Wictory Wednesday

Today is Wictory Wednesday. Every Wednesday, scores of bloggers ask their readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush 2004 campaign.

Folks, there are only 18 weeks till election day and Hillary is already making clear what her, Fonda Kerry, and the rest of the socialists will do if they win - Take Your Things For the Common Good.

As we sit forced to watch Michael Moore in his gluttonous glory as the Democracts slather all over his feet, remember, you can work to help defeat these enemies of America and put our national security first.

If your inclined to assist, and desire to keep America free, contact the Bush Campaign or email me and I will make sure you are put in touch with the right people. Folks, we can win this if we work together.

If you're a blogger, you can join Wictory Wednesdays simply by putting up a post like this one every Wednesday, asking your readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush campaign. And then e-mail wictory@blogsforbush.com so that you'll be added to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, which will be part of the Wictory Wednesday post on all participating blogs:

Islam

John Tant is confused. He recently joined a Lutheran Church and has now learned that when an Islamic Association asked the church to use its facilities for Islamic prayer meetings, the church committee was evenly divided about the request, voting 6-6 on whether to allow it.

This bothers him.

I know as Christians we're supposed to do unto others, turn the other cheek, and all that rot. But how far does that go? I mean, it isn't like we're talking about another sect of Christianity...we're talking Islam here. It's a religion that, frankly, does not recognize the divinity of Jesus Christ. Now that's all fine, their choice, blah blah. But does my duty as a Christian extend to providing them facilities to exercise their choices which run in direct opposition to the very principles of the facility itself? I don't think so. I know I'm running a little close to hyperbole here, but suppose there was a group of people who worshipped goats. Wouldn't it run counter to my faith to provide them a place to teach and/or indulge in goat worship?

I think it would. And I think the principle of having an Islamist group using a Christian church for their services in incompatible with the existence of the church. It's not like it's a non-denominational building...it's unabashedly Christian. So it seems like one of those basic things to me, and yet six members of the committee voted to approve the request. And that's disturbing to me. The thing is, if you toe the Lefty line, it's nice and "inclusive" to grant it, but I think it cheapens the entire reason for the church's existence. In other words, I think the committee is coming close to sacrificing faith for a PR move.

Plus, I'd assume the Islamic group would take issue with the large crosses in the church, along with the stained glass pieces depicting various Bible passages. What, would they be covered up and/or taken down? And what does it say about us that we'd allow such a thing to happen in our church?

Hey, I am nowhere near as offended by this as he is. But what can I say, I am an Episcopalian. But the reason I don't mind the request being granted is because I would see it as an opportunity to convert these lost souls.

If they want to use the Church, fine. But their use of the Church should come with the understanding that all the Christians who belong at the Church can use the opportunity to sway the godless Muslims from their path of sin to one of redemption. Pass Bibles out to them, read Bible verses, engage them in biblical discussions, compare the peace and transquility that Christ brings to the murder and mayhem that Islam stands for. Baptize them.

Heck, even serve them little pork sandwhiches.

The Golden Rule

My parents taught me the golden rule at an early age

Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do To You

To me, the loss of civility in this country has coincided with the apparant failure of people to follow this rule and teach it to their children. This strikes me as especially sad and something that we should all strive to resolve.

The Golden Rule, which some may note, pretty much encompasses common sense. To me, it seems like the baseline for common sense, the point from which all of our actions, collectivly as society, should evolve. For that reason, I have long subscribed to the notion that the Golden Rule can be both guidance on how to live your life as well as guideance on how to punish transgression. Sort of like the notion of an eye for an eye.

Well, sadly, I was reminded of this today as I learned about the depths of cruelty some in our society have found. It seems that a group of teenagers, bored by the loss of imagination sowed through reliance on video games and immune to common sense and the suffering of others through the constant exposure to violence in the same video games and Hollyweird movies, decided it would be fun to
set fireworks off in the mouths of puppies.

Puppies!!! 4 an 1/2 month old Labrador puppies.

Six of them died.

When they find these scum bags the only punishment that seems fitting to me is to shove a bunch of fireworks in THEIR mouths, strapped them down, and see how it feels.

And if they survive - then we can just beat them to a bloody pulp till their no more.

Sorry, but I really have no patience for cruelty to animals, especially helpless puppies. Bastards. Ruined my day.

This Is What Diversity Looks Like

Jeff Soyer at Alphecca is reporting on a disturbing incident over the weekend at an Ohio Gay Rights parade where members of the pro second amendment Pink Pistols were assaulted by liberal left goonies from the gay lobby, goosestepping along with those other Donk extremists the gun grabbers. Hell in a handbasket also has some first hand reporting.

Seems these people celebrate diversity, except when it involves opinions other than their own.

Initially three, then later, four members of the Central Ohio Pink Pistols, a group promoting the safe handling of firearms in the GLBT community, were threatened by the Executive Director of Stonewall Columbus, who wielded a 2-foot club, and up to 30 volunteer security personnel at the Stonewall Columbus Pride Event on Saturday, June 26. The Pink Pistols were repeatedly ordered to surrender their legally-owned and carried firearms by a steadily-growing army of guards. Knowing the law was on their side, the Pink Pistols refused to surrender their property or knuckle under to illegal threats of violence, search, and seizure by Stonewall Columbus personnel. Police were summoned at Pink Pistols request. No firearms were surrendered or confiscated, and no arrests were made, as no laws were broken.

So much for peace, love and happiness.

Executive Director Kate Anderson's actions CLEARLY amount to an intentional tort - Assault. The tort of assault (as opposed to criminal assault) requires only the following -

1. An intentional, unlawful threat or "offer" to cause bodily injury to another by force;

She offered to remove their weapons by force.

2. Under circumstances which create in the other person a well-founded fear of imminent peril;

She approached and surrounded them with her goons and made her intention to remove their weapons (and touch their bodies) clear.

3. Where there exists the apparent present ability to carry out the act if not prevented.

Not only did she approach them with 20 goons (each of whom is also liable for damages under a tort suit) but she was carrying (and clearly displaying) what sounds like a brutal weapon while acting in a manner indicating her intent to use it against them.

In addition to suing Ms. Anderson personally, the Pink Pistols should also sue the organization hosting the event, as well as each one of the security guards. Since Ms. Anderson had prior knowledge that her actions were not only illegal and unfounded, but also outrageous, I would seek punitive damages against both her and the Stonewall Organization.

I'd also sue the city's police department for their failure to arrest her and for allowing the situation to continue. Their actions, especially their recomendation that the Pink Pistols leave the scene peacefully, clearly amount to squashing their rights to occupy a public space. However, since the police were generally helpful I wouldn't seek millions, just a nuisance suit to educate them. They should seek $1 or some other token amount but force the city to litigate the issue or reach a favorable settlement setting a firm precedent for future occaisions.

The press attention the Pink Pistols get will be tremendous, the Ms. Anderson will look like the violent goon she seems to be, and the city will be embarrassed about not protecting citizens from a gang of liberal criminals.

Of course, thats just my offhand thoughts. An Ohio lawyer might advise them differently.

What Are They Doing With Guns

Surely the Washington Post's report that a heavily armed gang robbed its sixth bank is mistaken. I mean, aren't guns outlawed in D.C.

What kind of person would dare break that law?
Certainly not a bank robber!

Boycott Em

Add to the list of organizations I will never do business with, th epublishing house of Alfred A. Knopf who are know advocating the assassination of President Bush.

They should be ashamed of themselves. May they, and Nicholson Baker burn eternally in hell.

Left Wing Thuggery

A group of Pink Pistols was subjected to unwarranted and illegal harrassment and thuggery by confirmed members of the Left Wing Loony Brigade at a Gay Pride Parade. The Pink Pistol's a group of gun toting homosexuals who refuse to be victims of unwarranted attacks, believing self preservation is a personal responsibility, not something to rely upon the police state to provide, were invited to march in the parade with the Buckeye Region Veterans for Equal Rights.

The parade itself was without incident. But trouble occurred while three of the Pink Pistols were having lunch at the festival site afterwards. According to sources, about halfway through lunch, the first two staff persons, one bearing a 2-foot long, inch-thick truncheon (which she referred to dubiously as a "keychain", by virtue of the split keyring and key at one end), accosted the group with the statement: "I thought I told YOU PEOPLE not to bring firearms in here?"

...

Then she said, "I'm going to confiscate those firearms, turn them over to me right now!"

The Pink Pistols responded that they would do no such thing. Ms. Anderson repeated that they must turn over their weapons, and they would get them back after the event.

. . .

Ms. Anderson retreated briefly and returned with 10 security guards. She again insisted they surrender their firearms. Still, the Pink Pistols refused. More guards were called, until approximately 30 security guards surrounded the three Pink Pistols. Ms. Anderson at this time brandished her truncheon and demanded once again that the Pink Pistols either turn over their firearms or she would take them, but the Pink Pistols once again refused.

Kim Rife recalls: "I have a sense about these things, and I think her 'plan' was to 'subdue' us.

Clinton v. Kerry

Its official. Hillary wants John Kerry to lose.

"Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you," Sen. Clinton said. "We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

"It's going to drive the copycats crazy,"

Cool. Apple continues to trounce windows.

Among 150 planned new features will be an advanced new searching tool called "Spotlight" that can instantly search for keywords across different types of files in the machine -- whether they're in an e-mail, image, or text document.

