Human Rights groups taken to task at RNC

Recognizable actor Ron Silver spoke at the Republican National Convention where he took so-called "Human Rights" supporters to task.

"Even though I am a well-recognized liberal on many issues confronting our society today, I find it ironic that many human rights advocates and outspoken members of my own entertainment community are often on the front lines to protest repression, for which I applaud them but they are usually the first ones to oppose any use of force to take care of these horrors that they catalog repeatedly."

I mention this because these human rights groups have long annoyed me for the same reason. I've even written several letters to Human Rights Watch attacking them for being the first to denounce human rights violations, yet the first to protest actually doing something about them. American military might has stopped more human rights violators in the last century than these Human Rights groups will in the entirety of their existence. Groups like HRW sit around a table drinking their Starbucks coffee and chit chatting about what a terrible world we live in. Maybe hold up some protest signs every now and then. Meanwhile, American soldiers (not to mention our coalition partners) are getting it done in the real world.

Cry baby Kerry

As is well documented, sleazy Democrat groups like moveon.org have been lambasting President Bush for many months. Bush hasn't cried about it. He hasn't whined to the press. He hasn't made unsubstantiated, irrational accusations about his opponent. He took it like a man. Kerry, on the other hand, is a big friggin' pussy.

The Kerry campaign Sunday criticized first lady Laura Bush for what the campaign called her "statement in support of the swift boat smear ads."

The campaign was referring to a new Time magazine interview in which Mrs. Bush is asked about the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads attacking Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry's war record and his comments upon return from Vietnam.

In the interview she is asked, "Do you think these swift boat ads are unfair to John Kerry?"

"Not really," she replies. "There have been millions of terrible ads against my husband."

Did I miss something? Did she say she supported the ads? Noooo. Remove head from ass, and pay attention. She said they weren't unfair. As in, not unfair because the same has been happening to Mr. Bush for months. But Kerry wants to play the victim. How like a Democrat. "Well I lied under oath about cheating on my wife in the Oval Office with an intern, but THOSE DAMN REPUBLICANS ARE THE BAD GUYS FOR TELLING ON ME!" Bush has condemned the ads by both sides (which according to the Democrats, means no condemnation at all, go figure), but Kerry has refused to do so. He condemned one negative ad about Bush, but is no doubt quite happy to see moveon.org keep rolling them out.

Call me crazy, but when 19 people can kill 3000 of my countrymen, and thousands more are lining up to do the same, I don't want Kerry the whiner in charge of protecting my family. Not just because he won't get the job done, but because he'll hardly even try.

Terrorism = bad...can we agree on this now?

France, a rogue nation that supports terrorism, recently passed a law banning religious symbols in schools. Two French journalists face possible death at the hands of Muslim scumbags demanding that France allow headscarves in schools again. If the French would put their childish and irrational dislike of America on hold and put some effort into fighting terrorism the world would be a better place. But then they wouldn't be French if they did. Surrender, you cheesy bastards!

While we're on the subject, let's define our war on terror as a war on Islamic terrorism, shall we? I'm not terribly worried about what the IRA is doing these days, but I am worried about how Islam is being taught. All nations teaching Wahhabism should be called on to cease the hateful indoctrination, and made to pay a real price if they don't.

The Bourne Supremacy

If you get a chance, go see The Bourne Supremacy. That's a good movie even if Matt Damon did an ad for that Commie, pro-terrorist group moveon.org. It's still a good movie.

I give The Bourne Supremacy 4 out of 5 YAAAARRRS!(would have gotten 5 of 5 without the moveon.org garbage).

Americans not welcome in Europe

Secretary of State Colin Powell canceled a planned visit to Athens amid protests. I just want to say Americans are not welcome in Western Europe. Period. That should be painfully obvious by now. After 3000 Americans were killed on 9/11 America worked really hard to make muslims feel like they were still welcome in our (and in many cases, their) country, and we were largely successful despite a few incidents. We remove the worst tyrant of my life time, and the Euros are apoplectic. Any American planning a trip to Western Europe should cancel it if they can. We aren't welcome there, fine. No more of our money should go to them. I'm glad we are moving a large number of our troops from Germany. They aren't needed there, and could provide a boost to one of our many better allies in Eastern Europe. Eurotrash are sanctimonious assholes contributing next to nothing in real terms to make this world a better place. To quote Dick Cheney, Europe, "Go f-ck yourself!"

