This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Jonn Lilyea

  • Wake up, Republicans

    The other day I got an email from the RNC – it was addressed to me, by name, so I know that whoever sent it at least read enough of my blog to get my name right. It complimented my support of the party in my blog, announced the launch of new GOP blog and asked me to link that blog to mine. I get email like this occasionally – usually from less reputable people than the GOP. But I answered that I wouldn’t link the GOP to this blog, for the same reason I quit donating to the GOP and the Republican Senate Caucus three years ago – I don’t donate to the Democrats, why would I donate to Republicans acting like Democrats?

    Here’s a case in point; Timothy Carney, in the Washington Examiner this morning writes “Congress porks up waterways bill“;

    The Senate recently passed a bill authorizing money for the Army Corps of Engineers with a price tag of about $14 billion. The House version of the Water Resources Development Act passed at $15 billion. In a conference committee, lawmakers from both chambers hammered out the differences, and in the end came to a compromise: $23 billion.

    While not that unusual, this bill’s growth behind closed doors certainly defies the civics-textbook explanation of how a bill becomes a law. The 450 earmarks in the final bill, including many that appeared only in the final version, also don’t quite reflect the promises Democrats made after passing their “ethics reform” bill earlier this year. Looking closely at this legislation — and who stands to get rich off of it — gives a good education in the way Washington really works.

    So the bill almost doubled in spending from $14 billion to $23 billion. Although Carney lays the largesse squarely on the Democrats’ shoulders, I blame Republicans;

    President Bush has threatened to veto the bill. But having garnered 81 votes in the Senate and 381 votes in the House, Democratic leaders have enough votes to override a veto — and they are being lobbied hard to do so.

    81 votes in the Senate means 30 Republicans have their fingers in the pie – the Democrats had to give earmarks to at least 30 Republicans to garner their votes. It also means that at least 30 Republicans out of 48 are acting like Democrats. If whoever that was from the GOP who wrote me is reading this, now you have the reason you’re not linked to my blog.

    When the Republican Senate holds the line against spending instead of hoping the President does it for them, maybe I’ll open up my wallet and my blog to Republicans and the GOP organization. Until then, pound sand.

  • Quote of the Day

    From Dean Barnett in the Weekly Standard piece “Mugged by Reality” about the Randi Rhodes pratfall;

    Obviously, each side of the political spectrum has its extremist lunatics. The only difference between conservatives and liberals is that on the conservative side, such people loiter on the margins. On the liberal side, when they hold a convention, all the Democratic presidential candidates come running.

  • Virginia schools close for staph cleaning

    The Washington Post reports this morning that a number of Virginia’s schools had to be closed for a thorough cleaning after a student died from staph infection recently;

    Rappahannock Superintendent Bob Chappell said school employees also followed a local hospital’s advice to mop hallways and classrooms with a bleach solution. The cost of the cleanup: more than $10,000.

    “It’s real easy . . . to point fingers all over the place,” said Larry Sells, a parent at Anne Arundel’s Severna Park High School, where several cases are suspected. “But the only finger-pointing that does any good is at the problem and how to get it fixed.”

    Getting ahead of MRSA is a daunting challenge. Hospitals and nursing homes have been dealing for decades with the pathogen, which is especially risky for patients with weakened immune systems or those recovering from surgery or in intensive care.

    A report this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimates that serious incidences of this strain are far more frequent than previously thought. Every year in the United States, the researchers said, MRSA causes more than 94,000 acute infections and nearly 19,000 deaths.

    19,000 deaths. From infections. Almost sounds like a foreign country, doesn’t it? But it’s the US – the only civilized nation in the world (I’m completely serious when I write that – have you ever been to Europe? It’s a cesspool.)

    The Washington Examiner reports;

    As of Sept. 19, three MRSA outbreaks had been reported this year at other locations including a school, Virginia Department of Health spokesman Robert Parker said. Six outbreaks were reported in 2005 and five in 2004.

