A Day Later, Clinton Embraces Spitzer’s License Effort

By Adam Nagourney
The New York Times

A day after she appeared to struggle to give her views on the subject, Hillary Rodham Clinton offered support today for Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s effort to award New York driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, as her campaign sought to contain potentially damaging fallout from a what her own supporters saw as a tense and listless debate performance.

After 24 hours of polling & focus groups, Hillary Clinton has finally decided to support Gov. Spitzer's (D-NY) plan to award NY driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. What's interesting is that she's already whining about everybody jumping on her... Here she is running for the highest office in our land, and she can't handle debate. As they say, if you can't take the heat, you better stay out of the kitchen.

Remembering the Gipper...

“All of us denounce war—all of us consider it man’s greatest stupidity. And yet wars happen and they involve the most passionate lovers of peace because there are still barbarians in the world who set the price for peace at death or enslavement and the price is too high.”

Ronald Reagan

Wednesday Funnies :-)

Conan O’Brien: "Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich says that he once had an encounter with a UFO. Apparently, several weird looking, little men got off the ship, saw Kucinich, and said, ‘It’s alright. He’s one of us’."

David Letterman: From “Top Ten Things Overheard During Dick Cheney’s Hunting Trip”: Has everyone updated their will? The crisp air is giving me goose bumps—no, wait, it’s another heart attack; This can’t end well; My pacemaker also makes bird calls; You shoot one guy in the face, avoid talking to authorities, delay taking a blood-alcohol test, and you’re labeled a bad guy; Duck!

Jay Leno: Lot of candidates getting into the Halloween spirit. Today, John Edwards said he was going to get a $15 haircut and go as someone from the other America. ... Even FEMA employees are celebrating Halloween. They’re all getting dressed up as reporters this year. ... FEMA is handling another disaster—its own Public Relations department. This is unbelievable to me! FEMA has apologized for staging a fake news conference on the California wildfires. They had a fake news conference in which FEMA employees pretended to be reporters and asked softball questions to their idiot boss. It was obvious the reporters were FEMA workers because the questions were about the 2003 fire. ... New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has announced that New York will give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. So, for the first time ever, a lot of New York City cab drivers will actually have a license. ... Democrats in Congress have announced they will now be taking Fridays off. Apparently, they were getting worried their approval rating was too high. ... The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife have gotten a divorce. Apparently, there were rumors of infidelity and lack of trust. To which Bill and Hillary said, ‘Well, that’s no reason to get divorced’.

British Defense Researchers Create Invisible Tank

(Fox News) - British defense researchers have invented an invisible tank — or at least a way to make a tank invisible.

London's Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Sun all report on tests conducted by the Ministry of Defence last week in which a tank rolled across a field, completely invisible to observers standing at a certain point.

"This technology is incredible," an unnamed soldier was quoted by the Daily Mail and Sun. "If I hadn't been present I wouldn't have believed it. I looked across the fields and just saw grass and trees — but in reality I was staring down the barrel of a tank gun."

In a reversal, Hagan now says she will challenge Dole

RALEIGH (Winston-Salem Journal) - Three weeks after saying no, state Sen. Kay Hagan said yes.

Hagan, a veteran Democratic legislator from Greensboro who had initially decided against mounting a challenge to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, said yesterday that she had changed her mind, and she got into the race by touting a legislative career that she said shows a better can-do record for North Carolina than the GOP incumbent.

Danbury doctor to oversee two clinics

2 nurse practitioners will have supervision during Stokes inquiry

DANBURY (Winston-Salem Journal) - Stokes County officials have an interim doctor on the job after last week’s suspension of the county’s only doctor for its public-health clinics in Danbury and King.

Dr. Sean Smith, who has a practice in Danbury, is overseeing the work of two nurse practitioners who are seeing patients in the county health clinics, County Manager Bryan Steen said.

Nurse practitioners are not allowed to practice without a doctor’s supervision, said Dave Kalbacker, a spokesman for the N.C. Board of Nursing. However, there is a 30-day grace period for authorities to find a replacement supervising doctor.

Smith, who couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday, was called upon after Dr. James Stewart Campbell, 63, of Pfafftown was suspended with pay last Thursday.

Steen declined to comment further about Campbell’s suspension, but Campbell said last week that he thought the suspension concerned an OxyContin prescription. OxyContin is a painkiller similar to morphine and is a controlled substance.

He said he wrote two prescriptions for four pills of OxyContin for a patient - one for three pills that the patient’s Medicare would pay for and one for one pill that the patient would pay for.

Stokes to reconsider economic-development job

County officials will decide whether there is money to replace director

(Winston-Salem Journal) - As do many rural counties across North Carolina, Stokes County puts economic development at the top of its list of priorities.

But with the retirement today of the county’s economic-development director, county officials say that it’s time to decide whether there’s room in the budget for a person devoted full time to recruiting jobs and industry.

More communities are choosing to create rather than cut economic-development positions, said John Peterson, the executive director of the N.C. Economic Developers Association.

Media Matters

(Fox News) - The news media focus on presidential horse race stories over actual issues by about a seven-to-one margin. It's a complaint heard every four years — and backed up again this year in a new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and Harvard University.

It also reports some interesting results about bias in TV reporting. It says Democrats received more total coverage than Republicans — and more positive coverage. Republicans got more negative coverage.

The survey found that stories on the FOX News Channel which tilted positive or negative favored Republicans over Democrats — but that most FOX stories were neutral — favoring neither party. It concludes — "any sense here that (FOX) was uniformly positive about Republicans or negative about Democrats is not manifest in the data."

King of the Hill

(Fox News) - It is estimated that Democratic Congressman John Murtha has steered about $2 billion worth of earmarks to his western Pennsylvania district since joining the House Appropriations Committee in 1992. Taxpayers for Common Sense ranks him far in front of all other congressional earmarkers.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that dozens of contracts funded by Murtha's committee were not sought by the military or federal agencies they were intended to benefit. One Murtha-backed firm is under federal investigation for allegedly diverting public funds to develop software for commercial purposes. Murtha's earmarks for his district have topped the $600 million mark in each of the last four years.

By the way — Taxpayers for Common Sense has Republicans in the number two and three slots for earmarks — Florida's C.W. Bill Young at two — and California's Jerry Lewis in the third spot.

Source Reporting

(Fox News) - Today's New York Times features an article on the immunity offered to Blackwater USA personnel regarding that shootout in Iraq last month. It bases its story on information from what it calls "government officials" who, "agreed to talk about the arrangement only on the condition of anonymity." The use of anonymous sources is common in the Times and other news media.

Also Monday — the White House held an off-the-record briefing for reporters — with President Bush talking about various things on the condition that his words not be quoted or paraphrased.

All the TV networks were there, along with radio and the wires, and the major newspapers. Except for The New York Times. The Times refused to attend — because it says it does not agree with the concept of off-the-record briefings.

Hillary Clinton's New Math on Social Security Solvency

(Fox News) - Hillary Clinton says that when her husband left office — Social Security was projected to be solvent until the year 2055. She contends that now — solvency is predicted to end in 2041 — a loss of 14 years — because of what she calls "fiscal irresponsibility" by the Bush administration.

But the Social Security Administration says that its official statistics at the end of 2000 put the solvency year at 2037 — not 2055. It says that the current figure is — as Mrs. Clinton states — 2041. But instead of it being a 14 year loss — it is actually a four year gain.

FOX News asked the Clinton campaign repeatedly Monday and today to provide the source for that claim that the projection was 2055 when Bill Clinton left office — but so far we have received no response.

Rush Limbaugh's Morning Update: Honesty?

Well, according to press reports, John Edwards -- the Breck Girl -- has decided to get his hair a little mussed up. Instead of sending his wife out to do the heavy lifting, he's taking on Mrs. Bill Clinton himself.

Edwards accused Mrs. Clinton of being part of a corrupt Washington culture, predicting that a Clinton presidency would be "a Democratic version of the Republican corruption machine." He went on, telling New Hampshire voters that everything else is "unimportant if you don't have a President that you believe will tell you the truth even when it's hard, and a President who is honest and sincere and that you can count on. I don't know about you," Edwards said, "but I'm not interested in having the next great politician as President." Translation of that is: "Hillary lies."

Now, hey! It's no secret: the Clinton, Inc. "character issue" has a lengthy track record. But until now, no matter what questions were raised -- from missing billing records to political opponents' FBI files showing up in the White House unexplained -- Democrats like Edwards stridently defended the Clintons. Through all the past and current fundraising abuses and illegalities -- the bimbo eruptions, the shady real estate deals, cattle futures scams -- you could count on Democrats, including John Edwards, to obfuscate the truth.

So... just maybe this concern over Mrs. Clinton's honesty would sound a bit more sincere from Edwards if he didn't wait until his own campaign was circling the political abyss before he noticed it! Honestly speaking.

Read the Background Material on the Morning Update...

• AP: Edwards Shifts Focus to Integrity

Obama, Edwards attack; Clinton bombs debate

PHILADELPHIA (The Politico) - We now know something that we did not know before: When Hillary Clinton has a bad night, she really has a bad night.

In a debate against six Democratic opponents at Drexel University here Tuesday, Clinton gave the worst performance of her entire campaign.

It was not just that her answer about whether illegal immigrants should be issued drivers’ licenses was at best incomprehensible and at worst misleading.

