RNC Day 1 Wrap Up and Day 2 Preview

The Republican National Convention kicked off in grand style last night with a double-barrelled blast from Senator John McCain and Rudy Guiliani.

McCain, in my opinion, hit a home run last night. Yes, he is a little stiff when it comes to public speaking, but his speech was awesome. You can get a full transcript here in case you missed it last night. McCain's speech hammered home the fact that we will not back away from the war on terror as long President Bush remains in office. The best part of the speech was the major dig McCain got in on Michael Moore.

Our choice wasn't between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war. It was between war and a graver threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our critics abroad. Not our political opponents.

And certainly not a disingenuous film maker who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace when in fact it was a place of indescribable cruelty, torture chambers, mass graves.

This part of the speech led to a loud chorus of boos directed toward Moore, who was in the audience. Here is his response to the boos:

Asked about McCain's remarks, Moore said, "I can't believe they're dumb enough to bring up the film and help its box office."

Which brings me, in my opinion, to the real Michael Moore. He is not a disenfranchised American that thinks President Bush falsely led us into war or any such Lefty rhetoric. The left was looking for a product (an ideology perhaps) and Moore provided it. He is laughing all the way to the bank with $115 million dollars, more than most of us would see in ten lifetimes, gotten by exploiting the left.

Guiliani also gave a great speech. A little long and rambling at times, but the meat was what counted. He ripped John Kerry's record while recounting tales of the President's resolve and ability to connect with all of us as Americans in the wake of 9/11.

In choosing a President, we really don't choose a Republican or Democrat, a conservative or liberal.

We choose a leader.

And in times of danger, as we are now in, Americans should put leadership at the core of their decision.

There are many qualities that make a great leader but having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader.

Winston Churchill saw the dangers of Hitler while his opponents characterized him as a war-mongering gadfly.

Ronald Reagan saw and described the Soviet Union as "the evil empire" while world opinion accepted it as inevitable and belittled Ronald Reagan's intelligence.

President Bush sees world terrorism for the evil that it is.

John Kerry has no such clear, precise and consistent vision.

This is not a personal criticism of John Kerry.

I respect him for his service to our nation.

But it is important to see the contrast in approach between the two men;

President Bush, a leader who is willing to stick with difficult decisions even as public opinion shifts, and John Kerry, whose record in elected office suggests a man who changes his position often even on important issues.

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, John Kerry voted against the Persian Gulf War. Later he said he actually supported the war.

Then in 2002, as he was calculating his run for President, he voted for the war in Iraq.

And then just 9 months later, he voted against an $87 billion supplemental budget to fund the war and support our troops.

He even, at one point, declared himself an anti-war candidate. Now, he says he's pro-war. At this rate, with 64 days left, he still has time to change his position at least three or four more times.

My point about John Kerry being inconsistent is best described in his own words when he said, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."

Maybe this explains John Edwards' need for two Americas - - one where John Kerry can vote for something and another where he can vote against the same thing.

Yes, people in public office at times do change their minds, I've done that, or they realize they are wrong or circumstances change.

But John Kerry has made it the rule to change his position, rather than the exception. In October, 2003, he told an Arab-American Institute in Detroit that a security barrier separating Israel from the Palestinian Territories was a "barrier to peace."

A few months later, he took exactly the opposite position. In an interview with the Jerusalem Post he said, "Israel's security fence is a legitimate act of self defense."

The contrasts are dramatic. They involve very different views of how to deal with terrorism.

Make sure you check out the real pundits coverage of the RNC. Hugh Hewitt, Powerline, and Captain's Quarters are at the convention, and have great opinion and coverage. The old media is on the way out and the new media will stand in it's place to give us the news and opinion we want and need. Make sure you check Lileks, too.

On tap tonight at the convention tonight is Laura Bush and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The National Republican Convention Kicks Off Today

Today is the big day the GOP starts the 2004 RNC. On the schedule tonight are New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and Arizona Senator John McCain. Here is the full prime time schedule. For those of us in that live in Maine, here is a link to our delegation's page. Find your state's delegation here.

Of course, the anti-Bush, anti-war, protestors were out in full force on the streets of New York. Remember, the squeeky wheel get the most oil, just like the whinning protestors get the most liberal news coverage. Rich Lowry has a great article about his protest experience.

