An Eye for a Lie

The latest CBS News poll has very bad news for President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

The American people aren't happy with the Bush Administration.

That's being too kind. According to CBS, the overwhelming majority of Americans despise Bush and Cheney. In other words, huge numbers of Americans think like Howard Dean and Michael Moore and Cindy Sheehan and Saddam Hussein and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Osama bin Laden.

The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high.

Americans are also overwhelmingly opposed to the Bush-backed deal giving a Dubai-owned company operational control over six major U.S. ports. Seven in 10 Americans, including 58 percent of Republicans, say they're opposed to the agreement.

...The troubling results for the Bush administration come amid reminders about the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina and negative assessments of how the government and the president have handled it for six months.

In a separate poll, two out of three Americans said they do not think President Bush has responded adequately to the needs of Katrina victims. Only 32 percent approve of the way President Bush is responding to those needs, a drop of 12 points from last September’s poll, taken just two weeks after the storm made landfall.

...Mr. Bush's overall job rating has fallen to 34 percent, down from 42 percent last month. Fifty-nine percent disapprove of the job the president is doing.

For the first time in this poll, most Americans say the president does not care much about people like themselves. Fifty-one percent now think he doesn't care, compared to 47 percent last fall.

Just 30 percent approve of how Mr. Bush is handling the Iraq war, another all-time low.

By two to one, the poll finds Americans think U.S. efforts to bring stability to Iraq are going badly – the worst assessment yet of progress in Iraq.

Even on fighting terrorism, which has long been a strong suit for Mr. Bush, his ratings dropped lower than ever. Half of Americans say they disapprove of how he's handling the war on terror, while 43 percent approve.

...[Vice President Cheney's hunting accident] appears to have made the public's already negative view of Cheney a more so. Just 18 percent said they had a favorable view of the vice president, down from 23 percent in January.

Sounds pretty bad. Everything is a mess.

This presidency appears to be doomed. DOOMED!

On the CBS website, accompanying the analysis of these disastrous poll results for the Bush Administration, is this photo of the President.



Do you detect a slant?

Does President Bush look troubled?

Boo hoo.

Do the numbers seem to be just a tad extreme?

Of course, they seem that way because THEY ARE.

Apparently, CBS can't handle the truth.

Once again, in its well established tradition of creating "news," CBS puts out a misleading story, touting its poll as a legitimate indicator of opinion.

Greg Sheffield of NewsBusters reveals the bias in the CBS polling sample.

"Total Republicans" contacted: 272 unweighted and 289 weighted.

"Total Democrats" contacted: 409 unweighted and 381 weighted.

"Total Independents" contacted: 337 unweighted and 348 weighted.

CBS virtually guaranteed the findings before a single person responded to the poll. I suspect that before the actual numbers were tallied, the analysis of the results was written. The totals were probably plugged in later.

The reality is CBS poses liberal propaganda as truth.

If it's from CBS, you can assume that it is unreliable. This poll was a creation. It is as fake as the National Guard records that the disgraced and delusional Dan Rather still refuses to acknowledge as fraudulent.



Phony documents, phony polls. It should come as no surprise. It's CBS News.


(charlesking.blogspot.com)

__________________________________

Read what President Bush and Karl Rove said to Bill Sammon about Danny Boy and CBS.

Hillary, You're so Vain

This is SO lame and SO typical of Hillary Clinton.

Hill thinks that Karl Rove can't get her out of his mind. In her warped view of reality, he's positively bewitched by her. She's enslaved him.

"Karl and Hillary sitting in a tree..."

This must be the result of all those years of rejection and humiliation she suffered being married to the philanderer-in-chief. She's delusional, fantasizing about fixations that just aren't there.

Why is Hillary imagining the sparks between Rove and her?

On Sunday, Drudge splashed quotes from Bill Sammon's new book, Strategery. Sammon chronicles the inner workings of the Bush White House, including quotes from Bush, Cheney, and top advisers.

In interviews that Sammon conducted for the book, he spoke to Karl Rove about Hillary Clinton. Get that? Sammon asked the questions. Rove answered.

Some quotes from Rove about Hillary:

"She is the dominant player on their side of the slate."

"Anybody who thinks that she’s not going to be the candidate is kidding themselves."

"She has seen what the job requires. And she has been through six gubernatorial campaigns, two presidential campaigns, and then two senatorial campaigns in a big, industrial state. So she will be a formidable campaigner. She’ll be sure-footed."

"For somebody who is philosophically very liberal, she’ll be a very cautious candidate at times. That cautiousness will serve her well a lot of times — not always, but a lot of times."

"For example, her cautiousness had her vote for the Iraq war. Her cautiousness has led her to do things to sort of try to position herself as a centrist."

On Hillary's weaknesses: "her personal philosophy and her brittleness about her."

On Monday during a radio interview, Hillary responded to these quotes with all the conceitedness of a junior high school mean girl.

She bristled that Rove "spends a lot of time obsessing about me."

What a stupid strategery for Hillary to use!

"Rove is obsessed with ME. He spends every waking hour thinking about ME. At night, he falls asleep thinking about ME. He has dreams about ME."

Sure, Hillary. You are the sun in Karl Rove's solar system.

She's more than a little full of herself.

What's makes her response SO silly is that Rove was merely answering Sammon's questions. That's no different than Hillary responding to a question about Rove. Because Hillary spoke of Rove, are we to conclude that she is obsessed with him?

As to be expected, the New York Times tries to justify Hillary's goofy comments.

Jennifer Medina writes:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton took a swipe at the White House on Monday, saying that Karl Rove, the president's political adviser, "spends a lot of time obsessing about me."

Mrs. Clinton's comments came during an interview with an Albany radio station, after she was asked about a new book that quotes Mr. Rove as saying she is certain to be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2008.

"I don't know where he gets his information from," Mrs. Clinton said of Mr. Rove during the interview on WROW-AM. "If I were thinking about this, I'd say, 'Why are they spending so much time talking about me?' "

...Republicans, Mrs. Clinton said, are hoping "that all of their missteps, which are now numbering in the hundreds, are going to somehow be overlooked because people, instead of focusing on the '06 election, will jump ahead and think about the next one," she said during the radio interview.

That's just laughable. The War on Terror, the economy, energy, education, healthcare -- they all take a back seat to thoughts of Hillary.

A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, Tracey Schmitt, said, "Senator Clinton would be better served if she spent less time flattering herself with perceived obsession and more time focusing on her job."

That is such a great response. It perfectly highlights how self-absorbed Queen Hillary is.

The Times story then goes into Rove's communications with potential candidates to challenge Hillary for the Senate, as if that provides some evidence for Hillary's claims of obsession.

It's hardly obsessive behavior for the Architect to discuss Senate races.

Hillary would have been much better off if she had kept her mouth shut.

