WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are proposing to add U.S. government aid for homeowners and limits on executive compensation to the government's $700 billion Wall Street financial bailout.

In the midst of the current debacle on Wall Street and an economy that is teetering on the edge of collapse if intervention isn't forthcoming? The democrats once again want to tack on more. It's like they can't help themselves. Every misery for America is seen as just another opportunity for the democrats to attempt furthering more of their partisan agenda.

Meanwhile Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid seem to have cornered the market on both stupid looks and stupid remarks. I certainly hope that the American people are awake and paying attention to this circus that Pelosi and the democrats want to pass off as a congress either of or for the people. What idiocy! I can't wait for the November elections. Maybe, just maybe we can turn the loons out. Too bad the only person running with a chance against Pelosi is the bigger loon Cindy Sheehan.

Ever since the political conventions ended a couple of weeks ago, the tone of this years race has turned ugly IMO. And not just as has been portrayed of late in the MSM. The McCain campaign has made a couple of embellishments in response to the Obama attacks over the past two weeks that probably shouldn't have been made, but far and away the Obama campaign has ratcheted up the rhetoric and the attacks, not just against McCain but also against all who potentially stand in the way of a Obama onslaught at the polls come November.

While Obama has become increasingly more confrontational and accusatory of John McCain in the last two weeks, his campaign has been aggressively going after any and all that don't fall into the for Obama without question column. They have even targeted his hometown radio station WGN and lauched full scale attacks to prevent both Jerome Corsi and David Freddoso's from promoting their books challenging the Obama presidency on that radio station.

Once again in a free country and in the shadow of the first amendment, those who would tell you that they champion free speech, seek to see it silenced and turned to their own favor or turned off completely. Such has been the case in other areas of the internet recently also. Places like the military.com forum where members have been arguing their support for candidates one way or another for months. Now suddenly, the forum has been taken over by a new management ploy that supposedly addresses advertising and member usage. But the reality of feared litigation for permitting supposed unapproved linking is the reoccurring reality that is touted as the impetus behind the action. Meanwhile, links that aren't threatening to the Obama campaign seem to still fly there unobstructed by the moderators and management. In their latest explanation, it's all about linking and advertising and copyright issues and the fact that their forums are free and non profit etc.

If there ever was a political cult following and a time when comparisons to the charismatic and blind following of politicians have had meaning in this country, that time is now in my opinion. All we will need to see now are brown shirt legions after this man attains the White House to solidify what many are now seeing rise in this country under the auspices of fairness and openness there isn't a damn thing fair about what I am seeing going on in this country during this election cycle right now. The full court press is on and there are those who want to see all opposition threatened and intimidated into surrender.

I have been bothered by this issue surrounding the Marine who is being denied the Medal of Honor, based upon the determination of Sec/Def Gates and a five person panel that he called together to review the case.

Sergeant Rafael Peralta gave his life for his country under honorable circumstances, therefore, why should his memory and his family be put through something like this. Just award the man what is right and move on. But the more that I read about this case the more I encountered the recurring theme that Sergeant Rafael Peralta, suffered a wound to the head prior to his act of bravery. and the recurring mention is that the wound to the head was a result of friendly fire. In other words, at best Sgt. Peralta caught a richochet during the entry into the room. and that richochet probably came from one of his own men.

But there is a worst case scenario that few are willing to talk about. and that worst case scenario is that Sergeant Rafael Peralta was in fact killed by his own men and although it was an unintentional and inadvertent act, it turned out very similar to what happened to Pat Tilman. Heaven forbid, but that worry has been crossing my mind now for over 24 hours.

What happens if they reopen this thing only to find that the Navy Cross was simply a means to try and make a hero where one was not warranted? What if in fatc the real story is another cover up like the Tilman case and this whole ball of wax is about to come apart. I for one hope and pray that will not be the case, but when you leave the inexplicable languishing on the table, questions are going to be asked. and sometimes those questions are not the nicest ones.

Marine Sergeant Rafael Peralta passed his last muster with his friends on this earth on November 15th 2004. In a hell hole called Fallujah he provided what President Lincoln had coined in 1864, as the last full measure of devotion to his friends and his countrymen. And according to the eye witness testimony of at least five other men that day in Fallujah,  Rafael Peralta  gave his life freely and willingly to save the lives of his friends.

Those words uttered so long ago across the hills and battlefields of Gettysburg by Lincoln, have since taken on a hallowed meaning of respect for all Americans who hear them and understand the true reverence of what they are intended to convey and represent. For in the moments when we stand to honor those who have served this nation valiantly, when we call for the roll of the most brave and those who didn't hesitate when death and eternity stared them straight in the eye and asked if they were ready...that is the time and those are the moments that we all come together and recognize what the words of  the last full measure of devotion truly mean and represent. Especially to the families who have lost them.

