Living in Babylon

What will they come up with next? You have to read this article by Michelle Malkin. It's simply....unbelievable! Normally I would go on and on about something like this, but for whatever reason I just can't find the words. Perhaps reading the article, and knowing that it is true is just mind-numbing? In any case, here is the Michelle Malkin article.

Basically, some backwards school district (oops, is that an oxymoron?) has been working for almost a year to do a simulation of a terrorist attack for preparation purposes. Fine. The catch? The terrorists are a group of home-school "militants" named "Wackos against Schools"!!! Can you believe it!?!?

...And all this is after a recent (but little reported on) study showing that well over 30% of public school teachers in big cities send their children to private schools!! They recognize the abysmal failure most of our public schools have become, yet keep resisting the charter school and voucher program movements because of their best buddy, the good 'ol NEA! All the while, sending their own children to better schools...I wonder how they explain this to the parents of the children they teach?

Amazing...

There is a disturbing trend I have witnessed this election year. I have seen many, many yard signs for Bush/Cheney that have been vandalized, ripped up, cut up, torn down, etc. In particular, there is a large sign on a major arterial between Mill Creek and Snohomish that has been the site of repeated vandalism.

I remember the day I first noticed the sign, and how happy I was that someone else in our liberal, hippy state also supported President Bush. The very next morning, while driving by, I couldn't help but notice that someone had spray-painted a large black "ghostbusters" symbol right in the middle of the sign.

That remained for a while, until the homeowner obviously purchased a new sign and put that one up. The very next morning, it was vandalized again, this time with various colors of spray-paint blocking out Bush's name entirely. That remained up for a while until, you guessed it, the homeowner obtained and displayed yet another brand new sign.

And, just as surely and swiftly as before, the sign was vandalized again. This time, they cut out Bush's name entirely and there is just a big hole in the sign where his name was to this day.

My wife tells of a similar large sign visible from I-405 which has an identical tale. The owner of this property, however, displays all the vandalized signs as well, hopefully drawing attention to the problem.

Watching our local news, you would think that none of this is going on, though it is widespread. I did see a story once about how some elderly lady's small kerry/edwards sign was stolen. As usual, the blame was squarely placed on those evil conservatives (who also want to starve children, make old people sick, strip-mine the whole earth, etc). No doubt, there are probably a few conservatives who would steal or vandalize liberal's signs.

That being said, it seems there are a LOT more people vandalizing Bush/Cheney signs out there.

This should not be surprising, I suppose, because if I was a vandalizer, I would want liberals in office too. They are soft on crime, espousing the "rights" of criminals, victimizing the victims all over again. There are a host of other reasons, but the biggest one is that they claim to be the champions of "tolerance", when in reality they are the most intolerant people of all. No view is to be respected, or even allowed in the marketplace of ideas unless it affirms the secular liberal faith (and yes, it IS a faith all its own - read "America's Real War", by Rabbi Daniel Lapin if you want to learn more).

These are the people who talk about the need to erect a 7-mile thick, 45-mile high titanium reinforced wall between church and state, who are worried that the "religious right" is shoving their values down everyone else's throats, etc, etc, while at the same time telling our children that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality (in fact, we need to celebrate sodomy), having sex before marriage (even in your early teens), murdering unborn children, and so forth!!

Now, honestly, WHO are the ones cramming their values down everyone else's throats?! The religious right, of which I am proud to be a member, is merely practicing self-defense.

There is a story today of members of a painter's union grabbing a Bush/Cheney sign out of the hands of a THREE YEAR OLD GIRL, and ripping it to pieces before her very eyes. What kind of gutless, heartless, senseless, spineless, immature, vile, weasel of a coward do you have to be to do such a thing? I'm glad Matt Drudge is around, because he put up pictures of the young girl crying and a brief story about the incident, and then the Washington Times picked up the story as well. You can read it here.

Anyway, I could go on and on, but I'll stop here. And also, the vandalizers should be on notice, because my wife and I are going to talk to the property owners with these signs, and offer them financial assistance to keep buying signs. Maybe we'll put up a camera and try to catch whoever is doing this. My guess? It's probably not a teenager, but a middle-aged woman with a "Bush Knew" sticker on the back of her (probably imported) car.

