The Discerning Texan

All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
Saturday, March 31, 2007

HUGE: Sunnis Turn Against Al Qaeda in Iraq

Despite the Democrats' mightiest attempt to lose the war on purpose, this thing just might work out after all. Obviously there is a long way to go, but there is nothing wrong with reporting the good news when it comes; somebody has to...

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 11:39:00 PM | Permalink | |

Tempest in Tony's Teapot?


Cartoon by Cox and Forkum (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 10:37:00 PM | Permalink | |

Keeping an American Identity

James Pinkerton rightly believes that we have to do more to preserve our soverignity and identity as a nation; should anything less be expected of the "last, best hope on Earth?"

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 10:18:00 PM | Permalink | |

CAIR Narrows List of Lawsuit "Targets"

The Republicans need to move to make that anti-lawsuit bill retroactive; this is getting to be comical.

Meanwhile, Fred Thompson continues to demonstrate that he gets it. I'm liking the idea of a 'Law and Order' President more and more...

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 10:01:00 PM | Permalink | |

Gasp! Obama's Ancestors Owned Slaves?

Laptop PC? $1500
ISP Subscription? $39.95
Mouse click? free

Living in an Orwellian nightmare but then stumbling across this story? priceless.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 09:35:00 PM | Permalink | |

Race Baiters claim "offense" at Rove Rap

Good grief; has no one any shame anymore?

I'm sorry, but has anyone out there ever seen Dave Chappelle's (hilarious...) imitation of "white dudes"? Perhaps it is just me, but I wasn't offended by this obvious and blatant racial "slur" against Anglo-Saxon Americans; actually I thought it was genius...

But even if I or somebody else had been offended--so what?? Since when does the Constitution protect us from being offended? If that were the case, no one in Congress, the White House, or the Supreme Court would have jobs. In fact neither would that Politico reporter.

I would just like someone to clue me in as to
why the hell is it a "news story" that some member of a "protected class" of victims got offended by Rove?

I am offended by Nancy Pelosi every single day: quick, alert the media!

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 09:01:00 PM | Permalink | |

Fox Special: Was there Justice Department Cover-Up of Berger Theft?

A lot of questions still remain about stick-it-in-your-pants Sandy. Why the slap on the wrist? Rep. Tom Davis wants to get to the bottom of this apparent cover-up.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 08:44:00 PM | Permalink | |

About that Pelosi Syria trip...

It does tend to remind one of Jim Wright's trip to "legitimize" the Sandanistas. Don't ever accuse this bunch of trying anything original.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 08:36:00 PM | Permalink | |

Brits to Cave to Iran? UPDATED

I get it; if I am a rogue state and I want Country A to promise they will not ever violate my "territory", all I need to do is go into Country B's territory and kidnap about 15 of Country A's sailors. Maybe make one of the girls wear a hijab for the camera...

Does that about sum it up?

(I'm sure the Iranians will think twice before ever trying something like this again...)

Please tell me this is a joke.

UPDATE - Victor Davis Hanson:
It’s completely outrageous for any nation to go out and arrest the servicemen of another nation in waters that don’t belong to them.” So spoke Admiral Sir Alan West, former First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, concerning the present Anglo-Iranian crisis over captured British soldiers. But if the attack was “outrageous,” it was apparently not quite outrageous enough for anything to have been done about it yet.

Sir Alan elaborated on British rules of engagement by stressing they are “very much de-escalatory, because we don’t want wars starting ... Rather than roaring into action and sinking everything in sight we try to step back and that, of course, is why our chaps were, in effect, able to be captured and taken away.”

One might suggest, not necessarily “sinking everything in sight,” but at least shooting back at a few of the people trying to kidnap Britain’s uniformed soldiers. But the view, apparently, is that stepping back and allowing some chaps to be “captured and taken away” is to be preferred to “roaring into action and sinking everything in sight.” The latter is more or less what Nelson did at the battle of the Nile, when he nearly destroyed the Napoleonic fleet.
One would think...

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 08:24:00 PM | Permalink | |

Daytime Lunatic



Cartoon by Greg Sheffield (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/31/2007 06:05:00 PM | Permalink | |
Friday, March 30, 2007

Attention Leftists: Perhaps the most Enlightening 45 Minutes you have spent in ages

Hollywood comedy writer Evan Sayet--formerly of the Bill Maher show--speaks at the Heritage Foundation. Prepare to have your eyes opened by a "liberal New York Jew" who has grown up, and who discusses how modern liberals think.

This is good--really, really good. Rational thought--what a concept!

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 06:01:00 PM | Permalink | |

Hagel and Biden....Circa 2002

Michael Ledeen has found a real gem: an Op-Ed from the December 20, 2002 Washington Post--by Joseph (Plugs) Biden and Chuck (White Flag) Hagel. The difference between these slimy pols today and what they were saying then is...well, go see for yourself.

Here is just a small taste:

Although no one doubts our forces will prevail over Saddam Hussein’s, key regional leaders confirm what the Foreign Relations Committee emphasized in its Iraq hearings last summer: The most challenging phase will likely be the day after — or, more accurately, the decade after — Saddam Hussein.

Once he is gone, expectations are high that coalition forces will remain in large numbers to stabilize Iraq and support a civilian administration. That presence will be necessary for several years, given the vacuum there, which a divided Iraqi opposition will have trouble filling and which some new Iraqi military strongman must not fill. Various experts have testified that as many as 75,000 troops may be necessary, at a cost of up to $ 20 billion a year. That does not include the cost of the war itself, or the effort to rebuild Iraq.

Americans are largely unprepared for such an undertaking. President Bush must make clear to the American people the scale of the commitment.

Excuse me, but has something changed? Ledeen doesn't think so:
Every U.S. Senator believes he or she should be president. Just listen to them talk, and watch the way they walk; it’s obvious. They’re rarely called to account, but every now and then they write something, and it goes into the record, and then someone googles it out. So take a look at this very statesmanlike op-ed that Biden and Hagel wrote four and a half years ago. Notice they had no clue what would happen after the overthrow of Saddam. Notice that they bought into the Saudi view of life, namely that nothing of merit can be accomplished until there is some deal with Israel and the Palestinians. And notice they knew, long ago, that this would be slow,and we’d have to remain for quite a while. Ten years anyway.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 05:41:00 PM | Permalink | |

Getting "Serious" about Terror


Day by Day by Chris Muir (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 02:20:00 PM | Permalink | |

Propeller Head Headlines of the Day

Here are two Democrat nutroots attention grabbers for you:
Like I said earlier: You voted for them...

UPDATE: From the traitor's mouth himself.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 02:10:00 PM | Permalink | |

Diane Feinstein's BIG Problem--is there jail in her future?

The media may be burying the story...so far...but I doubt the blogs are going to let this go away, either. Are we?

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 02:00:00 PM | Permalink | |

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner....In Syria?

What a brilliant idea for a country at war--allow partisan opposition Islamist Senators hold a pow-wow with our enemies. This is what you folks voted for, right? Happy now?

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 01:55:00 PM | Permalink | |

How to Win in Iraq

The answers are right there--it is just that the Democrat party would rather for America to lose and be humiliated than for the Dems to be seen as having been completely on the wrong side of the political argument. For this bunch, it is not about what is best for the country/world and never has been; it is only about partisanship. Why else would so many Democrats change their tune so quickly?