Reparations for slavery

Reparations for slavery is a great idea. All slaves should step forward and get a big fat check. If you weren't a slave, shut up and get a job. Alan Keyes, a Republican, wants two generations of blacks to be exempted from paying income taxes. Does that include recent African immigrants? They're "African Americans", too. And how about my wife from Taiwan. Should she and other first generation, non-African immigrants have to pay more taxes to pick up the tab for something their families were never even part of? I know, I know, "America owes them a debt." Life sucks, and blacks aren't the only ones who've ever had it rough. To be honest I think we should all consider ourselves privileged to live here, and feel that I don't owe any minority anything other than the same respect I'd give to any American. Under Alan's plan, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan wouldn't pay any taxes. Finally, I've actually nearly been denied a job (someone else quit, so I got hired) that I was more qualified for, because the other person up for the job was a black woman. That's that little thing we call "bullshit". And, by all means, take some advice from Bill Cosby.

Lay off Hamm

The International Gymnastics Federation is pressuring Paul Hamm to hand is gold medal over, according to CNN/SI. This is an absolute disgrace. Should the Korean have won is the question. Based upon the screwup in starting value for one of his routines, yes. Based upon all of the judging mistakes, not a chance.

Also from CNN/SI

Yes, the videotape of the parallel bars showed the judges erred by assigning a 9.9 start value. But it showed something else, too. In the course of his routine, Yang had four holds on the bar, when the rules allow for a maximum of three. The deduction for that mistake? Two-tenths of a point.

The judges missed it.

He would have barely held on to his bronze. Let's hear some more about that. All things considered, the fact that FIG wants Hamm to give up gold medal is a disgrace, and fairly reeks of anti-Americanism, and that has NO PLACE in the Olympics. The USOC responded appropriately:

In a letter back to Grandi, USOC secretary general Jim Scherr called the request "a blatant and inappropriate attempt on the part of (FIG) to once again shift responsibility for its own mistakes and instead pressure Mr. Hamm into resolving what has become an embarrassing situation for your federation."

It sounds like Hamm himself has no intention of giving up his medals. Nor should he. The Koreans should quit being cry babies (remember the crying in the Winter Olympics?) and learn something about sportsmanship.

Poverty

Poverty is up in America, CNN reports.

The number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million last year, while the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 1.4 million, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

The Census Bureau's definition of poverty varies by the size of the household. For instance, the threshold for a family of four was $18,810, while for two people it was $12,015.

Census Bureau analyst Dan Weinberg said the results were typical of a post-recession period. He said the increase in the number of people without insurance was due to the uncertain job picture.

Okay. If you can't get above the poverty level in the quoted examples, it ain't Bush's fault. I can think of three ways this can happen:

1. One or both of the adults are disabled, in which case you would be in poverty regardless of the economy.

2. You have 1 adult and dependents.

3. You got some lazy people.

Let's look at number 1. Does this factor in government money the disabled receive? I have some direct experience in this matter and know that Social Security payments are fair, add food stamps to that, and if they are disabled severely enough, attendant care. With government generosity they end up well above poverty. Perhaps some disable people aren't as fortunate as those I've dealt with, but it is hard to see how.

Now for number 2. We can have the greatest economy in the world and these people are still going to need help. Sometimes it is sad, as a death or dead beat etc. can create this situation. Other times it is an irresponsible person who just keeps crapping out kids. Either way it is unfortunate but necessary that society help out.

Finally, we have number 3. Take a man and a woman. Both work for $6 per hour, 20 hours per week (I know, this is more like a European work week, not an American), 52 weeks per year. That's above poverty. A family of 4 in this situation, well maybe shouldn't have had those 2 kids, eh? People are getting 10 million months of unemployment, so I don't buy the "they lost their job and couldn't find another" argument.

