January 28, 2009

KILL the BILL

The Multi-Generational Financial Rape Act—a 1.1-trillion dollar pork-laden monstrosity of self-serving governmental bloat—will come up for a vote tomorrow, and at least the Republican leadership and some Blue Dog Democrats have the good sense to recognize that this Obama/Pelosi wish list is going to crush the economy, not help it.

Michelle Malkin notes that the "stimulus" being pitched is going to cost each American family ten thousand dollars.

$10,000. Do you have that to hand over? Do you mind if Obama and Pelosi steal that money from your kids?

Call your Congressional offices and order them to kill this nightmare. They work for you.

And it's past time you reminded them of that.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:37 AM | Comments (47) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

January 26, 2009

Obama's al-Interview

I see that Drudge is linking Jake Tapper's post on Barack Obama granting his first television interview to al-Arabiya, a Dubai-based cable news channel that reaches 23 million in the region. That he would now attempt to woo this audience as he successfully did so many American voters is hardly surprising. Whether or not he succeeds is another matter entirely.

While his first phone call as President was to Abu Mazen, the terrorist leader of Fatah who financed the massacre of Israeli athletes in the 1972 Olympics and was therefore a revolting first act, Obama seems to be attempting a direct diplomacy of sorts with the people of the region, and deserves some credit for making the attempt.

I somewhat suspect that the people who receive the channel will be fascinated and a bit curious for the short term before writing Obama off as simply another American President, but the larger issue is what the region's dictators and royals make of him. I suspect they'll write him off as a bloviating dandy without the sand to engage in any meaningful deterrence in the region.

Sadly, I'm afraid that they are probably spot-on with that assessment, though only time will tell.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:10 PM | Comments (48) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

January 23, 2009

Obama's War on Terror "Surrender" May Mean Another Lincoln Moment in His Future

Over at Wizbang today, Kim Priestap notes the Washington Post article that seems to be a tacit admission that the War on Terror that the United States has waged with a good deal of success in the wake of 9/11 has not survived the first 100 hours of the Obama Presidency:

While Obama says he has no plans to diminish counterterrorism operations abroad, the notion that a president can circumvent long-standing U.S. laws simply by declaring war was halted by executive order in the Oval Office.

Key components of the secret structure developed under Bush are being swept away: The military's Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility, where the rights of habeas corpus and due process had been denied detainees, will close, and the CIA is now prohibited from maintaining its own overseas prisons. And in a broad swipe at the Bush administration's lawyers, Obama nullified every legal order and opinion on interrogations issued by any lawyer in the executive branch after Sept. 11, 2001.

It was a swift and sudden end to an era that was slowly drawing to a close anyway, as public sentiment grew against perceived abuses of government power. The feisty debate over the tactics employed against al-Qaeda began more than six years ago as whispers among confidants with access to the nation's most tightly held secrets. At the time, there was consensus in Congress and among the public that the United States would be attacked again and that government should do what was necessary to thwart the threat.

The lapdog liberals that support Obama are cheering the immediate return to the law enforcement model of counter-terrorism, somehow able to view that as a victory, even though that flawed model led us to void in the Manhattan skyline, a smoking crater in Shanksville, and a gaping wound in the hide of the Pentagon.

That failure also led the United States to engage in wars we are still fighting, with hundreds of thousands of Americans and foreigners killed and wounded in a struggle that first started in this nation's infancy.

Thomas Jefferson was the first American President to deal with this ideology, and dealt with it decisively with naval cannon and Marine Corps bayonets. To this day, Marine officers carry the Mameluke sword as a tribute to the honor they won in that conflict. Since the beginning of this nation we have understood that dealing with terrorism sometimes means terrorists must be put to the sword.

Our new President prefers to think that subpoenas are more effective, despite the fact every American President who has avoided conflict with modern terrorists—Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton—has only served to encourage its growth. Only our most recent President sought to put terrorists and terrorist states on the defensive through military means, and as a result, we did not see another successful terror attack in the final seven years of his Presidency. Say what you will about his his domestic programs, his expansion of government, his expansive view of executive authority, and the loss—God forbid—of popularity among the world's lesser nations.

He kept us safe.

Barack Obama, less than a week into the first executive leadership role of his entire life, dispensed with all that has succeeded these past seven years without review.

He disarmed America with the arrogant stroke of a pen, secure in his belief that his idealism and ideology will keep us safe.

Instead, as North Korean continues it's nuclear program, Iran draws ever closer towards nuclear warheads of their own, and Pakistan's arsenal wavers in unsteady hands as it squares off against India without and Islamists within, Barack Obama faces the possibility of carrying out yet another parallel with Abraham Lincoln.

Cold Harbor, 1865. Picking up the pieces.

