Monday, May 3, 2004

SATURDAY IN CHESAPEAKE

Saturday morning I was privileged to speak to a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia for Americans for Fair Taxation.  AFT was trying to generate a group of dedicated volunteers who would spread the word, both to their congressmen and senators, and to their friends, about the Fair Tax .. the plan to eliminate the IRS and replace all income and payroll taxes with a national retail sales tax.  The crowd was impressive and very enthusiastic, and these people were charged up about working to bring this idea about.  I imagine that some Tidewater area congressmen and senators are about to get an earful about the Fair Tax.  In Florida last week we saw what constituents can do when they get motivated over a piece of legislation.  If Americans across this country could get as motivated about the Fair Tax plan we would see some action rather quickly.  All we need to do is overcome the inertia of government ... not an easy task, but it certainly can be done.

SOLDIERS PROBABLY WILL DIE BECAUSE OF THIS

By now you've heard the story.  Six US military police reservists apparently abused Iraqi prisoners in their custody.  The prisoners were reportedly tortured and humiliated.  Some reservists who took pictures of the abuse were so upset and alarmed by what they saw they turned those pictures over to authorities.  The reservists involved will undoubtedly be court-martialed. 

I wonder if these idiots realize that some American men and women in uniform will most probably die because of their actions?  Pictures of the abuse are showing up in Iraqi newspapers this week.  These pictures are going to drive some Iraqi .. an Iraqi who would otherwise be inclined to leave American troops alone .. to take a shot at an American solder, and that soldier will die.  He will die because some morons thought it would be great sport to abuse and torture Iraqi prisoners.

The actions of these reservists will have repercussions that will resonate for months .. possibly years.  It is possible that these six idiots may have done fatal damage to America's efforts to bring peace, freedom and stability to Iraq.  There is absolutely NO excuse for what happened, and the punishment must be severe.

We also learn that six US Army officers have been reprimanded in the incident.   Is a reprimand as good as it gets?  Can't they be immediately  relieved of duty?   Is criminal prosecution a possibility?

One more thing ... how long before John Kerry steps forward to tell us that the actions of these six soldiers are actually every day occurrences for virtually all of our combat units in Iraq.  He's done that before, you know.

NEW REVELATIONS ABOUT THE POODLE

John sKerry will begin a series of television ads in key battleground states today.  He's spending $25 million on this batch.  The purpose? To highlight The Poodle's biography, with special emphasis on the fact that sKerry served in Vietnam.   You would think that The Poodle would want to showcase his own vision of America, and detail just how he would pursue World War IV, the war on terror.  But .... no.  Kerry is afraid that there might still be some Americans who don't realize that he served in Vietnam.  Twenty years in the U.S. Senate, and during those years he didn't accomplish one single thing that he can point to as a qualification for the presidency.  All he has is his service in Vietnam ... his four months and his three paper-cut Purple Hearts.

THOMAS HAMILL, AMERICAN HERO

Despite some media efforts to downplay the escape of American hostage Thomas Hamill as being "freed, released, or discovered," make no mistake, this guy made a daring escape that is the stuff of Hollywood movies.  He would still be captured or dead had he not taken action.  He chose not to be a victim, and wasn't going to take anything laying down.

Late Sunday morning, Hamill was sitting in the house where he was being held and he heard a military convoy go by.  At that point, he made a decision:  do I sit here like a sheep and wait to be executed, or do I make a break for it?  He chose the latter, and pried open the doors and ran a half-mile to catch up with the convoy.  After identifying himself, the convoy went back to the house where he was being held, surrounded it, and arrested two of his Islamic terrorist captors.  Hamill was flown to Baghdad, where he received medical treatment.  A  happy ending for sure.

But there is more to this guy's story.  Thomas Hamill was a dairy farmer in Macon, Mississippi, and apparently the dairy farm business wasn't working out too well.  Needing to pay off some debts, he sold his cows and signed up to go to work in Iraq as a truck driver for Kellogg, Brown and Root, a Halliburton subsidiary.  It was a high-risk job, but it paid well and he needed the money for his family.  He didn't sign up for government assistance, he went out and got a job.  This should be an inspiration for all those loser types on welfare feeding at the government trough.  Of course, liberals have already been saying that people are "forced" to go work in Iraq, because there aren't any jobs here. What a crock.

