Dog Show - Night Two

Tonight is the second night of The Westminster Dog Show.

Last night's winners included this French Bulldog in the non-sporting group (close to my heart because my dog is a Frenchie/Boston Terrier Mix) and in the Hounds group it was the Whippet. An old poodle won the toy group, (apologies to poodle lovers, but I'm not one of 'em) and a Puli won the Herding group. The Puli is one of those dogs that looks like a mop - adorable!

Liz Cheney and the Taliban Capture

Liz Cheney responds to the capture of the Taliban's top military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar:



It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds with regard to the interrogation issue. Many have weighed in on this story already and at this point there isn't much I can add. I do, however, see this as good news although, like Cheney, I'm suspicious of NYT releasing the story, even though, as the Times says, the news was already all over Pakistan and not really a secret any more.

The good news here, besides the actual capture, would probably be that Pakistan is involved in all this because without them, this guy might have just been shot without benefit of interrogation. We no longer have a CIA program to interrogate him, or a place to detain him, so it would have to be the Pakistanis who field the catch here.

Here is a profile of Barader.

Updates later.

The Dog Show

Well I was going to try to watch some of the Winter Olympics this year, but heck -The Westminster Dog Show is on tonight!

For a proper perspective, check out this article on why the dog show is better, for example:

Beagles. Beagles make everything better. They swagger around the dog show ring with a merry attitude, as if they just successfully stole the poodle’s food. They don’t usually do well at big shows, because judges prefer breeds whose hair can be styled. But Uno the beagle won Westminster in 2008, and he remains the most popular champion in the show’s history.

Yeah. I'll be watching the dogs! And I'm not pulling for ANY poodles!

"Just Shoot the Bastard"

I'm slow to this story from The Washington Post but I did want to just make note of it here. The story, of course, is about the Obama strategy to just kill terrorists now instead of capture them. Marc Theissen sums it up perfectly at The Corner:

The Post tells the story of a senior leader of al-Qaeda in East Africa named Saleh Ali Nabhan who was located last September. The White House was given the choice of either killing him or capturing him alive for interrogation. The military wanted to take him alive. But the White House chose instead to take him out. A senior military officer is quoted as saying: "We wanted to take a prisoner. . . . It was not a decision that we made." The Post adds: "The opportunity to interrogate one of the most wanted U.S. terrorism targets was gone forever."

You can read the entire Post article here.

Theissen's analogy to a jigsaw puzzle is spot on. Actually, I guess it's Michael Hayden's analogy, but Theissen reports it in Courting Disaster:

In the book, former CIA director Mike Hayden explains that intelligence is having to put together a puzzle without being allowed to see the picture on the cover of the box. You can't see how the pieces are supposed to fit together. There are lots of ways to get more pieces. But the only way to find out how they fit together is to capture the senior leaders who know what the picture on the cover of the box looks like.

So these days we are left with little random pieces of stuff and no way of knowing how to put it together. Case in point - Abdulmutallab. We never even attempted to put him together with the other pieces because no other agencies were called in for information when we questioned him.

Theissen explains the interrogation process at Gitmo, for example, in his book. Under questioning, you might obtain a bit of information from a detainee. He gives up a name, for example, or a part of a story you heard from another detainee under questioning, also at Gitmo. You go back and forth between the two, or three, or however many you are talking to, and work the pieces around until they fit into the right places. Then you have the bigger picture. Quite possibly a big picture than none of them actually had in its entirely, but one that you now hold because you have all the pieces.

That will no longer be the case. Under Obama's plan we will have no prison in which to take them and no way to question them because they'll likely get Mirandized.

And now, we just shoot them. Much easier than dealing with the lawyers, the human rights issues, the prisons, and the bad publicity. Never mind obtaining information that could stop future attacks and save lives.

Is it their intention to just kill them all? Their heads will continue to grow back like a Hydra. Have they not considered the better plan might be to find out what they know?

