Hubble & Atlantis

WOW! Check out the video of Atlantis releasing Hubble after the completed repairs. Amazing images! The repair of Hubble almost never happened but the skill, no-how and tenacity of Americans to go and do whatever it takes shows once again that we can do anything we put our minds to.



Thank you Space.com for providing this wonderful story and video!

Dick Cheney is the Man

I love it when former VP Dick Cheney speaks and the Left squirms. I understand it when Bush chooses to remain silent while Obama assails him and the former administration. Unlike Carter and Clinton, Bush holds the office in the highest esteem. Cheney is under no such restraints and is a mighty voice in pointing to the dangers confronting our country in the face of the lack of moral fortitude and whiny hand wringing by liberals.

Here is part of a recent speech by Cheney at the AEI, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.

Another term out there that slipped into the discussion is the notion that American interrogation practices were a "recruitment tool" for the enemy. On this theory, by the tough questioning of killers, we have supposedly fallen short of our own values. This recruitment-tool theory has become something of a mantra lately, including from the President himself. And after a familiar fashion, it excuses the violent and blames America for the evil that others do. It's another version of that same old refrain from the Left, "We brought it on ourselves."

It is much closer to the truth that terrorists hate this country precisely because of the values we profess and seek to live by, not by some alleged failure to do so. Nor are terrorists or those who see them as victims exactly the best judges of America's moral standards, one way or the other.

Critics of our policies are given to lecturing on the theme of being consistent with American values. But no moral value held dear by the American people obliges public servants ever to sacrifice innocent lives to spare a captured terrorist from unpleasant things. And when an entire population is targeted by a terror network, nothing is more consistent with American values than to stop them.

As a practical matter, too, terrorists may lack much, but they have never lacked for grievances against the United States. Our belief in freedom of speech and religion, our belief in equal rights for women, our support for Israel, our cultural and political influence in the world--these are the true sources of resentment, all mixed in with the lies and conspiracy theories of the radical clerics. These recruitment tools were in vigorous use throughout the 1990s, and they were sufficient to motivate the nineteen recruits who boarded those planes on September 11, 2001.

The United States of America was a good country before 9/11, just as we are today. List all the things that make us a force for good in the world--for liberty, for human rights, for the rational, peaceful resolution of differences--and what you end up with is a list of the reasons why the terrorists hate America. If fine speech-making, appeals to reason, or pleas for compassion had the power to move them, the terrorists would long ago have abandoned the field. And when they see the American government caught up in arguments about interrogations, or whether foreign terrorists have constitutional rights, they don't stand back in awe of our legal system and wonder whether they had misjudged us all along. Instead the terrorists see just what they were hoping for--our unity gone, our resolve shaken, our leaders distracted. In short, they see weakness and opportunity.

What is equally certain is this: The broad-based strategy set in motion by President Bush obviously had nothing to do with causing the events of 9/11. But the serious way we dealt with terrorists from then on, and all the intelligence we gathered in that time, had everything to do with preventing another 9/11 on our watch. The enhanced interrogations of high-value detainees and the terrorist surveillance program have without question made our country safer. Every senior official who has been briefed on these classified matters knows of specific attacks that were in the planning stages and were stopped by the programs we put in place.

Read the whole speech here, and smile.

Obama is a Politician, and Quite Possibly a Fool

Obama's speech on Memorial Day is a clear indication that he truly does not understand the dangers facing this country. His declaration of Gitmo and waterboarding as being "torture" was stupid and inaccurate even by his own Justice Department's pronouncements. Our treatment of enemy combatants does not enhance terrorist recruitment. Successful terrorist attacks do. Jihadists and enemies of freedom respect strength and power. Bush and Cheney understood that principle and acted upon that fact. Before politics and personal ambition set aside his principles, even Biden recognized it as well. Obama is a fool to think otherwise.

Here's a great article by the National Review about it.

Here Comes the Socialized Medicine Freight Train

Here's a great article about the stupidity of our country's head-long plunge into socialized medicine. Have we not learned the lessons of Canada and Great Britain?

A key excerpt:

Most of us in private practice have given up trying to reason and argue with those who argue for a living. We are simply going to cut back on our hours, downsize our lives, and try to find other outlets for our talents. I admit that this is passive-aggressive in the extreme but it may be the only arrow in our quiver that will have any effect.

Unfortunately for patients, they will learn of their folly too late and there will be many people dying in 2012 who would not have died in 1990. Doctors, already a vanishing breed, will be on the endangered species list soon. Why would one choose to go to medical school now? Dear Mr. President, before you commit us to Universal Care you should ask if we are going to participate. I am not.

Go read the whole thing here.

Pencil Face

Now for something REALLY bizarre....

Creation & little green footballs

Charles Johnson and his fantastic site, little green footballs, is one of my favorites sites to visit every day. Charles, along with Hugh Hewitt, is a primary reason I got into blogging. His post about Dan Rathers and the fake memos rocked journalism. I readily identified with it since I had a typesetting and printing background. Charles has wonderful insight, wit and humor about politics, the environment and the present dangers in the world threatening us. His occasional posts on music are eclectic and stimulating (in a weird, amusing way!)

However, his assault on those that believe in the creation by God thoroughly puzzles me. The energy Charles extends toward refuting creation is, I believe, distracting from what he does best.

I say this now for all to see. I believe without reservation and with all the faith I have: I believe that the living God created the heavens and earth and everything in it, including man. I trust His word and I am not ashamed to loudly proclaim it.

That being said, I do not want faith OR evolution taught in the schools. I am not afraid of evolution but I do NOT want it taught in schools at the exclusion or ridicule of creation. I do want politicians at NOTANY level trying to mandate creation OR evolution.

Charles, I hold you in the highest esteem. I will continue to read your site. But if creation is bogus, why would our founders have put so much forethought and acknowledgment of creation and the Creator in our country's most hallowed document? Were they ignorant? If they were wrong about creation and the Creator, were they wrong about the principles of our republic?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

I know that not all the founding fathers were believers but creation and the Creator ARE part of the bedrock foundation of our country. May it always be so.

Change!

Hilarious!

Iran and Hamas

Iran is a Shiite nation. Hamas is Sunni. Historically, the two main branches of Islam despise each other and have been very efficient at killing each other. How is it that Iran and Hamas seem to be partners in jihad? What does Iran gain by supporting Hamas? Marc Gerecht of the Wall Street Journal has an excellent analysis of Iran's strategy with Hamas that is eye opening. Let's hope that Obama's teams understand the dangers of trying to open dialogue with terrorist groups.

Obama IS a Socialist

Lord Marxist Obama IS a socialist bent on redistributing the hard earned wealth of Americans. Listen to this radio interview from 2001 at Chicago Public Radio WBEZ.FM. THESE ARE HIS OWN WORDS! His thinking is not whether the redistribution is right or wrong but how best to do it. Scary...

Socialism? Yes, Socialism

Wow! Listen to these Obama supporters in Ohio openly espouse socialism.


Methinks Joe the Plumber is correct.

Props: HOURGLASS1941