Dear Outraged

One of my posts struck a nerve out there in the blogosphere. It dealt with my musings about John & Mary's divorce last year.

If you go back to the post, I was a bit puzzled that since everyone is getting divorced and remarried, we can all be buds again. I know there were severe issues in this marriage. But after an investment of twenty plus years, it seems that things could have been worked on.

However, I have no intention of backing down from what I said in the original post. I despise divorce. I can only see it in the most extreme circumstances. The John & Mary case did not qualify.

If you think I am inconsistent ask my married and soon-to-be married children. This is the key line: I will help in anything no matter what happened. I will be your biggest fan and best supporter. However, if you decide to get divorced, I will be your greatest obstacle.

They know it is not idle chatter.

I view marriage as a promise between a man and a woman and GOD. I make enough mistakes everyday, without adding that to my list of sins. I think I also inferred that divorce is a sin. Let me be clear--it is. We don't like that three letter word. I am painfully aware of my shortcomings--my sins. I am thankful that I have a savior who died at Calvary and rose three days later.

Truce!?!

Osama wants to cut a deal. Essentially, it comes down to we will quit blowing people up in Iraq if America goes home.

It's not quite that simple. America is not going home for a long time. Our troop levels will draw down, but our presence in the Middle East is something akin to the American commitment to NATO during the Cold War.

As to cutting a deal, I'd suggest that any American politician pursuing that policy course could not survive. You are the avowed mastermind behind September 11th and actions have consequences.

Basically we'd love to meet you--dead or alive, but preferably dead.

By the way Osama old buddy, if you had the chance to visit an American gun range, you would discover that you are avery prominent personality--down range--in the 10 ring.

Filibuster

As Gomer Pyle might say, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise."

Hillary is going to join John "Davos" Kerry and Ted "Pass-the-Scotch" Kennedy in an attempt to filibuster Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

This is a historical moment, because no one has been outrageous enough to pull this stunt in the nation's history.

So why is the "smartest" woman in American politics skating over thin ice?

Because John "Did-you-know-he-served-in-Vietnam" Kerry is leading the charge, and both want the nomination in 2008. To achieve that dubious honor, they must appeal to the MoveOn.org crowd. Hillary is forced to keep up, which takes her away from the mainstream, cookie baking, moderate she wants look like and unmasks her as a bug-eyed liberal.

I've met three year olds with more common sense. But have it kids, and will the last nutball turn out the lights in Berkley?

Maybe They'll Shoot Each Other

The Palestinians had an election between Fatah and Hamas. The United States spent money on behalf of Fatah, and everyone saw through that political ploy. You've got towonder who's making those decision over at the State Department.

By now you've heard that Hamas won the election, and Fatah is busily rallying its forces to defy the election results. (Democracy has such a firm hold in the Arab mind.)

Israel will not deal with a Hamas led Palestinian Authority, and the Bush Administration considers them terrorists. I guess this means the Middle East Peace Process has flat lined, and that is a positive developoment.

Already Hamas and Fatah supporters have started shooting at each other. Pehraps, they will keep at it.

It is painfully obvious to any observer that there were no good guys in this election process, only gradations of bad. It looks like the transition of power from Fatah to Hamas is setting up to be a civil war. I for one will not mourn the casualties in this conflict.

This Idiot Almost Became President

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, or so the campaign jingle goes. In Al's case, he appears to have lost his.

Yesterday he blasted the Bush administration's use of wire taps and the National Security Agency's pursuit of terrorists. Please understand I am not here to defend the Bush Administration. There are many things I vehemently disagree with them when it come to domestic spending and standing up to the Senate cry babies. Nor am I very keen on the idea of the government spying on us and invading our personal liberties.

However, we are at war.

War is that 3 letter word. Presidents don't always make the best decisions in war time. Consider FDR's internment of Japanese Americans, or Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus.

To suggest that Slick Willy's Administration did not execute wire taps or dance in the gray space between right and wrong when confronting terrorism is ludricrous. Now we might debate the effectiveness of treating terrorism as a law enforcement exercise. We might wonder what they were thinking when they did employ military force. But to act like the idea never entered the collective mind is shameful.

Unfortunately, this war will outlast the Bush Administration, and that leaves us with a problem. Do we dare turn over national security to a party that hems and haws about al Qaeda rights and Gitmo detainees? Do we drink the Koolaide and elect a Clinton, Dean or Gore?

The democratic party seems to act like nothing hapened on September 11th. Well, something did happen, and I want to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Bullies and Blowhards

The Alito confirmation hearings featured bullies, blowhards, and bald faced liars. These denizens are better known as the Democratic Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Why Teddy Kennedy is even in the Senate and not breaking rocks for manslaughter, I will never understand.

Next was puppetmaster Di Fi. Senator from California, darling of the take-away-all-the-guns-except-mine crowd. Her role was to keep Teddy on track, occasionally prompting him as to what to say.

Then there was Joe (Mr. Plagiarism) Biden, who forgot that they were there to get Judge Alito to testify, but ended working on his filibuster skills. He spoke three times longer than Alito during his allotted time.

Of course, the king of slime maintained his top ranking. Chuck (I never saw a microphone I did not like) Schumer did his best to sound sincere as he flung mud and spouted the other stuff.

The Constitution grants the Senate an "advise and consent" role.

What took place this week was not a confirmation hearing. It was an inquisition. The only thing missing were the whips and chains.

Danger: Hitler Wannabe

Perhaps, we could put this idiot out of his misery and drop a really big bomb on him.

He is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Today he hoped that Ariel Sharon would die. Can you imagine the caterwalling had George Bush suggested something like this about another elected head of state?

Remember when Pat Robertson suggested that it might be a good idea if Hugo Chavez assumed room temperature in a horizontal position six feet under.

Besides his get dead sentiments, Ahmadinejad has made the following pronouncements in the last thirty days:

1. The holocaust did not happen.
2. Israel should be moved from the promised land to Europe.
3. Israel shpould be wiped off the face of the earth. (Presumably via an Iranian nuclear weapon.)

Again I will make the warning that people who attempt to destroy Israel had first figure out how to deal with Jehovah. Since that isn't possible, they might try digging really deep, deep bomb shelters.

A Real Dog

You might think the real dog in this picture is the black lab. Actually it is the Westie.

Her name was Belle, BooBoo, ShuggyBear. She died from a cancer on December 30.

She had been in our family for 13 years. A good long life for a dog. But it is oh so hard to say good-bye.

In better days, she chased down chipmonks and squirrels. More than once she got into a fight under the deck she is standing on. Eventually she emerged bloodied and dirtied, but we all knew she had given better than she got. At other times, she was on patrol, barking at shadows, mailmen and other dogs.

I don't have any theological basis or Biblical support for my belief that best friends like Belle go to some kind of heaven. When Jesus takes me to heaven, I believe I will see other believers and some old best friends.