Well, well, well....it seems there is a new study out that establishes a strong correlation between teens' tv viewing habits and their sexual behavior. It seems that teens who watch a lot of "racy" television shows with sexual content are twice as likely to engage in intercourse than teens who watch little or none of those shows. Indeed, the head of the study said, ‘The advancement in sexual behavior we saw among kids who watched a lot of sexual television was striking.’

TV watching is certainly not the only factor, but definitely plays a part. This is kind of just another example of "science" telling us what we already knew, isn't it? Well, hopefully it is. Just one more reason not to let your kids watch 'Friends', or any other of the myriad of shows out there with sexual content (it seems like a lot of shows not only have sexual content, but they have made sex the theme of the whole show).

Hi,

I know that not all of you out there are watching or reading the speeches from the convention. There sure are some great speeches being given though. I've selected two to print here; One from Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger and one from Democratic Senator Zell Miller. Even though Arnold is very socially liberal and Zell is a democrat (no one is perfect), boy were their speeches great. And Arnold's is likely to be especially effective, because since he is a movie star, he attracts people to watch him who otherwise wouldn't watch or care what was said at a national political convention. Zell's is definitely my favorite speech so far, and it was given with such vim and vigor, reading the text doesn't do it justice, but it's definitely worth a read. I'll save that one for last, and give you the text of the Governator's speech first. Enjoy.
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The text of a speech by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, as prepared for delivery Tuesday at the Republican National Convention:
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Thank you. What a greeting!

This is like winning an Oscar! ...As if I would know! Speaking of acting, one of my movies was called "True Lies." It's what the Democrats should have called their convention.

My fellow Americans, this is an amazing moment for me. To think that a once scrawny boy from Austria could grow up to become Governor of California and stand in Madison Square Garden to speak on behalf of the President of the United States that is an immigrant's dream. It is the American dream.

I was born in Europe ...and I've traveled all over the world. I can tell you that there is no place, no country, more compassionate more generous more accepting and more welcoming than the United States of America.

As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised my hand and took the oath of citizenship.

Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an American flag around my shoulders all day long.

Tonight, I want to talk about why I'm even more proud to be an American — why I'm proud to be a Republican and why I believe this country is in good hands.

When I was a boy, the Soviets occupied part of Austria. I saw their tanks in the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes. I remember the fear we had when we had to cross into the Soviet sector. Growing up, we were told, "Don't look the soldiers in the eye. Look straight ahead." It was a common belief that Soviet soldiers could take a man out of his own car and ship him off to the Soviet Union as slave labor.

My family didn't have a car — but one day we were in my uncle's car. It was near dark as we came to a Soviet checkpoint. I was a little boy, I wasn't an action hero back then, and I remember how scared I was that the soldiers would pull my father or my uncle out of the car and I'd never see him again. My family and so many others lived in fear of the Soviet boot. Today, the world no longer fears the Soviet Union and it is because of the United States of America!

As a kid I saw the socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets left. I love Austria and I love the Austrian people — but I always knew America was the place for me. In school, when the teacher would talk about America, I would daydream about coming here. I would sit for hours watching American movies transfixed by my heroes like John Wayne. Everything about America seemed so big to me so open, so possible.

I finally arrived here in 1968. I had empty pockets, but I was full of dreams. The presidential campaign was in full swing. I remember watching the Nixon and Humphrey presidential race on TV. A friend who spoke German and English, translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like socialism, which is what I had just left. But then I heard Nixon speak.

He was talking about free enterprise, getting government off your back, lowering taxes and strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a breath of fresh air.
I said to my friend, "What party is he?" My friend said, "He's a Republican." I said, "Then I am a Republican!" And I've been a Republican ever since! And trust me, in my wife's family, that's no small achievement!

I'm proud to belong to the party of Abraham Lincoln, the party of Teddy Roosevelt, the party of Ronald Reagan and the party of George W. Bush.