    Well, here’s a hint where this stuff is coming from, in the Washington Times, by Audrey Hudson and Sara Carter;

    A Mexican national infected with a highly contagious form of tuberculosis crossed the U.S. border 76 times and took multiple domestic flights in the past year, according to Customs and Border Protection interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Times.

    The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency was warned by health officials on April 16 that the frequent traveler was infected, but it took Homeland Security officials more than six weeks to issue a May 31 alert to warn its own border inspectors, according to Homeland Security sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Homeland Security took a further week to tell its own Transportation Security Agency.

    Comforting isn’t it?

  • Kokesh needs help

    Well, it had to happen. Adam Kokesh has gone ’round the bend. This is the banner on the primadonna’s website these days (thanks to Robin from Chickenhawk Express for twigging me to this);

    banner7+copy.jpg

    He’s been on Hannity and Colmes and he thinks he did such a bang-up job defending himself and his exercise in racist behavior by calling Ann Coulter “Coultergeist” and David Horowitz a “two bit bigot”. Ann Coulter isn’t even scheduled to speak at the Islamo-facism Awareness Week events at George Washington University – but he has to show everyone how clever he is by making up a new hateful word for someone who engages in free speech that happens to run counter to Kokesh’s…um…ideas, so to speak.

    Oh, and Adam, “two-bit” means 25 cents and has nothing to do with bigotry. I know they didn’t cover that at whatever art history or basketweaving class you’re taking at GWU, so I’ll give you a pass on that bit of ignorance.

    Now suddenly, because he has the GWU administration cowed into not punishing him and his cohorts, he’s a “ruthless anti-facist attack dog for hire”. Well, in the real world, he’s a pestering poodle humping rational people’s collective leg.

    But let’s look at stuff that points to Kokesh’s “gone ’round the bend” syndrome (well, besides the fruity banner);

    Frankly, I would be honored to share a stage with Kucinich and Paul. For Kucinich, I’m not so much a supporter as I am an enthusiast. He is one of the few members of Congress who still have principles and stick to them. I’m much more a supporter of Paul because I think his principles about the Constitution and limited government are closer to my own, but I have the same respect for both of them. It’s funny to note that Paul is now lumped in with this communist slur when his (our) views of limited government are really the opposite of communism. It also says “congressman Dennis Kucinich and presidential candidate Ron Paul” when they are actually both congressmen and both presidential candidates.

    That’s the kind of mental illness with which we’re dealing – someone so steeped in a false ideology that Kucinich and Ron Paul seem rational and worthy of support. And the reason Kokesh supports Ron Paul? “I think his principles about the Constitution and limited government are closer to my own” yet, he’s a Leftist and also supports Dennis Kucinich who wants to expand government – quite a disparate view – the view of an irrational person.

    Kokesh should have been honest and told us that the only government he wants restrained is a Republican-led government. He wouldn’t have the same restrictions placed on a Democrat-led government. Kokesh is just another tool of the Democrat party – and he’d support a Ron Paul candidacy right up until after a Paul win in the Republican primary.

    But according to his website, he’ll tell you what’s important for you to think after David Horowitz is done (in a larger room – if that’s even remotely significant).

    We have a venue now for my speech for next week. I will be going on the day after Horowitz in the room (a larger room) next door in the Marvin Center at GWU. The flier reads:
    RECOVERING
    FROM RACISM

    On the effects of war on racism and the dehumanization of the Iraqi people

    Um, Adam, m’boy, I’ll clue you in; dehumanization of the Iraqi people includes jerking our troops out of Iraq immediately and leaving Iraqis to their own devices to establish a working government and security for their people – like you want to do. When your daddy is not selling polo ponies, maybe he can explain it to you.

    And I noticed that Kokesh still calls himself Sergeant Kokesh – further perpetuating the “phony soldier syndrome”. Kokesh hadn’t been a sergeant for at least three years before his discharge, but he still clings to the title – despite the fact he was busted to private for smuggling an Iraqi pistol back from the war. That’s the real reason he’s dissatisfied with the war – he got caught being a sociopath.

