Today's Americans hold a different vision of government. It's one that says Congress has the right to do just about anything upon which it can secure a majority vote. Most of what Congress does fits the description of forcing one American to serve the purposes of another American. That description differs only in degree, but not in kind, from slavery.

At least two-thirds of the federal budget represents forcing one American to serve the purposes of another. Younger workers are forced to pay for the prescriptions of older Americans; people who are not farmers are forced to serve those who are; nonpoor people are forced to serve poor people; and the general public is forced to serve corporations, college students and other special interests who have the ear of Congress.

The supreme tragedy that will lead to our undoing is that so far as personal economic self-interests are concerned, it is perfectly rational for every American to seek to live at the expense of another American. Why? Not doing so doesn't mean he'll pay lower federal taxes. All it means is that there will be more money for somebody else.

In other words, once Congress establishes that one person can live at the expense of another, it pays for everyone to try to do so.

Waking Up in the Twilight Zone

I woke up to a strange report on Good Morning America. Diane Sawyer, interviewing Dan Senor about the possibility that George Bush is now going to look to negotiate with Syria and Iran for a solution in Iraq, spent a good bit of the interview talking about how unlikely reasoning with such states would be successful. She asked how we could expect to reason with leaders of countries that we believed had sponsored terrorism and harbored terrorists and expressed a good deal of skepticism that such a strategy could work. This was Twilight Zone to me because in the past Sawyer and others at the networks have praised people like Jimmy Carter who have championed an approach that included reasoning with insane terrorist sympathizers, while criticizing President Bush for drawing a hard line and not wanting to give any negotiating power to such leaders. This is another example that it is virtually impossible for George Bush to do anything that will find favor with those on the left or in the mainstream media. That is why he should do whatever he believes is right and ignore them for the most part.

Lorie Byrd, Wizbang

12) You sound negative, much more so than usual. What gives?

President Bush has at times been a great leader in the “war on terror.” At other times, he’s been intellectually absent. We need leadership now. Someone needs to explain the stakes to the American people and what this fight is all about. Someone needs to explain that there will be a lot of death and suffering ahead, and unfortunately it won’t be just the enemy doing the dying and suffering. The President has two years left and no further campaigns to concern himself with. This would be an ideal, albeit belated, time to explain to the American people what’s going on, and how our real enemy is a lot more numerous and dangerous than the cave dwelling loons in Waziristan.

Yet since the midterms the President has been totally missing except when offering some annoying pabulum about raising the minimum wage.

Read 1-11 and 13-15.

"But in the end, in these horribly difficult times, America needed a leader of real greatness, and real vision—a philosopher who was also a man of action, a political infighter with a sense of history, a communicator who could articulate the counter-thesis—in short, someone like Lincoln or Churchill or Charles De Gaulle, who could impose his vision on an unwilling bureaucracy and give history the proof of his generation's greatness."
- Mario Loyola

But if Litvinenko, a British subject, was murdered by Russian intelligence on British soil, self-censorship is no longer an option. Unless we want to give the Putin regime carte blanche to dispose of its enemies on our soil, we now have no choice but to react.

But to back them, we need to demonstrate that we have moral values that we defend. To do less would be to abandon Russia to the forces of nihilism and obscurantism.

It's time we start thinking of Vladimir Putin's Russia as an enemy of the United States.

This isn't simply because a former KGB agent turned Putin critic died last week in London after ingesting a dose of polonium 210, an element that usually functions as a neutron trigger in atomic bombs. Nor is it that Alexander Litvinenko's death is the latest in a series of killings, attempted murders, imprisonments and forced exiles whose victims just happened to be prominent opponents of Mr. Putin. It is because the foreign policy of Russia has become openly, and often gratuitously, hostile to the US.

There is no case for Russia's continued participation as the eighth member of the Group of Seven, once a club for mature democracies only. Putting Mr. Putin on notice that only gentlemen belong in gentlemen's clubs would be the right first step. Treating him for what he is — "unworthy of the trust of civilized men and women," as Litvinenko wrote from his deathbed — would be the next.

The new groupthink
By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.

We are, as the saying goes, between Iraq and a hard place. Unfortunately, events this week seem likely to drive us inexorably closer to the hard place – one that is going to be a lot worse than what we have seen in Iraq so far.