I marched yesterday. With a friend, I walked with the protesters from roughly 25th and 7th Avenue, past Madison Square Garden, where everyone booed and hissed (and the giant sign outside flashed "Thank you New York!" anyway), east on 34th Street, and then down to 5th Avenue to the march's conclusion at Union Square.

You have to admire the protesters' inventiveness — who knew how many ways there are to express your hatred of Bush and Cheney? Although some of the protesters are, for all their sloganeering, struck mute by the slightest opposition. A guy in a VFW hat was off on a sidewalk at one point, attacking Kerry and defending the U.S. military. A protest girl walked up close to him and just stuck out her middle finger at him for a long time with a self-satisfied look on her face, as though she had come up with the cleverest gesture ever.

Mostly, though, the whole thing seemed, as far as I could tell, to be motivated by an incoherent and sputtering animus toward Bush. Here is a brief recounting of my interactions with various marchers. They shouldn't necessarily be taken as representative. After each talk I had with someone my friend would say, "You know, there are reasonable people here too." Maybe. But it wasn't at all hard to find people who were not a great credit to the cause of peace and justice.

A kid was holding a sign, "Stop the war on youth, from here to Najaf."

"So," I asked, "do you support al Sadr?"

"I do as long as he's resisting U.S. imperialism."

"OK, so you support Islamic fundamentalism?"

"No," he said, walking away.

"Well, he's an Islamic fundamentalist," I said.

He came back up to me, "Just because you support the youth doesn't mean you side with an extremist."

"Sadr is an Islamic extremist, he's very clear about it."

"It's their mosque."

"He seized the mosque by force!"

"You're wrong," he said. "He supports elections."

"No, he doesn't! He opposes elections."

"Well," he said, walking away again, "they are U.S.-supported elections. Of course he opposes U.S.-supported elections."

Then, this goateed, cigarette-smoking little Chomsky walked off for good.

Mr. Lowry also points out that Protest Warrior made an appearance. Good for them. Here is what Rich had to say about them.

Finally, there is the endearing cluelessness. We passed a group of counter-protesters from the group protestwarrior.com, who were holding up signs mocking the protesters: "World Workers Party...the last thing we do is work." A guy just ahead of us in the march was covered in green make-up to look like the statue of liberty and was wearing just a robe, with a skeletal, scary-looking set of teeth painted on his face and — for some reason — a little flower in his ear. By any standard, this guy was dressed like a freak. But he stopped us to ask, in scandalized and mystified tones, of the counter-protesters, "Who were those people?"

This is going to be a great week with a lot of news happening, from clueless protestors to the climatic speech by President Bush on Thursday at the RNC. Stay tuned.

Wictory Wednesday

It is Wictory Wednesday once again. Make sure you volunteer or donate to the Bush campaign. If you have a blog and want to participate, go to Blogs for Bush and sign up for their blogroll and then get yourself on the Wictory Wednesday blogroll.

Stick to Entertaining Us

Great article by Shannen Coffin on the latest bout of celebrities who think their political views are so important that they carry great weight with the American people. Coffin’s sentiment is this: “If only we cared”. From the article:

But, assuming the mantle of those who could not afford the price of admission — or, who, for some unfathomable reason chose not to attend — last night's Bush-bashing soiree, let me express this sentiment: We simply don't care. We don't care that Moby is upset that "George Bush pretends to be a cowboy" while running up "the largest federal deficit in history." We don't care that Benny Boom thinks "George Bush is probably the first real gangsta we've had in office." We don't care about Bruce Springsteen's thoughts on "economic justice, transparent government, how do we treat our weakest citizens, say, in foreign policy." The views of Hollywood, Broadway, Motown, and for that matter, the runways of Paris and New York don't add an ounce of weight to the serious issues facing our country in this Presidential election. To quote Bill Murray in Meatballs, "It just doesn't matter."

