Come sit with me a while while my wife is in the hospital. Link your favorite posts here.

No porn or ads please, but otherwise I will not limit topics or numbers.

This is my all-weekend open linkfest.

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The Muhammad Cartoon Controversey has led one company to refuse to sell a magazine at its stores -- two of America's largest retailers of books and magazines.

Borders and Waldenbooks stores will not stock the April-May issue of Free Inquiry magazine because it contains cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that provoked deadly protests among Muslims in several countries.

"For us, the safety and security of our customers and employees is a top priority, and we believe that carrying this issue could challenge that priority," Borders Group Inc. spokeswoman Beth Bingham said Wednesday.

The magazine, published by the Council for Secular Humanism in suburban Amherst, includes four of the drawings that originally appeared in a Danish newspaper in September, including one depicting Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse.

Islamic tradition bars depiction of Muhammad to prevent idol worship, which is strictly prohibited.

The spokesman for the chain couches the decision -- taken before the magazine even arrived in the stores, in terms of corporate choice -- but in doing so deny any number of Americans the choice to read the magazine.

Bingham said the decision was made before the magazine arrived at the company's stores. Borders Group, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., operates more than 475 Borders and 650 Waldenbooks stores in the United States, though not all regularly carry the magazine.

"We absolutely respect our customers' right to choose what they wish to read and buy and we support the First Amendment," Bingham said. "And we absolutely support the rights of Free Inquiry to publish the cartoons. We've just chosen not to carry this particular issue in our stores."

This isn't the first act of dhimmitude by borders that I have encountered recently. They've been tracking a different aspect of knuckling under to Muslim sentiment in other areas as well, according to the guys over at Colossus of Rhodey. They have discovered that there seems to be a practice at Borders of shelving the Koran out of order in the religious books section, so that it is placed above the scriptures of all other faiths. This is done lest Muslims be offended that their book is being placed in a subordinate position to any other book. The responses they got from the company avoid answering the question of whether or not this is a policy in the chain -- to paraphrase, the response was sort of "well, its what the stores all do, but I don't think its written policy -- and we'll make sure that any store that has them shelved differently gets those Korans back on the top shelf where they belong."

I think that the spokesman for Free Inquiry says it well.

"What is at stake is the precious right of freedom of expression," said Paul Kurtz, editor-in-chief of Free Inquiry. "Cartoons often provide an important form of political satire ... To refuse to distribute a publication because of fear of vigilante violence is to undermine freedom of press _ so vital for our democracy."

From where I stand, I think the stores should carry the magazine. If the concern is that Islamofascists are going to cause trouble, Muslims should be banned from the stores. After all, they are the source of the threat, not the cartoons.

And I wonder -- how will the chains mark Banned Book Week in the future -- or will they?

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Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is an arrogant nutjob. That seems to be a plus for her Georgia constituents, who seem to find those qualities to be a plus. As a member of Congress -- more to the point, a female African-American Democrat member of Congress -- she manages to get away with a certain amount of misconduct that most of us would never be permitted.

But this woman went well over the line yesterday.

Why she was allowed to walk away is beyond me -- and why there have been no sharges filed and no arrest made is absolutely beyond me.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney and a police officer scuffled Wednesday after the Georgia Democrat entered a House office building unrecognized and refused to stop when asked, according to U.S. Capitol Police.

McKinney, a sixth-term congresswoman who represents suburban Atlanta, struck the officer according to one account, a police official said, adding there were conflicting accounts. The officer, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident, spoke only on condition of anonymity.

No charges were filed, police said.

McKinney issued a statement Wednesday night saying she regretted the confrontation.

"I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, and I appreciate the work that they do. I have demonstrated my support for them in the past and I continue to support them now," she said.

Oh bullshit, bitch! If you really supported the Capitol Hill Police, you would have complied with a reasonable request that could have been made of any American citizen -- and of any member of Congress. You would not have "scuffled" with the cop, which is a violation of criminal law right there -- a law you and your colleagues passed. And you certainly would not have hit the officer, which would have earned most Americans a ride in a squad car and a huge legal bill, along with jail time.

And you certainly would not have forgotten that one of these guys died to protect you and your colleagues a few years ago, so that is why the security has been ramped-up for several years.

Members of Congress do not have to walk through metal detectors as they enter buildings on the Capitol complex. They wear lapel pins identifying them as members.

McKinney routinely doesn't wear her pin and is recognized by many officers, the police official said, adding that she wasn't wearing it when she entered a House office building early Wednesday.

By one police account, she walked around a metal detector and an officer asked her several times to stop. When she did not, the officer tried to stop her, and she then struck the officer, according to that account.

So she doesn't wear her identification, and tries to go around the security. One would damn well hope she would be stopped!

In her statement, McKinney said most members of Congress expect Capitol police to recognize them. "I was urgently trying to get to an important meeting on time to fulfill my obligations to my constituents. Unfortunately, the police officer did not recognize me as a member of Congress and a confrontation ensued," she said. "I did not have on my congressional pin but showed the police officer my congressional ID."

Yeah -- and if they do not recognize you, they are going to stop you and they are going to demand identification. Who are you to object, you arrogant moron? And more to the point, who are you to lay hands on an officer?

Not that this is the first time that Her Majesty The Congresswoman has objected that she is not immediately recognized by everyone, and that they have not genuflected in the presence of her sublime personage.

Not being recognized is apparently something of an issue for Rep. Cynthia McKinney , as a Capitol Police officer discovered yesterday.

In 1998, the outspoken Georgia Democrat wrote a scathing letter to President Bill Clinton accusing White House guards of racism after they failed to recognize her when she arrived for an event. For years, the Hill newspaper reported in 2002, Capitol Police kept a photo of her posted in a basement office to warn security officers against committing any other such embarrassment.

Maybe it's time to change the photo. The police department is investigating a bizarre scuffle yesterday morning between McKinney and an officer who tried to stop her at a congressional office building checkpoint after apparently failing to realize she was a member of Congress.

McKinney allegedly "stabbed" the officer with her cellphone when he grabbed her, said a police source who requested anonymity because the investigation had just begun; the officer, whom the source did not identify, is considering whether to file criminal charges. The source said the officer was not seriously injured.

* * *

How on earth did this all come to pass? Could it be the officer didn't recognize her after her recent makeover? The 51-year-old recently ditched her trademark braids for a softer, full-bodied do that started turning heads around her suburban Georgia district in January.

So apparently she doesn't even look much like her photos since she had the makeover.

This woman needs to be treated like every other American. Capitol Hill Police need to appear in her office. They need to cuff her. They need to get her out to a police car and stuff her. And in the process, they need to rough her up, just as would happen to anyone else who assaults a cop.

And then her colleagues need to expel her from the House of Representatives for conduct unbecoming a member.

Though I doubt that such a course of action would keep her constituents from reelecting her in a district designed to keep her coming back.

And for any liberal who objects to my words -- what would be your response if this were my congressman, Tom DeLay? My response would not change -- but I also believe that he would not do anything like this.

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About an hour ago (0215, local time regardless of what the time-stamp on this post says) , the hospital called.

My Darling Democrat has been moved to ICU for observation due to a test result that concerns the doctors.

Hopefully this is just a precaution. We'll see what happens.

I may post some stuff to burn off nervous energy until I can go into school and set things up for my substitute, but I don't know when you will hear from me after that.

A post in three parts relating to the high school immigration walkouts -- including a glimpse into my own classroom.

* * *

Michelle Malkin has photos from one of the many high school demonstrations regarding the immigration bill.

Be prepared to be outraged. The kids purposely insulted the American flag and flew it subordinate to the flag of Mexico.

My students and i had a bit of a discussion on these demonstrations during last period yesterday. Rumor is that they are going to do a walkout sometime today, and 2since I overheard discussion, I thought I should address it.

I may be accused of going a little bit Jay Bennish, but I think you will see where what I did differed.

My comments went something like this -- though I am condensing a bit.

"All right, guys, I'm not going to pretend that I haven't heard some of the chatter about the plans some of you have for tomorrow.

{confused comments from some students, and disingenuous denials from the ring leaders}

You know, I'm the last guy in the world to tell someone not to express their oipinion, but I think this whole walkout thing we've been seeing on Channel One and I've heard you kids talking about here is a bad idea. If you kids walk out, you can expect ISS, Suspensions, or even tickets -- and since I keep the gradebook, I know that some of you really don't need to be out of class any more this grading period.

Besides, do you know how these walkouts are being received by your average middle aged, middle class Anglo like me? Do you? You know, the folks who represent a majority of Americans nationwide? I'll be glad to tell you.

{the ringleaders are enthusiastic, and the rest of the class would like a chance to stop working}

I was listening to one of the talk radio stations over the last couple of days -- I don't remember which one, with all that's been going on in my life -- and you had a guy saying "I see all these folks waving Mexican flags and chanting "Mexico! Mexico! Mexico!' I want to go down there and start shouting 'Go back to! Go back to!'

{one of the ring leaders responds "Mister, I think somebody wants to get his ass jumped doing that."}

Jose, you're missing my point. My point is this -- has waving a Mexican flag and chanting "Mexico!" done anything to get this guy on your side? Do you think it is doing anything to get your average middle aged, middle class Anglo on your side?

{"uhhh... No"}

Why not?

{"Cuz this isn't Mexico."}

Yeah -- and what are you supposedly protesting for.

{"To let Mexicans who are here stay here and become citizens."}

And if you wave Mexican flags and chant "Mexico!", what does it sound like you are more interested in being?

{"Mexican. What's wrong with being proud of being Mexican?"}

Nothing -- but I think you are missing the point. If you want to be proud Mexicans and wave the Mexican flag, that's great. But a lot of Americans are going to look at that and think there is a great place for you if you want to do that -- Mexico. If you want to show us that you want to be American citizens and work and live here and follow our laws, what might be a better thing for you to do?

{various kids respond -- "Carry American flags." "Shout 'USA'." "Don't disrupt school."}

Yeah, those are all good. Besides, who are the folks you most need to influence?

{Again, various kids -- "The president" "Congress" "The governor" "Mayor Bill White"}

Well, maybe not the governor or the mayor, but the first two are exactly right. What can you do to influence them? And I'm not just talking about on this issue, but I mean on anything.

{one jaded kid -- "What? You want us to write them letters? Ain't no on e gonna read letters from us."}

Yeah, they will. Maybe not the President, and maybe not Congressman Gene Green or either Senator from Texas, but someone who works for them will. They record what folks are wrting about, and pass the information on to their bosses.

{time for the challenge -- "Yeah, right. They don't care. They won't even write back."

You would be surprised. Whenever I write, I get a letter back. It may be a few weeks, but they at least acknowledge the letter. And it can change people's minds. Heck, you can even call their offices and talk to a real live person.

{"I don't know who or where to call or write."}

Do you really want the addresses and phone numbers? I'll get them for you before you leave this room -- they aren't hard to find. You can call or write them instead, and make a responsible protest -- show that you know how to be a good American, whether you are here legally, illegally, or are an American citizen. Show that you know how to work within the system.. I'll even make you a deal -- if you feel like writing a letter to the President or the Senators, or the Congressman, I'll even proofread and edit it for you before it goes in the mail. I don't care if I agree with you or not -- I'll be proud of you doing things the right way. I'll even mail it if you bring it in an addressed envelope with a stamp on it."

We talked about the immigration issue for a while -- I used examples of line-jumping in the cafeteria, and whether they would rather have someone who followed the rules or who "backstroked across the river" as a neighbor. the funny thing is, even the kids who I believe to be here illegally (or the children of illegals) said they would prefer those who follow the law.

Where it got down to a real awkward discussion was when someone asked about dealing with the illegals who are already here.

"I guess the problem is this -- we've got maybe 15-20 million illegal aliens in this country. That is somewhere between 5 and 8 perscent of the American population. What are we going to do with them? A lot of folks, myself included, can't see reqarding them by waving a magic wand and giveng them citizenship -- how is that fair to the folks who have waited for years to get their green card legally? On the other hand, rounding them all up and sending everybody back would be pretty near impossible -- and would be a real hardship when you have families where some are American citizens and some are not. So it sounds good, until you think it through. So there has to be some middle ground -- and that is what the bill the Senate is dealing with is trying to do. Read the paper, go ont he internet, do something to find out what exactly the bill does. Do it for yourself -- and then write or call if you feel like it. Do the thing that a responsible citizen does when he or she feels strongly about something.

I eventually got the addresses and phone numbers and put them on the board while they did their assigned work.

And a few were quickly jotting them down, like maybe they were thinking about writing or calling.

Maybe they learned something a damn sight more important to them than the politics and economics of Europe between the two World Wars. And maybe I found a way to teach on some of those "politics and government" standards that are easy to overlook as we spring towards the TAKS test next month.

* * *

As I was leaving school to go to the hospital to sit with my wife, I saw a group of kids (around 200 -- about 8-10 % of our students) leaving campus shortly before the bell for first period rang. They were headed towards the Senior High School (Grades 11 & 12) campus. I wondered what would happen next, and prayed it would not involve school bus transportation.

Later in the day, I got filled in by one of our French teachers when she came to visit at the hospital.

By the time the kids reached the other campus, there were about 20-30 police cars there to meet them. They were parked so that the kids could not go anyplace except into the district football stadium. A couple of them circled behind to make sure the kids didn't go back.

Herded into the stands, their parents were called to pick them up. Those whose parents couldn't come had to stay in the stadium until the end of the day -- though they could take shelter on th interior of the stadium once the wind and the rain started. All got unexcused absences, and will not be permitted to make up work. I suspect that additional sanctions will be forthcoming.

My district doesn't play -- and I am proud of that fact.

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Abdul Rahman has been freed from his cell, but has not been seen since his release. He is, one would presume, in hiding from the mob seeking his blood for the "crime" of choosing to reject the falsehood of Islam for the Truth of Christianity.

Now it appears that at least one country is prepared to offer him asylum. That nation is Italy.

The whereabouts of an Afghan man who had been threatened with the death penalty for converting to Christianity was unknown Wednesday, as at least one nation began considering granting him asylum status.

Italy is considering granting asylum to Abdul Rahman, The Associated Press reported.

Italy's Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini on Wednesday will press for Rahman to be granted asylum there, the government said in a statement, according to the AP.

Rahman was released Monday after being held by Afghan authorities for his conversion from Islam to Christianity, punishable by death in Afghanistan, which follows Islamic law.

Many Muslim clerics in the country called for his death, and said even if he were freed his life would be in danger.

Muslim clerics condemned Rahman's release, saying it was a "betrayal of Islam" and threatened to incite violent protests.

Rahman had requested asylum in a Western country ahead of his release, according to the United Nations. He has previously lived in Europe.

"Mr. Abdul Rahman has asked for asylum outside Afghanistan," a statement from the office of U.N. Special Representative to Afghanistan said Monday. "We expect that this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a peaceful solution to this case."

Abdul Rahman should be airlifted to the United States, where he can live in freedom. That this has not already been done is shameful -- and a betrayal of our heritage as a land of religious freedom.

But then again, maybe Rahman would not have been any safer in this country.

Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco didn't bother to try to use the school buses of New Orleans to to save residents from the oncoming Hurricane Katrina -- but now a use has been found for these flooded-out hulks.

Sell them on eBay to raise money for the under-funded, sub-standard New Orleans schools that remain open.

Starved for cash, the New Orleans school district is taking a long shot and hoping to sell its flooded, unsalvageable school buses on eBay.

Some submerged to their roofs in the black flood waters, the yellow school buses were widely photographed in the days after Hurricane Katrina and have become an icon of the city's devastated school system.

School officials acknowledge the sale of the buses on the Internet auction site may puzzle some people used to more traditional school fundraisers like bake sales.