What happens on the battlefield doesn't simply stay on the battlefield. And what happens on a battlefied is not simply left there along with the worn and torn relics of the battle. What happens on a battlefield is brought home in the memories of those who survived it and live on. And it is enshrined in their evidence and testimony to those who can no longer speak for themselves and were left behind.

These are the kinds of men who the nation's highest honor is bestowed upon. Those like Rafael Peralta. He has been submitted for honor, because there is no way for mortal man to earn so great an honor of respect intentionally. As such honors only come from the spring of life and death and they represent devotion on a level that only those who have shared it can recognize it and acknowledge that it exists.

The examination for the Medal of Honor is too grave and the injuries to permanent for anyone to attempt such a feat for simple glory or selfish aggrandizement or ego. And those who have actually survived the trials of fire that led to their recognition and receipt of that honor,  are usually only the shells of what they once were. Having seen their bodies torn and shredded beyond imagination and their very beings forever transformed and changed.. 

The Medal of Honor is bestowed only upon those deserving and only after the determined verification of those who both submitted the individual for the honor and those who were there with them. But it is those who were there and present and who actually witnessed what really transpired to warrant the examination and recommendation period who hold the truth. It is they who hold the ultimate validity of truth and verification for what happened and why this honor needs be conveyed. There are many instances of previous Medal of Honor recipients having received the honor and the acknowledgment of a grateful nation, for having done no less than Sergeant Peralta and perhaps for having done not quite as much.

So why now, during a time when one so truly distinguished as this man has demonstrated that quantitative of devotion that few speak of and even fewer possess, do we see the Secretary of Defense deny this honor to one who so obviously deserves it?

This is an injustice of the highest order in my opinion and a tragedy that cannot go overlooked or go unrecognized or left to stand.  I encourage ALL who hear of this injustice, to please read of what actually happened to Sergeant Rafael Peralta on that day in November 2004 and what he did. And why having been submitted for his nation's highest honor, it has now been withheld and a lesser acknowledgment laid in it's place at his feet.

This is simply wrong. If Rafael Peralta didn't earn a Medal of Honor that day in Fallujah? Then he certainly didn't earn a Navy Cross. I am sorry, but there is no runner up or consolation prize for the last full measure of devotion. And the United States Marine Corps and the Department of the Navy and the office of Secretary of Defense damn well know that.

Honor this man! He deserves the honor of his nation. And the people of this nation need to insure that their voices are heard and this travesty of injustice is righted immediately. Write your congressman and senators and Sec. Defense Gates and let each of them know. Write President Bush, who spoke directly of Sgt. Peralta in his Memorial Day address of 2005.

Don't let this marine and his honor remain tarnished and don't let his memory slip between the cracks while we haggle over who said what in this stupid election. The honor of a marine isn't all that is at stake. The honor of this nation is as well.

Semper Fidelis

 I remember back when Hillary Clinton coined that phrase about the vast right wing conspiracy, as it concerned the pursuit of her husband's trysts concerning Monica Lewinksi. Little did I realize then that the first lady was actually tipping her hand, as it applied to what really goes n on the left.

From the days of Watergate as the historically empirical heights of supposed political dirty tricks, it has all been down hill from there. But not as it applies awe inspiring treachery of the conservative right. Not even with the subsequent revelations that have come out since, has anything approached the dirt that goes on on the left side of the isle.

Fast forward to today and we see the most recent example of how the left truly operates. Laws and ethics mean nothing to these people, much less decency. Today it was revealed that hackers went after the personal email accounts of republican GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Not only was what was done a crime, but the motivations behind it were as sinister as the act itself.

The hackers were after the dirt that they believed was hidden there, concerning the firing of former Alaska State trooper head Walt Monegan. Apparently believing that the smoking guns were safely hidden in personal email accounts, the hackers went after the yahoo accounts of the governor. And after having accomplished their task, it wasn't good enough to realize that their mission was a bust and that their endeavor had turned up nothing. They proceeded to harvest evidence of their crime and then distribute it to d=friendly angst propelled websites and ultimately onto the main stream media for the voyeuristic viewing of the governor's family pictures of her children and common correspondence between her and friends. No smoking guns, except for those in the hands of those who perpetrated the crime.

