June 09, 2004

Filomena Lopez, the mother of a former Nicaraguan contra fighter, walks past a sign the reads 'Ronald Reagan, the Nicaraguan Resistence Movement thanks you and will always remember you' outside of Catedral Metropolitana in Managua, Nicaragua, Tuesday, June 8, 2004. A mass was held at the church in honor of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
Nicaragua is still free and a democracy!

There's the gorgeous new nuclear-powered carrier the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, shown here on manoeuvres off the coast of Brazil!
The carrier is in Brazil to carry out military training exercises with naval forces from Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru.
It's only right that a President who built back, supported and nurtured our armed forces and national defense as Commander-in-Chief have a state-of-the-art carrier bearing his name.
I remember President Bush escorting Mrs. Reagan to the carrier's dedication early in 2001 in what now seems like another world, as it was only months before 9/11.

Here's the Jelly Belly Company's lovely tribute to their favorite and most famous customer, made entirely of their delicious jelly beans!
(I must confess: the President got me started on Jelly Bellies when he came to the Oval Office and even though it's tricky with my dental work, I crave their watermelon ones.)

Saudi poll: Wide support for bin Laden

Almost half of all Saudis said in a poll conducted last year that they have a favorable view of Osama bin Laden's sermons and rhetoric, but fewer than 5 percent thought it was a good idea for bin Laden to rule the Arabian Peninsula.

The poll involved interviews with more than 15,000 Saudis and was overseen by Nawaf Obaid, a Saudi national security consultant.

It was conducted between August and November 2003, after simultaneous suicide attacks in May 2003 when 36 people were killed in Riyadh.

Obaid said he only recently decided to reveal the poll results because he felt the public needed to know about them.

"I was surprised [at the results], especially after the bombings," Obaid told CNN. The question put to Saudi citizens was "What is your opinion of Osama bin Laden's sermons and rhetoric?"

Let's hope that 5% aren't the Soddies (Al Queda members) who have the weapons!
This poll will probably surprise noone (except the pollster) but it's horrible to see it confirmed!
Back at the Royal Family's ranch, I'm convinced that they upped OPEC oil production and thus lowered the price of gas in the wake of their recent AQ attacks and their sudden realization that they may need American goodwill someday real soon to save their skins!

Forty-one percent said they favored strong and close relations with America, while only 39 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the Saudi armed forces, both results that Obaid also termed "surprising."

"They don't trust their army," said Obaid, who noted that the security forces fared far better.

He noted that less than a third of Saudis polled had a positive opinion of militant clerics, although government-appointed religious figures did better.
[I need for someone who's a Saudi expert to tell me what the difference is between a "government-appointed" Waahab religious figure is and a "militant cleric" because it was my understanding that they're the same thing.--Jen]

The poll showed strong support for political reforms and allowing women to play a greater role in society.
[Excellent!
The Bush Doctrine of spreading "contagious" democracy in the Middle East is catching on!--Jen]

Almost two-thirds said they favored allowing women to drive, something they are currently banned from doing.

While support for political reforms, particularly elections, was high, few Saudis viewed liberal reformers with much favor.

Hmmm. Who knows what to make of these findings, except for the obvious questions about OBL?
They'd need to define "liberal" and "reforms" at least to satisfy me.
And Soddy girlfriends, if you think that being able to drive is liberation, you still have a long way to go, baby! but driving is freedom and may be a good start.

The Sauds aren't worried about AlQ and terror attacks on them, because it's only Westerners right now who are being attacked in the "Magic Kindom," innocent men like BBC journalists who were shot the other day--Simon Combers was killed and Frank Gardner was critically injured and is still in hospital-- and an American expat worker who was shot to death today just doing their thing in Riyahd.

June 08, 2004

Crowds Wait Hours to View Reagan Casket

Waiting good-naturedly for as much as half a day in traffic jams and a parking lot, tens of thousands of people filed past Ronald Reagan's flag-draped casket in an outpouring that forced organizers to extend the viewing period Tuesday by four hours.

