...like a drum

From Krauthammer:

"Republicans have 4 1/2 good presidential candidates. All five would make fine Cabinet members: Romney at Treasury, Thompson at Justice, McCain at Defense, Giuliani at Homeland Security, Huckabee at Interior. All the team needs now is to pick a captain who can beat Hillary."

She is imminently beatable.

confirm already

A.G. nominee Mike Mukasey still hasn't been confirmed and Lindsey Graham is farting around because he's 'concerned' about waterboarding being torture and 'violations' of the Geneva Convention?

Hey, Senator. Targeting civilians, the M.O. of al Qaeda, violates the Geneva Convention, too.

huh?

Hillary Clinton is the most boring, droning, unqualified, uninspiring presidential candidate I've seen since Mike Dukakis. She might be the front-running Dem, but her negatives continue to be above 50%.

And she contradicted herself twice last night in a matter of mere minutes.

How Clintonian.

“Unless I missed something,” said John Edwards, “Sen. Clinton said two different things in the course of about two minutes.

Her performance was simply dreadful and somehow it's Tim Russert's fault?

How Clintonian.

And Pew Research Center, has her beating Rudy by eight percentage points by 'winning the South'? I don't buy it.

my old house

I visited the old place Sunday morning. Eerie.

fire week

Last Sunday night, there was a conversation about the gathering fires in the mountains east of my house. I'd invited neighbors over to watch football that afternoon, neighbors who lost their house in the 2003 Cedar Fire, which was previously the worst fire in San Diego history.

We could see the orange glow beyond, but nothing had crossed over the top of the mountains at that point. And I was quick to disregard the threat, even though previous experiences back in '93 should have reminded me just how quickly reality can change.

So, I went back to watching 'Desperate Housewives.' Then I went to bed, thinking the evacuation call wouldn't come.

4.35 A.M. The evacuation call came.

I remember getting up, flicking the lights on in the bedroom and in the hallway and being immediately surprised at the amount of smoke already in the house. That was something I'd never experienced before. Back 14 years ago, and then four years ago, with the Cedar Fire, the evacuation threat had loomed large, but the winds had always shifted and the fires had gone away.

It was different this time. So we packed some stuff and loaded the cars. And it was then, while outside, that I almost got knocked down by the 70 M.P.H. hot, swirling wind, and I felt the heat on my body from the fire that looked as if it was just beyond the slope protecting my cul-de-sac. Ash was raining down on me like snow in the dead of winter. And it was then that I feared for our lives.

I jumped in my car and reversed down the street to check on my sweet 86 year old year old friend. She was already packed and ready to go and I told her of the path to the beach we were taking.

5.20 A.M. Driving west. My buddy Scott and I were calling each other at the same time. He told us to come to his house in Del Mar.

For half the day, an odd mix of parents, friends, significant others and kids watched the unbelievable fire coverage. Most of the city of San Diego was on fire by late morning, and Del Mar and the other coastal areas never before affected by the threat of fire, were all under mandatory evacuations.

It occurred to me around lunch time that the only safe place to be was Downtown, so I called and got a room at the Hotel Solamar.

As it all turned out and as weird as this sounds, we had a good time on Monday and Tuesday. I know that a lot of people -- friends of mine, actually -- suffered significant losses on those days, and I don't want to discount their pain by saying that I had fun, but I did.

The Solamar rolled out the red carpet for us, we had a great room, we ate great food, we went out both nights and caroused around and we were joined by my buddies Scott, Brian and Kevin.

A big part of the fact that we could mostly relax was the growing confidence and optimism that our house was intact, after all, we didn't see our address posted on the crawl of the local television broadcasts and the answering machine picked up every time we called.

I got really nervous when somebody sent me a text saying that a street two blocks away from my house was on fire. And when I saw the house in the northern part of our neighborhood burning, along with four others on CBS 8, I thought the prevailing winds had surely carried to fire to my house.

Thankfully, it didn't destroy my current house. But it did destroy my old neighborhood and my old house, the house my parents built in 1985. The house I lived in for 17 years.

I'm digressing...so I'll keep it short. Thank you EVERYONE for calling and writing and for being concerned. The house is fine. Everyone's okay. And I'm just so glad to be home.

Much has been said about governmental response to the multiple San Diego-area fires and I can tell you that San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and California Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger have both done incredible jobs. And President Bush was here today touring the burn areas.

