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My lovely sister sent me an email that contained the following....

This is apparently making it way around the internet without any credits. My hat is off to whomever came up with this.

Posted by Rick | June 19, 2008 01:38 PM | Political Science

The Left Side Of South Dakota

As you may or may not know, I grew up in South Dakota, which is, along with Montana, the site of the final democratic primary tomorrow.

I have never really understood why a mid-western state with so many hard-working, generally well-educated people, a majority of whom go to church every Sunday, would be so liberal. South Dakota is, of course, the state that gave us Democratic senators George McGovern and Tom Daschle. McGovern, as I'm sure you remember, ran for President in 1972 and was crushed by incumbent President Richard Nixon. Hubert Humphrey, who was elected as a senator from Minnesota and ran against Richard Nixon in the 1968 presidential election, was also originally from South Dakota.

The general consensus in the MSM is that Barack Hussein Obama is going to win in South Dakota tomorrow. I hope it doesn't come to pass, not because I'm a Hillary supporter, but because I hope the people of South Dakota can see Obama for what he is - a racist, anti-American with an agenda that would bankrupt us financially at home and politically abroad.

Good luck Hillary! I hope you give the boy from Illinois what for tomorrow.

Posted by Rick | June 2, 2008 11:07 PM | Political Science

Is Bill Clinton In Trouble...Again?

You can read the latest on Bill Clinton in the Vanity Fair article which will hit the newstands this week here.

Posted by Rick | June 2, 2008 10:10 AM | Political Science

Straight Talk Express Now Double Talk Express

Today, in a "I voted against the war, before I voted for it" John Kerry moment, the Republican candidate for President, Senator John McCain, while attempting to distance himself from President Bush, angrily declared that 'never again, never again" would the federal government's response to a tragedy like hurricane Katrina be so inept, all the while proudly defending his votes against funding the relief and reconstruction efforts along the gulf coast in hurricane Katrina's wake.

How can the 'great' Senator McCain condemn the federal government's response to the catastrophe, when, as senator, he voted against sending any funds to the devastated areas, rationalizing his votes against the relief and reconstruction bills because they were laden with extraneous wasteful spending provisions, more commonly known as pork?

Senator McCain, who will normally cross the aisle in the blink of an eye, understands compromise and, just as he did when he went along with the 'gang of 14' which allowed some worthy candidates to the federal bench to be thrown under the bus while getting other federal judgeships approved, could have and should have voted for sending the much needed funds to Katrina victims, while looking the other way at the pork.

Now, because of his forceful "never again, never again" proclamation, one would believe that, as President, McCain would have signed the pork-filled bills if they were sent to him.

McCain voted against the funds for the relief effort as senator, but would have us believe that he would sign the legislation as President? "To be or not to be".... Which is it John boy??

It seems the Straight Talk Express wants to play politics with the Katrina catastrophe and today it became the Double Talk Express.

Posted by Rick | April 24, 2008 10:48 PM | Political Science

Holy Hypocrite

It is being reported that holier-than-thou New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who as New York state attorney general prosecuted at least two prostitution rings, has been caught up in a prostitution scandal of his own. You can read more about his involvement in the prostitution scandal here. We are awaiting a statement from Governor Spitzer as I write this.

Could this have happened to a nicer guy?!

Update: In a very brief statement about the reports of his involvement in what he described as 'a private matter," Governor Spitzer had this to say, in part: "I apologize first and foremost to my family. I apologize to the public to whom I promised better."

No resignation was forthcoming, but because of his low approval ratings and his involvement in the smear campaign he has led against New York state senate majority leader Joseph Bruno, a resignation is almost a certainty.

You can read more about the smear campaign here and here.

Posted by Rick | March 10, 2008 11:56 AM | Political Science

McCain Makes It Official

John McCain made it official tonight winning the primary elections in Ohio and Texas and is the nominee of the Republican party for the 2008 presidential race. As liberal as he is, at least he is not a Communist. Unfortunately, that is the nicest thing I can say about him.

Posted by Rick | March 5, 2008 12:14 AM | Political Science

McCain - The Political Opportunist

Bob Cusack, in an article written for The Hill on 3/28/2007, describes discussions/negotiations Senator John McCain (R-AZ) had with leaders of the Democratic Party in 2001 that would have had McCain leaving the Republican Party, becoming an independent and caucusing with the Democrats.

(Then-Senate minority leader, Tom) "Daschle said that throughout April and May of 2001, he and McCain “had meetings and conversations on the floor and in his office, I think in mine as well, about how we would do it, what the conditions would be. We talked about committees and his seniority … [A lot of issues] were on the table.”"

To be fair, Daschle's claim was denied by McCain's campaign.

In a statement released by his campaign, McCain said, “As I said in 2001, I never considered leaving the Republican Party, period.”

Perhaps McCain was leading the Democrats down the primrose path; perhaps not.

You can read the entire article here and decide for yourself.

Posted by Rick | February 10, 2008 02:02 PM | Political Science

Anybody But McCain

It appears that the Republican party has been taken over by liberals such as John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. While I, as a conservative, have been a proud Republican since my college days, it is becoming increasingly apparent that I need a new, more conservative party to support and be a member of.

I found I could not support Bush '41' in 1992 after he supported NAFTA and broke his no new taxes pledge. Bush '43' has spent like a drunken sailor and refuses to control illegal immigration - he wasted money putting the National Guard on the border with no weapons and no mandate to stop illegals. Exactly how long has it been since the fence was supposed to have been built? McCain will support 'amnesty' for illegals; won't interrogate captured terrorists; will raise taxes à la Bush 41; will continue to support McCain-Feingold; can't be trusted to appoint conservative judges. Where are the conservative Presidential candidates in the Republican party?

We need someone with the courage to veto this crap. Unfortunately, McCain, who if he were to become President, is likely to sign every Democratic program that crosses his desk, including free health care for everyone.

ABM - Anybody but McCain!

Posted by Rick | February 7, 2008 12:58 AM | Political Science

"John MCain - True Conservative" - Another Hillarious Oxymoron

John McCain just can't help himself. The good Senator apparently believes, as most liberals do, that if you say something often enough people will believe it is true, no matter that it is just so much hogwash.

I was watching MSNBC for a couple minutes this afternoon and saw a campaign ad being run by the Senator's own campaign that ended with the full screen saying "John McCain - True Conservative." You can watch the ad here.

This ad shows just how desperate he is to sleep in the White House for the next four years and, not unlike Hillary Clinton, will say anything, absolutely anything, to get there.

Posted by Rick | February 4, 2008 03:03 PM | Political Science

Democrats Lose Best Candidate

Bill Richardson has dropped out of the race for President of the United States. This is a very sad turn of events because he was the most qualified candidate running for office in either party.

After majoring in French and political science at Tufts University, Richardson earned a master's degree in international affairs from Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971. From there he went on to serve for over 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from New Mexico. He then served as the Secretary of Energy and Ambassador to the United Nations in the Clinton administration and is currently the Governor of New Mexico.

That is a resume unrivaled by any of the candidates. Hillary’s experience came to her through osmosis in the rarefied air of the First Lady’s offices in the White House and Barack Hussein Obama is an empty suit, having accomplished virtually nothing during his days as an Illinois legislator and his two years as a U.S. senator. Obama's two years in the U.S. Senate were really more like one year since he normally worked about three days a week in that post.

Unfortunately, the Democrats are blinded by their burning desire to install a woman or an African-American in the White House and gave little support to the one man in either party who was truly qualified to be President.

Posted by Rick | January 10, 2008 10:07 AM | Political Science

John McCain - Too Cute By Half

I have noticed that whenever the subject of immigration comes up, the distinguished senator from Arizona, John McCain, says that we must secure the border first. Unfortunately, he then moves on to the next subject and no one wants to ask him - What would you do with all the illegals after we secure the border?

I believe that McCain still believes that they should all be given amnesty and citizenship. Break the law and the benevolent President McCain would reward the law breakers by giving them all a pass.

If you think America should be the dumping ground every uneducated, unskilled Mexican that can climb, tunnel or sneak into the United States, vote for McCain, but I won't. I can mow my own lawn.

Posted by Rick | January 3, 2008 02:15 AM | Political Science

McCain - Heartless

I had to laugh when I was the latest ad John McCain ran attacking Mitt Romney. He showed radical Muslims burning and blowing stuff up in an effort to say that Romney wouldn't know how to deal with the situation. Unfortunately, McCain wouldn't deal with the situation.

If tough guy McCain were President he has indicated over, and over and over that, should the United States capture even one of the Jihadists, he wouldn't hurt a hair on the scum bag's head in an effort to gain information that might stop further attacks no matter how many Americans, Brits, Aussies, or Spaniards might be in harms way. John McCain would let 9/11 happen again, and again, and again before he would lay a glove on an a prisoner of war.

John McCain would let them blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago. John McCain would let them blow up the Empire State Building. John McCain would let them fly a plane into a stadium during the Super Bowl. John McCain would let them behead you, your wife, your children and your dog. John McCain would let us all die rather than waterboard even one enemy combatant.

Give me anybody but John McCain. He just doesn't have the heart.

Posted by Rick | January 3, 2008 01:56 AM | Political Science

Liberals Love McCain

The liberal media is once again touting the candidacy of Senator John McCain (D R-AZ). They would love for the liberal McCain to represent the Republicans in the Presidential election next November.

Unfortunately, no Republican with more than a pea-sized brain could ever support McCain. I defy any conservative to name one policy McCain supported that would justify their vote. (Being a prisoner-of-war is not a policy.)

McCain championed the free-speech limiting McCain-Feingold legislation, opposed President Bush's tax cuts, supported "comprehensive" (read amnesty) immigration reform, and has refused, time and again, to support any form of interrogation technique that might actually protect American lives,

Senator McCain is a liberal in what is supposed to be a conservative political party. He really should, in order to be true to his beliefs, change his political party - and sooner rather than later.