Other highlighted "Tiger" features included support for multiple participants in the iChat video-conferencing program; a new version of the Safari browser that can generate a news feedlike interface for Web sites; support for the next-generation video-compression standard known as H.264; and a "Dashboard" feature that allows users to pull up a custom collection of tools, say, the calculator, iTunes control panel, and a to-do list -- all with one keyboard tap.

So, not only does Apple further advance the state of the art of operating systems, by integrating a superior compression, searching, and web browsing, along with its own RSS news feed, but Apple also builds superior screens.



Now, why don't you have a Mac?

So Long Mr. Buckley

Strangely, I learned of William Buckley's retirement on the New York Times web page. At this time (11;29 pm EST) there is no mention of it on the National Review page or even at the Corner.

Its sad. The passing of the torch.

Mr. Buckley, 78, is giving up control. In an interview, he said he planned to relinquish his shares today to a board of trustees he had selected. Among them are his son, the humorist Christopher Buckley; the magazine's president, Thomas L. Rhodes; and Austin Bramwell, a 2000 graduate of Yale and one of the magazine's youngest current contributors.

Baptists and America

This is the email my father in law sent today to the Pastor of the Baptist Church in the small town in Georgia where we have a second home.

Off hand I do not recall if I mentioned this before but there is a group of Christians across the country that make a point of praying each evening at 9:00 for our service members overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and other places whom daily face death and injury while fighting to keep us free.

In the same vein I noticed today at Sunday School and Church that not a single prayer was made concerning these brave, dedicated men and women whom daily go in harms way to preserve our basic freedoms, one of which is the right to worship as we feel called to do so. Being a retired soldier I suppose many think I am overly concerned about this but imagine that if two or three young men or women in ** ******* had been killed in an automobile accident this week - don't you think it would be mentioned and prayed over at church today? We lose one, two or three almost every day overseas and since they are not from our city or county the war seems to be almost nonexistent.

Every month I must visit a Doctor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Every time I am struck by the sight of so many badly wounded young servicemen and women in the halls of this great medical facility. They are not whining or bitter but they have paid the price for us and will bear the scars for the rest of their young lives. We should do more to support them than to ignore their service to us by daily going in harm's way and paying the bitter price some end up paying.

"We all gave some, some gave all."

The Col., as I like to call him, is my own personal Rambo.

Now, in the title of this entry, I question the commitment of the Baptist Church to America in the war on terror because this one little church, in one little town, is not the only bad experience I have had with the Baptist Church.

Before becoming an Episcopal, my wife used to attend McLean Baptists Church (which meant I attended as well). She had grown up in this Church and we were married in this church. Like many Americans, the Sunday after 9/11 we went to church. However, unlike many American's we were shocked by what we heard. Instead of words of healing and hope and support for the fight we knew our Armed Forces would face, we were told

He that is without sin among you,
let him first cast a stone at her.

With that, my wife and her family got up and left the church. We have not returned.

I know these are only two examples, but they seem to me to be striking nonetheless. At my church, a local Episcopal Church, every sunday we pray for our troops, home and abroad, as well as the president, the vice president, the governor (as well as the governor and mayor of Maryland and DC) and all the federal and local officials and employees who work diligently to keep us safe. Every week.

Since Episcopals are often thought as being far left looney liberals, and Baptists (especially Southern Baptists - the two churchs are located in Virginia and rural Georgia) as the party of crazed Right Wing Christianity, I am somewhat surprised by the contradiction between the churchs.

Anyway, it leaves me to wonder
Do Baptists Support America?


(I'm still on vacation)

FDR on Michael Moore?

This was Andrew Sullivan's Quote of the Day on Saturday. Reprinted in its entirety.

"But there is an added technique for weakening a nation at its very roots ... The method is simple. It is first, a dissemination of discord. A group - not too large - a group that may be sectional or racial or political - is encouraged to exploit its prejudices through false slogans and emotional appeals. The aim of those who deliberately egg on these groups is to create confusion of counsel, public indecision, political paralysis and, eventually, a state of panic. Sound national policies come to be viewed with a new and unreasoning skepticism ... As a result of these techniques, armament programs may be dangerously delayed. Singleness of national purpose may be undermined. . . . The unity of the state can be so sapped that its strength is destroyed. All this is no idle dream. It has happened time after time, in nation after nation, during the last two years." - FDR, May 26, 1940. I wonder what Roosevelt would have made of Michael Moore, don't you?

RKBA in Saudi Arabia

Its about F'ing Time. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has finally come to its senses and will allow foreigners the right to bear arms.

In principle, a citizen has the right to carry a licensed weapon, and so does the resident. If he senses danger, he can carry a personal weapon as he does in his country," Prince Nayef said late Wednesday.

I can only dream of hearing John Kerry admit to this. Of course, I don't think it should be licensed, but hey, we have to start somewhere.

Of course, the devil is in the details, and as we see often here in the States, just because an executive level of Government wants something to happen doesn't mean the bureaucrats will let it happen. This seems to be a fear in Saudi Arabia too!

"I like the concept, I think its a great idea, but I hope they implement this quickly," said Jack Smith of St. Louis, who lives in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

What's really shocking to me, is that even major corporations like ExxonMobil aren't allowed to bring in their own security forces, traditionally they had to rely on Saudis.

A Western diplomat had said some embassies and foreign companies had asked Saudi authorities to ease rules barring private security guards from carrying weapons. Nayef's comment appeared to be a response to the requests.


Under Saudi law, foreigners - even security guards - cannot have weapons, while Saudis must apply for a permit. Nayef's comments suggested foreigners would be allowed to seek permits, though he did not elaborate.

All I can say is that its about time. Now, lets see if the Saudis limit this right solely to westerners (American's and Brits) or if they allow other foreigners (and other Muslims) to carry arms. My guess is that they do not. Saudi's are notorious racists and look askew on others, including other Muslims, as beneath them. I can't image, as fearful of rebellion as they are, that they would want foreign Muslims (especially Palestinians) to be legally armed within Saudi Arabia.

Only time will tell, and with that, I return to my hiatus. Enjoy.

I'm Tired

There's not much to talk about and I am tired.

Oh, I should mention that Cheney told Pat Leahy (who refused to shake hands with me at my law school graduation) to Fuck Off.

Good for Cheney. Pat is a disgrace to the republic, and a disgrace to the legal profession.

Other than that - the handover in Iraq is imminent, the moonbats continue to complain, and the 4th branch of government (with the help of the minority party) continues to conspire to ensure America's defeat to the hands of militant islamists.

Like I said, I am tired. I'm going away for the weekend, no blogging no computer, no connection to the modern world. See you monday. Till then, I leave you with a happier song.

Rainbow Connection
Written by Paul Williams
Performed by Kermit

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
And rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it
I know they're wrong, wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it,
And look what it's done so far.
What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing
And what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
The lovers, the dreamers, and me.

All of us under its spell,
We know that it's probably magic...

... Have you been half asleep? And have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name.
... Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors?
The voice might be one and the same
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
It's something that I'm s'posed to be...
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
The lovers, the dreamers, and me.

Laa, da daa dee da daa daa,
La laa la la laa dee daa doo...

Have a great weekend. See you on Monday.

Smokin!!!!

CBS News, Amazon.Com, and McCain Feingold

So its seems that a blog you should be reading everyday Rather Biased has uncovered documentary evidence of a partnership between CBS News and the booksellerAmazon.com.

I haven't looked into all the legal implications yet, but it strikes, especially in light of the often times completly slanted CBS news coverage of President Bush lately, and the blatant attempt to push sales of books that are quite critical of him, that perhaps CBS news is teetering on losing their media exemption.

Heck, if the FCC is going to keep ads for Farenheit 9/11 that anti American rubbish by Michael Moore Fat Bastard off the air then they should certainly consider enjoining CBS news from any broadcast between now and election and election day in light of this blatantly commercial and political aspect of their broadcasts.

Of course, someone would have to file a complaint with them. Now just who might do such a thing????

God Bless The Contreras Family

New York Yankees pitcher Jose Contreras's family escaped from Cuba the other night in a damatic defection involving a run in with the Coast Guard, the beaching of their boatin shark infested waters, and a sprint to land to ensure asylum.

Miriam Murillo-Flores, the girls, her sister Yamile Murillo, and Murillo's husband, Omar Rodriguez, survived a harrowing trip across the shark-infested Florida Strait in a crowded smugglers' boat that was chased through the dark by the Coast Guard.

"What I kept thinking all the time was God, please allow us to get to the U.S. with no problems. May God protect us," she said last night in Spanish.

"I was afraid I was not going to make it," she said earlier in the day after being released by immigration officials.

"Life is very precious."

Instead of stopping, the smugglers cut their lights and ran their boat aground on Big Pine Key an hour before sunrise Monday, knowing that the Cubans would be granted asylum if they made it safely to shore.

Welcome To America!

Of course, we all know what Bill Clinton and that bitch Janet Reno would have done:

Is he JLB or Is he Not JLB

Apparently, that's the question.

John claims he's not, and since I've met John before (though not JLB) and have corresponded with both via email, I have to believe his claim that he indeed is not JLB.

Now back to our regular blogging slowdown.

Lets Change Course

The longer this fight in the middle east goes on (and these savages continue to target innocent civilians) the more I think its time we seriously re-examined out commitment and strategy to the middle east.

As Daniel Henninger wrote so eloquently last fall, on the eve of the Iraq war buildup:

Like it or not, the American superpower is going to be in the world. Isolationism isn't an option, But there are two post-9/11 Americas on offer to the world.

