Retirement Card Campaign

In light of this morning's 1 a.m. vote on cloture for Obamacare, and in light of the treachery imposed on Americans by their representatives in Washington, I'm starting a campaign to send retirement cards to every single one of the cheatin', connivin', corrupt scumbags that voted to inflict Obamacare on Americans and not on themselves.

You can go to Hallmark here, and look at cards. I think we should send real cards, of course, and not e-cards.

Mailing addresses are here.

I will definitely be sending one to Mary Landrieu. I think I'll send one to Ben Nelson, too.

It doesn't matter if you're a constituent of the pondscum crapweasel that voted for this or not. Send him, or her, a card and wish him well in their upcoming retirement.

Spread the word. Help send a message!

Because it's coming. America does NOT want this.

Team Obama Releases Terrorists to Non-Existent Country.

Both Hot Air and The Weekly Standard are reporting that last week's
release of Gitmo detainees included not only the six to Yemen but also
four to Afghanistan and two to Somaliland, a country with which we
have no relations. It really isn't even a country but is a breakaway
piece of Somalia.

Just incredible.

At what point does this become treason? Aiding and abetting the enemy?

Why don't we just build Bin Laden a palace in the desert and fly him
over on Air Force One? Hand him the keys to a nuclear power plant?

If this administration was to set out on a course to deliberately
destroy this country, through both national security and domestic
policies, I can't imagine what they would do differently.

(Links added later - can't do that on my phone.)

While You Were Sleeping You Came Closer to Losing Some of Your Freedom

While you were sleeping last night you got a little closer to losing America as we know it. While you were sleeping, you came closer to losing some of your individual rights and freedoms. You're ever so much closer, for example, to no longer being able to say, "Why no! I don't believe I want to buy health insurance this year!"

Last night, while you were sleeping, the Senate voted for cloture on Obamacare. The vote was 60-40. No Republicans voted "Aye".

As Michelle Malkin says this morning, Cash for Cloture worked. See her report here.

The back room deals on this thing have been deplorable. The rhetoric has been worse. Now the bill goes to conference between the Senate and the House, but expectations are that the final bill will be very much like the one the Senate just passed, which, as I see it, is the worst of all of them. This should take place early next year.

There are some serious differences between the House bill and the Senate bill, primarily over the abortion language, so this isn't a done deal just yet. But, Politico reports Sen. Tom Coburn as saying, “This process is not legislation. This process is corruption, and it’s a shame that that’s the only way we can come to consensus in this country is to buy votes.”

Continue to fight until the last breath, and remember this in 2010 when you go to vote in your mid-term elections; now more than ever, elections have consequences.

(More at Memeorandum)

The Senate Sneaks Through the Dead of Night to Destroy Health Care

1:00 A.M. tonight. That's when the Senate will vote on cloture for the Reid-Baucus-Dodd-Harkin amendment #2376.”

What kind of Senate does business like this? Voting in the dead of night, conducting business behind closed doors, totally and completely corrupting and hijacking the legislative process, buying votes and trading favors...it smacks of corruption, lies, and dirt. One feels used, ignored and belittled as an observer in this whole process.

Cheap. Tawdry.

Harry Reid's version of Obamacare is the worst one yet. And it's about to pass the Senate. Michelle Malkin points out that illegals will be covered as federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, despite what Obama tells us. The American President is simply lying to the people.

Cheap. Tawdry. Insidious.

Mary Landrieu's vote was bought. Senator Nelson's vote was bought. No telling what else went on that we don't know about yet. Is it too much to ask that those we send to Congress actually stand up and represent what the people want? The majority of the American people don't want this health care bill. Reform, yes. This bill? No.

This bill will do nothing to reform the health care industry. It just won't. It will make it more expensive. Your own premiums, if you have insurance currently, will surely go up; meanwhile, your taxpayer dollars will be going to buy insurance for other people, some of whom don't even want coverage. They won't get a vote.

It will do nothing to lower costs of medical care. Care will be rationed and more difficult to get. You'll have to wait longer to see your doctor, that is, if he stays in practice. With the influx of millions into the system, Medicare and Medicaid will be overwhelmed.

Honestly, it's all bad. I can't find anything redeeming or good in this bill at all. I've tried. It's just not there. The pious can sit back now and say, "Oh we've done well! We're going to cover the poor and underprivileged so they, too, can have health care insurance! Equality and Coverage For All!" Bull hockey.

All you've done is degrade the system for everyone else.

You haven't improved one damn thing.

And in the dead of a cold winter's night, it's coming. Your cheap, bought-off representatives in Washington are sneaking the big one over on you. Destroying the American economy, capitalism and free enterprise. Making us like Europe, like someone we don't want to be.

If it's so great, why isn't Congress going to be covered by this abomination? Because they KNOW it's bad.