And of course the main stream liberal media jumped all over the "news" and went on to expose what "they had determined" concerning these newsy revelations. Only to find that they had bought into their own level of culpability and invasion of privacy. Later in the day, when the US Secret Service contacted the reputable offices of the AP and requested that they turn over what they had of the evidence of the crime, the AP refused. I guess they think that they will be able to hide behind the confidential source routine. Little do they know that they will soon be introduced to the criminal aspects of the law, as it applies to culpability in the continued conspiracy of a crime.

But the glaringly obvious had escaped most media reporting outlets today as they covered this story. and that glaringly obvious oversight, is that aside from the fact that an obvious crime has been committed, there is no righteous or professional indignation as it concerns what would have been said, had the same crime been committed against either Joe Bidden or Barack Obama and their private email accounts. The wails of the banshees for privacy would still be reverberating around the hallowed halls of media, had one of their favored candidates been the object of such criminal treachery and political dirty tricks. but barely a peep out of the MSM other than to collectively join in with the acclamation of isn't;t this interesting and what will this mean to the campaign.

Personally, I am about as sick of this double standard of both politics and yellow journalism as i can possibly be. there is no longer anything sacred in this country. We have allowed our faith to be trashed as we have allowed our morals and everything that this country has ever represented. and I am sad to say, that as each day passes, this country moves closer to an Armageddon of epic proportions as it concerns the conflicts of social and political ideologies that I see coming to an ultimate conflict in this country. If the terrorist of the Islamic world don't destroy this nation first, then there will definitely be war in the streets before another generation comes to pass. Evil triumphs when good men do nothing. And presently evil is winning out in this nation. the principles of justice and fair play have been sacrificed on the alter of egalitarian relativism and nowhere is that more evident than on the national political scene and the supposed election of this nation's next president.

What a difference a day makes. While the price of crude oil dropped below $100 a barrel before closing at $102 a barrel on Friday? You would not have known it in my area when it came to gas prices and I suspect the same is true nationally. After watching the price of gas, which had been as high as $4.15 a gallon locally on Memorial day, fall slowly to the low $3.40 range over the past month, the prices shot up thirty cents a gallon in a day here in Georgia.  And this morning? The station's that have gas are selling it for over $4 a gallon once again. Apparently? Many of them are going to miss the fire sales as they don't have gasoline at all.

The governor of Georgia signed legislation Friday to supposedly prevent price gouging. I guess a lot of station owners and chain stores run by the oil companies didn't get the memo. Nothing dramatic or catastrophic has happened as a result of hurricane Ike. Unless you consider Geraldo Rivera being ceremoniously dumped on his backside on live national TV, while fulfilling his function of "stupid is as stupid does" segments for Fox TV.

Other than that and aside from some wide ranging power outages across Texas, the damage and fear of all that was hyped for the last three days concerning hurricane Ike, seems to have not lived up to the purposely generated fears.  Oil refining and oil production along the Texas gulf coast was shut down 48 hours in advance of the storm, but there are no reports of end times scenarios along the storms path, just the expected reports of flooding in the areas that were expected to flood. Disrupted and downed power lines in the storm's path etc. Somehow the twenty plus foot surge seems to not have materialized. At least it's not being reported by the still frenzied media. More like six to ten foot of flood water came ashore from what I have seen reported this morning.

But all of this somehow immediately equates to an automatic fifty cent per gallon plus increase in gasoline prices all across America apparently. And reports from Florida this morning, claim that Florida residents are paying over $5 and in some places almost $6 a gallon for gasoline. President Bush promised to protect consumers against price gouging in an announcement made this morning from the White house, but that was apparently after the gouging had already begun nationally. Apparently he didn't get the memo either.

America's dependency on oil has been manifest once again, by the larceny in the hearts of those who prey upon their own people, at the slightest opportunity to punch a buck and screw people over when they see the opportunity. I am good on gasoline personally. I no longer have to commute and I began consolidating my trips for necessities months ago. But there are many across this country, who will once again be hacked for an additional $30 to $50 for gasoline to fill their vehicles tank come Monday. Those who have no other choice but to pony up the ransom being extracted by the interlopers who hold America hostage to the price for gasoline. Personally, I hope there is a special place reserved in hell for those who make their profits from the suffering of others. And it will be fitting in my opinion, if they spend eternity being boiled in oil.

trong>

Song

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day." Abraham Lincoln

Seven years ago today, I was a police Lieutenant with the City of Atlanta. I was the assistant precinct commander for northwest Atlanta. That morning I was in my office and engaged in the early morning mundane administrative tasks that my position required. One of my admin officers suddenly appeared at my office door and said "Hey Lt! Did you hear? A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. I immediately knew that his remarks were both a statement of exclamation, but also an indirect request for me to turn on my office television, as mine and the precinct commander's were the only offices with a television.

