Rather Blather

I think Dan Rather is attempting to become a “tough guy” of late – or is he? Rather says that today’s anchormen and journalists have no back bone and they need a transplant immediately. But wait! There’s a tiny bit more to the story. Just take a lookie, lookie (from Fox News)

‘Spine Transplant’ Required?

Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather argues that today’s reporters are suffering from a lack of backbone, saying, “American journalism needs a spine transplant and we need it quickly.” Rather added that the public should make its voice heard by asking leaders and publishers’ tough questions.

Those remarks came during a Q&A session in which all the questions were pre-selected by members of Rather’s entourage. The Los Angeles Times reports that Rather was not asked about the discredited story on President Bush’s National Guard Service.

Tom Remington

Ted Kennedy is Coming Unglued

I wanted to give you all a quick heads up. Michelle Malkin is live blogging Teddy Boy coming totally unglued on C-Span.

Tom Remington

Moonbats on the Rampage

Laughing, laughing, laughing! “Only in America”, as the old saying goes. Thank God we live in a country were idiots and the like can do a lot of things – like run for political office.

The latest is that moonbat Cindy Sheehan, now close buddies with Hugo Chavez, is considering mounting a campaign to run for Senator in California. But what’s inane about the whole of this is, she would be running against Diane Feinstein who, Sheehan says is a Bush supporter. Laughing, laughing, laughing.

Somebody please pop that lady’s balloon so she can land somewhere in amongst the reality bullrushes.

Ahhhhhhh! Life is good though, isn’t it?

Tom Remington

There’s Something in the Water in New England

I’m not sure what might be in the water that people and politicians are drinking but Rhode Island Senator Chaffee, another New Englander RINO, has come and publicly said he will not vote for Samuel Alito on Tuesday. He did say he would not vote in favor of a filibuster either.

To further prove that sliding to the left causes severe brain damage, Chaffee made this assinine comment in a report done by Fox News.

“How are we going to get anything done if we can’t work together?” Chafee asked.

Let me see if I understand. I don’t agree with you so I’m being an obstructionist and we now can’t get anything done because I won’t get on your bandwagon. I clearly do not understand what Chaffee is refering to.

Chaffee calls himself pro-choice, pro-environment and pro-Bill of Rights Senator. In case you don’t understand what he is refering to, I’ll assist you.

Pro-choice means that he believes that a woman is protected under the Constitution to murder her unwanted children. Pro-environment means he is all for finding more ways to continue taxing any business that has any remote effect on our environment. He believes that by taxing successful businesses, they too will eventually become dependant on our socialistic government – his job security.

Chaffee is pro-Bill of Rights. That means he thinks that our Bill of Rights should be modified daily to meet our ever changing societal demands. Forget that our Bill of Rights was designed to keep some semblance of moral decency and sanity in our society.

There is hope though. Chaffee is running for re-election this year and he is being challenged by Republican Cranston City Mayor Stephen Laffey, who says if he were in the Senate, he would vote to confirm Alito.

In Maine, Senator Collins has announced her support for Alito and Snowe has not announced one way or the other but today she issued a statement decrying the last ditch effort by some democrats to mount a filibuster.

Chaffee is the only Republican coming out against Alito. Republicans say they have the necessary votes without Chaffee to confirm Alito and ward off a filibuster.

Tom Remington

If I Were President

WILLIAM PENN FALLIN
Columnist
Douglas, GA Enterprise
Natchitoches, LA Times
Camden County, GA Courier

HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE BUSH’S JOB?

Frankly I can’t imagine why anyone would want the job. No matter what you do you know criticism is coming from all sides. I tried to imagine my thoughts (if I were in that job) during a day’s briefings. These things came to mind:

It’s early morning and I’m being briefed by CIA chief Porter Goss, Donald Rumsfeld and Condi Rice about the overnight horrors. First Goss tells me about the murdering Muslims’ roadside bombs and the threat of Iraqi Shiites saying they will fight with Iran if we attack. That bugs me but I know we cannot surrender. They are committed and we’d better be if we are to survive this war.

