July 6-7, 2007
Jul 06 03:42 Time For Another Email/Phone Campaign Jul 06 11:23 A Shot Across Our Bow Jul 06 12:41 No Surprise: ACLU v. NSA Reversed Jul 06 13:08 Bush's Failed Economic Policies? Jul 06 14:23 Gen. Lynch Pushes Back Jul 07 11:07 Twins Break Out 'Shark Attack', Pummel ChiSox Jul 07 12:07 Iraqi Army Delivers Medical Supplies to Diyala Province Jul 07 19:36 They'd Better Not Go There
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006
Time For Another Email/Phone Campaign
After reading this article, it's obvious that the Senate has forgotten about us again. They've listened too much to the Agenda Media. They haven't listened to us. It's time we fired up the Victory Caucus team again and told the GOP senators that we won't contribute a penny to their re-election funds if they insist on acting like John Murtha about the war. It's time that we told them that we only support candidates who are pro victory. Here's the news about the latest defection:
In Albuquerque today, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), a six-term incumbent who faces reelection next year, said he was "unwilling to continue our current strategy" in Iraq.Losing a lily-livered idiot like George Voinovich isn't surprising. Losing Lugar, Warner, Alexander and Domenici is disappointing to say the least. It's time we taught these senators another lesson in W e T he P eople. Based on their actions, it's obvious that some senators think that they can do what they want. They started acting that way when the first nonbinding resolution hit the Senate and House floors. That attitude resurfaced when the 'Grand Bargain' was cooked up. Again, we reminded these senators that they worked for us. Now they're acting that way again with S.1545 is being considered.
The announcement follows the split of two other high-profile Republicans with the president over his handling of the war. Last week, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) called on Bush to start withdrawing troops. Domenici did the same today by endorsing a Senate bill that would adopt recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, which calls for a draw down of most troops in Iraq.
"I have carefully studied the Iraq situation, and believe we cannot continue asking our troops to sacrifice indefinitely while the Iraqi government is not making measurable progress to move its country forward," Domenici said in a statement. "I do not support an immediate withdrawal from Iraq or a reduction in funding for our troops. But I do support a new strategy that will move our troops out of combat operations and on the path to coming home."
When the nonbinding resolutions surfaced, the Victory Caucus was started. Because of the Victory Caucus, We The People rallied around victory. Senators started acting like Republicans with real spines again, albeit briefly.
It's time everyone reading this post sends an email to each of the GOP senators. Or call them when they return next week. Or do both. It's time they get the message that they can't ignore us anymore. The good news is that we made them listen to us before. If everyone does their part, they'll hear us again.
After all, all we're asking for is to give Gen. Petraeus the tools to kill the terrorists and insurgents. That isn't too much to ask.
Posted Friday, July 6, 2007 10:44 AM
No comments.
A Shot Across Our Bow
Based on the information laid out in Sen. Lieberman's WSJ op-ed, it's obvious that Iran has sent a shot across our bow with its actions. As Sen. Lieberman so eloquently says, it's time we put the 'fear of God' back in them:
However, as Gen. Bergner said on Monday, "There does not seem to be any follow-through on the commitments that Iran has made to work with Iraq in addressing the destabilizing security issues here." The fact is, any diplomacy with Iran is more likely to be effective if it is backed by a credible threat of force--credible in the dual sense that we mean it, and the Iranians believe it.It's time for Washington politicians to form a collective spine that says "No More" to Iran's terrorist-supporting regime. Before our senators debate S.1545, which essentially emasculates Gen. Petraeus's surge, we should let them know in clear, unambiguous terms that we must defeat Iran's proxies. It's time our politicians understood that a vote for S.1545 is tantamount to assuming the fetal position right before our enemies' eyes.
Our objective here is deterrence. The fanatical regime in Tehran has concluded that it can use proxies to strike at us and our friends in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine without fear of retaliation. It is time to restore that fear, and to inject greater doubt into the decision-making of Iranian leaders about the risks they are now running.
That isn't acceptable. Not by a long shot.