Hugh Hewitt's interview with Arthur Herman, the article's author is transcribed here. Definitely worth the mouse click.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 01:31:00 PM | Permalink | |

Flawed Strategic Thinking

Charles Krauthammer finds that the Democrat Party emphasis on Afghanistan rather than Iraq as the "real" War on Terror is not only flawed, it is stupid as well. Go figure.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 01:21:00 PM | Permalink | |

Reid Lies Openly about Impact of Supplemental

Who would have ever guessed that Harry Reid would actually lie to the press?

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 01:11:00 PM | Permalink | |

Tensions over Iran Through the Roof UPDATED

From this New York Sun article, it appears that the West is indeed considering a blockade. Meanwhile the price of oil is soaring today.

UPDATE: The Good News and the Bad News (hint: follow all the links).

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DiscerningTexan, 3/30/2007 11:51:00 AM | Permalink | |
Thursday, March 29, 2007

Highly Flammable


Cartoon by Bob Gorrell (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/29/2007 08:54:00 PM | Permalink | |

So you think your Children are Safe? Think Again.

Remember Beslan? There are a lot of people who want to bring the mass murder of children to America.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/29/2007 08:35:00 PM | Permalink | |

Lieberman: Setting a deadline would "guarantee defeat"

You've got to love Joe Lieberman. Personally I think the Republicans need to show him some love. Come on over Joe--to the American wing of America--we need you!

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DiscerningTexan, 3/29/2007 08:17:00 PM | Permalink | |

Iranian Hardliners Demand British Sailor Executions

As usual, Gateway Pundit in on the Iran story like white on rice.

Although I have been concerned about his response, so far so good with Tony Blair; he has severed diplomatic ties with Iran, has called the seizure a "disgrace" and does not appear to be negotiating for ransom:

The important thing is we just keep making it very, very clear to the Iranian government it is not a situation that will be relieved by anything but the unconditional release of all our people.
Emphasis on the word "unconditional". And GPS showed they were in Iraqi waters.

Meanwhile the Enemy at Home continues to do as much damage as possible: Nancy Pelosi has been blocking all week a simple House Resolution which would condemn Iran for its piracy, and express support for our friends the Brits.


Austin Bay discusses the Iranian "strategy" behind this outrage.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/29/2007 05:55:00 PM | Permalink | |

Bad day for Dems in Gonzales Witch Hunt UPDATED

DafyDD chronicles that these "Emperors" are looking more and more naked every day.

UPDATE: Byron York takes an in-depth look at what really went down with the firings. York focuses on the one fired US Attorney the Democrats are most likely to parade before the klieg lights: Carol Lam. The timelines do not appear to be on the Democrats' side--but that doesn't mean they won't still try to milk it for all it is worth.

The Washington Times calls it what it is.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/29/2007 05:49:00 PM | Permalink | |

Game On! UPDATED

Cyber-warfare against Online Jihadists! Now we're talking...

UPDATE: More about the new front in the Cyber War over at WIRED.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/29/2007 05:40:00 PM | Permalink | |

Speaking of Nutroots: "Rosie's Finest Hour"

Just stop what you are doing and go watch this. Trust me.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/29/2007 05:31:00 PM | Permalink | |

The Ugly Face of Leftist Hate UPDATED AND BUMPED--AGAIN

When the WaPo's Howard Kurtz called out Charles Johnson for "vile" comments on his Little Green Footballs site, Kurtz clearly hadn't bothered to check out his own newspaper's site; if he had he would have found comments like this under the article about Tony Snow's cancer (Warning--take your blood pressure meds first):

Tony Snow....I hope you die from this cancer, no I hope you suffer terribly and then die like a dog from this cancer. Dont keep Satan waiting.

Or perhaps you would prefer this Washington Post reader:
Liver cancer is universally fatal, and quickly. Let the party begin people, let us dance on our roofs in joy at the end of a neocon mouth piece. This will be a big party, the only one bigger at this time would be for the utter and complete distruction of israel via Iranian nuclear tipped missles. Oh what a beautiful day that would be, mushroom clouds over toilet aviv, oh joy! Stick that in your pipe wolfie, pearlie, libbie, and feithie - I dance a jig in celebration.
There are many more where that came from.

I wish I could say that I didn't buy into the stereotype that most of the MoveOn.org crowd, are anger-filled hate-mongers for anything Republican--but unfortunately I know a few of these paranoids myself, and the stereotype really is true, in my experience; there is a reason Al Gore and Howard Dean and Sean Penn tend to end up screaming at the top of their lungs when they speak before these propeller-heads. This is not just the mindset that brought you Loose Change and Fahrenheit 9/11 -- trust me, from what I have seen with my own eyes, propaganda and misinformation is just the tip of the iceberg. I have seen people with opinions so unbalanced that they belong more in a psych ward than on the streets of America.

UPDATE: Just when I thought I had seen everything; that the Left could not get any more deranged and despicable than what we've already seen above, they prove me wrong again: as the wonderful, kind, Cathy Seipp lay dying last week--a woman who was loved by all and had as many friends on the Left as she did on the right (Susan Estrich comes to mind)---the Lunatic Fringe Left was just getting warmed up (this will honestly make you sick).

You know, after reading some of these statements, I simply cannot in good conscience hold back, so here it comes: the DT "Krakatoa moment" of the month (suggestion for anarchist hate-filled lefties before proceeding: put in your ear plugs, put on your eye shades, you know where to put the cork...because I am not in a mood to "play nice"):

Here it is: when hypocritical, seditious Democrat pols--the very definition of everything the Founders did not have in mind--prance around before the cameras and use our soldiers' lives for their political fodder out of one side of their mouths, and (when criticized) then have the audacity to go to the opportunistic media and call it "Hate speech" out of the other--they are projecting onto the rest of us something which they themselves are very familiar with; for when you are around nothing but hate speech all the time, it sort of comes naturally--rolls right off the tongue. Ask Sean Penn. Tell me that little ditty could not have come out of a Munich Beer Hall, circa 1930. Or maybe a Blackshirts meeting in Milan.

Yes, I am venting right now, but objectively speaking, I truly believe the MoveOn.org Left's manic derangement is becoming a fairly common syndrome: these people hate for a living--They wake up hating, they fan the flames all day long and they go to sleep hating at night. The good news is that we will probably outlive most of them because of this. But that is little consolation in a world on the brink of a catastrophe, when 25-33% of our population has simply lost all grasp on reason.

On the one hand these people give lip service to living by John Lennon's "Imagine" paradigm--but they are the antithesis of his message if you look closely enough. At least Lennon practiced what he preached (albeit not perfectly... but I did not see a lot of harm with his hanging out with Cousin It under those sheets...). But just go back and read those links above and tell me what morality that sickness derives from. It certainly isn't God, and it isn't even representative of the Beatles.

Do not get me wrong, these leftists do have a God: it is the nanny state and a naive-to-the-point-of-destructiveness "altruism"--only it isn't really altruistic, because anyone with any grey matter left knows that true altruism is to help people take responsibility for themselves, rather than to pigeon-hole them into a mediocre unionized education system, whose ultimate goal is to make all our children play to a least common denominator rather than to excel; to prepare them to become wards of a sick, inefficient, unionized, dying bureaucracy. That these same folks--via their PC mindset--systematically discourage excellence because it makes the non-excellent feel bad is an atrocity to our children. We can't have competition because someone has to lose? How then, can we as a society possibly win? Ever?
Just where the hell do they think real character and achievement comes from? Sports and competition are not valuable because they teach us how to win (although that is good too...); sports and competition are most valuable because they teach us how to lose with character--and then to come back to compete another day. That is what capitalism and individualism is all about. And the Left wants to kill it dead.

At root, I believe all this hatred comes from leftists' own self-loathing, their own sense of guilt and inadequacy--which they want to impart to the rest of us, so we will be angry and fell guilty too.