Next Rumsfeld fills in details about our military going into Pakistan after Usama bin Laden’s right arm, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian thug who sits at bin Laden’s elbow. They got word he was going to dinner in a little village and our drones went in and took out the house. The problem was Zawahiri decided not go that night. Instead he sent two important members of his gang. We got them but once again we missed him. The down side is we also killed a few civilians and that has gotten President Musharraf in trouble.

Condi tells me Iran has made deals with Russia and China and has thumbed their noses at Europe and the US. That murderous maniacal president of Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. He is spoiling for a fight. And he’s nutty enough to start one.

Condi reminds me that Vladimir Putin is a liar and is still thinking like a KGB agent. All those nice things Vladimir said to me while visiting my Texas ranch meant nothing. And of course Condi tosses in her daily reminder that Vincente Fox, my friend of many years, is sending Mexican troops across our border supporting drug runners and smuggling foreign agents into our country. I gotta do something about Fox but what?

Goss tells me China is violating every promise they have ever made so far as trade is concerned and they keep threatening to attack Taiwan with whom we have a treaty to defend against such an attack. Will China actually attack Taiwan? It depends on whether they think I will make good on that law passed in 1978 committing us to protect Taiwan.

That ugly little maniac in N. Korea is flexing his muscles again today according to my entire team. He is again threatening to send one of his missiles to California or was that ten missiles? I wonder how many nuclear warheads he really has. I realize our intelligence about such matters is iffy at best. I well remember CIA Chief (George Tenet) telling me that WMD’s in Iraq was “a slam dunk.” Slam dunk alright. Why didn’t Tenet tell me about Saddam sending those WMD’S into Syria before we invaded? He deserved to be fired.

Rumsfeld digs in on Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s little commie president, sitting down there hating the USA and trying to kiss up to Castro. He’s also threatening to cut off our oil. Something has to be done about him but what?

It’s all over TV, Iran is threatening to cut off 35% of the entire world’s oil supply by blocking the Straits of Hormuz. That would take the rag off the bush for sure. Would they do it? I’m convinced they’re nutty enough to do anything.

What did you say, Condi, Chirac has threatened to nuke somebody? What got into him? Do you think the new leader of Germany (the lady, what’s her name) is going to be someone we can trust for more than a day? Thank God for Tony Blair, at least there’s one liberal we can trust.

Speaking of liberals, what the devil is getting into the democrats? It seems at times they have collectively lost their minds. When I sat there watching the Alito hearings and listening to Fat Teddy Kennedy braying about honor, truth and trustworthiness I couldn’t help remembering Chappaquiddick and Mary Jo Kopechne. Teddy ought to just shut up.

You don’t say; we have enough votes to defeat a filibuster over Alito without changing any Senate rules? Well, just wait until the next opening on that court if there is one. If either Ginsburg, Stephens, Breyer or Souter drop out all hell is going to break loose. The leftists will demand I appoint someone as far left as the one leaving. And there is no way I am going to even come close. No way. Now that will be a battle even I look forward to watching.

My dad really screwed up on Souter. He’ll never forgive John Sununu for that recommendation.

Still say you’d like to be president?

The Power of Voting

Let’s use the events of the election in the Middle East to spell out the power of the ballot. After listening to and reading the fallout from the so-called experts, the general consensus is the votes amassed by Hamas was the result of a vote against the Fatah. Voters so disenfranchised with the corruption of Fatah thought that to punish Fatah they would vote for Hamas. They got their wish.

Voting democratically for these people is something new and I’m not sure they fully understood what casting a “negative” vote would yield. But, now they have to live with it and realize the results of their actions. They need to be shown that voting is a serious right and casting a ballot should be done responsibly – I guess we could all take a lesson in that.
This is a result of ignorance and having never participated in any kind of election that even closely resembled a fair election – a democratic one. This all happened too fast. This is a good example of how trying to hurry a society that has been ruled by corrupt dictatorship into a democracy, can produce unwanted results.

Both the United States and Palestine, along with the rest of the world, will have to live with and deal with the results of that election. The U.S. and other progressive democratic societies will need to learn how hurrying a society into democracy can be dangerous when the people don’t have a chance to fully understand what consequences might bely them by voting a particular way.