"There's no shame in it. Not one bit," said school board president Phyllis Landrieu. "This is a new mechanism for selling things. I think it's very upbeat what we're doing."

Only 23 of 117 Orleans Parish public schools have reopened. They face a $111 million shortfall - about a quarter of the district's $430 million annual operating budget. The district also has $264 million in outstanding debt, carried over from before Hurricane Katrina.

A total of 85 schools flooded, and wind damaged many more. It took three months for the first public school to reopen. Now, the schools that are holding classes have around 9,500 students, about 15 percent of the 60,000 enrolled before the storm.

The school district plans to put one bus up for sale on eBay this week. If it succeeds, more of the 259 ruined buses will be offered.

"It's an example of how bad the situation is that we would have to come up with this idea," said Richard White, schools spokesman.

The district plans to contract out its student transportation.

I wonder whose brother-in-law or cousin will get that contract -- and whether the corrupt political system of Louisiana will allow the eBay cash to go towards education, or towards graft.

Oh, by the way -- here is the link to the auction.

She remains in the hospital, still fighting pneumonia.

I've been in twice today, for about four hours total, but had to teach today.

She then sent me home at dinner time to take care of the Apolitical Pooch, with directions to scratch her belly and rub her behind her ears (the dog, not my wife).

The prognosis for my beloved spouse is good, but includes more time in the hospital.

Left-wing loon Jim McDermott is know for going to foreign countries to make treasonous statements in support of our nation's enemies. Democrats, of course, call this "dissent" and label it "the highest form of patriotism".

Fine. I won't get into that political question with them.

But will they at least act against their law-breaking colleague after he has been slapped down twice by courts for breaking federal law on wiretapping?

federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Rep. Jim McDermott violated federal law by turning over an illegally taped telephone call to reporters nearly a decade ago.

In a 2-1 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court ruling that McDermott violated the rights of Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, who was heard on the 1996 call involving then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

The court ordered McDermott to pay Boehner more than $700,000 for leaking the taped conversation. The figure includes $60,000 in damages and at least $600,000 in legal costs.

McDermott, D-Wash., has acknowledged leaking a tape of a 1996 cell phone call involving Gingrich to The New York Times and other news organizations.

The call included discussion by Gingrich and other House GOP leaders about a House ethics committee investigation of Gingrich. Boehner was a Gingrich lieutenant at the time and is now House majority leader.

* * *

McDermott was never charged with a criminal offense, but Boehner later filed a lawsuit accusing McDermott of violating state and federal wiretapping laws. A federal judge ruled in Boehner's favor in 2004, a ruling that was upheld Tuesday by the appeals court.

"Because there was no genuine dispute that Representative McDermott knew the Martins had illegally intercepted the conversation, he did not lawfully obtain the tape from them," Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote in an opinion shared by Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg.

In other words, the Clinton "Justice" Department (a misnomer if there ever was one) refused to prosecute a clear violation of the law against one of their important partisan allies. It took one of the victims filing a civil suit against McDermott to get any justice -- and this unethical little weasel still does not admit his own wrong-doing.

I'll just ask one question -- would Democrats be so passive on this matter if the law-breaker in this case had been Tom Delay, and the illegal recording had been of Democrats? I think we all know the answer.

Oh, and what does this say about Democrat opposition to undeniably illegal domestic spying?

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Sharon Stone clearly needs to be drug tested.

Stone, 48, who appears naked in a soon-to-be-released sequel to the provocative 1992 sex thriller Basic Instinct, said Senator Clinton had an intimidating sexuality that would cost her votes.

"I think Hillary Clinton is fantastic, but I think it is too soon for her to run (for president)," Stone said in the latest edition of Hollywood Life magazine.

"A woman should be past her sexuality when she runs. Hillary still has sexual power and I don't think people will accept that. It's too threatening."

But while Stone wants the 58-year-old Senator Clinton to wait until her sexuality subsides, singer Madonna is urging her to "go for it" in 2008, even though the timing might not be right for Americans to put their trust in a woman president.

Seems my wife’s old classmate has a bit of a “fatal attraction� going on here.

And for the record, I have no problem with a sexy female presidential candidate. I’d vote for Condi in a heartbeat.

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You’ve got to love it when the rich liberal elite show their contempt for the working man.

Consider this insult directed at Sean Hannity.

Hannity, furious that Baldwin allegedly broke a promise to appear on his show before Whitman's, wasted no time ripping into the liberal activist.

"Welcome to WABC, considering you were supposed to come on my program last week and you didn't show. What happened?" Hannity demanded.

"Why would I want to come on with a no-talent, former-construction-worker hack like you?" Baldwin answered.

Notice the insult – “former-construction-worker�. What’s the deal here, Alec? Do you really think you are better than those who work with their hands – or those who have raised themselves above their blue-collar roots?

Or is it that you are still pissed-off that you lost the plum-role of Jack Ryan to the much-more-talented Harrison Ford – who was working construction before he got his break into the acting biz?

MIRE AT Michelle Malkin

If you think that the theft of private property for private development under the guise of eminent domain was outrageous, wait until you see this one. A city in New York is looking to steal an exclusive private golf club with members from around the country – to turn it into an exclusive, publicly-owned private golf club for city residents only.

[T]he mayor of North Hills wants to use the power of government to condemn Deepdale--whose members are a diverse group of people from all over the country and around the world--to make it an exclusive high-end golf course restricted to people who live in his small village and would be willing to pay thousands of dollars in yearly membership fees. The model is said to be the nearby Village Club of Sands Point, which is owned by that village. There you not only have to pay village taxes but membership dues to join. A full family membership at the Sands Point club costs $18,000 a year. If this is indeed the model for Deepdale, the club would become "public" in name only but in truth would be every bit as exclusive as any private club.

The mayor even went on television twice recently to brag about his plan. He told WNBC reporter Greg Cergol that turning Deepdale into "a village golf course exclusively for the village residents" would be a nice "amenity" for them. According to the reporter, the mayor explained that "his goal" is "to turn Deepdale into a private club for his village's 5,000 residents." And he told Channel 12's Bill Mooney that his plan would "increase property values"--private property values--in North Hills.

It is time to rein-in the expansive power of government to take property, lest private property ownership becomes nothing more than a legal fiction.

It seems that even the notoriously liberal San Francisco Chronicle finds the condemnation of teenagers based upon their religious beliefs to be out of bounds.

THE IRONY was obviously lost on the clueless San Francisco supervisors when they passed a resolution warning that a Christian youth gathering could "negatively influence the politics of America's most tolerant and progressive city."

Spare us the doomsday hyperbole, supervisors.

We can safely report that the politics of San Francisco suffered no discernible shift in ideological alignment from the convergence of 25,000 Christian teenagers listening to rock 'n' roll music and words of inspiration. There was no evidence of any surge in support for the Iraq war, affection for President Bush or oil drilling off the California coast. The medical-marijuana clubs were still doing business as usual, public dancing was still legal, the petition gatherers were still working Market Street for the latest save-the-planet cause.

The supervisors' reaction to the evangelical Christians was so boorishly over the top that only one word could describe it:

Intolerant.

Not, mind you, that the quoted politicians are particularly contrite.

Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, was quoted telling counterprotesters Friday that the gathering Christians were "loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting and they should get out of San Francisco." On Monday, however, Leno struck a more reasoned tone, acknowledging that his rally cry was "not one of my prouder moments." He said the youth group was "welcome in San Francisco," even though he does worry that its religious rhetoric could "under a cloak of love" feed a "fearful world's appetite for hate."

No, nothing this group of kids did fed hate – that was your job, Mr. Assemblyman, and the job of the idiots on the Board of Supervisors who engaged in nothing short of hate-speech under the guise of promoting “tolerance.�

But the best part of this is the conclusion of the Chronicle editorial.

The gathering was not an "act of provocation," as the supervisors claimed. It was a get-together of young evangelicals whose lifestyles and religious views just happen to be in the minority here -- apparently making them open season for politicians to chastise.

The young people who came to San Francisco to affirm their faith and enjoy a day of rock music deserved better. They deserved to be welcomed by a city that was as tolerant and progressive as its sanctimonious supervisors like to profess.

I wholeheartedly agree with the Chronicle on this one. In fact, I can think of only one thing more that these young people deserved – and that would have been for the San Francisco Chronicle to have printed this editorial while Battle Cry was still in session, rather than a couple of days after the event was over.

And by the way -- too bad the paper could not find its way clear to condemn the other act of religious intolerance by the Board of Supervisors. I guess that anti-Catholicism is still an acceptable, even fashionable, prejudice in Sodom-by -the-Bay

This moron does not care what the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution says on the matter – he’s simply going to strike down the law limiting the voting rights of felons because he wants to.

A King County Superior Court judge Monday ruled that thousands of Washington felons should be able to vote even though they have yet to pay off court-ordered fines.

"It is well recognized that there is simply no rational relationship between the ability to pay and the exercise of constitutional rights," Judge Michael Spearman wrote in a ruling backing the challenge of three indigent felons.

Spearman said the state law requiring payment of all court-ordered fines and fees before a felon can vote again violates the equal-protection clause in the U.S. Constitution and the state constitution. He said "discrimination on the basis of wealth and property has long been disfavored.

Under state law, felons can petition the state to have their voting rights restored, but only after they have completed their sentences — including any probation or community service — and have paid all of their court-related costs.

State lawyers argued that the judge shouldn't make a distinction between court-ordered payments and other parts of a felon's sentence, such as jail time.

"It's rational for the Legislature to say we want you to complete everything, as opposed to start separating out sentence elements," said deputy solicitor general Jeff Even.

What’s more, the very amendment that contains the Equal Protection Clause countenances the restriction of voting rights for felons. Go here and read Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment. It is makes it clear that a state may restrict the franchise “for participation in rebellion, or other crime�. The law in question restricts the franchise until ALL other parts of the sentence for a crime are completed, and therefore needs no additional justification. The judge has therefore engaged in a wanton act of arrogant judicial activism.

Probably the only positive point I can make is that this ninny didn't try to rule that this constituted a poll tax -- at least not from what I can tell in this article.

The state of Washington needs to engage in three separate actions. First, it must appeal the decision. Second, it must impeach the judge. Third, it must remove him from the bench. Otherwise, rule of law is dead in Washington state.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t seeking freedom for Cubans – he was calling for the overthrow of the American government. The oppressive Castro regime is just fine with him.

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan called for "regime change" in the United States on Monday and denounced "wicked" U.S. policies for turning the world against America.

"We need a new government, we need regime change in America," he said at the end of a visit to Communist Cuba.

Farrakhan, who led the Million Man March on the Washington Mall in 1995 to promote black self-reliance, said the Bush administration's domestic policies were "sucking the blood of the poor and the weak."

I’ve got a suggestion on what you can suck, Louie.

The controversial African American leader defended Iran's right to develop a nuclear energy program to reduce dependence on oil and said Washington's opposition was a pretext for a war.

"The Muslim world should unite against America's desire for a preemptive strike against Iran and Syria," he said at a news conference.

Farrakhan said a similar pretext was used by Washington to invade Iraq "to rape the treasuries of the United States of hundreds of billions of dollars to be doled out to the friends of President Bush, Halliburton and Bechtel and associates."

I’d suggest Bush Derangement Syndrome, but he was making similar comments decades before anyone head of George W. Bush.

He thanked President Fidel Castro and blasted the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba as a "wicked blockade." The U.S. government has no moral grounds to criticize Cuba, where education and health care are free, he added.

Education is provided by the government in this country, you moron, and health care is denied to no one due to generous government programs.

I’ve got an idea, though – since Calypso Louie, who murdered Malcolm X, thinks Cuba is such a fine place, why don’t we arrest him and throw him into a jail for criticizing the government once he returns. After all, that is what his hero, Fidel, would do to a Cuban who spoke so disrespectfully of him. But then again, that is why this ignorant fool makes such statements about our country – there is no personal cost to doing so.

Where, exactly, does Mrs. Clinton stand on illegal immigration? What about penalties for their employers? Does that include members of her own family?

NEWARK, N.J., March 27 (UPI) -- An embarrassing hole in security surrounding former U.S. President Bill Clinton turned up when one of his chauffeurs was found to be a wanted man.

Shahzad Qureshi, 42, was in one of three cars awaiting Clinton at Newark Airport last week when a Port Authority policeman happened to check license plate numbers.

The computer came back showing the Pakistani national had skipped a residency-status hearing in 2000, and a deportation order had been issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the New York Post reported.

Qureshi was still in jail Monday awaiting immigration processing, the report said.

Could it be that the Clintons, much like certain other liberal elitists, believe that the law does not apply to them?

Every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from around the blogosphere. The winning entries are determined by The Watchers Council.

The Council cast their votes for< last week's nominees.

Council Member Entries: The Education Wonks, won for the excellent post Autum Ashante: Child Prodigy Or Something Else?

Non-Council Entries: Florida Cracker received the most votes forWhat Did You Do in the Great Gulf War II, Grandpa?

Congratulations to both excellent winners!

My favorite Democrat entered the hospital a short time ago, with what is probably "only" pneumonia.

Until I get to bring her home, I will likely spend a lot of my free time by her side at the hospital.

If she throws me out of the hospital, though, I may get to post something these next few days.

We'll wait and see.

There are times when mere politics need to be set aside. This is one of them.

Erma Ora James Byrd, 88, the wife of U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) died March 25 at their home in McLean. The cause of death was not immediately available, but the Associated Press said she had been ill for five years.

The senator's Web site said she grew up in the West Virginia coal fields and met the future senator when both were students in grade school in Raleigh County, W.Va.

They were married May 29, 1937, when both were 19, according to the site.

At the time of their 65th wedding anniversary in 2002, the senator said that "in my life, Erma Ora Byrd is the diamond. She is a priceless treasure, a multifaceted woman of great insight and wisdom, of quiet humor and common sense."

She once said in a newspaper interview that she left politics to her husband. "The people elected him, not me," she said.

The account on the Web site described a couple who "came up the hard way."

It said that their first refrigerator was part of an orange crate nailed to the side of their home and that in their early years, "they spent many hours at square dances and community events, where Robert would play his fiddle and Erma would dance."

In addition to her husband, survivors include two daughters, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Senator Byrd, I have opposed you on many things over the years, but in this one I stand by your side. The loss of a loved one, especially of a companion of so many years, is a a deep and difficult pain to the heart of even the most sprit-filled of individuals. I would like to offer my condolences in this time.

Please know that you and your family are in my prayers as you face this loss, and that it is my profound hope and faith that the Lord will pour out his healing graces upon you all.

Lord, eternal rest grant unto your servant, Erma Ora Byrd, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.

I think that Time gets it right here, and others may be jumping the gun in celebrating the release of Christian convert Abdul Rahman from jail.

The dismissal of a case against an Afghan citizen for converting from Islam to Christianity has saved Afghanistan's government a damaging showdown with its primary patron, the United States. Under mounting pressure from Washington and other Western backers, President Hamid Karzai is reported to have intervened personally to have the case of Abdul Rahman, 41, who converted to Christianity 16 years ago, dismissed. But the grounds on which the case was thrown out — insufficient evidence and other technicalities, as well as questions over the sanity of the accused — do not change the basic problem that had put both Karzai and his Western backers in a tight spot.

Abdul Rahman and others like him still face the possibility of being charged with apostasy for converting out of Islam, an offense that carries a penalty of death unless they renounce their new faith. While Afghanistan's constitution embraces international human rights conventions that guarantee freedom of worship, it also codifies the role of Islamic Sharia law — under which Abdul Rahman was charged. And even while Washington and NATO governments whose troops help provide security for Karzai's government had urged Kabul to drop the charges, public opinion on the streets of Afghanistan — recently inflamed by episodes such as the furor over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad — showed strong support for legal action against the convert. But Karzai, whose government's security position remains as precarious as ever, was in no position to resist Washington's demands. As President Bush put it, "We have got influence in Afghanistan, and we are going to use it to remind them that there are universal values."