Read more

It is useless to debate the left-wing bias in the MSM, which is like debating the temperature at any given place on any given day. Opinions may differ as to what it feels like, but there is a factual answer to the question of what the temp is. No matter what your opinions are about the MSM, the fact is that the Beltway-Manhattan MSM tilts way, way left.

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When the U.S. government's version of the United Way handed out hundreds of millions of dollars to charities last year, its largesse extended to more than 1,280 nonprofit organizations that collectively owe $36 million in taxes dating back as far as 1988.

Read more

There are just two problems with mass transit. Nobody uses it, and it costs like hell. Only 4% of Americans take public transportation to work. Even in cities they don't do it. Less than 25% of commuters in the New York metropolitan area use public transportation. Elsewhere it's far less--9.5% in San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, 1.8% in Dallas-Fort Worth. As for total travel in urban parts of America--all the comings and goings for work, school, shopping, etc.--1.7 % of those trips are made on mass transit.

Suburban Nation

Virtually all the thought brought to bear on the housing crisis has been directed toward the urban poor...But the housing crisis is a middle-class issue, too.

In 1970, about 50 percent of all families could afford a median-priced home; by 1990, this number had dropped below 25 percent. There are many reasons behind this phenomenon, but this most significant factor is [the automobile].

Since every single adult in the household must drive a car in order to function, this situation in unavoidable. The impact it has on housing affordability is profound.

According to the American Automobile Association, the average cost of owning a Ford Escort-one of the cheapest cars available-is over $6,000 per year. At conventional mortgage rates, that figure translates into more than $60,000 in home-purchasing power. In other words, two cars will pay for a starter home.

According to Leonard Mosley, Disney was obsessed with his plans for EPCOT during his last year of life. EPCOT would be the culmination of a life that led from illustrator to animator to moviemaker to global fame as the voice of childhood and filmmaker laureate of the United States. As educator, sage, and prophet, he would now take the next classical step in male public life by becoming a social planner and futurist philosopher.

Michael Harrington has suggested that EPCOT links two contradictory aspects of Disney's heritage. Harrington reminds us that Disney was the son of a turn-of-the-century socialist. In his Marceline, Missouri, days, Elias Disney "tried to organize the local farmers into an American Society of Equity that would focus their hatreds of the middlemen and the railroads. He voted for Debs and he read the Appeal to Reason, the famous radical paper published in Kansas and reaching a mass audience of the Left."

The U.S. socialist tradition, Harrington points out, contains sentiments about the underdog and about social justice; but it also contains another strain - the "warmhearted, futuristic authoritarianism" found in Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. In an book much read by radicals of Elias Disney's generation, Bellamy presented "a neat, rational, crisis-free society with distributional justice - and without any visible democratic noise, conflict or argument."

Disney's description of the future Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow seems to bring this Bellamy strand of social planning together with Disney's obvious faith in "free enterprise" and the "wisdom" of U.S. corporations.

Vinyl Leaves, Stephen M. Fjellman

Allah’s England?
Daniel Johnson

London, with over 1,000 mosques, is already Europe’s unofficial Muslim capital. Its status will be enhanced immeasurably by the Markaz, whose size—it is projected to hold 70,000 worshippers—will dwarf St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. To contemplate the building of so potent a symbol of Islamic triumphalism over Europe’s Christian heritage is all but incredible.

Read more...

Younger home buyers bring market changes
Generation X demanding different amenities than baby boomers

Generation X, typically defined as those born between 1965 and 1979, comprise a little more than half of the market for newly constructed homes, said James Chung, president of Reach Advisors, a Boston-based marketing strategy and research firm.
But that doesn't mean the homes that lured baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are meeting the needs of the 30-somethings shopping now.

Partly because many Gen-Xers are buying into the market after the run-up in housing prices began about a decade ago, they tend not to be as moved by deluxe kitchens, huge square footage and "prestige addresses" as their older counterparts are, he said.

"It's the trade-off generation. It's no longer sort of the live-large mindset," Chung said. "They're living under different economic realities than their predecessors. They carry 70% more debt than the baby boomers did at that point in their lives because of the cost of housing....Almost all of that is housing debt."

Source

“V” Makes A Mark In DC

It’s working.

We are making good use of the powerful concept of en masse activist resistance used in the movie, “V for Vendetta.”