It was that for two hours she dodged and weaved, parsed and stonewalled.

And when it was over, both the Barack Obama and John Edwards campaigns signaled that in the weeks ahead they intend to hammer home a simple message: Hillary Clinton does not say what she means or mean what she says.

And she gave them plenty of ammunition Tuesday night.

New Congress at war over everything

(The Politico) - In a closed-door meeting before the last vote on the children’s health care bill, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer appealed for the support of about 30 wavering Republican lawmakers. What he got instead was a tongue-lashing, participants said.

Rep. Tom Tancredo Won't Seek Re-election in House; Remains Presidential Candidate

WASHINGTON (Fox News) - Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo said Monday that he would not seek a sixth term in the House in next year's elections, but he would remain a presidential candidate seeking the Republican nomination.

Rush Limbaugh's Morning Update: Seized!

Six weeks ago, a Nebraska couple became first-time parents. However, their religious beliefs ran afoul of a Nebraska law requiring all newborn infants to receive a mandatory blood test to screen for several diseases. They refused the test. So sheriff's deputies seized the newborn, allowed health workers to draw and screen the blood -- then placed the infant into foster care for almost a week, waiting for the results.

According to a Department of Health and Human Services spokes-babe, this was the first time in Nebraska that an infant has been seized. While other states have similar laws on the books, four states -- South Dakota, Michigan, Montana, and Nebraska -- don’t offer religious exemptions.

The baby tested okay, and is now back home with the parents. But the parents’ attorney, Jeff Downing, says it’s "a classic case of the government overreaching and violating a family's constitutional rights." Although the family isn’t seeking damages -- they want to ensure this won’t happen again.

Put aside for the moment whether you agree or disagree with the parents on blood tests. What oughta chill you to the bone is what this incident represents. If government officials won’t hesitate to seize a newborn -- imagine what they’ll do with you … should you make a decision they don’t like.

The more power you cede to the government over your health care, the less freedom you and your family have -- over your own health, and your own life.

Read the Background Material on the Morning Update...

AP: Suit Says Baby's Seizure Violated Rights

Clinton, Giuliani top picks for costumes

(Yahoo News) - Once again, Hillary Rodham Clinton leads in a poll. This time, she was top choice when people were asked which major 2008 presidential candidate would make the scariest Halloween costume.

Restaurant changing versions of Confederate flag

It will wave earlier Confederate flag

COLUMBIA, S.C.(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) - Outspoken barbecue baron Maurice Bessinger - known as much for his support of the Confederate flag as his food - is providing some variety for his customers, but this change has nothing to do with his famous mustard-based sauce.

At about half of his 12 restaurants, Bessinger has replaced the better-known Confederate battle flag with its red background, blue cross and white stars with the less recognized and perhaps less controversial first flag of the Confederacy: a banner with two red stripes, a white stripe and a blue square with a circle of white stars.

Calls for Change: Demonstrators march to Reynolds American, protesting farmworkers' conditions

(Winston-Salem Journal) - Summer days for Jesus Jimenez started about 5 a.m., when he went into a field near Thomasville to pick tobacco. There were times when he felt sick from the nicotine that he absorbed from the dew-covered plants.

Nicotine sickness sent four fellow tobacco workers in Sanford to the hospital during the summer, Jiminez said through an interpreter.

Jiminez was one of about 200 union representatives, farm workers and religious leaders who marched from Lloyd Presbyterian Church to the Reynolds American headquarters building downtown yesterday calling for better conditions for farmworkers.

Watering Hole

(Fox News) - The city of Paris, France has a civic issue that we in America might find a bit unusual: The penchant for men to relieve themselves in public. The London Telegraph reports Paris city workers have to clean an average of almost 700,000 square feet of urine-splashed surfaces per month.

Mayor Bertrand Delanoe decided to turn off the spigots — so to speak — after seeing dozens of men urinating on the walls of the Paris town hall during the Rugby World Cup — openly ignoring the free porta-potties nearby.

So now the city has installed a couple of new prototype walls in popular relieving areas. When someone sprays these walls, the sloping surface actually fires back the urine in the direction of the offender.

Says one city adviser, "those who get caught once don't come back."

City Hall

(Fox News) - Here's an unusual twist to the "you can't fight city hall" story. Residents of the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta are living with a strict no-watering order as the Southeast endures a serious drought. But apparently the folks who work in city hall aren't getting the message.

A local TV station reports an Alpharetta police officer noticed sprinklers watering the shrubs at city hall last week and wrote up a warning. Then four days later, he saw the sprinklers were still on. So he wrote up one citation on Saturday and another on Sunday. Total fine: $500.

But city hall isn't paying, because, says a police spokesman, the city is not in the business of paying itself. City workers did — however — order all sprinklers to be shut off.

Failure to Communicate

(Fox News) - A Democratic congressional aide has written a memo attacking his party's strategy on getting its message across to the public, saying Republicans have "kicked our rhetorical butt since about 1995."

Dave Helfert works for Hawaii congressman Neil Abercrombie. He tells The Hill newspaper that he's received plenty of support from congressional communications staffers and plenty of disdain from party leaders.

Helfert wrote, "Almost every Republican message contains a simple and direct moral imperative, a stark contrast between good and evil, right and wrong, common sense and fuzzy liberal thinking. Meanwhile, we're trying to ignite passions with analyses of optimum pupil-teacher ratios."

Global Warming Connection?

(Fox News) - The contention by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others earlier this week that the California wildfires are connected to global warming is not supported by science.

The Los Angeles Times reports a recent study that cited a slight average temperature rise in the Western U.S. concluded that there has been no increase in the frequency of fires in Southern California. Scientists say the dangerous mix of drought and wind has plagued the region for centuries. Wildlife analyst Tom Wordell says, "That is a fire-prone environment regardless of whether we are in a climate-change scenario... If you live in a snake pit, you're going to get bit."

Quick Draw!

By Rush Limbaugh
RushLimbaugh.com

In today's update, we return to the nation's skrools -- this time to Chandler, Arizona, where a 13-year-old boy has been suspended... for a doodle. The offending sketch, according to news reports, looked like a gun.

[District] spokesman Terry Locke said that the doodle was "absolutely considered a threat," and explained that threatening words or pictures are punishable. When the boy's father, Ben Mosteller, went to the school, the administrators discussed the "seriousness" of the doodle offense, relating it to the Columbine High Skrool shootings!

The kid's parents say that the drawing didn't show any blood or bullets, depicted no injured people, nor was anybody targeted. The boy says his sketch wasn't intended as a threat to anybody. But that didn't stop administrators from suspending this kid for five days (they later chopped it down to three).

Chickified liberals are running amok, folks! (I mean, boys are going to play with guns! They make guns out of bananas, for crying out loud, when they're kids!) I wonder if these administrators have gone through every textbook, pulling out every depiction of a gun -- Revolutionary War period -- because illustrations pose a dangerous threat to the coddled, helpless, petrified junior high kids in their district.

Thank goodness the young man didn't doodle a sketch of a woman in various states of undress as some boys his age were prone to do once upon a time in America (when boys were allowed to be boys)! He could have been brought up on criminal sexual harassment charges! When this kid gets back to school, I hope he learns his lesson: he should avoid doodling inanimate objects, and only make accurate drawings of those in charge of his school -- drawing them as a bunch of jackasses.

Edwards plans big for presidency

Candidate: Sacrifice must be priority, too

(Concord Monitor) - John Edwards says if he's elected president, he'll institute a New Deal-like suite of programs to fight poverty and stem growing wealth disparity. To do it, he said, he'll ask many Americans to make sacrifices, like paying higher taxes.

Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina, says the federal government should underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. He also pledged to start a government-funded public higher education program called "College for Everyone."

N.C. beach house fire kills 7 students

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. (Yahoo News) - An intense fire ravaged a beach house packed with college students early Sunday, killing seven and leaving little left of the structure but its charred frame and the stilts on which it stood.

Another Man From Hope

Republicans have won five of the last seven presidential elections by running candidates who broadly fit the Ronald Reagan model--fiscally conservative, and firmly but not harshly conservative on social issues. The wide-open race for the 2008 GOP nomination has generated two new approaches.

Rudy Giuliani, for example, isn't running away from his socially liberal views, although he has modified them. But he is campaigning as a staunch, even acerbic economic conservative. Should he win the nomination, conventional wisdom has it he may balance the ticket by picking former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as a running mate.

Mr. Huckabee, on the other hand, is running hard right on social issues but liberal-populist on some economic issues. This may help explain why the affable, golden-tongued Baptist minister was the clear favorite at the pro-life Family Research Council's national forum last Saturday. And why Mr. Huckabee's praises have been sung by liberal columnists such as Gail Collins of the New York Times and Jonathan Alter of Newsweek.

John Fund

The evangelicals (Dobson, et al) who keep trying to sell us these “conservatives” are all very popular with liberal Christians. People who follow their lead should really stop and ask themselves why that is. This article echoes just about everything I’ve read elsewhere about Huckabee. Everyone acquainted with him tells the same story: he is just a Republican Bill Clinton. The fact that he wants to nationalize health care and pass a federal smoking ban should be enough to send real conservatives running for cover.

Being about Steve and Rush

Nature Boy offers:

People who are regular listeners to Rush know that he isn't a fan of the nanny state as you suggest.