Witness this whole Global Warming Hysteria. A guilt complex of the highest order--and why? Because we have it good and because third world countries who have been trying archaic Socialist models are failing miserably. So what does the Church of the Sacred Global Warming Myth want to do?--they want to take AWAY the third world's sole means for electricity (oil and coal), thus ensuring the poorest countries will stay in squalor and poverty and AIDS and all the other things we didn't have the money to pay for because we were too damn busy writing a check for the 0.7 inches that the sea levels might rise in 100 years. Meanwhile famine and disease are killing millions today in societies which have not modernized and don't even have running water or electricity. Under the COTSCWM, these people would be written off for a flawed computer model--and they would be thus condemned to remain in poverty and NEVER compete with the rest of the planet. This is not "stewardship" of the earth, this is insanity.

So I wrap up this "eruption" with the following advice. Don't believe me: instead revisit and read those links above, and ponder deeply this fact: the people being quoted in these links--these ugly, vicious, hateful MoveOn nutjobs are the driving force behind the hypocrites who are jerking us all around in Congress right now. The lunatic fringe helped to elect these traitors to office last November--because many of you didn't see it coming or didn't care. Well you've got what you asked for now. Take a good hard look. And learn from your mistake--before it is too late for the rest of us.

UPDATE: I wrote the original draft of this late last night when I was soooo angry that I was unfortunately somewhat incoherent, so I apologize to any readers who were unlucky enough to have tried to slogged through my rant before I at least cleaned it up a little. But thanks for trying!

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DiscerningTexan, 3/29/2007 12:00:00 PM | Permalink | |
Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The New Sheriff in Town


Cartoon by Henry Payne (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/28/2007 09:03:00 PM | Permalink | |

Who Made Dobson King?

Fine--he probably has his eye on another candidate. But can somebody please tell James Dobson to get a clue? You know... the BIG picture? The War? Western Civilization?

Thompson is probably as well off without Dobson as with--but it is the principle of the thing with these religious "leaders". We expect--and I do expect--Muslims to divorce political Islam from the religious faith and then I turn around and read crap like this. Where I come from real Christians are not supposed to "cast the first stone." Right, James?

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DiscerningTexan, 3/28/2007 08:37:00 PM | Permalink | |

Why more than one person may be taking the Fifth...

... not just because they can, but because they are just "bait" and they all know it. The Editors of the Wall Street Journal explain it--about as well as it can be explained.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/28/2007 08:29:00 PM | Permalink | |

The Headline Says it All

Jeff Goldstein has a great post up, but his headline speaks for itself: Senate Democrats (along with Chuck Hagel and Gordon Smith) to Petraeus, Troops: “We support you, just so long as you don’t keep trying to win this thing!"

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DiscerningTexan, 3/28/2007 08:18:00 PM | Permalink | |

Captive Female UK Sailor "Confesses" in Hijab

The Iranians are rubbing the Brits' face in it. And Blair continues to do...absolutely nothing.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/28/2007 08:07:00 PM | Permalink | |

Oops!

Couldn't happen to a "nicer" guy. Heh.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/28/2007 06:26:00 PM | Permalink | |

Gingrich calls for Iran Blockade

Hugh Hewitt had a great conversation with Newt Gingrich today (definitely read the whole transcript here). But the thing that jumped out at me was the Former Speaker's solution to the Iran crisis--because it is also the one I have been touting; namely a blockade (emphasis mine):
HH: ... Now let’s get to the first major issue of the day, which is Iran. Mr. Speaker, if the United Kingdom feels obliged to use force, if diplomacy fails to get their people back, will you applaud?

NG: I think there are two very simple steps that should be taken. The first is to use a covert operation, or a special forces operation to knock out the only gasoline producing refinery in Iran. There’s only one. And the second is to simply intercede by Naval force, and block any tankers from bringing gasoline to Iran…

HH: Would you do, would you urge them…

NG: And say to the Iranians, you know, you can keep the sailors as long as you want, but in about 30 days, everybody in your country will be walking.

HH: So how long would you give them, to give them that ultimatum, the Iranians?

NG: I would literally do that. I would say to them, I would right now say to them privately, within the next week, your refinery will no longer work. And within the following week, there will be no tankers arriving. Now if you would like to avoid being humiliated publicly, we recommend you calmly and quietly give them back now. But frankly, if you’d prefer to show the planet that you’re tiny and we’re not, we’re prepared to simply cut off your economy, and allow you to go back to walking and using oxen to pull carts, because you will have no gasoline left.

HH: I agree with that 100%. Would your recommendation to the United States President be the same if Iran seized our forces?

NG: Absolutely. I mean, the reason I say that, it is the least violent, least direct thing you can do. It uses our greatest strength…you know, the mismatch in Naval power is absolute. And so you don’t have to send troops into Iran. Everybody on the left is waiting for conservatives to say things that allow them to run amok and parade in San Francisco, and claim that we’re warmongers. I want to avoid war by intelligently using our power to eliminate the option of sustaining an economy, so that the Iranian dictatorship will be shown to be the hollow dictatorship it is, so the people of Iran decide they’d like to have a decent government with real electricity and real gasoline, so they overthrow it. And I want to do that without risking a single American life, or being engaged in a single direct confrontation. And Naval power lets you do that.

Faster, please.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/28/2007 06:03:00 PM | Permalink | |

"Astonishing" Democrat Cynicism

This post by Rick Moran really got me going today--because he nails exactly the anger and frustration I have been feeling.

Just last week, I celebrated the anniversary of my 50th lap around the Sun, and I have read about plenty of Americans who came and went long before I showed up--and being a student of American History, it seems to me that the betrayal of our fighting men and women by the Democrat Congress is almost unprecedented. I certainly have never seen anything more shameful or despicable in my lifetime.

The only parallels that come close are two:
Of course the Tet offensive was twisted at the time by "Uncle Walter" Cronkite and a sycophantic Nixon-hating media to be some kind of NVA victory, even though the facts on the ground proved to be 180 degrees otherwise (sound familiar?).

So why then did we bail? A combination of 60's mass hysteria hangover (Forest Gump swimming to his hippie wife-to-be over at the Lincoln Memorial pool...) aided by an emboldened-by-their Coup d'etat-over-Nixon Democrat Congress. The result? The lucky ones were the "boat people" who made it on anything piece of wood that floated to US ships. As for the rest: well, you can start with well over 2 million South Vietnamese refugees being massacred by Cambodian Communist Pol
Pot; their only sin was that they trusted that the word of the United States actually meant something--even in a Democrat Congress... Silly them. They simply did not understand the depths that the Democrats were willing to drag the country in order to consolidate its power base... as a result we got (drum roll) Jimmy Carter!
(Notice any similarities between the political affiliations of those that wanted to desert the battlefield in 1864, in 1974, and now who are trying to do it again in 2007?)

And the band played on...

Many American Generals and other pundits--including one of the few NYT reporters respected by both sides of the spectrum (John Burns)--have predicted an even more horrifying genocide and slaughter of those left behind, should we follow the Democrat Party roadmap on Iraq; only this time there would be high likelihood of other regional Arab states being pulled into the conflict to fight Iran and Syria and protect their interests. Can you say "World War"?

So riddle me this: how much more would it then cost the American taxpayers--and in American lives--for us to have to turn around a year (or less) after this "premature ejaculation" from Iraq, and go right back in again to bail out the Saudis and the Jordanians? Does it not make more sense to just take care of business while our forces are already there??

