Treason!

The New York Times egregious revelation of the Bush administration’s legal but covert policy concerning the tracking of terrorist funds worldwide is rightfully being called treason by many.

The truth is that if these reporters had given this information directly to Osama and his henchmen under cover of night they would have been jailed without question. But because they enlightened the whole world at once about this up till now successful counter-terrorism measure they’re protected by a lack of specific motive to tip off the enemy. Of course Al Qaeda will get the info, but indirectly enough to cover the political asses of the arrogant fools dressed as editors at the Times main office.

While I sympathize with those in and out of government calling for a criminal investigation of those reporters and editors responsible, it isn’t the proper way to handle the situation. The press is free in this country and no one from the Times will ever pay for this crime. It just won’t happen. But there is a better way-

It’s time to vigorously investigate, find, and bring treason charges against those in government that choose to leak this stuff to the irresponsible journalists currently roaming the halls of many of the major press outlets. There has been a systematic leaking of sensitive material out of the Departments of State, Defense, and others over the last couple of years that can lead one only to believe that there are elements of the permanent bureaucracy that are actively working to undermine the Commander-in-Chief at a time of war. This is treason, plain and simple.

The leaks are more than likely coming from disgruntled lifers who have a moral problem with current foreign policy. They almost assuredly view themselves as heroic whistleblowers but they are nothing of the kind. They are rogue elements with delusions of grandeur convinced that there judgment is more enlightened than the judgment of those they serve.

These people may be smart but what they forget is that they are not elected. They are bureaucrats who have no right to circumvent or attempt in any way to short-circuit any policies coming out of an administration that they disagree with. The administration has the right to be wrong because they were elected to make policy by the citizens of the country… and they were elected twice to boot.

Forget about the idiots at the New York Times. Make an example out of a couple of lifelong pencil pushers in D.C. by sending them to serve hard time or suffer the death penalty for jeopardizing the security of the nation- and you’ll see the leaks dry up real quick.

Fast Heart, Weak Stomach

Well it was bound to happen-

I’ve had a lifelong love affair with racing (well okay, I fell out of love with it from the age of 15 until I was 37, but it has colored my life.) But I’ve had a completely lifelong battle with a weak stomach. These are two elements of a man’s life that are bound to cross paths sooner or later.

When I was a kid, getting carsick was nearly synonymous with taking a ride in the car. As I got older the switch to the front seat cured most of my motor-induced queasiness. To this day a ride in a backseat is still an all but certain predictor of stomach trouble. My stomach is weak and my head and heart love to go fast. Trouble-

Jesse Dupree called to let me know his buddy’s racing experience school was down at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and that I was invited. I didn’t think much about the trouble my stomach’s been giving me lately. I only thought about the idea of strapping into a cup car and being allowed to go up to 170mph, and when he told me to bring along my visiting brother-in-law you couldn’t have kept me away from the track. I would live at the track if I could.

The first red flag cropped up while driving back from the Saturday show on WGST. My tummy felt funky. It was full of coffee and Red Bull and nothing else. “I’ll eat a sandwich when I get home,” I thought. “I’ll be fine.”

We got to the track and everything was great. Jesse introduced me to Kelley the owner of the Speed Tech Auto Racing School. We took the short pre-drive class, suited up and got strapped into our cars. I had been reminded of my stomach plight on the drive down, but once I’m in the thick of things my mind is focused on driving.

I had only done an average of 156mph previously at AMS when I did the Petty School. Jesse and Kelley promised that I’d get up to 165 or 170 if I had the balls. I pulled out of pit road, took it to the track, and jammed the accelerator to the floor as hard as I could when coming out of turns 2 and 4 for 10 thrilling laps. After getting the checkered flag I began to coast it home and slow it down and that’s when the trouble started.

The god-awful heat and just experienced G-forces began conspiring against me as I brought the car to a gentle stop in front of one of the instructors on pit road. I knew I was woozy so I got the helmet off and got out as quick as possible. I thought some fresh air would be the tonic I’d need to settle my little tum-tums. But as I walked back behind the pit wall and sat down- it happened.