“V” is helping us as we build support for the unalienable Right to a Response from Government to our Petitions for Redress of Grievances regarding the Government’s violation of the war powers, tax, privacy and money clauses of the Constitution.

“V” is helping us as we educate the public about the First Amendment’s guarantee of our Right to Petition Government for Redress of Grievances.

On November 6, 2006, a lone man in a “V” mask and clothing visited security checkpoints at the White House, the main Treasury Building, the Department of Justice and the Capitol, to deliver a letter and the Petitions for Redress. A short videotape of the encounters has made its way around the Internet, including links from sites such as MySpace.com.

The letter informed the leaders of the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government that up to 100 people in “V” masks and clothing would gather in silent vigil at those locations on November 14th to await a response to the Petitions for Redress.

True to his word, at 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday, November 14, 2006, nearly 100 men and women in “V” masks and clothing could be seen walking along different streets in downtown Washington, DC, all heading to Lafayette Park across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

But how come the Democrats are so into the blogosphere and the Republicans aren’t? How come we don’t generate fear and respect like the Kosfather?

Because all we do is opine, and often in an annoyingly independent way. While all of us root for the Republican Party, we’re also pretty expressive when members of the party let us down. We might carry a little water, but as a group, I bet the Republican establishment thought of us as more as a pain in the neck than an asset during the last campaign season. I know I won’t be on George Allen’s Christmas card list.

One of the excellent attributes of Shut Up and Sing is that it lets the cards fall where they may and really doesn't try to spin the Chicks themselves. It's quite possible, then, to watch the film and come to the conclusion that Natalie Maines has a big mouth. Spectacularly talented, the young singer is also a spectacular blowhard, and documentarian Barbara Kopple almost subversively focuses on Maines blabbering away at meetings without a serious thought in her head, no impulse control anywhere in sight, and, for some reason, always supine, as if her great status grants her the right to encounter the world from bed.

In the new Congress next year, Democrats will push a revenue paygo. This means any new spending initiatives could be financed through higher taxes. And Democrats want to spend. Just take a look at their wish list: student loan subsidies, a major expansion of No Child Left Behind, more money to fill so-called “doughnut hole” (Medicare Part D) prescription-drug assistance, and an expansion of health care for the uninsured on the way to universal health coverage.

This person should have experience in coordinating field operations, including canvassing, recruiting and training volunteers, and developing a field plan. He or she should demonstrate knowledge and skills in managing all aspects of field campaigns; have an ability to interact effectively with staff, volunteers, and other organizations; work effectively as a member of a team; have experience providing guidance to volunteers; and communicate effectively in oral and written forms. Thorough knowledge of union organizing practices and principles is a plus. Reports to Regional Director and manages Resource Center staff. Position will be based in Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Texas. Apply by February 15, 2006.
Source

Unlike donations to the more prevalent 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, donations to a section 501(c)(4) organization are not deductible by the donor under section 170 of the code unless the recipient organization is a volunteer fire department as described in revenue ruling 80-77 or veteran organizations with at least 90% of its membership consisting of war veterans as described in revenue ruling 84-140.

501(c)4 Groups These nonprofits are deemed ideological lobbying organizations under the IRS code. Like 527's, they can spend a significant portion of their funds on political communications though there may be stricter tax penalties. 501(c )4's that do not receive contributions from unions or corporations can claim a special status—often called the MCFL exemption— that allows the group to run issue advertising in the weeks immediately before an election, a tactic now banned for many groups under the new law. These groups file annual tax returns that must be made public, but are not required to disclose their donors.

I am of a generation that takes for granted the fact that capitalism is a good thing. This was not always the case. Milton Friedman, more than any other individual, made it the case.

We forget that there was ever a discussion of this fact. We forget that once, it seemed that capitalism was on the ropes. We forget that there was a battle to be won.

When John Galbraith died, I had a discussion with a friend who'd seen the news. "All these economists," she said, "They're all saying the same thing, it's just where they put the emphasis."

Don't blame her. She majored in Art & Design. But even if she hadn't, well...it's unlikely that anyone born since 1980 would be able to tell you the difference. They forget because they never knew.

Ben Stein once said: "Professor Friedman and his wife stood up for the glory of the rights and choices of the individual. From the individual, not from the state, came creativity, progress, freedom, prosperity. From the state came oppression and stagnation."

