WEDNESDAY, January 7, 2004

BUSH'S BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

It's pandering for votes time.  This time Hispanic votes.  Bush is going to propose some grand plan whereby people who broke the law to get in the United States, and then broke the law by obtaining employment, and then broke the law by using false Social Security cards to avoid arrest ... how these people can "earn" a legal status by signing a few documents and promising to follow the law from now on.

Arizona, Florida, California ... all key states with large numbers of Hispanic voters.  If the 2004 election is close Bush is going to need these Hispanic votes ... and he's paying for them today by trashing the rule of law in America.

Outside of the war on terror and the much-needed tax cuts, Bush has done nothing to deserve reelection. 

THE $162 MILLION DOLLAR LOTTERY FIASCO

The winning ticket has been turned in by a Cleveland hospital worker named Rebecca Jemison.  But here comes Elecia Battle with her lawyer.  Elecia says that she bought the ticket, then lost it.  She knows the numbers .. and she wants the money.  Uh oh ... Elecia is soon to discover a universal truth.  The nail that sticks out the furthest is the one that gets hammered down first.  Elecia has been sticking out like a canker sore the last few days ... and here comes the hammer in the form of thesmokinggun.com.  It seems that Elecia has quiet the rap sheet.  She's been convicted for assault and credit card fraud.  She also uses an alias.    Her real name is Elecia Dickson.

Another reason here for legal reform.  We need some sort of a loser pays system for lawsuits of the type filed by Elecia Battle (or whatever her name is).  If she does not prevail in this legal action she should be held responsible for all of the expenses incurred by the Ohio Lottery in fighting her bogus claim.  And that lawyer she handled?  The embarrassment of having been conned by this petty criminal and fraud artist should send him into hiding.  That would be a good thing.

THOSE UNUSUAL, STRANGE, WEIRD SOUTHERNERS

The benefits are starting to flow from the Howard Dean candidacy.  I know the rest of the country joins me in expressing my gratitude for the wonderful insights on the ways of the American people that we are acquiring just from listening to the words of Howard Dean.  For instance, did you people realize that people who live in the South practice their religion openly?  Yup, believe it or not, people in the South actually express their religious devotion right out there in the open in front of God and all those people!  Imagine that!  This is good, I guess.  Howard Dean may well become the Democratic presidential candidate; and, who knows, some strange confluence of the stars may actually put him into the White House.  It sure will be comforting to know that Dr. Dean realizes that Southern people aren't hiding their religious feelings out back behind their outhouses.

Wait ... there's more.  Thanks to Bill Bennett for this thought.  As we move toward the 2004 election, try to keep this in mind.  Howard Dean has said that he isn't sure that Osama bin Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks.  He has also said that he finds the theory that George Bush had advance warning of the attacks "interesting."  Boil this one down ... Dean doesn't know if Osama knew the 9/11 attacks were coming, but he thinks George Bush might have. 

Oh man ... this is going to be a fun election year.

DAMNED IF WE DO, DAMNED IF WE DON'T

According to the media, you can add the fingerprinting of illegal immigrants to the growing list of things America is not allowed to do to protect itself.  Perky Katie Couric, that fountain of wisdom, is now telling us "Some countries....are furious at this new policy," and she went on to quote a judge in Brazil comparing the "new security plans to Nazi horrors saying 'I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis."

A bit odd, don't you think?  A Brazilian judge saying that America's efforts to protect itself are reminiscent of Nazi atrocities?  Remind me;  just where did so many of Hitler's henchmen flee at the end of World War II? 

If this man is really a judge in Brazil ... then that must be some hum dinger of a legal system they have down there.  Now we know that taking a picture and fingerprinting a visitor to your country compares with 'the worst horrors committed by the Nazis.  Amazing.

Many on the left, and especially the Deanie Babies, have accused George W. Bush of not preventing 9/11.  Here we are trying to prevent just such another attack from an Islamic terrorist, and the United States is the bad guy.

When we try to act on intelligence to prevent more airliners from being hijacked and flown into buildings, the Euro-weenies howl in protest because nothing happened. Isn't that the point? If something were to happen, George Bush would be accused of not doing enough to prevent it. If nothing happens, then America is "overreacting."

Portugal, and other countries are refusing to allow armed sky marshals on-board flights being flown into the United States.  It is unlikely there would have been a 9/11 if the planes that were hijacked had armed sky marshals on them.  Once again, the anti-American agenda of many countries in the world rears its ugly head.

IMAGINE THE THINGS YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT

Today's Washington Post reports that the U.S. Government dispatched scores of casually dressed (nattily attired?) nuclear scientists with sophisticated radiation detection equipment hidden in briefcases and golf bags to scour five major U.S. Cities for radiological, or "dirty bombs." The operation was conducted in secret, and US officials say they remain worried that their efforts will fall short. They believe Al-Qaeda is sparing no effort to try and detonate one of these dirty bombs.

Is that what it is going to take for people to wake up and realize that United States has to protect itself? Is a major US city going to have to go up in smoke for people to realize that the war on Islamic terrorism isn't only necessary, but needs to be intensified? 