It’s funny- when you vomit you don’t care who’s there or who’s watching. It wasn’t massive and I was as discreet as possible, but I left about two and a half heaves of red bull, coffee and the remnants of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich right there behind the pit wall.

The good news is I did break 165mph. I have the nads. I just need to work on the grace.

Thanks to Jesse and Kelley for giving me the chance to go fast. I had a lot of fun, but I’ll try to lay down some 'cleaner' laps next time around.

What Makes Them Different

Like so much of the news coming out of this war in Iraq, the knee-jerk responses I was exposed to in the wake of the capture and subsequent mutilation of two of our boys at the hands of the enemy were mostly extreme and off the mark.

The Left’s insistence that it’s the latest evidence of a situation gone mad, an entrenched mess that we should abort as soon as possible, is only slightly more delusional than those on the right who lack the ability to admit that this cuts deeper.

Yes, my friends on the right-
People do die in war and we have to toughen up… yada, yada, yada. But death on the battlefield and desecration are different things. I don’t look forward to finding out exactly what was done to Privates Thomas Lowell Tucker and Kristian Menchaca. The early reports from the military were so deliberately vague, such a fumbling for truthful yet respectful words that the picture of a sadistic blood-bath is the only image that conjures with resonance.

I know we have the best army stocked with the best trained soldiers in the history of the planet. But I don’t believe there is any training that can prepare a man for the mental shock of any sort of prolonged torture. This wasn’t torture for a purpose- to elicit pertinent information then throw the prisoner back into the gulag until future information is needed. This was torture for sport. The outcome certain, only the nature and number of horrific minutes to be endured was left in question.

In the hands of madmen half a world away they were forced to pay for sins attributed to us. They were our kids martyred in our name.

And to my friends on the Left-
We must respond with strength in order to bring these psychopathic monsters to justice. This insurgency is not a legitimate resistance to our current guardianship of the Iraqi territory.

These are hucksters, charismatic leaders and brainwashed zealots that will never tire of killing us. They have no interest in coexistence. They have a mission, cynical at the top, feverish in the ranks, to wipe the earth of the Infidels. And you and your loved ones are all Infidels. Everyone you know is an Infidel. It doesn’t matter who you voted for in 2004, or how many anti-war rallies you’ve attended. You’re an Infidel until you acquiesce to the desires of their version of pop stars, the mindless clerics that bring blood, anger, and ruin to everything they touch.

Why is it so easy for liberals to identify the inherent dangers of religious fundamentalism here at home, but utterly fail to recognize the true menace posed by it’s out of control cousin in the Middle East?

Thomas Lowell Tucker and Kristian Menchaca are the closest thing to martyrs this country will ever have. To them is owed a special place in our hearts and minds. They were humiliated and desecrated for being just like us- And we are duty-bound to resolution through victory if we are to be honored enough to be seen as just like them.

2004

I started this blog hoping I'd have the balls to let it get odd. So here's what I wrote today. Are they lyrics? Is it poetry? Who gives a damn?

2004

She knew where to find me
Long after the show
Her smile was a whisper
Her face was in tow

She said-
Zero the soul
To lose the coil and coal
And just remove the feared
‘Cos everybody’s weird

She said-
Some friends are like drugs
A knife, a look, and a cross
Light is the upside of dark
And found- the flipside of lost

But-
Treason pushed deep in stone
Will leave a print that’s made of bone
And a sailor’s crooked bait
Hooks a loser the winner’s hate

She said-
Grammar is sanctuary
From the roller revolution
Life springs important
Then recedes to institution

So-
File fortune under F
And carnage undersea
Fall backward into death
Counting sheep until you’re free

Universal Ignorance

Here’s a small item that fascinated me.

While reading through James Taranto’s daily Wall Street Journal blog I came across this snide comment:

"Apparently, there are many, many universes," goofball general Wesley Clark told an Angry Left convention in Las Vegas recently, according to The Weekly Standard. "And we're in this one."
We're not sure which universe Clark is in, but the guys at TruthOut ("That's where we keep it") live in an alternate universe in which Karl Rove is under indictment in connection with the Valerie Plame kerfuffle.

