brainstorming

Hillary in 2008

Political Wire is reporting that Hillary Clinton's relatives are confirming she plans to run for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008.  It should be no surprise to anyone.  She's been positioning herself for it ever since joining the Senate, including sounding hawkish on the War on Terror.

Unfortunately, I think many women would vote for her because she is a woman.  The only Republican I forsee beating her is Condoleezza Rice.

Isn't it a little early to start the buzz?

Diversity of Thought Update - Equality in Persecution

Shall we consider it progress when Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California persecutes students for their poltical viewpoints both on the right and the left?

You really have to read the links to get an idea of the scope of the intimidation and retalitory grading practices.  The lefty professor intimidating a pro-America Arab student threatens his visa and insists he needs regular psychotherapy for the disease of holding pro-American viewpoints.  The righty professor regularly intimidates students for holding pro choice positions and refuses to release his grading methods even after an appeal is made to the Dean.

What kind of children do we have for college professors these days?   And parents pay for this crap?  Not me, baby.  Not going to happen.  I've told my kids that Mom and Dad will not be paying for any college with an agenda of political indoctrination.  I urge all parents to get with the program.

"Excuse me administration official who wants my cold hard cash, has your board of trustees adopted the Academic Bill of Rights?"

With thanks to Helloooo Chapter Two! for the hat tip.

Update 4:00 PM:  King at SCSU Scholars, whom I trust implicitly in matters of higher education, calls the academic bill of rights "overkill" and recommends parents with high school seniors read ISI's Choosing the Right College.  Read the whole thing to discover what he suggests parents can do to "get with the program."  Personally, I appreciate all the help I can get!

Make Me A Servant

There's a song we often sang on Wednesday night church with the kids.....

Make me a servant,
Humble and meek,
Lord help me lift up,
Those who are weak
And may the prayer of my heart always be,
Make me a servant, make me a servant,
Make me a servant today.

From my own experience, it really changes my attitude when I remember that I'm called to be a servant to those around me.  It defeats the griping attitude I find myself in more often than I'd like.

I took an odd route to be reminded today, starting with this Varifrank post that I'm sure everyone and their brother has already read, considering the huge number of trackbacks and the Instapundit link.  Frank finds himself in a meeting with European work associates who denigrate President Bush for sending an aircraft carrier to help with tsunami relief.  He and his Hindi friend, who lost family in the disaster, do what we often wish we had done when a situation like this arises.  They confront the attitude head on, even though it might be seen as "Unprofessional".  So, if you missed it, go now.  It's the proverbial "Must Read".

Frank ends the story with the following:

Later in the breakroom, one of the laughing Euros caught me and extended his hand in an apology. I asked him where he was from, he said "a town outside of Berlin". He is a young man, in his early 20's.

I asked him if he knew of a man named Gail Halvorsen.

He said no.

I said "that's a shame" and walked away to find my Hindi friend.

I didn't recognize the name Gail Halvorsen and followed Frank's link to find an interview with him, known as the "Candy Bomber" for dropping candy attached to small parachutes to the kids in Berlin during the Berlin airlift.  Near the end of the interview Gail shares the following:

In closing, the airlift reminded me that the only way to fulfillment in life, real fulfillment, is to serve others. I was taught that as a youth in my church, and I found when I flew day and night to serve a former enemy that my feelings of fulfillment and being worthwhile were the strongest that I've felt. Greater love hath no man than this: that he lay down his life for a friend. I saw 31 of my airlift comrades lay down their lives in service of a former enemy who had become a friend. Serving others and giving of ourselves is the only way to real fulfillment. Not 2,000 square feet more than we need in the house, or an extra car that we don't need. Service, as the airlift reminded me, is what it's all about. I have that feeling when I go back to Berlin and have the people express their gratitude 50 years later for the service given them by former enemies. 

It's easy to get caught up in the details of our lives and miss the big picture.  I'm thankful when reminded of the things that really are important.  Feel free to hum along.