Cheap. Tawdry. Insidious. Filthy.

(H/T: Memeorandum)

"The nondescript faces of the foosball table's characters have been chipped off ..."

Thomas Joscelyn has a neat read in this week's Weekly Standard entitled "The Real Gitmo." It's full of interesting facts about the day to day life of Gitmo and the extraordinary measures that are taken there to keep the detainees as content as possible.

Joscelyn recently toured the facility and shares his observations. Much like Gordon Cucullu's book, Inside Gitmo, it's a fascinating look at the facility itself and the men and women who operate it.

Some interesting facts:

"...most of the roughly 210 detainees still held at Guantánamo are not in supermax-type facilities at all. At least 70 percent live in communal settings like Camp 4. They can play soccer, basketball, or foosball; exercise on elliptical equipment; and consort with their fellow detainees for up to 20 hours per day in the outdoor recreation area. They can take art classes or learn English."

The detainees have access to several satellite television channels and, as one DoD handout notes, a library consisting of "more than 14,000 books, magazines, and DVDs in 18 languages."

Oddly, the detainees are interested in many aspects of Western culture. Harry Potter is very popular, and with each new movie that comes out the detainees request more of J.K. Rowling's books.

They have also gone out of their way to make sure that the detainees are not exposed to any other material they may find objectionable. For example, the nondescript faces of the foosball table's characters have been chipped off so that the detainees will not be offended by any hint of idolatry.

There's a lot more. Be sure to read the whole thing. The more one learns about the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the more one questions the Obama perseverance in closing it down. As Joscelyn points out, yes, some mistakes were made in the early days, but those have long been rectified. Today it is a model prison run according to Geneva standards, or better, and for the most part, the detainees are content. We continue to gather intelligence from them, but only when they volunteer to give it.

It's all about re-inventing the wheel, I guess. And the rationale behind it all is misguided - al Qaeda does not use Guantanamo as a recruiting too anymore than they use Israel or any other little thing they can dream up. Nobody will like us better for having closed it.

Especially not the detainees who will find themselves isolated in Supermax American prisons.

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around: The Saints vs. Cowboys Edition

My daughter was lamenting the rise of "bandwagon fans" with regard to the Saints this week. She and her husband are arriving from Dallas this afternoon and we'll do Christmas with my mom this afternoon. In discussing what we'll do this evening, she said, "The Saints/Cowboys game is on Saturday night." I was unaware, actually. Saturday night? What's up with that?

Anyway, I said, "Oh! We'll have to watch that!" Her husband is a huge sports fan. And honestly, I'm pulling for the Saints even though I'm not really an NFL fan. This is when she said, "Oh you're one of those bandwagon fans!" I explained that I'm really just pulling for the Saints so they can have that perfect season. They've been so beleaguered through the years! My next door neighbor, Donny, is a true fan. He loved 'em when everyone went to the games with brown bags over their heads, and he's loving this season. So ... yeah, I'm pulling for the Saints.

Today I have a bit of cooking to do for our festivities - nothing major. I've pretty much given up on the spirit of Christmas finding me this year after the god-awful week we've had around here. The best I can hope for at this point is to just get through it all and look forward to next year. I'm not doing the big Christmas party I usually do, and I've done almost none of the baking I usually do. But it'll be okay - next year I'm sure I'll go overboard.

Let's get on to the links so I can go pick up a couple of last minute gifts and get my cooking done!

I live in Louisiana so I NEVER EVER see snow like this or this or this. I'll be glued to Fishersville Mike's coverage of the great blizzard this weekend! I think it's gorgeous, but I'm sure it causes problems, too.

Reaganite Republican has the story of a Twitter hack job.

Professor Jacobson is asking for twitter updates on Reid-Care as he drives! One if by land, two if by sea!

No Sheeples Here could almost get me into the Christmas spirit this year with these adorable pictures! She's got a massive round-up, too.

Another Black Conservative shares his thoughts on Obama's Copenhagen speech as does Stacy McCain.

Stacy McCain announces the engagement of his beautiful daughter.

Gateway Pundit wonders if Kevin Jennings will help the New Jersey girl who was told not to read her Bible at school.

Donald Douglas has a review of the movie Precious. Kinda makes me want to see it now.

Pundette has a great, and weather appropriate, clip from one of my favorite Christmas movies, and also updates on today's Senate actions.

Carolyn Tackett, like me, doesn't have to worry about snow this weekend, but she does have a great Marco Rubio clip.

Heh! Cassandra is live-blogging the snow storm!

Troglopundit closely analyzes Obama's Copenhagen speech. Not what he said, but how he said it!

Red isn't allowed in Costco anymore but she makes really cute Christmas Corndog banners!

Wyblog has five questions for proponents of Obamacare.