A Presidency that sees the death of hundreds of thousands on American soil.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 02:02 PM | Comments (50) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Baracki, Don't Forget My Number

The classical music played in Obama's inauguration was taped two days earlier, and people are now making Milli Vanilli comparisons.

You're a little late, folks, but welcome to the show!

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:52 AM | Comments (34) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

IT'S ON: Informant Grathwohl to Confront Terrorist Ayers

Larry Grathwohl, a soldier who penetrated the Weather Underground at the time the group attempted three mass murders, will attempt to confront domestic terrorist (and Obama family friend) Bill Ayers at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, CA on January 28.

Grathwohl will be a featured speaker at a protest against Ayers organized by Move America Forward.

Ayers is presently on a book tour promoting a book on "social justice" that more than likely skips over how must justice can be found in the elimination of 25 million in concentration camps once hoped for by the leadership of the Weather Underground.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 08:22 AM | Comments (37) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

January 21, 2009

Whitehouse.gov Contradicts Obama's Gun Claims

Despite numerous public claims in the past that he would leave gun owners alone, reinstating the Assault Weapons Ban and enacting other restrictions are very much on Barack Obama's "Urban Policy" agenda.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/urban_policy/

Obama and Biden would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent.

The Tiahrt Amendment does not unduly restrict law enforcement investigations; to the contrary, it keeps law enforcement agencies honest, making sure they cannot abuse gun trace data. Both the BATFE and FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) oppose the release of the information protected by the Tiahrt Amendment citing a threat to on-going investigations and to the lives of undercover officers and informants.

So if law enforcement agencies get all the trace data they need to solve specific crimes and law enforcement itself is against repealing Tiahrt, why would Obama be for it? Some would speculate that Obama's fellow gun-banning proponents such as Chicago Mayor Daley and New York Mayor Bloomberg might find a way to use this data to fire off another round of lawsuits hoping to cripple or bankrupt the gun industry.

As for "commonsense measures," the man who tried to corrupt constitutional scholarship and doled out funds to some of the most rabid anti-gun groups in the United States simply has no credibility for having common sense on the matter, as he's supported outright bans and has been openly hostile to firearm owners in the past.

As for the infamous "gun show loophole," it is completely false, a myth. It simply doesn't exist.

The same gun store dealers that perform background checks at their retail locations are required by law to perform those same background checks at gun shows. Private sellers have never been required to perform a background check anywhere, whether selling it in a person-to-person sale at a gun show or in their home. The only reason to push for such legislation is to further erode the rights of Americans and expand government control in your lives.

As for "childproofing guns," there is no proven or near-term solution that can both render a firearm inoperable for some users and still leave it reliable enough for use as a self defense weapon for law enforcement or civilian use. Various gimmicks have been trotted out in the past; all have been commercial failures because the inherent unreliability of such systems compromises the confidence of the shooter, and their faith in the tool.

Further, "childproofing guns" is not something that can be done retroactively, meaning tens of millions of existing guns would either need to be grandfathered—rendering the law immediately useless—or the guns themselves would have to be modified to comply with the law at taxpayer expense. How many billions of our tax dollars does President Obama intend to spend assuring compliance of a law that makes a potentially deadly tool unreliable in the hands of those most prone to needing it in a time of life-threatening danger? That's a rhetorical question, by the way. Expansive gun laws aren't about saving lives, but asserting control.

As for reinstating the laughably ineffective Assault Weapons Ban—which Joe Biden still inexplicably like to take credit for authoring despite its utter failure—this too, is an attempt to control the lives and rights of law-abiding Americans, and an attempt that has a well-documented history of accomplishing next to nothing.

During the life of the ban (1994-2004) semi-automatic rifles and pistols increased in sales and became more widespread. So-called "assault rifles" and high capacity magazines sold in higher numbers than ever before during the ban. It did so because then Senator Biden and his fellow gun-banners are idiots, outlawing cosmetic features, knowing that a law affecting how the guns actually work would never stand a constitutional challenge. As a result, firearms that were "assault weapons" the day before the ban drops several scary-looking features that did not slow their rate of fire or affect their accuracy, and were legal again the very next day.

Below on the left is the infamous TEC-9 that Congressmen and Senators made such a big deal of being a preferred weapon of gangs and drug dealers. Beside it is the cynically-named AB-10, the "After-ban" version of the exact same gun that was legally on store shelves the day the ban took effect.

The law did not save lives, though it did have one interesting, unforeseen consequence: the creation of an entire new market of small, powerful handguns designed for concealed carry.

While the high capacity magazine ban portion of the ban raised the cost of magazines for existing models, it also had the unintended consequence of convincing gun designers that if they were restricted to guns that only carried ten-round magazines, then these guns needed to be small, light, concealable, and powerful. As concealed carry laws were becoming more widespread across the country during this same ten years, this new market exploded, creating a market niche and even created entire companies to cater to that market where none had before existed.

