Soccer Mom: Unplugged

Brucy Braley, Dem contender for a coveted house seat in Iowa's first district has cancelled a campaign event with John Kerry in response to Kerry's being, well, a dumba$$.

Michelle Malkin has posted some great letters from outraged military folks and their families.  This is an excerpt from the funniest one:

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well."

If you don’t, you may get lost in Vietnam and think you're in Cambodia during Christmas on a super-secret CIA-evil-Republician mission.

ROTFLMBO!  I'm no political weather vane by any stretch of the imagination but I think this story has legs.  It could impact the election if it gets enough play.  I only say this because my husband, a fairly apolitical person, nearly came unglued when he saw the soundbite tonight over dinner.  I can't remember the last time I saw that vein bulge next to his left eye...  He's really mad.  In his own words, "the last thing I expect is, after the effers send us to war, for them to tell us we were stupid for going!  These people [Kerry and co.] don't deserve to be protected. And this guy wanted to be our commander in chief?  He's not worthy of the sacrifices that our youth are making for this country." 

Gotta go calm the spouse -he's still muttering about this from the kitchen ("...he's a traitorous bastard...")  Yep.  I'd say the fallout from this revelation into the liberal mind could drive patriotic conservatives to the polls. 

 

 

 

A macabre Halloween day report caught my eye but after reading it I am wondering less about the dead than the living in Idaho...

COEUR d'ALENE, Idaho  —  Authorities in Coeur d'Alene said some teenagers out for a Halloween scare got a lot more fright than they bargained for.

According to Kootenai County sheriff's detectives, the group had been at a Halloween party Friday night when they noticed a house under construction. They thought it would be scary, so they went in.

They told investigators that when they saw what looked like one or more bags hanging from the rafters of the basement, they shot some B-B guns and threw hunks of wood at it.

Then they left and came back with a flashlight to discover it was the body of a man who had hanged himself.

When they went back to the party, nobody believed them, so they got someone to go back to the house with them. When they arrived the owner, 65-year-old Norman Giddings, met them with a machete and told them to get down on the ground while he summoned authorities.

Deputies said it's not likely charges will be filed.

So these young people go to a Halloween party with a loaded BB gun?  For kicks they go into a house that's under construction and shoot up the place?  Then upon returning to the scene of their, uh, youthful vandalism, they are pinned to the ground by a machete wielding senior citizen???  Is there something in the water up there? 

Welcome to Idaho: Be afraid.  Be very, very afraid!

Halloween joke of the day:

A cabbie picks up a Nun. She gets into the cab, and notices that the VERY handsome cab driver won't stop staring at her.  She asks him why he is staring.  He replies "I have a question to ask you but I don't want to offend you" 
 
She answers, "My son, you cannot offend me.  When you're as old as I am and have been a nun as long as I have,  you get a chance to see and hear just about everything.  I'm sure that there's nothing you could say or ask that I would find offensive. 
 
"Well, I've always had a fantasy to have a nun kiss me."  
 
She responds,  "Well, let's see what we can do about that:  #1, you have to be single and #2, you must be Catholic."  
 
The cab driver is very excited and  says,  "Yes, I'm single and Catholic!  

"OK" the nun says. "Pull into the next alley."  
 
The nun fulfills his fantasy with a kiss that would make an experienced hooker blush. 
 
But when they get back on the road, the cab driver starts crying. 
 
"My dear child," said the nun, why are you crying?" 
 
"Forgive me but I've sinned.  I lied and I must confess, I'm married and I'm Jewish." 
 
The nun says,  "That's OK. My name is Kevin and I'm going to a Halloween Party." 

John Kerry.  The face of American liberalism.  And here he is suggesting that American troops are uneducated victims rather than patriotic volunteers.  What an ass.

There's no denying that many go into the services for the benefits and the money.  But unlike John Kerry, who apparently only sees the Daily Kos side of military service, many enlist because they see doing so as the responsibility of good citizenship.  You know, in contrast to taking tax payer funded six digit salaries and not bothering to show up for Senate votes or roll calls.  Let's not forget that all officers have college degrees, most of them have multiple degrees.  Enlistees are earning degrees as well with mini campuses all over the world on military posts set up with night classes and flexible schedules specifically to accomodate them.

The divide between patriotic conservatives and liberal snobs who see military service as little more than a prison sentence just cracked wide open with this poignant little reminder of the paternalistic condescension of the Democratic party's poster boy. 

No time for commentary tonight,  family plans this evening...  But I did want to leave this with you.  Click the link and watch the news footage to see exactly what we're up against in the war against anti-American, antiwar activists at home.

(Just a reminder:  We are all antiwar to some degree - some of us just recognize the horrible reality that on occasion it is the only real option.)

Follow the rabbit here

I wasn't going to comment on the Rush Limbaugh witch hunting that is the rage in liberal circles this week because some of the best and brightest of the conservative bloggers have it all covered.  But then my brother called.  This is my oldest brother, who reads my blog but never comments ;-) And after he made a passing reference to Rush, I couldn't resist.

You see it was my brother who introduced me to Rush Limbaugh.  It was in the early days of the {cough} "Excellence in broadcasting" network and while I absolutely adored spending afternoons with my brother,  I hated being a captive audience for this self-important blowhard on the radio.  My brother was a fan.  I was anything but.  It wasn't that I disagreed with Rush - the obnoxious egotism of his on-air persona was just so off-putting.

Age and experience have given me the ability to sift through the fluff and see the value of Rush's work.  These days, if I get through with school in time to catch the last half hour of his radio show, I consider it a real treat. And so here goes... my short analysis of the Limbaugh-Fox affair.

To sum up: Rush quoted MJF, who acknowledged that he plays up symptoms of his disease for effect.  These were Fox's own words.  A fact that the MSM is ignoring.  Rush speculated that Fox had done the same thing for the filming of the political ad at the center of this contraversy.  The MSM and Fox have reacted as if Limbaugh pushed a senile old lady off a cliff and are trying to use this latest row as leverage in getting Limbaugh off the air.  He has been publicly excoriated by political moderates such as Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters. [yeah - that was sarcasm]

Here's my simple but accurate analysis: If the Democrats and media/hollywood types had any evidence whatsoever that EMBRYONIC stem cells could be used for cures, they'd be holding it up like a smoking gun.  Unfortunately, they have none.  In fact, the use of EMBRYONIC stem cells has yielded, as yet, no results except for giving some of the human test subjects tumors.

Fox has every right to make a comercial and exploit his illness for political gain.  Appealing to emotions is a time tested advertising tactic.  But his words and ideas, as is the case with everything we sell on t.v., are subject to fraud alerts. Rush was well within reasonable limits to be skeptical of Fox.

Fox accuses Talent (R-MO) and other GOPers in other states of outlawing stem cell research.  Not true.  They don't want EMBRYONIC stem cell research on new lines. Anyone who bothered watching Bush when he first outlined his (and his party's) position on this issue, already knows this.  Existing EMBRYONIC lines are fair game as are ADULT stem cells, the only stem cells that have as yet yielded any positive results. 

This only leaves two options for explaining Fox's posiion: he is being purposefully deceptive or he is woefully uneducated. It is deceptive to blur the lines between adult and EMBRYONIC stem cell research.  It is deceptive to claim future results based on a relatively new area of discovery.  Fox's claims are the medical equivalent of a rain dance and Rush is well within the bounds to call him on it.

I would say shame on Fox and his apologists but the DNC is expert at making people believe that the GOP is a party without compassion - and they've never shown any remorse for selling that lie before.

 

 

It was just a few days ago that the BBC acknowledged it's anti-Americanism and left-leaning bias.  Today a BBC article headlining on Drudge report shows just how far gone the BBC really is. A BBC reporter is traveling with and reporting on the Taliban in Afghanistan.  These men, mostly raised in Pakistan and educated in fundamentalist Madrassas describe how they blend in with the local population.

Anyway, read the article and let me know what you think about a BBC reporter taking notes while his countrymen are target practice for his dinnermates.

That's the headline anyway.  In Monday's Raleigh News and Observer, there was a story below the fold on the front page about Johnston county teacher Rebecca Withrow who was charged earlier this month with having sex with an 11 year old student. The article takes a somewhat dismissive stance toward the case, apparently because 90% of charges nationally involve male teachers.  Crediting Mary Kay Letournea and Debra LaFave with drawing added attention to what the figures say is a relatively rare phenomena.

"Only 4% of educators who were investigated for sexual misconduct were females" according to a US Department of Education 2004 report.  Students tell another story.  They say "43% of inappropriate behavior came from female teachers."  All very interesting statistics.  But when it really comes down to it - does the gender of the predator matter?  The real question is - are our children safe?

The same 2004 report by educators about educators offers startling insight that ought to rattle even the most complacent parents. "researchers found that nearly 10% of students are targets of sexual suggestions or contact by teachers at some point in their school career."  Yes. You read that correctly.  A conservative illustration, because buses can hold more than 50 children, would be to say that out of every 2 busloads of children, 10 children will be a victim or propositioned in some way by an adult educator before he/she leaves the public school system.  Let me ask you mom and dad, how many busloads of kids come to your child's school?  10? 20? The odds it will be your child are 1 in 10.  Most suburban elementary schools have 300 children.  That's 30 victims - an entire 2nd grade class. 

My guess is that children are more likely to be propositioned as they get older. But that's just a guess.  Middle schools typically hold about 750 to 800 children.  That's 80.  High schools hold 1500. 150 students of those are targets according to the Department of Education's own admission.

Our children. In the crosshairs.

The NY Daily News is reporting on the settlement of a case against the MTA.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to allow riders to use MTA rest rooms "consistent with their gender expression," the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund announced yesterday.

The group filed a complaint against the MTA on behalf of a 70-year-old telephone repair technician who was arrested for using the women's room at Grand Central Terminal.

