Wagonboy's Garage

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2010-11-25T01:17:00.001-08:00

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I'm Putting Money on My Own Horse

2005-04-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

The Senate Republicans haven't earned my backing this year.

You'd think with the House, the Senate, the White House and a majority of the state governorships all in GOP hands that the guy on top of the white horse leading the party would be able to roll his agenda and campaign pronouncements forward. Tax reform, Social Security, immigration enforcement, judicial appointments, strong U.N. representation in the U.S. seat, and firm control of the Senate need to be accomplished. But, rather than marshalling the troops and material into an organized force against the Democrats, W's generals and lieutenants in the Senate, the RNC and the NRSC have been busy trying to look good instead of winning these important domestic fights. The two leading divisions under W that ought to be cracking heads and keeping the battle lines in formation, the Senate leadership and the RNC, seem more concerned about how to keep the fight bloodless and palatable for the viewers of network news and the readers of the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

Why did we send the GOP and various Republican support committees all that cash? Where's the solid and tangible results following the re-election of W and maintaining "control" of the House and Senate? Where are the spines? Where are the stones? How many lines drawn in the sand will the GOP blowhards have to draw? When will my money support a "bold conservative agenda" rather than an entrenched bureaucracy set up to ask me for more money?

Nuf's enough. I'm putting my money on Wagonboy's horse for now. I've put it off long enough.

This past week, during one of my 6 weeks of vacation (earned from 23 years with the same company), I gave the old Mustang convertible in the garage a little time and attention. I took it to several mechanics and shops for estimates and discussions to proceed on it's restoration and rehabilitation. For the first time in almost eight years the poor old horse saw some sunlight and felt the wind rush over it's still primered body. It had to experience these wonderful sensations while perched atop a rusty and dented 30 year old U-Haul trailer and shod with four $18 tires, but, regardless of these demeaning circumstances I'm sure it was thrilled just to be out from under the layers of garage detritus and to be moving about.

The first stop was to the suspension and brake shop. My first goal here is safety, followed by performance. The original set up on the car has disc brakes up front and drums in the rear rolling on 14" wheels providing stopping measurements in minutes rather than feet. The new set up will see beefed up suspension components, sub-frame connectors, traction bars, and large disc brakes on all four corners. Combined with larger 16" or 17" wheels and appropriate tires this new package will have it cornering flat and stopping on a dime. Or 9 cents, (in keeping with the "Not one dime" movement against the NRSC coffers!)

From there the trailered steed went to the transmission shop. The car rolled of the assembly line in October of '68 with a four speed top-loader and a Hurst linkage. That will stay in place for now. The top-loader was reloaded with new gears and linkage components a few years ago so the only things required here will be the clutch plate assembly, u-joints and installation.

On to the exhaust man! A huge George W. Bush supporter. Rush was blaring throughout the shop and signed pictures of W and Laura adorned the shop walls. We talked some politics and he was honored to meet Wagonboy who he'd heard on several occasions on the Hugh Hewitt Show. He too is holding on to his wallet until the GOP at least gives him the impression that they're in the majority. I told him my son's requirement for the exhaust system was to break windows and make small children cry. He said, "I'm in your son's camp!" Since the car is over 25 years old we don't need no stinkin' emissions controls so the old cast iron headers and restrictive mufflers can come off and a set of Tri-Y headers with proper free-flow mufflers can go on. I don't know about breaking windows, but some small children will cry.

The interior man was our last stop for the day. As the '69 GT convertible is an extremely rare Mustang, the exterior and interior must and will remain bone stock. Here new skins will go on the door panels, the proper tight loop carpeting on a sturdy pad, and correct seating panels will be set on new foam backings and cushions. A new vinyl top with a folding glass back window will be installed as well. The dashboard and gauges, though dirty, are all fine.

What about the engine?, you ask. The engine was rebuilt last year. It's a 351 Windsor 4 valve with a 650 Edelbrock carburetor. It currently sits on an engine stand next to the car which anxiously awaits it's company. Internally it's been hopped up with all sorts of goodies to approach 400hp on the dyno. What remains of that horse power after it's all hooked up and hauling the car is anyone's guess.... But it will make small children cry. Here again I'm after a stock appearance in the engine bay as much as possible to retain the rarity of this particular Mustang.

All this work and all these parts going into the Mustang depends, of course, on the approval and full support of the fetching Mrs. Wagonboy. It was after all in this very car back in 1985 that we went on our first dates. Many a fond trips and memories are shared between us in this car and it's been a part of our garage ambiance in the four places we've lived since 1990. So I'm certain she's just as eager to get this project under way and finished so we can once again relive those fun carefree days in our little hot rod.... Aren't you, Princess?

Princess?

So while the GOP dithers and pisses away any capital and majority status they have, I and many others are finding better things to do with their hard earned cash. Life goes on outside the Senate chambers, the beltway and the Sunday morning blather shows. There's kitchens and bathrooms to remodel, backyards to spruce up, sporting events to attend, vacations to take and '69 Mustangs to get running again. Let's roll. -Wb

The Money's On Hold

2005-04-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

I'm holding on to my wallet until I see something I like.

I got my weekly e-mail update from Elizabeth Dole at the NRSC today. The title was "Democrat's Bait and Switch" and the topic was, of course, their absurd tactics to prevent an elected President from getting his judicial nominees onto the floor of the Senate for an up or down vote. The close of these newsletters always provides the "click to contribute" tab and I've been known to use it the past. In fact, the NRSC link is to your left on this page for convenient contributing.

But not now. Here's my response to Mrs. Dole. -Wb

The bait and switch is occurring in my Republican party. I'm not getting the conservatives I helped get elected with my past contributions. So those once numerous contributions are on hold for now.

When the Republicans start acting like they hold the Presidency, both houses of congress and a majority of the governorships in this great country I'll start sending money again. I'm not as appalled at the behavior of the Democrats as I am at the timidity of the elected party in charge. I expect the Democrats to behave as though they don't have any issues to promote other than the issue of getting in the way. But I don't expect the Republicans to sit around hemming and hawing about procedures and whining about absurd and out-of-bounds Democratic tactics. Run the bastards over! LEAD! Take charge! Pretend you've got the majorities in both houses as well as the presidency! Damn the press and the polls they rode in on!

Where the hell is the fire-in-the-belly that you all campaigned with? Are you all more worried about the diminishing invites to dinner parties and the Sunday morning talk show tour, or, are you working for a lasting legacy to leave for future generations?

What will your biographers write about 50 years from now? Will you get a foot note, a paragraph, a chapter or the whole book?

The money starts again when you Republicans get up on the wheel and start going somewhere.

Michael Smith
Northridge, Ca

It's Been a While

2005-03-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

Three things have kept me off the blog. Work, baseball and a severe meltdown on the new laptop.

The job.
Work has been exceptional busy at a time in the retail universe when it should be excruciatingly routine. The months of February and March for most normal people (with real jobs) are unremarkable, never-ending quagmires of time interrupted by infinite college basketball coverage. But to a retailer these months usually represent unfettered freedom. Freedom from the four month build-up and assault on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Freedom from the After Thanksgiving and After Christmas sales. Freedom from the January inventory preparations and the 5 days it takes to complete the inventory. Freedom from resetting every shelf, fixture and floor for the new Spring season which is now upon us. We retailers should be on cruise control right now but for some reason we're still charging hard without enough time at the end of the day.
This is the time of year for anyone in retail with more than a year under their belt to be on vacation, just back from vacation or about to go on vacation. For those on vacation right now, we hate them. They're dearly missed because of all the work to be done and everyone of us but them deserves to be in their shoes. For those just back from vacation, we hate them, too. They look like they're back but they're not. They drift and wonder from miserable slave to miserable slave sharing their adventures and fun of the prior week and ask, "So, what all went on here? D'I miss anything?" Did they miss anything? While they were gone last week there was more work than anyone could ever remember and the entire retail industry was on the brink of total collapse. They missed every minute of it. To make matters worse their brain is still out on the slopes or beach, a good three days behind the head here at work that ought to contain it.
Then there's me. The most resented of the three vacation types. I'm the guy who's about to go on vacation and makes damn sure everyone is well aware of the pending catastrophic hell which is about to consume each and everyone of their troubled lives. Much like the brain that stays on vacation when it's home cranium returns to work, my brain leaves early for vacation. It's currently in the shade of a palapa with a fat book and good cigar in southern Baja. Meanwhile, I, and my vacant cranium, slog through the week hoping that the weather is still good in Baja by the time we catch up to it. Until then, there's much work and many projects to reschedule into next week while I'm away.... there's no brain on hand to handle it right now.

Baseball. The good time consumer.
Here in Southern California Little League Baseball is a near year-round enterprise that I participate in as a coach. As soon as Fall Ball ends in late November, from a September start, it's back to the fields for Spring sign-ups in December. Try outs for the '05 season are in January, the first practices start in February, and the games begin in March and run through June. Each year the teams are put together after all the nefarious horse-trading and underhanded team stacking has been completed by the handful of elite Coaching Royalty. We're supposed to believe it's pure coincidence that one team in each division can pull together most of last years All-Star team while the rest of us get squads primarily loaded with spasmodic little monkeys who couldn't hit the dirt in front of them with a ball.
I'm a wee bit fortunate this year to have a team that has a healthy number of kids who've been in the league for a few years. At least they know which way to run and can easily throw the ball from third to first. But, like any team without a member of the Coaching Royalty on our staff we've got an equally healthy number of the aforementioned spasmodic little monkeys. This time of year practices are short, cold and dark, starting at 4 PM and ending around 5 / 5:30 as far as we can stretch the daylight. To top it off, we had 8 February practices completely rained out. Our first game was held after only two practices on a make shift field as the regular fields were drying out. We hardly knew who could do what with a bat and ball or which kids even had a basic grasp of the game. We lost that game.
Since then we've had three practices between each game, settled our infield and pitching and have won the last two. We may have some good little monkeys after all.

The meltdown of the new laptop.
Two words: Frozen stiff. Five days ago in the middle of a post to this blog, (now out dated and so deleted) , I walked away to make the Lad his dinner. Upon my return 20 minutes later the normally twirling and twisting screen saver that says, "I'm getting dizzy!" was very still and not getting very dizzy at all. I threw all the advanced tricks I know at it; I tapped the touch pad, hit control-alt-delete, pressed escape, turn on, turn off. Nuthin'. To my astonishment, none of them worked. So, tomorrow between the hours of light and dark a geek will show up with several new chips, cards and drivers to screw into place and hopefully get it back to it's normal hot rod qualities.
I'm currently on the old wood burning Compaq running Windows 98 after excavating it from under several months of things that we were able to balance on the keyboard, monitor and box. Incredible. This software and computer are now over 7 years old, (which in technology years stretches back to the Kennedy administration), and compared to the new malfunctioning hot rod laptop it's as fast and nimble as a river barge. But here I am getting somewhere on it.

If possible I'll send a few posts from the palapa where my brain is currently snoozing. (If the geek can get the hot rod started). -Wb

Thank God for the Middle East these days!

2005-03-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

Were it not for the Middle East and the far reaching ripples of freedom that George W. Bush sent into motion, we wouldn't have much good news to feast on lately.

It's bad news that the Michael Jackson trial is under way. It leads off all news casts at the top and bottom of each hour. Out here in California we all but have the Michael Jackson Molestation Trial channel. Did you see what was on MJMT this afternoon? It was file footage of Michael Jackson getting out of a black SUV and waving! Did they show an aerial shot of his Neverland Ranch with sheriff's cars and crime scene vans lining the drive way? Yep! Four times! The spooky freak ought to be in jail for the simple admission on video that he sleeps in the same bed with little boys. At least lock him up for that stupid little nose of his.

It's bad news that the good people of West Virginia don't find some way to get Robert Byrd to stop embarrassing them and get his senile old ass off the stage. This week the nutty Senator, a current member of the minority Democratic party since dirt cooled off, (and a former member of the KKK) was upset that the majority GOP leadership had plans to make a Senate rule that would prevent the Democrats from abusing the judicial nomination process for the past four years. Never in Senate history had the minority party invoked the filibuster rule to block a President's judicial appointments. The GOP wants to make sure this unprecedented and cowardly option isn't available to the obstructionists for this term. Because the GOP leadership wants to create a rule in the Senate to restore the tradition of allowing judicial appointees a fair and balanced review and up or down vote in the Senate, Robert KKK Byrd has compared the Republicans to Nazi's in Hitler's Germany. The Nazis? Hitler? Yes, keeping minority party members of the Senate from obstructing the process of confirming or denying the President's judicial appointees is akin to the extermination of millions of Jews and the invasion of all of Europe. I don't know about you, but I see a strong resemblance in this proposed United States Senate rule change and Hitler's extermination of Jews and the invasions of Poland, France, Belgium, Russia, North Africa, Norway..... With this rule change hanging over the Senate's chamber now I know how the Jews and tens of millions of Europe's citizens felt throughout World War II, and I don't like it one bit.

It's bad news, too, that the Supreme Court of the United States of America can't let those same United States in it's august title decide a few things on their own through elected local councils, state congresses, officials, judges and governorships. The latest issue that 50 states and their elected legislators and governors aren't allowed to deliberate over is the age of a criminal qualified for a ride on Ol' Sparky or a dirt nap injection. Anyone raping, beating, stabbing and then drowning your sister/daughter/wife/mother, who is only 17 years and 364 days old at the time he commits this brutal crime, is now ineligible for the death penalty. Why? Because it seems to be the trend of our national consensus to make the death penalty age 18, and, internationally speaking, it's just so passé nowadays to execute these immature children. (But, it is OK for 12 year olds to get abortions without their parent's knowledge or consent, or, for the sake of convenience to kill a partially born baby just before her knees and feet pop out of the womb.) Never mind that my own 9 year old son knows that it's morally wrong to take one of his fish out of the water and let it die, but a young adult committing the murder of a fellow human being isn't thought to fully understand and appreciate what's right and wrong and doesn't possess the faculties to control himself. But beyond the issue of the death penalty ruling handed down from The Nine Almighties, is why in hell can't these men in black stay out of our legislative or moral state level issues? It's none of their business how each state wants to administer it's justice and establish it's laws pertaining to flag burning, gay marriage, sodomy, abortion, busing, prison segregation, voting, displaying of crosses and ten commandments and on and on and on. We vote for our representatives to avoid precisely what this court has been doing for the last 30 years. Dictating through judicial fiat laws that never saw a deliberative body at the state or federal level. No wonder liberals love the judiciary, it's the only way they can get their stupid ideas to stick. We have 50 different states because each state is, and wants to be, it's own entity for the good of the nation as a whole. Almost 250 years ago some ingenious men, (much smarter than most of today's Supremes for sure), with providential foresight in my opinion, created a form of government that has blossomed into the greatest nation the world has ever experienced. Why these folks on the Supreme Court seem hellbent on beavering away at the dilution and weakening of our Constitution is beyond me. We may as well erase all the state borders and send all our elected officials home. The nine unelected, unaccountable, self-important and lifetime appointees to the Supreme Court of America will decide everything for us.

That's the bad news. The good news is coming from half a world away in the stone-age hell holes of the Middle East.

In his January Inaugural Address, Mr. Bush told the oppressed peoples and dissidents of the world, "When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you." The feverish liberals, predictably, went off the sky-is-falling charts with that one. How could he say that? Are we to send troops and tanks to every tyrant's capital when protest breaks out in the streets? What a stupid, un-nuanced cowboy! Evidently, the Palestinians, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt heard the message with a different perspective. Each of these regimes has made extraordinary moves lately to allow some form of democracy to stick it's nose into their tents. Witnessing the scarred and brutalized citizenry of the worst-of-the-worst hell holes in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq, successfully and jubilantly vote their way into the 21st century has provided strong evidence that their days are numbered, and could end painfully, if they don't get on the democracy wave sweeping the region. That's good news.

Israel and Palestine have re-engaged in discussions and Abbas almost seems genuine about conducting these talks in a reasonable fashion. That's good news.

Lebanon's Syrian controlled puppet regime looked out the window and called it quits this week. The wave of freedom has emboldened this oppressed society to take to the streets demanding immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. That's good news.

Dissidents within Syria are beginning to speak out. That's good news.

Mubarak has floated the idea of limited elections in Egypt. IN EGYPT. That's good news.

Saudi Arabia will hold limited elections. For men only, but it's a start. That's good news.

After the voting in Iraq all parties and factions waited peacefully for the results. When the results were announced the much anticipated civil war didn't occur. In fact there's good old fashioned horse-trading, debate and negotiating breaking out among myriad parties and factions as Iraqis take their first nascent steps toward a representative government. That's good news.

Thank God for the Middle East! (Where's the Supreme Court decision on that? Can I still say, "thank God" over an unregulated interstate communications network?) -Wb

About the Michael Jackson Molestation Trial

2005-02-28T17:40:00.000-08:00

He's a friggin' freak.

The Hedgehog on Immigration, Thinking Things Through

2005-02-26T17:30:00.000-08:00

Over at The Hedgehog Blog, http://hedgehogcentral.blogspot.com/, is a great post on immigration. Check out the comments thread. I put in my two cents... Actually it's about a buck and two cents by now. It's been going on for a couple of days.

Touchy subject for a lot of people. The first impulse without thought is just get rid of the illegals. When one one begins to think things through, though, with the myriad variables, solutions seem untenable. But, we've got to start somewhere, and here's a good forum to get your feet wet with the subject again.

You ought to give a glance to the Hedgehog on occasion, anyway. A sober critter, that Hedgehog!

The 6th comment on the thread is from RKV. Mr. RKV wants to round up all the illegals and be done with them. He writes:

Stop making apologies for the cynical calculations of the current administration.Eisenhower got over a million illegals to leave the country in Operation Wetback.Anyone who says that it is not logistically possible to get a large fraction of illegalsout is lying. It has been done before, and on the scale necessary to do the job today.What is lacking is the political will in Washington DC, that is, because it exists everywhereelse in the country and crosses party lines.Securing our country is indeed a Federal responsibility. It is one which they havefailed to meet for years. State governments are now financing a foreign aid programfor Mexico, and it is certainly responsible for many of the current financial problemsin California. Get the troops, airplanes and tanks to the borders now. What will bethe administration position when Al Quaida successfully attacks us again if they failto control the borders? The party in power would be swept out of office at the nextelection. That, at least, ought to get the attention of the RNC. -RKV

My response to RKV:

RKV, Way to think things through.

Tanks? Troops? Airplanes? Perhaps door to door and business to business raids throughout the country?

Most members of the House and Senate will certainly sign on to any bill containing this ingenious method of resolving the immigration problems we now face. And there won't be a single court order from any circuit court ordering a halt to such an operation. As well, the general public will be universally in favor of spending tens of billions of dollars on such a practical exercise. All should go rather swimmingly! Why hasn't any sober person thought of this before?

First, we'll need to double the number of lawyers in this country. That should take a minimum of 5 years so we better get started. There's going to be much for them to do. We'll have to implement interment camps with tents and barbed wire to process and clarify the illegals from the legals before shipping/busing/marching them back where they came from. This could take months so don't forget to earmark a ton of cash to compensate for lost wages and collateral expenses those legally here who couldn't immediately prove their citizenship to the nice men who dragged them to the interment camp. Food, sanitation and medical services will also be provided of course.

Once processed and fingered as an illegal we'll just send them back to Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Honduras, and, don't forget the southeast Asian illegals. It shouldn't be too hard logistically or diplomaticaly. By the way, do we send newly arrived illegals without their children born on U.S. soil or with their children born on U.S. soil?

We'll have to process and redistribute much of their property, too. Things they can't carry on the long journey home. Houses, furniture, cars, tools, machinery, etc. These huge auction warehouses could possibly fund a small fraction of a small percentage of the whole operation.

The world community won't be bothered by this operation, either. They'll gladly go along and won't take any punitive measures against us in the arenas of trade, finance, law, intelligence or hosting our military and defense bases and structures around the globe. They'll all understand and look the other way. And don't forget the cancer of socialism and communism creeping it's way into the governments of South America... Sending all these illegals back to their home countries with a good working knowledge and foundation of our democratic principles should turn that commie tide right around.

