IT'S BECOMING CLEAR --- HEZBOLLAH WINS THIS ROUND

If you read the headline in The New York Times today you'll see that Lebanon has sent its army to patrol in the south.  Now .. to someone who doesn't go beyond the headlines, you might actually get the impression that Lebanon is going to wrest control of its southern regions from the Islamic radicals of Hezbollah.  Well, you would be wrong.

Just a few items of information that might clear some matters up for you. 

First ... Lebanon has made it clear that it will do nothing to disarm Hezbollah.  Never mind that the cease fire agreement demands that Hezbollah be disarmed, Lebanon says it isn't going to happen.  Hezbollah also says that they absolutely will not disarm.  So that "disarmament" part of the cease agreement is already garbage.

So, you say ... the peacekeeping force will keep Hezbollah from attacking Israel again!  Sorry, that isn't going to happen either.  Both the Lebanese and the French are saying that their peacekeepers will absolutely not engage Hezbollah militarily.  Likewise, the U.N. peacekeepers have been ordered not to intervene militarily. 

This all means that Hezbollah will be absolutely free to regroup, recuperate, re-strengthen and re-arm during this "cease fire."  The dedication to the destruction of Israel remains, as does the alliance with Iran.

Israel will spend some time now licking it's wounds.  Israel certainly came out of this looking like the heavy.  Newscast after newscast, story after story, picture after picture --- all detailing the destruction brought upon the poor innocents of Lebanon by those evil Israelis who, after all, were really overreacting.

Muslims despise weakness, and will move to take advantage of it every time.  Israel has shown weakness as never before in their capitulation to the hand-wringing of the West.

Go ahead ... search through the media.  Find some pieces by analysts who believe that Israel actually came out ahead on this one.  Not there. 

The next chapter?  We can write it right here.  Hezbollah will build it's strength.  New arms will flow in from Iran through Syria.  Hezbollah will position those arms and their various military installations in civilian areas of Lebanon.  Finally Iran will give the signal.  Hezbollah will attack ... Israel will respond ... and the world will once again react with revulsion at the civilian deaths resulting from Israel's exercise of its right of self defense.

JIMMY CARTER:  ISRAEL BASHER

Former President Jimmy Carter has weighed in on Israel's war with Hezbollah, and his position really shouldn't come as a surprise.  Carter says the situation in the Middle East has now gotten worse, thanks to the Bush Administration's support of Israel in its attack on Hezbollah.

But that's not how Jimmy phrased it.  He said "...the concerns I exposed have gotten even worse now with the United States supporting and encouraging Israel in its unjustified attack on Lebanon."  That's right, the attack on Lebanon.   Not Hezbollah.  This is significant, and is spoken exactly the way the Islamic terrorists want it.

Hezbollah won the propaganda war in its conflict with Israel because of this small detail.  They were able to portray, along with the help of a willing mainstream media, that Israel was attacking poor, innocent Lebanon.  The fact that Israel was going after the Islamic terrorist killers of Hezbollah, who happened to be in Lebanon...well that's just a small, insignificant detail.

But Carter wasn't done there...when asked about the current administration, he couldn't resist a little Bush-bashing.  He claims that the United States permitted torture to take place at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.  He also continued to recite the fantasy that the Bush Administration ever said that anyone who doesn't agree with them isn't patriotic.

As you read this ...or listen to this .... remember:  It as Jimmy Carter who almost single-handedly destroyed our intelligence-gathering capabilities when he was president.  It is no stretch to say that if Carter had never been president 9/11 might not have happened, such was the extent of his decimation of our intelligence services.

Same old Jimmy Carter.  Some things never change.  Too bad the former president wasn't asked about the fact that Islamic terrorism was born on his watch.