Since he is advocating it in his article, that is either not true, or Rush is as big a hypocrite as I believe he has become.

I don't understand why you dislike Rush so much.

I was a regular listener of his program beginning in 1990. His positions were strongly Reaganesque, that is to say, conservative with strong libertarian leanings. Even up through 1993, Rush continued to take Republicans and Democrats alike to task for their leftist behavior. I distinctly remember him saying, shortly before the 1996 elections, that Dole was going to lose and that it was because the GOP had lost its way. He also said that the era would not be remembered as eight years of Clinton, but as twelve years of Bush-Clinton.

Somewhere along the way, Limbaugh let his hatred of all things Clinton, in concert with his own personal and legal problems, get the best of him. He sold out to the pubbie establishment to keep the support of their parasites and lemmings. He embraced the neocons, even after spending a considerable amount of time lambasting them in earlier years. After the 2006 GOP debacle, he said he wasn't carrying their water for them any more, but I see no signs that he has stopped. More hypocrisy.

Your anger towards Rush is like Strother's anger toward Ann Coulter.

Let's play a game of "One of These Things is Not Like the Other."

I doubt Strother was ever a fan, let alone a sympathetic lister of Ann Coulter. I completely understand Strother's dislike for Ann. She is utterly polemic and bombastic. She is also unapologetically a creature of the GOP. I strongly disagree with Ann on a number of topics, her support for the war, her paper-thin justification for Congressional action on Terry Schiavo, and many others. However, she is unafraid to use the same bombast on her own that she levels on the left. She has torn George Bush, John McCain, and Fred Thompson to shreds on more than one occasion.

So, while Strother dislikes Ann for reasons I completely understand, I am annoyed with Limbaugh because he is a sellout. Ann openly plays to the crowd, as does Limbaugh. That's what seems to bother Strother most (though I don't understand why he doesn't take Molly Ivins or Susan Estrich to task for the same thing, but I digress...), but I doubt that he thinks Ann ever sold out her stated principles in order to stay in the limelight.

Photos show cleansing of suspect Syrian site

(International Herald Tribune) - New commercial satellite photos show that a Syrian site believed to have been attacked by Israel last month no longer bears any obvious traces of what some analysts said appeared to have been a partly built nuclear reactor.

Stokes suspends only doctor in its 2 clinics

It's a 'total misunderstanding,' he says

(Winston-Salem Journal) - Stokes County health officials have suspended the only doctor working in the county’s two health clinics.

Dr. James Stewart Campbell said that Bryan Steen, the Stokes County manager, called him yesterday afternoon and told him that he is suspended pending an investigation concerning a prescription that Campbell wrote Wednesday.

On the Record

(Fox News) - The new book by former CIA operative Valerie Plame contains conflicting accounts of the events leading up to the leaking of her name — and paints an unflattering picture of husband Joe Wilson.

Plame insists that she neither suggested nor recommended that Wilson go to Niger to investigate whether Iraq had been trying to buy weapons-grade uranium. But elsewhere in the book she relates how she wrote an e-mail to colleagues detailing her husband's qualifications and contacts in Niger.

She paints Wilson as given to wild emotional outbursts and hungry for media attention — and says the tension between them almost destroyed their relationship. She writes — "The frequent fights, seething accusations, hurtful words, and entrenched bitterness pushed us both to the brink ... It became obvious that our marriage was in deep trouble." The couple has since left Washington and live in New Mexico.

Reality Check

(Fox News) - While AIDS activists continue to paint the 25-year-old epidemic as out-of-control — epidemiologists from Harvard and Berkeley say that is no longer the case. Cybercast News reports the scientists say that while the epidemic is still serious — it is no longer raging out of control in most of the world.

Doctor James chin says the infection rates in Africa range from a high of around 20 percent in South Africa — to as low as less than one percent in Senegal. Infection rates in Uganda have fallen from 15 percent in the early nineties to around six percent now.

Experts say United Nations statistics in the past were often inflated — but new counting methods have forced the U.N. to quietly scale back its estimates.

Yellow Journalism?

(Fox News) - The assistant editor of the Jena, Louisiana Times says of the media covering the controversy over the charges brought against six black students who attacked a white classmate — "I have never before witnessed such a disgrace in professional journalism."

Craig Franklin writes in the Christian Science Monitor that media replaced facts with myths — among them — the existence of a "whites only" tree at the high school. He writes — "students of all races sat underneath this tree."

Franklin also contends the school expulsion committee concluded the nooses allegedly intended to intimidate black students were actually a prank by white students aimed at other whites. And he says the beating of the white student by the six blacks was not a schoolyard fight as it was portrayed — but a carefully planned ambush and brutal beating.

Bush seeks large aid increase to PA

Legislators are promising strict scrutiny of some $400 million the Bush administration is requesting in new aid for the Palestinians, but Congress is expected to give the proposal a warmer reception than previous such requests.

The administration has put forward the significant hike in Palestinian aid largely to bolster Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.

Congress seems less wary of funding for Palestinians now that Hamas is no longer in the Fatah-controlled PA government, even though much smaller sums have been stalled in the past.

The request comes ahead of the US-sponsored Annapolis meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, for which the administration has been trying to recruit support from the greater Arab world and the Palestinians themselves, who have threatened to boycott the parley.

Hilary Leila Krieger

Everybody who thinks it's a good idea to provide aid to a country that freely elected a terrorist government, raise your hands.

This just makes obvious the fact that King Jorge's "War on a Noun" is nothing but a shill.

Editor of The New Republic Stands by His Writer Who Doesn't Defend Himself

(Fox News) - Army private Scott Beauchamp — who wrote a supposedly eyewitness account of cruelty by members of the American military in Iraq — refused to defend his accusations when questioned by the editor of New Republic magazine.

But the Washington Post reports that editor Franklin Foer continues to defend the articles — and insist that other unidentified soldiers corroborate Beachamp's accounts. Foer also said that while Beauchamp refused to stand by his stories during their conversation — he did not recant them either. And he insists Beauchamp was under duress because a superior officer was in the room during their talk. He says Beauchamp defended his accounts in a subsequent conversation with no superiors present.

The official army report into the allegations says Beauchamp — "is not a credible source." It finds Beauchamp's account of soldiers mocking a disfigured Iraqi woman was — "completely fabricated." It says claims that Beauchamp and others targeted dogs with their armored vehicles were — "completely unfounded."

Clinton uses birthday to raise funds

(Yahoo News) - Friends, family and supporters celebrated Hillary Rodham Clinton's 60th birthday Thursday night with a star-studded fundraiser that bridged generations.

Comedian Billy Crystal and rockers Elvis Costello and the Wallflowers headlined the event at New York's historic Beacon Theater, which raked in more than $1.5 million for Clinton's presidential bid.

Rush Limbaugh's Morning Update: Vision Matters?

"The Excused Absence Network" -- it's a company that sells fraudulent documents for people skipping work or school. AP reports it this way: "For about $25, students and employees can buy excuse notes that [look like they] come from doctors or hospitals. Other options include a fake jury summons or an authentic-looking funeral service program..."

And then get this next line from AP: "Some question whether the products are legal or ethical." Is there any doubt about this? Even among Drive-By reporters? There just has to be "two sides," of course!

There's no doubt about one thing, though; the owner of the parent company, Vision Matters -- sounds like a Hillary Clinton front group, doesn't it? -- is a liberal. The guy's name is John Liddell. He says: "Millions of Americans work dead-end jobs, and sometimes they just need a day off. If employers would treat people the way they need to be treated, people wouldn't be using these [fake] notes." He then complained that people are fed up with working long hours for little pay, without the flexibility to tend to sick relatives or go to their kids' skrool activities.

Now, I thought the Clintons fixed that, folks, with the Family and Medical Leave Act -- but Mr. Liddell continues: "People are going to lie anyway. How many people go visit their doctors every day when they're not sick [just because they] need [to get] a note?"

Well, that sounds familiar, too! "People are going to lie anyway." Clinton supporters used that phrase to defend Bill Clinton's perjury, under oath, during the Lewinsky days. To liberals, vision matters -- just like media matters -- only when deploying lies, fraud, and deceit.

Ecuador wants military base in Miami

Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa said Washington must let him open a military base in Miami if the United States wants to keep using an air base on Ecuador's Pacific coast.

Correa has refused to renew Washington's lease on the Manta air base, set to expire in 2009. U.S. officials say it is vital for counter-narcotics surveillance operations on Pacific drug-running routes.

"We'll renew the base on one condition: that they let us put a base in Miami -- an Ecuadorean base," Correa said in an interview during a trip to Italy.

"If there's no problem having foreign soldiers on a country's soil, surely they'll let us have an Ecuadorean base in the United States."

Phil Stewart

Look at that last sentence. Leftist or no, Correa's logic is impeccable.

I'm also having a big problem with the fact that we can't seem to secure our own borders or put down an insurgence in a country we're occupying, but we can spend millions (billions?) on a base for surveillance operations on Pacific drug runners. What's wrong with this picture?