We need a name for this operation. How about Operation Feverish Lunacy?

-Wagonboy

Go Ahead, Drippy Harry, Make My Day

2005-02-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Harry Reid and his fellow classmates in the Democratic Senate minority sand box are threatening to throw tantrums and take their shovels and pails and go home.

Good. Go Ahead.

If the Republicans can pretend for a moment that they've got the majority in both houses and the presidency, then they should let Drippy Harry and his band of ankle-biters go their way. A senate shut down by the Dems over judicial nominee procedures, while we're conducting a war, will expose them for the children they are.

Reid claims he'll shut down the senate, "go Gingrich", should the GOP leadership establish rules making null and void any filibuster attempts by the Dems to block judicial nominees from receiving full up or down votes in the Senate. The likely outcome of any of Bush's judicial nominations getting through the senate on full up or down votes is very high. The way-left, feverish Democratic leadership knows this. They lose sleep over it. The hyper-ventilating extreme left money arteries of the party, the unions, the NEA, the ABA, Planned Parenthood, ACLU, MoveOn.org, PETA, the Seirra Club, and the NAACP, are all worried sick about the prospect of judicial nominees, that adhere to a strict reading and interpretation of the Constitution, getting through congress and onto the benches of court houses near you.

I can hear those arbiters of democracy now, amplified and carried through the DNC pipelines of ABCNBCCBSCNNMSNBCPBSNPR, "How in the hell can we enforce our dictates and validate our extreme lifestyles if The Men In Black require us to pass legislation through the people?" The thought of bringing their cherished causes and grand utopian planning up through the grassroots and into the air and light of open debate and rigorous scrutinization appalls any liberal worth his salt.

So, the major frontier of modern liberalism's existence is under immanent threat and about to be trod upon by the filthy, no-nothing electorate and by nutty judges who find value and guidance in our Constitution rather than twisted logic and woulda-coulda interpretations.

Go ahead, Harry, make my day. Me and the 60+ million other voters who supported President Bush did so for several reasons, non of which included looking back or embracing your ideas of judicial fiat. -Wb

Courtesy or Good Health Insurance?

2005-02-23T16:55:00.000-08:00

This afternoon on the Hugh Hewitt Show a serious topic of concern to most Americans was being discussed by the host and his audience; tipping the pizza delivery man.

Hugh's switchboard lit up with callers eager to voice their support or denial of tipping the pizza man. (In fact, as of this post time, the damn topic is still about tipping the pizza man!) We even heard from a pizza delivery man himself who whined about the wear and tear on his car and the paltry base salary he earns excluding any meager tips he may collect. Callers were talking about common courtesy, services rendered or not, and whether or not the simple un-skilled act of putting a pizza into a box and driving it somewhere warrants a financial bonus. They were all missing the point as far as I'm concerned, so I reached for the phone and cued up the speed dial.

I couldn't care less about the pizza man's financial straights or the duress his '78 Datsun pickup goes through every night as he tears around town. I don't think much about whether or not delivering something from point A to point B warrants some additional monetary award. I'm generally considered courteous and fair and always provide a financial tip where tips are customary and those tips I leave are reflective of services rendered. Fair to good service warrants the baseline 15 to 20%. Great to excellent service will earn the server 25 to 30%.

But the pizza man. What should the pizza man get, if anything at all? That was the issue. In my call to Hugh, I now consider it a public service announcement, I explained that when one orders a pizza from their regular pizza place and they bring to you something that you and your family will put in your mouths you had better tip the driver. Don't think the slackers, hairballs and shady looking characters running the pizza joint aren't smart enough to know who's naughty or nice. Why do you think you're asked for your phone number when you call in your order? Up pops your address, and in most places your last 5 or 10 orders. THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WHERE LIVE AND WHAT YOU EAT! To avoid one of the myriad of communicable diseases spanning the globe, I suggest you provide the pizza man with a tip and a gracious thank you.

I tip the pizza man handsomely. The pizza man likes me and the family who lives at my address. As a result of this symbiotic relationship, my address will, on occasion, benefit from an extra goodie in the order or one of the items may have come to us gratis. "Courtesy of the management", I'm told by the driver. The curmudgeon who called in several calls after me and accused me, Saint Wagonboy, of promoting theft and nefarious pizza shenanigans needs to live a less conspiratorial life. Customer service is customer service. And spending a little extra at a regular local establishment is just good insurance. Health insurance, that is. -Wb

The World's Still Watching an Atrocity Unfold

2005-02-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

The link above requires registration at the NYT web site. It's an Op/Ed piece by Nicholas Kristoff imploring the U.S. citizens and the world to recognize what is happening in Darfur under the direction of the Sudanese government. It's a powerful piece and it nudged me to add my fraction of two cents to the Darfur genocide.

It's mass murder, terrorism and genocide to remove non-Arab African civilians and tribes from the region.

The excuses of not fully knowing and, or, not knowing until it was too late may have been justified in the past for the Nazi's slaughter of the Jews or the Rwandan atrocities... But this one's going on in real time, and has been for some time, while the international community, the U.N., the African Congress et all, just stand back and deplore the horrific spectacle of entire villages pillaged and burned by death squads from the Sudan military.

http://www.darfurgenocide.org/ and http://www.savedarfur.org/ are two web sites that can help. I encourage you to give them a look and do a little something to add your small voice to what should become a worldwide roar.

In this day and age of instant knowledge of tragedies and crisis the world has become quite small. Too small, in fact, to allow thugs like this to continue their bloody conquests. When earthquakes, droughts, floods, fires or tsunamis hit a region the world is quick to respond and right to do so. When a tin-horn tyrant inflicts intentional and ongoing destruction upon a helpless population we shouldn't be so hesitant to step in and relieve the suffering. In the long run it will pay valuable rewards of freedom and security to rid the world of such cancers. -Wb

Hunter S. Thompson. Gonzo. No More. No Mas!

2005-02-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

I've been reading the obits, tributes and old articles of Hunter S. Thompson. What a freak. A typical, creative, celebrity lefty icon from liberalism's long lost and debunked golden age.

Bruised and hurt from the recent re-election of George W. Bush, this tired, old, defeated, drug-addled hippie took the selfish road out of town by killing himself. He was absolutely convinced that "his man", John Kerry had mopped the floor with W during the debates and his time in the White House would be "no more. No Mas!" The last dismal spiral into depression began on Nov. 3rd, 2004, when Mr. Gonzo awoke from his election dreams to find King George still on the thrown.

Most of his fans and generation grew out of the utopian fog and "tune out, turn on" times of the sixties and seventies. Thankfully, most of the peace-niks marching against what ever "the man" was throwing down at them on campuses across the country or who where throwing their fun-bags and hairy armpits around in mudholes at Woodstock grew up and got on with their lives. They got jobs and raised families, bought cars and houses, invested in stocks, traveled abroad, attended church without their parents, moved to a different state, and have realized the American dream. They also realized had they stuck to Mr. Thompson's guidebook they'd be living the American nightmare in a crime infested part of town hoping to score another blast of meth and watching the mailbox for the next measly welfare handout.

Hunter S. Thompson's world never came to fruition, in fact it got worse. Liberalism has been in retreat. Conservatism, also read as traditional American values of faith, family, self responsibility, strong defense and limited government are on the rise. How depressing! Hunter had to tune out. No mas! Gonzo it is, man. -Wb

Fear me!

2005-02-21T14:30:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty frightening to some people. Evidently, I can destroy people's lives just by holding traditional American values and appreciating this nations unique place in the world.

Last night the lad and I were left to our own devices for dinner. The Fetching Mrs. Wagonboy had left that morning for Chicago to attend four days of meetings with the parent company. As today is President's Day we didn't have to worry about homework or curfews so we went to Rosie's Barbeque in Northridge for some baby-back ribs and beer. And milk. We were seated next to two young couples who provided me with about 45 minutes of mind numbing idiocy and a sense of comfort that the Democrat's base is still well on it's way into the wilderness. While the lad and I were gnawing on ribs, quaffing a few tall dark beers,(and milk), and mastering the puzzles on his placemat, the four seated next to us moaned and bitched endlessly. The only surprise from the next table was the sight of these unhinged hand-wringing liberals eating a wide variety of animal flesh like a pride of lions. What was unsurprising was the round of beverages on their table, water, and the simplistic anti-Bush-conservative-military-religious cliches dropping like rib bones in the table buckets. They were afraid of everything I am and I was sitting right there next to them. Dangerously close! Had they only known there was a terrible monster only feet way. I wasn't killing them, though. I wasn't even making them pray to God, nor did I stop them from speaking their minds while they verbally bashed their country and the Commander In Chief. So,I wondered what it is I do that they're so afraid of. What is it about me that they fear so much?

Here's some frightening things about me;
* I frequently pray for the health and well being of others, including my family, our soldiers and the poor souls of people around the globe.
* I coach the lad's baseball team and I raise my voice at the little tykes when they make stupid mistakes. They run laps, too, if they miss too may grounders.
* I give generously to various faith-based charities which are very effective.
* I believe life starts at conception and abortion should be a state level issue.
* I think our nation's defense should be the government's number one priority.
* Taxes should be the same rate for all levels of income so as to broaden the tax base and give each person a legitimate place at the tax-debate table.
* Welfare should be for the truly needy. Period.
* Jesse Jackson, the NAACP, Al Sharpton, Maxine Waters and their likes are the biggest and most destructive forces in today's black community.
* Judeao Christian values framed our founding documents and built this country and should be honored in the town square and recognized in our school houses.
* Global warming and cooling will occur whether man inhabits the world or not.
* I firmly believe that the U.N. is toothless, corrupt and corrosive at the same time and provides legitimacy to tyrants, dictators, terrorists and failed policies.
* I think parents are responsible for their children's social and sexual education not the school system.
* Most schools do not teach U.S. history accurately, completely or adequately.
* I make the lad do his homework every day before he can play.
* When the lad screws up he gets punished.
* The lad's not allowed to pull off the thug-culture act. He says please and thank you... if he doesn't he feels it.
* I think judicial activism is harmful and undermines the constitutional duty of the legislature to set our legal boundaries.
* I think our legislature is weak and should step up to the plate and take on judicial activism.
* I think the Patriot Act is a good thing and only harms terrorists, criminals and the lefty hand-wringers in acamedia, the NY Times, the ACLU and Hollywood.
* I'm very suspicious of most of main stream media.
* I think our country is the greatest, most benevolent and tolerant state the world has ever experienced.
* I think anyone who trashes this country, is ashamed of our current role and posture in the world and who so eloquently displays such ignorance has every right to do so.
* I believe those same people are thinning in their ranks and marginalizing their cause by holding on to such irrational viewpoints in this modern world of instant information and truth seeking.
* I'm glad irrational kookburgers of the left are getting more irrational and kooky!
* And I think anyone who eats baby-back barbecued ribs without a good beer is downright untrustworthy and ought not be allowed to spout off on anything.

FEAR ME, LIBERAL! -Wb

With All Due Respect, Sir

2005-02-14T19:00:00.000-08:00

I sent Col. David H. Hackworth a note regarding an article he put up at his web site, http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Hacks%20Target%20Homepage.db&command=viewone&amp;op=t&id=105&rnd=257.7038360694761

In a nutshell; Nobody in W's circle has combat experience, therefore we shouldn't have gone into Iraq; Iraq's a mess; We have no exit strategy.
Here's my retort, mainly pertaining to the combat experience requirement laid down by the Colonel: -Wb

With all due respect, Sir,
Where in the Constitution, or any of our founding documents for that matter, is the requirement for the nation's CIC to have served in the armed services or to have experienced combat situations. And where is the pattern in our history of military/combat experience in a CIC resulting in positive outcomes for the nation. Our military is owned and run by a civilian authority for good reasons.

You state, "This is why most combat vets pick their fights carefully. They look at their scars, remember the madness and are always mindful of the fallout."

I don't want a CIC picking his fight carefully while looking at his past scars and remembering madness.... I want my CIC and his direct reports clear of mind and keeping this nation's best interest at the forefront of any decision to go to war. You, (and John Kerry and John McCain) make a good case to be very weary of combat tested veterans running for the top office. I'll honor, admire and thank you for your service, but I would never support the campaign of anyone who I thought would flinch when the right time presents itself to pull the trigger.

GWB had the same intelligence and was armed with more than a dozen U.N. sanctions that every nation and the entire Democratic party had agreed to be true and worth acting upon. (Do we need to gather all the quotes from each member state of the UN Sec. Council and every Democratic Senator and Congressman and former President and Vice President claiming Saddam's possession of WMDs, harboring terrorists, and the need to remove him from power.) The difference between GWB and the rest of the status quo politicos is that he's not picking a fight carefully, (that's already been done by years of aggression and sanctions). Too, he's not remembering old scars and past madness, he's got a clear head and a righteous sense of justice set upon eliminating a world threat. With, I might add, much in the way of collateral benefits to the Mid-East and the rest of the world.

There's great stories and progress coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Don't piss on our guy's efforts.

-Michael,
Northridge, Ca

Right Thing To Do. But, Too Late.

2005-02-11T17:40:00.000-08:00

Statement by Eason Jordan, Chief Executive of News at CNN:

I have devoted my professional life to helping make CNN the most trusted and respected news outlet in the world, and I would never do anything to compromise my work or that of the thousands of talented people it is my honor to work alongside.
While my CNN colleagues and my friends in the U.S. military know me well enough to know I have never stated, believed, or suspected that U.S. military forces intended to kill people they knew to be journalists, my comments on this subject in a World Economic Forum panel discussion were not as clear as they should have been.
I never meant to imply U.S. forces acted with ill intent when U.S. forces accidentally killed journalists, and I apologize to anyone who thought I said or believed otherwise. I have great admiration and respect for the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, with whom I have worked closely and been embedded in Baghdad, Tikrit, and Mosul, in addition to my time with American soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen in Afghanistan, former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the Arabian Gulf.
As for my colleagues at CNN, I am enormously proud to have worked with you, risking my life in the trenches with you, and making CNN great with you. For that experience, and for your friendship and support these many years, I thank you.

Had he been this upfront, straightforward and sincere when he first set the blaze that ultimately consumed him and his network Mr. Jordan would still have job at an organization he clearly loves and the organization itself would have a wee bit more credibility than it does today. Mr. Jordan and CNN willingly, and predictably, walked away from responsible course of action.

Another figure of American politics surprised me this week by showing a side of himself that I never knew existed; Terry McCauliffe, the outgoing head of the DNC.

Terrible McCawful has been his handle to most Republicans and conservatives since he first took the stage to charge out from under the porch and bark down anyone who challenged Billary's antics or policies. He was boorish, mean, snotty, condescending, duplicitous to the nth degree, rude and everything else you don't want to be with or listen to. Just plain awful! However, during a ride in the truck this week I had Sean Hannity on and his guest was none other than Mr. McCauliffe. I couldn't believe it was the same guy. Respectful, attentive to Sean's questions, gracious for the time on the air at Hannity and Colmes and on the Sean Hannity Show over the years, able to take some ribbing and laugh at himself.... It wasn't at all the same Terrible McCawful who'd rear his Puckish mug on the tube each week or spout-off poison gas to a talk show host. I was genuinely surprised and couldn't help but think how different the '04 election could have been if this Terry McCauliffe, the one looking back and saying good-bye this week, had presented himself to his party and the electorate. What would a positive, good natured and honest tone have done for the Democrats? A couple of percentage points?

We'll never know because here again the sincerity and the gentlemanly manners have come when it doesn't matter and it's too late.

Lessons learned? Not likely. Howard Dean's stepping up to the mic. -Wb

Rummy vs. Russert

2005-02-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

The ol' Rummy's back!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6923245/ is the link to the Meet The Press program transcript from this past Sunday in which Sec.Def Rumsfeld gives Russert a long overdue and well deserved public wedgie. The meat of the interview stems from the up-armouring question asked of Rummy by one of the troops when he visited Iraq.

Russert played the video clip of the question from the grunt and then played a patched-up, edited and incomplete answer from Rummy, part of which included the now famous, (and true) line, "You go to war with the army you have, not the one you want". Following the clip Russert began his questioning and Rummy shuts him down. The floor mopping that follows is priceless.

If you can stomach it, the rest of the MTP transcript is Ted "hic-up" Kennedy regurgitating the nonsense he's become famous for. He keeps referring to his "plan" and the "way it should have been done". Nobody knows what his plan is, (beyond asking the U.N. to explore the Saddam kerfuffle with a few committees and some cocktail receptions), but who cares?

Despite Russert's non-follow-ups to Kennedy's lunatic claims and assertions, ol' Ted still manages to inflict great harm to his party just by leaking sour and stale gas out of his mouth. And Rummy preceding the bloviating cow only makes it all the more apparent. -Wb

Way to think things through, Dems.

2005-02-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

Tom Bevan at Real Clear Politics, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/blog_2_7_05_1240.html , takes Ted 'hic-up' Kennedy to task for his lack of appreciation or support of recent first time democratic elections. In fact, the tired old donkey seems down right hostile to these positive steps toward freedom in some of the worlds most hellish places.

He foreshadowed the election process and results in Afghanistan with doom and gloom. He said nothing of the Ukrainian elections,(including the first sham election and the recent election in December), before, during or after. And up until now, nothing. Not one word of acknowledgement. And as for Iraq. He's well documented as poo-pooing the entire process as nothing but an insignificant step into an already pointless quagmire.

Wow. The most recognized face and voice of the Democratic party and nothing but cynicism, doubt and words of discouragement. Can they get any lower?

Yep.

Here comes Howie "The Unhinged" Dean, whose most recent oral droppings include, "I hate Republicans and everything they stand for.", to head up the DNC. Primal screams aside, this is not the nut you want carrying your flag into battle. Way to think things through, folks.

He had to do something to out-stupid Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the Dem. minority leaders in each house. To set the bar real low for Dean to slither under they huddled around a cold, inanimate object that looked like FDR to conduct a "prebuttle" before the President's State of the Union Address. Which President Bush wisely conducted in front of a live and boisterous assembly of the entire U.S. government and broadcast prime-time-live around the globe. That Karl Rove's a genius!

I haven't looked up the word prebuttle yet. I can hazard a guess that it is something along the lines of; out of touch, detached, left field, bone-headed, mental disorder.... Whatever it means they nailed it. Their prebuttle made the President seem, well, very presidential, forward looking and confident in America and it's future. All this before W even uttered a word of the SOTU.

Ah, you Democrats! Way to think things through! -Wb

Paul Volker's Unintended Legacy

2005-02-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

Jed Babbin in the American Spectator, http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=7731 , goes after the U.N. oil-for-food-for-bribes-to-bureaucrats scandal, and in particular, he's got his teeth on Paul Volker's pant leg.
As Robert Bork's name will forever live in infamy, as in, "He got borked by the judiciary panel", so to will the name Volker. To quote Mr. Babbin;

Now that the interim report of the U.N.'s so-called "Independent Inquiry Committee" on the Oil for Food program is out, it's quite apparent that all the little volckers of the U.N. are doing their best to divert any serious investigation of the largest rip-off in history.

Seems Mr. Volker has, according to the article, a rather healthy conflict of interest with the U.N. and the O-F-F scandal investigation. It's a pretty tough accounting of the performance of the "Independent Inquiry Committee". -Wb

P.S. Is it just me.....? When and if this investigation does round up a gang of U.N. grifters and international money grubbers how 'bout putting panties on their heads, stripping them to their skivies, and get 'em all in a tangled, hairy-chested dog pile for some pics. Benon Sevan gets the leash.

Realigning Incumbent Fiefdoms

2005-02-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

In today's Wall Street Journal, http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110006260 , John Fund highlites one of Arnold's big proposals he'll be throwing down in front of voters this year, congressional redistricting. (The link requires subscription, and, you ought to be required to have that subscription. The WSJ on line is a goldmine.)

