Why we're thankful for Ann Coulter.

Because of the holiday, many might miss Ann Coulter's weekly column:

"It is simply a fact that Democrats like Murtha are encouraging the Iraqi insurgents when they say the war is going badly and it's time to bring the troops home. Whether or not there is any merit to the idea, calling for a troop withdrawal � or 'redeployment,' as liberals pointlessly distinguish � will delay our inevitable victory and cost more American lives.

Anti-war protests in the U.S. during the Vietnam War were a major source of moral support to the enemy. We know that not only from simple common sense, but from the statements of former North Vietnamese military leaders who evidently didn't get the memo telling them not to say so. In an Aug. 3, 1995, interview in The Wall Street Journal, Bui Tin, a former colonel in the North Vietnamese army, called the American peace movement 'essential' to the North Vietnamese victory. "

Enjoy! And God Bless.

Hugh Hewitt Steps into John and Ken Territory!

Hugh Hewitt: "If the effort to open ANWR fails, the Republican Congressmen who deserted the GOP on this issue don't deserve a return ticket back to the Congress. Freshman Rep. David Reichert appears to be the most vulnerable of those who are on record as opposing ANWR exploration. Who's his Democratic opponent?

Sad but true: If ANWR doesn't get out of the Congress, the GOP will have to do some housecleaning. There's national security and there's jduges. Everything else is a distant third issue. Those are the defining issues of our time, and they define the GOP.

There's got to be an edge to the big tent.

I want to anticipate one thing: If ANWR exploration does make it out of the Congress, I don't care if some GOPers voted against it. Realists understand the concept of a 'free vote,' and don't resent the party leadership managing to a majority.

But if it fails, it would be a very good thing to see some ANWR opponents tossed out in the primaries of '06, or even the general. "

Doesn't this sound a bit like the John and Ken effort to defeat David Drier as a "Human Sacrifice" to make a point about illegal immigration?

Hugh, we hardly knew ye.

Surber with more Jacko stuff

Why is it Don Surber seems to find so many good Michael Jackson items? Well, this one isn't really about Jacko, but it recalls a certain episode...Don Surber: Why Michael Jackson Does Not Live In West Virginia

Today's Must-read Blog.

California Conservative Has a great post incorporating various articles commenting on the French Riots. As if California Conservative wasn't already one of our top ten reads every day...: (Please click the link and read the entire post)

"There's an old story about a person who has two beasts living inside him and they war against each other.
Q. Which beast wins?
A: The beast that gets fed the most because that's the beast that's strongest. The other beast will be malnourished and weak.
The moral: Right now, I'm not betting on France being strong enough to re-establish Western values in their country."

Laugh out loud funny.

Kudos to GOP and the City for this very funny post:

"I have previously exposed the blatant conservative right-wing bias of the Wall Street Journal's stipple-artists. First they attacked a presidential candidate (who served in Vietnam), now they're going after Howard Dean on their Opinion Journal site."

Happy Birthday and Semper Fi.

This was my favorite moment of the first days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I thought it condensed the attitude and spirit of the Marine Corps into one perfect line:

News Reporter: "'Whats your strategy?'
Anonymous Marine: 'Get to Baghdad before the Army does.'

I remember seeing it, I think it was on Fox News, but I have not been able to find any reference to it except for this comment at Jedi Wisdom - www.ezboard.com

Earth to Peggy Noonan... are you there?

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan:

"Warren Beatty has been all over the news as the leader of the anti-Schwarzenegger forces in California. He has emerged, and good for him. He's been making heavily covered speeches and shadowing GOP rallies along with his wife, Annette Bening, a truly great actress. But Wednesday Beatty told reporters, 'I don't want to run for governor.' Which left me scratching my head. This is politics, not showbiz. It has nothing to do with what you want. If you're serious you move forward, whether you're in the mood or not. You really don't want it? Then get out of the way! Get off the stage, let someone else stand there. The Democrats of California need a leader, not a handsome fly buzzing 'round their heads."

Um... Peggy? Come back to us, babe.

I respectfully disagree with Vodkapundit's assessment.

Hey Fraters... stick to hockey, youbetcha.

