Yemeni Cleric Who Reportedly Inspired Ft. Hood Shooter supposedly not killed in Airstrike

Here’s some pee on your holiday news:

A U.S.-born radical cleric is alive and well following reports he may have been killed in a Yemeni airstrike against suspected al-Qaida hideouts, friends and relatives said Friday.
The government said it targeted a meeting of high-level al-Qaida operatives in Thursday's airstrike in the remote Shabwa region. It claimed at least 30 militants were killed, possibly including Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric who has been linked to the shooter in last month's attack at the Fort Hood military base in the U.S.
On Friday, a friend of the cleric, Abu Bakr al-Awlaki, told The Associated Press he was not among those killed. He refused to say if the cleric was attending the meeting.
via Yemeni Cleric Who Reportedly Inspired Ft. Hood Shooter Believed Unhurt in Airstrike – ABC News.

Yeah, I was quite thrilled to hear this news. Guess they were wrong. Ah well, try again later, I suppose.

How long before the left starts using this as a Meme to say that we should just pull out and forget about getting these guys?

Updated: BREAKING NEWS: ATTEMPTED TERRORIST ATTACK ON PLANE BOUND FOR DETROIT BY AL-QEADA OPERATIVE WXYZ-TV SAYS SECOND INCIDENT HAPPENED AS WELL "DRUNKEN PASSANGER" GOES CRAZY – Washington Post Edits Story to make President look good

On Christmas Day, no less. For those who do not know, I am in the Detroit-area. The Airport in question is in Romulus, Michigan, (Not Detroit…) and less than 10 miles from my house. So, now, it’s personal, the bastards tried to hit MY town! You can imagine how I feel, at the moment. 😡

All the major news sources in Detroit are reporting it. The National lame stream media, as usual is asleep at the wheel, including Fox News.

First Video Via WJBK- TV Fox 2 in Detroit:

Update # 5: WXYZ-TV‘s coverage at 11:00 P.M. coverage, they report that there was a second incident was well of another passenger going crazy as well. Supposedly a drunken passenger… are they possibly covering up under orders from Obama?

The Video:

Fox 2 in Detroit’s Story:

ROMULUS, Mich. (WJBK) – A senior U.S. official says a Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria claims h e was acting on behalf of al-Qaida
when he tried to blow up a flight Friday as it landed in Detroit.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit. One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.
The passenger was being questioned Friday evening. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. Fox 2 spoke with passangers as they were released from that flight.

WXYZ TV, The Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, WDIV-TV all have continuing coverage on this story..

The Detroit Free Press Reports:

The passenger created a disturbance by lighting what was reported to be firecrackers — or perhaps a “powdery substance” — onboard the flight, injuring himself and several other passengers, according to Delta Airlines
The passenger was subdued. FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold confirmed today that agents are at Metro.
ABC News reported on its web site that the man is Nigerian and claimed he was directed by Al Qaeda to explode a small device in flight over U.S. soil.
The man was apparently already on the government’s no-fly list of suspected terrorists, ABC News said a senior intelligence official told them.
[….]
But later, Syed Jafry of Holland, Mich., a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, emerged from the airport and said he was a passenger on the flight. He said people ran out of their seats to tackle the man.
Jafry was sitting in the 16th row when he heard “a pop and saw some smoke and fire.” Then, he said, “a young man behind me jumped on him.”
Jafry said there was a little bit of commotion for about 10 to 15 minutes.

He said the way passengers responded made him proud to be an American.
[….]
His wife and daughter, who had been waiting for him at the airport since about 11:40 a.m., said they saw a person they believe to be the suspect being transported from the airport. Dawn Griffith said he was “young looking” and was handcuffed to a stretcher, with his hands bandaged.

A photo of the said plane:

US Airliner Disturbance — Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on the runway after arriving at Detroit Metropolitan Airport from Amsterdam on Friday.

