Good Points Glenn....

Glenn Beck, in his own words:

Link to the article here.

By Glenn BeckCNN

Editor's note: Glenn Beck is on CNN Headline News nightly at 7 and 9 ET and also hosts a conservative national radio talk show. Tonight, his guest on Headline News will be libertarian Bob Barr.

Glenn Beck has been watching the convention from home and doesn't believe everything he's hearing.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Here at the Glenn Beck program, the budget isn't exactly that impressive. We're not the federal government, with a limitless American Express card that we never have to pay off.
So, instead of traveling to Denver, Colorado, and reporting on the Democratic National Convention in a fancy suit like a real show, I get to watch the speeches at my house in my boxers. Sorry for that image. Here are my impressions of some of the noteworthy quotes from the convention so far, which I observed from a safe distance.

Nancy Pelosi: "I am very proud of the Democrats in Congress."

Never mind that no Congress in the past 20 years has passed fewer public laws than this one, according to the Wall Street Journal. How could they?
They are spending one quarter of their work week debating and passing symbolic measures such as creating National Watermelon Month. The Journal says no Congress in the past two decades has proposed more symbolic resolutions than this one -- 1,900, for those of you keeping score at home.
Pelosi went on to mention 10 specific accomplishments, which worked out to 0.9 accomplishments per percentage point of congressional approval rating. Ten accomplishments, 9% approval.

Nancy Pelosi: "On the most important policy decision of our time, the war in Iraq, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong -- very, very wrong."

By her definition, do you know who else was very, very wrong? The Democratic vice presidential nominee, Sen. Joe Biden. And the last vice president they nominated, John Edwards. And the guy he ran with, John Kerry. And your headline speaker Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton, among many, many others.

Michelle Obama: "That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities."

Michelle Obama's chosen career path led her to make $275,000 per year at a private hospital. Is that really a "public service" job?
It seems to me that a Republican wouldn't be able to get away with such a generous assessment of their résumé. They would surely be harassed for making a six-figure salary inside the evil health care industry, while millions suffer without insurance.
But hey, there's nothing wrong with making money, at least to me. And remember, she didn't say she was volunteering. She said she was "working to empower young people to volunteer," which is totally different.

Michelle Obama: Barack Obama will achieve his goals "the same way he always has -- by bringing us together and reminding us how much we share and how alike we really are."

How will he do it? He'll talk everyone into it. Yes, that has worked with his nomination, but can he "remind" me into wanting the government to pay for universal everything?
I don't think so. I must not be hoping hard enough for change.

Michelle Obama: If her husband wins, her children can tell their kids someday that they "decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming."

Sometimes doubting is good. For example, it's good to doubt that other countries' failing policies, such as universal health care, will suddenly work here.

Hillary Clinton: "John McCain doesn't think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis."

She must have missed the update that this number dropped by over a million. While it's still too high, I doubt she would have missed the news if it had risen.
She also missed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, that 37 percent of the uninsured live in households making more than $50,000 a year, most of which can afford health insurance.
Twenty percent aren't even citizens of this country. One in three are eligible for government insurance, but aren't enrolled. So, while our health care is far from perfect, it's much better than Hillary wants you to believe.

Hillary Clinton: "I will always remember the boy who told me his mom worked for the minimum wage and that her employer had cut her hours."

So, how will raising the minimum wage get that mom more hours? If the business owner found her employment too expensive at the lower wage, won't they be cutting her hours even more now?
By the way, since the minimum wage increase, teenage unemployment is at a 15-year high. I'm sure there's no relation whatsoever.

Joe Biden: "Even today, as oil companies post the biggest profits in history ... John wants to give them another $4 billion in tax breaks."

Here is the justification behind this talking point:
1.) John McCain wants to cut corporate income taxes for all companies.
2.) Oil companies are companies.
That's it.