In a matter of seconds there were dozens of other officers standing around my office and in the doorway, as we all watched the news unfolding in New York. Speculations were running rampant of errant planes and pilots and how could anyone be so stupid as to fly into something as big as the world trade center. As I listened to the background noise of conversations, I realized immediately that something not only tragic had occurred, but something sinister. My immediate gut reflex when the officer first spoke those words minutes earlier, was that it must have been a crippled plane or one flying through zero visibility on instruments only. But the first live pictures from New York immediately dispelled any such immediate delusions.

And within minutes my worst fears were confirmed, when the second plane struck the other tower. There was no doubt in my mind from that moment to this, that my country had been attacked. And I conveyed that to those under me and told them to set about preparations for the beginning of a war. I also told them that in my belief, there would be other planes inbound to other targets before this was all over. No special insight involved, many thousands had already come to the same conclusion as I.

Later in the office of my commander, I expressed the same sentiments to him and told him that we needed to get up to speed on rapid response in Atlanta. I also told him that I didn't believe that it was over. Within a short while we heard of the attack on the Pentagon and the subsequent crash in Shanksville PA and the grounding of all domestic air travel across America. And then we both stared in disbelief as the first tower collapsed before our eyes, live on television. I remember him asking me....what just happened? I told him the whole damn building had just collapsed. How? Was the response. I said the heat of the fire had caused the structure to collapse under it's own weight. and I also told him that in my opinion, that meant that it was only a matter of time before the other one went down too.

I truly believed that I had just watched at least 50,000 Americans die before my eyes that day.

I would like to be able to say that my department immediately rose to the occasion and set about to implement plans that would be looked upon by future observers as a model of rapid response both locally and in aid and assistance to those in New York. But that was not the case. It took about four days for the aftermath of what had happened, to settle in and reach the higher levels of decision making in Atlanta city government. Four days before we even altered our daily schedules to reflect the potential threat that all American cities were then faced with.

I retired from the city fifteen months later. and then as now and in all the months and years that have passed since, I still feel anger when I contemplate what was done to my country seven years ago today. And it bothers me more realizing that as each day passes, we as a nation are moving farther apart and not united in our efforts to insure that this terrible act will never be repeated again. But as it stands, I believe that it is only a matter of time now. One way or another and soon, we will once again be visited by the agents of evil who seek to see us destroyed. And my thoughts immediately move to contemplation and what will be the end result this time. And what will our nation's response be this time?

The forces that brought such evil to our country and visited upon us the collective disbelief that any individual or group could be so evil are still present in this world. And many of them are amongst us as we stop and look back on what happened and why seven years ago. Nothing has changed IMO, at least not in either the commitment and the desire of evil in the world to both conquer and destroy our nation.

Therefore always remember. Vigilance and unity are our best hope of preventing another tragedy of terror in this country. And a willingness to put our petty political differences aside and see the world for what it truly represents to both our own future and the future of our children, but also the collective future of this nation. The history of the world continues to be written and as has been noted by many more eloquent than I, the writing of history is reserved to the victors, not the vanquished. So agree to disagree and defend your ideals as they may be, but never lose sight of the fact that what happens to this nation as a nation, happens to us all equally. And the manner in which we choose to address that reflects directly on what our individual principles and loyalties truly are.

Obama knocks press on 'made-up controversy'

Today, senator Barack Obama set about to attempt to address his remarks of yesterday. The one's about the supposed eccentric practices of cosmetically altering the appearance of swine. Righteous indignation is an approach, that is usually applied when there is either a reality or a sense of wrongful offense. Sort of like the offense felt 24 hours ago by the intended victim of his speciously choreographed remark. But it doesn't play well with either the reality or the sensibilities of those who recognize both original intent and falsely couched indignation and those who would like us to believe that they have supposedly been misunderstood. Or taken out of context. The context is the whole reality of the reality involved.

There has been nothing taken out of context of interpretation, other than the senator's attempt today, to assert that intent of foul simply doesn't exist. At least not on his side. Or that the counter accusation of intent of foul supposedly manufactured by the opposition and by those who were in fact fouled in the beginning.

Barack Obama claims he  wants to talk about the issues of this campaign. He supposedly wants to lay bare all the pettiness of politics that have historically plagued national campaigns. Senator Obama wants  the American people to believe that we should rise above the selective pettiness and concentrate on the more important issues. All of which are relevant realities and noble goals that each candidate should aspire to. However, the problem remains. And the problem remains because senator Obama would have the American people believe, that it is somehow unfair to characterize his words and intentions, in any fashion that he himself doesn't believe befits his messianic representations of himself.