As Ed Morrissey sums it up:

We could restore the ability to get that kind of intel if we just admitted we need Gitmo to remain open. The goal in the war on terror is to dismantle the al-Qaeda network and stamp out the ability of radical Islamists to conduct major terrorist operations against the US and our allies, not to kill terrorists one at a time and then try to go after their replacements.

(More at Memeorandum)

Newsweek Gives Heads Up To Terrorist Networks

Once again, the liberal, clueless media goes where they shouldn't. Via Newsweek's aptly named blog, Declassified, we learn for the first time that:

"U.S. intelligence officials appear to have obtained access to what could turn out to be a significant trove of phone numbers, photographs and documents detailing the links between Al Qaeda's leaders in northwest Pakistan and the terror group's increasingly menacing affiliate in Yemen, two counter-terrorism sources tell Declassified."

The arrest, made in late January, had not been made public until now...until Newsweek spills it:

There has been no public announcement of the arrest. But in a possible indication of the operative's importance, just a few days later, two postings on a jihadi web forum suggested that Al Qaeda leaders were worried and wanted their "commanders" to take immediate precautions.

Of course, once little Abdullah Saleh al-Eidan, aka "Barud", didn't show up, Al Qaeda leaders knew about the arrest and immediately went underground:

"The brother requested that this information reach the commanders in Yemen and Afghanistan as soon as possible," read one of the postings, which appeared on a web forum known as Fallujah Islamic Forum. "He also asked.the commanders to change their places of residence and mobile phone numbers as soon as possible."

And now, of course, the whole world knows about it, in addition to any terrorist networks who were not already in the loop.

Imagine if Al Qaeda was able to shut things down so quickly, how much more they could hide in five weeks of Mirandized silence.

Bayh Bails (UPDATED)

Now this is interesting:

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh will not seek re-election this year, an unexpected decision that comes on top of other high-profile Democratic retirements.

The two-term senator is known as a moderate Democrat. His retirement gives Republicans yet another opportunity to pick up a seat in a year when several incumbent Democrats are considered vulnerable and some have already decided to jump ship.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan both announced their retirements in January. Democrats are trying to defend open seats in Delaware and Illinois as well.

Former GOP Sen. Dan Coats had been planning to challenge Bayh in November. But a senior Democratic source told Fox News that recent polling showed Bayh way ahead of Coats, and that the retirement must have been a personal decision.

Bayh's staff said the latest polling showed Bayh ahead of Coats by 20 points.

More to come...

Update: Wow! His replacement better be standing in the wings already:

Bayh's decision will set Dems scrambling for a replacement. The deadline to file to reach the ballot is tomorrow, meaning any Dem considering running for the seat must make a decision quickly.

Update 2 (10:14 a.m.) Apparently Bayh is tired of being in Congress:

"After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned," Bayh will say.

Sounds like he has other plans. Michelle Malkin asks,

Question: What’s Bayh going to do with his $13 million war chest?

Answer: Preserve his political viability.

Exit question: Who will replace him? HuffPo reports Ellsworth is a possibility:

A name floated by the operative as a possible replacement for the Democratic seat is that of Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) a blue dog from Evansville who came to office in 2006 riding an anti-Republican wave.

Update 3 (10:28 a.m.) The Memeorandum links are growing. Professor Jacobson has more of Bayh's statement.

Firedoglake sees the writing on the wall: "Putting IN-Sen in play seriously raises the possibility of a Republican takeover of the Senate in November. It’s still a long shot, but definitely in the realm of the possible."

Update 4 (10:40 a.m.) Ed Morrissey makes a good point when he questions the reported "lead" Bayh holds in the polls. The recent entry of Dan Coats into the race might have changed that picture:

His “lead” was over state-level challengers, not necessarily Dan Coats, who hadn’t been in the mix long enough to get polled. Bayh couldn’t get above 45% against anyone, a bad position for any incumbent. The $13 million is a good point, though, and at least Bayh was competitive. Looking at Lincoln’s numbers, or those of Harry Reid, in comparison put Bayh in a relatively stronger position in his race, at least until he quit.

