IF YOU'RE GOING TO SIT OUT A HURRICANE ...

... try to arrange to sit the hurricane out at Walt Disney World.  Even though I was there, less than 10 miles from the eye of Hurricane Charley, I can't say that I feel like I was actually in a hurricane.  We were staying at the Ft. Wilderness Lodge villas.  Friday afternoon they came around and put flashlights in every room.  We never needed them.  The electricity never went out.  Disney has its own power system, and all lines are underground.  The Disney theme parks all closed at 1:00 pm on Friday, so guests were swarming back into the hotels. Staffers put up craft tables to occupy the kids, free movies were being run on the in-room televisions.  The restaurants closed for about two hours to let the hurricane pass through, then reopened late in the evening.  The winds at this area of Disney were probably a sustained 80 miles per hour.  Miles away the winds were at 105 miles per hour.  At the Wilderness Lodge they were serving a midnight buffet for guests.  When we woke up on Saturday morning the staff was already clearing downed trees and debris, and by mid afternoon the only clue you had that a hurricane had gone through were tree stumps.  My guess is that they'll be gone by this afternoon.

Saturday morning I got in the car to see what was happening.  After leaving the protective cocoon of Disney World the destruction became immediately apparent.  Almost every sign along US 192 was stripped naked.  Trees and power lines were down everywhere.  Virtually nobody had any electricity.  People in  hotels and motels outside Disney were gathered in parking lots making meals of whatever they could find.  Business owners were trying to clean up debris in hopes that they would be in some condition to open when the power came back on.  

I came back to Atlanta on Sunday.  Donna drove to Naples to see what damage had occurred to our properties there.  She called me when she drove through the Port Charlotte - Punta Gorda area.  She was crying.  She couldn't believe the extent of the damage she was seeing.  Donna is a trained Red Cross disaster relief volunteer.  It may be a while before she comes back to Atlanta.

I've been in hurricanes before without any serious troubles.  I was fortunate enough to weather this one nestled safe inside the ultra-prepared confines of Disney.  I saw first hand though the agony that other people are going through.  Lives have been lost.  Retirement homes, jobs, livelihoods have been lost.  There could be as many as one million Floridians still without electricity today.  Let's keep them in our prayers ... especially those who lost loved ones and friends.

Two more thoughts.  First, get your car filled up before the hurricane hits.  Second ... I have a new attitude about evacuation orders.  If I'm ever in a place where an evacuation order is given ... I'm in the car before the second-hand makes another sweep.

Finally ... when I got back to Atlanta on Sunday afternoon I noticed a lot of email messages from people wondering how I fared in the hurricane.  Just fine, thanks.  And thanks for caring.

KERRY SHOWS HIMSELF --- TO BE A JERK

Now this was probably the most transparent, idiotic, moronic and childish moment of the campaign thus far.  When John Kerry was asked about President Bush's visit to Florida after the passage of Hurricane Charley, he had nothing but criticism. Kerry said that Bush should have waited to visit, because Bush's visit would divert the efforts of "first responders."  There isn't an American alive with enough sense to operate a can opener who doesn't know that if Bush hadn't made a visit to Florida within a few days after the hurricane Kerry would be citing Bush's absence as proof that he doesn't really care about the people of Florida. 

Slowly ... day by day ... John Kerry reveals to the American people just what a pompous, overstuffed, elitist jerk he is.  Hopefully enough Americans will see the real Kerry before they make him our president.

POODLE UPSET TAXPAYERS GETTING TAX CUTS

Campaigning in Oregon on Friday, The Poodle attacked the Bush administration over tax cuts, claiming that the rich have benefited over the middle class under George Bush.  The Kerry campaign is revisiting the issue because the Congressional Budget Office released numbers Friday that showed the top 1 percent of income earners got a bigger tax cut than the middle class.  That's right, and that is exactly as it should be.  The reason?  Well ... could it possibly be that the rich got a bigger tax cut because they pay most of the taxes?   In fact, the top 1 percent pay nearly 40 percent of all income taxes.  The top 50 percent pay almost all of the taxes (96%.)  So it stands to reason that if you cut taxes at all, people who pay taxes are going to benefit.  This doesn't help Democrats like John Kerry get votes, so they decide to take the class warfare route.  The evil rich benefited from George Bush's tax cut!  The fact of the matter is that poor people don't really pay taxes.  Once you factor in the taxpayer rip-off scam called the earned income credit, not only do a lot of people not pay taxes, but they actually get more back than they paid in!

Also, one thing about this "bigger tax cut" nonsense.  Take a person making $30,000 a year. If you cut his taxes 10% (dream on,) he'll save $3,000 a year.  Now take someone making $300,000 a year (an evil rich person who stole it all from the poor) and give them the same 10% tax cut.  He's going to save $30,000 a year.  Whose tax cut is bigger?  If you ask the Democrats and the anti-capitalist, Bush-hating liberal media, it's the rich guy.  Why his tax cut is ten times the size of the middle class person!