But it does seem to matter to the people running the Democratic campaign for president. Far from running from the most extreme element of Hollywood (if there is such a thing), they've embraced Michael Moore and his colleagues as the voice of the party. Was it an accident that Moore sat ringside with former President Carter during the Democratic Convention in Boston? Or that Ben Affleck is taking time off from his filming schedule to appear at campaign events with John Kerry and John Edwards? Of course not. Apparently, the movers and shakers on that side of the political divide believe that slurs and slogans belted out by such heavyweight talents as Margaret Cho and Ione Skye will have a measurable impact on the way Americans view this election. The Republicans seem to be making the same mistake, trotting out Wayne Newton, Bo Derek, and a lesser Baldwin, Stephen (which one is he?) at next week's convention to prove that they too can attract meaningless endorsements from celebrities currently fit to star in a late-night reality show on UPN.

Let’s say I go to a concert (fill in whichever group you want here). I am paying to be entertained by the group’s music and live show, not for them to start spewing out political rants (and this goes for both sides). My buddy Slubgob has a great link to an Alice Cooper rant about musicians and politics, and even better a plan to show these Hollywood types what their job truly is: to entertain us, nothing more.

The Original Star Wars Trilogy on DVD (Finally!!!)

While I was at Borders today I was reminded (how I could forget is what's truly amazing) that THE Star Wars Trilogy is finally being released on DVD September 21st. I realize that Lucas hates us (Episodes I and II confirm this), but it is about time the classic trilogy was brought into the modern era by being released on DVD. I have worn out VHS copies of the big 3 and now I can finally drool over digital video and THX surround. This is going to be big. I'll be asking for the Holy Grail of DVD sets for my birthday (which is soon), but even if I am not bestowed with this incredible gift, one way or another it will be added to my library and the Prequels can be pushed to the side, to be watched only rarely, if at all.

Michelle Malkin "Interviewed" by John Kerry's Lap Dog on Hardball

Last night while watching the Olympics, NBC took a comercial break so I did a little scrolling through the channels and was surprised to see Michelle Malkin on a show called Washington Journal on C-SPAN. I have read Michelle's blog sporadically, for no other reason that there are a lot of blogs, news, and commentaries to read through and I can't get to it all. The topic the host and Michelle were discussing instantly fascinated me. Michelle was on Hardball with John Kerry's lap dog, Chris Matthews. I read through the transcript and the guy was an utter bonehead.

Actually more like a monkey-browed jerk. Michelle can handle herself, of that I have no doubt, but Matthews was just off the wall. She was booked to talk about her book, but instead Lap Dog Matthews ambushes her about the Swifties and whether John Kerry's Purple-Heart wounds were self-inflicted. She could have easily answered the question if 1.) he'd let her (which he didn't), and 2.) he had actually read the book himself, which he didn't, and knew what he was talking about. Michelle recounts the "interview" on her blog site:

As I am seated at the table with Matthews, who I am meeting for the first time, he cracks a joke--and not in a well-meaning way--about how I look. (There are quite a few people who are hung up on this.) "Are you sure you are old enough to be on the show? What are you? 28?" I grit my teeth. He badgers me again with the same question. I politely answer his question and supply my age.

(I wonder how Matthews' wife, the respected TV journalist Kathleen Matthews, who hosts a show about working women, would react if informed about her husband's treatment of a fellow female journalist. I've been in the business a dozen years and would be happy to talk to Mrs. Matthews about my firsthand experience with Neanderthal chauvinism in the workplace.)

Needless to say, things went downhill, fast and loud, from there.

1) Matthews introduces me, says we'll get to the subject of my book "in a minute," and launches into a spiel about how Bush should order the Swift Boat Vets to stop running their ads. Matthews intentionally mischaracterizes me as "speaking on behalf of the Bush campaign," when he knew full well I was there (with special permission from FOX News) to talk about my book, which he had sitting right next to him on the table and which he had chatted with me briefly about before the start of the segment. I correct him. He does not acknowledge his error.

2) When I tried to make a point about how the mainstream media ought to subject John Kerry to as much skull-pounding interrogation as private citizens such as Swift Boat Vet Larry Thurlow had endured from Matthews and the Washington Post, Matthews cut me off and snorted that he had never been thought of as "mainstream." Yeah, keep snorting.

3) In response to Matthews' claim that the Swift Boat Vets campaign was orchestrated by the White House, I noted that the Boston Globe--hardly a hothouse of GOP operatives--had raised many of the same questions about Kerry's war record as the Swift Boat Vets had. No response from Matthews.

4) Willie Brown expresses exasperation over Swift Boat Vets' questions about Kerry's wounds. He says: "There are questions about the shrapnel wounds. So what else is there? How much he got shot? How deep? How much shrapnel does he have?