But it was not in recognition of "universal values" that Abdul Rahman was released. Instead, authorities cited insufficient evidence, insinuations about his mental state and even questions raised by the authorities over his citizenship. The legal basis for charging someone for converting from Islam to Christianity has not, thus far, been altered — the political confict that from having U.S. troops trying to protect a government that can't guarantee the right of its citizens to choose the same faith as the President of the United States has simply been kicked down the road. Not only that, the Abdul Rahman case has alerted the Evangelical Christian base of the Republican Party to the need to press the Bush Administration on the issue, and at the same time mobilized the conservative Muslim clerical establishment and the powerful Islamist politicians in Afghanistan's coalition government to defend their Sharia code. Not surprisingly, there is speculation that Abdul Rahman may leave Afghanistan once he's out of jail.

Now ignoring all the biased, loaded language in this report, what it comes down to is this -- Rahman is to be freed based not upon a human rights violation, not upon the principle that every person has the right to choose his or her own religion free of state ceoercion, but based upon technical questions about the evidence and insinuations about his sanity. This is therefore NOT a victory for human rights or religious freedom -- it is a strategic retreat on the part of the Afghan government.

Even the ruling in this case makes it clear that Rahman could be back in prison the day after tomorrow.

An official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that it had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime, Rahman would be released.

"The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case," the official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

"The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow," the official added. "They don't have to keep him in jail while the attorney general is looking into the case."

So see -- there is still every chance of Abdul Rahman being prosecuted. Or what we might see is forbearance in this case, but the eventual execution of some other convert.

We will hear over the next few days about howinternational pressure saved Abdul Rahman, and that this is a victory for human rights. Such rhetoric will be especially common from internatioanl leaders who spoke against the possibility that Abdul Rahman would be martyred for his faith. But I think the point that many folks missed, especially world leaders (including our own President), is that it didn't take an execution for there to be a violation of human rights.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Afghan President Hamid Karzai to discuss this case.

"Upon the conclusion of the call, (Karzai) assured me that respect for human and religious rights will be fully upheld in this case," said Harper in a statement.

With all due respect to both men, human and religious rights have already been violated by the trial itself, never mind the potential death sentence.

I'll take it a step further -- the arrest itself constituted a violation of human rights.The bringing of charges constituted a violation of human rights. After all, the human right in question is not Abdul Rahman's right to life -- it is his right to choose and practice his religion freely, without government coercion or interference. I therefore remain dissatisfied with the outcome here, and fearful that the response to this bit of good news will obscure the fact that arrest, trial, and execution are the potential faith for our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan who accept the REAL Good News.

But for this small victory I give thanks to God.

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But only after endorsing him, despite knowing of his support for terrorism against Israel.

Democrats pulled an Arab-American candidate from their election ticket on Saturday amid a furor over comments he made four years ago that some interpreted as sympathetic to Palestinian suicide bombers.

At the urging of state party leaders, including Gov. Jon S. Corzine and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, Passaic County Democrats withdrew its endorsement of Sami Merhi for freeholder, a member of the county's legislative body. They chose a school board member to run in his place.

"I'm in shock, feeling betrayed," Merhi said. "They should be ashamed of themselves."

The Lebanese-born Merhi made the comments at a September 2002 Democratic fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, where he condemned the Sept. 11 terrorists "as cold-blooded murders" and "crazy fanatics."

When asked whether he would apply the same label to Palestinian suicide bombers who target Israelis, Merhi said, "I can't see the comparison."

From what I can tell, the real reason Merhi opposed the 9/11 attack was that his godson, who worked at the World Trade Center, died at Ground Zero. I feel reasonably confident he would be a part of the "you have to understand the grievances" crowd had he not lost family that day.

What is shocking is that this terror-backer feels he is the one who has been victimized here.

Mehri indicates he may run in the primary without an endorsement, or he may sek theRepublican nomination for the position. Speaking as a Republican, I'd like to say that he is not welcome in my party, any more than David Duke was welcome. I don't doubt that national party leaders will show up in Jersey to campaign against him if he does attempt to befoul our party by seeking our noimination.

This letter is certainly a damning one, coming as it does from a historian and former service secretary. Should we take it seriously, and abandon our support for the President?

I recently ran across the text of a letter, penned by liberal historian and former Secretary of the U.S. Navy George Bancroft, about the president of the U.S.

In it, he wrote: "How can we reach our president with advice? He is ignorant, self-willed, and is surrounded by men, some of whom are almost as ignorant as himself.

"So we have the dilemma put to us. What to do when his power must continue for two years longer and when the existence of our country may be endangered before he can be replaced by a man of sense. How hard, in order to save the country, to sustain a man who is incompetent."

If your response is that even his allies should abandon him, given his incompetence, you would certainly change history.

After all, the "man who is incompetent" is not George W. Bush -- it is Abraham Lincoln.

Reviled by enemies -- and even by allies -- in his lifetime, Lincoln is generally remembered as one of the greatest leaders this nation has ever had, regardless of his flaws and errors. I can point to other presidents similarly reviled -- Jefferson, Truman, Reagan -- who are seen today as men of vision and (if not greatness) high achievement.

So remember -- George W. Bush is in good company.

The New York Times does an interesting profile of the next United States Senator from Maryland, Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. The personal biographical information on the man is compelling.

Open and personable, Steele had a prominent speaking role at the Republican convention in 2004, and by the following spring the Republican hierarchy was trying to coax him into the Senate race. The field was kept clear. Money was promised. It didn't matter that Steele lacked some of the attributes typical of a candidate running for high office. He was not a proven vote-getter, having ridden to victory as the running mate of Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a popular congressman from outside Baltimore who became the state's first Republican governor elected in 36 years. Steele, who is 47, had no personal fortune to offer up to the cause, no campaign war chest. He had been an associate in a law firm, then left that job to open a consulting firm that struggled.

What Steele had to offer, as a candidate, was personal biography, his inspiring life story: childhood in a poor section of Washington; college at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore; then three years studying for the priesthood at a monastery, where he wore the long white tunic of the Augustinian order before deciding that his call to service lay elsewhere. His mother had worked in a laundry, making the minimum wage; his stepfather drove a limo. His parents weren't educated themselves, but they valued learning and made sure the homework in their household got done. Steele's only sibling is Monica Turner, a Georgetown-educated pediatrician (as well as an ex-wife of Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champ).

The thing is, the article never seems to realize that it answers the question found in its title, "Why is Michael Steele a Republican Candidate?" It talks about a philosophy of self-reliance, pro-live policies, a focus on family, on faith, and on exonomic opportunity, but never wants to accept that these are, in fact, the reason for Steele's finding a home in the Republican party. It talks about his outreach to Democrats (especially black Democrats) as if that is somehow a negative, when it is the ultimate positive.

I'd have to say that the article is worth the read, and reasonably fair -- especially given the source.

Ted Byfield of the Calgary Sun asks some pertinent questions of Canadian Muslims in light of the Abdul Rahman case. I believe that, with a little bit of tweaking, they are equally pertinent for Muslims in America.

Certain questions arise here. Is it true that Islamic law makes the conversion of a Muslim to Christianity, or any other religion, a capital offence?

Is it true the Qur'an requires his execution?

Is it true, as has been frequently reported, that it is illegal to preach the Christian gospel in a country under Islamic law?

Is this also punishable by death?

Is it true the goal of the Islamic faith is to bring all the countries of the world under Islamic law?

In short, is one objective of the Muslim faith purely political?

Is it the aim of Canadian Muslims to bring such a "perfect constitution" to Canada?

And if they succeeded, and Canada became an Islamic country, would the Christians be allowed to continue preaching the Gospel, including to Muslims?

If all these things are true, then would it not follow that Muslims are opposed to freedom of religion?

Obviously, if you cannot preach a religion, then this is a central prohibition against its practice.

How therefore can a Muslim contend that he supports the Charter of Rights and Freedom?

In the western world, Muslims are certainly free to preach and practise Islam. They are not arrested.

If a Christian converts to their faith, the Christian is not put in jail and brought to trial.

Christians would certainly pray for his soul, but I know of nothing in the Christian Bible that requires his execution.

Do Muslims perhaps regard this reaction as a weakness in Christianity?

How do Muslims reconcile these Qura'nic requirements with their portrayal of Islam as a religion devoted to peace, goodwill and mutual understanding?

Or, in the view of their faith, is such benevolence confined to relations among Muslims, not to their dealings with "infidels."

And if this proscription exists, ought they not to include it in their portrayal of their faith.

The rule would be: "Love your neighbour as yourself, provided he is a Muslim."

Harsh questions, to be sure -- but questions that need to be asked in light of recent goings-on in the Muslim world. Whether we are talking about the arrest of Christian converts, the execution of homosexuals, the uproar over the Muhammad cartoons, or the refusal to allow American troops in the Middle East to openly practice their faith out of "sensitivity" to Islam, there appears to be a pattern of barbaric intolerance at work. Is this part and parcel of Islam? If it is, why won't Muslims admit to this.

And more to the point, how do we safeguard civil liberties and human rights in the face of a growing movement that seems to seek to strip all others of their rights?

We've heard it from Rev. Jesse Jackass Jackson and others -- holding an election in New Orleans today would disenfranchise thousands, and result in a white electorate deciding the direction of a black city. The election must be delayed.

Here is one example.

From the very top, let's get something straight.

I think that Ray Nagin, the black mayor of New Orleans, did a terrible job of planning right before Hurricane Katrina hit the city. His leadership during the storm, when people were stranded and dying, was abysmal. And his leadership hasn't gotten any better in that tragedy's aftermath.

That said, I'm appalled that the U.S. Justice Department has blessed the disenfranchisement of black voters in the Big Easy's upcoming municipal elections.

The hurricane and subsequent floodwaters forced more than two-thirds of New Orleans' population to flee that city. Indeed, officials urged and ordered many reluctant residents to leave.

Officials directed residents to get on buses and planes headed out of the Gulf Coast disaster zone. Many of the evacuees had no idea where they were being taken. Against their will, many ended up in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and other cities hundreds -- even thousands --of miles from their devastated New Orleans neighborhoods.

Now that the city is scheduled to hold elections for mayor, guess what? No special provisions are being made to accommodate voting by New Orleans residents who are involuntarily exiled outside Louisiana.

To make matters worse, the U.S. Justice Department, which is charged with making sure that minority voting rights are not being denied, has approved this totally unfair plan.

Don't forget, many of the people forced out of New Orleans were black and poor. Many who have been able to stay or to move back already are white and/or have some measure of financial wealth. Though 23 people have signed up to challenge Nagin, the real race is between Nagin and either Mitch Landrieu or Ron Forman, both of whom are white.

Yet the issue here is not race. It's fairness -- for everyone.

So while the issue ostensibly isn't race for this author (David Porter of the Orlando Sentinel), it is all about race.

But what about the reality on the ground in the New Orleans area?

Interestingly enough, here is what a demographic analysis of the city and the surrounding areas shows. according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

A substantial majority of New Orleans' registered voters still reside within the city or its suburbs, and their racial makeup closely mirrors that of all registered voters before the storm, according to new data commissioned by the secretary of state.

The new data challenges the popular notion that the out-of-state votes of displaced New Orleans residents loom large over the April 22 election, as well as the perception that in-town voters are overwhelmingly white and those out of town are overwhelmingly black, said Greg Rigamer of GCR and Associates, who produced the data as a consultant for the state.

In the first statistical portrait of registered voters, as opposed to overall population, Rigamer's company found that about 80 percent of the city's 297,053 registered voters either have not filed a change of address form or have listed a new address within the metro New Orleans area, the data show. The actual percentage of voters living locally is not that high -- not everyone who has moved informed the post office -- but the data strongly indicates that a majority of voters remain nearby, Rigamer said.

"If I was a candidate running this race, I'd really focus on the local voters," Rigamer said.

Further, the data shows the proportion of white voters to black voters living in the metro area -- although not necessarily in Orleans Parish -- remains almost the same as before the flood, about 32 percent white and 62 percent black. And the data on race is more reliable, Rigamer said, because of the massive size of the sample.

In other words, there is no raqcial or economic disenfranchisement if the vote is held today. The elections can be safely held without unduly impacting any group covered under the voting rights laws of the United States.

Isn't it a bitch when liberal talking points rund smack-dab into a pile of contradictory facts?

Anyone want to bet that it makes a difference?

I wrote earlier this week about the Board of Supervisors in Sodom-By-The-Bay seeking to cause a schism in the Catholic Church because of their belief that there was insufficient separation of church and church. I now learn that they are also passing resolutions condemning evangelical youth rallies, and that members of the board are leading rallies against religious gatherings in the city.

More than 25,000 evangelical Christian youth landed Friday in San Francisco for a two-day rally at AT&T Park against "the virtue terrorism" of popular culture, and they were greeted by an official city condemnation and a clutch of protesters who said their event amounted to a "fascist mega-pep rally." "Battle Cry for a Generation" is led by a 44-year-old Concord native, Ron Luce, who wants "God's instruction book" to guide young people away from the corrupting influence of popular culture.

Luce, whose Teen Mania organization is based in Texas, kicked off a three-city "reverse rebellion" tour Friday night intended to counter a popular culture that he says glamorizes violence and sex. The $55 advance tickets for two days of musical performances and speeches were sold out, but walk-up admission was available for $199.

After stops in Detroit and Philadelphia in the next few weeks, Luce wants to unleash a "blitz" of youth pastors into the communities to do everything from work with the homeless to find new ways to bring others to Christ. He challenged youth leaders to double the size of their groups in the next year.

And then he plans to return to San Francisco next year to chart their progress.

So what we have here is, pure and simple, First Amendment protected activity – the free exercise of religion and the exercise of freedom of speech and assembly. Such things are pretty frightening to the leaders of government in San Francisco, especially when we are talking about Christians gathering to support the historical teachings of Christianity.

That's bad news to Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who told counterprotesters at City Hall on Friday that while such fundamentalists may be small in number, "they're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco."

Get that – Christians who oppose sexual immorality, violence in media, and who engage in evangelism and work with the homeless are “obnoxious. . . disgusting, and . . . should get out of San Francisco.� So let’s make that clear – Christians who believe in Christianity are not welcome in a city named for the gentlest of Christian saints. We have it from the mouth of a member of the California State Assembly.

But back to the city government.

Earlier this week, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution condemning the "act of provocation" by what it termed an "anti-gay," "anti-choice" organization that aimed to "negatively influence the politics of America's most tolerant and progressive city."

Gee – sounds like the rantings of the Islamofascists who wanted the heads of the Danish cartoonists. Dissent from the religio-political orthodoxy of the government of San Francisco is “an act of provocation.� Gee – I thought that it was an act of human freedom, and that (to quote the Left) “dissent is the highest form of patriotism.� I guess that isn’t the case if you are a Christian.

And let’s not let this Supervisor off the hook.

"Even if it is done by a Barnum & Bailey crowd with a tent and some snake oil, I think we need to pay attention to it," said Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who authored the condemnation resolution. "We should not fall asleep at the wheel."

Sorry, Tom, the problem is not that these folks are suckers with snake-oil – it is your constituents who are d*ck-suckers getting oiled-up in the bathhouses and spreading STDs though unprotected anonymous sex. The problem is those in the homosexual and "progressive" communities who are are intolerant of any disagreement with their agendas, civil rights and civil liberties be damned. Address those issues, Mr. Supervisor, not the religious beliefs of those who dare to disagree with you. Maybe you need to pay a little more attention to the real problems run amok in your city, rather than acting as a Grand Inquisitor condemning the heresies of those who do not share your views. I hate to be so rude and graphic, sir, but you seem to be so hung up on prescribing orthodoxy that you are willing to jettison American freedoms in the name of sexual license.