Barack Obama continues to lie to the public about his intentions towards our Second Amendment rights, but may end up doing nothing more than making the American people more heavily armed, and the shooting industry among the most recession-proof.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 10:15 PM | Comments (52) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

"Um, You Know" Withdraws Bid for Hillary's Vacated Senate Seat

It looks like New Yorkers have been spare the anguish of being represented by a silver spoon with a crayon mind.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 07:39 PM | Comments (31) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Shooting Suspects in the Back is Bad

My post at Pajamas Media this morning is drawing a lot of heat for labeling President Bush's commutation of former Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean his "final mistake."

I can certainly see the other side of the equation, as I personally prefer a walled, wired, and if necessary mined border with Mexico, but this case isn't as hard—for me at least—as some people would like to make it.

Cops that shoot fleeing suspects in the back, leave the wounded suspect to fend for himself, and then attempt to cover-up the incident deserve considerable jail time, and sentences of 11 and 12 years don't seem excessive in that context from where I sit.

Do I wish their aim had been a little better? Certainly. I despise drug dealers as well. But the suspect's profession doesn't mitigate the decisions made by these two former officers, and in my opinion, they didn't deserve their commutations (and certainly do not deserve the pardons some were lobbying for).

Update: The Dallas Morning News had a similar reaction to the commutation:

...this newspaper does not agree with Bush's decision to commute the sentences of former border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who, respectively, were serving 11- and 12-year federal prison terms for shooting a Mexican drug dealer. This was a despicable crime: The two officers had no idea the unarmed man was trafficking in drugs when they shot him in the back side as he ran for the border near El Paso. They then took extraordinary steps to cover up the shooting with a false report.

Their actions are an affront to Border Patrol agents who perform a difficult and thankless job, and the pair's sentences were upheld last year by a federal appeals court.

It’s regrettable that Bush shortened their jail time but significant that he found middle ground and didn’t grant them pardons. Their convictions will remain on the record.

Perhaps the commutation will end the undeserved celebrity status that had erupted around these two former agents. Anti-immigration organizations have used them as poster boys to perpetuate a myth that they were in prison for doing their jobs while drug smugglers were allowed to go free.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Ramos and Compean committed felonies and were rightly brought to justice. Perhaps now the Obama administration can have a comprehensive immigration discussion without this distraction clouding the conversation.

Perhaps appropriately enough, they've been greeted with a similar response by their readers, who claim that they must favor the rights of drug dealers over that of police officers.

If that was the case, I'd agree as well.

But Compean and Ramos did not know the suspect was a drug dealer at the time. They followed a suspicious vehicle on a chase, then immediately engaged in a foot pursuit of the driver without having a chance to know why his was running. Should we really write our laws to allow law enforcement officers to do whatever they want, allowing themselves to justify it after the fact?

Ramos and Compean shot at a guy who could have stolen copper, had a warrant for failing to appear in court for a parking ticket... they simply didn't know. If you've ever watched COPS, you know that stupid people run for the police for all sorts of idiotic reasons, and officers are almost never justified at shooting at a fleeing suspect 14 times (Compean) or Ramos (once).

That the suspect in the case was later determined to be an illegal, and a drug smuggler with hundreds of pounds of drugs, cannot justify what they did before they had that knowledge.

I strongly suspect the vast majority of support for these officers would have never existed if the officers had fired upon a fleeing middle-aged white guy poaching wild game.

Please tell me where I'm wrong.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 08:44 AM | Comments (58) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

January 20, 2009

The Testing Begins

One thing America's enemies expect in Barack Obama is weakness, and they aren't wasting any time testing him:

Right now, man, lately, we've been under some INSANE level of incoming… like compared to 2004, not so much, but considering that when I got here, it'd been over 9-10 months since any, mind you, ANY rounds hit, and for like 3 days/nights in a row we've had between 2 to 4 incoming rounds.

Expect an uptick in attacks on American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and perhaps elsewhere as terrorists and tyrants probe the incoming Obama Administration to see what the 44th President is made of.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:37 PM | Comments (42) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Hope. Change. Explosives.

I'm hoping this is a hoax:

A Massachusetts man stopped by police along the New Jersey Turnpike amid a suspicion that he was taking explosives to Washington, D.C., prompted a 25-mile closure of the highway east of Philadelphia on Tuesday evening.

At about 6:30 p.m., New Jersey State Police closed the turnpike at exit 1 through exit 4 as a precaution. State troopers, FBI agents and turnpike officials continued to investigate along the highway that leads south to Washington.

New Jersey State Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones said troopers took a 27-year-old man into custody following a car stop in the southbound lanes of the turnpike near Exit 3 in Woodbury Heights.

Know who this benefits?

Mitt Romney.

Update: false alarm.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 08:28 PM | Comments (35) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Flubbed. So What?

I see people are quickly jumping on the case of Barack Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts for stumbling during the Oath of Office.

