It's Not The Economy, Stupid

Democratic strategist James Carville coined the phrase "It's the economy, stupid." Apparently not. As President Bush's job approval rating hovers in the mid-thirties, the Dow Jones on Friday chalked up the best bull market run in 80 years.

Congrats to the liberal media for distracting voters from the real accomplishments of the Republican administration.

"The Democrats' Gonzales"

When liberals like David S. Broder are ready to throw Harry Reid overboard, you know the 'Rats ship has already started sinking just a few months into their honeymoon cruise.

From last Thursday's Washington Post:

Here's a Washington political riddle where you fill in the blanks: As Alberto Gonzales is to the Republicans, Blank Blank is to the Democrats -- a continuing embarrassment thanks to his amateurish performance.

If you answered " Harry Reid," give yourself an A. And join the long list of senators of both parties who are ready for these two springtime exhibitions of ineptitude to end.

President Bush's highly developed tolerance for egregious incompetence in his administration may have met its supreme test in Attorney General Gonzales, who at various times has taken complete responsibility for the firing of eight U.S. attorneys and professed complete ignorance of the reasons for their dismissal. This demonstration of serial obfuscation so impressed the president that he rushed out to declare that Gonzales had "increased my confidence in his ability to do the job."

As if that were not mind-boggling enough, consider the mental gyrations performed by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as he rationalized the recent comment from his majority leader, Harry Reid, the leading light of Searchlight, Nev., that the war in Iraq "is lost."

On "Fox News Sunday," Schumer offered this clarification of Reid's off-the-cuff comment. "What Harry Reid is saying is that this war is lost -- in other words, a war where we mainly spend our time policing a civil war between Shiites and Sunnis. We are not going to solve that problem. . . . The war is not lost. And Harry Reid believes this -- we Democrats believe it. . . . So the bottom line is if the war continues on this path, if we continue to try to police and settle a civil war that's been going on for hundreds of years in Iraq, we can't win. But on the other hand, if we change the mission and have that mission focus on the more narrow goal of counterterrorism, we sure can win."

Everyone got that? This war is lost. But the war can be won. Not since Bill Clinton famously pondered the meaning of the word "is" has a Democratic leader confused things as much as Harry Reid did with his inept discussion of the alternatives in Iraq.

Nor is this the first time Senate Democrats, who chose Reid as their leader over Chris Dodd of Connecticut, have had to ponder the political fallout from one of Reid's tussles with the language.

Hailed by his staff as "a strong leader who speaks his mind in direct fashion," Reid is assuredly not a man who misses many opportunities to put his foot in his mouth. In 2005, he attacked Alan Greenspan, then chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, as "one of the biggest political hacks we have here in Washington."

He called President Bush " a loser," then apologized. He said that Bill Frist, then Senate majority leader, had "no institutional integrity" because Frist planned to leave the Senate to fulfill a term-limits pledge. Then he apologized to Frist.

Most of these earlier gaffes were personal, bespeaking a kind of displaced aggressiveness on the part of the onetime amateur boxer. But Reid's verbal wanderings on the war in Iraq are consequential -- not just for his party and the Senate but for the more important question of what happens to U.S. policy in that violent country and to the men and women whose lives are at stake.

Given the way the Constitution divides warmaking power between the president, as commander in chief, and Congress, as sole source of funds to support the armed services, it is essential that at some point Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi be able to negotiate with the White House to determine the course America will follow until a new president takes office.

To say that Reid has sent conflicting signals about his readiness for such discussions is an understatement. It has been impossible for his own members, let alone the White House, to sort out for more than 24 hours at a time what ground Reid is prepared to defend.

Instead of reinforcing the important proposition -- defined by the Iraq Study Group-- that a military strategy for Iraq is necessary but not sufficient to solve the myriad political problems of that country, Reid has mistakenly argued that the military effort is lost but a diplomatic-political strategy can still succeed.

The Democrats deserve better, and the country needs more, than Harry Reid has offered as Senate majority leader.

An Infinitely Worse Error

Last Wednesday night, we heard from some Iraq combat vets. They felt the cause they had fought for was noble and that thinsg in Iraq were gradually improving.

I would like to now submit the following simple questions to all those out there who are suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome, those that think Dick Cheney is the Antichrist, those that think Donald Rumsfeld is a boob, those that think we have wasted too much blood and treasure in Iraq already, those that think the pre-war intelligence was a lie, and those that think the Iraq war has been horribly mishandled. Let's suppose for a moment that all you believe is true. What next? Should we follow the lead of the Congressional Democrats and precipitously pull U.S. troops out of Iraq in Septmember 2008, no matter what? Is that the wisest course? And what would the consequences of such an action be?

“The Mesopotamian” is a blog run by an Iraqi civilian that goes by the name of “Alaa.” Back on August 14, 2005, he theorized what would happen in Iraq following a unilateral U.S. withdrawl. As you can see below, it’s a nightmare scenario.

Day 1: The American and other Multinational forces have almost completed withdrawing hastily, the decision having been taken by the U.S. administration to “cut and run” as it is said.

Day 2: The Anbar province - whole formations of Saddam’s previous organizations emerge from their holes and take control of the streets: Presidential Guards, Mukhabarat, Fedayeen Saddam, General Security, Private Security, Military intelligence, Party Units, etc. etc. ; in addition to Al -Qaida and various assortments of “Isalamists”. The whole of the province falls very quickly even before the last American soldier leaves Baghdad. The takeover takes place without any serious resistance apart from assassinations and murder of all those who are not entirely to the taste of the abovementioned. This takeover takes place over the entire western region right down to Abu Ghraib and Ghazaliya and other suburbs in Baghdad. Some fighting takes place in certain areas of Al-Anbar, but those tribes who were considered insufficiently hostile to the Americans and their friends, are quickly subdued with much bloodshed. In short the regime that is going to take over the country quickly takes shape in this region.

Other Parts of the Sunni Triangle: Similar situation develops in other areas such as Mosul, Tikrit, Sammara etc. in the North but with varying degrees of resistance and bloodshed, however the balance of force is in favor of the “insurgents”.

