Month: February 2006

The AP files a story highlighting a media opportunity with President Bush today, as he was meeting with the House Republican Caucus in a retreat at a resort in Maryland. According to the AP, the president made public remarks while the press was in the room. He then shoo’d the press away and proceeded to make private remarks to his fellow Republicans who remained in the room.

What he didn’t know was that his microphone was still hot, and his words were being fed to the White House press room, giving reporters an opportunity to eavesdrop on the president as he talked about his eavesdropping program. The good thing is, there was no substantive difference between his ‘public’ and ‘private’ comments.

Like foxes finding the chicken coup unguarded, the members of the press stood there taking in every word of what was supposedly private, off the record comments by Bush. And you can bet they waited there with watering mouths hoping the president would say something that countered his official response. Yet, they come away empty handed.

Heh.

Charles Krauthammer.

A true Muslim moderate is one who protests desecrations of all faiths. Those who don’t are not moderates but hypocrites, opportunists and agents for the rioters, merely using different means to advance the same goal: to impose upon the West, with its traditions of freedom of speech, a set of taboos that is exclusive to the Islamic faith. These are not defenders of religion but Muslim supremacists trying to force their dictates upon the liberal West.

What is at issue is fear. The unspoken reason many newspapers do not want to republish is not sensitivity but simple fear. They know what happened to Theo van Gogh, who made a film about the Islamic treatment of women and got a knife through the chest with an Islamist manifesto attached.

The worldwide riots and burnings are instruments of intimidation, reminders of van Gogh’s fate. The Islamic “moderates” are the mob’s agents and interpreters, warning us not to do this again. And the Western “moderates” are their terrified collaborators who say: Don’t worry, we won’t. It’s those Danes. We’re clean. Spare us. Please.

WaPo

Michael Brown, former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director, added conviction to his lack of credibility today in testimony before a Senate panel investigating the response to Hurricane Katrina.

“I certainly feel somewhat abandoned” by the Bush administration now, Brown said in testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

In the hours after Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast on Monday, August 29, Brown said he bypassed his boss at the Department of Homeland Security and communicated directly with the White House about the disaster.

He described how he “got around DHS” by dealing with President Bush’s top aides instead of going to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

He also contradicted comments by Homeland Security officials that they were unaware of flood dangers in New Orleans, Louisiana, the day that Katrina made landfall.

“For them to now claim that we didn’t have awareness of it, I think is just baloney,” he said. “They should have had awareness of it because they were receiving the same information that we were.”

How can Brown’s testimony be seen as anything other than sour grapes? He received well deserved criticism for his lack of leadership during the disaster. His resignation was portrayed as voluntary, yet it’s clear that the White House and Homeland Security urged him in the decision and it’s likely he’s still smarting about that. The media has characterized him as the epitome of ineptness (although today, they’re lifting him up like he’s the smartest guy in the world).

If anyone has an agenda for payback against the Bush administration, it’s Mike Brown. While it’s clear that all areas of the Federal relief response to Katrina was lacking, the Democrats and their partners in the MSM would be wise not to suddenly embrace the ring leader of chaos. Hopefully the members of the Senate panel will take a look at Mike Brown’s motivation to play the blame game as their investigation continues.

A deal has been worked out on an extension of the Patriot Act.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Several Senate Republicans who are key to extension of the terror-fighting Patriot Act have reached a tentative agreement with the White House on a compromise version, congressional officials said Thursday.

Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H. and three other GOP lawmakers who had been at odds with the Bush administration on a longterm extension of this key law were expected to announce details of the accord later Thursday.

No immediate details were available on the changes they wrung from the White House. These Republicans had joined a Democratic-led filibuster late last year that blocked passage at the time of a bill extending the life of the law. Critics claimed that the versions before Congress would have given shortshrift treatment to people’s civil liberties.

The devil is in the details. Hopefully, the bending the Bush administration had to do was limited in its scope. Frankly, it’s maddening that a few left leaning “Republicans” have held the Patriot Act hostage for this long. 

Cindy says she won’t run for a seat in the US Senate.

Cindy Sheehan, the anti-Iraq war activist whose son was killed in the conflict there, put an end to speculation on Thursday that she would launch a long-shot bid to become a U.S. senator from California.

Sheehan, speaking in front of San Francisco City Hall, said she would not run for the office.

“If I thought that running for Senate would bring our young people home more quickly I would do it in a minute, but I am not convinced that that would do so,” Sheehan said.

A campaign would have pitted her against California’s senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat who is one of the state’s most popular politicians.

Although experts and polls suggest Feinstein, in office since 1992, will win reelection easily, a campaign by Sheehan would have provided her with a platform for her anti-war message.

Darn it all! I was really looking forward to Mother Sheehan on the stump against DiFi. All that potential entertainment, shot down in flames. In the least it would have made a great reality TV show.