There have been some bureaucratic snafus, like the California Department of Forestry, also known as Cal-Fire, refusing to allow military planes in the air to fight the fires without fire spotters aboard. This type of stupid, illogical, Liberal feudal dispute put lives on the line and delayed important progress in halting the destruction. And while Republicans Issa, Hunter and Bilbray fixed the problem...

...what were Democrats doing? They were complaining about Bush's visit and trying, without much success, to compare the fire to Hurricane Katrina, which was funny because...

...it so wasn't anything like Katrina. The local and state government was prepared for the disaster. Oh, and by the way, the local and state responses had nothing whatsoever to do with the federal government, or FEMA or George Bush.

hail to the chief

Marine One flew over my house this morning.

hey

I'm back. Everything's cool.

evacuate

It's been quite a day.

I still don't know if my house stands. And it's supposed to get even worse tomorrow.

sunny, hot, windy, fire

Santa Ana winds and fires are pummeling Malibu.

Pepperdine University is threatened.

It's that time of year again. San Diego is next. The wind is already kicking up...

governor jindal

Bobby Jindal is a rare bright spot in the otherwise dishonest, slimy morass of Louisiana politics.

He's going to be an awesome reform Governor.

shiny, happy

Patrick Ruffini echoes what I've been saying about 2008: Republicans will be so motivated to defeat the Clintons that they will unite under the GOP nominee.

But he goes further. On issue after issue, we control the debate. Iraq and SCHIP and we are competitive in Congressional races.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. We won't see a repeat of 2006 in 2008.

WTF?

Why was John J. Hamre named chairman of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee by Defense Secretary Robert Gates?

Hamre served under Bill Clinton and, according to investigative reporter Bill Gertz, was 'a key leader in Clinton defense policies that led to a hollowing-out of military forces through a combination of huge budget cuts and extended peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.'

"Hamre also presided over the restriction of U.S. missile defenses in support of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which Mr. Bush rejected, at a time when both short-range and long-range missile threats were a growing threat to the homeland, U.S. troops and allies abroad."

"Hamre was criticized by conservatives for his pacifist religious views and by critics who questioned whether it was appropriate for him to be placed in such a senior position."

What's going on here? Clearing the decks for Hillary?

picket line?

Ninety percent of the membership of the Writers Guild of America has voted in favor of a strike. At issue is compensation for DVD sales and new media productions.

I say go! I'm a union man, now! Damn the torpedoes! Corporations sap all of our creativity!

subterfuge

We're beginning to learn more about that top secret Israeli attack on Syria.

Apparently, North Korea has helped the Syrians build a nuclear facility.

And Israel had a spy on the inside. Subterfuge is so cool.

it is what it is

What is it with the Clintons and Chinese funny money?

Back in the '90's it was John Huang and Charlie Trie.

Then it was Al Gore, raising illegal campaign cash at a Buddhist temple. (Of course, that is not to be confused with Gore's "No Controlling Legal Authority" illegally dialing for campaign cash from the White House.)

Now, it's dishwashers and waiters in Chinatown, apparently flush with cash donating $1,000 and $2,000 to the smartest woman in the world? What the hell is going on here?

Could it possibly be that this latest Clinton scandal is just what it appears to be? An illegal scheme to launder dirty money, most likely from another crooked Hillary Bundler, like Norman Hsu or some other slug?

No, that makes entirely too much sense. Just me being crazy, I guess.

I do know one thing for certain: If Hillary Clinton was a Republican candidate running for President, her campaign would now be finished.

dave t.v.

Reunion time, at long last. November 25 in San Diego. S.G. and I are all over it.

eating our own young

I always held a high opinion of Sam Brownback. Until he ran for President.

Now, he's belatedly come to realize that he can't win, so what does he do on his way out the door? He rips the one guy that can beat Clinton.

Get off the stage, Sam.

stupid, incompetent 2.0

Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) should resign his seat immediately for the remarks he made yesterday on the House floor.

Does he really believe that President Bush gets 'amusement' from the deaths of American troops in Iraq? Or is that just political rhetoric?

I don't see this type of behavior from the Republicans. I don't hear this type of disgusting rhetoric from the Republicans.

stupid, incompetent

The Democrats have been telling us that President Bush is 'stupid' and 'incompetent' for six years.

If Bush is stupid, what does that make Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid?

Imagine pissing off a major ally in the war in Iraq? How could Pelosi ever think that condemning Turkey for something that happened nearly a hundred years ago was a good idea?

Imagine the Majority Leader of the United States Senate attempting to censure a radio talk show host as a PR stunt?