You can either get the benign version of the American superpower, the one that comes with American values, such as a belief in self-determination even for the wogs, a version that most likely will include continued support for institutions such as the U.N. Or, amid derision and abuse, you may get the truly realpolitik version, which will be mainly about cold-bloodedly protecting the superpower's commercial interests, and will include little or no interest in the U.N. and similar platforms. Americans are patient. But they aren't punching bags.

Put it this way: Either you can have George Bush's America ("In Iraq, we are helping the long suffering people of that country to build a decent and democratic society"). Or Dirty Harry's America ("But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya--punk?").

I'm starting to think we pull Mr. Callahan out of retirement.

Busy

Blogging will be lighter than normal today. I've got to get a report out the door and do some background research on a contaminated piece of property for someone. They need an answer by COB so, since that pays the bills and this doesn't, they take priority.

Monday Song Lyric

Yesterday was fathers day and I had a tremendous one with both my son and my father. I hope yours went just as well.

In return for all he means to me, this week's Monday Song Lyric is specifically for my son who, in addition to being cuter than your kid (I'm serious, he really is) also has the best personality in any two year old I have ever met. His favorite song? Why its Sesame Street's C Is For Cookie which we listen to every day on the wonderful Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music.


C Is For Cookie
The Cookie Monster


Now,what starts with a letter "C"?
Cookie starts with C.
Lets think of other things that starts with "C".
Uh uh...who cares about the otherthings.

"C" is for cookie
thats good enough for me
"C" is for cookie
thats good enough for me
"C" is for cookie
thats good enough for me
Oh.........cookie,cookie,cookie starts with "C".

Ohh....
"C" is for cookie
thats good enough for me
"C" is for cookie
thats good enough for me
"C" is for cookie
thats good enough for me
Oh....cookie,cookie,cookie starts with "C".

Hey,you know what?
A round cookie with one bit out of it looks like a "C",
A round donut with one bit out of it also looks like a "C",
but its it not as good as a cookie!
And oh the moon sometimes looks like a "C" but you cant eat that

Sooooooooooooo.........

C....is for cookie
thats good enough for me...Yeah!
C....is for cookie
thats good enough for me
C....is for cookie
thats good enough for me
Oh....cookie,cookie,cookie starts with "C"...Yeah!
Cookie,cookie,cookie starts with "C".AH BOY!
Cookie,cookie,cookie starts with "C.............."!

MmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmM...

Supersize Me

Glenn Reynolds posted a review of Supersize Meearlier today.

The movie has an interesting premise, but as CEI fellow Soso Whaley shows in her one month journey of eating nothing but Mickey D's its just junk science. John Stossell's Give Me A Break is going to discuss her diet over that time and how by making informed menu choices - like not supersizing her order - she was able to lose not only 10 pounds but drop her cholesteral as well.

The CEI web page has pdfs of all her receipts and calculations of the calories involved. Good reading.

Biotech on Steroids

Surprisingly, Glenn Reynolds hasn't covered this today, though he did discuss the nanotechnology bubble the other day.

The Wall Street Journal has a front page story today on the surge of nanotechnology patent filings. Its a subscription only link, but as I said before, pick up a copy of the paper - its the best $1.50 you will invest today.

But the intensifying race to file patent applications has sparked concern that a proliferation of patents, especially broadly defined ones, could hobble innovation and produce a thicket of conflicting legal claims that could eventually drive up costs for consumers. In addition, the combination of scant products to date and surging investor interest raises fears of another high-tech bubble.

At stake is control over innovations that could have wide-ranging applications in the computing, defense and energy sectors. "It's the culmination of the historical miniaturization of many technologies," says Thomas Theis, director of physical science research at International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, N.Y. "This will only happen once."

Its quite an interesting read and discusses, among other items, the wealthy range of uses for nanotechnology. For instance, while IBM and other computer makers owned the most patent applications other users like GM and Levis Strauss are also fairly active in technology development.

General Motors Corp. says it will use 540,000 pounds of nanocomposite resins this year in the body of autos like the Chevy Impala. Levi Strauss & Co. sells stain-proof "nano-pants" in its Dockers khaki line impregnated with water-resistant molecules.

Of course, as Glenn discussed, with all this activity comes overhyped expectations, especially the kind that can lead to unsustainable internet like bubbles and an explosive new round of IP related lawsuits (which we also saw during the internet boom).

Experts predict that nanotechnology could rival information technology as an economic driver, but some observers point out key differences. Many seminal inventions in software and computing were freely licensed or not patented at all, notes Ted Sabety, of Sabety + Associates, a legal and consulting firm in New York. By comparison, U.S. universities and companies now patent far more aggressively, and courts are more likely to find competitors guilty of patent infringement.

I've just got to wonder though, by placing warnings far into a major front page article, is the Journal going to take a role as an active contributor to a coming boom and the overhyped expectations that sustain them?

"It's like biotech on steroids," says Charles Wieland, an attorney with law firm Burns Doane Swecker and Mathis LLP in Alexandria, Va.

Indeed it is. Indeed it is.

Debunking Times

Well, the New York Times has been taking a bit of heat lately for its misreporting on the September 11 Commissions report. The Times best defense is that headlines can never really tell the whole truth and are writtened seperatly from the underlying article. As a result, in my opinion, its not uncommon (though nevertheless inapproriate) for a headline to say one thing and the underlying story to say something else. Hence the saying - don't judge a book by its cover.

However, that defense doesn't apply to this story on a McCain Bush appearance at Ft. Lewis, Washington

Interviews with soldiers and their spouses here suggested that while morale is intact, many soldiers have questions about the mission. Some are headed out for second tours of duty in Iraq.

``As a private citizen, I'm happy with what he's doing,'' said Sgt. Kenneth Krook, a member of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, which could be called to Iraq soon. ``As a soldier ... I'm basically supposed to do what they tell me to.''

Maybe its me, but how in anyway is Sgt. Krook's statement indicative of "many soldiers" having questions about the mission???

Communists

The other day I mentioned how both Country Joe and Eric Alterman are distancing themselves from communists.

I wonder if they will also distance themselves from the Kerry Campaign, which seems to enjoy hiring communists, like their Director of Religious outreach Mara Vanderslice.

Miss Vanderslice, 29, grew up Unitarian in Boulder, Colo., then attended Earlham College, a Quaker institution in Richmond, Ind.
She joined a college socialist group, majored in peace and global studies, and graduated in 1997. After interning for a year at Sojourners, a liberal evangelical magazine in the District, she joined the Jubilee USA Network, a D.C.-based group that campaigns for Third World debt relief.
What Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, found especially problematic was Miss Vanderslice's presence at a violent December 2000 rally in Seattle against the International Monetary Fund and a similar protest in September 2002 in the District against the IMF and the World Bank.
In articles on the protests, the Boston Globe identified her as an organizer and the Denver Post quoted her plans to take part in civil disobedience in order to shut down the IMF meeting in the District.
"What you get here is a profile of a woman on the far left and whose commitment to Christian organizations is connected to the most left-wing groups in the United States," Mr. Donohue said.
"This choice either suggests an incredible naivete or a very nonchalant attitude" by the Kerry campaign, he said.

At least Kerry seems to be aware of the political problems that arise from these kinds of advisors.

The campaign began to marginalize Miss Vanderslice when the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights mounted a public campaign against her, saying she spoke at a rally co-sponsored by the homosexual group AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (Act-Up) and should be "working for Fidel Castro."

. . .

The campaign is in "panic mode" because of the attacks, said Amy Sullivan, a specialist on religion and the Democratic Party who gave a galvanizing speech last fall at a Democratic Leadership Council forum in Atlanta called "God, Guns and Guts."
Plans were, said Miss Sullivan, for the campaign to assemble a "people of faith" page for the Kerry Web site, at which point Miss Vanderslice was to be announced as the contact person.
But with Miss Vanderslice not being allowed near the press, "They have no one in their communications shop who is conversant in religion," she said.

I find the fact that no one in the Kerry Campaign is even marginally conversant in the religous issues that bind this nation together to be incredibly disturbing.

USS Clueless

I was aware the blog existed, by name, but had never visited it.

Turns out, Steven Debdeste blogs about energy issues. Thats cool. That means I can safely read his blog from work.

And follow the links, cause I don't know where they are taking me and what kind of useful info I might find there.

Countertop Chronicles - The Trashy Gossip Edition

Thats what it seems I am becomeing.

Did you know Britney Spears might be enaged again? Neither did I, but Page Six has the details.

I also didn't know, or care, that she hurt her leg, but again, Page Six has the details.

I did know that she was a big girl though - I never quite understood the attraction cause she always seemed "pudgy" to me, and not in a shapely he Who Shall Not Be Named kind of way, but rather in a "I am really a Porker using tricky camera angles to hide the pork." Not that there is anything wrong with the, of course.

Why do I comment on all of this - because snarky comments are a fav. And they don't get better than Dick Johnson's

"She is a big girl anyway," said one record industry executive. "She is prone to gaining weight and likes her junk food. Being on the tour with all of the dancing was keeping a lot of the weight off, but now that she's going to be on crutches for a while, people are worried she will balloon up."

Zelnick said Britney "will be taking a couple weeks off of her leg, but she is walking on crutches and will continue to remain in good shape with the help of physical therapy."

We're sure Federline will help give her a good workout too.

Ouch! That hurts, real goooood. No Wonder Britney wears clothes like this:

The Fat Lady Starts Humming A Few Bars

I Hate Michael Eisner. For lots of reasons.

That's why I like news like this.

Disney, the movie studio that can't buy a break these days, is about to have a very bad weekend.