Folks, let's see you take on the responsibility for most important job in the world in front of hundreds of thousands and see if you get it perfect.

If that's the only thing he screws up over the course of the next four years, I'll be thrilled.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:46 PM | Comments (46) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

January 19, 2009

Hope. Change. Foie Gras.

Apparently analogies are one thing liberals are willing to torture with zeal, as Anne Applebaum shows as she painfully tries to compare Captain Sullenberger of US Air Flight 1549 to Barack Obama.

Anne? Uh, no.

Captain Sullenberger has spent his entire career working with steady determination to hone his skills to a razors edge, becoming proficient in a highly technical, potentially high-threat environment. He mastered crisis management through constant simulation and repetition, gaining valuable experience to be ready when a real life-threatening crisis struck, and when it occurred, he handled it brilliantly.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, has spent his entire brief political career soaring ever higher on a majestic current of rising hot air, taking first one position, then another, moving ever upward without spending any time mastering his present position before flittering ever higher. Now he finds himself at the head of the gaggle, honking excitedly about the new direction in which he hopes to lead the gaggle behind him, never hearing the sound of jet engines on an intersecting course over his own flapping.

Obama isn't the captain.

He's high-speed paté.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 11:51 PM | Comments (46) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

CNN's Meserve Punked by Secret Service

Dude, where's my spotter?

The teams typically consist of two people, both armed with high-powered rifles, either of whom can shoot to deter an imminent threat. If one countersniper spots a threat, that person prepares to shoot while the other member takes on the role of "wind caller," telling the shooter how to adjust his aim to counteract the wind.

The wind caller takes cues from chimney smoke, flags or undulations from the atmosphere.

While the name of the primary shooter of a precision shooting team differs for political reasons with some calling him a sniper, countersniper, sharpshooter or kitten-of-the-gun, the second half of a sniper team is ubiquitously called a spotter.

A "wind caller?"

That's the obnoxious little kid that loudly yells "Mommy farted!" at the mall, causing a mortified, teeth-clenched-and-red-faced woman to momentarily yearn for a "decade-after" pill.

One can only imagine that Meserve and Ahlers did what CNN journalists so often do, taking the word of their subjects at face value—be they Hamas terrorists, tyrannical dictators, or straight-faced comedians with a badge—rushing the story to air without bothering with tedious fact-checking, or even a few seconds on the Internet to see if they got the terminology remotely right.

The dead-pan sniper found his mark, and CNN's Merserve published a subtle fart joke as news.

Bulls-eye.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 08:13 PM | Comments (31) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

President Elect's Terrorist Family Friend Stopped at the Border

A domestic terrorist was denied exit from the United States last night, and will presumably return home to Chicago.

Dr. William Ayers, a professor of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago and a leader in educational reform, was scheduled to speak at the Centre for Urban Schooling at University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. But that appearance has now been temporarily cancelled.

"I don't know why I was turned back," Ayers said in an interview this morning from Chicago. "I got off the plane like everyone else and I was asked to come over to the other side. The border guards reviewed some stuff and said I wasn't going to be allowed into Canada. To me it seems quite bureaucratic and not at all interesting ... If it were me I would have let me in. I couldn't possibly be a threat to Canada."

Indeed, if the competence of a terrorist were a determining issue, Ayers would very much be a free-traveling citizen of the world. But terrorist threats aren't based upon competence, but intent, and on three occasions Ayers' Weather Underground attempted spectacular mass murders.

In February of 1970 Ayers' Weathermen built bombs using propane canisters as crude incendiaries, roofing nails as shrapnel to rend flesh, and 44 sticks of dynamite to rip buildings apart.

One of those bombs was meant to destroy the 13th Precinct of the Detroit Police Department, killing police officers, criminals and citizens inside. The other bomb targeted the Detroit Police Benevolent Association. Both were set to go off when it would kill the maximum number of people.

Neither bomb went off thanks to the incompetence of the bomb designer (some suspect Ayers himself designed them), which was good news for the innocents inside these two locations, as well as a nearby diner filled with African-American families that would have born the brunt of the second blast.

The third attempt, the March 6, 1970, resulted in a premature detonation on the day of a planned attack. Ayers' girlfriend and two other Weathermen were killed making nail-studded pipe-bombs to bomb an enlisted officers dance that took place at Fort Dix, NJ that night.

If the bombers had not blown themselves up while constructing their bombs, and had carried out their attack with less than half of the bombs they made, the resulting blast could very well have been the largest terrorist attack in American history prior to Timothy McVeigh's truck bomb in Oklahoma City.

Canada showed simple common sense in rejecting this terrorist, who once discussed with absolute sincerity the need to murder 25 million Americans in concentration camps.