More to information to come, as I get it. Anyone with any information for me; please contact me via e-mail via the Blog. You Anonymity is guaranteed.

Update #1: Memeorandum is now covering.

Update #2: The only reason I am not in the car and down there taking photos is the following: 1. It’s dark outside now, and there’s most likely not much to see. Also, that place, that is Metro Airport is most likely crawling with cops. I just do not want to risk getting in the way and possibly getting tossed in jail. I will be monitoring all news outlets and passing what I know on. Plus, I do have this shaggy beard. I do not want to be mistaken for another terrorist! 😯

Update #3 What royally tweaks me off, is how the MSM is trying to under rate the story. No terrorism here, just a arab trying to light off fireworks, while shouting “Allah Akbar!” Idiots. 🙄

Update #4: Now for your obligitory Democrat slam… where’s the President?

……in Hawaii, recharging:

bilde — President Obama in Hawaii "Recharging" while terrorists are striking planes in Michigan.

If that’s leadership? We’re in deep trouble folks.

Yeah, that’s right, I said our Democratic Party President is more interested in having time off; than he is leading the Country. If he were a real leader, he would cut short his little vacation and get his idiot butt back to Washington D.C. and be on top of the situation. But, nah, he’s too busy. Remember this come 2010 and 2012.

Update #6: Ace over at Ace of Spades HQ has some VERY interesting information on how the story over at the Washington Post was changed to make the President look better. Someone got a phone call and told to make a change.

AWESOME BREAKING NEWS! : Radical Cleric who inspired Fort Hood Shooter, Nasser al-Wahayshi, killed in Air Strike in Yemen!

Awesome!

Reuters Reports: (H/T HotAir)

SANAA (Reuters) – A Yemeni air raid may have killed the top two leaders of al Qaeda’s regional branch on Thursday, and an American Muslim preacher linked to the man who shot dead 13 people at a U.S. army base may also have died, a Yemeni security official said.
Nasser al-Wahayshi, the Yemeni leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and his Saudi deputy, Saeed al-Shehri, were believed to be among 30 militants killed in the dawn operation in the eastern province of Shabwa, said the official, who asked not to be identified.
U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki may also have died in the air strike which targeted a meeting of militants planning attacks on Yemeni and foreign oil and economic targets, he said.
If all the deaths are confirmed, the air strike would appear to have struck a severe blow against AQAP, seen as the most dangerous regional offshoot of Osama bin Laden’s network.
“Anwar al-Awlaki is suspected to be dead,” the official said of the cleric who was on the run in Yemen, where he was on the government’s most-wanted list of terrorist suspects.
According to U.S. officials, the U.S. army psychiatrist who ran amok at the Fort Hood army base in Texas on November 5 had contacts with Awlaki.
The Yemeni official said one leading figure in AQAP, Mohammed Saleh Omair, was confirmed dead in Thursday’s raid.
The United States cooperates closely with Yemen in combating al Qaeda militancy. Pentagon officials were not immediately available to comment on any U.S. involvement in the raid.
The Yemeni official mentioned only one air strike, which a government website said had taken place at 5 a.m., but Al Arabiya television reported four raids.
Resurgent al Qaeda attacks have stirred fears that worsening instability in Yemen, an impoverished country struggling with multiple security threats, might enable militants to launch renewed attacks in neighboring oil superpower Saudi Arabia.
Al Qaeda’s wing in Yemen, where Osama bin Laden’s father was born, announced in January it had changed its name to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — in an apparent attempt to revive the group in Saudi Arabia, where a tough counter-terrorism drive had halted the group’s three-year armed campaign in 2006.
Wahayshi, the new group’s Yemeni leader, threatened attacks against Westerners in the oil-exporting region. AQIP has also called for the overthrow of the U.S.-allied Saudi royal family.

