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September 01, 2004
August Was RWN's Best Month Ever & I Think The GOP Is Mainstream Already
This was RWN's best month ever for daily uniques, and the best month this year for page views. Right Wing News finished August with 335,225 total pageviews & 202,452 daily unique visitors. Thanks to all the web pages that linked RWN and of course, all the readers for making that possible. I'm going to have to double that number (at least) to go full time, but it's nice to be going in the right direction. Also, you may have noticed the new RWN advertiser, "Tell the Republican Party To Come Back To The Mainstream". To be honest with you, I have no idea who these guys are -- literally. I mean here are the members listed on the front of their website.... "Gov. David Cargo, New Mexico, 1967-71 I was tempted to reject their ad, since I totally disagree with the idea that the GOP isn't in the mainstream already, but hey, they're paying money and I'm a capitalist right? If they want to run ads on RWN, all I have to say is thanks for the money fellas and oh...check out their web page. Even if I don't agree with them, they should at least get something for their money... Primetime RNC Review + Ah-nold's Speech
I'm not the biggest ah-nold fan in the world, but I have to give him credit for the great speech he gave last night. He was funny, did a good job of talking up W., and it's always fantastic to hear someone who audaciously points out the obvious: that the United States is a beacon of freedom for the world and the greatest nation that is, has ever been, or likely ever will be. On the other hand, I wouldn't advise the Bush twins to quit their day jobs (wait, do they have day jobs?) and go into stand-up comedy. Frankly, I didn't think they were very good and I'm a little surprised their lame act made it to prime time without someone cluing them in. Laura Bush's speech seemed pretty tame compared to Schwarzenegger's potent time at the podium, but she was targeting a different crowd. Laura was up there to bring in the "soccer moms" and humanize W. a bit and while she certainly couldn't sling red meat like Arnold or Rudy, I think she earned a primetime slot. But of course, the highlight of the night was Schwarzenegger's speech and here it is in its entirety... MORE...Kerryzyte!
 Hat tip to Entropy from Arguing With Myself for pointing this pic out to me and to Flash Bunny for making it. PS: For accidentally self-inflicted wounds that were used to fraudulently acquire medals, see Kerry's 1st & 3rd Purple Hearts. Here's some info on those citations, "Former Navy Secretary John Lehman has no idea where a Silver Star citation displayed on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign Web site came from, he said Friday. The citation appears over Lehman's signature. "It is a total mystery to me. I never saw it. I never signed it. I never approved it. And the additional language it contains was not written by me," he said. The additional language varied from the two previous citations, signed first by Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and then Adm. John Hyland, which themselves differ. The new material added in the Lehman citation reads in part: "By his brave actions, bold initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty, Lieutenant (jg) Kerry reflected great credit upon himself...." Last but not least, here's more on the "medal that doesn't even exist"... "The DD214 form, an official Defense Department document summarizing Kerry's military career posted on johnkerry.com, includes a "Silver Star with combat V." But according to a U.S. Navy spokesman, "Kerry's record is incorrect. The Navy has never issued a 'combat V' to anyone for a Silver Star." Naval regulations do not allow for the use of a "combat V" for the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration the Navy awards. None of the other services has ever granted a Silver Star "combat V," either." The Best Quotes From Walter Williams -- August 27 Of 2003 -- August 25 Of 2004
If you enjoyed the interview I did with Walter Williams and the first year's worth of quotes that I culled from his columns, then you'll enjoy this latest set of Walter Williams quotes that I've put together. All that wisdom, distilled down into a single page of quotes. Enjoy! (Cont)
August 31, 2004
The Republican Convention Night #1: Giuliani At The Bat...
