Justice Dept. Investigates NSA Leak

It will be very interesting to see how the media reacts to this story about the Justice Department investigation into who leaked information about the NSA eavesdropping program.

While this leak might have endangered national security, I have a feeling the media won't be quite as enthusiastic as they were when Justice decided to investigation the Valerie Plame leak.

*Update*
Mort Kondracke of Roll Call magazine (typically a centrist) on FoxNews blasted the NY Times and Washington Post for their "completely irresponsible" release of this top secret program during a time of war, which liberals don't want to believe.

Kyoto? Apparently Not Important to Europe

The Kyoto Accord, one of the first reason any foreigner gives as support for the U.S. being a "unilateral" nation, is not even being implemented properly in Western Europe:

According to the protocol, western European nations must reduce their emissions to levels 8 percent lower than those of 1990. But in the years since the treaty was negotiated, carbon dioxide levels increased by 7 percent in France, 11 percent in Italy and 29 percent in Spain. Overall, the increase for western Europe was 5.4 percent.

It seems that this is the Hollywood argument: don't worry what we do ourselves, we just want you to change your behavior...

It's Cold in the UK

Where is global warming when you need it?

The Padilla Case and Media Coverage

The Justice Department's attempt to transfer dirtybomber suspect Jose Padilla from military to civilian custody failed after Judge Michael Luttig wrote that President Bush had the authority to hold Padilla as an "enemy combatant" in military custody.

While I question exactly why the government would choose to give Padilla a civilian court hearing, the media, particularly CBS News, has gone awry in claiming that Judge Luttig has "sharply rebuked" the Bush Administration. Hugh Hewitt explains. Who Luttig rebuked were all those liberals who said that terrorists could not be held as enemy combatants indefinitely.

Business a la Francaise

Jacques Chirac provides us with a little insight as to how business is done, at least in France. Recently Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, producers of the soon to be DaVinci Code, met with Chirac. Supposedly, a five minute meeting turned into a one-hour favor-asking-fest where Chirac agreed to take care of whatever bureaucracy was encountered at the Louvre, but in return for a couple of favors.

First he wanted his daughter's best friend to play the lead. Second, he wanted to increase another French actor's salary on the set. Ummm, ok. According to director, Ron Howard,

that was hilarious.

Fortunately, the producers were unable to fulfill the demands of the leader of this fine French nation. Can you imagine how ridiculed Bush would be by the media if he did this?

Democrats Still Have John Kerry Disease

It's been 4 years since September 11, 2001 and a year since the flip-flopping of John Kerry, but Democrats still haven't learned that you can't have it both ways.

Dems are now ready to release a report that says the Homeland Security Dept. has failed to make the U.S. safer. According to the report, there are significant safety gaps in ports, borders and chemical plants, as well as the sharing of intelligence.

Unfortunately, the report fails to mention that Democrats do not want to renew the Patriot Act, tighten the borders to prevent illegals or terrorists from walking into our country or spy on suspected Al Qaeda cells in the U.S. John Kerry must indeed be proud of his party - imitation is truly the most sincere form of flattery.

Damning Clinton Report Might Be Hidden Forever

It seems that unless there is some public outrage, the report investigating Clinton's HUD chief, Henry Cisneros, might never be released to the public. The report, started ten years ago by independent counsel David Barrett, has been complete for years, but Democrats have blocked it from being released. It apparently details significant abuses of the IRS by the Clinton Administration. And now it may never be released.

Columnist and talk-show host Tony Snow believes that the report would seriously damage Hillary's chances at a presidential run:

"By all accounts, the 400-page Barrett report is a bombshell, capable possibly of wiping out Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential prospects," writes Snow. "At the very least, it would bring to public attention a scandal that would make the Valerie Plame affair vanish into comical insignificance."

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

(I hope you got lots of gifts under your Kwanzaa tree...)

Why I Still Love Ah-nold

Despite Gov. Schwarzenegger's less than conservative views on many issues, you still have to love the guy. Earlier this week, he pre-empted his hometown of Graz from voting on the removal of his name from a public stadium in an effort to embarrass him over political disagreements (primarily the death penalty).