As for medical insurance, let's be honest. Increasing medical malpractice insurance costs are playing a nice role in driving up insurance costs across the board. Also, a lot of people don't take advantage of free medical insurance when available. Some particularly younger people I'd imagine) don't prioritize medical insurance in their expenditures.

These are all real problems we face, but neither Bush nor Kerry going to fix them. I don't want my taxes raised for this crap either. Need to pay for it? Cut spending.

Women's soccer

USA going for the gold. I think I've figured out why soccer is so popular around the world. Probably the same reason basketball is growing in popularity. They involve a nice big ball and easy to follow action. Anyway, this is fun. I've never seen so many people falling over after being breathed upon. Player 1 looks at player 2 cross-eyed, player 2 takes a dive hoping the ref will call a foul. Player 2 rolls around on the ground holding her shin in apparent pain. Ref does or does not call foul. Player 2 gets up unhurt and continues play. Fun. Americans don't like soccer so much because...well...who can like a game that regularly ends in ties, or 1-0, 2-1, or somesuch low score?

Edit: US Wins 2-1 in overtime.

Danny Glover

Danny Glover wants American forces to be sent to Sudan to restore peace and stop bloodshed (directed against black Africans) yet he opposed sending troops to help the Iraqi people (Arabs, and Kurds). Racism? While that is exactly the sort of conclusion Danny Glover would draw, I'll refrain. Instead, I'll just conclude that he's a little short on intellect and lacks logical reasoning skills.

Canadian pol steps in it again

The dumb Canadian politician who got herself in trouble for her comments about Americans saying she hated "those bastards" is at it again.

Here's a small snippet:

Canadian Member of Parliament Carolyn Parrish had said she hated "damned Americans" and called them bastards in the run-up to the Iraq war. She found a new moniker, idiots, on Wednesday in discussing the planned U.S. missile defense system.

"We are not joining the coalition of the idiots. We are joining the coalition of the wise," the Liberal legislator told a small group of demonstrators...

"The world respects Canada. If we were to join this then it will be giving credibility to what they're doing," she said.

After her pathetic rant she begged reporters not to use it:

"Please guys don't put that on tape," she said. "I already got into trouble once.... Really, please, I've had enough trouble."

The tyrants in Iran and North Korea don't hate us because we are killing Iraqis, they hate us because we are freeing them, and they fear we'll bring freedom to their own people as well. That is why we need NMD. Hippy Canadian politicians won't be able to understand that. To me it boils down to this: In the entire history of the world, how many people and nations can Canada say they played a pivotal role in freeing, and how does that compare to us "bastards" and "idiots" in America? Who should be ashamed, and who is the idiot now?

A Letter to John Kerry

Senator Kerry dispatched some veterans who support his campaign to Texas to urge the President to try to censor vets who dislike Kerry. Some Texans who have served have written a letter to John Kerry regarding this. The letter is signed as follows:

Texas State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson
Rep. Duke Cunningham
Rep. Duncan Hunter
Rep. Sam Johnson
Lt. General David Palmer
Robert O'Malley, Medal of Honor Recipient
James Fleming, Medal of Honor Recipient
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Castle (Ret.)

Kerry's response to the veterans is a smokescreen. Bush has condemned the ads from the veterans when he roundly condemned all ads of this sort. He made it clear that among his condemnation was the veteran ad. Kerry is telling more lies. At this point it is all he has left.

Why Paul Hamm Should Keep His Medal

Mistakes happen in sports. More than one was made the night Paul Hamm won his gold medal. If the Koreans can go back after the fact and point out that their athlete's starting value on an event was wrong, then America can point out that the judges scored the Korean too highly on another event, and failed to deduct points for a mistake. This tit for tat could go on and on. The Wall Street Journal has proposed a do-over. This might not be a bad idea, but of course it would have to be judged perfectly or else another do-over would be in order. And another. And so on.