In all likelihood, the higher ups in the DNC got word to Cindy that she really shouldn’t attempt a run in politics. Now, I’m not suggesting that they came to their senses about Sheehan and finally recognized that she’s a complete loon. I’m guessing DiFi and her “people” got to Sheehan and fired a warning shot in her general direction. Something like, “if you even think about entering this race and making it difficult for Diane, the Democratic National Committee will shun you faster than you can say Hugo Chavez. Oh yeah, and your friends at Moveon.org? They’ll kick you to the curb too.” And if that happened, Cindy would be one lonely moonbat. So, PRESTO! No Senate run for Cindy.

The question now is, what does she get in return?

Well now…

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and the senator’s staff regularly had contact with the disgraced lobbyist’s team about legislation affecting other clients.

The activities detailed in billing records and correspondence obtained by The Associated Press are far more extensive than previously disclosed. They occurred over three years as Reid collected nearly $68,000 in donations from Abramoff’s firm, lobbying partners and clients.

Reid’s office acknowledged Thursday having “routine contacts” with Abramoff’s lobbying partners and intervening on some government matters such as blocking some tribal casinos in ways Abramoff’s clients might have deemed helpful. But it said none of his actions were affected by donations or done for Abramoff.

“All the actions that Senator Reid took were consistent with his long-held beliefs, such as not letting tribal casinos expand beyond reservations, and were taken to defend the interests of Nevada constituents,” spokesman Jim Manley said.

Once and for all, lobbying and fundraising is an issue that affects CONGRESS in a variety of ways, some positive, some clearly negative. It’s not just a Republican problem. It needs to be address seriously, but an outside organization and not by the perpetrators themselves. More importantly, the Democrats should immediately repudiate Reid and refrain from attempting to use this issue as a weapon against the Republican party.

George W. Bush spoke this morning at the National Guard Memorial Building in Washington where he touched upon issues related to the ongoing war on terror, including progress made to prevent post-9/11 attacks on this country. His most notable remark was about a specific threat against the US Bank Tower in Los Angeles.

Bush has referred to the 2002 plot before. In an address last October, he said the United States and its allies had foiled at least 10 serious plots by the al-Qaida terror network in the last four years, including plans for Sept. 11-like attacks on both U.S. coasts. The White House initially would not give details of the plots but later released a fact sheet with a brief, and vague, description of each.

The president filled in details on Thursday.

He said that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks who was captured in 2003, had already begun planning the West Coast operation in October, just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. One of Mohammed’s key planners was Hambali, the alleged operations chief of the al-Qaida related terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. Instead of recruiting Arab hijackers, Hambali found Southeast Asian men who would be less likely to arouse suspicion and who were sent to meet with Osama bin Laden, Bush said.

Under the plot, the hijackers were to use shoe bombs to blow open the cockpit door of a commercial jetliner, take control of the plane and crash it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, since renamed the US Bank Tower, Bush said.

Obviously this is great news, but I question why the administration waited for nearly 4 years before telling Americans about this success story. If this and other evidence of thwarted attacks had been reported earlier on, we might not be having the debate over the NSA Terrorist Surveillance program today.

I generally agree with the idea of information being disseminated on a ‘need to know’ basis, and often times, Americans just don’t need to know about this government detail or that. Yet in this case, the war on terror, wouldn’t it behoove the administration and ultimately serve the American public to hear about our successes more often?

I don’t typically talk too much about my personal life, but this was just one of those days…you know ’em, the ones you never want to relive, but they seem to just keep playing over and over again inside your head.

I live approximately 25 minutes away from my office, in a rural area. So, while I drive into and out of town every day, my wife and kids come in once or so every couple of weeks. Today, a plan was put together for a couple of our kids to tour the city newspaper operation. From editorial to circulation to printing – the whole enchilada. My wife and I thought this would be a great experience, so around 1 PM they started their journey into town. I got a call on my cell phone telling me they were heading in, and that they were excited and all that. Their tour was to start at 2 PM.

At about 1:45 PM, I see one of my three son’s come up to my office door. He walks in and says, “Man Daddy, it was BAD! Whoa! Wait til Momma tells you!” As you can imagine, I’m curious. No, I’m attentive. OK, I’m riveted, because I’m about to hear something that I’m not gonna like. My first thought is, they had a car accident, everyone is OK, but our 2005 KIA Sedona isn’t.

A split second later, my two other son’s come through the door and one of them says to me, “OK Daddy, just let Momma tell you”.

My daughter comes in. She says nothing.

Now I’m a bit more than riveted. I’m anxious, nervous, and ready to be hit with the “story”. Finally my wife walks in. The kids are yelling, “Tell him Momma, tell him!” My wife looks at me and says, “We need to get a new windshield.” I ask, “What happened?” She proceeds to tell me that a rock came out of nowhere and hit the glass. I’m thinking, rock chip – no big deal, been there done that. She says, “it’s big”. At that moment, I got up and said, let’s go see.

We all head out the front door of my office building and head across the street where there is a city parking garage. Making our way over to where our minivan is parked, the knot in my stomach proceeds to grow a little bit more with every step. We finally get to the parking stall, and I take a peek.