This should send a message to these turban wearing bastards; you mock our Country, after one of yours does something stupid like open fire in a military base, your stupid ass is going to get hit. Kudos to the Military and President Obama for authorizing this strike. If you’ll pardon my frank speech; one ‘towel head’ terrorist down, many more to go. They should have done this to this bastard after 9/11, but the military did not. Finally, he gets justice, about damn time. Again, Hats off to our awesome Military for a job well done!

I would be willing to bet, that there are some families at Fort Hood, Families of the Victims of 9/11 and many other victims of terrorism; who are smiling broadly today. Merry Christmas to them, hope this brings a little happiness. 😀

Quote of the Day

The real entitlements are never mentioned. The “defense” budget is an entitlement for the military-security complex about which President Eisenhower warned us 50 years ago. A person has to be crazy to believe that the United States, “the world’s only superpower,” protected by oceans on its East and West and by puppet states on its North and South, needs a “defense” budget larger than the military spending of the rest of the world combined.
The military budget is nothing but an entitlement for the military-security complex. To hide this fact, the entitlement is disguised as protection against “enemies” and passed through the Pentagon.
I say cut out the middleman and simply allocate a percentage of the federal budget to the military-security complex. This way we won’t have to concoct reasons for invading other countries and go to war in order for the military-security complex to get its entitlement. It would be a lot cheaper just to give them the money outright, and it would save a lot of lives and grief at home and abroad.
The U.S. invasion of Iraq had nothing whatsoever to do with American national interests. It had to do with armaments profits and with eliminating an obstacle to Israeli territorial expansion. The cost of the war, aside from the $3 trillion, was over 4,000 dead Americans, over 30,000 wounded and maimed Americans, tens of thousands of broken American marriages and lost careers, 1 million dead Iraqis, 4 million displaced Iraqis and a destroyed country.
All of this was done for the profits of the military-security complex and to make paranoid Israel, armed with 200 nuclear weapons, feel “secure.”
My proposal would make the military-security complex even more wealthym as the companies would get the money without having to produce the weapons. Instead, all the money could go for multimillion dollar bonuses and dividend payouts to shareholders. No one, at home or abroad, would have to be killed, and the taxpayer would be better off.

Oh-Man: Looks like the afgan conflict might be a lost cause after all

This makes me ill. But, hey, it is the truth. I have to agree with AllahPundit; India might just be our only hope of getting out of there.Which is pretty strange coming from a Hawkish Red Fascist like me.

First read this article from Stars and Stripes:

Even the best Afghan units lack training, discipline and adequate reinforcements. In one new unit in Baghlan Province, soldiers have been found cowering ditches rather than fight. Others routinely steal U.S.-supplied fuel, equipment and weapons. And a few are suspected of collaborating with the Taliban against the Americans.
“I do not feel I am a mentor here,” said Capt. Jason Douthwaite, a logistics officer with the 73rd Troop Command of the Ohio National Guard who has tried to stop rampant pilfering by the Afghan soldiers his unit is training. “I feel like I am an investigating officer. It’s not, ‘Let me teach you your job.’ It’s more like, ‘How much did you steal from the American government today?’”…
During a Taliban ambush, gunfire was coming at the Americans and their Afghan counterparts from three sides. But the Afghan National Army soldiers of the 209 Corps, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Kandak (battalion), fresh out of training in Kabul, were not ready for a fight.
So after returning initial fire, the Afghan soldiers simply lay in a ditch, refusing to budge.
“They don’t have the basics, so they lay down,” said Capt. Michael Bell, who is one of a team of U.S. and Hungarian mentors tasked with making this young kandak battle-ready. “I ran around for an hour trying to get them to shoot, getting fired on. I couldn’t get them to shoot their weapons.”

Now, watch this video, which is about 6 months old; but still, holy hell. If we’ve got this much problem. Maybe we should just get India to come in and get the hell out of there.

The Video:

Having said all that, I do not agree with the comments over at HotAir; that we should just carpet bomb the place. That is idiotic. But America needs to take a LOOONG look at this and make a decision. Hopefully, it is made soon.