So sue me

Swiftboat veteran John O'Neill, author of Unfit for Commmand, has challenged John Kerry to sue him if he feels he's being wronged over recent allegations regarding his service in Vietnam. Hopefully Kerry will shut up about Vietnam now and talk about his Senate career. Bush has been shot up by soft money ads from the 527 groups for months now (moveon.org, a bunch of complete liars), and when the Democrats get a taste of their own medicine they go crying to mama. Pansies. And half of you want them to be in charge of protecting America. Jeez.

General Confusion

I just saw General McPeak endorsing John Kerry in a campaign ad. Nothing wrong with that, except he specifically supports him for his plan for protecting America. That plan is pretty much to put the UN in charge of our security. C'mon General. That's nuts. Supporting Kerry because you want higher taxes and worsening education (thank you teachers' unions).

Sir, please get a clue from Ed Koch or Zell Miller.

US Women's Softball Finals

The US women are playing in the softball finals today and thus far are kicking ass in grand fashion. The women haven't allowed a single run in these Olympics. These gals hustle on and off the field and really play to win. They are there to get it done. What a team. Go girls! Australia is to receive a spanking!

EDIT: US women win 5-1! Though they gave up a run to Australia, I don't think a 51-1 scoring ratio in the Olympics is too shabby. Your country is proud!

Ads not going away

Fox News Sunday showed videos of some of the Swift Boat Vets speaking in favor of Kerry during the '90s. This is a confusing issue. When Kerry saved Rassman, he was awarded largely because they were under fire. One of the Swift vets pointed out that they stayed in the kill zone that day for an hour and no one was hurt by the enemy fire. Seems unlikely.

Then there is the Cambodia issue, which I think looks likely to have been a lie. He claimed he was in Cambodia on Christmas Eve of 1968, and that it was seared into his memory. This looks untrue. Big damn deal. Moving on.

There is another Swift Boat Vet ad featuring POWs. A POW says Kerry (when he got home) gave the Vietnamese for free what the POWs were taking torture to avoid saying. Here is where I think you find the real issues with Kerry. After he came back from Vietnam he betrayed his fellows. I think this is why many of these people are making a stink, and they should be honest about that and move on. Kerry was a dickwad when he got home, that doesn't make his service cowardly.

The best outcome of all of this would be for Kerry to quit running on his 4 months of service in a war 40 years ago (I don't care if he mentions it, Vietnam service is something to respect), and instead run on his service in government. I haven't seen nearly enough evidence for me to conclude that Kerry served dishonorably, but is that really more relevant to this campaign than his 20 years in the Senate?

US men's basketball team loses again.

The US lost to Lithuania. Every single US possession was met with airhorns and whistles. I don't say this by way of excuse but to show what poor sports the Eurotrash are. So we bombed Iraq. Get over it. I've never cared much about the US basketball team, I've always wanted America to win gold, but never so much so for our basketball team.

Democrat or Republican

Nice little story stolen from:

Diary Date

Democrat Or Republican
I got this in an email today:

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and was for distribution of all wealth. She felt deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican which she expressed openly.

One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to higher taxes on the rich & more welfare programs. In the middle of her heart-felt diatribe based upon the lectures she had from her far left professors at her school, he stopped her and asked her point blank, how she was doing in school.

She answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain. That she had to study all the time, never had time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying. That she was taking a more difficult curriculum.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Mary?"

She replied, "Mary is barely getting by", she continued, "all she has is barely a 2.0 GPA" adding, "and all she takes are easy classes and she never studies." But to explain further she continued emotionally, "But Mary is so very popular on campus, college for her is a blast, she goes to all the parties all the time and very often doesn't even show up for classes because she is too hung over."

Her father then asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to her friend who only has a 2.0?" He continued, "That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked by the father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I worked really hard for mine, I did without and Mary has done little or nothing, she played while I worked real hard!"

The father slowly smiled and said, ......

"Welcome to the Republican Party."

Kerry's whine

If Democrats are so angry about the Swift Boat Veterans group running their ads, they should join President Bush in calling for all of these groups to stop running ads. They won't do that because they want their virtually traitorous moveon.org buddies to keep up the attacks on Bush. The Republicans tried to stop the 527s to begin with as they were initially just a Democrat tool to bypass campaign finance laws (Republicans get more money from individual donors than Democrats do).