Diala Province: In the east considerable fighting and sectarian bloodshed, all civil services are disrupted and fighting continues.

South of Iraq: Badr Brigades, the Mahdi Army and various assortments of armed groups take to the streets and considerable fighting takes place near the southern approaches to Baghdad (the triangle of Death Latifya-Usufiya-Mahmodiya etc.) between Shiaa and Sunni groups, without any definite results initially.

Baghdad: All the middle class new neighborhoods start to be taken over by various armed groups with much looting and arson. This will be directly influenced by the speed of the U.S. army withdrawal; in particular the western part of Baghdad starting from Abu Ghraib right down to the up-scale Mansur Area.

The Mahdi Army and other Shiaa militias and tribal armed groups appear in the streets of Sadr City, Kadimiya and other neighborhoods with clear Shiaa majorities. In other mixed areas street fighting, looting ravaging and murder of families in their houses takes place on a large scale under various pretexes..Those who are weak and unarmed suffer most.

The little of electricity, water supply, sewerage and other municipal services, that there is comes to a complete halt. All shops, markets etc are closed and start to be looted.

Day 3:

The well defined main provincial areas, from the sectarian point of view, have quickly come under control of the various sectarian forces, Sunni ones in the Sunni areas and Shiaa in the Shiaa regions, and the most dangerous and destructive civil war in the history of Iraq has formally started, a war that will continue for many years and bring the country to a state worse than what followed the Mongol Invasion of Hollako in the 13th century. Ethnic and sectarian cleansing is going on within these areas with large scale movements of refugees from the various regions in all directions.

Days 4,5,6 etc.; and subsequent weeks, months and years.

It has become clear to everybody that the U.S. and other western powers are not going to come back, therefore the arena is free for all, so to speak. The Kurds withdraw into their mountainous region, and then decide to make a dash on Kirkuk. Fierce fighting erupts in and around Kirkuk, but the Kurds, being better organized and determined; initially succeed in controlling the town. Turkey cannot allow that so the Turkish army pours in from the North and the war starts between the Kurds and the Turks. The Turkish army advances quickly on Kirkuk through Mosul and after very bloody battles wrests control from the Kurds in the city. The Kurds retreat to the Mountains and start a classic guerilla war against the Turks. Turkey in effect occupies most of Northern Iraq.

Meanwhile vicious sectarian battles between Shiaa and Sunnis rage in and around Baghdad with tremendous bloodshed and huge numbers of civilians caught up in the fighting. Due to shut down of water supply the population of Baghdad starts to become desperate, and is under serious threat of thirst, so they leave their houses and flock to rivers, all that in the middle of raging battles in the streets. Organized gangs go around peoples’ homes checking identities and murdering whole families just because they happen to be Shiaa, Christian or Kurd (this is already actually happening, by the way, in a low key way in some areas).

Initially, the Sunni forces score some successes against the less organized and less experienced Shiaa forces in the Baghdad zone and south of it, despite the fierceness and carelessness about death of the latter. Hard pressed and threatened with extinction and having been abandoned by the West, the Shiaa’s have no other alternative but to turn towards the Iranians for protection. Iranian Revolutionary Guards start to pour in tens of thousands across the border to join the fighting. Soon the Iranians will be in virtual control of the entire south of Iraq and many parts of eastern Iraq. Likewise, the Kurds have no option but to turn to the Iranians in the face of the Turkish onslaught. On the other hand the previous trickle of arab terrorists and religious fanatics across the western and southern borders from Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia turns into a veritable torrent with tens and hundreds of southands pouring across to join their Sunni brothers. Turks, Iranians, Arabs, Sunni Iraqis, Shiaa Iraqis and Kurds all join in an infernal orgy of fighting destruction and death the like of which has seldom been seen.

All activities connected with oil exports from Iraq come to a complete standstill resulting in a world crisis and the rocketing of oil prices to above $ 100 a barrel at the least. Some oil fields burn and black smoke starts to spread all over the country reaching neighboring countries. The oil supplies in the entire region are jeopardized as fanaticism sweeps the region.

Al Qaeda and its affiliates and sympathizers throughout the world are jubilant, elated and drunk with the euphoria of a resounding victory against the U.S., Crusaders, Zionists, the Kafirs, the Shiaa and all other apstates. They transfer their entire cadres to the Sunni controlled areas of Iraq and establish themselves not as fugitives and underground movement but as an established force on the ground. Ripples are spread throughout the world and cells are preparing themselves to bring the battle to the very heartland of the Crusader Kafirs in The U.S. and Europe.

The U.S.A and her allies are completely discredited, and no one will ever think of putting any trust in them anywhere in the world in the future. In particular all factions involved in the fighting in Iraq will be vehemently anti-American and anti-western, especially erstwhile allies and friends who feel particularly betrayed and treacherously abandoned.

The U.S. and allied nations look on this general conflagration and explosion in the M.E. region with helpless dismay. It would take not 130 000 troops, nor one division or two or three to control such situation. All the resources of U.S., despite their tremendousness, will not suffice. It is then, that the American and Western people realize with shock and belated remorse, that if some considered the War on Iraq to be a mistake; the precipitate withdrawal and retreat is an infinitely worse error.

No matter the legitimacy of our cause to go to war in Iraq, it must now be won. As Ermest Hemingway stated, “Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.”

Nancy Pelosi's Diplomatic Prowess

I doubt that many newspapers will publish this cartoon.

Our National Legislators from Left to Right

Also saw this over at "Postman on Politics" the other day.
The National Journal has rated all Senators and Representatives from most liberal to most conservative. Not surprisingly, Washington's two senators put us up there with Massachusetts in liberality. Senator Tennis Shoes Mom is #8, ranked above even above John Kerry. Senator Cantdowell is #22, whch still puts ahead of gun grabbers Dianne Feinstein and Chuckie Schumer, and Billary Clinton.

In the House, we fare much better. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers is 26th most conservative.

Slightly off topic, Presidential candiate John McCain is 46th most conservative. Perhaps that is why he rejected an invitation to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend. Mitt Romney won the CPAC straw poll.