And let me remind the government of San Francisco of this little quote from Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, over sixty years ago.

If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)

You folks have been out of line in these recent religion resolutions, for you are attempting to do precisely what Justice Jackson notes is forbidden -- you are attempting to establish what is orthodox and to prevent (or at least interfere with) the expression of views which contradict that orthodoxy. Such actions are, however, completely above your pay grade (and forbidden to every public official). Justice Jackson further noted this about individuals like you.

Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.

This is what we saw in Nazi Germany, and in the old Soviet Union.

It is what we see today in Red China, Cuba, and North Korea.

This is what we see in Afghanistan today, as a Christian sits in a prison cell facing possible execution for daring to reject Islam, which is the religious orthodoxy in that country. I've suggested that we need to use military force to topple that government and ensure religious freedom.

Your actions lead me to believe we are not far from the day when we will have to use troops to topple the city government in San Francisco, lest the legitimate rights of American citizens be suppressed and their lived threatened by the enactments of the Board of Supervisors. After all, these resolutions have placed the government of the city on the same totalitarian trajectory.

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Too cowardly to show his/her/their face and voice contemptable political opinions publicly, one or more scumbags defaced a sign dedicating a part of a recreational trail to the memory of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.

The family of a Green Beret who was one of the nation's first casualties in the war on terror in Afghanistan was outraged after discovering vandals had defaced a sign honoring the soldier with anti-war graffiti.

"I felt like I was going to vomit," said Michael Petithory, the brother of Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory.

"It was just pure rage," he told the North Adams Transcript.

Daniel Petithory was killed Dec. 5, 2001, along with two other soldiers when a U.S. bomb landed about 100 yards from their position north of Kandahar.

Michael Petithory discovered the vandalism on Thursday as he biked along the Ashuwillticook Trail.

The words "oil," "Bush" and "Christian Crusade" and other phrases were written in black marker on the brown metal sign.

Family and friends cleaned the sign, which is one of three along a stretch of the trail that honors the Cheshire native. The other two signs were not vandalized.

Daniel Petithory was a recipient of the Silver Star and Purple Heart. He joined the Army shortly after graduating from Hoosac Valley High School in 1987. He is buried near family members in Cheshire Cemetery.

Police in Cheshire and Lanesborough are investigating, but there had been no arrests as of Friday evening. Cheshire, a town of approximately 3,500 residents, is about 140 miles west of Boston.

Vandals are, of course, a pathetic breed to begin with. That they would desecrate a sign memorializing a member of the military who died in the service of the country makes this crime that much lower. And that they seem to have forgotten that the action in Afghanistan was directly related to the 9/11 attack indicates a level of ignorance and immorality that is almost pathological.

Daniel Petithory had made the army his career, according to his father, Lou.

"He had been in the military for 14 years, so he was one of the older guys on his team," Lou Petithory told the Boston Herald. "They made military history. They were 200 Green Berets inserted into Afghanistan, and within two weeks the Taliban was gone.

"I'm so proud of my son for being part of that," he said.

Mr. Petithory. all Americans who love this country are proud of your son for having been a part of that, and roundly condemn this disgusting act of America-hating cowards.

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The sound you just heard was another door being slammed in the face of leftoids seeking to destroy Tom DeLay with corruption allegations.

Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has advised friends that he has no derogatory information about former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and is not implicating him as part of his plea bargain with federal prosecutors.

Abramoff's guilty plea on fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy charges requires him to provide evidence about members of Congress. That led to speculation that this would mean trouble for DeLay, who faces money laundering and conspiracy charges in Texas.

However, Abramoff has not given a clean bill of health to any other congressman -- including Rep. Robert Ney, who has stepped down as chairman of the House Administration Committee. Ney was the only member of Congress named in court papers connected with Abramoff's guilty plea Jan. 4.

You just have to feel for these folks as they try to destroy my congressman -- every time they turn around they run into these little obstacles. Unethical prosecutorial conduct. Charges that are invalid. Lack of evidence. Why, its almost enough to make a guy want to chip in to get them some Thorazine to tame their dementia.

Almost.

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And in the course of that service performed deeds of heroism so compelling that Desmond Doss was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Not bad for a pacifist who refused to carry a weapon out of a profound respect for the word of God and human life.

Desmond T. Doss, Sr., the only conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II, has died. He was 87 years old.

Mr. Doss never liked being called a conscientious objector. He preferred the term conscientious cooperator. Raised a Seventh-day Adventist, Mr. Doss did not believe in using a gun or killing because of the sixth commandment which states, “Thou shalt not kill� (Exodus 20:13). Doss was a patriot, however, and believed in serving his country.

During World War II, instead of accepting a deferment, Mr. Doss voluntarily joined the Army as a conscientious objector. Assigned to the 307th Infantry Division as a company medic he was harassed and ridiculed for his beliefs, yet he served with distinction and ultimately received the Congressional Medal of Honor on Oct. 12, 1945 for his fearless acts of bravery.

According to his Medal of Honor citation, time after time, Mr. Doss’ fellow soldiers witnessed how unafraid he was for his own safety. He was always willing to go after a wounded fellow, no matter how great the danger. On one occasion in Okinawa, he refused to take cover from enemy fire as he rescued approximately 75 wounded soldiers, carrying them one-by-one and lowering them over the edge of the 400-foot Maeda Escarpment. He did not stop until he had brought everyone to safety nearly 12 hours later.

When Mr. Doss received the Medal of Honor from President Truman, the President told him, “I’m proud of you, you really deserve this. I consider this a greater honor than being President.�

Mr. Doss’ exemplary devotion to God and his country has received nationwide attention. On July 4, 2004, a statue of Mr. Doss was placed in the National Museum of Patriotism in Atlanta, along with statues of Dr. Martin Luther King, President Jimmy Carter, and retired Marine Corps General Gray Davis, also a Medal of Honor recipient. Also in 2004, a feature-length documentary called “The Conscientious Objector,� telling Doss’ story of faith, heroism, and bravery was released. A feature movie describing Doss’ story is also being planned.

Mr. Doss died Thursday morning in Piedmont, Ala. He is survived by his wife, Frances; his son, Desmond T. Doss, Jr., and his brother, Harold Doss.

Visitation will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 31, at Heritage Funeral Home, located at 3239 Battlefield Parkway, Fort Oglethorpe.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 1, at 3 p.m. at the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church located at 4829 College Drive East in Collegedale.

Burial will take place on Monday, April 3, at 11 a.m. at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the Doss family requests that donations be sent to the Desmond Doss Museum Fund at the Georgia-Cumberland Conference office (P.O. Box 12000 Calhoun, Ga., 30703).

This man, ladies and gentlemen, was a true hero. We look at today's crop of "peace activists" and find a motley crew of ne'er-do-wells and whiners who have little respect for this country or its soldiers. Contrast the actions of Desmond Doss with the refusal of the recently rescued Christian Peacemaker team hostages to offer so much as a word of gratitude for the actions of military personnel who rescued them from terrorists who kidnapped them and murdered one of their number.

I have no doubt that Mr. Doss is this day in Paradise, in the company of the One True God.

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UPDATE: The Washington Post has this obituary, which is very good. It notes that Doss was not the only conscientious objector to receive thh Congressional Medal of Honor, merely the first. The other, Cpl. Thomas W. Bennett, a medical aidman who died while serving during the Vietnam War, also received the nation's highest military honor.

I urge you to click below to read the extended entry, where I have reproduced the full text of the citation that accompanied his Medal. You will be awe-struck by the degree of bravery exhibited by this man over the course of several days. Such Christ-like devotion to his fellow man in the face of his own possible death -- including while seriously wounded himself -- brought tears to my eyes.

Democrat obstructionism has claimed another well qualified Bush judicial nominee.

Henry W. Saad, one of President Bush's appeals court nominees blocked by Senate Democrats, withdrew his name from consideration, a presidential aide said yesterday.

Democrats have accused Saad, a Michigan appeals court judge, of being hostile to employment-discrimination claims and lawsuits by consumers.

"Judge Saad asked to have his nomination withdrawn, and we intend to honor that request," Bush spokeswoman Erin Healy said.

Saad's nomination to the Cincinnati-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit was submitted to the Senate in January 2003, and he was renominated last year. His nomination was one of 10 blocked by Democrats, who used the filibuster, which allows unlimited debate, to prevent a Senate vote.

He was not included in a bipartisan agreement by 14 senators last year to avert a Senate showdown over the use of filibusters to block judicial nominees. The agreement allowed three of the 10 nominees to go to a vote.

Saad was rated "well qualified" by a "substantial" majority of the American Bar Association's committee that rates judicial nominees. Under Senate rules, Saad's nomination cannot be withdrawn until Congress returns Monday from its recess.

Notice that – “well qualified�. The Democrats are after results they like, not a judiciary full of well qualified, impartial judges.

This is interesting – and really disturbing.

A prominent Harvard law professor, Alan Dershowitz, is alleging that the authors of a Harvard Kennedy School paper about the "Israel lobby," one of which is the Kennedy School's academic dean, culled sections of the paper from neo-Nazi and other anti-Israel hate Web sites.

"What we're discovering first of all is that the quotes that they use are not only wrenched out of context, but they are the common quotes that appear on hate sites," Mr. Dershowitz, who is identified in the paper as part of the "lobby," told The New York Sun yesterday.

"The wrenching out of context is done by the hate sites,and then [the authors] cite them to the original sources, in order to disguise the fact that they've gotten them from hate sites."

The paper, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," was written by the Kennedy School's Stephen Walt and a political science professor and the codirector of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago, John Mearsheimer, and published by the Kennedy School.

In the 83-page "working paper," the professors suggest that a vast network of journalists, think tanks, lobbyists, and largely Jewish officials have seized the foreign policy debate and manipulated America to invade Iraq.

The paper has drawn sharp criticism from prominent Harvard faculty, Harvard students, and a member of Congress, with many critics alleging that the document is riddled with factual inaccuracies and suffers from bias and faulty research.

According to Mr. Dershowitz, one of the paper's most prominent critics, Messrs. Mearsheimer and Walt not only demonstrated "shallowness" in their analysis,but also based that analysis on quotes and viewpoints widely available on the Web sites of hate groups.

The paper, the law professor said, was "simply a compilation of hateful paragraphs lifted from other sources and given academic imprimatur." Mr. Dershowitz said that he and his research assistants were currently working on a comparative chart showing the parallelism between parts of the Walt-Mearsheimer paper and quotes available on neo-Nazi Web sites.

I can’t wait to see the full results of the analysis, which already appears to show that Jew-hatred is at the heart of much of what passes for “scholarship� on issues related to Israel and the Middle East.

We are getting reports of Vice President Cheney’s “demands� when he travels. Tell me, is there anything in this for folks to get worked up about?

At least that was the evidence from "Vice Presidential Downtime Requirements," the heading of a document posted Thursday on the Smoking Gun Web site and confirmed as authentic by Mr. Cheney's office.

The document listed 13 requirements. Among them were these: All televisions sets in Mr. Cheney's hotel suite should be tuned to Fox News, all lights should be on, and the thermostat set at 68 degrees. Mr. Cheney should have a queen- or king-size bed, a desk with a chair, a private bathroom, a container for ice, a microwave oven and a coffee pot, with decaf brewed before arrival.

The vice president should also have four cans of caffeine-free Diet Sprite and four to six bottles of water. He must have the hotel restaurant menu, with a copy faxed ahead to his advance office. If his wife is with him, she should have two bottles of sparkling water, either Calistoga or Perrier.

For his reading material, Mr. Cheney should have The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and the local newspaper.

Hmmm… the man wants a comfortable room in which he can work, simple amenities, and a few favorite refreshments that are consistent with his health needs. He wants to be able to plan for a heart-healthy diet at mealtime. He wants access to current mainstream news sources, including the up-to-the-minute convenience of Fox News, since his job requires he be up-to-date on domestic and world affairs. Oh, the unreasonableness of it all!

At least if you view the world through the eyes of a sufferer of “Bush Derangement Syndrome.

I could have told you this without spending the money on the survey.

Heck, I have told you this without spending the money on a survey.

Amid growing concern about the city's homicide rate and overburdened social services, a new poll finds Houstonians increasingly weary and wary of the 150,000 Louisiana evacuees who landed here after fleeing Hurricane Katrina.

Three-quarters of Harris County residents surveyed by Rice University sociologist Stephen Klineberg say the influx of Katrina evacuees, many of whom remain seven months after landfall, has put a "considerable strain" on the Houston community.

Additionally, two-thirds say evacuees bear responsibility for "a major increase in violent crime," and twice as many local residents believe Houston will be "worse off" rather than "better off" if most evacuees remain here permanently.

The preliminary results of Klineberg's annual survey, which is expected to be finalized later this month, suggest that a sizable fraction of area residents have tired of their guests from New Orleans.

"These results reflect what I'm hearing from my constituents," said U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston. "I think the percentage of people unhappy with the deadbeats from New Orleans would be larger but for the big hearts of Houstonians who want these folks to get back on their feet, as I do."

Why the shift in public opinion? Increased crime, increased violence ins chools, the strain placed upon cstate, county, and city services, the indications that the federal assistance Houston (and the entire state of Texas) was promised in September will not be forthcoming.

Oh, yeah -- we are also tired of able-bodied folks siting on stoops and curbs sipping on forties.

Culberson said the sentiment is much stronger, at least in his district (which includes west Houston, the Texas Medical Center and much of western and northwestern Harris County). He said his constituents are concerned about rising crime and no longer want to house New Orleanians who choose to rely on social services.

"If they can work, but won't work, ship 'em back," he said. "If they cause problems in the schools, if they commit crime, there ought to be a one-strike rule — ship 'em back."

Although Culberson said he has been trying to attach such a provision to pending legislation, it's unclear how such an idea could be implemented.

"Whatever we want to do, these are American citizens, and they can stay here if they want," said Eckels. "The difference is, when they're here and they get into trouble, there are consequences. They put up with a lot of things in New Orleans that we don't put up with here."

In other words, we don't liek the fact that our quality of life is being dragged down to the level that existed in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina.

Perhaps the biggest issue is this one -- we are getting indications that New orleans will welcome back the productive citizens, but not rebuild housing for the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum. The result will be "urban renewal via hurricane", with the poorest of the poor dumped in our backyards permanently. We were glad to help -- and are even still willing to help -- if we don't, ultimately, have to bear the burden permanently -- and alone.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been in contact with the Afghan government to express the official concern of the United States government over the arrest and possible trial/execution of Christian convert Abdul Rahman.

In an unusual move, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned President Hamid Karzai on Thursday seeking what she called a "satisfactory outcome" of the case of Abdul Rahman. The 41-year-old former medical aid worker faces the death penalty under Afghanistan's Islamic laws for becoming a Christian.

* * *

Rice told reporters in Washington on Thursday the case was "a very deeply concerning development" and she had "raised it in the strongest possible terms" with Karzai. "There is no more fundamental issue for the United States than freedom of religion and religious conscience," she said. "This country was founded on that basis, and it is at the heart of democracy."

I'd love to know what "strongest possible terms" means when applied to a country we recently liberated and which we are currently providing with military assistance and lots of foreign aid cash. Regardless, this is better than the anemic performance by State Department officials earlier in the week. But unfortunately, this call did not include a demand to drop all charges and relase Mr. Rahman, whose only "crime" is following Jesus Christ instead of the false prophet Muhammad, in contravention of the laws of the Religion of Barbarism.

