BIg Surprise Here

Jimmy Carter, author of the please-don't-hurt-us foreign policy that worked oh so well in the seventies, is on the Bush-lied bandwagon again. This is the same guy who thinks the Revolutionary War was unnecessary but the [American] colonists were a bunch of hot-heads who forced the issue. Mr. Carter, you've got your Nobel Prize, now please go drift off into the obscurity you so richly deserve and stop with the, "Hey, I'm over here" routine, it is old. Very old.

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Hail Scarlet and the Grey!

My alma mater, Newberry College, the smallest school in the NCAA that plays football, has respectfully told the NCAA to "stick it". Our athletic teams nickname is the "Indians" and as many of you know the NCAA is now selectively enforcing a new rule that bars such names from postseason play or hosting post season play. Like Florida State, Illinois and Utah we appealed. Unlike FSU, IU and UU our appeal was rejected. Let's face it, they are bigger and bring in more money to the NCAA.
NC president, Mitchell Zais has responded both forcefully and respectfully with a request to revisit the appeal. Here are a few excerpts from the response:

...Pay a visit to Newberry. You’ll not find a student dressed in headdress and Indian garb, dancing and gyrating as if possessed. It has been 20 years since any athletic team had a mascot. You won’t find silly cartoons or demeaning caricatures on hats, uniforms, or playing surfaces. Our primary and secondary logos are a spear and arrowhead. The spear is nearly identical to the one used by Florida State University, an institution no longer on your blacklist....

...Furthermore, by ignoring Newberry College’s self-study on this issue and including us on the list of offending schools, the NCAA has declared us incapable of making a fair and ethical decision...

...What’s next? A proscription against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as demeaning to persons of Irish descent? Condemnation of all schools with Crusader nicknames as insulting to Christians or Muslims? Censure of the blue hose-wearing Highlanders of South Carolina’s Presbyterian College as offensive to people of Scottish ancestry? ...

...Already the animal rights groups are lobbying for our nearest neighbor, the University of South Carolina, to remove the “Fighting Gamecock” as its mascot. South Carolina’s legislature recently enhanced the penalties for participating in cockfighting. It’s legal only in Louisiana and New Mexico, two of the fifty states. This mascot pays tribute to unlawful behavior, ostensibly sanctioned by the NCAA. If the NCAA continues along these lines, it won’t be long before special interest activists voice sufficient outrage against the use of any particular mammal, bird, reptile, insect, tree, or weather disturbance to shift that object to the banned mascot list....

Granted, in the grand scheme of things, college mascots are somewhat trivial. It is, however, the proverbial camel getting it's nose in the tent and Dr. Zais' prophecies are probably a lot closer to coming true than many want to acknowledge.

Okay, Okay, I'll Read the Silly Thing

I have thus far resisted reading The Da Vinci Code. Before the chortling gnostics in the crowd start with "What's the matter, scared of being challenged in your faith?", I have resisted it because it has been done before. Anybody remember Holy Blood, Holy Grail? It appears to be another attempt to lay claim that gnosticism is the real Christianity. Now if I am going to discuss this and contribute to the discussion on LaShawn Barber's Corner I am going to have to read the darn thing.

Went as Far as I could Down that Road.

When the President put Harriet Miers' name up for consideration for the SCOTUS I had to admit a bit of surprise, but it was his appointment to make. I tried to give him and her the benefit of the doubt on the matter. I even castigated fellow conservatives for some of their near vitriolic reaction to the nomination.. As time has passed I now find myself unable to support the monination any longer. Her sketchy answers to members of the judiciary committee, the idea she may stop making courtesy calls on the Hill so she can cram for her hearings. I am no longer comfortable at all with the nomination. At first I was concerned with the appearance of cronyism, as this drags on I feel that there is more than just an appearance.
Mr. President, cut your losses and withdraw the nomination.

Perhaps Mr. Kerry would Care to Explain This.

As you may recall, when the Senate was looking into the possibility that there were still American servicemen in Viet Nam it was John Kerry who did everything he could to put a stop to it. He assured us that there were no more. If that is true, then why are the remains of eleven Marines just now getting here?
HT: Michelle Malkin

Amen, Brother Shayne

Being a United Methodist I was more than a little distressed to learn from Wesley Blog that one of our pastors has been named national chaplain for Planned Parenthood. PP is nothing more than a eugenics organization that was founded by Margret Sanger who was in persuit of a racist program of curtailing the number of births to African americans and other groups she deemed "unworthy of life". In addition, their desire to impede the prosecution of pedophiles and statutory rapists (which has led me to parody their name with "Pedophiles' Pal") makes this relationship between a UM pastor wholly inappropriate. I am beginning to think the UM "committment" to the sanctity of life is of the wink-nudge variety.
Cross posted at My Lewisian Pipe Blog

Prez Apparently Asleep at the Switch Again

While I voted for President Bush twice, I am becoming gladder and gladder there is a 22nd Amendment. Those who know me no I do not like the term limit that was written into the Constitution after FDR. This account from Debbie Schlussel proves once and for all that W is no Reagan. Reagan saw the threat posed by Daniel Ortega and risked his presidency to get him out of office in Nicaragua.
Bush, on the other hand is risking his legacy ignoring our boarders and making appointments that are questionable at best (namely Meyers and Miers). I am afraid Schlussel is right, he is looking more and more like Jimmy Carter. Ignoring real threats, going to the mat for people who don't deserve it and leaving himself open to the accusation of cronyism.
W, I want to support you, but you are making it hard these days.

You'd Think He had Nominated Michael Moore

I have been reading with some amusement, and no little bemusement, the reaction to President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to be Associate Justice on the USSC replacing Sandra Day O'Connor. And I am not talking about the reaction from the left. I am tired of the let's-jump-ship-if-we-don't-get-what-we-want mentality among some of my fellow Republicans and/or conservatives. It reminds me of the mentality of the country club Republicans that had a snit a few years back and supported Democrat "Jackpot Jim" Hodges; an incompetent boob if ever there was one.
I have just one question for the whiners: who do you think is your best chance to give you something even close to what you want in a USSC justice? Second, what are you basing your gripes on? It seems to me some of you are letting your imaginations run wild. If the confirmation hearings turn up something objectionable I will react accordingly, but until then let's see what shakes out of the tree and oput away the tar and feathers until we see if they are needed.
Also Read:
My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

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