Democrats believe that you think oil companies are mean, so they single them out, hoping you think McCain has cut a special deal just for them. He hasn't.
I guess it's really hard to drum up anger against your opponent when you say, "John McCain wants to cut taxes for companies that make delicious ice cream sundaes, feed the puppies of toddlers and fix veterans' wheelchairs," but that's just as truthful as what Biden said.
Tonight, it's Barack Obama, at a football stadium, in front of what Reuters says looks like a Greek temple. Next week, we'll get to watch the Republicans' attempt at choreographed pageantry.

Am I the only one who can't wait for November fifth?

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

Lookout Soviets, Big Bad Georgia Is Picking A Fight!

I love it when somebody has the ability to get "on the ground" and report as objectively as possible about what is happening in hot spots around the world. These independents can usually paint a more accurate picture than what we get islolated in another country or being brainwashed by a professor with an agenda under the guise of "enlightenment" and "education".

I've always suspected that Russia is up to it's old bad self again. Amidst the cries of somehow the US being the prime instigator in bringing about the Bear's wrath, it's refreshing to hear from those that face this evil directly and want the world to hear their story. Granted, there are provocations on all sides as the article describes, but it gets pretty hairy for the Soviet apologists.

This excerpt is a throught provoking sneak peak of a greater piece written by Micheal J. Totten, and Independent journalist that has for years covered the conflicts in the Middle East on his own time and dime. This entry deals with how deceptive the old Russian Bear is when it comes to reviving it's expansionist dreams of it's KGB leaders.

For the complete article, go to http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/08/the-truth-about-1.php

Now here's the appetizer:

“Just a little bit of back story again, in July of 2007 Russia withdrew from the Conventional Forces Treaty in Europe. This is a Soviet era treaty that dictates where NATO and the Warsaw Pact can keep their conventional armor around their territories. Russia started moving a lot of materiel south. After Bucharest, provocations started. Russian provocations started, and they were mostly in Abkhazia."

“One provocation was to use the Russian media to launch shrill accusations that the Georgian army was in Kodori preparing for an invasion of Abkhazia. Now if you go up there – I took a bunch of journalists up there a few times – when you get to the actual checkpoint you have a wall of crumbling rock, a wooden bridge, another wall of crumbling rock, a raging torrent, and a steep mountainside filled with woods. It's not possible to invade out or invade in unless you've got air support. Which is why the Abkhaz were never able to kick these Georgians out. They just kept that bit of territory.”

He paused and looked over at Thomas Goltz as though he was bracing for a critique.

“I'm just doing what I've done already,” he said, “but this time I'm getting advice from an expert on how I'm doing.”

Thomas Goltz silently nodded.

“Kodori provocations,” Worms continued, “and other provocations. First the Russians had a peacekeeping base under a 1994 agreement that allowed them to keep the peace in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. They added paratroopers, crack paratroopers, with modern weaponry there. That doesn't sound a lot like peacekeeping. A further provocation: they start shooting unmanned Georgian aircraft drones out the sky. One of them was caught on camera by the drone as it was about to be destroyed. The United Nations confirmed that it was a Russian plane that did this. It probably took off from an airbase that the Russians were supposed to have vacated a few years ago, but they never let the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] in to check."

“The next provocation: On April 16 Putin signs a presidential decree recognizing the documents of Abkhazians and South Ossetians in Russia and vice versa. This effectively integrates these two territories into Russia's legal space. The Georgians were furious. So you have all these provocations mounting and mounting and mounting. Meanwhile, as of July, various air corps start moving from the rest of Russia to get closer to the Caucasus. These are obscure details, but they are available."

“Starting in mid July the Russians launched the biggest military exercise in the North Caucasus that they've held since the Chechnya war. That exercise never stopped. It just turned into a war. They had all their elite troops there, all their armor there, all their stuff there. Everyone still foolishly thought the action was going to be in Abkhazia or in Chechnya, which is still not as peaceful as they'd like it to be."