Moran's essay is definitely worth the price of admission--but he also offers up a really succinct Thomas Sowell quote which I will end with:
If the war in Iraq is such an unnecessary and futile expenditure of blood and treasure as Pelosi et al. have been saying, why not put an end to it?

But to do that would mean taking responsibility for the consequences—and those consequences would be disastrous and lasting. They would probably still be lasting when the 2008 elections come around.

The Democrats cannot risk that. They have taken over Congress by a very clever and very disciplined strategy of constantly criticizing the Republicans, without taking the risk of presenting an alternative for whose results they can be held responsible.

There is no sign that they want to change that politically winning strategy now. Their non-binding resolutions against the war are a perfect expression of that strategy.

These resolutions put them on record as being against the war without taking the responsibility for ending it.

I am ashamed that my country's good name is associated with this bunch of spineless, cynical, COWARDS who cannot even stand on the strength of their own convictions without having to resort to bribes to the tune of $28 billion of YOUR money..

OK--I feel much better now. That should last me the next 30 minutes or so...

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DiscerningTexan, 3/28/2007 04:15:00 PM | Permalink | |
Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Bill Whittle Says Hello!

I just know he's pining to put another one of those Gators up--but personally I am hoping for Seeing the Unseen, Part II AND America at Thermopylae by the 15th as promised; especially after reading Whittle's Intro.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/27/2007 11:01:00 PM | Permalink | |

Junk Mail


(click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/27/2007 10:39:00 PM | Permalink | |

Naked Moonbats at Cal Berkeley

That headline has some real symmetry, doesn't it? But it is no joke in Berkeley when it is time to expand the Football stadium, and a couple of trees had to fall. Go ahead, look; you know you want to...

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DiscerningTexan, 3/27/2007 10:22:00 PM | Permalink | |

Nancy's Excellent Vote-Buying Adventure

From an earlier Gateway Pundit link, something that jumped right out at me:
Nancy Pelosi spent $28 billion last week to round up 218 votes (the exact minimum to get a majority in the 435-member House). That worked out to $130 million or so per vote.
That's a lot of taxpayers' change to pay as bribes trying to starve our troops of sorely needed supplies while their lives are on the line.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/27/2007 10:07:00 PM | Permalink | |

Fred Thompson? Or Babe Ruth?

I am beginning to LOVE Fred Thompson's straight, no-nonsense talk. First there was last week's Martian Warming piece; now there is this gem. Newt had better jump in quickly before I start sending checks to Tennessee. Fred is looking better and better to me:
People love a good conspiracy theory, which may be one of the reasons that actor Charlie Sheen is going to narrate a documentary about how the World Trade Towers were brought down by the U.S. government. About the same time, Rosie O’Donnell added her credibility to the project.

It was an interesting coincidence that their announcements hit the news just as the military released Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s confession regarding his role in planning the 9/11 attacks — and a lot more. Of course, we didn’t really need his confession, because his career has been so well documented.

But sure enough, the terrorist’s admissions instantly drew sneers, and not just from the tin-foil hat crowd. Well-placed people acted like Mohammed’s smug confessions meant nothing.

A lot of people have at least a little in common with Sheen and O’Donnell. They just don’t like to think about how much our enemies actually hate us. It’s easier to escape down a rabbit hole to a land where our own government is tricking us into thinking the world is a dangerous place.

This would be the same government that can’t even keep our most secret surveillance programs out of the newspapers.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/27/2007 09:33:00 PM | Permalink | |

House Passes Shield Law For Airline Passengers

The Republicans' brilliant move to introduce the "Anti-Imam Lawsuit" Bill has borne fruit already; from Dr. Rusty Shackleford:
The motion passed 304 to 121

Another UPDATE:
Bryan Preston reads my mind about the 102 who voted against, "closer than it ought to be." So, who voted against the bill?

A reader e-mails this link to the roll call: All 121 NOES are Democrats. Guess how CAIR's guy in Congress Kieth Ellison voted? [That's called a rhetorical question, for those of you in Rio Linda]

Other nay votes? The usual suspects
Waters
Kucinich
Sanchez
Harman
Jackson
Jackson-Lee
Kennedy
Nadler
Conyers
Rangel....etc.

Shuster says in a press release, "This is a big victory for all Americans. No American should ever be sued because they tried to stop a terrorist act. No American should be forced to second guess a decision to alert authorities that could save the lives of others. Unfortunately, the recent lawsuit filed by the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) seeks to do just that."

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DiscerningTexan, 3/27/2007 09:21:00 PM | Permalink | |

Senate to US Enemies: "Wait us out, we'll Cave"

Although I am almost glad about the Senate vote from this narrow perspective--it will allow Bush to veto it that much faster--it is nevertheless a shameful day both for the Senate and for the State of Nebraska. For a state that is supposed to represent Mom and apple pie, Nebraska has now turned into the "Benedict Arnold State"; they should just go ahead and change the license plates. Chuck Hagel and Ben Nelson will go down in history along with the backstabbers in the House in what has been one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the US Congress.

Rick Moran has a lot to say about this, as would be expected. Check it out here.

And Gateway Pundit has a list of the pork, shrimp, peanuts--Kung Pao style.

Message to Joe Lieberman: now's the time--we need those chairmanships....come home, Joe!

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DiscerningTexan, 3/27/2007 08:27:00 PM | Permalink | |

Tony Snow diagnosed with Liver Cancer


When I heard the news today about the results of Tony Snow's exploratory surgery, it really hit home, because there could not be a more classy, articulate, kind, shining example about everything good about America than Tony presents day in and day out. It now appears Tony's struggle with cancer two years ago is not over--he is going to agressively fight the cancer again--which has spread now to his liver. Our thoughts and prayers should all be with Tony as he takes on the "Big C" yet another time. Lance Armstrong beat "terminal" testicular cancer--Tony can win this battle too. We look forward to having him back in public life soon. In the meantime, Tony: "Just Win, Baby." God bless.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/27/2007 11:49:00 AM | Permalink | |
Monday, March 26, 2007

Supporting the Troops


Cartoon by Paul Nowak (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/26/2007 11:40:00 PM | Permalink | |

Pull Back a Chair...

... Spook86 thinks the standoff with the British is going to last a while.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/26/2007 11:00:00 PM | Permalink | |

McCain Nails the Defeatocrats

I'm not the biggest John McCain fan; but when he's right, he's right. (h/t to the Instapundit).

Meanwhile the good Mr. Reynolds also points us to N.Z. Bear's Pelosi-Murtha-Reid Victory Plan.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/26/2007 09:50:00 PM | Permalink | |

NY Times trashes LA Times

You don't see the elite left drive-by media devour their own very often. But you have to admit--in this case anyway--it is sort of like watching a train wreck--you just can't turn away.

I wish they would both destroy each other: I'm sick of going down to Austin and having every single "news" article in that already-slanted-by-Texas-standards city newspaper contain a New York Times by-line. For every small and medium-sized town in America to recieve ONE skewed, hard-left view of the news. Even Dallas is under the relentless NYT assault. Maybe... just maybe the LAT has a few ICBMs left of its own.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/26/2007 08:49:00 PM | Permalink | |

One Stupid Move after Another: Gonzalez Aide takes the Fifth

What a monumental screw-up. What is and was for all practical purposes a no-issue "witch hunt" has somehow been turned on its head into a key aide to the Attorney General taking the Fifth. Is there anything else they can possibly muck up in the AG's office?

