OMG. My New Favorite Bumpersticker...

More found here.

W vs Terror: Something's Working

Via Glenn, a published column by another of my favorites, John Hinderaker of Powerline making the case that there is a marked drop off in the number of terror attacks on US interests while under George Bush's watch.

"...One can debate the relative importance of these and other factors. But based on the historical record, the Bush administration obviously has done something since 2001 to dramatically improve our security against terrorism. To
fail to recognize this is to sow the seeds of greatly increased susceptibility to terrorist attacks in the next administration."

Memorial Day Weekend...

We're not doing much this weekend, per se. No bar-b-ques, no trips to the beach or camping trips or anything else.

However, we are headed to Colorado Springs to see the future Son-in-LawofAzlib graduate from the US Air Force Academy and take his commission into the Air Force.

In our hearts, if not over our driveway this year, we will be flying the colors.

I've got to agree...

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has screwed up the removal of children from the FLDS families. And that agency, and the state, is now damaged by the excess they used in this case.

This ought to call into question whether these agencies, even with their good intentions, are good for us. Parents have a right to raise their children the way they want. Abuse claims should be carefully examined.

And Glenn has it right: At least in their concern for the safety of the children, they didn't burn the place down.

OMG. My Favorite Bumpersticker for '08...

Found here, via HotAir.

The cool black guy...

...beats the cool white chick to win who gets to be Student Body President.

“They poured everything they had into this place.... And they lost."

Here is the full quote.

“They poured everything they had into this place. The battle against Americans in Anbar became their most important fight in the world. And they lost.”

Of course, the quote is about Fallujah, and Michael J. Totten wrote it. I read this article about the First, Second, and Third Battles for Fallujah as a microcosm of our presence in Iraq...to leave Iraq will invite al Qaeda back in, and we cannot allow them to believe they've beaten us.

A few Quick Links...

• Charles Johnson has it right: "Wow".
• A topic that is still off-limits.
• John at OpFor reminds us that John Stossel's mustache has more common sense than most of his co-workers.

Another...

...Link worth keeping.

The Very Big War.

Concluding sentences (with my emphasis)...

"...Wars are awful but some wars really are necessary and this war is against an existential threat to the entire world. Since it must be fought, let there be no half measures, let victory be total. Any other result insults the memory of those already killed in this conflict and means that, ultimately, we will face a future nuclear war that will see tens of millions of us die."

What...

...Bush said in front of the Israeli Knesset...



Obama's response...

"...George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel...."

However, Obama also said...



What Obama wants us to believe here is that he thinks there is a difference between a state that supports terrorists and the terrorists themselves. He would talk to the former, while denying he would talk to the later.

On this count I can't help but wonder: Would Obama talk to the Afghan Taliban while attacking the al Qaeda in Afghanistan?

For the Record...

Recent absence was due to the grand celebrations relating to SonofAzlib and Dau#1ofAzlib graduating, with two degrees each, from Arizona State. Dau#2ofAzlib still has 3 years to go.

Then we will be tuition-free (till the [future] grandkids start to school)!

Edit: I meant to post this earlier, but one of my favorite bloggers, Ed Morrissey, also had a child graduate summa cum laude (as did our daughter). It doesn't need to be said that WifeofAzlib and I are as proud of our two as Capt. Ed is of his own.

Poor Staff Work...

Via Glenn, comes this report noting that Obama has a penchant for blaming his staffers when inconsistencies or problems surface. Trapper has dug up much of these cases, but he missed the Blame-a-staffer-for-the-Cuban-Flag-hanging-in-my-Campaign-Office episode.

Stuff White People Like...

I've been getting a kick out of the SWPL website recently, and happened on a post titled "Scarves". I confess to owning more than one scarf, even though I live in arid, and very warm Arizona. I don't really need them...in fact I only ever use one every couple of years.

But I can't help but connect this topic to this...

Found...

...this gem over at Exurban League where Kevin focuses on the internicene warfare within the Democrat Party. What caught my eye, however, was this quote...

"...But if the DNC wants use isolationism to win votes, let's take their rhetoric to its logical conclusion. Why not pull all of our troops out of South Korea and Japan -- the two peaceful countries McCain spoke of in his original comment? Dean probably isn't even aware, but it was a Democratic president, one of our greatest presidents, who committed American troops to those two countries with the full intent of keeping them there indefinitely to secure the peace. I don't think Harry Truman, if he were around today, would be appalled at the fact that we have 26,000 troops patrolling the DMZ in South Korea or 33,000 American troops in Japan. Perhaps Dean should next advocate a withdrawal of forces from Germany, the United Kingdom, Iceland and the dozens of other countries where the presence of American soldiers comprise our global defense posture, all of them stationed at the behest of the host countries. Come an Obama or Clinton administration, when the democratically elected parliament of the Iraqi people requests a continued American troop presence in Iraq -- as it has repeatedly done since the formation of the post-Saddam government -- will Congressional Democrats and the president nonetheless carry out a withdrawal? So much for 'paying any price' and 'bearing any burden'...." (emphases mine)

Not to toot my own horn (OK. Maybe just a little), but in my Reductio ad Absurdum treatise, I asked:

"...Try for a minute to think through what the world would look like if we
withdrew. You can just withdraw from Iraq, or you can withdraw from everywhere, and I end up at the same place: A world far less stable than before we left. I don't think that we're colonizing the world in our form. Rather, I deeply and
completely believe that the liberty we far too often take for granted is
something that everyone on this planet inately seeks. What we're doing in Iraq
(and the rest of the world) is to offer them a chance at that kind of
liberty...."

"Barbie for Men"...

...indeed.

No.

I've never carried a shotgun in my pants.

Tuck in your shirt
by wellywanger

h/t Theo.

A link worth keeping...

Norman Podhoretz: Stopping Iran: Why the Case for Military Action Still Stands (The last two paragraphs make a point I have long made: In Bush today, we are very much watching our next Churchill.)