Rebekah's Place: October 2005

Monday, October 31, 2005

AAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!!

That's the only thing that came to mind after hearing this from ABC News. A few minutes ago their final report of the evening was(I promise I'm not making this up!)
"Controversy in New Orleans. The racial tensions pitting some minorities against one another".

The mayor's remark pretty much sums it up,
"How do I make sure that my city is not overrun by Mexican workers?", he said.

They also interviewed a contractor who promised to 'do his part' by only hiring blacks.

Right now I'm racking my brain trying to imagine if my town's (white) Sheriff or County Administrator had said the same thing.

After last year's storm, when our town's Hispanic population increased hugely, all I can remember is open-arms welcomes, 'Latino festivals' and translators at our local news station when the next storm was coming.
Not to mention my Governor casually giving a local briefing in perfect Spanish.

This latest racist drivel from Nagin just might trigger huge outrage since Hispanic workers are, after all, minorities too. I sure as heck hope so.

Samuel Alito Nominated

Okay, I know I'm a little late on this one, but I'm very excited.
Here's why:
Democrats wasted no time in publicly blasting him as "too radical."... he[Harry Reid] continued, "the Senate needs to find out if the man replacing Miers is too radical for the American people." Sen. Patrick Leahy... said the Alito nomination is a "needlessly provocative nomination."

Yeeehaw!! This is a good thing.
If you're a Republican with Harry Reid on your side, something ain't right. Ditto for Leahy, Kennedy and all the rest.

That's what majorities in the Senate are for. Democrats will never be happy with any Conservative, which is why election mandates are so important.

And as far as being "radical"? Imagine if Bush had appointed the General Council of the Federalist Society...

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Make a Difference About The Memorial Plan.

Here is a page with links to contact your Congressman in the U.S. house of Representatives.
Here is a comprehensive page of Senators' contact info.
Here is the contact page for Paul Murdoch architects.
Their email is: info@paulmurdocharchitects.com

Call the Superintendent of the Flight 93 National Memorial at (814) 443-4557,
or fax at (814) 443-2180

National Park Service email: http://www.nps.gov/flni/pphtml/contact.html
National Park Service regular mail:
National Park Service
109 West Main Street,
Suite 104
Somerset, PA
15501-2035

As Phantom_driver pointed out, regular mail is best, but don't hesitate to email too.

Another good option(which I plan to do) is write a letter to your local paper.
Believe me, I read letters to editors, and most newspapers will be glad to publish anything slightly sane.
Not that you shouldn't work on your letter. I usually spend about 3 to 4 days working on mine. It will get published sooner if you are clear, concise, and provide facts with preferably a web page or two.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

I wonder...

Does anyone really remember September 11th? Has it been repeated so much that it's a cliche' now?

I remember. I was barely 11 years old and didn't really understand what was going on... At first I was more interested in looking for skyscrapers I recognized. Something just didn't make the connection in my brain that there were thousands of people in there, people who were jumping out the windows and climbing out the sides and waiting for heliocopters that never had time to come.
What really scared me the most was my Mom crying when the towers fell.

Then, the "mysterious black smoke" that reporters began to notice coming from the direction of the Pentagon. The awful gaping hole. Hearing all sorts of strange theories, like when a reporter on the ground saying he thought it was a Chinese military plane. Watching the tape playing over and over again of people running under yellow police tape, and the interview of a young woman covered in blood and ash. "I was lucky", she said.

We also started hearing about a flight that was down, but no one knew much. We were to find out more about it later.

About 40 ordinary people just like you and me. From 79 year-old Hilda Marcin, on the way to California to live with her daughter, to 20 year-old college junior Deora Bodley, returning home after visiting friends.
All were taken hostage by savage killers, intent on using the plane as a weapon, assumedly against the White House or Capitol. But these people didn't intend on going quietly... led by the Todd Beamer, they rushed the cockpit, overpowering, at least temporarily, the terrorists, and stopping their plan to wound America deeper.

But, of course, you already know that. You might be wondering why I have that picture on top of the post. And that's because of what you might not know.