Answering Laurence Vance

I write this piece to answer the libertarian leftist Laurence Vance’s smear piece against me. An article for what it is worth has only brought 143 visitors to my blog, as of this writing. For a man, who is supposedly an authority on all things libertarian; not to mention all things Austrian economics —That my friend is quite amusing, I guess Lew Rockwell and company are legends in their own minds — at best.

I will not sit here and pick apart this entire ridiculous article, which is filled with in inaccuracies about me, who I listen to in talk radio, and all the other silly assumptions that those of the idiotic leftist mentality believe about us, who happen to respect and support our Military. Nevertheless, I will correct this leftist imbecile on some issues.

First off, whom or what I listen to on television: I guess Mr. Vance assumes that Fox News Network in my Television when I am awake. This is a gross fallacy; I only watch Fox News during the daytime; that is, if and when, I decide to turn the blasted thing on. I think I may watch an hour of Television at most, as for during the opinion hour at night, the only person I can stomach on Fox News is, in fact, is Bill O’Reilly. I find Sean Hannity most annoying. Why is that? Because Sean Hannity is a water carrier, a talk points repeater. Quite bluntly, Sean Hannity is an idiotic gasbag — Not to mention he looks and dresses like a closeted gay twink. Sean Hannity is, in fact, a Republican. He spouts Republican talking points — all the while claiming to be a Libertarian. One thing I can tell you, Sean Hannity is not a libertarian, he is not even close. Even I, the most hawkish man in the blogosphere can tell you that. Sean Hannity, to me, represents the Bush-era Fox News. Which has since changed, they stopped with the stupid Bush-era talking points and moved on. Sean Hannity, well, not so much. As for Limbaugh, I respect the man for building such a large business around his, well, ego. However, I do not listen to him on a regular basis, and I will tell you why. Rush Limbaugh strikes me as someone who is love with his own voice — something that I find most highly annoying. Therefore, I do not listen to Rush Limbaugh for that reason. Like anyone else, I catch the clips online when he says or does something remarkably stupid. As for Glenn Beck, Beck peddles paranoia; I am not much into that sort of a thing really. Glenn Back believes that communism is still a real threat. I disagree; I believe that radical socialism is a real threat. However, staunch communism is not and has not been for many years — McCarthy saw to that little feat — and yes there is a big difference between socialism and communism, it even says this on the communist party USA’s website. I ought to know, I did look it up. I do not make a habit of yowling about things that I have no clue about, unlike some in this idiotic political blogosphere.

Therefore, yes, I do watch Bill O’Reilly; why, you ask — Because Bill O’Reilly is fair and yes, balanced. Anyone who actually watches his show knows that Bill does not carry water for the President, ever. Bill also is fair to the President; he does not just hate President Obama, because he is a socialist, much to the chagrin of those on the far right. Bill O’Reilly, like me, has a strong disliking of the socialist far left. This is because we both happen to know that socialism is a threat to the free capitalistic system in this country — this is why I respect the man. Another thing that made me begin to watch him at Bill O’Reilly was the fact that he stopped the policy of shutting people’s microphones off, that disagreed with him. I noticed that he was doing that, and because of this, I refused to watch O’Reilly. As much as I disagree with much of what the left has to say; I do believe that anyone in this Country, as long as they are not planning to overthrow or cause harm to anyone in this Nation, have the right to freedom of speech. This is what got Senator Joseph McCarthy into a great deal of trouble, this is why people like William Buckley Jr. and L. Brent Bozell Jr. (not to be confused with his son, Brent Bozell III) abandoned McCarthy. Because McCarthy wanted to exert thought police on the American people, that which is, sadly, a tactic of the far left. Because O’Reilly abandoned this practice of shutting microphones off, I began to watch him. I also starting watching Fox News and frankly stopped watching CNN and MSNBC because of the blatant partisanship of MSNBC and to a lesser extent CNN. I am all for a diversity of opinion, but when you actually stoop to the level of insulting your viewers, that is when I decided that the bus stopped here and I got off. (So to speak)