Meanwhile, in our Palousitics Presidential straw poll, Romney has overtaken McCain for second place, with dark horse libertarian-leaning Ron Paul only 2 points behind McCain in 4th place.

Nero Lives!!

The recent celebration of Washington's Birthday combined with recent Washington Democratic antics have reminded me that this state is unworthy to bear the name of the "Father of our Country."

A much more fitting name for Washington would be "Nero." Our flag color should be changed from green to red (for obvious reasons), but instead of a crossed hammer and sickle, I recommend a crossed fiddle and bow, in honor of the legendary Roman emperor.

You see, while our transportation infrastructure is crumbling as politicians bicker over a Viaduct replacement, violent felons are set loose on the street because our prisons are full, and the majority of high schoolers can't pass the WASL, our dauntless Democrats in the state legislature were busy wasting the taxpayer's time and money yesterday holding public hearings in Olympia on meaningless House and Senate resolutions calling for the investigation and possible impeachment of President George W. Bush and blocking the troop surge in Iraq.

Even Queen Christine and Senator Tennis Shoes Mom are agog over this shameless display of juvenility and petulance.

I had believed that the current Democratic supermajority in Washington's government could never be overturned in less than a decade. I may, thankfully, be proven wrong.

The Cult of Miserablism

"If God didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent him." - Voltaire

Indur Goklany has a new book titled The Improving State of the World: Why We’re Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Cleaner Planet. In a story about Goklany's book, Daniel Ben-Ami writes:

...the whole of humanity, including the developing world, has benefited as a result of rising prosperity...There are exceptions to this improving trend but these confirm rather than contradict the close connection between economic growth and quality of life...the combination of economic growth and technological development is not just beneficial to human well-being in a narrow sense. Goklany also argues strongly that the environment becomes better fit for human beings as a result of progress.

A key question is: What is it about contemporary society that pre-disposes so many people to be fearful of risks and blind to the benefits of progress?

My theory is that since modern-day humanism killed off God, liberals have developed their own religion, for as Voltaire said, man requires some sort of faith. To quote from Ann Coulter:

Under the guise of not favoring religion, liberals favor one cosmology over another and demand total indoctrination into theirs. The state religion of liberalism demands obeisance (to the National Organization for Women), tithing (to teachers' unions), reverence (for abortion), and formulaic imprecations ('Bush lied, kids died!'' 'Keep your laws off my body!' 'Arms for hostages!'). Everyone is taxed to support indoctrination into the state religion through public schools where innocent children are taught a specific belief system, rather than, say, math.

Now, global warming is becoming the state religion. Big corporations are the devil. Big government the savior. Al Gore the prophet. Melted ice caps the apocalypse. The minarets of the media broadcast the daily commandments that must be obeyed while local mullahs judge our behavior. Infidels are publicly stoned.

Actually, liberalism has many such sects (anti-sprawl, anti-Wal-Mart, anti-growth, anti-war, etc, etc.) The one unifying credo is that the world is going to hell and its all man's fault. We've taken a bite form the forbidden apple of capitalism and we are doomed as a result.

Why does the cult require such miserablism? Simple. It's the only way the faithful liberals can justify their existence. Their reward? Not eternal life, but earthly power of an unprecedented nature. The gloomerati now control the halls of Congress, the studios of Hollywood, the ivy-covered halls of academe, and the schoolhouses of America.

Meanwhile, "W" Lives Green

While Al Gore talks the talk, President Bush walks the walk.

Check out the date on this article April 29, 2001.

Geothermal heat pumps located in a central closet circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees; the water heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. Systems such as the one in this "eco-friendly" dwelling use about 25% of the electricity that traditional heating and cooling systems utilize.

A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof runs; wastewater from sinks, toilets and showers goes into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is used to irrigate the landscaping surrounding the four-bedroom home. Plants and flowers native to the high prairie area blend the structure into the surrounding ecosystem.

No, this is not the home of some eccentrically wealthy eco-freak trying to shame his fellow citizens into following the pristineness of his self-righteous example. And no, it is not the wilderness retreat of the Sierra Club or the Natural Resources Defense Council, a haven where tree-huggers plot political strategy.

This is President George W. Bush's "Texas White House" outside the small town of Crawford.

For 6 years now, the press has known that Al Gore is a hypocrite while George W. Bush actually lives closer to the lifestyle Gore advocates that does Gore or any of his Hollywood buds.

Do the Unions' Dirty Work

Speaking of Michael Costello, here is his column from the Tribune yesterday. I changed the title to what Michael chose, as the Tribune's version is not nearly as good.

I have heard it said that I don’t have much nice to say about Democrats. Well, I have this to say about Washington’s Democrats. At least no one in the legislature has yet introduced a bill banning the deployment of space-based mind control weapons, as U.S. Congressman (D-Ohio) and former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich did. Nevertheless, the Democrats have felt sufficiently invigorated by the majority they won last November to embark upon an unmistakably Democratic course. And, in this state, that means handing their puppet strings to the unions.

Only about 1 of every 8 wage and salaried workers in this country belongs to a union. The only union sector that is still growing is the public employees sector, where the rate of union membership is about 37%. More and more, private sector employees are choosing to remain non-union and non-unionize industries tend to perform better than unionized and so grow faster. But when people exercising their freedom of choice fail to choose as the union goons believe they should, the unions yank on their puppets’ strings and invoke the coercive power of government.

Governor Gregoire knows full well that she owes her current job to the unions, and in particular to the teachers’ union. Had the unions not repaid her for subverting a Washington state initiative that forbade unions from using union dues for partisan political purposes, then she would just be another out-of-work ex-attorney general. I can just imagine her standing on street corner somewhere holding up a hand lettered cardboard sign reading: “Will undermine the will of the people for food.” But, it didn’t turn out that way.

Her contribution to union goonery, was rewarded with the governorship. To gain that assistance, she used her previous office to eviscerate Initiative 134, a law that was passed by 72% of the voters in 1992. This law prevented unions from using union dues for politics. The teachers’ union persisted in supporting Democrats with union dues and was sued by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. Christine Gregoire and the Public Disclosure Commission formulated rules that allowed the unions to take and spend its members’ money as long as it was passed through some sort of intermediary account before being deposited in her and her party’s campaign coffers.