Her "swipe" at the White House did not make her appear very presidential. Her Karl Rove fantasies are an embarrassment.

This "obsessed with me" stuff is right up there with her other greatest hits:

"I'm not sitting here as some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette." (1992)

"I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas." (1992)

Genius Hillary certainly says some really stupid things.
________________________________

By the way, the photo of Hillary isn't actually her. It's Hillary as immortalized in Madame Tussauds' wax museum.

You couldn't tell the difference, right?

7th State of the Black Union

On BlackAmericaWeb.com, Michael H. Cottman gave his take on Saturday's Houston gathering of African Americans to discuss the "State of the Black Union."

Cottman writes:

Nearly 8,000 people attended the seventh annual State of the Black America symposium Saturday, a day-long self-empowerment conference at St. Agnes Church in Houston, where prominent black educators, business leaders and activists gathered to embrace a national plan to help black Americans formulate their own plan for long-term social progress and economic security.

Radio personality Tavis Smiley engaged a range of panelists that included Congressional Black Caucus chair Rep. Mel Watt, educator Cornel West, entertainer/activist Harry Belafonte, author/economist Julianne Malveaux, National Urban League President Marc Morial, former SCLC president Rev. Joseph Lowery, Nation of Islam leader Min. Louis Farrakhan, National Action Network head Rev. Al Sharpton and financial expert Michelle Singletary.

The group discussed a range of topics that included the importance of saving and investing money, building generational wealth and home ownership. While blacks spend $110 billion on housing, only about 48 percent of black Americans are homeowners, compared to 75 percent of whites.

Throughout the day, panelists echoed the notion that black self-empowerment is the solution to a myriad of social and economic concerns.

...Blacks who attended the forum told the Houston Chronicle the experience was rewarding.

"I was honored to be in a room full of such intelligent black people," Wanda Carr, of Beaumont, told the Chronicle. "I'm glad I came."

Also in attendance was Houston police Chief Harold Hurtt, who told the newspaper the discussion was "very informative, very timely, and we waited much, much too long to have it."

But Alphonso Jackson, the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and a high-profile black member of President George W. Bush’s administration, who'd confirmed his participation at the conference, did not attend the event, according to organizers.

It was not clear why Jackson didn’t show up. During the forum, organizers said they had no explanation from Jackson and a call to HUD was not returned.

Ron Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Saturday that he believes Jackson failed to appear at the forum because the Bush administration has not made good on its promise to address racial disparities in housing.

"He didn’t want to come on stage and defend why they are not closing the gap [between blacks and whites] in home ownership," Walters said.

Black conservatives have recently complained that black leadership mega-meetings have not included Republicans, but Jackson was invited to the forum and was listed as a confirmed panelist.

Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington, D.C. bureau, told BlackAmericaWeb.com that Jackson’s decision not to participate Saturday was a "missed opportunity" for the Bush administration because Jackson is one of the most prominent members of Bush’s cabinet and talks often about increasing home ownership for blacks.

"He missed an opportunity to reach a large group of serious-minded African-Americans who are focused on solutions to problems facing African Americans in communities every day," Shelton said from Washington.

..."While President Bush would like for Americans to look at the economy through rose-colored glasses, recent news reports tell the real truth," Amaya Smith, a spokesperson for the DNC, said in a statement.

...Belafonte told the audience that black Americans should move forward with a sense of "rebellion" and "revolutionary action."

Meanwhile, Walters told BlackAmericaWeb.com that Saturday’s forum was successful because black Americans who attended the conference or watched the event on C-SPAN were able to get "hope and encouragement" from successful black professionals who offered practical advice.

And, Walters added, "They helped tear down stereotypes of blacks."

Cottman makes a big deal out of HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson's no-show. He takes the opportunity to slam the Bush Administration, citing the various speculation as to why Jackson didn't appear.

Although he doesn't hesitate to frame the issue in a manner that attempts to illustrate a failure on Bush's part to reach out to African Americans, at least he didn't say there was a conspiracy to keep Jackson from attending, such as blowing up levees.

In spite of wondering off into Bush-bashing territory, Cottman makes the gathering sound like a rather constructive, positive event. He achieves this by leaving the boatload of outrageous statements made by some of the black leaders and prominent African Americans in attendance out of his account.

The Associated Press reports also ran the story of the symposium through a very fine filter to eliminate what can only be considered utterly embarrassing comments and reactions from the participants at the conference.

I completely understand why.

Read what the "Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan" had to say to the cheering crowd.

America must be burned! America is no good at all. If you have made a promise that you don't keep, what are you? You are a liar, a deceiver. All right, now, did they promise the Native Americans? Did they write it in treaties? Did they fulfill it? Did they promise us 40 acres and a mule? Did they fulfill it? I could run the list down of promises made and promises broken. The right to vote. You got it, but the minute they gave it to you; they were finding ways to take it back from you. Can't you open your eyes and see the house is burning? This educational system isn't worth a damn. I'm not cussing. The house must burn.
______________________________

Now, listen, listen, you can't make no covenant with black America. Why not? How, if you're a basketball player or football player, like my brother from the Philadelphia Eagles -- what's his name? T.O. They let T.O. go. But he got to wait until the cord is cut before he can make an agreement or contract with somebody else. You can't make an agreement or covenant with black America when you have made an agreement with hell and a covenant with death.
______________________________

You have good white people who want to see this covenant successful. But you're not dealing with them when you dial up. When you sit down with Bush, who are you dealing with? And do you have what it takes to deal effectively with him? All you can do is petition. That's all you can do. You sit and you confer, you talk, and you feel good. But the Bible teaches you that we war not against flesh and blood. The white folk that you have good relationship with, that's flesh and blood. They don't have the power.
______________________________

This is a government that the Founding Fathers said, whenever a government fails to guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that government either needs to be reformed or abolished. Now, when are you going to stand up? Because you don't have the juice to reform it. It has to be abolished and something new and better set in its place. You all got to take your government back because it's been taken from you by a group of smart, crooked industrialist bankers. You all know what I'm talking about. But if you don't have the testicular fortitude to say what needs to be said, then sit down and stop trying to say you speak for our people and the hurt of the poor. Now, I close. Excuse me.
______________________________

Continue to live the way you were trained, a loveless Negro that can't do what my sister said, see the problem and plan for it, because you're reactive, because you're not mentally alive yet. Can the leaders wake up? Because the leaders are blind. And if the blind lead the blind, everybody falls in the ditch. America is not going to get any better. This war is going to spread. The war of Armageddon has begun, and it will not end until an old world goes out and a new world comes in. What Katrina showed us is why we can't depend on them. What Katrina showed us is why we got to depend on God and depend on ourselves.
______________________________

Look to God, look to yourself, break your covenant with hell and death, then make a covenant with black America and let's help implement a road map that will free us and the whites that will be free can be freed by this. The Mexicans, the Hispanics can be freed by this road map. We are a universal people. But those at the top, they're on their way to hell, and if I've got any power, I want to push them into hell as fast as I can.