Ruby Slippers reports on a Debbie Wasserman Schultz smackdown.

Grandpa John is promoting blog wars.

210 - 6 = 204

New this morning is that six of the Yemeni detainees at Gitmo will be released to their home country and the Washington Post reports that this is "a transfer that could be a prelude to the release of dozens more detainees to Yemen, according to sources with independent knowledge of the matter."

Nearly one hundred of the remained detainees at Gitmo are Yemenis. The Post reports that the transfer will be "closely monitored" and if it is successful, meaning, I suppose, if they don't return to active jihad against us, that more will follow. Given that this White House can't properly manage security for a State Dinner, I'm not sure how much confidence I have in their ability to monitor six Yemeni terrorists.

In related Gitmo news, Andrew McCarthy has posted two spot on articles this week regarding the Thomson, Illinois transfer.

Yesterday's article makes the point that it's not Gitmo that causes terrorism, despite what the Obama administration would have us believe. Today, he explains how terrorists could, in fact, be released into the United States from Thomson:

Nevertheless, Durbin is being disingenuous — doubly disingenuous, in fact. First, the principal fear is no longer that the Obama administration will try to free the terrorists and relocate them here. It is that the federal courts will order the release of the detainees. And second, the senator’s brave assurance that if “a detainee is found not guilty, he will not be released inside the United States” is a smokescreen. As he well knows, most of the Gitmo terrorists are not going to be found guilty or found not guilty — they’re not going to be tried at all.

Be sure to read them both.

The fact is, this administration cares little for national security and has demonstrated that over and over and over again from their attacks on the CIA to bringing terrorists to American soil. It doesn't matter where these detainees are held! Nobody can be so naive to believe that simply bringing them to a new prison will change how the Islamofascists view Americans. They won't suddenly call a truce on us because we've closed Guantanamo.

They won't even call a truce on us for leaking detainees from Gitmo to various countries around the world. Six here, four there, ten there, one over there.... In fact, many of those will return to war against us. I'm sure they have no bitter feelings, right?

Sarah Wore a Visor and Todd Wore a T-shirt

I know I've been wrapped up this week with the end of the semester and my own life-throws-a-curve-ball issue that's had me off my blogging routine this week, but it must really be a slow news day when what we're worried about is what Sarah and Todd Palin wear on vacation.

Is Anyone Surprised?

What a shocker:

"While many of us expressed cost and bureaucracy concerns about early drafts of health care reform legislation, it is clear that the product the Senate is debating is a dramatic improvement," Landrieu said Tuesday evening.

"Senate Democrats have developed a consensus that combines the best blend of private and public approaches to reduce cost, expand coverage and increase choice and competition for Americans."

Via The Dead Pelican, Senator Landrieu supports the Senate bill. What a surprise.

Attempting to Fathom the Logic of Gitmo North

I've spent some time now trying to fathom the logic behind bringing Guantanamo detainees to Illinois. I just can't get there. Thomson Correctional Center is pictured left; "X" marks the spot.

There are myriad reasons why it's a horrible idea which others have already gone into better than I.

Jake Tapper points out that Robert Gibbs is now calling John Boehner "crazy" because Boehner has criticized this decision. Boehner has called the move "preposterous" and said, "They’re going to move these prisoners from Gitmo to Northwest Illinois because of some campaign promise that was made in the dark." He has vowed to vote against any funding for said move.

Now Robert Gibbs is criticizing Boehner's criticism. Yesterday, Gibbs asserts that Thomson will be just as safe as Gitmo and that Boehner has nothing to worry about from a national security perspective.

“If there are concerns for security reasons, I would hope some of those people would address why they think the military can do what they're doing at Guantanamo and can't do it at Thomson,” he said.

Gibbs points out that Boehner should watch al Qaeda recruiting videos where "senior Al Qaida leadership in recruiting videos have used the prison at Guantanamo Bay as a clarion call to bring extremists from around the world to join their effort.”

I'm wondering why this administration doesn't realize that al Qaeda will continue to use Guantanamo as a "clarion call" just as they have Abu Ghraib. Just because you move detainees from one prison to the other does not erase its existence from one's memory.

Additionally, if "the military can do what they're doing at Guantanamo" at Thomson, as Gibbs says, al Qaeda, in return, can do the same thing: they can now use Thomson as a recruiting tool. We'll still be "infidels" who are holding their jihadist terrorists in confinement. It doesn't matter what the name of the prison is.

No, it seems the really scary part is that this administration is so determined to keep this dangerous promise regardless of the cost, the will of the American people, or the dangers to national security.

The administration is overlooking at least one of the reasons Guantanamo has not been attacked or that anyone has escaped: there's no place to go once you break out. You're on a naval base. Surrounded by water. On an island. Everything is self contained there. If a prisoner gets sick, there is a damn fine hospital there where they get better (and faster) medical care than most people anywhere in the world.