Signature gatherers will swarm the state to collect more than 600,000 John Hancocks and I intend to be one of them. As Elmer Fudd once said, "Tis a tangled web we weave when we pwactice to deceive". And a tangled web it is. Pre-schoolers with dull crayons could draw straighter lines and more sensible shapes than the current district lines which mimic Rorschach tests. A commission of retired-un-elected-bipartisan-very-old-retired-judges will be given the charge to create a new system of putting together the many pieces of California's congressional puzzle.

May I suggest they start with a map of California without any indication of the current boundaries of the state's congressional districts. They will have population figures by city and county, and business and personal tax revenues by city and county. See what emerges and fine tune it from there in front of another commission of old men and women with the same set of variables and maybe some sharp crayons. -Wb

Mark Steyne Undresses the U.N., Again

2005-02-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

In his usual dry wit and simple logic, Mark Steyne gives us his latest take on the criminal organization that is the United Nations.-Wb

For the entire piece go here;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/02/06/do0604.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2005/02/06/ixop.html

On the U.N. oil-for-food scam:
In other words, the system didn't fail. This is the transnational system, working as it usually works, just a little more so. One of the reasons I'm in favour of small government is because big government tends to be remote government, and remote government is unaccountable, and, as a wannabe world government, the UN is the remotest and most unaccountable of all. If the sentimental utopian blather ever came true and we wound up with one "world government", from an accounting department point of view, the model will be Nigeria rather than New Hampshire.

On the genocide in Darfur:
As you may have noticed, the good people of Darfur have been fortunate enough not to attract the attention of the arrogant cowboy unilateralist Bush and have instead fallen under the care of the Polly Toynbee-Clare Short-approved multilateral compassion set. So, after months of expressing deep concern, grave concern, deep concern over the graves and deep grave concern over whether the graves were deep enough, Kofi Annan managed to persuade the UN to set up a committee to look into what's going on in Darfur. They've just reported back that it's not genocide.
That's great news, isn't it? For as yet another Annan-appointed UN committee boldly declared in December: "Genocide anywhere is a threat to the security of all and should never be tolerated." So thank goodness this isn't genocide. Instead, it's just 70,000 corpses who all happen to be from the same ethnic group which means the UN can go on tolerating it until everyone's dead, and Polly and Clare don't have to worry their pretty little heads about it.

On the new panel of the U.N. Human Rights Commission:
That's the transnational establishment's alternative to Bush and Howard: appoint a committee that agrees on the need to do nothing. Thus, a few days ago, the UN Human Rights Commission announced the working group that will decide which complaints will be heard at their annual meeting in Geneva this spring: the five-nation panel comprises the Netherlands, Hungary, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe. I wouldn't bet on them finding room on their crowded agenda for the question of human rights in Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe, would you? One of the mystifying aspects of UN worship is the assumption that this embryo world government is a "progressive" concept. It's not. Its squalid geographic voting blocs, which use regional solidarity to inflate the status of nickel'n'dime dictators, are merely a Third World gloss on the Congress of Vienna a relic of an age when contact between states was confined to their governing elites.

The Latest Milestone On The Wrong Path

2005-02-05T07:15:00.000-08:00

I was wandering through this morning's offerings from Real Clear Politics, at: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ and I came across Noam Chomsky. Like most people who enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Noam is a nut best left behind for the squirrels of his world-view to fiddle with and appreciate. But, just for grins I decided to see what the tired old windbag had to offer in light of the years momentous first month.
As expected, the nut I picked up contained a rotten, cynical, short-sighted and pessimistic outlook of the Middle East. And, as is the nature of pessimistic lefties, they can't keep their mouths shut until critical events unfold. The following piece spilled out of Noam's Depends incontinence shorts on Jan. 26th, four days before the historic Iraqi elections. He predicts more of the same in the Middle East without accounting for the new and powerful variable of a democratically elected government in Iraq. His assumptions leave out the pesky little fact that no population has ever willingly voted to be tortured, raped, starved or executed by their elected representatives. He also leaves out the coalition's promise and long term commitment to stay and assist until the job is complete. The involuntary reflex to overlay Noam's favorite period of American history, Vietnam, onto the current situation in the Middle East is present, as it is in all his diatribes about American foreign policy. Also present are the tired assumptions of imperialism, oil, Israel, and the disfunctional U.S. Armed Forces.
Read the piece, http://www.worldpress.org/Mideast/2022.cfm and enjoy the delusion of Noam Chomsky and his fellow travelers as he digs in and secures another milepost on the wrong path into history. -Wb

Which is it, Dems?

2005-02-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

My little brother in Long Beach frequently pounds his chest, (where three entire hairs reside) and rants in the Long Beach Press Telegram via the "Letters to the Editor". Going forward, as he writes them, I'll post them. Of course my standards may be a little more discriminating than the LBPT so, some won't see the light of day. Most are very good. Maybe he'll spend a little chest hair capital and start his own blog. Here's the latest. -WB

Dear Editor:
The Democrats in Congress are no longer the minority party, they are the party of opposition. No matter what the idea, issue, opinion, nominee or legislation, unless it comes from their side they are automatically against it. They offer no solutions, no intelligent debate, essentially no governance; merely negative rhetoric politically inflamed. They roundly criticize President Bush for his inaugural speech in which he said America is for freedom and liberty and will support it around the world -- the same thing John F. Kennedy said in his 1960 inauguration. President Bush stated in his State of the Union that Social Security needs to be fixed, without harming current or future recipients and that he is open to all ideas and positive input from both sides -- the same thing Bill Clinton said in his 1997 and 1998 State of the Union addresses. Are Congressional Democrats ready to criticize the speeches of their two icons? If not they are either hypocrites or proving themselves barriers to the purpose of the House and Senate to consider, debate and pass legislation for the betterment of our nation. If they are willing such criticism of their own standard bearers then they show themselves to be against freedom and liberty for others and uncaring for the future of our children and grandchildren. Which is it?Dennis

A Beautiful Embrace

2005-02-04T16:38:00.000-08:00

Over at The Hedgehog, http://hedgehogcentral.blogspot.com/ there's the picture of the emotional embrace between Mrs. Bill Norwood, the mother of Marine Corps Sgt. Byron Norwood killed in action in Iraq, and Safia al Suhail, who had just returned from Iraq after voting there. Her father had been executed by Saddam's thugs a decade earlier. The Hedgehog titled his post, "Worth 10,000 Words". He 's spot on. I had to send him a reply:

Lowell, I listened to the SOTU on the radio. That moment is when I lost it! I literally burst into tears. I was in my truck parked outside a Mexican dive on Pico in West LA. I was supposed to be in there at 6:30 to meet some friends, but couldn't pull myself away. I spent another 10 minutes collecting myself! I had know idea that the Norwoods and Mrs. al Suhail had embraced. I saw it on the news at 4:30AM the next morning before work and again burst into tears. What a powerful, powerful moment.
Imagine. Momentous stories converged in Iraq to bring these two families together at a State of the Union speech in Washington D.C., the very throne of Freedom in this world. Only a bitter and cynical political party could rain on such an occasion and misinterpret the forces that made it blossom.
Sounds like a post for Wagonboy's Garage -Wb

Righteous Blowback, (unauthenticated)

2005-02-02T18:00:00.000-08:00

The following piece is floating around the net and has appeared on a few blogs. A thread over at Freerepublic.com has unleashed the dogs to track down it's source. To no avail, thus far. Everyone wants it to be true because it's such a righteous blowback to an alleged moronic comment from a cynical Euro-weenie regarding GWB's intelligence and our aid to the tsunami victims. But, without solid proof of it's authenticity, it's posted throughout the blogoshere and here with a disclaimer.

If you've seen the piece and know of it's origin please pass it on. In the mean time, read it and load your ammo clip with a few choice rebuttal rounds. -Wb

Matt Archer, Boeing:

Today, during an afternoon conference that wrapped up my project of the last 18 months, one of my Euro colleagues tossed this little t**d out to no one in particular: "See, this is why George Bush is so dumb, there's a disaster in the world and he sends an Aircraft Carrier..." After which he and many of my Euro colleagues laughed out loud and then they looked at me.

I wasn't laughing, and neither was my Hindi friend sitting next to me, who has lost family in the disaster. I'm afraid I was "unprofessional", I let it loose - "Hmmm, let's see, what would be the ideal ship to send to a disaster, now what kind of ship would we want? Something with its own inexhaustible power supply? Something that can produce 900,000 gallons of fresh water a day from sea water? Something with its own airfield? So that after producing the fresh water, it could help distribute it? Something with 4 hospitals and lots of open space for emergency supplies? Something with a global communications facility to make the coordination of disaster relief in the region easier? Well "Franz", us peasants in America call that kind of ship an "Aircraft Carrier". We have 12 of them.

How many do you have? Oh that's right, NONE. Lucky for you and the rest of the world, we are the kind of people who share Even with people we don't like. In fact, if memory serves, once upon a time we peasants spent a ton of money and lives rescuing people who we had once tried to kill and who tried to kill us. Do you know who those people were? Thats right Franz, Europeans. There is a French Aircraft carrier? Where is it? Right where it belongs! In France of course! Oh why should the French Navy dirty their uniforms helping people on the other side of the globe?

How Simplesse... The day an American has to move a European out of the way to help in some part of the world it will be a great day in the world, you sniggering little f****** snob..." The room fell silent. My Hindi friend then said quietly to the Euros: "Can you let your hatred of George Bush end for just one minute? There are people dying! And what are your countries doing? Amazon.com has helped more than France has.

You all have a role to play in the world, why can't you see that? Thank God for the US Navy, they don't have to come and help, but they are. They helped you once and you should all thank God they did. They didn't have to, and no one but them would have done so. I'm ashamed of you all..." He left the room, shaking and in tears.

The frustration of being on the other side of the globe, unable to do anything to assist and faced with people who could not set aside their asininity long enough to reach out and help was too much for him to bear. I just shook my head and left. The Euros stood speechless.

Later in the break room, one of the laughing Euros caught me and extended his hand in an apology. I asked him where he was from; he said "a town outside of Berlin". He is a young man, in his early '20's. I asked him if he knew of a man named Gail Halvorsen. He said no. I said "that's a shame" and walked away to find my Hindi friend. For those of you who may not remember, Gail Halvorsen was the transport pilot responsible for the "candy drop" during the Berlin airlift. They called him the "Candy Bomber" as he dropped goodies for all the Berlin children.

Matt Archer BOEING Flight Operations Transport Test Pilot

Greasy Eason Jordan

2005-02-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

"The United States military assassinated 12 journalists."

Greasy Eason said it.
Plenty of people heard it.
The Davos swells received it warmly.
Greasy Eason is hiding from any accountability.
CNN is stonewalling the story.
Nothing to see hear, according to the main stream partisan media.

Unleash the blog piranhas!

Is this the same U.S. military that allowed and encouraged unprecedented media access via embedded journalists from news organizations around the world? I guess it was to make assassinating some of them easier. -Wb

Oh, The Colors

2005-02-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

An equation:
red-(blue+opaque+black+brown+green+pink+yellow+white+robin egg blue)=Purple fingers

Where as;
Red = voters for George W. Bush+conservatism+national security
Blue = liberals/George W. Bush haters
Opaque = staunch and excited supporters of John Kerry+John Edwards
Black = 85-90% of voting black population supporting the plantation owners, (DNC)
Brown = 60-70% of voting Latino supporting the party of low expectations
Green = Environmental wackos + Earthfirst! terrorists + anti-capitalists
Pink= militant homosexuals+gay marriage supporters
Yellow = France + Germany
White = Spain and her flag
Robin Egg Blue = The United Nations
Purple = free, proud, brave, defiant Iraqi voters.

Condi and Bush via IMAO

2005-01-31T18:47:00.000-08:00

Go to, http://www.imao.us/ for a good time. Here's a recent piece:

In My World: Madame Secretary

"Powell, you look different," Bush said, "More determined, fiercer, much scarier... and you're wearing a skirt. I like it."
"It's me, Condoleezza Rice," Condi stated, "I've replaced Colin Powell as Secretary of State, remember?"
"No, not all. And, since I forget what that is, I don't care. So do you have some department to run or something? This is my pencil sharpening day and I don't like to be bothered."
"I run the State Department and handle diplomacy!" Condi shouted indignantly.
"Diplomacy," Bush chuckled as he sharpened a pencil, "Well, have fun talking and writing memos and stuff, goober."
"I'm going to take things in another direction," Condi declared.
"Shh! Can't hear the sharpening!"
Condi left the Oval Office and saw Donald Rumsfeld outside. "Now I'm a cabinet member like you," she said cheerily.
"Bah!" Rumsfeld grumbled, "You're Secretary of State. You have to talk to people and forge relations - women's work! Why don't you get to that and knitting while I plot the destruction of nations' infrastructures."
Condi growled and stomped off.
* * * *
"Great," Condi grumbled to herself, "My memo on the State Department's new direction got blocked because our e-mail filter's out vulgarity. I guess I'll just have to set the new tone by burning something prominent and then announce our new mission statement: 'Death to our enemies!'"
The phone rang at her desk. "What?" Condi demanded.
"It's your auto mechanic, Dr. Rice. It's going to take longer to get out those dents than I thought. What exactly did you hit?"
"A California Senator. What of it?"
"Well, there's dents in the front and back..."
"And there is a little thing called the reverse gear. Now get it done!"
* * * *
"This is your first diplomatic meeting," Condi said to herself, "Now don't get nervous." She then walked into the office.
Jacques Chirac approached her with his hand extended. "I would like to say..."
A sharp punch sent Chirac to the floor gripping his bloody nose. "You have nothing to say that interests me," Condi spat at him.
"You warmongering fool!" Chirac shouted as he got to his feet, "What are you doing?"
"Just getting off on the right foot!" Condi said as she kicked Chirac in the crotch.
"Aieee!" Chirac screeched, "You kicked me so hard, my testicles have swollen to the size of grapes!"
"Don't bore me with your hyperbole," Condi stated. "So, am I going to have problems with you?"
“Here; I surrender!" Chirac tossed some keys and a disk to Condi. "Here are the keys to our buildings and all our codes!"
Condi tossed them back at him. "You country is useless to me. Now stay out of the U.S.'s way."
Chirac curled into a fetal position. "Yes, ma'am."
"Off to a great start," Condi smiled as she walked off.
* * * *
"So, now I think you can understand how the Iraqi elections are a new turning point for the Middle East," Condi said. She then turned to the Germans behind her. "Do you think he can hear me through the drywall?"
"Maybe you could remove his head from it?" suggested one German.
"I'll take his head out of the wall when I want his head out of the wall!" Condi shouted.
* * * *
"Condi!" Bush yelled, stopping her in the hallway, "While I was emptying out my pencil shavings, I heard that you've been beating up foreign diplomats and a news report that you're the first Secretary of State to use a sock full of nickels in negotiations."
"I'm making my own style," Condi declared.
"I dunno..."
"I read it all in a book somewhere," Condi assured.
"Well, as long as it's from a book," Bush said dubiously. "Still, how you put Abbas in the hospital for a week is going to slow down negotiations in Israel. On the other hand, I really wanted to spend that weekend playing videogames anyway, so good work."
"Thanks." Condi walked off.
Alberto Gonzales ran to Bush. "When do I get to be Attorney General?" Alberto demanded, "I want to torture terrorists!"
"I know; we all do," Bush answered sympathetically, "but you have to wait until after your confirmation hearing during which the Democrats will all yell at you."
"I'll lock them up and torture them too!" Alberto swore.
"All in good time, my Mexican friend. All in good time."
Posted by Frank J. at 08:39 AM In My World Comments (18) TrackBack (1)

The Finger

2005-01-30T08:39:00.000-08:00

First estimates of voter participation in Iraq's election is over 70%. The highest turnout in modern American history, within the last 200 years!, never reached 65%. That means more than 10,000,000 iraqis thought it worth while to secure their own destiny despite the endless threats and real attacks against them.

News footage of joyous and proud Iraqis in their own country and from around the globe emerged from the polling places holding their ink-stained fingers high was a beautiful sight.

Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Joe Biden, Harry Reid, John Kerry, Howard Dean and the rest of the can't-do / hypocrites of the Democratic party, take these millions of fingers high in the air as a direct insult to you for your obstructionism, pacifism, ankle-biting and near treasonous behavior during these past four years. Despite your worst intentions, the world is rapidly and confidently moving forward. You've been flipped off by millions of people of whom you've had no confidence or sympathy.

Good work Iraq! Good work U.S. Armed Forces and the coalition! Good work George W. Bush! God bless you all!

Now get back to work. And keep those fingers high!

Go here for a first hand account from the guys at Iraq The Model: http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/-Wb

Auschwitz And The Lad

2005-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Thursday night after homework, dinner and a round of trick-or-poop with the Lad in the backyard to clean up after our lab Bloo, I hit the couch to channel surf and came across the History Channel's anniversary broadcast of Auschwitz. The Lad had to assign himself to the little TV and a hard chair in the kitchen because I'm bigger. The grainy images of the Nazi's and German civilians purposefully going about the business of inhumanity is shocking on a physical sense and incomprehensible to any reason I'm able to offer.
During a commercial break in the kitchen, the Lad came out and sat with me on the couch with hopes of reaching a consensus to watch something we both could tolerate, like sharks attacking people, weather gone wild or a hot rod being built. "What are you watching?", he asked.
Usually when I don't answer a question while I'm watching something on TV it's because I'm a male and as such I'm genetically disposed to not hear or respond to family members' inquiries or comments. But I did hear this question and I couldn't tailor an honest answer for a nine year old. After he repeated the question with an elbow in my gut I told him it was a history show about WWII. He knew what that meant, lots of blah-blah, so he quickly re-assumed his position on the hard chair in the kitchen.
I don't know when my awareness of the holocaust began to take root. Perhaps it was my grandmother, Sis, who was always quick to jump on our pre-teen off-color comments by saying something along the lines of, "World wars are started with bad words and beliefs like that!". We'd giggle and carry on anyway, but the message she conveyed never left me and I've since used her line myself on the Lad when he wanders into off-color dialog. He of course can't know the breadth and scope of Sis' admonition passed down to him, but he will someday.
Someday he'll be watching a program about Islamic fascist terror, Hitler or Saddam, while his kid watches TV on a hard chair elsewhere, and he'll tie things together. -Wb

A Stark Contrast: Condi and Bill

2005-01-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

This morning at 5:15 AM, as I was readying my coffee, car keys, wallet, cell phone and zipper, I caught the live Fox News feed of our new Sec. State Dr. Rice and her introductory comments from the steps of the State Dept. She spoke off the cuff, no notes. It was upbeat, humble, foreword thinking, ambitious, gracious, challenging and all things optimistic without ignoring reality. It was a great way to start the day. My drive into West L.A. seemed quite short.

On the ride home Hugh Hewitt subjected his audience to an endless and painful list of clips of Bill Clinton answering questions tee'd up by Charlie Rose at Davos , Switzerland. As Der Schlickmeister talked on and on I could imagine Charlie sitting across from him in a dazed rapture, face cradled in both his hands, eyes wide open and an ear to ear mouth open grin. As if Grampa was telling the adventurous story again about the time he caught a big whale with his bare hands and dragged it up the mountain saving all the women and children from a fiery death. None of it made any sense, but Charlie and the Swells in the Davos audience didn't care. Grampa's a great story teller! "Tell us again, Grampa! Tell us again!"

I'm looking for the transcripts of Slick's Davos schtick. Hewitt's producer, Generallisimo, pulled it off the C-SPAN broadcast. I look forward to the powerhouse blogs, talk radio and center right op/ed scribes getting their teeth into it. Once again Slick's comments will get sliced, diced, chopped and pureed into a pile of poop. It won't much matter to the hard left in the old MSM, but it will scoop another handful of the voting population into the GOP's ballot box. Every little bit helps.

So the contrast was stark from my morning commute high with Condi to the long slog home with Bill Clinton. I called in to the Hugh Hewitt Show from the quagmire of the 405 at Sherman Way. (Having been subjected to Clinton for the prior 45 minutes I couldn't remember any of the trip up to that point.... Wilshire, Sunset, Mulholland... none of it.) I told Hugh, "Liberal hollow blather is to talk radio and the web as a fat, stupid cow is to a river full of pirahna".