Getting back to the subject at hand here, Laurence Vance also accuses me of not being able to separate the Military from the Government. Which is most amusing, because his posting at Lew Rockwell’s Blog; he accuses the Military of occupying Iraq, which was done on the orders of the George W. Bush Administration — Which is something I pointed out in one of my previous postings. Therefore, to Mr. Vance I say — Project much, friend? But then again, when talking to a leftist, one can only expect so much — because to them, up is down and left is right, and the world is a very bizarre place; which is why I tend to avoid reasoning with them. After all, the Bible says; “If any man be ignorant, let them be ignorant” and I do try to follow the Bible as much as I possibly can.

While I am on the subject of Iraq, I feel the need to clear something up. If Mr. Vance or anyone else happens to believe that I am some sort of a Bush-supporting Republican, please be advised that this about as far from the truth that one can get. I did not vote for President George. W. Bush, at all, either time. During that time, I was firmly in the Democratic Party column. This pre-dated my blogging days. I was a left of center — albeit quite the “half-assed left of center,” but I digress. Further, I did support the Iraq war, until the reports came out and the White House admitted that they were wrong about Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In fact, it was that little incident, that triggered me to start blogging in February of 2006 as a “left of center” blogger. I will explain the reasons why I switched sides for another posting, as this one is getting very long.

Finally, to answer Mr. Vance’s charge of being a “Red State Fascist” — If loving America and in loving America; knowing that in order to maintain the peace requires strength. If knowing that the United States Military is a valued treasure in this Country and should be highly respected — If wanting to see the United States of America protected from terrorists; both foreign and domestic, makes me a Red State Fascist — I plead the only thing I that I will ever plead to a charge as this — guilty as charged.

May God Bless the United States of America and May God Bless the United States Armed Forces. Further more, Thank God for our Military and Thank God for the privilege of being able to debate those who I disagree with, without the fear of being criminally persecuted for it. We live in a wonderful Nation and I will always defend her from those who would want to slander her. I feel that it is the most that I can do.

Lew Rockwell Slanders the Military….Again

Lew Rockwell’s little weasel friend by the name of Laurence Vance is still at it slandering our Nation’s finest and best Military. Mr. Vance writes over at Lew’s Blog the following smear against the United States Military:

Obviously, this picture and story are supposed to counter the negative things I have said about the U.S. military. While I applaud the actions of Lt. Hickman and his fellow soldiers, I’m afraid it doesn’t counter anything. The U.S. military unjustly invaded and still occupies Iraq. This has directly and indirectly resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. It doesn’t matter how many Iraqi children are helped by the U.S. military. There is nothing these benevolent soldiers can do to make up for what the U.S. military has done to Iraq.

Mr. Vance’s inability to write a sentence with proper grammar structure aside, this is nothing more than a leftist slander against our United States Armed Forces. It is in fact true that our Armed Forces did invade the Country of Iraq. They did so BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, GEORGE W. BUSH. In other words, these fine brave young men and women were just doing their jobs and following orders; as one is supposed to do when in the Armed Forces. Not that Laurence Vance would know anything about serving our Country, he is too busy peddling his stupid religious books, and books that slander other Presidents —like FDR. Silly books that float the conspiracy theory that FDR purposefully allowed the ships to be attacked at Pearl Harbor and other such stupidity — Which is quite typical of the idiotic libertarian left and their idiotic twins the Paleo-Conservatives.