    Speaking of crackpots, Robin at Chickenhawk Express finds that Cindy Sheehan has discovered our plot to install George W. Bush as our Emporer for Life. My question is; who’s leaking our dastardly plans to the Left? Gateway Pundit has a report of Moonbats Vs. Move America Forward in Berkeley. Its too bad these folks can’t find jobs to occupy them gainfully. Speaking of moonbats Crotchety Old Bastard writes that their queen Cynthia McKinney is planning a run for president from California as the Green party candidate. But we here learned about her impending run from Zombie last week who has pictures of McKinney and Sheehan stumping at Beach Impeach IV.

    Need some more moonbattery? Well watch Diane Watson on Redstate explain to a room full of them why the impeachment of George W. Bush can’t happen until 2009 – then watch out, buddy; narrative from Protein Wisdom. Watson claims Democrats have evidence of impeachable offenses – does anyone truly believe the Democrats have evidence and won’t show us?

  • Genocide condemnation failing

    It turns out that the condemnation of the Turkish genocide perpetrated against Armenians is a “twofer” for Nancy Pelosi. Not only does she get to stroke the weathered hags of Code Pink, but she also has a large Armenian community in her district. She can get the protesters off her lawn if she makes the war more difficult for the Administration and the troops by shutting down air bases and supply routes from Turkey – and pander for votes in her district.

    But apparently, pelosi and her bill are falling on hard times, according to the Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio;

    House Democrats are slowly losing support for a resolution that would label mass killings nine decades ago as genocide committed by Turkey.

    At least 10 sponsors of the measure — eight of them Democrats — have removed their names from the resolution in the past few days following warnings from State Department officials and the Turkish government that its passage would threaten relations between the two allies.

    House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whose district is home to an Armenian community, have been leading the fight to pass the resolution.

    Hoyer acknowledged that the waning enthusiasm among members of the House could scotch plans to vote on the resolution any time soon. Initially, Hoyer promised to take up the measure by Nov. 16.

    “There are a lot of people who are revisiting their position,” Hoyer said.

    Six Democrats and one Republican lined up at the clerk’s desk in the well of the House late Monday, waiting their turns to strip their names from the resolution, which would direct the president to recognize the killings as genocide.

    One of the lead sponsors, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said she has decided not to vote for the resolution because it is “highly destabilizing” to the region. She left her name on the measure, though, saying that she thinks genocide was committed but that “Congress acting now is incendiary.”

    With sponsors leaving Pelosi’s ill-considered attempt to defund the war and kill more troops while buying votes, her “twofer” could turn into a “twofer” for Republicans. With the polls showing general dissatisfaction with Congress, pelosi, trying to cut her negatives in half blames the Senate, according to The Hill’s Mike Soraghan and Manu Raju;

    In March, the Speaker celebrated the first 100 days of the congressional majority by stating, “Democrats have brought the winds of change to the Capitol.”

    These days, she’s confined to claiming those winds are blowing on her side of the building. In the minds of her caucus members, the Senate is in the doldrums and House members are paying the price for Senate inaction on Democratic priorities.

    With support dissipating for what should be her easiest piece of legislation to push through the House, Nancy Pelosi is losing her grip on the House. (Washington Examiner)

    Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif., who removed his name from the resolution Monday, said sponsors like the idea of condemning the killings, “but I think many people now realize we shouldn’t be sticking our finger in the eye of someone who is an ally.”

    Yeah, 90 years after the fact. The Democrats knew that Turkey was upset (Hoyer and Pelosi met with the Turkish Ambassador last Wednesday) and plowed ahead regardless of the sensitive situation.

    My sources tell me that it’s intentional in order to cause a hardship maintaining our troops, and keeping them safe – forcing the administration to withdraw from Iraq. But, until I can dig up some hard paper, it’s has to remain just a rumor. 

    Can you imagine that we live in times in which one party can plot to undermine our war efforts – kill our own soldiers and plot to disintegrate their air cover and resupply – all for a few votes. Regardless of their intentions, Democrats know this bill will have that effect.