The Republicans put on an excellent show tonight, well at least for the last hour and fifteen minutes or so. McCain gave a very solid, sober, yet rousing speech about George Bush, Iraq, and the war on terrorism and the 9/11 tribute followed by Amazing Grace that came after was quite moving. But the clean-up hitter, Rudy Giuliani, was simply ELECTRIC. His speech wasn't just a home run, it was a towering 600 ft blast that flew out of the park, cleared the road outside the stadium, and shattered the window of the local Democratic Headquarters across the street. It's a real shame that Giuliani's talk wasn't shown on the networks because it was magnificent, the best speech given by an American politician since George Bush gave his September 20th, 2001 speech laying down how we were going to fight the war on terrorism. It doesn't read quite as well as it sounded, but it's still a great read... --- Thank you. Welcome to the capital of the World. New York was the first capital of our great nation. It was here in 1789 in Lower Manhattan that George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States. And it was here in 2001 in the same Lower Manhattan that President George W. Bush stood amid the fallen towers of the World Trade Center and he said to the barbaric terrorists who attacked us, “They will hear from us.” Well, they heard from us. They heard from us in Afghanistan and we removed the Taliban. They heard from us in Iraq and we ended Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror. And we put him where he belongs, in jail. They heard from us in Libya and without firing a shot Qaddafi abandoned his weapons of mass destruction. They’re hearing from us in nations that are now much more reluctant to sponsor terrorists or terrorism. So long as George Bush is our president, is there any doubt they will continue to hear from us? MORE...John Kerry's First Purple Heart
One very strong charge that the Swift Boat Vets for Truth have made that the mainstream media has for the most part refused to follow-up on, is how John Kerry got his first Purple Heart. This is no small matter, not only because the SBVFT are accusing Kerry of fraudulently attaining his Purple Heart, but because having three Purple Hearts enabled John Kerry to get out of Vietnam almost a year early. Here's how the Swift Boat Vets tell the tale... From a Robert Novak column based on what retired Rear Adm. William L. Schachte had to say about John Kerry's first Purple Heart... "Schachte described the use of the skimmer operating very close to shore as a technique that he personally designed to flush enemy forces on the banks of Mekong River so that the larger Swift boats could move in. At about 3 a.m. on Dec. 2, Schachte said, the skimmer - code-named “Batman” - fired a hand-held flare. He said that after Kerry’s M-16 rifle jammed, the new officer picked up the M-79 and “I heard a ’thunk.’ There was no fire from the enemy,” he said. ....Ted Peck, another Swift boat commander, said, “I remember Bill (Schachte) telling me it didn’t happen” - that is, Kerry getting an enemy-inflicted wound. He said it would be “impossible” for Kerry to have been in the skimmer without Schachte. ....The next time he saw Kerry after the first Purple Heart incident, Schachte said, was “about 20 years” later on the U.S. Senate subway in the basement of the Russell Senate Office Building. “I called, ’Hey, John.’ He replied, ‘Batman.’ I was absolutely amazed by his memory.” He said they “talked about having lunch” but never did." Here's what the man who treated Kerry's wound, Louis Letson, had to say about the wound Kerry had, "The story (Kerry) told was different from what his crewmen had to say about that night. According to Kerry, they had been engaged in a fire fight, receiving small arms fire from on shore. He said that his injury resulted from this enemy action. Some of his crew confided that they did not receive any fire from shore, but that Kerry had fired a mortar round at close range to some rocks on shore. The crewman thought that the injury was caused by a fragment ricocheting from that mortar round when it struck the rocks. That seemed to fit the injury which I treated. What I saw was a small piece of metal sticking very superficially in the skin of Kerry's arm. The metal fragment measured about 1 cm. in length and was about 2 or 3 mm in diameter. It certainly did not look like a round from a rifle. I simply removed the piece of metal by lifting it out of the skin with forceps. I doubt that it penetrated more than 3 or 4 mm. It did not require probing to find it, did not require any anesthesia to remove it, and did not require any sutures to close the wound. The wound was covered with a bandaid. Not [sic] other injuries were reported and I do not recall that there was any reported damage to the boat." Now, here's an account from John Kerry's commander at the time, Grant Hibbard, who tells what happened when Kerry asked him for a Purple Heart... "Kerry said he was wearing night goggles, that he had his weapon, that they threw up a flare, saw enemy movement and opened fire," Meehan said. "He said he was wounded in the confrontation but it was impossible to tell which direction the enemy fire came from because it was totally dark." Hibbard questioned descriptions of the encounter as a