Some of you might wonder why I am going after Lew Rockwell and Vance. I will explain this; my family served in the United States Armed Forces, my uncle pulled a tour of duty in Vietnam. Luckily, he got out there alive. My grandfather’s two brothers pulled a tour duty in Germany during World War II. When Lew Rockwell and Laurence Vance insult the United States Armed Forces, they are insulting my family, and that my friends, I take very seriously. My family who spilled blood on foreign soil, just so these two jackasses can run a blog, which is for the sole purpose of insulting our United States Military. I am for the idea of freedom of speech and I would not dare try to stop these two thugs from speaking their mind. Nevertheless, I will counter their idiotic accusations and general stupid slanders against our Armed Forces, no matter the cost and no matter how many people e-mail me and try to intimidate me into stopping. I will not stop, ever.

I am, in essence drawing the line in the sand here and saying, “This will NOT stand!” I will not allow two leftist thugs to slander our United States Armed Forces and get away with it unanswered. The American Military is treasure to America and I will not let it be slandered. Call me a “Chickenhawk,” call me whatever you want, but I will NOT allow this to happen unchallenged. Because those brave and woman out of the front lines deserve better than this and if I have to do it alone, I will.

To my readers, I ask you this, where do you stand? Are you with the United States Military or are you against it? The decision is yours.

Updated: Why I left the libertarian ranks: Exhibit A – Hatred of the United States Military

The following picture and caption that I am about to show you, comes from the libertarian leftist blogger Lew Rockwell. I present this personal exhibit as to why I left the Paleo-Conservative/libertarian ranks in favor of the Conservative, Pro-military ranks:

Hey Marines, how about some toys for this tot in Afghanistan:

I present this as “Exhibit A”, to the fact that the libertarian movement has been infiltrated by Anti-War leftists who hate America, our Military and why they should be stripped of their citizenship and deported out of our fine Country and into another country; like say, North Korea, Venezuela or maybe even Communist China. Not to be rude about this, but it just so happens, that if that dumb kids fellow Countrymen had not giving refuge and comfort to those who would seek to destroy America — Namely Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda; the damned kid would still possibly have his damned leg. Not to mention the fact that on September 11, 2001, our Country was attacked by Islamic terrorists who did more than just destroy a leg. It killed 2,996 of our people.

However, of course, you cannot tell this to the likes of Lew Rockwell and his bastard gang of leftists who hate this damn Country; they still believe that George W. Bush ordered those planes into the trade center towers. What really troubles me, is that the author of this posting is none other than Dr. Lawrence Vance, who is supposedly a Born-Again Christian. How anyone can harbor such hatred for this Country and our Nation’s Military and still claim to be ANY kind of a Christian is beyond me.

When I still was on the left; as little as that was, in terms of what I believed the Democratic Party to be about, I was always under the impression that Iraq was the war that was very unjustified and that Afghanistan was in fact, the good war that we were fighting to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden. I heard that from the left and I believed that myself. As it turns out, that was nothing more than a damned lie and the far-left knows it. The good majority of the far left either believes that George W. Bush ordered the attacks, to win his popularity or to justify going into Iraq. The rest believe that we had it coming or deserved the attacks because of our evil capitalistic society. This picture and caption are living proof of this; which is why, I left the liberal left and stopped voting for the Democratic Party.

Just to let everyone know, I said my piece on this and I am not interested in debating it. Therefore, I am shutting the comments off; because I want this posting to stand on its own.

Update: After reading this entry again, I realize that I did leave out one important thing. My apologies for that, I do sometimes forget to include stuff pertinent to the entry at times; A.D.H.D. does that to a fellow. Yes, I am serious about having that little disability. Anyhow, the thing I forgot to include in this little shoving of the hatred of the libertarian leftists, into their faces, is the following:

There is one unifying cause that the libertarian leftists and the socialist liberal left is their inbred hatred of war and of anything military. Further more, the libertarians and liberals hate the current state of the Government, albeit for very different reasons. The libertarians hate the size of the Government and the fact that it has become too large, and too regulatory — Which is something I can identify with myself. The socialist left, however, is angry because they cannot control that large Government. The Socialist left does not mind big Government, as long as they can control it. A perfect example of this can be found here.

