Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

Christmas, according to Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1999, is when those in that particular faith tradition celebrate “the birth of a homeless child”. Or, as Al Gore put it in 1997, “two thousand years ago a homeless woman gave birth to a homeless child.” For pete’s sake, they weren’t homeless - they couldn’t get a hotel room. The whole neighborhood was, as the UN might put it, fully occupied territory. They had to sleep in the stable only because Dad had to schlep halfway across the country to pay his taxes in the town of his birth, which sounds like the kind of cockamamie bureaucratic nightmare only a blue state could cook up. Except that in Massachusetts it’s no doubt illegal to rent out your stable without applying for a Livestock Shelter Change Of Use Permit plus a Temporary Maternity Ward For Non-Insured Transients License, so Mary would have been giving birth under a bridge on I-95.

Mark Steyn - 12-14-2004

Quote of the day - Ayn Rand

Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.

Ayn Rand

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

Some people are so busy being clever that they don't have time to be intelligent.

Thomas Sowell - 8-29-06

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

With his Kwanzaa greetings, President Bush is saluting the intellectual sibling of the Symbionese Liberation Army, killer of housewives and police. He is saluting the founder of United Slaves, who were such lunatics that they shot Panthers for not being sufficiently insane — all with the FBI as their covert ally.

Ann Coulter - 12-27-06

Quote of the day - Barbara Olson

Under oath Mrs. Clinton said she didn't have a hand in firing off the travel-office employees. Everyone has heard the evidence, and it is substantial-that she not only had a hand in it, but she was the driving force behind the firings.

Barbara Olson

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Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

Alas, Zarqawi [leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq] never got to implement his Iraq takeover plan because the same troops that are allegedly losing the war right now killed him in June.

Ann Coulter 12-20-2006

Merry Christmas

Quote of the day - C.S. Lewis

What seem our worst prayers may really be, in God's eyes, our best. Those, I mean, which are least supported by devotional feeling. For these may come from a deeper level than feeling. God sometimes seems to speak to us most intimately when he catches us, as it were, off our guard.

C. S. Lewis

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

Indeed, Russia spent three-quarters of a century under the most militantly secularist regime of all: Under Communism, the state was itself a religion, but, alas, only an ersatz one, a present-tense chimera. As a result, Russians more or less gave up begetting: Slavs are in steep population decline, and, on present trends, Russia will be majority Muslim by 2050. And the Russian army will be majority Muslim by 2015.

Mark Steyn - 12-24-06

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

The stories [of IRS abuse] were outrageous, all right, but what did we expect? When a government that began with a budget in the low millions has climbed into the trillions, how do we think the money is going to be collected?

Joe Sobran

Quote of the day - C. S. Lewis

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

C. S. Lewis

Quote of the day - H.L. Mencken

The New Deal began, like the Salvation Army, by promising to save humanity. It ended, again like the Salvation Army, by running flop-houses and disturbing the peace.

H.L. Mencken

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

Jesus is doing just fine in the United States. Forty years of ACLU efforts to eliminate God from the public square have led to a resurgent, evangelical and politicized American Christianity unique in the Western world.

Mark Steyn - 12-17-06

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

Nobody should be obliged to believe Jesus is the son of God, but likewise nobody should take such umbrage at trees and tinsel and instrumental versions of "Silent Night" that he would deny the reality of the land he lives in to the vast majority of his fellow citizens. Because the logic of that leads not to a diverse secular society but to an atomized ersatz non-society. And, as those other touchy types the Islamists well understand, once you put reality up for grabs, all kinds of pathologies suddenly become viable.

Mark Steyn - 12-17-06

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

Doing 90 percent of what is required is one of the biggest wastes because you have nothing to show for all your efforts. But doing 110 percent of what is expected is one of the smartest investments because it can pay off with a big reputation for just a little more effort.

Thomas Sowell

Quote of the day - Milton Friedman

Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.

Milton Friedman

Senator Tim Johnson, Hillary!, Strom Thurmond; health issues and politcal issues; Let's keep our humanity

It may be tempting for conservatives to think about the possibilities of recapturing the Senate in light of the sudden illness of Senator Johnson (D. S.D.). The Washington Post certainly has considered the possibilities.