Posted by Rick | December 28, 2007 12:17 AM | Political Science

Blame America First Crowd Blames U.S. For Bhutto Assassination

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated earlier today while she attended a political rally by a suicide bomber who shot her and then sent himself to hell by blowing himself up.

Left wingers on the internet, the radio and the television are putting forth the absurd argument that the United States is to blame for supporting Ms. Bhutto. Of course, their hatred for President Bush is clouding their judgment.

It’s not as if the political rallies Ms. Bhutto insisted on attending were in a secure location where all of the attendees went through metal detectors and were scrutinized by bomb-sniffing dogs. Those political rallies are held out in the open where virtually anyone could be targeted very easily by the fanatical Muslims. Even Ms. Bhutto’s pleas for more security while she attended these political rallies were unrealistic. There was no security under those circumstances that would have been able to thwart an attack such as this.

The radical Muslims had a vested interest in destabilizing the government in Pakistan. They did not want a woman in power, and certainly not a woman who was educated in, and friendly to, the United States. They want their Muslim clerics running the country just as they do in Iran.

Posted by Rick | December 28, 2007 12:05 AM | Political Science

Ocean Front Property In Arizona? Who You Gonna Believe?

If you are worried about the sea level rising as glaciers and the polar ice cap melt, read this interview.

Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner is the head of the Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics department at Stockholm University in Sweden. He is past president (1999-2003) of the INQUA Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution, and leader of the Maldives Sea Level Project. Dr. Mörner has been studying the sea level and its effects on coastal areas for some 35 years.

You can believe Dr. Nils-Axel Mörner or you can believe Al Gore. Personally, I'm not planning on investing in any ocean front property in Arizona.

Posted by Rick | October 21, 2007 02:48 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies

What To Expect From President Thompson...

Apparently former U.S. senator Fred Thompson doesn't hold a very high regard for the office to which he aspires.

Thompson was a senator during the impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton. Unfortunately, when it came time to vote on the two counts of the impeachment, the senator from Tennessee voted not to convict President Clinton of perjury. Of course, everyone knows President Clinton lied through his teeth again and again - straight to the American people on television and under oath. He lied about Paula Jones and he lied about Monica Lewinsky. Yet the good senator couldn't bring himself to convict the Liar in Chief of perjury.

I am puzzled by his vote. He voted with all the pseudo-Republicans not to convict. Susan Collins (R-ME), John H. Chaffee (R-RI), Slade Gorton (R-WA), James M. Jeffords (R-VT), Richard C. Shelby (R-AL), Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), Arlen Spector (R-PA), Ted Stevens (R-AK), and John W. Warner (R-VA ). You can see the entire vote here.

Is this what he expects of the President of the United States? Is this what we can expect from him if we elect him to that high office?

Sometimes there are deal breakers and this is one of them for me. I would rather have Hillary to kick around for 4 years than a Judas like Fred Thompson in the White House. If Fred Thompson is the Republican nominee I will vote, but I will vote for the Libertarian candidate.

Posted by Rick | October 20, 2007 05:01 AM | Political Science

Democrats Are Off The Reservation

MoveOn.org's now infamous General Petraeus ad was about what you would expect to come from George Soros. He is as anti-American as you can get. Can you say communist?

Hillary Clinton's latest vote buying scheme is so ludicrous I wasn't going to mention it, but really Hillary - $5,000 to every baby born in America! That really is pandering to the lowest common denominator.

Barack Obama has removed the American flag lapel pin as a protest against the war. Who does he think he is, John Kerry?

These guys are just too funny.

Posted by Rick | October 6, 2007 06:13 AM | Political Science

McCain Would Let New York City Become Another Chernobyl

I watched the Republican debate on Fox News tonight and Senator John McCain (D-AZ) talked tough on spending, immigration and the war on terrorism. Unfortunately, the tough talking Senator said that he would allow America to become a waste land before he would torture someone to stop a nuclear bomb from going off in America.

The good Senator should go home and leave the tough work of governing to someone with the balls to protect us.

Posted by Rick | September 5, 2007 08:23 PM | Political Science

Is Fred Thompson The Second Coming Of Ronald Reagan?

While comparisons of Ronald Reagan and Fred Thompson are constantly made because both were actors before they became prominent politicians, I think the similarity ends there.

Ronald Reagan was a big picture politician and had a burning desire to become president. After running (and losing) in the primaries in 1976 against incumbent President Gerald Ford, Reagan continued his quest for the presidency virtually non-stop until the elections in 1980.

On the other hand, the vision for Fred Thompson's candidacy seems to come from the day dreams of the media rather than the candidate himself. After listening to Thompson's speeches it is quite apparent that Fred has no substantive vision for his candidacy or the nation.

If and when Thompson does actually declare for the presidency, it will be the highlight of his campaign. It will all be downhill from there.

Posted by Rick | September 5, 2007 11:46 AM | Political Science

Sex In The Big City Restroom

After being accused of attempting to solicit sex in the men's room at the Minneapolis Airport, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) submitted his guilty plea to a charge of disorderly conduct, paid $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year, while a sentence of 10 days in the county workhouse was stayed.

Today Senator Craig went before the cameras and proclaimed his innocence. Excuse me while I puke. The guy is as gay as Elton John and as guilty as Bill Clinton.

The Democrats have already begun their hue and cry for Senator Craig to resign. They should sit down and shut up. They have no moral authority to call for anyone to resign after allowing President Clinton to remain in office after he chased a lowly intern named Monica Lewinsky around the oval office, then lied about it under oath. (Thank God for the 'blue dress'.)

I, having never cheated on my wife or skulked around public restrooms looking for anonymous sex, do have the moral authority to ask for this lowlife to call it a day.

Having disgraced himself and the office of United States Senator, this scumbag should go home to Idaho and never show his face in public again. We do not need our United States Senators running around public restrooms searching for illicit sex. Leave that to George Michael.

Senator Craig, resign NOW!

Posted by Rick | August 28, 2007 11:47 PM | Political Science

Stick A Fork In McCain, He's Done!

With virtually no money left in his campaign coffers, and no support from the right, John McCain is now trying to revive his campaign today by pandering to the left and the moderates, promising he would close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, and guaranteeing that the United States would never torture anyone else if we would only elect him President.

In all honesty, the detention center lovingly referred to as Gitmo, where they house the illegal combatants, is little more than a country club. Special meals are actually flown in from Las Vegas at a cost of over $12 per day per prisoner, which is more than four times the cost of feeding prisoners in our federal prison system.

Remember the pranks they pulled at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq that had every bleeding heart liberal screaming bloody murder? That wasn't torture. That was fraternity hazing at best, and, I must say, not all that imaginative.

McCain believes torture doesn't work. I say, tomatoes. If John McCain believes he was tortured while he was a prisoner-of-war, again I say, tomatoes. Relatively speaking, the North Vietnamese treated him with kid gloves because he was the son of an admiral in the U.S. Navy - an admiral who happened to command the U.S. forces in the Pacific during the Vietnam war. The North Vietnamese were going to make sure that he left the Hanoi Hilton in one piece, and he did.

The good senator must not watch any movies, because all you have to do is watch a couple good gangster movies to know that with a little imagination and the right tools (hammers, nails, vice-grips, a couple scalpels, a high-speed drill, and a kitchen-type blow torch) you could have someone begging to tell you everything, yes, everything he knew about anything you asked, and sooner rather than later.

You don't believe me?

Let's play make believe.

It's 8 A.M. and we believe you know where a dirty bomb has been hidden. We also believe the bomb will go off at 1 P.M.. This is a dirty bomb that, if it explodes, will make a ghost town out of downtown Manhattan and will certainly kill thousands of Americans slowly, and painfully.

John McCain and I will be your interrogators and we want to know exactly where the dirty bomb has been hidden.

Senator McCain gets first crack at you, the scum bag Muslim jhadist.

Tough guy McCain wants to know where the bomb is and in his ever so forceful voice asks you politely to tell him where the bomb is. You're a tough guy too and you forcefully, yet politely, decline to answer.

McCain implores you to please tell him where the bomb is. He knows you are a reasonable Muslim jhadist and, because of his good looks and engaging personality, is sure you will gladly tell him where the bomb has been hidden. You admit to him that he was very convincing but you just can't bring yourself to tell him where the bomb is.

You can hear the frustration in McCain's tough guy voice as he screams at you, "Tell me where the bomb is, or else." (He knows that when his mother said "or else" she really meant business and it always worked on him.) He is beginning to wear you down, but you manage to say nothing.

McCain is getting serious now. He pounds on the desk and threatens to put you in jail forever. You admit to yourself that McCain was pretty persuasive in his argument and he almost got you to talk. Fortunately, you were able to bite your tongue.

With nothing left to say to you, the almost persuasive John McCain went to lunch, leaving you alone to reflect on the impending destruction.

Fortunately for you, the tight lipped jhadist, but unfortunately for Americans, you believe that your plan will now succeed. Presidential wanna-be McCain is willing to let the bomb go off since he couldn't convince you in a humane, civilized and politically correct way that it is better for everyone if you tell him where the bomb is. He believes we are too honorable to mistreat anyone, for any reason, and by the way, doesn't want us to forget the Geneva Conventions.

As they say on the internet...roflmao (roll on floor laughing my ass off).

I, on the other hand, am not willing to put the life, limb, or politically correct feelings of a scum bag terrorist like you ahead of the life or well-being of a single American and am bound and determined to get the information. I believe that we won't have a civilization if we are not prepared to do whatever is necessary to defend and protect our country. Unfortunately for you, the scum bag jhadist, I will do anything, and everything, in my power to find out where you put that bomb.

Let's get down to some serious questioning. Please tell me where that bomb is I politely ask? You reply that you don't want to hurt my feelings but my interrogation tactics just won't work on you. You have already been interrogated by the most convincing person you can imagine. You are a really tough guy and you are just not willing to tell me anything about the bomb.