Unbelievable.

This is pure insanity.

Now return to some of the reaction of people in attendance.

Political science professor Ron Walters thought "Saturday’s forum was successful because black Americans who attended the conference or watched the event on C-SPAN were able to get 'hope and encouragement.'"

Wanda Carr said, "I was honored to be in a room full of such intelligent black people. I'm glad I came."

Houston police Chief Harold Hurtt said the event was "very informative, very timely, and we waited much, much too long to have it."

I am praying that these individuals are not including what Farrakhan had to say as intelligent, informative, hopeful, and encouraging.

I sincerely hope these people are referring to other speakers at the event.

"America must be burned."

I will give Farrakhan the benefit of the doubt and assume that he's using a metaphor. However, it is a horrible, hateful, violent metaphor.

It's also horrible that the lib mainstream media give Farrakhan cover.

When Pat Robertson says something insane, which he frequently does, the lib outlets are all over it. It's a major story and gets lots of press.

Why don't they treat Farrakhan's ranting in the same way?

It's as if the lib media pretend they didn't hear it.

Bias? What bias? There's no liberal bias in the Old Media.

Yeah, right.

Arrivederci, Torino

The Torino Winter Games ended with a spectacular Carnevale celebration.

However, if you're afraid of clowns, the closing ceremonies would have been an absolute nightmare.

They were everywhere!



Even red clown noses were distributed for the athletes to wear. Some did, some didn't.

The event was at times beautiful, surreal, touching, and VERY creepy if you don't like clowns. The clown band playing "YMCA" was truly bizarre even if you are a clown fan.

Still, I thought it was a fantastic finale.

Some images--


A performer on a snowboard defies gravity, floating on air.



U.S. speedskater Joey Cheek, gold and silver medalist, carries the American flag.



Following tradition, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan waves the Olympic flag. His city will host the Winter Games in 2010.



Fireworks and light punctuate the festivities.


CONGRATULATIONS!

SPEED SKATING

MEN’S 5000M

Chad Hedrick -- GOLD

MEN'S 500M

Joey Cheek -- GOLD

MEN'S 1000M

Shani Davis -- GOLD
Joey Cheek -- SILVER

MEN'S 1500M

Shani Davis -- SILVER
Chad Hedrick -- BRONZE

MEN'S 10000M

Chad Hedrick -- SILVER

SNOWBOARDING

MEN'S HALFPIPE

Shaun White -- GOLD
Danny Kass -- SILVER

MEN'S SNOWBOARD CROSS

Seth Wescott -- GOLD

WOMEN'S HALFPIPE

Hannah Teter -- GOLD
Gretchen Bleiler -- SILVER

WOMEN'S SNOWBOARD CROSS

Lindsey Jacobellis -- SILVER

WOMEN'S PARALLEL GIANT SLALOM

Rosey Fletcher -- BRONZE

ALPING SKIING

MEN'S COMBINED

Ted Ligety -- GOLD

WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM

Julia Mancuso -- GOLD

FREESTYLE SKIING

MEN'S MOGULS

Toby Dawson -- BRONZE

SHORT TRACK

MEN'S 1000M

Apolo Anton Ohno -- BRONZE

MEN'S 500M

Apolo Anton Ohno -- GOLD

MEN'S 5000M RELAY

Team USA -- BRONZE

ICE HOCKEY

WOMEN'S

Team USA -- BRONZE

FIGURE SKATING

ICE DANCING

Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto -- SILVER

LADIES'

Sasha Cohen -- SILVER

BOBSLED

WOMEN'S

Shauna Rohbock & Valerie Fleming -- SILVER

CURLING

MEN'S

Team USA -- BRONZE

Aboard a flight today from Torino to Amsterdam, Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick are seen taking a nap.

Are they tuckered out from their soap opera antics?

Hopefully, their experience in Torino has taught them how to behave like big boys and leave all those hard feelings behind. After all, they are on the same team and they do have tremendous accomplishments to celebrate.



On the road to Vancouver!

Boycott GoldenPalace.com

GoldenPalace.com really needs to consider taking a different approach in its advertising. Staying within the law would be a good place to start.

This was the third time since Friday that the online casino relied on exhibitionists to draw attention to the website by disrupting the Olympic competition and festivities.

TURIN, Italy -- In a startling security breach, an intruder got on stage during Sunday's closing ceremony of the Turin Olympics.

The man approached the microphone during a speech by organizing committee chief Valentino Castellani and shouted, "Passion lives in Torino," the slogan of the games.

The man, identified by police as Spanish, was then whisked away by security officers and taken into custody for questioning.

...The intruder was wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the name of an online casino. Police said he had a Turin staff jacket, allowing him to blend in with volunteers near the stage.

In a separate incident at the start of the ceremony, a female streaker tried to run onto the stage but was turned back by security.

On Friday, a male streaker with the online gambling company's name on his chest ran out from the stands during the bronze medal curling match.



This Associated Press account doesn't mention the name of the online gambling site. That's good from the standpoint that GoldenPalace is hoping to get free publicity by breaching security at high profile events.

Why give the company exactly what they're looking for?

I mention the name of the site because I think it should be avoided like the plague.

It's frightening to think that it's possible for these dolts to get past incredibly tight security.

It's also troubling to think that the company might profit by carrying out such inappropriate stunts.

BOYCOTT GoldenPalace.com

Brittle Hillary

Once again, Drudge scoops the Old Media.

No wonder David Gregory is so prone to hissy fits these days.

In a Drudge signature "World Exclusive," he offers quotes from President Bush and Karl Rove out of Bill Sammon's new book, Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media.

I like the title.

Drudge writes that the book is "based on exclusive, lengthy interviews with Bush, Cheney and their top advisers."

The President and Karl Rove gave their analyses of the current political climate and their predictions about the 2008 campaign to Sammon.

Bush interview highlights:

"[Hillary] is a smart person, and obviously has got a lot of experience," the president said in an exclusive interview for the book STRATEGERY, which is being published Monday. "It is helpful, to a certain extent, to have seen the presidency and presidential campaigns firsthand."

"I think Hillary Clinton will be a formidable candidate," Bush said.

"We should be the party in power because we’ve got ideas," he said. "As opposed to a party that’s against everything, we’re for things."

Bush pointed out that Vice President Dick Cheney’s plan to retire after finishing his term would leave the 2008 presidential election "wide open" to candidates from both parties. The president noted that for the first time in 52 years, the field of hopefuls would not include an incumbent president or vice president.

"Isn’t that interesting?" he marveled. "It may mean all bets are off."