At Thomson, one would suppose if a detainee gets sick, he'll be transported to the nearest hospital in Chicago about 40 miles away, thus endangering countless numbers of civilian lives.

These are guys that know how to make garrotes from braiding candy wrappers together. Everything is a weapon. Their only purpose is to kill Americans.

Bleeding-heart liberals say that Republicans are fear-mongering and using scare tactics to fight the closure of Guantanamo. These people are ignoring existing facts and recent history.

But, of course, this argument has been raging ever since Obama signed the order to shutter Gitmo back in January. On January 23, Glenn Greenwald posted column accusing Boehner and everyone else opposed to this decision of "fear-mongering" and went on to list a number of terrorists currently being held in United States prisons. In a lengthy, and oft-updated, post, Greenwald's basic thesis was that we are currently holding terrorists in SuperMax prisons and so adding a few more shouldn't be a problem. Anyone who thinks so is fear-mongering.

To me, it all goes back to the same question. Why? Why do this? From a financial standpoint, it's insane. We've spent millions of dollars to retrofit Gitmo to house these guys, provided an on-site hospital capable of handling almost any imagined medical need, an excellent food service facility which prepares high calorie, ethnically approved meals, customized to each detainees nutritional needs and profile, and on and on. From a "human rights" perspective, they've got a much more cushy set-up at Gitmo than they will get anywhere else.

Thomson will have to be upgraded, renovated, and still won't be the facility that Gitmo is. Or maybe it will. The Baltimore Sun reports that there will also be a "tribunal room" at Thomson where military commissions will be held. It seems the only thing missing will be the soccer fields.

No, the "crazy" ones are Obama, Gibbs, and anyone else that thinks that moving over 100 detainees to American soil is a good idea.

This is not a forgone conclusion just yet. Congressional action must be taken to make this happen. Current law says that detainees cannot be brought to American soil for purposes other than prosecution. Does that mean that Obama is going to prosecute all these terrorists, or will the law have to be changed? There is also the financial issue. Money will have to be appropriated for upgrading, renovation, and new construction at Thomson, not to mention the actual acquisition of the property.

Contact your Senators and Representatives and let them know how you feel.

Update: Michelle Malkin has posted a column on this today.

More at Memeorandum.

Gitmo North

The Obama administration will announce today that they intend to "acquire" Thomson Correctional Center and will begin transferring Gitmo detainees there as soon as feasibly possible. This is supposedly "good news" as it will bring jobs to the prison and to the area, but as the editors at NRO point out in this excellent post today, national security should not be a "shovel-ready" project.

To refit Thomson for Gitmo detainees will be exorbitantly expensive but that is of little matter to this administration which simply prints money at will:

This exorbitant “injection” of funds would be necessary because TCC is not ready to accommodate international jihadists, who are prone to riot, savagely attack their custodians, attempt escape, and plot terror attacks while in U.S. prisons. The jail would have to be hardened before it could become the new Gitmo. So even if financial considerations were the first-order priority here — and they should not be — the administration’s plan would be inexcusably wasteful. Gitmo has already been hardened, at a cost of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. It is now a state-of-the-art, Geneva Conventions-compliant detention center. It makes no sense to sink those expenditures down a black hole, spending another fortune on a project that won’t generate sustainable growth. Illinois found that out when it built TCC in the first place.

And, as NRO points out, how long before the ACLU and Human Rights Watch start jumping up and down and protesting the "inhumane" conditions of Thomson? After all, at Gitmo these men are accustomed to specially prepared diets, sensitive handling of the Koran, soccer fields, daily calls to prayer, art and language lessons, and so on. How long before we've recreated the exact same thing at Thomson?

And then what will actually have been accomplished? If you move terrorists from point A to point B and nothing changes, what was the point, except that you spent a lot of money? Does this administration still believe he will gain the "goodwill" of hostile nations by moving these prisoners out of Cuba?

Naive.

And worse, how long before activist judges start releasing them? Most of them can't be tried in regular courts anyway as they are being held under laws of war, not as the result of some criminal investigation?

This is yet another outrage from the Holder Justice Department. It is just shocking to me how destructive this man's policies are. While I recognize the huge differences, this move has echoes of the Mariel boat lift to me, at least the part where Castro emptied his jails and mental asylums and sent his undesirables over here. Yes, there were hardworking Cubans in there as well who just wanted a better life, but there were killers, murderers, terrorists and criminals of all sorts in the mix.

Be very clear about this move - he is importing terrorists onto American soil. Period.

Jake Tapper has more here.