Now I am more determined than ever to find out where that bomb is. Maybe I can convince you.

Let's start by pulling out your fingernails and your toenails without benefit of anesthesia, of course. (No good interrogator would ever use anesthesia.) You politely tell me that torture won't work on you and this "run-of-the-mill torture" certainly won't make you spill your guts?

With frustration beginning to show in my voice, I politely ask you where the bomb is as I drill your teeth. After all 28 teeth were drilled (your wisdom teeth were extracted as a child you tell me), you admit the pain was excruciating but still give no indication that you are prepared to tell me the location of that darn bomb.

What is an interrogator to do? I pull out your teeth, but some are unfortunately broken off before they can be extracted. Again, although you have a little difficulty speaking, you very politely decline to answer my questions about the bomb. You truly are a tough guy.

I am getting serious now. Let's see if crushing your fingers and toes one at a time with a sledge hammer will motivate you to talk. Mum's the word? Now "Don't worry," I say. You don't look too good, can't hold anything and probably don't feel like standing up, but you're still alive. I have to admit you are one tough jhadist.

Perhaps having your knee caps and elbows broken with a ball peen hammer will loosen you tongue. Bush (no pun intended) league torture you say. OK. That's no problem, because I'm just getting warmed up and I haven't felt a thing.

As I clean off my pall peen hammer, I wonder aloud if ten-penny nails driven into the bottom of your feet will loosen your tongue. "Loose lips sink ships," you mumble to me through your broken teeth. Wow! You're a better man than me.

Let's try crushing your testicles with a vice-grip. Cat still got your tongue? "You're a pretty tough cookie," I mutter to myself. "That jhadist training is amazing,"

I'm ready for lunch and I am down to my last couple of tricks. Creme brule anyone? Let's see if melting your eyeballs with a blowtorch will induce you to tell me what I want to know. Haven't spilled your guts yet? HOLY PROPHET! That eyeball thing usually gets them every time.

I have one last trick up my sleeve...

I politely threaten to kill you and bury you in the belly of a pig. Oh My God! I knew that would get you. You tell me where the bomb is and even tell me where I can find your first born child.

After I rush off and defuse the bomb, I'm hungry and a little tired so I go to lunch. At lunch I see John McCain getting ready to begin his new career as a public servant. (He is taking out the garbage - a job for which he is truly suited.)

To recap: That is what I call torture, and it will get us the information we need to save American lives and the American way of life.

Would you like to bet your life on it? If you want to make that bet, go ahead - donate to, and vote for, John McCain for President. In the end, it won't matter. The American people have seen and heard enough of John McCain.

Stick a fork in him, he's done!

Posted by Rick | July 14, 2007 11:05 PM | Political Science

Bush Wimps Out Again

Today President Bush completed another job half-heartedly half way. Unfortunately, instead of pardoning I. Lewis 'Scotter' Libby, Vice-president Cheney's former chief-of-staff who was convicted of lying about a non-crime, Bush decided he would commute Libby's 30 month jail term, but left standing 2 years of probation and a $250,000 fine. Here is the news release as posted on the White House website:

Statement by the President On Executive Clemency for Lewis Libby

White House News

Grant of Executive Clemency

The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby's request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself over to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence.

I have said throughout this process that it would not be appropriate to comment or intervene in this case until Mr. Libby's appeals have been exhausted. But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.

From the very beginning of the investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame's name, I made it clear to the White House staff and anyone serving in my administration that I expected full cooperation with the Justice Department. Dozens of White House staff and administration officials dutifully cooperated.

After the investigation was under way, the Justice Department appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel in charge of the case. Mr. Fitzgerald is a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged.

This case has generated significant commentary and debate. Critics of the investigation have argued that a special counsel should not have been appointed, nor should the investigation have been pursued after the Justice Department learned who leaked Ms. Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak. Furthermore, the critics point out that neither Mr. Libby nor anyone else has been charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act, which were the original subjects of the investigation. Finally, critics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury.

Others point out that a jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice. They argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable. They say that had Mr. Libby only told the truth, he would have never been indicted in the first place.

Both critics and defenders of this investigation have made important points. I have made my own evaluation. In preparing for the decision I am announcing today, I have carefully weighed these arguments and the circumstances surrounding this case.

Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison, two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.

I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.

My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting.

The Constitution gives the President the power of clemency to be used when he deems it to be warranted. It is my judgment that a commutation of the prison term in Mr. Libby's case is an appropriate exercise of this power.

When is Bush going to stand up against this crap served up by the left? My guess is NEVER.

Posted by Rick | July 2, 2007 09:21 PM | Political Science

Freedom Of Speech As Long As It's From The Left

This morning, July 2, 2007, I watched an unbelievable interview of Paul Krugman, New York Times op-ed columnist, by Darby Dunn on CNBC. I took the time to transcribe it because I found Mr. Krugman, a well paid member of the left wing press, so hypocritical in his approach to freedom of the press. Apparently Mr. Krugman believes that the only good press is a leftist press, and in his interview he is shown to be a typical leftist who would like to suppress the speech of someone who doesn’t agree with him and his communist friends. Next week he will be leading the charge to bring back 'The Fairness Doctrine" along side Senators Kerry, Boxer and Durbin.

DD: What if you could not trust a news outlet to give you the whole truth? Should you then allow the person controlling that company to buy another media outlet? That is the question raised by Paul Krugman in his New York Times column “The Murdoch Factor.”

Mr. Krugman joins us now.

Paul, the Murdock in question, of course, is Rupert Murdoch. The news outlet he’s trying to buy is Dow Jones which publishes the Wall Street Journal. So you’re saying you think he should not be allowed to buy that newspaper , and if so, why?

PK: Well, you know there’s no, legally he had the right. So the question is really whether pressure can be brought, moral pressure mostly, on the Bancroft family. You know there’s a lot of discussion about, speculation about how Murcoch would run the Wall Street Journal if he gets it. Amazingly, there’s very little discussion of how he actually runs his most distinctive news outlet, which is Fox News, and it is, you know, worse than you can imagine. We have hard evidence that Fox has been a, both a biased and a cheapened news outlet, and there is every reason to think that he would bring at least some of that to the Wall Street Journal, which although it is a competitor to my employer, is in fact is one of America’s handful of really great national newspapers.

DD: And don’t you think that he recognizes that? That that is one of the nation’s great newspapers, and so that he would be reticent to change it into something of a, like a tabloid.

PK: Well, there’s some hope on that but, you know, do you really want to trust in that, and the fact of the matter is, look, he may believe that, that cheapened inaccurate news sells, he may even be right about that. It’s a problem. Also he has given pretty clear signals that he intends to change the Journal in ways that will make it worse, I mean, from my point of view certainly. He said, you know, that he thinks that the non-business news reporting is too liberal, so he has already made it clear that he intends to move the reporting in a partisan direction. And let’s not forget, you of all people should be aware that Murdoch is planning a Fox business channel because he believes CNBC is insufficiently pro business. So you’ve got a, you know, is this the person you really want taking over one of America’s two great national newspapers and its premier business news source

DD: You raised a question in your column of possibly congressional hearings; some kind of public outcry. But we haven’t heard anything like that. Why not?
PK: You know if you were a politician... First of all, it’s moving kind of fast . It’s... I have to admit, there isn’t a whole lot of time. The other thing, if you’re a politician, there’s always the problem of dealing with the media. You’ve got to worry that you yourself are going to get unfavorable coverage. One of the problems that Democrats have certainly had is trying to get their own members to say look, Fox is not a legitimate news outlet, which it’s not. But those same members are hoping for face time on Fox TV.

DD: Now they are trying to hammer out some kind of agreement on editorial direction for the paper, the Bancroft family, before they actually go ahead and favor a sale of Dow Jones, So I would assume you're of the mind that Murdoch’s not going to honor any kind of agreement like that?

PK: Well, there’s been back and forth about what the agreement actually entails, but it sure sounds as if it’s not going to be enough. As if, you know, there might be some, some residual power to block appointments, but in the end, and this is from Murdoch’s track record, in the end he will be a position to very much shape the paper. It’s one of those things that would almost certainly be nothing but a paper protection, a hypothetical protection that won’t actually prevent it from doing exactly what he wants to do.

DD: Paul, in your column you highlight some interesting statistics about readers and viewers and whether they’re misinformed on certain things. Can you share some of the highlights from the statistics.

PK: Sure. I mean that was the really stunning thing. This is in the fall of 2003, after we had failed to find WMD in Iraq; after basically the rationale for the war had turned out to be wrong. 80 per cent of Fox news viewers, people who got their news primarily from Fox, believed one of three completely wrong things about the war; that we found WMD, actually found them; that we found clear evidence that Sadam and Al Quaeda had been in cahoots; or that world opinion supported the US invasion of Iraq. You know those were totally false things, but 80% of Fox news viewers believed at least one of those things compared with only a little over 20% of people who got their news from National Public Radio. That, you know that, I like statistics like that because we can go back and forth, he said, she said, about whether Fox news is actually biased, but if you can show that people who get their news there have got a seriously warped version of the news, that kind of settles the question. My other favorite thing, just you know, Fox has basically ramped down coverage of Iraq as things have failed to go the way they wanted, They can no longer pretend that’s its just liberal media reporting, failing to report the good news. So there is this wonderful statistic that in the first quarter of this year, Fox News daytime, which is the most distinctive, Fox News daytime spent almost three times as much time covering Anna Nicole Smith as it did covering the Iraq war and all the debates around the war.

DD: That Anna Nicole Smith story did get a lot of coverage by all of the networks I must say. We’re out of time though Paul. Thank you very much for coming in. Paul Krugman, New York Times op-ed columnist.