Aren't the leaders of Congress supposed to be among our nation's best and brightest?

My opinion: Pelosi and Reid are two of the biggest idiots ever to be seen in Washington DC. And, believe it or not, I don't voice this as a political opinion. I say this as a practical matter. Pelosi and Reid generally, and the so-called 'Democratic' party broadly, just don't seem to be serious people.

of the greatest import

Standing in line a few moments ago at the grocery store and I see this:

'Does the Supreme Court Still Matter?'

Yes, it is supremely important. Frankly, the Supreme Court is what politics is really all about. Judicial appointments are the name of the game, especially for Democrats, who are constantly seeking to litigate their policies into law after routinely failing to convince the electorate to support said policies at the ballot box.

It is hardly 'shrinking' as the intellectually David Von Drehle suggests in Time Magazine.

Why marginalize conservatives Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas? Because that's what Democrats do best: Insult people with whom they disagree. If the Court leaned Left, Time would be heralding a bright new day in American jurisprudence, with Ruth Bader Ginsberg on the cover.

Of course, the Left can't (and won't) admit that the Court, with the two most recent additions of Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Alito, is brimming with fresh intellectual vigor of a kind it has not seen for quite some time.

I submit to you: The Supreme Court, National Security and the economy are the three biggest reasons why Republicans must keep the White House in '08.

Conversely, those are also the three biggest reasons why we must defeat Hillary Clinton.

11%

Pelosi 'backtracking'? No way!

This makes me happy, of course. But she's not doing it for the right (or smart) reason. She's 'backtracking' because she doesn't have the votes to get it done.

BTW, nice approval rating, Nancy. I'm sure you're proud of yourself.

$89

Oil is $89 a barrel. It pisses me off that the U.S. is so dependent on foreign sources of oil.

It's really too bad the damn Democrats and the environmental nuts won't allow us take advantage of our own natural resources.

unhappy voters

President Bush's approval ratings are at an all time record low -- 24%.

The so-called 'Democratic' Congress has an approval rating of 11%.

The reasons behind both are pretty obvious.

No American President has ever had to deal with the type of bad, hostile reporting -- misreporting -- that President Bush has had to deal with in his six years. The MSM lies, reports big, whopping lies, about the Bush Administration every day, every night. Period.

Anybody would be unpopular after taking the pounding that Bush has been taking since 2001.

Hillary Clinton has been talking about Bush's 'Cowboy Diplomacy.' This, too has been misreported. Democrats deride Bush's methods, but look at the results:

A disarmed North Korea, a disarmed Libya, a free, democratic Iraq, a scared Iran, a defensive Russia and China, newly elected conservative leaders in liberal entitlement nations France and Germany and stronger alliances with nations like Denmark and the former Soviet Republics.

Voters don't really know what the hell is going on because the press doesn't report news anymore, they report their opinion. And when they run out of things to say they start citing polls, and conveniently enough, they only talk about polls that reinforce their opinion on how bad Bush is.

Of course, all of this is my opinion. The key difference is that I'm not being paid to report the news. I have no axe to grind, I have no agenda. I just call it as I see it.

And as I see it, the one real failure of the Bush Administration has been illegal immigration. There. I said it.

Delving into the roots of the problems of Congress, I need only five words to summarize what is wrong with Capitol Hill:

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

'sabotage'

Congressional Dems are attempting 'Sabotage in Wartime.' So writes Thomas Sowell.

And Republican George Radanovich not only supports, but introduced the effort.

pathetic

Randi Rhodes (the acknowledged liar, pictured above) made up a story about being mugged to get some free press. And get this: The police and her own attorney are saying the whole case is bogus.

Air America has now officially jumped the shark.

From the NY Daily News:

"Fellow Air America host Jon Elliott claimed on the liberal radio network that Rhodes had been mugged while walking her dog, Simon, on Sunday night. Elliot, who said Rhodes lost several teeth in the attack, waxed about a possible conspiracy.

"Is this an attempt by the right-wing, hate machine to silence one of our own?" he asked on the air, according to Talking Radio, a blog. "Are we threatening them? Are they afraid that we’re winning? Are they trying to silence intimidate us?"

They're not 'winning.' They are losing. Air America is bankrupt because leftist pigs like Rhodes can't compete for radio ratings. They have no audience. Nobody wants to listen to three hour screeds on the radio.

Fairness Doctrine, anyone?

done

Bob Jones III has endorsed Mitt Romney?

His campaign is toast.

vick 'em

George W. Bush and the Dalai Lama? In Bush's private residence, no less?