Enjoy the frenzy as you surf around tonight. And if anyone can send me a link to Slick's Davos schtick I'd appreciate it.-Wb

Maintaining Momentum

2005-01-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

Two excellent articles came my way today. One via Rich Galen at Mullings.com, the other from Rod D. Martin of the Vanguard PAC. One deals with an expanding party moving forward, the other deals with the party rolling over the spineless hand-wringers who stand in it's way.

Mr. Martin takes on Christy Todd Whitman and her pouty little screed, "It's My Party, Too". As has become fun sport for any conservative with a key board under his fingers, plucking feathers off Ms. Whitman's back side, Mr. Martin does a fine job. I also enjoyed poking around the Vanguard PAC web site.... Hey!, another place to send funds (ammo) to combat the mental disorder known commonly as liberalism. Go here, http://www.thevanguard.org/, and scroll down to the Whitman stuff. And then wander around the Vanguard site. Great stuff.

And Rich Galen, link to your left at Mullings.com, as a thoughtful and informative entry today about controlling, managing and keeping the ever expanding heard of cats that constitute the Republican party. The Democrats would lie , cheat and steal to have the problems facing the GOP as GWB begins his second term. They did, in fact, lie, cheat and steal....again to no avail, thankfully! -Wb

An Address For Future Generations

2005-01-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

I missed the inaugural address by the President today, but I made a prediction to myself about it's tone and content. I also imagined what John Kerry would be telling the world today had the nefarious underlings of the DNC been more successful in their now exposed cheating. Thankfully, he's not reporting for duty.

First, Kerry's inaugural address would have been derived from whatever doom and gloom headlines graced the top of the fold of the New York Times in the past three days. It would be an extensive laundry list of we- musts. We must work together, feed the poor, give everyone healthcare, preserve Social Security as it is, listen to our allies, give everyone a job, clean our water, contribute more to the federal coffers, stop outsourcing, reign in big business, wear our shoes on the right feet, go to sleep at night, breath, eat and be nice. Hollow, predictable liberal blather du'jour.

My prediction as to what President Bush's address would be was one unconstrained of today's ongoing scrimmages and political battles. It would be an address that any President, with the proper perspective of God, Country, Family, could give at any time in our country's history or future. The 2002 State of The Union speech was of this caliber. Timeless, yet perfect for the moment.

So, I read the speech today when I got home. Having heard many of the medias "highlights" of the speech on the way home I was somewhat prepared to absorb the written dialog with the President's tone in mind. To read it, though, is to really understand why it is a great address not just from George W. Bush, but it's an American address to the world and to to future generations. -Wb

Enough of my blather.... take ten or so minutes to read it. And pass it on to your e-mail buddies.
click here; http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/Bush_2nd_Inaugural.html.

To: Senator Boxer

2005-01-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

Dearest Sen. Boxer,
Please keep up the good work. You're on the right track and you're taking the right people with you on your journey into the wilderness. Your time in front of the cameras and microphones will be talked about over the airwaves and internet for at least a week among tens of millions of people. The vast majority of whom will find you repugnant, ignorant and embarrassing.

In the past 15 years most Americans have become amazingly savvy and informed about political, world and social issues through cable news, talk radio, and the internet as supplements or replacements to traditional MSM. In 1985 your sophomoric grandstanding would have garnered you favorable coverage from the Main stream media of ABCNBCCBSNYTNEWSWEEKTIME. Not anymore. Americans are now able to see the hard-left skitso dead-enders of the Democratic party, such as yourself, who are now the dominant faces of the party for what you are. Opposing viewpoints are now being heard and those viewpoints are attracting voters as fast as you repel them.

You, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Rangle, Dean, Harkin, Durbin.... all far left repellent characters, have become the fife and drum corps for a motley collection of pacifists, gays, race-baiters, homeless advocates, lawyers, activist judges, anti-capitalists, environmental nuts, atheists, union thugs, socialists, and bureaucratic web-weavers in education, transportation, food & drug, agriculture, commerce and intelligence.

Thankfully, most of voting America has not joined this band of hand-wringing sour pusses crawling behind the Democratic party banner who celebrate Americas wounds and grieve over her successes and seek out doom and gloom from the smallest of discomforts.

Your performance this week during the confirmation hearings of Dr. Rice will satisfy the far left fringe of the American left slithering behind you into the wilderness. Thank you, enjoy the hike, and we'll see you repugnant trolls in about 25 years when the Democratic party begins to drift back in from the deep woods.

Love, Wagonboy

"The Chinese Make Everything" Good For Us!

2005-01-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

I'm hearing it everywhere lately. The TV. The radio. At work and even at the Lad's baseball try outs yesterday. (Yes, in Southern California we start America's pastime in January.) What I'm hearing is, "We're sending all our jobs to China." "The Chinese make everything." Or, "Isn't anything made in this country anymore?"

Since late December, when my father sent me the following article, I've had some higher caliber ammo to back up my unsophisticated response to such statements. That unsophisticated response goes something like this; "Look. We have this dress shirt made in China because it costs us pennies to do so. It's designed here. It's marketed here. It's shipped here. It's trucked here. It's warehoused here. It's advertised here. It's displayed here. It's refolded and repacked here. It's bought here along with a tie made in Taiwan. By the time Mr. Gringo shows up at work in his snappy new dress shirt those pennies that we dribbled to China for that one little dress shirt have sprouted into dollars on our shores. This process goes on 24/7 billions and billions of times per day. From marbles to boats."

Please read the article here for a more rounded and sophisticated explanation. I keep copies of it in the truck for educational purposes.
The link following the article requires a subscription to the Wall Street Journal Online.... which you ought to have anyway, being the knowledge hungry type that you are.-Wb

December 23, 2004
Commentary (U.S.)
We Think, They Sweat
By ANDY KESSLER
You want a scapegoat for the dollar's almost daily decline -- the Chinese water torture on the U.S. economy? I blame Steve Jobs. Apple is the worst offender in the decline of U.S. manufacturing. Their engineers sit around in air-conditioned offices on streets with cutesy names like Infinite Loop in Cupertino, Calif., and have others make stuff for them. They imported two million iPods assembled by thousands of Chinese workers just last quarter -- an almost $1.5 billion annualized trade deficit in iPods alone.
Those in D.C. who can do something about this -- former railroaders and breakfast cereal moguls, are so worried about trade deficits that they refuse to defend the greenback, even begging China to unpeg the yuan from the dollar so we can decline against it as well. We're in a place called Vertigo. Economists weep that foreigners will no longer fund our spending and that America surely has peaked. The dollar is destined to the depths of despair until it drops so low that we get those manufacturing jobs back. Gee, thanks Steve Jobs.
I checked my wallet and realized that I own dollars, including my bank account, house and stocks. Lowering them in value hurts every American. I was in such a funk thinking about all this that I played my own infinite loop of Muddy Waters on my appropriately blue iPod mini. I happened to turn it over and read the fine print. Sure enough -- "Assembled in China." But it also says "Designed by Apple in California." In the middle of the song "Trouble No More," it all started making sense.
Over the last year, two things have happened. First, Apple has increased sales by over a third, almost all from iPods -- those two million of them at $265 each last quarter and 100 million songs sold via their iTunes service. An iPod is just the combination of some Apple software, cheap disk drives and a $12 chip from a Silicon Valley company named PortalPlayer. I calculated that Apple pays $200 per iPod to Chinese assembler Inventec to slap it all together. Even with cheap labor, Inventec has almost no profits, I'd bet under $10, probably more like $4. PortalPlayer, by the way, e-mails its design to Taiwan to be fabricated, with profits of $5 per chip.
The second change is that Apple's stock has gone from $21 to $64. Pretty cool, capitalism at its best. Why? Because Apple keeps $65 per iPod -- money chases profits! If you assume the stock-price increase is all due to the iPod (it is), then that business is worth some $15 billion. Add in PortalPlayer's market value of $1 billion and you get a feel for how the world works. A $1.5 billion trade deficit increases wealth in the U.S. by $16 billion. I'll take that trade any day. So will all the holders of the retirement accounts who own Apple's stock. So, why am I caring about deficits again? Trade deficits are an economic construct, and lowering the dollar won't solve a thing. We are moving low-margin, low-pay jobs overseas, but fortunately, are left with high-margin, high-pay intellectual-property jobs. Would you rather own Apple making a margin of $65 or Invetec with $4, on the same product? Me too. We may have trade deficits of $550 billion this year, but we enjoy a huge margin surplus.
The very illogical way (so no one believes it) to get this all back in balance is for the dollar to rise. A lower dollar means foreigners get a needless discount on our productive stuff -- Pentiums and iPods, Windows XP and Oracle databases, and Cisco routers. They have to buy them anyway to run their economies (well, maybe not iPods) so why discount? Add non-productive but life-enhancing intellectual property to complete the sweep -- drugs, Hollywood movies, U2. A weak dollar won't bring back manufacturing jobs -- with $20/hour here vs. $2 in China, the dollar would have to drop 90%. And why should we encourage low-paying jobs in this country?
Foreigners buy Treasury bonds -- they own 43% of them -- so we don't have to. Who wants 3% returns? We should own stocks of the high-margin companies that benefit from this design vs. manufacturing divide. As we move to an intellectual-property economy, our wealth will come from exporting profitable designs and importing more finished goods. Higher salaries and our stock market balance this all out as those dollars flow back in. Of course, bean counters can't find the money that flows into the stock market, it is just bean dip. The $4-trillion-plus in trade deficits since 1976 has been matched by an $11 trillion increase in value of our stock market. That's about all you have to know. Plus, as Jack Nicholson might say, they can't handle our dollars. Too many dollars in foreign central banks leads to overlending to wasteful domestic companies. Japan is just emerging 15 years later from a nonperforming-loan hangover. China is face-first in the punch bowl with half its bank loans uncollectible: If their currency spikes, it might go to 100%.
Rather than debase our wallets, Japan and China have to buy dollar assets to keep their currencies from rising too much if they want to continue to sell us their industrial output, while of course, we get rich selling them the tools to do it productively. I'd suggest thanking Bono, er, Steve Jobs, for the iPod economy.
Mr. Kessler is author of "Running Money" (HarperBusiness, 2004).
URL for this Article http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=SB110376349870907921.djm

Where's Your Money?

2005-01-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

Here's something to think about tonight around 2:30 AM while you're trying to get back to sleep. -Wb

Lose $100,000 a year on Social Security

Income should go up, not down, upon retirement

Friday January 14, 2005

When a person retires, should his income go up or should it go down? I am not asking what will happen, but rather what should occur.

The answer is that after socking away $1 of every $10 they earn for nearly 40 years, Americans should reap big rewards. They should have huge nest eggs after all those years.

A conservative investment of half corporate stocks and half government bonds would yield returns of over 6 percent. At that rate, people should expect to receive pensions bigger than their final paychecks.

Instead, Americans can expect a rate of return from Social Security of less than 3 percent.

The difference between those two rates of return may seem slight, but it is the difference between Boardwalk and Mediterranean Avenue.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative group, posted a calculator online that allows people to calculate how badly they will be beaten by Social Security -- http://www.heritage.org/research/features/socialsecurity/.

Social Security will shortchange the average 51-year-old woman by more than $3,000 a month.

Instead of pulling down $52,000 a year when she retires -- nearly double the average woman's income at 51 today -- she will have to scrape by on $15,000, about half that average income.

Men do even worse. The average 51-year-old male will be shortchanged by $5,354 a month.

The investment in Social Security will cost the average wife and husband, ages 51, more than $100,000 a year when they retire.

That couple's 21-year-old son will fare even worse than we will. His rate of return will be a negative 0.85 percent. That means for every $100 he puts in today, he will draw down $99.15 some 46 years from now.

Adjusted for inflation, he'd better learn how to cook catsup soup.

Multiply that a few million times and one can see that the politicians have cost American workers trillions of dollars.

Social Security is a broken relic of the Roosevelt administration that should have been modernized years ago.

Instead of fixing it in the 1960s, Lyndon Johnson made things worse by lowering the retirement age. Ronald Reagan shuffled the problem off to the future simply by raising the tax.

Under Social Security, a worker now gives the government 10.6 percent of his income (that includes the employer match). The government uses the money to pay today's retirees instead of socking it away.

President Bush wants to change that by allowing American workers to invest some of their Social Security taxes if they want.

Led by the AARP, the reactionary left is going bonkers. Lefties want to keep the status quo.

They mock Bush. They mock his plan. They trot out tired scare tactics designed to chase off those whose only knowledge of the stock market is that it crashed in 1929.

Baby boomers know better. My 401(k) should pay me more than Social Security. I pay in less than I pay Social Security and I have been in it only since 1986. I survived Black Friday in 1987 and the dot.com bust.

There are millions of people like me. We have seen what conservative investments can do. We want personal investment accounts.

We want to retire on what we have earned, not what the government parcels out.

That means retiring on more, not less.

Don Surber can be reached at donsurber@dailymail.com.

Tsunami Images

2005-01-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

The Hedgehog, http://hedgehogcentral.blogspot.com/ has a link to an amazing set of before and after photos of the devastation brought on by the tsunamis in the Indian ocean. http://homepage.mac.com/demark/tsunami/9.html. The Hedgehog runs a lot of other good links and opinions, too. Plant him in your "favorites" garden to enjoy on occasion.

Were it not for the millions of little bloggers out there pushing this stuff to the surface, would you ever find it? -Wb

A True American Meets Leftist Academia

2005-01-08T13:30:00.000-08:00

In the link below, Ahmad Al-Qloushi, a 17 year old Kuwaiti student at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, Ca describes his deplorable treatment by an angry leftist professor. You need to read it to believe it. It is a very articulate account of what happens to a young patriotic man when he rubs up against leftist academia. Ahmad didn't stand for it. http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=16550

Here's a note I passed on to Ahmad. You can send him one, too. His address is in the link above. (So, too, is the link to the Foothill College Board of Trustees.) -Wb

Dear Ahmad,
I'm very impressed with you! Thank you for standing up and speaking out. But more importantly, thank you for being a great American.
Angry and small minded men like Prof. Woolcock wouldn't survive in the real world where their views and actions would have to survive the brutal and efficient rules of the market place. Only in leftist academia can a tenured pimple like that be allowed to fester and infect a captive audience of young numbskulls full of mush! Thankfully, most of the young numbskulls get kicked in the ass by the reality of life upon leaving the campus and soon realize the Prof. Woolcocks of the world have had it all so wrong. So very, very wrong.
Fortunately, as you have so eloquently demonstrated, in this country, when somebody gives you a bowl full of dirt you don't have to eat it. You're the kind of man who has made this country great throughout our small 229 year history.
There are hundreds of millions of people here enjoying and practicing Gods gift of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Your life experiences and how you learn and live by them have made you a great American. And a very articulate and persuasive one, too!
Congratulations.

-M.K.S. Northridge, Ca

Fashion Cents

2005-01-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

This evening on the Hugh Hewitt Show an ongoing discussion is under way regarding Hughes producer Generalissimo Duane's choice of neck wear. There's a picture of Duane in the dime-store tie and Hugh at www.radioblogger.com. In Duane's defense this is probably the second time in a year that he's donned such finery so we can forgive his lack of fashion sense. On the other hand nobody but a NASCAR mechanic, (who's only tie is taken out of the car trunk for weddings and funerals) would wear such a tie.

Something else caught my eye in the picture. Hugh's dress shirt was without wrinkles around the waistline. How he's going to haul that baggage through a half-marathon in Irvine, (www.schalfmarathon.com/raceinfo.html) and keep the ice in his highball glass is beyond me. Good luck, buddy. -Wb

A Bloo Christmas

2004-12-30T21:27:00.000-08:00

If every parent could see the look of pure joy and fulfillment on a child's face as the fetching Mrs. Wagonboy and I witnessed on Christmas morning.... Good stuff.

Back in May of 2004 our Black Lab mix had to be put down. She was about 14 years old, according to the vet, her systems had shut down and she was very sick. We didn't know her exact age because she came to us on a Thursday afternoon September 7th, 2000. The Lad, 4 at the time, and I were outside clearing ivy out of the side yard and working fast to beat an oncoming storm. There were occasional thunder rumbles and the wind was picking up. Our next door neighbor, Karen, spotted her first. She was scurrying down the sidewalk with her tail between her legs, very upset and afraid of the thunder. Karen asked us if we knew who's dog it was. The Lad immediately called out to her and she sheepishly came toward us and laid down, shaking like a leaf. No tags. The Lad put his hand on her head, looked up at me and said, "Can we call her Belle?"
Just like that. In less than 2 seconds the dog was his. I told him we can call her Belle until her owners come and get her. So we sat out in the front yard with Belle waiting for her owner to drive by looking for her. A day later we put signs up on all the telephone poles in every intersection within a mile of the house and notified the shelters. Two weeks later we took all those signs down and put up "Lost Dog" signs when she escaped from our back yard. We got her back. Soon after that she wore tags with her name and our phone number. In the next year we had met most of our neighbors within a mile of the house when we went to retrieve Belle from her many unauthorized sojourns. So we put her name and our address on her tags. Most people who found Belle doing laps in their pool brought her back without calling. We'll never know how often that occurred.
She slept on the Lad's bed until she couldn't get up there anymore, and despite her deteriorating health she chased a ball into the pool for one last swim the day before I drove her to the vet to end her suffering. What a horrible drive.
The Lad took it pretty hard. When Belle died she had been a part of his life for half of it. Sticks, balls, the pool and the creek. Always willing, always able, and always his.
We waited until now to replace Belle because we wanted the Lad to respect her passing and linger on her memory. One of the most important lessons a pet can give to a child is it's passing. Beyond the responsibility of feeding and caring for a pet, it's passing provides an opportunity to confront the loss of a loved one. Something real and living in their world is gone forever. The experience will hopefully be of great value when he becomes an adult.
At 5:45 AM this Christmas morning I drove to the breeder's house to pick up Bloo. He's 45 pounds of four month old pure Black Lab. We brought him into the Lad's bedroom to wake him up. As we sat on his bed and stirred him awake, Bloo was sniffing about the room, paws thumping and collar tag jingling. He caught a glimpse of something black and fury in the closet door mirror and sat up in his bed with an expression we'll never forget. "A DOG!!! I HAVE A PUPPY!!!"
The giggles and fun haven't stopped. Immediate brothers possessing the same level of maturity and attention spans.
Ten years from now he'll be 19 and Bloo will be 10. Over half his life will have been spent with Bloo at his side. I hope he remembers what Belle taught him, and I hope we're there to recall the Christmas morning when Bloo woke him up. -Wb

Why Do I Give?

2004-12-29T08:40:00.000-08:00

Last night on the Hugh Hewitt Show Hugh ask his audience to answer the question, "Why do you give to relief efforts?" The subject, of course, was the devastating tidal waves and the relief efforts under way coming from around the globe. He read my response over the air, thus deeming it worthy of republication here.

Hugh,
(World Vision's web is impossible to utilize right now due to heavy traffic. Use 1 800 777 5777.)

Why do I give? I don't really know.
Why do I vote?
Why do I voice an opinion on a talk show?
Why do I write a letter to the editor?
Why do I give up my seat to an elder or a lady?
Why do I pick up a piece of trash in the parking lot?
Why do I coach a little league team?
Why do I send money to a congressional seat in another state?
Why do I string my in-law's Christmas tree every year?

I'm an American and I feel lucky and blessed to hold that title. Giving is what most Americans do as a way of life as they do breath, eat and sleep. My little $50 donation will do little up against a death toll number that will likely reach into the hundreds of thousands. But the hundreds of thousands of Americans like me will make a big difference. And we'll all go about our days tomorrow and next month, picking up litter, giving up a seat for an old man and voting for somebody we trust.