Posted by Rick | July 2, 2007 09:14 PM | Political Science

New Math In The Senate

Senator Teddy "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy (D-MA) spoke yesterday after the crushing defeat of the comprehensive immigration reform bill claiming that a minority of the Senate had stopped it from passing. From the Congressional Record:

Immigration reform is an opportunity to be true to our ideals as a nation. Our Declaration of Independence announces that all of us are created equal. Today, we failed to live up to that declaration for millions of men and women who live, work, and worship beside us. But our ideals are too strong to be held back for long. Martin Luther King had a dream that children would be judged solely by ‘‘the content of their character.’’ Today, we failed to make that dream come true for the children of immigrants. But that dream will never die. It has the power to overcome the most bitter opposition I believe we will soon succeed where we failed today, and that we will enact the kind of comprehensive reform that our ideals and national security demand. Soon, word will echo across the country about the consequences of today’s vote. The American people will know that a minority of the Senate blocked a record investment in border security.

H.L. Mencken said that for every complex problem, there is a simple solution—and it is wrong. A minority in the Senate has employed a simple label against this bill—amnesty—and they
were wrong, too. A minority in the Senate rejected a stronger economy that is fairer to our
taxpayers and our workers. A minority of the Senate rejected America’s own extraordinary immigrant history and ignored our Nation’s most urgent needs.

Of course, if Senator Kennedy was less busy worrying about where he was going to get his next case of scotch and more interested in the basic math of the situation, he would have noted the the cloture vote on the bill failed by a majority vote of the senators (46-53).

Note to Senator Teddy "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy: The 12 million or so ILLEGAL ALIENS do not have a right to invade our country willy-nilly. We are a country of laws, and we have laws governing immigration. No one has a right to come here and live - it is a priviledge that we grant to some of those who apply legally.

The government, that you are a part of, has a duty to secure our borders and return people who are here illegally to their country of origin. Get to it!

Posted by Rick | June 29, 2007 09:54 AM | Political Science

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill Crushed

Senate majority leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), although disappointed that the comprehensive immigration reform bill was defeated on a cloture vote (46-53), was glad that new friends were made and newfound trust was abundant in the Senate. From the Congressional Record after the crushing defeat of the cloture vote on the comprehensive immigration reform bill:

The majority leader is recognized.

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the vote has been cast. As I told a number of my Republican friends, even though the vote is disheartening to me in many ways, I think as a result of this legislative
work we have done in the last several months on this legislation, there have been friendships developed that were not there before, trust initiated that did not exist before. I say to my friends, Democrats and Republicans, this is a legislative issue. It will come back; it is only a question of when. We are only 6 months into this Congress. We have so much to do. Hopefully, this lesson we have all learned will be one where we recognize we have to work more closely together. I hope we can do that. I say to all of you, thank you very much for your patience—
the phone calls I have made; if I twisted arms, it was not very often. I so appreciate—I think I speak for all of us—being able to be part of this great Senate where we are able to participate
in decisions such as this.

What a load of crapola. The Democrats have been nothing more than obstructionists for the seven years George Bush has been President.

The fact is that Americans could see through the rhetoric by the President, Senator Teddy "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy (D-MA) and others who could not wait to give away our sovereignty. The phone calls, emails, letters, and the decibel level on talk radio put the fear of God into the Senate and America is still a sovereign nation.

Hopefully the President will now get off his throne and protect the border, as is his mandate. He should immediately hire more border patrol agents and, while the new agents are being trained, give the national guard that are currently on the border some ammunition and a true mission statement to PROTECT the border, not just watch it.

Unfortunately, I doubt if the President will get the message. He has become more clueless than his father.

Posted by Rick | June 28, 2007 10:05 AM | Political Science

Coulter On Injustice In America

Ann Coulter chimes in on 'injustice in America' with an article you can read here.

Posted by Rick | June 26, 2007 11:36 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies

R.I.P. Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Now that the comprehensive immigration reform bill is dead, President Bush can get down to business and SECURE THE BORDER!!!

Posted by Rick | June 8, 2007 01:36 AM | Political Science

Brothers-In-Arms

Hugo Chavez, Danny Glover, and John Edwards = Brothers-In-Arms!?

Glover visited Chavez in Argentina and proclaimed them brothers.

Now Edwards and Glover are appearing together promoting Edwards for President.

Edwards, playing all the angles, must figure he can always represent Chavez' Citgo if he loses in his bid for the presidency. How can he lose? After all, he could really use a bigger house.

Posted by Rick | June 7, 2007 02:50 AM | Political Science

McCain On Immigration And Border Control

Although he was accused of being too busy running for President to actively negotiate the latest 'comprehensive' (read amnesty) immigration package, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is 'proud' to have been a part of the newest proposal for amnesty for 12 million ILLEGAL aliens. From TheHill.com:

One senator who lent his presence yesterday was John McCain (R-AZ), who has distanced himself from the negotiating table as he prepares to stress a borders-first approach for his presidential run. McCain chose his words carefully, telling reporters he is “proud to have been a small part” of the talks.

Of course, Senator Teddy "Chappaquiddick' Kennedy (D-MA) is ecstatic because 90% of the ILLEGAL aliens will eventually register as Democrats when they become citizens. Why? Because the Democratic party will always attract 90% of all the low-lifes.

McCain may just as well join the ILLEGAL aliens and register as a Democrat because he is finished in the Republican party.

The Bush presidency is imploding on the issue of immigration as well.

While his Daddy's Waterloo was "Read my lips, NO NEW TAXES," Bush 43's immigration policy or lack thereof will ultimately lead to the Republican party's demise and the country's fiscal ruination.

Unfortunately, I believe history will show that although the war in Iraq defined the Bush '43' presidency in the short term, Bush's unwillingness to control the borders in any meaningful way during his presidency and his unconscionable support of a policy legitimizing millions of illegal aliens who will bring anarchy to our streets and bankrupt our society after his term in office will be his true legacy.

Posted by Rick | May 22, 2007 03:14 AM | Political Science

It's Official - "Republican" John McCain Is A Candidate For President

To no one's surprise, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) announced today that he is running for President of the United States. The problem is that Republican Republican-in-name-only McCain is running in the wrong party. McCain has absolutely no hope of occupying the West Wing of the White House as a Republican. He has told those of us in the conservative base of the Republican party to stick it where the sun don't shine on a host of issues but now wants, and desperately needs, our support. Fortunately, we're not as dumb as he looks.

Over the next few days, I will be delving into Senator McCain's positions on campaign finance, abortion, gun control, immigration, drilling for oil, tax cuts, supreme court nominees, and terrorist interrogations.

Stay tuned.

Posted by Rick | April 25, 2007 06:37 PM | Political Science

Libby vs. Berger...No Contest

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/03/berger_libby_a_tale_of_two_cri.html

Posted by Rick | March 13, 2007 10:41 AM | Political Science

Too Cold For Any Outrage

As a cold wave sweeps across a large section of the United States, also-ran Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), put both feet in his big mouth this week when, in an interview with the New York Observer, he said:

"I mean you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy. I mean, that's storybook."

Unless I somehow missed it, there was not one of the usual suspects from the African-American community, no Jesse Jackson, no Al Sharpton, no Kweisi Mfume, no CongresswomanSheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), no Louis Farrakhan from the Nation of Islam, on TV expressing their usual outrage at slights, real or imagined. No one could be found demanding Biden resign from the senate, or even withdraw from the presidential race. They were all MIA..

Apparently it was just too cold for any outrage this week. I guess brain-freeze got to them.

For more information on the the founder of the Nation of Islam see: Elijah Muhammad, also known as Elijah Poole. Louis Abdul Farrakhan is aka Louis Eugene Walcott, aka Prince Charmer, aka Calypso Louie. Former President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAACP Kweisi Mfume is aka Frizzell Gray.

Posted by Rick | February 3, 2007 09:28 AM | Political Science

Do You Hear That Sucking Sound?

No, it is not Monica Lewinsky!

That loud sucking sound is the mainstream media (MSM) sucking all the air out of everyone's presidential campaign except that of former first lady, now Senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY).

Media darlings, Senators Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ), have even been forgotten since Hillary announced the formation of her presidential exploratory committee 8 days ago.

The really big news that mega-wealthy George Soros, major financier of MoveOn.org, Air America Radio, and other liberal outlets, had abandoned Hillary in favor of BHO got only fleeting mention in the media this past week.

Hillary is the MSM's choice as Bush's heir apparent and I believe that unless and until some catastrophe befalls her campaign, the other announced candidates will receive little or no attention.

Posted by Rick | January 28, 2007 07:08 AM | Political Science

Drooling In Vain

It is almost official. It has come as no surprise to anyone that Senator (and former first lady) Hillary Clinton (D-NY) announced today that she will form an exploratory committee in her bid to win the Presidency in 2008. Her announcement said in part:

I'm in. And I'm in to win.

Today I am announcing that I will form an exploratory committee to run for president.

And I want you to join me not just for the campaign but for a conversation about the future of our country -- about the bold but practical changes we need to overcome six years of Bush administration failures.

I am going to take this conversation directly to the people of America, and I'm starting by inviting all of you to join me in a series of web chats over the next few days.

The stakes will be high when America chooses a new president in 2008.

With the formation of this committee, Senator Clinton will now be able to officially raise funds in her bid to retake the White House living quarters.

Of course the mainstream media (MSM) has been breathlessly speculating about this for years and now that Barack Hussein Obama has also formed an exploratory committee, they have begun drooling about a Hillary/Obama ticket.

Unfortunately, the MSM might as well put away their drool buckets. When (not if) Hillary wins the Democratic nomination, she will not name the freshman senator from Illinois as her running mate.

Although the MSM would love a white woman and a black man on the Democratic ticket, it just won't happen with these two in 2008. Obama's lack of any real experience in big time politics will not affect Hillary's decision. The fact that he is one of the laziest senators in Washington and has managed to accomplish virtually nothing in the short time he has been in the Senate will not affect Hillary's decision.

Hillary's decision will be based solely on the fact that Obama is a black man from Illinois and, as such, brings nothing to the table.