To my fellow immigrants listening tonight, I want you to know how welcome you are in this party. We Republicans admire your ambition. We encourage your dreams. We believe in your future. One thing I learned about America is that if you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to you. You can achieve anything.

Everything I have my career my success my family I owe to America. In this country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't make any difference who your parents were. It doesn't make any difference if, like me, you couldn't even speak English until you were in your twenties.

America gave me opportunities and my immigrant dreams came true. I want other people to get the same chances I did, the same opportunities. And I believe they can. That's why I believe in this country, that's why I believe in this party and that's why I believe in this President.

Now, many of you out there tonight are "Republican" like me in your hearts and in your beliefs. Maybe you're from Guatemala. Maybe you're from the Philippines. Maybe Europe or the Ivory Coast. Maybe you live in Ohio, Pennsylvania or New Mexico. And maybe just maybe you don't agree with this party on every single issue. I say to you tonight I believe that's not only okay, that's what's great about this country. Here we can respectfully disagree and still be patriotic still be American and still be good Republicans.

My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans, how do you know if you are a Republican? I'll tell you how.

If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the people to the government...then you are a Republican! If you believe a person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest group... then you are a Republican! If you believe your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does... then you are a Republican! If you believe our educational system should be held accountable for the progress of our children ... then you are a Republican! If you believe this country, not the United Nations is the best hope of democracy in the world ... then you are a Republican! And, ladies and gentlemen ...if you believe we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism ... then you are a Republican!

There is another way you can tell you're a Republican. You have faith in free enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the American people ... and faith in the U.S. economy. To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: "Don't be economic girlie men!"

The U.S. economy remains the envy of the world. We have the highest economic growth of any of the world's major industrialized nations. Don't you remember the pessimism of 20 years ago when the critics said Japan and Germany were overtaking the U.S.? Ridiculous!

Now they say India and China are overtaking us. Don't you believe it! We may hit a few bumps — but America always moves ahead! That's what Americans do!

We move prosperity ahead. We move freedom ahead. We move people ahead. Under President Bush and Vice President Cheney, America's economy is moving ahead in spite of a recession they inherited and in spite of the attack on our homeland.

Now, the other party says there are two Americas. Don't believe that either. I've visited our troops in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, Germany and all over the world. I've visited our troops in California, where they train before they go overseas. And I've visited our military hospitals. And I can tell you this: Our young men and women in uniform do not believe there are two Americas!

They believe we are one America and they are fighting for it! We are one America — and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul!

That's what I admire most about the President. He's a man of perseverance.

He's a man of inner strength. He is a leader who doesn't flinch, doesn't waiver, does not back down. My fellow Americans, make no mistake about it terrorism is more insidious than communism, because it yearns to destroy not just the individual, but the entire international order.

The President didn't go into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter of fact, the polls said just the opposite. But leadership isn't about polls. It's about making decisions you think are right and then standing behind those decisions. That's why America is safer with George W. Bush as President.

He knows you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them. He knows you can't reason with people blinded by hate. They hate the power of the individual. They hate the progress of women. They hate the religious freedom of others. They hate the liberating breeze of democracy. But ladies and gentlemen, their hate is no match for America's decency.

We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children. We're the America that sends out missionaries and doctors to raise up the poor and the sick. We're the America that gives more than any other country, to fight aids in Africa and the developing world. And we're the America that fights not for imperialism but for human rights and democracy.

You know, when the Germans brought down the Berlin Wall, America's determination helped wield the sledgehammers. When that lone, young Chinese man stood in front of those tanks in Tiananmen Square, America's hopes stood with him. And when Nelson Mandela smiled in election victory after all those years in prison, America celebrated, too.

We are still the lamp lighting the world especially for those who struggle. No matter in what labor camp, they slave no matter in what injustice they're trapped — they hear our call ... they see our light ... and they feel the pull of our freedom. They come here as I did because they believe. They believe in us.

They come because their hearts say to them, as mine did, "If only I can get to America." Someone once wrote — "There are those who say that freedom is nothing but a dream." They are right. It's the American dream.