"We know each other, and we have developed, I think, a very close friendship -- something like a reunion of one family," the Dalai Lama said, speaking of the President."

China is upset. So it was a good thing.

They are also upset at the fact that Bush will award the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal on Thursday.

exactly

Rudy Giuliani, on the case against Hillary Clinton:

"Honestly, in most respects, I don't know Hillary's experience. She's never run a city, she's never run a state. She's never run a business. She has never met a payroll. She has never been responsible for the safety and security of millions of people, much less even hundreds of people."

"So I'm trying to figure out where the experience is here. It would seem to me that in a time of difficult problems and war we don't want on the job training for an executive."

whatever...

Happy 'Blog Action Day'?

I mean, Happy Blog Action Day!

Wait. What kind of touchy-feely crap is this? Millions of blogs, one issue?

Doesn't that kind of go against the very reason for blogging? Talking about the stuff you care about? Posting about the stuff you feel passionate about? Saying what you want to say to the world?

Empowerment?

the loyal opposition

The American Spectator has a piece today by Jeffrey Lord about a fictional President Hillary Clinton being attacked on all sides by Republicans as part of a 'Bush Payback.'

Lord envisions a swarm of frothing, furious, seething, rabid Right-Wingers. I don't see it.

"What Democrats lost with the election of George W. Bush, so furious were they over failed attempts to...ahhh...shall we say "appropriate" votes they did not win in Florida, was the ability to serve as an agent for positive change while Bush was in office. Instead, they spent much volumes of videotape bungling their time in opposition, giving way to an urge to feel good instead of do good. Feeling good specifically meant tossing over the side a legitimate role as the party of the loyal opposition, giving in to Bush Derangement Syndrome and the frothing demands of the American Loony Left. In so doing they finally exhausted the patience of conservatives. The spoiling for a fight attitude, however unhelpful and even destructive it may be in turn for Republicans, will rule the day."

I reject the premise. Republicans are scared of their own shadow, they have no fight, no initiative, no fire, no passion. They are cowards and they seem entirely comfortable letting Democrats out-smart, out-think, out-legislate, out-maneuver them.

These are the very same Republicans that made nary a peep about Sandy Berger, a mind-blowing national security scandal of enormous proportions.

These are the same Republicans that allowed the Democrats to turn the routine firing of eight U.S. Attorneys into a scandal.

religious left?

The Democrats are pandering shamelessly to religious voters, going to church services, having 'campaign alter calls' and signing up 'congregation contacts.'

Where's the outrage from the press? The hand-wringing about 'separation of church and state'?

If a GOP candidate even mentions Bob Jones University, or claims to love Jesus, it's a scandal of epic proportions.

Interesting piece from the WSJ about 'the religious left' here.

really listening

All ears on Hillary? Sure. Why not? All's fair in love, war and presidential campaigns.

You think the Clinton's won't be playing dirty?

more arnold

Take a peek at some of California's new laws, signed today by Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger:

SB 777: Bans anything that could be interpreted anti-gay, anti-bisexual or anti-alternative lifestyle. That means it is now illegal to use the terms 'Mom,' 'Dad,' 'husband,' 'wife,' 'mother' and 'father' in a public school because they could possibly promote discrimination.

It also means that there is no such thing as Homecoming Kings and Queens. Now a Queen can be a guy and a King a girl.

It also means that boys and girls can use each other's bathrooms.

(That sounds kinda fun, actually.)

AB 394: Establishes 'anti harassment' training for parents and promotes 'the same issues through state-funded publications, postings, curricula and handouts to students, parents and teachers.'

'Harassment' means referring to 'man,' 'woman,' or 'traditional marriage' within earshot of a gay teacher. It also means that a student voicing a 'banned' opinion could be considered a 'harasser' by a cross-dressing teacher.

All writing, textbooks or teaching material that refers to marriage as being between a man and a woman will be banned, as will any and all references to men and women being born 'male' and 'female.' All textbooks will feature flattering portrayals of gay figures throughout history.

AB 14: Prohibits state funding for programs that do not support gay, bisexual, trans-gender or any other alternative sexual lifestyle, including, but not limited to churches, day care, pre-school, after-school, food and housing, senior services, anti-gang initiatives, jobs training and others.

the field

Rudy/McCain? Makes sense. It's a good match.

As for the others...

Romney can't win and, I'm sorry, but the Mormon thing is too weird.

Thompson is an embarrassment and his poor showing is offensive.

I dislike Huckabee. He's a complete phony.