Arnold wrote to the mayor and demanded that his name be removed and that the city is no longer allowed to use his name for advertising purposes. That is great.

Eliot Spitzer the Dictator

For those of you who have not read the Wall Street Journal's editorial page this morning, John Whitehead, former Goldman Sachs chairman, wrote a brief piece entitled "Scary." In it, he explains the aftermath of his editorial from last April in which he stated that AIG CEO Hank Greenberg should be innocent until proven guilty and that "Spitzer has gone too far." Spitzer called Whitehead and went off on him:

"Mr. Whitehead, it's now a war between us and you've fired the first shot. I will be coming after you. You will pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay dearly for what you have done. You will wish you had never written that letter."

When an attorney general makes a threat like this, it is no doubt a very scary time. Spitzer himself should be the one who needs to answer some tough questions.

ANWR Drilling Filibustered

Senate Democrats (plus Mike DeWine and Lincoln Chaffee) successfully filibustered a bill that would have opened up part of ANWR to oil drilling.

So there you have it - Democrats moan and groan about high gas prices and insist on an energy policy, but then they don't allow any new drilling, refineries or nuclear plants. (I suppose that leaves us with wind- or solar-powered cars.)

As a refresher, here is a link to Jonah Goldber's article from National Review that depicts what life in ANWR is really like (hint: it's so undesirable that environmentalists don't even bother visiting).

Preparing for Munich

In advance of Steven Spielberg's 'Munich,' this week, ESPN2 last night aired "Our Greatest Hopes, Our Worst Fears: The Tragedy of the Munich Games," made in 2002 for the 30th anniversary of the Munich Olympic games.

If you get the chance to watch it, I strongly recommend the special. It shows how badly the Germans botched the rescue operation, then decided to wash their hands of the situation by appeasing the terrorists to deter any further attacks against Germany. (They staged another hijacking as an excuse to return the terrorists to Syria a month later.)

Some things never change.

Fighting a War Against a Country of Liberals

Imagine fighting a war against a country made up entirely of Liberals. I wonder what it would look like. Based on the criticism of Bush during Iraq, here are a few ideas:

-First, no war may be fought without the country first being attacked by an enemy state and then getting explicit approval from the United Nations. The UN also gets veto rights on all tactical strategies during the war (heck, let's let them run it).

-There will not be any bombing if the slightest chance that a civilian might be harmed. If a civilian is harmed accidentally, the soldier must be tried and go to jail. For that matter, soldiers are guilty of any charges unless he can prove otherwise in a court.

-We will not be in a war for a period longer than 12 months (just to give the enemy a little fair warning in advance).

-If there is any protest from the nation's citizens or poll numbers decline, we must immediately pull out our troops.

-We are not allowed to spy on our enemies, here or abroad.

-We must appoint lawyers for enemies captured on the battlefield and then try them individually in a court of law.

-If the economy suffers due to war, we must raise taxes on everything.

-Every man and woman must be eligible to be drafted and fight side by side.

-Soldiers returning home after the war must be flogged for taking part in such an evil thing.

I wonder how many wars we could win under the liberal rules. Yes, this is satire, but something tells me that I'm not very far from the truth.

Spitzer Attacking Again

Eliot Spitzer never found an industry that couldn't be sued. He extended this philosophy to gas stations, fining three of them $63 thousand for raising prices in the aftermath of Katrina.

"You cannot under New York law, and you cannot in good conscience, take advantage of an environmental debacle to extract unfair prices," said Spitzer.

No word yet on whether Spitzer will demand the return of profits on every homeowner who sold his house within the past four years. As everyone knows, homeowners have benefited from price increases due to an artificially low federal funds rate as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It sounds to me like they were taking advantage of something much worse than an environmental debacle.

Bush At His Best

Last night's speech by President Bush, followed by a press conference this morning, were the best to date (by far) on the Iraq War. He was very clear and concise on the fact that (I know you won't believe this) terrorists actually existed well before the Iraq War and new terrorists appear when you do NOT take action.