Rice spoke to reporters following her unusual direct appeal to a foreign leader.

"We look forward, hopefully, to a resolution of this in the very near future," Rice said, without elaborating.

Although she asked for what her spokesman called a "favorable resolution," Rice evidently did not demand specifically that the trial be halted and the defendant released.

"This is clearly an Afghan decision," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "They are a sovereign country."

Nor does it appear that there is any inclination todrop the charges on the part of the Afghan government.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters she had received assurances from Karzai in a telephone call that Rahman would not be sentenced to death.

"I have the impression that he (Karzai) has a firm willingness" to abide by the human rights requirements, Merkel said going into pre-European Union summit talks. "I hope we will be able to resolve this."

So unless they ,make the unacceptable determination that Christianity is a mental illness (which is no different thant he position of their former occupiers, the Soviet Union), there is no prospect for stopping the trial.

Part of the problem, of course, are those who lead the Religion of Barbarism in Afghanistan.

Senior Muslim clerics demanded Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity be executed, warning that if the government caves in to Western pressure and frees him, they will incite people to "pull him into pieces."

* * *

His trial has fired passions in this conservative Muslim nation and highlighted a conflict of values between Afghanistan and its Western backers.

"Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered a moderate and was jailed three times for opposing the Taliban before the hard-line regime was ousted in 2001.

Notice -- this is the MODERATE MUSLIM LEADER who is saying that Abdul Rahman must die for accepting the Truth of Christianity ofver the falsehood of Islam. It is the individual who was seen as not being Muslim enough by the extremist Taliban who insists death is the only proper penalty for accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God instead of the blasphemies against Christ found in the Koran. Can we really believe those who call islam a religion of peace and tolerance if such an individual is leading the lynch mob in the event that international human rights standards win out over the murderous practices espoused by Muhammad himself?

After all, leaders from Kabul's largest mosques are instigating the murder of Abdul Rahman.

"He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian," said Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque.

"The government is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed."

Raoulf, who is a member of the country's main Islamic organization, the Afghan Ulama Council, agreed. "The government is playing games. The people will not be fooled."

"Cut off his head!" he exclaimed, sitting in a courtyard outside Herati Mosque. "We will call on the people to pull him into pieces so there's nothing left."

He said the only way for Rahman to survive would be for him to go into exile.

But Said Mirhossain Nasri, the top cleric at Hossainia Mosque, one of the largest Shiite places of worship in Kabul, said Rahman must not be allowed to leave the country.

"If he is allowed to live in the West, then others will claim to be Christian so they can too," he said. "We must set an example. ... He must be hanged."

The clerics said they were angry with the United States and other countries for pushing for Rahman's freedom.

"We are a small country and we welcome the help the outside world is giving us. But please don't interfere in this issue," Nasri said. "We are Muslims and these are our beliefs. This is much more important to us than all the aid the world has given us."

The United States must act to stop this act of barbarism -- and to prevent future ones.

Islam Delenda Est

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I teach a college level American Government class in the evenings -- eight weeks on, then eight weeks off. We meet three days a week, from 8-10. The school is 45 minutes away from my home, making for pretty late nights when you consider that I get up at 4:45 to be to the highschool by 6:45 AM.

Last night, my students finished their exams. I graded them and turned in final marks before heading home.

I'm free in the evenings now for about two months. Time to get reaquainted with my wife and my dog.

Sounds like a good reason to open up a post for trackbacks on any subject!

You know the drill for my linkfests -- feel free to link here with any interesting posts you have made recently. I won't limit the number of links, but I will ask you to act reasonably. No Porn, no advertising links, please.

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This takes the cake. And I wonder about the reason given.

Bosses at a Stockholm hospital have asked a nurse called Jesus to change his name, after concerns that it might cause confusion among patients.

According to Jesus, an auxiliary nurse at Huddinge hospital, his superiors were worried that patients told "Jesus will be coming soon ," might get the wrong idea.

"If they thought that Jesus was coming they might believe that they were already dead," the nurse told The Local.

Jesus, who will now use his middle name Manuel, said he didn't have a problem with the change.

"I understand why they wanted me to use my middle name," he said.

But, he added, "my name never usually causes me problems."

Does anyone suspect that there might be an ulterior motive – such as concern about offending the Religion of Barbarism.

Strangely enough, I don’t hear anyone in the Democrat Party calling for resignations or imprisonment, as they do regularly with Tom DeLay. I guess it is because they are members of the right (and by that I mean Left) party.

Let's start in the state of Misery . . . uhhh. . . Missouri.

A political committee dedicated to helping Democrats win seats in the Missouri House must pay a $104,000 state fine for financial misconduct during the 2002 elections.

The fine, one of the largest ever levied by the Missouri Ethics Commission, stems from an admission by the House Democratic Campaign Committee that it mixed its money with another committee, came under the control of a candidate for office and failed to properly report donations and spending in support of candidates.

In addition to the committee, U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis and a former House member, must pay a $600 fine for his involvement with the committee's practices.

The fines are the result of an internal investigation, said Robert Connor, executive director of the Ethics Commission. Additional fines are possible, Connor said.

In addition to Carnahan and the committee, the statement of facts that accompanied the fine said former lawmaker Bill Gratz of Jefferson City and Team Missouri, a committee that commingled funds with the Democratic campaign committee, also violated campaign finance laws.

Both the Democratic committee and Team Missouri are considered continuing committees under Missouri law, which means they are not established to elect any single candidate.

And also this, from Maine (and Rhode Island).

Former Democratic Party Chairman Patrick Colwell owes Maine voters an explanation.

Colwell resigned Sunday, several months before the end of his two-year term and just weeks after news broke of a highly questionable series of transactions involving campaign funds.

On Dec. 31, Maine's Democratic Party gave $10,000 to the campaign of Matt Brown, a Democrat from Rhode Island who is running for the U.S. Senate.

Two weeks later, the Maine Democrats received $6,000 from Richard Bready, a Rhode Island businessman who supports Brown and had already given the maximum donation to him under Rhode Island law.

Bready also gave $5,000 to the Democratic Party in Massachusetts and $6,000 to the Democratic Party in Hawaii. Both organizations also gave money to Brown's campaign.

In all, Brown received $25,000 in donations from the Democratic Party state organizations in those three states -- money that has since been returned.
Federal election laws prohibit money exchanges made to avoid campaign donation limits. The flow of money from Maine to Rhode Island and back appears to be exactly that type of transaction.

Dem corruption – its all around us. But don't expect any real punishment, because honesty is optional for Donks.

Rabid Legislator Alert!

State Police are investigating an allegation that state Sen. Ada Smith, D-Queens, assaulted a staffer Tuesday morning in the Legislative Office Building.

Lt. Glenn Miner, a State Police spokesman, confirmed "we've been made aware of the allegations" but could not comment on the specifics or say whether an arrest of the 17-year incumbent is imminent.

Law enforcement sources said the staffer alleged Smith threw coffee in her face and pulled her hair. The alleged attack, according to a person familiar with the details of the complaint, happened after Smith returned from a Weight Watchers meeting and announced she had lost about four pounds, and the staffer remarked that she thought the senator would have lost more given her active lifestyle.

The staffer went to St. Peter's Hospital, complaining of eye damage and abrasions on her neck, the source said.

Smith's office said the staffer no longer works there. It had no immediate comment.

And it isn’t like this is Smith’s first tangle with the law.

Smith was found guilty in Albany City Court and ordered to pay $200 in 2004 for failing to obey a direct order from a police officer in May 2003. She refused to hand over her government ID and drove through a security checkpoint at an Empire State Plaza parking garage. A trooper said Smith cursed and sped off, refusing his order to stop.

Last year, Douglas Greene, a former chief of staff for Smith, asked Albany County District Attorney David Soares and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to investigate her for providing no-show and semi-show jobs and having staff work on political business. The state ethics commission had cleared her of any wrongdoing within its jurisdiction.

Smith was cleared last year by the state Division of Human Rights of accusations by another ex-chief of staff, Philip Wayne Mahlke, for racist remarks and firing him because he's gay.

Smith was also charged with biting a New York City Police officer's hand during a traffic dispute in 1998. In 1996, she was accused of threatening a former staff member with a knife. In both cases, Smith denied the charges.

You know, she may have even topped Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Sounds like a good, solid Republican. Can she unseat Congressman Cut-N –Run?

WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey announced her bid Wednesday to challenge Democrat John P. Murtha in effort to become the next representative to the 12th Congressional District, which includes Armstrong County.

"For decades, western Pennsylvania looked to John Murtha to stand up for our values, but as the years have drifted by, Murtha has drifted further and further from the ideals that made this country great," she said in a prepared statement. Irey, a Republican, will face Murtha in November as both are running unopposed in their parties' primary elections.

"Murtha has become part of the problem in Washington and I don't believe we are receiving the representation we deserve and the time for a change is now," she said.

What a signal to the troops if she manages to pull this off. If you repudiate the mission and our fighting men, America's heartland will repudiate you.

I don’t even care about a trial – just hang this oath-breaking physician with a bacon-grease saturated rope and leave his putrifying corpse to be consumed by dogs. These actions violate every notion of international law and human decency. He merits no better treatment than that which he gave to the patients he murdered in the name of his foul religion

When policemen, soldiers and officials in Kirkuk who were injured in insurgent attacks arrived in the emergency room of the hospital, they hoped their chances of surviving had gone up as doctors tended their wounds.

In fact, many of the wounded were almost certain to die because one of the doctors at the Republic Hospital was a member of an insurgent cell. Pretending to treat the injured men, he killed 43 of them by secretly administering lethal injections, a police inquiry has revealed.

"He was called Dr Louay and when the terrorists had failed to kill a policeman or a soldier he would finish them off," Colonel Yadgar Shukir Abdullah Jaff, a senior Kirkuk police chief, told The Independent. "He gave them a high dosage of a medicine which increased their bleeding so they died from loss of blood."

Dr Louay carried out his murder campaign over an eight to nine-month period, say police. He appeared to be a hard working assistant doctor who selflessly made himself available for work in any part of the hospital, which is the largest in Kirkuk.

He was particularly willing to assist in the emergency room. With 272 soldiers, policemen and civilians killed and 1,220 injured in insurgent attacks in Kirkuk in 2005, the doctors were rushed off their feet and glad of any help they could get. Nobody noticed how many patients were dying soon after being tended by their enthusiastic young colleague.

Dr Louay was finally arrested only after the leader of the cell to which he belonged, named Malla Yassin, was captured and confessed. "I was really shocked that a doctor and an educated men should do such a thing," said Col Jaff.

Such behavior is beyond the bounds of what civilized people can accept. Time to send Dr. Louay on the express-train for Hell, there to join Muhammad and the Father of Lies (AKA Allah).

UPDATE: The Washington Post has an article about this sick, twisted individual today.

"I injected more than 35 policeman and soldiers, including officers and some who were slightly injured," the doctor, identified by a Kurdish security official as Luay Omar Taie, said in the taped statement. "I used to stop the breathing machines or cut the electricity in the operations room or reopen the wounds."

* * *

In Kirkuk, the arrest of the doctor, first reported by the Independent newspaper in London, followed arrests beginning two months ago of various members of a criminal gang with links to Ansar al-Sunna that had kidnapped more than 150 people and executed 18 of them, the PUK intelligence official said. Other arrests of insurgents followed.

During interrogations, the insurgents were asked who gave them medical treatment, and they identified Taie, the official said. He said the organization selected Taie because he was young and wanted money.

In the statement aired on Kurdish television, the doctor said that he was paid up to $100 for each operation in which he participated. He asserted responsibility for killing the assistant police chief in Kirkuk, Gen. Ajman Abdullah, with a fatal injection, and the general's brother, a soldier who was admitted to the hospital after being injured by a roadside bomb.

The doctor said he helped an insurgent escape from the hospital. The intelligence officials said that Taie also advised insurgents how to forge documents to claim one of their members was shot by U.S. forces, so that he could be treated at a hospital in Mosul, about 100 miles away.

This disgusting creature needs to be rendered DEAD in the fashion most repugnant to Muslims, to make it clear that such crimes against humanity will not be tolerated.

What Democrats don't understand is that they can't just use religious language -- they have to understand Christianity and the Bible if they want to use them to attract voters.

Case in point? The junior senator from New York.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ratcheted up her talk about religion yesterday - saying a GOP-sponsored bill making it a felony to be in the United States illegally would have "criminalized" Jesus.

Clinton, who's considered the Democratic front-runner for the 2008 White House race, made the comments at a hastily scheduled news conference about the House-passed bill aimed at illegal immigrants.

Clinton blasted Republican leadership, which "is constantly talking about values and about faith [but put] forth such a mean-spirited piece of legislation."

"It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scriptures," she added.

"Because this bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself."

You know -- that interpretation will not fly with most religious voters -- and is transparant enough to offend most of them.

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Once again, Congressman Tom Delay and his lawyers seek only one thing from the Texas courts -- a speedy resolution to the politically motivated charges against him.

The arguments before the state 3rd Court of Appeals on Wednesday were about whether a felony charge of conspiracy to violate the Texas Election Code should be reinstated against former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.). But the underlying issue was politics.

In a thinly veiled reference to DeLay's bid for reelection this year while under indictment on state money-laundering and conspiracy charges, the congressman's attorney asked the three-judge panel to rule quickly.

"Justice delayed is justice denied in this case," Houston lawyer Dick DeGuerin said in his opening remarks. "I ask you treat this case with dispatch and render decision forthwith."

DeGuerin later told reporters the criminal case against DeLay has clearly affected not only his reign as majority leader but also his quest to win a 12th term to Congress this year. DeLay was forced to step down from his leadership post upon being indicted in September on charges stemming from the 2002 election cycle.

I think it is reasonable for me to say that th charges DeLay is facing do trouble many folks in the Texas CD22. Republican voters would like to see the case resolved prior to the November election. As long as Ronnie Earle is permitted to drag the proceedings out, the election is being conductd under a cloud., which is exactly what the partisan hack prosecuting DeLay intends.

Personaally, I don't care if we get a dismissal of all charges or a trial -- I want Tom DeLay to have had his day in court before we vote in November.

And most importantly, so does DeLay -- which seems to be the impulse of an innocent man.

I suppose this should not surprise us at all.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a big football fan, ruled out applying for the job of NFL commissioner after Paul Tagliabue retires.

"Unfortunately, it came open at the wrong time," Rice said Wednesday, clearly amused when a reporter posed the question. "Obviously, I'm very busy as secretary of state, and I intend to continue to be secretary of state as long as the president of the United States will have me."

Well, let the Secretary of State’s decision be duly noted, and may the search committee begin its work in earnest.

I am a Christian.

I reject the teachings of Wicca as false.

But I support the efforts of Wiccans to be treated in a manner equal to that of Christians and other religious believers. Situations like this should not happen.

Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart gave his life for his country when the Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down in Afghanistan in September.

But those wishing to honor Stewart, who should have his name on the memorial wall at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, would have a difficult time doing so.

The space reserved for Stewart is vacant. Stewart was a follower of the Wiccan religion, which is not recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Stewart's widow, Roberta, said she would wait until her family's religion — and its five-pointed star enclosed in a circle, with one point facing skyward — is recognized for use on memorials before having Stewart's plaque installed.

"It's completely blank," Roberta Stewart said, pointing to her husband's place on the memorial.

She said she had no idea the pentacle could not be used on her husband's memorial plaque until she spoke with the agency after his death.

"It's discrimination," she said. "They are discriminating against our religion."
"I had no idea that they would [refuse] our veterans this right that they go to fight for," she said. "What religion we are doesn't matter. It's like denying who my husband is."