The technician, who is assigned to the terminal by Verizon, was born Henry McGuinness but now goes by Helena Stone.

Here are my questions:

Who's going to keep the predators from pretending to be one gender or the other?

How do you verify a person is actually transgendered and not just a perv or a peeping tom?

For that matter, who's going to stop me if I swear I feel like a man, and I go into the mens' room just to keep my sons safe?

Family rights activists ought to be complaining.  Not about this decision per se, but about the fact that we have no safe way to protect our young children in public restrooms.  There seems to be an understood age (or size) at which little boys are no longer welcome in the ladies room.  If, as a mother of young boys, you haven't encountered this yet, you will.  I say size because I have one son who is abnormally big for his age.  He is about 4'2" at 5 years old.  There ought to be family restrooms or single toilet restrooms everywhere so that parents can take their children to the "potty" without having to explain cross dressing or the transgendered and without the fear that lurking in the restroom you've just sent your children into alone is someone with indecent motives.

 

You'll think I'm joking.  But sadly, I'm not.  Today's Daily Mail has an article about sex toys for kids.  You can buy your daughter a pole dancing kit or a deck of cards for your son with pornographic pictures on them.  The kit which, due to contraversy with family groups, has been pulled from toy shelves, will still be sold in the fitness section of Tesco stores.  Nevermind that the product's intent is made clear by the tagline emblazened on it's cheap pink plastic packaging "unleash the sex kitten inside."  What the hell kind of world is this when not only will some sicko come up with the idea for this product, aimed at grade school girls, but a group of businessmen sitting around a boardroom table will agree to fund production.  The pedophilic tendencies continue as marketers conclude that stocking and selling the merchandise is AOK.  It took a 33 year old mother of 2 young girls to stand up to the wave of indecency. 

Meet Karen Gallimore: Culture Warrior.

Many of you will have seen this over at Michelle Malkin's blog this morning but I just can't resist writing a few lines about it.  Notice the fundamental difference in these men on the stage and how they respond to the heckler.

Michelle describes it like this:

"Democrat Ned Lamont sits on his hands.

Independent Joe Lieberman pouts.

Moderator George Stephanopoulos wheedles.

Republican Alan Schlesinger shows 'em all how it's done."

Of course, I could generalize but... aw, what the hell.  Democrat stands by idly watching - after all everyone deserves to speak (especially if they are radical leftists) and who are we to defend another.  Independent/Democrat Lieberman tries to take the reigns but still comes off weak kneed.  Journalist tries to reason with the debate hijacker - after all words will solve every problem, right? The Republican sees the situation for what it is: an irrational disruption that is hindering the democratic process of all those participating in the debate.  He steps up and defends an opponent - because that is just what we do.

Remember this...

And this...

...we were just playing a friendly game of cops and robbers!"  Perhaps that'll be the defense for this couple who today denied kidnapping their own daughter, driving her out of state and attemtping to force her to have an abortion.

Zuckerman's last ad featuring Madeleine Albright as the subserient pacifier of tyrants and terrorists has made the rounds.  Here's the follow-up.

The GOP refused to run with the first ad and if they have any sense, given the lack of fiscal conservatism this Congress and administration has shown, they won't run with this one either.  Still, it is funny.  In a sad, all too true sort of way.

And ad is being released in Missouri to counter the Michael J. Fox endorsement of McCaskill and stem cell research.  I was wondering when someone was going to point out that the science using EMBRYONIC stem cells has yielded nothing.  Some scientists are convinced that it never will...  This is a complicated issue and I'm convinced that there is a middle ground that doesn't include paying for progeny or ignoring the possible benefits. 

Anyhow, here's the other side of the argument.

Newsmax regularly forwards emails from its sponsors.  Generally, they are solicitations but that doesn't preclude them from containing valuable information. This one hit my inbox just a minute ago... [text is copied directly from the email]

Young teen girls having hush-hush abortions...

Bill O'Reilly, Patricia Heaton, Ben Stein, Tom McClintock,
Dr. Laura and Laura Ingraham say, "Fight for your parental rights."

A Critical Message from
Don Sebastiani
Winemaker and former California State Assemblyman

You'll find this hard to believe, but in California and some other states, a parent can answer the telephone and hear these words:

"Your 13-year-old child died earlier today
while having an abortion at Planned Parenthood.
We need you to come in and identify her body."

Imagine how shocked you would be if, as a parent, you received that call. You wouldn't even be able to sue Planned Parenthood, because in California they are allowed by law to perform hush-hush abortions without notifying parents of minor girls.

That's right - in California, parents currently do not have a right to know if their 13-year-old child goes to have an abortion. Hard to believe, I know.

Let me introduce myself. I'm Don Sebastiani, Winemaker and former California State Assemblyman, and we desperately need your help with the YES on 85 campaign. Proposition 85 is The Parents' Right to Know and Child Protection initiative.

Just 14 days from today, California voters will vote on Proposition 85.

I'm sending you this time critical message today because Prop. 85 MUST PASS.

That's because Prop. 85 would require an abortionist to notify in writing a parent or guardian at least 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor girl.

If YES on 85 wins, it will restore parents' rights, protect our children and end hush-hush abortions on minor girls.

And based on the success of similar parental notification initiatives in other states, we know that a victory for YES on 85 will greatly reduce teen pregnancies and abortions in California.

Tom McClintock, California State Senator Tom McClintock strongly supports YES on 85: "Your 16-year-old daughter cannot use a tanning bed or get her ears pierced without your written consent. But she can undergo a surgical abortion without you even being notified. Proposition 85 restores your right to know what is happening to your own child. Please join me and vote YES on 85."

California's Legislative Analyst Office wrote that:

"Based on studies of other states with parental involvement laws, we estimate that the reduction in abortions to minors in California could be up to 25 percent..."

This would save an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 moms, babies and families from abortion each year in California.

Saving that many lives from abortion would be equivalent to opening 100 pro-life pregnancy centers.

This is tremendous! We can pass Prop 85, but we need your help.

Remember, 12, 13 and 14 year-old girls are able to get abortions behind their parents' backs in California. It's mind-boggling. This must be stopped.

Consider this. Although a girl occasionally dies from "legitimate" abortion, complications such as excessive bleeding and permanent sterility are much more common.

If your child had to be rushed to a hospital emergency room because of complications from an undisclosed abortion, guess who'd be on the hook for the hospital bill?

You might be surprised to know you'd be stuck paying that bill - not the abortionist.

This is more than unfair. It's intolerable. It's unconscionable. It's outrageous.

And remember, this kind of tragedy can strike any family - even the best of families. That's because many of the girls who have these types of abortions were molested or seduced by an adult predator. And those predators are everywhere.

Thousands of adult predators are forcing minor girls to undergo abortions, while parents think their children are in school or at the mall.

That's why Prop 85 must pass and why we so desperately need your help today!

Bill O'Reilly, TV News Commentator Bill O'Reilly Supports Parental Rights: "There are politicians who don't want parents to know their little girls are having an abortion. But parents have a right to know what their children are doing. That's a fundamental parental right in this country."

A study of 46,000 pregnant minors in California
found that 71 percent were impregnated by men
with an average age of 22.6 years old.

And California's abortion policy lets these statutory criminals get off scot-free! Thank God, we have the chance to end these horrors. Prop 85 will help stop the exploitation of thousands of girls every year!

Abortionists conspire to let statutory rapists get away with their crimes

I'll tell you more about that later - including undeniable and shocking proof of Planned Parenthood's complicity in doing abortions to cover up crimes!

And I'm sure you feel the same way I do. My blood boils when I think about how the abortionists keep parents in the dark about their child's abortion.

But Planned Parenthood - the largest chain of abortion centers in America - is spending unheard of sums to defeat Proposition 85 because hush-hush abortions are good for their business.

Unfortunately, Planned Parenthood is outspending us in this critical battle, literally a cultural war, over parents' rights and underage teen abortions.

We can't surrender this crucial battle because of shortness of funds .

Abortionists are outspending us

If the abortionists outspend us during the campaign, they may beat us at the polls. And that's why I'm sending you this time critical appeal for an emergency donation just two weeks from Election Day. I'm appealing to you for a generous gift to help us fight Planned Parenthood and pass Proposition 85.

And I need your help TODAY because the election is just 14 days away. Please forward this time critical message to everyone on your e-mail list.

Your gift will be put to immediate use to beat the abortionists and pass Proposition 85.

Patricia Heaton Patricia Heaton Supports Parental Notification: "As a parent, I can't think of anything more important than the welfare of our children. Those of us in California are all too aware of horror stories of sexual predators: older men who prey on our children. It is our responsibility to stop deviants like these who would pressure a young girl into [an abortion] to cover up crimes like statutory rape. Sexual predators will no longer be able to hide and continue their crimes. And parents will not lose their daughters to abortion complications."

Abortionists turn purple with rage

Make no mistake: Planned Parenthood HATES Proposition 85 with a passion. The idea that parents should be notified before a minor child has an abortion makes abortionists turn purple with rage. It makes them so angry, steam comes out their ears.

That's because abortion is big business. Planned Parenthood and other abortionists will surrender huge sums if Prop 85 passes. But if Prop 85 goes down, the abortionists will pop champagne corks in celebration. It's that simple.

Planned Parenthood is working around the clock to fight Prop. 85. They recently enlisted Hillary Clinton to record a "No on 85" message to call into 250,000 homes.

This is your chance to tell Planned Parenthood and Hillary to take a hike.

Tell them: "No more hush-hush abortions on minor girls!"

Please join the YES on 85 team and help us defeat Planned Parenthood and other abortionists. Are you ready to help make sure that we defeat the abortionists? I hope and pray you'll join our team. Please prayerfully consider this time critical message and rush an emergency gift to help us pass Proposition 85 on November 7th.