He also scolded Democrats who filibustered the Patriot Act and called not renewing the law "inexcusable," as well as pre-empted the criticism of his eavesdropping on terrorists who call into or out of the U.S. One highlight:

You know, there's an interesting debate in Washington, and you're part of it, that says, well, they didn't connect the dots prior to September the 11th -- "they" being not only my administration, but previous administrations. And I understand that debate. I'm not being critical of you bringing this issue up and discussing it, but there was a -- you might remember, if you take a step back, people were pretty adamant about hauling people up to testify, and wondering how come the dots weren't connected.

Well, the Patriot Act helps us connect the dots. And now the United States Senate is going to let this bill expire. Not the Senate -- a minority of senators. And I want senators from New York [Hillary, Chucky] or Los Angeles [Babs Boxer, Feinstein] or Las Vegas [Dingy Harry Reid] to go home and explain why these cities are safer. It is inexcusable to say, on the one hand, connect the dots, and not give us a chance to do so. We've connected the dots, or trying to connect the dots with the NSA program. And, again, I understand the press and members of the United States Congress saying, are you sure you're safeguarding civil liberties. That's a legitimate question, and an important question. And today I hope I'll help answer that. But we're connecting dots as best as we possibly can.

I mentioned in my radio address -- my live TV radio address -- that there was two killers in San Diego making phone calls prior to the September the 11th attacks. Had this program been in place then, it is more likely we would have been able to catch them. But they're making phone calls from the United States, overseas, talking about -- who knows what they're talking about, but they ended up killing -- being a part of the team that killed 3,000 Americans. And so -- I forgot what got me on the subject, but nevertheless I'm going to -- we're doing the right thing.

What do Liberals Want?

With regards to international terrorism, what do liberals actually want? It's unclear to me. If we backtrack to 9/11, and we look what's happened since, there's a big question mark as to what liberals really want done, if anything. Let me elaborate:

Since 9/11 under Bush's leadership, the US has aggressively gone after terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries. The US has also remarkably persuaded most muslim countries to target terrorism as well, including Pakistan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, in addition to influencing Europe to step up its efforts. I believe this has been an amazing achievement.

The problem with these efforts? Nothing, but suddenly liberals at home are losing their nerve. In recent weeks, American liberals (sure - throw McCain in there) are now against cruel and unusual questioning tactics to extract information in all cases, even if it's not torture. Next liberals have decided against renewing the Patriot Act. Now liberals are saying that they are even against EAVESDROPPING ON POTENTIAL TERRORISTS.

Which brings me to my point. Liberals blamed Bush for 9/11, at least many of them did. Then when he tries to stop terrorism, liberals are against that too. I'm gonna throw this question out to all liberals: do you really want to stop terrorism? If so, how do you do it if you can't listen to potential terrorists and you can't question them?

After 9/11 Bush said, either you're with us or you're with the terrorists. Sometimes it's really difficult to know the side of American liberals.

Is This Really News?

Why is it news when the left-wing egomaniac Cindy Sheehan gets 100 people together to protest the Iraq War? You read that correct - "about 100" people gathered in Spain in front of the US embassy to protest the Iraq War. And yet, somehow this is worthy enought to write a news story.

Reid on FoxNews Sunday

Harry Reid, speaking on FoxNews Sunday, was proud of his role to help filibuster the renewal of the Patriot Act. Host Chris Wallace played a recent clip of Reid where he said to his Democratic colleagues that it was the Democrats who filibustered and therefore, killed the attempt to renew the Act. (He then said that it was up to the President to keep the Act going, whatever that means.)

Reid better hope that the US does not suffer a terror attack before the Act gets resigned; if there is an attack, Harry Reid's boastful video clip will be played so often that there will be no doubt as to who helped cause it.

*Update*
Now Reid is calling for investigations and hearings on the NSA eavesdropping of terrorists. I have a better idea - let's investigate who leaked the information to the press.

First Civil Union Couple Splits Up

Wipe away your tears folks. Two lesbians who were the first US couple to enter into a sam-sex civil union have decided to split up because of domestic violence. "All I want to say is that the civil union was a big source of pride for me, and now it's not," Kathleen Peterson said.