And so what did Mr. Hamill want to do after his escape?  According to U.S. Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, "He has spoken to his family.  He is now ready to get back to work."  That's the American spirit.  The rest of the world should take note.

THANKS FOR NOTHING, GERMANY

German Defense Minister Peter Struck said that Germany will stop protecting U.S. military bases in the country at the end of 2004, and would not send any troops to help a NATO force police Iraq, it was reported yesterday.  Oh really?  We'll just have to see about that.

Since Germany no longer wants to protect U.S. military bases in their country, then we should  just close our bases there and let them fend for themselves.  As for this NATO business, it looks like it's time to evaluate their membership in the alliance.  After all, that's the whole point of NATO, to provide security for other member countries.  And Germany isn't holding up their end of the bargain.  Time to go bye-bye.  Remember, in the war on terrorism, you're either with us, or you're against us.  They prefer to join the surrender monkeys in Spain in caving in to Al-Qaeda.

How pathetic....one by one, the pathetic, spineless, ungrateful Euro-weenies capitulate and join the ranks of the axis of weasels.  This time, however, there needs to be consequences for their disloyalty.

EVIL GAS PRICES FORCING PEOPLE TO SPEND WISELY

Media bias is rearing its ugly head once again, and this time it's the AP (imagine that!)  The Food Marketing Institute (whatever that is) released a report saying that more and more shoppers were abandoning traditional supermarkets and shopping at discount stores instead.  This is good, right?  Everybody likes a deal...who doesn't like to save money?  Anyway, because in today's media environment, doom and gloom sells like crazy, the story was spun another way.

The reason given for the public's desire to find cheaper groceries?  Why...it's the gas prices!  If fuel weren't so expensive, then people wouldn't be looking to save money.  It's only because gas is up 35 cents a gallon since December (not an all-time high, by the way) that people are now feeling the pinch.  What a bunch of BS. People are always looking for a deal and always looking for the cheapest price.  That's the free market that we live in.

So here's where the bias comes in.  In their undying effort to make the economy look as bad as possible, the Bush-haters in the media trot out this headline:  "shoppers being forced to choose between groceries and gasoline."  That's right...as if gas prices are so high, that people are being forced to decide whether to eat or drive their cars.  After all, we all know people are going to starve!  Complete and total nonsense.

The public is becoming more budget-conscious by the day, and gas prices are not so high that anyone is going to stop driving anytime soon.

PRIME MINISTER SURRENDER MONKEY WARNS AGAINST PREEMPTIVE ACTION

Spain's socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said yesterday that "the mission in Iraq, which is showing itself everyday to be a failure, should serve as a lesson to the international community:  preemptive wars , never again; violations of international law, never again."  We now interrupt the nonsensical rantings of Senor Nutcase for a reality check.

Despite what you may hear, the mission in Iraq has been a success.  Scores of terrorists have been captured, the cause of Islamic terrorism has been scaled back, and a brutal dictator has been removed from power, soon to be replaced by a democratically elected government.  What's not to like?  Worried about casualties?  Consider this:  when is the last time anybody invaded a country the size of Iraq, captured its leaders, occupied it for a year, and did this all while losing less than 1,000 lives?  That's still too many, but it's never happened.   Anyone who thinks the war in Iraq is a failure doesn't  know the meaning of the word.

Zapatero went on to say that the way to fight terrorism was through the United Nations.  Oh boy...the U.N.!  That sure has worked up to this point.  What did the U.N. do for 12 years?  Other than lining their pockets with Saddam's Oil-for-Food scam...absolutely nothing.  All they did was pass resolution after resolution threatening action they never intended to follow through on.  What a bunch of losers and a waste of precious New York real estate.

On March 11, Spain was attacked by Al-Qaeda in Madrid where 2,000 people were injured and 191 lost their lives.  Since then, their national response has been to abandon the war on terror and completely give up.  The Poodle wants to do the same thing here. Just keep that in mind.

LIBERTARIAN SHOT IN VIRGINIA BEACH

Virginia Beach is the largest city in Virginia, and they're having a mayoral election tomorrow.  A Libertarian, Robert K. Dean, is running ... and he has a very good chance of winning.  He is the co-founder and past chairman of the Virginia Beach Libertarian Party and currently serves as its communications director. He has a record of service to his community that I would suspect is unmatched.  I used to live in Virginia Beach, but was too young to vote.  Maybe someone else who lives there and who reads the Nuze will go cast my vote for me ... for Robert Dean.  In this age of growing government and a reduced love for freedom a Libertarian victory like this would be most welcomed.