Some of Karl Rove's remarks:

"She is the dominant player on their side of the slate," Rove said of Clinton. "Anybody who thinks that she’s not going to be the candidate is kidding themselves."

...Rove said he expects the Democrats to be hungry in 2008, since they will have been out of the White House for eight years. He predicted that Clinton will draw on her extensive campaign experience in her bid for the presidency.

"She has seen what the job requires," he said. "And she has been through six gubernatorial campaigns, two presidential campaigns, and then two senatorial campaigns in a big, industrial state. So she will be a formidable campaigner. She’ll be sure-footed."

Rove hinted that Clinton, who has been somewhat cautious since election to the Senate in 2000, may find that Americans sometimes want boldness from their president.

"For somebody who is philosophically very liberal, she’ll be a very cautious candidate at times," he said. "That cautiousness will serve her well a lot of times — not always, but a lot of times."

"For example, her cautiousness had her vote for the Iraq war," he said. "Her cautiousness has led her to do things to sort of try to position herself as a centrist."

Asked to describe Clinton’s weaknesses, Rove said, "her personal philosophy and her brittleness about her."

He added: "The question people will ask is, do we want to have her as president? And the answer to that will be determined in part by how she conducts herself. But it will also be settled in part by who the Republican nominee is and how he or she conducts themselves."

I think Hillary's supporters would most likely assess her personality and her potential for success in 2008 in a manner very similar to what Bush and Rove had to say.

Rove is right on the money when it comes to Hillary's very liberal philosophy and her "brittleness" as being problems for her to overcome.

The Dems just don't seem to learn. They keep putting up the same type of candidates -- unlikable far Left libs.

John Kerry struggled with his extreme liberal record, as well as his aloof attitude. In addition to his annoying air of superiority and vapidity, he flip-flopped so often that Americans couldn't trust him.

Al Gore had the same problems. He would pander and say what the libs wanted to hear, and then turn around and pretend to be someone else entirely. His personality was so stiff that even his flirtation with earth tones in his wardrobe didn't make him more appealing.

He couldn't find himself. Remember the three different Gores of the three televised presidential debates? It was a disaster. Such obvious insincerity is a real problem when it comes to winning over the electorate.

Now, if Hillary gets the nod, she will be the third Dem candidate in a row who's an out of the mainstream lib with a repulsive personality.

Dems need to get a grip on the pulse of America and honestly examine the areas in which they are out of step with the people.

Kerry and Gore may have been formidable candidates, but they were not embraced by Americans.

Do Democratic Party leaders really think that the public has any desire to embrace Hillary?

Yuck.

MEATHEAD

Oh, Meathead!

How could you?

It appears that Rob Reiner is deeply embedded in a Culture of Corruption. (Gasp!)

Using taxpayer dollars for campaign activities is against the law.

Does Meathead think he is above the law?

Who does he think he is? King Rob?

Tsk, tsk. Now Reiner must step aside in shame.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Hollywood director Rob Reiner stepped down temporarily as chairman of a state early education commission amid scrutiny about the potential misuse of taxpayer funds for a June ballot initiative he is spearheading.

In a letter Friday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Reiner said his leave from the First 5 California Children and Families Commission will end June 7, the day after voters cast ballots on Proposition 82. That bill would establish a state constitutional right to preschool for 4-year-olds.

Reiner helped create the Children and Families commission, a state agency that uses tobacco taxes for early childhood development programs. State law prohibits the use of public funds for campaign activities.

But a Los Angeles Times story earlier this week detailed how the Children and Families commission spent $23 million in state funds on ads that promoted the benefits of preschool.

The television ads aired this winter, coinciding with a signature-collecting campaign for Reiner's "Preschool for All" initiative, Proposition 82. The commission stopped airing the ads when the initiative got state approval to be on the June ballot.

The commission also earlier paid for a political consultant who now is the campaign manager of Proposition 82, the paper reported.

Reiner has said that he and the commission have done nothing wrong, but he is stepping aside for the commission's good.

Obviously, I don't have any concrete details.

BUT, if taxpayer funds were used inappropriately, as the LA Times suggests, then Reiner and his commission have most definitely done A LOT wrong.

State Controller Steve Westly has ordered a review and will use that to determine whether to conduct an audit, his spokesman, Yusef Robb, said Saturday.

$23 million?

I'd say a review is certainly in order.

Reiner's dream of a future in politics has taken a severe hit. He should have been smart enough to know that he couldn't get away with using state funds to promote his agenda.

Reiner really blew it.


"You are a meathead. A meathead -- dead from the neck up."

--Archie Bunker

Olympic Level Loser

Bode Miller raises his arms in mock celebration after blowing his fifth and final race.

Bode Miller's performance at the Torino Olympics has been a disaster. The guy participated in five events.

Downhill: 5th
Combined: Disqualified
Super-G: Did not finish
G. Slalom: 6th
Slalom: Did not finish

Expectations were high for Miller. He didn't manage to win a single medal.

Does that make him a loser?

No.

Only an elite minority of the more than 2,500 athletes competing at the Games go home with a medal. Most are just thrilled to be participating and striving to do their best.

Olympic medals aren't a reliable indicator of the quality of an athlete's character or heart as a competitor. They aren't necessarily a measure of ability either. Luck and twists of fate can deliver championships to lesser athletes. It happens all the time.

When it comes to character and sportsmanship, some real losers have been decorated with lots of hardware, while some winners have no medals or titles or endorsements at all.

Picabo Street, a two-time Olympic medalist, had harsh words for some on the U.S. ski team.

Street writes:

The annual spring meetings of the U.S. Ski Team are going to be pretty ugly in April. You're going to see a lot of administration and coaching changes, particularly on the men's side.

Coming out of these Olympics, the federation is going to struggle for support, and it's not because they didn't win enough medals. It's because of the behavior of the athletes.

On The Today Show earlier this week, I addressed the problems I saw in the U.S. Ski Team -- maturity, professionalism and Julia Mancuso 's tiara among them. This was before she won a gold medal.

Now, Julia has a great opportunity in the present and for the future. I think having fun is important, but at the Olympic Games, professionalism is more important. If a tiara is something you're going to wear and have it be part of your routine, you have to remember what year you're gearing up for.

I understand that she has a program, she tries to keep it light and have fun. Trust me, I get that. But put together a program that's applicable across the board -- something that includes appropriate behavior in the Olympics.

I think she's going to do a great job on the post-Olympic circuit. She already has, in my opinion. I just hope she continues to take her new position seriously and grows up and thinks about the next generation.

This is the general consensus, based on what I'm getting in phone calls and e-mails. People look at me and ask, "What's with the antics of this team?"

Julia aside, a lot of people are more upset with Resi Stiegler and her pearls and her shaking her ass in the finish area ... before she's ever accomplished anything. The common analogy people are making is that it's like losing the Super Bowl and then spiking the ball in the end zone.

