Thespis Journal

Airline Deregulation Act

2008-08-31T10:17:00.001-04:00

Airline Deregulation Act
Originally uploaded by chanticleer148

Jimmy Carter signs the Airline Deregulation Act fo 1978. Seems its a little misguided to blame Ronald Reagan for this Carter Debacle.

Ann Coulter Mega Post

2007-07-11T15:43:00.000-04:00

Slandering Ann Coulter has been almost important to the press this week as covering Paris Hilton’s release from prison. When Big Mama Edwards shoved herself into the debate by collaboratively staging a phone with Chris Matthews, the drive-by media went into emblematic histrionics. The so-called media covered this political fundraising stunt as if it were actual news. Elizabeth Edwards played the media like Itzhak Perlman plays a Stradivarius.

When the media types are so willing to misrepresent a story as inconsequential as the words of Ann Coulter, it is obvious what do they do when mis-reporting the major issues of the day.

Ann hit back hard in her column on Thursday:

The Edwards campaign is apparently still running low on donations, so this week they went back to their top fundraiser: me.

I doubled the ratings of the lowest-rated cable news show on Tuesday by agreeing to go on for a full hour to promote my new paperback version of "Godless" — a mistake I won't make again. As I was walking to the set, minutes before airtime, it was casually mentioned to me that Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, might call in.

For the first time in recorded history, the show's host did not interrupt a guest, but let Elizabeth Edwards ramble on and on, allowing her to browbeat me for being mean to her husband. (This delicate flower is very sensitive to rough words, having hired the Edwards' campaign staffer who wrote this: "What if Mary had taken Plan B after the Lord filled her with his hot, white, sticky Holy Spirit"?)

Say, did any TV host ever surprise Al Franken, Bill Maher or Arianna Huffington with a call by the wife of someone they've made nasty remarks about? How about a call to John Edwards from the wife of a doctor he bankrupted with his junk-science lawsuits?

I think I may have tuned out at some point, so I can only speak to the first 45 minutes of Elizabeth Edwards' harangue, but it mostly consisted of utterly dishonest renditions of things I had said on my "Good Morning America" interview this week and a column I wrote four years ago. (You can't rush Edwards' "rapid response team"!) She claimed I had launched unprovoked attacks on the Edwards' dead son and called for a terrorist attack on her husband.

We can always count on Ann for acerbic, pointed, and accurate commentary on the news of the day. Check out all of these links to find out the deplorable coverage of all the morning news shows.

Check out what Ann really said on Good Morning America.

Read about Kiran Chetry and her guest slandering Ann while totally misrepresenting the situation

NBC is despicable. ABC is an embarrassment. CBS is trying a little too hard

The New Thespis Journal

2007-01-07T13:33:00.000-05:00

Check out some of our recent posts at the NEW Thespis Journal.

Johnny One Note: The New Liberals in Washington

Fat Fools Protest Record High Temperatures

The Party of Broken Promises

Another Distraction for the Broadway Theater Patron

Kool Aid Drinker of the Week: Andrea Mitchell

Gerald R. Ford

2006-12-27T23:10:00.000-05:00

The New York Sun has a definitive editorial on the death of President Ford. The entire editorial is well worth your time.

On the death of Gerald Ford, it is tempting to remark that his presidency was a transient moment of little historic significance save for the pardon of President Nixon and, conceivably, the signing of the Helsinki Final Act. There was the brief, but doomed, fight to sustain a policy of providing military aid to the free Vietnamese forces the Democrats in Congress were determined, after their gains in 1974, to abandon. And there was the drama of the Mayaguez. But there was also his wan economic policies, captured in the slogan Whip Inflation Now. And a general sense that Ford somehow, in the great showdown with the Soviet Union, just didn't quite comprehend the deep tides and allowed himself to get out maneuvered in debate by Jimmy Carter.

Yet, if one takes the long view, Ford emerges in a different light, if not as a large figure, at least as a part, even a tribune, of a great shift in the Republican Party. This was the move away from the isolationism of the years that preceded World War II. The move began when Wendell Willkie challenged the incumbent Roosevelt to take seriously the threat posed to democracy by the European war. After the war, Senator Vandenberg of Michigan acceded on the foreign relations committee and helped swing the Senate behind the Marshall Plan with the famous principle that America's voice had to "unite at the water's edge." Vandenberg, a Republican from Grand Rapids, inspired Ford, fresh from the Navy and before that Yale Law School, in the run for Congress that began his own long rise.

Check out all of our other posts over here.

Demonic War Scene: "Mr. President, Stop This War!"

2006-11-24T10:47:00.000-05:00

From the recent XHS Production of The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

Try The New Thespis Journal

2006-10-15T17:20:00.000-04:00

We're still in previews, but come and visit The New Thespis Journal.

Liberal Trolls and Stalkers are complaining about and undermining the new site, so we know that we have been very successful.

More people are visiting all the time, and here are some posts that represent our Sunday Best.

Coulter vs. Carter on North Korea

The Charlie Brown Democrats

John Kerry: Idiot of the Week

Very Funny

On A Clear Day, You Can See Forever

Where in the World...

2006-09-27T09:52:00.000-04:00

All of our posts are no longer here. Check out our latest posts over here.

Remembering To Listen

2006-09-26T10:13:00.000-04:00

“Putting yourself on the line means revealing yourself for who you truly are. Taking a stand for what you believe in. Allowing your friends, family and complete strangers the rare opportunity to see amazing possibilities for themselves because of who you are being and what we are all capable of doing. It means being UNSTOPPABLE and FEARLESS! “

Jeffrey Schecter
Currently playing Mike in the Broadway Revival of A Chorus Line
Schoenfeld Theater

It would an amazing opportunity for all of our students to witness the revival of A Chorus Line on Broadway this autumn. Well, the subject matter and mature themes make the material more appropriate for our high school juniors and seniors and university students. The ideals of individual freedom, competitiveness, tolerance, and responsibility are all illuminated in this classic Broadway show from 1975. The creative energies and artistic authenticity found in A Chorus Line provide a compelling story laced with earthy songs that have the flavor and spirit of the middle 1970’s in urban America.

Music and theater provide a limitless forum for teaching many life lessons. Practical lessons, history lessons, lessons in critical thinking, and the lesson of working productively with others to achieve a goal are encompassed in the production of live theater. These essential lessons in education are not contemplated in any part of any piece of legislation or statute.

As one of the world’s greatest settings for collaboration, live theater challenges and educates. The street-wise and salty characters of A Chorus Line bring a cavalcade of emotions as they relate their educational experiences, both good and bad. No character is truly shy and as they reveal the days of their lives, these multi-faceted characters provide useful insights and reminders for teachers in across the spectrum of education. We work with real people.

