Year: 2006

Quick, put your tin foil hat on.

The founder of Air America claims that Karl Rove is behind the Left’s Anti-Semitism.

I just love all these ‘unexpected, unannounced, surprising’ stops made by Bush (think Turkey in Iraq) and now Condi Rice.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced stop in Beirut Monday in an effort to shore up Lebanon’s fragile government, beleaguered by nearly two weeks of relentless bombing raids that have wrecked much of the country’s infrastructure and sent thousands of Lebanese citizens fleeing for their lives.

It’s fun to watch the media, who continue to react with utter shock when a president or members of his cabinet stray from the pre-published travel itinerary. Then there is the Left, who scoff at these secret trips, claiming what they see is nothing more than manufactured ‘wanna be seen as doing something important’ ploys for popularity.

These seemingly impromptu stop overs in unexpected places aren’t so much a photo-op tactic to gain a bump in the polls as they are a foreign policy reality in this post 9/11 world. Get used to it.

Since $6,000 can’t (necessarily) buy you a legislative record to stand on, Hillary instead focuses on the external.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign army has increased its ranks to 50 staffers and more than 20 consultants, specialists in everything from fund-raising to speech-writing to hairstyling and makeup.

Clinton, the likely 2008 Democratic White House front-runner, ponied up nearly $3,000 in campaign cash for her blond tresses to get some presidential pampering from acclaimed D.C. stylist Isabelle Goetz.

Recently released federal fund-raising records show Clinton shelled out $1,500 in April for Goetz to carefully craft her coiffure and another $1,000 for a camera-ready clip in May.

She passed off both styling sessions as “media production” expenses.

Clinton was so desperate for Goetz to style her gilded mane, she picked up the scissor siren’s $405 travel tab in April and a $38 expenses tab in May.

Goetz, a fixture at the swank Cristophe salon and the favored stylist of John Kerry, has been clipping the former first lady’s locks for years – she’s credited for updating Clinton’s coif from country to chic. To complement the touch-up of her tresses, Clinton invested another $3,000 for makeup maestro Barbara Lacy to brush on some blush.

Hmm, I dunno…she might consider throwing a few more dollars at that.

John Kerry is a schmuck.

Kerry, D- Mass., who was in town (Detroit) Sunday to help Gov. Jennifer Granholm campaign for her re-election bid, took time to take a jab at the Bush administration for its lack of leadership in the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.

“If I was president, this wouldn’t have happened,” said Kerry during a noon stop at Honest John’s bar and grill in Detroit’s Cass Corridor.

Bush has been so concentrated on the war in Iraq that other Middle East tension arose as a result, he said.

“The president has been so absent on diplomacy when it comes to issues affecting the Middle East,” Kerry said. “We’re going to have a lot of ground to make up (in 2008) because of it.”

Oh boy…don’t we all just regret the fact that we didn’t elect Monsieur Kerry to be our fearful leader of the United States of the cut-and-run Americas? Why, if he were president, we’d look just like France right now, and when I think of winners, well, of course I think of the Frogs. Don’t you?

His arrogance is beyond offensive.

Michelle Malkin calls the New York Times ‘Hezbollah’s Favorite Newsaper’. Hard to argue with that, given their propensity to publish leaked information which threatens the national security of the United States and its allies.

Today’s headline is the latest exhibit in their ongoing jihad against the Bush administration.

Mary Winkler’s defense is beginning to take shape. It looks like her lawyers intend to pin the blame on the ‘Nigerian Scam’.

A woman accused of shooting her preacher husband to death after they argued over money may have been taken in by a remarkably common scam that strained their finances and their marriage.

Mary Winkler, who is charged with murder, had gotten tangled up along with her husband in a swindle known as an advance-fee fraud, or the “Nigerian scam,” in which victims are told that a sweepstakes prize or some other riches are waiting for them if they send in money to cover the processing expenses, her lawyers say.

“They were always kind of living on the edge of their budget,” defense attorney Steve Farese said, “so I’m sure this would have just wrecked their budget.”

No one has said how much money the Winklers may have lost, or what role the financial strain might have played in the slaying of Matthew Winkler, the popular minister at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in this small town 80 miles east of Memphis.

Matthew Winkler was shot in the back with a 12-gauge shotgun as he lay in bed March 22 and was found dead by church members.

I am continually amazed with people who are taken in by email scams, urban legends and the like. Don’t they know that search engines are their best friends? Obviously they don’t.

It’s clear that Winkler’s defense team is attempting to reveal Mary’s state of mind prior to the shooting. Given that she’s already confessed to being the shooter, her lawyers need to paint the picture that she was out of sorts, off her rocker, over the edge, if you will, when she blew her husband Matthew away. My guess is they’re simply trying to avoid a death sentence. There’s no doubt that Mary Winkler will never resume a normal life. I have zero pity for her. As I’ve said before, the real victims remain alive. Through no fault of their own, the Winkler daughters will face a lifetime without their parents.

Previously: | Shot Dead Over Family Finances | Winkler: Opening Up | Winkler Attorneys Waive Fees | The Innocent Victims | Winkler Family Fund | Possible Winkler Defense? | Mary Winkler: “Overwhelmed and Confused” | Winkler Vs. the State of Tennessee | She Did It |

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, talks with Cuba’s Fidel Castro during a Mercosur summit in Cordoba, some 434 miles from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The only person missing from this photo is Cindy Sheehan.

Saddam writes a letter to America. Actually, it reads more like blog post on Daily Kos. In fact, Hussein’s message is a clarion call to Cindy Sheehan type Leftists, a sympathetic segment of America where Saddam has realized a popularity growth spurt.

That’s the gist of the message sent by Israel to citizens of Lebanon. They should take it seriously.

Israel gave warning that it would not hesitate to launch a full-scale ground invasion of Lebanon if it thought it needed to do so to achieve its military objectives against the Hezbollah militia.

With radio broadcasts, leaflets and text messages, Israel has warned all Lebanese civilians within 20 miles of the Israeli border to quit their homes to evade the bombing raids.

Meanwhile, the military is staging for what appears to be an imminent ground invasion.

Israel massed tanks and troops on the border Friday and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone. An Israeli envoy said it will allow aid supplies into Lebanon, a day after the United Nations warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the country.

As told yesterday, Condi Rice will be travelling to the Middle East next week. It’s hard to know what she intends to do. (update: now we know) Just now I hear that Rice and Bush will engage in a conversation on the subject with the Saudis this weekend.

Last night a wide variety of Clinton-ites hit the cable TV news shows with talking points focusing on a diplomatic strategy. Unfortunately for them, their liberal ‘talk template’ didn’t contain a scripted answer to the question, ‘How can one negotiate with someone who doesn’t want to negotiate?’ How ironic that this is finally being asked by the MSM now, nearly 5 years after 9/11.

Condi will head to the Middle East next week.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice intends to travel to the Middle East as early as next week to press for a political solution to reduce fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, her spokesman said on Thursday.

The aim of the trip was “to address the tactical situation but also to try to address the root causes and bring about a strategic change,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

Trying not to be too cynical here, but hasn’t there already been a multitude of attempts from previous administrations to “address the root causes and bring about a strategic change” in the region? Yeah, I know it’s just a scripted statement from a spokesman, but I can’t help but wonder what Rice expects to accomplish. Cease fire? I wrote about the ramifications of that yesterday. Full-on peace? Unlikely if not impossible.

But, let’s look at the glass as half full and hope that Condi’s mission results in something more than just a set of colorful photos of people sitting at conference tables.