It's too bad the man who be our new President tomorrow lacks the same discernment.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 07:57 PM | Comments (35) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

January 17, 2009

Goodbye, Bill

Bill Faith of Old War Dogs and Small Town Veteran passed yesterday, apparently due to a heart attack. He was a kind soul, and the world is a poorer place for his loss. I'm simply glad that God, in his kindness, allowed Bill to meet his new granddaughter and visit with her awhile before he passed on.

Michelle Malkin has published a wonderful tribute to Bill. Please leave your blessings and prayers there.

I'd write more, but I've got a little some thing in my eye.

God bless you, Bill.

RIP

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 05:14 PM | Comments (30) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

January 16, 2009

Deterring the Obama Assassination Threat

With woeful predictably, the media is ginning up threats of an Obama assassination attempt to accompany his inauguration next Tuesday. Are there any specific threats, militant chatter, or suspicious behavior?

Of course not.

But birds gotta fly, Huffington Post authors have to insist Bush is going to stage his coup any second now, and CNN has to make up news:

So far, there is no known organized effort to express opposition to Obama's rise to the presidency other than a call by the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for its members to wear black armbands as well as fly the U.S. flag upside down on Inauguration Day and Obama's first full day in office.

As Tuesday approaches, when Obama stands outside the Capitol to take the oath of office, experts expect anger about the new president to spike. But they don't expect it to go away.

"The level of vitriol, I expect, will go up a bit more around inauguration time," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.

The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino?

That sounds even less credible than the Media Violence Project, which at least happens to have cool posters and an excellent analyst on staff.

The simple fact of the matter is that while Barack Obama is as cringe-inducing as a trainwreck about to happen, the freshman Senator cum President Elect hasn't done anything to garner strong feelings of hatred from anyone.

Literally nothing.

He didn't do anything as a Illinois legislator. He didn't do much more as a U.S. Senator. And he's made and backtracked on so many promises as a candidate and future President that people are to confused about where he stands too even know if they disagree with him.

And as CNN even notes, white supremacists can't even get that worked up (arm bands?), as he's only 50% non-white.

He stands for nothing, and represents nothing. The simple fact of the matter is that until he's actually sworn into his first-ever leadership position on Tuesday and had time to flail and make a series of horribly stupid mistakes, there isn't anything he's done to make him worth an effort on his life.

Obama is also defended by legions of highly trained federal law enforcement officers, and perhaps the greatest deterrent of all, a simple two word phrase of such horror that would stop most callous, calculating assassin in his tracks.

"President Biden."

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 05:11 PM | Comments (48) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Women and Children First

155 souls crash-landed into the freezing cold waters of the Hudson River yesterday afternoon, and through particularly brilliant examples of piloting skill, courage, heart and determination, the rapid response of an inspiring cast of everyday heroes and not a little divine providence, nobody died.

Well done.

I may get frustrated with my fellow Americans from time to time, but in those times that it all falls apart, there are simply no other people on this planet that I'd rather have at my back.

God bless you all.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 10:43 AM | Comments (38) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Dubya's Farewell

The text of George W. Bush's Farewell Address:

Fellow citizens: For eight years, it has been my honor to serve as your President. The first decade of this new century has been a period of consequence -- a time set apart. Tonight, with a thankful heart, I have asked for a final opportunity to share some thoughts on the journey that we have traveled together, and the future of our nation.

Five days from now, the world will witness the vitality of American democracy. In a tradition dating back to our founding, the presidency will pass to a successor chosen by you, the American people. Standing on the steps of the Capitol will be a man whose history reflects the enduring promise of our land. This is a moment of hope and pride for our whole nation. And I join all Americans in offering best wishes to President-Elect Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two beautiful girls.

Tonight I am filled with gratitude -- to Vice President Cheney and members of my administration; to Laura, who brought joy to this house and love to my life; to our wonderful daughters, Barbara and Jenna; to my parents, whose examples have provided strength for a lifetime. And above all, I thank the American people for the trust you have given me. I thank you for the prayers that have lifted my spirits. And I thank you for the countless acts of courage, generosity, and grace that I have witnessed these past eight years.

This evening, my thoughts return to the first night I addressed you from this house -- September the 11th, 2001. That morning, terrorists took nearly 3,000 lives in the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor. I remember standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center three days later, surrounded by rescuers who had been working around the clock. I remember talking to brave souls who charged through smoke-filled corridors at the Pentagon, and to husbands and wives whose loved ones became heroes aboard Flight 93. I remember Arlene Howard, who gave me her fallen son's police shield as a reminder of all that was lost. And I still carry his badge.

As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11. But I never did. Every morning, I received a briefing on the threats to our nation. I vowed to do everything in my power to keep us safe.