My first thought. This is no rock chip. It’s no crack. This thing is more like a hole with the circumference the size of a golf ball. This object came from somewhere…out there…high above. Did they get hit by a meteor? There’s glass inside the van on the dash. It becomes instantly clear to me that this windshield isn’t a windshield anymore. It’s now a ticking time bomb. In the few minutes I stood there with my mouth hanging open, I watched cracks appear around the hole. The window was falling apart.

Great. Just what I need today.

At this point I notice I’m delivering rapid fire instructions to my wife in monotone. Everyone gets in the van and they drive to the auto glass shop. As I’m walking back to the office with my own set of instructions running through my brain as to what to do next, I’m hoping…praying…that the glass stays intact all the way to the shop. Sitting back down at my desk, I get on the phone and arrange for temporary transportation, better known as Enterprise Rental Car. I reserve a minivan for the next 48 hours. Guess my work day is finished. I turn off my computers, grab the coat, turn the lights out and leave.

I drive my Ford F-150 (the tank) out to the airport. Why the airport? Where else do they have rental cars? The traffic is a nightmare, and it takes me almost 25 minutes. During the (slow) ride, I get a call from the wife telling me they made it to the shop (thank you God) and (of course) they don’t have a replacement. It has to be shipped up, and won’t be ready for install until tomorrow. OK, fine, I’m getting a minivan anyway, so we’re covered. While I’m on the phone with her, she’s on the phone with the insurance company and talking with the shop attendant at the same time. Questions, information, time of incident, location of incident, replacement type, deductible, blah blah blah.

I arrive at the airport and park the tank. Parking is free for 30 minutes or less. Heh…right, I’m paying for parking. I head inside and walk over to the rental counter. The rental car guy has his arm in a sling, and he winces at every move he makes. This isn’t going to be quick. I give him my reservation number. Oops, I’m sorry, we don’t have any minivans. Who told you we did?

Perfect.

After 20 minutes watching rental car guy type with one finger, pull a rental agreement from a printer (one handed, of course), and reach for vehicle keys, I finally drive away with a 12 passenger van. Appropriate for an airport I guess. The length of the snow-white van, which feels like it’s 20 feet, makes cornering an interesting trick, if you’re not used to it of course. As I leave the lot, I see travelers look longingly at me, as if I’m the guy who’s going to pick them up and take them to their car or something.

Another 20 minute stop and go drive over to the auto glass shop, where I find my kids hanging out in the parking lot. They have “that look”. You know, the one that says, “WE’VE BEEN WAITING HERE FOR HOURS!”, as if I’ve been taking my time. They pile into the HMS Titanic and we leave our windshield crushed van with the glass guy.

Another 20 minute stop and go ride back out to the airport to pick up the tank.

Parking attendant – “That’ll be five dollars sir. Thanks, have a good day”.

Me – “pppppttttthhhhh”.

Another 25 minute ride, but this time, I’m heading home, following the wife as she’s driving the extendo milk truck. We get home just in time for everyone to get changed and head out to church for Wednesday night activities. I stay behind with the goal of bringing my blood pressure back to a human level. It’s not there yet.

And how was your day today?

More of the same actually, and there’s still no ‘there’, there.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday accused Republicans of “playing the fear card” of terrorism to win elections and said Democrats cannot keep quiet if they want to win in November.

The New York Democrat, facing re-election this year and considered a potential White House candidate in 2008, said Republicans won the past two elections on the issue of national security and “they’re doing it to us again.”

She said a speech by presidential adviser Karl Rove two weeks ago showed the GOP election message is: “All we’ve got is fear and we’re going to keep playing the fear card.”

In that speech, Rove suggested Republicans can prevail in 2006 by showing Democrats had undermined terrorism-fighting efforts by questioning Bush’s authority to allow wiretapping without getting court approval first.

Clinton said a convention of United Auto Workers that Democrats should not be afraid to question Bush’s handling of the war.

“I take a back seat to nobody when it comes to fighting terrorism and standing up for national homeland security,” she said.

Referring to fugitive al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, Clinton said, “You cannot explain to me why we have not captured or killed the tallest man in Afghanistan.”

Hillary might want to ask her husband about that, since he had a number of opportunities to take the man out, but didn’t.

The real story here is the cry from Hillary for a ‘voice’. She has her own goals, her own political aspirations, yet she belongs to a party which isn’t a party. The Democrat leadership make up a group of people who are saying different things, have different goals, and individual political aspirations. Hillary, on her own, cannot achieve the goals she’s set out. She needs the DNC for backup. She needs the DNC to echo her words. It must be frustrating for Hillary, in that she cannot impose imperial rule upon the likes of Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi or Al Gore. They could clearly care less about Hillary’s political future.

Once again, the Left turns a memorial service into an opportunity to bash President Bush. This time though, they did it right in front of him.

Disgusting.

UPDATE: Video here, and here.