Now, I read this blog more than most precisely because the guy has a good nose for sniffing out politically correct B.S. and all that- but this cosmic blow off shows that almost everyone is afflicted with a personal voodoo that will sooner or later serve as an intellectual blinder.

I’m no fan of Wesley Clark but what he’s talking about has validity. The best science is leading in the direction of multiple universes that exist within a framework of 11 dimensions.

Check out this article link- then come back.

A theory is just that… but some very smart people are telling us that the math and physics is leading them in this direction whether they personally like it or not.

Sure, it’s a wild, mind-blowing concept. But is it really any stranger than the idea that somebody was nailed to a cross in order to give us the choice to believe in him, and thereby save our souls? As bizarre theories go, the major religions can’t be beat.

You can make your own choice in these matters, but the arrogance displayed in the type of smug attack in Taranto’s blog is just galling.
To me anyways-

BTW:
If Jesus knew everything, why didn’t he tell people that the world was round and was orbiting a typical star in a vast galaxy? It was just as true then as it is now. Surely he would know… right?

Anderlina!

What happens when a self-important actress wants credibility and the granddaddy of 24 hour network news desires to be seen as cool and happening? Angelina Jolie appears on Anderson Cooper 360 for, as the CNN promo puts it, “her first interview since the birth of Shiloh.” That’s what happens.

It should come as no surprise that the woman who longs to be more than just another starlet is hooking up with the guy who longs to be so much more than your average news reporter. On his daily blog at CNN.com he takes pains to point out his own motivational innocence:

There are a lot of ridiculous stories circling on the Internet, spread by alleged "insiders" who claim that CNN or its parent company Time Warner somehow paid for the chance to talk to Angelina. These anonymous "sources" claim that People Magazine and CNN had some kind of joint deal to secure rights to photos and the interview.

I have no idea what People Magazine did or did not pay for those photos of the Jolie-Pitt family. It's been reported they paid as much as $4 million, which was donated to a variety of charities in Africa, but I have no way of knowing if that is true or not. What I do know is that CNN did not pay anything -- directly or indirectly -- to get Angelina Jolie to sit down for an interview.

And he waxes eloquent about his up-to-now misunderstood interviewee:

A lot of celebrities have causes and show up to talk about them when cameras are around, but the truth is that Angelina Jolie knows what she is talking about when the subject is refugees. To use a cliche, she doesn't just talk the talk, she walks the walk. She has traveled to some 20 countries over the years as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and she says she donates one-third of her income to charitable causes.

I'm not sure what I expected before I met her, but to say I was impressed would be an understatement. She is smart, funny, self-deprecating, and intensely passionate about her children and her work on behalf of refugees.

Yes I’m sure the collagen-laden thesbian is charming, and who knows, maybe even well informed. But there is something kabuki-like in this dance between preening personalities. They need each other. Saint Angie needs news cred to be taken seriously on her pet causes while Cooper continues his histrionic attempts to be seen as hip- not your father’s TV reporter, and all that nonsense.

I won’t actually watch the thing. But it is comforting to know that the beautiful people are getting together to chat… and save the world.

The Logic Train #1

Fact:
There are 125 Billion Galaxies in the universe.


[Perspective- That means there are nearly three times the number of galaxies in the universe as there are dollar bills in Bill Gates' net worth.]

Fact:The galaxy you live in (The Milky Way) is 100,000 Light years wide and it's only one of those aforementioned 125 billion.


[Perspective- The speed of light gets you to the moon in one second. So traveling at that speed it would take you 100,000 years to get from one side of the Milky Way (just one in 125 billion out there)to the other.

Fact:
92 to 93% of the universe is comprised of empty space.

Conclusion #1
The universe covers a lot of territory.

Conclusion#2

In the grand scheme of things the events surrounding these two probably doesn't matter much.

