What Was He Thinking?

On Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (Dumbass-WV) said the following:

I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq — that that was a predetermined set course which had taken shape shortly after 9/11.

This little slip went unnoticed by many, but Bill Bennett asks the question: Is he nuts? This Senator goes to visit two shaky U.S. allies and one ally of Saddam Hussein's Iraq and basically tells them - before the President has even made a speech on the subject - that they can expect us to go to war with Iraq soon? What a freaking idiot!

As Bennett observes:

If Syria — or elements in Saudi Arabia — began acting on this information before we even went to war in Iraq (more than a year later), then Senator Rockefeller may have seriously harmed, impeded, and hindered our war efforts, our troops, and the entire operation in the Middle East. This should be investigated immediately; and perhaps Senator Rockefeller should step down from the Intelligence Committee until an investigation is complete.

I think Rockefeller should be taken to task for this little rogue "diplomatic" activity. And I definitely agree with Bennett that an investigation is in order. Again, what was he thinking?

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POTUS Stays On Offense

Heh! Now Bush is throwing Democrats' quotes back at them. Call 'em out, I say! From his speech this evening at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, AK:

Leaders in my Administration and members of Congress from both parties looked at the same intelligence on Iraq –­ and reached the conclusion that Saddam Hussein was a threat. Let me give you quotes from three senior Democrats: First, quote, “There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons.” End quote. Here’s another one, quote, “The war against terrorism will not be finished as long as [Saddam Hussein] is in power.” End quote. And here’s the way another Democratic leader summed it up, quote, “Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community. And I think that the President's approaching this in the right fashion.”

The troops need to hear this from their Commander-In-Chief! Especially words like these:

As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them. Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. And our troops deserve to know that whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united, and we will settle for nothing less than victory.

H/T: Michelle Malkin

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Who Said This?

"I am forced to conclude, on all the evidence, that Saddam poses a significant risk.

Some argue it would be totally irrational for Saddam Hussein to initiate an attack against the mainland United States, and they believe he would not do it. But if Saddam thought he could attack America through terrorist proxies and cover the trail back to Baghdad, he might not think it so irrational.

...At the end of the day, we cannot let the security of American citizens rest in the hands of someone whose track record gives us every reason to fear that he is prepared to use the weapons he has against his enemies."

President Bush?

Um, no. Actually Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) back in October 2002.

Tom Maguire at Just One Minute has this and a fine collection of similar quotes from Rockefeller, Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi.

You see Tom, unlike the stooges in the MSM, actually took the time to look it up.

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This Says It All

This is an actual exchange between Sen. Jay Rockefeller (WV) and Chris Wallace yesterday on Fox News Sunday:

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: Chris, there's always the same conversation. You know it was not the Congress that sent 135,000 or 150,000 troops.

WALLACE: But you voted, sir, and aren't you responsible for your vote?

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: No.

WALLACE: You're not?

Nice try Senator. I mean, really, did these guys actually think they were going to get away with this garbage? I guess the answer is irrelevant. After all, it's all they have.

H/T: Instapundit & Michelle Malkin has more examples of how the "Bush Lied" Lie is failing to resonate.

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Quote Of The Week

From the mouth of Al (I'm President in my own mind) Gore:

"I don't want to diminish the threat of terrorism at all, it is extremely serious, but on a long-term global basis, global warming is the most serious problem we are facing."

So while he takes terrorism "seriously", he considers it less a priority for the U.S. than some unproven theory? What color is the sky in Al's world, I wonder? This country really dodged a bullet five years ago.

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Tolkien Geek Update

The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter Eleven is posted.

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"Mad" Howard Dodges Joint TV Appearance With GOP Chair

DNC Chairman Howard Dean, AKA Brave Sir Robin of Camelot, just can't seem to muster the courage to appear along side Ken Mehlman. Drudge breaks the story:

The DRUDGE REPORT has learned from exclusive sources that Democrat Party Chair Howard Dean turned down Republican Party Chair Ken MehlmanÂ’s last minute offer to appear together on NBCÂ’s MEET THE PRESS this morning.

Moments before taping was to begin with host Tim Russert, Mehlman asked Dean outside the NBC studio’s green room: “There’s still time for us to go on together Governor.” Dean declined with a shrug of his shoulders and an uncomfortable cackle and then proceeded to walk away into the green room.

DRUDGE has learned MEET THE PRESS producers have been working to get a head to head Dean/Mehlman appearance on the program since Dean was named chair back in February. Dean and his handlers have repeatedly turned down the request. The former Vermont governor only agreed to do this weekÂ’s program if they appeared in back-to-back interviews.

Geez, even Terry McAuliffe had the balls to actually debate his RNC counterparts.

But then what would Dean do if all his bullshit accusations against the President were confronted with the facts. He'd probably have a similar reaction to that of the real Sir Robin when he was asked at the Bridge of Death, "What...is the capital of Assyria?"