Hunter should be considered for a cabinet post, like immigration czar.

Paul is a fool but at least he gets to fly first class. That's campaign money well spent.

interference

This Turkey thing is a big problem. American supply lines could be adversely affected by a war with Kurdish rebels.

And will someone please tell me why the hell Democrats are making things worse by pissing off the Turks -- a solid U.S. ally -- by pushing forward with a belatedly worthless condemnation of Turkish treatment of Armenians during World War I?

'ridiculous'

Dr. William Gray, a Colorado State University scientist, and a seasonal hurricane forecasting pioneer calls 'the theory that helped Al Gore share the Nobel Peace Prize "ridiculous" and the product of "people who don't understand how the atmosphere works."

"We're brainwashing our children," said Dr Gray, 78. They're going to the Gore movie [An Inconvenient Truth] and being fed all this. It's ridiculous."

"We'll look back on all of this in 10 or 15 years and realise how foolish it was."

done

From WaPo:

"The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq."

Really? I thought we lost the war?

debate

Al Gore is a proven and verifiable liar. The only guy I trust when it comes to the subject of climate change is Bjorn Lomborg.

"Gore has helped the world to worry. Unfortunately, our attention is diverted from where it matters. Climate change is not the only problem facing the globe.

"The politician-turned-moviemaker loses sleep over a predicted rise in heat-related deaths. There's another side of the story that's inconvenient to mention: rising temperatures will reduce the number of cold spells, which are a much bigger killer than heat. The best study shows that by 2050, heat will claim 400,000 more lives, but 1.8 million fewer will die because of cold. Indeed, according to the first complete survey of the economic effects of climate change for the world, global warming will actually save lives."

No wonder Gore has refused multiple debate invitations with Lomborg.

sour grape/living in the past/egomaniacs

Why do former Generals do this?

What purpose does it serve? How does it benefit the effort going forward?

Notice that Sanchez fails to mention the current progress on the ground in Iraq, since Petraeus took over. Perhaps he, Sanchez, was part of the problem.

n is for nuance

Didn't Hillary just condemn Obama a few weeks ago for wanting to talk to Iran? She called the Magic Negro 'naive.'

Now she's proposing doing the exact same thing. More 'nuance.'

Democratic candidates almost get universal free passes with the press. Clinton and her ilk wouldn't (and couldn't) do this sort of shameless flip flopping if the MSM was fair and objective.

retail sales

September retail sales were double what was expected.

Forbes plays it straight.

CNN doesn't.

But there's no such thing as media bias, right?

tax and spend

Vote Republican. If for no other reason than to deny power to Charlie Rangel.

'leading'

The Democrats are such brave, principled leaders, aren't they?

dumb and dumber

It was just this past Tuesday night that I was singing the praises of my governor.

The next day, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill making smoking in a car with children illegal.

'Big Brother,' anybody?

And then today, he signed another stupid bill into law, prohibiting California landlords from checking the immigration status of tenants.

I'm going to go get myself a beer.

denied

Secretary of State Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates went to Russia to win support for missile defense and ended up being bitch slapped by Vladimir Putin on multiple issues.

Putin, already well along in the process of making himself Russia's latest czar, didn't bite. He wasn't even very hospitable to his guests, making them wait 15 minutes and then getting up in the middle of a meeting to take 'a very important call.'

This is a very big deal that the Russians want to freeze US plans for the missile defense site in Eastern Europe and it is a very big deal that they want to 'take measures to neutralize' the program if it goes ahead without consent from the Kremlin.

'To the moon, Alice?'

shrinking deficit

It turns out that the projected budget deficit of $244 billion is actually more like $163 billion.

Sometimes fuzzy math is good.

unsavory

Some people still consider winning a Nobel Peace Prize to be a prestigious affair, but I wonder what person in their right (or left) mind covets and campaigns for an award that was given to the terrorist Yasser Arafat?

It must depend on the meaning of the word 'is.'

Congratulations, Mr. Vice President. I think.

jimmy carter is an asshole

The Nobel Prize-winning-peanut farming-dictator-propping-radical Islamic terrorism enabling-worst president in American history, took some time out of his pathetic and otherwise irrelevant schedule this week to charaterize Vice President Dick Cheney as 'a disaster.'

Vick 'em.

new record

Bush's management of the economy has just been dreadful.

He's an idiot, all right.

nope

What's this? Iraq isn't a political issue anymore?