“The Georgians had their crack troops in Iraq. So what was left at their central base in Gori? Not very much. Just Soviet era equipment and not their best troops. They didn't place troops on the border with Abkhazia because they didn't want to provoke the Abkhaz. They were expecting an attempt on Kodori, but the gorge is in such a way that unless they're going to use massive air support – which the Abkhaz don't have – it's impossible to take that place. Otherwise they would have done it already."

“So fast forward to early August. You have a town, Tskhinvali, which is Ossetian, and a bunch of Georgian villages surrounding it in a crescent shape. There are peacekeepers there. Both Russian peacekeepers and Georgian peacekeepers under a 1994 accord. The Ossetians were dug in in the town, and the Georgians were in the forests and the fields between the town and the villages. The Ossetians start provoking and provoking and provoking by shelling Georgian positions and Georgian villages around there. And it's a classic tit for tat thing. You shell, I shell back. The Georgians offered repeated ceasefires, which the Ossetians broke."

“On August 3, the head of the local administration says he's evacuating his civilians. You also need to know one thing: you may be wondering what these areas live off, especially in Ossetia, there's no industry there. Georgia is poor, but Ossetia is poorer. It's basically a smuggler's paradise. There was a sting operation that netted three kilograms of highly enriched uranium. There are fake hundred dollar bills to the tune of at least 50 million dollars that have been printed. [South Ossetian “President” Eduard] Kokoity himself is a former wrestler and a former bodyguard who was promoted to the presidency by powerful Ossetian families as their puppet. What does that mean in practice? It means that if you are a young man, you have no choice. You can either live in absolute misery, or you can take the government's dime and join the militia. It happened in both territories."

“On top of that, for the last four years the Russians have been dishing out passports to anyone who asks in those areas. All you have to do is present your Ossetian or Abkhaz papers and a photo and you get a Russian passport on the spot. If you live in Moscow and try to get a Russian passport, you have the normal procedure to follow, and it takes years. So suddenly you have a lot of Ossetian militiamen and Abkhaz militiamen with Russian passports in effect paid by Russian subsidies."

“So back to the 3rd of August. Kokoity announces women and children should leave. As it later turned out, he made all the civilians leave who were not fighting or did not have fighting capabilities. On the same day, irregulars – Ingush, Chechen, Ossetians, and Cossacks – start coming in and spreading out into the countryside but don't do anything. They just sit and wait. On the 6th of August the shelling intensifies from Ossetian positions. And for the first time since the war finished in 1992, they are using 120mm guns.”

“Can I stop you for a second?” I said. I was still under the impression that the war began on August 7 and that Georgian President Saakashvili started it when he sent troops into South Ossetia's capital Tskhinvali. What was all this about the Ossetian violence on August 6 and before?"

He raised his hand as if to say stop. .....

Follow the link to read on if you dare.

Silent Running

A great song came to mind the other day by Mike and The Mechanics. It was a hit back during the Cold War, however I never appreciated the lyrics until now as an adult. Could this song not only be about a Communist enemy..but maybe the current ideological threat within this nation?

It seems now today that those that wish to undermine and tear apart the fabric of this country as the Founding Father's see it could very well be the antagonists Mr. Mike and his Mechanics are warning against and urging us to fight. No, they may not carry guns and come over in large military transports with red stars on their tails, but they carry phraseology that includes:

-"lets takes more of your money since you don't know what to do with it"
-"we need more government control"
-"you are too stupid to make your own choices, let us, the government tell you how to run your life"
-"let's take more from those that create jobs and give to those that won't get a job"
-"we should be more like the socialists in Europe"
-"let's reward slothfulness with free handouts"
-"you don't need a gun, give that to me, we'll protect you instead"

Silent Running

Take the children and yourself
And hide out in the cellar
By now the fighting will be close at hand
Don't believe the church and state
And everything they tell you
Believe in me, I'm with the high command

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?