Someday Soon Life Will Get Back to Normal

Regular readers will notice that blogging has been lighter than usual here. I'm not going to go into anything on the internet, of course, but just know that life has thrown a little curve my way. Such thing sometimes happen when you have teenagers. It's not a health issue or anything that we can't handle, in time, so don't worry about that. Also, it's the last week before finals at work, so I'm deluged there, as well.

I'm still reading Going Rouge - as much as my distracted attention span will let me, and trying to pull Christmas together.

I'm still not into Christmas this year and I'll leave it at that so as not to drag down everyone else who is feeling the spirit!

I've made some really nice friends in this blogging community so I wanted to offer some sort of explanation for my silence. Thanks for continuing to click over here and know that my blogging will likely be spotty through the rest of the week and then should get back to semi-normal - whatever that is.

Stephen King Brings Troops Home for Christmas

Via Greta Perry, Stephen King and his wife have donated $12,999 (he doesn't like the number 13) to ensure that "the 150 members of Bravo Company of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Unit could come home for the holidays."

The Bangor Daily News reports:

That money will help pay for two bus trips — one from Camp Atterbury, Ind., to Portland, one from Camp Atterbury, Ind., to Bangor — for the soldiers of the Brewer-based 172nd, a division of the Maine Army National Guard.

Earlier this week, the unit departed from Maine for training at Camp Atterbury, Ind. They were scheduled to remain there until their January 2010 departure to Afghanistan, and even though they had a few days off for the holidays, they didn’t have the means to return home.

Thomas “Skip” Chappelle, who runs Operation Community Support — a Bangor-based military assistance nonprofit agency — thought something needed to be done. So he solicited the Kings for money.

Eugley stressed that the donation came from the Kings’ personal accounts and not through the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, which does not donate for travel purposes.

“It was a pretty easy sell. I asked. Steve said yes,” Eugley said.

Awesome!

I've got King's latest, Under the Dome, in my reading stack. It's huge.

Make of This What You Will...

The flight of independents continues. From Rasmussen:

The 23% who Strongly Approve matches the lowest level of enthusiasm yet recorded. Just 41% of Democrats Strongly Approve while 69% of Republicans Strongly Disapprove. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 21% Strongly Approve and 49% Strongly Disapprove.


November 24
August 23
July 26
July 25
July 9
July 7
June 30
June 23

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around - The Procrastinator Edition

We've got about twelve days until Christmas and my shopping is a mish-mash. I've already given Steve one of his gifts (pictured) because it's so beautiful and I was so excited I couldn't wait, and because he did a really, REALLY nice thing for me yesterday and he deserved an early Christmas present.

As for the rest of my shopping, most of it isn't even done yet. And in some cases I don't know what I'm even going to get. This is why Christmas is so stressful to me - I am a procrastinator.

Let's get on to the linkage and maybe I can get on to some shopping.

No Sheeples Here has the most adorable Sheeples-Fine-Art here, and we are more than glad that she was able to rescue her blog from Blogger Hell.

Fishersville Mike asks a very important question.

Ruby Slippers reports on Gitmo North.

Stacy McCain comes up with my favorite headline AND literary reference in the same post and expresses outraged indignation and the indignity of being required tp give taxpayer $$ to ACORN.

Gateway Pundit has the latest on Rep. Michael Burgess and his call for the resignation or removal of Kevin Jennings. He's also got this great clip of Governor Sarah Palin reading excerpts from William Shatner's biography. I don't watch Conan O'Brien's show, but apparently Shatner has a schtick where he comes on and reads less serious passages from Palin's biography. She returns the favor:



She's great! This lady has charisma all sewn up! (Whenever I say something like that, people HEAR - "And she needs to run for President!". I didn't say that. I said she has charisma.) Regardless, her performance here was great, but the classic part is Shatner's expression. Love it!

I'm enjoying reading Sandy's blog, as always. She suffered the sad loss of her father this year and Christmas is, as one would expect, tough. She's a trooper, though, and her blog always makes me either say, "me too!", or laugh. Or in this case, go " Oh My God!"

This week's snow pictures come from Ann Althouse, Troglopundit and Grandpa John. Gorgeous. Just gorgeous!

Doug Ross has the story of the luckiest coyotes around. Well, except for maybe Charlie.

Critical Narrative works through a definition of Modern Conservatism. Well said.

A one-child policy? In America?

Left Coast Rebel has some interesting thoughts about Palin's Op-Ed.

The Daley Gator takes a look at the pork in the spending bill.

Reaganite Republican notes Charles Krauthammer's great column this week.

Heh! Professor Jacobson was not impressed with Obama's Oslo speech.

Have you ever seen a wind-powered menorah? Go here and you will.

Never one to hold back on how she feels, Red wants you to know that your baby is boring. And so are you! C'mon. You know you wanted to say it.

Camp of the Saints takes a look at your eroding property rights.

Jules Crittenden is asking for a show of hands.