To the extent that's true it's important. It also means that Harry Reid and his dishonest, anti-American ilk were wrong.

blunder

Ooops. ABC News leaked a key piece of intelligence information.

It's nice to know that Americans are actively working to defeat their own country during wartime, isn't it?

getting serious

I keep hoping that the Democrats will stop playing politics and take a moment to consider the very real dangers posed by al Qaeda inside the United States.

A state of denial is not a viable political position.

yeah, right

Chris Matthews thinks he's 'independent,' but not 'partisan.'

'incomprehensible'

Sandy Berger stole and destroyed Bill Clinton-era national security documents from the National Archives in '03. His actions resulted in the suspension of his security clearance until September '08.

Now he's advising Hillary Clinton on foreign affairs, even prompting concern and incredulity from Clinton admirers.

“It shows poor judgment and a lack of regard for Berger’s serious misdeeds,” said law professor Jonathan Adler of Case Western Reserve University, who nonetheless called Clinton “by far the most impressive candidate in the Democratic field.”

"Adler told The Examiner that it is “simply incomprehensible to me that a serious contender for the presidency would rely upon him as a key foreign policy advisor.”

"He added: “If Senator Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee, at some point she will begin to receive national security briefings that will include sensitive information. At such a point, continuing to keep Berger on board as a key advisor, where he might have access to sensitive material, would be beyond incomprehensible.”

go tigers

The best football game I've seen in a long, long time.

amen

Where is the outrage on this story? Where is the balance? The objectivity?

What about the separation of church and state? Barack Obama goes to church and proclaims his faith and the MSM doesn't have a problem with it.

George Bush's Christianity, according to the Left, threatens the very fabric of our democracy. But the MSM sees nothing threatening or sinister or disturbing or discombobulating with the idea that faith plays in integral part in a person's life as long as the person describing that faith happens to be a Democrat.

pardon

What this?

Joe Wilson didn't give two warm craps about the naming of his wife in a Bob Novak column.

Very interesting.

strong coffee

Hillary wants to give everybody five large, the Colorado Rockies advanced to their first NLCS, (the first league championship to feature two teams from the same division, no less) Nancy Pelosi has been 'praying' for President Bush and the new Radiohead disc coming out Wednesday is not available in stores.

Has the world just gone completely crazy?

just win

Bill Kristol shares my thoughts exactly on Rudy's current position in the political firmament.

smoke and mirrors

Although the cowardly, hypocritical Al Gore ducks routinely ducks invitations to debate global warming with real scientists, (read about it here) it appears that he's a lock to win the Nobel Peace Prize on October 12.

blowhard

Monday morning, I heard Chris Matthews tell Laura Ingraham that President Bush is 'always the smartest guy in the room.'

But, last night he apparently said that the Bush Administration 'has finally been caught in their criminality.'

What 'criminality'? What is he talking about?

I love how Democrats, stream of consciousness, toss out wild, unsubstantiated accusations AND the press NEVER calls them on it...

...I'm also wondering what bonehead made the decision to allow Matthews to co-host ANOTHER GOP debate?

going global

The idiotic Democrats are anti-free trade.

George Will points out why the Left is wrong, again:

"Globalization" means free trade and various deregulations that supposedly put downward pressure on American wages because of imports from low-wage countries. Austan Goolsbee, Barack Obama's economic advisor, however, says globalization is responsible for "a small fraction" of today's income disparities. He says "60 to 70 percent of the economy faces virtually no international competition." America's 18.5 million government employees have little to fear from free trade; neither do auto mechanics, dentists and many others.

"Goolsbee's rough estimate is that technology -- meaning all that the phrase "information economy" denotes -- accounts for more than 80 percent of the increase in earnings disparities, whereas trade accounts for much less than 20 percent. This is something congressional Democrats need to hear from a Democratic economist as they resist trade agreements with South Korea and such minor economic powers as Peru, Panama and Colombia."

rudy

Why am I so optimistic about holding the White House?

"One of Giuliani's strongest selling points to conservative voters who may be at odds with him on social issues is the promise that he can run the strongest general election campaign of Republican in the field. Giuliani continually harps on the fact that he scrambles the electoral map, putting states into play that no other Republican can.

"So long as Clinton rides high and appears to be the "inevitable" nominee of her party, she will buoy Rudy's chances of winning the GOP nomination precisely because a square-off brings out all the qualities Republican voters find most attractive in Rudy: he's a tough guy, a fighter, and a reliable partisan on the most important issues of the day."