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and its National Cemetery Administration prohibit graphics on government-furnished headstones or markers other than those they have approved as "emblems of belief." More than 30 such emblems are allowed on gravestones and markers in veterans cemeteries, from the Christian cross to the Buddhist wheel of righteousness. A symbol exists for atheists, too.

Roberta Stewart said she had decided to make the issue public because many Wiccans serving in the armed forces might want the symbol included on a headstone or memorial marker.

I therefore call on the Department of Defense to quickly remedy this situation so the beliefs of Wiccan servicemen and women may be properly honored in veterans’ cemeteries. It is the right thing to do – and consistent with the sacrifice made by Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who died an American hero.

Gregory Kane of the Baltimore Sun responds to a story in his own paper from earlier this week – and notes that instead of criticizing teens who reproduce while still in high school, we no stigmatize those who find out-of-wedlock pregnancy and birth unacceptable.

Can I be the only one who finds something wrong with this quote? "They didn't cater to pregnant girls at all. They don't have any sympathy for you. The attitude is, 'It's your fault.'"

Thus spake Alyssa Boyd, with all the wisdom accumulated from living 17 long years on this earth, in an article by Sun reporter Sara Neufeld that ran Monday.

According to Neufeld's article, Boyd was a top student at Western High School before she got pregnant and transferred to the Laurence G. Paquin Middle/High School, which has a history of giving pregnant girls the opportunity to continue their education.

Now I wouldn't presume to judge Ms. Boyd for getting pregnant. The truth is, I can't. In today's society, we judge folks who object to teen pregnancy. Heaven forbid we should judge the teens themselves.

But I'm having trouble with Boyd's line about "the attitude is, 'It's your fault.'"
Well, Ms. Boyd, aside from the young man who made you pregnant, just whose fault is your pregnancy, exactly?

I’m one who finds the quote absurd, but I’m not surprised. I’ve heard stuff along that line too many times in the past. Heck, I had one 18-year-old single mother tell me that her THIRD out-of-wedlock, in-high-school pregnancy was all the fault of the state of Texas – because Medicaid wouldn’t pay to tie her tubes after the second baby and “its not like they can expect me to stop having sex, since I live with their daddy!�

She thought I was an awful human being when I explained that unless a team of Texas Rangers knocked down her door and held her in place while then-Gov. George W. Bush personally impregnated her, it was not the fault of the state of Texas.

After all, how could I be so lacking in sympathy, or have the attitude of “It’s your fault.�

I mean, it isn’t like we can expect a little self-control.

It seems that the Afghan government learned something from their Soviet oppressors – it is easie to label those who demand their human rights as mentally ill than it is to allow unfettered freedom.

An Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday.

Abdul Rahman, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed.

But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his mental fitness.

"We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person," he told The Associated Press.

Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, said Rahman would undergo a psychological examination.

"Doctors must examine him," he said. "If he is mentally unfit, definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped."

It was not immediately clear when he would be examined or when the trial would resume. Authorities have barred attempts by the AP to see Rahman and he is not believed to have a lawyer.

A Western diplomat in Kabul and a human rights advocate — both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter — said the government was desperately searching for a way to drop the case because of the reaction it has caused.

So declaring Christianity to be a mental illness is the way out? I don’t think so – though I am beginning to think that anyone who believes that Islam and human rights are compatible must be nuts.

Time to use the remaining US troops in Afghanistan to impose a secular government and constitution on Afghanistan, just as we did with Japan in 1945. Do we have a latter-day MacArthur to do the job?

UPDATE: It appears that the Afghan government is digging in on this matter.

"We in Afghanistan have the prosecutor who observes the law and the court that executes it. Whatever the court orders will be executed as the court is independent," said Mahaiuddin Baluch, a religious affairs adviser to President Hamid Karzai.

The case has raised alarm overseas and the United States and three other NATO allies with troops in Afghanistan on Tuesday urged respect for religious freedom. German Chancellor Angela Merkel added her voice to those of Western leaders expressing concern.

In response, Afghan Economy Minister Amin Farhang criticized the "heated and emotional reactions of German politicians" and said proposals there to withdraw German troops in protest amounted to blackmail against Karzai's government.
"We don't interfere in Germany's internal affairs or in running court cases," he told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung.

The case is sensitive for Karzai, who depends on foreign troops to battle Taliban and al Qaeda militants and foreign aid to support the economy. But he also has to consider the views of conservative proponents of Islamic law.

Asked about the international outcry, Baluch said: "Everybody has the right to express their view."

Mr. Bush – be prepared to use American forces to not only rescue Mr. Rahman, but to bring down the Karzai regime if it allows this trial to begin. American blood was spilled to liberate Afghanistan from the backwards laws of the Religion of Barbarism, not to reinforce sharia.

UPDATE 2: President Bush speaks – at last.

"We expect them to honor the universal principle of freedom," Bush said during a visit to Wheeling to talk about the war on terrorism. "I'm troubled when I hear -- deeply troubled -- when I hear the fact that a person who has converted away from Islam may be held to account. That's not the universal application of the values that I talked about. I look forward to working with the government of that country to make sure that people are protected in their capacity to worship," Bush said.

I hope his words to the Afghans were even firmer.

MORE AT: Blogs for Bush, Michelle Malkin (taking the lead on the issue), Captain's Quarters, Church and State, Below the Beltway, Ordinary Everyday Christian, Conservative Political Rants, Macmind

Sgt. Jason R. Lyon sprained his ankle in 2004, jumping off a Humvee in Iraq.

The US Army says he can perform any duty, military or civilian.

The US Postal Service says he is physically unfit to carry the mail.

While Sgt. Jason R. Lyon was serving with the Army in Iraq, he suffered a sprained ankle when he jumped off a Humvee. He also nearly had his head blown off by a roadside bomb that killed three of his friends.

After extensive medical treatment and physical therapy, military doctors have certified the Hamburg serviceman physically fit to return to combat duty in Iraq.
But the U.S. Postal Service says he is physically unfit to deliver mail.

"To me, it really seems unfair," said the National Guardsman, who was recently turned down for a postal carrier job because of the ankle injury he suffered in Baghdad in July 2004.

"The military says I can go to combat. I can march, run, fight in a war and do anything else a soldier can do. But the Postal Service says I'm not fit to deliver letters."

A frustrated Lyon, 28, spoke about his dilemma in his home Monday, showing a Buffalo News reporter his Purple Heart for wounds suffered later and a thick stack of medical reports from the Army, declaring him fully fit for military duty.
"Currently no limitations of military or civilian activity," a National Guard medical officer wrote in a report on Lyon last month.

A doctor for the Postal Service saw it differently, ruling that Lyon's ankle injury makes him unfit to be hired as a mail carrier. A physician for the Postal Service called the injury a "physical impairment" that would make it difficult for Lyon to walk or stand for long periods of time.

I’m speechless beyond words at the absurdity of this decision by one doctor/bureaucrat who does not seem to realize that a sprained ankle is an injury that HEALS.

Not even congressional intervention has helped.

The office of Rep. Brian M. Higgins, D-Buffalo, has been trying to help Lyon in his dispute but without results. On March 11, Lyon got a letter from the Postal Service, saying a doctor for the service had refused to change her medical assessment.

Is it just me, or does this absurd and nonsensical slap at a veteran serve to reinforce the stereotype of the Post Office as an out-of-touch bureaucracy that needs to be eliminated so that private industry can do the job better and cheaper?

A California surgeon has demonstrated that he places greater value on the lives of animals than he does on the lives of human beings, calling for the murder of medical researchers and other scientists whose work includes the use of animals as test subjects.

Dr. Jerry Vlasak is a trauma surgeon who is certified by The American Board of Surgery and is also listed as a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons. Vlasak is also an outspoken animal rights activist who has, in an interview published this month, repeated his view that killing animal researchers is an acceptable way to stop animal experiments.

In the March 2006 issue of Abolitionist-Online, Vlasak is quoted as saying "Killing an animal abuser, who is not an innocent bystander, is morally defensible, and if they had the power to do so, animals would do it."

Vlasak compares killing of animal researchers to stop animal experimentation to "the killing of Nazi concentration camp guards and officers to free the prisoners being taken to the gas chambers." He suggests that such actions, "most likely would have made the next crop of soldiers less likely to volunteer for duty."

"So yes, I think the threat of violence would save lives, innocent lives. I'm sorry to say its true," says Vlasak.

He proposes, researchers should be allowed to cease and desist peacefully prior to being violently forced. "All animal abusers should be politely asked to stop killing animals in their work and explain to them the scientific fraud in animal experimentation, as I was. If they refuse, they should be told to stop immediately, or suffer the consequences. If they still refuse, then they should be stopped by whatever means necessary. I would hope they would stop the torture and killing when asked, but I suspect some would not."

This man is clearly unfit to practice medicine. If he is willing to advocate for the killing of those with whom he disagrees on this philosophical point, how can we be certain that he will not show equal disregard for human life in the performance of his duties.

Contact the following to urge the suspension of Dr. Vlasak for this unprofessional conduct in violation of the Hippocratic Oath.

Medical Board of California
Central Complaint Unit
California toll-free line: 1-800-633-2322
Phone: (916) 263-2424 / Fax: (916) 263-2435
TDD: (916) 263-0935

Complaints should be mailed to:
Medical Board of California
Central Complaint Unit
1426 Howe Avenue, Suite 54
Sacramento, CA 95825-3236

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633

To send an Electronic Mail please visit:
http://www.govmail.ca.gov

Concerned that the Catholic Church has too much influence on the Catholic Church, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has demanded that the Catholic Church disregard the teachings and doctrine of the Catholic Church, and condemned the Catholic Church for attempting to impose those teachings and doctrines upon the Catholic Church. The Board also encouraged schism within the Church, urging the Archdiocese of San Francisco to defy the ecclesiastical authority of the Pope and Curia.

San Francisco elected officials, who have tangled with the Catholic Church before, issued a blistering statement Tuesday that calls on the Vatican to overturn its edict that children waiting to be adopted should not be placed with gays and lesbians.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a nonbinding resolution that takes aim at a statement issued two weeks ago by Cardinal-elect William Levada, the former archbishop for San Francisco who now serves as second-in-command at the Vatican. Levada said Catholic agencies "should not place children for adoption in homosexual households.''

The San Francissco Board of Supervisors wasted little time chiming in, and challenged local church officials to defy the Vatican.

"It is an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great city's existing and established customs and traditions, such as the right of same-sex couples to adopt and care for children in need,'' the resolution stated.

On Monday, Maurice Healy, spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, told The Chronicle that adoptions into gay and lesbian households "are not in sync with church teaching, and we've committed ourselves to being in sync with church teaching.''

In other words, the city government in Sodom-by-the-Bay has gone on record condemning the Catholic Church for upholding two millennia of Christian moral teaching, and demanded that the Church change its teachings and policies to suit the government of San Francisco. Would someone care to explain to me the constitutional theory that allows for such a resolution? How can such a legislative enactment be valid under the First Amendment?

What is more shocking is that the resolution hearkens back to the rhetoric of anti-Catholic nativism from the 19th century. The reference to the Vatican as a foreign country contains in it an implicit challenge to the patriotism and loyalty of American Catholics, and was common in the writings and speeches of anti-Catholic groups such as the American Protective Association, Ku Klux Klan, Protestants and Others United for the Separation of Church and State (now known as Americans United for the Separation of Church and State) and the aptly-named Know-Nothing Party. The Board of Supervisors will be known and remembered by the company in which it has placed itself by this infamous action.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Liberties had this to say:

“In a non-binding resolution, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors lashed out at the Catholic Church because it disagrees with the Church’s teachings on marriage and sexuality. The board, which has long shown its affinity for the radical gay agenda, has now demonstrated that it has nothing but contempt for the First Amendment provisions on religious liberty and the establishment of religion. If they had it their way, the government would dictate the teachings of the Catholic Church. “Because the Catholic Church supports the right of children to be raised by fathers and mothers, and not by various other combinations, the Board of Supervisors calls the Church’s teachings on adoption ‘hateful,’ ‘discriminatory,’ ‘insulting’ and ‘callous,’ adding that it ‘shows a level of insensitivity and ignorance.’ The group also said, ‘It is an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with…this city’s existing and established customs and traditions….’ “According to this logic, any religious entity that faithfully follows the tenets of its faith risks being condemned by San Francisco officials if the Board of Supervisors disagrees with its contents. The real meddlers, obviously, are government agents who seek to smash the principle of separation of church and state by seeking to inject themselves into the internal affairs of a world religion. “The new San Francisco Archbishop, George Niederauer, has his hands full with a related matter: Catholic Charities, which has been told to stop gay adoptions, refuses to cooperate. Brian Cahill, the executive director, pledges no policy changes, and Glenn Motola, the CYO director of programs and services, is a gay adoptive father. These men worked for the former archbishop, William Levada, who is now a Cardinal-elect serving in Rome in the same post formerly held by Pope Benedict XVI.�

Well said.

RELATED ARTICLES AT: GOPBloggers, Mirror of Justice, Mere Comments, MarriageDebate.com, Voice from Eden

How is it that CAIR, a group that will screech out its opposition to even the most mild criticism of Islam and proclaims that faith to be tolerant and civilized, can remain silent in the face of the prospect of the judicial murder of a convert from Islam to Christianity? Could it be that all the protestations that Islam is compatible with human freedom are nothing but disinformation designed to obscure the true nature of that faith?

What does the Council on American-Islamic Relations have to say about the trial of an Afghan Muslim who may get the death penalty for converting to Christianity? Nothing so far, noted a conservative, pro-family group.

"Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations so far has been silent," the Family Research Council said in an email message on Tuesday.

"Hooper is usually quick to decry any anti-Muslim slight. By not speaking out against this outrageous action, CAIR is dealing with the issue," said FRC President Tony Perkins.

CAIR, in an email message of its own on Tuesday, did not mention the case of Abdul Rahman, who converted to Christianity 16 years ago. The judge hearing Rahman's case was quoted as saying that Rahman could face the death penalty if he refused to return to Islam.

Some of CAIR's leaders, along with other Muslims, met on Tuesday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes and top officials of the National Security Council. But the meetings focused on outreach efforts to the Muslim world and "how to address growing levels of Islamophobia in the West," CAIR said.

CAIR recently launched a "Not in the Name of Islam" campaign, which seeks to distance Muslims from terrorism and "correct misperceptions of Islam."

I’ll tell you how to address the growing contempt for Islam (not fear of Islam – Islamophobia) in the West – get your fellow Muslims to act like civilized human beings, including the showing of respect for fundamental human rights like freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. Get “good Muslims� to start speaking out against human rights abusive, and counter things like this.

"I am a female medical student. Converting out of Islam is forbidden"

"In our law, a person who forsakes the religion should be killed and there is no freedom in this regard."

"To my secular Muslim brothers who are expressing their sympathy towards this man: these are the teachings of Islam, no negotiations in them." (H/T Big Pharaoh via Jawa Report)

Come on, CAIR – either your religion is one that allows for freedom and human rights, or it does not. Speak out and let the world know which it is – or don’t speak out, and implicitly concede which it is.

UPDATE -- Michelle Malkin provides this new link from the folks at CAIR -- and they appear to have done the right thing.