Hugging the Tar Baby

The endless punditry following the president’s surprise visit to Baghdad seemed to focus on two parallel tracks. Most of the commentary concerned either the impact it would have on the standing and legitimacy of Iraq’s new government or the affect it may or may not have on Bush’s poll numbers here at home.

On Track #1:
Bush’s war summit switch-a-roo is designed to, and I think, will have a solidifying effect on Prime Minister al-Maliki’s fledgling cabinet. There is a lot of work yet to be done- the Constitution needs to be amended to guarantee security and a fair share of oil revenues for the Sunni population, militias of all stripes need to be carrot & stick-ed off the streets and into the military proper, and the insurgency has to be vanquished, to name just a few of the difficult matters to be resolved.

What has to be remembered about the insurgency is that it is comprised of two different kinds of fighter. The minority is a hardcore of zealots who will die in any way possible for the cause. There is no reasoning with these types. They have to be killed or run out of country.

But like all insurgencies the majority of participants are a bit more moderate. Many are simply young idealists caught up in an ‘important’ movement. The moderates can be peeled from the hardcore when a legitimate governing body fills the chaotic vacuum of anarchy. Once the teams are established, most will want to side with an obvious winner.

Bush said a lot of things today to the cabinet, press and soldiers. But most important was what was implied, rather than spoken. Namely: “I’m here… where is Zarqawi?” The more this government looks like a winner, the more moderates will melt back into civilian life, leaving the hardcore easier to find and root out.

On Track #2
The presidency is always a political animal and this chief executive is looking for ways to rebound in the polls and head into November’s mid-term elections with a full head of steam. The Republicans have had some good days recently- A full cabinet in Iraq, a dead Zarqawi, an upgrade at the post of White House spokesperson, and a much relieved Karl Rove. All turns of fortune that the Prez hopes, and probably will, ride to higher poll numbers in the coming weeks.

But:
The thing the pundits are missing, it seems to me, is the real motivation for the trip to the Green Zone. By flying into the teeth of what is considered his party’s largest albatross, the prolonged conflict in Iraq- The president is sending a signal, first and foremost, to the members of his own party in Congress. The politicos at the White House understand that many of their brethren on the Hill are looking to leave them in the cold, distancing themselves from the Iraq conflict in order to dodge campaign bullets back home. They also know that this is a surefire way to lose the majority. The ruling party only has a chance to maintain their ranks by holding hands and rallying together.

By continuing to put his hands around Iraq in very public ways he has, to use Tony Snow’s less than fortunate wording, hugged the Tar Baby. Now he’s stuck to it- and whether they like it or not, they are as well. Soon, the thinking goes, they’ll realize they might as well jump in with both feet and make the best out of it.

The president and his advisors are hoping all those extra helping hands will be the final bit of energy necessary to keep the congress, and perhaps, finally win the war in Iraq.

Ennui

Boredom descended today. What to do when nothing seems interesting?

First of all- get out of the station before someone coaxes you into a discussion concerning the philosophy of radio. Alright, I made a quick getaway. No problem there. No one actually expects me to be interested in work anymore.

Home by 10:30- check out Sunday’s Formula One race on Tivo? Schumacher’s starting in P3 but there’s some speculation that he may be carrying a heavy fuel load. He might put on one of those dazzling shows where he nails five or six perfect laps at the end of his fuel run and passes everyone while they stop early to pit. Wishful thinking- Schumacher pits first. He’s got nothing and Alonso walks away with another easy victory.

12:15- Call Greg and talk about all those scripts lying all over the place. He’s worried that the U.S. is going to get knocked out of round one of the World Cup. He was a goalie or something in high school. I can’t relate- but we agree to meet tomorrow about the latest thing we’re sort of doing.

1:00- Still bored I write a super-short story about a guy named Martin who’s allergic to meetings:

Martin is allergic to meetings. Nothing of any consequence has ever happened after the first ten minutes of a meeting in the history of the world. Or so he would postulate. It’s an exaggeration of course, but he hates meetings with a passion. After ten minutes in a meeting he gets woozy and itchy and flush. He is allergic.