Senator Obama believes that even though he is an experienced orator and a skilled politician, that he should be afforded the leeway of political nuance of his intentions and that only he can determine what those nuances are, both before and after the fact.

I have to give credit where credit is due. Senator Obama's intent and inflection while crafting his analogy yesterday, was poetic in both comparison and execution. His intended audience "got it." and they got it instantaneously. The audience erupted in a raucous unified laugh and immediately registered their reaction to the phrase with the senator. If there was any thing less than the intended offense delivered, the time to rectify that mistake was at the immediate moment of recognition or misrecognition. Therefore, senator Obama could have and should have stopped right there and said something along the lines of "wait a minute, that was not what I meant. While I realize that an immediate connotation was arrived at, that is not the inference that I intended. And if that is the inference that was taken, then at the least you have misunderstood my intent of analogy. Or at the worst? I may have misspoken."

The problem is, everyone knows that Barack Obama doesn't misspeak. Ask the candidate or his campaign handlers and they will immediately tell you that the senator never misspeaks. Perhaps his words require further clarification, or perhaps the listener didn't understand the purposely massaged nuance? But the senator knows what he intended to say, regardless of whether he used the best words to convey his intent.

Once again, credit where credit is due. Having allowed the offense to rest easily on the minds of everyone who heard the remarks for almost 24 hours, Barack Obama comes today to explain once again what he meant and once again how it wasn't his fault at all. It was the fault of the evil opposition who knows better, but chooses to utilize political dishonesty and trickery and continues to deploy "swift boat tactics" against him, while continuing to refuse to talk about the issues.

Nice try senator. but I believe that most people "got it" the first time around. And the more that you attempt to utilize counter attack and guilt transference to the opposition, the more the reality of your own realizations and rationalizations are exposed for precisely what they are. There is literally a plethora of analogous references available to convey both perceptions and ideas in our common lexicon of words and "old saw" sayings to capture the mind's eye. A couple that immediately come to my mind are: "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." Or how about this one? "Someone is trying to make chicken salad out of chicken ****" (rhymes with hit). Or, "in a pig's eye!"

Senator Obama, you know what was said and the intended inference that was being conveyed, to claim you didn't would mean that you are stupid and you are not stupid senator.. The words didn't simply come to your mind off the cuff as some incidental commentary on the political trail. The words were discussed by you and your campaign for over a week, as was the stinging reaction that Sarah Palin's use of another analogy registered when she let the opposition know that she was capable of biting back like a pit bull.

Senator, you knew what you were saying and why you were saying it and who your intended audience was. And more importantly, you realized and recognized instantly that your words had registered with the intended audience. You even paused momentarily and contemplated over your obvious success in phraseology with the audience. If there was ever a moment for you to stop and correct your "faux pas" the moment was while the metal was hot. The moment when you and every other America who heard the remark, either exhaled with delighted approval or reacted with a collective gasp at the blatant insult that they had just witnessed from your lips.

Therefore, your incredulous attempts at feigning ignorance of your intent today and your attempts to place the fowl "if any exists in your mind" on the shoulders of the McCain reaction? Is not only disingenuous, but an outright lie senator. And you now it, as the American people know it.

Watch Barack Obama deliver his "lipstick" remark here:

LINK

Obama on the military

Obama on his Muslim faith

Looks like the George Stephanopoulos interview with Barack Obama yesterday, was a virtual cornucopia of revealing thinking and opinion from the candidate.

Not only the grandiose slip of the tongue concerning his Muslim faith, but also a rather telling look see into his supposed feelings concerning the military and military service.

Having watched him campaign and having had a lifetime of experience watching others, it struck me that Obama saw the Stephanopoulis question as the perfect segue for him to get his selective service credentials on the table and by doing so, attempt to dispel the questions and rumors that have gone unanswered concerning his selective service record and status for months.

But by choosing on the fly, to address the question in that fashion and then inferring that his choice to not join the military, was basically no more complicated than the fact that there wasn't anything going on at the time to justify it? Has some far reaching connotations IMO, especially as it concerns the perceptions of the viewing audience and those who will subsequently see and hear those statements.

I don't imagine that many who were serving in the military pre 9/11, thought that their enlistment and service would present the actual dilemma of having to participate in an actual war during their enlistment. Not the large majority I am sure, but more than a few have now surfaced who appear to have been caught completely by surprise by the reality that they would actually have to serve in combat of any kind.

Thankfully, the large majority of those who serve this country, do so not out of self serving pursuits or ideologies. Their service is something of both pride and commitment.....to both their country and those that share their uniform. They knew and understood both the challenges and the potential dangers of military service and they accepted them equally.