Pundette has the bottom line on what it's like to be Harry Reid right now. He should've gone to New Orleans for the crab claws.

And finally, here's a new blog for the blogroll: Biased Education. Sarah takes a look at the explosive Kevin Jennings scandal, but there are lots of other great posts there, too.

I'm going to try to slog through some minor shopping today and catch up on a few things. Hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the season!

Friday Quick Links

I'm in a rush this morning, but here are a couple of good quick reads:

American Thinker on the Kevin Jennings story. Will it break into the mainstream media? Honestly, every parent in America ought to be outraged, and most would be if they only knew about this.

A most excellent piece by Victor Davis Hanson on Obama's Wheel of Fortune:

"But then Obama learned that — unlike professors, stockbrokers, lawyers, and teachers — the likes of Ahmadinejad and Putin did not care about his Kenyan father. They had not read his Dreams from My Father. Their names are even more exotic than his. Instead such thugs interpret his showy magnanimity as innate weakness, and men like these will manipulate it rather than show deference."

Charles Krauthammer on "The New Socialism" - what's REALLY going on in Copenhagen?

Peggy Noonan worries that nobody likes Obama. How to make him "likeable," she frets. Good grief. Give it up, Peggy.

Jennings Does Not Get a Pass on FISTGATE

The folks at Media Matters are trying to give Kevin Jennings a pass on the 2000 GLSEN sponsored conference where "fisting kits" were distributed to teens and the rules for "spitting versus swallowing" were discussed, among other titillating subjects.

Jim Hoft points out that this conference was "sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) [and] was fully supported by the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Safe Schools Program, the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth...".

According to Media Matters, Jennings knew nothing about the content of that conference, even though he didn't resign his post as Executive Director of GLSEN until 2008.

The "sexuality instructor" of that conference was Margot Abels, an employee of the Massachusettes Department of Public Health. Jennings's defenders contend that Jennings was blissfully unaware of the work of Ms. Abels - yet allowed her to speak to teens at this conference anyway:

But the statements MassResistance cites Abels reportedly making only indicate that her immediate supervisors in the Department of Education were aware of her work - not Jennings or other GLSEN officials.

We're to believe that GLSEN sponsored a conference and allowed Ms. Abels to conduct a sexuality seminar, yet they were unware of her work?

Jennings did not resign his post as Executive Director of GLSEN until 2008, which, to me, makes him responsible. The buck stops here.

If he didn't know, he should have. To allow someone to speak to teenagers about sexuality and not check out their background or positions on such subjects is nothing short of irresponsible. As a teacher, I would never allow anyone into my classroom to speak to students without checking out what they were going to say and what their positions might be on such sensitive topics.

And even if you DO want to give Jennings a pass on that - the reading materials recommended for school kids on the GLSEN site were pornographic before Jennings stepped down in 2008, and they still are.

No pass for Jennings on this one.

Email: Kevin.Jennings@ed.gov

Email: Arne.Duncan@ed.gov

I Can't Eat Crab Claws This Weekend! I've Got to Bankrupt the Country!

Via The Dead Pelican, Harry Reid, master of diplomacy, has canceled his New Orleans "Saturday brunch" fundraiser scheduled for this weekend.

Somehow, that made me giggle. Harry "nothing-can-be-more-important-than-passing-health-care-legislation" Reid backs out of his fundraiser with James Carville and Mary Landrieu which has been scheduled for weeks. Reid was all set to call a weekend recess until the Republicans called him out on his hypocrisy.

According to The Hill, Reid at first whined a little bit about people "trying to denigrate" him, but then:

"Reid said he would never admonish a fellow senator for holding a fundraiser. 'I would never, ever intentionally come to the floor and try to talk to somebody about having had a fundraiser and that's why they’re trying to get out of here,' he said. About taking the weekend off, Reid added, 'I thought it would be appropriate because we've worked pretty hard here to have a day or two off.'"

So I guess if John Boehner or Mitch McConnell had wanted to take the weekend off to go to a fundraiser, ahem, I mean, because they'd "been working so hard", it would have been cool with Reid? Would he have called a weekend recess for them?

Who is Reid fooling, anyway? He wanted a weekend off because they've "worked pretty hard"? Seriously? It had nothing to do with his scheduled fundraiser? Uh, okay.

But it's crazy because, my goodness, you know, from an organizers standpoint, I'm thinking of all the planning and preparation down the tubes! If I'm planning a big-shot brunch in New Orleans, I've ordered seafood, got a nice chef lined up, ordered flowers, caterers, decorators, valets, and other assorted staff.

Hold the phone! We've got to bankrupt the country this weekend! I can't go to any brunch! I've got to pass a bill that cuts Medicare and kills jobs! I've got to pass a mandate for every person in the country to purchase health insurance or else they face jail time! I can't be bothered with eating marinated crab claws right now!