Update 5 (10:55 a.m.) Phillip Klein at American Spectator sees Bayh's exit as a move that will possibly make it more difficult to pass the health care bill:

One of the many implications Sen. Evan Bayh's retirement could have is to make it even more difficult for Democrats to pass comprehensive health care legislation. In the broader sense, news of a strong moderate Democrat feeling the need to step aside could make other red state Democrats even more nervous than they already are about reelection and thus uneasy about casting a tough vote. But more specifically, the most obvious Democrats to seek Bayh's seat are Indiana's Democratic congressmen: Reps. Brad Ellsworth, Baron Hill and Joe Donnelly. All of them have already voted for the original version of the House health care bill, and it's unlikely that any of them would want to cast another vote for the bill during a difficult race for the Senate.

Read the whole thing.

Update (11:40 a.m.) Speculation is rising that Bayh might be considering a 2012 run against Obama as a challenger. I'd say this is unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Via Jonah Goldberg at The Corner, however, the possibility arises.

English Speaking Terrorists Only, Please

Eli Lake reports this morning that the U.S. is now on a manhunt for English-speaking terrorists:

U.S. and allied counterterrorism authorities have launched a global manhunt for English-speaking terrorists trained in Yemen who are planning attacks on the United States, based on intelligence provided by the suspect in the attempted Christmas Day bombing after he began cooperating.

Do you just love how these leaks are filtering out now about how cooperative Abdulmutallab has become? He's told us now, in the spirit of cooperation, that "he met with other English speakers at a terrorist training camp in Yemen" and they are coming for us. Is this news, really? Did we not already know this?

Coincidentally, Team Obama is now "retooling the administration's communications strategy to produce faster responses to political adversaries" because the White House believes "the president's communications team had not taken the initiative often enough and had allowed drawn-out debates in Congress, and relentless criticism by Republicans, to drown out his message." Forget national security - it's all about the politics!

Is part of that strategy - "leaks" to the press? I guess that's always been a "strategy" of sorts.

In the case of Abdulmutallab, and national security in general, this administration is taking a lot of hits that they aren't responding to very well, specifically, their bungling of this case. As Jennifer Rubin said today,

So the question comes down to this: what if in the five weeks of the Christmas Day bomber’s Mirandized silence other terrorists got away? And if the unimaginable happens and one of these should strike, what then? Even the potential for such a calamity should convince all but the most hardened Obama sycophants that we are in danger now, greater danger than we would otherwise be, had the search for mass-murders-in-training begun weeks earlier.

Seriously, even "the most hardened" Obamabots would have to admit that the handling of Abdulmutuallab has been a disaster. The man was certainly in possession of actionable intelligence when captured. That intelligence has most certainly gone cold, for the most part. I suspect the information that there are English-speaking terrorists out there who might be planning attacks is news to some, but not to most.

We are supposed to believe that the warm-fuzzy-method-of-interrogation has resulted in this fabulous actionable intelligence that there are others like Abdulmutallab and they speak English! We'd have never learned such things had we followed Dick Cheney's methods!

The more interesting part of it all at this point, to me, is that the administration is so intent on being "not like Bush" in terms of what they call torturing terrorists, that they questioned this guy for only fifty minutes without benefit of any other intelligence agencies getting in and sharing information which could have led to actually obtaining MORE information from him. As has been stated before, the High Value Interrogation Group (HIG), which was supposed to be the "humane" way to interrogate folks like this, was never even an option for use because it was never set up.

This is incompetence at the highest level.

Update: Hot Air echos my feeling that this isn't really news but does offer a suggestion for our counterterrorism folks:

The US is “certain” that more attacks will come over the next three to six months, using these new “bullet[s] in the chamber.” Maybe that means it’s time to ensure that all of our CT organizations are talking to each other now — or to start dismantling AQ’s network in Yemen with targeted missions and some captures rather than kills.

(H/T: Memeorandum)

Twenty Percent "Isn't That Bad"?

John Brennan is coming under a lot of fire because of his recent pronouncement that a 20% recidivism rate on released Guantanamo detainees "is not that bad."