But there remain those, whose only concern appears to have been what they could get back from having done their time in uniform. I wish I had a dollar for every person I have seen interviewed in print or in media over the last five years, who has made the statement that they joined the military simply to get college benefits. That they had absolutely no idea that they might actually be called upon to fight in a war. Like those who most frequently express their opposition to the war and then attempt to justify their position by offering the perspective that somehow, they never realized that the military that they joined, wasn't a democracy and that they couldn't either simply or suddenly opt out of participation.

Barack Obama's remarks on having considered joining the military and his justifications for deciding that it wasn't warranted of his participation at the time, based upon the fact that nothing was happening at the world? Strikes me as playing about as well as the remarks of John Kerry and others, who have seen fit to besmirch the service of those in our military, by inferring that only the less educated and stupid amongst us choose the military.

Kinda like claiming that those working class people in Pennsylvania and all across this country, when confronted with the likes of supposed progressive thinking, retreat to the comfort of their guns and religion.

Barack Obam is as I said a couple of days ago, a desperate man. The Emperor's new clothes have revealed him for who and what he actually is and his mask and facade are slipping by the minute. And the harder he tries to use that tactic that he has used all his life, "smile and don't make any sudden moves," the more his acts of plausible deniability are revealed for just what they are. "Parlor tricks."

Excellent! A new day dawns, and the morality and integrity branch of the democrat party, trots out one of their best kept secret moralist (Barney Frank) to attack and assuage the character of both Sarah Palin, her family and her daughter. Not to mention the repeated attacks on John McCain's judgment in picking her. After which, the paragons of liberal defense rise once again to the latest slab of purported new red meat and renew once again their feeding frenzy of the already dead horse and it's company of stank red fish.

What less is to be expected from the carrion feeders who have the audacity to claim audacity as their official attack position to assault anyone's morality. Audacity seems to be a recurring theme of this campaign for the democrats and IMO? They have boat loads of it for sure. Not to mention unmitigated gall, obfuscations and the obtuse glee of arrogance and condescending smiles galore.

From the same liberal party of moralists who have brought America so much to be proud of over the last thirty years, they once again don their capes and gay colors and attempt to make the sell that they are only pointing out hypocrisy. While in reality the sage wisdom of "pot, kettle, black" pales to shades of non existence, when compared to the unadulterated and shameless attempts of liberals to attack Sarah Palin's character and motherhood, especially when considering their own checkered past.

Absent anything of substance to either attack or refute either with or against Sarah Palin's credentials, the democrats and their "liberal progressive" brethren, (I always love the progressive part) have once again taken the chivalrous route of sleeze and innuendo and character assassination. Spiced with invectives and accusatory assaults on every last ounce of common decency and in doing so? They attempt to make the sale with a paragon of America moral virtue like one Barney Frank.

Please!!!!!!

Do these people really recognize or even consider how they come across and how they make both themselves and their party look, when they engage in such unmitigated and blatant attempts at trashing their opposition via personal attacks. Yes friends, these are the same Americans, who as recent as last week were bellowing the fowl and dirty as they represented it, of political wizards such as Karl Rove "the evil." And their represented examples of supposed dirtiness of tactics four and eight years ago, that they gleefully attribute to him. Yet they themselves have not only stooped but slithered easily into moral character assassination against Sarah Palin and her children....and on a scale that has never been seen on the political field of gamesmanship and tawdry tactics that I am aware of.

I for one can categorically state that the use of these tactics, the bilious, vile and oblique, the assuaged accusatory and poorly camouflaged attacks, while hiding behind shameless segues and asserting that they are at the least as moral as their opponents literally sickens me. But more importantly? The end result of their vile games will be visited upon them collectively come November. Women in America, at least the majority of women in America, will not take kindly nor appreciate seeing these gutter attacks absent any political reasoning outside of hate and the by any means necessary politics of liberal hate and angst. And once the women of America have collectively examined clearly, not only Sarah Palin, but also what these partisan attempts and slanders truly represent to all women? Then the real costs of such explosive and dangerous rhetoric will truly be visited on it creators and their party as it should be.

The liberal left, more recently known as the progressive left, is about to get a first hand lesson of the real meaning of a "woman's right's to choose." And this time it won't be limited to those who championed the phrase as a mere banner slogan in support of abortion. This time it will come to represent the reality that the vile tactics of those who thought that the democrats owned woman's opinions, have failed miserably and at their own hand.