These rich characters remind us all to listen. Even though our students often lack proper perspective, and while we must provide mentoring and guidance, we must listen to their perceptions of reality in order to address their educational needs. We, as professionals, must guide their thinking and encourage them to use a variety of resources to formulate standards and create values for living.

We never know what our students might remember and present on stage someday. Our influence plays out on the stages of their lives every day. In an age of truncated assessment methods and measurements, the authentic nature of recollections by former students could be a useful tool for all educators striving for professional excellence.

Oh no! Rosie Shows Some Skin...

2006-09-24T16:35:00.000-04:00

This is just a little bit too much information…

BURBANK, Calif. - Rosie O’Donnell gave Julian McMahon an eyeful when they were shooting a sex scene for FX Networks’ “Nip/Tuck.” She tells “Access Hollywood” they had her wear a tube-top that they would shoot around. But O’Donnell says they kept yelling “cut” because a bit of the tube-top could be seen in the shot. So, she fixed that by pulling down the top.

She says McMahon, who plays plastic surgeon Dr. Christian Troy on the show, looked down and told her “nice boobs,” adding, “but he was so nice.” O’Donnell says she would “love to do that show again and again and again.”

O’Donnell’s episode of “Nip/Tuck” airs Oct. 3. She plays a woman who has just won $381 million in a Powerball lottery and goes to the South Beach plastic surgery practice for her whole family.

Wow! For more insanity, check out the Rosie Blog. Maybe Rosie can have brunch at Sara Beth’s West Side with Hugo, Cindy, Danny, and other liberal activists.

Rosie and Joy bash Bush for the Chavez metldown.

The Carter/Chavez Alliance

2006-09-23T13:07:00.000-04:00

Jimmy Carter has major issues. If “60 Minutes,” “Prime Time,” and “Dateline NBC” would all start exposing the details of his absurdity, Jimmy an Rosalyn would be forced into the retirement in Plains that the American intended for him when they voted him out of office. As he rotates from North Korea to Venezuela, from friendships with Hugo Chavez, Cindy Sheehan, Howard Dean, Michael Moore, and Kim Jung IL, Jimmy Carter damages the credibility of the United States every time he opens his mouth. When he side swipes President Bush at the funeral for Coretta Scott King, he shows the lack of class that began to tarnish our national portrait in 1976.

Jimmy Carter is a disgrace. We’ve said so before, and we’ll continue saying so as long as he merits the criticism. If you want to learn more, read Steven Hayward’s book The Real Jimmy Carter. Carter panted after the Nobel Peace Prize for years, seeing it as a means of gaining official redemption for his humiliation at the hands of the voters in 1980. He lobbied quietly behind the scenes for years to get the prize, and finally met with success in 2002 when the left-wing Nobel Prize committee saw an opportunity to use Carter as a way of attacking President Bush and embarrassing the United States. The head of the Nobel Prize committee openly admitted that this was their motivation in selecting Carter. Any other ex-president would have refused to be a part of such an obvious anti-American intrigue, but not Jimmy. Here we should observe that Carter conceives himself much more as a citizen of the world than as a citizen of the United States, and I think it is highly revealing that Carter is most popular overseas in those nations that hate America the most, such as Syria, where they lined the streets cheering for Carter when he visited.

Uncanny Carter poked his head up this week on Larry King Live to accuse President Bush of supporting torture. In other words, he accused the President of breaking the law again. Hell, if Nancy Pelosi gets elected Speaker of the House, she can appoint this admirer of Hugo Chavez to lead her charge against the White House. The team of Carter, Chavez, Pelosi, Murtha, Dean, Reid and Company sound like a really elect-able ticket this Fall.

Jack Kinsella has written a marvelous article demonstrating the methods Carter used in presiding over the election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Thirty years after being elected President of the United States, Jimmy Carter is still as incompetent today.

During his four years in the White House, Jimmy Carter presided over the worst economic downturn since World War II, allowed a bunch of thugs to seize our embassy and our citizens, and supported Philippine dictator Fernando Marcos, Pakistani General Zia al Huq, Saudi King Faud and many other dictators. But Jimmy Carter was a much better president than he is an ex-president.

In fact, Jimmy Carter holds the hands-down record for being the worst ex-president the United States has ever known. His post-presidential meddling in foreign affairs has cost America dearly, both in terms of international credibility and international prestige.

Read More...

Blogging For America

2006-09-22T09:13:00.000-04:00

The issues loom larger today, and the battle has grown more fierce, but my reasons for starting to blog are still the same: people living the American dream of a life filled with a career, family, and friends are easily duped into convenient and accessible thinking patterns that are promoted and reinforced on a daily basis by a fuming, fanatical, and lopsided mainstream media. The elite media, clustered in the insular urban culture of the eastern seaboard often have no daily balancing perspective from friends and associates who haven’t joined the involuntary fraternity of artificial liberal intellectuals. This casual way of thinking, with its constantly changing code of moral equivalency, and a slippery, sliding scale of values is a comfortable fit for many Americans. The liberals and the media are always there hoping that a lot of voters want to take the easy way out.

The vacancy of ideas prevalent in this liberal theory of existence has become finely tuned in these last six years, as liberals have had to assume no responsibility for anything they say as a minority party. The media rarely holds any of these leftists accountable for any of their contrived mantras. The current cast of characters, forming the Marxist, Leninist wing of the liberal party, is forced to ratchet up their rhetoric every week to maintain the media spotlight that they crave.

Jack Murtha, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean, and John Kerry have become outright extremists in their hatred of George Bush, and they have used this premise as their most commonly articulated theme. They espouse the same sentiments as Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and have paved the way for these rogue dictators to ridicule our President and our nation on our soil. If Tim Russert were an honest journalist, he would use this Sunday’s Meet The Press to place statements of Pelosi, Dean, Kerry and Murtha side by side with the text of the Chavez piece and demonstrate the similarities of the tone and the language. If you include Cindy Sheehan, Danny Glover and others who side with Chavez and Ahmadinejad, the November election would be starting to look like a rout for the President and his party. Rest assured, if the shoe were on the other foot, Dick Durbin, Tim Russert and George Stephanapoulos would all be comparing the statements of republicans with these terrorists.

Undoubtedly, the media will be too preoccupied over the weekend with the news that Bush supports torture. This is another manufactured plotline that has no truth and comes directly from the liberal talking points for this election cycle. The liberal media and their colleagues in the House of Representatives are highly rehearsed in the endless repetition of false statements in a desperate effort to give these mantras the aura of truth. The amazing ability of the voters to see the transparent efforts of phony liberals in Washington is always forgotten until the votes are tallied. Let’s hope that this election cycle is no different.

