Publius Hamilton

Ahmadinajiminycricket speaks at Columbia...

Sneak peek at the "hard" questions Bollinger will be putting to Ahmidinajad (or however you spell it)

1.  Mahmoud.  You never wear a tie.  What's up with that?

2.  What are you doing in Iran to stem global warming?

3.  "Mission Impossible 3".  Great special effects or what Mahmoud?

4.  Coke?  Or Pepsi?

5.  Favorite Starbucks drink?

6.  You say the Holocaust never really happened.  Fair enough.  Read any good books lately?

7.  Would you care to meet our Director of Development and, perhaps, I mean only if you feel like it, write a check to the School of Journalism?  If not that's OK.   Hey,  just forget I asked.  I am orry I brought it up.  Here, would you allow me to write YOU a check?

8.  If you were head coach of the Chicago Bears, would you start Griese against Green Bay next week?

9.  Now, for a personal question sir: You look pretty fit Mr. President.  You working out on a Bowflex in Tehran?

And the last question before I drop my trousers and bend over Mr. President, regarding women's rights in an Islamic theocracy: we, here at Columbia, being the hypocrite dupes we are, profess to endorse women's and Gay rights, but the last thing we want to do is have closed minds so we accept your putting women and homosexuals to death in your country.  But can we count on you to murder those people by stoning them to death as burning them alive would add hydrocarbons to the atmosphere and being civilized people we are concerned with Green House Gasses?

I certainly hope I didn't offend this afternoon you Mr. President, but I am an academic and have certain standards.  I am sure you understand, and before you leave, could you autograph my program and let my wife take a picture of you and I together?  All the Socialists in our School of Public Policy will never believe I got to meet you.  This has been so bitchin'.

(courtesy of guest blogger, Mark Levin)

More great insight on this over at Captains Quarters

Tell me what happens if we cut and run?

Tell me what happens when we bail out of Iraq before we accomplish the goals of security and stability? While I agree the aftermath of removing that piece of shit Saddam was handled incompetently, removing his sorry ass was still the right thing to do.

Republicans AND Democrats voted to support the use of force even if now they whine that "Bush misled us". What? The so called dumbass Chimpie McBush misled you? Then how can you be competent enough to lead the country and the free world if such an unintelligent man misled you? Please...

Colin Powell was right, and Rummy was wrong. Ok, that is obvious. Rummy arrogantly ignored the Powell Doctrine of Overwhelming Force as well as The Pottery Barn Rule, "You break it, you bought it". Well, Rummy is gone and none too soon. We changed course, even if Dingy Harry Reid refuses to admit it. Do we give up now just because we royally screwed up at first with a flawed strategy?

Whether you agreed with invading Iraq to remove Saddam or not, the fact remains we did it and are morally obligated to not bail out on the Iraqi's and leave them to suffer and die, especially those who risked all to help us. They will be slaughtered and Iran will pick up the pieces and the world will point to us in blame, and rightfully so. Not a pleasant prospect.

Winning this thing by accomplishing our goals of security and political progress (both are slowly happening now) is the only acceptable outcome. Losing should not be an option on the table.

Freedom is never free!

Great post today by Ed Morrissey on Captains Quarters regarding a speech given by FDR on July 4, 1941.  FDR wisely told the American people that America could not survive as an oasis of freedom surrounded by dictators of any stripe, be they fascist, religious, communist....

While I share the frustration many people have with our forgetful and ungrateful allies, Japan, Britain, and Australia excepted, it was still necessary for us to enter WW2.  If not for the supreme moral reasons we all know, then out of sheer self interest and survival.  I subscribe to both the former and latter reasons.

FDR's main point was this:

" I tell the American people solemnly that the United States will never survive as a happy and fertile oasis of liberty surrounded by a cruel desert of dictatorship."