Yep, that is what they are calling it. "The Storm of The Century!" Which has an entirely new meaning now that we are actually in  a new century. But it is also either a direct discounting of recent history (Katrina) or it is the best example of the collectively expressed hopes and dreams of those presently embracing Gustav as the answer to their Pagan prayers. Many liberals are actually in joyous rapture at  the potential that Gustav presents for their spirituality of karma and what that represents as a potential spoiler for their opposition's convention.

Gustav presently represents the democrats best hope of taking the shine off the GOP convention this week. Having had their week of Greek drama and rejoicing in Denver, capped by their messiah's night at the Apollo.....the man of change got eight points in the polls as of Saturday. About the same as he obtained from his World Tour and a boost that will surely not last past tomorrow, having now had to address the reality that the one's that he wanted to run against?  Romney and Lieberman? Didn't make the final cut of that shifty patriot John McCain. The democrats and the Obama campaign had spent weeks gearing up to address their perceived threat index of the potential GOP VP designee. And man oh man! Did they ever get the shock of their collective partisan lives Friday morning.

The "storm of the century" presents the prescient metaphor and real time representation of the beliefs, of the majority members of the Obama cult, as it applies to  cosmic intervention (outside of a God that they deny). They quickly bashed a lunatic fringe preacher who pubically prayed for rain during their Denver convention, but they now see some twisted form of sweet scented sick justice in the potential of Gustav to rain on and destroy the GOP convention this week.

Never mind that the potential is very real that Americans could die and will as a result of this storm. Or that once again billions in damage could be wrought. And this time on a country that is already staggering from gas prices and a staggering economy due to gas prices. Those are irrelevent factors in the minds of the committed loyalist. Always remember: "by any means necessary" is their motto and their screed.

What better metaphor to represent the liberal socialist party of change at any cost, than a deadly creation of nature that plays into both their most deeply held desires and serves to provide them with the spectacle of pain on the faces of their own countrymen that they thrive on. And what better platform for them to launch their resurrected bilious accusations and memories of Katrina and how they could have done it better. Both then and now.

I certainly hope that the American people are watching this week. As once again the democrats will attempt to turn pain and suffering to thier own political advantage. And as they willingly cast their vitriolic pearls on the alter of Egalitarian socialism for all to see? Maybe after the American people have another slice of the maniacal liberal mind served up to them during the present crisis that all will be watching? Maybe then they will realize finally in this campaign for the presidency, that there is only one viable candidate and that the other is no more than an interloping poser, bent on using their own sufffering to win an election via their death and pain.

The democrats will use Gustave for all it is worth. And the death and destruction that it could bring? Are only quantiatives of collateral damage that they will perceive as justifiable payback for their anguish of the last eight years and their seething hatreds of all things George Bush. I for one, hope that they thoroughly enjoy the moment, as the rest of the country watches and waits to see if Mother Nature will once again play havoc with this great nation.

Having just watched Sarah Palin being introduced by John McCain and having listened and watched as Sarah Palin accepted the nomination and introduced herself and her family to America, I have a couple of personal notes to make. Both my wife and I have been disillusioned since May, when the reality became that John McCain and Barack Obama were all that we had to choose from come November.

Unlike many of our democrat counterparts, we agreed that we couldn't vote for the party candidate, simply because that was who had been given the nomination. Nor could we simply hold our noses and pull the lever come November. As the months have passed it never has been either a question of supporting or voting for Barack Obama. His notions of both the future of this country and Americanism in general, became clearly separate and distinct from what we see as right for this country months ago.

And over the past month in particular, it seemed that the only options left for us and many other conservatives, was to either not vote at all in the presidential race, or to rise to the collective spirit of other kindred souls and vote solely against what we all see clearly as the absolute wrong man and the wrong message for this country.

As I watched and listened to Sarah Palin's speech a few minutes ago, I was watching and listening intently to what she had to say. But I was also watching my wife. And within mere minutes of Sarah Palin speaking, I could see the tears welling up and the barest hint of a smile crossing my wife's lips, as she remained focused on Sarah Palin and her words.

My wife frequently looked over at me during the acceptance speech. Not to simply seek either confirmation or validation from my eyes, but more so to see if I had noticed her previous considerations and sentiments slipping more and more as Sarah Palin continued speaking. By the time that the speech had ended, my wife was visibly teary eyed and as the pundits immediately began to dissect what they had just witnessed in Dayton, I looked over at my wife and asked her a simple question. "Who are you going to vote for?"

My wife is 47 years old and in 25 years of marriage, I have acquired the ability to read her thoughts from her facial expressions and she knows this. Just as she knows both her own and my thoughts on politics, Americanism and the world. My wife looked back at me and tried to couch her reply...."well I am far more inclined to vote for him now than I was." Which told me instantly, that she has now made her decision.