He'd bluster, turn red and pop a vein in his head shouting "I don't know THAT!! AAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!".

As Dean left the studio, one of his handlers was overhead singing after him:

Brave Sir Robin ran away.
Bravely ran away away....
When Danger reared its ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled
Yes brave Sir Robin turned about
And gallantly chickened out...

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Giants v. Vikings

UPDATE: Giants soil themselves, lose 21-24 to Vikes.

Man, that was brutal. Of all the possible problems I listed below the two that I neglected to mention - dumb-ass penalties and turnovers - are what really killed them. 5 turnovers and 75 yards in penalties. Crap. What a mess. I thought for sure that the three big defensive plays they made at the end of the half would keep them fired up enough to play smart. Boy, was I wrong. I'm not going to kill the defense for allowing the field goal in the last minute. They carried this team. Other than the STUPID PENALTIES they should be proud of their performance today.

Coach Coughlin better chew on some asses this week. Philly may be having problems and T.O. may be gone. But this will be their toughest game so far this season. Good God. They better get it in gear.

------------------------------------------------------

This is one of those games that most people see as a game on their betting sheet that can't lose. With NY only giving three points, a home win for the Giants seems assured.

The Giants are undefeated at home this season and the Vikings are 0-4 on the road. In every stat, NY is the dominant team. Well, guess what. The Vikings are not dead and buried here. If the Giants take this game too lightly, if they are too focused on next week's home game against division rival Philadelphia, if they don't execute properly or if they just don't have their heads in the game then Minnesota could put a world of hurt on NY's playoff prospects.

I'll have to tape this one and watch it later. Playoff teams win the games that they are supposed to win. Every week is another test for the Giants and whether of not they realize it, this week is an important one.

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Diane Lane Photo of the Week

OK, gents. I wanted to give you a "heads-up" that the Diane Lane Photo of the Week feature will be coming to an end on December 31st. Get your fill for the next eight Saturdays because with the new year I'll be introducing a new weekly feature. Nothing against Ms. Lane but I'm running out of pictures. And reposting the same pictures is pretty lame. Besides, it's time for a change.

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Dems Lagging Behind In The Fundraising Department Under Dean

Says the Washington Post today. Democrats are raising half the money Republicans are so far this year:

RNC: $85 Million raised, $34 Million in the bank
DNC: $ 42 Million raised, $6.8 Million in the bank

As critics see it, Dean has disappointed on two fronts. The DNC has not replicated the success of Dean's presidential campaign two years ago in tapping vast numbers of new and smaller contributors over the Internet. And skeptics say he has not yet established rapport with and won the confidence of high-dollar donors.

These guys at the Post aren't all that bright are they? Hasn't it occured to them that the big time money that Dean was able to raise as a candidate is going to groups like MoveOn.org? Duh.

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Tolkien Geek Update

The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter Ten is posted (and has been since early this morning).

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Mu Nu Fixeroo

Looks like the mighty powers of Munuviana were upgrading the server. So posting, trackbacks and comments were down for a while.

But we're back!!!!

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Better Late Than Never

Man, why did this take so long?

I mean, clearly the Democrats sound like fools trying to spin their revisionist history about the lead-up to Iraq. But if you let someone repeat the same lie over and over again, eventually people start to believe it. If I had my way, I'd have the President go on Primetime television with statements like this:

"While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs.

They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein. They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction. And many of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this way: "When I vote to give the President of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat, and a grave threat, to our security." That's why more than a hundred Democrats in the House and the Senate — who had access to the same intelligence — voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power.

The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges. These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them. Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. And our troops deserve to know that whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united, and we will settle for nothing less than victory."

The Democrats want to start the 2006 campaign right now and make it all about these bullshit accusations. Well, the President may not be running for anything but he owes it to the men and women currently risking their lives overseas to refute these lies at every step. It's time to go on the offensive, not to gain political advantage but to prevent Democrats from trying to endanger the mission for the sake of their political advantage. It's high time Republicans call them on these shenanigans, which amount to irresponsibility at least and treason at worst.

Am I questioning their patriotism? You bet your ass I am. When politicians deliberately try to sabotage U.S. military operations by undermining our troops and emboldening our enemies - all for the sake of politics - they deserve to have their patriotism questioned. The stakes are too high to be playing these games.

Instapundit has a round-up of reax from around the 'sphere.

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Cameron Diaz: Belch Queen

Actress Cameron Diaz says the burp award she won on a Nickelodeon TV show was "the best award I ever received".

"I chugged a Diet Coke before I went on stage and it was like 'Bwaaapp'."

Now obviously I take this statement with a grain of salt. I mean, I doubt she was being serious. But then again, she's also the same person who said "My favorite thing about Bhutan is they measure their country's wealth, not based on dollar amount but on gross national happiness."

Um...maybe she was serious about that belching award.

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God Bless The Veterans

Raven at And Rightly So! has a history lesson of this day. Go check it out here.