Kerry filed an FEC complaint saying that the ads are coordinated with the Bush campaign. If Kerry loses he should pay a fine for his frivolity. When you can't argue your point, or explain your behavior, play the victim. That's a lesson from Master Clinton (so I lied under oath...the Republicans are mean!). That being said, any vets who weren't in a position to know what happened in the disputed instances should shut up. No one should question Kerry's medals based on his despicable activities after he returned home. His character, sure. He's a deluxe asshole if for no other reason (though there are plenty of others) than that. That's a given.

Swift boat vets

John Kerry served in Vietnam. I know, I know...why hasn't he mentioned it before. I had no idea he was a Vietnam veteran (sarcasm, thank you). Okay here's the deal. He spent 4 damn months in Vietnam. I will not say that is shameful, and it is exactly 4 months more than I served in Vietnam, but if your entire campaign to be President is based upon 4 months of service in Vietnam, and you are a self-professed war criminal, and fellow swift boat veterans are critical of you, doesn't that mean your record deserves looking at?

The liberal media has essentially decided that Kerry's dubious service (I could say dubious based entirely on his own accounts of war crimes, not the swift vets' accusations) should not be subject to investigation. However, those who also served honorably, also winning medals, who have discounted Kerry's service, should be investigated thoroughly. But there's no bias in the media.

I will assume that Kerry's purple hearts are deserved until given a highly likely reason not to believe. I haven't read Unfit for Command so I won't subscribe to their allegations, however I believe that the media has a responsibility to find the truth. Ever hear of investigative journalism? They didn't hesitate one second to go after Bush for his service in the Air National Guard. Kerry's service deserves at least as much scrutiny, and probably more since he has made it the central part of his campaign.

That deserves repeating, and those in defense of Mr. Kerry should hear it: THE CENTRAL PART OF KERRY'S CAMPAIGN IS HIS SERVICE IN VIETNAM. That alone is enough reason to examine his record closely, and why it deserves as much if not more attention as that of Bush. BUSH DID NOT SERVE IN VIETNAM. HE IS NOT A WAR HERO. HE ISN'T RUNNING ON HIS RECORD IN VIETNAM, HE'S RUNNING ON HIS RECORD IN THE MORE RECENT CENTURY, K THX. I mention this because the response from the media and the Kerry campaign (if there's a difference between the two) is Bush didn't serve in Vietnam. Or this is all a Republican attack. The vets are doing Bush's dirty work, etc etc.

In my opinion, Kerry is qualified to be President. He doesn't deserve to be, and will not be a good one, but he has the qualifications. He is at least as qualified as George W. Bush was four years ago, and probably more. His qualifications have nothing to do with 4 months in Vietnam, and everything to do with 20 years in the Senate. That is the record he should be running on, but is instead running away from. He has chosen to run on his 4 months in Vietnam, he must live with that and the consequences. I say again, Bush is not trying to convince people he'd be a good POTUS based on his National Guard service, but rather on his time ACTUALLY HOLDING THE JOB. Debate your recent public service record, John, and we will be less interested in your past. Make your past an issue, and so will others. What should concern us is now, not then.

Sadr

How many times are we going to allow Sadr and his goons to negotiate a cease-fire that only the coalition respects? Now they are holding another American journalist, threatening to kill him if the US doesn't pull out of Najaf. It is time to make it clear in Iraq: if you stand against us, the penalty is death. No more amnesty. No more fourth, fifth, sixth chances to lay down arms. Time to die. The lives of a thousand of these militia scumbags are not worth the life of one American soldier. No more trying to avoid killing the enemy at the cost of losing our own.

Arrr! Ye'll be welcomin' Mad Dog Maddy to the family!

My new niece, Madelyn Bree Barker. Congratulations to Mitchell and Michelle!

Maddy says, "If ye be wantin' ta see me pictures, ye best be clicking here!"