And in all honesty, I have to admit that after seeing and hearing Sarah Palin, I have also made mine. I find myself now in the unique position of at last having something and someone to vote for in this election, but more importantly I am now able to look past the immediate present and see the future that is on the horizon. Those who remember honestly my remarks of the last several months concerning John McCain, know that I have held a number of opposing issues with the man and I have maintained that while I would not vote for Obama, I could not bring myself to vote for McCain. I am a conservative, not a republican loyalist. I don't vote party. I vote my principles first and foremost and the two parties can be damned after that IMO.

But what John McCain did by choosing Sarah Palin over the likes of Romney and others today, was to finally reach out to those of us, who like so many of those on the other side, felt that we had been left behind by both party's parade into November. And you can bet, that the same thing was felt by millions of supporters of Hillary Clinton and those on the other side of the isle, who also felt that they were being railroaded into supporting a party platform and candidate who was not their own preference and who does not represent the best of their own ideals and principles.

There is a new day dawning across America this morning. The liberal induced fog has been cleared away and people like myself can once again see that shining city on a hill. And while John McCain may be as old as Moses and not capable of making the return journey there with us, he has given us someone who knows the way and who many will gladly follow into the future of conservatism and the party that has all but lost it's way in representing those principles to the faithful in America. Those of us who never lost the vision, now see both hope and opportunity for both themselves and their country.

Semper Fidelis!

Having sat through Barack Obama's address to the nation from Denver last night and having listened intently to his words, based upon my own knowledge of political facts versus his representations, I have to say that Barack Obama is continuing to make several formidable political mistakes.

The first of which is to attempt to infer, that the mantle of Americanism has been passed from the Clinton's to him and that he has the answers to all the questions and that the opposition should just turn out the lights and go home. The next point he continues to miss IMO, is his continued persistence of representation that his campaign and the key to winning the White House is based upon the dogged pursuit of the phantom menace, that he and other liberals consider the present administration. While claiming that he represents change, there is no tangible change that I have seen offered, aside from the sign on the door. Only the same democrat political ideologies of the past, mixed in with the socialist ideologies of the present militant wings of the democratic party.

Combine that with his tactics of continually going back to the same well to carry water against the democrat nemesis' of Bush/Cheney, while all but ignoring the candidate John McCain aside from the name calling and continually attempting to discredit McCain as nothing more or less than George Bush.  Barack Obama spent a large part of his speech last night, addressing what he intends to do and attempting to sell the overall audience on his capabilities to do what he says he will do. But aside from his eloquence of presentation and his message acutely tuned to the ears of the liberal bewildered, he left little substance on the table for the rest of America outside of promises.

Nothing that the rest of America could sink it's teeth into when it comes to believability beyond promise IMO. Barack Obama doesn't have to make the sale to the democrat loyal who were at Invesco Field last night, or those who have been at the convention all this week, or those supporting him from home in the blue states. Barack Obama had to make the sale to the many millions of other Americans, who have looked at his words and listened to his message and asked themselves...."where's the beef?" Where is his demonstrable ability and experience aside from his eloquence on the podium. And why does he dodge talking with the American people unless he has a canned audience and a prepared venue, where he and his campaign can control both the conversation and the political atmosphere.

IMO, Barack Obama's speech last night was nothing more than a retreaded and rehashed version of what the democrats have been hustling for the last eight years. Anybody but Bush and now that Bush is leaving, let's set up the straw man and claim that John McCain is George Bush. Last night Barack Obama reinforced the same talking points that he has used throughout this campaign. "We can't allow another four years of George Bush." And in doing so, he overlooked the reality that George Bush isn't either his adversary or the adversary of the American people in the next four years. I believe that the American people have already arrived at that reality, but the democrats and Barack Obama haven't.

The American people listened when Barack Obama paraphrased the great American leaders of history and then asked them collectively, to question if the messages of these leaders were just words? Which through the lens of history is easily ascertainable for most. But words viewed through the lens of the future, requires the viewer and the listener to look on what is being offered and ask themselves individually, what they truly believe about the speaker's ability to deliver on their words. Particularly when that speakers is all but daring you, to compare their words to the words of the leaders that they have cited.

Barack Obama's most famous words are 'yes we can.' Last night in Denver, he reissued that democrat battle cry to the party faithful and they responded resoundingly. But the question needs to be asked..... was the sale made to the rest of America and did Obama's words of attacks against Bush and Cheney and "eight is enough!", actually accomplish anything beyond the venting of the collective spleens of democrats that have nurtured their hate and licked their wounds for the last eight years.

I don't think so.