Wake up America! Be certain that you are registered to vote, and go vote with our national security in mind. Bush/Cheney and Company have kept us safe for more than five years. They are leading a battle in Iraq which Osama Bin Laden calls the “first front” in the war with the Islamic fascists. Murtha, Pelosi and the party of cut and run can’t be put in charge of anything; they are so far left that they have almost left America.

Bullwinkle Blog, Stop The ACLU, Stuck on Stupid, The Conservative Cat, Outside the Beltway,
Perish The Thought, Adam's Blog, Hard Astarboard, Michelle Malkin, Betsy's Page,

Ghost Light: Thespis Glow

2006-09-20T21:53:00.000-04:00

Keeping the ghost light on to keep the theater from going dark:

The Carnival of Ohio Politics is posted over at Newshound. Take time to read one or two of the interesting articles.

The Carnival of Education is posted at The Median Sib. There are many wonderful articles and topis.

Jay at Stop the ACLU deals with Hugo Chavez's temper tantrum at the UN today. Chavez, Cindy Sheehan's best friend, is a certifiable kook.

AJ Strata says they are handing out huge fig leaves for McCain, Warner and Graham to cover their collective rear ends as the President wins the battle over interogation techniques.

Hot Air has strong evidence from ABC News that the CIA treatment of prisoners has had great success!

MsUnderestimated takes her best shot at Chavez. "Cindy Sheehan should go build her treehouse in Venezuela and live under Hugo as she said before that she’d prefer that to living under President Bush. Goodbye, good riddance, and take the rest off the peace-at-any-price freaks with you." Surely, Chavez will win idiot of the week.

Seth has a theory about the moonbat left. Read the many comments.

The Keeler Political Report has some information on the Ohio senate race, and other news items.

You'll enjoy this Lamont cartoon. It's so true!

The Confederate Yankee has it right on the so-called torture issue.

If you miss Brit Hume's grapevine, you can watch it here.

I'm a little worried about Ted Strickland. Tell the truth Ted is asking for more answers from Ted Strickland.

Check out this Broadway.com story about blogging the previews and opening of A Chorus Line on Broadway.

Update: Carter Quacks Again

2006-09-19T21:18:00.000-04:00

After dedicating the latest edition of “Ten Stupid Things Said by Liberals” to Jimmy Carter, our contempt for Jimmy Carter should be obvious. Carter continues to be one of the greatest embarrassments in United States history, so his latest idiocy is no surprise.

In a twisted rhetorical flourish, Carter claims that President Bush supports torture for terrorists. Well, about two-thirds of America would agree with President Bush on that one, and it’s too bad that it isn’t true. If the goons of mad-dogs of the middle east got word that the United States of America would not tolerate their horrid, inhumane actions any longer, some of these bad boys would shrink from the sheer acts of cowardice that have plagued the world for more than twenty five years. Too bad Mr. Carter has it wrong again.

Courtesy of News Max: "We've lost the support and trust and confidence and admiration that we've had for generations," Carter said, adding the administration "has stonewalled so they can continue to perpetrate this illegal punishment."
"They have obviously subverted facts, that has been proven, and subversion of the law is now becoming more and more apparent," he said, referring to the administration's repeated appeals of court rulings concerning the treatment and legal rights of prisoners at the Guantanamo prison in Cuba.
Carter, who has called treatment of detainees at Guantanamo an embarrassment and disgrace, said Americans were less safe since Sept. 11 because Bush mishandled the Iraq war and failed to promote peace efforts between Israel and Palestinians.
Those two factors, he said, "combined to stir up additional animosity and threats of violence not only against us but against allies like Great Britain."

Mr. Carter has no evidence of any illegal punishment. He is purposefully engaging in deceptive word games to bash President Bush, and plays to the moonbats that currently control his party. What is torture Mr. Carter? Lack of a private toilet? Loud music? Forcing a prisoner to stand for several hours? All of the various techniques which have prevented attacks on the United States since 9-11?
President Bush has not engaged in any torture. Torture is already illegal. Wouldn’t the liberal Supreme Court have already struck down the torture if it were happening?

Mr. Carter is every bit as clueless as he was in 1979. The senate and the President are debating the interrogation techniques that will be spelled out as legal to comply with the injudicious ruling of the Supreme Court. Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter should retire (again) to Plains, and stay there with their mouths shut! We’re all for free speech, but not speech that endangers our national security, and gives aid and comfort to the horrendous enemy that threatens our way of life. Carter is nothing more than a useful idiot for every enemy and adversary of the United States of America.

Poor Jimmy Carter, he can’t help it. He was born with the peanut of idiocy in his mouth!

Sam Houston, Moonbat Monitor, More on Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter Quacks Again.

Jimmy Carter Hall of Shame

Chasing The Caboose

2006-09-19T10:55:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday evening when I arrived at school for a 6-9pm rehearsal, a bewildered looking student was waiting to talk with me. It is routine, if not advantageous, that students seize the time before and after these weeknight rehearsals as an opportunity to talk about the surplus of topics in the mind of a teenager. My role as surrogate parent to many teenagers has its' roots in these talks beginning twenty years ago. For those of you who may not know, we maintain an after school/evening rehearsal schedule that ranges from six hours to over forty hours per week for the select vocal ensemble, dance/choreography, play, or musical rehearsals.

Throughout the last ten years, there has been a push at the school to promote and develop advisory groups as a method of providing a safe and comfortable bonding environment for all of our students. It is believed that students need a strong identity with a "family group" within the school to make them safe, invited, and wanted in the learning environment. I have stated repetitively that our performing arts students are experiencing the most unique and lasting of advisory groups through the length and scope of our program in theater, dance, and singing. The long lasting constructive influence of hours invested in rehearsals and performance has been borne out in the many diverse and flourishing careers of students who experienced the very best of our performing arts programs.

Anyway, the student said that he needed to talk to me about “a lot of things.” The conversation immediately took a turn to the serious as the student announced that he would be transferring to another school beginning the upcoming Monday-in just three days. What was said next shocked me. This well-liked, talented and well adjusted student said that he was experiencing harassment and bullying from a small group of students not involved in performing arts. The student, let’s call him Jim, is also an athlete in addition to being a budding actor/singer/dancer.

Please understand: I am not naïve about bullying in our school, or the many power plays that students pull on each other as they attempt to scrape to the top of the highly insulated world and faux society that dominates the culture at every high school. Students seem to have grown increasingly mean to each other over the last twenty years. I am also regularly startled by the kindness that students demonstrate toward their teachers and fellow students. Both of these behaviors, the mean spirited and vindictive teenager alongside the teenager who truly empathizes with fellow students and faculty members, are displayed on a daily basis, sometimes in the same student.

Jim stated that is harassed for his stature and demeanor on an almost daily basis. After seeking counseling and conferencing with his parents, he had decided to enroll at a parochial school in Dayton. The parochial school has exceedingly limited offerings in the performing arts, and is known for its core basic academic curriculum and for being an oasis from the culturally diverse population that compromises Dayton. This school has a narrow focus, and does an adequate job of educating the privileged students who pass through their doors.