The Palestinian people now have to figure out what they are going to do. No one wants to deal with Hamas. They are a terrorist organisation that refuses to give up on the idea of the anialation of Israel and all who support her. The U.S. and others need to cut off all support immediately and force Hamas to yield on this issue and others.

We know Hamas is funded and supported by Iran, Al-Qaeda and other nations and groups, so our efforts need to extend beyond Palestine and cut off supplies and support from these terrorist supporters – a blockade of sorts.

The U.S. pushed for democratic elections and got them. We may not like the results but we have to deal with it. We should use the event to teach ourselves and the Palestinian people that the world will not negotiate with terror groups, even when they have been voted in democratically.

With that said, I am not that optomistic that Hamas will listen to much of anything that the rest of the world has to say. I believe that Israel will not sit quietly by and do nothing. Hamas will provoke, they will continue their onslaught of terror while pursuing their ultimate goal of the destruction of Israel.

We need to keep a watchful eye on Iran. They wanted complete control of Palestine as much, if not more, than Hamas. Palestine could very easily become a puppet regime and just one stepping stone closer to the destruction of Israel by Iran.

Tom Remington

Where Are the WMDs?

There is much speculation but Georges Sada, one of Saddam Hussein’s former generals says they are in Syria. So that’s nothing new. Some people have been saying that for a long time, so what does he have to offer that would lead anyone to believe that he actually knows something for certain?

Nothing really and for anyone to try to prove his statements truthful is going to have a next to impossible task ahead of them.

Sada says, in an interview with the New York Sun yesterday, that prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Hussein moved his chemical weapons on commercial jets that had been converted to cargo planes by removing the seats. He claims 56 flights occured into Syria as well as a ground convoy.

Sada claims that this all took place around the same time that Iraq was sending aid and supplies into Syria to help with a dam break in that country, so the international community paid little attention to what they were doing.

The General also claims to be close friends with the two pilots who flew the planes. It wasn’t until after Saddam was captured, that the two pilots came forward to Sada with their story but did not want to be indentified for fear of their lives and their families. Today those two pilots are flying in another country and yet they still fear for their safety and do not want to be indentified.

The same claim comes from Sada himself. He still has some reservations about his own safety and that of his family but with more and more Iraqis coming forward to tell what they know, perhaps he feels like it is his time too.

There is another issue that draws out skepticism about Sada’s story. He has just released a book called, “Saddam’s Secrets”. I know and you know that people will do many things to promote their book and its contents.

Sada has been making a bit of a media circuit doing interviews etc., as part of his book promotion. He does have a meeting scheduled next week with two Senators who are members of the Senate Armed Services Committe. They are Sessions from Alabama and  Inhofe from Oklahoma. They are hoping that Sada can give them useful information that might prove once and for all whether the weapons existed and if so, where they are.

Syria is one of only a handful of countries not to join the Chemical Weapons Convention – a treaty that obligates countries not to stockpile and use chemical weapons. They have also denied any accusations about having Husseins chemical weapons.

Several prominent people have claimed for some time that the weapons were moved to Syria. Ariel Sharon made a public statement on December 23, 2002.

“Chemical and biological weapons which Saddam is endeavoring to conceal have been moved from Iraq to Syria.”

Moshe Yaalon, Israels top general during Operation Iraqi Freedom, told the New York Sun just over a month ago, that the weapons had been moved from Iraq to Syria.

In an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney in April 2004, he was asked whether he thought the weapons had been move to Syria. He said he had seen reports that had said that.

An investigation done by a man in Denmark, claims he knows where in Syria those weapons are and has gone on to say that he believes some of those weapons have been doled out to terrorist groups.

Again, proving it is next to impossible.

Other footnotes about Sada’s book. In it he claims that on the eve of the first Gulf War, Saddam was planning to use his air force to mount a chemical weapons attack on Israel. He also claims Osama Bin Laden visited with Hussein in Baghdad.