firefight. "The reports I got back the next morning from crew members was that they received no enemy fire," Hibbard said. Hibbard, who was 34 at the time, said crew members reported they had spotted the Viet Cong fleeing on the beach and that Kerry fired a M-79, a small grenade launcher that struck some nearby rocks. Hibbard said Kerry was likely struck by a piece of shrapnel from the grenade. The next day, Hibbard said Kerry approached him and said he had been wounded in combat and showed him a piece of shrapnel the thickness of a pencil lead that was less than a half-inch long. "I described it as a fingernail scratch," Hibbard said. "He later received a Purple Heart for that scratch, but I have no information of how or from whom." Here's more from the SBVFT, "All normal documentation supporting a Purple Heart is missing," the letter says. "There is absolutely no casualty report (i.e., spot report) or hostile fire report or after-action report in the Navy's files to support this 'Purple Heart' because there was no casualty, hostile fire, or action on which to report. The sole document relied upon by Kerry is a record showing the band aid and tweezers treatment by Dr. Letson recorded by deceased corpsman, Jess Carreon." Folks, the mainstream media should be all over this. Just consider the OBVIOUS questions that John Kerry has not been asked to answer about this just ONE EVENT... -- Was William L. Schachte with you at the time you received your first Purple Heart? -- Did you ever go on a mission with William L. Schachte? -- Did the 'Batman' meeting described by Schachte in the Russell Senate Office Building take place? -- Can you provide a quote from someone other than John Kerry who can verify that he was under fire during this incident? -- Can you explain why your own biography says the following 9 days after you received your first Purple Heart? "They pulled away from the pier at Cat Lo with spirits high, feeling satisfied with the way things were going for them. They had no lust for battle, but they also were not afraid. Kerry wrote in his notebook, 'A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky." -- Did Louis Letson examine your injury and did he in fact use a band-aid to treat your 'wound'? -- Your commander at the time, Grant Hibbard says he turned you down for a Purple Heart. Is that true and can you elaborate on the meeting you had with him? -- Will you allow the military to release your medical records so we independently verify the severity of your injuries? -- Can you explain why there was no casualty report (i.e., spot report), hostile fire report, & after-action report or produce them? -- Who actually approved your First Purple Heart and how did that come to pass after you were originally turned down? If the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are what the Kerry campaign and his defenders in the mainstream media claim they are, nothing but a bunch of liars engaged in a 'Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy', then John Kerry should have no problem giving plausible answers to the questions mentioned above and putting this issue to rest once and for all. Right? Short Day Today Because Of Illness
I had to cut out of work early today and I spent a good portion of the day in bed because I didn't feel well. Of course, that threw my schedule off, and so the updates will be fewer in number than normal. Furthermore, the lead off article for today, a year of Walter Williams quotes, has been put off until tomorrow. Things should be back to normal on Wednesday. Advertisement: The Small Business Ideas Forum
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August 30, 2004
If Planned Parenthood Wrote The Next Harry Potter Book...
Yes, there is nothing like taking the Harry Potter novels, stories about friendship, loyalty, individuality, and risking it all to do the right thing, and making them about sex-education, "love and sexuality". So who wants to do that? Why the pro-abortion fanatics at Planned Parenthood! To their credit, they do at least say that they don't want to make the next book to become part of the politics of sex education, but can you imagine what a Harry Potter book influenced by Planned Parenthood would look like? I bet it would go just about like this... Harry Potter: Hermione, what happened to you? Your stomach is growing so big! Hermione Granger: I slept with Ron last week and his protection spell didn't work! Now I'm all knocked up! Ron Weasley: It's not my fault, really it isn't! My wand is broken...wait, that didn't come out right... Harry Potter: But your stomach Hermione, how can it have grown so fast? Dumbledore: I'm afraid I can answer that. It's the work of Voldemort..... Harry Potter: Oh no! What can poor Hermione do? Hagrid: Well, young Mr. Potter -- that baby is nothing but a parasite it is! There's nothing wrong with aborting it... Lucius Malfoy: Abort the baby? What sort of stupid idea is that? That baby deserves to live! Harry Potter: Malfoy, you won't take away Hermione's right to choose! (Harry then blows Malfoy out of the room with a lightning bolt) Dumbledore: I'm afraid time is growing short and Valdemort's spell is very powerful. Soon Hermione will have the baby and then it will be too late to kill it... Harry Potter: Can't you do anything Dumbledore? Dumbledore: I would use my "spell of baby sucking," but I fear it's too weak to overcome Valdemort's spell. Ron Weasley: Wait a second Harry! What about that glowing clothes hanger we found in the cave of forbidden mysteries? Harry Potter: This one? (Pulls out the glowing clothes hanger). Dumbledore: Harry, that's a very powerful artifact! The 'clothes hanger of womb ripping'. Quick, cast a spell... Harry Potter: Clothes hanger, clothes hanger, ye powerful artifact of old (There's a bright flash and Hermione's stomach shrinks back down to normal). Harry Potter: It worked! It worked! Dumbledore: Harry Potter, for performing an abortion on your friend, I award Gryffindor house 50 points. And Hermione, for having the courage to have an abortion, you get 200 points! Ron Weasley: That means Gryffindor house has won again! Harry Potter: But it couldn't have happened without the abortion! All Together: Hooray for abortion! Hat tip to Inoperable Terran & Twisted Spinster for finding the Planned Parenthood story. My Perspective On Running A Comment Section On Your Blog
Right Wing News has more than 3700 registered members and it's not the least bit unusual for posts here to crack 100+ comments. So, I've had more than a little bit of experience running a comments section for my readers. With that in mind, here are some tips I have for bloggers running their own comments sections... -- Should you have a comment section on your blog? Well, other than in a few isolated cases, I'm not sure that comment sections really add all that much to a blog's popularity. However, I do think the immediate feedback enables you to better anticipate how people will respond to what you write. To me, that's the primary advantage of having a comment section. -- Remember that on your own page, YOU have complete control of the comments section. You are the judge, the jury, and the executioner. You write the rules, you decide who's breaking them, and then you decide on the sentence. People don't have any rights in your comments section other than those you give them. So don't buy into any arguments that you can't do X,Y, or Z in your own comments section because of "people's right to be heard", the "First Amendment", etc, etc. If people don't like how you're running your comments sections, they're free to go somewhere else or create their own web page somewhere where they have control of how things are run. -- Now that you understand that you have complete control, you've got to decide what you want to do with it. Do you want to allow people to post in the comments who vehemently disagree with you? Personally, that's the way I go, but that doesn't mean you have to do so as well. If you want to get rid of people who don't tow your own ideological line, I don't see a problem with that. If it's your blog, it's your call. -- These days, I wouldn't even bother to have a comments section without user names and passwords. Not only does registering discourage people who just happen to be passing through and are tempted to leave an obnoxious comment, but for the most part, it keeps comment spammers from posting their garbage all over your page. -- A lot of people may disagree with me on this one, but I don't often post in my comments section. Why spend your time composing a post for the comments section that is going to be read by the relatively small percentage of your readers who go there, when you could be writing something for your main page that everyone will get to read? -- Back when I used to run a humor page called Brass Knuckles Webzine, I didn't allow cursing on the forums. However, I found that editing out the curse words from even a semi-busy forum, was a lot of work. That's why, for the most part, I don't ban cursing in my own comments section today. Too much work. -- Thread-jackers -- people who post off-topic articles in the comments section -- detract from the conversation by breaking up the people commenting into three groups: those who are talking about the subject of the post, those who are opining on whatever the thread-jacker posted on, and those who are chastising the thread jacker for posting their irrelevant material. I ban thread-jacking. You should too. -- Every so often I'll get "conservatives" who call for "death to Muslims", rant about "f@gs", or use racial slurs in my comments section. I'm sure left-wing websites have liberal loonies chiming in on their pages as well, albeit about different topics. People like that? They gotta go. Not only because they tend to attract more like-minded jerks who'll make your comment section a less enjoyable place to post, but because they can draw negative attention to your page. Disagreement is fine, but the crackpots need to hit the digital bricks and find another place to chat. -- When you do run across a troll, thread-jacker, nut job, or other type of creep you decide to ban, take my advice: Ban 'em, ignore 'em, and forget about them. Don't post about it on your blog, don't respond to their email, and don't give them a second chance. I say that because after having seen "trolls" on internet message boards, I've come to the conclusion that a lot of them are socially maladjusted losers who get off on getting attention for being obnoxious. Making fun of them, criticizing them, and complaining about them only encourages them to try to find a way around being banned just so they can continue to get under your skin. I can remember one kid on a gaming forum who literally spent several hours a day FOR WEEKS making duplicate accounts just so she could be irritating on a gaming forum that banned her. Why spend your time dealing with losers like that unnecessarily? Hope this helps the bloggers out there who have comment sections or who are considering adding them. Iraqis Get Lesson in Freedom, Next Lesson: Justice By Scott Ott