An estimated 79,000 mourners had passed by the coffin in 28 hours after viewing began at noon Monday, library officials said. The nation's 40th president died Saturday at age 93.

Nancy Reagan, resting and preparing for funeral events in Washington, D.C., watched the scene on television at her Bel Air home in Los Angeles, said Joanne Drake, chief of staff of Reagan's office.

"'It is unbelievable what I am seeing on TV,'" Drake quoted the former first lady as saying. "'The outpouring of love for my husband is incredible.'"

The flow of mourners was interrupted briefly when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry arrived
[cut in line ("Dont you know who I am?") and pretended that he didn't loathe everything President Reagan stood for and voted against in the Senate! What a disgrace.--Jen].
Standing before the casket, he made the sign of the cross, placed his hand over his heart, then left.
[Why God didn't strike sKerry dead then and there is anyone's guess, although He probably didn't want to spoil RR's lovely memorial.--J.T.]

Traffic jams and the wait for shuttle buses encouraged camaraderie among the throngs, who passed the time sharing memories of Reagan and making new friends.
[Don't you know that President Reagan was looking down from Heaven and smiling at this?]

"It was really something. There was a kindred spirit out there as we waited," said Linda Peterson, 49, of Temecula, who left home with her son, Lee, 23, on Monday night.
[...]

Humbert Cabrera, 38, of San Diego, said while waiting in line: "He should be on Mount Rushmore. He was one of us. He lifted us all."

I didn't blog any yesterday because I spent most of the day (and the night) watching these mourners on the live feed at the Reagan Library on C-SPAN.
I was so moved and amazed that people of all ages and from all walks of life, more than quite a few of whom were in tears and all of whom were quiet and respectful, came to pay their respects to their President and their Governor and to mark and mourn his passing from earthly life, as well as to celebrate and remember his astonishing life.
It struck me how peaceful and orderly they were, even in our current world of violence, terrorism and war.
President Reagan would love it, as those who come to pay their respects to his memory this week are living proof of his faith in the goodness, greatness and decency of the American people.
Ronaldus Magnus did"lift us all" and it's comforting and wonderful to see with this response to honor his memory that this is a marvelous part of his legacy-- the gift he's left behind for all of us to be able and willing to lift one another!
*Update: The total who'd come to pay their final respects to President Reagan was changed to 105,00 by Wednesday night.

(Every time I see this image, I burst out crying--their great love for each other as husband and wife was a beautiful thing to see and I can relate to her loss of his company and love.
May the Lord comfort Mrs. Reagan and the Reagan family in their sorrow.)

One last look

[...]
The former First Lady believes her long-suffering husband recognized her when he stared into her eyes for an instant before taking his last breath, his daughter Patti Davis writes.

"It was the greatest gift he could have given me," the former First Lady told her family.

Sobbing, shaking and knowing death was imminent, she held her husband's hand about 1 p.m. Saturday as he inhaled deeply and opened his eyes for the first time in five days.
[...]
At the last moment when his breathing told us this was it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother. Eyes that had not opened for days did, and they weren't chalky or vague," Davis recalls. "They were clear and blue and full of life. If a death can be lovely, his was."

Davis and her brother Ron were standing next to their father's bed when the astonishing interchange between their parents took place.

"In his last moment he taught me that there is nothing stronger than love between two people, two souls," Davis writes. "It was the last thing he could do to show my mother how entwined their souls are and it was everything."
[...]
"His last earthy look was at his wife, his next look was at the face of God," Michael Reagan told People.
What a beautiful affirmation and confirmation of the Reagans' enduring, deep love and that death is only a transition to a better, "shining city" of God of a place.

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June 07, 2004

Bush tells the French: "America would do it again, for our friends."

President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, on Sunday
The look on President Bush's face says it all, doesn't it?
Poor President Bush. Looks like he has gas from Jacques's dinner!

Bush Honors D-Day Veterans in Normandy by Dana Milbank (Bush-hater extraordinaire!)