There is no limit to how much you can give. But we certainly welcome gifts of all sizes.

Your generous gift to YES on 85 will help pay for critical "GET OUT THE VOTE" printing and mailings in the final days before the election. It will help with calls to registered voters, email reminders to large e-lists, to run YES on 85 radio ads, for distribution of DVDs with powerful YES on 85 videos, distribution of yard signs, critical web site updates including new endorsements (some audio and video endorsements) that need to be added to the official YES on 85 web site each day.

A $10,000 gift would be a tremendous blessing that will help us reach thousands of voters with our time critical YES on 85 message. Please consider giving a large gift like this. A gift of $5,000 or $1,000 would work miracles (and help put the fear of God in the abortionists). Would a gift in that range be possible?

Or, please consider making a gift of $500, $250, or $100. A gift in that range would make a big, big difference. But if that gift amount isn't possible, please try to send a gift of $75, $50, or $35. Please send whatever you can.

Ben Stein Ben Stein Supports Parental Notification: "Current California law allows an underage girl to receive an abortion, a potentially life-threatening procedure, without her parents ever knowing. This just doesn't make sense. All parents have the right to know if their child is receiving a major medical procedure."

Planned Parenthood Caught on Tape
Shocking tapes expose hush-hush abortion policies

Earlier I promised to give you undeniable and shocking proof of Planned Parenthood's complicity in using abortion to cover up crimes. I'm going to give you that information. It's another reason why the YES on 85 campaign is so crucial.

You see, Planned Parenthood abortionists have been caught on tape offering to help a 13-year-old girl and her 22-year-old "boyfriend" cover up his crime.

Let me give you some quotations from actual Planned Parenthood employees, which were captured on audiotape:

• "If you come in with your older boyfriend, we're not going to say you can't be with him"
• "Your parents will not know about anything"
• "If they find out that he's 22, he can go to jail"
• "We're not the police, hon"
• "As long as you're 12 years and older"
• "We don't have to tell your parents anything"
• "In the state of California, the parents have no right"

This small sampling of quotations is typical of what we found on the extensive "undercover" audiotapes which Life Dynamics recorded when they called more than 90 California abortion centers, most of them operated by Planned Parenthood. It proves their complicity.

You see, in California, intercourse with a minor is a criminal offense, especially if the perpetrator is an adult. Yet these shocking tapes expose Planned Parenthood and other abortion centers not only of hiding crimes - but also of denying parents' the right to know about "medical procedures" that can kill, maim, or cause permanent mental injury to their children.

I can still hardly believe so many of the abortion centers told the caller posing as a 13-year-old girl that her parents did not need to know and it was no problem for her 22-year-old boyfriend to bring her in for a hush-hush abortion.

It's outrageous - even for abortionists to stoop so low!

That's why I'm asking for your immediate help to put a stop to Planned Parenthood's conspiracy!

Dr. Laura Schlessinger Dr. Laura Schlessinger Supports Parental Notification: "Parents - without your knowledge, a teacher, a neighbor, an older boyfriend, a sexual predator can legally take your daughter for a secret abortion. That's wrong. Parents have a right to know."

Please help me blow the whistle on Planned Parenthood

In one tragic case, which is fairly typical, an adult soccer coach in his early 20s seduced a 13-year-old soccer player and got her pregnant. He forced her to go to the local Planned Parenthood, where he paid for her abortion.

And Planned Parenthood even obliged the soccer coach after the abortion by giving his 13-year-old victim an injection of Depo Provera - a powerful birth control drug - so he could continue committing this criminal act! Planned Parenthood kept everything under wraps.

The truth about this soccer coach's outrageous abuse of this teen girl came out when a conscientious teacher learned of if and blew the whistle.

Well, I'm blowing the whistle and asking for your immediate help to put a stop to Planned Parenthood's conspiracy and to help us pass Proposition 85.

Let me remind you of perhaps the biggest reason why you should rush a big gift to help pass Proposition 85. If Proposition 85 wins, the number of abortions on minors will immediately drop like a stone, and so will teen pregnancies. Guaranteed. That's because many other states have observed a big drop in teen abortions and pregnancies after passing similar parental notification laws.

It's only common sense. Teens are more likely to engage in reckless conduct if they know they can have an abortion to "cover their tracks."

Based on patterns in other states that have passed parental notification laws, we can expect a drop of 5,000 to 10,000 abortions in California following the passage of Proposition 85. And we can expect to see a big drop in out-of-wedlock teen pregnancies as well.

This is HUGE!

Thousands of lives and souls will be saved. Think of the headaches and heartaches that will be avoided.

Planned Parenthood loathes and dreads Proposition 85. It would cut deep into their lucrative abortion business. Make no mistake: Planned Parenthood doesn't care about the girls - only the almighty dollar. If Planned Parenthood cared about the girls, they'd report statutory rapists to the authorities. But that's unheard of.

Planned Parenthood hopes you'll ignore this appeal.

Please don't do that. Please rush your gift to help us pass Proposition 85. The vote will take place in a matter of days, but there's still time to reach more voters with our time critical YES on 85 message.

Simply use the hyperlink below!

https://www.capitaldynamics.com/yeson85/index.htm
 

Laura Ingraham Laura Ingraham Supports Parental Notification: "In California, a minor child must have a parents' permission to take an aspirin in school, or to have her ears pierced, or to go on a field trip. But a girl as young as 12 years old can obtain a surgical abortion without any parental consent or notification. So please vote yes... that requires parents of girls under 18 years of age to be notified at least 48 hours before their daughter is allowed to have an abortion."

Your gift will help us make history in California.

Please forward this time critical message to everyone on your e-mail list. And please donate as generously as you possibly can. Your sacrifice will be a tremendous blessing at this critical hour. It's literally a matter of life and death for vulnerable girls and their babies. And remember: parents' most basic rights are at stake.

Yours for Parental Rights,

Don Sebastiani
Winemaker,
Former California State Assemblyman, and
Supporter of YES on 85

P.S. Planned Parenthood's conspiracy to keep the knowledge of minors' abortions from parents must end. Proposition 85 would require abortionists to notify a parent or guardian 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor girl. Planned Parenthood is desperately working to defeat Proposition 85 and they are currently outspending us. That's why we need your help. We can beat the abortionists, but time is running out. Please give the largest gift you can possibly send - possibly the widow's mite, but please send something - to save girls and their babies from hush-hush abortions. Please make a sacrifice today and rush your gift right by the fastest possible method. Thank you, and God bless you!

Once again, you can help us end this atrocity once and for all by using the hyperlink below!

https://www.capitaldynamics.com/yeson85/index.htm

Relax, Michael this one is tongue in cheek... ;-)

Shocking news coming out of Minnesota today indicates that while heterosexual woman are "tuned" into pictures of naked men, homosexual women tend to go where the action is, regardless of gender.

Thanks to this news blurb, I've started calling my husband on his cell rather than his office phone.  Hey, it's got to be easier than trying to remember that darn pill...

On the political front:

Apparently, Harold Ford Jr. feels the need to clarify on his social life...

and DNC chair Howard Dean explains why he won't debate the always well-spoken and controlled Ken Mehlman.       

Uh... yeah... that's it... ROTFLMBO ;-)

This morning I had the dubious privilege of listening to Day1, a radio program out of Atlanta that touts itself as "the voice of the Protestant church" bringing " inspiring sermons from America's finest mainline Protestant preachers".  Unfortunately, my listening experience was more of a political rally than a spiritual one.

Today's guest preacher, The Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers, of Oklahoma preaches an unabashedly liberal form of Christianity.  The pre and post sermon interview referenced Bush, American policy, and Meyers' fears that Oklahomans are too far right leaning.  The Reverend likened American fundamentalists to Timothy McVeigh.  Hypocritically, Meyers sandwiched a comment about the dangers of blurring religion and politics between his lines of partisan rhetoric. 

Dr. Meyers accuses many Christians (we can be sure he means the socially conservative, politically right leaning variety)  of exhibiting a lack of empathetic moral imagination.  Meyers believes we cannot imagine what it is like to suffer under the title "the axis of evil" or lose a child to the evil and oppressive American military machine.  Perhaps Meyers is correct.  I'll admit my preference is to face down real, rather than imagined, problems.

Permit me the luxury of providing an example. 

As Saddam Hussein rose to power, he was forced, as is the burden of the tyrant, to instill fear in his people.  A program called (if memory serves) "My Iraq" that aired Friday night recounted an event that even my limited imagination could grasp and it filled me with empathy.  In a brutal form of housecleaning, Hussein and his henchmen violently removed threats to their power including anyone who supported political opponents.  In one such instance, the armed minions of Saddam entered a house and forced a man to his knees at gunpoint.  They demanded to know his political affiliation. 'I support no one in particular.  I'm just trying to be a good Mulsim.' was his response.  Again and again they demanded his 'confession' of being a subversive.  When he refused to admit guilt, they stripped his newborn child from the arms of his wife and threw the child into the stone wall of the house. The blood and brains of their infant splattered all over their faces, the sobbing father still refused to confess, and was killed.

Dr. Meyers,  I ask you, why is your Christian responsibility to to this widow and her orphaned children impeded by your moral imagination.  It is wonderful that you can imagine being gay and you can sympathize with the horrible infringement of not being allowed to marry.  Now can you close your eyes and see the horrific remains of a shattered newborn cranium.  Can you see that some things must be stopped and that there is not a luncheon over which you can convince men bent on evil to repent and turn away from such depravity?  Can you imagine, Dr.?  Can you?

Can you imagine your grandmother aborting your mother?  Can you imagine the impact of a world without Mozart, Einstein, Ghandi, Mother Theresa? 