This did not end the legal wrangling and the case of dissenting teachers is now before the United States Supreme Court. The unions and the Democrats are not optimistic about their prospects and are now pushing a preemptive law that would erode the final workers’ protections granted by the voters 15 years ago. So, even if the court restores a bit of financial liberty to Washington’s union members, the legislature is preemptively planning to take it away.

And, the unions are also directing their marionettes to regulate non-union shops into oblivion. And, of companies whose employees elect to remain non-union, Wal-Mart predictably stands as the biggest and juiciest target. The unions have selected about 30 states, including Washington, for their scheme to force large employers to purchase health care insurance for their employees. Washington’s law is modeled after a similar one, which was recently struck down by the courts in Maryland. The law would force large employers to spend an additional 9% of their payroll purchasing health insurance. And if they don’t, they have to give the difference to the state government.

Contrary to the popular wisdom, Wal-Mart does offer its employees health insurance. Wal-Mart’s sin is that its insurance plan is voluntary. Employees may purchase low cost health insurance through the company and/or deposit money, with Wal-Mart matching the contribution, into a medical saving account. That’s actually a pretty good deal. Most of Wal-Mart’s employees are young and their jobs are entry level. For people in this demographic, health insurance may not be a good gamble. Most people within that age group do not require as much medical care as health insurance costs. Their choice not to purchase health insurance can actually be defended as economically sound.

But unions, and by extension, Democrats, do not wish to grant Wal-Mart employees this freedom. Their plan is to make health insurance mandatory. The result will inevitably be less take-home pay for Wal-Mart employees, fewer employees and higher prices for everyone else.

Space based mind control maybe be out. But centrally planned economic control is definitely in.

Technorati Tags: wal-mart walmart

Presidential Straw Poll Update

In the Palousitics Presidential Straw Poll, Rudy Giuliani leads John McCain 37% to 23%.

This tracks very closely with a USA Today poll of Republican voters conducted February 9-11 which shows Giuliani leading McCain 40% to 24%.

If you haven't voted yet, please take a moment to do so.

College Republicans Are At It Again!!!

No, not THEM. I heard this reported on "The Glenn Beck Program" on the radio this morning.

'Find the Illegal Immigrant'
College Republicans' event today incites protest from student groups

A contest called "Find the Illegal Immigrant" - a mock hunt for a student posing as just that - is being met with widespread protest on campus and receiving local and national media coverage.

The event, sponsored by NYU's College Republicans, is planned for today in Washington Square Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The student posing as the illegal immigrant will wear a name tag saying so. Other students will try to find him or her, playing the part of border patrol agents and wearing nametags that say "INS," referring to the former Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Predictably

The contest's premise has caused an uproar on campus. Student groups - including the ACLU at NYU, the College Democrats and several multicultural clubs - have organized a protest that they expect will draw hundreds of students.

Also predictably, the student newspaper trashes the CRs

The Republicans have an inflated sense of their own marginalization on our campus. Yes, we recognize that most students here are liberals, as are a majority of professors. But that is something different from the liberal tyranny College Republicans think goes on here. It rarely does, yet the College Republicans overcompensate for this imagined oppression by staging excessively bombastic events.

It's so easy to be critical when you are in the majority. These liberals are so blase'. Where are the radicals of the Sixties fighting to stir up the system? "Publicity stunt?" Isn't that what politics is all about? How else would Republicans get out their views? Student newspapers packed by liberals? A seminar that no one would attend? It's guerilla marketing, and it works. The lefties are just jealous because when you are in the majority on campus, you don't get big media coverage for mouthing PC platitudes.

That's right, as happened here, but only on a much larger level as it is New York City, the media capital of the world

In light of the event, TV vans and national news stations swarmed onto NYU's campus yesterday. Many local stations reported live in front of the Kimmel Center, while the story made headlines nationwide, including coverage on CNN, Fox News, NPR and talk radio.

Even the repellent Chuckie Schumer is getting involved

In an appearance yesterday at NYU, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer condemned NYU's College Republicans for planning to stage "Find the Illegal Immigrant," a controversial demonstration set to happen today.

"What I really find obnoxious - and that's how I'd describe what the College Republicans are doing - is it dehumanizes [illegal immigrants],"

The President of the NYU Colege Democrats states

"We're hoping for a peaceful protest that displays our disgust with the event," Toiv said. "If we come out looking crazier than the Republicans do, then we will have failed. But if the protest can go off peacefully, it will be a victory for us."

Good luck with that. The moonbats like Mssrs. Leonard and StreamasALWAYS look crazier. That's why the libs always fail and that's why these events are such fun to do and quite illuminatring for the rest of the country. The left just doesn't understand how regular Americans feel about illegal immigration.

Glenn Beck put it beautifully this morning. No one's saying to the immigrants don't come. We need you. But it's like a store. Don't come in the middle of the night through the side window. Come through the front door during business hours. If you come through the side window often enough, even if you leave money on the counter for the things you take, eventually someone will rob the store blind. That's why the owners have to put bars on the side window.

Palousitics 2008 Presidential Straw Poll

For those of you unable to make this Sunday's WCRP Lincoln Day Dinner, I thought it would be fun to gauge conservative opinion here in Pullman/Whitman County/Washington on next year's wide-open Republican Presidential horserace. I figure if you're going to vote for Hillary or Obama, you aren't likely to be reading this blog anyway. Besides, another Clinton in the White House and I'm heading for Greenland. I understand the real estate potential is growing there.

I have found myself getting more and more interested as various candidates have officially declared their candidacy over the past few weeks.

On the right, you can see a new poll that I created. Please take a moment and vote. The results, of course, will be totally unscientific, but please, you partisans in particular, try not to abuse/manipulate it too badly. Feel free to post comments about your choice or to discuss candidates.

This site is a great reference for all known and potential Republican candidates.