I hope the new revelations about Iran's behavior will also temper the enthusiasm of some of those in Congress who are advocating the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Iran's purpose in sponsoring attacks on American soldiers, after all, is clear: It hopes to push the U.S. out of Iraq and Afghanistan, so that its proxies can then dominate these states. Tehran knows that an American retreat under fire would send an unmistakable message throughout the region that Iran is on the rise and America is on the run. That would be a disaster for the region and the U.S.As I said in this post, it's time we gave our politicians a spinal transplant via email. It's time to tell them that there's too much to lose by tying Gen. Petraeus' hands.
The threat posed by Iran to our soldiers' lives, our security as a nation and our allies in the Middle East is a truth that cannot be wished or waved away. It must be confronted head-on. The regime in Iran is betting that our political disunity in Washington will constrain us in responding to its attacks. For the sake of our nation's security, we must unite and prove them wrong.
We should also email those politicians/statesmen that stand up for liberty. It's only appropriate to thank them for their tenacity, vision and wisdom. The first statesman to get such a barrage of emails should be Sen. Lieberman because he's been a leader in the truest sense of the word.
Posted Friday, July 6, 2007 11:24 AM
No comments.
No Surprise: ACLU v. NSA Reversed
Last August, I said that Anna Diggs-Taylor's ruling in the ACLU v. NSA wouldn't stand. This morning, I was proven right:
A divided U.S. appeals court dismissed a challenge to the Bush administration's terrorist surveillance program, ruling that the American Civil Liberties Union and others lacked the legal right to sue over the spying.At the time of the initial ruling, David Corn made this declaration:
The 2-1 decision today by the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that said the eavesdropping without court warrants violated the Constitution and federal law. The appeals panel directed the trial court judge to throw out the case.
Once again, a court has told Bush that he is not all-powerful. He cannot create military tribunals on his own. He cannot detain American citizens as enemy combatants without affording them some elements of due process. Taylor's decision will probably be appealed by the Bush administration, and the case will wind its way toward the Supreme Court. But this decision reaffirms, and puts into practice, the bedrock principle that a president's power does not trump the workings of a republican government, even when it comes to war.I don't blame Corn for thumping his chest like that. That's his right. This ruling essentially said that his taking a victory lap was premature at best. The true message behind Diggs-Taylor's ruling was that America can't afford liberal judges if it hopes to vanquish the jihadists.
As you would expect, both sides issued statements on what this morning's ruling meant:
ACLU Legal Director Steven R. Shapiro said in a statement that the ruling "deprives Americans of any ability to challenge the illegal surveillance of their telephone calls and e-mails." He said the organization will consider appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.Shapiro's statement doesn't square with prior rulings on surveillance of international communications. Here's a precedent that Powerline's John Hinderaker cites that contradicts Mr. Shapiro's statement:
Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the agency is pleased with the ruling. "The Terrorist Surveillance Program was a vital intelligence program that helped detect and prevent terrorist attacks," he said. "It was always subject to rigorous oversight and review."
For now, let me simply quote the November 2002 decision of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, in Sealed Case No. 02-001:John also posted this about other precedents. I strongly recommend that you keep a copy of this post for future battles with wrongheaded liberals on this issue.The Truong court [United States v. Truong Dinh Hung, 4th Cir. 1980], as did all the other courts to have decided the issue, held that the President did have inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches to obtain foreign intelligence information. *** We take for granted that the President does have that authority and, assuming that is so, FISA could not encroach on the President's constitutional power.And those are cases that deal with electronic intercepts inside the United States. A fortiori, intercepts outside the United States that coincidentally sweep in messages sent from America would seem to be obviously within the President's inherent Article II powers. So far, I have found no authority to the contrary.
Hopefully, this will be the last Judge Diggs-Taylor ruling that we have to deal with. We really can't afford this type of liberal lunacy in a time of war. My friend Bones says that muddle-headed judges like Diggs-Taylor are "trying to get me killed." I totally agree with that opinion. The good news is that judges like Alice Batchelder are trying to restore sanity to the fight.