Hillary, 'the smartest woman in America,' knows that she can already rely on receiving 90% of the black vote in America. Even if that could be improved upon, the fact is that there are some Democrats, especially in the South, who would not be caught dead voting for a black man thus offsetting any potential gains in the black community.

Hillary also knows that the corrupt Democratic machine in Chicago will assure her of the Illinois electoral college votes. Why does she need Obama?

The only reason she could possibly have to name Obama would be to satisfy the MSM, but the MSM can stop drooling, because Hillary will raise so much money she won't need any free publicity from the liberal press.

Obama will have to win the Democratic nomination on his own in the future if he expects to ever occupy the White House and that will not happen in 2008. Hillary won't let it happen.

Posted by Rick | January 20, 2007 11:13 PM | Political Science

The Search For Mediocrity

John Bolten, who did a phenomenal job in his tenure as Ambassador to the United Nations as a recess appointee, silenced his many of his critics.

Today, when it became apparent that the Democrats, in their never-ending search for mediocrity, were going to once again block a vote on his appointment as United Nations Ambassador, Ambassador Bolten announced his resignation, effective at the end of the year. It will be difficult to find anyone as determined as Ambassador Bolten was to reform the morass at the cesspool of bigotry and corruption called the United Nations.

The Democrats would like nothing better than to have President Bush appoint someone like Clinton appointees Madeleine K. Albright (2/93 - 1/97) or Bill Richardson (2/97 - 9/98) who served faithfully in the United Nations as pieces of furniture.

I am hopeful that the President can find someone with as much fire in his belly for United Nation's reform as Ambassador Bolten.

Posted by Rick | December 4, 2006 10:19 PM | Political Science

Republican Nightmare Becomes Reality

Oh My God!! The Democrats have won control of the House of Representatives, and, as of 11:42 P.S.T., the count is exactly even in the Senate 49-49. Unfortunately, the Republican candidates in Virginia (Allen) and Montana (Burns) are both trailing their Democratic opponents in the last two undecided senatorial elections.

A bit of humor was provided by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), soon to be majority leader in the Senate, who said during an interview with Fox News' Carl Cameron that he was prepared to put away the partisan politics and work with the Bush administration. Rest assured, nothing will be further from the truth when the Democrats take control come January 2007.

The Democrats have no new ideas; have no will to address pressing problems such as social security and illegal immigration; have no intention of allowing President Bush to address Islamo-fascism in any significant way.

What the Democrats will do is make sure we cannot listen to Islamo-fascists calling one another; will make sure we cannot interrogate terrorists effectively; will make sure that class warfare continues over taxation; will make sure that the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico continues unabated across our southern border.

Truth be told, the President and the Republicans in Congress have no one to blame but themselves because, although they gave lip service to their concerns about our national problems, they refused to make tough political choices and address the above-mentioned problems.

Posted by Rick | November 7, 2006 11:41 PM | Political Science

Senator Kerry Confirms His Hatred Of The Military

On December 6, 2005, WorldNetDaily reported,

"In accusations about American troops reminiscent of what the young John Kerry said to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971, the senator and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee told CBS "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer there was no reason for U.S. soldiers to continue "terrorizing" Iraqi children.

"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the – of – the historical customs, religious customs," Kerry said Sunday. "Whether you like it or not ... Iraqis should be doing that."

On Monday, October 30, 2006, in a speech at California's Pasadena City College Kerry said, "We're here to talk about education, but I want to say before - you know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't you get stuck in Iraq."

Then on Tuesday in response to calls he apologize for the remarks he made on Monday, Kerry defiantly said, "I apologize to no one for my criticism of the President and his broken policies."

And he went on, "My statement yesterday, and the White House knows this full well, was a botched joke about the President and the President's people, not about the troops."

On Wednesday, amid a torrent of calls from within his own party that he apologize, comes this "statement" posted on his official government web site:

As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop.

I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended.

It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops.

Unfortunately, Kerry keeps spinning his comments as a "joke," and seems to feel that the only way you could have been offended by his remarks were if you "misinterpreted" his remarks. The truth is that Kerry looks down his long nose at those in the military, and generally hates the military.

In response to the remarks Senator Kerry made this week a group of soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard stationed in Iraq made up the following poster which speaks for itself.

Posted by Rick | November 1, 2006 11:38 PM | Political Science

Election Guide 2006

It's now less than three weeks before nationwide elections to elect all 435 of our representatives to the House of Representatives and 33 senators to the Senate. I have compiled a voting guide to help you decide how to vote.

If you think we should worry more about how we treat the terrorists we have captured than we worry about the lives and safety of our American citizens, vote Democratic.

If you think we can talk our enemies out of their efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, vote Democratic.

If you want your taxes raised, vote Democratic.

If you want same sex marriages legalized in the United States, vote Democratic.

If you think sending an explicit instant message to a page is worse than the President receiving blow jobs from an unpaid intern in the Oval Office, vote Democratic.

If you believe in partial birth abortions, vote Democratic.

If you want illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at state run universities while American citizens from other states pay much higher out-of-state tuitions at the same universities, vote Democratic.

If you believe the terrorists will not try to attack us here in the United States once we leave Iraq, vote Democratic.

If you believe illegal immigrants should be given citizenship ahead of those who came here legally, vote Democratic.

If you believe we should have no religious symbols on public property; we should not have 'In God We Trust" on our money; our schools should not allow Christmas carols be sung during the Christmas holidays; the phrase 'under God' should be taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance; vote Democratic.

If you believe the Boy Scouts must allow homosexual scout leaders, vote Democratic.

Make sure you vote!

Posted by Rick | October 17, 2006 09:57 PM | Political Science

Harry Reid's Land Deal = Malodorous

There is something smelly about the Las Vegas land deal Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jay Brown, Reid's longtime friend and former casino lawyer, were involved in between 1998 and 2004.

The AP story by John Solomon and Kathleen Hennessey reported this week :

-The deal began in 1998 when Reid bought undeveloped residential property on Las Vegas' booming outskirts for about $400,000. Reid bought one lot outright, and a second parcel jointly with Brown. One of the sellers was a developer who was benefiting from a government land swap that Reid supported. The seller never talked to Reid.

-In 2001, Reid sold the land for the same price to a limited liability corporation created by Brown. The senator didn't disclose the sale on his annual public ethics report or tell Congress he had any stake in Brown's company. He continued to report to Congress that he personally owned the land.

-After getting local officials to rezone the property for a shopping center, Brown's company sold the land in 2004 to other developers and Reid took $1.1 million of the proceeds, nearly tripling the senator's investment. Reid reported it to Congress as a personal land sale.

The complex dealings allowed Reid to transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences to Brown's company without public knowledge, but still collect a seven-figure payoff nearly three years later.

I have an LLC and understand the reasons for transferring property into an LLC. I have various partnerships, one is even with an attorney, and I understand the potential pitfalls of partnerships. Everything in the transaction seems very normal until this:

They also said they have no documents proving Reid's stake in the company because it was an informal understanding between friends.

and then this:

Reid isn't listed anywhere on Patrick Lane's corporate filings with Nevada, even though the land he sold accounted for three-quarters of the company's assets. Brown is listed as the company's manager. Reid's office said Nevada law didn't require Reid to be mentioned in the filings.

"We have been friends for over 35 years. We didn't need a written agreement between us," Brown said.

An old friend taught me a long time ago that "friends are friends, and business is business." The point being that in business, you need to take care of business. Senator Reid, who is also an attorney, had a $400,000 investment, $400,000, that he transferred to an LLC which did not have his name on it! And he is an attorney? If this guy were my attorney and he allowed this to happen he would lose his license for sheer stupidity.

Why would Harry Reid transfer $400,000 worth of land into a company without getting any documentation of his interest in the company? If Jay Brown or the Reid's had died after the transfer to the LLC who would have known that the Reid's were 75% owners of the assets of the LLC? Or if Jay Brown had filed for bankruptcy or fallen behind on his taxes, the Reid's could have lost their entire investment and would have had little or no recourse.

This begs the question: What were they hiding? And if they weren't hiding anything, you have to ask, "Is Harry Reid really that stupid?"

The AP report talks about minor differences in the amount of property taxes the various parties paid on the land, but there are potentially much larger tax ramifications involved that no one has pointed out. Solomon and Hennessey stated:

Reid and his wife, Landra, personally signed the deeds selling their full interest in the property to Brown's company, Patrick Lane LLC, for the same $400,000 they paid in 1998, records show.

But contradicting the above statement, they reported:

The senator's aides said no money changed hands in 2001 and that Reid instead got an ownership stake in Brown's company equal to the value of his land. Reid continued to pay taxes on the land and didn't disclose the deal because he considered it a "technical transfer," they said.

If, in fact, no money changed hands and the Reid's were not recorded partners in the LLC, questions must be raised about the state and federal tax consequences of a company receiving $400,000 worth of land and giving nothing in return.

In talking to a CPA I am very familiar with, it was pointed out that, if the Reid's didn't have any recorded interest in the Patrick Lane LLC and were not paid $400,000 for transferring the property in 2001, the land value ($400,000) that the Reid's transferred into the LLC became taxable income to the LLC. Did the Patrick Lane LLC pay taxes on that income? Doesn't sound like it. No mention was made in the AP report that the Reid's received, or filed, a K-1 tax form from the LLC and I am surmising that one was not issued.

Something, as they say, is rotten in Denmark.

Posted by Rick | October 14, 2006 03:22 AM | Political Science

Clinton Doth Protest Too Much

Bill Clinton's phony rage at Chris Wallace while Wallace was interviewing him this past weekend is the talk of blogs and news casts everywhere.

Unfortunately, Clinton's claim that he was closer to killing Usāmah bin Muhammad bin `Awad bin Lādin, commonly known as Osama bin Laden, than anyone else is bogus. How does he know how close he was when he lobbed a couple missiles at a tent out in the middle of a desert and how does he know how close the troops in Afghanistan have come to getting the little turd, bin Laden? Besides, close does not count in killing.

