From Move America Forward,
Mark this day down folks. It was Wednesday, October 17, 2007 that hundreds of pro-troop supporters turned out for a giant pro-troop rally in Berkeley, CA (one of the most anti-military & anti-war cities in this nation). Not only did the size of the rally shock the San Francisco Bay Area news media, it surprised the anti-war activists at Code Pink who were outnumbered on their own turf!.
Move America Forward and other pro-troop organizations and leaders put on a pro-troop rally to counter the harassment of the U.S. Marine Recruiting Center by Code Pink in Berkeley.
For 3 weeks the U.S. Marine Recruiting Center has faced protests (including vandalism and defacing of their building) and taunts against the Marines that they were “traitors” and “liars” and “murderers” and guilty of “assassination.”
Move America Forward is chaired by Melanie Morgan and Buzz Patterson, friends of the program,
Melanie Morgan on her latest book American Mourning,
Lieutenant Colonel Robert “Buzz” Patterson joined us to discuss his latest book War Crimes,
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I think that even the most ardent defenders of “gay rights” may find this recent development in California to be troubling.
An international organization promoting families says California families have no choice but to abandon the public school system after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a new “anti-discrimination” bill into law, effectively making terms like “mom” and dad” obsolete.
As WND has reported, some family advocates in California already had come to the same conclusion as that reached now by the World Congress of Families.
World Congress of Families Global Coordinator Allan Carlson said the measure, SB 777, is “a blatant attack on the natural family orchestrated by the alternative-lifestyles lobby.”
The exodus call had been issued just one day earlier by Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families. “We’re calling upon every California parent to pull their child out of California’s public school system,” he told WND.
“The so-called ‘public schools’ are no longer a safe emotional environment for children. Under the new law, schoolchildren as young as kindergarten will be sexually indoctrinated and introduced to homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality, over the protests of parents, teachers and even school districts,” he said.
This is insanity. Take the time to read the entire article here
Tsongas brings diversity to House delegation by beating Ogonowski
By Glen Johnson, AP Political Writer | October 17, 2007
LOWELL, Mass. –Standing with the three daughters Paul Tsongas once feared would not remember him, Niki Tsongas claimed victory in her first run for elective office, bringing diversity to the Massachusetts congressional delegation for the first time in nearly 25 years.
Diversity? Her worldview is in lock step with the other members of the Massachusetts delegation. She will vote with them 100% of the time. Her priorities will be the same as the rest of the delegation. She is a 100% carbon copy of every other representative we send to Congress.
This is the same misguided thinking about “diversity” that has so damaged MSM newsrooms and college campuses. They are obsessed with superficial diversity, which is different genders, different nationalities, different skin color, etc.
True diversity, of thought and opinion, is nowhere to be found in these institutions. Having 50% women, 50% men, 25% white, 25% black, 25% asian and 25% whatever is not true diversity if they all have the same view of the world. That is the opposite of diversity, it is a multi-cultural echo chamber.
Here is a great recent example, Newsweak magazine published a photo compilation of Rudy’s advisors in which five out of the six people were misidentified. Do you think if they had a conservative in the newsroom, maybe they would have been able to point out this glaring error? Instead, Newsweak and their “layers of editors” published this photo compilation in their esteemed magazine, leading Daniel Pipes, one of Rudy’s advisors to quip,
There are six pictures in all on the page and five of the six captions are wrong; only that of Robert Kasten is correct. Aggregating so many errors at once takes real talent – but count on Newsweek.
See the graph here.
Echo chamber diversity is not only much easier and far more comfortable than true intellectual diversity, it is meaningless.
As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch
NAJAF, Iraq — At what’s believed to be the world’s largest cemetery, where Shiite Muslims aspire to be buried and millions already have been, business isn’t good.
A drop in violence around Iraq has cut burials in the huge Wadi al Salam cemetery here by at least one-third in the past six months, and that’s cut the pay of thousands of workers who make their living digging graves, washing corpses or selling burial shrouds.
Jonah Goldberg commented on The Corner, “I Thought This Was from Scrappleface”
How dare George Bush and the neocons take food out of the mouth of ditch diggers in Iraq! When do the congresional hearings start? I bet they are outsourcing the ditch diggng to Haliburton or Blackwater!
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are having breakfast this morning starting out the window, wondering how it must feel to be as beloved as our current commander in chief. After all he is TWICE as popular as they are,
Bush’s job approval rating fell to 24 percent from last month’s record low for a Zogby poll of 29 percent. A paltry 11 percent gave Congress a positive grade, tying last month’s record low.