Posted Friday, July 6, 2007 12:42 PM
No comments.
Bush's Failed Economic Policies?
This morning's job report proves yet again the folly of President Bush's economic policies, especially his tax cuts:
Employers boosted payrolls by a better-than-expected 132,000 jobs in June, enough to keep the unemployment rate at a relatively low 4.5 percent. It was another sign that the economy is snapping out of a nearly yearlong sluggish spell.If that isn't enough good news, check this out:
The latest picture of the nation's employment climate, released by the Labor Department on Friday, also showed that workers saw solid gains in their wages last month.
The tally of 132,000 new jobs was stronger than the 125,000 that economists were forecasting. They did, however, predict that job growth would be sufficient to hold the unemployment rate at 4.5 percent, where it has stood for three straight months.My good friend King always is quick to point out that it's important to check out the revisions of past job growth totals:
"The economy seems poised to return to its full potential," said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at LaSalle Bank. "Employers are seeking opportunities to add to their talent pools. The demand for labor is being driven by very solid demand for goods and services."
New hiring in the areas of education, health services, leisure and hospitality and government drove overall job growth last month. Construction companies also expanded employment, even as they coped with fallout from the housing slump. Those employment gains swamped job cuts at factories, retailers and certain professional and business services.
Meanwhile, the economy added more jobs in April and May than the government previously thought. Revised figures released Friday showed that payrolls grew by a strong 190,000 in May, much stronger than the 157,000 reported last month. In April, 122,000 positions were added, which was better than the 80,000 previously reported, which had been the fewest in two and a half years.
The new payroll figures show a fairly sharp revision in April and May employment along with a healthy increase in June. I always keep an eye out for revisions, as they tell us something we didn't expect.This report should provide activists the motivation to work hard to get tax-cutting, job creating, pro-growth GOP legislators elected in November, 2008.
Posted Friday, July 6, 2007 1:09 PM
No comments.
Gen. Lynch Pushes Back
Democrats used to criticize President Bush for not listening to the generals on the ground. Now that Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch has said that it's imperative to keep fighting, I wonder how they'll spin this. I'm betting that they'll criticize him for being 'Bush's mouthpiece' who's only saying this because he's been ordered to say it. Here's what Gen. Lynch said:
A senior U.S. military commander warned on Friday against cutting the number of troops in Iraq, saying the Iraqi security force cannot fight on its own and a U.S. reduction would cede progress to the insurgents.Let's see Democrats rebut each of those points. (They won't try but it'd be fun watching them try twisting this information to their advantage.) The fact is that Republicans should be sprinting to the nearest microphone to tout the progress being made. Instead, several have joined Democratic defeatists in the fetal position, saying essentially that they don't have the political willpower to agree with the generals that are making Iraq a safer place.
"It would be a mess," said Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch , commander of U.S. forces in an area stretching from Baghdad's southern suburbs through a region known as the "Triangle of Death."
He said the additional 30,000 troops sent to Iraq over the past four months had given commanders' the ability to reach areas controlled by insurgents and provide greater security.
"If those surge forces go away, that capability goes away. And the Iraqi security forces aren't ready yet to do that," he said, speaking to Washington reporters by video link from Iraq.
"So now what you're going to find, if you did that, is you'd find the enemy regaining ground, re-establishing a sanctuary, building more IEDs, carrying those IEDs in Baghdad and the violence would escalate," he said , referring to the improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs, used to deadly effect by insurgents.
As I said here, it's time we gave these defeatists a spine transplant so they do the right thing.
Something else that's missing from this debate is what our cutting and running would mean to the patriotic Iraqi people, many of whom are giving the MNF-I tips on where AQI and AQM terrorists are hiding. Just 30 short months ago, Iraqis voted despite death threats from AQI terrorists, Saddam loyalists and Iranian proxies. Now Mssrs. Warner, Domenici, Voinovich, Alexander and Lugar are going to tell them we don't care if they die? I think not.