That's why. -Wb

Later in the evening while watching the news I heard of the comment from the smarmy U.N. official who deemed the U.S. aid effort "stingy". Stingy? He's got nerve, not to mention a complete and total ignorance of the centuries old benevolence of the American people and their government. He belongs in the U.N.
More and more I'm thankful that that organization exists to give him and people like him a place to showcase their inaptitude and failed policies. This day and age of high speed and widespread information distribution exposes the U.N. and other destructive forces in this world for what they are... part of the problem.

And here's Jonah Goldberg's take about the U.N. and the U.S. stinginess at Townhall; http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/jg20041229.shtml

The New Hires

2004-12-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

Get some pants that fit. Pull them up. Tuck in your shirt. Sit up straight. Take off the hat. And dump the thug act.

I work in a $50 million per year retail department store. This time of year we need to hire extra people to work throughout the store. Lots of extra people. And the pickin's have been slim and disappointing.

You can't teach decent behavior to people over five. If your mother and father didn't give you adequate food, shelter, clothes, some good spankings and a lot love then you were screwed in the "friendly" skills by the time you reached kindergarten. Anyone who works in a retail environment needs first to be friendly as there are these critters roaming about the store giving us money called customers. Customers appreciate authentic friendliness. All other skills and attributes follow a salesperson's ability to be friendly. Any one who's tied their own shoes can be taught how to work a cash register, where the time clock is located and what the difference is between a pair of Levis and a toaster. But you can't teach them genuine friendliness, or decent character.

If you know of a young person out looking for a job you'll do them a huge favor by letting them know a few basic rules about getting hired, regardless of their formal education or work experience.

The first impression.
You're there to impress a business not yourself or your friends. What are the decision makers wearing?
Dress appropriately. Conservatively. In today's style. Wear business attire, even if the job being applied for doesn't require it. Shave. Brush your hair. Wear nice shoes.
Guys, don't show up in any office with pants on that are four sizes too big hanging below your ass and folded down your legs like empty duffel bags. No hats. No jewelry.You look stupid to the executive office staff who, you'll notice, are all in business attire and wondering why you're scrounging around your knees for your wallet. Girls, as nice as that tattoo is for your discerning boyfriend, it looks pretty trashy to the people your asking for employment. We also don't care for your toe rings, ankle bracelets, navel bars, nose rings, or tongue decorations. No bellies, backs, arm pits or bare legs, either. You're looking for a job, not a frat house.
Leave the kids, and boy friends at home or in the car.
Don't give the employer a reason to pass on you before you ask for the application.
Good penmanship.
It's another first impression. The person you hand your application to won't be the only one who reads your life story. (Unless, of course, you've dressed like a clown as discussed above... in which case you'll be politely turned away). Take your time, check the spelling, make sure everything is filled out accurately. If you can, take the application home and bring it back in perfect condition.
Availability.
Make yourself available. "Open", "Anytime", "Open to close" are all music to an employers ears. Use them. In retail, "Nights and weekends" are even lovelier words. If you're in school, be very specific about your class schedule and the time you'll need to study. Monday through Friday 9 to 5 doesn't exist. Businesses are open on most holidays. You're willing and able to work them all. Once on board with a business the quickest way to get thrown overboard is to limit your availability or alter it so it doesn't suit what the employer requires.
The interview.
I've never hired anyone I wouldn't want at my dinner table or in my car for a 1 hour trip. Hiring an employee is like getting a room-mate. Be honest, upbeat, interested, charming and polite. Sit up straight, hold eye contact and speak clearly. Offer a firm handshake not a dead fish. The employer is making a decision whether or not to trust you with their business. Their money. Their merchandise. Their customers. Their reputation. They've got about 15 minutes to make the decision. Should they trust you? Can they trust you?

Now go get a job! -Wb

Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge hosted by Spirit of America

2004-11-25T19:24:00.000-08:00

Support freedom, democracy and peace in Iraq

Please leave this page only after you've made a contribution to the Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge. The links are below. Wagonboy's Garage has joined a team of bloggers for this challenge and I don't want to be the punk-new-kid-on-the-block pulling up the rear. Make me proud! Grab the Amex/Visa/Mastercard and make a soldiers day a little easier and your own day a lot more purposeful.

Leading bloggers, (not me.. yet) are competing to raise funds to benefit the people of Iraq. 100% of all donations go to needs selected by these bloggers. Many of their projects support requests made by Americans serving in Iraq (Marines, Army, SeaBees) for goods that help the Iraqi people. Other projects directly support Iraqis who are on the front lines of building a better future for Iraq.

Make a donation from Wagonboy's Garage through; http://www.spiritofamerica.net/challenge/t/33

If you're another blogger and want to join the Spirit of America challenge do so through;
http://www.spiritofamerica.net/challenge/j/33.

It takes only minutes and lasts well into the future. -Wb

Some Things to be Thankful For

2004-11-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

For conservatives this year the Thanksgiving grace could go on 'til the turkey starts to decompose. Aside from the usual, and most important, blessings in our lives; our family, friends, health, home, and employment, the side dishes of our lives are as beautiful as they are bountiful. Here's a handful to get started:

The number one thank you on my list goes to the brave and noble men and women of our armed services spread around the globe keeping us safe here at home. Far from home and loved ones performing daunting tasks and selfless heroic actions because something inside them says they have to, and, they posses the heart and courage to follow this calling on their nation's behalf. Especially the Pat Tillman's of our great nation who've sacrificed comfortable lives so ours can go on in peace.

The American voter. A majority of whom weren't snowed by the spin and smoke of a wildly overwhelming onslaught from all corners of our culture and from around the globe. Freedom, security, faith and common sense still show up at the ballot box.

George W. Bush. A righteous president in a beautiful, solid and grounded coat-of-armor constructed of faith in God and in his fellow man who possesses a clearer picture than most leaders of right and wrong, good and evil.

John Ashcroft. Thank you Mr. Attorney General. We're all still here and accounted for. Enjoy your retirement.

Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney. They know what to do with evil and don't pay much attention to the P.C. winds in their face.

Senator-elect John Thune. He took on the senate minority leader and chief obstructionist and beat him.

The Red Sox. They made baseball fun to watch again and put to bed an unworthy curse. (And embarrassed the New York Yankees!)

Arnold Schwarzenegger. A year later and the battered leviathan of California is showing signs of a healthy turn around.

Swift Boat Veterans. Held their ground and restored the honor and valor of thousands of their fellow veterans living with heavy and quiet hearts.

Zel Miller. Clear eyed. Clear conscience.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board, Real Clear Politics, Hugh Hewitt, Victor Davis Hanson, and the 20 plus other places I go for news and information on the internet.

Michael Moore. His ability to drive voter turnout for conservatives is surpassed only by his ability to eat.

Saddam's capture and the elimination of his rabid sons Uday and Kusay.

Yasser Arafat. I'm Thankful for his current medical condition and that he's stabilized.

Osama's inability to function. I still think he's dead.

Afghanistan's freshman voting class. Freedom is for everybody not some of us.

The new congressmen and senators who gave us larger majorities in both houses of congress.

I'll thank in advance the two or three Supreme Court Justices who exit stage right and left during W's second term.

Halliburton. Thank you for providing life saving services and support to our troops and the brave men and women working within the coalition to bring peace and stability to one of the worlds hell holes.

Kofi Annan. For bungling so much in the U.N. that it's become impossible, for all but the most blindfolded, to view the organization as anything but a corrupt worthless body of blowhards, freeriders and grifters.

Kurt Busch. The only sports figure I've ever sought out an autograph from, (four years ago). At 26, he just won the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship last Sunday by 8 points. He and his team are a testament to staying cool under devastating mishaps and performing at 110% for 36 races. He made me right four years ago when I told my wife that, "He'll be the Cup champion soon." She doesn't care. She's still unimpressed

My boss, Michael H. He allowed me to have the day before Thanksgiving off so I can drive the fetching Mrs. Wagonboy and the Lad from So. Cal. to San Francisco and spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family for the first time in 22 years. In retail this weekend is the super bowl and I've never missed a play or pre-game preparation... I'm back in the game by noon on Friday, though.

And finally, I'm thankful for the six or seven people reading this blog so it's not a total waste of my time. Have a safe and restful Thanksgiving. God bless you. -WB

Rich Galen At Mullings.com

2004-11-19T18:57:00.000-08:00

If you're not on Rich Galen's e-mail list your missing out on some great weekly insights and humor. Sign up here,
http://www.mullings.com

Today he had a wonderful take on the Clinton Library wet love fest, including this little gem;

SIDEBAR
In an interview with ABC News Clinton is quoted as having said he never "lied to the American people about my job."
The man is a parsing genius.
Extra Credit Assignment: Pick a word - describing the movement of air - which, if inserted between "my" and "job," renders Mr. Clinton's statement wholly inaccurate

Please sign up for his weekly e-mails. -Wb

The C.E.O. As President

2004-11-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

It's nice having our White House run like a professional enterprise by a CEO rather than a high school yearbook committee.

Here's a good article by Fed Barnes in the Weekly Standard; -Wb
In the new issue of The Weekly Standard:
-Fred Barnes on Bush's second term:

President Bush always believed he would be reelected. So in the weeks before November 2, he repeatedly discussed with White House aides who should replace the departing Cabinet members in his second term. And decisions were made, pre-Election Day. Alberto Gonzales, the president's legal counsel, would succeed John Ashcroft as attorney general, and Margaret Spellings, chief White House domestic adviser, would take over for Rod Paige as education secretary. Another decision: Those planning to leave the administration at their leisure over the coming months would be asked to depart immediately. When Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Bush on November 11, he requested to stay a few extra months to tie up loose ends at the State Department. Bush said no, and Powell's resignation was announced last Monday. The next day, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was named as Powell's successor. If anyone thought the president would relax after an arduous campaign--I certainly did--they were wrong. The three prior presidents to win reelection (Nixon, Reagan, Clinton) had relatively skimpy plans for their second terms, but Bush has a breathtakingly ambitious agenda. To achieve it, he wants full control over his administration. He wants Cabinet members whom he knows and trusts. Thus, what an official calls "the Gonzales model" of dispatching White House aides or other loyalists to take over key agencies is being followed. The president also believes the new Cabinet officers should be installed as quickly as possible. That way they'll be ready early next year for expected struggles with Congress, recalcitrant federal bureaucracies, and opponents of America and of Bush's drive for democracy around the world.
The president hasn't listed his priorities for 2005, but it's not difficult to figure them out. Winning the war in Iraq and the battle against terrorists is number one. The second priority, given the likelihood of as many as three or four Supreme Court vacancies, is gaining Senate confirmation of conservative justices. Number three: Social Security reform. A bill is now being drafted at the White House to create individual investment accounts and to produce savings aimed at keeping the Social Security system from insolvency. Four, tax reform. Five, tort reform. Six, an energy bill that increases domestic oil and gas production. The list goes on . . .
Log on to weeklystandard.com on Saturday, November 20, to read the rest.

Delusional Liberals Keep Up The Good Fight. Please!

2004-11-18T21:43:00.000-08:00

I received a funny call from my sister today telling me of a cell phone conversation she had overheard while taking the ferry from San Francisco to Marin on her way home. A gentleman was on his cell phone talking to a lawyer buddy in Ohio who was actively working to get John Kerry elected once the states votes were recounted. He sounded very optimistic according to my sister. He said the issue was snowballing in the media and all over the internet. My sister caught the gaze of a fellow commuter who was listening in as well to the excited gentleman's conversation. They each rolled their eyes and gave each other a knowing smile. Let him keep swimming in his delusions.

I then came across this in the Marin Independent Journal and sent them a little note, (which follows the article). -Wb

Marin Independent Journal
The election that won't end: Democrats explore theory that Kerry Won
By Richard Halstead IJ reporter

Thursday, November 18, 2004 - The presidential race lives on for a group of Marin Democrats and liberal allies who gathered at a San Anselmo bar Tuesday night.
More than two dozen people turned out to share a beer and discuss the possibility that their candidate, John Kerry, garnered more votes than George W. Bush.
"This is something that is boiling over among Internet Democrats," said Paul Apffel, who serves as secretary to the Marin Democratic Party.
Marin Democratic leaders called the meeting after they received numerous calls and e-mails urging the party to act, Apffel said.
Thanks largely to Internet bloggers and liberal talk-radio stations such as KPFA and KQKE, Kerry supporters throughout the Bay Area are thinking the unthinkable - perhaps the election was stolen. The evidence they cite, however, is weak.
"What we can prove right now is that there is no proof," said Jim March, who sits on the board of Black Box Voting, a nonprofit that has led the way in questioning the security of electronic voting systems.
March said there is insufficient proof to say the election was stolen. There is also insufficient evidence to say that George W. Bush was the legitimate winner - given how easy it is to tamper with existing electronic voting systems, he said.
March will speak tomorrow night at a program organized by the Marin Peace and Justice Coalition. The event, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the College of Marin's Olney Hall, is being called: "Was our election stolen? And what the bleep can we do?"
March, together with author Bev Harris, sued Diebold Elections Systems alleging that the company made false claims about the security of its voting systems. Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Alameda County followed their lead with a similar suit. Last week, Lockyer announced that Diebold had agreed to settle out of court for $2.6 million.
"Basically, this software is tamper-friendly," March said.
Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael, has his own Diebold story.
Nation worked for the Kerry campaign in Ohio on election day. He said dozens of people called from precincts in the Youngs-town area complaining that when they tried to vote for Kerry their votes went to Bush. The voters said they were able to correct the mistake. They were using Diebold touchscreen voting machines, Nation said.
When contacted, Ohio election officials said they were aware of the malfunction, and it was a calibration problem, Nation said. He has spoken with members of the Kerry team, and they do not believe such problems were widespread.
The conspiracy theories were ignited by exit polls that early on election day showed Kerry with a substantial lead.
The director of the Field Poll, Mark DiCamillo of Mill Valley, said the early exit poll information was leaked onto the Internet. It was incomplete and therefore half-baked, DiCamillo said.
He explained that exit polls consist of two stages. The first stage involves interviewing voters throughout the day on how they voted. The second stage begins after polls close. A small number of votes are counted in representative precincts.
"The critics are the people who are saying, 'Why didn't the exit poll get it right at midday after its first tally of people who are leaving the polls at 7 in the morning?' Now come on!" DiCamillo said.
Those who smell a conspiracy commonly cite another anomaly. Many counties in Florida, where an overwhelming majority of registered voters are Democrats, voted overwhelmingly for Bush. It turns out, however, that registered Democrats in small Florida counties have been voting for Republicans at the top of the ticket since Ronald Reagan, or before.
"The fish gets two inches longer every time you hear the fish story," said Marin Democratic Party Chairman John Alden, regarding the effect the Internet has had on the controversy.
Alden said a lot of the outrage is coming from people who are to the left of most Democrats.
"I see a lot of people in the Green Party who are concerned about it," he said.
Ralph Nader has asked for a recount of votes cast in 11 New Hampshire pre-cincts that use Diebold's optical scanning machines. And a pair of third-party candidates in Ohio have collected more than the $113,600 necessary to force a statewide recount there.
Apffel says one thing is sure: Until voters feel confident that electronic voting systems are secure, they are going to continue to have doubts about election results.
Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead@marinij.com

My note to R. Halstead at the MIJ :

Kerry won. There's no doubt about it.

I'm writing to encourage the Marin Independent Journal to keep fanning the flames of this delusional bonfire which keeps the fever swamps of the fringe left warm and secure while at the same time providing costly busy-work. The longer they're lost in the mesmerizing flames of hate, despair and resentment the farther ahead conservatives can move.

Stay focused, lefty dead-enders! Kerry won and you'll prove it some how, some way, some day.

Michael Smith
Northridge, Ca

Time's Man Of The Year; If not W, Then It Ought To Be The American Voter

2004-11-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

Time magazine is conducting round table meetings with members of the MSM, talk show hosts, bloggers, commentators, international swells and know-it-alls of all stripes. Hugh Hewitt was one of those selected to hash out the possible selections among a table of varied opiners. He's written of the discussion and his choice (can you guess?) at, http://www.weeklystandard.com/

In my opinion, if it's not Bush then it ought to be the American voter. He turned out in record numbers, delivered a decisive victory to the presidents campaign and vision. He also ignored a tidal wave of idiocy and naked bias, and, did so without the forecasted turmoil, confusion and corrosive lawyering. -Wagonboy

Target To Salvation Army, "Bah Humbug!"

2004-11-17T17:28:00.000-08:00

Target Stores announced that they will not let the Salvation Army man it's famous red kettles at any of it's locations this Christmas season. The Salvation Army is one of, if not the most, efficient and effective charitable organizations in the world. They focus on the lowest of the low, the hardest of the hard and worst of the worst through a remarkable volunteer and clientele organization.
I like Target. We've got a housefull of Target things. I'm not setting foot in Target this Christmas season.
I've added The Salvation Army to my links on the left margin. Please send them a little gift this season.-Wb

Go here and send a letter : Target http://www.target.com/gp/homepage.html/602-0132005-6323826?
Go here and send a donation: http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/

James Lileks.com

2004-11-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Over at James Lileks' place, http://www.lileks.com/bleats/index.html, he's made two wonderful points. The first deals with our fourth estate and the need to turn the soil in that compost heap.
"The Administration is clearing the decks for the second term. Out with the old & tired,, in with new ideas, etc. How's about the mainstream media does the same? Burn up half the deadwood, ease the ossified elements off the stage, bring in new writers and editors and announcers and producers. If they can do it at State, they could do it at CBS.Yes, yes, I know. The State Department is just that. But CBS is the news."

Lileks nails it. If ever ever an industry needed a top to bottom shake-up, big media is ripe. The U.S. auto industry got rolled in the 70's, air traffic controllers took it in the shorts in the 80's, high tech got the slap down in the late 90's and took big accounting with it, so it's high time we tee up the media biggies. We'll start with Chris Mathews for this unbelievable comment/question on Monday night's Hardball show:

"Well, let me ask you about this. If this were the other side, and we were watching an enemy soldier --a rival, I mean they're not bad guys especially, just people who just disagree with us, they are in fact the insurgents, fighting us in their country-- if we saw one of them do what we saw our guy do to that guy, would we consider that worthy of a war crimes charge?" Chris Mathews, Hardball, 11/16/04

Read that again. I've highlighted the shocking stuff. You know, all this time I thought the terrorists we were fighting were immoral Islamofascist animals who behead innocent civilians on video for world wide distribution, strap C-4 belts to young kids for the purpose of blowing up packed public buses, high-jack and fly jets into buildings, murder children by the hundreds at school, torture and mutilate civilian aid workers, attack and execute Iraqi police recruits and wreak unspeakable acts of barbaric violence around the globe all in the name Allah. I was completely unaware that they're only mere "rivals", who "just disagree with us" and who are "not bad guys especially", they're just "insurgents fighting us in their own country". Wow. This whole Iraq mess really could have been avoided had we all possessed the elitist logic of moral equivalence that Chris Mathews has been anointed with.
Can his ass. He clearly wouldn't be disappointed were we to lose this war and live the life Israel has for the next 40 years.