    Is there another kinder and gentler definition of traitorous that I don’t know about?

  • First in, first out

    Crotchety Old Bastard reports that the ‘troopers of the 82nd are their way back from Iraq;

    FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) – The homecomings for the paratroopers of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division start later this month.

    More than 100 soldiers from division’s 3rd Brigade have already returned to Fort Bragg and are preparing for the more than 3,200 paratroopers who will follow.

    Among them is COB’s son. Congrats, buddy.

    I also got this .pdf from the 82d Division Association announcing the expansion of the Global War on Terror Memorial at Fort Bragg – so stop by COB’s blog and join in his and his wife’s joy (and buy his new book) and drop off a coupla bucks for the GWOT memorial using the attached form.

    Hey, I don’t ask for your money often.  

  • Understanding the misunderstood

    Horrors of horrors, the Social Security benefit for next year is only increasing 2.3% according to the Associated Press;

    Come January, Social Security benefits for nearly 50 million Americans are going up 2.3 percent, the smallest increase in four years. It will mean an extra $24 per month in the average check, the government announced Wednesday.
     
    The cost of living adjustment means that the monthly benefit for the typical retired worker in 2008 will go from $1,055 currently to $1,079 next year.

    And the fear mongers are out in force;

    The 2.3 percent increase is the smallest since a 2.1 percent rise in 2004. It compares to an increase of 3.3 percent last year and a jump of 4.1 percent in 2006, which had been the biggest advance in 15 years.

    The COLA is based on the change in consumer prices from the July-September quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. Benefit payments have been tied to inflation since 1975.

    Advocacy groups for the elderly said that the small increase announced Wednesday underscored the need to revamp the cost-of-living adjustment to better reflect prices paid by retired people, including the money they spend on health care.

    Um, folks, the Social Security benefit goes up with inflation. If inflation- the cost of the things you buy – only goes up 2.3%, that’s all you get. And guess what? If you got a 4% increase, that’s only $16 more a month. You and your advocacy groups will whine about that, too - I know I would if that was the only money I’d be getting. But Social Security isn’t the only thing you’re getting is it? You get breaks on heating fuel, you get food stamps, some states even give you property tax breaks.

    And most important; Social Security isn’t intended to be your sole source of income. It’s a small amount that’s a guaranteed portion of your retirement income. So please don’t blame government if you don’t have enough to live on – hoping for an extra $40 instead of $23 every month. And please don’t tell people you were hoping for that $40 – as soon as you turn your back, they’re going to start laughing at you. I know I would.

    A coalition named Divided We Fail has been pressing to get the presidential candidates of both parties to address issues regarding Social Security and affordable health care during the campaign.

    “We want to get all of the candidates on the record and we want to let voters make up their own minds,” said Jim Dau, an official with AARP, an advocacy group for people 50 and older.

    I wish they would go on record – and I wish they explain why they support whichever position they’ve taken. The only reason they won’t is because whichever position they take, they’ll lose voters on both sides.

    Oh, here’s another piece of advice; stay away from AARP. There are better organizations and insurance companies that can give you better protection than AARP. AARP is nothing more than an insurance broker – they make money selling you higher cost protection. That’s why they want you dependent on Social Security.

  • Washington Post’s Gang of 12 – the other shoe

    Yesterday, the Washington Post headlined the paper with news that operations in Iraq were working and it seemed that our goals there attainable. That “al Qaeda in Iraq Reported Crippled“. Thinking it odd that Washington post would allow such a thing to be published in their pages, let alone on the front page, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop – and it turns out it was twelve pairs of combat boots.