This hallowed ground is doomed to be nuetralized, to be made a place of 'quiet reflection' instead of honor and outrage.

The winning design for the memorial strangely reminds me of the dropped "freedom center" planned in New York.

Set with a "Crescent(yes, it's really called that) of Embrace"(seen above) the plan also involves such things as wind chimes and is set with red(yes red) maples.
Well, while we're here, why don't we have a group hug, sing We are Family and head off to tolerance classes?

America doesn't need this. It's not "Let's Hug", it's "Let's Roll".

Please contact the National Park service. The only way I could find yet is through regular mail; here's the address:
National Park Service
109 West Main Street,
Suite 104
Somerset, PA
15501-2035
I'm working on finding the e-mail contacts.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Not Good For Bush.

'Scooter' Libby indicted.
This via Fox News:

Libby stepped down as Cheney's chief of staff just minutes after the indictment was handed down. A replacement could be named as early as Saturday. The vice president's office was expected to release a statement and President Bush was expected to remark on the case in the afternoon.

The 22 page document charges Libby with two felony counts for making false statements to mislead the grand jury. He is also charged with obstruction of justice and perjury. In total, five counts were included in the indictment.

Since I(along with 99% of the people opining about it) don't really understand all the inner-workings of the case, I'll save speculating.
But, bear in mind, this is an indictment, only an indictment and nobody's been proven guilty - or innocent - here. If you're going to comment, please don't go off on tangent about something nobody really knows.
Do expect to see Libby treated as guilty on the nightly news. I am really not looking forward to hearing "analysis" of this case by such bipartisans as George Stephanopolous...
One thing I do know, is that if Bush doesn't get busy trying to win back his base, he's done for as a President. If he doesn't appoint someone to the Supreme Court that Conservatives can rally around, I really don't see how he could make a comeback.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Miers Withdraws Nomination

Click on my title to read the article.
Notice any bias?
"...politics played a larger role: Bush's conservative backers had doubts about her ideological purity"
'Scuse me? As I recall, the main Conservative concern was her qualifications - I did not hear any Conservative complain about her idealogy(Wasn't it a settled fact that she was Conservative?), Except maybe some passing comments on the fact that she's a "blank slate".

Now on to the next issue. Who's the next choice? I'm crossing my fingers for Priscilla Owens or Janice Rogers Brown, but I'm pretty positive that ain't gonna happen.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

She's A De-e-e-mon...

No, actually it's Condi Rice(hat tip: Phantom_driver) But, the original picture apparently wasn't devilish enough for USA Today. So, in what seems the new obvious solution, they faked it. Yeehaw! That's evil enough. They'll never know...

(The 'Exorcist' photo has since been removed with an added editor's note.)

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Here's My Opinion...

I haven't blogged too much about Tom DeLay, but here's my take on it.

I'm glad something is finally coming of it. For the last year I have scarce heard a mention of his name without "embattled" before it, but now that it's proceeded to an actual indictment, at least we can find out the facts.

First of all, it's a fact that the DA in the case, Ronnie Earle, is a committed Democrat, as is the Judge (this from Fox News: "...attorneys listed 34 contributions that Perkins made to Democratic organizations and candidates, including three to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., when he was running for president in 2004. Others went to the Democratic National Committee, the party's Texas arm and MoveOn.org., a liberal interest group.")

Earle has made clear his intentions to get Tom DeLay, and has followed through, even going to more than one Grand Jury to get an indictment.
And this is not the first time Earle has gone after someone politically. His physical assault charge against Kay Bailey Hutchinson is hard to percieve as anything other than politics.

Of course, there is a good chance DeLay is still guilty. Dick Morris had an interesting take on the subject when he said that of course Tom DeLay is guilty, "because everyone does it", but Earle is obviously just going after DeLay for political reasons.

As for me, I'm not sure. This certainly isn't good for Republicans, and I'm not very hopeful for '06. But, since George Bush and his staff seem determined to lose as much Republican support as possible anyway, maybe this was the best thing that could have happened.