Make me a servant....

Sore Losers: Democrats Push to Contest Ohio Electoral Votes

I never thought I'd say it, but Al Gore may have more class than John Kerry.  Gore had the good sense in 2001 to ask the Senate not to contest the electoral college results.  (Maxine Waters did contest but did not get a Senator to join her.)

Even though George Bush won by 118,000 votes in Ohio, House Democrat John Conyers plans to contest the Ohio electoral votes tomorrow.  In order for the contest to be considered, he needs a Senator to join him.  Barbara Boxer is reportedly considering it.

Where does John Kerry stand on the issue?  He's on a trip to the mideast and reportedly sent this e-mail to his supporters today, (Warning! link is to D.U.)

Though Kerry states he will not be taking part in the protest of the Ohio electors and agrees there's no evidence the outcome of the election would change, he stops short of asking his Senate colleagues to not protest the vote.

Those pushing the conspiracy theories claim it's not about John Kerry, but about election reform.  Their  argument falls flat when they chose not to focus on Wisconsin, (Kerry won by 11,813), or  New Hampshire, (Kerry by 9,171), much closer margins than Ohio.

The real goal here is partisan politics for which they retain the well deserved title of Sore Losers.

UPDATE Jan. 6:  According to AP Barbara Boxer has signed the challenge.  See the sore losers in all their glory on C-Span at 1 EST today! 

The Freedom Haters

Anne Applebaum in The Washington Post:

    

Just in case anyone actually thought that all of those people waving flags on the streets of Kiev represent authentic Ukrainian sentiments, the London Guardian informed its readers otherwise last week. In an article titled "US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev," the newspaper described the events of the past 10 days as "an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing." In a separate article, the same paper described the whole episode as a "postmodern coup d'etat" and a "CIA-sponsored third world uprising of cold war days, adapted to post-Soviet conditions."

    

Neither author was a fringe journalist, and the Guardian is not a fringe newspaper. Nor have their views been ignored: In the international echo chamber that the Internet has become, these ideas have resonance. Both articles were liberally quoted, for example, in a Web log written by the editor of the Nation, who, while writing that she admired "citizens fighting corrupt regimes," just as in the United States, she also noted darkly that the wife of the Ukrainian opposition leader, a U.S. citizen of Ukrainian descent, "worked in the Reagan White House."

SNIP

The larger point, though, is that the "it's-all-an-American-plot" arguments circulating in cyberspace again demonstrate something that the writer Christopher Hitchens, himself a former Trotskyite, has been talking about for a long time: At least a part of the Western left -- or rather the Western far left -- is now so anti-American, or so anti-Bush, that it actually prefers authoritarian or totalitarian leaders to any government that would be friendly to the United States. Many of the same people who found it hard to say anything bad about Saddam Hussein find it equally difficult to say anything nice about pro-democracy demonstrators in Ukraine. Many of the same people who would refuse to condemn a dictator who is anti-American cannot bring themselves to admire democrats who admire, or at least don't hate, the United States. I certainly don't believe, as President Bush sometimes simplistically says, that everyone who disagrees with American policies in Iraq or elsewhere "hates freedom." That's why it's so shocking to discover that some of them do. (emphasis added)

Read the whole thing.

Of course, lovers of freedom, left or right, should be following the Kiev story at SCSU Scholars.

 

Study up to become a Citizen of the USA

I'm sure we've all heard the stories of immigrants studying to take the test for U.S. citizenship, admired them for their work to become Americans, and then wondered how many of us who were born here would pass?

You can practice test questions here.  The format seems to be 5 questions at a time and you can then check your answers, so it doesn't give you a simulated test with a score, but it's interesting to see what the questions are like.

Bush Rescues Secret Service in Chile

Hmmm.  Guess I haven't done this for a while, cause suddenly Typepad has all these new post options.

Like This.

Or This.

Or Even This.