“Islamic scholars say the original rulings on apostasy were similar to those for treasonous acts in legal systems worldwide and do not apply to an individual's choice of religion. Islam advocates both freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, a position supported by verses in the Quran, Islam's revealed text, such as:

1) ‘If it had been the will of your Lord that all the people of the world should be believers, all the people of the earth would have believed! Would you then compel mankind against their will to believe?’ (10:99)
2) ‘(O Prophet) proclaim: 'This is the Truth from your Lord. Now let him who will, believe in it, and him who will, deny it.'’ (18:29)
3) ‘If they turn away from thee (O Muhammad) they should know that We have not sent you to be their keeper. Your only duty is to convey My message.’ (42:48)
4) ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion.’ (2:256)

“Religious decisions should be matters of personal choice, not a cause for state intervention. Faith imposed by force is not true belief, but coercion. Islam has no need to compel belief in its divine truth. As the Quran states: ‘Truth stands out clear from error. Therefore, whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks.’ (2:256)

“We urge the government of Afghanistan to order the immediate release of Mr. Abdul Rahman.�

Before issuing its statement, CAIR consulted with members of the Fiqh Council of North America, an association of Islamic legal scholars that interprets Muslim religious law.

I'm pleased to see this statement.

After Rita and Katrina, folks down here do not want to see any more major tropical weather systems coming to Houston.

The Texas coast from Corpus Christi to the Louisiana border is likely to be the target of higher than normal hurricane activity over the next 10 years, private forecaster AccuWeather said today.

The 2006 hurricane season will be more active than normal and could bring a devastating storm to the U.S. Northeast also, the forecast said.

The outlook comes after the most costly hurricane season on record in 2005, with storms crippling New Orleans and other parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast and briefly knocking out a quarter of domestic fuel production.

* * *

Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Mississippi coast last August with winds above 135 mph and a 30-foot-high storm surge, causing more than $60 billion in damage.

Katrina was followed by Hurricanes Rita in Texas and Wilma in Florida. Each wreaked more than $10 billion of insured losses, making 2005 the most expensive year for hurricanes ever.

Bastardi said this year's storm activity will be above normal, but could be less active than 2005.

Forecasters are looking for a big storm to hit the Northeast this year. I don’t like the sound of that – but please, not Houston! One evacuation is enough.

I hope the state or federal government intervenes to take control of this lawless situation.

At a time when communities across the nation are considering efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, one small city south of downtown Los Angeles is charting a different course.

In Maywood, where 96% of the residents are Latino, and more than half are foreign-born, the City Council has vowed to make the municipality a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants, and over the last few months it has set out to prove it.
First, the city eliminated the Police Department's traffic division after complaints that officers unfairly targeted illegal immigrants. Then it made it much more difficult for police to tow cars whose owners didn't have driver's licenses, a practice that affected mostly undocumented people who could not obtain licenses.

In January, the City Council passed a resolution opposing a proposed federal law that would criminalize illegal immigration and make local police departments enforce immigration law. Now, some in the community are pushing to rename one of the city's elementary schools after former Mexican President Benito Juarez and debating measures to improve the lives of illegal immigrants.

Maywood leaders say they hope their actions will serve as a counterpoint to other cities, such as Costa Mesa in Orange County, that have moved forward with crackdowns on illegal immigrants and groups like the Minutemen border patrols.

"You just couldn't keep quiet. I think we needed to amplify the debate by saying that no human being is illegal," said Councilman Felipe Aguirre, 53. "These people are here … making your clothes, shining your shoes and taking care of your kids. And now you want to develop this hypocritical policy?"

Someone needs to tell this idiot that even if we accept his logic that no human beings are illegal, the actions of human beings can be – including illegally entering, residing, and working in the United States.

I wish more folks would make this point about higher education today – athletics has come to outweigh academics and research.

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carl Wieman announced Monday that he is leaving the University of Colorado and blasted the school, saying it stresses athletics over academics.

Wieman will leave CU in January for the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where he will head a $10.6 million science education project.

He will retain a 20 percent appointment at CU to lead the Science Education Project there, funded with $5 million during the next five years.

Wieman, 54, said at a news conference that the Canadian funding offer was the main reason for his departure from CU after 22 years.

But afterward, he said CU regents' and administrators' preoccupation with athletics contributed to his decision.

"If you want to have any sort of large-scale education initiative, where you're really focusing on education, you need people at the highest levels to put thought and attention into it," he said.

"If our Board of Regents spent half the time on discussions of how to improve the education for students that they do on athletics, it would be a very different university," Wieman said.

The recent CU football recruiting controversy was a major distraction that diverted attention from the classroom, Wieman said.

"My personal view is that there's a considerable overemphasis (on athletics) that takes time and attention away from what we could be doing to improve education."

As a high school teacher, I’ve seen the same thing happen on my level. When discussing decisions about scheduling for next year, one administrator admitted that it be difficult get rid of the block schedule because of objections from the football and basketball coaches and their associate booster clubs. Guess what? We are almost certainly keeping block scheduling. When it came to a decision on splitting our 3500 student school into two schools or keeping it as one entity, the possibility that one or both schools would become a 4A school was a serious point of discussion, as well as the relative competitive disadvantage the smaller schools would have in 5A. Never mind that the bulk of the educational research shows that the opposite decision would have been preferable in both cases – if the first consideration was the best outcome for students.

When will we go back to allowing schools to put education first?

But who will supply his voice?

Contrary to popular assumption, "South Park" fans have not seen the Chef sling his final serving of hash.

The character, who until last week was voiced by Isaac Hayes, is back tomorrow in the first of several new episodes of Comedy Central's top-rated show.

The episode, "The Return of Chef" (10 p.m.), has the school-cafeteria cook returning after a hiatus to the bucolic town that Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman call home. According to a brief description released by the network, the gang is happy "to have their old friend back, [but] they notice that something about Chef seems different. When Chef's strange behavior starts getting him in trouble, the boys pull out all the stops to save him."

Work on the episode began last week, after news broke of Hayes' decision to quit the show because it skewered the Church of Scientology, of which he's a member.

"There is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs and others begins," Hayes, 63, said in a statement last week.

A Comedy Central spokesman would not confirm or deny that Chef's voice in tomorrow's episode is provided by Hayes, but he did reiterate that Hayes is no longer involved with the show. However, it would not be difficult to weave together existing dialogue from Hayes. And it is not unusual for Parker and Stone to deliver episodes at the last minute.

It's unclear whether tomorrow's episode involves Scientology.

But Parker and Stone's penchant for topical sacred-cow-bashing is well-known. So it would not be a stretch to assume that "Chef Returns" is the latest salvo in the battle between "South Park" and the religion that counts Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its devotees.

I cannot see the show getting rid of Chef – but I suppose there are a number of other voices who could fill the role nicely.

So tell me – whose voice do you think we will hear coming out of Chef’s mouth? Tell me in comments.

Would that we could get rid of every newspaper editor and publisher who refused to run the most newsworthy cartoons of the 21st century, and everyu politician who condemned the publication of those images of Islam's false prophet. This Swedish Censor is a good start.

Sweden's foreign minister on Tuesday stepped down because of her role in the row over the Prophet Mohammad cartoons.

Social Democrat Laila Freivalds had to admit she knew that her ministry shut down a right-wing Web site that published Mohammad cartoons, according to the Stockholm bureau of the German daily Handelsblatt.

Freivalds on Tuesday said she could no longer do "serious foreign policy," and handed in her resignation.

The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet had reported earlier that a high-ranking foreign ministry official pressured the Web site's operators to shut down the page. Freivalds had initially claimed she knew nothing of the operation but later had to admit she had been informed.

A government official in a democratic society should have shut down the censorship effort, not the website. I can only hope that the next step is the firing of every government employee who was involved in this unconscionable violation of human rights. After all, we in the West do understand the concept of human rights, even if the Religion of Barbarism does not.

Illinois Democrats have been tainted with the stench of corruption back to at least the days of Stephen Douglas. One county Democrat party, though, claims to be seeking to change that.

St. Clair County Democratic leadership has distributed election packets to countywide precinct committeemen, which include an affidavit stating that money from the party will not be used to buy votes.

The unusual action follows the vote buying convictions in June of five East St. Louis politicians. They had helped distribute more than $70,000 received by city Democratic precinct committeemen two days before the 2004 election from the county Democratic organization.

While St. Clair County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Robert Sprague could not be reached for comment, a fax received Monday from his Belleville law office included these documents given to precinct committeemen countywide for today's primary election:

• A one-page letter from Sprague warning that money from the county committee should be used only to pay to help get the vote out, including paying workers to canvass the precincts, for advertisements and to provide transportation to needy voters. The letter also advised that precinct leaders should "keep a record of all expenses" and "under no circumstances" use party money to pay for votes.

• An "affidavit," with room for a notary's signature, stating that a committeeman or election worker swears that no party money will be used "in violation of any federal, state or local laws or regulations."

• A one-page photocopy titled "Election Crimes" that outlined federal voting laws.

I don’t buy this for a minute, given my experiences of working elections in St. Clair County. I remember an incident during one campaign in which a guy with our opponent’s campaign told us within 30 votes how many votes we would be up prior to the announcement of the votes from East St. Louis and down after those votes came in. As recent convictions of prominent county Democrats show, the corruption continues.

Which leads us to this further Democrat commentary.

Sprague's letter to the committeemen also refers to "recent efforts by the Republicans and their friends to suppress the vote of Democrats in St. Clair County..." No further explanation was offered as to whether this referred to last year's federal vote fraud prosecution under a U.S. attorney appointed by a Republican president, or whether local Republicans were suppressing Democratic voters.

My interpretation is that Sprague is concerned that the feds are not allowing corruption as usual to continue in St. Clair County. As a result, I’m willing to bet that the other protestations that vote buying is prohibited are not worth the paper they are printed on.

But then again, if the St. Clair County Democrats had any integrity to begin with, the memo would never have been necessary.

The moonbats are up in arms over the decision of washingtonpost.com (the online wing of the Washington Post) to include a blog by RedState.com founder Ben Domenech

During the recent controversy surrounding Dan Froomkin's blog at The Washington Post, editors not only decided to clearly label his column "opinion" but also to make an effort to hire a conservative blogger to balance his alleged liberal slant.

Today, the Post launched the result: A new blog called "Red America," created by Ben Domenech, co-founder of RedState, a popular community blog.

It immediately set off what Post political reporter Tom Edsall called a "firestorm" in his online chat today.

A former contributing editor to National Review Online, Domenech later became what he calls "the youngest political appointee of President George W. Bush." After a stint as chief speechwriter for Texas Senator John Cornyn, he became a book editor at Regnery Publishing, where he worked with Michelle Malkin and others.

* * *

The launch upstaged what the Post's Edsall had hoped to talk about during his online chat today. Here is a selection of the exchanges there.

So the decision to balance liberal writers at washingtonpost.com has provoked a howl of outrage from liberals, who don’t believe that equal time is warranted. What’s more, they seem to think that they are the oppressed minority at the Washington Post, and want the post to hire a liberal blogger to offset Domenech (who was hired to balance liberal Dan Froomkin). I guess it isn’t equal time for liberals until the balance is tilted to the hard Left.

It is not an unreasonable question, given their decision to traffic with the enemy during time of war.

Our readers have reacted with outrage to our report that NBC News secretly interviewed a Taliban terrorist in Afghanistan, "Commander Ismail," who kills U.S. military personnel. We asked: What's next? Exclusive footage of American troops being massacred while NBC News and Commander Ismail look on and film it for the evening news?

One reader responded: "Just wanted to thank you for the report about NBC and their seditious and treasonous acts. There can be no doubt that the big media outlets in this country have tried their best to undermine this country and this President at every turn…The New York Times should be tried under the treason and sedition laws for their part in aiding and abetting the terrorist in revealing the NSA wiretapping program. These traitors have weakened this country's defense, [they] triumph the rights of the terrorist bastard scum and blame President Bush for everything under the sun. They will stoop to ever deepening lows as evidenced by the childish and hateful behavior towards the President and the First Lady at Mrs. King's funeral. There is no bottom to the pit these snakes come from. Keep up the great work."

Read what else Cliff Kincaid’s readers have to say on the matter – it isn’t pretty.

This just in from Crete, 500 BC.

A 2,500-year-old sarcophagus with vivid color illustrations from Homer's epics has been discovered in western Cyprus, archaeologists said Monday.

Construction workers found the limestone sarcophagus last week in a tomb near the village of Kouklia, in the coastal Paphos area. The tomb, which probably belonged to an ancient warrior, had been looted during antiquity.

"The style of the decoration is unique, not so much from an artistic point of view, but for the subject and the colors used," said Pavlos Flourentzos, director of the island's antiquities department.

Only two similar sarcophagi have ever been discovered in Cyprus before. One is housed in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other in the British Museum in London, but their colors are more faded, Flourentzos said.

Flourentzos said the coffin -- painted in red, black and blue on a white background -- dated to 500 B.C., when Greek cultural influence was gaining a firm hold on the eastern Mediterranean island. Pottery discovered in the tomb is expected to provide a more precise date.

Experts believe the ornate decoration features the hero Ulysses in scenes from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey -- both hugely popular throughout the Greek world.
In one large painting, Ulysses and his comrades escape from the blind Cyclops Polyphemos' cave, hidden under a flock of sheep. Another depicts a battle between Greeks and Trojans from the Iliad.

Go look at the picture.

Before I post the details of today's linkfest, let me supply you with some contact information for those who wish to help our brother in Christ, Abdul Rahman, who is facing death at the hands of the Afghan government for this so-called "crime". (H/T Michelle Malkin)

Abdul was taken into custody and a court case has followed. The story hit public TV on Thursday, March 16. The newscaster stated that an Afghan citizen by the name of Abdul Rahman converted to the Christian religion 16 years ago.

He was questioned, "Do you confess that you have apostacized from Islam?"

He responded, "No, I am not an apostate, I believe in God."

Question: "Do you believe in the Koran?"

Response: "I believe in the Injil (New Testament) and love Jesus Christ.

Yes, that is right -- the government of Afghanistan -- created and supported with American blood and money -- is seeking to execute this man for exercising his fundamental human right (defined under international law in the UN's Universal Declarationon Human Rights over half a century ago) to choose his own religion.

Help this brother out.

Contact the following.

Ambassador Said T. Jawad
Embassy of Afghanistan
2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
info@embassyofafghanistan.org
(202)483-6410

White House Comment Line
202-456-1111.

U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
202-647-4000

This trial must not be permitted to proceed, for it gives legitimacy to the notion that government has the right to dictate and punish religious choices of citizens.

MORE AT: Blogs for Bush, Michelle Malkin (taking the lead on the issue), Captain's Quarters, Church and State, Below the Beltway, Ordinary Everyday Christian, Conservative Political Rants, Macmind

* * *

You know the drill for my linkfests -- feel free to link here with any interesting posts you have made recently. I won't limit the number of links, but I will ask you to act reasonably. No Porn, no advertising links, please.

Other linkfests at Conservative Cat, Adam's Blog, Third World Country, Bacon Bits

And it was the governments of Italy and Germany that did so.

Italy has joined with Germany in protesting a death threat reportedly hanging over an Afghan who became a Christian in Germany and is now charged under Afghanistan's religious laws . The sharia laws, which rule many Muslim countries, forbid conversion to other religions on pain of death .

Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini on Tuesday said Italy would raise the case of Abdul Rahman with the Afghan ambassador in Rome, European Union diplomatic representatives in Afghanistan and EU human rights bodies .

Fini said he would voice to the ambassador "the thorough disapproval" of the Italian government if there was a "possibility" of Rahman being sentenced to death. Italy is the de facto EU diplomatic chief in Afghanistan because Austria, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, does not have a mission there .

Italy has some 2,000 troops in the 10,000-strong NATO-led International Security and Assistance force (ISAF), which began peacekeeping operations in and near Kabul a year after a US-led coalition drove out the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime in 2002 .

Rome held ISAF's six-month rotating command until last month. It is leading the reconstruction of the Afghan judicial system and has also contributed to other reconstruction projects such as roads, hospitals and schools .

Germany said Tuesday it would appeal directly to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and "do everything in its power" to save the life of Rahman, who returned home from Germany when the Taliban was overthrown.