Let's also acknowledge reality of what happens if we abandon our Iraqi allies. We 'gain' friends in Egypt, Iran and Syria while tossing Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan under the proverbial bus. We also throw away all of our credibility within the region and throughout the world. What nation in their right mind will trust us when we ask them to fight these terrorists? Foreign political leaders wouldn't trust us because they'd point to our abandoning the Iraqi government when they needed us the most.
[Gen. Lynch] also said current operations had uncovered 41 weapons caches and 54 roadside bombs. He said 1,000 buildings had been cleared and 45 boats used to transport insurgents had been destroyed.It'd be a shame if a bunch of arrogant Washington politicians said that they knew better than generals like Rick Lynch and David Petraeus. In fact, I'd call it a tragedy, not just a shame. Any politician that votes to undercut Gen. Petraeus' offensive should be made to wear that vote as a badge of dishonor.
Asked how long it would take Iraqi security forces to assume security responsibilities, he said he did not know. "Everything takes longer than you think it's going to take," he said. "I spend no time thinking about the political clock. I spend all my time focused on killing or capturing the enemy forces."
Posted Friday, July 6, 2007 2:25 PM
No comments.
Twins Break Out 'Shark Attack', Pummel ChiSox
Yesterday, the Twins broke out of their recent hitting doldrums. BIGTIME. ChiSox manager Ozzie Guillen summed it up best with this quote:
"They're not piranhas no more," Guillen said. "They're a shark attack now."Last year, Guillen professed a love for how the Twins played small ball, saying then of Jason Tyner, Jason Bartlett, Luis Castillo & Nick Punto bunted, blooped & ran the Twins into a bunch of runs. He complimented them with this quote:
"They can beat you in so many different ways," he said in the visitor's dugout at the Metrodome. "You wake up and say they're like little piranhas. Chk, chk, chk. You wake up and you don't have no meat, just bones. All those piranhas -- blooper here, blooper here, beat out a ground ball, hit a home run, they're up by four. They get up by four with that bullpen? See you at the national anthem tomorrow.When I first heard that description, it took me back to NBC's Joe Garagiola talking about the 1985 Cardinals in NBC's Game of the Week. The Cards were trailing the SF Giants when they came up. A bunch of Texas league singles, stolen bases & infield hits later & the Cards were leading, prompting Mr. Garagiola to say that that's what it's like to "get eaten alive by an angry moth."
Yesterday, though, there was nothing piranha-like about the Twins attack. By the Time I checked the score, the Twins had knocked Jon Garland out of the game with 12 runs in 3 1/3 innings, powered mostly by Jason Kubel's grand slam. By the time that the game ended, the Twins & ChiSox put more runs up than recent Bear-Vikings games.
In the nightcap, the Twins 'Sharks' came out to feed. Justin Morneau, who will compete in Monday night's Home Run Derby in San Francisco, led the way with three homers, one to each field. Torii followed with Justin's second homer, to straight away center field, with a blast of his own. Pinch-hitter Jeff Cirillo chipped in with a 3-run blast & Michael Cuddyer hit an opposite field homer.
It wasn't until Luis Castillo's seventh inning bloop single plated Nick Punto that the Twins scored without a homerun.
Twins fans also had to be encouraged with the pitching performance turned in by Matt Garza in the nightcap. That was the best curve I've seen him throw, getting a couple K's on a nasty curve. That included one that froze Twins destroyer Jim Thome for a called third strike.
There were other bright spots for the Twins, too. Joe Mauer, last year's major league batting champion, had this to say:
"I think," Mauer said between games, "I'm back."I'll say. The Pi-Press's Kelsie Smith noted that:
"Somewhere around July 1, though, everything got back in sync. Back in the third slot, Mauer entered Friday night's game against the White Sox hitting .435 in July after batting .229 in June."I'd say that the Twins' experiment with Joe hitting second is over, especially now that Jason Bartlett has his batting average climbing.