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DiscerningTexan, 3/26/2007 08:28:00 PM | Permalink | |

At least ONE Spanish Widow Stands Tall

What Rusty Shackleford said; "Pinch me." :
A woman who lost her husband in the 2004 Madrid train bombings displayed an infamous cartoon mocking the Prophet Mohammad on her T-shirt in front of 29, mostly Muslim, suspects on trial for the attacks on Monday.

The woman's white T-shirt showed Mohammad wearing a bomb as a turban -- one of a series published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten which unleashed violent protests by some Muslims last year....

The woman sat in the front row of the court wearing the T-shirt for around half-an-hour before getting up, walking up to the glass cage containing the defendants and finally walking out of the court, judicial sources said.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/26/2007 08:16:00 PM | Permalink | |

Defeatocrat Ammo


From Capt. Kevin Calvey, stationed in Iraq: "If Nancy Pelosi and company succeed in their idea for how to fund the troops, I guess we will be using a new kind of ammunition here in Iraq." (courtesy Club for Growth)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/26/2007 11:14:00 AM | Permalink | |
Sunday, March 25, 2007

How to Win Swiftly in Iran

Close the ports; let the blockade begin.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/25/2007 11:04:00 PM | Permalink | |

The Circus


Cartoon by Lisa Benson (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/25/2007 12:35:00 PM | Permalink | |

Mark Steyn and the Creeping Danger in Pakistan

If it is Sunday, then it is time to go see what Mark Steyn has to say in the Sun-Times:
...

If you had to draw one of those organizational charts of the world's problems, Pakistan would be at the center of them. We speak of the northwestern tribal lands as some of the most remote places on Earth. But, in fact, when they wanted to, the Saudis had no problem getting to them, spreading a ton of walking-around money, and utterly transforming those villages. From the North-West Frontier Province, the Saudi money and Wahhabist ideology seeped through the country, into the mosques of the cities, radicalizing a generation of young Muslim men. From there it moved on to new outposts of the jihad, to Indonesia, Thailand and beyond. The flight routes from Pakistan to the United Kingdom are now the most important ideological conduit for radical Islam. The London bombers last summer were British subjects of Pakistani origin. Last week, two more were arrested in connection with the Tube bombings at Manchester Airport as they prepared to board a plane to Karachi.

Meanwhile, flying back from Karachi and Islamabad to Heathrow and Manchester are cousins, lots and lots of them. In his detailed study of the Mirpur district in Pakistan, Roger Ballard estimates that at least half and maybe up to two-thirds of those living in Britain of Mirpuri descent marry first cousins. This is a critical tool of reverse-assimilation: instead of being diluted over the generations, tribal identity is reinforced; in effect, Pakistani tribal lands are now being established in parts of northern England.

...

Pakistan exports the fruit of its radical madrassahs in ideology and personnel to Britain and beyond. The mother country, like an elderly spinster, doesn't like to think ill of those nice young men in Manchester and Leeds and Oldham. We're all inclined to be deferential to multiculturalism these days: When imams get tossed off a flight in Minneapolis, it's easiest to tut-tut and demand sensitivity training for the cabin crew. The Quebec government, which mandates verifiable picture ID in order to vote, has just waived the requirement for Muslims: show up at the polls in a burqa or niqab and no one will be so insensitive as to insist on checking whether your face matches that on the driver's license.

And so it goes – creeping sharia, day by day, further insulating communities already prone to self-segregation, but nothing too big or startling to ruffle the scene. In Britain, the authorities can tell you (roughly) the number of jihadist cells and the support they command in the Muslim community. But doing anything about it is far more problematic. Wouldn't be cricket, old boy.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/25/2007 12:22:00 PM | Permalink | |

Brits to be Tried for Espionage by Iran

Is it not time we had a blockade of Iran? When the Iranians are taking tensions with the West to this level--never mind their complicity in the ongoing murder of American troops and innocent Iraqis in the name of "destabiliazation"--we can't simply sit still. A decision to do nothing is still a decision. We cannot let these apocalyptic madmen get their hands on Nuclear Weapons--and we cannot put up with piracy and acts of War on the high seas.

Shut them down. Now.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/25/2007 11:55:00 AM | Permalink | |

Defeat Bill: Tip of the Iceberg for Democrat Party--and a Shot Across the Bow for America

The Defeatocrats have a lot more tricks up their sleeve coming soon. For those reading this who did not go out and vote last November--or who voted for "moderate" Dems as a "protest"--are you proud of yourselves??

The visceral, unbridled hatred by the Democrat party of President George Bush has trumped everything: common sense, fiscal responsibility, governmental efficiency (what little is possible), the US Economy, American jobs, the War on Political Islam, and--most egregious of all--the lives of our men and women who are putting it on the line for us.

Meanwhile, all these bozos want to do is issue subpoenas and vote for surrender, pork, and--in case you thought that you might have missed it watching Matt Lauer or Chris Matthews--the largest tax increase in the history of the United States of America.


It appears to me to be a virtual certainty that the 2008 elections WILL be the most important elections in United States history--more important than the 1864 elections that was the difference in winning and losing the Civil War, more important even than Ronald Reagan's win over the disastrous Jimmy Carter or Bush's wins over Al Gore/John Kerry.
The stakes could not possibly be higher, across the board.

The time for social-issue-only voting is gone. The time has come for America-only voting; as in the survival of America... Here is the bottom line: if we do not throw out these defeatist, seditious, Neo-Marxist, anti-Western Civilization Democrats out on their collective Pelosi-Murtha-Leahy worshiping asses, then when the s**t really hits the fan--when an American city goes up in a cloud or hundreds of thousands die in a bioterror, chemical, or radiological attack--we will only have ourselves to blame. You think party doesn't matter?? Just look at what is happening in Washington now. Welcome to the real world. If we are not willing to fight and even die for what we have, we could lose everything. We owe it to ourselves and to an ungrateful world to see that does not happen.

Start donating generously now to Conservative Republicans; Republicans who have their priorities straight about tax relief and economic growth, the Laffer curve, the 2nd Amendment,
the war on Islamic Fascism, military strength, and finally the WILL to play offense and to WIN at all costs. Everything else is just background noise. Give until it hurts. Get active with a campaign. Not some of you--ALL of you.

Here is the difficult task: we have to win back Congress AND win the Presidency again. And we have got to start right now. It will not be easy, but together we can do it. The Defeatocrat Party has hundreds of millions in its "war chest" from the likes of Soros and the Shadow Party. Our lives and our troops lives and the future of our country depends on winning this war--not the one over there; the one here at home. And from all indications we are at or swiftly approaching the tipping point for success or defeat. What's it going to be?

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DiscerningTexan, 3/25/2007 10:21:00 AM | Permalink | |
Saturday, March 24, 2007

Bathwater or Baby?


Cartoon by Michael Ramirez (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/24/2007 11:25:00 PM | Permalink | |

What in the HELL is up with Alberto Gonzales?

I am just paraphrasing Tom McGuire of course--and I am not advocating at this time throwing the Democrat witch-hunting wolves another Bush Administration carcass--but good grief, this guy appears to be inept.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/24/2007 11:04:00 PM | Permalink | |

More on the Michael Yon Expulsion Order

Spook 86 rightly points out that our information war has jumped the tracks. We had better fix that and fast. Because as of Thursday, the forces aligned against American success in Iraq now officially includes our own Democrat party. I hope the American people are proud of what they have wrought; because they just may have killed their country--in "slow bleed" fashion of course.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/24/2007 10:40:00 PM | Permalink | |

Travesty in Haditha

This makes my blood boil.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/24/2007 10:36:00 PM | Permalink | |

Republicans Introduce Anti "Airline Imam" Lawsuit Bill

This is brilliant politics on the part of the House Republicans: as the Democrats celebrate their DOA Surrender Bill--this Republican legislation will place the Dems in the position of either outlawing the outrageous lawsuits by the Imams against passengers on the flight in question (which would not be popular with the ACLU or trial lawyer crowd), or else openly supporting the "Praying (Mantis) Imams".