...I think Bode Miller is setting a horrible example for our next generation, and I hope he stops getting attention. And I think he hopes he stops getting attention.

If he resets his motivation, he has five more good years. As for whether he wants that, your guess is as good as mine right now. He probably doesn't even know.

What's really sad is that the majority of the team has been training hard and acting professionally, but the media has been focusing on those who aren't.

I think the U.S. Olympic Committee is going to put some pretty strict rules in place and go into Vancouver with a lot more control over the Olympic team, regardless of who their national governing body is.

In other words, if they can pull it off, the USOC will have the power to remove an athlete from the team because of conduct. If they had that power this time, they absolutely would have used it, with a handful of athletes.

Street has been very outspoken in her criticism of some U.S. ski team athletes.

Is it any wonder?

There have been serious attitude problems and conduct issues. Without a doubt, the poster boy for that is Bode Miller.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Miller didn't come off like an Olympian; he came off like a jerk.

Miller offered up some gems:

"I just did it my way. I'm not a martyr, and I'm not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here."

...As for his obligation to prepare, Miller said he was less ready for these games than the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, where he won two silver medals.

"I've been living my life as if I might have died two weeks before the Olympics started. That left me the opportunity to dig deep, to go down that other route, to make more sacrifices and get back to where I was."

He called his Olympic experience "awesome" and cited the gold medals by teammates Julia Mancuso and Ted Ligety as one reason. Another, he said, was Sestriere's bar scene.

"My quality of life is the priority. I wanted to have fun here, to enjoy the Olympic experience, not be holed up in a closet and not ever leave your room," he said. "People said, 'Why can't you stay in for the two weeks, three weeks? You've got the rest of your life to experience the games the way everybody else does.' But I like the whole package. I always have."

He compared his Olympic experience to fellow American Daron Rahlves, who was a favorite in the downhill and a contender in the super-G but didn't come close to the podium.

"Look at what happened to Rahlves. He was holed up in his RV, he's probably the fittest guy out here and he made a point of talking about how important the Olympics were to him," Miller said. "And then look _ a little bad luck and he's got nothing to show for the whole thing.

"Me, it's been an awesome two weeks," Miller said. "I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level."

He can't be serious!

This guy couldn't be a worse role model for kids, not only young skiers, but any kid watching the Olympics. He's every parent's nightmare.

Miller is way too old to be behaving so childishly. He's a twenty-eight-year old six-year-old.

I'm glad that Miller is happy with his accomplishments at Torino, partying at the Olympic level, because he's got absolutely nothing else to show for his two weeks at the Games.

Miller shouldn't be considered a loser because he failed to get any medals. He's a loser because he doesn't care.

Parents, don't let your babies grow up to be Bode.

RICIN-GATE

Today marks two weeks since Dick Cheney's drunken attempt to assassinate Harry Whittington.

To be fair, not all members of the press reported the ACCIDENT as a botched assassination. Some depicted it as more of a duel, drawing parallels between Vice President Cheney and Aaron Burr.

Two weeks of Cheney gun jokes and accompanying basic lib stupidity --

It seems like longer, doesn't it?

There's another story out of Texas that I think is far more disturbing.

RICIN was found in a University of Texas dorm!

AUSTIN -- A substance found by a University of Texas student at a dorm has tested positive for ricin, a potentially deadly poison, officials said.

Two students were receiving medical attention for potential exposure, although neither has exhibited symptoms, said Dr. Theresa Spalding of UT Student Health Services.

The chunky powder was found by one of them at the Moore-Hill dormitory Thursday afternoon and reported to university police. Preliminary tests came back positive for ricin Friday.

School officials said they haven't determined where the ricin came from, UT police spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said.

The powder fell on the student's hands from a roll of quarters she unwrapped to use for laundry. The student's roommate is the other person who was receiving treatment; the quarters had been in their dorm room for several months, Spalding said.

The dorm was sanitized and inspected, and students were cleared to return early Saturday, the university said.

Health officials met with students and staff who were potentially exposed, but so far, none have shown any symptoms, the university said in a statement. Symptoms can include anything from difficulty breathing, fever, cough, nausea and sweating to severe vomiting and dehydration.

"We were very concerned as soon as we heard about the positive testing late this evening," Spalding said Friday.

I would say that "very concerned" is a rather mild response.

If the substance turns out to really be ricin, the matter raises lots of legitimate questions:

Is this an act of terrorism?

How does ricin get into a roll of quarters?

Most importantly, which news outlet first broke this potentially explosive story?

Was the White House press corps assembled to hear the details or was a local paper or TV station the first to spread the word?

How many hours passed before the press was notified of the incident?

Did a student or parent contact the press?

Did the story come from university or law enforcement officials?

Was there a coverup?

Were the Department of Homeland Security and the shrouded in secrecy Bush Administration hoping to keep the story from coming out at least for a few days, so it wouldn't be fodder for the Sunday morning talk shows?

Will David Gregory call Scott McClellan a jerk?

So many questions...

What's the real story here?

Is it about a student's exposure to ricin?

Is it about Maureen Dowd?

The Pecking Order at Men's Curling

Probably the most disturbing image of the 2006 Winter Games came from the bronze medal match in Men's Curling.

It will no doubt torment my waking hours and haunt me in my sleep for weeks, if not months. It's seared into my memory.

Who would have guessed that a Fellini film sort of character would arise to take attention off the stones on the ice?

TORINO, Italy (Reuters) -- Britain's match against the United States for the men's curling bronze medal was interrupted on Friday when a male streaker ran across the ice.

With poultry for a loin cloth, the man vaulted the barriers and danced up and down the side of the ice sheet for several minutes before being bundled away by bemused rink attendants.

The British team, skipped by David Murdoch, who were lagging the U.S. 6-2 in the sixth end, rested on their brooms, laughing, while the streaker jiggled past.

As armed police ejected the man, naked into the cold mountain air, he was heard to plead in a Scottish accent: "Please will someone bring me my clothes?"



The chicken man flopped around for "several minutes"?

Several minutes is an eternity to watch a naked saggy guy wearing a rubber chicken dance up and down.

Why did it take so long for security to nab him?

And why did the police subject the overexposed man to the Winter wind?

Sounds like prisoner abuse to me. One might consider it TORTURE!!!

According to the Associated Press, the chicken man is famed British streaker Mark Roberts.

An Italian press agency indentified him as Patrick Roberts, a 42-year from Liverpool who was also responsible for a streaking incident at Wimbledon, and said he was in police custody.

That description would seem to better fit Mark Roberts, a man with a history of streaking and ties to GoldenPalace.com, an online casino whose name was written on the Olympic streaker's chest.

If Mark Roberts has made a number of similar appearances, I would think identifying him would be relatively easy. I guess the rubber chicken made it a bit more difficult to give a positive ID.