Think for a minute how weak the president and the Republicans are…and then think how weak they could be…if they had even a semi-functional congressional opponent. As retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters told us on Pundit Review Radio,
“Nancy Pelosi is so far above her weight class it’s just pathetic. She is not qualified to be Speaker of the House at times like these…she seems like a kindergarten teacher on the first day of class.â€
That’s certainly true. But Pelosi and Reid have managed several impressive accomplishments, beyond an 11% approval rating. Jim at Gateway Pundit (are you reading Gateway Pundit? If not, you should be!) has a great post highlighting some truly impressive accomplishments,
3 Weeks- 3 Countries Protest US Congress… How Do They Do It?
1. Members of the Iraqi Democratic Nation Party held a rally in Baghdad on Saturday protesting against the federal system in Iraq which was proposed by the U.S. Senate.
2. Despite intense lobbying by Turkish officials and opposition by U.S. President George W. Bush, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill by a 27-21 vote, a move likely to be considered an insult by most Turks.
Thomas Sowell nails the Dems in a recent column,
Unwilling to take responsibility for ending the war by cutting off the money to fight it, as many of their supporters want them to, Congressional Democrats have instead tried to sabotage the prospects of victory by seeking to micro-manage the deployment of troops, delaying the passing of appropriations — and now this genocide resolution that is the latest, and perhaps lowest, of these tactics.
3. The US Congress will award the exiled Tibetan leader its highest honor in a ceremony Wednesday – the same day the Berlin talks were scheduled. The unnamed official said China’s cancellation will probably push the talks off until next week.
Gateway Pundit says that the US Congress is working on a new motto: “We’re not just unpopular here at home.”
Sometimes the only thing you have going for you is the incompetence of your opponent.
The debate over universal healthcare will be the #1 issue, sadly, in the presidential election cycle. Sigh. We got a glimpse into our future this week through the eyes, er, the teeth of the British,
People with toothache are resorting to pulling their own teeth because they cannot find a NHS dentist, a study out today says. Almost a fifth of those questioned in the biggest patient survey of its kind said that they had missed out on dental work because of the cost.
Ah, the beauty of government run healthcare. Well, Al Gore is speaking out now on how universal healthcare is a “right” for all Americans. Really? I don’t seem to see that anywhere in here?
Anyway, I digress. Al Gore is truly a political genius. In exactly TEN seconds, he demonstates why government run universal healthcare would be an unmitigated disaster.
“I strongly support universal single-payer government-provided or government-funded health careâ€
“Single payer” and “government funded”…sounds so nice…so inexpensive…unless you already know that anything that is “government funded” is actually funded by OUR TAXES. It’s not REALLY single payer OR government funded. IT’S OUR MONEY AL.
The upside of government sponsored univesal healthcare is that it does help the citizenry develop that can-do attitude, that “I can do anything I set my mind to” spirit that defines the American dream. I mean, if the Brits can learn that in order to have their teeth fixed, they just need to pull out themselves…This type of entrepreneurial, can-do spirit could really propel the USA forward in the new millenium.
Michael’s work is incredibly important, especially as things turn for the better and the MSM loses interest as the facts move further away from their preferred narrative. He is a totally independent journalist, supported fully by his readers. If you can afford to do so, please support his work here.
Greetings:
Iraq is on the mend, al Qaeda is on the run, and the civil war has abated to a point where the term “civil war” no longer applies.
Accurate war coverage is increasingly important. Even prominent seemingly well-informed persons can get it wrong, such as retired Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez who previously commanded the war in Iraq. His recent public statements –selectively excerpted and then widely dispersed by the hot winds of media – made it clear that this former senior commander is far out of touch with the current situation.
But there are commanders with a finger on the pulse.
When earlier this year I wrote about the 1-4 CAV transforming an abandoned seminary in a Baghdad neighborhood that had been decimated by civil war, the “surge” had not even begun; but already pundits, politicians and editors had declared it a failure. Though I’d spent only a few days with LTC Crider and his 1-4 CAV soldiers at the new COP Amanche, I ended the dispatch on a note of hope based on observation. I recently received an email from LTC Crider with an update on that Baghdad neighborhood. Please read “Achievements of the Human Heart” and see for yourself.
I was in al Basra province when I saw news reports claiming that Basra city had descended into chaos in the wake of an announcement about the draw down of British Soldiers. I emailed the facts about Basra to several bloggers who hold the media accountable, and the resulting effort got the attention of Tom Foreman who anchors CNN’s “This Week at War.” We were able to make a CNN interview, and the result is a segment that accurately reflects a complex and changing situation. Bravo to CNN for setting the record straight, and to the tireless bloggers who are making a substantial difference in the way news about the war is delivered.
There are major developments to share with readers in upcoming dispatches. If things go at-least-mostly according to plan (which is all we can hope for in war), and if I can rely on the help of readers who share my frustration with the lack of accurate reporting, we can significantly widen the stream of news flowing from Iraq so more people can obtain a truer picture. This will require the will and generosity of readers. But more on that, soon.
Michael
Basra, Iraq
Here’s Michael on CNN’s This Week at War