Bush may be uncouth... but he speaks the truth.

Bush lied, people died? No... that's not the problem that the Socialist-Internationalist-Appeasers have with W.

We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. (Applause.) From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime." President George W. Bush, September 20, 2001.

The problem they have with him is that he said what he was going to do and then did it. Not perfectly, granted. War is a inexact science, to say the least. But bear in mind that he, his cabinet and advisors chose to ACT.

In slightly less than three years of combat operations, we have lost less than a third the number of people we lost on own home soil on September 11th. These casualties were soldiers - not secretaries, busboys and middle managers. Yes, it has not been without cost. Consider however, any number of alternatives had we NOT ACTED.

Give me a argument that the United States is not more secure for this course of action that does not couch itself in new-age, feel good nonsense like "unilateralism". Come up with a reasoned debate point that is not a Kerry/Edwards detour into post modernist denial and self-analysis paralysis.

Yes I know...

The pandering to the religious right that the Republicans are using to stir up their base can be revolting. The recklessness the Republicans show with the Constitution with their FMA makes me want to vomit. Their Luddite position on embryonic stem cell research is short sighted and definitely not pro-life in the broader sense. The DOJ's utter disregard for states rights (something the Republicans embrace or bash as it suits them...) in the handling of medical marijuana is ALMOST a deal breaker for me.

However...

Technology marches on... even for a culture that wants to return us to the 8th Century.

A single individual with the appropriate portable device can kill tens-of-thousands in hours, minutes or seconds. You can spout all the "religion of peace" blah-blah you want. Radical Islam wants to turn back the clock. In their eyes, that requires Western Civilization to take a powder. Many "moderate" Muslims turn away from this ugliness in their own house and rage or mumble about Israel.

No, they're not going to wipe us out. But if they kill 30,000 of us next time... well peaceniks, you ain't seen nothin' yet. I fear we will be the ones to get medieval on THEIR ass.

The War on Terror is still issue one. Yes, I'll have to hold my nose to vote for Bush. But vote for him I will.

It will be my first time voting for a Republican in a national election. But - like it or not - we live in the time we live in. Despite what the "September 10th Ticket" would have us believe, there is a real, live, active, shooting war on.

We ignore it at our peril.

Kerry/Edwards Love Fest

I'm getting to the point where watching TV coverage of the Democrat ticket makes me want to hurl. The "Today Show" coverage looks like an ongoing paid political announcement. Katie Couric actually referred to the Kerry and Edwards clans (at a photo opportunity) as "the Brady Bunch"... and she wasn't referring to their gun control agenda... or maybe she was.

Anyway... could it be any more blatant? Am I going nuts? My Democrat wife says I am. But, she's been saying that for 23 years.

On a related note, here's a John Kerry quote from the recent Washington Post interview with the two Johns:

"Don't get suckered into the how many years you've been in one job or this job" debate, Kerry said. "You've got people in [Washington] who have been in one job [for] 30 years of what you call experience, and they have done nothing, they don't stand for anything and they don't know how to fight."

Hmmm... too easy to comment.

On another related note... I want them to stop touching each other so much. Believe me, it's not a homophobia thing... I know it's nothing sexual. It's just the perfect storm of calculated, contrived and creepy.

As my Scandinavian in-laws would say: "Ish-da!"

P.J. on France

From O'Rourke's new book Peace Kills

"French ideas, French beliefs, and French actions form a sort of lodestone for humanity. A moral compass needle needs a butt end: Whatever direction France is pointing -- toward collaboration with Nazis, accommodation with communists, existentialism, Jerry Lewis, or a UN resolution veto -- we can go the other way with a quiet conscience."

I do, however enjoy their toast, fried potatoes and the nuanced way that they cut their green beans.

What I'm Reading

I flying through The New Thought Police. Here's a snippet that pretty much sums it all up:

As the organized Left gained cultural power, it turned into a monster that found perpetual victimhood, combined with thought and speech control, the most efficient way to hold on to that power. Suddenly it was the Left, the protector of liberty, that was setting rules about what could and could not be said or even thought.

Lesbian, pro-choice feminist, liberal in the true sense of the word. She defends Dr. Laura... convincingly enough to make me rethink my position. I still think that Dr. Laura's public persona was that of a harpie-nag-scold.

The way that she was muscled off the air through a misrepresentation of her quotes on gays was outrageous... and unfortunately indicative of "end justifies the means" strategies and tactics of the left.