So, again, the reason why I lump the libertarian leftists in with the socialist is this, not because they are one in the same, they are not, even I know this. However, it is because the libertarian leftists are totally “In bed” with the anti-war socialist leftists who resent any sort of American values or capitalism or defense of the Republic. This has been proven many times with the vile acts at the Military recruiting office in Berkley California and such matters. Same goes for the Paleo-Conservatives, They too are “in bed” with the socialist left, when it comes to foreign policy. It has been that way for years and will continue to be that way. The difference between a Paleo-Conservative and a libertarian is one thing —protectionism. This is what the Democratic Party believed in, before globalists like Bill Clinton came on the scene and passed NAFTA. It should be noted, however, that the NAFTA agreement did not pass until the Republicans took back the Congress, and Clinton became an instant moderate.

Nevertheless, my feelings toward these libertarian leftists, their Paleo-Conservative counterparts, and their cousins the Anti-War socialist left remain unabated.

Obama to Conyers: Stop Demeaning Me!

The phone rings, it is the President wanting to know why a senator has been demeaning him in the media. The President is calling a firebrand Republican Senator, it must be, correct? Well, no. actually, President Obama was calling one of his own — Democrats, I mean —- you did not think that I meant THAT did you?!?!?!?! Anyhow:

This comes via The Hill:

President Barack Obama recently called Rep. John Conyers Jr. to express his frustrations with the Judiciary Committee chairman’s criticism.
In an interview with The Hill, Conyers said his opinions of Obama’s policies on healthcare reform and the war in Afghanistan have not sat well with the president.
According to the lawmaker, the president picked up the phone several weeks ago to find out why Conyers was “demeaning” him.
Obama’s decision to challenge Conyers highlights a sensitivity to criticism the president has taken on the left. Conyers’s critical remarks, many of which have been reported on the liberal-leaning Huffington Post, appear to have irritated the president, known for his calm demeanor.
Conyers, the second-longest-serving member of the House, said, “[Obama] called me and told me that he heard that I was demeaning him and I had to explain to him that it wasn’t anything personal, it was an honest difference on the issues. And he said, ‘Well, let’s talk about it.’”
Sitting in the Judiciary Committee’s conference room two days after Obama delivered his speech on Afghanistan, the 23-term lawmaker said he wasn’t in the mood to “chat.”
Obama’s move to send in 30,000 troops to Afghanistan by the summer of 2010 has clearly disappointed Conyers.
He said he intends to press his case in writing soon.

I will give John Conyers credit on one thing. He is not shy about speaking his mind. Neither is his wife. This is the husband of the woman, who went toe to toe with another member of the Detroit City Council. When I say went toe to toe; I am not overstating the truth one bit — Because that little confrontation got ugly —VERY ugly. It got ugly almost to the point of the police being called. There were no punches thrown, but there was a whole bunch of hollering. This very much made me pity and respect Mr. Conyers on a completely new level. Any man that can live with a woman with that shrill of a voice and not beat the tar out of her within minutes has definitely earned my respect.

Second, as the article says, Obama seems to be a bit touchy, or as it says, sensitive about critics from the left. Oh, he just ignores us on the right, seeing we are crazy and all. If you believe that, I have got land in a Texas swamp to sell you for cheap. Let me tell you something, the President is no dummy, because if he was, he would not be in the White House and I would be running the Country. The President knows about that little thing called political capital and the President is well aware that he is burning through that capital, quicker than a Chicago minute. The President also knows that he needs to finish the job that Bush started in Afghanistan, otherwise people like me, and other Conservatives will never let him live it down. The last thing he wants to do, is pull a Vietnam bonehead move and pull us out, at least before we give a good collage try to finishing that war over there.

This story of Democrat vs. Democrat when it comes to the war is going to play out in a very interesting manner. Where it puts Obama is going to be interesting to watch as well.