Over the past seven years, a new Department of Homeland Security has been created. The military, the intelligence community, and the FBI have been transformed. Our nation is equipped with new tools to monitor the terrorists' movements, freeze their finances, and break up their plots. And with strong allies at our side, we have taken the fight to the terrorists and those who support them. Afghanistan has gone from a nation where the Taliban harbored al Qaeda and stoned women in the streets to a young democracy that is fighting terror and encouraging girls to go to school. Iraq has gone from a brutal dictatorship and a sworn enemy of America to an Arab democracy at the heart of the Middle East and a friend of the United States.

There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions. But there can be little debate about the results. America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil. This is a tribute to those who toil night and day to keep us safe -- law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts, homeland security and diplomatic personnel, and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.

Our nation is blessed to have citizens who volunteer to defend us in this time of danger. I have cherished meeting these selfless patriots and their families. And America owes you a debt of gratitude. And to all our men and women in uniform listening tonight: There has been no higher honor than serving as your Commander-in-Chief.

The battles waged by our troops are part of a broader struggle between two dramatically different systems. Under one, a small band of fanatics demands total obedience to an oppressive ideology, condemns women to subservience, and marks unbelievers for murder. The other system is based on the conviction that freedom is the universal gift of Almighty God, and that liberty and justice light the path to peace.

This is the belief that gave birth to our nation. And in the long run, advancing this belief is the only practical way to protect our citizens. When people live in freedom, they do not willingly choose leaders who pursue campaigns of terror. When people have hope in the future, they will not cede their lives to violence and extremism. So around the world, America is promoting human liberty, human rights, and human dignity. We're standing with dissidents and young democracies, providing AIDS medicine to dying patients -- to bring dying patients back to life, and sparing mothers and babies from malaria. And this great republic born alone in liberty is leading the world toward a new age when freedom belongs to all nations.

For eight years, we've also strived to expand opportunity and hope here at home. Across our country, students are rising to meet higher standards in public schools. A new Medicare prescription drug benefit is bringing peace of mind to seniors and the disabled. Every taxpayer pays lower income taxes. The addicted and suffering are finding new hope through faith-based programs. Vulnerable human life is better protected. Funding for our veterans has nearly doubled. America's air and water and lands are measurably cleaner. And the federal bench includes wise new members like Justice Sam Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.

When challenges to our prosperity emerged, we rose to meet them. Facing the prospect of a financial collapse, we took decisive measures to safeguard our economy. These are very tough times for hardworking families, but the toll would be far worse if we had not acted. All Americans are in this together. And together, with determination and hard work, we will restore our economy to the path of growth. We will show the world once again the resilience of America's free enterprise system.

Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I've always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some of the tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.

The decades ahead will bring more hard choices for our country, and there are some guiding principles that should shape our course.

While our nation is safer than it was seven years ago, the gravest threat to our people remains another terrorist attack. Our enemies are patient, and determined to strike again. America did nothing to seek or deserve this conflict. But we have been given solemn responsibilities, and we must meet them. We must resist complacency. We must keep our resolve. And we must never let down our guard.

At the same time, we must continue to engage the world with confidence and clear purpose. In the face of threats from abroad, it can be tempting to seek comfort by turning inward. But we must reject isolationism and its companion, protectionism. Retreating behind our borders would only invite danger. In the 21st century, security and prosperity at home depend on the expansion of liberty abroad. If America does not lead the cause of freedom, that cause will not be led.

As we address these challenges -- and others we cannot foresee tonight -- America must maintain our moral clarity. I've often spoken to you about good and evil, and this has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two of them there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense -- and to advance the cause of peace.

President Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past." As I leave the house he occupied two centuries ago, I share that optimism. America is a young country, full of vitality, constantly growing and renewing itself. And even in the toughest times, we lift our eyes to the broad horizon ahead.

I have confidence in the promise of America because I know the character of our people. This is a nation that inspires immigrants to risk everything for the dream of freedom. This is a nation where citizens show calm in times of danger, and compassion in the face of suffering. We see examples of America's character all around us. And Laura and I have invited some of them to join us in the White House this evening.

We see America's character in Dr. Tony Recasner, a principal who opened a new charter school from the ruins of Hurricane Katrina. We see it in Julio Medina, a former inmate who leads a faith-based program to help prisoners returning to society. We've seen it in Staff Sergeant Aubrey McDade, who charged into an ambush in Iraq and rescued three of his fellow Marines.

We see America's character in Bill Krissoff -- a surgeon from California. His son, Nathan -- a Marine -- gave his life in Iraq. When I met Dr. Krissoff and his family, he delivered some surprising news: He told me he wanted to join the Navy Medical Corps in honor of his son. This good man was 60 years old -- 18 years above the age limit. But his petition for a waiver was granted, and for the past year he has trained in battlefield medicine. Lieutenant Commander Krissoff could not be here tonight, because he will soon deploy to Iraq, where he will help save America's wounded warriors -- and uphold the legacy of his fallen son.