In fairness, Dr. Meyers and his congregation work serving meals and reaching out to locals in need.  Those are worthwhile endeavors on which we can agree.  They address actual, not imaginary, problems.  But the naivete of believing that Christianity can only be selectively applied to feel good circumstances belies a simplistic faith.  Discipleship requires doing the hard thing as well as the warm and fuzzy one.

Finally, Juan Williams and I agree on something.  Whoda thunk it?

Juan's book Enough reiterates many of the things I saw as young woman raised in a predominantly poor, largely black community.  Many American blacks have failed to prosper in great measure to willingness to hitch their wagons to victimology peddlers and cultural movements that undermine prosperity and stability.  Like steel workers convinced that union bosses have their best interests at heart (eye roll) many folks have been steamrolled by those who claim to speak for them.  Juan Williams is angry about it.  So am I, Juan, so am I.

Publisher's Weekly gives a synopsis:

When Bill Cosby addressed a 50th-anniversary celebration of Brown v. Board of Education, he created a major controversy with seemingly inoffensive counsel ("begin with getting a high school education, not having children until one is twenty-one and married, working hard at any job, and being good parents"). Building from Cosby's speech, NPR/Fox journalist Williams offers his ballast to Cosby's position. Williams starts with the question, "Why are so many black Americans, people born inside the gates of American opportunity, still living as if they were locked out from all America has to offer?" His answers include the debacle of big-city politics under self-serving black politicians; reparations as "a divisive dead-end idea"; the parlous state of city schools "under the alliance between the civil rights leaders and the teachers' unions"; and the transformation of rap from "its willingness to confront establishment and stereotypes" to "America's late-night masturbatory fantasy." A sense of the erosion of "the high moral standing of civil rights" underlies Cosby's anguish and Williams's anger. Politically interested readers of a mildly conservative bent will find this book sheer dynamite. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

WaPo gives slanted analysis (because the WaPos can't admit that progressive ideals have failed American blacks).  Read it at Amazon ;-)

Predictably the Left is railing Mr. Williams, a stalwart supporter of virtually all things liberal, for daring to step out of line and state anything other than the "Fault always lies with Whitey" talking points.  They are calling him the left's Ann Coulter.  And no,  that isn't a compliment...

Okay.  I'll say it.  This new GOP web ad is over the top.  Not because it is untrue.  But because most Americans have no idea who we're up against.  In spite of themselves, most Americans don't believe that otherwise sane people would blow themselves into a million pieces just because they hate us that much.  Most Americans are convinced that we can talk this out.  That we can make policy adjustments or make some sort of political payoff that will end the IEDs and put a stop to the beheadings.

It's the optimistic spirit of Americans.  Even in an age darkened by feigned cynicism such as ours, Americans are optimistic enough to believe that the enemy is us - and thereby we can control it.  Americans don't know true pessimism.  Less than 10% of Americans know what it's like to go to bed hungry. Most complain because they have too much to eat.  For all of our media imposed fears, most Americans really aren't afraid to go out alone. Or after dark.  We're shocked by the stories of young coeds murdered after drinking alone in a bar in the wee hours.  Shocked because thousands more coeds are doing it all the time and then returning to the dorms to sleep it off.  We don't know the fear that comes from seeing a bus disintegrate in front of us and a cloud of pink mist fill the air as what used to be flesh lands all around. 

We have a million people in military uniforms and 300 million Americans.  You do the math.  How many people do you think really comprehend the threat?

My prediction is that this ad will backfire because people don't want to believe we're at war.  Many want to pretend it's politics.  Others want to believe the threat is small and confined.  No one wants to believe the danger is real.

About Halloween.  I need to vent.  Tonight I had to run out for candy because we have a school party tomorrow with the other homeschooling families in our area.  It's that time of year again.  The time when we teach our children that begging is its own reward.  I'm no Halloween scrooge but I do believe that somebody needs to lay down some basic ground rules for this holiday.

1- No manners, no candy. One year I actually heard two little boys in my neighborhood planning to take the whole bowl off my porch while I was standing hidden from view just inside the doorway.  The conspiratorial tones in eleven year old Billy and Austin's voices made it clear they knew they were about to do something wrong but they were going to do it anyway.  So I stepped out from the shadow, scared the you-know-what out of them and gave them a lecture on honesty.  Then I kicked their prepubescent butts off my porch without so much as a tootsie roll.  (That's conservative parenting in action...)

2- There is an age limit.  Very few people are cute in costumes after say 12 and while some teenagers can carry it off, no adults are able to.  At our last duty station, we lived in officer housing and the off post community would flock to our neighborhood because they figured we were going to load them up on Hersheys.  No problem.  I don't care where the kids come from and I do give out the good stuff.  But I have issues with a man older than I am walking up to my door with no costume and his $80 Reebok hoodie turned up for me to throw candy into.  What the hell am I handing out here, checks and cheese?  Give me a frigging break.  My husband puts long hours in to earn his money and I'll be darned if I'm dropping 50-75 bucks on chocolate to give it to a man who clearly can afford to get all of his clothes at Foot Locker.  If you're that desperate for candy, shop at Wal-Mart with the rest of America.  No lie, this guy and several others showed up on my porch every year we were in New York.  They usually said nothing - not even a comedic trick or treat, not thank you. Nothing.  They usually just glared at me over the lollipops they were already sucking on with a smirk and a hand out.  It was a candy raping - a goodwill violation.

3- If your baby is in the car sleeping, then he/she is clearly too young for Halloween.  Nothing is more annoying than a parent coming up on my porch and asking for candy for a child that is usually too young to eat it anyway.  That's not trick or treating, that's pimping your one year old.  Get a job.

I'm hoping to have a better experience in my new neighborhood.  Everyone here seems to have a grasp on what's appropriate and what's not.  The last four years in New York definitely left me with a bad taste and even more loathing of the American welfare state.  We can't even enjoy a children's holiday without people turning it into a moochfest.  That's what entitlement has done for low income New Yorkers.  And that's what socialist policies are doing to America generally - breeding lazy beggars who feel entitled to hand outs, not only to meet their needs but to fulfil their whims.  Sick. Sick. Sick.

Some are even going overseas for a free ride.

Dick Morris was on Fox recently discussing the possibility of DNC witchhunting if the Dems take the Congress.  In an effort to make his point, he referred to the Clinton years and the damage done by an overzealous GOP led Congress determined to hold slick Willy accountable.  Clinton, he says was uderstandably distracted.  Sorry, Dick, that just doesn't fly.

Here's why:

Presdient Bush, for good or ill, has watched his poll number go practically negative even with his own base but has never wavered in his dedication to the ideals he stated from the outset of his presidency.  If Bill Clinton was distracted by the Lewinsky affair, then it was because he was more in tune with his political weather vane than with his moral compass.  He was more interested in being the head of the DNC than the head of State.  I may not like everything that Dubya proposes but I have serious admiration for a man who is bound by his beliefs rather than by the responses to a loaded questionairre in the Washington Post.

If the Dems win big in November, and they just might, they will only lose in the long term by raising the spectres of Salem.  And, you know what Dick, I think even they are smart enough to know that.

A Californian Republican senatorial candidate is being accused of trying to intimidate Hispanics.  According to AP reports, 14,000 Democratic voters received a letter in the mail warning about the legal ramifications of voter fraud. 

From the AP report:

State and federal officials were investigating the letter, which was written in Spanish and mailed to an estimated 14,000 Democratic voters in central Orange County. It warns, "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."

Immigrants who are adult naturalized citizens are eligible to vote.

Personally, I only see one problem with the letter.  Someone left out the word illegal in front of immigrant.  If you're a legal voter, this would go right into your junk mail pile. 

The candidate under fire, Tan. D Nguyen, an immigrant himself, has made illegal immigration a huge part of his platform, and, for the record, denies any involvement with the letter which was send out under the altered heading of an anti-illegal immigration group. 

Local GOP leaders are rushing to condemn the letter and the AP characterizes it as "threatening Hispanic voters with arrest".  Other than the omission of the word illegal in the instance I already mentioned, this is a message that should be going out.  Most Americans are worried about turning national policy over to the UN.  How would they feel about handing the reigns to California over to Guadalajara?

The AP refers to a 1988 case when, in the same county, one GOP candidate placed hired security guards at voting sites where Hispanic voters were the primary demographic.  The candidate paid his debt to political correctness in the amount of $400,000, settling a civil rights violation lawsuit of alleged intimidation. 

Again, I ask, if you are a citizen, legally registered to vote,  what are you worried about? No rentacop or letter is going to stop me.  I'd be waving hello to the 'officers' and encouraging them to vote for my candidates ;-)  I think all voters ought to be checked with reasonable scrutiny.  But then I'm one of those people who demands that cashier's check my photo ID before swiping my bank card... and since my dad spent the first 30 of his voting years as a registered Dem simply because the registrar in his Atlanta district said, "Son, you're a democrat",  I'm not inclined to find fault with a mere reminder that in this country, we only allow citizens to vote. Get over it.  And if you're legal, voice your complaint on your ballot.

Hard to believe that when FDR promised a chicken in every pot he intended to put it there by dressing single mothers in olive drab.  According to Dave Gibson at Capitol Hill Coffee House, that is precisely what has happened.  The American military has turned into a halfway house for single mothers looking for a way up and out. On some points, I agree with Gibson's assertions, on others, though I believe he is ill-informed.  Here's what Dave writes:

With ever-expanding enlistment bonuses and recruiters tempting potential recruits with promises of college tuition, the military is attracting large numbers of single mothers. With few prospects available to under-educated single moms within the private sector, more women are now enlisting in this man’s army. While the Army struggles to make up for last year’s low recruitment numbers, they are offering more incentives while signing up people who cannot perform front line duty.


20 year old Army Spec. Esmerelda Leon told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that joining the Army is a great idea for single moms or “for anyone that has kids and is struggling.” The unwed mom went on to say: “It’s stability. The Army helps you out a lot and it makes you so much more independent.”