President Bush Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy with a conciliatory pledge to Europeans who have questioned the American commitment to the transatlantic alliance forged in World War II: "America would do it again, for our friends."
[OK, and Dana Milbanks is off and running!
He's got the Axis of Weasel questioning our commitment, not vice versa! Unreal!--Jen]

The president appeared here at the American cemetery for what will be the last major commemoration of D-Day with veterans of Operation Overlord, who are reaching the end of their lives. Bush spoke of the hundreds of octogenarian veterans seated on the cliff here over Omaha Beach, between the rows of crosses and stars marking the graves of their comrades who never came home.

"Generations to come will know what happened here, but these men heard the guns," Bush said. "Visitors will always pay respects at this cemetery, but these veterans come looking for a name, and remembering faces and voices from a lifetime ago."

Bush blended his remembrance with a brief tribute to former President Ronald Reagan, who died Saturday at age 93. "Twenty summers ago, another American president came here to Normandy to pay tribute to the men of D-Day," Bush said. "He was a courageous man, himself, and a gallant leader in the cause of freedom, and today we honor the memory of Ronald Reagan."

Reagan's 1984 Pointe du Hoc speech marking the 40th anniversary of D-Day was memorable . "These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc," Reagan said then. "These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war."

Bush's speech, though filled with tenderness for the veterans and their long-lost comrades, made no attempt at soaring. His delivery was subdued, so soft that some in the audience had difficulty hearing him despite the amplifiers. As he did in his speech on the same spot on Memorial Day two years ago, Bush told a series of war stories, many with themes of religion and bravery.
[Who knows what mood President Bush was in?
He and Laura had to get through a "private dinner" with Jacques and his wife, she of the lacquered hair, the night before and Lord knows how awful that was!
All I know it that it must have taken all the effort Bush had not to retch in the presence of Jacque ChIraq's swarminess!
An heroic effort, if you ask me.--Jen]

He recalled Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day prayer in 1944, the "crucifixion" of dead paratroopers on telephone poles, and the bibles found in the wreckage on the shore. He spoke of dying soldiers who called out "mother, help me," and said of the dead: "We pray in the peace of this cemetery that they have reached the far shore of God's mercy."

Bush also spoke of the waning days of the surviving veterans. "Now has come a time of reflection, with thoughts of another horizon, and the hope of reunion with the boys you knew," he told the old soldiers, many of them tearful and surrounded by family. "I want each of you to understand you will be honored ever and always by the country you served and by the nations you freed."

French President Jacques Chirac joined Bush for a wreath laying ceremony at the American cemetery and then preceded Bush at the microphone. "France will never forget," he said, recalling France's "debt to America, its everlasting friend." Chirac declared that "America is our eternal ally" and said of those buried here: "They are now our sons, too."
[I've never heard so much bloviating inanity in my life! Jock's a real tool!--J.T.]

Chirac waded delicately
[B.S.! Sheer Milbank spin!--Jen]
into the recent standoff between his government and the Bush administration over the Iraq war. Invoking the importance of the United Nations, which France has used to thwart U.S. plans for Iraq, the French leader said: "Our two peoples have stood shoulder to shoulder in the brotherhood of blood spilled, in defense of a certain ideal of mankind, of a certain vision of the world: the vision that lies at the heart of the United Nations Charter."

What wholesale merde!
Jacques laid it on thick in the most pompous, holier-than-thou, arrogant manner possible and it was clear that everything he said was all lies and exaggerations.
All I could think was, "Why did he have to come?"

In an apparent reference to what the French and other Europeans have called Bush's "unilateralism," Chirac said this generation has a duty to build a society with "the hallmark of respect and dialogue, of tolerance and solidarity that was the quintessence of the struggle we are commemorating today."

As if WWII were ended by anything less than military might and soldiers meeting soldiers in mortal combat! Tolerance--yeah, right! Tell that to the French Jews that were still being sent off to the Nazi camps 2 months after D-Day! And "solidarity? There was that dissonance between the Free French, the Resistance and Vichy France. Respect? As in respect for borders and sovreignity? Ask Hitler! Finally, dialogue? The only thing the U.N. has that the League of Nations doesn't is that it has the backing of the U.S. and to my mind, we are the lesser for it on the world scene. Altogether, Jacques's little speech was a nightmare! Not content with haranguing Bush twice--once "privately at dinner and again publicly at Colleville-sur-mer, ChIraq did it again later in the day, with his buddy Gerhard Schroeder looking on. Quel trou de bal!