Here is Brennan's actual statement and General Jim Jones who actually doesn't think it's that bad either:



The problem here, it seems to me, is that they are still in a criminal justice frame of mind.

There are many issues on which Lindsay Graham and I disagree, but on this one, not so much:



When Graham says "it makes no sense to say that a 20% recidivism rate is not that bad..." he is spot on. As Chris Matthews points out, if you have a 20% recidivism rate when you're talking about shoplifters, that's quite a different story than when you have a 20% return to jihad from terrorists. Graham is, of course, calling for Brennan's discharge and says Brennan has lost his confidence.

Intrepid researcher Thomas Joscelyn points out that this recidivism number has continued to grow over the last 18 months:

The 20 percent figure cited by the Pentagon and Brennan translates to a current estimated number of recidivists north of 100. A good estimate is 112. Thus, in June 2008 the estimate was just 37 former detainees. Today, less than two years later, the estimate is roughly three times higher.

So, when Brennan says that 20 percent isn't that bad he is ignoring the fact that the estimated number of recidivists continues to grow and could easily be much higher just months from now.

Of course the response from the left will be to blame Bush and to point out that many of those that returned to jihad were released by Bush. And to that, I return to my premise that just because Bush screwed up doesn't mean Obama has to; it's an slow learner indeed who doesn't learn from the mistakes of the past.

A New Michael Yon Dispatch

Be sure you read Michael Yon's dispatch to Instapundit published yesterday. Nobody does a better job of embed reporting than Michael Yon and this particular dispatch touched me, not only because of what he writes about the soldiers, but because he writes about their dogs!

Yon's photos are fabulous as well as his reporting, and I especially liked the photo of the fat white puppy sleeping on the roof.

The Krewe Of Highland Parade 2010

Boy are we wiped out! We did the Highland Parade in a big way today!

Let me say again how much we love the Highland Parade; it's really unique in that you have floats from both major krewes and then the Highland krewe joins in, too, as well as more bands and random groups. The Blanc et Noir Marching Society with the Red and Black Brass Band led things off today and as usual, set the right tone. And let me just send condolences to Robert Trudeau who lost his mom this morning; Robert was marching with his group, though, in his own tribute to his mom!

There are always lots of kids at this parade and Steve and I pass lots of our swag off to them. There was a precious little boy next to us with his parents and he was so small most of the big people were snatching things out of the air before he could get anything. Most of what he got he scooped up off the ground. We gave him lots of stuff, and he said "thank you" for every single thing!

Sandy, your float came through for me today! I got cups, beads and some kind of little football from them!

We caught hot dogs, and Heather had her very first Moon Pie (WHO has never eaten a moon pie before!?) We caught Tootsie Rolls, Sweet Tarts, bubble gum, fortune cookies and a small container of bubbles. Steve even scored a giant toothbrush and we managed to bring home two more Frisbees for the dog. Steve also got a Pirate Eye Patch from the pirate float, which he wore proudly for a little while.

By the time the parade came to an end a nasty cold wind was blowing and the clouds had moved in. I'm glad we were at the front end of this one!`

After the parade we went to eat Mexican food at Nicky's and now I'm parked on the couch under an afghan.

Gemini Parade Report

We did the Krewe of Gemini parade last night and had a big time! Steve's son Josh and his friend Heather joined us for this one.

We froze to death; it was quite cold but the sun came out during the day and that helped some. We always walk to the parade from my house; we usually wait until they close the roads and then head out. You see all kinds of people in all stages of celebration along the way. We saw one guy run right over one of the wooden barricades (I don't think the police let him stick around to see the parade). Kids were skateboarding in the streets and people had their dogs and their grills out. Most people had fire pits roaring and music blasting.

At Harriett's we dumped off our stuff and then walked on a little more just to check things out. We made friends with Bruiser and saw the Krewe of Drew where the entire group was wearing No. 9 Brees jerseys!

Back at Harriett's we grilled, ate, talked, took pictures and waited for the parade. I stayed by the fire most of the afternoon!