No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic background, America brings out the best in people. And as Governor of the great state of California — I see the best in Americans every day ... our police, our firefighters our nurses, doctors and teachers, our parents.

And what about the extraordinary men and women who have volunteered to fight for the United States of America! I have such great respect for them and their heroic families.
Let me tell you about the sacrifice and commitment I've seen firsthand.

In one of the military hospitals I visited, I met a young guy who was in bad shape. He'd lost a leg had a hole in his stomach ... his shoulder had been shot through.

I could tell there was no way he could ever return to combat. But when I asked him, "When do you think you'll get out of the hospital?" He said, "Sir, in three weeks." And do you know what he said to me then? He said he was going to get a new leg ... and get some therapy ... and then he was going back to Iraq to serve alongside his buddies! He grinned at me and said, "Arnold ... I'll be back!"

Ladies and gentlemen, America is back! Back from the attack on our homeland — back from the attack on our economy, back from the attack on our way of life. We're back because of the perseverance, character and leadership of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.

My fellow Americans ...I want you to know that I believe with all my heart that America remains "the great idea" that inspires the world. It's a privilege to be born here. It's an honor to become a citizen here. It's a gift to raise your family here to vote here and to live here.

Our president, George W. Bush, has worked hard to protect and preserve the American dream for all of us. That's why I say ... send him back to Washington for four more years!

Thank you, America — and God bless you all!
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Text of speech by Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia as prepared for delivery Wednesday at the Republican National Convention:
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Since I last stood in this spot, a whole new generation of the Miller Family has been born: Four great grandchildren.

Along with all the other members of our close-knit family, they are my and Shirley's most precious possessions.

And I know that's how you feel about your family also. Like you, I think of their future, the promises and the perils they will face.

Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of world they will grow up in.

And like you, I ask which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family?

The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight. For my family is more important than my party.

There is but one man to whom I am willing to entrust their future and that man's name is George Bush.

In the summer of 1940, I was an 8-year-old boy living in a remote little Appalachian valley. Our country was not yet at war, but even we children knew that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they could.

President Roosevelt, in his speech that summer, told America "all private plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding public danger."

In 1940, Wendell Wilkie was the Republican nominee.

And there is no better example of someone repealing their "private plans" than this good man.

He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time.

And he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than make national security a partisan campaign issue.

Shortly before Wilkie died, he told a friend, that if he could write his own epitaph and had to choose between "here lies a president" or "here lies one who contributed to saving freedom," he would prefer the latter.

Where are such statesmen today?

Where is the bipartisanship in this country when we need it most?

Now, while young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrat's manic obsession to bring down our Commander in Chief.

What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in?

I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny.

It was Democratic President Harry Truman who pushed the Red Army out of Iran, who came to the aid of Greece when Communists threatened to overthrow it, who stared down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin by flying in supplies and saving the city.

Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. But not today.

Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.

And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula that is free because Dwight Eisenhower commanded an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald Reagan rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.

But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.

They don't believe there is any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.

It is not their patriotism — it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking. They claimed Carter's pacifism would lead to peace.

They were wrong.

They claimed Reagan's defense buildup would lead to war.

They were wrong.

And, no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

Together, Kennedy/Kerry have opposed the very weapons system that won the Cold War and that is now winning the War on Terror.

Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security but Americans need to know the facts.

The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40 percent of the bombs in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom. The B-2 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein's command post in Iraq.
The F-14A Tomcats, that Senator Kerry opposed, shot down Khadifi's Libyan MIGs over the Gulf of Sidra. The modernized F-14D, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora. The Apache helicopter, that Senator Kerry opposed, took out those Republican Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. The F-15 Eagles, that Senator Kerry opposed, flew cover over our Nation's Capital and this very city after 9/11.

I could go on and on and on: against the Patriot Missile that shot down Saddam Hussein's scud missiles over Israel; against the Aegis air-defense cruiser; against the Strategic Defense Initiative; against the Trident missile; against, against, against.

This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces?

U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?

Twenty years of votes can tell you much more about a man than twenty weeks of campaign rhetoric.

Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside.

Senator Kerry has made it clear that he would use military force only if approved by the United Nations.

Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending.

I want Bush to decide.

John Kerry, who says he doesn't like outsourcing, wants to outsource our national security.

That's the most dangerous outsourcing of all. This politician wants to be leader of the free world.

Free for how long?

For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure.

As a war protester, Kerry blamed our military.

As a Senator, he voted to weaken our military. And nothing shows that more sadly and more clearly than his vote this year to deny protective armor for our troops in harms way, far away.

George Bush understands that we need new strategies to meet new threats.

John Kerry wants to re-fight yesterday's war. George Bush believes we have to fight today's war and be ready for tomorrow's challenges. George Bush is committed to providing the kind of forces it takes to root out terrorists.

No matter what spider hole they may hide in or what rock they crawl under.

George Bush wants to grab terrorists by the throat and not let them go to get a better grip.

From John Kerry, they get a "yes-no-maybe" bowl of mush that can only encourage our enemies and confuse our friends.

I first got to know George Bush when we served as governors together. I admire this man. I am moved by the respect he shows the first lady, his unabashed love for his parents and his daughters, and the fact that he is unashamed of his belief that God is not indifferent to America.

I can identify with someone who has lived that line in "Amazing Grace," "Was blind, but now I see," and I like the fact that he's the same man on Saturday night that he is on Sunday morning.

He is not a slick talker but he is a straight shooter and, where I come from, deeds mean a lot more than words.

I have knocked on the door of this man's soul and found someone home, a God-fearing man with a good heart and a spine of tempered steel.

The man I trust to protect my most precious possession: my family.

This election will change forever the course of history, and that's not any history. It's our family's history.

The only question is how. The answer lies with each of us. And, like many generations before us, we've got some hard choosing to do.

Right now the world just cannot afford an indecisive America. Fainthearted self-indulgence will put at risk all we care about in this world.

In this hour of danger our President has had the courage to stand up. And this Democrat is proud to stand up with him.

Thank you.

God Bless this great country and God Bless George W. Bush.

This is a must-read article today in the New York Post. Enjoy.

I live and work in the greater Seattle area. It is so liberal here that many of us rare conservatives refer to Seattle as, "Berkeley-North". As such, there are hordes of Volvos and VWs (all but Euro-trash cars are frowned upon) driving around with bumper stickers on them saying things like: "Defend America - Defeat Bush", "Peace is Patriotic", "Bush Lied", "Bush Knew", "Re-Defeat Bush", "Lick Bush in 2004", and my personal favorite, "Anybody but Bush".

(Full Disclosure: My wife and I own three cars, including one SUV and one full-size, V8, rootin'est, tootin'est, pollutin'est, gas-guzzlin'est pickup truck - ALL proudly sporting American Flag stickers as well as Bush/Cheney 2004 stickers.)

Yep, out here in these parts we grow a stubborn, ornery variety of liberal (organically, of course, with no added preservatives, hormones, or intelligence). You see, it is quite rare to see a "Kerry 2004" bumper sticker, because, well, let's face it....who can get excited about Kerry?? But that's not the point. These people are hell-bent on voting Bush out of office. Mind you, they don't want to vote FOR someone....no, they only want to vote AGAINST someone. But I digress.

There is a story today in the Washington Times where you learn that anonymous intelligence officials have told that Al Qaeda is planning a high-profile political assassination to lead off their next major attack. Here is an excerpt from the story (note the last sentence here):

Additionally, U.S. intelligence officials said they think that several al Qaeda terrorists already in the United States are part of the plot, although their identities and locations are not known. The targets, in addition to the financial institutions in New York, Washington and Newark, N.J., that have been the subject of public warnings, include such economic-related targets as oil and gas facilities with a view toward disrupting the November election. "The goal of the next attack is twofold: to damage the U.S. economy and to undermine the U.S. election," the official said. "The view of al Qaeda is 'anybody but Bush.' "

So there you have it. Al Qaeda has the same motto as the countless lemmings driving around Seattle with "Anybody But Bush" bumper stickers. Of course, these are the same people who rave about how wonderful Michael Moore's dumb movie is - the same movie Hezbollah (a Palestinian terror group responsible for lots of Israeli civilian deaths) expressed support for and offered to distribute.