Note that I didn't bring the subject of shrapnel. (Got that, Keith Olbermann?) Willie Brown raised the issue.

Here is how I responded verbatim:

"Well yeah. Why don't people ask him more specific questions about the shrapnel in his leg? There are legitimate questions about whether or not it was a self-inflicted wound."

Matthews frantically stuffed words down my mouth when I raised these allegations made in Unfit for Command that Kerry's wounds might have been self-inflicted. In his ill-informed and ideologically warped mind, this transmogrified into me accusing Kerry of "shooting himself on purpose" to get an award.

I repeated that the allegations involved whether the injuries were "self inflicted wounds." I DID NOT SAY HE SHOT HIMSELF ON PURPOSE and Chris Matthews knows it.

And More:

Well, guess what? This foaming jerk Matthews, who called me irresponsible and kicked me off the show admitted that a) he himself had not read the damned book, b) he was not interested in asking Kerry about the specific doubts raised by vets about his wounds, and c) he had not and would not question Kerry about these specific allegations.

"Are you saying he shot himself on purpose?" Matthews hammered. I repeated myself again clearly that I was referring to the allegations about self-inflicted wounds in the book. When I tried to explain that the vets who were with Kerry had cast a lot of doubt on whether enemy fire occurred during the first two incidents, Matthews cut me off again. "Why did you say that?" he badgered. Because, I said, I was talking about what was in the book, which he had admitted he hadn't read.

"Don't you wonder?" I asked.

"No, I don't," he bellowed. "It's never occurred to me."

With that, I was kicked off the second segment.

As the show broke for commercials, Matthews scrambled for his producers to see if what he said was true. And I'm irresponsible? One staffer ran to the office where I had left my copy of the book, and handed it to Matthews, who--for the first time, apparently--started flipping through it.

A caller to the Washington Jounal show said that Chris Matthews was a good, non-partisan interviewer that was aggressive with all his guests. Yeah, right. Yours truly had the following to say about Caveman Matthews when he interviewed John Kerry in April of this year, the topic being WMDs:

He digs the hole even deeper on Hardball, which should have been a good interview for him because Chris Matthews was his lap dog, asking easy questions that should have had easy answers.

No wonder MSNBC is going down the toilet.

Michelle is now going to be a regular read and added to my Blogs section. Keep up the good work, Michelle.

News From Fallujah

Latest email from Major David Bellon, USMC. I usually only do excerpts from his compelling emails, but today I am posting the entire thing. These Marines such as Major Bellon should be given the deepest respect and honor for the job they are doing in Iraq. The men they fight are cowards and the Marines should be given the green light to go in and eradicate them from the face of the earth. Major Bellon's letter:

You probably have not heard but the Regiment has been involved in a fight on the outside of Fallujah for the past week.

On August 9th, the insurgents in the city kidnapped the two Iraqi National Guard battalion commanders within the city subsequently killing at least one of them. It is another clear example of the savagery of the enemy here. The city is now without any coalition influence other than our fires. The local militia that was created as a solution to the April fighting has become a defensive army that is in collusion with the insurgents. The police are complicit with the enemy and the city is literally run by terrorists.

The Iraqi National Guard battalion commander that was killed was Lt Col Sulaiman Hamad Ftikan. We knew him as Sulaiman. He was the closest thing to a true patriot and leader we have found who is actually from the local Falluja area. He was kidnapped and murdered because he had finally gotten his battalion to stand up to the criminals and insurgents who have had their run of the city all these months.

Of course his murder was not merciful. He was tortured and beaten to death. He was so disfigured by the torture that his friends could not bear to look at his body - this from a people who have seen their share of death and torture. There are still at least two soldiers missing that were kidnapped with Sulaiman and more good men are taken every day.

The city has continued to be an epicenter of terror and instability. With everything that I know, I cannot fathom a resolution of this problem that does not include us being allowed to take the city down once and for all. Time and space does not allow me to recount the horrible tales of torture and murder that have taken place inside this town. Too many good men have been taken into the town and beaten savagely because they are trying to be honest policemen or soldiers. It seems that the favorite torture techniques include hanging people upside down and pulverizing feet and toes. However, we have had bodies show up with various unimaginable wounds including some that have had their faces melted off by welding torches. The enemy is savage and will never come around to cooperate with the coalition or the new Iraqi government.