But we should remember what separates us from the totalitarian movement that is the MSM/DNC. The very reason we oppose abortion, that we opposed the murder of Terry Schiavo, that we oppose the use of stem cells from murdered Ukrainian infants, etc. is that we value the very concept of humanity. The reason that the MSM/DNC favors those things is that totalitarians must dehumanize their would-be subjects in order to rule and control. Proud, strong, faithful, happy humans cannot be ruled. Cattle CAN be and WILL be ruled. A world in which anyone's life becomes disposable for the sake of political advantage is a world tailor-made for totalitarians.

The moment we find ourselves contemplating the political implications of Senator Johnson's health issues, we lose a little humanity and we become a little more like our enemies. If you need a good example of the how the MSM/DNC acted in a similar situation 6 years ago, remember Hillary's treatment of Strom Thurmond in the days of the slim Republican Senate majority during the first half of 2001.

But Hillary was not yet finished with the dean of the Senate. Remember that this was the time before Jumpin' Jim Jeffords made his infamous jump to the other side. In a Senate debate regarding budget amendments on May 21, 2001, Joe Biden made a gracious offer to Thurmond. Here is the account from NewsMax -----
Biden sought to relieve the weary Thurmond, who by several accounts looked visibly unwell, by striking a deal where they'd both leave the Senate floor, cancelling out each other's vote on the important budget amendments at hand.
But when Mrs. Clinton learned of Biden's kind gesture, she warned, "Joe, you're going to miss thirty votes" -- then tried to blame the prolonged session on Republicans.
Clinton prevailed, along with two other Democrats who echoed her arguments, and Thurmond was forced to endure the full debate.
"This is disgusting," a Republican aide told the Washington Times Wednesday. "This is the lowest form of politics, when you´re actually trying to exhaust senators into their graves in the hopes of gaining the majority."

emphasis added

Those at the very heart of the MSM/DNC know the real stakes. I would speculate that the MSM/DNC can see a very real silver lining to losing control of the Senate for now, as long as it means further erosion of the humanity to which the rest of us cling. The MSM/DNC knows that if we become a little more like Hillary, salivating over the ill health of a Senator, the ultimate total MSM/DNC domination will become that much closer, regardless of any temporary changes in the makeup of the Senate.

I ask that we pray - first for Senator Johnson, as we entrust his fate and his health to God - and secondly for ourselves - as we trust God to preserve our own humanity.

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Here is another example of totalitarians who seek to destroy by first destroying their opponents' humanity.

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

To be sure, last month the Democrats did win a narrow majority in Congress for the first time in more than a decade. And it cannot be denied that for the past 50 years, Democrats have orchestrated humiliating foreign policy defeats for America. So it is understandable that some might interpret their midterm gains as a mandate for another humiliating defeat. But that's not what the Democrats told Americans when they were running for office. To the contrary, they claimed to be gun-totin' hawks. A shockingly high number of Democratic candidates this year actually fought in wars. And not just the war on poverty, either — real wars, against men with guns. It was a specific plan of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Rahm Emanuel to fake out the voters by recruiting anti-war veterans to run against Republicans.

Ann Coulter - 12-13-06

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

Pre-modern Islam beats postmodern Christianity--and, for young men in search of an identity, transnational jihad beats multicultural nullity.

Mark Steyn - July 31, 2006

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

In the same way, "multiculturalism" now suggests insensitivity to cultural nuance. The word seems to be favored by boors who hate Western culture rather than by people who savor differences of language, custom and imagination. The giveaway is that they always want "multiculturalism" to be imposed by the state. It signifies a resentment-driven political agenda rather than genuine cultural harmony.

Joe Sobran

Quote of the day - C.S. Lewis

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.

C. S. Lewis

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

If they're lucky, this document will be tossed in the trash and these men and women will be the laughingstocks of posterity. But, if it's not shredded and we embark down this path, then the Baker group will be emblematic of something far worse. The "Support Group" is a "peace conference," and Baker wants Washington to sue for terms.

Mark Steyn - commenting on the Baker Commission proposals - 12-10-06

Quote of the day - Thomas Sowell

When I see people dealing lovingly with small children, it makes me feel that there may be hope for us, after all.