I would call it a slam dunk: No matter what happens, the public awareness is raised about the activities of the Political Islamists--and in all likelihood about who the Democrat Party is in bed with (Hint: it is the same people they are busy surrendering to overseas).

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DiscerningTexan, 3/24/2007 10:11:00 PM | Permalink | |

Did Iran Attack US Soldiers Also?

According to this report, they did...

Meanwhile, the 15 British sailors have been taken to Tehran. And Iran is raising the stakes. In fact Rusty Shackleford is linking to a UK Times story indicating that the Brits will be indicted.

Faster, please.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/24/2007 10:05:00 PM | Permalink | |

An Idea whose Time has Come: Guilt Offsets

If you read my blog with any regularity, you probably already know all about Al Gore's Carbon Offsets--the ones he funnels his money to in order to "counter" his $22K per year electric bill, his private jets, limos and other "carbon footprints" which are causing Martian Warming. You probably also know that Generation Investment Management LLP--the company he pays those "offsets" to has a chairman and co-founder named...Al Gore! So--to review--in order to assuage his "guilt" for his exponentially larger carbon print than the average citizen of the evil United States, the Goreacle is giving his money to...himself. And then he immediately goes out to the media and tells them about how responsible he is being. And thus the elite media's Gore-gasm continues, unabated...

Not to be outdone by this mass-media confidence game, however, entrepreneurs Dave and Glen of Total Kaos have created Guilt Offsets for just about every transgression possible.

In this spirit of helping the guilty come clean, I would like to throw my own entry into the fray for the 216 Democrats and 2 Republicans who have betrayed their country (and for any future Congressmen, Senators, CIA agents, reporters, or currency traders who do so): I will call these the "American Defeat Footprint Offsets". Just click here, page down to the Pay Pal button (it is on the right), and give as much as your guilty conscience dictates. I promise to contribute most of the proceeds to the Congressional opponents of the traitors, or to good causes like the Heritage Foundation.

(Cross-posted at The Wide Awakes--a great blog of like-minded conservatives.)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/24/2007 07:52:00 PM | Permalink | |
Friday, March 23, 2007

Quagmire


Click to enlarge

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DiscerningTexan, 3/23/2007 05:54:00 PM | Permalink | |

Iran Declares War on the UK (and that means us too...)

Gateway Pundit does his usual knock-up job, this time covering the breaking story of the Iranians taking 15 British Naval personnel hostage in Iraqi waters. The soldiers were searching an Indian vessel en route to...where? And I wonder what was on that ship.... Meanwhile oil prices are going through the roof.

This is clearly an act of War. But we are living in a time when--after an American President issued an ultimatum that the US would not tolerate a Nuclear North Korea and the launch of ballistic missiles...the NKs promptly proceeded to do both--launching the missiles on the 4th of July. So how did we respond to this clear crossing of our "line in the sand'? We use the Madeline Albright solution: we pay them off in exchange for empty promises. Not a good model for how to act in the face of military provocation. So just the fact that this is an act of Piracy and War does not necessarily mean that the UK or US will treat it that way.

I have an idea: How about a show of freaking STRENGTH for a change? A blockade, perhaps? Is it too much to ask that the most powerful nation on Planet Earth actually not be terrified of using its Military to ensure rogue states can no longer terrorize the rest of the would at will, openly flaunt maritime law, take hostages and hold them illegally, or manipulate the price of oil as the UN prepares to impose sanctions?

Pat Dollard weighs in.
As does Ace.
And Mario Loyola has a theory over at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (cross-posted at NRO): things may not be what they seem--but we definitely are approaching endgame with Iran. Faster, please.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/23/2007 05:48:00 PM | Permalink | |

Cowardly House Dems Pass Micro-managing War Bill--Using YOUR Tax Dollars as Bribes

Rick Moran sums up today's decision by House Democrats to emasculate American troops abroad:
... It’s not about stopping the war. It’s not about bringing our troops home. The whole purpose of this bill is to score political points against the President, to weaken him, to embarrass him – all the while handing the enemies of the United States a victory on the field of battle they’ve neither earned nor deserve.

At the expense of principle and common sense, the Democratic left has allowed their hatred of the President to trump all. And the problem for the Democrats with this entire process is that they are now committed to a course of action (and setting a disturbing precedent that may very well come back to haunt them some day) that ignores military reality in favor of political expediency. ...

...

For once, I agree with many of the netroots on this issue; give us an up or down vote on funding the Iraq War, not this sneaking around and playing political games with the lives of our troops. If, as Democrats have been saying for months, the American people elected them to end this war, let’s end it already. What in God’s name are they scared of? If, as they claim, the people are behind them, what is there to worry about politically? George Bush is beyond lame duck status. He’s a gone goose. The President is an irrelevancy, a non-factor. Republicans are sick of defending him. The base has abandoned him. Bush could claim from here to the next election that Democrats “lost” the war if they cut off funding but no one would listen or believe him. So why the hesitation?

The fact is, the left in Congress are cowards – unprincipled, abject cowards. They talk a good game but when push comes to shove – when history calls and asks them to stand up for their principles – they run and hide under their beds like five year olds scared of the thunder.

And the hell of it is, they are going to point to passage of this bill as a “victory.” It’s a triumph of hate over principle – hardly a victory unless you consider it more important to stick a shiv into the President’s gut to satisfy your own personal animus.

Meanwhile AJ Strata thinks the President can simply ignore the unconstitutional provision:
And in the NON-BINDING language is the idea of a troop withdrawal in August 2008. Well the House nor Congress can order the troops anywhere. They can only fund. And the funding for next year will be voted on NEXT YEAR! There is nothing binding on the benchmarks or withdrawal date language. So if the liberal media and Dems want to lie to themselves - BFD. The House just supported the war effort, including the surge, by doing the only thing they have authority to do - they funded these activities FULLY! Dems lose.
While Strata is right that the President cannot be compelled to remove the troops, I disagree in this sense: if the troops are not home by August the Democrats will--Constitutionally or not-- have the "political cover" they have been looking for to defund the war completely. And I believe they would do just that. President Bush must veto this bill... and it is time to simultaneously put the White House communications machinery into high gear.

Ultimately to get war funding, the President may have to live with pork, but he cannot live with any provisions that would defund the war "if". That is not within the Constitutional powers of the Legislative Branch, period. And I think it would be a tremendous strategic blunder to assume you can come back later and change the Democrats' minds.

The only other alternative I could see would be to sign the bill but challenge the provision in the Supreme Court--where it would almost certainly be found to be unconstitutional. But that might take time than this President has with the traitors in Congress determined on an American Defeat and Surrender.

Vetoing this bill is the right answer. Put the ball back in the Democrats court.