I'm not saying it's a slam dunk, or that it will be easy by any means. But, side by side, Rudy is experienced in government and in business. He's qualified to become President. Hillary? I can't think of a single thing she brings to the table. I can't even imagine that she's considered a serious candidate.

san diego

It's been a tough week in my city.

On Sunday, the Chargers lost again, this time to the Chiefs, dropping their record to 1-3.

Monday night, the Padres were eliminated from playoff contention after losing a heartbreaking tie-breaker to the Rockies.

Yesterday, there was the landslide/sinkhole thing in La Jolla.

And today, a major water main break near Sea World, above.

bad judgment

The Magic Negro announced today in Iowa that he's stopped wearing an American flag pin.

Bad form, regardless of the reason. And the Democrats wonder why we call them un-American.

Ironically, a "Judgment to Lead" campaign sign was plastered to his lecturn.

"partisanship rules"?

What's this? Partisanship on Capitol Hill? Get outta here!

'lack of cynicism'

Robert Kaplan writes the column of the day, "Modern Heroes:"

"From Sept. 11, 2001, until the middle of 2003, when events in Afghanistan and Iraq appeared to be going well, the media portrayed the troops in an uncomplicated, positive light. Young reporters who embedded early on became acquainted with men and women in uniform, by whom they were frankly impressed. But their older editors, children of the '60s often, were skeptical. Once these wars started going badly, skepticism turned to a feeling of having been duped, a sentiment amplified by the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

"That led to a different news cycle, this time with the troops as war criminals. But that cycle could not be sustained by the facts beyond the specific scandal. So by the end of 2004, yet another news cycle set in, the one that is still with us: the troops as victims of an incompetent and evil administration. The irony is that the daily actions of the troops now, living among Iraqis, applying the doctrines of counterinsurgency, and engaged regularly in close-quarters combat, are likely more heroic than in the period immediately following 9/11.

"Objectively speaking, the troops can be both victims and heroes--that is, if the current phase of the war does indeed turn out to be futile. My point is only to note how the media has embraced the former theme and downplayed the latter. The LexisNexis statistics reveal the extent to which the media is uncomfortable with traditional heroism, of the kind celebrated from Herodotus through World War II. If that's not the case, then why don't we read more accounts about the battlefield actions of Silver Star winners, Bronze Star winners and the like?

"Feeling comfortable with heroes requires a lack of cynicism toward the cause for which they fight. In the 1990s, when exporting democracy and militarily responding to ethnic and religious carnage were looked up upon, U.S. Army engineering units in Bosnia were lionized merely for laying bridges across rivers. Those soldiers did not need to risk their lives or win medals in order to be glorified by the media. Indeed, the media afforded them more stature than it does today's Medal of Honor winners. When a war becomes unpopular, the troops are in a sense deserted. In the eyes of professional warriors, pity can be a form of debasement."

missile defense

We can flip the switch anytime to respond to emergencies in Asia, according to this piece from the IHT.

screwin' it up

I love the title of this piece from Politico.com:

"Democrats grapple with the fear factor."

"It remains a fact that the party — even during two terms of Bill Clinton — has not broken 50 percent of the vote in a presidential election in more than 30 years, and it has done it only twice in the past 60 years. Plus, there’s plenty of precedent for a seemingly insurmountable lead (remember President Michael Dukakis from the summer of 1988?) to evaporate in the blink of an eye.

"A portion of Democratic unease relates to the source of the party’s improved prospects. Democrats’ resurgence “is a result of a complete implosion of the Republican Party,” as Carville put it. “This is not like some great enthusiasm for Democrats out there.”

This isn't a prediction. Just a gut feeling. The Dems are unelectable due to the general perception that they don't stand for anything. They, like Kerry in '04, are constantly searching for 'nuance,' repeatedly on both sides of every issue.

Democrats only win elections when they pretend to be Republicans.

round 'em up

What's this? Deporting criminal illegal immigrants? In Los Angeles?

True that. Over 1,300 the past two weeks.

It's about time.

a continued embarrassment

Jimma Carter got into a shouting match with security officials in Darfur, Sudan, after he wanted to make an unscheduled visit with refugees in a nearby town.

From the AP:

"You can't go. It's not on the program!" the local security chief, who only gave his first name as Omar, yelled at Carter, who is in Darfur as part of a delegation of respected international figures known as "The Elders."

"We're going to anyway!" an angry Carter retorted as a crowd began to gather. "You don't have the power to stop me.

"I'll tell President Bashir about this," Carter said, referring to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir."

Ooooh. He's gonna tell! What an a-hole. What an ego!!