According to News Max, Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard has challenged all conventional thinking about ties between Al Qaeda and Hussein. He is asking for the release of over 2 million documents from the Hussein regime stating that they may be able to prove a definate connection.

Tom Remington

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum

Or, two good things happened today in the world of politics. Number one, in case you missed it, was extreme right-wing Katie Couric taking on Howard “Screamer” Dean on the Today Show. She actually kept asking Dean a question and questioned his answer.

If you missed it, she was talking about Jack Abramoff, and when the Screamer made the statement that absolutely not one Democrat took money from Abramoff, Katie questioned that statement. She presented him with information she was given about dollar amounts and to whom the money went.

Dean Brain, kept repeating himself over and over, that not one single Democrat took Abramoff money. Katie said she would recheck her sources of information.

This was a good thing because it is wonderful to see the liberals continue to sink into the pits of hell by making asses of themselves. Even Harry Reid knows he took money from Abramoff. It just came to him from the Indian tribes and that’s okay. It isn’t for any Republican but okay for the Dems.

Keep sinking you scum suckers.

Which brings us to item number two. John Kerry spent the day calling fellow Senators from Switzerland mustering support for a filibuster of the confirmation of Samuel Alito. We know that back awhile ago, McCain, that’s John “I’ll change my spots” McCain, sold out his party by making promises to the Democrats (party of 14) that if they wouldn’t filibuster Bush’s nominations, he would make sure they got who knows what in return. So much for the word of the fantastic fourteen.

You might ask, “What is Skerry Kerry doing?” Who cares! I hope he does it. There is nothing more I’d like to see than the Dems put another nail in their own coffin. I can hear the rat-a-tat-tat now.

So, it was a good day, and to top off the main course with a fine dessert, Georges Sada, who served under mad man Hussein as a number two general, has a new book out that tells how the WMDs got into Syria. Oh! Surprise, surprise. More on that later.

Tom Remington

Send a Message to our Troops

Have you ever wanted to do something for the troops but aren’t sure in which direction to go? Well right now you have an opportunity to send a message to the troops. This is a place where there are already over 99,000 messages. All troops need to do is go to the website and read them. All the newest messages appear at the top. So why not send a letter of encouragement. [View Messages]

WRITE A MESSAGE TO THE TROOPS NOW!

Sole Survivor Awakens

Randal McCloy Jr, age 26, is said to have awakened. He was the sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster that killed 12 men. [Article]

h/t from Michelle Malkin… thanks..

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster that killed 12 men was able to respond to simple commands and follow movements with his eyes after emerging from a light coma, his doctor said.

Randal McCloy Jr., 26, still could not speak but was able to chew and swallow soft foods, said Dr. Larry Roberts at Ruby Memorial Hospital on Wednesday. McCloy had been in the coma since his Jan. 4 rescue.

Roberts said McCloy continues to show slight neurological improvement each day.

Will Canada’s New PM Truly Be Conservative?

So, Canada actually did something “right” for a change, and elected the Conservative party into office. This week, so many right-thinking politicians around the world are cheering on Stephen Harper and his Conservatives, but I must ask, how conservative is Mr. Harper?

Talk is cheap, and I have heard both Conservative and Liberal/Socialist plans proposed by Mr. Harper throughout his campaign. Of course, he said what he thought he needed to say in order to get elected, as most politicians do. Therefore, we do not truly know what kind of Prime Minister Harper will be until he is sitting in the big chair, and actually making policy decisions.

I like to keep an open mind, and am hopeful that Harper will prove to be a breath of fresh air for the great, white north. However, knowing the Canadian political system as I do, and Canadian politicians as I do, I am not ready to jump up and down, cheering a Conservative victory; not until we see some Conservative action.

There are a few things that Mr. Harper can do (or try to do) as Prime Minister that will give true Conservatives some peace of mind. First and foremost, he can fight to eliminate Canada’s inefficient, oppressive, and just plain stupid Gun Registration program. There is enough support from the mainstream citizens of Canada to repeal the Hitler-esque Registration and owner licensing laws. Except for a few Marxist nutjob NDP voters, a return to more lax gun laws would get high applause from the voters.