In citizens like these, we see the best of our country - resilient and hopeful, caring and strong. These virtues give me an unshakable faith in America. We have faced danger and trial, and there's more ahead. But with the courage of our people and confidence in our ideals, this great nation will never tire, never falter, and never fail.

It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country, and uplifted by the goodness of our people. I have been blessed to represent this nation we love. And I will always be honored to carry a title that means more to me than any other - citizen of the United States of America.

And so, my fellow Americans, for the final time: Good night. May God bless this house and our next President. And may God bless you and our wonderful country. Thank you.

I think I'm far from alone in saying that I have mixed feelings about the eight years of the 43rd Presidency.

In that time we suffered the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history, saw an economy rebound from one economic recession before plunging into another, and began two campaigns of a multi-millennial war that we first engaged in under Thomas Jefferson's watch. Neither campaign ended while he was in office, and it remains to be seen if the incoming President has the intestinal fortitude or political will to succeed in either conflict.

Bush allowed Iran to become a nuclear power and triggered a Middle East nuclear arms race as a result of his inaction; only time will tell if that failure to act will be translated into millions of lives lost in a nuclear exchange.

Bush tremendously expanded government and abandoned conservative free market principles. He made many, many bad decisions, and history is not likely to be kind to his legacy.

All of that acknowledged, Bush was President during a time in history that no other candidate offered during that time period in either party is likely to have done any better.

If Al Gore had won the 2000 election we don't know precisely how he would have faced the challenges of 2000-2004. We don't know—can't know—how he would have reacted to 9/11. We don't know if he would have chosen to engage Saddam Hussein, or Iran, or North Korea, or Pakistan. We do have strong circumstantial evidence that the Goracle's status as high priest of the global warming cult would have likely led to policies that would have plunged us into a deeper recession, faster, than what we've seen so far. Even if booted out after one term, his legacy would have been crippling the U.S. economy as the result of adhering to junk science lore and politically driven models over proven scientific methods.

The other potential Democratic President, John Kerry, would have likely chosen to lose the Iraq War. Once can only imagine what kind of failed state would remain there if Kerry had lived up to his campaign promises, and if the cruel hand of Sunni insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would have bee raised in triumph, spurring other young Muslims into Jihad. Kerry's cronyism with the Barney Frank's and Chris Dodd's of the Senate would have assured our housing market crash and economic spiral downward all the same. His big government prescriptions also championed by our incoming administration, promise that government will keep interfering in market economics until they completely wreck what they don't understand.

Would a Gore or a Kerry or even a McCain have led us to a Jan 20 inauguration with a world much different than we see before us now?

I somewhat doubt it.

Palestinians would still be trying to commit genocide against Israelis and crying when Israel had the temerity to strike back. Iran would still be developing their nuclear weapons program. The Chinese would still own our economy in our strange symbiotic economic relationship, and Europe would still see us as crude and unsophisticated even as their own cities streets became overrun with violent youths of indeterminate religion or nationality burning cars and chasing the police. Presidents are important, to be sure, but they are nowhere as powerful as they like to think they are.

Bush did what he could and what he thought was right because he sincerely thought it was right, not out of political calculus of what would make him popular. For better or ill, he had more courage than many Presidents.

After eight years, the man who came into office as the most popular and bi-partisan Governor in Texas history, who planned to pull both parties together, will leave office in a nation far more partisan and angry than when he came in. In a bit of delicious irony, the same forces that sought to bring him down and undercut him at every turn are now left drunk with their own self-importance (if flailing futures), and now have a product of their own design about to swear the Oath of Office. The honeymoon will assuredly be short.

People forget that "hope" and "change" put George W. Bush in office, too. While there, he gave us the best he had under difficult conditions. In hindsight, I still would have voted for him over fanatical Gore or patrician Kerry. It may not mean much. But it is something.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 10:26 AM | Comments (40) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

January 15, 2009

Crap Shoot

When I wrote Six Months Under The Gun for Pajamas Media, one aspect of carrying a concealed weapon that I decided not to cover was what you should do with your firearm if you have to use a public toilet. While it can constitute a legitimate dilemma when you gotta go gotta go gotta go right now, I figured people would be able to figure it out on their own.

I was wrong.

The man escaped with a few cuts to his arm, but the toilet made out much worse. Police say a man's gun fell out of its holster while he pulled up his pants after using the bathroom at a Carl's Jr. restaurant Tuesday. The gun fired when it hit the floor and shattered the commode.

I'll simply say this: if you are going to carry, you need to carry your firearm in a holster that holds it securely at all times.