Their big new $100 million-plus movie, "Around the World in 80 Days," opened on Wednesday to very little interest. Its take was about $1.5 million on over 2,700 screens.

Na Na Na Na,
Na Na Na Na
Hey Hey Hey
Good - Bye

The question is: How long can Disney's Michael Eisner continue to function this way? He's in public wars with Miramax and Pixar, the only Disney theatrical divisions that supply him with movies the public wants to see.

Without those two satellites, Disney is simply a company that no longer thrives on animated features and distributes live-action films that are piling up like so much detritus.

Not that I like Miramax, but as they say - the enemy of your enemy is a friend - at least for today.

Na Na Na Na,
Na Na Na Na
Hey Hey Hey
Good - Bye

Busy

I'll be back later today or this weekend.

Check out the folks on my blogroll.

Monday Song Lyric - late

Well, its about 96 hours late.

Get over it. Thats Rock and Roll for you. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you eventually show up. Be loud. Be outrageous. Be drunk. Be Bad. Just show up and don't bore the audience.

I've always thought too many rockers take themselves way to seriously, like Sting and his enviro loon politics. Sure the guy is a great musician (seeing him perform at Royal Albert Hall is still one of the concert highlights of my life - though it pales in comparison to Clapton's performance a couple of weeks earlier) but he should be angrier. His recent songs have left a lot to be desired because they are about weird left wing political dilusions and not sex (especially the tantric kind) drugs or rock and roll.

Sting of course, isn't the only washed up old rocker who see's himself as a modern day left wing Trotskyite. Peter Garrett, the Bull Shannon like lead singer of 80s Australian rock band Midnight Oil also fancies himself something of a revolutionary, seeking out a seat in the Australian Parliament, as Juan Non Volokh discussed in this weeks version of the Sunday Song Lyric (the original and still the best).

Thankfully though, rock stars with no greater ambition than to just rock out still exist. Take for instance the members of Velvet Revolver. Consisting of the talent from the original Guns N Roses (guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum) and the top candidate to replace Keith Richards as most surprising rock star to still be alive, Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland


As Rolling Stone said in its 4 star review of their long awaited debut album Contaband(which returned Rock and Roll to the Top of the Billboard Charts)

Contraband is, in fact, tighter and hotter in construction and attack than we had any right to expect from a band that started out auditioning vocalists while being filmed for a VH1 reality show. Weiland and the emeritus Gunners are not shy about flashing pedigree: "Sucker Train Blues" opens the album with zooming-underwater bass, pneumatic gallop and flying chunks of superfuzz guitar -- Appetite for Destruction in miniature -- while Weiland pulls out his police-bullhorn-style bark from STP's "Sex Type Thing." But the chorus harmonies are closer to dirty Def Leppard, and Weiland's searing, monotonic chant - more evil monk than howling wolf - takes you right to the center of his very public hell: "Brain and body melting while there's roaches multiplying/It's the alien infection, it's the coming of Christ." For a guy routinely lampooned as a walking rehab failure, Weiland nails the sweet selfish oblivion and dumb-ass self-destruction of addiction with explosive clarity and no jive excuses.

Slither, the lead single may be the top song in the nation right now, but Sucker Train Blues rocks as hard and straightforward as any song released since 1987's Appetite For Destruction changed American music.

Sucker Train Blues
Lyrics by Scott Weiland
Music by Velvet Revolver

Hands are shakin got your finger on the trigger
Jesus ain't complainin gonna figure it out
Somebody raped my tapeworm abortion
Come on motherfuckers and deliver the cow

Brain and body melting while there's roaches multiplying
It's the alien infection it's the coming of Christ
All these sentimental halos and these consequential angels
When I'm runnin with the devil don't deliver the fight

Don't look at me now
Fell too fast your wings won't hold
Don't look at me now
Fell too fast your wings won't hold

Yeah and when I want to
Yeah I will find you
Yeah and when I want to
Yeah I will blind you

Brains are frying while the kings and queens are dying
Satan won the race and the miracle mile
Somebody raped my tapeworm abortion
Come on mothertuckers and deliver the cow
It's all over me now
Let me go, let me go, let me go
What's come over me now
Let me go, let me go, let me go
It's all over me now
Let me go, let me go, let me go
What's come over me now

Johnny sat down beside the old oak tree
Cut off his hand what did he see
All of the animals are dead
The rats have crawled through his house and out through their head
One of them ate a hole in the sky
To believe this would be a fate worse than dying

Since I missed last weeks Monday Song Lyric as well, here is a second cut off Contraband. Headspace sounds like vintage mid 90s STP with an overcharged rythym section. Its all about mental free will, and for that deserves a place in any libertarians musical collection.

Headspace
Lyrics by Scott Weiland
Music by Velvet Revolver

Me
I'm a man
Who is trudging
Best I can
Through a minefield
Built to blast
Can I make it
Will I last

Free my mind, levitate
Don't let any of those fuckers in my headspace

Please
Let me be
No more questions
No more needs
You're the cancer
You're the leech
Sent to bleed me
Of disease

Free my mind, levitate
Don't let any of those fuckers in my headspace
Let me go my own way
Burn the rest of them that try to keep me enchained

Living taking chances
Isn't all that it's meant to be
Dying with your face on
A t-shirt isn't all that original

Me
I'm the man
Will I make it
Will I last

Volokh Conspiracy

If you don't know about Prof. Eugene Volokh's great legal blog then you must have been hiding in a cave in Pakistan for the past couple of years (or your not a lawyer). In any case, if you don't visit, go check out the Volokh Conspiracy now. Good stuff. Trust Me.

The Gold Standard

Some people find it boring and would rather read about sex, but if your inclinded to learn more about the gold standard than I bet you knew before, head on over to The Crease and let John educate you.

Man With Snake Walks Into A Bar...

Drudge is linking to a Smoking Gun story about a guy throwing a rattlesnake into a bar.

Its a bit erie for me because I sort of hijacked a thread over at The High Road on unusual hobbies to discuss the private ownership of venomous snakes. Seems there is a relativly lively private market in these things, and while some states require some licensing of them, others do not. That troubles me, and my belief that the rights to ownership of a snake is different from ownership of a firearm has caused some concern there.

Anyway, for more info I would recommend checking the thread out as well as these two snake sellers - Cobra Man and Exotics R Us.

For what its worth, this is what Exotics R Us is currently selling. Cobra Man has an even more impressive selection.

BORNEO TREE VIPERS $75.00
East African Green Mambas (CB) $150.00
c.b. EASTERN DIAMONDBACK babies $75.00
EGYPTIAN COBRAS $100.00
INDIAN BLUE KRAITS $175.00
MONOCLED COBRAS $135.00
RED NECK SPITTING COBRAS (CB) $55.00
WHITE LIPPED TREE VIPERS $35.00

Daniel Snyder and the Redskins

I am a New York Giants fan.

Or to put it more precisly - I am a New York Giants, Yankees, Rangers fan (others are Jets, Mets, Islanders/Devil). I was born and raised in Northern New Jersey and my family all lives in the New York Metropolitan area. However, living in the D.C. area its impossible to not get caught up in the hubbub surounding the Redskins. Since I like Football, when I moved here permanently in 1998 I decided to put my name on the list for Redskins tickets. I've been on for a number of years and don't expect to hear from them for a number more.

Well, an arlington teacher who put her name on the list in 1996 just heard back from the Redskins.

I'm not gonna tell you what they told her, but its simply one more reason for James to Hate D.C.

The Spirit of Community Service

From the same mind that brought you the ever popular Guns and Butter story comes a heartwarming tale of a florist, his barber, and a pair of scissors.

Down With Communists

Glenn Reynolds is reporting that both Country Joe and Eric Alterman are disassociating themselves from communism. This is good news. Now lets see if they mean it, by also disassociating themselves from ANSWER, Nancy Pelosi, Noam Chomsky, and Howard Zinn for starters. Heck, while they are at it, how about disassociating themselves from everyone on this page.

The Goodbye Look from the album The Nightfly by Donald Fagen
Do It for the Kids from the album Contraband by Velvet Revolver

Jessica Simpson's A Lesbian

If you can make it past the new, ultra sucky, Foxnews page, you'll find this intriguing story on trouble in the happy little perfect television world of Jessica Simpson and Nick something or other.

"In one episode, he goes into the bathroom and finds a picture next to Jessica's tub," says the show's producer, Rod Aissa.

"You'd figure it's a picture of him and Jessica, but he picks it up, and it's actually Jessica and CaCee."

Yes, thats right. Turns out that Jessica isn't just a hot little ultra dumb blonde. She is also a dyke!!!!
If she couldn't get on the Howard Stern Show before, this is certain to secure her a plug.

But wait, it gets better.

The dumb blonde exploits grow even zanier than Jessica famously asking if Chicken of the Sea Tuna was Chicken.

The third season of the "Newlyweds" will be full of more sure-to-be-famous Jessica non sequiturs -- including, in the first episode, her asking if male ballet dancers are called "ballerinos."

Just great. Oh I can't wait. . . . . .to get rid of my TV!

Felons In The White House

Thats what it looked like the libertarian party was supporting when Michael Badnarik made "tax protester" Doug Kenline one of his top aides.

Thanks to John Tant's comprehensive debunking of Mr. Kenline, it appears that he has seen the light and will try to pay his outstanding tax bill.

The Libertarians should still dump both of these clowns (full disclosure - I voted for Andre Marrou in 1992 and Harry Browne in 1996) but at least this years ticket will be slightly less embarassing than it was looking like.