Eastern Europe Stands With Iraq

Eastern Europe remembers tyranny and dictatorship. Maybe that's why they've been far more willing to help out in the building of democracy in Iraq than Western Europeans have been. The ambassadors to the US from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary stand together in saying:

Democratic transition is a long, painful process. It requires sacrifice. But, more than anything, it requires a belief that democratic values will prevail and people will have a better life as a result. We had that belief to guide us during the most difficult years of transition and we want to keep that belief alive in the people of Iraq. Maybe it takes countries with vivid recollections of tyranny to serve as the institutional memory of a larger community of democracies. If so, we are ready to fulfill that role.

While Eastern Europe remembers the sacrifice and hardship that is required of a new democracy, all too many in Western Europe have forgotten. While they too went through the same process not too long ago, and they received a lot of outside help to get there, this is now a generation removed, and it's easy to forget. While many of our Western European cousins clearly did not support the efforts to build the Iraqi democracy, let's hope that now that a democracy is afoot that they will jump aboard and finally support it nonetheless. This is not the time to continue looking away.

Caution: Democracy Working in Iraq

Iraq has entered the annals of history for being the first Arab democracy in the Middle East. Amid heavy turnout, it appears that the Iraqis are very happy with their ability to vote for their own leaders.

It's a historic day for Iraq. But we will have to wait for the Democrats to figure out reasons to undermine its legitimacy. Stay tuned.

Another Good Reason for Disregarding International Courts

Check this out. Lance Armstrong is going on trial in Italy for calling some guy a liar. The published comments actually were written in a French newspaper, but a brilliant Italian judge determined all by herself that because the Italian guy read the French story on the internet, that Armstrong can still be guilty of defamation. If found guilty, the penalty could be a one to six year jail sentence. Sounds like Armstrong may decide not to vacation in Italy anytime soon.

This is why it's a joke that some of the more liberal members of the US Supreme Court use international opinion to decide US cases. We need Alito now!

Message From Iraqi Voter

An Iraqi voter has a message for all those naysayers and anti-Americans (and also the US Left). If we heard this more often, I believe American support for the war would go through the roof.

The Torture Canard

John McCain is proposing a bill in the Senate that would limit U.S. interregators from using "cruel and unusual" or "degrading" techniques in order to get information from terrorists. The MSM has already described the bill as being about "torture" and every news outlet is debating whether or not torture is justified.

This is nonsense. The US already forbids inflicting "torture" and laws define what torture is. McCain's bill would force a squishy definition of "degrading" or "cruel" techniques such as waterboarding, sleep depravation or even forcing people to stand for long periods without food.

McCain's wrong-headed response to a situation in which a terrorist has information to prevent the potential death of many Americans:

"You do what you have to do...but you take responsibility for it..."

In other words, if there isn't a nuclear bomb about to detonate in a major US city, you will be in deep trouble. I can only think what the Democrats would do the next time a terrorist is forced to endure some physical or mental anguish.

Uh Oh: Good News From Iraq!

Could it be? The US media (and Democrats in general) are overly pessimistic on the situation in Iraq?

According to an ABC News poll, 70% of Iraqis believe their own lives are going well and 60% feel very safe (up from only 40% just six months ago). Not only that, but incomes are up 60% in the last year and a half, while 75% are confident in this week's elections.

Try as they might (and they will continue to try), the pessimism with which the MSM view Iraq is starting to differ significantly from the Iraqi view of Iraq.

*Update*
Sure enough, one of the leading AP articles today is titled, "Most Iraqis Oppose Troops' Presence," which headlines the negative points of the poll and mention the positive results as an afterthought. That's a bit like saying after WWII: "Germany Surrenders, but Wienerschnitzel Price Goes Through the Roof."

Rumsfeld: Terrorists Can Only Win Through Media

Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday that terrorists in Iraq cannot win over in Iraq. The only way they can win is through opinion in Washington DC and they are using the US media (who are quite willing to comply) skillfully to achieve their ends.

Troops on the ground know the real story, and share it with their friends and loved ones through e-mails and phone calls, the secretary said. But they continue to wonder why this story isn't finding its way into the media, he said.

"All I know is that there are 150,000 troops over there who keep asking me, what in the world is going on?" Rumsfeld said. "Why is the impression in the United States so notably different than the facts on the ground that they see every day?"