Thursday Funnies :-)

Jay Leno: What a terrific audience we have. We have 500 people here tonight. We have straight people, we have gay people, we have white people, we have black people. It’s like a Dick Cheney family reunion. ... Dick Cheney and Barack Obama are eighth cousins. Isn’t that amazing? Even more amazing: Dick Cheney, Darth Vader—second cousins. ... Lynne Cheney says that Obama and Cheney’s connection was the result of one of Obama’s ancestors marrying one of Cheney’s ancestors in 1650. You know who introduced them in 1650? Bob Dole. ... President Bush met with the Dalai Lama at the White House. One kind of awkward moment: When the Dalai Lama walked into the Oval Office, he was wearing the traditional robe, and President Bush started chanting, “Toga, Toga!” ... [The Dalai Lama] was given the [Congressional] Medal of Freedom. As you know, the Dalai Lama does not engage in sex, drugs, alcohol or tobacco. Which raises the question, what was Congress honoring him for? This goes against everything Congress represents. ... Republican Senator Sam Brownback’s campaign announced he will drop out of the presidential race. Now the hard part, of course, is breaking the news to his supporter. ... I mean the writing was on the wall. You knew it was going to happen. Like at the last presidential debate, the only question he got was, “I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” ... A new study found that screeners at L.A. International Airport missed 75 percent of the big bombs that were sent through the line as tests. However, they did confiscate 100 percent of people’s water bottles, which forced them to buy new ones at the airport gift shop.

House Tax Writer Unveils $1 Trillion Plan to Shift Burden Toward Rich, Fix AMT

WASHINGTON (Fox News) - The House's top Democratic tax writer on Thursday unveiled a $1 trillion plan to repeal the alternative minimum tax and lower the tax burden of most lower- and middle-income people.

The proposal would be paid for by requiring the wealthy and some corporations and investors to pay more.

Close Encounter

(Fox News) - Actress Shirley MacLaine says Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich saw a UFO while visiting her home in Graham, Washington.

She writes — "Dennis found his encounter extremely moving. The smell of roses drew him out to my balcony where, when he looked up, he saw a gigantic triangular craft, silent, and observing him. It hovered, soundless, for 10 minutes or so, and sped away with a speed he couldn't comprehend. He said he felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind."

So far the Kucinich campaign has not responded to our request for a comment. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports MacLaine also writes that she advised Kucinich to visit a New Mexico spiritual adviser who had helped her communicate with trees. Kucinich did visit the woman — whom he has described as a teacher and good friend but not a spiritual adviser.

Legal Fees

(Fox News) - Federal Election Commission records indicate Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig has used $23,000 in campaign funds to pay for a top lawyer to make his case before the Senate Ethics Committee. Craig's office tells The Politico newspaper that the senator will use his campaign committee funds —which total about $475,000 — to help pay for his criminal defense as well.

Craig pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct following a men's restroom sex sting at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport last summer. Taking campaign funds for personal use is against the law. But Craig will try to link his legal fight in Minnesota to his work as a senator.

Tight Fisted

(Fox News) - Several conservative congressional Democrats have refused to give money to the party's campaign committee during the past several months — because of tensions with anti-war Democrats.

The Politico newspaper reports many of the so-called "Blue Dog Democrats" are still upset with a statement from California Democrat Lynn Woolsey last summer. Woolsey encouraged anti-war groups to field primary challengers against fellow Democrats who did not vote to end the war.

Other Dems who have not given to the campaign fund site the need for cash in their own hotly-contested races. But some who are sitting on huge campaign war chests are still refusing to pony up.

Rudy Giuliani Catches Flack for Rooting For the Red Sox

(Fox News) - The New York tabloids are in full cry over Rudy Giuliani's announcement that he is pulling for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Giuliani says he is simply rooting for the team from the American league, home of his beloved Yankees.

But Yankee fans have little use for the rival Red Sox and the cover of the New York Daily News calls Giuliani a "traitor," and inside refers to him as "the Yankee flipper." It suggests the former mayor is just pandering to New Hampshire primary voters — located in a major precinct of "Red Sox Nation."

The New York Post features a photo-shopped cover of Giuliani in Red Sox attire — calling him "red coat." Inside it calls him "Judas Giuliani."

Is Ron Paul really so crazy?

Is Ron Paul crazy for his position on the war and for criticizing our nation's foreign policy? Many believe this to be the case. But, might we be mischaracterizing Ron Paul by over simplifying or clouding the issues? A much closer examination based on facts and sound principles is in order. In the end I will conclude that Ron Paul is indeed crazy. Sorry to spoil it for you.

There are many things in his favor. To answer pressing questions of our time, Ron Paul relies on historical facts many American's are ignorant of. He isn't afraid to reveal clandestine operations and interventions motivated out of our national self-interest or special-interests that have had detrimental results to other peoples in the world.

He is even bold enough to admit there is a tendency on the part of government to cover-up things to maintain a façade that we are always on moral high-ground in the world. Some see in him a rare privilege to have a candidate step forward with a willingness to reveal these inconvenient truths while others choose to characterize him as a “Blame America First” fringe candidate and dismiss the possibility that he could be on to something.

Jason Wharton

The only real fault I can find with the article is his assertion that we radicalized Islam to fight the Russians. Islam was radicalized long before the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. We simply threw a few judicious helpings of gasoline on the fire.

Rush Limbaugh's Morning Update: Power

Get this. A certain woman used power never granted to her by the Constitution in a failed attempt to take over the health care industry, among other things. This woman now says that, if elected president, she will give up some legitimate constitutional powers that Vice President Cheney and President Bush have exercised.

Mrs. Bill Clinton accuses the Bush Administration of ignoring checks and balances, disregarding the separation of powers, and establishing a "fourth branch of government" for Dick Cheney. Mrs. Clinton says that she'll conduct an "exhaustive review" of how the current president and the vice president grabbed power, and she'll reverse the trend -- as soon as she's inaugurated.

Chief among her complaints: the Bush Administration's wiretapping of terrorist suspects. She also slams President Bush for (as President Clinton did before him) using "signing statements" on legislation to articulate the president's interpretation of those laws.

Uh, folks, this woman's entire political life has been about assuming raw power and building the machinery to hold onto power and crush her enemies. Now, all of a sudden, we're to believe she doesn't want to use the executive power she's craved since college? How stupid do they think we are?

We're at war! Yet here we have someone running on the idea that she -- as commander-in-chief -- oughta have less power to prosecute the war? And that -- as president -- she would limit the president's right to comment on acts of Congress? This is either foolhardy or it's totally disingenuous. And, since it's Mrs. Clinton, it's both! We're not idiots, here!

The Real Translation of Osama's latest message... :-)

Funny parody by Paul Shanklin...

Bush Seeks to Ban Marriage Between Fictitious Gay Characters :-)

Harry Potter Revelation Prompts President’s Move

The Borowitz Report

Just days after “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling revealed that the popular professor character Albus Dumbledore was gay, President George W. Bush told the nation that he would seek a ban on fictitious gay weddings.

In a nationally televised address last night, Mr. Bush said that he will devote the rest of his term in office to obtaining a constitutional amendment banning marriage between fictitious gay characters.

“In order to protect the sanctity of marriage in the real world, we must first protect the sanctity of marriage in fiction,” Mr. Bush said. “This is the most pressing goal of my Administration – even more important than bombing Iran.”

While the president’s address was for the most part consistent with his earlier statements on gay marriage, it was uncharacteristic in that it demonstrated an awareness of books.

And in attacking the Mr. Dumbledore’s right to wed, Mr. Bush may have raised the ire of one of the most militant constituencies in the U.S.: Harry Potter fans.

Jude Ralston, 34, one of over 5,000 Potter devotees who dressed as Dumbledore to protest the president’s speech outside the White House last night, said that Mr. Bush could be playing with fire: “Harry Potter fans take these things very seriously, and we don’t have anything else going on in our lives.”

As for Dumbledore’s gayness, Mr. Ralston said that he had overlooked obvious clues the first time he read the books: “I, like, totally missed that scene in the airport bathroom.”

Going Up, Coming Down: Discovery blasts past worry about rain and into orbit

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven rocketed into orbit yesterday in pursuit of the International Space Station, where a formidable construction job awaits them.

Discovery blasted off at 11:38 a.m., racing through clouds. It carried a giant Tinkertoy-type link that must be installed at the space station before European and Japanese laboratories can arrive.

Despite a forecast calling for rain right at launch time, the weather cooperated. Also, a piece of ice on plumbing between the external fuel tank and Discovery - 4 inches by 11/2 inches - was deemed too small by NASA to pose a launch hazard.

Launch director Mike Leinbach wished the crew good luck and Godspeed just before liftoff.

Bush is the biggest spender since LBJ

WASHINGTON (McClatchy Newspapers) — George W. Bush, despite all his recent bravado about being an apostle of small government and budget-slashing, is the biggest spending president since Lyndon B. Johnson. In fact, he's arguably an even bigger spender than LBJ.

Crew member recalls crushing force of Soyuz' steep landing

STAR CITY, Russia (The Associated Press) - Malaysia’s first space traveler said yesterday that his return from orbit “felt like an elephant pressing on my chest,” but that he and his two Russian crew mates did not black out or panic during a steeper-than-usual descent caused by a technical problem.

Bright Side: Fox Business Network meets goal of broad appeal, optimistic attitude

NEW YORK (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) - Mission accomplished! So far, anyhow.

Fox Business Network, which signed on last week, has swiftly got down to business with a wide-angle vision of business as more than just playing the market. It’s also the checkbook in your purse, the price tags in the stores, your dreams of a better job or paying off your plastic.