I'm really sick and tired of these people - though some of them may "mean well". These people are actively providing comfort to the enemy, and seeking to weaken the defense of our nation from within. They think they are being "nice" or being "anti-violence", but really they are just a bunch of quasi-Osamas driving their beige volvos around our great nation.

Go Bush!!!

Yep, that's right folks. For the first time ever, some group of elite Europeans is going to "observe" our election, and make sure it is "fair".

Here is a link to the story on CNN.

While absolutely ridiculous, this is just one more step towards the coming litigation of the upcoming election. The Kerry/Edwards team has hired thousands of lawyers all over the country to look into "election discrepancies", and now has managed to get some bunch of Europeans to "observe" our election. The story doesn't say what will happen if this group finds any "problems" anywhere...no doubt, no matter what happens, or even if Bush wins in a landslide, you can bet that they will try to litigate their way to the Presidency, and even if they can't get into the White House, they will do it anyway just to make it look like Bush didn't "really" win...

As Rush was recently talking about, if there was EVER a legitimate reason to have the courts look into election practices and results, it was Chicago in 1960 with the JFK/Nixon election. However, Nixon didn't do that, because he didn't want to put the country through it. Gore threw open the door to election litigation, and it will forever be open, unfortunately.

Anyway, let's hope that this doesn't continue. Of course, if Kerry gets elected somehow, you can bet that our President and country will always just do whatever Kofi Annan thinks we should do.

That's right, only 34 more days, and then you can get out your folding stocks and flash suppressors again. You can go to a store and actually buy a magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds (as they were designed to hold) for less than $75, because they will be manufactured again and no longer "pre-ban" magazines.

There is a good article today about the ban ending and the left's "call to arms" to get the silly thing renewed: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GuestColumns/Beale20040808.shtml

Yes, what a good day that will be in America. It's almost morning again.

Did you see the absurd ruse the Kerry-Edwards campaign pulled the other day? It seems that the two of them were photographed eating inside a Wendy's restaurant, supposedly showing what "regular" guys they are. The only problem? Their lunches were from a local yacht club, not Wendy's.

This is just so typical of the left, isn't it? There's nothing wrong with eating at yacht clubs. What's so terrible about this is that the Kerry campaign thinks the American people need to be conned. As usual. They absolutely cannot run on their voting records (both of them have been ranked more liberal than Ted Kennedy by the ADA). And Kerry's flip-flopping is legendary. He is on every side of every issue now, at last count.

It's the whole mentality here that bothers me. They think "Hmm...we're really rich...We need to look more like 'regular Joe' types....I know, we could go eat lunch at Wendy's!" As if that isn't bad enough, then, they couldn't even suck it up and eat lunch at Wendy's once, to complete their little subterfuge - they couldn't even give up their fancy yacht club food...it just cracks me up.

This is what they have to offer voters, by the way. Lots of substitutes, falsehoods, lies, and ploys. Liberals talk a good game on strengthening the military, while gutting it at the same time.

And, all of this is on top of the Iowa corn incident, which is being reported much less...I don't even know if it is a story. I saw these pictures of Kerry and Bush on the Drudge report, and Kerry is standing there, waving with an ear of corn in each hand...the corn is still in the husk, and he looks like he doesn't want to be seen holding these things, much less knows what to do with them. Bush is seen eating corn off the cobb, like a normal person. Anyway, there's my 2 cents on that.

Mike Adams has written an excellent article about how abortion is the biggest human rights tragedy of our time - AIDS is second, not first.

Here is the link:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/ma20040809.shtml

Hi everyone. I realize it has been almost two months now since my last post. If anyone is reading this, I would like to explain. After months of pointing out liberal hypocrisy, government waste, illogical rantings of the anti-gun crowd, etc., I just began feeling that my blog was "same stuff, different day", essentially. Anyway, I'm going to start posting here fairly regularly again, same 'ol stuff or not. The upcoming election is, I feel, one of the most important we have had in this country in a LONG time. Anything I can do to expose the left for what they really are, will hopefully help us.