The parade itself was great fun and we loaded up on more colorful beads, cups and stuffed animals. I gave all my cups to Heather; I have more around here than I can ever use. How many plastic cups do you need, anyway?! We scored one Frisbee for the dog and several stuffed animals. Oh, and one bag of candy. Heather got some crazy sunglasses.

Today we're headed out to the Highland Parade, which thankfully is the last one we do. We LOVE LOVE the Highland Parade; it's a daytime parade and a neighborhood deal. It's a huge parade and lasts a long time but they throw lots of stuff and if you're lucky you'll catch a Moon Pie or a hot dog from the Krewe of Bar B Que!

They've predicted a 30% chance of rain on our parade today, but so far not a sign of it. Fingers crossed.

I Am Here Waiting For The Parade

More Joining the Call for Holder's Bus Ticket

It seems I'm not the only one who thinks Eric Holder may be fixing to go down. I posted on January 31 that Holder might be fixing to be jettisoned, and now Ed Morrissey is thinking the same thing, as are many others:

It’s never a good sign when White House sources begin laying all of the blame for a bad decision on the shoulders of a Cabinet member. In this case, Holder now has two politically nutty decisions to re-think, and don’t be too surprised if the White House starts blaming more of the Abdulmutallab decision through anonymous leaks. Cabinet members exist to give Presidents a way to escape bad performance, through the time-honored method of pushing them out the door.

Morrissey links to Yid With Lid who, like me, isn't buying the theory that Holder made all these lousy decisions on his own:

So he didn't even tell the President? Axelrod and Gibbs had no Idea? Or was it that they thought the country would follow him like lemmings.

I've never, ever for one moment believed Holder made the decision to try KSM in New York on his own. I do not believe Obama would allow Holder the power to throw him in front of the train like that. As I said two weeks ago:

I, for one, don't believe any of Holder's decisions regarding KSM or the CIA issues were made unilaterally; I believe something so critical simply had to be made with Obama's input, or Rahm's, at the very least.

This back peddling on the KSM trial has got to make Obama testy, and even worse, if it ends up in Gitmo as a military tribunal, as it should have been in the first place, he's going to be in a tight spot.

My prediction? Obama will throw Holder under the bus, ramp up the Gitmo-tribunal option, and say it was all done in the interest of national security. He'll speak well of Holder, maybe even move him to some other diplomatic position, and act like he's only looking out for you.

I can smell the diesel fuel now.

Predictions, anyone, for who fills his spot?

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around: Parade Day No. 2

It's Parade Day again and like last week, it's cloudy and cold. I prefer my Mardi Gras parades under sunnier skies and milder temperatures, but nobody asked me. I'll tough it out! Tomorrow afternoon is the last big parade and there is a 30% chance of rain. But I'll be there! The snow is all gone now so we don't have that to contend with, at least.

So since I have beads to catch, let's get on with this:

Stacy McCain has the low down on the low down Keith Olbermann. Olbermann and Andrew Sullivan are about tied for the lowest low down pond scum award in my book.

Bungalow Bill has a post on Obama's college years and some thoughts from a professor who knew him then. Gateway Pundit also has a post on the same subject.

Fishersville Mike is getting nostalgic about the Olympics.

Legal Insurrection pats himself on the back after Patches opts out of running for re-election. Job well done! And Bob Belvedere celebrates!

Speaking of Bob Belvedere, Grandpa John reveals his secret.

Ruby Slippers has an Instalanche with her Snow Studs post! Woot Woot!

Carol takes a look at some stimulus dollars and points out that Louisiana isn't the only state that has reason to be embarrassed by Washington.

Little Miss Attila has a great, and helpful, post on Blogging 101.

Donald Douglas has a film he wants you to see.

No Sheeples Here has the best roundup evah! and I really hope there won't be any lamb chops on the table for Valentines Day. Avoid the mutton stew, as well, after playing in all that snow!

Wyblog ponders Kindles and e-books. Put me in the camp of real books any day. I will NEVER be an e-book person. I like to hold the book in my hand, feel the pages, smell the ink and have it on the shelf later.