GoldenPalace.com has a history of interrupting major sporting events to seek publicity and has used Roberts in the past to crash the world swimming championship, Super Bowl, Real Madrid home opener, French Open tennis and UEFA Cup soccer final.

...GoldenPalace.com said nobody was available Friday for comment.

What?

Someone was available to make the comment that there would be no comment. That is a comment.

This incident certainly raises some serious security concerns, although I suppose a rubber chicken can slide through a metal detector unnoticed.

I do not understand why the chicken man was allowed to "express" himself for so long before being ejected and taken into custody.

Who knows? Maybe the World Curling Federation welcomed the excitement. I'm not big into conspiracy theories but it's possible that the event was planned to give the sport more of an edge. I think Karl Rove may have been involved.

That's all just speculation.

One thing is certain: I don't think I'll ever be able to walk down the Shake 'N Bake aisle in the grocery store without having flashbacks.

Battlefield South Dakota

Red state South Dakota, home of pro-abortion FORMER Dem Senator Tom Daschle, has initiated a battle that may be not be settled until it gets to the Supreme Court.

From the Los Angeles Times:

South Dakota legislators today gave final approval for a ban on almost all abortions, firing a burst in the battle over one of the nation's most contentious political issues and a shot that backers hope will be heard by a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court.

The state House today passed the latest version of the bill 50 to 18, sending it on to Gov. Mike Rounds, who indicated that he would likely sign the bill.

Under the law, which would go into effect July 1, most abortions would be illegal and doctors could get up to five years in prison for performing an illegal abortion.


When you break a law, there is a penalty. If abortion is illegal in South Dakota, someone performing the procedure would deserve a punishment.

Are we supposed to be horrified at the thought of a doctor going to prison?

"I've indicated I'm pro life and I do believe abortion is wrong and that we should do everything we can to save lives," Rounds told the Associated Press. "If this bill accomplishes that, then I am inclined to sign the bill into law."

By signing the bill, the governor would be doing what his constituents expect him to do. He's not an out of the mainstream nutcase.

Rounds is South Dakota mainstream, whether the liberal elite like it or not.


The South Dakota law is an attack on Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision by the Supreme Court that established a women's right to an abortion.

I love the way the reporter, Michael Muskal, says that the Supreme Court "established a women's right to an abortion."

That's also known as creating law, legislating from the bench.

Something that really bugs me is the libs' hypocrisy about this.

I have never heard a single lib accuse the judicial branch of destroying the checks and balances in American government. Why don't the libs claim that the judiciary is engaged in an abuse of power?

One of the Dems' favorite talking points is that the Bush Administration has shredded the Constitution, and King George has usurped power.

Since the judicial branch has been the Dems' only hope of realizing their agenda, I'm sure it's troublsome for them to accept eight years of Bush appointments and nominees. Too bad.

No doubt the Dems will be beside themselves if the new Supreme Court does proceed to actually interpret the Constitution and base its decisions on the law, rather than making law and acting as legislators.

...Passage of the South Dakota bill, which had been widely expected, was attacked by NARAL Pro-Choice America, a leading abortion rights groups.

"This bill contains an inadequate exception to protect a woman's life and no other exceptions — not for rape, not for incest, not even to protect the woman's health," President Nancy Keenan said in a statement on the group's website. "Clearly emboldened by President Bush's judicial appointments, South Dakota has passed dangerous and unconstitutional legislation that its supporters admit is a direct attack on Roe v. Wade."

Keenan lies.

The bill CLEARLY allows for the protection of the mother's life.

Text

Section 4. That chapter 22-17 be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as follows:

No licensed physician who performs a medical procedure designed or intended to prevent the death of a pregnant mother is guilty of violating section 2 of this Act. However, the physician shall make reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child in a manner consistent with conventional medical practice.

Medical treatment provided to the mother by a licensed physician which results in the accidental or unintentional injury or death to the unborn child is not a violation of this statute.

Nothing in this Act may be construed to subject the pregnant mother upon whom any abortion is performed or attempted to any criminal conviction and penalty.

Of course, the South Dakota legislature was emboldened to challenge the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade. The state's right to pass its own laws regarding abortion has been blocked since 1973, and now there are constructionists on the Court.

For the first time since Roe v. Wade served to overturn abortion laws that states had in place, there's a chance that the Court may actually look at the legality of that ruling.

The libs have said that Bush is abusing his powers, packing the court with ideologues. Chuck Schumer and Patrick Leahy both specifically accused him of "packing the court."

That was and is so lame.

The American people elected Bush with the expectation that he would appoint constructionists. He kept his campaign promise. That's not a power grab; that's a president carrying out the will of the people.

When libs and unrestricted abortion on demand proponents whine about the current Court, they fail to recognize that the people elected Bush. He has exercised the authority granted to him by the Constitution.

There's nothing corrupt about that. It's democracy.

According to the state motto of South Dakota, "Under God the people rule."

Yes, they do.

School of the Jihad

Yet another Democrat makes the case to block the schoolhouse door.

In spite of tremendous success, school voucher programs still have their opponents. Most are Dems beholden to the powerful unions.

Typically, school choice is opposed because the programs are said to "take money, better students, and concerned parents away from already troubled public school systems without offering any solutions to existing problems. Another criticism is that taxpayer-funded vouchers for tuition at religious schools unconstitutionally breach the separation between church and state."

Other arguments against school choice include some weird theories, like voucher systems are really plots by conservatives to do away with public education altogether by chipping away at funding. Some claim that the goal is to get rid of public schools to establish a theocracy, all under the pretense of helping disadvantaged children.

Scare tactics are also employed to turn people against voucher programs. There's a campaign in Milwaukee to frighten homeowners into siding with the anti-choice crowd. Mailings warn that school choice drains funds from the public school system, which results in less successful neighborhood schools. This means home values in the area will plummet.

DO YOU WANT YOUR HOME TO DECREASE IN VALUE???

Sadly, I'm afraid some homeowners, particularly senior citizens, would be influenced by this misinformation.

John J. Miller, on National Review Online, June 28, 2002, accurately predicted another argument that school choice opponents would adopt.

In his discussion of school choice, Miller writes:

Although Zelman v. Simmons-Harris displeases the anti-school-choice forces, it also hands them a potentially effective argument they haven't used before. Zelman lowers the wall separating church and state — which means it also lowers the wall separating mosque and state. A potential problem for school choice is that will enable quirky subgroups to establish quirky schools. For years, Afrocentrism was seen as a possible threat, though it must be said that nobody has yet founded a Leonard Jeffries School for Sun People in either Cleveland or Milwaukee.

But what about jihad schools? Could radical Muslims, at some point in the future, exploit school-choice programs? The answer is probably not, though don't be surprised if school choice's foes start talking about how public schools are an essential feature of American unity.