Other People covering this: Townhall.com, Left Coast Rebel, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Weekly Standard, Riehl World View, POWIP and Weasel Zippers

May we never forget: Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941

December 7, 1941 – 68 Years ago today. The empire of Japan attacked the United States Military Base at what was then called the the Territory of Hawaii. (The United States had not taken possession of that territory making it the 49’th state yet.)

It is a day, that will live…. In infamy…

Update: Video removed, because the ignorant bastard who owns it, can’t remember telling me that I could link to it.

Damned idiot.

Here is the entire “Day of infamy Speech”, Now this is a way to make a speech! Obama, Take notes!:

[podcast]http://www.radiochemistry.org/history/video/fdr_infamy.mp3[/podcast]

I do not know quite why it is that I get so emotional when the anniversary of the attack of Pearl Harbor comes around; but do I ever. I guess it is because it affected my personal family a great deal. My grandfather’s two brothers, Frank and Harlan Hayes both were in the United States Army and my grandmother’s stepbrother Jess Runyan served also in the Military in World War II. My Great-Uncle Frank and Harlan both served in Germany, with Frank getting his finger blown off, while tossing a hand grenade that went off too soon. They were able to reattach it, but he never was able to use the finger very well after that. I do not know much about Harlen, or I would share his story. Jess Runyan came back from World War II with the condition now known as traumatic stress disorder or as they used to call it — shell-shocked. Jess was never able to work and collected military benefits, and I think social security for the rest of his life. Jess never married. For what it is worth, all of these people lived in Dalton, Georgia, which is where a good amount of my family is from.

Another reason is because, damn it, I just love America; since when did that become a federal crime? This Nation is the best-damned Nation on earth. Yes, we are having some bad times here; the economy is bad, jobs are scarce. However, the status of this Nation could be much worse; we could be living in same situation as North Korea or even communist China. I guess Pearl Harbor is a personal one for me, because I happen to be a history buff and because of my family’s involvement in that war. I believe also that the Nation’s isolationism also caused the attack as well, not to mention the economic warfare that was being committed against Japan by FDR. This same mentality of isolationism is what had affected the United States the day that the September 11 attacks in 2001. We were different Nation then and we are now a different Nation since those attacks. The tragic thing about the 9/11 attacks, is that they became quite politicized. When the attack on Pear Harbor took place and then the subsequent war began; America stopped being Democrats and Republicans; and just started being Americans. The sad thing is that after 9/11, there was a short burst of American patriotism. However, it did not last; there are many reasons for this, I believe the biggest reason is times have changed greatly. I could get into all that, but this blog entry would end up being over 50 pages long.

I think the biggest and best thing that Americans can do for those who perished in World War II is to never forget what happened and to work to ensure that it never happens again. We must ensure that the politics of our Nation or any other Nation gets that sort of ugly point again. This is why I believe that wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are worth every last dime and worth every life lost. There are those that say that fighting that war in Afghanistan is not worth it and that it is another Vietnam. I disagree with that nonsense. ANY War that is worth fighting is worth winning. I just wish those on the Socialist Left realized that as well. There was a time, when Democrats actually believed in fighting wars. This all changed in the late 1960’s with the rise of the socialist and hippy movements. Vietnam was essentially lost because of the socialists that had taken over the Media at the time. Walter Cronkite’s literal lying to the Nation about the Tet Offensive was a perfect example of that. Thankfully, there were Democrats who crossed over, for whatever reasoning, who still believed in defending this Nation and believed the Wars could be won, and because of that, and because of President’s like Ronald Reagan; we have the great Military we have today. It is my personal hope, that President Barack Obama will continue that respect for our Nation’s Military. Although, as of late President Obama’s performance as a leader, when it comes to the war in Afghanistan has been dismal at best.

Therefore, in conclusion, I simply end with this — May we never forget December 7, 1941. Because to do so, would be a horrible tragedy.

neverforget1941 — May we never forget - December 7, 1941

The National Pearl Harbor Survivors Association website is here.