OH YEAH ... IT WAS ALL BUSH'S FAULT

Congressman Ed Markey really moved in yesterday to take advantage of that claustrophobic woman on that United Airlines flight from London to the U.S.  When the news broke of the diverted flight Markey was at the Reagan Airport in DC holding a little press conference.  The purpose of his event?  He wanted to say that George Bush has failed to plug all of the loopholes in airline security.  When he learned of the United diversion he got on a shuttle, flew to Boston, and had another little press conference there at Logan Airport!  Once again .. he blamed Bush!

We're still waiting to see what Bush could have done to keep this silly woman from becoming claustrophobic. 

Remember .. whatever it is, if it inconveniences people, or if life or property are threatened, it's Bush's fault.  Period.  End of story.

LOBBYISTS LINING UP FOR DEMOCRATS

With the conventional wisdom being that Democrats are going to experience huge gains in the Congress this fall (and the conventional wisdom is frequently wrong, by the way,) lobbyists are gearing up for a new Democratic majority.  In fact, after spending the last 12 years hiring mainly Republican leaders, Washington's big lobbying firms are now signing up Democrats to push legislation.

And why are they doing this?

Aside from trying to buy better access, these lobbying firms know exactly what to expect from a Democratic Congress.  They know that more than ever, they will be able to get laws passed for their clients that will be loaded with tax breaks and tax increases.  If there's one thing we know about Democrats, it's that they love to mess with the tax code.  So the lobbyists on K Street are getting ready for one big enormous Christmas morning, with all sorts of perks and goodies under the tree.

So how can they be stopped?  The answer is simple: The FairTax.  Without the ability to socially engineer and provide tax breaks for their buddies in corporations and other organizations, lobbyists would be largely out of business.  If there was no tax code to manipulate, there wouldn't be much need for a lot of lobbyists.  This is the source of their power and they know that Democrats view it the same way.  It's a match made in heaven.

But with the FairTax...and its consumption-based national sales tax, lobbyists would have no power over us.  So with a big Democratic victory expected this fall, they'll be lining up at the trough...ready to do what they do best: screw the public.  But they can be stopped.

Critics?  Sure there are critics!  But there is one universal truth when it comes to criticism of H.R. 25, the Fair Tax Act.  You either have to (a) lie about it or, (b) re-write it before you can mount an effective critique. 

I may be a bit biased here .. but I truly believe that the only way the Republicans are going to maintain control of the House of Representatives is or them to adopt a national agenda that will resonate with the voters.  The FairTax is just such an agenda.  Time wasting.  Present the FairTax to the American people as your agenda for the next Congress -- or find something else as compelling -- or say hello to Speaker Pelosi.

THE WAR ON WAL-MART

The Democratic jihad against the nation's largest retailer is heating up again.  Democratic Senator Joe Biden, who is running for president, gave a speech yesterday to a bunch of Democrats and union types in Iowa.  In it, he went on a 15-minute tirade against Wal-Mart.  Here is an excerpt:  "My problem with Wal-Mart is that I don't see any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people.  They talk about paying them $10 an hour.  That's true.  How can you live a middle-class life on that?"  Oh boy...where to even begin?

First of all, Senator Biden is employing the same straw man the left likes to use when it comes to the minimum wage.  They like to ask how anyone is supposed to raise a family on $5.15 an hour, when in fact no one does.  What does Biden want?  Does he want to change the rules of the marketplace to compel employers to pay employees more than they are worth?  What does that accomplish other than to push up the price of everything that employer sells.

But the hourly pay isn't why the left hates Wal-Mart.  They hate Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart is non-union and because they are successful.  Wal-Mart is a shining example of what the private sector can do to provide jobs to communities across America and lift the working poor out of poverty by providing them with a way to buy food and other items at a much lower cost.  Democrats also hate Wal-Mart because they have no control over the retailer.

Now, if Democrats were smart (and they're not, but if they were, ) they would criticize Wal-Mart for something they deserve to be criticized for:  the stealing of private property through eminent domain abuse.