And then there's the number two quote of the day from James Lileks:
"Oh, there's news; the cabinet shakeup is interesting. Yay Condi Rice. I want her to go to Saudi Arabia, and I want her first words upon getting off the plane to be "I'll drive." As for the Department of Education, I'd like to see an experiment: let the position go unfilled for four years and see if it has any impact on the educational abilities of the nation's youth. I'm guessing no one would notice if we didn't have a Secretary of Education. Everyone just keep on doing what you're doing, and get back to us." James Lileks, Lileks.com, 11/16/04

Those Eloquently Disingenuous French

2004-11-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

Friday's Wall Street Journal had the best set of Letters To The Editor I'd seen in a long time. There are five of them and each one tweaks the nose of The French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier who wrote "A Letter To America" on the Nov. 8th WSJ editorial page. I remember reading Mr. Barnier's hollow and patronizing blather last week and thinking to myself that his petite letter would certainly draw some good responses from the Journal audience. I wasn't let down. First Mr. Barnier's eloquently disingenuous article, then the five great letters carving it and him to pieces. My favorite is the second letter. Enjoy. -Wb

A Letter to America
By MICHEL BARNIERNovember 8, 2004; Page A14
I am writing to you as a friend of America. When I think of your great nation, the words "peace," "freedom" and "prosperity" come to mind. Together we have tirelessly promoted these ideals, which underpin our democracies, and -- particularly in the dark hours since September 11 -- we have relentlessly fought the terrorist threat that jeopardizes them.
I am writing to you as the citizen of a country that helped your country secure its own independence and later received your help, as faithful allies and liberators. The ceremonies of the 60th anniversary of D-Day were a stunning tribute to the American soldiers who fell in Normandy to win our freedom and that of Europe. Our destinies are intertwined. History demonstrates this, and economics proves it: two-thirds of your direct investment abroad are made in Europe, and Europe accounts for 75% of foreign direct investment in the U.S. In 2003, our exchange of goods and services approached $400 billion. France is the largest investor in U.S. stocks after the U.K. These investments represent about 650,000 U.S. jobs.
Because of all the things that connect us, I'm concerned about the campaigns against my country, and the recent surge of "French-bashing." There's a paradox here, since France is actually among your best friends in the fight against terrorism. Our intelligence experts work hand in hand and French special forces fight by your side in Afghanistan. Likewise, France is one of your most solid partners within the Atlantic Alliance. It heads NATO's operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan. It is the second-largest contributor to the NATO Reaction Force. In the end, the most inaccurate clichés are obscuring the most obvious truths. It is time to put a stop to it.
More generally, I'm concerned to see both Americans and Europeans expressing doubts over the future of transatlantic relations, and I'm troubled to see that Europe is misunderstood, if not scorned, in the U.S. The European Union is changing. It has opened to the East. Soon, I hope, it will have a Constitution that will make its institutions more effective and legitimate. It is in America's interest that Europe asserts itself as a powerful, reliable partner. As President Kennedy once said, the U.S. should see "in such a Europe a partner with whom we could deal on a basis of full equality."
Indeed, we have so much to do together to promote democracy, security and development. In the Middle East, first of all, where Europeans have long been involved. Let us recognize without animosity that the war in Iraq deeply divided us. The facts have been established and History will decide. But the important thing now is to turn Iraq into a real success story. France has no other aim. It will not send troops there but it is ready to help train Iraqi security forces and resolve the debt problem, and more broadly, to help prepare Iraq for elections in January.
We must also break the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is the matrix of a number of other conflicts, and serves as the pretext for numerous acts of terrorism. Let us not leave this situation unresolved and the Middle East without a future. Let us revive the Road Map and reactivate the Quartet. We must be ready to accompany any effort in this direction with financial support, but also with an international presence on the ground.
Iran is another priority. Out of concern for developments in the Iranian nuclear program, the Europeans have launched an initiative to obtain all the necessary guarantees from Tehran. This balanced proposal will have a greater chance of success if it enjoys firm American support. Alone, we run the risk of failure. Together we can succeed.
Elsewhere, we must continue working side by side: in Afghanistan, to consolidate that nascent democracy; in Africa, which brings together so many of the challenges of today's world; in the Balkans, so that its countries can complete their transition toward European-Atlantic institutions; and in Haiti, to put an end to the infernal cycle of poverty and instability.
Because we have common interests everywhere, we should have common ambitions. This is why I believe we must give a new impetus to our political relations. When it comes to defense and trade, instruments of cooperation already exist and work well. There's no need to invent new ones. The political dialogue between the EU and the U.S., on the other hand, is insufficient. The time has come to give it more substance. The U.S. election and the signing of the first European Constitution, now in the process of ratification, offer an opportunity to give new momentum to our political partnership. The Europeans, and the French first among them, are waiting for this. Why not convene a high-level group right now, consisting of independent, respected figures from both sides of the Atlantic to explore ways in which we can deepen our political cooperation?
America needs a capable, responsible Europe. And Europe needs a strong America, engaged in world affairs. Transatlantic cooperation has always been an essential condition for peace. Today, in a world that has become more unstable and more dangerous, our alliance is more necessary than ever. Let us make sure that it is able to meet the challenges that await us.
Mr. Barnier is foreign minister of France

The letters. Fire at will!
Ah, France, Ma Cherie . . . C'est FiniNovember 12, 2004; Page A13
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier wrote "A Letter to America1" on your Nov. 8 editorial page; in it he sounds sincerely perplexed by American reluctance to take France seriously. He suggested that America and the EU "have so much to do together to promote democracy, security and development." It's hard to imagine a more disingenuous statement -- no nation has done more than France to discredit, subvert and attack American foreign policy at every turn over the past two years, in the media, in the U.N. and at virtually every multilateral summit.
Americans are waking up to the true nature of this "faux ally": The current anti-Semitism in Europe is at its most virulent in France, even as a Palestinian celebrity terrorist on his death bed in a French hospital received tearful accolades from the French elite, and visits by the French president and other officials.
In such a context, can anyone take French protestations of concern over the Atlantic Alliance seriously?
Stephen CarterTaichung, Taiwan

France, my love, though I have missed you, I have not missed you much. Your language once lightened my spirit, but now, laden with vitriol, it is burdensome and saps my joie de vivre. Your behavior, once coquettish in its charms, now seems only venal, self-serving and, well, provincial. The occasion of a rendezvous, or as you suggested, a "high level" meeting, would have one day aroused my anticipation, but now, after so many false promises and such unfaithfulness, enlists only ennui in doing that which we have done so dispassionately so many times before. Though it is true we must remain together for the sake of those who rely upon us, I feel I must be honest and confess that you have, to me, grown old, and that I no longer find you attractive.
You can expect, of course, that I will remain discreet in my (d)alliances.
John WightPleasant Grove, Utah

In his letter, Michel Barnier poses a series of challenges to both the United States and France, urging that several "deadlocks" be broken to establish a more promising future for Franco-American relations. While his eloquence in stressing broad common goals and recalling past days of glory and amity is most welcome, he conveniently glosses over the very real issues that have created the wedge and the animosity in the relationship: France's failure to stand tall, to "be there" with an ally who has sacrificed much on behalf of the inheritors of Lafayette. As for bashing France, about which Mr. Barnier complains and demands that it stop, how should the average American assess recent French behavior?
France's interests are defined by President Chirac, whom I have known for more than a quarter-century, and implemented by members of his cabinet, such as Mr. Barnier. So long as Mr. Chirac believes that a strong America, assertive in the war on terror and determined to prosecute the war on global terror, is a presence inimical to the interests of France, one that needs to be restrained, there will be no effective dialogue.
Instead of sending indirect messages to newly re-elected President Bush, Mr. Chirac might profitably extend a hand, while interpreting French interests within the prism of shared interests. And Mr. Barnier might better advise his president to seize the opportunity to improve relations promptly, while the window of opportunity remains open.
Richard V. AllenWashington and Denver
(Mr. Allen was national security adviser to President Reagan and is currently a member of the Defense Policy Board).

Mr. Barnier finally got to the heart of the matter in his last paragraph with the statement, "America needs a capable, responsible Europe." Absolutely correct! When Europe becomes capable and responsible, please feel free to call. We had been waiting impatiently. And in case you might not have noticed during your prolonged fits of contemplating your navels and placating terrorists, we have decided to move on.
R. Douglas Hume, Ph.D.Kalamazoo, Mich.

Three cheers for Mr. Barnier's encouraging and supportive Letter. Given the post-election timing of its publication, one wonders if Mr. Barnier perhaps wrote two letters? One for an America with President-elect Kerry and the one published in the Journal. Notably, Mr. Barnier's message was equally as valid on Nov. 1 as it was on Nov. 9. However, his expression of support and cooperation for the U.S., while welcome, would have been more symbolically meaningful and politically powerful had he made it when the outcome of the U.S. presidential election was still undetermined.
Chris ScibelliLos Angeles

The Autoautopsy of Kerry/Edwards

2004-11-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

The multiple scenes of the crime are being cataloged, the many suspects have been fingered for interrogation and the blood is being mopped up from the buses, planes, offices, windsurfers and even a boat in Boston harbor. Some suspects have vanished, others are singing like canaries. The autopsy of the Kerry campaign is well under way and some of us watching from the gallery have our noses pressed to the glass relishing every cut.

From my seat in the gallery, the best forensics are being performed by the very people who are accessories to the death (suicide?) of the Kerry Edwards campaign. Kerry's people. Clinton's people. Kennedy's people. Jeeze! It's all elbows and assholes in there! It's actually turned into a zombie corpse that is now in the process of disemboweling itself. A self, or "auto" autopsy. It's not pretty or graceful to the observers, but self inflicted lacerations never are. Let's watch! - WB

From the New Republic, a center-left weekly, comes this brutally honest account.
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=%2FWAOQoLsGzQE5FcT6qGE0x%3D%3D

GOOD RIDDANCE CELEBRITY TERRORIST

2004-11-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

Champagne for all in my bed!

Last night around 9:30 I regained consciousness on the couch in the den for the fifth time and ceded defeat to the 9 year old lad by handing him the remote. He was allowed to stay up with Sponge Bob because there's no school today in honor of Veteran's Day. Up in the bedroom, I found the fetching Mrs. Wagonboy who had the TV on and was engrossed in some smarmy pretty-boy deciding on which fake blonde bimbo with activated airbags to take as his bride. Mansions, tuxedos, jewels, limousines, Barbies and Kents... it's uncanny how my life resembles this reality show, The Bachelor. She looked at me, then back at the smarmy-pretty boy and held her gaze there. I crawled into bed with her anyway just as the show was ending. One Barbie was sent packing from the show in a 56 foot long limo in which she was asked to share her feelings with the whole entire world. She seemed utterly lost and defeated and will likely commit suicide.

Mrs. Wagonboy began surfing through the channels at the top of the hour and zipped through Fox News for a nano second. "GO BACK! GO BACK!" I screamed. And there it was, affixed to the bottom of the screen, "Yasser Arafat dead at 75". It had been announced by a member of the benevolent PLO. I immediately bolted out of bed and hurried downstairs to get the champagne and glasses. All my commotion caught the attention of the lad so he turned off his cartoons and joined us upstairs for the little celebration. He's been taught about good guys and bad guys and Yasser Arafat was an appropriate individual for the lad to view as a bad guy.

"Why was he a bad guy?" He killed thousands innocent people and made his own followers suffer needlessly. He stole money, he lied and tried to claim land and territory that didn't belong to him by blowing up and terrorizing the people who live there.

"And he's gone now? Forever?" Yep, he died. "Good", said the lad. I gave him a sip of champagne. -Wb

The following are recent links about the murderous celebrity terrorist. Should anyone wonder why it's a good thing that he's taking a dirt nap pass these on to them.

*Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe highlights the terrorist's horrific accomplishments.

*The Zev Chafets in the New York Daily News has this glowing tribute of the murderous bastard's organizational skills which were allowed validation by the enablers of the West's lefties and the bankrupt U.N.

*Tom Gross , Aaron Mannes , and Jed Babbin all give the celebrity terrorist a proper send-off at NRO.

Somebody's Missing

2004-11-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

Has anyone out there seen or heard from Terry Mc Awful? The last I heard of him was an interview or press conference in which he said the Democratic party is now stronger than ever.

Just wondering. -Wb

I Can Smell Him From Here

2004-11-10T18:38:00.000-08:00

Arafat, the left's celebrity murderous bastard terrorist, has got be worm food by now. I can smell him from here!

He's probably been dead for a week. By now the damn flies are on their 3rd generation. Yet we're still fed several different versions of his demise. From death to conversations with Chirac to a brain hemorrhage to AIDS. (AIDS? So it'll be 72 virgin boys?) The one thing everyone knows he couldn't be dying from is the number one killer of French seniors, heat stroke, as it's always pretty chilly in Paris in November.

John Kerry is blown away at the masterful way Yasser's boys have been able to flip-flop between life and death. ("If only I'd thought of that I'd be President on the wings of the sympathy constituency! It beat Ashcroft once.") Another point for John to admire... Yasser's wife, Suha, is evidently prone to bursts of Tourette's syndrome just like Tereaza Kerry-Hienz. Man, she's tough when the account numbers are under assault. She's no wall flower, for sure, and would never qualify as a martyr's reward in heaven, but an estimated $3 B B B Billion net worth makes her a hot prospect for the Jr. Senator from Mass. And a bonus!, she lives in France! "Au revoir, mon cheri, Tereaza! I'm movin' on up."

I'm still holding the champagne until I see mourning in the the streets of Ramallah, a distraught Jacques Chirac, and the bottom lip of Slick Willy gettin' a good bite as he feels Palestine's pain. -Wb

Now Here's Some High Rank Gloating

2004-11-08T16:32:00.000-08:00

Back on Nov. 3rd I posted a piece titled "This Time I'm Gloating". Well, the text that follows is some real hard gloating and it's right on the money. It's by retired US Navy Admiral Dick Van Orden and from start to finish it's a real fist pounder. Pass it on. Wb

From a retired US Navy Admiral PARDON ME WHILE I GLOAT by Dick Van Orden

I am not normally a cheerful loser or a gracious winner. Whether its tiddly-winks or war at sea, I want to win, win, win! In fact, I hate to lose and when I win I sometimes want to rub the loser's nose in his defeat. After a sleepless night I feel just rotten enough that the past six months of lies and innuendos from the Kerry camp have it all come home to make me more vindictive than usual. As a result, I want to gloat. Here's why:
I am happy that the sound common sense of a majority of America's voters resulted in a solid victory for a true patriot-and in the humiliating defeat of a lying traitor. There was no doubt in my mind that Bush's truthfulness and forthrightness would prevail against the lies and half-truths of Kerry and his supporters, and I am pleased that a majority of good folks saw the light and pushed the Bush/ Cheney button for justice and for increasing support for the nation's bright future.
I am pleased that the left-leaning media-newspapers, radio, TV and newsmagazines-got their bell rung, but good. Now we are assured that these self-appointed "opinion makers" cannot pull the wool over the eyes of most of us, no matter how hard they twist the facts. Their early reporting of the "leaked" fraudulent exit polls, and their sponsorship of other badly skewed voter polls were designed to mislead voters, in which they failed-miserably. And Dan Rather deserves a special place in hell.
I am delighted that the fat, disgusting a-hole, Michael Moore did not achieve the success that he wished for and that he was repulsed by so many intelligent Americans. May his soul burn in hell. I hope the Hollywood friends of Michael Moore-especially Barbara Streisand, Whopi Goldberg, P-Diddler, and their friends-are roasting in the hell of their own making. It seems to me that they all offered to depart the U.S. if Bush won the first time, which they did not do. The time is now doubly ripe for their exit.
I am blissful that all the treasure and invective of George Soros devoted to defeating George Bush went for naught. I only wish for a financial future of similar poor decisions by Soros; I want to see him as bankrupt in bank account as he is in patriotism.
I find it particularly satisfying that the high ranking military suck-ups whose lack of integrity led them to desert their commander-in-chief and follow a lying cheat, even though they knew, or should have known, that his dismissal from the Navy was "less than honorable," as detailed in the military record that he refused to release. It is sad that such Navy types as Bill Crowe, Stan Turner, and even Jimmy Carter would be in that group. It is obvious that their motivation was the hope of a cushy job when their new-found knight in shining armor moved into the White House. Even their strategy was flawed, for Kerry is, and always has been, anti-military; he only used his military service-and those military "advisors"-for personal political gain. He would never have offered that cushy job, once he had used them, just as he never voted for the needed armament that they and their shipmates and their Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force brothers-in-arms needed so badly.
I am thrilled that the whiners who have complained bitterly about the "stolen" 2000 Presidential election must leave that fallacy in the past and now try to find something else to whine about-maybe they can even develop a fantasy that the four million vote plurality was a miscount, and continue their whining as they slink away into their caves.
It pleases me that Kofi Annan and the other United Nations sycophants failed miserably when they tried so hard to influence this election to ensure that a more pliable President Kerry would be elected. I hope they will now realize that either they clean up the bureaucratic, corrupt, do-nothing UN, or they will be short of funds when the Bush-led US decreases-or ends-its support.
I am overjoyed at the failure of Osama bin Laden's carefully timed video of invective against the US and its President in hopes of using Islamic scare tactics on the American people. Bin Laden's aim was to entice our voters to elect a new President who will not be as robust in his pursuit of terrorists and more willing to "negotiate" with Islamic Fundamentalists. He did not understand that Americans are not so panicky as the French, fearful as the Spanish, or unthinking as the English. (As for the Germans, they should know better; we have defeated them in battle often enough to convince them of the rightness of our ways.) I hope Osama dies in a blast from a bunker-buster before he gets a chance to make another video or another attack on our nation. The blatant attempts of European nations and the EU to cause our President discomfort in his efforts to bring peace to the world make me glad that they are so disappointed with the election results.
My joy is unbounded at the chagrin of the French and German and other anti-Bush, anti-American nations (including the people of the UK-but not their loyal and faithful government led by Prime Minister, Tony Blair). Now let those U.S.-sheltered Europeans worry about the end of American financial and military assistance when they have problems. Let them beg for American military aid and other handouts that have helped to sustain their economies. And let them perish in their own sweat when we remove out troops from Germany, the Balkans, and other trouble spots where we have pulled their chestnuts out of the fire.
I relish the hope that Islamic fundamentalists will now understand the election result as a blow from which they cannot recover. It fills me with joy that their dreams of world domination will be shattered by Bush's and the American nation's resolve to see them defeated and sent to join their Allah-without the 72 virgins waiting for them.
It pleases me more than I can say that the Senate Minority Leader, Thomas Daschle lost his seat. As the leading obstructionist for the Democrat party, he was primarily responsible for withholding approval of many Bush appointments to Federal judgeships, high-level positions, and other necessary personnel. Good riddance.
The demise of the junk-yard dog, loudmouth James Carville, also brings me great happiness. That happiness is further enhanced by the victory of the first Republican to win a Senate seat in Louisiana, Carville's home state.
I am delighted with the success of John O'Neil and his Swift Boat Vets-and with those thousands of non-Swifties who joined with them-on their forthright revelation of the truth of Kerry's service in Vietnam. They took a truthful but difficult position and made an impact-good and honorable Navy men all. Bush gets gentlemanly credit for not using them and their data in his campaign to demean Kerry, but the word was out that they spoke the truth. I maintain that they were the MVPs of this election; their testimony turned the tide against Kerry, and he never recovered.
And, finally, I must express my unbounded gratification at the defeat of Senator Kerry, a worthless Senator, anti-military extremist, lying self-promoter, and former Naval officer who disgraced us all. His traitorous collusion with the enemy is second only to that of Jane Fonda. He should have been court-martialed for giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war. His dishonorable quest for medals and a quick return to the US, where he turned against his shipmates and lied about their actions resulted in a less than honorable separation from the Navy. Jimmy Carter's amnesty allowed him to file for, and get, an honorable discharge 18 years after he left the service. He should have received a court martial.
While my thoughts may seem to be mean-spirited, do not be confused-they really are mean-spirited, as I mean them to be. I have suffered the tortures of the damned over the past year as I heard and read the lies and nasty remarks from politicians, citizens, and media "experts" about our President. I have barely tolerated the feeble but divisive attempts of foreign and domestic peaceniks to build a case against our war on the Islamic fundamentalists, who use terrorism as a weapon against us in order to intimidate out citizens and drive some of our gutless politicians to seek "negotiations" to avoid "confrontations" with those who seek to kill our citizens.
Most of all, I have seethed with anger at those who shamefully derided our military, blissfully reporting on their failures and neglecting their successes. They triumphantly celebrated our difficulties by running daily body counts of our own heroic men killed in battle with the enemy, even publishing their pictures in papers and on TV as if to mock the President who sent them to defend our nation. I have only disgust for such tactics. And those are the very same people who now plead for "united actions" in the House and Senate, now that they are in a steadily declining minority. I would advise our President to "watch your six" because these are really enemies and they are not to be trusted.
Four more years! How sweet it is!