While Leon’s story is not uncommon, the U.S. Central Command will not release the number of women who have been forced to leave the Iraqi theater of war. They will only release general numbers. Undoubtedly, the specific number of female soldiers in Iraq who have become pregnant while on duty would prove to be very high and extremely embarrassing to the politically correct Pentagon.

Soldiers, whatever their gender, are still required to perform.  While it's true that pregnant women are sent out of combat, it's also true that the single welfare mothers that Gibson suggests are filling the ranks (and there are many) are required to have a family action plan.  They are required to have a written plan with emergency contact numbers, names and addresses of the people who will be guardians or caregivers of their children.  You can be booted from service for not having this plan.  It is not optional.

As for using a pregnancy to get out of combat - I won't speculate on those numbers because as Gibson points out, we don't have them.  What I can speak to as a woman who has spent more time in military treatment facilities (OB clinics/wards particularly) than about 99% of the American population (that's 6 pregnancies, people), my experience has not led me to concur.  One of the ultrasound techs who saw me regularly through two complicated pregnancies confided that most young african American enlisted females were coming in for repeated abortions rather than keeping their babies.  Some have had more abortions than I've had conceptions - and that's insane. 

During fiscal year 2002, the U.S. Navy placed 12.3 percent of their ship-based female sailors on shore duty after they became pregnant. According to the Navy’s own statistics, nearly 20 percent of female sailors become pregnant annually. One-third of those women never marry during their pregnancy. Unlike the U.S. welfare system, the Navy does not require unwed mothers to identify the father before monetary benefits are released.


Navy policy on pregnant sailors is the following: If the sailor is aboard a deployed ship, she is automatically sent home upon report of the pregnancy. At 20 weeks, the sailor is granted permission to live off base if requested and receives a housing allowance. Upon the child’s birth, the sailor is granted 45 days of fully-paid maternity leave. Of course, day care, medical benefits, and higher pay is given as well.

It's true.  Some benefits of having a child in the military are good.  However, Gibson mischaracterizes others.  Anyone can live off post and the housing allowance is standard job compensation.  That's for males and females who wear the uniform, pregnant or not.  Day care? I've never heard of that as a bennie other than the availability of on post day care centers but you sign up on a waiting list and you pay based on your rank.  It's not a freebie.  Most people can't even get into the CDC (child development center) and put their children in day cares off post.  Medical bennies aren't freebies, either.  Insurance is deducated from your pay.  And yes your pay goes up a little (very little) when you have dependents.  But that, again is true for men who are married and/or fathers.

Another thing Gisbon fails to account for when sharing the figures from ONE ship is that certain ships and certain units are women heavy.  For example, one battalion my husband was in was a construction engineering bttn.  Lots of female soldiers and officers.  Other units that were more combat specific had no women.  Obviously, the data from the latter units would be radically different from what Gibson found.

There are problems with the military system.  I'm not an apologist by any stretch and frankly, I'd be happier if women were not allowed in many more positions in the military. I just think Dave Gibson is picking the wrong battle here and entering that battle unarmed with many of the facts.

Gotta put down my virtual newspaper and get to more important things this morning but I thought I'd share what I read over breakfast:

Ann Coulter assesses Lynne Stewart and military tribunals.  Ironically, David Corn asks today 'Where's the proof that Dems would let terrorists walk?'  He should read Ann Coulter.

Tony Blankley responds the the suggestion that the evangelicals are backing away from the polls and calls for conservatives and values voters not to abandon the GOP in yesterday's article, "No thanks, We're Stupid."

And finally, others are seeing what I've been predicting... the slimy campaign to sully Senators by revealing their sexual escapades (or Mike Roger's fantasies about their sex lives with other men) is going to drive the conservative base even further to the right. Mike, the self-proclaimed gay-outer and his fan club at Daily Kos are rejoicing gleefully in "the list" and hoping to out any GOPer within firing range.  Dem Kristen Powers writes " There are few things as painful to watch as far left people trying to understand how religious conservatives think."  She's right.  Rogers believes that disgust will drive evangelicals away.  Nope.  The one thing that unites Christian people - especially fundamentalists is a belief in REDEMPTION.  It will be easier for them to forgive a sexual deviant than a merciless hypocrite liek Rogers who takes on the satanic role of destroying lives.  Mary Katherine Ham addresses the topic with some great links from her home at townhall.

Alrighty, time to turn into a school teacher, gotta run...

okay - one last comment:  This is why I can't support Dems.  You want to talk about hypocrisy... This is a group that demands tolerance of killing half born babies (you remember that lovely procedure when they bust through the skull of a child who is being born alive and scramble his brains as if they were making an omelet - quick reminder... omelets are made from UNFERTILIZED eggs) but revels in the outing a a guy who says he's not even gay.  Oh yeah, and MIke Rogers promises video to follow - you know, film at eleven - all that to the cheerful cries of the sick political junkies at Democratic Underground and Daily Kos.

Today the blogosphere waves goodbye to one of the most popular conservative bloggers.  Rightwingsparkle is walking away from her desktop.  She has decided to abandon the virtual world for something more tangible.  Her voice will be missed.

Something RWS posted just last week really encapsulates how I feel about politics in America lately.

Many who read this blog might think that I admire Republican politicians. I do not. I admire no politicians. I believe that by the time a person, Republican or Democrat, gets to Congress or the Presidency, he has sold out so many times there is very little left to admire.

I believe in Republicans for one reason and one reason only. This. The Republican platform. It is a mission statement really. You see, I believe in the mission, not the man. We voters have the power to push a politician to vote in a way that leads our country in the direction we wish it to go. And that is the only power we have. But it is of vital importance. This is how the Republican platform of 2004 begins:

Ronald Reagan

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 for the world.
As Ronald Wilson Reagan goes his way, we are left with a joyful hope he shared.
May God bless Ronald Reagan and the country he loved.

Many on the left here should read through the platform, I think you might be surprised at the depth of compassion...

Like other ideologies I have built my life around, I don't do so because the adherents are perfect or even admirable.  I do so because the ideology is good.  Take RWS' suggestion and read the platform.

Before I attack about foru loads of laundry and a kitchen floor, I just had  to post this link that I followed from LGF.

Terror has no Religion is a website sponsoring ads in print and television that are now playing throughout the middle east.  The ads are tough to watch.  One shows the suffering of a woman who has lost her family to terrorism and the other shows in slow motion detail (though without Hollywood style gore) the anatomy of a suicide bombing.  It makes you appreciate what people are going through every day in other countries.  And why Israel responds with such ferocity to terrorist attacks.

As a Christian, I believe that Jesus Christ gave His life so that others might live.  Giving your life to take the lives of others is the diametrical opposite.  If He is God's son then suicide bombers are acting on orders from his adversary.  Just my opinion...

Out and about today during a "field trip", I got a chance to hear a few minutes of the Rush Limbaugh show.  Rush was expressing some consternation over a particular blogger's posts opining that conservatives should just stay home from the polls to teach the GOP a lesson.  Rush's argument was that punishing the GOP only gets the Dems seats and that's cutting off our noses to spite our face, so to speak.  Why elect people we know are not in agreement with conservative principles because we don't like 25% or 30% of what the current administration/congress is doing? 

What I found most interesting about the whole monologue had nothing to do with the upcoming elections. Rush kept reiterating to bloggers that they are not movers and shakers behind events in Washington or within the ranks of the media.  Bloggers, he contends are less influential than we think.  Certainly that is true for one soccer mom I know ;-) But it begs the question: If bloggers aren't influential, then why does he care what one blogger writes in two short posts? 

There's no doubt that bloggers are breaking down the ivory tower that has surrounded the media.  The Reuters photoshopping scandals are evidence of that.  Whether our elected representatives read blogs or not is a source of much speculation.  Though, if memory serves, John Kerry blogs on Daily Kos. 

Senators and Congressmen may not be surfing the web but their staffers certainly know the value of the internet as a medium.  Both parties have blogs and the GOP has it's own server so that partisans can blog from a party sponsored site.  They're hosting online teleconferences and using the internet daily to get out mailings to registered voters - you should see the junkmail in my inbox.  So somebody recognizes the value of this virtual political rally, even if Rush doesn't.

Rush made it clear that he was trying to unite conservatives rather than let the full force of the voting block be divided by egotistical members (bloggers and non-bloggers alike).  And I agree with him.  While neither party is giving me what I want entirely, I'll take something over nothing.  In the mean time, Rush needs a reality check.  And any politician who isn't reading blogs needs to wise up.  The most outspoken supporters and critics of both parties are speaking out in cyberspace and those are the people who hand out pamphlets, write letters to the editor, register voters, and go door to door.  This is hard core politics at its best.  Any nationally known conservative would score big points if he acknowledged reading Michelle Malkin, Little Green Footballs and other popular right minded blogsites.

Vernon Robinson and Brad Miller faced off yesterday and the topic, predictably if you're at all familiar with the campaign, was Miller's "San Francisco values".

During the debate, Robinson complained that Miller was one of 129 co- sponsors of a bill that would have allowed homosexuals to bring their partners to the United States.

After the debate, Miller acknowledged supporting the bill and said the measure would have produced "a form of a civil union. It is a limited, modest, legal recognition of a long-term relationship so we aren't forcing gays to be in temporary, casual relationships."

You read that right.  Refusal to grant residency to gay partners of Americans is "forcing" gays to be promiscuous (temporary, casual relationships).  You know, because they just can't help but have sex with whoemever, whenever... I wonder if the common law heteros have that problem?  You know the ones who don't marry but live in committed relationships... they just go around like dogs in heat, too?

Sounds a little like gay bashing to me. 