It is a sad day for our school as another student who perceives that he is being harassed leaves our building for another environment. The administration, who practically stopped school for several days to avoid two football players leaving just last year, paid lip service regarding Jim’s departure, but said nothing to the student or his parents. The dual standard of treatment and privileges for athletes and non-athletes has simply been reaffirmed at our school.

Furthermore, there seems to be no plan in place to address the obvious bullying occurring in our school. The basic goal of providing a safe and secure learning environment has not been met. An apathetic attitude by administrators and some teachers creates the artificial ambiance of a productive and healthy school atmosphere. We have failed in our obligation to invite our learners to the show, give them a great seat, and be certain that the show we give them is valuable, participatory by design, and open to all. None of this is to say that the purpose or blueprint of education should be entertainment oriented. The theatrical analogy is simply a convenient method of thinking about keeping our students in the house.

As teachers and administrators, we allow extrinsic events to determine the focus of our professional spotlight. Administrators have the unique role of aiming the spotlight and keeping it shining on school-wide issues that rise to the top.

At our high school, we often have the problem of running to jump on the caboose of the latest “educational fad train” and never finishing the trip. We never bother to decide why we got on the train in the first place or what was good or bad about the train or appraise the quality of the ride. We need to set clear priorities, implement strategies to address the priorities, and utilize pre-designed assessment measurements to determine the merits of the idea or program.

This is the summit of my current thinking and the rationale for my rant today: We need to stop running to catch the caboose, and be proactive in addressing the most over-riding educational concerns in our building. Regardless of the number of committees we may form, or the number of meetings we may hold, we must set priorities, and address these priorities in a professional manner. Several well-respected colleagues have believed for a number of years that many of our students do not feel safe. In this exceedingly pressurized high stakes testing realm that we now know as public education, we must address the primary needs of our students regardless if our legislators or our voters care about the topic or not.

Teacher Blogs...

2006-09-18T15:52:00.000-04:00

There is a fascinating article posted at the USA Today that highlights teachers who blog. The account features bloggers that write anonymously and some that blog publicly. These recreational writers all have something in common; they have the need to sound-off with their thoughts, inspirations, frustrations, wisdom, experiences, expertise and rants against the administration. It’s a great (if all too short) column that should be of great interest to all bloggers who teach. Celebrity Bloggers: The Education Wonks, History is Elementary, JoAnne Jacobs, and A Shrewdness of Apes are all featured in the column.

There is a lot to be said after every long day of interacting with the students, colleagues, and administrators. Get ready for the Carnival of Education this Wednesday and read posts from all around the educational blogosphere.

Hat Tip: Board Buzz
Another article at Board Buzz

Thespis Journal Exclusive Essay: Misunderestimated Again!

2006-09-17T09:53:00.000-04:00

President Bush has used another brilliant master stroke of political genius to put the democrats on the run (they are born to cut and run). The fact that McCain and Company got in the way just adds to the President’s credibility. It’s interesting to note that the most basic of issues in the War on Islamic Fascism continue to mystify the most strident of liberal voices. Since their ideas are superficial and vacant, these liberals have allowed wide openings for a smart leader to repeatedly out maneuver their amateur political grandstanding. Democrats and their friends at Netroots and Moveon.org spent a lot of energy gloating over the misguided decision rendered in June by the Supreme Court awarding broad rights to terrorists who have been captured. The preposterous decision of the court to award rights to illegal enemy combatants provides a unique opportunity for President Bush and his administration.

Now that President Bush has sent his legislation up to the hill, the democrats are left caterwauling. They have used the most common of liberal techniques to diffuse the issue. They are attempting to win public support from people who hate Bush so much that they ignore national security and regularly support the Al Qaeda position. Pathetically, the democrats claim that President Bush is trying to legalize torture. Not that it would stop any liberal desperately hungry for power, but their characterization of interrogation techniques used during and since World War II as torture is blatantly false. The liberals, along with their allies in the media, are trying to “pull a fast one” on the American people, and McCain and Company have placed themselves in the crossfire purposefully.

As media darlings, McCain and Company are caught up in the liberal miasma inside the beltway. They want to appear like giant mavericks of our time, and see themselves as the heirs to Henry Clay, Lyndon Johnson, and other great compromisers of the past. McCain and Company ignore two factors that make our situation unique today: Clay and Johnson served in time when sincerity and diligence characterized the behind the scenes efforts of elected leaders. Secondly, and more significantly, none of these great compromisers served in a time of war.

The Supreme Court said that the President needs a law, so George Bush is forcing the congress to step up to the plate and specify which techniques they will legalize, and which of the techniques constitute torture. Funny thing, now that the ball is clearly in their court, the democrats, joined by McCain and Company want to write a law so vague and imprecise that the legislation is useless in fighting the terrorists. While it is probably terrible for the security of our nation, congress has been forced by the Supreme Court to be accountable for interrogation techniques, and Bush is forcing them to write a detailed bill specifying the legal interrogation strategies.

Rather then write a law drawn in meaningless platitudes that leaves and promotes a ready made platform for all the critics of the administration to continue to exploit interrogation techniques for political gain and rhetorical points, President Bush is demanding a law that leaves no technique to the imagination. President Bush has called their bluff: he is demanding a clear standard.

The senators have even publicly stated that they will not trap the CIA agents or military personnel into legal culpability as long as they can produce a bill that is vague and leaves the senators free from any responsibility. It is sadly comedic that the senators refuse to take a stand when our nation is at war. The democrats used the Supreme Court to bash the President, however when the duty in on McCain and Company they abdicate all responsibility.

President Bush should win. President Bush will win. American military and intelligence personnel will win, and the United States will win. If the President does not win this legislative battle, he will win big in the November elections. It seems that the liberals have misunderestimated George W. Bush again.

Additional Reading: William Kristol:The Trap, The Washington Times, The New York Post, Previously at Thespis Journal.

Also: Dr. Sanity, Hot Air, MsUnderestimated, TMH Bacon Bits, Stuck on Stupid, JunkYard Blog,
Red State, The Absurd Report, More from the Absurd Report, The BullWinkle Blog.

Ten Stupid Things Said by Liberals in Just Four Days

2006-09-16T14:30:00.000-04:00

In honor of a week of liberal insanity, we at Thespis Journal are happy to bring back one of most requested features, Ten Stupid Things Said by Liberals in just four days. Read on, it was quite a week. We should have sub-titled this the Special Jimmy Carter Edition.

1. It was another week of classic Jimmy Carter absurdity. To paraphrase the much beloved liberal icon and late Governor of Texas Ann Richards: “Poor Jimmy. He cain’t help it; He was born with the peanut of idiocy in his mouth.”