The other hitter who is finally swinging a hot bat is Mr. Kubel, who finally looks comfortable at the plate. He went 4 for 7 in the doubleheader, including his second career grand slam, driving in 7 runs in the first game before 'coming back to earth' in the second game with a 2 for 4 performance.
The only negative from the Twins perspective was that Twins backup catcher Mike Redmond got 7 stitches after the bat flew out of Jim Thome's hands. That required Joe Mauer to shift from DH to catcher & requiring pitcher Matt Garza to hit for himself. In the eighth slot no less. Even that worked out ok, with Garza contributing a nice sacrifice bunt. When Gardy finally pinch hit for Garza, Jeff Cirillo contributed a pinch hit 3-run homer.
How will the Twins fare today & Sunday? That's anybody's guess. Rest assured of this, though. With the Sharks & Piranhas swimming the waters, Ozzie Guillen has every right not to be worried.
Posted Saturday, July 7, 2007 11:09 AM
No comments.
Iraqi Army Delivers Medical Supplies to Diyala Province
That's the word from this article. I think this fits into the 'winning hearts and minds' phase of Operation Arrowhead Ripper.
Iraqi Army Soldiers with the Diyala province deputy governor of health delivered 10 trucks full of medical supplies to Diyala province, July 4, as part of an effort to provide much needed medicines for people in the area. Soldiers from the 5th Iraqi Army Division with Dr. Homm, the deputy governor of health for Diyala province, traveled to Baghdad on the morning of July 4 to escort the trucks north.The good news doesn't end there, though:
Meanwhile, food distribution planning efforts in and around Baqouba continued as a part of Operation Arrowhead Ripper. The warehouses are full of rice, flour, cooking oil, beans, chai, milk, and soap. Fourteen trucks were also loaded and readied for delivery to the province.It wasn't that long ago that Baqouba was an AQI stronghold. Based on this report, I'd say that that's history. I think it's safe to say that the Islamic State of Iraq is history, at least in Baqouba.
Since the beginning of the operation, Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces have provided approximately 462 metric tons of rice and flour to residents of Baqouba.
As a sign of the improving security situation in Baqouba, the government of Diyala province announced July 5 a relaxation of movement restrictions which had been placed over the city. The government stated that the city-wide cordon would be lifted for pedestrian traffic between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Despite all this progress, Sens. Alexander, Domenici, Lugar, Warner and other lily-livered idiots ( George Voinovich's name leaps to mind) are doing their best to ignore the dramatic improvements happening as a direct result of Operation Arrowhead Ripper. As I've said here, it's time we gave these 'Washington knows best' politicians "another lesson in W e T he P eople."
What I'm suggesting is something a little different than just writing an email saying that we demand that GOP politicians be committed to victory. To be sure, including that message is important in your emails to Sens. Alexander, Domenici, Lugar, Warner and Voinovich. What I'm also asking is that you include articles each day that talk about the dramatic improvements that are happening because Gen. Petraeus' counterinsurgency is working.
Including articles by Michael Yon are great but let's also include articles by other writers, too. What I've been doing is googling Operation Arrowhead Ripper, then clicking on the News tab at the top of the page. That's how I found the BlackAnthem.com article.
I think we can turn these senators' resistance into support if we include daily reports of progress in Diyala and Anbar Provinces, Baqouba and Baghdad. Considering the vast amount of resources we have at our fingertips, I don't think it'd take that much effort from each of us to bombard these senators with enough positive information to turn them.
Speaking of Michael Yon, this section caught my attention when I reread it:
I've seen this kind of progression in Mosul, out in Anbar and other places, and when I ask our military leaders if they have sensed any shift, many have said, yes, they too sense that Iraqis view us differently. In the context of sectarian and tribal strife, we are the tribe that people can-more or less and with giant caveats-rely on.If we point this out to the GOP senators, we will have an effect. Personally, I've framed this as a choice between doing the right thing or abandoning true Iraqi patriots. Frankly, that's what this comes down to. When you factor that in with the fact that the military, medical and humanitarian efforts are working in unison and there isn't a legitimate reason why we shouldn't be giving Gen. Petraeus wide latitude for success.