Another "never gonna happen", happens.

Iraq Constitiution passes.

Death Of An Icon

Rosa Parks, who famously humanized the Civil Rights movement when, riding on a Montgomery, AL, city bus Dec. 1, 1955, refused to give up her seat for a white man, has died.
She recently said,
"I am leaving this legacy to all of you ... to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die -- the dream of freedom and peace."

Monday, October 24, 2005

Notice anything?

In case you don't know, that's the winning design for the Flight 93 Memorial.
Well Little Green Footballs notes that the design has not changed, even after large public outcry at the tasteless and obvious similarity to the red crescent of Islam...

Quote from Mens News Daily:
Despite the outrage of the American public over the planned memorial to those who lost their lives fighting terrorists who hijacked their plane on 9/11/2001, the Flight 93 Memorial does not appear to have changed. The “Crescent of Embrace” design still remains on winning architect Paul Murdoch’s site, as well as the official Flight 93 Memorial site. On neither of these sites is any change mentioned or shown to the original design. Murdoch’s site does not indicate that any changes or “refinements” will be forthcoming. To refresh memories, the problem with the design was and is the Islamic crescent symbol. The memorial to the American citizens who appear to have thwarted Islamic terrorists from completing their plan to crash the commercial airliner into the White House deteriorated into a memorial to the terrorists—not to those who tried to stop them. Far beyond a slap in the face to the United States, American citizens who died protecting their country are being marginalized. Instead, it is the terrorists who are being commemorated.
The totality of this abomination is staggering.

Ditto.

I was outraged by this as soon as I saw it. There's really not much "interpreting" you can do. And, even if you can ignore the tastelessness of having a memorial resembling the killer's religion(and it ain't easy) how can this tragedy be memorialized by something as nuetral as this?

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Ooh! We're winning. Let's just give up now!

I haven't blogged much about Harriet Miers, but I feel I just have to now.
Frankly, this is getting embarrassing.

First, she was pushed on the single fact that she is pro-life. That is insulting and steriotypical to Conservatives. Sure, I'd like nothing more than to see Roe v. Wade overturned. But I am pro-life. Does that make me qualified for the court?

Then the "sexist" argument comes out. Is this the twilight zone? Democrats do things like this, not Republicans. No, it's not sexist to oppose her. It's sexist to say she's the most qualified female in the United States.
"Wow! A woman actually graduated college! With a law degree!! That is so unbelievable!"

There are thousands of brilliant, pro-life female Lawyers and judges out there; why must Bush have appointed Miers? She's a very smart woman - smarter than me, I'm sure. But only a select few are qualified to be on the Supreme Court, and I think she's successfully shown she's not in that few.

After the elections, it looked pretty good for the Republicans. We had a majority in both houses, Howard Dean was in charge of the Democrats, and a successful midterm seemed possible.

So, the Republicans started doing what Republicans seem to always do, which is, trying to 'reach out' to Democrats who had been calling them Nazis all year.
Note to the RNC - it ain't working.
Democrats are more than happy to sit and chortle while our party rips itself apart.

President Bush: Whatever happened to that capital you were plannin' to spend?

Friday, October 21, 2005

This Made Me Proud To Be American

And also angry. Angry that the media won't show these. Angry that elitists in Hollywood live in the freedoms won by them, but prefer to blame America - and it's soldiers - first.
Angry that we are bombarded by images of naked terrorists and learning-disabled reservists, and that politicians point to these few and use terms like "Nazi" and "torture chambers".
I am not ignorant. War is hell. But...

"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
-- John Stuart Mill

See more here.

Now THERE'S a good idea!

How's this for smoothing over racial tensions?
RALEIGH — A Raleigh activist and bookstore owner told a panel at Howard University Law School on Oct. 14 that the solution to many of the problems faced by black people is the extermination of “white people off the face of the planet.” Dr. Kamau Kambon, who taught Africana Studies 241 in the Spring 2005 semester at North Carolina State University, also said this needs to be done “because white people want to kill us.”Addressing a panel on “Hurricane Katrina Media Coverage,” broadcast in its entirety on C-SPAN, Kambon told the audience that white people “have retina scans, they have what they call racial profiling, DNA banks, and they’re monitoring our people to try to prevent the one person from coming up with the one idea. And the one idea is, how we are going to exterminate white people because that in my estimation is the only conclusion I have come to. We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet to solve this problem.”

