I CAN SEE HIS POINT ... 

The media has its thongs in a knot because a Marine general made some interesting comments during a panel discussion Tuesday in San Diego. Here is what Lt. Gen. James Mattis, who commanded troops during the war in Afghanistan, said that is causing quite the stir:

"Actually it's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up there with you. I like brawling. You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

Immediately the headlines blared that a Marine general said it was 'fun to shoot people.' No ... he didn't say it was fun to shoot "people."  He said it was fun to shoot men who had been slapping women around for five years.  Frankly, I agree with him.  Thankfully the Marines and the Joint Chiefs are defending him, so it looks like his head won't roll over this one. He did issue an unnecessary apology saying he might have chosen his words better. Nonsense...his words were right on target.

Pacifist leftists who claim that 'war is not the answer' will try to use this as some sort of 'gotcha' against American troops to try and portray them as bloodthirsty killers. On the contrary, there was nothing wrong with Lieutenant General Mattis' remarks.

Hell, if given the chance to shoot and kill Osama Bin Laden, Al-Zarqawi or any of the other insurgents, you're damned right it would be a lot of fun. Might even be worth stuffing the head and mounting it on the wall. 

IRAN?

Whether you agreed with the war in Iraq or not, let's talk Iran.  At what point would you say that the United States should use military action against Iran?  Not military action to change any regime, but military action to destroy their nuclear capabilities?  Put aside the partisan politics and the "war is not the answer" nonsense.  Do you want an Iran with nuclear weapons?  If so, then the argument ends there.  If you do not want Iran to have nuclear weapons, at what point does the United States step in and do something about it?

Maybe Israel will do us a favor and take care of the problem.  There's precedence for that, you know.

WEAK KNEES ON SOCIAL SECURITY

The politicians in the United States Congress are letting down the American people. Polls after President Bush's State of the Union address show that the vast majority of the public agrees with Bush's plan to reform the program. So what are the members of the House and Senate doing, Republicans included?

You probably won't be surprised to learn that Republicans in the Congress are caving in to the special interests. If younger Americans don't get their personal retirement accounts, it will be because the spineless politicians of both parties were more worried about losing their grip on power and perks than they are the welfare of their constituents. Should we have expected anything less?

Already the plan is being shot down as too unrealistic. The Republican party holds a 55 to 44 to 1 edge in the United States Senate and they have 31 more seats than the Democrats in the house. Now is the time to reform Social Security. They have the votes. But they're already running scared. Too bad.

As for the Democrats, they're even more despicable. Back during the Clinton administration, the left was telling anyone who would listen that Social Security was headed for disaster. Now you have Barbara Boxer out there saying that it's not that big of a deal....that by 2042 or 2052 the system will still be able to pay out 70% of benefits. Isn't that a cut? Where is the media on that one?

Time to contact your elected officials and tell them to let you be in charge of your retirement and return the power to the people where it belongs.

And remember this ... never forget ... the Democratic plan to save Social Security is simple.  Tax increases.  Nothing less, nothing more.

HATE SPEECH, UNLESS YOU'RE A LIBERAL

By now you might have heard the saga of Ward Churchill. This is the leftist America-hater that compared the victims of the 9/11 slaughter to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi Holocaust murderer. In case you need a refresher, here's exactly what he said: "The most that can honestly be said of those involved on Sept. 11 is that they finally responded in kind to some of what this country has dispensed to their people as a matter of course. As for those in the World Trade Center, well, really, let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break."

He also went on to call the Islamic terrorists that attacked the World Trade Center, "combat teams," the victims "little Eichmanns" and "military targets." Obviously this terrorist-appeasing, left-wing sociopath does not belong on the faculty at a university supposedly teaching America's children.

Yet the liberals are playing the "academic freedom" card. He promises to sue the University if he's fired, and it looks like that might just happen. He has freedom of speech just like anyone else....he just doesn't have the freedom to make anyone listen. If you pulled this kind of stunt at a private company, you'd be out the door in a second. If you were a Republican, liberals would want to put you in jail for "hate speech."

Then again, it might be useful to keep him right where he is. It serves as a reminder just how these leftists actually think.