They'll drape themselves in flags, and say it's vital for poor kids to keep on attending lousy public schools, where they aren't supposed to recite that divisive Pledge of Allegiance.

It's as if Miller read Hillary Clinton's mind, three and a half years in advance.

On Tuesday, she was a speaker at a breakfast of the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation.



Hillary went off on one of her uncontrolled rants, bashing school choice.

She said:

Suppose you were meeting today to decide who got the vouchers. First parent who comes says, "I want to send my daughter to St. Peter's Roman Catholic school," and you say, "Great, wonderful school, here's your voucher."

Next parent who comes says, "I want to send, you know, my child to the Jewish day school." "Great, here's your voucher."

Next parent who comes says, "I want to send my child to the private school that I've always dreamed of sending my child to." "Fine, here's your voucher."

Next parent who comes says, "I want to send my child to the school of the church of the white supremacist." You say, "Wait a minute, you can't send -- we're not giving you a voucher for that." And the parent says, "Well, the way I read Genesis, Cain was marked, therefore I believe in white supremacy, and therefore, you gave it to a Catholic parent, you gave it to a Jewish parent, you gave it to a secular private school parent. Under the Constitution, you can't discriminate against me."

So as the next parent comes and says, "I want to send my child to the school of the jihad." "Wait a minute, we're not going to send a child with taxpayer dollars to school of the jihad." "Well, you gave it to the Catholics, you gave it to the Jews, you gave it to the private secular people, you going to tell me I can't? I'm a taxpayer, under the Constitution." Now, tell me how we're going to make those choices?

"School of the jihad"?

That's exactly what Miller foresaw. He said that nuts would use that argument to scare people away from supporting school choice.

What's scary is that one of those nuts is a U.S. Senator and wants to be President of the United States.

Actually, I think it would be helpful if parents requested taxpayer dollars to send their kids to the school of jihad.

That would alert the government that a training ground for terrorists exists on American soil.

I'm being facetious (sort of).

Anyway you look at it, Hillary's argument is idiotic.

In the Wisconsin school choice program, there are controls in place. The private schools are required to do testing and meet criteria in order to participate.

Tax dollars aren't handed out in a slipshod fashion. The schools must show evidence that children are being educated according to specific standards.

Does Hillary really think that a suicide bombing curriculum would be supported?

Moreover, as long as laws are not being broken, and children are being taught the necessary basics -- reading, writing, math, science, etc. -- what gives Hillary the right to tell parents that a given school is inappropriate for their children?

I guess it takes a village only if it's ruled by Queen Hillary.

The fact is school choice is good for kids. Overall, it works.

Obviously, Hillary and her cohorts care most about votes and campaign cash. Unions supply those. Children hoping for an education that will give them an opportunity for a bright future don't make large donations to candidates, nor do they have the power to deliver desired election results.

If kids could do that, rather than being a fear monger about school choice, Hillary would be promising vouchers for all.

Instead, she is content to take her place standing in the schoolhouse door.

The Dome

The golden-domed Askariya Shrine, in February 2004, housed the tombs of two revered leaders of Shiite Islam and symbolized the place where the Imam Mahdi, a mythical, messianic figure, disappeared from this earth.



The dome of the Golden Mosque at the revered Shrine in Samarra, Iraq, lies in ruins after a bomb was detonated inside.

Good news for the far Left!

The threat of civil war in Iraq grew with the latest violence.

Remember, when the Iraqi people suffer, when hope for establishing a democracy hits obstacles, the radical Left leaps for joy. Their hate for Bush trumps all else.

Let's be honest. The far Left loons are so immersed in their anti-Bush Administration agenda that setbacks in Iraq makes them happy.

I'm sure that the saner of the Leftists feel some discomfort when they hear of the deaths and destruction befalling Iraqis; but many view the Iraqis' pain as their gain.

It's no surprise that certified nutjob Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has weighed in on the demolition of the Askariya Shrine, blaming Americans and Israelis.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, says the US and Israel blew up the Shia shrine in Iraq.

In a speech in front of a crowd of thousands in southwestern Iran, the president referred to the destruction of the Askariya mosque's golden dome in Samarra on Wednesday.

Of the US-led forces in Iraq, Ahmadinejad said: "They invade the shrine and bomb there because they oppose God and justice. These passive activities are the acts of a group of defeated Zionists and occupiers who intended to hit our emotions."

Addressing the US, he said: "You have to know that such an act will not save you from the anger of Muslim nations."

Ahmadinejad was not the only extremist to blame America.

Some Muslim leaders and the Lebanese Hizb Allah organisation blamed the United States.

Shaikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, a leader Sunni scholar, said: "We cannot imagine that the Iraqi Sunnis did this. No one benefits from such acts other than the US occupation and the lurking Zionist enemy."

Iraqi Shia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, who cut short a visit to Lebanon to return to Iraq after the blast, said blame must be laid either with the Americans or the Iraqi government.

Al-Sadr added: "If responsibility is not in the hands of the Iraqi government, then I consider the responsibility for this event lies with the occupation forces which should either leave immediately or according to a timetable."

These "blame America" voices sound a lot like the Dems.

Shaikh Youssef al-Qaradawi's comments easily could have been made by Cindy Sheehan or Malik Zulu Shabazz.

Muqtada al-Sadr's words could have been uttered by John Murtha or John Kerry or Russ Feingold or Ted Kennedy or Howard Dean.

Add Osama bin Laden to that list, too.

Civil war in Iraq only benefits the enemies of freedom.

Failure in Iraq may give Dems a political edge over Republicans, but not a moral one.

First Anniversary

One year ago today, I started Freedom Eden with this post:

For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire.

We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time.

--George W. Bush, January 20, 2005

It's all about freedom.

As a result of this blog, I've met some great people. I've enjoyed the exchange of ideas and the many different perspectives. All in all, it's been fun!

_______________________________

February 23, 2005 - February 23, 2006

Celebrating one year of spending way too much time on the Internet!

Earth to Dowd: You're Nuts!

Maureen Dowd's Wednesday columns are always a highlight for me. It's so enjoyable to have something so entertaining and laughable to mark Hump Day.

Dowd never lets me down. Today, she offers another fun column for me to pick apart.

Here she goes again:


G.O.P. to W.: You're Nuts!


It's enough to make you nostalgic for those gnarly union stevedores in "On the Waterfront," the ones who hung up rats on hooks and took away Marlon Brando's chance to be a contend-ah.



Maureenie sounds like she never saw the movie.

Who was responsible for Terry [Brando] not being a contender?

I guess if you watch it through a lib lens it's the union thugs or his brother Charley. If you bring a conservative perspective to the film, it was Terry himself that made a bad decision. The scene is key to the movie because it indicates an important first step in Terry's personal growth, as well as playing into his eventual refusal to take anymore dives.