"Some perspective on grim milestones"

Another fantastic column from Saturday's Lewiston Tribune by Michael Costello:

It’s easy to tell when we’re a long ways from the Iraq war’s next “grim milestone.” With the last grim milestone receding into the past and the next grim milestone a year or more away, the mainstream media are forced to concoct such silly headlines as Tuesday’s Associated Press story, “Death Toll Keeps Rising...” as though it might actually go down. It’s probably no coincidence that grim milestones are all multiples of 10, as I’m sure that the same lively minds that cook up headlines like the one noted above still need their fingers to count on.

Trust me. The 2999th life lost was just as precious as the 3000th.

Grim milestones could be tabulated another way, without abandoning the powers of ten rule. For example, if our losses continue at their current pace, we’ll reach 1% of the lives lost during the Civil war in another 18 months or so. The same goes for World War II. And keeping the math simple, later this year, we’ll approach half of the losses we suffered during the Philippines anti-insurgency effort of 1899.

It’s worth remembering that nearly twice as many servicemen died in accidents during the final full year of the Carter Administration than died in Iraq last year.

Considering how terribly underfunded the military was during his reign of error, it’s likely that many of those deaths were attributable to poorly maintained equipment. I don’t recall any newspapers declaring a grim milestone when the 2000th active duty serviceman died in 1980.

Although the “Greatest Generation” that fought so nobly during World War II deserves its notation, this country has never produced a better quality of men and women than those who have volunteered to fight this war. The threat that challenged the Greatest Generation was more immediate and less abstract than the challenge this generation’s finest have volunteered to engage. For most Americans, the threat we face is just as remote and theoretical as global warming and just as easy to ignore in our daily lives. Every time I see a public service announcement warning us of the threat of global warming, I have to wonder if just once in a while the threat of radical Islam might deserve such mention.

And this generation’s warriors are sacrificing a much more comfortable lifestyle than the Greatest Generation left behind. While most of this generation chooses to accept challenges no greater than the seventh level of some video game, a small fraction so values a country that can provide most of its citizens with such untroubled lives that they gave up their share of it to defend it for the rest of us. That such a decadent society can still produce warriors of such valor undoubtedly challenges our enemies’ preconceptions.

This is particularly amazing as so much of our popular culture and our education establishment is dedicated to convincing young minds that America is at its core a corrupt, evil and oppressive place not worth defending. We have entire academic departments within our universities devoted to poisoning young minds.

In spite of all the institutions dedicated to demoralizing our youth, today at least, we still produce enough of these fine young men to keep our nation secure. We will have reached a genuinely grim milestone when we no longer can.

Nevertheless, this war has certainly not been without its grim milestones.

A recent opinion poll revealed that only 51% of registered Democrats actually wanted the United States to win this war. More than a third (34%) actually wanted failure and another 15% were uncertain. I’m not sure when it happened, but surely we have long ago passed a grim milestone when barely half of the majority party still wants this nation to win on the battlefield.

Recently a New York Times reporter was publicly scolded by his newspaper’s ombudsman and its managing editor for stating on the Charlie Rose show that he hoped for a US victory in Iraq. Surely it was a grim milestone when the nation’s historically premier newspaper crossed a line that considers patriotism in time of war inappropriate.

For a time last year, the French government was unable to convince the French military to fulfill France’s obligations to the peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. When the US military views its primary task as marching in parades, then we will have truly reached our last “grim milestone.”

Bravo, Michael for puttng things in perspective and infuriating our local sufferers of BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome).

Not Condemned to Repeat It

Last weekend's anti-war demonstration in Washington, DC was pathetically sad and funny at the same time. The burnt-out old hippies are vainly attempting to relive a Forrest Gumpesque acid trip (for the last time we can hope). My God, they have even resurrected Hanoi Jane. Back in 1972, Fonda manned a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun in a photo op. Will we next see her holding an RPG in Ramadi or Fallujah?

I reject comparisons of Iraq with Vietnam. Every war is different. That's why it's so tricky. The military is always ready to fight the last war. But one thing I do see comparisons with the Vietnam War is in the increasingly vitriolic vileness of the anti-war movement.

At a DC counter-demonstration, a disabled Iraq veteran was spit upon by protesters. There was also vandalism at the Capitol. The current anti-war movement would do well to remember that for all the sound and fury of their demonstrations, for all the dead students at Kent State, all the Vietnam protesters accomplished was to get Richard Nixon re-elected by one of the largest margins in American history in 1972 and put us on the road to Watergate, Malaisegate, and Desert One. They went too far and sickened the American public. Dissent is a proud American tradition. Spitting on soldiers and providing aid and comfort to the enemy is not. That is treason.

And the anti-Iraq war movement doesn't even have close to those numbers yet. Saturday's demonstration was only around 10,000. Embarassing. Of course, the liberal media made much of it, even though the Monday before there were twenty times as many people on the mall to protest the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.

My favorite Evergreen columnist, Jimmy Blue wrote today that:

The protests that took place across the country on Saturday may have been the largest demonstration of anti-war sentiment since the Iraq war began. But the older generation seems to be carrying all the weight. I believe it is crucial for the teenagers, the high school- and college-age people of our nation to take some responsibility for their own interests. It seems that as an age group we are too lazy and apathetic to participate in political discourse.

I would submit that is neither laziness nor apathy that keeps today's young people away from the protests, but intelligence and dignity. Unlike their foolish elders, they have learned from history and are not condemned to repeat it.

Columnist Abuses Soldiers' Deaths

The Daily Evergreen carried an opinion article today titled “When will they realize the war is wrong?” The author used a few choice phrases to express exactly why she felt our presence in Iraq was unjust or wrong. Most of those points have been said before by other columnists, TV hosts, or so-called experts. But what angered me was just how seditious and damaging the author’s words were, especially about our military:

Another headline Thursday in The Daily Evergreen, “Former WSU student killed in Iraq,” dominated the front page. On that day, the “war on terror” became all too relevant, even though it is being waged nearly 7,000 miles away. Last Thursday, the war once again became local news. One more name. One more life. One more son or daughter who will never come home. One more child who will never know their father or mother. One more unfulfilled destiny. One more name in the newspaper, one more name on a list, one more headline. Last week, the war took two more men with ties to Eastern Washington. When does it stop?