Sulaiman's death in large part ended the Regiment's restraint around the city. The Marines have invested so much time, energy and passion into training the two battalions of Iraqi National guards that were headquartered in and around the town. The enemy surrounded the two battalion headquarters and threatened to destroy them in total. They lured Sulaiman out with promises that they just wanted to talk and that if he exited, he could spare his men. Long story short, immediately after the commanders left their headquarters with the insurgents, the enemy poured into the buildings and beat the soldiers. After a beating, they chased the soldiers out of the headquarters and proceeded to steal all the weapons and ammunition that we had provided and loot all of the garrison property (trucks, TVs, air conditioners, etc...) that we had purchased to stand up the force. The weapons, ammunition and vehicles were taken and are now in the hands of the enemy. The garrison property was sold in the street. The leading insurgent and leading imam (go figure that) then declared that "the Iraqi National Guard no longer exists in Falluja" and that any soldiers seen in uniform should be killed. This same guy controls the Falluja Brigade as well as other insurgents inside the town.

We immediately cut any ties with the city and moved forces to the outskirts. The Marines have been fighting ever since. We have bombed, sniped and fired more tank main gun and small arms that can be counted. I have no idea how many we have killed but it is significant.

The Marines continue their heroics in ways that I am unable to describe but I will give you a vignette that is typical of what they are doing in 115 degree heat in full body armor every day.

Two days ago, as the Marines were fighting on the outskirts of the city, one of the battalion commanders' security detail was parked behind him as he was observing one his positions. Two young LCpls looked up on the highway behind them and saw a high jacking in progress. There were masked men with AK 47's stopping tractor trailers loaded with Toyota Landcruisers. The two Marines immediately began engaging the masked men. A Marine on rear security near the battalion commander heard the gunfire and turned and engaged the masked men himself. The trucks took off. The masked men made a break for the city but were chased down by the Marines and captured. However, the car carrier escaped and was speeding toward the city with a couple of taxis used by the highjackers.

A Sgt saw the trucks and sped his HMMV section (2 vehicles) toward the trucks across the open desert. He split his section and rifled past the enemy vehicles with is own HMMV. He gave a hasty order to the Marines in his vehicle and then swerved in front of the tractor trailer cutting it off. The Marines bailed out of the HMMV and caught 4 enemy exiting the truck with AK 47s. The Sgt and his team cut them down at a distance of 20 feet with their M16s. Several more insurgents tried to run from the rear. The Marines in the last vehicle cut them down in an engagement that took place at a distance of 30 feet. The two taxis took off and tried to make it to the city. They were engaged with a TOW missile and a medium machine gun. The insurgents inside the city and in a position behind the Marines immediately opened up with a heavy volume of fire. The Sgt tasked a young Marine who had never driven a semi truck before to get into the cab and drive out of the kill zone. He did. The Sgt brought all of his Marines and the high jacked truck out leaving nothing but dead insurgents in his wake.

The Marine driving the truck made it all the way back to his base but stopped short of the gate where the Sgt decided that since the young Marine "did not know how to drive a semi, he could not reliably negotiate driving the truck in through the friendly position." They stopped short and a civilian commercial driver was dispatched to the gate to get truck onboard. Yep... he rolled the truck and severely damaged all of the pristine Land cruisers that the Marines had risked their lives to save. No doubt he was doing his best and the point is that the trucks did not end up in the enemy's hands but you have to love that ending. You can only imagine the picture on the Marines' faces when the trucked rolled over.

That is just one example of what the Marines are doing. I could share with you accounts of severely wounded Sailors and Marines insisting that they can still hold a weapon and are still "in the fight" and other lesser wounded Marines refusing to be evaced. There are Marines who exit friendly lines everyday and commit acts of untold bravery that would inspire you as much as they humble me.

We have been bombing enemy positions and killing the enemy where we find them. As you can see, there is no humanity in them as they kill off the good men, murdering and stealing to further their twisted vision. It would seem that the only chance of true resolution of the "Falluja problem" will be to finish these guys once and for all. The difference between now and April is that the majority of Iraqis that we meet ask us to enter the city. They are tired of the lawless hell that exists inside the city and are literally willing to have us rubble it to save it. I know it sounds strange but it is the reality here.

