WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION

Last Wednesday afternoon I got an excited phone call from Belinda. The White House had called and wanted me to be present for a meeting with the President in the Oval Office on Friday morning. 

So, here I am, in the middle of Arizona, about 90 miles north of the Mexican border, with nothing but hiking and workout clothes, and I having to figure out a way to get to Washington DC by Thursday night.

 I arrived at the West Wing of the White House at the appointed hour.  The other invitees were Sean Hannity, Mike Gallagher, Michael Medved and Laura Ingraham.  What was supposed to be a 30-minute meeting with the President in the Oval Office turned into 90 minutes.  Though the meeting was completely off the record, there is much that can be shared about the visit. 

All of this to tell you that I have extended my vacation for two days to make up for the two days lost on that trip back to the East Coast.  I'll be live with you on Wednesday.

The desert awaits!  No rattlesnake problems as of yet.  Professional courtesy, I suspect.

NEAL'S ON VACATION

Neal will be back soon enough well rested and loaded for bear. In the meantime, enjoy some Nuze courtesy of the staff.

ISLAMIC TERRORISTS GET A BREAK

Yesterday the GOP-controlled Senate pushed a bill out of committee that authorizes the use of military tribunals for terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  The only problem?  The bill demands that these Islamic terrorists be treated in accordance with Article III of the Geneva Conventions.  Here we go again.

Defying the Bush Administration, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, John McCain and John Warner got together and came up with a plan that reads like an Islamic terrorists' bill of rights:  terror suspects are now permitted to view classified evidence against them and the new plan takes out a provision the administration wanted that would keep the military and CIA from being prosecuted.  Al-Qaeda never had it so good...perhaps this is theirs and the Taliban's 5th anniversary 9/11 present?

Reasonable people can disagree, and John McCain knows a thing or two about torture.  Colin Powell also supports the McCain/Graham/Warner position.  But what they're doing in pushing their plan is granting rights to Islamic killers that don't deserve them.  Their rationale seems to be that to not do so would put American military personnel around the world in jeopardy.  Essentially they're saying that if we don't treat the enemy nice, they might not treat us well.  Yeah right...like that's ever worked.  It also ignores basic legal precedent.  And if McCain and Company were really worried about how the military was going to be treated, then why are they standing in the way of the legal protection that would stop the prosecution of interrogators?

The detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are not prisoners or war, nor have they ever been.  If anyone actually bothered to read the Geneva Convention, they would discover that these jihadists don't come the least bit close to prisoner of war status.  We owe them nothing.  It is only through our generosity that we're allowing them to live, much less give them a military tribunal.

So Islamic terrorists have gotten a break, courtesy of Senate Republicans.  Thanks for nothing, guys.

U.N. STANDS UP FOR IRAN

This should come as no surprise.  The IAEA, the corrupt, toothless nuclear watchdog arm of the United Nations, is sticking up for Iran.  It seems they're none too happy with the House Intelligence Committee after it suggested Iran was currently enriching uranium to weapons grade.  The IAEA says Iran is far from that capability.  One member of Congress says what they meant is Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons.

The IAEA called Congress' assertion "outrageous and dishonest."  Wow...now we know whose side they're on.  They're the ones that are supposed to be investigating Iran's nuclear program...and here they are defending it.  But we shouldn't be surprised.  The United Nations has never had any intention of really investigating, much less doing anything about Iran.  Just like with Saddam Hussein, they will continue to look the other way while Iran tries to make nuclear weapons.

Oh..and did you know that Iran gets to pick the nuclear inspectors the IAEA sends over?  Boy, that's really some enforcement.  It really does make you wonder just what purpose the United Nations actually serves.  Other than spending money and doing nothing, all they do is provide a venue for third-world dictators to be legitimized.

That and run up parking tickets and waste valuable Manhattan real estate.  What a complete waste of time the U.N. is.

MUSLIMS MAD AT THE POPE

The Vatican is in the hot seat this week over comments made by Pope Benedict XVI in which he essentially called into question the actions of the Prophet Muhammad by quoting from a book, saying:  "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."  Uh-oh....if you think this went over like a lead balloon, you would be right.

Muslims the world over are up in arms, with clerics calling on the Pope to apologize.  What for?  They say the Pope was promoting the idea that Islam might be violent.  Oh really?  Why such sensitivity to that idea?  Because it might be true?  Of course, whenever leaders in the Islamic community get backed into a corner over terrorism and jihad, they bring up The Crusades.  Yawn.

The facts are what they are:  Islam has become a violent religion.  When atrocities are committed around the world in the name of Allah, condemnation never seems to come from those in the peaceful religion.  The silence is deafening when, for instance, a suicide bomber blows up innocent women and children in Israel.

The truth hurts....even if it's the Pope saying it.  Of course he'll wind up apologizing, political correctness being what it is.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Rather than time-outs, I imagine redneck parents use other methods to discipline their children. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

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Belinda Skelton, Ken Rogers, Laura Nunemaker and Brian Ganey assist in the daily preparation of Nealz Nuze!