Dan is pontificating while circling the conference table. He’s talking, as he’s always talking, of the philosophy behind the sell. According to Dan, a salesman, or person, or whatever they are, has to believe in what they’re selling in order to make the ‘genuine’ connection with a potential customer necessary to close the sale. It’s elemental! He said.

Elemental was one of those words Dan used an awful lot. In fact, he was really the only person that Martin knew who used the word at all. Strange- that one person would so adopt a word that no one else would touch. A guy he knew years earlier was fond of saying things were, “off the hook.” At first it came in a conversational trickle. The boss was, “off the hook.” But it wasn’t long before the President and that show on TV last night were, “off the hook.” Soon, everything was, “off the hook” and Martin found a new friend.

The meeting was creeping up to the ten minute mark. Martin began to feel that pre-panic thing before the real thing. First he would get uncomfortable at the thought of getting uncomfortable then he would get uncomfortable. Here it comes.

Okay- that’s done. Now what?

1:30- Scour the news for audio to feature on tomorrow’s news jog. Idiots standing in a tropical storm, more Zarqawi stuff… blah, blah, blah.

3:30- Since the age of 13 or so I’ve enjoyed wasting time by making mixed tapes of some of my favorite bands and singer/songwriters. This is an art. It’s not enough to just to plop a bunch of your favorite tunes on oxide. The running order has to flow as if the artist would have released it as an album themselves, or its crap. Tapes are now pre-historic, but the mixed CD presents the same challenges.

I’ve been obsessing on the Flaming Lips lately so I rolled up my sleeves and went to work. Here’s the resulting play list. It makes for a great CD, and with I-Tunes you can buy the tracks separately and play along at home.

1.) Are You A Hypnotist?
2.) Do You Realize?
3.) The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
4.) Race For The Prize (Remix)
5.) Waitin’ For A Superman
6.) Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell
7.) A Spoonful Weighs A Ton
8.) Fight Test
9.) Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt.1
10.)Mr. Ambulance Driver
11.)Haven’t Got A Clue
12.)It Overtakes Me
13.)The W.A.N.D.
14.)Suddenly Everything Has Changed
15.)Goin’ On
16.)The Gold In The Mountain Of Our Madness

I tried to add some earlier stuff like ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’ and ‘Bad Days’ but they just didn’t work with their later sound.

5:40- almost bedtime. Thank god. What’s on the Science Channel?

Don’t call it a funk.

Call it ennui.

Gitmo Suicides

The news that three inmates being held at Gitmo have committed suicide has renewed calls for America to open the gates and let the prisoners go or give them the fair trials they deserve. One has to wonder if these critics are simply naïve to, or wholly complicit in, the strategies of the worldwide Jihad against America and the West.

It is not cause for commiseration when bloodthirsty zealots who would surely sport the latest design in suicide belts if they were walking free, decide to give their lives in the name of the cause from behind bars. This is not the suicide of an estranged teenager, worthy of empathy and hand-wringing. It is a political act calculated to bring pressure upon the enemy.

And certain influential types will fall for it. It would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous.

I don’t give a damn about any of these crazies. I’m confident they would have killed me or my kin given the first opportunity to do so. Good riddance.

By the way-
There have been no attacks on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001. It doesn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to conclude that keeping a gaggle of the most crazed fools locked up since that date has had something to do with that good fortune.

America has a right to defend itself.

The rest of the world be damned.

Turning Tide?

Even a cursory reading of history makes it obvious that war is never a static situation. The news is rarely all good or all bad, but usually a mix of events that lean one way or another until a breaking point is reached.

Today’s news that U.S. forces in collaboration with intelligence sources finally brought rough justice to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq, cannot be trusted as the full picture any more than yesterday’s news. The reality of the situation is that the true state of things, has been, and still is taking place outside the frame and beyond the view of daily coverage.

Just as a bad day full of car bombings and bloodied marketplaces is not a reliable indicator of the success or failure of this mission. Neither can a good day brimming with news of villains vanquished be relied upon solely for a clear view of the battlefield. It is however, a good, and I think, very significant day.