Bush, who was lectured on Saturday night by Chirac on the folly of linking World War II to the Iraq war, [The nerve of that Frog! Let's hope that President Bush didn't cave to him completely and was just being polite. How awful!--Jen] avoided such comparisons today, instead celebrating the friendship with France. "Our great alliance of freedom is strong, and it is still needed today," Bush said. Telling the story of a Collesville woman who married an American G.I. who fought on Omaha Beach, Bush produced chuckles by declaring it "another fine moment in Franco-American relations."

This was a wonderful Reaganesque moment!
The audience laughed, as did I at home.
Good one, President Bush!
All in all, the ceremony was very nice (after Jacques tried to dress down our President) and I think the vets were touched again.
But I hope that Bush doesn't have to touch French soil again if he doesn't want to.
When he said, "America would do it again, for our friends," it almost went without saying,"...with France's problems, let's hope we don't have to!"
Let's look on the bright side, however; maybe Bush was telling old Jacques in his subtle way that since the French aren't our friends and haven't been for a long time, we won't be coming to their aid. Works for me!
Why spill more American blood for these ungrateful weasels?
And it hit me like a ton of bricks, that the French hadn't done very much to fight the Nazis off in the first place and weren't that pleased (and still aren't) to have been liberated.
Looking at those Normandie beaches, I was reminded of that other beach operation on the French coast--Dunkirk at the beginning of the war.
There, the British were forced to employ a flotilla of civilian boats to rescue 300,000 of their soldiers who were left high and dry when France capitulated and joined the Reich.

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June 05, 2004

Mourning in America: President Ronald Reagan passes on at age 93

Mourning in America: Ronald Reagan Dies at 93
I post this with deep sadness, but also with relief that President Reagan is no longer suffering and that he's gone on to his well-deserved rest and reward with the Lord.
I know you join with me in celebrating the life of this wonderful man and one of our greatest Presidents ever.
Thank you, God, for this man and the blessings his life and his work brought to this country and to the world.
And if you'd like to leave your sympathies and condolences for Mrs. Reagan, Michael, Patty and Ron, Jr., please go this website to leave them for the Reagan family:
Ronald Reagan Memorial
Godspeed on your final journey, "Dutch," as you "slip the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."

President Ronald Wilson Reagan

1911-2004

He won the Cold War without firing a shot and he won our hearts by being himself.

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant..."

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June 04, 2004

David Warren: Transfer of sovereignity in Iraq is already complete! (Bush rope-a-dopes them again!)

I'm quoting this fine piece in full because David's so good!
A sovereign Iraq

Yesterday, in defiance of all pessimists, Iraq resumed its life as a sovereign country, in a manner no one outside Iraq has the right to gainsay. We have a secular Shia prime minister (Iyad Alawi), and a ceremonial Sunni President (Ghazi al-Yawar). Both are acceptable to all reasonable parties, including the United States. We have a ministry of all the talents, such as they are: with every available regional, ethnic, and religious affiliation.

The formal transfer of power from Paul Bremer's occupation authority to the new Iraqi government waits till the end of the month, but with the self-dissolution of the interim Iraqi Governing Council, we have witnessed an effective transfer. From now on, American advisers won't be running Iraqi ministries -- won't dare try -- and allied troops on the ground will be consulting Iraqis before launching new raids on assorted bad guys. Best of all, the region's governments, including nefarious Iran and Syria (up to their eyeballs fomenting trouble within Iraq), will know it's too late to sabotage the hand-off -- because it has already occurred, by surprise, ahead of deadline.