 

 

Breitbart reports on a study about internet addiction:

US full of Internet addicts: study

The United States could be rife with Internet addicts as clinically ill as alcoholics, an unprecedented study released suggested.  (They call it internet addiction. I call it building virtual relationships or at times, virtual therapy. To-may-tos, to-mah-toes ;-)

It always amazes me that many Americans on the far left characterize our soldiers as baby killers.  If they only knew.  While a small percentage of idiots manage to get into the services (to be expected since 1/4 of our population is retarded) most are just like the soldiers seen in this video. 

Some people will find it offensive or despicable to see little children playing alongside armored vehicles and engaged in playful interaction with armed soldiers.   But I don't.  I've helped my children climb on Iraqi and American tanks.  They've been inside an apache and they've stood in the cloud of dust left by blackhawks taking off within feet of them.  They've picnicked in the shadow of A10s flying overhead and they've heard the deafening and window rattling sound of weapons fire in the night.  They've seen their father jump from an airplane and have played pretend in old uniforms and kevlar vests.  What makes these sights and sounds welcome instead of dreaded?  The fact that the men and women in uniform are pereceived as protectors rather than aggressive enemies.

When you watch this video, ask yourself if the children seem afraid of our soldiers?  Are they running toward or away from the tanks and APCs?  Are these the acts of the oppressed or the liberated?

De Opresso liber...

**************Update:  The video owner is not allowing youtube fans to embed this clip.  Click here to see it at youtube.**********

 

 

An article in the UK's Sun Online reveals the catastrophic mix of loose immigration policy combined with overindulgent welfare handouts. 

Now even Yanks claim UK asylum

Britain is seen as such a soft touch that poor people from countries such as America are even coming here now.

A couple of years ago I met two black guys from the States who were over here because they thought they could get a better standard of living.

One was from Ohio and the other from Kansas. They claimed asylum because they said they were racially discriminated against at home.

But they freely admitted they were here for the free healthcare and accommodation. It is an absolute joke.

They could have been here for up to five years before their application was processed.

Who bears the burden for the freeloaders? It's not just the rich, as some would have you believe, though they definitely bear a disproportionate percentage of the caretaking costs.  Middle class workers, who are honest and hard working are being taken to the cleaners by unscrupulous moochers who live for government (tax payer funded) freebies.  Even though Americans have been able to largely avoid this kind of laziness epidemic, don't be fooled into thinking that it couldn't happen here.

About 12 years ago, my hometown newspaper featured a series of articles about the conditions in the local housing projects.  I remember feeling shock at the pictures of some of the well manicured, expensively dressed inhabitants. Geez. They have more disposable cash than I do, I thought.  The clincher was when a young girl, 18 or so, was describing her circumstance.  She said that the apartment was fine but living in such close quarters was an adjustment and somewhat annoying because she would frequently awaken in the middle of the night when the neighbors car alarm would sound "Step away from the Viper".  She complained that it was disturbing for her baby.

Did you catch that?  Step away from the Viper... Who the hell owns a viper and lives in the projects?

By the way, the Sun article indicates that only half of British immigrants are legit - the other 50% are climbing aboard for the free ride.

Stop the ACLU has a great post explaining why the ideological and agenda driven ACLU should lose tax exempt status. This writeup exposes one of the fundamental doctrines of the ACLU - to strip churches of tax exempt status and force religion to the sidelines of American culture.  This is a must-read that reveals the partisan nature of the so-called "non-profit, tax exempt charitable" organization.

Cao has an interesting piece up scrutinizing the Military Commissions Act of 2006 - with particular respect of course, to the case of Jack Idema, political prisoner being held in Afghanistan. 

Not that I think sanctions ever really work, but Justadog has a post up over at Where's Your Brain called "Japan has the right idea" about that nation's independent thinking and refusal to allow the UN to speak for Japanese national security.

And The Patriot Post lays out a clear and concise analysis of this week's news and how pundits are playing politics with the Global War on Terror.

Just One Minute explains why the Dems are gonna take control on election day. 

And absolutely the best post of the week comes from aussie blogger, Sonnabend at Voice of the Pacific.  If you read nothing else... read this one.

A Johnston County, NC teacher has been arrested for having sex with an 11 year old boy in her class.  The community is in shock and rightfully so.  Johnston county is a relatively rural area and the entire population of it's county seat could probably fit into one Long Island subdivision.  This story is even more evidence, as if we needed it after the Amish affair, that there is no safe place for our children.

The Raleigh News and Observer reports: Donna White, a Johnston County school board member, said people need to rally around the school.  "It's a sad day in Johnston County," White said. "I just think that the community needs to put their arms around Polenta and the administration there -- keep supporting the good stuff there, because there is still a lot of it."

People need to rally around the school?  No.  They don't.  They need to run screaming to their lawmakers and demand vouchers and school choice.  It's about damn time people got to use their own money to educate their own children in a safe and responsible way because the evidence is,  well, evident that the government can't do it.  Private and parochial schools would be free from many of the restrictions that inhibit public schools from acting in a child's best interest.  No worries about ACLU suits any time there's a random drug test or an unannounced locker check.  No fear of legal repercussion for arbitrary dress codes.  And fenced grounds with guarded entries (instead of one deputy wandering the halls of a school with 3000 students) would no longer be solely the domain of the children of the wealthy.

Private schools would be forced by the law of supply and demand to provide a good education and a safe environment.  The only alternative would be to go out of business. 

Can someone please tell me who derailed the vouchers proposal?  Oh wait... I think I remember the answer to that one.

Army slogans routinely get updated and routinely get critiqued by people associated with the military.  When "An Army of One" came out,  I remember thinking that it was an idiotic catchphrase for a community where conformity was a vital necessity.  Somehow, the commercials made sense of it.

And now, it's "Army Strong".  Huh?  Sounds stupid but I got a lump in my throat anyway.

Cindy Sheehan has announced at a book signing for "Peace (I fantasized about killing the infant George W. Bush.) Mom" that she is a finalist for the Nobel Peace Prize.

 (What the papers ran...a private moment of grief)

What can I say?  "1/4 of Americans are retarded"  and ALL of the Nobel Peace Prize nomination committee is retarded.

(what actually happened... a staged moment for effect.)

Hot air has a clip from the South Park episode spoofing the 9/11 conspiracy hounds.  ROTFLMBO ...

South Park at Hot Air

The Political Pit Bull has the whole episode via youtube

Quotes of the week:

"1/4 of Americans are retarded."

"So who caused 9-11?"  "A bunch of pissed of Muslims."

"Dang it!  Missed again."

"I was getting a clue like every two minutes."

"Just one more leak to fix..."  (Oh Duuu-uuugg.  Just yanking yer chain, dude ;-)

11 years ago, Twyana Davis claimed she'd been raped and abandoned her baby in trash bin.  She made the rounds on television shows and became a spokesperson for the movement to provide alternatives to pregnant young girls who don't want to keep their babies.  Her not for profit group Second Chance of Life and Her book "Sacred Womb" got her bookings on Oprah and 20/20.

I wonder if her conviction will bring the same celebrity?

Turns out the 19 year old Ms. Davis had been carrying on a sexual relationship (pronounced ped-o-fee-lee-ah or in-sest) with her 12 year old cousin and she tossed her newborn into a dumpster to avoid the obvious consequences of her actions.  Now the law has caught up with this predator turned victim turned poster child turned convicted rapist.

I wonder when Harpo will be running the guest update show about this girl?

Rep. Chris Shays busted out the Dems today for having the audacity to claim a moral high ground on the Foley issue.

Shays responded to Diane Farrell, who enlisted Ted Kennedy in her campaigning last week and has called for Dennis Hastert's resignation.

I know the speaker didn't go over a bridge and leave a young person in the water, and then have a press conference the next day," said Shays, R-4th District, referring to the 1969 incident in which the Massachusetts Democrat drove a car that plunged into the water and a young campaign worker [mistress] died.

"Dennis Hastert didn't kill anybody," he added. 

Don't mince words, Chris.  Tell us how you really feel.

There is plenty wrong with the GOP but the DNC isn't exactly holding tent revivals on the temple mount either.  It's about time somebody made headlines by pointing out the absurdity of the new Pelosi Piety.

Here in my neck of the words, Dems have enlisted the aid of one of North Carolina's favorite sons.  Dean Smith appears in a commercial touting the Dems as people of faith who have taken on the Christlike mission of ending poverty.  It would appear that Smith has fallen prey to the antiquated typecasting.  Dems are no more the heralds of a poverty free Utopia than Republicans are uniquely capable of handling international affairs.  The ad reflects the desperation of Dems to capture the values votes.  They've seen the power of evangelical voters and morally conservative interest groups like the American Family Association.  Unfortunately, the Dems are not interested in ending poverty - were the inverse true, at least values voters could find something of worth in their party platform.

Facts:

The welfare reform bill, signed by President Clinton in 1996, ended the federal entitlement to welfare, imposed strict work requirements on recipients, and set a five-year lifetime limit for aid.

In 1995, 88% of poor children received food stamps. By 1998 the figure had dropped to 70%. (Doesn't imply that there are less poor, simply that they are less able to receive benefits from the government.)

The welfare load currently stands at about 2 million recipients, which has dropped by about 1/3 since the welfare reform bill was enacted.

So... who makes up the difference for the poor who no longer qualify?

• As welfare decreases, churches and other faith-based organizations (FBOs) pick up the slack.
• Churches are tax-exempt, and donations to churches and other charities are tax-deductible, so federal activity focuses on tax reform to encourage donations, by increasing deductibility on federal and state income taxes.
• Other recent Congressional bills focus on removing restrictions on religious organizations' activities, so that churches can bid on government block grants for performing welfare services.
• The lessening of restrictions on separation of church and state for this purpose is known as Charitable Choice.
• Opponents of church-provided welfare often cite the separation of church and state as a Constitutional issue. In fact, the phrase does not occur in the Constitution, but was popularized by Thomas Jefferson well after the Constitution was signed. The relevant line int he Constitution is the Establishment Clause, which prohibits establishing a state religion (i.e., an officially-recognized religion).