JONBENET

John Mark Karr has been arrested in Thailand and charged with the Murder of JonBenet Ramsey.  I'm aware that sociopaths will often confess to a crime they didn't commit, so I'm just a tad suspicious on this one.  I suspect we'll know for sure after some DNA tests are conducted.  There was DNA on JonBenet's underwear that did not match any of the people associated with her or the case.

Two things:  If John Mark Kerr murdered JonBenet Ramsey then great praise is due to Boulder County (Colorado) district attorney Mary Lacy.  She was dogged in this investigation, and much of the credit for Karr's arrest goes to her.  Secondly, if Kerr is guilty then I owe a huge apology to John and Patsy Ramsey.  I was very critical of their actions from the very beginning, and made it clear on the air that I suspected that they had something to do with JonBenet's death.  It looks like I, and many others with the same thoughts, was wrong, and for that I apologize.

Now ... let's see what the DNA says.

OK ... WE'RE KEEPING THIS LINK BY POPULAR DEMAND FOR ONE MORE DAY.

People are begging me to leave this particular link up here for just one more day.  It's an aviation-related link that is just chock full of videos.  Some of the videos are  fly-bys.  Some are accidents.  All are amazing.  Have you ever seen two 747s racing around the airport?  Check out the "Airliner race."  Just click on the link for "Airliners" and then scroll down a bit to find "Airline Race!"  This video won an award for it's creators.  Have fun!

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

There's nothing sweeter than showing how proud you are of your mamma. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Yesterday I told you of a Georgia Tech student who sued to have the campus restrictions on free speech withdrawn.  She prevailed, and now she's getting death threats.  Welcome to the club, Ruth.  There's something about freely expressing your opinions that makes people want to kill you.  Trust me, I know.
Victor Davis Hanson says the same old excuses are being used by those who blame the United States and Israel for all of the misery in the Middle East.  Once again, they love to blame us for all their problems...but they seem to enjoy cashing those big checks from all the oil we buy.

Ann Coulter says last week's terrorist plot in Britain should remind people of two things.   The first is that nothing we have done regarding airport security in the last 5 years would stop another bomb from being brought onto an airplane.  The other thing is that this terrorist attack was stopped by racial profiling.

For some reason, CBS News is planning a big Dan Rather tribute.   The good-faith gesture won't exactly be shown when a lot of people will see it.  How's Friday night at 9 for you, Dan?  I wonder if it will mention the forged documents case that ended his career?  Probably not.

Jay Cost notes that those who are predicting big Democratic gains this fall are the same people who consistently predict big Democratic gains, but also consistently underestimate the size of Republican support.  He says the so-called 'generic ballot' does not predict a Democratic blow-out.  Interesting reading.

Democrats, who are always wanting to monkey with the primary schedule, seem to be terrible at picking nominees.  Aside from Bill Clinton, their record over the last several decades is pretty bad.  R. Lawrence Butler takes a look at why it hasn't worked out for the Dems.

Larry Elder notes the hypocrisy in the media raking Mel Gibson over the coals for his anti-Semitism , but giving Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a huge pass for his Jew-hating.  Perhaps Mel just needs to do an interview with Mike Wallace.

Robert Novak highlights a little skirmish that took place in the Senate recently.   It seems Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, a big pork-pusher in the Senate, shot down Dick Durbin's request for $2 million for the University of Chicago.  The irony is not lost on Novak, considering Stevens was the proponent of the Bridge To Nowhere.

A new Zogby poll has President Bush's approval rating at 34%.  Will this matter when people head to the polls this fall to vote for members of Congress?  We'll see.  Only 62% of Republicans give the president high marks.  That can't be good.

CNN's Lou Dobbs, who doesn't hold back in anything he says, says it's good that the United States is the lone superpower.  In fact, he was a bit surprised that the United States didn't properly celebrate the end of the Cold War.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has long been known as a big supporter of George W. Bush.  In fact, he has taken a lot of heat for being too close to the president.  The same can't be said for the deputy UK prime minister, who just called the Bush Administration "crap."

Top ten myths about bartenders.

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