I feel like such a cool blogger now.  (OK.  It's a little chilly and I'm not much of a blogger really.)

You may have heard about Chile's security people trying to keep President Bush's Secret Service out of the dinner which resulted in President Bush returning to the door to help him gain entrance?  Well, hearing about it doesn't do it justice.

The Daily Recycler has the video.  Don't miss it.

Prediction: Bush Wins on Evangelical Vote

I predict that George Bush will win the election today, both popular vote and electoral college, on the basis of evangelical voter turnout and that we will know the results tonight. Anecdotally, we voted already this morning in rural Wisconsin. It took about 15 minutes from the time we left the house until the time we got back home. Sometimes the simple life pays off. That being said, our little burg had higher than usual voter turnout. I was already number 151 before noon.

Evangelicals know they cannot trust Kerry with social issues. We aleady feel we are under attack. It's inconceivable to allow him to appoint the next justices to the Supreme Court.

Bush wins. All that's left is the celebrating. (Now I can get some work done.)

ABC has New Al Qaeda Tape That Tells Americans Not To Vote For Bush

3:15 PM: CIA CANNOT AUTHENTICATE TAPE: See UPDATE Below

I first heard on FOX news that ABC received a new Al Qaeda tape this weekend in Pakistan. Drudge has the story online. It is now in the hands of the CIA being analyzed for authentication.

In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11. "The streets will run with blood," and "America will mourn in silence" because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.

Notice the blame America sins? We will pay because we elected George Bush! We will pay because we dared to eliminate the murderous Taliban, and capture 3,000 members of Al Qaeda!

Now tell me again that we haven't waged an effective war on terror?

Our enemy, the murderers who killed innocent men, women, and children on 09/11, (and in Bali, in Turkey, in Spain, in Russia, etc.), now think Americans will shake in fear over their ravings, turn back from our determination to eliminate them as a threat, and vote for John Kerry, who has an anti-war record going back to the early 1970's. That's what this tape is about. They want you and I to shake in fear as we go to the polls, just as they managed to change the outcome of the election in Spain.

WE CANNOT GIVE THE ENEMY WHAT THEY WANT!

I believe in the American people. I trust that we will continue to stand behind President Bush, our troops, and the committment to eliminate the threat of a few thousand murdering thugs who believe we will be intimidated by their cruel inhumane behavior. We are not a nation of people who listen to bullies. We learned young that bullies need to be stood up to be stopped. For that reason I now know that President will continue to lead this great nation spreading liberty and freedom to people who have only known oppression and terror.

FOUR MORE YEARS!

Let it be on your breath and in every action you take in these last important days as we go to the polls and tell these animals that the people of America stand firm in our resolve and are even more determined to be led by President Bush who is willing to risk everything because he trusts the people he serves to see beyond the chatter we are fed daily by the pundits. George Bush trusts that Americans will not tire, will not falter, and will not fail. We will prevail against the pure evil that is Al Qaeda.

Now online at FOX too.

UPDATE 3:15 PM Central: The CIA reports that they can't authenticate the tape. In light of that, do I feel I've jumped the gun? Well, I did report the tape was in the process of being authenticated, but I also assumed the leaks of the content were valid. For that I apologize. We'll have to wait and see. It doesn't change my sentiments that Al Qaeda will consider it a win for their cause if we choose to vote George Bush out of office, so I'm going to leave the post up with update warnings at the top and here.

Mt. St. Helens from the Air

I flew over Mt. St. Helens while it was letting off steam in the last couple weeks. (Click for larger image.)

Kind of reminds me of the current political atmosphere......simmering......while we wonder if we're in for another big event like election 2000, or if it's a false alarm and things will settle down after all the hot air is released.

Meanwhile we wait and hope our democracy is a strong as the rock that makes up a mountain, and won't be heated up to a level of eruption that will only destroy, rather than build up.

(In the interest of full disclosure, taking these shots out a plane window made everything kind of gray, so I adjusted the levels in photoshop.)