Fortress America is a myth, and FDR knew it.  What did we gain by getting involved and defeating the Nazi's, Fascist's, and Imperialist's?  Our freedom.  They would have set their sights on America once Russia and Britain fell. Even if we singlehandedly defeated the combined might of Germany and Japan, the cost in lives would have been catastrophic.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

The defense of freedom is perpetual. We face a similar problem today and future generations will have their tests.   

The moral of the story?  Freedom is not free.

Happy Independence Day!

Is any Federal immigration reform better than none at all?

Maybe the vote hustling immigration pimps in the US Congress can take a lesson from Oklahoma on the immigration debate. The Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 [HB 1804] denies illegal immigrants state identification, and requires all state and local agencies to verify citizenship status of applicants before authorizing benefits. The law also require public employers to enter job applicants into an electronic immigration database to verify legal status.  It also makes it illegal to transport an illegal immigrant within the state. Governor Brad Henry (D) reluctantly signed the bill but stated that the new law would do little to curb illegal immigration and that the responsibility to deal withe issue lay with the federal government. 

The Democrat Governor signed it only because he knew it was veto proof but says it is a federal issue. I guess we know where he stands on states rights and voting your conscience.

Read more at the Jurist: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/05/oklahoma-governor-signs-immigration.php

Great post on the topic by Ed Morrissey at Captains Quarters.

Good news in Iraq is Bad news for Defeatocrats

I love how the Dems are now positioning themselves to take credit for the recent successes in Anbar and other areas of Iraq.  They will not credit the surge, but want us to believe it was their playing good cop/bad cop.  Unfortunately for them, most of us know both cops have to be working together on the same page for that to be a working model.  Their goal was to undermine and humiliate Bush at any cost, even if it meant to lose a war we were beginning to win.  It terrifies them that if this thing turns around, it will vindicate Bush and those stalwarts with calcium in their spines, Joe Lieberman included.

The Unholy Trio of Pelosi, Reid, and al-Murtha have undermined our ability to win this conflict and have prolonged it by giving hope, aid, and comfort to our enemies. Their public statements encouraged them to continue fighting. Chuck Hagel (R-Ino) didnt help much either.... 

Yes, the Bush Administration has made big mistakes after the initial success of Tommy Franks. But the biggest mistake would be to crawl away like worms after all we have sacrificed to get to this point. It is a testament to Bush's character that he has not wavered in his commitment to victory.

We made big mistakes in WW2 but we still won because we persevered and slugged it out.  Remember the ill fated Operation Market Garden and the phrase "Home by Christmas?".  Or when our troops went into Bastogne with summer clothing and hardly any ammo.  Remember the term "Nuts!"? The 101st stuck it out until Patton broke through.   How many Generals did Lincoln run through before he found Ulysses Grant and William Sherman?  Go back further to Valley Forge. Washington stuck it out and "stayed the course".  I, for one, am damn glad he didn't listen to the whiners and micromanagers in Congress.  (Some things never change). That experience is one of the reasons the Founding Fathers created a strong President and made him Commander in Chief....    Memo to Pelosi and Reid.

Yes, Bremer was supremely incompetent and Rummy would not listen and support sending more troops. The Democrats assailed Bush for his determination to "stay the course".  So, Bush changes course on the war and nominates Petraus and his counterinsurgency strategy. The Senate overwhelmingly confirms him, and what do the unholy trio do?  They declare the war lost and pull the rug out from under Petraus.  All so they can position themselves to gain personal political power.   

I do indeed question the patriotism  of those Benedict Arnolds.

I applaud Duncan Hunter for calling on Reid to step down and I am also impressed that David Broder had the stones to tell his liberal constituency that Emperor Reid has no clothes. 

Publius Hamilton

Check out this post on Captain's Quarters for more on this topic.