Just as vital to the mission, Fox Business has made a good start in promoting optimism. On its first morning, a glowing anchorwoman noted that on the same date - Oct. 15 - back in 1951, a TV institution was born: I Love Lucy. Good call. Fox’s new institution-in-the-making could aptly be nicknamed I Love Business.

This is in shrewd contrast to CNBC, the long-dominant financial network and now Fox’s archrival. At CNBC it’s not about love, but money.

CNBC has always opted for an Alpha Male (or Female) style, a jackets-off, boiler-room image of urgency (even with the jackets on).

On Fox Business, the style is more that of a chummy, overeager Eyewitness News team.

Andy Griffith collection has new home

Playhouse is fitting place, actor's friend says

MOUNT AIRY (Winston-Salem Journal) - The Surry Arts Council found a home for a collection of Andy Griffith’s movie posters and memorabilia - with no time to spare.

Hours after a deal collapsed to put the collection in a new building, staff members hurriedly started packing up photographs, scripts and clothing.

Fallen Hero

(Fox News) - A footnote to Monday's story about the posthumous awarding of the Medal of Honor to Navy SEAL Micheal Murphy — who died during a mission in Afghanistan.

Before the emotional ceremony, Lieutenant Murphy's parents met with President Bush and gave him a gold dog tag in tribute to their son.

Dan Murphy says, "What we were most touched by was that the president immediately put that on underneath his shirt, and when he made the presentation of the Medal of Honor, he wore that against his chest."

Fielding Questions

(Fox News) - You have probably heard news reports that the southeastern U.S. is enduring a drought of historic proportions. Which is why many people in North Carolina are puzzled when they learn that Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are continuing to water their synthetic field hockey turf.

The Raleigh News-Observer reports the international field hockey federation requires the fields to be watered before each practice and game — drought or no drought — in order to give players a better grip on the surface and minimize injuries.

The assistant athletic director at North Carolina admits he's received a lot of flack, saying, "People want to know why in the world we're watering an Astroturf field."

Not Fair and Balanced?

(Fox News) - There is another round in the verbal tug-of-war over Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" movie. You'll recall a British judge ordered the film must be accompanied by opposing views when shown to students and he cited nine scientific errors in the movie.

A Gore spokeswoman responded to that by saying the movie had, "thousands and thousands of facts" and by asserting the judge never used the word "errors."

Now former adviser to Margaret Thatcher — Christopher Monckton — has published a 21-page rebuttal to the Gore response. He says there are actually 35 errors or exaggerations in the film and he points out the British judge did in fact use the word "errors" throughout his ruling.

As for the contention that the movie contains thousands of facts, Monckton points out that even if the 93-minute film had just 2,000 facts they would have had to be recited at a rate of one every three seconds.

Photos of Military Personnel Back Up at Paso Robles Post Office

(Fox News) - The pictures of U.S. military personnel that were ordered removed from the Paso Robles Post Office are back up. The display — which had been in the post office for several years — was taken down Friday after a complaint by one customer that the photos were pro-war.

But local media report a postal service spokesman said Monday that Deputy Postmaster General Pat Donohue ordered the photos returned after an outpouring of protests in Paso Robles and across the country.

There was no further word as to why the decision was made and the rule against displaying non-postal business materials is still on the books.

Rush Limbaugh's Morning Update: Nobel!

Days after this year's Nobel award winners were announced, Dr. James Watson -- a past winner for his work on genetics -- made international news. He asserted to Britain's Sunday Times that Africans aren't as intelligent as whites. He supported his racist contention by adding that "people who have to deal with black employees" know they aren't equal.

Now comments by this year's Noble laureate for literature, Doris Lessing, has made news. "September 11th was terrible," Ms. Lessing told a Spanish newspaper, "but if one goes back over the history of the IRA, what happened to the Americans wasn't that terrible. Some Americans will think I'm crazy. Many people died, two prominent buildings fell, but it was neither as terrible nor as extraordinary as they think. They're a very naive people, or they pretend to be." (She's talking about us.)

The Nobel winner then declared President Bush a "world calamity." "Everyone is tired of this man," Lessing said (now we know why she won the award). "Either he is stupid or he is very clever, although you have to remember he is a member of a social class which has profited from wars."

According to the judges who awarded Doris Lessing the Nobel Peace Prize (or whatever prize she got; it doesn't matter), she possesses this: "skepticism, fire, and visionary power."

Now, I'm not going to paint all Nobel Prize winners with a broad brush, but I will say: It becomes easier to understand how the judges could have been, shall we say, duped by a certain phony-baloney climate-change huckster, given some of their other choices -- is it not?

Remembering the Gipper...

“[T]he American people are beginning to fit it all together. They’re beginning to realize that under the leadership of the liberals, that once-proud Democratic Party, a party of hope and affirmation, has become a party of negativism, a party whose leadership has changed it from the party of ‘yes’ to the party of ‘no’ —’no’ to the balanced budget amendment and the line-item veto, ‘no’ to holding down taxes and spending, ‘no’ to the death penalty and the school prayer amendment, ‘no’ to adequate defense spending and a Strategic Defense Initiative. The American people are beginning to understand that in all these ways the liberal leadership has been saying no to them... The public is beginning to realize that this election is a referendum on liberalism.”

Ronald Reagan

The Template

By Rush Limbaugh
RushLimbaugh.com

Over the weekend, voters in Louisiana elected a new governor: Bobby Jindal. Republican Bobby Jindal. Post-Hurricane-Katrina-Vanden-Heuvel Bobby Jindal.

The 36-year-old governor-elect says the first thing on his "to do" list is call a special session of the state legislature to address ethics reform. He wants to clean up Louisiana and change the perception of corruption that has encumbered the state. (After generations of Democrat rule, I might add.) Jindal points out that a lot of "accepted ways of doing business" in Louisiana are considered unethical or illegal in other parts of the country. He wants lawmakers to disclose their sources of income and their assets, and he wants to bar family members from doing bidness with the state.

Now, a few things about this election. Yes, Bobby Jindal is the first non-white governor elected since Reconstruction. (For you public school grads, that's the period right after the Civil War. And, if you're unsure about the Civil War, I can't help you.) Yes, he's also the first Indian-American governor in the country -- but his campaign attracted votes from across the board.

So, with Congress's approval ratings in the tank, we've got a Republican -- a son of Indian immigrants -- elected governor. Post-Katrina. No Drive-By analysis, though, lauding the people of Louisiana -- "The Deep South" -- for "celebrating diversity," or for giving us a "historical first." And no forecast about this election being a "bellweather" for the upcoming election season (had it been, Jindal would be a Democrat).

I guess Bobby Jindal -- Republican Bobby Jindal -- just doesn't fit their template, does he? More to come like this, folks. Guarantee you.

Harry Reid Sings... :-)

Funny parody by Paul Shanklin titled The Letter...

Clinton talks of Bill's romantic gifts

(Yahoo News) - Hillary Rodham Clinton says husband Bill often brings her romantic gifts: a giant wooden giraffe from an African trip, for example, and a Chanel watch that reminded him of teeth.

"Oh he's so romantic," the former first lady said in an interview for the November issue of Essence magazine. "He's always bringing me back things from his trips."

The watch had a bracelet made of white cubes. "I had dental surgery, and he said it reminded him of teeth," she said.

The New York senator, now a presidential candidate, said she is satisfied with the decisions she has made in her marriage.

"Now obviously we've had challenges as everybody in the world knows," she said. "But I never doubted that it was a marriage worth investing in even in the midst of those challenges, and I'm really happy that I made that decision."

In 1998, news unfolded about her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky.

While sticking it out might not be for everyone, Mrs. Clinton said women should support each other in the choices they make in their marriages.

"I think it's so important for women to stand up for the right of women to make a decision that is best for them," she said.

Mitt Romney Misspeaks, Confuses Barack Obama with Usama bin Laden

GREENWOOD, S.C. (Fox News) — In a slip of the tongue, Republican Mitt Romney accused Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama of urging terrorists to congregate in Iraq.

In the midst of criticizing Obama and other Democrats on foreign and economic policy Tuesday, the GOP presidential hopeful said:

"Actually, just look at what Osam — Barack Obama — said just yesterday. Barack Obama, calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq. That is the battlefield. ... It's almost as if the Democratic contenders for president are living in fantasyland. Their idea for jihad is to retreat, and their idea for the economy is to also retreat. And in my view, both efforts are wrongheaded."

Romney apparently was referring to an audiotape aired Monday in which a speaker believed to be terrorist Osama bin Laden called for insurgents in Iraq to unite and avoid divisions. The authenticity of the tape aired on Al-Jazeera television could not be immediately confirmed.

Islamofascism: oxymoron

Here is a good rebuttal to an earlier article on the BP that defended the use of the term:

There is virtually NO similarity between the historical Fascist program and the Islamic Jihad. One is nationalistic, the other international in scope. One is utterly indifferent to questions of morality, the other is obsessed with it. One is heavily based on economics and politics, the other is almost entirely concerned with religion.

Read Benito Mussolini's Fascist Manifesto. There is not a SINGLE ONE of the seventeen policies that would apply to radical Islam. Not one! I highly doubt any radical Muslim wants the secular state to seize all the possessions of the Islamic clergy or to grant women's suffrage; radical Islam is closer to the complete opposite of fascism than it is to being a form of it.