Thomas Sowell - 8-29-06

Boycott Valero

Debbie Schlussel has the story of Valero gas stations and their ties to Citgo and Venezuela. Citgo is the Venezuelan owned gasoline chain that is using the Valero name like Hillary pretending to be moderate in order to fool voters at election time.

You may have noticed Valero stations popping up all over America. They are really CITGO stations. Because of the deserved stigma attached to the Chavez-controlled gas stations, many Americans are not buying gas at CITGO, and the stations are losing money . . . big-time.

So, with the smoke and mirrors of a name-change, many CITGO stations are quietly changing from CITGO signs and emblems to Valero.

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update - 12-11-06

There is apparently some dispute about this issue. Debbie is sticking by her original story. Those who dispute her include individuals on the Valero company message board and another individual who claimed to have supported the Valero story originally. The issue seems to be almost one of semantics, with the Valero defenders arguing that Valero did not buy the Citgo stations, even though that is not part of Debbie's argument. Others have argued that Valero buys less Venezuelan fuel than other oil companies. Some of these arguments sound like Bill Clinton arguing that his civil rights bill did not use the word "quota", therefore it is not a quota bill. While I recognize that there is a dispute, I am unconvinced by the arguments of those who dispute Debbie's story.

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn - Baker Commission

It would, furthermore, be a particularly contemptible confirmation of a line I heard Bernard Lewis, our greatest Middle Eastern scholar, use the other day -- that ''America is harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend.'' To punish your friends as a means of rewarding your enemies for killing your forces would seem to be an almost ludicrously parodic illustration of that dictum. In the end, America would be punishing itself. The world would understand that Vietnam is not the exception but the rule.

Mark Steyn - 12-3-06 - commenting on the anticipated Baker Commission proposals, particularly the proposals for extracting concessions from Israel in order to appease Syria and Iran.

Pearl Harbor 65th anniversary

As most of you know, today is the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Numerous American battleships, destroyers and other vessels were destroyed in the water that Sunday morning as the United States entered World War II.

The West Virginia was among those battleships that the Japanese planes sunk that day.

65 years ago today







The West Virginia was anchored immediately to the outside of the U.S.S. Tennessee, which did not sink. Both the Tennessee and West Virginia were inundated by burning oil that escaped from the wreckage of the Arizona and flowed through the rest of the harbor. The Tennessee was trapped by the sunken West Virginia and could not escape, but kept its propellers operating all day just to push away the burning oil flowing towards it.


U.S.S. West Virginia in the forefront with U.S.S. Tennessee in the immediate background








H/T navsoure.org for these and other photos depicting the attack, the history of all of the battleships and most other ships in the U.S. Navy.

I have not read Daniel Madsen's book, Resurrection, but it is on my list of books to buy. He describes the process by which most of the sunken ships were raised from the harbor and put back into action. Some of these ships took months or years to refloat. Some of the ships, including the Arizona and the Utah, were left in place where they remain to this day. The Oklahoma was raised and then scrapped. Others, like the Pennsylvania and the Nevada, saw action in the Pacific later in the war.



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Michelle Malkin has more, including information on what probably is the final reunion of Pearl Harbor survivors.

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

Now that Democrats have won the House, they can concentrate on losing the war. Despite all the phony conservative Democrats who got elected as gun-totin' hawks, the Democrats will uniformly vote to dismantle every aspect of the war on terrorism. They've started a runaway train and can't stop it now.

Ann Coulter - 12-6-06

Quote of the day - Joe Sobran

[writing shortly after 9-11] "I guess we can't pin this one on Janet
Reno. She would never attack a government building with
no kids in it."

Joe Sobran

Which promises will Casey break?

The Harrisburg "Patriot"-News has reminded us of some of the promises that Robert Casey (and other Democrats) made to the voters during the election - and the impossibility of fulfilling these promises:

WASHINGTON - On the campaign trail, U.S. Sen.-elect Bob Casey Jr. and other Democrats called for fully funding the federal No Child Left Behind education program and increasing spending for veterans programs, and advocated the need to expand health insurance for all Americans, especially children.

"You're talking billions of dollars, at least," Casey said in October during the heat of his election fight with U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. "When I talk about health care for kids and health care for small business, and we talk about investments in education, all of these things, I think, are important investments."