While I have memories about President Reagan, I was too young (I was only 5 when he was elected in 1980) to fully appreciate how special it was to have that man serve as our country's president, especially at the time that he did, after the general malaise of the Carter administration, the oil embargo, Iran hostages, etc.

He is without a doubt in my mind now, the greatest president of the twentieth century. I could ramble on, but I think the words of our current president, George W. Bush would be much better. If you have not yet heard or read the eulogy given by President Bush, it is worth a few minutes of your time. Trust me. And so, without further ado, here it is:
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THE PRESIDENT: Mrs. Reagan, Patti, Michael, and Ron; members of the Reagan family; distinguished guests, including our Presidents and First Ladies; Reverend Danforth; fellow citizens:

We lost Ronald Reagan only days ago, but we have missed him for a long time. We have missed his kindly presence, that reassuring voice, and the happy ending we had wished for him. It has been ten years since he said his own farewell; yet it is still very sad and hard to let him go. Ronald Reagan belongs to the ages now, but we preferred it when he belonged to us.

In a life of good fortune, he valued above all the gracious gift of his wife, Nancy. During his career, Ronald Reagan passed through a thousand crowded places; but there was only one person, he said, who could make him lonely by just leaving the room.

America honors you, Nancy, for the loyalty and love you gave this man on a wonderful journey, and to that journey's end. Today, our whole nation grieves with you and your family.

When the sun sets tonight off the coast of California, and we lay to rest our 40th President, a great American story will close. The second son of Nell and Jack Reagan first knew the world as a place of open plains, quiet streets, gas-lit rooms, and carriages drawn by horse. If you could go back to the Dixon, Illinois of 1922, you'd find a boy of 11 reading adventure stories at the public library, or running with his brother, Neil, along Rock River, and coming home to a little house on Hennepin Avenue. That town was the kind of place you remember where you prayed side by side with your neighbors, and if things were going wrong for them, you prayed for them, and knew they'd pray for you if things went wrong for you.

The Reagan family would see its share of hardship, struggle and uncertainty. And out of that circumstance came a young man of steadiness, calm, and a cheerful confidence that life would bring good things. The qualities all of us have seen in Ronald Reagan were first spotted 70 and 80 years ago. As a lifeguard in Lowell Park, he was the protector keeping an eye out for trouble. As a sports announcer on the radio, he was the friendly voice that made you see the game as he did. As an actor, he was the handsome, all-American, good guy, which, in his case, required knowing his lines -- and being himself.

Along the way, certain convictions were formed and fixed in the man. Ronald Reagan believed that everything happened for a reason, and that we should strive to know and do the will of God. He believed that the gentleman always does the kindest thing. He believed that people were basically good, and had the right to be free. He believed that bigotry and prejudice were the worst things a person could be guilty of. He believed in the Golden Rule and in the power of prayer. He believed that America was not just a place in the world, but the hope of the world.

And he believed in taking a break now and then, because, as he said, there's nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.

Ronald Reagan spent decades in the film industry and in politics, fields known, on occasion, to change a man. But not this man. From Dixon to Des Moines, to Hollywood to Sacramento, to Washington, D.C., all who met him remembered the same sincere, honest, upright fellow. Ronald Reagan's deepest beliefs never had much to do with fashion or convenience. His convictions were always politely stated, affably argued, and as firm and straight as the columns of this cathedral.

There came a point in Ronald Reagan's film career when people started seeing a future beyond the movies. The actor, Robert Cummings, recalled one occasion. "I was sitting around the set with all these people and we were listening to Ronnie, quite absorbed. I said, 'Ron, have you ever considered someday becoming President?' He said, 'President of what?' 'President of the United States,' I said. And he said, 'What's the matter, don't you like my acting either?'" (Laughter.)