Posted Saturday, July 7, 2007 12:09 PM
Comment 1 by SgtJon at 29-Jul-07 01:17 AM
Bull.
Operation Arrowhead Ripper resulted in (July 24) "In Baqouba, a city of 325,000 people which has now been under siege for four weeks, residents have resorted to standing in line for food handouts from the U.S. since they can no longer get to markets and are not free to leave and return to the city. "A tomato, which is grown commonly in Iraq, is usually around six cents," said Mahmood Ali, a retired teacher. "Nowadays, we buy it for $1.25." The average house in Baquba gets one or two hours of electricity a day. It is not uncommon for three or four days to pass without a minute of electricity. Before the U.S.-led invasion, a liter of gasoline (for portable generators since residents are no longer allowed to drive cars) in Iraq cost five cents; today in Baquba it is nearly two dollars."
The new military "surge" tactics apparently combine the war crime of not allowing the free movement of people in a democratic country with warrantless searches of their homes, starvation, terror and arbitrary arrest.
They'd Better Not Go There
This Washington Post article tells me that the Democrats don't realize that they don't have much credibility on earmarks. It also tells me that they've got a political tin ear.
The plan, Democratic strategists say, is to use the hearings to detail the collapse of fiscal discipline during the Bush administration and to grab the offensive from Republicans who are trying to turn the debate over Democratic spending bills into a morality play on thrift.That's the definition of chutzpah. I'll promise you that they'll regret the day that they took this approach to Jim Nussle's confirmation. When the Democrats highlight GOP earmarks, expect activists/bloggers to counter with information on David Obey's attempts to skirt the earmark reforms that Pelosi's Plunderers passed:
"We're not going to let these guys act like the protectors of fiscal prudence here when they've left a sea of red ink," said Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (IL). He said that the as-yet-unscheduled hearings create an opportunity to give "the president's fiscal management, and what's happened to the budget, a showcase."
House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey first skirted the new rules by claiming no earmarks were contained in the supplemental appropriations. Last week, he decreed that henceforth, earmarks in his bills would not be revealed until a measure passes both the House and Senate.Taking this tack is a potential minefield for Emanuel's Democrats. There's another thing that Republican activists can highlight, which is how much the deficit has shrunk since recovering from the Clinton/Gore recession and 9/11. If GOP activists do this right, we can use the Nussle confirmation hearings as a way to pressure Democrats on tax cuts and how the Bush tax cuts have helped give us a strong economy, the strong growth in people's 401(k) accounts and growing revenues because of the records being set by the DJI and S & P exchanges.
The other thing that I'll predict is that Mssrs. Thompson, Giuliani and Romney will take that opportunity to tout the Bush tax cuts.
Another thing that might come from these hearings is the challenging of the Democrats' record on spending. This will require a multi-step process but the case is there to be made. The idea is to use these hearings to talk about how David Obey and John Murtha are serial abusers of the earmark and how John Murtha's power is solely derived from his doling out earmarks. We should also use these hearings to talk about how Democrats talked about reforming Congress but have fallen far short on transparency reforms, earmark reform.
We should pick up where the White House left off in terms of talking about the hours wasted on hearings:
"They've launched over 300 investigations, had over 350 requests for documents and interviews, and they have had over 600 oversight hearings in just about 100 days," Stanzel said. "So that's about six oversight hearings a day."I can't think of a reasonable justification for Democrats holding that many hearings into White House activities. Here's the pitch perfect way of highlighting the Democrats' constant politicization of anything that the White House does:
Stanzel said of Congress, "I would say they have a lot to show in terms of activity and requests and letter-writing, and that sort of thing, but not much to show in the way of real legislation-whether it's legislation on health care, education, comprehensive immigration reform. All of those things are important issues that we think the American people care about and would like to see Congress move forward on."If Democrats want to play hardball, let's play hardball but let's first break out the double barrels. Let's get serious about it.
To do anything less is unconscionable.
Posted Saturday, July 7, 2007 7:36 PM
No comments.