Wrong...their tax cut is the same, 10%. None of this really matters, of course, because people who were educated in government schools will never figure it out, and class warfare is a big vote-getter for the left.

DERAILING PORTER GOSS NOMINATION

Democrats wasted no time last week crawling out of the woodwork to bash President Bush's choice to be the head of the CIA, retiring Congressman Porter Goss.  Despite his wealth of intelligence experience (former Army intelligence officer and CIA operative,) liberals are now decrying the president's "partisan" choice.  Huh?

You see, that's how it works with the mainstream media and the Democrats in Congress.  If a Democratic president appoints a Democrat to a post, it is never seen as a partisan choice.  It's only when Republicans appoint Republicans do we hear this nonsense about being "partisan" and "divisive."  It's a lose-lose situation for the president when it comes to these morons...since they hate him, he can't do anything right.

Now you have Michael Moore, the despicable slug who has now decided to slander Porter Goss with an old interview he gave (why on earth Porter Goss gave Michael Moore an interview, we may never know.)  Anyway, Goss said "It is true I was a case officer, clandestine services officer, and yes, I do understand the core mission of the business. But I couldn't get a job with the CIA today. I am not qualified."  Of course, it should be pointed out that Goss was talking about his experience in the field in mentioning that he couldn't get a job as a field operative with the CIA today, and he didn't say he wasn't qualified to be the director.  Guess what?  Bobby Cox couldn't get a spot on the field with any major league baseball team in America, but he's the best manager out there.  

Are you comfortable with Michael Moore being the main spokesman for the Democratic Party?

Anyway, the latest word is that Goss will be confirmed.  That may well happen, but not before the left has a field day using this nomination for as much political gain as possible.

SPECULATION THAT KOBE CASE MAY BE DUMPED

The final nail in the coffin may come in the Kobe case sooner rather than later, as it is being speculated that prosecutors may just drop the charge altogether.  The latest setback for the prosecution (one of many) was the judge's refusal to grant their request to delay the trial.  So now they have no delay and they have The Accuser filing a civil lawsuit against Kobe for big bucks.  Media reports say they're looking for a way to run the white flag up the pole.

Some are speculating that The Accuser may still testify against Kobe in the criminal case win or lose, just to run him through the trial mill and embarrass him further.  But that ain't gonna happen....it never was her intention.  She had dollar signs in her eyes from the get-go on this one.

This case is dead in the water.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

The overpaid NBA crybabies that pass for the United States' men's basketball team got their heads handed to them at the Olympics. Good.

Speaking of the Olympics, concern is mounting over all the empty seats, and how that will look on TV.  The good news is it looks like they're going to give tickets away for free.  Athens, anyone?

It's the feel-good story of the year...the Iraqi soccer team has advanced to the quarterfinals in Athens.  Perhaps the American left would like to explain to them that removing Saddam was a mistake.

Proving the point that being gay isn't really a problem in politics, New Jersey Governor James McGreevey's approval rating went up after he announced his resignation. 

The plot thickens in the McGreevey scandal...now his supposed former lover says he's straight and isn't an extortionist.  We haven't heard the last of this, for sure.   Meanwhile, Democrats are pressuring McGreevey to step down as soon as possible.

Want to know why health care is so expensive?  Look no further than North Carolina, where doctors say John Edwards is directly responsible for driving up costs with huge malpractice awards.

John Edwards said if you have any question of what The Poodle is made of, you should spend three minutes with the men who served with him in Vietnam.  Jack Kelly says the Democrats are now trying to prevent people from doing just that.

Once upon a time there was the truth and nothing but the truth, but as Mark Steyn explains, Democrats tend to peddle their own unique truth.

George Bush has an opportunity at the Republican convention this month to put his vision for the war on terror in focus.  Suzanne Fields explains, and also contrasts the president's position with that of The Poodle's.

Of all the diseases scientists think that stem cell research will one day cure, Alzheimer's is at the bottom of the list.  Paul Greenberg talks about Democrats' continual campaigning on an issue they know very little about.

Professor Mike Adams continues his entertaining, one-man war on the administrators at the University of North Carolina. 

The ACLU has taken another embarrassing position, and John Leo has the full details.  Seems some people don't know we're fighting a war on terrorism.

What does the whole James McGreevey affair prove?  William F. Buckley takes a look at the facts of the case, and compares it with Bill Clinton's situation.

Millions of the condoms distributed free in India to combat AIDS and a soaring population are being used for other purposes such as waterproofing roofs, reinforcing roads and even polishing saris.

A 26-year-old skateboarder is scarred for life after she fell onto a red-hot Con Edison manhole cover.

"[O]ne head, one bottom and one torso cannot and will not be allowed to fly on Air France"

The top 10 most ridiculous black metal pictures of all time.

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