UPDATE: Watch Sam Johnson's speech on the House floor today. Yeah, baby.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/23/2007 03:51:00 PM | Permalink | |
Thursday, March 22, 2007

Dem National Pastime: Chasing Windmills


Cartoon by Scott Slantis (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/22/2007 10:37:00 PM | Permalink | |

Huge: Reported Leader of Iranian Splinter Group (from Mahdi Army) Captured

Ahmadinejad and al-Sadr are going to have to find another stooge to lead their breakaway militia. One of the killers of 5 Marines in Karbala is no longer a threat--but he may well become a tremendous information source as to the Iranian connection to the insurgency.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/22/2007 10:18:00 PM | Permalink | |

Jihad: Past, Present, and Future

Great interview with Walid Phares, author of Future Jihad in Frontpage Magazine. Phares discusses both how we got here and how to get out of this mess. It won't be easy.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/22/2007 09:52:00 PM | Permalink | |

Islamist Lawyers fight Terror Finance Probe in Virginia

Yes, Virginia, there are Jihadists among us. (h/t Glenn Reynolds)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/22/2007 09:21:00 PM | Permalink | |

How to LOSE the Public Relations War

The bureaucrats are trying to silence Iraq embed Michael Yon. Brilliant.

Just what we need as the Democrats try their damnedest to lose the war on the ground; I'm glad we have General Petreaus in place now, but obviously there are still some other Einsteins left over there who didn't get the memo about actually allowing someone to report the truth from Iraq. CNN, MSNBC, and CBS are serving us so well over there, after all...

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DiscerningTexan, 3/22/2007 09:09:00 PM | Permalink | |

Fred Thompson discusses Martian Warming (and other items Al Gore forgot to mention)

Man, all those SUV's driving around on Mars are really messing things up for that planet. I must have missed the part of Al Gore's Senate testimony yesterday where he discussed the CO2 problem on Mars.

Fred Thompson may not have announced his candidacy yet, but he is off to a damn good start on the issues:

Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever. Now scientists are telling us that Mars is experiencing its own planetary warming: Martian warming. It seems scientists have noticed recently that quite a few planets in our solar system seem to be heating up a bit, including Pluto.

NASA says the Martian South Pole’s “ice cap” has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from earth. If so, I guess Jupiter’s caught the same cold, because it’s warming up too, like Pluto.

This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, non signatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien SUV-driving industrialists who run their air-conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle.

Silly, I know, but I wonder what all those planets, dwarf planets and moons in our SOLAR system have in common. Hmmmm. SOLAR system. Hmmmm. Solar? I wonder. Nah, I guess we shouldn’t even be talking about this. The science is absolutely decided. There’s a consensus.
Ask Galileo.
(ps - have you heard? Al Gore won an Oscar!!).

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DiscerningTexan, 3/22/2007 08:41:00 PM | Permalink | |

Delays in No-Strings War Funding will start "slow-bleeding" Military by April 15

The Dems may tell you they are not for "slow bleeding" the American military to death--but that is exactly what they are up to. This is one of the most despicable displays of cowardice and backhanded sedition in the history of the United States. If the American people are not awake now--as the Dems attempt to cut the throats of their sons and daughters--then God help us all.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/22/2007 07:53:00 PM | Permalink | |

NYT War Reporting "Riddled with Errors" UPDATED

I've got nothing against Fayetteville, Arkansas--I've been there. But when a small town newspaper scoops the New York Times on their "serial reporting", you can see why the "mighty" have sunk so low.

UPDATE: Agence France Presse is in on the deceit also; go figure...

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DiscerningTexan, 3/22/2007 07:18:00 PM | Permalink | |
Wednesday, March 21, 2007

It's "Fever" All Right...


Day by Day by Chris Muir (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/21/2007 09:59:00 PM | Permalink | |

This one jumped right out: "Progressive"

Nothing drives me crazier than for some idiot to call behavior that would take us back to Stalinism "Progressive". It is good to know I am not alone.

ps - Be sure to read Thomas Lifson's take.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/21/2007 09:44:00 PM | Permalink | |

A Strategy for the Republicans: Focus on the Constitution

Charles Kesler has some advice for Republican Strategists: Keep you heads down and stick to basics. Sounds good to me.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/21/2007 09:02:00 PM | Permalink | |

Federal Bureaucracy (not) Investigation

John Yoo thinks the FBI is sorely in need of an overhaul. It is hard to argue with his conclusions.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/21/2007 08:56:00 PM | Permalink | |

Thailand's Buddhist "Killing Fields"

Mark Steyn illustrates that Jihad does not stop in the Middle East or with the issue of Israel:

What then of those problems that don’t even catch the jet set’s eye? It was about three years ago that I began following events in southern Thailand – the old Sultanate of Pattani, to us Mad Dogs and Englishmen. It was the numbers at first: Muslim “insurgents” were murdering over a hundred people a month, which seemed rather on the high side. Then I started looking for the bloody details behind the statistics: the two Laotian-immigrant farm workers beheaded for …well, for what? The Thai government isn’t occupying Palestine or invading Iraq or stationing troops in Saudi Arabia. And for a while I took to citing the country’s southern provinces as a bit of list filler to demonstrate the splendidly ecumenical nature of the jihad: Muslims vs Jews in the West Bank, Muslims vs Christians in Nigeria, Muslims vs Hindus in Kashmir, Muslims vs Buddhists in Thailand.

Aside from bringing up the rear in my planetary generalizations, what’s going on? The International Herald Tribune, in a brief story on the daily barrage of bombings and beheadings, decided it made no sense:

The insurgency is all the more difficult to combat because it does not show its face. Unlike similar movements around the world, this one has not set out its demands or published a manifesto. It is a collection of violent groups without an identifiable central leadership.

You don’t say. Now why would that be? When the Herald Tribune refers to “similar movements around the world”, it seems to be harking back to the good old days of 1960s nationalist movements. Your old-school insurgent got into the insurgency game against the state because he wanted to be the state: the object was to have your flag fluttering from the palace and swear yourself in as President-for-Life. A generation or so back, there were such groups running around Pattani promoting a more or less conventional Malay-Muslim secessionist movement. But, as in other parts of the globe, the disaffected have become co-opted into something bigger. Who wants to settle for being Minister of Transport when you can be part of a new caliphate that overthrows the entire global order?

To modify the Palestinian peace-process cliches, these “collections of violent groups” are in favor of a no-state solution. In Thailand, they target the lowest officials of the kingdom – schoolteachers, policemen and municipal functionaries. The object is to emphasize that not only can these people not protect you but that associating with them is likely to endanger you, too. If the state reacts with a bloody crackdown on Muslims, that’s good news for the insurgents. If the state instead dithers uncertainly, that works, too. The Buddhist villages in the south are emptying out, week by week, remorselessly.

Read the whole thing.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/21/2007 08:31:00 PM | Permalink | |

Glenn Reynolds Fisks Al Gore

Heh, indeed.

Meanwhile if you missed the UK Channel 4 Documentary "The Great Global Warming Swindle" now is your chance. This is good--really good.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/21/2007 08:03:00 PM | Permalink | |

Soros declares War on Israel

Hey, he may be a dangerous Marxist financier, but at least he is honest about his anti-Semitic beliefs. More than I can say for all those Dems who are on the hook to him to the tune of millions.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/21/2007 07:38:00 PM | Permalink | |

Democrat Rule: Utter Chaos and Lots of Pork

The reports of a big split in the Democrat party are...underestimated. Or so it appears.

Seriously though, this is no time for Republicans to let their guard down; we have to keep the pressure on--now more than ever. Any Republican voting for the Dem bill needs to understand that it will come back to haunt them.

And speaking of haunting, the Victory Caucus has got a "follow the pork" project underway for this Supplemental bill. They are working to identify the District where every single dollar of that bill is targeted. Not yet a member? Why not?

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DiscerningTexan, 3/21/2007 04:50:00 PM | Permalink | |
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Democrat Value Meal


Cartoon by Michael Ramirez (click to enlarge)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/20/2007 10:00:00 PM | Permalink | |

For Sale, for taxpayer dollars: Democrat Votes Against the War

Remember when the Democrats ran for Congress last fall, promising to clean up the pork and all the special interest money in Congress. As I recall that was the entire raison d'etre of their campaign. All about cleaning up the "Culture of Corruption", have I got that right, Nancy?