Energy Week Day

It was supposed to be Energy Week on the hill here in D.C. Instead, we are facing simply energy day in which the House will once again try to vote on the stalled Energy Bill and a number of other provisions.

One of them, intended to reduce gosline prices, will allow for the temporary easing of costly and supply hindering fuel formulation regulations in the case of a major supply disruption as was seen in out West last year when a pipeline ruptured and left Phoenix without any gas.

Not surprisingly, enviro's and their allies don't like this idea. The would rather strangle the nation and make it easier for Al Quaeda to take us down.

The Washington Post has a very telling editorial on a number of the provisions the House is considering

Environmentalists dislike all three, because they would streamline current environmental regulations

Yep folks, thats all you really need to know right there. They don't care about the real impacts on the environment. They don't care about the shape of the economy or letting middle class families afford to take vacations this year. They don't care if people can't afford to drive to work or if employers can't afford to manufacture their products.

No, enviro's and their Donk hanger ons only care about making the system as costly and confusing as possible, better to keep their slimy anti American paws in it. They should hang their heads in shame. Coming off the celebration of Reagan and all he stood for last week, I know the House will do the right thing.

Lets hope the Senate has the balls to as well.

Austin Country Limits

Fletch, of the deceased Smokey Mountain Journal, is back up again at Austin Country Limits.

Welcome back, Fletch!!

Our Worst Fears Realized

Read Victor Davis Hanson's latest piece and shudder as you wake up in terror to the truths that are now before us as Western Civilization continues to lose the fight with a despotic middle east tyranny.

It was hard for the Islamic fascists to find ideological support in the West, given their agenda of gender apartheid, homophobia, religious persecution, racial hatred, fundamentalism, polygamy, and primordial barbarism. But they sensed that there has always been a current of self-loathing among the comfortable Western elite, a perennial search for victims of racism, economic oppression, colonialism, and Christianity. Bin Laden's followers weren't white; they were sometimes poor; they inhabited of former British and French colonies; and they weren't exactly followers of the no-nonsense Pope or Jerry Falwell. If anyone doubts the nexus between right-wing Middle Eastern fascism and left-wing academic faddishness, go to booths in the Free Speech area at Berkeley or see what European elites have said and done for Hamas. Middle Eastern fascist killers enshrined as victims alongside our own oppressed? That has been gospel in our universities for the last three decades.

What's So Wrong With Interrogation?

The Washington Post is reporting that:

A Somali native living in Ohio has been charged with plotting with other al Qaeda operatives to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.

Gee, I wonder what would have happened if we listened to the moonbats in the looney left and the Red Cross in deciding how to get information out of these animals.

The four-count indictment, returned by a grand jury in Columbus, Ohio, charges that Nuradin Abdi, 32, conspired with admitted al Qaeda member Iyman Faris and others to detonate a bomb at the unidentified shopping mall after he obtained military-style training in Ethiopia.

His friends ain't too nice either.

Faris is serving a 20-year federal sentence after pleading guilty last June to providing material support to al Qaeda. Faris, an Ohio-based truck driver originally from Kashmir, admitted plotting to sever the cables supporting the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and to derail trains in New York or Washington.

Neither of those plots came to fruition.

Faris had received instructions from top al Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed for what might have been a second wave of attacks to follow those of Sept. 11, 2001, investigators say. Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the hijackings, is in U.S. custody at an undisclosed overseas location.

Of course, as you can guess, Al Queada Bullshit Channel (ABC) isn't too pleased with the methods of interrogations we've used on these pieces of scum. Neither, apparently, is the AP.

Agency interrogators used a tactic known as "water boarding" on terrorism suspect Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a tactic in which a strapped-down prisoner is pushed under water, making him believe he might drown, the Times reported. Mohammed is believed to have helped plan the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"We have blunder after blunder after blunder," Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., said this morning on NBCÂ’s "Today" show.

"We have to know the climate, the atmosphere, who gave the green light for the violation of the Geneva Conventions" on treatment of prisoners of war, Kennedy said.

Does this mean that notorious Kerry Campaign Fluffer Teddy Kennedy is complaining that we've stopped these attacks? Or is he simply willing to blow the nation's security future away in an attempt to elect his John. (I'll post the appropriate picture later)

apparently, MSNBC and the New York Times are:

The interrogation tactics are intended to simulate torture, but officials told the New York Times that they are supposed to stop short of serious injury. Such authorized measures include hooding, roughing up, soaking with water, and depriving prisoners of food, light, and medications.

In one case, an alleged planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was strapped down, pushed under water and made to believe he would drown — a technique known as "water boarding," the paper said.

Counterterrorism officials reportedly said that the methods used by the CIA are so harsh that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned its agents not to participate in the interrogations of high-level detainees — the techniques employed by the CIA would be prohibited in criminal cases and could compromise FBI agents in future cases.

The agency has so far not allowed any independent observer or human rights group access to top al-Qaida prisoners.

So?????? Let us remind ourselves what we are facing here again. And this time, they are trying to strike at the heartland, not a cosmopolitan city on our border that is otherwise filled with danger and somewhat prepared for an attack.
Gary Taustine, Image #2216, The September 11 Digital Archive, 10 September 2003,


More later.

Greetings to everyone coming on over from Reason's Hit and Run. Please feel free to peruse the site and offer any suggestions. You can go to the main page here.

Gun Porn

The latest object of my affection



Caliber: .44 Magnum®/.44 S&W Special
Capacity: 6 Rounds
Barrel Length: 5"
Front Sight: Patridge Sight
Rear Sight: Adjustable White Outline
Firing System: N/A
Grip: Hogue Rubber
Trigger: .400" Smooth Target
Hammer: .500" Target
External Safety: N/A
Frame: Large
Finish: Satin Stainless
Overall length: 10-1/2"
Material: Stainless Steel
Weight Empty: 45.5 ounces


I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?

What's Wrong With Modern Art

Everything that is so so so wrong with the whole Jeffery Koons, Damien Hirst, Bill Viola (though in truth some of Viola's stuff is pretty neat to look at) schools of modern art are summed up in a New York Times Magazine article this morning.

Fraser's videotape ''Untitled'' (2003) was scheduled to go on view at the Friedrich Petzel Gallery in Chelsea on June 10. In it, the artist is seen having sex in what some have characterized coyly as ''every imaginable position,'' with an unidentified American collector who paid close to $20,000 to participate in this curious 60-minute work of art.

. . .

For Fraser, ''Untitled'' was, she explained, ''not a literalization of what is, in fact, a very old metaphor, that selling art is prostitution,'' a point that was made with pithy precision by Baudelaire. ''This is not 'Indecent Proposal,''' Fraser added quickly. And it is not -- or not quite.

Uuuh yeah. Right.

When the wife was at art school, one of the things that drove both of us so nuts was the utter lack of skill or artistic ability displayed by so many of her peers. My wife has been painting in oils since she was 5 and has dedicated years to mastering her craft. Throughout art school, she would experiment with various techniques and new forms of art. In each, prior to undertaking a major work she would do extensive research on past works using those mediums and spend countless hours practicing her techniques and working on studies for the final piece. Invariably (and against my wishes) she would destroy the studies because they embarrassed her and weren't intended for mass viewing. Yet, her peers who didn't spend nearly the time she did would simply paint a half ass nude picture (with their lack of basic drawing skills shinning through) or do a nude self portrait to the praise and admiration of all their professors.

This was something she encountered everywhere she has studied - Tennessee, Rhode Island, London, D.C. She never studied in New York, but having grown up there, I doubt the experience would be different.

Now we have the New York Times magazine making this talentless hookers art career, and undoubtably sending the value of her previous and future crap through the roof. It is nauseating. Why not just purchase the latest from Vivid (definately not work safe) for $39.95? I just don't see the art in any of it.

The Way You Move from the album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by OutKast & Sleepy Brown

When You Got a Good Friend from the album Me and Mr. Johnson by Eric Clapton

Zero from the album Greatest Hits by Smashing Pumpkins

Do You Realize?? from the album Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips

Oh! You Pretty Things from the album Hunky Dory by David Bowie

Zoo Station from the album Achtung Baby by U2

Jackin Off John

The New York Times in in Full On jerking off mood today, masterbating John Kerry like there is no tomorrow.

Like a caged hamster, Senator John Kerry is restless on the road. He pokes at the perimeter of the campaign bubble that envelops him, constantly trying to break out for a walk around the block, a restaurant dinner, the latest movie.

Yeah, a caged hamster. Right.

He is a relentless polisher, going over and over even well-worn sections of his stump speech until moments before delivery.

Noted.

At 60, Mr. Kerry is an avid and able athlete, though he sometimes seems physically awkward, with custom-made clothes hanging off his lanky frame as he pumps a fist at rallies. A former prosecutor, he employs a Socratic style in policy talks with aides and advisers, though he rarely goes beyond chitchat in conversations that could be caught on camera.

His formal statements are filled with multisyllabic upper-crust phrasing; his campaign had an intern whose main responsibility was to look up all the unfamiliar words Mr. Kerry uttered; but one on one, he calls strangers "man" or "brother." He is careful to use people's names; he has interrupted himself more than once to introduce sign-language interpretations; yet he rarely remembers them.

And where former President Bill Clinton plays cards and President Bush turns to the treadmill, Senator Kerry strums his Spanish classical guitar in a kind of musical meditation. Lately, in the private front cabin of his campaign plane, he has been learning a new (old) song, "This Land Is Your Land."