Milton’s passion for freedom and liberty has influenced more lives than he ever could possibly know. His writings and ideas have transformed the minds of U.S. Presidents, world leaders, entrepreneurs and freshmen economic majors alike. The loss of his passion, incisive mind and dedication to freedom are all national treasures that we mourn for today.

Those of us who survive, who remain in this fight can – and should – take courage from his example. Few of us will live as long; even fewer will be able to match his achievements. Still, we can continue the struggle, do our part to leave the world a bit better, striving always to advance freedom. And, in doing so, we will benefit greatly from the intellectual ammunition and the personal example he leaves us. For that and much more, we should all mourn and honor this great man.

Mayor Laffey today ordered that Cranston flags be lowered to half-mast to honor the life of Nobel prize-winning economist, Milton Friedman, who passed away today at the age of ninety-four. The Mayor commented, “Milton Friedman’s belief that individual freedom should rule economic policy is inspirational to all of us who truly believe in the American Dream.” Mayor Laffey added that Friedman, “along with Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul, and of course, Ronald Reagan were all part of a team that brought us out of the global malaise of 1970’s and collectively – though in very different ways – contributed to the overwhelming victory of Democracy over Communism.”

Throughout his life, Friedman advanced his ideas with both intelligence and wit. When addressing a crowd of academics, he spoke as a professor would speak to fellow scholars. When speaking to the public, he simplified his arguments. His ability to link abstract theory with concrete detail and wrap both in velvet for his audience made the man an irresistible draw.

Reportedly, while traveling by car during one of his many overseas travels, Friedman spotted scores of road builders moving earth with shovels. When he asked why powerful equipment wasn't used instead of so many laborers, his host told him it was to keep unemployment low. If they used tractors, fewer people would have jobs was his host's logic.

"Then why don't you give them spoons?" Friedman inquired. It was quintessential Friedman: Employment doesn't make us wealthy -- production does.

America has lost one of its greatest citizens. Milton Friedman was a revolutionary thinker and extraordinary economist whose work helped advance human dignity and human freedom.

A champion of limited government and personal freedom, Friedman proposed bold ideas about school choice, tax reductions, and an all-volunteer army that serve as the foundation of many of America's most successful government reforms. His work demonstrated that free markets are the great engines of economic development. His writings laid the groundwork that transformed many of the world's central banks, helping deliver economic stability and improved living standards in countries around the world.

Milton Friedman, a recipient of the Nobel Prize, will be remembered as one of the most influential economists in history. The Nation is grateful for his profound contributions.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Friedman family.

Global-warming skeptics are caught in an awkward Catch-22. If they concede that the earth is getting warmer because of human activity they empower the greens who own this issue. The problem is that many of these greens are actually what the Brits like to call "watermelons" — green on the outside, red on the inside. They assume that any serious problem requires economic planning and "collective action."

Conservatives should reject such intellectual base-stealing. Let's concede for the sake of argument that global warming threatens us in the long run. Do we really think the EPA and the U.N. bureaucracy are the people to stop it? When various societies faced extinction because of over-hunting, the ones that invented animal husbandry and switched from hunting to farming survived. Sure, some Gore-like tribal leaders might have said, "We must eat less deer," but the smart money was on raising your own livestock. Global-warming alarmists love the self-flagellation that comes with declaring human beings in general and capitalistic Western civilization in particular to be the problem. They're less keen on admitting that they might be the solution as well.

Rather than throw a wet blanket on the wealth creation and intellectual vitality that come with markets, why not take a fraction of the billions greens want to spend on mandatory CO2 caps and announce a Kennedyesque plan to create technologies that will mitigate global warming — should it prove to be a problem — by the middle of the century?

More and More Leave Germany Behind

Faced with poor job prospects, high taxes and an intrusive bureaucracy, more and more Germans are choosing to emigrate. Most of those who leave, though, are highly qualified -- which could mean devastating economic consequences.

They are fed up, truly fed up. Fed up with the constant bickering over the costs of wage benefits, social reforms, elimination of subsidies, store closing hours and all the other symbols of a country stuck in bureaucratic and legislative gridlock.

Source

A source close to the investigation says Abramoff told prosecutors that more than $30,000 in campaign contributions to Reid from Abramoff's clients "were no accident and were in fact requested by Reid."

Source

The French economy slumped in the third quarter as the Airbus crisis began to exact its toll, dousing hopes that Europe would take over as world's growth engine as America slows. Growth sank to zero with an accelerating twist down in September as car output fell 3.1pc and overall manufacturing slid 1pc, far worse than expectations.