But read this:

"Carter later agreed to a compromise by which tribal representatives would be brought to him at another location later Wednesday. But the refugee delegates never showed up."

Nice. Serves his punk ass right.

warning

I'm surprised to learn that schools in the United Kingdom will issue a warning of bias before screenings of 'An Inconvenient Truth.'

From the Daily Mail:

"Schools will have to issue a warning before they show pupils Al Gore's controversial film about global warming, a judge indicated yesterday.

"The move follows a High Court action by a father who accused the Government of 'brainwashing' children with propaganda by showing it in the classroom."

Even CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is claiming the Gore movie is 'fictional.'

'anti-children'?

As promised, this morning President Bush vetoed the Democrats' proposed SCHIP bill, which would have expanded the State run children's health insurance program by $35 billion dollars.

Predictably, the Dems went crazy at the prospect of losing another unnecessary, wasteful entitlement program. An insurance program, by the way, that was originally intended ONLY for poor children, but now, thanks to governmental largess, now insures children from middle class families and even some adults.

From the Washington Times:

"House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland said the president's "incomprehensible veto of this bipartisan, fiscally responsible legislation ... demonstrates a stunning lack of compassion for some of the most vulnerable members of our society."

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada called the veto "heartless."

"President Bush has turned his back on America's children, and he stands alone," Mr. Reid said."

Bush wants to expand SCHIP by $5 billion. That's hardly 'turning his back.'

slippage

A sinkhole on Mount Soledad?

From the AP:

"The sinkhole in the La Jolla neighborhood of million-dollar homes cut a cone shape and was about 50 yards long and 15 feet deep, said Robert Hawk, a city engineering geologist. Six homes were damaged or destroyed and two others were in danger, but the problems appeared to be contained, he said.

"It is fairly well-defined and localized," Hawk said.

"Electricity was initially cut off to 2,400 customers but restored to 2,000 within two hours, according to San Diego Gas & Electric Co. Gas was cut off to about a dozen customers.

"Holli Weld was walking her son to preschool when the street collapsed.

'"It was sinking as I was walking by," she said. "The street was sinking before our eyes."'

'war of condemnation'

Smells like the Fairness Doctrine is indeed attempting a comeback.

Media Matters (Hillary and George Soros) ascribes allegedly 'racist' comments to Bill O'Reilly.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors votes to 'condemn' nut job radio host Michael Savage.

The angry Left goes after super talker Rush Limbaugh for saying things he didn't even say.

Media Matters also had a hand in the firing of Don Imus.

What the hell is going on? What do the Democrats have against free speech? Is it that they don't want to compete in the free market? Or is it that they can't?

'phony'

The Democrats are completely out of control. They think we've lost the war in Iraq and now they think Rush Limbaugh, an unabashed military supporter, is anti-troop.

Good stuff!

But read the bad reporting on this story. The Hill and CBS News and MSNBC and a bunch of other 'objective' news sources are knowingly misreporting that Limbaugh called soldiers opposed to the Iraq war are 'phony soldiers.'

He never said that. Exact quote:

"CALLER: And what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout to the media.

"RUSH: The phony soldiers.

"CALLER: The phony soldiers. If you talk to any real soldier and they're proud to serve, they want to be over in Iraq, they understand their sacrifice and they're willing to sacrifice for the country.

"RUSH: They joined to be in Iraq."

In this case the phony soldier is Jesse Macbeth. Macbeth did a brief stint in the Army but he was never an Army Ranger as has been widely reported. Macbeth never saw a day of combat and he didn't win a Purple Heart as has been widely reported.

What has not been widely reported is that Macbeth has recently been sentenced to five months in prison and three years of probation for fraudulent claims he made on Defense Department documents, including a Veterans Affairs claim as well as his Army discharge record.

This is disgusting stuff from the Left.

color

Clarence Thomas is, according to CBSNews.com is "reviled by many in his own race for his opposition to government programs intended to help minorities."

In a perfect world African Americans would hold Thomas, Condi Rice and other high profile black Republicans in high regard, for they are the gold standard, they are heroes, they are people to admire for all they have achieved.

Of course, if Thomas and Rice were Democrats they would be celebrated.

It remains a mystery to me why an overwhelming percentage of blacks continue to vote for Democrats, the wretched political party that is committed to keeping African Americans angry, poor, resentful and uneducated.

floored

The Democrats have 'jumped the shark.'

They simply pander too much.

record

Dow over 14,000?

Bush sucks.