POWER CORRUPTS

Republicans are really feeling their oats this year, their first year in complete control of the Governor's office and both houses of the Georgia General Assembly.  They've teamed together with their developer contributors to come up with a bill that creates a politician-developer partnership for the destruction of private property rights through eminent domain procedures.  Believe it or not, under this, the now-infamous Senate Bill 5, bill developers can cruise around the countryside until they find a plot of ground they think would be nifty for some sort of development.  They then create some color of "public use" for the development they have in mind, contact their local politician and get the eminent domain ball rolling ---- all essentially out of the public eye.  The bill appears to be all but dead.  

Now Georgia Republicans are flexing their muscles in preparation for exercising more control over the reproductive lives of Georgia women.  A bill has been introduced that would protect pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptive drugs.  Some druggists who have strong anti-abortion sentiments are refusing to fill doctors prescriptions for the  "morning after" pill.  In so doing they place themselves and their moral principals between the doctors and their patients.  Republican freshman Senator Jim Whitehead has introduced a bill that would prevent an employer from firing or disciplining a pharmacist who refuses to fill these prescriptions.  That happened to an Eckerd pharmacist last year in Texas.

Did you know that in some cases these "I don't care what your doctor says, you're not getting this drug" pharmacists refuse to hand the prescription back to the customer.  That way they prevent the customer from going somewhere else to get it filled. No word yet as to how Jim Whitehead, the

self-appointed keeper of the womb is handling this one.  

Related bills: SB 77, Women's Right to Know Act HB 197

BUT ... HERE'S SOME GOOD NEWS ON EMINENT DOMAIN ... AND IT'S FROM GEORGIA

I told you about Georgia's Senate Bill 5 in the previous section.  Now may I introduce you to Senate Bill 86?  I like the number, because it effectively 86s SB5.  I haven't read the bill yet, but it is described as a bill that would prevent governments form using eminent domain to increase their tax base or strictly for economic development.  That's a good start, to be sure.  Perhaps a better approach would be to strictly limit the use of eminent domain for any purpose other than clearly-defined public uses, uses such as schools, roads, bridges, fire stations, courthouses and the like.  We can pick the nits later.  For now let's just be glad that some legislators, not only in Georgia but around the nation, are starting to pay attention to private property rights. See also HR 87.

FANTASTIC BOOK

Back to Ward Churchill for a moment. Now here is a leftist who truly hates America.  Daniel J. Flynn wrote a book about these cretins.  It's now out in paperback with an added chapter.  I started reading it yesterday, and I recommend it highly.  Why the Left Hates America, by Daniel J. Flynn.  Click on the link to order from Amazon.com.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Peggy Noonan says that the George Bush that the nation re-elected is back.  

Michael Jackson says that it's his celebrity (not fondling little boys) that makes him the target.  Poor, poor Michael.  

In case you'd like to read Ward Churchill's terrorist-supporting screed (see above)  in its entirety, have at it. Warning: pretentious rambling to follow.

The results from the Oil-For-Food investigation are coming in, and the scapegoating has begun. Only one official to blame? Cut me some slack...you do realize Kofi had his hand in the pot too, don't you?

Don Rumsfeld says he offered to resign twice for the Abu Ghraib scandal, but Bush would not accept his resignation. What will the anti-Rumsfeld forces in the Democratic party say now?

Dick Morris says that President Bush is playing it just right on Social Security reform. He says the American people need to make the choice of what to do next.

Didn't I tell you this was going to happen?  The cynical media is accusing the Bush administration of staging the hug between the Iraqi citizen and the mother of the fallen soldier who was in the House gallery the other night. The Media Research Center has the coverage.

The vote in Iraq was nothing short of a triumph, and even the New York Times had to admit its success. Charles Krauthammer talks about the successful turnaround of events in Iraq.

Should Howard Dean be the next Chairman of the Democratic National Committee? If you ask Jeff Jacoby, he says yeeaaaaarrrgghhhh!

Want a real translation of what the Democratic response to the state of the union address was? David Limbaugh runs it down, point-by-point.

Now that there have been overwhelming successes in Iraq, the left is moving the goalposts. Jonah Goldberg calls them out on it.

Once again, Professor Mike Adams takes on academia in a letter to a community college. Can you imagine what it must be like for a bed wetter to open that mail?

Kinky Friedman for Governor of Texas? Why the hell not?

Do you eat out a lot? Find out what's going on behind the scenes.

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