I think regular readers of this blog know my stance on the United States military. I have enormous faith in and love for those that have volunteered to risk their lives for this nation and for others. Not a man or woman serving in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard (though no longer an Armed Force) was ordered to take the uniform. We were never ordered to enlist, fight, and even die for the United States; we all, for whatever reasons, made a conscious decision to join. For a columnist to use the loss of any soldier as a means to push a political point is misdirected, as well as detestable and cowardly.

The cost and death of war is terrible: It has been since the early history of human kind, and will continue to be so for as long as we exist. Yes, parents will loose sons and daughters. Yes, husbands will loose wives; and wives, husbands. Children will grow up never knowing their mother or father; only knowing their sacrifice. The pain of war cuts deep, far deeper than many of us may ever know. How dare anyone use that pain to chastise their sacrifice. They did not die 7000 miles from home with the hope that we could site here, safe and comfortable, and rebuke the very reasons they laid down their lives. Shame on those that believe they can praise the troops from one side of their mouths and curse their cause from the other. For those that honorably serve in the Armed Forces, their cause is their life and their death. To insult their reasons for being in Iraq and elsewhere is to insult their service and their sacrifices. To a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine, there is no difference.

When does it stop? A good question, to be sure. Nobody hates war more than the warrior. I pray to God, however, that it stops when and only when the job is done. Let us press on until be can truly say our sons and daughters died not only for a noble cause, but for a successful one as well. President Bush is being stubborn on this matter, and I cannot blame him. Who wants to be the one to tell a grieving mother that her son died for nothing? To say, “I am sorry for your loss. We tried to make his death worth something, but in the end we weren’t willing to do what it would take to achieve success…”

More may and will die. That is the cold reality of war. I do not claim to understand what it means to know battle; to feel and see death around me. I have never seen a man die with fear and pain in his eyes, or felt that pain and fear for myself. In the future, perhaps I will. But I do understand where our soldiers are coming from. I know what motivates the vast majority of us to walk with heads held high in pride and purpose. It is not so that others can capitalize on the horrors of war. It is not so others can degrade our president, or abuse our choice.

Our military fights in war so others can live in peace.

If you believe the war should not have happened, you are entitled to that opinion. But the war has already begun, and that cannot be changed. Don’t make it worse by stirring hatred and resentment here at home. Our service men and women fight so you don’t have to. Please honor their commitment. One more name has been added to a growing list of those that willing gave everything they had. One more newspaper headline has been written. But instead of reading headlines like “Terrorist car bomb kills seven in Chicago playground,” we read of soldiers dying in foreign lands, thousands of miles from our homes and families.

The war is far from over; the issue is far from resolved. We have reached a point in this conflict when America is losing….[President Bush] seems to believe we can still hold on; we can still make a difference and win, whatever winning means.

If we do lose this war, I assure you it will not be due to any lack of military proficiency, supply, or will. Failure will occur here at home as it did for Vietnam, and with an attitude like that seen in The Daily Evergreen today, we are already on our way.

Do not let members of our military die in vane. Don’t let fear overcome resolve. Everything of worth comes at a high cost, especially peace. God bless our men and women in the Armed Forces.

Remember When?

THEN: Is Gasoline the opiate of the masses? I don’t know. But, it’s odd that oil and gas companies, who have a large stake in retaining the Republican congress, and also have control over gas prices, have decided to lower their high prices as we approach the mid-term elections.

NOW: The average retail price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States fell nearly 14 cents over the past two weeks.

That "lower the gas prices" conspiracy sure worked out well for the GOP, didn't it?

THEN:Washington has its own disaster waiting to happen. New Orleans sits below sea level with deferred maintenance on the levees in an area prone to hurricanes. Seattle sits at the edge of Puget Sound, with a crumbling seawall and a viaduct ready to tumble, in an area prone to earthquakes. This fall we will be voting to maintain or repeal the gas tax that is earmarked to fund the replacement of the viaduct.

Action: We can vote to maintain this tax so that government can take care of this kind of major infrastructure project. That's what government does best.

NOW: Without committing herself to a course of action, the governor said she wants to hear what voters say in a March 13 election in Seattle on the viaduct.

The proposed four-lane tunnel is an alternative to a $4.6 billion six-lane model that had been on the table. However, the new tunnel proposal has not been fully vetted. Gregoire said there are many unanswered questions. She wants to get as many of them answered as possible before it goes to a vote.

After that, it's not clear what will happen.

"The end of the legislative session is the final say because we're moving forward with one of the two options we had in December (the elevated highway or the $4.6 billion tunnel) or whatever the Legislature may choose alternatively," Gregoire said.

What "government does best" is spend money that doesn't belong to them. The wealthy condo owners in Seattle want a water view and we lowly peons in the rest of the state get to foot the bill. Meanwhile, as the Neros fiddle, STILL no concrete plan for fixing the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Some crisis.

Lord, what fools these voters be.

Discover the Networks

"Follow the money"

- Deep Throat, All the President's Men

I found a site that Herr Barenjager should appreciate. It has visual maps that indicate direct affiliations between various left-wing, anti-war groups, funders, and individuals.

To quote form the site:

This site is a "Guide to the Political Left." It identifies the individuals and organizations that make up the left and also the institutions that fund and sustain it; it maps the paths through which the left exerts its influence on the larger body politic; it defines the left's (often hidden) programmatic agendas and it provides an understanding of its history and ideas.
...

The disingenuous tradition of the political left has continued into the present. In the 1960s, the radical organizers of the mass anti-war demonstrations pretended that their only interest was to "Bring the Troops Home," when in fact their agendas embraced a radical menu that was anti-capitalist and welcomed a Communist victory. In the campaign against the war in Iraq, a similar pattern emerged, as the information provided in this database clearly demonstrates

Although this site focuses on the political left as it applies to the anti-war and environmentalist movement, the same principles apply to the Wal-Mart opposition as well. It would be interesting to draw similar visual maps to learn their true agenda (I pretty sure we all know what that is).