Yasser, C'mon, You're Killing Me

2004-11-08T14:56:00.000-08:00

Is the murderous celebrity terrorist dead yet?

Good champagne shouldn't stay chilled for this long. -Wb

Encourage Their Cluelessness

2004-11-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

Now the fun starts! Reading and watching lefty after lefty explaining the election results, interpreting what went wrong, prescribing the necessary course of action for the future, and completely melting down over the simplistic idiocy of middle America and conservatives is great sport.

The outpouring of opinion and analysis from the left is flowing like a swollen river. In a nut shell, the anointed elite of the mainstream media, out-to-pasture liberal politicos, Ivy League tweed jackets, and Hollywood jackasses believe we're all a bunch of gullible bible thumping, gun loving, bigoted, flag waving lemmings who don't appreciate or understand the utopian benevolence of leftist politics.

These reflective and nuanced chin-rubbers of the left are completely clueless. And I'm glad about that. They can and will contort themselves into all kinds of post-election-analysis pretzels only to remain befuddled about the heart and soul of this country. The Pied Pipers of the Democratic party won't get it until they've fallen off the pier themselves behind all the rats who've blindly given them an impression of relevance. They'll continue to miss-diagnose their drubbing and that's a good thing.

So, whenever the opportunity presents itself, a good conservative should allow the flummoxed lefty plenty of time and space to air out his thoughtless diagnosis and, in fact, add credence and affirmation to his bent political compass. Pat them on the back and politely show them the way into the wilderness. "You're on the right track now, buddy. Bye-bye." -Wb

My November 3, 2004

2004-11-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

A wonderful night's sleep, great election results, a personal chat with Senator elect John Thune, and more good news of Arafat's eminent demise. I had a wonderful day off.

As I did four years ago, I took the day after the election off. I couldn't stay up late on election night, in fact, I was in bed at 8:11 PM after listening to Hugh Hewitt call the returns. I was so tired of the whole process by then. I'd already done my small part by making too many contributions to my selected band of conservative brothers across the country, I've improved the appearance of my truck with Bush/Cheney and W stickers, I've convinced a few Democrats to vote for W and I've cast my ballot at my local polling place. I've known my pick since I was ten years old and I've heard every side of every argument and issue. I had little energy and even less desire to stay up late to see the final sausage made out of this election. I wasn't going to miss much by getting 9 hours of much needed sleep.

Four years ago I took the day after the election off because I was confident that W would beat Al Gore like a bongo drum and I planned on driving up to San Francisco to surprise my father and celebrate the glorious victory. Dad's one of perhaps two castor oil Republicans living atop Russian Hill in the city known as Baghdad By the Bay so I felt he needed a partner to quaff a healthy number of adult beverages while reading the election entrails on TV. I worked out the surprise details with his wife to ensure they'd be home. I left Northridge after voting at 4 PM on election day and was somewhere near the Bakersfield turn-off when the Florida fiasco began to bubble. I contemplated calling Dad from the road to spill the beans on my intended surprise and then turn around to head back home. The news was horrible yet at the same time uncertain with hints of hopefulness so I pressed on. By the time I reached S.F. around 9:30 PM nothing had changed in the news reports. Dad was blown away by my surprise appearance, (well, actually he thought I was f-ing stupid), and the would be celebration turned into a late night vigil with a pop of the champagne cork for the GOP victories that did happen. I sulked out of town the next day around noon. The whole trip, with the exception of the face that said, "What the hell are you doing here?" was a bust. The whole next month remained a bust until a certain 5-4 decision, and even that was a hollow victory.

This year there would be no surprise trips to San Francisco regardless of the outcome. My day after goals were to wake up early, take in the election results through the narrowly cracked fingers over my eyes on TV and the web, do some last minute spelling quizzes with the little lad and get him to school by 8:05 AM. I met my goals and then some!

At 5:00 AM I was out of bed and in front of the TV with a big mug of coffee. I hadn't slept for nine good hours in years. By the time the lad and I walked to school at 7:45 AM the news was good enough to call it a win for W. The clip of Andy Card claiming victory sounded convincing to me so I got on the phone to call Dad, the brother and the sister. Throughout the day the results and exit polling data just kept getting better and better. The red / blue map now shows the dems inhabiting thin strips of turf on the coasts and up in the northeast corner.... We've almost pushed them into the ocean entirely. My new goal is to keep pushing. The marriage-is-for-boys-and-girls won in 11 out of 11 states where they felt the need to affirm this age old arrangement in order to stave of the marriage-is-ok-too-for-boys-and-boys-or-sheep-and-boys-if-we-want delivered by unelected judges.

My favorite win of the day, however, behind W of course, was John Thune in South Dakota showing Tom "I'm concerned" Daschle the door. AND!, I had the great honor of personally congratulating John Thune on Hugh Hewitt's radio show. Hugh announced that Thune would be on after a commercial break so I raced to the phone and was able to get through on the first shot. Hugh introduced Thune and congratulated him, Thune then thanked Hugh for all his support. Hugh then said that he had received tons of e-mail and calls about Thune's win and that he had someone on the phone who really deserved a personal chat with the senator-elect... "We call him Wagonboy! Michael in Northridge go ahead." I told Thune I was honored to personally congratulate him for beating Daschle and I looked forward to him popping the cork on all the legislation that's been bottled up in the Senate under Daschle's watch. (Or something to that effect!) It truly was an honor.

Aside from the gains in the House and Senate and the various GOP majorities and governorships across the country, the other good news of the day was the further decline of Arafat's health. I've had a bottle of champagne waiting in the fridge since the final game of the World Series when I first heard of his eminent demise. (See my earlier blog from that night.) Day by day that champagne is getting closer to my lips as Arafat gets closer to room temperature. As of this writing at 5:00 PM on 11/04 the price of oil is dropping because he's about to croak. Another major scab is about to fall off the Middle East and some long overdue healing will hopefully begin. The scar will always be there, however. -Wb

This Time I'm Gloating

2004-11-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

After the nasty, drawn out 2000 squeaker that had to pass through a 5-4 Supreme Court the general tone of Bush supporters was one of quiet reflection and reserved satisfaction. He didn't win the popular vote, the Senate was a tie, for a while, then a one seat Dem majority until 2002.

Not this time. To hell with quiet reflection and reserved satisfaction, I'm pounding my chest and I'll be thumping my finger on the chests of those who said Bush lied, he stole the 2000 election, he's an idiot, he's ripping up the constitution, and, Michael Moore has some good points. President Bush's overwhelming numbers and the house and senate gains provide ample ground for conservatives to stand on to blow their horns loud and proudly.

What were we up against? Let's start with the media... ABC, CNN, CBS, MSNBC, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, PBS, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, BBC, Boston Globe, International Herald Tribune, New Yorker, Time Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Village Voice. These are just off the top of my head, there's more, lots more.

What and who else did conservatism conquer yesterday? Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Madeline Albright, Kofi Annan, Michael Moore, George Soros, Bruce Springsteen, Ivy League Universities and liberal academia, MTV Rock the Vote, P. Diddy's Vote or Die, Barbara Striesand, Hollywood in general, nafarious and biased polling throughout the campaign and right on through to the exit polls, campaign finance reform, liberal 527's, Democratic election fraud, and MoveOn.org

But most importantly the United Nations, France, Germany, Russia, bin Laden and John Kerry were not given any semblance of victory or validation.

And for this resounding defeat of so many enemies it's time for, (as my brother, Dennis, said this morning), a wild- ass dance in the end zone. We've done the Emmett Smith thing in the end zone for too long. He would reach the end zone and calmly drop the ball then jog back to the huddle or sideline as if scoring touchdowns was what his job was. Well, in my opinion it's time to forcefully tell our opponents they're wrong. It's time to turn up the heat on partisan media, Hollywood, and anyone else who sees this country as a negative force in the world. It's time to forcefully marginalize any efforts that erode family values, public education and our legal system. We've got ground to stand on, we've got healthy numbers to back us up and we've got alternative avenues through the internet and talk radio to get our message out.

I'll be polite and considerate. I'll be happy. I'll be proud. And I'll be doing a wild-ass dance in the end zone 'cause we just blew them out in the Superbowl! -WB

Lasting Gifts of Democracies;Peaceful Relations

2004-10-31T07:20:00.000-08:00

An article from the Washington Times by Arnold Beichman points out an obvious reality of the human existence that John Kerry has never embraced or expressed in his campaigning. It's the bottom line / end game of U.S. foreign policy: Democracies don't wage war upon themselves. This simple fact is the foundation of our current posture in the Middle East and will be until the region is settled politically... Unless the current crop of liberal Democrats who are steering their party assume the reigns of power through a Kerry administration. Aggressively weeding out tyrannical despots, dictators and wild eyed imams in possession of land, populations and nasty weapons and nurturing the seeds of democracy in their place isn't likely to be a driving force of a Kerry administration.

Read Mr. Beichman's take. -WB

The Fox And The Hedgehog
By Arnold BeichmanPublished October 31, 2004

The reason I am voting for President Bush has to do with Archiolus, a Greek poet of the seventh century B.C. One of his surviving verses, begins: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." The line became the title of a famous essay by the late Isaiah Berlin. And the one big thing that Mr. Bush knows is that in a world of democracies we would come as near to world peace as human nature and the nature of interstate relations would allow. For since the first new nation came into existence in 1789, when the U.S. Constitution was promulgated, no democracy has ever fought a war with another democracy. And by democracy I mean, to cite Seymour Martin Lipset's definition, a political system with a peaceful transfer of power and a social mechanism to enable people to influence decisions made by public officials. And the first time in history that we witnessed a peaceful transfer of political power as the result of a democratic election was in 1800, when a defeated President John Adams gave way to a triumphant Thomas Jefferson. Let the nitpicking now begin about democracies as warmakers. How about Britain and the war of 1812 when British troops burned down the White House? Britain was not a democracy in 1812. The monarch decided who would be the country's prime minister, not the House of Commons. Britain became a democracy with the Second Reform Act of 1867. Let the nitpickers nitpick: The unvarnished truth is that no democracy has ever fought a war against another democracy. There were spats between Britain and the United States in the late 19th century, but they were resolved peacefully. There were spats between France and Britain in the late 19th century, but war then as today was out of the question. Nowhere have I found in John Kerry's speeches and interviews a recognition of this simple fact: a world of democracies would be a world at peace. That is why Mr. Bush was right to go into Iraq, not only because Saddam Hussein was a war-maker but because so long as his police state tyranny dominated the Middle East, no country -- whether Kuwait or Israel or Iran -- was safe from aggression. Just as Hitler's fascism meant war in Europe in 1939 and Nikita Khrushchev's communism in 1962 meant nuclear missiles in Cuba and Leonid Brezhnev's communism meant aggression against Afghanistan in 1980, so Kim Jong Il's nuclear-equipped North Korea endangers the democracy of South Korea and Japan. The only force that stands between North Korean aggression against democratic South Korea is that of the United States, because Mr. Bush has made it clear he will not seek United Nations permission to come to the aid of a beleaguered democracy. It is not that Mr. Bush is unreservedly for Israel in order to garner the so-called Jewish vote. It is that Israel is one of two democracies (Turkey is the other) in the Middle East and therefore deserves, like any other threatened democracy, the American umbrella. Sen. John Kerry simply doesn't understand the meaning of this concept, and for that alone he deserves to be defeated.
As for the Jewish vote, which seems to be a Kerry monopoly, the title of Irving Kristol's 1999 article in the Israeli magazine Azure speaks for itself: "On the Political Stupidity of the Jews." Wrote Mr. Kristol: "In Israel as well as in America, Jews to this day continue to combine an almost pathologically intense concern for politics with a seemingly equally intense inclination towards political foolishness, often crossing over into the realm of the politically suicidal." It is time for Jewish voters to stop running with the foxes and learn the one big thing of the hedgehog: A world of democracies is a world at peace.
Arnold Beichman, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, is a columnist for The Washington Times.

The Moon, The Sox, and Arafat

2004-10-27T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's about 8:15 PM here on the west coast. The Bo' Sox are up 3 zip in the bottom of the 8th, the moon is in the eastern sky behind the broad shade of Earth, and the terrorist Yasser Arafat is near death. What a night! I've got champagne ready in the fridge, and it's not for the moon or Boston.
My son and I are carving pumpkins and watching game four of the World Series. We're making periodic trips outside to check on the progress of the eclipse. Wow, what a sight! It's a little cloudy here so the effect is very dramatic. I'm also checking the web for signs of good news that Arafat has assumed room temperature.
Who knows who will take the terrorist Arafat's place is of little concern. The moment of his death will be welcomed around the world, (except in France, Chappaquidic, and the DNC / Kerry headquarters). I'll be celebrating his departure with a toast to humanity, to Israel and to the Palestinians who've had to suffer under his tutelage. Who wouldn't? The U.N. set up this thuggish murderer with plot of land and a population so despised that not one Muslim country offered to take them in. He turned his land into a nightmarish hellhole and convinced countries around the world to subsidize it. I heard on the radio today from a commentator that Arafat, if given Switzerland, could turn it into barren rock, squalor and death.
So good riddance, you evil rat. The world is already a better place as you breath less of it's air. Cheers, everyone! -WB

P.S. It's now 8:41PM and Boston has just dispensed with the curse!. Two down for the night, one to go. -WB

As I Called It, Kerry's No Average Guy

2004-10-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

As posted here on Tuesday, October 12 I made the claim that John Kerry would look like a fool trying to show the world what an "everyman" he is by riding the coat tails of the Boston Red Sox. Got to Oct. Archives and scroll down.

Go here: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1238772004 to read how Kerry couldn't possibly give a hoot or have a clue about his hometown ball club in the World Series, and therefore, ain't The Man he'd like us all to think he is. The Bo' Sox in the World Series isn't exactly an every year occurrence and the chance of them winning the World Series is so far 1 in 86. So, when they do make the big dance every guy in the nation with half an ounce of testosterone, at least one testicle, and who doesn't shave his chest has some modest conversational points about the Red Sox to contribute at the water cooler and on the bar stool. -WB

P.S.
The shotgun / Elmer Fudd thing didn't work for him, either.
Nor the Baywatch / windsurfing stunt.
Or the get-out-the-baggy-pants-slacker-vote / snowboarding gig.
Or the "I care" / Lance Armstrong yellow wristband.
Or the Praise the Lord, Bro' / Black church choir sing along.
Or the save-the-planet / Ford Hybrid circus car purchase.

This freak has to try too hard to get people to like him. Were it not for a national campaign, he wouldn't touch any of this with a ten foot pole. None of it. -WB

Mark Steyne: No Time For A Europhile

2004-10-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

Go here, http://www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi to read Mark Steyne's article on John Kerry, the war on terror and Canadian health care. Funny, maddening, and eye-opening. Here's the closing paragraphs: ( -WB)

"So this is no time to vote for Europhile delusions. The Continental health and welfare systems John Kerry so admires are, in fact, part of the reason those societies are dying. As for Canada, yes, under socialized health care, prescription drugs are cheaper, medical treatment's cheaper, life is cheaper. After much stonewalling, the Province of Quebec's Health Department announced this week that in the last year some 600 Quebecers had died from C. difficile, a bacterium acquired in hospital. In other words, if, say, Bill Clinton had gone for his heart bypass to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, he would have had the surgery, woken up the next day swimming in diarrhea and then died. It's a bacterium caused by inattention to hygiene -- by unionized, unsackable cleaners who don't clean properly; by harassed overstretched hospital staff who don't bother washing their hands as often as they should. So 600 people have been killed by the filthy squalor of disease-ridden government hospitals. That's the official number. Unofficially, if you're over 65, the hospitals will save face and attribute your death at their hands to "old age" or some such and then "lose" the relevant medical records. Quebec's health system is a lot less healthy than, for example, Iraq's.
One thousand Americans are killed in 18 months in Iraq, and it's a quagmire.
One thousand Quebecers are killed by insufficient hand-washing in their filthy, decrepit health care system, and kindly progressive Americans can't wait to bring it south of the border. If one has to die for a cause, bringing liberty to the Middle East is a nobler venture and a better bet than government health care."

The Slumber's Over. The Nightmare Begins.

2004-10-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

Ralph Peters has put up a piece in the New York Post, with all the subtlety and nuance of a nine pound hammer, comparing the terrorists of Old Europe to today's blood thirsty animals. The IRA, Red Brigade, and Baider Mienhoff terror groups were ultimately trying to change a political viewpoint or free a suppressed citizenry through attacks on government institutions and the politicos who inhabited those houses. They weren't murdering innocents as a means to their own afterlife in paradise with 72 hairy virgins. They, the terrorists of the 60's, 70's and 80's, were quite sportsman like compared to the salesmen of Islam peddling their wares across the globe today.
In Peters' article he outlines how Europe will be taking the brunt of attacks and carnage from it's own Muslim populations in the coming years. For it's in these ostracized masses in "Old Europe" that hate and resentment have been allowed to fester, and the blame for a failed civilization will be directed at soft, immoral, bigoted and vulnerable targets.
Good morning, Europe. Your nightmare is here. -WB

Here's the article by Ralph Peters: http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/32491.htm

Ellensburg? CWU? Manweller?

2004-10-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of the Ellensburg Daily Record? How about Ellensburg, Washington? Central Washington University? No? Well, how 'bout a guy named Matthew Manweller?

Me neither. Or is it "either"?

The most fascinating thing about the internet is the speed, depth and breadth that a solid piece of work will travel. (Solid crap seems to travel even faster, but we let it fly by.) Take for example an obscure piece of e-mail I received today from a friend in Arizona. Click, I open it and read it. I love it. So, click, ten minutes later it's passed along to my e-mail crowd. And so it goes and goes.

The piece below is a wonderfully salient little essay that points out where we've been, what we're doing and where we could be going after 11/02. In a nut shell; there's a long hard road to greatness,. or a soft and shameful road to mediocrity. The author is a political science professor, Matthew Manweller, at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. It was originally published in the October 6 edition of the Ellensburg Daily Record. We've never heard of the place, the school, or the man but he's made an impression far beyond the 103 folks on the Ellensburg Daily Record's mailing list! Enjoy and share with your e-mail audience... Click, you've shared something good. -WB

Election Determines Fate of Nation
In that this will be my last column before the presidential election, there will be no sarcasm, no attempts at witty repartee. The topic is too serious, and the stakes are too high.This November we will vote in the only election during our lifetime that will truly matter. Because America is at a once-in-a-generation crossroads, more than an election hangs in the balance. Down one path lies retreat, abdication and a reign of ambivalence. Down the other lies a nation that is aware of its past and accepts the daunting obligation its future demands. If we choose poorly, the consequences will echo through the next 50 years of history. If we, in a spasm of frustration, turn out the current occupant of the White House,the message to the world and ourselves will be two-fold.

First, we will reject the notion that America can do big things. Once a nation that tamed a frontier, stood down the Nazis and stood upon the moon, we will announce to the world that bringing democracy to the Middle East is too big of a task for us. But more significantly, we will signal to future presidents that as voters, we are unwilling to tackle difficult challenges, preferring caution to boldness, embracing the mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations. The defeat of President Bush will send a chilling message to future presidents who may need to make difficult, yet unpopular decisions. America has always been a nation that rises to the demands of history regardless of the costs or appeal. If we turn away from that legacy, we turn away from who we are.

Second, we inform every terrorist organization on the globe that the lesson of Somalia was well learned. In Somalia we showed terrorists that you don't need to defeat America on the battlefield when you can defeat them in the newsroom. They learned that a wounded America can become a defeated America.Twenty-four-hour news stations and daily tracing polls will do the heavy lifting, turning a cut into a fatal blow. Except that Iraq is Somalia times 10.

The election of John Kerry will serve notice to every terrorist in every cave that the soft underbelly of American power is the timidity of American voters. Terrorists will know that a steady stream of grizzly photos for CNN is all you need to break the will of the American people. Our own self-doubt will take it from there. Bin Laden will recognize that he can topple any American administration without setting foot on the homeland.It is said that America's W.W.II generation is its 'greatest generation'. But my greatest fear is that it will become known as America's 'last generation.' Born in the bleakness of the Great Depression and hardened in the fire of WWII, they may be the last American generation that understands the meaning of duty, honor and sacrifice. It is difficult to admit, but I know these terms are spoken with only hollow detachment by many (but not all) in my generation. Too many citizens today mistake 'living in America' as 'being an American.' But America has always been more of an idea than a place. When you sign on, you do more than buy real estate. You accept a set of values and responsibilities.