The fact is that Bill Clinton and his lackey, Attorney General Janet Reno, mustered far more fire power and boots on the ground to send Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba, not to mention the extraordinary force they used to kill 80+ innocent men, women and children in Waco, Texas, than they ever did trying to get bin Laden.

Posted by Rick | September 25, 2006 06:49 PM | Political Science

Has The Time Come To Boycott Citgo Gasoline?

Citgo Petroleum Corporation or Citgo, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company, is a United States-incorporated firm refiner and marketer of gasoline, lubricants, petrochemicals and other petroleum products.

7-11 stores sell Citgo gasoline. Write an email to 7-eleven, Inc., asking them to find another supplier for the gasoline they sell. You can read about the history of the Citgo Corporation here.

Posted by Rick | September 21, 2006 06:24 AM | Political Science

World War III - The New Crusades!

If you thought I was kidding after you read my last three posts, you must know that, in light of the arrest of 21 al Qaeda terrorists in London who were plotting to blow up 20 planes en route to the United States, I was not. This is a worldwide war against civilization as we know it by the Muslim world, and life is going to become much more complicated for us all in the coming days, months, and years.

The Muslim religion is infected with a virus - the virus of hate. Government and religious leaders who would have you believe that we need only worry about a few radical Muslims are delusional. We must not be diluted into believing that this is only a small radical fringe of the followers of Muhammad who are conspiring to undermine our way of life.

Mark my words...Take it to the bank...Write it in stone...Ultimately, this war will be waged by a majority of the Muslim world against us and our way of life and, unfortunately, they will keep coming after us until we eliminate them all by whatever means necessary.

Posted by Rick | August 10, 2006 02:54 AM | Political Science ~ | Social Studies

Bring Back Saddam?!

Massive demonstrations in the streets of Baghdad this past week calling for death to Americans and Israelis while extolling the virtues of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah have been very disappointing.

While it would seem that great strides have been made in bringing democracy to Iraq, it may be that the Iraqis just aren't ready to self govern. President Bush '41 had it right when he left Saddam Hussein in power after the first Gulf War. The Iraqis only seem to behave themselves when a strong-man like Saddam treats them like children, and tortures and/or kills them when they misbehave.

We have spent more than 2,500 lives and hundreds of billions of hard-earned dollars to bring self-rule to Iraq, yet there is obviously no one in Baghdad who appreciates the effort. Every day it becomes more apparent that there are no real reasons for us to to continue trying to root out troublemakers in Baghdad - the city is full of irrational troublemakers, none of which is is worth the value of the elements that make up their DNA. Perhaps we should surround Baghdad, cut off all routes in and out of the city, and let the inhabitants continue their civil war until there is no one left.

The Muslims will be happy because they have gone to be with Mohammed and the virgins that await them in hell, and we will have cut our losses without running. Everyone wins.

Posted by Rick | August 6, 2006 11:23 PM | Political Science

Joe Wilson & Valerie Plame Wilson Seek Revenge

Joseph C. Wilson IV and his 'lovely' wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, have filed a lawsuit against I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby Jr., Vice-President Richard Cheney, and Carl Rove in an attempt to make the named defendants' lives miserable, not because they can win the lawsuit. This is merely a political ploy and it has been made more apparent by the meetings the Wilson's have had with the Democratic hierarchy on Capitol Hill.

Valerie Plame Wilson, the CIA employee who was supposedly a classified employee until 1997, is going to claim that her rights were violated by the three named defendants because she was 'outed' as a CIA employee.

Never mind that Ms. Wilson was not a classified CIA employee covered by any law that would make it a crime to out her.

Never mind that an extensive investigation by a federal prosecutor found no wrong-doing when articles were written that mentioned that she was employed at the CIA and that she was the one who recommended her husband take a fact-finding trip to Niger.

Never mind that she was in no way harmed by the revelations and, if anything, will profit from the notoriety gained from the controversy through book sales and speaking engagements.

Never mind that there is no proof that any of the three "outed' her.

Never mind that no crime was committed when Ms. Wilson was identified as an employee of the CIA.

Below is the code that applies to the protection of CIA operatives identities. I have highlighted the very pertinent portions.

U.S. Code as of: 01/19/04

Section 421. Protection of identities of certain United States undercover intelligence officers, agents, informants, and sources

(a) Disclosure of information by persons having or having had
access to classified information that identifies covert agent
Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified
information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses
any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not
authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the
information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the
United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert
agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be
fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or
both.
(b) Disclosure of information by persons who learn identity of
covert agents as result of having access to classified
information
Whoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified
information, learns the identify of a covert agent and
intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert
agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified
information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies
such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative
measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship
to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned
not more than five years, or both.
(c) Disclosure of information by persons in course of pattern of
activities intended to identify and expose covert agents
Whoever, in the course of a pattern of activities intended to
identify and expose covert agents and with reason to believe that
such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence
activities of the United States, discloses any information that
identifies an individual as a covert agent to any individual not
authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the
information disclosed so identifies such individual and that the
United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such
individual's classified intelligence relationship to the United
States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than
three years, or both.
(d) Imposition of consecutive sentences
A term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be
consecutive to any other sentence of imprisonment.

Section 422. Defenses and exceptions

(a) Disclosure by United States of identity of covert agent
It is a defense to a prosecution under section 421 of this title
that before the commission of the offense with which the defendant
is charged, the United States had publicly acknowledged or revealed
the intelligence relationship to the United States of the
individual the disclosure of whose intelligence relationship to the
United States is the basis for the prosecution.
(b) Conspiracy, misprision of felony, aiding and abetting, etc.
(1) Subject to paragraph (2), no person other than a person
committing an offense under section 421 of this title shall be
subject to prosecution under such section by virtue of section 2 or
4 of title 18 or shall be subject to prosecution for conspiracy to
commit an offense under such section.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply (A) in the case of a person who
acted in the course of a pattern of activities intended to identify
and expose covert agents and with reason to believe that such
activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence
activities of the United States, or (B) in the case of a person who
has authorized access to classified information.
(c) Disclosure to select Congressional committees on intelligence
It shall not be an offense under section 421 of this title to
transmit information described in such section directly to either
congressional intelligence committee.
(d) Disclosure by agent of own identity
It shall not be an offense under section 421 of this title for an
individual to disclose information that solely identifies himself
as a covert agent.

Section 423. Report

(a) Annual report by President to Congress on measures to protect
identities of covert agents
The President, after receiving information from the Director of
Central Intelligence, shall submit to the congressional
intelligence committees an annual report on measures to protect the
identities of covert agents, and on any other matter relevant to
the protection of the identities of covert agents. The date for the
submittal of the report shall be the date provided in section 415b
of this title.
(b) Exemption from disclosure
The report described in subsection (a) of this section shall be
exempt from any requirement for publication or disclosure.

Section 424. Extraterritorial jurisdiction

There is jurisdiction over an offense under section 421 of this
title committed outside the United States if the individual
committing the offense is a citizen of the United States or an
alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent
residence (as defined in section 1101(a)(20) of title 8).

Section 425. Providing information to Congress

Nothing in this subchapter may be construed as authority to
withhold information from the Congress or from a committee of
either House of Congress.

Section 426. Definitions

For the purposes of this subchapter:
(1) The term "classified information" means information or
material designated and clearly marked or clearly represented,
pursuant to the provisions of a statute or Executive order (or a
regulation or order issued pursuant to a statute or Executive
order), as requiring a specific degree of protection against
unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national security.
(2) The term "authorized", when used with respect to access to
classified information, means having authority, right, or
permission pursuant to the provisions of a statute, Executive
order, directive of the head of any department or agency engaged
in foreign intelligence or counterintelligence activities, order
of any United States court, or provisions of any Rule of the
House of Representatives or resolution of the Senate which
assigns responsibility within the respective House of Congress
for the oversight of intelligence activities.
(3) The term "disclose" means to communicate, provide, impart,
transmit, transfer, convey, publish, or otherwise make available.
(4) The term "covert agent" means -
(A) a present or retired officer or employee of an
intelligence agency or a present or retired member of the Armed
Forces assigned to duty with an intelligence agency -
(i) whose identity as such an officer, employee, or member
is classified information, and
(ii) who is serving outside the United States or has within
the last five years served outside the United States; or

(B) a United States citizen whose intelligence relationship
to the United States is classified information, and -
(i) who resides and acts outside the United States as an
agent of, or informant or source of operational assistance
to, an intelligence agency, or
(ii) who is at the time of the disclosure acting as an
agent of, or informant to, the foreign counterintelligence or
foreign counterterrorism components of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; or

(C) an individual, other than a United States citizen, whose
past or present intelligence relationship to the United States
is classified information and who is a present or former agent
of, or a present or former informant or source of operational
assistance to, an intelligence agency.

(5) The term "intelligence agency" means the Central
Intelligence Agency, a foreign intelligence component of the
Department of Defense, or the foreign counterintelligence or
foreign counterterrorism components of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
(6) The term "informant" means any individual who furnishes
information to an intelligence agency in the course of a
confidential relationship protecting the identity of such
individual from public disclosure.
(7) The terms "officer" and "employee" have the meanings given
such terms by section 2104 and 2105, respectively, of title 5.
(8) The term "Armed Forces" means the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
(9) The term "United States", when used in a geographic sense,
means all areas under the territorial sovereignty of the United
States and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
(10) The term "pattern of activities" requires a series of acts
with a common purpose or objective.

Posted by Rick | July 14, 2006 10:59 PM | Political Science

Leaks Apparently No Big Deal

Apparently putting the leaked story about the administration's investigations into terrorists' money transfers on the front page of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times was no big deal. At the state dinner last week honoring Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, big-shots from both the New York Times, White House correspondent, Mr. David Sanger and Mrs. Sherill Sanger, and Los Angeles Times, Washington bureau chief, Mr. Doyle McManus and Mrs. Paula McManus, were on the guest list.