"For $7.93 an Hour, It’s Worth a Trip Across a State Line"

I guess the New York Times didn't check with Paul before they wrote this story:

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash., Jan. 9 — Just eight miles separate this town on the Washington side of the state border from Post Falls on the Idaho side. But the towns are nearly $3 an hour apart in the required minimum wage. Washington pays the highest in the nation, just under $8 an hour, and Idaho has among the lowest, matching 21 states that have not raised the hourly wage beyond the federal minimum of $5.15.

Liberty Lake and Post Falls are divided by more than the state line. Nearly a decade ago, when voters in Washington approved a measure that would give the state’s lowest-paid workers a raise nearly every year, many business leaders predicted that small towns on this side of the state line would suffer.

But instead of shriveling up, small-business owners in Washington say they have prospered far beyond their expectations. In fact, as a significant increase in the national minimum wage heads toward law, businesses here at the dividing line between two economies — a real-life laboratory for the debate — have found that raising prices to compensate for higher wages does not necessarily lead to losses in jobs and profits.

Idaho teenagers cross the state line to work in fast-food restaurants in Washington, where the minimum wage is 54 percent higher. That has forced businesses in Idaho to raise their wages to compete.

Business owners say they have had to increase prices somewhat to keep up. But both states are among the nation’s leaders in the growth of jobs and personal income, suggesting that an increase in the minimum wage has not hurt the overall economy.

“We’re paying the highest wage we’ve ever had to pay, and our business is still up more than 11 percent over last year,” said Tom Singleton, who manages a Papa Murphy’s takeout pizza store here, with 13 employees.

His store is flooded with job applicants from Idaho, Mr. Singleton said. Like other business managers in Washington, he said he had less turnover because the jobs paid more.

By contrast, an Idaho restaurant owner, Rob Elder, said he paid more than the minimum wage because he could not find anyone to work for the Idaho minimum at his Post Falls restaurant, the Hot Rod Cafe.

“At $5.15 an hour, I get zero applicants — or maybe a guy with one leg who wouldn’t pass a drug test and wouldn’t show up on Saturday night because he wants to get drunk with his buddies,” Mr. Elder said.

For years, economists have debated the effect that raising the minimum wage would have on business. While the federal minimum wage has not gone up for 10 years, 29 states have raised their wage beyond the federal minimum.

These increases, according to critics like Brendan Flanagan of the National Restaurant Association, are a burden on the small, mostly family-run businesses in fast food and agriculture that employ workers at the lowest end of the pay scale.

“We see the political momentum for this,” said Mr. Flanagan, a vice president at the association, “but we cannot ignore what our members are telling us, which is that it will lead to job losses.”

But the state’s major business lobby, the Association of Washington Business, is no longer fighting the minimum-wage law, which is adjusted every year in line with the consumer price index.

“You don’t see us screaming out loud about this,” said Don Brunell, president of the trade group, which represents 6,300 members.

“It’s almost a no-brainer,” Mr. Brunell said, that the federal minimum should go higher. Association officials say they would like to see some flexibility for rural and small-town businesses, however.

Washington’s robust economy, which added nearly 90,000 jobs last year, is proof that even with the country’s highest minimum wage, “this is a great place to do business,” Mr. Brunell said.

During a recession five years ago, the same group had argued that Washington’s high minimum wage law would send businesses fleeing to Idaho. The group sent out a news release with a criticism of the law from John Fazzari, who owns a family-run pizza business in Clarkston, Wash., just minutes from the Idaho town of Lewiston.

But now Mr. Fazzari says business has never been better, and he has no desire to move to Idaho.

“To tell you the truth, my business is fantastic,” he said in an interview. “I’ve never done as much business in my life.”

Mr. Fazzari employs 42 people at his pizza parlor. New workers make the Washington minimum, $7.93 an hour, but veteran employees make more. To compensate for the required annual increase in the minimum wage, Mr. Fazzari said he raises prices slightly. But he said most customers barely notice.

He sells more pizza, he said, because he has a better product, and because his customers are loyal.

“If you look 10 years down the road, we will probably have no minimum wage jobs on this side of the border, and lots of higher-income jobs,” Mr. Fazzari said.

Job figures from both states tend to support his point. While Idaho leads the nation in new job growth, it has a far higher percentage of minimum-wage jobs than Washington. Minimum-wage positions make up just 2.4 percent of the jobs in Washington, while about 13 percent of the jobs in Idaho pay at or less than the proposed federal minimum wage, according to a study done for the state last year.

Part of the difference could be accounted for by a lower cost of living in Idaho and the higher percentage of technology, manufacturing and government jobs in Washington, economists say. Still, it is hard to find a teenager in Idaho who lives anywhere near Washington who is willing to work for $5.15 an hour.

“Are you kidding? There are so many jobs nearby that pay way more than minimum wage,” said Jennifer Stadtfeldt, who is 17 and lives in Coeur d’Alene, which is just a few minutes from Washington. She pointed out that Taco Bell, McDonald’s and other fast-food outlets in her town were posting signs trying to entice entry-level workers with a starting pay of $7 an hour.

The House today passed a bill increasing the minimum wage, and about 13 million workers would see a pay raise if the Senate and President Bush approve it. Mr. Bush has said he would approve the wage increase so long as concerns of small-business owners were taken into account; the Senate has not yet taken up the bill.

Several studies have concluded that modest changes in the minimum wage have little effect on employment. A study two months ago by an economist at Washington State University seemed to back the experience of Clarkston and other border towns in Washington. The economist, David Holland, said job loss was minimal when higher wages were forced on all businesses. About 97 percent of all minimum-wage workers were better off when wages went up, he wrote.

But other business groups argue that an increase would hurt consumers and workers at the low end.

In a survey released on the eve of the November elections — in which voters in six states considered raising their minimum wages — the National Restaurant Association said restaurants expected to raise their prices and eliminate some jobs if the voters approved the measures. The initiatives all passed.