An embarrasing post from Atomizer at Fraters Libertas. He has the gall to protest Bartolo Colon's well-deserved Cy Young award and makes his case for Johan Santana:

"Total Strikeouts
Santana 238 (1st in the American League)
Colon 157 (8th in the American League)
Hits Allowed Per 9 Innings
Santana 6.99 (1st)
Colon 8.69 (13th)
Strikeouts Per 9 Innings
Santana 9.25 (1st)
Colon 6.35 (16th)
Opponent Batting Average
Santana .210 (1st)
Colon .254 (13th)
On Base Against Average
Santana .250 (1st)
Colon .291 (2nd)
Slugging Percentage Allowed
Santana .346 (1st)
Colon .407 (15th)
Walks + Hits Per Inning Pitched
Santana .970 (1st)
Colon 1.16 (3rd)
Earned Run Average
Santana 2.87 (2nd)
Colon 3.48 (8th)
Strikeout/Walk Ratio
Santana 5.17 (2nd)
Colon 3.65 (6th)
Wins
Colon 21 (1st)
Santana 16 (5th)

The Elder's now infamous prediction that the 2004 addition of Colon 'might help the Angels' was incredibly prescient at the time, but it is just a bit backwards in this instance. Their phenomenal production of 6.02 runs per game when Colon was on the mound attests to the fact that the Angels probably helped Colon just a bit more than he helped them."

First of all, I had no idea that the Cy Young is sub-titled "Best random statistics for a pitcher in a season award". I can understand how desperate one becomes as a Twins fan and Satana being considered for a Cy Young is pretty much the closest thing to a victory a Twins fan can approach, but let's get real. I can understand Yankee fans griping about Mariano Rivera not winning, but this is pathetic.

Many of the Angels' runs that Atomizer's referring to occurred in the late innings of games in which Colon pitched AFTER he had dominated the opponent and put the game firmly in the win column. Also, there was a stretch in July and August where the Angels were just not scoring ANY runs and Colon, Lackey and Santana held things together and kept them in the race. Colon ended up being the anchor of the rotation and always pitched a huge game when the Halos needed it.

One last thing... only losers claim wins aren't important.

Mary Mapes Needs Help.

This would be funny if it weren't so.... No, at this point this is just FUNNY!

TigerHawk:

"Like an instant replay review that will never end, apologists for CBS News, Dan Rather, Mary Mapes and the mainstream media in general insist on reconstructing the history of 'RatherGate,' the scandal that exploded more than a year ago when 60 Minutes II used obviously forged documents to attack George W. Bush and, perhaps, alter the course of the 2004 presidential election. "

Pre-mature Blogulation?

Sorry about this.

Terror in Jordan.

At any occurrence of Middle Eastern terrorism, Terrorism Unveiled is a mandatory destination. In the case of today's terror, "Athena" is uniquely qualified for commentary, "Athena" studied in and often visits Jordan:

"This will backfire for these terrorists.� The people of Jordan will protest this, most likely in the capital.� Pictures of Zarqawi will burn.

I wrote that an attack in Jordan is imminent quite a while back.� Sadly, my nightmare has come true."

Let's hope this is the tipping point for the citizens of Jordan. They have benefitted from relatively sane governance in the past, this is an opportunity to join the right side of the GWOT.

And from Don Surber

At some point the Western world will have to stop being anti-Semitic and anti-American long enough to join this effort to rid the world of terrorism. We either pull together or get bombed separately.

San Francisco is a Joke.

... and has been for a while. But now they've actually gone a bit too far. I'm hardly a gun nut, but the 2nd amendment is pretty clear on this one, isn't it? I mean to force citizens to turn in their firearms is a pretty blatant violation of the Bill of Rights. How can this even come close to passing the Judiciary?

Here's Michelle's excerpt from Neil Boortz: :

"require that every resident of San Francisco who owns a handgun to turn it in to the government by April 1st. April 1st, by the way, is more commonly known as 'April Fool's Day.' Even voters in San Francisco should be bright enough to figure out that law-abiding citizens will be the ones to turn over their guns, while the lawless, the criminal element, will not. The number of guns in the hands of law abiding citizens will go down. The number of guns in the hands of criminals will not."

More Perspective.

Leave it to James Taranto (Blogger/Journalist with a staff) to painstakingly analyze the past NJ and Virginia election results and their ramifications going back to the 19th century!His perspective and conclusions should calm some of you nervous nellies out there (you know who you are):

"Only in 1993 were the New Jersey and Virginia races a precursor of major change.

In 1997 and 2001 the parties that lost the two governorships went on to make gains in the following year's midterm elections. The only pattern we can see here is that in every election for the past 20 years, the president's party has lost both the New Jersey and Virginia governorships.

At the risk of being frightfully boring, our prediction is that the 2006 election, like the 2005 election, is likely to be a reaffirmation of the status quo. As we've argued, in the Senate the trend has been toward alignment with a state's presidential preferences in 2000 and 2004--but this trend is self-limiting.

In 2002 Democrats made big gains in Democratic states and Republicans made smaller gains in Republican ones, which means both parties' targets of opportunity are limited this time around."