No one else will say this, so I will. The Bush administration has handled the transfer of power in Iraq more cleverly than anyone expected, including me. The summoning of the U.N. envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, looked like very bad news (a poisonous old Arab League chauvinist who brokered the sell-out of Lebanon to Syria in 1982). In grim moments, I believed the Bush people were cynically using him to wash their hands of Iraq, and as it were, dump the quagmire back in the swamp of the U.N. Instead, they froze the ground beneath Brahimi's feet, and skated rings around him, haggling behind his back with Iraq's new political heavyweights to leave him endorsing a fait accompli. If it were not vulgar, I would say the Bushies suckered the U.N. into signing on to the New Iraq through Brahimi. A sovereign, free Iraq which will, incidentally, have a few things to say about the U.N.'s $100-billion "oil-for-food" scam, in due course.

Will this new Iraq be plausibly democratic? Too soon to count chickens. An Iraqi government that includes all non-violent factions, with or without elections, is already better than that for which we could have plausibly hoped. Elections on top of this will be gravy.

That self-dissolved Governing Council seems to have served its purpose as a public incubator of a new Iraqi political class, wonderfully unlike those in adjoining countries. The Americans have moreover done a superb job of playing politics, intra-Iraqis: a job of horse-trading beyond anything achieved by British imperialists in the past. I didn't agree with all the dirty tricks (and especially not with the CIA's unconscionable settling of accounts with Ahmed Chalabi, getting the Iraqis to raid his headquarters to bring him down to size*), but we have a presentably benign government at the end of the day.
[*This whole Chalabi thing was a confused mess to me. I couldn't find a news story about it to blog that I felt comfortable with as to what Chalabi did wrong and why he was in trouble and with whom.
However, this piece in the WSJ did the best job of explaining the to-do:
The Chalabi Fiasco . Perhaps the new Iraqi government needs someone with a little less baggage, all of it Louis Vuitton!, than Chalabi and that's what they got.--Jen]

Real praise ought to be showered on the Iraqis. This new political class -- consisting of returned Sunni and Shia exiles, Kurds, tribal lords, Shia clerical henchmen, and the odd, semi-halal, Baath-party "technocrat", has proved capable of forming workable coalitions whenever something has had to be achieved. If you read your history of American constitutional wranglings in the 18th-century, you will appreciate how far they came in how little time.

Can they stand up to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Wahabi terrorists, and Muqtada al-Sadr's Shia blackshirts? Yes, with continuing American help. These are every bit as much America's enemies as Saddam Hussein was, and I daresay the U.S. Marines will continue to oblige. They have done a magnificent job of reducing the numbers of psychopaths loose in Fallujah, Najaf, Kufa, and elsewhere, for much too little praise.

On the ground in Iraq, it is obvious from the range of sources the Western media do not bother with, that things are still going exceedingly well. There are more than 8,000 municipalities in Iraq, and serious violence in only five or six. Free elections for local governments have taken place or probably will in most of the others. The foreign troops are already out of sight and out of mind in much of the country, where crops are growing, generators are humming, and people are going about their lives.

My philosophy is, we do not know what tomorrow will bring, so let us celebrate today. Iraqis, Americans, allies, and all men of goodwill have reason to be happy about what has been accomplished in Iraq. Pray, pray, it continues.

I do pray, David, but thanks for the reminder!
I've become a fervent and international person of prayer since 9/11 and I don't intend to stop now!
But if the inestimable Mr. Warren says that the transfer of sovereignity has been effected in Iraq and that what has transpired in the new Iraq is a good thing, I think you can almost take it to the bank as a done deal!
I'll sweat a lot less until the official June 30th handover!
Now if we can just pray President Bush through the D-Day 60th year commemoration ceremonies this weekend...
And perhaps get the U.N. "seal of approval" on the deal, not that it really matters or that I care what the U.N. does, because I certainly do not!
(Note that our former allies on D-Day, France and Russia, are giving us grief in the UN about turning over control of our troops to the Iraqis, as well as China. SSDD.)