If you want evidence of progress, check out this link.  http://www.understandingwar.org/IraqReport.html 

The Democratic Party of Defeat and Surrender

Democrat Senate Majority Leader "Dingy Harry" Reid recently proclaimed the war in Iraq to be lost.  This was done while our troops in Iraq are actively engaged in combat, under a new commanding General, David Petraus.  The Senate just unanimously confirmed Petraus knowing he wanted to change our tactics in Iraq to focus primarily on counter insurgency and knowing he fully supported the surge of 21,000 more troops (since the surge was his idea).  They vote for him, send him to Iraq, and then vote to deny funding while buying votes with pork barrel projects in the districts of wavering congressmen.  The Democrats demanded a change in direction.  Bush fired Rumsfeld and brought in Petraus and his new plan.  Now Reid says we need to change course again.   It's one thing to criticize Bush but it's quite another to publicly declare the war lost while we have troops under fire, who in my opinion, are turning this thing around.  The Democrats are completely invested in our defeat.  If we win in Iraq, it will vindicate Bush and probably cause the Democrats to lose the house and senate and the presidency in 08.  The Democrats cannot stomach that and bad news on the war helps while good news hurts them.    I'm sure Osama and his cohorts are smiling and saying "I told ya so, just hang on and keep fighting, don't quit now!"   Pretty bad situation for the donkey party to be in, if you ask me.  But, they should not have painted themselves in this corner in the first place.

Democrats want the Attorney General to step down because he fired 8 US Attorneys for political reasons (oh my god!) even though Bill Clinton fired all 93 of them when he took office, yet the Democrats have no problem supporting Reid as their leader after his cowardly and traitorous comments.   If the Democrats leave him as Majority Leader after this, then they are truly the party of defeat and surrender. 

For a more eloquent commentary on this, check out what Neal Boortz has to say.

http://boortz.com/nuze/200704/04202007.html#defeat

Quote of the Day by General Robert E. Lee

The more things change the more they remain the same.  This could apply to Congress as well…..


"It appears we have appointed our worst generals to command forces, and our most gifted and brilliant to edit newspapers!  In fact, I discovered by reading newspapers that these journalists/geniuses plainly saw all my strategic defects from the start, yet failed to inform me until it was too late. Accordingly, I'm readily willing to yield my command to these obviously superior intellects, and I'll, in turn, do my best for the cause by writing editorials - after the fact."

- General Robert E. Lee in 1863.

An Inconvenient Rebuttal

Whether or not you shelled out good money to see Algore’s work of fiction, click on the link below, read the article, and then link to the Free, yes Free, rebuttal video.  AND, you won’t generate pollution by driving to the movie theater like you did when you went to see Algore’s flick or like Algore does when he globetrots in his private jet to avoid rubbing elbows with us commoners. 

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/531zkcss.asp

A Blog, Resurrected...

After a long respite, I've climbed back on the horse and here I am... Thanks to those of you who have been bugging me to do this.  I've continued to "mailblog" with my regular emailing of links to blogs and online articles, but it's just not the same.

Between busy kid's schedules, work, an unending addiction to the great online game World of Warcraft , work, and more work, and a Jimmy Carteresque malaise, I abandoned ship for a while.  A killer rabbit scared me off....

But hey, I do have my Paladin (Pinotnoir on the Greymane server) up to level 61, and climbing.

The Price of Losing Your Sovereignty

Great post on Captain's Quarters by Ed Morrissey discussing our British cousin's lack of options on the 2007 version of the Iranian Hostage situation.

As usual, The Captain nails it on the head,  this time with the comment:

"It may finally dawn on Britain that the failure to have an independent trade policy has hamstrung them politically and militarily. Iran attacked a British ship, and yet Britain cannot stop trading with Iran because Brussels controls their trade policies. When one gives up sovereignty, these are the consequences."

The EU stabbed Britain in the back on this one and leaves them only with effete diplomatic options. I believe in quiet diplomacy too.  Sink an Iranian submarine or two. Hell, sink all of them. If they are submerged, no one will hear the explosion.

That's quiet, isn't it?

Best wishes to Captain Ed and his wife. For those 4 people in the conservative dimension of the blogosphere who didnt know, the First Mate just had a kidney transplant.  Glad to hear things are going well.