Wow, I'm scared.

Seriously, how has America come to the place where white people(unless they are Democratic former KKK members) would sooner utter 'Seig Heil' than the "n-word", even when quoting someone and are considered racist unless they use a term coined by Jesse Jackson and support Affirmative Discrimination, but black people can call for this?
Not that I'm advocating racism, please don't get me wrong. I don't favor racism in any form. Which is what the problem is here. Bill Bennet can get called every name in the book for a tasteless, yet hypothetical, comment, but the leader of an(albiet rather kooky) National party can go on national TV and call Sean Hannity a 'racist devil', call for seperatism and label the Red Cross "a failure" because they're "too white" and I never hear another word about it?

Doesn't seem "fair" to me.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Lies, Lies And More Lies

From the MSM.
In a short nine years FNC has become the most-watched cable news network in all America. Now that's a problem, what should we do? Ah, the obvious solution! Lie through our teeth!
I am so sick of the disdain and disrespect Fox gets in the msm.
It seems perfectly all right to them to lie constantly, as they did with Geraldo Rivera.
Think I'm exaggerating?
Well, it happened again. I'm sure we all heard about the Mexican farm workers in Georgia who were murdered a few weeks ago. While this is truly tragic, here is how some tried to twist it. Read this quote from a column by Macarena Hernandez in the Dallas Morning News:
"Do they watch FOX's "The O'Reilly Factor," where the anchor and the callers(?) constantly point to the southern border as the birth of all America's ills? It is one thing to want to secure the borders and another to preach hate. Taken literally, such rhetoric gives criminals like those in southern Georgia license to kill."
Naturally, Bill O'Reilly was incensed by this, especially since the editors refused comment, and devoted a talking points memo to the happening.
Quote:
"Ms. Hernandez fails to report the alleged killers of the six Mexicans in Georgia are criminal thugs who wanted money. Immigration had nothing to do with it."

Bill then suggests you email the leadership of the paper at jmoroney@dallasnews.com and tell them what you think.
Not a bad idea.

Monday, October 17, 2005

He Really Did It.

Remember Hashim Nzinga? The leader of the "New Black Panther Party" seems to be on a mission to show the world just how bizzarre he and his compatriots are. Amazingly, he was on Hannity & Colmes again a few minutes ago discussing the "Millions More" march organized by Louis Farrakhan. Yes, he really called Sean a devil. Again. Even more bemusing was him bringing up the 1787 "three-fifths compromise" about black people. He said something like "Let's talk about your constitution considering me three-fifths a person" when asked about the low turnout for the march. He said Louis Farrakhan would be "investigating" his conspiracy theory that the levees were blown up. He also wierdly called for black seperatism and then accused Sean of racism several times. I would literally feel my IQ dropping if I tried to debate this baloney - I think he pretty much makes his opposition's argument every time he opens his mouth.
Obviously I can't get the transcripts or quotes yet, but I'll try ASAP.

(I searched and searched but could find no official website for Hashim Nzinga or the New Black Panther Party, so if anyone knows where to find out more information that would be great. I did find a few resources on the Anti Defamation League's webpage)

Update:
The Political Teen has the video.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

5 Years Later

John In Carolina reminded me of something I had forgotten. It's no wonder. No, ABC did not mention it on their nightly news broadcast(if they did, it was a footnote at the end). But five ago today the USS Cole was savagely attacked by terrorists. 17 sailors tragically lost their lives.

Michelle Malkin has links to other blogger and columnist memorials including:
Stars And Stripes
Bob Parks @ Mens News Daily
Alan Gray

I just wanted to let you know...

I won't be blogging for a couple of days. I should be back blogging by next week.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Remember Richard Clarke?