The clarity and intensity of Ronald Reagan's convictions led to speaking engagements around the country, and a new following he did not seek or expect. He often began his speeches by saying, "I'm going to talk about controversial things." And then he spoke of communist rulers as slavemasters, of a government in Washington that had far overstepped its proper limits, of a time for choosing that was drawing near. In the space of a few years, he took ideas and principles that were mainly found in journals and books, and turned them into a broad, hopeful movement ready to govern.

As soon as Ronald Reagan became California's governor, observers saw a star in the West -- tanned, well-tailored, in command, and on his way. In the 1960s, his friend, Bill Buckley, wrote, "Reagan is indisputably a part of America, and he may become a part of American history."

Ronald Reagan's moment arrived in 1980. He came out ahead of some very good men, including one from Plains, and one from Houston. What followed was one of the decisive decades of the century, as the convictions that shaped the President began to shape the times.

He came to office with great hopes for America, and more than hopes -- like the President he had revered and once saw in person, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan matched an optimistic temperament with bold, persistent action. President Reagan was optimistic about the great promise of economic reform, and he acted to restore the reward and spirit of enterprise. He was optimistic that a strong America could advance the peace, and he acted to build the strength that mission required. He was optimistic that liberty would thrive wherever it was planted, and he acted to defend liberty wherever it was threatened.

And Ronald Reagan believed in the power of truth in the conduct of world affairs. When he saw evil camped across the horizon, he called that evil by its name. There were no doubters in the prisons and gulags, where dissidents spread the news, tapping to each other in code what the American President had dared to say. There were no doubters in the shipyards and churches and secret labor meetings, where brave men and women began to hear the creaking and rumbling of a collapsing empire. And there were no doubters among those who swung hammers at the hated wall as the first and hardest blow had been struck by President Ronald Reagan.

The ideology he opposed throughout his political life insisted that history was moved by impersonal ties and unalterable fates. Ronald Reagan believed instead in the courage and triumph of free men. And we believe it, all the more, because we saw that courage in him.

As he showed what a President should be, he also showed us what a man should be. Ronald Reagan carried himself, even in the most powerful office, with a decency and attention to small kindnesses that also defined a good life. He was a courtly, gentle and considerate man, never known to slight or embarrass others. Many people across the country cherish letters he wrote in his own hand
-- to family members on important occasions; to old friends dealing with sickness and loss; to strangers with questions about his days in Hollywood. A boy once wrote to him requesting federal assistance to help clean up his bedroom. (Laughter.)

The President replied that, "unfortunately, funds are dangerously low."
(Laughter.) He continued, "I'm sure your mother was fully justified in proclaiming your room a disaster. Therefore, you are in an excellent position to launch another volunteer program in our nation. Congratulations."
(Laughter.)

Sure, our 40th President wore his title lightly, and it fit like a white Stetson. In the end, through his belief in our country and his love for our country, he became an enduring symbol of our country. We think of his steady stride, that tilt of a head and snap of a salute, the big-screen smile, and the glint in his Irish eyes when a story came to mind.

We think of a man advancing in years with the sweetness and sincerity of a Scout saying the Pledge. We think of that grave expression that sometimes came over his face, the seriousness of a man angered by injustice -- and frightened by nothing. We know, as he always said, that America's best days are ahead of us, but with Ronald Reagan's passing, some very fine days are behind us, and that is worth our tears.

Americans saw death approach Ronald Reagan twice, in a moment of violence, and then in the years of departing light. He met both with courage and grace. In these trials, he showed how a man so enchanted by life can be at peace with life's end.

And where does that strength come from? Where is that courage learned? It is the faith of a boy who read the Bible with his mom. It is the faith of a man lying in an operating room, who prayed for the one who shot him before he prayed for himself. It is the faith of a man with a fearful illness, who waited on the Lord to call him home.

Now, death has done all that death can do. And as Ronald Wilson Reagan goes his way, we are left with the joyful hope he shared. In his last years, he saw through a glass darkly. Now he sees his Savior face to face.

And we look to that fine day when we will see him again, all weariness gone, clear of mind, strong and sure, and smiling again, and the sorrow of his parting gone forever.

May God bless Ronald Reagan, and the country he loved.