Instead of revoking their White House press credentials, the administration honors the two newspapers by inviting them to the dinner? I'm surprised they weren't invited to stay over and perhaps even sleep in the Lincoln bedroom, or maybe they were.

Nope....no big deal at all......

Posted by Rick | July 3, 2006 12:48 AM | Political Science

Pandering The Tim Russert Way

Tonight on CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet The Press, compared using a picture of President George Bush hugging a little girl who lost her mother in the World Trade Center on 9/11 as a campaign ad to the widows Ann Coulter complains about in her latest book, Godless.

In case you are living in a vacuum and have not heard about the uproar over Ms. Coulter's comments, her point is that the widows came out making vile assertions, telling outrageous lies, and using asunder half-truths to blame President Bush and his administration for the deaths of their husbands, yet the main stream media refrained from confronting them about their remarks because it would have been viewed as an attack on the not-so-poor (virtually everyone who lost a relative became a millionaire because of the settlements received) grieving widows.

So this is Russert's truth....

A campaign ad that uses a picture of the President showing compassion toward a young girl who lost her mother is the same as a group of women telling lies and half-truths about the President that the media was afraid to question.

And Russert would have us believe that he is unbiased....roflmao

Donny 'Big Idea' Deutsch mentioned that, while he felt Ms. Coulter's point was vile, sick, repulsive and filled with venom, he would refrain from calling Ms. Coulter a name reserved for 'promiscuous women' for fear it would increase his ratings.....roflmfas

Note to Donny: Nothing could increase The Big Idea's ratings except a new host. As a matter of fact, his ratings are currently so low that they may have gone up 100% when I tuned in.

Posted by Rick | June 19, 2006 10:20 PM | Political Science

Senator Robert 'KKK' Byrd Sets Mark

Today 88 year-old Democratic Senator Robert 'KKK' Byrd (D-WV) became the longest serving senator in history, having served 17,327 days, surpassing Republican Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who served 17,326 days and retired at age 100.

Always daper, click here to see the senator's fashion sense.

Posted by Rick | June 13, 2006 03:15 AM | Political Science

Al-Zarqzwi Is Dead!!!

MSNBC is reporting that Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has been killed by an air strike called in by American special forces. He was hiding in a house approximately 8 kilometers north of Ba'qubah. Ba'qubah is a city about 50 kilometers north/north east of Baghdad.

Three cheers for the good guys!!!

Posted by Rick | June 8, 2006 12:38 AM | Political Science

Election Results For California's 50th Congressional District

With approximately 67% of the precincts reporting, unofficial election results for the seat in the House of Representatives vacated by disgraced Republican Duke Cunningham have Republican Brian Bilbray holding onto the Republican seat by a narrow margin. Here are the most recent results as reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune:

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 50TH DISTRICT - (RUN-OFF)

Counted: 331 of 500 precincts – 66.2 percent
BRIAN BILBRAY - REP 44692 49.69%
FRANCINE BUSBY - DEM 40371 44.89%
W. GRIFFITH - IND 3424 3.81%
PAUL KING - LIB 1446 1.61%

Update:

With 90% of the vote in, Bilbray's lead has actually increased slightly to just under 5,000 votes. Click here to see the updated election results from the County of San Diego's Registrar of Voters.

Update #2:

With 100% of the precincts counted, Bilbray leads by 4,732 votes. Although it looks good for Bilbray, anything can still happen because there are approximately 68,500 absentee / provisional ballots to be counted.

Yesterday's election was to determine who would complete the balance of Cunningham's term. Busby and Bilbray will face off again in the November general election.

Posted by Rick | June 7, 2006 12:43 AM | Political Science

McCain Can't Help Himself

When the time comes to vote for or against a constitutional amendment to assure that marriage in America remains between a man and a woman and not between two men, or two women, John McCain has announced he will vote against it.

No matter how many commencement addresses McCain gives at conservative colleges and universities, he is still a liberal in conservative's clothing.

He desperately wants to be president but this issue will bury him in the Republican party. He will not get the base of the Republican party to vote for him and he will never live in the White House, unless he runs as a Democrat.

I voted for George Bush as the lesser of two evils in 2000, but should McCain somehow end up as the Republicans' candidate in 2008, I would not vote for him as the lesser of two evils. I would stay home.

Posted by Rick | June 6, 2006 12:17 AM | Political Science

Democratic Culture Of Corruption

Drug addict Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) uses the streets of Washington DC, as his own private demolition derby, claims he doesn’t remember a thing, and then heads off to a posh rehabilitation center to while away 30 days. Wasn’t it only this past December when he admitted himself to the same rehab center.

After the latest accident Kennedy was cited with failure to keep in the proper lane, driving at an unreasonable speed, and failing to give full time and attention to operation of a vehicle, but not the more serious offense of ‘driving under the influence’ even though he had red, watery eyes and slurred speech as he tumbled out of his vehicle. He should have been cited for driving ‘with influence’ since he was given a pass on the more serious charge. Heaven forbid they actually charge him appropriately and take away his drivers license. The D.C. officials are apparently going to wait to do that until after he drives off a bridge and drowns someone.

Does he resign? Of course not. He won’t even admit any guilt. He is the ‘victim’ of a ‘disease.’ The dreaded ‘lack of self-control’ disease. He is, after all, a Kennedy!

Questions about where he continues to obtain addictive prescription drugs go unasked and unanswered by the media.

Next comes eight-term Congressman William Jennings Jefferson (D-LA) whose House district includes New Orleans and some of its suburbs. The ‘Honorable’ Congressman has been caught with $90,000 'cold cash' in his freezer and apparently there is even a video tape with him accepting a $100,000 bribe. He has thumbed his nose at calls for his resignation from the House of Representatives and has refused to resign from the congressional committees he serves on. He has even taken offense at search warrants which were served at his home and office after he refused to comply with subpoenas. You can read more about the investigation in to Congressman Jefferson here.

It gets better...

Congressman Alan B. Mollohan (D-WVA), a member of the House Appropriations Committee and ranking Democrat on the house ethics committee, has become a multi-millionaire on his annual salary of approximately $150,000 and a number of ‘shrewd’ real estate transactions. The transactions involve an intricate web of foundations, friends, former associates and businessmen who receive large government contracts. Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post reported:

In a 500-page complaint filed with a U.S. attorney in February, the conservative National Legal and Policy Center in Falls Church challenged the accuracy of Mollohan's financial disclosure forms and detailed a remarkable change in the lawmaker's personal fortune.

Mollohan's real estate holdings and other assets jumped in value from $562,000 in 2000 to at least $6.3 million in 2004, said Ken Boehm, chairman of the legal center.

After first refusing, Mollohan has had the decency to step down, at least temporarily, from the House ethics committee.

(For more information on how to achieve wealth with little or no money, do a internet search on Senator Hillary Clinton and commodities investing.)

And finally, Senate minority leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who has attended hundreds of fights over the years as a boxer and a fight judge, 'needed' to take free boxing tickets in order to do his job as Senator. Apparently the fight game has changed dramatically since the last fight he attended and his attendance was a necessary for him to research the compelling question: Should the federal government do more oversight of the sport of boxing He says he was proud of what he did and would do it again.

I would have to agree with the Democrats who have been complaining about a “culture of corruption” in Washington. Unfortunately, it appears that it's the Democrats who are worst offenders.

At least the Republicans who have been caught in the middle of some indiscretion have had the decency to resign and therein lies the difference between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans have consciences and feel guilt and remorse. The Democrats seem to revel in their misdeeds, never admit guilt (“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”), and never look back.

Posted by Rick | May 31, 2006 12:54 AM | Political Science

Spanish National Anthem And Now This....

While Hillary is trying to position herself as a moderate, President Bush is trying to position himself as a Mexican, with lip service to the problem of, and solution to, illegal immigration.

Tonight President Bush said that securing our borders is a "basic responsibility of a sovereign nation. It is also an urgent requirement of our national security."

Unfortunately, the Bush administration's immigration policy has been MIA for the past 6 years and is only now being addressed, grudgingly addressed, because of the upcoming fall elections and the very real possibility that the Republicans will lose both the House of Representatives and the Senate because they have refused to address the problem of the flood of illegal immigrants sucking the lifeblood out of our schools, hospitals, prisons, and virtually every other infrastructure in our society.

In tonight's speech, President Bush said he plans to put "up to 6,000" National Guard troops on the border between the United States and Mexico. Unfortunately, these troops "will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities." Basically these troops will be there to hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya' with the members of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps who are watching the southern border as I write this. The only thing missing will be the campfire.

The National Guard will be there to operate surveillance systems, analyze intelligence, install fences, build roads and provide training. (Note to Bush administration: If you need help building the roads and fences, there are many of the millions of illegal immigrants you allowed into the country in the past 6 years who would love a government job.)

This help for the border patrol is all well and good, but what we really need is boots on the ground to chase down every last one of the illegals coming across the border and punish them. Yes, I said punish them! Once caught, rather than sending them directly back to where they came from, I'll bet Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, would be happy to show the Bush administration how to properly incarcerate someone. No fancy digs like Guantánamo Bay in Maricopa County, no siree. Sheriff Arpaio currently houses lawbreakers in tents, makes them wear striped prison uniforms and pink underwear, and feeds them on less than $.20 per meal, with only 2 meals per day. After six months of those accommodations, we could send the illegal aliens back where they came from, and they may think twice about trying to return. If they get caught trying to enter illegally a second time, let them spend a year on Sheriff Jos's chain gang. If they get caught a third time, they get the firing squad 'cause they're just too dumb to get it. (Just a quick note about the pink underwear: The underwear is dyed pink to stop the theft of the jail's underwear. The Sheriff is not perverted and gets no perverse thrill by having the inmates wear pink underwear. Or does he?)