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June 03, 2004

I wish Mr. Tenet Godspeed in private life after a job well done

Bush: CIA director George Tenet resigns

CIA Director George Tenet, buffeted by controversies over intelligence lapses about suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
[This is just plain AP B.S.! Tenets intell about Saddam's WMDs was as reliable and accurate as everyone else's and they said Saddam had those weapons, also, even France and Germany.
As for the 9/11 attacks, the CIA was unable to work with the FBI until the Homeland Security Department was created to coordinate both and the Gorelick "wall" had been removed!--Jen]
has resigned. President Bush said today that Tenet was leaving for personal reasons and "I will miss him."
[...]
"He told me he was resigning for personal reasons. I told him I'm sorry he's leaving. He's done a superb job on behalf of the American people," the president said at a hurriedly arranged announcement before boarding a helicopter to begin a trip to Europe. Cheney stood outside the Oval Office to watch Bush's announcement.
[...]
Tenet had given some consideration to leaving last summer, but decided to stay on. Some close to him believe he wanted to catch al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who remains at large and is believed to be on the Afghan-Pakistani border.
[If he's still alive...--J.T.]
[...]
"He's been a strong and able leader at the agency. and I will miss him," Bush said of Tenet as he got ready to board Marine One for a trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and on to Europe.
   
 "George Tenet is the kind of public servant you like to work with," the president added. "He's strong, he's resolute. He's served his nation as the director for seven years. He has been a strong and able leader at the agency. He's been a strong leader in the war on terror."

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III praised Tenet. "George has sought at every turn to bridge the gap between the CIA and FBI with one goal in mind - the security of the American public," Mueller said. "Due to his constant efforts to bring the intelligence agencies closer together, we are better able to predict the actions of our adversaries and to protect Americans from evolving transnational threats."
[...]
Said [Porter] Goss: "Just boat loads of stuff have been dumped on him by all kinds of people. He was given the job of rebuildingan agency that had been depleted."
[Porter Goss, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is a former CIA agent and is being discussed as Tenet's potential successor.--Jen]
    House Speaker Dennis Hastert said: "He served his country a long time. History will tell what the implications of his tenure were."
[...]
Some close to Tenet have said the job of overseeing more than a dozen agencies that make up the intelligence community has been taxing for him. He suffered heart problems while at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration, although a CIA official said his resignation was not health related.

I'm not going to speculate about why Mr. Tenet is leaving.
Maybe he really does want to spend some time with his family.
I'll bet he hasn't been home much in the last 3 years.
This is a tough war on a lot of us (Some of us--ahem!--have a lot more gray hair than we did on 9/11) and it's clear that Tenet has been busy and that his agents have found out alot and stopped many terror attacks all over the world.
Not being privy to the mysterious and secret workings of the CIA, it's hard to truly criticize Tenet's job performance. but he seems to have done a fine job to me and President Bush was pleased by his service to our country at this critical time in our history.
I wish Mr. Tenet well and would like to thank him for 7 years of service to we, the people.
And I'm just delighted that my President avails himself of the CIA's resources and expertise rather than shunning the CIA Director as Prezodent Clinton did with James Woolsey and Tenet himself.
When President Bush says he'll miss Tenet, you know that he will.
I think I'll miss Mr. Tenet also, now that I think about it.

11:40 PM Permalink TrackBack [0]

Sorry about the enforced operational pause...

Due to strange summer storms, we've been without power here in Dallas for most of the last 48 hours.
Apparently, we had one of the worst storms in Dallas history on Tuesday night when we were hit with lightning, rain and thunder and winds that reached up to 97 miles an hour.
The lights went off at 9:00 here--in the middle of the city--and stayed off until Wednesday afternoon and then went back out when more thunderstorms hit again last night.
The TXU crew got the lights back on sometime at 4:00 this morning.
With temperatures in the high 80s with high humidity, I started to understand in a real way how the people of Iraq and our soldiers there felt without any power in the heat.
I fared far less well than they, I fear.
I suppose I'm spoiled and take electricity and its many applications for granted, but not today!
The worse news is, it showed us that if there's a terror attack here with similar or worse effects on power, water, etc., we're screwed and now definitely in need of more batteries for all of our emergency lights, flashlights and radios.
Say a little prayer for us because there are more storms headed our way this afternoon that threaten to do the same things all over again.

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