he's a partner
but honesty he's lackin
Oh [fill in whatever deity], won't you buy me an hour of Al Franken

Oh [fill in whatever deity], won't you buy me a ticket to Brazil
No more Boys and girls Clubs
will let my fingers in the till
you know what I'll need
when they find out it's just a big shill
Oh [fill in whatever deity], won't you buy me a ticket to Brazil

I'm This Many Years Old

As of yesterday the House of Opinions and two things militated against my saying anything. 1)I was (and still am to a somewhat lesser degree) down with bronchitis; and 2) (and most important) my wife had a birthday herself. It has been an interesting year and I look forward to more.

Required Reading

I was directed to Not a Desperate Housewife while reading My Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. The post linked above is one of a series where Stacy deals with the loss of her nephew who died because of a drunk driver. You will be both moved and outraged by what you read. Cody's story and the aftermath of the senseless deaths of eight young people whose futures were taken from them and how the culprit was all but honored by their alma mater after being given a slap on the wrist by the judge.
This cannot be allowed to continue, in either Wyoming or any other state.
I could write more but won't. I will let Stacy's work speak for itself.

Four years

Four years ago today I got up and called into work sick. I was not playing hooky I was having what seemed to be flu. I did not realize that that in just a couple of hours I would be a great deal sicker. At first I thought it was a drunken pilot until the second plane hit. Then the Pentagon was reported next. Then came the word of a fourth plane that went down in Pennsylvania which we later learned was hijacked but the passengers fought back.
As the usual suspects began claiming credit, and the video reached us of some Muslims dancing in celebration it became obvious that there are some with whom peaceful co-existance is impossible. Like it or not it is them or us. I would rather the fighting be over there than on our own soil if fight we must. We are past the point where we have the luxury of treating terrorists attacks as a crime for which the perpetrators have executed themselves. This is not the time to lose our resolve and cut and run as Mrs. Sheehan et al would have us do.
Is there a better way? If there was I would certainly advocate it. There seems to be no negotiating with a group that hates the US, Christians and any other non-Muslim. So long as those who maintain this homicidal practice of taking out the infidels with no condemnation by their fellow travellers (and in some cases their applause), fighting is our only option.
Please do not cite the 9/11 commission. As far as I am concerned that was a dog and pony show with one of its members (Jamie Gorelik) responsible for the failure of Mohamed Atta not being identified to the FBI even before Bush was elected. Apparently the previous administration was more concerned with possible political fallout.

Please Tell Me This is just a Bad Joke, II

As you remember, Flight 93 is the one where the passengers fought back and the brave Islamofacists plowed the plane into the ground. Well, that appears to be the view of the architect who has designed the front runner for the Flight 93 memorial in Pennsylvania. As Michelle Malkin reports somebody thinks that this:

is appropriate. I am with Bryan Preston of JunkyardBlog and I am paraphrasing, this is only as appropriate as a holocost memorial in the shape of a swastika. You can call it "Crescent of Embrace" or whatever window dressing you care to call it but it is still an insult to the passengers who fought back. This is the symbol of the murderers of those passengers. I am seriously hoping that this is just cluelessness or inadverdant insensitivity. Unfortunately I am afraid that this is nothing more or less than mutliculturalists running amok to generate good PR for the Islamofacists responsible for the atrocity that occured on September 11, 2001. I can only hope that this is design is eventually rejected.

Please Tell me this is just a Bad Joke

The Irish Trojan is reporting the incredible comments made by the head of FEMA. If he truly meant what he said, Mike Brown should be sumarily dismissed from his position for gross incompetence. Yes the mayor of New Orleans and governor of Louisiana screwed up royaly in not using available resuorces to evacuate the city before Katrina made landfall. Every $@#! public official, elected or appointed, should have know that those leveys were at best suspect in a storm as strong as Katrina and that some if not all of them would fail.
Now, if any of those who were left in NO were there because they did not want to evacuate, then yes, they made their bed. However, that was not the case universally. Many did not own their own transportation. School buses and public transportation could, and should have been used to aid the evacuation. Instead they were left parked in neat rows and now either need major repairs and/or replacement. The looting should have been dealt with immediately with looters being shot on sight.
That being said, Mike brown is in no way absolved for his grossly inadequate actions in response to this. He let a horrific situation degenerate even further in a very short time. Inadequate food and water distribution. Little or no waste management allowing a potential disaster for a catastrophic disease outbreak. The honorable thing for Mr. Brown to do would be to tender his resignation immediately. But as with most bureaucrats, Republican or Democrat, the honorable thing is never a consideration.

HT:Michelle Malkin

The Blame Game

There is a lot of blame being levied for events in New Orleans. "It is all Bush's fault!" Some have gone so far as to accuse the President of sending in the National Guard to shoot black people. Actually that order was to shoot looters and came from the governor of Louisiana (about three days late in my opinion). Yes it is all Bush's fault for urging the evacuation of New Orleans days before Katrina made landfall (the urging was ignored by both the governor and the mayor of NO). It was Bush's fault for declaring the area a disaster BEFORE the storm hit in order to allow relief to start immediately. Of course it was Bush's fault that the mayor of New Orleans allowed this to happen:

That is right, every one of those buses could have been used to get people out of town and kept inland where they would not have been flooded out like they are now. They are all parked in neat rows like they were during the storm, and they will stay that way because every one of them needs to have major repairs on them or replaced.
It is also Bush's fault that the NO police department did nothing to prevent (at best) and according to some reports actually participated in the looting themselves.
Sorry Mr. mayor...that does not wash...pun intended

Instapundit Persona non Gratis

I know I had never gotten around to linking to Instapundit, and the only mention of Glen Reynolds is my Alliance pseudo-quote where is does not really say I must be destroyed. therefore, since Cao made known that Glen thinks the ACLU is such a wonderful organization I am urging my readers...both of them...to delink from Instapundit, if you are linked to them.
I have never had any use for the ACLU and have yet to see what useful purpose they serve. When you read Cao's post you will also see that Glen's attitude leaves something to be desired as well. No wonder we of the Alliance refer to him as "Evil glen"