Left Coast Rebel finally joins Facebook!

Generation Patriot likes lasers!

Red has a snow picture with a red dog.

Bread Upon the Waters posts on a tribute to Flight 3407.

Pundette has a nice round-up of stories you might have missed over the past couple of days.

Bride of Rove is just giddy over Glenn Beck's smack down of Meghan McCain!

I needed a tissue and a hug after reading The Dialysis Diary. Don't miss this blog.

My Bossier got into the snow posting yesterday!

That's going to have to be it for right now. I need to make a quick store run to pick up some goodies to take to the parade this afternoon before they close the streets. Of course, if they closed the streets before I got to the store I could always go to ANOTHER store, but I'm a creature of habit.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Democrats or Republicans on National Security Issues?

The Washington Post article this morning about Obama inserting himself into the debate over where the KSM trial should be held (finally) quoted a statistic that has been puzzling me. It seemed off the wall to me when I read it this morning but I didn't question it too much at the time because I was more focused on the bigger issue, it seemed to me, which was that Obama is now paying attention to matters of national security.

The Post said this morning that Obama is more trusted on matters of national security than Republicans, which is so very odd to me (emphasis mine):

According to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, 55 percent of voters say military tribunals should be used to try suspected terrorists, compared with 39 percent who say the civilian court system should be used. In November, there was an even split on this question. Still, Obama has an advantage on national security, with a majority of Americans continuing to approve of the way he is handling the threat of terrorism -- his highest-rated issue -- and 47 percent saying they mainly trust Obama on the issue compared with 42 percent who trust the GOP.

Yet according to Rasmussen on February 10:

On national security, Republicans are trusted more by a 49% to 40% margin after leading by 17 points in January. This marks the first poll to show Republicans earning less than 50% of voters’ trust on the issue since August of last year.

And in the War on Terror (still Rasmussen):

Recent polling shows that voter confidence in U.S. efforts in the War on Terror is near its lowest level in recent years. Only 36% of voters say the United States is safer today than it was before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, marking the lowest level of confidence since Rasmussen polling first asked the question in 2002.

So where does the Washington Post come up with these numbers?

The closest I can get is this Washington Post - ABC News poll dated Jan. 12-15, 2010 in which Obama does have more favorable numbers.

When asked if respondents approved or disapproved of the way Obama is handling terrorism, the results were:

b. The threat of terrorism

      -------- Approve --------   ------- Disapprove ------     No
      NET   Strongly   Somewhat   NET   Somewhat   Strongly   opinion
1/15/10    55       31         23      42       14         28         4
11/15/09   53       31         22      41       14         27         6
9/12/09    55       31         24      34       12         23        11
6/21/09    57       NA         NA      36       NA         NA         7
4/21/09*   57       NA         NA      26       NA         NA        17
*Pew

It's interesting. Curious, but interesting. The number of those who disapprove has climbed from 26 to 42 yet those who approve has stayed pretty much the same - from 57 to 55.

The sampling for the latest poll is supposedly:

          Democrat  Republican  Independent  Other  No op.  Dem.  Rep.  Lean
1/15/10       32         23           38        7      *      17    20     9

When asked how much confidence one has in (item) to make the right decisions for the country's future, 47% trusted Obama to 24% who trusted Republicans in Congress and 32% trusted Democrats in Congress.

And on preventing another terrorist attack in the U.S.:

a. Preventing further terrorist attacks in the United States

      -Excellent/Good -   -Not so good/Poor -     No
      NET   Exc.   Good   NET   Not so   Poor   opinion
1/15/10   58      8     50    41      30      11       1
9/7/06    66      9     57    33      24       8       1
1/18/04   74     14     61    25      19       6       1
9/7/03    80     19     61    19      16       3       1
9/8/02    75     13     62    23      21       3       2

Obviously that number has changed since Obama took office.

At any rate, I can't find the numbers WaPo refers to in their article today and they don't link to the poll. This January poll is the closest I can find.