Keeping a Place at the Trough

Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) tried to remove from the Defense-appropriations bill tens of millions in operational funds for the National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown, Pa., widely perceived as an unmitigated waste of taxpayers’ money. He received the support of only 23 Republicans, less than half the caucus, even though the Bush administration, the Justice Department and one of NDIC’s own former directors consider the center a total waste of the $500 million it has received over the last decade. It has survived as long as it has only because Rep. Jack Murtha (D., Pa.) views it as a jobs program for his district (this was the earmark over which Murtha threatened a Republican colleague in May).

David Freddoso

For those who still believe there are two distinct political parties in America.

Homeless on the Range

(Fox News) - Some folks in San Francisco have found a way to get homeless people to pick up and leave. A local TV station reports the city spent $15,000 on a herd of hungry goats for the Corona Heights neighborhood. The goats munch away the thick brush that had served as camouflage. Now that the brush is gone — so are the homeless people that had camped out there — along with the campfires, trash and dirty needles.

Going Postal

(Fox News) - A post office in Paso Robles, California has taken down pictures of local military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan — after a complaint by one person that the display is pro-war.

Media reports indicate the photos had been up for several years. But after the complaint, postal officials said the pictures violate policy against non-postal business material. Residents are outraged — complaining to the post office and their congressman. Republican Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield says he is trying to get the pictures put back up, even if it means changing federal postal regulations.

Reality Check

(Fox News) - An environmental scientist and Professor Emeritus at the University of California at Santa Barbara says that most scientific evidence suggests global warming will not have serious effects on life on earth.

Daniel Botkin writes on The Wall Street Journal's Web site that many scientists ignore evidence that contradicts alarmist dogma. Botkin says that while the United Nations suggests up to 30 percent of plant and animal life could become extinct because of climate change — the reality is that almost none of the millions of species have disappeared during the past 2.5 million years — with all of its various warming and cooling periods.

He says fears that warming will lead to fresh epidemics of diseases such as malaria and encephalitis are debunked by research indicating temperature changes do not affect distribution or frequency of these diseases.

How Much Information Can You Really Get From the Clinton Library?

(Fox News) - The author of a new book about the Clinton White House years says she was stonewalled during her attempts to get information at the Clinton Presidential Library in Arkansas. Sally Bedell Smith — author of "For Love of Politics" — says her requests for memos and records dealing with Hillary Clinton's role as First Lady were denied.

Newsweek reports the national archives says barely one-half of one percent of the 78 million pages of documents and 20 million e-mails stored at the library are open to the public. Nearly 300 Freedom of Information requests are pending for Clinton documents — and an archives spokeswoman says it is hard to predict if any of the material will be released before next year's election.

In the past Bill Clinton has blamed the Bush administration for the backlog. But Newsweek says documents it uncovered indicate that Mr. Clinton gave the archives private instructions to tightly control the release of presidential documents. This comes despite promises of transparency by Hillary Clinton — who once said about the library — "Everything's going to be available."

The GOP’s Wide-Open Race

At the Values Voters conference and Orlando debate, candidates make their moves.

By Byron York
National Review Online


We’ve just come through the most revealing three-day period in the Republican presidential race so far. Before Friday and Saturday, when all the candidates appeared at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, and Sunday, when they gathered for the Fox News debate in Orlando, we wondered whether Rudy Giuliani could survive an appearance before socially conservative voters; whether Fred Thompson could show the energy that primary voters demand in a candidate; whether John McCain could regain his place in the contest’s first tier; and whether Mike Huckabee could fully ascend to that top grouping. Now, we know the answers are “yes” on all counts. Those answers, along with the continued strength of Mitt Romney — despite doubts about his record among the voters to whom it means the most — mean that there are now five real contenders for the Republican nomination. It is the most wide-open race in a very long time.

Fake turf watered as supplies dry up

Hockey fields need soaking, officials say; Duke coach: We conserve at home

(NewsObserver.com) - It's not even real grass.

But in the midst of what may be the worst drought ever in North Carolina, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are watering the synthetic turfs used by their field hockey teams.

The International Hockey Federation insists.

Jim Neal, Democratic Challenger to North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Says He Is Gay

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Fox News) — Jim Neal, the Democrat who plans to challenge Sen. Elizabeth Dole, is gay, a camapign spokesman confirmed Monday.

Neal spoke publicly of his sexual orientation over the weekend during an online discussion organized by a liberal blog, spokesman Thomas Mills said.

In response to a message on BlueNC.com asking whether he was gay, Neal is quoted a saying: "I am indeed. No secret and no big deal to me — I wouldn't be running if I didn't think otherwise."

He continued: "I'm not running this race to make some social statement. I'm running to lead in the Senate for the voters in NC — something Sen. Dole has not done."

Neal is a fundraiser for 2004 presidential candidates who has never run for public office. He is the only Democrat who has announced he will run next year against Dole.

NASA Refuses to Disclose Air Safety Survey

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (Fox News) — Anxious to avoid upsetting air travelers, NASA is withholding results from an unprecedented national survey of pilots that found safety problems such as near collisions and runway interference occur far more frequently than the government previously recognized.

Speak Up?

Rush Limbaugh's Morning Update

After Congressman Fortney "Pete" Stark -- Democrat, California -- accused Republicans of sending our military to Iraq to "get their heads blown off" for President Bush's "amusement" and accused our troops of "blowing up innocent people," I made a prediction on the radio. I said that he would respond to calls for an apology by launching yet another attack.

Do I know these liberals, folks? Within hours, when asked if he would take back any of his comments, Stark told KCBS: "Absolutely not. I may have dishonored the commander-in-chief, but I think he's done pretty well to dishonor himself without any help from me." He said the "real" dishonor is Republicans refusing to expand the S-CHIP program. That's the program designed to provide health insurance to poor kids; Democrats wanted to include upper-middle-class kids.

So, a question now, folks: Will Harry Reid take to the Senate floor, letter in hand, calling Pete Stark "unpatriotic" and demanding he apologize? Will Dingy Harry find 40 Democrat senators to chastise Stark for defaming our military? Will Democrat candidates -- Mrs. Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd -- will they speak up?

Of course not, folks. Democrats won't speak up while their front groups -- like MoveOn.org, or Media Matters -- impugn our generals, or smear private citizens who oppose their political views. Instead, they abuse their elective power to join their front groups in the "politics of personal destruction." Democrats will tolerate Stark's malicious slams on our military because so many of them secretly agree with him -- they just don't have the guts to say so.

Governor-elect tackles Louisiana's image

(Yahoo News) - Changing Louisiana's reputation for corruption would do more than just make over its image, Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal said Sunday: It could help the state attract businesses and win federal aid for hurricane recovery.

The Republican congressman, a day after his historic win in an election that featured a dozen candidates for governor, pressed ahead with his campaign pledge, saying in an interview with The Associated Press that one of his first acts will be to call a special legislative session to reform ethics laws...

...The son of immigrants on Saturday won more than 50 percent of the vote in a primary election to make him Louisiana's first non-white governor since Reconstruction and the nation's first Indian-American chief executive. That tally averted the need for a November runoff election.

Limbaugh Letter Fetches $2.1 Million on eBay

(Fox News) - Rush Limbaugh appears to have the Midas touch.

The conservative radio talk-show host turned an inflammatory letter written by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and signed by 41 of his fellow Democrats into a more than $4.2 million gold mine for the kids of Marines and law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty, all courtesy of eBay.

The Eugene B. Casey foundation Betty Casey coughed up more than $2.1 million to be the sole owner of the letter sent to the radio host's boss demanding that Limbaugh be reprimanded for a "phony soldier" comment he made on air. Limbaugh has pledged to match whatever was paid for the letter.

Rent Increase

(Fox News) - The city of Philadelphia has for years allowed the local Boy Scouts chapter to use a downtown building as its headquarters — for $1/year rent. But now the city wants the Scouts to pay fair market value for the office — $200,000/year — because the Boy Scouts refuse to admit homosexuals. The city says it cannot legally rent taxpayer-owned property for a nominal sum to a private organization that discriminates.

A scouting spokesman says coming up with the rent would mean 30 scout packs would not be financed — or 800 needy kids would not get to attend summer camp.

Can't Take a Joke?

(Fox News) - There's one presidential campaign out there that is breaking ground — and could be breaking the law. Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert has made much of his so-called candidacy — which he has played for laughs on his show. But some election experts are not laughing.

They say if Colbert does not clearly declare the whole thing a joke — he could run afoul of federal law. The Politico reports Colbert has actually signed papers to try to get on the primary ballot in south Carolina, unveiled a campaign Web site, and gotten advice from a top election law firm.

As a result — the entire production cost of his show could be considered an illegal "in-kind" corporate donation — and he could be cited for using network employees on campaign activities.

One election lawyer tells Politico — "You don't get a different set of rules because you're running as a joke."

More Questionable Contributions to Hillary Clinton

(Fox News) - Hillary Clinton's campaign has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from some of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City's Chinatown. The Los Angeles Times reports an April fundraiser in an area known for its gritty urban poverty churned out a whopping $380,000 dollars.

The Times says at least one Chinatown donor has denied making a $1,000 contribution recorded in his name. Another who donated $2,500 appears to be ineligible to do so under federal election law. And many donors could not be tracked down using property, telephone or business records.

The Clinton campaign is expressing concern about the situation. It says it has flagged questionable contributions and returned others.