As usual, the highlight of his post is found in the headline: "Yes, Santa Claus, there is a Virginia." - Brilliant!

Hugh Hewitt to the Rescue.

Nobody knows California politics like Hugh Hewitt. The Governor would do will to heed his sage advice: (Read the entire post)

"As Nixon often remarked: You can't win with just the conservatives, but you cannot win without them.

Your team told you that if you put enough bait on the hook, you'd get the troops to marching. While they no doubt dutifully voted for your four initiatives --and Prop 73, which would have required notice to parents when their teen daughter sought an abortion-- they most certainly did not march.

And they aren't even that upset this morning. They didn't lose a thing --you lost. Perhaps you will spend the next couple of weeks figuring out that you have exactly zero high profile GOP conservatives close to you, and that there are a whole bunch of lefties running around your offices busy advancing agendas with which the right cannot agree.


Name the conservative icon upon whom you depend and to whom you go for solid advice? There isn't one."

Perspective.

Kudos to GOP and the City for offering a little perspective on the elections yesterday:

"Democrats won races in New Jersey and Virginia, so what? They are races that the Democrats were already favored to win anyway. Corzine's lead in New Jersey was well over the 10 points he eventually won by. Someone will have to help me with Virginia politics, since I don't care who the governor of Virginia is regardless of party. Personally, I'm just glad that I don't have to see another negative attack ad from New Jersey.Over the next few days months, the media will drone on about 'Bush-factors' and 'shifting tides' in these two elections. I will even bet $25 that I get an email from John Kerry claiming a huge victory, a blow to Bush and his cabal crony conservatives, and a beg for money."

It really isn't a shocking development that a millionaire, Democrat, US Senator won the NJ Governor race. Why is this such a harbinger? NJ hasn't gone Red State in over a decade.

Also, check-in on Don Surber today as he has an open post for multitudes of reactions and "blogpinions" on the election.

Muslims are Killing Christians in Indonesia.

Hat tip to Michelle Malkin for linking up to the latest horror in Asia::

"Poso (AsiaNews) Two men armed with pistols shot point blank at two female students in Poso, central Sulawesi, wounding them in the head at 7:45 pm local time (11:45 GMT am)

The new act of violence took place in the same town where three young Christian students were decapitated on October 29. A fourth student was seriously injured in the same attack.

The two 17-year-old victims, Yuli Siti Nuraini and Ivone, are in critical conditions, according to Nurhayati, a paramedic. Ivone was hit in the left jaw, whilst Yuli was wounded in the neck. They were operated at the Poso Hospital where they were taken by police, the paramedic said.

For the moment, local and regional police have not released any statement about the event.

A few hours before Central Sulawesi police Chief Oegroseno had reported that police had not yet identified the killers of Ida Yarni Sambue (15), Theresia Morangke (15), and Alfita Poliwo (19), the three Christian girls decapitated on October 29.
The fourth girl who was wounded in the attack is recovering under tight police security since she is a material witness to the crime.

From 1998 to 2001 the Sulawesi Islands were the scene of sectarian clashes between Muslims and Christians.

Many now fear that the new acts of violence might signal renewed inter-religious violence.

Local Muslim and Christian leaders have said that outsiders are responsible for the recent crimes, not local Muslims. They believe that the culprits acted on order by some group bent on reigniting sectarian hatred in the area."

Dog Pundit has more.

California moving a little right?

I'm shocked tonight to see the ballot measures coming in as close as they are. Understand, those of you not in OC or environs, that the union opposition to these measures has been funded for the tune of $110,000,000 and has been relentlessly anti-Schwarzenegger for almost six months now.

And yet with 50% of precincts reporting, the Union Dues protection act is winning by 4.5 points and the Teacher Tenure measure is too close to call. This is astounding as the polls for the past few months have shown "No" winning by double digits.

Even more remarkable is the Parental Notification measure winning by a slight margin. California is supposed to be one of the most liberal states in the US and yet a parental notification measure has a chance of winning? What's really interesting is the map of the state and how this one represents the divide between No. Cal and So. Cal (with the obnoxious exception of LA County).

Posting from mobile test.

Taking a moment to test mobile blogging... And to congratulate bart colon!

Camp Katrina Blog

Spc. Phil Van Treuren, National Guard Soldier and Blogger has asked me to link to his Camp Katrina Blog. I spent a bit of time on it. It appears to have begun as a chronicle of the positive work done by the military in the Katrina affected areas of the Gulf States and has grown to a full-blown military blog with fine commentary and perspective on current issues and military successes here and overseas.

Give it a read and comment accordingly. The sacrifice and commitment our Americans in uniform make for us demands respect and attention whenever possible. God Speed Phil.