Of course you do. His name and book were splashed all over headlines for months. Even now a year later, I did a google search of "Richard Clarke" and netted 178,000 results.

Yet now, Louis Freeh, the Fmr. Director of the FBI under Clinton, has written a new book in which he details a horrible relationship with Clinton, and a President Clinton who was uninterested at best in fighting terror.

Drudgereport has more.

I won't speculate on whether or not these charges are true. As with Richard Clarke's book, I haven't read it yet, so I'm not in that position.

But I do know one thing, and that is the Former Director of the FBI is just as credible(if not more so) than a disenchanted former advisor. But will this be headline news? I doubt it.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Why Aren't The Police Getting Blamed?

Michelle Malkin has a rundown of NOPD failures.
Including police beatings, caught on tape and that incident of the police officers stealing Cadillacs.
Now, as a person who's been through a hurricane (several, in fact), I can tell you that our community was not turning on our TVs to see what President Bush had to say - we were tuning in to see our Sheriff, mayor, local division of National Guard, etc. Right or wrong, New Orleans was depending on their local officials. And they failed them.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Open Post.

This has been moved up to allow more comments.

Okay, I just decided to open a post for readers to comment on their opinions. A few rules:
First, abide by the regular blog rules.
Stay on subject(politics, current events)
Keep it clean.
Don't put personal info(mine or yours) out there.
Keep it civil. Like I said before, I welcome debate, but if you're so immature you want to go on and on about how much you hate Republicans/Democrats (or me) just don't bother.

"Do you enjoy killing infidels? Have Skills in Propoganda? Call Us."

Okay, I'm just being facetious(sort of) right now, but Al Qaeda has been placing help-wanted ads on a London-based website. I'm wondering, could this be an indicator that support is shrinking for terrorists?
I can see it now "Bonus virgins for 'extra' work"?
I know nothing is funny about terrorists, but this just shows how pathetic these guys are.

Speak Out!

Fox News has been asking people to vote and email what would be their dream ticket in '08. I said mine would be Condi Rice/Ken Blackwell(or Larry Elder).
My second would be Jeb Bush/Condi Rice. And did I mention Ann Coulter? (I'm joking of course -- please, Liberals don't fill up the comments telling me what a fascist she is... I know that already- I watched 'Hardball'.)
So anyway, comment and tell me what would be your dream ticket, and also send an email/ vote in the poll at Fox. Time to make your voices be heard!

Friday, October 07, 2005

This Is Just Tragic

I won't get into does-the-media-only-care-about-white-girls, but I guess we all heard that remains found have been positively identified as missing college student Taylor Behl.
More at Fox News.

"There. Is. No. Terrorist. Threat."

Right Michael?

Via Fox News:
NEW YORK — Authorities closed part of Penn Station on Friday and commuters headed to work under the watchful eyes of police after a newly disclosed terror threat against the New York subway system...
Officials in New York revealed the threat Thursday, saying an FBI source warned that terrorists had plotted to bomb the subway in coming days...
Mayor Michael Bloomberg called it the most specific terrorist threat that New York officials had received to date, and promised to flood the subway system with uniformed and undercover officers...
The official said the threat was "specific to place," and that the window for the attack was anywhere from Friday through at least the weekend.

All I can say is, I doubt ol' Mikey'll be riding the subway to prove his "no. terrorist. threat" theory.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Assisted Suicide

I'm really not sure about this. I suppose if you aren't religious it's a good idea in theory, but as the Terri Schiavo case shows, it can lead to all sorts of new questions. I don't believe the right is in the constitution and personally I find the idea reprehensible, and dangerous at best. But then again, wouldn't states have the right to declare whether they think it's right or not? I believe that the Supreme Court has the right to uphold the Constitution, but remember, they found the "right" to kill your baby in the constitution.
I want to know what my readers think about this.

Film Maker Sues Kerry

"The lawsuit, filed this week on behalf of producer Carlton Sherwood and a Vietnam veterans group, is the latest salvo in the battle over the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal...
"Sherwood's suit alleges that Kerry directed the DNC to issue a statement that falsely said the film was produced and funded by "extreme right-wing activists."