Gore: Universal Health Care a 'Right'

Nobel Peace Prize winner posts video over weekend calling for health care as an American right.

By Genevieve Ebel
Business & Media Institute

Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore’s celebration weekend in Tennessee wasn’t all dinner and dancing.

The former vice president managed to find time this past weekend to post a series of videos on his peer-to-peer video sharing site, Current.tv – including one calling for “government-funded” health care. Gore is chairman of Current.tv.

In a setting reminiscent of a bored college student making a video in his dorm room, Gore is shown proclaiming that healthcare in America “ought to be a matter of right,” addressing what he thinks to be an “immoral” healthcare situation.

“I strongly support universal single-payer government-provided or government-funded health care” droned a languid Gore in his video, now also listed under the title ‘Gore Goes SiCKO’ on Michael Moore’s Web site.

Hillary Clinton's Big-Bucks Donations From Waiters and Dishwashers

From Jim Geraghty of National Review Online:

Heard about this story on Laura Ingraham driving in to Washington for the Family Research Council summit:

Dishwashers, waiters and others whose jobs and dilapidated home addresses seem to make them unpromising targets for political fundraisers are pouring $1,000 and $2,000 contributions into Hillary Clinton's campaign treasury. In April, a single fundraiser in an area long known for its gritty urban poverty yielded a whopping $380,000. When Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) ran for president in 2004, he received $24,000 from Chinatown.

Will any of her Democratic rivals have the guts to decry this, and declare these fishy circumstances, and grubbing for every last dollar, as unworthy of a serious political party?

Reassurance

By Rush Limbaugh
RushLimbaugh.com

Well, we've got some new research here, folks, about parenting conducted by a University of Illinois professorette -- Dr. Nancy McElwain -- and her colleagues. Now, the long and short of the study is that moms and dads who offer lots of support and reassurance whenever their young crumb crunchers express negative emotions may actually be stunting the children's ability to mature emotionally. Parents who offer a lower level of support enable their kids to learn how to handle life's ups and downs for themselves, and to develop the resources they need to cope.

My gosh, folks! I mean, there's so much here that extends beyond "parenting." These results undermine the entire premise of liberalism: that individuals are incapable of handling life's obstacles on their own, and need Big Government -- and day-care centers -- to provide support and reassurance at every turn (then they grow up and watch Oprah!). If your crumb crunchers need breakfast or lunch, you can’t handle it -- the government has to provide it. Need health care for the kids? No problem! Government should provide it -- even if you make 80 grand a year, and can afford to send the kids to private school. Want to retire? You can't without the "support and reassurance" of Social Security. The government might even provide you a 2% cost-of-living raise... if you're lucky.

From cradle to grave, liberals insist on "helping" you: providing support, reassurance, a handout... even if their "help" continues to produce millions of immature, pampered, coddled, chickified adults who are incapable of fending for themselves!

A Massive Blueprint for Victory in 2008?

By Sean P. Trende
Human Events

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column stating that Massachusetts could well send a Republican to Congress. I thought the combination of a divisive primary for the Democrats combined with a strong Republican candidate running against a Congress with low approval numbers could set the stage for a strong Republican showing in Massachusetts’ Fifth District, which went for Senator John Kerry over President Bush by more than fifteen points in 2004.

With Republicans’ brand name at a low and Democrats supposedly in the driver’s seat, such speculation may have seemed absurd to beltway pundits, who paid little attention to the race. But on Tuesday the people spoke, and what they said was wholly at odds with the common impression of an electorate wholly disenchanted with Republicans and ready, nay eager, to hand the reigns of government over to the Democrats.

Sex and the Presidency

Being a woman is Mrs. Clinton's biggest asset--and she's trying to seem like one.

By Peggy Noonan
OpinionJournal.com

Where do things stand now with Hillary Clinton? What is her trajectory almost a year since it became clear she was running for the presidency?

Some time back I said she doesn't have to prove she is a man, she has to prove she is a woman. Her problem is not her sex, as she and her campaign pretend. That she is a woman is a boon to her, a source of latent power. But to make it work, she has to seem like a woman.

Woman fined for hammer fit at Comcast

(Yahoo News) - She was fined and got a suspended jail sentence, but Mona Shaw says she has no regrets about using a hammer to vent her frustration at a cable company.

"I stand by my actions even more so after getting all these telephone calls and hearing other people's complaints," she told The Associated Press in an interview Friday.

Martinez quits as RNC general chairman

(Yahoo News) - Mel Martinez, the public face of the Republican National Committee as its general chairman, announced Friday he was stepping down from his post after serving only 10 months.

"I believe that our future as a party and nation is bright and I have every intention of continuing to fight for our president, our party and our candidates," the Florida senator said in a statement.

His resignation came months earlier than anticipated. Martinez wasn't expected to step down until a Republican presidential nominee was selected, and the earliest that could occur is February.

The RNC said Martinez' job would not be filled.

Experience — Sen. Clinton says she has 35 years of it

By Bob Cusack
The Hill

In a concerted effort to deflect attacks on her presidential credentials, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y) and her allies repeatedly say she has 35 years of relevant experience.

She has been an elected official only seven years, but the drumbeat of sound bites and statements touting the 35-year figure appears to have paid off.

Even her Democratic rivals prefer to assail her electability rather than her experience.

Polls show that Democratic voters are comfortable with Clinton’s background. A recent Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll of over 600 New Hampshire Democratic primary voters showed that 47 percent believe she has the right experience to be president. Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) were tied for a distant second, with 10 percent each. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) attracted 8 percent.

I can't believe 47% of Democrats believe Hillary has the right experience to be president and only 10% believe Gov. Bill Richardson has the right experience. Other than marrying Bill and being a 6 year junior senator from NY, what in the world has she done that makes her qualified??? Richardson has been a congressman, UN ambassador & governor, and yet, only 10% of Democrats think he's got the right experience.

Bids Top $2 Million for Rush Limbaugh Senate Letter

Rush says he's going to match the final bid... It looks like he'll be cutting a big ol' check this afternoon.

Concealed Weapons Advocate Suspended From School, Ordered to Have Head Examined

(Fox News) - A student at Hamline University in Minnesota has been suspended and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation for advocating the carrying of legal concealed weapons on campus.

TownHall.com reports Troy Scheffler made the case in an e-mail to a school official that licensed gun owners could stop or prevent the kind of violence that struck Virginia Tech earlier this year. He pointed out that research has indicated the possibility of armed resistance discourages potential criminals. And he noted that many Virginia Tech students have said the massacre there would not have happened if the school had not banned concealed weapons.

But even though the school has a policy that guarantees students will be free to discuss all questions of interest and express their opinions openly, the dean of students says Scheffler's e-mail was deemed to be threatening. Scheffler was placed on interim suspension, which will only be lifted after he agrees to a psychological evaluation.

Ann Coulter Only Offends You If You Want Her To

By Ericka Andersen
Redstate

Ann Coulter’s got a backbone, we know that, but the obscene brutality she faces from critics on a daily basis is vicious. I know for one, because I see the comments written by people in response to her articles at Human Events. We must delete dozens of unacceptable posts every week, filled with profanity and personal attacks not suitable for anyone to even read on Human Events.

Orr's platform: End tax incentives

By Jack Betts
Charlotte Observer

Almost 40 years ago, before Bob Orr had finished his undergraduate work and enrolled in law school, Justice Susie Sharp wrote a majority opinion for the N.C. Supreme Court on economic development policy that was the law of the state for decades.

"If ... we are to bait corporations which refuse to become industrial citizens of North Carolina unless the state gives them a subsidy," the public must approve of it first, she wrote.

Chief Justice Sharp had been retired for 16 years before Orr joined the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1995, but he says his view about the use of public money for private purposes is still more in line with Sharp's 1968 view than that of subsequent majorities on the Supreme Court. In time, they came to view as constitutionally acceptable the use of public tax funds for private companies, as long as there was a demonstrable public purpose.

That's a shift in state policy that Orr, now a Republican candidate for governor next year, would reverse if he gets the chance.

I believe I'll support Bob Orr for governor. Like him, I'm not in favor of all this corporate welfare we have here in NC.

Other 2007 Races To Watch

By John Hood
Carolina Journal Online

The 2007 political season in North Carolina may be about half-over, but around the country there remain quite a few electoral match-ups getting significant attention.

7 Things To Know About the Clintons

By R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
Human Events

This week, it was reported in the authoritative Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, that Don Van Natta Jr. and Jeff Gerth included some unsavory news about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in "Her Way," their recent book about her. Hillary, during the 1992 presidential campaign, "listened to a secretly recorded audiotape of a phone conversation of Clinton critics." Washington observers appeared shocked. Mein Gott, where have they been all these years? The Clintons have engaged in brute behavior for decades, much of it a matter of record. The Hill's report moves me to list seven issues every American should know about the Clintons before 2008. Journalists should be particularly interested, as well as Democrats intent on avoiding a repeat of the Clinton 1990s.

How to Lose, Don Young’s Way

A lesson of 2006: Purge now or pay later.

By David Freddoso
National Review Online

How can House Republican leaders stave off a rout in 2008? The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), responsible for electing Republican House members, had a pathetic $1.6 million in cash at the end of August. Republican retirements from the House continue to rack up, including several in vulnerable districts. The issues seem to be stacked against the GOP as Democrats exploit issues such as health care and the Iraq war.

