I'm thankful I'm not a Democrat...

I'm not sure that I will have a chance to write anything before Lacy and I go to San Diego for Thanksgiving, so I wanted to link to this handy summary of the Bush administration's efforts to defend their handling of the decision to go to war, courtesy of Instapundit. I hope everyone has a great holiday. I know I will.

Finish the War

The war in Iraq continues to be a contentious issue. Yesterday, a well-known Democratic Congressman urged the administration to pull the troops out of Iraq soon. His comments have been countered by Administration officials, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and some politicians. The reason his comments have received so much attention is because he is a decorated combat veteran. I respect his service to the country, but disagree with his remarks and think his reasoning for a pullout is flawed. Here is a letter written by U.S. Soldiers that deserves a reading alongside his comments.

Reality Check

Christopher Hitchens, a well-known writer for online Slate Magazine, is not a Bush apologist. He is, at least in this instance, a fair-minded person examining the futility of the 'Bush Lied' rhetoric. Check out today's piece and understand the inanity of this far-left conspiracy talk.

Our Ideas Are So Good They're Secret!

The following is an unedited excerpt from last Sunday's Meet the Press with Tim Russert (transcript here):

DR. DEAN: We have an alternative agenda. We made it very clear. We want a strong national security based on telling the truth to our people at home, our soldiers and our allies. We want jobs in America that'll stay in America, and we believe that renewable energy is one of the areas where we can do that. We want a health-care system that covers everybody, just like 36 other countries in the world. We want a strong public education system. And most of all, we want honesty back in government. I think that's a pretty good agenda.

MR. RUSSERT: But those are words that will appeal to people. But when you go behind them, for example, what is the Democratic position on Iraq? Should we withdraw troops now? What do the Democrats stand for?

DR. DEAN: Tim, first of all, we don't control the House, the Senate or the White House. We have plenty of time to show Americans what our agenda is and we will long before the '06 elections.

MR. RUSSERT: But there's no Democratic plan on Social Security. There's no Democratic plan on the deficit problem. There's no specifics. They say, "Well, we want a strong Social Security. We want to reduce the deficit. We want health care for everyone," but there's no plan how to pay for it.

DR. DEAN: Right now it's not our job to give out specifics. We have no control in the House. We have no control in the Senate. It's our job is to stop this administration, this corrupt and incompetent administration, from doing more damage to America. And that's what we're going to do. We're doing our best. Look at the trouble they're having putting together a budget. Why is that? Because there's still a few moderate Republicans left who don't think it's OK to cut school lunch programs, who don't think it's OK to do some of the appalling things that they're doing in their budget. I saw a show last night which showed a young African-American man in California at the UC of Davis who hoped to go to law school. The Republicans want to cut $14 billion out of higher education so this kid can't go to law school. We're going to do better than that, and together, America can do better than that.

MR. RUSSERT: But is it enough for you to say to the country, "Trust us, the other guy's no good. We'll do better, but we're not going to tell you specifically how we're going to deal with Iraq."

DR. DEAN: We will. When the time comes, we will do that.

MR. RUSSERT: When's the time going to come?

DR. DEAN: The time is fast-approaching. And I outlined the broad outlines of our agenda.
We're going to have specific plans in all of these areas.

MR. RUSSERT: This year?

DR. DEAN: In 2006.

Of course there was more to the interview than this, but read it. What is your impression? Mine is of a party that has no ideas, or at least ideas so poorly developed that they are unable to provide any specifics. Check especially the bold portion of Dean's remarks. Dean is saying that his job is to be obstructionist without offering alternatives. I don't mind different ideas. The problem is that the Democrats are all criticism and no ideas.

Who are the Liars?

As if to punctuate yesterday's post, the Republican Party has produced an advertisement that effectively demonstrates the weakness of the Democrats on the issue of prewar intelligence. See it here.

Glass Houses and All That...

Continuing last week's campaign to out the real Iraq War liars, the following articles make a good case for why President Bush's critics are guilty of much more than partisan politics as usual. I make the assertion that their lies and distortions ARE a disservice to the men and women in the Armed Forces and do undermine our mission there.
Michael Barone pulls together some quotes from President Bush's speech, as well as a defense of the President by John McCain. I don't understand how a fair-minded person can read this and maintain that President Bush lied. It is an untenable position to take in an age where a Google search exposes their fraud.
More effectively even, Norman Podhoretz, editor-at-large of Commentary, provides an absolutely comprehensive dismantling of Bush Lied! crowd. If you can read this, and still maintain that the President lied, there is no hope for you. I don't expect people to agree with the war. I don't expect people to agree with the war's execution. I DO expect people to learn the facts and be reasonable. I DO expect elected officials to tell the TRUTH!

Terror's Personal Reach

The recent bombings in Amman, Jordan occurred a world away. Andrew Breitbart, who runs an excellent news site, lost a friend in the attacks, and didn't even realize it at first. The point is that terror is a danger to all of us and must be stopped. This is a tragic story of lives cut short. Terrorism is not cancer. It is preventable. We have to fight if it takes decades or longer.

Bush's Big Speech

I am writing from a Starbucks in Jacksonville, FL where I am on business. As such I was unable to listen to President Bush's speech, having to resort to reading the transcript. I think it is a very good speech, and he clearly calls out the liars in Congress for making false and misleading statements. We needed a speech like this. We need more motivation and clear declarations of fact. Iraq is important! That is a fact, and we can win.

The Troubles in France.

More on France...or is it Moron France? Well, the French have problems. They are systemic and have nothing to do with whether French people are nice to Americans. I know more nice French people than not-nice ones (I don't know many in absolute terms) and I don't feel like blaming all French people for these riots. Nevertheless, these are systemic problems. John Vinocur, a writer for the International Herald Tribune, writes a scalding critique of the embedded hypocrisy of French society. Based on what has happened there, our political divides seem relatively minor by comparison. It can't help but bolster my already high degree of American superiority vis-a-vis the failure of the European Welfare state.

Deciding that I do in fact have a Blog

I have resisted using Blogger because I liked having the website with all the pictures and other content, but like many, I yearn for more. My ego desired greater exposure, and why not utilize whatever means available so that I could have yet another barely-read blog.
So here goes. I will continue to add to the website, duplicating entries for the time being on my http://www.spotd.net/truth.htm page.