"He's a weird mix of both the very refined taste of elite schools and all that but also eating Hostess cupcakes and watching dumb comedies on TV," observed Andrei Cherny, who spent more than a year as Mr. Kerry's chief speechwriter and now works for the Democratic National Committee. "It's sort of a mix of those two things: Up on pop culture more than most people running for president; at the same time, he's read all these books by people whose names I can't pronounce."

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who has both relaxed with Mr. Kerry on the beaches of Cape Cod and campaigned with him in a working friendship spanning 30 years, said, "An awful lot of what appears to be standoffish is a sort of shyness in him."

Mr. Kerry is anything but simple and straightforward, a man of many sides and surprises, some seemingly contradictory.

I understand. Yes, I see it all now. Jodi Wilgoren must have swallowed buckets of Mr. Kerry's special campaign sauce to buy into this crap so completely.

Bust from the album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by OutKast & Killer Mike

Paradise City from the album Greatest Hits by Guns N' Roses

Good Grief from the album Foo Fighters by Foo Fighters

Commies in the neighborhood

After dropping the wife off at work this morning, the son and I went to the playground and then stopped off at an estate sale on the way back home. I enjoy going to estate sales because you never know what treasures you will find. The selections are invariably better than at a yard sale (where someone is just selling junk). Anyway, I am looking for guns, like I usually am, and this time they had none (the women holding it was a single liberal retiring to Florida - not a true estate sale. Anyway, afterwards, we continued on and saw a yard sale advertised two blocks from our home in McLean, VA so we drove by.

Now, you have to understand, that our typical suburban assualt SUV is festooned with Bush/Cheney stickers, a Vietnam Veterans Against John Fonda Kerry bumper sticker and other assorted right wing pro NRA stickers. As we pulled up to the yard sale, the first thing I notice is a Fonda Fuckface yard sign. As we get out and walk around, I notice other things.

Communist propoganda
Long Haired Hippy Freak husband
Hot short blonde haired hippy freak liberal wife with big luscious blow job lips wearing disgusting liberal "Trade Free Zone" T-Shirt. WTF???
progressive this, socialist that pins, buttons, and T-Shirts

Ugh! I am getting nauseated looking at all this stuff. Lots of batik shirts and bongo drums and crappy old stereo equipment. As I am getting ready to turn around and leave, Long Haired Hippy Freak hubby and Hot hippy wife walk up to me to see if they can help me find some red army propoganda. As they talk to me, they are somewhat friendly at first. I am a bit taken back since I am wearing an ARMY gray running shirt (from my father in law) and wearing a khaki GOP Convention 2000 baseball cap (from National Beer Wholesalers Assoc.) when it dawns on me, they must see my peace pin on the hat.

Yep thats it. They think I am making some leftist statement by wearing a peace pin along with my pro military and pro Bush clothing. Then they get closer and actually read the small print Peace Through Superior Firepower and the look of disgust that washes over their face will entertain me through the rest of the summer.

I told them I didn't need anything and left. I wish I had asked them if they had any guns for sale. I might go back.

• G-Song from the album In It for the Money by Supergrass


• Jailhouse Rock from the album Elvis: 30 #1 Hits by Elvis Presley


• (You're The) Devil in Disguise from the album Elvis: 30 #1 Hits by Elvis Presley


• Hell Hound on My Trail from the album Me and Mr. Johnson by Eric Clapton


• Black Hole Sun from the album A-Sides by Soundgarden


• Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love from the album Van Halen by Van Halen


• Unchained from the album The Best of Van Halen, Vol. 1 by Van Halen

Lech Walesa on Reagan

From JLB at The-Crease

Poles fought for their freedom for so many years that they hold in special esteem those who backed them in their struggle. Support was the test of friendship. President Reagan was such a friend. His policy of aiding democratic movements in Central and Eastern Europe in the dark days of the Cold War meant a lot to us. We knew he believed in a few simple principles such as human rights, democracy and civil society. He was someone who was convinced that the citizen is not for the state, but vice-versa, and that freedom is an innate right.

I often wondered why Ronald Reagan did this, taking the risks he did, in supporting us at Solidarity, as well as dissident movements in other countries behind the Iron Curtain, while pushing a defense buildup that pushed the Soviet economy over the brink. Let's remember that it was a time of recession in the U.S. and a time when the American public was more interested in their own domestic affairs. It took a leader with a vision to convince them that there are greater things worth fighting for. Did he seek any profit in such a policy? Though our freedom movements were in line with the foreign policy of the United States, I doubt it.

I distinguish between two kinds of politicians. There are those who view politics as a tactical game, a game in which they do not reveal any individuality, in which they lose their own face. There are, however, leaders for whom politics is a means of defending and furthering values. For them, it is a moral pursuit. They do so because the values they cherish are endangered. They're convinced that there are values worth living for, and even values worth dying for. Otherwise they would consider their life and work pointless. Only such politicians are great politicians and Ronald Reagan was one of them.

2:1 from the album Elastica by Elastica
Please Love Me (Regal Theatre) from the album Live at the Regal by B.B. King

New Bloggin Software

I'm testing out a new blogging client, Ecto, that I downloaded the other day. It works with blogger and should be the answer to many of my problems. If it works well, look for drastic changes here. if not, well then, its back to where we've been.

Thanks to Reactuate, a pretty good blog I just discovered, for the assistance.

What's the coolest feature about Ecto? Other than that its designed for Mac OS.X?
It automatically lists what I'm listening to. How cool????

Its also gonna let me construct categories too.

Weather Report Suite: Prelude / Part 1 / Part 2: Let It Grow from the album Wake of the Flood by Grateful Dead

Nancy Reagan

Jeff at Alphecca posted these thoughtful words. I wish I had thought of them first. Thanks Jeff for your continued clarity and insight and Thanks Nancy for all you've done to tend to a true American hero.

Let me just say something about the wonderful Nancy Reagan, his wife. She has protected and cared for the love of her life for over fifty years of marriage, but especially for the last ten years as Ronald succumbed to his terrible affliction. And then, on his death, she -- no doubt wanting only to be able to grieve alone for her (and our) loss -- had to somehow find the strength to stand tall, with dignity and poise, always under the glare of non-stop media, somehow to make it through what must surely have been the longest, saddest week of her life.

Almighty God, please give Nancy Reagan the peace-of-mind and comfort she needs at this moment. Please, now that Ronald Reagan has been buried, keep the relentless press, the endless lenses away from her so she can finally grieve by herself. Give her solace and let her know that we all love and admire her and only wish for her some sort of happiness, or at least release, in her remaining years.

Would everybody please just leave her alone now? God bless you Nancy Reagan. May He put his great and mighty arm around you and afford you some of the protection and comfort such as you had been providing for your husband for so long.

Ronald Wilson Reagan

We will always remember. We will always be proud.
We will always be prepared, so we may always be free

Thank You Mr. President for all you've done.

This drink is on me.



RIP
Ronald Wilson Reagan
1911-2004

Rating America's President's

Jim Taranto, editor of the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web column is publishing a book today that ranks each of America's presidents. There is a great page of excerpts from it in which they relate these nice words about Bill Clinton

Paul Johnson on Bill Clinton: 'Most of Clinton's time and energy as president were spent not on policy or executive activity but in defending himself against accusations. . . . This had one outstanding virtue. It turned the Clinton years into one of the longest periods of laissez-faire in U.S. history. If Clinton had been a continent man, and so with time to be an activist president, the consequences would almost certainly have been disastrous for the American economy. As it was, with the president busy elsewhere, the nation thrived mightily, as always when the White House does nothing.'

Wictory Wedensday

Ronald Reagan, as many know, was not only the greatest President of the 20th Century and the greatest Californian governor of the 20th century, as well as a damn fine actor and longtime spokesman for General Electric, he was also the head of the Screen Actors Guild during the turbulent 50s when communists were literally threatening to overtake Hollywood and America. Reagan, at first, didn't know much about communism and at the time was a committed democrat. But, as he all too quickly learned, the red threat was real (especially in Hollywood) and he soon embarked on a campaign to rid America of its socialist and communist enemies. For this, the liberal left and hollywood/media establishement has forever resented him. For this, America discovered a great leader and a great warrior who eventually defeated the evil communist empire.

However, that defeat was not complete. The last vestiges of communism did not die out. Rather, communism lives on in Cuba, in name only in China, and in the modern day Democrat party where the minority leader in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is an avowed socialist. It is also present in the looney left that continues to shape the media debate within our nation. Most troubling, it is the foundation behind the Presidential Candidacy of John Fuckface Fonda Kerry, the most disturbing democratic presidential nominee in a generation.

Yesterday was Wictory Wednesday. Every Wednesday, scores of bloggers ask their readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush 2004 campaign.

This week, make those donations and volunteer your time in honor of a great American, Ronald Reagan, as we continue, with George W. Bush, to stamp out the last remanants of evil in the world and defeat commmunism, in the form of John Fuck Face Kerry and Nancy Pelosi once more.

If you're a blogger, you can join Wictory Wednesdays simply by putting up a post like this one every Wednesday, asking your readers to volunteer and/or donate to the Bush campaign. And then e-mail wictory@blogsforbush.com so that you'll be added to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll, which will be part of the Wictory Wednesday post on all participating blogs:

Glock Holster Recall

Since I am a Glock carrier (G-23 thank you) when I saw this recall on Fox News I was a bit disturbed, though after looking at pictures of the holster, it leads me to ask the simple questions

WTF?!?!?!?!