Maybe it's corporate racial profiling, but I don't want foreign companies, particularly ones with links to 9/11, running American ports.

All this sudden concern about ports by the libs is disingenuous.

Dowd whines about the secrecy of the Bush Administration and its attempt to erode the civil liberties of Americans.

She's been on a crusade against the Vice President. Dowd demonizes Dick every chance she gets.

What kind of empire are we if we have to outsource our coastline to a group of sheiks who don't recognize Israel, in a country where money was laundered for the 9/11 attacks? And that let A. Q. Kahn, the Pakistani nuclear scientist, smuggle nuclear components through its port to Libya, North Korea and Iran?

What kind of empire are we if we allow terrorists access to our court system?

It's mind-boggling that President Bush ever agreed to let an alliance of seven emirs be in charge of six of our ports. Although, as usual, Incurious George didn't even know about it until after the fact. (Neither did Rummy, even though he heads one of the agencies that green-lighted the deal.)

It's mind-boggling that Dowd has made a career in journalism. I think her talents are better suited to the pulp fiction racks.

Same old pattern: a stupid and counterproductive national security decision is made in secret, blowing off checks and balances, and the president's out of the loop.

If you're looking for a pattern of secrecy, stupid and counterproductive national security decisions, blowing off checks and balances, and, well,...blowing off, look no further than the Clinton Administration's record.

Was W. too busy not calling Dick Cheney to find out why he shot a guy to not be involved in a critical decision about U.S. security? What is he waiting for — a presidential daily brief warning, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack U.S. Ports?"

It's documented that the White House press corps was too busy having a tantrum about not being immediately notified about Cheney's hunting accident to get on top of the port deal story.

Dowd was performing on Meet the Press last Sunday, trying to be seductive as she spoke about the evil assassin wannabe Cheney.

Yes, as Mary Matalin dubbed Dowd, "the diva of the smart set" wasn't talking about U.S. security.

She was spewing:

I think that the reason this story has evoked such fascination is because the vice president is like the phantom. You know, we hear the creak of the door as he passes, but we don’t really know what he’s up to. We don’t know his schedule. We don’t always know where he is.

While she went ON AND ON about Cheney, what was she waiting for? Why didn't she start screaming about the ports?

Our ports are already nearly naked in terms of security. Only about 5 percent of the containers coming into the country are checked. And when the White House assures us that the Homeland Security Department will oversee security at the ports, is that supposed to make us sleep better? Not after the chuckleheaded Chertoff-and-Brownie show on Capitol Hill.

I agree whole-heartedly that the security of our borders and our ports is woefully inadequate.

However, I don't sleep better knowing that there's a far radical Left obsessing over birdshot and offering NO CONCRETE PLANS WHATSOEVER to rectify the security situation.

"Our borders are wide open," said Jan Gadiel of 9/11 Families for a Secure America. "We don't know who's in our country right now, not a clue. And now they're giving away our ports." The "trust us" routine of W. and Dick Cheney is threadbare.

And why is it that don't we know who's in our country?

The "let's defeat the Patriot Act" and the "let's undermine counterterrorism programs at every turn" routine of Dowd and the libs is threadbare.

The more W. warned that he would veto legislation stopping this deal, the more lawmakers held press conferences to oppose it — even conservatives who had loyally supported W. on Iraq, the Patriot Act, torture and warrantless snooping.

Those Republican lawmakers wanted to temporarily put the brakes on the deal until it could be examined by Congress. They also wanted to prevent opportunistic Dems from posing as if they are tough on terror, when in reality they are weak.

See how Dowd complains about the Patriot Act and falsely represents the NSA's surveillance program? Then she moans about a lack of security.

Mr. Bush is hoist on his own petard. For four years, the White House has accused anyone in Congress or the press who defended civil liberties or questioned anything about the Iraq war of being soft on terrorism. Now, as Congress and the press turn that accusation back on the White House, Mr. Bush acts mystified by the orgy of xenophobia.

Lawmakers, many up for re-election, have learned well from Karl Rove. Playing the terror card works.

"Playing the terror card works"?

Is that why she's using the terror card in her column?

A bristly Bush said yesterday that scotching the deal would send "a terrible signal" to a worthy ally. He equated the "Great British" with the U.A.E. Well, maybe Britain in the 12th century.

Besides, the American people can be forgiven if they're confused about what it means in the Arab world to be a U.S. ally. Is it a nation that helps us sometimes but also addicts us to oil and then jacks up the price, refuses to recognize Israel, denies women basic rights, tolerates radical anti-American clerics, looks the other way when its citizens burn down embassies and consulates over cartoons, and often turns a blind eye when it comes to hunting down terrorists in its midst?

Dowd should keep her mouth shut when it comes to talking about U.S. allies. She is on record as belittling the service and sacrifices of our coalition partners in Iraq.

A question for Dowd:

Does France behave like an ally of the U.S.?

Think about it. Our relationships with other nations aren't as black and white as Dowd would like you to believe.

The woman is confused -- about SO many things.

In our past wars, America had specific countries to demonize. But now in the "global war on terror" — GWOT, as they call it — the enemy is a faceless commodity that the administration uses whenever it wants to win a political battle. When something like this happens, it's no wonder the public does its own face transplant.

Dowd is obviously still having problems grasping the fact that we are at war with an ideology. This war is different from past wars.

She really needs to work on that nuance.

One of the real problems here is that this administration has run up such huge trade and tax-cut-and-spend budget deficits that we're in hock to the Arabs and the Chinese to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. If they just converted their bonds into cash, they would own our ports and not have to merely rent them.

Just because the wealthy foreigners who own our debt can blackmail us with their economic leverage, does that mean we should expose our security assets to them as well?

Again, she doesn't understand the complexities.

Moreover, Dowd is the queen of exposure, and it's not pretty.

If she cares so much about our "security assets," why doesn't she support efforts to fight terrorism? Why does she hack away at America?

Why doesn't she support efforts that have been shown to be successful in strengthening our economy?

Maureeine? Can you spell T-A-X C-U-T-S?

As part of the lunatic White House defense, Dan Bartlett argued that "people are trying to drive wedges and make this to be a political issue." But as the New Republic editor Peter Beinart pointed out in a recent column, W. has made the war on terror "one vast wedge issue" to divide the country.

Sorry, Dowd and Beinart.

The loons on the Left have made the War on Terror a wedge issue. Rather than joining most Americans and putting their energy into defeating the enemies intent on destroying us, they want to destroy Bush, Cheney, Rove, DeLay, etc.

Now, however, the president has pulled us together. We all pretty much agree: mitts off our ports.

Dowd is wrong again.

Although many have legitimate questions about our ports and security, this port deal hasn't pulled us together.

Dems are still as weak on terror as they've ever been. They can't be trusted.

What we do all pretty much agree on is that DOWD is nuts.