President Bush said the other day that he thought the National Anthem should be sung in English, but, as my brother-in-law Grant pointed out, the official White House web site is now translated into Spanish for all the illegal aliens to read.

His father, President Bush '41' didn't realize that you couldn’t say one thing and do another ('read my lips, no new taxes'). Bush '43' got reelected, but it was not because of his efforts on stemming the tide of illegal immigrants into the country. It was only because his opponent, Senator Kerry, was such an idiot.

Bush's "talk is cheap" policy on the border issue is becoming more and more transparent. The volunteer minutemen who have taken up positions on the border seem to be having more success stemming the tide of illegals than the Bush administration. Most Americans who are concerned with the illegal immigration problem have not taken to the streets to protest against the millions of illegals scurrying across our border from Mexico, but we are not DOA.

'43' is pandering as fast as he can to the Hispanic vote, but he is forgetting who really votes, and it is going to come back to haunt the Republicans this November. Many of the Republican base will stay home on election day or vote against the Republicans to protest the unwillingness of the administration to do anything meaningful to stem the tide of illegal immigration.

Someone in the White House needs to take the pulse of America on the immigration issue, and then actually do something to stop the flood of illegal aliens across our Mexican border!

Sadly, I think it is way too little, way too late. I predict the Democrats, who have no immigration policy at all, are going to crush the Republicans. We will lose control of the House of Representatives and maybe even the Senate.

Posted by Rick | May 15, 2006 08:21 AM | Political Science

Thrown Under The Bus

Porter Goss, who resigned this past week from his post as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was supposedly given a mandate to shape up an agency full of leakers and squeakers.

He actually took the mandate to heart and many malcontents left the agency. Amazingly, a few weeks ago, he even tracked down one of the leakers and had her terminated. For his efforts he was unceremoniously sacked, although technically he offered his resignation and the President accepted it.

In an interview with Kelly O'Donnell, Vice-President Dick Cheney said Goss did "a reasonably good job." What exactly did the administration expect from Goss in the short time he was at the CIA?

FEMA Director Michael Brown was tossed under the bus for the failings of New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and now Goss is pitched under the same bus. Read more about the Chertoff/Brown controversy here in an article by Jonathan S. Landay, Alison Young and Shannon McCaffrey of the Knight Ridder Newspapers.

As thousands of hurricane victims went without food, water and shelter in the days after Katrina's early morning Aug. 29 landfall, critics assailed Brown for being responsible for delays that might have cost hundreds of lives.

But Chertoff - not Brown - was in charge of managing the national response to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response Plan, the federal government's blueprint for how agencies will handle major natural disasters or terrorist incidents. An order issued by President Bush in 2003 also assigned that responsibility to the homeland security director.

At this point in time, you would have to be an idiot to go to work for the Bush administration.

Posted by Rick | May 9, 2006 12:40 AM | Political Science

Your Oil Dollars At Work

The Bush administration is bound and determined to allow the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to invest its wealth of oil riches in crucial American infrastructure.

Dubai International Capital LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai Holding, has agreed to the purchase of Doncasters, which is a "leading international engineering group that manufactures precision components and assemblies for the aerospace, industrial gas turbines, specialist automotive, medical orthopaedic and petrochemical markets. The group excels in working with alloys and metals that are difficult to shape and form." Doncasters manufactures engine components for U.S. military aircraft and main battle tanks.

The Huffington Post reported:

Dubai, which agreed this month to sell its interest in U.S. ports, said its $1.2 billion takeover of a U.K. company with U.S. plants that make military equipment is delayed while the authorities investigate security concerns.

Dubai International Capital LLC, which is owned by the government of the Persian Gulf emirate, and Doncasters Group Ltd. agreed to delay the transaction by as many as two months from March 31 while government agencies review the purchase, Sameer Al Ansari, Dubai International's chief executive, said in an interview today.

As I indicated when I commented on the ill-fated port deal, the UAE is actually one of the most anti-Semitic countries on the face of the earth.

Will Jewish employees in the United States be be descriminated against or even terminated? Time will tell, but remember that the UAE doesn't allow Israeli citizens or items manufactured in Israel into its country.

Security issues aside, these are despicable people who should not be allowed to do business with the United States government until they change their anti-Israel policies.

Posted by Rick | April 28, 2006 02:56 PM | Political Science

Chocolate City's Mayor Will Melt In Next Disaster If Re-elected

If New Orleans re-elects Mayor Ray Nagin in the upcoming runoff election, the city will deserve all the chaos and turmoil that is sure to ensue in the next disaster season.

Posted by Rick | April 25, 2006 03:16 AM | Political Science

John Dean - The Liberals New Best Friend

Would somebody please bitch-slap former Nixon White House counsel, John Dean!

Posted by Rick | April 6, 2006 09:41 PM | Political Science

Homeland Security Chief Chokes

I have not written much lately because, for the most part, it has all been the same hate-filled empty rhetoric from the left and no one from the right has been indicted for taking bribes or exposing a desk-jockey at the CIA as an undercover agent.

Yesterday, however, in a news conference, President Bush announced that he had asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff why all those trailers (10,700 more or less) were still sitting unused in Hope, Arkansas. Finally, I thought, something might get done.

Well, silly me. Apparently this brilliant man, Secretary Chertoff, has decided to move 5000 trailers down to the hurricane ravaged areas where ten's of thousands of people need housing, but will leave about 5,000 in reserve for the next potential disaster.

Notice to Secretary Chertoff: For months now the federal government has been paying for displaced families to live in hotels, ships, and other temporary housing. Move every one of those trailers where they are needed. Don't wait another day. Use everything that you have at your disposal NOW. If you want more trailers for the next disaster, put in an order more trailers. There are companies that will be more than happy to build them.

Where did President Bush find this guy anyway?

Posted by Rick | March 22, 2006 03:24 AM | Political Science

Dubai Deal Dead

After it became apparent that Congress would block Dubai Ports World, owned by the government of Dubai, from managing a number of ports on our east coast, DP World has announced that it would transfer its interests to an American entity.

The fact that the Republicans were instrumental in the about face once again underscores the difference between the intellectually dishonest kool-aid drinking Democrats and the Republicans who are not afraid to let their leaders know when a deal is a bad deal.

The rank-and-file Republicans were the driving force behind the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' nomination for the Supreme Court and were not shy about voicing their displeasure over the President's support for the DP World transaction.

Unfortunately, Jack Kemp called the Republicans' desertion of the administration shameful and embarrassing, and went on to say that because we have other foreign entities managing our ports on the west coast, we should have supported this deal. It seems that two wrongs make a right in Mr. Kemp's eyes. Mr. Kemp is flat wrong. We should take back the management of all our ports. We manage our airports and I am absolutely positive we have American companies that can manage our seaports.

Dubai has been supportive of our efforts in the war on terror and will continue to be. It is in their best interest to make sure we win the war on terror. If we don't, the United Arab Emirates' emirs are smart enough to know they could be the next target for the wacko Muslims. They are not going to suddenly start supporting the Taliban or al-Qaeda. You can take that to the bank.

Posted by Rick | March 9, 2006 07:30 PM | Political Science

Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) To Be Sentenced

Former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), who pleaded guilty November 28, 2005, to accepting bribes, tax evasion and conspiracy, is going to be sentenced to prison within the hour.

The prosecutors are asking for 10 years in prison. Cunningham's attorneys, citing Cunningham's age and poor health, are asking for 6 years.

A blatant breach of the public's trust such as this deserves no leniency. Let him rot in prison.

Update: Cunningham, 64, was sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in prison and was ordered to pay $1.8 million in back taxes and penalties plus $1.85 million in restitution based on the bribes he received. Ironically, the taxpayers will pay Cunningham approximately $64,400 annually while he cools his heels in the federal penitentiary. He is eligible for a congressional pension of approximately $36,000 a year for his 15 years in the House of Representatives and a Navy pension of approximately $28,800 per year for his 21 years of military service.

Posted by Rick | March 3, 2006 12:22 PM | Political Science

United Arab Emerites Boycott Of Israel

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), once known as the Trucial States, is a federation of seven independent states located in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, which is part of, what is commonly known, as the Middle East region. A hereditary chief called an emir rules each emirate. A petroleum-rich desert country about the size of South Carolina, the United Arab Emirates became an independent country in 1971.

The city of Abu Dhabi became the provisional capital of the United Arab Emirates when it was formed in 1971.

Located on the northeastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, the city of Dubai is the capital of the emirate of Dubai and is the largest city in the UAE.

The UAE and a company called Dubai Ports World has recently become the focus of the firestorm over port security in the United States. Dubai Ports World, owned by the government of Dubai, is seeking to take over management of 6 major ports up and down the east coast of the United States from a British based company.

Just as it was announced that DPW was to take over the management of these ports, the Jerusalem Post ran an article disclosing the fact that Dubai is involved in a boycott of goods and services from Israel and, in a separate article, noted that the UAE even refuses to allow Israeli citizens to enter the country.

The parent company of a Dubai-based firm at the center of a political storm in the US over the purchase of American ports participates in the Arab boycott against Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

The firm, Dubai Ports World, is seeking control over six major US ports, including those in New York, Miami, Philadelphia and Baltimore. It is entirely owned by the Government of Dubai via a holding company called the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCZC), which consists of the Dubai Port Authority, the Dubai Customs Department and the Jebel Ali Free Zone Area.

Aside from the fact that it is against the law to boycott a country because of religious beliefs, these are despicable people. Regardless of their efforts to help us in the war on terror, Dubai Ports World should not be given the contract to manage our ports.

Note: You can read the complete law here.

Posted by Rick | March 3, 2006 12:17 PM | Political Science

The State Of The Union Speech

If you didn't get a chance to listen to the State of the Union speech President Bush gave, I have reprinted the entire speech below as it was released prior to the actual speech. I have highlighted the part of the speech where Bush bitch-slaps Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats.

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Member