By the way ... I wonder if we had UN permission to send all of those radiation detectors out there into crowds of ordinary law-abiding citizens.   Talk to your friendly neighborhood Deanie Baby.  The US isn't supposed to act to protect itself from terrorism without UN permission. Howard Dean has yet to set forth the exact parameters of his "Mommy May I?" United Nations policy, so we had better be safe by asking beforehand.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS UPDATE

Evidently The Tallahassee Democrat, the only daily newspaper in Florida's capital, has a column not unlike the "Vent" in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Readers phone or send in their pithy one-line comments and some are selected for publication in the "Zing" column.    I'm told that on December 24th the following "Zing" appeared:

     "Discourage incest: ban country music".

The following "Zing" was, however, rejected and not published:

       "Discourage violence: Ban rap".

In politically correct circles it's perfectly OK to slam country music fans ... after all, they're probably (gasp!) Southerners!  But leave the music of violence ... rap ... alone.

POVERTY IN AMERICA: WHAT A GREAT DEAL

A report from the Heritage Foundation based on the Census Bureau's annual report on poverty in the United States states the following about persons defined as "poor:"

• 6% of all "poor" households actually own their own homes
• 75% of all "poor" households have air conditioning
• Only 6% of "poor" households are overcrowded
• The average "poor" American has more living space than the average non-poor individual  living in Paris, London, Vienna and Athens
• Nearly 3/4 of "poor" households own a car

Poor households also come well-equipped with the latest technology, with 97% having color TVs and 78% having a VCR or DVD player. But wait...only a quarter of "poor" households have a computer. Perhaps if these "poor" folks figured out how to use computers to chose lottery numbers that would change.

You do know, don't you, that the way our wonderful federal government figures poverty statistics, you can have a net worth of tens of millions of dollars and still be officially classified as "living in poverty" in the United States.  Poverty statistics are a political tool to be used as an excuse for more and more government ... nothing more.

HILLARY: GHANDI DIDN'T RUN A GAS STATION IN ST. LOUIS AFTER ALL

Talk about somebody getting a little bit of their own medicine. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for joking that Mahatma Gandhi used to run a gas station in St. Louis, saying it was a "lame attempt at humor."  She made the remark at a fund-raiser on Saturday.

Apparently, this did not go over well with the hyper-sensitive director of a US Center devoted to Gandhi's teachings.  He said the remarks amounted to stereotyping and were insensitive.  Awwww.  Poor man.  I suppose his whole day was ruined.

Give us a break here.  It was a joke. This was Hillary trying to show that she's one of us.  In typical spineless, liberal fashion, Hillary clarified her statement on Monday saying she never meant to fuel the stereotype often used as a comedic punch line that certain ethnic groups run America's gas stations.  She then went back to her room at the local Patel Motel.

Can you imagine if a Senate Republican said this? The Democrats would be calling for their head, demand their resignation, require sensitivity training and condemn them outright. But like Robert "KKK" Byrd, Democrats get a total pass when they make supposedly "insensitive" statements.
 

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Leading off ... a Michelle Malkin gem.  Her 8-week-old son just received his Social Security Card.  "Welcome to the world of government theft and selective enforcement."  Do you know that we're just 15 years away from the day when the Social Security system doesn't collect enough money in taxes to pay benefits?

I hope you've heard about this one.  Juicy.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says former Gov. Howard Dean and other Vermont officials violated federal law by releasing secret protection plans for its nuclear power plant in the wake of the September 11th attacks. Tell me ... was Vermont safer after Howard Dean made these plans public?

France, Germany and Russia are no longer our allies. Charles Krauthammer explains why.

What was the big worry for New Year's Eve?  Evidently it was a dirty bomb.  Radiation experts were sent to Washington, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Baltimore looking for trouble.

Charles Singleton, a supposedly mentally ill man, is enjoying his eternal celestial dirt nap after being executed by the State of Arkansas for a 1979 murder. Good riddance. Why does this take so long?

Great column by Mort Kondracke about why Dean is going to join McGovern, Mondale and Dukakis in the "trifecta of losers."

The Wall Street Journal editorial page addresses Weasley Clark's massive tax hike.  One thing you can always depend on with a Democratic candidate ... they absolutely LOVE tax hikes ... on people who generally don't vote for Democrats.

Howard Dean says that Bush's policies in the Middle East have been a failure.  Read this and then tell us whether or not you would agree.

Oh boy ... here we go.  A  former CIA profiler says Saddam was abused as a child. Bring out the excuses and the psycho-babble ... and get ready for the real "trial of the century."

Walter Williams gets taken in by an urban legend.  But in this day and age it's even more difficult to figure out what's real, and what's not.

Are the Clark and Dean campaigns actively soliciting contributions overseas?  This from Tony Blankley.

This is scary: and you thought your On-Star system in your car was just for getting directions and unlocking your doors.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich held up a pie chart for the audience to see while he was debating Howard Dean. Too bad the debate was only broadcast on the radio. As Commander in Chief would he bring a knife to a gunfight?  Oh .. I forgot. He would just meditate.

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