Yep, the fear is that the trigger guard can cause the trigger to relese and fire unintentionally. Sure looks like it could happen to me. Who the hell designed this dumb holster???

I use the Comp Tac shirt tucker, and recommend that you do to!

A Great Reagan Legacy Project

Yahoo is reporting that Baghdad is set to have the largest U.S. embassy in the world when its completed with 900 U.S. officials stationed there and another 600-700 Iraqi workers.

I say name the building the Ronald Reagan Legacy of Freedom Building.

Ronald Reagan Legacy Project

Here's some more information on the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project that Grover Nordquist is heading up.

According to the RRLP Dr. Martin Luther King has between 800 and 1000 memorials in his name while JFK has between 600 and 700. Ronald Reagan, easily one of the two most important presidents (if not the most important president) of the 20th century deserves as much.

American For Tax Reform has put out an excellent list of suggestions to preserve Ronald Reagan's legacy

1. Call your Governor and request that Friday, June 11 be declared an official day of mourning in your state.
2. Call you state legislator and request that he or she support resolutions honoring president Reagan, and supporting his image on the $10 bill.
3. Call your Senators and Congressmen and express your support for President Reagan on the $10 bill. The Capitol switchboard number is: (202) 224-3121.
4. Look for possible dedications in your area. Submit them to the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project website at http://www.reaganlegacy.org
5. Sign up for more information about the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project at the Americans for Tax Reform (the RRLP's parent organization) website at http://www.atr.org/join

I urge you to check the whole list out. It has a number of other suggestions - for people from Congressmen and Senators down to school board members.

Of course, the effort to put Reagan's Image on the $10 bill is not something new. As far back as February of 2001 the New York Times had an article on the effort.

The biggest supporter of Reagan-on-Rushmore is Grover G. Norquist, chairman of the Reagan Legacy Project and perhaps best known for persuading Congress in 1998 to rename Washington National Airport after the former president.

A new Rushmore face would take a similar act of Congress, and Mr. Norquist is spoiling for a fight soon. But, for now, he is pushing for a less uphill commemoration: putting Mr. Reagan on the $10 bill.

True, there's somebody already on the bill, Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury and the most prominent author of the Federalist Papers. But Mr. Norquist reasons that Hamilton being a member of a defunct political party, his partisans are easier to defeat. On the other hand, Andrew Jackson, of the $20 bill, was a Democrat and Indian fighter.

What Mr. Norquist really looks forward to is embarrassing his opposite numbers. "Can you imagine," Mr. Norquist asked, "how petty those little partisan Democrats would look opposing a bill" honoring Reagan?

Heck, I say yes. Lets put Reagan on the $10 and on Mt. Rushmore!!!!

Not surprisingly, at least one commie bitch bureaucrat seem to think otherwise.

“Paper currency is never changed because of aesthetic consideration,” said Darlene Anderson, the spokeswoman for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. “Paper money is only changed to deter counterfeiting.”

Anderson noted that the image on a bill of any denomination hasn’t been changed for aesthetic reasons since 1929.

She's not that dumb though, and can probably see the writing on the wall.

“That’s not to say that it won’t happen,” Anderson said. “The main goal is to prevent notes from being counterfeited. So far, the secretary has the sole decision as to whose image appears on U.S. currency.”

I guess she hasn't read the constitution. Regardless, her opinons matter little

Norquist said he has discussed putting Reagan on currency or coinage with John Snowe, the secretary of the Treasury, as well as his predecessor, Paul O’Neill, and the director of the U.S. Mint and that all three had supported the idea.

Republicans aren't the only ones who will be supportive of this idea either.

Supporters recognize that now is a unique moment for them to achieve their goal, with the nation in general and lawmakers in particular, coming together in praise of Reagan and seeking a dignified way to memorialize him.

With Sens. John Kerry (Mass.) the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), the minority leader, Edward Kennedy (Mass.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) among many Democrats praising Reagan, a filibuster of the change — the only realistic way to beat it — is seen as unlikely.

Of course, one of the best reasons to switch Hamilton from the $10 has a very much firearms related tinge to it.

"Hamilton was a nice guy and everything, but he wasn't president," says Grover Norquist, who heads the legacy project as well as an influential conservative group called Americans for Tax Reform. "As a board member of the (National Rifle Association), I can also tell you that he was a bad shot."

More later. I'm leaving the office early today to watch the funeral procession up from the Lincoln Memorial.

The Son

You want to see a pic of my son???

Then head over to Jeff Soyer's Tarazet and check out the masthead!!!

Also, read about the Iams boycot. We feed our first son (the big black hairy four year old retriever one, not the cute little curly brown haird one) Pedigree. He likes it, our vet likes it.

Reagan on the $10 Bill?

Looks like Outside the Beltway beat this inside the beltway commentator.

Reagan's Lasting Legacy

Grover Nordquist is pushing to put Ronald Reagan's likeness on the $10 bill, replacing Alexander Hamilton. He thinks Congress will act within the month to do it.

He was just on CNN to discuss the bill (pun intended).

I can't wait to attend the revival tomorrow morning. I'll report more afterward.

Trip Pics

So some people have emailed to ask a couple of questions related to the trip south.

First, they want to know when I'm going to post pics (Photobloggin, ya know).

Here's the answer - when I get around to it. Since my digital camera broke about a month ago, I haven't had time (or the finances really - if I get another its gonna be a Nikon D70) to get a new one. Hence, all my pictures were shot on disposable cameras (that my wife likes) or on my old Nikkormat SLR which has shot everyone from both President Bush's, Clinton, the Rolling Stones, hundreds of shots of Phish and Widespread Panic and the Grateful Dead, the New York Yankees, and all sorts of other interesting things in between. Problem is, I usually shoot slides with it and it takes a bit longer to both get them developed and then get them scanned properly. My father and I have been looking at investing in a top quality drum slide scanner, to do justice to our photo collections, for the last couple of months but haven't decided on one. So, give me a bit more time to either get my own scanner or get the local store to scan them and I will photoblog away.

The other question is about guns. Yes guns. I was hoping to buy a few on this trip south but ended up without any purchases. Sad, almost reprehensible behavior on my part, yes I know. However, there is a reason for it and hopefully I can post about it in a bit with exciting gun related news (ie: the purchase of something REALLLY COOL).

Gunshot Art - Hot in New York

Page Six is reporting on the latest trend in the New York Art scene - bullet hole art

MODEL Monica Meadows became a media darling after she was shot on a subway train last week — and now the art world appears to be smitten with bullet-riddled beauties. Artist Matt Enger just sold a shot-up aluminum cutout of Argentinian mannequin Valeria Mazza for $15,000 to Josh Harris, the eccentric Internet gadfly behind the now-defunct pseudo.com. Enger said he attached a silkscreen of Mazza vamping on a catwalk to the aluminum backing, then blasted away at it with .38-caliber slugs. "It looked pretty cool," said Enger, who is known for collaborating on prints with his twin brother, Mark. "I did about 10 of them, so now I have nine left. I don't know if they're gonna be worth more because of the shooting, I think they're gonna be worth more because Josh Harris just paid $15,000 for one." Gloats Harris: "I got the best one!"

I wonder how much I can sell my used targets for . . . if I shoot the old Heather Thomas poster that used to hang over my bed in high school.



Update June 9, 2004 10:30 am
I made the picture smaller to speed up download times. If you had this poster, you know the picture. My copy was right over my bed. Mom didn't like it, I sure did. I actually had a dream about her last night. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm. Wife not happy about it, I sure was. :)

Sometimes, the New York Times Is Alright

As in today's thought provoking editorial on Venus crossing the sun for the first time in 122 years. Heck I didn't know until reading it that the one of the reasons for Captain Cooks voyage to Tahiti in the 1760s was to record the passage so as to better judge our distance from the sub.

Observing and timing this event was the rationale for Cook's first voyage to the Pacific. To a very real extent, we owe his journeys of discovery to the transit of Venus.

That is the way it seems to go with such predictable celestial events. They occur for reasons that have everything to do with our location, in space and time, as observers. Yet their great merit is that they cause us to lift our heads from our own sober planet and remember the solar system and the galaxy and the universe we belong to.

The Day After Tomorrow, Don't Plan to Drive Anywhere

Thats simply because you won't be able to afford it. With gas prices at an all time high, Joe Lieberman and John McCain are set to try and force (once again) their anti American Kyoto style plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions on the American economy.

Luckily, folks in D.C. are out fighting the good fight and Charles River Associates in conjunction with Tech Central Station and United for Jobs just released (like minutes ago) a new study on how costly this foolhardy plan will really be.

You can read the whole thing here.

Moore Liberal Elitism

According to Page Six, Michael Moore isn't exactly the Flint, Michigan man of the people he would otherwise have you believe he is.

June 7, 2004 -- MAYBE Hollywood loves Michael Moore, as we reported the other day, but it seems that unless you are Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon or Martin Scorsese, Moore doesn't love you. When left-wing organizers and civil rights activists call Moore's office to see if he will lend his voice to different causes supposedly close to his heart, they are snubbed. "You get to speak to a Christine, who then refers all calls to Moore's personal assistant Jason Pollack," one activist told PAGE SIX. "But unless you are a star, your call never gets returned." It recalls other anecdotes about Moore, who — despite his man-of-the-people posture — is known to be high-handed with underlings and as demanding as any diva. "Moore has become totally smitten with the Hollywood glamour and just loves his newfound niche in Hollywood," said our source. "A word to the wise, Mr. Moore, get ahold of who called Jason Pollack and return those calls, or you may find yourself with a pie in your face." Meanwhile, Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" will have its first U.S. screening — hosted by Moore's agent, Endeavor head Ari Emanuel — tomorrow night in L.A. for celebs coming from the Laker game: Leo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson and Harvey and Bob Weinstein.