I don't know what the specifics of the Utah criminal justice system would say about this particular incident, but as the permit holder is responsible for all negligent discharges no matter how amusing or bizarre it may be, I would not be surprised if his carry permit is revoked as a result of this incident.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 11:23 PM | Comments (38) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

January 13, 2009

Red Cross Confirms the Obvious: Israeli White Phosphorus Smoke Shells Used Legally in Gaza; Hamas Docs Continue Propaganda Efforts

I wrote several days ago that the Israeli use of 155mm M825A1 smoke shells was not in any way a "war crime," nor the use of "chemical weapons," nor in any way against the law of war, despite the cries of leftist journalists and Islamist activists.

Today, the International Red Cross agreed:

The international Red Cross said Tuesday that Israel has fired white phosphorus shells in its offensive in the Gaza Strip, but has no evidence to suggest it is being used improperly or illegally.

The comments came after a human rights organization accused the Jewish state of using the incendiary agent, which ignites when it strikes the skin and burns straight through or until it is cut off from oxygen. It can cause horrific injuries.

The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Israel to exercise "extreme caution" in using the incendiary agent, which is used to illuminate targets at night or create a smoke screen for day attacks, said Peter Herby, the head of the organization's mines-arms unit.

"In some of the strikes in Gaza it's pretty clear that phosphorus was used," Herby told The Associated Press. "But it's not very unusual to use phosphorus to create smoke or illuminate a target. We have no evidence to suggest it's being used in any other way."

In response, the Israeli military said Tuesday that it "wishes to reiterate that it uses weapons in compliance with international law, while strictly observing that they be used in accordance with the type of combat and its characteristics."

Sadly, even the Red Cross' statement is unlikely to stem spurious allegations white phosphorus is being used as a weapon, as these photos show:

caption: Palestinian Louai Sobeh, 10, is treated for burns at Shifa hospital in Gaza City on January 12, 2009. Palestinian doctor working in Gaza City Dr Yusef Abu Rish told AFP that at least 55 people were injured early yesterday by white phosphorous shells, banned under international law for use against civilians, but permitted for creating smokescreens. "These people were burned over their bodies in a way that can only be caused by white phosphorous," said Abu Rish. An Israeli military spokeswoman denied the claims. "There is no use of white phosphorous. Everything we use is according to international law," she said.

caption: Palestinian Mohamed Ahmed is treated for burns at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 12, 2009. Dr Yusef Abu Rish at Gaza City's Nasser hospital told AFP that at least 55 people were injured early yesterday by white phosphorous shells, banned under international law for use against civilians, but permitted for creating smokescreens. "These people were burned over their bodies in a way that can only be caused by white phosphorous," said Abu Rish. An Israeli military spokeswoman denied the claims."There is no use of white phosphorous. Everything we use is according to international law," she said.

caption: Palestinian Akram Abu Roka is treated for burns at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 12, 2009. Dr Yusef Abu Rish at Gaza City's Nasser hospital told AFP that at least 55 people were injured early yesterday by white phosphorous shells, banned under international law for use against civilians, but permitted for creating smokescreens. "These people were burned over their bodies in a way that can only be caused by white phosphorous," said Abu Rish. An Israeli military spokeswoman denied the claims."There is no use of white phosphorous. Everything we use is according to international law," she said.

Let me be very blunt: both the Palestinian doctor and the IDF spokesperson are almost certainly lying.

Israel is using white phosphorus, but it is not violating any laws of warfare, because the white phosphorus they are using is not weaponized. They are using air-bursting shells to make smokescreens, not impact-detonating munitions one would associate with offensive incendiary use. when it comes to the white phosphorus they are using, the spokesperson is telling the truth when she claims that "Everything we use is according to international law."

So why does the IDF continue to insist it isn't using white phosphorus? I'd suggest it is because most media outlets covering the conflict are either so biased or so incompetent that they couldn't or wouldn't explain to their consumers that not all uses of white phosphorus are the same.

As for Dr. Yusef Abu Rish, he's either unfamiliar with what white phosphorus burns look like, or perhaps more likely, is serving up a healthy dose of propaganda.

As I mentioned previously and Soccer Dad picked up upon, the IDF is deploying smoke shells. In specific, they are using M825A1 air-bursting smoke rounds fired from 155 howitzers. The M825A1 disperses 3/4-inch thick solid felt wedges impregnated with white phosphorus that disperse from airbursting shells in altitudes that appear in most photos to be 100 feet off the ground, or more. Each shell disperses 116 wedges.

These wedges can indeed cause horrific, potentially fatal burns if they hit people, but this kind of WP dispersal would mostly likely cause distinctive, penetrating, and localized burn injuries— not the scattering of surface wounds suffered by Sobeh, the nearly uniform and widespread facial burns of Ahmed, or the heavy, extensive burns suffered by Roka. All of their woulds could certainly be combat-related, and the later two are distinctively burns, but they do not bear the signs one typically associates with white phosphorus.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 06:21 PM | Comments (43) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Processing 0.04, elapsed 0.6378 seconds.
37 queries taking 0.6198 seconds, 187 records returned.
Page size 180 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.