We also have an entire battalion of Iraqi Special Forces soldiers who have stepped forward. We have trained these guys and they are a different breed of cat altogether. Many are veterans of the Iran Iraq war and are hardened. They don't necessarily love us but they now have a bond with the Marines and operate jointly with them everyday. They shake their head at the hesitancy to resolve Fallujah and are willing to fight inside the city. It will be a very tough fight but in the end I just don't see how we can move forward as a coalition, or Iraq as a fledgling country, while this festering sore remains open.

Interestingly enough while we have been keeping the enemy bottled up and destroying him in Fallujah, the attacks on supply convoys and on Marines have dropped off outside the city. If we take our boot off their neck now, no doubt we will see a return to enemy attacks in other parts of our area. This is further proof that the city radiates instability and terror.

We continue to catch and kill foreign fighters who are obviously answering the siren call of Fallujah. Unfortunately, one of the foreign fighters drove a suicide car bomb up to one of our positions two days ago. As he approached the Marines engaged him and detonated the vehicle but the blast killed two young Pfcs. Anyone who believes that we will extricate ourselves from the current situation in Fallujah without decisive action should ask if "conversation" or "negotiation" will work with a guy who comes to Iraq for Jihad and dies with the last thought of trying to kill Americans. Nonsense.

The Marine Battalion down in Najaf is also from our Regiment. I was fortunate enough to work with them last year as they were on our southern flank. I cannot say enough good things about them. If they and the soldiers working with them are given the authority to do so, they will destroy the threat in Najaf. Hopefully once they finish we will be allowed to destroy the threat here. If we are not, we will continue fencing with them for the foreseeable future.

Please pray daily for all our soldiers that are fighting to make this world a better place.

Email reprinted from The Green Side. Thanks to Major Bellon's dad for keeping the rest of us in the loop. It is greatly appreciated.

Hamel For Congress

Brian Hamel, a veteran businessman that has revitalized the Loring Air Force Base in Maine turning it into an economic center and producing much needed jobs in Northern Maine, is running for the U.S. Congress. His opponent is the ecumbant Democratic representative Mike Michaud. Michaud has been ineffectual in representing our state, and it is time for a change. Brian Hamel is the one to bring that change to our state. I am adding Hamel For Congress to my links, so make sure you check it regularly. I will be posting updates regularly on Mr. Hamel's campaign and his thoughts on the issues that most effect us Mainers.

If you are ready for change and want to do your part to help Brian get elected, volunteer to help or donate to his campaign.

The Hamel For Congress office is at 92 Central Street here in Bangor. The phone number is 207-262-HAMEL (4263). Make sure you stop by and talk to the guys at the office. Also grab your Hamel For Congress literature, bumper stickers, and pins.

You Don't See This Every Day

A bear downed 36 cans of beer and passed out at a campground in Washington state. The bear also demonstrated a taste for the finer things in life, passing up Busch beer for a a local ale, Rainier. He should of had some pretzels to go along with his suds. Might not have passed out.

Link courtesy of Slublog.

Kerry Gets Heckled by Veterans and Zell Miller: Democrat for Bush

The Kerry Spot is chock full of good stuff today. Kerry got a mediocre response from some vets at a VFW conference, and was heckled by a couple, because of guess what, Vietnam. Apparently his protesting the war didn't sit well with the resident veterans. John, you can't have it both ways, running on your Vietnam service record, while condemning the Vietnam war. The military doesn't support Mr. Kerry, and apparently the veterans don't either.

And to top it off, Zell Miller, a Democratic senator from Georgia, is going to nominate the president for re-election at the RNC. Way to go Zell! I just wish he was going to run for the senate again.

Operational Again

Well, the new template is in place and I finally got all the links, blogs, email, and stats pasted into the html. I have a few little cosmetic things to fix, but at least the content is back and working.

The New Template

I like the design. I really liked the original template's layout, but the colors were horrid. It is a bit beyond me at this point to try manipulating the colors. Now the problem becomes can I get all my links, TTLB status, and Sitemeter stuff on this new layout.

Blogger Template

I am thinking about changing my template, so I am going to back up my blog, change to a different design, and hope for the best.