This November, my generation, which has been absent too long, must grasp the obligation that comes with being an American, or fade into the oblivion they may deserve.I believe that 100 years from now historians will look back at the election of 2004 and see it as the decisive election of our century. Depending on the outcome, they will describe it as the moment America joined the ranks of ordinary nations; or they will describe it as the moment the prodigal sons and daughters of the greatest generation accepted their burden as caretakers of the City on the Hill.

Mathew Manweller

Visit John Thune With Your Visa/Mastercard/Amex

2004-10-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Tom Daschle in South Dakota is running for his life and the life of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate. He's running for his life because John Thune is hunting this Class A obstructionist down very effectively. Hold your thumb and fore finger 1/8th of an inch apart. Thune is that close! Go here and drop a twenty on his campaign, http://www.johnthune.com/ . Buy a tank of gas for a get out the vote driver. Buy another gross of yard signs. Fund an hour or so of phone bank operations. Pay for the lights.

Experience true joy when you wake up on Nov. 3rd and hear that Daschle will no longer be serving in the U.N. Senate in small part because of YOU! -WB

P.S. If that's too specific a contribution give something here, http://www.nrsc.org/. Spread the wealth.

My Pick For the NASCAR Championship

2004-10-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

Today over at radioblogger, http://www.radioblogger.com/, the sight run by Generalissimo from the Hugh Hewitt Show, http://www.hughhewitt.com/, he discusses the presidential endorsements of the top ten drivers in the Nextel Cup points chase. His take on the drivers is a little weird, but he asks for your picks and / or opinions of the drivers and which one would you like to see win the championship. ( By the way, 9 out of the 10 support Bush. Go there to find out which driver hasn't supported either candidate)
.
Here's my take:

I've been a NASCAR fan since 1980 when I moved back to the states from Belgium. It's not often I can or will admit that to anyone.

My vote is Kurt Busch, #97 Ford. I hooked my cheers on him in 2000 because of Mark Martin and Jack Roush. I've been to approximately 20 NASCAR events and his is the one and only autograph I have of a NASCAR driver. I sought him out at Galpin Ford almost 4 years ago during a Roush Mustang promotion. Jack Roush took Mark Martin's advice and brought him into the Roush organization in 2000. He was bumped into the Cup series from only one year in the Craftsman Truck series... skipping the Busch series! I think I was one of 30 people who attended the autograph session and had him sign a Roush Racing hat and a Sharpie hat. I think I made a pretty good pick four years ago! That year he finished 17th in the points, then he finished 3rd in 2002, 11th in 2003, and now he's on top of the points chase just ahead of Dale Ernhardt Jr. He's been called a choirboy with a stiletto in his sock, and that's my kind of driver. Smart, quiet, cagey and not afraid of the rough and tumble. (How much more than Busch does Jimmy Spencer weigh?)

He's been in the top ten in points from the second race of this season. He's got brains for car set-up, crew communication and racing tactics well beyond his age and time behind the wheel. He's a gas to listen to on the in-car audio, very funny and brutally honest of his own faults. He's not a pretty boy like Gordon, Johnson, Kahne, or Mears. In fact, of the "young guns", he's the ugly, beedy-eyed dork. And he spells his name wrong, but it's still Bush!
-Wagonboy

Kerry to undocumented Haitians, "Vote for me"!

2004-10-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

Kerry recently demonstrated his haughtiness and, at the same time, his ability to be "down" with the underclass while addressing a crowd of Haitians in Florida. (This is evidently a major voting block of low hanging fruit that the Bush campaign has erroneously left for Kerry to capitalize on). Speaking in French to the crowd of Haitians, some of whom were there legally, he said what he's been saying to legal U.S. citizens, " I served in Vietnam. Vote for me". -WB

The Brilliant Victor Davis Hanson

2004-10-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

Here is the last paragraph of a wonderful, as always, piece by VDH. The rest of it is even better. Link and pass to the libs and any aimless, hand-wringing, undecided idiots in your world.

http://victorhanson.com/articles/hanson101504.html

"John Kerry is probably going to lose this election, despite the "Vote for Change" rock tour, despite Air America, despite Kitty Kelley's fraud hyped on national media, despite Soros's MoveOn.org hit pieces, despite Fahrenheit 9/11, despite the Nobel Prizes and Cannes Film Awards, despite Rathergate and ABC Memogate, despite the European press, despite Kofi Annan's remonstrations, despite a barking Senator Harkin or Kennedy, despite the leaks of rogue CIA Beltway insiders, despite Jimmy Carter's sanctimonious lectures, despite Joe Wilson, Anonymous, and Richard Clarke — and more. You all have given your best shot, but I think you are going to lose.
Why? Because the majority of Americans does not believe you. The majority is more likely to accept George Bush's tragic view that we really are in a war for our very survival to stop those who would kill us and to alter the landscape that produced them — a terrible war that we are winning.
When all is said and done, it still is as simple as that."
©2004 Victor Davis Hanson

VDH's personal link is on the left side of this page. Go there. Go there often. -WB

Something About Kerry

2004-10-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

There's something about Kerry. He's dirty.

The Mary Cheney line made me groan a little, but I didn't anticipate the big blow-back from it. I heard Mort Kondrake today compare it to Ford's moment in the debate with Carter when he made the statement that Poland wasn't under the control of Moscow in the middle of a broader comment. It took a few days for the nation to chew on that astonishing remark and it blew back on him pretty hard once it was digested.... not that he had a snowball's chance in hell anyway following Dick's term.

The remark by Kerry involving the Veeps daughter made me think of Trent Lott's doozy at Strom Thurmonds 100th b-day bash. Commenting on Strom's run for the presidency back in the dark ages under the Dixiecrat party, which was very much for segregation, Lott said in so many words, "...too bad he didn't become president, ol' Strom would have made a terrific president." Now Lott, filled with a few gin 'n' tonics, didn't mean at all that we should return to the days of segregation or that he favored any of the Dixiecrat platform. Far from it. Lott has an admirable civil rights voting record and a long history of employing minorities on his campaign staff. But the comment was made and Lott's mistake was not acknowledging it's utter stupidity and not immediately apologizing for it. It took him almost a week to get out from under it and by then it was too late. His own party threw him down not for the comment itself, but for the half-assed contortions he put himself in to justify it and for ultimately apologizing too late. It was a horrible, unintentional fumble.

Kerry's remark on the other hand was simply a stealthily concealed stiletto wholly intended to pierce and wound. He had it tucked away in his sock ready for use in just the perfect situation. Most talking points are packed close to the chest and ready for quick and easy applications in run of the mill verbal combat. Not this weapon, this ones personal and dirty and requires formidable skill. He didn't get away with it, though. Too many people are watching with computers and radios in real time with instant, well dissected replays. The smarmy comment didn't stand a chance, and the blade's been turned back on it's owner. In addition, everyone's lenses are, by now, acutely focused to read into Kerry's multi-faceted gems for any semblance of clarity or concealment.

The internet and today's flash media are like a pond full of piranhas. Only rock solid material stays whole, the soft and loose stuff gets shredded in seconds by an exponentially growing number of sharp eyes and fast fingers toiling away on a story such as Kerry's cut. -WB

Do they Serve Beer at Skateland

2004-10-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

My lucky wife gets to spend several hours with adults tonight. She's lucky enough to have meetings scheduled through 10pm. Then she gets to spend about an hour in the car driving home listening to music and reflecting on the day and anything else that tickles her fancy. I think she intentionally booked this night for late meetings.

Well, my fancy won't be too tickled tonight. I've got to take the lad to Skateland. It seems some sinister and evil cabal of parents have thought it would be fun to get his whole school together at an indoor roller skating rink in the San Fernando Valley. Think Chuckie Cheese but louder and the little cretins are on wheels and twice as fast. I'll be watching parents who don't look too good walking in wheel-less shoes try to look good keeping up with the tots out on a hard wooden floor to the beat of bad music. I'll be deciding whether to eat the pizza made three weeks ago in Riverside or the foot long pencil thin weenie. I'll desperately search the menu board for any hint of beer. It won't be there and I'll have to ask the multiple pierced zit farm in an apron just to be sure. I'll get stuck talking to the same mom I had to talk to at the Laser Tag place last spring. She'll pick up were she left off... (her son's a basket case and you're going to read about him in about ten years the same way we did about Jeffrey Dahlmer and Son of Sam).

I don't do well at these kinds of events without my wife. When she's with me at such functions we're ensuring a long conversation with St. Peter at the pearly gates to explain our uncharitable characterizations and judgments of our fellow human beings. But the fruit hangs so low at these places! The pitches are right over the plate and fat as melons! It's hard for us not to. Oh, I'll miss her tonight

Perhaps I can find a familiar disgruntled face among the parents and coax him into joining me on the tailgate of the truck in the parking lot for a couple of beers and a bag of burritos. -WB

Deconstructing Kerry's Case Against Bush

2004-10-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

For the three of you who have checked in on the blog today I'm encouraging you to click on the Victor Davis Hanson link to the left. He's posted part one of a two part piece by Bruce Thornton which thoroughly picks apart Kerry's assertion, (it may still be his assertion as of this posting), that it's the "wrong war, in the wrong place at the wrong time". It deals with the WMD, ties to al Queda, post battle planning, size and flavor of the coalition, and the canard that attacking Saddam was a destraction from the "real war" on terror against bin Laden. You may be able to pick it up directly by clicking here: http://victorhanson.com/articles/thornton101404.html . I suggest making Victor Davis Hanson's Private Papers web sight a "favorite" on you computer. -WB

Line Up The Shots! It's Debate Time!

2004-10-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

Buzz words and talking points will fly through the air tonight like a heavy bombing campaign. So to keep you interested and on top of the event grab your favorite adult beverage, hide the car keys, and settle in for 90 minutes of serious drinking.

You make your own rules for this game. Here's some sippin' suggestions.

I will fight for....
Halliburton
healthcare
environment
stem cell
I've been totally consistent...
big oil
radical judges

I'll be enjoying the dark flavors of a great Mexican beer, Negra Modelo .

Bottoms up! -WB

P.S. Ooops. I already cheated.... I've gone and sipped my beer and they haven't even taken the stage yet.

Boston or New York?

2004-10-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

Do we root for New York with all the predictability of the sun rising in the morning? Or, do we root for Boston with all the predictability of the sun setting each evening and therefore root for John Kerry's team?

If Boston makes it into the series John Flip Kerry will be throwin' first pitches, (like a girlie-man). He'll get lots of air time sitting in nearby box seats, (having the game explained to him by the owner of the seats and which team are the Red Sox). He'll be interviewed about his love for the game and his hometown team, (explaining in great detail how he'd been present for each of the four World Series championships the Red Sox had won since his first term in office). He'll be asked about his most memorable Red Sox moment, (which was "Kirk Buchner's homerun off Rollie Carlton in the bottom of the 9th to win the series in 1968. I was in Vietnam, (I served heroically, you know?) listening to the game on Armed Forces Radio Network while going up river into Cambodia. It was tough. That memory is seared, seared in my mind").

The prospect of Boston in the World Series and the elite, pompous John Kerry working his ass off to assure the nation he's a regular guy with proper testosterone orientation is worth my cheer.

Go Boston! -WB

The Nuanced nonsense of a Nuisance

2004-10-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

So the long faced senator from Massachusetts would like to return to the good ol' days when terrorism was just another "nuisance" like another day to day inconvenience that we deal with with just a shrug of the shoulders and a resolute response such as "Gee, that's too bad."
As I, and the vast majority of Americans, see it, that's how we handled terrorism on September 10, 2001. That's how we handled terrorism for the prior 20 + years from that date. And the ironic thing about our handling terrorism as a nuisance for the last two decades, is that the terrorists viewed our tepid and inconsistent rebuttals to their carnage as a nuisance.
George W. Bush is the first president to treat terrorists and the states that sponsor them as enemies that need to be eliminated. Killed. Dispatched.
Granted, 9/11 accelerated and hardened W's proactive responses. But since 9/11 Senator Kerry has failed to demonstrate an articulate, basic grasp of the threats at hand and the logical aggressive posture to take as a nation to protect ourselves. His nuance, his plans, his hair, his V.P. selection, his record for the last 30+ years and his wife, (who only opens her mouth to change feet), are all nuisances we can do without in the oval office. -WB

The Bar Scene on the Kerry Campaign Trail

2004-10-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

Kerry was out in front of the microphones today with his traveling press pool. He was answering questions off-the cuff. Tonight, as is the case every night when the good senator speaks to reporters, the traveling press pool will be gathered in a hotel bar with a huge task ahead of them. They'll pour over their notes and pour drinks until the piano player leaves. They'll outlast the regular hotel guests, the busboy and all but one poor waitress and the bartender. By 1:00 AM they will have congealed around a group of small tables pushed together to hash out just what Mr. Kerry had said that day. It's a daunting task. Un-contorting Kerry's remarks and then contorting them into an entirely coherent message for the next 24 hour news cycle must require a coalition of efforts among the major media outlets. It must also require volumes and volumes of hard liquor.
It can't be much fun for them any more. It can't be good for their livers, either. Poor bastards. -WB

Again, we'll re-hash it for the slow ones

2004-10-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Another report on the pre-war intelligence, another hearing, and another rush of the ankle-biters and hindsighters to the microphones to denounce the president while the country is in a war footing. And yet another chance for John Kerry to make a complete fool of himself. How one man can so confidently and authoritatively get it all so wrong is remarkable and at the same time frightening. W needs to shut him down hard and thoroughly. To hell with the "new tone" and compassionate conservative stuff. For one night, Friday, W could take some time off and address this punk. There's a rat in the kitchen and it needs to be dispatched.

Let's go over the major points again for the kids who arrived in the little bus being driven by Mr. Kerry.

Saddam is accountable for the deaths of millions of people. Mostly Arab. Mostly Muslim. Mostly innocent.

Saddam has attacked or threatened to attack all of his neighbors.

Saddam had the French build a nuclear plant in which he began to produce weapons grade nuke material.

Saddam used chem/bio weapons during the war with Iran.

Saddam used these same weapons on a population within his own borders.

Saddam harbored foreign terrorists.

Saddam had direct links to and harbored known al Queda operatives.

Saddam, is alleged to have been bin Laden's financier after bin Laden's family froze his accounts and assets and kicked him out of Saudi Arabia back in the mid 90's.

Saddam attempted the suicide of an American president.

Saddam sent huge sums of money to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers into Israel.

Saddam flouted every U.N. Security Council resolution crafted to contain him.

Saddam fired upon coalition aircraft patrolling the U.N. imposed no-fly zone.

Saddam was actively pursuing development of WMD.

Saddam has WMD's according to Interpol.

Saddam has WMD's according to French intelligence.

Saddam has WMD's according to German intelligence (and their business community!)

Saddam has WMD's according to Russian intelligence.

Saddam has WMD's according to Egyptian intelligence.

Saddam has WMD's according to Israel.

Saddam has WMD's according to Saudi Arabian intelligence.

Saddam has WMD's according to Madeline Albright.

Saddam has WMD's according to Bill Clinton.

Saddam has WMD's according to Colin Powell.

Saddam has WMD's according to George W. Bush.

Saddam has WMD's according to John Kerry.

Saddam did not fully cooperate with the U.N. weapons inspectors.

Saddam kicked the U.N. weapons inspectors out of Iraq.

Saddam directed funds from the U.N. oil for food program back into his weapons programs and military.

Saddam failed to comply with the final U.N. resolution.

Saddam bribed France, Germany and Russia via the oil for food program to vote against the war on Iraq.

France, Germany and Russia accepted his bribe.

Having seen the world change just a wee bit back on September 11, 2001, and not in the mood to put up with a known threat for one more minute, W pulled together the best posse he could and set out on the war on terror. The first stop after wiping out the Taliban in Afghanistan was to rip this murderous bastard in Iraq out of the community of nations. W and his coalition accomplished this goal and set out to continue the war on terror where terrorists crawl. The fact that WMD's have yet to be found in Iraq should raise the questions, "Where are they? Who has them?", not questions of the integrity of the president of the United States. Only a weak, indecisive, irresponsible and shortsighted president would have allowed Saddam to remain in power following the lessons and hard facts that came to horrible fruition on September 11, 2001.

That's why more than 1,000 American service men have died in this war. That's why we're killing, capturing and sitting on terrorists in over 100 countries and on the high seas. That's why Saddam sits and sleeps next to his stainless steal toilet and sink tonight. -Michael

It's A Pleasure to Meet You At Last

2004-10-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

Although they apparently met approximately 3 years ago at a prayer breakfast, Cheney's line about meeting the senator for the first time tonight in the context of Edwards' attendance in the Senate was lethal. Cheney was telling us Edwards is all feathers and no bird. A peacock. He struts around place looking fabulous. Period. Not much good for anything else. While guys like Cheney and a healthy number of senators actually do show up and get something done.
We all know guys like Edwards. They're peacocks. Smooth and good looking. Quick to display all the latest inside lingo and buzz words. They know who does what, who eats with who, who said what about whom. They can jump in and out of any conversation anywhere in the food chain. From the shop floor to the boss's suite they morph as need be to fit in and appear to be a valuable part of the enterprise displaying their fabulous feathers.
However, ask anyone in the enterprise to tell you what value the peacock has contributed, or, tell you what measurable achievements the peacock has on his resume.
The answer would be, "Well, let's see.... he's a great guy. So good looking. What plumage! We all just love him.... fun to be around, really."
You press on. "But what does he do? What has he done"?
"A lot, I suppose. Seems pretty busy and up on things to me".
"You really can't tell me anything about his accomplishments or contributions to this organization, can you?", you demand.
"Well, no I can't, come to think of it. He's just, you know, everywhere and, like, does stuff. He must be good at it, though.... they keep letting him do whatever it is".

Back to that prayer meeting 3 years ago when Cheney and Edwards first met. Here's what happened. Mr. Cheney was seated when he saw a guest of his table returning from the powder room. As he stood to hold her chair his napkin fell to the ground. Just as he was picking it up a good looking young man was coming towards him reaching out his hand. "Oh, why thank you." said Vice President Cheney, as he handed Edwards his soiled napkin. "I will need another one 'cause I just spotted some of the best looking cinnamon rolls in Washington. Don't tell my wife, heh-heh-heh." And off they went, never to meet again until October 5, 2004.
It's completely understandable how the Vice President wouldn't have remembered their encounter from 3 years ago. He is, however, acutely aware of his heart condition though. -WB

You know, this internet thing could really take off.

2004-10-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

How did this happen? I'm sitting at the computer sending an e-mail to world famous radio host and blogger Hugh Hewitt about the presidential debate last Thursday evening. He fires one back telling me it's a good piece and that I ought to create a blog for myself. And he added, "Carol Platt Liebau did today after a lot of heckling. Get moving, Hugh"
So here I am. Some anonymous dude with a key board and an address and faint desire to throw out a thought, opinion or observation to anyone who wanders by.
Now all I have to do point this hot rod in the right direction and step on it.
By the way, you can find Hugh Hewitt at www.hughhewitt.com/. The Hugh Hewitt Show is, in my opinion, the best talk show on the radio for above the belt conservative commentary with a mentally nutritional balance of other worthy pleasures in life. Give him a test drive.
I suppose Carol Platt Liebau's blog deserves a plug here, too, as that's where I found out how to create this time consuming activity to my already consumed life. http://carolliebau.blogspot.com/.
More to come on the name Wagon Boy... (Unless you want to open your book by Hugh Hewitt, If It's Not Close They Can't Cheat... to page 125, Chapter 21 "GIVE UNTIL IT HURTS".)
Yes indeed. This internet thing could really take off. -WB