There has been talk of a few fixes, including firing key NRCC staffers and returning to old fundraising programs. These steps may help, but House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) should consider another idea worth millions of dollars all on its own: Prune the dead branches in the caucus now.

Republicans need an ethical Housecleaning if they are ever to return to the majority again. This will require strong leadership and creativity. The real question is just how ruthless the reputedly non-confrontational Boehner can be when his legacy is on the line. Boehner will show his mettle by how he deals with two members currently under serious ethical clouds: Reps. Don Young (R., Alaska) and John Doolittle (R., Calif.).

Earmarks Over All

By Robert Novak
Human Events

Would the Democratic-controlled Senate approve a $1 million earmark to celebrate Woodstock-era baby boomers, carved out of a bill funding health care and education? It would because it is sponsored by New York's influential senators, Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer. It would because they promote the pet project of a big-time Democratic campaign contributor.

Nevertheless, as the Senate began consideration Wednesday of the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma proposed an amendment to eliminate the earmark. The $1 million goes to the performing arts center of the Bethel Museum in Liberty, N.Y., the site of the original 1969 Woodstock Festival. Coburn argues that a "taxpayer-funded Woodstock flashback" cuts into the government's Education for Homeless Children and Youth grants.

That fits a new approach by Coburn's relentless crusade against earmarks. He has told his colleagues that their addiction to pork wastes money that otherwise would build bridges, regulate mine safety and even litigate civil rights cases. All to no avail so far. The lawmakers still embrace pork and reject Coburn by the same big margin that passed Alaska's infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" in the previous Congress.

Dignity!

By Rush Limbaugh
RushLimbaugh.com

On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused "hate radio" of launching a vicious attack on a 12-year-old Baltimore kid enrolled in the S-CHIPS program. Now, she didn't identify the purveyor of the supposed "hate," but she did say that the "attacks" were "beneath the dignity of the debate."

Well, the AP carried her water, and they identified the "hate." They quote me, from October the 8th, when I said this: "This family owns a house in a neighborhood of homes valued in the $400,000 to $500,000 range. They send the kid out to lie. He's 12 years old! They will use anybody! They'll corrupt anybody, to get where they're headed. That's who they are, folks.”

I stand by every word! It was a criticism of Ms. Pelosi, and not the kid. Democrats used this 12-year-old to attack the President. The kid's radio address made it appear as if President Bush and Republicans were denying health care for poor kids, which is BS! The kid is enrolled in the program. He and his siblings attend private school. The family's income is well above the poverty line, by their own admission. Their child is enrolled in a program intended for "poor children" -- a program Democrats want to expand to families making upwards of $80,000 a year.

Democrats exploit children, just as they exploit people with debilitating illnesses; they throw them into partisan debates, betting they'll be immune from criticism. Well, I am not going to be intimidated by Democrats' smears, or their lies. It is they who are purveying hate -- and fraud -- and deceits. Speaker Pelosi won't "dignify" what I said because she and her party have no "dignity" to bring to the debate. Think I should call her "Stupid Speaker"?

Two N.C. Democrats to switch votes on SCHIP

Override of veto is still expected to fail

WASHINGTON (MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE) - When the House votes today on President Bush’s veto of a children’s health-insurance bill, the two Democrats from North Carolina who had opposed the bill are expected to vote to override the veto.

Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Democrat from Lillington who represents the 2nd District, said yesterday that the benefit to children’s health care overcame his concern about the damage to the state’s economy caused by the 61-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax that will pay for the program.

He called the bill “an effective initiative to extend health insurance to working families,” but he admitted that he “remains concerned that a tobacco- tax increase could hurt North Carolina’s rural economy.”

Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Democrat from Lumberton who represents the 7th District, said Tuesday that he would vote to override the veto.

Clinton Pollster Predicts Defection Of GOP Women

(Atlanta Journal-Constitution) - Mark Penn, the pollster and senior strategist of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, predicted Thursday that nearly a quarter of Republican women would defect from the GOP if the New York senator is the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008.

At a breakfast with political reporters, Penn said his internal polling shows Clinton would win over some 24 percent of Republican women in the 2008 general election because of the “emotional” appeal of electing the country’s first woman president.

Penn said the trend is as evident in the South, a region Democratic presidential candidates have had trouble winning in recent elections, as in all other regions of the country.

Penn said the trend indicates that Clinton would be a stronger Democratic presidential candidate in the South than either Al Gore was in 2000 or John Kerry was in 2004.

Rocky Rhodes

(Fox News) - Tuesday we told you about outrage from the left after liberal radio talk show host Randi Rhodes was injured outside her Manhattan apartment in what was first reported as a mugging.

One of Rhodes' colleagues — Jon Elliott — blamed conservatives for the attack. But then Rhodes' lawyer said she just fell down while walking her dog.

Tuesday night Elliott said — "I shouldn't have speculated based on hearsay that Randi Rhodes had been mugged and that it may have been an attack from a right wing hate machine. I apologize for jumping to conclusions based on an emotional reaction."

Artistic Expression

(Fox News) - A six-year-old Brooklyn girl is facing a $300 fine — for doing something almost all kids do at one time or another — drawing on her front step with chalk. The Brooklyn Paper reports a neighbor complained about Natalie Shea's artwork — and the city sent her parents a letter demanding that the "graffiti" be removed or else.

It turns out that a child's chalk drawing can be classified as graffiti under a 2005 law — but only if it is without the consent of the property owner — in this case the girl's parents. A spokesman with the New York police says if the chalk can be washed away — the drawings are not technically graffiti — but still could be classified as criminal mischief.

Power Surge

(Fox News) - The Army Corps of Engineers reports Iraqis are getting an average of 15 hours of electrical service/day nationwide — far above expectations. Many parts of Iraq had from four to six hours/day toward the end of the Saddam Hussein regime — although Baghdad had 22 to 24 hours then and has less now.

Meanwhile 28 new primary care clinics have opened in Iraq — 12 in Baghdad. The country's first new hospital since the 1980's will be completed in Basra next summer.

And one indication of the major reduction in violence can be found at what is believed to be the world's largest cemetery — in Najaf. McClatchy newspapers report workers there say business is off by about a third in the past six months.

Who's the Boss?

(Fox News) - A new book paints a picture of how influential Hillary Clinton was during her husband's presidency. "For Love of Politics," by Sally Bedell Smith contends Mrs. Clinton often overruled key advisers in matters such as personnel appointments and presidential speech language. In one incident — after President Clinton seemed to publicly waver on his commitment to his wife's universal health care proposal during an event in Boston in 1994 — Mrs. Clinton was outraged back at the White House.

"She picked up the phone," Smith writes, "and said to the operator, 'Get me the President.' Moments later, Bill came on the line. 'What the (expletive) are you doing up there?' she screamed. 'I want to see you as soon as you get back.'"

"Several hours later," the book says, "Bill arrived by helicopter and walked into the Diplomatic Reception Room, where an aide was waiting to escort him upstairs."

And Smith writes that former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala says Mrs. Clinton pushed the president into signing welfare reform in 1996 — after vetoing two previous bills. "'Bill was anguished, but Hillary was not torn,' (Shalala) recalled. 'She was flat. She saw the political reality without the human dimension. If Hillary had opposed the bill, we would have gotten another veto.'"

Remembering the Gipper...

“Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, ‘What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and a little more power.’ But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector. Yet any time you and I question the schemes of the do-gooders, we’re denounced as being opposed to their humanitarian goals. It seems impossible to legitimately debate their solutions with the assumption that all of us share the desire to help the less fortunate. They tell us we’re always ‘against,’ never ‘for’ anything.”

Ronald Reagan

Thursday Funnies :-)

David Letterman: “Top Messages on Al Gore’s Answering Machine”: Hi, Mandy from The Cheesecake Factory. You left your credit card; George W. Bush here. Congratulations on your Latin Grammy; It’s Larry from Toyota. This global warming paranoia is great for business; Put on Letterman. Some idiot is going to jump over interns; This is Hillary. If you run for President, I’ll snap your neck; I’m calling from the EPA. Turns out there is no global warming; You’re just sweating because you’re getting fat; This is Jimmy Carter. Want to use our medals to score some babes?

“Top Questions President Bush Asked the Dalai Lama”: What is that, some kind of Halloween get up?; I got one for you—why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?; Where’s Mrs. Lama?; Are you that Japanese guy my dad threw up on?; How’s business in Dollywood?; I know your cousin Barack O’Lama.

Jay Leno: Congratulations to former Vice President Al Gore. He won the Nobel Peace Prize. How about that? And he did it without a single vote from Florida. ... Now that he’s won the Nobel Prize, Al Gore has a huge, international platform to fight global warming. Kind of sad—today he stepped onto that platform and it collapsed. ... A lot of people are wondering now if Al Gore will run for president. Which would make it a Gore vs. Hillary Democratic primary. Kind of a global warming vs. global cooling. ... Barack Obama is attacking some of Hillary Clinton’s comments on torture. At one point, Hillary had said that “in some narrow cases torture could be acceptable.” Like, for example, if your husband is sneaking in at 2:30 in the morning. ... The Taco Bell restaurant chain is about to open in Mexico City. Today, the government of Mexico called it a hate crime. ... China is outraged that we would honor the Dalai Lama at the White House. I hope they don’t try to get back at us—you know, maybe put lead in our toys or antifreeze in our toothpaste.