Such promises proved popular with many voters but could come back to haunt lawmakers such as Casey as they grope with limited resources to implement proposals, keep supporters happy and keep spending in check.

"They're going to face some very difficult choices reconciling their rhetoric with the budget realities," predicted Tim Penny, a former Democratic congressman and deficit hawk from Minnesota.

It is inconceivable that the Democrats were not aware that they would never be able to keep their promises without increased deficit spending or tax increases. They simply didn't care. It is even more inconceivable that the MSM/DNC could not foresee this scenario one or two months ago. Instead of questioning what the Democrats would do and how they would do it, the MSM/DNC focused on polls and fulfilling its own role in securing the Democrats' victory. Now that it is too late for a meaningful discussion of the Democrats' promises, the MSM/DNC is free to discuss the full implications a little more deeply. Having seized power based on lies, it does little good simply to expose the false promises. It does little good for us to be right in hindsight. As I wrote last week, "being right in hindsight is not good enough."





Daddy never told me I would have to KEEP my promises

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn - Baker Commission

An ''exit strategy'' on those terms is the path out not just from Iraq but from a lot of other places, too -- including Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Venezuela, Russia, China, the South Sandwich Islands. For America would be revealed to the world as a fraud: a hyperpower that's all hype and no power -- or, at any rate, no will.

Mark Steyn - commenting on anticipated Baker Commission recomendations - 12-3-06

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn - Baker Commission

So the fabulous Baker boy was accompanied by Clinton officials Leon Panetta and Bill Perry, Clinton golfing buddy Vernon Jordan, Clinton's fellow sex fiend Chuck Robb, the quintessential ''moderate'' Republican Alan Simpson, Supreme Court swing vote par excellence Sandra Day O'Connor . . .
God, I can't go on. I'd rather watch Mia Farrow making out with Mickey Rooney to a Doobie Brothers LP. As its piece de resistance, the Baker Commission concluded its deliberations by inviting testimony from -- drumroll, please -- Sen. John F. Kerry. If you're one of those dummies who goofs off in school, you wind up in Iraq. But, if you're sophisticated and nuanced, you wind up on a commission about Iraq. Rounding it all out -- playing David Gest to Jim Baker's Liza -- is, inevitably, co-chairman Lee Hamilton, former congressman from Indiana. As you'll recall, he also co-chaired the 9/11 Commission, in accordance with Article II Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution, which states: "Ye monopoly of wisdom on ye foreign policy, national security and other weighty affairs shall be vested in a retired Representative from the 9th District in Indiana, if he be sufficiently venerable of mien. In the event that he becomes incapacitated, his place shall be taken by Jill St. John." I would be calling for a blue-ribbon commission to look into whether we need all these blue-ribbon commissions, but they'd probably get Lee Hamilton to chair that, too.

Mark Steyn - 12-3-06

Jim Kuypers, Bush's War

A Virginia Tech communications professor has published a book summarizing the way that the MSM/DNC has filtered the speeches of George Bush since the war began in 2001:

If someone were relying only on the mainstream media for information, they would have no idea what the president actually said. It was as if the press were reporting on a different speech.

H/T LGF and VT News.

Quote of the day - Mark Steyn

If Israel could be forced into giving up the Golan Heights and other land (as some fantasists suggest) in order to persuade the Syrians and Iranians to ease up on killing coalition forces in Iraq, our enemies would have learned an important lesson: The best way to weaken Israel is to kill Americans. I'm all for Bakerite cynicism, but this would seem to f - - k not just the Jews but the Americans, too.

Mark Steyn - 12-3-06

Quote of the day - C.S. Lewis

Much of the modern resistance to chastity comes from men's belief that they "own" their bodies - those vast and perilous estates, pulsating with the energy that made the worlds, in which they find themselves without their consent and from which they are ejected at the pleasure of Another!

C. S. Lewis

Quote of the day - Ann Coulter

The only reason Americans feel guilty about "racial profiling" against blacks is because of the history of discrimination against blacks in this country.

What did we do to the Arabs? I believe Americans are the victims in that relationship. After the attacks of 9/11, profiling Muslims is more like profiling the Klan.

Ann Coulter - 11-29-06