Because the terrorists have the US media on their side, who can still help them grab victory from the clutches of defeat.

Those Optimistic Afghan People!

A new poll of 1100 Afghan people recently came out. Here is a brief summary:

1. 75% say that living conditions have improved today versus under Taliban
2. 87% say the overthrow of the Taliban was a good thing
3. 75% say the country is moving in the right direction (only 30% of US says this)
4. 60% say that attacks against US troops cannot be justified.

Right after 9/11 we all remember the doom and gloomsayers: that Afghans were incapable of democracy, that they didn't want it, that no one could win a war in Afghanistan - look at the Russians or the British or Alexander the Great even. The US will look like occupiers. Europeans were against it - then they went along reluctantly, then they were against it (remind you of anyone?), then they said we need to wait until after Ramadan to respect their faith. Remember all that?

Anyway, I'm not saying it's over because is isn't. Democracy is a looooooong process. But hey - Germany wasn't made whole again until 50 years after WWII. Be patient.

Blame Bush for This!

Alaska is losing it's northern lights as the earth's magnetic pole shifts away from Alaska and towards Siberia. If this happens over the next 50 years, there will be no spectacular auroras in Alaska, but rather they'll migrate to Siberia and maybe Europe. Magnetic poles move around and scientists understand this, they just don't understand exactly why.

I hearby call for a full worldwide investigation as to why this is happening. Don't we need conferences and protests and all that and figure out who's to blame? I suspect we don't really need further investigation. Despite any evidence, we can be pretty sure this is caused by humans, and there's really only one human in the world capable of this. Guess who?

Clinton on Kyoto

Bill Clinton, in speaking at the climate conference in Montreal, said that Bush was wrong that the Kyoto treaty would hurt the U.S. economy. Perhaps he should have tried to tell that to the U.S. Senate when they defeated it 96-0 while he was President.

The Hypocrisy of Climate Change

A few observations from Dr. Roy Spencer who attended the ever-so-interesting conference (COP 11) on climate change in Montreal. He makes an interesting observation on the attendees:

The people at COP-11 are well-fed, well-dressed, have been transported half way around the world by fossil-fueled aircraft, and are totally dependent upon myriad goods and services that require access to affordable energy. But that hasn't seemed to cross their minds. If it has, they are under the illusion that the world can live on a whole lot less energy than it is right now. I look around and wonder how all of these people would contribute to life on Earth if they were not so busy trying to save it.

And then he further observes, that maybe the best way to avoid climate change is to do what Jimmy Stewart did in It's a Wonderful Life - wish that we had never been born.

I suppose the only way to have avoided getting ourselves into this whole climate change mess was for us to have never progressed as a civilization in the first place. We could still be hunters and gatherers. Children would probably die at an early age from disease or exposure, but at least the population would not be so burdensome to the Earth. I guess we would all be much happier with a simpler existence, communing with nature, gathering berries, killing wild hares. Yet as I look at all of the people around me, they look, well…affluent. Maybe the policies they are pushing don't really apply to them, but to those they claim to represent?(I'm reminded of people like Fidel Castro who live lavishly while his people live in poverty. He does it for them.)

Shelton Authorized Able Danger

Gen. Hugh Shelton, the top U.S. military commander during the 9/11 attacks, admits that he authorized Operation Able Danger to attempt to track down Bin Laden, Atta and other members of Al Qaeda several years before 9/11.

I guess the 9/11 Commission was either: 1) so inept that the members couldn't figure this out for themselves; or 2) it was such a partisan facade that the members only addressed the issues that could reach consensus (read: nothing controversial that could potentially pin blame on the Clinton-Reno-Gorelick team).

House Extends Investment Tax Cuts

The House voted today to extend the capital gains and dividend tax cuts an additional two years, 234-197. The House vote gives hope that it will appear in the final reconciliation bill after the Senate refused to include the cuts (thanks to Sen. Olympia Snowe, the jellyfish from Maine).

I love how reporters ignore the fact that lower tax rates actually raise revenue, as proven by the 2003 tax cuts (which increased revenue 14 percent this year):

Even without these tax reductions, the deficit is projected to total $314 billion in fiscal 2006, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The House tax cuts could make the deficit bigger...