I just don't believe more people trust Obama with national security than they trust Republicans, although I guess it could depend to which Republicans one refers. The Democrats, after all, is the party who just charged a man with explosives in his undies on an airplane in Detroit with nearly 300 people as a common criminal rather than an Al Qaeda trained enemy combatant.

I'm not trusting them. No way.

A Trip Around Town in the Snow

Shreveport in the snow:

The bayou along East Kings Highway was deserted this morning; usually the park is filled with kids but I guess they all stayed home this morning!


However, some intrepid souls had been out and built a couple of snow people. These are at the bayou which is also along the parade route, thus the beads. The snowman is holding a note with the names of their creators and the note proclaims them to be "Who Dat Snowmen." Their smiles are made from beer bottle caps.


The ducks aren't too happy with the snow, I don't think. None of them were in the water.


At Norton Art Gallery the scene was peaceful and majestic. There were a few neighborhood kids out playing in the open, snowy areas and a few small snowmen here and there, but mostly it was hushed and beautiful with only the sound of the streams and the snow crashing from the trees overhead.


This cat wasn't bothered by the cold as he stood keeping watch over the grounds at Norton.



Needless to say, Querbes golf course was deserted this morning, too. I'm sure some die hards would have been out there if the course had been open, though.


At Centenary College, the band shell was adorned in snow. The campus was pretty quiet. I walked around a little and saw a few students moving from one building to another; there were three girls playing by the band shell, one making snow angels on a hill. Other than that it was all very quiet.

Things are starting to melt now. There will be some snow still around through the day, especially in the shady areas. It's time for this to clear on out though because we have a parade tomorrow!

More photos here.

Crossroads

Obama Taking Charge of KSM Trial

After much bungling and backtracking we now get word that Obama is "planning to insert himself into the debate about where to try the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, three administration officials said Thursday, signaling a recognition that the administration had mishandled the process and triggered a political backlash." The Washington Post has the story here.

I'm still trying to figure out why he wasn't part of the decision in the first place, although the Post says it is because he wanted to have a separation between Justice and The White House. Yeah, I'm buying that.

The problem with all that is that the KSM trial shouldn't ever have been a "justice" problem; it should have stayed right where it was...in the hands of the military and the military commissions where KSM had already confessed and was ready to receive sentence.

Snow Day

And we finally got snow here in Shreveport. This is no DC blizzard or Shenandoah Valley wonderland, but it's nice anyway.

I took the dogs out early and it was still trickling down a little; it had been heavier through the night. I ended up with about 4 or 5 inches here. My Boston Terrier was kind of afraid to go out in it; she's old and doesn't take change well. She eventually got brave when she saw the Lab go. He bounded out into the slush with the innocence of a puppy, ran circles in it, tossed snow up with his nose, and then tried to dig to see what was under it.

We're going up to 40 today so this won't last long. They closed schools today and I'm staying in until time to go check on mom this afternoon.

Snow day!

Agnostic on Taxes?

It's true that most of Obama's promises have expiration dates, which Jim Geraghty points out, and as Ed Morrissey says, "this one's a doozy." (That's also the last line in Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" which seems ironically appropriate.)

During the campaign Obama promised multiple times not to raise taxes on the middle class, specifically, on anyone making less than $250,000 per year: "NO family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase, not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

That went under pretty quick as soon as Obama raised taxes on cigarettes to fund the CHIP program.

But now he seems ready to abandon all pretense of keeping this promise, saying in an interview with Business Week that he is "agnostic" about pulling higher taxes from those making less than $250,000:

Obama, in a Feb. 9 Oval Office interview, said that a presidential commission on the budget needs to consider all options for reducing the deficit, including tax increases and cuts in spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

“The whole point of it is to make sure that all ideas are on the table,” the president said in the interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands Friday. “So what I want to do is to be completely agnostic, in terms of solutions.”

While the broken promise is one thing, I find his use of the word "agnostic" in this context sort of strange. It's kind of reminiscent of when he said the Senate was on the "precipice" of passing health care reform. It's just a weird word choice.