So that has been, what... 5 months ago now, right? Well, the baby has officially been tossed out with the bathwater. Who knew??

From today's Washington Post:

House Democratic leaders are offering billions in federal funds for lawmakers' pet projects large and small to secure enough votes this week to pass an Iraq funding bill that would end the war next year.

So far, the projects -- which range from the reconstruction of New Orleans levees to the building of peanut storehouses in Georgia -- have had little impact on the tally. For a funding bill that establishes tough new readiness standards for deploying combat forces and sets an Aug. 31, 2008, deadline to bring the troops home, votes do not come cheap.

But at least a few Republicans and conservative Democrats who otherwise would vote "no" remain undecided, as they ponder whether they can leave on the table billions of dollars for constituents by opposing the $124 billion war funding bill due for a vote on Thursday.

"She hates the games the Democrats are playing," said Guy Short, chief of staff to Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.), a staunch conservative who remains undecided, thanks to billions of dollars in the bill for drought relief and agriculture assistance. "But Representative Musgrave was just down in southeastern Colorado, talking to ranchers and farmers, and they desperately need this assistance."

Democratic leaders say the domestic spending in the bill reflects the pent-up demand from lawmakers who last year could not win funding for programs that had bipartisan support such as disaster assistance.

But in a formal veto statement last night, the White House denounced what it called "excessive and extraneous non-emergency spending." With unusually caustic and combative language, the statement dismissed provisions of the bill as "unconscionable," and said it "would place freedom and democracy in Iraq at grave risk" and "embolden our enemies."

They've got that right. What a tremendous example of the hypocrisy at the very heart of the Democrat party.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/20/2007 09:16:00 PM | Permalink | |

My Bumper Sticker Theory

I have a tongue-in-cheek theory I have been telling any friend of mine who will listen about lately. It goes like this: if a person has more than one bumper sticker on their car, they automatically fall into the 80 percentile likelihood of being a member of the "left-leaning nutroots".

The stereotype is not 100% foolproof; for example rabid sports fans of certain Texas state Universities (note: not necessarily from Austin, TX...) are known to decorate their autos with multiple tokens of their esteem for their team.
But generally these folks are good Conservatives: if they are that into sports, it means they are into competition--the lifeblood of capitalism. Also, in extremely rural areas, you are more likely to see some "US Out of the UN Stickers" with perhaps an NRA tag or two.

But--with the preceding exceptions duly noted--in general, the more bumper stickers the more likely the person is an "extreme" type of person. And 80-90% of that set are out there on the wacky left. Just my own observations...but see if it doesn't fly for you too.

All this is preface to a post from Psychiatrist Dr. Helen Smith, regarding Bumper Sticker Personalities. She is not exactly on the same wavelength--certainly a trained psychiatrist would never resort to stereotypes. But nevertheless, her take is that bumper stickers do tell you an awfully lot about the drivers. Just be on the lookout for any car with more than one. And remember where you heard the "Nutroots" theory.

(h/t Glenn Reynolds. And don't miss their periodic team podcast "The Glenn and Helen Show", which can be downloaded at the Instapundit site.)

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DiscerningTexan, 3/20/2007 08:30:00 PM | Permalink | |

Russia Rains on Iran's Parade

It was unexpected... but it could not have come at a more opportune time. Captain Ed comments on Putin's apparent betrayal of the Mullahs:

Something tells me that Putin's motivation comes from something other than a collections-agency status on the bill. He sank a lot of Russia's international influence into kowtowing to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Putin's Great Game aspirations of late seem more important than an unpaid bill or two. He bought real influence in Teheran, or so he thought, with the Bushehr plant.

Some calculations have changed in Moscow. Putin had been almost the only substantive foreign support for Ahmadinejad, besides China, which needs Iranian oil. Some other pressure point must have been hit by the West. Perhaps someone mentioned Russia's G-8 status, or maybe other commercial issues got worked in Putin's favor. What is obvious is that Ahmadinejad placed all his eggs in the Russian nuclear basket, and for the moment he has come up empty.

Its apparent cancellation puts Ahmadinejad in a tough spot. He sold the nuclear-power plant as a major victory against Western opposition, especially the Great Satan itself, the US. He even put a nuclear symbol on the latest currency note to brag about Iran's ascension to the top tier of nations -- at least in the category of offensive weaponry. Now Russia and Putin have pulled the rug out from underneath him, and the entire Iranian nation will witness the pratfall.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/20/2007 08:20:00 PM | Permalink | |

Breaking: Bush Stands Up for Rove and Miers

This is good to see, although the court battle could get ugly. Still perhaps it will rally some Republicans to stand by the President for a change. It is "go to the mattresses" time.

UPDATE: Predictably--AJ Strata is as happy about this as I am.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/20/2007 08:05:00 PM | Permalink | |

Why Gonzalez MUST Stay

Count me in with a Big Lizard today; Dafydd is making entirely too much sense to be ignored. Below, he reacts to the Mike Allen (formerly of the NYT,WaPo and TIME) suggestion in The Politico that Gonzales be replaced:
... It's hard to imagine a stupider response to the fired-attorneys non-scandal than to sack Gonzales, sack McNulty -- and then to nominate a new AG and DAG who would be "movement conservatives."

Let's engage in a little Politics 101, a new category I just added. What would actually happen in real life if Bush took the Democrats' advice?

  1. He fires Gonzales and McNulty;
  2. Regardless of whether they depart arm in arm, or if McNulty sneakily waits a few minutes before leaving, the net effect is the same: There would be two slots to fill at Justice, each requiring Senate confirmation;
  3. Bush nominates a "movement conservative" to replace Gonzales;
  4. Senate Democrats reject his nominee in committee;
  5. Bush nominates another, who is also rejected;

At that point, the Biggest of Lizards continues, Bush can either cave to the Democrats and nominate a liberal AG, or else allow some emasculated deputy to run an impotent office for two more years; or he can keep sending conservatives into the Lions' Den to be eaten alive by the hyper-partisans--all scenarios with huge Democrat upsides. Of course Dafydd lays them out with more detail and clarity than I, but that is the long and short of it. Back to his conclusion:

Therefore, if Bush wants to retain any possibility of achievement in his last two years -- or even of staving off the slavering hordes of Democrats who desperately want to undo the last six years -- then he must not fire Alberto Gonzales in the first place.

Nothing good can come of it. We won't get another John Ashcroft; we'll get another Janet Reno. Or worse -- we might get another Ramsey Clark.

Gonzales is far from perfect; I consider him a thoroughly mediocre pick, though probably the most conservative AG Bush could have gotten confirmed following Ashcroft's resignation. But please understand: If Gonzales goes, any conceivable future scenario for de jure or de facto head of the Justice Department is much, much worse.

There is no upside to firing Gonzales. I do not believe that the president is so politically inept as to do so, nor that Congressional Republicans are so suicidal as to push it. But even if I'm wrong about Bush's fortitude on this issue, I'm afraid I won't be much wrong about the dreadful consequences.

For the sake of the nation, the party, and for Bush himself, Alberto Gonzales must stay.

What he said. Is anyone at the White House listening?

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DiscerningTexan, 3/20/2007 09:53:00 AM | Permalink | |

Four Years In--and the Chinese Water Torture continues at home

This is so good, it simply speaks for itself. Bravo.

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DiscerningTexan, 3/20/2007 09:40:00 AM | Permalink | |