There's a gun and ammunition
Just inside the doorway
Use it only in emergency
Better you should pray to God
The Father and the Spirit
Will guide you and protect from up here

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?

Swear allegiance to the flag
Whatever flag they offer
Never hint at what you really feel
Teach the children quietly
For some day sons and daughters
Will rise up and fight while we stood still

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?

Can you hear me running (can you hear me calling you?)
(Can you hear me) hear me calling you?
(Can you hear me running) hear me running babe?
(Can you hear me running) hear me running?
Calling you, calling you

Source: www.lyrics.com

Mr. Mike, good call.

A Little Story About Some Neighbors

Here's a scenario, imagine this with me for a moment.

Neighbor A has a history of being bullied by a few of the other neighbors on the block. In fact, one neighbor, Neighbor B not very long ago kicked Neighbor A's door in, beat up his family and sat in his living room running his household for several long years while he watched helplessly and his family suffered. Neighbor B also did this to several other households with the desire to control the entire street.

Neighbor C came along and helped remove Neighbor B from Neighbor A's home while several other neighbors(led by Neighbor D)from a nearby 'hood helped kick Neighbor B out of the other surrounding homes. Neighbor C decides too that Neighbor A's original way of running his household is inferior and then establishes his own management style of Neighbor A's household (all the while Neighbor C's history has included invading other homes in the same hood and killing fellow neighbors for resisting).

Neighbor B decides finally to be a good neighbor and get back to doing civil things like building great cars and brewing excellent beer (even though Neighbor C has annexed parts of Neighbor B's back yard and instilled a horrible method of managing that part of Neighbor B's property).

Eventually, Neighbor C's ideology is too harsh and restrictive for neighbor A's household and every other home neighbor C has claimed, and neighbor C is finally forced rather peacefully back to his own home, which is now neglected and in disrepair.

Over time, Neighbor A likes the way that the other neighbors, specifically Neighbor D, manages their home and wishes to model their home in the same way. In addition, other neighbors formally occupied by Neighbor C follow suit and find that a relationship with neighbor D is beneficial in many ways. They like how all the members of the family have a say in the decisions of the household affairs and have seen the benefits of a productive household.

Neighbor C decides that he doesn't like Neighbor D's ideas and methodology and finds this threatening to his dysfunctional family home (even though his own family wishes to live in a home similiar to the others). He doesn't want his subordinate family members to enjoy a cooperative and open homestead where they can communicate freely and make decisions together on what is best for the home.

Now, just recently, Neighbor C wants to get the houses he once controlled back under his influence. So, he decides to bully these neighbors (including A) through various means. One day, C kicks off the block party by throwing a rock at a smaller next door Neighbor G (who incidentally is friendly with Neighbor D). When Neighbor G comes outside and throws the rock back, Neighbor C hops the fence and smashes Neighbor G's teeth in while pitching tents in his backyard.

Neighbor A sees what Neighbor C is doing and gets a little anxious. What will happen next? Will Neighbor C come over to neighbor A's house and kick his teeth in too? Well, Neighbor D suggest that Neighbor A goes and buys an alarm system that will prevent any unruly neighbors from kicking in the door and camping out in his living room. Neighbor D just happens to also own the business that manufactures these alarm systems.

Neighbor C, while still picking Neighbor G's teeth out of his fist, sees this and threatens Neighbor A with not just throwing a rock through his window but setting his whole house on fire for wanting to protect himself.

Now you have it folks, the history of communism and fascism in a micro scale that we can all relate too. Now I ask, how in the world could anyone justify Neighbor C's actions?

It's beyond me folks.

True Valor

Ok, my first blog! It comes from strong emotions brought from a recent posting I read on www.nicedoggie.net. I've copied an excerpt from the link to illustrate the following point, that this country's greatness was built from the blood, sweat and tears of men and women such as Maj. Doug Zembiec, USMC.