The first of his verbal blunders this week slammed both President Bush and British prime Minister Tony Blair. The 81-year-old former President said: “There had once been a very strong voice from London in the shaping of a common policy. I have been really disappointed in the apparent subservience of the British government’s policies related to many of the serious mistakes that have originated in Washington.” Mr. Carter, an opponent of the war in Iraq, continued: “No matter what kind of radical or ill-advised policy was proposed from the White House, it seems to me that almost automatically the Government of Great Britain would adopt the same policy without exerting its influence. This was the case in the Middle East peace process, in the case of the Lebanese/Israeli war in the recent past and certainly in the ill-advised abandonment of the war against terrorism to substitute the war in Iraq.” (Wow, Mr. Carter, you really will say ANYTHING to get your liberal media friends to notice you again.)

2. Mr. Carter used his favorite forum, Larry King Live, as the platform of choice to cloak his treasonous ideas in the perception of objectivity while spewing Bush hatred at every turn. Mr. Carter continues with his idiocy by giving us numbers 2-6 of “ten stupid things” in just this one public appearance. Well, I don't think there's any doubt that the present altercation with terrorists is a very serious problem that every person of respect in the whole world, including the United States, ought to address. But it certainly ought not to be escalated to a struggle for civilization. (Ok, Mr. Carter, tell this to the families of those who lost someone on September 11.)

3. KING: We're back with President Jimmy Carter. Your reaction to Vice President Cheney's assertion that the criticism of Iraq, the Iraq war, emboldens United States enemies and makes allies doubt American resolve.
CARTER: Well, the vice president unfortunately has been consistently very careless with the truth. He still maintains some preposterous comments and attitudes toward the origins of the Iraqi war, the circumstances in Iraq now and he's had a policy in my opinion of deliberately trying to mislead the American people by making untrue statements and there's no reason to give any credence to his ridiculous claims that you've just described. (Right, Mr. Carter. Repeatedly taking the same side with Al Quada and Al Jazeera does nothing to embolden our enemies.)

4. Jimmy Carter: “We've alienated the almost unanimous support that we had around the world for our policy in fighting terrorism as we shifted out of Afghanistan and let Osama bin Laden go free. All of these emphases have been mistaken. And when any Democrat or any citizen who doesn't have any political orientation says that we've made a mistake it seems that the vice president says "Well you are unpatriotic if you disagree with anything we've done." (Mr. Carter takes leave of his senses again: he allowed the Iranian government to walk over America for his entire term in office. Does he really think that the President “let Bin Laden go free?” Does Carter still get a daily intelligence briefing? What credentials does Carter bring to the table to criticize, his own failures in office?” Rush Limbaugh put it this way: I'm going to make some of you mad, but I'll bet you back in 1979 when the American hostages were taken from the US embassy in Iran, what did America do? Forget Jimmy Carter. What did we do? Anybody remember? I'll give you a hint: What became the theme song, essentially, on top 40 radio for the Iranian hostage crisis? "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Old Oak Tree!" You don't think the Iranians got a big chuckle out of that? The big, mighty, United States of America tying yellow ribbons around trees and so forth?)

5. In a statement bound to curse Nutty Ned Lamont, Jimmy Carter slams Joe Lieberman. “I'm really sorry that he's running as an Independent and I'm grateful to notice that all the Democrats who are loyal to our party, loyal to our principles are not supporting him and are hoping that he will be defeated. I think Joe Lieberman is a good man. He's been strongly in favor of the Iraqi war from its very beginning. He was one of the originators of the public statements that misled the American people into believing that the Iraqi war was justified.” (Just a clue to the clueless, Jimmy Carter used to try to fool the American people into believing that he was a moderate. We knew better all the time, and recently he has confirmed his leftist credtenials repetitively.)

6. Carter sides with Hezbollah again: “Well I think Israel should have responded by attacking the southern part of Lebanon and by dealing with the Hezbollah threat if they were going to refuse to make any sort of prisoner exchange to alleviate the tension. But for them to decide to bomb the entire nation of Lebanon and to declare that the Hezbollah threat across the border that only involved the taking of two soldiers and the killing of a few others I think greatly and unnecessarily escalated the entire conflict and caused tens of thousands of people to suffer unnecessarily.” (Ok, Jimmy, we knew you were always against Israel, but we didn’t know you would take the same position as the terrorists and be stupid enough to get on Larry King and announce it to the world.)

7. A slight shift in perspective from one liberal to another. John Kerry is hinting broadly at another run for the presidency. He says he is ready to kick some (Swift Boat Veteran) ass. Even many of the goons who supported him before think his statement is too little too late.
John O’Neill of the Swift Vets states the following in the face of Mr. Kerry’s latest bloviating: It is a little difficult to imagine Kerry (“I voted for it before I voted against it”) kicking the most decorated living serviceman, Bud Day, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, or our salty commander, Adm. Roy Hoffman, anywhere. Perhaps Kerry had in mind using a “Rice Fanny Grenade” as he did by mistake on himself shortly before leaving Vietnam. If so, based on the record, he is in far more danger than anyone else. Kerry and his friends certainly seem to show much greater anger and hatred toward us than toward the murderous al Qaeda terrorists.

8. Poor George Stephanopoulos; he didn’t get the media talking points. On Monday night after President Bush’s speech George said, “Charlie, the headline is: "The War is Not Over." The president's tone tonight was not political.” On Tuesday morning, Stephanopoulos said, “The fact that the president focused on Iraq was political by its very nature.” (Thanks George for making an obvious contribution to our list.)

9. Senator Russell Feingold is really clueless. From the Washington Post, September 16, 2006: “Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) is calling on President Bush to refrain from using the phrase "Islamic fascists," saying it offends Muslims and has nothing to do with America's enemies. In a speech to the Arab American Institute in Washington, Feingold said: "We must avoid using misleading and offensive terms that link Islam with those who subvert this great religion or who distort its teachings to justify terrorist activities." (We should be publishing a weekly list so that there is a regular outlet to humiliate Feingold while using his own words.)

10. No list would be complete without mentioning Rosie O’Donnell’s faux pas of the week on The View.” Loudly and proudly, Rosie compared people of the Christian faith to radical Islamic terrorists. How many weeks until Barbara Walters has to dump Rosie?

Previous Edition of Ten Stupid Things

Others on this topic: Little Green Footballs, Noble Eagle, Decision '08, Sam Houston, Jim Rose,
View From Above, Brothers Judd.