Hmm, who else does this remind you of????

Rest In Peace Mr. President

As is clear from my masthead, this blog has always been inspired by the ideals that President Reagan fought so hard for. There are many, many speachs I could quote from here, but I will leave that to others and suggest that instead, my readers make their way over to the great Ronald Reagan Information Page and re-read each of his speeches over the course of the next few days (As informed and diligent citizens, I assume you have read each of these once already).

There is not much I can add to the accolades that haven't been better expressed elsewhere. As the inimitable Peggy Noonan writes in todays Wall Street Journal (available for free at Opinionjournal.com)

What an era his was. What a life he lived. He changed history for the better and was modest about it. He didn't bray about his accomplishments but saw them as the work of the American people. He did not see himself as entitled, never demanded respect, preferred talking to hotel doormen rather than State Department functionaries because he thought the doormen brighter and more interesting. When I pressed him once, a few years out of the presidency, to say what he thought the meaning of his presidency was, he answered, reluctantly, that it might be fairly said that he "advanced the boundaries of freedom in a world more at peace with itself." And so he did. And what could be bigger than that?

I guess the best I can add is to include the text of this wonderful, pro second Amendment piece that then Governor Ronald Wilson Reagan penned in 1975 for Guns & Ammo Magazine. (I would also suggest heading over there and checking out all their great features (even taking out a subscription to the publication)

There are tales of robbery victims that are shot down in cold blood or executed "gangland style." There are stories of deranged parents killing their children or deranged children killing their parents. There are reports of snipers. And now and then the headlines blurt out that an assassin has struck again, killing a prominent official or citizen. All of these stories involve the use of guns, or seem to. As a result, there is growing clamor to outlaw guns, to ban guns, to confiscate guns in the name of public safety and public good.

These demands come from people genuinely concerned about rising crime rates, persons such as Sheriff Peter Pitchess of Los Angeles, who says gun control is an idea whose time has come. They come from people who see the outlawing of guns as a way of outlawing violence. And they come from those who see confiscation of weapons as one way of keeping the people under control.

Now I yield to no one in my concern about crime, and especially crimes of violence. As governor of California for eight years, I struggled daily with that problem. I appointed judges who, to the best of my information, would be tough on criminals. We approved legislation to make it more difficult for persons with records of crime or instability to purchase firearms legally. We worked to bring about swift and certain punishment for persons guilty of crimes of violence.

We fought hard to reinstate the death sentence after our state Supreme Court outlawed it, and after the U.S. Supreme Court followed suit, we won.

Now, however, the California court that sought eagerly to be the first to outlaw the death penalty is dragging its heels as it waits for the U.S. Court to rule. The Chief Justice in California, whom I appointed with such high hopes, in this regard has disappointed many of us who looked to him to help again make our streets, our shops and our homes safe. I find it difficult to understand persons like President Ford's new Attorney General, Edward H. Levi. Attorney General Levi would ban guns in areas with high rates of crime.

Mr. Levi is confused. He thinks somehow that banning guns keeps them out of the hands of criminals. New Yorkers who suffer under the Sullivan Act know better, they know that the Sullivan Act makes law-abiding citizens sitting ducks for criminals who have no qualms about violating it in the process of killing and robbing and burglarizing. Despite this, Mr. Levi apparently thinks that criminals will be willing to give up their guns if he makes carrying them against the law. What naivete!

Mightn't it be better in those areas of high crime to arm the homeowner and the shopkeeper, teach him how to use his weapons and put the word out to the underworld that it is not longer totally safe to rob and murder?

Our nation was built and civilized by men and women who used guns in self-defense and in pursuit of peace. One wonders indeed, if the rising crime rate, isn't due as much as anything to the criminal's instinctive knowledge that the average victim no longer has means of self-protection.

No one knows how many crimes are committed because the criminal knows he has a soft touch. No one knows how many stores have been let alone because the criminals knew it was guarded by a man with a gun or manned by a proprietor who knew how to use a gun.

Criminals are not dissuaded by soft words, soft judges or easy laws. They are dissuaded by fear and they are prevented from repeating their crimes by death or by incarceration.

In my opinion, proposals to outlaw or confiscate guns are simply unrealistic panacea. We are never going to prevent murder; we are never going to eliminate crime; we are never going to end violent action by the criminals and the crazies--with or without guns.

True, guns are a means for committing murder and other crimes. But they are not an essential means. The Los Angeles Slasher of last winter killed nine men without using a gun. People kill and rob with knives and clubs. Yet we have not talked about outlawing them. Poisons are easy to come by for the silent killer.

The automobile is the greatest peacetime killer in history. There is no talk of banning the auto. With the auto we have cracked down on drunken drivers and on careless drivers. We need also to crack down on people who use guns carelessly or with criminal intent.

I believe criminals who use guns in the commission of a crime, or who carry guns, should be given mandatory sentences with no opportunity for parole. That would put the burden where it belongs--on the criminal, not on the law abiding citizen.

Let's not kid ourselves about what the purpose of prison should be: It should be to remove criminals from circulation so that they cannot prey upon society. Punishment for deterrent purposes, also plays a part. Rehabilitation, as many experts, including California Attorney General Evelle Younger, have discovered, is not a very good reason for imprisoning people. People don't rehabilitate very well in prison.

There is an old saying that slaves remain slaves while free men set themselves free. It is true with rehabilitation, also. Criminals rehabilitate themselves, there is little you and I can do about it. But back to the purpose of this article which, hopefully, is to make the case against gun control.

The starting point must be the Constitution, because, above all, we are a nation of laws and the foundation for our laws, or lack of same, is the Constitution.

It is amazing to me how so many people pay lip service to the Constitution, yet set out to twist and distort it when it stands in the way of things they think ought to be done or laws they believe ought to be passed. It is also amazing to me how often our courts do the same thing.

The Second Amendment is clear, or ought to be. It appears to leave little, if any, leeway for the gun control advocate. It reads: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

There are those who say that, since we have no militia, the amendment no longer applies; they would just ignore it. Others say nuclear weapons have made the right to keep and bear arms irrelevant, since arms are of little use against weapons of such terrible destructive power. Both arguments are specious.

We may not have a well-regulated militia, but it does not necessarily follow that we should not be prepared to have one. The day could easily come when we need one.

The nuclear weapon argument is even more silly. Many wars have been fought since World War II and no nuclear bomb has been dropped. We have no assurance that the next world war will be a nuclear war. But, regardless of any possible merit they might have, both these arguments beg the question, which is: Shall the people have a right to keep and bear arms?

There is little doubt that the founding fathers thought they should have this right, and for a very specific reason: They distrusted government. All of the first 10 amendments make that clear. Each of them specifies an area where government cannot impose itself on the individual or where the individual must be protected from government.

The second amendment gives the individual citizen a means of protection against the despotism of the state. Look what it refers to: "The security of a free state." The word "free" should be underlined because that is what they are talking about and that is what the Constitution is about--a free nation and a free people, where the rights of the individual are pre-eminent. The founding fathers had seen, as the Declaration of Independence tells us, what a despotic government can do to its own people. Indeed, every American should read the Declaration of Independence before he reads the Constitution, and he will see that the Constitution aims at preventing a recurrence of the way George III's government treated the colonies.

The declaration states this plainly: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new Guards for their future security."

There is no question that the first 10 amendments are a part of those "new guards" for their future security. And one of the most basic of those guards is the right to keep and bear arms.

There are those in America today who have come to depend absolutely on government for their security. And when government fails they seek to rectify that failure in the form of granting government more power. So, as government has failed to control crime and violence with the means given it by the Constitution, they seek to give it more power at the expense of the Constitution. But in doing so, in their willingness to give up their arms in the name of safety, they are really giving up their protection from what has always been the chief source of despotism--government.

Lord Acton said power corrupts. Surely then, if this is true, the more power we give the government the more corrupt it will become. And if we give it the power to confiscate our arms we also give up the ultimate means to combat that corrupt power. In doing so we can only assure that we will eventually be totally subject to it. When dictators come to power, the first thing they do is take away the people's weapons. It makes it so much easier for the secret police to operate, it makes it so much easier to force the will of the ruler upon the ruled.

Now I believe our nation's leaders are good and well-meaning people. I do not believe that they have any desire to impose a dictatorship upon us. But this does not mean that such will always be the case. A nation rent internally, as ours has been in recent years, is always ripe for a "man on a white horse." A deterrent to that man, or to any man seeking unlawful power, is the knowledge that those who oppose him are not helpless.

The gun has been called the great equalizer, meaning that a small person with a gun is equal to a large person, but it is a great equalizer in another way, too. It insures that the people are the equal of their government whenever that government forgets that it is servant and not master of the governed. When the British forgot that they got a revolution. And, as a result, we Americans got a Constitution; a Constitution that, as those who wrote it were determined, would keep men free. If we give up part of that Constitution we give up part of our freedom and increase the chance that we will lose it all.

I am not ready to take that risk. I believe that the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms must not be infringed if liberty in America is to survive.

His words ring as true then as they do now, almost 30 years later.

Thank You President Reagan for the peace, prosperity, and sense of hope you returned to our great nation. I hope we can honor your legacy by continuing to follow your examples and trust in your wisdom.

May You Rest in Eternal Peace.