This was a lose/lose call for Reid. But he ought to be accustomed to that.

Ah, the audacity of Harry Reid. He could almost teach Obama a thing or two.

The Kevin Jennings FISTGATE Story Hits the Media

Michelle Malkin was on Hannity last night to talk about Kevin Jennings and his advocating porn as safe-reading for school children. I'm encouraged that this story is getting out into the main media now and not restricted to conservative blogs. The Washington Times had an editorial about it yesterday which you can read here. There is also a report that Congressman Burgess has written to Obama calling for him to remove Jennings from his job.



Keep up the pressure. This man is not appropriate for this job. Michelle Malkin has contact information for the corporations that support GLSEN, the organization founded by Jennings and which advocates this "safe-school" pornography, including news that GLSEN distributed a guide to "black-leather bars" to teens during one GLSEN conference.

Email: Kevin.Jennings@ed.gov

Email: Arne.Duncan@ed.gov

Oh, No They Didn't!

Oh my, you've just got to laugh, sometimes!

Via Fox News, Rep. Steve King at Monday's White House Christmas party ... with his ACORN shaped cookie. ROFLMFAO!



Amateurs!

Eric Holder Attends Security Summit for 9/11 Terror Trials

ABC News reports tonight that Attorney General Eric Holder is in New York for a sort of security summit "with federal prosecutors, the New York City police commissioner and other key officials" in anticipation of the upcoming 9/11 terrorist trials. A federal grand jury is already supposedly hearing evidence and presumably will come back with an indictment. One would hope.

Elements of trial prep underway are reportedly:

* Beefed up counter terrorism and intelligence operations

* Deployment of sniper teams

* Heavy weapons deployment

* Barricades

* Traffic diversions

* Use of undercover officers and surveillance measures

* Coordination with FBI, U.S. Marshalls, and intelligence divisions

All at a price tag of well over the initial $75 million estimate. The cost be damned! Chuck Schumer issued the following statement:

"The bottom line is these are federal terror cases that will bring to justice, in federal court, the evil men behind the attack on our nation on 9-11," Schumer said today. " It's common sense that the federal government pay for security costs because these trials will place a significant burden on the NYPD and the city to keep lower Manhattan safe and secure. Additionally, the tools and resources needed for a trial of this scale are enormous. Attorney General Holder told me he will press to fully reimburse the city's security expenses and I will hold the Administration's feet to the fire to do just that – no matter what the cost."

And all this is for what? For a grandstand for terrorists who hate us, who engaged in activities to kill nearly 3,000 Americans, who can't wait to spew anti-American venom in their now public forum. They will claim that they've been tortured and abused. Poor things. Evil Americans.

Dick Cheney rightly points out that "holding the trial in a lower Manhattan courtroom near ground zero will make Mohammed 'a hero in certain circles, especially in the radical regions of Islam around the world.'"

It's all even more absurd when you recall that KSM had already tried to plead guilty and asked for execution. End of story.

But, no. The man-child Obama and the left-of-liberal Eric Holder want to hold this circus in New York City.

Amateurs. Incompetence. Disgrace.

Update: Donald Douglas has more at American Power.

Christmas Wish List: Edwin Edwards - An Authorized Biography

Oh well now, I didn't know this was coming! Talk about a MUST READ! Heh!

A biography of Louisiana's colorful ex-governor Edwin Edwards who is now serving time in the federal penitentiary for bribery and extortion in connection with a riverboat gambling scheme.

Via The Dead Pelican, Ville Platte Today writes:

The book, Edwin Edwards: An Authorized Biography, is written by famed writer Leo Honeycutt, who admitted that he was worried at first that Edwards may not want to delve into some of the darker periods of his life in the book.

"I'm too far from the womb and too close to the tomb for that to make any difference now, " replied Edwards in typical fashion.

The book, which originally had over 1800 pages before being cut down to 641, covers everything from Edwards entrance into politics to his entrance into prison.

Honeycutt described the years of research he had done on Edwards as "dizzying, there was little that happened in Louisiana for a quarter century that didn't have his imprint on it."

Serving as Louisiana's governor for four terms between 1972 and 1996, Edwards built a style as a deft politician who battled frequently with federal prosecutors. He said that he was the subject of two dozen investigations during his career and was acquitted on racketeering charges in the 1980's and once again in October 2000.

This should be fascinating stuff. Edwards was one of the most colorful politicians in our state history. Many prominent local politicians were upset when George W. Bush left office without pardoning Edwards. As corrupt as he was, I swear if he was on the ticket today, Louisiana voters would probably put him back in office.

Edwards knew this and was famously quoted as saying, "The only way I can lose is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy."

He's now 82 years old and serving time in Oakdale Federal Correction Complex, minimum security, scheduled to be released in 2011.