Weekend Laugh: "The Path to 9-11"

2006-09-16T12:59:00.000-04:00

McCain, Graham, and Warner Side with the Terrorists

2006-09-16T07:53:00.000-04:00

While Senator John McCain took another turn as darling of the media elite late this week, he and his co-conspirators Senators Warner and Graham better hope that the United States is not attacked any time soon. They appear foolish to all those who have carefully examined the issue five years after the last attack. Yet, if (God Forbid) the nation is attacked by the rogue Islamic terrorists again, the American people will not be screaming for terrorist rights in the same tones as these so-called republican mavericks. McCain, Warner, and Graham have spent their energies and credibility standing with the party of Europe alongside the terrorists and in opposition to President Bush and the best interests of the United States.

Two great pieces today summarize the case against the republican rascals in the senate. The Washington Times editorial board makes a crystal clear case.

Messrs. Warner, McCain and Graham, joined by a panoply of active-duty and retired military lawyers, suggest that the administration's proposed changes to Article 3 give too much authority to the military, and would undermine our international credibility and give other nations a pretext for mistreating American troops.
Leave aside the question of whether the rogue states confronting America today would ever afford decent treatment under any circumstances. Since actual torture is already illegal, it would be helpful if Mr. Warner, et al., could explain what interrogation methods or punishment they object to (loud music? interrogating someone for a prolonged period of time? limiting commissary privileges?) even if it lessens the likelihood of preventing the next attack on Washington or on U.S. servicemen in Kabul or Baghdad.
If this is the legal standard Mr. Warner and Company insist on, they are making a serious mistake. This will compromise our ability to discover and block future terrorist attacks. And we suspect that polling will soon show that the U.S. public by a wide margin will be with the president and his commonsense views.

In the New York Post, Richard Miniter says we a performing “A Deadly Kindness.”

The kinder we are to terrorists, the harsher we are to their potential victims.
One detainee slashed a doctor who was trying to save his life; the doctors wear body armor to treat their patients.
Striking the balance between these two goods (humane treatment, foreknowledge of deadly attacks) is difficult, but the Bush administration seems to lean too far in the direction of the detainees. No expense spared for al Qaeda health care: Some 5,000 dental operations (including teeth cleanings) and 5,000 vaccinations on a total of 550 detainees have been performed since 2002 - all at taxpayer expense. Eyeglasses? 174 pairs handed out. Twenty two detainees have taxpayer-paid prosthetic limbs. And so on.
What if a detainee confesses a weakness (like fear of the dark) to a doctor that might be useful to interrogators, I asked the doctor in charge, would he share that information with them? "My job is not to make interrogations more efficient," he said firmly. He cited doctor-patient privacy. (He also asked that his name not be printed, citing the potential for al Qaeda retaliation.)
Food is strictly halal and averages 4,200 calories per day. (The guards eat the same chow as the detainees, unless they venture to one of the on-base fast-food joints.) Most prisoners have gained weight.
Much has been written about the elaborate and unprecedented appeal process. Detainees have their cases reviewed once a year and get rights roughly equivalent to criminals held in domestic prisons. I asked a military legal adviser: In what previous war were captured enemy combatants eligible for review before the war ended? None, he said.
America has never faced an enemy who has so ruthlessly broken all of the rules of war - yet never has an enemy been treated so well.

As usual, you won’t see any of these facts highlighted in the mainstream media’s latest coverage. It’s too much fun to scandalize the absurd posturing of media stunt artists McCain and Lindsay Graham. One would think that an intellectual media would tire of the excessive preening of McCain and Graham. However, these mainstream media types recycle plotlines more often than “As The World Turns,” “Dallas,” or “Dynasty.”

President Bush made a vigorous defense of the administration’s view of two pending bills at his rose garden news conference on Friday.

The bill would also provide clear rules for our personnel involved in detaining and questioning captured terrorists. The information that the Central Intelligence Agency has obtained by questioning men like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has provided valuable information and has helped disrupt terrorist plots, including strikes within the United States.
For example, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed described the design of planned attacks of buildings inside the U.S. and how operatives were directed to carry them out. That is valuable information for those of us who have the responsibility to protect the American people. He told us the operatives had been instructed to ensure that the explosives went off at a high -- a point that was high enough to prevent people trapped above from escaping.
He gave us information that helped uncover al Qaeda cells' efforts to obtain biological weapons.
The second bill before Congress would modernize our electronic surveillance laws and provide additional authority for the terrorist surveillance program. I authorized the National Security Agency to operate this vital program in response to the 9/11 attacks. It allows us to quickly monitor terrorist communications between someone overseas and someone in the United States, and it's helped detect and prevent attacks on our country.
The principle behind this program is clear: when an al Qaeda operative is calling into the United States or out of the country, we need to know who they're calling, why they're calling, and what they're planning. Both these bills are essential to winning the war on terror. We will work with Congress to get good bills out. We have a duty, we have a duty to work together to give our folks on the front line the tools necessary to protect America. Time is running out. Congress is set to adjourn in just a few weeks. Congress needs to act wisely and promptly so I can sign good legislation.

While moonbat warrior chief Keith Olbermann and his sidekicks Jonathon Turley and Howard Fineman falsely attacked President Bush in a profane edition of “Countdown” on MSNBC on Friday night, Mr. Bush is actually headed toward a moral victory on this issue that will translate into a win for our nation and the republican party.

The President was very effective in the news conference on Friday, and George Bush has succeeded once again in controlling the political agenda by playing terrific offense and cornering his opposition into a rhetorical box from which they are squealing hysterical slogans and unhinged melodies.

Senators Warner and Collins may seem like statesmen with conviction, but McCain, Graham and their admirers in the chattering class have discredited themselves by accusing President Bush of attempting to codify torture. They know that this isn’t true, and these strident voices are dangerously close to the treasonous model set forth by the New York Times.

It is time for the media’s brightest spotlight to shine on those who repeatedly share the views of our enemies the terrorists.

More at News Busters, AJ Strata, Little Green Footballs, A Lady's Ruminations, Powerline.

Moonbat rants: Tennessee Guerilla Women, Coalition for a Republican Free America, MoronCowboy.com, The Ricardo Web.

Rosie O'Donnell: Barking Moonbat

2006-09-15T19:01:00.000-04:00

We have previously stated that Rosie O’Donnell will probably not last very long at The View. The writers at Newsday appear to agree. For Rosie, there was confusion from the first day about her role as a team player. Rosie is used to being the King of her own domain.

She began by steamrolling through her first day on the show, yet this turned out to be only a warm-up for the return of her trademark liberal rants that characterized her earlier self-titled show. Rosie has been a tireless supporter of Broadway, and appears to be genuine in her love for mankind: until it comes to conservatives. Her message of peace, love, joy, and tolerance abruptly ends when she meets with any conservative. She is the darling of screeching liberals and is often championed by the most extreme elements of the liberal party.