The shock data comes as the yield curve on euro-zone bonds turned negative for the first time since 2000, flashing a warning signal that has often preceded recessions. France's sudden downturn comes amid signs of flagging growth across the euro-zone following a brief burst of energy this year. Germany and Italy both face fiscal austerity packages in 2007.

Source

The Independent from Connecticut holds the Democratic majority in his hands, and they're praying he has a short memory. Hillary Clinton actively campaigned for Lamont, even if it appeared less than enthusiastic at times. He could help derail her presidential ambitions by making her politically irrelevant for the next session. His home-state colleague, Christopher Dodd, could find himself without a committee chair if Lieberman thinks too hard about Dodd's appearances on Lamont's behalf.

That was fast. A mere two days after Democrats capture Congress claiming they wouldn't raise taxes, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin tells them they should do so anyway.

Mr. Rubin's "fiscal problems" riff is really a rhetorical sleight-of-hand, using future entitlement problems to justify a tax increase today. He knows all too well that not a dime of new revenue raised today would be "saved" or otherwise devoted to paying for future Social Security or Medicare benefits.

Source

The "tolerant" Sir Elton wants to ban religion
Are Secular Militants, or Believers, The Bigger Source of Narrow-Mindedness?
By Michael Medved

When secularists complain about the influence and agenda of religious conservatives they most often focus on the alleged "intolerance" of the Christian right. A recent interview with pop music legend Elton John, however, demonstrates that non-believers will go much further than the faithful in their expressed desire to stifle all dissent.

On Sunday, November 12, Sir Elton told interviewer Jake Shears that he wants to see an organized effort to suppress institutionalized faith. "From my point of view I would ban religion completely," the superstar declared, "even though there are some wonderful things about it...But the reality is that organized religion doesn’t seem to work. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it’s not really compassionate."

It might also be "great" if Sir Elton and other committed secular leftists adopted the same respectful attitude of live-and-let live toward religious believers (those "hateful lemmings") that most of the faithful so readily accord to them. Source

It's 1938 and Iran is Germany; Ahmadinejad is preparing another Holocaust

Drawing a direct analogy between Iran and Nazi Germany, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu asserted Monday that the Iranian nuclear program posed a threat not only to Israel, but to the entire western world. There was "still time," however, to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, he said.

Criticizing the international community in his GA speech for not acting more forcefully in trying to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power - "No one cared then and no one seems to care now," he said, again drawing on the Nazi parallel - Netanyahu warned that Tehran's nuclear and missile program "goes way beyond the destruction of Israel - it is directed to achieve world-wide range. It's a global program in the service of a mad ideology."

Source

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Iran would soon celebrate completion of its nuclear fuel program and claimed the international community was ready to accept it as a nuclear state.

...Shortly after his address to the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, he told Natwar Singh, the Indian foreign minister, that everything would be hunky-dory in two years' time, which Mr. Singh took to mean when Iran's nukes would be ready but which turned out to be the Twelfth Imam's ETA.

"My position is clear," the prime minister said regarding Iran. "If there can be a compromise that will stop Iran short of crossing the technological threshold that will lead them into nuclear capabilities, we will be for such a compromise."

"But I don't believe that Iran will accept such compromise unless they have a very good reason to fear the consequences of not reaching it," explained Olmert. "In other words, Iran must start to fear."

"Earo Saarinen's TWA terminal at JFK is just about the coolest airport structure ever built. It's a relic of the golden age of jet travel, a reminder of the days when 747s had swanky cocktail lounges on the upper deck and 'the Jetsons' lifestyle was the expected future."

Dean was elected. If Carville has a master plan to stage a coup against Dean, I'd love to see it. But I doubt the state party chairs who provided Dean's margin of victory are going to get too torn up about the fact that Dean is helping fund their resurgence.

Carville needs to shut the f**k up. If he wants a war, we'll give him one.

"Since the beginning of this century, French Muslims have been carrying on a low-level intifada against synagogues, kosher butchers, Jewish schools, etc. The concern of the political class has been to prevent the spread of these attacks to targets of more, ah, general interest. If Chirac, de Villepin, and Co. arent' exactly Charles Martel, the rioters aren't doing a bad impression of the Muslim armies of thirteen centuries ago."
- Mark Steyn, America Alone

Students at Calif. College ban Pledge of Allegiance

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Student leaders at a California college have touched off a furor by banning the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, saying they see no reason to publicly swear loyalty to God and the U.S. government.