Good News from Iraq

Despite what the major media outlets are reporting, there are lots of good things happening in Iraq and progress is being made. Here is a great roundup of what is happening.

Website of the Day

A fellow conservative at work pointed me to this awesome website, KerryCore.com. It's a Kerry parody site and it's an absolute riot. Kerry parody ads, this great game, and tons of conservative, anti-Kerry swag. Make sure you check it out.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I want to apologize for the lack of new posts. Family has flown in from California and Indianna, therefore minimizing computer time and maximizing family time. I hope to get back to a more regular blogging schedule next week.

Kerry Lied! "Christmas in Cambodia"

Check out this Washington Times article pointing out the inaccuracies in Kerry's various statements about events in 1968 when he was apparently was in Cambodia.

The Bourne Supremacy

I went and saw The Bourne Supremacy last night. What an awesome movie! There is only one weak point to this film, and I'll get to that in a minute.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Bourne Identity, but did not read the book, so I have no idea how close or how far off the movie was from the book. If you are the type that likes a movie to be based on the book, don't bother to see this film. The broad theme of the book is translated into the movie, but nothing else. Bourne is drawn out because something happens to Marie, he becomes the hunter, and tracks down his foes with ardent fervor. That is the only similarities. I long ago got over any need for a book based movie to be the same as the written work. On that basis the Supremacy movie is great. The story is compelling, and I watched anxiously to find out how Mr. Bourne was going to survive any given situation. The car chase scene was just amazing. Those European cars sure have some stamina.

Now for the only flaw I personally found with this movie, and I have heard this criticism from a few people I have talked to. I don't know what the cinematographer was going for, but this film is visually exhausting to watch. To much camera action. Instead of panning back and giving us the audience a good look at the action, he tries to put us right in the middle of it. So instead of a nice clear shot, the camera is jiggling all over the place, and it gets very confusing at times. I wish the camera work was a little more traditional. It would of made the movie a pure joy to watch, not mental exercise.

Great movie. I will add this to my DVD library when it comes out.

Wictory Wednesday

It's Wictory Wednesday again!!!! Here is Kerry's latest brainstorm: The Bush Administration's policies are actually encouraging terrorist recruitment.

The President's response:

``Evidently some must think that you can negotiate with (terrorists), you can talk sense to them, you can hope that they change,'' he said. ``It is a ridiculous notion to assert that because the United States is on the offense, more people want to hurt us.''

John Kerry will try to appease terrorist all over the world, therefore increasing the chances that they will attack this land again and successfully do so. President Bush has already shown the resolve and tenacity to go after these cowards. The military are behind the President and believe in the mission to wipe out terror.

If you want terror cells operating in this country, then vote for Kerry. If you believe in our president, our military, and their current mission to make not only our shores safe from terror but the world, then make sure you join in the effort to re-elect President Bush. Volunteer or donate to the Bush campaign. If you have a blog and want to participate, go to Blogs for Bush and sign up for their blogroll and then get yourself on the Wictory Wednesday blogroll.

Accuracy in Media

A buddy of mine at work has turned me onto a great website, aim.org, or Accuracy in Media. Their mission statement:


Accuracy In Media is a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage.

Two of their contributors have blogs that contain some great comments. They are Cliff Kincaid and Don Irvine. Make sure to make these regular reads. For example, from Don's blog on Linda Ronstadt and Michael Moore:

I think Linda Ronstadt and Michael Moore would make a great couple. They are both overweight, they are on the far left politically and they hate America.

Ronstadt who thinks that she should mix politics and entertainment started a firestorm in Las Vegas when during a recent performance she called Moore a "great patriot"for making "Farenheit 9/11". That didn't go over very well with the audience who came to hear her sing and not promote an anti-American film. Ronstadt was then escorted off the property.

The liberal media weighed in with the New York Times condemning the move and a USA Today headline said it was proof that "Celebrities declare own war--on Bush". Are you surprised? I'm not. In her new book "Shut Up And Sing" Laura Ingraham has a chapter that lists the anti-war, anti-American and anti-Bush quotes that have been spouted by the Hollywood left over the last few years.

Entertainers have every right to espouse their political views, but I for one look at movies and music to be just that, entertaining. Leave the politics to another forum.


I love this guy already. I am going to add these sites to my links.