Who voted against tax benefits for charitable choice, leaving the poor who do not qualify for government aid out in the cold?

Ca Dem Nancy Pelosi (of course)

NC Dem Bob Etheridge

NC Dem David Eugene Price

NC Dem Mel Watt

NC Rep - nope - all the local GOPers voted to encourage churches to continue aiding the poor.

If you happen to see Dean at a game this season,  have him give me a call, okay.

And check out your state reps at On the Issues.

Drudge is running an article about this ad produced for the last few weeks of the campaign that the GOP has rejected as too political and mean spirited...  Sure it funny, though.

Ever feel like nothing is going your way?  When things are going badly and you need to laugh just think to yourself, "I could be Cate"...

Friday:  Rushed out to Wal-Mart early in the morning before school.  Wandered the store aimlessly for way too long and realized upon reaching the checkout line that I had my yoga pants on inside-out... proof that I haven't just gotten off the fashion train, I fell off face first onto the tracks and got run over ;-)

Saturday:  Drove off and left my bank card in the ATM ... realized this hours later at the grocery store register.

Sunday: Forgot to change daughter's diaper before dropping her off in the church nursery... picked her up an hour later without realizing her diaper was soaked and got peed on.  Set her down and she took her own diaper off and held it up like a soggy bowling trophy (before I could get another from my bag) in front of the entire men's sunday school.

Monday:  Ran over to Target for a baby gift for my niece and got all the way home before finding out that the bag with the gift - the very reason I went in the first place, never made it into the cart... had to drive 20 minutes back to Target and of course, 20 minutes back home.

Ahhh the hazards of a multi-tasking mom of many ... 

Get ready for another round of the ever popular media game "Gunning for Gitmo".

AP is reporting that a Marine paralegal who was visiting Gitmo had drinks in the base club with a group of about 15 sailors.  During the course of an hour she had a single drink and listened to stories of prisoner abuse. 

A 19-year-old sailor referred to only as Bo "told the other guards and me about him beating different detainees being held in the prison," the statement said.

"One such story Bo told involved him taking a detainee by the head and hitting the detainee's head into the cell door. Bo said that his actions were known by others," the statement said. The sailor said he was never punished.

Other guards "also told their own stories of abuse towards the detainees" that included hitting them, denying them water and "removing privileges for no reason."

This story reeks of jack mackeral and here's why I find it fishy:

A Marine paralegal refers to other marines as "sailors"?  Do Marines call themselves "sailors"? 

She says she went to meet up with Marines but failed to find them and instead joined 15 sailors.  She differentiates between sailors and marines - are sailors running Gitmo or are Marines?  Aren't sailors on subs and ships? I have a headache - so much about the Navy I don't know... Elmer's Brother can you help me out with this one?

She sat with a group of sailors shooting the breeze for an hour and only had ONE drink and none of them were drunk,either.  I don't know how many times you've gone out with a group of soldiers or sailors but I bet you money not one of them nursed a single beer for a solid 60 minutes ;-)

The paralegal was in Gitmo investigating a case and now she has anectdotal evidence of abuse... how convenient for her.

She's having drinks with 15 sailors?  Were they wearing uniforms?  If so, don't the BDUs have name tapes?  And the best she could come up with is "Bo"?  Okay so they were in civilian clothes - an hour at the table and all she got was "Bo"?

  If you look close you'll see the Lt. Col's name right on his chest...

One woman willing to have drinks with 15 guys and she thinks they're telling stories to impress each other? 

Ask yourself,  would these sailors have told fantastic tales of abuse if they'd known their audience was a paralegal in town investigating a case?  In other words, she met 15 guys at a bar and hid her identity (because you know that right after "You new around here?" came "What brings you to the armpit we call home?").  For what purpose?  Was she on a fishing expedition?  Did she bat her eyelashes at the 19 year old who told the best stories?

A 19 year old who wants to be the coolest kid on the block and can't get his hands on a trans am... hmmm.  Ripe for telling tall tales that were swimming in machismo and bravado.  If this were a tale about a 15 college freshmen exaggerating stories of sexual conquest and a paralegal sat through their stories at a local bar and then filed rape charges on behalf of an unknown victim, would you believe the hype?

And by the way,  why the he** was 19 year old "Bo" drinking???

 

Nancy Pelosi declared this week that she wanted to drain the swamp (DC) of corruption.  Just thought it would be interesting to see what life in Pelosi-ville would look like.

In Nancy Pelosi's world you can:

(1) Transport a minor across state lines without parental notification to get an abortion

(2) Have a partial birth abortion no matter why or when

(3) Harm or kill a child in utero any time you want because that's not a crime

(4) breed human embryos for scientific testing or cloning

(5) end world hunger by sending free contraceptions to third world countries avoiding those pesky "mouths to feed"

(6) sue gun sellers or manufacturers if you get shot

(7) be sure your tax dollars are helping the person who shot you get rehab but never the death penalty (no matter how heinous the crime or sure the culpability)

(8) expect to pay more for insurance if you are not unionized or working for one of those large corporations she hates (down with entreprenuership!)

(9) sue the pants off your doctor or HMO no matter how far the cost exceeds reasonable damages

(10)  earn tons more as a trial lawyer because there are no caps on your fees for collecting outlandish amounts of money termed "punitive damages"

(11) expect to spend your fixed income on meds from Canada or other foreign countries because Pelosi doesn't think we need the FDA approval or prescription coverage under Medicare

(12) forget about catching terrorists BEFORE they act either through intelligence or federally regulated licensing (i.e. driver's licenses)

(13) hope your pilot knows karate and is bullet proof because he won't be carrying a gun

(14) sleep safely knowing that military recruiters won't be allowed on college campuses and that we will have no missile defense program

(15) rest assured that we will not enact the 9/11 commission recommendations (contrary to what she's saying now, she voted NO)

(16) tip Mexican drug runners off as to the location of the MInutemen - we love illegals ;-) With Pelosi hospitals can even treat them for non-emergent care without reporting them... yay!

(17) say goodbye to your money because Pelosi is a tax and spend liberal (OSHA bill, the Farm bill, etc)

(18) watch the rich get richer (she voted not to end tax breaks for off shore havens and voted against promoting small businesses and entreprenuerialship)

(19) kill yourself with your physician's help

(20) not have any choice in your children's education

(21) avoid the reprehensible endorsement of religion in public schools otherwise known as "the moment of silence"

(22) get a new needle to shoot up (thank you Mr. Taxpayer!) and smoke pot if you have a hangnail 'cause that'd make it medical usage

(23) never fear getting caught using as a federal employee because there will be no surprise drug tests (although they are done randomly and unannounced in the military... you know the federal civil servants are better than military people anyway (nudge, wink)

(24) declare bankruptcy without any responsibility for repaying debts even if you can - the taxpayer will bear your burden!  Lucky you!

(25) use Old Glory as a pooper scooper, change the pledge, and expect your college admission to be filtered through the lens of racial quotas

(26) participate in homosexual marriages and celebrate adoptions by gays but not enjoy any tax benefits for your wedded union and no child credit

(27) expect censorship of anything that Pelosi doesn't like - especially the dreaded Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Dump website which violated her sense of environmentalism by simply existing

(28) expect to remain dependent on foreign sources of oil and never pay a dime toward research and development for alternative fuels

(29) be sure that America will continue to bear an extremely disproportionate amount of the financial burden for the UN without even getting a seat on the human rights counsil (BTW... if Bush really is a dictator then he should be chair of that council by now, right?)

(30) know that your tax dollars are helping third world dictators rule with an iron fist because instead removing them from power, we'll be sending them humanitarian goods to trade through corrupt UN programs

If you think my sarcasm is overbearing or my facts need checking, feel free to follow up on Nancy Pelosi's politics at On the Issues...And if Pelosiville is the swamp you want to live in, by all means vote DNC in November.

 

The DNC loves American troops.  They stand up for veterans and defend military benefits.  They care.  They really do... and when they learn to differentiate between American and Canadian uniforms then maybe we'll buy that load of manure and a bridge, too.

Michelle Malkin has a post up exposing yet another blunder by the DNC.  In their attempt to play to the patriotic nature of Americans and convince voters that they are behind our boys (and girls) even when they don't support the mission, they've put up an attack ad on their website with the headline "New Poll Shows GOP Broken Promises Hurting Our Troops".  Interesting concept.  I didn't know the GOP made promises to Canadian troops.

The pictured soldiers aren't even ours.  The American soldiers (USArmy Special Forces) who wear green berets like the ones pictured in the ad also wear a unit crest on the front of that headgear.  They call it a 'flash'.  The shoulder insignias are not American and on the second photo in the Malkin post, you can almost make out Canada on the sleeve of one of the soldiers in the background. 

The Democratic party leadership so desperate to sway voters by fawning over the troops hasn't even spent enough time with them to recognize the freaking uniform.  They obviously didn't research it, either but you know most average citizens might not recognize the difference.  In fact, the DNC is probably to be banking on citizens and voters being uninformed and gullible enough to miss a lot of things...

Okay - you know I don't believe that... I'm one of those values voters that is being forced to choose between two evils.  But even so, you can't deny the economy is in an upswing.  Gas prices are down, the Dow is soaring.  And yet, the foremost issue on everyone's mind is Mark Foley.  Don't get me wrong - this is a big issue.  Not a new issue.  Not a partisan issue.  And, now that Foley's resigned,  most definitely not an election issue.  But it will be the issue that stays with voters because the economy gives us the luxury of conducting political witch hunts.  The same thing was true in the nineties when the GOP went after Bill Clinton.  Now, the entire DNC is calling for the resignation of Dennis Hastert.  They are joined, interestingly enough, by many conservative pundits. 