Here on this border, business owners have found small ways to raise their prices, and customers say they have barely noticed.

“We used to have a coupon, $3 off on any family-size pizza, and we changed that to $2 off,” said Mr. Singleton, of Papa Murphy’s. “I haven’t heard a single complaint.”

Leave it to the New York Times to quote from just one study and not interview a business owner that had a BAD experience in Washington with the the high minimum wage.

Help Not Affordable

I just read the news about the House of the U.S. Congress approving a proposed minimum wage hike, which I relayed to my business partner.

In the last few days, the return of WSU students to the area has seen a rush of job seekers visiting our shop to inquire about employment. Our standard response has been, "sorry, but we're not hiring right now."

Washington state's minimum wage, now $7.93 per hour, is ahead of the proposed Federal wage hike, so the Federal increase won't affect us that much. But this news has brought to mind again the business climate we face in this state, and today's announcement prompted my business partner and I to decide on a new policy of 100% honesty toward job applicants.

We will now tell each and every person who inquires about employment with our companies that the increases in the minimum wage have made hiring them too expensive, that we would have considered their applications in the past but, thanks to Olympia, now we simply cannot and will not. We will make it perfectly clear to job seekers at our store what hikes in the minimum wage really mean for them and others.

To business owners out there who may be reading this post, I encourage you to do the same if you will be curtailing hiring due to minimum wage hikes. Let's be completely honest with job seekers about what they are going to be facing. It's only fair that we tell each and every applicant why it is that we will not offer them jobs. Perhaps then, the next time some politico tries to buy votes by promising to redistribute other people's money, they will find their offers met with the hostility and rejection such theft deserves.

"Virginia Rep. Goode's Muslim Immigration Warning Draws Fire From Islamic Groups"

I don't normally cover national news on this blog, but I couldn't pass up the story below from Fox News.

Rep. Virgil Goode is from my home town of Rocky Mount, VA. He is a family friend. I have know him since his days in the Virginia Senate. His former wife was my French teacher in college. Goode was once a Democrat but switched over to the Republican party in 2002.

I am tremendously proud of Virgil for not caving in to political correctness and sticking to his guns. Believe me, he won't be punished by voters. The 5th Congressional District of Virginia is rock-solid consverative and Virgil is wildly popular there. He has been in Congress for 10 years and will be in for another 20 if he chooses.

It's about time I got back in touch with Virgil and let him know that I support his actions.

WASHINGTON — A Republican congressman from Virginia told FOX News he is standing by his warning that a newly elected representative's decision to use the Koran in taking the oath of office poses a danger to the traditional "values and beliefs" of Americans.

Rep. Virgil Goode Jr. made the comments in a letter sent earlier this month to hundreds of constituents who had written to him about Rep.-elect Keith Ellison of Minnesota, a Democrat and the first Muslim in Congress.

"The letter says exactly what it says. My position is that I'm using the Bible ... period," Goode, who is listed as a Baptist in congressional handbooks, told FOX News on Thursday.

"We got several hundred e-mails regarding Congressman Ellison and his plan to use the Koran. They are concerned about it and I was responding to it," Goode said, adding that he doesn't know Ellison personally.

Goode's letter drew immediate fire from Islamic groups and House colleagues, including a charge that the letter "promotes misconceptions."

Mukit Hossain, president of the Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee, called Goode’s letter an “overt attack” on the Muslim community.

“I couldn’t really believe that a U.S. representative would stoop to that level,” Hossain said. “That he would actually say something not only mean, but outright stupid.”

Hossain said there are about 60,000 registered Muslim voters in Virginia.

“I expect a public representative to show more tolerance and moral fiber than Congressman Goode has shown,” Hossain said.

Goode’s positions outlined in the letter encourage other lawmakers and people to think the same way, Hossain said.

“He’s essentially telling people that it’s okay to discriminate or profile against Muslims,” Hossain said.

Goode warned in his letter that more Muslims would be elected to office if Americans didn't adopt his position on immigration.

"The Muslim representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran," Goode wrote.

Goode said the United States needs to stop illegal immigration "totally" and reduce legal immigration.

"I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped," he wrote.

Ellison was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college. He did not return telephone messages left Thursday.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Goode to apologize.

“I think it is very distressing because it’s part of a wider pattern that we see of these kind of comments,” said Corey Saylor, CAIR national legislative director.

Saylor said the group wants to see where the Virginia Republican Party stands on the issue and hopes it doesn't don’t support Goode’s comments.

“I’d like to see the Republicans come out and have some sort of response about these remarks,” Saylor said.

Goode spokesman Linwood Duncan said Wednesday no apology was forthcoming.

"The only statement the congressman has is that he stands by the letter," Duncan said.

The letter was made public by John Cruickshank, who had received it after writing to Goode about environmental issues. Duncan said Goode's office sent the letter to Cruickshank by mistake.

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., who represents a large Muslim population in New Jersey, called Goode's letter prejudicial.

"He's almost providing a litmus test for what it is to be a congressman," Pascrell said. "I don't know where he's coming from."

Pascrell sent a letter on Wednesday to Goode, urging him to meet with Virginia's Muslim community and "learn to dispel misconceptions instead of promoting them."

"Muslim-Americans do not threaten our American values and traditions, in fact they only add to them," Pascrell wrote in the letter.

Pascrell also offered his support to Ellison.

"Keith Ellison serves as a great example of Muslim-Americans in our nation and he does not have to answer to you, to me or anyone else in regards to questions about his faith," Pascrell said.

Pascrell said he hasn't received a response from Goode but hopes he will act and take his comments in good faith.

"I want him to reach out to the Muslim community," Pascrell said.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., said he met with Ellison and believes he is a "man of good values and good character."

"I think one of the great things of this country is that you can have Catholics, Jews, Protestants, and now a Muslim, join the United States Congress and it says a great thing about America," Emanuel said. "And I'm hopeful that Congressman Goode will take the opportunity of the new 110th Congress as we bring change to Washington and bring it in a new direction that he has an opportunity to sit down with Keith Ellison."

Rep Goode's letter can be read here.