Secondly, Harper needs to strike Canada’s Gay Marriage law. I’m not going to go into a long tirade here about all the negative and disgusting implications to that Liberal/Socialist brainchild. It’s already been discussed to death. It is not the wave of the future, and a majority of Canadian citizens oppose it.

Thirdly, Harper needs to cut taxes, big time. If Americans think they have it bad with the current tax rates, they haven’t talked to a working class Canadian. Taxes in Canada make the highest US tax burden look like a drop in the pot. The Canadian economy is currently propped up by their heavy trade with the United States, but things are not going to keep going so smoothly forever. There is only so much you can take out of people’s pockets before you begin depressing the economy. Some serious tax reforms are needed to assure Canada’s future stability and competitiveness in the global marketplace.

These are three simple things that Stephen Harper needs to take on, things that a majority of his constituents do support. If he truly stands for Conservatism, he will fight for these 3 vital changes. If he goes the limp noodle route, and becomes just another “Liberal-Lite,” he will likely find himself to be a one term Prime Minister, and he’ll deal a crucial blow to Conservatism in Canada, solidifying Socialist-Liberal rule for the future.

Please, Mr. Harper, be a True Conservative!

Is Your Pension Secure?

A few minutes ago, I watched a piece on Fox News with Neil Cavuto about how Congress wants to step in and force companies to stop paying upper management pensions when they can’t pay the working class pension.

Congress was partially responsible for creating this mess in the first place when they passed laws forcing corportations to set up two distinct pension packages (1994 I think) – one for management and one for the workers.

Before you go yelling and screaming at corporate America and me, think for a moment. Is this what you want government doing? Do you trust Congress enough to meddle in this issue?

Evidently, most of America does want Congress sticking their noses into private business practices because they are and more and more people are yelling for government intervention into anything and everything we don’t like – high gas prices, high utility bills, etc., etc.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the practices of these companies that are top heavy when it comes to salaries and pensions, is extremely poor, yet we have done nothing about it for years – until we begin losing or getting a reduction in our benefits including pensions. I say we, meaning you and I and I don’t mean calling on Congress to stop it. You and I are the ones who make the decisions of what products to buy, who to work for, what companies to buy stock in. As consumers, we have the power yet fail to use it. We cry to government for help. A free enterprise system without government interference works when we let it. Human nature fights it – our greed, envy and jealousy.
The bottom line for everyone is always the dollar. Not much has ever been said about over-salaried executives until they decided to cut your benefits, pay, pension or all of the above.

Capitalism can be an ugly thing, particularly if you are a jealous and envious kind of person who gets their dander up when someone makes money. It can also be a great thing when you are the one taking the risks and reaping the benefits.

If allowed to run its course, many of these companies would fold before they got to the state they are in, but there is so much government meddling – that we all insisted on – , these companies know for themselves government would bail them out – afterall, we would demand it of them. We have continuously bailed out the airline industry without putting any demands on their business practices. Would you personally loan money to someone you knew was going to squander it because they don’t know how to manage it?

If stock holders could realize what is being done and invest their money in other, better managed companies, this problem could correct itself. But again, the bottom line is the dollar and as long as investors can make their money, they don’t really care – nor do you and I until it’s too late.

So, what do we do? Do we invite or allow Congress to step in and control this issue like they try to control everything or do we allow these practices to run their course?

We are all blaming globalization for the auto industry laying off so many employees. I’m sure it has its effect but seriously how can you compete with foreign car makers – as we have been trying for many years now – when we continue to pay assembly line workers very high wages and overpay the auto executives? We then get angry because someone else enters the market with a product as good quality or better for less money.
Good ole free enterprise and capitalism will “self-level” if allowed to. In other words, the essence of both practices forces good management from good competition. These days when a company gets in trouble, they run to government for a bail-out and we sit back believing that their problems come from outside, non-controllable forces. Have you ever thought it is just lousy management?

The more America moves toward socialization of its workforce, the sooner we will all be wearing the same gray colored uniforms walking around in a daze.

Tom Remington

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