I just have one question: why does one need to go to college to become a journalist? Democrats must love it when the media helps them perpetuate their own lies - imagine where they would be without the media...

Nobel Anti-American Prize

Harold Pinter, a well-known anti-democrat, anti-capitalist and extreme anti-American, once again blasted the U.S. after receiving his Nobel Prize.

The top contenders for the joke of a "peace" prize in 2006 are Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and Hugo Chavez. It will be a close race, so be sure to cast your vote...

Margaret Thatcher Admitted to Hospital - Reaction from Liberals

Reportedly, Margaret Thatcher was taken to the hospital after feeling faint. Michelle Malkin shows the reaction of those lovely compassionate liberals who are oh-so-nice. I've gotta say - this reaction from liberals does not surprise me and is unfortunately pretty typical of many people of liberal ideology today.

In all fairness (and this does not excuse the hate) I might be equally miserable if everything I stood for 25 years ago has been proven completely wrong and outdated - politically, economically, and militarily by almost every country in the world. Talk about losers of the century! In addition, if my party couldn't win a majority vote in 25 years, again - this causes misery and hateful emotions. I'm not saying I excuse it, but maybe I understand it.

Why We Don't Try Terrorists

Saddam decided not to show up to his trial today, which prompted the court to adjourn for two weeks. Hmmm - just think of the mockery that we would create if we decided to try all the terrorists we capture in a civil court of law.

Too bad the Iraqis couldn't simply repeat the actions of Romania in dealing with Ceausescu.

Kerry Calls US Troops Terrorists

Rush Limbaugh discussed John Kerry's Sunday performance on Face the Nation. You can read excerpts of the transcript here, in which John Kerry says that US troops shouldn't be terrorizing Iraqi women and children in the middle of the night (like we were doing in Vietnam, of course).

The fact that this guy was the top Democratic choice for President says a lot about how precarious the situation is that faces the U.S.

And while Democrats are happy to defend Howard Dean and John Kerry for being anti-American, Ronald Regan's son Michael speaks up and says that Dean should be "hung for treason." Perhaps a bit harsh, but his irreverance toward political hacks is refreshing.

Delahunt's Crooked Deal

Bill O'Reilly had a piece on his show this evening about William Delahunt's (D-MA) crooked (even perhaps treasonous) deal with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. The deal is that Massachusetts gets cheap oil (below market rates) in exchange for free propoganda, courtesy of a Left-wing Congressman.

I wonder how people would have felt about bribes from Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot or Castro. That's what this deal really is.

CIA vs. Bush

Mona Charen at Townhall has a great summary of the CIA's internal war against President Bush and his War on Terror.

John Hinderaker at Weekly Standard also has another must-read article: "Leaking at All Costs." Hinderaker states:

THE CIA'S WAR against the Bush administration is one of the great untold stories of the past three years. It is, perhaps, the agency's most successful covert action of recent times...

Recent events indicate that the CIA might even be willing to compromise the effectiveness of its own covert operations, if by doing so it can damage the Bush administration.

What most people don't realize is that the CIA has been largely institutionalized by many Democrats over the past 15 years, many of whom would rather see Democratic success than American success. Thank God for Porter Goss, the CIA chief who has already started cleaning house at the disfunctional agency. He certainly has his work cut out for himself.

No. 3 Al Qaeda Killed Near Afghanistan

Pakistan confirmed that the No. 3 leader of Al Qaeda, Abu Hamza Rabia, was killed in Waziristan, a western tribal region of Pakistan during a joint U.S.-Pakistani operation.

I'm confused. According to the Left, we have no international allies. Also, being in Iraq supposedly prevents us from doing anything elsewhere in the world. So perhaps this is all just a lie cooked up by President Bush...

Iraqi Progress

If anyone has any doubts that 1) Real progress is being made in Iraq or that 2) The US media is not much better than the National Enquirer in terms of accuracy of reporting, then you should read a few of Bill Roggio's posts. Roggio is embedded with the Marines in Iraq who are operating along Iraqi forces - and they're destroying the insurgents.