The fight against terrorism looks different than the military struggles of the past. But ultimately, the same patterns of warfare are emerging that have defined every other clash of blood and ideology.

Any war is comprised of a large campaign made up of many smaller campaigns. It is the winning of these smaller, less noticed battles that eventually lead to peace on the victor’s terms. While the individual battles of the past have been clearly defined by the taking or losing of territory, this fight in Iraq, unlike most, is more political than geographic.

Up to now this paradigm has favored the enemy since the results of suicide belts and I.E.D.’s are more obvious, especially to the media, than the consistent wearing down of Al Qaeda (in or out of Iraq) by way of disinformation, night raids that confiscate valuable computer hard drives, the bribing of tribal leaders, and all of the other things that result from superior battlefield intelligence.

Nearly every winning military campaign in the history of the United States has been plagued with bad news and losses until the tide is suddenly turned and we march to victory. Those ultimate victories in turn are usually achieved on the heels of many little victories (or battles) that build to an overwhelming crescendo. Tides don’t suddenly turn by themselves. In fact, there is nothing sudden about it. They are moved and shaped by the force of energy that’s building unseen, down below the wake.

My sense is that the termination of Al-Zarqawi will be a turning point, not because of the death-mask photo that brings joy to our hearts- but as a result of the hundreds of quiet victories by the good guys that have made that picture possible.

I expect that we’ll see many dominoes tumble in the coming weeks and months because a network, terror or otherwise, is only as strong as its weakest link. It would appear that our little victories beneath the waves are now cresting and may soon crash onto the shoreline altogether.

Hell, we might even be able to vacation on the beach before too long.

Alright-
Enough of the analogy and metaphor… I’m glad this guy is dead.

Sick-Sick-Six

There is no such thing as alien spacecraft from other worlds or dimensions.

There is no such thing as ghosts.

And grab your hats- there is no such thing as God! At least not in any form recognizable to the major or minor religions that have sullied up so much of human history.

If there is no God (and there isn’t), then it follows that there is no Devil.

If there is no such thing as the Devil then it can be assumed there is no need for a code, numeric or otherwise, by which the fallen angel or anti-Christ, depending on your story of choice, will be designated by.

So far the date known and feared as 6/6/06 has been a beauty in the part of the world I call home. A gorgeous blue sky punctuated by the occasional puffy, marshmallow-like white cloud has been the order of the day. A gentle breeze driving home the peaceful nature of things, accentuates the fact that the world is blissfully unaware of the ignorant superstitious character of the human beings in temporary residence of its environs.

Why people feel a need to make up so much happy horseshit to get them through this life is a never ending mystery to me. With all the things fascinating and wonderful to trip on in this world… why make stuff up?

Superstition is ignorance- Always.

End of story.

By the way:
A lone gunman named Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK from a room in the Texas School Book Depository. But let’s not get into idiotic conspiracy theories here. I feel like going for a swim.

Same Sex Showdown

I found myself in one of those situations that I can’t stand this morning- Knowing that I had an unpopular opinion on an issue and being in no mood to argue about it. But the news cycle tosses its debris on its own timetable and I make my living spouting off at the mouth- so there I was.

The Republicans need to rally their base and chose today to open their congressional campaign with debate on a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. I covered that, and the fact that the president was due to add his two cents at an afternoon press conference, on the News Jog. This of course led to a discussion on the topic and I couldn’t help but give my honest opinion, which is that I’m against almost any legislation that tells one group of consenting adults that they don’t have the same rights as another group of consenting adults.

I don’t really think it’s a very important issue right now. But when asked my opinion I’ll give it. I don’t mind sporting the occasional unpopular point of view but I was in no mood to deal with the inevitable tidal wave of perverse logic that flies into my grill every time I speak my mind on this one.

Let’s see if I can shoo away some of the nonsense disguised as argument that was heaved at me this morning:

1.)
Would I allow my children to be cared for at a Day Care Center run by gay couples?