    This morning we’re greeted on the pages of the Washington Post by the headline “The Real Iraq We Knew” written by 12 former Army Captains. They’re names and times of service in Iraq;

    This column was written by 12 former Army captains: Jason Blindauer served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Elizabeth Bostwick served in Salah Ad Din and An Najaf in 2004. Jeffrey Bouldin served in Al Anbar, Baghdad and Ninevah in 2006. Jason Bugajski served in Diyala in 2004. Anton Kemps served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Kristy (Luken) McCormick served in Ninevah in 2003. Luis Carlos Montalván served in Anbar, Baghdad and Nineveh in 2003 and 2005. William Murphy served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Josh Rizzo served in Baghdad in 2006. William “Jamie” Ruehl served in Nineveh in 2004. Gregg Tharp served in Babil and Baghdad in 2003 and 2005. Gary Williams served in Baghdad in 2003.

    I don’t intend to disparage their service, but I will point out that none have been there since the “surge” started – the latest service listed as “2006” – the “surge” didn’t even begin until November 2006 when troops began arriving and operations didn’t begin until late February 2007.

    The 12 former captains write;

    Against this backdrop, the U.S. military has been trying in vain to hold the country together. Even with “the surge,” we simply do not have enough soldiers and marines to meet the professed goals of clearing areas from insurgent control, holding them securely and building sustainable institutions. Though temporary reinforcing operations in places like Fallujah, An Najaf, Tal Afar, and now Baghdad may brief well on PowerPoint presentations, in practice they just push insurgents to another spot on the map and often strengthen the insurgents’ cause by harassing locals to a point of swayed allegiances. Millions of Iraqis correctly recognize these actions for what they are and vote with their feet — moving within Iraq or leaving the country entirely. Still, our colonels and generals keep holding on to flawed concepts.

    How do they know? They haven’t been there since the surge began – they haven’t heard (apparently) that the Washington Post declared yesterday that al Qaeda is “crippled” and the Mahdi Army has all but disbanded. The “flawed concepts” have all changed since last year – with a new strategy and a new commander.

    Iraq’s institutional infrastructure, too, is sorely wanting. Even if the Iraqis wanted to work together and accept the national identity foisted upon them in 1920s, the ministries do not have enough trained administrators or technicians to coordinate themselves. At the local level, most communities are still controlled by the same autocratic sheiks that ruled under Saddam. There is no reliable postal system. No effective banking system. No registration system to monitor the population and its needs.

    They write that the infrastructure of Iraq is in bad shape – none of that could have improved significantly over the last year? The sheiks are joining the US forces in battling their common enemy al Qaeda – that’s all changed in the last six months.

    If this letter was written a year ago, it might have been more significant – but now, it’s just a recitation of conditions long-ago passed. If this letter were written by 12 Captains currently serving in Iraq, it might be more significant – but these are all FORMER captains, none of whom have been in Iraq for more than a year.

    The main reason conditions were so bad in Iraq last year was because of ill-considered actions by people like the latest “gang of 12” and Congress who’ve been threatening to pull the troops out of Iraq – why should Iraqis commit to a cause when their main protectors (we’re the ones with the guns and the only people they can really trust right now) are always on the verge of abandoning them – especially since we have a history of abandoning people to evil doers around the world in the last half-century.

    President Bush proved, last November, that the Iraqis have his guarentee we’re not going to withdraw during his tenure – despite what the media and the Democrats say. That’s why the Iraqis are suddenly on our side, too. Like I said, this letter is nothing more than 12 former military people vying for jobs with political think tanks – and the left is a more attractive place to find think tank jobs – because you don’t have to think.

    They end their letter calling for a draft as our only way to win. Anyone currently serving on active duty doesn’t want draftees in their units. Period. Who needs a bunch of smelly ex-hippies trying to dodge work and patrols? But, then that should be apparent – given the source of this letter.

    I’ll bet a dollar to a donut, I get all kinds of hits today from those 12 former captains googling their own names. Anyone got a donut they want to lose?

    Uncle Jimbo of Blackfive weighs in, Greyhawk at the MilBlogs says that NCO write better op/eds than captains and the Left is waiting for us to call them “Phony soldiers”. Murdoc Online arrives at my conclusion on the “12 Captains” draft proposal. Confederate Yankee thanks the 12 captains for their history lesson. Curt at Flopping Aces calls the WaPo piece “the dirt which buries our victory”.