Iraqis this week got a lesson in freedom as they watched accused murder Muqtada al-Sadr walk free after spending several weeks directing his followers to shoot at U.S. and Iraqi government forces from inside of the most holy Imam Ali Shrine. The lesson in freedom is part of a multi-year curriculum called "How to Start and Run Your Own Democratic Nation," which Iraq has begun to implement. According to an unnamed Iraqi government spokesman, next year's lesson is 'justice.' "We value freedom so much that we're setting free this murderer and his band of cold-blooded thugs," said the source. "Later we'll learn about being a nation of laws where no one is above the law. But for now...you know...baby steps." If you enjoyed this satire by Scott Ott, you can read more of his work at Scrappleface. Pick The Liar: John Kerry Or His Own Biography
In my opinion, the most fascinating thing to come to light during the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Vs. John Kerry brouhaha that has played out this month has been the sheer number of times that John Kerry's own biography, "Tour of Duty," has directly contradicted his version of events. Let me show you what I mean.... Event: John Kerry's 1968 Christmas trip to Cambodia. "I remember Christmas of 1968, sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia, I remember what it was like to be shot at by the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and the President of the United States telling the American people that I was not there, the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared — seared — in me." Since then, the story has changed, but the Kerry campaign is still claiming Kerry was in Cambodia at some point, although they have been unable to produce any sort of verification for that beyond John Kerry's word. SBVFT Version: Kerry was not in Cambodia on Christmas of 1968. To the best of their knowledge, Kerry was never in Cambodia at all. From "Tour of Duty" -- which never makes any mention of Kerry going into Cambodia on any occasion by the way, "Christmas Eve, 1968, turned out to be memorable for the men of PCF-44 though not in the jingle-bells sense folks were enjoying back home. The only concession to the holiday spirit was that morning’s rare breakfast of scrambled eggs, after which the crew headed their Swift north [from Sa Dec] up the Co Chien river to its junction with the My Tho only miles from the Cambodian border." --- Event: John Kerry's first Purple Heart From "Tour of Duty" on December 11th, 9 days after Kerry received his Purple Heart... "They pulled away from the pier at Cat Lo with spirits high, feeling satisfied with the way things were going for them. They had no lust for battle, but they also were not afraid. Kerry wrote in his notebook, 'A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky." Bonus: Here's the Kerry campaign's Clintonian explanation of why "we hadn't been shot at yet" didn't actually mean that they "hadn't been shot at yet". --- Event: Kerry's Third Purple Heart From "Tour of Duty" on the same day that Kerry later received his Purple Heart... "The Nung blew up some huge bins of rice they had found, as it was assumed, as always, that these were the local stockpiles earmarked to feed the hungry VC [Viet Cong] moving through the Delta smuggling weapons. 'I got a piece of small grenade in my ass from one of the rice-bin explosions, and then we started to move back to the boats, firing to our rear as we went,' Kerry related." --- Event: The "No man left behind" incident. It happened during the engagement in which Kerry received his third Purple Heart & Bronze Star. "Rassmann, a Green Beret, was traveling down the Bay Hap river in a boat behind Kerry’s when both were ambushed by exploding land mines and enemy fire coming from the shore. Kerry was hit in the arm, while a mine blew Rassmann’s boat out of the water. With enemy fire coming from both sides of the river and swift boats evacuating from the area, Kerry’s crew chose to turn their boat toward the ambush to save Rassmann." SBVFT Version (In part -- they actually dispute a lot of what was said to to have happened on that day including that they were ever under enemy fire): Kerry's boat was the only one that evacuated the area while all the other boats stayed to helped the people injured. From the "Tour of Duty" description of what happened..... "I turned the boat into the fire on the left with the intention of trying to get the troops ashore on the outskirts of the ambush, but Sandusky, who was driving the boat and who had his eyes glued on the crippled 3 boat, pointed out to me how badly hit they had been. We veered back toward her then and tried to provide cover from the engaged side." So who's lying here -- John Kerry or his own biography? |
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