Col. Van Barfoot Raised His American Flag This Morning

Updating a story I posted here, word tonight is Col. Van T. Barfoot will be allowed to keep his flagpole. His Homeowners Association has dropped its demand that he remove his flagpole which was a position that no doubt brought incredibly negative attention to their corner of the world.

You will remember that Barfoot, a 90-year old Medal of Honor recipient, had been told to remove the flagpole because it violated the "aesthetic values" of the neighborhood. Mark Levin got hold of the story on December 4 and the response was explosive.

Hot Air posted this clip of Levin's telling Barfoot's story. It's seven minutes well spent:



Now, Barfoot gets to raise the American flag every morning and lower it at sunset, just as he has done all his life, and just as he has earned the right to do.

A victory!

More at Memeorandum.

(Photo credit: AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, Eva Russo)

Stanley Fish Reviews Palin's Book

Via Ben Smith, Stanley Fish has posted his review of Going Rogue, and ... he liked it.

I'm reading the book right now and so far I'd have to say that I'm with Mr. Fish on his critique of Going Rogue. The word that sticks in the back of my mind is "breezy." So far, at least, there's nothing really deep or thought provoking on a political level. It's just as its subtitle says, it's the story of "An American Life."

Fish puts it this way - he says that Palin feels that:

Political success is an accident that says nothing about you. Success as a wife, mother and citizen says everything.

Do I believe any of this? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that she does, and that her readers feel they are hearing an authentic voice. I find the voice undeniably authentic (yes, I know the book was written “with the help” of Lynn Vincent, but many books, including my most recent one, are put together by an editor). It is the voice of small-town America, with its folk wisdom, regional pride, common sense, distrust of rhetoric (itself a rhetorical trope), love of country and instinctive (not doctrinal) piety. It says, here are some of the great things that have happened to me, but they are not what makes my life great and American. (“An American life is an extraordinary life.”) It says, don’t you agree with me that family, freedom and the beauties of nature are what sustain us? And it also says, vote for me next time. For it is the voice of a politician, of the little girl who thought she could fly, tried it, scraped her knees, dusted herself off and “kept walking.”

I'm enjoying the book and still recommend it. It's not a "political book" as you would normally think of it; and regardless of how you feel about Palin's politics or viability in the Republican party, she IS an authentic voice and she does have a role to play in the conservative movement.

Read the rest of Fish's review.

Obama's Safe Schools Czar Promotes Porn in Schools

Surely by now you've heard of the Kevin Jennings brouhaha. I've blogged about him before, several times, starting in September. Pamela Gellar wrote about him before that, in June. Gateway Pundit has been all over the Jennings story this week.

Michelle Malkin has been on the case, too, and yesterday she posted a list of companies and corporations that sponsor, or fund, GLSEN. That's the organization that Jennings founded.

Today, Malkin posts a response she received from Kodak, one of the sponsors, and they, of course, stand by their support.

This is just beyond me. I don't understand a world where the kind of rot that Jennings and GLSEN advocate as appropriate reading for our school children is acceptable. I looked at some of the things that Jim Hoft posted from the GLSEN reading list. Quite honestly, I think if I tried to put some of this mess in my classroom, I'd be fired. On the spot.

In a day and age where teachers are fired from their jobs for sending text messages to students, how does this guy get the job assignment of keeping America's schools safe?

I'd be interested in knowing how many American schools actually use this reading list. I'd be interested in knowing how many schools actually have Queer 13, for example, in their libraries or classrooms.

Teachers in my district are inserviced and have to sign a document stating that they understand what inappropriate contact (including correspondence) is and that we will not participate in such conduct. There is absolutely no doubt that at least some of the items on the GLSEN reading list are pornographic. It's not about tolerance; I mean, some of the books may be. And Tango Makes Three is about homosexual penguins (recommended for grades K-6), and I guess that's about "tolerance." But there are many books on the reading list that are just simply pornographic.

I'm not even going to quote from the books, but you can go here and look at page 44 of Queer 13 and you tell me if that's about tolerance, or if it's porn. It's recommended for grades 7-12.

That's not the only offensive book on the GLSEN reading list. Gateway Pundit has a whole string of them.

And so what it comes down to is that our safe schools czar is promoting, or at least during his tenure at GLSEN, promoted porn.

What in the world will it take for American parents to get angry about this guy and demand his resignation? He has become the poster child for home schooling. As a public school teacher I've never been a rabid advocate for home schooling, even though I've never opposed it either; I see advantages to both, and your choice depends on a number of factors. But if Kevin Jennings is the final word in what is "safe" for our schools, and in developing the tolerance curriculum in our schools, I'd say get the heck out of there.

Email: Kevin.Jennings@ed.gov

Email: Arne.Duncan@ed.gov