Maj. Zembiec was killed in Iraq in 2007 but not before forging a respect among his men through his leadership in combat and strength of his character. Before he died, he wrote a letter to the family of his friend that was killed shortly before he himself died. I have copied this letter as I was so struck with the words he spoke. For the full story, go to http://www.nicedoggie.net/2008/?p=1539.

"Major Doug Zembiec was killed in action while leading a raid in Baghdad on May 11th 2007. There is perhaps no greater testament to the type of warrior he was than there was at his funeral.

More than 1,000 mourners, from generals to civilians, packed the Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis yesterday to honor Maj. Douglas A. Zembiec, who was killed last week outside Baghdad.

Five hours later, after the sound of taps had faded over his coffin at Arlington National Cemetery, came what Zembiec, 34, might have considered the finest tribute of all.
About 40 enlisted men gathered under a tree, telling stories about their former commander. Some had flown in from as far away as California, prompting one officer to observe: Your men have to follow your orders; they don’t have to go to your funeral.

That type of love and devotion was expressed by Maj. Zembiec his self in a letter he wrote to the children of Maj. Ray Medoza, also killed in Iraq. As Maj. Mendoza’s wife, Karen, explained;
“The one letter I knew would explain her daddy the best was the letter from Doug Zembiec. He nailed it. His words still send shivers down my spine, because those are the exact words that I could now tell his daughter, Fallyn, about Doug.”Major Zembiec’s letter;

Dear Kiana and Alek,Ray and I had a conversation late May in 2004 while we were deployed to Iraq. He spoke of why he fought. He fought to give the people of Iraq a chance. He fought to crush those who would terrorize and enslave others. He fought to protect his fellow Marines.The last thing he told me that day was, “I don’t want any of these people (terrorists) telling my kids how to act, or how to dress. I don’t want to worry about the safety of my children.”

Kiana and Alek, your father fought for many things, but always remember, he fought for you.As you fight this battle we call life, you will find your challenges greater, your adversity larger, your enemies more numerous. The beautiful thing is, you will grow stronger, smarter, faster, and you will overcome the obstacles in your way.No one could’ve better prepared you than your father.
In the month and a half your family stayed with me in Laguna Niguel, Calif., while waiting for base housing to open up, I saw how, with the help of your incredible mother, he instilled in you the essentials to life:

# Live with integrity, for without integrity we deceive ourselves, we live in a house of cards.
# Fight for what you believe, for without valor, we lose our freedom.
# Be willing to sacrifice, for anything worthy in life requires sacrifice.
# Be disciplined, for it is discipline that builds the foundation of your success.

You will encounter misguided people in your life who may question America’s attempt to help the people of Iraq and the Middle East. These pathetic windbags, who have nothing so sacred in their lives that they would be willing to fight for it, will argue and debate endlessly on what we should’ve done.While they criticize, they forget the truth, or conveniently overlook the fact that it takes men and women of action, willing to make a sacrifice, to free the enslaved, to advance the cause of freedom.Our great nation was built on the shoulders of men like your father.

While the nay-sayers and cowards hid in the shadows sniveling that nothing was worth dying for, men like your dad carved our liberty away from the English, freed the slaves and kept the Union together, saved Europe from the Germans twice; rescued the Pacific away from the Japanese, defeated communism, and right now, fight terrorism and plant the seeds of democracy in the Middle East.

Your father was a warrior, but being a warrior is not always about fighting. He was patient with those he led, and he understood people make mistakes. He cared about the men he led as if they were his own family. To him, they were. His work ethic was tremendous. But he made time for his family, to enjoy life. He was balanced, at equilibrium. He was an inspiration. He was my friend.

In your future, when you are pushed against a wall, in a tight spot, outnumbered and seemingly overwhelmed, it may be tempting to give up, or even use the absence of your father as a crutch, as an excuse for failure.Don’t. Your father’s passing, while tragic, serves as an endless source of your empowerment. Your father would not want you to wallow in self-pity. I know you will honor him by living your life in the positive example he set. Respect and remember him. Drive on with your lives. Serve something greater than yourself. Enjoy all the good things that life has to offer. That is what he would want.

