Michael Yon In The Wall Street Journal

I was ready to post today when I learned that Jimeh Cahtah was going to meet with Hamas. Abandoned on the visit by the Secretary General of the United Nations and other officials because he unilaterally decided to meet with a terrorist organization, our well-intentioned buffoon will achieve just as much as he did as president - diddly.

I was also concerned about the announcement from Iran that they are building 6,000 more centrifuges in addition to the 3,000 that are already in operation. The concern deepens when you consider the prospect of a president that's ready to follow in Jimeh's footsteps. If you don't know who that is, you are among the millions of Americans who either don't bother to vote, or vote with a minimum of information. Regardless of what side of the aisle you find yourself on, the astounding numbers of people that don't vote is puzzling.

What I found the most enlightening was Michael Yon's editorial in the Wall Street Journal - the link is in the title of this piece. I can't say it any better than he did, so I'm not even going to try. If you're interested in the opinion of an independent journalist who's spent more time in Iraq than any other correspondent, read his article.

For my friends who will find fault with Mr. Yon, please feel free to explain where he's wrong. Since most of us have never been to Iraq to see precisely what's going on, it should be interesting to see what our liberal arm-chair quarterbacks have to say. I'm an arm-chair quarterback as well, I just play on a different team.

Monday Blues

Yesterday was Dominic Jacob Blair's 2nd birthday. All of the postitive and negative attributes of an accomplished Tazmanian Devil are his. Dominic's mother is Dominican, so even at this early age he can swear in two languages - Spanish & English. He hasn't realized it yet, but as he grows older and Christmas's come and go, he has an Aunt that will make him want to hunt down and kill whoever wrote "Dominic The Donkey".

Press 1 for English.

MUSINGS

I saw a State Police vehicle filling up at Mullin's Citgo the other day, and all I could think was: "There go my tax dollars to Cindy Sheehan's favorite socialist." I felt like stopping the car and asking the trooper why he didn't fill up elsewhere, but my guess is he wouldn't have had the foggiest idea why I was asking the question.

Our tax dollars are going to a man who wants to see this country destroyed - how bright is that?

RCTV is akin to "Must See TV" in Venezuala, but only until May 27, 2007. That's the day their license expires. According to that paragon of democracy, Hugo Chavez, their license will not be renewed because he is concerned about the morality of the soap operas they broadcast. As the country's oldest independent broadcaster, RCTV didn't earn Hugo's affection by showing cartoons and movies during the failed coup attempt against him in 2002 - that might have a little something to do with losing their license too.

Re-elected in a landslide, Herr Chavez will replace RCTV with a state-run station that will promote Venezuela's transformation into Cuba Jr. Can you guess who gets to play the part of Castro? Do you think he'll really step down when it's time for the next election?

As an OPEC nation, Venezuela is afloat in petro-dollars, which the soon-to-be-dictator distributes freely - that's how you get re-elected with 60% of the vote. With all of that money, he's also buying the support of others in South America and developing closer ties with Iran.

What in the hell does it take for Americans to wakeup and realize they're sending their tax dollars to a lunatic?

Speaking of lunatics, the pot has been callng the kettle black recently. Although we must give a tip of the hat to Warren Harding in recognition for his lack of concern regarding the corruption in his administration, Jimmy Carter still gets my vote for worst President in the history of the country.

Unless you lived through 18% inflation, gas lines, foreign policy successes that didn't stand up to the test of time, and Americans with rags tied around their eyes as they were being led from our embassy by - who else - Muslim fanatics, you really can't appreciate the ineptitude of PeanutMan. Even as a card carrying liberal at that time, I couldn't stomach the man - he was DEPRESSING!

And last but not least, because I have to go coach my grandson's Farm League team, how depressed are you after McCain & Kennedy get together for an illegal immigration bill. Okay, so they may not use the word illegal, and therein lies the problem.

Having been told that brevity is not my strong suit, I will stop at this point and save immigration for a future post. Suffice it to say that this bill should, and never will, see the light of day.

When it comes to immigration, President Bush has not been a leader in any sense of the word, and he has not listened to us.

Coming Out of the Closet

After all these years, I'm finally ready to come out of the closet and admit that I didn't vote for Ronald Reagan the first time around in 1980. I voted for John Anderson.

I know - who? He had silver hair; he wasn't as dangerous as Reagan, or as insipid as Carter in my then quite liberal opinion.

I fear that I must go even deeper into my youthful past and freely admit that I voted for George McGovern too! Hair down to my shoulders, self-assured and as pretentious as any liberal has ever felt.

Why Anderson? The peanut from Georgia gave us one good thing: his brother Billy, who in turn begot "Billy Beer". It was even brewed by FX Matt's in Utica, so upstate New York made a few bucks and generated hangovers nationwide. That hangover coalesced into the Iran hostage crisis, where the whining from the White House was matched only by it's ability to make most of the country depressed. The hangover actually began with Nixon - the main reason I was a liberal - Carter only made it worse, and then made us look like helpless, hapless neophytes to those who even then were starting their war of terror.

Of course he brought Begin and Sadat together, which didn't work out all that well for Sadat, and come to think of it, hasn't worked out all that well for the Middle East either - but that doesn't keep the old fart from still meddling in the nation's affairs.

You can say one thing for Jimmy though - he only lusted in his heart, unlike Bubba.

Where was I ... oh, I didn't vote for Reagan in 1980 because I was convinced that Ronnie Rayguns was a danger not only to the USA, but to the world as well. After all, he was a conservative, and the only one of those I had ever heard of before was named Goldwater and the TV commercial showed that atomic blast, so there was no doubt in my mind that conservatives were warmongering lunatics.

And for that, I can only blame Uncle Walter.

He was America's undisputed newsman, anchorman, war correspondent who'd been all around the world and told you every night: "...and that's the way it is, month/date/year. For CBS News, this is Walter Cronkite. Good night."

He was undisputed because we only got one stinking channel with that rotating monstrosity perched atop our roof: WWNY Channel 7 in Watertown - and that meant Uncle Walter and Uncle Walter only. The local paper was, and still is, published once per week and national news is not their forte. There were no conservative views expressed, or if they were, I never recognized them as such because Grandpa Bailey said voting a straight Republican ticket was the only way to go. He and Grandma Bailey raised 12 kids during the depression and the one time someone from social services tried to give something to the family, the reply was not even politically correct by 1930's standards, and rumor has it there was something about placing cheese where the sun don't shine, but I can't swear to that.

So with a little help from my friends, Uncle Walter, and the innate animation of a blooming contrarian (not to mention the usual teenage angst), I lived the liberal lemming life of love, lucidly listening to Lucy in the Sky. Who said alliteration is a dying art?

And then the darndest thing happened. Instead of listening to what CBS and the NY Times were telling me Reagan was doing, I started to really listen to what he had to say. I finally started to remember what it was like to proud to be an American. I started to realize that less government is better government. I started to bring God back into my life and realize that as a nation, we were founded on Judeo-Christian principles. That means that although we will not acknowledge any religion as the official religion of the country, we should not have to pull the Ten Commandments from the front lawn of the Court House.

To make a long story short, I'm like a reformed smoker (I did quit smoking on 10-2-97, but banning smoking in bars without giving the bar owner the power to make his own decision is just another example of that old TV show from the 1950's: Government Knows Best).

So now you know my sordid past, and I do feel relief at having burst forth from the wardrobe at long last.

May Ron forgive me.