All I can say is, Why so late?
I was really involved with the '04 campaign, and that was a big issue for me.
First of all, a group of highly respected, highly decorated combat veterans, including a Medal Of Honor recipient, were daily defamed and (even though the President stupidly denounced them) Kerry had the gall to say Bush let them "do his dirty work for them".
I don't know about you, but I didn't see a certain washed-up fiction filmaker at the GOP convention.

Monday, October 03, 2005

On A Lighter Note...

I got these in an email and thought y'all would get a kick out of them.

Harriet Miers Appointed

To SCOTUS.
Story here.
Profile here.

One thing worries me:
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid issued a statement saying he likes Miers and adding "the Supreme Court would benefit from the addition of a justice who has real experience as a practicing lawyer." Reid had personally recommended that Bush consider Miers for nomination, according to several sources familiar with the president's consultations with senators.

While we can always hope, I'm not too excited about her. If she was a true Conservative, Ted Kennedy would already be calling her a fascist, Nancy Pelosi would have held a press conference calling on the President to show more diplomacy and Ronnie Earle would be pushing a physical assault charge.

Yes, it's better than a Kerry-appointed Ruth Bader-Ginsberg type, but it's not great. Now it looks like instead of having Rehnquist and O'Conner, we just might get two O'Conners.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Conspiracy Theories Live On!

You won't believe this paranoid article that was actually posted on a Gulf Coast area's Democratic Committe site under the heading: "To rebel is right, to disobey is a duty, to act is necessary !" (and keep in mind, Democrats down here are even more Conservative than, say, California Democrats.)
Quote:
John Kerry did not lose the electoral votes in Florida. They were stolen. Nor did he lose the electoral votes in Ohio. They were stolen as well. And with these two states being a rigged game, suspicions multiply.

I can understand blogs buying into this nonsense, but the official Democratic party?
Just shows you how far left the Democrats have slidden.

Not Even Piglet Is Safe

from political correctness. British Muslims have now succeeded in banning toy pigs because, well... just read it yourself:
Via The Sun Online:
Novelty pig calendars and toys have been banned from a council office — in case they offend Muslim staff.
Workers in the benefits department at Dudley Council, West Midlands, were told to remove or cover up all pig-related items, including toys, porcelain figures, calendars and even a tissue box featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.
Bosses acted after a Muslim complained about pig-shaped stress relievers delivered to the council in the run-up to the Islamic festival of Ramadan.
Muslims are barred from eating pork in the Koran and consider pigs unclean.
Councillor Mahbubur Rahman, a practising Muslim, backed the ban. He said: “It’s a tolerance of people’s beliefs.”

Oh, please.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

"D.A. Charging DeLay Gave Film Crew Access"

Although this wasn't exactly headline news, at least ABC had the guts to report this.
AUSTIN, Texas Sep 30, 2005 — The Texas district attorney who brought the criminal case against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay gave a movie crew behind-the-scenes access during the investigation proof.

Big surprise.

They Just Can't Help Themselves

at ABC News. I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about. Even though they have an explanatory caption under the photo, come on...

Go here to see the main politics page where I first saw it. There they don't even have an caption explaining that Bush was responding to a question about a Supreme Court Pick.

Bali Terror

Via Fox News:
BALI, Indonesia — Terrorists targeted the Indonesian tropical resort of Bali for the second time in three years Saturday with coordinated bombings that devastated seafood and noodle restaurants packed with foreigners, killing at least 25 people and wounding at least 100.
The blasts came a month after Indonesia's president warned of possible terrorist attacks. Two Americans were among the wounded... No one claimed responsibility... but suspicion immediately fell on the Al Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for the 2002 attacks and other deadly attacks in Jakarta in recent years.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said terrorists were to blame and warned that more attacks were possible.
"We will hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice," he said, calling on people "to be on the alert."

Agree or disagree with Iraq.
But how can nuts like Michael Moore say "There. Is. No. terrorist. Threat."??

Rebekah's Place