Unfortunately, the Rahman matter was not addressed by the President at today's press conference.

And the only comment from the State Department was a weak one.

Michelle Malkin shows us this poster, courtesy of the United Nations.

The poster was thought-provoking.

Applying the Left's diversity hemenuetic, I am left asking a difficult
question:

Is the Lego racist for refusing to adopt the majority culture by
conforming to the puzzle, or is the puzzle an oppressor guilty of racism,
ethnocentrism, and cultural imperialism for refusing to accept the
cultural and lifestyle diversity of the minority Lego?

Enquiring minds want to know!

In the mean time, God bless Denmark, and to hell with those who would give into the followers of Islam's false prophet!

MORE AT: Euphoric Reality, Slapstick Politics, GZ Expat, Right Voices, Blogmeister, USA, Solomonia, Mean Mr. Mustard, Jesse Richardson, Vital Perspective, Secular Blasphemy, In The Bullpen, Liberty Just In Case

Every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest seeking the most notable posts from around the Blogosphere. The winning entries are determined by The Watchers Council.

The Council has cast their votes for last week's submitted posts.

Council Member Entries:
Gates of Vienna won first place with King Solomon and the Roe-Men.

Non-Council Entries:
NHS Blog Doctor was victorious with The Crippen Diaries (Week 11).

The Watcher's Council has one vacant seat. Get additional info right here and application guidelines from the Watcher.

I’m glad they caught this guy, suspected of murder in both my city and his own. And I’m glad that this no-class gang loser has a nickname that fits him – at least until they fry him.

The hunt for a suspected gang leader linked to homicides in both Houston and New Orleans ended early today with his arrest in Kenner, La., police said.

Officers arrested Ivory "B-Stupid" Harris, 20, about 3 a.m. while serving a search warrant at a home in the New Orleans suburb.

Harris was charged with murder for the Feb. 28 shooting death of Jermaine Wise, 22, in New Orleans. Officers found the victim dead about 1:30 a.m. inside a car parked along the 5300 block of Constance Street.

Houston police said Harris is apparently connected to the Dec. 28 slaying of Steven Kennedy, 24, at 1303 La Concha.

Harris was reported to be travelling with Jerome Hampton, 24, who has been charged with Kennedy's death, which police said was a revenge killing for the 2003 murder of James "Soulja Slim" Tapp, a New Orleans rapper.

Hampton, known as "Man-Man," was arrested Mar. 12 by New Orleans police.
Harris also is linked to two other murders in Houston, one that occurred on Dec. 17 and a second on Jan. 4. Police said the slayings may have resulted from disputes over women.

To date, however, Harris has only been charged with a Dec. 18 armed robbery case at Greenspoint Mall, Houston police said.

B-Stupid – sounds about right to me.

While the one may have been less elegant and academic, no matter how you slice it, it comes out the same – the Kennedy School's Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago join with the former Klan leader and the virulently anti-Semitic Muslim Brotherhood in proclaiming that the Jews control America.

A paper recently co-authored by the academic dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government about the allegedly far-reaching influence of an "Israel lobby" is winning praise from white supremacist David Duke.

The Palestine Liberation Organization mission to Washington is distributing the paper, which also is being hailed by a senior member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization.

But the paper, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," by the Kennedy School's Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, is meeting with a more critical reception from many of those it names as part of the lobby. The 83-page "working paper" claims a network of journalists, think tanks, lobbyists, and largely Jewish officials have seized the foreign policy debate and manipulated America to invade Iraq. Included in this network, the authors say, are the editors of the New York Times, the scholars at the Brookings Institution, students at Columbia, "pro-Israel" senior officials in the executive branch, and "neoconservative gentiles" including columnist George Will.

Duke, a former Louisiana state legislator and one-time Ku Klux Klan leader, called the paper "a great step forward," but he said he was "surprised" that the Kennedy School would publish the report.

"I have read about the report and read one summary already, and I am surprised how excellent it is," he said in an e-mail. "It is quite satisfying to see a body in the premier American University essentially come out and validate every major point I have been making since even before the war even started." Duke added that "the task before us is to wrest control of America's foreign policy and critical junctures of media from the Jewish extremist Neocons that seek to lead us into what they expectantly call World War IV."

I guess that anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism really have gone mainstream on the Left.

She has called it her dream job in the past, and the sport is one of her passions. Could Condoleezza Rice be moving to the NFL?

Paul Tagliabue is retiring as NFL commissioner in July after more than 16 years on the job.

The 65-year-old commissioner has led the league since 1989, when he succeeded Pete Rozelle, and agreed last March to stay to complete the television and labor deals.

He finally got that done 12 days ago, finishing the most arduous labor negotiations since the league and union agreed on a free agency-salary cap deal in 1992.

"I believe that now is a positive time to make the transition to a new commissioner," Tagliabue said in a statement.

Roger Goodell, the NFL's chief operating officer, and Atlanta general manager Rich McKay are the two leading candidates to succeed Tagliabue. Baltimore Ravens president Dick Cass is considered a dark horse.

Well, it was an interesting career path suggestion.

---

Well, my darling bride and I went to the final three days of RodeoHouston over the weekend. Saw LoneStar, Brooks & Dunn, and Gretchen Wilson in the space of less than 48 hours, along with some great rodeo. I've gotten a little behind, though, so there are a couple of stories I want to comment upon, just for the record.

And for the thirtieth straight year -- upsets are screwing with my NCAA picks!

These rumors have been floating around for some time. Hopefully this will lay them to rest.

Vice President Dick Cheney, a lightning rod for criticism about administration policies, on Sunday rejected the notion of resigning and said he would serve out his term.

"I made sure both in 2000 and 2004 that the president had other options. I mean, I didn't ask for this job. I didn't campaign for it. I got drafted," Cheney said on CBS television's "Face The Nation."

Being part of the administration was a highlight of his career, Cheney said. "I've now been elected to a second term. I'll serve out my term," he said.

No one with any sense thought he was -- though I would have loved to see Condoleezza Rice take the job and the GOP nomination if he did.

(H/T Blogs for Bush)

I am not supportive of this.

States have been passing laws regarding funeral protests by the reprehensible blasphemers of the Lord's name from Westboro Baptist (sic) Church (sic), the family cult bred by Fred Phelps. I've not been ver supportive. But now there is a move to make the ban a federal one -- and I really have to object.

A Michigan congressman will introduce federal legislation to block protests during military funeral services in response to a Kansas church’s continued demonstrations at servicemembers’ burials.

Rep. Mike Rogers said he won’t officially submit the bill until later this month, but colleagues in Congress have already scheduled a hearing in early April and pledged their support for the measure.

The proposal would prohibit protests an hour before or after a funeral at any national cemetery, and force protesters back at least 500 feet from the grieving family. Penalties for violations still need to be worked out.

“When you go to a funeral, it’s difficult enough to show up and pay your respects to someone who died for their country without getting jeered, taunted and harassed,� said Rogers, a Republican. “There’s a difference between free speech and hateful, harassing speech.�

On Thursday, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., introduced similar legislation in the Senate, creating a 300-foot buffer zone and making violations punishable by up to five years in prison. Bayh’s bill would apply to “all funerals for soldiers who were killed in active duty service.�

There is no reason to make this a federal issue -- such regulatiosn bvelong more properly on the state and local level, if they are to be passed at all. What, are we going to have the FBI out enforcing these bans? More to the point, why should such a ban be limited to military funerals? After all, why shouldn't it include the funerals of dead gay folks targetted by the Phelps family of primitives? Why shouldn't it include ANY funeral, if this is truly a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction and not simply legislation targetted at the message?

H/T Jawa Report, Stop the ACLU, Bluto, Vince, Kerfuffles)

We put this crew in power -- we can take them out.

An Afghan man who recently admitted he converted to Christianity faces the death penalty under the country's strict Islamic legal system. The trial is a critical test of Afghanistan's new constitution and democratic government.

The case is attracting widespread attention in Afghanistan, where local media are closely monitoring the landmark proceedings.

Abdul Rahman, 40, was arrested last month, accused of converting to Christianity. Under Afghanistan's new constitution, minority religious rights are protected but Muslims are still subject to strict Islamic laws. And so, officially, Muslim-born Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and not for practicing Christianity.

Appearing in court earlier this week Rahman insisted he should not be considered an infidel, but admitted he is a Christian. He says he still believes in the almighty Allah, but cannot say for sure who God really is. "I am," he says, "a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ."

Rahman reportedly converted more than 16 years ago after spending time working in Germany. Officials say his family, who remain observant Muslims, turned him over to the authorities. On Thursday the prosecution told the court Rahman has rejected numerous offers to embrace Islam. Prosecuting attorney Abdul Wasi told the judge that the punishment should fit the crime.

He says Rahman is a traitor to Islam and is like a cancer inside Afghanistan. Under Islamic law and under the Afghan constitution, he says, the defendant should be executed. The court has ordered a delay in the proceedings to give Rahman time to hire an attorney. Under Afghan law, once a verdict is given, the case can be appealed twice to higher courts.

These are the folks we put in power doing this -- and our troops are still supporting them. The President must pressure the government of Afghanistan to drop this prosecution -- and this law -- and if the Afghans fail to do so, then we must act to impose a secular government that respects human rights. We'v done it once, maybe this time we can do it successfully. Also, where is the outcry from human rights activists who want rights for terrorists? Don't peaceful Christians have human rights?

H/T Jawa Report>, Michelle Malkin, Below the Beltway, Latino Issues, Church & State)

MORE AT: Blogs for Bush, Michelle Malkin (taking the lead on the issue), Captain's Quarters, Church and State, Below the Beltway, Ordinary Everyday Christian, Conservative Political Rants, Macmind

I'm dead serious here. After SVU co-star/conspiracy nutjob/moonbat Richard Belzer made these comments on Bill Maher's show, I think it might be appropriate.

Belzer: “Okay, fine. No one questions the nobility and the honor that these men and woman who are serving and what they're doing. No one questions that. But now they're targets, they're not going out. Now they're just protecting each other and they're in the middle of a civil war. So it's really not fair to have these people who volunteered their lives to protect our nation under false pretenses to now be, to have targets-�

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, over loud applause for Belzer: “Ask them. Ask them if it's fair! Wait a minute, wait a minute. My stepson, wait a minute, my stepson-�

Belzer: “That's bullshit: ask them! They're not, they don't read twenty newspapers a day. They're under the threat of death every minute. They're not the best people to ask about the war because they're gonna die any second.�

So, Mr. Belzer, those on-site are not in the position you are to evaluate the war? You know, those fignting and (sometines) dying are not capable of making an evaluationof the situation -- but some dub-ass actor/conspiracy theorist is mopre than qualified to do so because he reads the same wire-service reports out of the twenty different newspapers every day?

Not only that, Belzer and Maher indicate a certain contempt for the troops, even as tehy proclaim sympathy for them.

Ros-Lehtinen: “Wait a minute! You are talking about my stepson, my stepson who just finished last week eight months of duty-�

Belzer over Ros-Lehtenin: “God bless your stepson. Doesn't mean he's a brilliant scholar about the war because he's there. (applause) And God bless him.�

Ros-Lehtinen, quite agitated: “Oh, you are though! You are though? Okay.�

Belzer: “Well I have more time, I'm not there. My life is not under threat.�

Ros-Lehtinen: “Thank you. I'm glad.�

Maher: “I think the point he's trying to make is that a 19-year-old who is in that army because he probably couldn't find other employment-�

Ros-Lehtinen: “He's a college graduate. He's a Marine officer. He volunteered for the Marines.�

Belzer: “He's the exception for the rule.�

Ros-Lehtinen: “He's not the exception for the rule. I've been there-�

Belzer: “You think everyone over there is a college graduate? They're 19 and 20-year-old kids who couldn't get a job-�

Ros-Lehtinen: “Yeah, you know because you've been there and-�

Belzer: “What, I don't fucking read!? Don't do that!�

I love the blasphemous use of "God bless him" by Belzer. He's just indicated that he thinks this Iraq vet is an unemployable dullard who was duped into joining the military and is too stupid to know what is going on around him -- but "God bless him." But Belzer, having read the newspaper this morning, claims to be an expert on the war in Iraq.

I'll be finding something else to watch as long as Belzer remains on SVU. I encourage American patriots to do the same.

MORE AT: 24 Hour Blender Repair, Plains Feeder, Iowa Voice, Cursed by a Classical Education, Andric's Delusions, Nashville News, Diary of a Holywood Refugee, So Put Your Hand In Mine, Center for Sanity, Talk Show American, Right Winged, Protein Wisdom, Blogging Man 2007, NewsBusters, American Conservative Daily

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT: Conservative Cat, Stuck on Stupid, Adam's Blog, Samantha Burns, Third World Country, Liberal Wrong Wing, Bacon Bits, Real Ugly American, Camelot Destra Ideale, Voteswagon, Uncooperative Blogger, Blue Star, Jo's Cafe

Proving once again that the business plan for the failing Leftist radio network includes treason and sedition, host Mike Malloy accuses American military personnel of trading "war pornography", being murderers, and likened them to Nazis.

More details at Expose the Left, Wizbang, Jawa Report, BoreAmerica, MoveOnAndShutUp.Org, Kerfuffles, Conservative Culture, Say Anything

I just love this editorial from the Richmond Times Dispatch, a paper which I loved during my time in college in Virginia.

Stifling Dissent

In a recent speech on foreign soil, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said people who disagree with her are dangerous, irrational, slavery-loving, bigoted threats to the country.

Not in so many words, mind you. Ms. Ginsburg is far too nuanced for that. But she did say that she and her former colleague, Sandra Day O'Connor, had been the target of death threats (actually, a single menacing posting on an Internet chatroom) from the "irrational fringe" -- and that Republican Congressmen "fuel the irrational fringe" by opposing the growing practice of interpreting the Constitution in light of foreign law.

Many people have disputed the idea that Justices should base their rulings on cues from foreign countries rather than the American Constitution. Ms. Ginsburg noted that one of them was Roger Taney, in his infamous Dred Scott decision. (Because Taney was wrong about slavery, and he also believed that 2 + 2 = 4, we evidently must conclude that mathematical equation also is incorrect.) She pointed out that defenders of Apartheid in South Africa, where she gave her talk, resisted calls from abroad to end the segregation system. Oh, and Justice Antonin Scalia disagrees with her, too. Those people are all alike.

Ms. Ginsburg's thinly veiled attempt to establish guilt by association is a shopworn technique. It was exploited most famously by Joseph McCarthy to intimidate those who disagreed with him. Joseph Stalin also used guilt by association to send potential resisters of Soviet Communist tyranny to the gulag. Recently an Italian commission concluded that the Soviet Union was behind the attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II.

We are not, of course, in any way suggesting that people who share Ms. Ginsburg's approach are McCarthyite Communist mass-murdering anti-Catholic plotters of papicide. We wouldn't stoop to that level.

Why does she?

Bravo!

If Justice Ginsburg feels that criticism of the Judiciary by members of the co-equal Legislative Branch of government and (even lmore unacceptable) We, the People, is unacceptable and a danger to her safety, I'm sure she can find some court case or law from North Korea, Iran, Cuba, or the People's Republic of China that she and her peers can use to trump both the clear language of the First Amendment that permits such speech and Article III, which gives Congress specific power to check the Judicial Branch.

And if she finds that she cannot get a majority behind her unAmerican goal of suppressing and delegitimizing criticism of the courts on the clearly specious grounds of an epidemic of violence and threats against judges, perhaps she can safeguard her own miserable hide by resigning. I'm sure the Justice Department already has a suitable slate of possible replacements to send over to the president for his consideration.

More At: Colossus of Rhodey