ZERO TOLERANCE IDIOCY IN NAPLES, FLORIDA

And, of course, it has to involve government schools.  Nowhere in our society is the idiocy of zero tolerance more prevalent than in our government schools.  It is as if a decision was made somewhere to teach students that as long as you have a set of rigid principles to go by, there is never a need to actually think about a situation.  The world is black and white, and your written guidelines are all you need to survive and prosper.  Never, dear students, will you be presented with any situation that does not fit neatly into the parameters of the written guidelines established by your government for you to follow.  Thought?  Who needs thought when it's all down here in writing?

Today's government school outrage involves Amanda Conroy.  Amanda is an 18-year-old Senior at Barron Collier High School in Naples.  Amanda is an honor roll student. 

Last Tuesday Amanda was having car trouble.  Her Mazda broke down, so she borrowed her mother's Durango to drive to school.  For some reason Naples police decided to do a random search of cars at the school.  When Amanda opened her car police discovered her mother's stun gun.  Stun gun ... a purely defensive weapon. 

Well .. enter the idiocy called "zero tolerance."  Amanda has been expelled from Barron Collier High.   She will only be allowed to graduate if she can manage to finish her required work in an alternative program. 

This nation needs to wake up to the idiocy of these zero-tolerance policies.  We're supposed to be teaching these children how to think, how to reason, how to recognize that different circumstances call for different solutions. 

Perhaps Amanda's problem is that she wasn't a jock.  This would never happen to a jock.  Just to Eagle Scouts and Honor Students.

By the way ... Amanda's father said that Amanda's "whole life is ruined because she took the wrong car."  Her "whole life" is ruined?  You mean she'll never go to college, get a good job, get married and have kids?  She'll never smile again?  Her life will be complete misery from this point on? Get a grip, Dad.  You're sounding almost as foolish as the district school officials.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

If you are ignoring the story about Jamie Gorelick and "the wall," then you are ignoring the most important story coming out of the 9/11 Commission.  This is huge, folks, and it is possible that it is being stonewalled because of who it might damage.  That "who" would be Bill Clinton.

As I told you last week ... Democrats are starting to worry that The Poodle can't win.  Big Time Buyer's Remorse.

Bill Clinton has been trying of late to create the image that he was oh so focused on the threat of terrorism.  President Bush begs to disagree.

Those six American soldiers who abused and tortured Iraqi prisoners? Some of their fellow soldiers will probably die as a result of their actions.

You haven't seen a gasoline tanker truck around anywhere have you?  One's missing.  Michelle Malkin writes that tanker trucks have been used  by terrorists before.  But hey .. why worry about tanker trucks when we have all of those little airplanes flying around.

A White Plains, New York school is being forced to undergo sensitivity training because of a supposedly racist cartoon e-mailed around by a high school science teacher.  They must be kidding....they're not.

The CEO of Intel says the biggest threat to American employment is not outsourcing, but education.  Of particular concern is the lack of math and science being taught in government schools.  Imagine that.

A new book is coming out that details incompetence and scandal at the United Nations.  Predictably, the U.N. is trying to stop its publication.  Why am I not surprised?

Here's another surprise...not. Turns out people who were opposed to the war in Iraq did so for a reason:  they were on Saddam's oil-for-food payroll.

Bad news for The Poodle:  according to focus groups, recent polls and election analysts, Kerry  has a likeability problem.  There's still time for someone else.

John Kerry put his life on the line in Vietnam in an act of courage, and has done nothing since but tarnish his image with constant flip-flopping.  Suzanne Fields investigates.

Everybody lately seems to be either demanding an apology, or apologizing for something. John Leo looks at the trend.

Worried about being made to feel uncomfortable on college campuses?  Mike S. Adams has a solution......a national day of comfort.  Check it out.

The Poodle is lobbying the Catholic Church behind the scenes,  trying to make sure he is not denied  Holy Communion.  Robert Novak fills us in.

The Bush administration is actually recommending people read Bob Woodward's book, 'Plan of Attack.'  Debra Saunders explains why.

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