Let me go on record loud and clear as saying that I don't believe conservatives want Hastert out over the Foley scandal any more than Democrats do.  Democratic house members are salivating over the black eye that Foley has given his party.  A forced change in leadership would be the ultimate coup de grace.  It has nothing to do with dirty talk, gay sex, or underaged pages.

Conservatives have an entirely different motive.  They are simply dissatisfied with this non-conservative GOP led congress.  They've failed to act decisively on immigration.  They've failed on issue after issue for values voters (i.e. refusing to vote for the protection of marriage).  And fiscally, well,  let's not even go there.

In fact, if there were a decent independent conservative candidate to split the vote, the Dems would be in for a good post-dubya 8 year run.

What bothers me about the Foley mess is that no one is being genuine.  I believe the finger pointing and public excoriations are all just beltway blather.  And that's truly sad.  Bill Bennett wrote a wonderful book during the Clinton sex scandal entitled "The Death of Outrage" and it couldn't be more applicable now.  This is gotcha politics at its best and no one outside of middle America really cares about the moral ramifications of legitimizing adult-young adult relationships. 

Only a few months ago, a popular news show glorified the union of a pedophile and her victim.  It was celebrated as a love story.  Now, suddenly, instant messages are a big deal?  Oy, the hypocrisy!

The political climate in this country is just a nauseating mess. 

Ouch - this kind of commercial could make the election cycle a little more lively!

BTW, did I mention that I love the idea of forcing representatives to sign the bills they author?  Hold 'em accountable!

 

You may know someone who has been caught in the middle of the current political battle over immigration.  I do.  She's 14 months old and she's spending the day with me today.  Her mother, an immigrant from Africa came here seeking political asylum from a country where women are abused and mutilated routinely.  She filled out the paperwork but it was rejected.  So she began the process of trying to get citizenship, a green card, anything.  She married.  Her husbad is an American citizen.  She has two young children in elementary school and, as I already mentioned, a baby.

Several months ago,  this woman received a letter inviting her to a meeting where she thought her status would be discussed.  Instead, she was arrested and has been in jail awaiting processing ever since.  I don't know the story in full so I don't know where things derailed.  What I do know is that it appears she tried to enter the country through the correct channels.  She didn't sneak across the border or pay a coyote.  She was no one's drug runner.  She's just a mother, like me. 

Today I held her baby in my arms and wept for the missed first birthday and for all the nights this woman's children have gone to bed without a goodnight kiss from the woman who brought them into this world.  A God fearing woman who fled persecution and thought she'd found a safe place to raise her family. 

There has to be a middle ground.

When I use ya'll and whoopass in the same sentence it means I'm really pi$$ed.  Get ready.

Fred the freaking psycho Phelps and his people are planning to picket outside the funeral services of the young Amish school girls who were murdered two days ago.  I'm too disgusted to speak.

Anyone for taking a drive to Pennsylvania?

  Laura Mallory, a Loganville, Ga mother of 4 is trying for a second time to have Harry Potter Books removed from schools.  This time she's claiming they lead to school violence and endorse the Wiccan religion.

aauugh - I think I feel a migrain coming on.  Please Ms. Mallory, in the name of all that's holy, stop the histrionics.  As a devout Christian who had a healthy obsession with witchcraft and the Salem Witch trials when I was 12,  I promise that Harry Potter will not lead your child away from God anymore than the White Witch in Lewis' Narnia classics or Samantha Stevens on the television classic Bewitched.  And if it does,  then the problem isn't coming from the Rowling book.  As a teacher,  I encouraged my students to read almost anything they could get their hands on and I taught them the skills to discriminate between fiction and non.  They were also instructed in research techniques from their earliest reading experiences so that they could separate fact from fiction, truth from error.  Now, as a home schooling parent,  I frequently read books to my children that embrace a world view that is different from my own.  And then I teach them why I believe differently.

If Mallory wants to save her children from Harry Potter, The Neverending Story, or any other work of fiction that delves into the world of made up mysticism, she should do what smart parents do.  Sit down and read with her children.  Talk to them about the parts that blur reality and imagination and teach them how to indulge in fantasy without becoming confused by it.

As for saving her children from school violence... well, I'm betting that the school shooters didn't get cozy and read 800 pages of literature before each rampage.  In fact,  I'm betting that these children weren't at all the kind of students who loved reading or were captivated by the adventures of a boy who struggled with acceptance issues, puberty, and a difficult family life,  because if they had read the Potter series they would have found an ally in the struggles of early human development and avoided the painful loneliness that tends to lie at the heart of Columbine. 

Ms. Magazine is publishing an article celebrating a woman's right to abort which will include the names of more than 6000 signatories who will attest that they've had the procedure.

A comment by one of the signatories neatly boils down the essence of what is wrong with elective abortion.

"Tyffine Jones, 27, of Jackson, Miss., said she had no hesitation about signing _ although she lives in a state where restrictions on abortion are tough and all but one abortion clinic has been closed.

Jones said she got an abortion 10 years ago _ enduring harassment from protesters when she entered the clinic _ in order to finish high school. She went on to become the first member of her family to graduate from college, and hopes at some point to attend law school.

"I wanted to do something bigger with myself _ I didn't want to be stopped by anything," she said in a telephone interview."

It's not about rape or incest.  It's not about mother's whose lives are threatened by pregnancy or chidbirth.  It's essentially about the devaluation of motherhood and the lack of understanding of a simple but profound truth: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.  What is amazing is that so many abortion apologists seem unable to see the affront such a practice presents to a culture that once fundamentally believed "children are an heritage of the Lord".  How did Gloria Steinem convince women that motherhood was the equivalent of slavery?  That eliminating the one uniquely feminine privilege would break the glass ceiling, unfetter the shackles and free us from the kitchen.  If that isn't throwing the baby out with the dishwater! 

 

The best analysis of the Foley football is in an article over at yahoo news that I linked to through Drudge.  Excerpt below:

If anything, the episode reveals the Democrats' hypocrisy about their own behavior. The fact that Foley resigned virtually within minutes of being told that ABC News had copies of his salacious e-mails and text messages indicates he at least felt shame for his actions. Can the same be said for Democrats?

Sadly, it doesn't seem so. How else can you explain the following?

In 1983, then-Democratic Rep. Gerry Studds of Massachusetts was caught in a similar situation. In his case, Studds had sex with a male teenage page -- something Foley hasn't been charged with.

Did Studds express contrition? Resign? Quite the contrary. He rejected Congress' censure of him and continued to represent his district until his retirement in 1996.

In 1989, Rep. Barney Frank (news, bio, voting record), also of Massachusetts, admitted he'd lived with Steve Gobie, a male prostitute who ran a gay sex-for-hire ring out of Frank's apartment. Frank, it was later discovered, used his position to fix 33 parking tickets for Gobie.

What happened to Frank? The House voted 408-18 to reprimand him -- a slap on the wrist. Today he's an honored Democratic member of Congress, much in demand as a speaker and "conscience of the party."

In 2001, President Clinton, who had his own intern problem, commuted the prison sentence of Illinois Rep. Mel Reynolds, who had sex with a 16-year-old campaign volunteer and pressured her to lie about it. (Reynolds also was convicted of campaign spending violations.)

You get the idea. Democrats not only seem OK with the kind of behavior for which Foley is charged, but also they protect and excuse it. Only when it's a Republican do they proclaim themselves shocked -- shocked! -- when it comes to light.

We have a lot more questions about this whole affair. The timing of the revelations, as we noted, couldn't be more propitious for the Democrats. Turns out both the Democrats and several newspapers seem to have known about Foley's problem as far back as November, according to research by several enterprising blogs.

Why didn't they come forward then? Who dredged up these e-mails -- and why did they hold them until now? This reeks of political trickery.

We're glad Foley's gone. He betrayed Congress, his party and the trust of the 33 pages who serve in Congress, and their parents. He behaved immorally, and we won't be surprised at new revelations.

That said, if this scandal is the Democrats' answer to their problems at the polls, it's pretty pathetic. It shows a base contempt for the voters.

So I'm listening to Drudge tonight as he talks about Mark Foley, the sexual deviant du juor, and he mentions that the age of consent in D.C. is 16.  Well, you know me,  I say to myself, "Soccermom,  what's the age of consent in your new state?"  Hmmm. I think.  i really don't know.  Time to crank up the search engine.

I found myself an interesting website dedicated to listing the ages of consent in the US as well as internationally.  My trip in cyberspace started here.  A yahoo About.com page - cosmo for the underaged with links to quizzes designed to help your 13 year old decide whether or not she's ready for sex.  No matter, good information, it seems.  Below the info on US states is a link to International ages of consent.  Okay, ya'll know I'm ultraconservative on moral issues so I'm curious to see if there's a pronounced link between socialism or uberliberalism and the ages of sexual [cough] liberation.  I click the link to International Info and get here.  Spain - 13.  Netherlands - 13...

Now I scroll to the bottom of the page and see a link to our friends at the ACLU who, apparently, help update the page's info regarding same-sex ages of consent and the repeal of sodomy laws.  Not surprising.  But I sense there is more down this rabbit hole.  Off I go by clicking the link back at the top of the chart that reads COMMENTS.

This leads to a list of articles related to sex laws and consent and sex in general.  Remember all this is geared toward answering teen questions... So why is there a flashing advertisement for VIAGRA at the top of the screen promised safe, secure and discreet delivery?  Why are there articles like "Is Adult/Child sex always abusive?"  and "Sex with Children can be Healthy"? (Not linking to those!)

So what started as a routine research question ended up being 3 mouse clicks away from a justification for pedophilia.  Again, notice the ads at the top of the page are linked - they are on every page thus far,  Viagra alongside (or above) a link to "Cool Teen Sites".

Can somebody call Law and Order's SVU department?  or the FBI!