One pro Rosie Web site describes her most celebrated controversy in the following manner: “Rosie caused much controversy on one episode of her talk show when she made comments to Tom Selleck about the National Rifle Association. The controversy only heightened when Rosie applied for a permit to carry a concealed weapon, not for herself but for her son's bodyguard.”

Fans of the Rosie O’Donnell Show tend to remember her many great moments and forget her blatant extremism and daily pontificating which dominated her show. Another site that views Rosie in rosy terms write this, “Rosie had occupied the moral high ground in the long-running daytime talk-show wars with her favorite topics: Broadway, children, extended families and charitable works, people and organizations. Even Tom Selleck would have shed a tear to see this last great bastion of decency go the way of Seinfeld and Michael Jordan - Leaving at the top of its game.”

This week, Rosie lost it in a lively debate with “The View” co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck-the woman liberals love to hate.

“Rosie O’Donnell didn’t take long to break out of her shell and spew her liberal hate. On yesterday’s garrulous fem talk show “The View”, Meredith Viera’s replacement compared the “threat” of “radical” Christianity in America to radical Islam throughout the world. Yeah, because you know about those crazy Christians beheading terrorists and flying planes into buildings.”

Poor Rosie, she has reduced herself to playing the role of a barking moonbat. There are evangelical Christians whose views differ from mainstream Christianity, but there is no terrorism endorsed by world-wide Christianity. Murder, terrorism, and death to innocents are soundly condemned by all sects of the Christian faith. While Rosie’s lifestyle and views are not endorsed by many who follow the Christian faith, they are not suggesting, promoting, or engaging in terrorism of Rosie or any other Americans. Rosie’s unspoken demand that everyone embrace her belief system clouds her view of Christians, and her intolerant and bigoted remarks should be disavowed by the ABC television network. In making her radical comments and sticking to them, Rosie has placed herself on the side of the Islamic terrorists along with many other American liberals.

Others on this topic: Restoring Hope, Denny Burk, Slice of Laodicea, Illinois Review, Think Christian, The Curt Jester, The Conservative Voice, The Flomblog, Dumb Ox News.

News Busters , More at News Busters, Mary Katharine Ham, Stop The ACLU, TMH Bacon Bits.
Stuck on Stupid. Michelle Malkin. The Anchoress. Gateway Pundit,

A Trilogy of Truth

2006-09-14T09:50:00.000-04:00

The columns highlighted below won’t appear on CNN, CBS, or NBC they attempt to manipulate the American voter for elections being held on November 7. These propaganda artists spin their yarn, creating and imagining conspiracy theories with elaborate plotlines, yet when their stories unravel, the drive-by media never bothers to set the record straight.

The new day on Today began on Wednesday with Meredith Vierra in for Katie, and by this morning, they had Kelly O’Donnell on from the White House morphing the entire congressional election into referendum on George Bush. These screeching liberals are replaying their dearest hopes from 2002, 2002, and 2004. It seems like the new day on Today means taking page or two from the hay-day of Pravda.

I am afraid that the highly cultivated view of the war in Iraq thrust on the American people by the media, Jack Murtha, and all the remaining mouth pieces of the latest liberal creed will carry disproportionate value in the Fall voting. The media has tried to make us believe this before in 1980, 1988, 2000, 2002, and 2004. Promote the truth about our national security situation.

Robert Novak has lot to say about the “leak scandal” that has captivated the liberal media for the last three years. Speaking of the mainstreamers, they haven’t said much since the truth came out. Maybe they have become such exquisite writers of fiction that they can peddle their convoluted plot to Broadway Producer.

An accurate depiction of what Armitage actually said deepens the irony of him being my source. He was foremost internal skeptic of the administration's war policy, and I long had opposed military intervention in Iraq. Zealous foes of George W. Bush transformed me improbably into the president's lapdog. But they cannot fit Armitage into the left-wing fantasy of well-crafted White House conspiracy to destroy Joe and Valerie Wilson. The news that he and not Karl Rove was the leaker was devastating news for the Left.

Late in my hour-long interview with Armitage, I asked why the CIA had sent Wilson -- lacking intelligence experience, nuclear policy or recent contact with Niger -- on the African mission. He told the Washington Post last week that his answer was: "I don't know, but I think his wife worked out there."
Neither of us took notes, and nobody else was present. But I recalled our conversation that week in writing column, while Armitage reconstructed it months later for federal prosecutors. He had told me unequivocally that Mrs. Wilson worked in the CIA's Counter-Proliferation Division and that she had suggested her husband's mission. for his current implications that he never expected this to be published, he noted that the story of Mrs. Wilson's role fit the style of the old Evans-Novak column -- implying to me it continued reporting Washington inside information.

Michael Barone takes on Clown Wilson and his elaborate fiction made for an elitist political play in the inner sanctum of liberal expression. Remember Wilson saying that he “wanted Karl Rove frog marched in front of the White House.” It seems that Mr. Wilson should be doing little marching of his own: right out to “Happy Times:” the local ward for the mentality unbalanced.

This was supposedly done to discredit Wilson's July 2003 New York Times article, in which he said he had debunked George W. Bush's claim that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium in Africa. The Wilson claim helped to embed the "Bush lied, people died" theme in public discourse.
It has long since come out that just about everything Wilson said was false. He was not, he suggested, sent on his mission to Niger by Dick Cheney. He was recommended for the trip, contrary to his denial, by his wife, CIA employee Valerie Plame. He reported to the CIA that an Iraqi official had come to Niger on trade mission in 1999 -- evidence that tended to confirm rather than refute the British intelligence claim that Iraq was uranium-shopping in Africa -- claim that Britain's Lord Butler judged "well founded.

Michelle Malkin hits the nail when it comes to the American Left and their views this week:

Let me sum up in two words how the unhinged Left copes with the threat of global jihad: "Kill Bush!"
On the fifth anniversary week of the September 11 attacks, the anger of entertainment industry liberals and anti-war zealots is directed not at Islamic terrorists telling us to convert or die. Not at American al Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn smirking at our country's pain and praising the throat-slitting, children-incinerating hijackers "strong-willed men."
No, their thoughts are not focused on killing jihadists. Their dreams lie with killing George W. Bush. The mainstreaming of presidential assassination chic is on.

In her new book, "Peace Mom," Cindy Sheehan confesses on page 29 that she has imagined going back in time and killing the infant George W. Bush in order to prevent the Iraq War. It's the moonbat version of pre-emption. Sheehan admits she has entertained this infanticidal fantasy "often." That ice-cream-and-coffee hunger strike is getting to her head.

Share these great columns with anyone willing to listen.

Where's the Outrage

2006-09-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

Karen Hughes has an article at USA Today that expresses a common sense concern. In “Where’s The Outrage,” Ms. Hughes wonders why the world has failed to come together in condemning terrorism and the goals and tactics of the Islamic-fascists. Even liberals in Washington spend much more time criticizing President Bush and they join the terrorists and their supporters in calling for American to cut and run from Iraq. Karen Hughes has it right.