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It's Frivolous Friday!

Not that I generally watch awards shows or have enough familiarity with some of the nominees to even care all that much, the "People's Choice Awards" Nominees have been announced. And since nobody asked me, I'll go public with my votes (my choices in bold italics):

Female movie star: Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman.

Male movie star: Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp, Samuel L. Jackson. (Depp can be an America-bashing weenie, but he's an excellent actor)

Leading lady: Cameron Diaz, Reese Witherspoon, Renee Zellwegger.

Leading man: Jamie Foxx, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler.

Female action star: Jennifer Garner, Angelina Jolie, Catherine Zeta-Jones. (I don't know so much as "action" star, but she's great anyway)

Male action star: Matthew McConaughey, Brad Pitt, The Rock.

On-screen match-up: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in Mr. and Mrs. Smith; Chris Rock and Adam Sandler in The Longest Yard; Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers.

Female performer: Kelly Clarkson, Faith Hill, Gwen Stefani.

Male performer: Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Usher.

Group: Black Eyed Peas, Destiny's Child, Green Day. (abstain)

New TV comedy: Everybody Hates Chris, How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl.

New TV drama: Commander in Chief, Criminal Minds, Prison Break. (abstain)

TV comedy: Everybody Loves Raymond, That '70s Show, The Simpsons.

TV drama: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Desperate Housewives, Law & Order: SVU.

Reality show competition: American Idol, Fear Factor, Survivor. (abstain)

Reality show other: Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny. (abstain)

Late-night talk show host: Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien.

Daytime talk show host: Ellen DeGeneres, Regis Philbin & Kelly Ripa, Oprah Winfrey. (abstain)

Female TV star: Jennifer Garner, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Male TV star: Ray Romano, Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland. (and I don't even watch 24)

Funny female star: Drew Barrymore, Ellen DeGeneres, Queen Latifah.

Funny male star: Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Will Smith.

Personally, I think some of the categores could have had much better choices.

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Jordanians Revile Zarqawi

Yesterday's bombings in Amman, Jordan did not go very far in winning over the hearts and minds of the Arab world:

Thousands of Jordanians rallied in the capital and other cities, shouting "Burn in hell, Abu Musab Zarqawi" a day after three deadly hotel bombings that killed at least 59 persons. Officials suspected Iraqi involvement in the attacks, which were claimed by al Qaeda's Iraq branch.

Protesters in Jordan and elsewhere in the Arab world denounced the Jordanian-born leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Zarqawi.

If Zarqawi has a website, perhaps he should add this to his Amazon wishlist.

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Melissa Theuriau

Here is quite possibly the most beautiful news anchor on television...anywhere. I actually envy France for this one.

If MSNBC wants to pull their ratings out of the crapper all they need to do is pay this woman whatever she wants to appear in prime time every night in the States. She wouldn't even have to speak English, they could just use captions. There's something about those hazel eyes. Just can't look away.

UPDATE: There is now an official moratorium on any negative comments about the French until further notice. Sigh.

UPDATE DEUX: Melissa's un-official homepage, lots of screen captures in "the gallery".

UPDATE TROIS: For anyone who's wondering, I have it on good authority that her last name is pronounced "TUR-ee-oh".

UPDATE (whatever the hell "four" is in French)"
Another website with LOTS of screen captures and video.

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House "Moderate" Republicans Fudge Their Shorts Over ANWR...Again

Well, once again Northeastern Republicans stabbed their party in the back. The so-called "moderate" members of the GOP, fearing attack ads from the Sierra Club and other Environmentalist whacko interest groups next year, pressured the House Rules Committee to pull the ANWR provision from the budget bill. And this, after the Senate GOP finally strapped one on and passed the meaure in the upper chamber.

Nice. Well, it's back to the drawing board. Too bad these cretins (and I strongly suspect that my Congresswoman is part of this) are too focused on their reelection next year to face up the problems of foreign oil dependency to actually do something that would help alleviate them in the years to come. Now with this winter expected to be a bitch and home heating fuel prices eating such a huge chunk out of family budgets, the twenty-five Republicans who threatened to vote against the budget if the ANWR provision were not removed will just look to their constituents and shrug their shoulders.

BullDogPundit hits the nail on the head:

Think about it. What good is a GOP majority if they can't pass tax cuts, can't slightly reduce the rate of growth in spending, and panic because enviro-kooks object to drilling in a barren, snow-covered wasteland?

Indeed.

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"I Fart In Your General Direction!"

"You're mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries!"

Glenn Greewald reminds us of all the French taunting that the U.S. received in the aftermath of Katrina. Including such gems as:

"This tragic incident reminds us that the United States has refused to ratify the Kyoto accords. Let's hope the US can from now on stop ignoring the rest of the world. If you want to run things, you must first lead by example. Arrogance is never a good adviser!"
- Jean-Pierre Aussant in France's Le Figaro

And who knows more about arrogance than the French?

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