I honestly don’t understand the relevance of this question, but what the hell… The answer is no. The answer is no because I have certain prejudices about grown men supervising pre-school children. Although it’s alright for me to make personal decisions based on my prejudices, I don’t have any right to compel others to share them by force of law.

2.)
Do I think its okay for siblings to marry?

No. The reproductive defects of inter-family marriage have been well established- just look at the English royal family for Christ’s sake. And don’t come at me with the potential social ills of gay marriages. Medical science enjoys a validity that simply isn’t found in the social sciences.

3.)
Is it okay for necrophilia fans to marry the dead, or for human beings to marry animals?

No it’s not okay to have sex with or marry any entity that cannot consent to that marriage. This includes the dead, the undead, barnyard animals, and any other human being below the age of consent.

All that being said- I do agree with the Republican notion that these things should be decided by the people, at the ballot box, and not by radical justices on the courts… so I have a compromise. Let’s let the people decide the issue of gay marriage right after we allow them to vote on a woman’s right to an abortion.

It’s only fair.

Lefty Test

I don’t know if these Marines being investigated for possible atrocities in Haditha, Iraq are guilty of the alleged crimes or not. But I do know that it provides a good test for a leftist interested in finding out about their true level of personal patriotism.

Is your first instinct to believe that they are guilty or innocent? If your first knee-jerk impulses send a signal of guilt then you have finally been exposed as a liar when you’ve told people that you support the troops, even though you don’t support the war. If, on the other hand, you are certain your boys would never be involved in such a thing, and are hoping and praying that the investigation proves them not guilty- you’ve passed the test.

Go ahead my Lefty friends. Look in the mirror. Be honest- what was you’re very first notion concerning this latest inflammatory news out of Iraq?

Did You Know?

Did you know Abe Lincoln fought off a mild bout of smallpox toward the end of his first term? Neither did I. Hell, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a minor form of smallpox- but that’s beside the point.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the sixteenth president lately, and despite his stature, closer study reveals him to be under and not overrated. Given the hyperbolic coverage of current events delivered through the teeth of the perpetual 24 hour news cycle, you’d think we live in the most polarized and contentious times in American history. Did you know that that isn’t true?

Red states vs. blue states pales in comparison to the Blue vs. the Gray. The next time CNN leads with a story about the president under siege they might do well to remember those weeks and months when an army bent on conquering the nation’s capitol were within whistling distance of the White House.

Did you know Honest Abe was considered a bumbling buffoon and a complete disappointment to nearly all for the lion’s share of his tenure? Did you know that support for the war in the northern states wavered greatly throughout the conflict?

Have you ever actually looked into what happened at Fort Sumter in the months leading up to the civil war? Check it out and ask yourself what the press would do to the current occupant of the oval office if he had bungled anything as badly in the last five years. Believe me, the WMD debacle ain’t got nothin’ on this.

Abraham Lincoln appeared to be doing everything wrong right up to the point that everything began going right.

On one hand, he had to deal with the wrath of the abolitionists and radical Republicans who thought he was dragging his feet on emancipation- On the other, the Copperheads nearly succeeded in derailing him by convincing a large portion of the citizenry that he had committed the blood of their children for the ulterior cause of the negro- and not the preservation of the Union that he so often spoke about.

All this while many opined and editorialized that the idiot in the White House was a mere puppet who did whatever his Secretary of State (the real brains behind the operation) told him to do. And just everybody, friend and foe, knew that he was a complete failure as Commander-in-Chief.

Sound familiar?

So what’s the secret of his historic success?

It can be summed up in one word, attitude.

Lincoln’s greatness isn’t simply a testament to his vision and wisdom. He had many admirable qualities but it was his temperament that provided the foundation for his legacy.

Slow to make enemies and quick to bury the hatchet with adversaries, he was never insulted by an opposing opinion, and through personal kindness sewed the seeds of affection that pour from the hearts of Americans to this day.

By the way:
Did you know that Abraham Lincoln pulled a Michael Moore and spoke out against a popular war that he described as illegal when he was a member of the House of Representatives? Neither did I-

But he didn’t hold that office for very long.

Some things never change.