It is in the best interest of all the civilized people that the terror stops. And we have a model. Slavery’s path from international norm to pariah began with moral outrage. In 1833, one of every seven adults in Britain signed a petition against slavery. That was twice the number of people eligible to vote at the time and the largest public petitioning of Parliament to that date. The grassroots petition drive was born of the conviction that every person has value — a conviction that should guide us today.

Our challenge is to launch a new grassroots movement across all faiths and continents, a movement that clearly states that no grievance, no complaint, no matter how legitimate, can ever justify the targeting and killing of innocent civilians. A movement that commits to teach our children that life is precious, diversity should be celebrated, and hope can conquer hate.

I have read many stories of lives cut short by acts of terrorism. Almost all the victims’ families speak of the joy their loved ones brought to those around them. They didn’t deserve to die. And those who killed them earned only shame, not glory. The least the rest of us can do is say so loudly and in concert.

Of course, there will be opposition in U.S. politics, and we have previously made the case for a strong and appropriate opposition to President Bush. The appropriate response should not be treason that is extolled at the New York Times.

President Bush on September 11

2006-09-12T21:08:00.000-04:00

President Bush gave a marvelous speech commemorating the events of September 11, 2001. Today, the liberals are caterwauling about the speech. A lot is revealed in the overblown protestations of the crazed left. It’s all politics to the liberals; they must do anything to win this November. The harsh critics forget, the President is the President. He must lead! President Bush is leading the nation in the direction that he believes is right. History will record that he, Vice-President Cheney, and Condoleeza Rice were the right leaders at the right moment in the history of our great nation.

Below are excerpts from the Bush speech.

“For America, 9/11 was more than a tragedy -- it changed the way we look at the world. On September the 11th, we resolved that we would go on the offense against our enemies, and we would not distinguish between the terrorists and those who harbor or support them. So we helped drive the Taliban from power in Afghanistan. We put al Qaeda on the run, and killed or captured most of those who planned the 9/11 attacks, including the man believed to be the mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed. He and other suspected terrorists have been questioned by the Central Intelligence Agency, and they provided valuable information that has helped stop attacks in America and across the world. Now these men have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay, so they can be held to account for their actions. Osama bin Laden and other terrorists are still in hiding. Our message to them is clear: No matter how long it takes, America will find you, and we will bring you to justice. “

“On September the 11th, we learned that America must confront threats before they reach our shores, whether those threats come from terrorist networks or terrorist states. I'm often asked why we're in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The answer is that the regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat. My administration, the Congress, and the United Nations saw the threat -- and after 9/11, Saddam's regime posed a risk that the world could not afford to take. The world is safer because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. And now the challenge is to help the Iraqi people build a democracy that fulfills the dreams of the nearly 12 million Iraqis who came out to vote in free elections last December.”

At the start of this young century, America looks to the day when the people of the Middle East leave the desert of despotism for the fertile gardens of liberty, and resume their rightful place in a world of peace and prosperity. We look to the day when the nations of that region recognize their greatest resource is not the oil in the ground, but the talent and creativity of their people. We look to the day when moms and dads throughout the Middle East see a future of hope and opportunity for their children. And when that good day comes, the clouds of war will part, the appeal of radicalism will decline, and we will leave our children with a better and safer world.

On this solemn anniversary, we rededicate ourselves to this cause. Our nation has endured trials, and we face a difficult road ahead. Winning this war will require the determined efforts of a unified country, and we must put aside our differences and work together to meet the test that history has given us. We will defeat our enemies. We will protect our people. And we will lead the 21st century into a shining age of human liberty.

Earlier this year, I traveled to the United States Military Academy. I was there to deliver the commencement address to the first class to arrive at West Point after the attacks of September the 11th. That day I met a proud mom named RoseEllen Dowdell. She was there to watch her son, Patrick, accept his commission in the finest Army the world has ever known. A few weeks earlier, RoseEllen had watched her other son, James, graduate from the Fire Academy in New York City. On both these days, her thoughts turned to someone who was not there to share the moment: her husband, Kevin Dowdell. Kevin was one of the 343 firefighters who rushed to the burning towers of the World Trade Center on September the 11th -- and never came home. His sons lost their father that day, but not the passion for service he instilled in them. Here is what RoseEllen says about her boys: "As a mother, I cross my fingers and pray all the time for their safety -- but as worried as I am, I'm also proud, and I know their dad would be, too."

Our nation is blessed to have young Americans like these -- and we will need them. Dangerous enemies have declared their intention to destroy our way of life. They're not the first to try, and their fate will be the same as those who tried before. Nine-Eleven showed us why. The attacks were meant to bring us to our knees, and they did, but not in the way the terrorists intended. Americans united in prayer, came to the aid of neighbors in need, and resolved that our enemies would not have the last word. The spirit of our people is the source of America's strength. And we go forward with trust in that spirit, confidence in our purpose, and faith in a loving God who made us to be free.

Thank you, and may God bless you.

In Memory and Commemoration...

2006-09-12T14:51:00.000-04:00

This slideshow was created by Travis Matson in honor of the Five year anniversary of September 11, 2001. May God Bless all of the families and friends of those lost on 9.11.01

Outrage of the Week

2006-09-11T08:47:00.000-04:00

ABC News presented a special edition of "Nightline" last night to bash the Bush administration after presenting the failures of the Clinton administration in the docu-drama "The Path to 9-11." As I sat and watched in amazement, I realized the master strategy of ABC News: air the movie as an excuse to stage a news event that would blame President Bush and Condoleeza Rice for all of the events of 9-11. The ABC News division should be totally ashamed for the manner in which "Nightline" was staged and fabricated. This contrived "news program" represented little more than propaganda forced upon the public in the style of Pravda and Al-Jazeera.

By interviewing Richard Clarke as the resident expert, ABC demonstrated their slanted bias toward his twisted view of events. He was repeatedly fed softball questions by host Cynthia McFadden. Richard Clarke has been totally discredited before.

It is a shame that the liberals and their co-horts in the mainstream media have collaborated to try to discredit conservatives for the November elections. Clinton, Sandy Burglar, and other Clinton cronies pre-emptively tried to spin the movie as totally innacurate. Fortunately, Dick Morris was there in those Clinton years, and is still around to provide some facts.

Several other bloggers have more extensive coverage on this topic today. We covered the Sandy Burglar angle in detail on Saturday. with Trousergate.

Others on this topic. You really have to read them all; it's unbelievable: Betsy Newmark, Michelle Malkin
Hot Air, Betsy has more, AJ Strata,

Another Contrived Clinton Controversy