The word "agnostic" comes from the Greek ágnōst(os) or ágnōtos which means "not known." So is Obama saying he doesn't know if he'll choose to raise taxes?

As an adjective, "agnostic" is defined as "asserting the uncertainty of all claims to knowledge." Well.....okay. He has no knowledge if he'll raise taxes? When will he know? What will help formulate his decision? Is he just using this word to try to sound smart? Couldn't he just say, "I'm open minded to raising taxes..."? Or is that not what he meant, because maybe he does know.

Really? His best answer is "I don't know"?

We are so screwed.

(More at Memeorandum)

Snow in Shreveport

We have snow in NW Louisiana. It started coming down about 7 a.m. today where I was (earlier in other areas) and it snowed steadily up until 2:00. At school we carried on as usual and watched it out the windows as we worked. Nothing was sticking because we've been just above freezing all day.

After a break for two or three hours, it's now snowing again and they're predicting 4 to 6 inches. Who knows, really. Schools are already closed for tomorrow in anticipation of dicey driving conditions.

It's kind of funny after watching people in DC all week, and in New York, to see people here going absolutely nuts over this. By 10 a.m. tomorrow it'll all be gone and the temperatures above freezing, but folks are swamping the grocery stores and every meteorologist on every television station is standing by the side of some road somewhere giving "updates on the conditions there."

It's kind of fun, and snow brings out the kid in us all, for a little while anyway. But seriously. I don't think we have to build igloos just yet.

Heck, I don't even have a good snow picture to post for you. It's all melting! Maybe later.

Biden Says No More Major Attacks Are Coming

Here is "Don't Mess With Joe" Biden talking to Larry King about the potential for another massive 9/11 type attack, which he declares "unlikely."

In fact, he explains that the terrorists seem to be going to "smaller" but more "devastatingly frightening" attacks, like the Christmas Day bomber. It's hard to imagine how anything could be "more devastating frightening" than 9/11, but Joe says it's so.

All is well, though. Biden says he's "been impressed" with the efforts this administration has made in building on the last administration in the fight against terror.

That's a relief.

Never Forget

ABC News has released never before seen aerial images of 9/11. They're incredible. This image is just one of them. Go here to see the rest.

ABC News obtained these images after filing a Freedom of Information Act request in 2009 with the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Is Sarah Palin "Mean-Spirited"?

Over at Politico's Arena, Attorney Walter Dellinger characterizes Sarah Palin's Tea Party speech as "mean-spirited."

Dellinger sees Palin as one filled with "mean-spirited sarcasm" when she asks, “A year later, I've got to ask the supporters of all that, how is that hopey-changey stuff working out for ya?” of Obama's supporters.

I don't see it that way...I think Dellinger is reading to much into that question. I think it's a fair question to ask.

Dellinger says:

Laughing about – and at-- the disappointed hopes of fellow Americans, many of whom I saw stand with their children for hours and hours in inclement weather to see a candidate who gave them hope for a changed America, is not an expression of populism but of something far less appealing.

I'm not sure Palin was "laughing about...the disappointed hopes of fellow Americans" but rather I see her as trying to figure out how so many were pulled in by a man with no experience and no resume. All he came into office on WAS hope.

However, the time for debate over Obama's qualifications has past.

With unemployment still incredibly high and the deficit rising higher by the day, with national security at an almost pre-9/11 mentality, with all that is wrong in The White House right now, I think Palin asks a fair question.

And I don't think she's laughing.

What do you think?

No Spammers!

I've been getting a lot of SPAM comments lately. If you're a spammer, please be advised that I reject SPAM comments. If you want to link to your Canadian pharmacy or online tech store, please don't use my bandwidth to do it.

Love those "This is very excellent. I thank you for posting it. Keep up the good work. Please visit...." comments.

This morning I rejected one that was in Japanese.

*sigh*.

I welcome on topic comments, even off-topic, somewhat relevant comments! Even comments from the opposition. But no spam.

Love those internets.