Kiana! I have never met a more capable young lady in my life. You are the most well-read, articulate, disciplined young person I know. Often I tell people of the arm-bar you demonstrated on me in your parents’ garage. When you become a worldwide Judo champion, I will say with great pride, “that woman nearly torqued my shoulder out when she was 11 years old!”If my daughter grows up with a quarter of the strength of your principles, determination and intelligence, she will be an incredible human being. Like your mother, you are a beautiful woman, a fact of which you should be proud.

Alek! You are blessed with your father’s strength of character and his unbreakable will and his broad shoulders. Your mother gave you her determination and unwavering mental toughness.Your mother told me the story of you hanging up the sign, “Be a leader, not a follower.” My eyes well up every time that I think of you doing that. My eyes fill not with tears of sadness, but of pride, to know you grasped the mindset your father passed on to you. This mindset will allow you to be a leader and protector like your father, and one day, to raise an upright, solid-as-a-rock family of your own.When I look in your eyes, I see your father. Courageous, determined and resolute, your father embodied all that is virtuous in a warrior. Even now, you strive to embody his same character. Remember, there will never be any pressure for you to be exactly like your father. Be your own man, but build your character in his image.

Many people may be concerned about your future because of the early passing of your father. I don’t worry at all. Your dad gave you all you ever need to become a great woman and a great man. I know your father would have told you to be your own hero/heroine. Don’t wait for someone to rise up and lead you to victory, to your goals. If you do, you might wait for a very long time.

Ray died as a warrior, sword in hand, in service of his country, his comrades and you, his loved ones. His spirit and example give us all hope, reaffirms our faith. Your father reminds us there are men willing to fight for people that they don’t even know so that all may live in peace.I joined the Corps to serve beside men like your father. There is no other Marine I’d rather have protecting my flank in combat than your dad. Even now, as I write this letter in Iraq, I will honor him on the field of battle by slaying as many of our enemies as possible, and fight until our mission is accomplished.

You will always be in our lives. Please stay in touch. We will always be in your corner for assistance, advice or just conversation. Pam and I plan to retire in Idaho and would love for you to visit us so we can take you white-water rafting and mountain climbing.
Very Respectfully,
Doug

While Maj. Zembiec may not be there in person for Kiana or Alek, or his own daughter Fallyn, his eloquent and moving words will be; as will be his inspiration to his Marines, and to our nation."

My grandfather fought against the Japanese in WWII in the Pacific theater aboard a light cruiser, the USS Vicksburg. My uncle has served in the US Navy as a pilot for many years. My brother-in-law and close friend have both served in Iraq. When I see their dedication to this country with such devotion as to risk life and limb, I am reminded that these things I cherish every day were/are perserved by their service.

While the leadership of this country over its short lifespan has made some questionable decisions throughout history, it in no way should cast a pall over the greater good we citizens stand for or what our Founding Fathers believed in. When I hear people saying that we should be more like Europeans or that they are ashamed that they are Americans, I cringe. While they are free to express themselves, the irony is lost on them. Thank God we are not like Europe. Thank God that we have a free market, strong economy and industrious people. For without what Americans have been able to accomplish free from the shackles of tyranny, communism, etc, the rest of the world would not benefit.

Those naysayers that wish to see our country, economy, etc..knocked down a notch just to see us not so great as before have no grasp on how important our success and strength is to the rest of the world. It's not arrogant, but economic reality. When we prosper, our wealth, our innovation, our benevolence reaches out across oceans and cultures.

Major Zembiec gets it. My grandfather got it. My brother-in-law and friend both get it. Thankfully those that remain clueless aren't the ones doing the sacrifice.

While I never met you Major Zembiec, thank you for what you stand for, even in your passing. May we all glean at bit of your courage and faith to be unapologetically American and to embody all that it stands for.