"This is where we're headed...Laugh if you want; but the reason most scientists (as opposed to poorly educated and poorly paid teachers) believe in evolution is that without “Adam and Eve", there is no “Original Sin", no need for a Savior...hence the Bible is false and they can indulge in whatever perversions they choose...Start being active in your community or expect these petulant Che Guevara types may be coming into your church or synagogue to tell you what to worship..."

"Biggest Story Of The Century: Some Guy You Never Heard Of Is A Homo"

I haven't been this dejected since I found out George Michaels was gay and Nick Rhodes was straight.

OSLO, Norway (AP) - The United Nations ranked Norway as the best country to live in for a sixth consecutive year Thursday, prompting the country's aid minister to tell Norwegians to stop whining about wanting more.

Oil-rich Norway, with its generous welfare state, topped the U.N. Development Program's human development index, based on such criteria as life expectancy, education and income. Iceland was No. 2, followed by Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, Japan and the United States.

The fact is, we thought our country would be better off with a Republican congress. We made a case to the American people. They didn’t buy it because they thought it was a weak case.

And you know what? They were right. In the closing weeks of the campaign season, I felt like I was a lawyer who had a bad client while writing this blog. That client was the Republican Party which had broken its Contract with America from 1994 and had become unmoored from its conservative principles. As its advocate, I couldn’t make a more compelling case for Republicans staying in power than the fact that the Democrats would be worse. I believed in that case, but when that’s all the party gave its advocates to work with, you can honestly conclude that Republicans got this drubbing the old fashioned way – we earned it.

"A retired priest committed suicide by setting himself on fire in a German monastery in protest at the spread of Islam and the Protestant Church’s inability to contain it.

Roland Weisselberg, 73, poured a can of petrol over his head and set light to himself in the grounds of the Augustine monastery in the eastern city of Erfurt, where Martin Luther spent six years as a monk at the beginning of the 16th century."

"Even if we could grant the cut-and-run caucus its fondest wish and remove our presence from Iraq on November 8, we would still be a country at war. The sad fact is there are millions of very dangerous people who loathe us and intend us great harm...What you don’t see on the political right or in the Republican Party is denial. You don’t see a childish worldview that American withdrawal will make us safe. You see a grim if often unstated acknowledgement of our distressing reality – we’re in for a long war, and there will be a lot more blood spilled on all sides before it is done."

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran test-fired dozens of missiles, including the Shahab-3 that can reach Israel, in military maneuvers Thursday that it said were aimed at putting a stop to the role of world powers in the Persian Gulf region.

"The voluminous Stern Report adds disappointingly little to what was already the conventional wisdom – apart from a battery of essentially spurious statistics based on theoretical models and conjectural worst cases. This is clearly no basis for policy decisions which could have the most profound adverse effect on people’s lives, and at a cost which Stern almost certainly underestimates."

The bad blogs are the ones that take on the New York Times. Some of the blogs take a toll on our reporters. One question on our minds is, 'What are the blogs going to say?'...Reporters have to be careful not to pull their punches...There are people dedicated to analyzing and picking apart whatever we say and do, not always in a bad way, but sometimes it's just mean-spirited...The bloggers are after us...we try not to be affected, but foremost in our mind, we know that everything we write will be picked apart...you have to ignore those people that go after you...I'm afraid that blogging...creates problems for people to do their job."

"Having reminded the public of all this, Kerry's slander will also clarify things for many, many Americans.

The Democrats remain the party of Michael Moore, Ned Lamont, Kosputin, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, Dan Rather and Howard Dean.

Any vote for any Democrat is a vote for every one of those folks, and many more besides.

Kerry sent up a flare over the whole Democratic Party. Other Dems and the MSM are trying mightily to put it out. I don't think they will succeed. The silence about Kerry from Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and every high profile Democrat is the loudest noise in American politics tonight.

What cowards not to state the obvious, rebuke Kerry and join the American Legion and countless others in demanding an apology. And what a disaster for the United States if this party achieves a majority in either the House or the Senate.

Any vote for any Democrat is a vote against victory and a vote for vulnerability. It is also a vote against the military."